[Episode] Amber Heist

Episode:

There was just something about Flevance that made Anton shiver. Really, there was no need to worry about it, especially since the whole Amber Lead Poisoning epidemic had been cured, and the island was pretty much restored to its original glory. But to think, that some time ago, this island had been effectively written off as an island of death. Everyone on this island had either died from the disease, or were put to death, and the island quarantined. And that all this happened in Anton's lifetime! Granted, he was only a boy when this was the case, and things had long since been solved by then. But being in this town, it was like walking over someone's grave. It wasn't the most comfortable feeling.

His discomfort seemed quite apparent as Celia let out a small sigh of annoyance. Really Anton? You're acting like you're walking through Impel Down or something. Relax will you? This town's perfectly safe. Besides, we're only here for a transfer. It's not like we're going to be here for very long." "I-I know that!" Anton spluttered, before slumping, "It's just, well, with everything that's happened here, it's almost hard to believe this was an island of death some years ago." His mind then remembered something, "A-And don't they still have Amber Lead here?"

Celia shrugged. "Of course they do. It's their main export. But thanks to the vaccine, they don't need to worry about the poisoning anymore." Anton's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "And what exactly are people doing with a highly poisonous substance?" Granted, it was probably being handled safely, but it still didn't make him feel any better. What would anyone want with such a substance anyway? Celia sighed. "Look, if it makes you feel any better, we'll avoid anything involving Amber Lead in the future. Listen, we're only here for a transfer. You don't need to go near any of the stuff. Just relax, will you?"

Anton let out a small sigh. Celia was right. After all, they were only here to stock up on supplies, and then they were off the island. Simple and quick. No harm, no danger.

That was, until a marine ran up to them. "You two! All marines are to report to the docks immediately!" Both of them paused, Celia blinked in confusion. "What's wrong? Has something happened with our ship?" The marine shook his head. "No, pirates have somehow infiltrated the island, and they've seized the recent Amber Lead getting ready for shipment. They have hostages! All marines are to report there to deal with this immediately!"

Celia froze, slowly looking back to see what he expected. Anton's face had gone completely pale. Pirates AND Amber Lead. The two things Anton did NOT want to encounter here today.

As they arrived on the scene, the marines had already set up a blockade near the entrance to the docks. Civilians were being kept back, and some distance away, Anton could see that the pirates had set up their own barricade as well, a couple of men in gas masks sporting rifles, watching the marines warily.

Celia approached the nearest marine. "What's the situation?" The marine glanced back at her. "There's about 30 of them in total. Normally wouldn't be a problem, but they've taken the dock workers hostage. They're demanding safe passage off of the island with the Amber Lead." Celia nodded. "And with how toxic that substance is, letting them off of the island with it is unacceptable!" The marine nodded. "But if we try to get at them, they'll kill the workers. We're waiting for orders from HQ before we can proceed. But in the meantime, we're to stay put."

Celia nodded, thinking for a moment before smiling. "Well, I think we have someone that can help." She looked over at Anton. "La'croix, get in there." Anton's eyes almost bugged out of his head. "Wh-What!? Why me!?" Celia looked over at him. "Anton, you can turn into a grasshopper man, and you're probably the strongest marine here. I'm certain you can take them down before they realized what was happening," she said, encouragingly. Anton wasn't really buying it though. Thankfully, he had a way out. "W-Well, they did say we are to await for orders. So I'm sorry, I can't just rush in blindly and play the hero." Yes! Nothing like using protocol to avoid going into danger.

Celia's expression fell flat. "Well, guess I'll tell the higher ups that the strongest marine in the area refused to do his job."

"YOU'RE THE WORST!"

Things were tense on both sides. The pirates had the advantage, having hostages, but who knew how long that would last. They had heard stories of the World Government throwing hostages to the wind like that. It just depended on how badly they wanted to keep their Amber Lead.

The pirates were all wearing gas masks, keeping their entire bodies covered to protect themselves from Amber Lead Poisoning. Sure, the World Government had made a vaccine, but as pirates, they weren't so fortunate.

