Mission #48 (You know who you are to join)

[tsuki]

Sophia squirmed in obvious uncomfortableness. One might say it is because she is heading to the infamous Impel Down, A perfectly good reason for her to be nervous or jumpy, after all, Impel Down was literally a Hell on the Grand Line. Even the Marines didn't like going there, but no, that is not the reason as to why Sophia was so uncomfortable, it was for an entirely different reason.

A whine escaped her lips as she pulled at the formal white shirt, and white pants. She felt so...constricted with these on, which was one would expect from a woman, who ran around most of the time in shorts and a bra. But since they were heading out to somewhere like Impel Down...well...Sabre insisted (Read: Threatened) that she wear proper clothing, even had the whole crew hold her down as she was put into the constricting pieces of cloth!

She even had gloves on. Gloves. She hated gloves! If she hadn't promised to be a good girl, she would've flung the clothing she had on now off as soon as everyone had turned their heads! Rocking back and forth on her perch, with was the railing of the ship, she watched with a large pout on her lips as the ship pulled in to Impel Down, the crew scrambling around.

Once the ship was in and the plank was lowered, Sophia jumped off the ship and landed on the dock gracefully. Pulling at the high collar of her outfit. “L-Lieutenant Sophia!” One of the Marines called, noticing she was off the ship already, “Captain Sabre, said to stay on board until he's ready!”

Already in a bad mood as it was, Sophia scowled, “Sabby-chan is too slow!” She shouted back, and huffed, before turning around and heading out. Screw waiting! She was cranky already! The green-haired woman puffed out her cheek in frustration, she was going to get this over with! Then she could take this stupid clothing off!

So focused on her anger, she was surprised when she bumped into someone, “Ah! Sorry!”

[Die]

Chaos. The whole of Impel Down was full of it. Soldiers were scrambling everywhere as high-ranked officers barked orders for positions and such. Commodore Dietrich von Koenig was among them. "Move the 83rd and 175th Squadron out. They will act as the first line of defense. The 64th and 90th Squadron will then follow and act as the second line."

Apparently there was a large number of pirate ships who had run into Impel Down waters and alerted the reconnaissance birds with camera den den mushi around their necks. Those ships had shown no change in direction and were headed directly for the Hell prison.

The Commodore, outfitted in his trademark red combat suit, was among many officers who had been summoned to ward off the potential attack. His combat mask was fragmented and formed on the back of his neck as a shield. The Line Ark was part of the final line of defense. But in actuality, it also functioned with both the first and second lines, as its cannons had superior range and accuracy, bolstered by the firepower of the mech it held in its hangar.

As he continued giving orders, another ship had arrived, one under the command of Captain Sabre Thorpe. He heard some commotion from the ship, but ignored it. Then someone bumped into him, “Ah! Sorry!”

It was a Lieutenant, Lieutenant Sophia Alexandria. Turning to face her, his icy steel blue eyes looked into hers. "Lieutenant," he said. "Nice of you and the Captain to be joining us."

[sabrejustice]

"Tch, always running ahead... Just as I thought, she really can't sit still for too long" the Captain spoke as he walked out of his cabin, ignoring the salutes of his men as he walked across the deck. In one hand he held his lighter, making several clicks before the spark ignited stably, whilst in his other hand he held a cigarette up to his mouth, lighting it before pushing it between his lips. Flicking the cap back on the lighter he put it back in his pocket, taking a drag of the cigarette before he exhaled, the smoke blowing past him in the sea breeze as he neared the edge of his ship, where the ramp leading to the docks was set up just in time for him. From his position however he could already see Commodore Von Koenig, apparently having just met his Lieutenant. He sighed, shaking his head as he took another drag. Slowly, he began to walk down the ramp to the docks, his Justice Coat fluttering by behind him.

"I see you have met the Lieutenant, Commodore Von Koenig. As you probably no doubt have guessed, I am Captain Sabre Thorpe" he spoke respectfully towards his superior, pausing for a moment to give the standard palm-outward salute customary of the Marines. Once done, he looked towards Sophia, keeping an eye on her to make sure she hadn't done anything too bad yet. "I asked you to remain on the ship until I was ready, Sophia" he spoke, abandoning mention of rank around her. It probably wouldn't matter much to her anyways. "Honestly, you're always racing off on your own..." he mumbled to the side, taking another quick smoke of his cigarette. Thank god for nicotine. The nectar of the gods to him. Casting his gaze towards the Commodore again, he awaited further orders, knowing that the man was the one in power here, even if it was only by a single rank. Sabre was just that kind of person.

