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Xander's POV
Looks like the plan's working. He thought even as he succeeded in shooting another Cobra Viper through the leg sending the guy to the ground, For now.
Much like the others they had a pretty good idea about why Giles had planned things the way he had. Like most adults the Brit didn't want to let the others to become murderers by killing human beings. He could understand the Watcher's point of view but he didn't think the older man realized just how impractical the position was. Both Cobra and G.I Joe either had a high level of skill or a healthy amount of firepower or both in the cartoon. In this world he had little doubt that the organizations were on the same level as the characters in some of the more impressive action movies he'd watched before with well choreographed fight scenes. If all they had to worry about were a handful of soldiers from either side then he had little doubt the gang could handle them.
If it turned out to be a well coordinated fighting force armed appropriately though…he didn't think they'd do nearly as well.
Not at their current level of skill at least.
Too bad aside from time the only way we'll get any better is by doing some smashing. He thought lining up another shot before firing.
He was as wary as any of them about the note attached to the box each of them found in their quarters but just like the others that didn't mean he planned on throwing it away. They were in a world that only resembled the one they were from where the rules were different. All of them knew that there existed the possibility that the situation might get serious enough for them to have no choice but to take the plunge.
If it comes to that I'll have the first go at it. He thought with a private promise to himself and the universe, That way the others can see just what kind of price they'll have to pay if they want to do the same.
From the looks of things though the option of last resort would be needed this time around since from what he could tell most of the Cobra Vipers were either ducking behind cover or were on the ground clutching at their bloody wounds. To the Vipers' credit some of them were indeed trying to keep fighting even with their wounds but fortunately he'd anticipated that when he'd shot most of them. He'd specifically targeting points on their bodies that would make firing a gun or aiming accurately quite difficult. Perhaps one of the Cobra elites would have the skill needed to fight well even with an arm or a leg suffering from a bullet hole but not the rank and file troopers.
Cobra's main force was meant to be effective with quantity not quality and typical villain mindset would never allow underlings to become skilled enough to become a threat to the ranking officers.
Seeing motion to the right he let his gaze shift for a moment and grinned as he spotted Giles and Missus S breaking from the cover of the forest and heading for the grave. Knowing that he couldn't let any of the Cobra forces notice them he ceased trying to be precise and efficient with his weapon that'd been reconfigured into its full auto mode. Instead he held down the trigger laying down a spray of bullets directed at the enemy forces making them prioritize their own survival over intercepting the new arrivals. The second he ran out of bullets he hit the release on the spent magazine causing it to fall to the ground letting him slide into place a fresh one before resuming fire.
He grimaced as he watched one of the Vipers accidentally get a glancing hit with one of his bullets when he failed to anticipate where the guy was going properly but it looked like the helmet had absorbed most of the damage so there was no penetration. Still he knew that if Giles found out about it he'd get an earful so he upped his effort to make sure the only things he hit were non-living things or non-lethal spots on things that were alive.
A tall order considering his lack of experience and official training but as always he'd do his best.
PHUUM, PHUUM, PHUUM!
Glancing in the direction of the noice he was pleased when his eyes spotted three baseball sized objects flying towards the open hole Cobra had dug. Two seconds later they touched down and detonated releasing a dense cloud of smoke the colour of pea soup, something he'd actually both seen as well as tasted before unfortunately, that completely blanketed the target area. Judging from how little the Vipers within range were reacting he felt it safe to say that their masks and helmets came with some sort of filtering system.
Good to know.
"Fox One to Fox Unit. Mission accomplished." Giles said through his com-piece, "Toss some farewell gifts then withdraw to the Pelican."
Glad that they didn't have to tempt fate anymore than they already had he prepared to toss a flash-bang grenade he'd brought with him when he spotted something through the trees that had him pause. With the 'gifts' of the others distracting Cobra he had a chance to really focus and when he identified what he was looking at he grinned. Looking about for what he needed it didn't take long to find a suitably armed Viper and with two quick shots he disabled the man without killing him. Running as quickly as he could he arrived next to his downed target in seconds but he paid the man no mind instead choosing to focus on what the terrorist had dropped.
A rocket launcher!
Picking it up he didn't have to worry much about how to operate the thing both because he'd seen countless action movies featuring ones that looked exactly like it and because if a Viper was using it then it had to be idiot proof. Following the steps he could remember from the movie that showed them rather than skip to the good parts he took aim at the nice little surprise he'd spotted and once he heard a solid tone indicating a lock he pulled the trigger. With only a little less speed than a bullet the rocket shot forth and two seconds later slammed into the Night Raven that almost certainly was Cobra's only way out of the area. With it gone they'd either have to hoof it to the nearest secret base or figure out a way to call for a pickup both of which would up the odds of G.I Joe getting the drop on the terrorists.
As good a farewell gift as any in his opinion.
"XANDER!" Dawn yelled fear and concern in her voice.
Turning towards the sound of her voice he felt fear that somehow Cobra had forced his fellow lover of cartoons into a tight spot that she needed help getting out of. However what greeted him after he'd turned a little past two thirds of the way towards where he figured the youngest Summers would be was a rather irate Baroness.
More specifically a Baroness with a deadly looking laser rifle who looked like she very much wanted to use it on him.
"You'll pay with your life cretin!" Baroness declared bringing her weapon to bear on him.
His mind died't get far in trying to figure out a way out of this mess because every option he came up with ended in failure. The suit he was wearing DEFINITELY wasn't designed to protect a person from energy weapons or even normal firearms to the degree needed to save his life. Considering the distance between the two of them the odds of her missing him was worse than the odds of him scoring a date with the top billed Hollywood actress as her rebound boyfriend.
He'd need a miracle to get out of this one.
BANG!
"AARRGGHH!" The Baroness cried out in pain even as her weapon dropped to the ground, "My hand!"
While he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth he was a little shocked at the sight of the mangled hand of the Baroness that apparently had been shot clean through. With blood pouring from the wound he had to wonder what the odds would be that Cobra doctors would be able to put it back the way it was supposed to be. Shaking his head though he decided it didn't matter since if they couldn't it'd lower her threat level and if they could it'd probably take awhile to make it aesthetically acceptable to high society woman.
Either way not his problem.
Making tracks while he could he didn't take the direct route back to the Pelican but a more roundabout one taking care every step of the way to make it hard for anyone to pursue him or figure out where he was going. He'd seen what Dawn had done to make sure no one ran off with their ride and knew that she'd need a minute or two to get everything up and running again.
Not something you could do while your ticket out of Sparta was under fire.
