An Ambition Lives On! Rookies In the Deep End!

[Tori Tori Chopper]

One would expect a tense atmosphere about a battleship filled with recruits, some barely finished with basic training placed onto a vessel with intent to carry out the justice they had signed up to exact.. Alas, the waves provided more of a disturbance to the peace than this quietly functioning crew, groups of marines friends who were friends since boot camp nestled into warm corners of the ships upper half, while new friendships through the mutual brotherhood bloomed as they reached their destination. The cold was evident to most, coming from all four corners of the world some had never even experienced a level of cold quite like the North, layered up in knee length trenchcoats and furred bomber jackets, huddling around any source of heat they could find when they weren't patrolling and operating the ship. The quiet ambience didn't matter when the distinct sound of high heels began to bounce about the deck, ears perking and bodies spinning into position as an elegant stride passed them with purpose, closely followed by more officially outfitted marines sporting symbolised justice on every bit of their attire. They quickly positioned themselves at the front of the hulking voyager, the feminine figure putting her weight to one side, clutching her handbag while she sternly looked outward towards the approaching island.

'Will we be ready to set up a base of operations at the docks?'

One of the two accompanied marines nodded, pointing out to sea.

'The ships there are presumably pirate affiliated, we'll lock it down.'
The second nodded and sounded a audible hum of acknowledgement.

'I'll set up a grid, we can blanket over the island with numbers and root them out.'

The woman turned, nodding to each before clearing her throat.

'I doubt we'll encounter difficult resistance, take the recru-'

'Snkcchhhhh!~'

All three froze, a moment of pure confusion wiping over their faces before turning to the source at the furthest front of the ship, there sat a typically dressed marine, arms folded and legs crossed leaning agaisnt the boat-edge, erupting the same kind of noise that had previously interrupted the conversation intermittently. The two accompanying marines went to take action, however being halted by the arms of their commanding officer. It on her part seemed to require next to no effort, motioning as if flicking something from her finger as a baton of sorts protruded from her fingers original position, and while not being in contact with the slumbering marine, his head as quick to smack agaisnt the ships frame, causing him to jolt awake. The victim gritted his teeth, hissing through them as his hand rushed to the minor injury. Looking with a half-asleep squint towards the culprit before slowly rising to his feet. The lack of urgency about him, followed by a long and drawn out yawn seemed to stir the Captains company even more so, though couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated as the man seemed to just get taller and taller before finally taking a fully upright stance, despite being in regards to rank, the bottom of the barrel.

'Captain Barton, Ma'am' Still rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he used his spare hand to gesture a loose salute, fair enough on the guy he was however in the most official stand to attention, despite showing next to no attention as to his company. Slowly coming to his senses, he surveyed the three ahead of him, quite confused as to why the who accompanying Miss Barton were in such a bad mood, while she maintained a fairly warm expression. He turned away from them, the island hardly minutes out from their position, looking back in the same swing of his shoulders and neck before zipping up his bomber jacket, adjusting the fur collar and sinking his hands into his pockets. For a reason unbeknownst to everyone but Maria, a polite and formal chuckle escaped her, gesturing the man to the innards of the boat. 'We'll be arriving shortly, Atlas, make sure you're ready at the front for when we set down.' He raised a brow, slowly registering her orders before giving a slight nod, casually walking around the trio towards the slowly gathering groups of marines. The short yet interesting event that had then subsided was apparently met with questioning. All three watching his back until he moved out of view. 'I don't see why you've been so easy on him, Captain.' She sighed, looking back to the island in constant approach, a small smirk appearing over her personal thoughts. 'Why tell a Soldier not to Drink.'

'When their sword will strike true all the same.'

[Jade]

The North Blue was much different than the West, that was for sure. It was, on the whole, as cold as it was made out to be - most of the stories young Lucy Verdure had once believed simply to be jests had proven true. But, still, even amongst the chilly waters, islands stood proud with all manner of hardy plant life growing from any available ground. Recalling the thoughts of coniferous trees bowing, but never breaking, under the weight of feet of snow was what helped Lucy get through the coldest of days... That, and her scarf, of course. At that thought, she tugged the comforting fabric back into place. The scarf had started to slip from her nose once again, and the number of reddened noses had drawn all the more attention to the fabric slipping down her own nose.

The brunette turned her head suddenly, avoiding the other recruits with her own gaze, to look out at their destination. Sedna Island was a name that any true plant-lover would know; the island had once been known, far and wide, for the beautiful winter flowers that had once grown there. Of course, that had been centuries ago, and that beautiful flower had been lost to time - replaced by the warped Daffodevil, a warped, weed version of the beautiful flower. It was even said that the inhabitants of the island's sour attitudes had been the cause of the warping, and it was most certainly a theory that Lucy put considerable stock into.

"Recruits!" a voice barked from the front of the ship. The stocky man who it belonged to stalked toward the group, his "JUSTICE"-emblazoned sleeves proudly displayed for all to see, as the recruits as a whole saluted the Lieutenant. Orson was a rather short man who fought with his fists and boasted that he once wrestled a walrus into submission while wearing nothing more than a speedo - a mental image that very few people wanted to imagine. That story was also a cause for many jokes, the young gardener-turned-Marine knew; many of the other Seaman Recruits liked to joke that the man, with his great, silvery walrus mustache, had mistaken his own reflection for a big, blubbery beast and simply wrestled a mirror. However mean the joke was, Lucy had a sneaking suspicion that it may have been closer to the truth than Orson's own boasting. "We're going to be disembarking here in the next few minutes, so I want the lot of you ready to go! For many of you, this will be your first official mission as Marines, so I want to see your best foot forward today!" As the man drew closer and the majority of the other recruits fell into more relaxed poses, Lucy once again pulled up on her scarf - though it was just her imagine, it felt like the Lieutenant was staring and directing each and every word at her, and standing in such close proximity to so many other people in conjunction to that made her whole face turn red.

"Our mission today is going to be a simple one, but it is important that each and every one of you do the absolute best you can do!" In truth, he was perhaps being a little louder than necessary, but it was part of the whole officer persona, to the best of anyones' knowledge. "The ships you see in the port there are believed to belong to several pirate crews - our job today is to get the docks on lockdown and sniff those pirates out! Sedna Island has, for too long, been a hub of pirate activity in the North Blue. Feel privileged, recruits! You're a part of a legendary day in the history of these waters - the day Sedna Island was brought, fully, under the law of this world, once and for all!"

