Chapter 4 - Illustrious
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Trampling through the red-carpeted corridors of the manor, silence persisted between the trio of supernatural humanoids.
Illustrious would have continued it, but curiosity got the better of her scientist side. "What are the 'anti-vampire munitions' that...um...Sir Hellsing just mentioned...Miss Seras?"
"Oh." The vampire turned her around to look at Illustrious, while continuing to walk forward. "From what the expert says...they are just the 'normal' ammunition that you shipgirls use, just with some blessed silver added to the shell tips or the shrapnel. After all, blessed silver is the only weapons that can truly wound vampires." A clear, slightly high-pitched sound came out of her mouth.
"Only 'blessed silver?' Even if vampires had enhanced strength or resilience, would they also die to having enough force applied to their bodies?" Illustrious asked, a confused expression forming behind her glasses.
"Oh, that works too. The problem is that even the basic of all vampires are just that
resilient, able to withstand a lot of firepower short of a naval cannon. Add to that the various ridiculous abilities they can acquire and the fact that you can't bring a naval cannon any where you like, you have a really big problem." Seras clarified.
"I...see." Illustrious answered. The talk of vampire resilience though got her even more interested. "How do you attain that much strength though? What exactly makes you that strong?"
"...well, its actually a combination of high resilience and powerful regenerative abilities - hang on, are you asking this for your 'research' project?"
Illustrious replied with a deadpan, undeterred, "Yes."
"...well, I think this isn't the proper place to discuss this here...you have to ask the scientists on how it works."
"I see." For the remainder of the trip, silence persisted.
Down they went down a staircase, and reached a set of heavily armored double doors. A tap on a access panel installed next to the doors, and they slid open, revealing something similar to what the shipgirls had seen at their bases - shipgirl resupply docks, with a tall male figure waiting inside.
The male figure turned around, revealing his features; he was wearing a wide-brimmed hat, a smirk with a cigarette clamped firmly between his lips, and a messy combination of a military coat and civilian clothing, with a scarf around his neck. Seeing Seras and the shipgirls, his smirk grew even wider, and he made a small wave.
"Yo, Seras! About time you brought down our guests." The newcomer spoke with a thick French accent.
"Wait, you have one of those Frenchies working here?" Warspite reacted with surprise when she heard the man speak.
"Well well, and you must be our cute little racist, Warspite!" Ignoring Warspite's shocked and scandalized expression, the man walked over and offered his hand in greeting. "Pleased to meet you too, the name's Pip Bernadotte, and I shall be your commanding officer for tonight."
Even Illustrious, normally unflappable, blinked her eyes at Mr. Bernadotte's announcement. "That's all fine and good, but why would a French person be working with a secret British organisation, not to mention being one of its commanding officers?"
"Hmmm...its a long story, perhaps its best that I explain it at a different time, when we aren't rushed like now! Anyways, I suggest you get yourselves prepared while I begin the briefing."
The shipgirls settled into the shipgirl resupply docks - obviously Hellsing had procured them from the Royal Navy; they needed those if they wanted to operate shipgirls. They comprised of a seat for the shipgirl herself, with various cranes and ammunition stockpiles scattered on the 'dock' that ringed around the ship. Completing the image was a bunch of fairies flying about, eager to begin their jobs.
As both shipgirls settled down, they summoned their rigging, the combination of magic and decades-old technology appearing around their uniforms. With that, the fairies got to work - a whirring aound came from the shipgirl docks as the fairies readjusted them to fit their masters. Cranes began spinning up their ropes, and ammunition crates were slowly and carefully unwrapped, before gently loading them into ports.
"So, how long will it take,
mademoiselles?" The Frenchman asked with an attempt to sound gentlemanly.
"Around 15 minutes; this is just a simple reloading exercise." Illustrious answered. Shipgirls often only had their ammunition loaded just before missions, so as to prevent misuse - which was really important given their personalities and attitudes.
"15 minutes, eh? Well, let me start with the briefing then." As Mr. Bernadotte finished speaking, a projector screen descended behind him, and it lit up with the image of a map. The map displayed a aerial view of a town and the countryside around it, with the actual town situated in the centre, a forest to its south-west, and fields on the surrounding side.
"I'm sure that Miss. Integra has given you some information on what happened, but let me go into further detail. Basically, we had several cases of missing children from this very town, and they disappeared in very...strange ways. So, Hellsing came along to investigate, and suddenly, the group investigating the forest suddenly vanished."
"Now, we are sending you in because, not only to allow you to understand how we operate, but because this...is not the work of a normal vampire." The Frenchman paused for a moment, letting the implications of his statement sink into the shipgirls. "Vampires usually don't really care about the evidence they leave behind, and by all that is holy do they leave a
mess. Blood all over the place, guts splattered on the wall...you get the idea."
"The thing is that, the past few days we have no seen anything like that, so, assuming the worst, this isn't the work of a newborn vampire who is busy indulging in his newfound demonic powers - this bastard has an agenda on his mind, and is probably prepared for someone bringing the hammer on his head. Even then, Seras could probably wipe the floor with his face, but its best she has backup as well - which you two come in."
"So, here's what we will be doing," Mr. Bernadotte snapped his fingers, and the screen zoomed into the forest. "We will be doing a two pronged attack to flush the bastard out - upon arrival, we will split up into two groups - me and Seras will enter the forest from the west, while both of you shall be entering from the east - although it will be more Warspite doing the assault while Illustrious will be scouting or scanning the area with your planes. Any questions?"
Illustrious raised her hand. "You will be also participating in the assault? Are you another vampire?"
Mr. Bernadotte shook his head. "No...I'm something...
less, you could say. Actually, I better get prepared myself..."
Suddenly, the lower half of the Frenchman's body turned into the same crimson shape that Seras had displayed earlier, and melted into the wall of the manor. Moments later, he reappeared behind Seras, and the vampiress raised her right arm, which melted into crimson tendrils. Those tendrils grabbed hold of Mr. Bernadotte's body, and dragged him off the walls and
into Seras' body, and the both of them 'melted' together.
The two shipgirls looked upon the scene with dumbstruck silence.
"Ah, that's much more comfortable." He looked at his watch. "As it turns out, we have some more time! So, is there anything you wish to talk about?"
"Erm..." Warspite thought to herself. "Perhaps you would both introduce yourselves more thoroughly?"
Seras took the initiative. "I used to be part of the police. Then one day, me and my squad tried to arrest a vampire, and the bloody thing murdered me and everyone else. I survived thanks to Hellsing, and got turned into a vampire for my trouble. Fast forward a few years...and here we are."
"As for me..." Mr. Bernadotte spoke, "I used to be the leader of a...'mercenary outfit', known as the Wild Geese. You can probably find me and my men's exploits on the internet if you dig hard enough. Anyway, after a bad incident Hellsing hired me and my men as contractors. Then, well, 'something' happened, and I lost my life, Seras managed to keep me alive with her vampire powers, and like she said, here we are."
"Those are rather colourful backstories." Illustrious remarked.
"Almost as colourful as yours! I did some research on your...previous selves before we met, and now that I met both of you, suddenly the way you acted according to your files makes a lot of sense." Mr. Bernadotte took out a cigarette, but it disappeared with a flick of Seras' finger, who then glared at him.
"So...would you mind telling me more about your powers? Perhaps you would know more?" Illustrious asked.
A few metres away, Warspite sighed at her questioning, plopping her face into her hands, while the two Hellsing operatives exchanged bemused glances.
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