Unmasking the Truth
They couldn't have a fire, and Darden was sure building another shelter would make too much noise, so when night fell everyone huddled under a few large leafy plants. It was really dark and the rain wasn't about to let up either. Laes blinked a few times as he tried to make out the outlines of the trees and bushes around him.
"I'm telling you now would be the best time to travel," Darden insisted. The Irken was standing underneath a nearby tree probably. At least that's what it sounded like. His voice was coming from near a spot by the trees anyway.
"I'm not sure if you've noticed, but we can't exactly see anything," Kalja remarked, sounding somewhat miffed.
There was a rustling noise in the trees. A hush fell over everyone for a couple moments. Then Kalja continued, "and where exactly are we travelling to? Did your leaders leave you a ship or something? Because if not then you're just as stuck as we are."
"Would you rather us sit around and wait to get eaten?" Darden retorted. There was some bite to his words. He was probably feeling a bit upset about being left behind... or about being told to explode. It was probably both really...
"If I'm going anywhere it'll be away from you," Kalja stated.
Laes yawned and closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms around his legs. He leaned his head back on whatever plant he was resting against and sighed.
"I didn't see you fighting off the worm that attacked us," Darden commented wryly. "You didn't do anything to save your companion."
"What did you expect me to do!?" Kalja snapped. "Not all of us have an array of weapons attached to our backs if you haven't noticed."
"Of course you wouldn't have a pak. It would reject your disgusting DNA."
Their conversation wasn't going very well. "Um... maybe we should be uh... quieter?" Laes suggested in a whisper. A powerful gust of wind blew past them, and everyone moved a bit closer to each other and stayed silent.
Darden didn't seem eager to face one of those creatures again. It was a bit unnerving to know the Irken was actually wary of these things... Laes accidentally mentioned that Darden might be afraid of the worms... and yeah. That was a bad idea. He rubbed his sore face at the memory. The soldier didn't have as much smacking power as Slappy did at least... or more likely the Irken had been holding back a tad.
"So... what should we do now...?" Teeka questioned in a small uncertain voice.
"Stay quiet..." Darden hissed in response.
"Aren't you going to kill it?" Kalja pressed. "After all that boasting..."
"I said shut up," Darden responded, sounding calmer than he was probably.
"Why don't you make me Irken filth?"
It sounded like Darden punched Kalja in the face or something because Laes heard a distinct punching sound.
"Shlit," Kalja gasped. "Are you trying to kill me!? I have half a mind to..."
There were choking and sputtering noises. Laes cringed. Hopefully Darden wouldn't strangle Kalja to death...
Another gust of wind blew over them. It shook the trees and blew apart some branches. All of the bushes and plants around them rustled, and Laes covered his head and closed his eyes when he heard a harsh crunch. Sleeping right now would probably be the best idea. If only he could get his heart to stop racing.
The forest seemed lighter for some reason... he glanced up and noticed all of the clouds were gone and a moon was out. There were stars too. He liked looking at the stars.
Then someone cleared their throat, and he quickly dropped his gaze. Bann was standing close by, smirking. "Trouble in paradise?" he questioned.
"Because the biting plants, and the poison ones, and the people eating creatures, are for sure in paradise..." Laes attempted to joke back and he managed a smile.
"I'm talking about the quarrel your friend was having with him," Bann spoke, gesturing at Darden's image that had appeared in the darkness. "He's a pretty typical Irken soldier... violence, superiority complex, and lack of humour included."
"He killed you Bann..." Laes sighed and covered his eyes with his hands. "I can't trust him then right...? I mean he'll probably kill Lard Nar and Ixane... I can't go back if he's following me..."
"Really?" Bann crossed his arms and tilted his head back a little. His eyes settled on the starry sky above them. "Because I've always thought Darden was much more reliable and trustworthy than I ever was. He doesn't mess around. Once he's given an order he'll follow it." His gaze returned to Laes, and his antennae flicked back. "He's honest. If you're unsure about something you just need to ask him and he'll tell you."
"Oh..." Laes let his hands fall away from his face. "But... wait... are you a dream or are you actually haunting me right now?"
Bann stretched his arms over his head and turned around. "It's almost morning. It's time for you to wake up..."
"Wake up!"
Laes' eyes flew open and he sat up quickly. Darden scowled at him, and the Irken's antennae flattened.
Why did Bann seem to disappear whenever he started asking the dead Irken about whether or not he was haunting him? Laes rubbed one of his eyes. Even in death Bann was a mystery... and kind of a jerk.
He was suddenly yanked to his feet. There was a small crater almost right beside them. Most of the trees in the immediate area had been felled, and there was a giant worm in the sky. Cripes! There was a giant worm in the sky... no. There were two. Three.
