“[Captain McGrew], we have another call for help coming in.”
Standing at the prow of his ship, the Marine Captain took off his cowboy hat with one hand and wiped his forehead with the other, before turning around to the speaker and asking: “Alright Partner, how far and what’s the assessment of this one?”
“It’s D.I. 3 …” after saying this Pearson offered the papers in his hand to Ranse, continuing: “and it comes from [Agent Bascud], apparently the island being attacked is important to the future of our efforts here in the East Blue.”
The [Danger Index], or D.I. for short, had five levels and was implemented roughly a year ago when the first ‘monster sighting’ became ‘monster attacks.’
Thought up by the entire leadership staff of the Department, the scales went as such:
Level 5 – Low risk, requiring a few squads of Special Operators to handle. Expected casualties: low to zero.
Level 4 – Mild risk, requiring one squad of [Beetleborgs] and accompanying [Iron Wardens] to handle. Expected casualties: Low biological to mild machine losses.
Level 3 – High risk, requiring a [Department Captain] and two frigates to act as support. Potential use of the [King Cannon]. Expected casualties: Mild biological to high machine losses.
Level 2 – Extreme risk, requiring a Department Captain, five squads of [Beetleborgs] and accompanying [Iron Wardens], and five frigates to act as support with expectations to use the [King Cannon]. Expected casualties: High.
Level 1 – Hypothetical risk, requiring the Commodore to be present and the full weight of the Procurement Department brought to bear. Expected casualties: variable.
Despite it being given the high-risk assessment, Ranse naturally wouldn’t shrink back so nodding his head to this, he said ‘alrighty’ to himself and started looking over the details given to them by the Head of the PIB.
‘Orange Town…’ he read, and immediately saw why Bascud pointed it out.
The town in question sat on the largest island in the middle of an archipelago.
What made it important was not only the physical size of the ‘Organ Islands’ but that it was also geographically close to [Goa Kingdom], where they had just started a project to clean up mountains of garbage and establish an outlying water treatment facility near the capital city.
Ranse had met with [King Sterry] himself, and while he thought the new King didn’t have 2-braincells to rub together, he gladly took the “genius” offer that had the Procurement Department essentially rebuild 15% of the island for what would be a slight Beli loss for the land rights to the rest of the entire island.
Essentially, Ranse mused as he looked over the location of [Orange Town], King Sterry had given Dawn Island to the Procurement Department so that they would permanently get rid of the landfill known locally as the [Gray Terminal].
And since most of the people living in the [Gray Terminal] were poor and just wanted enough money to survive on, their Department had an influx of cheap labor.
The scale of the deal struck with [Goa Kingdom] had greatly surpassed their next several largest contract combined, including the one with [Frauce Kingdom], and had become that largest project taken by their Department.
With so many resources invested in that area of the East Blue, the idea of investing in the surrounding islands was a no brainer, and to that end, the ‘Organ Islands’ had appeared on their radar as prime real estate some months before.
Considering all of this there was no way that they weren’t going to send aid, only, the details of the invading monster were vague since reports were contradictory.
It was either a giant pterodactyl or a spiky hedgehog-like reptile.
‘Well, no matter which it is…’ Ranse shrugged and thought that the goodwill that they would receive from [Orange Town] would undoubtedly pay for whatever hassles they would find there.
Thumbing over the report, Ranse shifted his cowboy hat and spoke to Pearson with a smile: “Partner, this takes priority. Round up the Web Panic and Flying Mink, tell them to meet with us en-route to [Orange Town]
We’re going to slay that monster, and you can put that under your hat.”
*************************************************************************
At the same time that Ranse got the notification from Bascud, a conversation was happening thousands of miles away inside a laboratory located on a flying island.
“Gigantification just doesn’t work! It breaks down the structure faster than Evolution can adapt!! Boink”
“How can you say it doesn’t work when you’ve created so many giant animals?”
“You, red gorilla! those examples are large by normal standards, but gigantification is different, you see the proc- “Enough! Jihahahaha”
“Captain? Boink”
“Will the [Monarchs] survive long enough for us to achieve our goals?”
*piro piro piro piro!* (A/N this is a weird laugh… imagine it high pitched with a Japanese accent.)
