[Gotei/Open] Week --: Verus Deus Ex Machina

[too_lazy]

Verus Deus Ex Machina​

Open Collab
In Order of Appearance-
[9th] Saika Rakushun
[13th] Ishin Katsuji
[1st] Gabriel Faust
[9th] Noboru Sho
[12th] Louhi Kaiho
[9th] Ryuku Keiji
[11th] Leon Simeon
[11th] Seraf Moichi​

Tick tack clack click cluck...

These were the sounds of battle.

Clickety-clack tick ta-tick click tack cluck thunk...

This was not to be mistaken with the clangs of steel. This was not to be confused with the pounding of war drums.

Clack tick thunk chi-tack click...

Faster and harder the pace drummed into a crescendo, its intensity growing by the moment. This was the emblazoning pace of fingers thrumming against silicone and plastic.

By all means this was still a battle but under different circumstances.

The stage whereupon history would be made was confined to a solitary room, a single chamber that housed the ensuing chaos. The weapons were not fists and blades; computers and machines were the ordnance in this engagement. The souls involved did not gamble upon their lives, but at the possible stake of an entire army itself hung in the balance.

The stakes?

In the center of this darkened room, its only illumination casted by dozens of monitors and screens lined up throughout the chamber, another light shone. A large stone portal, almost archaic and mocking of the technological advances littered in nearly every fiber of this battlefield, produced a telltale shimmer that radiated brightly and nearly blinded the soldiers of this battle. Emerging from the near overwhelming essence a silhouette formed into bodily form... reeking heavily of cigarette smoke.

“Status report,” one of the commanding officers of this engagement said briskly, although with a voice that showed hardly any emotion or care at all. Saika Rakushun, Captain of the Ninth Division, demanded to know what conflict he had just entered. Behind him the stone gate crumbled and dissipated into nothingness, showing him the site of his strife- the Kyuubantai Taisho's main control room, sequestered deep within the Division's bowels.

“All Senkaimon have been sealed from the outside,” Minami Midoriko, personal aide and assistant to the Captain- or rather she would be his lieutenant in this upcoming battle- answered in return while kneeling reverently before him.

“Tch... Worthless Kidoushuu...” Saika grumbled with a cigarette perched in between his lips, his jade eye focused upon his subordinates below him- for the Captain's perch was a pedestal in the middle of the control room- and dozens of consoles and computers housed his soldiers underneath him. “I assume you're working on it. The details?”

“Yes Sir, we're working on it. As you know, we were expected of a breach once again, considering how easily our defenses were broken when the Senzaikyuu prisoners escaped the first time. Given the time we had to prepare and reconfigure our security involving the Senkaimon, it seems our opponents have skills to rival ours- by the time we can set up a firewall, this hacker can take down two.”

“Houuu~” a gentle smirk lifted from the corner of the horned Captain's mouth. Cracking his knuckles and shaking his fingers limply, he mentally prepared himself.

Leaning back, almost seeming to fall, Rakushun was caught by a chair that built itself from the pedestal up, as the seat began to transform before him. An elongated array of keyboard stretched out 180 degrees in front of him; from the back of the seat monitors and displays came to life with clanking and whirring of motors and gears. Upon one of the multitude of screens was a voluptuous woman dressed in lingerie, welcoming him.

“Hacker you say... if it's just one, he's going to fall. If it's more than one, they'll fall hard. Our enemies may have set up his offenses in advance, but we have the advantage- home team, numerical, and...”

Tick tack clack click cluck. The woman on his main monitor now bore battle armor, transforming into a valkyrie.

“Sheer genius. To arms, Mimi-chan! Any man who thinks they're smarter than I, Saika Rakushun, Captain of the Ninth, is damned to their logic and destined to fail! Let's show these bastards the genius and might of the Ninth Division! We have no rivals to our skill!”

“OOOOOOSSU!”​

The rallying commander garnered the motivation of his troops as they cried in unison; now the clicking and clacking of fingers began to press harder, faster, stronger, completely set upon victory. Minami had leaped from the perch of her Captain, landing gracefully into one of the consoles set beside the upper region of the room.

“Status display on the main screen. I want all available terminals to be shown here. Order any available computer technicians to shift their consoles into the mainframe defense- they shall have full access- I want all the manpower I can get to take this fool down,” puffed Rakushun, cigarette in his mouth, hands furiously racing against his keyboard.

Dozens of icons flitted into the main screen, a monitor encompassing an entire wall of the control room. Color coded into sections, there was an already impressive number grayed out- meaning those terminals were already shut down by the hacker. More and more began to effectively eliminate the once lively shades, striking down the soldiers and freezing their consoles, incapacitating the warriors in their battle.

“Heh! You think you're better than me? This is just a warm up, asshole!” Saika himself had full control over any terminal within the entire database- thus giving him the ability to 'revive' his subordinates' computers, reconfiguring their defenses, and setting up strategic codes.

“Kya! Sonuva! He got me again!” one of the technicians slammed his fists against his machine; the monitor displayed a maid with cat ears and tail wagging her finger disgustedly at her defeated opponent.

“Argggh! Me too! How is he getting us over in Terminals 9-D-9 at the same time!?” on this scientist's screen there was a gnome dancing and laughing, seemingly pressing his pixel buttocks up into the monitor.

“Keep it together! There's no way he can get us all at once... don't falter, press forward!” Coincidentally Rakushun tapped his forward-slash key at the same time; he too wondering how it was possible. Even if this hacker had set up multiple aggressive programs and viruses beforehand, there was statistically no possible way for their intruder to now bypass everyone so quickly, even with the Captain backing them up.

It's impossible... we set up our defenses prior too... He has to be...

