Knights of the Intrepid
Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.
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International Waters; The U.S.S. Ronald Reagan (CVN-76); September 29th, 2016:Dana held on for dear life as Don tried his best to maneuver through the hail of metal that was raining down from above, like some kind of holy scourge sent down to punish them.
"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT," Donald kept repeating as he guided their aircraft through the rain. She really couldn't blame him for being scared…she was, too.
After a few more moments, the hail ended and the debris settled down into the water below. The Ronald Reagan was still afloat, barely, with a gigantic hole inside its starboard side. How it was keeping afloat, she had no idea but, that didn't really matter. The odds were that it would sink soon, so, they had to move quickly.
"Land," she ordered.
"What," Don asked incredulously, "Hell no! That thing is coming down soon and, when it does, it'll pull us and everyone nearby under."
"We need to try and save as many people as we can, Don," she insisted.
"…We wait till it goes under," he stated, "I'm not chancing losing our only way out of here, girl. But, I will land at, what I believe, is a safe range. Once I'm down, I'll send word out on every frequency that this has happened."
"…Don," he looked at her, "What can do that to a ship?"
"…I don't know," he stated honestly, "Maybe its ammunition blew up, but, I don't think so. Can you see the way the carrier dents inward," she could, a large piece of it was dipping inward off the flight deck, it didn't take mystically increased eyesight to see it, "That only happens with an outside explosion. An explosion inside would have the shards going outward. I'm not sure, but, I don't think that any of the planes on the flight deck had that kind of firepower."
Dana sighed in despair. She had been too late.
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The United States; 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C.; The White House; September 29th, 2016:The President of the United States looked up from his paperwork immediately as his door was violently opened and a swarm of armed Secret Service agents stormed the office.
"Mr. President," Edwards, his lead Secret Service agent, started before he could even utter a sentence, "This way, Sir. Follow us."
"What is this," the President demanded, "What's going on?"
Edwards shoved a packet of paper into his hands and said, "Read that as soon as we get you to your helicopter, Sir."
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The United Kingdom; London, England; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 29th, 2016:Andrew looked through the satellite imaging with a frown on his face. He was trying to see if anything apparent could lead to him determining what they were doing. He was currently over the Indian ocean and was heading for African coast, which was very close on the chart, when his eyes caught sight of something…and he dropped his glass in shock.
He was looking at a ship. It was military, that much he could tell. It wasn't American, maybe European but, that didn't matter. What mattered was that it was beached along some huge rocks off the African coast, with a gigantic hole in its bow.
"My God," he muttered in disbelief.
He ran through a few areas that he knew to be heavy with military vessels, and found them all filled with wrecked ships.
This can't be coincidence, he decided.
Thinking quickly, he shut down his computer and left his office. He ran out of the HQ and into the parking lot. As soon as he was in his car, he was racing out to the borders of London. He had to see Giles immediately.
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The United States; Los Angeles, California; The Hyperion Hotel; September 29th, 2016:"Something's happening," Illyria muttered as she took a seat in the lobby.
"What," Groo came swiftly to her and sat down by her side, "What's wrong?"
"…I don't," Illyria focused all her mind on the feeling she was having and, as soon as it became clear, she screamed in pain.
"HELP," Groo shouted out as loud as he could, and Connor and Deirdre ran in as fast as they could.
"What's wrong," Connor asked.
"…Deirdre," the Marine looked down at her friend in fear, wondering what was happening to make her act this way, "I'm so sorry…for what's happened to your people."
Deirdre went pale…she knew what she meant by that. Something had happened…something involving the military.
"…How many died," Deirdre asked.
"…Too many to tell," Illyria said, "I've never felt so many people die."
"How can you even feel it," Connor asked.
"…I don't know," she admitted.
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The United Kingdom; London, England; Private Mansion, owned by Rupert Giles; September 29th, 2016:"…My God," the aging Watcher Head said in disbelief, "You say she's behind all this?"
"Yes, Sir," Andrew stated, "I know it's hard to accept, Mr. Giles, but…it's the truth."
"…I'm going to issue an order," Rupert Giles stated, "For Xander to be moved to the mansion."
"Sir, if you do that, it could bring Buffy down against you," Andrew informed him, "And all your guards are Slayers. That's asking for far too much trouble, Sir."
"I'm aware of my staff and the amount of trouble it could bring on me, Andrew," Giles reminded him, "That's why I plan to play this right. If I can convince them that I am just trying to ascertain why he killed two Slayers, then I should be able to keep them thinking that I'm not even worth taking out."
"If Xander escapes while he's here, they will kill you, Sir," Andrew stated.
"Xander is the only person that, at the moment, has any chance of taking what we know to anyone who can do something about it. I hate to tell you, Andrew, but you're not exactly in military shape."
"No, I understand," Andrew said, "The military wouldn't believe me. They don't know anything about me, except that I was arrested for murder. Xander's one of their own, though, and Colonel Finn knows him personally. They would believe him."
"Besides, you'd be more useful in the Council," Rupert told him, "Get Xander here, and I'll insure that he escapes."
"…Rupert, you will die if you do this," Andrew pleaded.
"I know," Rupert sighed, "But, it's a price I'm willing to pay."
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Outside his office, a Slayer was leaning against the wall, with a cell phone up to her ear.
"They want you to bring Harris into his mansion," she said, "They want to spring him. Wells has been doing research on this…he knows a lot, but not everything. What are your orders?"
