Author's Notes: Alright guys I know it takes forever for me to finish the last few chapters of a story, but I've been in kind of a rut lately. Got a lot of stressful changes coming up and it's effecting my work. But I have found that just writing helps, just getting started is the hard part. Anyway here it goes, Thanks for reading and please enjoy.

Yours Truly, RoxieDivine :)

Episode 15- The Last Stand (Part 4)

(Back with Zim…)

How they managed to make it to Earth's moon without blowing up was astounding to him, and Zim was still in disbelief that he managed to pull it off. Still, they hadn't made it completely unscathed, as he feared his constant fight to keep his Hyperspeed mods going had over heated his control panel. Luckily he was smart enough to activate his ship's cloaking before the overheating had occurred allowing him to stay undetected. Still, they were drifting forward closer to Earth with every second, and Zim had to manually stir the ship to avoid enemy vessels as they passed them.

"How long do we have to wait here like sitting ducks?" Scamooch whispered. He knew he didn't have to speak so quietly. There was no way the enemy could detect their presents, even if they were practically drifting right in front of the blockade. Still, being this defenseless, this close to the enemy was nerve racking.

Worse still most if not all of their army was just as dead in the water as they were.

"The system needs to cool down." Zim answered, he felt like he was sitting in the middle of a mined filed, and in a way they were. Just one bump into an enemy ship would alert the enemy of their presence.

"If we cool down the engine's core directly it will help us get back on line faster." Scamooch thought out loud.

Zim knew this was the best course of action, but with no system controls on the bridge it would mean they would have to go down to the core themselves. Cooling down the core manually was a two man job. And with only three of them on board it meant that only one of them would remain by the controls.

Razor knew that someone would have to be him. He was far too green to be of any help to them down below. If he went with Zim to the core, Zim would have to talk him through how to execute the cooling down procedures. This would make the process that much longer, and they had little time to begin with. "I'll be fine." He assured them.

"Siring still works." Zim said, wasting no time getting up from the controls and ushering the elder Amon to take his place. "Just avoid the enemy ships and you will be fine."

"What about the others?" Scamooch asked. Of course he was referring to the rest of the fleet, he knew some of them must be floating aimlessly around the blockade as they were now.

"We don't have Comms." Zim said. "All systems are down, and we can't risk trying another route of communication. It could alert the enemy of our presents."

Scamooch knew he was right, but he really hated the situation, they were practically going in blind. Still, they were also slowly gaining an unforeseen advantage. If they could get past the entire blockade undetected and attack the enemy from behind it would catch them by surprise. It would also reverse their rolls. Suddenly the Irken Armada would be the ones with a blockade between them and Earth.

It was a good strategy one they hadn't thought of until now, mostly due to the fact that they had expected more of a challenge. However, the Armada was making easy mistakes, like having a formation that was far too wide. They also had no deflector shields up to keep cloaked ships from passing by. Of course Zim knew what the problem was in an instant. Red had disbanded the top twelve, and with them back on Earth with him the troops had no fleet commanders to give them orders. Instead, some inexperienced soldier was probably taking charge, and it showed. The army before them had no direction at all. In fact Zim was beginning to think that each ship was working as an individual unit rather than acting as one driving force.

If Kazar were here, everyone would follow the ex-general's lead without question. After all, he had a reputation for success that no one could ignore. Said reputation would command a level of respect that no rookie would ever hope to possess. In short, this fleet of Irken ships before them was not the Irken Armada, at least not as they were once known. Without leaders to guide them, they were directionless soldiers with no leg to stand on.

"My how the people fallen." Razor whispered gravely.

"The others will see it too and follow our lead I know it." Zim assured them both.

"Go, I got this." Razor assured him once more.

"Scamooch, let's move!" Zim ordered, not wasting anymore time. As uneasy as it made him to leave an unexperienced elder at the controls; he had no choice. Razor was his partner now, and he had to start trusting him to have his back.

