Alright, before we start, I'm going to point something out: this fic takes place four years after the end of The Smeet. Though it's not obligatory to read it beforehand, I recommend you do take a look at it if you wish to better understand certain aspects of this story. By now, Ilk herself is nine years old (the equivalent of a teenage human, approx.), so she has grown taller and wiser. I'll be updating every saturday, hopefully, if real life doesn't get in the way.
Well, without any further ado, enjoy!
Lost
Chapter 1- The New Doctor
The Massive. Somewhere Within Deep Space...
Working in the Massive was perhaps one of the most desired jobs in the Irken Empire.
Not only did it pay well-unless you are a service drone, of course-, but it gave anybody the chance to impress the Almighty Tallest and get on their good graces. And that doesn't happen very often.
Only the best of the best (and tallest of the tallest, though not more than the Almighty Tallest) were considered by the Control Brains to be assigned to the flagship of the Armada, most of those chosen were Elites from any division, though the most abundant job was either that of a navigator, a cook or a medic.
Lena was very happy the Control Brains on Irk assigned her to work on the Massive as the third option.
She was one of the best medical technicians, and also one of the most brilliant to ever graduate from the Academy.
Not to mention she was pretty tall too; if she stood face to face with one of the Almighty Tallest one could notice she was only about six inches shorter than them.
Her body was unique too; compared to other Irkennettes she had a thin waist and big hips, both covered in a bright aquamarine bodice which matched her blue-green eyes and a long white skirt that touched the ground. Her PAK was of the white variety, showing her status as a Medical Class technician.
"Here we are, doctor Lena," the pilot of the spittle runner announced as they neared the Irken flagship. "The Massive, pride and joy of the Irken Armada."
Lena's eyes widened as she stared at the colossal ship through the window. It was even bigger in person, and it was surrounded by hundreds, no, thousands of smaller ships that composed the rest of the Armada.
After landing in the hangar, Lena tentatively looked around in awe at the big amount of ships and vessels parked in there; some were taking off to join the communion of vessels outside while others landed in their place to have their tanks refilled or for the pilot to stretch his/her legs.
Then again it wasn't named the Massive for nothing, right?
Lena had to snap herself out of her admiring. Okay, now that I'm here I should report myself to the Tallest. Where to find them…? Perhaps she should ask around. She was new here, after all, and didn't know her way around the place. She neared towards the nearest soldier. "Excuse me?"
The soldier in question, who turned out to be an Irkennette like her, instantly went rigid and saluted, waving her antenna as a greeting. "Invader Tenn, ma'am."
Lena nodded. Impeccable manners. "Where may I find the Almighty Tallest, Invader Tenn?"
"Tallest Red is… busy for the time being, but you will find Tallest Purple in the bridge. I can escort you there if you wish, ma'am."
Lena nodded again. "That's very nice of you. Lead the way."
She followed Tenn through the long corridors, passing by lots of crewmen, guards and soldiers, all of them shorter than Lena, and as such showing the respect that implied.
A while later they came to the Bridge. Like Tenn said, only Tallest Purple was there snacking on some curly fries on the Tallest's couch, his feet on top of a service drone while the navigators seemed to be in a sort of panicked frenzy.
"My Tallest, the Sobrekt have taken Agricultia!" one cried.
Purple looked far from alarmed, however. He looked more like annoyed. "The Sobrekt. Why must it always be the Sobrekt? How many casualties?"
"They killed all the Irkens on that planet, sir."
"Damn lizards…"
Tenn stepped forward and saluted. "My Tallest, the new doctor is here."
"Finally!"
Purple jumped off the couch and hovered down to the ground floor to take a closer look at the newcomer. Lena bowed her head and wiggled her antennae respectfully.
Like she imagined, her head reached up to the Tallest's chest. And he seemingly was impressed by that.
"Ah, I see you're pretty tall," Purple pointed out. "Good. What is your name?"
"Doctor Lena reporting for duty, My Tallest."
"Well, doctor Lena, welcome to the Massive. Tenn here will give you a tour around to make sure you don't get lost on your first day, and the rest of the medical crew in the infirmary will catch you up with how things run around here. Clear? Good, now if you'll excuse me, I have to deal with the lizard issue."
With that he returned to his seat, grabbed a doughnut and continued to complain about the Sobrekt.
She had heard the Empire and the Sobrekt had declared war on each other, but she had hoped it was only a rumor. There was a reason the Sobrekt hadn't been marked for conquest, nobody would dare start a conflict with them.
And from what she heard, they had gotten a hold of the planet used for the agriculture that fed the Empire.
