Authors Note: Thanks so much for reading this! Also I probably should have put this in chapter one but I obviously do not own Invader Zim or any related characters.
"Irken antennas are supposed to be very sensitive and important to proper functioning, yes? Why don't we just try slicing them off" he said placing the scalpel's blade against her right antenna.
"Sage," she said so quiet, it was almost a whisper.
"What?" the enemy said, removing the scalpel from her unscathed antenna, as the Vortician and the others stepped forward, once again.
"My name is Sage. I am 162 years old…in Irken years, and I am a highly- trained Irken Elite soldier; however, I have been recently working for the Almighty Tallest as an assassin. This is why I am here." She said, speaking softly, "My mission was to remove a threat to the success of Operation: Impending Doom II. That threat being the leader of a growing resistance group, known as the Resisty… the Vortician, Lard Nar," she said finally, smoke still billowing off of her soaked skin.
The Vortician, known as Lard Nar, and others stared down at her in shock. "You were sent to assassinate me? I should have seen this one coming; thank goodness we were able to capture the assassin before she succeeded." The others looked at Lard Nar, wondering what his next plan of action would be. Finally, he turned back to Sage and looked into her hateful, pain-filled eyes. "Take her to the communications room and contact the Irken Tallest, I'll be right there." Sage was then untied from the chair and dragged by two others down a hall to what appeared to be a standard transmissions room, she was in too much pain to move on her own and just let herself be dragged away. Without the arsenal of weapons in her PAK, it was hopeless. She was roughly dropped onto a metal floor, green blood and smoke continuing to pour from her and two large, dark green welts swelling on her face surrounded by a labyrinth of slices. Lard Nar entered the room after them and proceeded to move over to the large communication screen on the wall. Moment's later one of the other members of the Resisty, sitting at the base of the screen, typing on a silver keyboard said, "opening communications with the Irken Massive" as Lard Nar stepped forward.
Back on the massive, co- rulers Almighty Tallests Red and Purple were standing on raised platforms in the middle of the main operations room of the ship surrounded by their operators, technicians, and pilots.
"You know, Elite Assassin Sage hasn't checked-in in a while. Do you think something could be wrong?" Purple asked Red, with slight concern, facing forward.
"Your right, she usually is done with the mission and on her way back by now. But she hasn't reported in within the last hour… but she is the best we have, I'm not too concerned." Red said surveying the many Irkens running back and forth carrying out various jobs.
"You aren't concerned at all?" Purple asked now facing his partner. "She could have been ambushed and captured. What is our plan of action if she is held at ransom?" Purple continued with concern now heavy in his voice.
"We follow the same protocol we would if any Irken is captured." Red stated flatly.
"Let them kill her? But if an Invader is ever captured on an enemy planet we almost always send out a search and rescue team." Purple said eyeing Red carefully.
"That is because we can't let the bodies, PAKs and secrets of the Irken race fall into the hands of enemy races. With the information they could gain from a dissection of an Irken body or from a hacked PAK they could destroy us." Red said darkly now looking Purple in the eye. "But it is different this time. There have already been a number of defective, rebellious, treacherous Irkens who have joined ranks with the Resisty and will feed them any information about us freely. That is why they are much more dangerous now and that is why we must destroy them first. With Sage in their hands they will most likely demand the freedom of various planets or prisoners for her safe release and that is something that we cannot negotiate. We must all make sacrifices for our empire and now Sage will make hers." Red now turned away from Purple and watched out a large window at the stars surrounding them. Purple just starred at his co-ruler with shock written all over his face. He could not believe what he was hearing, they both hand chose Sage to be their personal assassin. They liked her, she was tall, beautiful, and a merciless killer. Most of the time Purple didn't mind the sacrifices of various useless Irkens, hey watching them get thrown out of the airlocks for disobeying was always a treat but this time it was different.
"Oh, don't look at me that way Pur. Besides we don't even know if she was actually captured." Red said looking back at him.
"Incoming transmission from an unknown origin, my tallests" an Irken communications officer stated loudly projecting the image on the main transmissions screen. On it the Irken Lard Nar, surrounded by many others individuals of varying species' appeared on screen.
