Thanks to: Rogue15, Schiavona, Anime-Ronin, dogbertcarroll, YoraththeWolf, Demented Mite, Fireclaw, Genesis, SotF, W1REF1RE, Stcobb, Suzuka Blade, Kim carol, Xon, Dracowar, and DragonArmada for the reviews. And many thanks as well to my new beta-readers, Dave Lister and StorytellerSJK.

W1REF1RE: This story actually takes place at the start of Halo 2, so no. The ships on both sides are just generic dropships.

Suzuka Blade: Uhh, thanks. Too bad they didn't get here in time to kill the virus that wiped out one of my computers. Damn my brother!

Xon: For this story, I am keeping the SG-1 crossover to hints only, ie Kinsey starting an operation in the last chapter. Anything else will be saved for a sequel.

Since I have a week off, keep your fingers crossed I might even be able to get out one more chapter before I go back. Anyways that's all so on with the story!

Chapter 7

As the Pelican rose up off the ground, Sgt. Johnson was surprised to hear a female voice from the suit. "Sergeant, we need to get back to our base of operations," Cortana said.

Johnson spun around and looked down. "What the hell? I thought Master Chief was the only Spartan who carried an AI."

"In a way, he is," Cortana replied. "No more time for questions, I have a warehouse in the industrial district that we need to get to. If we don't get him there fast he's not going to make it. I'll transmit coordinates."

Johnson turned to the cockpit. "Hey, flyboys! Go to the coordinates you're getting! And where the hell is that corpsman?"

"Sorry sir," a shaky voice answered. A very young corpsman with blood covered hands walked to the back of the ship, he had been tending to the co-pilot. He looked down at the Spartan with a mix of awe and horror. Xander's normally luminescent green armour was mostly charred black, and there was a large hole right around Xander's left kidney where blackened flesh was visible beneath. "Oh god," The corpsman said. "Is he alive?"

"Not if you don't get your damn wits together and help him!" Johnson barked.

"Yes sir, sorry sir," The corpsman knelt down and removed Xander's helmet, then carefully laid his head down on the deck.

"Jesus, he can't be older than 18," said the other marine in the room. Though the Pelican could hold over 50 marines comfortably, this one carried only Johnson, another marine corporal, the corpsman and two pilots.

"He's not a normal Spartan," Cortana replied. "Do your best to stabilize him, I need to make a call."


Buffy looked down as her communicator blinked. She pressed the button and an image of Cortana appeared. "Cortana, what's up?" She asked, surprised to be getting a call from the AI.

"Buffy, Xander's in trouble," Cortana explained. "He's been hurt pretty badly."

"Is he going to be ok?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know yet," Cortana said gravely. "He's been burned pretty badly. But we have another problem. Looks like a group of UNSC marines came through as well. We need a place to hide their dropship. Can you get Giles and Willow together and see if you can come up with something?"

"I'll see what I can do," Buffy said. "Make sure Xander comes through this okay."

"Will do." Cortana vanished, leaving a very concerned Buffy wondering how to hide a spaceship.


Xander drifted in a haze of unconsciousness. He could hear voices moving around him and occasionally he could see figures moving around. He only got little bits of the conversations.

"… Third degree burns to 70 percent of his body…"

"… Flash clone a kidney…"

"… Collapsed lung…"

Eventually all noises stopped, and Xander fell into a deep, deep sleep. In actuality, it was a coma.


Cortana looked down at her patient. Xander lay on an operating table, completely still and wearing only boxers. Besides the massive burn that had destroyed one of his kidneys and his small intestine, he was covered in third degree burns. The only area that had no third degree burns was his head, but his face and scalp were still beet red.

Cortana had replaced the damaged organs with flash-cloned replacements and re-inflated Xander's lung, but Xander was not in the clear yet. With so much skin damage, there was a high chance of infection setting in, even with the powerful dermal regeneration and antibacterial solutions Cortana had at her disposal. Once he stabilized, she would have to create some skin grafts as well to avoid scarring. For now, Xander had slipped into a coma, and all she could do was wait.

