Genesis Saga

- Prologue

            Doctor Thaddeus Blonsky stalked down the corridor amidst howling alarms and flashing warning lights. An aide strode swiftly beside him as they moved against the tide of personnel running about like chickens with their heads cut off. A deep growl rose in the jackal’s throat.

            “How did this happen?” he snarled as a squad of their private security task force marched past.

            “Subject G-2HD, sir. We were running it through some standard tests when... when it proved to not be as sedated as we thought…”

            “Obviously,” Blonsky hissed, rounding a corner. Thick smoke at the end made him pause briefly. “…It is no longer in this section of the facility, correct?”

            “Yes, sir. It turned on its handlers and escaped the lab, where it then tore through laboratories 3 and 4, as well as the storage facility where the other experiments are kept. It was put down near the exit to the facility, but…” The small squirrel clutched his clipboard nervously. “…But not before several of our other projects… escaped.”

            Blonsky spun about, his yellow eyes wide. “What? Which projects?”

            The squirrel flinched. “Well… it looks like G-1HD, G-3HD, and G-3HK.”

            Blonsky muttered an obscenity and stalked into the smoke, waving a hand in front of his snout as he entered the ruined laboratory. “And let me guess – the Hypnotist didn’t even get a chance to condition them before their escape, did he?”

            “No, sir. Mister Erskine was waiting for your approval, as per your request.”

            Rolling his eyes, Dr. Blonsky stood aside as a fire crew jogged past. The laboratory was in ruins – equipment sparking and smoking, cables torn from the ceiling, and bodies strewn about, mutilated, as though they had been tossed into a blender. The jackal’s stomach churned and he had to look away, sickened.

            “That stupid white freak,” he muttered. “You know what the problem is with that stoat? For all his abilities, he lacks a brain of his own with which to use them.” He shook his head and scowled. “So, we have some escapees with their memories still intact. That means that they’ll no doubt search for that which is most familiar to them – and leaves us with no end of trouble on our doorstep.”

            Blonsky signaled a technician to his side, his mind racing. They had very little time. “Gather a team together and download as much data as you can before the end of the day and get ready for transport to Site 2. Inform the security team to evacuate immediately – the fires have more or less gone out and there’s not much left here worth salvaging.”

            The technician nodded and scurried off. Blonksy turned to his aide. “There’s nothing left here beside a few G-1s and G-2s, yes?”

            The squirrel nodded.

            “Good. Destroy them.”

            “Sir?”

            “You heard me,” Blonsky snarled. “There’s nothing more to learn from them.” Blonsky stroked his grey goatee as he gazed about the ruined laboratory. “Hrm… they’ll be coming back here, I’m sure of it. And no matter what precautions we’ll take, there’s nothing to stop them from gathering some intelligence from what we’ve left behind. I’m sure the escapees will fill in the blanks as well…”

            Damnit… if only the Hypnotist had gotten to them before they had escaped! “Might as well try to thin the crowd… buy us some time to set up Site 2. Our timetable has been accelerated and our superiors will not tolerate failure. Tell the Hypnotist to work on… ah… yes. G-4VS and G-2AK. Tell him to go deep. I do not want any possibility of regression. They are to guard this facility until we tell them otherwise – understand?”

            The squirrel nodded. Blonsky curled his lips back and bared his teeth. “Well? Go!”

            The aide nodded and scrambled away. Blonsky turned his attention back to the recovery effort and shook his head. Their superiors would not be happy. This project was not supposed to exist at all. To have three of their experiments escape… well, this was not good at all.

            One thing was certain, though: this would be a perfect chance to test their projects’ real-world applications in a live combat setting. Unfortunately, they weren’t ready for this stage of the project yet.

            Blonsky shook his head and turned away from the devastation. There was much to do and little time in which to prepare.

- Chapter Hardrive

Hardrive pressed his hand to the scanner. There was a flicker of green light as the computer read his handprint and a moment later the stasis field vanished. “There,” he said, turning a faint smile to the occupant of the cell. “My mother’s completed the bloodwork – aside from some key chromosomal alterations, we’re identical. So… you’re free, Rom.”

            He watched her stand up and stretch and then looked away, unsettled. She really did look like his twin sister. Except that according to her, she was him. Or was. He remembered how on those rare occasions where his body was transformed, he had longed to be returned to normal. How must she feel, then, to have the same desire and yet know that it would never be possible since this was her true body?