“Yes! Those specimens are unique successes, as far as failures go, they will rule the East Blue until they fall apart! Boink”
One clown, one red gorilla, and one legless pirate stood looking at a giant display that showed the locations, their targets, and the names of their [5 Monarchs].
5 – Organ Islands -> Goa Kingdom, Danro
4 – Cozia -> Frauce Kingdom, Ramoth
3 – Goat Island -> Mirror Ball Island, Kong King
2 – Sixis -> Loguetown, Queen Dorah-ghi
1 – Oykot Kingdom -> Oykot Kingdom, Lordzilla
“Great! Jihahahaha! With Marineford’s attention on the foolish Whitebeard, nothing can stand in our way!
First, we destroy the Sea of Schemes, and then, the world!”
*************************************************************************
It had taken a week for Willy and Musatobi to meet Ranse en-route to [Orange Town].
Over the past two years both individuals had contributed enough to be given the rank of Lieutenant and command of a frigate, though their crews were majority Fish-man and Mink respectively, both held a sizeable number of human sailors.
Aside from specific roles that needed to be filled, the mix of crews was predominantly due to the fact that Bill insisted on integrating the various species, but also because all current [Beetleborgs] were Human and he thought.
Every standard Procurement Department frigate required a minimum squad of four [Beetleborgs] and four [Iron Wardens], and this was also the case for the Web Panic and Flying Mink.
For most situation, this amount of power was more than enough to act safely. But for conditions deemed D.I. 3 or higher, more specialized forces were called upon, and that’s where Ranse’s ship came into play.
The [M.S.S Victory] was the Procurement Departments first major flagship, and as acting the face of the organization inside the East Blue, Ranse naturally had command of the massive galleon.
Armed with 5 squads of [Beetleborgs], 20 [Iron Wardens], 1 [Mind], 6 [King Cannon], and 200 hundred trained Marines it was heads and shoulders above the rest of the East Blue fleet in terms of capability.
The ‘Organ Islands’ were named after the fact that each island in the archipelago was shaped like a human organ, and [Orange Town] was built on the most central island that was most fittingly shaped as a heart.
So, standing on the prow of the huge galleon with Fia on his right and Pearson on his left, Ranse had every reason to feel fully confident.
That was until the [Organ Islands] came into view.
They saw the smoke first, from a day’s sail away, black plumes carried by the winds drifted over the horizon. Concerned but undaunted, the small armada continued to sail until finally on the next day when the [Organ Islands] came into view, they saw that at least a large part of the archipelago was on fire.
Watching in amazed horror at the scale of the destruction, which was almost at the level of a natural disaster, Ranse looked back to Fia and asked if she was ready.
Despite her cheeks reddening, she nodded affirmatively.
The [Organ Islands] got their name since every island in the archipelago was shaped like a human organ. Sailing by the lungs, kidney, and pancreas islands the only motion that could be seen was fire and smoke. This hardened the expressions of every Marine, but some small hope held on as their destination was [Orange Town] that was located on the heart island.
Unfortunately, in this place, hope could only be replaced by grim determination.
“ETA, 30 minutes.” Said a man from Ruluka Island who was holding a pair of binoculars, and to which Ranse nodded slightly, looking on at the outskirts of a burning town.
Seeing this, he knew what had to be done and so reaching for the small Communication Snail in his pocket, he radioed the two other ships.
“Lieutenant Willy, go ahead and get your Special Operators into the water. Tell them to fan out and to be on high alert. Musatobi, get your Panthers and Squirrels ready for immediate landing. All [Beetleborg] and [Iron Warden] units are to stand at the ready.”
Then, the last direct order Ranse gave to his Lieutenants was: “Ready the [King Cannon].”
On his orders the three ships sprang into action.
The Fish-men Marines armed themselves with their clubs and tridents, jumping into the water without a second thought.
The Panther Mink rubbed their weapons down with oil, and when that was done, they strapped on their large seastone-tipped claws with feline roars to show their eagerness for battle.
The Fly Squirrel Mink fastened on their tiny jet-packs and fiddled with their rifle scopes which were as long as they were tall.
