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Chapter 15: weightless

>Water gently slaps the side of the boat Ray is piloting as you check and double check and triple check your Gear, ensuring it's clean and ready.

>"You're sure she's alive?" you ask again as you look to Ray, who rolls his eyes in annoyance at you asking the same question at least 4 times in the last hour.

>"Yes, she's alive, they need her alive for her venom, like I said before, they need her to keep producing it so they can smoke it, plus you heard that centurion" he answers for the 4th time, rolling his eyes in annoyance

>You nod but those words don't give you any real kind of comfort.

>How were those legion bastards getting her venom out of her?

>She wasn't biting at them that's for sure, if she was a biter you would be dead.

>You look at the bright green "11" on your arm where Gracie bit you to slow your heart so she could save your life.

>flashes of a memories flicker in your mind as you stare at the makeshift tattoo.

>A ragged snekdog playing dead as you looked for something to eat in broc flower cave.

>Gracie turning herself into a pirate as she held a rifle scope too close.

>Her turning invisible to try to steal from Ray.

>Stealing food from the NCR, her heat in vault 11, meeting her sister, going to the sierra madre

>The tears after almost smelling out her sister.

>Nearly dying for her.

>Gracie declaring you were her mate.

>Every hug, every snuggle, every time you felt for her was dregged up.

>Those memories weigh on your mind.

>"We're almost there" comes Ray's quiet rumble, shaking you from your introspection.

>You glance at the giant of a man who was steering the boat with utmost confidence.

>"Huh? You know the way to the legion camp just like that? Don't need a map?" you ask, trying to lead him into explaining.

>"I know the way" he answers simply, glancing at you for the barest of moments before looking back up to the horizon and pointing.

>Annoyed with his lack of answers; you Grab your Gobi scout rifle and peer down the scope in the direction he pointed.

>To your surprise, you see what looks like a wooden gate next to a dock, two lonely guards wearing ragtag legionary armor stand on either side of it.

>"How did-?" you start to ask only to have Ray quickly cut you off

>"Dealt with them before, warned them then, no more warnings"

>You nod at that information and sight your rifle on the sentries.

>"Easy pickings" you think to yourself as you try to align the sights of the rifle only to find it blurry.

>You curse to yourself and pull off your helmet, trying to focus on the guard despite your missing eye.

>For a long moment, you try to focus your vision through the scope but are unable to really get a good sight picture.

>"Can you hit them?" you ask raising the sniper rifle in annoyance so Ray can see it.

>"Hard to aim right ever since I got this" He answers stiffly, waving the hook at you.

>"Use my shoulder, there are only two guards" you reply, handing over the long rifle to him.

>You feel the cold steel barrel of the gun rest on your right shoulder shoulder as you plug your ear with the same hand.

>"Hold your breath for 5"

>You take a long breath and hold it as 2 separate shots ring out, so close together you're surprised if he even hit anything.

>As you shake your head from the gentle ringing in your ear as Ray shoves a half a binocular into your hand with his hook.

>"Look" he rasps as you grab the now monocular from him and stare down it with your good eye.

>Both guards are slumped over; both look like they never knew what hit them.

>For anyone else you might have been shocked at the efficiency, but you had seen how Ray worked dealing with the Fiends.

>This only cements the thought in your mind he was the right man to call for this.

>"Nice shooting" you say, staring at the slumped bodies.

>"Used to snipe better before the hook, they wouldn't have their heads anymore if I still had my hand" Ray grunts without any bravado.

>You take a long look at him, expecting him to back up a boast like that, only for him to frown slightly at the hook.

>Your mind races, thinking of it.

>He hit 2 targets, barely aiming on a moving boat, yet he was sure he could've done headshots before.

>Good thing he's on your side you guess.

>The boat skips across the water faster now, Ray goosing the small engine along to take advantage of the opening you both made.

>"Ready?" Ray asks as he pilots the boat near the dock.

>"I'm rea-" you start to answer as you pull your helmet back on and look back to Ray.

>for a moment you're struck dumb at the sight of him.

>Ray is in a starters position for running, it would look silly if he didn't look so deadly.

>Through his coat you can see coiled tight muscle like a steel springs ready to snap.

>In that moment, he doesn't look like a human, but an approximation of a human made only of muscle and metal and bone.

