Chapter 131: Pandora's Box.
After Seven's amazing appearance and departure, the whole of Raymond's group was buzzing with energy, especially the new guys who had never met the leader of the Free Peoples before.
So to see the man that all of them raved about and spoke so highly of and for him to appear and disappear in such a dramatic fashion really got everyone pumped up.
"No wonder you guys all seem to look up to him so much, I mean if the dude can fly then you are quite literally all looking up at him," Paladin Wright said with a grin as they all sat at the conference table.
"That kind of a new thing I assure you, I mean I've heard the others talk about him getting these smoke wings and hovering off the floor like some kind of vengeful angel before he levelled a slave trader outpost, but I've never actually seen him, well you know, fly before," Raymond said.
"How do you think he does it without wings?" Jewel asked curiously with all of her Featherguard companions nodding their approval of the question.
"Oh, I'd say that's kinda simple," Lucas who was currently acting as both an attendee and as Zixxy's personal seat at the table said.
All of them turned to look at him and Raymond gestured for him to continue his thoughts with a wave of his large hand.
"Think about it, you said he's telekinetic correct?" Lucas said and Raymond nodded.
"Yeah so?" he said and suddenly Sasha's face lit up as an idea struck him.
"I believe I see what young Lucas is thinking, he believes that because Seven has the power to lift things with mind, then he also to has the power to lift himself and others with mind, yes?" he said and Lucas pointed at the grizzled Cossak and smiled.
"Exactly! Think about it, you've said on multiple occasions that he can pick up people or objects and throw them around or crush them with ease, then there is really nothing to stop him from turning that power inward and using it to lift his own mass, therefore rendering him effectively weightless, all he has to do is lift and accelerate, to him it would be essentially as simple as one of us thinking 'I would like to go here,'" he said.
"Ok well, that covers in part the how, but what I'd like to know is how he manages to travel at such speed without consequence, we all blatantly heard him break the sound barrier up there, that kind of speed would rip the scales clean off a Claw's ass with zero issues, even in his power armour the air resistance would tear plates off it, so how the hell does he pull off that little trick?" Paladin Wright asked looking around the table.
Lia shrugged before glancing downwards and behind her as if to make sure none of the scales of her own ass was missing, as if a sympathetic fear for such a Claw-related indignity worried her, kinda like a man wincing upon seeing another man getting kicked full force in the balls.
"I believe he is creating a psionic bubble," Zixxy said and all of them turned to look at the little extraterrestrial sat upon Lucas's lap and once again Raymond made his 'please continue' gesture to her.
"Well think about it, we know from experience that Seven can create hands made of nothing but pure psionic energy that while invisible to the naked eye have as much mass and substance as the real thing, he's used them to torment poor Visa more than once in our sight," Zixxy said.
"I doubt she sees it as torment, more as a reason to pounce on him when the chance presents itself, as any healthy Claw woman would if her beloved male were to tease her so," Lia said shooting a loaded and very fang-filled grin at Raymond who simply swallowed hard but grinned back all the same.
"Well err yes quite, but all the same, if we think about it it makes perfect sense, there would be nothing to stop him from dictating the shape or even really the size of the shape he created other than his own power and imagination, so, in essence, all he'd have to do is create a bubble for them to ride in while he lifted them and propelled them along, this bubble would kinda act like a dart, allowing him to cut through the air with ease while deflecting all of the air resistance away from its passengers, so in short higher speed and no risk," Zixxy said.
"Well I wouldn't say no risk, as anybody who can fly would concur with me on this, it is all about concentration, any kind of lapse in it can result in catastrophic damage to yourself or anything you are carrying, say if someone were to shoot at you while you were carrying someone and that shot was a near miss, therefore startling you and causing you to both pause your wing beat while also releasing your talon grip," Jewel said.
Zixxy nodded in agreement with this as did Jewel's fellow Featherguard.
