Difference between revisions of "The Adventures of Mavus"

Revision as of 01:29, 7 May 2020

"The Adventures of Mavus" follows the firsthand account of Mavus Shaw, as he enlists with The Inquisition some time after Blackflame betrays Darkstar.

The series starts with a metahuman Mavus receiving a recruitment message from his old friend Junon Gareth, that was sent to all of Corinth and its neighbouring countries in an attempt to recruit new forces to battle a tyrannical empire known as "The New Militia". Mavus joins the Inquisition under the codename Maven, and hopes to join Darkstar so he can fight with college crush Junon and John "Jason" Crypt.

Prologue

Hi there, my name is Mavus Shaw. I'm a 25 year old college engineering undergrad who's academic year got delayed because of some alien invasion, great introduction huh? It doesn't really matter to me though, since I wouldn't have been able to attend my own graduation. I've been trying to home school myself to catch up on the many semesters I have missed since the big "Automaton Invasion",but I haven't been able to wrap my head on half of the things I read because, let's face it, nobody actually reads the textbook in class, people just skim the lecture notes or grind past papers anyway.

And yes, I'm serious about the part where I can't attend my own graduation. The truth is, I'm not even actually allowed on campus. I currently live in a rusty old hut (or so the government, what's left of it, thinks haha), on some abandoned country called Corinth. I was sent there for being an "0th Tier Metahuman" and being a "threat to international affairs" by the government. Nobody can get into Corinth unless they are a 1st Tier Metahuman with evo's that are vision based. So basically I've been exiled for being too strong. The government believed that if they sent me to Corinth, I'll behave and hopefully if I ever go nuts I won't cause a nuclear disaster or something. The suits are really paranoid about that sort of thing and I don't blame them. A 0th Tier Metahuman is extremely rare and very very very very dangerous. Oh, I guess I should probably explain what all this Tier this Tier that talk is.

In this world, we've got a whole bunch of metahumans and people with magic and all that stuff roaming around. Their powers were once called "evolutions", fancy right? But later on we kind of decided that the term had way too much syllables so since then we've been just calling the evo's for short. Now unless the government wants total anarchy in the streets like some crazy dystopian fantasy you see in movies, we typically have a social order that comes into place. Metahumans that don't really do much threat to society, like, I don't know, rainbow farts, are classified as 10th Tier. They're basically the losers of the metahuman society. They get the most slack from the government since they don't really pose a threat. As you go up in Tier, your potential threat goes up. Take for instance, one of my classmates, Vera Reeves, she was able to transform into a freaking celestial monster. I really doubt you'd want someone with the ability to go nine tails whenever she loses a game of roulette at your local government get together, right? Vera is classified as 2nd Tier. That's pretty high up. The tiers keep going up to Tier 0, where you have me. I don't know a lot of Tier 0's, mostly because I don't keep in touch with politics. I do know of this one guy, who was considered Tier 0, by the name of Decen, the Paladin of War. I don't know what his powers are, but with a name like that, I would guess it would have been a big deal. People in the zeroth tier are considered an extreme threat to the state of order and society. So we're basically hotspots to the government. Most of the T0's have two choices: work for the government, or be sent to isolation. People always chose to work for the government, but me, being a mad lad, decided to choose isolation. I wasn't going to become some government lackey.

When the suits sent me to Corinth, one of the ladies, who was 1st Tier told me that they would occasionally visit and check up on me, ask me how my day is, and give me my supplies for the month. Clothes, food, the works. They gave me my own lodgings and told me I'll be fine, and that they would check it on me regularly. Well, it was all fine and dandy until one day, the suits stopped showing up. Like, no parcel or drop at the marked area, nothing. Thanks guys.

Also, when they said that Corinth was mostly unoccupied, they were right, until the first fifteen miles of walking. After which, the place became a hellhole consisting of monster attacks left and right. No man (or woman, because you know, it's year 756), could survive this. I've been living off dragon carcasses for months. Yeah, freaking dragons strolled up to my home knocking on my door asking if the signature Mavus sandwich was available. What's worse, was that I basically had to learn how to cook on my own. Those animals! The bright side is that I'm not alone in Corinth. Turns out there's an entire society living there, from what my recon drones have shown me. Elves, Orcs, the works. Apparently, there is a whole civilization in Corinth, and I've been living on the outskirts so I was never a part of it. Not like a have a problem or anything.

The truth is, I'm perfectly fine on my own. No monster has ever breached my security systems. They either get sliced by my laser grid, blown up by the mines, or get targeted by my advanced targeting missile matrix. Even if they managed to survive that, they would have to get through my whole platoon of mechanical sentries, each equipped with their own minigun, repulser beams, micromunitions, and propulsion systems. No one has ever gotten past that point. I've rarely had to reassemble any of my troops or constructs, which is a testament as to how beefed up my place has become.

Oh yeah, if you haven't caught on already, my evo is technomancy. I'm able to generate, create, and manipulate machines. From scratch. If I'm in a place that's full of resources, that contain the smallest traces of metals, I'm able to extract those metals out, manipulate its molecular structure, and build anything I want. The sky's the limit. It's the main reason why I'm considered Zeroth Tier. If I wanted, I could literally invade any country I wanted with a huge battalion of powerful mechs with devastating firepower. To top it all off, I'm able to transfer my consciousness among my machines. In case you're wondering what it's like to be a machine, imagine walking around and looking down seeing a bunch of metal pieces and wires. Basically that. The only downside of my powers is when I use them, my body doesn't move. I physically can't move, and I become a statue. There's been times when I go do a recon mission to check out other cities and once I return back I realize that my coffee spilled all over my clothes and had already stained them dry.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy my little diary of sorts.

