Chapter 25.
I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Stargate SG1.
Please review! Compliments make me write faster; criticisms make me write better. Both are needed if you wish this fic to continue.
/Xander's thoughts/
%Jolinar's thoughts%
#"Tok'ra or Goa'uld voice"#
Just a reminder: in my world, the laws of conservation of energy apply here. So the Zats work like Tasers on steroids. One shot disables, two may kill, three or more will almost certainly kill, but additional shocks after death can sometimes revive dead people (like shock paddles). Three never, ever disintegrates.
"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear." Giles paced in front of the students.
"Giles, you're making me dizzy." Buffy complained. She had never seen her watcher so agitated, not even that time she faced the Master. It was unnerving.
"It- It's just a lot to take in and it's all happening at once." Giles stopped pacing and leaned on the table. "We'll start with the book that was stolen a few weeks ago. It was written by Josephus du Lac. He belonged to a religious sect that was excommunicated by the Vatican at the turn of the century."
"I'm guessing it wasn't a 'Taste of the Vatican' cookbook." Buffy joked
Giles shook his head. "No, the, uh, book was said to contain rituals and spells that reap unspeakable evil. However, it was written in archaic Latin so that nobody but the sect members could understand it. And it was his tomb that was robbed last night."
"The book was in a code. They just stole the key." Jolinar figured out. At the stares from his fellows, he went on. "Tok'ra are spies. Cryptography isn't so much a hobby as a way of life for us."
"That is so cool. I still can't get over how you're part alien." Ford added.
"Yes... well. Moving on." Giles stammered.
"So you're saying these vampires went to all this hassle for your basic decoder ring?" Buffy wondered.
Giles was a bit taken aback by her insightfulness. "Uh, actually, yes, it's possible. And if they are able to read the book now, we may be in serious danger very soon. There are some very dark spells supposedly in that book. But the more urgent issue is the Order of Taraka." Giles fished the ring out of his pocket and placed it on the table. "This ring is worn only by members of the Order of Taraka. It's a society of deadly assassins dating back to King Solomon."
Xander laughs. "And didn't they beat the Elks this year in the Sunnydale adult bowling league championships?"
Giles isn't amused. "Their credo is to sow discord and kill the unwary. I think the best thing we can do is to find a secure location. Somewhere out of the way Buffy can go until we decide on the best course of action."
"Bowling is such a vicious game." Xander jokes again.
"That's enough, Xander!" Giles yells.
Xander is calm. "I'll say. You need to stop panicking."
Giles keeps yelling, "I am not," deep breath and a bit calmer, "panicking."
"Really?" Xander asked sarcastically, "Cause neither you nor Buffy looks freaked at all." It was Xander's turn to take a deep breath. "Now let's sit down and think of some jokes. Once we're in the mood, then we'll deal with Taraka."
Giles didn't sit instead he started pacing. "They're a breed apart, Xander. U-unlike vampires they have no earthly desires, but to collect their bounty. They find a target, and, uh... they eliminate it. You can kill as many of them as you like, it won't make any difference. Where there's one, there will be another, and another. They won't stop coming until the job is done. Each one of them works alone. In his own way. Some are human, some... a-are not. Y-you won't know who they are until they strike."
"Been there. Done that." Xander scoffed. And turned to the rest of the group. "Now, we've got a live one to get information out of. Ford, are you ok with torturing an assassin?"
Ford nodded. "I could read her the story Buffy wrote in 5th grade." He agreed with a joke.
Giles slammed his hands down on the table. "Do none of you understand the danger here?"
Xander waved him away. "You go have a cup of tea and panic in your office Giles. Research that Du Loc stuff while we deal with the assassins. Or better yet, call your council buddies and see if they can get the hit called off." Then he turned and ignored the open mouthed watcher. "Ok, Giles seems to think that hiding would be a good option. If these guys are as good as he thinks, that seems like a reasonable suggestion. And career week seems like a good time to do it. How do you feel about living in a spaceship while we prepare for these guys?"
"Really?" Buffy smiled for the first time since Giles said 'Taraka'.
