"Hey, everybody! Gather around! I got something you need to hear!" Hancock shouted off the Old State House balcony.

"Look, everyone, I'm taking a walk. I need to go breathe that fresh irradiated sea-air, and see how the Commonwealth is getting along."

\111/

Nate and Nick were pulling a raider boss, the leader of Libertalia, James Wire, back to Goodneighbor.

The raider couldn't close his hands, as most of his fingers were broken. He couldn't shake free of the rope tied around his wrists either without causing intense shooting pain to lance up his arms.

Their clothes were still soaked from the sea water, and stunk like drying algae on the rocks at low tide.

Leading a party of four ponies, and Curie, they were all silent, but filled with deadly intent.

\111/

"Hancock, you can't leave!"

While they didn't want to ask any questions, the ponies following Nate and Nick knew what was going to happen, just not how much.

\111/

"Thunder, where's your friend?"

"She's...on the ship."

"Go get her."

"But she's."

"Thunderstruck." Nate said, leaving no room for argument. "Bring her to Goodneighbor."

"I-"

"I thought I said no talking!" Nate said, jerking on the raider's wrists, forcing the broken fingers to mesh and bend together. The raider boss moaned and wailed.

"Sir, your hands appear to be broken, I strongly advise refraining from any activity that would aggravate your injuries even further." Curie offered.

\111/

"Hey, I'm always gonna be here in Spirit, my man. Goodneighbor and I, we got a connection. We're like this." He said, raising one hand and crossing his fingers.

\111/

"We really need to stop showing up at Hancock's door with a warm-body in tow."

"It was only once before."

"Still, strange that it's happened twice now in the same week." Nick replied.

\111/

"But, like any hot-and-heavy relationship, sometimes we need to spend a little time apart, let things cool off. To remind ourselves of all the little things we appreciate, and remember who you are."

\111/

The Neighborhood Watchmen at the gate to Goodneighbor grinned darkly at Nate and Nick, and the familiar sight. Opening the gate, they passed the message along that Hancock just started speaking to the community, and should hustle over to hear the end.

"So that's why I'm leaving. I'm still your mayor, I'm still gonna be here when you need me, but it's time I stopped living so comfortably. We all know, no one in power deserves to be comfortable for long! Now, what's the best town in the Commonwealth? Where can someone live free? With no judgement?"

"Goodneighbor!"

"Of the people."

"For the people!" The crowd of voices shouted back, but as Hancock was wrapping up, heads were turning to the latecomers.

"And don't let no one forget it! Of the People, for the people!"

"Hey Hancock!" Nate shouted, the mayor leaned way over the ledge to look down.

"Nate!"

"Got another one for ya'." Nate said, looking behind him, Meathead the German Shephard was standing right by his side, he didn't even notice the changeling sneak up.

"So soon?" Hancock asked.

\111/

By the time Hancock collected himself, and stepped out into Goodneighbor, Thunderstruck was landing in the square with a visibly shaken and emotionally defunct Cherry Fizz.

"What's it this time?" Hancock asked, looking around at the odd gathering , a few other people were trailing over from the square to observe the commotion. "James Wire? Is that you? How's life of a former Minuteman going for you? See that it's all come full circle? Nate. Fill me in here, what'd I miss?"

\111/

When Nate and Nick Valentine reached Libertalia, they were on the south shore, directly across a small channel of 200 meters from the cluster of ships that made up the staging grounds. In the middle of the night, from the time Cherry Fizz was poached by Thunderstruck, to when they returned, the bodies of the seven dead raiders were discovered, and everything went to hell for the settlers around Nahant Island.

There was a community of settlers, traders, merchants, farmers, who were living under the threat and protection of raiders who demanded food and payment to live there. Once the alarm was raised, James Wire sent his men to round up seven people at random from the community and bring them back.

Stuffing them into a cage on a flat barge out in the middle of the swath of boats, the interrogation began. Who did it, no one could answer. Who killed them? No one was able to say. Tying ropes and chains around the top bars of the cage, an old metal crane groaned into lifting the cage up off the deck of the barge, then swung it over the water.

This is when Nate and Nick both heard the crane start up, lifting the people and listening to their screams as they realized what was about to happen. "Oh no." Nick said, sprinting out into the water. He swam as far as he could before sinking to the bottom, but the synth didn't need to breathe, moving across the bottom as quickly as he could, hoping Nate would follow along.

Nate dove into the water, as Thunderstruck took to the air. Curie was unsure what to do without instruction, but chose to float over the surface.

