Before the War

Chapter 37

POV Sengoku

Ever since those girls joined the Marines, things have been getting more stressful. Isn't it stressful enough with Garp and his family already?

First of all, his son is the most wanted person in the world, next each of his grandson's making trouble all over the Grandline. Not only that, his adopted grandson has the blood of not just anyone but Gol D Roger Himself! Seriously, Garp, what's wrong with you and your family!

If he wasn't the Hero of the Marines, we would've arrested him already. Seriously! What's wrong with that bloodline? His family alone is wrecking the peace of the world, just the 3 of them! Does anyone know how hard that is to do?!

Then come along the twins. One look and I was convinced it was a big sister and a little sister since not only did they look like so, but they acted like it as well. Next thing I know, the moment I tell them I'm not that scary they start throwing out disses at me. It feels as if Garp's teasing me whenever one of those twins start dissing me.

Even then, I couldn't say anything about their ability. Both of them proved their strength and ability to equal that of the admirals as such a young age. If they're really only 14, I wonder how much they will grow, become stronger, by the time they are actual adults.

I understand the trouble that comes when you're fighting against strong opponents, especially Shiki… but seriously? 8 floating islands across the blues? That was a direct blow to the reputation of the Marines! Even after death Shiki finds a way to say a final 'F U' to the Marines.

Now not only do we have to clean up his mess, islands near where the bases fell experienced something like an Aqua Laguna, except they weren't prepared for it like Water 7 was. All the infrastructure and people we would have to put in to replace all of them… yet, we can't even spare a single Marine now, War is Coming!

How scary… a direct confrontation against Whitebeard Himself; a man who literally had…has… the power to destroy the world. If we miss this chance, then we may never do so again. We kill Ace and Whitebeard and end what we failed to do 20 years ago! Kill the Strongest Man in the World and show that no one can escape Justice. Not even Whitebeard!

Now… I need to plan. I need the perfect plan to hold back Whitebeard until we execute Ace.

Me: Call all Marines that are Rear admiral or above. It's time we discuss how we kill the Strongest Man in the world.

POV Kara

*pet* *pet* While I was still pretending to sleep in my bed, in this wonderful suite room in MarineFord, sis was petting me like always.

Me: muuu…

The execution is set for next week and the world is on the move. Some Vice Admirals have been sent out across the Grandline to bring the 7 Warlords to MarineFord while every scrap of Marines that could be spared were brought here to be trained last minute.

Diana: Kara, it's time to wake up. We need our own plan for the war as well. This day was what we were looking for.

Me: We already talked about it a billion time…we both know that the war is not going to go as planned. So many unexpected Pirates, this time Kid might be with Luffy as well. Whitebeard's direct crew and his 43 allied crews from all over the Grandline will be with him. There's no way anything is going to go as planned.

Of the 7 Warlords, almost none of them are going to be of any help since there's only 5 of them anyway.

Diana: Blackbeard's going to break into Impel Down in a few days, Jimbei's going to be against us. Boa Hancock's just going to switch sides back and forth depending on Luffy's conditions and Gecko Moria's just useless. He has such an amazing power! How is he so weak?

Me: His personality's the problem, he relies too much on his soldiers or shadows instead of himself. If he can't beat stronger opponents, he'll never get stronger soldiers. I don't get how he doesn't understand that. Yet, he's mad that he lost to Kaido. I think his brain's too lazy to think just like his body.

Diana: Alright, fine. Let's get the main ones down though. We need to have a purpose in this war at least.

Me: We have a purpose- we've got to end the Golden age of Piracy. Demoralize all the Pirates and make it a complete win for the Marines while making sure Luffy and a few key characters survive.

Diana: Whitebeard is going to die. No matter what we do, that is no question. His old body has strained itself too hard. Either he dies to the Marines, other pirates, Blackbeard, or us, he will die.

Me: What about Ace? What do we do about him?

Diana: If we kill Ace directly, Luffy will be going after us directly. If Sakazuki kill him like in canon, there's no problem. Yet, the best way would be if Ace is executed as planned…though I don't see that happening. Also, we don't know what Ace will do if he survives. With Whitebeard gone, he will either lead the crumbling Whitebeard pirates or who knows what. An unknown factor is something I don't want to risk.

Me: I'm not sure… I just want to test out my new powers at MarineFord. Who knows? I might be able to dominate Whitebeard in the beginning.

Diana: Honestly, I want to go full out as well. Just nuking the entire place and be done with it… but the war's going to be at MarineFord. We can't just make everything explode or summon down a rain of meteors. We'll need to fight everyone individually… or at least keep the Marine casualties to a minimum.

Me: We'll see

Diana: We'll see. Nothing ever goes as plans.

We continued to relax as we tried to remember some of the key players from the War and the changes that we could possibly make when there was a knock on the door.

Marine: Vice Admiral Diana and Kara Fujitora. Fleet Admiral Sengoku is calling all Marine officers who are ranked Rear Admiral and above to his office to discuss strategy for the war. Your attendance is expected in 30 minutes.

