When the Blazing Sun is Gone

A massively tall, muscular man held several armed guards by the back of their shirt collars. A dome of shadow seemed to open, protruding a metal platform to reveal the Gentleman accompanied by his butler and bodyguard, one wielding wires and the other wielding a massive sword. His blue, cybernetic eyes fell on the large man, who merely muttered to himself "I've finally drawn you out of hiding..." The Gentleman called out calmly "Troy."

Troy dropped the guards casually, their unconcious bodies unmoving "Charles." The Gentleman assured "I am no longer the man you once knew."

Troy remarked "Tell me something I don't know."

The Gentleman nodded "Very well. As we speak: An army rivalling that of Sosuke Aizen marches forth to descend on the Soul Society." Troy merely stared up at the Gentleman's glowing eyes, so he continued

"Tell me, what brought you here?" Troy answered "You did, Charles. You and your goals, whatever they may be."

The Gentleman corrected again "Don't call me that. I am not who I once was. Much has changed, Troy. And you are nothing to me now." At this, his bodyguard disappeared and reappeared next to Troy with his massive blade ready to cleave Troy in half.

Troy guarded easily guarded it with one of his Knuckledusters, the resulting impact causing a loud resonation as the static and steel fought the sword and his strength. The bodyguard stared Troy down as wires wrapped around Troy's other arm, who clenched it's fist to grip all of the wires, capturing them.

The Butler stood at the other side of Troy, a small distance away, and held a struggling stance as he had to use all of his strength merely to keep himself from being pulled over to Troy. Both of the Gentleman's servants had to use all of their strength to keep up against him. Troy looked at each of them, then back up at the Gentleman, who watched on from above, not showing amusement but a dispassionate look of emotionlessness.

The Battle Begins
Sadow sat in his comfortable chair at the helm of the leading Zeppelin, the Marauder. His fleet was ready to attack. He smirked in confidence as Shuufuu, his personal aide, reported in.

"All Bala-armed Cannons are prepared, sir! The crew and Shock Troopers are ready, willing, and eager! Our Missile Ordinances are ready and the launch codes have been locked to your private terminal here on this bridge."

Sadow smirked at her "All of them?" She nodded "All the other Zeppelin Captains reported that the codes have been sent. I received the signals from the message terminal so they should all be there." Sadow gave a small chuckle of delight and patted Shufuu's head, causing her to blush heatedly "S-Sir...?"

He smiled warmly and with affection "Good work, Shufuu. Now prepare yourself. War will rush in swift and hard. I hope you're ready." She nodded "I am, sir!" He nodded and waved her off "Carry on, then, Warrant Officer." She turned and walked off hurriedly, only when in the nearby hallway did she allow herself to clutch the sides of her face and sigh heavingly "He patted my head! And... He said I did a good job!"

Smirking, the Harpie Twins giggled superiorly at her "Awww... Look, sister. The little girl's fan-gasming at her idol's acknowledgement." Natsudori, the red-haired one, gave the comment while Fuyudori backed her up "I'll bet if she knew how much attention we got, she'd faint." Shuufuu stuck up her nose at them and pushed past them "Hmph."

Natsudori shrugged as they both looked back at a leaving Shuufuu "I suppose we made her..." "...a little angry." They turned, only to find the mysterious and ominous Tao standing directly behind them. He spoke with an eerily light and young voice

"Finishing another's sentences..." his voice turned gruff and deeper, almost raspy "...is something we do best." Natsudori and Fuyudori, both startled by his sudden and silent approach, backed away with caution "W-What are you doing, Tao?!"

He merely replied in his original, light voice "I melded into the steel of the walls and traveled all the way to the bridge from my room when I happened upon you two giving the girl a rough time."

Natsudori put her hands at her hips and turned her nose up snobbishly "Oh yeah? Well hasn't anyone told you not to eavesdrop?" Fuyudori warned whisperingly "Sister, don't..." Tao rebuffed, in his deeper voice "I'd be careful, if I were you. Talking to someone like that, a Superior Officer no doubt, could lead to an ill-fate."