Chapter 1 - New Militia Recruitment Gone Wrong

My day was ruined when I discovered that my platoon was wiped out. When I mean wiped out, I mean my front yard was littered with scrap metal and deceased robotic comrades. My missiles matrix was busted up, and my last line of defence, my mech foot soldiers were on their last legs against a group of..... mages? They seemed a little more geeky than the mages I've encountered. But the fact that they managed to get past my defence systems was definitely not good news.

I rushed out and uploaded myself into one of the less damaged mechs. How did I configure this guy again? Speech amplifier? There we go. "What are you guys doing to my front lawn? What do you want?" The mages continued firing their spells at my guys, and one of the mages responded. "We will cease fire if your men cease fire." I concentrated, and all my mechs took a defensive position. The mages stopped too.

Scumbags. They basically destroyed my platoon and were giving me demands? This whole mess would probably take around 15 minutes of my day to fix. "Are you happy now?" I shouted from the skeleton of one of my mechs. Suddenly, one of the mages materialized in front of my mech. He had some funky wavy hair. "You must be the zeroth tier, Mavus Shaw. I am Ernest Toren, an ambassador for the New Militia." I looked at my front yard, which had now reduced to an apocalyptic wasteland. Some ambassador. Ernest continues. "We are aware that you possess very formidable abilities, and we would like you to join our ranks." This took me by surprise, but then again, it was already a surprise to have visitors at my doorstep, much less very dangerous ones. "What happens if I say no?". Ernest raises an eyebrow. "Your compliance is not a factor." The guy suddenly extended his hand, and a black substance started entering my mech suit. My consciousness suddenly bombarded with voices, "join us", "become one", "a new life". I got to get out of here! I exited the mech and the voices stopped. The mech suddenly became feral, convulsing with electrical discharge. Hell to the no. I uploaded myself into my remaining mechs and blasted the defective one to kingdom come.

These guys were bad news. I needed to drive them away. I hadn't used much of my powers aside from goofing off before, and the feeling was almost refreshing. I began to build. Ernest and his lackeys retreated behind a huge army, and before I knew it, I was surrounded. Or so they thought.

The ground erupted as I revealed a much larger mechanical playing field. The mages suddenly becoming aware of what they had walked into. Several pillars of mechanical coils rose from the earth, and created a green containment field. The mages went nuts, trying to escape it.

I uploaded myself into the pillars, my voice booming into the arena. "You guys have two choices, leave my place, or try to convince me again." The mages began attacking the pillars. I summoned a squad of 10 mech soldiers, and the mages attempted to fight them off, but these soldiers were amplified with some new tech. Stronger armouring, inertial dampening field, and much more repulsive repulsers. One by one the mages were knocked unconscious. The effects of the arena were causing the projectiles of the mages to go off course. In their faces, kinetic randomization drive. I opened up a small opening in the arena, and the remaining half of the squad, around 25 in number, tried to scurry out. "What's wrong guys, I thought my compliance wasn't a factor." Ernest suddenly materialized and raised his hand, attempting to corrupt one of my pillars. I expanded one of my pillars, revealing hundreds of guns, missile launchers, blasters, and laser pointers, all pointing at Ernest's head. "Try it." I said, as threatening as I could without laughing. Ernest booked it.

I exited the pillars, and my arena began to disassemble, returning to the earth and disintegrating back into the raw materials they came from. All that was left was my little hut and the remains of my security system. Well, I guess I might as well restore these guys too while I'm at it. I started to reassemble my base, when suddenly something caught my eye. My recon drone. I guess it found something. I went up to the bot and checked out the footage.

"New recruits needed! Contribute to the cause, for the war against The New Militia! Apply to the Inquisition!" shouted a familiar voice. I looked closer at the female who was by the gate, with a bunch of people streaming in. No. Freaking. Way. What was she doing here? Although she didn't really age well, there was no denying it. Curly long hair, the upbeat attitude. I continued watching the hologram of Junon Gareth.

Chapter 2 - Inquisition Application Done Right

Oh, I guess I should probably explain who this Junon girl is. You know that one girl in your class who's super popular, with the bubbly personality, who everybody constantly asks out? The girl was Junon. I remembered my friend Trevor holding a phone camera to class with me on the call. I would always see Junon with a bunch of girls and guys, always socializing. You would expect people like her to get bad marks, but nope. She was both pretty, and smart. Everybody in class had a huge crush on her. Yes, I admit, your boy Mavus wanted to give it a shot too. But then again, it's kind of hard asking a girl out when you can't leave your hut, and that was the case with Junon. Ever since the Automatons Raided, I never knew what happened to her. In fact I never knew what happened to anybody in my class. I always thought that they were dead or imprisoned. Dark, I know. I'm not one to delve into things like that, but it really hit me hard knowing I would never see my friends again.

Some of you are probably wondering, yo, Mavus, if you're a Tier Zero Superstar, why didn't you go to the college and save your future bae? Well, the thing is, when the Automatons invaded, they had tech that was so out of this world, it made me unable to create any. In other words, they shut down my powers. I hadn't been able to use my powers ever since that day. Without my powers, I'm essentially an average college guy, awkward, unathletic, and not fit for the real world. It was almost luck that I had set up my defence systems during that day, otherwise I would have been eaten alive. Ever since that day, the suits stopped visiting me. I could only guess that they were wiped out too. I should have sent some recon drones or something to rescue or even check the state of the world out there, but the truth was, I was scared. I didn't want to see what the world had become. If it was enough to destroy the government like that, I could only imagine what it had done to the people.

