"And we're here," Sarah said from the passenger seat as they pulled to a stop in front of a gate in a chain link fence. "I'll get the gate, the bunker is another quarter of a mile down the road."
"Don't you need the key?" John asked as he saw the padlock on the gate.
"No, I have a copy of the key buried in the sand at the base of the post to the right of the gate," Sarah said as she climbed out.
"Good visibility," Joel noted as he looked at the nearly empty desert around them through the back windows.
Bob drove through the gate and stopped to allow Sarah to close and lock it before rejoining them.
"Just continue down the road until you see an old doublewide next to a small cement building," Sarah said as she climbed in.
Bob drove on and a burned out wreck of a trailer came into sight.
"Hope you didn't have anything important in there," Xander said, leaning against the back of her seat as he looked out the windshield.
"It was just for cover," Sarah assured him, "it was a good reason for me to come out here. Probably got struck by lightning or some kids got out here and burned it down."
Bob pulled to a stop next to the trailer and shut off the engine.
"Decommissioned missile silo?" Joel guessed.
"Three stories, has its own well for water, and a few well hidden solar panels to keep the batteries that power the lights topped off," Sarah confirmed.
Xander walked up to the small cement entrance to the bunker below and placed his hands on it. "Castle," he ordered, causing the shed sized stone building to shiver, but little else.
"Failed a spell check?" John suggested.
Xander just grinned. "Buttress," he cast, causing the small cement building to grow… half a foot in all directions.
"The bunker is underground, so the effects aren't visible on the surface," Ellie realized.
"Bingo," Xander said.
"Well, let's take a look," Sarah said, stepping up to the door and unlocking it. Opening the door revealed a floor lift with a ladder bolted to the wall next to it. "This is new," she said, electing to use the ladder rather than work with unfamiliar controls.
Everyone followed her down finding a large well lit room with a security desk and a bank of monitors.
"This is just external security," Xander said, instinctively knowing how the place was laid out. "Main security also has the internal cameras on their monitors."
"It all looks brand new," John said, "like they'd just built it yesterday."
"Fresh paint and smooth cement, all of it military gray," Ellie noted.
"My thoughts probably had something to do with it," Xander said. "I was thinking underground military base."
"Well, I hope you know where the armory is," Sarah said, "because if you've made major changes to the layout, I have no idea."
"Sure, just follow me," Xander replied, "the door on that end leads to a large storage room and this door leads deeper inside the base."
The group followed him behind the security desk, all of them taking a second to scan the monitors as they passed by.
The hallway curved out of sight, doors set into the walls every dozen feet and a mirrored hemisphere in the ceiling concealing the camera that monitored the hall.
"How big is this place?" John asked.
"Three levels, all with emergency exits to different places in the desert, and all of them self contained," Xander replied. "The silo itself is just a central hub that connects them all now."
They came to the end of the hall and Xander opened the door to reveal where the silo itself had been which was now more of an atrium with stairs leading down to the lower levels at several points and what could be a small park in the center two stories below them, everything well lit by a plethora of light panels.
"You can create all this but still need to get a look at the weapons I've gathered to create more," Sarah said in disbelief.
"Yep," Xander agreed. "Enhancing what is, is a lot easier than building things from scratch."
"At least you have some limits," Sarah said, sounding relieved.
Xander laughed. "Yeah, I have many, many, many limits otherwise I'd have already found my way home."
"Reality is a big place and your ignition sent you traveling," John guessed.
"Bingo," Xander agreed, walking along the walkway to another hallway and leading them further into the base.
"The weapons are all on this level?" Joel asked.
"No, they were duplicated, each level has its own armory," Xander replied. "I still have to scan them because the duplication was part of the spell so it's a step removed from me actually seeing them in person."
"This still feels unreal," Sarah said, "If not for everything else I've been through I'd think I was back in Pescadero hallucinating everything."
"As I told Giles when he was recovering from being tortured for information and was sure I was just a trick to convince him he was awake, do you really think you'd hallucinate me?" Xander said with a grin.
Sarah snorted. "I don't think I have the imagination to dream up you."
"And you certainly wouldn't have dreamed up Uncle Bob," John added.
"Or her," Ellie said, gesturing over her shoulder to Eve who had decided to look like Betty White for some reason.
Eve gave a cheerful wave.
"And we're here," Xander said as they reached the end of the hall and he pressed his thumb to a scanner that hummed for a moment before unlocking the door.
When the door swung open it revealed racks of weapons and ammo with shelves filled with manuals and tool kits.
"You may not be able to create weapons you don't know, but you certainly multiplied them," Sarah said as she examined them, "and I think you even repaired a few. Not all the weapons I could scrounge were in mint condition."
