Seizing the Knight (Smoker/Aubs/Tashigi)

[Tori Tori Chopper]

CLANK-ANK-ANK-ANKANKANK~

'T-That noise! Its gotten this far already!?' Tashigi cursed the luck of this ship and its crew, were they not so quick and the base so unprepared many of their brash moves which led them to this situation would have been tackled! Destroying this flimsy plan with ease despite its apparent tactical leader. The question which continued to run through Tashigi's mind was how far along the line this plan of action had been devised in the first place, were marines like Jones and the other turncoats under command of this station for weeks? Maybe even months at a time without anyone's knowledge? She questioned the whole infrastructure of this base if not areas surrounding it, was there anyone herself and Smoker could trust anymore? 'Don't insult me with your flimsy style! I don't need your pity!' Tashigi gasped with a stumble and another clash and lock of their blades, her mind had escaped her at the worse of times and had given Jones as pushing advantage over her, seemingly mistaking it for her simply taking it easy on him. Though she had been like this since the beginning of the fight, that blade was too valuable to simply be thrown around like it was some crappy craftsmanship, and yet the man insisted on using such a powerful stance for a weapon which could handle itself with ease. Tashigi had been keeping her distance in the conflict the whole time, sliding off parry's and pushing up strikes in fear that anything more offensive against such a style that Jones would using would harm the blade if not her own. Though she knew that to keep this up would eventually lead to her downfall, she would have to disarm him even at the risk of leaving herself open if it were to fail. He shifted her blade, rubbing her hilt down the side arm of one of his strikes and moving up to squash his hands and force him to release his grip, sadly fate would have it that such a wonderful sword would not so easily be acquired this day.

The thundering creaks and jolts from the ships actions, unknown to the two in deep conflict decided to strike their battle at the worst of times, instead of released his blade Jones was thrown up into the air from the seeming impact and shift of the ship, Tashigi in swordsman mode so to speak had already spun and jabbed her blade into the woodwork to avoid losing balance, something which had been her downfall many times before in duels such as this. Attempting to pull herself away from the coming wave of Jones escaping body was a task left half finished however, as the tip of his blade in his frantic movements gently slid up Tashigi's side, leaving a sudden spurt of blood to shoot from her shoulder and cheek. 'What kind of person has this much luck!?' the strike of fate wasn't hers to control, she had to get back into the fighting spirit as Jones smacked back onto the floor grumbling to himself. Yanking her sword from the ground and taking a strong stride forward she jabbed her blade back into the deck, the small gap between Jones clutch on his weapon and the weapon itself suddenly filled by Tashigi's steel. She yanked her sword to an angle, almost like a wedge as Jones cried out in pain and release his sword, Tashigi slamming his now wounded hand into the ground more-so with her foot while flicking the disarmed piece into the air, and catching it with a free hand. Now this was the kind of skill that won battles! Not foolish swings and lucky breaks. 'I'm the victor here! Jones! Now stand up nice and slow!' Her shouts were intended to go over the conflict around them, which suddenly seemed to uproar now that her focus began to span her area rather than one target, though in turn something else seemed to catch her attention.

'Hm? A Shadow?' She turned, looking around to the sudden darkness which engulfed the ships deck, and above? Something she really did not expect. 'Gah!? Officer! What are you doing up there!?' Apparently Jones has as much haste as she did though only in the most back-stabbing of time. Tashigi's eyes widened as her body lurched forward, another dirty strike spelling the end of this fight whether she liked it or not. A scream signalled her injury, Jones rising from behind her and taking his blade before quickly fleeing towards his captain without so much as a second glance as Tashigi coiled on the floor clutching her calf muscle, a dagger still clean cut in and out of her leg. Ignoring the pain was out of the question, seeing his snatching little hands she only hand time to clutch onto her own blade as she pulled it close, only able to push out hisses and groans past her bitten lip as she had already tried to remove the knife. That good for nothing, dirty playing bastard! This was war, a war amongst swordsman... No, he wasn't even worthy of such a title! Her drive for that blade alone get her moving, watching the man cackly to himself as he hid his wounded hand in his jacket to avoid leaving a trail behind him to be easily followed into the ship, the only trail left was him foolishly holding his legendary blade as it trailed across the ground. 'I've.. G-Got to get that sword..!' She grunted to herself, ignorant of the battle surrounding her to muster the strength to drag herself along his path. 'So careless! Dammit Tashigi!' She decided to focus more on her getting up rather than pulling herself along, giving the chance to smack the floor with her hand in anger of the unfolding events.

