THE CRIMSON EDGE ARC: The Breach [Event Three] [CLOSED]

Posts : 139 Join date : 2018-08-17

Kaito tilted his head slightly to one side at her initial proposal, a slightly questioning look without offering any answer. It was rare that any Arrancar offered what amounted to a truce. If they had the advantage, they generally pushed it until someone died. If they were at the disadvantage, either they fought like hell anyway or they fled. This was certainly a new experience for this old dog. Her follow-up sentence however grabbed his attention, and he took a deep breath as he considered his current condition and position.

Kurai was easily the most dangerous Arrancar he could remember encountering in terms of raw power. He couldn’t be sure if many of the other captains of the Gotei would be able to handle her in a straight up fight, and the thought of letting her walk away from this felt odd to him. The potential of having to confront her again in a less desirable circumstance set something on edge in the old Shinigami. Yet, something in him told him that this may well be for the best; if he pushed the fight here and now in their current states, there was a significant likelihood that he would not walk away from it. Kaito had long sense moved past a sense of fear where his death was concerned; he’d lived a long and good life, and he had few regrets. With what was happening back in the Soul Society right now though, and with the wall down, taking himself off the board felt like a poor decision.

Kurai spoke up again, and he focused on her once more as she jumped up on his Zanpaku-tou to be more on eye-level. He rolled his head to the left, being rewarded with a loud pop.
“Unorthodox, but I could agree that a nap is starting to sound really good about now,” he joked; there was no chance in hell he was going to be getting a nap any time soon. Still, it was a tacit agreement to a ceasefire. His smile faded some however as Kurai began to tick off the information she could give him, offering him only one for free. He raised his blade, letting it settle on his shoulder as he considered the red-haired arrancar’s words. After she had finished, he closed his eyes a moment, letting his brain run through them. Kaito’s mind had been honed by thousands of years of experience, and now he set it to work on the information he’d just been granted.

If it had not been she that had broken the Edge, then either there was a stronger Arrancar than her, it had not been broken by force, or there was some thing that had been used to do so. What that object was could be helpful to know, but it was a limited piece of information without where it was or how it worked. The true goal of the raid seemed less consequential than the other pieces, but the fact that it was included in here made him feel that wasn’t the case. The location of their hideout likely was the where to the what that destroyed the Edge, and where the Souls that had been taken were being transported. It was also the piece of information most likely to be transient; unless it was a literal fortress, once the hideout was exposed it could simply be ditched and everything of importance relocated. It was unlikely the Gotei was going to be able to mount a counter attack quick enough to nullify that possibility. The number of Arrancar would certainly be useful information for the fights to come, but didn’t feel weighty enough compared to the rest.

The fact that there was a traitor in the Gotei was news, and proof of their identity was valuable if it was trustworthy. Kaito recognized that Kurai didn’t seem much one for guile, but the possibility of sowing seeds of discord and paranoia in the enemy was a hard chance to pass up. He rolled these around in his head for a few heartbeats, his brain working through them quickly. He opened his eyes to consider the Arrancar once more.
“Did you have a price in mind for the other pieces of information?” he asked calmly. Once she answered he added that consideration to the rest for another few moments.
“I am curious what proof you could have of a potential traitor in the Gotei. If you’re pulling my leg on this though, I will be most put out,” he said with a light tone that brought with it a warning. If this was a ruse, Kurai had already seen how proficient Kaito was where violence was concerned.

THE CRIMSON EDGE ARC: The Breach [Event Three] [CLOSED] - Page 2 XXvBaTrW_o

Kurai thought this a very fair deal. She may not have analyzed her years of combat and warfare like this man did, but she certainly had enough experience to know what steps were interesting to take next. His joke was welcomed. She let out a high-pitched school girl-ish squeal and did a dainty little twirl on her zanpakuto. With an excited clap, the arrancar hopped over onto his broad shoulder and easily sat, crossing one leg over the other.

