Chapter 11: A Gentle Hand…

May 14, 801 WG

They stood at the palace entrance ready to head to their respective ships. Luffy bent down to give his little niece a hug. She was not happy with being left behind again and Luffy didn't like it either. However, his ship was heading into battle. The danger to her would greater if she remained on the ship than if she remained on the island. If only by a small amount. He understood that if he failed, Alabasta and his brother's child would be lost.

Law was suffering the same dilemma. His sister would stay with Ann as the Polar Tang, like Thousand Sunny would become a target. Neither could afford to be worrying about what was on their ship. Having all their worries focused on Alabasta meant they could take extreme action to stop Pluton without concern for their ships.

All it meant was what they already knew, they had to win no matter what. Vivi put her arms around the girls as the crews gathered. They would head in two different directions when they went for their ships. Dragon had finally contacted Lance the night before. A subordinate had finally spied the island killer after it surfaced and had been monitoring its progress while keeping the Revolutionary Leader briefed.

"Lance, where are you?" asked the man on the other end of the line. He sounded worn out and desperate, not the confident and calm man that Dragon was known to be. Luffy wondered if his father had been injured or if the death toll in the Revolutionary Army was high. Was Sabo all right?

"Alabasta," replied Lance. "Where's Pluton?"

"Alabasta? How did you realize…?" started Dragon, sounding flustered.

"We acted on a hunch. How close is it? The Marine blockaded the island. No one can get off or on."

"Crow found it and monitored its path. We just realized the target from its heading. It's a day out from Alabasta at its current speed."

Lance growled and said, "It hasn't gained any speed we weren't aware of, has it. That's way too soon for that thing to be this close."

"They put some sort of outer engines on it. She's able to keep pace with her escort."

Luffy and few others cursed. Pluton's large size was its greatest weakness. If the World Government had added engines to the thing, their combat window would shrink considerably. Then there was the fact it wouldn't be as easy for Laboon to overpower the great vessel.

Lance turned toward the two pirate captains. "Are the ships ready?"

Luffy and Law hadn't been sitting idle. Fearing the World Government would pull a similar maneuver, they had already prepped their ship for the coming battle. They were simply on stand-by now.

"Super fully repaired, reinforced and stocked up," called out Franky, striking a pose.

"Then we need to go, now," said Lance. "Every minute not fighting is a minute against are chances of saving Alabasta."

Luffy, Law, Lance and the crews mounted the Super Spot-Billed Ducks and took off for their destinations. Law would launch from the shipyard near the mouth of the river, diving as soon as they reached deep enough water. Alabasta's army was already prepping the covering smoke screen and evacuating the people from the shoreline. Luffy and Lance would race back down the river and take flight when Franky judged was the right time to clear the blockade. Just because Fugitora was agreeable to Lance's suggestion, didn't mean they wouldn't put on a show at least.

At the shipyard, Law ordered his crew to make ready as a force of habit than because they needed the order. He signaled Pell who gave his own order for the cannons to launch the smoke bombs as others flooded the dock area then opened the gates.

Even if we can't reach the inside, I can use the Op Op fruit to cut the ship in half. Objects can't defend against by surgical strikes. The only problem is I have to be on the surface outside my ship to strike without cutting my own ship in half. Though, I will strike through my ship if I have to, but I can't cut through ocean water, thought Law as tightened his grip on his new sword. It had been among the various items on Raftel when they were there. Since he had abandoned his old one on Varian, he decided to take it and make it his own.

Everyone had discussed strategy during the week prior. The internal explosion while having the highest chance of success was also ruled the most dangerous. The chances of getting on the boat were low. The chances of getting to the magazine were lower. The chances of getting back up to the deck before exploding were lowest. Without Sabo's Flame Flame fruit, it just wasn't feasible. So they declared the original strategy an absolute last resort.

Law's strategy of getting close enough to the ship to use his Op Op fruit carried the least risk and greatest chance of success. Coupled with Laboon dragging the pieces to the murky depths and Pluton would be done. There wasn't a salvage ship in existence that could recover something that big but Laboon could always scatter the pieces across the ocean floor or even in trenches just to be safe. It was considered the best strategy with the highest success chances. Law had cut a mountain in two on Punk Hazard after all.

However, to get Law close enough and to give him the clearance needed to strike they would have to fight the escorting fleet. For that reason, both ships were fully stocked with ammo. Thousand Sunny's air cannon meant lots of cola barrels. Polar Tang had been outfitted with as many torpedoes as the desert kingdom could construct. Neither knew how much fire power would be needed to hold off or, better yet, take down the escort ships so Law could have the time to strike.

Polar Tang rolled forward into the smoke as cannon fire started up from the Marine ships. However, the smoke did its job, obscuring the view of the attackers. Nothing came close to Law's ship before she reached deep water and sank beneath the waves.

888888888888888888888888

Fugitora knew, as an admiral, he really shouldn't let any ship leave the island as his directive was to prevent people from leaving. Even if that ex-Marine had pointed out the loophole he could exploit, he really couldn't let anyone leave without at least attempting to stop them. Though he wondered if Sakazuki would buy his excuses if he didn't. No, he had to attempt to stop whoever would emerge from the island. He just wasn't going to pursue them.

So he sat on his ship waiting for something to happen for the past week. When nothing did, he began to wonder if the ex-Marine had been as honest about the danger as he had come across to him. Then the men on his ship started shouting as explosions were heard coming from the shore. Those who were nearer to the affected area began shooting cannons in retaliation but there didn't seem to be any hits to his ships from what he could hear.

The explosions stopped and the Marines expressed confusion over the whole thing, complaining of smoke and no fire. Fugitora stood up. Blind as he was, he thought he detected movement beneath the ships. A submarine perhaps? A submarine whose departure had been covered by apparent smoke bombs. Before he could react to the escaping submarine, a new set of shouts erupted from the other side. This time the reason was much clearer as there were no smoke bombs to cover this one's escape.

"It's Mugiwara! Mugiwara is coming from the river!"

Smoke wouldn't have helped him, thought Fujitora as he gripped his sword. He's going to have his ship leap the blockade. Reports said it could fly.

His ship was positioned in the river, where he expected trouble to be hiding. He did not like the idea of a massive weapon destroying the entire island of Alabasta, but he also had a hard time accepting such a weapon could exist. A weapon eight hundred years old that was more damning than anything modern science had crafted to date. It was hard to believe, especially given the World Government loved to create such lethal items.

However, if it did… Should he really be following orders? Should he be allowing this tragedy to take place?

The Straw Hat ship exploded into the air, judging by his men's cries, the boom of the device, and his own observational haki tracking the ship.

Without thinking, he went to draw his sword and activate his gravity ability. He was in the right spot to catch the ship as it sailed overhead. He could stop and capture the Straw Hat Pirates right then and there as the Fleet Admiral had been demanding of him since he let him do in Dressrosa months ago.

For a second a blinding radiance filled his sightless eyes, banishing the dark, and the sensation of delicate fingers and a small palm resting on his sword hand came to him.

"Now let's not do anything stupid," a voice, a soft alto, whispered in his ear.

Then darkness returned leaving the after image of a small pale hand holding his sword and dark hair on the edge of his vision.

What was that? he wondered in alarm. Then he realized it had lasted just long enough to prevent him from catching the pirate ship as it flew overhead. I guess, I missed, he thought, smirking.

8888888888888888888888

Luffy let out the breath he had been holding. He had spied Fujitora as they passed over his ship. The man had been poised to use his gravity power on them but held back at the last minute, letting them pass. It looked like they would experience no further trouble from there. Now all was left was to rendezvous with Laboon and Law before heading out to meet Pluton.