The Neo Trinity, After Supper, Broadcast Room

"So what do we do first?" Xander asked as he watched Niobe sit in front of the main terminal and begin running some sort of program.

"First you sit down in one of those chairs and prepare yourself for jacking in." Niobe said without taking her eyes off of the screen.

"What? I thought we were going to be doing some training." Xander thought as he mentally brought up his idea of training.

He wasn't sure what hovercraft crew members were required to do in order to do their job but he did think that this wasn't the normal way of doing things. After all while he understood that this was pretty much a world where books had long since turned to ash and the only viable source of information was what they could glean from the Matrix. Still they had to have instruction books somewhere and maybe a VR simulator of some kind which logically would have been too big to fit inside a hovercraft.

"We are but not the way you're probably used to." , Niobe said as she finished her task at the main console and walked over to him, "Now sit down and brace yourself. It'll be awhile before you get used to the sensation of jacking in but it will get easier eventually."

Deciding to trust her somewhat he did as he was told and did his best to endure the nasty little stab of pain in the back of his head when Captain Niobe took the spike and shoved it in his socket. He fully expected for things to go black briefly before waking up somewhere else but for some reason he was still conscious and in the hovercraft. This of course left him a little confused as he had already written a rule in his head that when the spike goes in the world goes completely bye-bye and you wake up somewhere else. Since this wasn't the case though he suspected either he had gotten the rule wrong or needed to add a footnote or two beneath it. Niobe then went back to the main console and began to type again although he could not tell what she was typing since a lot of the cables and wires obscured his line of sight.

"Now while you might think that training here in Zion is done by reading books and trial and error I'm going to introduce you to a much more efficient way of doing things." Niobe stated and then with a single push of a button the 'more efficient way' was unleashed on the unsuspecting Zeppo.

With all the subtlety of a troll hammer to the head he felt his mind overwhelmed with words and images that were coming at him at such a speed so as to make them completely incomprehensible to him. It seemed to go on forever leaving him to wonder whether or not he would be stuck in this whirlwind of knowledge for an eternity. In reality though it was only a few seconds and when he came out of it he was amazed at the knowledge he now had at the end of his tongue. He now knew exactly how the hovercraft worked, mechanically speaking of course, as if he had been working as a crew member on it for years. However the strain of having that knowledge shoved into his head had left him gasping for air as he recovered.

"Like that did you?" Niobe asked sarcastically as she probably expected him to be in this state after his first download.

"Hell yeah!" Xander exclaimed as he mentally wished several times that this gear had been available to him during high school.

"Alright then. Now normally new recruits want to head straight to the combat training but I think that knowing how to navigate the tunnels in a hurry is more important." , Niobe said as the sounds of typing reached his ears, "After all its far more dangerous in the tunnels with the rebels hiding in every hole and hiding spot along the major traffic lines. The only time we have to confront them in the Matrix is when they're trying to recruit someone against their will."

"Does that happen often?" Xander asked with some concern and a little anger at the thought of innocent people being forced into this little skirmish.

"Only as much as they need in order to replenish their numbers. It's pretty quiet right now with the only real bit of excitement being when Gabriel went after you." , Niobe replied as she seemed to finish whatever file she was attempting to bring up, "Unfortunately with most conflicts happening ship-to-ship the hovercraft usually goes down with all hands lost."

"Makes sense." Xander stated as he mulled over what would most likely be his future.

It wasn't a situation that he liked all that much and given the state of things in terms of the environment he could honestly say that he didn't like these rebels very much. After all the world was more or less a wasteland and despite the onset of peace with these machines it was still quite a struggle for the few free humans of Zion to just survive. Adding the hassle of dealing with a group of malcontents who seemed determined on reviving the human-machine war and it would take forever before humanity managed to reach any semblance of its former glory. If there was anyway that he could help bring this conflict to a swifter end than it was currently rated for then he would.

"Now that you have the mechanics down pat its time to download the hovercraft piloting program." , Niobe said as she looked at him through the mess of cables and wires, "I made the program myself so after this download you should be able to handle a hovercraft almost as well as I can."

"Almost?" Xander asked with a little humor in his voice.

"'Almost' because there never has been and never will be a pilot as good as me!" Niobe said with a smile as she pressed the download button.

