Task Name: Island Patrol
Tier: 3
NPC or PC: PC
Location: Ennies Lobby
Crew, Team, or Personal: Personal
Description:
Enemy Details: T2 marine battleship carrying: 20 T0 privates, 3 T1 Corporals, 1 T2 first mate
Boss: Yes

Spoiler:

It was a lovely day for sailing! Sunny but not overly hot weather, courtesy of few roaming clouds occasionally providing shade, strong but not destructive winds, and a smooth current. They could have sailed just about anywhere in this weather, but here on the grand Line, they were locked into whatever route the log pose had set out for them. Its impressive... Such a small, simple device could make or break even the most powerful Pirate's adventure. But no matter how strong they might have been, once they crossed the grand Line, all pirates were equal as far as luck was concerned. Nothing they did before could influence whichever stick they drew, even if it took a really long time for Linnea to get Flash to stop blaming himself as he so often did for the way they drew the short stick.

Looking around the deck, Linnea found her crew scurrying around attending to several duties on the ship, but for the most part they were calm and cheerful. It was just that kind of weather. She brushed her hair behind her ear, looking up at the triangular sails that gave her ship its speed and manouverability. Back in the blues there was no other ship capable of beating at such an angle, at such speed, and if she swapped sails there was no other ship capable of getting even close. But the Grand Line was different: Speed wouldn't save them here, but it could help a great deal. The Uroboros captain spent most of the Ennies Lobby time sailing around the actual island, hoping the log pose would finally shift and they could finally depart. Here, the ship's speed and manouverability came in handy to navigate in between reefs and shallow waters, finding themselves a place to hide... But much to her chagrin, there was none of the sort on the little island they were at.

And little did she know, that with these conditions, the stage was all but set for a troublesome encounter.

"Captain, there's a battleship coming from the southwest!!", hollered the lookout, from high upon his perch on the main mast. With a calm but steady pace, Linnea walked over to that edge of the ship, narrowing her eyes and taking a good look up to the distance. Tch... He was right. And even worse that ship was heading right towards them... Odds were they had already been detected. There was nothing left but to fight!

They could try to run, but where to? Judging from the enemy's distance, they mustn't have had time to report anything yet. The Melusine wasn't even flying its Jolly Roger so it seemed unlikely for them to be identified as pirates. Still, the waters around Ennies Lobby weren't tarversible to just about anyone. The relative proximity to the Calm Belt was one of the reasons of course but certainly the Marines aren't very interested in having random people prowling around their island of fake justice.

No doubt any overzealous Captain would have no qualms of sinking any ship nearby whose smell he didn't like, and this really seemed like one of those cases. However, there was an upside to all this. If they sunk this ship Marine ship quickly, they could search for a proper hiding place even if other Marines were drawn to this location. There were enough nearby islands for them to hide into if they took some time looking; meaning, any time that not right now. Linnea faced the wind, her mind filled with possible strategies and calculations. She wanted to take full advantage of the Melusine's manouverability against its significantly larger foe. The wind was blowing from the South. If they manouvered to place themselves North of the ship, it could easily chase them all the way to the calm belt provided the wind remained steady. Given how close they were to the dreaded waters, it wouldn't even be too hard. However, if they placed themselves southwards, they could easily beat and strafe around the enemy ship, safely maintaining and controlling an ideal distance.

But for this, there was one condition they had to clear. The humoungous prow cannon had to go, sooner than later. As a defeaning blast filled their ears (signalling the enemy's fire), Linnea commanded two men of her crew to fire. She quickly drafted a very simple plan to cripple some of its artillery, namely the prow and port: Two poorly aimed cannonballs with coax the enemy ship to retain their course for fear of getting hit, and this was exactly where Linnea's bow would interfere.

She pulled out a steel tipped arrow, holding two between her idle fingers. Quickly coating all of them with Bushoshoku, she intercepted the flying cannonball before it could hit her ship and followed up with two Drill shots, aimed at the enemy's cannons... Her eyes then tracked the projectiles, knowing their hitting or mission could determine the course of this battle.


Used B-rank Buso

Used 3 T3 arrows

Spoiler:

Success!! She knew it! The loud, flashy blast from her own cannons urged the enemies to look out for them, completely unaware of who they were fighting and what that opponent could do. Linnea's arrows followed the two cannonballs, catching the attacking Marines off guard and tearing through their hull like butter, leaving two gaping holes from prow to stern. The first arrow was aimed at the larger cannon they had at the front, and with such a large target, missing was next to impossible for a sniper like Linnea, even at this distance. As for the second shot, it was a bit tricker... She had aimed to blow up all the enemy's cannons on their port side, which meant she not only had to hit the right spot on the ship, but also at the perfect angle to ensure her shots hit home. Thus, while she did most certainly wreak havok on the enemy's artillery, she was unable to confirm whether or not she had successfully mopped up their cannons. Regardless, it was enough, "Beat around to the South! Get us 50 meters windwards from their ship!", she commanded her helmsman.

With this, Linnea held on... The Melusine pulled off some impossibly tight turns as they manouvered around the enemy's ship trying to keep facing their port side as the ship got into position as Linnea commanded. The enemy saw through this strategy naturally, but they were having a hard time picking up speed to keep up with the Pirates. Occasional cannonballs still flew past them, but not at a great enough number that they'd have any difficulty avoiding them. With their fire dying down, Linnea moved on to the next stage of her plan. Taking over one of the cannons, she loaded the ball and chain shots and took aim: "FIRE!", she commanded

Used 3 T3 arrows

Used 15 Haki stamina

Used roughly 80 Stamina

Of course, Linnea didn't fire alongside her crew. One might criticize her for repeating the same strategy but at this point if the enemies were too

focused on what might come after the hail of cannon fire, they wouldn't have a ship to worry about: Being a good bit closer since the last time, this new cannon barrage was far better aimed. With her crew's fire being right on target, most of the stronger members of the Marines were left busy destroying the shots they couldnt evade. And best aimed among them all would of course be the final ball and chain shot Linnea fired. Following right after the wave of cannonballs, only one enemy was able to see through her plot and quickly slice the chain with his sword. However, he didn't stop the cannonballs from ripping two huge holes in their sails, effectively crippling the ship on the spot.

