Fargason listened to his headset. "Two targets approaching running side-by-side. Victoria, take the one of the left. Jemeth, take the one on the right."
"Understood," each vampire replied, almost in unison.
They were some distance from London, out in the countryside of England. It was a full moon, giving ample light to the area. Rolling hills stretched off into the distance, as those stars bright enough to best the moon's attempt to blot them out shone in the sky. It was a cool night. All in all, it would have been ideal… if not for what they were there to do.
Matt and Seras lay on a hill overlooking one of the back roads running across the hills, each with a sniper rifle in hand. He would have looked over at Seras, but he knew both had to concentrate on the task at hand. He'd already locked in his fifty-caliber silver round and had pulled the rifle tight into his shoulder. He peered along the sights toward the closest hill, casually wondering just how far away it was.
Any moment now, a pair of vampires would be cresting the hill. These two had been rampaging across England indiscriminatingly kill those in their path. They were being herded to the hill, where they would be taken down for good. It seemed that this sort of thing happened now and then, but with a little more regularity in recent months. It was tragic, but it was a good type of missions to train newcomers, like Matt.
"Range is 500 meters. In the name of God, impure souls of the living dead shall be banished into eternal damnation. Amen. Fire when ready."
"500 meters?" Matt's mind fought the concept. "Which hill is that?"
Fargason came forward and pointed. It was the third hill away.
"What? I can barely see the top of that hill! How am I going to be able to aim at something over there?"
Seras replied before Fargason could. "You can see that far. Trust me. Just relax your eyes, and you'll see your target come into your sights. Just like on the shooting range."
Hearing her words helped calm him. "Ok." He did as she instructed. 'Eh, maybe this whole master thing won't be so bad after all… I listen to her anyway. Now I have more reason.' Suddenly, he saw them: two men running down the road far faster than humanly possible. Focusing on the guy on the right, Matt took aim at his head. He saw the man's red eyes, dried blood on his cheeks. There was no question this man was a vampire. "Target in sight. Permission to fire?"
Fargason's deep voice replied. "Granted. Take him out."
Matthew fired, and a fraction of a second later his target fell in a pile of ash. His comrade dropped in a similar fashion moments after.
Fargason spoke into his headset, "Targets have been silenced. Victoria silenced target A, and Jemeth silenced target B." He turned to Matthew. "Congratulations, Jemeth. You are now a member of the Hellsing organization."
The trip back was a silent one. Matthew simply sat in the transport, unconsciously swaying with its motion and staring at the far wall. Seras gave him a couple concerned looked on the trip, but kept silent. They checked their weapons back in and started back to the basement together. Seras spoke first. "I think that was the hill I fired from on my first successful mission."
She was trying to distract him, and he really did appreciate it. But all he could mutter was, "Really? Interesting." Realizing he was talking without thinking, he gave his head a quick shake. "Sorry. My brain is bringing up some difficult questions."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
He shook his head. "Not yet. Later maybe. I'm just gonna go get some rest."
"All right, then," she said with a nod. She probably figured he'd tell her when he was ready, or that she could pry at another time. "Rest well." Seras turned off down a different corridor. Matthew continued towards his room, hoping he would actually get some sleep that night.
There were no missions over the next few days, so Matt slipped into one of his routines. Routines were important to him. He'd used them for a long time in his life to make sure the important things got done, or that he at least made it through a day in one piece. Right then, they were a lifeline to sanity. He stayed in his room, thinking over what happened during his first mission.
He'd taken a life. Well… kinda. Ever since he could first really reason, he and his sister had learned about firearms, and how to use them. It had come to the point where whenever he picked up a gun he checked if it was loaded. An unloaded firearm was safe, though you still never pointed it at anyone, even if it was no better than a club at that point.
