Chapter 119: Admiralty (Patreon)

Marcus stood proudly with both of his hands on his hips as he observed Ghost Reef’s brand new Admiralty and Marine Affairs Office. The expensive construction would empower their navy, unlocking further specialization, and it would allow the sailors to receive passive training, education, and unique skills. It was something between a naval academy and maritime department for the settlement. The features could be utilized by regular residents as well, which was the intended purpose of such a service, but in Ghost Reef’s case, it was almost entirely for the phantom inhabitants. They were effectively specialized residents in the eyes of the system. But if regular human residents were interested, they would have a pathway to joining the navy.

Captain Kayla nudged him to get his attention, always with her casually disarming charm. “So, what do you think?” She asked, referring to the new construction as it stood in all of its grand majesty. The fresh white columns stood in contrast to the slightly gray clouds that blew across the horizon. Thunderstorms appeared to be on the forecast, but they were still firmly in the dry season, according to Coop. Marcus watched the clouds reflecting off the three stories of tall luxurious windows with a raised eyebrow, doubting the expertise of their Champion a little, and not for the first time.

“A bit fancy for you lot, isn’t it?” Marcus remarked, referring to the rabble of gambling pirates sloshing drinks back and forth on the brand new docks of the Basic Port. Less than half were bothering with any appearance of productivity while the rest just enjoyed their time, taking advantage of literally any excuse to celebrate. In this case, a new marina was justification enough. The night before had been a rowdy party as the settlement received the ships that had been defeated during the siege event, though the crews remained absent with the rest of the phantoms. The Fearless and Sea Burial Corvettes had been brought back and Marcus had witnessed some of the hardiest seeming individuals weep with joy as they swept their hands across the decks of the respawned ships. He slowly shook his head at the memory of the sight.

The last round of purchases had gone to developing Ghost Reef’s maritime capabilities specifically to benefit the same pirates who seemed happier with a pair of dice and a bottle of alcohol. They were an island settlement, so they couldn’t neglect naval facilities, even if the prospects weren’t gearing toward their maximum potential.

“Maybe...” The Tempest Fleet Pirate Queen cryptically responded, though her expression was clearly hinting that she wouldn’t be uncomfortable with high class amenities despite her preferences remaining less elegant. Marcus wondered how much of her crew shared her opinion, but he was sure they would follow her lead regardless. That was one thing he was sure about the phantoms, they were loyal to the last. He would be glad to have the ones they lost back.

Marcus had to admit he didn’t actually know much else about the phantoms, or any of his other new colleagues for that matter. In the past, he had staff who would provide background information on individuals he was meeting with, but times had changed quite drastically. He was standing in front of a series of magical constructions that hadn’t existed the day before. That was proof enough of the major alterations his life had undergone.

The Admiralty was a large rectangular building that called upon colonial stylings. It was three stories tall and wide enough to mirror the entire seawall’s length. The bulk would have been a problem, as it obstructed a portion of the southwestern fort wall, blocking the cannon portals of the lower levels, but the Admiralty itself was heavily armed and fortified. The building was designed to withstand a naval siege on its own, despite its fancy furnishings, and considering the eponymous reefs that surrounded the settlement in every direction, the only threat of a waterborne attack was at the port that it now looked over. The lone channel through the reefs would lead directly to the freshly constructed defenses. Regular ships wouldn’t be able to approach from any other side.

The southern wall of the fort, which was currently the subject of the first round of repairs, would protect the port from any land based assaults, leaving the crossroads in front of the moat bridge as the choke point toward their maritime structures.

Marcus had hesitated before spending so many basic credits on anything that would go outside of the protective fort walls, fearing their destruction, but he had been convinced after understanding the design of the factionless buildings. They were designed to be frontline defenses for settlements in the first place. The location on a narrow strip of dry land between the moat and the marina further increased the entire settlement’s safety.

The Basic Port replaced the previously limited seawall with robust docks, extended piers, and simple wooden cranes. They could support a dozen ships the size of The Eye of the Storm, which meant that the Tempest Fleet would finally be whole once the settlement accumulated enough mana to summon the rest of the ships and sailors, they were still missing two unsummoned Corvettes, and they had the capacity to continue to expand.

