Traitor's Legacy: The Claughter Chapter 38

Chapter 38: The Lazarus Machine

            “Well, even with the hyperdrive jump, it has been a long journey. Still, welcome to Marsara!” Reed said while opening his arms at the sight of the blue planet from the ship’s windscreen. “I’ve never visited this planet before but many humans described it as being a sanctuary. I hope they’re right.”

            “Sanctuary? How so?” Jaden queried.

            “My people have the reputation of having the largest army of all the races that currently exists.” Xiara answered. “That combined with our state of the art technology and our colonization of multiple planets makes us a strong force. Hence, our civilians usually feel safe under our hands.”

            “Even after the civil wars?” Jaden asked.

            “Only five recorded civilian deaths. During war, we try to avoid as much civilian deaths as possible. We earned our reputation with careful precision.” Xiara replied.

            “That would mean that the best counter against an alien army is to use civilians as meat shields but of course, who amongst our dimwitted ancestors would think of such a thing right?” Reed jested. “Not saying that using civilians as meat shields is a good thing though.”

            “Reed’s probably right. Some of the military generals used to tell stories about how foolish human commanders were during battle. Let’s just say that some of them were surprised to hear that you’re a lot more effective than we expected.” Xiara added.

            “You really think I am even worthy of the title, ‘Commander’?” Jaden retorted.

            “Well, alien military generals as old as a hundred and twenty thought so. Why not?” Xiara replied. “Anyway, Reed, take us to the king’s castle. I’ll direct you to the nearest docks.”

            “As you wish my alien lady. I hope they aren’t planning to shoot us down like the VX Synthetics did.”

            “Don’t worry. I already informed them of our arrival.”

            Piloting the Crimson Spinner with Xiara’s directions, Reed flew the ship past several patrolling dreadnaughts and straight into the planet’s atmosphere. He scanned the planet for the king’s castle, which he reckoned would stand out from all the civilian buildings. Xiara assured him, however, that when the castle is within sight, she would tell Reed about it.

            As Jaden observed the planet from the windscreen, she was amazed at the beauty of the planet and was glad to be in such a planet for a change. The skies were blue, with a pair of small suns illuminating the planet, and the terrain surrounding the city was bright green. The buildings were all white, polished and slender in design. Some stood as tall as the ship’s flying altitude while others were so short that they were difficult to be seen, especially since the Crimson Spinner was flying very quickly.

            Rather than conventional vehicles like cars, the aliens frequent flying cars that makes us of hover technology. She also spotted a few aliens using teleportation technology to move from one building to another. A few others were also using jetpacks and Reed, being the reckless pilot he was, almost rammed into a few of them. She could not imagine living such an easy lifestyle and felt appreciative that the aliens were willing to risk it all for the humans. In retrospect, she was beginning to see why King Zian hesitated to help her people even though the aliens and humans have been at peace lately.

            “There! There’s my king’s castle.” Xiara said as she pointed at what seemed to be the largest building within the city. The castle was wide and tall enough to reach the skies. Like other nearby buildings, it was white in color, though not as slender. The design resembled the castles of human medieval, implying that the aliens still held a connection to their own past. The very scale of the building dropped Jaden’s jaw and she could not help but imagine how the building would look like within.

            “Oh wow. That thing is so massive and looks so pristine, I’m amazed that not many ships crashed into it yet.” Reed commented.

            “Actually, many ships did, especially the ones with drunken pilots in it.” Xiara replied, confirming Reed’s words. “Still, we aliens want the castle to keep the current design to remind us of when we first started inventing things and that is during our medieval period. Despite our technological prowess, we often try not to forget our older designs and our roots.”

            “Your people really deserve some amount of admiration. Not many humans grasp our past like your people do.” Jaden told Xiara. “It is only through our past that we learn to move forward.”

            “True enough Jaden. And thanks.” Xiara replied. “Now, it’s time to see what that butthole is doing. He loves to warm that throne of his. Time to give him reason to stand up.”

            “You don’t like Zian?” Jaden asked.

            “I was joking Jaden. Zian and I go way back so we often trade jabs. He was close friends with my mother so he felt it was his duty to look after her only surviving daughter. I’m still amazed he chose a human over my mother as his wife but I can’t blame him I guess.”

