Nine to Ship Out

It was a bright sunny day, on the military base island Hammer Head, and for one man, it was a very lucky day, for he was going to get to meet nine Red Haired army legends.

"I still can't believe they're going to be here" A Soldier said to his partner

They were seated at a desk and were placed in charge of all incoming and outgoing military and civilian personnel. Their desk sat oddly in the middle of a wide open void of planes hangar. This giant hangar had been re purposed to accommodate the growing number of men and lack of housing and operation building's.

"Just calm down, I don't see what the big deal is" His partner said back reading a magazine

Just then the two heard the thud of a duffel bag and turned to face the sound

"Captain Monkey D. Luffy, reporting as ordered" Luffy announced with a wide grin on his face

"It's a honor to meet you sir" The first soldier said while getting out from around the desk and holding out his hand to Luffy

"Nice to meet you to, now can you get me squared away and tell me where to go?" Luffy said handing the man his papers

"Of course" The man walked back and sat back down into his seat and opened the folder "Let's see Special operations rifle man, volunteer for operation New World" the man typed away at a computer and then stamped the papers in the folder "Okay Captain Luffy, Report to plan room one" The man buzzed out excitedly

"Thank you" Luffy said grabbing his duffel bag and folder, and dawning his straw hat, before walking away

"Oh my god that was… awesome!" The first soldier said

"Why? He didn't look like anything special" the second guy said going back to his magazine

"Are you kidding me? When he was captured by Sengoku's marines, not only did he escape, but assembled a small elite squad from the Jail of Red Haired Soldiers and assaulted maineford right along with Whitebeards Forces, and got out him and his squad out alive when the attack failed!"

The other soldier put down his magazine "Holy shit really?"

"Yeah and did you see his straw hat?"

"Yeah what of it?"

"Well his nickname his straw hat luffy, because more often than not, he doesn't wear a helmet, but that straw hat. They say it resembles his immense bravery and unwavering will"

"That's crazy"

"Yeah but awesome crazy"

"Okay. But I doubt the rest are that great"

"Just you wait"

A few minutes passed before another thud alerted them to the presence of the next member of Operation New World

They looked over to where said person should be standing but only saw a head with a pink hat on top. The first Soldier was out of his chair and on one knee and was shaking his hand "Chopper it's an honor to meet you"

"Shut up asshole, your compliments don't make me happy" Chopper replied doing a happy wiggle dance

"Haha, of course, here let me get you set up here" The guy took the folder "Okay Private Tony T. Chopper Special operations Combat Medic, volunteer for Operation New World" The man Stamped the papers and slide the folder back "Okay, report to plan room one"

"Thank you" Chopper picked up his bags and walked away

"What could his story be?" the second man said

"His nick name is the 'young doctor'." The first man said

"Why?"

"Well story has it that, that on his first operation his and two other squads where sent to a old base and had orders to hold there for three days before they would be extracted, but in the first day there was a huge enemy raid on the compound, and he was the only one uninjured by the time they repelled the attackers."

The man took a sip of his coffee before continuing

"Most of them were injured really badly and they had lost their radios. The story goes that he ran out of medical supplies fast, he even used up the other two medics supplies within a hour, but he managed to concoct remedies using his knowledge of wild life and made herbal medicine and tended to everyone, but on the second day three soldiers went into a critical state and needed surgery."

The man, paused and caught his breath

"He rounded up the other two medics and preformed the surgeries needed with next to no supplies or machines that would be usually be needed, but on the third day, the pickup crews loaded up all three ten man squads, with zero dead"

The other man's eyes went wide "Jones are you joking me?"

"No seriously"

"You're telling me that guy saved 29 men 3 of which were critical using plants?"

The first soldier nodded excitedly

"Holy shit"

A third man approached the group in a standard military outfit "Jones, Marc, did you hear that Nico Robin Aka, the Siren is coming in today?"

