Title: Manifest Darkness
Episode 03
Authors: Sovereign and Elizafan568
Rating: R - things get dark fast.
Notes: This story starts half way through season five of Angel in the episode "Damage". It goes AU from there with some cannon parts to it.
Summary: Factions for good struggle with each others existence while something darker this way comes.
Feedback: Sovereign - xsovereignx@yahoo.com and
Elizafan - elizfaith568@yahoo.com
"Boss...I mean Mayor Wilkins. I need your help again. I need to know about the Old Ones. Some really old coffin showed up here out of nowhere. Something came out of it and infected a friend of mine. She's dying and we don't know what to do to help her. Please...help us...help me."Faith finished, tears in her eyes and the opportunity to confront the source of some of her best and worst memories and not really being able to use it. Fred was more important.
Wilkins smiled, a sad look on his face. "I never did like seeing you cry Faith. If I can help you," he paused and looked around at the group surrounding hm, recognizing Angel and Wesley. He turned back to look at Faith. "Or the people who are your friends. I'll try, just to see you smile again."
Faith looked into his eyes, seeing only a father's love and concern in them. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she simply said, "Thank you...dad..."
Everyone at the table gave Faith a look at that word, but said nothing. They knew he was the only father she had ever really known. That fact, though sad, was not negative in the least.
He smiled grandly at that. "I've waited a long time to hear that word Faith. No matter what, I'm happy. I have a daughter. Somehow I think cigars won't be handed out. No matter, nasty things, and bad for you too. Don't ever let me catch you smoking those awful things. " His face beamed proudly before he turned and looked to the others. "Now to business. Do you have a picture of the sarcophagus?"
Wesley opened up a folder on the table and took out several photos of the coffin from all different angles. He has took out some paper work with all the data they had been able to collect about it. He slid it across to the Mayor. "Please, anything that can help we would greatly appreciate." he said, his face set with concern.
"Of course." he said, oddly not sounding like he held any malice toward one of the members of the team that vanquished him. Even as he picked up the pictures and began to look them over and carefully examine them, he showed no sign of any deception. He poked his head up. "Mr Price, were these gems on the coffin moved in any way?" he asked, receiving a shake of the head in response. The former mayor looked at the pictures again and then let out a huff of deep breath. His former happy expression sinking quickly into one of dismay.
Angel immediately picked up on the change. Have you seen it before Mayor?"
Wilkins set the folder back down. "I'm sorry, but yes I have. Often."
Gunn broke his silence, the anxiety getting the better of him. "Well, what is it? Is it really that bad? And what do we need to do?" Gunn got up from his seat, slamming his fist onto the table top. He had an idea of how this thing got here, and if he was right, he had made one hell of a mistake.
Spike gave Gunn a look of wonder. "Calm down, Charlie-boy? Let the guy finish." Spike knew something was up, but he wasn't sure what. He warranted some looking in to.
Wilkins looked up at his child. "You never did do anything half way Faith. Always involved one hundred percent. I'm not surprised you would be involved with this, but, honey, did you have to pick the God-King of the Ancient Ones to fight with?"
Faith eyes went wide as his words stunned her. "The what? God-King of the Ancient Ones? What does that mean? The biggest bad of the big baddies?" she asked, not believing things could be this bad.
"Illyria, as is her name for you to understand, was the ruler of the Ancients. Her power surpassed all others. The demon I attempted to be was a mere speck in the picture that is she." he replied. He looked at Spike and Angel. "Her legacy is the reason for yours firecracker."
Spike and Angel did a bit of a double take at that response. They gave each other a look and then turned back toward Mayor Wilkins. "What the bloody hell do ya mean by that?" Spike asked, caught unawares by this potential revelation.
"Think back on the rumors and legends." he smiled. "The first vampire. Where do you think she came from, and yes, the first vampire was a she. I assure you of that."
His interest peaked for a change, Spike spoke up yet again. "So, you're saying this...Illyria created vampires? How? And why?"
Losing his patience, Wesley interrupted the exchange. "As interesting as I'm sure all this is, we don't know how long you'll be here and how long Fred has. Tell has how to stop it and save Fred. Please tell us now." he exclaimed, losing his composure.
