The Arrancar

Sitting on a plush sofa in the eastern portion of her Palace Layla ate grapes as she viewed the information for the Invasion of the World of the Living. 'Espadas 0-3 Will be heading to the world of the Living while 4-9 Stay in Los Noches to defend the base. The Chain of command will be Myself as the Supreme Commander of the Arrancar forces along with Nel as my Vice commander. Aizen wants this to be an Independent operation that he just so happens to tag along with huh. It would appear that his Suspicions are reaching a peak as he is trying to distance himself from us like a lizard would remove his tail. Gin seems to still be in the clear so that's all good on that end. He has planned everything out so thoroughly, I am impressed.'

Layla's mouth curls upwards as she flipped through the documents, "If you're gonna stand there too nervous to come in, what was the point of you coming all this way?" Layla said this as her eyes locked onto the door that was 20 feet away, A small pink-haired Arrancar peaked his head through the door under the bosom of a larger green-haired Arrancar.

His small bȧrė feet tapped on the floor as he made his way closer to the sofa that Layla sat on, yet the confidence that once practically oozed from every pore of his being was absent as his eyes never looked into Layla's. "We just didn't want to disturb you," he says as he rubs his left hand on his right forearm. Reaching the sofa he sat down on the far corner with his head lowered.

The other Arrancar with the exception of Nel fared no better as they didn't even have the confidence to get close to the Sofa. The cyan eyes locked onto Orihime, if these powerful Arrancar couldn't handle the gaze how could this poor girl? "Without the interference of you Humans, maybe this plan would have taken far longer to come to fruition, so I thank you for that. When we invade the world of the living there will be a grand battle, Aizen will die in this battle. That's a fact, however, what happens after he dies is a complete and utter mystery. We Arrancar are seen as an abomination in the eyes of the soul society."

Layla looks around the room to see the various facial expressions of her subordinates, "So the Head Captain may decide to do something foolish like declaring war on us. If this is to happen all I can say is that I will not back down. It will be our first true taste of freedom and we refuse to just change who our oppressor is."

Around the room, the Arrancar gave varying reactions but one thing that remained the same was the unanimous support of Layla's words. "If he decides that he wishes to eliminate the Arrancar from the world then I will show no mercy. We will eliminate the source from the roots, however, if he wishes for cooperation then we will do our best to ensure that the world is a better place for Humans, Hollow, and souls.

But moving on, The defense of Las Noches is a priority as we are moving to full wartime operations. The Privaron Espada will be in charge of the defense and will be permitted to command the Faccion and Below. The Leader of the Privaron Espada, Number -1, Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio, is to report to Espada Number 4 when we are gone." Layla looked at Ulquiorra who nodded in acknowledgment.

"All Arrancar are permitted full use of their abilities." This line caused everyone except Orihime to go wide-eyed as this was the first time this has ever been uttered, "I Grant you all full reign."

Around the room, there was excitement as they got to show the extent of their abilities to the world. "When we arrive in the world of the Living unless you encounter a Captain the Espada will not engage. Faccion will handle all lower-ranking personnel. Honestly, that is all I have to say after reviewing these orders, our objective is known but we must first dismantle the apprehension that "he" has built towards us."

"I see, so we'll go all out to show Aizen that we are willing to die for his cause, when in fact we are just waiting for him to lower his guard," Nel said.

"Precisely, now all we do is wait."

As time went by the day that all of the Espada was waiting for arrived, what soon followed was a call to the Throne room by Lord Aizen. "Good evening my dear Espada, does everyone have a cup of tea?" His eyes darted across the room to check if every Espada had a cut of tea in front of them, "Good."

Signaling to Kaname who proceeded to walk to a control panel and bring up a display that showed three individuals running across the sand of Hueco Mundo. "These are humans that were once labeled Ryoka by the Soul Society when four of them invaded. The fourth one would be that Girl we captured before Orihime Inoue, as they did before they have come to rescue their friend. Despite this there is no need to fret, due to the efforts of Laylini, the Arrancar below the Rank of Espada are already prepared for any threat that comes our way. With that, there is no reason to do anything, just sit back, relax, and wait for the enemy to come to us."

