Post by GoldenKitten on Jun 7, 2012 0:21:14 GMT -4
A hundred black verti-copters hovered in-and-around the region that had once been a valley in the lower Rockies, now but a blasted crater beyond any man-made weapons abilities. Towers of black smoke and a hazy unnatural red mist hanging low, covering the sun and changed the mid-day light into an orange industrial haze. With the far ridges of the newly formed blemish upon the earth jagged and smoking nearly out of sight very little that had been present before the total annihilation still stood including any human element. The hundreds of armored vehicles just there minutes earlier but emptied husks if not outright vaporized, the communication channel used by the ambushers naught but static, and only three humans, if they could be called that anymore, still remotely recognizable amidst the wasteland.
All three near each other the command-copter made landing twenty-meters from where the only standing male was. Though from his back he looked like any other moderately build young-adult without their shirt it was but a mask for the incalculable destructive potential that lay within, a destruction barely held back as palpable waves of fury washed off his shaking form. Moving past him instead to the charred body that most would have thought a corpse at first glance over which a young girl stood a group of three men in hazmat suits rushed to its side.
Pulling a number of monitoring devices from their belts they kneeled over the body for some time before the lead scientist looked up from his actions and finally did what he’d been dreading, trying to speak with the still trembling man standing feet from them, “Jager.”
When he spoke his name there was a brief moment of tension when a wave of subconscious reiatsu was pulsed in their direction that almost knocked them out on its own, temporarily turning the world black from the sheer latent energy. Recovering and realizing they were still alive and Jager had now ceased his quaking and only just barely turned his ear to him as if he acknowledged his words, Adam continued.
“X regeneration is in action, but if he doesn’t receive a Catalyst soon I’m not sure what grows back will even be of use anymore.”
Jager emitted a long low growl before he spoke in what was a surprisingly controlled if utterly emotionless command of, “Do it.”
Nodding and not wanting to engage in further contact Adam helped the two other men heft the broken body of X up as they quickly sped back toward the command vehicle, anyone else would have died from the act but miraculously portions of the boy’s epidermis were even now mending albeit red as fire. Leni followed them the whole way and maintained her stance of bowing over him as they set him into the vehicle. Once he was firmly set inside Adam looked out, again lamenting having to make any vocalization to Jager to come, but before he had to Jager turned and walked toward them. Though his torso was marred with red-lashes and dried blood attested to the much deeper wounds that were already mended on the outside, he still didn’t look as if he’d just come out of a fight for his life.
But if one thing was telling it was his face, twisted into a visage of absolute anger, his eyes burning whole-and-red; Jager was often perturbed, but nothing ever truly did more than leave him in a momentary regression before he popped back to his usual self. This however was a quietly brooding rage that he would maintain for days to come, stepping into the vehicle and reaching up to grab a stabilization bar he again ushered an order devoid of emotion, “We’re returning to Western Base ‘Brazen’, all vehicles move out. Alert the local authorities that they can move in.”, it seemed clear after the order was given Jager was through talking.
Against his better judgment Adam looked up for one brief moment from his charge, “Jager, I know what you’re thinking but the wealth of information we collected along with the elimination of-“
Without looking at him Jager shook for one brief instance that nearly sent the verticopter into a tail-spin, and then spit words out that could hardly be recognized as coming from a human, a testament to his true emotions, “Do not placate me with your human perception of victory Adam. Stay silent and perform your duties, I am thinking.”
And so all went silent, save for the small amount of noise that the helicopter fleet made as is rose into the air before firing off into the horizon beyond. Leaving far below a land that would be scarred for eons, wrapped in unnatural wisps of reiatsu scarring that broke the air, and twisted the bedrock in unnatural ways. It would remain as testament to the start of one of the greatest feuds in the coming storm that would shake the realms of man and god to its core; origins of hate and pain that would spell the end for billions of souls.
