18: Invasion
It's been way too long again, I'm so sorry! I know I promised more regular updates and that ship sank unfortunately but rest assured I have a few chapters in stock for a few regular updates now. Anyway thanks to everyone reading so far for being so patient. Enjoy and please review!
A harsh wind blew through Sephiria Arks long blonde hair. As the strands whipped about her face she struck them back with a swift brush of her hand. The other lay upon the hilt of the sword at her side; Christ, the saviour. The great blade entrusted to spare mankind and to deal the final blow in the greatest of battles. The blade was as much a part of her as her own flesh and blood.
"An unsettling breeze has stirred," the great captain commander of the Gotei 13 murmured from behind, "I do not like this."
Sephiria bowed her head, "The squads have been issued on high alert, but while our mobilisation is still under way we cannot be entirely ready for an attack. Surely Aizen won't strike at us so soon? He cannot be ready this quickly!"
"He's had a decade to prepare himself," Yammamoto explained, "He was ready long before he returned to warn us. He could have simply attacked us then and there, but Aizen is a menacing creature. He enjoys watching his prey squirm. He wanted to see panic in the eyes of my men more so than to simply crush them."
Sephiria's frown intensified. Having only seen the dreaded traitor once in the flesh she had not been given time to properly gauge his strength, but the fear in the eyes of the soldiers, even the captains, gave her room to fear.
She simply hoped that Aizen Sosuke's mythical strength was simply the stuff of legends and not fact.
Nonetheless Sephiria had supervised daily training regiments for all squads and organised the gradual mobilisation of a military force that far outshone Chronos even at its peak. An army consisting of the last of her loyal men and the bulk of the Gotei 13, an amassed legion of highly trained and efficient warriors. She was impressed, yet still a lingering doubt gnawed away at her in the back of her mind.
Is this enough?
The question that had continually been bearing down on her for what felt like eternity. The endless burden upon her shoulders, impossible to discard. The riddle she simply could not solve...
"Miss Arks," Yammamoto spoke with an air of calm beneath the rough grunt of his voice, "Are you prepared for the battle to come?"
Taken aback, Sephiria spun on her heels to face the withered old veteran, "Whatever do you mean?"
"Are you prepared, Sephiria? It is all well and good if the troops are ready, but even so, they are nothing without a strong commander. They look to warriors of esteem such as yourself as a symbol of their own strength. In battle, your doubts become their doubts, your fear, their own. If you stay your hand they will hesitate all the same. Whether the troops are mobilised fully or not, it does not matter, as long as their leader holds their head high. Your blade is the banner they will follow to the death Miss Arks. But only if you are ready to fight to the death yourself. And so I ask you, are you prepared?"
After a moment of stunned silence, she answered with conviction, "Of course Captain Commander."
The old man nodded and glanced past her and out beyond the balcony to the pale blue sky.
He felt uneasy, but made sure not to make it apparent. For the good of himself, his men and all of Soul Society he put on a brave face...
The sky cracked. Dark clouds rolled across a suddenly darkened sky. The cracking explosive sound of thunder crashed against the bolts of arcing light spitting down from an angry sky. As the air itself began to splinter and open up, the figures clad in white emerged.
All eyes below became fixated on the sky. Jaws dropped and screams billowed out across the battlefield. Swords were grasped and clung to as orders were roared upon deaf ears. The sight too astonishing to behold, all the preparations were forgotten. Everything was forgotten, only the will to survive remained, afloat amidst waves of unflinching terror.
The moment had arrived sooner than expected.
The war had already begun...
Aizen strode out ahead of his minions and scanned the realm of Soul Society beneath him. A thin, menacing smile crossed his features and he extended a hand to the stunned masses below.
"It is time. Advance. Show them your might and let them know fear!"
In the blink of an eye the horde of warriors standing atop the clouds vanished into thin air and before the shock could even be registered, fires surged up from the earth and pillars of black smoke rose to the sky.
The chorus of screams brought a delighted chill to Aizen's flesh. He simply smiled with vicious satisfaction as the battle progressed. It was the perfect moment to strike. With the wild card heroes distracted in Hueco Mundo and with the Gotei 13 itself distracted with their meaningless preparations none had anticipated this moment of all times to be the one.
With the shinigami blind-sided, the odds already in Aizen's favour had now fallen further into the palm of his hand.
"This is perfect," he said to no-one in particular, "Soul Society shall crumble this day and I shall build my throne upon the corpses of those pitiful shinigami. Let that foolish Kurosaki child and the Assassin return to find their paradise in flames! This world is already mine; it is simply time to make it official."
