Author's notes: Ah yes... one of the Tallest is being arrested for attempted murder, and at the same time the other one has decided to "go on vacation." Talk about reliable leadership right?
I own no Zim.
Getting a New Ship
"That... is your plan?" Lard Nar stared at the Tallest who had just returned from checking up on things. Red was being subdued on one of the lower levels of the Massive, the Massive was supposedly on route to oversee the conquest of Boredia, and the invaders who had already finished their missions were still around somewhere. Everything was going well so far.
Purple had changed his armor, so it looked a bit different. It was silver instead of lavender and it had a few alien designs carved into it. The 'best part' of the outfit however was the mask. It went around his eyes like a bandit, and it was blue in colour.
Apparently these things would keep any curious bystanders, civilians, and rebels from finding out Purple's identity.
"Yeah, pretty cool huh? I was going to do more, but I wanted to make sure none of my own followers would try to stop us," Purple explained as he took off the mask and shoved it in his 'pocket.' "In my experience, this should be enough to fool anyone in the galaxy anyway."
"I can understand that..."
"Vortians are one of the rare exceptions," Purple pointed out. "Invader Larb didn't even bother trying to come up with a disguise. He knew your people would see right through it."
"We thought of him as a diplomat... that in its self was quite stupid."
Purple shrugged. "We can't be smart all the time."
"Do you know where we're going?" Lard Nar asked. He couldn't make himself meet Purple's eyes.
"Somewhere away from the Empire," the Tallest answered him easily.
Lard Nar breathed a sigh. He was sitting at the end of the bed, dressed in the clothes Grahl had brought him. They looked very similar to the ones he'd been wearing before, except Grahl's cuts were more jagged.
"Ready to go?" Purple asked. He was beginning to think he was more excited about leaving than Lard Nar was.
"Yeah..." the Vortian responded as he slid off the bed. He felt a bit dizzy, but there was no pain anywhere in his body. He couldn't even feel the small hole in his arm where the IV had been torn out.
Purple smiled as he walked out into the hall, leading the way.
"Are you sure about this...?" Lard Nar questioned, trailing behind. He clutched one of his arms nervously and glanced around the hallway, checking to see if any of Purple's followers were going to stop them.
"Don't worry about it. I've got everything planned out," Purple replied. "It'll be fun."
"Fun?" Lard Nar repeated with a scowl.
"Yup."
Even the familiar halls of the Massive made Lard Nar cringe. Everything was dead silent... and still. If it wasn't for Purple who was practically bouncing with joy and joking about actually having a plan, the hallways would have been eerie to travel through.
He kept expecting soldiers to be waiting behind one of the many doors they passed, or for the elevator platforms to be blocked off.
"Hey."
Purple drew his attention away from his surroundings as he focused on the Tallest again.
"Y-Yeah?" Lard Nar stammered.
"Just remember," Purple began suddenly looking very serious. "This time I'm on your side." He couldn't hold this expression very long. For some reason, he seemed to be rather giddy about leaving the Massive. "Let's just get out of here ok?"
"Yeah, sure," Lard Nar agreed as they came to the large doors of the docking bay.
The doors slid open revealing a large landing space and rows upon rows of empty spaces for Spittle Runners and other Irken battle ships. This was where the Armada refuelled, and where the ships were parked when they weren't in service.
Lard Nar remembered vaguely when he designed this space... but it had been what felt like decades ago, and he couldn't stop himself from gaping at the sheer size of the room.
"Not bad huh?" Purple questioned. "I think the engineers stuck to the plans for this room pretty nicely."
"Sir," and Irken approached the Tallest. He saluted and stood at attention as he spoke. "Your ship is ready for departure."
"Ah good. I'll be on vacation for a few days, spending monies and partying, and whatnot, so make sure the Massive continues to stay on course. It'll boost moral or whatever. Oh, and have all my calls redirected to Adviser Tad."
"Yes sir! But um... shouldn't you have some body guards with you?"