"…Monitor Giles," a voice said, "I'll be by after I deal with Wells."
"Yes, Ma'am."
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International Waters; September 29th, 2016:"Thanks," Don put the radio down and turned to Dana, "Alright, there's a cruise liner about an hour away. They'll pick up what survivors they can. As for us, I'm going to pull in and pick up what survivors I can. Go into the back, there's a small packet back there. It's an inflatable raft. Get it out."
Dana nodded and unfastened her belt and went into the back as Don started the plane up and moved towards the wreck. She searched around for a moment until she found it. She grabbed it and went back up to her seat and waited as the plane approached the site. They could see several sailors in the water, some signaling them…others, just lying there.
"Don't look at them," Don warned her but, it was alright. She'd seen worse in her dreams.
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The United Kingdom; London, England; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 29th, 2016:Andrew pulled into his spot with a sigh, hoping that Giles's plan worked out. As he shut his car down, he sat back in his seat, wishing that things could just be simple again. He hadn't had to deal with this much stress since…well, since the First. He looked up and gasped as he saw the one thing he'd feared.
Two Slayers were walking towards him, an intense look in their eyes.
"They know," Andrew muttered.
He ducked down.
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"Come on out, Andrew," Cynthia demanded, "We know you're in that car."
They were standing just bit away from his vehicle, trying to do this as easily as possible. Neither her, nor her partner, Julia, were in the mood to deal with a struggling nerd.
"Come out, kid," Julia said, "We won't rough you up if you don't."
He didn't come out.
"Ugh," Cynthia muttered, "Fine. Let's go get him."
"I hate this part of the job," Julia responded.
The two lazy Slayers moved forward to go and get the man but, when they could see the inside of the car…they found it empty.
"…Invisible," Julia stated.
Cynthia nodded and reached down into the vehicle, trying to find where he was. She wouldn't.
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Andrew sighed in relief as his teleportation spell worked. He found himself inside his office, exactly where he had meant to be. As soon as he got his bearings, he ducked down beneath his desk and pulled out his cell phone.
"…Hello," Giles's voice came over.
"It's Andrew, Sir," he said, "They know. They just tried to grab me."
"Oh, dear," Rupert responded, he could hear the worry in his voice, "…What do you plan to do?"
"I've got a safe house," Andrew informed him, "I'll get Xander out and head there, see if I can get in touch with the other Watchers."
"No," the Council Head said, "Listen, unknown to the Slayers, I've been getting emails from the Head Watchers overseas. I haven't received one for days now, and I know they would have responded to a few emails I sent out already. My guess is the Slayers already have control over them."
"But, we've received voice messages from the Head Watchers," Andrew argued, "…They must be keeping them alive for the reports."
"What I want to know is why they haven't taken over the London base yet," Giles stated.
"I don't know," Andrew looked up over the desk and saw, thankfully, that no one was looking for him yet, "Listen, I gotta go. I won't have enough time."
"I understand," Giles told him, "Good luck."
"Thanks," he hung up.
He began to save all his files onto a disk and, as he did that, he began a spell to temporarily bring down the HQ's magical defense net, just long enough for him to get Xander and him out. Once the spell was completed, he put the container holding the powder into his jacket, knowing that the powder would have to be released before the defenses would go down.
As soon as that was done, he prepared the spell to teleport them out. He had all the ingredients in a bowl and just needed to add the right amount for it to send the two away. He set up a dripper, filled with the last ingredient, venom, that would give him about…twelve minutes to get Xander out. He typed the incantation into his computer, including both his and Xander's names in it, so the spell would know to send them away, and no one else.
As soon as it was done, he grabbed the disk and a gun and raced out the room.
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The United States:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States."
Across the nation, thousands of people were watching as the President took a seat, unbeknownst to them, in an underground bunker, one of the many secret ones which had survived the attacks.
"…My fellow Americans," the President, as many other Presidents before him, began, "I have learned that, earlier today, a series of attacks against military centers has occurred across the globe. These attacks are not just against America, but against every nation on Earth. Every American base, be it Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine, has been, effectively, wiped from the face of the Earth. Our Navy has been completely destroyed, with no ships left. This is the same situation which all our brethren nations, friendly or not, share today.
"…" the President had to take a moment to control his emotions as they were, "…I feel a great deal of sorrow for the loss of so many fine people, be they American or of any other nationality. I…do not know how this happened, but, I am here today to tell you that…whoever did this has failed in their efforts. They meant to cause fear and terror, to cause chaos and disorder. Well…they failed. Today, I have spoken with representatives from many of the bereaved countries and…we have decided that the time has come to band together. We are being threatened, all of us, by an unknown force. We will come together to defeat these people, and we will win the day. They will pay for what they have done."
He stopped in his speech at that moment. He stared forward for a moment, then, slumped over onto the table.
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The United States; Boston, Massachusetts; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 29th, 2016:"Red's spell worked, B," Faith said into her cell phone, "The Chief just kicked the bucket, along with Congress."
"Same here, Faith," Buffy said over the line, "The PM and Parliament just died."
"What about the Royal Family," she asked.
"We don't give a damn about them," Buffy said, "All they are's figure heads. They mean nothing to the government. What about Dana, have you found her?"
"No," Faith stated, "I wonder how she's resisting."
"Doesn't matter, she's dangerous to us. Kill her on sight."
"Right," Faith responded.