The light voice reassured "Don't worry. He doesn't mean that." The deeper voice replied immediately in an irritated tone "Why must you always undermine me when I'm trying to educate others? You're always doing that."

The lighter side argued back "Our leader would do terrible things to us if he found out you did terrible things to them. Besides, they are merely children. And you're way of educating is hardly suitable for-" Natsudori cut in "Okay, well... You two seem to be having a nice little conversation here so my sister and I will bid you good day. Come on, Fuyu-chan..."

Natsudori hurriedly grabbed Fuyudori's hand and lead off. The light voice asked aloud "Was it something I said...?" The deeper one put his gloved hand to his side of their face "You're an idiot..."

Takajou fed corn to his Falcon as Ryoushi entered the hangar where the Shock Troopers were gathering to be deployed. The beast-girl saw Takajou and greeted warmly "Good afternoon, Takajou-sensei!"

The eccentric Falconer merely kept feeding and petting his winged-companion while not looking at her "Hello..." She asked with a tilt of her head "What are you up to?" He mumbled

"Feeding Kaze." She nodded while looking uninterested "Sounds... great..." He looked rather at annoyed at her and asked in an aggravated tone "Is there something you need?"

She blushed and poked the ends of her index fingers together and muttered "Well... I... umm..." He pushed on "Spill it out!"

She admitted "Well... I heard this bird... Kaze, is your only friend and at first I thought "Man, he could use a friend!" and then I realized how much we have in common. You're only friend is a bird, and most of my friends are animals so-" He narrowed his eyes "So you wanted to become friends."

She continued poking her fingers together shyly and admitted "Well... more than that, actually..." He raised a brow "You choose before a life-changing, climactic battle that could decide the fate of our lives forever to flirt with me?"

She grimaced "That's just it, Takajou-kun... This may be our last moments of life so I thought, maybe..." He raised a brow once more "Thought what?" She sat next to him and nudged closer, blushing and looking away suggestively. Takajou caught on and stood up, surprising her "No."

At this, she looked rather puzzled and annoyed "What? Am I not good enough for you or something? Oh, god... There's already someone else, isn't there! I'm so sorry!" Takajou looked comically annoyed and sighed, placing his gloved hand to his face in shame.

"One: Dating within an organized group always lead's to disaster. Two: You're an animal-loving dog-girl from a race of beast-human hybrids, I'm a Falconer with issues. Lots of issues. And three: Even if I did consider going out with you, my Falcon would become easily jealous of the attention and act out in a number of ways."

Ryoushi grimaced "Forgive me for offering. Didn't know it would cut in so hard to your brooding time."

They were interrupted by the sudden appearance of Shi, who carried his Scythe on his shoulders with his arms resting on the staff.

"Don't worry, Ryoushi... My room's always open." She looked repulsed by his suggestion. "Please... you're gonna make me sick..." Shi gave out a loud, boasting laugh, comparable to a Hyena.

"What do you see in this bird-brain that you don't see in me?" Ryoushi replied with a smirk. "Pink hair." At this, his grin faded into an enraged sneer "You're a real bitch, you know that?"

She smiled. "Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you." Shi brandished his Scythe, ready to dice Ryoushi up into small pieces, but was stopped by the loud crackle of Teuchi's electrical whips, which burnt a line between the two. He warned, "The leader has given me permission to detain any trouble-makers. Trust me. I can be very accurate with these things when I wanna be."

Shi smirked at him, "Is that an invitation?" The armoured jailer ready another strike, "Insolent little punk!" Stopping him via wrist-grab was Jikoku, who smiled peacefully "Let's not make this a scene, shall we?"

Teuchi jerked his hand away and retracted his whips, stalking off bitterly. Ryoushi thanked him "You were quick there, Jikoku-san! Though you should've let him slice this maggot in half." Shi grumbled, "I'll show you maggot, dog-whore..." He walked off as well, steaming from the confrontation.

Jikoku smirked "Kids these days."