"Of course" Jones said excitedly

"You mean the chick who tried to commit suicide off of our command tower?" Marc said in a confused voice

"Yeah she is my favorite of this group" the third man said

"Does everyone know about these people but me?" Marc asked to his fellow soldiers

"Yup" They both said in unison

"Ok, so how does attempted suicide get you onto the hero list Jones?" Marc asked irritated

"That's only half the story, you see, her and two other infiltrators were caught by one of Kaido's Warlords, Crocodile, but instead of getting killed by not giving anything up, she convinced the patrol that she was a two time agent working for them. The two others were held captive while Robin earned the trust of said warlord by giving up minor and near useless information that lead a whole enemy fleet into a slaughter, but when the infiltrators were rescued, she was forgotten, and deemed dead by Intelligence. It took her two years to get back home and when she did get home, everyone at HQ she knew had been moved due to a big staff movement, she ended up being chased to the roof at gun point"

Jones paused to let it sink before continuing

"They say she begged for them to check the records, but when they did, they found that she was supposed to be dead, at the news, she quickly fell into a depression, and jumped off the roof."

"Damn, but wait, that thing is pretty high, how did she live?" Marc asked with amazed eyes

"They say some one at the bottom caught her, and that it was a amazing miracle that she lived" Jones supplied

The three men heard a giggle "That's not quite right I'm afraid"

The three men turned with shock faces to see one Nico Robin, standing in front of the desk with her duffel bag on her back

"You see, the incident was being broadcast throughout the T.V.s in the building, and when I jumped, one man ran out of the 15th floor, breaking through the window, and catching me, and changing are trajectory. So instead of hitting the concrete and bursting open spilling our guts everywhere, we landed in the moat that surrounds that building. He then held me until I stopped crying and said that I wanted to live again, and in that time he had lost a liter of blood and his cuts, caused by the glass were stingy from the salt water in the moat." She said in a calm collected voice amused at the three men's, befuddled faces

"I trust this is where I get my papers stamped and am told where to go" She said handing her folder to the barley moving Jones

"O-of course, let's see Sergeant Nico O. Robin, special operations intelligence, volunteer for operation New World" Jones stamped the papers and slid the folder back

Robin turned to walk away when she was stopped by a question

"Excuse me, but why did you volunteer for this suicide mission?" Marc asked not at all being careful with his words "I mean if that guy risked his life to save you, is going on a suicide mission the best way to repay him?"

Robin smiled and turned to answer the question "I am going for the purpose of seeing him again, I heard he has already arrived" She turned to walk away "I also heard that he has become a captain in our time apart" She smiled to herself before turning back one more time "Plan room one correct?" She asked shooting he question at Marc who simply nodded.

"Thank you" With that Robin left

Marc turned to the third man "Holy shit. Is everyone in this group like that?" The third man laughed as he walked away, and Jones nodded enthusiastically

"Oh yeah, each one of them has some sort of story to them, that's why its so cool!" Jones said happy as can be

"How the hell did fate have it that nine Read haired army legends would end up on this mission?" Marc asked

Jones dropped his smile and pondered the question "I don't know"

"Perhaps it has to do with the mission description" Marc said holding the paper with the mission description on it and then began reading it out loud "the mission is of utmost importance, any of you brave red haired army soldiers who volunteer are guaranteed glory and fame throughout the empire… survival chances are estimated to be 0.01" Marc looked up from the paper and towards Jones "think that's it?"

