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Buffy the Jaguar Slayer
BT by way of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
by Kid Chameleon |
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Buffy Summers looked out the window. This was not going to be a good day, it was raining and she had to go on patrol tonight. Those damn Smoke Jaguars, everyone thought they were dead. But they had come back, here on PLANET X, and she had to keep fighting them. It just wouldn’t do to tell people the truth. Mass hysteria and over-reaction, she was shouldering an enormous burden.
"Ms. Summers, would you care to join the rest of the class?"
Buffy’s head spun back to the front of the classroom. Mr. Ohara was pointing at a map of Rasslehaug, prior to the Clan Invasion.
She quickly blinked away her thoughts and cleared her throat.
"Uh, sorry Mr. Ohara, I was just wondering if P.E. would be canceled today."
Mr. Ohara nodded, "Well, I’m sure Coach Namasaki will be happy to hear that you are at least thinking about one of your classes, but right now we’re discussing the impact of the Free Rasslehaug Republic on the Draconis Combine and its relations with the rest of the Inner Sphere. Can you perhaps tell us how it immediately benefited the Combine?"
Buffy groaned inwardly. This day wasn’t getting any better.
After class, Willow came up to her friend in the hall. She noticed that Buffy looked depressed. So depressed that Buffy walked right past her. "Buff!" she called out as she hurried to catch up to her. A few steps later, Buffy finally turned her head around, sending her long blond hair sailing into a poor classmate’s face.
"Sorry Will, I just have a lot on my mind."
Willow caught up to her and they head off to the library together. Fortunately today they had study hall together, so Willow could hopefully get Buffy’s mind on something more relaxing.
"Thinking about Angel?" she asked.
Buffy’s lips turned up in a small smile, "Well, a little. It’s kind of weird, him being a Jaguar and all…."
Willow smiled and nodded her head, "You’re telling me! But he is cute." Both of them giggled as they walked through the doors to the library.
"The Slayer has arrived, all ye sinners repent for the end is nigh!"
Buffy and Willow responded in unison, "Shut up, Xander."
Xander Harris leaned back in his chair, and shook his head, "Never any respect I tell ya, never any respect."
A shove from the back sent Xander and his chair crashing back into its proper position. "Four on the floor, Xander" instructed the librarian in his English accent.
"Giles!" Buffy started, "I found this last night on patrol." She held out an insignia that had been torn from the shirt of a Jaguar that she had turned into a fireball last night. He really shouldn’t have been carrying an inferno launcher. "Any idea what it means?"
Giles adjusted his glasses and looked closely at the patch, then took it from her and proceeded to his bookshelf, where he, predictably, pulled out a book. Willow flopped down on a couch near Xander, while Buffy proceeded to sit on the table. Giles flipped through the book and replied, "Aha!"
"The 324th Jaguar Chausseurs. Lead by Star Colonel Doug Moon, missing in action from Turtle Bay in Operation Bulldog. It says in the Jaguar Remembrance that he will rise again and seek his vengeance upon," he looked up. "Buffy, tables are for glasses not asses," he said and continued with what he was reading, "the Dragon for his defeat. He believes that the populace must be shown the might of the Jaguar."
Xander looked up, "So can you translate that to human terms?"
Giles frowned and replied, "Paul Moon is going to be looking to make the Kentares Massacre look like a family feud here on PLANET X. Buffy, I want you to check out the ‘Mech yards tonight, he may be trying to rebuild his unit."
Willow dropped her head into her hands, looking glum. PLANET X was where most of the Jaguar equipment had been shipped after Bulldog was over, attracting Jaguars like bears to honey. She looked up at Giles,
"What can I do?"
"Willow, you can hack into ComStar’s network and see if anyone has requested any technical specifications from off planet. Moon would likely need those to make himself ‘Mechs from the salvage. Xander, I need you to check at the militia base and see if any munitions have been stolen lately."
Xander winked and replied, "Gotcha, Chief. I’ll see if any of my friends there know anything." He got up and headed for the door, "The early bird gets the worm!"
Giles grabbed his arm as he was heading out. "Aren’t you forgetting something?"
Xander looked confused, "Uh…"
"Sixth period?" Giles prompted.
"Oh yeah," Xander said with a smile, "Of course, that was where I was headed."
Giles nodded as the teenagers left the library. "Of course you were."
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Xander walked through the gates to the local militia base. It wasn’t much, and it surely would have difficulty dealing with any large incursion by the Jaguars, but it did have a lance of ‘Mechs and two companies of vehicles. He nodded to the guard at the gate and spotted Sgt. "Biff" Brondstedt. Xander walked over and tapped him on the shoulder, "Heya Biff."
Biff turned around and slugged Xander in the stomach. "Hey punk, you got me on KP for a week thanks to your last stunt. No more favors for you!"
