The Fall of Vort
He hadn't meant to fall asleep.
It was a bad idea to let his guard down with an Irken nearby. He knew this, yet this was the first time since he'd been rescued he'd been able to sleep without having horrible nightmares.
Slowly he sat up in his chair. His vision was blurry, so he rubbed his eyes to clear it.
Then he glanced at Darden.
The Irken had one hand on the controls looking impassive as he steered the ship.
"There have been no sign of the worms so far," Darden reported.
Suddenly the Irken's hand was in his face. He recoiled away, his eyes wide as he studied what was being held out to him.
It was a can.
"Take it," Darden instructed.
He did, instantly, without thinking.
"Where did you...?" Lard Nar started to say.
"I stopped off at one of Irk's shipping planets," Darden responded dismissively. "You've been sleeping for 12 hours."
"12 hours...?" Lard Nar repeated, dragging his free hand down his face.
"That's what I just said, yes."
"And the enforcers let you take this?" Lard Nar questioned, frowning a little.
Darden was a banished Irken... it seemed odd that he could move around so freely on Irken controlled planets.
"I told them I had an assignment on Vort, and they asked no further questions," he added just as bluntly: "Unless a report was released about my banishment, they wouldn't know about it unless they were told directly by a higher authority."
Lard Nar rolled the can over. There were Irken symbols on it: spelling out the name of this particular brand of soda.
Like most Vortians he'd been taught how to read and write in the Irken language as well as his own. He wasn't as good at it as a few of his colleagues had been, but he could read many of the Irken's signs and translate some of their broadcasts.
There was nothing strange or out of place on the can... but he still was hesitant to drink it.
He recalled a moment at the prison, while he was continuously tortured, that the guards had taunted him with a similar looking beverage... only it was poisoned.
He'd been poisoned. His insides had felt like they were twisting and melting.
He nearly gagged at the memory.
"I'll pass..." he decided, and he moved to place the soda can down beside his seat.
Darden caught his arm and held it tightly.
Lard Nar could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and he swallowed the lump forming in his throat.
Oh Galre... Darden was going to force him to drink it wasn't he?
"You belong to a species that can dehydrate," the Irken stated with a scowl.
"Yes... but I'm fine..." Lard Nar tried to protest as he attempted to pull his arm out of Darden's grasp.
"You may be fine now, but you won't be if you refuse to drink anything," Darden said, sounding annoyed. "We are going to be flying for another 30 hours."
Lard Nar's heart was racing and his breathing was becoming faster. Suddenly the walls around him gave him the feeling of being trapped. There was no where to run or hide. He was stuck on board this ship with an Irken soldier who could hurt him or do much worse... but he couldn't back down.
He wasn't going to cower in fear and let Darden do whatever he pleased.
"Let go..." he spoke in a calm but firm tone, and he was surprised when Darden released him. He leaned against the wall and rubbed the spot on his arm the Irken had been holding. "Don't touch me like that again."
Darden looked down at his hand as he returned it to the controls. "I never meant this action as a threat," he stated, and his antennae flicked back. "I was trying to show you some concern... however, since you're uncomfortable with physical contact I'll refrain from it. Do note that both of my hands are gloved so there was no actual touching between us."
The Irken then returned his attention to the monitor and whatever was beyond the space-shield.
Lard Nar took a moment to catch his breath. He brought a hand to his chest while the other one squeezed the can tight.
Darden could have deployed his PAK legs and impaled him... but instead the Irken had let the subject drop easily enough.
"I... I don't know if I can drink this without getting sick..." he admitted quietly.
"I'm pretty sure that product has been tested on non-Irkens. As far as I know there were no ill affects as long as it wasn't being drunk excessively. The can is also completely sealed, so there's no way it could be tampered with," Darden's gaze shifted to him. "But if you are still concerned, then I'd suggest taking a sip and waiting an hour before taking another and so on."
Again Darden's attention returned to driving.
