I do not own any of the characters from Invader Zim

A/N: Tak becomes queen whether she likes it or not.

Tak and the Martian Armada

Chapter Three: The New Queen

"Are there any SIR units still on board? I will need a little helper."

"There are, but they have been deactivated."

"Then I'm going to reprogram you. The queen is no longer here, and you need a new master. I will be that new master."

"A logical conclusion," said the IE, "I have no objections."

"I will recharge your power cells if you can tell me how to power up the ship."

The IE gave her instructions and codes to restart the generators. Soon the ship had lights, and the smell of fresh, clean air began to circulate. Tak drew in several deep breaths, and sat in a gunner's seat to take advantage of some down time. The Martian atmosphere consisted of mostly carbon dioxide, and the pak she carried on her back could alter it so she could breathe. Irk had a similar mix, with 75% carbon dioxide due to heavy pollution of the atmosphere from uncontrolled industrialization, and their bodies had adapted to it. The air in the ship was much different. There seemed to be much more oxygen here than she was accustomed to, even more than on Earth. She felt dizzy and closed her eyes. Very soon she fell asleep.

Her little nap took three hours, but she awoke feeling as if she slept for three days. The increase in oxygen gave her system a refreshing boost, but now she was famished. Her stomach squeaked and gurgled as she replaced the batteries into the IE unit.

"Is there anything to eat on this ship?"

"Perhaps in the galley, but after two thousand years I doubt any of it will still be edible. If you prefer, I can synthesize some vitamin bars for you. They would be bland and tasteless, but they will sustain you." Tak sighed and resigned herself to more of the same. As much as she had come to dislike them, they were quite filling.

"Is that what Queen Kali ate, also?"

"The Queen prided herself in eating whatever was available, and did not complain at all. When visiting other worlds, she tried everything that was exotic or mundane. She was as much an explorer as she was a ruler. She was particularly fond of a fruit that we found growing here on this planet. If she liked it, maybe you would enjoy it as well."

"It sounds interesting, but for now I'm too hungry to care. I will be satisfied with vitamin bars for the time being."

Tak munched on her bars as she continued reprogramming the remaining IE units. She named that first IE, "Haze" as his frontal chestplate looked like it had taken a glancing hit from a plasma rifle, and would no longer take a polish. He was placed in charge of the surviving guardians as each was brought back to full power. The female Irken was now their new queen and their job was to defend her at all cost. There was nothing Tak could do about that aspect of their programming. It was built into their operating system to prevent a hostile takeover. They would self-destruct if they were not assigned to another queen. She was now queen by default.

Haze began to instruct her in the operation of the weapons systems of the ship. Kali was a warrior as well as queen, and was also familiar with the battle stations. Tak would be no different. The system was strange to her, as was the variety of weapons at her fingertips. Literally. The robot guards plugged their fingertips into ports on the weapons panels, and multiple monitors were able to track twenty-five enemy craft at the same time. The Queen's control panel was similar, but outfitted for use by non-mechs. Her role was basically to support the guardians' fire by immobilizing enemy spacecraft with tractor beams, drawing them in and holding them for destruction by blaster fire. A veritable shooting gallery where the targets were held up directly in front of the big guns. She liked that.

If there was anything that could use improvement, it was the missles. The explosive charges had solidified in the warhead over the course of two thousand years and were useless. They were still potentially dangerous and so had to be handled with care. A new type of explosive would have to be found. They were armor piercing savat missles that could be hollowed out and reused. It wasn't important at the moment as Tallest Red probably sent a single ship to get her, and if that was the case, Tak had little to worry about.

She did want a fighter of her own, though, and convinced Haze to go down to the canyon floor with her and see what they could salvage. It was nearly six miles, straight to the bottom, so the IE suggested using one of the cruiser's tractor beams to lower a team down.

After the battle, whatever survivors there were from the ambush party, took off back to Irk, and left the dying and wounded where they fell. This pile of rubble was basically a burial mound. There was really nothing left that was usable. Even destroyer class warships, when held up at point blank range in front of quad pulse cannon arrays, were pulverized into molten globules. The Imperial battle cruiser also had powerful tractor beams with an incredible reach. Those pilots who thought themselves safe at ten kilometers were sadly mistaken. The IE's counted four ships that were still able to leave the system after the battle. An ambush force of over a thousand ships had ended up a scrap heap on the floor of a Martian canyon. Haze signaled the ship to return them topside.