“It's a God in the machine,” a squirrelly voice chipped into Saika's thoughts. This was Seiun Hoshino, a girl known to literally change her size to atoms- and in this case- while also somehow transforming her body into data that could be processed into computers and machinery. Now her tiny body had popped out from Rakushun's monitor, tugging at her bushy pigtails in exasperation, her over sized lab coat charred from the offensive data within.

“Thanks to our little Star, Hoshino, we've surmised that it's not just a program- It's a Shinigami's Zanpakutou.” A chuckle emanated from one of the consoles, a deep, guttural, manly laugh of fortitude. Running a hand through his purple slicked back hair, the feline-featured Adolphus Gustav tapped his violet tail excitedly against his chair.

“And following her, we've managed to locate the hacker's whereabouts,” a whiny raspy intonation added, followed by a grumble of the splotchy faced and gray skinned Jousuke.

“Let me at him,” Fiona Kincade stretched two extra pairs of arms, cracking her knuckles furiously while the other two pairs of limbs went to work on her keyboard. “I'll kill that bastard for making me go on these stupid computers.”

“Unfortunately we need all the people we can get, Fiki-chan; but like always, the Saika-Ikki is unstoppable,” Rakushun grinned heavily. “Contact the Soutaichou; tell him that this battle will be ours in due time. Organize a team to take down this pompous asshole. Put the First Division contact on the main screen...”

Saika took a moment to puff on his cigarette, savoring the joy of a somewhat worthy opponent. Too bad it would be over soon... challenges were so rare to find nowadays.


[ 1,342 ]

 

[IshinOnigami]

Ishin walked up to the Senkaimon gate. He had been assigned to go to earth and check out some unusual spirit readings that were coming in. He didn't feel like sitting around doing nothing again, so he had accepted. The gate was ready to go, according to the men next to it. He sighed, readjusted his zanpakutou, then stepped through.

Or would have, had he not been thrown back bodily into the building near by, destroying the outer wall, by a discharge of energy that sent tingles through his entire body. Dust and debris fell around him, and rocks fell from his shoulders as he picked himself out of the ruins of the wall. He looked at the two next to the gate with an expression that was not at all friendly.

"That hurt. What the hell do you think you are doing? I thought you said that it was ready?"

The two men looked at each other, then back at Ishin. They had a frantic, apologetic look in their eyes.

"I don't understand what happened. One minute we had connection. Now, though, something seems to be disrupting it. I don't see how. Wait, what the hell is that?!"

Ishin looked up, and his eyes widened. The entire surface of the gate suddenly seemed to solidify, taking on a red hue, then shattered like glass. As the pieces fell to the floor, Ishin's mouth dropped open. What the hell was going on? Suddenly, his cell phone started to beep. As he puled it out, a text message scrolled across the screen.

General Issue Alert
Sender: Saika Rakushun, Kyuubantai Taichou
Message: All available combat and technical personal are requested to gather at the ninth division headquarters. There has been a breach in the system, and our mainframe is under attack. The senkaimon are down. Do not attempt to use them.

Ishin couldn't help but chuckle a little. It figured he would get the message right after he got thrown bodily away from the gate. He turned to go but remembered the two men by the gate.

"Stay here. Try to get that thing working again. Don't let anyone else near it, unless they are of tenth seat or higher. I don't want any fatalities. "

Ishin turned and used Shunpo to cross the distance of seireitei towards the ninth division's headquarters. Whenever he was headed there, it usually meant it was time for one hell of an interesting day. He got to the doors of the enormous building and walked in.

Inside, there was seemingly mass hysteria. There were people running everywhere, and he could hardly make out anyones face because they were hurrying by so fast. He tried to get them to stop, but no one seemed interested. Finally, he reached out a grabbed a squirrelly little guy, that Daxis fellow he had met the last time.

"What is going on? I got a message saying that you guys needed help?"

Daxis looked like he was about to faint. A look of partial relief crossed his features for a moment, but was gone just as fast.

"You're here to help? Hmmm. Well, I guess you should go ask Saika-Taichou what he needs. He is in central command. Go through those doors, then make a left, a right, and another left. The big steel doors. You can't miss them."

He hurried off, eager to get back to work and away from this stranger. Ishin looked after him, shrugged, ten headed in the direction he had been pointed in. After what seemed like ten minutes of walking and trying to figure his way around, he reached the set if steel doors he had been directed too. He walked through and was greeted by an interesting sight.

Monitors buzzed everywhere, with strange characters on the screens and even stranger characters manning the stations. He saw one person with the face of a cat. Yet another had three sets of arms. He looked around for Saika, but didn't have to look far. The horned man was right there, manning a computer console. Ishin walked over to him and threw a salute his way.

"Sir, Tenth seat of the Thirteenth division, Katsuji Ishin, reporting for duty."

Word Count: 703

 

[too_lazy]

How quickly his relishing of soon to be victory ended. Instead of swiveling his massive console and chair of near endless machinery to face Ishin, Raku merely waved his hand upwards for a greeting, still facing the wall-ecnompassing main screen of the control room while it would connect to the First Division.

"... So he's the one they sent for?" Saika wasn't speaking directly to the seated officer of the Thirteenth, but rather, his own subordinates. Giant plumes of smoke billowed out from the front of the seat. "Saiyoisen's boy, right? Yeah, he'll do. Brief him quickly and quietly; I'm about to speak directly with the Soutaichou... Fiona."

"Yes Sir," the multi-limbed woman rose prominently from her seat (grateful that she was being called off of computer duty).

"Accompany this man... Oh and call Ryuku Keiji and Noboru Sho to assist you."

