This story is the counterpart to my other story The Emperor's Wrath of ZIM!, with which Zim will become a Sith Inquisitor. Before anyone says anything, I have already decided that Zim will follow the path of light in this story, so he's not becoming Darth Nox. Sorry to those who would prefer a Dark Side Zim, but that's not gonna happen in this story.

*I don't own Invader Zim or Star Wars: The Old Republic!*

An Irken's First Trial!

Up in the far outer atmosphere of the Sith home world known as Korriban, several Imperial ships orbited the planet as they went about their business of guarding from outside threats. Namely, threats from the Galactic Republic. One of these ships released a smaller vessel that looked like a combination of a pyramid and a rectangle in terms of body shape which flew down to the planet. As it descended down through the planet's atmosphere it maneuvered through canyons and past cliffs until it reached a landing platform. The ship touched down as its wings folded upwards and a ramp was lowered while the hatch door opened.

The first passengers to disembark were two large human men. The third to walk off of the shuttle was an oddity as he was one of the only ones who wasn't a human, but he wasn't the third one to reach the overseer of the Sith Academy. Instead, he paused to examine the world around him.

The third individual in question is a member of a species that's known as an Irken. A species of bioengineered lifeforms that resemble a cross between humanoids, insects, reptiles, and a little bit of those martians that some people in this neck of the galaxy have heard stories about. He has lime green skin with big, bulbous, magenta compound eyes that have twin sets of lighter pink pupils. But unlike most members of his species, this one is abnormally tall even though he's not one of the leaders known as the Almighty Tallest. His antennae are slightly longer and more naturally curved than most other Irkens, and his height is what most people would consider average with a lean build like a runner or a swimmer. Also, unlike most of his species, he has five digits on each hand and more humanoid feet. His current attire consists of a slave uniform which includes a long-sleeve pinkish-red tunic, a pair of light black pants, and a pair of gray boots. He also has a vibroblade slung over his back, which no longer has the mechanical PAK that all other Irkens have implanted into them at birth.

This Irken is named Zim. And he's known as what Irkens call a Defective. Meaning that he is a flawed specimen among their species. This is because Zim, like all other Irken Defectives, was originally outfitted with a faulty PAK system which caused him to become uncontrollable, unstable, and highly dangerous even by Irken standards. Now, under normal conditions an Irken Defective would have all memory data within their PAK deleted by the Control Brains so as to not infect the collective data of the Irken Empire which would be downloaded into the PAKs of newborn Irken Smeets, and the Defective themselves being either killed or assigned to menial labor such as janitorial work or food services, thus being forced to live out the rest of their days as though they didn't exist.

And yet for whatever reason, Zim has escaped such a fate and was instead sold by the Tallest into slavery in Imperial Space, but that will be explained later.

Zim took a moment to examine everything around him as Korriban was most inspiring to him. From the great statues of past Sith Lords that were erected centuries ago, to the orange sand that has no doubt had more than its fill of blood from the many acolytes who don't survive their trials to become Sith. Honestly, Zim was mesmerized by the sheer dark beauty of this planet. A planet that has long been out of the Irken Empire's reach.

But as he was taking in the sights, the final passenger rudely shoved his way past Zim. They stopped to look back at Zim long enough for him to get a good look at them. The person in question was a red skinned, red eyed humanoid known as a Sith Pureblood. Though his fancy robes showed that he was in no way a slave. He just looked at Zim with a look of disdain before facing forward with his nose upturned like he was God's gift to the universe. It was a look that the Irken was all too familiar with considering his own circumstances.

Zim's POV.

That damn privileged bastard! Who does he think he is to look down on me? ZIM! Irken Invader Zim! It is I who was meant to destroy the pitiful hyoomans and conquer that spinning mud ball known as Earth, and I'd gladly do it if not for those damnable slavers! The Tallest would have surely seen to my freedom, eventually!

...

…

…

…

...Oh, who am I kidding?

I was never an invader in the first place! The Tallest just let me believe that while they sent me out to unknown space hoping that I would be destroyed! Most likely by being sucked in by the gravitational pull of a sun! I can't believe I ever respected them!

Well, no time to dwell on that right now. As I jogged over to where the rest of my fellow condemned are standing I took note of how the hyooman who is supposed to be the Overseer for our little group seemed to be explaining something. Too bad I don't know how to read lips, otherwise I'd know what that is.