"Hmm perhaps, with chances like that I'm not surprise anymore signed up, nobody but red-haired's personnel squad runs mission's like that"

"Yohohohoho, I'm afraid your wrong my friend"

Marc and Jones looked up at the tall thin man

"you see, none of us are on this mission for glory or fame, nor money, no, 8 of us came because we owe the 9th one a great deal in one way or another" The tall thin man said putting his folder onto the table

"It's an honor to meet you Brook" Jones said extending his hand

"Well well, I didn't know I was going to be so flattered today" Brook said shaking the man's hand

"So then, why did the 9th one come?" Marc asked, and Jones looked away from the papers "And who is it?" Jones added

"Yohoho, Monkey D. Luffy, I don't know why he came, I can only assume that he is crazy man Yohohoho, but one you can follow to the grave"

Marc thought back to when Luffy had come to the desk, he couldn't think of anything that would make people follow him

"Now, my papers please" Brook said nudging the folder towards Jones

"Oh of course, let's see Lance Corpal Laboon H. Brook special operations musician"

Marc gave Brook a confused look,

"Volunteer for operation New World, report to plan room one" Jones finished

"Yohoho, thank you" Brook said grabbing the folder his duffel bag and violin case

Marc rolled his chair and bumped into Jones "Spill, what's his story"

Jones laughed "Interested in the bunch now are you?"

"Yes now tell me"

"They call him immortal Brook"

"What?"

"Yeah he gets the name because he has died before"

"Like his heart stopped for a beat?" Marc asked confused

"No, he died, five times, each for about 5 minutes, and the weird part is that each of the times, he and his band had been attacked, he always went down first usually by a gunshot to the chest, once by a knife to the throat, and then got back up on his own. They say medics had come by and confirmed that he was dead 2 of the five times then moved on to the next guy, and all of a sudden he would just get up and start helping with whatever was going on" Jones said out with a sparkle in his eyes

"What the fuck?" Marc said getting out of his chair and looking at Brook's fading figure "You have to be lying about this" Marc said turning back to Jones

Jones simply shook his head "I'm not joking about this guys, they say if you need luck just call out their names"

Marc sat back down wide eyed "this is insane"

Jones leaned towards Marc "This is just the half way mark; we still have five more to go" then leaned back and chuckled

"So what are the others stories?" Marc asked after a minute of silence

"I'll tell you as they come, be patient, it's much funnier when you have already seen their face, you get all shocked, it's funny" Jones replied picking up Marc's long discarded magazine

Jones was about halfway through the magazine when the next member arrived

"Super! Finally found it! Oi this is where I get my papers done right?" Marc looked at the blue haired man, with a thick upper body, and surprisingly thin legs walk towards them

Jones quickly put the magazine down "Yes sir, and might I say it's a honor to meet you Franky" Jones said holding out his hand

"Ow! Super nice to meet you too"

"Here let me get those papers for you" Jones said grabbing the folder "Let's see here, Corpal Cutty T. Flam, special operations engineer, volunteer for operation New World, okay report to plan room one" Jones said sliding back the folder with stamped papers

"Thank you Ow!" Franky said walking off

"Cutty Flam?" Marc asked confused

"Oh, he goes by Franky, his real name is Cutty Flam"

"Okay, besides being eccentric, why is he a legend?" Marc asked becoming more confused as to why he had never heard of these people

"Oh his is really cool, they call him artillery Franky"

"Okay? What is he a tank driver or something?"

"No… when are you going to stop asking stupid questions and just let me tell the stories"

"Sorry, continue"

"Anyways, they call him a artillery man because while on patrol at a navy/ land base called water 7, he spotted a enemy land and air attack force, and during the battle he ended up in the middle of some enemy tanks, and so he planted bombs on them but didn't get far enough away and got stuck in his legs by some metal shards, but he kept fighting, but using what he had from where he was, he managed to roll a tank's barrel by himself onto a hill and hand loaded a shell stuck a fuse in it and cut it, so he could light it like you would with the really old cannons, anyways he got out a match and waited for a target, which happened to be a plane doing strafe runs and took it down with the broken tank barrel, blowing his own hand off in the process."

