Summary: YAHF/AU. In the grim darkness of Sunnydale at night, there is only war... and Xander.
Disclaimer: "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" is the property of Joss Whedon and "Warhammer 40,000" the property of Games Workshop, along with any associated characters and situations of each, respectively, and are used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.
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"Ave Imperator"
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'
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"Illuminate them!"
- Warmaster Horus Lupercal,
'The Horus Heresy: Horus Rising', "Warhammer 40,000"
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Of all the Chaos Gods, the being known as The God-Emperor of Mankind considered Khorne, Chaos God of Blood and Battle, to be the most palatable. Were it not for certain irreconcilable differences, The God-Emperor might even have considered Khorne to be the only Chaos God that was worthy of any respect. Unfortunately, respect and fairness had no place in the war for the universe and the battle for the very soul of mankind. It was that palatablity and the knowledge of how Khorne felt regarding Tzeentch, the other Chaos God's followers, and their 'sorcerous tricks' that had The God-Emperor seriously considering handing the Chaos Mage before him over to Khorne for the Blood God to do with as he pleased.
The last event which The God-Emperor could clearly remember was watching from the Golden Throne through the Immaterium as combined forces of Aeldari, Martian techpriests and even sons of Caliban still loyal to the Imperium of Man balanced the fall of Cadia with the return of his son Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines, from his long stasis sleep, the defense of Ultramar and Terra, the Ultima Founding and declaration of the Indomitus Crusade... Then he was here, in this time that had long passed in this place that was no more, somewhere where and when he was not meant to be.
It was not right that he was here; last time it had been a soldier's spirit that had settled upon the one he was before, it should have been again - not the memories and power of The God-Emperor from ages yet to come. The God-Emperor could only conclude that because the Warp was all places and all times at the same place and same time - hence the temporal pecularities with Warp travel - somehow the events that he had been witnessing had overlapped with the Chaos Mage's actions this night and had caused this change in matters, had brought the mind and soul of The God-Emperor to the body of Alexander Harris, the man - boy - he had once been before his eyes had been opened. Not even his beloved friend Malcador - gone for ten-thousand years since he had volunteered to hold the Golden Throne, a deed that would cost Malcador his life when the ancient machine had burned through his life's energies, while The Emperor, for at the time he had not yet elevated to godhood by the Ecclesiarchy against his wish to free humanity from the shackles of religions, confronted his treacherous son Horus - knew him by that name and knew of that part of The God-Emperor's past.
'Xander' Harris had done what none had thought possible, he had changed destiny by breaking a prophecy from the Purgamum Codex. What no one had known, what even he wouldn't know for years afterwards, was that it came with a cost. In keeping prophecy from claiming the Slayer's life, he had defied death; in defying death, he was cursed never to feel its true embrace. He became one of those few cursed to know immortality. Unlike others, though - others until he had met Malcador, who had been similarly cursed - he had not cowered or retreated; as he had so many times before, he met the situation head-on in the manner that would lead to him one day becoming The Emperor of Mankind.
If there was any good side to the current situation, it was that The Emperor had never liked having to merely imbue certain persons with fragments of his power instead of being able to handle situations himself. And quite frankly, the last time he could remember being this full-on pissed off at someone had been Vandire - and Lorgar before him, which was telling of exactly how often it happened - and right now there was no Golden Throne entombment keeping him from holding Ethan Rayne at swordpoint himself. It was only too bad that it was not his own sword which he had forged himself before the Unification of Terra began, merely one that had been in the Chaos Mage's shop with which The Emperor had armed himself.
"Foolish Chaos worshipper, you have no idea what you have done, do you?" The Emperor all-but snarled at Ethan. "You thought to unleash a Primordial tide and you instead brought forth the future... a future you won't live to see because the daemons to which you have sold your soul will be rending it apart for the rest of eternity."
"Who... who are you?"
"I am He who has been called Saviour and Emperor, Light and Soul, Uniter and... Zeppo..." The Emperor answered mockingly as he slowly raised his sword up in preparation for the killing blow. "Ask your daemonic masters who I am while they ravage your soul for eternity in the Warp and know that you have helped bring about that which they sought to prevent..."
The Emperor took in a deep breath as he glared down at the cowering sorceror. Without another word, he brought the sword down and severed Ethan's head from the Chaos Mage's body. There was a moment's surprise as the spell didn't come to an end, then he realised that it must have been bound to something as an anchor to continue after the caster's death as it was doing. Reaching out with his psychic powers, The Emperor looked into the Immaterium and saw a series of ripples that he followed to their source; a small bust of an ancient god.
Janus, if he remembered correctly.
Without hesitation, The Emperor smashed the Janus bust with his free fist. A smokey bird-like figure appeared in the shards, but hecut through it with the sword causing it to fade away with a scream.
'A daemonic foci,' The Emperor was unsurprised. They were dangerous in the hands of the unaware, even more so when possessed by one such as Ethan Rayne who knew full-well what they were.
Closing his eyes, The Emperor stood there and waited for the spell to come to its end. At first it was as though he were being pulled apart. Then, suddenly, almost like the snapping of an over-stretched elastic band, the sensation was gone... but he remained. The spell had ended, but his presence had not. Perhaps because his essence had not come from one of the Chaos mage's costumes; he wasn't a foreign energy, he was his own future.
"The Anathema," the daemon hissed hatefully at the sight of Xander.
"I'm so glad you remember me," Xander mocked. "Now... which one were you again? I've banished and obliterated so many of your kind over the millenia, I just don't know you by sight anymore."
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"Got to admit, when it comes to giving a girl jewelry at least you're more creative than some cheesy ring or bracelet," Faith remarked, holding the Rosette up by its chain and watching as the light hit it.
"Unfortunately, there's no one it lets you give orders to at the moment."
"But when there is, I'll already have it. That's cool."
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Xander grimaced at the sight of Kakistos; the vampire was uglier than some Great Unclean Ones of whom he was aware. At least he lacked that disturbingly over-friendly attitude they had; unfortunately, Wilkins had plenty of that, even if he was pledged to Chaos Undivided and not Nurgle alone.
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"What's an Ascension?"
"Ascension; when a 'Champion' takes the final step into full Daemonhood, usually involving a sacrifice to their patron power," Alexander scoffed at the surprised looks he recieved from the 'Buffy Bunch', "Know your enemy, people. So, Giles, he ascends, does that mean 'Richard Wilkins' becomes this 'Orvalkin's True Name and, if so, can we use that against him?"
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"The 'Emperor of Mankind'... or would you prefer 'Xander'?"
"The 'First Evil'. Or would you prefer 'Drach'yen'?" The Emperor asked as he calmly confronted his oldest enemy. Mockingly, he added, "Last I heard, you were bound in a sword."
"I am everywhere and everywhen at once, I am bound in no way."
"I'll have to fix that. And by that I meant destroy you once and for all."
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It was ironic, really. She'd never know it, but Walsh had effectively been the spiritual 'mother' of the Astartes. When he had needed genetically altered super-soldiers, his 'Thunder Warriors', he had found the remains of her research and experiments on the Inititive soldiers. When he began working on the Primarchs and their respective legions, he had used the information gathered during the creation of ADAM in the process. She had died, killed by her own creation, but what she had started would one day become an important part of the Imperium of Man.