Task Name: Such Subterfuge, much Seduction
Tier: 1
NPC or PC: PC
Location: Ilusia
Crew, Team, or Personal: Personal
Description: On Arrival to the island, you must defeat 3 Pirate Captains without casualties. This will earn you the attention of other Marines in the City. These Pirate crews are small, but if provoked they might cause chaos by fighting Marines, each other, and killing people in the process. They will be found at a Tavern, in different floors.
Enemy Details: 2 T1 Pirate Captains, 10 T0 Grunts
Boss: No

It was a good day... The skies might be dark and cloudy but there was more to a good day than fine weather, and this was enough to put a smile on her face. She had pirates to take down!

Her search for clues on her father's whereabouts had been scarce and mostly led to dead ends. Just as Connery said, she'd only be able to advance her quest after she caught the attention of Cipher Pol. It wouldn't be difficult given how they were fully aware of her existance. But until she reached that checkpoint, she had to deal with what little information she came upon by scratching the surface from the outside. The veil of intrigue and subterfuge was one she had yet to find a way into but even now she managed to discover a name, the name of one man who worked against in some of his final assignments.

Illusia had been messy since the fishmen's attack, by the time they were driven out by the Marines they had killed many and destroyed a lot more. Part of the Island was controlled by the Revolutionary army, and many Pirates caused trouble on other cities where the Marines were shorthanded. Even if Marina had come to Illusia island following her own lead, there was still plenty of work to be done regardless, allowing her to kill two birds with one stone. One of the small towns further towards the shore struggled with warring pirates, particularly two of them that were known to quarrel often enough. People had been killed often enough, but sadly none of the most dangerous of the pirates. This wasn't even a war over territory, just a random scuffle. Worthless sacks of shit... She had run into plenty of trash like that however, and this wouldn't be the first or the last time she dealt with them.

But then the 80th Marine branch wasn't much better either: Collateral damage may be necessary evil on some occasions, but the 80th branch was a terrible example of its use, if anything it was an example of sloppy work that still managed to be mostly effective. It was a waste of resources and the Government's credibility, both were assets that shouldn't be squandered. To work in intelligence wasn't to kill your way to the enemy, but to study and isolate it, and winning a battle with surgical precision. That was exactly how she planned to deal with these two pirate Captains. Marina had walked into the tavern, ordered herself a drink, and sat at the bar. From the mirror she could see one of the rowdy groups of pirates, and had been studying them for a good few minutes. None of them looked much tougher than the average person.

Sipping her drink and crossing her legs, Marina turned around on her bench, turning heads along with her. Even if she had picked a reasonably modest red turtleneck sweater with tight black pants, it still hugged her generous curves tightly enough to draw attention, earning a faint smile for the calculating spy. Her danced around the room and lingered on the Pirate captain a while lower. She had just about planned every step of her following plan: For all the thrill of what she was about to do, her heartbeat was steady and calm, her mind clear and focused.

The right way to get the attention of Cipher Pol was to work like they did and be good at it: Subterfuge and Assassination...

Ilusia was a truly beautiful place. Not even the dank weather seemed to be fully capable of detracting from both the natural and fabricated beauty of the island. Supposedly there'd been some large scale Fishman invasion, and there was indeed a lot of damage to the kingdom, but even then it seemed to blend well enough to pass for intentional. The people, though haggard from the experience still seemed to maintain a manner of generosity and congeniality that coukd only be admired. The people of Ilusia faced constant incursions by a growing rebel faction in the east, a violent and bloody act or racial terrorism, and now they had to deal with Pirates gathering about in the aftermath of that attack and yet they were as kind and courteous as one could could hope to find in the blues.

Isabella of course looked right at home. Her fair skin, long blonde hair and sterling blue eyes were a perfect match for the average Ilusian native, their Nordic beauty something likely not found too widely outside their home. Some people claimed these people were racist, letting their good looks go to their head, however Isabella never gleaned any of that from her interactions with the populace. They were proud folk, sure, but who wouldn't be? This was likely one of the few truly illustrious, civilized islands in all the blues.