For a few moments Xander was unable to say, do or think anything as once more his mind became overwhelmed by the knowledge that was being zapped into his cranium. It was barely there but he could tell that there was slightly less edge to this download as opposed to the one that came before which he hoped meant that he was getting used to it. If it turned out to just be his imagination though than he was definitely going to be doing everything that he could to make these sessions ended as soon as possible. After all a guy could only afford to have his brain scrambled so many times before he was fit to be measured for a straitjacket.

In any case it turned out that the downloads did become easier and as time went on he actually came to like the process or rather the knowledge that he gained as a result. By the end of the day he not only possessed the knowledge necessary to maintain and operate the Neo Trinity but also several forms of martial arts as well. It was amazing and more than a little exciting as it seemed that where one minute ago he knew next to nothing about Kung Fu he was now the equal of any master in terms of knowledge. He didn't let it go to his head though as he knew that there was a difference between having the knowledge and actually being able to perform the techniques in live combat. It was the same sort of thing as watching a 'how to' video and then expecting to be able to imitate what you saw perfectly. Still with a little hard work and some time he was confident that he could become good enough that if a vamp ever tried to make a meal of him again it would only be able to get two words out before filling up an urn. That was of course assuming most of his work wound up taking him into the Matrix and not simply scouting the tunnels as Niobe seemed to think was most likely. In any case he would go with the flow and learn as much as he could so he wouldn't be a burden to these people. Yep, no more being a useless hanger on for this boy! This time he was going to play just a big a role in Zion as Buffy did in the Matrix and no one was going to give him any lip ever again. However as the image of Buffy that always sprang to mind when her name was mentioned he suddenly realized something that he had completely forgotten about.

Oh my God! Buff and the gang! Xander thought as the reality of things slammed into his brain like a 747.

Now he did not know just how long he had been disconnected to the Matrix or how much time had passed back in Sunnydale but he was fairly certain it had been long enough for him to be missed by his friends. Given the Thief's entrance into his home that they were aware of and his 'disappearance' a few days later they would be in a complete uproar never mind what other hellmouthy problem might have cropped up in the meantime. He had to get back or at least progress through this training as quickly as he could so that he would be able to make a request to return to the Matrix without being given the 'you aren't ready yet' excuse.

"Niobe? How soon before I would be able to go back and talk to my friends in the Matrix?" , Xander asked as he waited for her to come over and unplug him, "Buffy's probably terrorizing the local demon population to work out her stress and Willow's probably on the verge of a nervous breakdown!"

"Well if you keep sucking in knowledge at this rate and the Council doesn't give us anything else to do we could probably go to see your friends in about four days." , Niobe replied with a grin at his emotional description of the situation back in Sunnydale, "Just so you know though if you start hitting a few snags or I think you could use a little more construct time there might be a few more days tacked onto that estimate."

"No problem. So how's about we finish up the martial arts portion of this 'training' session and then call it a day?" Xander asked as he accepted the terms he would have to meet if he was to get back home as soon as possible.

"If you say so Yogi!" Niobe said as she began to set up the next file for download.

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm smarter than the average kid!" Xander said in his best Yogi Bear voice before he was robbed of the ability to talk by the download.

Warehouse District, Sunnydale, The Matrix, Midnight

Hang on Xander! We're getting closer! Buffy thought to herself as she crept up to the warehouse the Scooby's research had dug up.

They had been stonewalled by every federal database that Willow had been able to access prior to the arrival of the federal agents so the wicca had been forced to start asking some less than reputable sources online. Giles as well had called in a few favors from equally distasteful members of the occult and demon community and that was what had gotten them to where they were now. Apparently this terrorist group that was after Xander dabbled in some pretty exotic stuff which sent up some pretty specific signals to the demonic community. It had taken a sixteenth century ceremonial urn with replication properties but thankfully the demons who wanted it were more or less benevolent so there was no chance of an 'attack of the clones' episode. The spells that this terrorist organization were employing originated from this warehouse and were of the variety that took time to set up and cast so there was a very good chance that they were still here. She wasn't quite sure what she was going to do with them once she confronted them but she was sure that she would come up with something. All that mattered was convincing them to leave Xander alone and abandon all plans that involved Sunnydale and the Scoobies. True Giles had wanted to wait until they could get more information on this group before taking any action but she had refused to wait. The longer they waited the harder it would be to get them to leave town and the last thing they needed right now was another problem on top of the mystery commandoes that had been popping up recently. Better to squish this problem now than fight two enemies later and given that they were just human meant that she could probably take them down easy as long as she didn't give them any time to cast a spell or two.

Now what would be the best way to get inside? Buffy thought to herself as she examined the front and side of the warehouse that was her target.

