Design
Lard Nar sat on his command chair on the bridge of the new Resisty ship, simply staring out into the space in front of him. He yawned, trying to rid himself of his boredom. "Ixane… tell me. How long have we been floating around in space since we got this new ship?"
"About five days," she responded. Even with her mostly hidden face, she looked just as bored as Lard Nar did. All of the Resisty members were like that. They signed on to the Resisty so that they could resist any irken attacks against the civilizations in the surrounding galaxies. Though Lard Nar, Shloonktapooxis, and Spleenk were having a rough time devising a plan to attack the irkens head-on, or to even release some of their own from the irken prisons. And while they were seemingly slacking off from the important matters, irkens continued to take more and more planets.
"And how long has it been since we attacked the Massive?" Lard Nar asked Ixane.
Ixane sighed. Lard Nar couldn't help but chuckle because of this. Ixane was definitely one of his most tactical and straight-forward person on the bridge when she first entered the Resisty. Now, she seemed a bit… out of it. "I'd have to check the records, Captain. But it has been a very long time."
"I was afraid you were going to say that," Lard Nar said with a short sigh. He turned to his left to see Shloonk and Spleenk close to him. Spleenk practically looked like he was going to fall asleep. "Can you two follow me to my quarters? I think we have a few things that we should discuss?"
"Sure, Lard Nar!" Shloonktapooxis exclaimed. Spleenk simply nodded.
Lard Nar gave them a nod in return before hopping off of his captain's chair. He led them down several corridors before heading into his personal quarters and closing and locking the door behind him. The computer automatically turned the lights on as they entered. "We need to do something. We have been circling this galaxy trying to find an opening where it would be viable to actually attack these stupid irkens, but we have been too hesitant to do anything!"
"Well, Lard Nar…" Shloonk started, his normal perky voice dropping lower. "We don't have a lot of people fighting with the Resisty."
Spleenk looked up at Shloonktapooxis, then down at Lard Nar. "After I boarded this ship, I think I only noticed… 10, 15 people."
Lard Nar blinked. He had noticed that the crew members were looking a bit… small. So it was clear that after the attack with the Massive, most of the Resisty members didn't have the guts to return for a second fight. Lard Nar cleared his throat. "Okay, our numbers are small, so there is no way that we'd be capable of handling any kind of irken armada."
"What if we looked for more people?" Spleenk asked.
"That's a good idea," Lard Nar said. "We need to find more planets that were harmed by irken advances and recruit some of the inhabitants. They'll surely have as much hatred for the Irken Empire as we do."
"That sounds like it could take a really long time," Shloonk said.
Lard Nar thought. "You're right. We're going have to split up and cover more ground that way. Spleenk, pull up a map of all planets that have recently been attacked or interacted with by an irken. We'll keep a few people on here to manage the ship while we're away, but a majority of us will have to go and do some… advertising."
"What if it gets dangerous?" Spleenk asked. "These planets were invaded by irkens, after all."
"I'll make sure that you get all of the proper resources," Lard Nar said. "Snacks, disguise makers, and a few weapons. We still have some intact, so they should be fine."
Spleenk and Shloonk nodded.
"Alright, then let's get to work. This is going to be somewhat of a long project, so we'll need to act fast."
The next day, Lard Nar brought himself onto the loading bay for his personal ship. He was holding the last big of cargo that he would need for his mission to be a success.
Lard Nar assigned himself to planet Meekrob. He had interacted with the Meekrob in the past, so he hoped that it would give him an edge. Also, he had heard about the irken invader's failure on that planet, so most of the Meekrob were still intact while also knowing of the irkens' intentions.
"Do you need anything else?" Spleenk asked. He was unfortunately assigned to planet Earth with the anonymous tip that there was an irken there.
"I think I can manage with what I have," Lard Nar said, stowing the piece of cargo in the back of his ship. "Just make sure that you're careful while you're away on Earth. Any sign of trouble, and I want you to hide and contact the Resisty ship to come and pick you up. The goal of this mission is to get people to join the resistance, not to lose any more."
Spleenk nodded before taking a few steps away from Lard Nar's ship. He was accompanied by Shloonktapooxis and a few other crewmembers who were assigned to various planets. Unfortunately, none of them were assigned to Vort. They all agreed that there was no way any of them would be able to manage a rendezvous mission on a planet that far gone.
Lard Nar stepped into his ship, briefly looking back at his crew before starting up the engines. He shot himself out into space, turning on his cloaking device shortly after. He didn't want to be caught and captured before his mission even begun, so he wanted to take any precautions he needed.
