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Infinity Verse Spotlights
Tak: The Right To Rule
The Aldarian Nebula Cluster was once a place of great beauty, with a vast array of colors that shined across the star ways. Now, this was no longer a place of beauty but a graveyard. It was here that an Irken fleet faced insurmountable odds against a much larger force from the Lowardians. The Irkens who fell under attack did not put up a brave last stand but were instead slaughtered like cattle. Such had been the case as of late these past few months ever since the Almighty Tallest were lost in the void of the Florpus, leaving no fallback plan in case of such an event should ever happen.
Ever since Zim had caused the apparent death of the Tallest, their once-mighty empire fell overnight. Without any leadership to guide them, the race of invaders had no way of receiving new orders to carry out their planet conquering tactics. As such, many of the invaded worlds' civilizations rose up and began to take back their worlds. Those who could not flee the revolts were killed instantly. Other Irkens thought themselves powerful enough to be the new leaders of their kind and attempted to take control of the now fractured empire, fighting other warlords who also thought themselves worthy to lead their people. It wasn't just their former slaves and themselves that the Irkens now fought with, but outside forces as well.
With news of the Tallest's deaths spreading across the stars like a wildfire, other galactic empires began to move into Irken controlled space. The two largest foes to take advantage of this opportunity were the Lorwardians and the Triceratons, both of whom began to blitzkrieg the planets that were controlled by the Irkens or were colonies for their people. The two warrior races fought not only the Irkens but also each other for control over the planets that were once a part of a mighty cosmic kingdom. Even now, they were fighting for ownership of the Irken homeworld, killing millions in their battle for the planet. It wasn't before long that others started their own invasions into Irken space. From the deepest, darkest parts of the universe, the Dire Wraiths spread into the Irken space like a cancer, consuming all forms of life in their wake. And from the eastern sectors, the Machine Empire began to cut a swath of death that left millions of Irkens dead in the wake of their bloody campaign.
Amidst the wreckage of ships, a lone Voot cruiser flew through the carnage, surveying the destruction in the hopes that there were any signs of life among them. Within the ship was a single Irken surveying the intergalactic graveyard that floated around her. Her name was Tak, and she had been keeping a close eye on the downfall of her people. Though the destruction around her was heartbreaking to see, she couldn't say that she didn't see this coming. Even before the Tallest were killed by the very pest who ruined her life, she had a sense that something like this was inevitable for the empire. The Tallest had become arrogant with the strength they believed they possessed, thinking no force could challenge them. The final nail for the empire was when the leaders of the Irkens made peace with several races they had long waged war with them when they should've kept fighting to prove their dominance. [1] Even when the Tallest had vanished within the endless void of the Florpus, the leaders of the United Galaxy Alliance tried to hold the Irken people together by sending envoys to try and install a new form of leadership with several high-ranking Invaders. But due to their lack of height, the Irkens rejected these figureheads.
In a strange way, perhaps this self-destruction was for the best. The Tallest were becoming lazy and would rather consume snacks all day instead of focusing on other campaigns to further expand the empire. However, rather than protest this sloth and gluttony from their leaders, the Irkens remained complacent in their roles as mere servants to their useless masters. There was a time when Tak would've laid down her life for The Tallest without giving it a second thought. But over time, she began to see her masters for what they truly were. She almost wanted to thank Zim for getting rid of them, the keyword being 'almost.' She still loathed that idiot for not only ruining her plan to destroy the Earth but also causing her failure to become a true Invader fifty years prior. If she had the chance, she'd crush that bastard's skull with her bare hands.
As Tak continued to search for any signs of life among the wreckage around her, her ship's sensor picked up a beacon. An Irken beacon. However, the signal wasn't coming from one of the destroyed ships, but from somewhere far from here. Tak began to calculate the trajectory of where exactly the beacon was resonating from. Much to her surprise, the signal was coming from a nearby planet. One that was supposed to be uninhabited. This was tricky for the would-be Invader. On one hand, it could be survivors of this battle who managed to escape death or even refugee Irkens who had fled from their assigned worlds once they had been driven out of them. But on the other hand, this could easily be a trap that was being employed by their enemies to lure those who were foolish enough to try and follow the beacon back to its source, only to die screaming in doing so.