"Whoa"

"Yeah whoa but that didn't stop him, with one hand he loaded the barrel again and again, being more careful and managed to take down six more planes and a few tanks" Jones finished

"Wait, you're lying!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"He had both his hands just now!" Marc said

"Yeah, the one I shook, his right hand, is a mechanical hand he built himself, and got some doctors to cover it with his own skin throughout a nine moth process" Jones retorted

"Damn… really using a tank barrel? Where did he get the rounds?" Marc asked

"When he got in the middle of the tanks, he was going to a tank bunker to supply them with rounds, he was carrying them." Jones responded hopping up and down from excitement

"Damn Jones, I can see why their legends"

"Excuse me? Is this were I go to get my papers signed?" A woman asked, causing both the men to look towards her

"Why yes it is" Marc said

"Right here please?" Jones said holing out his hand

"Thank you"

"Not a problem Nami, and may I say it's a honor to meet you" Jones said looking up from the folders

"Well that's better than getting hit on I suppose" She said laughing "Glad my story is still going around"

"Of course it is, your efforts against Arlong were paramount" Jones said earning him a giggle from the girl "Here let me get you set up, let's see, Private Bellemere N. Nami special operations Radio man volunteer for operation New World" Jones quickly stamped the papers and slid the folder back to her

"Great thanks, wish me luck" She said holding her thumb up, then lifting her duffel bag off the ground and walking away

"Whoo! She was a piece!" Marc said watching her butt as she walked away

"Yeah a sure piece of deception, she is someone you don't want to go against" Jones said

Marc sat back into his chair, leaning back and putting his feet on their desk "Okay entertain me"

"They call her the black cat, because during the early parts of the war she was taken hostage by Arlong, but during the nights of her first week of captivity she would escape and go to where the communication area was, and listen, breaking the code, on the seventh night, she managed to get into the room during a shift change and sent the broken code to her senior officer along with all the operating channels that the Naval base Where she was had, not to mention a detail analysis of the layout of the base and troop deployments up to 20 miles away, then returned to where she was being held, got back into the restraints and waited, within two days Red haired forces overthrew Arlong's base, which put a huge dent into Sengoku's naval and island forces, because as it turns out, Arlong was a low ranking General"

Marc listened to the story with growing interest until Jones finished "so she is responsible for Arlong's downfall, that victory basically crippled the strongest empire for two weeks!"

"Yeah I know hence the name; she truly is the enemies black cat"

"Damn" Was all marc could say

Jones picked the magazine back up and started reading it from where he left off

Jones had long since finished the magazine by the time the next guy got there

"Hey, this is the place where volunteers for operation New World go right?"

Jones and Marc had been laying back in their chairs with their eyes closed, but both sets shot open at the voice

"It's an honor sir!" Jones said holding out his hand

"what? Oh I mean well of course it is, I'm the great Usopp!" Usopp said proudly hoping that they didn't catch his early confusion

"Now if you could just get me set here" Usopp said laying down the folder

"Of course right away!" Jones said taking the folder "Ok Private Sogeking Y. Usopp, special operations Sniper, volunteer for operation New World, ok there you go, report to plan room one" Jones said handing the folder back

"Thanks' Usopp said grabbing the folder and readjusting his duffel bag on his back

Jones sat back, with a smile on his face. He was as happy as can be, meeting so many legends in one day

"Okay I'm surprised that guy is even a sniper, but how is he a legend" Marc said looking after the skinny-ish man

"Oh he is a hero, you see while he was on the hunt for another sniper through a huge jungle he saw one of our planes go down, he quickly got to the crash and grabbed the pilot who was almost uninjured and gave her his pistol, he decided that he couldn't stop his chase for the other sniper but he had to also get her to safety, he knew that the enemy sniper would start looking for tracks starting from the plane crash, so he gave the enemy those tracks, they lead to within a mile of a hidden Red-haired base where he dropped her off telling her where to go and then lead the enemy sniper away again, and in doing this sacrificed his only advantage which was surprise, because now he had to let the sniper follow him until he was well away from the base."