"I apologize. Of course." his face returned to a very educated and concentrated expression. "On that there is good news and bad news. The good news, kids, is if Illyria can easily be vanquished by simply dragging her casket back to a place called the Deeper Well. Drop it in and viola! No more Illyria. Of course the bad news, and think this one through kids, is that everyone with in a certain radius will die as the casket goes past them as Illyria tries desperately to keep her purchase in here in the world." he shook his head and pointed at the casket.
"She will kill your friend Fred to become flesh, or she will kill thousands to save Fred." he looked up at Faith sadly. "I know you wanted to avoid these kinds of things in your life from now on Faith, but I'm sorry. There is nothing I can do."
Everyone in the room wore masks of shock, fear, and dread. No one knew what to think, what to do, nothing. As the cloud of dread that had been hanging over them seemed to get all the more big and dark, Faith decided to speak up. "So, we lose no matter what we do. It's a shit situation, like always. I want to save Fred more than anything, but at the cost of thousands of innocent lives....I just can't see it...I just can't." Faith looked over at Wes, knowing he could tell that she couldn't do it, not even to save Fred.
Wesley looked at her a bit shocked. "But it's Fred...We can't lose her...I can't lose her. To hell with the world and the rest of you if you won't do it." Wesley turned his back to the group and looked at Wilkins. "Tell me exactly what to do and I will do it. I don't care about the consequences."
Wilkins simply turned his head. "Manners! Manners! You really should learn to say please." he gestured to the others. "It's not my call. This is not my world anymore, plus, I really don't want anything to go wrong and have Faith get hurt."
Angel spoke up as well. "Wesley, wait, think. Would you really want to look Fred in the eye and tel her she was alive because we killed thousands of people. People who just like you have loved ones. Do you want to tell her that? Do any of you?"
Angel's words hit home with everyone. They all loved Fred to death, but the price was to high. They couldn't save her. Fred wouldn't want them to, not at this cost. She would rather die herself than damn thousands of others to horrible death. Knowing looks were exchanged as they all came to a silent agreement...all but Wesley.
Seeing the looks on the faces of his friends, Wesley just couldn't stand it anymore. "To hell with you...To hell with you all!!!" he yelled as he stormed out of the room, knowing they were right, but still unwilling to accept the cold, hard truth. Wesley kept moving until he was at the elevator. If Fred was going to die, he was going to be at her side for every second she had left.
Faith moved to go after him, but stopped when Angel blocked her path. "Angel, what are you...?"
"I'll go." he gestured to Mayor Wilkins. "You have one chance to deal with the demon you've been carrying around on your back since the whole mess in Sunnydale, maybe even before. It's not perfect timing, but you have to do it. There's really nothing you can do for Fred, but maybe you can do something for yourself."
"Thank you, Angel." Faith said as she turned back toward the Mayor. The rest of the group took that as their cue to leave. Once they were alone, Faith sat down, facing Mayor Wilkins and looking him in the eyes. Taking a deep breathe, she asked him what may be the most important questions she had, "Why did you sell your soul? Why did you want to become a demon and destroy the world? And why did you care for me?" It came out much more bluntly than she had wanted, but it was what it was.
"Good questions." he replied. "Let us start with the first one. Power corrupts dear. I had some, I wanted some more. In order to get it I made a deal, founded Sunnydale, which I hear you and your friends really left in disarray, and sold my soul. I never wanted to destroy the world though. I think people are swell. By dandy, I see them go about there lives and realized I didn't want to destroy them and eat their poodles for odurves, I wanted to rule them as their king."
He had a smile on his face, that melted into something far more warm and thoughtful. "Then you came along, my precious little firecracker. Before that day I thought there was no one in the world who understood how lonely it was to be in a place where things you had done just always seemed to be getting in the way of where you wanted to be. Plus, you had, and still do have such a pretty face. You are drinking enough milk right?"
Faith smiled at that, he smile only he could bring to her face. The smile of a daughter being made happy by her father. "I try, and I can understand that. I wanted to be a good person...I really did, but no matter what I did and how hard I tried, everything kept being screwed up. I got my watcher killed, tried to fit in with B and her friends and screwed that up, taking their having their own lives as the worst sin in the world against me. Even tried to let B in on how I did and saw things, and that ended with me killing a man, an innocent man. After that, I just lost it I guess. Gave up on trying to be good cause I thought bad was just who I was, that I didn't have a choice. Worst lie I ever told myself." Faith said as tear welled up in her eyes as the bad memories filled her mind.
