Forced Medical Aid
His body felt like it was on fire. Every one of his nerves was screaming in pain.
Sevai's eyes flew open and he immediately began gasping for air.
The shock was over quickly, but his muscles were still tense.
He couldn't move. He couldn't see very well or hear anything either. His sensitive antennae were burning worse than anything else.
The venom should have killed him... how was he still alive?
His mind was too overwhelmed by anguish to come up with an answer.
A shadow fell over him, and when he looked up he saw a blurry figure standing so close.
It was the Tallest.
Panic quickly set in. He tried to move his arms and legs in a feeble attempt to crawl away... but they weren't working... the Tallest would keep hurting him, and without his technology he wouldn't be able to escape.
He knew he needed to resign himself to the slow agonizing death he'd experience when Irk's leader finally decided to end it.
The Tallest was closer now... crouching probably.
Irk's leader was reaching for him.
He let out a pained cry as he managed to curl his body in a pitiful attempt to protect his chest wound.
His back ached and throbbed, reminding him of the cable that had cut into his flesh and attached to his back.
The Tallest had just ripped it out.
"Stop..." he whimpered when he saw Irk's leader reaching for him again. He squeezed his eyes shut as he braced himself for further pain. "Please..."
He bit back another cry as he was pulled into a sitting position. He couldn't keep himself upright so he was leaning against the Tallest's armour.
Then he felt something pressing against his mouth. He turned his head away but the Tallest was persistent.
Irk's leader was saying something, but he couldn't hear enough of it to understand. The muffled words were strong... like a command.
He relented. The liquid tasted like the desert water he'd been given before. He swallowed, then turned away, remembering how much it hurt his insides the last time he was forced to drink this.
The canteen was pressed to his mouth again. It hadn't hurt so much this time, so he took another drink.
His antennae and his back were both aching fiercely.
He wished he could return to painless unconsciousness...
The Tallest was saying something, but he couldn't understand.
He felt the one of the Irken's arms slide under his legs while the other supported his painful back. He was being lifted off the floor.
Where was the Tallest taking him?
Even though his eyes were closed it was still bright. It was hot too. He could feel the rough sand blowing through the air.
His consciousness began to fade...
Then he was sitting.
He opened his eyes, but everything looked blurry. He tried focusing, but it didn't do any good.
Were they inside something...? It felt a lot cooler now.
"Where...?" he mumbled, turning his head a little.
The blurry red figure beside him was likely the Tallest.
Irk's leader spoke to him, but he still couldn't understand. He slowly lifted his hand to carefully touch one of his antennae, wincing as soon as his fingers made contact.
"I can't hear..." he admitted softly. "My antennae... they are not functioning properly..."
The Tallest's voice rose, and he was sure he heard "Vort" at least once.
They were going to Vort...? Is that what the Tallest said...?
His chest constricted painfully. If his people were still there, he would immediately surrender and allow them to take him to prison.
That was where he was meant to be.
He wouldn't resist them since he had willingly broken their laws.
His antennae were burning, but there was nothing he could do about it... he would just have to ignore the pain the best he could.
Slowly he lowered his hand back down.
"Why are you keeping me alive...?" he asked.
He closed his eyes and breathed a sigh. He wanted to know, even if he learned it was only to prolong his suffering.
"Even if you torture me... I cannot offer you any useful information..."
A decent amount of pain shot through one of his antenna.
His eyes snapped open as he jerked away.
"Don't... please..." he begged, quickly realizing that the Tallest had touched one of his antennae when he saw the the Irken's hand hovering close to his face.
He turned his back to Irk's leader and dipped his head in a useless attempt to protect them.
The Tallest brushed past one of his wings. He tucked it against his body.
Irkens were violent and unpredictable. It was only a matter of time before their leader killed him.
He started to shiver. This wasn't the first time he'd felt true fear, but he still hated feeling it.
Without his technology he was completely helpless, and with the bands around his neck and wrists he couldn't even try defending himself against an assault.
Shutting his eyes tight, he curled closer to himself.
Then he felt something tap against his arm.
"Can I rest?" He hurriedly questioned. "Please..." He felt it again. "Please Tallest..." he begged.
Tap. Tap.
Suddenly he was yanked out of the chair.
His eyes flew open as he collapsed face-down.
He immediately started crawling, hoping to place some distance between himself and the Tallest, but the Irken caught him by the shoulder and forcibly turned him onto his back.
He whimpered and brought his arms up to protect his injury.
They were shoved down and then pinned against his sides.