At the moment, two pirates were watching the barricade, seeing the marine blockade in the distance. "What do you think they're planning?" one of them asked. The second, rifle in hand, shook his head. "No idea. Doesn't matter though. As soon as we get the ship ready, we're out of here. The sooner we're out, the better." The first pirate nodded. "Yeah. Why does the captain want this stuff anyway?" "No idea. I heard there was a buyer for this stuff. Pretty expensive on the black market" "Ah, money. Figures."

At that point, one of the pirates noticed something move. It was coming from the roof of one of the nearby buildings...and it was going up. "Hmm? What's that?" "What's what?" "I thought I saw something on the roof." The second pirate looked over at the roof, seeing nobody there. "Probably just a bird." The pirate nodded. But then he heard something. "Wait...do you hear that?"

Behind his gas mask, the second pirate blinked, before both of them looked up.

It was at that point that Anton came down upon them, in his hybrid form, screaming like a maniac.

The instant Anton hit the ground, the area around him seemed to almost explode. There was no fire or anything, just force...and sound. The two pirates were thrown back as the barricade they had set up was blown apart.

The battle had now begun.

techs used:

The pirates were now in complete disarray. They had expected trouble from the marines, that was for damn sure. What they HADN'T expected was for a screaming grasshopper man with a sword to suddenly fall from the sky and start diving at them, screaming like a maniac and swinging his sword around. Yes, the pirates had hostages, but the sudden surprise attack had completely thrown them off, more quick to grab their weapons and try to fight off this sudden attacker. After all, what good were hostages against a monster?

to make matters worse for him, the initial attack he had launched had caused their barricade to collapse, and their state of disarray had opened up the door enough for the marines to step in and make their move. They had barely heard the order to charge, before the marines were on them, quickly dividing their attention away from their monstrous attacker and towards the marines with swords and guns fighting them. Many of them took the opportunity to try and get by the pirates to the hostages. After all, it was a marine's first duty to ensure that the civilians were kept safe, and with the pirates occupied, it was a relatively simple task. What had started as a successful hostage situation, had quickly devolved into a catastrophe.

Over the sounds of the chaos, Anton was screaming for dear life, swinging his sword around at any of the pirates that came near him. Due to his frantic movements, he only received glancing blows from their swords, the exoskeleton covering his body protecting him from any real harm. Didn't stop the guy from being scared out of his mind though. Thankfully, his frantic actions were instilling the same fear in the pirates.

Out of the corner of Anton's eye, a large crate went flying at him. Anton dove out of the way, just in time for the crate, filled with Amber Lead, to crash into some pirates behind him.

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!?" a voice boomed out over the area.

Everything seemed to pause as all eyes fell on the source of the voice. The pirate was HUGE, easily doubling Anton in height. Much like the rest of his crew, he was wearing a gas mask, and a black, full body hazmat suit. Though his massive size and frame showed off the powerful muscles he had. Through the mask, his eyes looked over the docks. "I leave for five minutes and everything goes to crap!?" he growled, eyeing his crew who were, clearly, frightened, "Well, what are you waiting for? Secure the hostages and drive those marines back!" he turned his gaze onto Anton, "I'll take care of the bug!"

The pirates quickly drew their attention away from Anton and began fighting the other marines in earnest. Things were starting to balance out, now that their attention wasn't divided. Anton gulped nervously as the massive pirate took a step towards him. "Time to squash an onoxious little bug!" he growled, his hand reaching out and grasping a crate which, Anton thought, contained more Amber leg. The man's huge first caused the crate to crack beneath his massive fingers. This was going to be a hard fight. Anton knew this!

boss:

Grigory Hazard Used:

MT on Anton
LT on Anton
LT on Anton

Anton Used

MT on Grigory
LT on Grigory
LT on Girgory

The member 'Anton La'croix' has done the following action : Dices roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 17, 16, 20

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 15, 12, 9

The crate creaked as Grgiroy hefted it up with all his might, letting out a bellow as the crate went flying right at Anton. The grasshopper man's eyes widened as he tried to leap out of the way, but wasn't fast enough. The crate, full of Amber Lead, smashed into himself, sending him flying back. Anton cried out as he felt his exoskeleton crack under the force of the attack.