Too much zeal, Lucy thought to herself, her eyes sliding off to the side, over the edge of the boat. Of course, even when she was part of the group, she had managed to distance herself. She loathed being in the center of a crowd, her short time in the Marines had proven, and so she usually took her place along the outskirts of them - preferably in the back, too. And not enough information. He's trying to get us all excited, but the talk has been that this is just a simple mission. Just clear out the pirates, work in groups, don't get separated. We know all of this already... Lucy's eyes dropped, finding sudden interest in her uniform's shoes, as she waited for the end of Orson's speech, which quickly dragged on longer than the attention span of even the most attentive recruit.

Fortunately enough, the speech was cut off by the boat's sudden arrival at the harbor. The other officer accompanying them, Commander Valdez, was a tall, willowy man - the opposite of Lieutenant Orson in all respects. Where Orson was loud and boastful, Commander Valdez was quiet and humble; where Orson was most likely just hot air, Valdez had proven that he was a man who commanded the respect of the recruits. Their Captain had seemingly vanished momentarily, but there was Valdez, with "JUSTICE" written on the back of his jacket, letting the anchor down into the water to keep the Marine vessel in place. "Seamen Recruits! Disembark, and begin spreading out! Keep in pairs, and root these pirates out so that we can quickly deal with them!" Valdez barked, startling even Orson. Plain and simple, the taller man so rarely spoke, let alone issued orders with such authority, that is was easy to forget how commanding his voice could be.

With that, Lucy and another recruit, whose name she recalled as being Jorge, quickly let the gangplank down, and were even more quickly swept up in the tide of Marine recruits marching down onto the docks of Sedna Town's harbor.

[Tori Tori Chopper]

'I'll stick with you Heracles!~'
A Backpacked marine, quite small in stature beamed.

'Captain wants me straight to the town center, you sure?'

Unlike his chasing shadow, Atlas weaving through the initial marine tide.

'Super sure! I'll lead!'

The lad, when standing beside Atlas was literally half his size.

He had however praised him since boot camp, one of the rare faces that Atlas had recognised since leaving his training regiment, while there he had gathered an unwanted level of attention.. Becoming a bit of a poster bot within the group for his natural charisma and strength, while also a running gag for one not exactly in-tune with strategy and smarts past pure instinct. It did however give him a head start in regards to brownie points within B-1, officials within the base already taking notes of his apparent potential. And because of such attention, becoming the point of the arrow that slowly elapsed over the white coated town, or at least part of the point as his rifle sporting friend hopped along buckles 'n large backpack bouncing with every stride. As per prior request of the Captain, with the mapping of the town and the locations of its pirate activity, Atlas was tasked with tackling the intel supposed town centre. Riddled with acclaimed northern taverns in a tight knit urban jungle or sorts, the term used as lightly as possible when affiliated to such a small and unpopulated area. Regardless, up close and personal in confined areas was Atlas' forte, the grand city of Skyros making any inhabitant consider every ally and rooftop as if second nature.

'Intel said there could be at least five crews here, we're talking a couple hundred pirates!' Chirped the accessory sporting marine accomplice once more, reaching a point in the town where groups began to stretch out and tackle the houses or streets ahead of them. 'The ships weren't very personalised, huh Ratchet?' Atlas' arguably still sleepy grizzled tone still perked the smaller marines ears beside him, known to the group as Ratchet, and as far as marines go a little too excited nearly all the time. 'Right? Its strange to see such inexperienced pirates in the North. Should make it easy though eh?' To see such a little guy so eager to rush into action always brought a smile to Atlas, he wouldn't have lasted two minutes where he came from, yet his smarts and passion would've had him off the streets and in the highest towers of the city just as fast. It did however raise suspicion, villages and its people within the North were as tough as nails, small time pirates never lasted long around this blue for just that, you'd need someone with some level of talent to get a smithing town to stand down.. Even on that note, a quick glance down the alleys that they slowly passed tallied the total number of villagers spotted still at a total zero.

'Why would they hide if the pirates dont even occupy the whole town.' There was nothing showing that they had left the island either, resulting in the conundrum that hundreds of townspeople had vanished off the streets against a threat that, even half way down the central road, hadn't even peeked at the slowly eclipsing marine force. The sigh that spun out of Atlas' mouth came like a puff of smoke in the cold, winding off with each exhale as he leaned back and forth to check all the nooks this place had to offer. The fires from the smithies still burned, the lights from the houses dimmed but were evident.. Was all this intel just a giant hoax? 'Gettin' a bad feeling about this Ratchet.' He nodded in agreement, rubbing his chin as he skimmed over a small paper previously folded multiple times, a layout of the town upon a glance. 'If they're gonna be anywhere its the centre of town, its the entertainment hub.' He whipped out a DenDen from one of the many pockets of his massive backpack, beginning to yammer into it about positions and current contacts, suggested actions.. All a foreign language to Atlas, though hardly the focus of his attention as the road opened out to a cobble circular space and tavern signs littering its outline.

He tensed, taking a bit of a stance which had Ratchet and those behind him slowly come to a halt, a single half dressed man sporting a bottle in each hand stumbled from one side of the center to the next, stopping dead in the middle beside a landmarked fountain and statue to turn to the group that slowly built up at one entrance. He leaned forward, squinting to focus his vision before blurting into laughter, lifting his bottles into the air and smacking them together as if sounding the dinner bell. 'We finally got company guys! Come one come all!' As if a town crier summoning his gang, pirates of all different shapes and sizes, sporting weapons and marks of different Captains and styles rallied to the call.. But much to Atlas' disappointment, hardly as many as desired. The marines around him, even Ratchet stood to combat, though once again confused as their leading man seemed to be playing opposites with them, returning to a casual standing as he held up an open hand.

'If anymore show up, cover me, otherwise..' Apparently he didn't feel the need to finish the sentence, sinking his hands into his pockets as he casually walked towards the laughing group who sized him up, meanwhile marines on his back who didn't know who he even was stirred in confusion and even annoyance that a rookie was looking to make a name for himself through stupid acts such as fighting outnumbered.. The valiant fighter however had reason, something which Ratchet was more than ready to divulge. 'He may not look it, but the guys got more grit than you all combined!' As if hyping up a gladiator in the ring, he pointed to the bomber jacket sporting recruit suited man as he cracked his neck and shuffled his shoulders, as if gesturing to the symbol of Justice on his back. 'No point wasting energy on something he can handle himself! just be ready to back him up!' And so Ratchet did as he suggested, readying his rifle and scanning the surroundings, as almost instantly one of the handful of enemies that previously grouped ahead of them came spiraling to the ground just in front of them, a clean knuckle dent pressed into one cheek, pupils nowhere to be seen.

