Zeppo 3: Slayer Evolved
Part 8: The Devil you know

Twin streams of 5.7mm bullets slammed into Xander, making his suit's shields flair brightly. He let the Master Chief's instincts and training take over as he dived to the side, bring his pistol up and firing off a pair rounds.

The two 12.7mm rounds hit his opponent in the middle of their armor's chest plate, denting it. The figure was knocked back slightly by the force of the impact but remained standing.

"That isn't real Mjolnir armor," Cortana reported. "It's tough, but it's not up to the same standard as yours…" A second hail of bullets struck Xander, and his shields failed, a light on his HUD going red.

"Is that bad?" Xander asked.

"I was worried about this." Cortana sounded tense. "These suits were not designed for extended periods in the field without maintenance. The shield generators failed."

"It's never good news these days!" Xander rolled behind a bolder and holstered his pistol before pulling his assault rifle off his shoulder. "I want to take who ever this is alive. I'd bet good money that this is Walsh's work, and I want to know what she's up to!"

He raised his rifle over the boulder, pulling the butt in tight to his shoulder. The stranger in the fake armor was still standing in the open, reloading their weapons. Xander pulled a stun grenade from his belt and pulled the pin with his thumb.

"1...2…3…4…5…6…7!" He lobbed the grenade high into the air.

The movement caught his antagonist's eye, and they moved to bring their freshly loaded guns to bear just in time for the grenade to explode in their face. The explosive force was negligible, especially in such an open environment, but the blinding flash and loud report of the exposition was enough to temporarily stun anyone.

Xander leapt to his feet, the advanced systems in his helmet having filtered out the effects of the grenade. He charged his opponent, tackling them around the waist, knocking the both of them to the ground.

They rolled across the grass of the clearing, struggling for supremacy. Xander's opponent grabbed a fallen log and slammed him in the head with it, making the inside of his helmet ring like a bell.

"Stay focused!" Cortana insisted. "You can do this. Concentrate!"

"Yeah, sure, no problem!" Xander snarled through gritted teeth. His opponent was incredibly strong, much stronger than a normal human.

But Xander was a Spartan, and Spartans are not normal humans.

Xander pushed himself as hard as he could, using every last bit of his strength to push his suit's systems to the very limit. His HUD lit up with warning lights as the battle armor's systems started to strain under the load. He managed to pull his right arm free of his opponent's vice-like grip, and reaching back as far as he could, he slammed his armoured glove into their face with all the strength he could muster.

As strong as the fake suit was, there was no way it could withstand a blow that could punch through a tank. The visor shattered under the force of the blow as the entire helmet cracked in two. The force of the blow knocked out the fake Spartan and sent them flying across the clearing until they hit a tree. The sickening thud of impact told Xander that the rear armor had given way.

"Right then." Xander stood, drawing his side arm and make his way across the clearing on shaky feet. "Let's see just who this was…"

"I advice extreme caution." Cortana suggested, "The suit may have been rigged to explode if damaged…"

"Are you picking up anything that could be a self-destruct system?"

"No, but like I said, this suit is in dire need of an overhaul."

"I'll keep that in mind." Xander nodded as he reached the unconscious stranger. He lifted the remains of the helmet away and looked down in shock, "You have got to be joking…"

"You ok?" Buffy asked as she walked into Giles' living room, "You look like you've gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson!"

"I'll get over it." Xander held an ice pack to the bruised side of his face. "Spartans, like Slayers, heal quickly."

"And that brings us round to why we called you here." Giles stood in the middle of the room, blocking Buffy's view of the couch. "Xander was attacked by someone wearing armor style on his own. We believe Professor Walsh is responsible."

"Who on earth would be crazy enough to go one on one with a Spartan?" Buffy asked. "Apart from Adam."

"That is the interesting part…" Giles stepped to the side, letting Buffy see who was lying on the couch, still unconscious.

"Faith!" Buffy blinked, "How the hell…"

"I scanned the police computers. There's no record of her anywhere." Willow was still sitting at her laptop. "But the hospital records say that a Jane Doe apparently awoke from a coma and attacked two security guards before running off. I guess that's Faith."

"No offence Willow, but why were you checking the records?" Buffy asked. "Isn't that Cortana's job these days?"

"Faith did a lot of damage to my suit before I knocked her out." Xander collapsed into a chair, making it groan under the weight. "We've never been able to run a full maintenance schedule on it because the needed equipment just does not exist. It was only a matter of time before something gave."

"How much damage was done?" Giles asked.

"The shield generator is kaput. That fight with Adam put it under a lot of strain and in the end it just gave up." Xander rubbed his head. "I also burnt out two servos while going hand-to-hand with Buffy's evil twin there. To put it bluntly, the suit is out of commission for the foreseeable future."

"Any chance you can fix it?" Buffy asked. "It's the only thing we've got that can even slow Adam down at the moment."

"I honestly don't know." Xander shrugged. "I should be able to replace the servos. Cortana's already arranged for a pair of replacements to be manufactured by a company she found on the net, but the shield generator is leading edge 25th century technology. There is just no way it can be fixed."

"How important is it?" Willow asked. "Can you do without it?"

"Yes and no." Xander put the ice pack down. "The first generation of Mjolnir armor was developed without the shield generator, and as such is resistant to damage. But only to a certain degree. It'll stop most bullets, but something like Adam… not a hope in hell."

"What about her?" Buffy looked at Faith. "Is she going to wake up?"

"I think so. She only has a concussion, but her Slayer healing should fix that." Giles nodded. "We have restraints and chains to keep her confined."

"Good." Xander nodded, "Because I want some answers…"

To Be Continued…