[Saga] [Notice Conquest][Part 3] Eviction Notice: Planned Plots

Mon Nov 14, 2022 5:08 am

Previously on...

[ Thug Throng ] | [ Invisible Interplay ]

Now...

Current Quest:

OOC: (-eh is a cough; -ee is a weeze)

The Dead Air Hull, January 1829

Amidst the carousing denizens of the Dead Air, the flagship of the Primetime Service & Delivery crew, a singular figure sat alone at the bow of the ship.

It was none other than Academia, The Reader.

He sat far away from the rest of the crew, choosing not to engage in their festivities. Not due to a lack of interest, but rather because he would much rather be alone. Especially in situations such as these. To that end, Academia found himself looking through the various documents that were seized earlier that day. Trying to find a solid lead that would help the fledgling company secure a foothold here in Notice.

If they were to reach the Chairmen’s lofty ambitions, they would need capital and lots of it. This island seemed a good place to start that process. Finding a diplomat that already had a substantial amount of political pull was a good thing as well.

But he was sure that they could do better.

When it came to combat, most decisions were often left up to Brood. His strategic mind was higher than anyone else in the company. But when it came time to make a company run, well, there was a reason that Academia was brought into the fold back in the West Blue.

Did he miss his home? Perhaps, but he knew there was nothing left for him there.

He was exiled from Ohara and he didn’t care to dwell on the past when his future was so bright.

In his solitude, he read over the documents with an attention to detail that rivaled even the most well-learned of scholars.

Leaving no stone unturned, no scrap of information unanalyzed, and nothing left up to chance. It was fortunate that he was adamant about this decision however since it allowed him the opportunity to find an interesting bit of information tucked away in the files. To the naked eye, there was nothing strange or out of the ordinary. But to someone, as educated as Academia, he could read between the lines.

Information was his bitch.

It was crystal clear that backroom deals were going on, something nefarious was happening on this island but the members of P.T.S.D. had no interest in stopping it. On the contrary, this seemed like the right kind of evidence one could use to blackmail an official or two.

If memory serves, they had stowed away not only the Captain of the Guard but a prominent local politician who happened to sit on the council that ran the island's politics.

That were two elements they had at their disposal that could be used to further control the island and cement their authority from the shadows. The Chairperson was extremely clear on that fact. Under no circumstances should the connection between the newly founded company and its bases of operation be made public. Outside of the main prize.

San Faldo.

But they would make their way there in due time. For now, all they could do was plot the course, stay the course, and achieve the foothold needed here in the North Blue.

Making capital was everything, and wasting time robbing merchants and seafarers would prove to be a waste of time and assets.

They needed to corner the market here. He had no doubt they would succeed.

His eyes flickered up at the speaker above him and he listened intently to the voice that came overhead.

“All officers come to the meeting all, Ms. Ruiz, please report to the meeting hall as well.”

Academia rose without hesitation, gathering his research as he made his way towards the third level of the four-level ship, entering a grand hall that had a series of thrones set up in two rows, with a single throne at the front of the two lines. Reminiscent of how the Yakuza set up their meeting rooms.

It appeared that Brood and Erudite were already here and Academia took his seat in anticipation of the arrival of the others.

Brood’s eyes were closed as he pondered the best, most effective means of achieving success here and now. His plan would prove to be… chaotic in nature. But it would definitely help keep his crew’s illicit activities here out of the limelight.

As each of his commanding officers made their way here, both of the prisoners they had captured were brought before him as well.

They were not given seats and were instead watched by finely dressed guards in the corner of the room, who kept their shackles bound to them tightly.

Their mouths gagged to prevent them from interrupting the meeting.
When everyone had finished entering, Brood gazed over towards Academia.

“As we all-ee know, this island is one of the finest-eh resort islands in all of the North Blue. Our rivals have eh-claimed numerous territories-ee in this portion of the world as it is… and we need to ee-change that.”

Ricky spoke up, given that he was the second in command of the crew for all intents and purposes. At least at this moment.

“We want to do this in a manner that is subtle, one that will ensure that we have few complications going forward. Therefore, Brood and I have tasked Academia with figuring out the best means to approach taking this island.”

With a nod towards Brood, he spoke once more. Authority oozed out of the corner of his lips not too dissimilar to the sugar he failed to keep at bay within himself.