Scamooch obeyed without question, he knew there was no room for doubt, especially at a time like this. All he could do was hope that the others were smart enough to see the obvious victory before them.

(Back with Gaz…)

Gaz grunted as she shimmied through the access panel towards the engine core. "Why is it so cramped?" She growled harshly.

"Had to make the ships as small as possible in order to increase speed output." Qualm answered meekly. The Vort wasn't usually so timid, but Taller Zim's mate was just so scary he couldn't help but fear for his life.

Gaz avoided the urge to rip her new companion limb from limb. Each ship was manned by a crew of three. Again this had to do with the ships being so small. "I get it, we had to make them in a rush." She said as she sucked in her gut to get pass a few pipes. "But not all aliens are as small as you Vorts."

"Noted." Qualm squeaked. He had been so proud of the ship once it was complete, having design it himself; and thought it was a flawless design at the time. He wasn't so sure now. After all, Gaz was right, Qualm was about average height for a Vort, and with his usual purplish skin and pale yellowish green eyes he wasn't much different than most individuals of his race. So in short he should have thought of his other, taller companions.

Gaz notices his distress and tries a more, delicate approach. "It's fine." She assured him. "The ship did its job and got us here, now we just need to get everything back online so we can keep the enemy busy for Zim."

Qualm nodded. The plan was a simply one, and they were sure the others would pick up on it easily enough. The Irkens were obviously floating around the planet with no direction or leadership. This wasn't really a blockade. No a blockade was a fighting unstoppable force, an impregnable wall of one single minded opponent.

The enemy before them now was more like an aimless mob of an army sent here to keep them out. If the rebels could ease past them without detection they could become their own blockade allowing Zim to reach the surface of the planet unopposed.

Gaz smiled as the ships engine core finally comes into her line of sight. "Okay there are two manual switches." She said out loud. "I'll get the one to the left of the core and you get the right."

"Right." Qualm agreed. "Remember we must turn them at the exact time or else we'll risk damaging the core." He moves past her and heads over to his chosen switch.

Gaz nodded as she squeezed through the last gap between her and her target. She only fits half way, and sadly the switch is just out of reach.

"I am in position." Qualm reports.

"Almost there." Gaz growled. Curse her curves, if she were Zim; she'd fit right through like an agile cat! She finally gives one last tug and manages to move just enough inches forwards to reach the switch with the tips of her fingers. She tries not to think about the hell it's going to be to try and get out later as she yells. "I'm ready."

"On three." Qualm shouts back. "One…"

"Two…" Gaz shouts.

"Three…" The two spoke as one and flipped their switch…

(Back with Zim…)

"Got it!" Zim yelled as they flipped the switch. He grunted in the tight space. Seriously whoever designed these ships were going to get an earful from him later.

Razor tensed as his siring was disabled momentarily, then the controls roared back to life.

It happens almost simultaneously, over half of the rebel forces appears behind the blockade, their cloaking disabled from the reboot of the engine core.

"Zim they can see us!" Razor yelled. "He wasn't sure if this was true, if all of the enemy troops were facing ahead of them instead of back of at the planet they were still good. However, just being uncloaked made him feel entirely exposed. After all, even if a soldier didn't physically see them the ships should detect them now that their cloaking was disabled.

"Put up the shield!" Zim screamed as he tries to worm his way out and back to the entrance of the access panel.

Scamooch who was small enough to turn himself around was already racing to get out and back to the bridge.

"The shield?" Razor looks at the controls in a panic. "Which button was that again?"

"Oh Irk help us." Zim hadn't meant for the silent pray to be out loud.

"I'm coming my Taller!" Scamooch yelled as he climbs out of the access panel and into the hall.

Zim however was forced to army crawl inch for inch. Of course this was how the universe would decide to kill him. Not in a flame of glory, but while desperately trying to free himself from a tight squeeze. He manages to break free of the access panel and bolts for the bridge.