She only hoped that her Commodore was providing a much better challenge for the sly Pirate Captain.

[EriChar]

Smoker wasn’t in flight long before he was attacked again. Cannonballs made of rock salt tore harmlessly through his smoky body, and the commodore saw that Arashio, whilst bleeding from a head wound, had only been temporarily stunned.
I guess it was a bit too much to ask for him to have fell into the drink back then… Smoker reflected, having held perhaps a small hope that his blow earlier had finished the pirate captain off.
Arashio was now on Smoker’s tail, following him from slightly above Smoker’s own altitude. It was interesting to note that the outlaw had taken the trouble of making his salty form rise up higher than him again, as Smoker was sure that even with a mid-air recovery, Arashio would have only been a few feet above the Water’s rising surface. Of course, as a Devil fruit User, it wasn’t advisable for Arashio to stray too close to the depths, but currently the commodore thought it odd that he would waste that extra time reconstituting his body to a higher place. But he had other things to be worrying about, right now. His forces were outnumbered, and once he had dealt his blow to Arashio, he could see how much they were struggling in the battle. For all the spirit they possessed, Arashio’s band of brigands had them both outnumbered and outgunned.

The potency of Arashio’s snatched ship reared its head, right in front of Smoker’s eyes. Something must have happened on the deck, things not going quite to plan, because all of a sudden the commodore heard the explosion of cannon’s, and the craft he had brought his troops in on, immediate exploded into flames.
Damnit… Smoker thought to himself, pulling his flight downwards to land on the wrecked vessel, rather than join the fray. Thanks to his devil fruit powers, the lick of flames that was rapidly engulfing the small craft was little more than an annoyance to him, but very troubling to practically everyone else.
“AID THE WOUNDED!” Smoker bellowed out, to any souls who remained coherent enough on the craft to hear him.
“GRAB THEM… AND ABANDON SHIP!” He ordered, panting from fatigue and injury.
However, as his eyes darted around the ship to check on what men remained, Smoker caught sight of the weapons of the prototype aiming once more.
Gritting his teeth, Smoker thrust smoke out of both arms and wrapped it around all of the Marines he could see. It was an odd use of his ‘White Out’ technique, but there was no time for anything else.
“BRACE YOURSELVES, MEN!” The commodore shouted, his white gas becoming dense and trapping them all. After a beat, Smoker threw his smoke-made arms out to the sides, and flung all the bodies he had trapped overboard. Only a second after a flurry of splashing sounds, there were loud bangs again, followed up by the short scream of the soaring cannonballs that had been fired. The deck of the small Marine vessel exploded, splintering as the vessel was finished off by her vastly superior sister. Engulfed in flame, smoker rose from the remains of the ship, and reforming his body from that substance, Commodore Smoker lamented that she had gone down without him ever knowing the name of the craft.

“Only one place to go now…” Smoker said quietly to himself, his attention moving from the white uniformed bodies supporting one another in the water, to the deck of the prototype.
Smoker’s pushed himself at the pilfered prototype, his body pushing out into a thick, white mist that swamped the craft. Rolling over the vessel, Smoker passed harmlessly over his own defending Marines and intensified the density of his gaseous form, sweeping the pirates within it backwards to drag them off his troops. Panting, the smoke pulled itself back into his physical form, and the commodore stood on the deck, in front of his men. Smoker was exhausted, surely on his last legs from all he had been through, but his determination more than anything to show his Marine spirit drove the commodore to continue his charge.

“OUR JUSTICE ISN’T LAID TO REST JUST YET!” Smoker boomed, once again putting on a bit of a performance, but breathing heavily with his jutte in hand. He could see that Arashio had returned to his troops, and was glaring at him from the opposite side of the battlefield. However, Smoker’s eyes were locked on something else, behind Arashio and his army of thugs, beyond even the deck of the prototype; the exit of the lock was opening. This would ordinarily mean game over for Smoker and his team, but the Commodore’s eyes had captured something else, something being revealed by the opening doors of the lock.
“Good job, Tashigi…” Smoker muttered under his heavy breath, as he caught sight of his own ship, sneaking up on their enemy.
“TAKE COVER!!!” Smoker ordered, as his own cannons began their offensive…

SPOILER: Click to show

White Out - Smoker shoots clouds of normal smoke from his arms and uses them to engulf his opponent, then makes the smoke dense to trap them inside.

