Merchants of Death

Things were not going as the Vampire Slayer Buffy Anne Summers had planned.

Things were not going as Buffy Summers had expected.

Everything seemed to be going wrong.



Oddly enough the simple issue of a name for her group bothered her the most.



There were a lot of different names that they had liked in the beginning. Such as the New Watchers Council, the Vampire Slayer Alliance, the Watchers and Slayers Union, and the International Supernatural Protection Society. After a long debate they had decided to officially name the organization the Vampire Slayer Alliance. But most of the people inside and outside of the Vampire Slayer organization seemed to prefer its informal nickname.



The Slayer Army.

Buffy Summers hated that name. It was too military, and she had had bad experiences with the U.S. military. Besides Buffy didn’t think of herself and the Slayers serving under her as soldiers, she preferred to think of them as protectors. Defenders of the helpless.

Not people who professionally killed other humans and destroyed or conquered their stuff.



But the name stuck, because the Vampire Slayer organization actually did behavior and function a lot like an army fighting multiple enemies. Besides, the name Slayer Army, was simple, dramatic, and easy to remember.



The head Slayer was so sick of the debate she was close to making the Slayer Army the official name just to end it.



Another issue facing Buffy and the Vampire Slayer Alliance (V.S.A) was the loss of their strongest ally. The vampire with a soul known as Angel.



No one could confirm if he was alive or dead but it was clear that Angel and his friends had lost their influential positions at the dimensions spanning law firm Wolfram & Hart. If Angel was still alive he was almost certainly on the run and in no position to continue helping Buffy and her group.



The Vampire Slayer Alliance was also receiving a lot of unwanted attention from the U.S. government. Which was why Buffy Summers and her advisors had decided to set up their headquarters in Scotland. Hoping that the old Scottish castle that they had bought and renovated to serve as their HQ was far enough away from America to avoid U.S. scrutiny.



But perhaps the biggest problem facing the V.S.A was the issue of money. The simple fact of the matter was that they were running out of it.



When they had first inherited the money and other assets of the old Watchers Council their resources had seemed endless. But they hadn’t counted on the tremendous expense of training, equipping, and supporting hundreds of Vampire Slayers. Let alone unexpected costs like replacement parts, funerals for fallen Slayers, and all the expensive weapons they kept buying from Imperious Industries.



If things kept going the way that they had been going the organization would soon completely run out of money. And without money the Vampire Slayers organization could not function.



But all those issues could be ignored or put off a little longer. There was one problem that Buffy and her comrades had to address right now, but they seemed no closer to solving it.



*****



Buffy Anne Summers and her companions were meeting in the old dungeon of their castle headquarters. The large room was still dank and creepy looking but it had been converted into a kind of mystical laboratory, and wooden tables, vials of weird fluids, caldrons, and magic books were scattered all over the room, seemingly at random.



Only Buffy’s oldest and most trusted friends and advisors were allowed to attend the meeting. The one eyed Xander Harris, the powerful witch Willow Rosenberg, and Buffy’s mentor and former Watcher Rupert Giles. These were the only people the senior Slayer felt she talk to about this.



Buffy paced the room. Her small and seemingly frail body almost trembling with tension, her blonde and normally almost obsessively styled hair in disarray. Finally she turned to her friends and said “I just found out that we lost another squad to vampires with guns…so can ANY of you guys tell me what the frikkin Crimson Legion is?”



“We still don’t know what their game plan or goals are…but we think that they got started about six months ago near where Sunny D used to be” replied Xander Harris, who had essentially become the director of field operations for the V.S.A.



“Actually we know a bit more than that…me and the other witches were able to do a mind probe of that Legion vampire we captured before she could commit suicide…their leader is a seriously powerful demon necromancer named Chrissy Lera…and apparently she wants to take over the world or something” Willow stated with conviction.



“Fighting a Big Bad who wants to take over the world…how many times have we done this again?” Xander said wearily as he rubbed the eye patch that covered his empty eye socket.



