A/N: Well, here you go, the beginning of the last part of my trilogy. I was going to put off writing this until I posted my Danny Phantom/Transformers crossover, but I'm having serious writer's block on that, so I'm shelving it for now.
Anyway, as for this story, I intend for it to be the most action-packed one yet, and to try writing for characters I haven't in the past. So, keep your eyes open for them.
All that said, read on!
Summary: Three years after their retreat from Earth, Zim and Jana begin their plans to conquer the Irken Empire. By instigating a war between the Irkens and the other major powers, the twisted couple hope to weaken the Empire to the point that they will be able to take over. Now, it is up to Dib, and those Irkens loyal to the Tallest, to stop Zim before he imposes his tyranny over the entire galaxy.
Disclaimer: All canon characters and concepts belong to Jhonen Vasquez. Anyone you don't recognize belongs to me.
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Galactic Armageddon
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Medgic System, Sector 93847-GWP, 2800 Hours Galactic Standard Time
The uninhabited star system known as Medgic was normally only occupied by its resident gas giants, their blocks-of-ice moons, and the few solid planets close to the local star that were too hot to support life. However, on this particular day, there were signs of life.
Floating in orbit around one the gas giants was a grey-and-purple colored ship that was shaped vaguely like a giant tuning fork. Any expert on ships would have recognized it as a Vortian battle cruiser; one of the only ones left in existence, in fact, ever since the Irken conquest of Vort almost a decade earlier. This particular ship was used as the mobile base of operations by the anti-Irken group known as the Resisty – and yes, they had in fact decided to keep the name, no matter how stupid it was.
On the bridge of the ship, most of the Resisty members were ambling about, trying to look like they were doing something important. Seated on a command chair in the elevated rear of the bridge, Lard Nar stared out the main viewscreen, ignoring his subordinates as he waited for the arrival of the people they were supposed to be meeting with.
Well, he was trying to ignore them, anyway…
"Will you please stop that whistling? It's getting on my nerves!" Lard Nar snapped at Shloonktapooxis, who was floating next to his head. The cone-shaped alien stopped his whistling and pouted at his leader.
"Aw, but I'm bored," he whined.
"Then go do something useful," Lard Nar said, before adding in a mutter, "Like jumping out the airlock."
Shloonktapooxis apparently heard him though, as he responded, "Uh, but wouldn't you have to find a new second-in-command if I did that?"
Lard Nar blinked, and then gave the cone a confused look.
"When'd I make you second-in-command?" he asked.
"I dunno," Shloonktapooxis said, tilting himself to one side in the equivalent of a shrug, "Me and some of the others were talking, and we all just assumed that you had."
Lard Nar stared for several seconds, then sighed and massaged his head.
"I need a vacation," he muttered, hopping out of his chair and heading down the hall towards the break room. Grabbing a soda from one of the vending machines, he began chugging it down, silently wishing for something a little stronger to help him handle all of the stresses and irritants he had to deal with on a daily basis.
"HEY BOSS!"
'Speaking of which,' he thought with a sigh. Turning around, he saw Spleenk running down the hall towards him, waving all four of his arms excitedly.
"What is it now, Spleenk?" he asked, letting the irritation slip into his voice. He swore to whatever god was listening, if Spleenk had come up with yet another stupid suggestion for what they should call their ship…
Spleenk took a few moments to catch his breath, before answering.
"I've got good news and bad news, sir," he said, "The good news is, a whole bunch of ships just showed up out of nowhere and have surrounded us! And it looks like they're all heavily armed!"
Lard Nar's skin went from dark grey to almost white as the blood drained from his face, and the soda can dropped from his hand as it went limp in shock; despite all this, however, he still managed to voice the first question that came to mind.
"H-How is that good news?" he asked.
Spleenk frowned, and scratched his chin with his upper right arm.
"Oh… wait a minute," he said, "That's the bad news."
"Then what's the good news?!" Lard Nar snapped, the color returning to his face as his anger over his subordinate's stupidity overpowered his fear over the situation.
"I found a ten-money coin!" Spleenk shouted happily, holding up said coin with his lower left arm.
THOWCK!
As Spleenk went flying from the punch he had just received to the jaw, Lard Nar dashed down the hall back towards the bridge. Not even giving the automatic doors a chance to fully slide open, the Resisty leader squeezed through them, skidding to a stop among the crowd of gathered freedom fighters, whom were all staring at the viewscreen in shock.
Floating directly in front of the Resisty ship was a vessel the likes of which Lard Nar had never seen before. It was shaped vaguely like a pyramid, its tip currently being aimed at them. Weapon emplacements were evenly scattered around the dark red-colored hull, stretching from the tip all the way back to the base of the pyramid, where the engines were located.