Lard Nar fiddled with the can a little before pulling the tab. It hissed as he cracked it open. He felt a bit better since it seemed Darden had no interest in forcing him to do anything... but it still took a little while before he had a taste.
It was very sugary. He coughed when the sweetness hit his tongue. He could only handle a small mouthful. Was there any actual water or other similar liquid in this or was it pure liquid sugar?
"Are you sure this is safe for non-Irkens?" Lard Nar asked. He was starting to have his doubts again.
"Just don't drink several cans at one time..." Darden warned him."There's not enough space in this vessel for you to succumb to a fit of hyperactivity."
It was several hours later when Lard Nar decided to start another conversation with the solemn soldier. He'd been thinking about what to ask for quite a while... he knew that despite Darden no longer being a part of the Empire, the Irken was still loyal to his people and his Tallest.
"Did you always want to be a soldier?"
Darden's gaze shifted to Lard Nar briefly before returning to the space-shield.
"It's considered an ideal placement, but I wasn't expecting to gain the height to become a soldier, so no."
"Then what were you hoping to be?"
"An invader," Darden answered with his usual abruptness. "I completed the necessary training, but I wasn't considered sneaky or subtle enough to blend in with other societies properly, so I failed the final testing. I would have been a regular Irken citizen if I didn't grow any taller, but I did, so they made me a soldier."
"I see..." Lard Nar let out a sigh.
When Darden spoke about his life he made Irkens sound almost normal.
"If there was a way for you to return to the Empire..." he trailed off when he noticed Darden's gaze harden, and his grip on the controls tighten.
"The only way that could happen would be for me to face Judgment, and there would be no guarantee I wouldn't have my data erased in the presence of my Tallest."
"You could have your name cleared," Lard Nar said.
He was thinking of the ways Darden might return to the Empire. He was worried about it since Daren knew enough information about the Resisty to cause a lot of damage to them if he decided to take what he knew back to the Tallest.
"There could be evidence of Bann's defectiveness."
"If I was found guilty however, the whole Empire would know about it... I think maybe the Tallest wanted to avoid having suspicion and distrust among the ranks. That or they didn't want to bother attending a trial on Judgementia. Either way, I should be grateful my reputation has only suffered a little despite my crime."
Lard Nar nodded to show the Irken he was listening, but he didn't say anything in response.
Darden adjusted the monitor near the controls. He stared at the screen for a moment before straightening up in his seat and pulling back on the controls, slowing the ship to a crawling pace.
Lard Nar leaned over to look at the monitor. There were worms ahead.
"Strap yourself in..." Darden instructed, and he snapped his own buckles in place. "We're going to have to power through these ones."
"Why not go around?" Lard Nar questioned as he hurriedly locked his own straps in place.
"Because there are only a few of them here, and if we try to go around we could run into more problems."
He pulled a couple levers and flipped a switch. Then he shoved the control stick forward and the ship jolted ahead, picking up speed quickly.
Lard Nar's hands dug into the armrests and she squeezed his eyes shut.
The roar of the engines meshed with the sound of the creature's screeching and clanging against the ship. The safety straps kept him from being jostled around too much, but the worms weren't just slowing them down, they were also slamming against the vessel and forcing it off course.
There had been a lot of noise up until a little while ago... the yelling, crashing, banging, and the loud piercing sirens and earthshaking explosions had all stopped. Everything was deathly quiet.
Laes let go of Veena and raised his hands when he realized he'd been clinging to her. He also backed into whoever was standing right behind him. "S-sorry," he stammered.
He wasn't sure how long they'd been trapped in this small underground bunker. The other Vortians were beginning to talk among themselves, whispering at first before their voices rose to a normal level.
Most of them sounded scared. Someone gave a nervous laugh.
Over this moderate amount of noise came a quiet beep, and the hatch above them hissed open.
Laes squinted as he peered up at what looked like an Irken guard. It was Pain he realized... he swallowed the lump in his throat.
