Time
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THE ONE PIECE! THE ONE PIECE IS REAL!!
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Post by Time on Jun 19, 2023 2:37:32 GMT
In the North blue, Taskforce Grandioso, a Marine crew who specialized in intelligence and excellence, but were not lacking in their ability to fight were assigned to a special task. Recently, all taskforces had been called in order to deal with a problem that only their crew could handle. For a while, the information they had gathered on the Coleson Bro Pirates had finally begun to bear fruit; as with the recent mobilization of their fleet to rapidly gather strength for the upcoming Operation: Whitewater; the crew was now assigned to take on one of the two heads of the Coleson Bro Pirate. That being the younger brother, Michael Coleson, also known as the Dancing Devil.
What they had observed was simple. Michael had recently acquired and eaten the Dance Dance Fruit, a Devil Fruit that allowed the user to force others to dance if they are struck by a uniquely colored beam of light akin to a spotlight. The victims would be forced to dance against their will, and sometimes even until they die if Michael had desired it. Usually it was used in order to easily subjugate pirates that would be cannibalized into the Coleson Bros Pirates, but recently the Coleson Bro Pirates had decided to gather their fleets with the recent news from the World Economy News paper. While the Brothers were separated, taskforces were sent to intercept the various fleets. The Grandioso Marines had been tracking the various fleets, and their information gathering had been a crucial step in all of this, despite the fact that this had been orders from an admiral as opposed to a Commodore. Still, everyone in the North was being mobilized, including the infamous Taskforce Mortar crew, who were known to be virtual opposites of Taskforce Grandioso.
Most of the Grunts were busy preparing for battle, preparing the cannons, checking the sails, and pieces of the ship for any damage or needed maintenance. There was a silent calm before the storm, as a nervous woman in her white uniform, chestnut short hair, and glasses knocked on her captain's quarters. "Captain.... m-may I come in Ma'am?"
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Post by luckystooge on Jun 19, 2023 8:43:29 GMT
From above the ship where the head of Cygnus watched over the ocean were the captain's quarters. reaching them would be simple enough. Some even took it as a challenge to see who could reach it the fastest. Though Odette was aware of such childish games. Lann didn't care for them much either as such races oftentimes caused one to damage the pathway to the captain's quarters and resulted in a deserved wrench to the back...or leg. Nothing Yori couldn't fix.
Odette mulled over the details of their quarry while quiet ballroom music played from a victrola in the corner of the room, lending her quarters a rather noble ambience. Listening to it helped her think. Dance Dance Fruit...the concept was dangerous but to her? Amusement and utter ridiculousness. She would take great pride in handling this issue personally.
A knock came at the door to which Odette turned to and recognized the voice. "You may enter, Lieutenant Polly." came her firm yet classy voice which could almost be described as breathy in terms of delivery.
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Post by cmd1095 on Jun 19, 2023 22:38:56 GMT
After permission was given, the door to the quarters would slowly open, as if the person opening it was either hesitating or struggling with the door... or both. Polly would enter not long after, shuffling nervously as she looked at Odette with a mixture of apprehension and admiration. She was always on edge around her captain to some degree... her not-so-secret secret crush on the woman made all of their interactions a bit nerve-wracking for her... but today she was even more uneasy than usual.
"C-captain... I..." Polly began, then took a deep breath and tried to compose herself a bit "it's about this mission... don't you think it's a bit out of our wheelhouse? We're usually an intel gathering crew, sure we're hardly weak... but this is an assault mission. And reports indicate we're going to be badly outnumbered. Surely there are other units better suited to this... shouldn't this mission have gone to them?"
Polly shifted about nervously, it wasn't often she questioned orders like this. But her concerns weren't without basis. They were going to be one ship facing the gathering ships of a pirate fleet. The enemy fleet hadn't fully assembled yet, but the disparity in numbers was going to be severe. They weren't exactly sailing a warship either, though certainly a higher quality one than any individual ship the pirates would be sailing. The mission reeked of poor management by the higher ups...
