Welcome to the Madhouse :Hellsing Organisation:

[sebastian]

Everyone was starting to settle in and become expectant; waiting for the meeting to begin. He too was in a state of minor suspense. He was merely a servant here, though a damn efficient one; but he was allowed to be present at these meetings thanks to his status with Integra. Upon the collar of his tailcoat, a small silver pin gleamed where the Phantomhive one had once been. But rather than the Phantomhive coat of arms; it bore Hellsing's. He'd created that very pin the evening when he'd reconstructed the manor.To be honest, as he was the only servant, it really wasn't necessary. But the moments when he was sent to do things outside of the manor were times were identification was necessary.By now, people all over Hallowton had grown to recognize the symbol. With the very Victorian style of the place; it alleviated any suspicions of people he passed while on such tasks.

It was then he became aware of Sparda's gaze on him; and he turned his head to make eye contact, expecting a request. But no, it was merely a comment; a compliment perhaps? Truth be told, he was rather offended by the the term 'manservant'. But he supposed it was a close-enough description to himself. The head bowed in a humble acceptance. "The words of such a distinguished guest like yourself are an honor to me. I strive to provide only the highest quality of service possible." A thought struck him then. He was well aware of Sparda being a demon; but was Sparda aware of the same regarding the "butler" he faced? It didn't matter really if he did; but it was still an interesting thought. Sebastian was very curious about all the other demon species which existed here, probably more so than they were of him.

When Integra introduced those who were present he merely inclined his head again in acknowledgement as he waited for the meeting to proceed. He did notice that Maricul hadn't been introduced; and he sent a glance in the vampire's direction. She didn't seem too pleased. And amused glint entered the gaze as he turned his attention back to Sparda and Integra. He was well aware of Integra's plans for Maricul... She wouldn't be looking so upset about being "left out" for too long. There was an important task ahead of her... But he wasn't at liberty to speak of those plans to the vampires, which was why he hadn't spoken to her much since her arrival.

[Sparda]

Of course, Sparda was aware of the demonic nature of the butler. His aura was somewhat foreign, not of a variety the Dark Knight was intimately familiar with, but spoke of a very firmly leashed inner strength; perhaps a level of primal instinct being kept under lock and key. Interesting.

He returned his attention to the proffered introductions, looking at each named individual. He made a point of visibly noting Integra's neglect - or refusal - to introduce the could-be Maricul across the table, but couldn't put his finger on a reason for it. Wouldn't bother asking. When he was given the table, he nodded at Integra and cleared his throat, but the raven-haired alternate Mari would hear his voice echo in her mind as he prepared to open up.

"Let me guess. Maricul, correct?"

"Okay," he began. "First, our ever-changing geography." He waved his hand over the map, and a violet light pulsed into being in the shape of a large sigil enclosed within a circle. It floated into place over the giant span of Isafaro. "On the west coast, Isafaro is a militaristic giant in possession of technology that's centuries ahead of most of its neighbours. Its leader, one General Vulture, made a declaration of war some months ago, seeking to conquer the continent. Helping keep his war machine at bay is one of the primary purposes of your employment here."

He inclined his fingers towards himself, and the marker of light floated to Jherrazad. "Jherrazad inhabits the south-western deserts. It keeps to itself, maintaining a somewhat medieval technology level and moderate standing army. An acquaintance of mine, a young vampire named Chloe, recently took over as Empress..." Perhaps regrettably. It was a shame indeed that that power had changed her so. "As Sir Integra is aware, a large force of demons makes way for Jherrazad as we speak, though it's hoped they can be stopped before Hallowton comes under threat."

Next stop, Aircano. "Aircano is an interesting place. The home of most of the worshippers of Yahweh, god of Jherra, it's a small and self-sufficient city state. Ironically enough, it's been destroyed twice since I arrived here, both times by servants of Yahweh we'd do well to avoid. But that's an explanation for a later moment."

The sign moved across to Moon Valley. "Moon Valley was a modern, peaceful city, recently turned into the source of our second biggest problem. It apparently plays host to a large hellgate, through which this marauding army of demons came to Jherra from their underworld. If we're forced to deal with it, a priority will be to close this gate."

