Chapter 15.
PX2-768
The squad ghosted through the heavy forest, making no sound as they passed through the brush. Their clothing specially made for blending into the natural background of a forest, augmented by the gillie suits that they wore on top of the already camouflaged clothing. For two days they had made their way through the mountains, no transmissions, no talking, nothing to give away their location as they moved closer and closer to their objective.
Stopping on a ridgeline overlooking the valley floor, one of them turned to the group and using a series of complicated and intricate hand signals passed out the orders.
Dropping to the ground the sniper of the group moved with care as he slowly edged his way to the ridgeline. Taking out a set of binoculars, tinted to prevent any glare from sunlight glancing off the glass he slowly scanned the valley floor looking for the targets. Seeing them he activated his throat mike. "Sarge, two targets. One at ten o'clock, the other dead at noon."
"Roger that, confirm acquisition of primary target?"
"Target alpha sitting pretty at noon."
"Understood, wait for my go."
"Roger that, holding."
Sergeant Samuel Peterson turned to the other members of his Spec-ops squad and gave the order. "Alright, Target Alpha is here, just like the Intel pukes said. Assemble the firecracker."
"Roger that." Corporal Waters replied as she unslung her backpack; glad to be able to get rid of the extra fifty pounds that she had been lugging around since the drop off two days ago. "Harper, you're the techie get your ass over here and help me."
"I'm a specialist, not a techie."
"I don't care, just get it operational or I'll leave your ass out here." Peterson stated as he glared at the three commandos. Well really two commandos and one specialist that had been forced on him for the mission. The rest of the group was spreading out over the ridgeline, watching for Jaffa patrols, and listening with a half an ear to the truly awe inspiring half muttered rant that the specialist was going on about. Thankfully he was remembering to keep it down, but it was truly something of legend to listen to and learn from.
"Sir, are we really going to do this?" A young private asked in a low tone.
"Son, we have our orders. Now just do your job."
"Yes sir." The private answered mournfully. He knew that this was a nessecary in the war against the Goa'uld System Lords he just wished that that they had picked a more obscure target.
For twenty minutes the squad sat on the ridgeline as the specialist worked on the device, putting all the parts into the correct slots. One of the most complicated pieces of purely human designed and constructed technology, one that if you screwed up would turn you into a vapor, which meant the specialist had to do his job perfectly.
"Sir, it's ready." Specialist Krueger whispered as he handed over the arming key.
Peterson nodded in reply, taking the key and slinging it around his neck with the handy chain that it came with, and clicked his radio on. "Prepare to move out. Scouts, move on ahead."
A series of clicks was his only reply. Even after ten years with the team he still could not pick them out of a tree line as the scouts crept forward and disappeared into the brush. The two scouts of the squad had been trained by the best, both of them having taken the training for Delta Force. In the end though neither of them had passed the final requirements which were shrouded in secrecy that some thought the whole unit was nothing more than a myth. A story propagated by the administration to scare the shit out of the enemy.
Private First Class Jenkins slid across the forest floor. 'Well this is different.' He thought to himself as he glanced through a gap in the foliage. From his vantage point he could see the Stargate standing tall and proud in the middle of the clearing surrounded by at least twenty Jaffa, their helmet design not matching anything in the warbook. Deciding to take this opportunity to gather some more intelligence on the Jaffa Jenkins began to commit the design to memory for a debriefing to occur later with the Intel boys.
On the other side of the clearing the second scout slithered into a pile of brush from a fallen tree and began to make her own observations about the enemy encampment. Within seconds she had memorized the layout, eidetic memories were a blessing in the service, taking particular note of the Sto'lek class transport on the north side of the field. From where she sat she could see at least a dozen Jaffa loading materials onto it.
Glancing upward she noticed that the sun was starting to set, meaning she still had several hours before the attack would happen. Settling into wait she began to assign herself priority targets since as a scout she also doubled as team sniper. As soon as the order was given she would have to take out any Jaffa that had a brain, or seemed to be in charge, which would remove any chances of them using effective tactics to resist the attack.
101010101
Jan 9th, 1998 Sunnydale, California
Xander walked down the metal steps from his private apartment and into the main library that had been constructed on top of the armory. Being based inside a warehouse, measuring in at 500ft by 500ft, gave one a lot of room to build internal rooms not just on the ground floor but above those same rooms as well. The housing section as he liked to call it was just the old converted office space of the building, which was nestled into the corner of the building.
Deciding to add onto the section he had built the vault, where artifacts and other dangerous recovered materials were kept, and the armory as extension wings from the apartment on the first floor. After they had been built Janna had been the one to suggest building upwards as well as outwards so the library as it had come to be known was built directly on top of the armory. In a fit of nostalgia he had added in a conference table inside the library section, though rarely used up to this point, it was now the main meeting place for the SG team leaders and Xander.
"So what's the word Colonel?" Xander asked as he came into the room. For once he wasn't wearing his armor, having decided to let Cortana's remotes have a chance to look it over and attempt to repair a few small problems. Not to mention it needed to be aired out and cleaned somewhat.
"Same as last night Harris. We still don't have any leads on where this vampire of yours is." Colonel O'Neill replied as he tossed the latest report onto the table.
