Prelude:

Pharavanna was no place for the timid.

The planet, distant from the smoking hellhole of earth was an uncanny sight to the people that first settled there, seeing that its life was very similar to that of earth on a basic level, but that evolved in a completely different course. This made complex animal and plant life forms seem wildly distinct from earth’s life. The animals of Pharavanna were larger thanks to the large supply of oxygen in the atmosphere. There was also slightly weaker gravitational force on the planet than earth, since the planet was smaller. Still, though, the planet did have many of earth’s key features, such as its abundance of both salt and fresh water sources and many geographical similarities.

On the surface of Pharavanna, corruption and chaos was ever apparent. The corrupt and unmerciful Nexactus Corporation had already started to claim dominion over swaths of land on Pharavanna, to build its self-owned capital known as Crescendurn. This roaring metropolis was also known as “The Big Light” to uncivilized factions that dare set foot near the glowing rat’s nest. The owners of the city, Nexactus, also owned a military, spaceships, and a massive abundance of wealth. The appearance of Crescendurn was actually very deceptive. While the city possessed beautiful architecture, and buildings with a clean and sleek appearance, those who were actually in power were horribly exploitative and corrupt, keeping a massive amount of slaves to do hard labor, dangerous jobs, as well as being forced to participate in cruel scientific experiments.

But Nexactus weren’t the only ones seeking dominion over the planet of Pharavanna. The newly empowered space travelling Chinese mafia known as “The Red Sickle” opposed the Nexactus Corporation without being any better. The Red Sickle were a group of dishonorable thieves who were motivated by fame and plunder, and saw Nexactus as the perfect target. The Red Sickle constantly spat in the face of Nexactus by distributing weapons or materials that they considered illegal without any regard for the corporation’s whims or desires. It condoned saber rattling with Nexactus and used violence and fear as its most effective methods.

In each of these two brutal and malicious groups, however, there were some individuals who just didn’t cooperate with the hand dealt to them, and who seek not the values of who they find themselves with. Even though humanity found this new planet, the nature of politics was not changed, and rebellions from earth not only survived, but also exceeded in their goals. One of the most famed defectors was not one most would expect. It was one who wandered, but was not lost. One who died, but was not defeated. One who was strong, but untrained. One who was inhuman, yet the most human of all.

And his name was Stavikk Smokecutter.

Act 1: Beginning

Scene 1: Origins

He was never a timid soul.

Until just recently, Stavikk Smokecutter was a worker for Nexactus sent to clean their machinery, which were previously used for human experimentation, and were often covered with blood and medical solutions. He was positioned in Eris Laboratories located far at the outskirts of the city. Stavikk had witnessed several experiments that day, and it was only the beginning of his afternoon shift. Yet, he was never prepared to see what he was about to.

It was then that he witnessed the doom of the subject named Blake Pierce, a white man who looked to be in his early 20’s, killed in experimentation in the most gruesome of ways. The good look that Stavikk got of him revealed that the man was begging for his life, with tears running down his red, blood-filled face. The man had a strange substance rubbed on his skin by the doctors there, and he was suddenly he appeared to be in excruciating pain as he was strapped to the experimentation chair. His skin appeared to become paler, and suddenly parts of his skin popped-open, with parts of his bones appearing to pop through, and his wild muscle contractions adding to the sense of torture. His curly, black beard was soaked in sweat and blood, as he was bleeding profusely from places his bones fell through. Stavikk was in pure shock from seeing such a horrid sight, and started banging on the door with his forearm and shoulder pads, even punching the door as hard as he could. While Stavikk wasn’t particularly frail, his attempts were to no avail, as the stainless steel door was meant to withstand shotgun blasts. There was no way he was getting in-at least not of his own volition. The officer that he would often answer to, Corporal Sanders, who was intent on immediately punishing Stavikk’s misconduct, spotted him. He started running towards Stavikk, with a stun gun firmly in his hands. Stavikk, seeing this, really did try to get away, running as fast as he could, before finally being put into a seizure at the hands of Sanders.

“We’ve got a new volunteer”, stated Corporal Sanders as he dragged Stavikk’s unconscious body into the room, where Blake’s flattened body laid. The staff of the experimentation room ungracefully moved Blake’s corpse off of the chair, only to have its occupation replaced by Stavikk. Barely conscious, Stavikk was only able to hear the few words from Sanders: “Seems you weren’t too hesitant to be on the other side of that glass after all. As the injectors cut into Stavikk’s flesh again and again, he faded in and out of consciousness from excruciating pain. Stavikk moved around from the torture, desperately trying to make it stop. As the pain continued, he felt the range of it slowly expanding, but he wasn’t sure why.

