Chapter 40

Smoke and Ashes

A/N: Chapter forty of the series.

Disclaimer: All belongs to Joss Whedon and the parties involved in airing the shows.

Feedback: Sure, that'd be great.

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London, England

December 2017

Napalm is a warfare weapon consisting of flammable liquid fuel. Developed by the USA to use it in WWII, it is made by precipitating aluminium soaps from another types of soap and palmitic acid by the means of alum, mixing dry powder with gasoline.

Such incendiary bombs set almost everything on fire, burning at temperatures from 800 to 1200 degrees Celsius, and water is ineffective in setting it off.

One Mark 77 firebomb was deployed in the epicenter of the riots in London, ironic, since the city was already going down in flames.

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General Thaddeus Ross was sitting on his desk contemplating the very same thing. If his liaison to the secret branch Codename: Initiative was right, the napalm would bring down a notch or two the population of vampires.

Never in his military career had he thought he would be forced to deploy a weapon of mass destruction in the middle of his beloved city. He had received numerous memos and warnings from the UN, remembering him that a treaty in 1980 had prohibited the use of Napalm on civilian targets, but he'd answered them all with the martial law state England had declared and had to find a latter excuse as to how to explain the use of incendiary bombs if there was no war.

He rubbed his tired eyes and cursed. He knew he'd have to rely more on Rupert Giles' witches to get out of the situation unsigned, and would most likely have to give Codename: Initiative the urgent funds they'd been asking for since the last decade.

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"The napalm is ablaze." Xander said, seconds before everyone heard the loud boom caused because of the explosion.

"How far from here did it explode?" Buffy asked.

"I'd say four blocks." Xander replied. "And by the smell of it, it will hit us... right... about.... Now!"

For a tense second nothing happened, but then a gust of warm wind hissed through the steel doors, cracking the glass on the heavy vending machines. The soda cans bubbled and exploded but nothing seemed to happen. At the most, some slayers gagged and felt dizzy from the smell of burnt things permeating the level.

"God, that stinks." Dawn said, covering her nose and mouth.

"Imagine what I'm getting here." Xander grimaced as well and retched to the side.

"God, is this what roasted turok han smells like?" Buffy said, covering her mouth and nose with her blouse. "Dammit, that stinks!"

"Yes, well, we'll have to wait a few minutes before daring to open the doors." Giles said, coughing and trying not to think about the stench. "Just be calm and try to think of something else."

"What will happen now?" Buffy asked instead. Giles pondered the question for a moment before answering.

"They'll probably use freight carriers to smother the flames." He replied. "Lots of sand will fall on the city, I guess."

"Sand?"

"Water doesn't extinguish napalm, dear."

"Oh."

"Yes, looks like we'll have to wait inside a few more moments."

"Grandpa?" Annie's voice was heard.

"What is it?"

"The slayers back there and some of the watchers are choking." Annie said, her hand over her nose. "The smell is making us all gag and we seriously need some air."

"Seems like the Council is safe for the moment, don't you think?" Buffy asked. "Maybe we could get out and make a quick sweep, just to see what happened up there."

"I don't think you should do that." Willow said, and surprisingly enough, she wasn't holding her nose like the rest of them. "Napalm is probably still burning, and there may be some explosions still to come."

"Yes, well, why aren't you affected by this ungodly scent?" Giles asked, feeling dizzier by the minute.

"Oh, I'm casting low level spells which should suppress our scent for a while." Willow replied. "It's not numbing it entirely, but it's making the odor tolerable."

"Smart, can I test it?" Dawn asked.

"Oh it's already in the air, everyone should feel the effects sooner or later." Willow replied. "It's just that some people are, how to say it, more immune to magic than others."

"Damn my natural immunity to magic!" Buffy said. "Damn it to hell!"

Willow and Giles looked at each other seconds before bursting into laughter. Buffy smiled as well and covered her nose.

"Seriously, Will, couldn't you make it a high level spell?" Buffy asked.

"Thought about it." Willow replied, still eyeing the smoking steel door. "But if there were leakages we would be unable to smell them."

"Leakages?" Buffy asked anew.

"Gas." Dawn replied. "Imagine us not smelling a thing, then coming upstairs with lit torches. It only takes a spark before boom, instant extra crispy slayers."

"Ugh, graphic, again."

"Glad to be of service."

"How long do you think we'll have to stay here?" Buffy asked Giles. The head watcher looked at his watch and thought for a few seconds.

"Give or take ten minutes."

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Somewhere in London, England

December 2017

Sgt. Joe Hallenbeck still couldn't move.

A shocked Mary Poole was shaking at his side, her hands pressing hard into his right arm, both transfixed by the sight before them. Ten city blocks had erupted in an enormous ball of fire and it seemed to be growing by the moment.

"Is that...?" But Mary couldn't find the words to describe what she was seeing. After tense moments, Joe finally got his senses back and pulled Mary along.

"Let's get out of here." He said. "That thing looks like something I hope it is not."

"Like what?" Mary asked, trying to keep a fast pace, seeing the look on Joe's face.

"Do you know what napalm is, ma'am?"