---------------------------------
1 Week Earlier
The large hydraulic black doors to the now First Division ground open with a great deal of noise. Though it had changed in title not much had actually changed in the way the division ran; still secretive, still deathly efficient, and still more than willing to work alone most of the time. Thus it was no surprise that the two small girls following the giant clad in black armor before them were garnering some stares, especially since Ada and Leni were not yet well known enough to be recognized by sight by most shinigami. Still with the massive man that dwarfed them five-times over being Desmae, the impromptu second in command and Vice-captain in everything but name leading them none stopped to question. Even as they entered the primary structure which was a virtual non-factor amongst outsiders, even many members of the division itself were not allowed ready access.
As if to acknowledge this Desmae turned to look over his shoulder though he did not completely turn having long since gone through the proper formalities, “Welcome Captains to the Crypt, not something even all the other Captains can claim. I request that you please keep whatever you see inside in strict confidence only to Saigotschuu-taichou.”
As they proceeded inside and the door came to a clamorous shut behind them one was left to wonder why such secrecy be needed. As the harsh white light clarified everything with clinical sterility they were left to stare at nothing but white walls of lethality stone, which surprisingly did not seem to be draining energy from its occupants. It did not take a genius to suspect there might be more hiding behind one of the many smaller hydraulic security doors they passed but such secrecy was still questionable. They hardly had time to consider these matters or how utterly boring it must be to work those spartan halls day-after-day before Desmae arrived at a far less secure metal shutter-door that was operated by hand with a utilitarian sign next to it stating it was the “Commanders Quarters”.
He allowed the sisters to pass and then opened it, “Taichou-sama, I’ve brought…the….”
By this point he’d seen the girls’ looks of surprise and managed a look inside himself, promptly caressing his temple in a strained manner before releasing a pained grunt. The room before the sisters was what one could politely call a disaster zone; there were quite literally enough stacks of paper lying around the room to account for single-handedly causing global deforestation. The walls were even further covered in thousands of schematics, unintelligible mathematic equations, and other papers with uncountable sticky notes pasted atop many portions to make emergency annotations to previous work. Despite supposedly being the commanders’ private chamber it looked more like the lab of a group of overworked scientist, or a raving lunatic, and sported nowhere to sleep.
Amidst this sea of paper with an untold wealth of information just an arm reach away was a white desk covered in just as many papers. Alongside them were an equally innumerable amount of disposable paper cups, some making it to the nearby trash while others did not, many underneath an obvious coffee machine of which the room smelled strongly of a utilitarian and tasteless black blend.
But despite the total mess of “organized chaos” greeting them none of them were focused on that, but rather on a sight few others than Desmae even knew existed. The normally unflappable and stoic Commander General that rarely didn’t look as business-like as possible was instead splayed back in the office chair present at the nearby filing cabinet, apparently having given up on putting something in order for whatever mental flight-of-fancy he was now in. Legs spread to either side with no shoes, black pants, and a white shirt that was completely open in the front as he sat back staring at the blank ceiling without his trademark glasses idly chomping on the eraser of a pencil.
His voice sound thoroughly ashamed Desmae broke the silence, “Sir, you told me you would be ready in thirty-minutes!”
Barely snapped out of thought at all and still watching imaginary pictures on the ceiling Yun removed the pencil from his mouth and spoke as if he was genuinely confused, “Were we doing something?”
“Yes! We were doing something!”
“Huh…interesting.”
His eyes falling to the cups on his desk Desmae asked a question one had a feeling was something he asked frequently, “Don’t you “interesting me”! How many of t-….when was the last time you slept’ sir?!”
Focusing slightly Yun rose up to a sitting position and began to visibly count on his fingers. Evidently not enough math for his liking he grabbed a nearby marker and began scribbling on the nearest wall like a makeshift whiteboard. Breaking down long equations as everyone just continued to stare flabbergasted he eventually seemed to reach a consensus to which he nodded, “Three weeks….I think, or maybe it’s-”
Before he could continue Desmae shuffled the girls into the room and then yelled, “As we have been over before you cannot efficiently run this world if you do not care for yourself first. I will see the technicians about something to put you to sleep, but first you have an order of business. As you can see in front of you, the Taichous of Seventh Division have come about today’s operation!”
He slammed the shutter in a rage, it was an act one could feel was a frequent play in these parts, yet despite the messy exterior the message was clear; behind the scenes the Commander General was a harder worker than anyone would ever have imagined, even beyond what his personality suggested. And it was work that brought focus, as if he’d not even noticed the Fleischer sisters until now his eyes flashed with stark clarity as he rounded on them and though still not in his usual attire, and in fact likely far too casual for his own good his shirt still wide open, he suddenly spoke with the authority that was what he was known for.