'Heheh! Told ya~!'

[Jade]

As the other Marines marched off to complete their assignment, a handful remained near the ship... But even those few others, Lucy realized with a start, were beginning to make their way further inland, and now she stuck out like a sore thumb - the only Marine left standing near the ship. Sure, there were a few others standing guard, but those guys were on the ship still. At least the officers have all already gone on ahead... Maybe I can just sneak back up on board the ship... the young plant aficionado thought, closing her eyes and burying her face in the comforting fabric around her neck.

"Seaman Recruit Verdure." 

Lucy's eyes opened wide at the sound of the Captain Maria Barton's voice, and then her whole body went stiff, standing at attention. "Captain! I was just, I just... I'm sorry, ma'am!" The young woman quivered in fear from being discovered, and her face went beet red from being in such close proximity to her someone who commanded so much respect. "The others all left the docks before I could get swept up in a group..."

Ms. Verdure opened her eyes slowly to observe the older woman in front of her. Captain Barton didn't look at all angry, which was a relief; instead, she stood rather casually, with one hand on her hip and the other holding the strap of her purse, smiling a little bit at the Seaman Recruit. "Verdure, don't work yourself into a lather. This is your first mission as a full-fledged Marine, is it not? I can still remember my first mission..." The older woman's smile widened as she took a few steps away from Lucy, who watched her intently. "I know that you're not quite the type to go in, guns blazing. But I also know that you will not disobey orders because of your caution, and I give you my word that this job will not put you in the way of harm. So! Seaman Recruit! Your orders," the Captain once again turned, standing stiff and looking down at Lucy, with her head tilted back a bit, "are to enter the heart of the town! Meet up with your fellow Seaman Recruit, Atlas, and support him. And... Make sure he doesn't do anything too reckless for me."

The young Marine blinked a few times before seeming to realize that that was the extent of the orders being handed down to her - the sudden realization of her delay made her face flush all the harder before her hand went back up to salute the Captain. "Yes ma'am! I-I'll do my best!" Ms. Verdure took off at a sprint in the direction Atlas had, just a moment before, gone, and was soon lost to the sight of Captain Barton.

"Commander Valdez."

The officer seemed to appear from thin air - for such a tall man, he had a way of making himself meld into the shadows when it was needed. "Captain Barton. I'll save my breath as to what I think about your treatment of these Recruits, but about the mission... There may be some complications."

---

The brawl was in full-swing by the time Lucy arrived on the scene. A smaller Recruit seemed to be holding a larger group of Marines back as the incredibly tall Atlas, who she had been sent to assist, pummeled a group of men who she could only assume were some of the pirates they had arrived here to subdue. Neither party seemed to notice the new arrival, fortunately enough for her, but she was also the only one to notice something that the rest of these people did not - another group of people making their way, slowly, toward their groups from an off-shoot road. The gardener tilted her head, trying to make heads or tails of them... Well, they don't seem to be carrying any weaponry, and some of them appear to be older than this group of pirates... They also seem to be dressed rather dully, and they don't look all too happy. Could these be civilians?

Eager to prove her worth through something potentially non-violent, Lucy slunk around the group of her fellow Marines, doing her best to ignore the sounds of Atlas's fists meeting skin, and then jogged over to meet the slowly-moving, angry-looking maybe-civilians. The short, stout, balding man who was at the front of the group scrunched up his eyebrows at the sight of her, but something was weird about his eyes - they seemed out of focus. In fact... They all seem out of focus. What happened to them?

"Oi, ya damn Marine!" The man's vulgar tone and word choice brought Lucy to a halt, and prompted the scarf to be readjusted around her face. "You and yer damn Marine friends are interruptin' our party!"

... Party?

[Tori Tori Chopper]

'Tch..'

The towering boxer took down his final foe, the fact that they were ridiculously drunk made it a lot easier to fight them but at the same time near impossible to take down, landing strikes that they'd definitely feel when they woke up. He massaged his hands, not being in the best form in the little sparring match, leaving an uncomfortable ache on his knuckles.. In his defence only moments prior, he had been jolted awake and told to invade a small town. None the less the surprisingly little resistance had been for the moment thwarted, the small group mumbling and groaning amongst themselves in drunken slur as cuffs were slapped onto them by the slowly enlarging marine presence in the square. A ritual of knuckle cracking signaled his victory, besides the small fanfare Ratchet had single handedly carried out like some sort of fanboy, getting at least an awkward smile out of Atlas as he jumped around chanting his name. 'Come on, that was easy.. Stop being so hyped about it.' He would've continued, though the approaching squads tugged at his curiosity. They must've met as little resistance as he and his handful had, having a few questionable individuals cuffed alongside stereotypical pirate figures, all under the same influence though it seemed.

'Clear on the west side, big guy.'

'East sides kosher too, Ratchet around?'

'I'll patch it through!'

His hopping small figure picking him out from the slowly enlarging marine crowd, kneeling down alongside his backpack to reveal a fairly large denden hidden away in the larger compartment of his apparel, taking to the receiver with the squads collective updates. The two leading hotshots of the other groups seemed to huddle in one respective circle with Atlas, as if without official higher ranking present they were the ones in charge of those lower down the figurative recruit food chain. Though admittedly Atlas didn't actually know their names yet, they were held in high regard by the majority. They began to talk amongst themselves about their findings, though to Atlas it simply became a ambient muffled tone, nodding occasionally when he was addressed.. But ultimately diverting his attention to an individual seemingly sticking out from the crowd, shuffling about the horde as if knowingly late but trying to make it look obvious. This however didn't work in the girls favor, at least for Atlas, observing the strays one side must've missed in their assessment of the area.

'Oioi...' His hands and sunken back into his pockets, standing slightly to his marines side, though as intended playing the intimidating factor beside his scarf concealing colleague. The villagers looked ready to bark his way too, though their glance first had to scale his height, then bare witness to the eerie shadow which consumed the top part of his features, as if a sharp glint of light gleamed where his one eye would usually be visible. They flinched, but nothing more, seemingly not as intimidated as Atlas initially hoped for.. None the less continuing his inquiry. 'Typical marines! Waltzing around where 'ya not invited and messin' up a good time!' Atlas was seemingly unaware of his colleagues personal space, leaning over to make a more eye-level conversation with the verbally bashing man, arching over her shoulder in the process. 'Some party, there's hardly any of you here.'

