Aftermath [Historical]

8th Branch had been in crisis mode for a few days now, trying to figure out who was still alive after the rogue prince's rampage upon leaving the island. The chain of command had been relying entirely on Kaho from the moment she had been woken up to be told her ship had been stolen overnight. A dead captain was bad enough, but they had seemingly lost the vice-admiral who had been running the base as well. He hadn't been on the front-lines, that was certain, he had been given this post because of his underperformance in general.

Kiyoko had taken to her new title quickly, after they had worked out just who was at fault here at least, and she was back to her old self. Idling around while the storm of orders and paperwork raged around her, unphased as was her usual manner. "Well, good news, we've got company!" She had been peering out of the Admiral's temporary office out toward the sea. "That's Liz's ship, isn't it?" A single glance would be enough to confirm, a grand vessel that had quite a history.

The Vice-Admiral's disrespect seemingly extended beyond Kaho. It was honestly a wonder how she hadn't been penalized some time ago. "She's gonna -love- this." While Kiyoko was apparently amused at the idea, it was well known that Admiral Ashburn wasn't someone who took kindly to problems like this. The best they could hope for was that she just so happened to be nearby, and had decided of her own accord to check up on the situation. If she had been ordered here, then she might be a little grumpy. "Want me to go meet her at the dock?" An unsupervised meet-and-greet between the two was more than likely to end in disaster, even if Kiyoko was happy to take the risk.

Kaho had been more than swamped with her fair share of work, which she quickly handed off to her new Vice Admiral. If anything, she had done her time as a paper pusher and wasn't keen on doing such a job again. In fact, there were moments that she would have Kiyoko read to her and she would simply speak her answer to said documents. It was nice being in a position that she could practically do whatever it was that she wanted. Still, she couldn't overburden her new Vice Admiral too much, especially with word that one of her comrades was quickly approaching their new territory.

Kaho would groan as she rolled from the cot that she had the crew bring to her new temporary office. Honestly, it was more rigid than she had anticipated, but it was the best this scummy branch could offer her. It made her miss her ship and filled her with rage at the audacity of that swordsman. "That's Admiral Ashburn to you, Kiyoko. I may be more lenient, but she certainly will not be." Kaho would warn her Vice Admiral, which was the only protection she would receive should she offend the opposing Admiral.

"Well, it's a miracle that we haven't been disbanded under government orders. Seems we've only been delt losses recently," Kaho would respond to the fact that Admiral Ashburn wouldn't find this little issue so amusing. Kaho would yawn at the idea of having to sit through a lecture, but she wasn't all that worked up for the arrival. As Kiyoko asked if she should go accompany the Admiral at the docks, Kaho would turn to her companion unamused. "As if I'd send you alone to greet another Admiral. There's no telling what trouble you'd cause for us. This paperwork is already tiring enough," the raven haired woman would begrudgingly wave her hand as she exited the room beckoning the Vice Admiral to follow after.

Their timing to the docks would perfectly line up with the arrival of the ship. They would only have to wait for the vessel to drop anchor and the gangway before they would be face to face with the Captain of the ship. "Hey, Liz. What's up? Nice of you to stop by," Kaho would greet her fellow Admiral in a manner that she had just warned Kiyoko not to do. Was it their rank or was Kaho just itching to get under the other's skin? It was times like these that she had to have known where Kiyoko got her lackluster manner.

“Lighten up Kaho, me and Liz go way back!” Kiyoko grinned, not providing the best proof that she was going to behave during this little meeting. Tugging on her fancy new red cloak, the only one remaining from her collection “As funny as it is that kid has your boat, I’m kinda hurt the collection is gone…” She had been waiting a long time for this promotion after all, and she had been more than ready to dress for the occasion. Or she had been. It was only fair really; it wasn’t like she had done anything to stop them.

