Chapter 53: Empress City
Camila gently shook Coop awake after the sun had already risen. He was almost surprised Jett hadn’t taken over his pillow but he guessed her power was limited to the territory of Ghost Reef. Judging by the girl’s weary expressions, it didn’t seem like they had slept at all, but they reassured him that they were fine and ready to go.
Camila and Charlie left to find their way into the settlement from a different checkpoint. Coop wished them luck and got ready to go himself. They would be waiting for Coop to enter so they could shadow him inside. Coop lingered in the hotel for a bit, observing what he could from the upper floor windows and going through his stretching routine.
In the daylight the state of the settlement was obviously bad. The airport had a huge footprint on the edge of the city, with wide fields all the way around the terminals and massive parking structures. The fields were one place where mana hadn’t been enough to save the grass and all that remained of the visible ground was trampled dirt. The ocean was visible between buildings on the opposite side of the airport, but it was several city blocks away from the edge of the property.
The dirt fields of the airport were completely dominated by what Coop would describe as hovels. People had ended up constructing whatever shelter they could manage with tarps and scraps of materials from other buildings and cars. Makeshift streets had formed but they twisted and abruptly ended without any general planning.
Knowing the Empire’s strategy to use the residents as meat shields in the event of a raid, he had to admit that the shelters would make an effective barrier if someone couldn’t just smash straight through or go over the hastily built structures. Of course, it wouldn’t take much to do either since the shelters were barely standing as they were. A good hurricane would probably clear the entire shantytown. Coop was confident he could barrel straight through if he wanted to.
After he waited enough time for the girls to navigate their way inside, he left the hotel, skipping checkout and leaving the lobby without any subterfuge. He summoned his ethereal armor without the helmet and didn’t summon a weapon. He tried a new style for the occasion. His armor was like dark polished iron and the leather bits were brown with red highlights. He was happy with how it all came out. It looked like he was a legitimate gladiator and it wasn’t too ostentatious, like when he tried out a shiny gold color scheme. He thought they’d take him seriously dressed as he was.
He only needed to walk a single block before he would be approaching the Empire’s outer checkpoint. Halfway down the block someone yelled for him to stop from the top of a barrier they had formed with cars stacked three high. An outer wall of tipped over cars protected the stack. The guard hopped down behind the outer wall and walked out from behind an angled car. Coop guessed that would be the entrance. Coop stopped and waited, spreading his aura to observe as much as he could while keeping his own masked.
Coop was surprised to find at least 20 more auras inside the buildings on either side of him. He glanced along the vine covered walls and spotted a few guards in the shadows of the lower level windows. Coop also looked behind him where a party of five more guards lingered in the lobby of one of the corner office buildings. They might not have Ghost Reef’s fortress, but they were certainly emphasizing security through manpower.
He returned his attention to the approaching guard. He wore the dark colored armor that he associated with Camila and Charlie, made out of some special alien weave that reminded him of thin wetsuits. The guard didn’t look nearly as comfortable as either of them, thanks to the rest of his gear. He also carried a tower shield that was as tall as Coop and had a thick short sword already in his hand. Coop was a bit jealous of the impressive shield. Retribution wouldn’t let him create such a large item. He identified the guard to see what he was dealing with.
[Human (Level 30)]
[Secutor (Strength)]
[Chosen of the Endless Empire]