Angel, Drusilla and Spike hated being stuffed together unable to go anywhere. Although there were plenty of windowless rooms in the City Hall, they were unable to move anywhere else because the usual highway of vampiric travel was currently filled with water. The former Angelus was quickly annoyed with Spike's ranting and Drusilla's constant bemoaning of his newly reinstated soul.
"Would you two please just shut it," he pleaded, not for the first time. They were still in the conference room with the venetian blinds pulled down low.
"Bloody hell! You think I like being here?" Spike had been drinking the supplied blood through a straw for hours and seemed a little more annoying than usual. Vaguely Angel recalled this happened a few times in the past when they were stuck in close quarters. Once was when they took a ship from England to China and they had to survive on a nip here and a nip there with Dru hypnotizing sailors into forgetting. That was just before Darla had left them to join the Master in Sunnydale and he had killed that girl in Romania.
"Well, I like being with you even less," he said like they were in the second grade.
"It's your bloody fault we're in this situation!" the blond vampire sneered at his grand sire.
"Look, the sun's going down in a few minutes and we can go back to the manor," Angel said for at least the fifth time. "It's big enough for us to get out of each other's hair."
"Spiky! My Angel! No fighting in the Family," Dru said as she moved between them. Her eyes were more buggy and mad than they usually were, making her look more disturbing than she usually did.
"No worries love, we'll be right as rain soon as I get us out of this damn room," Spike said licking away his blood mustache.
'A few more hours.' Angel thought to himself as he leaned back and rubbed his forehead. 'Just a few more hour.'
It was going to be a long night.
In the Initiative, Colonel Hennessey and Maggie Walsh were briefing the agents on the latest information on the area. It had been a tense couple of hours after Team 3 had returned from their scouting mission. Most of the other teams had seen much beyond devastation, but Team 19 had seen a group of what looked like mammoths off in the distance.
"You should all know that the government of Sunnydale is aware of the existence of HSTs and our own mission statement," Walsh said taking charge of the briefing as she usually did. "This is not a reason to tell everything we do down here. If someone asks if you are part of the Initiative you are to say no. If they know you are part of the military, you are to tell them you were in the reserves and Colonel Hennessey activated you in response to the situation."
The soldiers were good men. The best of the best really. They had been drawn from every branch of the military and several from domestic intelligence agencies. They could follow orders and would do their job better than anyone else they had.
"This morning at 0734 hours, Team 3 was reporting in when they were attacked by hostiles," Walsh continued. She clicked a button that flashed a slide up on the screen behind her. "This is an image of the hostile. Agent Finn noted, as do some of you, the resemblance to the extinct species australopithecines, thought to be a precursor to Homo sapiens sapien. It is not known if this is a case of convergent evolution or a direct connection to our own species. We currently have our specialists researching this as we speak." The button clicked again, showing six photographs of Drizzt, Dove Falconhand's party and McGristle. "These civilians assisted in the battle. Their intentions are unknown and they are currently being treated at Sunnydale Medical Center under close supervision. The final one is currently under restraint on the suggestion of Dr. Amelia Chung who was at the scene. The two males with the long hair and the short bald male are not human. The armored male, the white haired female and the red haired male are human according to the blood work done at the hospital. All three have blood types comparable to normal earth humans. Note the strange coloring of the woman. As far as we can tell her hair is naturally white and her skin naturally dark. It is hypothesized at this time by Dr. Amelia Chung that this is a local phenotype mutation." Another image flashed up, this time it was of a pretty, petite blond girl with a bright smile and a pink shirt. "This is Buffy Summers, a resident of Sunnydale. When the news of the attack arrived at the meeting, she ran to assist, ignoring the fact that we had already sent a support team. She covered four miles in thirteen point seven minutes." There was a general murmur of surprise. That was close to the world record. "Using a sword and a stake she attacked the hostiles, backing them off. When her sword broke she fought them barehanded, barely wounded."