He wanted to ask the Irken guard what was going on, but he also didn't want to draw attention to himself...
Why couldn't any of the other guards be standing there?
The hatch wasn't very big. Pain could probably climb through it if he wanted to, but a worm wouldn't be able to get inside.
Then there was a thud.
Pain wasn't looking in anymore. Did he fall?
Laes shielded his eyes as he strained to see.
The Irken hadn't fallen inside otherwise the Vortians near the opening would have said something or screamed or at least startled a bit.
Everyone had gone quiet again, but one of the braver prisoners near the hatch decided to ask for a boost up.
"Oh my ganre..." his voice was filled with disbelief. "I think the Irkens might be dead..."
There was a loud swooshing sound, and the Vortian let out a pained shriek.
Pain rolled into the hatch just before the worm could snap him up too. He landed on top of a few very startled Vortians before managing to sit on a vacant spot on the floor.
"Listen carefully..." he began.
His voice was hoarse and he was gripping a long gash in his broken armour.
Laes couldn't see him very well since there were quite a few prisoners standing in front of him, but he was pretty sure Pain was missing a leg. At least it looked like it was missing when the Irken fell.
"There are five other bunkers just like this one... two for each section in the prison..." he coughed, but despite whatever injuries he had he kept his tone level.
"None of them are supposed to be opened until the worms are gone... however, I went against protocol and opened this one. When you're sure the worms are no longer attacking... go and open the other bunkers. The first code is 80910..." He groaned as he shifted on the floor. "If you don't..."
A worm smashed its self into the floor near the hatch. It screeched, and its drool splattered on everyone close to the opening.
Then there was another. And another.
Laes covered his head with his arms and crouched down, but the sound was still deafening. Some of the Vortian's were screaming despite Pain insisting they be quiet.
Then the light filtering in from the hatch went out.
"Everyone be quiet!" Pain's voice rose over everyone else's.
The Irken began coughing violently. He was putting too much strain on himself.
After a long time of doing nothing but cowering in the dark, Laes was surprised when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He flinched and glanced up, remembering as he did how impossible it was to see anything.
It was quiet again. All he could hear was the constant and rhythmic sounds of the people around him breathing.
Slowly he moved to his feet, but the hand on his shoulder stayed put.
"Veena?" he guessed; his voice a small whisper.
"Shh," she shushed him louder than his voice had been, and her grip on his shoulder tightened.
Everyone kept quiet and relatively still for hours.
Laes' legs were starting to hurt. He kept rubbing them, hoping to ease some of the soreness.
He would sit down but he was worried since he couldn't see that he might accidentally sit in someone's lap since crouching straight down hurt about as much as standing did.
Then he heard Pain deploy his PAK legs. The guard really should have bled out by now... but Irkens had proven to be very durable. It was no wonder so many planets fell to them.
Pain was gone for only a few minutes. The clanking of his metal legs hitting the floor had stopped before the guard spoke.
"It's clear... but be careful. Watch out for the floor, and don't make a lot of noise."
A few Vortians close to the hatch were boosted up and out of the underground bunker. Then they started pulling others out.
Soon everyone had been freed, but there wasn't much light.
Laes could make out the outlines of a few Vortians closest to him if he squinted a bit.
The high windows that were barred up pretty good with steel and would have been barred again with electricity of the power was on was letting in a tiny bit of light, probably reflecting from whatever remained of the lab stations which pretty much looked like artificial moons.
He tripped on a chunk of something and fell into what felt like a decent sized hole.
There was a short sigh, and he felt two long pieces of cold metal lift him out.
"What did I just tell you?" That was Pain's voice... "The worms have destroyed parts of this facility... there is debris and shattered floors everywhere, so be careful."
"Um... thanks...?" Laes responded as the Irken set him down on his feet.
Why was Pain acting so friendly all of a sudden...?
Were the other Irkens really all dead?
"Why are there so many craters?" another Vortian asked.