[Aubs]

The world tilted over him, pushing downward as he fell forward. Conviction was its name, this ludicrous technique which included him risking his own neck to smash the enemy. In this case, as he leapt from his perch and down on the enemy, he wanted only to connect and allow Tashigi the opportunity to finish the bastard off quickly, and as he was of very little use to Smoker right now, River wanted to do something in this fight besides pull the troops around. Even as those troops closed in on the Ensign, intent on protecting her from any stragglers, River let his body do the work, the entirety of his success up to luck now. The blue hair of LT Jones came rushing towards him as he fell, his feet dragging the distance until they pointed right at the man. Letting out a cry to empower himself, Chief Petty Officer River connected with the man between his shoulder blades, and let his momentum do the rest.

A sickening thud filled his ears as the turncoat smacked the ground, and a gurgled moan and grinding metallic noise signaled his glasses and equipment scrapping painfully while he slide across the wooden surface, leaving behind a trail of blood from his face. Suddenly much weaker than he had been a minute ago River tipped over and fell off to his right, rolling over his shoulder and coming to a halt against the gunwale, in much the same position that Ensign Tashigi had been in before. His hands resting on his knees he watched as Jones began to stir, and as Tashigi rose to her feet, even as Commodore Smoker landed on the ship himself. And then, as the doors began to open he saw the water rushing outward, down the metal rampart that had risen to guide their vessel out. Although the monster of a ship would have to go backwards due to its size alone, it would not get such an easy chance to do so. Even as it slide back into the open air, a few bodies around it floating atop the water, Smoker’s own ship went to block its path and began firing.

It was not so much that the ship would take a great deal of damage in the attack, but stray cannonballs were disastrous to foot soldiers in battle, and they all needed to be warned. Smoker himself was issuing the command, so all he had to do was echo. “Take Cover!”

He dropped as low as possible, not that it really mattered at this point. Hitting him, a proverbial fly on this monsters back would take an amazing shot, one that would never come. Even after setting off a few rounds, Smoker’s ship was forced to move aside, or be crushed behind the Prototype as it slid down the metal rampart, now fully out of the hidden gate. Despite all the commotion no other ships had been deployed, and it would be up to them alone to fight this thing. The spilling Marines that floated atop the water tried to grab Smoker’s ship, which had now come about in such a way that it could take off after the monster craft, which would be slowed significantly because of its lack of sails.

The thing hit the bay, the current that propelled it from the now descending rampart turning it outward towards the entrance to the base and out into the open ocean, making Smoker’s own vessel look like a pesky animal picking out the goliath. The wreckage of what had been his boat merely floating around them like surf. Now standing, and never really sure how he had come to be that way, River looked ominously at his ship, however briefly. Hopefully his men were among those clawing the docks even now. Nothing left to it River turned and began to run towards Smoker. Someone came between him and his goal, only to take a heavy fist to the face, sending an audible crunching noise into the air. River never stopped his charge, letting bodies wash over and around him as he moved, only looking for the Commodore. He had created a ring of enemies, now encouraged enough to press against the well-known officer. River gave one of this pressing soldiers a kick to the back, knocking him forward and to the ground like a ton of bricks. Stepping into the empty ring he approached Smoker. The enemy did not move to overtake him, probably out of fear for what Smoker would do if his space was challenged. Our hero couldn’t see Arashio anywhere, which did not bode well for himself. And yet, he went unmolested to his superiors side, suddenly fully aware of how happy he was to be a marine on this day.

His voice was gruff, his body tired, his mind weary, but his conviction strong. “Order’s Sir?”

---

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[Tori Tori Chopper]

'Tashigi! Tashigi are you there!?'
'Ungh... Horne?'
'Tashigi this ship is a monster! We can't see where we are supposed to be hitting here! Is everything alright on your end?'
'Alright... If only I could say that in confidence..'

