As is the usual I do not, never have and have no intention of proclaiming any ownership over Bleach, The characters in it, or the weaponry mentioned here in A/N a belt fed MP7A1 is a work of pure fiction as the magazine housing on the MP7 is actually in the pistol grip of the weapon itself and is unable for this reason to accept belted ammunition my brother just thought it sounded cool at the time I wrote this. hope you enjoy reading and any comments welcome and advice or ideas .But above all enjoy.
Also i would ask a favor of anyone who reads my work, if you find any inconsistencies or points that don't match up, please tell me as i did stop this for a while and lost some of the points i was trying to put across originally so yeah if you see anything that doesn't add up let me know, Also please review and tell me what you think Cheers KAL
Live for today
Fight for tomorrow
Die to Protect
Chad wandered slowly, amiable as ever; his hands in his pockets, head bowed; the fringe of his curtained brown coloured hair hung low over his eyes shielding them from passers by.
He often wondered what they would say if he ever showed his other form to the public eye rather than hiding it from view; it was an odd thought but one worth thinking over.
At a touch under eight feet tall he was by far more than above average height reaching a shade over six feet at the age of twelve then seven on the nose at fifteen by twenty six, seven foot five, now at the age of thirty five his height had finally slowed to a crawl he was a shade over seven foot eleven inches.
Height had always been Chad's enemy from the outset it had haunted him and made him the target of just about every bully, thug and ignorant punk on the planet; all except for Ichigo Kurosaki, he lamented the loss of his friend the memories still painful but something he willed himself to forget.
Like the rest of them, Ichigo fell fighting, the war had butchered thousands; what they had not expected was, for them to do what they had and level the place dropping the warheads straight onto their own and then enemy's men; the thought of it made his wounds ache they always did when he let his guard down.
Turning a corner into an old side street he stepped into a shadowed door way and ducked low to enter it searching for his keys, he eventually found them in the left map pocket of his old uniform trousers, sighing he pushed open his front door and stepped in; the gloom and dark enveloping him.
Peace at last, was all he thought as he stepped further into his home, but as he did, he sensed something turning slowly to his right to see a form sitting in his chair.
'It's been a long time hasn't it Sergeant, a very long time but then again I bet you wouldn't recognise me, any more than I do you'
Chad simply stared at the figure recessed into the darkened corner of his living room.
'Your right I don't recognise your face, reason being I can't see it, but the voice I would know anywhere Zaruka'
The face slowly pushed its way out of the shadows hidden behind a pale bone white mask, it made Chad shiver to see it; he hadn't seen them, in a very long timAs is the usual I do not, never have and have no intention of proclaiming any ownership over Bleach, The characters in it, or the weaponry mentioned here in A/N a belt fed MP7A1 is a work of pure fiction as the magazine housing on the MP7 is actually in the pistol grip of the weapon itself and is unable for this reason to accept belted ammunition my brother just thought it sounded cool at the time I wrote this. hope you enjoy reading and any comments welcome and advice or ideas .But above all enjoy.e.
'And you never will see it Chad' Zaruka bit the his name off the end of the sentence as if it burnt her tongue to say it 'As this is my face now'
Chad stared rooted to the spot his hands in his pockets once again, something in back of his mind tickled and all he felt was cold just like he had the last time he saw her.
'Nothing to say, What a surprise the infamous Chad without words nothing ever changes does it not even your clothes by the looks of them only thing changed here is this'
She slapped the mask on her face, it rang round the room with a dull splat, as the soft flesh of her palm collided with what ever the mask was made of.
'yes that has changed' Chad stated it impassively as if it was merely a functioning observation .
Zaruka seemed to become more anxious and angry each passing second.
Screaming at him through the grill covering her mouth she spat out the words
'YOU BASTARD, YOU LET US BURN DOWN THERE; YOU LET RUKIA, ICHIGO AND ISHIDA BURN, WHILE YOU; YOU, YOU GREAT HULKING SON OF A BITCH WAS CLEAR OF THE BLAST'
For the first time since he had seen her, a flicker of anger never seen passed over Chad's face.
'your wrong I never left you or the others, you can see for yourself'
He ripped off the smock he wore, the tired old seams tearing easily as he pulled revealing the arms that lay beneath the puckered scorched flesh of high intensity heat burns covered a large portion of his torso his arms were another matter.
'you see I never left, I was buried for two weeks beneath the rubble before I had strength enough to dig my way clear, the Seireitei put me back together again but not with out side affects.'
He flexed his muscles and what appeared to be a perfectly normal arm it split open revealing a coiled network of cables rods and wires; he flexed his hand watching the small motorised pistons contract and extend as his fingers moved the fibre optic cables attached to the nerves in his spine recoding the biological impulse signals into binary coding so the micro processors could signal his arms and fingers to move.
Zaruka stood there silent, watching, staring.
'Everything has a price Zaruka, even life.'
Zaruka stood there dumbfounded, stammering out inaudible words.
Chad had stood there his arms now in their alternate forms.
'yes I know all that, but as I said it had side affects when the Seireitei found me my arms were mere bones and scorched flesh I had shielded myself with them they took the brunt of the blast so the Seireitei used what little was left of my shoulders and upper arms and grafted on to them the cybernetic limbs before you '
Zaruka looked at him `what about the rest of you'
There was a slight glimmer of lust in her eyes as she asked but it was fleeting, momentary gone in seconds.
Chad stood then and tapped the left side of his chest a dull metallic thunk was heard.
`my legs, left and right arm's and the left side of my torso are all cybernetic replacements, that includes a large portion of my pelvis my entire spinal Colum my entire rib cage, my left collar bone and shoulder and obviously also my left eye was replaced with an advanced cybernetic prototype'
As she looked into his eyes she could see the colour variation in the left, and the spinning discs that formed the iris and pupil. As Chad closed his right eye and focused on her, she saw the centre of the eye turn a ghostly green, then glowing red as he looked beneath the mask to try and tell if anything of Zaruka's once gracious beauty remained.
He turned away from her and walked into his bedroom; motioning to his still open front door 'leave if you wish, I have some business to attend to' pulling a Kevlar battle suite out of the steel fronted walk in wardrobe set into his apartments wall and setting the form fitting suite on the bed as he said so. The suite like Chad's own body was a prototype made from Kevlar plates inter-woven with titanium then dipped into a solution of graphite and liquid adamantium over which was a layer of impact resistant rubberised carbon-Kevlar bi-weave in a blue black matt finish, rendering it virtually indestructible the only thing able to get through would be an armour piercing tank shell even then that would be questionable.
He walked to a large reinforced cabinet in the back of his walk in cupboard and punched a seven digit combination into the small keypad one he would never forget it was the same as his dog tags ones that he still kept close to his heart, stepping back as the door swung open to reveal his personal armoury; reaching in he pulled out two fully automatic 9mm Glock 18c's although his two had been set and locked to fully automatic for close quarters combat.
Along side them he carried two semi automatic .45 Glock 21's that he kept in a twin clamshell holster in the small of his back, the twin 18c's were on either hip and on his right leg and chest were two Heckler and Koch MP7's both belt fed, tactical red dot sights and silencers; finally he pulled out a XM312 .50 machinegun a parting gift from Ishida and smiled as he held it in his hands bulky yet satisfying.
Laying on the bed the two 18c's, the two 21's along with the twined H&K MP7's finally the XM312 followed suite .
Returning to the cupboard, he racked open his fore arms and began to spool in the belts of 9mm rounds for his MP7's watching as the clipped, motorised tumbler rotated and the slid up his arm each one holding roughly 90 rounds with three spools to each arm.
After loading the ammo for the MP7's into the tactical reload ports in his arms, he hated doing that, he pulled the tactical combat rig out of his closet, it had specially fitted holsters on his hip and chest for the two MP7's and his back for the XM312.
In the kidney pouches he loaded the mags for his twin .45s in two front pouches went the mags for his 18c's then clipping on the rear of the webbed belt the boxes of belt ammo for the XM312 hung loosely like box shaped weights.