There was widespread disbelief. Neither Hennessey nor Walsh were surprised. Walsh clicked to the next slide showing the giant woman strapped to the flatbed. "Later when the party was attacked by hostiles referred to as 'giants,' she strangled one with a steel cable from the winch attached to the humvee belonging to Team 3. This is difficult to believe, but Team 3 reported this and the evidence agrees with their testimony." Leaning forward she switched to a video recording of an HST huddling in a corner of a holding cell. It kept saying the word "slayer" over and over. "This is Hostile 3, apprehended on February 14th at 0042. This was the first instance of the term Slayer being used. At this point we believed it was referring to us as an adaptation of a myth of the HSTs. However, we now know Hostile 3 was referring not to us, but to Buffy Summers. Earlier today, she announced herself as the Slayer and Rupert Giles," she switched back to the slides, clicking to a picture of a middle-aged man with glasses, "a British national, explained that they is one of every generation who takes on the mantle of the slayer and has greater strength and skill in this regard. Our evidence supports this statement. She also seems to have greater healing capability as she has since been discharged today after receiving three arrow wounds to the back, countless smaller wounds and some significant damage which should have caused some internal bleeding."
"I want agents Hammond and O'Neil to act as high school students to keep an eye on her," The two agents in question nodded. At first glance they didn't look old enough to shave, much less join the military. "The rest of you are to patrol the outskirts of the transported sectors and report any activity. Troop transports are on standby and troops from the base will assist if any hostiles are sighted. This does not mean those attached to the cliff sides may slack off! We have already detected three native flying species of HSTs. No blindsides people!"
Colonel's words were gruff and serious. "The mayor has sent out notice that any reserve soldiers or retired officers are to report to the base tomorrow morning. We need everyone we can on this. When this happens there will be a team dedicated to commandeering any petroleum supplies. The Initiative generator is now attached to the Sunnydale Grid and will be supplying power until alternate sources can be acquired." He crossed his arms over his barrel chest. "Now go, Lieutenant Gardner has your assignments."
When the soldiers were gone, it was time for the private meeting between him and Walsh. Although he knew about the Initiative and had been fully briefed prior to his taking command of the Sunnydale base, Walsh was still technically in command of the Initiative itself and was only nominally under his control. Hennessey was not sure he could trust the civilian. She had a streak of arrogance that had turned many people off, but it had served her well to get her placed in command. Unfortunately he felt it would ultimately be her downfall. Although she was highly intelligent, Walsh was not the smartest person in Sunnydale and she was not the most suited for commanding soldiers, even if she might believe otherwise. Her tendency to underestimate people was also a problem he would have to address.
"Director Walsh, a word please," he said walking beside her to her office. "In private."
"Certainly." They walked into her private office and he lumbered over to the chair across from her desk.
"As you know, I have been fully briefed on the Initiative; and I am not directly over your command," he started with a huff as he sat down. "But as a military commander, I have some suggestions for the future." She nodded for him to go on. "The drug enhancement program needs to be tapered off and removed."
"Why would you say that?"
"It is becoming increasingly apparent that we could be involved in a war," he started to explain. "As we no longer have the capabilities or supplies to manufacture more of the drug, eventually we will run out of supply. I do not want to be fighting a war when our soldiers are going through withdrawal symptoms." His mind went back to Vietnam when drugs were almost as common as drinking water. It had been bad and lots of good men had died. He was not about to let someone repeat that mistake. "Therefore we taper it off until they are weaned." She did not look convinced. "This is a real problem. We can either take care of it now quietly or we run out and it becomes a public nightmare. At the moment we are lucky to have the good will of the people, but I've seen what happens when a population decides that a military force in their midst can't be trusted." Vietnam again. At times he was amazed he had stayed in the army. "I have an obligation to these soldiers and to the people I am sworn to protect, and with that obligation comes the understanding that the men and women who protect and serve this country, even if we are in some forgotten realm, will be in the best ability to do so."
"I understand your position, and I will take it under consideration," she said and Hennessey knew it was a signal for him to leave. Nodding, the older man stood and left the building. When the door was closed she sighed deeply. The Colonel was right. It was dangerous to keep the soldiers on the steroids when stocks would soon run out at full dosage. If she tapered it off, the substance could possibly last a year until the dependence would, should, have lost its bite.