I put my hand on the drone, and accessed its memory files. Uploading myself into the drone, I was able to find the location of the Inquisition. Damn. How far did this drone travel? I hoped I didn't show up late to the applications. I created a few assistant bots and programmed them to watch over my body, then started preparing a bunch of raw materials, sending them to the Inquisition into the sky. Save those for later. I then hopped into one of my mechs, restoring it, and gave it a few tweaks to its propulsion systems. Main Mech, Aerial Mode. I shot forward with incredible speed to the location, having downloaded its coordinates. It's time to impressive the living heck out of this chick. Once I get there, I'd expect her to run up to me in tears, telling me she thought I was dead, and putting her face on my metal chest plate. Alpha as Frick.

"I'm sorry, I don't recognize you." Junon responded. My eyes went wide. "Wait are you serious? We went to school together, I was that loser kid who was always in the phone screen!" Junon looked at me, and I realized I was still uploaded into my mech. Smooth. "Wait wait, I'll show you. Wait here." The people in the crowd were grumbling. I didn't blame them, they were all waiting to join the Inquisition, hoping to take the admission exam, and here I was trying to cozy up to the invigilator. I opened up my mech and materialized a hologram of myself. "Look, see!" Junon raised an eyebrow. "Hey kid, quit trying to impress Junon, we have an exam to run!" shouted one of the candidates. People started to join in. One of the people called me an orc. Racist. Just because I was asian doesn't mean I was an orc. What a double standard, if I so much as went to an elf and asked if they knew archery, I'd get boo'ed off stage. Junon tried to calm down the crowd. "Okay, okay, let's calm down everybody. This exam will determine the combat skill of all candidates entering the Inquisition. You will be tasked to fight in this arena, against some holographic shadow spectres created by yours truly, Jason." The crowd cheers, as a big burly asian guy waves. Damn. This dude looked like a total chad. Junon continues. "We will be assessing your skill and will choose those fit for our cause. Fight hard, and please don't be discouraged if you don't make it in the first time! There's always next time to get stronger!" Ever the optimist, I guess Junon hadn't changed at all.

I returned to my mech but realized that it was... gone. I looked around and noticed that it had reduced to ashes. One of the candidates, an elf with fire magic smirked. "Sorry, but I'm not letting a kiss ass get in the way of people who actually deserve to be in here."

Junon led us to the main arena, the size was impossibly large, and was occupied with Jason clones all over the place. Each clone brandished two black daggers, and powered up, revealing creepy black energy. Some of the candidates trembled. "He's terrifying." Said one. "Is this even safe, what if we get killed?" Said another. Junon blew her whistle, and suddenly the clones charged, we all split up.

"Start small". That's what Trevor always told me whenever he tried to impress Junon or her friends. Despite hilarious failing at it, he was kind of right. If I was going to put up a show for Junon, I had to make my big ending near the end. So like the total boss I was, I ran and hid behind a rock. One of the candidates, a big, round elf, looked at me.

"Hiding? What a wuss."
"Um.... you're hiding too."
"Oh."

The elf frowned. I guess he wasn't the brightest tool in the shed. I held out my hand. "I'm Mavus, nice to meet you man." The elf shaked it. "Truman. You applying for the Inquisition? What field you aiming for?". I raised my eyebrows. "Field?" Truman stared at me. "Uhhh yeah, what field. Recon, Garrison, Soldier?". I went into the exam without even considering these things. "What field is Junon in?" Truman busted out laughing. In fact he was laughing so hard, he started to clutch his stomach. "My man, that's the funniest thing I've heard all week." I was taken aback. "What do you mean?" Truman looked at me, his smile melted. "Oh you were serious. Junon is part of an elite task force for the Inquisition. It's basically impossible to join." I looked at the elf. "What's it called?" Truman looked at me in the eye. "Dark-" his sentence was interrupted by a yell.

"What are you two idiots doing?" Jason was standing from the sidelines. Ah crap. Looked like he found out we were hiding. "You two do realize that we are watching everybody perform this test. Hiding behind a rock isn't exactly the best way to impress your invigilators."

Truman took a peek out of the rock and quickly returned back behind cover. I asked him what was wrong. "Mave, my man, it ain't looking too good out there." "What do you mean?" I asked. I took a look out, and realized most if not all of the candidates were either injured or unconscious. The spectres were insanely strong. Fast, and had crazy skill. Only two candidates were left standing, a woman with ice powers, and an Orc, who was wielding a large broadsword, asking for more. Jason smiled at the Orc. Suddenly, one of the clones gave me a glare. Oh shoot.

I returned behind the rock and looked at Truman. "What's wrong, Mave?" I looked at him and tried to tell him straight. "Look man, I think we should find another hiding spo-". My words were interrupted when suddenly ten spectres appeared. Way more than the ones that the two were engaging earlier. The clone looked me dead in the eye. "You have some nerve trying to pass the test by acting so cowardly." The clone then looked at Truman, punching him and sending the elf bouncing out into the field. "Do you two seriously think this is a joke? This is war. You either face death like a warrior or run from it like a coward. There is no in-between."

What a jerk. I guess there was no point holding back. However, before I could do anything, Truman stood up, his wounds healing quickly. "I'm not hiding because I am a coward." Truman croaked, trying to hold back a vomit. "I'm hiding because I am a healer. In battle, if the healer goes down, the team goes down. I hate it myself, but I need to stay alive so I can keep my comrades on their feet!" I looked back and realized what he meant. The Orc and the ice lady were only on their feet because Truman was healing them the whole entire time. Jason's clone raised an eyebrow. "Impressive. But now that you are out in the open, what will you do?" Truman freaked out and hid behind me. "Yo Mave, it's all you brother!" Jason's clone looked me in the eye. I looked up and noticed that Junon was also looking at me. I guess it's time to shine.

