Behind the Resistance

777

Lard Nar woke up eagerly the next morning. It was early (nothing new for him), and he was ready to leave the planet in search of new recruits.

For now, he put on something comfortable: a dark-blue shirt that was a bit too long for him and grey sweatpants that fit comfortably on his waist. Lard Nar was always keen on looking professional on the ship, but everyone wore more casual attire throughout the morning as they tried their best to down caffeine and wake up. This day was no different.

Lard Nar slipped out of his quarters and sluggishly walked down the hallways over to the mess hall. There were already some people there, eating various treats and drinking coffee and other beverages. He was going to simply grab a tray and eat something before heading towards the Bridge, but then he noticed Spleenk sitting at one of the tables. He seemed to hang his head more than usual and he looked a bit ill, if not extremely tired. Lard Nar blinked and headed in his direction. He stopped right in front of him and asked, "Is this seat taken?" He referred to the seat across from Spleenk.

Spleenk quickly looked up at Lard Nar, almost shocked that there were other people in the mess hall other than him. "O-oh. No, Lard Nar. It's not taken."

Lard Nar sat down and placed his hands onto the table. "So how was your first night on the Resisty ship? You look, um… excellent."

Spleenk would've chuckled if he had the energy for it. "It was okay. I like my quarters, but I couldn't sleep at all last night. My body was just… awake and I had to pace around my room in order to calm it down." He stared down at his food, almost looking as if he would plop right into it if he were pushed even slightly. "I think it was because of my drink last night. It did taste a little funny."

Lard Nar blinked. Shloonk was the one who prepared all of the drinks and he was wondering if he did anything to Spleenk's. It wouldn't have been the first time. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that. Perhaps you can return to your quarters and get some more rest. We aren't doing anything entirely exciting today as far as I'm concerned." He cleared his throat. "Though… considering what we've been doing, we can't really describe anything as… exciting."

Spleenk shook his head before eventually grabbing a fork and digging into some of the slop on his plate. It was very clear that Spleenk's diet was entirely different than Lard Nar's, because Lard Nar wouldn't go anywhere near it. Though, Spleenk seemed perfectly delighted by it… even if it took him almost an entire minute to just get the fork of food into his mouth since he was so tired. He finished chewing and said, "No, I can survive a couple of days without sleep. I just need something to give me some energy before going forward with my day."

"Well, you should try Ixane's coffee," Lard Nar said. "The caffeine in that stuff is so potent, you'll have enough drive to last you several days." He wasn't entirely serious, but Ixane's coffee was given the name 'Crazy Coffee' for a reason.

"I'll be sure to try it," Spleenk said.

"Yes, but be sure to try it in small doses," someone said. They both looked to their right to see Ixane join them at their table. "I've seen people drink it all in one sitting and… they weren't themselves for the rest of the day."

Lard Nar blinked. "What do you put in that coffee?"

"It's a secret," said Ixane. "If you all knew, then you would all try to make it and then everyone would be perky in the morning. I don't want that." She cleared her throat. "Besides… I think that my recipe can be possibly weaponized, and it could even be a bit flammable and explosive."

Spleenk simply blinked as he took another bite of his food. "Um… I'm good, thank you."

Lard Nar chuckled. "Okay, well… while I have all of you here, we're taking the ship over to Stradus, where we'll see if we can convince the Stratos people to join the Resisty."

Stradus was a lesser-known planet that had populations less than a quarter to that of Vort. Though, that meant that there was more of a collective sense, and each collective had a specific intelligence. Each of them met in a group and provided a pool of resources and information. Even though they were a lesser-known planet, they were still held as one of the top ten most resourcefully-successful planets in the galaxy.

"Why Stratus?" Ixane as she took a sip of her coffee.

"We received word that the irkens have them as a target. The invader has already slipped up once and accidentally revealed themselves to some of the locals," Lard Nar explained. "I don't know how much of this true, but we could at least try to get them onboard. Their intelligence and collective minds could be very useful."

"I'm not sure that they'll be very willing since they like to stay with their collectives," Ixane said. "But if it's true that an invader has revealed themselves, then you may find some Stratos who pride in bringing protection to their planet."

"And that's what I'm going to hope for," Lard Nar said. "I even have a couple of speeches prep-."

"Hey guys!" Shloonk exclaimed, floating towards the group.

