Radiance

Chapter 107: Walking in Shadow.

Seven was awoken by a blaring alarm that seemed to roll through the compound like a wave of pure headache washing over everyone and everything in its path.

Visa whom he'd been sleeping atop of sat bolt upright with a loud snort and looked around bleary-eyed, "Ugh wazzat?" she groaned obviously trying to force her mind through the narrow aperture of sleep and back into full consciousness.

Thankfully the adrenaline kick of nearly being catapulted across the room by his Claw lover snapped Seven out of his stupor and back into reality, causing his senses to snap sharp like someone flicking his balls with a rubber band.

"It's the perimeter alarm!!" he exclaimed rolling out of bed and not even bothering to get fully dressed before jumping into his power armour as Visa fought against their sheets and momentarily turning into a scene of a female Claw fighting some kind of tentacled hentai monster that was attempting to restrain her before having its wicked way with her before she finally managed to break free and leap to her feet.

As the pair of them burst out of their room in the now repurposed saloon they immediately saw some of the Gatorclaws that had set up camp alongside the freed slaves in town pouring out of the mines all carrying some form of melee weaponry that had obviously been produced in the Safari Zone.

The most recognisable among them was Thundertail who had led the group over here in the first place, she came bounding up to them now kitted out in the upgraded version of the armour the rest of Seven's team and Eve had been working on while also holding what appeared to be some kind of over-sized sword that had been made from cut and sharpened steel, she was also now supporting a rather nasty looking spiky morningstar on the tip of her tail.

"What is noise? What happening?" she asked having to shout over the din.

"Something has tripped the perimeter alarm, the protectrons guarding this place have been switched back into security mode and they are programmed to patrol this place and defend it while also alerting us to any encroaching threats," Seven said not sure how much his explanation Thundertail was grasping but she seemed to understand.

"Gatorclaws protect the settlers make sure nothing gets into the mines, we'll deal with whatever this is!" Seven called out to the large group of confused-looking Gatorclaws who were all looking around themselves for the source of the unholy din.

All of them nodded and head back the way they'd come to form a phalanx at the entrance to the mines where some of the freed human slaves were now peeking out to see what was going on.

Seven. Visa and Thundertail all headed towards the source of the noise and that's when they all noticed the other Protectron Sherrif's all heading in that direction as well, when they arrived they found one of the potectrons with a large spinning red light inside its head and it appeared to have had one of its legs shot off though it was still firing into the darkness with its lasers at some unseen assailant.

A soft thud to his left drew Seven's attention and he turned just in time to see a small orb-like object roll to a stop, "Grenade!!!" he yelled causing both Visa and Thundertail to dive for cover while out of pure instinct, Seven surrounded the orb in telekinetic energy but before he could pitch it back the way it had come it detonated.

But rather than explode in a blast of shrapnel or plasma the grenade emitted a blinding flash of white light which fried Seven's night vision and caused him to her recoil trying to shield his eyes.

While he couldn't see them he heard about three more of the stun grenades landing all around him so without even thinking Seven sent a powerful wave of telekinetic energy out into the darkness in the direction he hoped they'd come from pitching all but one of the unseen orbs with it.

These unfortunately were not stun grenades like the first one, each one detonated sending out a brilliant blue wave of energy in an ever-expanding bubble from their flash point which as soon as it made contact with his suit sent the whole thing dark.

"Fuck! EMP!" Seven yelled as his suit went into a reboot sequence, while its internal circuitry was hardened to protect it from EMP it was not fully shielded against its effects and while the suit itself would survive the attack it would need to reboot to restore functionality, which essentially left Seven a man in a can until the suit unlocked.

A shot rang off the hull making the whole suit ring like a bell as someone tried to pierce it, this was swiftly followed by a second one from a different direction which impacted against the helmet, fortunately, whoever was shooting didn't seem to be using armour piercing ammo or right about then Seven would have had a rather nasty hole right through his face.