"Well, what do you think, Mimi?" she asked her robot companion.
The SIR unit looked up at her with a quizzical look in its optics. While Tak had finally been able to repair the damage that Zim and his allies had done to the unit's mainframe, the robot wasn't the vicious servant it once was. Most Irkens would normally cast their damaged SIR units aside. But Tak had formed a sort of sentimental attachment to the robot she had built from scrap and could not bear to part with the machine.
"My thoughts exactly," the Irken concluded.
And with that, Tak charted a course to the planet where the mysterious beacon was calling out to them from.
Kallas-4 wasn't exactly a well-known planet, nor was it a planet of any real significance. It was a barren wasteland of grey sand and skies. Clouds covered what little sunlight that could reach the planet from the distant star it orbited. No life existed on this planet, for the sand was almost salt-like in nature, thus preventing anything from growing. It was here, on this desolate planet, that the Irken beacon had brought Tak. As the would-be Invader climbed out of her Voot cruiser, she threw on a purple hooded trench coat, a pair of goggles, and a scarf around her mouth to better protect herself from the frequent dust storms that occurred on this world. She then took out her pulse rifle. A prize she took for herself after finding it in the ruins of an Irken weapons bunker on Kestis after it had been broken into and raided by Lowardians. Tak wasn't fully convinced that this wasn't a trap. She wanted to be sure that if she was walking into one, she'd be ready for it.
Tak had landed her ship at least a mile away from where the beacon's signal was coming from so that, if she did fall into an ambush, her attackers would not be able to find her craft so easily. It was still unknown who or what was calling out to her, but she would make them suffer if they attempted to rob her. Tak was unsure if this possible ambush would come from outsiders or her own people. After the collapse of their empire, the Irkens had become desperate, turning on each other for survival. It was saddening for Tak to see her own race tear each other apart when they needed to be united now more than ever. Mimi began to crawl out of the Voot cruiser to follow her master, only to be stopped by Tak.
"Mimi, stay with the ship," she commanded. "If anyone other than me returns, kill them. Then destroy the ship and self-destruct. Do you understand?"
The SIR unit nodded in understanding, though Tak wondered if it truly understood at all. After charging up her weapon, the Irken warrior began her long trek toward the beacon's signal, using her scanners to guide her toward her destination. She did not know what lied ahead of her, but she would be ready for it. As she traversed the sandy landscape, she was starting to wonder what exactly she was doing out here? Why should she care about someone else being stranded on a dead world like this? It wasn't too long ago that she had been turned away by her superiors to be a true Invader due to Zim's idiocy and had instead been sentenced to be nothing more than a janitor. So why was she out her risking her life trying to find someone of her kind who had shunned her so harshly?
She checked her wrist-mounted scanner to make sure that she was on the right path as the winds kicked up. The signal, which was now pointing her in a northeast direction, had remained strong even through the growing sandstorm around her. So, after putting on her hood and goggles, Tak continued her journey through the dead planet toward the source of the signal. The Irken wasn't expecting to find others of her kind still alive, but perhaps at the very least, she could find something worth salvaging. On the other hand, what was the plan if someone was still alive? She wasn't in the business of saving lives, even less so the lives of her own kind, so she was more than willing to pull the trigger on her kin and take what she wanted if she chose to do so.
Since the empire's fall, Tak honestly had little care for what was to happen next. The Tallest had no fallback plan to maintain order should anything happen to them, or even an heir to their rule for that matter. Perhaps the once-mighty Irkens should lay low if they could not be prepared for such a catastrophe. One would think that one of the most powerful races in the universe would have at least a form of a backup plan should their government fall apart, but it was clear that the Tallest cared only for their snacks than they did running an empire. The Control Brains had been trying to keep the scattered remnants of the Irken army together, but without the Tallest giving them orders, the Brains could do little to save the Irken race. Now they were leaderless. Unable to hold worlds they had conquered and on the verge of being enslaved by a stronger force. If the Irkens were going to survive, then they would need someone to rally them together. But Tak knew that such a savior wasn't coming.