“Fleischer Taichou’s; good of you to come, please take a seat.” He motioned to one of several steel desk chairs sitting around the room, “I know you’ve been over the material already but we’ve learned more since then that makes this even more a subject of interest than it had been, and strengthens my belief that a Captain should be present.”
He turned around and tapped a button on his desk that would have been easily missed if you didn’t know it was there. As he turned back around a screen rose from the desk and portrayed a prepared set of images, one the girls knew as the insignia of their target the Sun & Yager Co. While most people only thought the Shinigami fought Hollows, especially with the ongoing conflict with the Horror Vacui, the truth was they protected humanity from many spirit threats.
This included stifling any humans that progressed to far down the path of understanding spiritual energy, a power that could be used to dominate all others. While this usually only required sabotaging research the unfortunate fact was as protectors of the future the shinigami would do whatever was required of them to safeguard humanity. Amidst the familiar photos was one of Jeremy Yager the leader of the company, alongside many new screens that showed the inside of various facilities. While there were several companies suspected of tampering with spiritual energy this was the one the Commander General was most suspicious of, they could not allow another Mallory Arms to take root.
This picture of the leader was the one Yun pointed to as he spoke, “While we’ve unearthed further evidence that suggest the Yager & Sun technology is testing various spiritual devices there are two primary new points that lead me to feel they may have already proceeded beyond the safe point for humans. First is their commander, the man calling himself Jeremy Yager to the public and the problem is this; further study of our records show no man with this name that fit him.”
He stood and walked to the desk, sitting on its edge and tapping the screen to now show hundreds of men’s portraits of various races, “As you know we don’t keep constant records of everyone, it would be impossible to catalogue billions of souls every move, but we do our best to take snapshots of them every five years or so for reference situations such as this. Here you see the portraits of every man with that name currently living since their birth; none of them are our man. Far more dangerous, and suspicious is that his face doesn’t match ANYONE living.”
He brought his hand to his mouth as if in thought, though speaking through it only slightly muffled his speech; “There are of course gaps; people can disappear for various reasons but there’s usually something on them. And almost nobody in history has not been documented by either Twelfth, Sixth, Third, or the old First division, all of which keep various records on the living and dead. To go completely missing one would need…some sort of means to hide themselves that entire time.”
After tabbing the screen to show internal building shots again he turned back to the girls with his hands grasped together before him, shaking them meaningfully, “Not going to lie, with everything else we know that makes me nervous. But what we’ve learned just yesterday is the kicker, we’ve found official evidence that the company is tied to the United States Government, and that there have been drastic changes in military orders since the companies official takeover of the other company detailed in your reports. Large companies have always had sway over governments, but these orders suggest that the military was ordered to ignore mass mobilizations within the countries boarders. This is not within fitting with the countries typical at-home defense stance; and suggest Yager is holding a card we aren’t seeing.”
He stood up from his perch and stuck his hands behind his back, his normal authoritarian stance still underscored by his lack of proper clothing, “Are the leaders of Yager & Sun just another group of power-hungry corporates? If so then distasteful as it may be we have no authority to interfere, humanity has to decide its own fate within the bounds of what humanity is. But if there’s more going on here as mounting evidence suggest then we need to intervene before things get out of control.”
“I’ve been unwilling to send smaller groups in to the larger facilities for fear that if such a large company is indeed capable of spiritual warfare we would be sending them in to die. That’s why I’ve authorized this group that is seemingly disproportionate to the source; if things check out clean then you’ll be done in an hour, if not then you’re fully capable and authorized to defend yourselves. I take it you’ve read your dossiers so you know what parts to play? If so Senzaikeiro is waiting, he-….she,” he quickly corrected himself over what seemed an innocent slip, “-will doubtless be thankful to be done with this given her…unique situation.” He chuckled ominously to himself at that; one might be forgiven for thinking the Commander General had something out for the Twelfth Vice-captain.