The Tallest was straddling him. Irk's leader was also on top of his wings so he couldn't move them either.
He squirmed in a feeble attempt to free himself.
The Tallest was opening something. He still couldn't see very well, but it kind of looked like a small container.
"W-What is that...?" he stammered.
His chest tightened as he watched the Tallest scoop something out of the container.
Then the Irken's hand moved towards his face.
"Please stop..." his voice came out as a small whisper. He craned his neck and turned away. "Please..."
The Tallest's other hand grabbed his lower jaw and turned his face so he was looking up at the ceiling.
Then a small amount of pain shot through an antenna, causing his muscles to tense up and a jolt to run through his head and spine. His hands started to twitch a little.
There was no reprieve as the Tallest moved onto his other antenna...
He ground his teeth together and shut his eyes as he endured this discomfort. He whimpered while small flashes of pain travelled from his antenna through his face, head, and neck.
His vision was blurring again.
The trauma would continue even after the Tallest decided he was finished. This was the most frightening feeling... he couldn't protect himself... his antennae were the most sensitive part of his body... if the Tallest pulled on one he'd be completely incapacitated and suffering for a long time.
If one was removed, there would be no recovery... only suffering and a slow death...
As soon as the Tallest stopped, Sevai exhaled sharply.
His antennae were buzzing, but the pain wasn't as bad as he'd been expecting... to his surprise, the burning sensation had been replaced by a cooler less painful one.
All of his muscles remained tense, prepared to brace against more pain, and there was still a little twitching in his hands.
The Tallest was talking, but his words sounded very faint and far away.
What had the Tallest done to his antennae...?
Sevai listened earnestly, hoping the Irken would give him an explanation.
Irk's leader hadn't pulled on them or bent them or anything that would have made this experience a whole lot worse.
"I apologize... I cannot hear what you're saying..." he meekly told the Tallest.
It was a while later before the affects of having his antennae handled began to wear off. His hands and wings stopped twitching... the muscles throughout his entire body relaxed and the pain dulled.
His antennae weren't burning anymore...
He slowly lifted one of his hands and carefully touched one of them.
The burning sensation was completely gone.
He managed to raise himself into a sitting position.
The Tallest had returned to the controls, but Irk's leader must have heard him moving because the Irken left his chair and was currently approaching him.
Sevai wrapped his wings around himself as he shrank away from the Tallest.
What was the Irken planning to do to him now...?
He watched as the Tallest bent down and grabbed something off the floor beside him.
His vision was nearly back to normal. He blinked when the container from earlier was held out for him to see.
He struggled to listen to the Tallest's voice. "Take it."
Sevai complied. He took the container and held it with both hands.
"Thank you," he responded before taking a closer look at it.
Was this what the Tallest used on his antennae? He couldn't read the words on the label.
"What is this..?" He asked; his voice meek.
"A restorative liquid gel for burns."
Sevai looked up at the Tallest who was standing over him with an impassive look on his face.
Then the Tallest offered him his hand.
"I may not be able to walk..." Sevai told him, but he accepted the gesture regardless.
As the Tallest pulled him to his feet, his vision became fuzzy and the ship's interior started to spin.
He lost his balance, but Irk's leader kept him from falling and guided him back to the passenger's chair.
Once he was seated, the Tallest sat down in the pilot's chair beside him.
Sevai placed the container between the seat and the wall.
"How did you know...?" he asked the Tallest in a small unsure voice.
He heard the word "electrocuted."
That would explain why it felt like his antennae were on fire.
He was fairly certain Irk's leader asked him a question about the venom. He enjoyed answering questions almost as much as he enjoyed arguing. It didn't matter if he was still in pain or not.
"The venom was extracted from a Kraier... they are large creatures with many eyes, many legs, and a long tail... before my people advanced our technology, the Kraier were a threat to us... but now they are farmed for their venom..."
"Why do you farm them for that?" The Tallest asked.
The Irken leader's voice faded in and out, but Sevai was still able to understand his words.
His hearing must be returning... he felt relieved. If his antennae had been permanently damaged, only the best of his peoples' technology could repair them... and if they were ever completely severed nothing would work. He would die within a few hours.
"It is only used on prisoners... and only during transport..." he took a moment to collect his thoughts and he took a deep breath. "We do not use it on other races... instead we use our own venom to invoke paralysis..."
"Ok, so why don't you use this other venom on people?"
"We don't use it because..." Sevai hesitated as he felt the bandages covering his chest.
They injected the venom right into the wound... it had been very painful...