Next, their home for the time being, Hallowton. "Here in Hallowton, a city once renowned for the non-violent, entirely peaceable nature of its scholarly people, we've dealt with more than our fair share of violence and belligerence. Most recently, shortly before your arrival, we fended off a huge assault from Isafaro that left the place half-ruined. Months before that, we've had an incursion from an independent foreign warrior following the reputation of a colleague of mine in order to hunt her, and even before that, the assault of an immensely powerful vampire was barely repelled.

"And finally, perhaps the most important location in Jherra." With a wave of his hand, the sigil moved over Kari. "The city of Kari, said to be a technological rival to Isafaro, used to be completely buried beneath a vast glacial plain known as the Crystal Expanse." He waved a finger, and a pale blue construct of light formed over Kari, marking the rough shape of the Expanse as it had been before it was melted away. Just as quickly, the image faded. "What makes Kari so vitally important is a very curious structure within its walls..."

The sigil shrank down, centering over the huge tower depicted at the heart of the city, then rose into a three-dimensional hologram of it. "On clear days, it can be seen from almost anywhere on the continent. They call it the Downward Spiral, and by whatever individual mechanisms, it's safe to say it's the reason we are all in this alien world. Its origins and the details of its functions are a total mystery; all that's known is that within its seemingly endless halls are gateways to equally countless alternate worlds, from which we and many others have been drawn for over a year. I'm sure you can imagine why such a power has to be kept out of ill-intentioned hands, so healthy relations with Kari are vital to us."

[Stranger]

Integra would include her own briefing as well to inform her people further, "Mr. Harker has filled me in on the war with the Vulture Army. He's informed me of a number of high class targets that have taken up the fight against him, one of which is Gabriel Lachney, the host of a entity known as the Darkness. I've reason to believe that Gabriel was linked to an iteration of the No Life King, Dracula. Given the footage I've seen it isn't the same Dracula who was under my employ.

"However, this man has become a target of interest as well as a woman simply dubbed the Stranger who possesses power similar to Alucard. Harker went on to further explain the fall of one of the resistance bases and a heavy influence of a riot in a sector that Gabe liberated. So far we know of two other agents of the resistance," Integra took a pause and drank from her tea cup.

"If Harker was here I'd allow him to enter the debriefing, however, he's handling business in Kari from the phone call I had received earlier about a shipment of stationary turrets to fortify Hallowton. Harker has explained to me that the Vulture Army is in control of a orbiting platform called the Novalith Cannon. This weapon can destroy sections of city without the fear of being destroyed, it has teleportation capabilities which send troops to the ground. If I'm to send any of my teams there you'll be faced with such a weapon.

"It's also safe to say that I have no interest in understanding this Downward Spiral. If it's vital to keep it out of the enemies hands then we shall do just that. In order to combat a demon army though, we will need information on high value targets and points of interest in their defensive protocol. From what reports I do have the army is lead by a red headed woman and a bald sorcerer. Other than that, I have no further information on them."

[Ayen]

Maricul only blinked when Sparda said her name inside her mind. She didn't answer mentally out of fear that Integra or someone else standing in the room would catch on and she'd be scolded for not paying attention.

"It's also safe to say that I have no interest in understanding this Downward Spiral. If it's vital to keep it out of the enemies hands then we shall do just that. In order to combat a demon army though, we will need information on high value targets and points of interest in their defensive protocol. From what reports I do have the army is lead by a red headed woman and a bald sorcerer. Other than that, I have no further information on them."

“Ranko,” replied Mari after several minutes of hush silence from her. “Her name is Ranko.

“Former Empress of Jherrazad. She wields a demon blade called 'Kasul' which is the most feared weapon in the entire continent. It has the ability to devour the soul of any individual it comes in contact with and then any abilities that person possessed will belong to Kasul and the chosen wielder. The Empire was notably one of Vulture's biggest threats and led to more money and resources going into research on weapons and equipment to counter the demonic power that came from the Empire. Leading to the nullifiers and various other equipment the Crimson Vulture now brings with them into battle.”