"Hello Irken scum" Lard Nar greeted venomously. "You thought you could just get rid of me did you? You thought you could just send one of your pathetic little soldiers to assassinate me and then the Resisty would just crumble into a million pieces. Well here is your so called elite soldier" he said stepping to the side to reveal the battered Sage laying on the floor in a puddle of her own blood. Red, Purple, and all the other Irkens on the ship just froze whatever they were doing and starred at her injured form. Sage slowly opened her once brilliantly shining but now dimmed eyes half way to stare back at the screen into the eyes of her Tallests.
"I'm sorry, I failed." She whispered and then laid her head back down to the floor, blacking out.
"She is one tough little cookie, I will admit that" Lard Nar stated starring back at her. "We used a number of forms of torture just to get her to give us information on her own identity. Imagine what all we are going to have to do to just get her to spill information on the Irken plans for galactic conquest and operations." Lard Nar said, finally looking back at Red and Purple.
The Tallests turned to one another, neither one knowing what to say. Finally, Purple quietly said "We can't let them hurt her anymore."
"She must endure it…for the good of the empire." Red finally said, turning away from Purple and from the screen.
"But-" Purple started only to have Red continue starring in the other direction.
"I'm sorry, Pur," Red said with an air of true regret in his voice. Purple then turn his attention back to the transmission screen where Lard Nar was waiting patiently for a reply.
"What do you want in exchange for her safe return?" Purple asked raising his voice slightly.
A now smiling Lard Nar replied, "we demand the full release of the planets Vort and Meekrob and all of their enslaved inhabitants. You also have a large number of war prisoners; we would also like to negotiate for the release of Prisoners 345, 777, 856, and 478." Purple was now gaping at the small Vortician in disbelief; even Red had turned back to the screen with a look of shock.
"We saw the demand of the planets back coming but the prisoners too? Don't you think that is a bit much for one soldier?" Purple asked hysterically.
"So she isn't worth enough to you to comply with our simple demands? You will let her suffer like this?" Lard Nar asked pointing towards Sage's broken form.
Red, keeping is tone even, said "All Irkens are expected to make sacrifices for the good of their empire; no one knows that better than the members of our military. You cannot resist us much longer; you will all fall to the Irken Empire or die. We have said enough, this conversation is over. Good bye." Red said signaling an operator to cut connections with the Resisty. Purple turned to him with sadness in his face.
"There must be something we can do? We can send out a fleet to find and rescue her!" Purple said excitedly.
"I will admit that she was a particularly fine soldier and has served us well as an assassin but she is just one soldier. By negotiating for her release with the resistance we will be showing weakness." Red said turning his attention to a number of Irkens walking past him, stacks of files in hand. "Why do you care so much anyway?"
"Well I…she was…I don't know….different, I guess. She was the best of the best; she was cunning, talented, beautiful, faithful, persistent. She had these eyes unlike any I have ever seen. How often do see an Irken with silver eyes? Hardly ever, and she had the most beautiful. They shined in the most brilliant way and the way she looked at you with those eyes was amazing. It was like she could read you like an open book." Purple suddenly stopped to see Red starring at him like he was crazy.
"You like her don't you?" Red said with one long clawed finger against his forehead in frustration.
"Well I, you know…." Purple then looked at Red and with a heavy sigh said, "yes."
"You know, she may not feel the same way about you" Red said softly, looking at Purple.
"I know that, but I don't care, I just want her to be safe again. I can't bear to see her like that" Purple said quietly.
"I cannot believe I am doing this…you owe me. Commander!" Red shouted summoning a taller than average Irken in a long, blue uniform."
"Yes, my Tallest" the commander replied saluting both Red and Purple before turning to face Red.
"Send out a search and rescue fleet to retrieve the Military Elite Soldier, Sage. Try to trace to signal from the last transmission and locate her." Red said looking down at the military commander.
"Yes, Sir. Right away" and with that the commander took off and round up a rescue fleet.