Journal 6 - Entry 51
Well, we certainly had some interesting new arrivals this past week. Well, the arrival was as interesting as it was tense for everyone involved. With the success of Operation Hornet, and the establishment of FOB Yamamoto (named after the late Head Captain), our troops were able to get in contact with another group that was fighting against the Wandenreich. They had been holed up on a peninsula to the far east for the last couple of years, but had moved north when they heard we had managed to return to the mainland. Uniting with them would give us a huge boost in manpower!
There's only one problem. They're Quincys too! ∠(´•0•`)〴
Apparently during the Second Invasion, a few of the original Sternritters managed to survive the first Auswählen, and they were, rightfully, pretty angry with their boss for doing that to them. I'd definitely not be happy! (∩ ⌣̀‸⌣́)
So them, and the troops under their direct command defected, and ran east through the Rukongai. Ever since, they've been leading a rebel faction of Quincys against the Wandenreich. The person that has been at the head of this faction is a man that was almost a bit like a combination of Grimmjow-san and Kurosaki-kun. His name is Bazz-B.
That meeting was extremely tense, and since I'm a lieutenant, I had to be there. ┴┬┴|_•`)
After a long and arduous discussion, it was decided that it would be in the best interest of both sides to combine our forces, and unite, because if we continued to work separately it could lead to us getting in each other's way, and in our current situation we cannot afford to do that.
We had suffered significant losses during Operation Hornet, and were still in the process of training the next new class of shinigami, but the Quincy rebels were roughly the size of a Division, so in a surprising twist, The Head Captain gave them the titles of the 7th Division! (ꗞ _ ꗞ)
At this point, a significant amount of our forces contained arrancar, so weirdly this wasn't as poorly received as the first arrancar Captain. Almost everyone is desperate for as much help as we can get, so something as spurious as tradition didn't mean much at this point.
The 7th Division had been completely wiped out during Operation Hornet as well, so we weren't exactly pushing anyone aside with the assignment either. Bazz-B-san took the title of Captain, while a short girl named Liltotto Lamperd-san was named his Lieutenant.
When all meetings and everything were taken care of, and everyone had started returning to their duties, all the rebel Sternritters approached me and Kurosaki-kun. Seeing them all walk up was pretty nerve-wracking. (╯д╰)
There were four in total, the two mentioned before as well as two more.
One was a girl that seemed kind of scary. She had long, lime green hair, was wearing quite revealing clothes, and was missing her left arm. She was also giving Kurosaki-kun a death glare that looked like she was trying to turn him to ash.
The other was also a girl, but this one was just looking around curiously at all the stuff going on around us. She had pink hair and a cute heart shaped belt buckle. ┗(⩺ᆺ⩹ ;)┛
Unsurprisingly, they also weren't too thrilled about joining us, as being Captain meant they now had to answer to the Head Captain. So Kurosaki-kun asked the obvious question, "Why?"
The answer completely shocked us. Neither of us knew what happened to Ishida-kun in the Wahrwelt during the Battle of the Schatten Bereich, we just know that Yoruichi-san came across his body during the retreat. Apparently he was killed by the Sternritter Grandmaster, Haschwalth. Before he died, his last action was to use his Schrift to somehow reverse the effects of Auswählen on the four of them and restore their full capabilities. His final request was that should they find Ichigo Kurosaki, they were to fight by his side in Ishida-kun's stead.
I was surprised they were willing to honor that request after so long, but it seems Bazz-B-san is an honorable man. I had been looking at the women with the missing arm, so I figured I would speak up. After all, restoring a limb was the least I could do for what they were willing to do to help us. She laughed in my face when I said that, but I'm used to it, after all my ability is fairly unique. I just get the chance to surprise them, and the reactions are always fun to watch. (≖ ᴗ ≖ )
Luckily, she was willing to humor me, and after just a few minutes under my Sōten Kisshun, she had her arm back at 100%! Their faces were absolutely priceless! The woman sighed and said she guesses she owes me a debt now too. Apparently it was Kurosaki-kun who cut her arm off, so we awkwardly decided to just call it even. She introduced herself as Candice Catnipp, and the pink haired woman was Meninas McAllon. (Why are all the Sternritter's names alliteration? ( _ ) ).
Now Bazz-B-san said that it explained something. I asked what, and he said that a soldat that defected to the recently brought an updated version of something called a "Daten". It apparently contains a huge amount of intel for all Wandenreich soldiers. (The Head Captain's going to want to see that later.) He said there was an updated version of what is called the list of "Special War Powers". The new list looks like this:
Ichigo Kurosaki - Pure Hybrid
Sōsuke Aizen - Reiatsu
Kisuke Urahara - Means
Soifon - Instant Death
Shūkurō Tsukishima - Alter Past
Orihime Inoue - Alter Reality
He said that he understands why I'm on the list now. I've definitely been improving my techniques and being able to use Shun Shun Rikka in combat, and I even fought on the front lines at the tail end of Operation Hornet, but I didn't realize they considered me that much of a threat. To put me on the same level as Kurosaki-kun, Aizen-san, Urahara-san, Tsukishima-san and the Head Captain feels like a lot of pressure. (⊙﹏⊙)
The ex-Sternritters left to go get their affairs as a new Division in order, and me and Kurosaki-kun split off. We've reached a bit of a lull in the fighting recently, as both sides are recovering from that brutal offensive, but I know the Captains are preparing our next play, and I know Kurosaki-kun will be right at the front of it.
I always worried about him, every time he'd leave on a mission, I was scared he wouldn't come back, like so many others, but he always has. But now that we're married, I get even more nervous, and I'm not sure why. It's not like our interactions have changed all that much, considering how little time we are able to spend with each other. I just know now, even more than before if I lost him, I would be losing a part of myself.
ヘ(꒪ཀ´꒪ヘ) Ahhhhh I'm being too much of a downer, we've still got some time together before he heads out, so we need to make the most of it. I just need to keep believing that one day this will all be over and we can settle down in peace.
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LT Orihime Inoue
4th Division
January 12, 2008
Author's Notes:
This is now the entry that is furthest forward in the timeline, and there's quite a few interesting little tidbits that can be expanded upon. Not a long chapter but super dense, and just like the previous Orihime chapter, it sets the stage to go back and explore some of the events mentioned.
I'll be taking a short break, so probably won't be a new chapter for a couple days.
Thanks for reading, hope you're all enjoying it! o7