Tashigi mumbled to herself as she looked down at the wound in her leg, placing her hand firmly on the handle of the dagger as she tried to shuffle it from its position to give what was left of her muscle a chance to act without being in so much pain. But she was no genius of the human body, her sting turning to a strong ache as she lurched from head to toe from the dawning injury with a hiss which forced its way from her mouth. 'I'm a little held up right now Private.' She said with a chuckle, forcing herself to her feet and leaning against the side of the ship. But Horne had asked for a survey, at least that's what it sounded like. And the ship was becoming awfully unstable for a still ship, they must have been already on the move and she had not noticed it amongst the conflict and her injury. But she was in no place to give firing coordinates, this ship was without a doubt a fortress, what the hell were they supposed to fire at? 'I suggest just keeping out of this things way.' She didn't want to voice it, but it was a thought which constantly circled her mind since the fight with this Goliath had begun. They may be out-manning the smaller force now, but in regards to what this thing was firing they were out matched on many more levels than just one. 'I don't think us alone are going to be able to deal with this thing.' The protests over the DenDen were blurred by her thoughts, her anger for this base, and its traitors which wandered its halls for an extended amount of time without fail boiled her blood to extremes. Why would a place of such justice house this kind of weapon when they couldn't even defend it with their own teeth and nail? Hell, if Smoker and herself were not here by chance this boat would already be out and into the seas without so much as a shout of protest at this hour. 'But!' She shouted over the Private who halted in his rant. 'If we can hinder the men on the ship, we might just be able to do something about its progress into the sea as a weapon!' She heard some mumbles on the other end as she scanned the ship, what could they destroy which would make it easier to capture? She may as well start with the basics. 'At your command Tashigi, paint us something to wipe of face of this earth!' The privates voice was like a injection o morale, they weren't giving up and neither should she!

'Focus fire on one side, and try to disable the ships weapons with anything we have on board!' She yelled with her quiet voice, hearing conformation and shoving the DenDen back into her pocket as she slammed her sword down to get footing. The damn mammoth of a ship was going in all sorts of directions and she was once again reduced to using her prized weapon as a walking stick as she wobbled towards the sound of victory. With her senses back about her she had only just noticed the extend in which the previous ship she had been on was destroyed, along with their overall movement being the actions of this ship being ready to launch into the open sea. The battle above her seemed to have quelled, a watchful eye on her Commodore finding no trace of the Devil fruit powers existing in the area bar a linger smoke cloud over the remains of Rivers ship. Had she won? Maybe they were at some sort of stand off, the place did seem awfully quiet after all for a battlefield. The trail of Jones had stopped, blood being in its place but no body to the name, no doubt Rivers attack had landed amongst the dirty strike that wounded her leg... Though what happened next was beyond her. She tried to block the idea of the blade and its holder from her mind, that battle was seemingly withheld until a later date whether she liked it or not, the new threat was ahead of her. It seemed she was right in her thoughts, the group had been forced to one side of the ship while Smoker and the others inhabited the opposite area of the deck. That explained the sudden escape of her challenger, but with her so wounded and the ship close to moving into full swing, what else was she supposed to do that would offer any kind of assistance without just getting in the way?

'We could keep at this all day, though who's going to fall first?' Her thoughts should be taboo for a marine, to keep trying for the sake of justice was burnt into her mind since she had joined, though she seemed to be the hidden piece in this game right now. Luck? She didn't know what that felt like, only what it was like to be on the receiving end. A repetitive cycle which seemed to be hot topic in this conflict had come back to rear its head once more, though this time, oddly enough in her favour. 'I was next to the Ship's cannons the whole time!?' She had no idea that the cannons of the vessel would need this kind of housing, though this was a freak of a ship as far as she was concerned. If she could get inside and take control of the cannons, no doubt under the same type of easily mechanised rotation as its much smaller brothers and sisters were, she could get a foot hold over this battle in a single step! She just had to get inside, try to get around whoever was controlling this ship obliterating force and take it for herself. But what to do with it? Aim it where Tashigi? Maybe they had no choice, hell to this damn ship. She approached the entrance to the inside of the ship as she flicked her sword slightly from its sheath.

'I'll aim the cannons right at the ship!'

[EriChar]

“Tch.” Commodore Smoker made a disgruntled dental clock, expressing his disappointment at his own ship’s assault. Despite being a military ship, she had nowhere near the armament of one of the Vice Admiral’s battleship, and her cannon fire had only managed to pepper the deck of the prototype, giving it some slight superficial scars.
Barely even scratched the pain… Smoker reflected, dissatisfied with the performance of his vessel against this one. If a volley from her cannon’s did this little damage, there was no hope of Smoker retraining the vessel with his current maritime force. That left him with two options; overwhelming his opponents and quelling the craft from within, or being defeated.
Sure as hell aren’t going to take option two… The commodore asserted to himself, allowed a short respite from the battle as surveyed the battlefield in his gaseous body, mingling with that which was produced from the cannon fire.
Is option one viable though? Smoker questioned, his physical body reforming as if to pontificate the query as he lashed his jutte across the skull of a pirate, defending a fallen Marine.