"Hey hey hey." he replied gently reaching his hand out. "Come here." he gesture for her to enter the circle. "It's safe, just let me help if I can. You know I can't stand to see you upset."
Faith crawled up onto the table next to Mayor Wilkins. As her composure failed her, she fell forward, wrapping her arms around him. "Why? Why did I screw things up so much? Why did I only see the world as a big, evil place where everyone was out to get me? The anger...the rage...the jealous, why did I let it corrupt me and sink me to such depths? And why did you help me do it? I loved you..always have and always will...but why did you do it?"
"It was my human weakness." he replied. "I wanted power and all that came with it, but my human weakness was that I never wanted to give up the dream of having a family one day. I'm sorry Faith. I should have done what any other bad guy black hat would have and just tried to trick you and use you and kill you. I couldn't though. I saw you there at that door, with all the anger and hurt and pain welled up in eyes that should have been bright and shiny and I just couldn't." he held her close, wishing to all the world he had not brought the poor girl on his personal Hell ride. "I wanted to show you that there was a reason to be happy and smile and just be a beautiful young girl. What I wanted for you, and what I wanted for myself got terribly and horribly mixed together. I'm so sorry for that."
He let tears flow down his cheek and onto the girls head, for the first time ever wishing he had nothing to do with that damned ascension. If he had known the damage he would cause one girl some hundred years later, he would have never gotten near the whole mess. Now, all he could do was hopefully heal her heart, and set her on her way.
Speaking through the tears, Faith spoke, "It's not just your fault though. Blaming everything on you would just be taking the easy way out...something I did way to often in the past and was one of the reason things went the way they did. I just gave up and took the easy way out. Being with you and being evil was easier than trying to exist in the "normal" world. I wanted your love so bad I didn't care what I had to do to keep it. I wanted the world to feel the way I did and I made B and her friends the center of my rage. For that, I was wrong. It's as much my fault as it is yours...more so..."
"The question remaining then is what are you going to do about it?" he replied, pulling the girl back so he could see her face. He gently moved his hand to her face, moving an errant strand of hair from her face. "Faith, no matter who you were with or what you were doing, one thing I know is that you are a very strong girl, and not just in a beat the vamp kind of way. You're a clever girl with a lot of inner strength and you have good friends around you. Now I won't have you giving up. I raised you better than that."
Hearing his words and feeling his love, Faith felt more at home...more at peace than she ever had. She knew what she had to do about it. "I have to do the only thing I can do. I have to try to make the world a better place as best I can...however I can. Help people I can and just plain live right, I guess, and not just cause it makes me feel better or to get some sort of reward in the end, but because it's the right thing to do...the only thing to do. I owe the world...and myself that much after what I've done."
Looking into Wilkins' eyes, Faith felt a sort of calmness come over her. She knew their relationship had come about for the wrong reason, and the things they had done were wrong, but the love between them was right and true, and that's what really counted.
"There's my Faith. You do that, and you make sure you keep eating a balanced diet, and get a lot of exercise and you'll be fine." she smiled grandly. He wavered slightly, a bit of weakness overcoming him. "Well, here comes the rain on our parade as they say."
Faith's composure faltered as she realized what was happening. "No. No, you can't go, not now. I still need you here. There's still so much to..."Faith started but stopped, knowing it was pointless and not wanting to taint what they had done. As the aura of the room started to change, Faith simply hugged him tighter, not wanting to let him go. "Thank you. Thank you so much. Father." she said through tears of both joy and loss.
He smiled at her, and as he faltered into the other realm, he reappeared clearly for a moment, leaning down to whispered in his daughter's ear. "My daughter Faith. The scale has not been set for you. You still have a chance to achieve redemption. Never quit..." his words echoed in the room as he faded, slowly, then finally disappeared.
Faith, tears flowing, simply stared at the spot the Mayor, her father, sat but moments before. Her heart ached at the loss, but at the same time, she felt a feeling of hope stronger than she ever had before. She knew it would be along time coming and a lot of hard work, but if her father believed that there was a chance, then so did she. She would continue living life as best she could, helping the world as best she could. And, maybe sometime, she would find true peace. Knowing she had a father's love, her resolve was stronger than ever. This was only the beginning.
