Chapter Thirteen.

Their last meeting, Pip realized, had been the eye of the storm. He had been called to the heliport from the barracks via radio transmission. The radio man had said Sir Hellsing herself had asked to see him immediately.

Pip came running as fast as he could, some sixth sense telling him this meeting would have little to do with business. Everything official could be relayed by couriers of course.

She was standing beneath a helicopter, the new one with the reinforced siding. The wind from the rotors was making her hair billow wildly in all directions. Pip could see figures sitting in the helicopter, waiting impatiently.

Holding his hat on his head while his braid was blown around, Pip shouted "What is it!?"

Integra stepped closer to him, under the pretext of it being easier to communicate. "It's starting. Something strange is happening with one of the Navy's carriers. I'm going to a meeting of the National Security Council to learn more…but I've got a feeling."

"I know what you mean," Pip shouted over the deafening sound of the helicopter. "I've had it too. We might not see each other again before this is over."

Or ever again, they thought in unison before quickly banishing the thought to the back of their minds. Integra leaned in, as if to shout something into Pip's ear and planted a kiss on his cheek, just bellow his good eye. "Secure headquarters and await my return. If this HMS Beagle business really is the first salvo, it's likely they'll attack here in force," Integra shouted, backing up.

Pip grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards him. Integra managed to looked surprised and irritated before Pip's lips connected with hers. Pip took his time kissing her before she managed to pull away, looking angry and gesturing towards the officials behind her in the helicopter with a flick of her head.

"Spank me for that one later, will you?" Pip said, smiling. "Better hurry or you'll be late."

Integra gave him a quick smile before turning towards the helicopter. Pip did an about-face and headed off towards the security command post. He filled his mind with thoughts of lockdown and defensive procedures, blotting out the sense of impending doom.

When word came in that Millennium was using zeppelins, Pip issued a direct order to Seras Victoria. "Take that new Harkonnen cannon to the roof," he told her as she stood at attention in the command center. "They're likely to open up with rocket fire, trying to soften us up. I'm betting that they're not betting that you can shoot as good as you can. Knock the damned things out of the sky."

"Yes, sir," Seras said, saluting. "How bad will the attack be? I mean, with what they're doing to London, how many troops can they spare?"

Pip shrugged. "Let's assume the worst and pretend that all of them are coming here to kill us. That way we won't be disappointed if they do."

Seras nodded and left the room. Pip watched her leave and wondered who's idea it had been to dress her like that. Whoever it is should get a raise, he thought.

When the radar picked up the first bogies, Pip held his breath. Knowing that a girl, vampire or not, carrying what was basically an anti-aircraft gun on her back was the only thing standing between them an annihilation by rocket was not a good way to kick off the evening.

"Yes!" Pip shouted when, one by one, each rocket was blasted out of the sky. "Good work girl," he shouted into a microphone. "That cannon's the dog's bollocks!"

"My name is Seras, not girl," she said back over the radio.

Pip was about to issue an apology when his eyes went wide at the sight on his security monitors. The zeppelin that had fired the rockets was beaming the compound with its searchlights. Pip grinned broadly. "Stupid bastards. Seras! Shoot those Nazi bastards out of the sky! They want to blow up civvies, fine. Show them what it's like to fight real soldiers."

"Yes, sir," Seras said, happily.

Pip smiled as shells from Seras' cannon crashed into the zeppelin's hull, causing massive fires to explode across its bulk. Pip hated London. The food was bad, it was ugly and the whores were ugly and expensive. Still, no one in London deserved what was happening. It was all part of some maniacs little game…some sick little twisted game no one wanted to play. "No one except for Nazis, Catholics and vampires,' Pip muttered.

The zeppelin began to lose altitude. It was crashing. Pip's eyes widened when he realized that they were going to try and make the best of a bad situation by crashing the zeppelin onto the roof. "Seras! Book it, now!" he shouted.

No response. Pip was about to issue the order again when another barrage of cannon fire came from the roof. It looked to Pip as though Seras had switched ammunition. She fired until the zeppelin lost control of its crash, and came down hard in a field in front of the mansion, inside the perimeter fence. "Damn it," Pip muttered. It would have been nice to have another wall between them and the Nazis, but the minefield would just have to do.

Integra had once explained that vampires could dodge bullets and knives by reading the muscle and eye movements of their attackers. Land mines had no eyes or muscles, and so Pip had to smile as a sizable chunk of the invading force was blown to so many bits as they charged the compound with the burning zeppelin behind them.

"Arrogant fools. Think we'd fight them out the open all fair and square? Not likely," Pip said, leaning back in his chair.

Pip's own arrogance disappeared when a giant, humanoid shape appeared over the battlefield. Pip's jaw dropped. What he was seeing was too insane to be believed. The figure was easily the size of the mansion and carrying what looked to be a giant scythe. He could hear the screams and shouts of his men over the radio as well as those in the command center.

Pip figured they were all doomed when the scythe crashed into the mansion, destroying an entire wing. "We're out-gunned," he said quietly. "Maybe that damned Alucard had a point. We don't have what it takes to fight these…"

His speech was cut off when he saw a tracer bullet streak from the roof towards a spot nearby the towering monstrosity. A wound opened up on the thing's face as it crumbled.

"Seras," Pip said, remembering that they had their own pet monster armed with a cannon on the roof. He began issuing more orders to his soldiers, trying to get their heads back in the game.

Seras burst in through the door. "It's an illusion," she shouted. "Nothing more."

"An illusion?" Pip said, glad to hear it hadn't been real. "Blimey, what's next…"

Nazis scattering bayonets across the minefield and running over the tops of them to avoid the land mines was next. It wasn't long before Nazis were inside the compound, eating the Wild Geese as they tried to shoot back.

