Mission #32 - The Creed's First Hit

[kiarus]

Laying abruptly, comfortably reclining in a wooden chair, E ~ Kard was resting his eyes for his upcoming endeavor. Something inside of him stirred, motioning, and moving about in a way all too familiar to him. Interpreting it as a signal the jeweled bounty hunter allowed his weight and gravity to take effect. Bringing the airborne leg pegs to the cool surface of the wooden floor. He sighed, his eyes opened slowly, quickly shifting to his left where his hand followed reaching over grabbing his jeweled sword by the hilt.

Getting up quickly and grabbing his full body cloak, E ~ Kard easily and gracefully attached his sword diagonally down his back under the cloak so the only visible piece of hostility was the jeweled hilt that stuck up out of the cloak. E ~ Kard hid this well by pulling his hood over the hilt and his head.

Making his way to his private room door, he reached out pulled it open, and stepped out into the world to complete the task at hand. In his other hand he dug into his pocket pulling out a small book he labeled, 'Bounty Book'. Here he listed all of the bounties he came across on his travels along with a small picture and as much information as he could gather.

Maybe he'd find a bounty on this merchant ship today, if so. He could most likely let the merchant ship go un-looted.

Pro-ba-bly...

________________

The newcomer on deck....

Drake 'E ~ Kard' Mitibuki had arrived in the Dream Route, Noro Island. As always he stumbled onto the fairly large ship, and he went to the first place any traveler would think to go, the focal point of the ship, the main deck. Sigh, the center of attraction for all gossiping women and showboating men. A place where many bounties lay and various hunters gathered.

Ever since he took on this life long goal and spontaneous ambition he kept moving from place to place. In any case it had to be fulfilled and in order to do so he would have to make himself known. How you ask? Why by picking up bounty and by bringing some in.....Hypocritical no?

Drake walked along the decks and headed for the main deck. He walked on, his feet making a strong 'thump thump' sound. As if they were made of metal in themselves. Heavy and powerful. He wore black cargo jeans, a black T - Shirt, and a large black overcoat which he wore buttoned up to the top. Laying across his back in a diagonal fashion was his sword, Supeta - Tenka. Just one look at it and everyone already knew why he was here.

Going straight to the bounty board he skimmed over it seeing several. The usual Straw hat pirates of course, they're posters worn out and heavily in need of an update. Drake thought of going after them, though he wasn't ready....not yet. Not to say he shorthanded his skills but it just wasn't the time. Instead he lowered his head to a lesser bounty. One of a mere 30,000,000 bounty. Hmm....."The Pirate Frilly Beard." Drake said in a low tone looking over the picture and description.

This bounty was nice and fresh, newly put up it seemed like this one was calling him. Lifting his hand to his chin and grazing it he tore the poster off the wall while making his way out. A few shifty eyes and silenced mouths growled as he walked away. It seemed they were all talk once you turned your back. Though Drake wasn't concerned with him, he was concerned with this bounty and he was out to find it. Nevertheless he had a feeling the bounty would come to him in due time...

Drake made his way along the decks to the back of the ship to enjoy the ocean breeze as he thought of a plan. Drake flash backed, his hands making there way into his pockets and taking out the wanted poster. He skimmed it, there was no way to tell when and where he'd come across this bounty. So he'd have to account for time, preparation, and also the crew that followed the man. He wasn't to worried about the crew though, it was the actual bounty he cared for.

This would take some time to think out, turning and sitting at the table in order to get some food he awaited the arrival of his fellow guild members to gather their input on this topic. Where ever they may have ventured off along the large merchant ship, he'd await for them finish off with their own personal endeavors, meet up with them, and discuss this bounty. It would be The Creeds first bounty as a unit. They needed a successful venture to mark their first quest.

[shore]

Achille ran his thumb over the golden medallion he commonly carried with him, the raised lines forming three horses running together. Unity, strength, beauty. It was supposed to mean something along those lines Achille figured, the Cavallo family wasn't exactly what it used to be though. Now it was just a heavy trinket Achille liked to palm in moments of nostalgia. He leaned against the railing of the merchant ship, eyes skyward and half closed. It was a nice lazy kind of day, warm weather, the sweet rocking of the ocean. He should really be taking a nap, not scouting for bounties. Still, he did have a job to do... stupid crap job. He was on the upper deck, looking at people, rather dully. Most seemed to ignore him, others actively avoided his gaze, and some glared at him to show they didn't like being watched. The one's that glared were likely pirates, they might have even had a small bounty.... but too small.

