4- New Tensile Strength
Tak strode down the street, over the walkway on the bridge. Rain flicked off the poncho she worse, and cars drove by, lights glaring in the dim light.
All of it holographic of course, she mused silently, made for that irritant daughter of his, but it suits my purposes well.
Three days had passed since Tak had been given her new body, her new chance at life. It still didn't feel right, but the constant training she'd put herself through helped. Three days of hologrammatic simulation, of honing every muscle to a sharpened edge.
This was the penultimate test. Her last go before she could set her sights on the future.
She broke into a sprint, kicking on the cloaking field once more. With a sharp double click, she attached the line hanging from her belt to the nearest support strut and leapt the guard rail. She felt the wind whistle through her hair.
Ten seconds.
The line snapped taut, and she flipped herself out of the dive and to her feet. Her hand pulled the release.
Fifteen seconds.
She hit the deck of the tanker with a slam. The puddle underneath her feet splashed up, shutting her cloak off. The guard nearest her turned, moved to bring his weapon up.
Twenty seconds.
She shot forward, hands out, gaining purchase on the man's hands. She yanked him forward, rolling to her back, her feet coming up and propelling the man overboard.
Twenty-five seconds.
The second guard moved in. Tak kipupped to her feet, lunged forward and shoved the gun's aim away. The heel of her palm slammed into his stomach, doubling him over. Yanking the gun free, her leg lashed out in a vicious kick. The guard sprawled to his back and didn't move.
Thirty seconds.
"Computer, end simulation." The tanker, open sky, and storm all wavered and vanished, mirages that had never been. The room was a dull battleship grey.
Tak never paid that any mind, though. She popped open the doors and strode up the stairs.
She arrived in the kitchen to the usual morning noises: Gaz's GameSlave 3, the ongoing debate between Visse and the Professor about the Resisty's need for allies, and Dib turning the pages on one of his conspiracy scream sheets.
Without missing a beat, the boy raised a plate of eggs and bacon. It didn't look particularly appetizing, but Tak took it gratefully and sank into the chair next to him.
"How's the training?" he asked, and Tak blinked.
"Who said I was training?" Tak asked, tearing off a piece of bacon and nibbling at it gently.
"What else would you have been doing?" Dib asked, looking up from his magazine. Tak sighed.
"You know I never really cared for you, right?"
Dib shrugged and went back to his magazine with a muttered "Tryin' to be friendly is all."
Tak forced herself not to grind her teeth. "It...goes well. I've gotten back to where I used to be."
"Good." Dib said nothing else, and for a moment they ate in relative silence. Right up until Visse and Membrane's argument was brought into the kitchen for seconds on coffee.
"I just don't see why a starfaring race would choose the middle of a war to show up, is all," Membrane was saying.
"It's a matter of relative distance to the nearest starfaring species," Visse countered firmly. "I mean, most the known races are centered around the galactic core. You, on the other hand, are halfway down one of the spiral arms, surrounded by worlds ashed in the Progenitor's times."
"So you're here only because you need allies and we're the closest unaligned race?" Membrane asked.
"Unfortunately, that does seem to be the case." Visse sipped at his black coffee, while Professor Membrane rubbed his forehead.
"All right, we'll talk with the world leaders. But what about Dib's little green friend?"
Visse looked thoughtful. "Leave Zim to me."
Tak watched them walk off, debating the philosophy of the war.
"Should we be worried?" Dib asked her.
Neither Gaz or Tak deigned to answer him.
Gir laughed at the Angry Monkey Show. It was his favorite. At least, it was at that particular moment.
"GIR!" Zim snapped over the house's communications system. "I'm working on a new robotic weasel prototype! Keep intruders from bothering me!"
"Yes, my master!" Gir said, slipping into obedience mode briefly, before returning to his happy-go-lucky self.
The door, of course opened, and Visse strode in.
"Hey. Know where Zim is at?"
"HALT! INTRUDER!" Gir snapped, leaping up and deploying his weapons. Visse looked utterly non-plussed. Although, for the six-foot Irken, there wasn't much that did impress him.
"Cute. Look, you know where Zim is or not?" Visse asked, his voice taking a slight edge.
"I am cute! Zim's in the lab! Lemme show you!" Gir guided him to the nearest elevator (Under the coffee table) and down they went.
Gir grinned happily, and Visse couldn't help but let a wry grin creep onto his own features.
"You're not a regular SIR, are you?" he asked the small robot as the mechanical underbelly of the base passed them by.
"I'm not a SIR, I'm GIR!"
"Huh. What's the 'G' stand for?" Visse looked down at Gir.
"I...don't...know..." There was the sounds of circuits fusing, and Visse decided against any further conversation. He didn't want the little guy to explode. He was just getting fond of him.
