"Vulture Nest, this is Jemeth, over… Repeating, Vulture Nest, this is Jemeth. Do you read, over."
Matthew sat near the mouth of the cave they'd stopped in for the night by the communications device they'd brought. It was something between a satellite phone and a radio. He had the proper frequency, but he wasn't sure about the range, any interference, or if anyone was actually listening.
The answer came fast. "Jemeth, this is Vulture Nest. Sighting?"
"Affirmative," he replied. "Coordinates, coded." He had translated meeting coordinates to a code he and the DPSD had decided on before he'd left for home. It probably wouldn't help, but it still seemed like a good idea and wouldn't add time to their ETA.
"Time?" the DPSD agent asked.
"Three days," Matthew replied. Alucard said it would take them that much longer to get there, allowing the Global Fang forces to arrive first. He still felt they should take them all out in one fell swoop.
"Understood. Will be there. Out."
Matthew hung up the microphone and started back into the cave. He paused by Seras on the way. "Your turn." She got up and started for the radio to call the Hellsing forces with the same information.
There was still time yet before they would be there, and the only big plans Matthew wondered about was the route they would take. Normally, he wanted to know ahead of time where they were going, but this time Alucard had made it clear they would be going in a rough direction. Matthew's job was to keep them on it, and follow Alucard's directions now and then for course correction or a place for the day.
That day they rested, each drinking a bag of blood before turning in. They would need their strength to be at 100 when they got there… or rather Matthew and Seras had to worry about that. Alucard… Who knew what his limits were?
They again drove through the night. They were into the outback, specifically the Simpson Desert. Sand as far as the eye could see. Matthew's enhanced vision cut through the darkness, as the moon still gave no light. There was silence in the SUV, both verbal and mental. The trio knew what was expected of them when the time came. Now was the calm before the final storm.
This continued the next couple days and night, this boring routine. And Matthew found himself in yet another cave Alucard had found, or conjured, or something. They would arrive at their target the next night, and begin the attack. As he settled in, he did another part of the routine. He pulled the auto-mag, switched magazines, and pulled back its slide to cycle the action. Putting it back in its holster, he settled back and let his mind wander.
He thought about the upcoming battle; what they would face, how he would handle it… Charlie, Breka, those new refined ghouls. Would they all come through it in one piece?
Alucard's voice cut through the silence. "Police girl, did you have to make this one your fledgling? Couldn't you have picked someone less… worrisome? I am, in fact, trying to sleep."
Matthew snapped. The constant picking had finally gotten to him, and the mix of combat and boredom had worn down his defenses too much. He stood, yelling incoherently, and drawing his auto-mag. Seras looking in horror, Alucard not even flinching, Matthew fired all seven rounds into the elder vampire. The slide locked back, the pistol empty. Matthew stood panting, glaring at Alucard, seven holes in his head and a smirk on his lips. Matthew ejected the magazine, grabbed it mid fall, and threw it at Alucard. It bounced off his forehead. Seven lead rounds were pushed from his face, falling to the dirt-covered floor of the cave. "Nice shooting," he simply said.
He gave a vexing sigh, pulled a new magazine for the auto-mag, loaded it, and reholstered it before going back to his spot on the floor. Seras was astounded, sitting and watching him for a long while after he'd finally gone to sleep.
At dusk they set out. Matthew again took the wheel. This time, though, Seras rode shotgun. Alucard sat in the back, in his own world. Seras looked to Matthew. "What happened back there?"
"I'm not sure," he admitted. "Stress maybe… I think I need a long vacation when we're done with this."
"Count me in," Seras replied.
As the sun's light faded from the sky, they arrived at the rendezvous point. There were a number of lights set up, illuminating a small area. But they were near the Macdonnell Ranges, a mountain range a little ways north of the continent's center. The rocks would block them from detection. A number of Vultures were present, along with other transports. Soldiers, both Hellsing and DPSD, were assembling. They had not been waiting long.
The trio exited the SUV, starting for where Harison and Roland were standing over a table looking at a map of the area. They looked up as the trio approached. They each gave a nod of greeting. Harison spoke first. "We've each brought a couple squads of troops. All we could move this quickly quietly."
Roland was next. "We've also brought along enough Vultures to bring all the troops over in one shot. We also got some initial recon done." He pulled up another map with the outside walls of the base drawn on it. "We know nothing of the insides, but there are two entrances here," he pointed to one wall, then to another, "and here."
Alucard nodded sagely. He was, pretty much, in charge out there. "Seras, you will lead the Hellsing forces through this door." He pointed to the first one, then moved to the second, "Young Jemeth, you will lead the DPSD forces through this one. I will enter and…" he smirked, "have some fun."
