Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own demented imagination.

Authors note: I am pleased that you are all still with me on this and I am grateful to the new followers. To be honest I was starting to feel like I was on stage, with crickets in the background. Feedback is most appreciated, please. Note that I am using the Hellsing animation mostly as my reference now, not Ultimate. I hope that I am still doing justice to wonderfully created characters that are not mine, and that errors will be forgiven.

Chapter 23

Seras moved over to where Ferguson had indicated, the rifle slung across her back and a box of ammunition in each hand. She was glad that she'd had the presence of mind to grab them before her master had literally dragged her back to the mansion. She only hoped that she had enough – because from what she was hearing in the conversations around her, this was going to be bad.

She caught up to the rest of the Hellsing sniper squad and exchanged greetings. She was on friendly terms with most of them as they often trained together and as such, they were more or less used to her abilities: vision, speed and strength. She had learned to banter with them, and form bonds. Every time Hellsing deployed ground troops, there were always two snipers on over-watch duty. Seras had performed both of those duties when on missions that didn't include her master, and although she had never felt the need for extra protection – it was always nice to know that there was someone watching her back.

She turned to their squad commander – Hector, to ask about mission details and he filled her in with what they had picked up so far. A formal mission briefing would be starting shortly, but in war, every bit of info was vital.

Hector was a burly man who was known for his quick wit and his short temper, especially if you didn't hit what you were supposed to. He also had a penchant for abhorrent cigars, and the squad had often speculated on the odds of Hector being tracked and shot by their smell alone.

She was surprised when her hair was roughly tousled by someone that had come up behind her. Spinning round with bared fangs, she was surprised to see Josh who had sauntered up to the group, also with a large case across his back. She was about to speak when Hector got in first.

"Hey Smith," He said, taking a long pull on his evil smelling cigar. "We were wondering if you'd remember where you belonged. You've been scarce."

Before Josh could answer, the men crowded round, trading good natured insults and catching up with personal news. They hadn't missed his familiarity with Seras and Hector asked:

"I take it you already know our little long-shot here?"

Sera blushed at the nick-name she had earned because of her unnatural range of sight.

"We've met a few times." He nodded.

"Good, then you won't have a nervous breakdown when I tell you that I've paired the two of you already."

"You don't even know my course scores yet."

"I don't need your scores. It's a match made in heaven, my long-shot and my lefty. Shit, the rest of us might as well go home."

After this cryptic exchange, the two men burst out laughing, shook hands and then turned away to begin checking their individual equipment. They paired up in their assigned patterns and conversations were murmured, ammunition traded and cigarettes passed around.

Seras recognised the pattern. They needed to establish a connection with their mission partner, needed to make sure that they were both on the same page. It was this that made them as efficient and as deadly as they were.

Having been assigned in a roundabout way, Seras set up next to Josh and asked quietly:

"So you're a sniper too? How come I've never seen you in the squad before?"

"Remember, I was only transferred back to troops when Jane took over munitions. Although I got my old army rank, they hadn't assigned me back to a specialist squad. I was just in general infantry until Major Ferguson made up his mind. With all the practice scores he demanded, I guess he wanted to make sure my sights weren't rusty."

"I can't imagine they were." She said lightly, although inwardly she was dying to ask. She knew that there wasn't a human that could be her but it was nice to find talent that could at least halfway keep up.

Josh could read her like a book and he chuckled, and said:

"This is a mission, not a fishing expedition. How about when this is all over, one day you and I take a go round on the course?"

Seras burst out laughing, amused at how much he sounded like his sibling who had threatened her master with an 'interesting time one day' the last time she had been with them.

The merry sound bounced and echoed of the machinery of war and off into the night. It was then drowned out when the steely tones of Major Ferguson came booming out on the loudspeakers:

"Attention Hellsing troops!"

All movement ceased and then there was a general shuffle as everybody turned to face the small platform Ferguson had mounted so he could be seen.

"I will now give you a broad mission briefing, your squad and unit commanders will have the specifics. Please remember that there are some unknown quantities at play here and we'll have to adapt accordingly."

"At least 48 hours ago, a hospital in Hellesdon was attacked by a vampire, who proceeded to make more vampires. The number is unknown but the police patrol that reported it noted more than one. That patrol never came back. We are operating on the assumption that no one is left human in the hospital which means we are looking at figures over 600. Knowing what we do about the vampire kind, this means that we are looking at a minimum of 500 or more ghouls."

