Red Scare III part 1

Baron was tired and completely drained as he stared at his laptop's monitor. Of course, he couldn't use his personal laptop for obvious reasons: one, he wanted to be selfish and keep his life away from his job; two, Alucard was probably going to sneak up on him at any given moment asking God knows what about every living picture he had on his screen; three, Integra said not to. Seras, a regular visitor of the new butler for reasons that were not obvious to him, was helping Baron conduct research about the EKD and their distress call from Germany. As the clicks of the keys sounded in the quiet room, Baron took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair to rub his neck. One of the other research team members offered the butler a coffee, which earned him a grateful and stunning smile, and went on to his own computer to search through countless archives.

The research department's office was typical of any other documentation center. There were bookshelves near the windows of the room and tall file cabinets that stored photographs and smaller papers in manila folders. The computer stations were cubicles with half of a wall, so the team members could face each other if questions were posed. Seras was directly in front of Baron and seemed to ask him a question every so often to understand what was being looked for. Computers weren't as important during her time. They were only used to store information about criminals and cases when she was on the force. Nowadays, computers were used for practically everything and you could find a great deal of information if you were particularly meticulous.

"U-um, Mr. Baron, sir?" Seras called, blushing. This was probably her seventh question since she followed Baron in this room. "What exactly does Sir Integra want you to find out about the EKD's call?"

"Sir Integra just wanted the department to send out an investigation team to pick up a few leads on the attacks in Moers. I wanted to pick up something else," Baron started, alerting Seras' attention. "What I'm looking for is the exact call history for the EKD between twenty calls before us and twenty after. So far, I discovered an unknown number that called the church between 12:01 and 12:11 PM. Around 2:43, they called Hellsing about a broadcast that had been sent countrywide and made a mandatory evacuation notice. That's why you and Alucard are being flown to Germany first thing in the morning. Whoever called them at noon may have something to do with the broadcast, but I'm not entirely sure. That's what I need to know. At 7:30, the EKD tried to phone the same number back but couldn't reach the recipient. Between 7:34 and 7:56 PM, the unknown number called them back. After that, no calls were accepted except from certain organizations like homeless shelters and orphanages. That unknown number seems to be strangely important."

"Why tire yourself out with extra work, sir?" Seras questioned, pouting at the older man.

Baron chuckled then said, "Oh, I wouldn't worry about me. I'm just a butler. I'm more worried about you and the other men on the front lines. Vampires are tough to fight. I dunno how you people do it."

"Vampires are nothing but slimy sons of bitches. I'll protect you and everyone else from them!" Seras cheered, smiling brightly.

"Coming from a weakling who wouldn't accept being one years ago? Now, I'm amused," a familiar voice said, startling the Draculina.

Alucard phased through the walls of the research department office, grinning widely at the conversation he partly heard from the other side of the wall. He honestly was supposed to be in Integra's office filing his report, but she told him to find Seras so she could file hers jointly with his. On his way to finding her, this happens: she talks about protecting the butler from harm, which was cute because Baron posed more of a challenge than she did, and it is as clear as day that she has developed a crush on the elder man. What's amusing is that Baron doesn't have a clue!

"Ah, our resident vampire king," Baron remarked. "What brings his highness to our humble library?"

"It must be flattering to be the object of a Draculina's affection," Alucard purred, making Seras wave her arms frantically for her master to stop talking. "Let's go, Seras Victoria. Master wants us."

"Ah, yes, sir!" Seras replied hurriedly, running out of the room. When she realized Alucard wasn't in front of her, she turned to him and asked, "Aren't you coming, master?"

"There is something I want from you, Baron van Gouge," Alucard hissed, drawing closer to the butler. "The victory flag from Russia. Show it to me."

"Sure," Baron answered, going to Google to pull up relatively simple images of the hammer and sickle. Within seconds, Baron copied several pictures of the symbol and pasted them onto a Word document for printing. He handed the sheet of paper to Alucard then asked, "Any of these look familiar, Mister Alucard?"