Laes' mouth fell open. Then he suddenly realized his arm hurt and that he was getting dragged towards a grove of trees that were still standing. Where was Kalja and Teeka? He looked around as much as he could while leaves swatted him in the face. He couldn't see them anywhere.
Darden suddenly let go, and Laes was sent tumbling into a thicket. He ended up upside down, and he realized pretty fast that his vision was blurry when he tried to right himself. He ended up in a decent sitting position after struggling briefly with the plant he was caught in.
When his vision cleared, he saw the Irken soldier was crouched in front of him with his pak-legs deployed.
"Where are the others?" Laes questioned, grasping Darden by the ankle.
"They tried to take-off last night... I overheard them talking about finding more survivors..." Darden responded. "I went after them, but then the worms got to them before I could. One is dead... the other... it looked like he got away but I'm not sure."
Screeching and crashing noises caused Laes to cover his head and curl into a small ball of protection. He was trembling. There was nothing he could do to defend himself... not against those giant monsters. Darden couldn't even stand up to them from the looks of it.
"A-Are we going to die...?" Laes whimpered.
"Not if I can help it..." Darden growled. He sprang into the air when one of the worms flew by, and he latched onto it.
Laes couldn't watch. There was slicing sounds and a lot more screeching. He heard Darden's pained cry, and then a loud crash.
He didn't move for a long time... then after a while of not hearing anything, he slowly uncurled himself. Trees had been ripped out of the ground. There was mud everywhere on everything. Laes shakily rose to his feet and looked into the bog which had just appeared. In the middle of it was the worm creature, its tail still twitching.
Laes glanced up at the other two in the sky. They were coming closer. Squeezing his eyes shut, he stiffened, waiting to get devoured by the beasts which he figured was a pretty bad idea, but he couldn't think of much else to do.
"Get in here!" Darden shouted, and Laes felt something hit him in the chest. It was probably a rock or something... his eyes opened and he noticed the Irken was standing in the fallen worm's mouth, holding it open. "Come on!"
Somehow he got his legs working again, and he stumbled, fell, and then waded as fast as he could towards Darden. He slipped in beside the Irken and the mouth snapped closed.
"These things don't eat each other for some reason..." Darden explained in a quiet tone. "We'll stay here until those two have gone."
"Ok..." Laes agreed. It smelled horrible in here, like rotting flesh, but it was better than getting devoured for real.
"You've got to stop doing that..." Darden continued.
"Doing what?" Laes questioned, blinking.
"Freezing... It's going to get you killed."
"Yeah... sorry about that..." it really didn't seem like anyone would be able to outrun the flying worms from space though, and he definitely wouldn't be able to fight them off. "So..." He knew it would be safer inside the Irken's base, but he didn't want Darden to kill anyone. Maybe he should figure out just how much Darden wanted to hunt the Resisty down before returning to the base. "What if I knew of a safer place... I mean... hypothetically speaking...?"
"I would do everything in my power to get you there," Darden responded.
"Without killing anyone...?" Laes pressed, and the Irken let out a sigh.
"Killing Bandeval wasn't my first choice... and my Tallest only left me with orders to protect you," Darden explained. "I was not ordered to destroy anyone by my Tallest. Without an order I won't kill any of your comrades."
"You promise...?" Laes questioned, biting the inside of his cheek.
"On my Tallests' honour, I will not kill you or anyone you care about on this planet."
Laes sucked in a breath, and then immediately regretted it. The inside of this creature really did stink something terrible..."Ok... then... from where the Tallest were... South East from there... I think I can find the place we were hiding."
"I want to bathe..." Laes mumbled, wrapping his good arm around himself. He could still feel the worm's saliva on him, and it made him shiver. "Like... pretty badly." The one time he wouldn't have minded a downpour was right now, but it wasn't even drizzling anymore. The leaf cover he'd been wearing on his shoulders had been too gross to save, and if there had been any other pair of pants than what he was currently wearing he would have immediately swapped them.
"I know how you feel... but we don't have time for that," Darden responded with a scowl. He was leading Laes back towards the place the Tallests' ship had been. His antennae were perked, and he was rigid. There was also more blood on him than before... at first Laes thought it was from the worm, but he realized it was the Irken's blood. There were cracks in Darden's armour and the blood appeared to be coming from those.
At least the worms were gone for the moment. Darden kept glancing up at the sky. Of course those things could be back any minute.
They came to the clearing where the Resisty's ship had crashed, near where the alien ship had been parked. There were pieces of metal strewn about everywhere. The Irkens really had destroyed everything... of course it wasn't completely impossible to rebuild a few things, but it sure was a lot more difficult when those things were in a million pieces.