"I've got a cloaked spaceship." Xander offered. "A low-earth orbit should keep us perfectly safe until we can come up with a plan." Then he snapped his fingers. "Weapons, we're going to need weapons. Stakes aren't going to cut it against these guys."
Xander went to the phone and dialed. "General. Good news. The assassins are supernatural. The bad news is that there's probably more than one of them. Thanks. We'll be able to deal with it ourselves, but we could certainly use a little logistical support. Well, guns to start with. Well, yes. But only if you want us running around Sunnydale with staff weapons. It's a possibility, but the NID manages to keep their teams hidden, I'm sure we'll manage. No. 9mm rounds just bounce off some supernatural things and M16s are too bulky. Do you have any P90s? We'll take four of them. And the standard extended recon loadout for an SG team? That sounds good. Thank you sir. We'll stop by and pick it up later." Xander hung up.
He then turned back to the rest of the Scoobies. "Ok, we need something to roll the assassin up in. Sunny D residents may overlook a lot of things, but carrying around someone dressed as a cop might not be one of them."
A rug was fetched and the assassin was rolled into it. Buffy carried her out with Ford opening the doors. Willow placed a hand comfortingly on Giles' shoulder. "You find a way to stop them Giles, we'll keep her safe until you do." she assured him.
Xander waited at the doors for her. "We'll keep our radios on. Call us when you find something. Keep trying until we get back." he talked to Giles' back.
"Oh my gosh, we're in Colorado already? Oh, look at all the snow! It's so pretty!" Willow squealed.
"And that's Cheyenne Mountain." Xander said pointing, "The SGC is under that."
"Cool." Buffy said as she and Ford came forward. They had spent the short trip talking together. Ford said he understood what it was like to live with a death sentence on your head. She certainly seemed calmer since they left the assassin bound and gagged in Ford's old hideout.
Xander adjusted the frequency of the radio in the tel'tak to the SGC's frequency. "This is Xander of the Tok'ra. Is General Hammond available?"
"One moment your Excellency, while I patch him through." a voice answered.
"Is that Sergeant Harriman I hear?" Xander asked. "How are the wife and kids, Walter?"
"Umm, they're fine sir. I mean your Excellency." Harriman answered unsure how the Tok'ra ambassador knew of his wife and kids. Or his first name for that matter."
While they waited, Buffy asked, "Why are they calling you excellency?"
But it was Willow who answered. "It's the standard title for an Ambassador like Xander."
"This is General Hammond, Ambassador Harris. And if you're done teasing my sergeant, the supplies you requested are ready just outside the escape hatch, ready for you to ring them up."
"Thank you General." Xander replied. "I'm sure there'll be a way for me to pay you back sooner or later."
Hammond chuckled. "I'm sure there will be, soon enough. Take care of yourself." He was really starting to like the young man. Reminded him of the snark of Colonel O'Neill combined with the brilliance of Major Carter. Throw in the Tok'ra's knowledge and you almost had SG-1 rolled into one. Almost.
"Buffy are you there? Come in?" the radio crackled.
"Angel? It'sh Giles here." Giles slurred.
"Giles? Where's Buffy?" Angel demanded.
"Gone." Giles answered. "But she's shafe. The Order of Taraka can't get to her... and whatever Spike ish up- up to she'll be safe from that as well."
"Giles, have you been drinking?" Angel asked.
"It seemed like the thing to do." Giles admitted.
"Giles, we have to help Buffy." Angel demanded.
Giles sniffed. "I called the Watcher's Council. They said they'd do what they could to get the hit on Buffy rescinded, which probably means bugger all."
"Ok, but what about Spike?" Angel asked.
"What about him? There's nothing written about bloody book he stole because no one could read it without the bloody decoder ring." Giles said hotly. He threw the text he had been reading aside.
"Giles. Calm down. I'll see what I can find out about the Order of Taraka and who sent them. You just keep reading your books. See if you can find out what Spike is up to. And drink some coffee. When Buffy comes back, she'd like to see you sober." Angel advised.
Kendra the Vampire Slayer watched from the bushes. She could sense the creature walking down the street was vampire. His black trench-coat as black as the demon that animated him. As soon as he was clear of the streetlights, she attacked. The vampire was tough, but not tough enough. And he was soon dust. Kendra dusted herself off and moved on to find the next one.
