The Long Walk VI Part 3

Had Joe's hand not been firmly over her mouth, Louise was sure she would have let out at the very least whimpers of terror. The thing was a dark brown color with what looked to be a patterns of black scales on it's back. Its slit brown eyes, despite not being focused on her, gave her chills no amount of ice spells could ever hope to match. Frankly, with how her heart threatened to tunnel it's way out of her flesh and bone, she was surprised she hadn't given them away. The monsters head was near the bodies of the slain Vipers, it's nostrils taking in the scent of fresh blood. Yet it didn't seem interested in chewing on them.

"Clear your mind." Joe hissed at her, and she had enough of a grasp to realize that letting her mind run amok would end with them inside its stomach. She clamped her thoughts down hard, thinking of a brick wall. She really wished it was as real as she was envisioning it, but the lack of death by snake was, just barely, good enough.

It didn't appear to notice just yet, continuing to investigate its fallen devotees. Joe mirrored her, muted, thoughts. "We don't have much time. It's distracted by blood and heat from the flames, but it's a pit viper, it'll figure out we're here sooner or later. I don't suppose you got some armor piercing rounds on you? Knew I should have gotten more… scales are too thick to shoot with normal bullets. Lasers maybe, but you'd need a lot."

Well this was just dandy. She had a brief internal debate over weather or not she should do what she was thinking of, but it didn't look like there was much in the way of options. "I... might have something that can help." She hesitantly said.

"What, you stuff a whole pack of AP rounds and didn't tell me?" He asked.

"No…. but I can cause an explosion." She said.

"What, grenades?" He asked again, sounding more impatient.

She sighed in frustration. "No. Look, it'll take too long to explain right now, but you're going to have to trust me. I can make an explosion that should tear that thing in half."

"Really..." He sounded skeptical, making the girl bristle in annoyance, snapping at him with a hiss to rival the snakes.

"Yes really! I wouldn't lie about something like this, right at this fucking moment!" She squirmed in his grasp, frustration and fear making her increasingly impatient.

He didn't voice his disbelief, and though he looked uncertain, it looked like he was giving her the benefit of the doubt. They were after all not exactly afloat on options. "How powerful is it? You could bring the whole cave down on top of us, if you can." Still skeptical, but resigned.

"I know." She conceded, but she didn't give up. "But unless you can pull your own explosions out of your ass.." She trailed off giving him a fierce glare.

It just made him chuckle. Joe craned his neck to check on the snake. "It's getting bored." He hissed. True enough, it's head was starting to look around the cave, and Louise swore it felt like it was always slightly gazing their direction.

He shook his head. "Can't outrun it while carrying them. I think one of us is going to need to draw it's attention while the other gets those two out of here."

"Just take Dani." Louise jolted at the sudden voice from her left. Eyes snapping to the source, she found the pleading expression of Harvey looking up at her, hopelessness clear as day. "Just take her, n' don't worry 'bout me alright?" His voice was quiet, but it still had enough power to seize her insides and twist painfully; her jaw clenched, fists balled as he continued. "If nothing' else, she has to make it. Anyway, someone needs to be bait."

No.

A small word, but it carried so much power. She had already lost so much because of her cowardice-because she chose to flee instead of fighting to the death, just as Mother would have. She may not be able to bring back Sunny, Trudy or anyone else who was butchered like lambs in Goodsprings, but she could not, would not, let another chance to save someone she cared about pass her up.

"I'm not letting you die." Her tone was cold and hard, frightening in its intensity. "I'll distract it."

Something about his tone, the utter resignation of it, the earnest decision to give his life for his daughter struck something in Louise. She had already lost so much because of her cowardice. The thought another good man dying made her teeth clench, a faint smell of charcoal permeating the air. "I'm not leaving either of you." She already knew what she had to do. The fear of the snake a distance away like afar off piece of scenery. "I'll distract it." She said suddenly, catching both men by surprise.

She was expecting resistance-desired it even, on some level-but neither Joe or Harvey said a thing, staring at her resolutely. She had no idea what caused such a change in their expressions, whether it was how she said it or something else, but their determination, their trust was more than she could have ever needed.

She swore she saw his lips move upward for just a brief moment, then again, it was fairly dark. "Try and aim for it it's eyes and it's heat sensors between it's nostrils and eyes. Scales are too thick to bother anywhere else. You fry them, it'll have a harder time trying to find us, and every second counts when we make a run for it. Mouth too, can smell us with it's tongue. And if you can, try and mess with it's mind. Just do something to make sure it's aim is off if it closes in, got it?"

