Chapter Twenty Five: Fighting with the Slayer
The image of Lilah Morgan was just that, an image. Lilah wasn't there in the room with them, in fact she wasn't directly in contact with them at all. For all they knew she was still back on Earth. The image was some sort of a recorded message which had perhaps been primed to go off at a certain point after the book had been in contact with or near to certain people.
As Cordelia figured it out later the message might well have been intended to affect the first person to open the book and make them seem to act as Lilah's voice. A trivial display of magic power but quite impressive and typical of Lilah. As it was, the recorded image of Lilah operated perfectly well on its own after it had been sparked off by contact between Cordelia's wand and the book.
"Well hello gang," said Lilah to start the message. "Pleased to see me? I knew you'd turn up at the local Wolfram and Hart office sooner or later. Congratulations on doing so much to help support the Wolfram and Hart agenda. The book you've got there will be a big help to you in stopping the Goa'uld. It gives details of how they the Kallistians stopped them last time."
"Yes I know you don't trust me Cordy, I wouldn't want it any other way. But you can trust this. Wolfram and Hart don't want the Goa'uld back on Earth and we don't want them to have access to Kallistien magic. We don't want any Goa'uld to have an army of witches because it'll be just as much bad news for us as for you. We helped get rid of the Goa'uld before and we're quite prepared to do it again."
"Kallistien can be sealed off, like it was before and the Goa'uld kept away from both Kallistien and Earth. You don't have to take my word for it. Just read it in the book and cross check the details in the Kallistien witches' library. Everything checks out. All you need is the right tools and the right opportunity and I'm sure all you fighters for truth and justice can sort that out. I'd give you my best wishes but I'm sure you don't want them, bye." At that point the message ended and the image of a smirking Lilah faded away.
"Beware Greeks bearing gifts," quoted Wesley. "Especially beware Wolfram and Hart bearing gifts. I'm tempted to burn that book without reading it."
"But you won't, will you," said Eve. "You know you won't. You can't take the chance that this is exactly what we need to defeat the Goa'uld."
"Was that holographic technology?" asked Gwen. "Or was it some sort of magic spell?"
"Probably both," said Eve. "Wolfram and Hart use a lot of magic back on Earth which is mainly a technology world. They tend to use more technology on worlds like this. It overawes the natives either way."
"Whatever gives them an edge," said Kennedy. "What did she mean by supporting the Wolfram and Hart agenda?"
"She's just trying to mess with our minds," said Wesley. "Wolfram and Hart always try to pretend that whatever you do, you're just playing into their hands. It just a way to keep us off balance. Ignore it."
"Yeah, but you believe her don't you when she says the secrets of the universe are in her book? Burnt it, that's what I say. Don't mess with it, just burnt it, burn it now." said Kennedy.
"You are going to read the book aren't you?" said Cordelia to Wesley. "Even though you know it's exactly what she wants you to do. She really knows what buttons to press with you."
"That may be so but there is a certain logic in what she says," replied Wesley, "that Wolfram and Hart don't want the Goa'uld back on Earth and they don't want the Goa'uld to have access to magic."
"Of course," agreed Cordelia. "There's always 'a certain logic in what she says.' But she's always up to something else as well, several somethings probably and none of them good news for us."
"Yes, of course she is," said Wesley walking forward and picking up the book. "But first let's see what it says in the book."
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"So why have you changed your mind?" asked Colonel Maybourne. "Up until now you didn't want anything to do with the Sunnydale people. Why aren't you scared of them any more?"
Lilah Morgan shrugged. "Circumstances change," she said. "Anyway I wasn't scared of them. This is all just business."
Oh yeah thought Maybourne, and I'm a magic pixie. What exactly is your business Miss Lilah Morgan? Lilah had turned up unannounced in Maybourne's office. An office she had no business knowing about.
"You mean circumstances have changed now you know Willow's gone to Kallistien. That's why you've changed your mind," replied Maybourne. "You know, I get why nobody trusts you," he continued. "You're about as reliable as the weather, well the weather anywhere but California. Just don't expect me to jump whenever it's convenient for you. I'm not interested in whatever feud you've got going on with Angel and his friends."
"It's not a matter of trust," said Lilah. "Never rely on trust, it'll let you down every time. No, it's a matter of common self-interest. You're still getting nowhere. Work with me. You'll get what you want and be the hero of the hour and I'll get what I want at the same time."
"What do you think I want? asked Maybourne. "And what exactly is it you want?"
"Well I want Willow, Angel and all their friends to stay where they are now, permanently, unable to get back from Kallistien. That way they stay out of my hair," said Lilah.
"And this should concern me because..." asked Maybourne.
"Oh I don't know," said Lilah. "If we succeed in blocking the way back from Kallistien I don't think you'll be too unhappy if SG-1 are trapped over there as well. And if everything works out we'll have a way of stopping the Goa'uld from ever returning to Earth. I'll be happy for you to claim all the credit for that. Now tell me you're not interested."
"Keep talking," said Maybourne.
"Well first of all there's a certain Key player in all this we need to contact," began Lilah.