'We're starting the after party early! the main events still goin' on!'

'Eeeh.. Sounds like you just weren't invited..' 

'Bull! We left early to spread the festivity!'

'We had civilians saying the same thing.'

One of the prior titled 'hotshots' intervened, a seemingly unamused tone when he said so, he had probably told this to Atlas already, making it clear the guy wasn't paying attention up until the moment of his absence. 'Something about a massive celebration in the north-most side of town.' The townspeople, previously angry featured and scowling, suddenly uplifted at the sound of it, bearing massive grins to one another before humming and dancing around. 'Yea! The big party! Maybe we left too early after all! Lets head back!' The mans suddenly uplifted tone was met with a hurrah of approval, singing in unison and arms wrapped around one another shoulders as the wobbled up the northernmost road from the town square. The whole situation caused Atlas to scratch at his head, turning to realise he was near touching cheeks with this woman at this point, moving his finger to the top of his cheek as he leaned back away from her with a forgiving grin. 'Sorry, caught up in the moment.' He let out a chuckle, hardly embarrassed by the situation, more for her if anything. 'The hell are they throwing a party for, did the pirates even try to attack the town?' Ponderings were met with shrugs and murmurs of confusion, a unique and pitched voice sparking attention amongst the masses, the backpack alone seen shuffling through the ranks.

'Valdez says to hold position! New intel's come up, change 'o plan!' The mystery shrouding the whole incident, followed by a oddity of an order had Atlas evidently a little frustrated. 'If we sit around those guys'll let whoevers at that gathering know we're here.' The commanding tone from Atlas was rare, Ratchets happy advance suddenly halted with a notable shiver down his spine. 'D-Don't shoot the messenger Heracles!' Nothing short of a growl emitted from the tall recruit, looking off to the small party who happily strolled out of sight. 'We have move, now, catch them unawares.' The group seemed hesitant, not ready to disobey a direct order, but at the same time from hearing of Atlas' potential, hardly ready to say no to him either. The glances away from him when he tried to lock eyes with one brother to the next were all he needed to see. 'Fine, I'll do it myself, catch up when Valdez gets here.' He had something to prove, his intentions were hardly maleficent but there wasn't enough respect amongst him yet to have the masses following one of their own like that.. Except one. No words were said about it, not even between the lone soldier becoming two, but the backpacked small marine followed, hoisting his stuff over his shoulder and clutching his rifle.

He had earned Ratchets respect long before.

[Jade]

Seemingly the only female Marine in the group stood, frozen, barely able to comprehend a thing that was going on around her - she was too busy being focused on the fact that he was so... So... Close! Lucy stood stock-still, face flushed, too terrified by the proximity at which Atlas was, cheek-to-cheek, to pay close attention what was being said around her. A few key words made it through to Miss Verdure, such as "party", "north-east", "party" again... And then those civilians were practically running back the way they had come, disappearing from view faster than Lucy thought possible. And then she blinked, suddenly aware that the far larger Seaman Recruit had backed off and apologized.

"Oh, n-no, it's alright, I just-"

"Valdez says to hold position! New intel's come up, change 'o plan!"

Lucy turned her head at the smaller boy's comment. Funny; she couldn't quite place him, although his face did look familiar... As she went through her mental filing cabinet, however, trying to place him, decisions were being made, and it was shortly after she placed him as Seaman Recruit Ratchet, the apparent brains to Atlas' brawn, that the young woman realized that the man she was supposed to be keeping an eye on as her special assignment from Captain Barton was doing something exceedingly reckless.

"... H-hey! Wait for me!" The little crowd of Marines around her all stared in shock at the girl who so rarely talked, and a few were almost knocked off their feet in surprise as she pushed past them, sprinting to catch up to Atlas and Ratchet. The expended energy was almost not worth it, as she caught up to the pair in no time, but... Orders were orders, and the brunette did not want to let her Captain down. "Atlas! Ratchet! I..." she blushed suddenly, tugging on her scarf until it was safely secured over her nose, "the Captain ordered me to stick with you, and to, um, keep you from doing anything too reckless... Maybe we should go back, wait until one of the officers comes back and gives us new orders...?" Some of her words were muffled by the fabric in front of her face, but it mattered little to the flustered young woman, who was just proud that she had gotten all of that information out of her mouth without too much of a hassle.

Her words changed nothing, of course. It wasn't long before the trio stood on the outskirts of that big party those civilians were talking about before - a huge crowd of them, all gathered around a large, rectangular stage set up in the middle of a massive plaza. A single woman stood upon the stage, jamming out on an incredibly bizarre-looking guitar, playing a song Lucy couldn't place. There's something strange about all of this... Why can't I put my finger on it?

"Citizens of Sedna Island... Are you ready to call it a night~?!"

"No!"

"Haha, I didn't think so~! But don'tchya worry, the Rockstar's got you all covered, all night long~!"

The woman on the stage, apparently known simply as the Rockstar, suddenly flipped her head of dark purple hair forward, and then flipped it right on back. Bizarre tattoo's could be made out, even from so far away, on her face - heavy black-outlined stars underneath her closed eyes, and full sleeves of colorful tattoo's down each other her arms. The leather jacket she wore had had its sleeves ripped off, but at least it matched the skinny pants she was wearing - the pink crop top was more of an eyesore than anything, at least as far as Lucy was concerned.

Forgetting her mission yet again, the fledgling Marine looked around the plaza, attempting to figure out just what it was that was bothering her so much. The civilians just appeared to be having a good time, enjoying a one-man rock show... Surely this couldn't be too big of a problem, could it? But, still, it seemed strange that anyone would forget that there were so many pirates on their home island... Lucina continued to scan the crowd, looking at all the smiling, rather vacant faces... And then her eyes noticed a crack in the crowd, where the pavement under their feet had cracked, allowing a nasty-looking weed to surface. The plant itself, of course, was utterly trampled, but it was just the thing to finally put the pieces together in her mind.

"... Daffodevils! They were once beautiful winter flowers, but the peoples' sour nature warped it into a horrible weed!" Miss Verdure suddenly, and quite loudly, exclaimed. "The people of this island would never behave like this! They're hostile toward anyone who isn't from around here!"

[Tori Tori Chopper]

'Flowers eh?'