Darden pulled a device out of his pak and scanned over it quickly. "Alright... let's go," he said as he began walking in the direction of the slope. It was muddy and unstable, and Laes found himself stuck more than once. He slid down more than once too. Finally Darden just grabbed him and hauled him up.
Laes picked himself up after being flung onto the ground and spat out a mouthful of mud. He'd probably eaten more mud than anything else lately.
"We have to keep moving," Darden pressed as he started walking again.
"Yeah... ok," Laes agreed.
He'd never wanted to hug a mound of dirt before, but he felt that way now when he saw the disguised base in the distance. For some reason the worms hadn't come after them again. Darden suspected it was because both of them smelled like the inside of a worm, which was gross enough to even think about, never mind actually smelling like it.
"Hold on... you're going to need a disguise," Laes realized, and he stopped walking as he reached inside his sling for the hologram device. Somehow it miraculously managed to not fall out during everything that happened. He pulled the thing out and tried to hand it to Darden who made a face and crossed his arms over his chest.
"I'm not using a disguise," he insisted. "I'm not an invader."
Laes breathed a sigh. Why did Darden have to be stubborn about this? Did he honestly think he could just walk up to Lard Nar, or anyone else from the Resisty for that matter, and everything would be ok?
"I know you're not an invader," Laes said, pushing the device against the Irken's chest plate. "But you're Irken, and the Resisty won't like that, so please use a disguise ok?"
Darden raised an invisible brow. "They can dislike it all they want. I'm not using that thing."
"Then... then I'm not going in there," Laes said, and he cringed when Darden glared at him. He flinched away when the Irken swiped the device out of his hand and held it up.
"What am I supposed to do with it?" Darden asked, his antennae lowered as he squinted at it.
"I dunno..." Laes admitted. "Bann had it in his Pak... it's got some Bludonian technology so..."
Darden stared at the device for a few moments. Then his Pak whirred open, and he tossed it inside.
Laes blinked. "Is that going to work...?"
"You tell me," the Irken replied, spreading his arms out. "Do I look any different?"
His appearance slowly shifted from Irken to Vortian.
Laes smiled. At least this would be one less thing to worry about. His smile faltered. Then it faded completely.
Dark brown eyes. Light brown skin. A crooked black horn.
"You look exactly like Bann did."
Darden shrugged his shoulders. He didn't seem to care at all... but it was a problem. Lard Nar knew Dev was Bann and Bann was Dev... sure this wasn't Bann disguising himself anymore, but Darden was still Irken.
Laes dragged a hand down his face and let out a sigh. Even the clothes were the same. It might not matter too much if it was just Lard Nar who knew about the disguise, but he was sure the former captain would have told Ixane by now. He also wasn't sure if there was going to be other Resisty members inside...
Bann was dead, so there probably wouldn't be anyone else. The young soldier had been the one leading the survivors to the base, so unless Lard Nar found someone on his searches...
"Are you going inside or not?" Dev, Darden, questioned him with a scowl.
"Y-Yeah... just... they're going to think you're Bann..." although Darden wouldn't frighten the children as much if he looked Vortian.
"If the disguise is pointless, I'll remove it," the Irken soldier remarked, reaching behind him as his hidden pak whirred open.
"No no," Laes insisted as he grabbed Darden by the wrist. "It's fine..."
"I could leave," Darden stated, pulling away.
"But the worms..."
The disguised Irken huffed. "Then go inside already."
Laes was beginning to think this might not be the greatest idea. Irkens and the Resisty didn't mix. That was obvious enough. He was starting to think about maybe turning and walking away, only he could feel himself being pulled. Darden had a grip on his arm, and the disguised Irken was dragging him towards the large mound of dirt that was actually the hidden base.
Darden only had to search for a moment to find the door. Then they were inside. The disguised Irken promptly let go of him, and he lost his balance and fell to the floor.
"Ow..." he mumbled. He carefully pushed himself up off the ground and took a quick look around. It was dark and quiet. He rose to his feet. There was no sound at all other than his breathing.
Where was everyone? Did they leave?
Darden wasted no time in searching this room. The sound of the Irken's heavy boot-steps reminded Laes of the prison guards. It seemed like a lifetime ago already he'd been sitting in his cell coming up with silly sabotage plans.
"Maybe they left..." Laes suggested. Darden didn't look at him. The disguised Irken was too intent on searching.
"Laes?" Ixane spoke as she stepped out of the other room. She was wearing her hood up, and her blue eyes glowed in the dim light.
"Yeah, it's me," Laes responded.
Darden stopped and turned towards her. He didn't smile. He didn't speak a word.
"You scared us..." Ixane admitted, bringing a hand to her chest. "Lard Nar is out right now... he was looking for you... and for other survivors..."
Of course he just disappeared the other day without saying a word to anyone. Laes rubbed the back of his head ruefully. "Sorry... I um... went out for a second and got lost..." It was true. He left out the part about Bann, but he had gone out and he had gotten lost so he wasn't lying.