“T-Thank you, sir!” The Marine stammered out in appreciation, and then scrambled back to his feet, running off to re-join the battle. The Commodore’s men were fighting hard, but there’s a difference between hard work and stupidity. As a buccaneer who thought they had the drop on Smoker stood flabbergasted as his sword slid safely through Smoker’s hazy shoulder, the commodore turned uncomfortably away from the sight of his Marines dragging one another to the edge of the deck, bloodied and beaten, and sunk his fist in his opponents face out of frustration.
This battle, can't be won… Smoker realised, outmanned and outgunned, this was a massacre for his men. As painful as it was to his pride to let a pirate escape, he couldn’t justify throwing the lives of his troops away just to satisfy his ego. Arashio was nowhere to be seen, hiding somewhere either out of cowardice or so he could leap out and seize another advantage. He sure was a snake.
There was no sign of victory, and so when the chief whose name he hadn’t quite committed to memory appeared, asking for orders, Smoker was forced by the situation to acknowledge this situation.

“We can’t win this battle…” The commodore said, not out of any sort of negativity or fear, more a statement of fact. Smoker let out an empty sigh, which he would have usually expected to be filled with Cigar smoke. Gritting his teeth, the commodore closed his eyes for a moment, before snapping them open and almost glaring at River with a renewed sense of determination.
“That doesn’t mean I’m intent on losing either, mind you…” Smoker said, looking around his environment keenly.
“I want you to take charge of the remaining men, and split into two groups. You take charge of one, gather up the best, and have the should fall back to my ship.” The commodore told River, swinging his jutte to block a flailing axe.
“Disable their weapons, as much as you can, then get out of here.” Smoker ordered, his body beginning to expand into a smoky cloud again.
“I’ll provide you and the evacuees with some cover…”

Commodore Smoker wasn’t the type to hang around after giving orders, so after providing the Chief with his directions, Smoker poured out as a gas and provided a smoke screen. His action clouded part of the deck of the prototype, with any luck providing River and the remaining troops with a chance to sneak around, like that serpentine Soyou Arashio.
Speaking of which, it would be a massive pain in the back side if that slithering villain started picking off Smoker’s men in the panic, so the commodore decided he would have to once again put on a little farce.
Forming his physical body from the expanding smoke, the commodore stepped forwards with his weapon in hand, scanning the exposed area of the ship. Taking a deep breath, which happened to be actually somewhat painful thanks to the beating his ribs had taken today, the commodore jabbed his jutte in front of him before booming out his voice.
“ARASHIO!” He bellowed, his deep voice echoing around the massive deck of the prototype ship.
“DON’T THINK YOU’VE WON YET, YOU PIRATE SCUM!” Smoker raucously remarked, turning around him and thrusting his truncheon towards the on looking pirates.
“I DON’T CARE HOW MANY OF YOUR LITTLE PISS ANTS I HAVE TO SMASH, I’LL STOP YOU!” Smoker announced, and then launched into action, smashing the closest criminal in the solar plexus with a smoke powered punch.

In better shape, the commodore could have perhaps lived up to his claims. However, Smoker’s tank was empty, and each blow he was throwing out seemed as if they might not have one to follow. It had been a trying day, and fighting off a pirate crew single handed wasn’t exactly how he had expected to spend his dawn hours. However, if he could at the very least get Arashio to watch this little performance he was putting on, Smoker knew that his subordinates could achieve the rest…

[Aubs]

“Aye Aye Sir!”

That was the last thing River said to the Commodore, never really sure if he would get another chance. His mind racing a mile a minute he worked over what he would need to do. During this tactical pause he was fortunate enough that the other marines who had been fighting came to his side, tightening their circle because of the pressure of the attacks. Smoke billowing around them he only knew the bodies he could feel, the smoke not thick enough in the middle of the fray to completely white him out. They had taken 40 onboard, and only about 20 were around him. At his side was that good ol’ Petty Officer again. Through the clangor River spoke to him. “Take the men and fall back, collect the wounded and dead and get off this ship. I’ll keep a few men with me to complete the Commodores orders. You take all the rest. Move Marine!” A pirate lunged at him, and nearly ran him through his sword before the Chief saw the smoke cut and pivoted to the side. With his left hand he clenched the mans sword hand, while with his heavy right he gave the thug a gruesome haymaker, lifting his own body off the ground with the effort. The miscreants head might have actual come off for all he knew, he was only concerned with pulling the cutlass out of his dead hands.