"Agreed which is why I do hope that Seven has thought up some potential countermeasures to such an occurrence, such as making the field bulletproof to protect those within it," she said.
"He can do that?" Paladin Wright asked in surprise and Raymond nodded.
"Aye he can, all of us that have been around him long enough have seen him catch bullets out of the air and throw them back at their shooter with more force than the original gun had, we've seen him deflect them, hell we've even seen him block the end of people's gun barrels causing them to blow up when they've tried to fire them, kinda like if they had a squib round jammed in the barrel, honestly it never ceases to amaze me the uses he figures out for that power of his," he said.
"No fucking wonder the Enclave want him so badly, with a power like his under their thumb they'd be unstoppable, hell they could use him to pull our floating city out of the air and ground us with nothing more than him on the ground," Jewel said with her face etched with worry that seemed to also infect her fellow Featherguard as the mental image passed from one to the next.
"Agreed, hell he could take out the Prydwynn with nothing more than fucking bits of pavement that he propelled to supersonic speed and launched at it," Paladin Wright said also looking worried.
"And now you know why Seven and all of us fight so diligently against them, it's not just the fact that they are Jackbooted fascist fucks, it's the fact that they are relentless, smart and devious, fascist Jackbooted fucks who will stop at nothing to not only enslave the entire country into their lunacy, but would simply kill the rest of us for simply existing, but they have zero issue capturing and enslaving non-humans to do their dirty work for them when they can, look at what happened to my beloved Lia and her family, look at what happened to the Scorpians, I have no doubt they have or are trying the same thing with mutants too and if they could get their hands on Valkyries they wouldn't hesitate," Raymond said and a couple of them glanced at Lia.
"What happened to you and your family if I might ask?' Paladin Wright asked in a soft voice as she glanced at the big Claw girl seated to Raymond's right side.
"Myself, my brother and my Matriarch were captured by the Enclave, they used these vile helmets on us to make us docile and controlable, we had no will of our own, we could not resist or fight them, we were nought but enslaved puppets until Seven and his people freed us and helped us to destroy the vile humans who held us captive, we learned that day that not all human are the same, that they are as varied and as unique as we ourselves are, for the first time we saw what good humans can do when they are willing to stand up and fight for the right thing, the humans of this very group sided with us against their own kind and never has a show of compassion or determination touched my heart in such a way, I will be forever grateful to them for what they did for us because if it were not for them I would still be a slave and would not have my beloved Raymond here," Lia said with fire in her voice as she took Raymond's massive hand in hers.
"As I've said on numerous occasions, that's kinda what this whole group is about, it started as just some escape slaves who were being experimented on running for their lives but the diversity and differences within that group touched the hearts of those they met along the way and whom they stopped to help that the group grew and the message spread, now here we are months later and we are no longer simply a group, we are a movement," Raymond said.
"Here here, if it were not for these wonderful people sitting at this table, especially both Zixxy and Rayomnd I would be still a vile defiler but thanks to their efforts they showed me the truth of my actions and they gave me a path to redemption, one that I am proud to say that I get to walk with the most beautiful human man that even my dreams could conceive at my side and every day I aim to show him the strength of my soul and the truth of my love for him," Jewel said reaching for Adam's hand which he gave her most happily and willingly.
"Very true that, Zixxy put me back together again and freed me from the nightmare of my own pain and sorrow, she showed me the truth of Jewel's remorse and led me back towards the light, there simply are not words to express the gratitude I feel towards this group," he said.
"A very potent message indeed, showed me the truth of heart when I was pulled from a dank, miserable cell by non-human who fights for me alongside her own human love, but now I find myself conflicted after seeing what happened to this Seven's sister, makes me wonder if all those Spectres were nothing more than programmed puppets who had no choice in matter?" Sasha said glancing around at the group and Raymond nodded in agreement.
"Yeah I've been wondering that too, did you manage to pick up anything from the others towards an answer in that department Zix?' he asked glancing at the little extraterrestrial.
