(I don't own IZ)
An impromptu ceremony was quickly scheduled to be held on the Massive itself; they didn't have time to be fancy, Dib shaved carefully around his lekku so they were no longer hidden by hair, he had to show off his were-Irkenness for both the Irken Empire and Earth as well, one thing that was decided early on that he would not hide his were-Irkeness all of Earth knew about it needless to say it caused a media sensation he was just glad that he wasn't the only one subjected to it WolfWings had her entire story told to the media, not by her though she was still to much of a loner to like all the attention and having her secrets reviled. She knew it was necessary and reluctantly agreed to it.
Thankfully both WolfWings and himself were to busy with the war efforts to talk to the media often. Kim had recovered enough to be at the ceremony, it was even rumored that she had managed to fly a few sorties before the Irkens arrived. Zim however reveled in the media attention, even if they didn't find him quite as sensational as the boy who turned himself were-Irken in order to secure a treaty, or the hundreds of years old winged werewolf who was victim of the Irkens, but was willing to forgive for the sake of the treaty. The media of course had gotten some of the facts wrong but the results were what they had hoped for, Dib could walk around with his lekku showing without everyone making too much of a fuss aside from "there he is! That's Dib" Zim had teased him that his head would get even bigger with all the praise. WolfWings was easily brought into the medical area after her crash without screams of terror but gasps of horror of what happened to her.
Both of them could show up at the ceremony without hiding who they were. Dad had called it the celebrity effect, because they were celebrities they could get away with almost anything, there were still people who hated them for what they had become, but they were usually shouted down by their supporters. Dib straightened his blue pilots' uniform, it wasn't much different from a regular trooper uniform aside from some rank decorations, the Earth blue jacket looked quite good, he sighed it was time to go.
Kim fidgeted she would much prefer to use her modified Duster it was much more comfortable, the modified pilots uniform felt too stiff, her wings no longer in a splint came out of the back of the jacket the holes made for them felt too small, and the tail felt exposed. She was used to having the duster cover it up. The duster she had made for herself had a mini cape that came down over the wing holes so it didn't show in human form, the rest of the long black jacket covered the rest of her clothing's modifications without it she was stuck in werewolf form for the entire ceremony, because if she shifted to human there would be embarrassing holes in the back of her jacket and worse yet her pants. Sighing in resignation she wondered if she looked silly, a werewolf in uniform. Dib poked his head in "You look dignified, here" he tossed her a bundle "Last minute addition to the uniform I think you'll like it" she opened the box and shook out the blue fabric, It was a long blue jacket roughly based on her old duster." it's a officers dress coat all the original Earth Defenders are getting one, yours of course is specially modified. She swung it on, buttoned up the back and inspected herself in the mirror. "I can't tell you how much this makes me feel better, the holes on the pilot's uniform are still too small but with this I can put up with it. Come on we are going to be late"
They arrived in the hanger to find the rest of the Earth defenders already waiting; there were only nine of them now, they had lost a few in the battle. Everyone had their new dress coat ether on, or swung over a shoulder Kim had to admit it looked snazzy, everyone's had the brass buttons on the back but theirs were merely decoration.
They were to fly their Eagles in a v formation to the Massive, Dib in the lead Zim and herself right behind him, the others drew lots for positions, Kim got into her Eagle and tried to get comfortable which was hard to do with wings and a tail, she usually preferred flying in human form. Shifting between wolf and human takes a few seconds but cameras would be on them the whole time so she was stuck in wolf form until after she was presented to the tallest, then she could slip away and enjoy the rest of the festivities as just another Earth Defender.
Everyone was settled into their Eagles Dib called out on the communication "Ok everyone lets go make history" he lifted his own Eagle out from the hanger eight other Eagles followed closely behind, another small unit of pilots who had distinguished themselves in battle joined them, camera bots were on them immediately following them all the way to the Massive, which in truth was enormous they felt dwarfed when flying up to it's hanger bay the cameras left them at that point the massive itself will do the rest of the broadcasting itself. They landed their Eagles in a spot cleared just for them, when every one had disembarked, a small Irken lead them to the convention hall, conversation hushed when they entered the room as the Irkens saw Earth fighters for the first time, So far all the humans the Irkens who had stayed with the fleet had met were fat politicians who had arrived earlier, For a moment the fighters and Irkens regarded each other, the average fighter stood quite a bit taller than the average Irken and what little the already skinny pilots, swollen eye ball members and silent hunters had for fat they lost during the battles and a few gained muscle as many had taken to exercise during their downtime to relive stress, compared to the politicians the fighters seemed to be another species altogether, and Irkens recognized military when they saw it, the fighters stood at parade rest but were tense waiting for something to happen with battle hardened nerves. Thankfully all that happened was the Tallest arrived with little of the fanfare they usually employed.
By Irken standards the lowest ranks were introduced first which meant the politicians went first, they however thought they were being honored by being introduced ahead of the Earth defenders, next came the fighters who had distinguished themselves in battle. Then finally the Earth Defenders, they could finally see the Tallest up close, they were both well over 7 feet tall, none of the defenders could match their height, Dib sensed Kim behind him straiten up to full height, the rest of the defenders unconsciously followed suit, none of them were short by Earth standards, Even Zim had grown quite a bit while on Earth, Dib hadn't quite matched his fathers height but he was still growing.