Jason's clone rushed forward, but suddenly stops. It worked. The other clones tried to rush forward too but they were also unable to move. I walked forward grinning. I raised my hand, and the tractor beam contraptions that had tunneled through the ground, now attached to all of Jason's clones suddenly expanded, wrapping around his leg. The devices expanding in mechanical complexity until the clones were completely shrouded to the neck.

"I'm no coward man. I'm just that smart. And now, it's game over." I closed my fist, and the willed the devices to repurpose, taser time. The clones roared in pain as green lightning arced from their bodies. Normally if someone was jolted by that much current, they would have stayed down. But this guy was apparently the chaddest of the chads. Jason's clones growled, their dark auras becoming more sinister, and the devices were ripped off. Truman screamed as the shockwave sent both of us flying.

Jason's clones approached us. Jeez la wheeze. This guy was intense. I asked Truman to heal my wounds and told him to stay behind me as I'm going to get serious. Truman nodded quickly and healed my body. It felt like eucalyptus oil was being bumped into my bloodstream. The clone prepared to charge, and I suddenly held out my hand. Several pillars manifested between us, blocking the clones with a force field. Jason punched at it but to no use. I then summoned a mech behind the clones. No need for a large number, pool everything into one and give it all I got. I uploaded into the mech, my arm transforming into a huge railgun. I aimed it at the clones and powered the weapon up. My HUD indicated that I had everybody on lock and suggested I protect the targets that I didn't want hit. I ordered the pillars to become mobile, encasing every candidate and invigilator with a force field and flying them into the air.

"Game over." I fired the railgun, sending a massive explosion and disintegrating all of the clones and the entire arena. The explosion was so great that it caused massive wind pressure and green fire to bellow up, consuming my entire vision. The smoke cleared, my HUD indicating all targets eliminated. Collateral damage: Catastrophic. Lol.

After a few hours of cleaning up and taking the candidates away, Junon approached Truman, Orc Man, Ice Lady and I, congratulating us in joining the Inquisition. Truman thanked her a little too much, causing Junon to smile. Orc Man gave me a look of warriors respect, and the Ice Lady gave me a nod. Such kind people. Junon turned to us. "I will collaborate with the landlord to arrange living arrangements to you four, but in the meantime, please treat yourselves to lunch." Truman yelled in excitement, putting an arm around my shoulders. I tried to shake him off but to no luck. Orc Man looked at me. "I am Varen, and this here is Khione. It is a pleasure working with you." I looked at the two. "I'm Mavus, this here is Truman. Are you guys a couple?" Khione's face turned red. Oh great. My stupid social skills. Way to ruin a first impression. Varen chuckled. "No, Khione is my long trusted ally. We have seen action for many years, but she is just a friend." I looked at Khione, who was turning crimson. Nah, she was definitely in love with this dude. Truman's stomach growled. "Guys, I'm going to head out to the cafeteria, with or without you." Varen laughed, and Khione laughed as well. "We're coming too. You coming Mavus?" I looked at Junon who was writing stuff on her notebook. "I'll catch up in a bit." Varen waved at me as the three headed out to the mess hall.

I approached Junon. It was so weird seeing her in person. I always only saw her in video, but like this, it was certainly a fresh change in perspective. Despite aging, she was as cute and beautiful as ever. "So, uhhhh" I stammered. Junon looked up from her notebook. "Do you remember me now?" Junon put the notebook away and looked at me in the eye, then sighed. Suddenly her bubbly attitude disappeared. "Mavus, I recognized you the moment I saw you enter the application pool." I was shocked. "What?! Why didn't you say anything?" Junon looked me in the eye. "Because then, evaluations would not be fair. We need people to support the cause... we can't have things like this happening." That made sense. Suddenly something came to mind. "Junon, who is the New Militia?" Junon's face became pained. I struck a sore subject. "The New Militia is a mage empire run by a tyrant named Calliope Ariandal. They are based in Croft, from another universe." I was hoping Junon would break character. A quick "psych! Gotcha!". But no such luck. Junon looked at me. "These guys are dangerous. The most dangerous people you will ever face. You're really powerful, you've shown that, but with just firepower, you're not going to beat Ariandal. The last guy who had firepower like tha-" Junon's voice broke. Oh shoot. Something must have happened to her. "Junon, you don't have to tell me if you can't. It's fine." Junon sobbed. "No. Like I was saying, the last guy who had firepower like that. He was defeated easily. Became prisoner, and Calliope broke him. I don't want something like this happening to another prodigy like you." The mood became somber. I looked at the Inquisition, everybody doing their daily activities. Training, whatnot. There were smiles, but at the same time, there was some sorrow in it. "This prodigy you speak of... was he a member of Dark?" Junon looked at me, puzzled. "Dark?" I looked at her back. "Yeah, Team Dark. You know, the field you are in." Junon laughed faintly.

"You mean Team Darkstar".
"Oh. Yeah that, I knew that. Totally."
"Uh huh."

Junon looked at the ground and took a deep breath. "Yes, he was. He was the strongest member of Darkstar, and was my friend." The conversation was heavy, I knew it, but I wanted to know. I had to. "What was his name?" Junon looked back at me. "Sa.... I can't I'm sorry. I'll see you at the mess hall." Junon left, fighting back tears.

This guy, had the same firepower as me. So he was a Zeroth Tier metahuman too, and he was destroyed by Ariandal. What had I brought myself into.

