Chapter 143: Chaos Theory
The Flame Knight finally had a chance to properly introduce himself as the Captain Javier previously mentioned by the refugees, after Coop goaded him into an explanation for their presence. Evidently, he had been entrusted with leadership over their evacuation from Empress City, employing one of the cruise ships that had provided housing for those who left the City’s outer ring.
Coop had to interrupt him multiple times until they ended up starting from the beginning, since every time the Chosen of the Empire started to tell his story, Coop needed him to back up even further. Coop lacked critical context for what was going on in Empress City, so they wound up all the way back to the aftermath of his escape.
“You started the revolution.” Javier stated conclusively, finally culminating his backtracking with an unexpected declaration.
“I, what?” Coop still didn’t understand, but they were already at the actual start of the story, so he couldn’t force him to rewind any further. He was pretty sure he hadn’t done anything of the sort.
“You freed Jackson Hobbs from the Empire’s prison. He founded a new division for the CRA and declared a secession from Empress City, annexing the port and the coast, all the way south, to Crane Point, to join the settlement you were representing.” Javier continued, almost as confused that Coop didn’t already know the result of his interference.
“Man, what the hell are you talking about?” Coop wasn’t sure if his incredulous feelings were appropriate, given that he had in fact killed some prominent people in the Empire, but he remained skeptical, to say the least.
“Well, at first, we didn’t know what your settlement was called, or even your name, but you caused a bunch of rumors to spread among the citizens.” The Blade Tyrant nodded along while the Secutor just stayed flat on his back with his shield underneath him, staring at the sky, taking deep breaths after nearly sinking to the bottom of the ocean. “The people took to calling you the Nomad from the Conch Republic. They told stories about how you came to the Empire’s house and flicked their nose, then rode off into the sunset with those who dared to listen. Far too many people have personal anecdotes about how you interacted with them, inviting them to come along. They kick themselves for not listening.”
Coop just grimaced at him while he continued. While he had tried to engage with some people, it was becoming obvious that everything about his visit to Empress City was exaggerated to an unrecognizable level. The rumor mill had worked overtime to create a mythological figure.
“The word spread around the city that there was an opportunity to leave, but at the time, no one believed there was a greater local power than the Endless Empire, so they didn’t take it, choosing to stick with the security they felt they already had. Everyone else who had made a break for it had died to monsters or to patrols. It wasn’t until after the Empire failed to stop you that people realized the opportunity they missed, and then even more so when it came out that the names of some who left with you were in the siege event leaderboards.” The Flame Knight did his best to explain the general landscape that had led to the situation they had ended up with.
Coop interrupted him, yet again. “Alright, it might be possible that some small things had greater ripples, but I’m not forgetting that you all are members of the Empire and the last time we interacted wasn’t exactly friendly. Even if what you’re saying is true, you were on the other side.”
The Blade Tyrant spoke up for the first time. “We defected.” He obviously wanted to make it clear, putting respect on Coop’s level.
Javier nodded. “Yes, we defected. After you showed us mercy and happened to eliminate most of our chain of command, we had our eyes opened to the fact that conditions didn’t need to be as bad as they were, end of the world or not. The people in leadership positions used the apocalypse to seize power and deliberately kept people down for their own gain. If our supposed allies knew exactly how you had escaped us, they would have executed us for our failure, without question, but you, an enemy, hadn’t been as willing to kill us when you had every right to.”