Xander doubled over and groaned. He wheezed and nodded at Biff.
"Sorry about that" he gasped out. "But I gotcha something." He threw the bag he had been carrying on the ground in front of the soldier.
Biff leaned over and unzipped the bag and looked inside. He pulled out a Smoke Jaguar uniform.
"Do you want to get killed?" he asked Xander angrily.
Xander shook his head and panted a reply. "They’re…tanker…uniforms.
Keep you…cool. Sew…new patches…on them."
Biff looked at it again and smiled. "Harris, you’re alright. He helped Xander stand up and slapped him on the back, causing Xander to start choking. "You are alright."
.
Meanwhile, Willow looked up at Giles. "You’d think ComStar would upgrade their computer security once in a while." She pulled a stack of papers out of the printer. "Four different designs were requested by someone going by the name ‘Bagheera’, either really dumb or really bold. Or both."
Giles nodded and looked through the schematics. "Ah yes, typical. A Koshi, Blackhawk, a Vulture and a…oh my God."
Willow, oblivious to what Giles was saying, noticed something on the computer. "Hey Giles, according to the school paper’s online edition, tomorrow’s the anniversary of the Turtle Bay massacre."
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Buffy shivered and drew her sweater tighter around her. The ‘Mechyards were always so cold. And dark. And downright depressing. She walked around the hulk of a Masakari, the massive ‘Mech looked like it might rise from the dead, despite it’s missing cockpit. She wondered if she’d ever be able to live a normal life. Everyone else could run around, doing their meaningless jobs but she had to safeguard the planet. It just wasn’t fair, she wanted a meaningless job, a family and time to spend doing nothing.
A sudden movement caught her attention and she moved forward to see what it was. Over the arm of a Dasher, she could see three Jaguar elementals removing a part from the chest of a ‘Mech. Then a hand grabbed her shoulder. She clenched the hand’s wrist and threw its owner over he shoulder, onto the cold, hard ferro-fibrous surface of the arm she’d been hiding behind. The Jaguar groaned as his hipbone shattered from the impact. The three Jaguars looked up and two bolted for her, the other taking the part with him. One leaped the arm, landing in front of Buffy. He took a swing at her and she ducked the blow, pulling out her vibrodagger at the same time. She kicked the Jaguar in the ribs, hearing the satisfying crunch of at least one rib breaking. The Jaguar groaned but swung at her with his right arm again.
He was shocked when Buffy blocked his blow with her left arm. A girl her size shouldn’t have been able to, but somehow she did. Then she stuck the vibrodagger into his heart and he melted into a puddle of slime. She whirled around to find the other Jaguar only to be hit by a steel bar from him. She stumbled back into a pile of parts, causing a few to fall on her. She tried to get up, but found herself pinned by a piece of a gyro. The Jaguar raised the bar above his head and smile as he looked down at her.
Then his head fell off. From the shadows behind him, a Jaguar elemental stepped out, his dark hair matching his brooding features.
"Are you okay?" he asked her.
"Yeah," she replied as they both lifted the gyro off of her. "Thanks Angel."
He just hugged her. How confusing this all was. His feelings for her, they weren’t normal for a Jaguar. I guess that’s what he got for being the only Jaguar with a soul, thanks to a curse put on him by the Nova Cat Loremaster. "What were they after?"
Buffy looked up and him and smiled, "Part for a ‘Mech. They were getting them from over here." She lead him around the severed arm of the Dasher and several bodies of Jaguars. She casually slit the throat of the Jaguar whose hips were broken as she passed, leaving a patch of slime coating the armor that he had been laying on. "There," she pointed, her voice going weak, "that’s what they were taking…."
Buffy and Angel burst into the library. "Giles!" she cried. The crusty librarian had become almost a father figure to her, and she always came to him with her troubles. It also helped that he was her Watcher, one of the few aware of the existence of the Jaguars.
"Giles!"
He walked out from his office, "Yes Buffy."
"Giles, I know what they’re building. It’s not just a Vulture or Blackhawk, it’s a…."
"Daishi," Giles finished for her. "Yes, Willow found that too. Come on, it’s late you better get home."
She frowned in defiance, but he responded, "Tomorrow is the anniversary of Turtle Bay. I’m sure that’s when they’ll make their move. Go home and get some rest."
Angel nodded in agreement, "There’s nothing more you can do tonight."
She sighed, and looked to Angel. "Walk me home?" she asked. He smiled.
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Beep, beep, beeep. Buffy fumbled for the alarm clock. However, before she could find the snooze button, she knocked it off the nightstand. That forced her to get up to shut the mind-splitting beep off, and in the process waking her up. She sighed and looked for what she was going to wear today. It had to look good, not restrict her movements, and most of all, be easy to take off. She tossed her coolant suit into her gym bag. It was likely going to be a showdown today.