Tak was so focused on her thoughts on the destruction of her people that she almost failed to realize that she had reached her destination. She looked up to what she first assumed was a downed Irken vessel but instead could only gasp at the sight of the craft before her. There, half-buried in the sand, was an Engineer's ship. The Engineers were a mystery to not just the Irkens, but to many of the intergalactic civilizations that existed among the stars. It was said that they were builders not of great structures, but of entire species. However, while there was clear evidence that they helped jumpstart the creation of the human race, which would be nothing short of a massive headache for the rest of the galaxy, later on, they were an enigma.
Despite the advanced technology that many of the various races had, no one could find much in terms of evidence to locate the Engineers' homeworld. All that could be found were cave paintings and, on occasion during colonization missions, a derelict ship. However, it was clear that the race of builders wanted their homeworld kept secret and scrubbed any trace of data from their craft. If Tak was being honest, she had always had a certain affinity for the Engineers. They were not only beings of great creation but destruction as well. She double-checked the signal she was following, just to be certain that this was where it was leading her. Sure enough, it was indeed the exact place she was heading toward. However, whether or not this was a trap remained to be seen.
So, with that in mind, the Irken charged up her weapon before entering the downed spacecraft. Tak couldn't lie. When she entered the ship, she couldn't help but be a tad excited at the thought of entering a craft that held so much history within the universe. However, despite her enthusiasm, she still kept up her guard, knowing that there was still an unknown figure who could try to ambush her within the depths of these massive, darkened corridors. Even though Irkens had good vision in the dark as opposed to most species in the galaxy, Tak still needed to switch on her weapon's flashlight attachment to help with her line of sight. As she walked through the massive halls, she couldn't stop herself from being in total awe of the ship's interior. Here she was, standing where some of the mightiest beings in the universe once stood as they seeded countless planets with the building blocks of life.
As she advanced further into the ship, she began to hear the sound of a voice laughing. Tak quickly took cover behind a corner before moving from shadow to shadow toward the sound of the laughter. As she followed the sound, she soon found herself at the center of the Engineer ship where the craft would be controlled from the pilot's control center. However, instead of finding an Engineer, she found a fellow Irken sitting by a fire he had built within the flight deck, laughing madly to himself as if he had been told some joke that only he found funny. Tak was by no means relieved to see someone of her own race, for the Irkens had been killing each other just as fast as their enemies had been doing so. Not wasting any time, Tak stepped out of the shadows with her aimed directly at the back of the fellow Invader's head.
"Stand up and put your hands where I can see them," she commanded.
The Irken did as he was told, but he still snickered to himself as he did.
"Now turn around," she continued before adding "Slowly."
Doing as instructed, the other Irken slowly turned around to show his face to the would-be Invader. The fellow Irken was old, even by Tak's near hundred-year-old age. The elderly Irken's skin was a much darker shade of green than hers with wrinkled, leathery skin. One of his eyes was nothing more than an empty socket. His teeth were cracked and brittle, looking more like broken glass than actual teeth. His left leg had been replaced by a cybernetic appendage and only had half of one antenna. His Pak was worn and cracked, another clear sign of his age. But the one thing that Tak noticed more than anything about the other one of her kind was the look of madness written upon his face. However, despite his age and apparent insanity, rather than lower her weapon, Tak kept her rifle trained on him, not trusting him for a second.
"Who are you?" Tak demanded. "And why did you send that signal?"
"I am Xeros," the old Irken introduced. "And I sent out that signal to find you, Tak."
Tak's response to hearing her name being spoken by the stranger came in the form of taking her weapon and hitting the elderly Irken in the gut with the butt of her rifle, knocking him to the ground. Tak then pressed the barrel up against the stranger's head to keep him down.
"Start talking," she ordered sharply. "Now."
"Heh-heh, you have nothing to fear from me," Xeros giggled out. "I-I am only here to serve you."
Tak's eyes narrowed in suspicion, but she was intrigued by what he meant by his words. So, against her better judgment, she backed off and allowed the fellow Irken to get back to his feet but kept her gun trained on him as she did.