Tenn brought her out of her thoughts. "Ma'am, if you'd be kind enough to follow me."
Lena blinked. "Right, lead the way."
Tenn showed her around most of the areas on the ship, particularly the cafeteria, the barracks, armory and laboratory.
"It really is bigger in person." Lena commented mid-way through the upper corridors.
Tenn nodded. "Indeed. No enemy vessel will ever dare to go up against the Massive and live to tell the tale!"
"I know it's probably not my business, but how is the war against the Sobrekt going?"
The Invader's antenna lowered slightly. "Turns out they are tougher and have more resources than we anticipated. They have already taken two planets and wiped out a small portion of the Armada sent to their home planet."
"Well, they didn't earn their reputation as the 'most bloodthirsty race in the galaxy' for nothing."
They came to a grim-looking set of doors compared to the rest. Judging by the characters on it, Lena could tell what this room was before Tenn could even explain it. "These is where the Control Brains of the Massive are. Access is restricted, however, only the Almighty Tallest and the specially-trained technicians are allowed in unless the Control Brains themselves ask for your presence."
"It's not fair! I c-can't…! I won't, you can't force me!"
"Ilk, wait!"
The doors opened and young Irkenette that was almost Tenn's size (only a few inches shorter) stormed out and ran down the hallway.
In the few seconds Lena managed to see her, she noted this one had ruby red eyes and lacked a PAK. Lena was momentarily stunned until she recalled what PAK-less smeets were.
Seconds later Tallest Red emerged too, looking very upset.
"Ilk!" he called, but by then the young Irkenette was gone. "Damn it, what am I going to do with that smeet…?"
"My Tallest, sorry to interrupt you, but now that you're present I'd like to inform you the new doctor is here."
Lena lowered her head and wiggled her antennae, but said nothing yet. Not if she was not asked.
Oddly, though, she did feel Tallest Red's gaze on her. He was looking at her with wide eyes, almost as if he had seen a ghost, but then he regained his composure and his expression became indifferent. "I see. What is your name?"
"Lena, My Tallest."
"Well, Lena, sorry that you had to witness that. If you'll excuse me…" That being said he went back inside, closing the doors shut behind him. Probably would have a word with the Control Brains.
"Okay…" Tenn said awkwardly. "Now that we've seen most of the Massive, how about I show you to the medical ward so you can catch up with the staff?"
"That would be nice." Lena added quickly, still feeling strange about the way Tallest Red had looked at her. "Who was that young smeet, by the way?"
"That was Ilk, Tallest Red's daughter."
Lena blinked in surprise. "Daughter? I didn't know he was-"
"He is not. It's a long story for another time, I'm afraid."
Even though she was nine years old and almost Tenn's size, Ilk was still a smeet in many ways.
Naturally, her reaction after the meeting with the Control Brains-which was her very first time in their presence, by the way- was to lock herself in her room and build a pillow fort to hide in it.
What went so wrong, you ask?
'Irken Ilk, in one year you shall receive a PAK and attend the Academy to finish your training. On Tallest Red's insistence, and given you have already showed signs of being exceptional in numerous areas, once your basic training is done you'll be sent to Devastis to take the test to become an Elite, and then you'll be assigned to work as an Invader.
Invader.
Of all the jobs she could have been assigned to, she had to be given the one she found the less appealing as a career.
What was her father thinking? He should know better than anyone that she didn't fit for such a role. It didn't have to do with being lacking in ability or being short (she was pretty tall for her age, after all, thanks dad's genes for that), she simply didn't like the idea of enslaving other species.
Yeah, you're probably thinking 'what on Irk'? What kind of Irken doesn't want to be an Invader, considering their Empire existed for the sole purpose of conquering the universe and all the races in it?
Minus the Sobrekt, those guys turned out to be unconquerable if the history books were right, plus up to now they still managed to hold their own against the Armada.
She didn't really know, nobody ever told her about the status of the war, or even mentioned anything related to the Sobrekt when she was around. It was getting irritating.
Anyway, back on topic, she was different. She didn't think of other races as inferior, she could openly start a conversation with any on a friendly manner, she could interact with them and see them as equals, but overall she valued their lives, their customs, everything about their culture.
The idea of feigning friendship and camaraderie to someone only to later stab them in the back was… despicable to her. She couldn't understand how come Tenn, Larb and the others could do such a thing and move on with their consciences clear.
No, wait, PAKs are supposed to remove those kind of feelings because they'd 'compromise' the mission.
Yet another reason of why she could not be an Invader.
Her father, however, for some reason thought otherwise.