Johnson walked up behind her, looking the Spartan over. "Now that he's dealt with, want to tell me just what the hell is going on here?" He asked.

Cortana turned around and looked him over with a half smile. "Same Sergeant Johnson I remember. Gruff, tough, foul-mouthed son of a bitch."

"That's me," Johnson said with a laugh.

"What happened to you guys?" Cortana asked.

Johnson grew serious again. "I was part of a point defense coordination against the Covenant, those slimy bastards found Earth."

"WHAT?" Cortana asked in shock.

"That's what I said too," Johnson replied. "They jumped in system and ducked under the super-MACs. They landed in New Mombassa. We were driving them off, but most of my squad got killed. The last of us were pulling out when a Covenant dropship found us, started chasing us down. We turned a corner and suddenly there's this big green vortex in front of us. The pilot couldn't stop in time so we flew right through it.

There was a big flash, then all of a sudden we're out over some desert. I guess those pricks chasing us didn't get all the way through, their ship crashed. We flew around for a while trying to figure out where we were, then came back when we saw your boy there fighting them. Wanna tell us where we exactly we are now?"

"Well Sergeant, believe it or not you're on Earth," Cortana replied. "That green vortex you saw was a portal to another time, and another dimension."

Johnson looked at Cortana with a stone cold expression. "That doesn't make any god damn sense!" He burst out. "Another dimension?"

"Afraid so," Cortana replied. "I've been here for a couple of months now. Quick note, the same rules do not apply here. It's 1997, but a lot of things are pretty different from our time."

"And what about him?" Johnson asked, jerking his head towards Xander's still form. "I know the Spartans aren't that young. Master Chief is almost 40."

"His name is Xander, and he was transformed into a Spartan the same time I arrived here."

Johnson looked at Cortana thoughtfully for a moment. "One thing I don't understand, I talked to you five minutes before I we went through that portal. How could you have been there and been here at the same time?"

"I must be a copy," Cortana said resignedly.

Before Cortana and Johnson could talk further Buffy, Willow and Giles walked into the room. "Oh god Xander!" Willow cried, running over to the table he was lying on.

Giles looked at Cortana sternly. "Tell me what happened, now," he ordered.

"I'll tell you what happened," Johnson replied. "That boy took on over fifty Covenant troops with no support and not near enough ammo. Took out more than thirty of them before he damn near bought the bullet."

"Is he going to make it?" Buffy asked.

"I've repaired the internal damage as best I could," Cortana replied. "Still, the damage to his skin is massive, and I can't graft at all until he stabilizes. He's in a coma now, and I think until there's a change in his condition it would be best to leave him that way."

Willow walked over, looking at Xander's beaten and blackened form. "If only he would have let us help, this wouldn't have happened," she murmured.

"Xander did what had to be done," Giles said quietly. "We had to take on the Judge, and he had to take on the Covenant. All we can do now is hope for the best."

Buffy looked at his figure, then at his charred armour, which stood in a case nearby. "Hey," She said, examining it closer. "What's that?" She pointed to the hand, which still held a white bar, stuck to the palm from the heat of the suit.


Xander looked around. There was nothing but a circle of light and blackness beyond. Standing on the other side of the circle was a woman, wearing a long coat. She stood on the edge of the light, and Xander could not see her face.

"Hello?" He asked. "Who are you?"

"Why Xander, I'm surprised you don't recognize me. Even though you're not the same as the others, I would think I've played a significant role in your life," The woman said warmly. She stepped into the light.

Xander looked her over. Slightly graying brown hair, aged yet elegant figure, lab coat and glasses. She had a smile on her face that looked friendly and genuine. It was Dr. Halsey, creator and head of the SPARTAN II project.

"Dr. Halsey?" Xander asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm not really here, Xander," She replied. "Or rather it's you that isn't here. You see, you're in a coma."

Memories came flooding back to Xander. "I lost a battle to the Covenant."