"Angelus is not the smartest vampire out there but he does have his moments. Not to mention with Drusilla on his team its damn near impossible to catch them unaware." Janna mentioned as she looked up from the tome she was perusing.
"What's so special about Drusilla?" Daniel Jackson, newly arrived from Colorado, asked curiously.
"She is one of four vampires who made up what was known as the Scourge of Europe. Probably one of the most deadly group of vampires in modern history, with her abilities as a seer they were able to stay ahead of most hunters and also find targets of opportunity that dealt extremely harsh blows to the Gypsy clans." Janna answered. Drusilla's history was well known to her. "Though her powers are not infallible, she was incapable of predicting that Angelus would in fact be cursed with his soul by my clan in retribution for his crimes."
"That's an idea." Jack stated suddenly.
"What?" Janna asked.
"Why can't we just re-curse him again?" Jack questioned.
"Because a re-soulment curse is black magic, which has its own effects on a person, not to mention it has certain requirements which I cannot meet." Janna answered honestly. "Plus, I'm simply not powerful enough in that sense to rip a soul out of its afterlife and to confine it within a vampire's body."
"Oh, so it's an issue of power?" Daniel questions. He was still trying to come to terms with the notion that magical abilities existed. Now that he considered it, it would make a long of archeological discoveries over the centuries make a bit more sense in terms of curses and rituals that the ancient peoples might have practiced.
"Not just power, but the ability to cast black magic. Many people who do so find out later in life that the price it demands of you is not something that they wish to pay. It usually costs you your life or soul." Xander clarifies as he looks up from the reports that he was reading. "That's why I vetoed the idea when we first translated the curse."
"Xander, I managed to get the information that you requested." Cortana said as she projected herself onto one of the many computer screens that dotted the library conference room. "You were right, there is a pattern forming. The vampire groups that we've run into all seem to be falling back onto a series of caverns that are centered around a particular tunnel system that extends far outside of Sunnydale and may in fact stretch as far as Los Angeles."
"That would explain a few things." Xander muttered as he stared at the map projected on another screen.
"Namely how they get reinforcements up here without them having to travel over land." Major Castleman expanded upon. "This map looks different from the one we have."
"I borrowed the NSA satellite again to search outside the town's limits to see how far the tunnel system actually went. After the scans were complete I added it to the original map, which now has all the tunnels in Sunnydale plus a fifty mile radius outside the town limits." Cortana answered. "You should really tell them to get some better security on that thing."
Jack rubbed his forehead wearily wondering how he was going to explain to General Hammond that Cortana had yet again stolen a NSA satellite. Though in retrospect it was somewhat amusing to hear the raving lunacy that 'No Such Agency' control got into when one of their precious Keyhole's went missing.
"Once again, not commenting on the theft of United States property." Major Castleman stated, talking over Cortana's heated 'Borrowed' at the word theft. "What are we going to do?"
"I think its time we collapsed some of those tunnels. That should cut off any reinforcements that they're trying to sneak in." Xander said. Getting up he walked over to the screen and highlighted several locations. "These spots here seem to be the main choke points, if we can collapse the tunnels at these points it'll force them to find another route into Sunnydale. One that we can intercept above ground."
"Agreed, though how are we going to get into those areas. They're heavily infested with vampires and I don't think we could force it without taking heavy casualties." Frank argued. "Our Intel consists of nothing more than a detailed map of the internal caverns but we have no way of knowing how many vampires and demons are waiting down there for us. We have no numbers on weapons, positions, materials or anything and from what I can read off that map it's so crisscrossed with corridors that we'd be outflanked the instant we moved into there."
"That's some good points. I don't know, I really don't know how to answer any of those." Xander confessed. He might have all of John-117's memories when it came to planning combat strategies but most of them were entrenched around the need to have fellow Spartan-II's to use as the actual soldiers. The United States military was great in its roles but it wasn't up to the Spartan's level. Not to mention they didn't have quite the same resilience to weapons fire that a Spartan had, at least when inside their armor.
"We need more information." Sgt Major Sandra Gale said from her position at the table.
"Well I'm open to suggestions on how to get it. Willy only knows so much and I think his usefulness has run its course. From what I got out of him last night no one tells him anything any more since most of the demons in town know that whatever he knows ends up being what I know." Xander replied. He was actually surprised that no one had attempted to use Willy yet to feed him disinformation.
"What about Mr. Giles?" Linda Pryce suggested as she walked into the room. Just arriving from a private communication with the Watchers Council who were rather upset over the continuing presence of United States military personnel on the Hellmouth. Though her rather vocal report that she couldn't very well get them to leave all by herself was something that had irritated them, resulting in the conversation turning into little more than a shouting match.
"What about him?" Xander asked.
"You may not work with him all that much anymore, or not at all from your expression, but he may still have contacts within the community that may be of some assistance." Linda said. As she was talking she could see the face that crossed Xander's face, one of utter distaste. Months of wearing his armor had somewhat degraded his ability to control his emotional cues somewhat. Though he was rapidly regaining that skill once it had been pointed out to him by Faith a few nights ago.
"What contacts could he possibly have? Besides it's not like he's been a lot of help anyway. I warned them over two weeks ago that Angelus was back and I have yet to hear a damn thing from them on the matter." Xander argued.
