Nervous didn't even begin to cover the plethora of emotions raging through Vult's mind as he rode the gravity lift to the highest point in the Imperial Palace, personal quarters of the Almighty Tallest. It was host to two co-rulers this time, being of the exact same height and tallest of the Irken race, but the palace itself, with dozens of floors and sprawling decadence, it easily played as their home rather well.
His orders, more of a brief message than anything, still rang through his head. It wasn't unheard of for the Tallest to call for a summons or a meeting with soldiers throughout the Armada, but it was usually for disciplinary reasons, negative ones at that. In fact, due to a breach of conduct, the former captain of the very Ringcutter his unit used as a staging ground before the Praxxus 7 invasion was shot into space via airlock.
Vult had only met the Almighty Tallest on one other occasion in the field as they surveyed troop movements on an invasion of a back-galaxy world for turning the planet into a monies-making resort and lodge. That was Lt. Vult's first assignment in the field as well, understudy to another officer, a Captain…whom he will never forget.
At risk of dredging up the past, he shook his head free of the thought, the lift stopping at the top floor with a pneumatic hiss. Vult was embarrassed by his battle-scarred appearance having come straight from Praxxus 7 without changing or even cleaning up as dried, dark emerald blood from his lacerations stained his face, which was already about a shade darker than usual because of the dirt and grime he had contracted. Something that would have earned him a reputation amongst his peers may condemn him by his leaders.
Prepared to be as punctual as possible, the Irken Elite continued down the long corridor, his booted footsteps echoing throughout the spacious and lusciously decorated hall. It was a literal museum of Irken past as leaders from long ago all the way to the present were in paintings, as were important dates in history.
After what seemed like an eternity, he finally came to a pair of double doors, the Irken Empire symbol on them. What actually caught his attention was the two guarding the doors at either side, staves in hand. They towered over Vult, and next to the Tallest, they were, well…the tallest Irken he had seen in his life. Their black uniforms and gold markings were the telltale sign of Honor Guard. The quickly blocked his path by crossing their staffs, usually used to keep unruly prisoners in line on conquered worlds.
"What business do you have with the Almighty Tallest, Soldier?" One of them barked, taking his job quite seriously. "This is a restricted area, unless you have reason to be here, I suggest you leave."
Vult cleared his throat as he adjusted his collar, producing the datapad.
"…I have…direct orders from the Almighty Tallest to meet with them, Sir," he politely informed, holding it out for him to read.
The guard's dark green eye, much darker than his skin tone, peered, scanning the few lines present in quick succession.
"Very well…Lieutenant," he began, lifting his staff from blocking the way, his colleague doing the same, "you may enter."
Promptly saluting the two of them, he marched through, the doors parting way, revealing yet another spacious, circular room, large bay windows having a prime view of Irk's mechanical cityscape that sprawled across the planet. A majority of it was smoldering ruins at the moment though.
Before him, two absurdly tall Irken, one red, the other purple in garment dressing, were engaged in a conversation with a very tiny thing of an Invader on a screen. By the way things appeared, he was in shackles and in a prison somewhere.
"Please, My Tallest, I beg of you to forgive me!" He exclaimed in a shrill, annoying voice. "All I wished to do was make you proud by destroying…things."
Tallest Purple simply shook his head as Red was on the verge of blowing a gasket, grinding his teeth in frustration.
"Even after you were responsible for the deaths of not one, but TWO Tallest before us, we thought you would quite…being stupid," Red seethed, finally losing it, "but you DESTROYED MOST OF IRK!!! You messed up big this time, Zim! You're lucky we don't have you, oh…I don't know, executed or something."
"For which I am sorry, My Tallest," Zim continued to plead his case, "I truly am. I wish to…fix things and serve honorably for the Irken Empire!"
"Forget it, Zim," Purple finally spoke up, garnering his co-ruler's attention, "we've already got enough problems as it is than from trying to keep you from wiping our kind from existence. Have fun in prison until we decide your fate."
"No, My Tallest, wa-"
Red cut the transmission, sighing.
"How could such a small, insignificant thing like…that cause so much devastation? You know, he'd be dangerous if he wasn't so stupid."
"Fire him into the surface of Vort, let him finish them off…if he survives the impact anyway," Purple suggested as he threw a handful of snacks into his mouth, chewing them loudly.
"We'll decide his fate later," Red answered, ending the conversation as he turned around to see Lt. Vult at attention, "Ah…Soldier, what can we do for you?" He asked, forgetting the name of the one they summoned. It was…hard to remember the names of his subjects, and being as lethargic as he was, that was only more work added on to already running the universe's most powerful empire.