"Ah, the last one to arrive is finally here. I hope you don't think you're special. It would be a shame if freedom went to your head, or if you somehow got the idea you didn't need to pass your trials to become Sith." the overseer said with contempt in his voice. "My name is Harkun, but while under my tutelage you will refer to me as Overseer. And Lord Zash has given me the task of sorting through you refuse to find one worthy of becoming her apprentice, and I intend to do just that."

Harkun is a hyooman man with a strong build and appears to be of caucasian heritage. He has pale skin, blue eyes, and red hair with a small beard. He wears red and white warrior armor and has a Lightsaber clipped to his belt like all Sith do. The Lightsaber itself is of a very basic design which no doubt is meant to make it easier to use in battle and perform battlefield maintenance on it. I can sense that he is quite strong, or at least stronger than I am at my current level, so I decided to play it safe with him. Besides, after what the Tallest put me through I'm desperate to receive even a modicum of respect!

"Give us a chance. We can prove ourselves." I said to Harkun.

"We'll just see about that.." Harkun said with a nod before dismissing the other acolytes. "Now the rest of you gutter trash already know your trial. Get going while I bring our latecomer up to speed."

While the rest of the acolytes went on their way, Vibroblades at the ready, the only girl in the group stopped to talk to me for a moment. Looking at her, I have to say she's even more beautiful than the Dib hyooman's sister, Gaz, grew up to be. Her neck length red hair and blue eyes are simply captivating, and she has womanly curves in all the right places. Her face has a little bit of scarring on one side, but it seems to only add to her beauty in my book. Now before I found myself in my current situation I would have been repulsed by the appearance of females from other species. But now? I actually find myself rather attracted to them.

"Watch your back, friend. And don't worry. It'll be alright. He can't kill us all." she said as she offered me a warning.

"Thanks. That means a lot coming from a beautiful girl." I replied as I tried flirting with her.

And amazingly enough, it seems to have worked as she giggled a little at my line.

"You're cute." she said. "Just… watch you don't get yourself killed."

As she walked off to complete her trials, Harkun turned his attention to me as he gave me my own trial. One which I think is the same one he gave to the others. Though I really can't be sure.

"Now, slave, for your trial. There's a hermit named Spindrall who lives in the tomb of Ajunta Pall in the Valley of the Dark Lords. Spindrall's a lunatic, but Lord Zash sees him as some kind of prophet. Once you find him, he will test you." Harkun explained.

I nodded and said "I'll do my best to please Spindrall and accomplish this trial."

"But there - You know your task. But in case you forgot, I'll say it again. Spindrall lives in the tomb of Ajunta Pall in the Valley of the Dark Lords. Don't keep Spindrall waiting, Slave." Harkun said.

I merely nodded as he walked away. Now, I may seem calm on the outside, but on the inside I'm seething with rage. If there's one thing I hate about my life it's how I ended up becoming a slave. The fact that I am strong in the Force was merely a stroke of luck or perhaps it's the universe's way of using me for its entertainment. Because since I've had a taste of what it's like to be subjugated like so many other sentient beings in the Irken Empire… I've found that I've lost my will to inflict it upon others.

Though I may not have much of a choice in the matter.

As I came upon the tomb, I found myself nearly laughing at how obvious the entrance to the tomb really is. They might as well paint a sign that says 'Tomb of Ajunta Pall: Beware of K'lor'slug.', or 'TURN BACK 'CAUSE YOU'RE GONNA DIE, STUPID!' and stick it right above the entrance. Still, I'm not about to let these things make a meal of me! So as the first K'lor'slug attacked me, I struck it down quite easily with a downward slash from my Vibroblade.

"One down, hundreds more to go." I quipped.

As I descended down the stairs into the tomb, I came across an odd sight. Imperial soldiers were fighting off K'lor'slugs from behind a barricade of sorts. Some are dead, others are injured, but one of them was approaching me. He has well-groomed black hair, and lighter skin around his eyes from wearing goggles.

"Excuse me, acolyte. Sergeant Cormun. Fifth infantry company. Korriban Regiment. Can I - can I talk to you?" he asked.

"Speak freely, Sergeant" I said.