"Well that doesn't seem like something that would get you to be known as a legend" Marc commented

"The story isn't over, you see while on the run from the sniper, he managed to be spotted by a squad and he had to start running from them two, just to get rid of the squad he had to sacrifice his sniper rifle one of his two grenades and his food rations. And for the next three days he ran, but finally he found a good place to hide, and he made himself the only weapon he could make with his remaining supplies, a slingshot"

"Holy shit, I would be scared" Marc commented, thinking about going up against a enemy that could hit you from 1000 meters and knew where you were, with a slingshot

"His nickname his the lion hearted sniper"

"I see why, but how did he make it out alive?"

"Well as the story goes, his only supplies were 12 9mm bullets and a grenade, and he was able to create explosive pellets, but only three before the enemy took a shot at him and got him right through the gut, when he got shot he was in the open so he pretended to be dead, not even able to cover his bleeding wound, for five whole minutes, in burning pain, and not moving a muscle, but he heard the enemy sniper finally approach and when he was about 25 feet away, Usopp flipped over grabbing a pellet and his sling shot and fired at the enemy, but the first shot missed and hit a the ground sending dust up around him, and he heard the enemy running away, he fired his second pellet and made the enemy sniper tumble to the ground, knowing that it was make or break time Usopp loaded his last pellet, and as the story goes, he fire through the smoke, and killed the sniper, and then had to get all the way back to the base with that wound"

Marc stared at Jones in disbelief "Holy shit, he made it back to the base with a wound like that, after losing a lot of blood from lying on the ground?"

"Yeah, he collapsed as he walked through the door"

"Man where did you hear this stories?" Marc asked thinking about the past 7 people

"Well un like you Marc I go out of the base after my shift is done, and talk with people."

"Oh shut up, I go back to the base cause I'm tired of putting up with you all day"

"Hey I'm not that bad, that's it I'm not telling you anymore stories!" Jones said turning away sporting a pout.

"Wait wait! I didn't mean it come on" Marc said getting up and turning Jones' chair to face him

"Nope" Jones said crossing his arms and looking away

Marc leaned back into his chair, and then let a sly smile slip onto his lips "I'll buy you booze"

"Good deal, okay" Jones said holding out his hand "It's a deal, shake on it"

"Alright" Marc said shaking Jones' hand.

Suddenly a sound from the mouth of the hangar alerted the two boys and many other nearby soldiers to the presence of two very angry people.

"Well we would have been here on time if you wouldn't have gotten lost marimo! So don't go blaming me!"

"Shove it dart brows! I told you, the buildings moved on their own!"

"Idiot! Buildings can't move! You just got lost like a moron!"

"Don't push it Curlicue!"

"Moss head"

"Cheese head"

Marc and Jones turned to each other and back to the pair that were quickly approaching their desk

"Hey Jones, is that the last two members of operation New World?"

"Zoro and Sanji, they have known each other since boot camp"

"Oi marimo, its right here"

"I can see that Blondie! Here, will you fix my papers" Zoro said stepping in front of Sanji and putting his folder down by Jones

"Of course, and my I just say that it's a honor to meet you two" Jones said

"And by the way question brows I would have found this place on my own!"

They started up another argument, and completely ignored Jones, fighting and shouting and so on

"Oi Jones, just sign the papers and tell them to move on, I don't want to die by cross fire" Marc said in a hushed tone

"Right, let's see, Staff Sergeant Roronoa K. Zoro, special operations interrogator, volunteer for operation New World" He said in a quiet tone, then stamped the papers "Here you go Sergeant" Jones said in a loud enough voice to get Zoro's attention "Report to plan room one" Jones said as Zoro took the folder

"Thank you" Zoro said walking away

"Oi wait up marimo, I don't want to go looking for you!" Sanji yelled as Zoro started walking away, and in return got flipped off by said marimo "Shit, here, stamp this quick please"

"Oh of course, let's see" Jones said quickly grabbing the folder from Sanji and flipping it open "Staff Sergeant Blackleg Z. Sanji, special operations chef, volunteer for operation New World, here you go" Jones handed the folder back, and Sanji quickly grabbed the folder and jetted off after Zoro

"Okay, what is there story?" Marc asked looking at the fleeting figure of Sanji

"Which one first, green hair of curled eyebrows?" Jones said out in a joking manner

"Um green hair, how is that allowed?"