Sure, just starting off as a hunter meant you couldn't be too picky about who you brought it. At the same time though, if you don't bring in anything but chump change then you can't be excepted to be treated any better than chump change. No big prize, no respect. Rules of the game as it were. So here he was, Achille Cavallo, leaning over a rail staring down people on a merchant ship. Some of the people might have come up and said something about it too... if Achille wasn't covered in guns. Covered might be a bit much sure, but he had three pistols on him, two on his right and one on his left. A rifle held by a strap over his shoulder, and what could have been either a large pistol, a short rifle, or maybe a sawed off shotgun on his left hip. Two belts were around his waist, both holding ammo and holsters, not to mention the two crossing belts over his chest also sporting bullets. He had ammo, he had guns... and he had a hairband of a light baby blue color to keep his bangs out of his eyes.

Yes it was probably a bit much, but this was supposed to be a big job whatever it was. First real gig with the new Bounty group Achille had signed up with. Nab someone high up on the military's wanted list and start etching out a name for the members. Achille wanted to be damn sure he was ready. "Speaking of ready..." Achille mused to himself, spying their leader taking a seat in the agreed meeting spot. Once they started to gather then that meant a target had been picked. Achille wondered if it was anyone decent. If he thought he could take the target in by himself then he was going to be very disappointed in this whole business. He made a turn and started down the little set of stairs so he could join E~Kard, his blue coat catching a bit of wind and fluttering behind him.

"Oooooh, that supposed to be our target?" Achille asked, walking up to the table and catching sight of the bounty poster. A 3 followed by a fair number of zeros. Could be worth a nice little notch in the belt. He rolled the strap for his rifle off his shoulder and then tossed it on the edge of his chair. "Looks like a nice pay out if we can- Wait.... Frilly Beard? Seriously!?" Achille asked, catching the name on the poster. Wow.... what some people will come up with. Geez. How do you command respect for an entire crew if you go about calling yourself............. Frilly beard. It obviously made a small reference to White beard, big guy himself and all that. But if White beard ever met someone making a mockery of his title like that he'd probably sink the guy.

Achille smirked and tossed his feet up on the table, taking up a very relaxed seating arrangement. He lifted back the collar on his coat and showed a pin bearing the Creed's emblem. He felt like showing it made it all more... official. Then, as he glanced around he wondered allowed "So where's our third?" his tone was mostly uninterested as he wasn't too close to anyone in their group just yet.

[EriChar]

Arden Bravo, a man with tall blonde hair and tinted glasses, wasn’t really someone who took a great interest in socialising with others. There was once a time that he had found enjoyment from the collective, but now he preferred to concentrate on his own thoughts, rather than endure the ones from around him. From the solitude of his cabin, Arden preferred to spend his journey resting, reading or simply listening to the rock and roll that the ship he travelled on made as it cut through the sea. Taking his tinted spectacles off, he gave them a wipe with a handkerchief removed from his pocket, clearing the lenses of dirt and grime. His visual perspicacity restored, for a moment Arden scrutinised the small symbol that now adorned the black frames of his glasses, small and unusual, probably unnoticed by the untrained eye it was a subtle piece that suggested his membership in a now unknown group.

A ticking of a nearby alarm clock caught his attention, looking at its face told Arden that the time of the meeting had arrived, so with a sigh, Arden raised himself from the casual recline he had been in and headed to the exit, but not before picking something up from the drawer in the room. Moving through the ship, Arden stepped up to the ship’s edge and casually tossed a small black item into the sea beside. Those words only spread false hope. Arden thought to himself as he moved from the ship’s hull, the tossed item being rolled by the waves to show golden words on its cover, reading “Holy Bible’.

Moving through the hustle and bustle of a busy ship, Arden was something of a ghost, few would linger to pay attention to him as despite a rather unusual appearance, he made no obvious efforts to draw attention upon him. A mere observer as he moved, Arden compelled himself to avoid anything that would cause interaction, it was troubling enough to have to entertain the prospect of working alongside others for a bounty pull, but for expanse he had for some reason consented to joining a strange brotherhood of what could be descried in some circles kin. Finally, he arrived at the arranged spot and saw that he was the last of the trio to arrive, his recruiter and an unknown man waiting for his arrival. Observant and calculating, Arden quickly noticed Drake’s accompaniment possessing their group’s symbol, and guessed correctly that he was the previously unknown third of the group.

It was perhaps considered polite in these circles to at least bring a hello and handshake to someone met for business. But he wasn’t a man interested in pleasantries; Arden raised no greeting or introduction for himself, and simply addressed the expecting pair in a rather rude fashion by abruptly saying “Who’s the target?”