The smoke clearing he pointed at a few men, hollering out to them, until he had 7 besides himself, all with their weapons in hand. He signaled his trusty Petty Officer to take off, while he gave a battle cry and rushed towards the tightening noose of men, rushing to his left and right, and the heavier cannons further down the ship. The Petty Officer went behind him, using his boss as a vanguard and shield, but as soon as they had broken through the line of enemies they formed a larger group and made a quick scan as they trotted down the deck, yelling for all Marines, searching for blue headbands.

Speaking of breaking through the line of enemies, River lead that charge himself, sword in hand. The smoke made it hard for him to see anything, but he knew enough to guess that everything in front of him was an enemy, his instincts told him that much at least. While he was no skilled swinger of steel, he was brutal and strong, and he took the head off the first man that came his way. His battle cry ripped and his raw throat, tired from use, but he moved nonetheless, kicking his next target in the groin with a powerful thrust, and giving the next a heavy left to the temple. Not ten feet away from the fray he took stock of his men. The smoke had made it hard to guess at the men, but now away from it he saw what he had…a ragtag group of 7 marines with swords. Shrugging his called out commands while he moved forward, content to put distance between himself and the confused pirates. “Get to the cannons on deck, do as much damage as you can!” He knew they couldn’t take the main gun, and to get below deck would be stupid, as big as this thing was it would take too long and they would be trapped sooner than later. But, the many moving pieces mounted on the gunwales allowed them to take out the majority of the indirect weapons, which would give them breathing room in the open ocean. If they could even those odds they might be able to out maneuver the big ship and its remaining cannons

Each set of howitzers was housed in a small dome of a building planted next to the side of the ship. He had seen the two near the front, and two at the end of the first level, near the middle of the ship, where the massive superstructure and supposed hub of operations was, and finally two he had not seen before resting at the end of the upperdeck. The men split up the best they could, with the short orders he had given them. Destroy and abandon ship. He went for the furthest one, hoping to use his lust for battle to carry him, but as he slide to a halt he saw Tashigi doing the same. Without much thought the Chief called out quickly. “Ma’am, Commodore Smoker has given us the abandon ship, we are to destroy the cannon controls and jump.” He looked at her for only a moment before taking off the opposite side of the ship now, intent and taking to the parallel cannons to her own.

River smashed his shoulder into the door, that wouldn’t budge, so like any good soldier he did it again and again, until he knew either his bones would break of the door wood. The thing flew off its hinges and into the control panel tucked away in the small space. Pushing its crumbled carcass aside River took that cutlass and smashed it into everything within reach, hoping to make it ineffective. Stepping out the doorway he looked once more at the deck, gazing for any last sign of his men’s blue bandanas. He had left the sword stuck in the machine, so all he had to defend himself with was his fists. In his last few moments aboard the slowly turning vessel, propelled by the churning water, a few rugged pirates decided it was time to shark attack him. The veteran put up his best effort, trying to push one off while he swung at another, making sure he kept an arm’s reach as he backed away as fast as he could without giving an opportunity to the punks. A set of brass knuckles connected to his nose, sending blood down his face and watering his eyes too bad to fight back. The next few seconds were full of blows, where he felt his ribs crack here and there, his foot smashed, and the uppercut to the chin. Wobbling backward he was certain to fall and become a dead man, until he left hand brushed wood. Latching on he knew it immediately, the gunwale. Despite himself he smiled and flung himself over backwards into the darkness.

The crisp water stung his wounds, as he resurfaced as grabbed onto the stone dock, after floating as far as the torrent would take him. His men were forming up on the pier behind him luckily, and a few reached in to pull him up. “Sir, all present and accounted for. 13 wounded, no dead.”

River tried to stand before falling to one knee, breathing heavily. He couldn’t help but smirk.

---

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[Tori Tori Chopper]

'Abandon ship? This must be more serious that I can see from here for Smoker to want to leave.'

