Nami and Tashigi were at the bow of the ship as they liked to be whenever they had the chance. Both were with their cigars and looking ahead. Marine Base 22 had just come into view and they were enjoying the last few seconds before they would have to get to work making sure the ship was ready to pull into port. The pair threw their cigars into the ocean and blew out one last stream of smoke. Tashigi then started to walk back, with Nami following right behind her.
Their ship came into port and Smoker went to go meet with the higher ranked Marines in a meeting. He had been told by transponder snail to go alone, which meant that Tashigi and Nami had an unexpected chance to take some shore leave at the base. After watching Smoker walk towards the headquarters the pair decided to just walk around the base and see if anything interested them.
Honestly, they found it boring, Tashigi would rather be doing something more productive with her time, be it working or training with Nami. The training the pair were doing together was working magnificently, while Tashigi had expected Nami to improve, Tashigi was improving as well, thanks to how adept Nami was at the yari. Their sparring sessions had started to attract a crowd of the lower ranked officers who enjoyed watching the two women go all out trying to defeat each other.
Tashigi also enjoyed the sparring because it was the only time Nami showed any type of deviance of her. Nami was normally like she was now, following behind Tashigi, ready to drop whatever she was doing to assist her. Tashigi secretly had to admit she loved having someone wait on her hand and foot, but, well, there was no but, as Nami had shown by defeating Victula Gotfreed, if there was an emergency, Nami could perform.
Bored, the pair went and grabbed lunch at the galley and then went outside to partake in post-lunch cigars. Nami, as always, lit the cigar for both of them, then stood by Tashigi's side.
A woman walking pass the paired stopped when she saw Tashigi. She decided she needed to take a closer look, so she walked behind the pair and tapped on Tashigi's shoulder.
Nami had considered pulling the yari off her back, where it now permanently stayed, but Tashigi had waved her off, feeling the presence coming behind was not hostile. While exhaling a big plume of smoke, Tashigi turned around and faced the woman.
The woman started to cough, fanned the air in front of her to clear the smoke, and closed her eyes. She slowly opened them backup and stared at Tashigi. The woman tilted her head, then squinted her eyes, which suddenly grew wide in shock. She then started to speak.
"It is you Tashigi", the woman exclaimed at Tashigi, who then squinted her eyes, to recognize the woman before the name came to her.
"Hifumi, is that you?" Tashigi asked, a smile growing on her face. "It is!" She said happily, "how are you?"
"I'm great Tashigi", Hifumi said, before suddenly a clearing of a throat was heard next to Tashigi. Hifumi looked over and for the first time noticed that there was an orange haired woman next to Tashigi. Tashigi looked over at her and smiled.
"Oh, I am sorry Nami", Tashigi said calmly, "this is Hifumi, we went to the academy together." Tashigi then looked at Hifumi and then nodded her head, "you have barely aged at all, you look just like you did when we graduated."
Tashigi thought back, she and Hifumi had come into the academy together and had become friends. The pair studied late at night together and when they both graduated promised to keep in touch. While they had attempted to, Hifumi had gone to work for an Admiral who did not really care for his subordinates having correspondence with people because they went on a lot of secret missions, so the pair slowly lost touch.
"What are you doing here?" Tashigi asked Hifumi.
"Oh, my boss had a meeting here about some pirates, you?" Hifumi asked back.
"The same." Tashigi answered. "Still, wow, it has been what, 3 years?"
"I think." Hifumi answered back. Hifumi then walked back a few steps and looked at Tashigi.
"I know you said I haven't changed Tashigi, but man you have." Hifumi said, after taking a look at Tashigi. "When did you start smoking?"
Tashigi chuckled to herself, then blushed. She then grabbed Nami by the shoulder and pulled her in. "This is her fault", Tashigi explained tilting her head towards Nami, who was blushing. "We stole cigars one day, got caught, got punished by smoking more cigars, and before we knew it, we both liked to smoke." Tashigi let go of Nami who scooted away. "Oh, sorry about the coughing earlier, the only people who get close enough to me for that to bother anymore both smoke, my captain, and her." Tashigi explained, once again motioning to Nami.
