A Woman Worth Saving [Private]

FOR PLOT REASONS: This thread is taking place at the same time as Tokyo Jihen. As a result, anybody who is in that thread cannot join this one (Sorry Genpaku ♥). I will allow one character per player--and only from the Gotei 13 (Sorry Tsubine ♥). Maximum of five characters involved (including Sascha, therefore four more at max). For context, read An Experiment in Solidarity.

"What?!" The woman's eye glazed over slightly as she attempted to make sense of the piece of paper being held delicately in her fingers. She had allowed the young Third Seat into her office under the stipulation that he told no-one of what he had seen, and it was a good thing she had--she felt like if she wasn't sitting down, she would have quickly fallen onto her arse. She read over the paper once more, before looking up at the male and sneering, "Are you sure this is real? Are you fucking sure?!" The male winced, "Yes, well at least I believe so. I do not know why it would be in my possession were it not." She growled and grimaced, slamming the sheet of paper down upon the table and sighing, running her free hand through her hair. It was not every day that you had a Third Seat asking specifically for the Captain, bringing in a letter like this. Frankly, it was preposterous; something that Sascha would only see in fucking novels. But no, it was apparently real. "God-fucking-damnit, Ito. What happened last night?" He shook his head in reply, explaining that he only recalled drinking with Kaminari, nothing more. "You fucking dolt. Why would you let a drunk girl walk home alone?" He frowned as his shoulders dropped, expression lowering to the ground, "I was drunk, not thinking straight. And she's a Captain, y'know? I thoug--" He winced as she threw a punch past his face, hitting the air behind him. "You thought what? That despite the fact that she was off her face, you figured that even a CAPTAIN would be fine? No. She was a wom--is a woman. Even if this woman is the fucking Captain-Commander, you take her home, you piece of shit." She could see that he was sorry in his eyes, but it wasn't fucking ENOUGH. He DESERVED this rage that she was giving him.

Turning back to the desk, she placed her hands on the wooden surface and growled deeply, taking in the message in its entirety. She attempted to get it down in her mind, making sure she understood exactly what this thing entailed.

Dear Captain Koenig,

If you are reading this, then it is up to you to know that we have kidnapped Captain Hatakeyama and taken her away to Hueco Mundo. This is a fact.

This is undeniable.

There is no getting around this.

We will be keeping this woman for as long as it takes for you to fulfil our request.

While it may seem like a lot, what we want from you is actually quite simple. I want Daigoro Ito. I don't care if he is cuffed, gagged, or tied up in bondage gear (though the third would be nice). What I want is Daigoro Ito, alive and in the flesh. Any less than that and we will send you Captain Hatakeyama back anyway, piece by piece, until we receive exactly what we want.

We know that you have the technology to use the Senkaimon to get to Hueco Mundo--something we attest to the power of your Kidō Corps Commander. Use it, and go to this location. Once there, we will ascertain that you have the person we want and allow you into our sanctum.

Do not be late.

Lasciel ♥

The name was signed with a large flourish and a small heart, and a small map of landmarks was scrawled onto the bottom of the sheet. Sascha scowled deeply and stood up straight, staring at Daigoro with daggers in her eye. "So, what do we do?" The man stuttered a little bit, "It's obvious, isn't it? We go. I need to be exchanged--my life is not worth that of a Captain's!" Sascha recalled the relationship between the two and shook her head, "Why not?" She sighed, thinking over how she could reply to this, "It would be playing into their hands. We need to assemble a strike force. Small enough to go undetected, but large enough to be a reckoning to this Arrancar shlampe. You need to return to your barracks and stay safe. Maybe get that Midori girl to come in, she seems nice enough to keep you company." Sascha gave a knowing grin as the redheaded Third Seat grumbled, shook his head and left the office.

After several minutes, Hell Butterflies were dispatched to the currently-available highest-ranking member of each Division, asking for reinforcements. She assumed that there would be a good amount of calling in, but she only wanted certain people--for one, Hagiwara and Makabe, Kaminari's third-and-second-seats respectively, would jump at the chance. While possible liabilities like Ito, she needed people who cared enough about Kaminari to basically invade Hueco Mundo at the drop of a hat. Once the message was given and the butterflies were sent off, Sascha herself grabbed the letter from the table and made the necessary jumps to get to where she needed to be...

The Senkaimon.

"Today is getting to be interesting, and not in the good way," thought a particular redhaired vice-captain as he practically flew along the rooftops of the Seireitei.  His thoughts were grim, as was fitting for a day that was going to go down a history defining.
"No day when you don't get to sit around and sleep is a good day as far as you're concerned," a voice quipped; her voice was clipped and cool, which gave away that she was nervous.  She was trying to joke with him; that showed she was very nervous.
"You know what I mean.  There is gonna be fallout from this once the Commander gets back.  Him and the Fifth Division Captain are close friends,"

It hit him then that he was probably one of the few in Soul Society that knew that the Captain Commander wasn't in residence.  He'd gone out cause of trouble in the real world from what his second in command had said, which was what had brought Joshua to this point in time, running to the Senkaimon to meet up for what may amount to a suicide mission into enemy territory.  He sped up, a wry smirk crossing his features.
"Like hell it'll be."

He pulled up short as he arrived, reaching up absentmindedly to stop his hat from continuing his forward motion.  He looked at the people assembled; as expected, it was a skeleton crew.  Probably for the best; if you wanted to go in with force you'd just go yell at the Eleventh Division after all.  Joshua shot a smile to the other two.
"Looks like I'm the one rounding out your little group here, Captain Koenig.  Filling in for the First Division Lieutenant who figures she better stay around here to help deal with the Commander once he gets back from starting a war in Tokyo with arrancar or something," Joshua said, his tone laid back and almost joking.  Almost; there was a hard edge to his words, the metal frame to a down bed.  He'd be lying if he said Mikadzuki was the only one of them nervous.