Lard looked up, a bit irritated that Shloonk. He noticed that the floating was looking at Spleenk. "Good morning, Shloonk. Care to stick around? I'm briefing everyone on our visit to Stradus."

"Yeah, in a second," Shloonk said as he looked at Spleenk. "So, Spleenk. How are you doing this morning? How did you sleep?" Shloonk was a bit of a prankster and liked to make sure that at least a little of his dirty work had some kind of effect.

Spleenk looked up at Shloonk, and his face was a bit dead. Spleenk had some food caught onto the edge of his lips. "Fine," he said softly before looking down at his food again.

"Leave him alone, Shloonk," Lard Nar said, "and if you slip something into his drink again, I'm going to throw you out of the ship on Foodcourtia and pick you up in a few weeks. We don't need this kind of treatment."

"He did what to my drink?" Spleenk asked.

"Nothing!" Shloonk exclaimed. He turned back to Lard Nar and said, "Anyways, Lard Nar. Encephalo wanted to tell you something up at the Bridge. Apparently he discovered something last night and he wants your orders on something."

Lard Nar blinked as he thought about what Shloonk just said. "Oh, well… okay." He looked at Spleenk, then at Ixane. "Ixane, give Spleenk some of your coffee, please? He's starting to look like a zombie, and I don't really allow the undead to roam around the ship."

"You got it, Lard Nar. Alright, Spleenk, get ready to be awake. Shouldn't take too long." She exited the table with Lard Nar, getting up to prepare her special 'Crazy Coffee'.

Lard Nar walked down to the Bridge and entered from the back. He walked to the front of the ship and examined everything. There were a few others that were in there, but most people were either still sleeping or eating in the Mess Hall.

Lard Nar noticed Encephalo at one of the long-distance navigations panel. He was a creature that didn't have a head, simply a floating brain that was, in some way, attached to gold, green, and blue armor. "Encephalo, you said you found something? Please tell me that this is good news."

"That is subjective," Encephalo said in a low and robotic voice. "I have been keeping up with the extreme high-maintenance prison on Vort and I discovered a breech in one of the corridors."

"That sounds like good news to me," Lard Nar said. "Does that mean there are people in the prison escaping?" He looked at the panel and saw the breach in the corridor. It was large, but it was only one side of the prison.

"Yes, a few of them have already escaped," Encepahlo replied. "I do not recognize very many of them, but I assumed that you might know some, so I managed to grab a few pictures. Here is Prisoner 643." He presented a picture of a pink Vortian.

Lard Nar shook his head. "No."

"Okay," he said. "Well, here are Prisoners 648, 702, and 777."

Lard Nar didn't recognize the first prisoner either, even if he was also another grey Vortian just like him. He also didn't recognize Prisoner 702, especially since they were some kind of crystalline species. Though… 777 looked somewhat familiar. "Him… oh, wow. It's been so long since I've seen him."

Lard Nar turned to his left, and then his right until he saw another crewmember wandering around the Bridge. He waved for the gentleman, a friendly Frypson from planet Fry, to come closer. "Can you bring over Spleenk, Shloonk, and Ixane? They should be in the Mess Hall."

"Yes, Captain," he said with a dignified tone before walking quickly out of the Bridge.

"Ixane, can you please keep Spleenk still?" Lard Nar asked.

"I'm sorry, but he drank a bit too much coffee, and it's going to take some time for it to settle," Ixane said as she tried to calm down Spleenk who was shaking a bit wildly and had an urge to move around. She didn't have much luck since she was so much shorter than he was.

"I-It's okay, Lard Nar," Spleenk said with a big smile on his face. It was clear that he was once again awake. "I'm f-fine, really. I feel a lot better now, actually. You w-weren't kidding about this stuff. It's GREAT!"

Lard Nar couldn't help but chuckle. It was the first time that he had seen Spleenk so active, and it was amusing.

Lard Nar immediately tried to get himself into a more serious mood as he pointed up at the screen. Prisoner 777's face was still on it. "Spleenk, do you remember him?"

Spleenk looked up at the screen, his shakes visibly starting to go away as he focused more. "Isn't that Wally, one of the engineers in the neighboring factions? Yeah, I remember him. He was nice."

"I agree," Lard Nar said, "and his engineering skills hold up. He was actually one of the engineers for the Massive alongside me. And thanks to Encephalo's attentiveness on the Vortian prison, we might have a chance to save him, along with several other Vortians."

