Chapter 26
Hueco Mundo, Las Noches, Southwestern Entrance
Over the past week tensions among the inhabitants of the palace had been steadily rising. Ichigo's speech to the Arrancar had kicked a few of the more fiery tempered ones into a frenzy and they were itching to get a shot at some shinigami. Nonlethal spars became more common with each passing day as they helped take the edge off while simultaneously polishing some rusty skill sets. This combined with the knowledge that his majesty's chosen diplomat, Shawlong Koufang, was set to return to Soul Society in just half a week's time had many literally counting down the hours.
"What do you think Aisslinger? You're a smart guy. What's gonna happen after Shawlong returns?" Aldegor asked.
"I wouldn't expect much." the silver haired Arrancar replied. "The most probable outcome is rather boring. They'll concede to the most minor demands as a show of 'good faith' while trying to negotiate for better versions of the larger ones. I would wager that Shawlong's trip will start nothing more than a long series of back and forth talks between our factions."
"So you don't think we'll actually go to war?" Aledgor questioned neutrally. He was one of the few Arrancar in Las Noches who honestly didn't care one way or another on the issue.
"Perhaps in the future." Aisslinger conceded. "But not until the only issue left to settle is the death of that captain who slayed his majesty's friends. This of course is barring the possibility that someone does something exceptionally stupid. You'd be amazed what little things can spark a massive conflict."
"Well I hope war does come!" a small effeminate Arrancar with red hair named Menis spoke up. "I've pushed myself and pushed myself and I'm finally below rank 30! Those shinigami are going to rue the day they met me!"
The fourth and final Arrancar in the room, a massive man the size of a house named Demoura Zodd looked down confused. "But weren't you No. 29 before Tesra died? You were already below 30."
Menis looked at the giant like he was a moron. Probably because Demoura was in fact known for being dimwitted. "You're forgetting about Lord Kurosaki. He's even stronger than the Primera! Which means I wasn't in Hueco Mundo's best of the best until now." he finished with a satisfied grin and his arms folded proudly across his chest.
While Demoura put his finger under his lip to consider the retort, Aisslinger Werner rolled his eyes. "And how exactly does being below 30 make you the 'best of the best'?" he muttered sarcastically.
"EH?" Menis said in indignation. "You making fun of me Werner? You best watch yourself or I'll tell Lord Kurosaki your little secret. That it was you who healed Grand Fisher and helped him become an Arrancar. You've heard Lord Kurosaki's history with him, what do you suppose he'll do to you if he found out?"
Four spindly gray arms rose up menacingly from beneath Aisslinger's cloak. "Say that again and you aren't walking out of this room." he threatened.
"HA!" Menis barked. "You think you can threaten me? I'm almost a dozen ranks above you friend. Even if by some miracle you manage to stop me you'd just get killed anyway. You heard Lord Kurosaki's speech. The punishment for killing 'family' is death."
"You'd be surprised what you can live through." Aisslinger ground out without backing down.
Aldegor stepped between the two, exerting his influence as the strongest one in the room. "Now now let's all just calm down. No one wants to do anything they'll regret."
The mentally slow Demoura Zodd finally put his finger down and reentered the conversation. "But Menis if you're counting his majesty in your list of 30 you need to count his right hand man Sado too. He's not in the Arrancar rankings either."
Menis twitched an eyebrow in annoyance. "...he doesn't count. Not a hollow. I don't care how much his power looks like it." he mumbled.
Aisslinger smiled. "Ahhh but that's not what you said is it? You said 'Hueco Mundo's best of the best'. Yasutora Sado is in fact in Hueco Mundo. Therefore he counts. Looks like you're not below 30 after all." he stated in great amusement just to aggravate Menis.
"And there's Tōsen too! He's still here!" Demoura said excitedly.
Aisslinger's grin grew wider. "That's correct. Thank you Demoura." he said earnestly before turning back to the prideful redhead. "So forget 'below 30'. You're not even 'top 30'."
Aldegor looked thoughtful for a moment. "No one actually knows where Ichimaru went. He could still be in Hueco Mundo...and there's likely at least a few more Vasto Lorde out there somewhere."
Menis wheeled on his companion. "You're not helping!" he yelled in part anger part frustration.
"I'm only telling the truth." Aldegor defended.
Aisslinger watched smiling as the two fell into a fierce argument with each other. Seeing Menis get his ass verbally handed to him was a sight he'd treasure for many years to co-...what was that sound?
