.
Reunited
Purple stood before the Perthling Emperor regretting every life decision he'd ever made that had led him to this point. The emperor looked enraged. "In my defence, you broke our agreement first by taking me as a slave as well as Tenn," Purple lamely said. "I mean, it's not like I tried to make war with you. Your guards were just being jerks. Not that I'm one to talk, but still."
"Beat him until he can't breathe."
"That's not gonna work you know! I'm gonna fight back," Purple quickly said. From what he could tell, Perth had never held an Irken before, not like Gladitoria and Kadien, so odds were they didn't know how to subdue the PAKs. At least not effectively. He hadn't exactly been gung ho to fight his way out of this mess, though, so he'd never tried using it too much. His plan had been to keep that card close to his chest until he found the opportune time to get away, he'd just… sort of jumped the gun a bit. He blamed Tenn for this. If she hadn't been getting pushed around, he wouldn't have stepped in. Okay, so maybe she'd just been playing up the role of a slave, but still! She could have done that not in front of him. Irk had a reputation to uphold. Being pushed around wasn't part of it.
The Emperor waved his hand and immediately Purple was surrounded by Kadiens with whips and big sticks. Oh, this wasn't going to be pleasant. "Break him," the emperor ordered.
Purple gasped and ducked under the first blow from a stick. Immediately he went on the offensive, but he knew the odds of him getting away with this were slim to none. The whips were electrified. He found that out painfully when one cut across his PAK and sent a jolt through him. He cried out in pain, staggering, but regained his balance quickly and turned on the attacker. The whips struck from every side, though, and his armor was really taking a beating, but hopefully it would hold out. It should against whips and sticks. It would be pretty low-quality armor if it didn't, and it was supposed to be the best of the best. The PAK was his weakest point right now aside from his head, so he really needed to watch it. No matter how hard he fought, they closed in on him more and more until he was swarmed and dragged to the ground. He instinctively cried out for his brother and regretted it because that was a sign of weakness he really couldn't afford to show right now. When he realized there was no getting away, he curled in on himself, covering his head and waiting for the beatings to stop. Eventually they'd realize his armor was too strong, wouldn't they? He could feel it starting to dent a bit. He diverted all attention to keeping his head safe, but they just kept coming and coming and no matter what, they wouldn't stop! Blows began focusing in on his head and soon his ears were ringing and his vision was dimming. It was taking far too long to go unconscious, he decided in pain. He didn't like it when the PAKs did that and tried to keep you going.
Just as he was on the verge of passing out, he heard a loud crashing sound from above and an alarmed voice cry, "My Tallest!"
The beatings stopped, all attention diverting to the newcomer, and Purple gasped, looking up. "Tenn!" he exclaimed, spotting the Irkenette in a shattered window, her PAK legs holding her up in it.
"I'm coming, My Tallest!" she exclaimed. Whistling shrilly, her SIR unit flipped into sight, eyes red. Her Spittle Runner floated down behind her. "Go to war, Nine!" she ordered her SIR, pointing.
"Yes, my mistress!" the robot said. Immediately it leapt into action. Tenn hopped in her Spittle Runner and followed it, firing on the Perthlings who shouted in alarm and scattered.
"No one touches the Tallest!" Tenn angrily said, all weapons at the ready.
Purple lit up. This was bold, but hey, he wasn't complaining. He went on the offensive again, lashing out at the Perthlings surrounding him and putting up a fight once more. It was only a bunch of guards, it wasn't like it was the army, so as far as he could tell, he and Tenn had a pretty good shot. Hey, maybe escape was just on the horizon. Maybe he was getting out of here! He really hoped Red was having some luck with escaping too, but there was this dark and unsettling feeling inside of him that told him that might not be the case. He really didn't like that feeling.
He managed to break away from the swarming guards. Tenn's SIR unit followed him, firing into them. Tenn quickly flew above them both. "My Tallest, you can fight?" she said in amazement.
"You realize I was an elite before I was Tallest, right?" Purple dryly said. "I mean sure I let it slip away a bit, but I still know what I'm doing. Kind of. Our… Almighty Tallest Spork sort of drilled it into our heads when he was training us. I couldn't forget most of it even if I wanted to. Which I don't! I just can't quite remember how to do it as well as I used to."
Tenn looked towards the guards and fired a couple of lasers from the Spittle Runner into them. The ones that escaped it leapt at them, some going for the Runner and some for Purple and the SIR unit. The trio fought back determinedly, keeping the enemy at bay. Tenn flew down low and opened the Runner's front. "My Tallest, get in!" she called out.
"You don't have to ask twice," Purple said, immediately going for it and diving in. The SIR unit Nine followed. Tenn closed the ship up and made for the window. Perthling ships drifted up in front of it though and she gasped. Quickly she pulled off a fancy maneuver, dodging around them, but they went after her immediately, firing unrelentingly. "Is this thing gonna make it?!" Purple demanded.
"It should, shouldn't it?" she asked a bit nervously.
"Getting to space being chased like this isn't gonna happen. We should make for cover first and try to lose them closer to the surface," Purple said.
"I saw some mountains coming in," she offered.
"Then let's make for those," Purple replied.
"Yes, My Tallest," she replied, banking away from the pursuing ships and pushing the ship to an even faster setting. Purple let out a sharp breath. They were actually doing this. They were actually getting away! He probably shouldn't celebrate too soon. The enemy was still hot on their tails after all. He couldn't help it, though. They were so close! Soon he and Red could reunite and then everything would be okay again! Right? That unsettling and dark feeling that something bad was about to happen to his brother was sneaking back. He really didn't like it.
IZ
Red was unceremoniously dumped into what could only be described as an aquarium minus the water. He glared out at the Kadien king. "They will relish in seeing you trapped," the king said.
"Tell the Crystallian that she's done," Red replied.
"As far as she knows, she was just catching an escaped prisoner."