Matthew shook his head, about to make a quip about Alucard, heavy combat, and fun when a chill ran up his spine making him shudder. He looked at Seras, seeing she'd felt it too. They looked at Alucard, guessing he might've known what it was. He nodded. "Yes. It would seem our favorite Paladin has decided to take advantage of the situation. Our 'distraction' should allow him to kill many maggot vampires tonight. His enemy is our enemy tonight. Though he will attack us if he has the chance." He smirked. "Don't give him one. Though I'm sure he will be loosing more limbs tonight."
Somehow, that didn't comfort Matthew all that much. Not that he would mention it, verbally or mentally. He didn't have any more lead bullets for his auto-mag.
"When do we attack?" he asked instead.
"Immediately," Alucard replied. "They've had enough time to gather. Much longer, and they'll reorganize."
Alucard looked at Matthew. Matthew nodded and spoke, "In the name of God, impure souls of the living dead shall be banished into eternal damnation. Amen."
The group broke up, Seras sending one last "good luck" to Matthew, and Matthew giving one last reply. His gear already strapped on, Matthew walked with Roland to the DPSD staging area. He smiled a bit at seeing them. Here they were, about to go into battle against 'demonic' forces, and they were relaxed. Their morale was high, probably because they were taking the fight to the home of the forces that had given them a sore chin. Seeing Roland and Matthew approach, they quickly formed up into ranks. Roland shouted his instructions, which were pretty simple: break in and eliminate all threats.
Both teams loaded into Vultures for the short hop to the Global Fang headquarters. Alucard watched after them for a moment before vanishing into the darkness. The ride was quiet, the troops getting themselves focused for the coming battle. The Vulture touched down, its doors sliding open. Moments later, DPSD forces were assembled and moving for the base. Though there were a number of lights, no vampires or ghouls met them. Seemed they were content to wait…
…behind a rather large, reinforced, metal door. Matthew wondered if the need for stealth meant simply blasting the door down was a bad idea. He dropped the line of thought when he heard Seras's Harkonnen's blasts emanating from another part of the base. With no further delay, he swung up the modified Valkyrie, a round already in line to fire. "Fire in the hole," he yelled to the troops. He pulled the trigger.
The Valkyrie gave a deafening report, one of its three-inch shells blasting a hole in the door. But the door itself remained. 'Hmm…' The disk rotated, bringing the next shell in line. He fired again, this shot blasting another hole in the door. A third shell to the damaged seam between the doors flung them open. He led the immediate charge into the base, sliding Valkyrie to the side and grabbing Spitfire from his back.
Silver bullets flew from his rifle, joined by those from his fellow troops. Here was where the forces of the Global Fangs had been waiting. They were only slightly disoriented by the breech, and their return fire killed several of the human troops. The DPSD forces fought with great skill, finding places of cover as they advanced and kept up the fire on their foes. The Global Fangs fought with determination as well, but their recent defeats left them somewhat demoralized. After a few minutes of fighting, they started pulling back into the base.
The DPSD broke into squads, Roland leading one and Matthew leading the other. They set off through the base, breaking down every door and checking every room, all the while fighting off any Global Fang ambush that sprung at them. Meanwhile, he heard the constant sounds of gunfire, including rounds from the large pistols carried by Seras and Alucard. He had little doubt they would survive the night, but he was still relieved to know they were all right, for the moment.
It became apparent quickly that the base extended deep into the mountain. Many tunnels were carved from the rock, including at least once larger amphitheater. Dark, orange-brown rock made up the walls, with concrete making up the floor. Light fixtures had been attached to the ceiling, power cables running between them. Suddenly, Matthew stopped, his hand coming to the side of his face as he concentrated. He temporary XO, Stephens, came up beside him. "What is it, sir?"
"There are humans here… Being held by the Global Fangs… Probably for the next phase of their plans. They're Aborigines, collected from the local region. We're gotta help them. They might be turned to ghouls if the Global Fangs need reinforcements… or simply want to deny them from us."
Stephens nodded. "Of course, sir. Which way?"
Matthew concentrated on what he'd felt, and pointed ahead and right. "That way. Follow me."
"Yes, sir." He turned back to the squad. "Jemeth located some hostages. We've gotta get them out now. Move out."
Matthew led the way, the squad fighting their way through the base. The Global Fangs had apparently gone to a new level of defense, as the corridors seemed flooded with ghouls. They had been gathering all their forces in this one spot, so they certainly had enough quantity to kill the intruders. The skill of the DPSD forces would hopefully keep them alive that night.