Xander parked them over a flat clearing somewhere in the Andes Mountains.
"Xander, what are we doing here?" Buffy asked.
"Training." Xander stated. "Like I said, no one's going into battle again untrained. This place is uninhabited and far away from where any assassins are looking for you. A perfect place for you guys to try the new weapons we got."
"Nah-uh. You know I don't like guns Xander." Buffy complained.
Willow shook her head. "I don't like guns either, Xander."
Xander addressed Buffy first, "It doesn't matter if you don't like guns. It might be an issue against vampires, but the Order of Taraka obviously has no trouble with guns. Tell me. When Darla tried to shoot you, how did you defeat her?"
Buffy looked a little abashed, "I didn't. Angel did."
"That's right. He got a little shot up doing so, didn't he?" Xander prodded.
"But he was ok." Buffy countered.
"And would you have been ok, if you got shot that many times?" Xander argued. "Because that's what happens when you bring a stake to a gun fight. You get shot. You, your friends, and probably some innocent bystanders." He handed her an unloaded weapon. "Remember, we didn't escalate this. They did."
Buffy took her P90 grudgingly. Ford took his with a nod and Willow just kind of let hers fall into her lap. The first thing he had them do was unload and reload an empty clip 100 times. Xander did it right along with them as his body didn't have the muscle memory yet, even if his mind did. He ended up finishing just before Buffy, who seemed to catch on much quicker than the other two. He had to encourage Willow with a "This might save your life one day." Which didn't seem to work. "Or maybe mine." did seem to give her a drive to learn.
He and Buffy switched to practicing with their opposite hands while the others caught up. While they worked he explained the basics of gun safety and also how their weapons operated. Once everyone was done, he set out some empty water bottles weighted with sand.
Once they actually started shooting, Buffy took to it like a duck to water. "This isn't so bad. It's kinda like a loud crossbow you can reload super fast." she decided as her bullets tore her water bottle to pieces.
Xander found it a lot more difficult than he thought it should be to hold the gun steady. But did manage to make a decent, if not Buffy sized dent in his bottle.
Ford also was a decent shot at close range, as long as he took his time. Full auto, he was all over the place, but he wasn't unskilled and he too was getting better.
Xander couldn't say the same thing for Willow. She never came near the target. "I can't do this Xander." she pouted.
Xander took the empty weapon from her and gave her a kiss to stop the tears that were forming. "It's ok Will. Just so long as you know how." He put the empty gun away. "But unless you learn how to shoot something you're going to have to stay on the ship." Xander opened another box that was already on the ship. In it were ten zat'nik'tels. "Ok, these are zat'nik'tels. Also known as zats or zat guns by the SGC. Unlike the guns you just used they are an energy weapon. They shoot charged particles to disrupt the nervous system of your target. A good way to think about them is like a Taser on steroids. One shot will disable. Two or more in quick succession can kill." Xander demonstrated by shooting Willow's untouched bottle four times.
"Not much damage to non-living things. So don't worry about disintegrating something. They're not magic. And I'm really not sure what they might do to vampires. But everyone grab one and give it a shot." Xander practiced with everyone else.
Buffy again led the class despite Xander's memory experience with shooting the weapons. He, Ford and Willow were all more or less equal. Willow seemed much more confident with this weapon and was soon hitting her bottle with regularity.
Xander called a halt and moved the targets back. He handed out P90s to Ford and Buffy but let Willow continue to practice with her Zat. After the P90 practice, he handed out zats again. Willow, who had been practicing the longer range while everyone else worked the P90s was the clear leader this time, though Buffy was mostly caught up to her by the time Xander called it quits. They packed up their stuff and moved everything back into the ship for the night.
Kendra stalked her next target. He had entered a bar. A place Kendra wasn't allowed to follow. She hesitated only a moment before deciding that Slaying overrode that rule. Mr Zabuto didn't have to know about this. She found the vampire attacking and threatening a human. It was a bit odd, usually they just attacked, but these American vampires were a strange breed. She had lost her stake when the last vampire dusted so she picked up the broom off the floor. Breaking it into a stake would alert the vampire to her presence, so she attacked and knocked him to the floor before breaking off a stake from the broom handle.