Sighing again, she looked at the reports on the desk. She had the criminal and medical files of Buffy Summers, Willow Rosenberg, Daniel Osborne, Rupert Giles and Alexander Harris and they showed little. There was the incident when the girl burned down her old high school and her subsequent incarceration in the mental institution, but other than that she looked like any other high school student. Her grades had suffered a little these past few months (with the exception of French which went abruptly from a D to an A at the beginning of November), but she was hardly a troublemaker the principle made her out to be. Rosenberg was actually teaching a computer class. She was a straight A student with no criminal history and only a slight increase in hospital visits since Buffy had arrived in Sunnydale. Most had been blown off as exercise accidents. Alexander, or Xander as he preferred, was Mr. Average. Average grades, average attendance, no criminal record and a few serious medical accidents. Oz was much like Rosenberg. Smart, they had both been recruited by a computer company. His band didn't seem to interfere with his grades and he had the usual medical visits until a few months ago when he seemed to have stopped going all together. He was one year older than the rest of the high school students. And then she had Rupert Giles. He came to Sunnydale and took a job at Sunnydale High as a librarian. His sole interaction with the SPD was this year when he had reported finding Jennifer Calendar dead in his apartment. She had no way of investigating his prior history. His medical history was clean until the night of the Shift, as people had started calling the night Sunnydale was sent to this other place.
She had other concerns beyond the Slayer and her friends. The first shipment of the new energy weapons had arrived just before the Shift and she was hesitant about assigning them. On one hand, they were new technology and not something easily replaceable. On the other hand, they were rechargeable, which would be important when the bullets finally ran out. Perhaps they could somehow trade with the locals for the materials, but that was a long term goal. As it was most of the machines needed to replicate the parts were not brought along with the rest of Sunnydale, especially the parts labeled "made in _____." She sighed deeply. Perhaps she needed an assistant. The Initiative would not remain much of a secret for long and there might be some talented students looking for a job. She made a note to look up inventors, engineers and machinists. They needed to replace the cars, the buses and oh hell, everything. There were plenty of resources for parts from the city dump to the various junk yards and compacting stations around Sunnydale. It was going to be a long night.
It was the night after the first full day of Sunnydale's existence. The populace was in a varied state of confusion, anger, rage and horror. They had a bit of excitement when the power went back on, but they had returned to anger when the mayor held the press conference on the television station. Police had ridden through the city with megaphones telling everyone to turn on the television to channel 6. The more level headed, admitted the decisions were for the better.
"Hello Sunnydale," said the Mayor. His usual jovial manner was subdued during the broadcast. Standing behind him were Colonel Hennessey, Dr. Amelia Chung and Angel. "As most of you know I am Richard Wilkins the Third, Mayor of Sunnydale. Here we find ourselves in the most difficult position of our lives as we and our town have been somehow transported to another world. This is difficult for many to understand, but you only have to look out your windows to see the mountains to know I speak the truth. With this in our minds, you can understand why I am declaring a State of Emergency."
"As of this moment, all military reserves from all branches of the military are currently activated and will report to the Sunnydale Military Base as 8:00am tomorrow. I am also activating all former military officers regardless of age who will then report to Colonel Hennessey at the same time and place. During this state of emergency, the police are coordinating with the military to keep us all safe. School will resume on Monday as normal for grades K-12 and both the University of California, Sunnydale and Sunnydale Metclath Private College. So enjoy the short vacation."
"However, we are actually in a good situation all things considered. We now have electricity back on, thanks to the local military base and we have fresh water being pumped in from the lake to our north thanks to the Sunnydale Fire Department. Our next problem is food."
"Modern American society was not designed to survive this kind of tragedy, and we have our supermarkets stocked full for now, but we do not know what the future holds. As it is, we are extremely lucky to have retained the hills with our Citrus orchards and vineyards. There are several farms with animals that have survived in the plains.
