[Saga] [Black Drum Island Conquest] Marching Orders

As calm as the last few days were for the trio of revolutionaries, the same could not be said for the rumour mill of the Briss Kingdom and its capital in particular. Rumours of NRA representatives clashing with criminals spread rapidly. As fast as the mystery spread, as prone was it to change the narrative. Some people praised the NRA as heroes fighting for the people, while others declared it as taradiddle: lies spread to improve the image of the revolutionaries. For some, the embassy bombing and its official explanation were still fresh in their minds.

Meanwhile, not just stories of the recent incident, but also pictures of Sabian’s and Noah’s faces spread. As both men were part of those happenings, it was only a matter of time until they would be in everybody’s consciousness. In the end, it would have happened sooner or later, given their métier. And at least the teen was not necessarily willing to test his newfound fame, being content for now to be holed up in Kathy’s shop. Especially as he still had some work to do.

"Yes, Yes, I understand-" Naturally, after the ruckus the two men were involved in, their superiors demanded a status report. Noah did his best to explain what happened, but was frequently cut short, which made him resort to signalling he still listened from time to time instead. Whenever he got a chance to get a few words in, he intended to do so. "I know it might not have been ideal, but time was of the essence when we-" Unfortunately for the teen, though, excuses were nothing his superior wished to hear right now. Noah just put the receiver away from his ear in the meantime until the other end started to calm down. It appeared Sabian had been blamed enough and the loudness returned to more pleasant levels when some enjoyable topics were addressed instead.

At first, the blonde started to receive some praise and while the redhead used this moment to gather his thoughts, the pause quickly came to an end. Now, Noah was the centre of attention and his heart skipped a beat as a result. [npc=revo]”Well, I would be lying if I said I expected something like this would happen when the two of you were stationed here. It surely was a welcome surprise and as your group seems to work efficiently, albeit a bit… unconventionally, we would be dumb not to employ you more frequently. Congratulations, you three will be forming a new cell, and congratulations to you, Noah, in particular, as you’ll be in charge. Further instructions regarding your next task, as well as information regarding your allocated resources will follow shortly. But be prepared to leave the island.”[/npc]

For a moment, Noah was agape, just managing to let a simple "Thanks" slip his lips. The redhead did his best to follow the instructions but ultimately needed some more time to process what just happened. Noah held the receiver with awe, mimicking the times he signalled that he was still listening from time to time. When the conversation came to an end, Noah held the receiver in his hands a bit longer than needed. "What just happened?" was the first thing which managed to leave his mouth, while the realization slowly kicked in. He might have grown up with NRA agents and supporters around, but being so quickly put in charge felt unreal.

Seeing how Sabian and Kathy were fooling around a bit helped him to return to the here and now. "If you want to have some time for yourself, just say the word, okay?" While Noah had been serious one moment ago, he did his best to suppress some laughter now. After understanding his implementations, Kathy was not pleased, to say the least. Still red, she spoke up. "Oh. What? No! It’s nothing like that!" Kathy quickly closed the distance to Noah, after which she playfully hit the teen. After the official call had ended, the atmosphere started to become more pleasant, until it changed yet again when somebody entered Kathy’s home.

As they soon learned, it was Sweetwater. Noah definitely needed some more time to get used to cooperating with a marine official, but he did his best to overcome his prejudice. So far, he did not need to distrust the man. "Looks like our honorary guest arrived. Anything we can help you with?" Sweetwater smiled and handed over some supplies, but most importantly a few documents containing information. While Noah took a quick look at those, he was promptly lost in the reading, only partly following the conversation the others had.

Noah skimmed through the documents he had in his hands, just to quickly reach the same conclusion the others had: Kyrie Quarters seemed to be bad news. Of course, Noah lacked the time right now to properly take in everything which had been handed to him, but he could easily see how troublesome the man could be. Jacq might have been bad news, but the scope of his undertakings was somewhat limited to just one island. But as a Commodore, Quarters’ influence could easily affect incidents on a larger scale.

"I’ll take one, too." Noah put the documents away for now. Looking into them would be better done in a moment of tranquillity anyway. Instead, he would prefer to enjoy the moment. "On a bright future!" With this quick toast, he tried not to worry anymore. It was not as if the problems they had to solve would suddenly grow out of proportion overnight, right?

---

The next morning, a few carts parked in front of Kathy’s home and they were all busy storing the items they would need for their journey. Not just the three youngest were present, but Noah’s parents as well, who took the chance to say their farewells. ”Don’t be too reckless now, will you?” His mother was the first to embrace Noah before his father followed promptly. For those two, the goodbye would probably be the hardest, though it was not the first time- something which probably would never become easy for parents. "Don’t worry too much about me, okay? I’m not working alone anymore. Just promise me that you stay vigilant, okay?"