"Well it's his natural hair color"

Marc gave Jones a questioning glance "Okay then, so what's his story, what made him a legend?"

"Well they call him the Hunter, they say that he is hunting Sengoku's master interrogator, Mihawk"

Marc flinched at the name "They say soldiers have broken down by just looking into his eyes" He said scared

"Yeah, well not only is he hunting him, but he has encountered him, twice, and not only lived both times, but wasn't intimidated by him either time, they say that in his first encounter with the man, he got into a knife fight, and now has a long scar from his left shoulder all the way down to his right hip" Jones said, making his fingers draw a line to show him where it was

"Damn, what about the second time?"

"The second time, they say, he stayed in Mihawk's captivity for two months, and didn't give up a single piece of information" Jones finished

Marc shuddered at the thought of being with Mihawk for two weeks "Man, that's freaky"

"Yeah" Jones said in an excited voice basically bouncing up and down "And besides from that, he has never had to retreat, and even when he should have, he didn't"

"Damn, I would love and hate to be in his squad, ok what about Sanji?"

"Well they call him the lucky man, this is because he once volunteered for a one man infiltration mission to gather Intel on a enemy fire base, but something went very very wrong, somehow he got trapped on a enemy plane while hiding, and the plane took off, he had to jump out after stealing a parachute, but when he landed he had no clue where he was, it took him two weeks to find a allied base, and when he got their the medics on site told him he should have starved to death, he was taken off active duty for three months while he was nursed back to health and ever since, he has always cooked food at every base he has been at for the local soldiers, they say his food is made from recipes used by the gods"

"While that is amazing, how does that make him a legend?" Marc asked thinking about how hard it must have been to get back to a base while having no idea were you are and you're starving

"Well the plane he hid on, was a tank carrier, one of the most armored planes in Sengoku's air force, and while looking for a parachute he also planted a few bombs, and ended up not only taking down the plane, but also the field general that was in it, leaving Sengoku's Forces on the Grand line without leadership."

Marc briefly considered how lucky Sanji was. "Damn did he know the general was on board?"

"No idea" Jones said

"So that's the team going to fire base sunny? An insane captain, a magical doctor, a fleet destroying girl, a immortal musician, a one man artillery unit, a black cat communications expert, a lion hearted sniper, a man who is hunting fear itself, and a good luck charm that cooks?"

Jones got really excited and started bouncing up and down "I know it's great!"

"Oi Zoro, wait up damn it" Sanji called

Zoro choose to ignore the annoying cook for now, and turned down a hall that had a plan rooms sign on it, and quickly spotted the sign saying plan room one "Oi shit-cook, it's here come on we are already late" Zoro said entering the room

"Oi its Zoro!" Luffy shouted then saw that Sanji also entered behind Zoro "And Sanji! Yay everyone is here! Hey Sanji cook me something!"

"Sit down Luffy I'll cook you something later, for now introduce us to everyone"

Just then another person entered the room "Sorry gentlemen, but the introductions will have to wait, everyone please be seated"

Zoro looked to the new man who entered and saw that he was no general, or mission planner, but in fact, Red haired Shanks himself

"Hey Shanks!" Luffy waved while everyone else was surprised to see the leader of the army in person, each wearing a look of shock except Robin who simply looked at him

"Hey Luffy! Long time no see" Shanks smiled, but then got serious "but let's catch up later, for now let's get down to business"

Luffy quickly complied and brought out a note pad, much like everyone else who also pulled one out from their duffel bag

"Okay, so here it is, I'm not going to lie to you guys, right here" Shanks pointed to a map that was on the wall at the front "Is fire base Sunny, right here along this road is the only passage way that can move armor, it is the only road for about 200 miles, which means that it is very important, now as you all know, recently we got hit, hard, several of our supply bases, air bases and navy bases were hit, the only thing we got left is food and rifles for the most part, we still have anti air and anti armor weaponry, but not much armor or aircraft to use."