She nodded, Joe's grip on her loosening enough to get out her laser pistol.

Joe looked at something in the cave. "I think I can see some tunnels further back there. Looks like they might be a good place duck and wave, I know we'll be getting some more company soon. As soon as we get clear of this cave Louise, and into the main part don't hesitate to bring it down on top of this thing, got it? I'm placing trust in you being truthful about that."

She nodded. She gripped her pistol with both hands, giving a glance to her traders, Harvey looking at her with pleading eyes, and Dani being completely helpless. All because of these animals and the one they worship. The dull anger heating up inside her began to spread, her hands clenched the laser pistol in a vice grip, and, dare she say, a sort of eagerness began to settle over her. Not for the chance to fight, but to do something she should have done before.

I'm not losing anyone. Not again. Never again. If that meant putting herself in harms way, and in front of a monster of a snake, so be it.

She got to one knee, energy weapon at the ready, feeling like a gun hammer about to go off. Her fingers drummed the handle in anticipation. "Alright… and remember to count your shots…here it comes… just a little bit higher… GO!"

Feeling light as a feather, and an eerie calm over her mind, she sprang forth from her position, laser pistol firing at the area between it's eyes and nostrils as they came into view, firing off five shots, three of them hitting the right one.

It reared back, not expecting the pain flaring in it's more sensitive regions, the smell of burned flesh already permeating the air. In the dimly lit cave, she could make out the glowing spot where her laser struck, and soon there were a pair of glowing searing wounds on the snake's head as she fired off three more shots on the left sensor, looking like another pair of eyes leering at her.

Despite the pain, it had enough presence of mind to lung for her, and she let off another burst into it's mouth as she dove to the side to avoid being swallowed whole. She quickly got back up, and the snake was already getting ready for another go at her. She could make out Joe having managed to get Harvey on his back, and Dani in his arms as he made for the tunnels.

She was mindful of it's body trying to box her in, moving closer to try and coil around her, but she kept moving, aiming for it's eyes. She was grateful that the laser pistol lit up where she hit allowing her to adjust her aim accordingly. Despite the addition of three new glowing pockmarks, she didn't manage to hit it's eye, and it still looked combat ready.

Damn it, this couldn't last. She couldn't dodge forever, it would either get lucky or smart before then. She was loath to do this, but she had little in the way of options.

She began feeling outward, trying to focus in on it's mind. Megabeast or not, it had to be easy to subvert. It was just a mindless animal, no matter the zealotry by these lunatics.

And it was fairly easy to as well. What was not easy, was dealing with the unexpected rush that slammed against her mind.

Smells, sounds, sights, all seemed distorted, like looking through a heavily warped pair of glasses. Phantom pains flashed flared all over her, and she swore for just a second, she saw herself holding her laser pistol, the cave itself lit up like daylight. She could even make out her own glazed eyes, her laser pistol threatening to slip from her grasp.

Yet, it wasn't as bad as she thought. Not as strange, alien, as she thought it would feel. There was resistance, but it wasn't from the mindscape itself, but something else.

However, before she could do even begin to put her plan into action, something happened that chilled her to the bone. At first, it was a tingling in her mind, but then-flashes of images; a white wooden fence, fresh cut grass, a child dressed in strange clothes and a loving family...

Blinding light, so bright and pure she was sure it would burn her eyes from their sockets. Coldness, darkness and then new life. Again and again these images flooded her mind, images of different people: men and women, the young and the elderly, portly men and sickly skinny ghouls. These people, many visions shown in the very deep dank cave they found themselves in.

When it was done, a feeling remained. A thought.

What are you?

Louise's mind went blank, confused. She could feel her gun slipping and slipping from her hands. Did the snake just... talk?

…It talked. The fucking. Giant Snake…. Just talked! Mentally maybe, but still, this overgrown garden accessory was speaking to her.

She nearly dropped her gun in shock, and just barely managed to avoid doing so when another shock she felt it push against her mind, she felt her legs nearly give way. It looked back at her, it somehow managing to look just as surprised as she was. It lasted for just a second, as it took advantage of her state and lunged.

She fired her laser pistol again, aiming for the left eye and diving out of the way. Its eyes were still intact, but she burned its sensors, and she was sure she did enough for it's mouth.

It didn't appear to be gearing up for another lunge. She raised her pistol at it's eye, but held off firing as the process of images began again, this time images of others, praying to unknown gods, eerie chanting reverberating in her mind, the sound of drums, burning effigies, some of live sacrifices.