It was a tense couple of minutes where he had to duck behind cover and send some rounds back at the pursuers to 'discourage' them but eventually he cleared a group of trees to see the Pelican. Running up the back loading ramp he found that he was the last one to board so punching the button to close it there was only one thing to say.
"Get us out of here Dawn!" He exclaimed not wanting to see how many hits the Pelican could take.
"Hold onto something!" Dawn yelled from the cockpit even as the engine whine began to grow in volume even as it no doubt increased its output.
Then with a sudden burst of acceleration that staggered most of the people in the rear of the Pelican he had only a short while to wait before they reached cruising velocity.
Looking at each member of his team he was pleased to see that aside from some mussed up hair and dirt none of them looked the worse for wear.
"Not bad for our first mission!" He said with a smile on his face even as he stowed his assault rifle for travel, "Right guys?"
Considering the looks he was getting the others had far more sour opinions where the mission was concerned but not foul enough to actually voice them.
For now that is.
G.I Joe HQ
Ten Hours Later
Duke's POV
"You wanted to see me Hawk?" He asked after entering his office.
"Close the door Duke." Hawk ordered in a no nonsense tone of voice.
This was a bit odd because even with the Sergeant's arrival and efforts to whip the Joes back into fighting form they'd always treated each other as brothers and sisters in arms.
This was looking to be more of a strict 'commanding officer to subordinate' situation and in his mind that could mean only one thing.
Something had altered the geography of their war against Cobra and Hawk wanted the info contained to the bare minimum number of people until the General decided otherwise. He could count on one hand the number of times that'd happened since the terrorist organization had made their first big move and it was NEVER good.
So without delay he closed the door behind him and locked it so that they wouldn't have any unexpected visitors mid-briefing.
There wasn't much chance of that happening though since if they weren't in the field protecting the locations of the graves mentioned on the list they'd stolen from the Dreadnoks they were being put through their paces by the Sergeant. The attack on the HQ just two weeks ago had made it clear that while not laid back enough to be reassigned back to the conventional military they'd let their performance standards slip. It had been one thing for Cobra to get the upper hand on them in the field with some new piece of tech but to come so close to victory right on their doorstep was unacceptable. For him if he wasn't sleeping, eating, or doing his job he was out there with the rest of them pushing himself to become better than he'd been yesterday.
He got the feeling though that he was going to have even less time to do any of that after this meeting was over with.
Instead of speaking Hawk revealed that a book that'd always been on the desk was in fact a method of concealment for s small control panel. One by one the leader of G.I Joe pressed the buttons within causing the lights next to them to blink yellow briefly before going solid green. However it was only when he felt an odd sensation all over his body that it looked like an explanation was forthcoming.
"Sorry about all the cloak and dagger stuff but what I'm about to brief you on has to stay between the two of us." Hawk said with all due seriousness, "The intel came from a deep cover operative within Cobra codenamed 'Chameleon'. As the name implies they're skilled in infiltration and blending into their environment. They're the single most valuable asset G.I Joe has and is the reason we've been able to get the drop on Cobra when it really counted."
"What they report?" He asked not bothering to request details regarding 'Chameleon' and understanding why such heavy security precautions were being taken.
Even if they were in G.I Joe HQ both the Baroness and Zarana had proven adept at infiltrating even the most secure of facilities. They couldn't let Cobra know that they had a spy in their midst or 'Chamelon' would be dead inside of a week and possibly quite a few others if Cobra Commander thought to set up an ambush for a few unlucky Joes.
"They said that they went on a mission with the Baroness to recover the DNA of King Leonidas of Sparta for whatever science project Doctor Mindbender is cooking up." Hawk replied pulling a few pieces of paper out of his pocket, "Everything was going like clockwork and unfortunately Chamelon couldn't find an opportunity to let us know where to go."
"So they got away with the DNA?" He asked not liking how Cobra seemed to be getting what they wanted despite the best efforts of G.I Joe to stop them.
He didn't hold his comrades responsible, the mission reports made it clear they'd done everything by the book and to the best of their ability, but it meant that Cobra was that much closer to getting what they wanted to do what they wanted with it. The current theory was artificially created super soldiers but even with the IQs of their experts they didn't quite have a clue as to how the terrorist organization planned to 'program' them. DNA only covered the biological side of the equation and that left a blank slate of a mind in need of filling. Mindbender's Brainwave Scanner only dealt with brainwashing people that already had minds of their own. It'd be useless in turning a humanoid mass of flesh into an effective soldier on the battlefield.
He somehow doubted that Cobra Commander had the patience for his new soldiers to be taught things the traditional way.
"No. They didn't." Hawk replied before putting the first piece of paper on the table for him to look at.
Looking at the paper he could see that it was a printout of a picture showing one of the devices that Cobra had been using to extract DNA from the corpses.
Or rather what was left of one.
"The Baroness was heading back to her Night Raven with the device when it was destroyed by a two pronged assault. One energy based and the other projectile based." Hawk explained informing him of the reason for the blackened edges of the remains as well as the jagged fragments.
"Greek special forces?" He asked even though he had his doubts about that.
"No. As part of the agreement America has with every other major power on the planet any intel any nation gets on Cobra and its activities gets sent to us ASAP." Hawk replied with a negative shake of his head, "We didn't find out about the Sparta job until Chameleon's message finished going through the usual channels. Plus the burn damage on the device doesn't look like any weapon in our armoury and aside from Cobra we're the only force equipped with energy weapons."
"Then we've got some new players." He said making the logical leap.
"Yes. According to what Chameleon had been able to find out without standing out in anyone's mind there're at least four confirmed with a few more that weren't spotted." Hawk said not sounding happy about this complication, "Cover fire was provided to keep Cobra busy then two unknowns, a man and a woman, came out of the forest and fired three shots from a grenade launcher that saturated Leonidas' grave with an as yet unidentified chemical compound. Greek forensics is going over the gravesite and we should have a report from them in a few hours but I'm willing to bet it's going to make getting another DNA sample very difficult."
"Another team? Who?" He asked even as his mind tried to figure out who might be responsible.
"If I knew the answer to that I wouldn't be so worried Duke." Hawk replied before putting another piece of paper on the desk this time clearly taken by a satellite, "Because after seeing this I'm definitely worried."
The picture wasn't the clearest and he could tell that if the eye in the sky had snapped the picture any later there'd have been nothing to see. In the upper left corner of the picture was an aircraft of some kind but he didn't see any propellers or any engines under the wings that matched the configurations he was familiar with. One thing his eye zoomed in on though was the presence of some sort of emblem on the top of the craft that struck him as either very brave or very stupid.