The door to the elevator opened and they stepped out into a small lab. "Hi, Master! I brought a visitor for you!"
Zim's head snapped up in irritation. "Gir, I thought I told you that I-Whaaa?"
Visse waited for his younger brother to get through his melodramatic actions. "Finished?" he asked after a moment of Zim's stuttering.
"Yeah, I'm through. But, who're you?" the small Irken asked, and Visse grinned.
"My name, if you must know, is Visse. Former Solider Commandant Elite of the Irken Empire, now Emissary of the Resisty, by order of its Supreme Commander, Black." Visse leaned against a console.
"A renegade? Here? IN MY BASE?" Zim looked as though his squeedly-spooch was about to suffer massive failure.
"So, would now be a bad time to mention that I'm your brother?" Visse asked politely, and Zim passed out. "I guess not."
Zim's eyes opened to dimmed lighting, and the sight of the intruder who claimed to be his brother. "You...how...? I was-"
"Born in a birthing tube, just like me. Just like Black." Visse straightened up. "Except that you, and Black, and I all share the same gene donors."
"Our parents...Do you know who they were?" Zim inquired, sitting up.
"No. Not even Black knows. Only the Tallest ever had access to the Birthing Records, and most of those were lost when you blacked out the planet." Visse fiddled with the holo-transceiver.
"You've mentioned this...Black before. You say he's the Resisty's Supreme Commander?" Zim asked, taking a chair.
"I did, yes."
"The Black I remember was the chancellor to Miyuki and Spork, and died in an aircar accident." Zim looked at the controls. "What're you- NO! I will never allow contact with the Resisty from MY base!"
"Tak was right. You are delusional." Visse snorted, slapping Zim's hands away.
"Tak?" The word left Zim's mouth a growl. "You've spoken to her?"
"Yeah. Had to put her in a human body. She made a pretty stupid jump, tried to use her weapons as an airbrake."
Zim's antennae twitched. "That's...really stupid."
"Yeah." Visse looked at him. "Even if you did maintain loyalty to the Tallest, they're coming here. They're coming to destroy Earth. And, let's face it, they've not exactly been honest with the Empire."
"So?" Zim asked, slightly annoyed.
"Okay, that's not gonna work. Lemme try something else. Where do you feel more at home at? Here? Or Irk?"
Zim opened his mouth to respond, to state that Irk was his home, but went quiet as he truly thought about it. "Here."
"Then protect it." Visse snapped, finally getting the communications line up and running. "That's funny...Black said he'd be operating further coreward than that..."
Zim blinked at the map showing where the "Receipt of Signal" transmission was coming from, then turned as the holographic image showed up.
"Creator in his domain..." Visse leaped to his feet, ignoring the pipe his head slammed into. "Black, what happened?"
The command chair turned. Black's cowl was torn, revealing the metal plating that hid his jaw and mouth. "The Tallest happened. We didn't give them enough credit."
"What do you mean?" Zim asked.
"Is that...Zim? The youngest of us?" Black asked, squinting.
"Yeah, what's wrong? Can't you see me?" Zim said, standing up on his chair.
"Reception problems," Black said. "Audio's fine, but the visual's cutting out. Distorted, at best."
Visse blinked. "What in the void's name happened?"
Black's visible features took on a wince. "They were waiting for us. Whole Armada. We went in expecting a lightly armed supply convoy. Instead we got..got..."
"Humans call it being 'mousetrapped'." Visse commented. "How bad?"
Black's features twitched again, and the signal decayed slightly, static gnawing at the image. "Two destroyers and a cruiser. Had to scuttle one of the com/cons, but the rest of the fleet made it out. Been fighting a running battle to get out of the core."
Zim chewed nervously at a knuckle. "Any, ah, other news we ought to know?"
Black laughed grimly. "Yes. We've packed every ship we could fill. We even collapsed some of the shipyards and brought those along. We're coming to Earth."
Visse's jaw dropped. "What? How long until the Tallest get here? What if they arrive before you?"
Black laughed again, a short, sharp, mechanical cackle. "That is the one bright spot in this mess. We were able to confirm that they've not been able to reverse-engineer the artificial wormhole technology."
"So they still have to use warpholes to get around?" Zim inquired. "Not like it's much slower."
"It is, brother dearest," Black said patiently, "If you collapse the warpholes."
"Sealing the route behind you," Visse said, understanding. "You've burned every bridge leading into Imperial Space, haven't you?"
"Indeed. They'll have to use the Massive to open them up again. It's the only ship with a big enough energy weapon to cause the necessary surge." Black stared at his brothers.
"Listen, you two. The Resisty is headed for Earth. It's your job to make sure humanity is ready for us when we arrive."