Even the situation itself was indicative of poor foresight by the higher ups in Polly's opinion, letting pirate crews cannibalize each other was one thing, but they'd let this pirate crew assemble an increasingly large fleet for too long. Now they'd kicked the can down the road so far they had a real threat on their hands instead of a bunch of small easily dispatched pirate crews of no consequence... she wouldn't say that part though. She was being professional here so unless prompted she had no grounds to complain about stuff like that.
...she couldn't just keep completely quiet when these decisions put her crew at risk though... and more importantly her captain.
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Post by luckystooge on Jun 19, 2023 23:16:52 GMT
As per the usual, Odette closed her fluttery eyes with her index finger parallel to her lips as she listened to the worries of her number one. Polly was bright and by no means were her worries unfounded. It was dealing with a much bigger scale than what they were used to but Odette half-expected a request such asthis be thrown her way sooner or later. She was still young in the eyes of the World Government and rising through the ranks as steadily as possible. To throw such an above average request her crew's way was a sign of some sort.
Aplayful smile played across her face as she lowered her hand and gave Polly one of her kind yet already set in her ways look with eyes that told Polly that she already had an idea in mind.
"It's a test. To see if we're finally up to snuff." she surmised while taking a set of three steps followed by another three while approaching Polly then another three to the side, her gaze looking out the windows. "It might be a bitmuch for us, as you say. But I have every bit of confidence we can go above and beyond our limits. Even if it isn't a test, we can't very well let these criminals get away with amassing an entire fleet to contend with us, can we?"
She turned her head and gazed at Polly without saying anything else until Polly would speak. It was a knowing, confident expression laced with hints of hope. Hope in her crew.
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Post by cmd1095 on Jun 19, 2023 23:29:44 GMT
"Well... you're right that letting this fleet assemble is unacceptable" Polly said "personally I don't think it should've been allowed to get this far. But... I guess that bridge has been crossed. So... this is a test huh?"
Polly took a deep breath, she didn't like this, not one bit. She didn't like the thought of her beloved captain being put in such danger due to the poor decisions made by those above her... but if they passed the test and Odette got promoted... that meant there'd be less people above her to put her in danger through bad decisions! The higher up Odette got, the safer she'd be. And the safer she was, the more time Polly would have to... work with her.
"well... if we're doing this. We'll give it out all and show those higher ups just why we're the smartest and best crew in North Blue!" Polly said, fire in her eyes "we should have visual on the enemy within the hour. What are your orders captain?"
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Post by luckystooge on Jun 20, 2023 2:23:38 GMT
She nodded at the conviction shown by Polly. "That's what I like to hear, Lieutenant! Decorum, confidence, and grace! That is what we of the Grandioso Taskforce are all about!" she posed dramatically with her hand outstretched and raised. her left leg lifted off the ground and bent back. She performed a pirouette on her right. She elegantly came to a halt and stepped toward Polly quickly before taking a bow and standing up straight.
Odette had been used to dealing with the common rabble and dealing with these pirates would be only a step up. If it was a dance they wanted, she was all too prepared for such an ordeal. As Odette stood up straight, her arm went behind Polly's back and her fingers on her other interlaced with Polly's, raising it up as if she were her dance partner. Anyone who put Odette in a good mood was subject to at least asmall dance.
She started a rhythmic step to which Polly would know to keep in time with. During which, she relayed what she wanted the crew to do so casually while performing her waltz flawlessly. "Just keep Tibley stocked with his favorite ammo...I think the adhesive one would be best if someone finds themselves dancing. Will stop them from hurting themselves or others. Let Lulu distribute some proper gear...mmmm possibly ones with noise canceling ear muffs. We cannot know how their Devil Fruit powers activate but it will never hurt to be prepared. Tell Lann to reduce speed once we get close enough. Julien should be fine on his own. Same goes with Yori. Though she might be better in the frontlines as usual to treat wounds as they happen."
She dipped Polly then pulled her close and then released her from the dance to conclude. "And you are to stay near me as per usual once the operation commences. Your dancing is as usual impeccable and will be beneficial should we both fall prey to their tactics." she smirked and held her head high. "They do not realize yet what is about to befall them!"
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Post by cmd1095 on Jun 20, 2023 2:48:20 GMT
Polly realized too late her mistake in pumping up Odette, she usually managed to remain professional despite her crush, but when close contact was involved...