"It would be an honor, Sir," plucking the cowl draped over her chair, a flurry of cloth hid the unique addition of arms on her body. Placing the hood over her ivory hair she then followed up by dialing her Athena while motioning Ishin to follow her out of the room.

"Call for Noboru Sho and Ryuku Keiji. Tell them to rendezvous with me at the Ninth Division lobby ASAP- this is a number one priority and Captain's orders."


[ 222/ 1564 ]

 

[DarkToaster]

The First division was bustling after the initial shock of the current circumstances and the sound of hurried footsteps, frenzied reports and typing fingers resonated through the entire room. Standing in the middle of the chaos -above it both figuratively and literally- was Gabriel Faust.

"Send a message to Captains Murray and Furousha. They will be pairing up again immediately upon the gates returning to functionality and mobilizing first. I want every single member of those two divisions prepared to move." Shiroi barked at one messenger, while his eyes were fixed on reading another report. "Go."

"Sir, the Keigun have sent monitors to the taisho, should I send them back?" Another man asked. Shiroi waved him off, "Let them do their jobs, as long as they don't get in the way." A voice rang out loudly attempting to assert itself over the noise, "Commander, message from the Captain of the 9th regarding the gate status! I'll redirect it to your office!"

I had better be getting some good news. Shiroi thought. Where is Louhi? His hand shot between two more messengers attempting to deliver their news and found Louhi's ear, almost by instinct. "Have the reports ready for me when I'm done with the Captain. Miss Kaiho, if you would come with me please?" It was worded as a request, but it was not.

The crowds parted for the Captain of the 1st and his favorite officer and the pair finally shoved their way into Shiroi's office where a view screen was already waiting for them. "Captain, report. What is the status of the Senkaimon? What resources do you need to fix the problem?"

 

[PeaCe]

What was all this commotion for? Noboru had only walked in a few minutes later than Ishin, admittedly late. He had needed another extra hour of sleep or so to fully recover from the battle he had with Dai the previous night. He was quite sure that a fourth Division member would have done an excellent job and had him fully healed on the spot, but the sleep was still necessary after Mieko offered her questionable services in an effort to patch him up.

Sho wondered what exactly had happened until he checked with his Athena, a message he had received while he had been walking to work which he’d ignored, but still given the frantic running around and no sign of Mieko and a new recruit, he gathered this was not another airborne virus scare and that the message might give him the answers he wanted.

The rookie Ninth Division member withdrew his Athena from within his robes, a place it shared with the book Sho was currently reading. He navigated his way through the menus and into the message inbox; a message from the Captain? Was he once again being forced into a mass of mundane duties and tasks?

General Issue Alert
Sender: Saika Rakushun, Kyuubantai Taichou
Message: All available combat and technical personal are requested to gather at the ninth division headquarters. There has been a breach in the system, and our mainframe is under attack. The senkaimon are down. Do not attempt to use them.

So this wasn’t a message directly to him, it was in fact a message that was aimed at all of the Shinigami. Wondering how his Captain was able to do this, he concluded it was one of the perks of being a Captain and left it squarely at that.

Now knowing what the problem was, Noboru wasn’t quite sure what it was his role in this was. Should he run around screaming like the others? No, perhaps not. If he did that it certainly wouldn’t help at all. Come to think of it, this was the first day he hadn’t walked into the building and been immediately spotted by Mieko; continuing that trail of thought, where was Mieko?

Sho glanced over the message again, All available combat and technical personal are requested to gather at the ninth division headquarters. There has been a breach in the system and our mainframe is under attack. Mainframe? Breach in the system? The young Shinigami knew all to well what that meant… a hacker was trying to breach the system.

Noboru remembered what his Captain had told him, not to attempt to hack into the Ninth’s systems. While he had no reason to try as much, Sho figured that if this hacker was good enough to warrant a message calling for any and all Shinigami, that his skills must be quite impressive.

Despite his criticisms of her, Mieko was perhaps one of the most dedicated people he had met. When she was assigned a duty, she poured her heart and soul into it and if she was already assigned a duty, Sho knew that this meant he would not see her until this work she’d been assigned had finished.

While he had gotten the hang of things in the Ninth Division and knew what duties he was meant to fulfil, Sho knew that the attack on the system would mean he wasn’t expected to work in such a capacity today and if the Captain had asked for both technical and combat personnel, he might get to test out some of his new Kidou on an opponent other than Dai.

The fresh Shinigami was now left in a similar position to that of his first day, he had absolutely no idea what he should be doing. For a research and development division, the communication between Shinigami was rather poor, or perhaps he had just not learnt who to approach.

Strolling towards the end of the lobby, and approaching the couch he had sat down on with Mieko on his first day, Sho slumped down and began to twiddle his thumbs. This boredom would not last long however.

“Ryuku Keiji and Noboru Sho,” called out a female voice amidst the chaos, “Ryuku Keiji and Noboru Sho,” she called out once again, this time Sho saw a woman’s lips move and knew who it was who was speaking. “Please report to me! Ryuku Keiji and Noboru Sho!”

Sho shrugged and got up from on the couch and strolled over, she was standing rather close, next to another Shinigami who was evidently not from this Division judging by the way his hand was close to his Zanpakutou – although not gripping it – he could tell he had a lot of faith in the weapon, something that was not a characteristic of the Ninth.

Standing in front of this woman and the other Shinigami he gave a quick salute, knowing that they were certainly of a higher rank than he was, “I am Noboru Sho,” he stated, “What is it you need of me?”