Chapter 3 - Inquisition Day in the Life

Junon wrapped her arms around me, her eyes sincere. "I thought I lost everything... but you came to save my heart. Thank you." I put my arms around her waist. "You are the June to my May. I would do anything for you." Junon laughs, "Ever the smooth talker. Come closer. I have a surprise for you."

"Yo, Mave, wake up."

I was suddenly jolted awake, banging my head against the bunk bed. Truman looked at me with a weird expression. "Dude, were you dreaming... about Junon?" My eyes went wide. "Dude what the hell? How did you, when did you, why?" Truman snickered. "You talk in your sleep. You are the June to my May, my man I'm not much for pickup lines, and it looks like you MAY be in the same boat too."

I managed to sit up from my bed. My head still aching.

"What time is it."
"6:30am"
"Are you serious? Why did you wake me up so early?"
"I didn't, Junon did, she woke up our squad, apparently we have orientation after breakfast."
"Can you tell her I'm just going to sleep for ten more minutes, just a little bit longer..."
"Not unless you want to miss the surprise she has for you."
"Oh shut up."

We made our way to the mess hall to have breakfast. I'm not going to lie, after eating nothing but half cooked dragon meat and endless days on the toilet, it was nice having food again for a change. I stuffed my face, to the disgust of Varen and Khione. It looked like Truman was also stuffing his face too. Khione put her fork down. "You two are going to choke if you keep eating like that." I managed to down my fourth plate in a row. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If you don't want me to eat this French toast, you're going to have to make me choke it out." Suddenly Junon's voice appeared behind me. "It is!" I choked on my French toast, causing Khione to snicker.

Junon took us around a tour of The Fortress, from the library, to the seer, to the barracks, etc. There was also a gym, and I noticed Jason working out along with this huge bulking guy who made even Jason look small. Junon caught me staring. "That over there is the gym. Not a lot of people use it... but if you're into that kind of stuff, you can always ask either Jason or Ferris over there for advice! Do any of you guys work out?" Varen responds. "The battlefield has given me enough experience", and Khione nods. Truman patted his belly. "Yeah, does it look like I exercise often? Haha". Junon laughed. "It's nice to exercise once in a while. I personally prefer someone with a little bit of muscle, but enough of that." "I work out!" Screw me. I had to blurt that out. Junon jumped, turning to me. "That's great!" Saved. Junon continued with the tour. Apparently, with the Inquisition having increased their numbers, many of the recruits were expected to start off in small squads, and once their training had completed, they would be assigned to various fields.

"There are several fields for you guys to choose from." Junon pointed to the walls and people. "The Garrison field essentially takes care of defence and patrols the borders of the Fortress. When we are under attack, it's the Garrison field to ensure all the people in the Fortress are safe." Junon led us to the infirmary. "The Medical field takes care of the injured. It may not look like a very heroic field, but trust me, it's the most important." Junon continued. "The Scout and Soldier fields are one of the harder fields to get into. Scout fields are typically for those who want to take part in stealth missions, and you will be reporting to Yuko. Soldiers are sent to do enforcement or do battle alongside Command Conlan. The gutsiest of the recruits typically go for that. When we battle The New Militia, it will be the Soldiers who lay their lives on the front line."

Junon finished the tour, and turned to us. "Well, since you guys are already oriented, I guess it's time you guys got introduced to your team supervisor... me!" I spat out my drink. "Wait, why? I thought you were like a Darkstar super operative, why are you dealing with mere recruits like us?" Junon tilted her head sideways. "Why not? You're right that we usually have others supervise recruit teams, but during this batch, we seem to have gotten a surprisingly smaller yet more effective bunch of recruits... thanks to Jason running the exam this time. Lady Kyrael believes it to be wise to have me watch over you guys! It's not uncommon for Darkstar members to watch over a squad... it only happens if the squad is particularly exceptional. So consider yourselves special!" Man, I guess it kind of made sense. Jason pretty much handed our asses to us during that admission exam. I wished we had someone easier... "But Junon, you're a Darkstar operative, I'd hate for you to get involved, plus I mean, we're like the same age so wouldn't it be weir-" Junon cut me off. "It's okay! Being a supervisor for you guys is part of the job, I quite frankly enjoy being with you guys. I could give the position to Jason if you don't like having me around Mavus..." "No problem at all!" I blurted.

We returned to the mess hall where we had lunch. I was about to stuff my face again when something caught my eye. A beautiful woman, with black flowing hair, dyed silver at the ends, wearing a brown aviator jacket was walking up to a grave. What was a grave doing in the middle of the Fortress? The woman put some flowers on it. Junon noticed me staring. "Samuel Mason." I looked back at her. "I'm sorry?" Junon looked at me with a serious expression. "Follow me."

Junon took me to the gravestone. I looked at the rest of the squad, Truman still stuffing his face, and Khione talking to Varen. "Don't worry about them" Junon told me. We went up to the gravestone, and written on it was the name. Samuel Mason. The Blackflame. "Was this the guy you told me about?" Junon looked at me, her eyes red. "Yes." This guy, the way they memorialized him like that. He must have been a hero to these people. "How did he die?" Junon knelt down and slid her hand on the side of the gravestone. "Sam protected us while we evacuated the people of Croft from The New Militia. He fought Calliope and sacrificed himself so we could all escape." Damn. "He must have been quite the hero." Junon hand clenched into a fist. Ah crap. I messed up. "I'm sorry" I quickly said. "No. No, it's okay Mavus. It's common for people to think that." I became confused. "What do you mean?" Junon stood up. "Do you remember when I told you that Calliope broke him?" I recalled the previous conversation we had before. "Yeah." Junon turned around.

