You had complete radio silence on Alucard, but that was to be expected. It's not as if you had expected his radio to survive impact or anything. Right now, Integra and the rest were waiting on satellite imagery to verify that Alucard had taken the ship before they send a helicopter to pick him up and return him to the mainland. You breathed through your nose as you at and listened to a few admirals bicker over exactly what sort of forces you could expect to see. Yanagawa seemed similarly bored, and took up his time sharpening his sword on a whetstone he had brought on the trip to him. If he hadn't already sent it, he probably would have been fussing over the calligraphy of his challenge like it was a love letter. Or was it? No, stop it. No more strange implications about your military personnel, you had actual issues to attend to today. On the other hand...
You straightened up as you considered the idea. The warrior types did have strange inclinations, although you had assumed that his were limited to anal-retentive form and a sociopathic approach to swordplay. But could he consider a battle to the death to be some sort of romantic proposal? Was your premier swordsman getting shacked up?! And how fucking bored were you to be seriously considering this? Momentum cut by the cruel knife of common sense, you sigh and flop over the table. In the uproarious argument that's taking place, your apparent exhaustion goes unnoticed, save by Tomi who slides over to your side.
"Well, how are you feeling, Renko? I can practically feel your enthusiasm bursting out of your pores." You groan quietly as you pore over what a drag this day turned out to be. You had paced in worry after denying the Nazi cat fuck, and called Ieyoshi to make sure they were aware of the possible threat. Still, it wasn't easing your mind much, and you had yet to get a call back from them. So either he had not attacked yet, or everyone you ever loved was dead save your adopted children. No use worrying about it, you thought with a wry grimace, even as nerves sent your stomach rolling.
"Oh, just fine. There was a small annoyance earlier and now I'm a bit twitchy. Once we get to go home, i'll feel much better. I'm sure." You heave out a tired sigh, and focus on everything except the mess that likely awaits you at home. Tomi sees the worry creasing your face, and smiles a bit sadly. Reaching out, she squeezes your hand before throwing her hands up spins in the office chair she's seated in. You smile a little at remembering your best friend's insistence on having a chair she can spin in.
"Well, we come bearing good news, so that's a relief. With any luck, we'll simply kill them all and go home. Then you and Nagare can get up to all the naughty, domestic lesbianism that you get the urge to go through whenever you spend an hour outside of each other's company." You send up your thanks to the kami that no one around you can speak English save for a bored swordsman and your friend. Then you let your gaze bore into Tomi as you reach out to grip her hand.
"We didn't have time to talk earlier, but I have to ask. How was Nagare when you last saw her? I've talked to her on the phone, but how does she look?" Tomi's joking expression falters a bit, but she keeps smiling at you and pats your tight grip with her other hand.
"Ah, she's fine, Kochika! Probably huddled up in bed with entire seasons of her favorite tv dramas. I'm sure she'll be back on her feet by the time we get back!" Tomi's vague question dodging doesn't miss your notice, and she sighs in resignation as your gaze bores into her. "Okay, fine, I'll talk. She was in a bad way. Writhing like she had been shot in the gut. It was pretty bad, to be honest. Eventually the shock of her connection being lost uh, got through her system, and she really did start getting better. So she'll be alright!" You give up on the glaring and rub at your temples in a vain attempt to ward off headaches.
"Alright, you just said something about a connection being lost. Explain that to me. I'm afraid that they didn't cover the technicalities of a destroyed shrine in my training." Tomi looked a bit uncertain, and the hand wiggle she gave conveyed that.
"Well, that's a bit uncertain. I mean, it's always kind of up in the air when that happens. I can only think of a few examples, to be honest. Itsukushima has been damaged before, and the Meiji period in the mid to late 1800's had a few instances of serious damages, but besides that… well, it's one of those things you never hear of, even if it does happen. I mean, who's going to tell? My best guess? You kill the avatar and Nagare disperses, and has to spend a few years drawing strength from the land and pulling herself back together again. Or she's gone forever. Or she pulls together another avatar immediately. There's not really any precedent for this, Kochika. Sorry." You sighed too much already, so you just recline in your chair and try to not think about the fact that the supernatural entity you had married was now under immense strain due to an effect that has little to no precedent. Because you know. You needed that today.
