Harbinger

by raepan2010

A Nunya Bizniz AU. Self-insert, as Nunya would imply. Same characters used in the original Nunya Bizniz, but with a new spin. Zoro's single-minded pursuit of his goal is put to the test. Will it be a letter grade, pass or fail? Starts before the series and through it. "The Bermuda Triangle." "YOU B****!" "It's a good thing you didn't hurt anything important." (Zoro,OC) (Ace, OC)

2. Survey the Area

I don't normally do review acknowledgements, I'm too scared I'll forget to mention someone in an acknowledgement. I take after my mother too much I'm afraid. I can remember the most mundane crap that has to relevance to life what-so-ever, but I forget where I put my only set of car keys. Sad, but true. Anyway, I felt that this review deserves a response since it mentions another of my stories.

KyokoRenea: Thank you for being a fan of my stories. I also apologize for not picking a story and updating it until it's finished. I've mentioned before that my muse is a fickle bitch. With this story I'm striving not to have that same occurrence. As such, it will be updated only once a month and not when I finish a chapter. I'm solid for a few months in that event. As for Nunya 2, not a whole lot I can say. I added a character that would have worked great for the story. However, the friend for that character became overly picky on how they were written. Despite my warnings that I don't write dark fics she wanted that character to be more depressed, recluse and all around negative to life with a victim mentality. It's impossible for me to write a dark character well. Which has pretty much frozen Nunya 2. Missamouse and I need to go back and rewrite it. We will be removing the added character and putting Ace with who we had originally intended. I'll give one hint: it's not an oc. The problem is the muse. I got two new story ideas in my brain and all other stories were tossed to the back burner. Damn her. We don't plan on giving up any of the stories, it just might take longer than you're hoping, sorry. On to the new chapter.

I make no money off of this work of fiction. One Piece and it's characters are the work of Oda Eiichiro.

Harbinger

Chapter One: Survey the Area

Once Missy had finally agreed to come on the research mission Rachel introduced her to the other members of the crew. The Helmsman, the one that would be working directly with Rachel and Missy, was a male of average body build. He had brunette hair and a full beard. His name was Steven Sollensberg. The Chief Engineer, the only engineer for now, was a tough and hardened woman with blonde hair pulled into a painful looking bun name Marie Bower. Lastly was the ships doctor. He had dark skin and thick accent. His name was Hasif Bana. His parents had come to the US a few years before he was born. Once introductions were finished they were on their way.

It took three days to reach the center of the Bermuda Triangle. "Shall we lower the anchor?" Missy asked. Rachel and Steve looked over at her like she grew another head. "What?"

"The nautical depth here is far too deep for our anchor to reach bottom," Rachel explained.

"Not to mention that there's a strong under current. The anchor will get caught up in it and start dragging us under the water," Steve added.

"You mean the current will use the anchor and pull us in a different direction?" Missy asked hopefully.

"Sure," Rachel nodded her head. "After it sinks us." Missy's hopeful look immediately faltered.

"Relax Missy," Rachel patted her shoulder. "The under current is just that. About fifty feet below the surface. As long as we don't release the anchor we're fine. We'll float relatively in place without too much drift. We can rest until tonight. I want to check how the water behaves during the different cycles of the tides and day. You'll be monitoring the computers while Steve, Marie and I will handle everything else."

"So what do we do until then?" Missy asked.

"Until supper is ready? You can do whatever you want. If you want to read a book on the roof of the bridge I won't stop you. Just don't damage the radar or communication towers."

"Don't even think of touching the solar panels," Marie added.

"I'll pass on that," Missy shuddered. "Being on the bridge is one thing. Being on top of the bridge is a horse of a different color." The crew then went about trying to find something to occupy themselves with before getting started on work. Missy went to take a nap while Rachel worked on writing the report of the journey. Marie went to tinkering around with one of the spare engines she had brought with her. Hasif was reading in his lab. Steven went down to the gym attached to the rec-room/galley.

The ship had been in the Triangle for two hours now. Missy put away the last dish. "So why do I have to do the dishes?" she asked. "By all means, this is your ship."

"I cooked the food," Rachel reasoned. "It's a long standing rule in my house that the one that cooks doesn't have to do the dishes."

