Zeppo 3: Slayer Evolved
Part 10: Declaration of War
Oz was almost human by the time he reached Xander's warehouse. He fell through the open doorway and lay unmoving on the floor.
"Was he supposed to do that?" Faith asked.
"Properly not." Xander ran over to where the young Lycan lay. "He's drugged up to the eyeballs on something."
"We have another problem." Cortana appeared on the TV screen. "I've just detected Initiative agents inside the outer perimeter… at least a dozen of them."
"Show me." Xander spun round, Oz instantly pushed to the back of his mind.
The image on the screen changed to show images taken from surveillance cameras. There were hidden five blokes in every direction. Black-clad figures carrying stun guns and semi-automatic weapons were keeping what they thought was a safe distance from the warehouse.
"We're blown!" Xander hissed. "Time to blow this joint. Cortana, go to emergency plan Delta: five minute countdown." He sprinted across the room to the back of the Warthog. "Faith, get Oz into the back seat."
"What are you doing?" The rogue Slayer asked as she lifted the unconscious werewolf into the ATV as instructed.
"The Initiative knows we're here but aren't attacking." Xander stared to grab equipment and loading it into the back of the Warthog. "That can only mean one thing… Adam's on the way."
"What are we going to do?" Faith asked.
"I don't know about you, but I don't plan on being here when he arrives." Xander grabbed his partly dismantled armor and quickly piled it up next to Oz. "Grab that!" He pointed at something on the table that looked like an oversized leaf blower.
"What is it?" Faith asked as she lifted the surprisingly heavy device.
"It's a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon," Cortana explained. "It fires gumball-sized nickel/iron rounds at hypersonic speeds. We had hoped to find a way to attach it to the back of the Warthog, but we don't have time."
"Anything comes through that door, knock 'em down!" Xander explained as he grabbed the Jackhammer rocket launcher and started to strip it down for transport.
"I'm not sure I could do that…" Faith sounded a little shaken at the idea.
"Trust me." Xander slipped a full magazine into his pistol. "It won't be human…"
Adam made his way through the sewers until he reached the railroad yard. Easily snapping the lock on the door leading to the storm drains, he stepped into the darkness, his bionic eye turning to night vision mode.
He failed to notice the motion sensor on the wall next to the steam value.
"We're running out of time!" Cortana warned. "I've just picked Adam up approaching through the tunnels."
"Why do we always seem to cut these things so damn fine?" Xander asked as he loaded the last box into the back of the Warthog and closed the rear hatch. "Faith, get in the passenger's seat. Cortana, cue the lights." The last order was given as he pulled a pair of heavy goggles out of the glove compartment and pulled them on.
Every electrical light within a six-block radius instantly switched itself on, blinding the Initiative agents watching the warehouse.
The building's main door exploded outwards on pyrotechnic charges. There was a loud roar as Xander gunned the Warthog's engines and floored the accelerator, sending the vehicle out of the opening at breakneck speed. He turned the wheel at the last possible moment, skidding onto the main road. All the startled government agents could do was dive out of the way to avoid getting crushed under its wheels.
Engine roaring like a tornado, the Warthog sped off into the night.
Back in the warehouse, a computerized timer reached zero. An electrical impulse was sent to a series of detonators imbedded in industrial grade demolition charges placed at key points through the building. Primary charges blew secondary charges, weakening major structural supports.
Just as the shockwaves of the first explosions reached the Initiative agents who where cautiously approaching the building, a second timer reached zero and a dozen two kilo blocks of C4 plastic explosive detonated at once. They blasted the entire ground floor of the building to dust, sending sheets of flame out in every direction.
The upper two floors fell into the open void, shattering on impact.
Adam heard the first explosion and felt the shockwave under his feet. He braced himself to ride out the disturbance, and then heard a sound like a rushing freight train headed his way.
He looked up just in time to see a wall of fire hit him full in the face.
"What the hell was that?" Faith asked as the skyline behind them lit up like the Fourth of July.
"Let's just say I left a little something for our uninvited guests," Xander laughed, powering up a high-speed laptop computer built into the dashboard. "We good?"
"As well as can be expected, seeing as we just demolished our headquarters," Cortanna sounded upset. "The secondary location is up and running, but I suggest we get out of town and lay low for a few days."
"I can live with that, but you'd better phone the others and let them know we're still alive." Xander nodded, pulling off the goggles and turning on the headlights. "Where shall we go? We need somewhere that we can leave Oz 'til he's better."
"What about L.A.?" Faith asked. "Angel might be able to help."
"Fang-boy?" Xander raised an eyebrow, then sighed. "Well it's not like we have any other options…"
Dr Walsh stood in the middle of the rubble that had, until recently, been Xander's home. The demolition charges had been expertly placed. The building had imploded, while doing almost no damage to the neighboring structures.
"I underestimated you Alexander." Walsh smiled to herself, "I will not make the same mistake twice…"
The Hyperion hotel stood against the pre-dawn sky like an art deco mountain. Xander looked up at it, wishing he had another option.
"Are we there?" Oz asked groggily, the drugs the Initiative scientists had given him still not fully washed out of his system.
"Yeah, we're there." Faith helped him out of the Warthog and up the steps. "Come on, you two."
"She's right you know," Cortana admitted. "We really don't have any other choice."
"Doesn't mean I have to like it…" Xander muttered as he grabbed the laptop and followed Faith up the steps.
Cordelia was just getting over the shock of Faith walking through the front doors with an apparently wasted Oz leaning on one shoulder, when Xander followed, a dark expression on his face.
"Um, Angel!" the startled young woman called out. "We have visitors…"
"What?" The vampire walked through the door connecting to his office. "Oh…"
"Live with it, death-boy. We just need a place for Faith and Oz to crash while I take care off some stuff." Xander dumped a duffle bag on the floor. "I ain't staying." He turned to leave.
"Buffy phoned," Angel called out. "She was worried that something had happened to you."
Xander stopped. "If she calls again, tell her to keep out of it. This isn't her fight."
"What're you going to do?" Faith asked. "You blew up your house."
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." Xander laughed. "If you want peace, prepare for war." Then he left the room quickly.
"Excuse me?" Cordelia blinked. "What the hell does that mean?"
"It means that Xander's going to war," Angel sighed. "This is not good."
"See you guys later!" Faith ran out the door.
Xander was just starting the car when Faith jumped into the passenger seat and pulled on the seatbelt.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, resting his hands on the steering wheel. "Go back inside."
"No way." Faith shook her head. "You need someone to watch your back, and Walsh screwed me over as much as she did you."
Xander looked like he was going to say something, but instead started the car and pulled out into the traffic.
"Enter." Walsh didn't even look up from her paperwork when someone knocked at her office door.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, but this just arrived at the University." Forest dropped a letter on his boss's desk. "Post mark is L.A."
"Interesting…" Walsh opened the envelope and read out what was rewritten on the paper inside. "'If a warrior's head were to be suddenly cut off, he should still be able to perform one more action with certainty.' It's from Mr. Harris."
"But what does it mean?"
"It's poetry, Forest… the poetry of war…"
To Be Continued…