"Well her assumption sucked, so now here we are," Red replied. "Her entire planet is history. Just like Kadien and Perth. Probably Gladitoria and Arachnea too. And Throbulus."
"You're a petty and vindictive little thing, aren't you?" the king said.
"Little?!" Red demanded.
"You'll make your debut in only a few moments," the king said, walking out through the curtains, then out of the room Red assumed was the banquet hall. Red cursed him and began floating around, searching for a way out. This sucked. Horribly. He began attacking the glass and the lid, but he was out of luck it seemed.
"And now, fair guests, feast your eyes on this fine specimen," he heard the king say. The curtains blocking him from sight were opened and he hissed a bit at the light, covering his eyes. A chorus of gasps rang out. He blinked a few times and peered out at them. Immediately they all cheered—say for Irk's allies who suddenly looked unsettled—and he cursed them all. The enemies began to jeer at him. He stared down at them coldly. He felt like a hogulus in a zoo. The Crystallian, he saw, was in the back, covering her mouth in shock. He guessed she hadn't expected him to be displayed like a beast for the others to jeer at. She was probably the only non-ally here who wasn't cheering or jeering. "Behold! The pride of the Irken Empire! Their Almighty Tallest at Kadien's mercy!"
"For like five minutes," Red replied defiantly.
"I'm sorry, their what?!" the Crystallian demanded. So she really had been clueless. Well, her fault for running in blind.
"Irk has been weakened! Their leaders are at the mercy of Kadien and Perth! Go forth and conquer them, each of you! Take back what was yours!"
"The Almighty Tallest aren't gonna be trapped for long, so I suggest you all think really hard about it before trying!" Red said.
"Down with Irk!" a Gladitorian shouted. The others cheered, say the allies and the Crystallian. The latter just looked stunned.
"Reconsider the side you have taken, all you who would call the Irken Empire their ally," the Kadien king said.
"Reconsider your existence if you do!" Red angrily said. "Kadien can't hope to stand against the entirety of the Irken Armada, and they're practically on the doorstep as we speak."
"Five times now they've been repelled," the Kadien king said. "They're nothing without their commander."
"Your majesty, who is their commander?!" the Crystallian demanded.
"The very Irken before you now," the king replied. If possible, the Crystallian looked even more bowled over.
"You're all history!" Red shouted.
"Empty threats on youthful lips that don't know any better," the Kadien king said.
"Irk doesn't make empty threats! The armada will get through. Count on it! And if they don't, I will."
"It must be blissful to feel so hopeful and untouchable," the Kadien king said. "The blessings of youth I suppose.
"You don't get it. I am untouchable!" Red said. "And you'll see it soon enough. Every one of you." The king pulled a sheet off a panel. Red blinked at it blankly. "Oh that's not good," he said when he saw the illustrations on the dials. Torture methods! Each one worse than the last.
"Kadien will not involve themselves in the young one's torture, but you would each do far worse to him, I suspect, if you got your hands on him, so instead his torture will be controlled through us. Do what you will to make him suffer. The enemies cheered. The allies shrank nervously back and looked like they were second-guessing their alliance. The Crystallian, of course, just looked shaken. Like she couldn't quite wrap her head around what was happening here.
"Come along, Princess. I can't imagine you relish seeing an adolescent your own age tortured like he's about to be," the Kadien king said to the Crystallian.
"W-wait, I was just bringing back a prisoner! I didn't know he was going to be put on display and tortured!" she said.
"Don't be afraid of him. There's nothing he can do to you or your people anymore," the Kadien king said, taking her arm. "Come now. Ka-Lel has been dying to see you again. My daughter misses her friend."
"No! You can't seriously be allowing this! He's a juvenile!" she said, pulling away from him.
"He's an Irken! They don't function like other juveniles function," he said. "He has more blood on his hands than there are monies in my coffers."
"Screw you!" Red shouted towards the king and the Crystallian princess, apparently. One of Irk's enemies hit a button and Red screamed in pain as electricity tore through his entire body, causing him to seize up. The rest of Irk's enemies cheered. The electricity stopped and Red collapsed onto the ground with a pained gasp.
"Stop them!" the Crystallian insisted, pointing towards him.
Another enemy hit another button and Red shouted as some kind of gravitational force sent him flying back against the far glass and began crushing him with weight unlike any weight he'd ever felt before. Another pained cry escaped his lips as the force continued crushing and he felt his armor starting to crumple.
"Stop!" the Cyrstallian pled.
Why she was pleading for him was beyond his understanding, but if she saved him from this, he wouldn't complain. A third button was pushed and suddenly he couldn't breathe. He couldn't take in air at all! It was like it had all been sucked out, and his PAK was letting loose with all kinds of signals that meant trouble. He tried to breathe and began to panic the longer he went being unable to. He was on the verge of passing out when it finally came back, and he was able to take in desperate lungfuls. As much as the crushing would allow, that was. Which wasn't much. He was getting dizzy and woozy. The crushing force stopped, and he dropped to the ground. He pushed himself up, teeth gritted, and opened an eye to glare at Irk's enemies. Another button was pushed and various small sprinklers poked out of little holes all around. Red raised an eyebrow. What was this? They began to spray a little. Water? What was that gonna… His eyes widened in realization and suddenly the spouts were turned on fully, showering him in the liquid. He felt the burning immediately. Not burning like it was hot. Burning like it was acid! Tainted water! He was screaming before he even realized he was screaming, and desperately he thrashed around and tore at his skin trying to defend himself from the spray.
"Oh Brains!" he cried out. "Brains, make it stop! Make it stop!"
"Make it stop!" he heard the Crystallian exclaim to the King.
"I know it hurts to watch. It would be best if you leave now. Know this is for the best. He would be in far more pain otherwise," the king said.
"I didn't bring him back here to be tortured!"
"Leave!" the king more harshly said, pointing towards a door.