"I'm not sure exactly but what I do remember from reading his file that he was well connected some of the more peaceful demon clans back in Great Britain, it may be that some of his connections are still valid even over here."
"Fine, we'll go 'talk' to him but I'm not betting on this working out." Xander conceded mostly because he had a secondary agenda to pursue at the school. "Colonel, I was wondering if I could have a word with you in private?"
Frowning a bit Jack nodded in response. The two men left the room, heading for the supposed privacy of Harris's private apartments to talk.
101010
"Ok Harris, what's so secretive that you couldn't talk about it in there?" O'Neill demanded once they had sat down in the comfortably furnished living room.
"I've been debating over whether to expand my operations. Right now I only have Janna, and Cortana of course, as part of my team here in Sunnydale. That doesn't give me a lot of strategic depth right which is what prompted all this."
"Still don't see where you're going with this."
"I'm going to bring in two people, their files are on the table, and I wanted to inform you that instead of training them here I was planning on sending them to Nova Terra."
"Now just wait a minute. The administration agreed to let you move some equipment, and the McNally family, but they never said that they were going to let you start moving people out there wholesale."
"Jack, you seem to be under the impression that I'm asking for permission. I'm just giving you notice that I'm doing it anyway. Either you let me send them to Nova Terra or I hijack the gate and send them anyway." Xander stated. "When that cargo ship arrives tomorrow I plan on putting them on it for the return trip to Nova Terra."
"Ok, just for the sake of this argument, let's say that I agree with you. Why these two? Neither of them has any skills that I can see." O'Neill said as he opened the first file and began leafing through it.
"Amy is a mildly powerful witch in her own right and Jonathan is a guy who seems to have some knowledge of what's really going on here in town. It's important that no matter what happens that Nova Terra retains some knowledge of the supernatural beyond a few mentions buried in a report on some pencil pusher's desk. If I can get them out there, and get the trained then they can get further generations aware of the danger. Plus they're both good friends of mine and I'd prefer to get them out of town.
"I'm sure we could swing a few more people but I don't think President Whitmore is going to like it if you make this into a habit." Jack conceded.
"Oh, their families go too." Xander replied.
"Anything else?"
"Not yet." Xander smirked before leaving the room.
"Just great, what's he gonna ask for next?" Jack muttered as he leaned back to read the file. After reading it for about twenty minutes Jack tossed it back on the coffee table and leaned back in the comfortable couch rubbing his eyes lightly as he tried to come to grasp with an idea that he had. Finally deciding that he could do it he reached over and picked up the phone off a nearby table. Dialing a number that he knew by heart he waited as it rang and rang.
"Hello?" A woman's voice came over the line.
"Sara, its Jack. I was wondering if we could talk?"
101010101
"So did you and Angel get together last night?" Willow practically gushed as she cornered Buffy outside her locker. She was rather ecstatic that the winter break was finally over and that she could return to her classes.
"Willow!" Buffy shushed her as she looked around to make sure no one was listening in.
"Well?"
"He came over after patrol and we talked." Buffy confided.
"Talked or 'talked'?" Willow smirked as she put the heavy inflection on the word.
"Maybe a bit of both." Buffy said blushing to the roots.
Willow felt herself blushing as she tried to get the nerve to ask the next question. "Was it good?"
"Willow!" Buffy screeched drawing the attention of more than a few people who were heading for their classes.
101010
"Tragedy struck today when a young man was brutally gunned down outside Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey. The full details have not been released at this time but what we do have for you paints a grim picture. Ben Wilkinson had recently graduated and was attempting to complete his internship here at the hospital behind be when one night after work he was heading home when two young men apparently accosted him.'
"These men demanded that he turn over his paycheck and when he refused they shot him several times at point blank range. Police managed to recover a tape from the hospitals security cameras, and while we have obtained a copy of the tape in question it will not be aired. Police agencies have requested that we not broadcast it in case of potentially weakening their case. If anyone has any information on this brutal attack police are urging you to please contact them at the toll free number below."
1010101
"This is Andrea Thompson, CNN, reporting live from Miami Dade where riots have broken out all over the city for the past few nights. At this time the exact reasons for said riots still remains unclear but according to local authorities, many involved seem to be illegal Cuban immigrants protesting the recent decisions by Congress and the President to abolish the wet feet, dry feet policy. Many residents of the state of Florida have stated that this law is long overdue claiming a yearly rise in crime influenced by the illegal immigrant population as the main source of criticism behind the policy. Cuban community leaders have decried the move saying that the racists policies of the United States government reflect its long tradition of oppression of the Cuban people.
Just moments ago a convoy of National Guardsmen rolled into town to assist the beleaguered local authorities by providing a badly needed influx of bodies to plug holes in their plans to secure the streets from the roving gangs of thugs that have locked the city in a reign of terror."
1010101
"I'm standing outside on of the newly constructed Border Tactical Response Centers where nearly six hundred law enforcement recruits are about to begin training in techniques of how to respond to an alert of an illegal border crossing. While they're primary purpose is to detain and deport anyone attempting to cross the border via illegal means due to some cross funding with various other agencies they will also be watching for illegal narcotics, materials, weapons, cars, and human slaves that are brought across the border in ever increasing amounts each year. When not working at the center's themselves the agents will be on loan to local and state agencies as surplus officers for any emergency that may occur."