Tashigi gave a moment to collect her tactics, even though Smoker wanted a full evacuation that must only mean that he has another plan up his sleeve once everyone was off, but much like what was running through her mind moments ago the Officer seemed to relay and order she was already following, seemed like she was becoming like Smoker more so than she had previously imagined. 'I'll leave you and the other men in charge of those two Cannons over there then, I've got this one.' She nodded at the departing Officer, still collecting her breath slightly to muster the strength in her advance despite her having such a wounded leg. She only had to move straight in and disable its controls according to smoker, but she had intended to do much more then that. 'What was it that the marines said on Smokers ship, something about leaving the hatch half open..' She began to mumble the instructions that Smokers vessel hands had previous warned her of as she aided in the cleaning of cannons, and in turn it gave her an idea on how to stop this cannon at least once and for all. It didn't take much of an effort for her, with the element of surprised and a small room to control the people who had previously fired the weapon at their former ship were caught completely off guard as they were preparing for their next target. Tashigi cleanly swiping through them then slamming her blade back into the ground as her leg gave away, as the multiple workers of the Ballistics crumpled to the floor from their injuries. From a quick look around the room as she moved her leg into a more comfortable position she saw the complex systems were quite out-classing that of your everyday triple-tubed vessel cannons. It was like looking at a map, something Tashigi had admitted was never really her strong point. Maybe she should just, stab everything first before going on with her plan? But this was like a prize possession of craftsmanship, as much as she wanted to destroy this in the name of justice is was like a valuable blade, to harm it may mean years before it could be remade!

'Tashigi, you're too soft on valuable things.' she grumbled to herself as she proceeding with option A, placing one of the limit caps into of the middle Cannon tube and shoving a cannon-ball right behind it with some effort. The systems around the cannon would take years to rebuild, though if she were to simply destroy the tube in which the weapon was fired, then it wouldn't be able to function and the time taken to rebuild someone's hard work would be reduced? Right? Holding the hatch to the tube and locking it only halfway she slammed down the convenient button which indicated the firing procedure, aiming the cannon right towards the inside of the ship before hobbling out the door and sliding back down the wall. How was she supposed to even moved with this damn leg holding her up every five steps? Its not l-

THUMP!

The damn Cannon exploding the tube out like a blossoming flower interrupted her train of thought, where was she.. -It wasn't like she could escape the vessel crawling towards the side of the boat, how was she going to jump from one boat to another or even swim with a wound like this? She couldn't even get the damn weapon out! She had to start trying none the less, the cannons around her proving to be a much more simple task for those without a conscience like she had, whole rooms which the controls for the cannons were house exploding around her as the marines followed their orders to the letter. She managed to get from one side of the ship to the other without much hassle, a few pirates and what-not running past her as half the time she was just laying there mustering her energy before moving on again. Her body was exhausted, it only took a prolonged battle way passed her limit and a moment of silence to realise that, and if she kept this up she wasn't going to be able to move at all. Grabbing some robe and attaching it to the ship she loaded the boarding cannon which was so nicely organised on the side, as expected of this neat and tidy prototype monster, she heaved herself onto the side of the ship and as she expected spotted Smokers vessel fighting the waves this thing was creating as it passed. She heard shouts behind her as obviously a woman sitting on the beams of the ship with her legs dangling over was a lot more noticeable than her laying on the ground, but they were already to late. Giving a quick tug on the rope to ensure it wouldn't break immediately she hooked her weapon over it as a grapple, sliding down as clangs and shots sounded behind her.

She only needed a moment on the rope to pick up the right speed, the pirates on the other end quickly cutting it loose in hopes that she would fall into the water, Tashigi adjusting herself as she began to swing towards the ship and quickly roll onto the deck with many of her recognisable marines rushing to her aid. she couldn't accurately answer one of them amongst their collective shouts for her safety and medical attention, she simply held her hand up then signalled with a thumb leaving the group to sigh in relief. With some help she was pulled back onto her feet, limping across the deck with her arm around a marines neck as the other huddles to take her orders. 'Keep close to the ship... Smoker shouldn't be far behind.' The group mumbled in confusion, were they planning on retreating? Something which much like herself Smokers men found absurd. 'We're going to pursue the damn ship and send it to the bottom of the sea, it's just going to take a little patience.' They saluted and smiled collectively amongst each other as their worst thoughts were just that, getting back to their stations and lining the ship up against the giant waves of the prototype. They sat her down, a medical marine in white and red moving to her aid and quickly yanking the dagger from its embedded position. Tashigi's teary eyes from the sudden pain still locked onto the side of that ship.

'Hope the others will make it out okay.'

