Struggle for Control

He was definitely not dead... he was in too much pain to be dead.

Wearily Laes opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling.

It was difficult to breath.

A machine seemed to be helping him with this. A tube or something was jammed in his throat. He wanted to remove it but he didn't think he could lift his arms.

He tried lifting his arms, and he realized very quickly they wouldn't move. His assumption was correct.

He wished it wasn't...

Irken and Vortian technology was too advanced he decided... he really should be dead already.

Natural selection hadn't been a reality on Vort for a long time. This kind of medical advancement pretty much got rid of it several hundred years ago. That's the only reason he was alive despite having no survival skills...

"Thank the Control Brains you're awake," the Tallest spoke, looking down at him with what he guessed was a concerned expression.

The Irken leader's voice sounded concerned anyway... now he just needed his vision to clear a bit.

Hold on... why would the Tallest be concerned? Didn't the Irk's leader impale him not long ago...?

The Tallest seemed to recognize his confused expression because the Irken gestured to himself and said: "I'm Bann, remember?"

Laes wanted to say something about that, but he couldn't. Whatever was in his throat wouldn't let him speak.

He probably would have just commented on how creepy it was anyway... that's what he was thinking at the moment. Through the pain. Cripes.

"You were very close to dying Laes..." The Tall... Bann spoke running a hand over his antennae, flattening them. "I thought..." he offered a smile. "But you're ok now. Well, obviously you're still recovering, but you're not going to die. You'll have a pretty good scar though."

Laes moaned a little and closed his eyes. He wasn't really in the mood to talk right now, and he was trying to let Bann know this.

"But seriously Laes..." the Tall... Bann's eyes narrowed at him and he crossed his arms.

"What were you thinking...? The Tallest is the head of the reorganized version of the original program. Our leader's existence was meant to replace the Invaders... you staying to talk to him was pretty much a direct challenge to his authority. You should've run the moment he said you had Invader DNA. You know that right?"

Now that I have a gaping hole in my body, yeah, I know I should've run away...he wanted to say but couldn't. Instead he thought it very loudly, hoping Bann would somehow... just know?

Ok that maybe that was a silly thought, but he was in too much pain to care.

Whatever medications he was on right now must be messing with his thinking.

"It's hard to believe you and your people have Invader DNA..." Bann shook his head and brought a hand to his cheek. "I didn't read everything I came across, but to think I missed such important information..." he sighed and moved closer to the bed.

The Irken carefully touched Laes' bad arm near the wrist where his hand was severed.

"It doesn't bother me that my programming was altered by you. My life has always been a bunch of codes and formalities... but because of you I was given the option to choose which program to follow. For the first, and last, time in my life I was able to know what it felt like to have a choice and to make my own decision. Most Irkens will never get to experience that feeling."

After Bann said this, the Irken's voice began fading and his words sounded muffled and slurred together.

Laes couldn't focus anymore.

Laes wasn't responding at all. His body was completely relaxed.

The Vortian had probably passed out from the pain.

Bann sighed and rubbed his temples.

Once Laes was stable enough to move, he'd take the Vortian back to Vort.

After nearly dying he expected Laes would want to be near his family and friends.

A sharp crippling ache in his head caused him to grasp it with both hands... it was getting more painful and more frequent.

He wasn't sure how much longer he could maintain control over the Tallest's body.

He was a foreign entity inside the Irken leader's PAK, and the device seemed to recognize this... it was trying to force his programming out.

If he lost control of the Tallest, then Laes would die. He needed to get the Vortian back to Vort first.

As far as he knew the Armada had succeeded in drawing the worms away. The Massive was currently separated from the rest of the fleet that was engaged in fighting the creatures.

He'd felt all of his leader's emotions, and he knew all of the Tallest's thoughts. The rage and hatred. The pain and sadness.

It was difficult to separate his own thoughts and feelings... but he knew now that the other Tallest was incapacitated and would likely never wake up.

Before landing on Vort, the Tallest had even been crying about it, but he'd forced himself to act indifferent in front of his followers.

Thinking about the Invaders was keeping the Tallest's mind preoccupied. It was giving him an escape from his own bitter reality.

Sometimes there would be a flash of anger or an image of something that would trigger a massive head ache. The Tallest was fighting to regain control. His head felt like it was going to split apart...

The only reason he'd been able to remain for so long was because he'd caught his leader completely off guard. The Tallest's defenses were down and he used that opportunity to infiltrate his PAK.

"Hgnn.." he squeezed his eyes shut, clasping his head as he waited for the wave of pain to pass.

It wouldn't be long before he lost control of this body... he needed to get Laes out of here now... but the Vortian wasn't recovered enough to move on his own... he'd have to send someone with Laes.

As long as he was pretending to be his leader no one would question his orders... but he didn't want to send just anyone to Vort. The last thing the Vortians needed was more conflict, and Irkens were usually good at starting that.

There was one guard from Vort being held in a holding cell on the Massive. He'd overheard a few of the technicians muttering about him being a Vortian sympathizer. He probably wouldn't argue about being sent to Vort then, but the guard was missing a leg, so he wasn't fully mobile.