“Eh-begin when you are-ee ready-ee.”

It was about time that their plan came to fruition completely.

But out of the thirteen people here, only nine would survive. Not that Brood was aware of that at this time.

But through tragedy came opportunity.

“Thank you, boss. Let us begin with reports of the tasks completed thus far, and then I will proceed with my explanation. Kobe, let us start with you and then Aya..”

Due to the going ons during that portion of time unaccounted for between Brood and Aya, things were starting to look good. He had earned her loyalty, even if she had some reservations about him. Or at least that was the impression that she somehow managed to pull off.

Either way, most members of the crew saw her as more than a liability now. Her value could not be understated… and the plans she lifted from that office would be invaluable in the heist to come.

{ 1,073 | 20,837 | 20,000 }

sucré @ gs

Sun Nov 27, 2022 11:32 pm

It had been a long time since Kabe was so ecstatic. He had just completed another successful raid. The battle much more hard-fought than the destruction he and Molly had caused in the politician's estate. But why was Kabe getting into trouble on the ship you may ask?

He was hungry.

Of course, Kabe did not see any problem with taking a little snack. The swordsman was still a young man. And while Kabe couldn’t tell you what a calorie is, he knew that he needed a lot of them to keep fighting. Looking at his reward it was all worth it. In the privateer’s hands was a ridiculously large sandwich, easily the size of his head in height and width, filled to the brim with an unholy combination of meat and peanut butter.

And now that Kabe was far enough away from the ship's kitchens he could enjoy the fruits of his labor. At least, that was the plan before Kabe was called down for a meeting. If only he had a plate…

Luckily Kabe was already kind of close to the meeting hall, where he quickly took a seat before most of the other officers arrived. Surprisingly, Kabe stayed quiet once the meeting properly started. But make no mistake, the swordsman's model behavior was not entirely out of respect or fear. It was merely a byproduct of him still eating. In a stroke of genius. The shipwright had cut his giant sandwich into a bunch of smaller pieces so he could bring it with him.

Just before Kabe could take the last bite, Ricky called on him to share his telling on what went down. Precariously resting the sandwich on the armrest of his throne, Kabe leaned forward and faced Brood and Ricky’s direction. “Let's see… Me and Molly were going to beat up all the local thugs, but then we saw that guy so we killed all of his men and kidnapped him instead!”

Looking content, Kabe looked over to Molly for a second just to make sure she didn’t have anything to add before he leaned back in his chair. In the likely event that it would now be someone else's turn to share, Kabe would reach for his sandwich that was supposed to be-

“Wait a minute! Where did it go!”

Word Count:

Sat Dec 24, 2022 1:56 pm

Aya's curiosity had gotten the better of her once again. She had been wandering her new surroundings with no clear goal in sight when a disembodied voice stopped the clear panda in her tracks.

"...'Meeting hall'..?"

Wracking her way through the overwhelming amount of new people, places, and things that she had been exposed to in recent history, she was sure she had gotten a glimpse of something like that around! But as she glanced up and down the hall she currently stood in she found she had no idea where it was she had managed to meander on the massive ship.

A little groan escaped her, followed by just enough of an inhale to catch the trail of familiar scents as well as a few more confusing smells. Was that peanut butter and... meat?

Aya scrunched up her nose distastefully and followed the intangible trail.

It didn't take long to sniff out where officers were gathering. Deciding how to approach this was a whole different beast, however. She was going into this blind, but at least she was also going into it invisible. To some, at least.

The mink was one of the last to enter, not wanting to keep anyone waiting but certainly taking her sweet time. The sight of some of the crew she was more familiar with was reassuring.

Aya was doing her best to keep out of the way, the fuzzy wallflower weaving past others and trying to find a place to settle. A few brief glimpses of a striped trailing fuzzy tail could be caught as she trailed behind thrones and took stock of who was sitting where.

As soon as things seemed to be starting off Aya's ears trained forward to give those speaking her full focus.

"... Oh. Right."

As it dawned on her that the others were waiting for her to speak up, the little red panda seemed to suddenly be all too aware of the eyes searching for her. Her gaze shifted around the meeting room behind her onyx lenses as they now hung visibly in the open air, quickly followed by the rest of the mink as she faded into view.

"...I, uh... knocked a man out a window and grabbed any documents that seemed helpful. In and out, piece of cake. " The normally invisible Mink's shoulders rose and fell in a small shrug.