"My comrades self-destructed to kill some of the worms," Pain responded, and he grunted a little. He sucked in a breath. "The Armada will be here soon..."
"I guess this would be a good time to escape huh?" someone else spoke up.
"You can try... but even if there are intact ships, there are more of those creatures out there..." Pain informed them. "For now you should release the rest of your people from the bunkers... without electricity they will eventually suffocate to death."
"But... but we can't see..." a different Vortian remarked.
The Vortians started to murmur among themselves.
"Pain... do you have um... night vision goggles?" Laes asked. He realized almost immediately after e asked that he had used the Irken's nickname, not his real name.
Hopefully he wouldn't be hit for it...
The Irken guard was quiet for a moment, but then Laes heard his PAK whir open.
"Here," Pain handed the goggles to him. "I'm sorry we failed to defend Vort..." he apologized just loud enough for Laes and a few of those standing nearby to hear.
Laes passed the goggles to someone who seemed eager to help.
A small group split away from the main one to go search for the other bunkers. The one with the goggles wrote down the different codes on a piece of paper just in case he forgot.
Would they be able to reach the other bunkers in time though? Irkens liked making whole planets into things, so it wasn't like the prison was just a small one on an island somewhere or something... no, it covered the whole planet.
It was only after they were gone Laes realized Veena wasn't around anymore...
She probably saw this as an opportunity to escape and took it.
This reminded Laes that he needed to do some searching of his own. He'd left the piece of technology housing Bann in his computer. He couldn't just leave it there...
After what was probably at least an hour of fumbling around in the dark looking for his former cell, and another long while fumbling around to find his computer, he was able to locate the device.
He pulled it out of the plug and held it tight as he began making his way back.
It was a good thing the other Vortians had started talking a bit more. He got turned around a few times, but once he heard a few voices he was able to follow them back to where most of the prisoners were gathered.
It sounded like there were more Vortians here now. Maybe the bunkers weren't too far away then, or maybe the teleporters were somehow brought back online...?
Laes bumped into someone, "sorry," he apologized quickly. "I uh..."
"Ryter?" a small timid voice came from a smaller group that was joining the bigger one.
"I'm here Negi," Pain responded.
With some strain, it sounded like the Irken guard was able to stand up without the use of his PAK.
"Ryter!" there was some running, followed by the sound of someone smacking into something kind of hard.
"Ouch. Ok. I'm alive just like I told you I would be," Pain spoke, and he chuckled.
Pain actually chuckled... Laes could hardly believe it.
The guard's usual harsh tone had been replaced with a lighter more friendly one. Could this really be the same Irken that mercilessly severed his hand from the rest of his body not that long ago?
What was going on exactly? Was this even the same guard?
Irkens were confusing.
"Hurt?" that was definitely the voice of a Vort child Laes realized.
"It's just a scratch, nothing to worry about," Pain responded without missing a beat. "How about you?"
"Scary," the child admitted.
This was friendship... maybe Irkens would call it something different... but it sounded like they'd been talking to each other for quite a while.
Maybe Irkens befriending Vortians wasn't such a weird thing. They'd been allies up until last year. Vortians made all of the Irken's weapons, ships, and other machinery in exchange for monies and protection. This meant that Irkens were free to pursue other areas of interest: such as their extensive military operations.
Both races were also able to ask favours from each other... like when Tallest Miyuki requested Zim be transferred to Vort Lab 9.
It had been a pretty good business relationship really. Then the accident happened (twice apparently although he'd only heard what happened to Tallest Spork much later) and the untrusting Irkens destroyed their treaty with Vort.
Even so... Bann became friends with him, and it looked like Pain had become friends with a Vortian too.
Should he be curious about this?
Maybe... but right now they had more pressing problems to deal with... like the fact that the Armada was here. He could hear the Irken vessels hovering in the sky.
Author's Notes: As you've probably noticed I do enjoy dialogue quite a bit.
Also the Armada has arrived which means there's a good chance the Tallest will finally make an appearance!