"Then you really need to stay inside..." Ixane told him. "It's dangerous out there... I really wish Lard Nar would stay in, but he won't."
"I uh... was thinking that... well laundry and..." Laes tried only to realize his words weren't coming out properly again. He stopped for a moment to reorganize his thoughts. He took a deep breath. "Ixane... there's space worms outside... the Irkens are gone... I think... but now there's those... so it's really dangerous and, well, did Lard Nar say whereabouts he was going?"
"No..." she shook her head. "He just said he was going to try to find you." Her attention switched to Darden. "Thank you for leading me here before... I'm glad you made it back ok."
"Yeah, sure," the disguised Irken replied, crossing his arms and turning away dismissively.
Ixane stared at him, and Laes quickly placed himself between her and 'Dev.' Bann at least had some idea how to interact with people... but it seemed Darden didn't, or he just didn't care. When he thought about how Darden usually acted the latter was definitely more likely.
Hold on... it sounded like Ixane didn't know 'Dev' was Irken. Lard Nar hadn't said anything then. She was going to figure it out pretty quick if Darden didn't at least try to act a little less hostile though. Maybe things would be ok if he told her right now, but then what if she panicked?
"He's um..." crap. Why did lying have to be so difficult? His mind was blanking. At this rate he was going to end up telling her the truth anyway.
"It's alright..." Ixane spoke in a soft voice. She dipped her head and clutched one of her arms. "I know it must have been hard out there... take all the time you need."
Laes almost breathed a sigh, but then he thought that might not be the best thing to do, so he didn't. He glanced at 'Dev' who was standing tense, looking up at the ceiling.
"This place won't hold..." the disguised Irken muttered.
"But it's better than nothing right?" Laes said. But Lard Nar was still outside... he was going to get eaten out there if he hadn't been eaten already. He needed to find the former captain... he couldn't just stay inside when it was his fault Lard Nar was out there right now.
"Where do you think you're going?" 'Dev' demanded, grabbing him by his shoulder.
Laes was forced to stop. He couldn't overpower the Irken, and Darden's grip was nothing to laugh at. "I... I need to find Lard Nar..." Laes managed to say even though the disguised Irken was glaring at him pretty fiercely. He swallowed and turned away. "He's looking for me... so..."
"You stay here," 'Dev' insisted, shoving Laes aside as he strode over to the door. "I'll find him."
"But..." Laes tried to protest, but the disguised Irken cut him off.
"If you don't agree to stay put, I'll tie you up and lock you in a closet."
The soldier sounded irritated. There would be no more arguing then since he didn't really want 'Dev' to make good on his threat.
Laes nodded in agreement, and he quietly watched 'Dev' leave. Then his attention switched back to Ixane.
They stood in awkward silence for quite a while. Laes looked up at the ceiling and down at the floor. She probably wanted to ask him where he'd been and what happened while he was outside, but she wasn't asking. He didn't really know what to say either.
Say something, he thought to himself. Saying anything at all would be less awkward at this point.
"Lard Nar really cares about you Laes..." Ixane's voice suddenly interrupted the long uncomfortable silence. "I wish..." she paused and let out a sigh. "I just wish he cared about himself as well..."
"Yeah, me too..." Laes responded, exhaling. At some point his breathing stopped again. Why did that happen? It's not like he was feeling anymore anxious than usual. "I mean... he..." maybe mentioning him trying to kill himself in prison wasn't a great idea. It wasn't really something for him to share anyway. "He was always thinking of you guys... uh... the Resisty... and he save me from a few beatings... but he doesn't think about himself... like at all."
That was kind of the opposite of how Bann had been Laes realized. The recently deceased Irken soldier had admitted to being selfish. Bann had wanted nothing more than to please his Tallest and to further himself in the Empire if he could. Following orders, falling into line, never questioning your role in things... but for some reason the Irken had decided to help him anyway.
Bann had been trapped in the middle of something he could never escape... even if he managed to live and somehow make it off this planet, his Tallest would have put him on trial and he would have been deactivated. The Irken couldn't have turned to the Resisty either because they all hated him.
"That's because I couldn't pick a side..." Bann told him in his dream. How was he even able to remember that? Laes wasn't sure. Maybe Bann really was haunting him.
In any case, there was no middle ground for Irkens... for them you were either loyal or disloyal to the Empire. There was no both or neither, it had to be one or the other.
Ixane's eyes widened, and she stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. His cheeks flushed when his brain snapped him back into the realization that he'd most likely been staring at nothing. Now her hand was on his shoulder. He almost stumbled backwards, but he willed himself to stay standing where he was.
"Are you ok Laes?" she asked; her voice filled with concern. "Do you want to talk about it?"