Quickly returning to his strict regimen though he finished, “Your gigai are prepped and ready, as is the Senkaimon that will take you too directly outside the main facility in New York. Second and my own Division have gone out of our way to set this up perfectly. So to that end, are there any questions before we proceed, anything at all it’s better to ask than to open ourselves up to failure? I don’t mean to sound insulting, I simply know that infiltration is not what we normally ask of you.”
All three near each other the command-copter made landing twenty-meters from where the only standing male was. Though from his back he looked like any other moderately build young-adult without their shirt it was but a mask for the incalculable destructive potential that lay within, a destruction barely held back as palpable waves of fury washed off his shaking form. Moving past him instead to the charred body that most would have thought a corpse at first glance over which a young girl stood a group of three men in hazmat suits rushed to its side.
Pulling a number of monitoring devices from their belts they kneeled over the body for some time before the lead scientist looked up from his actions and finally did what he’d been dreading, trying to speak with the still trembling man standing feet from them, “Jager.”
When he spoke his name there was a brief moment of tension when a wave of subconscious reiatsu was pulsed in their direction that almost knocked them out on its own, temporarily turning the world black from the sheer latent energy. Recovering and realizing they were still alive and Jager had now ceased his quaking and only just barely turned his ear to him as if he acknowledged his words, Adam continued.
“X regeneration is in action, but if he doesn’t receive a Catalyst soon I’m not sure what grows back will even be of use anymore.”
Jager emitted a long low growl before he spoke in what was a surprisingly controlled if utterly emotionless command of, “Do it.”
Nodding and not wanting to engage in further contact Adam helped the two other men heft the broken body of X up as they quickly sped back toward the command vehicle, anyone else would have died from the act but miraculously portions of the boy’s epidermis were even now mending albeit red as fire. Leni followed them the whole way and maintained her stance of bowing over him as they set him into the vehicle. Once he was firmly set inside Adam looked out, again lamenting having to make any vocalization to Jager to come, but before he had to Jager turned and walked toward them. Though his torso was marred with red-lashes and dried blood attested to the much deeper wounds that were already mended on the outside, he still didn’t look as if he’d just come out of a fight for his life.
But if one thing was telling it was his face, twisted into a visage of absolute anger, his eyes burning whole-and-red; Jager was often perturbed, but nothing ever truly did more than leave him in a momentary regression before he popped back to his usual self. This however was a quietly brooding rage that he would maintain for days to come, stepping into the vehicle and reaching up to grab a stabilization bar he again ushered an order devoid of emotion, “We’re returning to Western Base ‘Brazen’, all vehicles move out. Alert the local authorities that they can move in.”, it seemed clear after the order was given Jager was through talking.
Against his better judgment Adam looked up for one brief moment from his charge, “Jager, I know what you’re thinking but the wealth of information we collected along with the elimination of-“
Without looking at him Jager shook for one brief instance that nearly sent the verticopter into a tail-spin, and then spit words out that could hardly be recognized as coming from a human, a testament to his true emotions, “Do not placate me with your human perception of victory Adam. Stay silent and perform your duties, I am thinking.”
And so all went silent, save for the small amount of noise that the helicopter fleet made as is rose into the air before firing off into the horizon beyond. Leaving far below a land that would be scarred for eons, wrapped in unnatural wisps of reiatsu scarring that broke the air, and twisted the bedrock in unnatural ways. It would remain as testament to the start of one of the greatest feuds in the coming storm that would shake the realms of man and god to its core; origins of hate and pain that would spell the end for billions of souls.
---------------------------------
1 Week Earlier
The large hydraulic black doors to the now First Division ground open with a great deal of noise. Though it had changed in title not much had actually changed in the way the division ran; still secretive, still deathly efficient, and still more than willing to work alone most of the time. Thus it was no surprise that the two small girls following the giant clad in black armor before them were garnering some stares, especially since Ada and Leni were not yet well known enough to be recognized by sight by most shinigami. Still with the massive man that dwarfed them five-times over being Desmae, the impromptu second in command and Vice-captain in everything but name leading them none stopped to question. Even as they entered the primary structure which was a virtual non-factor amongst outsiders, even many members of the division itself were not allowed ready access.