Even for all his fire power Chad's fists were still his most formidable weapons the bio metrics in his prosthetics allowed for his energy's to be channelled down his arms and used to greatly enlarge the force he applied to his blows slamming a normal person hundreds of feet through the air, it was at times comical to see them spiralling up through the air to where ever they landed.
Zaruka walked across the small sitting room and watched fascinated as Chad laid out all his equipment and made ready his combat gear, as he slipped off his uniform trousers and discarded the rags of his smock she admired his body despite the scars and slightly different shades in his skin where the prosthetics were, she couldn't help noticing he was a very good looking specimen.
` Still looking after yourself sergeant, and by the looks of things others to'
Chad ignored the quip he had known she was watching him the whole time, not only had he felt her energy shift as she moved he also saw her in the polished steel cabinet front on his gun pulled on the Kevlar battle suite snapping shut the clips on the side that pulled suite shut locking it tight to his body, the over the top of that he slipped the combat rig clipping the straps round his legs and waist, pulling the shoulder straps taught then finally hooking on the ammo boxes for the XM312 he stood up and slotted the weapons into place adjusting the straps for weight variations.
Lastly he reached in to the cabinet for a small plastic box that contained a tactical bead and throat mike slipping the bead into his ear , he then put the mike round his throat and done up the Velcro fastener.
Speaking normally he called out to the rest of his team.
'This is Echo Alpha to Charlie one Charlie confirm transmission'
'This is Echo 4 and 5 transmission confirmed Echo one nice to hear your voice again boss'
'This is Echo 2 and 3 received and confirmed we're ready to roll chief'
'Echo 6 and 1 confirmed and received oh and boss'
Chad cocked an eyebrow, 'yes 6'
'We there yet'
Chad sighed at that Renji always did that no matter if they had left the DZ or even started the mission and he knew it wound Chad up.
'Rendezvous at the Shop well get our orders from colonel Urahara, Echo Alpha out'
Chad walked out of his room, silhouetted in the bedroom door way he cut a very fierce figure, he strode past Zaruka and out his front door looking over his shoulder quickly he said icily,
`I want you gone from here before I return and if anything's missing be sure I will find you'
carrying his XM312 by the top handle and loading it into the flat bed of his four seater , Mitsubishi Warrior, along with his two MP7's and the boxes of ammunition for his XM312 he was crushed by the feelings of guilt he had for what she had become, but it wasn't his problem any more.
Pulling on a full length oil skin Driza Bone coat he climbed into the driver's seat.
Slipping the truck into reverse he spun the wheel hard and in a squeal of tyres and smoke that smelt heavily of burnt rubber slammed the Mitsubishi into drive and roared down the street towards 'The shop'.
As Chad made the drive to Urahara's shop he reflected on the first time he had met Ichigo or Urahara, Ichigo's arrival into Chad's some what sedentary life had been a peculiar one first it had been when Chad had gotten involved in a fight in a back ally Ichigo had stepped into help and got pasted for it not that it bothered him at all pain wasn't a stranger to him, they had remained friends since then and where very close but had sadly drifted apart when Chad signed up for the Colonial defence force and Ichigo went his own way, then suddenly under similar circumstances to their original encounter Ichigo dropped smack bang back into Chad's life again.
Chad heard a murmured curse come from the nearby ally and decided to be nosey and take a look.
He was just out for a walk, mostly, when the six drunken idiots; who were spoiling for a fight got it into their heads to jump him, Chad sighed and turned he was used to this. It just didn't bother him any more; he dodged the first blow and planted his fist into the louts face feeling the bone crunch under his fist and the blood ooze between his fingers he smiled this one wont be doing much after he thought to himself.
'you bunch of useless drunken bastards, better fuck off unless you wish to deal with me I'm the one who wont let you walk away'
Hearing a familiar voice he turned to see Ichigo, the one person he never expected to see standing there, his eyes confirmed what his ears had hoped they had heard; standing there was the tall embodiment of power that was Ichigo Kurosaki.
What appeared to be their leader turned and slid a razor sharp dagger from under his jacket and advanced on Ichigo.
"Ok you little punk I'm gonna slice out your tongue and shove it up your behemoth friends asshole"
Just as Ichigo, in one clean swoop drew his Glock and punched a hole through the guy's hand severing his thumb in the process.
Chad simply nodded and in a glimmer of movement drew from seemingly nowhere his twin Glock 21s, the .45 pistols a comforting weight in his hands.
'Right now unless you wish to join your friend in casualty or the morgue I suggest you follow his example and…. Run'
The thugs stood there rooted to the floor.
Chad sighed he hated saying things twice
'Now would be the opportune time'
With that they turned to see their so called leader stumble out the mouth of the ally clutching his profusely bleeding hand, they quickly beat feet.
Ichigo smiled and nodded for Chad to follow him the turned holstering his Glock nine millimetre and strode off in the direction he had indicated his long leather coat billowing out behind him.
Chad stowed his .45s in the concealed holsters in the thighs of his jeans and walked off after Ichigo the hard leather biker jacket he wore creaked slightly as he walked.
Chad followed Ichigo a mere foot behind him, keeping pace with the young soldier easily, they weaved their way through the crowds with agility that surprised one another, then as if by pure chance arrived outside Urahara's store.
The man himself was sat outside on the porch when they arrived.
Kicking the decking with his heels Urahara rose to standing to greet Ichigo and Chad.
`Ichigo my boy how was buenosaires? Went well I hope?'
Ichigo grinned, and clasped Urahara's hand in a warm greeting.
`As well as can be expected'
Ichigo winked and turned to introduce Chad who stood looming large in the door way, to say he loomed large in the door way was an understatement Chad literally filled it.
`Yasutora Sado, I know, Chad is the pseudonym isn't it?'
Chad simply nodded in reply, and continued to fill the door way with his massive form.
Urahara looked at him, and wondered for a minuet if Ichigo had landed him with the opportunity of a life time and smiled a small secretive smile which didn't escape Chad's observant eyes.
As Chad pulled up outside the shop, Urahara was there waiting along with Echo's 1, 2, 3 and 5 Chad looked at Urahara and nodded his head in acknowledgement, then looked at his men their matt black fatigues resembling that of any anti-terror or swat team the world over only theirs were not standard cotton and reinforced stitches theirs were a little more "Advanced" to say the least.
Looking at them Chad asked `where's 4 and 6? `
With that they heard a whooping yell as 4 and 6 came screaming in on parachutes and all terrain skate boards 6 skimming his off the top of Chad's Mitsubishi leaving several large long scratches in the paint work.
6 jettisoned the parachute and rolled to a stop spinning the board to a halt in front of the others.
`And the award for coolest entrance goes to?'
`ME' Screams 4 as he un-hitches the chute seventy feet up and free falls spinning round the top of a lamp post then springing off the shop roof backwards and twisting mid air to land beside 6.
Chad cocked an eyebrow and shook his head, looking at 4 and 6 then laughed, `sorry six but ill have to agree with four on this one his was better and you owe me a re-spray for my roof'
`awwwww man' 6 kicked at the floor like a petulant child being scolded by an angry parent.
Chad looked to Urahara, and watched as his men took their positions in the squad a small wave of pride welling in him Ichigo had taught them all well, then flicking his gaze back to Urahara he snapped to attention and saluted.
`Echo bravo two one, reporting as ordered sir'
Urahara approached Chad and returned the salute although as Chad saw, it caused him a lot of pain to do so. The seven point six two millimetre rounds he took in the back had done a lot of damage and the medics could only do so much it pained him to see his commanding officer in such pain.
'so Captain Sado, are you ready for the briefing or do you wish to delay it a while to stow you equipment`
Chad shook his head in reply.
'No sir if its all the same I would like to get the briefing done first'
Urahara nodded and lead the way Chad and his men following suite.
Entering the small shop was like entering another world it struck Chad as it did every time with its structural similarities to the houses used in the shogun era of feudal Japan, the smells were always the same, the sweet scent of boiled candy and the one he could never place it, really was peculiar akin to boiled leather and wet dog but not in an unpleasant way.