Atama stood before Sadow, bowing respectfully and formally "Sir, all engines are ready for takeoff." Sadow smirked "Are our allies ready as well?"

Alejandro let out a yawn as he slouched over to his "superiours", trailed by several Arrancars who he had picked up from Hueco Mundo before he left, being an Espada had its perks after all, stopping in front of Sadow and Atama he spoke "Eh! We're ready at least!"

"Tch, tch, tch. Hollows? Shinigami? Even Beast-species? My, my, Sadow-kun," She added mockingly. "If I did not know any better, it'd look like you were going to war." The owner of the voice materialized out of the air, floating there as she regarded the occupants with a mixture of curiosity and....something else....like how a predator watches its prey. Dressed in an impossibly erotic victorian school girl outfit, the blonde haired woman smiled devilishly at Sadow.

"Thought you saw the last of me, did you? Well, Sadow-kun, I am quite happy to disappoint. Your company on the other hand," Her gaze drifted to the Espada and his fellow Hollows. For an instant her face lost all traces of mirth, replaced by an cold fury, an icy expression promising untold suffering. In the next, it was gone, almost as if it wasnt there. "Leaves much to be desired. So, tell me Sadow-kun. What song shall we sing to the coming symphony of death?"

Sadow smirked "I have something in mind. Spectating, I take it?"

"If I'm not mistaken, she is. As am I" said a cold and distant voice. The owner of the voice had just entered the room, revealing it to be a dark-haired young man with what seemed to be an unnerving grin. Dressed in what seemed to be a robust butler outfit, he walked closer to Sadow, bowing in front of him in a very gentleman like demeanor.

"I would personally help you but I don't think the Organization would like that. We like to go at our own pace, you see. But you probably don't care." He said quietly, as he looked around the room. "Would that be fine with you Sadow? It's been a while since I have seen an extravaganza like this and I would like to have a front seat." Dōkeshi finished, giving him another of his strange smiles.

Sadow smirked with his usual charismatic charm "Of course. Though, I must warn spectactors: Any tampering with our mission and Bane here will, personally, transform you into a corpse." Bane, Sadow's armoured General, stood at attention at his leader's side like a loyal dog.

Dōkeshi chuckled and gave him a smirk, "I would like to see him try. But no matter. I am merely content with watching at the sidelines. And me. Tamper? I think not. What kind of fun would that be? I like to watch. This is not my fight to interfere in." He finished, turning around to leave outside. Before he left, he looked at Sadow one more time. "Just don't do anything rash. Ta ta."

Alejandro gazed at the woman in front of him, the way she carried herself and indeed the very way in which she spoke and acted told about tremendous power and her gentle words, who all seemed to be conveyed as if to a lover, betrayed a lurking intelligence ---and, it was clear to Alejandro that she despised him from the very begining although it had to be very intense given how his appearance had, if only for a moment shattered that mask of hers.

Alejandro looked at his commander and how he so shamelessly watched her from his chair; she had completely dullen his senses and was twirling him quite nicely around her thumb from what he could see; not only the Commander though, but virtually any male present was observing her with wide eyes. Alejandro though lacked any kind of such emotion and was therefore exempt from her almost divine beauty.

The Septima moved some yards away from her and out of her sight as his entourage scattered into the crowd as he separated himself briefly from the ruckus, staring out into the clouds that drifted around them as he spoke as lowly as he could "Tenbinkyū" - focusing directly on the mysterious woman he began to gauge her for information, his spell sneaking its way past her usual defenses quite quickly, it was after all developed for this purpose and Alejandro had gone trough great lengths to make sure it fit its usage: her race was unlike anything he'd ever encountered and he felt that he needed more time in order to properly deduce it, he then immediately moved onto her abilities and he could quickly gather that she was incredibly accomplished in the arts of magic; although the type of magic was unknown to him - furthermore he got to read her energy levels and physical provess, both of which were highly impressive; Alejandro began to dig deeper...