"...Anything else youteia need to know?"

{415/415}

Fri Dec 30, 2022 3:51 pm

OOC: (-eh is a cough; -ee is a weeze)
Former Crewmates have been swapped with similar yet different NPC for the sake of story consistency and flow.

By utilizing the research garnered from the interrogation of Roslyn and the documents uncovered during Aya's infiltration and the information gathered by Laylay Academia managed to piece together that a local corporation that went by the name of the "Silver Sun Foundation" had numerous dealings in several of the major industries here in Notice. But it would appear that their actions were not sanctioned by the World Government directly, like the city council. The only way it made sense for that business to operate without being subjected to punitive damages was if it had backing from someone with power on this island.

Or at least that was the working thesis.

He had assigned one of the members of the crew, Juniji The Mink, to investigate the possible connection, some time ago. And as it had been hours, he was expecting to have his suspicions confirmed.

Whether or not that was going to be the case, however, was still up in the air. He had much to discuss and was in no mood to keep this meeting going for longer than it needed to.

Despite the fact that everyone here looked like they could be a professional, this crew was still as chaotic and negligent as pirates.

Roslyn appeared disheveled, her wrists were swollen from the seastone that bound her. Her messy blond hair covered her face entirely. She had only been aboard the ship for hours, but the constant torment she had endured thus far had made it seem like a lifetime.

Her tongue went to moisten her lips, but due to being restricted from clean drinking water for so long, she found the task taxing.

All she could do was keep her attention forward, however long that may have lasted. This was a trial unlike any other she had faced thus far, but they had warned her to stay alert and ready to answer any questions posed. Failure was not an option, and she knew what awaited her should she test their conviction.

She didn’t know how much these pirates knew of the island dealings, but she was determined to say as little as possible.

Brood lounged on his throne-like chair and seemed to not be present. Or at least, his body language showcased a level of lethargy that bordered on offensive. He was already certain that no matter what findings were recovered from the officers that he had sent out all over the islands, everything would dissolve back to the thing they did best.

Violence.

So having a meeting was a waste of time. But Erudite was insistent that he holds these meetings if he was going to have a company. He had much to learn if he wanted to own his own business, much like his long-lost father.

Paying attention was going to be paramount... but it was perhaps a greater fight than dealing with that damn rape dragon from a few months back.

Analytics wasn’t an issue, being observant wasn't either. But this wasn't a battle. This was a meeting to establish their business on the island in a lucrative manner. From what he was told already, things didn't seem to be going well with the damage his people inflicted on the island. Its value was already starting to drop.

He'd need to reinvest if he wanted this place to be worth anything.

Brood noted where everyone was placed. On the right side of the room, in order, it was the following: Erudite, Aya, Molly, Kabe, Juni, Desmond, and Jackson.

Brood and Ricky both sat in the middle, at the head and feet of the table respectively.

On the left side: Sarahfeenah, Roslyn, Laylay, Academia, Niccolo, Some Hooded Figure, and Festus.

“Everyone else, check in.”

Ricky's pressed suit was immaculate and his attention was focused squarely on Academia for the time being. He had returned around sundown himself, having completed the task of stirring up trouble at the local jailhouse, with the aid of a mysterious stranger. But he found the will of that stranger to be stronger than what would be useful for this crew.

For that reason alone, he chose not to further pursue this individual. Though would make note of him later.

He knew that when he presented his report, it was going to cause the others to be shocked, flabbergasted, and left at a loss for words. But he had no choice but to relay the things that matter. Like who he happened to run into at said prison.

“After we finish, Brood-sama. I have some information about the person that has been following us.”

Erudite crossed one leg over the other, arms crossed underneath her chest as she looked upon the ruffians and crooks that she had come to call her family. There was no reason that they needed to have a meeting of this scale, especially since she knew that half of these people excelled strictly in matters of combat, chaos, and destruction.

She wasn't too worried about the actual conquest itself, people here seemed to take orders well enough. But trusting some of these people to give reports was just against their nature. It just didn't make any sense. Not that she'd complain, however. Nothing that her crew could do would ruin their plans.

Though she was adamant that some of these people would end up dead before they left the North Blue.