With everyone's attention on the screams of the trapped Nahant settlers, or the running sputtering engine motor belching black smoke, they didn't notice the Mrs. Nanny bot glide up to a medium sized 50-ft boat, and propel herself on board.

Nate's Gieger counter ticked away in the radiated sea water, but he couldn't think about that right now. James Wire demanded an answer one more time from the seven settlers, retribution for the seven dead, who killed them, but they only begged for him and the raiders not to do this. They were innocent, but couldn't be given the time or energy to prove their worth. The order was given, and the crane's winch reversed direction. They all screamed in terror as they were about to be drowned.

Nate pulled out his knife, popping his head above the water, he was only halfway to the massive ship Libertalia, with dozens of small boat craft in the way. The cage was descending, and the people were pounding against the sides, rocking it, trying to find a weak spot to break free.

Stroking for the big ship, he saw Thunderstruck high above, unsure of how to attack without getting immediately gunned down. Swinging out high over the ships, where seagulls were circling, she saw the raiders at the highest point, holding rifles across their chest, or slung over their shoulders, watching the massacre.

Diving, she extended both hooves out in front of her and angled her wings to spin as she dove. Like a thrown boulder, she crashed into the first raider, crushing his skull and neck on impact. He didn't even have time to respond as his body was thrown against the side of the cabin. The loud crash made James and the other Libertalian raiders nearby ferally rush to the noise, where Thunderstruck was waiting to unload a full burst of hot laser into the first person she saw. Diving off the side again, circling around the ship to the other side to hit them from the rear. Snatching a second raider off the railing, the raider fought and struggled, but she flapped her wings hard, gaining altitude until she was three hundred feet up in the air before letting go.

The raider screamed and screamed until there wasn't a single breath left, inhaled, and screamed some more before colliding with the water like hitting concrete.

The cage descended beneath the water, all the warm-bodies floating up, pressing against the top of the cage. They stopped screaming, and held their breaths.

Nick Valentine could barely see through the dark murk, but he could hear the crane engine, and a small outboard motor attached to a dingy ripping around. The closer he came, the tall dark pilings appeared, coated with barnacles and seaweed, he pushed on. The barge in the middle was a floating platform, tied up to brick and cement posts sunk deep into the ground. The crane stopped, just enough length under the water to submerge the whole cage. Climbing the piling, his metal hands gripped the barnacles like hand holds and climbed up, clawing at the side even as his grips were crumbling away.

Fifty feet from the bottom of the ocean floor, Nick needed to climb nearly to the surface, then push out, grabbing onto the cage before he sunk. Making his way around the outside, desperately looking for a way to open it, the settlers were already underwater for more than a minute. The first of the seven settlers unaccustomed to holding their breath for so long gave up, letting water fill his mouth and lungs.

Curie was spotted by two raiders on the same ship she was on, and they fired at her. Bullets dug into her metal shell, so she launched herself at the first one, buzz saw spinning wildly, she hacked through the first raider, drawing the attention of everyone on the smaller boats, while Nate pulled himself onto Libertalia. Worn out, but shaking from adrenaline, Nate pulled out his knife and crawled up the deck of the listing ship. Raiders were firing at Thunderstruck above their heads, or down at Curie, they didn't notice Nate until he was running full speed at them, tackling them in a bear hug down to the ground, he slit the first raider's throat and took his shotgun. Making sure it was loaded he racked another round into the chamber and fought up to the Captains Cabin where James Wire was.

Thunderstruck heard bullets race past her, the constant barking of guns as they tried to shoot her, weaving down, she used the boat cabins and masts as cover, winding around and banking quickly to break lines of sights from the shooters. Darting past the side of a tow boat, she tackled one raider into the water, and kept up her flight.

Nate killed two more raiders without others catching on to who was shooting, the bullet fire lost among the combat. When a raider came jogging down the stairs, Nate heard the steps and fired up. The raider gripped his chest as pockets of blood and skin were ripped away in a single instant. Slooping down over dead as a second shell blew the raider down. Collapsing at the bottom of the stairs, Nate stepped over and ran up.

James Wire shot at the pegasus, then looked down at the path it was taking, spotting Curie cut her way through a second raider. Firing at her, she spun around and took cover, but he kept firing across the water at her. When Nate popped his head up through a hatch in the captain's cabin, he saw the raider boss with a LMG, absorbed in killing everything that was making his morning miserable.

Pulling out his knife, Nate went across the deck and aimed straight for the lower back and plunged it in. Wrapping his arm around the man's neck, he twisted the knife and made James Wire scream and drop his gun.