Isabella herself had been stationed her for some time. The young kuja's Haki had proved invaluable for sniffing out any squatters lingering in the ruins, as well as dealing with any that proved excessively hostile. It wasn't a difficult task, as so far none of them knew a thing about the ability, and though she was overjoyed to serve the government in this capacity, she was still on the trail of her father. His ship was last seen leaving this port shortly prior to the Fishman assault. Beyond that, there was word of a young Ensign who'd been inquiring about the very same ship, who'd volunteered to be stationed her to assist in the clean up of some of the negative elements still present on the island.

Isabella wasn't the type who took days off, but today she had the day to herself and she'd decided to spend it looking for this Ensign Koslova. Word was she was last seen heading toward a tavern that had sprung up in one of the destroyed sections of the city. To no surprise, it'd become a rather seedy place, for whatever sort of vile traveler who's inclinations may have been less than legal.

Isabella was not entirely without shame or sense, and the overcast sky called for warmer clothing than she was typically inclined to wear. Clad in a red hooded trench coat she made her way into the questionable establishment. The hood did a good job of concealing her form, but wouldn't ordinarily be too subtle. Fortunately enough though, this kind of crowd was quite used to seeing figures clad in hooded wear, so she blended right in. Of course her target clearly stood out from the rest, the only person here who looked liked they've bathed within the last week. Immediately the blonde put her hood down and moved toward the bar. Still, though she was certainly beautiful compared to the average woman, she looked like one of the natives of Ilusia, a series of wonderful conveniences.

The blonde moved to the bar and took the seat beside the dark haired Marine that had gone surprisingly unoccupied. "Ensign Marina Kosolova, yes? I am Isabella Santana Reyes Montoya, Isabella would declare, loud enough that anyone who were paying attention to the two might here. " If what I hear is true, you and I share a common interest in my father and his work. We must discuss this, sooner rather than later. Are you free now?" she'd finish, obvious to the girl's intentions here.

Everything was going well... Too well... The Pirates all kept getting drunker (with Marina actually tracking how much each of them was actually drinking) and even traded some seductive glances their way. Her plan was as simple as it was effective, or so she thought: Make them come to her invite her to their table, and once there she could take out their Captain before he even saw it coming. But when one of the pirates finally stood up and started walking up to Marina, someone else beat her to the punch. A red coated woman walked into a bar, and for once this wasn't the setup to a joke. Marina slowly uncrossed her legs, before crossing them the other way, carefully yet discreetly watching the woman, betraying no emotions through her faint smile when she finally realized that girl was actually walking towards her. She didn't see any reason to be on edge by the sudden approach, but she did see a reason to be curious: This new arrival looked incredibly familiar...

Soft, beautiful face, blonde hair, icy blue eyes. And when she finally pulled her hood down and spoke there could be no doubt; this was the the girl she was after! Marina's eyes widened slightly at this realization, but before long astonishment and surprise were replaced by something else... Was she an idiot? Her eyebrow twitched in a rather visible display of annoyance; this declaration made the whole tavern grow a lot less rowdy and the Pirates stopped in their tracks, staring at the two women angrily.

"You really know how to make an entrance huh...?", Crimson met crystalline as Marina looked into the girl's eyes with a rather friendly, approachable look, answeing her inquiry with an affirmative nod. Unlike Isabella, her tone was calm and average, far from loud enough for anyone to hear them, "I'll be free in a few minutes: My element of surprise may be gone, but I'm still busy with these Pirates. Those grunts drunk too much to have any fight in them, but they can still do damage if we let them."

With a final, confident smile to Isabella, Marina put her drink down, uncrossed her legs and stood up. She slowly approached the pirates' table with an elegant stride, running rank her hands down her sweater as if to iron out the kinks; but all she did was get the Pirates' eyes on her. Everyone was on edge, particularly those who had a reason to be wanted by Marines, but even with their hands on their weapons, Marina's presence was far from threatening; "What do you want, Marine?", the Drunken Captain asked her rudely, with a slightly slurred speech.