"I mean", Hifumi said, exasperated, "that is not even all. How are you taller?" Hifumi asked, having to look up to see Tashigi, when the pair had been the same size at the academy. "You also seem, I don't know how to describe it", Hifumi thought about it for a moment, "cooler." Nami nodded her head in agreement with Hifumi's assessment which caused Tashigi to chuckle.
"I don't know what to say, I have heard other people describe me that way." Tashigi said, remembering a time when she had heard the same thing being said by a group of ensigns who did not know she was listening in.
"So, what admiral did you say you worked for again?" Tashigi asked Hifumi, continuing to chat, the pair of friends catching up.
Meanwhile in a meeting room at headquarters of the base, Smoker was meeting with Admiral Kizaru. Smoker hated Kizaru, his wishy-washy attitude annoyed Smoker, who thought that pirates should just be arrested rather than played with, and the fact that Kizaru had no real drive to do real work annoyed Smoker even more. Smoker sometimes wondered how Kizaru even became an admiral, but he would never say that aloud.
Kizaru had a grin on his face and had not said anything for a few minutes since Smoker walked in. He thought it was fun since he knew Smoker would not speak till the higher-ranking officers spoke first.
Smoker had already started to tap his leg in annoyance and his face showed annoyance as well, but Kizaru still waited, wondering how long Smoker could last. Finally, Smoker had enough and was about to speak but Kizaru spoke first, to annoy Smoker further.
"Congratulations Smoker, you have been promoted to Commodore." Kizaru said in his most annoying voice.
Smoker was taken aback by this news and leaned back in the chair he had been sitting in. He exhaled some smoke from his cigars and a small smile formed on his face. He thought for a moment, then spoke.
"Thank you, Admiral, but that news could have been handled by transponder snail, I can't imagine an Admiral would come all this way from headquarters just to give me that news." Smoker replied.
Kizaru smiled then put his hands in front of his mouth. "Yes, there is more." He said, before continuing. "The names you got from the Gotfreed Brothers, The Equal Dealers and Klaus Stormbreaker, we have done research into them, and they are trying to take over East Blue.
"Take over?" Smoker asked back, surprised any pirate group would want to rule such an area.
"Yes, they are a group of pirates who went to Loguetown and were going to go to the Grand Line but were stopped by a group of Marines. Unfortunately, the Marines were not able to capture them, and they were able to escape." Kizaru answered. "They came to East Blue and decided to just take that area over since they thought that the Marines here are weaker."
"Is there anything else you can tell me?" Smoker asked, trying to decide how to approach them.
"I can explain their setup, but that is boring, so I had my secretary write it up instead, here just read it." Kizaru then pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Smoker. "The back of the sheet has their location and other information as well."
Smoker then sat back and read the note.
The Equal Dealers are a group of pirates led by Klaus Stormbreaker, a former Marine. He thought that the world was an unfair place and things needed to be more equal, so he created a group where things were equal.
The treasure that was collected from each of the Gotfreed Brothers was found to be worth an equal amount, down to the last Belly. We believed that to keep everything so evenly split they had to have constant correspondence with the main base of the pirates and Stormbreaker.
Luckily, one of the pirates who you captured working for Victula, whose name is being withheld in case this note falls into the wrong hands, was able to tell us where the base is. We sent a small scout team and were able to confirm the location.
Smoker, you have been ordered to take the Equal Dealer Pirates into custody, dead or alive. We have decided not to put a bounty on Stormbreaker's head due to [redacted].
Smoker looked at the redacted bit at the end of the note and sighed, the Marines were covering up one of their own becoming a pirate again. It was almost enough to lose faith in the Marines, not that Smoker ever would let pirates have their way.
"If that is all, I will bid you adieu." Kizaru said while standing up. Smoker thought for a moment then spoke up calmly.
"Actually, there is one other thing." Smoker grinned, happy to be able to do this. "Can you pass along a message to headquarters that I believe that my vice-captain is ready for a promotion?"
Kizaru thought for a moment before answering. "If you come back from this mission, I will pass it along."