            “Good,” she said. “I was starting to get claustrophobic in here.” Gods, she even sounded like him. A softer voice, maybe. A few octaves higher – but the similarity was there.

            Hardrive shifted his weight from one leg to the other. He looked back up to her but found his mouth abruptly dry.

            Rom met his eyes. There was a flash of understanding within that familiar blue gaze. “…There’s something you want to ask me.”

            “Yeah… you probably know what it is, too.”

            “Great minds think alike,” she said with a wry smile.

            “Do I really make those kinds of bad jokes?”

            Rom shrugged. “Only when I… you… we’re uncomfortable.”

            Hardrive frowned slightly. A moment of silence passed. And then, as one, they both sighed and ran a hand through their bangs. Catching sight of each other, they froze and dropped their hands to their sides.

            “The voices,” Hardrive murmured.

            “No,” Rom answered. “No… and no hallucinations either.”

            Hardrive’s stomach churned. He suddenly felt sick. “Then… the scars…?”

            Rom shook her head.

            “That’s why G-1 was able to use so many elements,” Hardrive muttered. “The two of you aren’t marked. There’s no barrier preventing you from tapping into elemental magic.” Hardrive closed his eyes. “The chameleons were right…”

            Rom blinked. “Who?”

            “The chameleons. You know, the colony that Cyrus belongs to.”

            Rom frowned. “I… have no idea what you’re talking about.”

            “You don’t? But I thought you had the same memories as me.”

            “I do, up to a point.” She picked up her grey over-shirt and slid it on.

            Hardrive frowned. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

            Rom paused and considered. “The last thing I remember? Being struck by that Remnant master. I…” She lapsed into silence. “I remember waking up and thinking something was horribly wrong… that someone had done something to me. Not long after, I was told what happened… what I was….”

            “That… the battle with the Remnants was over eight months ago…” Now that he thought about it, that would have been the perfect time for a psychic to go poking around inside his head. He had been unconscious for days, completely unaware of his environment. They would have had no trouble in copying his memories.

            But it left a big question: why? If the Hypnotist could manipulate memories, why hadn’t he been attacked, or his memories altered in some way?

            What if they had?

            Hardrive shook his head. That kind of thinking could lead to some places he really did not want to go. “So your memories are not necessarily up to date. That’s good to know…”

            “What does this have to do with a chameleon colony? I didn’t even know there was a colony here on Tolaria…”

            “It’s not important,” Hardrive said. He managed a faint smile. “We’ve prepared a room for you in the dormitories. It’s not much, but…”

            “It’s fine. I don’t expect much else, really.” Rom frowned and stared at Hardrive, considering. “…I know you’re trying to dodge the question. And… I won’t pry. But I know better than anyone the kinds of secrets you’re carrying around. You should know that I’ve been thinking… I don’t know, clearer, since I… woke up. Which means that what’s been happening to me – to you – over the past few years isn’t genetic.”

            “You’re a third-generation clone with an altered genetic structure,” Hardrive said quietly, a ghost of a smile on his muzzle. “I don’t think its safe to make that claim.”

            Rom shrugged. “Maybe you’re right. But maybe you’re not.”

            With a parting smile of her own, Rom moved to the door and left. Hardrive remained standing in front of her cell, considering her words.

            If it wasn’t genetic, then that means that the chameleons were right. The mistake he had made so many years ago, the one the gave him an edge in battle he was just now understanding, might also be responsible for his… condition. Which means that there’s a possibility that he might be cured – but if so, would he still be strong enough to fight the kinds of battles the Raiders needed to fight?

            It didn’t matter. Not right now. There was work to do, a crisis to solve. There’d be time to figure it out later. There was always time.

- Chapter Hypnotist

            Doctor Thaddaus Blonsky stalked out of the elevator and nearly collided with the albino stoat waiting to meet him. He snarled and stepped past him at the last moment, proceeding down the brightly lit hallway.

            “Have you heard, Hypnotist? Those blasted creatures have already stormed Site-1! Control just detected the detonation of the explosives we planted.”

            “Indeed,” Emil Erskine – otherwise known as the Hypnotist – agreed, adjusting his round, dark sunglasses. “The security team is in a state of panic. Their thoughts make it difficult for one to think.”