Everyone in the room was quickly jotting down notes

"it will take about 1000 days to gather up the force necessary to counter this attack, so for now all of our ground on the grand line" Shanks quickly pointed to a huge line drawn on the map that showed where all five armies fought. "Is on the defensive, we can resupply the bases with our remaining aircraft and are concentrating our armor at the most defensive bases, and while fire base Sunny is critical for our defense against Kaido it was decided that placing any armor here would be a waste seeing as how the passage way they would be defending, is a bottle neck and would ultimately only destroy our tanks"

Zoro quickly jotted that down then raised his hand

"Yes Staff Sergeant Zoro?" Shanks asked

"Since we will be 200 miles away from the nearest allied solider, what will our prospects for defending against armor and air strikes look like?"

"Good question, we will be resupplying you every other day, we are dedicating our largest cargo plane for this task, seeing as how this mission is critical, you will be able to request anything Luffy sees fit to order, we won't be able to provide airstrikes on armor but instead have made fire base Sunny incredibly resilient against bombs and tanks and the plane will provide a AA cannon and several smaller tank buster artillery Pieces"

This caused another hand to go up

"Yes Private Nami?" Shanks asked

"From what I have seen of the fire base located there" She pointed to the map "It doesn't have from for artillery piece let alone a place to put a AA cannon where it won't get blown by the first plane that makes it through, how do you suggest we use these weapons?"

Shanks quickly thought about what she was talking about, then realized something "Private Nami, when was the last time you Saw the fire base here?" Shanks asked pointing his hand back at the map

"Six months or so"

Shanks smiled "Oh, no you see Fire base Sunny was built 4 months ago, after Our first base their, fire base Merry, was destroyed, it is now bigger, stronger and its importance is even greater now. Any other questions?" Shanks looked around the room, before continuing "okay, you nine volunteered for this mission, knowing the estimated survival chance, you all know that if this base falls, Kaido's armor will flood in leaving us vulnerable, that is your main mission, to destroy any incoming armor, planes if you can, and all infantry, however there is a secondary mission"

This caused everyone to have a confused look

"we have reliable intel, that not far from this base is a cluster of enemy bases that surround a pivotal command base, if you are able to take this base out, they will have nowhere to station there armor and large amounts of infantry, which means that they won't be able to assault fire base Sunny, with large and over whelming forces" Shanks looked around the room and saw faces of understanding then he saw Luffy's hand rise

"Yes Luffy"

"With such a critical entrance like the one we will be defending, are you sure that it will only be Kaido's forces that we will be fending off?"

Shanks ran his only hand through his hair and sighed, " I wish I could say yes, while his forces are the closet, it is possible that you could see forces from all four enemy forces" Shanks saw that a few of them lost heart at that comment "But remember, they hate each other just as much as they want this road, so you won't have to defend against joint force attacks" Shanks then saw that everyone had jotted down the notes

"Okay" Shanks said "I know you have probably heard the talk of bets that the local soldiers have been making on how long you will survive"

Luffy tilted his head down causing his hat to cover his eyes

"but I want you to know, that I haven't lost faith in what one squad is capable of, each of you have preformed amazing feats, you may not know the men and women around you, but they are people I would trust my life with, you will see what is coming" Shanks said pointing to Nami and Usopp "You will know where they are!" Shanks said pointing to Zoro "You will be able to destroy them!" Shanks said pointing to Franky and Robin "there will be no wound that can't be healed!" Shanks said raising his voice in an inspiring way, while pointing to Chopper "You will be well fed and entertained!" Shanks said pointing to Sanji and Brook "And will never have to fear defeat while following this man!" Shanks said pointing to Luffy "So don't fear, I can see now that this team is the strongest in the Red Haired Army!" Shanks said then pulled something out from a bag he had discarded while entering the room