The silver rays of the Moon broke through the dark silence of Hueco Mundo, as three Teens ran through the sand unaware that their every move was being observed. 'In the original, the three of them fell into the Menos forest. Once I became Espada Cero I neglected to head back down there, I wanted to talk to that soul reaper that has survived down there for an undetermined amount of time.' Layla tapped on the desk that was in the control room with her index finger as she looked at the Trio run through the sand.

'Aizen has started preparing for the invasion of Karakura town, Kaname has undergone the transformation into a Visored. While Gin has just been training to advance his powers to another level, and the Espada are doing their own individual training sessions. The Privarion Espada have started to strengthen the defenses of Las Noches, all in all, the orders have been passed down therefore there's nothing left for me to do.' Standing up from her chair Layla opened the door and headed out of the control room.

In the lower levels of Los Noches, there was a tunnel that leads to the Menos forest. Standing guard at the door were two Numeros standing guard, "Did you hear? Humans have invaded!" The Skull-faced Arrancar said as he stood next to his partner who was a large bear Like Arrancar.

"Yeah, Lord Aaroniero's Commands came down earlier, the overall Security of Las Noches has been increased as more Arrancar have been put on watch. It seems the Privaron Espada are taking charge of this, I've seen more and more Negative numbers walking around."

"The Negative Numbers are truly elite, only activated during wartime….I wish I had that luxury." While the duo were talking, the light tapping of footsteps entered their ears, "Who is there?!" The duo snapped alert as they challenged the unknown entity showing the fruits of their training.

As the Light Illuminated the approaching figure, the glossy Cyan hair came into view and the two Arrancar paled as they snapped to attention, "Numeros Number 981, Erythema, Good Afternoon Ma'am!" The skull-faced one acted immediately as he grew extremely nervous, "Numerous Number 983, Drakus, Good Afternoon Ma'am!" They had every reason to be nervous before them was the pinnacle of the Arrancar.

It was like if you were at work and suddenly the CEO appeared unannounced to do a routine inspection, "It seems that the Numeros are indeed well trained, Luppi has done an excellent job. Even when slacking you are alert, I'm impressed" Layla said as she looked up at the two Arrancar that towered over her with her left hand on her hip as she smiled lightly.

"Lord Luppi said that you are the key to changing the way everyone views Hollow and Arrancar! While the evil ones deserve to be purged we with intelligence and the will to grow deserve more! Maybe one day we will be able to lead lives like we had when we were humans!" The bear Arrancar lowered his body when he noticed Layla straining her neck to look at their faces, "Lady Layla should not have to put in so much effort to look at me, you work hard enough already!"

Layla smiled brightly as she pointed towards the door, "Is this the passageway that leads to the Menos Forest?" she asked.

"Yes!" The Bear like Arrancar, raised his large body and pried open the large steel door.

Wordlessly Layla walked through as the two Arrancar saluted until she was out of sight. The two Numeros felt like a castle was lifted off of their ċhėsts and they fell to their knees, "That's Espada Cero! Just standing in her presence is taxing, I understand that she was suppressing her spiritual pressure but when you looked into her eyes it was as if I was staring into the eye of a storm, calm yet terrifying."

"Yeah….I'm glad I'm not fighting against her, that would just be throwing away my life."

Unaware of the conversation that the Arrancar were having Layla found her way in the Menos forest, "It's been so long since I've been outside of Las Noches I almost forgot what this place was like." Looking around at the quartz trees that seemed to support the top layer of Hueco Mundo a sense of nostalgia rushed through Layla as she thought back to when she was an Adjucha.

Walking as her feet shuffled through the Sand, the Menos and other hollows in the area gave her a wide berth as the Number Zero on her stomach was clear for all the smarter ones to see and her presence was too much for the weaker ones. As she expanded her Pesquisa through the area she located the Soul Reaper. Using Sonido she quickly arrived at his hideout.

With the arrival of a foreign entity, Ashido drew his Zanpakuto and attacked with no hesitation. The blade cut through the air with little resistance and made contact with a slender Mocha-colored hand. His muscles bulged as he increased the amount of force he put into the blade until a crimson liquid dripped down onto the floor.

Layla's face remained stoic as she looked at the masked Soul Reaper, "You have grown powerful over the years but let's not get arrogant now, Even when I was an Adjucha you stood no chance."

Many times the two of them clashed yet he never managed to get the upper hand, "So it's you, What brings you out of your Palace?"