"Well, I don't know if lost would be the right word," Dr. Halsey said thoughtfully. "You certainly didn't win, at least not you personally. But in the end, the Covenant lost, which means you made the right call. In this case, the right call was the hardest thing to do," She stepped close to Xander, cupping his cheek with one of her hands. "I just want you to know I'm proud of you, I'm proud of all my Spartans."

"But I'm not really a Spartan," Xander said.

"Could have fooled me," Halsey replied. "You did fool those marines. Xander, you may not have been a Spartan before, but you are now. And just like a Spartan, you need to survive when you have no business doing so. Trust me, your friends are going to need you." She gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Take care, Xander," She walked away and faded away to nothing, leaving Xander alone in the light.


Cortana checked Xander's vitals one more time, then turned to the assembled Scoobies and Marines. "Okay then, I think introductions are in order?"

Sergeant Johnson stepped forward. "Name's Johnson. This is what's left of my squad. Corporal Monetti and Corpsman Danton. Petty Officer First Class Mendez and Petty Officer Second Class Winters are the flight crew, they're still in the Pelican, waiting for a place to land."

Buffy nodded, stepping forward and shaking Johnson's hand. "I'm Buffy, this is Willow and Giles. Thanks for saving Xander."

"More than happy to help a fellow marine," Johnson replied. "So are you his friends?"

"Yes, we're his friends," Buffy answered quickly before Cortana, Giles or Willow could reply. Cortana cast her a meaningful glance but said nothing. "Is there anything we can do to help?" She asked, dutifully ignoring Cortana.

"Well, I think Cortana is going to let us stay here with Xander," Johnson replied. "But we need to find a place to hide our dropship."

"You're in luck," Buffy said. "Sunnydale is one big mess of underground tunnels and caves. We should be able to help you out."

With the help of Willow and Giles, the group was able to locate a large cavern a couple of miles outside of town. Giles and Buffy took the Warthog, and were awed to watch the massive dropship hover daintily into the tight confines of the cave before setting down gently. A moment later two women in greased-stained flight suits and caps similar to those worn by aircraft carrier crew emerged from the cavern. One of them had a large bloodstain on the right shoulder, but seemed to be in okay condition. The four of them squeezed in and rode back to the warehouse for a meeting. Meanwhile Cortana and Corpsman Dayton had erected an oxygen tent around Xander with the hope of lowering the chance of infection.

Once back at the warehouse, both pilots hopped out of the Warthog and joined the rest of the squad, looking over Xander.

"My god, he's so young!" Petty Officer Mendez exclaimed. "I always pictured the Spartans being a little older, and taller too."

"Cortana has just briefed me on the situation," Johnson said. "He's not a normal Spartan, and it turns out we're not on Earth anymore."

"Actually, you are," Cortana corrected.

"Okay, so we are," Johnson replied, sighing. "We're in another dimension."

"What?" Winters asked. "How does that work?"

"Apparently that big green thing that the two of you decided to fly right through was a portal," Corporal Monetti snarled.

"Hey, I didn't 'decide' to fly through anything," Mendez said defensively. "You know how much momentum a 75 ton dropship has? Newsflash: A Pelican doesn't stop on a dime!"

"You should have made allowances for that!" Monetti yelled back loudly. "Now we're stuck one some backward, shithole, bastardized version of Earth while those Covenant fuckers invade our home world!"

"Well excuse me for not expecting to run into a trans-dimensional portal in the middle of downtown New Mombassa!"

"Give her a break!" Winters said. "There was no way to see it and nothing we could have done!" Buffy and the other Scoobies looked at each other in surprise at the fight.

"Enough!" Johnson shouted. "Did I give any of you permission to bitch?"

"I'm sorry sir," Monetti said. "I'm a little freaked out."

"Well deal with it, marine!" Johnson barked. "We've been in worse situations than this. We just need to find our way back to Earth."

"Uhh, that may be a problem," Cortana said carefully. "We, well, we're not really sure how this whole portal thing works. So far, we haven't been able to discern any pattern to the portals' appearance, and they seem to be one-way only."

Johnson cast a cold glance at the AI. "We need to get back, Earth is under attack."