Diana: Got it, thanks, bye.

The Marine's footsteps got father away as sis gave him the 'ok'.

Me: Well, there's that. Think we should warn him of some of the things we know?

Diana: Let's see how Sengoku plans for the war, we'll see afterwards.

With that, I changed out of my PJs and into my short tank top and black tights before grabbing the Marine coat.

Diana: I think your attire is not what is expected of Vice Admirals. You do know they said to wear formal attire underneath the Marine Coat right?

Sis was wearing full back formal attire, complete with a black scarf around her next.

Me: I'm still technically a kid. Nobody cares, besides, this will annoy Sengoku more.

Sis just laughed.

Location: Sengoku's Office

All the big-shots of the Marines were in Sengoku's office. From all 3 Admirals, to the many Vice Admirals and much more Rear Admirals while Sengoku just continuously sputtered some plans that won't work.

Sengoku: Then, we'll put a wall up between them and us, from there we will burn them to death by concentrated fire. During this time, all of you will try your best to retreat behind the wall and then catch anyone who manages to come over the wall. Any questions?

Diana: No, but I want to point out some flaws in your plans.

Sengoku just grumbled about having us be serious before signaling sis to continue.

Diana: You talk as if you know exactly where and how the war will start. Do we need to remind you of who you are facing against? Whitebeard is a Yonko! That means if he comes with his full force, and he will, that means his Flag Ship and at least 43 allied crews.

Sengoku: We already know this, what are you planning to prove?

Diana: Where do we not want Whitebeard to be in the beginning?

Everyone: …

Diana: Whitebeard's ship is a tank. If they are at the front, that means they'll take the blow while all the other pirate crews will be able to challenge us directly. What I'm saying is what do you know about the Moby Dick?

Sengoku: One of the biggest ships ever built, made of Adam Wood and thus xtremely durable.

Diana: Yes… but also like the Heart's Pirates, it can submerge completely and still function. That is how Whitebeard Pirates can continuously visit Fishman Island from the New World part of the Grandline, even without the bubbles from Sabaody.

Sengoku: Are you saying that Whitebeard will come to us underwater?

Diana: I'm saying it's a possibility. If… for whatever reason Whitebeard's ship is nowhere to be seen despite his allies already on scene, I would say there's an extremely good chance that Whitebeard's coming from underwater…undetected.

Sengoku:… that is honestly an area we did not think about. What you say is true. We will station a Marine Warship right infant of the Harbor to prevent anything from standing right in front and watch out for the signs you told us about. Anything else?

Me: The executioners… who will they be?

Sengoku: Is that important? Ace will be cuffed with Sea stone. Without his powers, he won't be able to resist no matter who is going to execute him.

Me: Fleet Admiral. Sometimes I really think you're an idiot like Vice Admiral Garp over there.

The room looked at me with a shocked expression.

Me: Doflamingo, Hancock, even Ace. Worst of all Whitebeard have been confirmed to carry Conqueror's Haki. What will you do if that hits the executioners? Or what if a projectile hits the executioners, disabling them? Buy them the precious time they need while we struggle to find replacement executioners or try and wake them up as not to lose face.

Sengoku: I…did not think of that. While I am confident that no projectiles will be able to hit them—

Me: I can move almost at light speed with my fruit. Same with Admiral Kizaru, what if someone from the pirates can do the same? Can you block it then?

Sengoku: OK, I THINK I GET THE MESSAGE KARA. We'll have the executioners replaced with two Marine Captains from the New World. They should be able to handle whatever stray projectiles or haki blasts that come their way. Will there be anything else?

As nobody in the room spoke, the meeting was adjourned as the Marines started to assemble for the war. From all over the world, the Marines mobilized over a hundred thousand elite troopers and countless more to man the cannons and ships.

As we left the room, I nodded to sis who understood my intent instantly. We followed Garp to his office to which then he turned around.

Garp: You girls have something to say to me?

Diana: We do. It's rather something painful, especially more for you. But in a way I as well. Over our short journey, we've encountered Straw Hat a couple of times and each time we let him go alive.

Garp: *grunt* He should have become a Marine…

Me: You did leave him to be raised by Mountain Bandits. You should have expected the influence they would've had on him. Bandits, like pirates enjoy their freedom more than anything… but that's not the point.

I took in a deep breath before I continued.

Me: This war is important. I'm not just talking about the loss of lives in a few days, but rather the shifting of the World's Balance. The death of your Grandson and possibly the defeat of the Whitebeard Pirates will end the Great Era of Piracy. We will do the best we can to accomplish this, no matter the cost.

Diana: Yet, the two you will face are your grandsons. Ace will be executed while I am sure Straw Hat will find a way to try and save him. To this, I wanted to apologize to you for whatever happens during the war. But we, like you, must do our duty as Marines.

Garp: …

He looked down at the ground with a grave expression before turning around and opening the door to his office.

Garp: No matter what happens… I won't blame you… We are Marines after all. You girls should prepare. War is coming.