"So…Professor Corr turning out to be a black ops super soldier…didn't see that one coming," Joker commented as he continued scraping the disgusting filth left behind from the last round of soldiers for midday mess.
"Even I have to admit that this is quite…shocking to say the least," Digits answered in agreement, taking the trays and utensils from Joker, rinsing them off. "It was never really explained how Praxxus 7 was taken in Operation Impending Doom II, other than the Armada was successful in overtaking it and using it as a staging ground for Vort."
"Well, the Professor and his unit opened the floodgates to make it possible from what he said," DZ added, the rinsed utensils coming his way to be placed in the giant washing machine. It was necessary for cleaning hundreds, sometimes thousands, of trays of keeping a literal army well-fed throughout the day. "I wonder who the Drone they were sent to capture was, he didn't actually say, just called her a Janitorial Drone, one that escaped from Dirt."
"First Drone I've ever heard of able to hold their own against Spec Ops soldiers, especially coming rather close to taking out that Commander Vult. So far, he sounds next to invincible." Joker continued the conversation. "What about you two? Which one of the Professor's squad mates appeals to you the most? Vult's tough, and a great leader, kinda like me. Then again, Haxx sounds a lot like myself…but I am funnier."
"In your dreams maybe," Digits scoffed with a smirk, "I like Sgt. Vard, many overlook him because of his size, even chastised for it, I mean, from what the Professor said, he was about as tall as Zim, if not shorter. Even though he lacks stature, he wields incredible power by being a knowledgeable master of Irken engineering, I mean, he reverse-engineered SIR programming to build a spy drone to keep as a friend after all."
"Sounds like your long-lost father or something then, doesn't he?" DZ jested with a friendly nudge. Digits was a bit of an overachiever in that area of expertise that would rival even that of the mentioned Shadow Striker. "As for me though…I don't really have much of a favorite or one that I relate to the most, they all seem like established, refutable soldiers that were indeed the prime examples of what the Irken Empire of old had to offer."
"You can't do that, you gotta pick someone," Joker pressed.
"Fine…if I do have to pick someone," he grumbled, lulling over his decision, "…it would have to be…either the Professor or-"
"Of course you'd pick him, you've got a major crush on him or something," Joker interrupted with a chuckle.
"Hey, Joker?"
"Yeah?" He turned to face his squad leader, only to be met with a wad of refuse from the garbage disposal hitting him directly in the face. Despite his usual collected demeanor, Digits broke out in laughter at his friend's demise of a situation.
"You wear it pretty good there," he managed through his laughter.
The usual prankster of the friends didn't seem to be laughing as he wiped the collection of food waste from his visage, preparing to slug DZ.
Before he came close or Digits able to step between them, Sergeant Gis walked up in his usual manner…not happy.
"Is there a problem here, Cadets?" He demanded, getting them all to go to rigid attention, garbage still on Joker's face.
"No, Sir, there's not a problem, just finishing up our punishment for the day, Sir!" DZ barked out.
"Then why does he have scraps from mess on his face?"
"…because he was hungry, Sir," Digits said under his breath is a stifled laugh.
"What was that, Cadet?"
"Nothing, Sir!" He straightened up at Gis' intimidating demeanor.
"I…slipped, Sir, and fell," Joker lied, knowing that any of their usual antics would probably earn them another week of mess duty, or worse…latrines. Angering their commanding officer and drill instructor wasn't wise to say the least, especially not when he wasn't already happy with them to begin with.
"…Very well, carry on, Cadets," he finally said, moving about his business. Just as Gis was about to leave, he stopped short of the door. "Also, I think you better hurry up, Professor's waiting for you."
"…How did you kn-"DZ began
"As much as you like think I am, I'm not stupid, " Gis clarified with a smirk, "just keep your traps shut about it and there's no harm, no foul. You understand what I'm getting at?"
"Yes, Sir," He answered, knowing the sensitivity of the information that Corr was sharing with them.
"Good, now run along."
After putting up with mess duty for the past several days…they didn't need to be told twice.
"…so let me get this straight," Tak gestured to Rha, her tone not matching her mood or demeanor for once. Even she could be civilized from time to time. "I understood the bit about your action on the Praxxus 7 initial invasion in Impending Doom I, a very close call to losing your eye to shrapnel, but I didn't see you being a bit of a troublemaker?"