            “Speaking of which, what are the chances that we’ll meet his wife? I’m actually interested to see her.”

            “Unfortunately, no chance at all Jaden. His wife isn’t exactly popular amongst us, especially the xenophobes. He confines her to within the castle grounds so that no angry aliens could get their hands on her. She agrees to that so it was a mutual agreement.”

            “Ah well. If an alien can end up marrying a human female, she must be hot.” Reed commented. “So, perhaps you can tell me where the nearest docks are?”

            With directions from Xiara, Reed flew the Crimson Spinner straight to a docking bay not far from the castle. As they neared the docks, Jaden could see a crowd, seemingly waiting outside the docking bay. She had no idea why the crowd was there but Xiara told Jaden, “Wherever Zian goes, a crowd is sure to follow unless he enters his castle or when he leaves the planet.”

 Reed entered the docking bay and slowly descended the ship, landing it on the platform. He lowered the loading ramp and spoke on the intercom, “Alright you bunch of misfits. We have landed on Marsara. Since we’re in friendly territory, everyone will have to leave.”

            “I certainly hope the aliens leave my big girl alone. The Crimson Spinner has been through enough.” Reed added.

            “Don’t worry. The Crimson Spinner will be here when you all return.” Xiara replied. “Anyway, thanks for taking me back to my home planet. I’ll escort you all to Zian if you want. He will certainly like to see us together.”

            “Alright. Give us time to pack up. I think we’ll be staying here for quite a while so we might have to take everything we need.” Jaden answered.

            About an hour later, the party walked down the loading ramp. Xiara led the party out of the docks and straight into the city grounds. As Jaden left the docks, she saw the familiar sight of the alien King, Zian Prime, who smiled at the sight of her party. The nearby crowd stared as the party moved in, seemingly in shock of the sight of humans on their lands.

            “Welcome Jaden Highland and crew to our home planet of Marsara. You like what you see so far?” Zian asked.

            “I must say, yes. I never came to another planet as wondrous as this.” Jaden replied.

            “I’ll say. This place is far more beautiful than Qurrentine could ever be.” Kida added. “I bet Hathgrave would love to be summoned here but sadly, I won’t be doing that.”

            “And Xiara, glad to you see return. How’s the situation with the VX Synthetics?” the alien king queried.

            “Solved of course. I got help from Jaden, Jaina and Vader.” Xiara answered.

            “I see. Well, thanks for the assistance. The last thing we need is the VX Synthetics helping the Cult of Iblisan. Their army is formidable and we might as well surrender if they joined the cult.” Zian repled. “You know Jaden, now that you’re here, perhaps I should show you something which I believe should be brought to your attention. If you would come with me…”

             He gestured to the party to follow him before turning around and walking away with his bodyguards. She and the rest of the party tailed him, walking through dozens of tall structures. The crowd that assembled followed them, quietly staring at the party. It was clear to Jaden that the aliens still do not trust Jaden and her mostly human crew but she try to worry about what they think.

            Zian eventually come to a stop outside an entrance to his castle. The crowd remained outside the castle grounds but continued staring at the crew nonetheless.

            “Wait, Zian, is this really the best time? We’re not even sure if the project is successful yet.” Xiara queried.

            “Maybe not but we may not have another chance like this. Might as well do it while Jaden is here.” Zian replied.

            “What project is she talking about?” Jaina asked.

            “I’m pretty sure you all are aware of the dinosaurs we aliens resurrected in Nibelheim. They are a part of a project we called the Lazarus Project.” Zian explained. “Well, the project has its flaws. They are not perfect as you should probably know by the now. The carnivores became herbivores and vice versa.”

            “What’s the aim of the project?” Tareshah queried.

            “We aim to create a machine, dubbed the Lazarus Machine, capable of bringing back a long dead creature back to life through cloning. We would use a tiny little sample of DNA to reconstruct the creature and bring it back to life. If we are successful, we can bring back a formerly extinct race or species.” Zian answered.

            “Like the dinosaurs?” Reed asked.