Quickly checking the sensors, Lard Nar found that at least a dozen more ships just like the one he was looking at were positioned in a circle around his ship, cutting off all routes of escape.
There was shocked silence on the bridge for several minutes, until the cloaked alien standing off to the side spoke up.
"Well, Captain," she said, "I'd just like to point out that this is what we get for answering a message from people we've never met."
"Shut it, Ixane!" Lard Nar snarled, "If anyone should be complaining, it's me – I was gone two minutes, and you guys just let us get surrounded! What is wrong with you people?!"
"Hey, it's not our fault," one of the other members said, "They just appeared out of nowhere!"
Lard Nar raised an eyebrow behind his goggles.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"It was like this," Shloonktapooxis said, "One minute there was nothing there, and then BAM! Space got all shimmery, and they were suddenly there."
"It seemed very similar to the cloaking mechanisms on a Megadoomer," Ixane added, "Except theirs actually, you know, works."
Lard Nar opened his mouth to retort, but before he could, a loud beeping emitted from one of the consoles. Tres, the three-headed agent, checked the console; continuing to look at it with two heads, he turned the third one to look at Lard Nar.
"They're hailing us, sir," he said.
The Resisty leader swallowed nervously, then gave the signal to open up communications with the other ship. He quickly ran a few ideas for what he was going to say through his head as the viewscreen went to static, before fully connecting with the other ship. However, all those thoughts were quickly forgotten as the image on the screen cleared up.
Glaring down at the assembled members of the Resisty was the most frightening creature any of them had ever seen. It seemed reptilian in nature, judging by the scales covering its body and the general shape of its head. Sprouting from its head were a pair of wicked-looking horns that curved forward past its face; Lard Nar and the others all simultaneously had the thought that they didn't want to experience those things – or the rather sharp-looking teeth it was baring at them – first hand. Adding to the rather ominous appearance of the unknown alien was the battle armor it was wearing: the black metal gleamed in the dim lighting of the room it was in.
As the Resisty collectively stared in shock at the terrifying creature before them, it finally spoke in a low, graveling voice that chilled them to their bones (those that actually had bones, anyway).
"I am General Kumozen," the beast growled, "And you are the Resistance, correct?"
"Uh…" Lard Nar stumbled for words as he tried to get over his shock, "Actually, it's the 'Resisty', not the 'Resistance'."
One of Kumozen's scaly eyebrows rose, before he shook his head and muttered, "Imbeciles."
Lard Nar frowned; his anger over being insulted quickly overpowering his shock and fear.
"In case you've forgotten, General, you are the one who contacted us," he pointed out, "Speaking of which, would you care to tell us who exactly it is you represent?"
"That is none of your concern, Vortian," Kumozen snarled, "Just know that my master is an enemy of the Irken Tallest, and wishes to see them dead."
That immediately caught everyone's attention.
"Sweet! We've got allies!" Shloonktapooxis shouted, flipping 360 degrees in the air.
"We actually have a chance of winning now!" Betty the Blob yelled, vomiting in excitement.
"Conga!" Tres shouted, and moments later, everyone except Lard Nar and Ixane had formed a line and were now dancing around the bridge. Before either of the only two Resisty agents who had an IQ beyond the single-digits could break it up, however, their new supposed ally did so for them.
"Silence!" Kumozen roared. Instantly, the Resisty members stopped short and began cowering before the reptilian creature; Shloonktapooxis, for example, dove behind Lard Nar with a whimper, using him as a living shield. Smirking at the reaction he had received, Kumozen continued.
"Now then," he said, "I believe you have misinterpreted my intentions for this meeting. While my people are more than capable of dealing with the Empire, my master feels it would be wiser to first gather strength. So, even though we have every intention of facing the Tallest and their followers in battle eventually, for the time being we will simply provide you with aid."
"What kind of aid?" Ixane asked, unable to hide the curiosity in her voice.
In response, Kumozen gestured off-screen with a clawed hand. Seconds later, one of the consoles on the Resisty's bridge started beeping. Croix, the floating brain alien, hovered over to the console and tapped away at the controls.
"We're receiving an information package," he reported after a few seconds.
"Correct," Kumozen stated, "And contained within that package you will find all the security protocols, access codes, and overrides for the prison facilities on planet Vort."
Lard Nar's jaw went slack.
"How… how in all six hells that my people believe in did you get your hands on that information?" he asked, shocked beyond rational thought.
Kumozen's barely visible lips pulled up into a sneer.