A couple of hours later, planet Meekrob was caught in Lard Nar's view. Everything seemed fairly similar to when he had been there the first time. He just hoped that things hadn't changed too much since then.
Though, that wasn't the case.
As soon as Lard Nar entered Meekrob's field of vision, he almost immediately got a transmission from the surface. Not wanting any trouble, Lard Nar accepted the transmission and saw a Meekrob security leader onscreen. "State your identification and your business here."
"I am Lard Nar, a former Vortian engineer," he said while standing up straight. "I want to talk to your leaders personally."
"How do we know that you're not just an irken in disguise?" the guy asked in a stern voice.
"I have nothing to hide," Lard Nar said. "Feel free to search my ships. And besides… my visit is about the irkens. I think I have something that your leaders might want to hear."
The guard thought for a moment, then looked to his left to start talking to someone. From what Lard Nar heard, he was asking for advice. He then turned back to Lard Nar and said, "Alright, we are sending you coordinates to a docking bay so we can search you and your ship. Please don't dock anywhere else or we may have to react violently."
Lard Nar nodded. "Yes, sir." Lard Nar ended the transmission and looked at his computer to notice a blinking red dot over what he assumed to be the proposed docking bay. He did as instructed and went down onto Meekrob and landed next to several guards. After putting on a gas mask since he can't breathe in Meekrob air, he opened up all of the accessible doors and stepped out of his ship. "Most of the compartments are open. Just… please don't make a mess in there. I hope to stay here for a few days, and I don't want to lose anything."
"If you aren't suspicious of anything Lard Nar, then you'll have nothing to worry about," the Meekrob guard said. He was the same one that Lard Nar talked to earlier. "Can you step aside while we take a look? You can tell the rest of the guards what you're here to do."
Lard Nar nodded. He wondered if they were even being remotely polite because he was a Vortian. They did have decent relations, so he hoped that he could use that to his advantage. He went up to the rest of the guards.
"What are you here for?" one of the guards asked bluntly.
"It's about the Irken Empire," Lard Nar stated. "I'm the leader of a resistance with the intent of stopping current irken advances and getting them to leave our planets alone. I'm hoping to convince your leaders to have some Meekrob join the resistance. I'm sure you have the same feelings I do about the filthy irken race."
"We do," the Meekrob said. "Although we have succeeded in… neutralizing the irken that was assigned to this planet, we still need to be cautious of anyone entering our atmosphere."
"What do you mean 'neutalize'?" Lard Nar asked.
"Once we've proven that you aren't an irken in disguise, then we'll tell you all about it on the way to our leaders."
Lard Nar smiled. Being a Vortian definitely was giving him an advantage. He felt… trusted. "Then I guess you'll be telling me very soon."
After another ten minutes, the guards finished inspecting Lard Nar's ship. They were a bit suspicious about his cloaking and disguise technology, but Lard Nar said that it was just a precaution. This prompted Lard Nar to go through some tests to see if he was wearing any disguise at that moment, but he came out of it without any worry.
"Are you sure you want to see our leaders?" the guard leader asked Lard Nar. "They would rather have everyone stay here and prevent this planet's destruction than to plan the destruction of the irkens."
"I have my methods of persuading them otherwise," Lard Nar responded. "It'll be for everyone's interest, I promise."
"I will take your word for it," the guard said. "I am Reddick, the principal guard for the Meekrob."
"Lard Nar, leader of the Resisty," he responded. Before Reddick could get the chance to make fun of the Resisty's name, Lard Nar proceeded by saying, "So… tell me about this neutralized irken? What did you do with her?"
"We actually didn't do much," Reddick said. "She did most of the work. We found her in the middle of a destruction zone while several irken robots were attacking her. We arrested her and she was held on trial to see if we should… finish the job. Though, she explained to us that even though she was instructed to invade Meekrob, she was actually sent those robots by her leaders in order to destroy her."
"Sick irken scum," Lard Nar said. "Don't even care if they destroy one of their own."
"Our legal system thought similarly," Reddick responded. "And we thought that we could use this to our advantage. If she was going to be destroyed by her own leaders, then that means she probably isn't very fond of her race anymore."
"So you neutralized her… brought her on your side," Lard Nar said, finally understanding. "That's genius. And she must have given you intel on the irken race."