That said, you don't leave people behind.  Even if you don't really know them.  Joshua was dressed as he always was; his coat and hat with his blade at his side.  He gave a proud, fierce little smile to the pair of them.
"We waiting for a storm to blow in or are we getting this show on the road?"

"Koenig-taicho, I'm ready for the rescue operation, and I'm coming along, if you want me or not. Nice meeting you again, by the way." She turned around to see the young Shinigami looking up at her with a determination in his eyes that she appreciated. It was going to be good to have someone this involved in Kaminari's life coming with her--even if it seemed like a conflict of interest, it was best that they had her closest friends here. Save for Ito. He needed to be in the Soul Society, where it was safe. She would kick his ass if the thought of coming to Hueco Mundo even brushed up against his mind seductively. "Good to see you too, Hagiwara. Glad you got the message." She sighed softly, brushing some hair off of her face and looking towards the Senkaimon. "I'll do ANYTHING I have to," She jumped a bit, turning to see Toja leaning in closer to her, whispering something into her ear, "That includes letting out the other half of myself, and I think you know what I mean with that... Kaminari talked about it with you, after all. And I do not give a flying toss about what happens to me, but get her home safe, no matter how letting that... thing... out goes for me, alright?" She frowned slightly, leaning away from him and nodding silently. "Now, what's the plan - covert ops? Distractions? Going in flames blazing?" She grinned and waggled a finger. "All in time, my friend. All in time."

Another voice piqued her interest, and she turned to see a man approaching--red hair that almost made her instinctively want to punch Ito, but something of a different demeanor. "Looks like I'm the one rounding out your little group here, Captain Koenig.  Filling in for the First Division Lieutenant who figures she better stay around here to help deal with the Commander once he gets back from starting a war in Tokyo with arrancar or something," She sighed softly and placed her hands on her hips, watching his expression to see if there was anything joking there. No, there was a very hard edge. That was a problem. When somebody had mentioned Arrancar attacking Tokyo, Genpaku had basically shot out of the Seireitei like a rocket. Even Foiche was just like "Let him be." No arguin' with that. "We waiting for a storm to blow in or are we getting this show on the road?" She nodded and turned to the Senkaimon, stretching her body a bit. "Foiche. Leave it up for the next few people to be making their way through. I'm expecting one or two more parties." Solas nodded, continuing to order her men to keep the ways open. Sascha nodded back, beckoning for the rest to follow her. "Captain Kotobuki will be behind us--he had something he needed to gather. For now, it is just us. I will further brief you all once we reach Hueco Mundo. For now, we move!" Turning and entering into the Senkaimon, Sascha lead her team through the Dangai and into the Hollow Dimension, not knowing what to expect at all...

His entrance having been made, and information given, Captain Koenig seemed to decide it was time to get going.  Maybe Joshua's gibe had pushed that a little, maybe not.  Frankly, it didn't matter one way or another.  As the other two took off through the portal Joshua started to follow.  He wasn't worried about keeping up with them; despite his sedintary habits Joshua was probably one of the fastest Vice Captains when he decided to get moving.  There was another person present though; the one who was calibrating the Senkaimon to make sure this little party got to where it was supposed to be going and, theoretically, get back as well.  Joshua only had the barest idea of who she was, but all the rumors fit the right places.  He gave a smile to Solas Foiche, the head of the Kidō Corps, and paused for the barest of moments.
"Thanks for getting us there," he said, then he was gone.

Under more normal circumstances Joshua may have flirted with the pretty woman he had just passed.  Higher rank didn't really factor into Joshua's flirty mindset, so it wasn't that which stopped him.  The simple reason was that Joshua was focused.  He didn't know the captain of the Fifth Division, sure.  He had never shared drinks with her, never had a conversation.  Maybe he had said hello in passing once or twice.  So why would he be so focused?  Someone was in the jaws of monsters; it didn't matter who they were at the end of the day.  Joshua wasn't the type to sit around when someone was in trouble.

He landed in the Dangai and shot forward an immense speed; he closed the distance back to the other two before they'd have had much time for alarm at his apparent dissappearance.  He slowed then, falling into pace with them.  The Dangai realm was as off putting as ever, meaning that Joshua barely took notice of it.  In a sense, it was also strangely peaceful.  There wasn't much noise here, much action.  If it wasn't, you know, stupidly dangerous and almost certaily leathal it would make a great place to nap. Who'd actually want to come looking for you in a place like this?

The end of the tunnel came into view and the three Shinigami arrived in the land of the Hollows.  Joshua looked around as Hueco Mundo rolled out around them, and a smile blossomed across his features.  If you knew Joshua, you'd know why; this place reminded him of 'home' in a sense.  Most of his time in life had been spent among sand dunes and small towns.  To see an endless desert of white sand was almost like a homecoming to the redheaded Vice Captain.  He scanned the area around them; both to take in the sight that strangely put him at ease and in case anything was waiting for them.  Then he turned his eyes to Captain Koenig, waiting to hear the plan.

There was a plan....right?

She shivered, breaking through the barrier into the straight hybrid of darkness and light that was the landscape of Hueco Mundo. Her feet touched upon the sandy earth, and she let out a long breath of air and stretched her arms out as her party followed on behind. She took a look to the side, tapping her chin and breathing out again, shaking her head. Wasn't this great? This was, apparently, near where they needed to be--but for some unknown reason, there was no presence to speak of. She did the mental math and tried to make sure that they were in the correct location, but it didn't seem to be as such. "Bah." Turning around, she watched the Shinigami make their way through the gate and land before her, making sure that she had counted the correct number of heads. The tallest one hadn't arrived, but that was a given--he'd be here on his own time. Instead, she would step back and crick her neck, adjusting her stance a few times as she watched the last of the people step into the area. She spoke, loud enough for those in her vicinity to hear.