843/843

 

[louhi]

Letting out a sharp yelp of surprise which was utterly drowned out by the clamor in the war room, Louhi found herself being dragged once again by the ear. Somehow being addressed politely in the midst of such a painful action only made it more infuriating, leaving the 12th division captain looking like her stereotypical angry self as she was finally released into the confines of Shiroi's office.

"Oh boooy, we get to talk to Raku," she was muttering under her breath, twirling around a bit in the new Haori while the monitor jumped to life, offering a view into some part of the 9th division which appeared nearly as busy as the first's war room had been. The Soutaichou was immediately engaged in demanding information, while the pigtailed girl leaned around behind him, making faces for the benefit of captain Saika.


[147]

 

[IshinOnigami]

Ishin watched as the screen in front of them came to life. His eyes went slightly wide, looking at the figure in the image. This was his first time seeing Soutaichou Faust so closely, and he was a bit taken aback. The man had to be as tall as him. Though Ishin had heard it before, he hadn't truly believed it until now. The face on the screen was dead serious.

Well, one of them anyway.

Behind and below the Soutaichou's face was the pig tailed face of a girl shinigami. Ishin wondered who she was, but caught sight of the Haori she was wearing. He realized who she was. The only possible candidate was Louhi Kaiho, newly appointed captain of the twelfth division. Ishin had to control himself. The girl was making faces behind Faust's back, apparently for the enjoyment of the horned smoker sitting in the chair next to Ishin. She made faces at Rakushun, but a vast majority if them seemed to be at the Soutaichou's expense. When the multi-limbed lady stood up, it was with relief that Ishin turned to follow her. Casting on last glance back, he had to feign a cough to keep from laughing at the faces she was making. She was ruddy brilliant, that one.

The lady with the arms, Fiona her name seemed to be, put on a cloth that hid her other sets of arms. At the request of captain Saika, she paged two members of the ninth. One was Keiji, whom Ishin had helped to train not to long ago. The other was someone that Ishin didn't know. He shrugged it off, as there had to be a reason that he was being assigned to the team. They got out to the lobby and waited for the two to show up. The first showed up within seconds. He introduced himself as Noboru Sho.

"Huh. Well, I guess he doesn't look to bad. Sho, right? I'm Ishin. Katsuji Ishin. Tenth Seat of the Thirteenth Division. I assume you got he message earlier, correct? Well, it seems we are going to go and look for the culprit. We just need to wait on Keiji, then we can head out."

He turned to Fiona and lowered his voice to the point where only she could hear him.

"What exactly is our assignment, anyway?"

Word count 392/1095

 

[The Liar]

474​

“Preparing for structural analyzation…”

“T-Minus ten…nine…eight…seven…”

Speaking over an intercom, Keiji was interrupted by his buzzing Athena. With a sigh, he removed the device and checked the incoming message. A sniff was taken in as he began to read what he thought to be standard boilerplate—that was, until, the details of his immediate mission came into focus. His eyes lit up, and he looked at his fellows.

“Uhm—I’ve got to—leave the experiment for future—BYE!”

Utterly confounded by the incredible order, Keiji couldn’t possibly be expected to speak in full sentences. Tightening his goggles, the boy dashed out of the room as fast as his legs could take him and hurled out of the room. If he was to rendezvous at the lobby, and he was in the Blast Lab, he’d have to be out of breath by the time he arrived. He careened through the halls, grabbed the guard rails on stairwells to slide down, and tackle through every door. As he ran, the contents of the message ran through his head once again.

“There has been a breach in our system, and our mainframe is under attack.”

The possibilities were endless! Was it a virus inserted by a rogue shinigami? Had hollows adapted a form of technopathy? Keiji had to move as fast as possible to answer this burning question, and also to see to it that he get a front-row seat to this monumental event. On top of that, he was recording every minute of it—which reminded him. Slowing his pace, Keiji pulled out his Athena and activated the live-streaming link to his CPU, so that memory limitations would not harm his recording of the event. After pocketing it Keiji could start banging his feet along the ground, swinging his arms at his sides and leaning forward in an attempt to make himself more aerodynamic. Sure enough, the sight in front of him was useless for future studies, although he didn’t want to have to remember to activate the recording when he got there.

One final set of double doors, and though he could make out a few figures through the windows, he imagined a bright light behind them—the bright light of possibilities and the pursuit of knowledge. Hurling them open, Keiji’s straw sandals caused him to slide across the lobby floor, grabbing onto the side of the desk, though still managing to hit the ground with his hands locked onto the surface. Hopping up, he adjusted his goggles and revealed a wide, enthusiastic grin. Without bothering to catch his breath, Keiji pumped out a loud introduction followed by controlled panting. He didn’t want to seem weak or frail in front of so many new people—that, and he wanted to look good in front of his Captain.

“Ryuku Keiji, Ninth Division Scientist REPORTING FOR DUTY!”

 

[too_lazy]

Saika quickly tucked his cigarette between his lips to free his hands, seeing as how much his subordinates needed extra computational help from the main CPU of the mainframe. Meanwhile a large closeup of the Commander Captain appeared on the screen, with his spoiled princess Louhi in tow- making faces of all things. With a deep breath the Ninth Captain steeled himself for his report; any bad news given to Faust would end up making Rakushun look bad.

"All Senkaimon are currently sealed, Sir," thankfully Raku could avert his eyes from the stare of the ivory giant whilst aiding his control room crew, his fingers furiously typing across the keyboard while shifting glances between the multitude of monitors surrounding him. "There's apparently a hacker that's manipulating all of our systems at once... currently we're holding him at bay from completely overriding the entire mainframe."

