The transport descended to Irk with little to no turbulence. Diz and Vem sat patiently in the entrance bay with their respective parents and El. Vem's antennae twitched with anxiety and anticipation. Diz appeared outwardly unfazed, but was secretly excited to be taking a step offworld for the first time.

Tak and Zim held their breath as the hatch opened and a dim, purple-pink glow filled the cabin. It was dimmer than sunlight, but only by a little in this region of the planet. Tak and Zim led their children out onto the planet's surface where an impressively-dressed Irken general (at least that's what his uniform, rank pins and medals made him out to be), greeted them as an honour guard of twenty Irken Elites stood by in dress uniform (virtually identical to normal uniform, but 'shinier' with buckles, medals and some silver-purple trim).

"Ah, the great Irkens Tak and Zim, as well as El! This is quite a treat, indeed!" The general said with a calming smile. He had purple eyes and long antennae that moved infrequently and wore a long coat with the collar unbuttoned and facing down as large lapels. "I am Imperial-General Tolk." He introduced himself.

Tak examined him further. He wore typical Irken dress under the coat and had a power sword in a ceremonial sheath. "Good to meet you, General. We are Irken representatives from Earth, as I am sure you know. We graciously accept your invitation on two conditions, if we might be so bold." Tak ventured, trying to be as diplomatic as possible. The General nodded. "Of course, of course!" Tolk said, "Anything at all, just name it."

"First, we'd like a tour of our world. It's been dreadfully long since we've last seen this place and we would like out children to see their heritage." Tak explained. Tolk looked towards Vem and Diz. "It is a very proud heritage, yes. Especially now after the reforms, I suppose." He agreed to the condition. "Secondly, we'd like to get down to the business at hand, but we do not want to bore our children. If you'd be so kind to escort them and El somewhere…" Tak began.

Tolk smiled and raised a gloved hand. "Say no more, Madame Tak. Your children and Madame El will be taken under the care of our best and most agreeable men and taken to one of our safer districts. We have theatres that show good, Irken cultural and historical films at their request. Are you familiar with the works of the Irken cinema artist, Atrium?" Tolk asked. Tak smiled brightly in remembrance of his films. "Of course, he was a genius." She said. Zim shrugged. "A lot of it didn't make sense to me, but Irken culture is Irken culture…"

"Very well. Sev, Ded; be so kind as to escort these three to the Irken Imperial Theatres, if you would." Tolk called over to two Irkens out of the honour guard. The first, Sev, was a slim and tall Irken with several scars on his face, yet his eyes were a bright scarlet, fierce with loyalty. The next was shorter and of normal girth for his size. He looked his namesake, paler green than most and with dull scarlet eyes and a sort of grim expression about him. Sev asked Diz, Vem and El to kindly follow them.

Tolk returned his attention to Tak and Zim. "As you said, 'straight to business', then?" He gestured for them to follow. Tak and Zim put on their professional faces and followed the general. He took them into the slighted ruins of a city. There were numerous Irkens darting about, cleaning rubble and reconstructing much of the architecture. Tak noted there were no SIRs in sight and mentioned it to Zim. Zim in response looked around. "Where are Gir and MiMi? I didn't see them exit the ship." Zim asked. Tak shrugged. "I'm sure they'll show up soon. They're probably breaking something onboard right now." She assured him. Zim chuckled in response.

"As you can see, the fighting has been only moderately destructive in some areas. This is two weeks of repair after we took this city." Tolk pointed out the purple dome-like buildings, "Some areas a worse, like the Slums which weren't in the best of conditions when we took them, and some are better, like the Imperial Theatres. Landmark or historical areas, like museums and statues, are taken with the utmost care, regardless of Irkens lost. Fortunately, under the brilliant leadership of my lieutenants and other officers in our force, we don't lose many Irkens."

They got into a hover car that looked like a newer model of a Spittle Runner but cut in half with the canopy shifted so as to protect passengers from wind and weather. There were also more seats in the hover car. Tak and Zim took their seats at the back while the General took the reversed seat in front of them so as to face them. "This is our military Spittle Cruiser. It can reach an altitude of 100 meters. Might I say that Terrans have a great measuring system? It's quite easy to remember. But I digress. As you can see, much of the city is almost completely repaired. The combat here was difficult due to our enemies, but once we destroyed the SIR command console for the area and sought out the command drones and what few resistance fighters that were left, we pretty much gained the entire city at the cost of less than thirty Irken soldiers."

"And what have you done with the prisoners, Tolk?" Tak asked, dropping the titles for a moment with a tinge of accusation in her tone. "Oh, well we operate by the Federal POW Treaty, of course. Interrogation and fair imprisonment with three square meals a day. Conditions are better than their prisons for us." He explained. Tak returned her gaze to the city. She'd been to this district once or twice. It was an important city, a capital city and point of economic and industrial interest to the Irkens, be them Imperial or Federal.

