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Post by Captain-Commander on Oct 3, 2007 13:11:43 GMT 1
An uneasy silence flowed through the central room of Seireitei, a storm of fear swirling in the skies above. Twenty-Six people of varying shapes and sizes, all sat around a fine oaken table in the centre of the room. This is the council room.
*Ahem*. The oldest man in the room, sat at the head of the table clears his throat, and looks among the others, who all stand instantly, almost to attention.
"You all know why you are here..." he speaks slowly, his white robes still in the wind-less room, ignoring the power of the storm outside. All the others look down to the table, almost in grief. Each one of them mourning the loss of Captain Akiko in a different way.
"We are here for several things.." the older man continues, He is the Captain-Commander of Soul-Society, the leader of the 13 Protector divisions, a man by the name of Kenichi Sato. "The first of these is to congratulate young Juno, on her promotion to Captain... Although i know we all wish it could've been under better circumstances." A sniff of sorrow pierces the deadly silence between his sentences, and a quick sigh to attempt to cover it up.
"The second is to explain to you all what we are facing... Or at least, what we know about what we're facing." Sato continues, looking through the ranks once again. "As far as we know, this monster is a Hollow, the most powerful Hollow ever to appear in the real world... We believe it to be able to absorb the energies of those whom it slays."
Several gasps of disbelief replace the tears and sorrow, the few captains that have not been involved so much gain the knowledge they need to want to be out of it even more.
"We cannot let this beast continue its rampage. If it gains any more power, it may be able to break the gates, and make it into Soul-Society. I need a Two Captains to take command of an expedition into the Real-World to investigate this beast, and if possible, defeat it."
Instantly as he finished speaking, two sets of feet step forward, the first belongs to an almost middle aged man, a distinctive captain that has made his mark already. Captain Tahoshi.
The second belonging to the new captain, Juno Breyer. Eager to reap revenge on the beast, and to prove her worth to the other captains, some believing her not to be strong enough to take the position she has been given.
"Very well, Hirako, You and Captain Breyer will lead this task force. Choose your team carefully." the Captain-Commander begins. "Oh, and both of you... Do not try to prove yourself too zealously... This is a powerful beast, we do not want him to gain unnecessary power."
"Sir!" returns the simultaneous reply from the two Captains, both of whom run through in their mind the possibilities for the team they will choose to take on the beast.
The beast that would soon be known as Kyuuketsuki, The Reaper of Reapers.
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Post by Juno on Oct 5, 2007 3:20:03 GMT 1
Juno sat silently, just like the rest of those in the room, as she listened to what the Captain-Commander needed to inform them of. Much of it she already knew. And so, time seemed to move slowly, every so often her mind wandering back to the gruesome night some months ago. The young Shinigami put on a brave face, but was still grieving the loss of her Captain.
She was barely paying attention to what the older man was saying, but she heard one single word, clear as day. "....Akiko..." She mouthed the woman's name under her breath, fighting back the urge to burst into tears as her hand idly wandered to rest upon the chain-hung ring at her breast. Slowly, her focus upon the meeting returned.
Sato continued his speech.
"...two Commanders to lead an Expedition into the Real-World to investigate this beast, and if possible, defeat it."
Juno quickly stood, aiming to be the first to offer her services, but was barely beaten by Captain Tahoshi.
The meeting was soon adjourned, the Shinigami that had been gathered in the chamber slowly filtering out. Juno was one of the last to leave, as she felt the need to thank the Captain-Commander for trusting her with such a task when there was such obvious factions forming within Seireitei concerning her appointment to Captain.
A slight bow and she turned, making a hasty retreat from the room. Juno was eager to get back to her quarters and start with the undoubtedly difficult task of deciding who she wanted to bring with her on the mission. A few ideas were already forming.
Of course I'll bring Takahashi-san... She continued thinking as she walked, her rust-hued hair tusseled by the strong breeze. But suddenly, she felt a strong hand clamp down on her shoulder, absolutely ruining her train of thought. Shifting her head to her left, she layed eyes on the large hand that was currently resting there. Juno quickly raised her head, having to tilt her head so far back in started to hurt, just so she could look the other Captain in the eye.