"Sometimes I think you make that stuff up just to get out of doing dishes. Why couldn't one of the others do this?" Missy had just finished putting the last dish away when the ship lurched violently to one side. "What the hell was that?"

Instead of answering, Rachel, Steven and Marie rushed out of the 'cafeteria' and headed for the bridge. Missy was following at a bit slower pace. She didn't have as good a pair of sea legs as Sailors did. Once she reached the bridge Missy really wished she had stayed below. The clouds had turned the sky to pitch black. Yellow lightning danced across the sky. "That's not normal," she commented.

"You're not kidding," Rachel was frantically looking at the monitors. "According to the satellites and our other equipment this storm shouldn't be here."

"Are the instruments broken?" Steve asked.

"Don't insult me," Marie snapped. "I keep this ship in proper shape."

Missy stuck her hand out the bridge exit. "There's no wind," she pointed out. "How can there be no wind when the waves are crashing all around us?" A look of panic crosssed her face. "Did that under water current shift to the surface?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Rachel chastised. "It goes against the laws of physics for a natural water current to suddenly shift with no cause."

"Could an under water earthquake cause it to shift?" Missy asked. She was just shooting random ideas out of nowhere.

"If it's strong enough," Rachel hesitantly answered. "But, even if there was an earthquake that doesn't explain the storm. Not to mention this sea area isn't known for having violent earthquakes."

"How much do we even know about this area?" Missy challenged.

A streak of lightning flashed across the window. Rachel rushed to the ship's breaker and pulled the lever down. This essentially shut down the entire ship and all emergency systems. "What the hell did you do that for!?" Marie demanded. "Do you know how much effort it will take to start all the systems back up from a hard shut down!?" The clouds made it so dark now that none of them could see their hands unless they held them close to thier face.

"I'm not about to let a random lightning strike fry our circuits," Rachel explained. "It's bad enough that the hull is likely taking electrical damage when the ocean is hit."

The sound of someone tripping and falling at the entrance had their heads snapping in that direction. "Who turned out the lights?" Hasif asked.

"None of this makes any sense," Missy held onto a consol as a large wave pushed at the ship. "We're above the water. Lightning is attracted to metal or something else high in the sky."

"You don't think I've thought of that?" Rachel's voice sounded in the darkness. "There's so much lightning that it's surrounding the ship. If you want to go out there and check to see if the lightning rod is doing it's job then be my guess."

"No, I'm good. Besides, isn't that Marie's job?"

"Just so you know," Marie's voice was heard. "I'm flipping you off right now."

A light started to grow above the ship. Missy looked out the window and up to the clouds while mouthing the words 'what the fuck'.

"PUT YOUR HEAD DOWN AND CLOSE YOUR EYES!" Rachel's shouted order stopped Missy's next train of thought. Though she wasn't accostumed to taking Rachel's orders, Missy still acted as she had demanded. The shout startled her enough into compliance. Just as her eyes closed a bright light flashed. It nearly blinded her, even with her eyes closed.

The light faded and the crew opened their eyes. None could see very clearly, there were dark spots dancing across their vision. "Keep your head down," Rachel said more calmly.

"Why?" Missy's voice asked.

"Just in case there's another 'blow out'," Rachel answered. No sooner as she had spoken more lightning that was near blinding struck next to the ship. "Oh my god," Rachel whispered.

"What!?"

"This is unreal," Rachel spoke barely above a whisper. "We're caught in the middle of two lightning storms."

"What are you talking about?"

"The waves we're experiencing," Rachel started to explain. "Those must be generated by a volcano going off on the ocean floor. Strong eruptions have been known to create lightning from the blast. Combine that with the clouds above us. We're caught smack in the middle of a lightning storm sandwhich."

"How is that even possible?" Missy demanded. "How can lightning be generated under water? Besides, I thought you said this isn't an area for earthquakes and stuff."

"It's not like fire," Rachel lectured. "Lightning is both very simple and impossible to understand. Water and metal are natural conductors where as wood and rubber are not."

"So why haven't we been fried yet?"

"I shut off the generators," Rachel answered. "If they had been struck by lightning the back lash between the natural electricity could have over-loaded the system. We would have been stuck swimming to land. Considering the amount of lightning hitting the ocean and what's going on below, we wouldn't live to tell the tale. Fried or boiled, that would be our end. As to why we're not being electrocuted while on a metal ship... All ships are equipped with lightning blocks. A rubber layer was placed between the hull of the ship and the interior. The lightning rod directs the lightning it's struck by back out into the ocean."