"Right now, we are in a place of worry," she began, "Last night, a woman was kidnapped. This woman was unknown to some of you, a Captain to others, and a Friend to the rest of us," she lowered her gaze towards Toja on the word 'friend', "But we can't think about that right now. For all we know, she could be laying on the ground dying. She may already be dead. That is not a possibility that any of us wish to consider, but it is still a possibility. Right now, we are invading enemy territory--to some, this may be seen as a declaration of war upon the Hollows. Again, this is not something we need to think about right now. Right now, our thought is to get to Lasciel. Right now, our job is to get to wherever this bitch is hiding. We will kill her lackeys, and then her. We will then bring Kaminari back to the Soul Society, be she dead or alive," Her senses had just picked up a familiar scent, "And we now have a target. Let us go." She finished her speech, turning and leading the Shinigami off in the direction of the feeling.

"Right now, we are in a place of worry.  Last night, a woman was kidnapped. This woman was unknown to some of you, a Captain to others, and a Friend to the rest of us.  But we can't think about that right now. For all we know, she could be laying on the ground dying. She may already be dead. That is not a possibility that any of us wish to consider, but it is still a possibility. Right now, we are invading enemy territory--to some, this may be seen as a declaration of war upon the Hollows. Again, this is not something we need to think about right now. Right now, our thought is to get to Lasciel. Right now, our job is to get to wherever this bitch is hiding. We will kill her lackeys, and then her. We will then bring Kaminari back to the Soul Society, be she dead or alive." There was a pause.  "And we now have a target. Let us go."

That certainly made things clear.  Not a word of it put even the slightest fear into Joshua though.  It seemed strange to him, really, that everyone was acting so afraid of declaring war on the Hollows.  Last he had checked, hadn't they always kinda been at war?  As in before he even existed?  It seemed like one of those 'forever were and forever are' type deals when you came from down to it.  He fell into step behind the other two as he let his thoughts spin out.

He was pulled back into the conversation after several minutes as Toja spoke up, stating that he was picking up all sorts of interference as he tried to find his Captain.  It took Joshua a few moments to figure out what exactly he was up to.  The soul threads idea was a good one, and in a less populated area it would an incredibly direct method.  Here though, it was a stealthy but slow approach.  From what Joshua had gathered though, time wasn't exactly something they had a great deal of.  While Captain Koenig had made it clear that, yes, Captain Hatakeyama may in fact be dead already.  While Captain Koenig might play a good game and Toja had a semi-decent poker face, it was obvious that BOTH of them didn't want to bring a dead body back.  Couldn't blame them there.

Captain Koenig might get mad at this, but in the long run Joshua had to side with them; he'd rather not bring back a dead body.  He suddenly squatted down, producing a small vial of ink.  In the space of a few moments, Joshua had drawn up a familiar circle with several markings.
“Heart of the south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east, arrive with the wind and depart with the sea.  Bakudou #58, Kakushitsuijaku,” he said in a crisp voice as his senses rushed outward.  Joshua didn't need the incantation to make the Kidō function, but using it gave more focus and strength.  There was a high likelihood that using Kidō here in Hueco Mundo was going to draw attention.  Then again, it was also likely that they'd already managed to do that anyway.

His eyes narrowed in annoyance.
“Getting a lot of interference myself.  However, I got something.  She's due north of here; at least twenty miles out, no more than seventy,” he said simply as the light from the Kidō faded.  He shot a look up to Toja.
“If you focus on that area once we're closer you'll probably had much more luck.”  [i]He rose, dusting his hands off.  “Think she's still alive too; we should get moving quick though,”

Apparently, her words had incited some kind of action within the Shinigami she'd brought with her, and that sent a large grin across her face. She folded her arms, watching them as they worked. Toja seemed to try and use his sheer senses in an attempt to find Kaminari, which was a technique that she could certainly respect. "The interference here is crazy. Hard to pinpoint the location of anything." She sighed softly, nodding in understanding. "Thanks anyway; I couldn't've done it bett'r. Hueco Mundo is a bitch of a place t'find shit like another Shinigami." She was about to mention continuing on in the direction of the hunch, when she was suddenly hit with the familiar sound of another Shinigami using a Kidō. She looked over in Joshua's direction, seeing the small group of nameless mooks they'd brought with them looking over as well.

“Heart of the south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east, arrive with the wind and depart with the sea.  Bakudou #58, Kakushitsuijaku,” Yeah, she recognized that. It was that searching Kidō--she wasn't sure that it'd work perfectly here, but at the very least it might have given them a chance to get a general direction. She still had that hunch that Lasciel's scent was in a certain direction from where they were, so hopefully Joshua's little spell could further pinpoint the direction that they would need to take. “Getting a lot of interference myself.  However, I got something.  She's due north of here; at least twenty miles out, no more than seventy,” She nodded, "Tha's where m'hunch came from too. Alright, let's start makin' our way in that direction. We got a lo' o'walkin' to do."

Eventually--give or take half an hour into it--she felt two presences. The first presence was immediately recognized as the Captain they'd left behind to catch up. "Sorry I'm late... I thought she might need her Zanpakutō when we find her." He produced a sheathed katana from behind his back, and she gave him a soft smile, "Well, let's hope that the person holding that Zanpakutō is the one to find her, huh?" She chuckled nervously, beckoning for the rest of the Shinigami to continue onwards, all-the-while cursing that second source of energy she'd discovered. That fucking dumbass. A direct order was disobeyed. He's going to have a lot to expla--oh, Midori followed him. This is going to fucking suck. She sighed and shook her head, deciding to continue onwards anyway. If anything, his presence would at least trick Lasciel into thinking they'd brought him with them. Maybe it would be enough.

