A Rough Day Ahead

A man sat beside his house in a chair, overlooking a field of crops just beginning to sprout. As children played in the fields, he looked on with a sense of pride; it seemed that he was their father. A female figure came from inside the house, putting her hand on his shoulder and smiling gently at the man. Her face was also a blur; only her smile was crisp, her white teeth dazzling. Surrounded by his wife and children, the man's posture suggested that he was happy, that he was content.

Am I?

Pereza's eyes shot open like a cannon. For a moment, he was not able to see that he was in his magnificent bedchamber, staring up at the large canopy formed by his bed. As he realized that he was now awake, he groaned and covered his eyes with his arm, not wanting to believe that it was almost time for the Primera's grand plan to unfold. He sat up and turned to the basin of water that was next to his bed, washing his face vigorously in an attempt to wash off the stupor of sleep.

What was I dreaming about? Pereza had had only snippets of it before. That was probably the longest time that dream lasted, if it is a dream. Pereza wondered what the other Espada dreamed about, if they did dream. Do they dream about their lives as humans? Their lives before becoming arrancar?

Pereza shook his head, sending droplets of water spraying across the room. I can't focus on dreams at the moment. What does the Primera's plan entail? Pereza could assume that Bracamarte and his forces would invade the human world and cause havoc, and the shinigami forces would respond to that. Pereza and his forces would then invade Gotei 13 and carry out their attack. Optimistically, about half of the captains will leave Gotei 13 to deal with the Espada in the human world... Which still leaves the remaining Espada at a disadvantage. Pereza did not want to have his hand forced in this battle. If I have to fight, I'll make the people responsible sorry that they chose me as their adversary.

Pereza now sat in the main assembly hall. He felt that his plan was solid enough; the weak arrancar that he had sent into Soul Society would act as a scout, being able to pick up the much larger reiatsus of the captains. Once the arrancar felt more than one of the captains leave Soul Society, it would come back to Las Noches and inform Pereza. Also, even if they are on high alert after the Primera's attacks, the Rukongai is a large area to cover. He shouldn't be found.

Pereza shifted his attention to the other Espada who were waiting with him: the Quinto, the Setenta, and the Octava. He had previously wanted to just have them do what they wanted once they entered Soul Society, but he was a bit concerned about the antics of some of them, particularly Carnasde and Druid. He would give all of them basic instructions, but that was all. Hopefully, those basic guidelines will keep them in check, at least partly. I'm glad that I have the Tercero here to instill at least SOME discipline.

Pereza noted that some of the Espada were becoming antsy. "Patience, my fellow Espada," he muttered, his eyes drooping as he prepared for a quick doze. "The time for bloodshed is fast approaching."

"I certainly hope so..." Druid muttered, lazily relaxing in his chair. It was comfortable here, especially because he had some of the other members of the Espada to talk to, be with, and hang out with. It was like a family, almost. "So guys.. What is the main plan, anyway? How are we doing this?" He asked, sitting up straight in the chair and cracking his knuckles. He couldn't wait to beat the shit out of some little shinigami. Why was he so violent? They rejected him, he wasn't allowed in their family. For that, they would pay. Hindering his dream.. those bastards.

"Remember, Pereza... As my family you always have my 100% devotion." He said quietly, not bothering to mention that if he double crossed him, he would pull a Vereor and devour his face. After all, he was a hollow, if not evolved. Come to think of it.. Druid never made a law on if or if not he could eat Arrancar. Oh well, he would think about it later.

"That goes the same for you guys." He said, addressing the other espada. "If you are with me, you have my friendship 100%. If not, back the fuck up then." He explained, before calming down slightly and dropping his hands to his sides. Slipping his hands into the pockets of his open, loose jacket, he closed his eyes slightly.

"Wake me when something happens."

Pereza didn't show that he had heard Druid's words. Though I may appreciate his devotion and loyalty, zeal can be dangerous. Good thing Faust and Hezro are here to add some sanity to this group.

