CH - 69 [ when it come down to it ] 1

Halcen had begun making his way toward the docks where the Black Tail and his crew awaited. He more limped than walked. He was worn out and dead tired. His body ached from his unexpected fight with Captain Vergo. His Haki battle had been more draining than he hoped it would. He was in pain, but he wasn't seriously injured. He needed to take a quite respite, so he found a solid piece of ground and sat down for just a moment. He took out a piece of caramel filled chocolate and began sucking on it. The sugar kick was exactly what he needed at that moment.

Dawn had already made its approach as the night sky began to fade to pay homage to the rising sun. He knew they had spent too much time already in Loguetown, but he still needed his breather. Halcen began to lose hope of ever catching up to Shanks at this point. There's still so much to do.

He finally stood back up, feeling the ache in his legs as he did so. "Alright, here we go." He continued on toward the docks as quickly as he could.

The pirate Captain arrived at the checkpoint where he had posted Daddy Masterson to alert them of any oncoming enemies to the docks that would try to attack their ship and crew. He looked about to see nothing. He could not find trace of the retired Marine. He whistled, hoping to rouse the sleeping owl, but to no avail. He was not present. Something was wrong. He knew Fein, Shira, Kazuki, Bo, and his family had to have passed by already, but Masters still should have been waiting for Halcen. He used his poorly tuned Sensory Haki to try to feel things out. He was perturbed by what he found. There was danger.

He began running toward the docks. He pushed his already strained body to make it there with all haste. He wasn't too far from the docks, but it was still necessary to get there as quickly as possible. When he arrived he stood still to take a horrified look. There was a mass of Marines that had come after them. They flooded the area where the market met the docks.

They found us… Halcen didn't have time to wait around. There were no civilians in the area, which was odd because this was the time of day fishermen should have been out in mass. They must have evacuated due to the Marines. Halcen tried to count. There were about thirty of them. He knew he didn't have the strength or time to take them all on without serious injury. He needed a plan. They needed to move.

Halcen made out some of his crew out in the crowd, trying to fend off the Marines. Jory, Morkine, and Fein were mixed in in random spots. Grey was trying to hold the entrance to the docks alone. He was doing okay. But Halcen knew he needed to help.

Morkine noticed Halcen.

He twirled himself about to get unclenched from the horde of Marines that had befallen him. He kicked himself up into the air and began jumping from Marine head to Marine head. His body was so light that it came more as an annoyance to the offended soldiers than injury. One of them was swift enough to grab onto his thin leg and began to try to drag him down. Instead Morkine pulled out his blunderbuss and fired upon the man below him, filling the man with ash and steel. Morkine made one final leap to land right in front of Halcen. He took a moment to reload.

"Captain, it is good that you are here. We were overwhelmed by the Marines. They seem to have caught onto our location and come to take us in. Given all our activities across the island, I'm not surprised that they came to take our heads. Though, I am surprised that it took them this long to find us."

"Yeah, well I went through a lot of trouble to ensure that they didn't find us," Halcen responded. "That they showed up just as we were about to set sail is really fucking inconvenient."

"Agreed."

"Where are Shira, Kazuki, Bo, and his family?"

"They're about the ship. Bo and Kazuki are in sniper position in case anybody manages to get past Grey."

"That won't happen. What about Jin? Is everyone accounted for?"

"Yes. Everyone who is not in the field is aboard the ship."

"And Masterson? He was supposed to meet me."

"He waits for you on the ship as well. He came to warn us of the Marine's approach."

"Fucking great."

"So what's the plan?"

"We need to rally everyone together in a single unit and pull back to the ship, taking out as many of them as we can. I need you to advance alone to the ship to get it ready to depart."

"Yes, Captain." And as swiftly as he had come, Morkine was gone. He raced across the Marines' heads to where Grey was posted, leapt over tall old man, and ran along the docks to the Black Tail, to make ready.

"I like that guy," Halcen said to himself. Then Halcen sighed and returned his attention toward the horde of Marines. They were all distracted by his crew and his crew was likewise distracted. Jory and Fein were still out in the sticks being tormented. He had to get them free of their attackers. He pulled out his bag. "Thank you Jin," he said. He pulled out two more smoke grenades. "These really do come in handy." He then threw them into the crowd and waited a few seconds for the effects to kick in. There was a small pop and then two steady streams of smoke started to suffocate the Marine soldiers assaulting the pirates.

Halcen pulled out one of his daggers and jumped into the mess. He slashed a few Marines in random spots on his way to grab Jory, who was the furthest out. Halcen rushed through to catch them before the smoke dissipated.

"Jory," Halcen said, grabbing onto the young swordsman's coat. He was holding off a Marine swordsman and there were three other men waiting to take their turn at the young pirate.

"Halcen! Thank God you're here. The Marines just showed up and-"

"Yeah, yeah. Morkine told me. We gotta go."

Jory didn't ask questions. He dropped his guard, letting the Marine fall forward on his face, and then they both raced off through the crowd. The smoke kept them relatively invisible. They took a few extra seconds to slay a few unaware Marines on their way through. This needed to be quick and bloody.

Finally, Halcen and Jory came to Fein, who was about halfway toward Grey already. They had him surrounded but he kept tearing down soldiers like they were made of butter.

"Fein, let's go!" Halcen shouted.