Scamooch reaches Razor just as the chaos begins to unfold around them. Suddenly all of their ships are no longer cloaked, no doubt this is due to them rebooting their engine cores. Luckily about half of them are behind the enemy with Earth clear in sight.

(Aboard one of the Irken ship's…)

"Sir enemy ships are starting to pop up all over our radar." A soldier reported to the acting Commander on deck.

"What? How is that possible?" Mookie, looks nervous as he sees the reading for himself. He's nervous because he wasn't really a commander. He was simply the highest ranking soldier on deck, however this didn't mean he had much more experience than the others and he most certainly did not have their respect.

Still, he had time he could fix this, the enemy appeared to be defenseless. There weapons off line and zero shields. Yes, he could turn this around all he had to do was…

The chaos exploded around him within seconds, not that a seasoned warrior would be surprised. Most if not all space battles involving Irkens were short and sweet. However, the only difference this time was while an Irken was victorious it was not Mookie or any other Member of the Irken Armada.

The rebel ships suddenly came online as one, like they were one massive ship instead of several separate pieces on a forgotten chess board. Weapons were hot in ready in seconds, which meant they had no safety protocols in place. This was bad, such measures meant that this was a Hail Mary; these rebels planned to end this fight one way or another.

"Fools." Eli, a seasoned soldier scoffed. "This is the sloppiest ambush I have ever seen."

However, it's not the ambush they should be focused on. No the greatest threat to them is already behind them.

And as the enemy ships power their shields and fire their blasters; Zim having reached the bridge dives behind the controls and drops his ship in to Earth's atmosphere.

"Sir one of the ships behind us have made it through!" A small soldier reported.

"Quickly, send a drone to shoot it dow-." Mookie never get to finish the order before one of the enemy ships take out their communications with one quick and concise attack.

Several more Irken Fighters moved in and fired their cannons, however with the enemy having them boxed in it quickly becomes apparent that they have lost the upper hand in this fight.

"Zim be careful." Gaz shouted over the Comms. Once more anger filled her that she could not be with him. Still she was needed here, and trying to bulldoze her way through now would no doubt just end up getting her killed.

Zim smiled. "I'll be back before you know it." He vowed as he continued his decent. Some drones must have detected his breach of the outer atmosphere because before long he was weaving and dodging enemy fire.

Back in Earth's orbit Lard Nar and the rest of the Rebel troops quickly continue to gain the upper hand. The Rebel ships that have managed to get past the blockade, have now formed one of their own. They fire any Irken ship that gets too close, of course The Irken fighters had shields of their own but no shield was perfect. With every hit the shield were weakened, and being boxed in meant they were constantly hit from all sides.

With the Armada busy, Zim focused on the drones there were eight of them and they dived for him like heat seeking missiles. He knows there is only one way to lose them, he has no time to take aim and take fire without giving another one a chance at causing some sever damage.

Scamooch yelps as the ship takes a nose dive for Zec. "Are you crazy, we'll crash?"

"That's the idea!" Zim yelled, as he reached for his communicator. He could only hope Dib and the others had managed to get inside the castle. He types a text one handed without even looking. He hopes it makes since cause he really needed Dib to tell him where to be!

(Meanwhile Back with Dib…)

Running from Red was perhaps the scariest thing he had ever done in his life. Scarier than tracking down a monstrous Zim through town. Scarier than running from a rouge Koi through the school late at night, and much scarier than that time that Zim tried to switch his brain with a mongoose. Needless to say he was seriously regretting this plan of his. On the bright side it was working! Red was chasing after him without a second thought. Passing right by the other rebels and not even turning around as they closed doors and sealed off hallways behind them. Yes, the plan was working, but at what cost? As silly as it sounds Dib was just now realizing that at the end of this long chase he would most likely be trapped inside the throne room with a derange Red, who thought he was Zim!

Seriously was he just now thinking of this!?