Odette swept her up, arm behind her back, fingers interlaced. The kind of closeness she craved all the time but was far too reserved to pursue, her face flushing red as she kept time with her captain's dance, their waltz light as air as her devil fruit kicked in, making each footfall soundless and tuning out the outside world for a moment as Odette's words reached her ears and hers alone... unfortunately this did block out the music whenever they waltzed too far away from the victrola, but it was easy enough to waltz back so her sound bubble could include it.
Polly could barely keep track of the orders being given, so focused on the closeness with her captain. But her professionalism did keep her just barely focused enough that she'd be able to piece it all together afterwards. And of course the final order had her full undivided attention. Stay near to Odette? Yes MA'AM
"Y-yes captain! I won't leave your side for a moment! You can count on me!" Polly managed to get out despite her flushed face and racing heartbeat. She'd quickly duck out of the room to relay Odette's orders and give herself time to recover afterwards, giving Odette some time to herself before the operation would begin in about an hour
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An hour later, the report would come in. And it bore good news, there had been rumors that the younger of the Coleson twins had been less successful in actually recruiting pirates to the fleet, despite wiping out many small crews with his devil fruit... and it seemed these rumors were true. Or at the very least not as many pirates had rendezvoused with him as with the elder brother. They had been expecting a fleet, a suicide mission almost... but instead they faced a still daunting, but far more reasonable, 3 enemy ships
Less fortunate, all three of those ships were pretty large, not quite full warship size, but if each had a full crew they were still going to be pretty badly outnumbered, and they were definitely outgunned. If they approached this fight head on without some sort of strategy they'd lose. They were all skilled, and their ship was top notch. But the sheer number of enemy cannons would make a straight on fair shootout with all three suicidal.
Boarding was an option, but their crew was a small elite force. In direct combat they could probably take on any one of the three ships and have a slight upper hand, but the issue would come if the other two ships crews got involved and overwhelmed them. They could probably hold off two ships worth in a defensive battle, but not without losses.
At the very least the ship that their target was on was obvious, as it was absolutely covered in speakers and was playing music obnoxiously loudly. No way was that a ship full of grunts, that had to be the Coleson's ship,
The enemy ships hadn't noticed them yet, probably too distracted by the obnoxious music to notice a sleek vessel like theirs at long range, so Odette had time to plan her assault. The odds were stacked against her crew, but they had the element of surprise here... how would they use it?
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Post by luckystooge on Jun 20, 2023 3:47:06 GMT
Odette was out on deck, easily able to see the three vessels in question. One was the big target but there were two others nearby. Troublesome but not daunting. If they rushed in, they'd signal for the other ships for back-up and easily overwhelm them with sheer numbers. She held up her hand. "Furl the sails...slow our approach. If we go in at this speed, they'll flank us. It'll take them a bit to come to us if they haven't noticed already. Though...by the sound of that music, they might already be occupied enough to not notice us for a bit."
She eyed the other two ships and thought of an idea.
"We take a wide berth. Circle around. Make them think we are leaving them alone." she looked to Tibley, "do you think you can fire off a few shots of your adhesive to disable their rudders from behind? If we can manage that, they may not be able to respond effectively and we can possibly take out at least one ship. Two if we're lucky."
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Post by cmd1095 on Jun 20, 2023 3:58:31 GMT
The crew would get to work following the orders and furling the sails and changing course while Tibley looked through his scope to examine the enemy ships.
"The ships are a bit big for me to disable all of them." Tibley concluded "the rudders being at water level means my shots will get diluted by seawater, and they're big. I'd probably need almost all of my adhesive shots to lock one in place. I'd have a lot fewer to use in the fight itself, but I can do it. The trick will be the timing and what position the rudder is in when I lock it. If we get really lucky or bait them into turning the right way, we might get the locked ship to crash into another one and slow them both down. Not sure how we'd go about baiting them though."
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Post by luckystooge on Jun 21, 2023 4:30:51 GMT
"I think we need only disable one and cause a domino effect...Yori I could take with me, drop her nearby the rightmost ship then have her use her strength to change the rudder position so that when we cause a reason for them to move...the adhesive keeps them from moving how they want...crashing into the others and leaving them open....we pick up Yori on the way around or she can get on board and come up with a story while we flank them from the angle of our choice..."
