Most awesome chapter!! Faith gets out of Mogador in one piece and alive!

Thank-you.
D.

Yay that Faith stop the slaughtering of the innocents! Now, just to go about finding a way out of town and back to base.

Roger that!

D.

A very exciting description of the action Faith was involved in and her exploits as a grunt. The dust envelopment described is claustrophobic and in effect hides her and makes her vulnerable at the same time. The following fire and movement displayed the fact that luck, good and less than good shows that Faith is embodied with the kind of good luck that all slayers don't always enjoy. Aggression is her default setting and creates the kind of opportunities for success that in turn create even more successes. I do go on, don't I. The death of the cultists has the perfect touch that she would have now with a whole new way of looking at the world. No anger and no fear.

EDIT 7/4/12: I thought running from the firefight in the narrow alley when she ran out of ammunition was also very aggressive.

You go on as much as you like.

I've watched BHD gods know how many times, add that to my own experiences in the urban setting and you get more or less what I wrote. Of course unlike Faith I didn't have hordes of 'Skinnies' chasing me!

Aggression helps you keep the initiative and keeps the enemy off balance. The trick is to know when not to be aggressive and back off!

Cheers,
D.

Good way to start the day, thanks.

Thank-you,
D.

A well written sense of confusion from Faith about her capabilities and actions.

Thank-you,
D.

I would expect Faith to go through every feeling she experience sometime during a quiet night. Her apparent abilities are nothing like that during basic.
Come on; how can I do head shots without really aiming. How can I do these things?

All things to be address when people aren't shooting at her.

Cheers,
D.

The defeat of the cultists was anti-climactic, but appropriately so; a "drive-by" shooting by Faith. Although it is outside of the scope of the faith-focus of the story, I wonder if someone in the know finds the room, or gets to study the book pages, and realizes what has happened - and how close another apocalypse was (probably not considering it is in a chaotic warzone).

See next chapter!

Cheers,
D.

Well, that was easier than I thought it would be; and of course Faith won't be decorated or promoted because nobody else saw her do it, at least nobody who survived. She probably won't even mention it, although she may have a few things to say about (or to) the officer who ordered her into a potential combat situation and then left her behind.

(largely pointless digression follows:)

I have a private theory about the whole "instinctive use of weapons" thing. Basically, I think that Slayer dreams come from the Slayer "Spirit" and are either: A. prophecies - things perceived by the Spirit, which are distorted because humans don't have the sensory apparatus to understand them or, B. memories, which are not distorted because the Spirit originally received them through the senses of its' human hosts. Slayers, therefore, have secondhand memories of their predecessors lives, or at least of their battles. Since Slayers have been using edged, pointed, and thrown weapons for thousands of years, they subconsciously remember how to use these things; the "instinct" is really memory. They just don't consciously know that they remember.

Slayers have not been using guns as often, or for anywhere near as long; they have few memories of this kind of fighting. They shouldn't be expert shots the first time they pick up a firearm, although they might be better and should learn faster than an ordinary person. Faith, however, has trained with a rifle, even if it wasn't this type of rifle; also, she's firing at pointblank range or close to it, and has superior coordination, senses, and reflexes. So her shooting ability isn't out of line (making head shots at maximum range would be). As I say, this is just my theory - it's not canon and certainly not binding on anyone else.

(end of digression)

Now that I think of it, the officer who abandoned her might cover his ass by not reporting her missing; if so I hope somebody calls him on it. I don't think the general will be very happy about it; if Faith had been killed or captured, the blame would have fallen on him.

More generally - the action was intense and easy to follow, and Faith sounds and acts exactly right. I have an image of a semi-corporeal Old One hovering offshore, in a state of apocalypse interruptus. Overall, this is an excellent addition to an excellent story.

Great minds think a like...or fools seldom differ!

What you outlined there is almost exactly what I put in one of my old fics when Faith's watcher was trying to explain why she could use weapons without much practice.

It sorta went; at some point in the past a slayer used a bow, thereafter all slayers could use a bow, it was the job of her watcher to 'remind' her and help her improve on that skill.

Digress all you like.

One thing, perhaps I didn't make it clear or you forgot. The officer who 'ordered' Faith into combat is now dead, killed when Faith's Hummer was blown up. The NCO who sent her to Yemalia in the first place will probably never be caught.

Yep the problem of writing prequels is to make them exciting so people will read them while at the same time the hero doesn't make a name for herself and get noticed earlier than she should.

At the moment I'm writing the 'Faith in Training' fic and I'm having to think up all sorts of reasons for her not to shine and stand out, even going so far as to deliberately not do as well as other 'normal' recruits!

Cheers,
D.

Good to see Faith's Slayer powers kicking in when she really needs them. So much for the cultists - no raising this time round it seems.

Great story - keep up the good work.

You'd think after continually failing to raise the Great Old One people would stop trying! But then what would us Fanfic writers do if they need a little supernatural content in their fics?

Cheers.
D.

Wow, Faith really got to the rigth place at the rigth moment. And weell, bye bye Ayesha, nice knowing ya, give my regards to ole squid face in Hades :P.

Cool chapter, see ya!!.

Cheers,
D.

And once again the Slayer is at the right place at the right time even if, in Faith's case, it's totally unknowingly. I look forward to reading more about her escape from Mogador.

Our favourite slayer's trials are almost over...almost.

Cheers,
D.

It would seem that Faith will save the sacrifices while Ayesha takes the opportunity to worship The Great One for years to come.
Wondering if there's anyone important in the cage?

In the great scheme of things, probably not.

Cheers,
D.

Oh nice!

Thank-you.
D.

Is Faith in Mogador for Akeesha? Will Faith come back to base whole?

..find out in he next thrilling installment!!!

Cheers,
D.

I like Ayesha, she's my favorite kind of bad girl: the cowardly... erhm, the smart one.
And yeah, South Boston represents!!! Go Faith, kick their tails!!.
Cool chapter, see ya!!!.

I try to make my 'baddies' with a little depth to them.

Cheers,
D.