"If you won't stop them, I will!" she insisted. "He might be Irken, but even he doesn't deserve this." The king hesitated briefly. "He's only a teenager! Like me and Ka-Lel!"
"It hurts!" Red cried, if only to try and really go for sympathy points with the king. Only it wasn't just because of that. He genuinely wanted the pain to stop! Desperately in fact.
"Enough," the king shouted, relenting. Immediately and inquisitively his guests all turned to him. When they processed what he'd said, Irk's enemies began to boo and the allies seemed to collectively breathe a sigh of relief.
"Sire, an Irken ship broke through our defenses. We lost it in the forest!" a soldier suddenly blurted, bursting into the banquet hall.
Everything froze. "What?" the king finally said.
"An Irken ship has broken the defenses," the soldier more timidly said.
"Then find it!" the king shouted. "It's one Irken, maybe two. The challenge isn't too much for you to handle."
Red huffed a laugh. "I told you," he said through strained breaths. "I told you."
In retaliation an enemy hit another button and Red screamed in pain as he was electrocuted again while still wet. He felt the PAK working overtime to keep him alive through that one, and for the first time hated it for that. He could feel the electricity burning his exposed skin and probably even toasting the flesh where his armour was weakest. He begged for unconsciousness.
"No!" the Crystallian cried, racing towards the panel to shut off the electricity. She managed to do it, but Red just collapsed as soon as she had, passing out from the pain. His breathing was rapid and shallow. The Crystallian was shoved back and onto the ground.
"You take Irk's side or ours, Crystallian!" the Gladitorian said.
"I'm not taking a side, I'm stopping a torture! I wouldn't care if you just outright killed him, but this is too much!" she replied. "The Kadien king said enough. Enough means enough! "
The King approached and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked quickly up at him, eyes wide. "Take the boy back to the tower and do what you can for him. Bring Ka-Lel with you if you must. The rest of us, however, are going on the hunt for the Irken who broke through our defenses. If you'd rather join us in that, I will allow it also."
The Crystallian stood. "I'll join you after I get him to the tower," she said.
The King nodded and looked at a soldier. "EMP him so he can't use his PAK to fight. Up its potency so the systems don't recover as fast as last time."
"The EMP may disable the PAK entirely and doom him," the soldier said.
"I said it once and I'll say it again. Irk claims a body if they claim him at all," the king darkly said.
"Yes sir," the soldier replied before cranking up the EMP and firing it at Red.
IZ
Purple paced restlessly and nervously. Tenn watched in some concern. They'd gotten away from their pursuers and were safely hiding in a cave until the search for them was taken further away, but somehow he seemed even more on edge now than he'd been before. "My Tallest?" Tenn uncertainly asked.
"Something's wrong. I know something's wrong. Something happened," Purple anxiously said.
"To who?" she questioned.
"To Red!" Purple exclaimed.
"My Tallest, the armada is making their way to him as we speak," Tenn said.
"They're too late," he replied.
"You're dooming," she replied.
"Something is wrong!" Purple insisted. "It's wrong. It's so wrong."
"Well, you'll see for yourself what it is soon. Maybe it's not as bad as you think," she replied. Purple paused in the mouth of the cave and peered out and up at the sky. "Are they still there?" Tenn asked.
"They won't go away," Purple replied.
"They will," Tenn replied. "Let the vines cover the mouth of the cave again and they won't even know we're in here. Just as long as we're far enough back from the entrance that they can't detect heat signatures."
Purple did as she said, drifting helplessly back. "So much for invading Perth, I guess," he said.
She was quiet a beat. "I'm still going to," she said.
"Are you insane?" Purple asked.
"I'm a trained invader! I can salvage this. Maybe not by playing their slave anymore, that would be painful, but I can blend in like standard protocol," Tenn said. "We can save this, My Tallest. We can."
"You're gonna get yourself killed! Not that I care," Purple dryly said.
"I won't though! Just don't send me malfunctioning SIR units again," she said.
"Those were meant for Zim," Purple defended. "You were supposed to get the Megadoomer X-3 Combat Stealth Mech."
"Well I didn't!" she said.
"That wasn't on us! I quadruple-checked that the packages were labeled right. You can't take halfway measures with Meekrob. The labels were probably switched just before shipping. Probably by some disgruntled Screwhead," Purple said.
"The point is, I have this, My Tallest. Don't worry about anything. Perth is as good as the Irken Empire's," she said.
"I'm not worried," Purple stubbornly replied, pouting and crossing his arms. "If you say you can do it, you'd better do it. It's as simple as that. We need Perth under our control. The fewer allies Meekrob has, the better."
She smirked ever so slightly. "Yes, My Tallest. Thank you for trusting me to proceed."
"This isn't a matter of trust anymore. It's a matter of necessity," he said.
She nodded, then rose and went to the mouth of the cave, peeking out. "Once they're gone, I'll take you in the Spittle Cruiser to the armada near Kadien. We'll get your brother back, My Tallest." Purple immediately deflated and began looking nervous again. "My Tallest, if there's anyone who can take care of themselves in a bad situation, it's Tallest Red. Everyone heard about how he handled the Massive being hacked."
"When it really matters, he always knows what to do," Purple quietly said.
"Because of Almighty Tallest Spork and Almighty Tallest Miyuki?" she asked. Purple was quiet. "Change of subject?" she lamely asked. He continued in silence. "Were-were you and Tallest Red ever invaders?"
"Unofficially," Purple said.
"Unofficially?" she asked, confused.
"Spork and Miyuki wanted to test us out on a planet just to see if we had what it took to be invaders. This was before the actual testing that would make it official was set to take place, so they kind of did it behind the Control Brains' backs."
"And?" she asked.