"Good choice!" Kurai waited for him to make his choice. He took a little time to think through his options, which she expected. The more time that went buy though, which wasn't long at all, Kurai was becoming more and more impatient. The impatience was only shown with a quicker swinging of her upper crossed leg. Finally, he spoke up. "Of course. First piece of information is free, as I said." she explained, resting an arm on his head, "Second, we spar at least twice a year. I haven't had this much fun in a long time, so I wanna do it again without all the 'we must kill each other' bullcrap. Third, I wanna see inside the Soul Society. Never been in and I'm curious. Won't hurt anything of course, that's part of the deal. After that, I haven't really thought ahead for more."

Kurai's intentions would seem pretty sincere. She actually wanted the things she was making prices for information. She doubted she'd get the tour of the soul society one, but who knows? "So, you've made your choice, right? The traitor thing? I figured that is the one that would catch the attention of one of the Three Great Fists... At least, that is what the one with the brown hair says. You know, tall, handsome, piercing eyes, sultry voice... One of the pretty boy types. Oh, what was his name... Captain Sosuke Asami?"

Posts : 139 Join date : 2018-08-17

Kaito’s opinion of Kurai was shifting as this interaction continued; she had seemed somewhat aloof and battle-hungry when their fight began. Now though she had proven far more capricious. She seemed to have gauged him herself, feeling comfortable enough to take him at his word and casually jump up and sit on his shoulder. He got the feeling that this woman was used to getting her way, largely because he imagined there were so very few if any that could stop her from taking what she wanted.

Now where had he heard that before?

Her follow up offer of what she’d ‘charge’ for more information gave the old Shinigami a glimpse at someone who was likely far more lonely that even she would admit. Despite that they were mortal enemies here she was attempting to secure another chance to fight on friendlier terms, at least for a given value of friendly he imagined. Quietly in some part of his brain, Kaito guessed that Kurai likely was isolated for the same reason she was rarely denied anything she wanted. While that may not bother some people for some time, there were truly very few beings that could go for all their existence in such a way.

For now, his mind was mostly occupied with listening as she elaborated. When she spoke the name, he responded with a simple correction.
“Daisuke. Captain Daisuke Asami. An accurate description, though you’d understand if I must be cautious of such a claim. We have been dealing with the work of what I’d imagine is one of your comrades playing us against one another for weeks. That you’d have a good description of the most dangerous of your opponents would be expected,” he said, not truly as an accusation of her lying so much as pointing out that if the description was her proof, she’d need a bit more.

As to what she requested for the other information he seemed to consider again for a few moments, seemingly unperturbed by her resting her arm on his head. He felt a certain measure of comfort in this moment even in this situation; their battle had shown them both that in her current state she’d be hard pressed to end him. Meanwhile, she had placed herself easily within reach of her grasp. He doubted she had forgotten how that had turned out last time.
“I can agree to a spar at a minimum of twice a year for at least the next decade. A tour though...” he trailed off, juggling what he imagined her could get away with.
“I can say I will try, but it may take some time. Understandably I imagine, my allies would be leery of someone of your strength being allowed to simply walk into the heart of their stronghold. I do not imagine yours would appreciate if you brought me by unannounced,” he pointed out.
“The second piece of information I’d ask for would be what you used to break the Edge.”

[/color]

The fact that Kurai was all laid back, confident, and almost genuinely happy, it should have been clear that she was being honest, so his skepticism was just offensive. She pouted at him, putting an elbow on his head and resting her cheek on her hand. "Look, big guy. I ain't a liar, so if my information is incorrect then it's cause someone is using some real good illusion kind of shit, alright? Literally seen him on one of those screens and did one of those rendezvous things as a 'good faith' meeting. Not like Kiyomaru was gonna trust him either, but you be all mistrusting if you want, but you're wasting your own energy there."