"Repair is one of my powers," Xander said as he scanned everything in sight while everyone looked around avidly.
"I'd feel sorry for Mr. Liquid Metal, but he's kinda trying to kill me, so fuck him. We're going to roast his ass!" John said with an evil grin.
"We should get you some scans of tanks of liquid nitrogen," Uncle Bob told Xander. "Plasma weapons are still in their infancy while liquid nitrogen should be sufficient to increase the speed at which the T1000 is deteriorating."
"If I'm close enough to nail it with liquid nitrogen, I'm close enough to nail it with a Disenchant," Xander said.
"You know Disenchant?" John asked.
"I managed a Dust to Dust when facing down three resurrected Kages," Xander replied, "and Disenchant is a bit simpler."
"What's Disenchant?" Ryu asked, setting down the manual he'd been examining.
"A two Mana spell that completely wrecks an artifact's shit," John said with a grin.
"Can you target him from here?" Uncle Bob asked.
Xander closed his eyes and touched a plain for the white Mana needed, picturing the T1000 in his head, but he couldn't feel a connection that would let him target it. "Nope," Xander said, "I think I actually have to see him in person."
"Figures it wouldn't be that easy," Ellie said. "Still, line of sight is easy enough on its own."
"I would still like to request additional T800s to plan for contingencies," Uncle Bob requested.
Xander nodded. "I have more than enough Mana to summon up an army for you guys. Let's go down to the atrium so we aren't crammed in together."
"Is there a central command for this place?" Sarah asked as they walked back down the hall, the two teens poking their heads in various rooms along the way and announcing what they were.
"Dining hall," John announced before closing a door.
"Each level has one and they can all be locked out from each other so they won't compromise the others," Xander replied.
"Control room," Ellie announced.
The group paused to look into the room she'd opened. It was a large room with multiple banks of monitors and computers sitting on various desks. At first glance you'd assume each bank was showing the same view until you noticed each one was numbered one through three, naming the level they were monitoring.
"You could practically run the entire resistance from here," John said with a grin.
"Too centralized," Ryu disagreed, "you'd need several of these places so you'd have room to fall back. When your enemy outnumbers you a hundred to one it's best not to let yourself get nailed down where they can concentrate all their forces on you."
"Got a point," Ellie agreed. "Still, as long as you can keep from being discovered you can safely house a few hundred people here long term."
"Hopefully it won't come to that," Xander said as they stepped out onto the walkway over the atrium and took the stairs down.
"What are you going to do once the whole Skynet thing is over with?" Ellie asked.
"Travel and pick up Mana," Xander replied. "This is a pretty safe world, so I might as well stock up while I can."
"And once you've got enough Mana?" John asked.
"I'm not sure that's possible," Xander replied, "but once I've gathered enough for the moment, I'll have to risk the Blind Eternities again and hope to find my way home."
"What's it like?" John asked eagerly as they stepped off the stairs onto the bottom floor.
Xander thought about how to explain it. "Imagine if everything in your life happened at the same instant, seeing, hearing, and feeling everything."
"That would be a nightmare," John said with a frown.
Xander nodded. "Now add the lives of everyone who ever lived with it, that's a good start on trying to picture it."
"That must be why they say only Planeswalkers can survive the Blind Eternities and even they can't linger there long," John said.
"Yeah, I have no idea how the other walkers get anywhere, I pretty much just leap through the first exit I see," Xander said with a shudder. "But enough about that, let's burn some Mana!"
Xander gestured and a dark haired girl with a simple striped tail appeared in front of him. "Paula," he said. "I get one free Tanuki a day which doesn't count against my summon limit."
"Free minions is always good," John said, only to get elbowed in the side by Ellie, much to everyone's amusement.
Xander grinned and called up the mana needed, finding it easy and unsure whether it was because he had so much more mana available now or because he was getting used to using larger amounts, regardless he was no longer leaking power and summoned three T800's one after another, all dressed and armed like Uncle Bob with no strain or light show.
Ellie glanced between Uncle Bob and the three. While dressed the same, they seemed… smaller.
"Bob's been enhanced," Xander explained before stepping forward and licking his thumbs before pressing them to both sides of each of their necks, laying on Unholy and Holy strength enchants. "Bob is your commander," Xander instructed them, "but your main duty is to protect the humans here."
"Acknowledged," the three chorused.
"I probably should have made them female… or maybe altered their looks a little," Xander decided.
"Can you do that?" John asked before smacking himself in the forehead. "Stupid question, Ellie and Joel don't look like us at all. Do they have the same DNA? How does that work?"
