March to War

To Slay a Dragon
In ancient times, it was said...

...to slay a dragon, you must cleave its head off clean.

Anything less than that would be seen as naught but a nuisance to the creature.

Anything that was not a fatal wound would be written off as an annoyance.

Pirates. For the marines, they can be called a dragon with many heads; none more so prominent than the ones that command their respect and admiration above all others. A quartet of conquerors that rule over portions of the world taken by way of their own strength.

The Four Emperors.

For the dragon known as "pirate" to be slain, one must carve its heads off. And so this was the start of it all; a battle to slay the dragon heads called Yonko.

For a long time, it was only discussed; planned; debated. An effort to push forward in the marines' goal to end the influence of the Yonko in the New World, as the stepping stone toward worldwide peace. But today... Today would be the start of it all. Perhaps it would start as nothing more than a spark, but soon enough, it will bloom into a blaze that will illuminate the entire world.

The marines would make their stance clear to the Yonko on this day.

On this day, all the world will know that the fall of the four emperors... has already begun.

---

5 Days Prior to the Mission

"Three teams. Three concise attacks."

Fleet Admiral Kurama had held a meeting with several hand-picked Vice and Rear Admirals, along with the Admirals themselves, in order to discuss the mission that had been thoroughly debated by them in previous scattered discussions. It was time to finally cement the plan, and prepare to carry it out.

After a lengthy talk, the details of this monumental undertaking were finally hashed out.

Three simultaneous movements were to be made on the Yonko. In an effort to begin their efforts in removing them from power, they had to start with the outer territories. And so three islands were decided upon. Rusukaina, an island in Daddy L. Legs' territory. Shikhi, an island in Daikaku's region. And Kurona, belonging to Raptor D. Baron. Five days from now, three voyages were to be carried out by teams of Vice Admirals and other Marines assigned to those units, in order to lay siege to the three islands.

Only the pirates there were to suffer consequence. The marines would pursue dominion over those islands and provide sanctuary to all citizens that renounce servitude or loyalty to the Yonko. Above all, this was a mission of liberation, not conquest; though, perhaps to Kurama, it was both.

He stated that the marines were to storm the islands, whether by force or by infiltration, but it would be preferred to operate as swiftly as possible. The longer they could keep the pirates stationed there unaware of the siege, the better; so as to minimize the chances of marine casualties.

But there was more to this mission.

For the Fleet Admiral, it wasn't solely about conquering these lands, and beginning a march inwards toward the individual hearts of the four Yonko territories. He had also issued an additional order to the mission directive. In the most ideal case, he wanted the pirates found on those islands to be captured; brought in for questioning. Kurama always believed that people, even pirates, are resources; they have more worth alive than dead, no matter how insignificant they might be. And so, murder was always to be avoided, if at all possible.

Lay siege to the Yonko islands and capture the Yonko-affiliated pirates present.

That was the complete directive.

And so, five days later...

It would begin.