"GIR! Settle down!"
Indigo watched in amusement as the little robot bounced off the walls of the cockpit. It was a tiny ship. He had to sit with his knees folded up to his chest. After months of observing Zim, he had come to realize that most of his kind were very small. Having never been off the Earth, he had no idea what he was a part of. He only knew he didn't belong on that planet, and he grew up in the hands of human guardians wondering if and when someone else like Indigo would come and find him.
Indigo had been born on Earth in the country, away from most humans. His mother had somehow become stranded there and had no way of getting home. The technology was too primitive to create a ship or even find some form of communication. But she never really took the time to look into such things either. His mother would always tell him that Earth was a nice place, as if she didn't want to leave. Indigo suspected it had to do with her health.
Before he was born, his mother had been taken in by a small family of humans: a mother, a father, and their young daughter. They had cared for her and within time, they had started caring for Indigo while he slept and grew inside his egg. It wasn't long before he was a hatchling and he was welcomed into the arms of an odd, but loving family.
As the stars floated by and the Earth gradually shrunk behind them, Indigo hummed to himself a song his mother used to sing to him as a smeet. Earthen language was the only form of speech that was taught to him and so he only knew the song's tune since the words were in a different tongue, the Irken language, as his mother would call it.
He glanced at Zim in the pilot's seat in front of him. If only the Invader had come sooner, maybe he'd still have her.
His mother died of an illness when Indigo was still very young. From then on, he was raised by the humans. But they realized Indigo's growth and childhood was much longer than a human's. When his adopted parents passed on, Indigo was the equivalent of a 16-year-old. His human sister never married and together the two siblings kept the family ranch in peaceful solitude. One thing his mother did manage to create was a holographic disguise device for her smeet. As he grew, Indigo was able to choose the guise that suited him, but he rarely left the ranch house and had never been to a large city before, until he went on the search for Zim.
One thing Indigo could never explain about himself was his odd ability to see and feel things. He could feel another person's emotions and was eerily acute in knowing when something was about to happen. Even his mother couldn't explain it, saying that their kind was rarely given such abilities. According to her, only Irkens hatched in the underground chambers were capable of adopting heightened senses since certain paks were chosen for the special encoding it required. But Indigo was born naturally, and therefore didn't need a pak to survive. It was a mystery to his mother. That's how he was able to find Zim. He felt the Invader approaching the Earth and it had been very easy for Indigo to track him down.
And being in Zim's presence made him content. If it weren't for him, he'd be alone. His human sister had passed away only a month ago.
Indigo laughed lightly as Zim tried to get the insane little robot to settle down. Indigo couldn't remember the last time he smiled like that. He was about to smile when a terrible feeling hit him. He stared out into the void of space in front of him. All he could see was an endless amount of stars but he knew something was coming. One more mental jolt and he was suddenly fearing for his life. It was the same dreadful feeling he'd been having over the past week.
"Zim, we need to get out of here," he said shakily.
"What?"
There was a brief flash outside the cockpit window. A large, dark gray craft exited hyperspace and hovered ominously before them.
Indigo shuddered. "Zim, we need to get out of here now!"
Zim stared at the ship for a moment. "Yes, I thing you're right," he muttered. He hastily turned the vootcruiser in the opposite direction and sped away. There was a sudden jerk and the tiny vessel started moving backwards.
Indigo felt himself falling into panic. "They're pulling us in!"
Zim searched his controls for anything that would help them get away. Something caught his eye outside of the cruiser. He looked up as there was another flash and a familiar looking vessel came out of lightspeed. I know that ship… "It's the Os'solis! Commander Blue made it!"
Indigo turned his attention on the new craft. Hope came back to him as it fired one shot at the gray ship and disabled its tractor beam, jarring Zim's vootcruiser loose.
Without a moment's hesitation, Zim made a dash for the Irken vessel. He saw a bay door open at the base of the hull and he steered the cruiser into the safe underbelly of the Os'solis. They were rocked back and forth violently when they landed as the enemy ship fired several times on the Os'solis's deflector shield. The shaking stopped and the vessel held still for a moment. Then Zim and Indigo felt a rough vibration go through them as the Irken command ship entered hyperspace once more.
When Indigo stepped out of the vootcruiser, it took him a few seconds to realize where he was. This ship was fairly large. There were other Irkens roaming about in the docking bay, attending to different tasks. I'm actually among my own kind…Though it was all incredibly fascinating, Indigo couldn't help but feel a little intimidated. He quickly found himself worrying if anyone here would be able to communicate with him. For all he knew, Zim's ability to speak both Irken and an Earthen language was a special case. Indigo also noted he appeared to be the only one without a pak, plus he was considerably taller than everyone else. He didn't like the irony of the situation. He was finally with his own people but he felt so out of place.