[EriChar]

They stood in a circle around him; these cowardly Marine traitors and pirate scumbags seemed to be looking to one another, all waiting on someone else to make a move on Commodore Smoker. The commodore, at the centre of the circle, kept his eyes on them and he sucked air into his lungs, each of his breaths a small test in pain tolerance. At his feet were a several bodies, the last men who thought that they could take him, and the ones that he corrected by showing them that he couldn’t. After beginning his battle with this brigade of brigands, Smoker had heard words saying they could win if they tipped him overboard, and that was true. The problem lay in the journey of such a statement, not its destination.

Having had the tip of his jutte on the ground, the commodore raised it again and tapped the weapon on his shoulder, letting out a sigh.
“Which of you is gonna be the next ‘hero’?” Smoker asked, looking around them to see which of them would take up the challenge, if any. There were still a few dozen men around him, not a great deal considering his abilities, but the state he was in and the objective he held told the commodore not to go chasing them. Let them come to him. Several silent seconds passed by, before a quartet of them either out of pride or frustration tried to rush the commodore at once. Wrapping his wand around the face of the one closest to his front-right, Smoker eased their attacks through his body, their blows meeting with nothing but the wisp of a puffy cloud as they tried to strike him.
“Better luck next time…” the commodore said as his left arm snaked around a pair of them, wrapping their bodies in dense smoke before he whipped them away, sending them both back into the crowd they had come from. Then, as the final fighter of the current line up stood there, slack-jawed from what had just happened, Smoker gave him a hard nudge to the nose with the butt of his baton. The man sunk to the ground, clutching his face, and the commodore punted him away with the tip of his boot, leaving the number that surrounded him minus a few more.
Letting out a long sigh, Smoker rested his weight on his jutte again, and paused for the next people who were ‘feeling lucky’.

But none came. Only the sound of clicking heels as Smoker’s nemesis strutted through his men to face him.
“Ah, you’re putting on quite an entertaining show, commodore…” Arashio informed Smoker, giving him a slow, sarcastic clap.
“But you certainly don’t have the capability to take us and this battleship down by yourself. And I know you’re smart enough to see that.” The snake said with a smirk, sliding his glasses up with his fingertips in the arrogant way he did when he thought he had figured everything out.
“So, you’re just playing for time, letting your men escape, aren’t you commodore?”
Arashio asked with a played out shrug, apparently having observed enough to think that he had figured Smoker’s intent out.
“But rest assured, commodore. I have what I want. There is nothing in it for me to chase you down.” The pirate captain said smugly to Smoker, apparently he had recovered his composure after their little tussle on the platform earlier on. Probably feeling overconfident since Smoker’s own ship had failed to make any sort of dent on Arashio’s currently controlled prototype.
“Leave my ship now, and you have my word I won’t turn my guns on your vessel.” Arashio demanded, smirking in amusement, probably at giving a Marine Commodore an order.

THUMP!

As if on cue, Arashio’s overconfidence was betrayed, as the ship rocked from a massive explosion which Smoker could only assume it was River and his team disabling their guns.
“Looks like I don’t need the word of a piece of crap like you, pirate…” Smoker told Arashio with a grin, and swung his jutte into the pirates face while he rocked from the shock the explosion. Arashio rolled and regained his footing, hold his face and looking at Smoker with pure rage, his loss of face, both metaphorical and physical had suddenly riled the pirate captain up.
But before he had the chance to act on his intent, Smoker had exploded into a cloud again, his hazy body lifting from the deck of the prototype as he watched Arashio’s killer glare shrank away from him. While he wished that he had managed to stop the situation then and there, Smoker was satisfied for the time being to have rid the behemoth of its fangs, if only temporarily.

Exhausted, practically hanging out of his own back side, Smoker sunk back down onto the deck, but this time of his own ship. His troops rushing up to him, the commodore pushed them away to scan the bodies on the deck. Spotting both Tashigi and River, the commodore let out a small, tiny in fact, sight of relief. Practically using his jutte as a walking stick, Smoker waved off the medic that tried to swamp him and hobbled to the centre of his ship’s deck.
“You’ve done some good work so far, but our job isn’t over.” The commodore told his crewmen, setting his eyes on the distant outline of the prototype, sitting on the horizon.
“Get the injured off the ship, every able man or woman is coming with me…” Smoker said to the people around him, snatching a half-finished cigar from the ash tray on his deck table. He lit the stub of the stick and for the first time in what felt like weeks, drank the refreshing draught of his favourite smoke.
“We’ve got a ship to take back…” The commodore told his assembled crew, finally able to blow his thick smoke from his lips again. He wasn't about to leave a job half done...