With a chuckle, Marina leaned over the table, and even without a deep cleavage, the suggestive motion was still there and more than enough to draw her prey's eyes away from her own, down towards her chest before her words pulled them back up again:

"Hora, don't be like that~ I'm not really after you, I just need some information about the one upstairs. I can even buy it for you...", she blushed at this last part, looking up coyly. With his resistance slowly melted away by the dark haired woman's advance, her aimless, playful hand had soon found its way to the scruff of his shirt, a teasing finger trailing across the tingling skin... She was close enough to smell the booze on his breath, to see the lust in his eyes, but at that moment, his fate was sealed. The predatorial Assassin had seen her chance.

The next movement was a complete blur: as the Pirate Captain visibly shivered from the sudden change of her touch, Marina grabbed the back of his head and slammed his face down onto his own rum glass, a disturbing shattering sound echoing through the room and signalling his end. At this moment, her vibe changed completely. Her previously glimmering, alluring eyes grew dark and frighteningly distant. The unconscious/dying Pirate Captain's body still twitched every now and then as blood painted the table underneath, sending a definitive message to his underlings.

Without wasting a single moment she took out the other gun wielding pirate with a thrusting side kick, before quickly chambering her leg and kicking the table onto two others, sending them smashing into the wall behind them. Among this crew, only two frightened, sword wielding grunts remained as many people left the tavern in a hurry. Things were about to get ugly...

"Haven't you heard? Drinking is bad for you.", mocked Marina, smirking and glancing back at Isabella to see if she had any interesting in joining the fight... A bar brawl! This may be work, but the adrenaline was still enough to make her heart throb, so much an attentive glance might be able to pick out a delighted glimmer from the woman's eyes...



Defeated 1 T1; 3 T0

Isabella took the time to study the woman before her. She'd created a rough idea in her head of what she might look like.  Descriptions varied, but only slightly. People spoke highly of her physical appearance but Isabella was hardly one to care. She was currently unarmed, which likely meant she was Martial Artist, like herself. She has the build of a Kuja... Maybe. Her outfit hugged her body, but it hardly looked efficient and any muscle tone she may have had wasn't clearly visible. Isabella would make it a point to spar with the girl later. For now she needed to identify the reason for her fellow Ensign's twitching eyebrow.

Was she nervous? Rumor was she was quite secure. Was she intimidated? The Kuja hadnt thought much about how a fellow Marine might see her so it was quite possible the other girl was frightened? If she were s Kuja she'd have Haki of some kind, perhaps she could see the menacing black Aura that marked Isabella as a wielder of stardust Haki? Perhaps the stories she'd likely heard painted a poor picture? There were so many possibilities. Isabella smiled in spite of her confusion, trying to remain sunny. Her intent was to work with this girl, it'd be good to be congenial and disperse any doubts or pretense Marina may have formed about her.

When Marina turned her head to face the Kuja they locked eyes, sea blue meeting sanguine red. Her face was calm and kind, passive at the very worst sort of interpretation. Whatever had been bothering her had seemingly passed which was definitely good news for any future dialog. "I didn't mean to? It looked like it would rain and I don't have many long coats. Yet, you are clearly the most noticeable person here..." the Kuja would mumble under her breath, mostly too herself though Marina could likely hear her. She went on to inform the blonde that her element of surprise was now gone, bringing new light to the entire situation.

She'd been... Sneaking? How? She was easily the most eye catching person in the room? To what end? If she had come to arrest Pirates, than why operate so indirectly? Was she not as capable as her peers? Trickery was a scoundrel's tactic, no reason a respectable Marine to go about using it.

Before Isabella could properly inquire about the other girl's motives she calmly stood up and moved her way toward the Pirates she'd come after. Much to Isabella's surprise, she did not open by arresting them, in fact, she seemed more interested in flirting with the crew than putting them away.

It then occurred to the blonde that perhaps this girl was in fact a traitor. Her father had been one. Corruption was seeded throughout the Marines like a cancer. Without much thought Montoya stood up and began to make her way toward the other ensign, intent on subduing her if necessary.  Before she could criss the entire distance however the girl opened up a fresh can of whoopass on the drunk crew.

