Boy, do I have a tale for you!
I spent most of today working on the campaign, more than once running into pirates who claimed to be friendly and then killed me the second my back was turned. But finally I'd found all the journals, gotten my new gear and was ready to take down ol' Meg. I decided to hang out at Shark Bait Cove and wait for someone else who was doing the quest. It didn't take long for me to come across another sloop and a galleon who were preparing to set out.
One of the players from the galleon - I can't remember his gamertag, but he was one of the nicest people I've met in the game so far - met me on shore and allowed me to join the fleet, despite being audibly surprised at how I was traveling by myself. I ended up being quite useful to the fleet because I took on the job of "carrying the tune" from Merrick. I had parked close enough to Merrick's camp that I could hear him from my sloop and pick up his shanty. This led to the rather harrowing experience of letting another player sail my boat as we all headed for the coordinates. But she ended up being super cool, and we friended each other afterwards.
Once we reached the coordinates, a bunch of us piled on my boat and were able to summon the megalodon. This is where things got good. Imagine, if you will, three ships firing their cannons like mad at a creature they can't properly see, all while said creature is leaping up out of the water and flinging the ships into each other. Pure chaos. I was the first one to get seriously attacked by Meg and ended up with six holes in my sloop. On an ordinary voyage, this might have been the end of me, but I had loaded up my sloop with all the supplies I could find on Galleon's Grave before setting out. I had more than enough planks to fix my boat and get back in action.
We probably fought the Meg for about 10 to 12 in-game hours. I just remember it was close to dusk when we started and a little into the next day when we finished. I managed to get several good shots in, despite being unable to use one of my cannons for a while on account of the front of the galleon being pushed into it. By daybreak we had all managed to get far enough apart. I'm a bit further away from the other players. The galleon and the other sloop have taken multiple hits from the Meg at this point and look like they might be starting to struggle. Meg circles back around to me. I'm not the best with the cannons, but I have a clear shot now, so I hastily load up another cannonball and fire.
And...KILL SHOT.
Meg goes belly-up, and I go crazy on that "Brody at the end of Jaws" feeling. Thinking back, I'm not sure anyone else saw it, but that didn't matter to me. For a few seconds, I felt like I'd reached the triumphant end of my day-long hero's journey. From scruffy solo player getting picked on by the other sloops to savior of the fleet and slayer of the Hungering One.
We all sailed back to Shark Bait and hung out for a while, firing ourselves onto each other's ships. I even manage to make a friend using the pirate salute. After I decide to call it a night, I message my new friend and tell her how grateful I am for the great time I was able to have. It was easily the best and most fun experience I've had in the game so far, and I suspect I'll remember it for a while.
And you bet I'm flaunting that awesome new figurehead wherever I go now. :)