"I was…sent for by you at your request, My Almighty Tallest," he humbly answered, taking a knee before his rulers, "I am Lieutenant Vult of the Irken Elite, 332nd Regiment."
"Oh yeah…" Purple seemed to remember before Red did, which was quite surprising in its own regard, "we did call him here, didn't we?"
"May I ask what My Tallest have called onto me for the honor of conversing in person?" Vult continued to mind his manners.
He had met the Almighty Tallest before in the beginning of their rule. They may have forgotten him, but he never did, especially what happened on that day so long ago.
"Let me handle this," Red began, directed towards his co-ruler, turning his attention back to Vult, "on your feet, Lieutenant."
Heeding his order, Vult stood at ease as Red hovered closer to him, towering over the shorter Irken Elite by a few feet easily.
"You're not too tall…" he trailed off, as if he was inspecting him, murmuring to himself, "…you'll do just fine."
"For what task, may I ask, My Tallest?"
"Oh, right," Red remembered looking around, assured that it was only the three of them in the room. "hold your questions to the end, I'm sure you'll have them. As you're aware of, Lieutenant…Vult, things aren't going as…planned-"
"Zim nearly destroyed Irk and brought about the collapse of the Empire." Purple blurted out, as if he was answering a trivia question.
"I said I'd handle this," Red angrily responded to Purple, "Just…be quiet, okay?"
"Sorry," the violet ruler apologized, his antenna drooping as he said it.
"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," Tallest Red emphasized on "rudely interrupted" as he shot a glance at Purple, "things aren't going as planned with Operation Impending Doom. Sadly…we've cancelled it for the time being. Too much damage was done by Zim and we're struggling to keep things afloat as it is. The only positive thing so far to come from this is the blackout of all information coming in and going out of Praxxus 7 for the moment…sorry, wasn't supposed to tell you that, but nevertheless…."
"Stop being overly dramatic," Purple interjected, gently shoving Red aside as he stood beside him, equal in height. "We're looking into finding…alternatives than just large invasion forces, so we plan on having a few…experiments."
"Experiments, My Tallest?"
"Field tests, not experiments," Red corrected, seeing the worry it put into Vult. "since this is already taking too long as it is, I'm going to keep it short. We need a unit of soldiers that personally answer to us and us alone, do as we say, and so on…I-"
"We," Purple made clear, proud to be included.
"…We would like you to be the leader of this team. Very sneaky…stuff, things that not even the rest of the Armada or another soul in the entire Empire can know of. Not only are you being promoted to the rank of Commander, but you have expedited access to us for your assignments as we see fit. Though your thoughts mean very little at this point…what do you think, Commander?"
"Commander Vult…that does have a nice ring to it," he thought, trying to remain composed from the idea, but quickly came back to reality. "Why me, My Tallest? I am but a lowly soldier, there are better candidates for this than myself."
"Precisely," Red grinned deviously, his seemingly half-awake stare accompanying it. "No one asks questions from someone as…tall as you are, questions would come about if we brought anyone else in that is noticeable."
Tallest Red meant nothing by it other than stating facts, but it didn't do too much for his self-esteem saying he wasn't very considerable and whatnot.
"Not to scare you or anything," Red began in the silence once more, "but if you do turn this down, I'm afraid you'll be insubordinate of us, and that is justified grounds for assessment and a quick trip to deactivation for being defective…choose wisely, Commander."
His choice was severely hampered then, either do as they say, or be deactivated, an Irken's worst nightmare. Their subconscious would be completely erased from the databanks and they would cease to be…forever.
"…under two conditions, My Tallest, if I may," Vult confidently spoke to his leaders.
The two leaders were taken back for a moment at this lowly Irken Elite's boldness.
"You don't seem to be in a position to make exceptions…" Red spoke, more amused than anything at his trifling, "but continue to amuse me."
"I only ask that you allow me to personally hand-pick the soldiers that are to be part of this unit. I do need the best of the best after all, not more recycled soldiers…not that they aren't the best soldiers in the universe as it is, but I ask for more, I need the very best. The better they are the, fewer I'll need, and the easier it would be to keep the unit a secret. Depending how many soldiers I need, we will need transport and barracks, and for what you want of us, something out of the way. These are necessities for the kind of operations you want of me, My Tallest."
"Hmm…" Tallest Red pondered, thinking about the proposition.
"He has a point," Purple concluded, scratching his head in concentrated thought, "makes sense to me. Besides, it's cute that he's demanding something from us, we usually shoot people out of airlocks for that kind of thing."