“Actually Xander most of them wanted to DESTROY the world” Willow replied in a light tone. Then looked down as she remembered her own attempt to Destroy The World As They Knew It.



But Buffy was ignoring her friends familiar banter. Muttering to herself as she continued to pace “Chrissy Lera…Chrissy Lera…where have I heard that name before?”



“It is a name that the werewolf Susan Zweller has mentioned several times…she said that Chrissy Lera was a delusional but extremely powerful criminal that Imperious Industries thought had fled to California” Rupert Giles stated crisply as he stared at Buffy. A woman that had spectacularly exceeded or failed so many of his expectations as her Watcher and teacher.



Buffy Summers stopped pacing and looked right back at her old mentor. Knowing that he was getting at something important.



“What’re you getting at Giles?”



Before replying to his former student Rupert Giles sighed and took off his glasses. A nervous tick he had acquired over his many years as a Watcher.



“Does anyone else find it odd that the Crimson Legion appeared shortly after Imperious Industries made contact with us?…thus forcing us to buy more of their expensive weapons just so our Slayers could retain an edge over the Legion’s gun wielding vampires…I don’t believe in those kinds of coincidences.”



“What are you saying Big G?” Xander asked coolly.



“I think that Imperious Industries is behind the Crimson Legion in some way and is playing both sides of this conflict to drive up sales…I have no proof of this but it fits the facts as well as my own impressions of Susan Zweller and the other Imperious Industries people I have met” Giles replied darkly.



“I agree with Giles Buffy…far too many of the Imperious people have evil auras for them to be completely trustworthy” the witch Willow said. Thinking of the disturbing impressions she had gotten when she had tried to mystically scan the mind of the werewolf Susan.



Buffy considered her friends words and came to an instant decision.



“Xander I want you to request a meeting with the leader of Imperious Industries…I want to see what this ‘Imperious’ has to say for himself.”



“I’m on it chief” Xander Harris replied. Hoping that the strange Susan Zweller wouldn’t try flirting with him again when he contacted her.



“Buffy we must resolve this matter as quickly as possible…everything we have heard about this Chrissy Lera indicates that she is extremely ruthless and powerful…who knows what devious schemes she is plotting even as we speak” Giles said ominously.



*****



Although few of her allies and even fewer of her enemies would describe her as such, Chrissy Lera was a very cuddly dictator.



The soft skinned and pretty dark elf was currently sleeping in a large King sized bed. Half a dozen of her trusted Honor Guard snuggled up to her on top of the covers. Trying to touch as much of the necromancer’s ebony skin as they could with their undead flesh.



The door to the lavishly decorated bedroom opened and Marian Casta walked in. Her eyes immediately drawn to the naked bodies on the bed as she did so.



The voluptuous blonde vampire smiled indulgently as she gazed upon her oldest friend and lover.

Chrissy always seemed to have trouble keeping her hands off pretty females serving under her, and she was such a powerful necromancer that undead often got a euphoric high simply from touching her. Giving Chrissy a strong sex appeal and allure even as far as straight female vampires were concerned.



But Marian couldn’t let the necromancer stay in bed with her bodyguards all night, this business couldn’t wait.



The dark elf was lying on her side, being spooned from the front and back by two well endowed Caucasian vampires, with a vampire of Indian descent laying diagonally across her Mistress and peers. The other three nude vampires on the bed were softly kissing and caressing each other the way that their dark elfin Mistress had taught them, though they stopped in embarrassment when they realized that Marian was watching them, then got off the bed.



But Chrissy and the vampires lying beside or on top of her were resting so deeply that they did not notice Marian’s arrival.

Marian’s grasped the shoulder of the vampire lying on top of Chrissy and shook her roughly, saying impatiently “Get up DK…its already after dusk.”



The startled and semi-conscious DK reacted instinctively. Hissing and rolling over so that she was facing the blonde vampire, only to squeal in fright once she realized what she was directing her hostility towards.



“Are you threatening me little girl?” Marian practically growled. Her normally blue eyes taking on a reddish gleam as she glowered at the much younger and weaker vampire.