The tallest who looked bored through most of the proceedings had perked up for the fighters and looked genuinely interested for the defenders and as each one was introduced the took time to talk with each one, perhaps because out of all the humans they were the only ones who had been aware of the alien presence on their planet until the Dhahmons control towers were destroyed, these were Humans to recon with. Then Came Kim's turn everyone hushed waiting they knew about the bad blood between the Great Devourer/WolfWings and Irkens, no matter how the encounter turned out it would be interesting
She walked forward bowed the did something neither Zim or Dib had expected she held her ears and wings in a close approximation to the way a Irken would position his lekku to show respect for someone taller than themselves the she said in Irken and repeated in English "I the Great Devourer also known as WolfWings and my true name Kim, do hereby renounce my blood feud with the Irken empire, so long as Earth and her peoples remain a free nation within the Irken Empire, I will be a faithful subject of the Tallest."
The uproar from the Irkens was deafening the tallest took the opportunity to tell Kim a quick "Talk to us later" she bowed, showed respect again and left. That left Zim and Dib to talk to them; they approached the tallest at the same time as agreed upon before hand
."I can now see why you had a hard time conquering this planet Zim, but you have managed despite everything, to not only to bring your great adversary into the Empire but one of Irks' greatest legendary foes as well."
"Dib you conquered this planet faster than any invader in history, you did however have inside information and motivation like no other Irken before you" That came as a bit of a shock technically he wasn't truly Irken only a were-Irken yet they were treating him like a full invader
"Both of you have done well to wrest this planet from Dhahmon hands, now lets see if we can keep it from them, you both have been given quarters in the Massive, we will need you on hand to help command the war efforts, the rest of the command is also being moved from Earth platform one to here. Any questions? ""No My Tallest" "Just one my tallest" Zim not needing to ask anything was dismissed "Yes Invader Dib?" Red leaned in, Dib felt his lekku move to the respect for Taller positions, he hadn't realized that the pack had already programmed him to respond accordingly with his emotions to echo in his lekku, all that practice for nothing. "My Tallest. might I inquire about my sisters whereabouts" "Ah yes the small but scary one, her quarters are next to yours, she didn't want to attend the ceremony, she said something about being in the zone" "That's Gaz alright" "Thanks my Tallest do you need me for anything else?" "Not right away go enjoy the party"
The Tallest looked around searching for Kim, ah there she was in human form over in the live food section sampling things, many of the fighters and defenders following, once she had tasted something and had pronounced it safe for human consumption there would be a bit of a contest to see who could eat one of the squirming delectables without gagging. Most of the earth politicians turning their noses up at the brutish behavior but many of the Irkens were however quite enjoying the fighters company, One brave politician was joining in the fun and was heartily getting slapped on the back every time he managed to gulp something down, after everything in the live food was declared ether safe or unsafe the Tallest caught Kim's attention signaled with their lekku where to meet, without her wolf ears or wings she made a few hand signals to indicate that she understood. Excusing herself she found her way to the indicated room. It looked like a private conference area.
"It's time you told us everything. You have ulterior methods behind that speech you made" "Most of my speech can be taken at face value" What we want to know is why someone who vowed a undying blood feud with the entire Irken empire would suddenly drop it and swear loyalty to the Tallest" "And don't give us the Dhahmons as a excuse. We know there is something more"
"You are absolutely right you know only part of the story I told you, yes I was captive of the explorers for nearly twenty years, and I was to be an ultimate killing machine but it's not the whole truth. The humans today are nothing like the humans back then, the defenders and fighters come closest to what they should be. Back then the Explorers found a race that would make excellent troopers for the Irken Empire, smart, strong, nimble and willing to fight. Given a few enhancements they could be a valuable tool.Thats when they captured my friends and I. we were separated from each other, then we all underwent experiments. I couldn't speak about what happened to the others but I underwent genetic modification and brainwashing. I don't know why but they had a trooper training module which I was subjected to daily. By the end of the twenty year mission which explored surrounding stars I was completely convinced I was a trooper for the Empire. However Crav believed that Ryt could push me further, he ordered him to experiment with my primal instincts to make me more bloodthirsty he invented a ray to do so temporarily, it was the last mistake they ever made, I went completely berserk, afterwards when I found the discarded bodies of my friends I went insane. Even in my insanity the trooper training held, I would report regularly to Tallest Blue, it was in the second explorers base when I found a Dhahmon feasting on what I considered rightfully mine, I made my last transmission to Tallest Blue making my final treat to the empire thinking the alien was theirs, I made my blood vow. To destroy the Empire if anymore Irkens were sent. I then set out to kill the Dhahmon for killing my Irkens. I killed it but I nearly got killed myself, lying there dying my insanity finally broke. I've had hundreds of years to regret my actions, and I still remember my trooper training, I'm as much an Irken soldier as I am Human and Werewolf. I would like to see the humans returned to their former glory not the dumbed down cattle the Dhahmons have made them. Imagine Humans and Irkens together little could stand in our way" "Hmm that Were-Irken Dib has proven to be very effective. We will have to think on this"
(Ooops did my character just turn out to be evil? Yepers the path to evil is paved with good intentions; she has seen humanity ruined by the Dhahmons. The battle against the Dhahmons has woken the old trooper training out of slumber and she sees the possibilities of humanity restored under the Irken Empire.
Yes I have set the universe about 300 years in the future long enough for Valentine's chocolates to be ancient history; the Dhahmons have slowed most of humanity's progress. If they hadn't meddled perhaps the Humans might have been rivals of the Irken Empire
Oh and in my notes from last chapter I had meant ten thousand words not a thousand)