            Blonsky snorted and continued down towards his lab. Erskine loved to brag about his psychic abilities but Thaddeus knew the truth. The Hypnotist’s abilities were vastly overrated. True, he was a virtuoso at plucking memories out of others, manipulating them, and implanting them… but that only worked when his subject was sedated or simply did not realize he was there. There was also his burgeoning talent for illusion, but he was far from being adept at that particular application of his skills.

            “So,” Blonsky said, pushing aside his personal distaste for the creature, “in your… professional opinion… what can we expect out of them next.”

            “A momentary regroup would be in order,” the Hypnotist mused. “However, if they found any information at all regarding this facility, they will mount an expedition immediately. They could be here by tomorrow, if such was the case.”

            Blonsky slowed, his expression grave. The amount of information stored at the Site-1 facility was daunting. To assume that everything could be transferred and destroyed in the limited amount of time they had to evacuate would be overly optimistic. No, there was surely some scraps left behind they were unable to erase. Not much, but perhaps enough to provide the location of their new base of operations.

            A snarl of frustration rumbled in the hyena’s throat. This would not do at all. They would continue hounding him until his entire operation was eradicated. His employers would be tremendously displeased with him if he should be arrested. In fact, the lengths which they might go to in order to silence him sent a shiver down his spine.

            However, there was one other alternative. The recent ruckus in the city between the Reavers and the Raiders made it clear that conventional security forces were simply ineffective against their special abilities. But if they were to face enemies their equals, if not their superiors in battle… well, that would provide some interesting real-world combat data that he could work with…

            A slow grin spread across Blonsky’s muzzle. The Hypnotist furrowed his brow, his muzzle obscured by the high color of his black leather coat.

            “So, we should be expecting visitors,” Blonsky murmured quietly. “Courtesy dictates that we extend them a warm welcoming, does it not?”

            Erskine remained silent as he strode beside Thaddeus.

            “Eheheh… Erskine, I want you to implant modified memories into all of the experiments currently on-site. The same general template will do – absolute loyalty, a disdain for their counterparts, willingness to sacrifice all for victory… that sort of thing.

            The Hypnotist’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “…Are you serious? All the experiments?”

            “Indeed. Oh, but there is no need to bother yourself with project G-2RS. But do pay special attention to project G-5A, if you would be so kind.”

            “G-5A,” Erskine said slowly. “I must remind you that further memory alterations could drastically affect her mind, not to mention the natural psychic resistance she seems to develop with each of our sessions.”

            Blonsky waved a hand dismissively and paused beside the door to his laboratory. “If it proves too troublesome, then we can always rely on the discipline collar. Say what you may about the former Gemini Foundation’s management; their products were quite effective.”
            The Hypnotist inclined his head to one side and turned down the hallway. Blonsky watched him go with a predatory grin on his muzzle. One more day and his tests would be complete – and whether or not his projects survived the coming battle, he would have a plethora of data with which to enhance the next generations.

- Chapter Krieg

            By the time General Krieg of the Tolarian Defense Force arrived at the laboratory complex in the Rock Canyon Zone the Raiders had already left and the facility had been secured. For the second time in one week he was running clean-up duty and he had started to get a little annoyed. And when he got ‘a little annoyed,’ that usually meant the officers were in danger of suddenly finding themselves without jobs.

            He stood on the surface of a large, irregular-shaped crater where a single battlecarrier had blown open the secret elevator shaft that led into the complex, referred to by the Raiders as Site-2. He had been briefed as to its basic function on his way over – a large genetic research facility linked to the recent appearance of Raiders clones.

            Clones… as if they didn’t cause enough trouble themselves, now they had scapegoats to blame their lack of control on.

            The colonel who had led the team that stormed the complex jogged over to Krieg, a noteputer in one hand. He was a dark-colored wolf named Mustang, a competent – though ambitious – officer Krieg approved of. Mustang slowed to a stop steps away from the general and saluted smartly. “At ease,” Krieg said absently. “Report.”

            “Sir. After enlarging the entrance to the facility, I led a squad down to secure the complex. We encountered token resistance from a private security force that seemed to have been in disarray after combating the Raiders Renaissance group, who entered the facility some time before our arrival.”

            “Hn… calling us in only after they’ve gone in and blown things up themselves, of course. Continue.”

            “Yes sir. Halfway through our raid the entire complex was shaken by an explosion on the lower levels. The first team to make it down found the Raiders, along with several enemy combatants who surrendered unconditionally to us. The Raiders did not offer specific details on what had occurred, but the entire lower level was destroyed. Preliminary analysis informs us that it had been wired to several explosives beforehand, suggesting the Raiders were not entirely responsible.”