Some more time would pass as the group eventually came across a cave mouth--the place reeked of Lasciel, but the faint feeling of Kaminari seemed to emanate from the mouth of the cave as well. It wasn't much, but it seemed to be enough. She beckoned for them to follow, stepping into the mouth of the cave with little subtlety--she didn't do subtle--and looking around. As her eyes became more accustomed to the darkness, she realized that they were facing four different paths. "Gorrammit. We're goin' ta need t' split up. Each o' th' Cap'n level Shinigami--tha' includes you, Jehana--are gon' split up, take a few o'th' others with ya. Choose a path, and take it. If y'find Kaminari, try an' get her outta there, bu' remember tha' there migh' be interference. Be safe. I'll go alone--I already 'ave backup of m'own." She nodded and stepped through the path directly in front of her, growling softly as she passed the threshold.

"I'm going to get you outta 'ere, Kaminari. I swear it on me life."

So there are four paths--one for each person looking for Kaminari. Sascha is taking Path 3. Please put the number of the path you're taking at the end of your post for sake of clarity.

With a direction the group set out.  With a goal they were focused.  With more reinforcements...well, more people were now trudging through the sands of the white desert.  For most this probably was a pain in the ass; after all, sand sucks.  It gets everywhere.  Its coarse and grinds.  Yet there was one whom cared very little about these things.  Joshua seemed at ease here because of his memories from life; he'd spent most of it in desert locations.  Occasionally he returned to such places even today; fits of nostalgia really, but it was well within his right to indulge them.  Given time the group as a whole arrived at the cave system that they'd been led to.  That'd explain why both Joshua and Toja had ran into difficulty tracking the Captain down; down in a cave system like this the energies were all kinds of screwed up.  

In short order the leading officer, as it were, gave out her orders.  Several of the rank-and-file Shinigami that had been brought along though gave Joshua at look at Sascha's comment.  That one, a Captain-level?  Some believed he barely held onto the Vice-Captain role he currently held, and it was widely known that he hadn't wanted said position in the first place.  Joshua, on the other hand, gave very little reaction to being called out.
“Your mission, your call Captian,” he said simply as Sascha started down one of the paths.

Toja, on the other hand, seemed to have a lot to say before he started down.  And there was an impressive display to go along with it as he made public the knowledge of just what exactly he was.  Joshua raised an eyebrow at this, but there wasn't much time to get a word in edgewise before Toja bolted down another path, leaving just the large Captain, Joshua, and the rank-and-file standing about.  Joshua wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to feel about the Vizard, so he decided it didn't bother him.  The Vizards had proven several times that there help was invaluable in the fight against Aizen and such.  As long as Toja had control, there wasn't much to worry about.  On the other hand, there was more than enough whispering going on from the peanut gallery to ensure this wasn't going to be a quiet thing.

It also hadn't slipped by Joshua just what Toja was up to; it wasn't exactly hard to miss the amount of energy that Toja was pumping out.  It was like a beacon really, and Joshua doubted that such an action was the result of Toja's over eagerness. Or maybe it was; the end result was that the Vizard Vice Captain would be drawing a great deal of attention as he botled down his path.  Maybe he hoped to draw the enemy, but it stood out as a slightly suicidal move to Joshua.  If he hurried, maybe he could catch Toja and stop him.  But he wouldn't; not because Joshua was cruel and wanted to see harm come to his fellow Shinigami but because this was the path Toja had chosen to walk, literally or otherwise.  He believed this was a way he could help the group at large, and thus Captain Hatakeyama.  That he could respect.

Joshua turned and looked at the nearest path, hand retreating to his pockets as he thought.  It was the first path; why choose another one?  He smiled and started down the path.
“Anyone's that coming better keep up!  I'm not waiting,” he called, his voice strangely light-hearted as it echoed back out of the tunnel.  One way or another, things were about to get interesting he supposed.

Path Three

Her footsteps echoed through the tunnel as it began to raise up--it seemed about as steep as a set of stairs. She muttered something to herself about having to work for her payment, before moving up this ascent at a nominal rate. The ascent slowly grew steeper as she did, and the light was beginning to fade. The tunnel that she was travelling through didn't really seem that natural--but at the same time, it was definitely not regularly constructed. She didn't think too much on it at the time, instead merely climbing through the steepness by jumping up on steps of Reishi. She hopped up to the top of the hill that had been made in this tunnel and looked down towards the ground below. She sighed softly and started to hop down, cursing her choice of tunnel. It already seemed like Kaminari wasn't going to be down this way, but she wasn't going to so easily dismiss the possibility--for all she knew, this was going to be the most out-of-the-way place possible to find Kaminari, and it would show. She sneered at the not-there Lasciel and made it to ground, landing on both feet and looking forwards into the darkness. It seemed that she wasn't going to get away from this. She was stuck taking a long-ass path down somewhere she wouldn't be able to get out of, right? With a soft sigh, Sascha pushed forwards and began at a sprint down the path, keeping an eye out either side for possible openings.

The tunnel got darker and darker the further she got down it, and she was certain that she'd been travelling for several miles since she began. She was definitely far away from the rest of her party; she could only barely sense Shunsuke, who was probably the closest to her out of any of them. That alone bothered her. Eventually, she could not sense even him. Replacing her feelings of isolation came the sounds of digging, crunching and the like. She stopped for a moment, catching her breath and trying to peer down the darkened tunnel. Her eyes had pretty much gotten used to the meagre light by now. She decided to follow the source of the sound, coming across a gigantic Hollow--a mole. It had apparently already sensed her, as it turned around faced her. However, as she prepared for it to attack--it did no more than watch her. Instead, she heard a voice from behind her, and turned to face the source. "Well looky what we have here." A man appeared before her. "She's already dead, you know. Your tiny shinigami friend finally fell about ten minutes ago. Tough little thing, but even the strongest fall from losing too much blood... It's why I prefer to keep the blood on the inside. They last longer." Her entire figure twitched, and she was certain that she felt tears bridging her eyes, but she stemmed them. The mole Hollow let out a roar from behind her, which she plainly ignored.

