Chaotic Clusterfuck 34 (Patreon)

Commissioned by Definitely Not Dio

Chaotic Clusterfuck

Chapter 34

-VB-

Morocco… didn’t look bad at all. 

The Port of Safi that we stopped at was extremely well-off and also extremely fortified with walls, gun turrets, and patrolling capes of all kinds. 

“So you guys are from Brockton Bay…” the portmaster said in English, and the lead clone nodded. “And you have no identification…”

“We didn’t think Africa would be this well put together,” the clone said bluntly. “In fact, Brockton Bay in America looks worse off than your city here.”

The portmaster cleared his throat with not a small bit of pride leaking onto his mien. “Yes, well, even with the xeno lurking at our doorstep, the King of Morocco leads us to prosperity,” he replied with a smile. “... So America’s in that bad of a position?” he asked quietly as he leaned in.

The clone nodded as he too leaned in. “Part of the reason why we’re here is because the Batarians have landed in Georgia, one of the southeastern states, and the government has been unable to contest it, period.”

“Oh no,” he muttered like a housewife hearing some juicy gossip. “That is not what I’ve been hearing from my contacts from America. Do you have proof?”

“Proof would be the Batarian raid that struck Brockton Bay, which is on the other side of of the East American Island. But even then, the local heroes and government didn’t do much. It was in fact the local villains and a rich man who did.”

“Jesus, how bad off is America right now? They were at the top of the world when I was but a little child. I dreamt of going to America to find my fortune, you know? I guess it was a good thing my parents and I stayed after the First Impact…” he hummed. Then he smiled. “Well then, you’ve done me a favor,” he said as he ripped off a ticket. Then he paused. “Do you have any money to pay for the docking fee?”

We pulled out a Californian Napa Valley wine. “I know that Muslims can’t imbibe but you can certainly sell it for a high price to visitors…”

The portmaster, however, looked like he was about to wet his lips in anticipation of the drinks. “Of course, of course. Just for … resale, yes,” he smiled as he took the bottle. “And the purpose of your visit was …?”

“We intend to move onto Batarian holdings and raid them.”

“Oh! Why didn’t you say so?”

The pirate from before had been right; Moroccans were happy to treat us when we told them about our intention to attack the Batarians. 

-VB-

While my expeditionary clones got ready in Morocco, the rest of my clones in Brockton Bay continued to train. 

And, in fact, I set up a new business.

Talking with Taylor reminded me that a lot of people only tolerated this new rich guy moving into the city because of the services he provided, i.e. the water treatment plant. That might not be the case for long if I kept on getting into tussles with the PRT and the Protectorate. I had a lot of things I wanted to say about them, but at the end of the day, they were the established federal agency while I was just one rich man. 

So how would I go about preventing them from ousting me? Or at least doing that easily? 

I needed to make myself not just relevant to the city and the surrounding region but make myself integral to it, and the fastest way to do that was through economics. 

Specifically, I started up a new subsidiary of my water treatment company and named it “Marris Shipwrights Corporation” because I was going to make ships. 

Ships were integral part of Brockton Bay. The city started off as a fishing village. Next, it became a minor port of entry. Then it became an important port in the New England area. And finally, it stood now as the pirate haven and the second most important trading city north of New York City. 

But there was no dedicated shipbuilding industry in Brockton Bay itself. The closest all-purpose shipwright was a civilian-owned Hyde Iron Works, an offshoot of the now-defunct Bath Iron Works, in Maine. 

So why not set one up here in Brockton Bay where a lot of potential customers resided? 

Could it possibly cause more problems by servicing “privateers” hitting non-American shipping, illegal poachers, and non-state actors? Maybe. 

Would be it something that benefits the city by providing jobs, a steady export and import, and a community that could thrive around it? Definitely. 

However, most of the waterfront was already taken by one entity or another. Brockton Bay could divide its eastern coast into several distinct sections. The east and southeast coast belonged to the city and its Downtown. The pirates owned the north coast. The civilian industries and the Dockworkers Union kept a firm hand over the northeast coast. 

This left me with only one option, and that was the south coast which was both the furthest and least developed portion of the coast, which sat right next to a low-depth bay and estuary. 

Which meant that, if I wanted to develop this place, then I needed to place the foundations, dredge the bay while reinforcing the foundations of the coast to prevent erosion, and then make my own shipwright on top of all of that. 

Most people would find this both unprofitable and a daunting task at the very best of times, which it currently was not. 

But for a man like myself who had a bunch of clones with vast array of parahuman abilities, classes, and wealth?

… It wouldn’t hurt to roll up my sleeves.