Isabella let out a sigh of relief as she watched Marina move about the place with the grace of a dancer, her limbs smashing into the faces of their shared enemy. However beautiful it was though, Marina had raised a fine point when she said they could still do damage. Not everyone in this bar was criminal scum, and if a proper fight broke out civilians could get seriously injured. This was made quite evident when a surly looking pirate captain came rushing down the stairs, blunderbuss in one hand and battle axe in the other. His dull red eyes scanned over the room and he stormed toward the Marine girl, knocking over furniture and people alike as he rushed the girl, his men cheering and slowly moving to surround her and Isabella.

"Oh you're gonna get it now, girly!"

"Can't wait to bust that pretty little head open!"

"Nobody fuck with us ya slutty bitch!"

Isabella rolled her eyes at the derogatory remarks and threats. Once the crew had formed a tight circle around the two, their boss entered the ring of men they had made, licking his axe blade with a crazy look in his eyes.

However intimidating he abd his men might have been, Isabella planned to remind them the lot of them that it was unwise to group together so closely. The lot them were well within range of her Haki, so it was high time they were reminded of what terror really meant.

With a deep breath the Kuja closed her eyes and manifested her murky black Aura around her body, her eyes opened suddenly and as if death itself were standing in her place a wave of darkness washed out from her body like a flood, the Aura pushed out in 10 meters in all directions knocking out the remaining Pirates (and unfortunately a few bar patrons) immediately. Isabella turned her head toward the girl she'd presumed to be not only possess subpar abilities but also perhaps be a traitor with a genuinely impressed grin. She'd proven her wrong, even without knowing her suspicions.

"Im sorry if you were looking forward to a fight but this was just more efficient in this moment. I only have the one free day a week, and we have much to discuss... And it is as you said, if we had continued to let things get out of hand, people may have gotten hurt.

Conquer's Wrath:

Remaining enemies defeated.

The long red coat hid most of her features, but even all covered up as she was, Isabella was a woman of striking beauty. She heard about it time and time again, every one with even a faint idea of who she was and what she looked like mentioned how dazzling she was time and time again, and now that she'd finally gotten the oportunity to meet her, she verified how none of the rumours truly did her justice. However, the other side of the rumours, how she was incredibly scary, didn't seem to do her justice at all. She looked calm and even clueless: Her answer made it clear she had a hard time understanding sarcasm, but Marina had better things to do than arguing humour in the middle of a mission. Still, that didn't keep her from flashing a proud faint smile at Isabella's last words. Indeed, she tried her best to be noticeable at times like these, even if her work relied on being discreet. All of this time, Marina had learned how to use her beauty like her strongest weapon.

Soon she had dealt with one of the pirate captains and most of its minimal crew, and once that happen, thumping footsteps heading down the stairs signalled the approach of the other pirate crew. Marina snickered scornfully at the rain of misogynous expelletives, but then she didn't really expect anything else from sea dogs like these. The remaining grunts joined up with the other surviving pirates to form a circle around the two Marine girls, and thus Marina moved closer to Isabella, standing roughly back to back with her and preparing to take on the outnumbering enemies:

"Four armed men against an unarmed woman? Boys and their toys~", she teased with a sultry smile, stepping up but stopping as Isabella decided to take charge. Instead, she simply crossed her arms under her breasts and watched the scene unfold before her eyes with a faint smile on her face, watching carefully.

She had faced worse odds than these, and even when outnumbered, Marina didnt' feel frightened or even break a sweat: These guys were weak. Plus, Marina's daredevil nature fully came out at times like these; even if it went again her more tactical instincts, she loved fighting with the odds all seemingly against her like this. But then, the bloodthirsty looking Pirate stepped forth, licking his weapon - earning an eyeroll from Marina - and showing obvious intention to fight them on his own. But when Isabella stepped forward, Marina just raised an eyebrow and turned back to watch: She wasn't one to miss an opportunity to closely observe how another strong fighter fought, and this time was no exception.