"Wow, that sounds great," Spleenk said, brightly.

"Yes, that does sound great," Ixane said, "but don't you think that that can be potentially dangerous, Lard Nar? Vort is one of the heavily-guarded planets in the universe, and it'll no easy task to get a bunch of Vortians to board the ship."

"We're going to have to be as cloaked as possible, but I believe that we can manage it," Lard Nar said. "I've already have a plan in mind for the four of us and a few others."

Lard Nar brought everyone closer. "Encephalo will run most of the ship's core systems. I trust you with the ship while we're on the mission," Lard Nar said, turning to him. He then turned to Shloonk and Spleenk. "Shloonk, I know you're good at hacking systems. We're going to need as few visuals on us as possible, so I need you to disable as many cameras or visual systems as you can. Spleenk can go and assist you."

He turned to Ixane and said, "Ixane, I need to round up a small team of your own. You're going to be the stealth team in order to free as many prisoners as possible without getting caught. But I'm telling you now, if you do get caught at any time, I DEMAND that you abort the mission and return to the ship in the most discreet fashion. We want to gain people, not lose any."

"Yes, Lard Nar," Ixane said, nodding her head. "What are you going to do? Are you bringing anyone?"

"I'm going to remain by the shuttles and ensure that everyone is safely on-board," Lard Nar said. "I'll be in the line-of-fire, so hopefully I'll direct the attention away from you, Ixane."

"That seems a little dangerous," Spleenk said, a concerned look on his face.

Lard Nar nodded. "Yeah, it is a little dangerous, but… I feel obligated to save everyone in that prison. I was fortunate to be able to escape so early, and there are so many in there that should be free, too." He looked away. "And this is the best chance that we have to get some recruits on this ship. Many people will escape today, and I'll get a lot of them to join the Resisty. I'll return anyone who isn't interested back to a safe planet, but… I'm hoping to get as many people as possible."

"Okay," Spleenk said in a soft voice.

Lard Nar looked at the four of them and asked, "So are we clear on the plan?"

"Yes," they all said at different times and tones.

"Then let's go to Vort," Lard Nar said. "We have a lot of work to do."

Encephalo brought the ship over to Vort, taking only a couple of hours until the planet was finally in view. They had a full layer of cloaking devices around it and they were absolutely certain that they were not visible to the irkens. Lard Nar was fortunate to have worked with the irkens in the past. He got to learn how all of the technology worked and how to work around it. He knew how to sneak by without the irkens knowing that they were even there.

"There's a lot of energy coming from the breech in the prison," Encepahlo said, putting it on screen. "There are a lot of people still running around. The prisoners and several irken soldiers. You're going to have to be more careful."

"Then we need to act quickly," Lard Nar said. "We came here at an optimal time and now we just need to stir up a bit more activity so that none of those prisoners get killed." He grabbed himself a laser gun and wrapped the holster around his shoulder. "Everyone to the shuttle bay. Quickly."

The crewmembers on the ship began to scurry, all moving in a towards the various shuttle bays.

Lard Nar yelled ahead. "Remember that this mission is about stealth and staying as safe as possible. If you are in danger, do yourself a favor and ask Encephalo to beam you up. We want as little injuries as possible."

Everyone listened to Lard Nar's words echo through the corridors as they disappeared around sharp corners. Lard Nar smiled, enjoying this part of being a captain. He actually felt like he had some kind of control over the situation. He turned and entered a door into Shuttle Bay #1 where his own personal ship was docked. He and 777 had built it together. Now he finally had the opportunity to save him with it.

Lard Nar stepped into the ship and turned it on, almost immediately floating out of the chamber and out into space. Several other ships flew behind him, though they immediately put on cloaking devices so that they couldn't be detected before they landed. Lard Nar didn't have the numbers to fight against the irkens, so being sneaky was the best way possible.

Lard Nar went through the atmosphere of Vort and eventually touched down. Things were in complete chaos. There were irkens running around with weapons in their hands. They were shooting at several different species in dark prison outfits, though thankfully most of the prisoners had a decent sense of agility to avoid the shots. However… some of them weren't so lucky and fell to the ground… dead.

As much as Lard Nar wanted to go and save them, he had to wait in his ship until he was given the signal. The signal meant that the cameras were down and there would be no detection other than the irkens that spotted him.