Even in the gloom, Raven knew that the old warehouses were abandoned. Nothing remained but scraps of paper and bits of trash. An old smell of blood was present, but there was nothing to show who or what the scent had come from. It was really bothering the Hell out of some of the Renegades that they were out on a mission given them from Buffy Summers, but Raven had given her word to the Slayer leader, and her word was bond to her. "Jill. We got nothing. I mean, there was something here about three weeks ago maybe, but now I have gotten zip but a sore set of feet out of this. Anyone found anything at all?"
Jill looked at Raven with a bored expression on her face. "Nothing worth mentioning. More of the same reports we got back at Slayer Headquarters. People disappearing without a trace and rumors of some demon clan that was lurking about, driving out a bunch of the local demons, and then it just stopped. The weird thing is none of the locals that left have returned either."
"It's something bigger, but where is the bigger?" She felt her stomach growl. "Sh- I mean forget this, I need some grub. How far to that store we passed coming out here?"
"Bout half an hour if you go straight there." Samara, the youngest Renegade there was at fourteen, replied.
"I'm gonna get me some grub. Who wants something to eat?"
Raven looked about her tired troopers. They wanted out and to take a rest and were showing it ever so much now.
"Here's a thought, why don't we all go out? This place plain sucks and we need a breather from this smell. Besides, not getting anything done her anyways." Spoke up Justice, a Slayer of sixteen who had quickly become known as the mouth of the group.
"Sounds like a good idea to me. But better just half of us go than all...Someone needs to stay her...maybe clean the place up a bit, make it at least liveable." Jill added.
"Okay. Jill, you run the clean up. I'll do the run into town with Samara, Justice, Rachael, and about five other girls." Raven rubbed at her nose for a moment. "Dinner in about a hour." she smiled.
"Yeah, Five food groups everyone! Soda! Hot dog! Candy! Popcorn! and finally my personal favorite Corn Nuts!" Samara piped up, getting looked at funny. She made an threatening little fist at the other much larger Renegades. "Any of you say one thing about Corn Nuts and its knuckle sandwiches for dinner!" she half joked, half threatened. She loved her corn nuts.
Jill put on her best a in charge face and commanded the Slayers. "Alright you maggots, let's get to work. Need to have this place spotless before they get back with dinner. Come on, let's hussle now clean up crew." She motioned at the girls and started directing her "clean up crew"."
"Alright, alright, were moving Miss Brown Nose." said Lina under her breathe as she did as she started to get to work.
"I heard that, crewman. I'll definitely remember it when it comes reward time." Jill shot back. She enjoyed this way more than she should, but she couldn't help herself.
"So will she." Raven smartly replied in a whisper to Justice. "Lina holds grudges better than anyone I have ever seen. She's going to goad Jill into a fight, because Jill made her clean the bathroom at Central." Raven waved to the other half of the group and made her way towards town.
'Really, my moneys on Lina then." Justice laughed back as she and the other followed Raven out. "By the way, what was the name of the store anyways...Publix was it?"
"Yup." Raven responded and the group made its way to the little store. Walking in the front door Raven looked around. "Holy crap, I half expected a peach stand with bottled peach water."
"they don't all each peaches Raven." Samara replied. "Soy beans grow here I heard."
"Who cares?" Rachael fired off. "I just want food."
Raven looked around seeing a young man sitting on his duff behind the counter. Poor kid looked like someone stole his favorite anime and replaced it with episodes of Days of Our Lives. She smiled slightly. She remembered doing something like that when she was living her pre Slayer life. She calmly walked over to the young man, who was nearly bug-eyed at a magazine containing a very pretty young actress who reminded Raven of Faith. She smirked, then looked at his name tag. OK. Name and a hello. God Service needed help here. She read the name tag one more time. "Hey.. Michael. You alive in there?"
Michael was zapped out of his little world of at Raven's question. He was surprised when he looked up to find her at the lead of several young girls...all attractive in their own way, but Raven took the cake. Reminded him of his favorite actresses' best role with her dark look and down-to-earthiness. "Oh, hi. Yeah, I'm alive. Barely. Anything I can help you ladies with?"
Raven laughed quietly. "Yeah, look we need this. 48 hot dogs with condiments, 25 large popcorns, if you sell those. I need 30 extra large sodas all the snickers bars you have in the place" Raven was knocked forward by a sudden blow form a girl standing angrily behind her. "Damn it.. I'm getting to that. I also need a bunch of corn nuts." she smiled grandly. "And a car."