"I wouldn't say so much as a troublemaker, but I'm very…outspoken in my own ways." He clarified with a smirk, unsure if she saw it or not. Whether it was because of actual hunger or simply to placate Rha's generosity, she had finally accepted the bowl and was eating from it over the course of Rha's informative discussion.
"Knocking other soldiers out for making fun of your name is a wee bit extreme if you ask me," Tak commented as she ladled another spoonful.
"It's a terrible name, it sounds too…feminine for a male. The cold, unfeeling robot arm attached my PAK, just like it does us all, and I happened to get stuck with such a generated name."
"Doesn't mean you are female, in fact…I like it, suits you rather well," she complimented without realizing, but it was too late to retract.
She wasn't the only one caught off guard.
"…Thank you…I think," Rha scratched his head, "how's it suit me? I'm far from it, and this doesn't help anything at all," he motioned to his battle scar that had come narrowly close to losing an eye.
"What I mean is it is…deceptive," Tak concluded, trying to find the words, "you're clearly far from a weakling, you're a Spec Ops soldier on some secret mission and a lot of other things I'm not supposed to know about, but just by your name, others will think differently. The reminder of past conflict lends a feeling of deep-seeded anger, a lust for revenge to most, to others, a sign of a mistake that nearly cost you your life. They'll underestimate you, then you strike when they least expect it…correct?"
"Hmm…I've never looked at it that way before to be honest."
"You can't change what others perceive, but only your outlook on that perception," the rogue Irken philosophized with a twirl of the spoon before putting it in her mouth. "
"You're very educated for a-, well, someone that's tasked as a Janitorial Drone." Rha returned the compliment, feeling that he was actually building a bit of a friendship, keeping her placated and under control in the process.
"There are many things you don't know about me," Tak made clear, not so much as her usual threatening manner. "…I'm sure you want me share as it is my turn after all, right?"
Rha inspected the timepiece built into his forearm guard, surprised. His shift had passed without incident, and apparently he had much to say to the Irken held against her will over the past 3 hours. He did feel a little more at ease after speaking with her though, so it could be considered a form of therapy. It was better than beating Haxx into unconsciousness since he couldn't take a punch.
"Actually…I'm going to have to postpone that, I'm sure we'll meet again though…that is if you want to share, you don't have to, of course."
"I'm aware of that, Corporal, so it would be by my free will if I wanted to…so maybe next time you're on duty, you can be a good listener."
With a smirk, a hint of embarrassment for talking so much, he nodded, awaiting for his relief.
Just as scheduled and on time, Vard came from down the corridor and into the brig, his rifle nearly dwarfing him.
"Did you have any problems out of her, Rha?" Vard politely asked as his comrade stood up, stretching.
"None at all," he commented, knowing that if he said anything about the knife incident, she'd probably end up back in restrains inside her cell. "Just show a little respect and you'll get it in return."
"Why do you think I avoid listening to Haxx on anything then?" Vard replied to his friend, getting a light pat on the head from the taller of the two with a humorous smirk. "See you in a few hours."
Rha simply gave a wave of the hand as he walked down the corridor, only he knowledgeable of his destination. It would more than likely be to his quarters a few levels above.
Silence quickly engulfed the room as Vard sat there, much smaller than any of his comrades, his feet dangling over the edge of the chair as opposed to touching the deck. Tak was quick to notice how rigid he was, very nervous at that. She couldn't see his eyes through his goggles, but the color seemed to be drained from his face, very hesitant to even glance over at her in her cell. After getting a decent meal and some rest, she was feeling rather spry and in the mood for a little…fun.
"So…what's your name?" Tak abruptly questioned as she stood up from the cell floor, walking to the bars that separated them.
"V-V-Vard, Ma'am," he stuttered, recognizing her height instinctively as opposed to how they did things in the Shadow Strikers.
"Vard, eh? What do you do in your unit?"
"I-I-I'm the Technical and Communications Office-please don't hurt me, I was only following orders!" He finally broke, shying away from her figure standing at the bars leaning against them.
"What the devil are you talking about?" Tak questioned, perplexed, "I'm just trying to make conversation," she finally understood what he was getting at, narrowing her stare hard at him, "…what did you do to me?"
"…I-I-I r-removed all of your Invader-class equipment modules from your PAK," he attempted to stay strong, but his feeble demeanor was proving otherwise. "Captain Corr doesn't want you escaping, he didn't want to risk…anything."
He saw that she was know noticing the absence of her attached PAK legs. Come to think of it, it did feel a lot lighter than usual.