The woman's eyes widened slightly for a moment before they returned to their usual state as she caught the gaze of a random onlooker and raised her hand in a suspiciously extravagant manner; a movement which ended in her discreetly brushing away some golden locks from her face, her eyes momentarily gleaming with playful delight: Alejandro noticed this gesture but was incapable of reacting quick enough as a pair of spectral hands grabbed hold of his head and plunged their fingers into his scalp, as if ten icy daggers had been plunged straight into his skull at once! The agony was excruciating and he barely managed to quell a sobbing gasp and the need to abruptly grab the railing on the Zeppelin - forcing the agony away with sheer willpower. Just as the womans ruby-red eyes discreetly glanced across the ones present; gazing for signs of agony in order to determine her "assailant".

Using her eyes though was more of a formality though, pain and suffering went hand in hand with her kind, as such they were particularly sensitive to its happenings. She could smell the pain her victim was experiencing and her eyes trailed to the Espada. An interesting power that one has. Divination magic was generally outside the realm of a Hollow, so she was mildly surprised. While she couldnt determine what information he had gained, suffice to say any information he did obtain should deter him from any future prodding. She slipped back into her act, mingling with the crowd as males of nearly all species fell to her charms. The appointed time was drawing near, and Sadow was making his final prepartions to begin this war. And a glorious war this one would be!

Hell Hath No Furi
"Sadow-kun... Aren't you coming inside? It's getting cold." A young girl with short, white hair and bright, blue eyes stood at a balcony door as a young Sadow stood, arms leaning against the railing and eyes drifting out into the snow-crying night sky. "Furi, it's always cold here." She grimaced "But you've been out here forever. Mamae is making soup." Sadow stared down at the impoverished streets below their complex. He could see old, dying men who are too poor to get medical treatment. "I will not die here..." Furi pressed "Sadow-kun..." He stood up completely and, without looking at her, declared "I am not going to die here, Furi." She looked a little shocked by this random declaration "Is that what's been on your mind?" He finally turned to face her "I will live on... And I'll make that bastard who dumped us in this shithole pay..." She covered her mouth with a gasp "Sadow, your mouth..." Sadow smiled lightly and looked away "Sorry, Furi... Tell Mamae I will be in after a moment." She warned "Alright but don't let me catch you falling asleep out here again..." She coughed a few times and re-entered their semi-warm home. Sadow stared up at the sky, his icey-blue eyes filled with determination... and hatred.

Sadow stood out on the Zeppelin balcony, rubbing his fingers with the small blue ball attached to his necklace. Lady Kanpu reported in "Your army awaits your orders, sir." Sadow nodded "Good." She noticed his movements and asked, out of curiosity "What are you doing?" He answered without looking at her "I don't know. I've done this before I'd have a big fight that I knew I might lose. I never understand why, but I feel compelled to." She raised a brow "Like a good luck charm?" He turned and walked past her "I make my own luck."

Bane nodded a greeting as Sadow entered, all eyes turning to him. He sat in his throne-like command chair and announced to Dominic via speaker "When you're ready, Dominic." The young Priest nodded and grinned in delight. Preaching was something he was truly passionate about "Enemies of God beware, for our Great Crusade shall burn you all into glass! Onward!" At this, the Zeppelins' Engines powered up and fired a Sonido-like boost that rocked them forward, bouncing them in front of the Sekkiseki barrier, a few miles away. Those who were outside and near the city's limits noticed it.

A farmgirl carried lugs of fresh milk with a cheery look, humming a tune to herself when a loud boom was heard and several flying Zeppelins painted black and red appeared in the sky. She yelled out in a Southern accent "Pa! Pa, come quick! Flyin' buzzards the size of the Seireitei are out here!" An overweight, elderly man wearing a strawhat stumbled his way outside "Are you sure it ain't the heat- What in the hell is that?!" A farmhand nearby stopped picking apples and looked up, dropping all of them from his shirt-makeshift-basket. Dominic's voice boomed out to not only them, but all who could hear outside the city "We are representatives of God, and messengers of His justice! We have come to cleanse his kingdom and bring defeat from the death of His enemies, Amen!"

thumb|200px|right|The Attack Begins!