The doors were an automatic 'no' as it was a fairly safe bet that they were either booby trapped or well guarded and since she and guns didn't get along very well the direct approach was not of the good. Looking skyward she was fortunate enough to stumble upon a fire escape and while the ladder did not reach the ground she could easily reach it with her Slayer strength. Crunching down a bit she pushed off the ground hard and almost overshot the fire escape but fortunately grabbed a hold of it and swung over the railing. Taking a moment to listen just in case she had been a little too loud she was gratified to hear nothing that sounded like guns cocking or panicky terrorists. To her right though was window that led to the interior and with all the stealth that came from sneaking out of the house prior to her mom finding about the Slayer she snuck inside. Once the exited the room the window had let her into she found that she was on a catwalk that spanned the entire warehouse. Looking down to the ground level she was surprised to find no one there an no tell tale signs of questionable mojo being done here at all. No funky drawings on the ground, no questionable smells and definitely no wierdos in robes chanting gibberish in low foreboding tones. Either the demons screwed up with the magic end of their deal or they gave the terrorists some advance warning in exchange for a small gratuity. In any case they weren't here right now and that left her with two choices. The first was that she could look the place over and try and find something the terrorists might have left behind that could shed some light on the situation. The second was just to go home and start all over again with Willow and the others tomorrow although Giles would probably take an hour to go all Ripper-like and swear bloody revenge on those so called benevolent demons he got this info from. After all from they way he talked about the urn he gave up it was pretty valuable and the only reason why he had given it up was because he had been certain that the trade would lead to something.

Oh well! Might as well give the place a once over just in case. Buffy thought as she leapt from the catwalk to the ground below.

Unfortunately she didn't get much farther than five minutes into the search before her Slayer sense went off the charts and she spun around to find six people standing behind here with a taste for leather and black sunglasses.

"Something we can help you with Ms. Summers?" asked the tall short-haired British woman who could easily pass for a man with the right clothes.

"Yeah you can leave this town and never come back." , Buffy said in her 'just leave or things will get messy' tone of voice, "This town has enough problems with the local pests without having to deal with goth freak terrorist groups invading the local B & E set."

"I'm afraid we can't leave until we have what we are after Ms. Summers but thanks to your less than subtle intrusion here we now have just what we need to coax Mr. Harris out into the open." The woman who looked like a man said before her entourage began to encircle the Slayer.

"Better rethink your plan there because there is no way that I'm going to help you hurt Xander!" Buffy said as she slipped into a defensive stance and tried her best to keep everyone of them in sight.

"Oh don't worry! The last thing we want is to hurt Mr. Harris but you on the other hand are another story entirely. GET HER!" the woman ordered and as one the five minions attacked her.

Deciding that it would be a bad idea to let them surround her for the duration of the fight she leapt upwards in an attempt to both avoid the attacker who she couldn't see while at the same time escaping the circle of attackers. However she had barely gotten a foot off the ground before the one directly in front of her seemed to instantly speed up and land a solid side kick to her stomach. With the wind knocked out of her temporarily she was unable to stop the one behind her from locking his arms around her in order to immobilize her. Fortunately it didn't last and whoever was holding her would soon find that restraining a Slayer was easier said than done. Using the man's arms as support she flung her right leg back and scored a direct hit on his nose resulting in a temporary loss of grip on her which she used to slip her arms out of his grasp. Once free she immediately executed a donkey kick to his gut sending him flying backwards almost to the outer wall of the warehouse. Knowing that her assailants would immediately try to plug up the hole behind her and quickly executed a series of back flips allowing her to clear the circle. Seeing a broom nearby she grabbed it and snapped off one end to make it into a makeshift staff which would hopefully give her an advantage. This of course relied on the preconception that they wanted her alive because if they wound up pulling out guns she was going to be so screwed.

When the first one came up on her left she lashed out with a jab which the man avoided but gave her room to wind up for a baseball bat swing to clothesline the one approaching on her right knocking the older woman to the ground. As the one on the left straightened up from the dodge she thrust her right foot out hitting him in the stomach and taking him out of the fight until he got his wind back. This left two not counting the boss to deal with and unfortunately when one grabbed the end of her staff it left her immobile long enough for the other to land a solid punch to her face. This caused her to stagger back a little bit as the right hook she had received was quite a bit stronger than she had anticipated. She gained her senses back in time to block the next punch but knowing that she should probably take the powerhouse here out of the fight earlier she changed her block into a grab. Once she had a good enough grip she used her other to deliver a debilitating blow to the elbow of the arm she had which resulted in a satisfying 'crack' sound indicating a broken arm. With pain blocking all thought Buffy lashed out with a kick to 'Ms. Powerhouse's' side which would hopefully would bruise her enough to limit her movement.