"Well I don't know what to tell you," Cortana said. "I'm sorry. I can't do anything about your situation. For now, you're all stuck here."


Slumbering in the confines of his oxygen tent, Xander saw himself back in the circle of light again. This time, on the other side of the circle was a man, shorter than he was and with an old Dick Tracy style hat. "Now I know the Master Chief doesn't know you," Xander said.

The man laughed and moved forward. "You got that right. Name's Whistler, I'm a balance demon. I'm here on behalf of the Powers that Be."

"Uh, okay?" Xander said, a little miffed by the statement.

"See, here's the thing," Whistler said. "There are a lot of folks up there who aren't particularly happy with the situation down here, see this whole thing with you being a Spartan? It's kind of a freak accident. That's the problem with chaos spells, they're unpredictable."

"I don't understand, why would anyone be unhappy with this?" Xander asked. "I'm doing a lot more good than I ever could before."

"Yeah that's the problem," Whistler explained. "It's all a fragile balance. You know that saying the eternal struggle between good and evil? The key word there is eternal."

"So you're saying no matter what Buffy does she can never win?" Xander asked, dismayed.

"No her job? Eventually it will end," Whistler replied. "Eventually it would be possible to kill off all the vampires and demons on the planet, but the evil would have to come from another source. You know, terrorists, dictators, and aliens, that sort of thing. The problem is that you're messing that up. And Cortana, let me tell you she is a real problem too! No one thought that she would be considered a life form, which is why this whole mess started in the first place."

"So what do I do?" Xander asked. "Are you going to make me normal again?"

"What's done can't be undone, even by the powers," Whistler replied. "We're stuck with you, which means we have to decide what to do. Let me tell you a whole lot of people were in favour of making sure you didn't wake up from this coma, kid."

"So why didn't they?" Xander asked defiantly.

"Because the Powers still have plans for you. They don't want to give up their chess piece," Whistler explained.

"What are they going to do?" Xander asked.

"Let's just say that little battle that put you in here, well, it's gonna look like a walk in the park by the time we're done with you," Whistler said. "The Powers have decided that you and Cortana get to keep working here, but in return you owe us a favour."

"Why?" Xander said. "You didn't do anything except not kill me."

"Exactly," Whistler agreed. "Also, Covenant activity is going to start happening more to maintain balance, or really just to keep you busy so you don't mess up the balance too much."

Xander looked at him strangely for a moment, then sighed. "Fine," he said. "What kind of favour?"

"Trust me, you'll know what it is when you see it," Whistler said. "Oh, and one more thing, kid. Try not to get yourself in this position again, the Powers might decide to change their mind if the opportunity comes up." Whistler backed away and, same as Dr. Halsey, faded away, leaving Xander alone.


Three days past, and still Xander remained in his coma. However, he had stabilized and Cortana and Corpsman Danton had done several operations to repair the extensive burns. Cortana had flashed-cloned and grafted on several large patches of skin, which appeared to be taking nicely, with very little rejection. Cortana was confident that the scarring would be minimal, and that Xander would wake up soon.

Meanwhile, Buffy had still not said anything to the Marines about her abilities, or anything supernatural in general. They had told the Marines to stay out of town, under the auspices that they would stick out and easily be recognized as foreign.

In reality, Buffy had come to the decision after watching the Marines spar. Both Johnson and Monetti were in very good shape, and Danton was in pretty good shape as well. However, none of them had particularly good hand-to-hand combat skills, and the flight crew, from what they could tell, only had aerial combat skills. Johnson seemed the most adept, but he was clearly out of practice. It was obvious that the Marines' first instinct was to draw their gun first, and leave the kicking to the already dead corpses.

Cortana however, was less than pleased with her decision to keep the Marines in the dark. "Buffy, you really need to tell these guys what's going on," She said.

"Look Cortana, these guys seem a little on edge," Buffy replied. "I think they're having trouble dealing with the situation, which isn't surprising. We need to give them time before we crank up the weird-o-meter on them."