"I am to understand your forces attempted a military coup after your SIR leader created a law you weren't particularly fond of?" She asked. "Yes M'am. Sol took away all the SIRs across the planet and made them the new policing force instead of Irkens. Several military officials, I included, as well as political and social members beseeched him to revoke the law, but he only argued that Irken forces were 'inefficient' as was the rest of the populace. I think it was the way he phrased it that encouraged us to do what we did."

Tak nodded slowly. "Your SIR leader is named Sol?" Zim asked. Tolk nodded. "It has mixed meanings. For one, it means 'Sun' in several languages, so we figured it fit because everything seems to center around him. But we actually nicknamed him it as an acronym and he took it as his honest name. Sol: Supreme Overlord." Tolk explained.

"So, he gained sentient thought and was using it to seize power from your military." Zim thought out loud. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of fighting in the distance. The Spittle Cruiser came to a stop atop a hill with an overview of an industrial capital the likes of which Zim and Tak had never seen on any Irken world other than Industria or Factoria.

The complex was immense, nearly as large as the city they'd passed through. Smokestacks, some larger in diameter than an entire house, others taller than a skyscraper, all rose out of the complex belching flame and thick, black smoke. Tolk sighed.

"That is the objective we've been working towards." He explained. "What is it?" Zim asked. "That is Smeltery 26. It's one of thirty on this planet, the older ones being even larger. It produces SIRS and lately SIR weapons and vehicles. Already the thing's created seventeen variants on the SIR. Mostly upgrades of the typical unit, but several are specialized and a real pain in the arse in a war." The General answered.

"This is beyond anything you could have described…" Tak gaped at the scene. She could see SIRs and battle tanks creeping out of the factory like an assembly line that never ended. "The scary thing is, already they have the numbers to wipe us out, but they seem to either be held back by something or lacking in some degree. Intelligence says it's either a fault with Sol, something to do with him combating his programming, or it's in his plan, like he doesn't want to launch until he has the numbers for a much larger assault. After all, mass genocide won't look good to the Federation… unless you wipe the Federation out first." Tolk explained.

Tak and Zim's antennae raised in mutual surprise. "Really?" They asked in unison. Tolk nodded. "If these numbers are for what we think they are, than we need to destroy these factories a.s.a.p. The problem is that our forces wouldn't stand a chance in a ground fight. The security systems in that place are too good for our numbers and we lack the technology and the war machines to crack it." He sighed.

"So, what can we do to help?" Zim asked. "Simple. If you can get the numbers from your homeworld, than maybe together we can overcome the defenses and capture the factory in one piece." Tolk explained. "That would be sending millions of men and Irkens to their deaths for one factory!" Tak exclaimed. "But with the factory, we could produce the means to capture or destroy the other factories." Tolk countered.

Tak sighed as Zim took it in. "What happened to the former Tallest?" Zim asked. Tolk avoided eye contact. "Well, last I heard they lived on Foodcourtia and worked as fry cooks. I read somewhere they're in upper management and living the good lives again. 'Course, it's not Foodcourtia anymore. It's called Deltob again, home to some weird looking creatures, but who am I to judge, eh?" The General shrugged.

"Alright, we'll convince the Federation, namely Earth that the Irken Imperials are less risk to the Federation than this Sol figure." Tak submitted. "Yes, and soon this Sol shall rue the day it messed with the Irkens! And ZIM!" Zim declared, cackling a little only to break into a coughing fit.

Tolk smiled happily. "Excellent! You two will heroes twice over! If you're willing, we already have a copy of our new constitution, a declaration of Imperial status, and a set of laws and rights set up for you guys to present to the Federation so they might approve us. They might be more willing to help out if they see the changes made to our society."

The Cruiser returned towards the city and at a nice hotel that was nearly restored. "Anyways, we have a master suite ready for you, complete with free room service and a spectacular view of the less destroyed half of the city. When you're ready to leave, all you have to do is say the word and we'll get your ship ready and give you a spectacular send-off. Please enjoy our hospitality, and thanks for coming to hear us out." Tolk smiled and let the two out to enjoy their suite. The Cruiser sped off.

"Well, that was certainly an eye-opener…" Tak stated. Zim nodded. "When do you suppose the other ship with Bob, Tenn and Sizz-lor will arrive?" He asked. Tak shrugged. "They're probably only a few hours behind us, so it can't be past tomorrow morning." She said.

They walked into the hotel to relax; unaware that two pairs of cold, red eyes watched them from the roof of an adjacent building.

"His voice… in my head… one of them… one of them… Master Sol… One of them."

Chapter 7 Completed, please R&R

No one reviewed last chapter yet D:

As a result, militarist side got angry and conquered my good side again. The old king is dead, long live the king!

Anyways, this is what has become of Irk. But hey, robot overlords. I mean, come on. That's pretty fun.