You… Was the thought. It was genuinly confused by her, even cocking it's head like a confused dog.

So you can talk? I am surprised. It was distracting it so it was in her interest to keep this up. She tried to retaliate with her own images, and in the strange connection she formed with it, castle walls sprung up, spears and wands all pointed at it. She tried to will them to fire and strike, yet they were brushed away with a slight breeze, a sneeze almost, as it turned icy, the feeling of fingers on her spine. The pain shot to her head, and the monster visibly recoiled. The stench of sulfur and death permeated the air.

You… you are not right. Something is wrong. Was she she interpertred.

Gritting her teeth in pain and anger, she was more forceful this time, a fire erupting behind her evaporating it's invisible hands, forming a ring around her as a protective shield. What? Not used to something else talking back you leather belt? Cowardly snake.

This time, there was no images, but the feeling as it stared her down was chilling in it's own right. No animal should ever look that smart. Wait... was it making noise? Founder it sounded like nails being dragged on a chalkboard. I can smell the fire in your mind. Something else scratching in the flames. Claws. You are sick.

She snorted, imaging sending some embers it's way, even managing to catch it off guard as it was distracted by something, and it visibly flinched in pain. Says the thing who who's venom makes people go insane!

It hissed at her, her flames suddenly snuffed out with a giant gust of wind, a bizarre looking cloud in the shape of a mushroom high as Albion in the sky. Indeed, as she thought of it, soon the floating continent was there next to the cloud. I am from an old time long forgotten. She saw... something. Vague memories, carried by ancestors but nothing like this ever. You… you are an antithesis. I can smell the wrongness in your mind. Claws scratched on chalkboard. You should not be here. Explosions erupted around her. You are a mistake. For Albion was never mentioned.

She felt a pressure in her head again. It had been building during the entire mental talk with this monster, and much like before with keeping it under wraps with the Vipers, it felt like her head was going to pop.

She was transfixed on the thing, so much so that the sole reason she survived what happened next was the movement of its head. It was toward the entrance to the cave, she heard a shout, and in the instant the realized what was happening was when she felt a searing hot pain lance across her back, her finger reflexively fired and found its mark on the snake's eye, erupting a mini fireball of hot viscera. The thing roared in agony, and Louise was throwing her own curse words as she bolted from the hail of gunfire and monster roars.

"Louise, in here!" She barely heard him over the roaring and the gunfire from the Vipers from the entrance. She couldn't quite pinpoint him.

She felt something tug at her, not like the invasive and overpowering feeling of the snake, but a smaller, dependent scared, yet brave voice. It wasn't even words, just a very defined feeling in the chaos of pain and din. 'This way'.

Not knowing what else to do, she followed it. The already fairly dark cave was plunged into absolute darkness as she entered, and yet, Louise found herself avoiding rocks that she 'felt' were there, feeling as if it were second hand to be traveling these caves. It wasn't until she heard a mixture between a growl and a hiss that she realized what was happening.

It was the pup.

It yipped in happiness as it led her down the tunnels, Louise having a general sense of where the tunnel lead already. It was such a bizarre feeling. She swore she kept seeing after images in her mind as she ran, the cave appearing as if it were daylight. How in Founders name had she managed to get connected with it? A question for later no doubt.

She heard movement from the cave, the sound of scales scraping the rough cavern floor echoed through the tunnels. With it, came the thing's voice, the tinge of pain just barely betrayed.

Not since Faust have one of our kind encountered someone who truly could communicate with us. Faust was capable of always being in contact with us. The image of a man, his gaunt and tribal decorated features briefly flashed in the cave, staring at her.

She ignored it and the pressure in her head building as the pup lead her further into the tunnels.

The others hear our voice only once as we see their lives. Whenever the dose themselves with our gift again. We truly did want nothing more than to have an easy life. Their outside machinations meant little to us.

She swore she saw something as another flash of pain happened. Those same milky white eyes flaring for just a brief moment. She ignored it still following the pup.

She felt something crunch beneath her boots. Bones she realized as she looked down. The floor was coated with bones, some human like skulls, others such as coyotes and geckos, and even some radscorpion remains as well. The tunnel was a dead end she realized, the pup looking ashamed at having lead them into a corner.

"Shit, Louise where are you!?"