Zixxy shook her head and shrugged.
"Not really no, I was only able to ascertain the truth behind Judy when I deep-dived her mind and discovered the lies stacked atop the truths they had tried to erase, as to whether all of them are like that I could not say for certain, but what we do know is that all of them were brainwashed and 'trained' in the same way as she was, I saw the pods that had them plugged into where their indoctrination was occurring, that indicates to me they will all be as fanatical as her unless we manage to unplug them the same way," she said.
"Think they did the same thing to Seven's other sister, Chloe was it?' Lia asked and Zixxy shrugged again.
"No way to tell, Judy had no memories of her after the pair of them were taken away from the ward that was kept in, so it could be the case that they made her into a Spectre, or possibly she was more like Seven in that she had a Psionic ability and ended up in another part of that program, or maybe she's something more altogether, we'll need to locate that facility and gain access to their records to know for sure," Zixxy said.
Raymond sighed and nodded.
"Yeah I was afraid you'd say something like that, so we'll have to put that on the back burner for now with all that we've got going on around here at the moment, we need to start working on a counter push against the Enclave incursions plus we got that call from Wisp about a possible alliance with the Minutemen they want us to help mediate which would be an excellent boon for our local strength," Raymond said.
"Did she give a time frame on that one?" Paladin Wright asked and Raymond shook his head.
"Asked me to wait for Fuller's call as he's the one who has headed off to their base of operations to broker the deal, said he'd call when he needed us, she also asked if both yourself and Jewel would sit in as representatives of your respective groups as well," Raymond said and both of them nodded.
"No problems there, hell I'll go one better and call in a vertibird to lift us to the meeting, no better way to arrive than in style right?' Paladin Wright said with a grin.
"Awesome well that will take care of that then, so I suppose that leaves us with what you discovered from Judy's memories Zix," Raymond said turning to look at her expectantly.
"Yeah, I've been pouring over what I pulled out of her head and despite a lot of it being kinda fragmented as to the where's and who's I did pull both a name and a face of interest out, Dr Chalmers," she said and Raymond nodded.
"I've heard Seven mention her name before, from what I remember, she was the one responsible for overseeing the entire bio-weapon division, she was also the one responsible for torturing Seven while she was testing out his abilities, that woman has a lot to answer for if you ask me," Raymond said.
"She was also one of the people and I do use that term very loosely, who was in charge of the department that created the helmets designed to control Claws, who knows how many of my feral brethren they have enslaved in those vile devices, I am most sure that there are numerous packs feral and non-feral alike who would give up their tails to get some one on one time with that woman," Lia spat with pure vitriol and venom in her voice.
"Seems like she's gone right to the top of our hot target list, if she's the one pulling the strings on a lot of this shit being thrown at us, she would be an excellent candidate for a snatch-and-grab op if you ask me, get the feeling our interrogators would have a field day with her," Paladin Wright said with all of the normal joviality gone out of her voice.
"Not if a Claw gets hold of her first, you won't need interrogators or even a minute to get her to spill her deepest darkest secrets," Lia said flexing her wicked Claws for all to see to emphasise her point.
"We need her able to speak to be able to reveal said secrets my love," Raymond said placing a reassuring hand on his Claw girl's broad shoulder.
"Spoilsport," she said with a soft smile at him.
"Any idea where we might find the not-so-good doctor Zix?" Raymond asked glancing at her.
"Hmm that's a bit of a tricky one, I've seen quite her in quite a few of the memories from Judy but they were all from before she was transferred to the Spectre program, it seems that while she might have some say in that project it's not her area really, that seems to be overseen by a completely different department or team, the one face I've been able to pull out is a male doctor who goes by the name of Phillip Reinhold, seen his face quite clearly numerous times from when she was in the pod, seems he's the man in charge of the show over there," she said.