"Any ID on the emblem the aircraft is sporting?" He asked hoping he might be getting some good news.
"No. Gave Mainframe a very cropped copy of the emblem and asked him if he could clear it up any." Hawk replied before putting the final piece of paper on the table, "This was the best he could do."
The emblem was still pretty fuzzy but he could make out the top half of a Fox with what looked to be a combat knife clutched between its teeth. Above the fox though he could barely make out the words 'FOX' and 'HOUND' but it was grainy enough that he might be mistaken.
"Considering the fact that it's written in English that should narrow down the possible suspects a bit." He said figuring that whether government or private sector manufacturers tended to write things on their product in the language of the country where it was made.
"You'd think so but so far all the higher ups are getting from the English speaking and writing countries we have deals with are denials of any involvement." Hawk said with a mild grimace of frustration, "There're still a few suspects and dialogue is still ongoing with them but it's looking like whoever's backing this team is from the private sector. Maybe one of those PMCs."
He had to grimace himself at that last possibility.
While groups of people willing to fight anyone for money was a business as old as time in the last ten years it'd become a money maker on the same level as professional sports. The worst part of it was that by the laws of a great many countries it was perfectly legal and the people running them were smart enough not to do anything incriminating at the wrong time. There were a lot of them of all shapes and sizes with varying levels of equipment as well as training levels.
The fact that Hawk didn't have any information on these new players meant that if it was a PMC then they didn't make their own gear or aircraft. Intelligence agencies in America kept a close watch on any new developments in technology that could have possible or intentional combat applications. He remembered a friend in the C.I.A telling him that if it'd been made more than six months ago than the agency already had solid intel on it. For a new energy weapon and aircraft to be made without an intel report making the rounds implied that either both were VERY new or the creators were very good at keeping a lid on things.
A lid tight enough that the alphabet agencies of America couldn't get it off or perhaps didn't even know it existed.
That level of skill, power and tech definitely didn't bode well for the Joes or possibly the world at large.
"So how do we handle this?" He asked wanting to know where Hawk planned on taking things thanks to this new intel.
"I've put in a call to have all of our eyes in the sky as well as those belonging to our allies keep an eye out for any aircraft matching this one. If spotted G.I Joe is to be notified immediately and every effort is to be made to figure out where it's going and where it came from." Hawk replied in a tone that meant business, "As for you and the others in the field keep your eyes peeled for any party crashers. The mission still takes priority but if you can capture them either physically or on film do it."
"Count on it." He said in a tone that inspired confidence, "If they show up they won't be getting away without paying their tab."
While a novice might applaud the idea of another group taking it to Cobra he knew better. Every member of G.I Joe was in the top two percent of the respective militaries they'd come from to fight the good fight against Cobra. All of them had trained with each other for months before being deployed on missions with each other with the usual stakes in play. The fact that Chameleon didn't report any casualties meant one of two things: either the new players didn't have the stomach to kill someone or they were playing at something. Neither possibility was a good thing when it came to the fight against Cobra. He'd seen firsthand how far the organization was willing to go in order to advance towards their goal.
They weren't men. They weren't women.
They were monsters wearing human skins and clothing.
They might know how to act the part and fool those not in the life but when you've been through as many special missions as he had you picked up certain tells. No one human could do the things he'd seen Cobra do and the top ranked members were completely different animals from the rank and file Viper troopers.
It took a certain…absence…of morality to do what he'd seen Cobra Commander, Destro and the Baroness do as well as a twisted level of creativity.
If FOXHOUND couldn't find the spine to put members of Cobra down it would only be a matter of time before it got them or a lot of innocent people killed.
And if they were playing at something then the question became what were they playing at and who was the intended patsy.
He didn't think anyone would like the answer.
FOXHOUND HQ
The Next Morning
Willow's POV
"Any new transmissions Willow?" Xander asked turning away from the coffee machine with a full mug.
Her friend didn't even realize that prior to coming here he'd never touched the stuff but now Xander had at least one cup a day.
"Nothing so far. At least nothing that tells us which tomb or grave they're going after next." She replied looking at the notes she'd made while monitoring the frequency she'd discovered, "I think they're looking for information about us. Even with the level of encryption they have they're still using codewords instead of talking normally."
"Not a big surprise. Someone new comes along and messes up one of their jobs it's only natural to contact the usual sources to find out more." He said after taking his first sip, "We'll have to be careful from here on out. Until they have a better idea of the gear and vehicles we have they'll probably think that we can show up anytime anywhere. There'll also probably be more troopers and maybe some air support around when we step in next time."
"Yeah…yeah…this isn't a cartoon after all." She said remembering the results of some research she'd done when someone else monitored the frequency, "Cobra doesn't match the definition of insane."
"What definition is that?" He asked before taking another sip.
"'Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result'." She replied remembering what her mother had told her once, "I'm not the cartoon expert like you are but I know that the writers pretty much reused the same schemes over and over again just with different pieces. It was too predictable for me."
"You're right. In this world Cobra's a lot more like a real terrorist group." He said pausing in his sipping, "As long as it furthers the 'goals' they have they don't care what they have to do."
"You don't know how right you are." She said causing Xander to look concerned, "I managed to catch some TV broadcasts during my off time. You can probably guess that Cobra's pretty big news with everything they try to pull off."
"What'd you find out?" He asked setting aside casualness for the time being.
"In the cartoons it was basically one plot after another to rule the world right?" She asked just to make sure she remembered right, "WMDs, mind control and tech that could help them conquer the world right?"
"Pretty much." He replied with a nod of his head.
"Well in this world they're a lot more ambitious. From what I've overheard in the news they help terrorists and warlords and dictators." She explained unnerved by what she'd heard and seen, "No one on air knows why besides the whole 'friends in low places' angle but I've got a theory."
"I figured you would." He said with his lopsided grin.
"There're three ways to conquer someone: from the outside, from the inside and both." She explained laying out what she'd thought up, "The outside part's obvious: invasion. Gather up enough numbers to neutralize the defenders and occupy key areas. Inside's equally easy: sabotage a country from the inside by undermining the institutions the government running things needs."
"Make it look like the people in charge have dirt for brains and the people'll welcome just about anyone promising them a better tomorrow." He said filling in the remaining blanks, "If they throw in some short term fixes that produce the flashiest results it works even better. Most people aren't patient and don't think long term. I know I didn't back home."