There were tears running down his face... he could feel them now. He hurriedly brushed them away. Of course he wanted to talk about what happened, but he couldn't. Bann was Irken. Ixane, Lard Nar, and any other member of the Resisty wouldn't understand.
"Nah, I'm good," he replied, managing a smile. He just had to think more positively. That's all.
Juelee was dead, Bann was dead, his parents were probably dead, and Lard Nar seemed to be working on getting himself killed... Ok. Those definitely were not positive thoughts.
"I just need a minute to cry," Laes admitted, ducking away. He found a corner and he sat down, wrapping his arms around his legs.
He stayed like that for quite a while. He heard Ixane walk into the other room, and everything was eerily quiet again. This left him with his thoughts that seemed to be spiralling out of control. Even though he was trying not to think about it, Darden was the one who killed Bann. Darden had been ordered by the Tallest to be here... what would Lard Nar think about this?
The former captain would probably think Darden was spying. What would happen if the Irken decided to blow himself up inside the base? That wouldn't be good. Everyone would die for sure... Darden could be lying about protecting him for all he knew. It was better not to trust Irkens. They were more machine than anything, and machines didn't understand complicated emotions. They weren't loyal to anything but their Tallest and their Empire.
There could be soldiers outside right now... he hurried over to the small window to take a look.
Maybe they were waiting for Darden to return with Lard Nar. Maybe everyone was going to die. He dragged a hand down his face. If everyone died it would be his fault. He's the one who led the Irken soldier here... if he hadn't gone with Bann, the young soldier would probably still be alive right now.
He cried for a long time. His body wracked with sobs as he mourned Bann's death and the death of Julee and his sister all at once. When he'd exhausted himself, he slowly lowered himself onto the floor and closed his eyes.
THUD.
Laes' eyes flew open and he scrambled into a sitting position. The room spun for a moment as he struggled to focus.
There was a horrid smell of rotting flesh... it smelled like the inside of one of those worm creatures. He could hear the rain. The door was swung open. 'Dev' was lying on the floor holding tightly to Lard Nar's wrist. There was that other guy too... Kalja. He was collapsed face down on the ground groaning.
"Is everything alright?" Ixane called as she hurried out of the other room. She stopped at let out a startled gasp when she saw everyone on the floor.
"Close the door!" 'Dev' shouted at Laes who jumped to his feet, fell, and ended up doing some kind of scramble-crawl thing towards the door. He reached for the handle and let out a startled yelp when he saw the gaping mouth of one of those giant worms the Irkens hated. He could feel its warm breath... and that smell! He almost barfed right there but he managed to hold it down and tug the door closed before crumpling.
He lay with his face smushed into the floor for a little while, trying not to puke while knowing the smell of rotting flesh would be engraved in his brain for the rest of his life. He'd been inside the mouth of one of these things, but he was now going to assume that one probably hadn't eaten anything recently. Once he felt he could move without getting dizzy or overly nauseous, Laes sat up and turned to see how everyone else was doing.
'Dev' managed to slowly rise to his feet. The disguised Irken looked fine, but there was blood dripping on the floor and it was obviously coming from him. He tucked an arm behind his back and cursed quietly to himself. The hologram was hiding his injuries well enough... but no matter how good they were hidden, they were still there.
Could Irkens bleed to death Laes wondered? They should be able to. They were partially organic after all.
Lard Nar was bruised pretty good, and he had a few small cuts, but the former leader of the Resisty seemed to be fairing ok. He was already up and attempting to walk although Ixane had latched onto him which appeared to be making the whole walking thing difficult. Kalja hadn't moved off the floor yet, and judging by the swelling in one of his legs he probably couldn't.
Laes slowly exhaled. At least for now everyone seemed to be mostly ok.
"They must be swarming the whole bloody planet..." 'Dev' muttered, rubbing his temples.
"What does that mean?" Laes asked, and he cringed when the disguised Irken glared at him.
"It means everything out there is dead," Dev stated with a frown. He glanced up at the skylight. A shadow passed over them. It was a worm probably. "And we're going to be next if we don't get underground."
"If they're this far into Irken territory..." Laes began, glancing from Lard Nar and Ixane to 'Dev.' "Then... then doesn't that mean..."
"One of the lines didn't hold..." 'Dev' concluded dismissively. The Irken would probably never mention the possibility that the Armada could have been defeated.
Lard Nar hadn't spoken a word, but his eyes were locked onto 'Dev.' Of course he knew the Vortian imposter was actually an Irken in disguise... but he probably thought it was Bann wearing the holographic device.