"Add another one to the list, I'll pass these names on to our intel division, maybe our moles inside the Enclave can pull us out some details on their whereabouts," Paladin Wright said and Raymond nodded approvingly.
"Now that would be useful indeed, hell even a general area, but tell them to be careful, these guys are going to be heavily protected and simply asking about them may raise some eyebrows to say the least, so as they say discretion is the better part of valour in this instance," he said.
"As for our more immediate problem here it seems that there were a couple of objectives all going on at once but none of the teams knew the full ins and outs of what the others were doing for security, though Judy was exceptionally good at her job and did get some minor details as to their objectives in the region, first of all the team we wiped out were tasked with capturing the Scorpians who were then going to be transported back to their base and onwards to the bio-weapons team, so lets put a pin in that one as there is a potential entry point there, second team were tasked with establishing a foothold in the region, of securing a base of operations and setting p transport routes so troops and weapons can be brought in, this is incredibly worrying as we have no idea where this team is operating or how far along with that they are, the third team is possibly the worst of the lot, they are a deep cover sabotauge and assassination team, they are tasked with going deep cover in the zone so for my money that means no power armour or other distinguishing marks, their job is to disrupt the peace process that is currently on going between us and the other power players in the region," Zixxy said.
Raymond's brow furrowed deeply and a mask of concern spread across his face.
"We need to alert our allies to this immediately, both the Brotherhood, the Valkyeries and everyone needs to know about this so they can be ready for them, the last thing we need is them derailing all that we've worked this hard to accomplish, the foothold is worrying of course but for my money the bigger threat is them attacking our allies and framing either us or one of the others for the attacks, it will undermine everything we have sought to accomplish, it could even plunge the whole region into an all-out conflict," Raymond said.
"Which is exactly what they want," Paladin Wright said causing them all to look up at her questioningly.
"Well think about it, the worst possible outcome for them would be this entire region united under one banner of peace, if that happens they will have a much much harder time of securing any kind of foothold or gains here as we would all actively work together to expel them, but if we're fractured and squabbling or better all-out fighting one another all they need to do is slip in and offer 'support' through various covert means before you know it the whole region is in chaos and we don't have the manpower or strength to kick them out, it's a tried and true tactic, turn allies into enemies and watch them do the work for you," she explained.
"The Elders will need to hear about this development at once!" Jewel exclaimed as the other Featherguards around her and even Adam nodded in agreement.
"Isn't Oliver assigned as the ambassador to the Brotherhood over at their base now?" Raymond asked and Jewel nodded.
"I like your thinking Raymond, we can warn both of our governments at the same time, if we get the Elder in charge and Oliver together we can report this to both of them and ensure that this news gets passed on to everyone," Paladin Wright said to much nodding from both the Brotherhood and the Featherguard.
"I'd like to pull Wisp into this call as well as she's got a hotline to the Railroad now given that she's working with them, though I don't know if she'll be able to reach Fuller before he makes it to the Minutemen compound but even so we'll make sure they are informed when we go there to negotiate the treaty with them," Raymond said.
"Excellent idea Raymond, with this base covered we'll nip this sneaky shit in the bud before they can kick off world war four down here, plus it will go a long way to bolstering the trust that we're building by ensuring everyone not only has a seat at the table for the news being delivered but will have an equal say in how to handle it," Jewel said.
Raymond quickly set about setting up the call to all of the parties involved and while it took a little while to get all of those required on the line finally he had a secure conference call with Wisp, Desdemona of the Railroad, Oliver and the Elder in charge of the Brotherhood compound.
"What's going on big green?" Wisp asked with a note of concern in her voice.
"Our efforts out here have picked up some intel that you're all gonna want to hear as it is very concerning to all of us so I wanted everyone at the table so we could go over it together," Raymond said.
"That sounds ominous," Oliver said, his voice sounding slightly crackly over the radio.
"That's one word for it," Raymond said and he went on to explain all that Zixxy had uncovered from Judy's memories with the others of the growing council.
