Universal War? (Part 2)

(With Goalit on Vort…)

For a moment he had feared that they would turn him down...

It was only a second spent in doubt, but it was enough to take root. Goalit bit his lip in worry it had been nearly three days since his chat with Lard Nar, and he was already feeling as if the walls around him were closing in.

Why?

Because in all his years of living, he had never rebelled against anything! Goalit had always been a blind, and faithful follower of the Irken way of life, but now it would appear that said way of life had led them all a stray. Their destructive path had caused them to be abandoned by their ancestors. Worse it had caused all their future leaders' to be eliminated by the Current Tallest.

How could he have been so blind?

Didn't he know better than to blindly follow anyone? That it may just lead to his untimely demise?

Apparently not!

And his guilt for such blindness was beginning to consume him whole. How many eager and loyal cadets did he lead into the darkness? Cadets who blindly followed him, as he blindly followed the Tallest and their murderous ways. Had he not sworn to do right by them? To teach them how to become the bright beacons of the future their Empire needed them to be.

He had, and now he had failed them, he had failed them all.

Suddenly the screen of the computer he has been working on flickers, from orange to purple, a Resisty logo flashes before his eyes.

Goalit looks around for any prying eyes, he swears he feels someone watching him, waiting for him to cross the point of no return. Waiting for him to betray everything he's ever known. He pushes the feeling away and presses on the icon.

Lard Nar appears on the screen. "My friend I bring great news."

"What did they say?" Goalit asked, still fearful.

"They are pleased to hear of his dedication to bring you all back to your roots, they wish to give him their blessing." Lard Nar said, he is careful to leave out anything important just in case they are being watched.

Goalit breathes a sigh of relief, and it feels like he is breathing for the first time in days. "That is good to hear."

"There is more." Lard Nar told him.

"More?" Goalit asked.

"They want you to gain his trust." Lard Nar explained. "They want you to monitor his growth and guide him the best you can to his goal."

"They want me to leave the empire." Goalit said, putting the true agenda into focus. "They want me to leave and become a Renegade."

"My friend I know this is hard, but they cannot come themselves. W=We plan to start a universal war against the enemy." Lard Nar explained. "They wish to put their children back in the line of light, and grace by any means necessary."

"Even if it's by force?" Goalit asked.

Lard Nar nodded.

"This is not in their nature." Goalit spoke gravely. "We have drove them to this."

"Perhaps." Lard Nar seemed to agree. "But this is your change my friend, to do right by them, by Irk, by the remaining cadets that still look up to you."

That last part is what got to him.

Didn't he promise to do right by them?

Yes, he did, and he would!

"I'll do it!" Goalit said. "I'll leave the empire, and I will guide him to his rightful place."

"Oh, my friend you do not know how happy you have made us all." Lard Nar rasped. "Finally, a universe of peace is in our grasp, but how will you get to him?"

"Tak will help me get to him, she has connections in the Renegades." Goalit informed him.

"Tak? I never thought that she would-" Lard Nar began.

"Neither did I." Goalit agreed, "But she has, and I must call upon her now. She is my only way in."

"Then I will leave you to it." Lard Nar said. "Goodbye my friend, peace be with you."

"And with you." Goalit said.

The line goes dead, and Goalit wastes no time to contact Tak. It was best not to dwell on the fact that he was about to commit terrible treason against his own people. No, if he dwelled on it too much he'd lose his nerve.

And he couldn't afford to do that, not now.

There are three ring and then she answers, she does not look well.

"Tak, you are upset." Goalit said.

It was not a question.

"Sargent Goalit, it's the Tallest they have done something horrible." Tak said softly.

Goalit bit his lip. "Again? What now?"

"A group of cadets committed crimes against some humans, and they were sentenced to death for it." Tak exclaimed. "They deactivated them in front of all the collective as a whole!" tears streamed down her face. "We had to watch them die."

Goalit zeroed in on those tears, he had never seen Tak cry in all they're time together; she was a strong female with a sound mind. However, now she resembled a piece of paper more than a harden soldier. Goalit did not blame her, he felt like melting ice himself. "I know this is tough, but our efforts are not in vain." He assured her. "Lard Nar has spoken to the Ancient, they have heard our cries, and they have already started to help."

"How?" Tak asked, still looking unsure. And who could blame her? The Ancients had turned their backs on them. How could they rely on them now?