            “Yes. However, we do not consider it a success due to a side effect which causes the dinosaurs to have twisted personalities. We’re trying to fix the problems with the twisted personalities. The last thing we need is an herbivorous creature eating us up. We’ve lost a lot of scientists who were eaten up by what was supposed to be an herbivorous creature. But, recently, one of our latest clones came out perfectly like it should be. And the best part is that the creature is a horse.” Zian said.

            “A horse?” Kida exclaimed while Reed gasped in shock. “You’re kidding right? Horses are extinct and we never saw you guys cloning them.”

            “Trust me; we have been cloning horses as often as we have been cloning dinosaurs. The problem is the twisting of the personalities that the Lazarus Machine does. But then, this horse came out perfectly like the original should be and we decided to keep it away from other horses, lest it gets eaten up.”

            “So why are you informing us of this?” Jaden asked.

            “Ms. Highland, you humans are known for mounted combat while riding a horse, at least during the medieval period. We figured that you could use one that we have resurrected perfectly.” Zian replied.

            “What? You want to give the horse to me? But, I don’t even know how to ride one or look after one. We humans never rode a horse ever since their extinction which was hundreds of thousands of years ago.”

            “Jaden, we are aware that you humans are no longer educated on the care of a horse. Hence, we accessed our old archives and found several blocks of information that could help you on that.”

            “Old archives? You aliens actually have information on horses?” Gavin asked.

            “It is our curiosity that brought us this far in terms of information and technology.” Zian replied. “Still, I’ll leave it to you. Do you accept the horse as our token of alliance?”

            “Well, when you put it that way…you’re actually willing to give up the one successful clone?” Jaden queried.

            “Yes. It won’t be the only one that comes out perfect so we should be able get another one in the future. In the meantime, this horse, which we cloned from a breed trained for war, will serve you well in any ground combat.” Zian answered.

            “Come on Jaden! It is a horse! We never saw one before. We might as well take advantage of the opportunity.” Lucas said while nudging her.

            “He’s right. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.” Markus added.

            “Alright. Take us to the horse.”

            “Very well Jaden.” Zian said as he opened the door to the lab. Once the door opened, Zian noticed that the hallway leading to the lab was dark. “That’s odd. Why are the lights turned off?” He used a nearby switch to turn on the lights but the light revealed something disturbing.

            The lights revealed an alien corpse lying on the floor on a pool of blood. The sight caused the nearby crowd to gasp while the party looked on with shock. Zian approached the body and turned it over, revealing a few bullet wounds littered all over the torso.

            “This scientist was murdered.” Zian muttered out. “Somebody has infiltrated the lab.”

            Zian stood up and turned to his bodyguards, “Guards, alert the rest of the castle. Hostiles have infiltrated the castle grounds.” The duo nodded and ran to the castle entrance.

            “Zian, what’s going on?” Xiara asked.

            “I’m guessing Iblisan saw the value of the horse we cloned.” he replied while pulling out a rifle holstered on his back. “Seems like we have to fight our way to the horse. You all in?”

            “Hell yeah.” Jaden replied while unsheathing her katana.

            Zian nodded and marched into the lab with the party tailing him. Upon opening another door, the lab was revealed to be in a ruined state. Wires were dangling from the walls and ceilings and sparks were flying out of holes caused by bullets or sword slashes. Much of the equipments were destroyed and severely damaged and windows were shattered.

            “This facility is no longer adequate for experiments and testing. This unit suggests rebuilding and repairing the damage.” Vader commented as the party walked through the lab.

            “You’re right. It’s going to be a while for this lab to be repaired and usable for the project.” Jaina replied.

            As the group rummaged through the ruin, Jaden spotted a dead scientist on the floor with a pistol on hand. In front of him was the corpse of what seemed to be one of the intruders. Jaden checked the apparel and her suspicions were confirmed when she saw a familiar insignia on his sleeve.

            “Iblisan’s cultists. I knew it.”

            “Killing unarmed scientists…this is brutal, even by the standards of the Cult of Iblisan.” Xiara said with a clear tone of shock.

            “Not really. I’ve seen plenty of civilians die by the hands of the cultists.” Jaden told Xiara.

            “But I thought Iblisan isn’t one for killing civilians, unless they directly threaten him?” Xiara asked.

            “That doesn’t mean that all of his cultists share the same views as him. Some of them, especially those who follow Dark Viper, openly attack civilians on sight.”

