I apologize for the three year hiatus, but I was busy with other things, my inspiration failed me. In those three years I have once been accused of being a Nazi for seeing Millennium in a more sympathetic light. I really cannot stress enough that if Millennium were ideologically Nazis I would have no time for them. And lest anyone say my username indicate any pro-Nazi or even any pro-German tendencies I want to point out that Halder was put in a concentration camp, and was found nearly starved to death by the allies. He, unlike most, paid the price for his crimes.
The Major had given the Doktor orders to implant a chip in the test subjects. He wanted to watch and see Alucard. First the priest, then that stupid would be Bonnie and Clyde murdering couple, then the others, all killed, so easily, so easily, as any of his men might be by that monster and freak. Then, at last a delightful clash between Hellsing and the Vatican, in Northern Ireland no less, just as he had hoped. His veterans, his dear battalion, his fellow soldiers, his fellow warriors, that was warriors in the sense of those who waged and lived for war. His men were so much more than warriors. They were men, and women of course, broken and remade on the battlefield. All had been made to see the truth. A smirk returned to his face, ah yes, the truth, now did that not say so much about himself, about their situation, about what the Major, the man who was once Ruprecht Gunther Onsdorf, knew.
The truth. The truth. Part of that truth was what he could see, in his mind's eye as the Valentine brothers walked, on a grey and overcast day toward Hellsing Manor.
The slaughter commenced with abandon and despite its success and the skill of both brothers and their excellent choice in equipment he could see the assault was doomed to fail. But he got to see his enemy before the enemy saw him and that pleased the Major enormously. Such an advantage in war and in every battle meant that the enemy would suffer an extremely unpleasant reverse. Just as Alucard devoured the elder Valentine's soul, the Major smirked and exclaimed within his mind, in a voice that was far louder and excitable than his normal one, 'I have you!'
"Oh Friedrich!" called out the Major to his subordinate and friend. Friedrich was conferring with the NCOs in his platoon. The taller, yet still short man turned and around and gave a victory salute along with the rest of the NCOs.
"Herr Sturmbannfuhrer!" they said with a loud exclamation.
The Major waved them down. "Gentlemen, you are dismissed the Obersturmfuhrer and I have something to discuss." The men saluted again without a word, about turned and left chatting among themselves.
Friedrich stood at attention "Yes sir?" he inquired.
The Major had been looking at Friedrich's boots and suddenly looked up at his face, a smug smirk on his pudgy face "I need some help, a man who can walk in the light whereas other must walk in the dark. I have received some curious information from the Doktor and his friend, our friend, the one we made a vow to in Warsaw."
Friedrich who had looked impassive before suddenly had a mad look in his eye, and an insane smile came to his face. His voice was the same as it was when he had showed the Major the way back in France, it was the same voice as Friedrich always had when he knew the answer to anything that might come.
"I gather sir that the Vatican and Hellsing must come to grips over Ireland and negotiate? Oh my how interesting this shall be sir!" he said, and chuckled in a way most people would have found disturbing but one which the Major found uplifting. "How delightful!" Friedrich added.
"Oh yes" the Major said bringing up his hand in front of his face, clenching it tight into a fist in triumph "I have never been to England before, but you have and I need a guide, especially around the Imperial War Musuem. Pack your bags Friedrich we are going on a relaxing business trip."
Friedrich was dressed in a tan three piece suit and wearing a pith helmet, making him feel like some ridiculous Imperial German Administrator in the middle of Tanzania. His hand came up from under his nose, lifting up his glasses whereupon he stroked his nose with stress and embarrassment. Meanwhile the Captain was shirtless in the hot day. The Major was a single breasted white suit and for once did not have an overcoat or gloves and he too had a pith helmet. "We look like we don't even belong to the 1940s, Herr Sturmbannfuhrer" Friedrich said with embarrassment, but what he was really wondering was, why was the Hauptsturmfuhrer shirtless?! Why?
"Well" said the Major, anticipating his thoughts perfectly "our dear Haupsturmfuhrer can just barely pass for a native, and we are going for authenticity here my dear friend."
Friedrich sighed and winced "whatever you say sir."
From there it was only a little way to the airfield once the Hauptsturmfuhrer had dropped them off. They had found a private jet waiting and boarded it. The staff on the plane did not know who they were, thinking them to be two young German entrepreneurs with a lot of money to throw about going to England. The Major had settled in and begun drinking Schnapps , while Friedrich had started with Russian vodka and a shot class. "Why Vodka Friedrich?" the Major asked, but he knew the answer before Friedrich knew it.
Friedrich thought about the reason why, and he could not help but going back to Berlin, 1954. "I am thinking of her sir" he responded, and drunk another shot. "She would be happy to know her country was generating an export, at least I think she would."
The Major chuckled unsettlingly and Friedrich glanced over, a dull expression on his face "Think? Think Friedrich? You might think, but I know" he said smugly.
Now Friedrich was curious, and a bit scared by the thought that came to his head "Know sir?", there was just a bit of panic in his voice.