From his left, he heard Visa bellow a roar as she realised her male was being shot at and she charged off into the darkness swiftly followed by Thundertail in hot pursuit, "Fuck this shit!" Seven yelled to himself and using his telekinetic hands he reached for the manual release of the back of the suit and cranked it to free himself though now it did leave him standing out in the field in fuck all but his underwear.

Just in time, he threw up a telekinetic bubble shield around his body to protect himself from incoming fire while he wrenched his plasma rifle from his suit's frozen hands, no sooner had he freed it than he felt something impact the shield making the energy ripple like water around him.

Having caught what looked like a muzzle flash off to his right Seven turned and fired in the perceived direction of the shot, he knew the chances of hitting the perpetrator in the pitch black was slim but it would at least make them get their heads down if it went close.

A series of glowing green projectiles ripped from the gun and lit the area up in an eerie green glow as they sailed towards where Seven had perceived the shot to have come from and no sooner had they impacted than they set some foliage on fire causing the area around it to become illuminated.

That's when he saw them, human figures dressed all in black who melted into the shadows around them as rapidly as they'd been exposed, 'No you fucking don't!!" Seven yelled firing at the shadows he tried reaching out with his mind but without a true target to grab his invisible hands got hold of nothing but air.

But his shots were not so unlucky as he saw one of them impact a figure sending it spiralling as the green plasma bored a glowing and smoking hole right through its torso, but its comrades didn't return for it they simply melted into the night and vanished like phantoms.

Shortly after Seven was able to get his armour back up and running and he climbed back into the suit again just before Visa and Thundertail emerged from the shadows next to the downed potectron which had now thankfully shut off its alarm call, the other Sherrif's were combing the hillside where the figures had been but it appeared they were having no luck.

"Anything?' he asked and both of the Claw girls shook their heads, "Cowards run into night when they see lucky Claw Visa and Thundertail coming," Thundertail said.

"Fuckers shot at MY male when I catch hold of them I'll tear them into little bits and use their entrails to fertilise the soil so my Gatorclaw brethren can grow their crops!!" Visa snarled stomping up to Seven before inspecting his suit for breaches.

Seven reached out and gently stroked her arm, "Armour did its job sugar tail it's all good though I wasn't expecting bloody EMP these fuckers were smart, they were obviously prepared to fight both organic and robotic opponents though I don't think they were banking on either two angry Claws or my hidden talents," he said.

"Who the fuck were they? Those were not raiders," Visa said and Seven shrugged.

"No idea but I bagged one of them with a lucky shot over there lets go and see what we're dealing with shall we?" he said and Visa snarled before nodding her large horned head.

The trio walked up the hill to where Seven had managed to clip one of the shadowy figures and right there in a patch of burning shrubbery was a human figure with a neat hole drilled right through its chest, "Let's get this fucker back to the town where we can get a better look at them shall we?" Seven said using his telekinesis to lift the limp body before turning and heading back down the hill.

The trio left the Sherrifs to finish up their sweep before the robots dragged their fallen comrade off back to the workshed where they began to repair it while they carted the body to the mines where both the Gatorclaws and their human charges were waiting for them.

The inside of the mines was beginning to look like a town within a town now or rather a shanty town as the freed slaves had begun building themselves little homes within the mine's protective walls, they parted like the red sea as Seven as his two Claw companions passed between them carrying the floating body before he laid it down in a well-lit area.

The figure was dressed from head to toe in black, they had a bandolier filled with weapon magazines and various types of grenades around their chest, and they had on what looked to be a large leather duster coat over the top of tightly wrapped black cloth pants and a hooded top.

Covering their face was some kind of hockey-style mask designed to hide their face but also to obscure their skin in the dark as it was like their clothing, matte black.

"A fucking Shadow Walker!" someone in the crowd exclaimed and Seven's head snapped around to locate the speaker that turned out to be a young-looking man in his mid-twenties.

"You've seen these people before?" he asked and the man shook his head.