"What do you want, Maki-san?" the youth questioned, attempting to shrug his heavy hand from her shoulder. It made her extremely uncomfortable being pinned down like that, especially since he was so much larger than she was. A deep chuckle escaped his throat.
"Just want to say this to your face." He lessened his grip on her shoulder, allowing Juno to back away an inch or so. "I do not trust you. Or these abilities you supposedly have. If you were any kind of Shinigami, you would have died for your Captain..." He paused, knowing very well that he was harping upon the new Captain's insecurities, chuckling again as he saw her hand clenching at her side.
"You have no idea what happened there-"
"Oh but I do! Akiko-san died when it should have been you! And this-" He raised his hand and traced his index finger along the scar on her face "Will always remind you. You'll never be able to look at yourself without remembering... it should have been you!"
It was obvious that Juno was yearning to strike the man down, to silence him for doubting her devotion to her Captain, and that's what Yuudai wanted. An act of outright aggression would be horrible for her, so he continued on with his actions, while she barely managed to restrain herself, allowing the intermittent questionings of her skills and loyalties effect her as little as possibe.
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Post by Tahoshi on Oct 5, 2007 16:40:06 GMT 1
Captain Tahoshi had seen and heard all of the short Conversation between Juno and Yuudai... Slowly approaching, he made sure that Yuudai was out of earshot before speaking.
"Don't worry about him, he's an ass." Hirako said casually, with a smile. "I don't know how weak or powerful he thinks you are, but I'm glad to have you on the team." he began, hoping to give young Juno the courage to fight for the security of Soul Society.
He looked down at her, obviously she was feeling weak after the death of Akiko, but he would never be able to feel how she felt.
"Look, I know nothing can bring Akiko back now, but you have to concentrate on the here and now." he added, "don't dwell on the past too much, or people like Yuudai will pounce on you. He's powerful yes..." he continued, trying to make her feel better "But I know that you'll prove him wrong when we take down that beast. If we take him with us, you'll get a chance to show him how far you've come... How powerful you are, and how much stronger you can become."
He finished with a smile, something that didn't happen too often. Hirako was similar to Yuudai in the way that he was serious most of the time. "We need to decide who to take with us." He said, walking off towards his Squads Hall.
"Oh yeah... If he gives you any trouble, give a call, I've always wanted to be able to give him a good kicking, he even thinks he's stronger than me" he said, giving a hearty laugh.
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Post by Juno on Oct 5, 2007 22:44:21 GMT 1
She gave a half-hearted sigh that could be compared to an emotionless chuckle, yet not a true laugh, as she walked alongside Hirako. Although this was the first time she had met Captain Maki face-to-face, she could already tell that she disliked him to a great extent. If he did come with them, there was no guarantee that the tall man wouldn't continue to irk her to a point that resulted in the trading of blows. But knowing that was just what he wanted, she would do her best to suppress the urge to maim him no matter how badly she wanted to do so.
"I would like to defeat him in a duel myself..." she replied in her customary tone, somewhat hard to hear over the howling wind. She then lapsed into a silence, eyes slightly downcast as she pulled the ring from beneath her robe, twirling it between her fingers as they walked. It was extremely rare for her to do this, so not many knew that she possessed the item. Then, a choked-back sob, and Juno released the ring from between her fingers to dangle at her breast. She then took a deep breath to calm her emotions and addressed Commander Tahoshi once again.
"Besides Maki-san... do you have any other suggestions on who to bring with us on this trip, Tahoshi-san?" She acted upon her impulse to act, as she didn't know most of the Captains, and only a few of the Vice-Captains and Seated Officers besides her own. So it was rather safe to say that she didn't know the relative ability of most of the important Shinigami in Seireitei. Yet.
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Post by Sir Razgriz on Oct 6, 2007 5:39:38 GMT 1
Razgriz sprinted through the halls of Seireitei, narrowly avoiding uncomfortable meetings with people and walls. He was late for the meeting; with any luck, Juno would still be there, and he could get a briefing from her. Trying to think of a good excuse, Razgriz rounded corner after corner.