`Ok gentlemen as always please make your way to the designated areas and await further instructions'
The seven men who made up Echo bravo two one strolled over the faintly marked positions behind the counter of Urahara's "shop" and watched as he raised his cane and gave it a small flick a key snapped up from the end he slid it home into a cleverly disguised key hole in the lip of the counter top and gave it a twist, the metallic clank of moving machinery could be heard them the entire are behind the counter and the counter itself began to slowly drop into the floor.
Chad leaned over to Renji, `now here's the fun bit', Renji cringed he always hated this bit.
The pressurised airlock that separated the "shop" from the "Calypso" seemed to try and suck you down into the floor as the air escaped down into the shaft and counterbalanced the rush of expelled pressure that exited the lock as it opened, it always made Renji feel ill and often left him reeling and retching.
And this time was no different Ikkaku caught Renji as he fell forward off the platform and half dragged him to the nearest toilet to vomit.
Chad lengthened his stride to catch up with Urahara as he strode off down the hall.
`uhh sir can I ask you something '
Urahara stopped . `of course you can captain'
`I was just wondering sir, why you named this place the calypso'
Urahara laughed and had to lean against the wall to not fall over, Chad began to look more than a little worried.
`I got the name from a very odd source whilst I was designing the place I developed a slight addiction to ice lollies, in the final stages of design one brand in particular had become my poison of choice.
And they happened to be what I was eating at the time of completion of the designs.'
Chad Chuckled as it dawned on him.
`you mean to tell me that this place is named after a walls calypso ice lolly'
Urahara nodded as peels of laughter racked his body. Chad walked down the corridor his commander by his side.
In the briefing room men sat in rows of chairs spaced out haphazardly amongst them, Urahara stood in front, beside a podium with a projector displaying a static blue screen, clicking on the change wand he flipped it through to the first digital slide.
`so welcome gentlemen to Gotei 13 , we are one of the largest private military organisations on the planet, we employ over 11,222,346 fighting men and women we are a unilateral group and do not discriminate on the grounds of race, sex or creed.
We recently bought out another private contracting firm, Trans World Operations with whom come two of the very finest combat veterans to date Tyson Rios and Elliot Salem formerly of SSC but we know the back story of that fiasco, also I would like to welcome into the fold some former special forces veterans, from 22nd SAS I would like to welcome Baz, Gaz, and John "Soap" McTavish rather strange name I mite add and also from another undisclosed military outfit I would like to welcome Logan Keller, Michael Walters, and Jung Park all of you I look forward to working with.
Now I would like to introduce to you all my number Two Sado Yasutora, and my number Three Zaraki Kenpachi.'
Chad walked forward followed closely by Kenpachi, and allowed his gaze to bounce from man to man taking in their main statistics and sizing them up as combatants.
`As my commander said welcome but some ground rules first, one when your in the field you answer to us and only us, also you will be split into segregated teams Tyson and Eliot I know this will be a little new to you as your used to working only in a pair but you will get used to it, any way I will let Kenpachi take over from here I have some other of your team mates to brief in good luck to you all.`
With that Chad spun on his heel and strode out the room, in the back ground he heard from Elliot Salem `Bro he's a little intense ain he'
To his credit Chad then heard Kenpachi slap down Salem, `look kid if you had been through half of what Captain Yasutora has then you would know why, but for now shut the fuck up and sit the hell down you little bitch.'
Opening the door to briefing room bravo, Chad walked in and saw his men just turn their heads in his direction, Renji tilting his chair backwards, dozing against the wall to the left of the door, Chad striding past smiles and greets his men `what up boys' merely getting a mumbled reply from Renji he snapped his foot out and swept away the chair legs sending Renji sprawling, Ikkaku bursts out laughing then shuts up with a sharp look from Renji although younger than Ikkaku he was his superior in all matters and respect ran ripe through the unit.
As Renji hauled himself off the floor, Chad took his place behind a small podium and prepared to brief his men on the situation as he understood it.
`Now boys Urahara gave me this directly so bare with me as I don't know what is in them or what we are going in for so as I said bare with me'
As Chad peeled the folder open he froze his stomach became like ice and felt as if he had swallowed a glacier the further he read the heavier it felt.
Ikkaku seeing Chad's state got up and gently pried the folder from his grip.
`Boss I got this, go Chill, roll a skinny or something'
Chad walked off to the back of the room dazed and disorientated, looking as if he had been smashed in the head with a brick.
`SO lady's and gentlemen and I use the term loosely, at 13:20 hours Recce platoon eyeballed two of the worlds foremost terrorists and two of the three men responsible for the Diablo incident nine years ago'
Ikkaku looked at the photographs in the folder.
`They are Aizen Sousuke and Gin Ichimaru, wanted the world over for countless acts of hedonism, murder, actual and attempted, and major acts of terrorism. Our job depending, on who wants in, is.
1. To locate them.
2. Track them
3. When opportunity arises eliminate the targets.
Remember these are the cunts who iced Kurosaki, so as soon as you get a bead on them put a round in their dome and take them down for good.
Details will play out shortly so memorise all you can then prep your shit, we move out at zero hour.'
Ikkaku and Renji made their way to Chad who was leaning against the back wall smoke curling from the skinny that hung off his lip.
`You all right boss man'? Renji quizzed
Ikkaku just looked at him mutely Chad as ever said nothing he listened to the murmurs of his men as they read though the text that crept silently up the screen.
In the prep center the men moved about in silence checking and re-checking kit as it was passed out by the armourer, Hanataro yamada, rifles, vests, ammunition, small and large firearms were all broken down and checked in triplicate.
Hanataro, stood to one side clip board in hand watching as the members of section four, moved the crates of ammunition and weapons to their required locations.
'No, no, no, that's not where the, 7.62mm belts belong, they go to rack J744K3 not U564L3'
Chad simply shook his head amazed at how someone could memorise such miniscule details.
As he did something caught his eye briefly stood in the corner of the huge bay were two man operated mechanised battle suites each piloted by a single soldier these looked like the were fitted out for people no older than sixteen but other than, Jinta and ururu there were no people of that age in Calypso.
Ammunition was checked for signs of imperfections, bends in the cases or rust spots on the bullets or casings once every one was geared up they headed topside to their vehicles and waited for a final briefing from Urahara.
As the men milled around, sat on their kit bags or chatted amongst themselves, Chad unloaded his kit out the back of his Mitsubishi Warrior and made sure it was all in working order.
Whilst methodically working through his kit Chad allowed his mind to slip and cast back to what had been the worst day in his life, but try as he may he couldn't conjure up the images of what happened that day some things just aren't meant to be remembered.
Renji cradled his prototype .50 calibre Gatling cannon as he dozed against his kit bag.
Ikkaku methodically cleaned and polished his long handled heavily customised cold steel Katana and checked the screw fitting on the end of the handle then laying that to the side checked the valves on his promethium tanks attached to the four foot reinforced tubes on the flame throwers nozzle, a three foot long flip valved tube with a cone shaped end cap to direct the flow of flame.
Ukitake and Shunsui both sat there prepping their 552 colt commando's and checking the det-cord and packets of C12 and SEMTEX for signs of damp.
Yumichika sat there brushed the straggling strands of hair from his vision and carried on meticulously cleaning his boots till they gleamed. After checking through his kit Ukitake walked over to Yumichika to see how he was doing, as he did he went into a spasmodic coughing fit and promptly spat clotted Phlegm riddled blood all over Yumichika's boots and kit, mumbled an apology and made a hasty exit back to his own equipment and made appearances at being very interested in this one particular packet of DET cord.
The other two sat there back to back the only two women in the unit and the only two asides from the others of this unit Chad trusted with his life, Rukia and Orihimei both women had escaped the blasts that had vaporised the others of delta three nine platoon, Orihimei the units medic and Rukia the units communications' expert. Both wrapped in quiet contemplation.
`Rukia do you think things will ever be the same as they were?'
Rukia sat there her back resting against Orihimei's.
`what do you mean by that.'
Orihimei had a slightly puzzled look on her face as she thought through what Rukia had just asked.
`With Chad and that and the rest of the place you know after what happened'
Slightly exasperated at the question Rukia sighed, then swivelled so she was sitting next to Orihimei she gently rested her hand on Orihimei's arm.