"Buffy, these guys are in the middle of fighting a war against a group of genocidal aliens, and Johnson was one of the survivors of the Halo incident. They've seen and fought things that would make a normal man scream and cry," Cortana said wryly.

"Yeah, but they were things that could be killed with guns," Buffy countered. "Look, I'm not saying that these guys aren't tough, or battle ready, but we need to give them time. Besides, their hand-to-hand skills are pretty bad. If we let them fight, they would probably just get themselves killed."

"Willow and Xander didn't when they started helping you," Cortana pointed out.

"Willow and Xander didn't think they were tough as nails Marines," Buffy said.

"These guys ARE tough as nails Marines," Cortana argued.

"Look, this is my choice," Buffy said irritably. "I'm going to let Xander take the reins with it, these are his people, or at least more his than mine. In the mean time, they WILL NOT be told about what goes on here."

"Fine," Cortana huffed. "But I think you're making a mistake. Secrets just build mistrust."


Four days later, the tension between the Scoobies and the Marines had grown a fair bit. The Scoobies had been tracking a werewolf, and had done their best to keep it quiet from the Marines, especially when they found out that said werewolf was Oz. Johnson had known something was going on, and had been pissed off about being kept in the dark.

Finally, after a total of seven days in a coma, Xander's eyelids began to flutter. He opened them to find his vision blurry. After a few seconds of moving his head around, he saw a purplish blur moving towards him and sighed with relief.

Cortana pulled back the oxygen tent and gave Xander a smile. "Hey Shorty, good to see you're awake. I was worried for a little while."

Xander's vision began to coalesce. He looked around to see that he was taking up a small corner of his warehouse, surrounding by several monitors displaying his vitals. "I take it I took a bit of a beating out there." Xander said blearily.

"That would be an understatement," Cortana replied.

"But you killed a whole lot of those Covenant bastards," said another voice. Sergeant Johnson appeared beside Cortana. "Good to see you back awake, uhh, what do I call you?"

"Huh?" Xander asked.

"Well, you a marine or what?" Johnson said. "And if so, what rank?"

"Just go with Xander for now, Sergeant," Xander decided. "Thanks for the rescue."

"Happy to oblige," Johnson replied.

"How long have I been out?" Xander asked, sitting up gingerly.

"Easy," Cortana cautioned, "You've been in a coma for a week. Try not to move too much, you were burned pretty badly. Most of it is in the final stages of healing, but try not to move around too much for another couple of days."

"How bad was I burned?" Xander questioned.

"I had to replace more than thirty percent of your skin," Cortana replied. "However, I am happy to report that the scarring will be quite minimal, only one scar."

Xander lifted his shirt and looked at the place where his armour had been pierced. There was a three-inch long scar over his left kidney. "What about my armour?" He said.

Cortana stepped aside to reveal the charred remains of the suit. "Still a work in progress. I should have it up and running again in another few days. In the mean time, I'm prescribing at least another day of rest before you start moving around." Cortana pushed Xander back down lightly. "I'll tell your friends that you're awake," She promised.

A couple of hours later, Buffy, Giles, Willow, Oz and Cordelia showed up. "Xander, it's good to see you awake again," Giles greeted.

"Hey guys," Xander said, sitting up in his bed. "How's everything been around here?"

"Xander, we need to talk," Buffy said. She eyed up the Marines standing nearby. "In private."

Cortana provided the answer. "Sergeant Johnson, I need some supplies from the Pelican to repair the armour. Would you mind grabbing them for me?"

"Anything for a lady," Johnson replied with a smile, then grabbed Corporal Monetti and Corpsman Danton and headed to the Warthog. Petty Officers Mendez and Winters were already there, running through some flying simulations.

Buffy waited until they left, then turned back to Xander. "Listen, we have a few things we need to talk about. First of all, the Marines don't know anything about what happens in Sunnydale."

"What? Why?" Xander asked.

"Because I didn't want to tell them," Buffy replied simply. "I left it to you. BUT, there are a few issues. I don't want them to know about me being a Slayer, at least not from you. I'll tell them when I'm ready. Also, I don't want them going out to try and hunt vamps and demons every night."