Visibly dejected, Kiyoko ended up following along when invited. It perked her up a little at least. “So, how bad do you think it’s gonna be?” She questioned while they walked, obviously there was going to be trouble, but Elizabeth was known to be fair at least. “I think she’ll wrangle us a new ship no problem, just you watch” Kiyoko grinned as they rounded the corner to the docks.

In stark contrast to Vice-Admiral Arai, Elizabeth’s expression seemed particularly grim today. The first to leave the ship as it pulled up to dock, her crew seemingly well trained and already at work. It must be nice to have a professional crew. “Admiral Yukimori” Elizabeth greeted in her usual stern tone. “I hear you had some trouble with a little runaway from Wano?” She raises an eyebrow before walking ahead toward the base. Taking the lead while she ignored Kiyoko’s wave entirely.

While she wasn’t the most easy-going woman, Elizabeth wasn’t usually this formal or so quick to simply walk away without a word. Kaho might just notice someone who wasn’t quite synchronised with the rest of Admiral Ashburn’s crew. An unfamiliar man wearing a grey suit, knocking into one of the deckhands, only to barge on ahead anyway. Though as quickly as he had been noticed he had walked from view. “Hrm, who was that?” Kiyoko had taken notice, though was just about as in the dark. Could just be a newcomer to the crew, though he didn’t act it.

Kiyoko would ask a question that left Kaho with a simple shrug. How bad was it gonna be? Well, she couldn't say until the admiral was within her sights. For now, they would simply have to hope for the best and assume that everything was going to be just fine. However, Kaho would find every hair standing on edge as the ship pulled into port and Elizabeth's face came into view. Something felt off about this whole interaction and how quickly the admiral would deboard the ship. Kaho would listen to her words and watch her usual stern approach, although she found it odd that Elizabeth would simply ignore the Vice Admiral's greeting to her.

"Well, I suppose you could say that. I find that it was well warranted, but still troublesome. Seems our little prince had enough," Kaho would begin to respond as she followed behind Liz. Where exactly was she going so quickly? Kaho would turn her head toward Kiyoko before pointing back toward the ship with a whisper, "Keep an eye out." With as rambunctious and mischievous as Kiyoko was, Kaho trusted her with her very life and believe it or not always took the fall when her shenanigans went south.

"How are you fairing, Admiral Ashburn?" Kaho would ask as if to say that she had noticed the strange occurrence with the new member of her crew. Kaho had worked alongside Elizabeth her whole career, so it was easy to tell the slightest change in her stern demeanor. This took practice and experience considering her expression never seemed to change. Still, if there was something that Kaho could do, then she would find a way to fix the issue. If Liz was in trouble, then Kaho didn't mind throwing a bone her way.

Elizabeth regarded the quick explanation with a swift glance while she walked, nodding slightly to acknowledge the response while they walked. Kiyoko once again looked a little dejected at being completely ignored but was swiftly broken from her malaise by being given a task. In a sense. He attention was drawn to the odd one out, the suited man had shifted away with the rest of the crew to head into the base. “On it boss.” The vice-admiral smiled, deciding to leave the two higher ranking women to their conversation. Kaho was sure to fill her in later.

Elizabeth marched through the barracks, most of the marines stationed there were smart enough to stand well aside as she passed through. Her reputation as a strict leader had spread far and wide by now it seemed, but they seemed a little more nervous, even for that. “Fine, I suppose. We’ll discuss pleasantries once we’re alone.” She glanced back, offering the first glimpse of what Kaho might have expected from Liz. A familiar look that said she had some important information that wasn’t to be shared.

Fortunately, they found an office that was empty enough. Some lower-level officer in a secluded part of the base was awfully surprised then the Admiral practically burst through the door. “Out.” She disarmed the situation before it could even begin, her words as stern as ever. The officer managed to gather their things and escape, leaving the pair away from any prying eyes.