As someone pushed the great doors of the Espada Hall open, Pereza opened his eyes slightly to see the arrancar that he had sent to the shinigami world to spy on the soul reapers. He stretched, raising his arms up high and cracking his neck. "So...tell us what you know," he muttered, looking down on the arrancar with a cold eye.

The arrancar hurriedly explained that he sensed that three of the captains had left Gotei 13 and were most likely in the human world trying to stop the destruction. Pereza absorbed this information: Four Espada and our hollow army against six captains and their shinigami forces... at least our odds are now improved. Pereza shifted his eyes back to the arrancar. "You have done well, provided that your information is correct."

"Now then..." Pereza glanced at the other Espada, showing them that they should probably listen. "The main goal of our plan is to cause as much destruction to the shinigami world as we can. However, we must also focus on dividing up their forces, particularly the captains, so that they do not simply overwhelm us with sheer numbers and take us down one by one." Pereza picked up his spear and drew a circle with his blade in the stone floor. "This is Gotei 13. We will use Gargantas to attack it from four directions at once." Pereza stabbed his spear into the ground four times, creating lines sticking out of the circle like spokes in a wheel. "I will attack from the North, Carnasde will attack from the East, Druid will attack from the South, and Faust will attack from the West. We will take our divisions of the hollow army and attack swiftly, leaving the soul reapers little time to prepare and think of an effective strategy to counter our attack."

"Now, are there any questions? Speak up, for this invasion will begin monmentarily."

Faust looked up. After a moment, he smiled.
"No, Pereza, no questions. However, I do have a strategy of My own. I think we should enter, in our respective directions, at the very outskirts of the Rukongai. My sources tell Me that the Rukongai is split into eighty districts, with the last ten being the most lawless and anti-Shinigami. I say we each materialize in the directions you have said, but all in district eighty. From there, we incite massive riots among the last ten districts. After that, we let Hollows be Hollows."
He grinned wickedly.
"Those souls that are mortally wounded in the riots will be attacked by the Hollows in our armies. Those souls will, in turn, become Hollows. Do you see? As we progress deeper into the Soul Society, our armies will grow exponentially. And all we have to do is convince some people to riot - people who are a muttered word away from rioting anyway! By the time we engage the Shinigami army, we will outnumber them. What say you?"

Pereza looked up as he thought about the plan that Faust had given him. Not only would it instill chaos among the districts, but it might also spread out the shinigami forces even more, making it less likely for the captains to come to each other's aide. And if they holed up in their fortress of Gotei 13, then the souls in the districts would be decimated, and the shinigami would bear the hate of the souls, even if the Espada's invasion failed. It was a cunning plan, and devious as well. I think the Primera's thinking has rubbed off of Faust. Pereza shrugged, and nodded slightly.

"I'd agree with that. That way, we can focus our attention almost solely on the captains and the lieutenants, and not the mass of soul reapers. But again..." Pereza stressed, knowing that he was sounding a bit hypocritical but not really caring, "we must do so quickly and effecitvely. The less time that Gotei 13 has to prepare for our attack, the greater our chances of success are."

"Now, let us go forth and bring about the end of the shinigami. I wish you the best of luck, my fellow Espada."

{End topic, unless anyone else wants to say anything. We'll continue the invasion in the aptly-named topic "The Invasion of Soul Society" in the Rukongain section}

((I have one statement. Dead souls that are in Soul Society can't change into hollows. The only way to change into a hollow is to lose your center while in human world. This requires you to have a collapsing chain of fate. Souls in Soul Society already have lost their chain of fate due to leaving human world and thus cannot lose their center.

So while the idea of inciting the souls to riot is clever, it would do little to actively bolster the hollow forces. Though it would give some snacks to them so if you want to go with that rout you can do so.

That is all))

((Thank you, Baron von Buzzkillington...OK, pretend I didn't say what I said about the souls becoming Hollows. Let's just start riots for the hell of it, incite people from the lawless districts to attack more orderly districts. It'll split Shinigami forces further and make it easier for us.))