"So we're floating on a rubber boat?"

"You're over simplifiying it," Rachel shook her head. "Think of the rubber as being twenty times stronger or more than the type used on vehicle tires. You'll have a rough idea of it's durability at that point."

"But what if..."

"Hold on a second," Rachel cut her off. "Do you hear that?"

"I don't hear anything."

"Steve, are you there?" The helmsman didn't answer the call, even though he had just been right next to Rachel. "Marie? Hasif?" Rachel moved her head up and slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was dotted with black spots, but clear enough to look around the bridge. Only she and Missy were there, kneeling close or laying on the floor. Rachel's vision narrowed on Steve's last known spot. The flooring was lighter in color then the rest, like it had been painted a lighter color. Looking towards Missy she saw a similar spot nearby. A third spot was just in front of the doorway.

The lightning had stopped and the clouds were rolling away, the sun peeking through. Rachel's vision was slowly starting to clear. She went to the spot closest to her. She went to touch it, but felt an enormous amount of heat. She knew the metal was too hot then to touch. "I think the storm's past," she whispered.

Missy poked her head from the consol she had ducked under. "That's great and all, but I still can hardly see a damned thing."

"It'll take a minute," Rachel agreed. She squinted her eyes and went back to the breaker. She started hitting switches and began to warm the generator back up. She continued to move the different switches into the off position. It didn't take long for the generator since it wasn't off for that long to begin with. Rachel hit the start button. A green light appeared showing that the generator started without a problem.

The first area Rachel restored power to was the bridge. The systems blinked back on and began the checking process. Rachel waited a few seconds between each section of the ship to restore power. She wasn't willing to over load the ship in her haste to check the status or search for the rest of the crew.

When the last switch was pulled she made her way over to the satellite system. Rachel's brow furrowed as the screen was blank. She checked the power running to it. Finding nothing wrong she restarted the system. After power came back it was still blank. Rachel moved and checked the GPS radar. That was blank as well.

"It looks like we're calling a close to the mission," Rachel sighed.

"Really!?" Missy asked excitedly. "Ahem, I mean... Really? That's too bad."

"Yeah," Rachel rolled her eyes. "I bet you're just choked up about this." Rachel went to the communication system. As she sat down she flipped an orange switch.

"What was that?" Missy asked.

"It was the tracking device," Rachel answered. "It's activations alerts the closest US base that we've come across complications and are about to break radio silence." She then picked up the radio mic. "All hands return to the bridge." The intercom rang throughout the ships.

"How did those three even move with all the rocking?" Missy asked in wonder. "I guess you sailors really know how to handle unpredictable waves." The two waited for a few minutes before Missy looked to Rachel. "Where are they?"

"Go and check the ship," Rachel ordered. "I'll try to get in contact with any nearby vessels. If any are hurt we need to get them medical attention fast."

"Isn't that what Hasif is for?"

"And if he's the one hurt?"

"Going to look for the others," Missy departed.

Rachel put a headset to her ears and started fiddling with the dials. "This is the USS Harbinger breaking radio silence. Are there any US boats or allies in the area?" Rachel was met with only silence. "Can anyone read me?" She waited a few moments and there was still no response. She continued to call for help, giving distressed codes and trying different channels. She was in the middle of her sixth try when Missy returned.

"Let me have a look," Missy suggested. Rachel moved out of the way and Missy began to open the panels. With the clouds clearing it grew steadily brighter. This allowed Missy to be able to see where everything was.

"Any sign of the others?" Rachel asked.

"None," Missy's distracted reply came. Rachel glanced back at the pale spots on the floor.

"There's nothing wrong here," she finally stated. Missy stood up straight and looked at Rachel in confusion.

While Missy had been doing that Rachel took out a pair of binoculars and started looking out to the ocean around the ship. It was her hope that the three had somehow been knocked over board and were floating close by. She paused and stared at the sight in front of her. Missy had come up to stand next to her. "What's up?"