"How do you know me?" she questioned. "And I'd advise you to speak truthfully."
"I've been following your, heh-heh, career, as an Invader," Xeros explained. "I was impressed."
"I'm no Invader," Tak refuted.
"Oh no?" Xeros countered. "Your attack on Earth says otherwise."
"How the hell do you know about that?" Tak demanded.
"Heh-heh-heh, it's not hard to hear about how an Irken single-handedly nearly drained a planet of its core," the old Invader stated. "Although I must admit, while I was, as I said, impressed, you did one thing wrong."
"And that was?" Tak growled.
"You did it in the name of The Tallest," Xeros replied. "Like the rest of our idiotic kind, you fought and failed in the hopes of being recognized by a pair of gluttonous idiots."
"Bold words, old man," Tak noted before taking aim with her weapon. "Pity they will be your last."
"Wait! Wait!" Xeros quickly said. "I can help you!"
"The only way your going to help me is with the supplies I'm going to scavenge off of your corpse and this ship," Tak brushed off.
"But why be a scavenger when you can be a god?" Xeros countered.
Tak paused before several moments. It could be the ravings of a madman, but Tak couldn't help but wonder if there was any truth to his insane words. Long had the female Irken desired to be more than a mere Invader. She wanted to command armies, armadas, and perhaps a world if fate would allow it. True, Xeros might be mad, but there was always some truth in madness. So, with her interest peaked, she, again, lowered her rifle and allowed him to speak.
"I was once like you. Like all our kind. I, too, was blinded by our obedience and admiration for The Tallest. I conquered countless worlds in the name of our leaders, but as the years went on, I was never given anything in return for my loyalty other than sloth and stupidity by those I called 'My Tallest.'
"I became...disillusioned by our so-called 'masters' and disserted the empire. But while I had become ashamed of our leaders, I did not lose faith in the empire itself. I understood that if the Irken Empire was to survive, the rotting roots of The Tallest and the Control Brains had to be removed. I lacked the resolve to do so myself, but I knew that, somewhere out there among the stars, was someone worthy of leading our people into a new golden age."
"And I was that someone?" Tak surmised.
"Yes," Xeros confirmed. "You, Tak, represent the true potential of our race. You are not blinded by food or by some dogmatic obsession to please fools. Thus, you, and only you, are capable of saving our people from oblivion."
"Quite the observation," Tak mentioned. "But they will never follow anyone other than a Tallest."
This was true. The Irken mantra of following only those who were taller than you was so ingrained into their culture that, even if you could deprogram the entire race away from that line of thinking, it would take centuries to do so. And as long as Irkens lived, it would still not be enough time for Tak to get species out of that line of thinking.
"Did you think I chose to live in this ship for just shelter?" Xeros addressed. "I had spent nearly a hundred years of my life trying to find an Engineer's craft, so I may be able to find a way to harness the power of genetic alteration."
He then gestured to the ship's cockpit. Tak noticed that the entire chair and navigation system had been gutted and replaced with large wires and needles filled with a black liquid. Tak could only guess that this was the very same substance that allowed the world builders the ability to breathe life into other worlds.
"I was once a member of the scientific corps, but even my knowledge was greatly tested by the Engineers' technology," Xeros said. "It may have taken me nearly thirty years and my sanity, heh-heh, but I managed to reconfigure the ship's cockpit to draw power from their egg chambers. Now, I can alter the genetic structure of an Irken and make them into a Tallest."
Tak carefully observed the make-shift machine before her with a strange mixture of wonder and skepticism in her mind. Genetic manipulation was not something that was unknown through the galaxy, but it was foreign for Irkens due to their births via tubes. Because of these non-biological births, Irken DNA was very difficult to alter. However, if there's anything that could change an Irken into a Tallest, it would be the technology of the Engineers. However, there was still one element that Tak had to take into account: The trustworthiness of a madman.
"Give me one reason to trust a single word you've said," she questioned.
"You need only trust your eyes," Xeros answered. "If you don't do this, then our empire, our SPECIES, will be wiped off the face of the galaxy!"