There was a knock on the door. "Ilk, are you in there?" Speak of the digestor…
"No." Ilk lied, burying further into her 'fort'.
Sadly sometimes she forgot her dad was the Almighty Tallest, and as such he had access to every single room on the ship, no matter if it had a hundred security locks. She wasn't surprised when her door opened seconds later and he came in.
"Ilk, we need to talk." he said seriously.
"If you want to talk me into accepting the Control Brain's rulings, don't waste your time."
"I'm afraid there's nothing to do about it, only to accept it." Red frowned. "Come out of there, young lady, I'm talking to you."
A part of her didn't want to, but she could not refuse an order from the Tallest, regardless if they were related or not. Ilk lifted her head from the fort, pouting.
"Why did you have to get the idea into their… their… system?" she growled. "I'm not fit for being an Invader!"
"Ilk, not again with that! You have the intelligence, skill and height for the job, and I'm pretty certain you'd surpass even Larb!"
Wow. Being compared to Larb was considered a compliment given that he was considered to be the best Invader of his generation.
"Dad, you can't expect me to like stabbing people in the back after getting attached to them and being involved in their culture."
"You're not going to befriend the natives, Ilk, you'll merely pass off as one to weaken the planet's defenses for when the Armada arrives."
"You do realize that for them to trust me enough to even share such important information is to befriend them and show I can be trusted in the first place?" Ilk pointed out matter-of-factly with a roll of her eyes.
"You can do that without getting attached to the natives."
"Are you even listening to yourself, for Irk's sake?!"
"Don't talk to me in that tone, young lady!"
"Dad, please, can't you get them to put me somewhere else?" Ilk resorted to pleading. "Anywhere, I don't really care! I will happily work on Foodcourtia as a food service drone, but not an Invader, please!"
Her father went silent for a few moments, looking thoughtful. For a brief moment she hoped he would change his mind and grant her petition, but he only sighed. "I'm sorry, Ilk, but there's nothing I can do. Once the Control Brains make a ruling, even if I was only partly responsible for it, it's final. With time you'll understand it."
Seeing it was futile, Ilk grunted and went back into her pillow fort.
What was he going to do with that smeet?
It was bad enough she turned out to be just as stubborn as him (maybe even more), but now she even went as far as to refuse a ruling from the Control Brains? This is bad, this is sooo bad! The worst of all, she had done it right in front of them!
She was lucky he managed to talk them down! Their words were still buzzing in his head.
'EVEN FOR A BIRTHED-SMEET, IT'S THE FIRST TIME SOMEONE HAS OPENLY REFUSED AN ORDER COMING FROM US. I WONDER IF IT'S POSSIBLE FOR A PAKLESS IRKEN TO BE A DEFECTIVE-'
"She's not a defect, Sirs, I assure you…! She's just… assimilating it, yeah, she'll eventually come around!"
'GIVEN IT'S ONLY THE FIRST TIME AND SHE HAS YET TO RECEIVE A PAK, WE'LL LET IT SLIP THIS ONCE. BUT IF HER BEHAVIOR IS NOT CORRECTED SHE'LL HAVE TO BE… PUT DOWN.'
Put down…
How dare they? How dare they call his little Ilk a defective? How dare they consider putting her down? She had a different way to see things, that's right, but she was NOT a defective. How's that even possible without a PAK, let alone a faulty one?
No, it was merely a phase. She'd eventually realize that being an Invader was the right job for her. She had his intellect, a good height and she was natural when it came to communicating with other species. She would blend in perfectly, and she'd be smart enough to get information out of the natives.
If only Ilk could see it this way.
"Let me guess, judging by your face the talk with the Control Brains didn't go smoothly, am I right?"
Red sighed and sat next to his co-Tallest, grabbing a doughnut to calm his nerves a bit. "She said no in front of them and just stormed out. Hopefully I managed to calm them down, but they think Ilk is a D."
Purple spat his soda unto one of the passing by pilots. "What? Our Ilk, a D?"
"Exactly! They can't say that if she doesn't have her PAK yet!"
"Well, how did she react to her future assignment?"
"Uh… she's still assimilating it, she'll come around eventually."
Purple rolled his eyes. "I told you she would be better at engineering."
"I just don't understand what's wrong with her," Red sighed. "I mean, everybody aspires to be an Invader, and she has the skills and height to succeed. Why can't she see that? Besides, if the Control Brains continue to think she's a D…" he couldn't bring himself to say it.
"Chill out, She's a smart smeet. Certainly she will get over the phase and all that," Purple took a slurp from his soft drink again. Irk, reassuring somebody was certainly tiring. "By the way, did you meet the new doc?"