Thankfully, he did not have to wait very long. A minute after he landed, he got a beeping sound on his console. People were now able to escape. "Oh, Shloonk, I knew I could count on you to do this quickly," Lard Nar said softly to himself. He grabbed his weapon and quickly stepped out of his ship. He aimed the weapon in front of him and managed to shoot one of the irkens pursuing the many prisoners. A couple of them faced Lard Nar as soon as the irken soldier fell. "Everyone to my ship! I can bring you to sanctuary."

They didn't even think twice before running towards Lard Nar and stepping onto his ship. They hardly knew who he was, but he was a free Vortian and he had a weapon that could protect them. He was now their savior.

As they piled onto the ship, Lard Nar made a few well-placed shots, downing a few more irkens that were trying to follow the former prisoners. He walked forward, yelling more for people to join him on his ship. There were a few shots for him and he was thankful that they were made in poor aim. Lard Nar took a few shots, bringing down some of the pursuing irkens.

As the mission started, Spleenk and Shloonk went to the control room on the Resisty ship, attempting to hack into the irken security system. Lard Nar had shown Shloonk a lot about the irken's codes and security systems, so it was clear that he would be an expert on it. Spleenk also knew a thing or two, but he only knew the basics. He felt a bit useless as Shloonk did all of the work.

In a very short time, Shloonk managed to break through the irken's wall of codes and hacked into the security system before shutting it down. He disconnected himself from the console and said, "Well, that was easy. Great job, Spleenk!"

Spleenk put his hand behind his head, chuckling a bit. He didn't do anything. "Heh, thank you."

Shloonk floated over to the window on the far side of the room. Because of the angle of the ship, they had a decent view of Vort. Spleenk joined him and said, "You're very good with security systems."

"Thanks!" Shloonk exclaimed with a joyous tone. "I learned a lot from my species, but Lard Nar taught me a lot of cool stuff about irken technology, too."

"Yeah, Lard Nar taught me a lot of stuff while we were on that Vort faction," Spleenk explained.

Shloonk turned to Spleenk. "Yeah, that's what he told me last night. We talked a lot about you after you left for your room and went to bed."

Spleenk blinked. He seemed a bit confused. "Lard Nar talked a lot about me? Well… we are just friends."

"Yep… just friends," Shloonk said with a slurred tone before winking at Spleenk. It was mostly passed off as a joke, but Shloonk wondered how Spleenk would react.

"Why do you say it like that?" Spleenk asked.

"Oh, maybe you'll find out one day. If Lard Nar ever gets the courage to tell you." Shloonk's smile became a bit more devious.

"What does that mean?" Spleenk asked, even more confused. More questions and no answers.

"Don't worry about it," Shloonk said.

Spleenk sighed. He had only been on the ship for one day, and he was already extremely confused what was going on. He and Lard Nar were… just friends. Perhaps? "Fine… let's just hope that they all make it back safely."

"Lard Nar's not stupid. He'll make it back," Shloonk said.

Spleenk looked over at Shloonk with a strange look. That was the most serious thing that he had heard him say. Shloonktapooxis gave off a silly prankster vibe, though Spleenk wondered what other kind of emotions are lying behind the dorky smile that he constantly had on his face.

Ixane quickly ran through the corners. With Lard Nar creating a bunch of commotion in the front, it was easy for her to get in without many of the guards stopping her. Of course, she had to make sure to stay concealed and destroy as many of the guards from a safe distance as possible.

Many of the prisoners rushed past her. She directed them outside, giving them the safest route to Lard Nar's ship. They thanked her and continued running to their sanctuary. All of those prisoners had been at this prison for a long time, so they were more than eager to leave.

Eventually, Ixane ran into a familiar face. She cocked her head before stopping in front of a Vortian who seemed to be leading several prisoners outside of the facility. "Are you Prisoner 777?" she asked calmly.

"Former Prisoner 777," he quickly corrected her in his deep voice. "And you're in my way. What are you doing?"

"I'm a part of the rescue party," Ixane said. "Follow your fellow inmates through the route that I instructed them. Your friend Lard Nar will be waiting for you outside with a ship to take you and your friends away from here."

777's eyes widened a bit. That was not a name that he thought he would be hearing. Someone had truly come to rescue them. He did not want to stand there and continue thinking about it. 777 had a bunch of Vortians waiting for his next order. "Lead the way," he said, a bit softer but still commanding.