Then 'Dev' flipped the energy knife out from somewhere. The Irken must have picked it up at some point. That knife had belonged to Bann. It hadn't done very much for Laes, but he figured the soldier knew how to use it much better than he did which kind of sucked now that he thought about it. He didn't know Darden. The Irken could be crazy or have a violent temper and everyone was trapped inside the base.
Then again, he hadn't really known Bann either.
His eyes hurt. Laes blinked. He didn't realize he'd been staring. "Um... what are you...?" Laes began, but he stopped when 'Dev' walked a short distance away and jumped down the open shaft Laes had kind of been using as a trash chute.
He turned to Lard Nar who was staring at him in confusion. Laes shrugged his shoulders helplessly and offered a small forced smile. He had no idea what the disguised Irken was planning.
The noise 'Dev' was making was a bit hard to describe. It wasn't like clanging or buzzing... but it was sort of close to that, or maybe a combination of both and something like hissing too? In any case, it sounded like the disguised Irken was doing something pretty drastic.
Another shadow passed over them, and Laes cringed and then nearly lost his balance when one of those worm things crashed against the side of the base. Everything shook.
"Grab what you can and get down here," 'Dev' insisted. He added "all of you" just in case someone thought they were being left out of this command. It was a command too, but then they didn't really have much of a choice. They could stay put and pray the walls held, but that wasn't very practical.
Laes decided to do what he was told without complaint. Lard Nar hesitated while Ixane left the room to check on the children and to probably bring them into this room. Kalja still wasn't moving off the floor. Maybe his leg was broken?
'Dev' climbed out, grunting with the effort of forcing himself back up. It didn't look like there was a lot of space in there. Laes had grabbed an armful of food and drink stuff from the closet while Ixane returned with the children and a couple blankets.
CRASH!
The building shook again. Kish yelped and clung fearfully to Ixane.
"Is that really all your bringing?" 'Dev' asked, and he made sure to have eye contact everyone. "We could be down there for a while."
"I'm sorry," Ixane spoke, ushering Kish over to 'Dev.' "Can you keep them for a moment?" She asked, handing the disguised Irken the youngest one in her arms.
'Dev' let out an irritated sigh. "Yes. Fine," he replied turning away as he adjusted his grip on the little alien. "Just hurry up. The rest of you, since you're not moving I'm assuming you're done."
"I'm good," Laes remarked with a nod. He turned to Lard Nar who was glaring at 'Dev.' The former captain hadn't spoken a word. The tension was pretty thick in in the air. Laes could feel it.
"So um... I'll go then," he offered as he stepped past 'Dev.' He looked down into the dark shaft and gulped. It would have been nice if he could at least see the bottom. Hopefully he could do this without breaking anything. He just had to try not to land on his face.
Then he felt someone shove him. He was falling.
Clang!
"Ouch..." He groaned as he sat up. It was pitch dark, but it felt like some of the wrappers had broken his fall a bit. He sucked in a breath while he shoved most of the stuff he was carrying into his sling so he could begin feeling around. The walls were close. At least he wasn't claustrophobic. Well, at least he didn't think he was. It had been a long time since he'd been trapped in a small space.
The last time that happened he'd been shoved into a closet by some not so friendly peers. He was pretty sure he'd been repressing that thought. Oh well. It wasn't really the closet that had freaked him out then; it had been the people, and those people left him alone after they locked him in, plus the janitor came by later and let him out. Really he'd only been in there for a few hours, and half the time he was sleeping anyway.
A jagged hole that had been cut into one of the walls. Laes carefully felt around it. He should be able to go through it without much trouble. He just wished there were lights so he could see exactly what he was walking in to.
He crawled through and he found himself in a bit more open space. This must be one of the underground labs or maybe it was the base's main control room. Whatever it was, there hadn't been enough energy for it to fully deploy. He hit the far wall pretty quick and he rubbed his sore face. He followed along the wall until he reached the connecting wall.
It wasn't a very big space, but it would work. He pulled all of the snacks out from his sling and placed them in the corner. He wasn't sure if his eyes could adjust to this level of blackness, but he figured if he left them in this corner it would be easier to find them later.
The sounds of crashing were a little fainter, but still easy to hear. There were vibrations from the impacts above. Laes could feel them. Why was it taking everyone so long to get down here? Should he climb back up? He started walking to where he thought the hole might be. He could hear some talking.
Just as he was thinking he might need to climb up and check on everyone, he heard the sound of someone else landing.
"Laes?" It was Ixane's voice.
"Over here," Laes called, and he beckoned her with his good hand only to realize it was too dark to see, so he stopped. "There's uh... a jagged hole in the wall."
He heard her cloak swishing against the floor. Then there was a ripping sound. It probably got caught on something sharp, and this probably caused her to trip because suddenly Laes found himself on his back looking up at the dark with a heavy weight on top of him.
"Oof..." he groaned as she pushed herself off.