"It seems my friend here is hungry." He made a noise and produced a huge hammer, jumping up and swinging it at the ground, creating a loud rumble and cracking as a large number of spikes protruded from the ground. They approached her at a high rate of speed, growing larger and larger until the last one would reach her face. She moved only slightly, the spike ripping her eyepatch off and leaving a red mark on her cheek. They vanished, and he spoke again. "Now let's see if you put up a better fight than your little friend." He leaped at her, and she felt the presence of the beast leaping from behind. She did not move. She did not flinch. As the hammer was brought down, her sword was brought up--the edge held off his attack with sheer power alone, while her scabbard was used to parry the attacks from the mole from behind. She made a loud noise and made an attempt to push the man off of her, still not moving from her position. As he landed, she turned and sent a cut along the mole's shoulder, pushing it back. With that, she turned back to the man. If he could see her eyes, he would see them full of rage.

"You want to know something? You want to know how hard you've just fucked up?" Her mouth turned upwards into a sadistic grin. "Let me explain this to you. I. Like. War. Actually, no. I LOVE WAR. What does this mean for your dumb ass? Well, my good friend... you've just told me that one of my closest friends has just died," She laughed softly, the laughter gathering in strength until it echoed all throughout the tunnel. "You've lead me to a place far away from my allies. I'm alone here. I'm isolated. I'm outnumbered." Her laughter continued, before subsiding as her face returned to a serious mask and looked back down at the man. "As a result of your foolishness, I can go all out. Bankai, Reißzähne des Krieges Hund."

[MUSIC]

A surge of energy was immediately released from her body, likely causing the fucker who was attacking her to step back slightly. She didn't look back, but she assumed that the Hollow was having a pretty hard time standing up in this. The fact that they were standing in such an enclosed area meant that there weren't many places that Sascha's pressure could go, making her seem a lot more frightening. Her aura surrounded her in a ghastly light, and her eyes glowed brightly with the sheer amount of energy going through her body. Her Zanpakutō was sheathed, and in its place were a pair of revolvers, glowing with the same color as her eyes. And behind the man who had thought Sascha surrounded stood five soldiers, two carrying AK-47s, one carrying a SPAS-12, one carrying an M249 SAW and one with an RPG-7. Behind her, pointing their weapons at the Mole were five more soldiers, each with the same weapons. "Sorry, did you think me surrounded? My bad." She grinned, holstered one weapon, pulled out her sword and lunged forwards at the man with a feral yell. As she did this, the five soldiers behind him each started firing their weapons--the ones behind her did as well, but at the mole Hollow. Sascha herself swung down with impressive strength on the sword. He seemed to return her strike with just as much strength; she felt her body shudder from the blow, gathering herself quickly enough to fire six shots into his abdomen. He laughed and took them without a single care.

"So, do you have a name? Or shall we fight without even knowing who the other is?" She sneered at him and landed, watching. Even though the men had been firing upon the mole, it seemed to have completely ignored them, staring through them to Sascha herself. She swallowed back slightly and relaxed her position, watching with narrowed eyes. "Sascha Koenig, Captain of the Third Division!" His mouth seemed to go into an 'oh' position. "Why, I'm honored. A Captain, fighting little old me?" Sascha could sense the seething hatred a mile away, "If you must know, my name is Bru. Not short for anything. He doesn't have a name." Bru motioned towards the mole, before dashing forwards and swinging the hammer at Sascha's head. As if on command, the mole barrelled through the soldiers and towards Sascha as well. She yelped at the idea of being attacked from both sides again, dodging underneath Bru's blow, but feeling the claw of the mole swipe at her side, knocking her into the cave wall. She made a noise, sliding to the ground and grumbling. The soldiers reacted by firing upon the targets, but Bru seemed to simply ignore their attacks. "Is this the best the Captains have to offer? A woman who gets knocked around by an overgrown mole?" He laughed loudly, raising the hammer in the air to bring it down upon her head.

The hammer dropped, and Sascha was already behind Bru with a laugh. "No, I'm really not the best that the Captains have to offer. If our best were here, he'd likely be tearing this place to bits. My reaction is nothing compared to how he'll react when he finds out that she's dead. You had better hope for mercy when that occurs." The laughter turned dark, and she pointed at the roof above with a howl. "Open this up with a salvo!" The soldiers all switched weapons, firing upwards at the ceiling over them with RPGs. The roars shook the area, and if Bru was listening hard enough, he could swear that there was something firing from above as well. The din stopped after a few seconds, and dirt fell around them, the light of the sky streaming into the dark hole. Sascha could already see Bru's face drop, and then turn into a visage of rage. "How dare you?!" He lunged forwards with the hammer, and Sascha danced around his blow, cutting at the backs of his ankles with her weapons. He yelled out and swung again, this time in unison with the mole. Sascha was hit by an oversized paw and knocked back into Bru's hammer, sending her up out of the newly-formed hole and upon the sands above.

Bru jumped from the hole after her, but the mole did not seem to follow. She heard scrabbling underneath, but nothing else. "Your friend not joining us?" She grinned tauntingly, at which he simply yelled out at her. "Where are your words?" The yelling of the man receded, and he slowly started laughing. His laughing was maniacal at first, loudly echoing over the flat and empty desert. "I guess it will be single combat from here on out. I should really have you know how outclassed you are, however." He patted his own chest, [i]"You see how I am unharmed after all of your attacks? I am at a class very close to that of your own Zaraki Kenpachi. There are very few who can breach my skin."