Sensing that the two she had dispatched with the help of the staff were coming up behind her she back flipped three times in order to gain enough momentum to perform a move she had seen on one of Xander's wrestling shows. In the show the wrestler she was imitating would knock his opponent into the turnbuckles and then go to the other turnbuckle immediately across from it. Once there he would do a series of fancy back flips to gain momentum before slamming his elbow into the face of his adversary. In her case however she lashed out with both elbows in an attempt to hit both attackers at once and was rewarded when she felt her arms hit something. Looking back to see her attackers on the ground holding their faces she smiled smugly figuring that while these guys weren't slouches this fight would probably take no more than another five minutes. Then hopefully she could convince them to take their little act elsewhere and leave Xander alone so the Scooby gang could get back to the normal weirdness that happened on Sunnydale. Unfortunately as she suddenly felt a sharp prick in her neck she suddenly realized that she may have made a serious mistake ignoring the ring leader of this troop of morons. Reaching up to where she had felt the sharp prick she quickly discovered what felt, and when she pulled it out to look at, like a tranquilizer dart.

"Nice try lady but I think you'll find that it'll take more than a measly tranquilizer dart to take a Slayer down." Buffy said confidently despite the light headed feeling that was beginning to cloud her mind.

"True. However what you were just injected with was something my people concocted with a hybrid such as you in mind." , the woman said still holding the tranq gun in her hand, "As a matter of fact I would estimate that you have a bout thirty seconds of consciousness left before you fall asleep completely."

Buffy wasn't sure what the woman meant by 'hybrid' but then again it was starting to get hard to think about anything as she found her concentration fading by the second. Cursing herself for getting so overconfident she made a run for one of the doors on the ground floor with the intention of breaking through it and finding a place to hide until the effects of the tranquilizer wore off. However with every step she took she found her legs becoming more and more sluggish with greater amounts of focus required to get them to move at the speed she wanted. When she was within two steps of the door she had been aiming at she braced herself for impact but saw the world through her eyes go black before she hit the door. All she could think about as all coherency left her was 'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.'.

Undisclosed Location, Thirty Minutes Later

"Report." Came the disembodied but distinctly male voice.

"We have come across a spot of good luck sir." , Gabriel said with no small amount of satisfaction, "One of Alexander Harris' friends, a Ms. Buffy Summers, broke into our entry point in Sunnydale half an hour ago. We were able to subdue her and currently have her restrained by both sedative programs and chains."

"Excellent. Now all that is left is for word to be leaked back to Mr. Harris in Zion and he will come to us no matter what Morpheus and those fools try to do to stop him." The male voice said in a way that made it clear this bit of news pleased him.

"Indeed. Once he arrives it will be a simple matter to locate the origin of his broadcast and move our hovercrafts into position." Gabriel said as she smelled a promotion in her future.

"Do not grow overconfident Gabriel. According to our spies in Zion Captain Niobe has taken the boy under her wing." , the male voice said denoting a deep respect for the Captain of Zion, "While I doubt she has had time to do anything more than cover the basics with him you would do well to take her seriously."

"I understand." Gabriel stated doing her best to keep her jealousy from her voice.

It was no secret among her crew that she had no love for the veteran Captain Niobe and would take great pleasure in taking her down. However it was also known that their supreme leader had a soft spot for Niobe and would normally avoid doing anything to harm her so long as the action didn't make him look weak to his followers. So far he had managed to keep the majority of them from getting any ideas about a coup de tat but it still angered Gabriel to no end that the leader had feelings for Niobe. She herself had been a loyal follower of his from the beginning and had done everything she could to carry out the missions she was given to the best of her ability. Yet despite that she had yet to receive any special praise or affection from him and she knew it was because he was still pining over that woman. Still it would be unprofessional for her to show her displeasure in front of him and so she kept her mouth shut and her face passive.

"It shouldn't take more than two days for word to reach him and for the Neo Trinity to reach optimum broadcast depth. I suggest you prepare for their arrival." The male voice said and before she could say anything the connection was cut and she was left by herself.

Oh I'll prepare alright! Prepare to end Niobe's feeble existence! Gabriel thought to herself as she left to outline her plans to the crew.