Unchosen Champion

The catamaran parted ways with the Eye of the Storm as they approached the island. Sharkbait was sailing them around the northern edge of Ghost Reef and through the channel to the dock, but Captain Kayla’s ghost ship was able to sail across the shallow reefs and head directly into the canal that separated the two halves of the fortress. The Tempest Fleet would have a formidable home field advantage if a battle ever reached the island.

While they coasted toward the dock, Coop counted 15 other sailboats. Most were anchored offshore at various spots deep enough to accommodate their keels, but three were beached next to the dock. He wondered how the pirates would make repairs to fiberglass, he was pretty sure the material hadn’t existed when they were still sailing the seas.

The dock had been retrofitted to be more than just the single seawall where the ferry used to park itself. There were now multiple wooden extensions built along pilings that extended perpendicular to the sea wall. They were making parking spaces for multiple ships. Only a few were completed, with several others still in progress. The construction materials were probably holding them back. He was just glad the pirates weren’t chopping down the palm trees to finish the job quickly. Even in the middle of the night, sailors were hanging around the dock, sitting on barrels and at wooden tables, playing cards and custom dice games.

Sharkbait led the wide catamaran toward the outside of the first piling where a group of phantoms were waiting at the end of one of the new docks. The crew threw ropes to the waiting dockhands who caught them and heaved while bracing each other, helping the boat to make the sharp turn into the waiting dock space.

Coop thanked the crew and was the first to leap off the side onto the wooden dock. Captain Kayla was making her way down the dock toward him, taking confident steps in her boots, and looking proud, like she was ready to receive a gold medal.

“Well, that turned out to be a fine excursion! What do you say, Champion?” Kayla slapped him on the arm. “How was that for our first victory together?”

Coop had a wide smile painted on his face before he even realized it thanks to her magnetic personality. “I’d say, make sure I’m further away from whatever you’re shooting at next time.”

Kayla laughed boisterously as pirates gathered and greeted the new arrivals as they disembarked with the crew of the catamaran. “You can put your faith in me, Champion! Any salvo I send will be right on target!” She boasted, poking Coop in the chest for his doubts.

“How did you get the cannons to fire anyway?” Coop wondered.

Kayla laughed at him. “With black powder and a spark, of course! We really need to get you to spend more time at sea don’t we?”

Coop was surprised, expecting her crew to have some active ability or something else that allowed them to use the ship’s weaponry. “Mana didn’t prevent a reaction?” He asked, recalling the gas generator’s failure to start, not to mention all of the dead vehicles back on the mainland. His understanding of combustion engines was really limited, but he thought they would behave differently if the failure was mechanical.

“Why should it?” Kayla dismissed his curiosity as her first mate was the last to exit the catamaran. She slapped Coop on the shoulder and went to greet Sharkbait who looked positively ecstatic with a slight upturn of both corners of his mouth when he spotted his captain approaching.

Derek, Marcus, and Charlie’s parents joined him and the girls on the dock, looking like tourists rubbernecking at the sights. He led them along the path, past the palm trees, to the front gate. Charlie and Camila provided some interesting facts as they went and also warned them about the monster zones that had formed around the island.

The front gate was guarded by one of the Cleary brothers. Coop squinted and guessed, “Tiny?” But the big man shook his head.

“Junior. Welcome back, Champ.” He casually corrected Coop.

“Ah, my bad.” Coop apologized for the mixup.

“Not a problem.” Junior shrugged him off. “I was supposed to let Mr. Shane know when you arrived, I hope that’s okay.”

“That’s fine. Let him know I’ll be in the Tavern for a while tonight if he needs me.” Coop told him and the big man nodded and started to leave. “Oh, could you let Buck know I’d like to talk to him tomorrow?” Coop remembered the breakdown of farming equipment that Buck had given him on their way to the Tracker’s golf course. He’d put the question of ignition to him and see what he thought.

Before they went to the civilization shard, he brought the group to the fort’s mess hall and went to check on Jones. He found one of Olani’s grandchildren sleeping in a handmade hammock, blocking the doorway. Coop cleared his throat and the kid jumped to alertness. Coop apologized for waking him up and asked about Jones. There hadn’t been any change, but Olani was keeping an eye on him. Coop invited Madison to check him out.

The kid had stars in his eyes while he watched Madison transform into an angel right before him. Coop thought it would be a fun story for him to tell his brother. Madison confirmed Olani’s diagnosis and reiterated that there wasn’t anything she could do without moving him to the Merciful Medical Center. In the meantime, whatever the Witch Doctor was doing, was just as good or better than what she could do.

He told the kid to keep up the good work before Coop led the way to the civilization shard. His party continued to admire the sights, but Coop had joined them in their gawking once they entered the fort. He was surprised by how many people were out and about. It was almost entirely phantoms from his army and navy, but they were still behaving like regular citizens that were enjoying the night. There were couples strolling along the incomplete roads and groups of friends laughing while sitting in the grass together. Every once in a while, they passed guards that were clearly on duty, patrolling the future streets, and Coop could see the watchers on the ramparts keeping an eye out. It was quite a change from the sparse interior that he was used to.