"When Sam fought Calliope, we all thought he had died. In reality, he was captured by her. Tortured. Calliope messed with his mind, brainwashing him making him believe that we had abandoned him and that our missions were wrong. She showed him something that made him believe that Calliope was in the right." Junon's tone had become serious now. This was no time to make jokes. I kept listening. "When Sam returned to the Fortress he-" Junon's voice cracked. "He was changed. Physically and mentally. He lost his arm and his eye, and all of his powers. We went on a mission together, and he got in an argument with one of Darkstar's members. The argument escalated into a fight." Junon's eyes were welling up in tears now. It was getting way to hard to see her like this. "Hey Junon, you don't have to tell me. I know this is too painful for you, it's okay." Junon sobs. "Sam was like a little brother to me. He wasn't just a friend or an ally. He was family. When he fought everybody, it was like he fully believed that everybody had left him, when in reality we were all worried sick for him." I wanted to say something to make her feel better but I had no idea what to say or do. All I could do was stare at the gravestone. Junon wiped her eyes. "Okay, that's enough about the past." Junon managed a weak laugh. "Tomorrow I'm going to take you guys to a training session, you guys should enjoy your day." Junon turned and went back to the castle.

That night, I lay on the bed, thinking about what Junon had said. Blackflame had turned on Darkstar. Whatever Calliope did to this kid was inhumane. This was way too unfair for Junon. She was under so much stress, pressure, and trauma. Yet despite this, she still tried to smile and help us out, putting up a charismatic front to mask all the pain inside. That night, I swore an oath. I would defeat Calliope and save Blackflame for Junon. I would find a way to make Junon smile again.

Chapter 4 - Junon Gareth Beats Me Up

"You seriously don't know the members of Darkstar?" Truman looked offended. "No." I replied. I was telling the truth. The only people I knew were Jason, Junon, and Blackflame. And Blackflame wasn't even a member anymore. "I just don't keep up to speed with these things." Truman got up from his mess hall table, causing some other people from the other benches to look at him. "Sit down!" Khione whispered fiercely, but Truman was getting ready like a pledge of allegiance. Varen was chuckling, continuing eating his breakfast.

"The Black Jason and The Fox, Darkstar's Power Couple", Truman began making extravagant gestures like a superhero posing. "Ain't no ship had sailed so beautifully for those two. The most badass couple in Darkstar, nay, in all of Corinth!" Truman then got on all fours. "The Lupine..... the demigod!" Okay, more people were starting to notice Truman now. This was getting pretty embarrassing.

Truman continued listing off the members of Darkstar, each with their own extravagant introduction. "Coldarrow the Hunter", "Reverb and Joust, the Kinetic Twins" (who were not actually twins), "Overseer the Stone Protector", and "Lazarus and Junon", the unpowered operatives. Apparently, Lazarus had powers in the past, but gave it up for some reason.

Truman slipped on the last one, causing his huge flab to slam on the floor. There were some snickers in the mess hall, but most people didn't pay him any attention. Truman got back up, putting his hands on my shoulders. "Darkstar is the ultimate elite Taskforce of The Inquisition. They're like the badasses of the badasses. No one messes with them." I guess I could kind of see why Jason would be a badass, but I just couldn't picture why Junon would be in Darkstar. From what I saw, she didn't seem to have any metahuman powers of her own.

Before I could continue my thoughts, Junon's bubbly voice appeared behind me. "Are you guys ready for training today?" I jumped and spilled my orange juice. "Oh! Sorry Mavus!" I turned around slowly. Junon looked like she was dressed for battle. A black tank top, black padded cargo pants, fingerless gloves, and a utility belt with a bunch of devices. My ears went pink. Junon frowned. "What's wrong?" Oh crap she caught me staring. "Oh nothing" I said, trying to play it cool. "I don't need training." Junon raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Is that so?" I straightened my back. "Of course. You're looking at Mavus freaking Shaw. I'm literally a Zeroth Tier Metahuman with the ability to take down an entire country if I wanted. I could create a huge platoon of soldiers in minutes, and a planet busting gun in like a day. Nothing stands in my way." Junon laughed. "It's true that you're powerful. In fact, you really shocked me with that display of power, and if you could, you would easily outclass any military force your way. But just running your opponent through with sheer firepower isn't all there is to winning a battle. You'll see if you join training."

We all padded up. Naturally, since the only armour your boy ever wore was the ones he made himself, I created a mech, outfitted with all the good stuff. Rocket launcher, repulser beams, miniguns, machine guns, shoulder munitions, everything a guy would need to take down an entire empire, all into one suit. The thing with my powers is, the more I concentrate my powers into a single mech, the more powerful it becomes. You guys know about the conservation of energy right? Energy can't be created or destroyed. If the same amount of energy goes to a huge platoon of soldiers, each soldier would have a smaller power source, vs. all that energy going into one. So you can't expect a whole platoon of soldiers to have the power to blow up the moon. It just doesn't work that way. Due to the tight space and confines of this place, creating an entire army of robots was probably not a wise decision. Since I would probably be using the suit for the rest of my operations here, I might as well get comfortable in it. I gave the suit the nickname "Main".

"Come on maggots! The hostage is going to die! Hurry up!" We all struggled to get past the waves of enemies that were being summoned our way. The hostage was kept in a building, and we weren't even able to get past the front line of defence. I had sent a couple of recon drones but they were all ripped apart. The guy in the building told us that if I sent any more "metal beasts" his way, he will slit the hostage's throat. Metal beasts. What are we, in the year of 1320? More of my mechs were being torn apart by the minions. I considered using explosives to blow them all up, but my HUD told me that the collateral damage would kill the hostage too. Fantastic.