`you better than any one should know the answer to that question Orihimei, considering how long you carried that torch for Ichigo'
`What is that supposed to mean'
Orihimei asked defensively.
`oh nothing really its just an observation, you are still in love with him right?'
Orihimei sat there sulking as Rukia got up and walked away with out anything else being said, while they sat there or in Rukia's and Orihimei's case argued quietly, Urahara strolled over to Chad and handed him the one thing he had wanted since he came round in the med centre, his life.
`you know Chad this mission has a very, very, very low life expectancy, I just wanted you to have this its every thing we could find on you before and after the wars I think there is even a picture of your old man in here.'
Chad held it reverently weighing the folder as he ran his hand over the manila cover, feeling the slight embossed red stamp on the cover, seeing the coded stamp on the cover made him wonder if he really wished to know some of the contents.
`Chad so you know, that holds content from before I entered the private sector so please don't think badly of me when you see some of what I did and what went on in the name of protecting our country'
Chad simply nodded then shook Urahara's hand and spun on his heel whistling and swung his hand in the air index finger raised the universal military signal for "mount up".
The armoured Kia Sedona and Chad's Mitsubishi roared to life Urahara watched as they performed two perfectly timed left hand reverse turns, then slammed the vehicles into drive and speed out of the forecourt and down the side street heading for the highway.
Chad stuck his truck on auto pilot and reviewed the file Urahara had handed him reading through the folder he cast his eyes over the black and white photos of the men they were being sent in to eliminate it was rather unusual as it was outside their usual mission parameters for all intense and purposes Chad's team was a rescue team, but with this mission there would be a one time exception to the rule.
As they sped down the highway Chad had the weirdest sense of them being followed but as he checked his mirror all he saw was dead road or the occasional pedestrian although as he well knew his rear view mirror couldn't show him the full 360 degree view of the surrounding area, Ogihci knew it as well as he coasted the roof tops along side the small convoy of trucks then flipped off the roof top to land on the back of Chad's truck engaging his phototropic camouflage as he did all Chad felt was slight bump which he dismissed as a pot hole or bump in the road.
As he lay there still and silent to one side of the equipment boxes and ammunition crates in the flat bed of the truck he was grateful for the exoskeleton he wore in his original form the jump he had just made would have killed him but with the exoskeleton armour and the inbuilt hydraulic compensators it held he was able to perform high speed landings like these with ease and with no need to worry.
As they rolled through the streets, the lights of dimly lit houses became an amber blur as they whipped past, he lay still lying in wait in the back of the Mitsubishi's flat bed , his only weapon a black Ninjitsu Katana with a T'suba shaped like the Indian peace cross and a foot of chain hung from the end of the handle. If Ogihci could smile he would have, but his face had long ago been hidden behind a surgically grafted titanium plate with a fibre optic lens feeding the external images on to the back side of the plate, which, was only ¾ of an inch from what was left of his nose and the skin and muscle that had once formed his mouth had long ago been removed leaving his face in a vicious parody of a grin. Aside from his katana the only other weapons in his possession was the armour he wore a prototype exoskeleton designed to keep his organs working, inbuilt into what was left of his left hand was a particle cannon embedded into the palm of his now clawed hand.
His right arm was little different resembling a four fingered claw, at the top of the palm where it joins the wrist was a small protruding tube which was connected to the inbuilt automatic Plasma gun in the forearm of the exoskeleton which due to its construction had a two second delay between each Bolt being fired.
The suite itself had been customised to look as demonic as possible a Bright orange flame like mane was sprayed onto the back of the exoskeleton on the face of it was a red tribal as well as a tail on the back which he used to his delight. Each time seeing how gruesomely he could finish off his opponent his last was skewering an enemy through the chest, and his heart being pushed from its chest and impaled on the end.
Slipping the truck on to auto pilot he set the G.P,S satellite navigation system to track the route to the R.V point seven miles short of the target zone and dozed in the drivers seat.
His sleep disturbed by dreams and fitful memories of the times past that had made him the cyborg he now was, one that kept re-appearing was the final time he saw his friend and sudo brother Ichigo.
`what the fuck do we do now'
A young shinigami corporal yelled to any one in earshot.
Chad looked at Ichigo as the line began to falter and bend.
`we cant last much longer sir, we have to pull back'
Chad stared at Ichigo waiting for a reply as he stood watching, his face was bathed in mud as another mortar shell fell short of their trench line.
As Chad looked round to say something he caught a look in Ichigo's eyes that said more than the scream of the rapidly dieing men around them ever could.
Ichigo nodded to his life long friend and hoisted up his XM312 and racked back the slide looking at Chad he asked a simple question 'still prepared to fight for me I know I will for you' as he did he felt a small jolt and then a sudden rush of cold clamp his left shoulder and then the side of his chest then again on the right of his stomach as three separate rounds slammed into his body and sent him slamming into the trench wall.
Ichigo looked down and laughed as his hand came away from his stomach caked in blood.
`You know Chad that doest actually hurt that bad'
Chad screamed for a medic as he stuffed field dressings against the torrent of blood pouring from Ichigo's wounds.
Orihimei came running with two orderlies behind her and slid to a halt beside Chad, 'Chad what happened to Ichigo sorry lieutenant no disrespect.'
Ichigo tried not to laugh as she apologised, then the line broke and the Arrancar elites and the Slavering hoard that was the enemy infantry known only as "Hollows" poured across the waste ground towards them, in the midst was Aizen, Gin and Tosen all armed with G36c assault rifles urging the Arrancar on and slamming rounds into the lines, they swiftly rolled over them, and stormed the lines ahead as Ichigo with his body riddled with bullet holes ranging from 9mm to 7.62 mm could do no more than watch.
Gritting his teeth Ichigo levered himself upright and pushed off from Chad, ` Yasutora get them out of here ill hold the line'
`NO Kurosaki I aint leaving you'
`This isn't a debate you lanky dumb fuck, GO, now get the rest of the unit out of here take Rukia, Orihimei and Zaruka and get going don't argue just go'
Tears rolled down his face as he fought back the agonising pain and Chad could see the blood flow had ceased so no matter if he dragged him away from the gunnery plate Ichigo wouldn't survive the withdrawal .
`Sir I', the look Ichigo gave Chad said it all he new the wounds were fatal and he wouldn't last but he could take some of the bastards with him when he went ` yes sir'
`Alpha platoon on me full withdrawal now, move it'
Then Chad with Orihimei in tow ran down the duck board floor of the trench line the wet mud oozing with every step trying to slow them down the hum of the bombers over head growing ever louder as the call was passed that they were due to drop pave ways on the advancing enemy lines in hopes of stemming the tide of the Arrancar advance.
Ichigo dragged up the two remaining XM312 .50 heavy support guns on to the firing plate and using his body weight as help cocked both simultaneously, then wrapping the slings round his arms raised them ready to fire and depressed the triggers relishing in the heavy throaty chatter of the guns as they spat death into the Arrancar lines.
Chad heard their heavy retort as he made his way along the line taking with him what remained of alpha platoon which was to put it bluntly sod all he tipped sideways as the mortar slammed into the trench line, killing yet more of his dwindling command.
He heard it but thought it was the blood loss at first that low groaning whine , then it became more prominent and grew in pitch and volume the .50's had dried up he was now using his side arm to pop a few more rounds in to their lines but he had been called short if his ears weren't ringing from the lack of blood in his body' no he was right on his first assumption they had dropped them and they were making their slow descent bringing with them the sounds of deaths ringing scythe the laughed as he thought , of how this was such a lousy way to die, and shrugged if this was how its meant to be so be it and he drew his nodachi and climbed up on to the parapet.
Chad scanned with his field glasses from his now refreshed position in the main command hut on D troops corridor, and saw Ichigo clamber up the side of the trench and race towards them sword in hand through the lenses he saw him duck the oncoming swing of Gin's blade and drive own round cleaving Tosen's head from his shoulders the bringing the blade back round sending it under his arm and straight through Gins solar plexus he felt the satisfying connection and winked at Chad , as he watched he saw Aizen grab Ichigo by the hair and slam his blade up through Ichigo chest just below his throat severing the chest bone then wrench it back out of him and step round to drive it down again entering six inches below the first cut pinning Ichigo to the floor like a moth on a pin. Chad bellowed so loudly it made Aizen look up as he stooped to pick up Gin and make a fast retreat.