"Right. As for the both it's the same thing as fighting a battle on two fronts." She explained even as her mind worked on different angles, "A country can only defend itself if it's united but make it so that the government has to fight both the invaders and troublemakers on the inside and you don't have a chance until you eliminate one or the other."
"So making friends with other terrorist groups, warlords and dictators is just a smokescreen." He said putting his own point of view forth, "Help scumbags accomplish their goals then put two in the back of their heads before putting their own people in place. They manage to take over any countries so far?"
"No but they wouldn't be very good at their job if everyone knew about it." She replied even if she had her own suspicions.
"So assume everyone's dirty until they do something big that hurts Cobra more than it helps." He said looking pretty grim at that possibility, "Think they've got someone inside the Joes?"
"No or at least not one highly placed." She replied with a negative shake of her head, "If they did have someone high up enough to do damage they'd have taken G.I Joe out first good chance they got. Unless they're playing the long con G.I Joe is safe."
"The long con being that as long as G.I Joe stays the go to group for fighting Cobra them having a way to control the opposition works in their favour." He said showing how well he could anticipate her thoughts, "If someone new gets the job they start from scratch. Keeping the Joes around gives them some control and if they've got a finale set up their mole could be in the perfect position to slit their throats."
"Where're you coming up with all this?" She asked not doubting her friend's intelligence but rather being aware of his lack of experience in certain areas.
Like anticipating the tactics of global terrorist organizations.
"It might not all be true but movies, TV shows and comic books have explored a ton of possible scenarios about stuff like this." He replied sounding quite sure of himself.
Figures. She thought with a shake of her head and a half roll of her eyes.
"How about you? Doubt they covered 'Terrorist Theory' back in Sunnydale." He said not changing his expression all that much.
Of course he'd ask the one question she was hoping to keep a lid on for awhile longer.
"I might've…dropped something. It broke." She said doing her best to keep her face straight.
It was more of a half lie than an outright one but Xander would only go full kilter watchdog if she told him the whole truth.
The fact of the matter was that their first night in their new HQ she'd been a bit upset about their new circumstances and what they'd have to do going forward. After all up until then she'd been the computer and research girl of the Scooby gang. Sure she helped where she could when the fighting started but she was effectively the weak link when it came to combat. She was also on the 'hostage list' for when the baddies wanted leverage over Buffy. So when she got told that in order to get home she'd need to muck up the actions of a terrorist group she knew she'd be the dead weight.
Like the others she'd noticed bits of muscle memory, of instinct, that hadn't been there back in Sunnydale but that hadn't given her much confidence. The Scoobies didn't need someone who MIGHT be able to pull something off in a pinch. They needed someone they could count on because they'd all be screwed if she couldn't. She'd tried to figure out ways to eliminate the risk she represented while also providing her with chances to produce change so her own energy tank would fuel up.
It was two in the morning before she accepted the fact that there was only one that had the best chances for success.
The item in the box that'd been labelled with a note that said 'Destroy only when push comes to shove. There's no going back afterwards'.
If she was right it represented a seal that was keeping the baggage from the people they'd gotten their upgrades from in the subconscious mind. Once broken there'd be nothing to keep it in check and she didn't need her high IQ to realize that she'd be changed by it either partially or as a whole. She'd cease to be the Willow Rosenberg her parents had raised or the girl her friends had come to know over the years.
It scared her!
But what scared her even more was the idea of losing her friends because she wasn't good enough when it mattered.
So she'd mustered up the courage, taken a deep breath and thrown the item against the nearest wall.
What'd happened next could best be described as a tsunami of thoughts, memories, emotions, mannerisms and skills.
That is if tsunamis moved at mach speeds and hit like the wrath of god.
She'd lost consciousness immediately and woke up just in time for Buffy's morning call and offer to eat breakfast together. The old her would've tried to keep the new development under wraps and fake being the same old Willow but that morning she'd known how stupid that would've been. She'd known in the first five seconds that she'd need time to process all the new information and input she'd just received. Once it'd settled and she had a grip on it she could slap together a mask matching what her friends knew and would be expecting. It'd taken a bit longer than she'd wanted but fortunately the others bought the claim that she hadn't slept well the previous night.
Now?
Now she'd let slip that she knew and thought outside of the box Xander was used to for his best bud and had to deal with it.
"You okay?" He asked conveying great concern.
"It hasn't been fun. Ada isn't exactly a white hat but she isn't a black hat either." She replied being selective with what she unveiled.
"More of a 'I am on no one's side because I'm on my side' kind of woman?" He asked in a measured manner.
"Pretty much." She replied figuring that the statement covered most of the important bases.
She'd reveal the others on a as needed basis.
"You got a leash on your new mental baggage?" He asked voicing the obvious concern.
"Yeah. It's…it's not easy to keep a grip on but it's there." She replied with a nod being completely honest.
Ada was a strong woman and her mental baggage was just as strong but fortunately for her it lacked an actual mind to direct a takeover of her brain. However she'd found out during the mission to Sparta that certain situations lent strength to her new 'assets' nearly making her go for lethal attacks instead of the nonlethal ones Giles wanted. She planned on using some of the meditation techniques she'd learned from Giles to strengthen her ties to the parts of her that were Willow Rosenberg while building a wall with limited entrances of Ada's parts.
"I trust you." He said with resolve, "Just don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it. I don't want to lose you to this 'Ada'."
"You won't." She said determined to keep herself from slipping back into 'liability' category.
With a nod Xander finished the cup of coffee in his hand.
"I'm heading to the shooting range." He said while walking away, "If Cobra's going to do better then I need to get better. Let me know if anything pops up on the frequency."
"When I know you'll know." She said turning her attention back to the base's communications console.
On a whim guided by her Ada side she used the system to scan for frequencies with similar qualities as the one she'd found. While it might be a bit paranoid there was a chance that Cobra might've changed frequencies after the fight in Sparta.
If they got bold they might try to feed them false information on a location then lay in wait to ambush whoever showed up.
She would make sure they were ready if that happened.
Ready to turn the tables on them and make them understand who they were dealing with.
Two Days Later
FOXHOUND C&C
Giles' POV
"It would appear as though Cobra has indeed chosen to take steps to counter our intrusion into their affairs." He said looking at those assembled, "As well as make matters harder for the Joes."
"How?" Buffy asked looking like she was ready to meet any challenge head-on.
Even with the whispers attached to her upgraded appearance his former charge still preferred the direct approach to more subtle methods of winning.
"According to the transmissions Willow intercepted they intend to strike three targets simultaneously." He replied remembering what he'd heard in the recordings of the transmission, "Khentii Aimag in Mongolia, the north coast of the Gulf of Izmir in Turkey and Musashizuka Park in Kumamoto, Japan."