Purple was quiet. "Red is better with statistics than he is with individuals," he finally said. "I got better with them eventually too—I can blow up a whole planet now without a problem—but back then I wasn't quite so great at it." Tenn looked confused at first, then a bit concerned. Purple shifted a bit. "It was… tough. As Tallest you don't really get attached to the places that are gonna be destroyed, that's probably why it's easy now, but as an invader living among them for sometimes a long time? That's another story. Depending on how much you like a place, conquering it gets tougher I guess, but Red's pretty good at detaching. Me not so much. Red didn't really like the planet we conquered much either. I maybe did. I…" He stopped a moment. "It was pretty bad. I just couldn't pull the trigger. Red did. I didn't. Da… Spork did it for me."
"I feel like there's a story there somewhere," Tenn said. Purple shifted a bit, thinking back.
IZ
Purple stared numbly out the window of the spacecraft as the countdown to the planet's destruction ticked by. Red was ready for it, he knew. He wasn't. He really, really wasn't. Tears threatened his eyes. He heard someone approaching him from behind and saw the reflection in the glass. Spork. That only made him feel worse. Spork stood in the door observing him. "Why do we have to do this?" Purple asked before he could stop himself. "I don't… they didn't do anything to us. They were nice. Why do they have to be destroyed? Why can't we just enslave them? Why are we…? I don't understand."
Spork shifted uncomfortably and floated further into the room to look out the window. "I mean, there's not a lot we can do with a planet that small, and the people aren't exactly built for slavery, so there's that."
"They could work! They would! The planet could be used for something too. I don't know what, but something!" Purple said. He heard a beep and gasped, looking quickly at the timer with eyes wide. Five minutes. "I don't want to," he said, shaking his head fearfully. "Sir, I don't want to. I don't want to. I don't…" He stopped when he felt Spork rest a hand on his shoulder gently but firmly and squeeze it a bit to ground him. He looked quickly up at his mentor, then towards the planet again. His mouth quivered a little. "Why do we have to do this?"
"I know how hard it can be the first time. I didn't want to either."
"So why did you?" Purple demanded.
"I don't know. For the glory of the empire. For my own glory. There were a lot of little things that sort of just built up into a big thing," Spork said, shrugging. "How about instead of thinking of all the reasons why you shouldn't, you try and focus on all the reasons you should."
"I don't see a reason why I should," Purple said. "It just feels like a waste! Isn't it? To organic sweep it? I mean, its entire existence gone just like that? It doesn't feel…" He trailed off.
"Right?" Spork supplied. Purple was quiet, head hung. Spork sighed and turned to face him. He turned Purple around a bit as well so they were looking at one another straight on. "You do it for the glory of the Empire. You do it for all Irkenkind. You do it to protect yourself from the Control Brains and sometimes the Tallest, even though you and Red don't really have to worry about that one. You do it because you need to survive and be worth something to the collective."
"I can't," Purple said, voice breaking. "I'm trying, but…" He trailed off again.
"I get it. I really do," Spork said.
"I don't know what's wrong with me. I don't know why Red can do it and I can't. I don't…"
"It's your mo… Miyuki coming through in you," Spork replied.
"She must have been able to do it too though!" Purple protested.
"It's never easy the first time," Spork said. "You can do this."
The clock beeped. Purple looked quickly at it. Two minutes. "They-they don't deserve… They were… Spork!" he said, voice breaking a bit.
"Purple," Spork warned.
"Sir, please! There has to be something worth saving there! We can't just… we can't… I can't," Purple said, trembling a bit. His voice broke on his plea.
"For the glory of the Empire. For the good of all Irkenkind. For your honour and your brother's. For your reputation and your survival. Repeat the mantra over and over, and eventually you won't need it anymore," Spork said.
"I can't. I can't do this, please. Please I can't. I don't want to. I don't… Da… Sir!" Purple begged. He gasped when the voice began to count down.
"Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six…"
"Please," Purple pled, terrified now.
He gasped when he felt Spork gently brush back his antennae and looked up at the Commander in terror. "Okay. You don't have to," Spork gently said. Purple's eyes widened a little.
"Three. Two. One."
Spork reached out, taking the trigger, and pulled it. Purple cried out in terror and fell back as the beam shot out at the same time as Red's from another ship across the way. The beams hit the planet and Purple covered his eyes at the brightness. The explosion was so loud… Tears began to slip from his eyes and before he knew it, he had begun to whimper and sniffle. Spork stared at the wiped-out planet and the particles of it still floating around. Purple quietly sobbed behind him. He closed his eyes, then opened them once more with a frown and turned around to lecture the would-be-invader, but the frown immediately vanished when he saw Purple with head bowed ashamedly and hands behind his back. He watched the young one quietly for some moments.
"I'm sorry," Purple said, voice breaking. "I'm sorry I couldn't… I just… I'm sorry."
Spork shifted uncomfortably. He really didn't know how to handle this kind of thing. Miyuki was better at it. "For not destroying it?"
"For disappointing… for disappointing you. For not being like Red. For…" Purple began.
Spork's gaze softened immensely. "You haven't disappointed me. Heck, a part of me hopes you never lose this part of you, but I guess that's too much to ask for given the whole nature of the Irken race," Spork said. Purple still stared miserably down at the ground. After a moment, Spork floated over to the young Irken and put his hands gently on his shoulders. Purple sniffled and looked up at him. "It's okay. One day it'll be okay. One day it'll be easy, I promise. One day it won't hurt so much. Remember: For the glory of the Empire. For the good of all Irkenkind. For your honour and your family's. For your reputation and your survival."
"For the glory of the Empire," Purple repeated, voice breaking a little. "For the good of all Irkenkind. For my honour and my family's. For my reputation and my survival."
"It's over now, and you'll be okay again someday," Spork said, bumping his forehead lightly against Purple's. "It'll be easier next time, then easier and easier until it doesn't even matter anymore."
"I'm scared," Purple confessed.
"I know," Spork said. "Go find your mo… Miyuki, okay? Talk to her. She'll understand. She'll reassure you a lot better than I can."