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So far so good thought Willow. Whatever surprises the Goa'uld had planned with their technology and their witches they hadn't been able to stop the attack on the space HQ. The use of the fake Replicators seemed to have caused a major disruption to the defence, just as planned. By now the little bugs should have penetrated every corner of the ship. I'll just let them fade away as the spell gets older she thought. They've served their purpose.
Giles had come through the portal along with Willow and Tara and the main assault teams. Like the witches he was happy with the way things had gone so far but also like them he had some misgivings. "Nothing so far from the witches working for the Goa'uld," he said. "They must be up to something."
At the moment Willow, with Tara alongside, was at the centre of a holding operation. Willow was directing the magical side of things. Tara was keeping an eye on Willow and was ready to help with any healing that needed to be done. The invaders who had come through the magic portal now held two of the lower decks and had set up a defensive perimeter. Earth troops were fighting alongside Kallistien soldiers to try to take control of more and more of the ship.
Two Kallistien witch covens had by now come through the portal. One was scattered amongst the troops and was helping with the fighting. The other was with Willow and Tara and about to join in the next major part of the attack plan.
All preparations completed the witches started their spell. This was an important part of the overall plan, and one that Willow, Tara and Giles had insisted upon. As the spell was completed a wave of change spread out from the coven of witches. They had carried out a non-violence spell. A spell like the one which was in force at the Slayer HQ in Sunnydale and elsewhere. A spell that prevented the operation of anything but the most basic of weapons such as bows and arrows, clubs and knives.
As it happened, none of the attackers had brought bows and arrows as the intention was not to kill but to take control of the spaceship, although knives were carried and all rifles were fitted with bayonets. Tara had felt able to take part in the spell because it was designed to save life. Killing would be a last resort as the attacking force was recruited as far as possible from those who had skill in unarmed combat and their prime aim was to disable and capture their opponents. This of course would not be easy when they came up against experienced Jaffa.
Shortly after the completion of the non-violence spell the enemy struck back. Gravity on the entire ship was cut and everybody and everything not secured floated about weightless. After a short pause gravity was restored but in the opposite direction. Everybody that had been floating free now plummeted towards what had been the ceiling.
Willow would have been amongst the injured had she not been next to Tara. The two women grabbed each other as gravity disappeared and Tara orbed as soon as it was restored. They ended up with a soft landing on the ceiling.
"Whoa," said Willow. "Thanks for that. That was..."
"Can't stop," said Tara, "I've got a lot of healing to do." With that she scurried over to Giles and healed his broken shin bone before passing on to the nearest groaning witch, one of several in the immediate vicinity who were injured.
"Sweetie," called Willow. "As soon as you've dealt with the most serious cases around here can you help the fighters around the defensive perimeter. A lot of them will be casualties too and if the Jaffa break though we might all be killed."
"Will do," replied Tara just before she orbed away. "And you be careful," she added. "They might flip the gravity back the other way again, or sideways I suppose."
"Not if I have any say in it," muttered Willow. Even so she secured herself in a corner next to some solid looking pipe-work that she could grab hold of if necessary to stop her from falling if there was another flip. She then began to concentrate on re-establishing the magical connections to the spaceship controls that she had formed when she had last been aboard.
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As the elevator doors opened, the waiting Jaffa fired and at the same time Buffy and Xander with their Zat weapons and Jack with his gun fired as well. To the surprise of both parties nothing happened, that is to say none of the weapons worked. The elevator had arrived just after the non-violence spell had reached that part of the space HQ.
The non-violence spell was deliberately composed to apply only to modern weaponry and not to hand to hand combat. It was not a complete surprise to the occupants of the elevator because it was part of the plan of attack that such a spell would be imposed on the spaceship as soon as possible after the attackers became established on board. Buffy, Jack and Xander were therefore the first to realise what had happened and to react.
Buffy threw her Zat gun at one enemy and without waiting to watch it bounce off the head of the Jaffa in front of her she leapt forward to start the fight. Kicking and punching, leaping and dodging she knocked down or pushed aside four more of her opponents almost at once. Jack and Xander were quick to join in.
Xander, experienced at fighting alongside Buffy stayed close to her, finishing off those who were stunned or distracted, covering her back and being careful not to get himself isolated. As on so many other occasions the Slayer and her friend were outnumbered. As usual the way to deal with this was to keep the enemy off balance, to keep moving, to keep attacking.
The Jaffa were well trained and experienced but in a confined space they could not all join the fight at once. Buffy had faced many combats in the confined spaces of crypts and sewers. She cannoned the bodies of her opponents into Jaffa who were still standing and took advantage of the inability of the Jaffa to come at her more than one or two at a time. The numbers opposing her were rapidly whittled down.
Jack had pretty well accepted that there was something different about Faith, that somehow she was much faster and stronger than the average girl although he reserved judgement about whether it had anything to do with the Slayer legend that Daniel had read about.
Jack hadn't really thought about Buffy and Xander. He had assumed that they were experienced, well trained, but 'normal' human beings who worked with the witches. He had however noticed that many of the others deferred to Buffy who seemed to be accepted as the leader, even by Giles, Angel and Willow. Buffy was clearly at the top of their rather informal chain of command.