I'm actually curious about what he has to say, so I'll go easy on the man. Besides, he looks like he needs some help, and this might be beneficial to me somehow.

"Thank you. You're one of the slaves Harkun brought in on the last transport, right? Here to prove yourself to the bloodthirsty overseers?" Cormun asked.

"Yes. That's me, alright."

No sense in lying to the man.

"Well then, here's your chance to not only show off for the overseers, but to start building ties to the Imperial military as well." Cormun said as he explained the situation. "I'm here commanding a hard target mission to eliminate K'lor'slugs in this tomb. They're horrific things… mouths bigger than your head. I've lost three squads of good men fighting them. They come in packs, they just - they'll swallow a man whole."

"If you're trying to deter me, it won't work" I warned the man.

"Understood. I was hoping you could assist my operation while you're in there. The damn K'lor'slugs breed so fast there's no way to wipe them out conventionally, so we started targeting their egg chambers. They went insane! We managed to get explosives to all of the egg chambers, but the K'lor'slugs were all over us before we could detonate them." Cormun explained. "And before you ask we can't detonate the explosives remotely because the walls are so thick that they interfere with the signals.

I found myself scowling at how the Empire's soldiers were being reduced to mere pest control like this. And so many of them have died at the claws of these sad, filthy little creatures. My choice on what to do is a clear one.

"Sounds like you could use some help." I said. "Have your men remain here to provide cover. I'll finish them off."

"Don't underestimate those K'lor'slugs, My Lord, they're… they're smarter than they look." Cormun warned.

While he and his men stayed behind the barricade, I drew my Vibroblade and charged it up as I followed the directions to the egg chambers that the Sergeant provided me with. Along the way, I picked up a datapad detailing a mission to eliminate looters in the tomb who were stealing Sith Artifacts. This could help me further develop ties to the imperial military which will be essential if I hope to build a power base within the Empire.

It only took me about five minutes of walking to find the chamber where the explosives were planted. Right in the middle of a huge chamber filled almost to the brim with eggs double the size of Earth ostrich eggs and covered in a green, veiny substance. And guarding the eggs were five small K'lor'slugs, likely hatchlings, and a larger K'lor'slug with a red carapace.

Time to go to work.

Releasing a war cry, I charged at the beasts and quickly killed off the smaller K'lor'slugs before making my way to the larger one. This one was much tougher than the hatchlings as my Vibroblade did hardly any damage. So after dodging a strike from the beast's talons, I shot it with a burst of Force Lightning. The K'lor'slug roared in pain as it was electrocuted before falling over, dead and charred black.

With the beasts slain, I holstered my Vibroblade and pressed the button on the detonator. I walked out of the chamber as it started beeping, and after silently counting down from five... ka-BOOM! The explosives went off and destroyed every egg in the chamber, all while causing the ceiling to collapse on top of them while effectively sealing off the chamber off from the rest of the tomb.

"Well, that takes care of that." I said to myself.

I quickly jogged back to the entrance of the tomb to see Sergeant Cormun getting his surviving troops all patched up. Nice to see that they're going to make it.

"I heard the explosion when you set off the charges. Outstanding, sir." Cormun praised.

I nodded in thanks before heading on my way. I'm certainly glad that that's taken care of. As I continued on my way through the tomb, killing many looters along the way and recovering the stolen Sith Artifacts, it dawned on me that I have no idea where Spindrall is supposed to be in this big, stone maze of a tomb. I was about to curse out Harkun when I noticed one particular room. It looked like a sacrificial chamber to me. Inside are six acolytes who seem to be practicing their saber and Force abilities on training dummies, and at the top of the altar is an old man in brown sith robes.

I climbed up the steps to this altar and cleared my throat to get the man's attention.

"Ah, an alien Acolyte. And an Irken at that. Unusual, but not uncommon." the man, Spindrall, said as he rose to his feet and turned to face me. "You are here for your trial, yes? Learn the ways of the Sith from a doddering old man in a tomb. And hopefully to return to your master with the mark of my approval."

Feeling a little snarky, and still needing a way to vent out my frustrations, I decided to be a little snarky with this man.

"No, actually, I just thought that this would be a good place to get some fresh air."

Spindrall was clearly not amused by my comment.

"Do you take me for a fool? No one comes into these tombs for the sheer pleasure of it - not even me." Spindrall turned around and gestured to the tomb itself. "No, they come for power, because they sense that these tombs hold secrets of the dark side."