“NomadamCasta.I.would.never.do.that.please.forgive.me.I.didn’t..

knowitwasyou” the slender vampire rapidly babbled. All too aware of just how dangerous the older vampire could be.



The blonde vampire rolled her eyes and said in an annoyed tone “fine…just go check on the owners…make sure no one is trying to eat them again.”



The naked Indian vampire leapt to her feet and ran out of the bedroom. Coming back a moment later to sheepishly pick up her clothes before leaving the room again.

The commotion woke up the two vampires laying on either side of Chrissy Lera. Though they didn’t move away from the necromancer and get up until Marian glared at them.



~I hope that their not getting needy and clingy already…why does that always seem to happen~ the decadent vampire thought in exasperation. Wishing that more people shared her ‘enlightened’ views towards romance, relationships, and sex.



“Get dressed girls…its going to be a busy night” Marian commanded as she bent to pick up the naked female elf. Gently cradling Chrissy Lera in her strong arms as she walked through the bedroom door that led to a large bathroom.



Marian Casta gazed at the huge marble bathtub.

Smirking evilly as she had an idea.



The vampire gently placed her friend in the bathtub under the stainless steel showerhead. Making sure that Chrissy was still asleep before turning the cold water on.



“Ahhhhh….what…who…where did this GOD DAMN water come from” Chrissy Lera sputtered as the cold water hitting her naked form shocked her awake. Getting on her knees in the bathtub to stare at a giggling Marian.



Chrissy glared at the blonde vampire as she got to her feet and turned off the water. But Marian simply continued to laugh.



The necromancer kept her crimson glare on the mischievous vampire for a moment. Then she simply sighed and said in exasperation “you know your the only one I would let get away with this.”



“Of course” Marian said gaily as she took a white towel from the towel rack and gave it to her old friend.



Chrissy kept staring at Marian as she used the towel to dry off. Every once in a while the vampire would pull a prank like this on the dark elf. As much to prove that she still could and had a special place in Chrissy’s heart as anything else.



After the drow finished drying off Marian leaned down to gently kiss the shorter woman. The vampire’s soft tongue and lips passionately meeting the dark elf’s.



“Sorry” Marian purred as she ended the kiss.



“No your not” Chrissy said with mock severity.



Marian merely grinned and didn’t bother to deny it.



Chrissy and Marian reentered the bedroom and the blonde vampire was pleased to see that the other vampires had left.

Marian didn’t care if Chrissy had sex with other women, but as far as she was concerned she was the necromancer’s only true companion and lover and everyone had to respect that.



The vampire helped Chrissy get dressed. Caressing Lera’s relatively large breasts and firm buttocks as the black skinned elf put on her bra and panties. Then kissing the remaining exposed skin before helping Chrissy into her white pants and dress shirt.

Hoping that if she got Chrissy Lera aroused and giddy before giving her the bad news that the necromancer wouldn’t react as badly as she expected.



“But now I want to take my clothes off again” Chrissy mock pouted as Marian finished helping her into her white suit. Her red eyes full of sensual promise.



~Okay…there’s never going to be a better time to tell her~ Marian thought. Then she said “I’m afraid that will probably have to wait…there’s been another Slayer raid…Samantha Banner was one of the casualties…though it appears that all the Slayers involved died too.”



Samantha Banner was an overweight female vampire that Chrissy had begun bonding with shortly after Samantha brought the Crimson Legion their first real intelligence on the Slayer Army. The needy Samantha was almost pathetically eager for any affection from Chrissy and the necromancer seemed to view the younger female in an almost maternal fashion.



Marian had been afraid that Chrissy would react badly to the loss of Samantha, and her fears were realized.



“HOW DARE THEY…I cannot let these attacks on MY people continue…the Vampire Slayer threat must be eliminated now” Chrissy ranted angrily.



“But Chrissy we don’t even know where most of them are” Marian pleaded. Hoping to steer her friend away from a disastrous course of action.



