The Marines; the World Government's form of defence for anyone who are against them. Justice will be served for those who commit an action of crime. All of those who are brought to justice face death or are entitled to a life of imprisonment judging by the severity of their past. As a Marine, it is their job to keep the peace and order. However, in the age of the pirates, many defile the World Government in search of power, treasure, and adventure. With no choice, the World Government had conducted a way of controlling the pirates. The seven warlords of the sea, the Shichibukai, are seven of the strongest pirates who have survived the New World. Although these warlords have no particular respect for the government, they remain the strongest and are feared by both pirates and Marines alike. Most pirates see these members as lackeys of the World Government, while others fear for their lives when confronted with any of these seven members.
Whitebeard was a strong pirate and is well known for his strength among many who sail the seas. He is considered to be just as strong as any of the seven warlords. In the greatest event ever to have been recorded in World Government history, Whitebeard and his pirates, along with a rookie captain and his crew, come in a confrontation with all seven warlords. This brought upon a war between these pirates and those Marine's involved. This gave Whitebeard's pirates a target on their backs after the death of their beloved captain and his right hand man. Many of Whitebeard's pirates did not originally sail with their beloved captain, but were rather split off into separate territories. Once Whitebeard had been defeated, each territory soon fell to the hands of other captains eager to gain strength in numbers.
Astrid was a pirate known to Whitebeard's ship and had been wanted for many years. Never once had she been able to be captured and never once has she submitted to an enemy. Astrid was known for her spunk attitude to fellow pirates, but had a harsh exterior to those who intervened on her goals. To anyone who asked about her past she would simply reply with, "nothing but the past". No one knew who she was when she first was allowed on to the ship, and no one asked why she was allowed to join the crew. With her blonde hair always up and out of the way, she would keep her hair back with a signature bandana. She was a deadly flower and was a fearsome women to deal with.
When Astrid was first allowed on the ship she displayed a great amount of weakness due to the lack of food. Believed to be a threat, Whitebeard had kept her locked up and continued to hold her hostage and starve. He did not kill her, but he did not trust her. Astrid proved herself to be worthy and freed herself claiming to be a new person out to achieve a new beginning. Once she became a crew member, she was loyal to the jolly roger of the crew and its captain. She moved up in the ranks of the crew and become a well-respected scout for the captain.
Known for her great strength and abilities, a bounty was placed on her head. Not a single person was able to take her down. It was until one day that struck many as a shock. Astrid was sailing around the ocean as a rogue pirate from one of Whitebeard's many dingy boats. She navigated the seas until she had finally reached her destination, the Marine Headquarters. As a wanted pirate, many would think she were crazy to have gone to a place which had brought many down before. However, Astrid was there for a purpose, a promise she had made to herself and those dear to her long ago.
Once Astrid had stepped foot onto the island she was confronted by two Marine's right away. In silence, she held her hands up to the sky and fell down to her knees. The confused Marine's gladly took her into custody and brought her further into the depths of the island to confront her final judgement. Right away, word was brought to one of the highest ranking Marines on the island and orders were placed for Astrid to be brought into interrogation. They removed her weapons and made sure that there was no way that she could use her abilities as a form of defence. Her arrival had caused all Marine's on the island to stay on high alert. Nobody understood why she would causally sail herself alone to the headquarters and nobody was brave enough to ask.
Astrid and the two Marines walked into a very large building and entered into a large stone hallway. The hallway was dimly lit by the candles that lined the wall. Their steps echoed upon the stone walkway. As they passed each metal door she could hear the cries of those who reside behind them, each with a cry for freedom. The three continued down the long hallway to reach a small room with a table and a few chairs. The two men in their white uniforms forced their prisoner down onto the chair. As they sat in silence she kept her head down, not making any form of eye contact to the men behind her. Only a few moments had passed until footsteps could be heard down the hallway. The General of this particular tactic division had appeared in the entrance. His long cape draped around the chair as he placed papers in front of him. He cleared his throat and stared straight ahead of him at the women who appeared harmless to anyone at this moment.