Dropping the field glasses on the deck Chad made to run to Ichigo but was held back by Renji and Kenpachi, as he struggled there was a deep rumble as the first of the pave ways hit home Kenpachi and Renji were thrown back by the concussion cast backwards down the corridor behind them. Chad was not so lucky as he stirred and tried to get up he slipped, as he did the roof gave way and buried him; powerless to help Renji and Kenpachi watched in horror as he was buried alive.
Zaruka stirred the mortar round had knocked her unconscious, unbeknown to Chad as he led the others away , she tried to rise but her knee was dislocated and wouldn't take her weight, she started to crawl forwards he fingers digging into the slim of the trench floor as she made an agonizing journey to saftey as she tumbled down the steps to the bunkers trnch way she screamed as her dislocated knee ground against itself as her vision cleared and she started to cover the last ninety feet to the bunker she heard it the dull crump as the missiles impacted and the pressure as the bow wave came rapidly to bear.
she pulled the corpse of a dead Shinigami private over her to shield her and buried her face in her hands and prayed.
All was quiet thinking that the worst was over she chanced a look from under the protection of the corpse as she did she saw Chad backing into the dugout she tried to scream out to him to beg him to save her, then the wave hit and all sound was drowned out in a searing wave of heat and pressure sucking the air and life from all in its way as the wave passed over her it seared the flesh of her face before she could cover herself fully and sucked the air from her lungs as she opened her mouth to cry out in agony.
Even as the pain coursed through her she felt the unbridled hatred of being left behind, not reallising then just how so very, very wrong she was.
He lay there pinned to the floor by the mountains of rubble, it had seemed like days but could have been hours as he tried to move he noticed for the first time the six inch thick steel re-bar protruding from his shoulder then looking to his left he saw similar in his side and chest running clean through his shoulder blade and exiting his through his pectoral muscle.
`Ow, this is interesting' was all he could think to say before he collapsed again.
When he woke it was not because of pain, but the weirdest sensation as if something was pulling at him he looked up to see a rat chewing at the burned dead flesh of his hand he flicked it away to see the bones beneath push through and as the rat scampered out the way he saw the flesh pull of like a dirty sock, if it was not for the fact he was focusing on burying the pain he was in he would have vomited then, he look at the rest of his arms to see the same thing in places the flesh was seared clean away to leave blackened bone.
Pulling the remains of his arms under him he slowly began to push against the rubble above him straightening his arms he slowly lifted himself up off the floor then brought his knees up and righted himself aided macabrely by the re-bars embedded in his body, finally by pure will alone, slowly walked forward feeling the bars being pulled from his body by his own forward momentum, keeping his mouth clamped shut to stop from screaming. Then with a final sickening pop the bars were free and he fell to his knees panting for breath; blood dripping from the holes in his body, ` well this aint gonna get you free is it Sado, I guess you had better get going' he lumbered to his feet and began clawing at the earth , scree and rubble.
slowly and surely carving his path to freedom.
He scraped and clawed with the mangled remnants' of his hands the bones of his fingers creating gouges in the earth as he tried to pull his self along it was an unusual and very painful feeling like someone dragging nails through a crumbling chalk board, its was despite the pain a profound sensation.
It seemed like days, could have only been hours could have been weeks even months, time had no meaning in a place like that, black as pitch the air wet and so warm it clogged the throat with every in drawn breath, the smell of the earth filled his nostrils the scent of dried blood spun and mingled with every thing and in it all was the constant smell and taste of roasted pork which meant only one thing, the pave ways had done their job a little to well because despite his condition Chad new without a doubt he was still within allied lines.
Finally he clawed at the dirt ahead of him and a small chink of light appeared, feel the first strands of cool damp air against his face was delicious, he was crying in delirium as the cool air washed over him and gave him a boost of energy he didn't know he had in him and ripped the earth away so the sun washed over his face and shoulders wriggling like a snake he pushed his way through the dirt and dust to spill out on to the wet cloying mud beneath it felt delicious to him until he felt it slip into the holes in his body.
As he lay there once again falling into unconsciousness he heard the one thing he never thought he would a friendly voice as he saw Kenpachi slowly creep into his vision.
`Look at you, man you are a dumb shit what the fuck did you do this time'
`Kenpachi, Ichigo, wheres Ichigo?`
Kenpachi didn't say a word just waited by Sado, as the medic finally arrived and vomited as he saw the extent of Chads injuries.
Chad had the strangest sensation of floating luckily he was basically out of it with enough morphine to drug an elephant flowing through him, and the blood loss adding to it; he didn't even register the sky lift winching him up to the waiting Chinook.
Chad snapped awake as the Mitsubishi slowed to a stop, he stretched and climbed slowly out the truck glancing over at Renji and grinned then watched quietly as he pulled open the sliding door on the armoured Kia Sedona and Ikkaku, Ukitake, Shunsui and Yumichika got out and began unloading their kit from the back.
Rukia and Orihimei pulled up on black Suzuki 440 bikes and made their way over to where the Sedona was parked and began pulling their kits out of the storage boxes.
Renji cradled his prototype .50 calibre Gatling cannon like a child being cradle by its mother, laying it gently on the deck pulling out the twin two foot by two foot boxes of belt ammunition and hung one on his back and the other on his left hip on his right he hung a Bose 90 watt speaker and his I-pod.
Ikkaku sheathed his Katana on his hip then drew out his promethium flamer thrower and checked the valves and nozzles, also drawing his twin MP7s with extended magazines and silencers pulling a light weight 9mm N.A.T.O. standard but when you pack a 35 and 40 round magazine it more than makes up for the lack of punch in the round fired.
Pulling on their chest rigs and doing a final check of their explosives Ukitake and Shunsui loaded up their explosives and locked in their 552 colt commando rifles.
Yumichika prized beauty over Fire Power favouring the light weight M8 and M468 assault rifles, as a close quarters backup carried a very much stylised and personal blade with four separate peacock talon blades that fanned out very much like the tail feathers of that elegant bird.
Rukia rummaged in a box of electrical components then went around the group dishing out the new com's buds.
'ok sound off'
Chad spoke softy into the throat mike strapped round his neck.
One by one the team sounded off confirming that the micro-bead transmitters in their ears were indeed fully functional.
Rukia stood to one side and knelt down with her battle vest on the floor next to the long range tactical radio, as she carefully snapped on all the connectors then locked it in place to the back of her vest.
'Rukia we all set?`
'yep we're all good here Sado`
She shrugged herself into the vest and tightened the strap the picked up her MP5k slapped the bolt shut and stashed it under the radio rig and the picked up he G36C with acog scope and integrated silencer.
She glanced at Orihimei, and nodded as Orihimei holstered her Glock 18c the only offensive item Orihimei carried aside from her surgical implements but compared to the armour worn by Arrancar and Espada.
Chad ran through the data in the file folder and glanced at the 10 Espada lieutenants Aizen's bodyguards and then the photos of Gin and Aizen.
Crushing Aizen's in his fist just as he would crush the life from Aizen's body before the week had ended he would make sure of it.
Reaching their final R.V, the team did one final weapons check; then waited for instruction.
Looking ahead his eyes slowly scanning the silhouette of the building in front of them he felt a small niggle in the back of his mind, something about this place just didn't feel quite right it was as If the whole place was fake, just the back drop to something much larger and more sinister than anything imaginable.
Thinking back Chad remembered talk of sub levels to Calypso where other than Urahara , only a select few had access.
Urahara walked slowly down the corridor towards a non descript grey steel door simply marked area 12, He swiped a bar-coded card through the receiver, the door slid open silently. Stepping through was like stepping into a cold, dead, hospital room; greeting him in a shrill angered tone was the disembodied head of Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Urahara walking over to the jar that now housed Mayuri's head he tapped it with his walking stick and leant down so he was at eye level with Mayuri and smiled waving 'well how are we today any news from the land of the floating heads'.
