On the Subject of Vizards...

Vizard, huh? Erika chuckled to herself. Just another threat to Soul Society. If they choose to become a threat, that is. All things considered, she thought it best to view them as a threat until proven otherwise. It was the best way to remain prepared for an attack, and so far, the vizard had attacked one of the Captains. That alone said they were a threat, while their violent history, if it was correct, did nothing to make them seem friendly. It was for these reasons that Erika hadn't volunteered to accompany the two other Captains in meeting with the vizard to discover their true nature. If they really were a threat, Erika wanted to be prepared, and to fight on her own turf where she would have the advantage.

Of course, all of this was speculation - speculation she had thought of in the short while after the Captain's meeting in which knowledge of the Vizard was first given. "This was a dangerous secret to keep from us all." The words were spoken aloud, as Erika sensed she wasn't alone. After the Captain's meeting, those not headed to the Human World had been ordered to head back to their divisions to further train and prepare them for the possibility of war with these Vizard. However, Erika had left standing orders with her officers to continue training as usual - she made sure to keep her division constantly alert. She was charged with Soul Society's defense tactics, so vigilance was a priority in her mind. As such, there was no great need for her to return to her division just yet.

For now, Erika decided further discussion was best - discussion with another Captain who was only recently privy to the information. Glancing back, she invited the nearest Captain - Kuketsu, the 6th division Captain as it turned out - to join her for a walk. While she had her own opinions on the news, she always liked to know her fellow Captains' opinions as well.


((Let me know if there are any problems with this. Otherwise... take it away, Kuketsu.))

"You wish to talk about Vizards, Erika? Very well." Kuketsu said as he and Erika left the 1st Division Headquarters. "They are a threat to the Soul Society and should be dealt with quickly. They are increadibly powerful and are becoming stronger. Some even have a bankai along with a hollow mask. If they aren't dealt with soon, they will be too powerful to destroy." Kuketsu became quiet and pensive for a moment as he drooped his head, formulating a plan.

"We could kill them one by one, to decrease there numbers, but they could easily see through this strategy and lead us into a trap." Kuketsu became quiet again. "Their hollowfication is the biggest threat in their arsenal. It augments their speed, power and stamina. Also, it allows them to use Hollow attacks and abilities as well as Shinigami. If only there was a way to prevent them from hollowfying, then we could be on equal grounds fighting them if not being more powerful." Kuketsu let out a sigh and crossed his arms. He looked at Erika and gave her a reassuring smile as they continued walking through the Seireitei. "What do you think we should do, Erika?"

"Not all problems need to be solved with violence, Kuketsu," Erika replied, with a light chuckle. Many Captains seemed to think that way, which was likely due to their youth, Erika figured. Erika had been a Captain more than twice as long as Kuketsu - as such, she had a different view. "Depending on how the talks go, they may turn out to be allies. Until we hear back though, we cannot be sure."

Erika continued to walk slowly, her arms at her sides. "However, if the time comes that we must eliminate them as a threat, it will require a certain finesse. It should be noted that we do have experience on our side - the shinigami have been around far longer than these Vizard. They may be more powerful but that does not give them the edge." The 13th division Captain grinned. "One fault with such power is that often those who possess it believe themselves to be invincible. We shall teach them otherwise. No one is too powerful to destroy."

"I understand that not all problems should be solved with violence." Kuketsu proclaimed to Erika. The smile on his face disappeared. "However, it is unlikely that they would want to be allies. One of them did attack a Captain once, but one person doesn't speak for all necessarily." Another weak smile crept onto Kuketsu's face as he continued to droop his head, not looking at Erika. Kuketsu wanted the Vizards and Shinigamis to become allies, but he believed that this would never happen.

"I guess we should wait until the talk is over, before we do anything drastic, but if it turns out that the Vizards aren't allies, then we would have no other choice, but to destroy them." The smile on Kuketsu's face vanished and his arms fell to his sides. He was afraid that the Vizards might be too powerful for the Captains to handle on their own. Then he remembered Erika saying that we have more experience than them and became less tense. "We may have more experiencce than the Vizards, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we will be victorious. Especially if they attack us when our gaurd is down."

Kuketsu knew that Erika was more experienced than him and values her opinion greatly. He raised his head and gave Erika a serious looked. "What do you think we should do if the talk ends badly, Erika? I say we should make a back up plan, just in case that it turns out that the Vizards aren't allies." Kuketsu became silent and waited for Erika's opinion.