Along with the port, they had also constructed a Shipwright and Drydock where the seawall ran up to the edge of the moat. Kayla’s captains were already working with the alien artisan with the goal of producing ships that could match the abilities of the phantom ships. They believed it was possible thanks to the inundation of spectral mana within the settlement’s territory, and Marcus had no reason to contradict the idea. It would be a boon to have the option to expand the navy’s best features. The homefield advantage of ghost ships combined with the shallow reef meant that their security was extraordinary. The additional costs were akin to upgrading equipment from Uncommon to Legendary, but they would pay happily.

The Siren herself had received an official promotion with the construction of the Admiralty. The new building had provided its own advisor slot, so she was now an official advisor of the settlement, similar to Marcus, only her system access was limited to maritime affairs, where he had responsibilities that encompassed the entire settlement. Her new designation meant that she could take care of the navy without the Champion’s direct oversight, and by proxy, his own. Given the phantoms’ absolute loyalty, they were ideal candidates for increased responsibilities.

Marcus and Kayla completed the inauguration of the Ghost Reef marina with Kayla examining the facilities while Marcus went back to his other duties. He headed toward the town hall to reconvene with the town clerk. The alien bird preferred to monitor the settlement through the town hall’s menus, so only Marcus was ever out and about.

Marcus was thrilled by the rapid development that had been taking place. Other than the repairs to the walls, they had already gone far beyond what he and Zakronaw had outlined. It was mostly because of Coop’s unbelievable last minute contributions. The Champion of Ghost Reef had filled their depots with Rare materials that the contracted aliens eagerly purchased at exorbitant prices. Coop may have fully funded the settlement for the foreseeable future and it appeared he was just making space in his special stash. Marcus thought it was ridiculous, but would happily leverage Coop’s contributions in order to prepare the settlement for the upcoming challenges.

He wondered what else the Champion would pull out of the mana well. It had already been two full days since Coop went inside, and judging by the leaderboards, things were going marvelously. The residents were determined to have Ghost Reef mirror his progress while he was gone.

Ghost Reef’s school would be finished today, to the relief of Laurie and the other parents. They had consistently hounded Marcus about setting up a daycare for the children and he had done them one better thanks to another of Coop’s offhanded suggestions. They even had three teachers who had volunteered to either come out of retirement or return to their previous profession, so Marcus selected one of them to take charge of reestablishing a curriculum that incorporated an orientation to the system and mana. Later, they would invest into a system Academy, but they all wanted the children to start with a human perspective before the aliens taught them anything as several parents were concerned about outsiders indoctrinating the next generation.

Marcus even planned some adult classes, providing the skills necessary for phantoms and human residents to take on official roles in specific situations they anticipated popping up. They would be prepared to act as junior diplomats, legal advocates, or immigration officers, and anything else any volunteer could think of. The residents of Ghost Reef would be strong and dynamic.

In the meantime, Marcus was filling the surface of the settlement with a mixture of services, to power the economy, and residential buildings, in anticipation of increasing the population. If they didn’t upgrade the settlement soon, he would be able to have at least one of every single service type offered by the system at their current level, but they only had another week or so before the upgrade would be attainable. The only reason he didn’t construct everything at once was to give the current human residents an opportunity to establish their own venues with manual construction before filling every available niche with an alien contractor. He had already completed all of his quests for this stage in the settlement’s life, so he didn’t have any reason to push it.

Coop’s intention to treat the entire assimilation as a united humanity versus the Primal Constructs was persisting even though the Avatar had revealed mana as a shadowy force behind a similar existential threat. They were still aiming to be a sanctuary for anyone that desired it.

It all lined up with Marcus’s personal philosophy. Everyone had a personal strength, something they could contribute, and it was society’s job to afford everyone the opportunity to explore those strengths. Ghost Reef would give everyone that chance.

