Matthew's routine was broken once again by an alarm. He was about to start his second mission, which probably meant he would be required to kill again. He sighed. How could he possibly explain this to his family? It went against everything he'd been taught. 'Well, desperate times, I suppose...' He got up from the chair and started for the door. He stopped as he passed the table. Once again, there was a bucket of ice on it, a bag of blood in the ice. He briefly considered drinking it, figuring that he would need strength for the battle. He shook his head. 'I drank some a couple days ago, and I went a week without before that. I can wait.' He ran out the door and joined the crowd heading for the assembly area.

He met Seras at the assembly area. She'd grabbed her cannon before coming out. Matt hasn't sure what he would be shooting that mission, if anything, so he'd decided to wait until he heard more. "You up for this?" Seras asked.

Matthew shrugged. "Not like I got much of a choice, huh?" Their briefing followed soon after. Reports suggested a vampire and several squads of ghouls were massing in a building on the other side of the city. There were going to take them out. Alucard would be dealing with the vampire. Seras and Matthew would join the troops against the ghouls. Seras would be using her cannon, meaning she may end up doing long-range cover. Matthew would be with the troops entering the building. He was given an M-60 machine gun with a backpack of ammo. Quieting his mind, he swung on the pack and got into a vehicle, sitting across from Seras. As they started moving out, Matthew spoke. "So what's the plan, oh fearless leader?" Fargason was in a different vehicle, so it was safe to say that.

And it got the desired effect. After a quiet chuckle, Seras replied. "When we get there, you and I lead the way in. Shoot anything that's not human. Well, other then us, of course."

Matthew smiled. "Got it." He took a quick look at his ammo. It appeared to be standard copper jacketed lead ammunition. "I take it lead works on ghouls."

Seras nodded. "Yes. Just be sure to hit them in the head or the heart. One shot, two max should take them out. I'll set myself up near the door to give cover fire."

"And I'll run in with gun blazing. Might even take them all out before you can get off a shot." He didn't want her to know just how bad he was feeling, so he put on the façade of cheer. Later, maybe, he would talk with her about it. En route to a mission was a bad time to try.

Soon after, they unloaded from the transport and set up for entry. Matthew and Seras moved to the head of the group, just behind the troops with rams to bust open the doors. Matthew grabbed the ammo belt hanging from the backpack and attached it to the right side of the M-60, then yanked back the bolt to load the first round. Fargason gave a last minute briefing to another officer. The other officer wore the standard Hellsing uniform. He had a young face, and was probably in his twenties. Matthew saw a pair of blue eyes and very dark brown hair sticking out from under his helmet. He leaned over to Seras. "Who's that?" He pointed to the officer.

"That's Johnson, Fargason's chief commander. He's been leading many of the larger group operations recently. Word has it Fargason's grooming him to be a replacement in case he retires sometime soon. A good soldier; former SAS, Special Air Services. High level troops in the Royal Air Force. Good at leading the troops."

"Ah. Thanks." Matthew got back into formation as Johnson walked over.

Johnson addressed the troops. "You'll head down a small corridor and into a large meeting hall. Last intel shows that's where the ghouls are. Good luck." He signaled the rammers to go. Moments later the doors were open, and Seras ran full tilt into the building with Matthew hot on her heels. The troops of the Hellsing organization followed. The meeting hall doors were already open, ghouls mobilizing beyond them. Seras entered the hall and immediately jumped to the right to find a position. Matthew entered moments after her, firing the M-60 from his left hip. He slowed to a walk and started to the left once inside the door, ghouls dropping in piles of ash and parts as bullets connected with their weak points. Soldiers came in mowing down ghouls with sub-machine guns while finding cover behind overturned tables. He saw Seras prepare to fire, and kept an eye on her. He wanted to see this cannon in action. She fired, and a loud boom sounded from her corner of the room. He could actually see the projectile streak across the room, taking out a row of ghouls and connecting with the far wall. 'Yikes! I'm glad she's on my side!' He checked on the troops, and most were all right. He saw a ghoul heading for a soldier whose gun had jammed. There was no time to think. Matthew sprinted to the soldier in trouble and with a yell slammed the ghoul's head off with the butt of the M- 60. The ghoul fell in a pile of ash. The soldier nodded his thanks and quickly fixed his weapon. Matthew's attention went back to the battle at hand. There were few ghouls left, and those remaining did not last long against Matt's M-60 and Seras's cannon.

Victorious and returning with no losses, the troops headed back for the transports while a clean-up team went to put things back in order. Alucard appeared to the side of the group and took Seras off to the side for a private talk. Then, as suddenly as he appeared, he stepped back and disappeared into the night. Seras simply stood staring into the distance. Matthew approached, a questioning look on his face. Seras turned to look at him, and shook her head in a way saying 'it's nothing, please drop it'. Matthew nodded. "So, back to the barn?"

"Yes," she replied. "Now we head back."