"Okay," Purple said, nodding.
"Remember…"
Together they recited: "For the glory of the Empire. For the good of all Irkenkind. For my honour and my family's. For my reputation and my survival."
"There you go," Spork gently said. "Now shoo." Purple nodded, hugged him suddenly, then withdrew and scurried off to try and find Miyuki. Spork let out a breath, closing his eyes.
IZ
"It's not really a story that matters," Purple quietly said to Tenn. "Not to you at least. Or anyone except me really. It doesn't mean anything now anyway. That weakness is long gone. I don't even blink at it anymore."
"Have you ever gotten attached to a planet since?" she asked.
"How about we stop talking about me?" Purple replied dryly.
"Yes, My Tallest," Tenn said. "We should be good to make a break for it soon anyway. Are you ready?"
"Oh, I'm ready," Purple said in a slightly darker tone.
I'm coming, Red.
IZ
Red grimaced a bit, his brain in a fog. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard some sort of high-pitched sound. Like chimes sort of but not. It was a little strange, but weirdly - dare he say it - beautiful too. Like moistened crystal glasses singing. Well, a singular crystal glass singing. It felt like it was pulling him out of the brain fog. His eyes flickered open and he squinted a little before grimacing and holding his head. A pained sound escaped his lips that he immediately regretted. "I can't believe it's working," a familiar voice said. He painfully turned his head and blinked. The Kadien princess and the Crystallian girl who was apparently a princess too or something? He really was struggling to recall the details right now.
"They almost always do in this kind of situation," the Crystallian said.
"My father was foolish to allow this. He's probably doomed us all," the Kadien princess said.
"Only if the Irken escapes," the Crystallian said.
"He will if another Irken made it to the planet," the Kadien princess said.
"Damn right I will," Red said through the pain. They both looked quickly over at him and the Crystallian stopped using her weird crystal glass trick or whatever it was.
"I can put you back to sleep with the crystals too, just so you're aware," the Crystallian said.
"Then your planet's doubly doomed," Red said.
"You realize how at our mercy you are right now, right?" the Crystallian replied. "If I decide you're a threat to me or my people, I'll end you myself. You won't be able to stop me."
"We're hunting your planet," Red defiantly replied.
"Good luck finding it," she said.
"I'm due for some luck about now," Red said, grimacing in pain.
"I have an offer for you," the Kadien princess said.
"Marriage is off the table," Red flatly replied.
"Not marriage. Something else. If you can look passed my father and leave Kadien alone for now, when I take the throne, we'll become your ally. I never understood why we weren't already," the Kadien princess said. "Agree to that, and we help you get out of here to find whatever Irken managed to breach Kadien's barrier and reach the surface."
"Are you that afraid of him?" the Crystallian dryly asked.
"You should be as afraid," the Kadien seriously replied. "Even if he dies here, his brother is still out there somewhere and alive. If he learns his sibling was killed on Kadien, that's it for us."
"This is it for you any… On second thought…" Red began. He paused a moment to consider the princess' offer. "You know what? That'll work. I will consider your offer. Just as long as you help get me out of here." Whether he actually would or not was still up in the air, but right now he couldn't afford not to take this chance.
"Good. We'll just walk away then and well, you're on your own from there," the princess said. "The doors will be left unlocked, the guards will be ordered to follow me to an appointment, and it'll be all up to you to get away from here."
"Fine," Red said.
"Crystal can keep the hunting party off of the other Irken's trail," the princess said.
"Crystal? Your name is Crystal?" Red incredulously asked, looking at her. "Could there be a more generic name for a Crystallian?"
"I like my name thank you very much," Crystal replied, frowning at him.
"Your parents weren't very creative, were they?" Red said.
"You don't know anything about why they chose Crystal for me," Crystal replied, crossing her arms. "Besides, you're not one to talk. If memory serves, you're named after a colour."
"Yeah. So?" Red replied. Crystal rolled her eyes.
"Come on, Crystal. Let's leave our guest to the hands of fate," the Kadien princess said. Crystal huffed and rose, picking up her singing crystal and leaving with her companion. Red glared after them, then began to plot. This was his one and only chance of getting out of here. He couldn't afford to screw it up.
IZ
It was only a few minutes before Red heard the guards call to move out. He got up and peered out the window. The princess was leading them away. The Crystallian was going for the forest. He'd follow her, he decided. It was his best shot at getting there safely. It should be easier to get away, now that he wasn't being hunted, but he wasn't going to let his guard down either.
He slipped out of the castle unhindered and made his way through the streets, following Crystal's path. It was only about ten minutes before he was entering the woods almost on her heels. She was just pretending he wasn't there, which he was perfectly fine with. Eventually, she split off from him, and he was left alone. He shifted a bit and nervously looked around. He'd really prefer not to get lost out here. Hmm… He made his way to the top of a tree to try and get a sense of where he was. His antennae twitched, trying to pick up a familiar sound. He saw a bit of smoke in the distance, but whether that was the king and his guests searching for the Irken who'd broken through, or the Irken themselves, he didn't know. Maybe it was his best bet to make for it.
Climbing back down, he headed towards where he'd seen the plume, listening carefully for anything coming near. It was twenty minutes before he heard a sound. "My Tallest!" a voice called out. He caught his breath, freezing with eyes widening. He knew that voice. The Comms Officer! He looked quickly in its direction and scrambled towards it on his PAK's legs. "My Tallest!" the voice called again.
"Here! I'm here!" Red cried out really hoping he wasn't hearing things. He heard the scurrying of a PAK approaching him and could have cheered. He shoved through the bushes and gasped, seeing the officer hurrying his way. "Here!" he called.
The Comms Officer looked quickly over and his eyes widened. "My Tallest!" he exclaimed. "You're alive!"
"Get me out of here!" Red insisted, racing to him. "Tell me you can!"