"We are currently seeking people with experience in farming, agriculture, and related fields to report to the Center for Agricultural Studies at the Winslow building at the University of California campus. We are collecting samples of plants to add to a seed bank. Also anyone with experience in Animal Husbandry and breeding should report to the Sunnydale Zoo where we are coordinating the plans for animal farming.
"Conservation is the word of the hour. Save everything you have that will not spoil. Save seeds, root stalks and other pieces for the agriculturalists. Waste not want not please.
"Our next issue is rather dire as well. Due to the limited stores of fuel in the Sunnydale Military Base, I am requisitioning all diesel stores within the limits of our transported area. The generators run on diesel fuel, so any and all will be used to power the city until such a time as we can find a different power source. Which brings me to our next problem.
"We need people with engineering background or have talents in this field to report to the Jameson Engineering building. When they are assembled they will be given the task of finding the best solution for the energy crisis. This may involve the breaking down and transporting of the Sunnydale Hydroelectric Dam to a new location.
"Geologists and other Earth Scientists should report to the Geology department at the University campus.
"This next request is going to sound outright strange to some people, and possibly make you question my sanity. Considering the situation I'm perfectly sane. Would everyone with experience with magic and witchcraft please report to the Liberal Studies Hall at the University campus. Once again, please take the request with a momentary suspension of disbelief.
"Though I am sure some of you have heard the rumors, we are not alone in this world. When a team of military personnel were sent out to explore the outlying regions, they were attacked by a native hostile species with has a significant resemblance to the extinct earth species australopithecines, which were found in Africa. Lucy would be a famous example, found by Dr. Leakey. The picture to my left is an enlarged photograph of the creature. They attacked the recon team in great numbers, but were chased off by these creatures. These new assailants look human except for their skin, lack of hair and their height, somewhere around twenty feet tall. These are also hostile to us."
"This is not a hoax. We have also met other, friendly natives. These six are currently being treating for wounds they received saving our brave young men in battle today."
"We are not at risk at this time. We have patrols on the outskirts with radios who will give us plenty of warning if any other hostiles are spotted.
"Tomorrow please tune in again as we will have an update on the current situation. If there are other updates before then an alarm will sound on FM 102.9. Otherwise nothing will play on that station. Please keep a radio turned for any emergencies."
"Thank you and goodnight."
The mayor nodded and stood up from his seat.
There was a hush in Sunnydale for some time afterwards. Then people began buzzing with activity. Some were questioning his decisions, others praising them. Some just accepted the situation as it was. Others were preparing what they needed for tomorrow. A few were gaping after seeing the images of the "natives."
"Oh, my god!" screamed Warren as he dropped his welding torch. He had been working on his latest robot girlfriend. This one would be the best yet. The last one got stuck on three phrases and he was tired of hearing "Chicken Pudding Eats Cuddles, Honey" over and over again. But that wasn't important now. He and his friends had been playing Dungeons and Dragons for years and he knew an elf when he saw one. Or two according to the pictures. And one was a Dark Elf.
"Honey are you okay?" his mother called down the stairs.
"Sorry mom! The mayor's speech!"
"I know hon, just be a little quieter next time," she said from the top of the cellar stairs.
"This is-wow, I mean, wow," he stuttered. Andrew was going to flip.
Andrew did flip. After watching the mayor's speech, he ran to his room. His family looked at him strangely, even his nerdy older brother. He threw open the closet door revealing shelves upon shelves of Dungeons and Dragons books with a framed and autographed image of the Holy Creators: JRR Tolkien, George Lucas and Gary Gygax. Andrew fell to his knees.
"Thank you Gary Gygax for preparing me for this moment!"
He was still praying to the makeshift shrine when his brother knocked on the door the next morning.
Buffy and company is owned by Joss W. and Mutant Enemy.
The Forgotten Realms and such are created and owned by Ed Greenwood and Wizards of the Coast and the various authors of the fiction.
Ranma 1/2 is owned by Rumiko Takahashi.
Thanks go to Janessa Ravenwood for editing this massive literary beast.