"Excuse me. If everyone could look this way, I am starting the meeting now." Naturally, everyone in the room looks up at Integra's voice. She isn't exactly subtle, but that is outweighed by how demanding she tends to be. Although, for all that it helps her stand out, you're more than aware that one of your friend's faults is that she tends to operate by bending others to her will rather than working off of them. Still, a thought for another time. Integra seats herself at the table where she was the last time you had all sat in the war room. "First, we carry news from our trip to the fey. I believe that Mrs. Takauji, as our resident expert, is the best person to explain what exactly occurred." You can practically feel Tomi swell up with smug next to you, and you try not to sigh as she jumps up onto the table in a grandiose fashion.
"Hello! I am Takauji Tomi, all of you may call me Takauji unless I say otherwise. I'll take questions shortly, but first I'll talk about what happened with those fae things. The deal is actually pretty simple. They want certain areas of Ireland to be made off limits to passerby, and protected legally. And a whole list of exotic plants and herbs and the like, though I have no idea what they want with that." One of the military generals around the table seemed to take on a worried look as he asked a question.
"How much of Ireland exactly? And do you think these "exotic" materials will make them stronger, or dangerous to the crown?" We need to think this over carefully before we accept the deal, after all." Tomi blinked a them and laughed.
"Oh, no, we already accepted the deal." There's a moment of stunned silence as the entire table explodes into angry shouting. Only Integra seems unsurprised by the admission from Tomi. Which made sense given that she was probably the one who approved it. The military officials seem to realize this too as they turn to her in anger.
"Sir Integra! I demand to know what you were thinking! Giving up our own soil to some sort of malicious fairy group, and then supplying them with what could be magical weaponry? Are you insane!?" This came from some easily forgettable admiral with a beard, and Penwood leaned over to try to enforce some calm, which was largely ineffective with a shaking voice.
"H-hold on now. I'm sure that Sir Integra has an adequate explanation as to w-why she chose to do so. She's, uh, not the type to make reckless… she's not the type to make foolish decisions. Sir Integra?" Despite his wavering personality, his rank seems to be enough to get the other officials silent, if not calm. Integra just lights up another cigar, taking her time to blow smoke even as a few officials went lobster red with rage. Finally, she looked up with her constant smirk set firmly on her face. To be frank, you don't think you could pry it off with a crowbar.
"Simple. The first thing they asked for was the entirety of the United Kingdom. When that was rejected, they scaled down to just the entirety of Ireland. When we rejected that as well, they wanted large shrines to the fae to be constructed in multiple public spaces in every city in the UK and for fae worship to become the official religion of the UK. Do you want to hear the other dozens of demands they made, or is that satisfactory?" A little stunned, some of the officials shook their heads and swallowed, while the others entered various states of confusion.
"That's preposterous! They can't have really expected those demands to be met, could they have?" Integra shook her head in pity even as the other officials nodded in agreement.
"That's your mistake, gentlemen. You seem to be confusing these creatures with humans. They are not humans. They barely understand humans at all. The only reason that we even managed to get the list of ingredients and protected spaces so small is because Mrs. Takauji here put herself at great risk engaging in a chess game with one of the fae." Tomi nodded happily, beckoning with her arms as if she were expecting applause. Unfortunately for her, the room remained silent until one of the officials coughed.
:This doesn't cover one problem, Sir Integra. I think we can agree that the terms are reasonable given the situation, but that doesn't excuse the fact that you made this decision without consulting a single one of us. How do you defend such a unilateral offense?" Multiple officials nodded and grumbled in agreement, but Integra just stared them down and took another drag from her cigar.
"The Queen told me to ride down this Nazi scum, and drag them down to hell where they belong. Not in so many words of course, but that's what the Hellsing Organization is made for. Search and Destroy. I've been given as much authority as I want in order to do so. I could sell off the entire city of London and probably get away with it under the authority that I have. So unless you wish to call to the queen in order to negotiate just how much authority I can use, accept that you all are advisors, and near useless at that." Silence is the only response to Integra's words, and she smiles slightly in triumph.
"Heads." This comes from Walter at random, and is explained as Miyako snatches a coin from the air. She looks it over and grins at him with her shark-like teeth.
