Coffee Master

Coffee Master is a Skyfire Avenue shopkeeper, council member, and elite mecha pilot. Behind his unhurried public persona is Knave of the Star Alliance, whose extraordinary hand speed and attention to detail make him a natural reconnaissance commander for Star Division.

Biography

Knave of the Star Alliance

The Coffee Master first appears as one of the familiar proprietors in Skyfire Avenue's inner circle. His larger identity emerges when he participates in the Star Alliance's last exhibition: beneath the title Knave, he is famed as the Fastest Hands Alive and fights as one of the legendary team's pilots. After the exhibition, the Clairvoyant charges him, the Driver, the Seamstress, and the Bartender with preserving the Alliance's spirit under Lan Jue's leadership. He also enters the Great Adept tournament, where his loss to the curse-wielding Death Ray demonstrates that his personal Discipline is less formidable than his mecha reputation. (Chapters 2, 289–290, 417)

As Star Division forms, the Coffee Master becomes commander of its Third Brigade, the reconnaissance and support arm, because of his mastery of mecha combat. He tempers the Driver's eagerness during an assault on a pirate base by insisting that they account for its defenses, revealing the careful judgment beneath his lazy manner. He is later left on An Lun with the officers maintaining the Division, and Lan Jue selects him to look after Skyfire Avenue's affairs during the Human Survival Conference because his attention to detail outweighs his reluctance to work. (Chapters 533, 539, 658, 702)

Appearance and personality

The Coffee Master favors clothing that echoes his trade: a white shirt with brown overalls or coffee-colored suspenders, sometimes paired with white trousers. He speaks in a thin voice and often wears a faint smile; as Knave he presents a jittery, clownish energy. Friends describe him as lazy, and he enjoys teasing Lan Jue, but he becomes cautious and observant when other people are depending on his judgment. (Chapters 4, 12, 289, 417, 701–702)

Disciplines and abilities

Mecha piloting and hand speed

The Coffee Master's greatest strength is high-speed mecha control. His title Fastest Hands Alive reflects the speed and precision with which he issues commands, and Lan Jue later judges his own rate of more than one hundred commands per second to be roughly comparable. The comparison supports the Coffee Master's reputation but is not presented as a formal measurement of his maximum speed. (Chapters 289, 533, 775)

Berserker Discipline

His Berserker Discipline rapidly enlarges his musculature and increases his strength and endurance. He can harden damaged tissue and even shed dead muscle to prevent an attack from spreading, but the transformation does not protect him from specialized curses. At the Great Adept tournament he is a lower ninth-level Talent and concedes once Death Ray's power defeats those defenses. The narrative explicitly treats him as more dangerous in a mecha than in a direct Discipline duel. (Chapter 417)

Relationships

• Lan Jue: Lan Jue becomes the leader under whom the Coffee Master is expected to continue the Star Alliance's legacy. He later entrusts the Coffee Master with a brigade and with Skyfire Avenue's day-to-day affairs. (Chapters 290, 533, 702)
• Clairvoyant: The Clairvoyant assembles the Star Alliance's final exhibition and assigns the Coffee Master and the other surviving pilots responsibility for carrying its spirit forward. (Chapters 289–290)
• Driver: The Driver is a fellow former Star Alliance pilot and Star Division commander. The Coffee Master acts as the more cautious voice when the Driver wants to charge a fortified pirate base. (Chapters 290, 539)
• Accountant: The Coffee Master and Accountant remain on An Lun as part of the team responsible for Star Division's operations while other leaders depart. (Chapter 658)

Items

No separately cataloged item is associated with the Coffee Master in the approved manifest.