SMASH!!! Colliding painfully with, Razgriz was horrified to see, a Captain, apparently hard enough to knock his shoes off and mess up his purple ponytail. Several apologies were hastily stated by the former, and were returned by a glare from the latter. Running around several other corners without incident, Razgriz finally met Juno, outside, talking with...was that the Captain-commander? Oh, great; first actual orders after graduating and he already has to explain himself to the top brass.
Who was that third person, though? She was about Juno's height, maybe a few inches taller; if this was their seated officer, then obviously someOne was trying to mess with him.
As the Commander left, Razgriz approached the group; "why is it," he started, "that the tall people always end up in smaller groups? I suppose I could tank, but that way hurts. A lot." Giving himself a quick forehead smack for forgetting, the tardy one saluted and continued, "Erm, uh, Vice-Captain Razgriz Hremsfeld reporting, ma'am."
"Hiyas!" greeted Juno cheerfully, though something was obviously bothering her. "Pretty much, there's a big Hollow running around Earth, and we have to scout it out, and possibly kill it. Oh, and it absorbs the energies of those it kills."
Sighing in relief, primarily at not being in deep trouble already, and partially at the mission's simplicity. He'd survived a free-fall fight against one with his fists while disorganized and alone; with such back-up and great equipment, what could go wrong?
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Post by Tahoshi on Oct 6, 2007 19:32:04 GMT 1
Hirako ignored the bump from Razgriz, and got back to his feet, hovering inches from the ground. His feet out in the open air, feeling the breeze around him from the passing people. He could almost tell who they were from the strength of the breeze that they created.
He moved silently to a secluded spot near the Shrine of Penitence, where the spirit particle density is higher. Sitting on the crisp green grass on the hillside, Captain Tahoshi lifted a finger, and pointed it out towards the wall of Seireitei.
Moving his fingers in a circular motion, until a white light followed behind, he moved his finger to his arms, apparently writing symbols onto them as he spoke.
"Black and white net. Twenty-two bridges, sixty-six crowns and belts. Footprints, distant thunder, sharp peak, engulfing land, hidden in the night, sea of clouds, blue line. Form a circle and fly through the heavens."
As he finished, the lettering on his arms expanded, spreading out around him creating a ball of light. This light then split into sections, and seemed to spread out from him, homing in on their targets. Whatever they were doing, Captain Breyer, Vice captain Hremsfeld, Seated Officer Takahashi, Captain Maki, and Captain Nakasaka all received a message via their Hell Butterfly.
"You have been selected for a mission to the Real World. Please assemble at the World Penetrating Gate for briefing and immediate dispatch. That is all".
A second or two after the light dissipated from around Captain Tahoshi, he stood up, and replaced his broadsword on his belt, before walking slowly towards the Senkaimon, ready to move out.
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Post by Juno on Oct 6, 2007 20:44:53 GMT 1
Juno nodded her goodbye as Tahoshi left before turning back to her VC. She explained to him the situation, and grew slightly irked at his obvious opinion of the mission's difficulty.
"You believe it will be easy, Ragriz? I'm telling you as the only one to have currently dealt with this beast and lived, that it is not simply a Hollow." Her voice remained the same as always, despite her anger. She had just turned and taken a few steps away, as to calm her nerves, when Tahoshi's Hell Butterflies arrived for the two of them. She listened to the message and uttered a soft sigh as she started on her way to the Gate. "So soon..."
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Yuudai was sitting with his Vice Captain in a relaxed silence, the two enjoying a cup of tea while they unwound. After some time, Kotone set her cup down and spoke up.
"Yuu-kun... Do you really believe that this Hollow is absorbing the powers of the Shinigami it kills? I mean... I have never heard of something like that before."
"Neither have I, Kotone. And I won't believe it until I see the damned thing "absorb" someone myself." He took another long drink from his cup before setting the empty receptacle down. Shortly after, the Hell butterfly landed on its rim. It imparted the message to Yuudai and disappeared. Slowly, he stood.
"Yuu...?"
"Heh. It seems I'm going to be able to see for myself. In my absence, Kotone, you are acting Captain." Yuudai was eager to test his steel against this Hollow and quickly made his way to the appointed meeting place.