But still, he'd killed someone without even thinking it to be wrong. Had he somehow violated all that his father had taught him? 'I'd have to ask him to be sure…'
Matt did go on his computer now and then, but he didn't go on-line. He'd gotten permission for one e-mail, but he hadn't asked for anything else. He would wait a little longer before asking Sir Integra about permanent internet access. Seras had stopped by a couple times as well, trying to keep his spirits up. Matt had figured that she felt sorry for him, knowing how difficult the transition can be. He appreciated the effort, though he really didn't want to come across as needy. He hoped he could make up to her for all the help she'd given him.
One day he awoke and walked to the mirror to ensure he was still in one piece, something that had quickly joined the new routine. As he checked around, he noticed that all his muscles had been enhanced. 'Perk of being a vampire…' He sighed, seeing this as yet another change taking him further away from what he used to be. Matthew wondered how much of his humanity he was going to loose…
A couple more days of routing later, an alarm broke his concentration. That meant he was about to start his second mission. He'd probably be required to kill again… He gave a sigh, numbing his thoughts. He had to focus on what he was doing. 'Desperate times…' He got up from his chair and started for the door. He stopped as he passed by the table. Atop it was a bucket of ice holding a bag of blood. He briefly considered drinking it, citing he may need the strength for battle. But he shook his head. 'No. I can wait.' He ran out the door, making his way up a floor and joining the crowd heading to the assembly area.
He met Seras there. She'd grabbed her cannon before joining them. Matt decided to stay at stand-by. He'd noted one transport being loaded with munitions, so he could probably select something once they arrived; once he knew what was going on. "You up for this?" Seras asked.
Matthew shrugged. "Not like I've got much of a choice, huh?" She paused, then gave a grave nod as Fargason hopped up on a platform to give a fast briefing. He told the group that they'd received reports suggesting a vampire and several squads of ghouls were massing in a building on the other side of the city. They didn't know what they might be planning, but that didn't matter. The techs would figure that out later by sifting through whatever the vampire had there. Alucard would deal with the vampire while Matthew and Seras joined the human troops against the ghouls.
It turned out that someone had made the armament decisions for him. Matthew was given an M-60 machine gun paired with a backpack of ammunition. He quieted his mind, which had been raising more questions, as he slung the backpack on and got into one transport. Seras sat across from him. They were the last in, so they would be first out when they arrived. The transport started moving out. Matthew looked up at Seras and quietly, or at least as quietly as the noisy transport allowed, asked, "So what's the plan, oh fearless leader?"
He got the desired effect; a chuckle from Seras that helped calm his mind. "When we get there," she replied, "you and I lead the way in. Shoot anything that's not human… other than us, of course."
Matthew nodded in reply. "Got it." He checked his ammo. It looked like standard copper jacketed lead ammunition. He gave a slight frown. The ammunition for the rifle last mission was silver. He looked back at Seras. "I take it lead works on ghouls."
Seras nodded back. "Yes. Just be sure to hit them in the head or heart. One shot, two at the most, should take them out. I'll set myself up near the door to give cover fire."
"Then I'll run in gun blazing, I suppose. Don't take to long getting set up with that howitzer of yours. I might take them all out before you can launch a round." He put on a façade of cheer, not wanting to let her know exactly how he was feeling; nervousness, dread, and strangely enough a small amount of excitement.
A few minutes later, the transport came to a halt. Seras grabbed one door and flung it open, Matt following suit with the human troops close behind them. They were nearing the outskirt industrial zone, where abandoned buildings could be found. This office was one of them. Its windows were boarded up, no light emanating from it. Graffiti stretched along one of the sides; an alley. The best entry was a double door, in the middle of the front wall.
They assembled by the door; rammers up front, Seras and Matt second, and the rest of the troops behind. Matthew reached back and grabbed the ammo belt hanging from the backpack, then brought it up to his M-60 and loaded it in. He yanked on its charging lever, pulling the first round into the chamber. Off to the side, Fargason met with a field observer and another officer. The other wore the standard Hellsing uniform. He had a young face, probably in his twenties. A pair of blue eyes peered through his goggles and very dark brown hair could be seen under his helmet. Matt leaned over to Seras. "Who's that?" He pointed to the officer.