"When I saw your signal move from the castle into the forest, I was afraid they'd done something to you and were intending to hide the evidence. Hurry, My Tallest. This way," the Comms Officer said.
"Hide the evidence?" Red asked.
"It would have ended badly for everyone if Tallest Purple ever learned you had been killed," the Comms Officer said.
"Pur. Did you save Pur?" Red immediately asked, eyes wide.
"No, My Tallest. All attention has been focused on you. It was believed you would have a better chance of saving Tallest Purple than he would have of saving you," the Comms Officer said.
"Next time don't assume and send half of you after him!" Red angrily replied. "We've gotta get out of this forest. They're searching for you as we speak!"
"I know. I've spent far too long already avoiding them or trying to lead them away from the ship," the Comms Officer dryly said.
"How did you manage this?!" Red demanded.
"The Voot Runner is outdated, but small and hard to detect. It'll be a tight squeeze, so you should take it. I've seen allied ships here. I'll join one of them."
"I mean, even I could've done that," Red said.
"Our enemies brought them with them just to make sure they couldn't help you, but eventually they'll give up searching and our allies will be allowed to go home," the Comms Officer said.
"You're getting in the Voot Runner with me," Red dryly said. "Contact Tak the minute we get back on the Massive! She's getting another chance to prove herself an invader. Kadien is done for. Probably. We'll figure that out later."
"Do you have that authority, Sir? To make her an invader?" the Comms Officer asked.
"Why not? Mom and dad did it for me and Purple. I mean, it was never official, but it was as good as," Red replied, brushing it off. "It won't be official for Tak either, but when she's finally able to take the test again it will be."
"Tallest Miyuki and Tallest Spork did what now?" the Comms Officer asked.
"Finally we know something about our parents that no one else does," Red said. "They stuck us on a planet, told us to invade it, we did the job, end of story. Why Miyuki told us to do something that only disappointed her is anyone's guess. Probably Spork's influence."
"Disappointed her?" the Comms Officer asked as they reached the Voot Cruiser and jammed themselves into it.
"I just wanted to make her proud, okay?!" Red blurted. The Comms Officer blinked at him in surprise. "But oh no, not me! Her precious Purple did, but not me. She told me to invade it! What did she expect would happen?"
"I feel like I'm missing something," the Comms Officer said.
"Never mind," Red grumbled, taking off in the Voot Cruiser and making for space.
The Comms Officer stared at him a moment. "I don't know the story behind that, or what happened, but have you considered it might not have been disappointment she felt? Maybe it was just concern."
"Doesn't matter anymore now, does it?" Red asked.
"The influence she held in your lives didn't die when she did," the Comms Officer replied. "Neither did your father's." Red was quiet, tentatively allowing himself to think back.
IZ
He stared at the planet determinedly, hand locked on the trigger as the countdown kept going. He wondered how Purple was dealing with this. His brother had kind of liked the place and had asked more than once if they really had to destroy it. His only answer had been 'We're invaders, it's what we do', and that answer he knew hadn't cut it for Purple. He really didn't get why Pur was having such a hard time of this. It wasn't hard to pull a trigger. Not when it came to something like this. This was what they'd been told to do. This was the mission Tallest Miyuki and Spork had sent them on. They had to see it through. They had to prove themselves to them. They had to show them that they could do it.
"It's easier to pull a trigger on a statistic than it is to pull it on a person, isn't it?" he heard Tallest Miyuki say from behind. How long had she been watching him, he wondered. His jaw ticked a bit, but his eyes stayed locked on the planet. "It's easier to kill when there are no faces and names to think of." There were some faces, Red inwardly replied, but not many. Purple had always been the more social one. He, on the other hand, was good at staying indifferent and distant from others when he needed to be. "Are you alright?" she asked gently.
"Fine," he replied curtly. "Just statistics, remember? Not like they matter in the grand scheme of things anyway."
"Individuals matter less," she said.
"Is this a philosophy lesson suddenly?" he asked. She was quiet a beat and he regretted how bitter that had sounded.
"Destruction isn't always the way, you know," she soon said.
"You wanted this, not us!" Red replied, looking sharply back at her.
"Spork wanted this. I've always preferred harnessing resources to disposing of them."
"You said there was nothing else we could take from them," he said.
"I know," she replied. "There isn't."
"I really don't get what you're trying to do right now. Talk me out of it?"
She was quiet for a moment. "I wish this was harder for you than it was," she soon said.
"Sorry to be your disappointment," he replied, turning away from her again.
"You're not, darling. You could never be my disappointment. I wish this was harder for you because then I would be able to tell whether you truly wanted this or whether you were doing it just to appease me and Spork. As is, I'm only left to guess at your inner thoughts and feel guilty that perhaps it's for our sakes you're choosing this path."
Red was quiet. "I get why it needs to be destroyed. I'm doing it for the sake of the collective."
"Are you, Red?" she asked. He was quiet. "I know there's more going on inside of you than this. I don't understand why you won't let me see it. I want… I want to help you. I want to reassure you if reassurance is needed. I want you to be alright."
"I'm fine!" Red insisted.
"Red…" she began.
"I'm sorry I'm not more like Purple, okay?! I'm sorry I don't wear my heart on my sleeve! I'm sorry I don't make it easy for you. I just… I want… I want to make you proud! I want to, but every step I take just seems like it upsets you more! Will sparing them make you happy when you said yourself they were slated for destruction? Will taking them out please you when you clearly don't want them gone? What am I supposed to do here, mo… Miyuki?! What am I supposed to do?!"
"I didn't come here to stop you from doing what must be done. I won't be disappointed when you pull that trigger. I only wanted to make sure you would be alright."
"I say I am, and you tell me you wish it was harder for me than it is! Do you want me to be upset?" he asked.