When the family almost finished parting ways, Kathy arrived, reassuring the parents. "I still owe your son a bit for saving me, so you can rest assured that I’ll have a watchful eye over him." For a moment she passed, looking over to Sabian. "Or rather, a watchful eye over both. Somebody has to keep them in line, right?" She smiled while handing over the keys to her home so that Noah’s parents could keep a watchful eye over her property during her absence.

Now, Sabian arrived, wrapping an arm around Noah’s neck. "Hm, we want to bring upon some change, so how about this?" Before continuing, Noah paused for some dramatic effect. Though extra time to think some more was surely something he would not mind, too. "If we want to start the dawn of a new time, why not ‘L’Aube Du Monde’?" Noah waited for reactions, with Kathy being the first to act. She moved behind both men, trying her best to wrap her arms around both. "Well, I like it. Just don’t let the promotion go to your head now, okay?"

"Is it just me, or is my authority already undermined? But we’ll see, First Mate. Let’s just see how reckless you’re going to be in the future." With that, he smiled, taking what he just said not too seriously himself. "I’m ready to go. Work’s waiting"

"Remembering how easily Sweetwater managed to locate us recently, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ordered someone to supervise us." Noah looked around but found nobody suspicious. Well, if somebody was uncovered so easily, they would need more training in undercover operations. "And it’s not like he doesn’t know where my family lives, so he easily has a place to visit to ask nicely for an update."

When Noah then saw how they should leave the town, he could not but raise an eyebrow. While Kathy seemed eager to try it out, Noah was a bit more hesitant. The teen had no real idea how the NRA usually smuggled their operatives, but somehow, he imagined it would somehow work differently. At least they would smell good afterwards, he guessed. A longer trip later, they reached their ship, a caravel.

"I guess that will be our base for now, huh?" Multiple operatives were already present on the ship, greeting the newcomers. Before Noah fully realized it, their belongings and the new supplies were already stored away and they were already undergoing training. While many of the crewmates already had some experience with sailing, it was pretty much something new for Noah. He might have already travelled via boat, but operating it was a whole other story.

When the training came to an end, another task awaited Noah. He had still to learn what their mission would be. Their destination would be the Black Drum Island and their task was to gather information on the people running the country. As it seemed, something was off, to put it nicely, and the higher-ups wished to know what it was. Even though he grew up in the South Blue his knowledge about the island was limited, but it did not surprise him how something seemed to be off on an island run by the World Government.

It did not take long until Kathy and Sabian were discussing their destination. Upon hearing parts of their conversation, the redhead quickly joined in. "And those councils would be where we come in. After the nobility was mostly driven off the island, the people organized themselves in settlements, forming the alliance we know nowadays. As you heard, those councils suddenly decreased in number, which is rather peculiar, given how stable they were over the past few decades. Our task would be to gather information: We are expected to learn what’s going on in Black Drum. Something seems to be off and our superiors want to know what that is before it comes to the worst. Therefore, it might be wise to first contact our operatives on the island or some like-minded allies." After a short break, he added one last detail. "Of course, we’re expected to act discretely, but, if necessary, we are allowed to take some ‘creative’ measures." At this point, Noah hoped his hint was understood. Whatever was brewing on the island, their superiors wished that somebody would intervene promptly before it would be too late- an intervention which may not work discretely.

"Well, sounds like a division of labour. The two of us do the secretive work" Noah pointed towards Kathy while talking, "and whenever we need brute force, we know who we can rely on!" For a moment Noah laughed before he quickly calmed down. Sabian still needed time to recuperate. "In the meantime, get the rest you need. I’m not as strong as you are and we never know when we might need your power."

With that out of the way, the crew could focus on the truly important matters: dinner! At the end of the day, doing anything on an empty stomach made things harder than they needed to be. While parts of the crew, including Sabian, checked their course, Noah gave Kathy a helping hand in the kitchen, cutting some of the ingredients she needed. Some might argue a captain could spend his time more wisely, but performing one of his favourite part-times helped him to clear his mind.

The same night, Black Drum Island

The waning moon dimly illuminated the night sky, when a shadowy figure entered through the open window of a rich man’s estate. Unrecognizable with the naked eye it moved, knowing where it had to be, where it had to look. With practised hands, it searched through different drawers, easily finding the gems and jewellery it was looking for. Storing them in its own pockets, the shadowy figure got richer within mere seconds. And mere seconds was all it needed. As suddenly as it had entered, as quickly it left through the open window, leaving no traces behind. Or rather, only a trace it wished to leave: a single crimson feather. The shadowy figure hurried back into the night, as it still had places to be.