"Tails. My win, old man." You look over at her in confusion, but she just waves you off. "It's nothing, mom. Just settling something with Walter. You'll see in a little bit." Either it really was a childish bet, or she doesn't want to tell you in public. Well, you can trust that Miyako knows what she's doing. That will have to be enough.
"The final piece of business is the Russian Operative that was sent our way. Her codename is Богатырь, phonetically Bogatyr. It appears to mean ancient hero, or some approximation. She's very obviously not fully human, but she certainly acts like one. Russian folklore is not something I can speak of with any serious knowledge, so if she is supernatural, we have no idea what she is. Her abilities are unknown, but she has simply stated that she goes wherever the most enemies are. It's likely that she has frontline specialty. She's sleeping off her flight at the moment, but I've included a picture in the file in case you ever need to identify her." As she spoke, some of the lower ranked officers passed around files to everyone at the table. You scan yours quickly before you close it and focus back on Integra. She clears her throat and everyone's gaze focus on her again.
"Now, we should go over the general strategy for the defense of the city, as well as how to deploy to any areas quickly if they do attack." One of the other generals raises a hand, and Integra nods at him to ask his question. The old man cleared his throat, and spoke with an even and level voice.
"You seem very convinced that they will attack London. Why is that? I'm willing to believe you, of course, but I would feel better about organizing this defense if I understood the full situation." Integra nodded and smiled a bit. Honestly, Integra was rather easy to please if you gave her some respect. Otherwise she tended to drag it out of you with an iron will and a tendency to hold grudges over generations.
"Of course. First off, the Major is not a tactician, he's a madman. Those are not two separate things of course, but they are for him. He wants to meet in a war as if the World War had never ended. That meets head to head, trench warfare, all the direct and violent conflicts that period is so famous for. But we don't charge the trenches with bayonets anymore, and so he is going to try to force us into direct confrontation the best way he knows how. He's going to attack something we have to defend." Integra motions to the satellite imagery of the ghost ship with her hand as the military officials take in every word.
"His taking of the ship means that he's putting himself on an aggressive footing. Not unexpected, but it confirms that he will be attacking. And more importantly, soon. He pulled that trick because he knows that Alucard is our only foolproof option. Deploying Alucard leaves us undefended, and easy prey to the Nazis. Just as they planned." One of the admirals, perhaps the same one from earlier, stood up out of his seat. His face was boiling with anger, and you could practically see the veins in his neck.
"And you did it anyway? Your performance so far has made me wonder if you have ever suffered a tactical thought in your life!" Integra rose out of her seat, prompting several other officials to do the same in defence or in protest against the admiral's words. Poor Lord Penwood looked increasingly desperate as he attempted to regain control of the situation. You were considering throwing in your two cents as well before Integra's voice cut through the trainwreck of shouting.
"If you would all shut up!" The piercing tone managed to cut off everybody else, and a few of them even looked sheepish at their reactions. The disruptive admiral was still on his feet however, and Integra zeroed in on him. "Now, Admiral, if you would stop being a bloody imbecile and think, you would notice that we do, in fact, still have supernatural assets. Our allies from Japan have very helpfully contributed a heavy force of allies to the protection of this city, including many people who, by all rights, could have stayed behind. Instead, we have some of the best masters of magic of the east at our disposal thanks to their generosity, and you are pointing at me as if I have erected a wall out of child's blocks. Your disrespect is insulting to them, shameful to our country, and overall inexcusable of your rank. If you have not been demoted by the end of this ordeal, I will make sure it happens myself unless you shape up, and start using the brain that somehow landed you your current seat at this table." Silence reigned as the admiral started to bluster and the officials still standing sat down slowly.
"S-So what? We're supposed to rely on some foreign magic to defend ourselves from our greatest enemies? How can we trust them to defend us against such a threat." At this point, Integra rolled her eyes in exasperation before sitting down heavily.
"Because, they're also our oldest enemies. They've been planning this for decades. In all those decades, they haven't really changed, and neither have we. Except for our allies, such as Mrs. Renko. They didn't spend years decades infiltrating and planning against their forces like they have ours. When they attack us, it will be with forces that we will be completely unable to understand at first. If Alucard was here, we could simply run them over anyway, because Alucard is a supernatural force of nature." You can't help but pull a face at that.