As he said this Urahara suppressed a small chuckle that didn't escape the notice of Mayuri whom since his contraction of a virulent virus had become nothing more than a stylised head in a jar unlike most he did at one point have the ability to swap and change at will any part of his anatomy, but the strain of virus he had contracted eliminated this option in so much as, as fast as Mayuri could replace the decaying pieces another would fall off essentially defeating the object of, essentially being a living Mr Potato Head.
'And pray tell what do you find so funny'
Urahara grinned 'oh nothing much just this' he holds up a bag containing a typical run of the mill gold fish and empties the bag into the jar.
'WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING YOU JUMPED UP CLOGG WEARING GREEN HAT'ED SON OF A BITCH'
Urahara looked at him calmly and smiled 'well your down here all day by yourself I thought you could do with a bit of company, I did name it Nemu after your former assistant, whom I do still have in cold storage around here somewhere; if I could just remember what part of the facility I put her in I wonder if Hanataro could tell me, because its more than likely in the same place as my boxers and I haven't seen those in six years; but any way that's besides the point; What in gods name do you think your doing'
Urahara looks down at the jar to see Mayuri bite the fishes head off , although he was not that surprised at what he had seen it still was a little bit of a shock.
He knew of the callous disregard he could display for other creatures, when one thought about it the destruction of the gold fish was no different to how he used to treat his assistant Nemu, whom as Urahara had previously stated was on cold storage in the facility although he had lied about not knowing her location.
'Urahara do you honestly think I am going to sit here and let you put a fish in the only thing keeping me alive, you know I developed this in a futile hope that one day a cure would be found only to find out, that while my body had decayed and I was interred as a permanent resident of this jar; that you, you who had once been my teacher and master in the military research division or as we called it Squad twelve had already for many years developed, perfected and synthesised a cure then withheld it from me; I ask you now "why" I am fascinated as to why'
Urahara nodded
' Very well I will tell you "why" and can do so in one simple word Aizen although Aizen is a name and not a word as such it suites the situation and explanation quite nicely, the work you did when Aizen was still one of us as you know was filtered through him and as a result of your work, noble as it was in its attempts to stem the deaths of our soldiers on the battle fields, you, Major Kurotsuchi are responsible for the deaths, mutilation and genetic alteration of millions, they became The Zombiefied "Hollows", The exequias, The numeros Arrancar, The Proviron Espada, The Espada that formed the forces we fought so earnestly so many years ago; Until I feel you have made amends for all you did albeit unwittingly I will continue to withhold the vaccine'
For once in his life Mayuri was without words not knowing how to reply, could it have been true, had he inadvertently given Aizen the ability to create the Genetic basis of the Arrancar and Espada.
The force of the realisation jolted Mayuri back to reality and to his present situation.
Calmly and with great deliberation Urahara walked forward and picked Mayuri's jar from its place in the console and placed it in the middle of the room, separated from the console interface panel Mayuri could do nothing but sit there.
Screaming at Urahara as the man with the only chance for his freedom, left the room and flicked the switch that killed the only source of light in the windowless sub level.
Chad stared at the complex thinking, then snapped his head left and right then with a few short hand signals, sent Renji and Yumichika, forward to secure a forward rally point and if need be a point of rapid retreat.
Chad with a second wave of his hand sent Rukia and Ukitake forward, both made the crossing in virtual silence.
Taking positions either side of the utility door their backs firmly planted, silencers locked and rifles ready, a double click came over the comms, Yumichika reached down and turned the handle pushing the door open peering in he waved his hand to Rukia thumb tucked in, she nodded and rolled through rifle raised and scanned the area With Yumichika following closely.
Tapping his throat mike, Yumichika gave the all clear then he and Rukia took up covering positions facing toward the end of the corridor hugging the raised pipe work closely to give themselves some cover, Renji was first through the door and took a more exposed position between Rukia and Yumichika; knelt and slowly kept the barrel of his .50 calibre mini gun rotating the soft whirring began to fill the corridor.
The rest of the unit filed through with Ikkaku covering their rear, the small flame at the end of his flame thrower guttering slightly in the wind coming through the door, Chad stood there and motioned; 'Ukitake , Shunsui, seal the door we don't want any unwanted visitors'.
They both nodded and moved in quick succession.
Placing several SEMTEX charges equipped with motion sensors and several Claymores' facing at angles to the door attached to the handle of the door by rip lines.
Ukitake admired their handy work, 'That should do it doubt any one is coming through not in one piece any way.'
Chad nodded and sent Renji, Rukia and Yumichika forward, while he did he scanned the area with satellite aided sonar, giving them a complete layout of the Facility, it was a slight cheat he knew but one way of keeping them all alive for as long as possible.
He sent the data to all the team.
'Renji, Rukia take level 1
Ukitake, Shunsui take level 2
Yumichika, Ikkaku take level 3
Me and Orihimei will take the ground floor all meet on the ground floor in the centre foyer once the sweep is done got it?'
All nodded and checked their mags then dispersed.
Yumichika and Ikkaku made for the main service elevator and their designated floor.
'You know I wont deny that I aint excited but this seems a not so clever idea ya feel me bro?'
Ikkaku looked at Yumichika and raised his eyebrow.
'I know but in the end we are all following orders, even Chad so…..we got to get the job done'
'Cant argue there' Yumichika grinned at Ikkaku as he spoke.
Renji got to the top landing of the stair way, and waited till Rukia caught up and took position on the other side watching and waiting she nodded, then lifting his booted foot slammed it into the door sending it crashing back into the wall Renji was first through his Mini canon strapped to his back, in his hands pulled tight to his shoulder was an old Pattern SLR the Dutch made combat rifle formerly used by the British army until the end of the Falklands as the pair made their way along the corridor Renji noticed that one wall seemed odd and took a closer look as did he noticed it was made of glass and was infact looking directly down onto the ground floor as he turned away he caught a glimpse of something out the corner of his eye and turned to look as he did it simply vanished, he shook his head vigorously and carried on jogging slightly to catch up with Rukia.
Ogihci looked down from the other side of the roof his tail swishing back and forth lightly as he watched Renji depart, his lipless mouth curled in a vicious parody of a smile as he saw Renji's reaction, it had been him that Renji had seen; but in the 2 seconds it took for Renji to turn his head he had been on the other side of the roof well out of view. Thinking to himself as he leapt lightly to the next beam about how much fun this was turning out to be.
Ukitake and Shunsui reached the access stairs, made their way up the twelve flights to the second floor reaching the door to the second level; Ukitake paused and adjusted the fit of his re-breather mask, then nodded, both men check that the silencers fitted to their rifles were locked tight satisfied they were Shunsui reached down and grasped the handle of the door and turned, leading with the barrel of his rifle, he slowly opened the door.
The corridor loomed large and evil in front of them scanning left and right they noted that the floor was completely devoid of anything except for offices each of them were fronted by thickened and toughened glass switching on their micro lamps they headed off down the corridor leapfrogging down the corridor from office to office checking and clearing each individual office, it was aided by the fact each office had a glass wall; as they made their way down the corridor checking each individual room lit only buy the glow coming from the still functioning computers. All the lights on the level they were on seemed to have blown but the computers still functioned lending the place a dull eerie blue glow.
Reaching the end of the main initial corridor they came to a tee junction motioning down the left then to himself Shunsui designated himself to head that way leaving Ukitake the right hand side nodding and raising two fingers to point at his eyes then at Shunsui basically saying "watch out down there" turned and made his way down the corridor.
Shunsui grinned and shoulder his rifle then headed out down the corridor, scanning the sides of the corridor in an intersecting arc he slowly made his way forwards conscious of the distance he was putting between himself and Ukitake a fact he didn't like.
As he broke from his reverie he saw something a blurred indistinct shape far enough away not to be made out clearly but close enough to be seen, as he got closer it became more apparent that it was not human no matter what was with limbs protruding at odd angles from several points and a face that was adorned with spikes, several pairs of eyes and clad in a bone white mask made sure that even if it had once been human it wasn't now.