"That is deeply disturbing news Raymond, do you have any way to verify it yet?' Elder Grey who was the newly promoted Elder in charge of the region asked.
"Not first hand no as this was intel extracted from an interrogated prisoner but I felt it prudent not to wait for you all to hear this," Raymond replied.
"I agree with Raymond this was intelligence we needed to hear as any efforts on their part to undermine our alliance cannot be allowed to proceed, not after this much blood has been spilt and feathers have been shed to reach this point," Oliver said passionately.
"Agreed and I know we are new to this debate and haven't formally been introduced to you all yet but we have seen first-hand the good works that Wisp and her people have done for us over here if it was not for the efforts of her and her people I doubt I or any of my people would be alive to take part in this conversation, we here at the Railroad stand behind our allies in the Free Peoples one hundred per cent and that now extends to their allies as well as we believe anyone trustworthy enough to be considered friends of these good people are our friends by extension," Desdemona said.
"Here here," Oliver said.
"Very well said Representative Desdemona, I could not have said it better myself, honestly when Paladin Wright brought both her testimony and plans to the council of Elders many thought she had gone mad, but having seen what has been accomplished by these good people in the short time that they have been here being nothing short of remarkable and having heard of Raymond's skills at the negotiating table as well as his fair handedness in resolving disputes I am inclined to take his word of warning at face value and act upon it," Elder Grey said.
"Agreed, in our time of need Raymond and his people came to us and not only saved a great many lives but created a peace and understanding that I feel gets stronger with every passing day, when I first arrived at this post I was looked at with suspicion but the more Featherguard that interact with the Brotherhood soldiers and the more Brotherhood scribes and Knights that visit our fair city and return with tales of wonder to their fellows have transformed those looks to ones of friendship and joy, now I receive joyful greetings and warm welcomes wherever I choose to flutter here, I will not let the Enclave break this truce apart, not when so many have worked so hard and given so much for it to happen," Oliver said passionately.
"Well said mister ambassador and the brotherhood stands with you fully on this issue, with regards to the news of the Enclave seeking to set up a foothold I will personally divert troops to routing them out," Elder Grey said.
"And I will ensure that the Elders divert FEatherguard scouts to aid them, the skies will remain firmly in our wings," Oliver said.
"On our end, I'll put the word out to my heavies on the ground and our agents in the field, if there's even a whisper of these fuckers about we'll hear about it and then you will all be first to know," Desdemona said.
"Excellent, well let me be the first to thank you for bringing this to our attention Representative Raymond, your actions only further reinforce to us your dedication to this cause and the peace it represents," Elder Grey said.
"Thank you for your kind words Elder but it was my people that are truly to thank, I am simply the point of contact, but we will make sure to pass along any further details we find out as well as the results of the meeting with the Minutemen, heres to a favourable outcome for all of us," Raymond said and with that, they all signed off but not before Paladin Wright cleared the Vertibird to drop off with Elder Grey when the time came.
"Well it finally seems like the board is set up, all that is left now is to get the final piece on the board and to get this game started," she said turning to the rest of the group.
"There's still the matter of the Institute to deal with, from Wisp's report they are still working on tracking them down but with the Railroad on our side now, hopefully, that should move things along quite swiftly, but they still remain a rouge element which could cause us problems further down the line," Raymond said.
"Is this institute really that much of a threat to the region?" Jewel asked and Paladin Wright nodded.
"I'm guessing your Featherguard haven't really come up against their synths yet have you?' she asked and Jewel glanced at her fellow Featherguards for confirmation to which she got a lot of shaking heads.
"No, I guess not," Jewel replied.
"Picture this, a robot with the mental capacity of a human but without the fear or empathy of one, fearless and calculating on the battlefield, it makes them a very worrisome opponent to deal with, so far the Brotherhood has only truly come up against the lower end models which are easily recognised as for the most part they kinda look like a metal skeleton come to life, still kinda a nightmare fuel if you ask me but only a slightly worse threat than the normal robots we see pottering around the wastes," Paladin wright said.