"We're in it deep now," Pip said, watching the monitor and grating his teeth as his soldiers had their faces bitten off.

"Well, what should we do?" Seras asked. Several other Geese had also turned to look.

Pip put his fear and frustration away. If he was going to see Integra again, he'd have to repel the invasion and hope she did as well wherever she was. "Alright. We'll retreat to Round Table Conference room. It's easily the most defendable spot in the building. You, gir…Seras are going to be our offense. When they come at us down the hall, you move around back and blast them. Hopefully they'll think your inside with us."

Seras nodded and made a salute. "Right."

She ran off as Pip and the rest of the Geese left the security center, with Pip issuing the order to fall back over the radio.

Pip had been forced to shout at a few of his men. The fact that they were all likely to die had gotten to a few of them. "Shut up," he had said. "If we have to die, then let's do it with some style. None of this crying business. Mercenaries aren't allowed to cry, do you understand me?"

They had. He was fiercely proud of his men. They were brave, they were professional, they were Wild Geese. He wished Integra could see them now, but was glad she wasn't with them at the moment. Wherever she was, it couldn't be much worse than here.

He could hear Seras' cannon booming from somewhere inside the compound. He smiled and thought the plan might work. The thick round table had been propped up against the door, which was missing a chunk from its top half.

His thoughts changed when the rocket flew in, exploding and sending metal and wood fragments everywhere. The blast reminded him of the last time this had happened. That time, he had been with Integra. He had stolen his first kiss from her…it seemed like a years ago.

When his ears stopped ringing and his sight returned it was one of his men, his torso at least, lying next to him and not Integra. "Sir," the man said, his guts dribbling out into the floor. "I'm tired."

Pip patted the man's shoulder. "Then sleep."

"See you in hell, sir," the man said, not unkindly.

"Hold the gate open for me." Pip looked over the room to see what sort of damage the rocket had done. It was bad. Only a handful of his men were alive, with precious few of those not having suffered debilitating wounds. "Return fire! Quick, quick, throw shit at them if you have to, shoot, shoot!"

Another shot from Seras' cannon, this time it was close. He heard shouts and screams from the Nazis outside and knew that this was it. Their trap was sprung and it would either bring victory or bitter defeat.

Pip took a look through the ruined door to see that Seras was facing down a woman carrying a huge scythe. Half of her body seemed to be covered in weird tattoos; no doubt it was Lieutenant Zorin Blitz, AKA the Brown Insanity. Pip had read her dossier, but hadn't mentioned the bizarre sorcery she practiced.

It looked as though she was using it now on Seras, and had been for a few minutes. With Seras distracted, Zorin sliced off Seras' arm and then promptly stuck the scythe blade through her back.

Pip fell back and scrambled for a weapon. It looked as though Zorin was one of the few vampires left standing. If they could just drop Zorin, they all might have a chance. Pip laid his hands on an automatic rifle. He checked it for bullets. Nothing. "Shit," he muttered. The only other weapon he had was a revolver that shot tear gas rounds. "Beats nothing."

He stood in time to see Zorin run her blade across Seras' eyes, blinding her. Crap…blind vampire isn't much good. Fortunately, Zorin's back was to Pip and she was gloating over Seras' crippled form. "Stupid bitch," Pip said, making Zorin's head turn just in time for him to jam the butt of his rifle into her face with a wet crunch. "Have some more," he said, shooting his tear gas into Zorin's body and a few down the hall, obscuring them from sight.

With Seras over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, Pip began laboring back towards the conference room, wondering just how the hell they were going to fight back with Seras in her present condition. Seras could heal the damage, but for some reason, it took her longer to regenerate than it took her master and creator Alucard.

"If there was ever a time I missed having that freak around, it's no…" Bullets pounded into the back of his legs and into his back, causing his body to seize up and fall forward, dropping Seras.

Pip felt Zorin's scythe thunk into his back for good measure. He was lying in the ground, face up. He couldn't move, but Seras could. She propped him up and looked at him with her damaged, unseeing eyes. "Captain!" she shouted. "What happened, are you alright?"

"N-no…" Pip choked. "I think I'm dead."

"No!" Seras shouted. "No, no, we can still…"

"Not like this," Pip said, summoning all of his strength. Damn it, I was supposed to see Integra again. She'll be pissed off now…sad even. I was a fool to do this to her. "Seras…you need to drink it."

He could hear Zorin scraping to her feet. There wasn't much time. "D-drink?"

"My blood. Drink it. You're eyes are out and your arm is off…drink. Become a real vampire and kill them. It's the only way."

"I can't," Seras said. "Integra would never forgive me."

Maybe not, Pip thought. But if she's trying to return here, she'll be furious about us leaving any invaders alive…and waiting for her. "They'll kill the men, and Integra if and when she returns. We need to fight…drink…we'll fight them together."

Pip's vision had left him. He didn't see Seras' fanged maw bite into his throat and begin sucking his blood, but he felt it. He had felt his life blood running out of him when he had been shot, but this was different. It wasn't just his blood Seras was drinking…she was drinking all of him.

Panic shot through Pip and first, but then it was followed by the calm realization that maybe he wasn't quite as dead as he thought…maybe that was a bad thing. Perhaps this was one of those Fates Worse than Death he had always heard about.

Seras, he thought. Seras, can you hear me?

I can…what have I done?

Something you had to do, I suppose. I don't totally understand it myself…maybe Alucard has some answers, Pip thought…his body seemed to be floating now.

I-I feel, I feel wonderful, Seras thought back. But, you're fading.

Am I now? I'm not sure what that means. Do me a favor?

What? Anything.

Pip had to concentrate now to make himself heard. He felt as though her fading…sinking was more like it, into something. Tell Integra that I'm sorry. And it was fun.

The End.