The Adventures of Mavus
"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 distress signal from his old friend Junon Gareth, that was sent to all of Corinth and its neighbouring countries in an attempt to recruit as many 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 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.
