[Lore] Meanwhile...

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Thunder roared across a cloudless morning sky. This odd phenomenon might have confused a tourist in Marineford, but, the citizens had had plenty of opportunities to become acquainted. They had learned to ignore the artifice like one might a buzzing fly. That is to say, it never grew any less annoying.

Minutes later, a booming voice reverberated through the island—another regular occurrence of late at the former Marine Headquarters. [npc=yonk]"COCK-A-DOODLE-DO, YA LI'L PISSANTS!"[/npc] The voice shouted. The words came from the heavens as if spoken by a god—a petty and mischievous god. There were few places—if any—on the island where one could hide from the voice. [npc=yonk]"I HEARD YA MILKSOPS HAD YER ASSES SET ON FIRE BY THE BIG FAT TEDDY BEAR!"[/npc] Many marines stationed on the island nearly ground their teeth to dust over the unbridled mockery.

[npc=yonk]"YA BETTER KEEP YER EYES OPEN! IF Y'ALL KEEP TWIDDLING YER THUMBS, I MIGHT COME WAKE YA UP IN PERSON NEXT TIME!"[/npc] The voice threatened. An explosion sounded at a far end of the island. Sirens blared, bells tolled, and soldiers mobilized only to discover there had been no explosion.

A tanned, grouchy marine officer stormed into a boardroom with a long conference table at its centre. The veins on his forehead throbbed to the point of bursting as he approached the table. A gaunt purple-haired marine with weary eyes shadowed him, a hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

The shadow's mortal cough drew everyone's attention. The tanned officer waited for his colleague's cough to subside before speaking. [npc=adml]"Sorry to keep you waiting, gentlemen. I had to handle a situation..."[/npc]

A silver-haired one-eyed man laughed from across the table. [npc=scbk]"Jahahahaha! I feel for you, Ginsai. Sounds like Thunder Ogre's got you winded. No puns intended."[/npc] The puns were surely intended. [npc=scbk]"That explosion from earlier - a prank, wasn't it?"[/npc]

The long ends of his blond moustache flapped when Fleet Admiral Ginsai sighed his lungs out. [npc=adml]"Never you mind that, Galinstan. I'm here to debrief you all on the raids at Mary Geoise and Las Camp."[/npc]

The muscled leader of the Navy helped himself to a seat. A seagull swooped in through a tall open window and nestled itself in Ginsai's golden mullet, folding its wings halfway like the Marine insignia. None of the meeting's attendees commented on the strange bird.

[npc=adml]"Where is Copperhead?"[/npc] Ginsai asked when he noted only four privateers were present.

[npc=scbk]"You took too long chasing your wild goose. Iris-chan had better things to do, unlike the rest of us,"[/npc] Galinstan chirped.

The Fleet Admiral sighed again and continued. [npc=adml]"Fine. Sterling - I heard you destroyed Gallia when the attack began. Good work."[/npc]

Galinstan huffed. [npc=scbk]"Really? You're not gonna give him an earful for not cutting the elephant down? You know he could've if he wanted to."[/npc] The Sky God did not react to the vote of confidence. Ginsai ignored the comment also.

[npc=adml]"Saint Alban did complain about your 'insolent behaviour'. He demanded your head on a pike."[/npc] ^{[ ref ]} Ginsai pulled a sheet from a file and crumpled it into a ball. He passed the ball to the gull atop his head. The sea bird squawked and pinched the trash in its beak. It then flew out of the window from which it had entered. The privateers watched it keenly until it was out of sight.

[npc=scbk]"They say Bully Stampede was killed during the raid,"[/npc] recounted a fish-man with midnight blue skin and tentacles for a beard. He sat across from Fleet Admiral Ginsai. [npc=scbk]"Was it by your hand, Mr. Aurelian?"[/npc]

[npc=scbk]"He was injured but alive the last time I saw him."[/npc] Sterling testified with a flutter of his majestic black wings. ^{[ ref ]}

[npc=scbk]"My money's on the Big Bad Wolf. He--"[/npc] A violent gust through the conference room interrupted the know-it-all pirate. The shuttered windows rattled. [npc=adml]"That's enough, Galinstan. You'll only make a fool of yourself in your attempts to show off how clever you are,"[/npc] promised Ginsai. The one-eyed devil smirked but held his tongue.

Ginsai turned to face a red-haired grump sulking near the far end of the table. [npc=adml]"Silver. You did well early on during the battle at Las Camp. I'm told you took down two Supernovas from the North Blue."[/npc]

[npc=scbk]"I wouldn't say that. The fuckers survived,"[/npc] Silver grumbled. [npc=scbk]"They were tougher than a lot of the small fry even in the Grand Line. I'm sure you'll hear from them soon when they cross the Reverse Mountain."[/npc]

[npc=adml]"I'm sure I don't need to give you the 'big fish in a small pond' analogy since you like to use it so much yourself. But, we will keep tabs on them just in case,"[/npc] Ginsai assured him. [npc=adml]"But, that's not the part of the battle I wanted to address. You attacked The Torment after you found out he killed Cobalt?"[/npc]

The shichibukai did not respond.

[npc=adml]"It's a good thing Warp was there to stop you. We needed at least one of the Feral Pirates' elites taken alive."[/npc] Ginsai eyed the young man with scrutiny.

