Rise Up, Ye Stars [Cyrus, Alastair]

Cyrus had, naturally, been briefed on the events in Africa. He had read every report, heard every testimony that could be brought his way, and made absolutely certain that those under his command were brought home with as much expediency as could possibly be managed. He had heard much, though there was still more that he felt he might yet hear.

None, though, took quite the precedence that Administrator Eisfluch's did. He had been one of the highest authorities for the Vandenreich in the area, and was certainly the one Cyrus himself put the most stock in. That was not to speak ill of any others who had been at that tragedy; Alastair was simply someone that Cyrus had higher expectations for.

Knocking on the door to the hospital room he'd been directed to, Cyrus offered a small bow of greeting to his subordinate as he entered.

"Good day, Administrator Eisfluch. I do apologize for not having seen you sooner, but you can imagine that there is a great deal to do at present."

The room was not for Alastair, the injuries he had sustained were hardly substantial enough to even warrant attention from medical staff, but he was present nonetheless. Not in the bed though, which was instead occupied by a woman covered near head to toe in bandages, but sat in one of the waiting seats with his arms folded across his lap. At Cyrus’ entrance, though, the Administrator sprang to his feet with a sudden burst of energy and dropped into an equally polite bow. The woman in the bed didn’t seem to stir, remaining ominously comatose.

“Grandmaster. Apologies for not coming to see you sooner, I did not know you had landed yet. My Coordinator was caught up in the initial blast.”

It was a poor excuse, and not one that Alastair used lightly, but his burnt gaze did momentarily flick towards the woman laid prone at his side.

“The doctors said she might be out of it for a couple of days, I was just taking a few moments to process everything.”

He would not hide his intentions though, a cutting honesty was what best defined him. Cyrus seemed to appreciate that this was a busy time, so perhaps he would not judge the man for taking the time to stand back and unpack everything. The attack had left him with a lot to think about, and more to weigh upon him. How many colleagues he had lost, how many more he could have saved if he had kept fighting for a few moments more. It made his heart burn just as it had in the aftermath of the Kurosaki incident, vengeance seething behind that muted half-smile.

"Please, don't feel as though you need apologize. I would have done much the same in your position."

Cyrus met Alastair's honesty with his own, his eyes briefly moving to the woman whose well-being had been cast so cleanly aside for the sake of the Vandenreich's aims. Protecting others was not a task that occurred without injury, yet it did not make any of those wounds remotely easier to deal with.

"If I have come at a bad time, do feel free to dismiss me. I wished only to speak with you about what's happened. Not only a matter of the formal report, but your view of what's transpired."

Perhaps that seemed a loaded question, but this was a bit more important a meeting than Cyrus would have let on at first. After all, the Vandenreich was in another unstable time, one that would likely define its future. He was thinking of that future carefully.

“In light of recent events, I would question if there was going to be a good time soon. Respectfully, we are not in a position where personal comfort can be placed so casually above our duty.”

His back straightened once more, standing tall with a formal rigidity. The role of a soldier fitted him all too well, in truth, and he would address his senior officer with the utmost respect.

“In truth, I can only provide one picture of the events that unfolded. It would be best to speak with senior figures within the Gotei United as well to see if they have any further insight to offer. I believe several Captain-class individuals were deployed to the field along with supporting elements and engaged in a number of battles with some success.”

There was a purposeful pause, the one that indicated that what else Alastair had to say would not be so positive. His orange gaze did not waver, emotions well guarded behind that dry expression he often wore, but still there was a hint of dissatisfaction. Disappointment at his performance, rather than those of his colleagues, but that was quite a blurry line to dance along and he would rather not look down on his peers so.

“Unfortunately, I cannot say that the Sternritter performed to the same degree. Several Vasto Lorde class Arrancar launched a surprise attack upon our position around the primary hole in an effort to draw out our responders. Once that had been achieved, or perhaps because of it, multiple Hollows of similar or greater power to those that formed the initial assault wave emerged from the hole and caught the bulk of our forces between a daunting hammer and anvil. It is not my belief that these two actions occurred due to prior coordination, rather one side acted as the opportunist, but the mutual intent was clear: to clear out our presence from the hole’s immediate vicinity.”

“To this end, we have been driven back to a tertiary perimeter as outlined in the initial stratagem and remain vigilant for further activity. The Vandenreich suffered a string of decisive defeats, with a casualty rate already closing in on that of other recent missions, and if the Hollows seek to immediately challenge our position then I do not know if we can hold our ground without extensive reinforcements.”

"While true, it is not a matter of simple personal comfort. Those brief moments of respite for the soul are what differentiate difficult times from absolute torment."

Cyrus understood Alastair's outlook on the matter. That need to prioritize results, to put one's well-being wholly by the wayside if it meant that matters would be taken care of. But such a mindset made loss weigh that much more heavily on the mind, made every failing feel far more egregious.

"The Vandenreich will naturally speak with the Gotei regarding their engagements, but for now, I am more concerned with our own people. Though we are aligned with them for now, and their role in the world is undoubtedly vital, I do not wish to rely upon them any more than necessary. The men and women of the Vandenreich are those I care most for, and naturally I wish to take their feelings into account."

Everything Alastair had said aligned with what he'd already heard, what the initial reports had said, not that Cyrus really expected anyone would have lied on those. It gave him more time to think, more questions on what should be done, but that was secondary to what his purpose in this moment was.

"What do you believe would be the most prudent course, then, as the senior officer in the field?"

