The rest of the summer was uneventful for the Sunnydale crew. Oz and Johnathan both felt they were close to understanding how the pulse pistols worked after cutting down one and examining it's workings. They gave Corda a list of Earth made parts they'd need to build their own version, since like all sensitive Alteran tech, only she and Alexander could use them. And they wanted to make sure everyone in the group had one. Alexander's inventory of the ship turned up something else useful.
"What is it?" Buffy asked, staring at the smooth half stone a little bigger then the palm of Alexander's hand.
"Personal shield. They have an independent power supply, which means they can run for several hours before needing to recharge. They're the equivalent of the protective vest a cop wears. Unfortunately for you guys, like everything else, they need the genetic key to work. But I had an idea, Corda and I could go into the sewers, each wearing one of these and armed with pulse pistols and clean out a whole mess of potential trouble."
"You're certain you'd be safe doing that?" Giles asked.
"Yes, the shield will protect from everything from blunt force to energy weapons. We could reduce the number of demons in this town down eighty to ninety percent, maybe more, within just a couple of weeks."
"And if they overwhelm you with numbers?" Jenny asked.
"Still won't effect the shield and since it absorbs kinetic energy, getting hit with something won't effect us either. It would take quite abit to drain the power. After each use, they recharge. One of the best things our scientists ever came up with. It allows freedom of movement, while still providing protection. After the guys figure out the pulse pistol, they're going to get started on figuring out these, so you guys can have protection too."
By the time school started, the vampire and demon population in Sunnydale had dropped to virtually nil. Johnathan and Oz began building their own version of a pulse pistol and everyone was looking forward to classes starting up. Then came some bad news.
"Kendra Young, the Slayer who was Called when Buffy briefly died, has been killed. She stopped a voodoo practicioner from raising a bunch of zombies, but didn't survive the encounter. Which means a new Slayer has been Called. Her name is Faith Lahaine and she lives in Boston with her Watcher."
"It's that stupid policy of you Watchers to make them fight alone, Giles!" Alexander said angrily. "It makes no logical sense. Teams are far more effective then an individual in combat, every armed force ever created knows that! Honestly, how do you support the Slayers, Giles? You barely train them, you limit their weapons to the simplest weapons possible. You make them fight alone, without even the Watcher fighting with them. Aside from keeping a storehouse of information on known demons, how do you help? And keeping the public ignorant has never made sense either. Knowledge is power, ignorance is death. From an outside perspective, it looks like the Watchers do nothing more then keep the war at a stalemate. Your own Watchers Chronicles tell you that human demon hunters outlive Slayers, often by decades. Power or no power, Xander was better equiped to fight this war then Buffy because he thought up strategies to fight. It has to change, Giles. Somehow it has to change. You have to accept, the way you've been doing things causes far more harm then it helps!"
"I've seen that for myself actually." Giles said quietly. "In just a matter of weeks, you've tipped the balance here in Sunnydale. We thought convincing people that demons and vampires didn't exist would make people safer. We thought making Slayers fight alone meant others wouldn't be caught in their battles. We thought humans needed to be protected and that, that was why the gods made the Slayer. But you're belief is that humans made the Slayer to hide behind. Because some didn't want to fight themselves."
"Not wanting to fight is understandable, Giles. That's why soldiers exist. We fight, so those that don't want to, don't have to. But the choice belongs to each person. Someone took choice from the Slayers and in doing so, condemned them to lonely, painful deaths, so they wouldn't have to fight. The Slayer is a lure and a weapon. But this." He said, holding up his pulse pistol. "Is a more effective weapon, that anyone can use. The only reason we use the genetic key, was to keep our enemies from being able to use them against us. And this weapon is over a million years old! It didn't die as a teenager who probably never knew what a kiss from a boy felt like!"