“You’ve just sent Kiyoko to tail a member of Cipher Pol, I do hope you told her to be careful.” An abrupt start to events. “He intercepted us on course for the base, I believe he might be the one to blame for our missing Vice-Admiral.” It was unfortunately grim news to know the world government was directly meddling in the affair. “That boy was apparently more important than what anyone on this base seemed to realise… Why they left him here of all places. According to his identification he was CP0, that's not normal for a backwater like this” She sighed, breaking off to pace to the desk.

Elizabeth clasped her hands behind her back, facing away from Kaho as she stares out to sea. “I don’t suppose we have any good news? I’m in rather short supply.” She gave her fellow admiral the time to respond to what she had to reveal so far. Abrupt and to the point of course, words were hardly wasted when it came to Admiral Ashburn.

Elizabeth would explain that their conversation would continue later when they were alone. It wasn't that her words had really sunk in until Kaho saw the look in Liz's eye. So, it seemed that something much more urgent was at stake here and Kaho was about to learn what it was. She would yawn as they came to an occupied office placing her hand to her mouth to cover it from sight, although she hardly cared. She had looks to spare and she knew that even when yawning she was a sight to behold. She was lucky that a stern woman like Liz was there to intimidate the brutes.

As he fled the scene, the door would close and Liz would begin her rambling. Kaho's eyes would widen at the mention of Cipher Pol, though it wasn't because Kiyoko was just sent to play around with him. "She'll be fine," Kaho would say waving at hand at the thought of Kiyoko harassing such a secretive organization, "Cipher Pol." Her eyes would drift away at the thought of their Vice Admiral's missing presence. Where did he go? What happened to him? Was it really Cipher Pol? What would they have on a Vice Admiral to make them act to rash?

As Liz expressed that the boy was more important than anyone realized, she supposed it was time to fess up what information she had gathered on him. Although, she would listen to Liz's explanation before taking a seat in an empty chair while crossing her arms and legs. "Uhm... weeeellll," Kaho would begin as she nervously scratched at her cheek with a bit of a grin. "So, that boy was actually...Jinnosuke Moriyama... a prince of Wano..." Kaho would say hoping that Elizabeth would understand what that meant. "It actually makes more sense than you'd think, but I don't understand how such an important individual ended up in this brutish base. These are low tier thugs gone marine. These are the worst of the worst. They don't have the technology or the defenses to keep anything out much less in. So, why here? Did they just not know or was this planned? Either way... he stole my ship and that's unforgiveable." It seemed that Kaho had some missing information from Elizabeth's perspective, but Elizabeth had the information that Kaho didn't. "Uhhh... good news? Kiyoko got promoted?"

“If it has anything to do with Wano it’s probably some scheme to secure new Seastone. No wonder Cipher Pol is involved…” That snake who had taken to her ship to communicate with his superiors was bad news, she knew that much. “The further away from the Grand Line the better I suppose, if there were any forces after the boy then that’s where they’d be coming from. Easy to underestimate a kid though.” She sighed, tapping her thumbs together quietly as she thought over everything.

“Wonderful, she’ll be even more insufferable than before. Figures she’d get the promotion like this.” She paused “According to that agent, she was also behind the death of Captain Matsuda… whatever his name was… Seems like he was a bit of a thorn for the top brass.” She raised an eyebrow, knowing that the pair were close but if she had been aware of just how out of line her subordinate could be.
“Oh, and I’m sure you remember my brother. Arthur? He’s escaped too.” This brought on a heavy sigh from the Admiral. “You’d think disgracing the family name once would be enough.” ‘Close’ isn’t how one might describe the Ashburn siblings. “So we’ve got at least two trained killers on the loose in a navy flagship.”

“So, what was your plan Kaho? I’ve been requested to assist you get back to work.” Elizabeth had been something of an enforcer type amongst the admiralty during her rise. A stickler for the rules, though thankfully she was using some discretion here. “Though I would suggest that ‘getting off this base’ be step one. That boy could have done a better effort of cleaning up the scum on this island.” 8th Branch had always been something of a blight on the Marines, and Elizabeth was more than happy to see a culling of the pirates in uniform that tended to hang around the base.