"And for those of us who don't know our history?" Xander asked looking for clarification on the importance of each location.
As much as he would like to bemoan the lacklustre American education system he had to admit that perhaps it was a little early for them to learn about three such historic people. True as a young lad he'd always been partial to a good book and like most children gravitated towards tales of heroes, magicians and fantastic events. Unfortunately his father was not so indulging that he would allow his son to enjoy pure fantasy. Every book of heroes and magic had to be based on the truth and contain more historical facts than the whims of the author. Fortunately for him the truth proved to be entertaining enough that he was given little reason to complain about his father's terms.
"Genghis Khan, Hannibal Barca and Miyamoto Musashi." He replied listing the names of the warriors he suspected that Cobra would be seeking.
"Guy who conquered conquered a big chunk of the world back in his time and one of the best swordsmen in Japan's history." Xander said nodding his head in understanding, "But who's this Hannibal Barca guy?"
"He was a Carthaginian general who rode a group of elephants over the Alps to attack Rome and was famous for successfully defeating opponents that significantly outnumbered his own forces." He explained knowing that the more longwinded, "A worthy addition to the genetic strew Cobra's putting together since in those times one only rose to the rank of general by achieving great feats as a warrior."
"Definitely fits what Cobra's looking for." Missus Summers said voicing her own opinion, "And it's pretty obvious what their plan is."
"Divide and conquer." Oz said with a single nod of agreement.
"Yep. They plan on forcing us to split up in order to give themselves the advantage." He said further extrapolating his theory, "Whether it's us or G.I Joe dividing our forces gives Cobra an edge in a confrontation."
"So the question becomes can we afford to stick together next time." Willow said with the focused look of thought on her face.
"Don't think we can." Buffy said with a negative shake of her head, "Sure if we focus on just one or two places we can probably win but we don't know how far along Cobra's plans are. How many more DNA samples do they need before they start cooking?"
"We have no way of knowing. Just one of those DNA samples would've been enough to clone a physical copy of the original." He replied unhappy that he was unable to come up with a better answer, "However with their plan being to create a super soldier I suppose that it would depend on when Cobra Commander is satisfied that he has enough."
"That could be five DNA samples from now or just one." Missus Summers said looking like she knew how serious things were, "We can't afford to take any chances."
"Three locations means three to one location and two each to the rest." Xander said not liking those odds.
He didn't particularly care for them either.
"Make that three to two of the locations and two for the last one." A voice said that startled everyone because no one had heard or seen anyone enter the room.
Turning towards the source they were surprised to find Faith leaning up against the wall quite casually.
She looked different.
The black pants and the black undershirt wasn't anything unexpected since it was similar to her apparel back in Sunnydale but that only made the real changes all the more noticeable. As a Slayer Faith had gained formidable power on the day she was Called shortly after Kendra's death at the hands of Drusilla. However like most Slayers this strength didn't did not show itself outwardly allowing those she stalked to see her as nothing more than an ordinary girl.
Clearly her upgrade had changed that.
While not as muscular as those who abused steroids in body building contests there was no overlooking her well defined arms and shoulders. Next came her hair that she'd shortened to something more akin to someone who'd seen a military barber only a few weeks ago and had chosen to let it grow back a bit. Lastly there were the goggles over her eyes that were so opaque that he couldn't see her eyes and made him wonder if she could see out of them. Given that he couldn't think of a reason she would intentionally deprive herself of sight he would presume she could see perfectly well until proven otherwise.
"You get settled in Faith?" Xander asked keeping his voice casual.
"I found a hole to call home." Faith replied pushing off the wall with predatory grace, "Decided it was time to stretch my legs. Helping out seemed like the just the ticket."
"We could always the use another gun in the fight." Xander said turning to him, "Right Giles?"
He knew the meaning behind the young man's words.
Back in Sunnydale Faith had betrayed them when she defected to join the Mayor and had played a role in their current dimensional displacement. Even before her treachery the Slayer had been…untamed when it came to how she chose to live her life. Whether she had always been this way or the loss of her first Watcher had changed her viewpoint the young woman had never seen her Calling as some higher purpose.
Not really.
Instead he believed that she had seen her becoming the Slayer as a power trip and as evidence that she was better than ordinary humans. However it'd been the failure of the Scoobies, himself especially, that had caused matters to get worse. He had been too focused on his duties to Buffy to see how the others had been treating Faith that he had not noticed their failure to accept her on her own merits. Instead they'd repeatedly compared her to the best example they had: Buffy. As for his charge she'd always had a rather specific view of her world and needed to be beaten over the head with powerful truths before she'd change it. From Buffy's point of view the Calling as a heavy burden, an unwanted duty, and needed to be taken seriously or a great many people would perish. When Faith did not share her point of view the newest Slayer was labelled a 'problem' in the blonde's eyes and the others shared her opinion.
As for him he did feel concern regarding Faith's behaviour but more because it reminded him all too much of his younger 'Ripper' self. Wild, contemptuous of authority and ever seeking the next great thrill ride. He'd seen what such a lifestyle did to a human being and had no wish for the Slayer to learn the same lessons as him the hard way. However he had waited too long, taken too much time trying to figure out the right approach, and when the Deputy Mayor had accidentally been killed during the Balthazar fiasco…it had all gone wrong. By that point his 'replacement' had done his duty like a good little puppet and all but driven Faith into the arms of the Mayor. From a logical point of view he could understand the girl's actions: it was people who'd never really treated her well, people who were supposed to guide her but now wanted to railroad her or the master powerful man in Sunnydale.
In terms of safety and protection the choice was simplicity itself.
Their one saving grace was the fact that Faith wasn't all that good at being a deep cover agent and it hadn't taken long for her new allegiance to be exposed.
Now Xander was indicating that this could be their chance to make things right with Faith by accepting her into the group and trying to trust her. He did not believe it would be an easy road by any stretch of the imagination if for no other reason than the fact that if Faith knew the requirements for their leaving this reality their offers of trust would seem…dubious. The ally of Wilkins would presume that they were only being nice to her because she was needed in order to make it back home. Such a point of view would require a great deal of work and more than likely admitting that they'd treated her poorly in order to change it.
However every journey begins with a single step. He thought reaching a decision for himself if nothing else and said, "Indeed. With Cobra adapting its tactics to counter our own efforts it would only be appropriate to have an unexpected ace up our sleeve. Someone they cannot know about and therefore cannot predict."