He kicked her off and stood up to meet her next attack.
When she attacked next, Angel was ready for her. Easily parrying her clumsy thrust and throwing her to the back of the bar. He dove for the rest of the broom laying on the floor. Spinning off the broom head as he stood up, he found himself with a serviceable wooden sword. No edge, but it did come to some pretty sharp points. He saluted his opponent before continuing the fight. It was very similar and very different to his bouts with Xander. Similar in the feeling and the moves they were using, different in that this was likely to the death. The girl was not as skilled as Xander, but she was both faster and stronger than him. If anything it felt like fighting Jolinar. The moves were blocky and stiff, but so quick that it hardly mattered. So far, the extra reach that getting the longer end of the stick rendered him was keeping her at bay.
"Who are you? Why is the Order of Taraka here?" he asked.
"What would I know about dee Order of Taraka?" she stopped attacking.
"If you're not with them, then why are you attacking me?" Angel wondered.
"You are a vam-pyre. I am Ken-dra dee Vam-pyre Slayer." she answered.
"Sure you are." Angel dismissed the idea. Though his heart just dropped to his feet. "I just saw the Slayer yesterday."
"Yesterday? Dat is im-poss-ible. I was called months ago." Kendra dismissed their claims.
"Willie, when was the last time you saw the Slayer?" Angel asked the barman, very relieved that she hadn't been called that day.
"Two or three days ago. Tops." The nervous man answered from behind the bar where he'd been hiding.
"There. Now drop the act and tell us who you really are." Angel ordered.
"I am dee Vam-pyre Slayer." Kendra insisted.
"Tell you what, I'm going to call Buffy's watcher and let him deal with this." Angel pulled out his radio. "Giles, this is Angel, come in."
After a few seconds, Giles answered, "Yes Angel. Did you find something?"
"If by something, you mean another Slayer, then yes." Angel replied.
"Another Slayer, then do you mean... Buffy?" Giles stammered, suddenly feeling very sober.
"She says she was called months ago. So no." Angel repeated. "Here, you talk to her. Tell her your secret code phrases or whatever so she stops trying to kill me." Angel set the radio on the bar and stepped back.
"Hello?" Kendra talked into the radio.
"Hello, this is Rupert Giles of the Watcher council. To whom am I speaking?" Giles replied.
Slowly Kendra and Giles worked out that she really was a Vampire Slayer and he really was a Watcher and that there were now two Slayers. Giles tracked back the date she was called to the night the Master rose and made the connection to Buffy's death. Eventually the conversation came back to the vampire she had just been fighting.
"Yes, his name is Angel and he's on our side." Giles assured her.
"Angel? You mean Angelus? I've read about him. He is a monster." She looked right at him.
"No, no, no, he's, he's good now." Giles reassured her.
"I haven't fed on humans in a long time now." Angel claimed.
Giles, over the radio, didn't hear those claims. "He hasn't fed on humans for almost 100 years. There's a book here at the library. I can show you, if you like."
She agreed and left for the library. Taking Angel's radio with her so Giles could give her directions. Angel stayed behind to continue his interrogation of Willie.
"So, Willie. Where were we?" Angel said before he was beaned from behind by a beer keg.
Angel dropped to the floor as Spike stepped to the fore. "Stupid Ponce." he spat.
"Spike, buddy. Was beginning to wonder if you got my message." Willie said nervously. Spike didn't answer and just peeled off a few bills and threw them at the barman before directing his minions to drag Angel out of there. "Wait!" Willie called after he had picked up the money. "Give me the rest of those bills and I have some information you're really going to want to know."
Spike considered it for a minute. He turned and walked Willie into the bar where he loomed over Willie without actually touching the man. He took out the rest of the bills and slammed them on the bar. "Fine. But it had better be worth it or I'll drain you and take my money back." he warned.
Another Slayer? Already? Perhaps the Order of Taraka had been a bad idea after all. Spike decided.