Task Name: Corruption
Tier: 3
NPC or PC: PC
Location: Ennies Lobby
Crew, Team, or Personal: Personal
Description: While exploring another small islet surrounding Ennies Lobby, you'll find this one to be have a village. Even if the island itself isn't really all that big, the people make do by fishing and farming what little they can. All would be well if the Marines around this place didn't squeeze them for "protection money" like mobsters.
Enemy Details: 20 T0 Grunts, 5 T1 Corporals, 2 T2 Lieutenants
Boss: Yes

Boss Name: Commodore Vogel
Tier: 3
Description: Vogel is a greedy, corrupt Marine with a seedy, shady look about him. He doesn't entice any bit of trust from anyone except his fellow marines, and seems obcessed with anything valuable or shiny. Having located a mostly lost city where the people have little contact with outsiders, he has decided to extort money from these people beneath the notice of his superiors: He has the people fooled into thinking pirates aren't attacking this island thanks to their efforts, when the truth is Pirates don't come by because its so far off course. All of his underlings are in on it. Because these people are poor, he has to squeeze them a lot to get anything worthwhile, so he comes by for his taxes every other day.
Devil Fruit: Net Net fruit
Haki Aura: Eagle Eye
Equipment:
Specs:
DF: 3
Melee Weapon: 4
Merksman: 1
Haki: C

Adventuring in Ennies Lobby was... Frustrating... Linnea was an adventurer, an explorer at heart, and the very reason why she became a Pirate was so no kind of faceless government could ever think of telling her where she was or wasn't allowed to go. She abhored the idea so much she would rather bring down the world goverment than ever let them impose their phony, corrupt authority on her. It was a great source of friction between herself and Alice, and no doubt the main reason why she had never seen the beautiful Marine again. Yet as much as she loved her then girlfriend, she couldn't never love her more than she loved her own freedom. The girl had her own reasons to hate most Pirates and revolutionaries, but even then Linnea could never accept a Goverment whose leaders think themselves gods instead of men, without doing the least bit of effort to understand the people they claim dominion over. The savagery of the world nobles made many pirates look like saints, and the further one adventured into the Grand Line, the clearer that little fact became...

That said, the world nobles, and even the Government itself were the least of her worries while she was here. Naturally no place where ten thousand Marines make their home would ever welcome a Pirate, and even if they were still mostly unaware of her presence, it took a great deal of trouble to ensure they stayed that way. It made exploring the nearby islands a hassle, and the actual island of Ennies Lobby a nearly impossible endeavor. Just this morning, they had to bail out of an Island Linnea was rather enjoying due to several approaching Marine battleships. It looked as if they would be conducting Combat exercises, and as such none of the Pirates wanted anything to do it, not even stick around anywhere close to the action. So they sailed... They sailed, and they sailed... Once they had sailed so far away that Ennies Lobby was now little more than a distant dot on the horizon; Linnea and company started trying to figure out what to do next. Waiting till the military exercises were finished before going back was a smart idea, but there weren't that many islands around here to pass the time...

There was only a single island around these parts, far from anywhere inhabited... Or so they thought... Unlike most of the other little islets they had found so far, this one was just as small, but had something the others didn't: A trail of smoke flew upwards from somewhere around the island, and on closer inspection she found it to be actually several trails of smoke, as if this place was inhabited and the people were making fire. It didn't feel like there were any marines around however, and the Uroboros Captain was curious enough to warrant trying to go out and explore the place. Linnea took the rowboat, slowly padding ashore... The previously sunny skies were growing ever darker as more and more clouds covered up the gleaming sun, another courtesy of the random weather of the Grand Line. Linnea was steadily growing used to the randomness however, better learning how to cope with it, and when there wasn't anything to cope, simply to enjoy it instead. It was actually wonderous how quickly the weather could go from a massive rainstorm to a summery heat, and she enjoyed every bit of those moments... This time, it seemed like the opposite was about to happen, as she gazed up to look at the sky and could swear she felt a drop of water hitting her face...




Words: 616

Gear: everythang

Was it one of those times where the weather just kept threatening rain time and time again, without actually delivering for hours on end, if ever? There was no way to tell just yet, but not really eager to take any chances, Linnea promptly pulled her hood over her head. This hood was one of the more trademark features of Naga D. Linnea's clothing style, and was indeed an all purpose one: It could either shield her eyes from the sun to facilitate sniping, help protect her face against dust or sand, or such as now, be used to protect her against potential rain... Mind you, most of those things didn't really bother her, but even then they could still hinder her vision in the right circumstaces, and a long range sniper like her just couldn't have that. The waves were pretty helpful this time around and before long Linnea had hit the shores of the small, mysterious island. She froze what little bit of sea remained between her feet and firm soil, pulling the boat into safe sands, ensuring it wouldn't be taken away once the tide rose.