"Not seen directly no, fuck man no-one sees these guys, their like living shadows, most people think they're myth but I've seen the results of the shit they've done to the raiders before but done let that little fact give you the wrong idea, I've seen them string up a slave caravan slaves and all because they were forced to go through their territory," he said.

"So friend to neither slave nor slaver, are we in their territory here?" Visa asked and the guy looked at her a little wide-eyed obviously still not used to speaking to a Claw but he shook his head.

"No their territory is north of here at the top of Nukaworld near the swamps," he said.

"So what would they be doing all the way down here then?" Seven wondered aloud and the man shrugged.

"No idea maybe they saw what you did to the camp that was holding us and decided to send you a message to stay away?" he offered.

"More like a threat," Visa snarled while Thundertail nodded her large reptilian head in agreement.

"They's shoots at lucky alpha Claw Visa's pretty human, is not warning is threat and bad one at that, could have killed pretty human if not for armour!" she said pointing at the strike marks on Seven's suit that made Visa snarl even deeper and swish her long tail in anger.

"Great so we got raiders and shadow-loving loonies to deal with now it never gets any easier does it?' Seven said with a sigh but then he saw Visa glaring at the bullet strike on the chest of his suit and he nodded, he knew the response she would expect here and the only one she would accept, besides he needed to make sure these fucking loony toons didn't get any more ideas about attacking the compound though that had just done them somewhat of a favour by exposing a bit of a hole in their defences one he'd be sure to fill in.

"I think we're gonna have to return this 'warning' warning in kind don't you my love?" he said and her face cracked into a dark fang-filled smile.

"You read my mind, my male," she growled menacingly.

Seven leaned down and lifted the mask from the face of the body on the floor instantly revealing the face of a man no older than Seven himself, he was white-skinned to the point where it looked like he had never seen sunlight let alone basked in its warmth, he had straw coloured cropped hair that had been shaved down short all over his head and given they were frozen open green eyes.

"What waste, is pretty human sad we had to kill," Thundertail said sounding genuinely sad over the loss of this young life.

"I agree Thundertail it was needless and pointless but I swore to protect these people and I will not back down from a threat like this, I will not allow them to harm these good people here, if they want to go after the raiders all power to them but I will not allow them to harm innocent people," Seven said and Thundertail nodded her long head making her snout bob up and down.

"Me's understands Seven and me's will not hesitate if they's comes back, will stand tall and proud like a good Claw and will face them down, will not let them hurt good humans," she said and Seven patted her arm.

"Thanks, Thundertail I knew I could count on you," he said and Visa patted her other arm.

"It's what good Claws do we protect those who cannot protect themselves, we show them that we are not monsters but are just like them, we lend them our strength so they can see for themselves who we really are," she said and again Thundertail nodded.

"Me's understands lucky Alpha Claw Visa," she said.

"Alright people huddle up we've got a new problem and we're going to solve it, me, Visa and Thundertail will take care of hunting these fucking loonies down but in the meantime, we need to make sure these fuckers don't get in here so here's what we're gonna do, we're gonna shore this place up and lock it down, if those fuckers come back before we find them they are going to be in for a big surprise, so here's what we're gonna do......" Seven said before he began outlining his plan to the gathered humans and Gatorclaws.

The first part of Seven's plan was to shore up the defensive perimeter of the town, he wanted high walls that would be a pain in the arse for them to either see over or to scale, this was going to be achieved by dismantling some of the useless attractions and using the materials to build high siding all the way around the town, this was then going to be lined on the inside by sandbags filled with a mixture of sand and gravel to ensure that the walls simply couldn't be shot through.

The next step was to get lookouts up in the high spots of the town and these would be cycled out every two hours to ensure that the sentries didn't become either bored or complacent, this would include the church belfry which while fake still served as a good vantage point, as did the water tower which had ironically once been filled with Nukacola.

The last step was to turn both the freed slaves and the Gatorclaws into an effective fighting force capable of repelling any invasion either by radiers or by these Shadow Walkers, this was going to be the most time-consuming and difficult task as the building part was surprisingly easy as the Gatorclaws immense strength made them incredibly useful when it came to shifting around the massive section of wall or sandbags.