"It's too painful... other races wouldn't know of our policies, so subjecting them to this kind of suffering would be cruel."
"But it's not cruel for you to suffer with it?" the Tallest questioned.
"I knew what the outcome would be if I chose to not follow our laws..." Sevai told him, and he lowered his gaze as he leaned away from the Tallest and rested his head against the metal wall. "Besides... the venom is only able to destroy someone if they escape imprisonment... very few have attempted to do so... and those who have tried... they begged to return before the venom took full affect..."
"I don't remember you begging to return to the prison or whatever," Red remarked. "You didn't even say you were poisoned." His antennae lowered and he scowled.
Irken antennae seemed to move quite a lot. Sevai was curious about this, but perhaps right now wasn't the right time to indulge his curiosities.
"I apologize... I hadn't expected you to forcefully bring me with you..." Sevai spoke.
He watched the Tallest's antennae rise a little.
His eyesight was clearing.. He could see everything much better now.
"It seems your will is much stronger than my own..." he softly admitted.
The Tallest leaned back in his chair and placed his hands on the armrests.
It appeared Irk's leader was using an autopilot... the Irkens had things such as self-flying ships...
No planet near his people's solar system had technology like this... his people's influence must have really sped up the Irken's advancement... or perhaps it was their lack of involvement after their initial involvement that caused this level of technological progress.
His kind wasn't fond of competition. Usually the inhabitants of a planet were made to forget certain technological procedures... and other times they were given advanced technology which they used to destroy their civilizations.
Even the inhabitants of planets that were helpful or amicable towards his people often experienced a rapid decline after his people left...
In this way, others would be forced to depend on them. It was how his kind secured the cooperation of others who were less advanced than they were.
"So you were planning to die quietly then?" the Tallest asked.
"That's correct..." he answered promptly.
"How are you feeling right now?" The Tallest turned to look at him. "Did I injure your antennae earlier? I tried to get you to do it yourself, but you weren't cooperating with me at all."
Sevai shifted a little in his seat while keeping his hand over his bandages. His wings were still very stiff; it was obvious these chairs weren't built with wings in mind.
The wound in his chest stung, the spot where the Tallest's PAK pierced him ached, and his antennae hurt enough that he wanted to avoid moving them, but he could mostly ignore these things if he kept talking.
"The discomfort is manageable..." he answered, forcing a smile. "I am curious though... how does your antennae work?"
The Tallest glanced at him and squinted an eye. "You're serious?"
"Yes...?" He drew closer to the wall, afraid he might have offended Irk's leader.
"Heh..." Red smirked. "Don't your people have a whole bunch of reprogrammed Irkens at your disposal? You guys probably cut a few of them apart by now, so why don't you tell me how they work?"
"Delarla might have dissected a few..." Sevai admitted, suddenly feeling very trapped. He brought both of his wings closer to his body. "If she has, I was not informed..."
He shouldn't be provoking the Tallest like this... even as an accident... he needed to learn to bite his tongue.
"Fine then," The Tallest said as he leaned forward. He flicked both of his antennae up, and then he lowered them as far as they would go. "We use them for hearing mostly since they pick up vibrations and stuff. They're probably not that much different from yours."
"You have much better mobility with them than we do..." Sevai told him. "Ours are also used for hearing, yes... do yours pick up scents and detect changes in the environment such as temperatures and precipitation?"
"No," he touched his face between his eyes and his mouth. "We smell things through here." He lowered his hand. "They can't sense anything like changes in weather either."
"Ah... I see..."
The Tallest continued: "we use them to show our moods... like right now mine could be..." He let them fall back so that they were positioned where Sevai had seen them initially. "Here."
"What does that mean?" Sevai asked him curiously.
He wasn't expecting the Tallest to be so forthcoming with information, but so far the information he received was matching what he learned from the disks.
There was some explanation about the Irken's former biology, before the PAK devices were attached to them.
Only a little information had been recorded after this.
"I have no strong feelings one way or another. Relaxed would be another way of putting it..." The Tallest explained.
The Irken leader's antennae flicked forward. "Surprised." He lowered them a little. "Interested, or attentive." He let them fall past the half-way point. "Annoyed." He lowered them more. "Majorly annoyed." He raised them midway again.
"There's probably a few more I'm forgetting... Oh. Wiggling them means we're showing respect. Usually the drones do this to show respect for the Tallest. Me."
"This information is very interesting..." Sevai admitted, momentarily forgetting his fear of the Tallest who was speaking to him so naturally. "Thank you for telling me."