>His long coat was stretched tight, his defining hat gently set in the boat as though it was his most prized possession.

>You're nearly thrown off your feet as the boat hits the shore and before you can recognize it, Ray is gone in a blur.

>That is "nearly"; you respond a second behind Ray, launching yourself after him even though he is much faster than you.

>Maybe it was knowing you had a powerful ally covering your back, maybe it was your bloodlust and anger that the legion had dared take your mate.

>There is blind confidence, the knowledge nothing here could stop you or Ray.

>And the words told to you before you left Nellis.

>"War is in your blood"

>Your mind rewinds to being in vault 11, You and Gracie wading through the bones of hundreds of dead people.

>The connection you had fought to hold with her, the fear she would throw you aside like the boomers did.

>Only for that fear to be her afraid to connect to you too early, with her at the time unexplained heat.

>If Gracie had come onto you then, would you react the way you did now?

>To be honest, you aren't sure, but now was different.

>The memories weigh you down as you surge forwards.

>Another flash in your memory as your shotguns muzzle flashes, pulverizing an oncoming attacker.

>Gracie, playing dead after a legion attack and letting you think she got hit by a stray round.

>Ray coming at you "Slavers Ain't friends little lady"

>In the absolute confusion a few men challenge you; all of them wearing ill fitting sports gear while throwing badly made spears while screaming "retribution!"

>The spears hit your armor, and it, in contrast to the rest of the Seirra Madre is built solid; they hit you and simply bounce off, leaving small nicks in the armor.

>All of the legionaries are reduced little more than torn up corpses as your coin filled shells tear through them.

>With a calculated throw, you toss a few depleted power cores into the center of a group of tents and confused men, then calmly shoot one to cause a wave of nuclear devastation.

>Another flash of memory; Gracie playing dead with you, Amber, and Pip as you opened the way to the Sierra Madre with a similar explosion.

>The screams and carnage are nothing as you and Ray tear through the legion camp; but for a single moment you stop and watch as Ray moves through the legionnaires, a whirling dervish of death.

>His hook opens throats to air while somehow diverting thrown spears at other legionaries, his shotgun blasting precisely to cause the most destruction.

>You feel a small sense pride as a shower of coins rings out of the end of his worn lever action shotgun like a symphony of bells.

>Pandemonium means "the place of all demons" or in more modern terms, a Chaotic situation.

>Together with Ray, You were causing in Pandemonium with a capital "P" as you both tear through the people that stole Gracie away.

>In an odd, clinical, set apart of your mind you notice these legionnaires aren't really good at ranged combat.

>For starters almost none of these ones are using firearms and the ones that have guns seem to have no idea how to use them.

>They don't use cover opting to instead simply ran at you; all the while not aiming down the sights.

>Regardless, you stop for a moment to toss a plasma grenade then dive behind a rocky outcropping.

>There is no down time in combat, but in the moment behind cover you reload your riot shotgun with 12 new shells, ready to cause more carnage.

>You break cover after a few bullets hit the dirt around you, kicking up small puffs of dust.

>It only takes you a moment to observe what's going on.

>In the chaos many legionnaires simply ran away, not bothering to see that only 2 men had attacked their encampment, sounding like an army.

>The rest are having issues with the now thick smoke caused my your grenades and fusion cell detonation.

>You're torn from your introspection as Ray Shouts "Boomer!" as he tosses something to you.

>With your right hand you fire a round of coins into the chest of a legionnaire, while with your left hand you snatch the flung object out of the air.

>It only takes a moment for you to realize its his lever action shotgun.

>His empty lever action shotgun.

>"Ray! 11 shells!" You call out, throwing your riot shotgun to him.

>He catches it deftly with his hook, flipping it with a flourish then turns a group of approaching legionnaires into nothing more than shredded meat and ketchup.

>You kneel and quickly start Loading shells into his gun, 5 shells, then a quick lever cock with one more shell to top it off.

>Honestly, you had wondered how he reloaded it with his hook.

>A Shotgun blast goes off in the direction of Ray and you hear a thud on your blind side.

>You turn to see a dying man writhing in pain.

>"Still getting used to the missing eye?" he calls out in a conversational tone, like we was discussing the weather.

>"Yea first time in real combat since I lost it" you answer sourly but trying to keep the same tone, racking the lever on his shotgun.

