The Marine Demon's War Diary

Marineford at war : Part 1

POV Lieutenant Tanya Degurechaff

MarineFord, West Wall

The day had started relatively early for all the soldiers of the Marine. An alarm had sounded before the sun had even risen to finish the final preparations and to give all the soldiers time to get to their positions and wait for the execution to begin. Tanya's squad had had time to finish their preparations the day before, a few hours before the evening meal.

The only task they had to do at the moment was to wait and hope that no ship would appear on the horizon. In order not to wait in the large room hidden in the wall, Tanya had chosen to go to the roof so that she could observe everything that was going on while her men had orders not to leave the room for the moment.

Tanya had chosen a good vantage point, the battle turret she was sitting on gave her a direct view of much of the Oris square and the ocean beyond the bay.

In Oris square, there were tens of thousands of men and women ready to fight in the name of justice.

In front of them stood the huge wooden scaffold that had been built a few days earlier, and on it stood the condemned man Portgas D. Ace, also known as the Fire Fist.

At his side were two soldiers in brown uniforms holding a Nagasaki*. They crossed their blades in front of the prisoner ready to carry out the sentence at any moment.

Under the scaffold, one could see the three admirals of the Marine sitting on a seat. In the center, Tanya's superior was looking at the crowd with an indescribable look, on his left was Admiral Aokiji, who true to his reputation was more slumped in his seat than seated. And finally, on his right was the man Tanya had faced a few days before.

It was some time before Fleet Admiral Sengoku appeared with Vice-Admiral Garp before the prisoner. The Vice Admiral had chosen to join the admirals sitting below, leaving the Marine's Fleet Admiral alone with the pirate.

Upon arrival in front of the prisoner, the two executioners, who were still pointing their weapons at Portgas D. Ace, raised their swords and saluted their superior respectfully. Before stepping forward in front of the crowd of soldiers, the Fleet Admiral had asked for a Den Den Mushi so that his voice could be heard all over the island. This also allowed the people who were following the scene through the Den Den Mushi to hear the Admiral better.

Nagasaki*: A sword whose handle is almost as big as the blade itself.

"Before we begin, I have something important to tell you. The death of Portgas D. Ace has a special significance, it will mark the beginning of a new air."

After a short silence, The Admiral turned to the condemned man and addressed him directly.

"Ace, I wish you would tell us the name of your father."

Tanya was as surprised as the pirate by the request of his superior, she tried to find a hidden meaning to his request, but nothing came to her mind. She continued to listen carefully.

"My father's name is Whitebeard," the convict finally answered,

"That's not true!" the Admiral retorted with an impassive air.

"Of course not, my father is Whitebeard, he's no one else! Is that clear?"

"At the time," Sengoku continued, "our intelligence was based on fragmentary information transmitted by the Cipher Pol. This simple possibility made us move heaven and earth to find the child of a certain man. A child who was supposed to live on a particular island. On the spot, we reviewed all the newborns and all the women who were about to give birth".