In that, Tak knew that to be true. At this rate, the once-mighty Irken Empire would collapse, and the race would either be enslaved or driven to extinction in only a few short years. Their only chance for survival was if someone stepped up and rallied the fractured empire and fight back. So why not her? She had the drive and will to be a greater leader than The Tallest ever were.
"Will this be painful?" Tak inquired as she observed the machine before her.
"Ascension to godhood seldom isn't," was all Xeros said in response.
"...Good," the would-be Invader finally stated.
With that, Tak took a deep, calming breath before taking a step onto the machine's platform and prepared for her rebirth. Xeros went to the machine's console and quickly activated it. Within seconds, Tak's spine was struck by a series of needles that injected her with the black liquid that the Engineers used to give so many worlds life. The would-be Invader let out a scream of agony as she felt what only could be described as fire coursing through her spinal cord. The pain was was unlike nothing she could even imagine as her body began to grow at a rapid pace. Her heart pounded in her chest like a hammer striking solid steel. Within her body, Tak's organs bones and organs began to rapidly expand within the Irken body. Her antennas grew longer, as did her claws. As Tak continued to scream in pain, she was forced to keep herself from blacking out. She had to see this through, even if it killed her.
Finally, once the needles were emptied of the black liquid, Xeros had them removed with a flip of the switch. Once they had done so, Tak fell to the ground as she gasped for air. It felt like an inferno was ranging inside her body. She could barely move. Even blinking caused her great pain. As she fought through the agony that coursed through her body, she gazed upon her new form and was unable to stop herself from gasping in shock at the sight before her. No longer was she a small Irken, but in a few minutes had been grown into at least a six-foot Tallest. Her clothing had obviously shrunken due to her body expanding, but at the moment, Tak didn't care. All that mattered was that she had now achieved the first step in rulership over her people. It was then that Xeros rushed over to Tak's side with a blanket to cover her body before slowly helping her to her feet.
"So...how does it feel to be a god?" he inquired slyly.
"It feels...like perfection," Tak answered slowly, yet still beaming with power in her tone.
"And that's not all I have to give you, my lady" Xeros mentioned "I have other gifts."
Xeros then pressed a button on his glove. Once he had done so, a secret door opened up to reveal a suit of purple battle armor with Tak's Irken insignia on it. There was also a massive hammer standing beside it, which intrigued the would-be queen.
"A hammer?" she questioned.
"Something I created back in my scientific corps days," Xeros answered. "It's a prototype weapon that was meant to alter gravity, but The Tallest took the funding for it in order to fund their snack obsession."
"And...you're just giving me all this because you believe in me?" Tak noted, now with suspicion back in her voice.
"Well, of course, my lady," Xeros confirmed. "I am but your humble servant, who hopes to be at your side as you bring about a new regime to our new empire!"
Tak leaned down to face Xeros directly in the eye with a look that could send shivers down a Xenomorph's spine.
"'Our?'"
In a flash, Tak's hand shot out and snatched Xeros and lifted him up to her new eye level. Tak was silently impressed by her newfound strength all the while Xeros tried to desperately claw himself free. With little effort, Tak squeezed Xeros's neck, snapping it like a twig. With a disgusted scoff, she tossed Xero's body aside. Tak admired her new body and the strength she had now been bestowed to her. But she had no intention of sharing her power with anyone, let alone a mad inventor who had the audacity to think she'd allow him to be the power behind her throne. Still, as she looked upon her new armor and weapon, she wasn't going to let his weaponry go to waste.
It was time to forge her new empire.
Aolgos was once a planet that had been home to a race of peace-loving beings that embraced the beauty of art and architecture. That was until the Irkens arrived and slaughtered half the planet's population, sterilized and enslaved the other half, and had them as labor to work in their weapons factories until they were driven to extinction. Since its annexation into the Irken Empire, Aolgos became a major weapons manufacturer for the whole of the Imperium. Those were the days that Invader Vexx longed to see again. For weeks now, Aolgos had fallen under siege by the Lorwardians, and with no Tallest to guide them or a fleet to assist them, the Irkens of Aolgos were left to defend their colony themselves.