"Ok, so what is the problem then?" Jewel asked sounding confused now.
"Their latest models of synth look, sound and even feel just like a normal human, pretty much indistinguishable from the real thing, there have been reports of people disappearing all over the region only to be replaced with synthetic facsimiles, I can't begin to tell you how much of a problem let alone security nightmare this could turn out to be, they could have eyes and ears everywhere and we'd have no clue unless we find a way to counter it," Paladin Wright said.
"That sounds both awful and horrifying," Jewel said her voice taking on a note of alarm.
"That is why we have partnered up with the Railroad, you see from what we've learned these latest generation of synths are not mindless automatons or robots like people believe them to be, but instead sophisticated artificial intelligence with the same emotional ranges as any sentient being, which when you think about it is nothing more than slavery, the Institute is manufacturing thinking feeling beings to use as slaves, the very fact that these synths keep running away and trying to be free says it all in my book as being a slave is pretty much intolerable to any thinking, feeling, sentient being, so we hope to turn this very fact against the Institute by showing their captivies that there is another way to freedom," Raymond explained citing the details he'd learned from his update radio meeting with both Wisp and Seven recently.
"Do you believe it can really work?' Paladin Wright asked somewhat sceptically.
"I'll let you answer that for yourself as from what I understand one of Fuller's team is a freed synth who now actively fights against the Institue and works to free her brethren, so when you meet her and talk to her you can tell me," Raymond said.
Paladin Wright seemed rather surprised by this little revelation and Raymond could see the emotional spectrum flashing over her face as she played through a multitude of scenarios in her head.
"I wonder if it's only humans they have copied or whether they have made synthetic versions of other creatures as well?" Lia asked thoughtfully.
"Worried that there's soon gonna be a flood of synthetic Claw girls snapping up all the human boys?" Raymond said teasingly and Lia growled at him.
"I'm sure my human loving breathern would say that there can be no comparison to the real thing, but it matters not to me if said synthetic Claws snap up humans too dim to tell them apart from a true Alpha female Claw, as I already have claimed my male and he is most certainly not human," Lia purred running her long fingers over his shoulders teasingly.
"From what Seven was saying it might tick off a few of our new Gatorclaw allies though," Zixxy said jokingly.
Suddenly their radio began to beep and everyone glanced at one another as Raymond reached for it and tuned it in.
"Go ahead," Raymond said without identifying himself.
"I understand your the man I need to see about a dog?" an unfamiliar voice said over the radio but using one of the code phrases the team used to identify one another.
"Yeah but the only type we have in stock is the scaley variety," Raymond said shooting Lia a grin as he said it as he knew full well this particular passphrase combo irked her something fierce as was evident from all the growling and tail swishing currently occuring.
"Ahh excellent, well I assume you've been briefed and I'm just calling to let you know we have arrived on site and have already provided the bona fidus you'll need, so if you guys can hot tail it down here we would appreciate it, co-ordinates to follow," Fuller said before he listed off a set of co-ordinates which Raymond noted down.
"Alright got it, will meet you there and we'll deliver you one scaley dog, see you soon," Raymond said still grinning at the still snarling Lia whose tail seemed to have turned into a propeller attached to her arse.
The next call was from Paladin Wright to the Brotherhood to confirm their airlift and given the size of the team it was decided that they would send three Vertibirds one regular and two cargo types to hoist the whole team in one hit, so all they had to do now was wait.
It didn't take long for the thundering of rotors to be heard on the horizon and as they got closer Paladin Wright popped what appeared to be a smoke grenade before tossing it into a clearing nearby sending a long plume of thick orange smoke into the air.