He saw what he guessed was a soldier approaching them. "Come with me," the soldier said. "The Commander is waiting for you."
Zim began to follow the soldier, Gir in tow. He glanced over his shoulder and beckoned for Indigo to follow, noticing the peculiar Irken wasn't moving. Indigo hurried to catch up and walked alongside Zim, taking in as much of his new surroundings as he could.
They were led to the control room, which Zim thought was similar to the Massive's but only smaller. "Contact the Massive and tell them we have acquired the target, we will meet with them shortly," Zim heard someone say. Standing near one of the control panels was Commander Blue, who spotted them and made his way towards the small group. Zim saluted the general respectfully but Indigo stared at him, not knowing what to say or do. Indigo didn't think he would be meeting a tall Irken anytime soon. Irkens of grand height were held in high honor and position, at least that's what he knew from Zim. This Irken here must be a top general. Indigo was starting to feel like he was more or less Zim's height in Blue's shadow. The blue-eyed commander turned his attention to the shorter of the two guests. "Invader Zim. You've done well in bringing this stranger to us."
"Thank you, Commander!" Zim beamed.
"However since we are traveling at light speed, it will be some time before you can return to your mission. Therefore, you will remain on the Os'solis until further noticed."
"Yes sir." Zim didn't sound as happy as before but Indigo noted the look of respect on Zim's face and his proud stance. The little Invader certainly held this other in high regard. Indigo was also curious as to why he sensed a feeling of worrying from certain workers around their group when Blue said Zim would be staying here.
"Now if you will come with me."
Indigo snapped his head up when he realized Blue was talking to him. "M-Me?"
"Yes, we'll need to hear your story. Zim, you are dismissed."
Zim saluted once again and marched off, dragging Gir behind him who was about to make life hard for an unsuspecting panel operator. Indigo would have much rather with Zim, wherever he was going, but something told him he better dare not move in the presence of the blue-eyed officer. He looked nervously at Blue who smiled and motioned his hand. "Come with me."
Indigo followed Blue in silence, trying to avoid the curious looks he was getting from the crewmembers around him. They soon came to what Indigo deemed Blue's office and the door was closed behind them. Indigo was glad he was away from the other Irkens but he could still feel their eyes staring after him through the metal door. Blue turned to face him.
"I've been given orders to learn as much about you as I can, or at least as much as you will allow me to," the general said, looking directly into Indigo's purple eyes. "Of course, you've realized by now that your life may be in danger…"
"But why?"
Blue stared at him. Indigo shrunk back slightly, knowing he shouldn't have blurted out like that. He found his courage again. "I mean, I knew I was in danger before I even came into space. It was just something I could feel. Why are they after me? Who are they anyway?"
"They're called the Tulok. We were in a rush to get here and find you before they did, but I'm not exactly sure why they would want you. I haven't been given too much information yet. So what is your name?"
"Indigo." He knew Blue wasn't telling him everything. He was hiding something. But Indigo had learned from past experiences that it was difficult for him to look directly into a person's mind and hear their precise thoughts. He didn't want to upset the general so he went along with it, as if he was none the wiser. "So what do you want to know about me?"
"How did you come to be on Earth?" Blue asked.
Indigo tried to relax himself as much as he could. "Well, I was born there. My mother went to Earth and was taken in by some of the inhabitants."
"Why did she go there?"
Indigo thought back to his days with his mother. "I don't know. She never told me. All she would say was that she was brought there by some other aliens not of our kind. I don't know who or what they were either."
Blue remained silent, as if thinking. Indigo watched him curiously, studying the scar that was on his head below a damaged antennae. There was something odd about this Irken. Indigo felt bitterness and guilt swirling somewhere within the commander's well of emotions.
"Do you know how you got your name?" Blue suddenly asked, bringing Indigo out of his thoughts.
"My mother said she named me for my father."
"I see." Blue went into silence once more.
Indigo was getting anxious. "Did you know him?"
Blue looked up. "Your father? No, I didn't."
Indigo heard something click. "Sir, we're preparing to come out of hyperspace," rang the intercom situated on Blue's desk.
"Alright Captain," Blue responded. He turned to Indigo and smiled. "Come," he said, "There is someone who is waiting to meet you."
As Indigo prepared to leave with Blue, a curious question came to mind. "How did you find out about me?"
Blue frowned as he reached for the door. "We were lucky to receive…special intelligence."
Indigo followed the commander out of the office and back to the main control room. Another vibration washed through his body as the ship decelerated from lightspeed. Upon entering the control room, Indigo saw a giant red ship surrounded by a fleet of smaller craft on the view screen.
"What is that?" he asked Blue who stood next to him.
"That's the Massive, Indigo. The capital ship of the empire. I'll be taking you aboard soon to meet our leaders."
