Well, I finally managed to put something coherent together. I will offer no excuses for my long hiatus, only that the muses are fickle lovers. So, I hope you will like what I've managed to create.
Chapter 35
"What is Chaos?" The Chinese ambassador spoke first.
"Chaos is a universal term the Imperium uses for various groups of their traitors and pirates." The Tau ambassador replied before Buffy could.
"That is correct, although vastly understated." Buffy sighed.
"Then perhaps you'd like to elaborate." The French asked.
"I'd rather not, but I don't think you'll accept that, so I will tell you about Chaos, but on one condition. We will follow Imperial protocol on such matters." Buffy replied after a few moments.
"What exactly do these protocols entail?" Hammond asked.
"First, the xeno must leave. He may return once we're done." Buffy turned towards the Tau, who simply nodded and walked out of the room.
"The protocols are rather simple. You will undergo the Rite of Purification, then once you've been briefed, you must swear an Oath of Silence." Buffy informed them.
"But if we cannot share this information, how can we explain the danger to our governments?" The Russian protested.
"Tell you what. If after we're done you feel your superiors need to know the details, we'll make some additional arrangements to brief them as well." Once everyone agreed to her suggestion, Buffy reached into the bag hanging on her belt and pulled out a large tallow candle and a stick of incense and lit them with a lighter. Then, she took off her necklace and held it forward into the smoke of the incense.
"Let the Emperor's light shine over you and cleanse you of all corruption." Buffy began reciting a long litany, her eyes shining with power as all eyes in the room were drawn to the small golden necklace as it caught the candlelight. Slowly, all of the representatives felt a strange warmth rise from within them, and as it passed, they all felt somehow lighter.
"What was that?" The British ambassador whispered.
"The Ritual of Purification. Now that you are cleansed of corruption we can proceed with the briefing." Buffy sat down.
"What if one of us was a follower of Chaos?" Hammond asked.
"Then you would have been incinerated where you stood. Now what is Chaos? To understand that, you must first understand what is the Immaterium." With that, Buffy began to explain the nature of the Warp, the daemons that inhabit it, and what effect they had on the material universe.
"That is incredible. And we are in danger of such creatures right now?" The Chinese representative exclaimed.
"Not at the moment. Most likely we are dealing with members of one of the traitor legions, but if left unchecked, they could instigate the formation of Warp daemons here, or bring them in from the Imperial galaxy. Rest assured that this threat will be dealt with the greatest possible haste. To reassure you, you are all invited to visit New Cadia for a tour of our facilities and forces in one week's time." Buffy informed them.
"Thank you for your invitation. I can think of a couple of officials back home that should make that visit along with me." The Russian ambassador nodded, and the others agreed to his idea. "As for the Oath you mentioned, I think that I will swear it. The thought of this knowledge out in the open…"
"Very well. Do you all feel the same?" Buffy asked, and one by one all representatives nodded. "Then stand and repeat after me."
Once everyone had sworn the Oath of Silence, the Tau ambassador was called back in and the talks were completed several hours later.
"Welcome back milady. Several reports arrived for you while you were in DC." Tara greeted Buffy as she walked in her office and headed right for her rarely used drinks cabinet.
"Anything marked urgent?" Buffy asked as she downed a shot of whiskey. Tara simply shook her head. "Then it can wait."
Buffy took the newly filled glass and the bottle of whiskey and collapsed in her chair. "What a day. Every time I turn around, it's one disaster after another. Sometimes I wonder why I bother getting out of bed in the morning." Buffy took several long drags from the bottle, ignoring the glass before her.
"You are vital for the New Imperium milady. We would've never gotten so far without your guidance." Tara spoke up.
"That's nice of you to say. Here, join me in a toast. To the Emperor." Buffy shoved the glass into Tara's hand while she raised the bottle.
The next day, Giles walked up to Buffy's office with a stack of papers in his hand and the first thing he noticed was that his former protégé Tara was not in her customary place in Buffy's outer office.
"Is the Inquisitor in?" He asked the replacement secretary.
"Yes, but she sounded really grumpy when she called me to fill in for Tara. She got the day off apparently." The girl answered and pressed the intercom. "Mr. Giles here to see you milady."
"Send him in." Buffy's voice was raspy, and once he walked in, Giles noticed that Buffy seemed worn out if the bags under her eyes were any indication.