"…Very well, we'll grant you your request, Commander," Red lazily caved in, finding it hard enough as it was to remain focused, "but don't take forever, we need you as operational as soon as possible. What kind of a timetable can you give us."
"Within a year, My Tallest," Vult blurted out, but quickly followed up with reasoning, "I do need time to assemble the unit, but also begin various trainings to prepare them for working in secrecy and without support, as well as specialty hardware to be designed for our use."
"Seems…reasonable enough…very well, Commander, your request is granted. We'll make the necessary arrangements to give you clearance to find the soldiers of your choice. As for transport and accommodations...it will be taken care of by the time you assemble your unit."
"It is an honor to be called to such a duty for My Tallest and the almighty Irken Empire," Vult bowed with great respect, "I will not fail you in this endeavor."
"For your sake, Commander, I hope not," Red said matter-of-factly, regardless of Vult's intentions in his vow, "you can be replaced, keep that in mind."
"Don't mind him, he's cranky over Zim destroying nearly everything we know as a species." Purple spoke, getting yet another hard glare from Tallest Red. "That is all we wish to speak with you for now, here, take this…" He offered a small wrist-mounted communicator, it appeared to be compatible with his forearm guard. "This should give you a direct line of communication with us. Don't call us, we'll call you. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have an empire to rebuild, much work to do."
With a quick snap of a salute, a very proud one at that, Vult bid his leaders adieu.
Continuing to exist was always a plus, and given a chance to do his Tallest and Empire proud was another advantage. "Commander Vult" did sound very…commanding to say the least in his mind.
"What was your second request, Commander?" Red beckoned, stopping Vult in his tracks from leaving the room.
Simply looking over his shoulder, he took a solemn sigh.
"…That I ask for revenge for the embarrassment on Praxxus 7, My Tallest. I will personally see to it myself that the Vortians pay for that travesty."
"Oh, I assure you your vengeance," Red maliciously replied, feeling anger boil his blood, his emotions placed very similarly to the Irken soldier. "will be personally repaid in full plus interest. You have our blessing, after all."
Vult didn't waste a moment in his recruitment drive for what was quite possibly the biggest secret the Irken Empire was to ever hold…or at least would turn into, that is. In the present, it was simply another assignment, orders to be followed without question, and another opportunity to carry the colors again for his Empire he had been ever so faithful to.
Nearly beaming, he walked up to the shuttle that had transported him from Praxxus 7 and his station aboard the Ringcutter, finding the pilots performing routine maintenance, while Medical Officer Sula seemed to be checking medical records of various cases she obtained while doing her duty during the campaign. Looking out of the corner of her eye, she picked up Vult approaching.
"Well, Lieutenant, you seem to be in…good spirits," she commented with a warm, greeting smile. "How was your meeting with the Almighty Tallest?"
"Respectfully, Ma'am," Vult returned equally, "it's Commander now."
"Oh, I see, a promotion, congratulations Commander. You're a bit short to be a commander of forces though, that's a little odd they would promote you." She observed, minding her tone to not offend. The last thing she wanted to do was act superior over anyone because of her height. It already singled her out enough as it was.
"I thought the same thing, but so is the nature of my next and permanent assignment," he informed, seeing that it couldn't hurt, "and I've been given full reign over building my unit as such. Security clearance aside…" He began, assuring the nearby pilots couldn't overhear their conversation, "I answer to no one else in the entire Armada but the Almighty Tallest themselves. A task force at their beck and call, given high priority, low exposure assignments and whatnot."
"So Spec Ops then?" She deduced.
"Even more so," Vult admitted, gaining her full attention, even a little bit of surprise as well. "Very dangerous, covert operations that no one is to know of, not even fellow soldiers."
"Why are you telling me all this then, Commander?" Sula quizzingly asked, seeing he was already voiding his oath to the Tallest.
"I know your medical skills first hand, Medical Officer," Vult began, "and I would like to know if you would be interested in being an addition to my unit as a squad medic. I need the best since we'll be operating on a very small scale in the field."
"…I…don't know, Commander, I'm only basically trained in combat, I've always been stationed behind frontlines and sent in for recovery in the aftermath."
"You can stand there and truthfully tell me that you enjoy doing what I saw taking place on the Ringcutter, more often than not, simply giving the injured a merciful death because of the extent of their injuries. All I ask is that you come under my command, and you will be a savior that is truly revered by those around you, not just another mindful drone doing their part for the war effort. So, Medical Officer, what do you say?"