101010101
"I don't know if you can hear me John but the Border Patrol has intercepted another shipment of illegal drugs that attempted to cross the border about six minutes ago. They were alerted by an anonymous source who phoned in the tip nearly four hours before the shipment was due to arrive. This should have allowed the Federal authorities enough time to set up a cordon that the shipment would be unable to penetrate but what they didn't plan on was that the shipment was guarded by seven Mexican Army personnel still in uniform. At the moment both sides are still exchanging fire here at the border, though there has been a lot of tension from the Mexican authorities on their side of the border which has lead to some believing that they will attempt to interfere if this goes on much longer."
101010101
"Fort Bragg, North Carolina, probably one of the most heavily watched military bases in the world. For over two decades it has long been rumored to be the purported home base of the near mythical Special Forces unit known to the world only as Delta Force. Civilian agencies, and foreign intelligence agencies have a long history of attempting to ascertain if this claim is true and the common response from the Pentagon is anything from Classified, Need to Know or some more vocal and vulgar comments that are not fit for broadcast under FCC regulations. But today this base has undergone a change, last night under the cover of a moonless night nearly 1,000 men up and vanished. At this time there has been no official word from the White House on just where this military unit deployed to, or if it's even just a military exercise. What is known that this is not the first such Special Forces unit to go 'missing' under these types of circumstances, but at this time we have been unable to learn where. The Pentagon has said that the civilian world has no need to be informed of purely military concerns about the movement of troops and that the Freedom of Information Act does not apply under these circumstances."
101010101
Pulling the Humvee to a stop outside Sunnydale High School Xander put the large armored vehicle into park and just stared at the building resting his chin on his folded forearms on top of the steering wheel. "A few months ago I would have been just like one of them. Irritated that I have to get back to my studies after the winter break, wishing all the time for any reason to not to have to go to school and now look at me. I'm fighting a war that could very well decide the fate of mankind, I've lost almost all my friends to it and I would give anything just to be another one of the faceless masses who doesn't know."
"If you're looking for sympathy you're probably talking to the wrong man." Colonel O'Neill said. In truth he understood to a degree what Harris was talking about. All soldiers had that moment where they wondered at one point, why them? Why were they the ones who had to do the job they did?
"I know. I just wonder sometimes what life would have been like if I didn't go as the Master Chief that night."
"It's best not to dwell on it kid, it'll just drive you nuts in the long run. Either that or make you take a stupid risk while on mission that'll end up getting you killed."
"True."
"So have you given any more thought on how you're going to convince those two to agree to go off world?"
"Well for Jonathan I thought I'd just tell him that if he goes off world for training he'd be in a place where the female to male population is about even and he'd have a better chance of getting laid." Xander smirked.
"That's got to be one of the dumbest things I've ever heard."
"Yup."
"Got a real plan?" O'Neill pressed
"I'm thinking of going with the truth. Based on the info that Cortana was able to find, Jonathan already has some knowledge about the supernatural and it shouldn't be that hard to get him to believe in extraterrestrials. I mean if you believe in demons why the hell wouldn't you be able to handle the belief in little green men."
"The Asgard are gray, not green."
"I know that, but I'm betting there's someone else out there that's green."
"Well I know of one species that bleeds green, does that count?" Colonel O'Neill quipped.
"Like Predator?"
"Kind of."
"Cool."
"Sir, are you sure we should be in uniform for this?" Major Carter asked.
"Yes, Carter. If we're going to convince these two that we're actually telling the truth the uniform will help." O'Neill answered. Glancing out the window he noticed the other Humvee pulling into the parking space beside them.
"C'mon lets get this show on the road." Xander muttered as he got out of the Humvee. He wasn't wearing a uniform per se; since the UNSC didn't exist in this universe there was no point in recreating its uniform, so he'd decided to wear a simple set of BDU's that were enough to let him feel like the soldier that he was. He had grown accustomed to wearing them around Alpha Base whenever he wasn't in armor, even though he was finding that he was slowly growing into the custom of wearing the MJOLNIR suit at all times like any other Spartan. 'Good thing I don't have a problem with claustrophobia.'
It was close to noon when Xander and the rest came to Sunnydale High School, it lessened the chance of being seen outside by others, but there were still a fair number of students wandering around the courtyard. Most of them stopped what they were doing to gap openly at the small entourage that was following Xander as they moved into the school. Not only was he dressed like a military officer but also the fact that following alongside, and behind, him was seven others dressed up in various types of military uniforms and civilian clothing.
"Colonel, this seems a little public?" Lieutenant Hailey mentioned as she followed along with the group. She had been one of the group to arrive last night along with Dr. Jackson and some reinforcements.
"Don't worry about it Lieutenant. This visit is covered officially and unofficially; if anyone asks just point him or her in my direction or Major Castleman's. Just remember the cover story." O'Neill replied as he glanced around the campus as they walked. Decades of Spec Ops training took over so easily; already he had noticed half a dozen places that a sniper could have set up. Within a minute he had picked out an even dozen escape routes that could be used to cover nearly any contingency and he'd bet dollars to donuts that Castleman had several of his own.
"Yes sir." Hailey muttered. She was still curious about how she had gotten this assignment, the last thing she'd heard was that she was being transferred out to Nova Terra to join the Prometheus Project and the next second she was on a cargo plane hading for Los Angeles.