“We know where their headquarters is…we can start there” Chrissy shot back fiercely.



“But they have a witch who is rumored to be as powerful as you and Imperious Industries has helped them upgrade their security there several times” Marian said in desperation.



“No…I’ve waited too long already…our campaign against the Slayer Army starts tonight” Chrissy stated, and there was no give in her voice or body language at all.



This was the thing about Chrissy Lera that even Marian Casta had trouble dealing with.

Chrissy could go from soft, sensual, and cuddly to tyrannical and unyielding in the blink of an eye. And it was virtually impossible even for Marian Casta to reason with the tyrant.



So all Marian could say was “of course Chrissy.”



*****



But for all of Chrissy Lera’s anger The Crimson Legion couldn’t simply attack the Slayer Army right away. The organization needed to gather its weapons and other resources for the coming assault, coordinate the movement of its people, and do all of the other seemingly endless tasks involved in getting a large group of people prepared and equipped for a difficult job.



Fortunately most of the top people in the Crimson Legion were already in the California mansion that Chrissy Lera was using as a temporary base of operations, and the majority of these powerful vampires were involved in meetings and planning sessions that lasted throughout the night.



All this commotion did not go unnoticed by the elderly man who still legally owned the mansion.

He wanted to yell at, shoot, or at least call the police on all the excited, young looking vampires who walked through his home as though they owned the place. But he could do nothing.

The vampire leader whose red eyes, black skin, pointed ears and endless confidence disturbed him, had cast a spell on the rich American businessman and everyone else living in the mansion with him. Now the owner, his wife, his two youngest daughters and all their servants were prevented by the power of Chrissy’s magic from acting against the necromancer and her followers.



As he sat in the armchair that faced his big screen television, the rich man tried to lose himself in the program he was watching. Trying to think of anything but the fact that he was longer master of his own home.



“Hey old timer…how are you doing?…do you need anything?



The elderly businessman turned to the speaker and found himself staring at a familiar face. It was the pretty Indian vampire he had met before. A vampire who was almost universally called DK because virtually no one in the house could pronounce her real name.



“What do you want Mister Frasier?”



Frasier wanted to take the remote in his hands and strike DK in the head with it, he wanted to scream that she was an unnatural freak and order her to get out, and he really wanted to tell DK’s leader and the other vampires to stay away from his wife and daughters. But the magic restraining him was strong, so all he could do was say “I think I would like another glass of wine…and could you make sure that the other girls aren’t trying to eat Heather and MY girls again?”



*****



Imperious Dakar was in the control room of the Portal Facility in the Iberian capital. Monitoring the flow of weapons being sent to other universes and goods being sent to this Earth from other worlds via the dimensional portal.



Technicians and other Imperious Industries employees surrounded Dakar, busily using the computers and other equipment at their workstations to monitor the flow of goods in and out of the facility and maintain efficient operations. But the cyborg businessman needed only his mind to do the same.



Using his technomancy to mentally access the mechanical and electronic systems of the facility. Scanning the data with his mind and gaining a clearer picture of just how his business was doing.



Sales were up and despite the fact that they usually had to accept payment in the form of precious metals and other valuable natural resources (for few of their buyers had a currency they could use on their own Earth) so were profits. And that was becoming a problem in of itself.



To put it simply Imperious Industries was now making so much money from off world sales that it was becoming harder and harder for the weapons supplier to hide the source of its profits. Which would be fine, except that the Illuminati was sure to interfere once it learned what Imperious Dakar was doing, and the technomancer was not yet wealthy or powerful enough to offer significant opposition to the powerful secret society.



As much as Dakar hated to admit it, he and his people were no longer up to the task of hiding their off world trade. They needed help.



~I’ll have to call the damn dragon~ the cyborg thought with a flash of irritation that his neural implants immediately suppressed.



Dakar was thinking of the dangerous and all too cunning wyrm that had been both his student and teacher when one of his technicians left his workstation and approached him. The technomancer’s unique eyes appeared a glowing pink in the dim light of the control room, and the human technician gulped as the cold eyes settled on him.