And while they did all of that, the Human crew carried out their own various tasks. The [Beetleborgs] suited up in their mechanized body armors, the Special Operators checked their rifles and kit, the Gunners and Artillerymen rushed to unlock the [King Cannon], and the Medics on each ship started preparing extra medical stations that they hoped wouldn’t be needed.
With the ships stopping a short distance from the burning docks connected to [Orange Town], it was Willy who made first contact when a large scaly bird emerged from the black smoke and flew across the beach in their direction.
Moving at a speed underwater that not many could achieve, Willy launched himself above the surf and delivered a home-run baseball swing to the monster’s head instantly killing the creature and creating a shock wave that could be felt by every Marine present.
Despite this hit, there was no cheering. Because like an alarm, the shock wave set off a multitude of screeches from inland, and before anyone knew what hit them the smoke became alive as hundreds of large scaly birds rushed to avenge their comrade.
No orders were needed at this sight, trained in fire drills by a Masterson, the Marines unleashed a storm of lead and in their first salvo scores of the large beasts dropped out of the sky.
Then, almost as if they were learning from the deaths of their comrades, the beasts started to fly lower.
But that was also to their detriment. In a scene almost certainly never before seen, as scaly birds were flying near the water ‘fish’ became to jump out and kill them one by one.
Watching this from the front of his ship, Ranse looked on apathetically, but not moved until after it was clear that the large scaly birds wouldn’t make it through the storm of bullets and tridents, and even louder screeches were heard emanating from the island.
At this noise, Ranse tapped the device on his wrist and activated the [Mind] which promptly took over the local [Iron Wardens] and when the next batch of even larger spiked birds flew through the surface, they were met by 30 sets of .50 Caliber auto-cannons.
The size of the beast waves continued to increase until the Marines were forced to consider their outrageous use of ammunition and started to meet claw with iron, or claw with claw in the case of the Panther Mink.
Trained on the movements of Sasha and Toma, wherever the [Iron Wardens] flew their seastone swords slew beasts. Making their way on land, trudging through the smoldering town squads [Beetleborgs] slew everything in their path as they searched for survivors.
But even if not one human could be saved from [Orange Town], Ranse was determined to eradicate the monstrous animals and make sure nothing like this would happen again.
Watching his forces move inland, he stayed still with Fia behind him.
Like Bill, Ranse trusted his instincts, and right now his instincts told him that this opening battle was only the start of something much bigger.
But despite his Observation Haki, not even he could foresee that after the town was cleared – with the fires put out by the blood of mutated animals – an eerie deep screech could be heard from the volcano that lay at the center of the island.
Eyes wide open, as Ranse rushed forward, he ordered his men to fall back.
No sooner than he and Fia reached the center of town than a gust of wind picked up and blew the smoke away for just long enough for them to see a massive, scaled bird with fiery red wings.
The creature was the size of the town itself and, when it took to the sky, fire could be seen falling off its great wings like rain from a thundercloud.
“Fia!” Ranse hollered, and this time not blushing the Cannon-Cannon girl compressed and compressed until she was the size of a very large ‘hand cannon’.
Holding the revolver in his hand, a shallow but excited “Un!” could be heard as he cocked the hammer back and surrounded on all sides by [Iron Wardens], Ranse lined up the shot.
Aiming between the monster’s eyes, Ranse spoke to it: “You ought to never have come here. And you can put this under your hat.”
Pulling the trigger, a beam of light as large as the [M.S.S Victory] itself was shot out and hit the monster squarely in the head. Crying out with another screech it fell out of the sky, but this was just the start.
By the end of their battle, when [Danro] lay spread out and dead and half of the island was destroyed, only ten survivors were pulled from the rubble from a town with a population in the thousands.
Sitting on Victory, head full of charred hair but otherwise fine, Ranse attempted to report this incident to Bill, but was shocked to find out…
[New Haven] had been attacked, and the Commodore had left to confront the ‘Golden Lion’ himself.
And later that week when he received the first batch of [EvoTracker], Ranse decided that while Bill took on the root of the crisis, he would organize the Marine response in the East Blue.
And unbeknownst to him, by doing so, he would become a [Hero].
UberNuber If you enjoy the fanfic please hit the heart icon and consider leaving a rating!