Smoke from the wreckage of the once-great factories blocked out the sun as the sleepless nights were filled with endless battles in which more and more Irkens were killed. There had been talks of evacuating the planet, but where could they go that was safe for their kind now? Not only that, but the Lorwardians' warships had set up a blockade around the planet, preventing any ships from leaving. Vexx had been in the trenches that surrounded the last Irken controlled city on the planet, Kadia, for five days now, and despite being a battle-hardened Irken, Vexx and her battalion had been losing ground and troops in droves. In a blitzkrieg from the sudden Lorwardian charge, Vexx and the remnants of her company were overrun and the trenches were stormed.
The dying screams of her fellow Irkens echoed throughout the trenches. Vexx herself had been scarred by a grenade and was currently lying in mud as she struggled to find her footing. As she did, a Lorwardian warrior towered over her with his already blood-stained ax in hand. But before he went in for the kill, the alien barbarian decided to mock his prey before ending her.
"Pity the Irken," he said as he kicked Vexx back into the mud. "A weak sack of flesh destined to die for dead leaders who never cared. It spends its pitiful, small life alone in the trenches with nothing to keep her company and only the cheapest of weaponry."
Vexx tried to reach for the sidearm that she had dropped when the blast struck her, only to have it kicked away by her attacker as he continued to speak.
"Perhaps the barrel of her pulse rifle keeps her warm at night," he mused with a snicker. "Me? As a Lorwaridan warrior elite, I enjoy the delights of conquest. Power. It courses through my veins. The brutal teachings of my forefathers make me invincible. And one day, I may ascend to the next life, drenched in the blood of foes with tales of the great kills I have made on the battlefield."
He then kicked Vexx in the ribs, breaking several upon impact as he did. He then grabbed her back the neck before slamming her against the wall of the trench with his ax at the ready.
"What has the Irken have to look forward to but a grim life?" he furthered. "And, if she is lucky, perhaps she will feel nothing as my ax sends her soul to oblivion. She lives for dead leaders, and she shall join them as a corpse!"
Vexx struggled in the Lorwardian's grasp but could not free herself from his hold around her neck.
"I shall spare a second to think of her and her kind," her captor mused. "Then...I shall only laugh."
The Lorwardian let out a bellowing laugh as he held his ax at the ready. Vexx could only close her eye and pray that her death would be quick. But knowing these brutes, she would die screaming as her comrades had. But, rather than die, a voice came through the smoke of the trenches.
"You would laugh, monster, but let me remind you something," the voice began as a figure emerged from the smoke. "Within that weak sack of meat and bone uncared for by her leaders and wept for by none...beats a heart."
Out of the smoke emerged a figure that made Vexx gasp in shock. Standing before her was a Tallest. It was neither Red nor Purple, but a tall, female Irken dressed in a suit of dark violet armor with a large hammer strapped to her back. As Vexx thought she was seeing a mirage, the Lorwardian dropped her and readied himself for combat against this unknown foe.
"An Irken heart that carries with it the strength and courage of all her kind," the Tallest stated.
The Lorwardian let out a war cry as he lunged at the unknown woman. But before his ax could strike her, she reached out and twisted his wrist, forcing him to drop his weapon. With his ax free, the Tallest began to repeatedly punch him in the face.
"Within that sack of meat is etched the hope, the will, and the fury of every man, woman, and child from every corner of the empire," she continued as she kept up her attack. "Within that weak sack of meat, encased in thin armor and weapons that are only powerful in numbers, beats the heart of an Irken."
She then kicked him in the chest, sending him flying across the battlefield, making Vexx gasp in awe at her power.
"For ten thousand years, the hearts of Irkens have beaten strongly in defiance of you and your so-called 'empire!'" the Tallest proclaimed as she approached. "For ten thousand years, the hearts of Irkens have stood united against a galaxy that despises them for no other reason other than they have the audacity not to lay down and die!"
In a panic, the Lorwardian drew a knife, only to have it batted away with a single strong backhand by his attacker.