Erika couldn't help but chuckle at his comment. "Oh, Kuketsu... you should know by now that I am always prepared - and like me, my division is always prepared. If there is an attack, we will be ready for it, whenever it might occur. This is one thing we can be certain of - they will not take us by surprise." She was rather surprised that she had to mention this, but then again, if one didn't visit the 13th division often they probably wouldn't notice the constant alertness.

"Until we hear back on the results of the peace talks, all we can do is remain prepared. Since we do not know how many vizard there are, or whether or not they can even enter Soul Society as a shinigami would, there is little we can do in the way of forming a plan to fight them." Erika had already thought over this subject during the Captain's meeting. Unfortunately, this was the best she had thought of so far. "So, for now, we can only heed the sotaicho's orders, and ensure that our divisions are fully prepared for war."

Kuketsu let out a chuckle. "You're right Erika. There is no way that the Vizards could catchs us off gaurd. My division is always patrolling the Seireitei and are ordered to inform me about anything suspicious." Kuketsu smiled. "I guess all we can do is wait until the peace talk is over and be prepared for war. I am always prepared to fight if war breaks out. It is my duty to protect the Seireitei from threats even if it cost me my life and I'll uphold this duty without hesitation."

Kuketsu was burning with energy. The pessimistic aura that once engulf his body was dominated by hope and passion. "If war should occur, we will undoubtedly crush them. It is our job to ensure stability in the real world and the Soul Society and we have the strength to fulfill our obligation." Kuketsu chuckled again. "Although, I still hope war doesn't happen. It is very troublesome."

"War may be troublesome, but it does often solve many problems. It can bring together even the most unruly of people, forcing them to work together to avoid defeat. I don't wish for war, but it would be a good eye opener and an excellent motivator for certain elements of the Gotei 13." Who she was talking about, Erika left unsaid. Though, part of her inflection hinted towards 11th division, as a war would give them a target for their aggressive and violent nature, making them an efficient and effective force rather than an annoyance to the nearby divisions. "Whatever the future holds, the Gotei 13 will last through it. That much is certain."

"Sadly, nothing is certain in life Captain." Zafaron said as he made his way over to the two conversing captains. After the meeting he had decided that a walk would be useful to clear his head and let him think rationally about the events that were occurring so quickly. As he had done so, he had noticed that not all the captains had yet returned to their divisions.

While he had originally had planned to just keep to himself, a few of their comments had caught his attention and brought him over to where they were speaking. "If we had a straight fight against most foes, there is probably no known force that could bring down the Gotei 13. However, how often is it that we have a straight fight with a large group of foes? There are other things that we need to keep in mind, not just our combat abilities or defenses of the Seiretei."

"Hopefully we will not need to worry about these with the Vizards, but it is for sure we will need to think ahead when it comes to the Espada. Especially when dealing with the human world."

"True." Responded Kuketsu as he became engulfed in thought. "The Espadas are, currently, more of a threat than the Vizards. War is already definate and will happen soon. We all know how strong the Espadas are and even one slight miscalculation can lead to our defeat." Kuketsu chuckled and crossed his arms. "However, we are prepared to fight so we won't be making any mistakes. Yet, dealing with the human world is another issue."

He became silent as he pondered a scenario of the Captains and Espadas fighting in the human world. "If the war occurs in the human world, the amount of spiritual pressure given off would cause catastrophic damage. I don't think that we could create a barrier powerful enough to withstand the amount of spiritual pressure given off from the fight. Is it possible to transport the entire battleground to a place far enough away that it doesn't get influenced by the spiritual pressure, like the soul society?"

"There are a couple of problems with that Kuketsu. The first issue is that I am not sure if we can even do that. If I put the 12th division into trying to engineer a way to do that, it might be possible. However, at the very least it would need time to set up."

"And even if we had the time necessary. We don't know where this battle would occur. While Karakura town is one of the largest targets in general due to previous attacks, that could just be a bluff. They could easily attack one or several of the other areas of the world that had a lot of spiritual power. We would not be able to prepare such a transportation without knowing where it would be most needed."

"Also problematic would be that there would be something necessary to facilitate and keep this transportation in place. This would then require someone to protect these places and split our forces even more. If the Espada are clever, their biggest advantage would be to separate our forces and we don't need to give them more of an advantage with that."

"So no, the human world is just going to have to deal with whatever happens when our armies clash. It will be difficult due to their lack of knowledge, sight, and belief in us. But I cannot see anyway it can be avoided besides attacking the Hollow World directly which could be lethal with our current lack of knowledge and the fact that they would be on their home court."

"It is a difficult conundrum in the end. Since we have accepted that there will be damage, perhaps large amounts. It is also necessary to think of how much energy we should put into protecting the humans during battle, and how much we should devote to destroying the arrancar army. Do you have anything thoughts Captains?"