"Man, this brings back some old memories." Faith commented as she took in the campus. It was so much 'cleaner' than the pit that she used to go to school in.
"Old, you're not even seventeen." Hailey said.
"Was just saying."
"You're not old enough to make the comment 'old memories'." Hailey continued.
"Yeah, well you ain't that much older."
"Faith, use proper English." Linda scolded lightly.
"Sorry Linda." Faith muttered. It was kind of nice the way that Linda had taken one look at schools in Boston and declared them all the decrepit cesspools unfit to train a slug let alone a bright young woman like herself. It had been the very same day that Linda had said that she was going to begin home schooling her.
"Harris!" A snidely little weasel of a voice carried over to the group. Turning almost as one to see who was talking they observed the trollish little man in a suit marching their way.
"Just what do you think you're doing on this campus?"
"And you are?" O'Neill questioned when it appeared that Harris wasn't going to do anything other than glare at the man.
"I'm Principal Snyder, and I want all of you off this campus immediately. I will not allow a bunch of hooligans to have the run of this campus when they feel the need to illegally impersonate military officers, I'm pretty sure that's a felony so run along before I report it to the authorities."
"We are legitimate officers in the United States Military. I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill, this is Major Carter…" O'Neill began.
"I don't care who you believe you are, get off this property immediately and take this person with you." Snyder sneered as he pointed a finger at Xander who was just standing there with a little smirk on his face. "If you hadn't already dropped out, I'd have you expelled and arrested Mr. Harris, but I'll settle for barring you from ever setting foot on this property again. I always knew you were a troublemaker, from the first day I laid eyes on you I knew that you would bring nothing but disgrace down on yourself. Just like your father."
Faith wasn't the only one who picked up on the way Xander suddenly went tense, the muscles in his face contracting to the point where they looked like they were literally going to break. His hands were clenching at his sides and she suddenly found herself glad that he hadn't brought any obvious weapons with him or else this little troll of a man would probably be lying face down on the grass with half a dozen bullets in him.
O'Neill slowly reached up and removed his sunglasses, his eyes harder than obsidian, two decades of experience with Air Force Spec Ops giving him the glare that cowed the man in front of him into silence. When he spoke, his voice was so cold that those nearby could swear they felt an artic chill. "I'm going to give you thirty seconds to apologize, I suggest you do so. Now."
Snyder for once actually stopped his tirade and glanced around, noticing that he was almost completely surrounded by people in military uniforms and that all of them were glaring at him. The big man in the Marine dress uniform was smiling and the mere sight of it was enough to make his bowels clench in sheer terror.
"Who are you people?"
"That wasn't an apology." The young woman in what he usually termed 'slut' clothing commented.
"I won't be talked to by some streetwalker." Snyder sneered.
Major Castleman looked at the little troll like figure, the man's napoleon complex made some of the Goa'uld look well adjusted. Having had enough he stepped forward into the man's personal space, interrupting the comments he was getting ready to spew at Faith. "Sir, permission to beat the crap out of his man?"
O'Neill looked at Harris and Faith for a split second and then at Snyder's rapidly paling face. Before he could even do more than smirk Snyder gave a small shudder and everyone's gaze slowly moved downward to see a wet stain growing rapidly on the front of the despicable little mans trousers. "Not right now Major, I don't feel like getting urine all over my uniform. Now Mr. Snyder, you are going to walk away and you're never going to bother us again, or else the good Major here is going to have a nice long chat with you. Is that understood or do I need to use smaller words?"
"Understood." Snyder meekly answered.
"Good, then get out of here."
Snyder took the opportunity given and ran off, the distinctive lurch in his steps had confirmed the smell that O'Neill's sensitive nose had picked up on. He had crapped himself. Laughing quietly O'Neill turned back to the group and noticed the looks on most of their faces. 'Yup, they all figured it out.'
"How did that man ever get a job as Headmaster of a school?" Linda asked, completely aghast at the totally unprofessional behavior of the man.
"The last one got, uhh, eaten." Xander replied as he began walking off. The back of his neck flushing a deep red.
"Eaten? There's more to that story isn't there?" Carter questioned as she walked after him, the group following along behind her.
Castleman looked like he was going to voice his own opinion on the subject before O'Neill stopped him with a look. "Don't, you don't want to know. Trust me on that, I didn't."
The large group walked through the semi-deserted halls of Sunnydale High School, en route to the one class that both Jonathan and Amy shared hence the chosen time for their arrival at the school. The only unfortunate thing to this from Xander's perspective was that it was the computer class and since Janna had quit over the Christmas break there was a good chance that Willow had been pressed into service as an intermittent teacher until the school board could come up with someone more permanent.
Glancing into the room that had once held his favorite class Xander had a quick flashback to all the fantasies that he used to have about jenny calendar and her long legs. Chuckling quietly he could remember all the times he'd just sit in his chair, in the back of the room of course, and just try to imagine what the young woman's legs looked like under her long skirts. Shaking himself back to the present he turned to the group and noticed the peculiar look on Faith's face, promising himself to ask her about it later he said. "Ok this is the room. Who's going in first?"
"I'll do it." O'Neill muttered. Moving up to the door he took a deep breath and opened it.