"Well, if it isn't the scum of the earth, Astrid of the Whitebeard Pirates. I didn't know that there were any of you left, let alone still holding their alliance to Whitebeard" he said leaning back in his chair.
She simply smiled with a chuckle, keeping her head down at her hands.
"How are you enjoying those seaprism cuffs on your hands there? Seems like it just might be an inconvenience to you right now…isn't it…considering your previous history of a devil fruit?"
She lifted her head to gaze into her captors eyes, "Not at all."
"Ha, I like this one," he bellowed.
"There really isn't much to like General," she said as she placed her hands upon the table.
"Now tell me, how can a young women such as yourself go from a low life, into a powerful scout of the infamous Whitebeard pirates, to become a rogue pirate once the captain was dead, only to be sitting here before me now?"
She looked back down at her hands, leaned back in her chair, and kicked her feet up on the table.
"Let's put it this way General, there is more to me than your little files can tell you. I'm sure if you did your homework, you would understand why I am here before you now and not on that one way trip through those big fancy gates. I'm complicated General."
"I have done quite the work in researching your history. You are very interesting to most high ranking Marine's. Both of your parents were high ranking Marines who have now retired and have hid their faces in shame as to what their daughter has become. You were a notorious pirate of Whitebeard's Crew. A skilled swordsman, and a user of an unknown fighting technique. Not to mention a devil fruit user of the rumble rumble fruit, a logia type user. Now how can your life be any more complicated than that?"
"Oh General, there really is more than meets the eye."
"Then why come all this way on your own to submit? Is this your way of giving up?"
She stood up from the chair, "To prove that no one can stop me from my true fate."
"Restrain her!"
The two shaken Marines grabbed Astrid by the arms to hold her down into the chair. Although the men showed incredible strength they were both taken down in a blink of an eye. Astrid had moved so quickly using her legs that both men were down cold. The General sat there wide eyed not moving an inch. Astrid had moved with a great amount of speed wrapping her cuffed hands around the General's neck. He began gasping for air while flailing to get her away.
"The key General, I am growing rather weary of these cuffs around my wrists."
While gasping for breath, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the key. Astrid grabbed it with her teeth and removed her hands from his neck. She removed the cuffs and stood there before the General as he gasped for breath.
"What are you waiting for," he gasped, "just do it already. If you are as skilled as you say, kill me."
She laughed as she sat back down in the chair, "No General, I will not kill you. I feel that you at least deserve to know my entire life story. Did you forget already; I was the one who came to you."
Astrid sat back in the chair and resumed to lean back. She grabbed a hold of the paper work that were in front of him. He slammed a knife down close to her hand just missing her fingers. She looked up with her eyes only and stared directly into the menacing eyes of the large man. As she let go of the pages, he removed his knife and sat calmly in the chair. Two other Marine's began to approach the room. They realized that Astrid was no longer cuffed and began to run down the hallway to aid the General. In a quick flash, Astrid used her devil fruit abilities to shock both of the Marine's. Once they were of no concern, Astrid had got up and closed the door.
"I don't want any further disruptions General. Call them all off considering how your two dimwits here must have sounded some sort of alarm I'm assuming."
The General glared right into her eyes and grabbed a transponder snail, "Stand down and remain where you are. Further information will be distributed once more information is given."
Once again she sat before the General. She reached for the files once more expecting the same knife to slam down on the table. However, the General remained very still not removing his eyes on her for a split second. She calmly opened up the folder and gazed upon every piece of evidence that the Marines could have had on her.
"Why?" The General asked, "Why are you doing any of this?"
She looked up at him, "To remember…to forget... to move on."
"I don't understand."
"I need to end this and try again for a newer beginning than the one I tried before."
She looked down at the files once more to the very first page where there was a copy of her birth certificate. The certificate was certified with a World Government stamp, stating that she was the daughter of a high ranking marine. She was born in a small village to General Roster, her father, and Captain Cross, her mother. There was a photo attached to the page with the three of them together.
"Cipher Pohl number 9 General, what can you tell me about them?"