'Good eye, Verdure!~'

Atlas hadn't even noticed she was around by the looks of it, her reputation of for all purposes not having a reputation in some odd fashion preceded her. Where Atlas glanced down at the brainstorming woman, Ratchet has been seemingly blushing from her presence the entire time, The fact that his smaller accomplice was red in the face and flustered in the vicinity of a certain woman was something more worth taking advantage of in the moment than that of the important information their new company had inputted. He squinted his eyes towards his techie accomplice, pointing towards Lucy with a raised brow and a grin, leaving Ratchet himself to double take on his expression before blubbering into intangible reasonings.

'F-Focus on the solo mission you've sent us on you ass!' The towering marine let out a hearty chuckle, carrying that grin over to his newest follower. 'Got that from the fauna? What an odd perspective.' He folded his arms, looking onto the festivities like a fly on the wall, slightly confused as to why his initial sore thumb approach to the opposition through simply standing out in plain sight to get their attention wasn't actually working. '... You sure they ain't just having a good time after all? Maybe they're just stupid and didn't realise they were pirates.' The small figured seemed to jump in a comedically high fashion soley to have an overhead swing at Atlas, clunking him over the head to curse at him mid-air before landing. 'Didn't you hear Verdure! These people are all sour grapes!'

'Urgh! what do grapes have to do with it?'

'Blockhead! Verdure knows all about flowers and fauna!'

'S-So?!'

'So the townsfolk are obviously not in their right mind!'

'... Still don't know what this has to do with grapes..' He chuckled, not dense enough to let a figure of speech be that far from his grasp.. Regardless, seeing the flustered and angry look on the backpacked marines face was worth sounding like a complete imbecile, happily laughing to himself as Ratchet lightly bowed to their third wheel. 'I'm sorry for his stupidity.' His humor however quickly subsided, wiping a tear from his eye before taking a more serious perspective to the situation, eyeing down the main contender center stage as her hair swirled around like some sort of windmill. A lack of control washed over him for just a moment, clicking his fingers and tapping his foot to the beat that danced its way through the secondary plaza, whether he was too oblivious for it fully sink in, or simply not his taste of music was something he wasn't interested in pondering over, but the momentary sense of unwillingness notably continued to weave and sway around him.

'You guys getting this?' He tilted his head to the two, audibly sighing to the sight of the think-tank behind his solo endeavour jiggling to the music with a cheerful look on his face. 'Yea! This music's pretty good!' Atlas pressed a hand to his face, shaking his head before seeing the opportunity it had provided. 'Oi, flower.. Lady.' Her name had already escaped him. 'Could you keep an eye on him? Commands bound to radio in soon, let 'em know I'm going in for a closer look.' He motioned a loose salute, more as a farewell and tanks than anything formal or rank worthy. He undid his tie, rolled his sleeve to obscure the marine symbolism, and clipped his hat onto his belt, lower his head and sinking his hands into his pockets before attempting to blend in with the dancing crowd.

The stage was one thing, taking up the majority of the large open space at the edge of town, but it had no back, simply a raised platform coated in light and festivities, what lay beyond it was a slightly towering building comparison to the smaller rural houses. The sign plastered on the front spoke for itself, a traditional bar of sorts that seemed to not only be the hub of the party besides the performance, but also a great place to take command of if looking to control the island.. If pirates were going to be anywhere, it was there.

As usual, Atlas' attempt to go incognito, or even formulate a half-decent plan came with its hiccups, the closer he got to the music's source, the more he felt his body slow, his serious thoughts clouded with the urge to dance and drink.. With each significant vibe that erupted from the player's instrument his muscles tensed unwillingly, as if fighting agaisnt his premeditated path. Was it a devil fruit? He had only heard of them in training, powers of unfathomable properties matched the calibre shown here. Was he simply overthinking it? The music was arguably too obnoxious to put together any real train of thought, it didn't help that these obnoxious dancers yelled and cheered, nothing more than moving obstacles.

BLUNK!~

'Hm?'

He paused from the awkward guitar note, expecting the townsfolk to move aside as they did prior, but they had ground to a halt, all looking towards him like some sort of alien to their party, blank stares all around had the daunting marine glaring down every one of them. Though amongst the sudden silence came a maniacal laugh, the recruits eyes darting to the stage to see another set of more lively eyes playing a very weak chord over and over again with a sinister grin. 'Looks like we got a party crasher.. What's wrong tough guy? Don't like a little Rock 'n Roll?' She stopped playing, they stopped moving, this much was obvious of any music, you weren't exactly going to keep dancing after the performer had so suddenly ground to a halt, but the expressions were obvious even to Atlas. It wasn't like she had stopped, but simply changed the mood entirely with her music, quickly looking over to his previous company to notice even Ratchet had the same stale look on his face... Targeting one of his compadres was gonna hit a nerve. 'I'm gonna have to break that guitar over your face, huh?' The cocky tone resided, despite being vastly outnumbered and in the thick of it all, it made the rockstars laugh even louder in volume and consistency. 'A little man with something to prove huh? I think your music style is a little more metal, eh?!' She screamed, like a tiger intimidating her prey, fingers going into a flurry as the atmosphere changed instantly.

The music was heavy, thunderous and pitched, the emotions of the townsfolk morphing into scowls and wide eye'd cheek to cheek grins. 'For my next performance! I'd like a little more action from the crowd!' her fingers were nearly invisible, playing the intricate piece with only one hand as she pointed to Atlas with her tongue dangling from her mouth

'Mosh pit!'

Atlas was consumed, swinging in all directions as he was lost from view, while away from the more induced influence, a Ratchet growled and lightly banged his head to the more aggressive music that pulsated about the plaza, completely ignorant to the voice that shouted from his back, the large Den Den that was strapped to his apparel sporting a lazy but serious expression, mimicking the properties of its sender. 'Seaman Ratchet! Give me a Sit-rep! The townspeople around the squad have gone berserk! Have you and Atlas found anything!' The shouting continued at the music played, a dog pile that had submerged Atlas became an impressive sight as bodies launched in every direction from his position, revealing torn clothes and a bloody nosed marine standing strong with a glare to match. 'That all you got?!' The surrounding civilians obliged, atlas trying his best to not hurt them, simply throw them from one place to the next before he was once again coated in bodies.

'Atlas! Ratchet! Anyone respond immediately!'

[Jade]

Lucy was completely oblivious to Ratchet's embarrassment at her presence, or Atlas's teasing of the smallest of the three Marines present. But she was very affected by the praise shot her way, prompting the scarf to be quickly pulled up almost past her eyes. "I-it's flora, actually... Fauna refers to animals, flora is plants..." the gardner mumbled, setting her sights across the crowd. Her new mission was one she was completely comfortable with, as Atlas started to wade through the crowd to get closer to the stage - staying back and out of the way was more the young woman's speed.