This was the plan Odette laid out. She looked to each crew member present to see if there were any objections or additional bits they could tack on to this idea. Foremost, it was showing how much trust she had in the abilities of her crew.
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Post by cmd1095 on Jun 21, 2023 5:19:24 GMT
"I think that should work... if we make them crash into each other it should cut down on the number of cannons they can use against us as well. It'll definitely even the odds. Taking out their leader will be tricky though, crashing the ships together doesn't reduce their numbers too much unless we get lucky. He'll be well guarded after the ship crashes into his and the two crews merge." Polly mused "we're going to have to work around a lot more grunts getting in the way when we go after Coleson... but it should secure us a decided edge in the ship to ship battle"
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Post by luckystooge on Jun 21, 2023 5:37:35 GMT
Odette nodded as she quickly picked up set of three tools not in use with a fourth to symbolize the Cygnus. "To review...I use my Fevil fruit to bring Yori in close. Nobody will pay much attention to an animal carrying a person and dropping them. In fact, they may be inclined to take them aboard and take them for all their valuables and since Yori is a medical expert, they may ask her to try and work for them...unfortunately for them...Yori's care is something special...she can cripple them under the pretense it's a healthy treatment."
She moved the representation of the ship around to the back of the vessel a far distance away. "Here, they'll be too engrossed with either partying or Yori's treatment to notice either our ship or Tibley's shots. Then make another turn....get to the side of the afflicted vessel first...have Tibley signal Yori then open fire, letting her get to safety as this will naturally alert them and the other vessels to our presence and likely Yori's involvement. By then, she will have already fled to the waters. We continue to turn, the first vessel reacts but crashes into the leader's ship...we open fire on the front in time for our second volley causing damage to their bow and sails....they won't be able to react in time to avoid due to the clash the afflicted vessel will cause. We take this time to close the gap and board the other ship...while I take Lieutenant Polly with me to attack during the confusion."
She paused to see everyone's reactions to this plan so far, as she had moved each piece to symbolize each step of this seemingly convoluted idea.
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Post by cmd1095 on Jun 21, 2023 23:31:31 GMT
"Sounds fine to me" Yori piped up "not sure if the pirates will buy that my care is for their benefit, I know you all need convincing half the time and you're all used to it. But worst case I can just beeline for the rudder before they figure out what I'm doing."
"Question is, how are we going to get Yori away safely?" Polly said, as much as she swooned over Odette and generally supported even her most daring plans, she was the first mate for a reason. She chimed in to point out the gaps and challenged her captain just enough to make sure nothing was overlooked. "Yori can flee to the waters sure, steal a lifeboat and row away. She's strong enough for that. But I don't doubt that there will be some pirates who fire cannons at her, at least the ones that can't be aimed at us. They've got enough manpower to do that. We need a way to get Yori back aboard our ship before she's sunk."
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Post by luckystooge on Jun 22, 2023 0:24:15 GMT
Fortunately, Odette always did things in rhythm and like rhythm in motion, she didn't miss a beat in responding to the burning question of getting Yori back on board safe and sound. "Simple, I pick her up and have her join the battle on deck while causing a sea spray with my Devil Fruit power focused mainly on the more dangerous cannons. They can't fire with wet powder or a wet fuse. With my speed it shouldn't be a problem. On the chance I myself take a hit, Yori will be there so I can get patched up and get back in the action."
She unflinchingly stated as much, showing she had faith in both crew and her own abilities which had gotten her this far.
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Post by cmd1095 on Jun 22, 2023 0:40:29 GMT
Nobody on the crew could really contest that kind of confidence, and it was the best plan any of them had. Trying to take on three enemy ships at once was going to be risky no matter how they approached it. Shutting the movements of two of them down seemed like their best bet. And so everyone would scramble to get into position, pulling out cases of the adhesive shot for Tibley, getting their weapons ready, loading the cannons so when their ship engaged it could open with a full volley, all of the preparations needed to implement the plan their captain had come up with
Soon, they were ready, it was up to Odette to initiate the plan though, since it hinged on her dropping Yori off
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