Cyrus was certainly right in his assessment that Alastair bore this failure upon his own back, but it was far from the straw that would break it. The Quincy were a species defined by failure, after all, so he had long since grown accustomed to such things. It ached all the same as it always had done, but he would keep striding forwards without daring to falter.

"With what resources we have now? We are outmatched in almost every metric, hanging on by a thread."

His gaze narrowed, breaking from that of the Grandmaster as he headed to the window and took a long glance out over the wasteland metropolis before them. Gloved hands found themselves gripping the window sill with a sudden tension as he sought the horizon but was denied it by the raging of distant sandstorms.

"But the longer we let that hole fester without our oversight, the worse things are going to get. We have the initial reports, and analysis from people we could best consider experts on the matter, but I believe that we will only learn the truth of all this from a coordinated expedition right into the hornet's nest. We need to have the full picture here, to know why powerful Arrancar are crossing over from Hueco Mundo to get in there and a little more about what exactly is trying to get out."

It bordered almost on suicidal and staked a lot of resources on a single avenue when they had very little of that to go around right now, but it was not something that Alastair was just bandying around for the sake of it. He was serious, terribly so, and perhaps that was more frightening. That this was what he believed was the best course of action.

"I see."

Cyrus' voice didn't seem to carry with it any strong feelings one way or another as he considered what Alastair had laid out. It was indeed a tremendously dangerous endeavor, one that would almost certainly lead to further loss on their end. But that kind of sacrifice was what every member of the Vandenreich understood as part of their work.

"You are correct. Waiting passively for what may happen is only setting the stage for failure. If they wish to go on the offensive, then it would be pertinent to cut off their ability to do so. You mentioned the term 'coordinated.' Do you intend that coordination to be alongside the Gotei?"

Another important question, and one a bit more forceful now. Cyrus didn't think ill of the concept, and if anything, he felt it was likely the only proper decision. It was important to see if Alastair had reached the same conclusion.

One of the countless reasons that Alastair held the Grandmaster in such high regard was that he understood better than anyone else the position they were in and the risks they would need to take to succeed in spite of that. A little reckless, perhaps, but he believed they were both driven by a desire to carve out a better future for this world. Not that he wished to place himself on that same pedestal, arrogance was a colour that he tried best to avoid, but he strived to hold himself to those core ideals of the Vandenreich.

"They are already here fighting alongside us, and we will likely need a little more firepower, so that was my intention. If we allow ourselves to be divided then we have already lost."

Alastair met the question head-on, his response as firm and unyielding as ever, for there was no doubt about his stance on the matter. Many had varying opinions of the Gotei, of Shinigami in general, and he certainly could not fault them for doing so with the history that their races shared. Still, he was always looking to the future and right now they were a critical piece on the path to getting there.

"If they want to drag their feet, though, then we cannot wait for them to get their own house in order. Give me the green light and I will begin putting a team together posthaste."

"Very good."

That was the sort of answer Cyrus wished to hear more than any other. There was not a single bit of doubt in it, and he was confident not only in his decision, but in the need to see the course of action done even if he had no choice but to handle it himself. He thought very briefly of how best to respond to Alastair's request, and when he spoke, it was with certainty.

"I have considered the next course of action for some time, and clearly you have as well. If you intend to assemble a team in order to best see this matter addressed, then I will ensure you are capable of doing so without any obstruction."

His eyes met Alastair's directly, a confidence in them that seemed to carry some faint melancholy even so. Cyrus would be lying if he said that this outcome was everything that he had ever wanted, but pursuing purely his own dreams, with no regard for anything else, was exactly what had led here and now. As he continued, his voice lacked any doubt.

"Unless you have some outstanding reason to decline, you will take my place as Grandmaster, and I will step down to direct the Sternritter. The Vandenreich, now more than ever, requires someone who can lead them from the front, and who will carry their ideals openly. You are more suited to that than I, I believe."

"Of course, your oversight on the matter is appreciated as always."

Alastair's gaze wandered back to Cyrus' own as he turned away from the window, but the reassurance that he had expected to find was met with something else entirely. He did not know the man well enough to read his intentions before they were spoken, and yet there was an unmistakable tension in the air. Not hostility, far from it perhaps, but something strange enough to set the hairs on the back of his neck on edge. No time was given for this to fester though, as words tumbled from lips and finally there was a crack in that armour of stoicism.

Alastair was a dry man at the best of times, humour often soaring over his head, but this did not seem like the time for a joke nor did that seem to be Cyrus' intention. He opened his mouth to speak and yet, momentarily, his words caught in the back of his throat and his jaw simply hung there slightly agape as he tried to rapidly process all that was being laid upon him. To be the future Grandmaster was a prospect that he had scarcely contemplated, a goal that he had hoped never to achieve as it would likely have meant that so many others had fallen by the wayside, and yet it was suddenly within the palm of his hand. He was entirely unprepared to be presented with such a proposition, lacking in experience and political acumen, fresh from another defeat in battle.

But was that reason enough to decline? To refuse only moments after he had attested to the boldness with which they needed to act? No.

"I have no reason to refuse you."

He would bear any burden in the name of his dream of a better tomorrow. If this was another mountain for him to climb then so be it. If they needed someone to follow, an example of how to act in the face of constant adversity, then he would blaze that path for them.

"If this is the future that you want for the Vandenreich then I will gladly take up the mantle of Grandmaster, though I hope that I can always count upon your counsel and your confidence. I imagine this is not a process that can simply happen overnight, and hardly a fitting matter to deal with in the midst of this ongoing operation, but tell me what needs to be done and I will do so."