"I already have one," Purple replied, gesturing at Lard Nar.
"But sir... he's not even Irken."
"Are you questioning me soldier?" Purple asked, leering down at his follower.
"No sir."
Purple smirked. "Good. Then go away."
The Tallest climbed through the hatch of the Spittle Runner and sat down in one of the chairs. He turned on the computer and began typing different codes in. The power-core was activated, the flight program started up, and the route off the Massive was automatically planned.
Lard Nar sat down in the chair beside his and looked at all the different keys. He knew what most of them did, but he didn't really care... if Purple wanted to fly, he wasn't going to argue.
"We need to stop at a fueling station so I can trade the Spittle Runner in for something less conspicuous," Purple explained. The safety straps automatically came across them and locked into place. Lard Nar stiffened. His breathing quickened and he tried feebly to loosen his strap.
"Hang on, we're lifting off," Purple announced as the Spittle Runner lifted off the ground. It wobbled unsteadily for a brief moment before leveling out and shooting towards the exit.
Once they were a good distance from the Massive, Purple let up on the thrusters, and the ship began drifting at a much slower pace.
"Well, I guess that wasn't too bad considering I haven't piloted in a long time," Purple commented as he reached behind his seat and pulled out a snack bar. "Want one?" he asked, offering it to Lard Nar.
"I think I'm going to be sick..." the former captain muttered, turning away.
"Hey! This is the first time I've flown anything since I became the Tallest," Purple remarked, tearing open the wrapper. "Be nice."
Lard Nar grasped the straps keeping him trapped in his seat. His palms were sweating. "C-Can I remove this now?" he stammered.
Purple's mouth was full, but he regarded the Vortian, and unclasped his own safety belt in response.
The Vortian undid his and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Not the same," Purple said in-between bites.
"What do you mean..?" Lard Nar questioned, catching a quick glance at The Tallest.
Purple swallowed. "The safety belts and the straps used in the torture chamber aren't the same," he replied.
"I know that..." Lard Nar muttered.
"Alright. So if we hit some kind of turbulence, an exploding star, black hole, or space debris for example, the belts are going right back on."
The Vortian nodded. He knew the straps in here were for safety purposes and nothing else... he knew that, and yet he still disliked the feeling of being held back by them.
There were plenty of fueling stations within the expanding Irken Empire, but Purple passed by all of them. He kept one hand on the controls and used the other to hold all sorts of different snacks at different times, such as popcorn, chips, snack bars, donuts, a variation of an ice-cream pop, and a slushie. The Tallest was definitely prepared for a long journey.
"How did that not melt...?" Lard Nar finally asked, glancing curiously up at the Tallest.
"One of the storage compartments has a build in freezing mechanism," Purple replied before taking a large gulp of his slushie.
"You filled it with... those?"
"You should have one. They're pretty good."
"...I'm not hungry."
"This isn't meant to fill you up. It's flavored ice. If you were hungry you would be very disappointed with one of these."
"Why are you eating so much now?"
"There'll be less to bring onto the other ship this way."
Lard Nar blinked.
"And the one I'm going to trade for might not have a built in freezer, or much storage space, although I'm aiming to get one that has enough room for at least a week's worth of supplies."
"Oh.."
"Yeah, and you really should be helping me out here. I thought you'd at least be able to keep up with me considering you haven't eaten anything in days." Purple's antennae perked up and he took a quick look at the empty space drifting past them. He grinned.
"That's it; the end of Irken controlled space! Now I just need to find a fueling station."
Lard Nar looked in the same direction Purple had been. "How can you tell?"
"The ship just lost its connection with the other Irken ships. I was just looking to see if there was a difference in space," he shrugged his shoulders. "There isn't one."
A small fueling station crafted out of some kind of rock was drifting slowly nearby. The second Purple spotted it; he drove the ship forward and landed next to a rather bulky looking alien ship. It had pipes sticking out on all sides, and Purple narrowed an eye.