"S-Sorry," Ixane stammered. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah..." Laes responded, rolling onto his side and sucking in a breath. "I'm good." He propped himself up with his good arm, and he looked in the direction he was pretty sure Ixane was standing. "The others?" he questioned.
"Lard Nar is going to bring Kish down," Ixane explained. "Dev said he would take baby and Kalja. I'm not sure how he's going to manage that... I mean Kalja is bigger than any of us."
There was another rumble. The worms were still attacking the place. Irken bases must be pretty strong if the walls were still holding up. Great. Now he was curious about their make-up and consistency. He'd have to take a close look whenever he could see again.
It sounded like someone else landed.
"Is that you Lard Nar?" Ixane asked.
"Yeah," the former leader of the Resisty responded.
"Watch out for the jagged hole in the wall," Laes remarked.
A few seconds later, there was a sound of someone's boots hitting the floor. There was a strained grunt, and then it sounded like falling-over. Metal hit metal and Laes assumed it was Kalja who was groaning.
"Are the children ok? Ixane questioned, and Laes heard her walking towards the hole again.
"Drop the blankets and take him already," 'Dev' insisted, sounding annoyed.
"R-right..." Ixane spoke, and it sounded like the blankets hit the floor.
"Take these too."
"Oh... ok..."
Laes tried squinting, but it was too dark to see anything and nothing was about to change that.
There was scraping and clanging noises coming from above. The walls were trembling. Maybe the base was going to collapse afterall. If that happened, would there be a way for them to get out?
"They know we're in here..." 'Dev' muttered.
Was his voice getting further away...? Now it sounded like he was climbing.
"Where are you going?" Laes questioned, and the disguised Irken let out a sigh.
"I'm going to lead them away from here," the soldier responded.
"Just you...?" Laes questioned in disbelief. Why were Irkens always trying to do stupid things by themselves? Bann had died doing this... was Darden trying to get himself killed too?
"Unless there's someone else up to the challenge, then yes," 'Dev' replied; his voice fading. He was probably near the top already...
"You can't," Ixane interjected. "You'll be killed."
"There are worse ways to die," 'Dev' spoke, and he added, "sitting in the dark with you people isn't how I want to perish."
"If you happen to not die, you'll come back right...?" Laes asked, but he already knew the Irken wasn't planning to return. Darden had made that clear before... still, his chest constricted when he thought about how Bann had died and what Darden was about to do.
Darden had killed Bann. Darden was nothing like Bann. Laes dragged his hand down his face. He must be racist... or speciest or something of he was constantly comparing the two soldiers just because both of them were Irken.
Of course Darden didn't respond. The Irken was probably long gone already.
Since there wasn't much else to do Laes decided to find where Kalja had been dumped. Then he figured out where the blankets were and he used one to cover the poor immobile guy. Both Kalja and Lard Nar were being very quiet. It was probably better to be quiet right now anyway. The worms would probably hear them if they got too loud.
"Lard Nar... do you still have Kish?" Ixane asked after a little while.
Laes was trying to figure out where everyone was. He knew Kalja was laying near the jagged hole, and it sounded like Ixane was nearby though he wasn't exactly sure where. He had no idea where Lard Nar and Kish were though.
After a few hours of sitting in the dark listening to the clanging and banging sounds from above, the noises stopped. Laes decided now would be a good of time as any to eat something... of course he was only planning to have a little because who knows how long they'd be stuck down here. Just because the noises had stopped didn't mean the worms were gone. They could still be floating around. How they did that really was a mystery.
Irkens seemed much more interested in destroying things than knowing things. If the Vortians had a say they would have studied the creatures and maybe tried to find some kind of biological weakness. How did Zim get a hold of a baby one anyway...? No one understood that Irken, not even his own kind understood him.
What would that be like Laes wondered. Even if he messed up everything over and over and even if he couldn't always relate well with other Vortians, he still had his parents. Had his parents... they could be dead. He had one or two coworkers he talked to pretty frequently, but they never really hung out. Come to think of it, he never had much of a social life. The Massive project had taken a good chunk of his time, so he stopped seeing his college friends. He only had two of those too.
Someone must have been sitting on the ground because Laes managed to trip on them. Right. Asking where everyone was before he started moving would have been the smart thing to do. Hopefully this wasn't Ixane. That would be awkward again. It would be awkward no matter who it was, but Ixane was a girl.
"Sorry," Laes quickly apologized as he tried to right himself. Vortians didn't really have the greatest night vision, and he was remembering that now.
"What were you doing out there Laes...?"
That was Lard Nar's voice... Laes blinked. He was practically laying on the guy's lap... and that's what Resisty the former leader of the was concerned about?