"Times up. The hostage is dead." Conlan stopped the simulation, and the mages stopped summoning troops our way. What a showoff. The only reason why their troops killed my troops was because my troops were only able to use like 0.000000001% of their power. If I had so much as shot a rocket, the hostage would have died. What total BS. Conlan reprimanded all of us. It was time for evaluations.

"Varen, you are a headstrong soldier. Perfect for the soldier field, but you need to learn when to fall back. The best soldier is one that also takes in consideration his allies." Varen nodded. Conlan turned to Khione. "Khione, I liked what I saw with your ice spells. You managed to immobilize the enemy and keep them at bay. I would have considered using that power to freeze the building, and trap the attackers. A quick, clean extraction should have followed while the attackers worked on breaking the restraints." Khione nodded, thanking Conlan for his advice. Conlan turned to Truman. "Your healing and support abilities were top notch. However, hiding behind barricades to avoid damage means that you won't be able to attack either. You will be learning some self defence techniques in your next lesson." Finally, Conlan got to me. Oh boy.

"Junon tells me that you believe you don't need training." I didn't say anything. "I'm aware of your abilities as a Zeroth Tier Metahuman, and I fully believe your claims to be able to defeat any military force. Your powers are unique and incomprehensibly powerful. But this training exercise has shown the limits of your abilities." Conlan continues. "Not every battle against the enemy is a full-blown firefight. You need to learn to control your powers, and learn to know how much power to use, without causing unwanted casualties." I guess Conlan was right. If I went in all out, overwhelming my enemy with hundreds of soldiers, or if I built an array of railgun blasters to blast the enemy to kingdom come, the hostage would have died.

Our next training exercise was a little different. We were all expected to take off all our weapons, I was forced to exit my mech. The instructor introduced herself. What the hell. Junon walked up to us, rotating her shoulder. "I'm going to be teaching you some self defence techniques. As Conlan may have eluded to you all, you will eventually run into a situation where you're forced to resort to hand to hand combat. It doesn't matter how barricaded you are, the situation is inevitable. Can I have a sparring partner?"

No way. Junon was my combat instructor? Does she even know how to fight? I heard that she had been an athlete in school, but unless she practiced MMA for a living, I didn't think she would be a martial arts instructor. I raised my hand "I'll be your sparring partner." Junon smiled.

I stepped forward. If it's one thing I knew from watching funny YouTube scraps, was that the bigger guy always won. None of that "size doesn't matter" BS. Like let's be real here. If you were in the street and some huge dude with a hundred tattoos on each arm went up to you wanting to beef, no amount of Wing Chun Shaolin Eye of the Dragon would protect you from his headlock. I looked at Junon. She didn't look real bulky. In fact, she looked pretty slim and athletic. With a perfect body. With nice curves. God.

Suddenly Junon striked, sending me to the canvas. "What the hell?" Varen held back a laugh. Junon laughed. "You weren't ready, Mavus. I guess that's an extra lesson for you guys. Always be on guard." Okay, no more fooling around, time to get serious. I ran forward and tried to get her in a headlock, but Junon was surprisingly fast, evading my attacks and launching a uppercut on my chin. I hit the canvas again. Varen didn't even bother holding back his laugh this time. Junon held out her hand.

"The body has a nervous system. It doesn't matter if you're a human, elf, orc, you all have nerves." She pointed under my chin. "The place under your chin is where most of your nerves reside. If you get struck there, it's game over." Junon told me to get up again, telling me to get in a fighting stance.

"When you're preparing for a fistfight, always cover this region. Keep your head low and watch your opponent." She moved my head downwards so my chin covered my neck. We sparred again, with Junon once again slipping past all my attacks. "When you're fighting, you don't want to have the opponent strike you in the head. If your brain rattles in your skull, you will get dropped." To demonstrate this, she slipped past another punch and struck my head. Everything went black for a second. Before I knew it, I was on the ground, with Junon on top of me. "Always protect your weaker areas, and learn to predict your opponent."

I guess Junon knew how to fight. The session ended with me getting my ass beat, and humiliated. Truman healed my wounds, and Junon joined us for lunch. I stacked up on food alongside Truman and joined the rest of the squad at the table. Junon waved us over. "How are you feeling?" I looked at her. "How am I feeling? I feel like my world flipped upside down. How did you learn to fight like that?" Junon laughed. "I learned from one of my friends in Darkstar, Amana Cross. You might otherwise know her as The Fox. She is one of the best fighters in the team, aside from Jason." Junon continued. "Learning to fight is a lot like learning any other skill, it takes lots of practice. And not just any kind of practice, typically real life application comes in handy. When I used to go on missions with the team, I had to learn to apply these things often." She must have had a lot of experience then.

Junon looked at us. "So how was your session with Conlan today?" Varen slammed his fist on the table. "Today, I learned many valuable things from a seasoned warrior. I will take these teachings and improve!" Khione agreed. Junon smiled. "That's the spirit! What about you Truman?" Truman swallowed an entire drumstick, bone and all. "I learned that I need to fend for myself more, rather than hiding. Do you mind teaching me some more of your fighting technique?" Junon gave Truman a thumbs up, "sure thing!" Then she turned to me. "What about you, Mister Hotshot?" I stared at my plate. "Uhh, I learned that to be stronger I need to be weaker... Basically I need to learn how to control my powers." Junon nods. "Do you see what I meant by not all battles are won with sheer firepower?" I nodded. "Yeah, I guess I got a long way to go." Junon got up. "I'm glad to hear that! Well I have to get going, I have a meeting in a few minutes. I hope classes go well for you guys! See you at dinner!" Junon left.

