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Chapter Thirty-Five: Battle Plan
"Should we tell the others?" asked Harmony.
"I'm not sure," replied Giles, "At least not until we know what we're dealing with."
"Buffy knows," she blurted out.
"Buffy can see Anya?" he asked in surprise.
"No," she answered quickly, "But I told her about it last night."
"You know," said a voice from behind them, "It's very rude to talk about someone when they're not around." They both turned to face the source of the voice.
"Anya," said Giles, "Why are you here? What do you want?"
"Oh the usual stuff," she said airily, "A nice job, someone to love, two-point-five kids, like I said, the usual stuff."
"Why are you here?" he repeated.
"Well," she said, "Like Tara said to Willow, this place is like a magnet to the surrounding dimensions. I just get pulled along for the ride, yippy for me."
"Why are we the only ones who can see you?" Giles asked. Anya shrugged in response.
"Who knows, Rupert," she said carelessly. Giles looked up in surprise at the use of his first name. "I mean," she continued, ignoring his expression, "It makes a certain amount of poetic sense that the girl can see me but you?"
"Why shouldn't I?" he asked, "You were important to me." She chuckled enigmatically at his statement.
"What?" he demanded, "You were." The chuckle developed into full on laughter.
"I'm not even gonna touch that," she said darkly.
"Why can't Xander see you?" Harmony asked, "You said he couldn't last time we spoke."
"I don't know," she said, "God knows I've tried. When he and Angel went out scouting I was standing in front of him for over an hour trying to get his attention and I was there when he fought Buffy. No matter what I do, he can't see me." She looked thoroughly miserable. "You have to go," she said, "Something is coming, I don't know what it is but it is like nothing you've ever faced. If you stay here you will die."
"How?" asked Giles, "How do we leave?" She shrugged again.
"How should I know?" she said before looking behind her shoulder as though she could see something. "I have to go."
"Anya," Giles pressed, realising he may not ever get another opportunity to say what he felt, "I did care about you."
"Not enough," she shot back in a biting tone of voice, "I know this isn't the time but seeing as I'm probably not gonna get another chance to get this off my chest I might as well get some closure. When you came back after Willow went dark Buffy was the only one that mattered to you. I was practically yelling "Look at me, look at me" but you never did. You didn't show up for my wedding even though you were the closest thing I ever had to a dad and, given how it turned out, I could have really used you then and… My funeral? Seriously? You couldn't find the time for half an hour? So don't tell me you cared because you clearly did not." With a final scathing expression at the Watcher, she vanished.
"Your five minutes are up," said Xander, entering the chamber, "What's wrong?"
"I had another flashback," said Harmony quickly, surprising even herself with the falsehood. She had never been any good at deception.
"I thought that she might need some assistance," said Giles, quickly corroborating her story.
"And why couldn't I do that?" asked Xander in a voice as scathing as Anya's had been.
"Xander, I… I just wanted to help," he replied earnestly. Xander laughed.
"Oh Rupert," he said, "If you think I need your help again I'll build a time machine and we'll go back six years and you can go grab a version of me that actually wants it." He then looked back at Harmony. "Are you alright?" he asked in a significantly more gentle tone.
"I'm fine," she nodded, "I just didn't want anyone to see me." He pulled her to him and kissed her on the forehead.
"If it happens again," he said, "Just remember I'm right here."
"Thanks," she said, "We should probably head back inside."
As Giles watched them depart, he could not help but wonder on whatever it was that he must have done to make both Xander and Anya so disparaging towards him.
~o~O~o~
"Is Harmony okay?" asked Wesley as he flicked through the statistics regarding Galderal's military strength.
"She's okay," said Xander, doing the same, "It was another flashback but she just won't talk to me about it which is weird. It's just… Ah, never mind, not the time for this sort of thing. Have Fred or Willow been able come up with anything useful?"
"Fred's been down in the equivalent of a lab since breakfast," replied Wesley, "She said she has an idea but didn't want to say anything until she knows it could work."
"Hopefully it'll be something impressive," speculated Xander, "Because right now all I have is a suicide attack from cavalry against aircraft. Aside from some incredibly lucky sneak attack, I'm all out of ideas. What are Angel and Spike doing?"