Now Jack realised that Buffy was in no way a normal human being. Xander did not seem to exhibit any special powers, but Buffy certainly did. What she was doing was beyond the scope of even the best of trained fighters. Well, outside of Kung Fu movies he thought. Now Faith and Buffy can't both be the so called Chosen One he thought. I wonder if their witch friends have hyped them up in some way.
But these were fleeting thoughts because Jack was an experienced fighter himself. His thoughts and observations did not take place with him stood about spectating. He reacted as quickly as Xander and ploughed into the opposition, gun flailing to knock down the enemy, most of whom wasted vital seconds trying to get their weapons to work.
Jack now used his gun to deliver blows calculated to knock down his opponents and to deflect their blows. His first opponent went down quickly, still looking at his now useless weapon. Jack then found himself dealing with a very robust Jaffa who, after an exchange of blows tried to squeeze the life out of him by grabbing him by the throat.
The Jaffa however, had made a foolish move against an experienced and well trained enemy. Jack swept his hands upwards to dislodge the arms of the Jaffa and delivered a crippling blow to the lower regions with his knee. He then looked around for more enemies but found none still standing.
Where did they all go thought Jack as he counted the fallen bodies. There were no less than twelve of them lying unconscious around the room and he knew he had only taken down two himself. Two Jaffa was a pretty good score normally but in this company? He glanced at Xander who was being helped to his feet by Buffy. Xander had clearly taken a few hits but Buffy looked as if she'd just put her make up on.
At that moment the opposition executed the gravity flip and everybody and everything floated about weightless. Jack realised the danger immediately.
"Grab hold of something, people!" he ordered. "The gravity will be back in a minute, maybe stronger than before."
It wasn't stronger but it was reversed and it did no good to the unconscious Jaffa who were slammed down towards what had been the ceiling. The three spaceship invaders all managed to avoid injury. Jack, as he floated weightless managed to grab hold of the side of an open doorway leading into the next room and was able to lower himself to the new floor without difficulty.
Buffy grabbed Xander as they were close together. When the gravity returned she twisted under him and landed on her feet, with Xander in her arms, a feat of strength and agility that did not go unnoticed by Jack.
"Let's get to the control room before they pull any more tricks," said Buffy who snatched up a Zat gun before breaking into a run towards where Teal'c had informed them the main control room should be. She kept a hold of Xander's hand so that she could help him if the gravity trick was pulled again.
Jack swept up his gun and followed behind without making any comment. She's definitely used to giving orders he thought as he ran to catch up.
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"She just took him?" asked Prue. "Why?"
"And why him?" added Paige.
Faith shrugged. "Perhaps she grabbed Daniel because he's the one who isn't a slayer and isn't a witch. She might think he'll be easier to control or easier to get information out of."
The three witch sisters and Faith were walking around the area where the witch ceremony had taken place some hours before. The Jaffa or somebody else had taken everything away, including the dead bodies. There was no sign of Glory or Daniel nor of the bowl with the Key.
Paige had orbed Prue and Piper away soon after the fighting started and just after the big flash of green light from the bowl containing the key. When Paige had returned for Faith and Daniel she only found Faith. Faith had landed on the ground and had been wondering whether to try to pursue Glory when Paige had returned and orbed her away. There had been no time then for conversation, not with a battle going on around them.
The four women had hidden deeper in the woods and waited for the fighting to stop. After they were sure that the Jaffa and everybody else had left they had returned to the scene to try to find out what had happened and to try to find Daniel.
"Let me get this straight, she jumped twenty feet into the air and knocked Daniel unconscious, knocked him out of the tree. She then ran off carrying him," said Piper. "What is she, superwoman?"
"I don't think Daniel knew what hit him," said Faith. "He was looking the other way. She just moved so quickly. She was out of sight by the time I hit the ground. I've never seen anybody move that fast. Thankfully most of the Jaffa were still stunned from the big green flash so nobody fired at me."
"I remember watching you and Glory take part in that combat challenge in the Hellmouth," said Prue. "Seems to me as if this Glory is now more like that Glory but a lot faster, maybe stronger as well."
"You think that green energy explosion or whatever has changed her into a Hell God?" asked Faith. "That could be really bad news. I don't think she was at full power back on Earth. From what Giles said she was much stronger when she was back in her own Hell world."
"If it didn't totally change her, I bet it pushed her a long way down that path," said Prue.
"So we've got to stop her," said Piper. "And get Daniel back."
"We've certainly got to get Daniel back but stopping her might be a problem," said Prue.
"She took a lot of stopping back in Sunnydale from what I was told," said Faith. "Even when she didn't have all of her power."
"I don't mean that," said Prue. "Hasn't it occurred to you guys that it might be Glory, Glory as a Hellgod, who got rid of the Goa'uld back in the past, back where we are now?"
"Yeah, but if it was, then who got rid of Glory?" asked Piper.
"And what about the Key?" asked Faith. "What happened to it? Is it alright? If this is the same Key, Buffy will kill me if anything goes wrong."