With all of this out of the way, she was finally free to go explore the island itself. The woodlands further into the island were nowhere near as dense as most of the ones she had been seeing up until now, even if it still looked very much like a rainforest, with hot, damp air making exploration a taxing exercise. Even with this weather, the closer she got to the jungle the warmer it felt, and combined with the humidity it was more than enough to have the platinum haired archer sweating buckets. But for once, she wasn't here for the jungle, but something else entirely. Not many of the small islets she explored actually had people living in them, and thus, the explorer was obviously attracted to this novelty. Linnea's feet sunk into the warm sand as she made way through the salty shores, getting closer and closer to the source of the smoke with each step. Soon, she got close enough to actually look at the mostly wood and straw village, where people lived with rather primitive woven clothes. She couldn't really call this a tribe, it was actually closer to a remote fishing village... But as she walked inside the actual village and watched the people give her frightened looks, she couldn't help but notice something off... These people were oddly emanciated! Why...? There should be plenty of fish to feed such a small community.

"Uhm... Who are you...?", she heard a villager behind her ask.

"Im Naga D. Linnea, A pirate.", she admitted, nonetheless with a friendly smile.

These people looked pretty scared at her admission of being a pirate, but they obviosuly didn't have the energy to simply run away in fear as their faces implied they might want to. Instead, those wierd, worried looks only intensified.

"There's nothing here for you to steal though... We're poor and the Marines take most of it as taxes..."

She frowned at this words, her gaze almost turning into a glare, making the villager take a fearful step back even if it was obviously not directed at them. Linnea activated her Kenbunshoku Haki, confirming what she suspected... All of these Villagers' auras were visibly dim, weakened from long years of malnourishment:

"I'm not here to steal from you... But it sounds like those Marines are.", she said sternly

It was hard to convince these people of it, but at this time, Linnea wasn't even surprised anymore. She clenched her teeth and fists, never ceasing to be apalled at the brutality of these men's corruption. They call themselves protectors of the law... Then why are criminals like them kinder people?  Whatever scheme the Marines were pulling, it seems like they had these people convinced they were doing a fine job at keeping Pirates away from the island. What these villagers didn't know, was how far off course their island was. No Pirate would bother coming here to steal nothing. But Marines in Ennies Lobby, however... With 10,000 Marines stuck in Ennies Lobby, no way the higher would be able to do anything about this, even assuming they cared. Hell, even assuming they weren't in on it, like many others she'd met before.

Linnea was done with this... These Marines - if they could even be called that being the worthless sacks of shit they were - using their power, their supposed mantle to protect the weak and the innocent, using their duties even, as a way to squeeze these people dry. Call them pirates, lawbreakers, whatever you will, but most of them are honest about. A few even too honest even. But this wolves in sheep's clothing, they come after the pirates have had their way with the people, to pick away at the leftovers. Parasites, vultures, the lot of them. If they were willing to go this far and still believe themselves capable of shielding the innocent, then Linnea had a big surprise for them. She would kill them all.



Used A-rank Kenbu (20 HS)



Words: 1500

It took quite a good deal of convincing for her to get the people to do what she wanted... But the few of them who still had the strength of will to resist their oppressors saw Linnea as a savior instead of an attacker. In the end she managed to get them all to head into the center of the island, hiding in the jungle and leaving their village unoccupied. Apparently this village was so poor that the only way for the Marines to make their extortion profitable was to squeeze a little bit every day... Despicable.

Innocent people without the luxury of storing food for the harsher times (perhaps they even did at one point before the extortion), and they still have the nerve to extort for them. She didn't care how harsh their life might be, how expendable their lives may feel constantly fighting pirates who all but killed them to get past them, it was no excuse for making these people's lives miserable nor would it ever be. Once the village was properly abandoned, Linnea was ready to play the waiting game. She had the whole of it all to herself, to carry out her sniping tactics. In the time she had left to wait for the Marines arrival, Linnea wandered around the village, scanning her surroundings, entrances and exits to each and every house. The layout of the village was pretty simple: There were four houses by the sea (next to a small pier with fishing boats) to more framing a road behind those two, followed by a circle of larger houses at the center, where the trails of smoke were coming from. Not long after the people had left, the smoke died down...


The Marines arrived as Linnea stood at the window of a house by the sea... They weren't sailing a battleship, or even flying obvious Marine colors. Everything pointed to the sneaky, clandestine operation they were carrying out here. Lin could only imagine what they told those people to convince them they were there to help them... Regardless, none of that mattered now. At this point, Lin had two options: She could either wait for the Marines to crowd the village or she could just start killing the moment they stepped on the Pier, where they would be nice and clustered together. Yes... That would do nicely. She grabbed ten arrows, and got ready for her trick shot; a duplicated Quintet skill, aimed right at the heart of the enemy forces. She could spot plenty of rank and file soldiers, and at least two officers, one of them standing far back. Too far back for Linnea to have a chance of taking him out really, she wouldn't even try, not yet. It would be best to peel away his guardians first. For once this wasn't about assassinating a high value target, but about sending a message. If the Marines dont do their jobs, the Pirates will do their jobs for them, and reap their worthless lives in the process.