Coop let the party access the shard while he investigated the bridge. It wasn’t much to look at yet, as it was clearly a work in progress. He would generously describe it as functional. It lacked any railing or ornamentation, but it at least had a solid uninterrupted path to the opposite side. Coop was actually impressed when he observed the stone pilings on either end. Balor had definitely made sure the bridge would be solid. There was enough room underneath for boats to travel back and forth, but nothing with a mast would fit. The stonemason had used interlocking stones to make a dramatic arch on the bottom, while the surface on top was covered in evenly spaced blocks that could be mistaken for a rough stone tile. Coop would need to praise Balor the next time he saw him.

He returned to the group and joined them in accessing the civilization shard. He was greeted with a surprise right off the bat. A little more than 22,000 basic credits were waiting for him to collect. Checking the menus revealed that it was the settlement’s profits from the last few days. He thought that was a nice surprise until he found that there was a balance sheet for the settlement where he could see expenses. He audibly gasped when he found that they were actually paying over 100,000 basic credits everyday in standing salaries. It was evidently a policy he had inadvertently opted into long before anyone was there to collect. The system determined a payment structure and distributed it from the shard’s treasury. He was paying the soldiers, the sailors, Shane’s party, and even Olani’s grandkids. Almost everyone in the settlement was receiving a salary! He panicked a bit before he realized they were still netting basic credits.

Apparently, the residents were also earning credits through their professions, quests, and from the aliens paying them out of their own coffers. He wasn’t paying the salaries of the laborers, but Balor was, then those laborers spent their salaries and the settlement took a cut. The residents were also paying for other services including housing, infrastructure, security, and public buildings. That all meant that they weren’t losing money despite paying salaries to so many of the residents. Things were barely working out, even after the sudden influx of expenses.

Coop decided he needed to fill his advisor spot sooner rather than later, he didn’t want to be responsible for micromanaging economic policy for Ghost Reef, and he didn’t know what else would come up while he was busy grinding monsters.

He really didn’t like the idea of being a landlord when the settlement was meant to be a sanctuary. Settlements had a monopoly on safety. He couldn’t think of anything scummier than taking advantage of that fact to extract wealth from the vulnerable who’s only other option would be to face the monsters on their own. Looking closer though, he didn’t really own anything either, it was just a part of the civilization shard.

The alert on the army tab had reactivated, but he skipped over it. He already knew about the additional vessels waiting to be claimed. He’d check to see if the sailboats were included in his navy some other time. He didn’t think it really mattered, as long as the pirates could sail them, they would be useful.

He moved on to checking the requirements for the Medical Center. He found the option and frowned at the requirements of the first variant, representing the Burning Pyres faction. It only cost 150,000 credits, but it required the settlement to be at least a Town with over one hundred thousand residents. A double whammy that Ghost Reef hadn’t met yet. Worse yet, it required the settlement to convert to its faction. Coop didn’t think he’d even do that for Madison’s faction. He scrolled through the other variants, finding they were all similar, though the first one was the cheapest and most of the others didn’t mandate a faction change for the settlement.

He found the Merciful faction’s option near the bottom. It was the most expensive of all, at one million basic credits, but it had no population or settlement level requirements. It was far more costly than he had hoped, but everything else was even better than expected. It looked like grinding was back on the menu. Coop needed basic credits.

He had to admit that he needed to review the financial structure of the settlement as well. The passive income would contribute quite a bit toward the total. For now, he would think about adding more services just to increase their income, but he really needed an advisor that knew what they were doing.

Coop had met quite a significant number of people recently, but most of them had been brief introductions. He tried to remember anyone that he could interview for the job. They’d need to be trustworthy enough to comply with his vision, but competent enough for the responsibilities. The only person he could think of was Camila, but he already knew she wouldn’t be interested.

The other factor that needed to be considered was whether or not he would need to make any last minute purchases to shore up their defenses or improve the army. In any case, he left the menus alone and watched as people struggled to decide on a profession. Even Sunny was sitting still, staring into space. Coop wondered if the dog was even capable of choosing a profession. It was clear he was giving it a shot.

It seemed like it was going to take a while for most of them to come to a decision. He supposed it made sense, it seemed a bit daunting to have to choose something so permanent. He’d never investigated if there was a way to change professions after choosing one, since he was happy with his first choice.

He let everyone know he would wait for them inside the tavern and headed inside. When he stepped through the threshold into the familiar, comfortable place he was greeted by a stranger.

“Welcome to the Clumsy Shark! Please, have a seat anywhere.” An unfamiliar voice called out from behind the bar. Coop felt like he walked into a bizarro world. That wasn’t Desmond. Looking around the room, he spotted three more unfamiliar workers. Two waitresses and a waiter were checking on the patrons, stealing Maeve’s job.

“Who are you?” Coop asked the closest waiter as he walked by.

The surprised waiter looked at him with a puzzled look. “I’m Jonah?”

“Where’s Maeve?” Coop asked, feeling a bit confused.