"For ten thousand years, your crusades against us have been pushed back, beaten down, and made a mockery of by weak sacks of flesh with cheap weapons and faulty equipment," the Tallest furthered. "For that weak sack of flesh that you so gleefully mock is no Cybertronian, no Space Knight, no Juraian endowed with godlike powers. She...is an Irken."
She then snatched him by the leg, broke it, and flung him to the other end of the trench.
"An Invader drawn from some forgotten part of the empire to fight for her species and for the safety of the people that she loves!" Tak shouted. "She is a factory worker, a weapons designer, a mother, a sister, a daughter a mere...Irken."
As Vexx watched the unknown Tallest as she spoke, she felt a sense of power and pride well up in her core. She did not know who this Tallest was, but she would follow her to the ends of the universe.
"And against foes like you teaming in the millions, powered by weapons that would shake planets, she holds the line!" Take shouted. "And she has held the line for ten thousand years!"
The Lorwardian crawled back as Tak towered over him, fear welling up in his eyes.
"So, what's your excuse?" she asked.
With that, Tak planted her foot right through the Lowardians face. These brutes might have been a threat at one point, but now they were just bugs that needed to be crushed in her path. Though the blockade was nigh impregnable, a single Voot cruiser such as Tak's could slip through their defenses since they were more focused on larger craft. It would be a mistake that would be their undoing. With her foe slain, she looked over to the Irken she had rescued, now kneeling before her. A sense of cold satisfaction rushed over Tak. It may have been a simple gesture, but the power it represented over others was proof enough that Tak's right to rule was sealed.
"On your feet, soldier," she commanded,
"Yes, My Tallest," the Irken answered. "Invader Vexx, reporting for duty, ma'am!"
"What's the status of the city?" Tak questioned.
"The city's shields are holding for now, but their arterially cannons are sure to bring them down soon," Vexx answered. "Our forces are scattered, and the last our plasma tanks have been destroyed. What elite Invaders we have left are inside the city in case the shields fail."
"And they left you and the others to die?" Tak surmised. "Why aren't they fighting alongside you?"
"The city can't afford to be taken at any cost, My Tallest," Vexx explained. "It's the last Irken stronghold in the city. It even holds the planet's Control Brain within it."
Tak clenched her fist upon hearing that last part. The Control Brains, otherwise known as the true power behind The Tallest, had become utterly useless when the empire fell. Instead of rallying their people, they remained silent and only collected data. If Tak's power was to be absolute, then she needed to deal with Control Brains. But for now, that would have to wait. Right now, she needed to win the hearts and minds of those who would be her subjects. And in order to do that, she would have to give them a major victory. Fortunately, this battle was just what she needed to begin her new empire.
"See to the ones who are still alive," Tak commanded. "I will deal with the cannons alone."
Invader Vexx, though unsure as to how her new Tallest was going accomplish such a daunting task, nodded her head in understanding before taking off into the trenches to rally what soldiers were left. As Tak climbed up from the trenches, she pulled out the hammer strapped to her back and switched it, letting it hum to life. The Lorwardians, of course, took notice and aimed their weapons at their new target. But before they could pull a single trigger, Tak struck the hammer on the ground, unleashing a wave of gravitational energy from it that spewed outward toward the opposing army and their cannons, lifting them into the air. However, rather than fall back to the ground, both the soldiers and their weapons remained in mid-air. Now with her prey at her mercy, Tak wanted to see the full extent of what her new weapon could do.
With the Lorwardians still in her gravitational grasp, Tak began to bring the opposing army together into a single ball, crushing man and metal into a mass of carnage and gore. Of course, this twisting of advanced weaponry caused the cannons to begin to overheat. Tak, of course, knew this and had a plan already in motion. With the power of her hammer at her command, she flung the mass of metal and flesh into the skies above. Once it was beyond the hold of gravity, the now overheating cannons were adrift in the planet's orbit among the Lorwardian fleet. Lorwardians were never the ones to quickly understand the obvious right away, and for that, this would be their downfall. For once they realized what was going on, it was too late.