"Did you all hear that?" he questioned to the other three in alarm.
"Hear wha-"
The outside wall exploded inward scattering dust and stone debris into the air and everywhere across the room. Aisslinger had to shut his revealed eye but the one still protected underneath his mask caught sight of more than a dozen cloaked figures dashing inside from the Hueco Mundo desert.
"Tetsuzaemon! Quickly!" the largest of the cloaked men shouted in a deep voice.
"Yes sir!" another one yelled in compliance as he thrust his hands together. A clump of foggy green kidō covering them like a pair of thick gloves.
Flashback, Outside of Las Noches, Earlier That Day
"I do not like this plan." Captain Komamura stated adamantly. His voice carrying authority and power from underneath his wooden helm.
"Well then what do you propose Sajin?" Shūsuke Amagai said back a little angrily. "We've been here an entire week and don't have a damn thing to show for it! All we've learned is that the answers are in there!" he spoke loudly as he gestured to the towering figure of Las Noches in the not too far distance.
"The commanders orders were to only engage enemy forces as an absolute last resort!" Komamura bit back, now a bit of anger bleeding into his voice as well.
"The portal back to Soul Society is opening in two hours and we have nothing to tell them! As far as last resorts go I think this qualifies!" Amagai said exasperatedly.
"Well I don't! If the mission is a failure then its a failure! I will not risk open war!" Komamura then turned to the third leader of the expedition. "Byakuya speak some sense into this man!"
Captain Kuchiki opened his eyes from the rock he was resting atop. "I agree with Captain Komamura. The proposition is reckless. However I do recognize that there is a lot to be gained if Captain Amagai's idea is successful. We are in a no-win scenario. I will accept the consequences of whichever course we take."
Komamura turned away from the abstaining Captain and tried to argue his point to Amagai from a different angle. "Lets say we do break in. How are we supposed to even find an Arrancar?"
Amagai was ready for the question. "It won't be as difficult as you think. I'd wager we'd be able to sense at least someone from the outside. If we choose our point of entry right then we only need to break into a single room."
"And what then?" Komamura countered. "Trying to capture an Arrancar alive will not be a quiet affair. These cloaks are only designed to hide us when we are actively suppressing our reiatsu. If we go in there and start an actual battle we'll be sensed immediately. There's no way to hide our involvement!"
The lieutenant of the 7th division approached his superior. "Actually Captain it may be possible. Bakudō #83 can seal an area of space and obscure everything inside it from detection. Nothing escapes until you pass through it's fog. Not even reiatsu."
Komamura dismissed the idea. "Bakudō #83 is notoriously tricky to maintain. Even kidō masters cannot hold it for more than an hour. And that's under ideal conditions. If the room is larger than the practitioner is used to then that time is shortened significantly."
Tetsuzaemon Iba straightened his back and adopted the most resolute stance he could muster. "Please Captain. I can hold it. You know I was in the kidō corps before transferring to the 7th. Let me do this. We can get in and out in 10 minutes and they'll never know we were there."
"They will still notice the missing Arrancar."
Amagai slid up next to Iba with a smirk on his face, happy to have Komamura's lieutenant on his side. "Yes they will notice. They may even suspect Soul Society's involvement. But they won't be able to prove it. They'll just have a missing soldier and a hole in the wall. Anything could have happened as far as they know."
Komamura narrowed his eyes from beneath his wooden helmet. "I still don't like this." was his final comment as he conceded the fight and begrudgingly agreed to go along.
Present Time, Las Noches, Southwestern Entrance
The cloaked man slammed his kidō covered hands flat on the floor and a hazy green fog started to spread out in every direction. It spilled over the ground like water rolling downhill and crawled up the walls with the same speed. It even covered over the hole to the outside the intruders had made.
While the other Arrancar were still a bit stunned Aisslinger shot over to his security desk and triggered the silent alarm on the desk's underside. He felt validation at the distinct click of the button underneath his finger before one of the cloaked beings flashed in front of him and kicked him back to the rest of the group.
"Four?" one of the cloaked beings said confused. "I thought I could only sense enough energy for one. I guess this fortress does have some shielding built in it's walls."
"It doesn't matter." Another said. "The barrier is complete."
Almost as if obeying his words the farthest wall was covered by the hazy green fog and it looked like all 20 people were standing inside of a green cloud.