Nocking and drawing the ten arrows, Linnea took aim. She intended to take down as much of the higher ranked enemies as fast as she could, and thus she pointed five arrows into the openings between the grunts, and with a silent but menacing lashing sound, she let them all loose! The arrows flew unimpeded towards their intended targets at high speed, catching them completely off guard just as they started wondering just where had all the villagers gone. The marines scurried around for cover before anything else, believing themselves under attack by an overwhelmingly large force with an incredible talent at hiding. But this wouldn't last long: As two more enemies looked away, Linnea nocked and drew four more arrows (three on one side, one in the other), and shot them at the rank and file marines. The Marine forces were down to roughly half, with two officers, one corporal and twelve grunts remaining.

But this was just about all the free shots she was gonna get. Linnea was fortunate to have studied the layout of the village before the battle, that way she knew exactly where to duck behind when the hail of bullets started, and where to go next. However, the village being almost completely made of wood and leaves was something she could do nothing about, and even as she rolled away from the gunfire, she still caught a flesh wound to the waist with her attempt at getting away. Gritting her teeth, she grasped the wound, applying pressure... She didn't need to fix it now, she had 10 angry Marines to deal with.

They had now realized who was after them, or rather how many... With her Kenbu haki, Linnea saw the Marines moving around, trying to surround her from either side of the house, still convinced she was inside. But before long they had changed course, and she could hear their leader yelling in the distance... this was bad... Did that guy also have Haki? Tch... How annoying... Linnea ventured deeper into the village, dodging another stray shot before finally disappearing from sight. She moved around with seeming randomness, trying to gauge the range of her enemy's haki. The Marines managed to zone in on her location so long as she stayed within thirty meters... Thus, Linnea went onto the opposite side of the village, right at the edge, occasionally peeking out to get a look at her pursuers.

"SEARCH THE HOUSES! SHE'LL DEFENITELY BE INSIDE ONE OF THEM!! AFTER WE KILL THIS BITCH, WE GO LOOK FOR THESE VILLAGERS, OR THEIR CORPSES!!", she heard the dumbass scream his lungs out, commanding the Marines in the area around. Two of them entered each house, the one she was next to included... They would find her if they poked around too long so she couldn't waste time.

Linnea coated an arrow with jet black Haki and nocked it... These guy seemed overly lax, confident even... He was too confident on his Haki, a mistake common to those in experienced in its use. He seemed alert, but it wouldn't be enough if his body didn't keep up with her top speed. Linnea stood right between the two houses... Gritting her teeth as the man she pretty much saw as the greatest evil in these waters, she would spare no mercy for him. She let loose the jet black arrow, flicking it down and unleashing her Drill shot.

The man didn't even have time to scream as he fell down lifeless, but his underslings retaliated... One of them shot from inside the houses in an impressive display of blind firing, hitting Linnea's shoulder even though he couldn't see her. She clicked her tongue, the adrenaline keeping her annoyance stronger than her pain. Activating her strongest skill, Linnea set about viciously wiping out the remaining pirates, quickly drawing and shooting arrows at the remaining Marines in between fast dashes, like a snake on the hunt. Some even tried to flee... Those got an arrow to the back...

Once Linnea was done, she was surrounded by blood soaked corpses and half corpses riddled with arrows, with her face, arm, and abdomen covered in blood. Yet her cold, stern eyes still showed no sign of exhaustion even her breath was obviously ragged and tired. Some Marines still moaned and grunted around as Linnea scavenged her arrows, and some died in the process of removing said arrows, but in the end they were all down for the count:

"If the Marines don't do their jobs; then the Uroboros Pirates will do it for them!", she announced coldly, finally drawing out the villagers, who for the most part were apalled at the vicious bloodshed. Only one of them was brave enough to approach the pirate, at which point her expression softened slightly, once more confirming how she wasn't their enemy, "Do not hide us...", Linnea admonished the villagers, "When they come to ask about their friends, tell them EXACTLY who did this."

There was nothing these villagers could do with gold... A mere look at how far off course this place was would be more than enough hint to this fact, it doesnt take a genious to realize that people can't really eat gold after all. Instead, Linnea would give them something else: All the supplies these Marines were carrying, leaving the few living marines themselves to the mercy of the angry villagers. Most of them were dead and a few were dying, fortunately for them since these people might have a far worse bone to pick with them than Linnea ever might...

[EXIT]


Words: ~3000

All enemies dead or critically wounded





Expended a total of 8 T1 arrows, the rest were scavenged

Spoiler: