Movement in the Shadows

Percy was staring at the two separate groups of marines standing on his ship the next day. The right side was Eli's men and Good Price's were on the left.

Percy looked at his 1,500 men and said in a loud voice,

"As you well know, the civil war in this kingdom has gone on for far too long. Men, women, and children's lives are being affected as we speak. It is our duty and honor as the marines to keep peace around the world and here is no different."

Percy looked as all the men aboard his ship nodded their heads,

"you are all tasked to end this civil war once and for all, to do this, you must capture Gabba, the leader of the rebel army. I've given commodore Eli and Good Price the task of subduing the criminals. Should the need arise, you can ask for my assistance. But I doubt that will be necessary. Good luck, and may warrior's fortune be with you*."

The two groups of marines left and Percy was on the ship by himself. He knew they would be back tonight, but was figuring out what to do next.

[I can't fight, I can't interfere, I can't leave the ship either. I'll just work on my fruit power training and my haki in the meantime. Perhaps tomorrow I'll have the commodores leave some of their troops on the ship so I can walk around the capital].

Percy smiled to himself as he prepared for a grueling day of training.

*********************************************************************************************************

On the opposite side of the island, inside a two story house

Gabba was sitting down and looking at the map of the Zandia kingdom. Right now, he had control of 15% of the island and it grew every day. He was trying to figure out his next steps when his lover, Zyn walked downstairs and smiled at him.

"Good morning love, up so early?"

Gabba stared and then smiled at the beautiful woman,

"I have to, the marines are on the move."

"Oh" she said with a frown on her face, "Gulp said that he has an agreement with the vice admiral and he won't move."

"He may be, but that doesn't mean his subordinates cannot. The vice admiral does have to do something while 'vacationing' here" Gabba said sarcastically.

Not many people knew, but Gabba made an agreement with the Trimm family to start a civil war. In exchange for causing chaos in the kingdom, cp-2 will help him claim the throne and become a legitimate ruler. Percy was there only as a precaution. The Trimm family wanted to have everything under their control, including the marines. Therefore, they deployed a vice admiral and several agents to the small kingdom on in the hopes of retrieving something that Gabba had no clue about what it could be.

"True, he does need to do his job to a certain degree," Zyn started as she too started to stare at the map, "but Percy is here only in worse case scenario. You never know what the Pakattik family has hiding away somewhere on the island."

Gabba nodded his head, "this is getting more complicated. It was supposed to be a quick revolution. I'm supposed to be king by now" Gabba started to grumble as his arms started to turn into scales.

Zyn noticed that and took a couple of steps away, she was already used to his outbursts of anger and she did not want to be in the vicinity when it happens again.

Gabba calmed himself down as he noticed Zyn, "what do you suggest then?"

"stick to the plan. Unfortunately, Percy is not aware of your relationship with the Trimm family. We may have to make slight adjustments, but not at this time. If he only sends mid level officers to round up a couple of rebels, who cares? As long as your free, the plan is still set."

Gabba agreed, "alright I can do that, I need to get ready anyway. We are trying to capture the Pink Caves today and I need to get my men prepared."

Zyn nodded as she kissed Gabba. As he walked away, she took out her den den mushi and decided to call Gulp.

*peroperopero peroperopero peroperopero* after a few more seconds, the call connected

*katcha* "Zyn?"

"It's me. Listen, you said that the vice admiral deployed is on our side correct?"

"Percy, yeah he is, why?"

"Nothing, it's just he deployed troops earlier this morning and I was wondering if you had anything to do with that."

"No I did not, not surprised though. Percy has to look likes he's trying to finish the task given by headquarters. Is that going to be a problem?"

"No, but did you tell him our relationship with Gabba?"

"I did not" there was pause on the line before Gulp spoke again "maybe I should. If he deploys all his men, even for Gabba, it may be too much."

"You must. If any of his officers gets killed and Percy doesn't move, it will seem suspicious. The last thing we want is an investigation."

"...that's true. Okay, I'll give him a call" Gulp hung up the phone leaving Zyn deciding what she wants for lunch.

*********************************************************************************************************Percy was practicing, trying to learn more about the darkness inside of him when he heard the transponder snail make a noise

*peroperopero peroperopero peroperopero* he walked up to it and the transponder connected

*katcha* "This is vice admiral Percy".

"Vice admiral, it's me, Gulp" came the voice from the other side, "I heard that you deployed your troops."

"You've got ear all over the place. Yeah I did."

"And may I ask why did you do that?"

"Because it's my job; and secondly, I don't need you to tell me how to move my troops around."

There was silence before Gulp spoke again,

"I'm not saying that, I'm just asking because our plans revolve around you not interfering with the civil war, remember?"

"I do. And I'm not. I sent my commodores to capture that Gabba or whatever his name is, that's all."

"We need Gabba to not be arrested."

"Ohhh? And why is that?" Percy said as he was getting curious.

"Because he's one of us" Gulp replied into the transponder. "We have an agreement with him and he plays an integral part of the plan here. You can't arrest him!" Gulp shouted at Percy.

Percy waited a moment before speaking in a low voice,

"Are you done?"

"Done? Done what?"

"Yelling."

"...yes."

"Good" Percy started as he glared at the den den mushi in his hand, "first of all, don't you ever yell at me again. If you ever talk to me like that again, I'll make sure you regret it for the rest of your life. Second of all, you never told me anything. I had no idea that Gabba was a Trimm member. I can't recall my troops now, it would be way too suspicious. Thirdly, I suggest you find another pawn to use if Gabba is no good anymore. My commodores are hunting him as we speak, and it's only a matter of time before they capture him. Find another solution, and no, I'm not going to save him if that's what you're about to ask."

There was silence before Percy heard Gulp take a deep breadth before he started to speak again

"fine, have your troops look for him. Don't blame us though if some of them die fighting against Gabba."

"No, what I'm telling you is to hide Gabba well and have him retreat when he sees marines. If the rebels start to kill too much of my men, then I will have no choice but to move. Understand?"

"...I understand. When this is over Percy, we will have a long talk about the nature of our relationship and the future you have with the Trimm family.

Percy heard the other line disconnect and snorted to himself,

[what relationship, a meeting in my office and a couple of phone calls. Parisse was right, it's all about interests.]

A few minutes later Gulp was speaking with Zyn again

"and that's what he said" Gulp said as he finished recapped the conversation he had with Percy.

"Cocky s*it" Zyn growled as she slammed her fist on the table. "Does he think he's an admiral or something? Wait till I get my hands on him, I'll kill him myself."

"It may come to that, for now though, he's a good pawn to have, at least for now. He warned us that his marines are already starting their operations. We need to ensure the mission is a success more than anything else."

"Gabba isn't going to like this, he to is too arrogant. He thinks he's the strongest person in the world because he ate a somewhat rare zoan fruit."

"Well, we own him so he's going to have to play by our rules. Let him know that when this all over with, he'll be king".

"Alright, Zyn out". She was silent for a moment as she tried how to word her speech correctly. She knew Gabba was not the type to run away, especially from only commodores. But they can't afford to let his pride get in the way of their goal.

[I need to tread carefully] she said to herself as Gabba walked through the door.