"If I may contribute, I would say that Alucard is very, very, unnatural. But I do agree, the sheer amount of endurance that Alucard provides is nearly unkillable. If you have him on the field, you have an army." Integra looked a bit irked at being interrupted, but she nodded at you regardless. Then she focused on the now pale-faced admiral.
"Thank you, Kochika. Now, with Kōan 9-ka on our side, we can both figure out our enemies tricks faster and have surprises of our own to spring on them. I expect them to be able to somehow stop our mundane defences, or else they wouldn't be so aggressive. The only way they can do that while outnumbered as they are is by supernatural means. So Kōan 9-ka disables that, and we crush them with Her Majesty's forces. Any questions?" The admiral looked somewhere between sick to his stomach and furious, but he visibly swallowed his words and sat back down. Integra smirked in response, because she was Integra Hellsing.
"Uh, Sir Integra? Something strange is happening over here." Integra is at the communications officer's side in an instant, looking over his screen for any inconsistencies. Not seeing any, she leveled a stare at the obviously startled young man. Curious, you wander over to see what the incident is over. You have no doubt that Tomi and a few of the other officers were doing the same, and the low-ranked officer straightens under the attention. "Ah, well, i'm getting a strange message from one of our naval bases. I can't make heads or tails of it." Integra slides his headphones over her ears to listen in, and her brow creases in confusion.
"Kochika. Come see if this makes sense to you." Blinking, you accept the headphones from her and slide them on. Immediately, your head is filled with the monotone droning of multiple people. You recognized it immediately as one of the buddhist mantras that your monks chanted on occasion. But, when you listen to it closely, you can easily detect the English accent chanting them. With a sudden urgency in your movements, you tore off the headphones and placed them back on the counter. When the officer reached for them, you smacked his hand away.
"Well, good news and bad news, Integra. Good news, I think I know what that is. The bad news is that every base where that message is coming from is very likely compromised, and the others are probably dead. Can someone confirm that, by the way? It's a solid guess, but it's still a guess. I would love to be proven wrong." Accepting your words and motioning for the personnel to do as you say, Integra turns to you with wariness written all over her face.
"And what exactly is this, Kochika?" You took a deep breath as you digested this. Denbe… For some reason, fucking Denbe had infected entire bases of the British military with devout buddhism. And was transmitting it outwards somehow. Then again, there was no proof that the transmission alone would be enough to infect the mind, but then what was.? Your mind snapped back to reality as you realized that everyone was still looking to you. You grimace and turn to Miyako and Yanagawa, and address them first in Japanese.
"It's Denbe again." You grimace further as Miyako tenses up, and you feel sympathy. Denbe molds you to his will, and whether that will is for the best or not, it was incredibly disturbing to feel your innermost nature change because of an idle thought or random proverb. Not that denbe was the kind for either, on second thought. Still, you turn to the rest and speak in English.
"This is the work of an old friend of ours, a man named Denbe. Years ago, Denbe left the organization after he attained Enlightenment and became the Buddha." There's a sudden shock as everyone begins to shout. Integra shuts them up with a few choice words and turns to you with confusion evident in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Kochika, but what are you talking about? There's only one Buddha, and he died centuries ago." You sigh as you try to think of how to explain.
"Not exactly. The Buddha is a title, more like, and only the first Buddha has ever reached it. There are others who have come close, but they choose to stay behind and help others achieve nirvana. Buddhism isn't my expert subject, but that's what I can best summarize it as. Denbe managed to achieve the enlightenment that would bring him to Buddhahood. He left to wander the world and spread wisdom for a few years to ascend to nirvana. For some reason or another, he didn't do anything to expand the religion, and instead vanished in South America. Or at least, that's where we lost track of him." Integra vigorously massaged her temples, before staring at you in resignation.
"So how do we stop this? Get our soldiers back?" You frown and mull it over. Then you hesitantly shrug.
"Well, there are only a few options I can think of. Either I develop counter seals, which would take intense studies and months of development. Or we kill Denbe." Integra eyes you dubiously.
"And you are sure that killing Buddha will release his control." You shrug once more.