[MUSIC]

As if in reply, Sascha began to laugh herself. The laughter echoed louder than his ever would have, before she stared hungrily at him. "You really are the perfect opponent for me! I will defeat Zaraki Kenpachi in single combat! You're nothing but a stepping stone in my path!" Her laughter grew once more, and she pointed her Zanpakutō high into the air, as something seemed to materialize above the two. "It was a mistake bringing me this far from my comrades! Would you like to know something about my Bankai?" Her laughter amongst the words finally subsided as the object above fully appeared. It seemed to be some kind of cannon, if one could see it far enough. It was as tall as a skyscraper, with one end only fifty meters above ground--while the other end seemed to stretch up into space itself. "It's designed for fighting entire armies! You seem to be a single-man equivalent, therefore it's worth using everything on your shitty ass!" She took a defensive position and rotated her neck slightly, "Luckily, it doesn't harm me. As for you, however--well, you seem to be right underneath the firing zone." As if to reinforce this point, the ten soldiers were immediately standing around him, weapons pointed at him and stopping any efforts he might make to move through. He could definitely barrel through them, but the time it'd take for him to get through them would be too much for him to avoid the impending doom. The business end of the weapon glowed, and Sascha finally spoke its name.

"SUB-ORBITAL ANTI-ARMY CANNON MARK-25! FIRE!" The glow reached critical levels, and Sascha saw Bru desperately swinging at the soldiers, knocking them aside as the cannon sent its beam of death down at the man. She only had some stored power, but it was apparently enough to whip up a small sandstorm as it cratered the ground beneath. An earth-shattering roar echoed throughout all of Hueco Mundo at that time, and those who noticed it would quickly stop caring shortly afterwards, as the cannon vanished into nothingness, along with the twin pistols that signified Sascha's Bankai. She dropped to a knee and grimaced, seven of the soldiers vanishing--the other three rushed to her side to help her to her feet. She shook her head and slowly got up, shaking. She'd never actually gotten to use that up so close before. Limping towards the centre of the newly-created crater, Sascha saw Bru's body laying on the ground. As she approached it, it shuddered to life and slowly started crawling towards the mole.

"My... old friend." He croaked out, "We had a good run together, eh?" Sascha was certain she heard a pained moan from the mole Hollow, "Let's... go out together t...." His voice faded, and both beings stopped moving. She breathed deeply and dropped down into the hole, kneeling in front of Bru and closing his eyes with her hand. "You two were powerful foes. Thank you for this battle." She stood up straight and looked around--she'd used too much energy fighting one man. She couldn't be caught here. Picking up the eyepatch, she grumbled about it being useless. "I'll hafta get it replaced once I'm done chewin' out Ito." She laughed dryly to herself and looked towards the path that was now caved in. She was going to have to find her way back overland. That would be easier said than done.

"Well, I'd better get movin'." Her mind was rushing, and she had a ton of new ideas that she had to jot down. Jumping from the crater and returning her Zanpakutō to its sealed form, Sascha began to head in what she believed the direction of the cave was--and at that point, it occurred to her.

"What if he was lyin' to me?"

A light whistle filled the stone tunnel as Joshua lazily strolled down it, an apparent reckless nonchalance in his demeanor.  He heard clacking footsteps rolling up behind him, and he didn't bother to actually look back.
"Jehana fuka-taicho, wait up," one of the other Shinigami said as he caught up.  Joshua obliged, turning to look back as the rest of the small group caught up to him.  There was a decent few of them, though he guessed it may well have only been a third or so of them.  Some probably stayed back at the entrance, some probably went after someone else.

"Alrighty then, let's see what's at the end of this tunnel, eh?" he asked after a handful of puffed breaths from those that had just finished running and started walking again, picking up his tune where he had left off.  This made a strange tableau in a sense; the group of Shinigami walking along with swords drawn looking about nervously, ready to jump at their own shadows in some cases.  Then you had Joshua, hands behind his head as he walked as though this were any other day.  If you had a keen eye though, you'd notice that Joshua's eyes were not nearly as lax as he seemed.  They scanned the area around him with quick, precise movements.  His body was loose, ready to move at a moment's notice.  He had several Kidō's half formed in his mind and his senses reached out, hunting for alien presences.

Suddenly, Joshua picked up his pace.  He caught sight of the light, and after a few steps he made a motion and vanished as a shunpo carried him down the tunnel to the light.  There were a few chairs, and they appeared to have been vacated in a hurry.  The tunnel curved after that; he spent only a few moments gathering the details of the scene before him before he moved down the curve to the room.  The cell was open, the room was otherwise empty.  Joshua removed his hand from the hilt of his sword as he rushed through the room to the fallen captain's side.

Many would have immediately gone to spiritual means to check the fallen captain's condition; Joshua knew of more 'mundane' methods of first aid.  She was still breathing, and he didn't need to reach out much to feel the wildly fluctuating energies around her; whatever had happened to her had been destructive and painful.  They'd done a number on her.  Joshua reached out and a soft green glow spread from his hands.  Yet it didn't take; he felt the captain's energy press back against his, rejecting the healing energies.  He gave a small curse under his breath as the rest of the Shinigami caught up.

"Something's wrong with her; healing isn't working, she's in bad shape.  We need to get her back no-" he began, but was cut off by the sound of someone seemingly waking up from a hangover.  Every shinigami other than Joshua spun on their heels back towards the door.  From the tangle of chairs a figure moved, previously hid by debris and shadow as he groggily got to his feet.  He muttered something as he rose, then froze as he spied the small contingent of Shinigami standing in the cell room.  For a crystalline second the silence held, before it cracked and was banished by a noise that was somewhere between laugh and growl from the Arrancar.

"So, you must be working with her," the Arrancar said, stepping up and cracking his knuckles.  Several of the Shinigami stepped back, swords at the ready.  Then Joshua appeared ahead of the rest of the Shinigami, his Zanpaku-tō finally free of its sheath.  He fancied the Arrancar with a surprisingly jaunty grin.
"Guys, take the Captain and get her back to the entrance.  Gather up with whoever is there and get back to Seireitei.  That is your mission, alright?" he asked, his eyes never leaving the Arrancar.  For his part, the Arrancar shook his head again to clear some of the confusion.