            “She’s not kidding. Markus and I have seen plenty of murders ourselves.” Lucas added.

            “I can’t imagine living a life seeing murder at every corner. Suddenly I feel so fortunate.” Xiara commented.

            “Don’t be Xiara. We all have darkness in our pasts. For now, we need to know what happened here.” Jaden replied.

            “Everyone, try and keep your volume down. The horse’s chamber is not too far off and assuming that the cultists are still here, they will be there. We got them pinned down so let us ambush them from stealth.” Zian ordered.

            Complying with his words, the party started tiptoeing while Vader, whose feet were not designed to do so, activated a hovering mechanism to move in silence. They followed Zian, walking through multiple rooms and hallways, before reaching the chamber that held the cloned horse. With its doors wide open, the party could see two cultists standing outside a cage with their weapons holstered and their attentions on one another. The party waited outside the room under Zian’s command.

            “We ought to kill these cultists but not before we find out what they want with the Lazarus Machine or the horse. Hopefully, as we listen to them, we can find out what they want.” Zian said.

            “Zian, I think I have a better idea.” Reed muttered. “Jaden, you remember how Vader’s disguise look like right?”

            “Yeah. He greatly resembled Dark Viper.”

            “Maybe we can use Vader’s disguise to pry out some answers for them. That is, of course, if they wall for it and Vader can somehow speak in Viper’s voice.”

            “This unit has enough samples of Dark Viper’s voice for mimicry.” Vader replied.

            “Oh, alright. It is still a gamble though. They may see through his disguise.”

            “Well, it is better than sitting here hoping that they say anything. We’ll go through with the human’s idea.”

            “The name’s Reed Robinson by the way.”

            With that agreed upon, Vader activated his disguise, creating a holographic body that gave him an appearance that greatly resembled the notorious Dark Viper. In addition, to add on to the disguise, he borrowed Jaden’s katana and held it in a manner similar to the Reverse Grip fighting style. He then marched into the room, trying to mimic Viper’s walking style, which was usually comprised of fast stomps.

            As he neared the two cultists, they turned around and recoiled at the sight of Vader. Jaden’s heart raced as she was fearful of what might happen if the cultists did not fall for the trickery.

            “Dark Viper? Iblisan never said that you’re coming.” one of the cultists said, causing Jaden to sigh with relief.

            “Yeah. And you’re a lot taller than we remembered.” the other cultists added.

            “Are you two fools here to serve the cult or to question my presence? Do not test my patience!” Vader spoke in Viper’s voice. Reed giggled at the act, amused by Vader’s attempt to speak like Viper.

            “Alright. We’re sorry.” the two cultists answered simultaneously.

            “Now report. What have you done thus far?” Vader requested.

            “Well, we managed to sneak into their lab and killed all the scientists as Iblisan ordered. He wanted to ensure that none of the scientists could run out and warn the rest of our attack.”

            “That would explain why the cultists killed the scientists.” Xiara muttered out.

            “We’ve reached the Lazarus Machine and the horse but we’re thinking on how we’re going to transport it off world without being noticed. That bloody fallen angel probably never thought this through.”

            “Why would Iblisan want the machine and the horse?” Vader questioned them.

            “Iblisan heard about the success these aliens had in creating a perfect clone so he wanted to use the machine to bring back any of his deceased lieutenants back to life. He also wanted to clone that Jaden Highland and use the clones as his own personal minions. Of course, she needs to be captured for that to happen. As for the horse, he figured he will use it somehow.”

            “Son of a…” Jaden whispered. “As if clones of myself would listen to his bidding.”

            “Alright, that’s all we need to know. Let us go in and finish them off.” Zian ordered. He gestured to Jaden, asking her to go in first due to the fact that she’s unarmed. He told Jaden to retrieve her katana from Vader if she can.

            Suddenly, an alarm sounded the moment Jaden stepped into the room. It shocked Jaden, causing her to stand up. The cultists, as startled as she was, looked around before spotting her. They pulled out their rifles and was about to shoot. However, in a very swift slash, Vader cut their throats, causing them to choke out blood. They slowly fell onto the floor and died a slow death.