"So, we first have to gain control of our other systems first before even attempting to handle the firewalls and defensive programs our opponent has set up..." Saika took a moment to hit on his smoke, the thrumming of keys being tapped in the delay, "We'd appreciate any and all computers within Seireitei to switch their control and processing power over to the Ninth; all we need is their processing power and no files will be tampered with in the process. Those are the only resources we need."

Clickety-clack tack tick thunk...

"...And onto the better news. We've established where our hacker is located and how he's doing it. He's in Soul Society... using a Zanpakutou. Currently I've rounded up a squad that should be capable of taking down our opponent- he can't possibly keep up with all of our systems retaliating at once while physically a team takes him down. Once he's done with it'll take no time at all to restore our mainframe and reopen the Senkaimon."

Saika stopped his typing and glanced up at the imposing man before him on such a wide display; the research head simply blinked while exhaling a fine stream of gray from his lips.

"Your orders?"

_____________________


"At ease. The name's Fiona Kincade, officer of the Saika Ikki," the six armed woman folded each set underneath her cloak while answering to this rag tag crew assembled for the job. Her intonation was succinct and gave off a professional feel. "Pleasure to meet you."

Part of her wondered why Rakushun would even bother sending two new cadets, along with a 10th Seated Officer of all things, on a mission to take down such a threat.

...Probably because these two dweebs can handle our opponent's genius, and this other guy from the Thirteenth will make a good meat wall. The ashen haired valkyrie snickered to herself, smile hidden underneath the enlarged collar of her cowl. After the jest it made perfect sense, and their questions were set up perfectly for her debriefing. Her dark orange eyes sifted about her squad.

"You've all been assembled because there is a hacker infiltrating our systems. He is using a Zanpakutou to accomplish this means, which is why it's near impossible to keep up with his pace. This is where we come in. We've found out his location and we're to disable him. He can't possibly multi task saving his skin while messing with our mainframe. But right now, we're awaiting the final commands from Saika-Taichou and Faust-Soutaichou."

[ 569/ 2,133]

 

[PeaCe]

Hacking with a… Zanpakutou? Well that was certainly interesting. How would one achieve that? Knowing that hacking would get him in extreme trouble; Sho decided it was much smarter not to even care how it was being done. He’d find out when he crossed paths with this hacker regardless.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all Kincade-sama, Katsuji-sama and Ryuku-san,” for the benefit of Ryuku who had arrived after he’d introduced himself he whispered into the younger boy’s ear, “Noboru Sho.”

Sho sensed that Fiona had been sizing the three of them up and could only grin, “I’m sure we can get the job done Kincade-sama,” he stated, “Katsuji-sama is a seated officer, so he must have his Shikai and I’m sure Ryuku-san and I will not be pushovers either, especially considering that our opponent will be busy dealing with the Captain and other highly skilled Ninth members who are looking to keep him out of our systems.”

The rookie stretched and placed his hands in his pockets, “Awaiting final orders from Saika-Taichou and… Faust-Soutaichou?” Noboru repeated absentmindedly. “If we’re receiving orders from Faust-Soutaichou I can only imagine this is much, much more severe than I had first thought. One hacker using his Zanpakutou… he must be mighty good to cause this sort of trouble… especially considering he’s up against the likes of Saika-Taichou.”

While this was certainly said loud enough for all to hear and almost in a conversational tone, it was not really intended as such. Sho wasn’t even paying attention at this point, long since lost in deep thought, imagining the possibilities and thankful his name had been brought up in the mind of his Captain and that he’d been asked for specifically to join this taskforce. Most certainly this was because the actual combat threat posed by the hacker was nowhere near that bad and because Sho would naturally be one of the first people to come to his mind after the incident involving the ‘airborne virus’ that Sho and Mieko had caused.

Regardless of the reason that Sho had been instructed to be part of this taskforce, he couldn’t help but feel extremely anxious. He didn’t want to screw this one up, he had to prove himself and show what he was made of. It wasn’t often a Shinigami was given the chance to join a taskforce aimed at protecting vital information housed within the various Gotei thirteen computer systems.

[406/1249]

 

[DarkToaster]

“All divisions will be notified of your request. The 2nd’s processing power will not be available to you.” The Commander didn’t feel the need to further explain that to the Captain of the 9th, given the sensitive material of their data. Assurances were not enough, especially at such a critical juncture.

“Your squad is clear to-“ A head poked in the door. “Direct from the 2nd,” the female messenger said, handing Shiroi a note, who took it crossly. He scanned over it quickly and raised an eyebrow. Icarus Corporation? Daedelus? He hadn’t heard the name for centuries.

“On second thought, I will be sending a vanguard with you. Miss Kaiho,” Shiroi said, putting his armored hand on Louhi’s head to keep her wildly flailing face in check, “will accompany you as well as Leon Simeon. Do not underestimate their threat. Respond quickly and with overwhelming power. Be sure to have your people investigate whether the original incursion came as a result of Central 46 level access codes after the threat is dealt with. I suspect it will have.”

“If you’ve located the source of the incursion, then where is it?” The Commander wondered if Raku was being vague in order to preserve some sort of division integrity. There was something respectable there but the occasion didn’t call for it.

 

[louhi]

Ugh, I'm getting teamed up with Saika and Simeon? What kind of twisted coincidence is this, the 12th Division captain wondered at the cruel insight of Shiroi's which surely must have placed these elements together. Perhaps it was payback for that embarrassing scene earlier... Or maybe he really just wanted the problem taken care of quickly by using the strongest weapons at his disposal. Oh, but wasn't that far too simple?


"Hey wait," a whining protest came from Louhi as she squirmed beneath the Soutaichou's armor plated grasp.

"I thought you said I was gonna be leading the team to eliminate whoever's responsible for the attack. I don't wanna take orders from Saika. I'm an assassin and he's just a computer nerd..."