"We have our ways, Vortian. We have our ways. Until we meet again."
"Wait!" Lard Nar shouted, "Assuming this is legit, how do we contact you again?"
"You don't," the General snarled, "We shall be the ones who contact you."
And without another word, the viewscreen went back to normal, returning to an outside view of the Resisty's ship just in time to show Kumozen's ship activate its cloak and shimmer out of sight. Around them, the other ships did like wise, disappearing one by one until the Resisty were seemingly alone. Lard Nar turned to look at Ixane, who was examining the sensors console, but she shook her head in response to his unasked question.
"Their cloak's perfect," she said, "I can't tell if they've really left, or if they're still here watching us."
Lard Nar shuddered at that thought and turned to look at the two spider-like aliens managing the helm.
"Get us out of here," he ordered, "We'll figure out whether or not the information they gave us is accurate later; for now, I just want to get to someplace where I'm sure we're not being watched."
The pilots saluted and set about their task. Just as they were about to send the ship into hyperspace, the doors to the bridge slid open and Spleenk entered, holding an icepack to his head. Seeing that the ships from before were gone, and that everyone seemed excited about something, he raised an eyebrow.
"Uh… what'd I miss?" he asked.
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Bridge, Kumozen's Flagship, Same Time
Kumozen smirked as he watched the Resisty ship enter hyperspace in a flash of light. They were no doubt going to find a safe place to check that the information he had given them was legitimate. And when they found out that it was…
'It's so nice to see pawns playing their proper role,' he thought with a chuckle, before turning to his communications officer and ordering, "Establish a link with the Leviathan."
As the other reptilian being carried out his orders, Kumozen stood from his command chair, faced the viewscreen, and lowered himself to one knee. Seconds later, the image of Kumozen's master appeared on the screen, and he bowed his head in submissive respect.
"My lord," he said, "My task for Phase 1 is complete. The Resisty has been given the information as you wished."
"Excellent," Kumozen could hear the pleasure in his master's voice as he spoke, "Tell me, General, from what you observed, do you believe that those pack of idiots will do as we have anticipated?"
Kumozen was silent for several moments as he considered his answer.
"They seemed very… eager to fight against the Empire, milord," he said at last, "I have no doubt that they will act within the parameters of your scenario."
The Master was silent for a few minutes himself, before finally speaking.
"Is there something you wish to say, General?" he asked.
The General licked his suddenly dry lips, afraid to speak his doubts; however, his master would know if he didn't, and there would be consequences for lying.
"My lord, I do not wish to doubt your wisdom," he said, "But why must we act through these weaklings? While your plan is of course brilliant, it seems overly elaborate; our forces are numerous now, and we hold a technological advantage over the Armada, so why do we not face them directly?"
Kumozen half-expected his master to silence him halfway through his speech, but the only reaction he received at the end was a small chuckle.
"I appreciate your zealous attitude, my loyal servant," he said, "but look at it tactically; the Armada still outnumbers us greatly. And technological advantages can only go so far. However, once the Resisty ranks are swollen by this prison break and they begin an open rebellion, and the other conflicts I plan to set into motion have begun, the Armada shall be divided and weakened more than enough for you and your brethren to sweep in and easily eliminate the Massive - and the Tallest along with it - as well as those ships still protecting it."
Kumozen's blood was pumping fast now; the mere thought of battle was like a drug to him.
"As you wish it, my lord," he said, "We shall wait until these lesser beings have brought each other to their knees, and then we shall slaughter them all. And then, my master, the whole galaxy shall praise your glorious name!"
The reptilian clasped his fist to his shoulder in salute as he roared, "All hail Zim!"
On the viewscreen, the former Invader's maroon eyes glistened with a dark glee as the rest of his minions aboard the flagship took up the chant.
"All hail Zim! All hail Zim!" they shouted again and again.
"ALL HAIL ZIM!!!"
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A/N: Okay, I know that for a story described as my most exciting yet, this opening was kind of slow. However, I was going for the dramatic set-up thing, trying to lay the groundwork for what's coming. And believe me, there will be plenty of action later on in this story.
BTW, if anyone's wondering, I'm taking a lot of the Resisty members' names from Invader Johnny's fic "Downfall", since I didn't want to refer to them as "the cloaked alien" or "the three-headed alien" or so forth all the time. For the members Johnny didn't name, I'll come up with names for them later. And speaking of the Resisty, since this is my first time writing for them, how'd I do?
Next chapter: We find out what Dib's been up to for the last three years, while the Resisty launch an attack on the Vort prisons.
Until then, read and review!