They neared their target; something similar to a jail. They could tell from the windows that the Aborigines were still alive, but they also saw a trio of vampires walking for the entrance. They noticed Matthew and the DPSD squad, and immediately leapt for cover. A snap shot from Stephens hit one of the vampires and knocked him down. Matthew, who had switched to his brownings, fired the kill shot.
One of the vampires appeared behind them. It seemed he knew he was able to be silenced because he immediately leapt upon one of the squad members, sinking his fangs into his neck. Matthew put a bullet through the vampire's skull. In the distraction, the third vampire had approached to kill them all. Matthew spun around, putting a pair of nine-millimeter bullets into his chest. The vampire fell to ashes. He turned back to the bitten human, who now held his sidearm to his temple.
"Don't do it!" Stephens ordered. "The medics can save you! Put it down, soldier!"
"I won't become one of them, sir. I'm sorry." His face showed the steel of his resolve. He pulled the trigger.
The DPSD troops were silent, for a moment looking at the body of their comrade. "We'll come back for him," Matthew promised. He knew they would accept no less. Eulogies would have to wait, though.
It took a few minutes to free the Aborigines. Matthew, telepathically, told them all that they would be freed, but to wait a moment after the cell doors were opened. They would be taken to safety. As the opened the cell doors, a voice broke into Matthew's thoughts. 'Matthew,' Seras's voice came, 'come over here. There's something you should see.'
'I'll be there in a minute. I'll explain when I get there.' He turned to Stephens. "Escort these people from the base, then continue your sweep. Link up with Roland's squad and work with him. I've gotta meet Victoria elsewhere in the base."
Stephens nodded. "Will do, Jemeth. Good luck."
Matthew gave a small smile. "To you as well."
He left the holding area, Stephens's squad moving the Aborigines down the corridor and carrying their fallen man from the battle. Matthew had few problems moving through the base, his brownings showing anyone who got in his way what a bad idea it had been.
He saw Seras waiting in the corridor, a pistol pointed in each direction. The piles of ash and ghoul parts told him she hadn't been too bored waiting for him. "Found a bunch of Aborigines. Some of the DPSD guys are getting them clear. What've you got?"
She nodded to the door, and followed Matthew through it. Inside was a lab, complete with fume hood, beakers of liquids with a variety of colors, and books of notes. Matthew knew what this was all for, but Seras said it instead. "It's where they've been refining Shalrik's formulas, making their enhanced forces."
Matthew sighed. "All this trouble from that one damned discovery. Someone outta kill Shalrik for it."
Seras chuckled. Matthew seemed to have a knack for random comments to break tension in battle. It was a little more rare those days, but at times he could still pull one out. "For now, let's just blow this all up."
"Sounds good to me," Matthew replied. "Got something in mind?"
Seras handed him two of her exploding Harkonnen rounds and pointed to one side of the lab. He got the idea. They each set a pair of Harkonnen rounds in the room, then backed to the door. Each aiming their twin pistols, they fired.
Fire rolled through the lab, burning notes and shattering beakers sending chemicals to the floor. Once the fire cleared, all the Global Fangs had done to recreate Shalrik's formulas was destroyed. The two Hellsing vampires nodded to each other, a job well done.
'If you two don't mind, I'm about to engage Breka. If you'd care to watch?'
'We're on our way,' Seras replied to Alucard.
Seras lead the way through the tunnels of the base. They made short work of their foes, but one managed to toss an old grenade before he turned to ash. Seras and Matthew leapt in opposite directions. Both were unharmed, but the corridor between them collapsed. 'Go on ahead,' Matthew said to Seras, 'I'll meet you there.'
'Be careful, Matthew. It appears these foes have some tricks up their sleeves.'
'Of course. You too, Seras.' He picked a side tunnel and started off. The overall gunfire had lessened, meaning the Global Fangs had either been mostly killed, or escaped. But Alucard's mighty pistols kept the air alive with bangs. Matthew rounded a corner, and was suddenly looking another vampire in the eyes. The other already had his gun pointed at him. Matthew aimed and fired, and the other vampire turned to ash.
But immediately after, the vampire's shot drilled into Matthew's torso. He gave a yelp, this bullet stinging more than the usual. 'Is this what it's like to get hit with silver? Damn… The rounds I use must hurt like hell.'
That thought lasted for a fraction of a second.
Suddenly, the bullet exploded mercury, blowing out a good-sized hunk of his torso. Matthew screamed, falling to his knees as the pain cut all his strength. He looked down at the wound, seeing pieces of organs that hadn't been blown away or vaporized. He saw a few pieces of broken rib, and watched as blood oozed out of him. He could almost feel some of the remaining mercury burning one of his lungs. 'It's not healing…' he thought in a state of shock. 'Isn't it supposed to be healing?'
'What am I going to do…?'