Aizen's insane laugher rained down upon the shinigami who adhered to their hasty call to arms and rushed to battle. Whether they were ready or not each man was thrown into the heat of warfare as the ghostly assailants descended upon them.
"Rudobon," Aizen commanded, "Send forth your Exequias. Hunt down every last soul on the battlefield and ensure the peons stay out of the way. I wish to enjoy this final act without the disturbance of measly peasants."
A horned warrior bowed to his master and summoned forth his own army of skeletal minions. The cloned demons charged at the unwitting forces below, evening up the numbers and effectively isolating the higher ranking amongst the squads. It was then that the rest of the arrancar made their move, picking out their targets and moving in for the kill.
With Soul Society in chaos the stage had been set for the last great war in the saga of Soul Society's most notorious traitor, Sosuke Aizen.
As the alarms screeched across the length of Sereitei the lieutenants meeting was instantly dismissed. With each assistant captain missing in action for the onset of the conflict the squads would be in disarray. Thus the lieutenants rushed out of the hall and into the melee.
Outside crackling flames raced along the courtyard walls to ensnare them. Already an enemy detachment lay in waiting. Six figures clad in white fanned out atop the roof of a nearby barracks. Each scanned the array of disillusioned shinigami and selected their prey.
Within seconds the choral clatter of steel against steel rang out across the heavens as duel after duel ignited into a frenzy of violence.
Renji guarded against the wildly swung sword of a rabid looking warrior, similarly decorated in tribal tattoos and markings. The assailant grinned devilishly and let loose a hungry roar as he forced his foe down on one knee.
With a derisive grunt Renji managed to push him back but was given no time to recover as the voracious predator launched into an immediate counter-attack.
"Who are you?" Renji snarled through gritted teeth as he held the opponent's blade just inches above his throat.
"Redder," the beast replied, "Abirama Redder! One of Lord Barragan's loyal Fraccione!"
Renji forced a grim smile, "Heh! I didn't understand a word you just said but at least I know what name to put down on your tombstone!" With a defiant roar he thrust his katana at Redder, only to have it deflected by a swift parry from the curiously marked arrancar. "So...Why'd you pick me of all people?"
"I like your style!" Redder growled, clenching his teeth whilst hacking down on his red-haired foe. "You remind me of myself!"
"Hmph, I don't know whether to feel honoured or insulted."
"What did you say?!" Redder's sword crashed down upon Renji's shoulder but the blade seemed to slice far too cleanly through him. As the afterimage faded away Redder felt the cold bite of steel against his back and evaded before it could dig too deep. He snarled at his opponent and reaffirmed his grip on his sword.
"I'm sorry to say this buddy, but you made a mistake choosing me as your prey. Because there's no way in Hell an underling like you could ever defeat me. This battle was decided the moment you went after me. You're already dead!" The fiery assistant captain changed his stance and his sword glowed bright red as if burning. "Howl, Zambimaru!"
Rangiku Matsumoto and Momo Hinamori found themselves faced against two female arrancar; one a shy looking girl who hid behind a veil of long black hair and another who resembled an amazon warrior hefting a large broadsword. Each sized up their enemy and raced off into the heat of the battle.
"Mila-Rose, Let us destroy these vermin and return to Lord Haribel."
The Amazon smirked at that and looked back at her partner, "Fine by me Sun-Sun. Let's crush'em!"
"Hey!" a third woman yelled from aside, "Don't leave me out of the loop you bastards!"
Sun-Sun sighed and rolled her eyes, "Don't fight with us, Apache you fool. Just run along and play and stay out of my way, got it?"
"Grr, you bitch! I swear when we win I'll take your head as well!" The arrancar known as Apache snapped back.
Unbeknownst to the bickering women, their assailants had already pounced. Mila-Rose turned just in time to face the despondent lieutenant of the abandoned third squad; Izuru Kira. Having been betrayed by his former captain Kira had become more distant amongst his fellow shinigami, only confiding in those he trusted most. As it stood, Matsumoto and Momo were amongst his only friends left in the world that had taken so much from him. He could not let them fall, not here, not now! He desired to protect them and ensure that what little remained of his fractured existence could remain stable.
With his shikkai already released, wabisuke raised its unusually angled head and clashed against Mila-Rose's over-sized sword. Already the blade required two hands to manoeuvre, a task which she handled with amazing skill and finesse considering its weight. Without a hint of effort she sliced through the air and blocked each and every strike from the blonde shinigami.
"HA! Your moves are so slow and so predictable! You really think you can beat me?!" The triumphant arrancar howled with laughter if only for a moment before her weapon came crashing down to the ground. "W-What the...?"