"Sounds like fun." Faith said before turning to Buffy, "How about it B? Ready to saddle up together like old times?"
"If doing it will get us all back home then all I can say is 'giddy'up'." Buffy replied conveying that while the hatchet was not buried it could be put back on the wall.
"Solid." Faith said with a smile not quite like the one she used to sport back in Sunnydale.
"Then let us begin preparations." He said hoping that this did not wind up making matters worse, "Pairings, load outs and destinations."
He reverently hoped that 'Murphy' had not heard that last thought or they were all buggered.
En Route to Kumamoto, Japan
Eight Hours Later
Xander's POV
"So…like the new you?" He asked as he piloted the 'Nomad' to their destination.
"Don't have much to complain about…'cept maybe the haircut." Faith replied not moving an inch from her at rest position in the co-pilot's chair.
"Could work for you." He said not minding the shorter hair, "Besides long hair's a liability in a fight."
"Didn't hear any complaints from you after popping my shoulder back into place in my room." Faith said slightly playful but not quite the devil may care style she used to have.
"I was kinda distracted at the time." He said with a lopsided grin.
A light chuckle was all he got from Faith and he hoped that she took it as a compliment and not a pervy guy thing. Much like Giles he recognized the fact that they hadn't done as good as they could've by Faith when she came to Sunnydale. Sure free will was still a thing when it came to the choices Kendra's successor to Slayerdom made but freedom to choose didn't mean much when from your point of view you didn't have much of a list to work with. Put someone between a bad choice and a worse choice and they'll go with whichever one had the best odds of keeping them alive.
If it also held the promise of something better than what they had then defecting to the Mayor was easy to understand.
There was a long list of things the Scoobies should've done, things that they could've done, but until time travel became a thing it didn't mean shit. All they could do now was treat her with respect and convince her that working with them was her best option for getting back home. After the bad road behind them he knew it'd take a long way before any of them were 'good' as far as Faith was concerned. However if they could convince her they could be trusted and that getting home was the best thing for all of them he'd be happy with that.
"We'll be touching down in Hawaii soon." He said steering the discussion in a more practical direction, "The Nomad doesn't have the range to make Japan all in one go."
"Plan on sight seeing? Maybe some hula girls?" Faith asked with a bit of mockery, "Enjoy a sandy beach or two?"
"Nope. We're on the clock." He replied seeing the lights of Hawaii in the far distance, "We land, refuel, maybe get some snacks and then we're back in the air."
"No room for fun anymore Harris?" Faith asked in a tone that was impossible to identify.
"We've got a job to do and I for one don't plan on slacking off." He replied before letting grin evolve into a smile, "Doesn't mean we can't stop to enjoy ourselves on the way back though. All work and no play and all that."
"Nice to see you haven't gone completely stiff." Faith said still in a fairly laid back position, "Least not in the dull way."
Nice to see she hasn't changed as much as I thought. He thought focusing on what his instincts were telling him about flying the Nomad.
It wasn't as strong as it was with some of the other things he'd found exploring HQ but they hadn't had much choice. There'd only been two Pelicans in the entire hanger and none of the other aircraft had the necessary range to get him and Faith to Japan. Taking civilian transportation wouldn't work since their weapons would be a dead giveaway and none of them were familiar enough with the shady side of things to know who the could trust. So far there hadn't been any close calls to make him think it'd been a bad idea so he'd tentatively call it a good idea until proven otherwise.
It gave him time to confirm what he'd suspect the moment he'd laid eyes on Faith when she'd made her grand entrance back at HQ.
It'd been confirmed by him and the rest of the Scoobies that each of them had an item with some pretty irreversible consequences if it was broken. Though it'd never been said outright he was pretty sure that everyone had a pretty good idea of what'd happen if their respective items were broken.
Namely that the source of their instincts would be brought to the surface in all its complicated and no doubt traumatizing glory.
The source of course being the echo of the person they'd gotten their upgrade from.
He hadn't needed to even ask the others to know that they had put their respective items in a very safe spot where it wouldn't get broken unless they did it intentionally. He'd seen enough war and spec ops movies to know that part of the deal of becoming one of the best of the best was enough trauma to break a person if they weren't strong enough. None of them wanted to go through that unless they really had to and so far the situation hadn't gotten that bad yet.
Based on what he'd seen of Faith though he felt it was safe to say that her item had probably been broken within a day or two of arriving in this new reality. She'd probably ditched them, weighed her options and decided that the situation was bad enough that breaking her item couldn't make anything worse than it already was.
He hoped that she was right about that.
Talking now would let him know if he had solid backup or a ticking time bomb with no visible timer.
"According to the info Giles handed out Miyamoto Musashi's grave is in Musashizuka Park. It's a public spot so there'll probably be civilians in the area when Cobra makes its move." He said summing up the situation, "With just the two of us we're going to need to fight smarter not harder. I'll head straight for the grave and find a spot close by to keep Cobra from getting to it."
"And me?" Faith asked ominously.
"You go on the hunt." He replied without hesitation, "We won't beat Cobra by fighting them head-on. Confusion and chaos is the way to go. Anytime they try to get their acts together I want you there to break it up."
"I knew I made the right call going with you." Faith said finally sitting up straight in her seat, "Gonna have one helluva party."
"Just be ready to pull out." He warned flipping over the notepad he'd found in the Nomad containing everything he'd need to keep from raising any red flags with Hawaii, "Once the fireworks start the local PD will be all over us and maybe even G.I Joe. We just need to keep Cobra back long enough for them to get outnumbered. After that we leave and go to ground until the heat dies down enough for us to leave on the Nomad."
"Got it." Faith said sounding like she would prefer to leave only when she was the last person standing.
Outside of Hollywood though two people managing to stay more or less in one piece just wasn't feasible. Sure Faith would probably last longer thanks to her Slayer stamina and durability but Slayers weren't bulletproof and they definitely weren't laser proof. He'd go down first probably when fatigue caused him to make mistakes or he ran out of bullets and then Faith would be on her own. At that point he expected her to either bolt for survival's sake or go berserker in order to take as many enemies as she could with her when she fell.
Honestly he hoped she chose to run 'cause it didn't make any kind of sense for both of them to die or get captured. As long as Faith made it out there was still a chance that Giles could figure out some sort of workaround option for the missing energy his death had cost them. It'd probably take awhile but if there was one thing he was willing to bet his life on it was the occult IQ of his surrogate father.
And if he was captured…well…he'd probably have to manage his own escape since he'd be damned if he wound up being the bait that lured the gang into a trap.