[kiarus]

In the company of his three comrades in guild, Drake soaked in success. This felt good, he was actually progressing. Having acquired two very, hopefully, skilled members who bore the sign of is ambition, Drake let out a long, satisfying sigh.

"Looks like a nice pay out if we can- Wait.... Frilly Beard? Seriously!?" Drake grinned, recovering from his exhaust of satisfaction. In an abrupt kind of way, he was happy. Drake's metallic encased arms etched out words on the poster.

F.r.i.l.l.y B.e.a.r.d

His fingers slowly drew an imaginary line under the absurd name; inaudibly reiterating the obviously stated.

"So where's our third?"

And as if on cue, the third member amongst them made an appearance. With him he brandished his rather rude mannerisms. But oh well, they were all big boys. No hard feelings.

“Who’s the target?” Arden asked and Drake glanced in his direction at the sound of his voice.

"Cap'n Frilly beard." Drake said, "30 million beri, 5 million each." Drake articulated. Fifteen to them, fifteen to the guild. "Luckily for us, he was last spotted on Noro island. This merchant ships next destination." Drake looked toward Arden, passing him the poster so he could get a better look. Then he glanced at Achille expecting some sort of suggestion or comment. Whether he got one or not, Drake spun around in his seat and looked out in the direction of the sea. Noro Island to be exact.

[shore]

Achille turned his head slightly when, as if he had been waiting for a proper line to enter on, he didn't greet E~Kard or Achille, but it wasn't that big of a deal. He seemed to want to show a rude side, maybe the guy was trying to show a bit of dominance or that even though they were working together they were still separate. Not that it mattered, Achille felt similar on that point himself. It was an alliance of convenience. E~Kard was showing the bounty to the other guy, Arden or something like that was his name. The target was named Frilly Beard, he was a pirate captain. Captains generally had crews with them, always a good thing to remember. Achille looked at his two allies.

E~Kard had a glittering hilt in view on his person. Achille took that to be a sword or some melee weapon. So a close ranged type, he didn't see any obvious signs like a weapon on Arden so he couldn't tell much about that man's combat style. Obviously Achille relied on guns himself. Then their leader started the briefing. "Cap'n Frilly beard." Drake said, "30 million beri, 5 million each." Drake articulated. Fifteen to them, fifteen to the guild. "Luckily for us, he was last spotted on Noro island. This merchant ships next destination." Achille's mouth dropped open a little. Oh hell, that SUCKED. "Half of a third? That totally sucks." Achille grumbled to himself, already aware that he had previously agreed to these terms. Half went to the guild and the rest was split up fairly. It still sucked, but he wasn't really being blindsided.

E~Kard looked at Achillle, expected a comment or wanting him to shut his complaining trap. Achille let out a very long low sigh before setting his feet down form the table and leaning forward. "Riiiiiiiight, well. We haven't worked together before so this'll have to be something of a learning experience. Frilly beard-" Achille smirked, yep the guy still had a hilarious name. "is a captain, so we'll need to separate him from his crew. I would rather not have to deal with the whole group if we can go a grab and go operation."

Achille pulled out a large piercing round bullet and set it on the table. "This is Frilly beard." He then set about placing smaller regular bullets around the table. "His crew." Achille explained. Lastly he took the salt, pepper, and ketchup and set them up together. He pointed at the pepper and then at E~Kard. He gestured to show that the pepper was Arden. Finally he pointed at the ketchup, the tallest bottle not that it mattered, and then at himself. "I'm a sharpshooter obviously. I should stay in the back, and if possible a fair distance off. I can drop a few of their number and send them into a confused fit." Achille tipped over a few bullets to show his point.

"You two can either sneak in or dress up as some of his crew to get close to him, then escort him to safety. From there we just slap some cuffs on him and haul him off to the marines. At least, that is how I'd do it." Achille said, finishing his little demonstration and sitting back looking at the other two. "Also, I'd recommend we mock his name as much as possible while we have the opportunity." Achille added. He took a breath and waited for any other comments, suggestions, or demonstrations the other two wanted to do. He didn't pick up any of his bullets, they were welcome to use them to illustrate a point as Achille had.

[EriChar]

Arden took a moment to look at the poster, noting his bounty share, Arden took part in hunts more out of enjoyment than need for reward, so five or thirty million didn’t have much difference to him. Scrutinising the picture, Arden saw a buffoon, and old man with a beard so curved and coiled that it looked as if he had pierced himself with hair loops. He also found some disdain for the spectacles that this ‘Frilly beard’ wore, such poor choices of eyewear considering a man wanted as much as him would probably have a respectable source of funding.
What a ridiculous looking man… Arden thought, apparently oblivious to the strange hair style he sported, before placing down the poster and moving his attention to Achille’s description of their strategy. For a moment, the tall haired hunter smirked as Achille annotated himself the tall ketchup bottle, speculating that in some way Achille was trying to point out his superiority.