>"Yea I know what you mean, took me a bit to get used to the hook" he laments as you fire a slug round into the throat of a man charging with a busted power fist.

>"How'd that happen anyway?" you ask, finding it odd and somewhat normal for Ray to be the most talkative on the battlefield.

>For a moment there is a lull in battle as the remaining members of the legion attempt to regroup.

>You look at him as he makes a wide slash with the metal limb, cutting the men charging him down.

>"Catch" he says, tossing you your gun, you casually toss his back.

>"Lost my hand trying to fist a robobrain" he japes with a boyish smile, waving the limb at you "She said she had more biological parts than just the brain"

>You choke on your laughter and nearly drop your gun mid reload, not wanting to offend him if that really was how he lost his hand.

>"R-really?" you managed to cough out, trying to stay stoic and serious.

>"No" he responds flatly "Incoming" he says in the same flat voice, motioning to his left with a nod of his chin.

>You turn and see what looks like the highest ranking or the legion members there.

>Shiny metal and feathers decorate their armor.

>But hell, they are still using fireaxes and swords made of scrap.

>the sound of coins hitting metal echoes through the air, slugs and buckshot cut them down as you and Ray unload your shotguns.

>Seriously, its like shooting fish in a barrel, the ones in front died first, tripping up those coming behind them.

>You almost feel insulted, they didn't try to flank you or anything.

>Finally the last one falls, leaving a pile of dead and dying.

>Ray stalks over to the pile of bodies and moaning men, the last remnant trying to stop yours and his stampede.

>You follow him, calmly reloading you gun as you stalk calmly behind the larger man.

>With his hook he fishes (ahah puns) out one of the least injured men, one that seems to only have a few leg injuries.

>"I ask, You answer" he rasps out menacingly, shaking the man like he was just a leaf.

>"Where is the oracle?!"

>"I won't say, she belongs to the visage of Nero!" the man gasps out, clearly in pain and weakly trying to escape Rays grasp.

>Hm? Visage of Nero? Weren't you dealing with Legate Nero? Doesn't matter, they have Gracie regardless.

>"Oh don't you worry about that, we've bought her" you say, calmly picking up a blood covered legion coin from the ground and pressing it against his chest armor.

>It sticks a bit and slides down, leaving a blood smear.

>The mans face pales, as realization dawns on his face at what had been used to kill hiss fellow soldiers.

>Or maybe from blood loss.

>Eh whatever works.

>"I-I die with honor"

>Ray positions his shotguns barrel against the now trembling mans thigh

>"Yet you will perish all the same, long and slow while we leave you and find the oracle regardless"

>"Tell us and you may live to fight another day" You say as you casually flip a large bloodied coin, letting the blood on it flick onto the poor prisoners face.

>You see the will to live with supposed duty war in his eyes.

>"I'll count to 3, where is the oracle" Ray grunts.

>"Three"

>"Two"

>"On-"

>"OK! Ok...She is being held in the visages tent" The defeated man says, motioning to a larger than average tent surrounded by a few smaller ones.

>"Good" Ray rumbles, then brutally bashes the man across the face with the butt of his shotgun, knocking him out.

>"Hm, I woulda kept him awake in case he lied" you say as you start walking towards the indicated tent.

>"He wasn't lying, I got a good eye for that kinda stuff" Ray responds, leaning his gun on his shoulder negligently.

>You simply nod at him and observe the legion camp.

>Tents are steadily catching fire from the grenades and fusion cores you detonated, a few are already smoking ruins.

>"I thought there would be more than this" you remark, indicating to a few bodies on the ground.

>"Most fled as soon as the shooting started, and the explosions; they probably thought a whole army was attacking them off guard with all the noise we made" Ray responds, casually flipping his shotgun on his hook.

>You nod as you watch another tent collapse while engulfed in flames.

>"Makes sense, we should get out of here before they reform and counter attack" you supply as you grab the tent flap and pull it open for Ray.

>He grunts in reply then slides in, quiet as a serpent.

>You follow, letting the heavy canvas of the tent shut behind you.

>for a moment, you're transfixed at the inside of the tent, and you feel Ray is too.

>Decadence, at least it is compared to the rest of the camp.

>While the rest of the camp has been eating scavenged scraps and plants, their "leader" has been eating steak.