As if to acknowledge this Desmae turned to look over his shoulder though he did not completely turn having long since gone through the proper formalities, “Welcome Captains to the Crypt, not something even all the other Captains can claim. I request that you please keep whatever you see inside in strict confidence only to Saigotschuu-taichou.”
As they proceeded inside and the door came to a clamorous shut behind them one was left to wonder why such secrecy be needed. As the harsh white light clarified everything with clinical sterility they were left to stare at nothing but white walls of lethality stone, which surprisingly did not seem to be draining energy from its occupants. It did not take a genius to suspect there might be more hiding behind one of the many smaller hydraulic security doors they passed but such secrecy was still questionable. They hardly had time to consider these matters or how utterly boring it must be to work those spartan halls day-after-day before Desmae arrived at a far less secure metal shutter-door that was operated by hand with a utilitarian sign next to it stating it was the “Commanders Quarters”.
He allowed the sisters to pass and then opened it, “Taichou-sama, I’ve brought…the….”
By this point he’d seen the girls’ looks of surprise and managed a look inside himself, promptly caressing his temple in a strained manner before releasing a pained grunt. The room before the sisters was what one could politely call a disaster zone; there were quite literally enough stacks of paper lying around the room to account for single-handedly causing global deforestation. The walls were even further covered in thousands of schematics, unintelligible mathematic equations, and other papers with uncountable sticky notes pasted atop many portions to make emergency annotations to previous work. Despite supposedly being the commanders’ private chamber it looked more like the lab of a group of overworked scientist, or a raving lunatic, and sported nowhere to sleep.
Amidst this sea of paper with an untold wealth of information just an arm reach away was a white desk covered in just as many papers. Alongside them were an equally innumerable amount of disposable paper cups, some making it to the nearby trash while others did not, many underneath an obvious coffee machine of which the room smelled strongly of a utilitarian and tasteless black blend.
But despite the total mess of “organized chaos” greeting them none of them were focused on that, but rather on a sight few others than Desmae even knew existed. The normally unflappable and stoic Commander General that rarely didn’t look as business-like as possible was instead splayed back in the office chair present at the nearby filing cabinet, apparently having given up on putting something in order for whatever mental flight-of-fancy he was now in. Legs spread to either side with no shoes, black pants, and a white shirt that was completely open in the front as he sat back staring at the blank ceiling without his trademark glasses idly chomping on the eraser of a pencil.
His voice sound thoroughly ashamed Desmae broke the silence, “Sir, you told me you would be ready in thirty-minutes!”
Barely snapped out of thought at all and still watching imaginary pictures on the ceiling Yun removed the pencil from his mouth and spoke as if he was genuinely confused, “Were we doing something?”
“Yes! We were doing something!”
“Huh…interesting.”
His eyes falling to the cups on his desk Desmae asked a question one had a feeling was something he asked frequently, “Don’t you “interesting me”! How many of t-….when was the last time you slept’ sir?!”
Focusing slightly Yun rose up to a sitting position and began to visibly count on his fingers. Evidently not enough math for his liking he grabbed a nearby marker and began scribbling on the nearest wall like a makeshift whiteboard. Breaking down long equations as everyone just continued to stare flabbergasted he eventually seemed to reach a consensus to which he nodded, “Three weeks….I think, or maybe it’s-”
Before he could continue Desmae shuffled the girls into the room and then yelled, “As we have been over before you cannot efficiently run this world if you do not care for yourself first. I will see the technicians about something to put you to sleep, but first you have an order of business. As you can see in front of you, the Taichous of Seventh Division have come about today’s operation!”
He slammed the shutter in a rage, it was an act one could feel was a frequent play in these parts, yet despite the messy exterior the message was clear; behind the scenes the Commander General was a harder worker than anyone would ever have imagined, even beyond what his personality suggested. And it was work that brought focus, as if he’d not even noticed the Fleischer sisters until now his eyes flashed with stark clarity as he rounded on them and though still not in his usual attire, and in fact likely far too casual for his own good his shirt still wide open, he suddenly spoke with the authority that was what he was known for.