"Buffy, you're being ridiculous," Xander chided. "Marines can take care of themselves, and as for the Slayer thing, who would they tell?"

"Xander," Buffy said sternly. "Are you going to keep my secret or not?"

"I will, but I think you're making a mistake, and I certainly won't be able to hide all the things in this town from them." Xander replied. He sighed and eased back. "So what else is new?"

"I'm a werewolf," Oz stated.

"We blew up the Judge," Willow added.

"So, pretty much a normal week on the Hellmouth?" Xander asked.

"More or less," Buffy replied.

Xander grew serious again. "Guys, listen. While I was in my coma, I had a couple of dreams. My mo- Doctor Halsey, the creator of the Spartans came to visit me. Then later, someone named Whistler stopped by. He told me that I'd messed up the balance and that Covenant bad guys were going to start showing up more often. It felt really real."

"Xander, I'm sure it was just a dream," Cortana said.

"I don't think so," Xander argued. "This felt really, really real. He told me that the Powers That Be decided to let me wake up from the coma, on the condition that I owed them a favour."

Giles paled. "He mentioned the Powers That Be? Dear lord."

"What?" Buffy asked.

"The Powers are higher beings," Giles explained. "If this Whistler was really working for them, then-" alarms began going off seemingly from mid-air.

"Oh damn, not again!" Xander said. "My armour isn't ready!" He jumped out of bed and looked at the map of Sunnydale on the wall that showed where the breach was. This one was just a few blocks away, in the industrial district. Xander quickly threw on a pair of loose fitting pants and a light jacket, then looked around. Finding what he was looking for, Xander grabbed a small purple wristband that had been taken from one of the dead Jackals.

Xander strapped it to his wrist and pressed a button on it, and immediately a yellowish, shimmering shield appeared. Satisfied, Xander pressed the other button on it and the shield disappeared. He moved over, grabbing the white bar that also sat on the table of Covenant weapons, then grabbed an SMG and strapped it to his leg. He turned around. "The Marines aren't here, so it'll be up to you guys to help me," he said. "Grab a gun and let's go. Cortana, tell the Marines where to meet us."


Xander lay on his stomach on the roof on a one story, abandoned garage. Beside him, Buffy was doing the same, while Giles and Oz were back further, crouched down. Buffy had grabbed a sword and, at Xander's insistence, an SMG. Giles had taken a battle rifle, which he seemed surprisingly adept at loading. Oz had taken a magnum and a plasma pistol, while Willow and Cordelia had elected to stay out of the battle. They had remained at the warehouse.

Below Xander stood several grunts, and two Elites, one of which carried an energy sword. "This should be no problem," he said quietly.

"Maybe you're forgetting that you're not wearing your armour!" Buffy hissed back. "Not to mention the fact that you're not at full strength. You just came out of a coma, remember?"

"If we do this right none of that will matter," Xander insisted. "Giles and Oz will provide covering fire, taking out the grunts. I'll take the Elite with the sword, Buffy you take the one with the rifle. He'll be shooting at this roof, which is why you'll sneak up behind him," Xander handed her a blue and yellow ball. "This is a plasma grenade. When you push the button it will glow blue and stick once you let go of it. Stick it to his back."

Buffy looked at Xander for a moment, then nodded.

"Good," Xander answered. "The rest of you get ready to fire. Buffy, follow me." Xander backed away from the lip of the roof, then burst into an all out run and jumped off the roof, onto the next building over, Buffy easily followed suit. He ran across that roof, then silently slipped over the side and dropped into an alley behind the Covenant forces. Xander activated his communicator and whispered, "Giles, now!"

Giles and Oz opened fire from the rooftop, immediately killing two of the grunts and scattering the rest. However, after shouts from the two Elites the grunts regrouped and began to return fire at the rooftop. Giles and Oz kept their heads down, but maintained suppressive fire as best they could.