He mentally became more and more animal-like, spiraling out of control into a realm of pain and hatred. His sanity snapped, and he was pushed to the limit of human willpower, every fabric of his mind focused on stopping what was happening. After an unknown amount of time to Stavikk, which seemed like ages, he felt his body regain the flexibility it had lost. The weapons used to harm him seemingly disappeared, and Stavikk felt nothing but rage and determination. “Oh God, he’s comin’ back!”, said one of the doctors in the room. “Get outta here or-“. Stavikk thrashed wildly with his arms, to gain vengeance on those who had tortured him. Every time that his hands tore through someone he recognized as a threat, he felt great satisfaction. Tore…through? He wondered what had happened to set him free before an array of sharp pains appeared on his chest, sending him further into a rage. He realized that he had no time to think, and that if he thought, he was dead. He saw, through the glass, an armored soldier shooting through the thick glass, which Stavikk almost immediately pounced on, after charging through the glass screen. Since the soldier was much smaller than Stavikk, he was essentially torn in half by Stavikk’s hands of hatred.

Screeching. Alarms. Stavikk recognized the noise, as he had heard it only when there was an emergency, but Stavikk now realized that he was the emergency. He was the cause of panic and mayhem. Stavikk, winded and thwarted, but not defeated, knew he had to escape, and that he was running out of time. Stavikk picked up an assault rifle from the soldier he killed. The rifle seemed much smaller to Stavikk than it used to, and was somewhat easy to carry. He tried to use the soldier’s armor, as well, but to no avail, as it could no longer fit. He ran towards the exit of the complex, as he knew that a getaway by train, regardless of its implausibility, was his best shot at escape.

He opened the doors realizing he had been led right into a trap. Standing right outside the doors was a firing squad of Nexactus soldiers, making not a flinch or sound. Stavikk knew it was game over. He already absorbed as many bullets as his body would allow, and he was already starting to bleed profusely. He did the only thing he knew to do. He raised his hands in the air, hoping that the firing squad would spare him for some absurd reason. Corporal sanders came out of the crowd of soldiers to arrest Stavikk, the very person that Stavikk most wanted to kill, but knew that he couldn’t if he was to stay alive. “Logan was my cousin, you know. Asshole” remarked Sanders in the angriest voice Stavikk had ever heard. “The only reason you’re alive right now is because I actually follow orders, but I’m gonna watch you get beaten for hours”.

Stavikk and Corporal Sanders were as different in appearance as they were in personality and values. Sanders was a man who valued order and organization, and wanted to control everything around him and in his life, making him fit in very well with the Nexactus Corporation. Corporal Sanders, though, didn’t truly work to make Pharavanna a better place, but he used his leaning towards order as an excuse to others and himself for his lack of goodness on moral grounds. Stavikk, though, was much more chaotic. While his unrefined and unkempt appearance may have stricken others as him being barbaric, he was actually a courageous individualist who opposed the fascistic nature of Nexactus. He was patriotic, but to a different culture, or perhaps no culture at all. Stavikk was quite sensitive, but he was often seen as being thick-skinned because of his stubbornness. Those two traits naturally gave him a flair for the dramatics. However, this wasn’t always a good thing, as the act of defiance that he actually got nailed on would land him in arguably the most dangerous prison camp on the continent.

The train ride was one of the worst experiences that Stavikk ever had. He looked at his hands, which, while cuffed, actually told him a lot. His hands were blood-soaked, and possessed longer and sharper nails, or claws than he used to have. He also noticed that his skin had brown patches all over, this despite him being European in descent. After reconsidering, there were a lot of ways that Stavikk noticed he had changed. He had horribly scarred skin, which is to be expected from gunshots and human experimentation, and much longer arms than before. Guards on the train spouted off-handed insults at him, which, while not exactly the greatest, didn’t bother Stavikk as much as where he was going, somewhere he had only heard rumors about, the Sepam Gulag.

Eventually, Stavikk arrived at the Sepam Gulag, led to his prison cell, which would be his new living quarters for the next four months. While a lot less than ideal, it was much better than execution outright. The Gulag made prisoners do an absurd amount of physical labor, which was made even worse by the cruelty of both the guards and prisoners there. Stavikk was alienated culturally from the prisoners there. Stavikk always stood out in a crowd, and it always seemed to work to his disadvantage. There was one person, however, that immediately appreciated Stavikk and his ability, Evan Scorchwood, or known by nickname as “The Bane” by his fellow inmates. Evan and his gang, known as “The Reapers” worked in secret with Stavikk in subtle ways. While pretending to alienate him like the others, they would actually have his back in a lot of social situations, knowing that he was the last piece needed to escape the Gulag.

Evan Scorchfield was a slim half-black man who was a specialist in long-range firearms as well as being an effective scout. Evan Scorchfield was always a very quiet person, but when he spoke he seemed to know exactly what to say. Evan Scorchfield was very calm and adaptable. On the flipside, though, he was also sly and mischievous. The Reapers, however, while being a prison gang, were actually a small-time band with only 2 other members. Alyce Mcdune and Dolph Arnold were the last 2 reapers. Alyce was a weapon specialist and master craftsman, able to forge weapons and other devices for countless applications out of almost anything. Dolph Arnold was a computer wizard and master hacker, able to get through almost any firewall with ease or moderate difficulty.