"They're going through the armoury," Wesley answered, "They want to see if anything could be upgraded or improved in a short amount of time but they didn't seem all that hopeful." Gunn and Lorne entered the musty smelling room at sat down next to the dejected looking pair.
"Not having so good a day?" asked Lorne.
"Not so good," answered Xander, "Were you two able to find anything yourselves."
"Not much," admitted Gunn, "I had a bit of a stickybeak around their trade history between the two countries for the past decade before the war and, nothing. I can't find any practical reason for the invasion. Ventzia possesses far more natural resources than Galderal ever did so they're clearly not doing for gold or iron or something like that, d'Ibelin was clearly telling the truth."
"I was able to dig up this though," said Lorne, "About eleven years ago there was civil war in Ventzia regarding the local deity. Apparently this is when their use of magic became mainstream."
"Anything on the deity?" asked Wesley with renewed interest.
"She is called Rahg-Na-Ra," said Lorne distastefully, "She's not the sort of goddess that gives out love and good times. She's more Biblical rain fire down on your ass kind of thing."
"Sounds like some I met," murmured Xander thoughtfully. They all looked at him in confusion. "Oh," he said, "You didn't know? Remember when Buffy died?" They all nodded. "Well," he continued, "It was fighting a God named Glory. Let me tell you right now that she was a nasty piece of work."
"Are you telling me that Buffy killed a God?" Wesley asked incredulously.
"No," he replied distastefully, "Giles killed her. She kept switching back and forward between her god form and that of a human named Ben. When she switched, Giles smothered him."
"And Buffy was up for that?" Wesley asked skeptically.
"To be perfectly honest she didn't know," said Xander, "Only Spike and I found out when we asked him what happened. The others just think her fell of the scaffold and broke his neck or something."
"You don't suppose that there is an actual, physical God pulling the strings?" theorised Wesley.
"Well then we are very dead," said Gunn in a matter of fact tone of voice.
"No we're not," said Fred proudly entering the room with Willow close behind her.
"Will, please tell me you guys have something," begged Xander.
"Oh you are gonna love this," said Fred, her eyes twinkling.
~o~O~o~
"I love this," said Xander. Fred and Willow had led the men out to the outer wall where about two hundred metres away were two abandoned carriages surrounded by wooden dummies. Several metres away from the carriages stood a group of men each carrying a large bucket of water. Waiting for them was d'Ibelin accompanied by some of his advisors. On the wall was an unusual looking cannon pointed down at the carriages. Xander also noted that next to the cannon was a massive gong.
"I was told you have a new weapon for the field," he said after greeting them.
"Actually this is their show," admitted Wesley, nodding at the two ladies. One of the advisors, a man named Lord Baldwin of Acre, snorted derisively at them only to stop when Wesley gave him his most ferocious of death glares.
"This is something we cooled up together," explained Fred, "Willow was able to er… Play around with some of the components to make them more volatile. Observe." Willow fired the gun and the closer of the two wagons instantly exploded in a shower of flame and splinters.
"It's certainly impressive," said d'Ibelin obviously unconvinced, "But it's nothing new. Our cannons have had that firepower for years." Willow hit the gong and, responding to the signal, the men carrying the water attempted to quench the blaze. Lord Acre was now openly derisive.
"What did I tell you all?" he said to the assembly of men, "These women are just leading us up a – WHAT?!" Everyone returned their gaze to the now blazing inferno. No matter what the men did, they could not stifle the flames.
"The more water," breathed d'Ibelin, "The more fire." This was when Xander said "I love this."
"Greek fire?" exclaimed Wesley, "You made Greek fire. Brilliant." The hands had now abandoned their task and fled from the flames.
"It's a bit more volatile than anything the Greeks used," said Fred proudly, "It could actually burn right through stone."
"It's impressive," said Gunn, "But what is that gonna do against a carrier. It won't be able to take it out."
"It won't have to," said Xander, the turning wheels in head practically visible for all to see. "If we get some of that stuff in the control room it'll be nothing more than a floating brick." He turned to Fred and Willow. "You guys are freaking awesome. Everyone," he addressed the entire group, "With this new information I think I might have a viable plan. Let me talk with Wesley and we'll meet again in an hour."