The thing swivelled and let out a gargled, wailing scream, and charged clawed hands raised aimed at Shunsui's throat; in a matter of nano-seconds Shunsui's brain took in the threat and decided and dealt the appropriate response.
His finger clamped and released the trigger six times in rapid succession spraying six groups of four 5.56mm rounds at the target in a tight grouping to the chest and head dropping the creature like a sack of month old potato's.
'Echo Alpha, this is Echo 4 contact made and eliminated continuing on, just a note don't know what we are dealing with but it is Hostile Repeat Hostile advise Weapons free to be enabled'
'Echo 4 this is Echo Alpha acknowledged and advise accepted and agreed, calling Charlie one Charlie this is Echo Alpha Weapons free is in play I repeat Weapons free is in play, if it moves it is to be terminated with extreme prejudice'
A silent double click was heard over the coms in rapid succession from all three teams.
As this played out Shunsui ejected the magazine from his rifle and pushed out the remaining five rounds into his hand and then ejected the final round from the rifles chamber and pulled out a fresh mag after slipping the unspent bullets into small hoops in his battle vests breast plate.
Then carried on down the hallway to a set of double doors peering through the glass of the door he saw a wide open area that was sectioned out into what looked like singular cubicle work stations.
Thinking idly to himself 'even in the .com evil corporations the grunts get a worse deal than those they work for' then shrugged and pushed them open glancing to his right he saw Ukitake doing the same and tipped a mock salute then dropped low and made his way towards him meeting up somewhere in the middle of the wall between the two doors they hunkered onto one knee.
'Anything interesting happen on your way in' Shunsui asked resting his rifle on his leg.
Slightly muffled by the re-breather Ukitake chuckled.
'Same as you but you beat me on the call in, weirdest thing I have ever seen, but hey as long as we get to kill something who cares what it looks like'
'I hear that man, come on lets get moving I think we are close to the main atrium'
Ukitake sighed and slapped Shunsui round the head.
'Idiot, I checked before coming in here, the main atrium is on the other side of the of this entire section and this section is the size of a city block the place may not be very high but its fucking wide as hell'
Shunsui rubbed at his head as he reached for his water canister and took a swig from it offering it to Ukitake, who took the flask and sniffed smelling the sweet smell of Saki and declined, shrugging Shunsui sipped gently as he took in the information then sheepishly checked his digital map something he always forgot to do.
The pair got up and in a low crouch made their way through the cubicles.
Yumichika and Ikkaku reached the top floor and stepped out into the maintenance access way the twelve by twelve box room that housed the service elevator and the storage lockers for any maintenance equipment relevant to this floor.
Yumichika stepped forward to the door and peered through the meshed glass, nodding the all clear to Ikkaku they stepped through into the corridor.
As the pair walked down the corridor, Ikkaku made a remark that unsettled Yumichika.
'you know im a little surprised buy all this, not the building or that, but the fact we got this mission and not the Vizard team, this really is their territory; Because you know in all honesty I truly think we are gonna die here, none of us will make it our alive'
Then Ikkaku picked up his pace and swiftly made it to the next corner holding up his hand for Yumichika to stop.
Peering round, three of the creatures spotted earlier by Shunsui and Ukitake were milling round in the corridor apparently pulling apart the corpse of some very unfortunate office clerk.
Signing a few quick signals to Yumichika, Ikkaku twisted the nozzle on his flame throwers funnel and blew put the small catch flame on the end then un-holstered his two Mp7's and set them to automatic; motioning for Yumichika to follow and dived round the corner a split second before Yumichika and opened fire on the three creatures with Yumichika in perfect sink all three of them hit the floor dead before they even knew what happened.
'Echo Alpha this is Echo's 2 and 3 contact sighted and eliminated over, any idea what we call these things'
'Echo's 2 and 3 acknowledged and I believe their designation is Hollow or hollows dependant on how many there are obviously, but their designation is Hollow'
'Ok cheers, Echo's 2 and 3 out'
With that settled Ikkaku and Yumichika refreshed their magazines and proceeded with clearing the upper floor.
The pair crashed through the next set of double doors only to find themselves in what looked like a maze of increasingly larger offices.
Ikkaku glanced at his wrist mounted PDA and brought up the 3D map of the complex.
'Well it seems we have hit the Board staff offices, The Directors and CEO's seem to be situated centrally to the rest we don't want to get lost in there so ill plot us a expanding circular route that will more or less cover the entire area; no guarantee though on complete clearance.'
Yumichika nodded. ' very well lets just play it as it comes'
Ikkaku grinned and pulled out a gas injected Zippo lighter from his back pocket then re-lit the catch flame on his flame thrower and hefted the four foot long tube in his hands, nodding to Yumichika they headed down the centre corridor following the map that was brought up on the H.U.D eye pieces they wore, peeling left Ikkaku came to one of the board members offices looking at the door a brass plaque with a bevel inscribed name that simply read Yammy, Ikkaku eyed the plaque and said quietly to Yumichika `wonder if she's a yummy Yammy?' Yumichika smirked and didn't reply other than to order Ikkaku to clear the room as he saw fit.
Ikkaku raised his foot and slammed it into the door sending it crashing back on its hinges then stepped forward slightly and squeezed the handle on his flame thrower illuminating the corridor and room with a incandescent cone of flaming petrol, thickened slightly with Christ knows what.
Unlike the conventional flamer Ikkaku's carried digital valves and expanded tanks and a telescopic gun tube to allow for easy storage.
Releasing the pressure trigger stopping the flow of pressurised liquid Ikkaku collapsed the tube and hung it on the twined hooks on the back of the tanks.
Yumichika watched the room burn, then turned and slowly made his way down the corridor following in Ikkaku's wake.
Yumichika slowly over took Ikkaku as they made their way through the corridor as he did, he glanced over his shoulder at Ikkaku, 'you know Yammy is a bloke right?', the stifled laughter at the look on Ikkaku's face.
'You let me make a complete ass out of myself by thinking what I did then tell me THAT a good twenty minuets later.
[due to censorship of this next paragraph I am not allowed to enter Ikkaku's next string of dialogue]'
Yumichika much to Ikkaku's amazement continued to suppress his laughter.
Ikkaku as he stalk past glared at Yumichika muttering as he did.
'Prick'
And walked off his flame thrower creating swathes of incandescent light as it rolled back and forth in front of him.
The pair came to another office this one had broad oak doors, nothing more than massive slabs of wood set on hinges, about three quarters of the way up the door was carved the name Grimjowe Jajerjaques, carved into the wood itself in a very crude and erratic fashion.
Ikkaku and Yumichika stacked up on the door again Ikkaku had his MP7's in hand Yumichika held up his hand in it he held a MKIII flash grenade, looking round Ikkaku nodded his consent, then reached out slowly for the door handle.
As Ikkaku's hand was about three inches from the handle The mangled corpse of what could only have been Grimjowe Jajerjaques crashed through the door tearing them from the hinges and slamming into the wall on the other side of the hall with a wet splat.
His entire right torso from collar bone to hip was gone nothing but gore and exposed bone remained.
Both men looked through the doorway into the room and came eye to eye with Ogihci who merely cocked his head to one side and stared, then leapt through the hole in the ceiling and vanished out of sight.
Both men look at one another, both of them had seen enough to last most men a thousand lifetimes, but this simply vexed them. Looking at one another they said in perfect unison
'What the fuck was that'
Ikkaku tapped his throat mike to signal a coms open request, hearing the tap Rukia flicked a channel open and triple tapped back the affirmative.
'Echo-2 to Echo Alpha, sighting of unidentified operative status not clear at present could represent a major hostile threat; sighted in vicinity of CEO office; subject eliminated a hostile subject, identification confirms it to be one Grimjowe Jajerjaques. Subjects methods indicate preference to close quarter possibly bladed combat, advise extreme caution if subject is spotted. Also it appears that the subject is wearing prototype T.I.T.A.N armour Echo-2 out'
Chad stood and listened as Ikkaku rattled this off, from what he had heard there were only a couple of people, at least they used to be people, had been given that armour.