“We need ta figure out how long we are goin’ ta keep this up. I can’ keep steerin’ this ship roun’ the island for multiple days at a time, darlin’. They are goin’ to eventually blow us out of the water, no matter how good this ole girl is.”

Desmond tapped his massive meaty fingers on the table while his chair waned and squealed beneath his hefty girth. He spoke up, regaling everyone with how his task went.

"What cannae say, Bossman? We went smashing into that big ole capital building. Ransacked that bitch easy peasy. Nothing to fuck though. Waste of time. But we got the info you wanted. The Head of the island is some sort of group called the Silver Sun Foundation. And their boss is an old bastard named... Peter? Petrov? Bah, I don't fuckin' know."

His gaze fell onto Laylay who'd raise her hands spelling the name, which Desmond's eyes caught immediately.

"Ah yeah, Peytor Maximoff. He is the big shot of Notice. Seated on the Council... which most members are also part of the foundation or whatever. Not that important really if ya ask me."

Seated next to Kabe, Molly let out a big laugh at how Kabe described the situation, before elaborating. Going into more detail about the conversation she had with Niccolo and about his potential use to the crew, given the conversation that she had with Erudite shortly after boarding the ship again.

Relaying that Erudite thought it was a good idea to keep the Council in charge of the island since it would let the crew use the island as a source of revenue. Molly, however, made it clear that she was against the idea personally. She'd rather just destroy the whole fucking place and loot it.

‘aping and pillaging was her jam. Despite being someone who didn't have any good justification to be as chaotic and violent as she happened to be.

It would be in that instance that she'd raise her hands from under the table, taking a bite of Kabe's sandwich.

"Ughhh what the fuck is this disgusting shit?"

Jackson looked a little worse for wear, having found trouble down by the docks when he had... attempted... to do his little demolitions mission. He dreaded having to report for that very reason. Despite being someone whose ability to communicate properly was already stunted heavily, matters seemed to only get worse when it came down to doing his job.

He wanted only to achieve the goal of reaping souls when their time had come. He didn't wish to actively participate in any of these other shenanigans. But now he had a broken arm and he also had to sit here and listen to a meeting that didn’t have anything to do with him reaping souls. It was torture, pure torture.

Yet here he was against his will, having to grit his teeth and do as he was told. Lest he is taken out again, losing more and more of his precious time. If playing along was required, so be it.

“It was… time for everyone to die but… I ceased in my efforts to claim their bounties. Stopped by the bastard with orange hair koala-man.”

Niccolo did not appreciate the description given by the brute Kabe who did little to aid him when Molly came threatening his life, but before he could even pipe up to complain he was silenced with a menacing glace from Brood. The imposing dark-skinned man had a way of keeping his prisoners in check.

He knew naught of the machinations of his captor, but he had no other choice except to capitulate. From what he could tell, this room was filled to the brim with monsters. At least by the standards of the North Blue. Why were these bastards here? He had no idea, but oh well. He'd wait to say his peace.

So long as he could keep his head in the meantime. But given the consequences that his men faced earlier, he wasn't too sure if that'd be possible. He did grimace at the mention of the Foundation, of which he was a member.

And he seemed uncomfortable when Peytor’s name was brought up. Clenching his fist tightly.

Realizing he needed to speak, now that Brood nodded in his direction, he gave up more useful information.

“The Silver Sun Foundation is one of many organizations that have ties to the Underworld. We… specialize in providing arms of varying degrees of potency for various islands here in the North Blue… primarily the gangs of Spider Miles. Peytor isn’t the kind of man you want to cross.”

Laylay had spent her time spying on the Marine forces to the best of her ability, narrowly escaping detection from onlookers and persons of interest. She was mostly leaving the task of finding out about the S.S.F. to Desmond. She did certainly think she knew better about the operation than Brood.

She had been one of the newer members in consideration for becoming a full-time officer, and a board member, of P.T.S.D. and she hoped that her information would get her the job.

She knew that the man with the orange beard was still alive, somehow making it back to Notice despite getting his entire fleet blown away in the volley from the Dead Air.

She already had ideas of how to deal with that man but wasn't sure how the crew operated. With that in mind, she sat in her seat silent, puffing on her cigarette and waiting to use sign language to communicate further.

Though she did scoff at the idea of Niccolo acting as though this crew in particular cared about crossing people with Underworld ties.