She turned around at Joes voice, and gasped. Her pup had it's back hair on end, it's tiny rattle tail doing it's best to try and ward off the beast that was now in sight, looking at her with it's one good eye. The blood from her wound, she guessed, was ripe enough for even one such as crippled as this to sniff her out. She raised her laser pistol, but the pain was making arm extremely wobbly. Even at this distance, she wasn't sure she could hit it. She could see an opening to the right she mad missed in her panic and pained run. There was no way past now.

It too realized this, as she was suddenly assaulted by the feelings of suffocation, the taste of acid, screaming withing a closed fleshy place, screams of men women and children most assuredly not her. It was feeding her sights, sounds and feelings of all the people it's eaten she realized. I do not know what is wrong with you… but regardless, I doubt it shall matter when it is being digested.

It opened its mouth and in the few moments before it lunged, the world seemed to slow down. The tunnel was suddenly daylight, and it held. She could see the burned out eye, the burn marks in it's mouth, it's wet maw and it's deadly venomous fangs. She was going to die, she realized. Swallowed whole and that would be the end of her journey.

She felt the pain that had been building through the mental conversation suddenly explode, she connected with it even more so than she was previously. As if a block within her mind had been lifted.

And then, even in the darkness of the cave, she could make out black limbs reaching at great speed for the snake, long claws visible, and in a sudden flash of clear vision, the black limbs remained as if they were a monsters arms caught in a flash of lighting.

She might have written it off as a hallucination of some sort, had the snake not also reacted, it's one remaining eye, widened in surprised, and it visibly veered off course, overshooting, and slamming into the cavern wall. She heard something crack as it connected, and feeling more than a little happy at the idea of this thing in pain. And it if the blood and screaming and thrashing were any indication, it actually managed to surpass her own poor assaulted head, throbbing like it had been slammed with a hammer.

She didn't waste the chance though, despite some blood leaking from her nose. Pain or not, when a giant snake was next to you, you put some things like a splitting headache and hopefully non lethal blood loss on the back burner. She scooped up the pup and dashed for the opening to her right, towards Joes voice. She dodged it's trashing tail end, and followed the older mans voice, the punctuation of gunshots dulling her aching and bleeding back.

It took longer than she liked to navigate the side caves, but when she finally emerged, she finally had a solid point of reference, muzzle flashes near the entrance, but not directed at her this time. It was Joe, firing into the holding area, the two traders by his feet. She ran towards it, putting down the pup, and letting the tethered feeling guide her up the pathways. He spared her a simple glance as she came to a rest by him and the traders, the courier giving her an wide eyed urgent look.

"Where's the snake?"

She wiped away some of her nose blood. "Back in the cave somewhere. It slammed into the wall in the tunnels and I bolted for it."

He nodded. "Then now's our chance. There's only two left in there. We finish them off now, then you seal this tunnel. We don't have a lot of time, for that snake, or your wounds." He said. Right, her immune system was, quite possibly, going to kill her for this.

Sounded good to her then. "Let us know if it tires to sneak up on us." It barked in response, casting it's eyes down the darkened tunnels.

"One to the left, one to the right. Don't know why the rest haven't shown up. Maybe the Legion got here." Not a good thought. They'd better hurry up then.

"You cover me. Your pistol good?" She didn't think so. She fired around 20 times. Not enough for covering fire. She popped out the old battery, and a new one in.

Nodding at the display, he gestured to her.

"Wait for a pause in their firing." She didn't realize they were. Was she really becoming that numb to it? She didn't dwell on it this moment, pouncing on a lull, she peered around the corner, and began firing at anything vaguely human looking, save for the one that charged in, dashing behind the table full of looted gear from other travelers.

Joe didn't waste much time. As soon as one sprung up to shoot at her, a bullet called his poisoned mind home. The other was shocked, and Louise secured another kill herself by sending a lance of bright red light through his forehead.

The immediate area secured, and hearing the barks of the pup, Louise grabbed Dani by an arm and dragged her inside.

"I'll get the Harvey, you cover the door, the moment I'm clear, you blow that tunnel."

She said nothing, but nodded, getting her wand out in preparation. She watched the iron doors leading to the cell area, but despite hearing the yells of the enemy, none dared to come through.

"Now!"

"Fireball!"

The usual circus of noise ensued, the magic altering it's color and of course the pain and radiation as the spell flew away from her wand and into the darkened tunnels where the monster lay. The resulting cascading noise of rock and stone falling was music to her ears. There was now a rock wall between them and it, and unless it felt like braking it's face against boulders of rock it wasn't getting through. and Louise felt like collapsing in relief. Joe wasted little time on his end however. He took a rifle from the loot table and jammed it in the door handles of the outer steel doors, a temporary barricade from the rest of the base who surely heard that.