Willow was standing at the front of the class going over the finer points of typing, how to position your fingers on the keyboard properly and how to maintain a good typing rate when the classroom door opened to admit an older man in a uniform. "Can I help you?"
"I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill, United States Air Force. I'm looking for two of your students. Jonathan Levinson and Amy Madison, I need to speak to them about several things so the rest of you get out."
"Excuse me?" Willow gasped. "Listen mister, you can't just barge in here and take over my class."
"You're not a teacher so I think I can, my uniform and rank let me do this, and I will be reporting this school to the California Education Board. So unless you want your name included in that report I think it would be in your best interest to get out." O'Neill said talking directly over the redhead's protests as he moved to the front of the classroom, the rest of his group filing in behind him.
Buffy was the first to notice who was in the middle of the group. "Xander!"
Willow turned to look and found him standing in the middle of the group of people that had walked in, wearing a set of BDU's trying to look like a soldier instead of the teenager that he was. Marching right up to the young man she swept back her hand ready to slap some sense into him when she felt her arm grabbed in a grip that exceeded Buffy's.
"I don't think so girlie." Faith whispered as she twisted the redhead's arm behind her back. "Now I think you owe Xander here an apology for trying to hit him."
"Let go of me you slut!" Willow screeched as she tried to wrestle her arm loose but there was absolutely no give in the grip. She couldn't believe it, she had managed to get out of Buffy's grip time after time but with this woman she couldn't so much as budge a millimeter.
"Hey, let her go!" Buffy shouted as she tromped up to the group.
"Faith, release her." Major Carter ordered. Inwardly she was cheering the young woman on but for now they had to play nice with the locals.
"Fine." Faith muttered as she shoved the redhead away with a bit more force than necessary.
Buffy grabbed Willow before she could hit the floor, glaring up at the men in uniform the whole time. She had a long history of distrust with those in uniform, thinking they were little better than thugs with a badge.
"As I said before, I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill and I'm looking for Jonathan Levinson and Amy Madison, the rest of you can leave. Class is dismissed." At this those in the room bolted for the door, not caring in the slightest why the military was here looking for those two.
"That means you two as well." Major Castleman drawled as he glanced over at the obviously bottle blonde and her friend.
"Hey, you can't come into my town and order us around."
"Your town? I didn't know you were the Queen of Sunnydale. I'm so sorry your majesty. Now get out." Xander interjected. He knew exactly what was getting to Buffy; it was the fact that she wasn't in complete control of the situation. She never could handle being told what to do by someone in a position of authority over her. 'In fact if she knew that they knew about demons she'd be stomping her foot saying 'I'm the Slayer, you have to do what I tell you.'
"You heard the man, you're not authorized to be in this room at the moment. Please leave or I'll be forced to 'remove' you myself." Major Castleman smiled evilly. 'Bottle blondes give real blondes a bad name. Thank god my daughter loves her natural hair color.'
Buffy stood there for a few seconds longer before she stomped out of the room, with a nearly visible black storm cloud over her head, with Willow following soon after when it became apparent that Xander wasn't going to speak to her either.
"Uhh Xander, what's going on?" Jonathan asked as he stood from behind his desk. He had sat there the whole time while Buffy threw her temper tantrum, a not uncommon sight at Sunnydale High, but now that she was gone he was curious as to why he had been asked to stay behind. Amy was in the room too, not speaking yet, but she was curious as to why the military was looking for her and Jonathan.
"Well I've decided to bring you guys in on something, something big." Xander said as he sat down on top of the desk that had at one time belonged to Jenny Calendar. "Now before you say anything I want you two to listen to the entire speech. It goes a little something like this."
"The world is older than you know…"
101010101010101010
White House, Washington D.C.
President Whitmore sat behind his desk, weary from all the hours that he had put in so far today and it wasn't even two in the afternoon. The life of the leader of one of the most powerful nations on the planet, and now the stars, was one that demanded a lot from a person. Demanded great personal sacrifices, time away from family, away from the pleasurable activities of just skipping work for a day to spend it relaxing on the back porch with a beer in hand and a good book to read.
"Sir?"
"Sorry, what was that?" Whitmore asked politely as he swallowed the yawn that threatened to break through.
"Quite alright sir, I was just referencing the continuing requests from Nova Terra that Major Ferretti has sent on up the chain. They need more supplies, equipment and most of all he needs more men." General Miles said.
"What's topping his list of requests?"
"Construction equipment sir. They have nearly half the population still living in pre-fab buildings sir, and the Corp of Engineers we've sent to them is splitting its time between building industry and building homes. It's at the point where a home is finished off per day but its still going to take quite a bit of time for it to break even." General Miles replied.
"Ok, how do we get some more construction equipment out to them to get homes and essential industry up and running within say the next month." Whitmore questioned.
"It's quantity vs. quality sir, we can throw bodies at them all we want but its not going to make much difference in the long run. Anyone who goes out there has to have a workable skill that can immediately be put to use in the construction field, not to mention we need farms for the next season and people to actually work on the farms as well. It's just going to take time to get everything up and running to the point of self-sufficiency, most of our analysts say it should be up by mid July." Admiral Alan Maitland commented.