'Danro'
Spoiler [collapse]
“[Captain McGrew], we have another call for help coming in.”
Standing at the prow of his ship, the Marine Captain took off his cowboy hat with one hand and wiped his forehead with the other, before turning around to the speaker and asking: “Alright Partner, how far and what’s the assessment of this one?”
“It’s D.I. 3 …” after saying this Pearson offered the papers in his hand to Ranse, continuing: “and it comes from [Agent Bascud], apparently the island being attacked is important to the future of our efforts here in the East Blue.”
The [Danger Index], or D.I. for short, had five levels and was implemented roughly a year ago when the first ‘monster sighting’ became ‘monster attacks.’
Thought up by the entire leadership staff of the Department, the scales went as such:
Level 5 – Low risk, requiring a few squads of Special Operators to handle. Expected casualties: low to zero.
Level 4 – Mild risk, requiring one squad of [Beetleborgs] and accompanying [Iron Wardens] to handle. Expected casualties: Low biological to mild machine losses.
Level 3 – High risk, requiring a [Department Captain] and two frigates to act as support. Potential use of the [King Cannon]. Expected casualties: Mild biological to high machine losses.
Level 2 – Extreme risk, requiring a Department Captain, five squads of [Beetleborgs] and accompanying [Iron Wardens], and five frigates to act as support with expectations to use the [King Cannon]. Expected casualties: High.
Level 1 – Hypothetical risk, requiring the Commodore to be present and the full weight of the Procurement Department brought to bear. Expected casualties: variable.
Despite it being given the high-risk assessment, Ranse naturally wouldn’t shrink back so nodding his head to this, he said ‘alrighty’ to himself and started looking over the details given to them by the Head of the PIB.
‘Orange Town…’ he read, and immediately saw why Bascud pointed it out.
The town in question sat on the largest island in the middle of an archipelago.
What made it important was not only the physical size of the ‘Organ Islands’ but that it was also geographically close to [Goa Kingdom], where they had just started a project to clean up mountains of garbage and establish an outlying water treatment facility near the capital city.
Ranse had met with [King Sterry] himself, and while he thought the new King didn’t have 2-braincells to rub together, he gladly took the “genius” offer that had the Procurement Department essentially rebuild 15% of the island for what would be a slight Beli loss for the land rights to the rest of the entire island.
Essentially, Ranse mused as he looked over the location of [Orange Town], King Sterry had given Dawn Island to the Procurement Department so that they would permanently get rid of the landfill known locally as the [Gray Terminal].
And since most of the people living in the [Gray Terminal] were poor and just wanted enough money to survive on, their Department had an influx of cheap labor.
The scale of the deal struck with [Goa Kingdom] had greatly surpassed their next several largest contract combined, including the one with [Frauce Kingdom], and had become that largest project taken by their Department.
With so many resources invested in that area of the East Blue, the idea of investing in the surrounding islands was a no brainer, and to that end, the ‘Organ Islands’ had appeared on their radar as prime real estate some months before.
Considering all of this there was no way that they weren’t going to send aid, only, the details of the invading monster were vague since reports were contradictory.
It was either a giant pterodactyl or a spiky hedgehog-like reptile.
‘Well, no matter which it is…’ Ranse shrugged and thought that the goodwill that they would receive from [Orange Town] would undoubtedly pay for whatever hassles they would find there.
Thumbing over the report, Ranse shifted his cowboy hat and spoke to Pearson with a smile: “Partner, this takes priority. Round up the Web Panic and Flying Mink, tell them to meet with us en-route to [Orange Town]
We’re going to slay that monster, and you can put that under your hat.”
*************************************************************************
At the same time that Ranse got the notification from Bascud, a conversation was happening thousands of miles away inside a laboratory located on a flying island.
“Gigantification just doesn’t work! It breaks down the structure faster than Evolution can adapt!! Boink”
“How can you say it doesn’t work when you’ve created so many giant animals?”
“You, red gorilla! those examples are large by normal standards, but gigantification is different, you see the proc- “Enough! Jihahahaha”
“Captain? Boink”
“Will the [Monarchs] survive long enough for us to achieve our goals?”
*piro piro piro piro!* (A/N this is a weird laugh… imagine it high pitched with a Japanese accent.)