"BRING IT UP!" Nate screamed into James Wire's ear, twisting the blade in his lower back and wrenching it side to side. "MOTHER FUCKER I WILL END YOU! TELL THEM TO BRING UP THE MOTHER FUCKING CRANE RIGHT FUCKING NOW!"

Ripping the knife out then shoving it back in again, Nate shoved James down to the deck, he scrambled for a weapon, but Nate took the pilfered shotgun and clubbed James' hands. Stomping on them, repeatedly until his hands were a bleeding horrid mess.

"ALL YOU PIECES OF SHIT! LISTEN UP!"

Nate stooped down, grabbing the LMG and letting loose the whole clip of ammunition, drawing the attention of every eye and ear in Libertalia. Nate dragged to the sight of their boss being man-handled, and dangled James by the collar of his shirt over the edge of the boat.

"TELL THEM!"

"FUCK YOU!" James screamed.

"WRONG ANSWER!" He shoved his fingers into Jame's wound and pulled at whatever muscle or tendon or veins or bone he could find. The hoarse octives of James' screaming made the raiders pause, "BRING UP THE FUCKING CAGE!"

The raiders operating the controls to the crane switched it into action, bringing the cage up and watching it ascend.

Nick Valentine was riding the top of the cage, water pouring off of him and his clothes as he surveyed Libertalia around him.

Three drowned bodies in the cage were laying at the bottom, with four terrified and frightened people swimming to shore, putting as much distance between themselves and Libertalia as they could.

"Thunder!" Nate yelled, the pegasus returned to his side and scowled at the beaten man on deck. "Nick!" The detective raised his chin to Nate, looking up. "Get the outboard!" he shouted down.

"We're gonna hunt down and kill you." James said, Nate turned around and everyone in Libertalia felt the temperature drop a solid ten degrees.

Steam was coming out of Nate's nostrils, as he took one step then with a balled up fist he raised it and beat James across the face with all his weight into the punch, sprawling James to the ground.

"No talking."

Ice was forming in the smallest of pools of water, and Nick was demanding the small dingy with an outboard motor from two raiders who were reluctant to give up their vessel.

"Curie! Nick!" Nate said, waving them over for a pickup.

Taking old, salt encrusted, fowl smelling, stiff rope, Nate bound James' hands and arms together. "Up." Practically forcing Wire up to his feet to march down.

His steps were sloppy, but Nate forced James all the way down to the waters edge where Nick and Curie were waiting.

"Thunder, Get your friends. Curie, grab the stern and angle your thruster up." Piling into the rowboat, there were a lot of guns trained on them, a lot of angry, hateful minutemen who gave up on trying to make life better for others, and turned to evil. Nate didn't care, he would artillery strike Libertalia to the shallow watery grave before letting people massacre each other by drowning them. A brutally sick and twisted way to die in mass, Nate had his own fair share of hate directed towards his prisoner, but it was all being channeled into surviving.

Taking the boat, they zipped across the harbor, passing the Boston Airport, it took nearly half an hour by boat to come to the dock in-front of the Custom House, and disembark.

\111/

"You know, James, when I say 'Live without Judgement,' I know it's up to interpretation, but to all the good people of Goodneighbor, it's because most of us were kicked out of Diamond City for looking like ghouls and freaks, or because we dress like we can't afford anything else." Hancock looked around him to the people clustered and living the in the three block radius that made up Goodneighbor in the former remains of Scolly Square.

"To live without Judgement, is to acknowledge that one day, I may go to sleep a sound-sane person, and wake up the next a snarling, howling feral ghoul, ready to rip your throat out. You, however, are an asshole." Hancock said after listening to what happened.

"Thunderstruck, what is your friend's name?" Nate asked.

"Cherry Fizz."

"That's a good name." He said, "Sit." He told James, pushing him down onto a bench. Nate stood down on one knee, but Cherry Fizz wasn't even acknowledging where she was. "Cherry. Cherry Fizz? I need you to listen to me." She pulled her head away. "Cherry Fizz, this is important. The man who was in charge of the men at Libertalia, is right in front of you." Pulling out a knife from his belt, he picked up Cherry's hoof, even though she fought and resisted for a moment, he wrapped his hands around the one leg and let her grab onto the hilt. "Cherry. If you want revenge, vengence, to get back at one of the people who killed your friends and made your life a living hell, he's your chance. Your only chance. This is your decision to make. You have the power. You have the control. You can decide this man's fate, because you should have the honor."

"Get away." She whispered, too quiet for most people to hear.