"She has given us plenty of information that we plan on utilizing the next time that we cross paths with the irkens. She could become an important tactical addition to the Meekrob." Reddick continued walking forward. "Would you like to see her? She is currently in a building nearby our great hall."
"I would," Lard Nar said. "We are fighting for the same thing, after all."
"Then I will have you meet her first," Reddick explained. "It'll take a moment for me to get my leaders to allow you to speak to them. So, that should give you time to learn what you want to know."
Lard Nar nodded and was soon brought into the inner realm of the Meekrob's main city. Closer to the center, Lard Nar was led to a medium-sized building that was surrounded by several Meekrob. Reddick asked the ones guarding the door to step aside and the two of them were allowed to enter. They went down several hallways and corridors until eventually Reddick brought Lard Nar to a specific door. He opened it and they both entered into what seemed like a large home. Lard Nar realized that this must've been where some of the higher-ranking people were housed in order for them to stay together or for them to stay safe.
"Tenn, you have a visitor," Reddick said.
Tenn entered from the adjacent room. She had small stitches below her right eye and was wearing a simple blue gown rather than her normal irken uniform. She eyed Reddick, someone she knew very well, and then saw Lard Nar. "Who is this?" Her voice was solemn, which was something that Lard Nar didn't expect.
"This is Lard Nar. He is here to see our leaders in order to persuade them to push back Irken forces."
Tenn blinked. That clearly wasn't what she wanted to hear. "I see…" She looked back up at Reddick. "I'm assuming you told him… about me."
Reddick nodded. "Yes, considering his goal, I felt he needed to know that information."
"I… I'm sorry for what has happened to you," Lard Nar finally said. "I know how that feels."
Tenn nodded. "Yes, I'm sure you do. You should've seen Invader Larb when he returned from Vort. Happiest irken I've ever seen, even though there were battleships right behind him destroying several innocent lives. Before I'd probably laugh, too, but now I see what my precious Tallest are capable of when they don't see someone as fit for their job."
Reddick nodded. "I'll give you two some privacy while I request for Lard Nar's audience at the great hall." He stepped out of Tenn's quarters.
Tenn watched Reddick leave, then turned back to Lard Nar. "So… you're planning the destruction of the Irken Empire, huh?"
Lard Nar shook his head. "No. That's much too ambitious. I'm just trying to stop and revert the damages of Operation Impending Doom. If we can do that, we can then discourage the irkens from ever attacking again."
"Even that sounds ambitious," Tenn said.
"Yes, but I'd rather go down fighting than doing nothing," Lard Nar said.
"That's valiant of you," Tenn said, maintaining a solemn tone. The more Lard Nar heard her talk, the more that he realized that she adapted to the Meekrob's sense of soft talking. It was refreshing when compared to the irkens' loud, boisterous voices.
"Thank you," Lard Nar said. "But… I won't be able to do this unless I increase the resistances' numbers. I need help."
Tenn sighed. "Well, Lard Nar… when I was first spared by the Meekrob, I figured that they'd use me and my information as a weapon against the Irken empire. At first, I didn't want to be involved in that way, but they have only further proven how terrible the Tallest are. The Control Brains, too. It makes trying to destroy me seem like nothing."
"You don't want to take part in the partial destruction of your own species, do you?" Lard Nar asked.
"Well listen to yourself," Tenn said. "None of the things you just said would ever make me feel… right. But… they have wronged me… and a lot of other people, too. So… I want to make an effort to return the favor. Whether it be for you, the Meekrob, or Mi-…" Tenn was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Is that Reddick already?" Lard Nar asked.
"No, normally he just barges in," Tenn explained as she went to get the door. "Privacy for me is now a thing of the past. I don't think he gets it." Tenn cleared her throat and then opened the door, revealing a tall figure on the other side.
Lard Nar stared at the tall figure on the other side of the door. A female irken, as referenced by the curls in her antennae, and big plum-colored eyes, matching her PAK. She was roughly the same height as the current Tallest, if not taller and she had only two fingers for each of her hands.
Though, Lard Nar did not need all of those details to discover who was really on the other side of that door. "M-miyuki?" Lard Nar asked. "M-miyuki?" he asked a little louder.
Miyuki caught Lard Nar's eyes and her initial reaction was complete shock. Lard Nar didn't know what to think of it. He desperately wanted to say more to her, but it seemed… that Miyuki had different ideas. She left the doorside, running down the long corridor.
Lard Nar gasped. "Miyuki!" He ran past Tenn and saw Miyuki running. He followed her and said, "Miyuki, please stop! I want to talk to you!"