"None of this makes any sense," Rachel handed the binoculars to Missy. "There's a stretch of land out there. But there's no way that storm could have blown us anywhere near land in such a short amount of time."

"Could it be a new island from the volcano?" Missy suggested. She started getting a good look from the binoculars. She didn't notice Rachel giving her the 'are you an idiot' look. Missy slowly lowered her hands and looked sheepish. "Nevermind, there's too much green plant life."

Rachel went to the under water radar and activated it. "This makes absolutely no sense," she growled.

"What is it this time?"

"The radar under us shows that the depth here isn't as vast. We can comfortably lower the anchor with no issue."

"Figures with an island so close."

"We're going to get closer," Rachel narrowed her eyes. She turned on the engine and began to make for the island. "Some systems are down, but the life saving ones are active. What in the world is going on?"

"We've been abducted by aliens." Rachel slowly turned her head to look at Missy. The sheer malice in her eyes caused Missy to shiver. "Okay, bad joke. But come on, it totally fit with the myth of the Triangle. Plus, the pale spots."

"I'm not going to justify that with a response." Rachel let out a scoff as she directed her attention back to steering the ship. "I am a little surprised that you noticed the spots though." An indignant 'hey' sounded. A half hour into the trip and Rachel shut the engine down. "I'll take the smaller raft from here," she announced. "I don't want to risk this ship being discovered by anyone outside of the US." She hit the lever that lowered the anchor.

"So you're going to take a boat just to walk the whole island and hopefully come across something that might resemble civilization?" Missy asked. "Or even our missing crew?"

"Don't be absurd," Rachel started to walk into the ship. "The military raft has a platform on it and it's strong enough to carry a large load. I'll be taking the ATV with me. While I search for the others."

"Why do I even bother? At least tell my why you plan to go alone."

"Someone has to stay and watch the ship," Rachel answered. "If you need to protect the ship guns aren't allowed on the bridge."

"You're kidding me."

"Too many delicate instruments," Rachel shook her head. "Just make sure to keep the fight off the bridge."

"That's not very reassuring," Missy snapped. "Not to mention you're still going alone."

"Not entirely," Rachel corrected. "There's a recon drone attached to the back of the ATV. You can keep an eye on me with it from the control system on the bridge."

"Oh yeah," Missy let out a grin. "I forgot about that." She blinked and narrowed her eyes. "Then why don't we send that out to get a look at the location?"

"Because the battery will likely run low before we can get it back to the ship," Rachel answered. "I would rather one of us actually be on the island with it. If we're going to go that far, I might as well do the looking myself instead of using it's power and possibly alerting the authorities of spies."

"But that's what it's here for," Missy pointed out. "It's spy equipment."

"That wasn't built for stealth," Rachel pointed out. "The stealth drones weren't given to this ship because our mission wasn't to check the stealth capabilities. We were supposed to check on how well the research aspect and solar energy would work together."

"Fine, I'll be waiting to hear from you."

Rachel took a radio and turned the dial. "I set it to channel five. I'll keep it off unless I need to contact you. You, on the other hand, keep checking to make sure I'm not trying to call."

"Yes Ma'am," Missy mock saluted.

"Brat."

Rachel began to make preparations for launching the landing raft. First she moved the ATV into the center of the raft, behind the steering console, using a set of ramps designed to raise and lower the ATV as it drove over them. Rachel the set the ramps towards the back. She secured the vehicle, ramps and a set of crane cables in place before going to a remote set by a crane system. Rachel pushed the 'open' button on the remote. A portion of the wall shifted outward. Two panels then moved in opposite directions, leaving a large enough opening for Rachel to lower the raft.

Using the remote, Rachel manipulated the crane to lift the raft and move it out the opening. From there, the strong cables gently lowered the raft into the water. At the base of the docking bay doors was a ladder built into the hull of the ship. Rachel used these to lower herself into raft the while she carried the remote for the crane in her teeth. Once in the raft, Rachel unhooked the four crane cables attached to it. Two on either side in the front and back. Once the raft was free Rachel used the remote to retract the cables and shift the crane to where it was in the ship once again. By pressing the 'close' button, Rachel closed the two panels that opened for the raft. Once they were closing Rachel tossed the remote back into the ship before it was too late. "I have to teach that girl how to handle the crane."