"You will see soon enough Friedrich." The Major told him.
They had had to land at Heathrow where the confusion would be such that no one would be able to tell who had landed or not. By that time, the Major had changed back into his accustomed dress and Friedrich was wearing a two piece dark grey suit, the Jacket had three buttons as was Friedrich's preference. Friedrich was wearing a dark grey Trilby hat while the Major wore, bizarrely enough, what was probably the only White Homburg in the entire world.
As they were EU citizens, nominally from their forged passports anyway, they were waved through immigration and since they had nothing to declare there were no problems with customs but Friedrich expected, at any moment, to see a broad brimmed red hat, a sweeping blood red greatcoat, orange tinged sunglasses, the end.
Instead all they did was collect their baggage and get in a taxi to go to the hotel in Knightsbridge where they were simply two respectable businessmen checking in on their company's account and then they proceeded upstairs. The Major unpacked but Friedrich did not dare. "Now then sir" he asked of his superior "what are we doing tonight and when are we meeting the Doktor?"
The Major looked back, he was in the process of hanging up his dark gray business suit and changing into his customary white double breasted suit "Well Friedrich, it appears, according to you know who that there will be a meeting of sorts between the Vatican and Hellsing in the Imperial War Museuem, tomorrow and we will be there."
Friedrich swallowed audibly and visibly "But sir, Alucard will doubtless be there, won't he…"
The Major cut him off "Do not worry my dear Obersturmfuhrer, I am doubly sure, given what we know happened in Ireland, that the Vatican will be providing too much of a distraction for them to notice. What I would be more concerned about if I were you was Director Integra Hellsing" he seemed to brighten at the mention of a name neither of them had met, "and the novice Seras Victoria." He chuckled. "That last one will prove to be especially dangerous I am sure."
Friedrich sighed "Sir, I was cited for my ruthlessness in Yugoslavia and even in …" he looked away in shame "France." He looked up again. "You won't need to convince me Sir that the proper way to deal with a female adversary is to be even more ruthless than you would with a male enemy." Friedrich had no emotional connection to Yugoslavia and so cared less about the awful things he had done. But he spoke French, had been on holiday in France, respected France, thought the French a great people but still had done horrendous things. It was uncomfortable, it was yet another reminder for him that even as he hated the Nazis, what he also hated just as much, was himself.
The Major nodded, even seeming just ever so chastened "quite right, of course, yes, yes of course. But you are you, some of the men, despite their experiences, still have some not so helpful ideas of what women are like in a fight. Still less helpful they believe in being a bit more gallant with female opponents." He brightened up again, that knowing insane smirk back on his face "but you and I are great believers in gender equality."
Friedrich had then proceeded to undress himself, and then unnecessarily go take a shower, then take a nap. By the time he woke up, the light was fading. The Major too was asleep. Here Friedrich saw that the Major was not sleeping easily. The Major looked restless, like something was troubling him and he squirmed as if having a bad dream.
Suddenly the Major sat up and smiled. Friedrich jumped up wordlessly in fright but there was clearly terror on his face. The Major said "you cannot die!"
"I am sorry sir?" asked Freidrich, his words becoming less panicked with each syllable as his fright receded.
The Major shook his head "my goodness, in good time, all will be known, for now I feel like some tea in a war museum. If we move now we should make it just after the two guard dogs of Hellsing, Alucard and Seras Victoria have completed their sweep of the premises. Leave your hat here Friedrich, we need to be inconspicuous."
As always the Major had planned it perfectly. By the time they arrived and the Major had finished ordering his tea Director Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing and Bishop Enrico Maxwell were walking towards teach other, or so the Major said. From where they were sitting in the café Friedrich had no dea how the Major could tell. Friedrich looked up when he saw footsteps to see the Dok come in, for some reason still wearing his bizarre glasses, which could only make him stand out. "Good to see you here sir" the Doktor said to the Major.
"Please be seated Dok" said the Major, using one of his legs to push a metal chair away from the table, in an invitation to the Dok. The Dok sat next to the Major. Friedrich himself sat three tables away, but the café interior was empty, the Dok had arranged for it, apparently. "How has it been to practice your art again Dok?" asked the Major affably enough as he sipped some tea.
The Dok had an insane smile of his own of course, which bothered Friedrich more than the Major's as it was one of a serial mutilator rather than that of a man who smiled to fill a void that war had created. "Yes sir, it has been most pleasant, sadly all of my subjects were complete idiots, the refuse, the waste product, not even fit to be eaten by ghouls really, but it serves a purpose."
"Indeed" said the Major. He chuckled "oh passive aggressive hostility. Oh my mistake Bishop Maxwell cannot contain it. My my my, the Catholic Church never changes and they dare to call us Godless as some kind of insult. It is their God after all ostensibly telling them to murder people who have different interpretations of the same text and of course they refuse to admit the Bible is the word of Roman politicians not God." He sighed, as he often did when making an observation that seemed obvious but was often unknown or left unsaid, "then again Roman politicians made an empire that gave us European Civilization. What has God given the world?"
