Dedicated OVH + pfsense 2.4.4 + ESXI

[exodusx_]

Longtime lurker, first time poster..

There are a few different forums outlining issues, or old(er) techniques, used to configure pfsense leveraging a dedicated OVH host.. For the life of me, I cannot get the pfsense box itself, or any NAT'd host to talk to the outside world.. Looking for suggestions..

I have two virtual switches and port groups created in esxi; WAN and LAN
on pfsense VM - WAN interface has hard-coded IP and static map per OVH documentation

Current Topology example.. per OVH guidelines..
WAN (em0): 6.6.6.6 (virtual IP - tied to virtual mac)
Default gateway: 6.6.7.254 (dedicated hosts gateway)
LAN (em1): 10.0.0.1/24

OVH requires a fail-over IP and a static MAC set for NIC card configured (WAN).. testing this on a plain windows VM, works as intended, i can hit the internet..

Current ipv4 routes are as shown (excluding internal subnets):
destination - gateway - interface
default - 6.6.7.254 - em0
6.6.7.254 - (virtual mac) - em0
6.6.6.6 - link#1 - lo0
6.6.6.6/32 - link#1 - em0

I have seen prior posts outlining static commands than can be executed to add the routes manually, but it appears with the 2.4.4. release this can all be achieved, and sustained in the GUI. Also appears to be persistent without added intervention..

Now NAT'ing aside for my LAN hosts... if i can not communicate outbound from the pfsense gateway itself.. im stuck...
what am i missing?