The Dos and Don'ts
"You've been eyeing me for a while now," Bann spoke, his antennae flicking forward as he turned and scowled up at Darden who was approaching him from behind.
His grip on the paper in his hand tightened.
"It's getting kind of annoying."
"You've been keeping very close to Laes," Darden stated, glowering down at the him.
Usually Irkens did this to try and intimidate smaller, weaker, Irkens.
That was how Darden was viewing him right now... as something inferior. It was a tad annoying, but he needed to stay in character.
"I don't care what your orders are. If you harm him I won't let you live..." Darden continued.
This was a very direct warning.
Darden was only worried about his assignment.
For some reason the Irken soldier had been tasked with protecting Laes.
Bann's scowl instantly changed into a light-hearted smile.
"Oh no, I'm just a navigator. I don't do secret killing missions or stuff like that," he assured the other Irken.
Bann was speaking with another person's mouth and looking through another person's eyes... even so, he was still himself... at least for now.
He was beginning to get those familiar headaches: the ones he got when he started losing control of the Tallest's PAK.
He thought he would have an easier time keeping Filik's consciousness locked away, but the feisty navigator was beginning to fight back. His thoughts were spinning... he could remember some of the Tallest's thoughts and feelings, and he knew more about Filik's life than he ever wanted to know about anyone.
At the same time his own memories were becoming blurred and somewhat distorted.
He was still in control though, and his will was stronger than Filik's. With some concentration he could probably block out the navigator for a while longer yet.
"You haven't been told to stay here have you?" Darden asked although it sounded more like a threat.
Bann's antennae flattened when the former soldier took another step towards him. He crouched a bit and his muscles tensed. He was ready to block or dodge whatever the other Irken threw at him.
"Hang on buddy, you don't want to start a fight with me in the middle of a crowded room," Bann insisted, glancing in Laes' general direction before shifting his attention back to the former soldier.
"Someone could get hurt ya know."
Darden's antennae flicked back. He continued scowling, but he didn't move any closer.
"Besides, we both know if I left this place I'd probably get eaten before I ever saw the Massive again," Bann shrugged. "It's not worth the risk, so I plan to stay here for a while thanks."
The ex-soldier studied him for a little while longer before turning away. This was the Irken who killed him... the one who'd impaled him through the chest and caused him to die.
Darden had nearly killed Laes too, or so the Vortian said.
Even so, Bann felt no desire to harm the banished soldier. At least not right at this moment.
He attacked a trained Irken and suffered the consequences. There was no reason to seek out revenge.
"If you don't leave soon, you'll become trapped here," Darden told him.
"I know, and I'm pretty ok with that," Bann responded offering the solemn Irken a smile. "I've already been replaced. The Tallest won't care what happens to me."
"It sounds like you don't care whether you make it back or not," Darden spoke without looking in his direction. "But that's your business."
"It sure is," Bann agreed, nodding. "Well if that's all you wanted to talk about then I'm going to go find some of these."
He held up the list Laes had given him. Then he turned and began walking towards the middle of the cafeteria where the Vortians were keeping most of their supplies they managed to salvage.
Bann glanced over his list again before looking at the pile of random materials. He knew what most of this stuff was, but there were a couple items he couldn't recognize even with Laes' doodles. He would have to ask someone to identify a few of them for him.
Fortunately there were plenty of people to ask.
A scrawny bluish Vortian he asked was more than happy to stop whatever he was doing and lend a hand.
Then with both of his arms full he returned to Laes and placed a few things on the desk and the rest on the floor.
He stayed crouched beside the objects, ready to pass Laes whatever tools or materials he needed.
"Oh shoot, I forgot about the brake latch..." Laes admitted, rubbing his forehead. "Bann, could you grab me a small piece of metal," he used his fingers to show the correct length. "About this big?"
"Sure boss," Bann responded with a smirk.
"You can call me that all you want, but I'm not paying you anything," Laes retorted, and Bann chuckled.
"Come on, even the lowest Irken drone gets paid at least five monies every two years."
"If you don't like working for free, you can always return to the Empire."
"Oh ha ha. Real funny. What can a dead Irken do for the Empire?"
"I don't know. Haunt something?"
Bann smirked and shook his head.
It was nice he and Laes could joke like this again.
Finding a small piece of metal should be easy. The room was full of metal debris.
He wasn't paying attention to everything that was going on since there were thousands of Vortians all working on completing the barrier.
A large number of them had left the relative safety of the prison to set up some very tall pylons that would conduct the energy of the barrier and spread it hopefully across the entire planet.
The majority of them were still busy here though.
It was interesting watching them work.
What at first looked like chaos quickly fell into order as different engineers, technicians, and programmers all began preforming their roles. Team leaders quickly took charge of different groups, but there was no well defined single leader.
Those in charge often spoke with each other, making suggestions and throwing out ideas.
They were meeting right now near where everyone took turns sleeping.
Vort's government officials had been slaughtered along side any kind of Vortian military personnel. Vort hadn't had a Tallest or royalty anything similar to that for nearly a century. Maybe longer.
Instead they relied on a completely different kind of government... it had more than just one official, though he had to admit he really didn't know much about Vort.
Before meeting Laes he hadn't cared much about the planet or its had just been a job location, nothing else.
He kept his eyes scanning the ground as he approached the pile of random materials.
There was a lot of metal pieces, most of them were jagged and definitely the wrong size.
He crouched down and began digging a bit, glad for the gloves he was wearing.
There were plenty of Vortians around, but since he was focused on his task he didn't notice all of them. It was easy to disregard these people because none of them were acting hostile, which was kind of strange.
Despite being imprisoned and mistreated by the Empire, almost all of the Vortians here didn't appear to be bothered by the two Irkens mingling with them.