~o~O~o~
"What do I do now?" Harmony asked, "He can't see her so do I have to tell him about Anya?" Giles rubbed the bridge of his nose as he thought.
"I don't know," he said, "I think the past few days are evidence that I am not an authority on what to do regarding Xander Harris. However, seeing as this affects you more than me, I will abide by your decision, whatever that might be."
"Well she hasn't really done anything," said Buffy, "And seeing as how, according to Willow, we can't touch her on account of her being "dead to us" I don't see why we need to tell anyone anything. It's not like it will change anything other than hurting him, I say keep it to ourselves unless the situation changes."
"Just wait and see what happens?" asked Giles, "Are you sure that's wise?" Buffy shrugged.
"I didn't phrase it quite like that in my head," she said, "But, basically, yes I think that is what we should do."
~o~O~o~
Right now, the scout Robespierre was truly amongst the most unfortunate of men. Lord Acre passed agitatedly before him, somewhat reminiscent of a powder keg set to explode.
"I'm not happy," he said finally, "Ask me why."
"Why?"
"Be more specific Robespierre," said Acre, "Ask me why I'm not happy."
"Why are you not happy, Lord?" he asked.
"I am unhappy because I. Do. Not. Like. Surprises!" said Acre, punctuating each word, "Who are these strangers and how did they end up with Ibelin?" Robespierre noted the lack of the "d" honorific that was given to the Royal family. "I did not arrange for the king's death only to have some foreigners come out of the blue and pull some Deus ex Machina out of thin air."
"What do you want me to do?" Robespierre asked.
"What I want you to do," said Acre harshly, "And I'm using small words so you cannot possibly misunderstand me, is eliminate the boy and his companions before my contact hears about them. If the Ventzians hear news of foreign aid they will be breathing down my neck about, asking why I didn't inform them. Do I need the Ventzians breathing down my neck?"
"Er, no?" Acre rolled his eyes irritably.
"Just do it," he said.
~o~O~o~
"What do you think?" asked Xander, having just finished explaining his plan.
"It's certainly bold, I'll give you that," said Wesley, "But maybe… I don't know, I feel like it's missing something." He drummed the desk thoughtfully. "What if we took out the frontal assault as any ground force would be absolutely annihilated by the aerial bombers and instead replaced it with an entirely stealthy attack?" Xander grinned in response.
"I like it," he said, "So at night, we send a small team to infiltrate the carrier and disable the control room. Hopefully they won't have the necessary resources to repair it. We might be able to do something about those bombers as well if we hit everything at once."
"Why not simply take out the wheels?" suggested Wesley, "We've already established that we cannot destroy them, even with the Greek fire, so why not do the next best thing? Make them unable to take off."
"You know?" said Xander, "I'm very glad we're on the same side. I'd hate to have you as an enemy." The two men chuckled before getting up to meet up with the others with their new battle plan.
"Has Willow made any progress on finding a way for us to get home?" asked Wesley as they walked.
"Nothing as of yet," said Xander, "But to be fair to her, it's not like she has had much opportunity."
"Fair enough," said Wesley, "I just want to get back before Ioan does any more damage. I mean, it's been three days, who knows what's happened to the company in that time?"
"Well it's not like this hasn't been a fun little vacation though," snarked Xander, "Maybe we should just see it as –" He immediately stopped talking in mid-sentence and tackled Wesley to the ground just as a bullet slammed into the wall right next to where his head had been. Wesley quickly reached for his pistol and fired in the direction of the shot, hitting stone.
"Are you okay?" he asked as soon as they were in cover behind a pillar. Xander nodded.
"Yeah," he said, "I'm fine. Is he still there?" Wesley peeked his head around the pillar and quickly retreated, narrowly missing a bullet to the face.
"I think it's safe to say that he's still there," he answered.
~o~O~o~
"What's keeping them?" Gunn asked of no-one in particular, "They should have been here ten minutes ago." There were suddenly sounds of alarm from several of the onlookers and he turned to see Wesley and Xander dragging a bruised and bloodied man between them.
"What is the meaning of this?" d'Ibelin demanded angrily, "Unhand my scout at once!"
"Your scout attacked us," Xander retorted angrily, "He took a shot at us when we were on our way here."