The Primate, Juni, was wounded from his mission, having incured a great deal of damage in a short amount of time, though he still succeeded in aiding in the mission that Academia had assigned him. He knew that the S.S.F. had their compound constructed inside the city hall itself. Meaning that the connection between the S.S.F. and the City Council was no coincidence. Someone was on that payroll. The identity of such a person needed only to be discovered.

It was good then that this Niccolo person was seemingly kidnapped. He might know more than he let on.

But the Primate wasn't as clever as he liked to think; having been told not to perform a "garchu" on Aya, he was too stressed to be paying attention.

“What-chu the man-thing says is true. Ooo-ooo!! Me saw men with da S.S.F. symbol on their lapels offloading crates to some unsavory bandana bandits! Ooo!! The island guards looked the other way! Misdirected the Marines! Ooo-ooo!”

Sarahfeenah entered relatively late, having spent most of her time patching up a few of the wounded members of the crew to the best of her abilities. But she was overwhelmed by the task at hand and she had also been in a foul mood ever since the "fox" bitch arrived. Though the reasons as to why she would be upset were rather obvious.

Still, in some remote distant expanse within the furthest regions of her mind, she had come to terms with the reality of her role on the crew. She had yet to receive any information that designated her as important to the crew just yet. Especially now that the crew was becoming a company. She did find it odd, however, that so many people were in this room now.

Including some faces that she didn't remember.

“Ehh- well at least we know the guard and the marine are not working this operation jointly.”

Stumbling into the room late, as usual, was the enigmatic and mysterious Festus Shrine, one of the original members of the Sweet Beat Pirates back before Brood formed the Primetime Pirates.

He had resurfaced while Brood was still in Kano. Still, he had gone his own way only recently reappearing now that things were starting to move forward for the Primetime Service & Delivery organization. An organization that was still very much so in its infancy.

To that end, he said little and merely wore a decrepit smile on his aged features. Sliding himself into his chair whilst listening to everyone speak on what they had done... and what they were planning to do. He was a rather disturbing man, scuffed and covered head to toe in soot. Though, this was for a particular reason that he hadn't revealed yet.

He eyed the hooded figure that he was seated next too… and almost instantly he could tell that this particular person didn’t belong here.

Academia spoke up last, “Of course, the two new people need to brush up on their report-giving skills. Especially you, Mrs. Ruiz.”

He felt a glare from Brood and quickly changed the subject, though he had to get his dig in at Aya. He hated that bitch

“That man we keep identifying by his hair color does have a name. That is Captain, Levi Eucalypt, yes… like the leaves that Koala eat. From what I could piece together, he is an up-and-coming star here in the North Blue.”

He reclined in his chair, adjusting the knobs on the side of the mask that covered his lower jaw.

“He is a Victorian Koala Zoan. I would have thought he’d drown when we blew him up… but I suppose if his other crewmates could swim they’d likely be able to rescue him. So it is no surprise he came back to bite us on the ass.”

With a sigh he’d lean forward, placing his elbows on the table.

“Seems that he is not in league with the S.S.F. in that regard. Might be a good idea to keep him and his people around… especially if we still have the goal of working with the Marines in the future.”

Academia didn’t care if the two randoms, Roslyn and Niccolo, overheard that the crew’s plan was to become affiliated with the government. It wasn’t like they could prevent the task from going through.

“I say we do what we can to ensure that our crewmates earn sizable bounties prior to enacting the greater plan.”

His eyes fell onto Niccolo as he continued to speak.

“From what we have discerned. The Silver Sun Foundation has underworld ties that we might be able to use to further our goals in the long run. Niccolo is hardly a saint and can be turned to our side, of that I am sure. Roslyn here is rather powerful herself, so we ought to turn her to our cause as well. I am sure she has loved ones that she wouldn’t wish to see hurt.”

The words he spoke contained no malice, but rather cold, neutral apathy. Murder was as easy as sipping water for the members of P.T.S.D.

Before Roslyn could speak up in outrage, Academia continued.

“There are many options, how do you wish to play this, Boss-sama?”

Brood nodded, listening to Academia closely before speaking up. “Here-ee is the plan. Tomorrow ee-morning, all of you are going to eh-attack the town square. We are going to cause as many casualties-eh as we can and destroy the Marine eh-base stationed here. As well as damage-ee as many buildings as possible… we will have to recoup the eh-losses, of course.”