Staring at the Marine's battleship from the Melusine's prow, Linnea's gaze met that of the enemy commander... Very soon they'd be doing battle up close and personal. But the rest of his men were in disarray. Most were wounded and deprived of morale. Next condition has been met. The enemy ship has been slowed beyond any hope of recovery, and now Linnea was free to enact the next stage of her plan. Approaching the edge, she froze all the way down the hull of her ship, into the sea, and from then on froze all the way to the enemy ship, completely locking its rudder in place and sealing its movement with a thick ice sheet. It wouldn't go anywhere now and the Uroboros Pirates were free to board them.

Manouvering around the Ice sheet, she approached the battleship from its disarmed side, preparing to start picking off enemies. As she got close enough to activate her Kenbunshoku Haki, she immediately singled out and killed one of the men still trying to bark orders the moment he turned away from her. But as the Melusine was roughly 10 meters away from the enemy ship, all the marines suddenly jumped onto the ice sheet and rushed the Melusine down, quickly climbing aboard the Pirate ship using an incredibly pirate-like tactic. She miscalculated! For all of her plans and antecipations, she never expected the enemies to try and board her instead! But in the end it was all for naught, a desperate tactic at best. The bulk of the Marines numbers had already been trimmed. Roughly eight of them remained, all wounded weaklings. The only one to worry about to was their commander...

"Get rid of the small fry!", she commanded her crew, "I'll take care of their Captain..."



Used 4 T3 arrows

Used 35 Haki stamina (A-rank kenbu)

Used roughly 80 Stamina[/color]

It seemed all the surviving Marines were in on this final charge. Yet even as the Uroboros Pirates shifted the aim to the Ice sheet, raining down cannon fire on the Marines, there was obviously one who survive all of this. Linnea had to intercept her own crew's attempts to deal with him, knowing they would achieve absolutely nothing from any and all attempts, and take care of this guy herself. To their surprise, the guy climbed up the ship with a single jump, parrying Linnea's arrow with his sword and retaliating with a single gunshot. Linnea also promptly sidestepped the attack, and before long the two were face to face.

"Naga D. Linnea... I figured... That power threw me off but it really is you. To let such a troublesome woman eat such a troublesome fruit... Such carelessness.", he spoke, as if angrily addressing the Marines who 'allowed' her to eat the Hie hie no mi. Such arrogance. That was a matter between pirates and other pirates, nothing for Marines to poke their noses into.

"Unfortunately for you, you'll be taking that secret to Davy Jones' Locker.", she answered, nocking and readying an arrow

"We'll see about that..."

Meanwhile, Linnea's crew followed her command. All the Marines still in alive were no longer capable of fighting, so the road was clear for the Uroboros' grunts to get on board the rowboat and make way to the Marine battleship. What remained of the Captain's ice sheet was keeping it afloat, but it wouldn't stay like that for long... They had to use this opportunity to plunder that ship while they still could!

Linnea saw it... He was gonna shoot her and the close the distance right after. No matter what she had to avoid close combat with this guy. Linnea promptly sidestepped the shot and raised her bow to block the sword strike. The guy grinned, as if this movement would cost her the battle... But he was wrong...

Before the sword made contact and before it could have cleaved her bow in half, it was stopped by a coating of Busoshoku Haki, covering Linnea's arms, bow and upper body, and arrow. Realizing his mistake, the guy was far too late in attempting to back away, but was intercepted and caught with an arrow to the lung...

"S-shit..."


Used 5 T3 arrows

Used 55 Haki stamina (Active A-rank kenbu, A-rank Buso)

Used roughly 80 Stamina[/color]

The fight was over. She hadn't killed the Marine Captain, but then she had a better fate in store for him. For whatever reason, seeing a Marine resorting to boarding an enemy ship so quickly - like a Pirate would - irked her in a way she could hardly describe... Perhaps she just woke up in the wrong side of the bed that day and this guy was about to be punished for it, but then that was exactly what happened. She approached the fallen enemy, pulling the arrow from his chest, drawing a loud, pain filled cry and torrent of blood as the sadistic shaped arrows tore through him, but Linnea wouldn't let him die by blood loss. Instead, she knelt down and closed the guy's wound with her frost touch:

"So, you want to fight like Pirates huh? Then you can lose like Pirates too.", with this cold words, Linnea kicked the Marine Captain overboard. Even with their battleship crippled and their Den Den mushi taken, these Marines should still have a lifeboat somewhere. It wouldn't get them back to ennies lobby, but it would get them back to a deserted island. Be Marooned or die. With a little luck, another Marine patrol would pick them up...

He might not have died from this, but he lost far too much blood to be up and walking around. With help from the returning grunts, Linnea dragged the guy to the edge of the ship and flung him overboard. The few of his Marine buddies who could still swim pulled him to their lifeboat, desperately rowing to the deserted island. During the short lived battle, Linnea's crew had gone over to the Marines and taken anything even remotely valuable. For starters, all of the Den Den mushi were taken... But more importantly, supplies, guns and most of all, Beli! All the Beli they could carry. It wasn't much, but it was somewhat worth the trouble. And before long the Melusine had already found another deserted island to hide out in for a while.


[EXIT]


Used 5 T3 arrows

Used 55 Haki stamina

Used roughly 80 Stamina