Eventually the Major spoke again, his smirk became a little darker, as if he was about to lose his temper "there he is again, after all this time, and none of them know it, none of them. You devil" the Major said, the last word was vituperation and Friedrich straightened in his chair as he knew that meant Alucard was here, on site. "And the Judas priest" said the Major, as if to finish Friedrich's thought or compound his nightmare. Despite his being a vampire, Friedrich's heart began to slowly beat, which is something that only happened when he was terrified and he began to sweat and kept an impassive expression, despite that his eyes showed his raw terror, knowing if Alucard found them or the Judas Priest, there was only the choice of bowing and begging for mercy. He knew it was futile to fight or run.
Yet at the end the Major said "Ah, well done boy, well done" and Friedrich looked a little more at ease in his chair, now sure that he was safer, along with the Dok and the Major than they had been before. Now Friedrich say both Director Integra Hellsing, a beautiful yet austere woman, one of the most terrifying sort of person to him, and Bishop Enrico Maxwell sit down across from each other. They began to talk, and Friedrich was watching them from the corner of his eye. He sipped some tea, and grabbed a newspaper that did not interest him in the slightest to look more inconspicuous, began pretending to read it and asked the Major "what are they saying sir?"
"They are talking about us Obersturmfuhrer" the Major said simply.
Friedrich was not concerned, this had been part of the Major's plan but what Friedrich felt was disgust "they collaborate with us in starting a genocidal war in the Soviet Union to kill Athiests, the Orthodox and the Jews and then they turn on us, I cannot express in words sir my hatred for the Roman Catholic Church" Friedrich said in a mild voice.
"Maxwell just admitted to it with a smile on his face" added the Major.
"Sir, if it were not for Father Anderson and Alucard, plus Seras Victoria I would kill that man right now, possibly with my bare hands. How can one be proud of what the Catholic Church did?" asked with Friedrich, a feeling of righteous indignation coursing through him at the moment. It might have seemed hypocritical, what with him being German and in the SS. However he acknowledged the cognitive dissonances at the heart of his personality, and he also could see that Maxwell, unlike him, was never the sort of person to be haunted by those he had killed.
"It looks like they finally figured it out. They know about Millennium" said the Dok, referring to Maxwell's bragging exposition to the Director of Hellsing.
"Figured it out?" said the Major, addressing no one in particular. They still don't know a thing." Friedrich looked out at the two figures in the sun, then the Dok and the Major and smirked. Indeed neither the Vatican or Hellsing really knew anything and even if they did they would never understand.
"You seem to be enjoying this Major" said the Dok turning to the Major.
"Yes indeed, I am enjoying this moment immensely" said the Major "It is a struggle. Think about it. We are going to have a desperate bloody struggle. Is this not wonderful?" The Major became more wistful. "It is a struggle, a struggle", yet there was something chilling to his words, a chill that made Friedrich smiled warmly.
Later that same day, their mission complete, the three men returned to South America.
Friedrich had seen the Alfred Rosenberg lift off and knew that since the Valentine Brothers were dead and that idiot dark skinned slovenly one had given their name away. Now it was a matter of time, events had been set in motion. There was no going back, they would go to England, go to London, go to Alucard. Friedrich had no doubt that it included dying. Dying was inevitable in all things alive and as a vampire who considered himself to be alive, Friedrich felt certain that he would die. The time was nigh. Friedrich watched the airship disappear and he went away to his room, it would be one of his last nights in a bed with his teddy bear. It would be one of his last nights alive as the conflicted guilt ridden war criminal he was. Soon he would be a criminal again and a slight smile came to his face at the thought. He was looking forward to it.
The Alfred Rosenberg took up position within the clouds, 100 miles west of Rio. There it waited. Its design was deceptive. It looked exactly like the Hindenburg even though it used helium instead of hydrogen. It was outfitted the most modern rocket launch equipment, radar and of course stealth technology. He could sense their approach. All parties were approaching the designated areas just as he had anticipated and just as he thought they would. The spending of the organization had accelerated since 1995 and Zeitzler had been in tears over and over again at the turn of events as their balances ran down. Zeitzler had invested early in the NASDAQ but the gains were never quite enough to cover the expenses. As Zeitzler had come to realize, there was nothing for it, and even his investing in the NASDAQ had, by 1997, become more a vanity project of Zeitzler's than anything else. "I can see there is a bubble!" he said happily "it will burst in January of 2000, the Millennium." Now Zeitzler, Friedrich Craebel, Johan von Gentz and the rest of his beloved battalion of veterans were back in the depths of the Amazon, while he was here watching what was about to happen. He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and smiled. The presence, in the depths of the ship of Hauptsturmfuhrer and the Dok was reassuring to him. "Herr Hauptsturmfuhrer, would you kindly bring me a cup of coffee and milk?" The huge man went away. The police were entering the hotel just now... Ah yes, it was all starting. All these years of waiting, at last, at last, no more, no more, no more.