"How old are you again?" the Tallest suddenly asked. "You usually act like a mature member of your species, but you also do stupid things like try to cuddle potentially hostile strangers. Is that like... normal for your age?"
Sevai dipped his head ruefully.
"You are correct in assuming I'm a grown adult..." he hesitated before mumbling. "I believed I was dying..."
He winced and clutched his chest wound with both hands.
Perhaps he shouldn't be talking this much after all.
"I apologize for making you uncomfortable... it wasn't my intention."
"It's fine," The Tallest responded. "But because of your stupid poisoning, I'll have to ask the Vortians for their help." His antennae fell back, and he frowned. "My PAK was able to repair some of the internal damage, but the venom or whatever is still in your system. Also a couple of your organs are beyond repair, so you're definitely going to need better treatment."
"The Vortians are very intelligent..." Sevai commented, managing a small smile. He was feeling somewhat better even though he was still in quite a bit of pain. "Their technology could rival ours in the next hundred years or so."
"Assuming they aren't conquered or eradicated before then," the Tallest stated. He shook his head and crossed his arms. "They're smart sure, but they're not very strong. That's partially our fault though."
He looked ahead and tapped the control stick even though the ship appeared to still be driving its self.
"When we were allied with Vort, the Vortians cut funding to their planetary defences because we were protecting them. That's why they were able to focus so much on their engineering and scientific programs. Our alliance also gave us the freedom to not focus on science and conquer planets and expand our military influence in the galaxy, so it was a pretty good deal."
Two races that were affected by his people's technology in the past were able to ally with each other to rapidly increase their technological abilities. Such a thing had never happened before.
"From what we observed... your people didn't spend much time around each other..." he commented quietly.
The Tallest shrugged.
"We didn't need to. The Vortians have always been cooperative, and they'd always meet our deadlines. We just had to send someone over to make the demands, finalize the deals, and pick up the finished products."
"Didn't the Tallest oversee these projects...?" Sevai coughed into his hand and sank a little in his chair.
He was beginning to feel tired again, but he wanted to keep talking. He was learning a lot about the Irkens, and his people had always sought after knowledge. What he was learning right now was too interesting to brush aside in favour of rest.
"If there was a big project that had a lot of monies invested in it, then yeah. Tallest Miyuki would check in occasionally..." Irk's leader scowled at him. "Hold on... are your people also keeping Tallest Miyuki somewhere?"
"... no..." Sevai admitted, adverting his gaze.
"Why not?"
"The idea to extract consumed Irkens happened long after she'd been digested," Sevai glanced quickly at the Tallest's face before looking away again.
The Irken was still scowling at him.
"I apologize..."
Hopefully Irk's current leader wouldn't become violent now that he knew what happened to the former Tallest...
In the past, Irkens had been very protective of their queens.
The Tallest sighed.
"So she was turned into worm gunk after all. Gross."
That wasn't the kind of reaction he'd been expecting...
Sevai returned his attention to the Tallest and saw Irk's leader was lounging in his seat.
"You aren't angry...?" Sevai questioned.
The Tallest scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"If I'm not angry over you being a spawn of the blastards who tortured my people thousands of years ago, or how you distracted me so your people could get the jump on me and my followers, then why would I be mad about Tallest Miyuki's death?"
"Your recent reactions are not what I was expecting..." Sevai admitted, gently touching one of his antennae.
They barely hurt anymore. The Tallest hadn't caused any damage when he touched them earlier.
"Why are you keeping me alive...?"
"This question again?" The Tallest sounded annoyed. He crossed his arms, and his antennae flattened.
"Trust me, when I first saw you I really wanted to kill you..." he sighed again as he switched his gaze to the space shield. "But I've been looking for answers for a while now, and you have them."
"You have the disks," Sevai reminded him.
He winced and he wrapped his arms around his aching torso. His wrecked organs were beginning to hurt beyond a tolerable level.
The venom hadn't been completely cleared from his body... it felt like it was beginning to attack his organs once more.
He needed to not think about it...Thinking about it would only make him worry which would make it worse.
"You no longer... require my explanations..."
"You're in pain again," the Tallest noted.
A cable snaked out from his PAK, and Sevai turned his whole body to face it and to protect the painful hole the cable made beneath his wings when it attached to his spine... his backbone wasn't fully developed as his people also had exoskeletons... though these were not as strong as they once were.
His chest tightened in apprehension, and his eyes widened fearfully as he watched the device move towards him.
