No Beard Pirate Army

The No Beard Pirate Army (ナシヒゲ海賊軍 Nashi Hige no Kaizoku Gun) is an organization founded and developed by The No Beard Pirates, with their captain, Sharp Francis, acting as the commander of the army. As such, it is also a heavily armed alliance of various pirate crews from around the world, ranging from weak grunts to fearsome, powerful officers.

As an army, the intent of the No Beard Pirate Army is to gain enough man power to equal the might of the World Government itself, and then launch a planned assault on the organization in the hopes of dismantling it. While this is the true purpose Francis has in mind, he has effectively spun a web of lies in order to amass a large number of recruits with relative ease; by stating the purpose of the No Beard Pirate Army is to fight back against the government for the sake of a new golden age of piracy. Other methods of recruiting powerful members is Francis' attacks on pirate crews he fancies, after which, upon defeating them, he forcibly enlists them into his army.

The army itself has a large number of outposts and territories scattered throughout the world as it continues to grow, with the most prominent being found within the New World. As it's under the authority of No Beard himself, the No Beard Pirate Army has become the main antagonist organization of the fanon series, One Dream. Its formation and growth unintentionally spawned the birth of its opposition, the Shitenno, which is focused on stopping the No Beard Pirate Army and destroying it.

Members and Ranks
Despite Francis' disdain for organization, the No Beard Pirate Army is sorted out in a ranking system, for proper management and efficiency. Controlling the entire group is No Beard himself, as the army's commander. Directly under him is his first mate, Benedict Lo, and then placed below her are the other members of The No Beard Pirates. They form the upper echelon of the chain of command, and retain full power over the entire army.

Working for the No Beards are a collection of various pirate crews who've formed an alliance not only with each other, but with The No Beard Pirates too. While the crews may have varying levels of cooperation and respect for each other, ranging from mutual admiration to outright disgust, they all share a common agreement to work together to aid Francis and his crew in opposing the World Government. While certain crews volunteered upfront to assist the No Beards, due to Francis' propaganda campaign, others were violently assaulted and forced into the army through brainwashing or coercion.

As Francis has hired a multitude of different crews from around the world, many of them run the gamut from large to small in size. They also differ in strength amongst themselves. In order to keep members of the army from being confused or end up losing control over the entire organization, it was decided that the No Beard Pirate Army would follow the same ranking system as that of the Marines, making the army more of a naval force than an armada of crews. It was also chosen to be used as a way to openly mock the Marines and World Government, and to reveal the true gravity of the situation they were ultimately going to end up in.

As a result of this decision, the ranking system itself goes from Fleet Admiral, to the Admirals, to the Vice Admirals and all the way down to Ensign as the lowest possible rank. As expected of the commander and captain of The No Beard Pirates, Francis takes the role of Fleet Admiral of the army, while Lo and her fellow crewmates are considered to be Admirals. Normally, captains of other crews within the army are considered Vice Admirals, and below them, their subordinates are given the ranks of Rear Admiral or lower according to the size of their bounties.

Fleet Admiral and Admirals
As the main, leading force behind the No Beard Pirate Army, it stands to reason The No Beard Pirates themselves would take upon the role as the highest authority within the organization. Leading the entire group, Francis is considered to be the army's Fleet Admiral, and working directly below him are his crew members, the Admirals. As Fleet Admiral, it is Francis' duty to direct the army in the path he wants it to go, and to devise plans for their best course of action. The Admirals on the other hand, are tasked with the job of enforcing the Fleet Admiral's decisions, and even at times, punishing members of the No Beard Pirate Army that have met No Beard's displeasure. They also keep the lower ranking members organized with their duties, and can defer tasks to the Vice Admirals when they feel like it.

Vice Admirals
The Vice Admirals make up the leaders of the bulk of the army, given their status as captains of their respective crews. Naturally, this means they are expected to command and direct their subordinates as they would otherwise. While unoccupied for the time being, they can do as they please, so long as they don't obstruct the No Beard Pirate Army in any way. However, when on duty, they are given the command to carry out missions as their highest priority, and concern themselves with their natural leadership methods later.