His first impression was that Coop was too unconcerned, nonchalant, and therefore unreliable. Marcus considered himself good at reading people, but Coop was someone that had thrown him off. Marcus blamed the circumstances for his inaccurate, or rather, incomplete read on the Champion. Coop was definitely too casual, an actual beach bum, but he wasn’t unreliable. In fact, Marcus believed his nonchalance was a key factor in his successes. Coop was able to go with the flow even when the circumstances were caused by an alien apocalypse. Who else would just shrug when faced with potential eradication? Marcus was organized and intuitive, a good administrator, Kayla was an effortlessly natural leader but even more so, a survivor. Someone like Coop was indomitable. It was the Champion’s personality that permeated across the settlement.

They had more than enough room on the island. The fort itself was large enough to encompass a high density city, and the underground caverns doubled their space for the immediate future, with potentially more. Gibson’s party had already found options to continue even further underground if expansion was necessary, but he doubted they would need to go beyond the series of pearlescent chambers that extended below the fort, not after they started unlocking more upgrades for existing structures as the settlement advanced.

Balor had completed his citadel around the civilization shard, to Zakronaw’s delight, and was already working on his next grand project. A tower that would stand on top of the sinkhole that formed in the center of the northern town circle. Apparently, the stonemason had been planning on cracking the hole open himself, but the Excavators had beaten him to it. He wanted to establish a gateway that would lead deep underground into a space that Marcus didn’t fully understand.

The tower would protect the entrance from both sides while providing some method of traversing the distance down. For now, it would be the entrance to and from the pearlescent chambers. Later, when they were ready, it would take them further below.

Marcus was halfway from Balor’s preliminary construction to the town hall, strolling across the gray stones, when the fort’s alarm bells began ringing a warning. Marcus stopped and listened to the convergent chimes.

“Three vessels. West, Southwest. Threat unknown. Identity unknown.” Marcus mumbled to himself as he counted the gongs of each bell. The phantom pirates had developed their own code in their previous lives which had now been adapted for Ghost Reef’s use. To outsiders the ringing of multiple bells would just sound like arbitrary noise, but there were carefully communicated messages hidden inside.

Off duty phantoms and pirates jumped to attention as the various bells simultaneously relayed instructions for the different groups. The phantom soldiers were preparing the cannons on the appropriate side of the fort while the pirates ran to the marina to man the new defenses in the Admiralty, rushing to board The Fearless and Sea Burial, or heading to the canal where the two remaining battleships that almost always lingered near the shard these days, The Eye of the Storm and Windchaser, waited, preparing for a defensive fight if necessary.

Marcus paused, unsure of what he should do as the de facto leader while Coop was absent. He knew the Champion would want to be the first to meet the potential intruders, solo if possible, but Marcus was much more of a diplomat or legislator than a frontline warrior. He slowly wandered back toward the entrance of the fort, hoping to receive some more information before making a decision. A wraith teleported to his side, answering his internal call, when he approached the canal bridge.

“Ah, Mary-Anne, what’s the status?” Marcus prompted as one of the few remaining messengers, after the decimation of the siege, joined his side to relay a report.

“The ships appear to be salvaged human fishing trawlers rather than system constructions. They are similar to Windchaser in size but lack sails. No signs of weapons, minimal crew visible on deck. Captain Kayla is escorting the greeting committee herself with Charon’s Sea Burial. She suggested that you prepare to receive their leader.”

“Have they indicated why they want to meet?” Marcus asked, hoping to prepare as much as possible in advance.

“They haven’t. The Siren has simply guaranteed that she would retrieve their leader for you.” Mary-Anne clarified.

“I see…” Marcus acknowledged, wondering if giving the pirate queen more authority was wise after all. She wouldn’t shy away from starting an international incident, but he still trusted her judgment enough not to second guess her outloud. “In that case, we can make use of the new Admiralty’s facilities. Could you send Shane and his party as well?”

“Of course.” Mary-Anne nodded and promptly complied with a teleport back toward the fort’s entrance.

Marcus turned around once again, feeling a bit embarrassed by the repeated motion, and marched straight to the town hall, double time. The palm trees in the central median swayed in the breeze as the wind picked up slightly. The weather continued to threaten to change despite the wet season being months away. He pushed through the double door entrance and stepped through the threshold.