"Now we just got a base full of nutters to deal with. Not hopeless yet. At least we got a choke point."

She nodded, simply glad that the snake was well and away behind them. She pressed herself against the table with the looted belongings a bit too hard and something tumbled to the ground beside her.

It looked like a varmint rifle, albeit one painted black and with a synthetic plastic body instead of the usual wooden one. It had a suppressor on the muzzle and a fancy looking scope. Wasn't automatic, but it was another weapon. It operated the same as a varmint rifle, and though she never got around to learning how to use it, she'd seen Sunny use it plenty of times. She pulled back the lever, examining the chamber, and found it had a single round in it, and then moved onto the magazine proper. A full one. If she were to run out for her pistol, skilled or not, it was better than nothing. It had a leather strap so she slung it over he shoulder as she sat next to Dani, the girl still unconscious. Good. She didn't deserve to have the thing she'd seen in her head.

"Can't believe… we got this far." Harvey breathed out. "Can't believe you'd jump in front of a monster like for us kid." He said, his features glowing with admiration, making her own glow red.

"Don't go jinxing us now. Still a lot more walls to paint before we're out of here. I'd prefer it if it wasn't ours. Well, more than there is already. Louise, you better at least get some bandages on that." Joe put a hand just under her back wound making her wince.

"Not deep thankfully, but it's still bleeding a fair bit. This'll have to do until we get somewhere more secure." He quickly patched up her wound. A temporary fix, bit it was better than nothing. At least her nose stopped bleeding.

The sounds of fists and boots against steel burst from the door Joe had barricaded causing both combat ready people to snap their weapons in that direction.

"Won't be long now. Still got some fight left in you?"

The pink haired mage's eyes flicked to the traders for a brief moment. "Absolutely. They're gonna make us into devils in their tales when we're done with them." Louise growled up. Joe's eyes actually widened in surprise, and he leaned back just a bit. His mouth curved up in earnest amusement. A bit dark, but her friends were drugged, and she was wounded, she'd earned the right to be little vengeful.

"That's the spirit. I'm sure they'll never look at the color pink without considering it taboo either." He ribbed her. She rolled her eyes, but found her grin hard to keep down for some reason.

The door rattled and shook with the fists and boots of the cultists on the other side, crying out in anger and fear as they tried to get the doors open. Both mage and wasteland veteran took aim at the door, ready for to put the rest of the crazed lunatics down for good.

But not all of them. For one little pup had suddenly begun looking back towards the collapsed tunnel. It's eyes were unblinking, and it's ears twitched, it's nostrils flaring and it's tongue flicking at a fresh scent. Its hackles raised, a sudden pressure in Louise's head, making her turn before it even started barking.

"What is it- " She was unable to finished the sentence, for the next thing she knew, the rubble had been thrown outward, just barely missing them as Louise shielded her eyes.

And the culprit slithered though, it's bloody ragged face with it's ruined eye, it looked something akin to undead. It's nose was a ruined bloody stump, scales were hanging from it's face exposing muscle, rocks were visible in it's ruined eye, dust mixing with blood, as its overwhelming force returned to her, her head alight with agony as it sounded off.

Kill her! Kill her! Cleanse this thing of it's curse! The thing was screaming inside her mind, gone was the sage if slightly arrogant tone. Now it sounded as if it had lost it's mind as it thrashed and hissed, terror obvious. And the images, what little she was getting seemed... broken. Something in the dark was the most she could make out. This thing wasn't just desperate to stop them, it truly did feel like this thing was spooked on a primal level.

It lunged in a frenzy but couldn't quite pull itself free of the rubble. Neither Joe or Louise however we're going to let a giant mutilated snake head get them without a fight, and they both began unloading hot lead and hot lasers respectively. Without the scales protecting it's face, the firepower was noticeably causing it pain, and she was sure they could finish it off now, relishing the pieces flying off and burned muscles.

That was until in it's thrashing, it grabbed Dani. It held the girl by her leg, though thankfully it hadn't actually bit her with it's fangs, forcing both Joe and Louise to stop their barrage lest they hit her. Even in pain, and fear it was smart enough to simply stall them until the Vipers broke though, overwhelming them with numbers. It's single eye was locked on her.