Of course he hadn't explained to Ixane or Lard Nar how Bann had pulled him out of the base in order to cover their tracks, or how that had turned into thoughts about returning to Vort, and how that led to him following Bann, which led to the young soldier dying, which resulted in somehow meeting with the Tallest, and that led to Darden being around.
"Well..." he bit his lip as he struggled to find the right way to explain everything. "Do you uh... want the long honest answer or a vague shorter one?"he questioned, and he pushed himself into a sitting position and scooted back.
"Just explain everything..." Lard Nar replied, and he let out a sigh.
"Ok well... it started with Bann paying us a visit," Laes began, fidgeting with his sling. "He um... came to the door. Apparently he was mad because we left a trail. I mean it was raining so I didn't think... but yeah. So I got scolded."
"Who is this Bann fellow?" Ixane questioned. It sounded like she was somewhere near the far wall probably, away from the jagged hole.
"The Irken that sabotaged our ship," Lard Nar responded with little emotion in his voice. "... please continue Laes..."
"So yeah... anyway..." Laes knew he was probably making everything sound less important than he should. No one could see his forced smile or the way he was playing nervously with his sling.
"When we were out there Bann told me to go back, but I wouldn't listen. I um... I don't know why... I guess I was worried... I mean... about my parents. I thought he might have a way off the planet maybe... but he didn't... still, I decided to follow him and we ended up getting chased by Irken soldiers. I mean other Irken soldiers.. uh... Bann apparently killed some of them... they were pretty mad."
"Oh dear..." Ixane breathed. "That must have been frightening."
"Yeah, I guess it was..." Laes admitted rubbing the back of his head. "I was too busy running to think about it though." He paused to take a breath. Everyone was quiet now, waiting for him to continue. Laes was glad he couldn't see their expressions. It made talking a little bit easier. It was almost like talking in an empty room, only there were people he couldn't see and... where was he going with this?
"So... um... Bann was stabbed to death by another Irken... uh... Darden, and before I could be stabbed to death too, the purple Tallest happened to see us and he stopped the soldier. I guess they needed me to fix something, and I really thought about sabotaging whatever it was needed fixing, but it turned out to be mostly wiring they wanted me to fix because the red Tallest knows how to repair stuff, and I couldn't really damage wires without being obvious about it... and then I kind of fell asleep."
He paused again so he could gather his thoughts that were scrambling into a mess. He was pretty sure whatever he was saying wasn't quite right. He was mostly rambling really.
"When I woke up Darden was there and he said the Tallest told him to stay with me. Umm... and then he found Kalja and his friends, but then the worms attacked, and something really gross happened, and then I realized I had the hologram device from Bann... he gave it to me after he died... I mean before he said I could take it... so I did. I gave it to Darden so everyone wouldn't be freaked out... yeah.
Dev isn't a real person. He was Bann's disguise. Now Darden is using it, but I'm guessing he's going to die pretty quick up there and I don't know if I'll be able to recover the device this time... because apparently it can make someone look Irken too which might have been nice but..." he clutched his head and squeezed his eyes shut. "Sorry. I'm not very good at... at this stuff... because of me the Tallest got away and another Irken was here."
The room became silent. Laes couldn't even hear anyone breathing anymore which was just a little unnerving. They were probably going to blame him for letting the Tallest go without putting up some kind of resistance. Lard Nar would probably give him the silent treatment for like a week at least. He wouldn't be surprised if they demanded he leave and never come back... not that he could come back because he was so bad with directions...
"Laes..."
Laes tensed. Lard Nar was talking to him, but he wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad sign.
"You're a civilian... you're facing situations you've probably never thought of before..."
He cringed when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Lard Nar was comforting him...? Really? Even though he maybe could have done something to stop the Tallest? Even though he led Darden here knowing the Irken could kill everyone? Plus he also kept quiet about Dev's real identity... and gosh he was crying again.
"Stop blaming yourself... you're not a soldier. There are things you don't know, and that's ok."
It was a little strange that the guy who was always blaming himself could say that. Laes rubbed the tears trickling down his face. Sometimes he just wanted to close his eyes and pretend everything was back to the way it had been before the invasion happened., or even right after. He was even starting to miss his boring zappy cell.
"Y-yeah, ok..." Laes agreed somewhat hesitantly. "But... but what should we do now...?"
"..." Lard Nar was quiet for a few moments. Then he cleared his throat and responded, "we should probably discuss some kind of plan on how to get off this planet..."
"I'm sorry I won't be much help..." Kalja muttered just loud enough for them to hear. "I broke my leg... I can't even walk."
Laes felt his stomach rumble. It sounded loud to him. Hopefully no one else heard that. "Um... maybe we could eat something first?" he suggested. "I brought snacks."
"Dev gave me some drinks before he left..." Ixane offered.
Oh right... those would be more important than food wouldn't they?