Ixane nodded. This was as far as she was going to go anyways, since she didn't want to risk her life or any other lives. She quickly moved away, trying to find a safe spot where she could escape.

777 and the prisoners began to run out the way that they came in. 777, along with a few other prisoners, picked up weapons from downed guards on the way out. They were more than pleased to see many of them dead. Many of the guards in the complex left a heavy impression on many of the prisoners. Some of the prisoners were glad that they would not have to deal with their pain and suffering any longer.

After turning several more corners in the maze-like facility, Ixane and 777 finally passed the final wall and managed to exit the prison. 777 shielded his eyes from the sunlight the moment that he stepped outside. This was the first time he'd been out there since his capture. It was both a delightful and blinding sight to behold for him and the other prisoners.

They didn't have any time to take it all in. There were still many soldiers shooting at the prisoners. A couple of them went down, much to 777's dismay. He shot at them, managing to kill one of the guards.

"This way," Ixane said as she pointed over to Lard Nar and his ship. Thankfully, two more ships joined it, allowing for more prisoners to fit. She and 777 then began to run, shooting at anything that got in their way.

777 had his focus on getting rid of the irkens and making sure that all of his fellow former prisoners were safe. Although he wasn't able to protect all of them, he was willing to put in as much effort to make sure that a majority made it out alive.

Though, once he made it to the ships, his focus shifted. He looked at Lard Nar for a moment, almost surprised to see his face again. He blinked a couple of times as he collected all of his thoughts. "To tell you the truth, I never believed I would ever see you again."

"The feeling is mutual, my friend," Lard Nar said. "But we're not done yet. Get yourself and your friends into the ship now. Minimize the lives lost."

777 nodded, keeping himself focused on survival. Irkens were still roaming around everywhere and shooting at some of his men and women. He wasn't going to allow that to continue. "Everyone get inside the ship!" he yelled. They all followed his command and began piling into the ships. Each ship then were closed and lifted off of the ground as they were filled to capacity. This left only Lard Nar's ship and a small handful of people.

"Okay, this is the final call!" Lard Nar exclaimed. "Everyone onboard. I'm afraid we cannot wait any longer." Lard Nar saw the irkens gaining on him, but he had some of his own defenses to make sure that he didn't get shot. Lard Nar, though, was more concerned for everyone else's safety. He pushed Ixane and 777 on-board, along with several other species before eventually stepping aboard.

While his back was turned and the shuttle door was closing, an irken managed to put in a good shot and graze Lard Nar's arm. The damage wasn't too bad, just a bad scar, but the pain was agonizing. He dropped to the ground, gripping his arm.

777 knelt down next to him. "Lard Nar, are you alright?"

Lard Nar took a few deep breaths. He was trying his best to get through the pain, but eventually his body began to work through it. It became a more bearable, and Lard Nar began to chuckle.

777 cocked his head to the side. "What's so funny?"

He chuckled a bit more. "We actually did it. A successful prison raid and rescue mission. I never thought I would see the day."

777 smiled a bit, putting a hand on Lard Nar's good shoulder. "Trust me, with all of the recruits that we just salvaged from the prison, I'm thinking we're going to have a lot more success in our future."

Lard Nar smiled. "I'm looking forward to see what it looks like."

The ships continued to return to the main Resisty ship. Due to Shloonk's masterful hacking skills, the ships surrounding were not able to pursue or attack them. They were thankful that the Massive wasn't around. They knew that that was the only ship that they didn't have the potential to take on.

Later that evening, Lard Nar, Spleenk, Shloonk, and Ixane watched as 777 devoured all of the food in front of him. It's as if he had never seen what real food looked like, but… the fact of the matter was, he hadn't been fed something real and reasonable ever since he got captured.

"You're going to need some air eventually," Lard Nar said, slightly disgusted by the rate of 777's consumption.

777 swallowed all of the contents in his mouth before saying, "I know. But it's just so… delicious. But I'll slow down. I might start vomiting later… and eat some more."

Ixane blinked. "Charming." She reached out her hand and said, "I don't believe we've officially met, though. I'm Ixane. Nice to meet you, 777"

777 reached out his hand and shook Ixane's. "Wally, actually." he eventually said. "I'd rather not go by prison number." He cleared his throat. "And I apologize for my current behavior. I'm not normally like this, I swear."

"Yes, yes," Ixane said, nodding. "I'm sure it's going to take some time getting used to living around here."