The attention of most in the room seemingly snapped to Brood, as though their very lives depended on paying attention.

Though this wasn’t true. Brood would not hurt his family.

“There is no way that the S.S.F. haven’t been doing their own investigation-ee of our seemingly random ee-attacks on the island. And it is eh-highly likely that they noticed that Niccolo is missing.”

Brood let his hands fall to his knees, pressing down on them as he raised his bulky body up. Gazing over towards his followers with a squint.

“But that is fine so long as we acquire a eh-seat on that council… Niccolo… you were already doing shady dealings when Molly-ee and Kobe caught you. So we want you to sit on that seat-ee… all you have to do is make sure that you eh-give us a kickback of whatever the island makes-eh… and ultimately you will be left to run this eh-shithole however you feel.”

Brood slammed his hands on the table, gazing over toward Niccolo.

“Of course, since we are keeping you alive… you will get into contact with your people in the government-ee… and in the eh-underworld. Spread our ee-name around. If we get big enough in the Underworld it is plausible the eh-government can reach out to us. As a bit of insurance, we won’t be killing off Peytor-ee. He might have useful contacts to that end. So we will capture-eh him instead.”

Silence filled the room.

“I will personally seek out Peytor and take him out-ee… shouldn’t be too hard. But I don’t want this fucked up. Aya, since you’re so eh-good at going invisible-ee. I want you to pose as a concerned citizen and convince the Marines eh-that you saw our crew-ee marching up the beach. We can’t risk you earning a ee-bounty this early on. Might be antithetical to your future plans. So it's time to see what kind of Grifter-eh you are.”

Brood patted himself on the back of his mind for using the word antithetical correctly.

“Ricky… I want you to stay-ee with Roslyn on the ship and do your best to crack her. We need her to eh-bring the Guard to heel. If she is deemed-ee unusable, she can become a pillow for the boys.”

Ricky nodded in understanding, though Roslyn appeared to be visibly shaken and horrified by the rather blunt implication proposed.

“Desmond, you will lead the offensive-eh, but show some restraint. Kobe-ee, it's time that you proved that you can hang with the big boys. The moment that the Marines-ee show up, you find their eh-biggest and baddest-ee dude and take him the fuck down.”

Despite pouting, Desmond gave a thumbs up.

“In order to make sure that Captain Eucalypt-ee doesn’t interfere with the eh-invasion. We will send the bulk of our crew ee-away from the island. I know he will give chase-ee to our ship. This means that when we finish-ee our tasks here, however. We will be leaving on some eh-random ass boat.”

Erudite grimaced, knowing that this was going to go badly.

“Therefore, we-ee will all meet back up at the North side of the island. If you die… then you likely deserved to die-ee. So don’t go crying when your eh-corpse goes unburied. Everyone else, save for Erudite-ee and Juni, your eh-task is to help the assault. Juni, you stay on the eh-ship and command the forces there. Don’t ee-fuck this up like you normally do.”

With a sigh Erudite placed her hands on her face, having called this outcome from the start.

“Any-ee questions?”

{ 3,375 | 24,212 | 20,000 }

sucré @ gs

Mon Jan 02, 2023 10:06 pm

Sulking back into his chair, Kabe could not even begin to hide the disappointment in his eyes. After all the hard work, blood, sweat, and tears, he was unable to finish eating the sandwich he loved. As the meeting went on, Kabe began to clean his sabers in an effort to distract himself.

Mapleshire | 4 Years Ago

A renowned smith made his home just outside of Kabe’s hometown. Among the many people that made their home in the Grand Line, this smith was known as Cal Gary.

“Kabe! Your mind is still too unfocused! You can’t expect to make strong weapons if your head isn’t in the game." The apprentice blacksmith looked up, drenched in sweat from the nonstop work. “But Mr. Gary, I am doing everything by the book. I couldn’t focus more if I tried!”

Cal pointed to a large mace that leaned against the wall. “Everything I make I put a piece of myself into. You are thinking of your creations as individuals instead of extensions of your will, Kabe. Once you realize that you are your sword, your blade will become that much sharper!”

Reinvigorated by Cal’s advice, Kabe started from scratch yet again, determined to succeed.

Dead Air | Present Day

Kabe’s ears perked up again once Academia chirped him for his storytelling skills that, well… leave a bit to be desired. Yeah, that’s how the bookworm would have worded it.