            “Of course not. And our intelligence team? Where they able to extract any useful information from their computers?”

            Mustang shook his head. “Their systems were attacked by a computer virus before we could access any files. Nearly their entire system was crippled, the data stored there irreparably corrupted.”

            Krieg growled softly and ran a hand back through his short, bristly hair. “Why am I not surprised. So this is nothing more than a clean-up mission, the Raiders handing all of the enemies off to us to lock away. Is that about right?”

            “Yes sir, it looks that way.”

            “Surprise, surprise.” Krieg folded his hands over his barrel-like chest and started walking slowly around the perimeter of the crater, Mustang moving beside him. “Alright. So, prisoners. What do we have?”

            The colonel checked his noteputer. “The majority of the prisoners are traditional gun-toters, sir. Our guess is that they’re a private mercenary group specializing in security. We can probably transfer them to a municipal prison in the city. In addition, we have the chief scientist who worked at the facility – Thaddeus Blonsky. We also have an albino stoat the Raiders called the Hypnotist. His fingerprints revealed him to be Emil Erskine, a talented psychic adept at memory manipulation and illusion. We sedated him to be safe. I assume you’ll want them kept at the Triskelion.”

            “Indeed. And what of the clones? Who do we have?”

            Colonel Mustang tapped the screen of the noteputer a few times. “Our initial raid recovered clones of the Raider agents Jenet DarkLowe and the one called Nearon, both apparently assassin-class combatants. They were found in a chamber harboring an enormous dragon which we are unable to confirm is a clone or not.”

            Krieg arched a brow and glanced at the colonel. “A dragon? That’s interesting.”

            “Yes sir, though extracting it might be difficult. It was unconscious and the Raiders suggested keeping it heavily sedated. It is also quite… big, sir, and would require a separate hole to be dug in order to extricate it.”

            “Probably raised in that room for who knows how long. Continue.”

            “Upon linking up with the Raiders, we were able to claim a large number of clones. Arisa Kameko, Alstair ‘Hype’ Kokinyu, Tomoshibi Hedgehog, and Comet Fire were among the clones recovered. We were told that of them all, only the Comet Fire clone had non-technologically-based powers, so we’ve sedated him until we can transfer him to a dampener cell. We also found an… odd… clone of the Raiders commander, Hardrive Echidhog.”

            “Odd? Stranger than that half-decomposed mess we have locked up at base?”

            “In a different way, sir. Unlike the others, he was not unconscious, but instead seemed to be in great physical agony. He kept reaching for his eyes, as though there were some great pain there, but we were unable to identify the source of his agony. We sedated him for his own benefit.”

            Another clone of the Raiders’ commander. Krieg wondered just how many of them were made. “Interesting. You’ve transferred them to the dampener cells in your battlecarrier?”

            “Its in progress right now, sir.”

            Krieg nodded and looked out over the crater. He could not help but wonder exactly what had gone on down on that lower level that warranted its destruction. And with the private records all destroyed, he was fairly certain he would never know.

            “Alright,” Krieg said at length. Lets go visit the prisoners. See what they can tell us.”

            “Yes sir.”

- Epilogue

            Hardrive leaned back in his chair and massaged his eyes. He had been pouring over the data they had acquired from the Site-2 complex for hours but had not been able to make much sense of what they had found. They had only recovered bits and pieces – Blonsky had taken precautions to prevent his notes from falling into the wrong hands.

            He had come across a few helpful files, though. Probably the most informative was a chart that listed all the active clones as well as what generation they were. For Raiders use, he organized a chart of his own, along with a few notes to help identify the clones they had encountered:

Arisa (Flame-Eater): Gen-2

Arisa (Multi-Element User): Gen-4

CF (Heat Manipulator): Gen-4

Crystalis (Crystal Heart): Gen-2

Hardrive (Flawed Copy): Gen-1

Hardrive (Rom): Gen-3

Hardrive (Sadistic Bastard): Gen-4

Hype (Al): Gen-3

Hype (Wrench-Thrower): Gen-4

Jenet (Ninja Bitch): Gen-3

Nearon (Perfect Double): Gen-4

Ramah (Savage Dragon): Gen-2

Tom (Chaos Fire): Gen-2

Vector (Wind Blade): Gen-4

            Leaning forward in his chair, he began to sort through the files one final time. He’d give it another fifteen minutes and then turn in for the night.