[Sparda]

Sparda fell silent as Integra followed him up with her own information, addressing the rest of the room as much as the demon himself. After taking another sip of his tea, he raised the slice of pie and carefully took a bite, quickly setting the dessert back down. He nodded subtly - it was as delicious as he had been expecting - and kept his eyes on Integra until she had finished.

Very quickly, though, before he raised the questions that had come to mind, the silence was broken by the unnamed vampire, who answered Integra's rhetorical query about Ranko and went into a depth of information about Jherrazad and Isafaro that even Sparda had been unaware of.

"Interesting," he remarked, happily enlightened. "Thank you, Miss." He returned his gaze to Integra. "If news reaches us that Kari falls to these demons, I'll see about arranging an advance scout to gather information before we marshal our defence. Now, what exactly is this Harker gentleman bringing to the table?"

[.:Amilia:.]

The roar of the engine was much louder than the yells of the rioters as the muscle car pulled head long into the crowd parting them. The man who stepped out of the car adjusted his tie ducking under one of the rioters punches recognizing him as the man he basically trapped in his old car and kicked out later on. He drove his foot into the mans testicles and dropped him to the ground on his hands and knees. Harker locked the car with the car remote and took his first step onto the mans back and over him.

He made his way to the Hellsing gates very casually understanding that all eyes were on him. The gates opened and several armed personnel stepped out pushing the crowd back as Harker entered the Hellsing grounds. He made way for the front door allowing the men there to open them for him. "Someone lead the way." He said in a very sarcastic tone until one of the defense personnel lead him to the study.

As usual Harker wasn't a man of subtle taste he didn't bother to knock he just pushed the door open and closed it behind him inviting himself in, hey he paid the bills around here.

"Good evening everyone. I took the liberty to catch myself up to speed with your little meeting," he walked over to the table reaching under it and took the listening device back putting it casually in his pocket. He pointed to Sparda, "I'm glad you've asked. Now normally I'm in the business of developing weapons a man can carry. You may have noticed the update in the weapons around Hellsing considering they're no longer carrying around the obsolete M4 models that Ole London issues their troops.

"Instead they are holding a custom creation of mine that can put the likes of yourself to his knees if you were to step in front of it and take a full burst from the weapon. Each one of them is designed to perfection hand crafted by some of my most amazing weapon artists, they do commissions I might add," Harker took out his phone, "Now as Sally will show you," he set the phone down and it came to life.

"I've basically got this down to a science. Take note of several images that will be displayed during the course of this slide show. You may also want to take up Sebastian on the offer of tea and blood. The demon army basically draws their power off of a single position, a hell gate that fuels them and technically makes them impossible to kill. Fun fact, kill enough of these guys annnnnd you get to do it all again when the Hell gate resurrects them. So, I've developed the Auto-turret. Of which is currently installed in Kari.

"What does it do you ask? Well you didn't, but I don't care I'm going to explain anyways. The Auto-turret locks onto a certain type of energy and uses that energy against the target. It will pick and choose targets shooting them to death over and over again thinning the heard. If that army suddenly adapts to which ever enchantment is being employed then it will change to another enchantment. This can buy up to an hours worth of bullets basically hammering the entire demon army. Once the demon army gets to Kari I will be moving my shipments here to begin installing these turrets across Hallowton and using the testing data from Kari to perfect the formula of murder that the turrets need to... well murder."

Harker pointed to Sebastian, "Be a sir and pour me a cup of tea," Harker lowered his point and looked back to everyone else, "If there's no questions I'll continue."

[sebastian]

The entire explanation Sparda gave about the major cities was followed closely by the demon. He wanted to learn everything there was to know about this world; as he would be trapped here for an undetermined amount of time. It seemed as if this world was in the middle of a rather large war; one that really hadn't been going on too long. The magic Sparda was using also served well in catching his attention. He'd never seen such use of magic... It was... Astonishing to say the least. It was when Sparda shifted the view to Kari that some sort of understanding finally hit. This was the reason why he had been brought into this world... Why he had been released from his eternal contract. It was certainly a matter of priority to keep such a place on good terms with them... However... What if, in his service to Hellsing, he would end up in that area and made to fight to defend the tower? He had no interest in returning to Ciel's world. Here, he was free again... And this world was simple much more interesting as well. For all he knew, getting too close to the tower could send him tumbling back into the Phantomhive's palms... It wasn't exactly an appealing thought...