>Instead of a bedroll he has a 4 poster bed with a thick plush mattress.

>While his soldiers died defending him, he cowered.

>You and ray found the so called "visage of Nero" trembling and wide eyed, a gilded knife held against Gracie's neck.

>Not even her throat, he's trembling too much to keep it level as he holds her like a shield between you and her.

>The "visage of Nero" isn't a bad looking guy; he has a full 6 pack and bulging muscles but you're able to see its all for show.

>Gracie is doing what she always does, playing dead and being absolute dead weight.

>"B-b-begone fiends! the legion has n-n-no quarrels with y-you" he manages to get out, staring from you to Ray trying to figure out which would be better to talk to.

>All the while he struggles to hold Gracie's dead weight up.

>He seems to focus on you for a moment, you can't blame him after all Ray is a 7 foot something hook handed giant covered in blood, while you look extremely generic with your helmet covering your scars.

>You feel the anger in you ignite as you try to surge forwards towards him, Ray barely able to hold you back.

>"NO QUARREL? GIMME BACK GRACIE AND I'LL KILL YOU QUICKLY" you scream surging forwards only for Ray to hold you back with both arms, even then you drag him forwards several feet.

>Your reaction might be 0 to 100, but this is your mate, the woman you decided to make yours.

>And they stole her.

>But as much as you fight Ray's grip you can't escape it.

>It feels like he's done this before.

>The whatever of Nero recoils at your sudden outburst, trying to get away while still trapped in the tent.

>Ray, for all his calmness, simply grunts.

>"Rosa, I know you're there, kill the visage"

>You pause your struggle for a moment, looking at Ray, then at the Visage.

>He looks around, wide eyed and obviously terrified.

>"You! W-who are you talking to!?" he cries, pointing the knife at Ray; letting Gracie slip a bit from his grip

>Then a chunk of meat simply disappears from his throat.

>The man looks surprised for all of a a second, then drops Gracie and his knife; falling to his knees as blood pours out of the giant hole in his neck as he ties feebly to stop the bleeding.

>You hear a disgusted "ptoo" sound and see a bloody chunk of what was once the Visage's throat as Ray releases you.

>In a flash, you're at Gracie's side, gently rubbing her ears as you look her over for any injuries.

>You pull off your helmet and cradle her in your arms gently.

>"Gracie...Gracie wake up its me, its Boomer"

>Gracie's eyes snap open and focus on you.

>"Anon! you're here! I knew you would come for me!" She cries happily, flinging her arms around you and burying her face into your chest.

>"I knew it, I just knew you would save me" She cries softly as you cradle her and pull her closer.

>"Nothing would stop me" you respond, gently kissing her forehead.

>It feels like a weight has been lifted from your hear as you hold your silly snekdog close.

>You and Gracie sit together like that for a little while, arms around each other before you hear a quiet "Ahem"

>Ray, for his part has given you and Gracie space for your reunion, but he's looking in one direction with a small frown.

>"I hate to sour this, but we gotta go, the legion has regrouped"

>Reluctantly, you get to your feet and help Gracie up, nodding at him.

>You don't know how he knows they've regrouped but you trust he's right.

>"Right sorry, time for that later, lets get out of here but uh...Who's Rosa?" you ask as you shove your helmet back on.

>Ray simply points, directing your attention to a pitcher of water that is now floating and pouring itself.

>A small nightstalker appears, pouring water into her mouth and rinsing blood out of her sharp teeth.

>Seeing how Gracie made a habit of eating things with her long tongue, you had almost forgotten that Nightstalkers are half canine.

>It looks like Rosa bit the visages throat out while invisible, a concerning thought since with Gracie and Amber you could somewhat see where they were.

>You eye "Rosa" as she washes her mouth out and look to Ray.

>"One of Gracie's sister's, bred specifically for stealth" he explains as if that were the most evident thing in the world.

>You're able to register that only slightly before Gracie full on tackles the smaller Snekdog in a full body hug.

>"SISTER! I KNEW IT WAS YOU!" She cries as she pins the other snekdog in a hug that Rosa tries to fight her way out of.

>Ray grumbles to himself as he walks over to the snekdog pile and pulls Gracie off.

>"Hey I-" Gracie starts, trying to grab Rosa again.