            He was skimming a report on the Hypnotist’s effects on Gen-4 clones when he spotted a designation he had never encounter before. G-5A.

            G-5A? The clones all had similar designations, consisting of their generation and the original’s initials. Rom’s identification had been G-3HD. Al’s, G-3HK. So G-5A… Gen-5? Was there another generation they hadn’t encountered? And who was ‘A’? Arisa? No, her clones had been called ‘AK’ – Arisa Kameko. So who was ‘A’?

            Hardrive ran a quick search and found the designation used only one other time in a technical reference sheet. Surprisingly, it linked to a whole new page he hadn’t known they had downloaded. He clicked on the link, furrowing his brow with thought.

            G-5A.

            Generation-5: Alice.

            The new page was a report on the kitsune Blonsky had been controlling in their final battle. The one who knew all of the Raiders’ fighting styles, who, along with Al, had decimated the group of Raiders who first encountered her.

            Hardrive leaned forward, his eyes widening.

            The DNA of Arisa Kameko had been used as a base since kitsunes were genetically tailored for magic/energy manipulation. The DNA of Hype Kokinyu and Hardrive Echidhog had been spliced together and added to the base, allowing the subject the ability to harness and wield a variety of energy types. A few strands of the subject called ‘Nearon’ had been added to provide the physicality necessary for quick, surgical strikes with deadly precision. The entire genetic stack was balanced by an infusion of DNA donated by Tomoshibi Hedgehog and Ramah Stormset, the former providing the raw physical ability to contain magical energy and the later simply providing physical strength and durability to the entire creation.

            Hardrive reeled. The list went on. Rave. Jenet. Vector. A little bit of each of the Raiders had been combined into the culmination of Blonsky’s genetic research: an entirely new entity created from the very best genetic materials available. ‘Alice’ was the result.

            Alice wasn’t just a clone. She possessed all of the Raiders’ physical strengths but none of their limitations.

            Hardrive read on. According to the report, the Hypnotist had, under Blonsky’s direction, picked out only key aspects of the Raiders memories and inserted them into Alice. Namely, all the memories and experiences tied to weapons training and energy manipulation. In early tests she demonstrated no particular aptitude in any one field of energy manipulation but was theoretically capable of wielding any form of magic the Raiders practiced: Spirit, Entroph, Elemental… given enough time, the report speculated that she could learn summoning as well.

            It was mindblowing. What they had done to the Raiders’ clones was abominable, giving them memories of lives they hadn’t lived and forcing loyalty onto them by manipulating their minds. But this… this was monstrous. They had created an artificial being from scratch and given it a multitude of minds and memories. It was amazing that she had been able to function at all.

            But… according to the reports, she hadn’t functioned well at all. In early tests, her body proved stiff and unresponsive, her mind sluggish and childlike. It was only after adding a genetic cocktail donated to Blonsky by his financial backers (what?) that she had stabilized. Not just stabilized, but began to improve exponentially. She had even begun to develop light psychic abilities, enabling her to resist the Hypnotists’ abilities. That was why they needed that mechanical collar to control her.

            But what had they given her? The report didn’t say. And his backers? Hardrive ran another search but could not find their name – only an emblem. The letter ‘E.’

            Hardrive sat back in his chair once more and stared at the ceiling of his room. He knew Blonsky had to have gotten funding from somewhere and this only confirmed his suspicions. It also meant that there was someone else out there plotting against the Raiders. But who?

            Ugh, it was no use thinking about it now. It was late and his head was spinning. He leaned forward and started closing all the files he had opened on his noteputer. A thought made him pause.

            In the end, Alice had joined them and ensured that no more clones would be made. He had wondered if she had died in the explosion, but there was the chance she had escaped. After all, Al had run off when no one was looking.

            The more he thought about it, the more sure he was. Alice was alive, somewhere. If she was as strong as they were with a mind just as sharp, there was no way she would let herself die like that.

            Hardrive sighed and shut down his noteputer. Clones, conspiracies, and the thought of a creature out there with all of their strengths but none of their weaknesses. Thoughts and problems for another day. For now… for now, just focus on the fact that they won one. They put a stop to the clones, they hadn’t killed anyone, and they prevented the Genesis War from coming to pass.

            Days like these, it actually felt good to be a Raider.