(Also Erika, Fuuga and I have been curious why you haven't been in the chatbox for awhile. We miss you. )

"I would simply like to reiterate what you have already said, Sotaicho," Erika replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "As cruel as it may seem to say so, we must accept that there will be casualties in the coming war - chief among them, a human city, most likely Karakura town. It is not feasible to try and protect the town, as doing so will leave us weakened. We must put the safety of Soul Society and the world at large above that of a single human town."

"Regardless of what may happen, the most important thing we can do is to stay vigilant. We must be ready to respond to an attack at all times, and I can assure you that my division already is." There was a noticeable hint of pride in her voice as she spoke. "My area of expertise may lie in defensive tactics, however I also believe that the best defense is a good offense. If the 12th Division Captain were able to open a portal to Hueco Mundo, I propose a feint."

"We send in a small team to feign an attack on the Espada, and have them pull back before the Espada can properly respond. We leave the portal open as further bait. Then, we wait. We entice the arrancar to come to us. Both the Seireitei as well as their base in Hueco Mundo are fortresses - whoever attacks the other's home will be at a disadvantage. I say we give that disadvantage to them."

"It's true that the safety of all the worlds is more important than the safety of a few thousand people, so I guess we will have to let the humans to fend for themselves." Kuketsu sighed depressingly. He knew that the safety of the Soul Society and the world came first, but the idea of not protecting the humans hurt like being stabbed in the chest.

"I thought that it was the Gotei 13's duty to protect the humans under all circumstances, but I guess that protecting world will lead to protecting humans even though many humans will die in the process, so it has higher priority."

"It would be a wise idea to lure the Espadas here, but I doubt that they would travel through a portal that was intentionally left open. They would question why the portal was left open after the Shinigamis passed through it. They may be Hollows, but they are more intelligent than all other Hollows. Some are even as intelligent as the Captains. However, I also agree with Erika that we should send a team to Hueco Mundo, but not as a feint, but as an assult on the Espadas."

"I don't think that all of the Esapadas would attack the same area. There would also need to be some to protect Las Noches from intruders. So by sending a team to Las Noches, we could attack the Espadas that stay behind and the rest of us can attack the other Espadas. However, this would only work if some of the Espadas stayed back to protect Las Noches and would make it harder for us to win the other battles because our numbers will be smaller, but I still say we should send a team of Shinigamis, preferably Captains, to Hueco Mundo."

Zafaron just shook his head. "I disagree with that idea though I have thought of it before. The main problem with that is the lack of knowledge we have about Hueco Mundo. Attacking the home territory of the hollows would be an extremely risky gambit. Especially if we are already stretched thin due to trying to protect other areas where the espada are fighting."

"Hueco Mundo is quite different from Soul Society. While the Seiretei is surrounded by the rukongai filled with weak, powerless souls, Hueco Mundo is filled with hollows. Even if most are weak, there are a few strong ones hidden here and there which could cause problems. Then of course there are the actual espada that would stay behind to protect Las Noches if we did attack. For all we know, they might decide that it is better to set their fortress to detonate so that they can get rid of a few of our elite warriors or something. The risks of sending a team of shinigamis in the end are much greater than the rewards."

"When we do go to war, I want it to be either in the human world where neither side has an advantage, or in the Soul Society where we have the advantage due to home territory. Also, even the human world is technically advantageous to ourselves. There is less reishi in the air which powers the hollows, and some of them will get distracted by all the souls around and not focus 100% on battle."

"When we do attack Hueco Mundo, it will not be a feint or an attack to separate their army, instead it will be a full assault with the goal of annihilating the Espada from the worlds.

As he seemingly flitted in out of no where. Syn appeared in front of the Sotaicho and said,"Sorry for busting in, but this is important". "You can end the search, Kaiser is dead". Syn said it out loud so that all the Captains may hear it. He looked around awkwardly at everyone. There were strong spiritual pressures in this room.

Erika was preparing to reply to Zafaron, regarding further tactics they could use in dealing with the Espadas in Las Noches, when instead she was interrupted by a lieutenant who appeared, through the use of shunpo (which Erika thought was a little slow), before them. She narrowed her eyes slightly as he delivered the troubling news - albeit at a louder than necessary voice considering there were only the three Captains present on the brief walk.

"If this information is accurate, Commander, I advise we raise Soul Society to full alert," Erika said, keeping her voice calm as she looked to Zafaron. "Regardless of where it happened, a dead Captain is evidence enough that we should be prepared for an imminent attack. I also advise that we keep this news classified, for the eyes of the Captains only, in addition to those that already know. The death of a Captain would be very bad for morale."