But things quickly seemed to go wrong. The woman noticed Atlas almost immediately - he was a little hard to miss, after all - and then... Then the music changed. It had gone from simply festive to outright violent, from grating to... Well. Still grating and annoying. Miss Verdure frowned and clamped her hands over her ears, doing what she could to block out the overbearing music. She turned to ask the smaller Marine beside her if they could relocate to someplace a little quieter when she noticed that he was... ... That's the same vacant expression that civilian had... And... All of these people, actually. What is going on here?

The Den Den Mushi on his backpack was going wild. As Ratchet started off, converging on Atlas like the rest of the partiers, Lucy snatched the snail and sat down in the corner. "Commander Valdez! This is Seaman Recruit Verdure. There's... A, um, there's a party going on here. But it isn't a normal party? It's kind of... Kind of like all the townsfolk are being controlled by the music, as far as I can tell. Seaman Recruit Ratchet has also been affected by it..."

The snail stared at her blankly. Its eyes shifted left, and then right, before staring straight at Lucy once more. The voice was different this time, though. "Verdure! This is Captain Barton. Do what you can to snap Ratchet out of whatever state he's in and do what you can to support Atlas! I've already dispatched Valdez and Orson - hold your position, and don't do anything reckless, okay? If what you just described is what is actually happening, then the situation may be different than we thought."

Lucy nodded, placing the speaker back on the shell. The snail continued to talk, but the young recruit was too busy focusing on the situation. Orders were orders, and she had to help Atlas and Ratchet... She glanced around the crowd, looking for anything she could do. There were so many people, though, and she had already lost sight of Ratchet amongst the crowd... She wouldn't be able to just head in there and pull them out, even if that didn't mean getting surrounded by however many people were in that crowd. She frowned, biting down on her lower lip - there had to be some other solution... If they are being affected by the music... Her brown eyes locked on the gaudy "rockstar" up on the stage. It was the only thing she could really do at this point; there were too many people in the crowd, but there was only one person up on the stage. But... The young Marine could've slapped herself. She hadn't brought the rifle with her! She hadn't even brought a sword! The two standard-issue weapons were both sitting back on the ship, along with the rest of her few belongings, too far away to be of any help here...

---

"Haha, now this is a party!" the Rockstar commented, shouting over her own music. And then a rock landed in front of her feet. The musician raised an eyebrow at that, but her attention soon locked back on Atlas as he struggled with the crowd converging upon him. The next rock was a little harder to ignore, as it planted itself solidly in between the strings of her guitar with a solid thunk. The music suddenly came to a halt at that, the Rockstar pulling the rock out from the strings as her audience slowly started to come out of their trance. "Hey now! Watch where you're throwing things, you idiots!" The music quickly resumed, pounding and screeching the audience back under her control.

Lucy frowned, picking up another rock. Well... That pretty much confirms that its the music. But how to stop it from here? I can't keep throwing rocks...

[Tori Tori Chopper]

'Stop hitting me you jerk!'

'Stop biting my arm?!'

'Young whipper snapper!'

'Don't make me topple you old man!'

'I'm a youthful spirit!'

'URGH!' The constant barrage of futile attacks had him at full tanks, the rage compiled from a pain akin to being stung thousands of times over as opposed to any real threat, still.. they were on his final nerve. A larger man in close vicinity screamed, his entire face clasped in Atlas' giant hand, and with a steady heave and a body posture to aid in momentum, the man was off the ground on moments. A flailing set of legs had those stupid enough to stay in range sent plummeting to the ground from their fellow villagers body parts, others taking a step back until the poor man was released like a bowling ball into living pins that crumpled under his weight. The effect was brutal but required, the moment of clarity created had his eyes piercing daggers at all he set them upon, and where he expected a dull response before another round, the masses looked terrified. His heart sank, the small yet significant moral code he had for himself tugged at from the innocents he had to bulldoze through just to survive. It was in that moment he jerked his vision the enemy number one, his anger had reverted to just his own for the now obvious reason, though arguably the realisation that the music had been manipulating him even in the slightest sent that slightly more calmed mentality down in flames.

'You.' 

His glance didn't even waver, his brows furrowing as he tightened his bruised fists, power walking through the masses who slowly regained a sense of bewilderment and attitude adjustment as the music began anew, though their attempts to apprehend the heavy handed marine were too little and too few. Thrown aside like rag dolls without numbers, clutches and fists were dodged and pushed aside as the Boxer remained locked onto his target. He launched a fatter man agaisnt the side of the stage, using his body to quickly pace himself over the heightened terrain before winding back his dominant right hand in a slightly swivelled body stance as the guitar played narrowly avoided another projectile aimed towards her instrument, only to look off to the side in a half element of confusion and terror at the opponent from her perspective blinked from the masses to point blank range of her. The swing itself carried enough gusto to ripple the platform they were stood upon, or at least the foot he set down ahead of him to swing like a baseball pitcher did anyway. The fist was narrowly dodged also, a lucky musician indeed, Atlas being taken back slightly as she rammed the neck of her guitar into his gut.. though the rigid stance he structured for his decimating swing had him not even flinching from the impact.

'Heheh.. Little heavy metal for the bottom of the barrel, huh big guy?'

'Don't worry, I'm working on it.'

'Yea? Well work on this!' She flicked a dial to maximum and blasted down the strings in a hand motion too fast for Atlas to even react to, the volume amplification putting the massive woofers on the stage into overdrive for a single chord, the shock-wave enough to send Atlas off his footing and defenceless for the roundhouse guitar that came rotary blading into his face from the Rockstar's quick heel spin. She however never went full circle, quickly halted in her tracks with a surprised widening of her eyes, her cocky grin turned to death-stare as she tried to wiggle her weapon of choice out of the boxers claw of a hand halting the guitar bodies momentum agaisnt his cheekbone. Atlas couldn't help but chuckle, weight and power always being his upper hand over the brains that had opposed him in the past, still.. even he knew he had to stop her from plucking a single string or else the confused and dazed masses below would begin anew. A quick jerk had the guitar thrust behind him and the target sent stumbling towards him by her guitar strap. A quick slight of hand had them in a rather interesting situation, Atlas' height enough to send the woman off the ground and flailing as he wrapped his arms underneath hers with his hands behind her head in a hold that left her cursing and wiggling about in his clutches.