"Are you really Bann?"
A familiar voice startled him from his thoughts. He glanced over at the nearby Vortian and quickly realized it was Lard Nar.
The former leader of the Resisty appeared to be searching for something in the large pile of stuff as well.
There was no reason to lie about it now... Lard Nar heard Laes call him by name earlier.
He tried to think of a good way to respond. What would make him seem not as threatening? He decided to rub the back of his head ruefully as he answered, "yeah... it's kind of a long story."
"I see..." Lard Nar said with little emotion, and he sighed.
The Vortian had given him a chance once, and with this chance he ended up sabotaging the Resisty's ship and informing his Tallest of their coordinates. After this he beat one of their leaders to within an inch of his life and then stood by and watched as his Tallest killed the same leader and order the execution of everyone else.
Even though he hadn't listened to his Tallest's command to kill the ex-Resisty leader, Lard Nar had very little reason to trust him.
"You rescued Laes before," Lard Nar spoke without looking at him. "You died protecting him... Thank you for that..."
Lard Nar was thanking him...?
Bann stood up and turned to properly regard the ex-captain.
"Saving Laes doesn't excuse what I did to you..." Bann told him, and his antennae lowered. "I was foolish to think I could protect Laes while maintaining my place inside the Empire, and you lost a lot of people because of my reckless actions..." He paused briefly before saying, "I apologize for my lack of judgment."
Was he apologizing because he meant it or because it was the expected thing to do? Even though he was just a program with no real life of his own anymore, he still asked himself the same questions he did when he was alive.
"What you're doing right now..." Lard Nar's gaze left the pile of materials and slowly shifted to him. "Won't it slowly destroy you?"
Bann stood a bit taller, and his antennae lifted.
Lard Nar knew what was happening?
Every time he entered another Irken's PAK he not only left with some of the thoughts and feelings of the other Irken, distorting his own programming, but he also left pieces of his own coding behind. He already had memory lapses from his smeet-hood, and he couldn't remember the names of the guards he used to work with.
"Not if I'm careful," he responded, offering Lard Nar a fake smile. "I can't make up for what I've done in the past, but I don't plan on making the same mistakes twice..."
His eyes narrowed as he studied the Vortian. The circle's under Lard Nar's eyes hadn't gone away, and he was barely holding himself up.
"It looks like you're destroying yourself worse than I am." Bann pointed out. "When's the last time you slept? Have you been eating?"
Lard Nar returned to searching for something in the pile, ignoring Bann's questions.
"You haven't been sleeping or eating have you?" Bann asked, letting out a sigh.
Lard Nar was still as stubborn as ever... why didn't the Vortian ever think about his own well-being?
"You know I'm going to insist you stop working until you rest for a bit. I might be in a navigator's body, but I still have the memories of my medical training."
He was still being ignored, so he moved closer to Lard Nar and placed his gloved hand on the Vortian's shoulder.
Lard Nar cringed. Then without warning, Bann found himself dodging a pretty decent strike. He had to move to the side while stepping backwards to avoid taking a hit.
"Don't touch me..." Lard Nar warned him through clenched teeth. His hands were balled into fists. "I..." He started trembling, and his eyes widened as he looked down at his hands then back at Bann.
Lard Nar's reaction suggested he attacked without thinking. Still, Bann wasn't going to wait and see if the Vortian decided to continue his assault or not. He launched himself forward, aiming a punch. Lard Nar was able to dodge this, but Bann swung his elbow back and caught the Vortian in the side of the head.
The former leader of the Resisty landed hard on the broken floor. He curled into a protective ball, clutching his head and squeezing his eyes shut.
"If you were taking care of yourself you would have lasted longer in a fight against me," Bann commented.
"Bann! What are you doing!?" Laes yelled at him from across the room.
Darden came in-between him and Lard Nar. The ex-soldier glowered at him and deployed his PAK's appendages in a very threatening manner.
Vortians who'd been busy working stopped and began forming a very large circle around them. They were curious to know what was going on.
None of them were eager to begin a fight with the Irkens though, so they kept their distance.
"We were just talking," Bann explained as his smile returned.
He'd been a bit startled, but that hadn't been the reason he chose to retaliate. He figured the easiest way for Lard Nar to get the rest and care he needed was to knock him out.
This way he could claim that the Vortian had fainted from exhaustion.
Unfortunately he misjudged Filik's strength, so the blow hadn't been fast or hard enough to make Lard Nar lose consciousness.
There was also a chance he might have given the Vortian a concussion now that he had time to think about his actions... in that case someone would need to keep and eye on Lard Nar while he was rested.
"You attacked him," Darden grumbled as he knelt down and scooped Lard Nar off the floor. "How was that "talking?"
"He'll be fine," Bann responded, waving away Darden's words. "Just make sure he eats something and rests for a bit."
The Vortian could also use some ice, but he doubted he'd be able to find any in this wreckage.
"Oh jeez... just... Darden, go lay him down in that cot I was using," Laes told the Irken who obeyed without complaining. "And Bann... that was horrible. You really need to stop hurting people."
"I'm sorry," Bann apologized, dipping his head in an attempt to feign remorse. "I'll try not to do it again."
"We're talking about this later," Laes insisted. He rubbed his temples. "Seriously Bann... I don't understand you..."
"Yeah... I don't always understand myself either."
"This isn't the right time to joke around."
He wasn't joking, but he decided it would be better to apologize right now regardless.
"Sorry."
Laes was angry with him. He should have seen this coming... what was he thinking?
Author's Notes: If you want to be friends with someone, I hear beating up their other friends isn't a good way to go about it. Of course I've never tried it myself so I can't say for certain, but my sources are usually pretty reliable on these social matters.