"This is the one I saw," Alucard responded, pointing to a yellow hammer and sickle against a red background. He showed it to Baron then said, "Sloth wore that on her cloak, and it is one of the symbols you can find on the handle of her left gun. The Nazi cross is on the handle of her right gun. If Millennium is connected to Sloth in any way, you might have to investigate much further than the archives. Some research is done better in person."

"Are you asking me to find out if she is connected to Millennium then?" Baron questioned, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

Alucard chuckled darkly then said, "No. I'll find out for myself. I haven't been entertained with detective work in years. I must thank you, though, Baron van Gouge."

"Dare I ask why?" Baron inquired.

"Dare I ask why is it that every time I go around looking for you, I can always find you within six feet of Mr. van Gouge?" Sir Integra interjected.

Alucard, Baron, and Seras turned to see Integra standing in the doorway, smoking a cigar for the first time that evening. This morning she had her smoke break, but, after that, it was lights out. She planned on quitting for health reasons, but she decided to just smoke every once in a while like two or three weeks in between. She wasn't wearing her usual black or olive green attire. Instead, today she was wearing navy blue thin-striped trousers and a navy blue thin-striped trench coat. Her blouse was a pale orange or apricot, but otherwise she seemed to match in navy blue gear. However, she also had three pistols strapped to her belt and a bandolier of ammo across her chest. Her sword was in her hand, though mostly dangling from her wrist. She was going to war with someone but who would dare do that to Sir Integra Hellsing?

"I thought we agreed to the fact that he was my boyfriend, master," Alucard commented, grinning widely when Baron growled viciously behind his back like a wild animal.

"Ah, I forgot about that. Well, tell your boyfriend to pack his things. We have a long journey to Germany ahead of us. Bring what you need," Integra said, pivoting on her right foot.

"Before you leave, master," Alucard started, handing Integra the paper with the Russian flag. "You'll be needing this. I have a feeling we'll be seeing this symbol a lot."

"Oh? Why is that, servant?" Integra questioned.

"Just a hunch, master. Just a hunch," Alucard hissed, walking out of the door and passed Integra.

____________________________________________

Wednesday, October 15, 2030

Moers, Germany

The temperature of the North Rhine region was 43 degrees Fahrenheit (6.11 degrees Celsius). Snow wasn't going to be forming until perhaps November, but the air was cold and moist enough to feel like the white rain would come soon. Cars, buses, and bikes were moving out of the city as the news broadcast from a mysterious and foreign figure echoed through the city. Black military tanks were directing the people of Moers to the city's borders with a cold finger that was icier than any snowstorm. The sun gleamed as an ominous light of dismay rather than hope onto the cobblestone streets and the tanks' metallic bodies. Once these people left, there was no telling what would become of their beloved homes or their belongings. In perfect response, an army of red-armored soldiers was marching along the streets with the golden emblem of the Russian victory flag glistening on their chests. These men and women wore no masks, but their head pieces saved their ears from the cold westward winds. Some men wore red cloaks in the form of togas, some women wore their cloaks like long skirts, and others chose to wear their cloak as a scarf instead. Then, there was one who wore the cloak as a trench coat.

Upon the cross of a brick-walled church, Sloth watched the city and her soldiers evacuate the premises. She didn't wear as much armor as she had previously on her other missions, and she was alone since Adolph wasn't strong enough to handle what was to be done to the vampires of the city. That didn't mean he wasn't nearby, though; he just wasn't at her side. Her coat had red faux fur along the rim of the hood and only her mask and torso armor could be seen on her body. She wore black leather pants to block the cold and black leather gloves. Even her boots were different: wedge-heeled tall boots without gold-knife heels attached! She was probably the most unequipped, red-armored soldier in Moers right now. As she overlooked the city, she noticed a man hiding his face in a crowd closest to the church she was hovering above. Reaching up to a button on the right side of her visor on the mask, she activated her scanning feature and noticed that the man had red eyes and sharp teeth when he let out a sigh. In one quick motion, she took out her long-barreled Millennium-marked gun and shot twice at the man. The first shot hit him directly in the back of his left knee, the other straight through the head. As he fell to his knees, women screamed and ran from him. Only Sloth could see from that remarkable distance that a vampire was trying to escape the city and stay with his only food sources.