"No... no... please no..." he begged as he backed himself against the ship's wall. "Please..." He squeezed his eyes shut as his wings folded around him protectively.
The Tallest wouldn't listen to his pleading. It was an automatic reaction... he wished he could keep quiet even though he knew the cable was going to cause him a huge amount of anguish any moment.
"If you can move that quickly then you're probably fine," the Tallest decided.
Sevai heard the Tallest's PAK whir closed, so he cracked open and eye. The cable was gone.
"You shouldn't panic like that though," the Tallest told him.
Irk's leader wasn't paying him much attention anymore, instead he seemed content to continue looking out the space shield.
"You still have some of that venom in your body, and your organs are a mess."
Sevai slowly returned to sitting properly in his seat.
"Sorry..." His wings were trembling a little.
The thought of being stabbed again was very frightening.
"I'm not trying to hurt you on purpose or anything" the Tallest said. He added with a hint of humour in his tone: "I'm just not that skilled at helping people." He scowled a little. "I've actually never done it before."
"I appreciate you using your own PAK to help me..." Sevai stated. His mid-section was hurting quiet a lot, but he would endure it. "I do not require further assistance... thank you..."
"Actually you do. That's why we're going to Vort, remember?"
They sat in silence for quite a while, and this gave Sevai time to think.
There weren't very many of his people left... instead of hunting down the Irkens, they should be searching for a population of viable hosts in order to raise their offspring.
This was the only way for his kind to ensure their survival...
Earth, the planet Zim was currently positioned on, had a large population of potential hosts... there was also war, famine, disease, and genetic malformations among them. Their limited technology hadn't allowed them to travel very far from their home planet, so they likely didn't have any intergalactic allies.
His kind had a lot they could offer these "huuman" creatures in exchange for them growing his peoples' young. That was where their focus should be.
"We're entering Vort's communication zone," the Tallest spoke, interrupting his thoughts. "I'm going to request permission to land."
"And if they say no...?" Sevai questioned.
It wouldn't be unreasonable for the Vortians to reject their presence on Vort since the Tallest had destroyed their society, demolished their planet, and killed many of them in the process...
The Vortians currently had an agreement with his people however... and none of them would know he'd been excommunicated.
"I don't think they know how to," the Tallest remarked as he brought up the communication panel and sent a transmission. "If they do though, then you'll want to strap yourself in and hold on, because I won't accept that answer."
The transmission was answered by a pale blue Vortian with dark grey horns. "Hello," the Vortian spoke. Their smile faltered.
"Oh. Um..." She sounded female. "How can I direct your call?" she asked with a forced smile.
"Have you guys got your medical facilities working?" the Tallest asked.
"I'm feeling fine..." Sevai told him even though he was still feeling quite a bit of pain in his midsection. He had his arms wrapped around it... but he slowly moved them away when he realized the Tallest was frowning at him.
"No you're not. You're poisoned."
"Yes but..."
"You better accept medical help here or I'm going to reattach my PAK to your useless self," the Tallest threatened, jabbing a finger in his face. "I mean it."
Sevai sank a little in his seat and nodded, keeping silent so he wouldn't invoke the Irken's wrath.
"Only one is currently fully operational..." the Vortian replied. She was typing something now. "I will send you the coordinates... is there anything else?"
"Yeah," Red responded, redirecting his full attention to her. "Do you know if Laes made it back there?"
"Laes...?" she repeated in confusion. "Who's that?"
"He's the self-proclaimed leader of Vort apparently," the Tallest remarked, glaring sideways at Sevai who shrugged helplessly. The Tallest's gaze returned to the screen. "How about that Vortian rebel guy who started the Resisty. Is he around?"
If Laes had returned then Lard Nar would likely know about it, and as far as either of them knew, Lard Nar hadn't left his planet.
"Umm..." the Vortian on screen fidgeted nervously. "I don't think we have any rebels here."
"He's asking about Lard Nar," Sevai interjected since it seemed the Tallest couldn't remember the name of the former leader of the resistance.
"Yeah, sure," the Tallest agreed.
"Do you know which department he's in?" The Vortian questioned. It appeared she was looking at a second screen now. "His name isn't coming up in communications..."
The Tallest's antennae flicked back. "You can check all of the lists can't you?"
"Yes...but not all of the lists are complete... and there's a lot of them."
"Do you know what the hollow remnants of the prison's cafeteria was rebuilt into?" Sevai asked. "The one where my people... the Invaders, first landed," he added since there had been more than one cafeteria in that structure.
The Vortian typed in what Sevai guessed were coordinates.