"You took out…everything?!" She unbelievably questioned, angered, "It took me forever to find those components! I had to dig through garbage to find every last screw, bolt, and connector!"
"I h-had my orders, I-I'm sorry," Vard responded, seeing he had indeed angered the dangerous and much larger Irken. It didn't matter that high-strength prison bars separated them, he looked at it as if it was the only thing between him and her.
Tak angrily paced back and forth a couple times before slamming a fist against the bars, rattling them, and startling Vard.
"I better get my kit back, it would be in your best interest," she threatened maliciously, staring daggers through the bars at the smaller Irken. If she wasn't so sure she'd get a swift retaliation or it, she'd reach through and grab him by his scrawny throat. "Otherwise things might happen…terrible, terrible things."
"I'll see to it that you get it all back once you're returned to Dirt, Ma'am," Vard made clear, his voice void of the shakiness that plagued it earlier. He was still clearly frightened, but he had quick resolve. The small Irken before her now looked like a battle-hardened soldier. Small or not, she wasn't going to underestimate his size.
"You seem like someone who prides themselves on honor," she finally sighed, attempting to just relax and let it go, "…so I'll take your word for it. If you lie to me, I'll make you, your friends, and this ship my next target of interest after I take care of…unfinished business."
Vard simply swallowed as he thought of the notion. Sure, if all of them had subdued her, it would have been without incident, but she still managed to take on 4 of them and nearly kill the Commander in one fail swoop.
"What's the matter with you?" Tak finally garnered his attention after a moment of silence, "even with that Corporal friend of yours, he'd be threatening or hitting me by now for what I've been doing to you…you scared of me or something?"
"Quite frankly…yes," Vard informed with a huff, avoiding confrontation, "you are skilled and were underestimated from what I could tell…but I've always felt…uncomfortable around…taller Irken."
"I do have to admit…you are a bit on the short side," Tak observed, noticing a drop in his spirits from simply citing it, "but…you're with this unit and all, so that means something, right?"
"…I guess so, I still don't feel like I belong here to be honest, "Vard began, abruptly looking up at her, "look, I don't want to bore you into a horrible death with my life story, nothing too pretty there anyway." He trailed off.
She seated herself against the bars, her back to him, looking over her shoulder.
"As I said to your friend, I have nowhere else to go. I may not want to be here…but I am courteous. If you wish to talk…I'll listen. From what I can tell…it sounds like it couldn't hurt, you have a bit of a self-esteem issue that is in dire need of resolution."
As Vard prepared to speak with Tak about whatever seemed to come to mind, but the topic of interest seemed to be his prior assignment, Aero was searching frantically, high and low for Sula. She finally slid to a halt into the medical ward of the vessel, finding the Medical Officer in question watching over Commander Vult, checking his readings as he recovered. Aero instantly noticed he was starting to look normal again as the color returned to his face and he seemed to be at peace as he rested.
Sula looked up with a perplexed look at the taller Irken's intrusion.
"What are you doing, Aero, why are you acting so…strangely?"
"I've been looking all over for you," she exasperatedly commented, heaving for breath from running place-to-place throughout the ship.
"Well, you found me," Sula dryly answered, setting a datapad down on the table next to Vult's bed. Aero latched onto her arm, pulling her to the other side of the room, pulling the curtain in the process as she did so for privacy. "Aero, what is the matter with you?" the Medical Officer managed being forcefully drug along, finally breaking free. "What is the meaning of this?"
Without hesitation, Aero unlatched her belt and dropped her pants down around her ankles, clearly catching Sula off guard. She simply stood there wide-eyed as Aero was naked from the waist down in front of her.
"What is going on down here!?" She frantically questioned, pointing to the area in question, more frightened than anything. "It wasn't there yesterday, I woke up today, and there it is!"
"…calm down, I'll examine you if that's what you're after," Sula finally broke from her awestruck state, taking out a device, plugging it into Aero's PAK, and began scanning it as she visibly inspected. "You had any…strange symptoms lately?"
"Well…first thing I did was vomit, really bad cramping in my spooch," she recalled, not too concerned that her nether regions were exposed as she stood there, pondering. Then again, Sula was female as well, so it wouldn't have made all that much of a difference. Even if their Medical Officer was male, the controlled blocking of hormones prevented maturing from ever happening.
In actuality, each and every one of them, all that belonged to the Irken race were children still, and would forever remain so.