Paying keen attention to the formation, Arden noted that Achille had a basic understanding of strategy, wisely placing the cover fire at the rear and separating the flunkies from the target. With three men, it was a better idea ordinarily to choose your fights, easy to become surrounded. Although Arden was confident that the three of them could handle themselves in such a scenario, it would be extra trouble on a mission that could if played right be much smoother sailing. Arden understood that Achille wasn’t entirely familiar with his own abilities, and how he could save the trouble of sneaking around.

“Separation is a much simpler matter than the need for stealth or disguise.” Arden told the group, keeping them hanging a little dramatically as he slid his glasses up with a finger and thumb on the rims. Then, placing his palm on the table, Arden used his devil fruit abilities and made the small bullets drop into a well he created underneath them, lowering the surface they sat on down several inches. “With my abilities, I can relocate any hindrances with ease.” He said, then confidently spiked the lowered surface and scattered the bullets across the table.

Turning his attention to Achille, Arden picked up one of the scattered bullets and offered it to the gunman, flashing him a grin and saying “Just get them bunched up nicely for me.”

[kiarus]

And the first to speak was Achille. Drake listened attentively, glancing over at the table to catch a look at Achille's demonstration. Taking no offense to the choice of symbolic objects, he frowned. Drake's specialty was stealth, but stealth work can get dangerous when either you have to count on multiple outside influences to successfully completely objective or too many factors are left unaccounted for.

Achille's plan was simple, effective, but too basic. It left too many factors up in the air.

Second came Arden who, with the help of his devil fruit, gave a hearty demonstration of his plan which was separation and capture. Drake took favor to this plan only because it ruled out the possibility of one or two people being stuck behind enemy lines. Along with this it also had the same basic objective as Achille's. Isolation of the figurehead and capture, though this plan had no if, ands, or buts. With Arden's power we could forcefully remove Frilly Beard from his men and go in for the grab.

After everyone was done with their piece and the floor was open, Drake closed his eyes as he envisioned his plan while verbally expressing it. "We will go with Arden's plan. Achille and I will group the crew as closely as possible with Achille pinching from one side and I the opposite to prevent the enemy from flanking us. Once we have gotten the crew within a small enough proximity for Arden to make full use of his abilities. He will drop the crew in holes and bring Frilly Beard up to level so we can capture him. Simple"

His eyes opened, with the view of the ocean welcoming him back to reality. "Any objections?"

[shore]

Achille watched as Arden demonstrated his revision to the plan, causing the table to shift to an unknown and foreign design. Its maneuvers caused bullets to shift and roll around, with several falling off the table. Slightly annoying to tell the truth considering Achille would have to pick them all up now. Irrelevant. Achille focused on the purpose of the display. A fruit user huh, that helped a bit. Achille glanced at the table, going over angles in his head. All he had to do was group them up with a bit of gunfire, and Arden would drop them into a pit. It shouldn't be too difficult, just start picking off strays from the pack and a few higher profile targets in the middle, With that they'll naturally try to group together to make more difficult shots for the center group.

Then they get dropped. Simple really, but it left Achille curious about the other option. Tossing Frilly beard- pfffffft, Frilly beard- up into the air to capture him. Obviously they had no way to retrieve him, but it was something. Achille wondered about a design for such a capture, a net gun for one... Maybe with a hook to reel targets back in. It would have to be fairly elaborate. heavier than the rifle, longer too. A base would be needed that could clamp into the ground. Then it would be easier to reel in big targets without losing his own footing and-

"We will go with Arden's plan. Achille and I will group the crew as closely as possible with Achille pinching from one side and I the opposite to prevent the enemy from flanking us. Once we have gotten the crew within a small enough proximity for Arden to make full use of his abilities. He will drop the crew in holes and bring Frilly Beard up to level so we can capture him. Simple." E~Kard said.

It was. Almost too simple. Achille wondered if they had any kind of specialists in their crew. Fruit users or someone suited to fighting off these kinds of strategies. It was best not to find out. E~Kard asked for any other comments and Achille only had the one. "If that's our plan then lets just be quick about it. If they figure out what we are trying to do too soon, then the whole thing'll go to hell. Otherwise I can live with it." Achille stated. He looked over to Arden to see if there were any other objections, as Achille's mind slowly started drifting back to the still forming designs of his giant net gun. Maybe I could graft it onto a ship, for snatch and grabs on the high seas. I would make those pirate bounties a little easier. Achille mused.