"I hope so? At the very least it prevents him from messing with our own soldiers. But it could be work, and I can't think of any other way to break his control quickly. Killing a deity is, unfortunately, the easiest way." Integra took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. When she looked at you, her eyes were steel again. Well, nobody was quite as adaptable to impossible tasks as Integra, you suppose.
"And I don't suppose you have knowledge of his capabilities? Or and combat prowess he might possess." You don't really have anything to say, but Miyako speaks up.
"Don't let him touch you. Ever. It'll feel like the best thing in the world, but you won't be you anymore when he lets go." Miyako seems to go stone-faced after she says that, but you nod in agreement to Integra. Without focusing on the incoming threats, your thoughts drift to Denbe, and what on earth he must be doing. Betraying you like this? Denbe would never. Was this some strange sort of otherworldly perspective shift, or had Denbe really changed that much. It's not like they could hold the man with no connection to the earthly realm hostage, or threaten him with blackmail. And then you think of Nagare, because of course you do, and you heave a giant sigh at all the shit that's coming down all at once.
"Pardon, Sir Integra! But I'm afraid this strategy session is over!" You turn to see one of the lower ranked officials had drawn his pistol, and was now shouting over the whispered conversations of the other officials. He was baring his teeth as he did so. Very sharp teeth. Well, you suppose you understand what Integra had meant by them infiltrating her forces. The vampire looks like he's going to say more, but your people are faster. Yanagawa had his sword half drawn already, but Miyako was already locked and loaded, and shot the vampire between with a silenced pistol before he could get out another word. She jumped up in the air and spun around, firing off rounds as she circled to headshot another six people in the crowd of officials. As she settled back on the ground and holstered her weapons, silence fell.
"Yanagawa, can you behead the people I shot? I want to be sure they stay dead." Yanagawa nodded to Miyako's rapid fire Japanese and starts chopping off heads, while the assorted personnel look on aghast. Miyako looks at everyone looking at her, and clears her throat. "Apologies for the confusion. I had the vampire infiltrators picked out, and so I chose to kill them as soon as they revealed themselves. You may return to your strategizing." Quietly, the other officials do so, strenuously avoiding looking at the corpses. You raise an eyebrow at Miyako, and her sullen visage.
"I assume this is what you and Walter flipped the coin over?" Miyako nodded as Walter chuckled from his position at Integra's side.
"Yeah. It… doesn't feel as fun now." You smile sadly and pat your adopted daughter's shoulder. It was unfortunate that Denbe's presence would bring her down so much, but you don't blame her. Denbe was practically her creator. It would be weird if she wasn't affected by him brainwashing scores of British military personnel for Nazis.
"Sir Integra! We have reports of incoming attacking forces! It would appear to be zeppelins and paratroopers, sir!" Integra forced her way to the console and listened in on the local radio as the police and other reports started to drift in. The general conclusion was that everything was going to hell, and it was going there very fast. Integra stood up straight and looked to you.
"Kochika. We have to gather our forces at the manor and get them to the city. Walter, prepare the car! Everyone else, they know of this position. Evacuation is recommended if you want to live." People look around desperately at their base of operations, until Lord Penwood speaks up.
"I'm afraid that I can't do that, Sir Integra." You turn away and tune him out as he gives some sort of brave, last stand style speech. Everyone was at the manor, including Akuma and Kagatsuchi. While that probably meant they were safe, it was no indication that things would stay that way. Your best bet was to get there and secure everyone's positions. A series of explosion echoed over Penwood's speech, and you flinched. Apparently, with the military bases disabled they had just sailed straight in. How… unfortunate. Still, you tune in as the speech ends and all the communication personnel decide to stay. They'll probably die soon. Unless you do something about it.
[] Keep Miyako here (High Martial, high Intrigue)
[] Keep Yanagawa here (High Martial)
[] Keep Tomi here (Average Martial, high Intrigue)
[] Leave no one. They have an honorable duty.
AN: Last set-up vote, thank god. The battle lines are drawn and the battle kicks off! This should be fun. You know, for me. Anyway, hit me up with any questions. I am absolutely sure I've missed or forgotten a few things in the last two months.And yeah, this vote is a small one, but there aren't many tactical decisions, and I wanted to end it here, so, whatever.