"They have started war against the Empire and have promised to give Zim their blessing." Goalit assured her. "We will see peace one day soon, I just know it."

Light seemed to return to her eyes, Tak smiled as joy filled her, their efforts were not in vain, suddenly her communicator vibrates. "I am sorry, I have another call."

"I understand." Goalit assured her. "Good day Tak, and may peace be with you."

Tak nodded and looked down at her communicator it was Dib. She hadn't been expecting a call from him. Then again she should have been, Tak sighed as she answered her communicator.

"Your sister is fine." She said.

"Tak…"

Usually she'd scream at him and say something like "Of course it's me you dope! Who else would it be?!" But not this time, no she could hear it in his voice, something was wrong! "Dib what happened?"

"It's Zim." Dib's voice was a whispered.

"Zim what about him?"

He could hear the urgency in her voice, which only furthered his suspicions; but he was tired of beating around the bush. "Listen I know Zim is an Amon…" He practically heard her take a breath.

There was a long silence finally she spoke.

"Did he tell you?"

"No, he started acting weird, so I went to find answers, I remembered you and Zim talking about worthy ones; so, I stole a book from the library."

"Please tell me you didn't!" Tak snapped.

"What else was I supposed to do you guys were leaving us in the dark!" Dib argued back. "Anyway, I didn't make the connection until I saw Koi, his eyes glowed blue, Zim's eyes also glow! And Zim said Koi was only hurting people to ensure his place as the successor of the Tallest, and-"

"That's when you put it all together?" Tak finished for him.

"Yeah." Dib answered. "What I don't get is why not tell us?"

"It's not my place to, that's his decision." Tak told him.

"Oh…"

"Is that all you wanted to talk about?" Tak asked.

"No…"

She could hear his heavy sigh; something is up, and she knows it!

"It's Zim he…" Dib paused he almost told her about what recently happened to them, but an old warning from Zim made him stop.

"Irken females can't be trusted!"

'What if Tak is spying on us for the Tallest?' he thought. If I give her our identities now it could be over!'

"Yes, Dib what is it!" Tak snapped.

"You remember what happened the other day, involving some cadets and some humans."

"Yes, the cadets attacked another cadet and a human, plus burned down the human's home with a family member inside." Tak answered.

"Well the whole ordeal has made Zim very angry; he says he's tired of the awful things his people are doing to each other as well as the humans. Tak he says he no longer wants to save the Irken Race."

Her world shattered…

NO!

He couldn't give up on them now…

"But…we need him…" Tak whispered.

"I know you do, but Zim has completely disowned you all, and I don't know how to change his mind! I need you Tak, you're an Irken, maybe you can relate." Dib told her.

"No one can relate to what he's going through now." Tak told him.

"Yeah well I think the fact that the human victim got community service while the cadets got off scott free is really bothering him." Dib said.

"Wait what?" Tak asked. "Who told you the cadets got off scott free?"

"No one we just assumed-" Dib began.

"Oh, Irk he doesn't know!" Tak realized out loud.

"He doesn't know what?" Dib asked. "Tak what happened to those cadets?"

Tak bit her lip but forced herself to answer. "They were sentenced to death Dib; they were deactivated from their PAKs in front of the entire collective. I was there I saw it myself."

"They're dead…" Dib was stunned, he couldn't believe her; they wouldn't...would they? Dib pulled up the Irken News feed hack on his communicator, and looked up the sentencing of the cadets, just to be sure. His heart sunk as the work DEATH popped out at him in block letters. Oh God, she wasn't lying!

"Listen to me Dib and listen very carefully. We have to convince Zim to take his place as Tallest! Not just for our sake, but for everyone's sake!"

"Everyone's?" Dib asked. "What does that mean?" forgetting his shock for the moment.

"Well let's just say I've been very busy." Tak told him.

"And?" Dib pressed for more.

"And I told some people about Zim." Tak sighed.

"I thought that wasn't your place?" Dib said.

"I know, but it's a good thing I did because now Dib there's not just 27 of us anymore." Tak told him.

"What do you mean there's not just 27 members of the resistance." No answer. "Tak what did you do?"

"I told my old mentor about Zim, and he was able to get a hold of a member of a resistance front against the Irken Empire." Tak explained.

"Tak are you telling me we're allies with some random resistance in the vast of space?" Dib whispered.