'Ratchet! Shoot the strings!'

'W-What?! No! Shoot this idiot! He's crashing my gig!'

A rouge element came about from the smallest marine and least threat of the bunch, he had already taken aim with his weapon once the music has stopped, shaking on the spot but his hands being remarkably steady to aim with the most precision possible. But he was hesitating, despite the stalemate that was occurring on the stage there was an inkling of uncertainty in his actions.. what exactly was he aiming at? The pause had both the possible targets worried at his choice, but Atlas sadly knew of his allies willpower, he didn't have time to put trust in his only friend on the force. 'Freaking... V-Verdure right? He's out of it! Take the gun! Stick one in this stupid thing!' Their enemies flailing continued, to not much avail, sadly the lingering atmosphere left a single command in the brain-dead audience that surrounded them. Despite the music halting entirely, the people of the village still had one target in mind that they stumbled over each other to try and get back to. Atlas was running out of time, and the Rockstar who slowly began to laugh in a quite maniacal fashion knew that full well.

'Yea, Ratchet! Fire! Kill him and the party will last forever!'

'Dammit Ratchet snap out of it!'

The brainy marine pulled back the hammer of his rifle, and squinted his eye.

[Jade]

Lucy clutched the small stack of rocks to her chest. If she didn't act, it was entirely likely that the spellbound Marine would shoot Atlas... But, on the other hand, there was the chance that he would shoot the guitar or the woman instead! But it was even more likely that the gun simply wouldn't meet its mark - the rifles weren't exactly accurate. But hesitation wasn't an option, not now! A fellow Marine's life was on the line!

The sound of a rifle being fired was what snapped Lucy out of it. She shook her head in disbelief at herself, dropping the rocks as she pulled the scarf around her neck up past her eyes, terrified to look up at the world around her. Oh no no no, Lucy, you idiot... Ratchet probably just shot Atlas, and I could have done something! Oh no, I'll never be able to live with myself...! I'll have to write a letter to Atlas's parents, and what will I say! 'Your son was a very large, very gung-ho man, and he died giving his life on the battlefield, in the name of justice'... Yeah, yeah, that sounds good so far...

After a moment, Lucy peeked up over the comforting fabric of her scarf. What she saw was... Nothing had changed. The shot had simply missed, and there was Atlas, still wrestling with the musician for her instrument, and Ratchet was dropping his rifle, still looking a little shaken up. The young gardener sighed, relieved, and mentally ditched the half-written letter she had just been working on. "Atlas! Hold on, I'll get you help somehow-!"

The young woman moved forward, running toward Ratchet and pulling the rifle from his hands, repeating "sorry, sorry" an absolutely ridiculous number of times as she pushed through people and took the firearm. She turned her back to him, lifting the rifle and pointing it at the woman's guitar. "Atlas! Please hold her still for a minute longer!"

Just as she had lined up the shot as best she could, before she could fire, she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. Lucy gulped, shaking, as she turned around, only to be met with the familiar, mustached face of Lieutenant Orson. "Keep calm, recruit! You've already done what you could; now leave it to us!" The stout man gave a hearty laugh as he brushed past Lucy, barreling through the still-dazed crowd toward the platform. Commander Valdez was already there, pulling the guitar from Atlas's grip and quickly snapping the instrument over his knee, tossing both halves in separate directions on the stage.

The brunette dropped the rifle and quickly dropped to her knees at the same time, once again pulling her comfort item up over her face. But this time, she left it below her eyes, intently watching the two officers' as she muttered 'oh thank god' into the blue fabric.

---

"'Rockstar', you are under arrest for disturbance of the peace and attempting to lethally harm a Marine." Valdez said slowly, pulling up on his ball cap as he stared the tattooed woman down. Orson stood to his right, cracking his knuckles and grinning, while Atlas stood to his left. "Do not resist unless you want to make your life even worse."

The young woman stood still, as if unable to process what just happened. Her hands shook lightly, as her eyes darted between the two halves of her prized instrument. "Y-you... Idiots! You have no idea what kind of trouble you're getting yourselves into here...!" She stood still for a moment, just breathing with her eyes closed, before pushing back her purple hair. "... Haha... Hahahahaha... Hahahahahahahaha! Oh, you know what? Why am I even worrying? Hey there, boss, mind helping me out of this one~?"

Valdez raised an eyebrow at that, while Orson flung himself into action without a moment's hesitation, preparing a punch for the grinning girl's face. For his trouble, Orson suddenly found himself lifted off the ground and flung off the platform, into the crowd of people who were still trying their best to break themselves out of their trance. Valdez was next, as a thick chain wrapped around his waist. "What is-" Before he could say another word, the chain tightened, cutting his words short, before disposing of him much like Orson a moment before. The two chains were soon accompanied by a half dozen more, pushing Atlas to the side as the man they were connected to lowered himself down onto the stage.

"Ah, Dahlia, what a fine mess you've gotten yourself into." The man was nothing truly spectacular, aside from the huge balls of chains wrapped around his forearms - he was plainly dressed in a t-shirt that proudly advertised the "CRIMINAL" brand in bold lettering and jeans, with black, slicked-back hair. His face was all gentle smiles and steel-piercing grey glaring as he calmly walked across the stage toward his underling, a chain gently caressing her face. "But don't you worry, darling. I've got you covered..."

"Haha, I knew I could count on you-ACK!" The musician suddenly found herself cut off, a chain tightly coiling around her neck. She pulled at the metal coils, struggling to tear them off, struggling for a breath as she tried and failed to scream.

"Oh, no no, don't struggle. Don't you see, my dearest Dahlia?" He stood close to her now, smiling gently as she flailed, trying her best to reach out and kick him. "Your part in this is over. You've outlived your usefulness! But I can't have any loose ends, and, well - you're far less valuable to these fine Marines dead than alive! So, you understand, I'm sure... I'm getting you out of this mess, oh yes. It's purely business, my dear Dahlia. Rest easy, now, 'Rockstar'. You served your purpose well." He closed the gap between himself and the purple-haired girl, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, before turning around. The steel chains came to life once more, flinging the body far from the stage, as the man pulled himself up to a nearby rooftop. He started to move away from the plaza before stopping, as if in thought, before turning around to address the crowd and the gathering Marines. "I wish you all the best of luck! But please, do understand - you should really consider leaving this island. There is nothing here for you lot but death and disappointment. Ta ta!"

And with those final words, the man resumed walking away, unhindered, across the rooftops.

[Tori Tori Chopper]

'I-I'm sorry Heracles!'