After a shower she made her way downstairs, where her mom was cooking breakfast. She sat down in front of a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. "Buffy, where were you last night?"
She nearly gagged on a fork full of eggs. "Umm, I was studying over at Willow's. We're studying the Free Rasslehaug Republic and I needed some help for the test today."
Her mom scowled, "I think you better do some more planning, so you aren’t cramming for these things the night before. I’m beginning to wonder if I should give you a curfew."
"But Mom!" Buffy whined.
"No buts about it Missy, I’m the parent in this house, and unless you can become more responsible, you’re going to have to have more rules to live by. It’s that simple."
Buffy sighed. If only she could tell her mom what she really did. She was damn more responsible than half the leaders of the Inner Sphere nations. Hell, Sun Tzu would long ago have pulled a Max if he’d been the Slayer.
"I want you to come straight home after school today."
"But Mooooom!" she cried in exasperation. Her mom just gave her a stern look and Buffy lowered her head in submission, wishing her eggs reminded her less of the slime that the undead Jaguars became.
Another exciting Friday night with Mom, she thought.
Buffy slumped her head down on the table in the library. "What am I going to do?" she asked the particleboard.
The particleboard didn’t answer her, but Giles did. "We’ll work something out. The whole town will be going to the ceremony tonight to remember the victims of the Jaguars. That’s where they will strike." He was sitting at the table reading a book, while Willow and Xander were on the couch, munching on some chips.
"Great," she replied. "A Daishi and my mom, what else could go…"
"Don’t say it!" Xander warned. "The next thing you know Principle Snider will walk in and expect us to help little kids at the ceremony." He stood up. "We can beat these guys no sweat. We got the brains and the brawn, and we know when they’re gonna attack. Now all we need are some Twinkies." Xander tossed the empty bag of chips in the trash.
Everyone glared at him. "Hey, I’m a growing boy, I need my carbs."
Willow frowned, "But that still doesn’t take care of the Daishi. Buffy’s good, but a Daishi is scary. Big walking death and all."
Buffy looked up at her red-haired friend. "Thanks for the pretty mental picture, Will."
Willow smiled, "No problem."
"Maybe we can trick him into fighting his own men?" Xander suggested.
"That way they’d wear down each other for Buffy."
Giles put his book down. "And just how do you suggest we do that?"
Xander sat back down, "Well, I figured you guys could work that out. I’m Ideaboy, not Stratagyboy."
Buffy’s head shot back up. "Wait, I’ve got an idea…."
.
"Are you okay, Honey?"
"Fine, Mom. I just have some long underwear on to keep me warm." She adjusted the cooling suit beneath her clothes as they walked to the festival.
"It’s not going to be that cold tonight, Buffy."
"I know Mom, I just wanted to be nice and toasty."
Buffy’s mom shook her head, "Alright."
"Mrs. Summers," came a voice with a British accent from behind them, "it’s nice to see you out this evening."
Buffy’s mom turned around. "Rupert, how are you doing?"
"Well, thank you." Willow came running up as they all entered the town park.
"Hey Buff, want to come watch from out seats? We brought nice chairs for up on the hill."
Buffy turned to her Mom, "Can I, Mom?"
She smiled, glanced at Giles, and replied, "Sure, dear."
Buffy ran off with Willow. They arrived at the old hanger in a few minutes, where Buffy shed her clothes and hopped in her PhoenixHawk. As she warmed up the machine, she spoke into her mike, "Is Xander in place?"
Willow replied, "Yup. Uh-oh, It looks like there’s 5 of them, coming from the north. Sensors make out two Koshis, a BlackHawk, a Vulture and the Daishi. I sure hope you know what you’re doing."
"Don’t worry," she said, "I’ll be fine." She set her ‘Mech off at a run. Five Jaguars, this was going to be a challenge.
Buffy spied one of the Koshis moving into the cemetery and crept up behind it. It kicked over a few headstones as it plodded through the crypts. Buffy fired both her extended-range large lasers, one hitting the Koshi in the back. The ‘Mech jerked as she touched off some of the ammo inside, which blew out the back of the ‘Mech. However, the sudden jolt was tough on the pilot, even if he wasn’t alive, and it fell. She printed up and unloaded all her weapons on the prone ‘Mech, then crushed it’s cockpit underfoot.
"Watch out!" cried Willow over the com-system. Buffy triggered her jump jets and soared behind a crypt as missiles impacted where she had been. The Vulture moved out of the woods, snapping of a poorly aimed large laser at her, which sailed over her head. She fired both her large lasers again, blinking her eyes as a drop of sweat ran into one. She really hoped her hair wouldn’t end up too messy when this was all over. She started to run to her left as the Vulture shrugged off both the laser hits. Her machine shuddered as a pair of medium lasers hit her torso and left leg. The Blackhawk emerged from the trees in front of her, pinning her between itself, the graveyard and the Vulture.