"I want the chance to be there for you!" she replied. "That's all I want, my darling. That's all I want. To be there for you if you need me. And if you don't, that's alright too. I'll praise you for your good work and that will be the end of it. Why do you choose instead to come at me hostilely? That tells me you might not be as alright as you pretend, and that worries me because I can't help you if you don't let me know something is wrong! I hate that I can't help you!"
He stared at her with eyes wide and suddenly vulnerable. Uneasily he looked back at the planet. "You said yourself. It's easier when it's a statistic," he finally and quietly said.
"Easier, yes, but not easy in and of itself," she said.
"I'm fine," he quietly said.
"Red…" she began.
"I'm fine! I'm… I just… I get it," he said. She was quiet. "Maybe I just don't totally agree with it."
Miyuki floated over to him and looked down on the planet. "I know you'll be alright when all is said and done," she finally said. "But I'm here for you in the moment you're not." He looked up at her somewhat nervously, then back at the planet.
"Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One," the robotic voice said.
Red pulled the trigger without hesitation and stared silently as the planet was obliterated. As the debris slowly faded away, and some chunks of it flew by, he let out a shaking breath. He felt his moth… Miyuki's arms wrapping around him and turned towards her, closing his eyes and swallowing. "It won't feel like this always," she promised.
"I know," he said. "It's easier when it's a statistic." She was quiet. "Will it get easier when it isn't too?"
"Don't let go of the part of you that chooses to preserve life. Individuals can be a valuable resource in and of themselves," she said. "I'm glad you took after me in that."
"But not glad I didn't take after you in this?" he said.
"That doesn't matter right now. What matters right now is wrapping this little mission of yours up. You did excellently, my darling."
"Are you happy that I did?" he asked.
"No," she confessed. "But more for your sake. In the end, you did what had to be done. That's all that matters."
"Is it?" he asked. Her grip on him tightened gently, and he closed his eyes fearing he'd disappointed her after all.
IZ
Looking back on it now, he didn't feel like that anymore. Didn't feel like he'd disappointed her that is. Maybe the Comms Officer was right. Maybe it had been concern after all. Maybe it had just been a topic neither of them were in the headspace to have right then. Maybe it was a conversation they would have had eventually if she hadn't…
"My Tallest?" the Comms Officer gently said. Red blinked a few times and glanced at him. "You're tearing up," the Comms Officer said.
"Space dust," Red replied, looking away from him again.
The Comms Officer watched him quietly. He really wished he would stop. "Yes, My Tallest," the officer finally said, looking away. Red doubted highly the guy had bought that line of malarky, but he was glad he was at least pretending he had. Red flew to the Massive and opened the Voot Runner. The Comms Officer climbed out. Red followed him out, trailing behind, but subtly began drifting towards a Spittle Runner. He glanced back at the Comms Officer, then climbed quietly inside. He pressed a few buttons. The Comms Officer suddenly seemed to realize he wasn't there and turned quickly around. Said Officer's eyes widened. "My Tallest!" he exclaimed.
"Keep the spaceship gang in order. I'm going after my brother. Catch up when you can," Red said.
"But My Tallest, it's safer to…" the Comms Officer began.
"See ya!" Red said, peeling out of the Massive and into space.
"My Tallest!" he heard the officer cry in dismay, but he ignored it. He was finding Purple no matter what it took.
IZ
Purple floated through space in Tenn's Spittle Runner completely alone. She'd told him to go. She had a backup Voot Cruiser on standby for when she got off the planet, she claimed. He hadn't been sure how he felt about that, but Red was out there somewhere waiting for him, so he hadn't really argued her either. Just thanked her and went. He really should reward her somehow though. Maybe send her a battle tank for her mission. Or that stupid-looking Megadoomer X-3. Actually, the X-4 was on the line, and it didn't share some of the same glitches, so maybe he'd send her one of those instead. Give her a premium upgrade hot off the factory floor!
He tried to scan for any Irken ships nearby. Space was a big and scary place when you were navigating it alone, he realized uneasily. He looked around. It was so beautiful and always seemed so peaceful, but really it was a pretty wild place. Just distances were too far to really matter to anything. Still, it sometimes still sort of scared him. He got no signal from an Irken ship, so broadened the waves. There was no ship at all anywhere nearby. Well, that was horrifying. It was okay. He could do this. Just keep heading for Kadien was all he had to do. He would get there and he'd find Red and they'd reunite and things would be good again. They'd make Perth and Kadien pay and call it a day. Week. Months? How long had they been separated now? Not months. No way could they have handled months apart. A few weeks maybe. That sounded more likely. He missed him. He really, really missed him. He scanned again for any nearby ships not really expecting a change, and sure enough there wasn't. Kadien wasn't too far though. A few days was all. He could handle a few days alone. Yep. Alone. Totally alone. All alone in the big, empty, vacuum of nothingness. Oh he really, really regretted not trying to talk Tenn into coming with him.
IZ
Red pushed the Spittle Runner to its absolute limit tearing through space, and it still felt like he was getting nowhere! It wasn't fast enough! He knew Perth was only a few days away, but he wanted it to be just a few minutes. This being separated from Purple thing was really starting to grate on him. He didn't like it. He wanted his twin here now! It wasn't right if he wasn't. Things went bad if he wasn't. They were supposed to always be together. Always. He looked around the empty space. It was surreal really, to see the sky so clear and unobstructed. No lights or anything. Just darkness. Space scared Purple sometimes, he knew. It scared him too, but he'd always been more awed by it than scared. He didn't like the idea of Purple being scared and alone out there somewhere. He was supposed to be there with his brother so Purple didn't get freaked out.