“What is it Mister Chavez?”



Technician Chavez was nervous, this was the first time the CEO had spoken to him directly, but Chavez told himself that he had nothing to worry about. He didn’t think that he was giving his boss’s superior bad news or anything.



“The leader of the Vampire Slayer Alliance contacted Sales Representative Zweller and requested a meeting with you sir as soon as possible…though she did not say what she wanted to discuss.”



Dakar simply continued to stare at the technician as he considered the issue.



He had already planned to visit that Earth in order to investigate what Selene and Susan had been doing there. Moreover he needed to meet with his security personnel stationed on that world to review their efforts to hunt down Chrissy Lera. Besides, he was rather curious about the infamous Buffy Summers himself.



“Confer with my personal secretary and set up a meeting that doesn’t conflict with my schedule” Dakar replied briskly. Not bothering to employ the thuggish accent he normally used.



“Personal secretary sir?…but who is your personal secretary sir?” the confused human asked just as Dakar’s seemingly ever present shadow, the Mind Flayer Udragoth approached him.



As Chavez stared at the illithid’s white-eyes and twitching facial tentacles, he understood the answer to his own question.



“Oh…right…this personal secretary” the human technician said with a nervous grin.



*****



Doron was a valued employee of Wolfram & Hart.



He was a skilled wizard who had mastered many forgotten mystic arts, a keeper of ancient lore, and when the time called for it, a decent spy or assassin. Doron even looked the part, having leathery grey skin, deep set yellow eyes, two short horns jutting out the sides of his head, and usually dressing in somber black robes.



Nevertheless, Doron was very much a city boy, and took the creature comforts of modern civilization for granted. He never went anywhere without his cell phone, he only drank Starbucks coffee, and he called local pizza places so often he had them on speed dial (he was known as an excellent tipper).



“But why do I have to go to a backwater dump like Toril?…why can’t they just send the artifact and data here?” the demon wizard whined.



“Because that is where the Senior Partners want the artifact containing the Phoenix Force studied…none of our major rivals have a presence there and are unlikely to hear about it as long as it is kept in such an isolated place” Doron’s boss said impatiently.



They were standing in a room beneath the Washington D.C. branch of Wolfram & Hart, that according to most schematics of the building did not exist. The room was small and plain, consisting of virtually nothing but bare white walls, ceiling, and floor. At least until Doron’s boss touched a secret panel near the door, and a large vortex of writhing energy suddenly appeared against one wall.



Doron sighed as the dimensional portal to the world of Toril appeared, and turned to his boss and said “can I just…”



“NO…you have already delayed this trip several times…you must go to Toril now” the Wolfram & Hart executive replied angrily.



Doron resisted the urge to glare at his boss. The man was dressed in an expensive business suit and was human in most respects. But the one aspect where he was inhuman was cause for concern even to a powerful wizard like Doron.



Besides Doron had signed a contract, and its terms were VERY explicit regarding violations.



The human executive and the demonic wizard walked over to the portal to Toril in silence. But once they stood in front of it Doron opened his mouth to complain again.



“NO MORE WHINING…THIS IS THE WILL OF THE SENIOR PARTNERS…IF YOU DON’T GO YOU WILL BE IN VIOLATION OF YOUR CONTRACT” the executive exploded.



Doron said nothing and looked down, and the executive sighed in relief that he had apparently gotten through to the stubborn employee. But then Doron looked at the executive again and said in a wheedling tone “of course I don’t want to disobey the Senior Partners…but you have to consider…”



The executive growled in frustration and shoved the demon wizard into the portal. Watching with satisfaction as Doron’s body disappeared within the energy vortex.



Then the human executive adjusted his clothing. Trying to compose himself for his meeting with the U.S. President that afternoon to discuss Wolfram & Hart campaign contributions, and what the firm expected from the current Administration in return for its continued financial support.



~I just hope the fool doesn’t spend the whole time talking about his dog again~ the Wolfram & Hart executive thought as he left the room.