"Well, find a way to get the needed resources out to them as soon as possible. Nova Terra is probably our last best hope to maintain Humanity's freedom from the Goa'uld and I'll be damned if I'm going to bow down to one of those damned accountants at the Senate. Find a way to do it without irritating them too much." President Whitmore ordered. "Also, I want you to recruit a few people to begin digitizing the Library of Congress for transport out to Nova Terra. Start with the books that contain information like medical, technologies and anything else that is useful, history can be saved till later."
"Yes sir. Though respectfully sir I do have to ask. Senator Kinsey, and the NID by association, has been fuming over their blanket denial of involvement with the Nova Terra project. A few of my people over at Intel have heard some rumors that Kinsey is threatening to go public with the program unless the NID is granted control over the Gate."
"Well then, I think Senator Kinsey is going to be greatly surprised at just what that rumor can do to one's career." President Whitmore said with a sly grin on his face. He had the same rumors nearly a week ago and had put plans into place already with a little help from NSA, FBI, and the CIA.
"In other news sir, NSA is demanding to know why we haven't done anything about the frequent 'thefts' of their Keyhole satellites."
"Those would be the ones being borrowed by Mister Harris and company correct?"
"Yes sir."
"Tell NSA to retask that satellite to remain positioned over California for the time being, Mister Harris can use it as his leisure. If he's been borrowing it often enough that its been spotted by the people over at the agency then he obviously needs it." Whitmore ordered. For a brief moment he considered ordering NASA to prepare to launch another dozen or so Keyhole class satellite's into space for a geosynchronous orbit over the United States but dismissed the idea for now, the budget was strained enough as it was hiding the war effort against the Goa'uld. "General Miles, the next time we have a Tel'tac in the system have it pick up some Keyholes from the storage yards and deposit them in orbit before it leaves again."
"Yes sir." General Miles replied.
10101010
"This is Val Keating reporting live from NID Headquarters in Washington D.C. For those of you who are just joining us, an hour ago the Army pulled up in force with armored personnel carriers, Humvee's and even a few tanks. They have laid 'siege' to the building and are demanding the unconditional surrender of all persons within the building, if no surrender is forthcoming within the next twenty minutes they have threatened to breach the building and use lethal force."
10101010
"So what say you?" Xander asked. He had just talked for over an hour, probably one of the longest speeches that he had ever given in his entire life, and answered at least twenty questions from both Jonathan and Amy.
"You're really telling the truth on this. Aliens, aliens from outer space, not the aliens living in fear of INS?" Jonathan quipped. His mind was just racing a million miles a minute trying to process the information.
"Yes, real aliens, we've even met the race responsible for the Roswell Gray stories." Xander commented.
"I don't know Xander, I believe you, but this just seems to wild and fantastic. I mean why would you want a guy like me to go out there? I'm just a geek."
"Jon, let me put it to you this way. Nova Terra is a colony world, so there's going to be limited supplies, resources, and things to do." Xander said watching the look on Jonathans face slowly move towards distaste. "But it's probably going to have a lot of women who will appreciate a man with brains."
Seeing that the young man still looked a little bit apprehensive about traveling so far from Earth to remain on a world that he couldn't return from expect under very stringent conditions Hailey slowly walked toward him. She tried her best to emulate Faith's movements, swaying her hips back and forth, a seductive pout on her lips. Getting close enough that her breath could be felt on his cheek she slowly wet her lips and spoke. "I always appreciate a man with brains."
Jonathan audibly gulped. Stuttering he said. "I'll go."
Xander leaned back on the desk and slowly rubbed the sore spot on his forehead. 'My side of the species can be influenced by nothing more than T&A. God, that's depressing.'
Samantha Carter leaned over a bit to whisper to Major Castleman and Colonel O'Neill. "That was just plain evil."
O'Neill smirked. "Worked didn't it, maybe we should have her do all our recruiting for us?"
"At least all the guys." Castleman whispered in reply.
Amy Madison laughed at Jonathan's red and flushed face. 'Trust a guy to fall for a tits an ass type scheme like that.'
"So Amy, what do you say?" Xander asked curiously.
"I don't know, there's not much incentive to go really."
"Amy, you can stay here and possibly end up as vamp food or you can go to Nova Terra, learn magic far away from the negative influences of the Hellmouth, get paid a shit load of money for something you've been doing for free, and get to ogle some sweaty soldiers as they do their exercises." Faith said.
"I'm there." Amy replies quickly blushing like a schoolgirl.
"Well that settles that." Xander muttered. 'If the Goa'uld ever heard about this, we're screwed. To think the entire younger generation can be lead around by their hormones.'
"Ok, Castleman, Carter and Hailey, why don't you three escort our newest recruits to their homes and convince their parents that they need to join in on this little adventure of ours. While you do that, we're off to see the librarian." Jack ordered.
"Sir?"
"Too many people Carter, we're trying to get the guy to help us, if we all went it would look like a mini invasion with all of us there."
"Oh, ok." Carter agreed after a second of thinking about it. In retrospect the group did look a little large to be kept together for a simple meeting that could be handled by a smaller number. Besides like the Colonel said, it would take the rest of them to convince both Amy and Jonathan's families the truth about Nova Terra and the Gate.
"Have fun convincing the parents." Faith laughed as she followed the group out the classroom door.
"Yeah, right." Castleman muttered.