At this, a sniper round buried itself into the farmgirl's forehead, immediately leaking trickles of blood down the entry wound and spraying it everywhere from behind. Her eyes lit up in a brief moment of agonizing pain as she fell to her knees and slumped to the ground. The father went wide-eyed in horror and rage "NOOOOO!!! This alerted the Setsudanki Squad, which had been deployed from the air to infiltrate the Soul Society by means of front entrance while the aerial attack force followed suit. With a press of a button, the leading Commander of the Setsudanki flung out a Bayonet attached to the end of his rifle, swinging it to slice open the farmer's throat. The farmer reacted quickly with a metal Pitchfork, and yelled to the farmhand "Bobby! Get to the Seireitei! Warn them about-" Before he could finish, one of the Setsudanki shot him in the head. His lifeless body collapsed next to his daughter's. The farmhand screamed in terror and fled through the woods, toward one of the entrances to the Soul Society. The Squad followed suit, opening fire through the forest. Bits and pieces of charred bark flew through the air as hot lead peppered the area, searching for their target.

The farmhand frantically crawled and rolled his way out into a clearing, running frantically toward a pair of Soul Reapers guarding the entrance.

When The Silence Ends
Preparing for the oncoming army of various entities after being notified by several members of the Omitsukido, Captain Teysa Simmah, after her time locked away in the Maggots Nest was the first to sortie. As the shinigami gathered around her, she stood on a large pedastal before addressing her suboordinates. "Members of the 13th Division, I am here with you today to prepare for battle. We will be the first into the fray and the last to leave. The other divisions are currently awaiting orders from their Captains on what to do next, while we have been given the go ahead. I ask of you on this day to assist me in driving these invaders from our home and protect all of the families that are unable to protect themselves. Do this and you will surely go down in history as one of the finest group of men and women to have ever existed!"

"YEAH!" The shinigami all cheered around her as they prepared to leave through the western gate, motivated to put it all on the line.

Meanwhile.....

The Captain Commander spoke as she sat in an elaborate chair "Everyone listen up, we are about to be under seige from an assailant leading a massive army. I have alredy given Captain Simmah the order to begin a pre-emptive strike. However, I want the others to assist her in anyway. Lieutenant of the 10th Division, Izaya Masaharu, I want you to gather a few shinigami and assist Capatin Simmah personally on the front lines."

"Why me? If you don't mind me asking of course." Izaya smiled as he questioned his orders.

"Its simple." Madoka winked as she covered her mouth hiding a slight chuckle. "During the last incident we had here, you were incredibly brave and helped solve many of the mysteries surrounding the various incidents."

"Yes ma'am. You won't be dissapointed." Izaya saluted before making his way out of the room.

Turnng her attention back to the other Captains, Madoka returned a serious look across her face. "As for the rest of you. I want you to break up and disperse various units to patrol the Sereitei itself and then dispatch others to assist on the front lines. Though, those of you with Shinigami contacts in the World of the Living, I ask that you contact them for assistance as well."

The Setsudanki fired upon the guarding Shinigami in that area of the entrance, gunning them down en masse as well as any nearby, unfortunate civilians. Their orders were clear: kill everyone in the Soul Society. It mattered not who or what, just everything.

Meanwhile, the Zeppelins loaded up their missiles and Dominic preached "Today is the glorious return to the Grace of God, and the Damnation of His enemies!" At this, loud music boomed out to the people of Soul Society as a large EMP-like charge deteriorized the Sekiseki barrier defending the city, allowing the Zeppelins to fly over it. The song playing was Schaft's Broken English. Sadow held up his hand and smirked "Now then, ladies and gentleman. Psychotic murderers and philosophic veterans alike. Let us come together from different backgrounds and different bloods to bring about one, singular purpose! Let us go down in history as the ones to bring about Soul Societies destruction! Launch the first missile volley!"

thumb|190px|right|The Death's Head Legion storming the Rukongai.One of the men at the controls confirmed "Yes, sir!" and, with a few taps on his terminal, several missiles shot out from the sides of the Zeppelins, soaring down with a loud roar toward the occupants below. Fire erupted from the ground as civilian and Soul Reaper alike were blown apart from the explosions. The fire formed a ring throughout the area, and buildings toppled over as others were blown away from the blasts.