[tsuki]

Sophia's wide brown eyes stared up at him, before she broke out into a happy and wide, grin, “Yup! All here now!” She chirped, before frowning at him, much like a child does when puzzled. Lifting up a hand she pointed at the other's forehead, “Keep frowning like that and you'll get wrinkles.” She chirped to him, rather proudly that she stated that, much like a 'Look what I learned!' kind of way.

At heating Sabre's voice, Sophia perked up, “Sabby--!” She began to say as she turned towards him, before stopping, and puffing up her cheeks childishly and looking away, realizing that she was mad at him, and she shouldn't act all happy towards him when she was angry. She crossed her arms, underneath her large breasts and turned away from both of them with a huff, intent on ignoring Sabre in revenge for making her have to...wear what she was currently wearing.

“The ship is boring.” Was all she said to him her eyes closed and turned her face in the opposite direction of Sabre. “Besides, Sabby-chan is too slow.” She gripped her own forearms tightly, the atmosphere was too tense here, no fun at ALL. And she doubted she could go off and explore, Sabre gave her a long...LONG speech about Impel down and what she was clearly NOT going to do when they arrived, and wandering off on her own was one of them. Granted with her curiosity, it was a miracle she wasn't lost as soon as she left the ship!

Good ol' anger, screwing up everything.

Huffing she cracked open her eyes and focused on the Commondore, Sabre seemed to have respect for him, so he at least, had to be a good guy. Though in her eyes, it seemed like both him and Sabre got the 'blank face cause I so totally CAN' thing down.

[flame08]

In the following days after the Grand Escape by "Straw Hat" Luffy, Crocodile, Emperio Ivankov and approximately 240 other pirates the prison of Impel Down had fallen to chaos. As the marines scrambled to round up escaped prisoners in the Aftermath of the Whitebeard War (of which we do not know the result as it is going on in an event) a new enemy was sighted heading for this prison of Hell. By some absurd chance a huge fleet of pirates had been spotted heading toward Impel Down. Under the command of Chief Warden Magellan, Hannybal, Sadi-chan, and marine reinforcements (ex. Commodore Dietrich) the Marines had set up a makeshift defense around the prison. In any case what marines stood between the pirates and the prisoners were in for a hell of battle.

Amongst those marines was a young ensign sent to aid the prison not even a week after the Whitebeard War. Still recovering from injuries she had arrived at the prison to see chaos everywhere. Taking control of a squadron within Impel Down she started preparing defenses at the main gate into the prison. While working there she was placed under the administration of one Commodore Dietrich Von Koenig. She had yet to meet him but so far he seemed to be an able leader. Under his guidance the main entrance to the Prison seemed as well guarded as it could be.

In the coming days multiple marine ships entered the Prison as aid came from all over the world. With all her work she had yet to actually see the inside of the prison, though she could only imagine how horrible it must be inside or for that matter meet anybody who had come in with the ships.

On this day as a new ship had come in she had gone onto break at the exact same time. As she headed back toward the prison and the dock she noticed in front of her Commodore Dietrich and two new marines. One at least seemed fairly high ranking, walking up she spoke quietly "Ensign Setsuna reporting, defenses placed upon the outer wall and gate seem well prepped. I can see no issues except a lack of men, but then that isn't as easy of a fault to fix." Saluting Dietrich as she knew he outranked her she stood before them. (I dunno I kinda bsed this).

[Die]

By now the first and farthest line of defense organized themselves as a circle around the surface portion of the prison. The second line did the same. The natural line of defense that would hopefully take care of most of the incoming pirates would be the masses of Sea Kings that lived in these waters. The Marines had nothing to fear from them due to the kairouseki lining the hulls of their ships.

With the prior attack on the massive maximum security prison by Monkey D. Luffy and the prison riot he had caused, not to mention the invasion by Blackbeard, forces were spread thin, and troop morale was rather low. With that, the pirates were taking advantage of this and decided to raid Impel Down again.

As the Captain confirmed his own identity and saluted, Dietrich saluted back. With Dietrich assuming direct control of some of the forces, he used his overtly cautious nature and placed long ranged cannon placements on the outer wall which were much larger than the ones placed on the battleships and had greater range. Dietrich had personally inspected them, and had restricted angle adjustments to a minimum distance to beyond the first line of defense. If the pirates broke through the long range cannonade, then they would have to face the first, second, and final lines of defense. And then there was the Thresher, who would help cover all lines with its superior firing accuracy.

Another officer appeared, another woman, "Ensign Setsuna reporting, defenses placed upon the outer wall and gate seem well prepped. I can see no issues except a lack of men, but then that isn't as easy of a fault to fix."