He scanned for any ships that might be nearby but only registered the armada which was gathering up to pursue him. He kind of wished they'd just let him do this on his own, but whatever. Probably safer this way anyway. The sooner he could get Purple off Perth the better. Was Purple still on Perth? Was Purple still okay? What if something had happened to him? What if he'd been killed or something? What if…? No, he couldn't let himself think that way. He had to focus. Get to Perth, save his brother, get back to the Armada, make the two planets pay, make the Resisty pay. Ugh, what if he ran into them out here? He really would rather not think about that. He checked the radar again not really expecting a change. There wasn't one. Figured. Eventually luck would find him though. He hoped. It certainly owed him a big one at this point. Maybe Purple had escaped Perth. What if he was heading to Kadien? What if they just flew right passed each other and his brother got captured there trying to find him? He really needed to stop thinking about the what-ifs. Everything would be okay, he told himself. Everything would be okay.
IZ
It was on the second day that it happened. They appeared on one another's radars and their hearts nearly stopped. First from fear, then from hope. Immediately they went to reach out to each other. Purple was faster. "Red?" he hopefully said, hailing the other.
"Purple!" Red exclaimed happily.
"Red, you're alive!" Purple cried in joy. "Are you okay? What happened? How did you get away? I kept getting really bad feelings something was going wrong and you were hurt and…"
"Forget about me! We'll talk about it later. What about you? Are you okay? How did you get away? I wasn't sure if you were even still alive! Just the nightmares and the uneasy feelings…" Red said.
"I'm okay, Red. I'm okay," Purple said, sounding like he was in tears. Not that Red could blame him. He was too.
"Good, Pur. Good," Red said, voice wavering. "The spaceship gang isn't far behind. Just-just come straight to me, okay?"
"I am. I am," Purple said.
"It's okay now. We're gonna be okay. We'll be together again soon and everything will be back to normal. We can snack and take over planets and play with puppets and everything! We can go out into space like we planned and fly in a straight line like we planned, and nothing bad will happen again! Nothing," Red said.
"Can we blow stuff up and organize another probing day?" Purple hopefully said.
"We'll do whatever we want, Pur. Anything. Who can stop us? We're Tallest and together we're unstoppable," Red replied.
"I missed you, Red. Like, a lot," Purple said.
"I missed you too, Pur," Red admitted. "I really, really missed you too."
"But it'll be okay again soon! It'll be okay. Nothing gets to separate us ever again," Purple said.
"Not a chance, brother. Not a chance," Red said smiling. Purple laughed happily. "Just-just stay on communications, okay? So I know everything's alright."
"You too," Purple said.
"Definitely. We're only a few hours away from each other by now. It's not gonna be too long before we join up again."
"Good. It was getting kinda lame being apart," Purple said.
"No kidding," Red dryly said. "I'll see you soon, okay?"
"Okay," Purple replied.
IZ
Excitedly the two ships danced around each other as they raced back towards the armada. Playfully they rammed into each other as each tried to get ahead of their counterpart, both beaming happily with grins wider than any they'd ever sported before. They beelined straight for the Massive the moment they saw it and reached the docking bay at the same time, driving the two Spittle Runners inside. The second they were parked, the two leapt out and floated swiftly to each other, hugging tightly.
"Aww…" the collective Irkens present said.
"Get back to work!" Red barked, frowning in some annoyance at the observing eyes.
"Yeah! You have jobs to do and so do we," Purple backed. The two floated towards the Bridge.
"My Tallest!" the Comms Officer exclaimed in relief when they entered.
"Set course in a straight line! We're gearing up to do a little planet-destroying," Red said.
"A-a what now?" the Comms Officer said.
"You heard him. Straight line. Everybody to work. Chop, chop," Purple said. "Nothing good ever came of breaking from a straight line anyway."
"Um, of course, My Tallest," the confused officer replied. "A straight line it is."
"Did you contact Tak about Kadien?" Red asked.
"No one's been able to reach her yet, Sirs," the Comms Officer said.
"Keep trying on and off, but if she doesn't start answering soon, we'll hand the job to someone else. For now, though, let's line up the planets we're hitting in our straight line."
"This is exciting!" Purple said.
"I think so too," Red said. "Once we set this up, though, we're discussing what happened to each other on Kadien and Perth.
"Right," Purple said. "To destruction and beyond!" Evilly the two Tallest laughed as the Massive surged ahead surrounded by the armada…
Epilogue
"What?!" Lard Nar exclaimed. "How did they get away from Kadien and Perth both?! That doesn't even make any sense!"
"Perth was… underprepared. We had no idea how volatile their PAKs could be. Or how masterful of combatants they were," the Perthling Emperor admitted.
"It's unclear to Kadien how Tallest Red escaped. We suspect it was the Irken who managed to sneak passed our defences. We never found them either," the Kadien king said, looking uneasy.
Lard Nar sighed in exasperation. "Fine. The Resisty will handle it. Next time, though, make sure they're not going anywhere! You had everything going for you, for goodness' sake! We even left them on the planets they'd be least efficient on and somehow…! Never mind! The Resisty shall start to plan. We'll plan like we've never planned before! The Tallest won't escape us again. Never!" The Resisty cheered, echoing their leader's sentiment loudly.
IZ
As it turned out, the Resisty's planning wasn't necessary. They watched on, mouths agape, as the Armada was sucked into the Florpus hole probably never to be seen again. There was a long, stunned pause. "Wow that was anticlimactic," Shloonktapooxis finally said, breaking the silence. "What now?"
Lard Nar blinked, processing what he'd just seen, then quickly attempted to throw a plan together on the fly. They hadn't expected anything even remotely like this to happen. "Now we go home and we wait. Don't let your guards down. There's no guarantee they won't find their way out of there again. Monitor the hole closely. We'll soon see for sure whether the Tallest are gone forever or just temporarily out of the way," Lard Nar replied, dead serious and frankly a little unsettled by all of this. "There's no telling what will come out of that hole when it's all over." The Resisty member at the helm grunted in response and turned the ship back the way they had come. Lard Nar, though, couldn't help but look uneasily back. Something told him this was going to end very, very badly. For once, he was glad it wasn't the Resisty's fault...
END