"The vampires themselves are not our primary concern. We've already sent Alucard in to deal with them. They are his primary target and he will not be able to offer support in fighting off ghouls."

He paused for a moment to let the numbers sink in, and then continued.

"We have already sent infantry ahead to work with the local police force to start evacuating the general population. They are being told that there is a serious gas leak somewhere in the area and need to leave for their own safety."

"Another group of infantry is also en-route and will form a circular cordon around the town at a maximum of four kilometres, with the singular purpose of keeping any wandering ghouls within that area. More troops will meet up and form rings at one kilometre intervals and they will move inwards, driving anything and everything that isn't human back towards the hospital."

"Fire teams will take up positions on the hospital grounds and put down anything that is driven into the area by the patrols. Snipers, this is where you come into play."

He was interrupted by the heavy beating of helicopters rushing overhead and he waited until they were gone before continuing.

"Sniper teams will be put into position by helicopter on surrounding tall buildings. Your job is to make sure that nothing leaves the hospital building itself. Every door, every window and every other point of exit must have a pair of eyes on it. If it moves and it's not one of us, kill it."

"The rest of the infantry is going to go in as two teams, one from the roof and one from the ground. Their job is to protect and ensure insertion of one demolitionist and one welder. The plan is to hold the ghouls at bay, giving the demolitionists the chance to plant explosives and then we pull out and the welders seal the fire doors on each floor, keeping everything in."

"In short gentlemen, we are going to annihilate everything that moves and then incinerate them along with an entire building. Now let's get moving and may God and Her Majesty be with you all."

"Amen!"

Integra watched from the windows as APCs and trucks rumbled out, their headlights stabbing through the dark while helicopters thundered overhead, their rotors rattling the windowpanes. Never in all her time as the head of Hellsing had she mobilised all the troops and although the cause gave her chills, the sight of it filled her with pride.

She waited until the last vehicle left then returned to her desk, which had been set up with a radio set so she could receive updates straight from the field. A sound from the doorway made her look up and see Walter coming in followed by a maid with a tea trolley. She raised an eyebrow at the incongruous timing, as well as the fact there was a whole trolley. The maid dipped her head and left, leaving the butler to take the cover off a tray and bring it over to her desk.

He deposited a tray firmly on her desk and she could see that it wasn't her usual tea and a biscuit. It was supper and the determined look on Walters face coupled with the force that was used to put it in front of her meant that she was going to eat it, whether she wanted it or not.

"Really Walter?" she drawled.

His reply was to sit in a chair, cross his arms and look at her with a raised eyebrow. She sighed but obediently picked up the cutlery and began eating. After the first mouthful, she realised that she was ravenous.

As she ate she watched her oldest friend and noticed that he was not in his usual work attire. The white shirt and blue tie were nowhere to be seen, nor were the white gloves. In fact, the only colour that she could see other than black, was a red tie.

Finishing the meal, she remained silent as he used the house phone to call a maid to remove the trolley and to bring tea and coffee. She knew then that he was planning on staying with her the whole time and realisation dawned - it wasn't Walter the butler sitting in the room with her. It was Walter C Dornez, the angel of death.

"Do you wish you were out there?" she asked, leaning back in her chair.

He regarded her with that steady gaze that had always reassured her in the past, while he was raising her and she believed him when he answered:

"I don't, not any more. Nothing satisfies me more than serving you here in the mansion, Sir Integra."

"And yet here you sit, as an active Hellsing operative..."

"We've stripped the mansion and the barracks of every able-bodied soldier that we have. I'd be a poor servant if I just waited around to pour tea. Speaking of which..."

He added, standing up as the maid arrived with the drinks. She bustled out with the trolley and Walter closed the door behind her, flipping the lock on.

Integra watched as he moved with that unconscious fluid grace that belied his age. He served her tea, himself a cup of coffee and returned to his seat.

"This is going to be a long and difficult night, with some very hard choices to make." He stated. "It seemed appropriate to dust off my more... cold blooded counterpart."

Integra gave a short bark of laughter at that statement, considering that most of the staff believed that Walter had ice-water running though his veins.

Then she said quietly:

"Thank you, Walter."