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"Ohh... there's no need to be so modest~" Hotaru purred as she leaned her head against the other Shinigami's shoulder, their Zanpakutohs lying forgotten in the grass. The younger girl tensed as Hotaru's breath brushed against her neck, a shock of red quickly flooding her cheeks. The Officer couldn't help but chuckle, sitting back to give her flustered subordinate some room to calm.
Hotaru then gasped as the Hell Butterfly landed on her ear, delivering its most important message. She had never believed that she would be selected for the mission, and was honestly somewhat scared. She hadn't fought a proper battle since her injury and doubted if she'd be any use. But it was what she needed to do so...
She gracefully stood to her feet, picking a neaby flower as she did so. The flirt then knelt in front of the young Shinigami, turning her face so they were face-to-face. "We will continue this when I get back, okay?" She then flashed a grin that could melt hearts and tucked the flower behind the other's ear. Another few steps and she retrieved her Zanpakutoh, slinging the belt attached to the sheath over one shoulder as she started walking towards a mission that would undoubtedly be precursor to much more terrible things to come.
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Post by Captain-Commander on Oct 6, 2007 21:04:32 GMT 1
The silent, and almost ghostlike form of Zenai stood up slowly as the Hell Butterfly landed on his nose. After it delivered its message, it vanished in a puff of spirit-particles.
Zenai Nakasaka looked out towards the gate to the real world. He sighed silently, before picking up his sword... a standard Katana, with many nicks and scratches along the blade, and slung it over his shoulder. He flexed his seemingly non-existent muscles, a pillar of Reiatsu filled the room for a split second, and he left. His silence, a usual, went un-noticed, even by those that didn't know that he couldn't speak... He was a powerful captain, and whenever he wasn't working, he was training... trying to get his Reiatsu to higher levels.
In the blink of an eye, he was gone, and reappeared by the gate. He was never one to walk, when flash-stepping was available.
Being the first one there, he sat on the stone floor, and waited for the others to arrive. This, of course... Was Captain Tahoshi.
"Afternoon Zenai-kun." he said cheerfully as he approached. Zenai looked up at him, and smiled weakly.
Hirako stood in front of him, and looked down upon him. "As soon as the others get here, I'll tell you what's going on... It could be serious." he finished, sitting on the hard floor next to him.
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Post by Sir Razgriz on Oct 8, 2007 16:34:05 GMT 1
Confused at how the Hollow wasn't "simply a Hollow," Razgriz again cursed himself for missing the original briefing. He'd have to ask Capt. Breyer about it later...
First, though, he needed to get to the World Penetrating Gate, preferably on time, and find out more details then. Figuring that he might as well keep his endurance up, Razgriz jogged there rather than Flash Jumping. It turned out that most of the others had flash jumped, too, and those who hadn't were just plain faster, so he was last. Again. "Ah, well," he said to himself, "at least I'm on time."
Approaching Capt. Tahoshi, Razgriz apologized again for knocking him over earlier, than got into the circle with the other Reapers and awaited the start of the briefing.
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Post by Tahoshi on Oct 8, 2007 17:47:24 GMT 1
Captain Tahoshi looked over the squad assembled in front of him. He smiled.
"First off, You have all been chosen because you have a particular skill that will be useful here. I want you all to work together, myself and captain breyer will be coordinating this investigation..."
He stopped for a moment to let them compose themselves, and to think about why he was talking like this, his usual briefings normally went along the lines of "lets go get 'im!"
"This enemy is unlike any we've seen before... it appears to be sucking the energy from Shinigami, and using it for himself. For this reason, we are only making this an investigation." he kicked himself mentally in preparation for what he was about to say.
"I don't want to see any heroics, no charging in head-first." Everyone could see that he really wanted to just charge in and beat it to a pulp... They were right, he was trying with all of his mental strength to not be himself. He took a deep breath, stabilising his heart beat.
"Don't forget people, we don't have limit release here.. Those of captain and Vice captain level won't have full strength, that's even more reason to be careful." he added, knowing that almost every one of the people here was going to lose most of their strength the moment they exit the senkaimon on the other side. He sighed, and once again looked over his team.