Oh, right. "Yeah, I encountered her up there."
"She's quite tall, did you notice? Not as tall as us, of course, but taller than the average. I bet she's very good at her job."
Red sighed. "Yeah…"
It wasn't only about the height, though.
When he first saw her face he almost had a squeedly-smooch attack. For one second he almost thought Miyuki was standing in front of him, but in a shorter body and the gentle blue colors replaced by white and aquagreen. Then the bitter truth came crashing down and he recalled this wasn't her, but another irkenette.
He had to admit, though, she was pretty good looking.
Red shook the thought out of his head and changed the topic. "Any word about the Sobrekt?"
"Oh, right. They took over Agricultia and anihilated all the ships we sent to Sobr."
Red nearly choked unto the doughnut he was eating, and glared at Purple. "What?! Don't you think it would have been wise to start with THAT?!"
Purple simply shrugged. "Ilk is more important."
Well, who was he to argue against that logic?
The whole issue with the Sobrekt was worrying, however. It had been four years since the war against them started and they hadn't been able to deal a devastating blow.
The Sobrekt turned out to be evenly matched against the Irkens in warfare. No matter if a hundred Irken ships managed to destroy a fleet, two hundred Sobrekt vessels could do the same with three Irken fleets, as Red learned the first time he ordered a direct attack out of spite for what they had done to Ilk.
Like, sending one of the freaking monsters into the Massive for their dumb flower was one thing, but having it tear a leg from his daughter was too much!
The perplexing thing was that Ilk's leg had… grown back. Muscle, bone and everything, as if it had never been torn in the first place.
Afterwards he never let Ilk out of his sight, or even off the Massive, without a escort. She was always surrounded by a dozen of the best Elites to ensure she would not be hurt again, and he had taken an additional measure even if she ever managed to get away from them.
But since she didn't remember what had transpired and he let her think the whole experience had been a nightmare, she didn't understand why he was taking all of these security measures. Nobody was allowed to talk to her about it either.
Speaking of which, perhaps it would be best if he told the new doctor about that rule.
Lena found herself a bit overwhelmed on her first day.
Many service drones needed a little adjustments or fixing on their PAKs, and many soldiers also required that she run a diagnostic to make sure theirs ran smoothly. As stressing as it could get, however, Lena tended to her patients efficiently in a professional manner.
Her height helped considerably. As soon as she arrived the head doctor was quick to explain to her how things worked aboard the Massive, the usual patients and who had certain reactions to vaccines, PAK software, etcetera. When she asked something she was answered too swiftly and with details, which helped her out throughout the day.
In fact, it went so well she was surprised when the Tallest asked for her presence. Had she offended them somehow?
Lena made her way back to the bridge (without getting lost, thank Irk), where both Tallest were resting on their couch snacking. She delicately made her way towards them, greeting them respectfully. "You asked to see me, My Tallest?"
There it was again! The same sensation from when he first looked at her! Was something wrong with his PAK? Red made a mental note to have it checked later, for now he kept his composure. "As a matter of fact, we did. First of all we heard you've been doing a good job, keep it up."
"T-thank you, My Tallest."
"Secondly, I suppose you've already seen Ilk, my daughter, right?"
"Affirmative, sir."
"Since you're new, we thought we should inform you of certain rules regarding Ilk." Purple explained.
Red took over from there again. "Rule number one, Ilk is not allowed to leave the Massive without a escort under any circumstances. Rule number two: you are not to mention the Sobrekt or anything related to them, the current war included, within at least 10 meters from her. Rule number three: should anybody break these two rules, you must inform me. Are we clear?"
Lena thought the one about the Sobrekt was a bit too exaggerate, but she guessed the Tallest must have his reasons for it. "Crystal clear, My Tallest."
"Good, now get back to work."
As Lena waved her antennae and walked away, Purple noticed the way his partner stared at her as she left. "Well, well, looks like you have an interest in the newbie."
"I don't, I am merely examining her height. Like you said, she is taller than most Irkens. Think she'll eventually…"
"Nah. From what I read in her records, her growth spurt stopped a year ago."
Red frowned. "Wait, when did you obtain her record and didn't tell me about it?"
"Before she arrived. You were so busy dealing with Ilk and the Control Brains I decided not to bother you."
"Well, thank you very much."
Ignoring the sarcasm, Purple gave his piece of chiscak a bite. "You're welcome."
Oh, my, looks like somebody has caught Red's eye. wonder what will happen next... XD.
Next chapter: Lena and Ilk get to know each other, while a threat from the outside prepares for their next move...