There was a mischievous glint in her eyes as Louhi turned her face to pout artistically in the direction of the video link, hoping that Faust would be swayed and simultaneously diminish Rakushun in front of his own division. It was probably wrong of her to be playing around like so in the middle of a serious crisis, but as a coping strategy, picking on Saika was first rate.

[191/338]​

 

[too_lazy]

Briefly, to counter the actions of Louhi and how she tried to demoralize the Ninth Captain and his subordinates, he typed a special message to appear only on the main screen of the control room:

"Spoiled Princess. Nothing but a brat. Of course she'll get what she wants."

A small and muffled chorus of stifled laughter ran about the troops. Besides, calling their superior a 'science geek' only equaled a compliment to them. Score a somewhat silent victory for the Kyuubantai Taisho.

Oh lovely. More time with Louhi... Rakushun briefly wondered how many insulting blows would be traded in this upcoming endeavor. On top of that, to call in both the pig-tailed brat and Leon called for drastic measures- just who was their opponent anyway? The message from the Second had to have implied a serious threat.

"Understood Sir." The horned man barked, reverting to the severity of their situation, deleting the special subtitles upon the screen.

"As for the whereabouts of our enemy..." a still smoking and burnt Hoshino relayed the coordinates onto Saika's monitor. Meanwhile he messaged the Eleventh Division to contact Leon and arrange a gate to take the Spaniard to meet at the Ninth.

"...30,000 feet in the sky," his tone grew louder, yet remaining monotone- but the crescendo only implied incredulity from the research head.

Elongated ashes of his cigarette fluttered out of the corner of his eye as he continued, "There's also a sort of barrier around the location; one of my officers tried to survey the facility but was halted and would have been severely injured if not for her abilities... I highly doubt Charon's Road will take us there, nor do I particularly want to try it."

[ 296/ 2,429 ]

 

[IshinOnigami]

Orders directly from the Soutaichou? That could only mean that this was a serious matter. Ishin looked around, trying to see if Keiji had shown up. Just as he expected, the kid came bursting through one of the side doors, then skidded to a halt in front of them. Ishin couldn't help but smile.

“As energetic as always, eh Keiji? Well, it seems like we are all here.”

Ishin had been bugged by the way the woman had been acting. She seemed to be acting superior to everyone, and while that was probably true, she had no need to hold it over their heads. He put his hand on her shoulder and gently pulled her to the side.

“Look, I don't mean to call you out in front of your division mates, but I think you need to relax a little. You seem uptight. Just calm down and let's get to work.”

He leaned in close to where only she could hear him.

“There's no need to wrinkle that pretty brow of yours.”

Ishin turned and walked back to the other two. He knew what Keiji could do, but he wasn't sure about the other guy, this Sho fellow. He needed to find out if he was going to formulate some sort of strategy in his head for what they would be able to do when the time came.

“Sho, I would like to know where your area of expertise lies. I know Keiji is particularly skilled in the use of Kidou, but I haven't had a chance to see what you are capable of doing. Perhaps you could fill me in while we wait for the orders from the top.”

The last part was less a question and more of an order, though he didn't word it as such. He hated using his seat to get what he wanted, especially when the person on the receiving end wasn't even in his division, but this was an emergency situation and needed to be handled accordingly. As such, if he asked a question he wanted it answered.

Word Count [346/1441]

 

[The Liar]

343​

Nobody else came"”which meant Keiji was the last one. A whistle escaped his lips, and he listened intently as orders were barked, questions asked and demands made. Somebody whispered in his ear, and although he didn't recognize the name, it took him off guard.

"WAARGH!"

The loud outburst was followed by no physical movement, other than the swiveling of his head to look at the source of the whisper. Apparently Noboru Sho, most likely a fellow member of the Ninth, liked secrecy. However, yet another swivel led Keiji's eyes over to one Katsuji Ishin"”his one-time zanjutsu tutor. A stunning complement was thrown his way about his kidou mastery, upon which Keiji prided himself. Yet a third swivel brought Keiji to the six-armed seated officer, recalling what she had said. Keiji had sort of ignored it in all of the chaos that was his entrance.

" ...There is a hacker infiltrating our systems...using a Zanpakutou... found out his location...can't possibly multi task...awaiting the final commands from Saika-Taichou and Faust-Soutaichou."

"Soutaichou..."

The single word escaped his lips in a whisper. The highest of all authorities was directly involved with this! Saika-taichou was an important figure to impress, but to make a mistake or fail with the Soutaichou watching? It was something that he didn't even want to think about. Not to mention the fact that there was a shinigami using a technopathic zanpakutou to hack the Kyuubantai, which was sheerly amazing to Keiji. He wondered just how much more the day could present"”an exciting mission, technological soul slayers"”he was glad that he'd activated the streaming link. Even the little meeting he was currently privy to was going to be useful for future study, as well as familiarizing himself with more members of the Ninth. So far, he knew all of four people"”Daxis, Drake, Noboru Sho, Captain Saika"”and he felt that it was not enough. Getting to know the entirety of the division was his ultimate aim, and conquering this shocking mission was just the first step on that path.

 

[PeaCe]

Where my area of expertise lies? Sho thought in response to what he had been asked. Ryuku was also well versed in Kidou?. Sho grinned, for the battle would be even better if the two of them were both good at using Kidou. He could picture it now, two Kidou users, a Zanpakutou user and judging by the way the woman hid her extra sets of arms "" something Sho had noticed if only for a split second "" she would complete the set by being a Hakuda user.