As Grigory chuckled, Anton painfully pulled himself to his feet. This guy could pack a punch. He needed to even the odds a little. Taking his sword, he ran the blade along the back of his leg with a loud screech, causing the blade to vibrate. He gripped the sword tightly, trying to control the vibrating weapon.

Grigory, however, wasn't going to sit back and allow Anton time to prepare himself. The massive pirate charged towards him with a roar, bringing back a powerful fist and slamming it straight into Anton's sternum, sending the grasshopper man slamming into the ground with a painful crack. Grigory wasn't done yet though. Before Anton could even respond, the pirate grabbed hold of him in his massive arms, and effectively launched him across the docks. Anton crashed into a stack of crates, causing the heavy boxes to fall down upon him.

Grigory stepped back, laughing. Well, that was easy! Now time to deal with the rest of the marines.

Anton let out a groan. Great. He hadn't been knocked out. Unfortunately that meant he had to get back up and keep fighting. I mean, he could PRETEND to be unconscious so the big guy would leave him alone, but that wouldn't work, now would it? He groaned as he pulled himself out of the pile of crates, his exoskeleton cracked and bruised. He looked over, seeing that Grigory had his back to him. Well, at least he could deal a sneak attack.

Gripping his vibrating sword tightly, he brought it up, and then swung it down with all his might. A sharp blade of air shot out, travelling at high speed towards the pirate's back. Grigory barely had time to turn around before the attack caught him right in the back, causing him to yell out in pain. Anton was quick to capitalize, quickly following the attack to get in close. His blade scrapped across the stone, kicking up sparks before delivering a painful slash to Grigory's front, causing him to stumble back.

Not a bad move, although Anton was definitely looking worse for ware, compared to the bigger pirate.

Techniques used:

Anton Lacroix used:

1 HT against Grigory
1 LT against Girgory
1 UT against Grigory

Gigory Hazard used:

1 MT against Anton
1 LT against Anton
1 LT against Anton
1 UT against Anton

The member 'Anton La'croix' has done the following action : Dices roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 13, 19, 15

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 17, 11, 9, 3

Grigory let out a low growl. That damn bug had more of a punch than he realized! Fortunately for him, the damn bug had gotten up nice and close, allowing him to grab a hold of him. He swooped an arm down, grabbing him by the foot. Puny bug!" he roared, before lifting him up and slamming him into the ground, over and over again. Each blow felt like he was a jackhammer slamming into his skull. Finally, Grigory started swinging Anton around over his head, before bringing him down hard onto a crate, causing it to shatter from the impact.

Anton was coughing up blood. This was bad. Very bad!

Anton groaned, trying to rise to his feet, with the big pirate standing atop of him. Grigory brought a massive foot up, before stomping down onto his back. The ground beneath him cracked from the blow. If Anton hadn't had the air pushed out of his lungs, he would have screamed. Instead, all he could do was cough up blood. Grigory laughed, standing over him. "Just stay down, bug!"

Oh, how he would have wanted to. He would have loved to stay down. But Celia would find out. Then the higher ups would find out. And what would happen then, well, it was something he didn't want to think about.

Anton's leg shot upward, hitting the pirate right in the crotch.

Grigory groaned in pain as he stumbled back, clutching his groin as Anton took the opportunity to get to his feet. His sword was still trembling, the last vestiges of vibrations in the blade. He had to act fast! Spinning around, he lept into the air, sword raised high above his head. Grigory barely had time to look up before the blow struck him head on, sending him crashing to the ground.

Anton stood there, panting heavily. Did...did he do it? Did he beat him?