"Uh-Huh…anything else?" Sula beckoned as she studied the readings on the PAK.
"Strange….feelings, I don't know what they are, I've never had them before."
"Can you describe them?"
"I don't know what they are! Just…feelings. I can't think straight, my body aches…I'm a mess." Aero informed in a frantic tone, pulling on her antenna in frustration. "I was fine up until we returned from capturing the Drone, then I started feeling…sickly. I thought it was just a concussion or something, but it just kept getting worse, and now my body's mutated today!"
"…It's not mutated, Aero, calm down," Sula concluded, more surprised than anything, "but I may know what's going on with you."
"What, tell me!" She demanded, shaking her by the shoulders vigorously. Sula simply broke her hold of her and stepped back from the larger female Irken who was yet to replace her pants around her waist.
"This is very rare, but it seems the hormonal controller of the PAK was damaged, did you hit anything with it down there?"
"I got knocked backwards into the side of her ship pretty hard by that weird SIR unit, I think I did hit it PAK first though," Aero attempted to remember, pondering. "I felt fine for a while, it didn't start happening until after mess yesterday."
"Aero…please put your pants back on," Sula requested, getting her to secure them once more.
"Is it an infection? A virus? A parasite? Am I going to die?"
"No, you're not going to die, be quiet for a moment and I'll tell you," she requested once more, annoyed.
It was killing her to simply wait for an explanation, the anticipation doing the job rather well as her eye twitched wildly.
"I'm going to be straightforward here, Aero….you're going through puberty."
"Eh?" She questioned with a confused look, tongue hanging out of her mouth, "Pooo-bear-ty? What's that?"
"Puberty, your hormone levels aren't controlled by the PAK anymore because the module was damaged, so you're naturally maturing into an adult. In the technical standpoint, we're all still adolescents of our race because of that. It's to stop individuals from…mating, the whole population control fetish the Armada has. The reason your feeling so sick and…icky is because of all the years it was absent, it built up, and hit you all at once."
"Can you stop it? I feel…weird, and I don't like it."
"I'm sure it could be fixed, but by the time I get the module necessary to clamp hormonal release down again, they'll already run their course…I'd probably do more harm than good at that point to stop it."
"W-will it go away though? The vomiting, cramps, spasms?" Aero continued, visibly shaken at what her body was going through, especially since she knew absolutely nothing of it.
"In time, yes, could be a few days before your body balances it all out and continues at a regular pace…could be weeks, it all depends. Look, I know you're frightened, but in actuality, this is a natural part of life, we all would eventually go through it if the Empire didn't restrict it."
"A-am I a defective now?" Aero's large, vibrant eyes requested of Sula, fear clearly in them. "Will I be deactivated for this?"
"No, far from it," the Medial Officer made sure, wanting to help her friend in any way she could. "In fact, I can only see you becoming stronger in all aspects after all of the symptoms pass, both physically and mentally. It is the natural way that our people and most other species of the universe are able to grow to adapt and survive their environments."
"This…puberty thing, will it change me, change who I am?" Aero pressed, Sula resting a hand on her shoulder to garner her attention once more.
"You may see things, personal matters mainly, differently than you usually do, but in general, no, there will be no drastic changes." She informed, Aero nodding in agreement, "This isn't anything to be ashamed or embarrassed by, Aero, and if you need anything or just need to talk about it, I'm here for you, just like a friend should be. Just because we're squadmates doesn't mean I can't be, right?"
"I guess so," she huffed in a laugh, "but thanks, that means a lot to me. Since you are the resident expert on medical…stuff, you'll be the first one I come to if I'm having a crisis with this…puberty thing."
"I'll try to keep my schedule open," Sula joked light-heartily as she left the medical ward, the airlock closing behind her.
"Sounds like I missed out on quite a bit," a weak, recognizable voice commented, startling her. She turned to find Commander Vult awake, a weak smile on his face.
"Commander!" She excitedly responded, rushing to his side, "how are you feeling, better? Is everything coming along fine in your recovery, any pain or discomfort I need to know about?"
"I'm fine, Sula," Vult weakly laughed, holding his chest where a hole hand been punctured through hours before, still tender as it healed. "A little banged up, but no worse for wear. No need for all of you to worry yourselves to death over me, I trained you well, you don't need me to stay combat-effective."
"With all due respect, Commander, the point is moot to tell us not to worry about you," Sula answered in a light tone. "Things wouldn't be the same around here without you, anyway, and I wouldn't have it any other way, Sir."