Perhaps both he and Ryuku could each take one of the two branches of Kidou and use them against this hacker? No, they had both not been informed prior and Ryuku likely had been training and prepared to use a mix as Sho had. It would work out fine either way, whether they both used a single style or they both used a mix.

Sho paused for a moment, before turning to face Ishin, "My area of expertise?" Sho repeated to his superior within this taskforce, "Like Ryuku-san here I train hardest when it comes to Kidou. Don't worry though, I'm more than capable of swinging my Zanpakutou and I've recently done a little hand to hand combat training, so I should be able to pull my weight; if that is what you were unsure of."

Sho let out a slight chuckle, "If Ryuku-san and I are Kidou masters and you seem to be good with your Zanpakutou, with Kincade-sama likely rounding out the third style, I'm all too sure that this will be a piece of cake, we won't have to worry about it. No reason to be complacent, but certainly no reason to get worried."

The rookie Ninth Division Shinigami rolled his hand over his Zanpakutou, signalling his eagerness to begin, but alas they would still need to wait on the orders from Saika-Taichou and Faust-Soutaichou.

315/1564

 

[DarkToaster]

"If Charon's gate isn't an option," The Commander said, thinking quickly, "then we will have to ready the transport cannons, I suppose. I'm going to give you 40 minutes to take the intruder down before I allow the Kidoushuu to fire the kidou cannon and take out whatever it is that is up there. I would prefer to avoid that option since if it is a large object, it is sure to do quite a bit of collateral damage to Seireitei as it goes down. I trust your people can give me a fall trajectory so that I can evacuate the area in that unhappy circumstance."

"As for you," Shiroi said, glaring down at the unruly Captain wiggling under his hand, "you are in charge of eliminating the enemy, codenamed Daedelus for this operation. Saika is in charge of eliminating the intruder and getting the Senkaimon back online. You will follow his orders pertaining to the technological aspect of this operation, but when it comes to combat, this is your mission. Are we understood?" His hand returned to his side.

"You have your orders. See to it Captain," Shiroi said addressing Raku, "that I do not have to give an unfavorable report to the Central 46."

 

[louhi]

"30,000 feet up..." Louhi mouthed the number to herself, trying hard to even conceptualize how high up that was. Several miles; there wasn't any normal means for them to travel straight up into the sky like that, probably somewhere near the peak of the bloodstone barrier's shield, although she didn't have any real idea of how high that went either. Not important. The way the Soutaichou spoke... it sounded as though they were going to be shot out of cannons?

With her hair even more disarrayed than usual once Shiroi released his grip on her head, the girl glared back at the Commander who had failed to live up to her hopes of shaming Rakushun. Resultingly she had a feeling as if he were picking sides against her, however irrational that was -- but the little tidbit of a warning at the end of it garnered a smirk.

That means if he doesn't follow my orders in combat, he's toast. Hohoho.

The vengeful, gloating, petty aspect of herself satisfied for the moment, the 12th division captain's thoughts returned to business.

"Daedalus, ha?" More like Deadalus when I'm done with him, she couldn't resist making the pun to herself, "The 2nd sent that... do we know something about this guy?"

[209/547]​

 

[too_lazy]

The list of annoyances grew larger with each word Faust said. Inwardly Saika grumbled to himself before he listed something else in his mind- a string of curses. He had almost forgotten about those old relics of the past, the transport canons. Now traveling anywhere within Seireitei, or Soul Society for that matter, was easily remedied with Charon's Road. How awkward to have an ancient device be useful.

Forty minutes until the Kidou Canon was fired? Normally this would be a cause for concern, but with he, Leon, and Louhi involved, the trio of Captains would more than likely finish this mission in no time whatsoever. Regardless it would be a nuisance nagging him in the back of his head.

Speaking of nuisances, Louhi was surprisingly shot down in her bid for taking over the entire mission. At least Shiroi was clever enough to let those capable with machinery to stick to their jobs instead of letting the pigtailed brute decide everything... but she was going to be their superior officer in an engagement? Laudable. When the action started there would be no time for commands- all the more reason for Rakushun to ignore her (in retrospect, her tactics would more than likely throw everyone at the enemy without regard).

"Sir yes Sir..." Saika saluted while staring directly at the Commander Captain.

"You know my record. This will be over before you know it." Only Faust could possibly remember that reference to a discussion they both had long ago. Meanwhile Louhi had asked a question relevant to their mission, giving Raku the chance to prepare themselves for the mission at hand.

Sending instant text messages to his subordinates over their computers they already had calculated the exact distance and trajectory of their location, along with its assumed crash course if struck by the Kidou Canon. Leon had already been contacted and a Charon's Road gate prepped for him, as several more would be for both Louhi and the other members of the task force here- all were headed for where the transport canons were stored in the Division. Additional processing power was routed and added to the Ninth's mainframe, so even with Saika's absence there'd be enough to keep the hacker at bay.

At the same time he sent a text message to Fiona's Athena, detailing her of the situation.

_______________


Fiona breathed in deeply while watching this motley crew get to know one another better. That was fine and dandy, what with ascertaining the group's strengths and all, but one of her newfound comrade's words bothered her already. She took several paces to Ishin and glanced upwards at the taller man, but sparing him little personal room.

"But you... Where do you go off assuming I'm uptight?" Throwing off the hood of her cloak, long ashen strands cascading down her shoulders, displaying fine snow white skin. Her features may have been aesthetically pleasing but her orange eyes pierced like a pair of stars. "Don't be so presumptuous, Fishing, Fishin, whatever your name is... we're comrades on this mission and I don't want words like you've said to be tossed around. I want things to go as smoothly as possible. Try to act professional, okay?"