"Looks like our private time will have to wait a while, though who knows maybe they'll have some actual beds at this place the Minutemen are running, sure would beat a bed roll on a tent floor or a basement for what I have in mind for you," Zixxy said softly to Lucas as she stood up from his lap and gave him a playful smile while cocking her hip seductively at him.
Even with his helmet on she heard him swallow hard and that made her smile widen, god she suddenly knew exactly why all the other non-humans in their group were so addicted to these surprisingly pretty creatures, they were just so expressive and easy to read, plus their hearts and bodies were just so honest.
"I hope so too," Lucas said softly as he stood up to watch the three Vertibirds landing in the clearing next to them.
Once everyone was loaded into the Vertibirds the team took off into the air, the flight to the Fort was not going to be a long one as it was only a few miles away from their current location but they sure were going to be arriving in style and it would be good to finally meet some of Wisp's new team members after all this time.
As Raymond walked down the ramp of the cargo Vertibird he saw two humans walking towards him that he didn't recognise, one was a rather gruff-looking no no-nonsense black woman and the other was a white male with short brown hair and very sharp eyes.
But there was one face he did recognise and well to be fair he really wasn't that hard to spot in a crowd and neither was the person standing next to him.
"Malakai! Ven! It's good to see you again my friends!" Raymond yelled over the noise of the roaters which had spun up again to lift the Vertibirds back into the air as they headed for home, this was a one-way stop and drop after all.
"Raymond! it's good to see you again and what in the name of hell happened to your jacket? Are those fucking Claw marks!?" Malakai said loudly before turning to frown at Lia who was standing next to him giving him a smirk.
"it is not my fault if my male's annoying coverings are not Claw proof, what is a healthy Claw girl to do about such things when her honest desires get the better of her?" Lia said trying to put on an innocent and sweet voice but coming from a Claw it seriously sounded off.
Malakai put his hand to his face and dragged it down it, "Well I can see my talents are gonna be sorely needed around here, oh boy just look at these tears and all this fraying!! Oh my goodness, this will not do at all, honestly Raymond what would you do without me, well never fear malakai is here, I'll have your team looking like the proud representatives of the Free Peoples that they are in no time!" the large fluffy spider boy said scuttling in and out of the team inspecting the state of their clothing closely with his incredibly sharp plethora of eyes.
"It is good to see you again cousin and it is good to see that some things never change," Lia said to Ven as they both watched the Archnakai boy rapidly liberating various garments of clothing from confused-looking Ronin and others alike before scurrying away with his bounty to get to work.
"Indeed and then again somethings do, congratulations dear cousin, I do believe Seven would make a joke about the Claw lovers club meets every tuesday but it brings your own Claw at this point," Ven said shooting a grin between Lia and Raymond.
"What can I say, I like my males big, handsome and well-green," she said playfully.
"Introductions! Raymond, Lia and assorted others whose names I will learn I promise, please allow me to introduce you to Fuller formally of the Enclave's ESF and Glory of the Railroad, they will be handling our part of the negotiations, Glory and Fuller allow me to introduce Raymond and Lia of the Free Peoples," Gregory said gesturing to the pair who had stood watching the whole thing patiently.
Raymond walked over and stuck out his hand to both of them and they shook it one after the other.
"Good to meet you both, heard a lot about you," Fuller said.
"Wish I could say the same in truth, Wisp kept your existence close to her sparkly chest," Raymond said with a genuine smile.
"Yeah she didn't want to publicize my existence across the radio just in case the Enclave managed to crack our encryption for obvious reasons but don't you worry I'll fill you in on any question you'll have," Fuller said.
"Well my first one is this, who are you?" Raymond asked turning to look at a young Japanese woman who was told to their right.
"Ahh now this is where it gets real fun, allow me to introduce you to Yumi once formally known as number Nine," Gregory said and Raymond's eyebrows shot right up.
"Another number, well this really is getting interesting," he said and with that the group turned to watch as a group of uniformed soldiers came marching out of the nearby fort to meet them, it was game time.