            Zian ran to a nearby console and deactivated the alarm. As the party walked into the now hostile-free room, Jaden asked, “What the hell was that? Did I like trigger something?”

            “That alarm was only supposed to sound when one of the clones created by the Lazarus Machine stepped through the door. The sensors would pick up the artificial genetics and DNA, which then triggers the alarm.” Zian explained.

            “But, I’m not a clone…am I?” Jaden queried.

            “Well, I don’t remember cloning a human so, maybe the system was just buggy there. Still, everything turns out alright. Nice job VX Synthetic.”

            As Vader’s disguise dissipates in a flash of light, he replied, “Compliment acknowledged.”

            Zian approached the cage while the rest of the party followed him. As he passed by Vader, the VX Synthetic passed the bloodied sword to Jaden, who quickly sheathed it. The party then gathered around the cage which held the formerly extinct creature known only as a horse. The party was awed at the sight of a creature which they only listened to in stories.

            The horse was grazing open hay that was left in its containment. It spotted the party outside its cage and stared at them for a while. It then neighed several times and stomped the floor before returning back to its food. To Jaden, the horse did not seem threatened by their presence but rather, was just welcoming the new faces.

            “Man, I wish these creatures were never extinct in the first place.” Kida whispered.

            “You and me both Kida. I wish I could ride it.” Reed said after nudging her shoulder.

            “Well, since you all are interested in it, I think I might let it out of the cage for a while.” Zian said. He approached the cage door and unlocked it. He opened the door and whistled at the horse, trying to grab its attention. Hearing the whistles, the horse turned to Zian and began walking out of the cage. A sit left, everyone, save for Vader and Zian, backtracked, afraid that the horse may attack. Still, Zian reassured them that horses are peaceful creatures.

            As the horse stood out of its cage, its attention was fixed on Jaden. Its eyes never left her and she began to wonder why the horse was always staring at her. Eventually, it trotted towards her, causing the rest to disperse while Jaden was forced to the wall behind her. Her heart throbbed faster and it got nearer, fearful of what the horse was about to do to her. She pulled back her face and closed her eyes as the horse was within breathing distance of her.

            Suddenly, she felt something soft and wet stroked her cheek. It stroked her cheek again several times and she opened her eyes to see what was going on. The horse was rubbing its nose upon her, tickling her and causing her to giggle. When it tried to do so again, she pulled the horse in and nuzzled it. The horse was merely being friendly. The horse then rests its head on her shoulders and all she could do was to wrap her arms around its neck. The tightened the grip before releasing it.

            “Guys, it’s alright. This horse is very friendly.” Jaden reassured the rest. Listening to her, the rest of the party approached the horse.

            Reed rubbed the horse’s body, feelings its warm fur underneath his palm. He then commented, “Well, I touched it and it didn’t explode. He’s alright then.” He then began stroking the horse and eventually, the rest followed suit. Regardless, the horse still did not move its attention away from Jaden.

            Zian approached Jaden and told her, “The horse seems to be attracted to you somehow. The only time I see it behave as such is when it sees another cloned horse. Of course, we had to stop it before anything bad happens.”

            “Maybe the horse just likes her because she’s beautiful?” Reed suggested.

            “Don’t be stupid Reed.” Jaina reacted.

            “Hey I was just kidding. Still, I’m pretty sure even a horse can see beauty when its lays its eyes on one.”

            “You know Jaden, with the alarm and the horse’s attraction to you, it seems to suggest that you are a clone created by the Lazarus Machine.” Zian suggested.

            “But that’s ridiculous. I’m not a clone. If I am, I would’ve known by now.”

            “True. Still, quite a coincidence come to think of it.”

            “Tell me about it…”

            “Anyway, I’m glad to see that you all are appreciating what the scientists here died protecting.”

            “Iblisan will pay for their deaths.”

            “And with you leading the Alliance mounted on a horse, I’m sure we’ll succeed. So, you have a name for it?”

            “You haven’t named it?”

            “Didn’t have any reason to and since it is yours now, you name it.”

            “Well, I’m guessing this one is a male. Since he’s the one lucky horse created to be just like his original…lucky…lucky…I’ll call him Lucky.”

            “Simple. I like that. Lucky it is then.”