That included his attempt to compliment her- which was nullified the moment he called her uptight. She was used to those kinds of words... after all, they sounded horribly familiar. Like her Captain. Wonderful, a guy with a similar mindset like Saika; just when she thought she would be away from him there he was again, in a way. Placing back on her hood she backed off, turning her head to Sho.

"... You're right, Noboru-kun, that's my talent of expertise," Fiona answered with a brief smile. Before she could continue her Athena buzzed and played an orchestral ring tone. After reading Rakushun's message she realized that Raku would be along for this mission, along with the Captains of the Eleventh and Twelfth. It turned out there would be two Saika-type personalities with her after all. Oddly enough the idea of a transport canon intrigued her, despite her general disapproval of most technology. At the moment she didn't feel like disclosing anything just yet.

"The briefing's almost over in there... we'll get the full scoop soon."


[ 711/ 2,515 ]

 

[Winduril]

The Captain of the 11th Division's lenses, still holding the perched bird within their reflection, were forced away when a second subordinate entered his office, apologetically nodding to the woman as he bumped past her, before promptly speaking as emphatically as possible.

"Captain sir! We just received a message by order of Commander General Faust and Captain Saika...they've initiated the generation of a Charon's Gate at the southern wing which will take you to the 9th Division Headquarters, in preparation for organizing a strike force!"

Leon allowed a weary sigh to escape his lips, accentuated by the patting his head by a rather disapproving hand.

"...have to go through that shit again? I should've just stayed with Raku...the only crap I did by coming here was..."

He stopped, staring rather emptily at his soldiers, and then took a moment to scratch his head, an obvious indicator of pondering some unknown matter. After a couple of seconds, he returned his gaze to the messenger.

"...tell them I'll be on my way, and, also, I need you to bring me..."

After he'd finished giving his order, the messenger nodded with a hint of hesitation, but then regained his resolve, and swept out of the office, leaving the two original occupants to themselves. Leon readjusted his haori ever so slightly by grabbing the vest area and pulling, and then began to make his way towards the south end of his headquarters. As he passed by his girl subordinate, he paused momentarily.

"...forget about what I said. You don't want the shit that'll come from wondering about these things," he commanded, and then he was gone, sweeping down the hallway towards the Charon's Gate station, hoping that the man he'd call for would be there by the time he arrived.

***

In the east barracks area, the largest conglomeration of 11th Divisioners stood awaiting their orders. It was in this pool that many of the Division's best stood, from Claire Kaiten to Ray Ramos, but most importantly, where the individual Leon had requested sat idly, caught in the midst of a reflective soul-search. This particular fellow remained motionless, even as the rest of his fellow Divisioners received the order that their Captain would be departing for the 9th momentarily and that they were to stay at ease in their current location. The messenger that had left the Captain's office now parted through the sea of jabbering Shinigami towards the still quite placid man and called out.

"Moichi! Seraf Moichi! Captain Simeon requires your presence on the southern end of Headquarters!"

Seraf was still dwelling in his "inner world" when he felt a tug at his physical self. Slightly perturbed, he ended up just ignoring it. He was sitting across from his Zanpakutou's manifestation and he was learning quite a bit...he felt the tug again. A faint echo spread across his mind. A slight shaking...he looked at Raijū in surprise and then felt himself pulled from his inner world.

He snapped back with a gasp and looked up at the man who was now shaking him by the shoulders. A scowl darkened his face and Seraf prepared a few strong words for the man, "Who does he think he is? Shaking a man right out of his meditation..." He opened his mouth and was abruptly cut off.

"You dim witted moron Moichi, where is your head? The Captain is leaving for the 9th and before he goes he has requested your presence!"

"What? Why would he ask for me?"

The man grimaced, "You think a Captain would share his plans with a lowly mite like me? Ha! You're kidding yourself. I don't know anything more than what I was ordered to do...and he asked me to find you about ten minutes ago..." A nasty smile formed on that face as he let the implications sink in...which they did. Seraf bolted down the hall frantically, only to realize he didn't even know where the Captain was waiting for him. Blushing furiously, he went back to where the man was snickering and civilly asked where he was supposed to find the Captain.

"Southern end of the Headquarters....ahahahahah!" The man was doubled over laughing now and Seraf bit his tongue on the remark he almost let escape. Quickly, but not running till out of sight, he headed south...towards the Charon's Gate station.

At the 9th Division, a few scientists lazily leaned against the computers stationed outside, some staring at the darkness that was the inactive Charon's Gate, while a few other had their heads tilted up towards the clouds.

"How long do you think something like this takes? He was already at his Division right?"

"I heard Captain Simeon likes to take his time with everything. That's why every time he comes here looking for Captain Saika, he just kinda ambles around Headquarters and waits to be found rather than asking someone to notify the authorities."

"Just as casual and nonchalant as they say, eh?"

"Yeah, they said that with his-"

The banter was interrupted when the bricked tunnel sprung to life, brilliant incandescence bursting forth to illuminate all. Through the sea of light, two silhouettes gradually took form, and then Captain Leon Valiente Simeon and his subordinate, Seraf Moichi, stepped out into the sun. The former bore his ever cool, fairly solemn countenance, while the latter was peering around with interest. Before the engineers had a moment to take in the sight, the Spaniard was on his way, the haori billowing impressively behind him, Seraf tagging along just at his superior's back.

Within a few minutes, the two were in the control room, and thus did those words find their way from the 11th Division Captain's lips and into Saika Rakushun's ears.

"...how much shit has hit the fan, amigo?"

He then smiled sadly at his fellow Captain...apparently, he was both glad and disheartened by the fact that they were once again together.

[WC (Me): 693//693]
[WC (Shape): 298//298]