"Cherry, it's going to be alright. You're safe now. What do you want us to do? Do you want to kill him yourself? Or do you want us to do it? Do you want us to let him go? We can, and we will. We brought him all the way from Libertalia so you could see for yourself, with your own eyes, that the person who's making you feel like shit right now, will never lay a finger on you again. He has no control over you, or what you decide to do. He will never come for you in the night, and he will never ever be a threat to you or your friends ever again. See how weak and powerless he is right now."

Meathead saw the emotional breakthrough, her expression was etched in stone; horror, despair, but she was internally screaming louder than banshees. Going from zero emotions to full flood of anger, she grabbed the knife with one hoof and snarled and growled, like a mad dog. She looked the raider boss in the eyes and screamed out loud. "You fucking monster!" She howled. The raider tried putting his bound hands up to fend off the attack, but Nick was pressing down on his shoulders, keeping him from getting up or turning away.

She stabbed him, pulling the bloody knife all the way out, then stabbed him again. Pulling it out and stabbing him again, pushing deeper, waggling the blade as it came out. Then a third bloody cut across his chest, stabbing him, and shoving the knife inbetween his ribs. Poking holes in his lungs, they filled with blood. She kept repeating it over and over again until there was a waterfall of blood pouring down his chest and splattering against the ground that she was slowing down, but not done yet. Her breathing was finally coming under control after panting in frustration, 36 times, she cut the raider boss.

The other three ponies winced, feeling sad for Cherry that she was driven to this level of insanity, but they didn't oppose what she was doing either. Deep down, they were cheering her on.

Thunderstruck was watching her friend take back her own life from the one who did her so much harm, and saw that even though the pain was gone, the scars of what happened would always be there.

Cherry stepped back, and was finally aware of her surroundings, but not even aware of her own self. She'd totally forgotten there was a knife in her hooves until she looked down at it. With an unwarranted coldness spreading across her, Meathead focused on making her emotions turn to thoughts of rest.

Ready to slice her own throat, Meathead felt her intention and knocked Cherry Fizz out with a quick spell. Because of the traumatic nature of the execution, it was easy to chalk it up to Chery fainting because of stress.

"Oh dear, her heart rate peaked at 202, at 195 over 85, she collapsed." Curie said, coming to Cherry's side. Reaching under the pony, Curie lifted the blood splattered mare up into her arms and cradled her. "There, there, it will be all right."

\111/

"Wow, so that was quite the morning." Hancock said, "I need to be careful what I wish for, Ask and ye' shall receive and all that. Well, I asked for some trouble, and got some trouble."

Two Neighborhood Watchmen carted off the body to be incinerated, after the crowd dispersed, Nate instructed Curie to take Cherry back to the Constitution and wait there, while they dealt with the three new arrivals.

"Lucky for you three, I happen to be in the know. What's your names?" Hancock asked. "Nate, did you ask them what they wanted to do yet?"

Nate shook his head. "Didn't have much time to talk until now, so, like Hancock said, Ask, and you shall receive. What's your names and what do you want to do with your new freedom?"

All three ponies were used to being ignored by the raiders of the Commonwealth, treated like cattle and pack animals, but for so long, it felt alien to be treated equally again, that when the first Unicorn tried to speak, a Brown maned, green coat stallion, the other put a hoof up to try and stop him. But between the lack of hygene and caked on filth and shit, coats falling out, it was hard to tell if they were overgrown dogs with mange, or even what animal they were.

"It's all right, we're here to make your lives a little better. Thunderstruck, could we get your help?"

"If you can't trust the humans yet, then trust me. They want to help." She said. The ponies looked at her fine bamboo colored coat and mane like she was an alien, not recognizing her either after her changeling pod transformation.

"Who are you?" The second pony asked, a mare with an orange coat and blue mane, "Hollow Point, It's me. The one they kept calling Chicken. And you're Warner," she said to the first stallion, then to the second stallion with a reddened-wood colored coat and a brown mane "And you're Serin Copper. My name's Thunderstruck, it's been about eight months since you were sold at Nuka-World."

She may of well said they were sold a lifetime ago, because none of them could remember who she was, or a pegasus named Chicken, or see past her recovered features to the depraved reflection she used to be.

"I guess it doesn't matter," She said, "All that matters now, is making our lives better, and putting down any one who comes after us."

"Do you have anywhere we can go?" Warner asked, Nate and Thunderstruck nodded.

"Follow us."

Next Chapter: Ch. 68 The Road to Freedom Estimated time remaining: 14 Hours, 46 Minutes