She fired a medium back at him, but he sprinted to his left in a circular pattern, to get around to her rear. She stretched out her right arm and triggered the medium and large lasers housed there and smiled as both hit.
Her ‘Mech rocked from side to side as missiles from the Vulture impacted her medium ‘Mech and she backed up to a crypt as the Vulture and Blackhawk closed in. The Blackhawk started clawing at its own cockpit. The black form of Angel’s elemental suit was ripping into it. Buffy took advantage of their momentary surprise and ignited her jump jets. She headed right toward the vulture, who, expecting her to feign a death-from-above, fired his lasers to each side of her. She crashed into him, sending the larger ‘Mech sprawling as her legs collided with his right torso and his cockpit. She violently wrangled the controls around to stay standing and fired her weapons at the stunned Vulture’s right torso, feeling a wave of heat wash over her.
The maimed ‘Mech righted itself, but its right torso collapsed, the arm falling off and taking much of the structure with it. It fired its laser, deeply gouging her left torso and right leg, but she responded in kind, shearing armor from all parts of the heavy ‘Mech. She followed it up with a kick to its leg, dropping it again. This time she aimed at the downed ‘Mech’s cockpit and turned it into a hunk of molten metal. She turned to see Angel fire his laser into the smashed cockpit of the Blackhawk. Branches snapped as the last Koshi came sprinting out at them, firing its lasers wildly. Buffy took aim and blew all her weapons though the heart of the ‘Mech, causing it to collapse into a heap of rubble.
"I will finish him," Angel said, "go take care of that Daishi. It is headed toward the festival."
Buffy took off in a sprint to the middle of town. "Where is it, Willow?" she asked.
"By the Court House," was her response.
Buffy ignited her jump jets and sailed over the school, landing to the left of the huge assault ‘Mech. It turned and fired two streams of laser pulses at her, as she turned and ran, shooting wildly with her left arm lasers, managing to hit with her medium, which did very little to the massive ‘Mech. Her ‘Mech shuddered as the full brunt of its firepower was unleashed toward her and she couldn’t keep her ‘Mech upright, falling on it’s left shoulder. She spat out the blood in her mouth from where she had bit into her tongue and righted the ‘Mech, noting that the left leg was severely damaged. She pushed it to 54 kph, but the Daishi was keeping pace, firing at her and not caring if it missed and hit the buildings in town. She turned and moved up Main Street, away from the festival and triggered her jumpjets, landing with a jarring thump. Still the Daishi kept coming and firing. She ducked into an alley between warehouses and found herself at a dead-end. The Daishi’s black form blocked out the light from the end of the alley as it strode in front of her, preparing to unleash its fury upon her.
"Now, Xander!" she yelled, igniting her jumpjets as the doors to the warehouses flew open. The Daishi stood shocked as dozens of SRMs peppered its massive frame. The two SRM carriers on either side of it reloaded and fired again, one exploding as the Daishi unloaded all it’s weapons on the poor vehicle. Buffy landed behind the behemoth and shoved it from behind, causing the Jaguar to fall on his side, cracking the ferrocrete. Buffy and the remaining SRM carrier fired again at the downed machine, piercing the armor in almost every location. The massive machine tried to rise, but explosions from within caused the shielding to crack and the engine shut itself down.
The enemy pilot tried to get out and run, but Buffy ended his terror by incinerating him with one of her lasers. She turned her cockpit to see Xander and Biff exit the tank and inspect the downed machine. Buffy sighed in relief and started on her way back to the hanger.
Buffy and Willow came up to see Giles and Mrs. Summers holding hands, watching the end of the ceremony commemorating those who lost their lives to the Jaguars. Buffy cleared her throat and said, "This is just to wiggy for me, Will." Both the adults spun around and smiled as they saw her. Giles seemed very relieved.
"So, uh, what did you think of the, uh, fireworks display?" he asked her.
"Oh it was a big bang" she replied, "I don’t think they have any left." She winked at Giles.
Mrs. Summers, oblivious to their inside conversation, asked everyone, "How about some ice cream? These things always make me hungry for dessert."
Buffy smiled. "That’d be great, Mom. It will be the most exciting thing I’ve done all night."
The militia commander stood in front of the Governor’s desk. "Sir, the ‘Mechs were all put out of commission by that PhoenixHawk and some of my men. None of the enemy pilots were Recovered."
The Governor nodded and wiped his hands on a kleenex. "Yes, must have been some sort of Ghost Bear raid."
"Ghost Bear, sir? These were Jaguar ‘Mechs."
The Governor laughed. "Jaguar ‘Mechs? They’re all dead, must be some sort of ruse. That will be all." |
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