"We're running out of time," Sloth whispered to herself.

She sheathed her gun back in its holster on her hip then folded her arms to overlook the city once more. She could hear her soldiers barking orders to the people, threatening to fire at will should she give the order. If the Germans didn't leave the city by nightfall, Moers would officially be a vampire's safe haven. As if a black plague was coming towards her, Sloth could hear the booming sweep of an airplane swooping into the nearest airport of North Rhine and bit down on her jaw. Suddenly, a dark surge of power caressed her skin through the leather and metallic fiber of her scarlet armor. At first it didn't bother her, but she began to recognize something terribly familiar about that power. What was beginning to bother was who it was coming from. The power was strong, and it wasn't human.

"Fuck!" she hissed.

Integra sighed heavily as she led her bodyguards to the city of Moers. She wanted to bring Baron along, but he had to make sure accommodations were made so Hellsing could have their own private headquarters to operate in the vampire infested city. The journey was going to be rather dull without him, but he had the pleasure of carrying four lumps of cargo: one male vampire inside of his coffin and one female vampire inside of her coffin. That's what made Integra begin to worry about this mission and this place altogether. For Alucard, a master vampire and literal monster of Hellsing, to take precautions for a mission said something about the mission. There was someone or something that was going to affect the outcome of this battle; she could only hope that the outcome on their part was going to solely be positive. Integra was actually quite surprised at the evacuation procedure occurring before her. Whoever was moving these people out was certainly intelligent and still stupid. Vampires take the form of humans and can mask themselves amongst the crowd. If the people left so would the vampires. It was relatively common knowledge amongst vampire hunters.

"Halt!" a red-armored soldier demanded, raising his hand up to Sir Integra's face.

She raised her eyebrow and observed the symbol on his chest. It was the same as the one Alucard had given to her, but this symbol served as a broach to hold the man's cloak. He was fairly tall and the armor framed his muscled torso like spandex. However, he did have lovely skin and outlined lips.

Just like Baron, Integra thought, fighting a smirk. Oh god, I think I'm beginning to miss the bastard.

He then inquired, "Wer bist du mit?"

"I'm sorry. I'm not German," Integra responded in her English accent.

"Then let me rephrase that. Who are you with?" the man asked in perfect English, accent and all.

"I am Sir Integra Hellsing of the Hellsing Organization. Father Fuhrer from the EKD called for me."

"Ah, Sir Integra!" a voice called.

Integra and the guard turned their heads to see the priest jogging towards them. He was a short man compared to the guard. A decent five-foot-seven in height at best. His hair was a cropped brown with gray side burns and splashes of gray all about. His eyes were a faded blue, rather icy even, and his lips were thin and pink. He was about average in weight also. Like many Catholic priests, he was wearing the black uniform and silver cross around his neck. A young, pretty-faced nun was tagging along with him. This caught Integra's interest since she reminded her of Seras with her clumsy demeanor. She wore a long black dress with sleeves but not the traditional nun's habit. When the two came up to Integra and the guard, they immediately bowed in respect and then went to shake hands.

"Pleasure to meet you," the couple said.

"Pleasure is mine, father," Integra said, nodding in respect. "Forgive me for addressing this, but you are rather tense compared to your guards."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Fuhrer said, smiling in nervousness. "I don't mean to seem frazzled. Some disturbing news was broadcast earlier this morning. An immediate evacuation is underway still as you can see. Also, these men aren't my guards. This is a branch from the Russian military. They're here to protect the people from the attacks I called you for. Besides you, we were trying to find this gentleman's leader. We wanted to introduce you to each other for cooperative reasons. Please, I would be honored if you would join me in the study."

________________________________________________

"I've gone through your reports for the vampire sightings. My top researcher and I have made a rather solid prediction of where the beasts will strike next. Do you have any visual evidence or a map of where these attacks are happening?"