Rachel stood infront of the steering wheel. She looked behind as she lowered the engines propellers down into the water. Once it was fully lowered Rachel started the engine. She waved to Missy who stood on deck and headed off for the island. It took her less than five minutes to get to an abandoned beach.

When she was close enough Rachel turned off the engine and raise it. The raft was still coming up to a beach quickly. Turning the wheel, Rachel beached the raft at an angle. To make sure the water wouldn't carry the raft away she dropped a small anchor and tied it to the edge with a very small amount of slack. She then set about to bringing the ATV onto the beach. Once that was finished she put the ramps back into the raft and tied them down. "That's a lot of work," she grossed.

Rachel stood up and took a look at her surroundings. There really wasn't much in the way a wildlife. Taking the keys to the ATV in hand, she walked up to the tree line. She walked along the perimeter and soon found a well worn trail. "Now that's interesting," she mumbled. Doing a check of the area and time Rachel followed it.

After following the trail for a few minutes, Rachel found herself on the outskirts of a town. With a bewildered gaze she walked the town. Some people were staring at her as well. "Could it be the blue camo navy uniform?" she asked herself with a grin. "Nope." She quickly found the harbor and wondered why she didn't see it coming in. She went onto a dock and walked past a large, old-fashioned, blue ship with a seagull painted on the flag and sails. Rachel stared at the ship, wondering how such an old fashioned ship was here.

When Rachel passed the ship she saw that an outcropping of rocks had blocked not only their sight of the village and dock, but also blocked the village from seeing their ship. "Works for me," she let out a laugh. She turned around to explore more of the town.

A crowd was gathered in the town square. Rachel noted that a lot of people were dressed in both modern and old fashioned clothing. "This just keeps getting more and more strange." A tall man in a sailor uniform stood on a platform in front of a type of military base.

"Quiet down everyone!" he called out. He held up what Rachel could only describe as a Wild West Wanted Poster. "We have reason to believe that this criminal has gone into hiding in the forest just outside of town! The reward for his capture is twelve thousand Beli."

"What the hell is a beli?" Rachel asked herself. "The Triangle is in US controlled waters so there shouldn't be any other currency besides the US Dollar or a Paso at most."

The man continued talking, failing to notice the reactions of the people around him. Some were scared while others were eager for a hunt. "A man hunt will begin at dawn tomorrow. The first person or team to bring him in will receive extra beli as a prize. Of course, this means that he has to be brought in alive. If not you will receive a drastic cut in the reward. That is all until the morning." The sailor stepped off the platform and into the building.

"What is the deal?" Rachel asked herself. She looked up to the sun and judged that there was a good amount of time to the day left. With a hand to her chin she walked back down the path to the beach. She never noticed a set of dark eyes following her.

Rachel stepped onto the sand and hit her walkie talkie. "I need a favor," she started.

"Hello there CO," Missy's sarcasm dripped through the device. "Everything is fine on the ship, thanks for asking. You're doing good too? Fantastic."

"Cut the crap," Rachel snapped. "I need you to take the clamps off of the chopper."

"YOU NEED ME TO DO WHAT!?"

"You heard me, you're not blind."

"APPARENTLY I AM! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU NEED THAT DEATH TRAP FOR!?"

"I'm going scouting."

"I thought that's what you were doing."

"I need it on a much larger scale. I'm coming in with the raft."

"So you have to load the whole thing into the ship after you just got it out?"

"No, I'm only going to tie it off to the side. I plan on coming back to the island after I do a quick run with the chopper."

"You're kind of freaking me out," Missy admitted. "What's going on?"

"I really don't think we're in Kansas anymore." Rachel's statement was met with silence. As she waited for Missy to find her brain again she pulled the anchor free and set it in the raft. She then pushed the raft back into the water. She wasn't going to bother taking the time to load the ATV back up. Once the raft drifted deep enough she lowered the engine and was once again speeding across the water.

Back at the Harbinger, Rachel tossed the rope up to the deck. Missy caught it and pulled it as close as she could. Once she tied it off she lowered a 'rope' ladder from the deck. Rachel quickly climbed it and headed for the rear of the ship. "You took off the clamps like I asked you to?"

"I got it done," Missy agreed. "But what the hell is going on?"

"I found a town on that island," Rachel admitted. "But they use a form of currency I had never heard of before."