"It's currently operating as a research tower... it's called research tower three," she informed them.
"Could you transfer this call to the one in charge there?"
"Yes. Just a moment."
The screen went black. Then another Vortian appeared on the monitor. This one had light purple skin and yellow eyes.
"Hello! This is research tower 3," the Vortian spoke in a more upbeat tone. "How can I help you?"
"Do you have a guy..." the Tallest began. His antennae flicked forward then back. "Lard Nar," he corrected himself. "Working for you over there?"
"Why yes actually," the Vortian replied with a smile. "He's not officially on the payroll, but he seems to be helping Veena with the 'Irken project' she's been working on."
"We have business with him," the Tallest stated. "Where can we land?"
"Ah yes," the Vortian said, nodding. "You'll have to land your vehicle on the roof," he explained as he pointed up at the ceiling.
"That's the only parking this building has. I guess the Invaders are more into teleportation than driving which is a bit weird since they had a ship and everything. Oh well." He shrugged. "The rebuilding was done for free so we didn't get much of a say in how it was done."
"Alright..." the Tallest hesitated for a moment before managing to say, "thanks." Ugh. That was actually worse than he thought it was going to be.
"Sure, no problem," the Vortian responded. "I'll let him know you're on your way."
The transmission ended.
Sevai was clutching his abdomen again. It was really hurting... He had a feeling that the PAK had not only made some significant repairs which were likely being undone by whatever venom was still in his system... but it had also affected the pain receptors in his brain somewhat...
"Are you sure it's safe for us to land...?" he asked since he was feeling a bit nervous.
He liked the Vortians... at least he'd come to enjoy Laes and Lard Nar's company... but he wasn't sure how much he could trust them as a species, especially since his people had used the Vortians to grow their offspring in the past.
The people of Vort might be holding a grudge... but then... it didn't seem like many of them knew about his kind or what they'd done all those years ago.
"They could have reestablished their planetary defence forces..." he offered quietly.
"Ha!" the Tallest laughed. "These are Vortians we're talking about. They barely had a defence force even before their planet got destroyed."
He was looking at the information on his ship's scanners.
"It actually looks like they have some kind of planetary wide barrier... I'm a little impressed, but I doubt they've been able to gather an army or anything. They're thinkers, not fighters. Even if a good chunk of them managed to form an angry mob, I'd be able to cut most of them down myself. They know that."
The Irken's armada had been able to wipe out the Vortians' space-fleet in less than a day... Sevai hadn't been able to watch this occur, but he had heard about it afterwards.
Irk's leader flicked a switch and typed something into the monitor's panel before grabbing the control stick. He must have turned off the autopilot... they were approaching Vort at a much faster speed than before.
The planet filled the space shield... there was a cloudy purple and pink sky, and then the buildings came into view. The Tallest targeted one in particular... it resembled a tall tower and was likely research tower 3.
Had the Tallest automatically received the coordinates to the building when the Vortian answered the call...?
They descended onto the tower's roof. There were no lines or lights or anything indicating where someone should park, but there was a small Vortian craft sitting near the center so the roof was obviously being used for that purpose.
Once the Irken vessel had come to a complete stop, the Tallest switched off the power.
"You stay here," the Tallest decided as he stood up from his chair.
"I would like to go with you..." Sevai spoke as he slowly rose to his feet.
He was still gripping his torso, and he winced when he tried to take a step.
"You're in no shape to be moving around," the Tallest told him.
"Please... Vort has... they may be more receptive if I go..."
The Tallest gestured to Sevai's chair. "Sit," he commanded with a scowl.
Sevai lowered his head as his grip around his mid-section tightened. The pain was returning and he was beginning to feel very tired.
The venom in his body wasn't gone. It was still destroying him.
He squeezed his eyes shut and bit down a whimper. He really didn't want to be alone right now...
Red groaned and rubbed his temples.
"Now I know where my people get their stubbornness from..." he muttered. Then he reached for one of Sevai's arms and pulled it away from the Invader's body. "Hold onto me then... I'll help you walk. If you fall I'm leaving you behind though, got it?"
Sevai slowly nodded to show he understood.
More Notes/info: As you've probably noticed, this installment is primarily focused on the conflict between the Irkens and the Invaders, so there has been a bit of a perception change.
I just wanted to warn you in advance about Laes' demotion.
His perspective won't completely disappear, but his version of events won't be the main focus anymore.
RIP Tallest Miyuki. She is for sure dead.
Also RIP DM. in the real world. You'll be missed.