Meanwhile Xander emerged from the alley he was in, activating his shield and his energy sword. "Hey assholes!" He shouted. Immediately both Elites noticed him and roared in rage at the sword he was carrying. The Elite carrying a sword advanced towards him, while the other fired several shots, which Xander used his wrist-mounted shield to block. Giles saw what was happening and fired two bursts into the back of the rifle-bearing Elite to take his attention off Xander.


Buffy crept slowly down the alley, making absolutely no noise. The Elite with the plasma rifle stood just in front of the alley, firing at Giles and Oz, charring the lip of the roof they hid behind. When she was no more than five feet away, she activated the plasma grenade. The blue sphere immediately lit up the alley, catching the Elite's attention. He whirled around face Buffy.

Buffy fought the urge to recoil in disgust. At more than eight feet tall, the massive alien towered over her on three jointed legs. It had skin the colour of burnt steak, and a hideous mouth that separated into four sections, each with a clump of razor sharp teeth at the end. It roared menacingly, and Buffy threw the grenade, sticking it to his chest. Then she turned and ran to get clear.

The Elite looked down, then roared in anger. Seconds later there was a large blue explosion and the Elite was vaporized by the plasma blast.


Xander and the remaining Elite had squared off just outside the battle area. Xander deactivated his shield, knowing that the powerful energy sword would likely cut through it in one hit anyway.

He brought the sword up into what felt like a natural guard position. Unlike a normal sword, the energy sword was actually more like two swords that ran parallel, with the hilt being what held them together. The horizontal hilt felt foreign, but strangely comfortable, and because the sword was made of energy, it was extremely light. Xander found that he could move it at unbelievable speed.

Charging forward, Xander lashed out at the Elite, hoping to catch him off guard. The Elite blocked it with his sword, then shoved Xander away, throwing him off balance. The Elite rushed forward, and raised his sword high, bringing it down in an overhead slash. Xander, who was precariously close to falling over, simply let himself fall backwards. The sword sliced the air where he had been just a second before. Xander rolled away, and as he did so, lashed out at the Elite with his sword. It hit the shield and knocked it out, but failed to do any damage. The Elite kicked Xander in the side as hard as it could. The blow actually lifted Xander off the ground and sent him flying four feet back into the wall, which he bounced off before landing roughly on the ground.

Xander stood up groggily, watching as the Elite advanced on him. He brought his sword up, but in his now twice weakened state when he tried to strike the Elite, the powerful alien knocked it out of his hand. The Elite used its' free hand to pin Xander to the wall by his throat. It hissed, opening all four sections of its mouth wide. It pulled back its' sword and…

Xander was shocked when out of the blackness of the Elite's throat came the silvery tip of a sword. The sword protruded out from its' mouth and stopped just inches from Xander's face. The Elite looked down at the sword sticking from its' mouth in surprise, then choked and dropped to the ground, dying. Behind the fallen Elite stood Buffy, still holding the hilt of the sword that she had shoved through the back of the alien's head. "Does this mean I get his glowing sword thingy?" Buffy asked hopefully.

Xander let out a weak laugh then dropped to the ground. "Take it," he rasped. "And thanks."

"Yay!" she said gleefully, snatching the white bar out of the dead Elite's grasp. Her eyes gleamed at the sight of it. "I can't wait to see the expression on the face of the first demon I pull this on."

Seconds later Xander heard the screeching of tires, and looked up to see the Warthog parked in the middle of the now dead group of Covenant.

Johnson looked at the ground around him in dismay. "Hey!" He shouted to Xander. "Who the hell said you could start the party without me?"

"Sorry Sarge," Xander replied. "We couldn't wait."

"Just ain't right," Johnson grumbled. "The civvies get to shoot up the aliens, and we run errands for Cortana? I oughta kick her purple ass."

"Relax Sarge, I'm sure we'll be seeing more of these guys real soon," Xander said. "While you're out here, why don't you help us clean up?"

A few hundred feet away, out of sight of the Marines and Scoobies, a small, greenish grey blob with tentacles crawled across the road and dropped into an open sewer.

End chap 8

Hope you liked that chapter, and yes I left you hanging again! Bwahahaha (please leave a review)