While Kabe was an avid supporter of pointless fights, he opted not to make a scene for two main reasons. The first being that an interruption would only make this debriefing last longer. And the second (and more pertinent reason) was that the swordsman did not want to wreck the meeting that Erudite had orchestrated. Call Kabe soft, but he couldn’t bring himself to disappoint the fishwoman. Especially since she was the one who recruited him in the first place. But before Kabe could dwell too much on the past, Brood addressed the crew personally. When Kabe received his orders for the next attack he practically jumped into the air with excitement. “Grorororo! You got it, boss! I’ll make sure everyone sees what I can do!”

Somewhere along the coast of Notice | Later that evening

Flap… Flap… Flap…

Thud!

A hulking figure crashed aboard the deck of one of the remaining marine vessels. The grunts present dared not to move, but whether that was out of fear or respect could not easily be discerned. The behemoth took a few slow, heavy steps before sitting down and groaning in disappointment. Sensing the coast was clear, a few brave souls approached the oversized man.

“C-Commander Clay? How was your search?” The Commander looked up, his bright yellow eyes watery from a mix of exhaustion and sadness. “It’s no use. I have flown out there so many times and I still haven’t seen any traces of my grandfather or his crew.” Clay shrugged off his coat and looked out into the sea. “All I have to go off of is that the ship was set on fire by some blonde pirate.” Clay met eyes with each of the soldiers that accompanied him. “Listen, guys. I know that I have always tried to keep it clean, but I can’t allow this one to live.”

The gray-haired Commander got back to his feet and jumped overboard, utilizing his zoan abilities to become the worlds largest pigeon. “I better go check in with Eucalypt and the others, I have a feeling this battle is just beginning.”

Word Count:

Mon Apr 03, 2023 12:09 am

A spill of questions suddenly overtook Aya's fuzzy little head, washing out the growing curiosity about the others in the room completely. A small brow lifted from behind her round lenses as the mechanical-mawed heckler continued his jabs.

With the hint of a smirk, any thoughts of her inadequate reporting faded as Academia was chased off the subject of his disdain with a single glance from the man in charge.

It wasn't until Brood began speaking that her ears twitched back to attention. One word stuck out to her, sharp like a thorn in the paw.

'Marines'.

The tiny mink faded from plain-sighted view and gave herself a silent moment to stare at the floor in front of her with wide eyes. She knew she had gotten herself wrapped up with company that seemed bent on sending her right into the nest of hornets she'd been diligently avoiding for years, but it still stunned her to hear it so plainly again.

But it wasn't like she was going to argue. In her own mind she'd already resolved to give this the best she had.

Out of sight often meant out of marine minds, but grifting them was a whole new beast entirely. She'd just have to figure out how to manage to get marines to listen to her about anything.

Aya's paw rested on her face while she wracked her mind for the foundations of a plan. Moments later, as her gaze raised back to Brood she reappeared and ran her claws through her hair with a nod of acceptance.

"... Yeahhh... Alright. Youteia got it!"

One clawed thumb stuck up as she grinned. Perhaps not the most confidence-bolstering display to those who had seen it clearly, but now a gleam of excitement seemed to replace her concerns.

Brood was right, after all, and following along anywhere else would only toss her head-first into the chaos and bloodshed from the very start. Fooling a few dumb marines couldn't be too difficult and it would save her trouble in the long run.

She'd only let it cross her mind for a moment that such a serious matter might even end up being fun. For her, at least.

One glance at the captives was a transparent enough reminder that there were certainly worse positions to be in.

{385/800}

Mon Apr 03, 2023 3:04 am

OOC: (-eh is a cough; -ee is a weeze)

Brood was satisfied with his crew. It seemed as though everyone understood their assignments, and that meant that this heist would go off without much of a problem. He did consider it a heist after all, given the fact that he was going to steal this island right from under those who happen to be in charge. It was his birthright to be the protector of his family and at least this time he was not surrounded by a bunch of dullards and cowards.

No one asked any questions and with that, the meeting came to an end. He preferred it this way, as he was not the kind of man that tolerated deviations from the plan at large. Especially if he took the time to sit down and plan things out for change.

He rose from his seat, looking out over his favorite frenzied flock of fearsome feral fiends with glee. Even though his face could not showcase the emotion behind the dark chocolate mask that sat upon his face. His eyes narrowed as he bellowed out his orders, as it was time to begin the final operation.