"I'm sorry your Highness, there is nothing salvageable." Tak sighed.

"Didn't you have a squadron of escorts with you?"

"Our escorts were taken by surprise. They saw the Irken insignias on the other ships and did not fire until it was too late. They were quickly destroyed." Tak tapped on her chin.

"Then, would it be possible to repair this cruiser?"

"It is possible. The main engine, however, is damaged beyond repair. The two outboard engines can work, but we will not have the speed we did before the battle. We were never given orders to repair it, only to defend it. We maintained the ship all these centuries to keep the weapons in firing condition."

"Then I shall give the order to get this ship flying again." Haze bowed slightly.

"Yes, my Queen." He stopped for a moment, as if sensing something not right. "If I may I ask, what is that round object on your back? It appears to be sending out coded messages somewhere."

Tak groaned, then gnashed her teeth. The Control Brains kept track of all Irkens through their PAKs. Even now, they knew exactly where she was.

There was no getting around them. To remove a PAK for longer than ten minutes meant certain death to it's owner. It circulated blood, processed air and was connected to their spinal column. It served also as an auxiliary brain, retaining such things as memories and information. It was clumsy, inconvenient, and uncomfortable at times, causing them to walk hunched over, but necessary for her survival.

"I cannot remove it. It must remain. Is there a way to disable the transmitter?"

"I am sure we can do it. It appears to be Vortian in design. They are our allies, and we have exchanged information and technology on many occassions. I will have the ship's main computer analyze it and make recommendations." Tak frowned.

It was the Vortians who designed practically all Irken technology, but were betrayed by Red and Purple after they had designed and built the Massive, the flagship of the Irken armada. Their homeworld was overrun by an army of Megadoomers, and the populace enslaved. Their top scientists had foreseen the treachery, but the Vortian High Council dismissed the accusations, reminding them of the long history of cooperation between the two. Many fled the planet just before the arrival of the invasion force, and scattered themselves throughout the galaxy. The Vortians also designed the Control Brains and the PAKs. The Irkens themselves never suspected the devices were little more than very long leashes.

Dissent

Three days out of Irk, the remaining assassins went about with their duties. The Control Brains fed them data on Tak's coordinates, but little else. They maintained silence, not speaking to each other at all, but they were near the halfway point and had yet to select a new mission leader. Now was the time.

"Damn that Red . . .!" one of them began to speak. A second one put a finger to his lips, and made a sign not to say anymore. He produced a signal detector and proceeded to scan the interior of their ship. They detected not less than twenty listening devices, which were removed and placed in a sound proof jar.

"As I was beginning to say, Tallest Red is so paranoid, he scares the crap out of me!"

"I agree." the second one said. The third remained silent as the others removed their hoods.

"I am Surj." said the first. "My specialty is surveillance, stealth, and small weapons."

"I am Lokar." the second one said. "My specialty is communications and sniping."

"I am Cobus." said the third, "I am Xanatian, and I am a female." She removed her hood. "My specialty is death, hand-to-hand. Quick and painless, or slow and agonizing."

The other two seemed indifferent. It was not unusual to fight side by side with outlanders, even conquered ones, so to have one on a mission did not seem strange in the least. Physically, Irkens were relatively weak, depending on their technology to help them subdue other species. On a special mission like this, where tech and mecha were undesirable, a strong pair of arms were useful. Surj looked sternly at her.

"We are here to capture another female, alive if possible. Are you comfortable with that?" Cobus grinned coldly.

"It matters not. I'm strictly mercenary. Money is what motivates me, not your damn leader's agenda." Lokar laughed.

"Ha ha ha! Spoken like a true mercenary, and we will be paid handsomely when we complete this mission." Cobus scowled.

"It better not be in donuts, otherwise I shall be very put off!"

"I vote you to be our mission leader, Lokar. You will be our eyes and ears from the ship. Since you are an expert in communications, you can coordinate our search for the girl from up high. Cobus and I seem to like the hands on approach much better." Cobus agreed.

"Killing is my specialty, but I promise to be gentle with this one, as long as she does not put up too much of a fight."

End Chapter Three

A/N: I intended Cobus to be of the same species as Ixane, a member of the Resisty, first encountered in "Backseat Driver from Beyond the Stars." Nothing is known of Ixane from the series as she has no speaking part, therefore she has no home planet, so I took her name and made one up for her! Plus she fits in with the ninja-like appearance I pictured the assassins to be. She reminds me somewhat of Raven, from Teen Titans.