Ritsu was bored. It had been quite some time since she docked in Marineford to submit her report from her last expedition. A small pirate fleet fresh from North Blue was trying to enter the Grand Line through Reverse Mountain. They probably didn't expect a Rear Admiral waiting for them as soon as they arrived at the new sea. Long story short, the entire fleet was sunk and the pirate band was captured. She wondered if their bounties were exaggerated since they were hardly a challenge. Reports were becoming more and more unreliable these days but it was hard to blame the higher-ups with all the crap the Marines had to deal with since the fiasco with the Holy City a while back. Anyway, she was pretty much landlocked until the next mission came along and it was taking quite a while.

"Meme is late."

Ritsu was referring to one of her closest companions, a Marine under her whose talents she valued highly. The girl was supposed to meet her around half past noon after procuring a new Log Pose before they set out on a new mission but she never showed up. Ritsu decided to look for her, thinking she might have gotten lost somewhere in Marineford. No, wait, that wasn't right. Meme of all people would not get lost in such a place. She could probably find her way back to the Rear Admiral with her eyes closed. It would be more accurate to think that something or someone was holding her up.

Ritsu's wandering took her to the area that housed the special quarters for VIPs. On most other days, this would be a shortcut. With no residents, there was little reason for Marines to be present here. But this time there were a lot of troops patrolling around. That wasn't surprising. There were at least a couple of Celestial Dragons on Marineford at the moment. Even she had gotten the memo a few days ago. None of those on patrol gave her trouble, recognizing her rank, but if a no name like Meme passed by here, she might have been held up.

True enough, as Ritsu turned around the corner where a lone Marine was standing guard outside a door, she spotted on the opposite side her missing navigator walking down the same path. As the little one drew near the guard though, she was stopped and questioned about what she was doing there. The Rear Admiral sighed and walked over to them.

"She's with me. Just a harmless little thing. She didn't get the memo on the VIPs and passed by here accidentally."

But Ritsu was quite certain she shared it with the rest of the crew. Meme just wasn't as attentive when it came to things that had nothing to do with navigating. The little dwarf looked up at her with repentant eyes and bowed apologetically. Afterwards she gestured something that Ritsu interpreted as having been stopped like that no less than 10 times on her way back. Well, that would explain her tardiness.

Ritsu was about to leave and be on her way when the door behind the Marine guard suddenly opened. Something akin to a blur emerged quickly from within, appearing right behind her. She coughed a bit to hide her small laugh. If even a Rear Admiral was being questioned about their presence there, then there was no doubt they really did end up outside the quarters where the Celestial Dragon was. She turned her head to the side just enough so that she could see the man accosting her in her peripheral vision. He wasn't a Marine. If she was not mistaken, this was the former wanted Noble who got pardoned recently. That was in the memo passed around too. Otherwise Marines would have been all over him if he walked around Marineford by himself. Perhaps the fact that he was not Marine explained why he wasn't aware she was a Rear Admiral and not someone suspicious at all.

"My apologies for disturbing you then. As I had just explained to that guard over there, I was merely picking up my lost subordinate who didn't get the note that there were Celestial Dragons here today and she shouldn't be carelessly walking around."

The guard behind them saluted her, confirming her identity as a ranking officer.

"You World Nobles must be in a lot of trouble if you're feeling this antsy while being in the safest Marine stronghold in Paradise. Well, if anyone or anything did attack you right now, you would be quite lucky that this Rear Admiral passing by has more than enough free time to break some bones."

She raised her fist jokingly and grinned. Maybe a little humor would lighten the man's mood. Well it was a half joke. God knows she was itching to get some action too and the thought of some brazen outlaw trying to invade Marineford sounded like a fun prospect.

"If that will be all, I'll be heading back to my temporary office now. Maybe I'll finally get new mission orders today. Wouldn't want to miss that."

She opened her clenched fist and waved goodbye as she started to walk again, chuckling.

Ritsu was about to leave when suddenly the Celestial Dragon himself graced them with his presence. She had never met the man before and was a bit surprised to find out he was from the Mink Tribe. It was highly unusual. As far as she knew, all Celestial Dragons were humans. He must have some very special circumstances. But that was a thought she would have to save for later. The man had extended an invitation to enter his quarters. Marine protocol dictated orders and requests from Celestial Dragons were top priority. Standing beside her, Meme looked up for instructions and Ritsu nodded to acknowledge they would be taking a little detour before heading back to their office.

"Yes sir." She replied to Meiji as they made their way into the room.

The Celestial Dragon's quarters were as well-furnished as one might expect from the best the Marines could provide. It was very spacious and elaborate: very different from the appearance of the paths and halls outside. The Celestial Dragon had made himself quite at home in the place and it certainly suited someone of his standing and position in the world. As he sat behind his desk, Ritsu and Meme both stepped forward and saluted as they introduced themselves.

"Rear Admiral Ritsu, at your service. Currently unassigned to any official unit or mission and so on standby here in Marineford."

"The little one is Ensign Meme, directly reporting under me. I hope you don't mind if I speak on her behalf. She has a... condition. I assure you though that she is as excellent an officer as they come."

It was brief and simple introduction. After all Ritsu had no idea why they were even invited to his room in the first place. There was no shortage of Marine troops outside that could run odd errands for him. So she at least wished that whatever he had in mind for the pair was worthy of a Rear Admiral's attention. Meanwhile Meme reverted back to her usual default demeanor of looking sleepy. Ritsu hoped the man didn't take offense. That was just the way the little dwarf was. Even if the whole world was ending, she would probably sleep it off.