"A minimum of twice per year? For a decade?" Kurai hopped off of his shoulder, landing in front of him and looking up at him with stars in her eyes. "You said a minimum, which means possibly more? Ah! That'd be great. I'd finally have something to look forward t-... You aren't trying to trick me, right? If you're not gonna trust me, I am not gonna trust you. It's supposed to be a two-way path... even for the tour, and I honestly just wanna see what it's like. All dark out here, and I could see the light from the broken part of the edge, so... if you want a third piece of juicy information that may help you out, that's what I want."

"As for how we broke the edge, Gaintain. That bastard built this massive ass cannon. So, no, it wasn't me. I don't think I'm powerful enough to bust through the edge like that. According to the intel we received from DAICHI OSAMU or... wait, what was his name?," she tried to prove a point, but forgot his damn name again, "Either way, according to that guy, it's made up of special points that you keep building towers in front of. You kinda keep marking them around the entire Edge. We never woulda realized that shit. Start buildin' more quick, cause, well... they're targets now. Kiyomaru is already planning this for a second time."

Posts : 139 Join date : 2018-08-17

Kaito decided that if nothing else, Kurai’s information warranted further investigation. The validity of it would pan out in time.
“No tricks,” was his response to her questioning his honesty. She had a point, so fair play. As for the tour, he could understand the want to see something other than the infinite night of Hueco Mundo; even he began to want for the warmth and sunlight after being out in the White Desert after too long. He rolled around what options he had where that was concerned as Kurai continued to talk.

He frowned slightly when the explanation of how they broke the Edge came up. Any kind of conventional weapon should have been ineffective against the edge. Even one of the Gotei’s most dangerous weapons wasn’t guaranteed to do what had happened this day. That did narrow down a few things however in Kaito’s mind. He seemed to consider what Kurai had just said for a few quiet seconds. He made a decision.
“You’ll get your tour. I assume the location of this cannon is your group’s hideout; where is it?” he said, settling on his third piece of information.

With the revelation of the existence of a weapon capable of breaking The Edge, several things fell into place in Kaito’s mind. Hollow’s rarely took living targets, preferring to feed once they had caught their prey. Such a weapon would need a power source and a multitude of Souls would do well in powering such a thing he imagined. It was an assumption, a guess, but it made sense for the time being. He also filled in that the weapon must either have a time between when it could fire, or else it would need significant power to fire, since otherwise why wouldn’t the Hollows have brought down more of the pillars?

That meant the next course of action on the end of the Shinigami should be to attack. And soon, before the weapon could be moved.

No tricks. Good. You'll get your tour. Exciting.

Kurai smirked and moved away from Kaito until she was about fifteen feet off. She faced a direction away from the Soul Society, shifted a bit, and kept looking off over the sands. Holding out her hand, the sword she previously stabbed into the ground flew back toward her. She caught it raised it above her head and ignited it. Taking in a deep breath, the air around them cooled and the heat off the blade increased.

Kurai swung the sword down and slammed it into the sand, sending a rather controlled stream of high pressure flame forward. The flame continued off into the sands about two hundred feet before it stopped. The smoke it created slowly faded and Kurai waved Kaito over. In the sands was a glass-like parting of the sands. It was sturdy and smooth, but easy to walk on, and large enough to reach Kaito's height and width three times.. She pointed down the path she created. "Go straight that way and you'll get there. It's not as massive as the edge, but it is large enough, so I doubt you'll miss it once it comes into view. Easy enough?"

Posts : 139 Join date : 2018-08-17

Kaito watched as Kurai smirked and stepped away, seeming to measure out a pace as she went. She sighted in a direction then drew him an arrow, all but literally. She waved him over and the big man made his way. He looked down the psuedo-runway then back at her as she spoke. He took a mental note of the direction as well, looking off in that direction then back towards the Edge. Then he gave a nod, running something quickly through his head.
“I’ll contact you within the next four days about your...tour. For now, I have my men to go and see to. Thank you for the bout; it has been a long time since I got to cut loose. Next time, maybe I’ll give you a better fight,” he said with a smirk. “And thank you, for the information.”