"Heavy isn't it?" Kira murmured so softly his words could only just be heard, as if the voice were inside her own head. Mila-Rose's eyes widened in shock as she struggled to lift her sword. "This is my power. Wabisuke doubles the weight of whatever it cuts. If I strike twice then it doubles the weight again. Your over-confidence and your brutish fighting style simply played out to my advantage. Each time you swatted my blade aside you simply damned yourself to eventual defeat."
"Grr, you little...Fine then! I don't need a damn sword to crush a weakling like you! Now that I know your little trick I won't fall for it again!" With a forced laugh she discarded her sword and charged head on at Kira bare-handed.
Meanwhile Sun Sun effortlessly dodged the great balls of fire shot forth from the tip of Hinamori's released zanpakuto. Momo was panting heavily before she had even started fighting, not from exertion but more so from the figure she had so clearly seen standing atop the heavens...
Aizen...
He had returned. Relief and fear fought for control within her mind as she struggled to determine how to interpret Aizen's return to Soul Society. Certainly he had committed some irredeemable wrongs to his former comrades and even to his loyal and ever faithful assistant who even now desperately wanted to trust him. Regardless of his sins Momo fervently desired to simply return to his arms and forget this entire decade long nightmare.
Her doubt showed in her unbalanced stance and distracted attention, not to mention her wandering gaze. Sun Sun snickered behind the sleeve of her tunic as she observed the peculiar behaviour. She had sensed it from the moment she saw the assembled lieutenants...
This one would be fun to break!
"So," she called out from the rooftop, "You were the one who served directly under Lord Aizen. I bet he treated you well?"
"Of course he did!" Momo snapped, "He was always kind to me!"
"Hmm, then why do you stand against him?"
"Because I have to wake him up! I just need to talk to him and I can bring him back! He's just confused, but so am I! So is everyone else! I just need to bring him back on the right path and we can be together again!" The conflicted young shinigami let loose an intimidating little snarl as her sword flared in blinding light.
More focused than before, Momo fought on with renewed vigour, finally managing to force Sun Sun to become alert for incoming attacks. As the blast shot forth in a steady stream the constant rhythmic boom of explosions rocked the courtyard. Debris rained down amidst clouds of smoke, filling Momo's vision and bringing her to panic.
She thrust a hand forward and cried, "Hado 58, Tenran!"
A swirling tornado erupted from her outstretched hand and blew away the dust and debris just in time to reveal Sun-Sun's deviously planned strike. As the vile woman lunged through the haze Momo brought her sword around to collide with the concealed sai jutting out just barely from Sun-Sun's sleeves. The two women became locked in a deadlock for some time, something Sun-Sun took as a tactical advantage. It was ample time to wear her opponent down.
"Lord Aizen is very displeased with your resistance. He even told me that if he could he would recruit you into his ranks and spare your life to be forever by his side!"
Hinamori's scowl disintegrated into a confused frown, "He...He really said so?"
With a venomously feminine giggle Sun Sun continued to dig under the poor girl's skin. "Of course, since so many will have to die for the sake of his plans, Lord Aizen needs a whore to help him repopulate this new world!" Her smile then was dripping with malice.
Momo shuddered and her anger intensified. A blast of searing blue flames erupted from the tip of her sword and sent her foe leaping backwards out of harm's way.
"How dare you! Aizen would never say such a thing!"
"But of course he would dear, after all, he only ever saw you as a pawn. You were once a valuable assistant, but now Lord Aizen has that position filled, so naturally he sees you as nothing more than a concubine now. You've always bowed to him like a dog, this is no different!"
"Shut up! I won't let you talk such slander about my lord Aizen!" Momo was furious. She chanted incantations for spells so fast the words slurred together into an unintelligible string of sound, amounting in an eruption of blazing heat and light.
Sun Sun struggled against the onslaught but remained satisfied in having baited the foolish young girl. Now all she had to do was finish her and the job would be done.
"Aizen..." Hinamori sobbed, her shoulders trembling, her knees weak. Between heaving sighs of exhaustion she cried out her lord's name and slowly glanced up to the sky. She reached out a hand and screamed, screaming out for his attention, but her captain never turned his head, nor shifted his gaze towards her.
"Why...Why are you doing this...To me?"
The question was never answered. Hinamori felt a biting pain in her back and craned her neck to see her forgotten foe standing behind her. One of her long thin blades had dug deep into her back, sending her body into spasms and forcing her to relinquish her own weapon. As Momo collapsed to her knees she could only watch on as the second blade pierced her delicate throat.
As darkness swirled before her eyes and her life drained away, at last she saw her beloved captain Aizen turn to her.
He smiled.