Rukia stepped into a dimly lit room that had a table and some chairs. She had been instructed to come to this room and she didn't know much of why, she had taken a seat and waited in silence.
A few minutes later General Yamamoto entered the room, she snapped to attention and saluted him, "General Yamamoto, sir!" He didn't say anything but motioned her to sit down, and she did so.
"Rukia, I need you to listen carefully for I can only go through these instructions once." He took out a document brimming with multiple papers and passed it down to her side of the table.
She was about to open it to see the contents, but then another voice entered the atmosphere, "So, you're the one the old man said he was gonna pick." she looked to where the voice came from, but she only saw a shadow with a cloud of smoke hanging over him, he stepped out from the dark corner and she almost didn't recognize him. It was her old friend Oliver, they had been friends since high school and he was a great friend, despite having her lifelong friend Renji, he was like a brother as well. He normally would keep to himself when he wasn't around anyone familiar, he always watched his surroundings which made him look as if he knew something was coming, and he tended to be protective so he would watch over her so some bully wouldn't come and hassle her. He ran a hand through his hair and threw the cigarette away "Well, I guess as long as it's you, I don't really give a damn. Anyway, it's great seeing you again." he finished with a grin.
"Well I don't understand, chosen for what?" Rukia questioned.
Oliver brought clarity "You have been chosen to lead this mission, as your brother's replacement." she was taken by surprise at the mention of her brother, "What do you mean a replacement for my brother?" the general answered her,
"Your brother, Master Sergeant Byakuya Kuchiki was given this same assignment, there were strange things happening, which at the time could not be explained, eventually we found a lead where small but surely noticeable activity was taking place.A few hours into the mission, your brother's squad went dark, moments later a 2nd squad following your brother on the attack had found what was left of his squad, Jyuushiro Ukitake had been found wounded but Byakuya and Corporal Kaien Shiba had been murdered by the fellow squadmates Sosuke Aizen and Gin Ichimaru, they dissappeared after that. But some time has passed now and whispers are getting louder, we believe Aizen and his colleagues may bring whatever sort of operation he's planning underway at anytime, we need to find out whatever he's planning." Yamamoto concluded.
"Aizen killed my brother? and Kaien!" she screamed within her mind, all this information was just crashing into her head like the most massive car accident ever seen, she wasn't sure how she could handle this, when Byakuya died, they told her he died in a helicopter crash and his body couldn't be recovered, but that was only a lie, he was actually cut apart to where his corpse was almost unrecognizable, and as Ukitake explained, Kaien tried to defend him but they cut him down without warning, and they almost killed him too but they only managed to seriously injure him and leave him for dead. This was too much for her.
Oliver looked to her with pity, "Hey, I know it's painful for you to find out the real truth, but you just needed more time, but now Aizen's making his move and we don't have many options left, you're here and we need you now, please do this for us, for the world, for your brother."
She looked at him, not knowing what she could do, but those emotions swept over and were quickly replaced by anger and revenge, she put some time into her thinking then she made her choice, "How soon can I get out there to put every single one of those bastards in the ground?" Rukia asked, determination and fury in her violet eyes.
Oliver just smiled at her, "The instructions you need are in the dossier, it contains all the information we could get our hands on, and it wasn't too easy, seems Aizen was desperate to cover his tracks." Oliver explained as she read through the various pictures and notes.
She almost couldn't believe what she was reading, how could this have not been enough information, it had to be a gold mine of intel, it talked of various topics, a whole army was being trained with ties to the Ultranationalist groups in Russia, receiving troops and supplies from them and that seemed to be an important note, "As we've researched, it seems Aizen had gained some followers in his quest for power, each one happened to be handpicked based on their individual talents, and it seems that approximately ten had been chosen as Aizen's trusted and most powerful agents, he calls them the Espada, japanese for Ten Swords." Yamamoto explained.
"They sound threatening." Rukia replied "They are, especially when they work together, then they're extremely dangerous." Oliver warned her.
"So, what do I do first?" Rukia asked, "Right, we gotta start her somewhere general." Oliver added. "Well, there is one squad I believe could play an important part for this, Rukia shall be placed in the Reaper squadron led by Lt. Ichigo Kurosaki." Ichigo Kurosaki? something sounded strangely familiar about the name, Rukia couldn't exactly remember. The general continued "Oliver, from here on, you will be her shadow, I want your squad to watch over her and assist her in anyway you can without bringing any attention to yourselves, can I trust you to do so?" he asked him, "Yes sir, my squad and I will glady give our lives for her if neccessary sir!"
Yamamoto seemed pleased enough, "Then that is all for now, and as far as anyone is concerned, nothing happened in this room and nothing was ever discussed." he said walking out the door.
Lt. Rukia Kuchiki 1400 Hours Stationed to U.S. Army Camp "Ghost Town"
Two Days Later
Rukia couldn't believe it, she was to be stationed in some camp in the middle of nowhere, restricted from contacting Oliver anywhere other than the battlefield, he wasn't too happy about it either but they had to follow orders, anyway all should do right now was relax on the ride there and speak with Oliver as much as she could before the ride reached it's stop, it had been a long day they rode multiple jeeps, two planes, and were now aboard some APC to god knows here now, whatever it didn't matter now back to topic, she took a good look at Oliver, he had changed over the several years they had been seperated, his hair had been longer with a black headband, it seemed he didn't bother changing before the meeting, he just came as soon as he heard about Rukia being chosen, so he was wearing a woodland camouflage uniform, stained with dirt and blood with the sleeves ripped from knife cuts with wounds and a bandage on his upper left arm, small cuts across his face, he grew a beard as well and a toothpick hung from his lips, "Somebody like what they see?" crap, he noticed, "Oh, i'm sorry, I was just spacing out-" Oliver cut her off, "Don't worry, I was thinking the same thing, It's really been a while." she sighed in slight relief, "Yeah, I was thinking that." one thing she never forgot about him was that he was a strange person.
Suddenly the ride came to a stop and an older man stepped up making an announcement to all the troops on board "Lady and Gentleman, I am Gunnery Sergeant William Stacker, and I'm glad to announce your trip to hell is over, welcome to Ghost Town, Scenic Afghanistan!" now Rukia just freaked, "WHAT!"