Lost in his musings, he had failed to hear the majority of what Integra had said. With difficulty, he refocused his attention upon the matter at hand. Now wasn't the time or place to concern himself with the unknown. He heard only the part about defining the tower, and the bit about a red-headed woman and a bald sorcerer at the head of the opposing army. He honestly hadn't the faintest idea of what it was all about, but it was irrelevant. Maricul on the other hand... She seemed to know something Sparda and Integra didn't. He filed that away for future reference. Sparda's appreciation of the pie didn't go unnoticed; the butler was quite pleased that his improvised tea compliment was acceptable.

Then... The sound of a distant approaching car drew his attention; and he proceeded away from the table to glare suspiciously out of the large, and only, window in this room. A gloved right hand rose to pull aside the curtain, and he felt sudden exasperation. Hadn't Integra just mentioned that he was in Kari...? He wasn't entirely certain with what she had said, thanks to his attention lapse; but obviously... He wasn't in Kari now. It wouldn't be long before the noise was noticed by everyone else in the room; even to those feeble human ears which were present. Sebastian sighed and released the curtain, allowing it to swing shut over the window again. He was soon standing at Integra's side; leaning over her shoulder and whispering into her ear. "My lord, Harker is almost here... It seems he is not in Kari after all..."

He straightened up, his face expressionless; though a frosty glitter had appeared in the crimson gaze. Sure enough, in under a minute; there was the commotion from outside as the car pulled up, and groan of pain from a civilian who had probably gotten in the play-boy's way. Soon, there were footsteps in the hall, and the door swung inward as Harker himself showed up. Just like last time... No proper etiquette at all... Then... The demon's eyes narrowed dangerously as he pulled some sort of tiny machine off the bottom of the desk. Some sort of listening device? How the hell... Had he not seen the thing when he cleaned the room prior to the meeting? What if that had been some enemy bug, spying upon a secret adjourning of powerful people. He added a mental note to keep a keen eye out for such machinery in the future.

Within moments, Harker was blabbering away about some weapons of his; not even pausing to consider he might have been interrupting a rather serious topic. All the way through the man's words; the butler was staring straight ahead, as if he were trying to set the door on fire with his gaze alone; and not look at the filth which had just entered. Would any other unwelcome visitors drop by? He still didn't trust the rich man, though he showed no evidence of it. He hid his dislike well; with the ease of long practice. His face was a mask, at least... Until Harker pointed at him and made his demand. Sebastian locked his eyes with the other; and allowed a smile to cross features as he bowed his head slightly. "Certainly..." Was all he said, turning to the platter and pouring some of the steaming liquid into one of the cups. He placed it on the desk before Harker, next to his phone; before backing away again to take up his place at Integra's shoulder. He resumed his staring at the door, though the gaze would occasionally flicker back to pass over those who were present.

[Stranger]

"I see," she simply said in reply to Maricul and went on to listen to Sparda. She looked to Sebastian as he informed the room that Harker had arrived and no sooner did Harker enter the room going into a long speech of how he's planning on doing the most damage with the least lives possible against the demon army. Through the entire presentation Integra had taken to enjoying her tea and dessert. She eyed Sally and the information that was given by the high tech phone before Harker finished and asked if there were any questions.

"Impressive to say the least. But you cannot be thinking that you're only going to be getting away with placing turrets on the ground. Am I correct into believing you'll be aiding troops as well?" She looked over the steam from her tea directly at Harker with that normal piercing glare she gave off to those she believed to be inferior to her fellow man, and Harker was always on the bottom of her list, his mannerism didn't show a gentleman, he was a pompous ass. However, he paid the bills and was a genius to boot, she couldn't complain with the performance increase her troops have been given.

[Sparda]

The whole time Harker had spoken of one of his planned weapons solutions, after swaggering in late from whatever prior engagement, Sparda had watched with slightly narrowed eyes between sips of tea and small mouthfuls of pie. He knew this self-motivated playboy type, and though Harker must be quite an intelligent individual beneath that demeanour, it was still pompous and irritating.