If Kurai had nothing else to add, Kaito would turn and start back towards The Breach. He’d wave a massive hand back over his shoulder before vanishing, taking large shunpo-steps as he made his way back home. There was a lot of work left before him, and he was feeling the exhaustion seeping into him. If he stayed idle for too long, a nap was gonna sound too good to pass up. But the big Captain had a lot to do before he could enjoy that luxury.

The deals were done. Kurai would get her part of it sometime within the next four days. Perfect.

Kurai stood silently from that point on. She nodded to Kaito as he turned to leave, watching his back as he got further away. Soon, Kaito was completely out of her vision, having shunpo'd far off. Kurai took a deep breath and looked out over the sand. She waited in the silence, in the desert's dark stillness.

Focusing her energy's output, she closed her eyes and after a few minutes had gone by; she used all the energy she coalesced at once. Like mentos enhanced soda, her destroyed arm rapidly regrew, popping out of the stump and becoming whole again. She stretched her hand, twirled her arm. Just like normal.

Calming her power, she made her way back toward the base, "See you soon, big guy."

Posts : 261 Join date : 2018-07-01

As predicted, the fight was boring. Flashy and full of power, yes, but that was all. Kaito's raw energy was what even had Gantain remember the brute on sight. Gantain did not participate in the harvest or the battles in front of him in any way. Instead, he was busy examining the edge itself. In a human-leather notebook, he took painstakingly accurate notes. He took measurements and samples of both sides of the wall, and even what was in the middle of what would have been the Edge.

He would have continued as well, had a hooded figure not appeared behind him kneeling. "Two-seven-two, what is it?" The hooded figure spoke, rushed. "There has been an incident at the Facility, m'lord." Gantain did not stray from his examinations. "What kind of 'incident?' Is it not something you or your betters can take care of, or must I hold your hand even through a simple magnesium fire?" The figure swallowed. "Sir, it was attacked. Approximately 48% of the facility is destroyed." Gantain stopped writing and measuring. He sighed and tucked the notebook and instruments back into his jacket. "Explain on the way." Gantain grabbed the messenger by the back of the neck and began speeding back towards Las Noches.

"Approximately ten minutes ago, two unidentified intruders broke through the northern wall. The perimeter defense force that was deployed to the area was killed—no survivors so far. The two then made their way to Building C. They proceeded to demolish any equipment they came across, freeing the test subjects. Once Building C was cleared, it was reported that multiple high-level Cero were fired, seemingly at random. Preliminary analysis says the individuals must both be Espada-level. They fled and we were una—" With a sickening crack, Gantain snapped the neck of the messenger, flinging the body into desert before continuing on.

Gantain's labyrinthian factory was mostly twisted, smoldering metal at this point. Arrancar that matched the one now lying dead in the sands miles away were working to put out the fires and prying up rubble. The estimate was low. It was at least 60%, if not 70%. He could recover, but it would take time. The upgraded design for the cannon, housed in Building C, was slag at this point. Even that was not what caused the rage. No, it was a hole that did that. A circular hole made what was left of his office at the Facility open-air. He saw half of a bookshelf burning, the other half was simply gone.

Gantain did not flinch as one of the two remaining walls of Building C fell. However, his eyes widened for a moment as he saw what was behind it. Graffiti was painted on the wall of the design hangar, surprisingly unscorched or untouched. It was obvious that this was meant to be found. A stylized fox and panther—both painted in a bright cyan—sneered back at him. It was, without any doubt, them. Gantain gripped his cane until it cracked—at which point he yelled. Frustration and rage rose in his indignant roar.

"JEAGERJAQUES!"

» Crimson Edge Arc: Sealing The Edge [Event 6] [CLOSED]
» Crimson Edge Arc: A Second Attack - Event Four [Closed]
» THE CRIMSON EDGE ARC [EVENT ONE] -COMPLETE-
» Crimson Edge Arc: Into Enemy Territory - Event 7
» Crimson Edge Arc: The Opening [Event Five] -Complete-