“Fleischer Taichou’s; good of you to come, please take a seat.” He motioned to one of several steel desk chairs sitting around the room, “I know you’ve been over the material already but we’ve learned more since then that makes this even more a subject of interest than it had been, and strengthens my belief that a Captain should be present.”
He turned around and tapped a button on his desk that would have been easily missed if you didn’t know it was there. As he turned back around a screen rose from the desk and portrayed a prepared set of images, one the girls knew as the insignia of their target the Sun & Yager Co. While most people only thought the Shinigami fought Hollows, especially with the ongoing conflict with the Horror Vacui, the truth was they protected humanity from many spirit threats.
This included stifling any humans that progressed to far down the path of understanding spiritual energy, a power that could be used to dominate all others. While this usually only required sabotaging research the unfortunate fact was as protectors of the future the shinigami would do whatever was required of them to safeguard humanity. Amidst the familiar photos was one of Jeremy Yager the leader of the company, alongside many new screens that showed the inside of various facilities. While there were several companies suspected of tampering with spiritual energy this was the one the Commander General was most suspicious of, they could not allow another Mallory Arms to take root.
This picture of the leader was the one Yun pointed to as he spoke, “While we’ve unearthed further evidence that suggest the Yager & Sun technology is testing various spiritual devices there are two primary new points that lead me to feel they may have already proceeded beyond the safe point for humans. First is their commander, the man calling himself Jeremy Yager to the public and the problem is this; further study of our records show no man with this name that fit him.”
He stood and walked to the desk, sitting on its edge and tapping the screen to now show hundreds of men’s portraits of various races, “As you know we don’t keep constant records of everyone, it would be impossible to catalogue billions of souls every move, but we do our best to take snapshots of them every five years or so for reference situations such as this. Here you see the portraits of every man with that name currently living since their birth; none of them are our man. Far more dangerous, and suspicious is that his face doesn’t match ANYONE living.”
He brought his hand to his mouth as if in thought, though speaking through it only slightly muffled his speech; “There are of course gaps; people can disappear for various reasons but there’s usually something on them. And almost nobody in history has not been documented by either Twelfth, Sixth, Third, or the old First division, all of which keep various records on the living and dead. To go completely missing one would need…some sort of means to hide themselves that entire time.”
After tabbing the screen to show internal building shots again he turned back to the girls with his hands grasped together before him, shaking them meaningfully, “Not going to lie, with everything else we know that makes me nervous. But what we’ve learned just yesterday is the kicker, we’ve found official evidence that the company is tied to the United States Government, and that there have been drastic changes in military orders since the companies official takeover of the other company detailed in your reports. Large companies have always had sway over governments, but these orders suggest that the military was ordered to ignore mass mobilizations within the countries boarders. This is not within fitting with the countries typical at-home defense stance; and suggest Yager is holding a card we aren’t seeing.”
He stood up from his perch and stuck his hands behind his back, his normal authoritarian stance still underscored by his lack of proper clothing, “Are the leaders of Yager & Sun just another group of power-hungry corporates? If so then distasteful as it may be we have no authority to interfere, humanity has to decide its own fate within the bounds of what humanity is. But if there’s more going on here as mounting evidence suggest then we need to intervene before things get out of control.”
“I’ve been unwilling to send smaller groups in to the larger facilities for fear that if such a large company is indeed capable of spiritual warfare we would be sending them in to die. That’s why I’ve authorized this group that is seemingly disproportionate to the source; if things check out clean then you’ll be done in an hour, if not then you’re fully capable and authorized to defend yourselves. I take it you’ve read your dossiers so you know what parts to play? If so Senzaikeiro is waiting, he-….she,” he quickly corrected himself over what seemed an innocent slip, “-will doubtless be thankful to be done with this given her…unique situation.” He chuckled ominously to himself at that; one might be forgiven for thinking the Commander General had something out for the Twelfth Vice-captain.
Quickly returning to his strict regimen though he finished, “Your gigai are prepped and ready, as is the Senkaimon that will take you too directly outside the main facility in New York. Second and my own Division have gone out of our way to set this up perfectly. So to that end, are there any questions before we proceed, anything at all it’s better to ask than to open ourselves up to failure? I don’t mean to sound insulting, I simply know that infiltration is not what we normally ask of you.”