Once he was inside the open auditorium, he let the town clerk know the situation. Meeting a foreign dignitary was something he had actually done a few times in the past, and the sessions always occurred in private lounges separated from office spaces, because they almost always occurred as a photo shoot more than an actual meeting of the minds. Zakronaw informed him that there were protocols in place for faction meetings within the town hall, but that was for after the assimilation was complete. Interactions between settlements were up to them. Marcus didn’t want to escort a potential enemy through the middle of their settlement, so they wouldn’t use the town hall for this purpose.

He went through a recessed door in the side of the auditorium to change his clothes. He had a suit and tie prepared by the clothier specifically for emergencies like this. When he returned to the auditorium, in a fresh suit for the first time since the apocalypse, Emmanuel was there with Laurie and Gibson. They obviously wanted to know what the commotion was about, and how they could help.

“Hey, Marcus, what’s going on?” Emmanuel asked and the other two joined him in waiting for the explanation. The perpetual hospital bouncer rarely left his post without his wife unless he was heading for his gym, so seeing him inside the town hall was unusual.

Marcus kept it simple. “It seems we have some unknown visitors. I’ll be receiving them at the new port in order to ascertain the purpose of their visit. If possible, I could use your cooperation to present Ghost Reef in the best light possible.”

Emmanuel nodded along. “What do you need?”

“I don’t want us to project weakness. Could you play doorman for the front gate?”

“That’s no problem. I’ll get Buck to join me.” Emmanuel agreed, puffing up in a way that revealed he knew exactly how to project steady confidence through physicality.

Marcus continued. “Laurie, could you gather people and have them go shopping along the main street? I think it would be best to hide our currently diminished population by presenting a bustling town center. I don’t intend on inviting them inside, but we can at least be ready, just in case.”

The young mother nodded. “I’ll get everyone involved. I can even make Greg have a free coffee promotion, I bet we can get a line past the deck in a few minutes.” She chuckled, happy with the business’s early success. It was already a staple of Ghost Reef.

“Perfect.” Marcus gladly accepted the cooperation. “And Mr. Gibson, would you mind having your party enter the citadel? Just in the off chance we need to defend the shard.”

“Absolutely. Especially if we can have some free drinks while we enjoy the new gardens.” The man agreed.

As they dispersed to accomplish their newly assigned roles, Marcus jogged across the settlement, flinging his tie over his shoulder, feeling silly for going back and forth so many times.

Within the admiralty building, he entered a reception hall adjacent to the entrance. It was really just a small dining room, best for taking lunch or tea with one or two others at a large square table, but it would work for his purpose. He moved around the table, and after unbuttoning his jacket, and smoothing his shirt, took a seat in the comfortable, plush sofa chair on the opposite side from the door. He had to consciously keep his foot from bouncing as he found himself slightly nervous. It was the first time he was officially representing his new home, one that he already cared about deeply, so he was feeling the pressure. When he fixed his posture, he realized just how much Coop’s nonchalance had begun to influence him. He never would have slouched in the past.

A light knock preceded Arthur’s entrance. The older man was dressed like a butler, with a white cloth over one forearm and a pair of spotless white gloves that were extremely out of place given the casual atmosphere of Ghost Reef, but here was Marcus in a suit and tie. Frankly, they both fit the admiralty building perfectly.

“How much sugar do you take with your tea?” Arthur asked.

“One teaspoon.” Marcus answered.

“Excellent. If you’d like to end the meeting, ask for another cup with two.” Arthur responded.

“Hopefully, that won’t be necessary.” Marcus wishfully noted. “But, we both know how Coop’s little meeting with the Empire went.”

“It worked out fine.” Arthur pointed out as he backed out of the room, not as squeamish as someone like Marcus.

Marcus took a deep, steadying breath and thought it was good they were already getting some use out of the expensive building he had purchased. He really didn’t think they needed to worry about violence given the relative strength Ghost Reef enjoyed after catapulting the residents through levels during the siege event. There wasn’t a combination of people on the planet that could fit on three ships and successfully challenge them, but Marcus wasn’t the kind of person to relish in the thought of combat, no matter if the outcome was all but guaranteed.

A few minutes later, Marcus had calmed down, and Arthur escorted the visitor through the door.