Unchosen Champion

Coop had done his best to be hospitable when he welcomed the ship full of people to the island. He thought he was improving his ambassadorial skills with all the practice he had been getting between the aliens and the refugees, but he didn’t think it had gone very well. The leader had been kind of hostile from the start. He wasn’t sure where he went wrong.

As soon as he and Jones had seen the ship, they saw it as the perfect opportunity. Coop needed a ride to what they assumed was an oil rig. He was hoping to get in the visitors’ good graces in order to hitch a ride. He glanced at the crowd as he led them down the main street. Most of them were gawking at the few buildings and the outlines of the future city. They were all sort of matching, it was clear their equipment had all come from the same place, but each one had individual customizations.

He led the visitors to the Tavern, where the hospitality experts, Maeve and Desmond, would take over. He noted that before any of the visitors entered the establishment, they each openly stared at the civilization shard. It seemed like most of them had never seen one before. Another oddity from the obvious group of Chosen.

The squad of Chosen didn’t seem all bad. Their stated purpose was to collect stranded people and bring them back to the safety of their own settlement. He thought that was a noble task. If they had arrived at Olani’s village a week ago they might have saved lives.

Their attitudes, however, had confirmed a few of Coop’s predictions. When he had first seen the leaderboards he thought that Chosen would see themselves as special and not be able to quickly adapt to leveling on Earth when the training wheels were taken off. At least with this group, he believed he was correct.

Based on their levels, they had all been back for at most a week, when the factions had sent back level 25s, yet, none of them had made very much progress. Two levels in a week didn’t impress Coop in the slightest. Hell, any of them could walk outside the fort for 10 minutes and kill enough Ancient Defenders to gain two levels from completing the first stages of the quest. Instead, they seemed to be leveraging their headstart to consolidate territory. That might be the right decision for a faction, but he didn’t think it was the correct move for individuals. He didn’t know enough about their plans to fully condemn their organization, but if it was him, he would be trying to leverage the headstart into momentum for even more levels.

Coop meant to slip away to update Jones and Olani on their guests, but Charlie and her beautiful friend, Camila, stuck with him instead of their companions.

“So, how about that tour?” Camila suggested.

She seemed eager for an excuse to leave the rest of the squad behind, so he obliged. He wasn’t Jones, so his guided tour wasn’t practiced, nor was it particularly informative. They still listened intently as he pointed out the buildings they already had and some of the general plans that Balor and Jones had worked out. Once they returned to the entrance he led them both to the mess hall. Charlie would be familiar with the interior of the fort from her visits as a park ranger.

“Well Charlie, we’re gonna have to change our plans.” Camila stated as they sat at one of the bench tables.

“Definitely.” Charlie agreed.

Coop looked at each of them in turn, waiting for the explanation. What was their faction planning? Did they have the authority to change plans like that? When they both just looked at each other pensively, seeming to forget he was even there, he asked. “What plans?”