"Let's go." He said, finally. The Senkaimon behind them opened up, a bright, white light stretched across the landscape, drenching them all in a pearlescent glow, until the doors were fully open.
Captain Tahoshi stepped through first, his Hell Butterfly hovering just in front of him, to guide him through to the real world.
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As soon as the gates closed behind them, a few figures darted across from behind the gate, heading towards soukyoku hill. Shinigami that stood in their way were cut down, anyone not expecting an asssault from inside Seireitei would also be cut down... A single survivor, lying in a pool of his own blood reached up to an alarm on the wall, and pushed it.
GM's Note Ok everyone, If you're still inside Seireitei, you have a small army of Shinigami to defend yourself against! I'll post their Skill levels in the NPC section of the character creation board.
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Kaiya
Unseated Shinigami
Vice-Captain of Squad X
Vice Captain, 10th Squad
Posts: 25
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Post by Kaiya on Oct 9, 2007 21:40:32 GMT 1
"AAAHHH!" screamed Kaiya as she woke up from under the loads of paper work she had. Kaiya gathered herself a bit before looking around. "Mah, Who turned on our Alarm" she asked with a yawn about to go to sleep when her head shot up. "ALARM!?!?!?!?!" shouted Kaiya as she grabbed her Zanpakutoh and ran out. "what could have happened!" whispered kaiya as she rushed of to the gates.
But when arriving she stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the dead Shinigamis everywhere. "what happened here?" she asked before turning back to head back to the 10th division. "This is serious, I better go back to gather some troops before going in blindly" kaiya said as she ran the next corner to stop. "What the hell?..." kaiya asked as she looked around for a bit. "Maybe just my imagination" with that kaiya set off not knowing about the figures following her.
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Molly
Unseated Shinigami
Posts: 11
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Post by Molly on Oct 9, 2007 23:20:44 GMT 1
The screams of shinigami being killed, had filled the air and then gone.
Molly stood there, quitley looking around, her hand grasped firmly on the hilt of her sword... After moment of silence she released her grasp and continued on scouting the area of her division. seemingly unaware of the lurking enemies power and what may be happening or may happen to her comrads of the other divisions
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Rikka
Seated Officer
Posts: 67
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Post by Rikka on Oct 9, 2007 23:49:56 GMT 1
Rikka jumped at the sound of the alarm. She wasn't expecting an attack on the Seireirei so fast. She ran through the streets, looking for something out of the ordinary, she could smell the sent of blood and she started to head towards it. When she came upon the site of the murders, she faltered. She couldn't identify any of them, and she felt her stomach start to twist. "What could have done this?" She quickly turned and started to head the other way. She could see a figure in the distance ahead of her, she placed her hand one the hilt of her sword. As she got closer she saw that it wasn't an intruder, it was Molly. She sighed with relief and released her hilt.
"Molly!" She yelled, as she started to flash step to catch up to her. A figure that had been following her decided to jump at her because she had let her guard down, when she saw Molly. It judged where she would stop and jumped in that direction. When she stopped her flash step, she was tackled by the figure. She pushed it off and stood, taking out her sword. "Molly back up. I'll take this one." She glared at the figure that was now only a few feet in front of her.
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Molly
Unseated Shinigami
Posts: 11
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Post by Molly on Oct 10, 2007 0:02:02 GMT 1
She heard someone caling her name and turned around to see her Vice captain, Rikka. Vice captain! *bows*
"whats.. whats going on?" *she turned to look at the bodies of her comrades, all torn and laying ragged on the ground, still soaked with fresh blood* "is their an intruder? or possibly a hollow lose in the Seireitei?"
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Rikka
Seated Officer
Posts: 67
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Post by Rikka on Oct 10, 2007 0:13:19 GMT 1
She chanced a look at Molly, who had just stood from bowing. "Nows not the time for that. Draw your sword! Maybe you didn't notice but one of the things is in front of us." She said pointing a finger at the figure. "You can run or help you chose." She turned her attention back on the figure, who looked to laughing. She started to walk towards it. Her sword held in front of her, in an offensive position. She swiped her sword and it easily dodged it. It countered her swipe, and punched her, she fell into Molly.
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