"What brings you here, Giles?" Buffy smiled a little at her Watcher.
"I have some papers that need your signature here, and I also wanted to see how you were." Giles smiled back as he put the papers on her desk.
"Busier than I ever thought I would be, but that's the price to pay when I'm trying to establish a galactic civilization." Buffy chuckled.
"I also heard a strange rumor while I was walking here. A pair of Sisters was talking about how last night's corridor patrol caught you and your assistant 'sucking face' on the way to your chambers, and that sound of an unambiguous nature were heard from within for several hours." Buffy's face was rapidly reddening as Giles continued speaking.
"Lucy, tell Kennedy I want to speak with her right away." Buffy all but growled the order.
"Yes milady, oh and your mother called and asked me to pass on a message." Lucy replied, and despite the feeling of dread in her stomach, Buffy asked what the message was. "She said to bring your girlfriend over for dinner tonight even if the world was ending."
"Dawn. I'll kill that little brat." Buffy growled through gritted teeth.
"Buffy. Let me ask you one thing. Are you happy with this?" Giles asked softly.
"I'm still trying to decide if this was all just a drunken accident or the start of something more. I still have to talk to Tara about all this." Buffy sighed, her anger petering out.
"Remember, as long as you're happy, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks." Giles assured her.
At that moment, the Battle Sister Buffy requested walked in.
"You asked to see me, milady?" Kennedy stood at attention before Buffy's desk.
"Yes. I've been informed that some rumors have been circulating among your novices." Buffy began.
"You mean about you coming out of the closet ma'am? Personally I always suspected, but…" Kennedy stopped talking at Buffy's raised hand.
"That's one of the things I've heard. Do the Sisters on New Cadia know about that too?" Buffy asked.
"I believe so, ma'am. Several Sisters left for the routine exchange this morning." Kennedy replied.
"Well, in that case inform the Canoness that I am ordering a new training schedule for the Order to combat certain negative influences. Full day of endurance training, followed by a review on operational security procedures in the evening, and if any Sister falls asleep during the briefing, you get to repeat the same the following day." Buffy grinned.
"Ma'am, half the senior staff uses that video as a sleep aid. They'll never sit through all of it after a full day of endurance training." Kennedy protested.
"Alright, tell the Canoness that this is to last no more than one week. I suppose that will teach the Order not to gossip about senior Imperial officers." Buffy smirked.
"By your command, Lady Inquisitor." Kennedy bowed and walked out. "That woman is beyond evil. Still smoking hot though."
After several hours, Buffy decided that her hangover had subsided enough and headed out to find Tara. It was a small surprise to discover the shy girl was still in Buffy's quarters, using her terminal.
"Did you need anything milady?" Tara stood up and faced her, but Buffy gestured for her to sit down.
"I gave you the day off, remember? I just wanted to talk to you about last night." Buffy sat down across from her on the small coffee table she had to entertain her friends in private.
"How much do you remember about last night, milady?" Tara asked.
"All I remember is thinking how cute you look when you blush, and the next thing I know, I woke up naked with you draped over me, a pounding headache and a feeling of immense satisfaction." Buffy smiled. "And I think you've earned the right to call me Buffy."
"Where does this leaves us, Buffy?" Tara asked after a few moments of silence.
"I don't know, but I'm willing to see where we go from here." Buffy leaned forward and took Tara's hand into hers.
"So, that's why you've pushed for the completion of the Cimmerian project. I hope you appreciate the troubles I've gone through to keep the schedule you set for it." Willow complained once Buffy briefed the High Lords on the newest threat.
"Let us hear Xander's report before we decide the amount of force we need to bring to bear on this issue." Buffy spoke before anyone else could comment.
"The site had the clear marks of a rapid Chaos assault, and we have discovered an altar where they were sacrificing the local populace in a yet undetermined ritual, which has been destroyed and the grounds purified and consecrated. As for the enemy disposition, we have found several bolter casings, and the wounds on the fallen consist of power and chain weaponry where CQC weapons were used. The type of wounds and tactics used are a clear sign that the assault was performed by traitor Space Marines." Xander paused for a moment. "The two things of concern are a set of threaded tracks that are most likely from a combat servitor, and several corpses that bear the unmistakable wounds caused by Inferno bolts."