"Is this true?" d'Ibelin asked, looking angrily at Robespierre.
"Absolutely not, Lord," Robespierre answered, "These foreigners attacked me unprovoked. They said that they would try to curry favour with you by saying that I tried to assassinate you."
"That makes a certain sense," said Acre acidly.
"Yeah right," retorted Xander, "To be perfectly blunt, we already have favour. Why do we need more? What would be the point?" Despite himself, d'Ibelin had to admit that the boy's statement made sense. What would be the point?
"There is no evidence against me!" Robespierre exclaimed hotly.
"Actually there is," said Wesley smugly. He produced Robespierre's firearm. "Can you identify this weapon?" he asked d'Ibelin. The lord examined the gun intently.
"It is a standard firearm used by members of my personal guard," stated d'Ibelin.
"That proves nothing," said Acre quickly.
"On its own, that would be correct," replied Wesley, "However, there is a bullet embedded in a pillar not too far from here that I think will be a match for his gun." At last d'Ibelin nodded, satisfied with Wesley's suggestion. He ordered two soldiers to find the pillar and retrieve the bullet for examination. At his words Robespierre frantically attempted to resist, struggling against the men that held him. He then began to violently convulse and frothed at the mouth.
"What's happening?" Xander asked before the man collapsed to the ground, dead. Wesley reached for the dead man's lips and, with difficulty, managed to pry his jaw open before examining his teeth.
"Cyanide tooth," he stated unnecessarily.
~o~O~o~
Buffy, Harmony and Giles rushed into the war room with panicked expressions on their faces.
"We came as soon as we heard," said Buffy, "Are you all okay?" Wesley nodded.
"We're okay," he said, "The only person who died was the attacker."
"I still do not understand," said d'Ibelin, "Robespierre has been a trusted soldier under my command for many years. What on earth could have possessed him to do such a thing? And in such a sloppy, desperate way."
Harmony ignored the other proceedings and quietly walked over to Xander and hugged him, resting her head on his chest.
"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked softly.
"I'm fine," he said reassuringly, "You don't have to worry about me."
"Yes I do," she replied simply, "I always worry." Wesley ignored the couple and turned to d'Ibelin.
"What do you mean by sloppy?" Wesley asked the commander.
"Robespierre is – was one of my best scouts," he explained, "He would sneak up on targets and shoot them before they even knew he was there."
"That's exactly what he did do," stated Wesley, "In fact, the only reason I survived was that Xander pushed me out of the way. Now that I think about it, how did you know he was there?" he asked, turning to Xander.
"I dunno," he replied, "I just got lucky. You know, like a gut feeling or something."
"Enough of this," said d'Ibelin wearily, "Xander, you said that you had a plan of attack. I would hear it."
"It's very simple," said Xander, "We know that the carrier is still at Bendal and that it is the only one that has been deployed so, obviously, it needs to be taken out. What I propose is that we launch a stealth attack on it with minimal numbers and detonate the explosives that Willow and Fred created in the bridge – ah basically the quarter deck except that it's a room," he hastily explained upon seeing the confused expressions being displayed by d'Ibelin and the other generals. "Whilst we do that," he continued, "We will also cripple the flying machines by destroying their landing gear. Once that is done, a conventional fighting force would attack the camp they have made." He turned to d'Ibelin. "Do you think your men could take on their forces conventionally if the carrier was neutralised?"
"My men could fight and win were the Ventzians outnumbering them five to one," he stated confidently, "And with your new blasting powder I do not see how they could lose." Xander grinned in response.
"Good man," he said.
~o~O~o~
Acre rushed to the aviary as soon as he left the war room. The Ventzians had to know about the attack before it could be executed. He found the pigeon that he was looking for and attached the message to its leg before releasing it. It would be a near thing, he thought frantically. The real question was whether or not the Ventzians would be able to prepare a counter strategy before the attack. If they failed to stop the attack they would blame him and he would lose everything; his title, his life… his daughter.
If the attack succeeded, they would kill his daughter.
~o~O~o~
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. The next one will be the final one of this arc and it will be to your regularly scheduled Xander in Angel season five fanfics starting with "Underneath."
Are there any Scoobies that you would like to see make a reappearance?
Please review and I will see you next time.