His large ally didn't have much time to respond in a heart-felt fashion, waving off the crumpled teary eyed mess that became of his brainy brother in arms to focus on the chain of events that began to unfold around a critical situation diffused in an almost overbearing fashion. Despite coming to the rescue Atlas didn't seem thankful, as one Officer disarmed the villain of her weaponry the other removed her from the rookie's side, providing a trio of daunting figures over the once court controlling pirate in a sudden shift of power. He emitted a snarl with gritted teeth, and not even at the enemy either, but instead his superiors. They show up now? At the end of it all to snatch the glory? What had they even been doing before now! He would've challenged them had his previous opponent hadn't broken into hysterics, much to the confusion of all present. Chain of events was a poor choice of words, the request of a non-existing target in the eyes of the three marines was quickly remedied by a sudden introduction of metal flailing destruction. Splinted planks came rocketing towards them as linked steel whipped against its surroundings in a vast quantity, the three cast aside by these self-aware inanimate objects and flung towards the crowds and seemingly out of harms way. Atlas back where he started as Ratchet had clung to his rifle once more in attempt to redeem himself, aiming at the culprit with a whimper in his breath. perfectly fitting the stereotype, the new kid on the block was quick to assure his musician before literally taking her breath away in a monologue of a spectacle.

'Cocky littl-..!'

An attempt to stride towards him was met with resistance.

'Not another step.'

Valdez seemed quick to recover, a hand on Atlas' chest to hold his advance.

'You go toe to toe or they'll walk all over.'

One limb wasn't stopping him, he barged right through it.

'Atlas I order you to stand down!' Like hell that was 'gonna stop him, emitting a loud Tch as he stomped off towards the still in sight target. Even Orson emerged from the civilians to attempt to speak reason, but by that point the newbie wasn't even listening. Old instincts had kicked in, it was about never backing down, you give them an inch and they'll think they've won forever.. He'd learned all too well back home. The marines who had accompanied the lieutenants looked on in disbelief, after so casually throws aside their two strongest, Atlas really though he even stood a chance? Let them ponder, hide behind their power figures and shake at the knees from the slightest display of power, this guy wasn't going to be so easily wavered. Though despite all the pleas and commands to halt, it was a single voice that stunned his adamant and slow charge, coughing and wheezing with every other word to the point it was near intangible and thus acquired his attention. The source came from the side of the stage, too much surprise the display of betrayal wasn't fatal, yet the damage it looked to have inflicted was all too evident. She was trying to laugh, the Rockstar whose neck and body maintained a heavy shade of red from the pressure applied, going as far as to even point at the determined marine in attempts to bait his anger.

'Thought he killed you.'

'M-Me? Hah! Like hell I'll die that easil- Hurgh-heugh!'

'You look dead to me.'

The comment seemed to have stuck a chord, again in poor taste of words, regardless a wide-eyed gasp came from her.. As if the realisation that she had been cast aside had only just sunk in. She collected her thoughts, looking down to her bare stomach to the marks that he had inflicted then back to the tall intimidating man. 'He throws his weight around sometimes, he'll be back for me, we're gonna be the manifestation of greatness.' She even waved open palmed hands to express the magnitude of her claim with gestures, sadly she didn't get the response she seemed to expect, an element of darkness seemed to consume the top half of Atlas' face, daunting enough to have her retreat a few paces on her hands and knees and tense for an attack that would never come. 'You're trash, thrown to the dogs in this bozo's scheme, and you're still praising the ground he walks on?' She furrowed for a moment, a mental attempt no doubt to come up with a retort, but to no avail. She quickly reverted to a panicked state, rookies much like himself quick to approach her and attach cuffs to her wrists, all the while the two locked eyes in a conflict of anger and abandonment. Rockstar was hoisted to her feet, pulled aside as other's looked to Atlas to try again with a voice of reason, his glance sent daggers to them all. 'He caught me off guard, it won't happen again.' This was a side of Atlas rarely seen by his peers, constantly looking for something to prove even if it was in reckless abandon. He looked back to his objective only to be met with a rotund appearance much closer to his person, Orson too had dusted himself off with ease, and used his large figure to simply block his path.

'Where was this gusto during training, shrimp?' There was no doubt this was a personal matter, Atlas treated his hierarchy usually with a lazed state riddled with suggested respect in his actions, but the collective of events that had quickly cascaded had simply sent him on a warpath based on pride alone. The Walrus could respect that, hell, he was known to be the the official within Atlas' newly formed ranks to think with his fists more than most, but he obtained his title for a reason, one that was quickly shown in both regards as he swung a devastating hook towards the boxer without even a second word or reason. Atlas saw the wind up coming from a mile away, dodging wasn't his mood right now, instead he matched in kind, slamming his fist into the incoming projectile and holding at a shaking stalemate. 'HORAUGH!' The large man took another swing, this time with his other hand while his dominant was occupied, and again Atlas shot back to the point the two were throwing their entire weights agaisnt one another.

THUMP

foreheads locked, the teeth clenching evident between them both.

'That's now how we work Sandman! Can't be asleep half the time then kick into wild revenge! This is the marines!' Orson gained the upper hand, pushing Atlas back a few paces before he dug in his heels and held his ground. 'We can't stand by and let this guy get away! If this is how he treats his allies! How will he treat his enemies?!' Pushed back to square one, a couple grunts and snarls continued to reverse tug of war. 'Like hell he's getting away! I'm gonna pummel him into this island and make it his own grave!' Atlas flinched, shaking it off and pushing for a moment before meeting no resistance, nearly falling over as Orson retreated and used his now free hand to push at Atlas' face to avoid him falling, an action quick and unspoken amongst men. 'I'm not a fan of tactics, but if the military taught me anything, its that we can't win without them, or else we'll be as barbaric as pirates!' Atlas had completely switched gears, Orson hadn't been around them long, quickly perceived as an oaf in most people eyes, Atlas hadn't even remembered his name until a few moments ago, so needless to say he had no opinion on the guy. He nodded, holding his hand to his chin as if intellectually agreeing, Orson did the same, extending a hand that was quickly clasped by Atlas' own, nodding towards each other in a final exchange of gusto before Orson looked back to the more intellectual Valdez shaking his head at a serious situation turned ridiculous.

'Alright, so what's the plan, Sir.'

SPOILER: Click to show

Atlas - #dd2853
Ratchet - #87f787
Orson - #3a76e0
Valdez- #3ae1f0
Rockstar - #d41c7c