"Wow...you girls having a party or something? Well we have all of that...all except the car anyways. It'll take me a few minutes to get all the stuff ready for you, so you can wait in the lobby. I'll let you know soon as its ready and then you guys can pay. I guess our carry out service won't be an issue since you guys don't have a car. Need me to call you a cab or something to get you going?" Michael responded, completely enamored with the girls, Raven in particular. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something different about them.
Raven looked back at the small group she had brought then shook her head. "We got another option. She turned and looked at Samara and nodded. "Tell Jill to hurry, or else it could be an apocalypse." Raven grinned, before turning back to Michael. "Sure kido. Do what you gotta do and we'll just wander around here. and outside, and other places I guess. That's okay right?"
Michael nodded his head in approval. "Yeah, that's fine. Just don't wander to far. That's a lot of stuff to carry." He laughed as he went to get the girls stuff together. Why he couldn't he get a nice girl like that, or any girl for that matter, he thought as he got to work.
Rachael poked her head over her shoulder and muttered. "We could really heist this place clean." The words were barely out of her mouth when iron fingers clasped around her wrist, squeezing painfully hard. "That guy busts his ass for whatever he gets. It may not be much, but at least its honorably gotten. You steal something, anything from any place here, and I'll break both your arms and hand deliver you back to Buffy hogtied. You catch that?" Raven hissed. She would not have liars and thieves among her ranks. Not now, not ever.
Justice laughed at Rachael's statement and Raven's reaction. "Looks like someone's gonna get some extra chores later. And don't worry Raven, we won't steal anything from your boyfriend." She joked, knowing how much Raven hated to have someone poke at her love life....or lack thereof as the case may be.
"That's not funny." Raven grew quiet releasing Rachael. Morose. It was just for a moment, then she perked back. "Anyway, he's got the wrong equipment to be your speed doesn't he Juggsy?" Raven snapped back. Justice hated being reminded of her 'assets' since every slob thought it was his job to do it on a daily basis.
Justice stopped her laugh dead in its tracks. "You know how much I hate that name...and yes he does, but the perfect equipment for you, huh? You probably wouldn't know what to do with it though." Justice said as she stuck her tongue out at Raven. Knowing she was going to win an insult contest with her, but that wouldn't stop her from trying...she wasn't "The Mouth", for nothing.
"At least if he pulled it out I wouldn't run screaming from the room." Raven shot back. "You're closet has a closet, you freak."
"Well at least I can get a date, which is more than you've ever had. You've never even tried. What's the matter? Afraid you can't handle it. Probably shaking in your boots just talking to this guy. I saw you giving him the eye." Justice exclaimed, as loud and smart assed as possible.
"I was being nice." Raven replied quietly. Her personal life was a top of the ladder classified thing with her, and Justice, bless her soul was stepping one some fine ground here. She tried to redirect the jibes. "The eye jokes again.." she humphed at the reference to her odd eye condition. "One blue one green," she met Justice's brown eyes straight on. "Meaning neither is full of crap."
"Yeah, well, I saw what I saw. You don't wanna talk to him more, that's you business. All I'm saying is that you'll never know unless you try. Oh here he comes now, but you don't care, right?" She quietly giggled to herself, knowing Raven wouldn't shoot back with Mike around.
Michael walked over to the girls with five shopping carts, overfilled with the food they had requested. "Here you go ladies, a crap load of food at your disposal. You sure you don't want to call a cab or something? I'd hate you girls having to push these things all the way home." He said with a smile and a slight laugh. He gave Raven a quick once over, hoping she didn't catch it. It was kinda rude, but he couldn't help it.
Raven nodded, the others taking the food and heading out. "Alright kido. Let's settle on the price of this. Gotta be bout hundred and fifty bucks or more."
The others snickered, or kept stoic faces, based on which side of the argument they took. Raven did not like to discuss her personal life, and the only one who might know anything, Jill, would not say a word either way. So, in their own bet interest, they left the Renegade leader to her purchasing, and left with the food.
"Actually no. You guys have been such a great break from the usual around here, I used my employee discount for you guys. It's only gonna cost you sixty five bucks." Mike bent forward to whisper in Raven's ear. "But keep it quiet cause I'm not supposed to do that for customers." He laughed, glad to help them out and trying to impress Raven in his own, self professed, lame way. "If there's anything else you need..."
"Just be yourself Michael. That's the fastest way to a woman's heart." she smiled as she laid down the money. "Just not this one's." her face fell sad as she turned to join her friends. She walked out and joined the others. "Let's go. The others are probably gonna be meeting us half way."