“Yes! Those specimens are unique successes, as far as failures go, they will rule the East Blue until they fall apart! Boink”
One clown, one red gorilla, and one legless pirate stood looking at a giant display that showed the locations, their targets, and the names of their [5 Monarchs].
5 – Organ Islands -> Goa Kingdom, Danro
4 – Cozia -> Frauce Kingdom, Ramoth
3 – Goat Island -> Mirror Ball Island, Kong King
2 – Sixis -> Loguetown, Queen Dorah-ghi
1 – Oykot Kingdom -> Oykot Kingdom, Lordzilla
“Great! Jihahahaha! With Marineford’s attention on the foolish Whitebeard, nothing can stand in our way!
First, we destroy the Sea of Schemes, and then, the world!”
*************************************************************************
It had taken a week for Willy and Musatobi to meet Ranse en-route to [Orange Town].
Over the past two years both individuals had contributed enough to be given the rank of Lieutenant and command of a frigate, though their crews were majority Fish-man and Mink respectively, both held a sizeable number of human sailors.
Aside from specific roles that needed to be filled, the mix of crews was predominantly due to the fact that Bill insisted on integrating the various species, but also because all current [Beetleborgs] were Human and he thought.
Every standard Procurement Department frigate required a minimum squad of four [Beetleborgs] and four [Iron Wardens], and this was also the case for the Web Panic and Flying Mink.
For most situation, this amount of power was more than enough to act safely. But for conditions deemed D.I. 3 or higher, more specialized forces were called upon, and that’s where Ranse’s ship came into play.
The [M.S.S Victory] was the Procurement Departments first major flagship, and as acting the face of the organization inside the East Blue, Ranse naturally had command of the massive galleon.
Armed with 5 squads of [Beetleborgs], 20 [Iron Wardens], 1 [Mind], 6 [King Cannon], and 200 hundred trained Marines it was heads and shoulders above the rest of the East Blue fleet in terms of capability.
The ‘Organ Islands’ were named after the fact that each island in the archipelago was shaped like a human organ, and [Orange Town] was built on the most central island that was most fittingly shaped as a heart.
So, standing on the prow of the huge galleon with Fia on his right and Pearson on his left, Ranse had every reason to feel fully confident.
That was until the [Organ Islands] came into view.
They saw the smoke first, from a day’s sail away, black plumes carried by the winds drifted over the horizon. Concerned but undaunted, the small armada continued to sail until finally on the next day when the [Organ Islands] came into view, they saw that at least a large part of the archipelago was on fire.
Watching in amazed horror at the scale of the destruction, which was almost at the level of a natural disaster, Ranse looked back to Fia and asked if she was ready.
Despite her cheeks reddening, she nodded affirmatively.
The [Organ Islands] got their name since every island in the archipelago was shaped like a human organ. Sailing by the lungs, kidney, and pancreas islands the only motion that could be seen was fire and smoke. This hardened the expressions of every Marine, but some small hope held on as their destination was [Orange Town] that was located on the heart island.
Unfortunately, in this place, hope could only be replaced by grim determination.
“ETA, 30 minutes.” Said a man from Ruluka Island who was holding a pair of binoculars, and to which Ranse nodded slightly, looking on at the outskirts of a burning town.
Seeing this, he knew what had to be done and so reaching for the small Communication Snail in his pocket, he radioed the two other ships.
“Lieutenant Willy, go ahead and get your Special Operators into the water. Tell them to fan out and to be on high alert. Musatobi, get your Panthers and Squirrels ready for immediate landing. All [Beetleborg] and [Iron Warden] units are to stand at the ready.”
Then, the last direct order Ranse gave to his Lieutenants was: “Ready the [King Cannon].”
On his orders the three ships sprang into action.
The Fish-men Marines armed themselves with their clubs and tridents, jumping into the water without a second thought.
The Panther Mink rubbed their weapons down with oil, and when that was done, they strapped on their large seastone-tipped claws with feline roars to show their eagerness for battle.
The Fly Squirrel Mink fastened on their tiny jet-packs and fiddled with their rifle scopes which were as long as they were tall.