HE also wondered how close he was expected to get for this pincer tactic. He could manage at any range really. But the farther off he was the most comfortable he generally remained. Though, without an actual antagonist in sight, the crew would likely just flood toward Achille anyway, even if a few were dropped by an unknown shooter. For this to work he'd probably have to be visible and working from close to mid-range the entire time. Dammit.

[EriChar]

"We will go with Arden's plan. Achille and I will group the crew as closely as possible with Achille pinching from one side and I the opposite to prevent the enemy from flanking us. Once we have gotten the crew within a small enough proximity for Arden to make full use of his abilities. He will drop the crew in holes and bring Frilly Beard up to level so we can capture him. Simple" Said E~Kard, summarising there action plan.

Arden sat back smugly in his chair, glad to hear that his own take on the plan was the one they were using. Running his hands back through the sides of his hair, making an effort not to disturb the top, Arden relaxed a little and nodded in agreement with Achille’s concerns, speed would be certainly a factor. “I’m sure gentlemen of your calibre will be up to the task.” Arden said, offering a friendly and encouraging olive branch to his partners, his devils silver tongue emerging. In truth, he had no real interest in how the plan went along, but felt it was important to keep them onside for a mission of this nature. Besides, sometimes the actions of others could be most interesting, so in his role he looked forward to looking how both the two men in front of him, as well as Frilly Beard and his associates, would respond to the situation that presented itself.

To further calm their nerves, the confident and charismatic preacher said to his pair of allies, “There’s no need for concern, my powers have no limits to the range of their usage, so I can still cover you while you’re in the line of fire.”
A thought then occurred to him, if they were to be separated, would they be able to co-ordinate effectively without some sort of communication?
They had a good understanding of the outline of the mission, but things rarely go as a plan dictates, without a form of dialogue between them, would it be possible for them to roll with the punches and not get caught in each other’s crossfire?
“One…” Arden said to E~Kard, calling the man by the title of his position rather than name, “It occurs that communiqué would greatly improve our chances of success, do you perhaps have something we can use?”

Arden, who had hunted bounties solo up to this point, didn’t habitually carry something like a Den Den Mushi so he was currently unavailable to provide such equipment. Though there might be the chance to ‘borrow’ something from the boat or docks on their way…

[kiarus]

“There's no need for concern, my powers have no limits to the range of their usage, so I can still cover you while you're in the line of fire.”

Drake stepped up from his seat and begun walking away from the two with a slow stride. He was going to make preparations and rest for the upcoming bounty hunt. He paused for a second and tapped the tip of his left foot a couple of times as if anticipating an inevitable response.

“It occurs that communiqué would greatly improve our chances of success, do you perhaps have something we can use?

His movements came to a halt, his foot returning to the ground where it belong, and Drake's left hand rose to the top of his body, stopping right at his shoulders where Supeta lay. Though instead he reached for the hood to his cloak and pulled it comfortably over his head and proceeded to speak as movement hit his body and continued him forward toward his rented safe haven. "No, but I'll leave that up to you figure out. If you can find something so be it, if not then I'll see you both at the port." And with that Drake went on his way.

[shore]

Achille glanced at the now warped table again, then glanced over at the DF user. So people like that were a part of this organization. He wasn't too surprised honestly, because as rare as those fruit users were supposed to be they honestly popped up everywhere there was trouble. If the strong started to gather or someone started to get a bit of a name for themselves it was almost guaranteed that they were some kind of fruit user. It was practically a fact. He rolled his neck a bit, a cracking and popping sound escaping the folds of his jacket. Well, in this situation it did nothing but help so no real worries. Achille went to work collecting his bullets, first the one on the top of the table, scattered as they were.

The question of communication came up, with no real results for the asking. E~Kard walked off, happy with the plan as it was apparently. Achille glanced over at his partner for this little bounty job. "Don't look at me, I can't help ya there. Best we can probably do is set a rendezvous point if we get separated during the job. Probably this ship would be best. We'd have until it departs to get back, simple as that." Achille said, crouching down and scooping up the bullets that had rolled off the table.

Having collected most of his ammunition he'd displayed for the example, he promptly turned and walked off to return to his room. This was a big job, first one he'd worked with a team. He needed to be sure he did his part perfectly, which meant he needed to be sure that his weapons were in top notch condition. He'd play with the workings of his guns, clean them up, polish them, and have them firing better than new in an hour or so. He did some fast, and near perfect, work when he had a bit of pressure from a due time on him. When they docked, that was when things would get real exciting. He turned long enough to give Arden a small nod before stepping below deck and working his way to his own quarters.