Disheartened, Mike watched silently as Raven left. "Well, that went well. Still, she was one hell of a woman. It'd be nice to see her again someday. If I'm lucky, I will." With that, Mike got back to work, thoughts of Raven circling in his head the rest of the day. It wasn't bad having images of a hot girl in his head all day, but it was torture that it was one that got away.
**
Griffin, dressed in his best uniform, stood at attention with the rest of his group behind him, lined up and saluting, Aside from Griffin and the Lieutenant, the rest had never seen the boss in person before. That was an honor reserved only for those that had proved their worth. As they shifted nervously, the portal clarified and they could seem forms beginning to come through it.
The first where two royal guards, dressed from head to toe in black armor, almost like knights, but with guns. Griffin look of pleasure wavered when he saw who came through next, it was Cain. The Insurgence's ultimate project and the boss's new lap dog. Formerly known as Riley Finn, Cain was a force to be reckoned with, carrying an arsenal of weapons that would put anyone to shame. As the bio-chimera Cain stepped down from the platform, the look of sadistic glee returned when she appeared. The leader of the insurgence and most psychotic woman in their dimension, Empress Faith.
Lt. Madison smiled as she saw the 'Empress' come through the door. Last week she was Queen, before that, President and before that General. Eccentricities were something one could afford when you were the leader of 'The Great Project'. After the Empress came a few more guards, following in a orderly and disciplined fashion, then moved out in a fan shape to secure the area for the procession. Now, Madison knew, would come the rest of the lackeys.
Her direct commanding officer was Griffin, but in the end all Insurgence soldiers were under the command of the freakish looking super human known as Colonel Miller. He commanded to Insurgence, once known as the Initiative, until Faith's influence fell upon it. After him came the head of the Hunters, once known as Slayers, Kennedy Marlowe. Sick puppy there, was rumored to have single handedly brought back crucifixion for rebels and dissidents.
Of course, right after came the Empress' pet witch. Her immanence, though Lt Madison thought it should be her full-of-it-ness, Amy Madison. Her cousin technically, the woman who killed more people than small pox and AIDS in reality. They all walked down after the Empress, each with their own demented theories on this, that, or the other means of destroying and subjugating everything. Spying a straggler, Lt. Madison rolled her eyes as the Chief Medical Officer came down. "Who invited the marshmallow?"
Faith gave Madison the evil eye at that remark. She hated having decisions she had made put into question. "I did, Lieutenant, and if you know what's good for you, you won't question why again. An invasion needs a medical officer...this isn't something we are going to achieve in a single battle. Besides, she's fun to kick around." Faith said slyly as she tripped up Chief Medical Officer Jenny Calender, causing her to fall down the ramp, landing in a heap at the bottom. Everyone laughed at her expense.
Cain, the only one not laughing, walked over to Lt. Madison. "You would do well the keep your mouth shut for awhile. I'm watching you...Disobedience will not be tolerated." he said in a voice that was a deep mix of both demonic and mechanical sounding.
"Yes sir." she replied. *stupid toaster* she thought, inwardly amusing herself. While she watched the CMO pull herself up to her feet.
If not for the gypsy blood needed to power the desouling of Angel and knowledge in the white magicks that outstripped anyone, including Amelia Madison's, this version of Jenny Calendar would be as dead as the version in this reality. However, she was alive, and eternally at odds with the leadership just by existing.
CMO Calendar dusted herself off then felt herself get shouldered out of the way by a passing Kennedy. She furled her eyebrows in a dirty look then bent down to pick up her med kit. She then turned and looked at the building around them. "Another day in the life that ain't mine." she muttered. She would have quit by now, but the Empress had made her a deal. Work for her and in return she could save up to one thousand people's lives, and all children they came across. So far, she had managed to save about 600 people and about 280 children. True it wasn't much in the horrific numbers of dead they 'Project' had amassed, but it was all she had.
"Now enough of this official crap, down to business. What's our big obstacle in this world? What's the big goodie goodie group here like?" Faith asked off-handedly as she took a seat on the makeshift throne Griffin had set up for her.
"Yes ma'am." Griffin responded. "Lt. Madison has all the information we have collected so far about this reality. Lieutenant, make your report." he commanded her.