Screams were heard for miles as many innocents could only suffer or watch others suffer. The Rukongai had become a nightmare. Sadow let his hand descend "Send out the second volley! Make them burn until they are nothing but glass!" Another confirmation from a nearby control terminal operator and more missiles spewed out from the Zeppelins to cause more pain and suffering for the people. As they watched the Zeppelins bring about their destruction, the civilians could only attribute these machines of war as Angels of Death.

Arriving on the scene, Teysa and her shinigami watched as the bombs and flames raged through bodies as if hell had arrived in the local vicinity. "Members from Squad 4, look after the wounded. Members from my division, come with me." She then began spriniting to the middle of the battlefield before slashing through several bombs at high speeds.

"Captain!" Endou Ashita, appeared to her side with a wound on his leg. "They are all over. We will need more man power if we will truly deal with this threat."

Sadow ordered aloud through the Zeppelin's intercom system "Shock-Troopers! Deploy the first wave! Send these Shinigami down to the lowest pits of Hell!" At this, the Violinist Bount known as Spieler soared out of the Zeppelin, riding atop a wave of musical notes while playing her Violin Doll wildly, emitting several red, energy-based Dragons. With a roar, they slithered their way down toward designated targets, crashing into them and resulting in huge explosions.

Racing through the Rukongai was Jikoku, the Legion's fastest member, who glided through the streets, slicing up Soul Reapers by the dozens. He smirked "Sorry, fellas... But I can't exactly shirk on this duty... No offense." At this, he stopped in front of a trio of Soul Reapers and, in a flash, cut them down with his Broadsword.

As a Soul Reaper is issuing orders to others, a Scythe blade penetrated his chest, stabbing itself into the ground. His eyes went blank as he died, a mocking voice following "Betcha' wish you got laid the other night, huh?! Well it's too late now, weaklings! This is Hell! And you won't be waking up from this nightmare!" The others looked horrified, unnable to move out of petrified fright. He glided over to the collapsed corpse of the Soul Reaper he had just killed and removed his scythe from his corpse "Ya'll are lookin' kinda' queasy. Bet you could use a nap!" At this, he charged toward the others.

The Shinigami closed their eyes, expecting themselves to be harshly cut down by the blood thirsty attacker but a few seconds passed without incident and they slowly opened their eyelids to see their fate before them. Instead of the expected scythe they saw a large hulking white being in front of them, having apparently taken the blow. Even though the figure was pierced by a scythe, it continued to move, much to the attacker's surprise. And right beside it was the creator, Kei Yume, Captain of the Third Division, wearing a somewhat tattered Haori and several scruffs and bruises were apparent on his body but he payed no attention to it. Kei saw the men and gave them a wink and a smile of reassurance.

The Shinigami opened their mouths to speak but Kei quickly motioned them for silence. "Hold on to that though boys. Just pay attention to whats going to take place." He finished, turning around to see the action while they gave him a surprised look.

Taking several steps forward, it ignored the weapon lodged within itself and raised an armoured hand upwards, a large lance suddenly materializing in its palm. And in a swift motion took a swipe at Jikoku.

The scythe-wielding reaper barely managed to roll out of the way of the lanced though it deeply grazed his shoulder, spattering blood onto the hard ground and letting it drip down his black robe. He clenched his teeth "A Captain, huh? And just who the hell do you think you are?"

"That armoured thing is an associate of mine. Lovely isn't?" Kei said with a slight smile, indicating the figure beside him. "Is this your first time going against a Captain? Because you are in for such a treat." He finished, pointing his raised hand against the reaper.