"That's Marcus Johnson, Fargason's chief field commander," Seras replied. "He's been leading many of the larger groups operations recently. Word has it Fargason's grooming him to be his replacement for when he finally retires. He's a good soldier; former SAS, Special Air Services. High level troops in the Royal Air Force." Fargason walked away and Johnson started over to them. "He's good at leading the troops."
"Thanks, Seras."
Johnson started with talking to the vampires. "I want you two to go in first. Head to the sides of the room and give covering fire for the rest of us." He waited for Seras and Matt to nod, then turned to include the others. "We'll be going straight down a short hallway in this building to a large meeting hall. The latest intel showed the ghouls in that area. Let's form up, and move out." His orders were straight forward and to the point. He'd do as a CO.
The doors were locked shut, so a pair of soldiers brought a couple portable rams to the head of the group. The human troops were armed with MP5s with Walther P99s as sidearms. Each checked their weapons were loaded and ready, flipping the safeties on until the last possible moment. With a nod from Johnson, the forward troops slammed their rams into the doors with enough force to break the lock and fling them open. Seras and Matt, the next pair, charged in. It was dark, but Matt's newly enhanced eyes gave him a clearer picture of area.
Johnson took position next to the soldiers of Hellsing. "You'll head straight down a short corridor and into a large meeting hall. Last intel shows that's where the ghouls are. Good luck." Straightforward, to the point… Yeah, this guy would do as a CO. He signaled the rammers to go. They charged ahead, slamming their rams into the wood double doors. They flew open, and the rammers stepped back dropping rams and pulling up their MP5s. Seras lanced out, running full tilt. Matthew was hot on her heels with the rest of the troops following. The doors to the meeting hall were already open, and one ghoul actually looked up. The vampire was apparently paying attention at that moment, as the ghouls started to form up.
Seras entered the room and started right, looking for a good firing position. Matthew entered moments after and moved left, firing the M-60 from his left hip. Its 7.62 mm rounds tore through the ghouls, some taking several bullets as Matthew's aim moved high enough to hit their hearts. They dropped in ashes and body parts. The rest of the troops entered, firing short bursts from their sub-machine guns and finding cover behind overturned tables.
Matt looked over at Seras and saw she was about to fire. He fired a couple bursts to clear the few ghouls around her and waited. He was curious about that cannon of hers. She fired, and the cannon's loud report actually made Matthew flinch. He could see the projectile as it crossed the room, taking out a line of ghouls as it flew to connect with the far wall. 'Damn! I'm glad she's on our side!'
Matthew took aim again at another small cluster and fired. He got off about five rounds, enough to take out the ghouls, but realized he'd fired all the belt of ammo. He reached back to grab another belt as he checked the others. The human troops were at least holding their own, but a sound of panic drew Matthew's attention. One soldier's MP5 had jammed, and he was trying to pull its magazine and check it, but pair of ghouls were about to drop on him. There was little time to act, and Matthew was the closest to him. So, with a yell to try and draw the ghouls' attention, Matthew sprinted to the soldier's aid and with a wide swing slammed the ghouls' heads off. They fell in ashes and pieces. The soldier nodded in thanks, loading in a fresh magazine.
The combined firepower of Seras, Matthew, and the human troops quickly sent the remaining ghouls to whatever lay beyond.
All was silent as the troops, returning with no losses, started back for the transports as a clean-up team went in to put things back in order. From the shadows, Alucard appeared and pulled Seras aside for a private talk. Matt watched, but did not approach. Then, as suddenly as he appeared, Alucard stepped off and vanished into the night. Seras stared after him for a while. Now, Matthew stepped over to her and looked as if trying to see what she was looking at. "Something?"
She simply looked back with an 'its nothing, please drop it,' look on her face.
Matthew nodded in reply. "So, back to the barn?"
"Yes," she replied, though not with the slight smile Matt had hoped for. "Now we head back."