"A combat servitor means they have a heretek with them." Willow exclaimed, her escorts exploding in a rapid exchange in binary.
"It's worse than that. The use of Inferno bolts means only one thing. They have a Chaos Sorcerer with them." Buffy growled. "Larry, in the absence of the Ordo Hereticus, I must ask the Ecclesiarchy to police our worlds for signs of heresy."
"I will inform the cardinals as soon as we are finished." Larry nodded.
"Xander, I am forming a task force to hunt down this threat, and I'm putting you in charge. For the duration of this mission, you are granted Inquisitorial authority. Use whatever means you feel is needed to hunt down and eliminate these traitors once and for all." Buffy turned to her closest male friend who simply nodded and walked out.
"Now, since we're all here, what else do we need to discuss?" Buffy asked.
Several hours later, the High Lords finally departed the meeting room on New Cadia and returned to their worlds.
"So, I heard you've discovered the joys of the fairer sex." Buffy turned and saw Willow was still here.
"Not you too. Do you know how embarrassing dinner with my mom was? I thought Tara would die of embarrassment." Buffy sighed.
"You know she means well. That's why she's so great. Besides, isn't embarrassing your children in the job description of being a parent?" Willow laughed.
"I guess so. So, lunch?" Buffy turned towards her friend who nodded and together they headed out towards the mess hall.
A few days later, Buffy was discussing the visit of the Earth representatives of New Cadia with Harry.
"They were very impressed, and the Russian and Chinese expressed great interest in our penal legion system." Harry commented.
"I daresay they have a great deal of prisoners they'd like to disappear. Do what you can, but be careful if they try anything sneaky. How are things on the Goa'uld front?" Buffy asked.
"Anubis is up to something, and from what I've heard, it's big. His forces have withdrawn completely within his territory, and I believe he's building up his forces for a major attack." Harry sighed.
"Is Sarah in danger?" Buffy asked.
"I don't think so. An assassin has no chance of getting to her, and her forces are strong enough to repel an attack, especially since the Techpriests have upgraded her Ha'tak fleet. According to Willow, they are almost 90% as strong as Anubis's ships." Harry replied.
"Alright. Monitor the situation and keep informed if anything important happens." Buffy sighed.
Several weeks later, Harry contacted her again with some disturbing news.
"Anubis made his move in a big way. He had this huge mothership with a new superweapon and he has taken out three System Lords with it. Sarah informed me that the others were considering surrendering to Anubis, so I sent four of our ships to take it out. They were successful, but the Wings of Liberty was badly damaged and had to be towed back to Tollana. I was informed that it would take two to three weeks to repair it." Harry reported.
"Damn that bastard. Can he replicate this weapon?" Buffy asked. A weapon that could disable one of their frigates was a serious matter.
"According to my intelligence, very unlikely. I do have something that might interest you. Apparently, Daniel Jackson is back from the dead." Harry informed her.
"So, Daniel is back in corporeal land. I wonder what caused that." Buffy mused.
"Who knows. It's a shame we still haven't found where they stashed the Tau. They keep moving them to planets we don't know about. My scouts have already found two worlds that were used by them in the past few weeks." Harry sighed.
"The Dark Eldar and the heretics have also been suspiciously quiet. How come our enemies can't just come out in the open so we can obliterate them?" Buffy complained.
"I don't think things are ever that easy." Harry laughed.
A few hours later, Giles came with his own bad news.
"Someone is hunting Potentials?" Buffy was surprised. With their organized support network for demon hunting groups and the deployment of Sister kill-teams to handle the biggest threats, the demonic threat on Earth was dwindling rapidly.
"Fortunately, most of the Potentials are here. The ones remaining outside our organization are those with families." Giles replied.
"We should do our best to get the remaining ones here. But, if anyone is hunting down Potentials, that means that they intend to destroy the Slayer line." Buffy frowned.
"And it's not easy to track down Potentials too. While not on the same level as a Slayer, Potentials do have a level of innate resistance to magic, especially tracking spells. The only reason the Watchers can track them is because of generations of working with the Slayer." Gilles pointed out.
"Will things ever get better for us?" Buffy sighed.
"One day, all you'll have to complain about is boredom." Gilles smiled at her.
"I look forward to it." Buffy smiled back and returned to her work.