Dietrich nodded. It was too early to say that there was a lack of men, as there were still troops arriving and being positioned. But for now, the defenses seemed extremely solid.

[sabrejustice]

Briefly ignoring the Ensign for the moment, Captain Thorpe focused his gaze on the green-haired girl who so enthusiastically shouted her pet name for him, a name he didn't particularly like, before proceeding to stop herself, instead pouting as she stared at him. But of course. Even he could see why she was so upset with him - he knew her like the back of his hand. If she had problems with anything, he knew immediately what it was. In this case, he knew it's cause was a combination of things - of boredom, of having to wear proper clothes rather than her rags or underwear as well as the fact that the seriousness of the place. She was a bright, cheerful person who seemed to always have had a little too much sugar. Naturally, these two things did not clash very well. The Captain simply took a drag of a cigarette, knowing what was to come.

Just as expected, when she started talking, the first thing she complained about was how boring this place was. Then she blamed him for her getting off the ship so quickly, stating he was far too slow. He almost snorted. Only she would have the impatience necessary to deem him slow. He was only a minute behind her - hardly worth calling slow. He sighed before taking another drag of his cigarette, staring back at her, making eye contact. "Listen, Sophia, we have a job here today. Regardless of whether or not you are bored, or whether or not you like this place, you have to do this for the Marines" he spoke, before pausing for a second. "Or better yet, for me. We're going to secure this place and make sure no one aside from the Marines gets in or out of this location, understand?" he told her, pausing for a moment. An idea came to him.

"Think of this as... As a game. Your goal is to make sure no one gets out or in, and the enemy's goal is to either break people out or break out themselves. Understand? If you do this for me, I'll even buy you your favorite ice cream" he told her. Some would say that was a very manipulative gesture on his part, but bargaining with her like that was one of the few ways he could ever get her under control for more than a few seconds. Hopefully, in this case, she'd forget about how boring it was and start doing her job. Turning his attention back to the Commodore and the Ensign, he spoke again. "My apologies, Commodore Van Koenig. Is there a specific point you'd like myself and my men to defend?" he asked, returning to the matter at hand.

[tsuki]

Sophia turned her head towards Sabre slightly, a pout still upon her lips. He said the magic words, those being 'for me'. Sophia really could care less about what everyone else wanted, the only thing that mattered to her was Sabre's. She didn't want him to get one of those 'headaches' while in this tense atmosphere, it made her feel slightly guilty if she actually caused that to happen.

Her eyes widened though at the mention of a game and the...forbidden word. "Really?!" She cried in excitement, turning towards him and grasping her together over her collarbone as she leaned in more towards him. Ice cream?! Really?! Its been SOOOOO long! Last time she had some was...well...she couldn't remember! But it was ice cream! Her, to quote one of the crew memebers, liquid cocaine! "Sabby-chan better promise!" She shouted at him, before squealing like a little girl and hugging Sabre's torso tightly, and nuzzling him like a kitten.

Play a game, get ice cream, and better yet, Sabby-chan made no mention that her clothing had to stay on, as soon as the fighting started and they were seperated, they were so coming off, and if Sabby-chan asked, it was the pirates fault! Easy as pie!

She giggled happily at that thought.

A marine grunt ran towards them and saluted to them all as they were all higher ranking then himself, "Commodore! a few pirate ships have now docked! Await your orders!" He said, making Sophia blink and lift her head away from Sabre's chest, but not let go of him.

[flame08]

After a quick nod to her superiors Setsuna headed back toward her station at the main gate. Quickly making a round to check on the condition of the defenses she took a look at the men. She found nearly half of them were already battered and bruised before the battle even began. Probably they were similar to her, they were part of the large number of marine soldiers who had not a few days or weeks ago fought at the Marine HQ in the Whitebeard War. As far as she could see they were as ready as could be. And with the line of aid starting to dwindle, they were as ready as they ever would be.

Suddenly the signal went out, Setsuna immediately rushed back toward her station. The blaring sound only meant one thing, pirates had been spotted. As she ran back, she looked over the outer wall, from her position she could not only see pirate ships. There were pirates running along the ground, the pirates had docked. Raising her men quickly she brought them to attention, calling them to raise their rifles/muskets and take aim. She would tell them when to fire the volley. Drawing her swords, she held one out in front of her. As the pirates came closer the firing of muskets came from all around her as they tried to down the pirates. When she believed her men could get an accurate shot she yelled "FIRE!!!" Swinging the sword down in a more physical gesture of the same idea her men fired. Behind her cannons let loose their furious barrage upon the pirates.

The Battle had begun . . .