Chapter 239: Warbound Warband
“Balor!” Coop excitedly greeted his friend when he made it inside the citadel, trying to suppress his building anxiety. However, the stonemason’s extraordinary polished armor continued to make him nervous. It was too much like the military dress of a retiring soldier. “What’s with the get up? You look like you’re going to war.” Coop tried hiding his nervousness with what he thought was a silly joke. The group of phantoms that had been laughing on their own quieted down and were watching with wide eyes, unsure how to take the boisterous stonemason’s equipment.
“We are, lad.” Balor stated with the serious expression sculpted into his stone face. He positioned himself adjacent to the civilization shard and faced the Champion with a soldier’s posture.
“Huh?” Coop was left even more confused. “You mean the event?” He asked, though he knew that couldn’t be the answer. The contracted residents continued to be restricted by the system as long as the assimilation was ongoing. There was no getting around the limits imposed by the system for those that were already a part of it, and that was true for all of the contracted residents. There was no reason for Balor to be equipped to fight as he couldn’t independently leave the settlement’s territory until the assimilation was completed and the planet was integrated into the galactic community. The only way a contracted alien resident could engage in combat was to break their contract and they would be forced to leave the assimilation if they did so.
“No.” Balor responded, still too serious for Coop’s liking. “I mean War. Establish your faction and you’ll see. We’re ready now.” He added gruffly, like a combat veteran that knew exactly what he was getting himself into.
“Woah, hey now, what’s the rush?” Coop was suddenly on his backfoot, unprepared for the sudden declaration. He thought they had more time together. It wasn’t like the Eradication Protocol was imminent. If forming a faction was a big enough problem for the contracted residents that they would leave right away, even before the complications that would force them out, Coop could hold off a little longer before creating it. He looked to Jones for help, but the island’s senior caretaker was quiet after retreating to the side benches and letting the alien speak for himself.
“We need the faction to be official before we can join it.” Balor announced a bit impatiently, as if this was the one final thing he needed to complete a long term project that had required significant amounts of work; the one last bit of red tape that needed to be resolved. “As soon as the faction is announced, it’ll be War.”
Coop tilted his head to the side, like he was trying to listen to the stonemason’s words a second time. “You can join it?”
“We can, but the faction itself will draw an immense amount of attention by joining the galactic community. An unknown group forming a faction without an assimilation announcement will be an immediate target for half of the factions out there and a curiosity for the other half. They’ll look to crush us, claim our territory to harvest resources, and subjugate the members without a second thought, no matter how out of the way and harmless we seem.” Balor proclaimed.
“It’s as much to expand themselves as it is to prevent a new rival from establishing. Most wouldn’t dare part with the expenses if we defeated a planetary sponsor after surviving an assimilation first. They would assume we developed a hardy faction after succeeding in the end, but it is what it is with your Eradication Protocol claims. If the faction needs to come before the assimilation can end, then it will mean faction wars. I guarantee it.” The stonemason declared his logic.
Coop’s eyes widened as the pieces started to fall into place. New concerns started to pop up in his mind, and he came up with another dozen reasons to continue delaying the formation of the faction. If nothing else, he needed more levels. He tensed up as he imagined the horrors that war with other alien factions might bring. He had seen enough sci-fi movies to expect the worst in a planetary invasion. He wasn’t ready. Not even close. Were any of Ghost Reef’s residents? No way.
A calming hand cradled Coop’s shoulder before he spiraled into his thoughts, envisioning the additional responsibilities he would need to take on, and the incredible power of ancient cultivators with untold ages to progress and become their doom. The simple goals Coop held dear would be unbelievably difficult to maintain. Despite the calming touch, it was the dangerously sharp dark red nails that drew his attention. Slender fingers rested on his shoulder and gently squeezed, putting their shiny points millimeters from skin.
A pleasant, humming giggle followed as Maeve snuck up on him and pulled his focus to herself, knowing that her timing had been perfect. Instead of being dressed for waiting tables in the Clumsy Shark, like a medieval beer maiden, she looked like she was moonlighting as a seductive villainess. Her wavy blonde hair was pulled into a tight bun, revealing her pointed ears and the short dark horns normally hidden beneath her bouncy bangs. Her sharp tail slowly snaked back and forth as she shamelessly flaunted her demonic nature in a way he had never seen before and had been explicitly told she avoided doing when he was first getting to know her.