Guess I'll really get to see just how good I am with a ghost guiding me. He thought as he began the landing procedures.
A Clearing in Khentii Aimag, Mongolia
Early Morning Local Time
Joyce Summers' POV
"I don't trust her." Buffy said after the hatch to their Pelican clanged shut.
"We heard you the first half a dozen times you said it." Dawn said before taking on a more battle ready posture with her assault rifle, "Obsessive much."
"She betrayed us! It doesn't matter how bad things were for her she didn't have to hook up with the Mayor." Buffy declared making it clear that the betrayal bothered her greatly.
"Didn't she? Wussley sold her out to the Council, we treated her like she was a rabid dog and she wasn't exactly rolling in the moolah." Dawn pointed out clearly not willing to give her older sibling even a little slack, "She was alone and she was smart enough to know she wouldn't last long on her own so she went with the only play she had that gave her a chance. If you want someone to blame for her going to the dark side look in a mirror."
"Enough! We've got a job to do!" She barked upset at how her daughters were behaving towards one another, "Let's get to it."
Taking the lead she began to move towards their destination.
This time though she'd brought a little something extra alongside her custom assault rifle since she figured that Cobra had done the same.
An RPG-7 with a belt of six rockets as ammunition.
Given how the last fight went she very much doubted that they'd be facing JUST troopers this time around. When it came to escalation if soldiers weren't enough then you brought in vehicles and heavier weaponry. Against such opposition simple assault rifles wouldn't be enough, not with just ghosts guiding their actions, so bringing some heavy firepower of their own was a must. She didn't know if six rockets would be enough to see them through but she'd do her best just the same.
The lives of her daughters depended on it.
As for Faith…she could tell from the moment she'd first met Faith that the girl's life before coming to Sunnydale had not been anything approaching normal. She'd seen people who'd acted like Faith back on Los Angeles at her previous place of employment and it never turned out to be anything good. She'd tried to help those people but she was always too late and her offers rejected as false hope for suckers. As a result she'd tried a different approach: instead of making a direct offer she'd chosen to simply go with the open door policy. She'd made it clear that Faith was welcome in her home and provided reasons to visit when she could in the hopes that a place of warmth might melt some of the girl's sharp edges.
Then all her hard work went down the drain when that pitiful excuse of a replacement for Mister Giles took precisely the wrong route to deal with the accident with the Mayor. Buffy had told her what'd happened later on and it'd definitely been an accident, a heat of the moment thing, and it was troubling that Faith didn't show the expected remorse but…
…but at the same time she wanted to believe it was still there beneath the tough girl attitude.
They just needed to figure out a way to get the Boston Slayer to lower her guard, to realize that it was okay to feel things like guilt and remorse, and the rest would handle itself.
With careful precision the three of them advanced up river since even with his respectable amount of knowledge he'd been unable to precisely determine where Genghis Khan's grave was. According to the former Watcher people had been hunting for the grave for centuries and only had indirect clues hinting at where it could be. Apparently Mister Giles' roommate at Watcher school had made it his business to thoroughly research the warlord because of the prestige he'd earn with the top ranked members of the Council if he found the grave. As a result Mister Giles had the unintended benefit of being aware of most of his roommates research either by hearing it or being asked to help from time to time. As a result all they had to work with was somewhere close to the Onon River but that was about it.
Considering the fact that the river was over six hundred miles long and she was pretty sure she could speak for her daughters when she hoped that Cobra would be less than subtle with their own search.
It'd save time and prevent frustration from firing her daughters up into another dispute about one thing or another.
For the next hour they proceeded along the Onon River looking for anything that might be a Mongolian grave that was old enough to belong to the one they sought. Mister Giles had drawn a rough picture of what it'd have looked like brand new as well as one that showed how the centuries would've affected it. She really had to wonder about just how obsessive the ex-Watcher's roommate had to have been to go to such lengths but since it was helping them she found that she didn't really care.
"This is nuts!" Dawn griped kicking a baseball sized rock into the river, "Any grave made back then's gotta be covered in plants or turned to gravel. Probably BOTH!"
"So what do you want to do? Just go home and forget about it?" Buffy snapped not liking their lack of progress either, "And if Cobra gets Genghis Khan's DNA to make super soldier's with? Do you really want to say 'oops! I just got so fed up I went home and let'em have it'?"
"Of course not! I just don't like stumbling around like this." Dawn said reigning in her griping a bit, "We're more likely to trip over the grave than actually find it on purpose."
BBBOOOMMM!
"Or somebody could be playing with explosives and lead us right to it." Buffy said pointing to the rising smoke from the explosion.
"And what makes you think that's got anything to do with Khan's grave?" Dawn asked making a valid point.
For all they knew some paranoid militia man with a gun fixation was testing out a new mixture of explosives.
"What kind of luck do we usually have?" Buffy asked pointing out something rather cynically.
Strange luck.
At least that was what she'd come to believe after hearing some of the stories from Buffy about what her 'Scooby gang' had been through.
"Point. Let's go check it out." Dawn replied with a shrug, "Not like we've got anything better to do."
With their course decided they began to advance towards the smoke taking care NOT to sound like a rampaging herd of elephants as they did so. It got harder once bushes and trees became an issue but all they could do was try their best and hope it didn't get all three of them killed. For her she tried to find the path of least resistance, the route with the fewest branches or bushes, since by her logic it'd make for less noise. Another measure she took to keep from giving away her family's presence to possible Cobra members was to make sure she looked ahead as far as she reliably could with the surrounding vegetation. While all the green might make it hard for her to see anyone past a certain distance ahead of her it also worked in the case of their potential enemies.
It basically became a game of chance: which side would spot the other one first?
She was determined to make sure it was her group.
A little past twenty minutes later of careful walking and they received their second piece of information that told them that they were going in the right direction.
"WAAHOO! Crikey that was a B-U-Tiful BOOM!" Crowed a guy with an Australian accent.
"Quit wasting time Monkeywrench!" Another voice said with an air of authority, "We've got a job to do and if you wind up blowing up what Cobra Commander sent us for it'll be you I serve up on a plate to him."
"R-right! No problem Zartan." Monkeywrench said making it sound like being 'served up' was not something a sane person volunteered for.
"Looks like we get to deal with a heavy hitter." Dawn whispered through their respective com-pieces, "Zartan's the leader of the Dreadnoks. They're basically Australian Hell's Angel mercenaries with Cobra provided gear and do jobs for them pretty often."
"How many Dreadnoks are there?" Buffy asked likely wanting to know how many enemies they might be up against.