"Must have gotten hit harder than I thought if you think I'm gonna let ya walk out of here with that one," he all but growled, moving to take up more of the hallway.  Joshua responded to this with a rather eloquent statement; he blew up the wall, simply making a new exit from the room.
"I gave you lot an order; go!" Joshua called, his voice suddenly ringing with authority.  Several shinigami picked the unconscious captain up and started out of the newly made door.

This was where things got interesting.  You see, the Arrancar didn't see to much like this entire idea, and he began to move to intercept the group.  He didn't exactly get the chance though, since as soon as he began Joshua was on him, blade coming straight down with startling speed and power.  Simple as that, the fight had begun.  The division members rushed back down the tunnel, injured captain in tow without delay as the clashing began behind them.  They made it back to the entrance to meet up with those still there, and continued their evacuation of the injured Captain.

She wasn't sure exactly how long she'd been walking for; the fact that she was so quick to jump into the next fight that threw itself in her direction was enough to make it obvious that she was bored as fuck. The Hollows fell quickly to her blades, one or two of the creatures screaming and vanishing into the sands, whipping up white trails behind them as they went. She spat at the ground, grumbling about how they weren't much of a challenge, and that she sort of wanted to try and fight that bastard from before again. "But, I guess that it'd be a bad idea, seeing as it took all of me energy to fight 'im last time..." She sighed softly, shaking her head. She was an all-or-nothing kind of woman, she could see that whenever she fought things like that--if it took that much for her to be able to take down someone comparable to Kenpachi, what would it be like if she fought Kenpachi again? Would she almost kill herself? She shook her head and continued to run through the sands, trying to conserve her energy on the trip as best she could. There were one or two nearby sources of energy, but none of them recognizable. They were all underground, after all.

Eventually, her feet carried her to the clearing with the caves. She jumped off of the head of the cave they'd entered and landed outside, looking around. There were no interlopers watching for Shinigami, which was something of a relief. She turned to look back into the cave, attempting to spot anybody coming from outside. At first, nobody seemed to be around--but she then heard the sounds of echoed footsteps as a group of Shinigami carrying a prone form marched out of one of the cave entrances--she recognized them as the Shinigami she'd sent with Joshua. She blinked and tilted her head, looking at them to see any sign of injury. They seemed fine, though the fact that Joshua wasn't with them worried her. She was about to head down the tunnels after her errant associates, when the prone figure caught her eye. Her breath left her, and she approached the Shinigami with a stern expression. They recoiled slightly, seeing the Captain without an eyepatch and wondering if this was really her--"A'ight, let's see it. How bad does it look?" They shuffled amongst themselves and showed her Kaminari, Sascha looking down, her stern gaze melting into worry. "Set her down nearby, I'll stay with ya's." The Shinigami nodded, placing the unconscious form down on the ground near Sascha's feet. She shook her head and took her seat next to her, pulling a small notebook from her body. "Oh, before I forget..." She produced a phone and dialed, putting it to her ear.

"Yes? Sascha, is that you?" Solas answered, slightly hurriedly, "Yes, is everything okay?" She heard a whimper, "Things might be getting bad, I'm not sure yet. A Senkaimon has been requested from the human world, in the Tokyo area." Sascha's expression hardened, "Fine, just... make sure nobody finds out what we're up to." The voice made a noise in understanding, before the call was hung up. Sascha sighed, pulling a pen and beginning to write in the notebook, all of the ideas she had gained from her fight with Bru, taking a sidelong glance at Kaminari's form every so often, tears edging her eyes.

"Hurry up everybody..." Her knees were pulled in closer to her chest. She felt vulnerable at the moment. Far too vulnerable.

Joshua's blade came crashing down on the Arrancar, and when he blocked Joshua learned several important pieces of information.  First, that the Arrancar was strong in a physical sense; with the whole of Joshua's weight behind the swing the Arrancar had managed to block the swing with one arm, though he had been forced to take a step back to counter the leverage Joshua had used.  Second, the Arrancar's wits were still sufficiently addled from whatever had happened prior to the Shinigami's arrival.  Third, the arrancar was primarily a brawler and looked to mostly use his weapon in one hand based on several small characteristics Joshua had taken note of in their brief interaction thus far.  And finally, whatever had happened here before Joshua had shown up had inflicted greater damage to the Arrancar, though not in the form of wounds.

Before the Arrancar had fully recovered from the rush, Joshua had figured out the next course of action.

As his feet touched the ground he jumped pulling his blade back and away from the clash, suddenly creating a lack of pressure against the Arrancar's push.  The jump was not a wasted motion though; Joshua was not a hand to hand combat fighter.  That, however, mostly meant that a fist fight was where Joshua would lose.  It did not mean that simply silly tactics involving using a big, dumb, and ugly Arrancar would instantly fail.  Joshua's feet crashed into the Arrancar's chest and in the same motion he Shunpo'd back and away, achieving the desired effect.

Joshua's motion brought him back towards the secondary door he had created for the rest of the Shinigami to use.  He jumped back once more to pass said door, coming to rest in the tunnel just beyond the manufactured exit.  Joshua held up a hand, and a brief shimmer as he whipped up a powerful barrier.  Powerful it was too...at least from this side.  Kyoumon was a strange and powerful barrier, able to shed or reflect most attacks leveled at it from the outside.  However, from the inside it would break like glass at the first hint of pressure.  This is why Joshua direct the barrier towards him, effectively declaring the escape tunnel as the 'inside' portion.  This of course had the result of locking him in with the Arrancar though.

He didn't mind that too much though; a calm smile had come over the Vice Captain's features.