Considering the rank they are given, and the role they play amongst their crews, the Vice Admirals are treated as the highest ranking officers within the No beard Pirate Army, and are usually thought of as the strongest fighting force within the group. It's the job of the Vice Admirals to carry out the roles given to them by the Admirals and to direct their crew members in the most appropriate manner for the task at hand. Failure to meet these expectations can result in punishments from the Admirals, and in most extreme cases, even the Fleet Admiral himself. These punishments range from a slap on the wrist to full blown execution, depending on how useful a Vice Admiral is to Francis' plan.

Rear Admirals and Lower
These are the underling forces of the No Beard Pirate Army, and as such, make up the largest portion of it. Ranging from positions such as first mate to cabin boy, these are the most varied ranks in the organization. Under normal circumstances, a subordinate's rank is given to them based on their current bounty; with higher bounties resulting in greater ranks, while lower bounties lead to equally lower ranks. However, because of this system of ranking, members who are given low ranks such as Ensign are not necessarily weak in combat, and may prove to have the strength of a Rear Admiral, or possibly an Admiral at best (discounting Vice Admirals entirely.) Despite this though, their rank still reflects the chain of command within the No Beard Pirate Army, and as a result, lower ranking members must be treated as such. Typically, orders from the Vice Admirals are handed down to the Rear Admirals, which are then passed down to the Commodores, which in turn can command ranks lower than them. Higher ranks such as Vice Admirals or Rear Admirals can even bypass the descending chain of command and send much lower ranked subordinates off on missions, or have them file reports in the Vice Admiral or Rear Admiral's stead.

Lower ranked members, such as Commanders, are expected to be responsible for keeping their own subordinates focused and on track, and are meant to report details of their missions to their superior officers; as well as perform their own jobs asked of them by their superiors. Punishments for Rear Admirals and lower ranked subordinates are much less diverse than those of Vice Admirals, and often result in violence; ranging from physical harm, to outright death, depending on their usefulness and the whims of the Admirals.

Purpose and Objective
The No Beard Pirate Army was originally formed sometime during One Dream's two year time skip. Understanding that his small hit and run attacks on the Marines and government property wasn't getting anywhere, No Beard decided upon aiming for the grand prize; the World Government itself. Once it was decided he would try and abolish every trace of the World Government, it eventually dawned on him that he would need a fighting force that could rival the global reaching power of the government itself. And so for two years, Francis painstakingly began work on creating his No Beard Pirate Army, and recruiting competent allies and officers for his cause.

While at first, No Beard instructed his own crew in raiding other pirate crews to recruit the crew members under his own flag, he soon enough came upon the decision to start up an underground campaign to promote his army to the criminals of the world. Knowing people wouldn't be as interested in his true goals as he would like, Francis created a lie to help persuade others to support his cause; saying the organization was built to oppose the World Government, in the hopes to recreate a new golden age of piracy, for the sake of pirates everywhere. A popular motto in use is "join our new era." It was also revealed later on in One Dream that Shita was being used as the epicenter of Francis' propaganda scheme, which was most advantageous to him. And thus, when The Jolly Pirates took control of Shita away from the No Beards, Francis grew frustrated enough that he actively attempted to split apart the Jollys himself, with crew in tow.

In order to enact No Beard's master plan, he has made it clear that the army must focus on gathering members and supplies to strengthen the group. Vice Admirals and their crew members are normally ordered to try and coerce other crews into joining the No beard Pirate Army without resorting to violence; but in rare circumstances, they can be commanded to raid crews in similar fashion to No Beard himself. Other tasks usually involve taking potentially useful islands as territory and attempting to obstruct the Marines and government officials, such as Cipher Pol whenever possible. Likewise, anyone who tries to interfere with the No Beard Pirate Army is to be marked as an enemy, whether innocent otherwise or not, and is to be dealt with as quickly as possible. Failure to do so is considered traitorous and deserving of punishment.

With the rise of the Shitenno, an alliance dedicated to countering the progress of the No Beard Pirate Army, No Beard has marked the organization as a high priority enemy, and are to be disposed of upon sight.

Given the delicate nature of the plan itself, reports, news and communication in general is best done in person, but only in small numbers to avoid suspicion. When unable to meet face to face, news birds and Transponder Snails are used instead. Smaller tasks, such as fetching supplies like food, water or weapons can be discussed in public, but large scale operations are to be handled in secrecy, and with the greatest of care.