"Good to see that all of you haven't written me off yet then," he commented jokingly, looking at the remnants of his right arm in depressed disgust, "…but I'm afraid that my time in command has come to an end, there is no way I can be effective like this, even if I made a full recovery from this," he motioned to the medical apparatus that was reconstructing his tissue about his chest.
"Well…there is one thing, Commander, I wasn't supposed to say anything yet, but you are conscious, and I told the others that I wouldn't do anything you didn't wish for, but Vard said that he can construct a full cybernetic replacement, fully functional, and very resilient. With his help, I can attach it to the existing nerve endings and tissue present, and it will be a part of you to replace what is lost…that is, if you want that. I'm not going to force you to undergo this procedure if you don't wish to."
"Well…I trust the two of you, you on the medical aspect and him with the technology, but I'm open to the idea. I don't want to relinquish command because of my own physical shortcomings due to a grievous mistake I made. I am glad that this happened to me and not one of you. Haxx and Aero are alright, aren't they, Medical Officer?"
"They had a few minor injuries, but they have been treated and are just fine." Sula semi-lied, not sure if Vult was aware of Aero's issue with the rapid influx of hormones and her changing physiology. "As for you though, Sir, it may be a few more days before you're back up and on your feet, it was a pretty close call, I…I wasn't sure throughout the emergency operation if I was going to be able to save you."
"You, the absolute expert and best Medical Officer in the entire Empire by my standards, didn't give up on me though, did you?"
"No, Sir, I didn't."
"That's all that matters," He assured without force in his voice, "even if I did keel over and die, all of you know how to do your job and what needs done, not to mention Corr would make an excellent Commander, don't you think?"
"Yes, Sir, he would, but if avoidable…we'd like to keep you in charge," she grinned, taken in by his optimistic spirit, especially after such a traumatic event.
"How's the prisoner?"
Sula was caught off guard for a moment at his request, especially how calm and void of any ill emotion whatsoever he was. It was as if nothing at all had happened.
"To the best of my knowledge, Sir…she's still in the brig, under constant watch in 3 hour shifts by all of us to make sure she doesn't attempt an escape. Captain Corr is still cautious of allowing Sgt. Haxx to be part of the rotation since he is very…animated about what happened to you."
"Sounds like Corr made the right call then," Vult answered, reaching for a glass at the side of the bed, hoping to find some refreshment in it, "as long as she isn't being mistreated, all is well. Haxx allowed what is a risk and daily thing we have to deal with in our profession to become something personal by the sounds of it.
Do I hold a grudge against the Janitorial Drone for defending herself in an attempt to flee, causing this outcome? No, I don't, in fact, she's earned my respect and peaked my interest in looking into why there was such gross negligence in the intel provided."
"So you're not upset at all by this?" Sula warily questioned, unsure if it would set him off or not.
"Upset? I'm furious, Sula," he answered in a matter-of-fact tone, yet, undirected towards her. "At the Drone, not so much, but at the Almighty Tallest, for I was told we were returning a Janitorial Drone, not someone with prior Invader training…or so she claims. If they want us to complete assignments of the caliber and secrecy they require, I need to know all the facts and information made available. This is an example of what can happen if that isn't the case. When I return with the after action report, they'll get a piece of my mind this time around."
"Commander, please settle down, Sir, I don't want your wound to re-open," Sula attempted, noticing how much he was moving about as he spoke. She couldn't blame him though, surprised even that he was still as reserved as he was in light of what had happened because of misinformation.
With an attempted sigh of relaxation, Vult leaned back in the bed. The doctor did know best, rest was the best medicine for the time being, no sense in aggravating it further.
"I'll go get Vard when he's done with his shift of watching her, Sir," Sula informed with a quick salute as she snapped to attention, "in the meantime, please rest for your own well-being. We're already on return to Dirt, and link-up with the Massive for the after action report delivery will take place right thereafter, so it would be in your best interest to be at full health before you go before the Almighty Tallest, Commander."
"Looks like I brought you aboard for more than your medical skills after all, Sula," he complimented her intelligence with a laugh.
Between Vult recovering from grievous wounds inflicted by Tak, a Janitorial Drone who has a more than questionable past, Haxx on the verge of ripping her limb from limb out of anger, and Aero having more…personal problems…things are very interesting to say the least aboard the Ghost of Irk.
Sad truth of it all was that it was just the beginning of what was to come.