[npc=scbk]"If you wanted information, you caught the wrong ape. Torture won't do jack shit to that one. He can't feel pain, in case you didn't get the memo. I learned the hard way."[/npc] Silver scoffed and spat.

[npc=adml]"We don't torture our prisoners for information,"[/npc] declared the Fleet Admiral.

Galinstan laughed again. [npc=scbk]"Jahahahaha! No, you just torture them for fun. This is the wrong room to pretend Impel Down doesn't exist, old man."[/npc] Sterling smiled and the fish-man shaded his amused yellow eyes by tipping his tricorne with a tentacle.

The Fleet Admiral rose calmly from his seat and tapped the unkempt sheets of paper back into his file. [npc=adml]"That'll be all for now, gentlemen. You're dismissed until the next time we require your services."[/npc]

Galinstan raised a hand. [npc=scbk]"Just one question, Ginsai. What're you doing about the Demon-in-Glasses? Knowing him, I expect he got caught on purpose. He's lucky most of the Feral Pirates are dimmer than a candle in a snowstorm. Any decent pirate would see his plan coming a mile away."[/npc] A star twinkled in his one eye.

[npc=adml]"Are you volunteering to risk life and limb in Firebear'd's territory to rescue the abductees?"[/npc] Ginsai snarled. Galinstan smiled and shook his head. [npc=adml]"Then the plans regarding Vice-Admiral Gordon are none of your concern."[/npc]

The Fleet Admiral exited the conference room with his purple-haired shadow. The swordsman swallowed the lozenge he had been suckling to tame his mortal cough and spoke when they were far enough away. [npc=radm]"We should arrest that brat and take away his title."[/npc] The marine hacked up a chunk of phlegm and spat it out a window without care of ruining some poor soul's day below.

[npc=adml]"It isn't always my decision."[/npc] Ginsai marched forward and spoke at a measured volume. [npc=adml]"But, Galinstan does have his uses. We didn't commission a pirate without a bounty for his smart mouth. Some of his business contacts are best kept under our watchful eye. On that note, did you hear back from our friends at Cipher Pol? I hope our joint investigation isn't leading to another dead end."[/npc]

The aide coughed again before responding. [npc=radm]"The inspection team checked in last night."[/npc] Another cough. The Fleet Admiral was never annoyed by the disruption. [npc=radm]"They're sure the factory belongs to one of the shichibukai. They just aren't sure which one."[/npc]

[npc=adml]"Let's hope it's someone we can afford to arrest,"[/npc] Ginsai yearned.

A short while later, a pair of shichibukai left the Marine base together. [npc=scbk]"Whatever you're selling, I ain't buying."[/npc] Silver shrugged Galinstan's over-familiar arm off his shoulder and scowled. His deep red brows furrowed.

[npc=scbk]"I'm not a street hawker, Mister Big Teeth, Small Brain."[/npc] Galinstan's mouth was beset by a cheeky smile.

Silver shoved his colleague and barked as his skin started to turn green.

[npc=scbk]"Relax, champ. This isn't a good place for you to hulk out. Don't forget what they did to you the last time you went jurassic here. I'm sure you didn't enjoy being disciplined like a schoolboy by the Navy's Ultimate Peacekeeper."[/npc] ^{[ ref ]}

Silver drew long breaths and allowed his skin to turn back to an exotic beige.

[npc=scbk]"Smart choice."[/npc] Galinstan noted.

They continued towards the docks. Marines hustled around them. Some suspended their duties long enough to give the pair the stink eye. Neither of them cared.

[npc=scbk]"What do you want?"[/npc] Asked Silver. Every word was dipped generously in acid.

[npc=scbk]"For us to be friends,"[/npc] answered Galinstan with a beaming smile. Silver let slip a toxic chuckle. [npc=scbk]"You'd make a shitty salesman."[/npc]

[npc=scbk]"I might surprise you. I know why you were so enamoured with our newest colleague, may she rest in pieces."[/npc] Galinstan confessed. Silver limited his outburst to a quiet sneer and allowed his fellow pirate to continue.

[npc=scbk]"I heard about what Behemoth did to the love of your life - his own daughter. Cobalt looked like her, didn't she?"[/npc]

The red-haired shichibukai stopped in his tracks and turned his quivering rage red eyes towards Galinstan. Galinstan halted and turned also.

[npc=scbk]"I know you won't ask me stupid questions like 'Who told you?' 'How do you know?'. Information is a commodity like any other."[/npc]

[npc=scbk]"What do you plan to do with this information?"[/npc] Silver's fists balled up.

[npc=scbk]"Like I said. To become your friend. I know how badly you wanna take down Behemoth. Our ambitions are aligned. I want us to work together towards that end,"[/npc] Galinstan insisted.

[npc=scbk]"Why're you interested in Behemoth's fall?"[/npc] Inquired Silver.

Galinstan tsked. [npc=scbk]"I'll tell you all about that once we're friends. Otherwise, you'll have to pay someone for that information just like I did for yours."[/npc]

Silver growled. [npc=scbk]"What exactly do you want me to do, Stainless?"[/npc]

With a fox-like grin, "Stainless" Jax Galinstan swung his arm over Silver's shoulder again—without facing rejection this time—and replied. [npc=scbk]"Let me tell you all about it on our way to the South Blue."[/npc]

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