I myself looked around and suddenly became even more aware of the true significance of these tombs. And here I thought the Sith were just burying their dead in a manner similar to the Egyptians back on Earth. But clearly, I've been proven wrong.

"And they do - but before you can learn them, you must pass a trial of blood. Survive this, and I will teach you what I know."

I pondered Spindrall's words as I walked back down the stairs. What does he mean by Trial of Blood? I got my answer when I saw the six acolytes surround me and prepare themselves for combat. Narrowing my eyes, my hands began to subtly crackle with Force Lightning. I quickly thrusted my arms out and blasted the first two acolytes before they could even draw their weapons. They were dead before they knew what hit them.

Sensing oncoming danger, I drew my Vibroblade and blocked a strike from one acolyte, deflecting as I ducked a strike from another and performed a sweep kick to throw him off balance. With one of my foes down, I quickly decapitated him before he could recover and then rounded to deflect another, rather sloppy, downward slash from the fourth acolyte. Those lessons in Form Two and Form Three Lightsaber combat, Makashi and Soresu if I remember the names correctly, have really paid off. Reacting fast given the current situation, I stabbed him through the head, killing him instantly, and kicked him off before using my blade to absorb the blasts of Force Lightning coming from the remaining two acolytes.

I continued to tank the combined attacks as I used my Virboblade as an improvised lightning rod, using the Force to strengthen my weapon and charge it even further with the energy provided by my enemies. They continued their attack for about ten more seconds, during which I adjusted my footing and gritted my teeth as I continued to bide my time.

And when I was ready, I charged at the two as they were charging up a stronger Force Lightning based attack, and sliced their hands clean off before shocking them to death with my own Force Lightning. I stood there panting as their charred corpses slowly sank to their knees before falling to the cold, hard ground. I'm actually quite surprised that their heads didn't explode from the voltage of my own Force Lightning. With the battle finally over, I sheathed my weapon and made my way back up to the altar where Spindrall awaited with a rather, dare he say it, proud smile on his face.

"Excellent. These former acolytes wanted nothing more than to earn their second chance for glory by killing you and taking your place." Spindrall said. "But your desire proved stronger, and their blood became the mantle of your victory - well done. But you are not Sith yet."

Spindrall placed his hands behind his back and began to pace about as he recited what I thought to be a poem. Is this really the time or place for poetry? Well, whatever it is it certainly packs much more feeling than Tak's gothic poetry that she shared back in the day. The same day that she tried to replace the Earth's magma core with snackfoods and turn the planet into a giant snack bowl for the Tallest.

"Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, power. Through power, victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. This is the Sith code. Commit it to your heart, and you will have the strength to crush your enemies. Do you understand?"

I wasn't one hundred percent sure if I truly understood, but I at least got the gist of it from the code. From what I understand a Sith's power comes from pure, raw emotion. And I have emotions in spades.

"Yes, I think I do. I must use my emotions to grow stronger." I said, summarizing my thoughts.

"Do not be timid. Humility is the attitude of a slave, not a Sith. Now go. Return to Harkun and nurture your hatred for him. And use your fear of him to grow stronger." Spindrall instructed. "He may raise his fist to strike, but it is Lord Zash who determines if and where the blow will land."

"But who controls Zash, I wonder?" I asked in genuine curiosity.

"When you know the answer to that, you will have power over both your masters." Spindrall explained. "Now go! Leave me to my rest."

He turned around and knelt at the sacrificial altar to meditate more. I simply bowed in respect to the old man and started making my way out of the tomb. I can already tell that this is the beginning of a grand adventure.

But whether this adventure will kill me or not remains to be seen.

***To Be Continued…***

*Note: As this story will be told mostly through Zim's point of view when humans are mentioned it will be spelled "Hyooman" instead of "Human".*

There's still time to vote on the poll I have on my profile, but here are the current results. So please remember to go and vote!

Which of these stories do you want me to focus on right now?

DekuTwo, the Psychic Hero: 3 votes

The Emperor's Wrath of ZIM!: 2 votes

SWTOR: The Irken Inquisitor: 1 vote

The Avatar's Dragon Rider: 0 votes

Digimon Frontier: Kuvira's Darkness Redeemed: 0 votes