Grigory suddenly climbed to his feet, growling in rage. "You son of a bitch!" he roared, swinging a fist. Anton screamed, managing to move to the side and swinging his sword, hitting him across the chest.

techniques used:

Anton La'croix used:
1 AOE at Grigory
1 UT at Grigory

Grigory Hazard used:
1 HT at Anton
1 LT at Anton
1 UT at Anton

The member 'Anton La'croix' has done the following action : Dices roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 4, 19

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 1, 8, 18

Ok, things were going a little bit better for him. He had managed to hit him, and had succeeded in hurting him. Unfortunately, this meant that he was made as hell, and was more than determined to utterly break Anton. He had to find a way to slow the massive pirate down, and quickly. He quickly lept into the air, intent on striking the ground with his feet to try and shake up his footing. Grigory's eyes looked up at the grasshopper, coming down, as the air vibrated around his fist. With a massive roar, he swung his fist, connecting with Anton's foot as he came down. The air shook with the collision, causing everyone who was fighting to stop and stare at the pair.

Indeed, everything seemed frozen for a moment. And right now, Anton was freaking out. He had just stopped his attack, just like that!

As Anton slowly descended, he had to act fast. Without thinking, he swung his sword, catching Grigory in the chest. The pirate let out a growl of pain, before swinging a fist, catching Anton right in the face, almost knocking him for a loop. Before Anton could even do anything, Grigory grabbed hold of him and launched him, throwing him across the docks as the grasshopper cried out.

And with the silence, and relatively cool moment, broken, the pirates and the marines resumed fighting eachother again.

techniques used:

Anton making an escape check.

The member 'Anton La'croix' has done the following action : Dices roll

---

'Reflex Check' : 20

This was nuts! Anton was getting absolutely destroyed. Meanwhile, while he was hurting the big guy, it was clear Anton was going to get killed before he could stop him. Grigory, meanwhile, was panting heavily, growling from being hurt, but seeing how he was manhandling the bug, decided to turn his attention towards fighting the other marines. Naturally, with the pirate's massive strength, even in his current state, there was no doubt that things would go badly for the marines.

Anton painfully pulled himself to his feet. He was trembling. He was terrified. And for the first time in a long time, his survival instinct was winning over his fear of high command. He had to get out of there.

Celia was fighting desperately, taking shots at the pirates with her multiple derringers. She had seen Anton being manhandled by their leader, and was naturally worried for him. He was the strongest marine out of them at the moment, and to see him getting trounced so easily. When she saw him rise to his feet, she was worried, but at the same time confident. As long as he kept fighting.

And then she saw him turn and hop away.

"Anton!" she yelled out over the chaos, watching as the marine disappeared.

The attack had been a failure. With Anton gone, the marines were quickly driven back by the pirates. The pirates had taken the opportunity to flee the harbour with as much of the Amber Lead as they could carry. Which, thankfully, was substantially less compared to what they almost took off with. They had managed to get the hostages out, though some were heavily injured. Needless to say, it could have been a lot worse, but with the pirates escaping, it was far from a success.

Celia was fuming as she walked through the corridors of the ship she and Anton were staying on. Making her way to Anton's cabin, she hammered on the door. "Anton! I know you're in there!" How could you take off like that!?" "I'm sorry..." came a pitiful voice from behind the door. Celia growled. "Don't you realize that because you fled, the pirates were allowed to escape!?" "I know..." "Not only that, but many of the marines, AND some of the hostages, were injured!" "I know..." Celia was on a tirade, and didn't seem to be stopping any time soon. "If you had just kept fighting, we could have stopped them. Those pirates wouldn't have escaped, and this wouldn't have been a total failure!"

Suddenly, the door swung open. "I KNOW!" Celia paused, seeing the state Anton was in. The man was bruised. The man was bloodied. It had been hard to tell just how hurt he was in his grasshopper form. After all, exoskeleton didn't bruise. It was easy to forget that he could be hurt as easily as others, especially with an opponent as strong as that pirate. And she had thrown him into that situation. He hadn't been ordered to fight. She had effectively blackmailed him into it.

Celia's face fell. It really wasn't fair for her to blame him for it all. It was insane to expect anyone to stay in a situation like that.

"I'm sorry..."

[Thread end]