“Get ready-ee!! F-ee-estus, with me!”

As the members seated around the table made their way out to prepare, the hood figure slipped out with the crowd. Seemingly unnoticed, though, this was less to do with the fact that they were stealthy and more to do with the fact that Brood had a few key philosophies in his life that he had rarely had the chance to showcase. This being one of them.

Even if you had the knowledge of an impending disaster, it would have no bearing on your ability to stop it.

"Festus... You-ee know what-ee to do."

Elsewhere…

Within an immaculate, well-kept study, a large and imposing figure whose hair was jet black though the sides were grayed out covered in the ash of his age. This mysterious figure stood near a large window pane looking out over the island of Notice, his eyes fixated on the shoreline below down a long sloped pathway leading down to the beach.

This figure dressed and all the opulence befitting his station for it was none other than the head of the Silver Sun Foundation, Peytor Maximoff.

His left hand was tucked away behind the small of his lower back, lost his right hand held upon the stem of a wine glass. One which he rose up to his lips and sipped on softly as he thought about the events of the past few days. He could not make out why a seemingly notorious pirate would waste their time attacking this island, but perhaps it had something to do with a lack of intelligence. Why invade when one could simply make a deal with those in power here? He never did put much stock into the intelligence of pirates but now he felt as if all pirates must have been this stupid.

His isolation would be short-lived when his large oak door found itself being tugged open, and a well-armored man stepped through the entryway. This man was nowhere near as tall as Peytor, but the look on his face showcased how imposing he happened to be.

“Have you brought any news?”

“It is as you say, Sun was able to infiltrate the pirate's ship unawares and managed to gather information on their motives and objectives... it appears a large invasion force is making its way inward. Though their motives remain a mystery to us, sadly."

He grunted, seemingly this man was not a fan of utilizing the aid of mercenaries like the aforementioned "Sun".

"Sun said that unless we up their pay... their memory is fuzzy on that specific matter... What shall we do?”

There was a moment of hesitation. A thought and then a smirk. Peytor could get rid of two birds with one stone. He would allow Sun to keep her secrets, he wasn't the kind of man that renegotiated in business unless he was at a severe disadvantage. And even then, he was the kind of man that allowed himself the opportunity to have some form of leverage to prevent that eventuality. No way he'd be outplayed by an upstart.

“Hold back for now… I wish to see what these young punks have in store for us, busssinessnessness.”

With a swirl of his glass, his eyelids lowered in intensity. His nature was unknowable to the grunt at his side. But the gruffness of his voice was enough to send the message home about how serious he was.

“Gather all of the Foundation Security Force members here, I want to make sure that they aren’t seemingly here for my hard work.”

The man nodded, knowing that Peytor was referring to the secret weapon that the Foundation had been working on for some time now. A weapon that was meant to fully neutralize not only the remaining members of the Council but to kick the Marines off the island so that the Foundation itself was the sole ruling factor of Notice.

For even as the Primetime Pirates made their move, other forces worked in the background. Forces that had made promises to the Foundation should deliver Notice on a silver platter. But such threads would not be revealed just yet. The only certain thing was that the outcome of this invasion would leave a sour taste in someone’s mouth.

“Oh… and have some men go with Sun. F. Lower to intercept the invasion force. They will probably make landfall soon, I want their leader captured and brought here for interrogation. Tell them to make sure not to kill the target.”

And as the focus of the man’s eyes intensified, the scene concluded.

{ 952 | 25,164 | 20,000 }

sucré @ gs

[Saga] [Notice Conquest][Part 3] Eviction Notice: Planned Plots

[Saga] [Notice Conquest][Part 3] Eviction Notice: Planned Plots

Re: [Saga] [Notice Conquest][Part 3] Eviction Notice: Planned Plots

Re: [Saga] [Notice Conquest][Part 3] Eviction Notice: Planned Plots

Re: [Saga] [Notice Conquest][Part 3] Eviction Notice: Planned Plots

Re: [Saga] [Notice Conquest][Part 3] Eviction Notice: Planned Plots

Re: [Saga] [Notice Conquest][Part 3] Eviction Notice: Planned Plots

Re: [Saga] [Notice Conquest][Part 3] Eviction Notice: Planned Plots

Comments