One such rumour bit deep into a very deep and long festering wound that bored its way into Chads soul it had been a rumour as to whom one such wearer had been.
The word T.I.T.A.N was an an-acronym for Tertiary Infiltration Tactical Assault Network, not the greatest of names but it was adequate enough.
'Could it be he lived through all that?, anything is possible, but his wounds were so grievous that he must have been dead before the missiles hit, then again whose to know.'
Orihimei looked at Chad with an extremely puzzled expression.
'Captain to whom are you talking, if it was me I am afraid I was not paying attention.'
Chad merely smiled and shook his head.
'No Orihimei, I was talking to myself, its honestly nothing you need to concern yourself with.'
She merely continued to look puzzled then turned and carried on moving through the ground floor corridors.
Up to that point they had encountered no hostiles or resistance what so ever, which worried Chad immensely, no resistance always spelt trap in any ones language Chad watched her for a minuet as he scanned the corridors with his left eye.
Wandering through the corridors was a little unnerving as he got staggered reports from the teams of sightings and engagements and areas that had been fully cleared.
Reaching a corner Renji peered round the motioned with his leather gloved hand to Rukia and kept watch his S.L.R pulled tight to his shoulder as she darted across the corner to a support Colum and knelt down her rifle raised a standard pattern 552 colt commando nodding to Renji he quickly but not as silently made his way forwards. Double clicking his throat mike he called in the all clear for level one.
'Echo Alpha to Echo six and one rendezvous in atrium use any means available to gain access to ground level'
Renji simply double tapped his throat mike then winked at Rukia.
Her stomach lurched as she cottoned on to his thinking and remembered the walkway they had crossed not so long ago.
Ukitake and Shunsui made it to the other side of the workers floor after encountering only a few very scared workers and three rather pissed off looking hollows.
Both men feeling rather listless and a little disappointed with the lack of action they were seeing radioed through the all clear then they simply shrugged as they received the order to rendezvous with the team in the atrium by any means available to them.
Ukitake pulled from his hip pouch a wad of C12 the size of a babies head and moulded it into a flat disk the slapped it on the floor and stood clear shouting 'FIRE IN THE HOLE' he detonated it blowing a 12 foot wide hole into the floor itself, laughing both men jumped through and repeated the procedure till they hit the ground floor.
Ikkaku and Yumichika hit the final office and looked at the door, the plaque read
Aizen Souske, C.E.O and Director.
'So this is the douche bags office, go figure.'
Ikkaku said with a sneer and unhealthy layer of contempt.
Spooling out a thin cable with what appeared to be a light on the end Yumichika slid it under the door and peered into his wrist mounted PDA then went slightly pale.
'Uhh bro we got a problem'.
Ikkaku turned and looked at Yumichika
'what man' what's up'
Yumichika in an uncharacteristic turn looked pale and shaken at what lay beyond the door, he simply held his arm out so Ikkaku could see the other side of the door and what lay beyond it.
Ikkaku smiled and shrugged asking for Yumichika's rifle he slapped a 40mm grenade launcher to the fore grip and slid the tube open flicking off the safety as he did, groping round in his hip pouch he pulled out his one and only 40mm grenade and slid it home.
Stepping back two feet he slammed the rifle through the door and fired the grenade.
It detonated with devastating affect sending several of the rooms occupants spiralling out the glass floor to ceiling wall that overlook the sculpted gardens in the centre of the compound, the blast shattered the oak desk sending pieces of wood, metal and plastic in all directions the splinters of plastic and metal supplied by the in out trays and desktop computer, it was a sight to behold.
Yumichika watched entranced as the bodies twisted and spun or simply flew apart as pieces of shrapnel and other objects tore into them in a twisted way he could appreciate it for its beauty in others it awoke a feeling of bloodlust not to common to him and he couldn't help but watch.
Meanwhile Ikkaku had stowed his launcher in his kit handing Yumichika his rifle back he pulled out his own two MP7s and made ready to enter the room, Yumichika finally tearing himself away from the images before him, stood and then slammed his foot into the door.
They both entered the room at the exact same time, popping rounds into anything that moved.
'hey bro these aint the same as the others these look more I don't know human. Well sort of; There still seems to be a lot of mutation in them, but look at them they are definitely more humanoid than those other things'
Yumichika looked at Ikkaku as he spoke, Ikkaku merely shrugged `they're dead aint they' he questioned in an all to cock sure manner.
As Chad and the rest of the team made their way to the rendezvous, another group were making their own way in.
Aikawa motioned for the others to stop raising his faceplate he glanced around at the others, all very much alike in that they all wore completely customised gear. Including personalised face plates constructed from an adamantium composite alloy.
Hirako slowly made his way forward coming to a stop next to Aikawa, `What is it?', Hirako quizzed `We don't have much time, they're marching into the mouth of hell'.
Hirako nodded, `good enough for me, Ok Vizoreds move'.
With that they wrose and moved as one, sprinting for the main building like locust through corn fields.
Weapons raised they came to the outer wall of the compound `ok girls you know the drill, up and over'.
With that a low whump was heard as each of them fired their Maghook's, the high tensile rope spooling out as the hook's shot upwards.
Then as one they depressed the retract button and where all yanked off their feet and the up the wall.
Storing the Maghook's in the holsters placed in the small of their backs they dropped down and began to creep their way closer.
Making their way quietly down the elevator shaft the white clad ninja operative of the Quincy corps glided to a stop in front of the sub basements doors, despite the overt colour their attire they could easily slip unnoticed past any guard or security personnel one can think of, the collapsible carbon fibre compound bow on their back was one reason the other was the high intensity training all Quincy went through to get where they now were.
As well as their bow which although unique in its structural properties was also a marvel of particle engineering in that it never required a separate supply of arrows it utilised the energies of the user and the air around it to create the arrows through particle acceleration literally turning the air into a solid mass eliminating the need for arrows, the other was the carbon-ceramic wazikashi sword they carried in the small of their back other than that they wore the standard ninjitsu Gi along with a high tech light weight ceramic titanium body armour and Kevlar tabi boots, their only none white features were the two blue strips on one hand and the small silver cross they wore on one wrist.
Hanging upside down in the lift shaft they drew out their sword and slipped it between the doors of the elevator, prying them open.
Re-sheathing their sword they grabbed hold of the lip of the door frame and swung in landing silently in a roll coming up into a low kneeling position bow up and aimed. Lowering their bow then collapsing and stowing it they slowly began to work their way forwards.
The young Quincy ninja crept through the corridors, silently the SEC-NET ear bead in their left ear buzzed softly, gently pressing their throat they clicked on the vocal implant grafted to their vocal chords.
`Hai, Ichi, Hatchi, Ichi, proceed', Ishidas voice rolled out the bead into the young Quincy's ear 'Sonic scans indicate several live bodies in the vicinity suggested method of elimination is by Wazikashi.
`Hai sensei, Arigato.'
Removing their hand from their throat they broke the connection.
They crept down the corridor their footfalls rendered silent by the padded neoprene rubber.
Slowing their movements hugging the right hand wall as they moved closer to the corner; crouching low they slipped the tips of their middle and index fingers round the corner, the two fingers of their right hand, had small fibre optic cameras embedded in them that fed into a small screen over their left eye.
In it they saw three of what could only be Arrancar; Augmented humans the sections of ceramic plate grafted to their skulls gave them a very surreal appearance; one of whom stood out from the others in so much as he looked like a big bird, the next they knew the name of, Findor, the eccentric, egotistical sociopath, stood there his beak nosed grafting made him look like some mutated Lobster.
Silently drawing their Wazikashi they spun round the corner cleaving big birds head off, spinning into a flip off the wall they cleaved Findor down the middle watching the two halves fold away from one another for mere seconds before they drifted forward covering the corridor width in milliseconds plunging the blade of their short sword into the next's chest then withdrawing and flipping over him plunging it in through the back it sliced through and came out of the gash in the front chest cavity
Stepping away they flicked their Wazikashi the blood spattering across the floor, in a staccato line. Sliding the blade in the sheath they turned their back on the corpses and walked away with out so much as a hint of regret for the three lives they had ended.