"As we discussed then. The 4th and 5th officers will engage them first. It's important to see how well they fare against the typical Arrancar. We'll intervene if it takes longer than five minutes." As the cloaked man spoke six of the intruders drew zanpakutō's from beneath their shrouds.
Aisslinger's eyes widened in alarm at the information. He already suspected that they were shinigami. The kidō made that much obvious. But if the weaker ones were 4th and 5th officers then that meant the ones standing by would have to be...
"KILL THE CASTER!" Aisslinger roared as he raised his four arms high. Sparks of energy glowing on his fingertips. "IF HE DIES THEN THE BARRIER WILL FALL!"
Demoura Zodd opened his mouth to start building a bright red cero while Aldegor and Menis each drew their zanpakutō's and immediately released them.
"Get them, Jabalí! / Stab, Erizo!"
Same Time, Las Noches, Strategy Meeting
"The 9th division." Ichigo muttered as he ran his hand over the map of Seireitei. "That's the one my dad got put in charge of...which means my sisters are probably in this compound somewhere."
"Correct." Szayel confirmed. "The most likely place being in the barracks. Located here." he said pointing to a specific building on the map.
"If we do end up going to war I don't want any fighting around there. I will not risk my sisters being hurt. Everyone avoid that area. That's an order."
"Yes Ichigo/As you command/ Of course your majesty." were just some of the words of agreement that came from the Espada and numerous fracción in the room.
Szayel felt a buzz in his pants and pulled out a PDA like device from his pocket. "Ichigo." he called. "One of the silent alarms was triggered for the southwestern entrance. But it only transmitted for a few seconds before the signal was cut off."
Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "That seems odd. What do you make of it?"
"Well it could just be a malfunction. I've experienced problems like this from time to time. A second possibility is that the alarm was triggered accidentally and then quickly shut off. The last scenario would be foul play. I'd say malfunction is the most likely but it is never unwise to err on the side of caution with these things."
Ichigo nodded. "I agree." He then turned to the two friendly faces that happened to be standing closest to him. "Zommari. Findorr. You two grab a few people and go see what the issue is. Be quick. I don't want you two missing too much of this meeting. Oh, and if it's another sparring match that got out of hand please remind them that we have training rooms for that."
Las Noches, Southwestern Entrance, 7 Minutes Later
Aldegor dropped to one knee and squinted as blood dripped off his forehead into his eye.
His breathing was heavy and labored as he struggled to remain conscious. Two of the six bulky armored appendages he'd grown from his Resurreción were severed and three of the other four hung limply at his side.
"Bakudō #63: Sajō Sabaku."
Aldegor made no effort to dodge the binding spell. He fought like hell to avoid being captured alive. He pushed himself as hard as he could, trying to force them into killing him. He'd even broken out of two other bakudō spells already. But he just didn't have the strength to continue.
Demoura was dead. Aisslinger was dead. Menis was dead too, having gotten himself killed in a suicide move just to take out one of the weaker opponents. Now he'd be captured, forcibly taken to Soul Society, and likely tortured for information. He cursed his own passive regeneration from stopping him from bleeding out as he let himself fall face down on the floor. As his eyes closed he took solace in knowing he had at least killed one of the shinigami in a surprise attack before he went down. In the last small moments of consciousness he heard the distinct sound of five buzzes of sonido.
Zommari Leroux, Cirucci Sanderwicci, Findorr Calius, Loly Aivirrne and Patros all stared in shock at the scene they found once passing through the mysterious green fog. Arrancar dead on the floor. Shinigami reiatsu in the air that was so thick one could choke on it.
For a moment no one moved. No one dared even breathe. Amagai who had been preparing to pick up Aldegor's body froze in place. The medical officer paused his healing kidō on 4th seat Togakushi and Renji Abarai stopped dragging the body of Aisslinger Werner outside so he could start destroying the evidence. Even Tetsuzaemon, who a moment ago was sweating and shaking slightly from maintaining his spell, had stilled entirely.
The silence was broken when Loly Aivirnne snarled furiously and pulled a dagger-like zanpakutō from seemingly nowhere and thrust it in front of her.
"Poison, Escolopendra!"
Her actions had an immediate effect on her four compatriots.
"Carve upon the water, Pinza Aguda!"
"Pollute, Gerifalte!"
"Rip off, Golondrina!"
"Suppress, Brujería!"