It would be better to send someone who at least had all of their limbs still attached.

Everyone was gathered in the main lobby which was once a cafeteria. There were thousands of Vortians talking an mulling around. There had been quite a few reunions between parents and partners. It was understandable that the family groups wanted to spend some time catching up.

That's why he couldn't say anything to them...

"That's enough talking!" Darden's voice boomed over the chatter.

The Irken's antennae were flat and his arms crossed over his chest as he glared at the Vortians in front of him. The large crowd immediately quieted.

"The worms are gone, but they could return at any time. What you need right now is an impenetrable defence system. Talking can wait until after a barrier or two are in place."

"Um... so... we need a barrier...?" a female Vortian near the front of the large group asked.

"A world wide barrier," Darden corrected her. "A strong one, but it needs to be quiet as well."

The Vortians started talking again. A few of them began looking around for materials to gather, while others began describing what they should be looking for, and more were offering suggestions between different components.

The room was busy with activity.

"You should help them too," Darden suggested, glancing at Lard Nar who was watching everyone silently.

Veena was speaking to a smaller group of Vortians. They were beginning to sketch things into the floor using bits of sharp metal debris. They were probably going over the different codes that would be needed to help regulate and monitor the energy supply.

A smaller group had broken away from them, likely hoping to locate the original power supply for the prison.

Everyone had begun this project so naturally... Lard Nar looked down at his maimed hands and he curled them into fists... a couple of his fingers had been removed during his torture sessions... he was also missing an eye. If he tried to help he would likely only slow the able bodied Vortians down.

"You wanted to make one of those invisible barriers didn't you?" Darden questioned with a frown.

"You said it wouldn't be a good idea," Lard Nar reminded him.

"I believe I mentioned having one of those barriers with a weak protection barrier was a bad idea. It's fine if it's covering a strong one."

"Well... I'll bring it up with the engineers..." Lard Nar decided, and he winced when Darden's hand clamped down on his shoulder.

"You are more than capable of helping them, so why are you hesitating?" Darden didn't wait to hear an answer, instead he withdrew his hand and continued, "I hope you didn't come to this planet just to watch everyone else work. If you did, then I will regret letting you come with me."

"Didn't you come here to protect Laes?" Lard Nar retorted. The Irken wasn't doing his job at the moment, so having him talk about what he should be doing didn't sound right.

Darden's eyes narrowed at him. "Yes. And since Laes is not here and there is currently no way for me to reach him, I am offering you my assistance. If you have a problem with this then I will be content to stand here and watch everyone else work."

The Irken had been helping... not only had Darden freely offered them information about the worms and what could stop them, he'd also managed to get everyone to start working on the project relatively quickly. Whatever anger he was feeling towards the soldier was because he was Irken, not because of anything he was or wasn't doing.

"Sorry..." Lard Nar mumbled, rubbing his arm as he lowered his gaze. "You're right..."

"I usually am," Darden responded dismissively. "Now if you need my assistance for anything, you can ask as long as you keep in mind I'm not a programmer or an engineer."

"So... you'll do the heavy lifting...?"

The Irken's antennae flicked forward before flattening again. "Yes. That's something I can do."

Everyone automatically started working together. Even Darden was able to see what needed to be moved before anyone asked. Large chunks of workable material was gathered together after being separated from the useless debris. There was a lot of useful materials mixed in with the rubble.

Despite how they'd been treated by the Irken guards, no one seemed bothered by Darden's presence.

Lard Nar had a little more trouble getting into the flow of things. He wasn't used to working as a part of a team anymore since none of the Resisty members could help him with his projects, and his missing fingers made him a bit clumsy. He also realized pretty quickly that he couldn't catch anything that was passed to him.

Others noticed this pretty fast too, so they started walking over and handing him tools instead.

He'd lost track of Veena a long time ago, but it seemed most of the coders and programmers were gathering smaller materials right now: wires, nuts and bolts, different tools, and other things. All they needed was a power source so they could start soddering things back together.

The large group of Vortians had finished combing through the area for useful materials.

Most of it had been sorted into different piles.

A few diagrams had been drawn, discussed, and edited. Also the base of the first machine was just beginning to take shape.

There had been a lot of talk about whether or not they would build a very large barrier device or a few smaller ones, and it was decided that a few smaller ones made the most sense. That way if one of them stopped working there would still be others in place to maintain the barrier.

The first day past by quickly.

A few of the former project leaders from the different lab stations stepped in and began organizing different shifts so no one would be too worn out.

Someone even found a stash of excess prison uniforms, so those who were told to rest, used them as blankets and pillows. One of the hallways had been mostly cleared of debris, and this was where those not currently working slept.

A bit of food had been found in the guard's quarters, but unfortunately there wasn't much of it to go around. The only other alternative was the grey mush stuff they'd been forced to eat as prisoners. A lot of it had been broken open and spilled from its containment units, but oddly enough it still tasted exactly the same...

At least it would keep everyone alive probably...