Stranded

Nova sighed as she went over and worked a little bit harder. Starting off was the slowest part of ship-building. Everyone naturally wanted to tend in with a big project like this sensing Beli signs on horizons so a lot of no-talent hacks were running around hoping to make it big in one a result, the first day was usually just assigning the large number of people to tasks and they only needed one Head to do that, giving the other four a day off.

Nova left and went to one of the few gardens in the plant. She sat down and sighed loudly. "Dear Perseus, how are you?" she asked as she picked up and fingered the moon necklace she wore.

"I hope everything is going fine," she said as she verbally wrote her next letter to her little brother. "Its nice here. I'm learning a lot and doing well. The boss is a nice guy and I'm trying my hardest. I'm building a ship for the Marines right now, maybe mom and dad will ride it home to see you." Nova sighed and fell back against her chair.

"Who am I kidding? Dad wouldn't go back to see you. He left us when we were kids. Every so often he would send money and supplies, but he only visited once a year if that. I don't even know if he knows you are sick or if I left."

She was going to groan and complain once more, but she heard someone's footsteps rounding the corner so she sat up, took up a much more pleasant sitting posture and waited. As a Marine's daughter she learned early on how you present yourself dictates how other people see you.

"Howdy," said James as he appeared in from above causing Nova to jump slightly, but she soon calmed down quickly. James laughed a little as he flipped off of his Hover-Board and onto the floor. "Those Marines good guys or something?" he asked as he looked down the path and at the closed door.

Through the slightly thin door Nova could make out the Marine voices and pieced together that James had come in here to escape them. Nova shrugged. She had no particular opinions on those Marines. They seemed like the classic knuckle heads that get stranded here.

James frowned a little when he noticed that she didn't respond to his quick wit, but he didn't mind for all that long. "Oh, well, I'm just hiding out here until those Marines get going," he gave a quick peek out of the door and watched as the two Marines strolled on by, probably trying to pass the time on a stinky island like this. Once he was fairly certain they were gone, he squeaked the door open and began to leave. However, he remember something important. "Have a good day," James said once more giving Nova a quick pat on her butt before moving towards the door once more.

"I work hard," Nova stated plainly, however, while her flat tone didn't have any more life to it than before James could've sworn he picked up on something hiding beneath the surface. He supposed it could've been irritation at him, but that didn't seem like it. He gave her a casual glance as she stood strong.

"I wanted to be a shipwright for awhile, okay? I know you've said it again and again...that you don't believe a shipwright can be a female," Nova continued. James never expressly said that, but he did understand how she got that feeling. Nova shook her head at him, "I became a Head of Dock One through my skills, not because I look pretty, you understand? I rose through the ranks and I did my time and I'm tired of people like you looking down on me just cause I'm a woman amongst these men."

"Woah ho ho!" said James throwing his hands up in-between them, beseeching her to stop, which she thankfully did. "I didn't mean it like that, I just never saw too many shipwrights, okay? Whenever I did they were Fishmen or cyborgs but they were always male. In Skypiea where I'm from not too many stories of a famous female shipwright ever got up there, you know?"

James went to head out once more, but he paused before making his final exit, "hey, maybe you'll be the first!" He offered her a friendly smile as he popped on out. He smiled gleefully to himself as well as he clutched his actual prize, a Tone Dial. When he had heard about those Marines making their way into Dock One, he had planted this on Nova figuring he may be able to obtain some important information about them. It looked like he could finally put a plan into action. But first there were a few loose ends he had to tie up, like finding his crew.

Olivia was easy to spot. She was taking it easy in the most secluded locations possible. She didn't want to even have a chance to be spotted. While James may appreciate a good fight with the Marines every now and then, Olivia preferred to just keep her distance. James was taking the little bits of revenge and striking at the Marines whenever he could while Olivia was trying to save up for something big. Stay out of sight until she was ready to wipe them out. Anyways, James found her milling around the incinerator of the ship-building plant. It wasn't the most pleasant location, but still he supposed it served her duty of keeping her out of sight. Finding Kelda was a bit more difficult.

Surprisingly she was tailing the Marines. Like Olivia she didn't want to be found, but unlike her she figured the best way to do so was to know where they were. She kept a good distance almost as if she had done this before and as a Marine she had, but that life was unbeknownst to James and Olivia. "So, what is your Devil Sense telling you about the Marines?" asked James as he sat down next to Kelda as she kept a proper watch over the Marines. Olivia was nearby as well, back a few stores and hiding out WAY out of sight as usual.

Kelda sighed and shook her head, "Its not a Devil Sense per say," she stated, although that was probably the best thing to call it without going into detail, "what do you want to know captain?" She asked, a slight smile playing on her face as she was happy that James had come to rely slightly on her power, "want me to tell you they are horrible people?"

James shrugged and Kelda understood what he meant by that, "Good, cause they're not. The little guy on the right think I overhead his name was Mario is a little bit cruel, but all-in-all full-heartedly believes that they are trying to make the world a better place. The taller guy, Jackson, is a nicer person. He believes in putting people before Justice."

