The Core Champions

The Mage :
Jack Pratchet

World:  Aetheron

Jack has always wanted to use magic, but in Aetheron, people gain access to the ability to use magic at a young age.  Jack did not manifest the ability and had made himself content with the job of a scribe, while most of his contemporaries became seasoned spellcasters.

When the Eternal Dominion invaded Aetheron, most of its spellcasters learned to their dismay that their spells were not as effective against the wicked machines.  Most of the erudite magicians believed that all hope was lost and that Altheria had abandoned them.  Only Jack remained insistent that they continue the fight. 

His confidence and faith in her is what chose him for Altheria’s Summoning. And he is now the mage, who transcribes the spells he creates on the fly as magical writings in the very air.

The Cowgirl :
Jill Oakley Parton

World:  Frontier

Jill is the youngest of six siblings in a family of cowboys and ranchers.  Frontier is a badlands planet with elephant-sized buffalo, floating cattle, and sentient cacti.  Jill Oakley lost all her brothers in the last stand on Red Plateau against the Eternal Dominion’s war machines. 
Rather than allow her grief to consume her, Jill Oakley rallied the other farmhands back onto their feet and forced the Eternal Dominion back for one more day.  It was then that Altheria’s summons found her and elevated her to a spot among the heroes.  Her courage and her compassion was what drew the spell to her.

The Katipunero :
Andres Aguinaldo

World:  Mati

Andres still remembers the panic in his grandfather’s voice when he retells them the story of how they were fighting a war and discovered the world outside their window had changed.  Gone were the farmlands and familiar surroundings.  Instead, now they stared at an alien landscape beneath a stranger sky.  Their family was somehow ported away from their world, mountain and all. 
The Eternal Dominion’s arrival was the fulfillment of Andres’ grandfather’s warnings that the foreign invaders were eventually to return. The family trained for this.  But they did not train for the Infinite Army. 

The Hitman :
Smith Carcano

World: Ataraxia

In Ataraxia, assassination is an accepted occupational option, because they are all robots with nth generation AI.   Smith, however, was not always an assassin AI.  Smith was originally a language learning modal which was repurposed by accident for assassination algorithms. None anticipated the beautiful harmony that poetry and death would create in the hands of a hitman.

The Huntress :  
Atalanta

World: Artemi

Atalanta was next in line to become Queen of the Artemi when the Eternal Dominion landed on their shores.  While the Artemi were able to maintain the line, the invaders struck a tactical blow when they broke though just long enough to abduct Queen Devana.  The Eternal Dominion keeps the queen prisoner, leaving Atalanta and her sister, Evenki, uncertain on what to do next.