Zafaron quietly ground his teeth together at the news. A dead captain was problematic in many ways. First it would reduce their leadership of a division before a large battle. Second, it showed that there was at least one enemy with the strength to kill one of the most powerful members of Soul Society. And of course, Erika had a point. Knowing that one of the captains had fallen in battle could possibly hurt the general morale of the soul society.

However, if used properly it also could awaken even greater power in the shinigami that were still preparing for war. A little wish for vengeance was never problematic as long as it was kept under control. And Zafaron was also hesitant to continue hiding things from the rest of Soul Society. He had already been forced to do so for years about the Vizards, and that had already allowed one of his captains to be injured due to lack of knowledge.

"I am hesitant to keep this from the rest of Soul Society. While the death of a captain may bring down spirits, it could also serve as a harsh reality check to those who still believe that the Gotei 13 is invincible and can never be shaken by any enemy. The lack of movement from the arrancars has led many of the regular shinigami and even a few of the seated ones to believe that their last attack years ago was just a bluff and that they are not a danger."

"However, this tragic event is fierce evidence that there is a dangerous enemy out there, whether it is the arrancar or perhaps one of the vizards. The shinigami need to understand that for the first time in millenia, we are truly going to war. Hiding disquieting facts from them will serve to only hurt us in the long term." He sighed slightly, sometimes it was difficult to be at the top of the hierarchy.

"However, this is also a decision I do not want to make soley on my own. I have given my opinon and have heard yours as well Captain Erika. So Captain Kuketsu, what is your opinion on how we should procede?"

Kuketsu felt that keeping Kaiser's death a secret would probably be best at first, but upon hearing Zafaron speak, Kuketsu decided that keeping this a secret could end up being fatal to the Soul Society. "I understand why Captain Erika would want to keep this a secret. However, it could be used to our advantage. It would be a good eye opener for the shinigamis. They would see that the Soul Society isn't invincible and then, hopefully, make themselves stronger so they can defend it. However, It could do just the opposite. It could demotivate them and crush their spirits."

"Yet, if we keep this a secret, the shinigamis would be taken by surprise when the arrancars attack, especially since there hasn't been much arrancar movement lately. Also, if the others find out without us informing them first, it could cause them to think that we are keeping many secrets from them, resulting in doubt and eventually disloyalty. We may even lose followers which would weaken our attack force, making it easier for enemy forces to overpower us. I believe that sharing this incident with the others would prove to be more beneficiary then keeping it a secret."

"Allow me to clarify; I had no intentions of keeping this a secret indefinitely," Erika replied, a little surprise that this was the assumption that they had made. However, it wasn't a difficult one to come to. "I merely meant to hold off on telling the rest of Soul Society until we have determined the cause of Kaiser's death, and who is responsible. I fully agree that this could provide good motivation for the shinigami, however we do not want vengeance to be directed at the wrong party - especially not at a group that could potentially become an ally, such as the Vizards. That is, if they are not the ones responsible for this tragedy."

"To bring up your point, Kuketsu, I do not believe the shinigami are as mindless as you seemed to have alluded to. I can speak for my division when I say they will not be caught off guard int he event of an attack. In addition, it is a bit extreme to assume that there would be dissension among the ranks if we kept this a secret temporarily. With the proper explanation, I am sure they will understand completely." Erika sighed. "As such, my suggestion is to simply hold off until we have found out who committed the act - but not to hold off indefinitely."

Kuketsu looked Erika and nodded. "I see. It is true that we do not know who was responsible for Kaiser's death and directing our anger on the wrong culprit wouldn't be right. Well then, do you suggest that we keep this a secret until we find out who killed Kaiser so we know who to direct our vengeance on? That would make sense, but I was suggesting that we tell the shinigamis about the incident now so they would see that the Soul Society is invincible and make themselves stronger so that this does not happen again. Not that we take our vengeance on the arrancars."

"However, I do agree with you, Erika, about being too condescending towards the shinigamis. I believe that they will understand if we keep Kaiser's death a secret for awhile as long as we have a reason for doing so. Yet, I don't want to keep it a secret anymore. I want all of the shinigamis to open their eyes to the truth and hopefully try to prevent another event like this from happening with greater effort."

Zafaron went to reply when he saw another messenger coming up to speak to him, this time it was a messenger from the Council of 46. Figured they would start bothering me soon. "I think I need to speak to Council. You two can continue your discussion if you wish, you will hear my decision soon."

With that he disappeared with a flash step.

[Topic end due to War.]

(Unless you guys really want to continue your chat or something.)