Khione looked at me. "You have some insane powers, why haven't I heard about you in Corinth?" Varen suddenly stopped eating and looked up. "Yeah, it's a bit strange that a superstar like you was never known around these plains." I downed the last of my water. "I've been living on the outskirts of Corinth for the longest time." Everybody in the squad stared at me. Khione leaned forward. "The outskirts? Isn't that place full of monsters? You've been living there this entire time?!" I nodded. "Yeah, I was sent there from the outside because I was deemed a tad too dangerous. The guys outside Corinth thought that the country was abandoned. Guess they were wrong!" Varen suddenly put his massive hand on my shoulder. I was scared he would shatter my collarbone. "You are a remarkable warrior. The Inquisition is lucky to have such a powerful one many army such as yourself!" I grinned, trying to ignore the crushing pain in the shoulder from this dude's sledgehammer of a hand. "Yeah, well, I got a long way to go. Hopefully we get to beat up the New Militia together!"

The next session was a boring lecture about The New Militia by some guy who was under Yuko Shinigami, the commander of the stealth ops. He kept showing us figures and tables on the projector and I felt like I was about to fall asleep. Multiple times I was woken up by either Khione or Varen, telling me to pay attention. By the time the session was finished, Khione stretched. "What an informative lesson!" Varen agrees. "I especially liked how he was able to analyze the structure of the New Militia army so effectively. I didn't think they would have so much information on their tactics, but wow, whoever's been commanding them must have been extremely intelligent. Don't you agree, Mavus?" I was too busy daydreaming about Junon, that I hadn't paid attention to a single thing the guy had said in the lecture. "Yeah, totally."

And like that, we went off to dinner and went to do our evening activities. I wasn't able to find Junon anywhere, I guess she was off doing Darkstar stuff again. I spent the rest of my day playing with a floating piece of tech, a vision support tool that I had created. I gave it the name "Fulcrum Eye". It wasn't anything fancy, but I had since figured out how to bypass The Corinth Magical Border by having my scouts consistently figuring out ways to see through the illusion using Machine Learning. And no, I don't know jack about ML, all I did was will the machines to have the ability, also the ability to obtain data sets off of the Internet. Suddenly the eye lit up. The hologram changing from the Corinth Fields and my old college campus to a battlefield. Hundreds of corpses lay on the ground. The view was horrifying to look at. One man stood at the centre, I guess he was the one who was responsible for all the carnage. The man had no eye, and no arm, but the one arm he had was flaming red and black, shaped with a claw. I didn't know who he was, but judging from the fact that his features matched Junon's description, I could only guess his identity.

Samuel Mason, The Blackflame. The man looked sinister, and dangerous. A 0th Tier Metahuman alright, if he was able to take out so many people without a single scratch on his body. Suddenly, Blackflame looked at me. Dead in the eye. Fulcrum Eye suddenly started smoking, and a small red and black flame started to form at the edges. Holy crap! Who was this guy? How was this even possible! I started yelping, and threw the tech on the ground, commanding Main that was standing stationary by my nightstand to blast it to bits. Main uncovered its minigun from its shoulder, and peppered the thing with hundreds of energy bullets. The fire stopped, and Fulcrum Eye disintegrated back into its raw resources.

I didn't know much about Blackflame. All I knew was that he was the strongest of the most elite squad in the Inquisition. 0th Tier, no, possible even beyond that.

Chapter 5 - Team Junon vs. Team Amana

"We're taking on The Fox's squad?" Khione asked. Veran slammed his fist on the breakfast table, making me jump. "Yes! A proper challenge. The squad acknowledged by the Fox against the squad acknowledged by Junon. A battle to speak of!"

Junon smiled. "Yep. Today will be a match between the two teams based on capture the flag. You will be up against four other Inquisition recruits who were chosen to be supervised by Amana herself. I would warn you though, the fact that my leader had decided to watch over these guys means they are on another level." Truman looked at me. "Mavus, why are you so calm? Don't you know who we're up against?" I drank the rest of my orange juice. There wasn't any point being intimidated by those guys. Their powerhouse, a dwarven earth based mage was Tier 4 at best; a little drone strike from my aerial units would be enough to take them all out.

"Yeah. The leader of Darkstar herself chose to mentor these guys, in other words, they're a big deal." Veran proudly clapped my back. "The Maven is correct! We will fight with everything we got and make Junon proud!" I frowned. "Maven?" Veran caught himself. "Oh! My apologies Mavus, I mispronounced your name. But Maven sounds to heroic and warrior like. Don't you agree?" He was right. Maven. Damn, I liked the sound of it. "Maven it is man, haha". Veran laughed a hearty laugh. Khione looked at me. "Mavus, I know that your powers are through the roof in terms of sheer strength, but I don't know. There must be a reason why they were acknowledged by the Fox herself." I gave her a thumbs up. "Don't worrrryyyy about it Khione, I got this in the bag. These guys won't know what hit them. They'll be seeing stars once I blast them out of Corinth."

Junon sat next to me. Suddenly, I began to sweat like crazy. Perfect timing. Now Junon will get to check out my B.O. before the day even began. "Mavus... please remember, this is capture the flag. The point of the game is to capture the other team's flag, not obliterate the other team. Please remember Conlan's lessons on holding back okay?" I gave her a grin. "I'll hold back if they hold back. I'm definitely not here to make you look bad!" Junon managed a smile, and told our team to get ready. "Once you've prepared your things, meet in the forest at these coordinates. Good luck guys! And please remember, it's just a game. Don't take it too seriously!" Junon left the breakfast table.