"Wouldn't that be because it's Puerto Rico?" Missy asked. "The Triangle is practically right above it?"

"That makes even less sense," Rachel rolled her eyes. "While they're not a state, Puerto Rico is close enough to the US that it uses the standard USD, not currency I heard about in that town."

"What does that town use?" Missy asked curiously.

"They called it Beli." Rachel climbed into the chopper and seated herself in the pilots seat.

"What the hell is that?" Missy asked.

Rachel started the engine and turned to look at Missy. "Unless you want to get a crash course in wind exposure I suggest getting back to the bridge." Rachel's voice got louder as the engine started moving faster. Missy raced to the bridge and to the communications board. It was the only way they would be able to talk at this point.

"Can you read me?" Rachel's voice asked. She just put on her headphones and mic.

"Loud and clear," Missy answered.

"I need you to control the camera on the belly," Rachel answered. "I'll be too busy trying to keep this bird from getting too close to the locals. It's bad enough that they'll be able to hear it."

"Won't you be too high for the camera?"

"It's has a high zooming feature with top of the line resolution," Rachel answered. "It should be fine. But I need to concentrate on keeping away from the town."

"What if there's someone in the forest?"

"Not worried about him."

"Whatever you say."

Rachel manuevered the chopper away from the ship. She picked up speed and height the further she moved away from the ship and island. "Hey girl, you're going the wrong way."

"It was deliberate," Rachel answered. "I'm trying to gain enough altitude before going over the island."

"By the computer's standard, you're almost there."

"I can see that," Rachel rolled her eyes. "I've been flying a helicopter for a week before we left on the mission."

"Oh, why didn't you say that? ARE YOU CRAZY!? What makes you think that you're qualified for combat missions with so little experience?"

"This isn't combat related," Rachel answered. "At least, I hope that it's not. It's just fly around, take some pictures and land. Nothing to it really."

"Now I understand why you wanted me to control the camera," Missy groaned. "If you die I'm telling your mom. She'll bring you back from the dead, kill you again and then kill me for letting you do this."

"Shut up and start taking pictures."

It took less than ten minutes to fly around the island and get the pictures needed. When it came to the village, Missy managed to get the camera to take a picture at an angle. Rachel returned to the ship without too much trouble. The landing was a little off center, but the cables and clamps were long enough that it didn't matter if the landing wasn't perfect. Back on the bridge Rachel and Missy were examining the digital pictures. They were comparing them to islands they knew were close to Florida and Puerto Rico.

"It doesn't match any of them," Missy growled. "We should think about expanding our search." She then pulled up other islands from a downloaded world map. Some islands were similar, but none were that small with a village and a harbor. Not to mention the combination of the rock outcropping to hide the harbor.

Rachel started shaking her head and laughing. "What's so funny?" Missy demanded.

"We're total idiots," Rachel said. "Where were we when the storm hit?"

"That's a trick question right?"

"What is the Triangle known for?" Missy went deadly silent at the question. "Exactly my point," Rachel nodded. "What ever happens to the ships and planes that disappear, I think that just happened to us. So we have two major concerns at this point. What happened to the others and how do we get back home? Unless we can't get home."

"You're not saying we're dead are you?" Missy felt the pain in the back of her head before she registered Rachel had moved her hand. "Okay, this hurts too much to be heaven."

"There's plenty of theories about it," Rachel said. "There's just never been any solid proof. It's possible that we're in a different dimension or even world. But why didn't the others come as well?"

"Different genes?" Missy ducked when Rachel took another swing. "So what do you suggest we do?" Missy crossed her arms over her chest like nothing happened.

"We need information," Rachel plotted. "To get information we need money."

"Plan on getting a second job?" Missy teased. Her eyes then widened. "Oh I am so suing the navy for this fubar."

"I do have a plan," Rachel ignored the last outburst. "Tonight we'll hold a ceremony for Steve, Marie and Hasif. The traditional MIA at sea. If there's a possibility they survived then I won't hold a sea funeral. Then there's a manhunt going on in the forest outside that village tomorrow. I'm going to take part in it and you're going to help."

"I'm not trudging through the forest," Missy objected.

"No, you're flying over it."

"Hell no."

"The drone."

"Okay then, yeah."