101010101010
"I'm telling you Giles, he has to be possessed or something. He came barging into the class and just told everyone to leave! Why would he do that, he's supposed to be my friend?" Buffy whined as she paced back and forth in front of the table in the library.
"And that army guy was so mean." Willow said. "He actually threatened to tell the school board on me if I didn't do what he said. He threatened ME!"
"Oh boohoo, that's so sad." Xander said as he came in through the library doors.
"Just what's the big idea coming back into my town and trying to order me around." Buffy demanded as she stood with her fists on her hips.
"Your town? Miss, you sure have some strange ideas. Its mayor and duly elected representatives run this town, after that it goes up the state level and after that the federal. At no point do I see a sign proclaiming Sunnydale, personal fiefdom of Buffy Summers. So shut it." O'Neill said as he stepped up beside Xander.
"Just who do you think you are?" Buffy demanded.
"Colonel Jack O'Neill, United States Air Force."
"Xander, what is going on here?" Giles asked curiously as he came out of his office where he'd been taking refuge from the ranting that Buffy and Willow were doing. As he did so he wondered where this Army guy had gone that Willow had been fuming about a few seconds earlier. Given the way she was glaring at the Air Force officer Giles was betting good money that she had gotten the services mixed up somehow, strange considering how intelligent the girl was.
"Mr. Giles, I am Linda Pryce from the Watcher's Council, I'm here to ask you for your assistance in locating the vampire known as Angelus and his subsequent destruction."
"WHAT!" Buffy screeched loud enough to make everyone wince, especially those with enhanced hearing.
"You can't do that, Angel is a good man." Willow said.
"Uh, Angelus is a vampire in case you didn't know that and a vicious one at that." Faith mentioned as she joined the conversation.
"Just who the hell are you?" Willow demanded, sneering contemplatively at the young woman dressed in such trashy clothing. 'Wonder how many cows she had to kill to get that much leather.'
"I'm the Slayer." Faith answered honestly.
"I'm THE SLAYER!" Buffy screeched in reply.
"No, you're a Slayer, Faith is the Slayer. There is a distinct difference." Linda rebutted.
"Giles?" Buffy whispered desperately for any advice from her Watcher.
"I'm afraid I have to disagree with you Ms Pryce, Buffy is the active Slayer since she is the last one to receive the Essence." Giles stated as he tried to figure out what the woman was talking about. While he had dismissed her argument out of hand it did draw his mind back to the conclusions that he had drawn when Buffy had died at the hands of the Master, while there had never been any indication that the Essence had been passed on. Now he wasn't so sure.
"My god, you really are an idiot." Linda declared. "Have you not read any of the Council verdicts on the case of Kendra Young, the Slayer called after the one before you died in the incident with the Master? Kendra was called and did an admirable job for several months before her life was tragically cut short. Afterwards Faith was then called."
"I haven't heard anything about another Slayer, it might be some sort of demonic trick to make us divided in our efforts to support the True Slayer." Giles alleged. "It wouldn't be the first time that a false Slayer had been discovered and used to fracture the Council."
"My god, it's no wonder you were exiled from England." Linda stated aghast at the sheer denseness of the man in front of her.
"I'm the Slayer." Buffy reiterated, stomping her foot on the ground for emphasis.
"And now you look like a child doing that." Faith snickered. She wasn't at all concerned about this, Linda having explained it all in full detail months ago to her.
"Mr. Giles, Buffy Summers was the Slayer when she was called in Los Angeles two years ago but after her death via the Master she became nothing more than an anomaly." Ms Pryce said calmly. She knew that Faith was the Slayer, having confirmed it independently through her own sources.
"I am not an ANOMALY!" Buffy shouted.
"This is not the first time that the Slayer Essence was not completely passed on to the appropriate successor, though in every other instance the cause was eventually found to be demonic in origin. There may have been some interference with the transfer of the Essence due to her close proximity to the Hellmouth, Xander you were there do you remember anything out of the ordinary?"
"Well after I gave her CPR…"
"Angel gave me CPR!" Buffy declared firmly.
"Actually, he didn't. I did. Cause according to him vampires don't have any breath to give. Which is kind of strange since he needs to draw in air to talk." Xander mentioned offhand, only know figuring out the strangeness of Angels statement from back then.
"You're lying!"
"Why would I bother, I really don't give a damn."
"You just want to take credit for something Angel did so it would impress me."
"Oh, for crying out loud. Would you stop acting like everything in the world revolves around you?" O'Neill declared frustratingly. "We've got bigger things to worry about right. Mr. Giles, I'm asking you politely to please assist us in locating Angelus so he can be destroyed."
"Angel is a good man!" Buffy shouted.
"Lord, here we go again." O'Neill muttered looking to the ceiling as if searching for divine intervention.
"Angel is gone, the soul was released from the curse two weeks ago, don't you remember? I called you to warn you guys about it." Xander asked, baffled by the continuing defense of the vampire responsible for dozens of deaths around town.
"Of course I remember, you were ranting about how 'Angelus' had returned. What a crock." Buffy waved dismissively.
Feeling a bit of apprehension in the pit of his stomach Xander found his mind moving towards a question that actually frightened him. "Buffy are you still seeing Angel?"
"Of course, he is my boyfriend."