But instead of a fight, something else happened... The raven haired covert agent fancied (and often proved)  herself to be completely fearless, but when Isa stared at that Pirate, it was as if she'd sent a shockwave that blew her hair back. She hadn't broken a sweat throughout the whole fight, but she did at that point, feeling a cold shiver run down her spine. W-what... What was that...? With wide eyes, she watched as every other person around them fell down limp and unconscious, and in the end her own fearless nature came back out soon enough as intrigue quickly replaced any lingering dread. As Isabella turned to her, Marina moved one hand to her hip relaxedly and whistled, nodding her head approvingly:

"Don't worry about it; that was quite impressive after all.", she praised with a rather friendly smile on her face, visibly warming up to the girl after this display. This power... What did she just do? Connery had told her time and time again; how she'd keep running into many different powers along her quest, some of them she'd hardly even be able to explain. She certainly didn't expect that to happen so soon. The man himself had used one such power to train Marina: Whenever they fought he always looked like he could see everything she was about to do. It forced her to be unpredictable and to rely on her instincts and reflexes rather than plan out a fight in advance. Planning an assassination was one thing, but Walther Connery taught her how doing that in a fight could cost her life...

But this... Was this the power of Montoya's Amazon Heritage? Or was it a devil fruit of some kind? Indeed, Marina was often able to intimidate certain opponents, but she always had to focus on a single one, up close and personal. What she just did looked like was capable of intimidating them into unconsciousness with nothing more than a stare. It was by far the most impressive thing she had seen since arriving at the West Blue.

"...You were kind enough to save me the trouble to look for you.", she continued with an appreciative smile, cocking her head slightly and looking into her charming blue eyes inquisitively, "However, I was surprised to find you looking for me as well."

Soon, marching footsteps could be heard outside the bar, getting closer by the second... The Marine squad Marina had "enlisted" to come by and clean up her mess had finally arrived, leaving both her and Isabella free to head outside and chat freely. Marina nodded towards the other girl, walking out of the bar and passing by the Marine Corporal, winking at him flirtatiously and getting a cute, flustered blush in return.

It appeared Marina was definitely no Kuja. Though her reaction was s brief one, it appeared Conqueror's Wrath had affected her, if only briefly. That would likely mean educating her in the ability, if only so she could be prepared for it in the future. She did express her gratitude once the ordeal was over and gave Isabella some unnecessary praise. The modest girl blushed at the compliment and buried her face into the high collar of her jacket. "I-It's nothing really. It's just a tool... Doesn't really work on anyone I couldn't beat in a blink anyway... It uhhh, it just streamlines the process of dealing with the weak ones." she'd say, trying to deflect as much praise as she could. It was true that her Haki was of a rarer sort, but it was in itself a difficult ability worthy of any sort of praise. Perhaps later it would reveal new, more powerful techniques that could be worthy of celebration but for now these techniques were as simple as breathing.

The other ensign maintained her eye contact with the Kuja, causing her to cough into her jacket collar. Thankfully she spoke first, mentioning that she was surprised to discover that Isabella would be looking for her, as she'd been looking for Isabella. Surprise was good, it gave Isabella new footing. Pulling her head out her jacket, the Kuja could return to her more unrestricted speaking voice. "It has been my experience that whoever you are looking for has a tendency to find you. The base UT nit as large as one might assume, word travels quickly and not say quietly as you might think..." she'd say matter-of-factly, the sound of marching cutting her off before she could continue. The troops entered the bar and began separating squatter and civilian from pirate and revolutionary, with a nod from Marina the two girls made their way outside. As they passed the Corporal leading the small brigade, now blushing from something that Isabella suspected might be fever, sgee snapped to attention, saluting him with the rigidity one gains from military training, which in turn caused the Marine to cough and come back to his senses, affirming Isabella's suspicions, however wrong they might have been.

"Ensign Isabel-"

"I know who you are, Izzy, good job you're a credit to the uniform, Yada Yada Yada. Just... Get out if here before you find more trouble to get into." he said with an exasperated voice, pushing past the blonde and into the bar. Isabella gave him a dejected look behind his back and with a defeated sigh put her hood back up, joining Marina for a walk back to the base.

(Exit w/ Marina)