"Yup, I'm not that desperate..." he said as he put his mask on. "Stay here a minute. I'm going to go talk to a few people...and maybe get an idea of what I'm looking for."
"Do you know anything about non-Irken ships?" Lard Nar asked.
"Not really," Purple admitted.
Lard Nar sighed. "Then I should come with you."
"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Purple told him as he stood up from his seat.
The former captain watched him go. He was still feeling a little apprehensive about Purple leaving the Empire. Didn't the Tallest have any sense of self-preservation?
When Purple hadn't returned in a while, Lard Nar got up from his seat and slowly began making his way to the exit hatch.
"I thought I told you to stay," Purple remarked, giving the Vortian a stern look as the hatch opened and platform landed.
Lard Nar recoiled from the Tallest's harsh gaze and muttered an apology.
"No need to apologize," Purple said with a smirk. "I know you're curious, but outside of the Empire I don't have any control. Actually, I have less control than that, so I just want you to be careful ok? At least until you've regained your confidence."
"Do you think I will...?" Lard Nar asked, lowering his head and breathing a sigh. At the moment he didn't feel like he would ever be able to fully recover from what happened…
"Of course you will," Purple responded. "You're one of the most resilient non-Irkens I've met."
"Thanks..."
"Sure, now let's move into the new ship."
Purple moved most of the non-meltable food items onto the sleek looking 'Zaphire' ship. It was a great deal smaller than the spittle runner, and it only had one small laser gun, but it was fast. Its defenses were hardly worth mentioning, but what it lacked in weapons and shields, it made up for in speed and accuracy.
Unfortunately Purple had no idea how to tap into the ship's hidden potential and the owner's manual was in a language he didn't understand. The owner, a Zapharite from a faraway district, had given him a list of the basic controls.
Purple did the same for him since the Spittle Runner was a bit foreign to the alien, and then the two parted company.
Trading ships wasn't exactly uncommon, but most ships that were traded between aliens were at least somewhat similar to their own. Also, the people doing the trade generally had some kind of connection to each other. It was a little unusual for a stranger to want to trade vehicles with someone
"You have no idea how to fly this ship..." Lard Nar noted after watching the Tallest stare at the blinking and beeping controls for nearly half a cycle.
"I'm trying to remember what that guy said..." Purple admitted. "But it isn't coming to me."
"You could have just said so," Lard Nar remarked as he slid off of his seat and crouched down on the ground.
"Er... what are you doing?" Purple asked.
"I'm seeing where these wires connect..." Lard Nar told him. The Vortian was able to pry a part off underneath the control panel. Everything was very neat. All of the wires ran their separate course and none of them were tangled. "Alright... it's a pretty basic layout..."
"Have I ever told you how glad I am you're an engineer and not a window cleaner?" Purple questioned, looking quite relieved.
"Uhh... no."
Lard Nar followed the wires up, each to their specific destinations. "The energy flow is coming from this one... so the start key should be..." he hit one of the buttons, and the ship began to hum. "There... now the balancer needs to be activated." He flipped a switch, and the vessel leveled out. "Alright. This lever over here must be for the thrusters then," he gestured to one of the levers close to the Tallest's hand. "The control panel is hidden under the metal coating, here," he tapped a small red button, and a piece slid away revealing the key pad.
"Do you want to drive this one?" Purple asked, and Lard Nar froze.
"Where would I go..?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Just pick a direction and fly," Purple answered. "I'm not picky."
"Well... Ok."
More notes: I tried to make it obvious that Purple doesn't really know how to deal with Lard Nar's paranoia and negative emotions, so the Tallest opts to use humor to kind of make light of it. This may or may not also make him seem like an insensitive jerk. He's not trying to be this time. I swear. He's also excited about getting to leave the Empire too because he hasn't really taken an opportunity to do this before, probably because of Red, probably.
Thanks for dropping by. I'll update sometime.