Father Fuhrer and Sir Integra were alone in the church's main study. Like an office in a library, there were bookshelves on either side of a large window behind the priest's desk. A charming rug was placed underneath the desk and two leather chairs in the office. Some plants were placed as décor with aqua-globes in them for color, and a Kentwood water cooler and container was nearby. File cabinets were placed in an organized manner and a map of the world was in the middle of the wall along with portraits of Fuhrer's predecessors.

"Only two surveillance tapes and the map of the city on that wall. The pins and yarn were placed on it by the young lady who commands the guards you saw patrolling the city borders," Fuhrer said. He gasped, remembering something, and then informed Integra, "Ah, the nuns who were kind enough to stay behind have made accommodations for you if you don't have a place to work or stay for the night."

"No, thank you, father. We have a station not far from here. I just need to get a better grasp on the situation is all."

"Ah, I see. I suppose you may benefit from hearing the broadcast from the Registry Shield to understand the reason for the evacuation," Fuhrer remarked, reaching into the desk drawer to retrieve a TV remote. He turned to the TV at the corner of the wall behind him and pushed a few buttons to play his recordings from the TIVO menu. He then turned back to Integra as the recording was setting up and asked, "Would you like anything to drink or eat?"

"No, I am fine," Integra replied, smiling at him. He certainly was sweet, and he seemed to care greatly for his people.

This is not a commercial.

The screen sounded. It was completely black, but the voice behind the words was even darker. Images of vampires pouncing on men and women and lighting houses ablaze could be seen in rapid succession. It was like viewing a live recording of a news channel, but the cameraman was under attack or moving so the camera would only stay steady for a few moments. Integra gasped lightly then continued to hear the voice and watch the people screaming in agony.

This is not scripted reality, and this is not a game. This is a vampire. Two days ago, we received a message from a wounded father of three. He was bitten in four places by what he thought was a man. He was wrong. The images you see are real. These creatures are not men; they are not women; they are not children. These beings are vampires. We have already spoken to your political officers. Your city is being ruled by vampires and they are planning to destroy you. They have begun a mass feeding and an even more massive movement into the country of Germany. We are demanding that every civilian leave the city within the next twelve hours. Don't pack any clothes, don't leave your pets, and don't stop to wonder, think, or talk. Leave the city now. Within two or so hours, these vampires will notice the evacuation and will attempt to leave with you. Our troops are moving to protect you as I speak. You will see them within an hour after this broadcast. They can help you get out while there's time. A purge will be done to eliminate the threat that your city is experiencing right now. Please leave the city. If your city is destroyed, other cities and countries will follow until only vampires are left. Leave...

With that, the voice and the images were gone. The only thing left was Fuhrer and Integra's breathing and small gasps in between that. Integra was confused yet felt so relieved. There were other vampire hunting groups out there that realized these vampires attacks weren't coincidental, or maybe this was the only group who realized this. After all, these armored troops were the only ones she had seen take public and physical action. Even she, leader of Hellsing, didn't make her job public. This was a new era of vampire hunting, a new day of leadership, a new revolution for vampires.

"This was the broadcast received yesterday morning from the Red Scare III. One of their agents is here now, trying to screen and mobilize the citizens as fast as she can. She retires here in the convent whenever she feels she doesn't have to return to her station in Hamburg. She has been a blessing to the people. Please observe the other recordings while I retrieve the surveillance tapes in the districts of concern."

Integra nodded then scrolled down to see the other news recordings. Reporters and the citizens were demanding explanations in the forms of riots, groups, protests, council meetings. Everything about this vampire movement was frightening to the people. Some men and women followed the orders and left immediately. Others demanded an explanation. That was until one loose vampire attacked and killed an innocent bystander who ignored the warning. Integra rewound this particular recording and replayed it. Literally, in broad daylight, a vampire attacked! From the distance, it was shot through the head. The scene too graphic for otherwise sensitive viewers was caught on live television. Any other recording following the gunshot was not shown, but in later recordings troops were shown and people followed the orders at that point. No longer demanding answers but demanding help.

"What...in the fuck is going on here?" Integra whispered, gritting her teeth in anger.