You! I saw you! I know what you truly are! What You will... The landscape began to change around her, shapes taking form. A row of corpses strung up on a pentagram, a grand battle full of soldiers she did not know, a silent vista of a graveyard overlooking a town.

Louise was not entirely focused on that bit, she was starting to see red, the sight of Dani in the things mouth… her teeth ground, in anger.

She grasped her wand in her left hand, hidden behind her leg. As she stood up to her full height, taunting the snake.

"I'm the one you want! Come one, I'm right here!" To further prod, she pushed against it's mind, reminding it of all the pain she caused it in the past few minutes. That was the final straw.

It dropped the girl unceremoniously to the ground and lunged for her, it's insane appearing face matching the look in it's eye. The bait took, aiming her wand at it's open mouth Louise wasted no time in chanting her spell.

"Fireball-" The spell launched at the first letter and the spell travel down it's throat, exploding inside the snake that was still on the other side of the rockfall, causing it to scream inside her mind, and roar in the physical world as it thrashed madly as a scorching explosion ripped through the monster's flesh.

It physically pulled itself from the rubble now, completely bisected, blood spraying as it's top half flopped around, even coating Joe in a fair coat of paint much to his annoyance. The wound was sizzling slightly, and Louise suddenly felt the brief stab of hunger as it did.

Finally, it seemed to slow down, the blood pool behind it's half continuing to pool, and it stared balefully into the pink haired girl's eyes, even as Louise could feel it ebbing away. No longer were there grand illusions or mental landscapes, but rather the same fear gripping it, even as it began to slip away from her once and for all. It spoke once more, the voice small and hollow.

There is nothing but the void after you….

The invasive presence faded away, and though the body still twitched, far more than it had any right to be, Louise could tell just by trying to reach into it's mind, it was dead.

"Holy fucking... kid, wha-" Joe, for the first time since she had known him, seemed genuinely at a loss for words. She was happy to help him with that.

"I just blew a giant psychic snake in half with magic Joe." The statement was made with nary an ounce of hostility or exasperation.

Joe looked between her and the now dead monster. "...Any reason you had to aim down it's throat?" She opened her mouth to respond, mainly to point out yes in order to avoid collapsing this room as well, but a certain trader had her beat.

"Dani!"

She nearly had the urge to whip herself upside the head with her own gun. Dani! She fell right next to the thing! Oh Founder please don't let her be crushed.

She ran forward and found her coated in blood, the poor child having her entire clothes just drenched. Otherwise, unharmed though, and Louise let out a sigh. She still wasn't awake and in her current state, the blessings of that could never be understated.

"She's fine, just... really in need of a bath." The girls clothes were soaked in the snakes blood. Louise tried to clear it away from her nose and mouth and eyes at least.

"Kid, we get outta here, I'll find a way to make sure you can spend the rest of your life having a hot one." Harvey nearly laughed in relief.

She looked towards Joe, expecting another command or such, but was concerned when he said nothing, giving an intense look towards the barricaded door.

"...They're not banging on the door anymore." Joe commented.

True enough, the door was silent, the once prominent sounds of shouts of anger of blood lust now gone. Though she could still hear voices on the other side. The footfalls of heavy boots echoing in the tunnels, and approaching their position.

Then, the sound of gunfire erupted, the Vipers firing at some unknown force. It went on for some time, before it finally petered out. Joe and Louise had gotten into positions, dragging the traders into cover along with them.

The door burst open, the gun keeping it closed flown across the room. In swiftly marched men in what looked to be refined metal armor. They wore matching metal helms, some having what looked to be glass covering their faces, and red colored armored kilts, a wicked looking spike on their boots and cloaks held in place with Bull Symbol pins. They mostly had simple pistols, though some carried rifles and carried what looked to be spears on their back, though most had them in a guarded position towards them. Blood covered their bodies, and dripped from their blades. One in particular was a giant of a man, one large great sword in one hand while another was on his back. The whole group gave her vague memories of her own home with their aesthetic.

She knew that symbol. She'd heard it spoken in feared tones back in Goodsprings.

It was the Legion.

Well fuck me, this took longer than I though tit would. Got involved with a writing contest on a forum which threw me off schedule, then a whole bunch of summer projects IRL came up.. yeah.

But it is here! Thanks to Guest000 helping me get into the groove of fleshing out the mental encounters with the snake. I hope it was enjoyable to read.

Louise gets a new gun, can you guess what it is? It's my personal favorite rifle.

Also, I took some inspiration from a mod called 'Ceasers New Regime', which gives the Legion some overhauls in the look and weapons department.