The waiter gave an exasperated sigh and dramatically rolled his eyes. “She’s off shift.” The waiter leaned in a little closer, “and she’s not interested in you anyway.” Coop watched as the waiter smugly headed for the kitchen, shaking his head with disapproval at Coop’s fascination with Maeve.

Coop laughed it off. He felt a bit like his personal haven had been violated, but he was glad Desmond and Maeve were able to take time off. He wasn’t sure if they had slept a single time since they arrived. He headed toward a table near the fireplace with enough room for the rest to join him after they were done at the civilization shard.

“Coop!” A voice called from the balcony. “You’re back!” Maeve excitedly leaned over the dark wood handrail as she peered past the candle lit chandelier that hung from the ceiling. She bounded down the stairs and skipped over to Coop in the center of the room. When she went to give Coop a hug, he uncharacteristically reciprocated, lifting her off the ground and spinning around once with enthusiasm. When he put her back on the ground, he looked over her shoulder at Jonah. The waiter was standing near the bar with a baffled expression on his face. Coop had a good laugh at his expense.

“Wow!” Maeve gasped. “I didn’t think you’d be that excited to see me. What was that for?”

Coop gave his familiar shrug. “I’m happy to see you, but I was also messing with the waiter who just tried to warn me off.” He smiled at her, feeling a little guilty.

She smacked his shoulder. “Don’t make fun of my employees, just cause they don’t know who you are. It’s not their fault you’re basically an absentee Champion with all your trips away.” She crossed her arms and smiled, done with scolding him. “So, was visiting us the first thing you did when you got back?”

“Pretty much. I checked the civilization shard first, though.” He admitted.

“Ugh. I take it back, you’re too responsible for a Champion.” Maeve clicked her tongue in disappointment. “Checking on the settlement before yours truly.” She looked away, pretending to pout.

“At least tell me Desmond hasn’t abandoned his cooking duties even if his daughter has embraced a life of laziness.” Coop challenged the demon.

Maeve continued her sulking. “Does the Master Champion wish for this humble waitress to serve without breaks?” She mocked. Coop nodded eagerly, not feeling any shame at all. “As long as the Master Champion remembers who is the best, I guess it’s fine.” She spun and headed for the kitchen, looking over her shoulder to catch Coop’s expression.

Coop took a seat and relaxed, admiring the comfortable atmosphere of the tavern. Even though it was late, the tavern had more guests than even the times they had the Endless Empire’s Chosen staying there. It was still cozy. Other than one table that had one of the two foragers he had recruited for the herbalist, he didn’t recognize any of the faces. They all seemed happy, which made him glad. There wasn’t anyone scowling into a mug regretting whatever situation had brought them to Ghost Reef. That was good.

Camila, Charlie, and her parents filed in with Sunny in tow. Coop waved them over to the round table. Before they reached their seats, the door opened again and the bartender welcomed Marcus and Derek to the Clumsy Shark.

Maeve came out with a bowl of stew and a pile of Vronk bread. She handed it to Coop and leaned on his chair.

“Maeve, this is Madison and Emmanuel, Charlie’s parents.” Coop introduced the family and noted how Maeve’s eyebrows shot up when she greeted the couple. “That’s Sunny.” He pointed out the dog that was squeezed under his chair and Maeve’s eyebrows stayed up. “And that’s Derek and Marcus.” Maeve’s eyes finally returned to their normal composed and slightly devious state.

Derek got up from his chair and reached for Maeve’s hand in an attempt to charm her. She put her hand, palm out, in front of his face. “Know your limits, human.” She calmly stated, sounding a lot more demonic than Coop ever remembered. Derek sat back down, looking at Coop like it was his fault somehow.

“You’re collecting some incredible people aren’t you, Coop?” She asked, glancing at Madison, “And some powerful factions…” She muttered looking at Sunny. Coop didn’t know anything about that.

“Actually, Maeve, I was thinking you might want to hire Derek.” Both she and Derek looked at him with surprise. “He plays music and he’s gonna need a job.”

“A job? C’mon mate, I thought we bonded and stuff during that escape.” Derek whined. Marcus chuckled at him and Derek glowered back.

Coop countered, “You can hang out in a tavern and play some music, dude. It’s not that big of a deal.” He looked at Maeve, “he’s actually really good, if you can forgive his personality.

“Wha-” Derek sputtered.

“For you, I’ll give him a chance.” She assented while still seeking a way to get back at Coop. When he just smiled at her, she gave up this round of teasing.

“Jonah! Take care of this table, I’m going back upstairs.” She leaned closer to Coop so that she could whisper, but she was still loud enough for the rest of the table to hear, “Let me know if you need anything, Master Champion.” He should have known she wouldn’t have given up teasing him.

“Bastard.” Derek muttered at the implication, while Charlie and Madison matched each other’s laughter at Coop’s expense, recognizing the demon’s intention. Camila smirked, silently admiring Maeve’s mischief. Coop just shook his head, hoping she wasn’t taking notes.

Coop sighed. It was good to be back.