Under their scrutiny, her skin burned.
She was deaf in all of the silence and her mouth was dry.
For too long, only the hum of machinery was heard. She could feel a buildup of emotion and waited for the explosion and so she clamped her mouth shut and shut her eyes so they wouldn't see her weakness.
Instead, he spoke in monotone and quiet.
"You're no better than he is. Even that larvae bested you and all he was, was a waste of genetic material. What does that say about you?"
She felt her body grow heavy. She couldn't find the words to speak, let alone speak them.
"You failed your janitorial duties..a duty lower than low. You are worthless to the Empire. You contribute nothing and cause only strife, Tak." he continued, the sound of her name made her move as if to look at him, but she knew too well what would happen if she did. She remained on her hands and knees where the guard threw her, and clenched her fists against the cold metal.
He hovered near an extended his arm to point his twig like finger at her. "I have no choice but to sentence you to death by de-paking."

Tak tensed up and her breath hitched. She held it without being aware and now she could feel hot tears forming. She squeezed her eyes shut hoping to hold them back, but that only squeezed them from her lids and they dropped heavily to the ground.
"M-my Tallest, please! I was so close! It was that damned human!" She declared. She finally rose her head to look him in the eye but all she saw was a tall, blurred figure.
If she could see him clearly, she would have seen him leering down at her with indifference and without pity. He didn't care for Earth or Zim, so he didn't care that it wasn't yet conquered. He cared that this Irken defied his law and only further proved her uselessness.
"Shut up." He barked, "How am I to believe you can fulfill an invaders duty if you can't even follow such simple commands given to you before you went rogue? Do you think defying the Empire will prove you are loyal to it?!" he shouted.

Tak hung her head and tried to remain rigid in spite of the tumultuous ravaging of her soul. "It's not fair-" she whimpered to the ground.
"Oh, boohoo, you didn't get the job you wanted so you thought disobeying the Empire would put you in it's favor. That's a smeets logic! We can't have smeets in our Armada." he sneered.
"NO! It was Zim! He destroyed our planet and ruined my test! I was sentenced to janitorial duties because of that failure of a insect! He ruins everything!"
Tak tried to hold her composure but she shook violently.
"You disobeyed your commands, Irken Tak. A violation punishable by death." Red replied calmly. He squatted before her and got inches from her face to continue. "I'm sick of your antics. I'm sick of your face. I'm sick of you miserable defectives."
Tak leaned back, intimidated and embarrassed. She was a mess and was just sentenced to her death because her leader saw her as nothing but a waste and a failure. Worse was his borrowing crimson eyes and his strong facial features. He was handsome as he was ruthless.
Tak forced herself to look away and breathed shakily.
Red took her chin and forced her to face him again, but she kept her eyes elsewhere. "Oh, Tak. You had potential. You could have been great. Perhaps..more."
Tak shook and closed her eyes, his breath becoming hotter and nearer to her face. There was silence and she waited, despite everything, for him to close the gap between them, but instead she felt her head thrown to the side hard enough to throw her off balance.
She was shocked and stared at the ceiling for a moment before propping herself up on her elbows and looking at Red who was hovering away.
He waved his hand, "Take her away. I'm done with her." he said dismissively.
Tak climbed to her feet and opened her mouth to object, but before she could utter a word, guards grabbed her arms and roughly hauled her from the room and toward her doom.
"My Tallest!" she wailed. "I can do it! I am an Invader!"

The door separating the hall from the consulting room swooshed shut and cut off her desperate pleas for mercy.
He waved his hand over the control panel then gazed out of the window into deep-space.
From behind him came Purples voice.
"Why?" He asked, confusion and anger evident in his voice.
"Because," Red began, "It couldn't go on any longer. It's for the best."
"The best? For who? You've killed her!"
Red turned, his hand lingered on the control panel, "She wouldn't be able to bear it. She has a strong will but a weak heart."
"And I guess you don't, huh?"
"No, not by much, but I can't go. Nobody will miss her, but the Empire needs the both of us. I'm willing to endure, but I can't watch her suffer."
Purple shook his head. "She'll remember, you know."
"Yes, but by then..I'll be gone and she will move on."
"She will never forgive you, even when she finds out what you did for her. When she wakes with her Pak on a new body, she'll still be the same Tak. She'll suffer."
"Yes, but without me around, it will lessen over time."he said, then faced the window with his hands behind his back.
"I don't understand you."
"No, what you don't understand is love."
"I don't want to. Not if it makes me do crazy shit like this."