The Celestial Dragon gave an amusing speech. He even sketched an accompanying drawing to make his point. It was probably the norm for them to look down on other people and treat them like elementary children with drawings and things. It did not so much bother Ritsu as it made her laugh inside that she finally got to experience firsthand how Celestial Dragons interacted with common people as they would put it. It was hard to deny her not so stellar standing in the Marines was partly due to her attitude. She had an unfortunate tendency for collateral damage and that sort of thing did her reputation no favors. She was "famous" in her own way and it resulted in her not getting the spotlight missions that she would have wanted. So this situation was a good bit of opportunity.

What struck her as unusual about the Celestial Dragon's offer was precisely that he was making an offer and not an outright order. He got the looking down part right, but the flaunting and exercising of power was a bit off. Considering his tone and expression seemed to be indicating impatience and annoyance, it was seemingly out of character that he was making an effort to be "polite" and "reasonable" about this when the Rear Admiral was expecting something along the lines of forced absolute compliance. If she had to guess, someone or something was keeping watch over him and he was being cautious about the moves he made. For a Celestial Dragon to even slightly feel nervous and restricted meant this someone or something must be quite a big deal.

Still there was no reason to decline the offer really. She had never heard of a Celestial Dragon who cared about changing the world. They were usually more selfish only cared about themselves. She could not quite picture the end game he had in mind from what she had been told so far and it was unlikely he would share more unless she confirmed being on board. But those were big words nonetheless and she had no complaints about being part of something big. He mentioned they would be accompanied by a Vice Admiral as well. Counting Meiji, there were quite a few heavy hitters on his team. Whatever he had planned must be of a great scale and she was looking forward to letting loose a bit when the time comes.

"That is quite a gracious proposal. If it will all be arranged for officially then of course I would be honored to assist in your endeavors."

Ritsu smiled, looking quite pleased. Her direct superiors were often reluctant about granting her too much freedom on missions. But perhaps being part of a more informal group will give her the more leeway in acting as she saw fit. Hopefully the Vice Admiral accompanying them would not be too uptight about things.

The Celestial Dragon didn't hide his pleasure at getting new recruits to his cause. He must have been really desperate for troops. Standing beside her, Meme wasn't showing much excitement. At some point it seemed she really did go straight to sleep and was leaning against Ritsu's foot. The Rear Admiral would have to brief her later. She bent down and picked up the dwarf before standing back up. The meeting however was interrupted by a knock at the door.

The man who appeared was Vice Admiral Briggets. In truth, Ritsu did not know much about him. The name was familiar since it was pretty much protocol to be acquainted with all the ranking officers in Marineford, but everything from the man's reputation to his accomplishments were things she never thought to look up. Perhaps now that they were allies was as good an excuse as any to do some research. She saluted the man in respect of his rank and then turned her attention back to the Celestial Dragon who had a few more things to say.

The plan was straightforward. They were going to Water 7 and then Occulto. Water 7 was known for its shipyards and other workshops. They were probably going to pick up supplies or even getting a ship checked. It was basic stuff. The real mystery was Occulto. As far as Ritsu was aware, that was an independent country with no real problems. There were no well known problems at least. But maybe the Celestial Dragon was privy to more information about that. She would be lying if she said she wasn't curious about what was waiting for them there.

In any case Ritsu had to prepare. It was going to be a long trip. She saluted again in acknowledgement of the orders and then turned around to leave. The crew should be happy they were finally getting a new mission, or at least that was what she thought. More than likely, they would be pretty nervous that their somewhat loose cannon leader was being unleashed upon the seas once more.

[Exit]

He had found him. His target was within his grasps, but Ira couldn't strike. Well unless he wanted to get himself in a deep hole, as many high ranking officers were within this building and it was heavy guarded. But he would have to wait and gather more information. Being part of the Marines assigned to patrol this floor he saw each and every person that would come on it and leave, as it was his job. Though, only two admirals would walk her. One being a Rear and another a Vice, which Ira would find out later. He would also spot one leaving the room that the Celestial Dragon, Anubis, was said to be in. So, she had to have something to do with him. As, knowing Anubis personally, Ira knew the Mink wouldn't want to see someone of that level unless he wanted them to join his weak cause. Just as they had done when they went to the Island of Dreams just for Meji.

"Stop daydreaming! Keep focus recruit!" The Marine with Ira would say, as Ira did stop and think more than he needed to. And he would continue to patrol. His time to be switched off from this task was coming up though, so he wouldn't respond to the other Marine. Being partnered up with a marine that had a bit of experience. As when Ira arrived here, a day ago, he came in as a new recruit. Only thing that set him apart from the others was the surgical mask with the marine insignia on it. Still, he didn't even stand out that much and wasn't stopped or anything for wearing it.

Sadly, due to not being able to stop and listen in he wouldn't know where Anubis planned to be heading. But, he did know that a Rear Admiral was involved with him in some way. Only finding out her name from the Marine who was with him.

"You two are revealed of duty." Where the words Ira would hear a hour later after the Rear Admiral would leave. Where he would head off to though would be unknown to the Marine that was on duty with him. But that man wouldn't care as he thought the new recruit, Ira, was just a idiot.