"They…they were a secret tactic team sent on dangerous missions that no other Marine could successfully accomplish. Until they were defeated at Enies Lobby by the Straw Hat Pirates. They are disbanded and now wanted by the Government."
Astrid looked down at a blank page labeled "Age 12-20 Unknown". There were candid photos of her wearing different outfits walking around different villages. The one that stood out the most was the one of her standing with others in the photo.
"I was born in a small village located along the Grand Line. Both of my parents were skilled marines, but neither one of them were able to maintain a higher status beyond what they ranked then. They both wanted to support me and make sure that I were to grow up big and strong like them. So that's when they decided to push me into becoming a Marine."
"Of course, that's what your parent's wanted, it clearly states that in the file."
Astrid stood up quickly and covered the General's mouth, "Now I won't tell you again, but keep quiet. Only talk when I ask, understand?" she said with a snarl.
He nodded as she removed her hand and sat back down in the chair. She closed the file and kicked her feet back up on the table.
"My training started when I was young and I was enlisted into a gifted children program in the Marines. There were only a few of us in this program, eight to be exact. There were many rules we had to follow, like never speak of this program or always aim for the chest. Nobody knew that this program existed and nobody ever was supposed to.
"Supposed to, what do you mean by that?"
"I mean that the program was a secret, even among high ranking Marines such as yourself. Very few knew about us. Now are you going to shut up and let me finish?" she yelled raising her fist as sparks appeared from it.
He nodded.
"This program was special. No other kids were admitted into the program, only eight of us. We were constantly training, getting stronger, and more dangerous. At the age of twelve we were able to kill a man with one finger, well at least one of us was able to prefect it then. Once he was able to properly use all of the moves, he was sent off on special mission and never spoke of them. I feel that's what gave him his harsh exterior. Years went by and we all grew up together."
"So you became a Marine?"
She glared at him, but gave up the foolish attempt on keeping him quiet.
"Not exactly. This program was a secret, therefore I wasn't a Marine. I was an Agent if you will. We started receiving missions when I was fifteen, some of which were life threatening, but most were within our strength range. None of these missions were nothing that we couldn't handle."
"Why tell me any of this information?"
"Like I said General, I need to move on and I see here that you are missing a few pages to the files."
"So, what was this group called, did you have a name for it?"
"Well, sure we did."
"Could you tell me?"
"General," she said as she removed her legs from the table and leaned in closer, "there was a reason as to why I asked you about CP9."
His face went white, "Impossible! You, a pirate were a member? Your files mention none of this!"
"That's because it was a secret ya-moron!"
She pulled out the candid photos of her missions from the folder and tossed them onto the table. The General grabbed each photo and stared at them in disbelief. He couldn't understand how any of what she was saying made any sense. He stood up from the table and placed the photos back into the folder.
"Come with me."
Astrid was puzzled, "Why, what are you planning on doing?"
"If what you say is true, then I need the proof that you were in fact a member. There is only one possible person that could confirm this. Come with me."
The two left the room and walked down the same hallway. The difference this time was that each prisoner was quiet, as if they too understood the current situation that the Headquarters was currently in. They walked out of the main building and continued down a pathway to a small building. It was a dorm of some sort. The General had instructed that Astrid were to remain here until the morning. If she really wanted to share every little detail about her life that was of this extremity, then everything needed to be documented and brought to the World Government's attention. With this new found information, it will determine Astrid's true fate on this island. She turned to see a small ship out in the distance. She smiled at the sight knowing very well who resided on it.
The next morning came and The General returned. In silence they made their way back to the main building. He had brought her into a large room with a desk. The General pulled out a chair from the desk and encouraged her to sit. He sat next to her as two other men walked into the room, one of which had a large stack of books and pens, the other displaying a harsh expression on his face.
"Good to see you father," Astrid said to the man with the harsh expression.
"General Roster confirmed your story, now continue," replied the General.
The man with the books opened up a book with Astrid's name on it. This book was the original file which contained the entire story of all of those pages which she had previously viewed the day in the interrogation room. She stared into the man's eyes as he prepared a pen to write down every single detail that she could share. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath to begin her tale.