"Yes sir." she formally walked to the front of the Psychotic on High and saluted. "We have several points of interest. One. The Slayer Army here fielded by Buffy Summers is fifteen percent larger than ours. Also, augmented with remnants of the Watchers Council." She paused as the Empress got an expression on her face. Unsure of whether to continue or not, she waited.
"Little Miss. Buffy is still Miss High and Mighty here. That's wonderful. I"d love to see the look on her face when I smack that little bitch down...again." Faith laughed, relishing the memory she had of killing the Buffy of her world. She was by far her favorite.
"Everyone enjoyed that my Liege." Lt Madison continued. "Point two is the Initiative, under the command of Major Riley J Finn. Approximately equal to our Insurgence in size, but lacking in any super soldiers such as Commander Cain or Adam."
Faith looked over at Cain. "So, the boy scout you is a big man here too. This just gets better and better."
"Yes, indeed. I would love to crush his skull. All remnants of my old self need to be eliminated. Humans are too fragile." said in his usually dead pan tone.
The lieutenant waited until she was given the go ahead to continue, then read off the third point. "Three Wolfram and Hart Los Angeles branch. Apparently Angel Investigations was able to take over the firm's L.A. branch in this dimension. It gives them a serious amount of firepower. Senior Partners are refusing involvement in this since we are trans dems, as they call it."
"Damn Senior Partners and their hands off policies. Seems their plans for Angel in this dimension have gotten too far for them to risk helping us. Doesn't matter, soon they'll be our bitch just like everyone else. Still, this is worrisome. Anything else Lt.?" Faith asked, her interest peaked, which was extremely rare.
The Lt nodded in the affirmative. "Four, unknown group in Georgia just formed. We are unsure of their allegiance or much of anything. Leader is a Raven Raines."
A slightly uncertain look crossed Faith's face. Something none of those present had ever seen. "That's troubling. Name doesn't ring a bell and unknown factors are something I cannot stand. That is the first thing I want confirmed and I know just who I want to do it." Faith looked over at Cain and gave him an evil grin. "Cain, my good boy, I want you to head down to Georgia, find out everything you can about this Raven and report it back to me. If she's an enemy, kill her immediately."
Cain saluted and nodded his acknowledgment. "Yes ma'am. As you command, so shall I do."
"Last piece of info my Empress." Madison said uncertainly. "You are alive here, I mean, your counterpart is, she is part of the Wolfram and Hart team." she paused, knowing this next part would piss the leader off. Buffy, in their last reality, was the reason for it. Damned blonde blew up the whole damned town of Sunnydale like some kind of psychopath in an attempt to stop the Project from taking over the Hellmouth and the Scythe, but got caught later for it. "It seems your counterpart has the Slayer Scythe."
"She what!? God damn it. This me's a goody goody, has the Scythe, and is with the strongest, most dangerous group here." Faith growled, a look of rage in her eyes.
"Intel says you're life and hers diverged at the fight on the roof. She was stabbed and jumped from the top of the building to deny Buffy her blood cure. Upon awakening, the Mayor of Sunnydale had been killed several moths prior, she goes on a rampage, ends up in LA where Angel convinces her to surrender. She later involved herself in the unknown fight between the Slayers and .. something. We still have no Intel on what they fought that made this. That's all my moles tell me your highness." Madison bowed and stepped back into line.
"Well, this is something that needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. Alright, Wolfram and Hart will be our first target. After that, the rest should fall with ease. I'm guessing the Senior Partners will switch sides when they see Angel and co. losing. Kennedy, start making preparations for an assault on LA. Cain, proceed with your mission to Georgia. The rest of you prepare for the arrival of more soldiers. Griffin, I think we should send someone ahead to Wolfram and Hart to feel things out, who do you suggest?" Faith finished, knowing full well that her will was absolute.
Griffin didn't want to be picked for this decision. Part of him screamed inwardly *Colonel Miller is right there! Why ask me?* but he kept his composure completely as he answered. "I only have one soldier on the ground who is capable of sneaking into the cracks of Wolfram and Hart. Lieutenant Madison. She is fully trained in espionage and intel collection." he turned his gaze to the Lieutenant.
"How long will it take for you to get there Madison?" Colonel Miller asked, as he lit a huge cigar.
"I'll be on foot if I leave under normal means. I'm looking at a week in perfect conditions." she turned her gaze to the high witch Amy. "However, if I had some help, I can be in within a day of arrival."
T.B.C........