"There not random, and it's not just one group." Tak assured him. "The resistance front call's themselves the Resisty, and they are allies with a force more powerful than the Irken Empire combined."

"Really who?" Dib exclaimed, excited now.

"Our Ancestors." Tak answered.

"You're Ancestors?" Dib was confused.

"Long ago our ancestors watched over us, they were like an advice council for the Tallest, but after they saw what we had become they abandon us and fled somewhere far off into the stars." Tak explained.

"But why?" Dib asked.

"Our Ancestors did not believe in violence, they worked towards peace and unity, so when we declared war on the entire universe we also declared war on them." Tak explained.

"So, they left, why come back now?" Dib asked.

"Like I said the Resisty know our Ancestors and together they harbor the few refugees that managed to escape the Tallest's wrath. I told my mentor about Zim, he told the leader of the Resisty, and their leader told our Ancestors. They think Zim will change our people for the better, they want to help him do that."

"So, we now have an entire army behind us?" Dib was ecstatic.

"Not if we don't get Zim to change his mind about disowning our race." Tak exclaimed. "Dib our Ancestors are only helping because they believe Zim wants to lead our people back to our roots. If they find out Zim has disowned us we lose our army!"

Dib's eyes widen. "What do we do?"

Tak bit her lip, pausing before she spoke.

"Tak?" Dib asked.

"I know someone who can help." She told him.

"Who?" Dib asked.

"My mentor." Tak Said. "He knew Zim when he was very young, I think he might know what to do, or say to get him back out of this downward spiral."

"I don't know Tak, Zim was ticked when I brought you into this, to bring another-" Dib reasoned.

"I know." Tak said. "But this is bigger than us, Dib. The whole universe is counting on Zim."

Dib sighs, he knows she's right, but he fears that this is all just one big trap. He could tell her that he cares less about what happened to her people, but that wasn't true. He wasn't sure when it happened, but Dib stopped hating the Irkens as a whole, for he soon learned it was the Tallest that truly held all the cards. Their followers were just blindly following, kept from the truth.

"Okay." Dib told her. "When do we meet him?"

"Tonight!" Tak insisted, "We can't wait!"

"That might be a problem." Dib admitted.

"Why?"

"We all decided to lay low for a while, there's too much heat right now." Dib explained.

"How long?"

"Weeks maybe." Dib admitted.

"We don't have weeks Dib, Zim is in a fragile state right now, if we don't get him back on the right path, with the right state of mind he could go rogue and turn into a mindless beast like Koi!" Tak exclaimed.

Dib remembered how Koi had looked at the factory, mindless, cold, and calculated. He didn't even want to imagine Zim like that. True Zim had been evil, but this was a whole new level of villainy. One that he wouldn't want to worm its way into his old foes mind. Not after all they had been through, to lose his brother that way, sure they weren't brothers by blood, but in battle they had grown a bond like no blood brothers ever could. He would do anything for Zim because he knew Zim would do anything for him!

"Fine I'll get our robot doubles back online and find a way to get Zim to come with me. Where do we meet?" Dib asked.

"Your base." Tak said.

That made Dib stop for a moment, red flags went off and everything. This was sounding more and more like a trap every second.

"Dib, you said there is too much heat, besides our usual spot is under the destroyed bridge." Tak reasoned, knowing why he had gone silent in an instant.

"Fine, but he is not going to be happy." Dib warned, "I hope this mentor of yours has an excellent way with words, cause if not we're screwed."

"I hope so too." Tak whispered. "Because right now the freedom of both of our races are hanging by a thread!"

Dib knew she was right.

Zim was the glue that held them all together as a team, if they lost him now then everything would surely fall apart.

'We can't let that happen!' He thought.

Yes, at this moment they were all hanging by a thread,

And unfortunately, that small thread was slipping!

(Back with Goalit on Vort…)

He hadn't expect her to call back so soon.

Goalit could feel his squeedlyspooch thumping hard in his chest, something was wrong he just knew it. "Tak what is it?" he asked as she appeared on the screen.

"It's Zim, he's in trouble; we all are." Tak said, a look of dread on her face.

"How bad?" Goalit asked, fearing the worse, and that's what he got.

"He's disowned us all because of what the Tallest did." Tak said gravely.

Strick determination clouded his face. "I'm on my way."

-To Be Continued