He remained silent, having no questions and finding Integra had one to raise about more of Harker's plans for Hallowton. Seeing no need to add anything, the demon continued to eat, drink and listen.

[.:Amilia:.]

"You are correct Miss Integra," Harker said taking the cup of tea and nodding to Sebastian. He set the tea down instantly and put a hand out to the image his phone was showing sliding his had across it the display came up and he enlargened it by spreading his fingers apart. The image was a prototype of a machine. The machine itself had a large sword diagnostic settling next to it.

"Alright. So, the legendary fellow over yonder ways enjoying that there pie would recall the armored unit on the battle field that was the Vulture's ace in the hole against the Hallowton resistance. Too bad for the Vulture some silly fellow with glowy bits utterly annihilated the poor sod. That doesn't really matter, the unit was called a straitjacket. They are long range units based off caster shell technology."

Harker pushed the cup of tea aside pulling the image to the table and enlargening it further dissecting it into pieces, helmet, torso, leggings, body suit, etc. "The Vulture will be kicking himself in the ass for not allowing me to work on the straitjacket project, in the end it was a failure that I have perfected. This is the straitjacket 2.0. I notice most of everyone here uses swords or knives. And that most long range weapons like pistols and rifles fall short. The armor of this unit is highly dense so hitting it with anything shy of the Harkonnen shell will make the man inside the suit feel a little pressure."

"The caster shells have been placed on the back of the unit so any hit to the torso wont cause a mutation process and explosions. Instead of a caster rifle it has a sword. The unit is already pulling juice from reserve shells. Look, I wont bore you with the minor details. This suit can make an average man fight like any of your best men. Plain and simple. By the time the Demon army gets to Kari I'll have about two dozen of these suited up and ready for battle."

Harker squashed the image and raised another, "Hold your questions a moment, this is a two part process. Part two, the walker tank. So Isafaro has a teleporting tank, not my fault by the way, and the Mammoth Tank, completely my fault sorry if you ever run into one. Kari will have the MBT-700 Firewalker. It basically puts all the goodies of the Mammoth Tank into a more compact and mobile unit. We're talking 150mm Gauss twin cannon, anti air, mounted 50 cal., smoke screens, and I'm even working on an anti-gravity unit so it can stick to the sides of buildings and walk up the sides of them."

"Soooooo, lets put it into perspective. I'm outfitting Kari with turrets that will continue to fire until something stays completely dead, Straitjacket close range fighters that can aid in holding back all units on the field, and the MBT-700 walker tank that will keep a clear sky of angels and demons alike. Not to mention, anything that steps in front of that Gauss cannon will have a one way ticket back to Hell in a tea cup.... no pun intended. Now, begin questions."

[Stranger]

"What's to stop any demon from overpowering your Straitjacket unit? I understand the power behind it, as you gave me your research files on the original straitjacket. The shells they use are caster magics, which only work in bursts. The user of a straitjacket is oft a man or woman who can control a special kind magic, a magic so deadly it could mutate a person if used wrong. But say for instance Sparda was to unleash all of his power on that straitjacket unit, what defense mechanisms would they have to fend off someone of his caliber?"

Integra set her empty cup down and crossed her arms at Harker, she respected him well enough, but how lightly he took this annoyed her. They were facing utter annihilation if any of this failed, she wasn't sure at this point what her team could do against the netherrealm, in time she would see it more Harkers way...

[Ayen]

"I see."

"Interesting. Thank you, Miss."

"My lord, Harker is almost here... It seems he is not in Kari after all..."

"If news reaches us that Kari falls to these demons, I'll see about arranging an advance scout to gather information before we marshal our defence. Now, what exactly is this Harker gentleman bringing to the table?"

"Good evening everyone. I took the liberty to catch myself up to speed with your little meeting."

Speak of the devil.

"I'm glad you've asked. Now normally I'm in the business of developing weapons a man can carry. You may have noticed the update in the weapons around Hellsing considering they're no longer carrying around the obsolete M4 models that Ole London issues their troops.