"Not sure." Dawn replied as they continued to advance, "About ten I think."
"Ten of them versus the three of us." Buffy said not sounding too worried, "Could be worse."
"That's assuming that they don't have any Cobra troopers there for backup." She pointed out having some doubts that Cobra would leave such a rowdy bunch unattended.
"All the more reason to be careful." Dawn said crouching down as far as she could without hindering her advance too much, "Get low. We're almost here."
Following Dawn's recommendation the three of them continued advancing forward until they were almost at the edge of the vegetation. By this point they could see the Dreadnoks quite clearly but they could also see that her concern about the presence of Cobra reinforcements much to her regret.
Fifteen Cobra Viper troops divided up amongst various duties, two large armoured vehicles that were probably tanks and three motorcycles of some sort with mini-missile launchers attached to them. All in all it wasn't the best situation they could've hoped for and if it turned into a fight the odds of them getting back to their Pelican were pretty slim.
"We should back out." She said not willing to put her daughters' lives in danger, "This is more than we were expecting."
"No argument here." Dawn said agreeing with her, "Even if we try to destroy the vehicles first it's still going to be a running gunfight all the way back to the Pelican. I don't even think they've found the remains yet."
"Doesn't mean they won't." Buffy said not sounding nearly as concerned as she should, "We can still make this work!"
"How?" Dawn asked sounding half interested and half disbelieving.
"You head back to the Pelican and attack with it." Buffy replied sounding more sure of herself with every moment, "It's got missiles right? You fire off the first salvo and Mom'll use her RPG-7s to finish off the biggest threats left."
"And you?" Dawn asked not content to let that detail slide.
"I'll be keeping the Vipers and Dreadnoks off your backs until the vehicles are destroyed." Buffy replied emphasizing her sci-fi assault rifle, "The Dreadlocks don't look like they're going to put their lives on the line for a payday and the Vipers didn't impress me last time. They're not much better than vampire fledges. I can handle them for awhile and once you two are done with the vehicles you can help me take down the rest."
"You mean drive off right?" She asked not liking the various unappealing definitions of 'take down' she could think of.
"No. Even if we use every clip we've got they won't run for it once they figure out it's just the three of us. They're not spineless enough to run when they've got the advantage of numbers." Buffy replied with a negative shake of her head, "The only way we're pulling this off is by evening the odds. One by one."
"No! We're not killers!" She objected unwilling to let her daughters take human lives.
"Maybe not but they are and if we keep trying to beat them with one hand tied behind our backs we'll lose." Buffy said unwilling to back down, "And in this case losing's gonna mean either death or spending the next ten to twenty years trying to get what we need. Me? I don't want to wait that long to get back home."
"We'll manage!" She insisted unwilling to give into the dark path her eldest was proposing, "We don't have to be like them to defeat them. Besides if we have to stay a few more years it won't be so bad. It's not like this place is hell. It might even be fun!"
"And if the Mayor ascends and destroys Sunnydale? If he kills everyone we know back there because we weren't there to stop him?" Buffy asked with an edge that took her aback, "If we don't stop the Mayor everyone in Sunnydale is dead and after them who knows where it'll end. I wouldn't be surprised if the Hellmouth opened! Can you really say you'd let all that happen just to keep our hands clean?"
She found her objections frozen in her mouth as her mind envisioned the sort of world they might be returning to if they took too long. She might not have been aware of the supernatural side of Sunnydale for very long but Hollywood had done a very good job at producing movies where the end of the world or hell on Earth was the central theme. If the movies were even half accurate the sort of world that'd be waiting if they took too long…it was too horrible to even contemplate.
Was she really asking her daughters put put their own souls, their innocence, before the lives of all the innocent people who'd die at Wilkins' hand?
Was that any better than killing the terrorists before them?
"Fine but if they start running or we manage to destroy Genghis Kahn's remains it stops." She said unable to justify her preferred course in the presence of a terrible potential future, "Understand?"
"Perfectly." Buffy said with a nod of agreement.
"Get going Dawn." She said looking to her youngest daughter, "Get to the Pelican as quickly as you can. When you make your pass try to take out as many of their vehicles as possible then swing back around to help from the air."
"Got it." Dawn said before easing away from them a good twenty to thirty yards before moving much quicker.
Like comparable to a car driving under the speed limit quicker.
Dawn would be too the Pelican in no time at all and travel by air was always quicker than travel by land. That meant that they had minutes before the fighting would begin and she was determined to figure out a strategy that'd stack things even more in their favour. When the Pelican made its first pass the most she could realistically hope for was for half the vehicles to be either destroyed or disabled. Once that happened she'd focus on using her RPG-7s to finish off one or two more vehicles before bringing her assault rifle to bear on the Cobra troopers.
She'd…she'd focus on the ones that looked to be in charge, like that Zartan person, in the hopes that with their deaths the rest would flee with no clear chain of command. Then once they're gone they'd focus on the dig site.
If it did contain the remains of Genghis Kahn they'd use the same mixture Giles had used on Leonidas' remains to render them unusable.
If it didn't then maybe they could make it look like it had been there somehow so that Cobra would give up on the location entirely. If they could manage that then it would be their victory and one that would grant them respite until the next location was uncovered.
I'm really beginning to hate this reality. She thought before sliding the first rocket into the launcher, I'm almost looking forward to getting back to a world that just has vampires and demons.
Note: Just to clarify things a bit here are the skill pairings for the Scoobies so far. I debated just giving you guys the entire list but in the end decided to go with the ones that big enough hints had been dropped for already. The rest will be revealed in good time and I'll try to be a bit more obvious with the hints for the rest to help you the readers figure everything out.
Buffy Summers = Iden Versio from the game 'Star Wars Battlefront 2' released in 2017
Xander Harris = Sam Fisher from the game 'Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell'
Willow Rosenberg = Ada Wong from the Resident Evil game franchise
Dawn Summers = Spartan Three Catherine-B320 of Noble Team from the game Halo Reach
Faith Lehane = a female version of Richard B Riddick from the movie Pitch Black
That just leaves Missus Summers, Giles and Oz whose skill/ability providers haven't been as obvious with their tells thus far in the story. The main reason for that is because I'm having trouble deciding on clues that're subtle enough that it won't take just one to reveal everything but at the same time won't be so obscure that no one outside of an obsessive fan would clue in. I've mostly been trying to keep their respective load outs tied to whoever they got their skill/ability set from.
Maybe I should save the last three for the big climactic battle, give the moment some extra oomph, so the gang can leave that reality in style. What do you think?