The ensuing explosion that occurred lit up the skies like a sun erupting at point-blank range. The flash of blinding flash from the make-shift bomb vaporized every single warship that made up the orbital blockade around the planet. While most Irkens and Lorwardians looked away, Tak instead stared into the very heart of the blast. For her, it was like a signal to the universe that the Irken Empire was beginning its rebirth under her rule. As the blast faded away, the soon-to-be new queen of the empire found herself being approached by the soldiers who had witnessed her newfound power.
"Report," she ordered Vexx.
"The Lorwardians are fleeing the battlefield, My Tallest," the Irken answered. "Should we pursue them?"
"Not yet," Tak denied. "They have no way of leaving the planet, and any aid they could call to is too far away to help them. For now, let us focus on the city. I would have words with Control Brain."
As Tak entered the main hall to the fortress the Irken elites had built to defend the Control Brain, the anger and resentments toward the old ways instantly rose up within her once again. The Tallest were lazy and killed by their own (and Zim's) stupidity, but the Control Brains were the heart of the problem. With all their talk of logic and knowledge of how best to sustain the empire, they did nothing but stand aside as the Irken race was set ablaze. As the newly made Tallest walked down the long rows of elites flanking each side, she saw at the end of it was the Control Brain, no doubt lost in thought as it collected rows of meaningless data.
"Irken Janitor number #34781. Designation: Tak," the Brain greeted. "This unit welcomes you."
"I am honored to meet with you, Control Brain," Tak answered, using every once faux politeness she could muster.
"This unit has detected various genetic anomalies within your DNA," the Control Brain mentioned. "Query: This unit wishes to know how and why you have corrupted your DNA."
"I respectfully refuse," Tak refuted.
"You have made yourself a Tallest using genetic alterations that have gone against your primary designation," the Control Brain stated. "You have broken law #4537 of Irken code and are therefore found guilty of-"
"Of what? Doing my part in saving a dying empire?!" Tak snapped. "I was given a solution to save it. What about you? All you have done for us since this all happened is sit off to the side and collect data while we die by the thousands with each passing day!"
As she spoke, Tak's words resonated with the other Irkens within the room. She had a point. The Control Brains had failed to maintain the empire that their subjects had been dying in droves to protect. When Irkens were incubated as Smeets, they were programmed with loyalty to The Tallest, though some, like Tak, were mentally strong enough to resist this programming. But now, without The Tallest, the general Irken population had begun to become restless and angry for the loss of their once-mighty intergalactic kingdom. And now, here right in front of them, was a Tallest speaking what had long been on their mind. They didn't care if she wasn't a true Tallest. What they cared about was that she was a leader.
"Where were you and the other brains when The Tallest were wiped out of existence?!" she furthered. "Where were any of you when our people were being slaughtered like cattle? You only stood by and let it happen because you can't calculate your own failure!"
Tak then reached forward and punched a hole into the Control Brain, digging deep through the internal system before finally getting a hold on what she wanted. With a single, strong yank, she pulled the Irken within the machine. It was a pale, shriveled thing, covered in wires and machine parts, gasping for life outside its shell. Not wasting another second, Tak crushed the sad little creature's throat with minimal effort. With a cold sneer, Tak tossed the lifeless being aside before turning to face the now stunned Irkens before her. It was just what she wanted.
"Brothers and sisters!" she began. "It's time to cast off the shackles of our past. The Tallest and Control Brains have brought our great empire low, and we stand upon the edge of annihilation because of their stupidity. But we are not lost as a species. I will lead you out of the darkness! Together, we will forge a new empire that will shake the foundations of the galaxy!"
She then lifted her hammer high above her head.
"Are you with me?!" she called out to the others.
The Irkens cheered her name in response, making the new leader smirk in triumph. This was it. The start of her new empire began here. It was vital that she save Aologos not just for the military here but also the shipyards and weapons depots as well. She needed this planet as a temporary homeworld until she could retake Irk. But once she had done so, and when her army was ready, she would go to the one planet that not only angered her but every superpower in the galaxy and wipe it off the face of the universe.
Earth.
[1] - As seen in Part 17 of The New Frontier