Instead they are holding a custom creation of mine that can put the likes of yourself to his knees if you were to step in front of it and take a full burst from the weapon. Each one of them is designed to perfection hand crafted by some of my most amazing weapon artists, they do commissions I might add. Now as Sally will show you..."

Mari watched as the cellphone came to life and started displaying several images while Harker spoke.

"I've basically got this down to a science. Take note of several images that will be displayed during the course of this slide show. You may also want to take up Sebastian on the offer of tea and blood. The demon army basically draws their power off of a single position, a hell gate that fuels them and technically makes them impossible to kill. Fun fact, kill enough of these guys annnnnd you get to do it all again when the Hell gate resurrects them. So, I've developed the Auto-turret. Of which is currently installed in Kari.

"What does it do you ask? Well you didn't, but I don't care I'm going to explain anyways. The Auto-turret locks onto a certain type of energy and uses that energy against the target. It will pick and choose targets shooting them to death over and over again thinning the heard. If that army suddenly adapts to which ever enchantment is being employed then it will change to another enchantment. This can buy up to an hours worth of bullets basically hammering the entire demon army. Once the demon army gets to Kari I will be moving my shipments here to begin installing these turrets across Hallowton and using the testing data from Kari to perfect the formula of murder that the turrets need to... well murder."

"Impressive to say the least. But you cannot be thinking that you're only going to be getting away with placing turrets on the ground. Am I correct into believing you'll be aiding troops as well?"

"You are correct Miss Integra. Alright. So, the legendary fellow over yonder ways enjoying that there pie would recall the armored unit on the battle field that was the Vulture's ace in the hole against the Hallowton resistance. Too bad for the Vulture some silly fellow with glowy bits utterly annihilated the poor sod. That doesn't really matter, the unit was called a straitjacket. They are long range units based off caster shell technology."

He definitely has a ways with words...

"The Vulture will be kicking himself in the ass for not allowing me to work on the straitjacket project, in the end it was a failure that I have perfected. This is the straitjacket 2.0. I notice most of everyone here uses swords or knives. And that most long range weapons like pistols and rifles fall short. The armor of this unit is highly dense so hitting it with anything shy of the Harkonnen shell will make the man inside the suit feel a little pressure.

"The caster shells have been placed on the back of the unit so any hit to the torso wont cause a mutation process and explosions. Instead of a caster rifle it has a sword. The unit is already pulling juice from reserve shells. Look, I wont bore you with the minor details. This suit can make an average man fight like any of your best men. Plain and simple. By the time the Demon army gets to Kari I'll have about two dozen of these suited up and ready for battle.

"Hold your questions a moment, this is a two part process. Part two, the walker tank. So Isafaro has a teleporting tank, not my fault by the way, and the Mammoth Tank, completely my fault sorry if you ever run into one. Kari will have the MBT-700 Firewalker. It basically puts all the goodies of the Mammoth Tank into a more compact and mobile unit. We're talking 150mm Gauss twin cannon, anti air, mounted 50 cal., smoke screens, and I'm even working on an anti-gravity unit so it can stick to the sides of buildings and walk up the sides of them.

"Soooooo, lets put it into perspective. I'm outfitting Kari with turrets that will continue to fire until something stays completely dead, Straitjacket close range fighters that can aid in holding back all units on the field, and the MBT-700 walker tank that will keep a clear sky of angels and demons alike. Not to mention, anything that steps in front of that Gauss cannon will have a one way ticket back to Hell in a tea cup.... no pun intended. Now, begin questions."

"What's to stop any demon from overpowering your Straitjacket unit? I understand the power behind it, as you gave me your research files on the original straitjacket. The shells they use are caster magics, which only work in bursts. The user of a straitjacket is oft a man or woman who can control a special kind magic, a magic so deadly it could mutate a person if used wrong. But say for instance Sparda was to unleash all of his power on that straitjacket unit, what defense mechanisms would they have to fend off someone of his caliber?"

Maricul couldn't say she was annoyed at how lightly Harker was taking everything, it reminded her of how Riley back in Isafaro acted. The man who would just sit there in his chair as you knocked down his door and had him surrounded because he already knew he had you beat in twenty different ways. She missed him.