"Captain Monkey D. Luffy, I have a gift for your squad" Shanks said holding the black fabric that he pulled out, which was folded like a flag

Luffy got out of his seat in the back and walked to Shanks

"This is a symbol, of honor, strength, integrity. It is something you Leaders use to rally there troops, bet be damned, this is what you will use to make your mark on the enemy, this is what will be flown throughout every base in our empire when you return back victorious!" Shanks handed it to Luffy "This is your symbol, I leave the rest to you!, the ship out date is in three weeks" Shanks said leaving the room

Luffy stood in front of his Squad who were still seated, his hat covering his eyes, while holding the object "Alright, this is our symbol" Luffy said unfolding it reviling a jolly roger wearing a straw hat. This caused Luffy to look up with a huge smile on his face "Shishishishishishi, let us fly this over fire base Sunny as a symbol to those who assume we will die!"

The remaining 8 laughed and cheered at the flag that was there Squads symbol

"Who would have guessed that we would be the first squad to get a flag? Usopp cried out

"Okay!" Luffy shouted to the room "Now we have three weeks to get to know each other, while I know all of you and we have all heard of each other many of us don't know each other, I expect you to become fast friends in these three weeks, after you all know each other, makes sure to load up the plane with what we will need for our first two days at Sunny, dismissed!" Luffy said folding the flag back up, and the people started talking to each other to get acquainted

(three weeks later, 3 am)

"Oi Sanji, its two hours before we have to leave" Zoro said

"What's your point?" Sanji asked grabbing his belongings in his bag

"Can I say it?" Zoro asked

This stopped Sanji in his tracks for a split second, before he snapped out of it and continued packing "Zoro, we have talked about this, you can say it once we both make it back home alive"

"Sanji, come on, we are going on a suicide mission! You know just as well as I do that we might not make it back"

"I don't care Zoro, we both agreed that we wouldn't say those words until we got back home, if you say it, that means you have given up on yourself, and me, and Luffy, Chopper, Nami, Robin, Franky, Brook, and Usopp" Sanji quickly zipped up his second duffel bag and put on his metal hat and began tying his steel toed boots

"I'm not giving up on anyone, I would just like to be able to say it before one of us end up in a grave" Zoro barked back throwing on of Sanji's duffel bags over his shoulder

"You will say it Zoro, in 1001 days okay" Sanji asked grabbing his other Bag and throwing it on his shoulder

"Fine" Zoro said after a minute of silence, he then began walking to the plane

"Thank you" Sanji said following suit

(Flight time)

"Hello Captain Luffy, I'm Vivi, and this is Kaya, we will be the pilots for the next thousand days" Vivi and Kaya both shook his hand

"Yosh, nice to meet you, and thank you, we will need you two out there"

" Don't worry, it's a honor to be a part of this operation with you, so if you would like to make sure your Squad is on born and ready to go, we can head out to fire base Sunny."

"Right, okay" Luffy followed the ladies onto the playing and looked around at his Friends, now wearing their military camouflaged out fits "Everybody on board?" He asked to his 8 friends sitting on the plane for of seats. "Everybody bring extra toilet paper?" He asked, causing his most to break out in a laugh or smirk at his comment "Okay, Vivi Kaya, we are all go!" Luffy shouted up the pilot's area, and was replied with the start of the loud engine and the back hatch to close up, he quickly got to a seat and tied himself down, and he covered his eyes with his hat

He only hoped that he could get these 8 men and woman through hell and back for a thousand days.

The plane exited the hangar and took to the sky.

End of Chapter one

A/N Woo! Finally finished this chapter! I hope you guys like it, I'm not used to writing adventure so your reviews would be most helpful! Telling me what I do good what's bad, and of course my grammar and spelling mistakes