I hope to have the next part up soon! I already have part of it written out; I just need to figure out how I want to write the other part. This took me far too long for a multitude of reasons, one being I wasn't sure how to end it for the next part because I didn't want it being 3K words. Enjoy! Just... ignore that it's almost 2 am where I am..

Part 39: Already Laid Claim

Dib kicked his feet, lounging out on the couch. Zim was reviewing data on his alien-kniock-off-ipad; as Dib called it. A session of beeping came from the ceiling. Zim immediately set his pad down. The PAK pulled it back into itself. Dib looked up from his phone at the second rendition of the beeping. No, if asked, he'd have to admit it's more of an alarm.

"Zim, what's that mean?" Dib asked.

"Proximity alarm." Zim said. He jumped from the couch, jogging briskly up the stairs.

"Do you need help?" Dib called.

"No! Stay here and watch the base!"

Dib pouted. "THE BASE WATCHES ITSELF!"

Dib heard the bay opening and sighed, sinking back into the couch.

Zim soared up through the atmosphere, hoping no one was looking up. He'd learned people rarely did; but the paranoia was ever present. When he broke through; a large ship was floating above the planet. It was just out of range of the satellites' camera view; but Zim suspected that they had a cloaking device on regardless. His was on constantly. Zim wasn't sure he'd ever shut it off. He didn't plan to.

Zim zoomed up in front of the ship. He started hailing them. The monitor was stuck in its loading screen for several minutes before the aliens finally answered back. Zim tried to hide his agitation. It was just as the ship had answered that Zim recognized it.

"Greetings! I'm Valick, a scavenger captain." The alien greeted. Zim cocked an antennae.

A scavenger ship? That didn't seem right. It wasn't a planet jacker model, that much he could tell. He could also tell that the alien in the pilot's seat wasn't the same species that had designed this ship. It was bought, then. Great. Zim wasn't sure what the current status this species had with the Empire was; but that shouldn't matter.

"I'm Zim. Irken Invader. State your business." Zim demanded. He saw the uncertainty start up in the aliens he could see on the monitor at the mention of 'Irken Invader'. It was useful and convenient to have that intimidation factor right off the bat.

"We were eyeing the planet you're currently blocking." The alien confessed. "We hear it has a treasure trove of subjects."

Zim glared at them. He took some satisfaction in seeing a few of them grow slowly more uneasy. Zim admitted, there was a surprising amount of diversity in the life on the planet. But it was his planet.

"And you're trespassing. This planet is under the Empire's claim." Zim says. Valick looked through a tablet.

"according to our records, the planet isn't." he says. He showed Zim that the planet wasn't claimed by any species. Zim growled a little.

"Your records are out of date! Zim has been on this planet for years, it's under claim for the Irken Empire," he repeats. Valick drops the tablet, glowering at Zim.

"Well, our records say it's not. So, it's fair game! We're taking what we want from it." Valick says. Zim catches a few of the crew muttering to one another. Valick turns on them, vicious. "DON'T QUESTION MY JUDGEMENT; I'M THE ONE WHO'S CAPTAIN!"

Zim growled again. He pinched the bridge of his brow. "I'm going to be courteous and give you a chance to take back what you just said; and leave. Refuse, and I'll open fire."

Valick turned back to him. "I refuse. We have the bigger ship."

Zim flicked open a lid, his finger hovering over a button. "A larger ship does not mean better weaponry."

Valick seemed to reconsider for a moment. But only a moment. Zim saw the twitch of his arm and docked right as a beam shot past him. He quickly checked its trajectory—clear of the planet, good—and turned back. Valick looked like he was ready to faint.

'So, he hadn't been planning to miss,' Zim thought. His glare was certainly something that could cause the idiot to freeze up; but Zim was open to the idea that it was more the fact he'd wasted his one free shot. Zim didn't take another second to realign his own beam. He hit the button at the same instant a grunt at the back of the opposing ship hit their own.

Zim had to admit. In that moment, watching the ship in front of him explode upon impact of the beam, he made a mental note to adjust the cool down time for his own Cruiser. It would have been nice if he could have swerved that beam. Instead, he was swearing in Irken and every other language he could access under the Sun, trying to regain control of a Cruiser missing half its engines.

He looked out the window, eyeing up the fire spilling out of the side. He was going to have to do extensive repairs if he didn't obliterate it on re-entry. Zim contemplated how much flack he would get from Dib for that. Maybe he could hide it.

Zim focused back on the task at hand: not dying in a fiery crash.

He activated every precaution for re-entry that was still operating. It was roughly half the systems. That wasn't a good sign; the entire back left half of his ship was likely destroyed. He would have to figure out how to replace those engine parts. If the Empire hadn't cut him off completely from other supplies. Zim doubted the right materials were very readily available on Earth, even in their raw forms. He'd have to worry about that later.

The atmosphere started to engulf the ship. Zim guided it towards the city. He could see the expansive forest to his right. He passed over the park, a trail of smoke behind him. He was sure someone must have noticed it. He prayed that it was mistaken as a plane. He could live with that. He could work with that, in fact. Zim banked right, aiming for the clearing that Dib had brought his fireworks to. It was far enough from the city and the park; he could probably land the Cruiser there without any prying eyes. He pulled the steering up, the bottom of the Cruiser breaking off treetops.

The Cruiser landed just inside the tree line. Zim had to fight the steering to keep it from rolling. He could hear the bottom scraping off as it hit rocks and stone in the ground. The parachute dispensed, dragging the ship considerably. It finally teetered to a halt close to the other tree line. Zim fell back in his seat, glaring at the smoking console. It sparked and died. Zim's PAK produced a jack, plugging it into the console, Zim tried checking the data. Most of it was fried. He'd have to reload it all.

He was never going to hear the end of this.

He put on his wig and contacts, forcing open the window. It groaned and creaked, popping open with a giant crack. Zim winced when the crack formed across the screen. He was looking at a complete overhaul at this rate. He inspected the giant carve in the land. It was… not going to be easy to hide. He looked over the ship next. It was salvageable; but scrap was about all it would be good for. Zim sighed, running his hand down his face.

He kicked the remaining back engine, hoofing it through the woods back towards the base.