>"Not NOW" Ray Grunts loudly, tossing Gracie into your arms like she weighed nothing.

>"We gotta do reunions later" you say, setting Gracie onto her feet.

>At this point you're able to really see Rosa for who she is.

>She's small for starters, probably only about 4 foot tall and covered in scars from her face to her legs; it even looks like a chunk of her tail is missing.

>She's also wearing Ray's "Mad Cunt" hat, which he takes from her gently and places on his head with an annoyed sigh.

>"I thought I told you to wait at home" Ray grumbles to the small Nightstalker.

>"I missssed ssisster and wanted to help find her" Rosa responds with a heavy lisp, her tongue poking out of her mouth as she speaks.

>"This was a rescue mission, either one of us could have hurt you" Rays grumbles, exasperated.

>"Nothing too bad, besssides! I'm fine!" Rosa retorts as she jumps into Ray's arms.

>She gives him a gentle kiss on his nose and gives a smile you recognize.

>"I knew you wouldn't let me get hurt anyway" She hisses happily, lounging in Ray's arms.

>"Uh huh? and the fusion cores Boomer set off? What was your plan for that?" Ray asks, both annoyed and concerned; motioning out of the now burning tent to the craters outside.

>The Small Nightstalker fidgets awkwardly, refusing to look Ray in the eyes.

>"I jusssst...Uh...dodged?" She says uneasily as she looked at the craters in the ground.

>Ray just sighed, shaking his head in slight annoyance.

>"Time to get out of here" He says with finality.

>You nod sharply, and extend a hand to Gracie; who to you disappointment doesn't take it automatically.

>She instead goes to the visages body and rifles around, clearly looking for something.

>After a moment, she holdes up his gilded knife, a beautiful piece of steel with gold inlaid to it.

>"HAH Sucker! my shiny now!" She yells, kicking the body and then rushing over to you.

>She now grabs your hand and you nod to Ray, then take the lead; one hand holding you gun and the other grasping Gracie's paw.

>As you lead your little group. You notice Gracie's head in on a swivel, looking around nervously.

>"What's wrong Love?" you ask as you guide everyone back to the dock.

>"I...I wasn't allowed out of the tent... When I tried to escape" She murmurs softly, then slides the sleeve of her leather armor up.

>On her upper arm there are what looks like tally marks etched into her skin, dried blood matting the fur around the area.

>The marks are about 3 inches long, not very deep but they would be painful enough.

>12 gashes down her arm, the only flaw on her fur, craved in because she kept trying to escape.

>Twelve cuts in 7 days

>You stare blankly at the wounds, your mind running fast.

>If you had come faster, maybe not waited for Ray.

>Could you have done it alone? could you have spared Gracie her pai-.

>A Furred paw gently bonks your head causing you to start softly in stare into Gracie's mismatched eyes.

>"I Know that look dummy, like after I became a pirate when shooting a scoped rifle the first time!" Gracie snorts softly, as she climbs into the boat.

>"I should have been faster" you retort, climbing in faster her.

>Ray silently sits in the boat, taking control of the motor while Rosa simply climbs into his lap.

>Gracie Lays a paw on your cheek and forces you to look her in the eyes as the boat pulls away from the dock

>"If you came alone you would've died, HELL you came with only ONE other person! I thought you would get all of the brotherhood or those Rangers who owe you! Instead you come with one other person! Only you would be that crazy!"

>You softly take her paw and smile.

>"Looks like crazy is my new best friend" You grunt, nodding to Ray.

>He gives a rare smile as Rosa mumbles incoherently in what sounds like Spanish based on your lessons from Nellis.

>Ray just stares where to direct the boat, barely reacting to you or Rosa.

>You aren't sure he's actually listening to her until you hear a very quiet "Si" barely over the sound of the waves splashing.

>Rosa stops for a moment glaring, them proceeds to start speaking even faster, which Ray only nods to occasionally.

>Gracie snuggles up to you, the gashes in her arm airing out as the boat darts above the waves.

>She'll always have a scar from them, but it will never make you love her less, just like yours don't make her love you less.

>As you hold her close, it feel like a hole in your soul fills.

>A fear you would never get to hold her again, a sadness that you failed her.

>But now in your arms she feels weightless.

>And you swear she'll never be hurt again.

End Volume 1