And while they did all of that, the Human crew carried out their own various tasks. The [Beetleborgs] suited up in their mechanized body armors, the Special Operators checked their rifles and kit, the Gunners and Artillerymen rushed to unlock the [King Cannon], and the Medics on each ship started preparing extra medical stations that they hoped wouldn’t be needed.
With the ships stopping a short distance from the burning docks connected to [Orange Town], it was Willy who made first contact when a large scaly bird emerged from the black smoke and flew across the beach in their direction.
Moving at a speed underwater that not many could achieve, Willy launched himself above the surf and delivered a home-run baseball swing to the monster’s head instantly killing the creature and creating a shock wave that could be felt by every Marine present.
Despite this hit, there was no cheering. Because like an alarm, the shock wave set off a multitude of screeches from inland, and before anyone knew what hit them the smoke became alive as hundreds of large scaly birds rushed to avenge their comrade.
No orders were needed at this sight, trained in fire drills by a Masterson, the Marines unleashed a storm of lead and in their first salvo scores of the large beasts dropped out of the sky.
Then, almost as if they were learning from the deaths of their comrades, the beasts started to fly lower.
But that was also to their detriment. In a scene almost certainly never before seen, as scaly birds were flying near the water ‘fish’ became to jump out and kill them one by one.
Watching this from the front of his ship, Ranse looked on apathetically, but not moved until after it was clear that the large scaly birds wouldn’t make it through the storm of bullets and tridents, and even louder screeches were heard emanating from the island.
At this noise, Ranse tapped the device on his wrist and activated the [Mind] which promptly took over the local [Iron Wardens] and when the next batch of even larger spiked birds flew through the surface, they were met by 30 sets of .50 Caliber auto-cannons.
The size of the beast waves continued to increase until the Marines were forced to consider their outrageous use of ammunition and started to meet claw with iron, or claw with claw in the case of the Panther Mink.
Trained on the movements of Sasha and Toma, wherever the [Iron Wardens] flew their seastone swords slew beasts. Making their way on land, trudging through the smoldering town squads [Beetleborgs] slew everything in their path as they searched for survivors.
But even if not one human could be saved from [Orange Town], Ranse was determined to eradicate the monstrous animals and make sure nothing like this would happen again.
Watching his forces move inland, he stayed still with Fia behind him.
Like Bill, Ranse trusted his instincts, and right now his instincts told him that this opening battle was only the start of something much bigger.
But despite his Observation Haki, not even he could foresee that after the town was cleared – with the fires put out by the blood of mutated animals – an eerie deep screech could be heard from the volcano that lay at the center of the island.
Eyes wide open, as Ranse rushed forward, he ordered his men to fall back.
No sooner than he and Fia reached the center of town than a gust of wind picked up and blew the smoke away for just long enough for them to see a massive, scaled bird with fiery red wings.
The creature was the size of the town itself and, when it took to the sky, fire could be seen falling off its great wings like rain from a thundercloud.
“Fia!” Ranse hollered, and this time not blushing the Cannon-Cannon girl compressed and compressed until she was the size of a very large ‘hand cannon’.
Holding the revolver in his hand, a shallow but excited “Un!” could be heard as he cocked the hammer back and surrounded on all sides by [Iron Wardens], Ranse lined up the shot.
Aiming between the monster’s eyes, Ranse spoke to it: “You ought to never have come here. And you can put this under your hat.”
Pulling the trigger, a beam of light as large as the [M.S.S Victory] itself was shot out and hit the monster squarely in the head. Crying out with another screech it fell out of the sky, but this was just the start.
By the end of their battle, when [Danro] lay spread out and dead and half of the island was destroyed, only ten survivors were pulled from the rubble from a town with a population in the thousands.
Sitting on Victory, head full of charred hair but otherwise fine, Ranse attempted to report this incident to Bill, but was shocked to find out…
[New Haven] had been attacked, and the Commodore had left to confront the ‘Golden Lion’ himself.
And later that week when he received the first batch of [EvoTracker], Ranse decided that while Bill took on the root of the crisis, he would organize the Marine response in the East Blue.
And unbeknownst to him, by doing so, he would become a [Hero].
UberNuber If you enjoy the fanfic please hit the heart icon and consider leaving a rating!
'Danro'
Spoiler [collapse]