"You are planning to stay, right?" Lard Nar asked.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Wally said. "I've become close friends with many of the former inmates, and they look up to me. If many of them stay, I'll need to help them get accustomed to their new lives. Some of them were young when they were captured and grew up in the prisons."

"I'm glad you see it that way, Wally," Lard Nar said, smiling. "Well, it's nice to have you here. We just added Spleenk to the group, and it's good to have you too."

Spleenk nodded, smiling a bit. He looked away for a moment, then over at Lard Nar. "What's going to happen with the inmates?"

"They're going to spend the night here," Lard Nar said. "We have another ship elsewhere, but it's going to take time to get it over here. For now… we do not have enough rooms, so some of you are going to have to share. I have capacity for 4 people in my quarters, so Spleenk, Shloonk, and 777, if you want to spend the night with me, you're welcome to. Ixane, I understand you enjoy your… privacy."

"Thank you for recognizing that," Ixane said. "Though, if it comes down to it, one of the new recruits can come to stay with me."

"Thank you for the offer, Lard Nar," Wally started, "but I think I'll sleep on the bridge. Perhaps look out into space for once."

"And I don't need a bed, so I'm just gonna wander around and say hi to everyone. Maybe sleep in the kitchen!" Shloonk exclaimed.

Wally simply stared at Shloonk for a moment, but then looked away. He hadn't seen someone quite so odd.

"Alright, well then I guess it just leaves Spleenk and… I," Lard Nar stuttered, looking over at Spleenk. He then looked at the table. "Yeah, Spleenk and I. Moving on. Tomorrow morning, we will gather the recruits and ask all of them if they would like to stay or go. The people who want to stay are welcome to and will get official rooms and jurisdictions. The people leaving will all go to a secure planet where they'll be safe from the irkens."

Wally nodded. "Thank you. I speak for all of them, thank you. This wouldn't have worked nearly as well if your rescue team didn't make a surprise visit."

"Then I'll have you meet Encephalo," Lard Nar said. "He's the one who discovered the breech in security. I'm assuming that was your doing."

"Yes, and I'm more than proud of that," Wally said, smiling. He looked down at his plate, completely empty other than a few extra crumbs. "I'm just glad that it's over." He slid out of his chair and stood up, wiping the crumbs off of his lap. "I think I'm going to head to the bridge and get comfortable. I'll talk to you all in the morning."

"Good night," everyone said at different times. Wally, the former prisoner 777, began to walk over to the bridge, Feeling free as he did so.

One-by-one, the rest of them left to go to their respective sleeping areas, eventually leaving Lard Nar and Spleenk alone. It started with awkward silence, but there were clearly many thoughts going through each of their heads.

"Shloonk said something… interesting to me earlier," Spleenk eventually said, dissolving the silence. "During the prison break. He was talking about, um…" Spleenk then froze up a bit. He didn't know exactly what to say. Sometimes being around Lard Nar made him feel so much smaller than he was, mainly because he knew what kind of good Lard Nar was capable of.

And there was potential that Lard Nar thought of him more than as a friend? Spleenk had trouble grasping at that fact.

"He was talking about lasers."

Lard Nar blinked, thinking how that was a strange thing to say… especially since he thought that Spleenk would say something entirely different. Shloonk was always awful at keeping secrets… and yet Lard Nar still told him everything. The fact the Lard Nar held up some kind of interest for Spleenk. It was just a subtle conversation, and now Lard Nar felt like he was going to regret it. "Oh, well… he really likes lasers. They're nice. They make a lot of light and can do damage." Lard Nar rubbed his arm.

"How is your arm?" Spleenk asked, looking at Lard Nar's damaged arm. It was wrapped in a neatly-done cast. That was Ixane's specialty. Lard Nar was sure that it would heal within a couple of days.

"Recovering. It doesn't hurt nearly as much anymore," Lard Nar said. Then there was another lull in the conversation, leaving them in silence once again. "I think… I think I'm going to go to bed, Spleenk. Feel free to come to the room whenever you like. Don't be afraid to wake me up." Lard Nar slowly got out of the seat and began walking to the exit of the mess hall.

Spleenk, in some way, wanted to stop Lard Nar and tell him the truth of what Shloonk told him. But with the mix of his exhaustion and his major inability of saying the right words at the right time, Spleenk couldn't bring himself to say anything.