Shanks cursed Kaido loudly as he paced on the deck of the Red Force as it sailed closer to Marineford.
From what reports he had gotten over the Den Den Mushi the battle was going poorly for the Whitebeard pirates and their allies.
Even with the arrival of Luffy and the prisoners he had freed from Impel Down the battle was still almost a stalemate as the young rookie fought his way to the tower.
Benn Beckman walked up to him. "We will arrive shortly Shanks. The crew knows the plan so calm down your making us all nervous with your pacing." He said as he looked past Shanks at the growing shadow of Marineford.
"Sorry Benn." Shanks replied when he stopped pacing. Shanks than leaned against a nearby wall.
Shanks idly went over the plan again in his mind as Benn walked away to check on something or other.
(Flashback) Shanks stood at the head of the table surrounded by his commanders and crew
"We all know the stakes. Our mission is to rescue Portgas D. Ace and stop this war before it gets to far out of hand that it becomes a pyrrhic victory or defeat for both sides.
We have known for sometime that Whitebeard is dying so this battle will probably be his last battlefield.
But remember that just because he is dying doesn't mean anything to the man that is recognized as the strongest man in the world. So he can still fight.
Commanders make sure your men know what they need to do. Lucky you and Yasopp are to find and secure Luffy if he is still alive."
both men nodded. It went without saying that Marineford was now a war zone and people died all the time. So they were all prepared for the chance that Luffy would not survive the battle.
"Benn your with me." the ship creaked as the briefing continued for the next hour. (Flashback end)
"We are less than a minute out captain. It does not look like they have noticed us yet." one of Shanks men yelled down from the lookout.
Shanks jerked forward then walked to the front of the ship and leapt onto the wood railing. Benn joined him. Shanks's men assembled behind him "Get ready." Shanks intoned with a hint of danger in his voice.
Shanks used observation Haki to find Luffy and saw that he had just rescued Ace from the scaffold. He smiled crookedly. "Nice work Luffy." Shanks said with pride in his voice.
The moment the Red Force was in range of the outer wall of Marineford. Shanks left onto it followed by his men. No one made a sound as the marines had yet to notice them. Shanks then charged forward with his fastest soru.
"Hold on you two I'm coming." Shanks muttered to himself as he charged forth followed by his men and allies.
Already some of his men were breaking off and heading toward their own objectives. A pair of Pacifista's appeared in front of him but Shanks and Benn easily destroyed them.
Neither man even slowed down. Sentomaru saw them and started to shout. But before he could finish his first word he was knocked out by Lucky Roo.
Shanks saw Ace turn around and confront Admiral Akainu. After a short clash were Ace was wounded by Akainu's Magma fruit.
Akainu attempted to kill Luffy. But when he was about to strike the fatal blow something stopped him.
Ace saw what the admiral was planning and immediately blocked him from Luffy. As he did so he accepted that he was going to die but at least he would be protecting his little brother.
Something knocked into him causing him to fall onto Luffy. "ACE" Luffy screamed in shock. "Relax Luffy your brother is fine."
A very familiar voice announced from behind Ace. "Shanks?!" Luffy asked blinking at Shanks's back in surprise while holding his brother close to him. Ace was also looking at Shanks in surprise.
Akainu looked at the person who would dare interfere with him and gasped in shocked horror. There in front of him stood the one man he did not want to meet right now.
Across the battlefield the Red haired pirates made themselves known.
"Don't move a muscle Kizaru!" Yasopp shouted at the Light Fruit Admiral. Kizaru was shocked at his arrival and held up his hands in a sarcastic manner. "Oohh Yasopp. If your here than that means Shanks is here." Kizaru drawled sarcastically.
Yasopp didn't even twitch. He just focused on aiming his gun at the man. Across the battlefield Red Haired pirates interfered in the fighting and started to separate the two combatants.
Shanks smiled darkly at Akainu while filling the air with his Haki. "That's enough. If the fighting continues the bloodshed will eventually wipe out the forces on both sides thus the victory will be pyrrhic for both sides.
If there is anyone out there who still wants to fight. Than you can fight me and mine." Shanks said. His voice carried out through the battlefield with Haki catching everyone's attention.
Shanks then turned his head in Whitebeards direction. "Sorry I am late Whitebeard! I had a little trouble with Kaido but I made it here in time." Shanks yelled at his older counterpart. Whitebeard smiled at him. "You're just in time brat thank you." he shouted back.
Akainu finally stopped pushing on Shanks's blade and backed away a few feet. While Shanks was talking to his counterpart Benn and Jinbe got Ace and Luffy off the ground.
Since Luffy was out of juice Jinbe carried him while he retreated from the battlefield. Ace followed close behind.
Benn stayed behind Ace determined to block any further attempts to harm to boys. Shanks than turned to Sengoku. "So what will it be? Will you recall your men or do we keep fighting?" Shanks asked while smiling darkly.
Sengoku just stared at him in muted shock. After a moment he spoke. "Very well. I shall take the responsibility. All forces stand down this war is over!" He shouted to the silent battlefield.
Akainu scowled at Shanks than stalked off toward where Sengoku was standing. All across the battlefield Marines and pirates backed away from each other.
The wounded and dead on all sides were being collected by their own sides. "Thank you" Shanks replied simply. He then turned in the direction that the boys had gone and followed in a fast walk. "Hold it Shanks. I have a question for you." Sengoku shouted. Shanks stopped and turned toward him with a flat look on his face.
"Are you allied with the whitebeards now?" Sengoku asked. "No I came here to stop this pointless war before someone took it to far." Shanks answered. It went without saying that Shanks would have saved Ace.
Sengoku knew who Shanks was and that he used to be a member of Gol D. Roger's crew like Buggy the clown was. Shanks then resumed walking after the boys. Buggy still had the Den Den Mushi and had transmitted the entire thing to Sabaody.
Whitebeard who was badly injured from the battle also retreated following his children to the escape ships. Benn had directed Jinbe to take Luffy to the Red Force. When Ace tried to join his crewmates Benn told him that Shanks wanted him on the Red Force.
"With whitebeard now on the verge of death thanks to Admiral Akainu. The Job of protecting you falls to Shanks. The world knows who you are! The Marines now want you dead because of your blood."
Benn Explains with a scowl at the indignant young man when Ace refused to comply. Marco who was also present stepped forward
"I don't like it any more than you do but Shanks is right. Pops is dying he doesn't have much longer and without his presence to keep you safe you wont last much longer out there.
If your on the Red Force you at least have some protection from the Marines." He remarked while looking at the remains of the Marine HQ.
"Ace please. Do as they say." Luffy whispered from where he lay in Jinbe's arms. Ace turned to Luffy than he nodded. "Alright." he replied than started climbing onto the Red Force.
Luffy was than hurriedly carried onto the ship and taken to the Infirmary for emergency treatment. He lost consciousness on the way. When Shanks arrived on the ship and Benn confirmed that everyone was onboard he ordered the ship to set sail.
The battle was over. It would go down as a defeat for the navy and a pyrrhic victory for the whitebeard Pirates who suffered the loss of their father Whitebeard several days after the battle. they also lost over 3/4 of their entire force killed.
Shanks and Marco both agreed that Ace needed to be kept safe so Ace wound up becoming part of shanks's crew much to his displeasure.
The Whitebeard Pirates dissolved in the wake of the battle and most of the survivors retired from piracy, formed their own crews, or joined up with Shanks's crew to keep Ace company on Shanks's ship the Red Force.
Luffy recovered and went on to meet up with Silvers Raleigh and his eventual 2 year training period for himself and his crew. The rest as they say is history. Even if Ace did complain about it a lot.