"Thought that looked familiar." Mary replied, nodding her head. "I'm a chemist."

"Then you know we should get as far away from that thing as possible."

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North London, England

December 2017

"I don't like what's happening." Wesley said, still walking through the sewers.

"Glad you finally made it." Connor said, walking next to him. "There's nothing to like here."

"You know what I mean." Wesley replied, looking ahead. "Can you handle the stench?"

Connor nodded and coughed in response, the napalm having boiled the liquids in the sewage, turning it into a disgusting smelling vapor.

"Are we going to travel through this filth for long?" Illyria asked, being left in the behind a few blocks ago. "My olfactory receptors are clearly repulsing this fowl odor."

"Not long, highness." Wesley said, not looking back. "The Council must be a couple hundred feet from here."

"Can't we get out there?" Connor asked.

"Napalm must still be burning, and in case you haven't heard them, there are still explosions going on because of it." Wesley answered, also not bothering to look at Connor.

"Great. Now London must be a crater."

"The army must have thought about a way to extinguish the napalm." Wesley stated. "They must have known the napalm would instantly kill any vampire out there."

"And any unlucky human." Connor muttered.

"We're at war, Connor." Wesley said. "Battle for Balance, remember?"

"Don't give me the numbers speech again." Connor said, feeling repulsed by both the odor and Wesley's cold blood.

"His logic is correct." Illyria spoke. "If the side we're fighting for should lose, then all humanity will be forfeit."

"Wait." Wesley said, stopping and finally turning to look at Illyria. "It can't be."

"What?" Connor asked, frowning and looking from one to the other. "What is going on."

Illyria cocked her head and remained still for a whole minute.

"I can feel them." Illyria said.

"I can't believe it." Wesley hissed as he took off running, with Connor and Illyria reacting quickly and sprinting behind him.

"What?" Connor asked, quickly catching up with Wesley.

"Looks like the Senior Partners are really serious this time."

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London, England

The Watcher's Council

December 2017

The odor suppressing spell had finally settled in and most of the people inside SL1 had breathed easier, with the exception of Xander, whose enhanced senses kept receiving the offensive smells.

A tense calm soon arrived within the sub level, as the explosions finally receded and Giles finally gave the order to remove the still smoking vending machines and having Willow open the steel doors via magic.

A wave of smoke and heat once again found its way into the room and once again most of the slayers gagged. Xander vomited again and thus caused Dawn to throw up as well.

"Gross, Xander, when did you eat that?" She shrieked."

"Don't want to remember." Xander replied, still doubled over and pressing his nose with his fingers.

Buffy gagged as well but managed to avoid throwing up and managed to climb the stairs up to the main foyer. There, the air coming through the shattered windows made the smell far more tolerable and had blown away most of the remains of the turok hans.

"Man, it stinks worse up here." Dawn said, covering her nose and mouth with her blouse. "Turok hans are nasty even when burnt."

"Any word on our subterranean friends?" Giles asked Xander as he appeared on the stairs.

"They're still there." Xander replied. "But they're not moving. I don't want to think about what that means."

"They could be waiting for something." Willow offered. "Maybe they can't get in, who knows?"

"We should know." Giles said. "Listen up, all of you. Xander, select a team of watchers and slayers and head downstairs to stand guard. Willow, you come with me."

"Where are you going?" Xander asked.

"We may have some electricity left." Giles answered. "I'll see if I can get the Council on line with the army. I want Willow to get in touch with the coven to finally find out why the slayers can't feel the turok hans."

"Good." Xander said, before heading into the mass of slayers and watchers gathered in the main foyer.

"Looks like the napalm got all of 'em." Buffy said, looking outside of the building and shuddering when seeing the streets burnt and the fire still going on.

"Won't the sand get us here?" Annie suddenly asked.

"Yeah, we better get going upstairs." Dawn said. She turned around and was about to talk when Xander beat her to it.

"The planes are coming!" He shouted, but there was something else in his voice. "They're not alone! There's something else in the air!"

Every living being inside the council listened and dared to look outside. The fire was still heavy and the wind was picking it up, mixing the heat with the smells, hurting their noses and eyes.

Buffy covered her eyes and managed to see the sky between long tendrils of smoke and quickly rising flames.

"Why hasn't the sprinklers watered us down?" Dawn asked, looking up and thinking of the dangerous flames still surrounding them.

"The intense heat must have melted them." Buffy replied, still looking at the sky. Dawn nodded and began thinking about what they could do about it, when her sister spoke again.

"I see the planes, Xander, but what did you mean when...?"

Buffy didn't have the chance to finish her question when a large figure suddenly appeared behind the fighter jet, an image Buffy had seen almost fourteen years ago, at the back of an abandoned hotel back in California.

"Oh God..." She whispered. Xander quickly appeared besides her and grabbed her shoulders.

"I can't see it, but I'll never forget the sound they make." He said, visibly agitated. "Looks like Joyce was right, Buffy, we may not win this."

Buffy quickly looked at Xander and thanked God he couldn't see what the rest of them were seeing. She turned her head up again in time to see a large herd of dragons assault the large airplanes sent to extinguish the deadly napalm flames.