"If they had the same DNA they'd look just like you," Xander said, "they have similar DNA, as in human… same racial sub grouping… not really related, but I generally refer to them as siblings of the original so they feel like they have family."
"He's worried about inbreeding," Eve suggested 'helpfully', causing John and Ellie to glance at each other and then quickly look anywhere else but at each other.
"If you're feeling kinky you can call each other brother and sister, but no, you are in no way related," Xander said. "I don't quite have the control to make actual clones yet."
Sarah and Joel gave each other sympathetic looks about dealing with teens, before glancing at their children and turning back to Xander.
"And now that that awkwardness is behind us, let's have some Kitsune," Xander said, summoning a trio of fox girls. "Eve will name you and fill you in on what's going on," he told them, gesturing towards Eve.
The three new trickster spirits moved to a spare table about a dozen feet further in to talk.
"And now for some Tanuki," Xander said, creating several stripe tailed girls. "Paula will name you and let you know what's going on," he told them.
"I have absolutely no idea what's going on," Paula said with a bright smile.
"Oh yeah," Xander said, "you haven't been briefed yet. Okay, go talk to Eve."
"I don't think she knows what all is going on either," Joel pointed out.
"Ellie, you know what's going on, right?" Xander asked.
"Since birth," the young teen replied with a smirk.
"Okay, you get to brief them then," Xander said.
"I'll help," John volunteered, going with her.
"Ryu, I know you'd rather be on top of your game, but you should have plenty of time to adapt for what we have planned."
Ryu nodded and stepped forward while Xander licked his thumbs. "Black, White, and Green," Xander said, getting both sides of his neck and one in the center.
Ryu's form swelled and grew younger, his hair darkening and his wrinkles fading away. In just a few heartbeats the harmless looking old grandfather became a broad-shouldered man in his prime with muscles that looked to have the consistency of iron. "It'll take me roughly a week to return to my top form," he said, as he stretched with a smile.
Xander nodded and summoned three more ninja, having to sacrifice three lands for them, the cemetery he'd just grabbed earlier unfortunately being one of them, along with a plain and one of his beaches.
"Bill, Sage of the Beach," he said, nodding at the muscular blonde man. "Alice, Sage of the Necropolis," he said, gesturing to the slender pale skinned woman with jet black hair. "And Jane," he finished, gesturing to a muscular red haired woman with numerous freckles on her sun tanned skin, "Sage of the small natural park rest area where we stopped to pee and stretch our legs."
Jane sighed and shook her head. "Really?"
Xander grinned and repeated the three step empowerment he'd done on Ryu on her, making her a decade younger and a good deal stronger.
Jane examined herself, pulling at her top to look at her breasts. "The girls are looking perky again, Boss. All is forgiven."
Alice quickly slid in front of Jane, trying and failing to look casual.
Xander grinned and gave her the same treatment, but Alice only sighed when she looked in her shirt. "I was hoping for an extra cup size," she admitted.
Bill grinned. "I don't know, I'd say you look fine from back here," he said, eyes glued to her ass.
Alice shook her head before twisting halfway around to examine her own rear in a disturbing feat of flexibility. "Oh," she said. "Yeah, no complaints here."
"My back hurts just looking at you," Jane said.
Alice untwisted herself and eyed Jane's breasts. "Just from looking at me?"
Bill stepped between them to break up whatever argument was about to form. "Me next."
"Sure," Xander said, giving the Sage who gave a beach bum vibe the treatment.
Bill smiled and ran his fingers through his hair, hair that was completely unchanged. "Excellent."
"Ryu will brief you," Xander said, gesturing to the formerly old man.
"Dude, suddenly I feel… like I should hit the gym more," Bill complained as they went off to talk.
"Okay, that's about all the Mana I feel like slinging around for the moment," Xander said, gesturing and creating a lazy boy recliner to fall into.
Joel just looked at Xander and raised an eyebrow.
Xander gestured and created a pair of lazy boys for them to relax in.
"Map of all three levels, return when finished," Uncle Bob ordered the other T800s.
"You haven't tapped yourself out, have you?" Sarah asked.
"No, but I'm not going to be summoning anything more than one or two Mana worth of goods for the rest of today," Xander said, "I'm keeping a handful in reserve just in case, but I'm pretty sure there isn't much you guys can't handle at this point."
"Don't tempt Murphy," Joel and Sarah chorused.
"I'm not, that's why I kept a handful in reserve," Xander said. "Trust me, I'm better at breaking plans than making them, that's why we have multiple teams and backups. You can't foil a plan that doesn't exist."
"That is either brilliant or stupid," Joel said, "and I can't tell which one."
"I get that a lot," Xander admitted.
Typing By: Abyssal Angel