"Wow!" James stated, "your Devil Vision tells you all of that!?" Kelda smiled nervously, however she nodded in the end. Truth be told these two were guys who were in her previous unit. That's another reason why she was taking her careful time in skirting around them, if they saw her then it'd definitely be game over.

She looked over at Olivia, she was already trying to think of ways to get Kelda off of the crew and if James found out Kelda was keeping her past as a Marine a secret then he may just be convinced to kick her off of the crew. So, the thing was if they saw her she just have to make sure they didn't see James and Olivia as well. And she the perfect tool to make sure they did. She gripped the hilt of her blade a little bit before she realized James was still talking. She took a deep breath, relaxed and with one more wary glance behind her at the Marines, turned to James.

"Apparently the Marines have ordered a huge warship from here," James explained, "not only that, but because those two guys also got taken for a ride by the Dismantlers they are going to be sending Marine ships down here to help pay for this new one."

Olivia looked exasperated, this was exactly what they didn't need! They needed a break, not them stuck on an island with no ship swarming with Marines, dismantlers, and cockroaches. Another shiver ran down her spine as she recalled those vile, horrible, ugly insects and while she supposed that also applied to the Marines, she was talking about the cockroaches.

"Okay, here's the-" James stopped as he looked up and saw Morris standing behind him, "hey, buddy, he stated, mind moving along here?"

"No can do!" he laughed as he sat down next to them, "The boss thought you pirates may try to do something bad that could potentially ruin his business, so he told me to keep an eye on you three." James sighed, but he nodded. He supposed he understood. Everybody was just looking out for their own neck.

"Of course, I complained a little bit, but then I realized you got two beautiful ladies on your crew," Morris said, going down on one knee and taking Olivia's hand, placing a light and gentle kiss upon her middle knuckle. "Hello, beautiful." James was fit to laugh at Morris when he got his butt stomped into the ground, but instead found himself shocked stupid as Olivia's face fluttered instead.

"Holy crap! YOU SMILED!" James shouted, promptly getting knocked back by Olivia's swing. Despite the fact that he now had a throbbing ache in his head he still believed his joke was worth it in the end. Morris laughed loudly as he sat down next to them.

"While I may not be a Dock One Head, James, I feel the need to inform you that does not reflect my fighting prowess," Morris glanced over at James, a big smile on his face. James took another look at Morris' body, which was frankly speaking built like a tank. He was probably strong enough to lift up a small boat with one arm. "I am one of the strongest men in the dock and have regularly won the majority of all of our fighting tournaments." James smiled uncomfortably and nodded. He'd put his plan on hold at least until he found a way to shake Morris. Then again once the Marines arrived en masse, he really didn't stand a chance. A new plan needed to be crafted and it would probably take him a day or so to do so.

"Hey, Morris?" asked James, "how long does it take for you guys to build a ship?" James asked. There were a few more fundamental pieces of information he needed to put together. "Like that big warship in Dock One?" Morris smiled and looked up at him. The people in Dock One would probably be working feverishly now that Marines are actually here.

Morris paused for a second and thought about it. "Eight days," Morris stated after a little while of thinking. "The boss'll probably chip in with this one to get it done quicker and better." James nodded, eight days. In eight days he'd need to create a perfect plan and put it into action. However, one thing was certain. He was not about to let the Marines have that ship. However, in the end he couldn't stop smiling, he always enjoyed a good challenge.

Morris looked at James before turning to Olivia and asking the question that was on the everyone's mind. "Is he okay?"

(-With the two Marines-)

Of course, James wasn't the only one formulating a plan of attack. The two Marines were sitting opposite of each other at a small table, each one snacking on a different meal. Mario was sitting there dining on duck, a delicacy to the utmost extremes of the people on this island, but he had paid for it and as a result was welcomed to it. Jackson was a little more humble, forgoing meat completely for a salad from the nearby garden.

"So, we need to find a way to get Nova on our ship," Mario stated while gnawing on a leg, sending bits and pieces of duck meat everywhere with his sloppy manners.

Jackson nibbled on a piece of lettuce, "Why don't we just ask?"

"She's probably been brainwashed, why else hasn't she tried running away," stated Mario. "I mean, here she is a girl acting like a shipwright? Everybody knows the only way for that to happen is with some underhanded dealing. Probably just as some moral booster for the men around here."

"Or she got there through her skills," stated Jackson, but Mario shook his head and chuckled.

"Girls don't got no ship-building skills," Mario laughed causing Jackson to slink back slightly at the news. He always thought that with a little bit of elbow grease anything was possible. Then again he supposed if there was a definitive book on being unable to overcome a certain wall Mario was probably an expert. Fifteen failed exams to be promoted to Commodore Rank. As his friend, Jackson always thought he was cut out for it, but something in his past had prevented him from climb up those ranks. Mario, however, kept talking about how to get Nova on their ship when they were leaving.

A Delicate Plan

I'm alive! So much stuff people need me to do now that I have a second of free time! Its like as soon as I get free time I lose free time! Anyways, another chapter, another day.

For those of you wondering what happened to Iron Hammer I can't find the chapters. I managed to find Chapter 114 and up, but anything before that got wiped. Luckily I have an idea how/why, but it still means I got to go back and completely re-write everything!