Joshua's stance relaxed, his blade dropping some as he favored the Arrancar with an appraising glance.  Said Arrancar, for his part, had finished recovering and was in the process of trying to kill Joshua with nothing more than ugliness, spite, and scowling.  Joshua smiled wider.
"Now that we've got a quiet moment, why don't you tel-" Joshua began to say, but was rudely cut off when the Arrancar's fist collided with where his head had been.  Luckily, said fist found the barrier Joshua had laid down instead as Joshua appeared on the far side of the cavern they were now fighting in.  Maybe the Arrancar had taken offense when Joshua had taken up the lax stance.  Maybe it had been the fact that he'd cut the Arrancar off from chasing his target.  Maybe it was simply because Joshua was prettier than the Arrancar was, and that he hadn't cared when the Arrancar had glared.

"As I was saying," Joshua said, straightening up.  His sword still hung lightly in his hand, but his eyes were locked on the Arrancar just in case he tried something like that again.
"I just wanted to know what happened.  It seemed like someone cleaned your clocks with particular gusto.  Such so that you've yet to fully recover," Joshua said, because it hadn't gone by his notice that the Arrancar's energy was...wrong.  Not in feel but in sheer presence.  It just wasn't there.
"Don't you ever shut up?" the Arrancar growled, cracking the knuckles on the hand that had hit the barrier.  He was a tough bastard too; another thing noted.  The Arrancar shot another look at the barrier.

"Give it up man; she's gone.  You're not getting her back at this point," Joshua said simply.
"After I kill you, we'll see about that."
"What're you so interested in one of the captain's for anyway?"
"If the boss wants her, that's enough for me."
"Lot of hot water to get into for someone.  She sexy or something?"
Swift and brutal was how the Arrancar chose to answer that particular quip.  It was Sonido that he used, but simple brute force and spite propelled him across the cavern at Joshua.  His own blade came crashing down at the Shinigami.  Joshua twisted, brought his blade up, and with a flahs of sparks redirected the blade away from him.  Another swift motion bought him another dozen feet between the pair of them.
"Touchy, touchy."
"My mistress will see you ground to dust, little worm.
"So she is attractive," Joshua said with a smile.
"Show respect you miserable excuse for a fighter!  She is the former fraccion of the Espada and worthy of respect."
Joshua filed that piece of information away.  "What would someone so mighty want with a Captain who had nothing to do with the old war?  Doesn't make for very good vengeance," Joshua mused out loud, tapping his chin as he did.  The Arrancar chuckled at that.
"She cares not about the vengeance of a bygone war.  She cares not for your little group.  Her vengeance is reserved for one of you, and only one of you."
"Lot of trouble to go through to mess with one guy.  What did you do, never call her back?"
The Arrancar gave a scoff at that, shifting slightly.  "Even I don't know what her grudge with the Daigoro Ito is.  And soon it'll be none of yours as well!"

The Arrancar lunged again, but things were different this time.  He had time to notice the wolfish grin that spread across Joshua's face at the last piece of information and took it for an opening.  But as he closed the distance and swung a line of hot pain appeared across his sword arm.  Joshua stood behind him, the grin mostly subsided to something more mocking.
"It seems that's the end of our little conversation then.  Pity, if you had extended it you'd have lived longer."
As Joshua turned back a change came over him.  There was still the small grin, somehow mocking and light despite the circumstance.  Yet that merriment didn't reach his eyes.  In those burned something different.  Joshua's stance eased into something different and strange, a stance Shinigami didn't use.  With the katana it was weird; the weight was off what it should be, the balance too far forward.  Even after hundreds of years of practice the wrongness of it was noticeable.  But he didn't want to release his Zanpaku-tō.

This time the Arrancar hadn't even finished the motion of movement before another line of hot pain swept across him, this time on his left leg.  The arrancar had expected an attack this time though, and spun.  His blade swung in a wide arc aiming to take Joshua apart in some fashion.  Yet it didn't meet flesh and blood and bone as it had wanted.  It met steel and air as Joshua parried the swing, and then he struck out again.  Another wound, and then Joshua pushed forward.  Another wound, and another, and another.  Blood began to fall, and with each the Arrancar started moving a little slower as something worse than pain set in; fear.

It took maybe twenty-five seconds, maybe, before the Arrancar fell to a knee, bleeding from nearly a dozen wounds despite his thick skin and all his brutality.  Joshua stood, unblemished and unharmed, eyes still burning.
"You know, if you had your reiatsu I bet you'd have been an interesting challenge at least.  You'd have put up a good fight.  Its a pity that something got to you first.  That pity though isn't going to save you.  Little word to the wise; I'm not as kind or honor-bound as most Shinigami.  You're an enemy, and you found yourself in a bad place.  Too bad for you.

The Arrancar roared one last challenge, and burst from the ground in one final rush as he brought all the fury he could muster.  The blade came from below, an upward swing meant to cut Joshua in half if it was meant to do anything.  The arrancar was a crashing wave, a avalanche, and flurry of fury and hate and desperation.  His motion was everything it could be, a crushing force of rage.

Joshua took a single perfect step, and his blade pierced the Arranar's throat mid-howl.  Then, with one last motion Joshua tore the Arrancar's head from his body, and let them both fall.  A thought came to him then, and he looked down to the fallen enemy.
"My apologies.  I never got your name or gave you mine," he said, though there wasn't much remorse or sorrow in the words.  He gave a flick of his blade to clear the blood and began to sheath the blade.

Something came crashing through Joshua's barrier.  Joshua turned, blade still half drawn as he crouched slightly and retook a fighting stance.  However, what faced him was the captain of Ninth Division...in a sense.  Joshua felt the energy now, the overwhelming presence of a Bankai.  The Captain did not look happy, and in truth looked more berserk than Joshua much liked.  In a confined space like this...this had the potential to get messy in a hurry.
"You alright there, Captain Kotobuki?"