He was right, more than she wished. Working in battlefield medicine was already morbid enough without putting soldiers out of their misery because she hadn't the tools or technology to perform procedures other than closing wounds and stopping blood loss. The only reason she helped Vult was because of her extracurricular reading she had done on PAK functions in medicine. The more she thought about it, regardless of height, the offer was looking better and better.
"You have the power to simply transfer me to your unit, even if I were to decline?"
"If I was completely heartless, yes," Vult answered, "if you don't want to, I understand, this is pretty important, but I truly feel that both of us would benefit, as would the Empire in turn, if you were to join my unit, Sula…er, Medical Officer."
Seeming to finally come to a conclusion, she let out a sigh through pursed lips. Sula snapped to attention, even saluting Vult.
"I hope that I'm the kind of medical officer you're looking for, Commander," She spoke with a meek smile, partially embarrassed by her own vigor. "…if I'm up to your expectations, that is."
Vult couldn't help but smile in satisfaction as he acquired his first member of the Almighty Tallest' personal squad of secrecy.
"Welcome aboard, Medical Officer," he congratulated, returning her salute, "as I said, all I ask is for your subordination beneath my command, and we'll get along just fine."
"Yes, Sir, Commander," Sula obeyed, falling right into the niche rather well. It was different to regard one shorter than her as "Sir" or her superior, but he seemed to have a level head and pure in intentions for forming such a unit. "What are my orders?"
"For the moment, return to the Ringcutter and continue with your duties," he responded, noticing the pilots were done with their pre-flight checks, "I'll summon you when the time comes. In the meantime, I have some more scouting and recruiting to do here on Irk. Remember, Medical Officer…this is a very sensitive matter, don't tell anyone if avoidable and keep things simple."
"Yes, Commander, I understand," she nodded, sending her own communication frequency to Vult's so he could personally contact her to do as such when he needed her.
Not long after Sula returned to her post aboard the ship, Vult found himself at the Armada Archives and Databanks beneath the planet's surface, a vast expanse and display of server storage for many various bits of information, from fleet specifications, to every single active Irken in the universe, their very identity stored within the banks of knowledge.
Everything was automated, he was the only organic being there at the moment, just as he intended, no witnesses to complicate things. The Irken Commander sat before a large terminal that seemed to be an access hub to the databanks.
"Computer," he commanded, watching the large screen, "display all Irken military forces."
"Security Clearance required," a deep, electronic voice responded in directive.
Vult plugged his PAK into the machine's mainframe, allowing it to acquire the necessary data. His PAK whirred and shifted mechanically from within as the computer sought out the necessary credentials now implanted into him, thanks to a update in the Archives by the Almighty Tallest, specifically dealing with his promotion.
"Processing request…processing complete, Access Granted, Commander Vult." The artificial voice stated once more, quickly showing hundreds of thousands well into the millions on the screen in quick succession, scrolling as the list grew.
"Remove everything but forces assigned to Praxxus 7."
The list quickly shortened to a few hundred thousand.
"Remove any that are KIA, MIA, or unknown."
Once more, the list shrunk, but was nearly halved due to the extensive casualties inflicted in the assault. A list of approximately 100,000 remained.
"Leave only the members of units that were inflicted less than 50% casualties planetside."
The most drastic reduction yet, as 100,000 soldiers listed quickly shrunk to several dozen, just shy of a hundred at best.
"Arrange in descending order from highest rank to lowest, remove Commanders, Field Commanders, and Captains from the list."
The supercomputer quickly processed the request, leaving a manageable list in its wake.
"Computer," Vult began once more, thinking of how he wished to word his command, "build separate lists of the following profession training: Mechanical Technician, Scout, Pilot, Heavy Weapons, Demolitions, Communications…Infiltration…and…" he pondered, trying to remember the various classes and training soldiers could be put through, "…Infantry. I think that's all the major ones."
Yet again, the terminal processed the information, displaying only a few names in each category at most, turning the impossible into only a little bit of searching to find out where his candidates were stationed after the assault on Praxxus 7. A quick download to his datapad of the necessary information was all it took to get him started in the right direction.
"Let's see what is the most accessible without me traveling halfway across the universe," Vult commented to himself, scrolling through the data, seeking out any of them stationed on Irk. His search results within his datapad quickly concluded, showing the desired information. "Good, I don't have to go far for a few of these, might as well start with the nearest, and that would be…one Lieutenant Corr, Irken Elite Infantry."
It was frightening how similar two very different individuals were, and for Corr, his existence as he knew it was going to change forever.