One effect of this ambitious project as it was proceeding was that Seven noticed that the human settlers were rapidly warming up to their reptilian cohorts and he began to notice friendships starting to form between the Gatorclaws and the humans as the humans began to see how willing to both help them and defend them their new friends were.

He actually noticed people preparing refreshments and bringing them to the hungry and thirsty Gatorclaws as they worked, he even saw one particularly large Gatorclaw male giving piggyback rides to some curious kids who were sat happily atop his massive shoulders as he lumbered along carrying heavy bags.

"This is the epitome of what we are trying to build isn't it?" Visa suddenly said from his left holding out a glass of freshly made lemon cordial to Seven as he used his telekinis to hoist a massive piece of metal siding into place for three Claws to secure up.

He smiled at her and took the glass from her with one of his biological hands while still using his mind to hold the heavy panel up, he was currently out of his armour but was now thankfully dressed.

"This is exactly what I envisioned, I mean look at this, humans and Claws working together as if they've always been friends," he said gesturing around himself at all the construction work which was proceeding incredibly rapidly.

"I know its wonderful to see it really is," Visa said with a smile as she looked over at a group of the more frail humans who while unsuited to construction were already getting a farm on the go and were instructing some of the younger Gatorclaws how to plant and sow crops.

"If we can spread this around the country who knows where we could end up in a hundred years, hell we might not have only rebuilt this ruined country but built it stronger and better," Seven said as the Gatorclaws gave him the thumbs up to say for him to release the panel from his grip which he did letting it sit firmly in place.

"Kinda funny and ironic that out of all the places that we could truly start this thing that it should truly begin here in a place dedicated to the old world eh?" Visa said looking around at the attractions still advertising Nukacola products.

"Ashes of the old and all that," Seven said with a smile patting her massive scaled thigh.

"So how are we gonna track down these Shadow fuckers?" Visa growled glancing off towards the hillside that was now obscured behind the high walls of the town.

"Yeah been thinking about that myself, think you got enough of those old Claw hunting senses of yours left over to be able to track them through this environment?" he asked and Visa suddenly gave him a very toothy grin.

"You thinking we go old school on this my love?" she asked cocking her head to one side and he shrugged.

"Well we're up against people that like to use the darkness as their ally who will strike fast, hard and melt away before we get the chance to respond, so we gotta take the fight directly to them not give them the chance to pull their ninja guerilla warfare bullshit, not that I'm dissing their tactics as we saw last night they are highly effective even against us fuck me if it wasn't for my power armour and telekinesis I'd be all kinds of dead, so we need to nip these fuckers in the bud before they regroup and try that shit again, we need to send the rest of their number a very clear message," he said and she nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, one that says come anywhere near this place and we'll skin you and turn it into a Gatorclaw loin cloth!" Visa growled.

"Don't let Thundertail hear you say that pretty sure she'd prefer to have her human's skin stall attached to him," Seven said making Visa chuckle and then narrowing her eyes at him.

"As do I," she said looking him up and down.

"Me's hears me's name what is being said?" a familiar voice said from their left and both turned to see Thundertail emerging from behind a building carrying two huge bags of freshly crushed gravel and sand mix balanced on a large piece of steel rebar across her massive shoulders.

"Oh we were just discussing how to track these fuckers down and to take the fight to them and we were wondering how good Gatorclaws sense of smell is?' Seven said quickly.

Thundertail put the huge bags down with a heavy thud that sent little plumes of dust exploding into the air around her, "Me's can smell out a molerat hiding underground at two hundred feet!" Thundertail said proudly.

Seven looked at her in surprise, "Wow really? I never imagined Aligators would have that good of a sense of smell considering they were ambush predators," he said.

Thundertail simply shrugged, "Me's not know the science you's have to ask Miss Eve about that all me's knows is me's can smell a human from two hundred paces out in the open if that helps?" she said.