He nearly jumps out of his skin as his communicator goes off, he doesn't even dare to look down at it. Who could be texting him right now anyway? Certainly this wasn't worth getting killed over, but it could very well be. So without much thought he dives into a room and reaches for the communicator as Red comes racing by. The deranged Tallest keeps going as Dib reads:

I here…where…land?

"What the?" He felt so ridiculous, like: "stupid kid answers the phone in the middle of a horror movie chase scene" ridiculous!

It was from Zim and for some reason his racing mind was having trouble processing the message. "Okay take it slow." He said to himself. "Zim is here, that's great, and: he…where…land! He wants to land!"

Castle

Dib text back as if it was obvious. He gets up and peaks around the corner, he doesn't see Red, so he moves to run when his communicator beeps again. Dib nearly jumps out of his skin, "Seriously?"

Duh! Where in Castle

Wait he was going to land in the castle.

Ha! Knowing Zim he'd probably crash…Of course he wanted to crash! Dib resisted the urge to strangle himself as he typed one word.

Throne

"There you are!"

Dib barley has time to dodge and even though he manages he does not get away unscathed. He hisses as pain radiates from his shoulder and down his arm. He's a sitting duck, death by texting that was to be his fate.

Suddenly Kazar comes out of nowhere and manages to dig his spear right clean through Red's stomach. "GO!" He yells as he kicks Red backwards.

Dib runs, not daring to look back, he could only guess that someone had clued Kazar and the other Amons in on what was really going on.

Red roars in furry and whips around towards the other Amon. Kazar however, is already long gone, and was wise enough to go in the opposite direction as Dib. He knows Red will go for the greater threat, and he does. Pausing only briefly to rip the spear out of his stomach before he gives chase. He races after Zim, the source of all his raged, the one who killed his partner in crime. He would have him and he would kill him, destroy him, rip him into shreds until there was nothing left to recognize.

"Why are you running Zim?" Red taunted, following by a deranged cackle that had Dib's blood running cold. "Too scared to face me like a real Irken?" Something is wrong, he sees the warnings like a neon sign.

Zim was not acting like he usually would. He was never one to run from a fight, not in less it led to some sort of trap. Red knows the smart thing to do was to slow down, think this though, but he is so full of rage he misses the obvious clues. Like how Zim is moving a lot slower then he should, or how his blood should be pink instead of red!

Dib keeps running, weaving through corridors and racing down halls in a frantic mess. He is losing a lot of blood, and passing out before he makes it to the throne room was now a sure possibility. Of course he'd never be able to get in if Tesi and the others hadn't hacked the castle's computer brain yet. He tries not to panic as he keeps up the chase. He can vaguely see the faces of his comrades out of the corner of his eyes. Their obvious horror at his current condition was hard to miss even in his state, but he forced a smile and kept going.

Worrying them now would only hinder the mission. Something that couldn't happened now, not when they were so close. Zim was here, Dib just had to make it to the throne room and hope everything went according to plan.

(Back with Tesi…)

Hacking the castle's computer brain had not been an easy task, and with no real world experience to rely on it was a miracle that she had gotten this far.

"He's almost there." Tak warned over her shoulder to her. She was talking about Dib, he was almost at the throne room. If Tesi didn't hurry, if Dib and Red arrived at that door even a second before she could finish breaking through…then Dib could suffer for it.

"Almost…" Tesi promised. "Just a second…"

"He'll be dead in a second!" Tak hissed, she knew she needed to stay calm, Pressuring Tesi could force her to make a mistake. Still, she could see Dib on the tracker; and she could see how close Red was getting to him. Just seeing how close Dib was to danger made her feel sick to her stomach. She knew this was hardly the time to be considering her feelings for him, but then again this might be her last chance.

"Your harsh words are not helping." Mia warned her. "This is not a simple task, not just anyone can hack a computer brain."

Tak knew she was right and she forced herself to acknowledge her mistake. She takes a deep breath and says. "You're right, I forgot myself." Admitting that they are wrong is not in an Irken's nature, so she was surprised it came so easily for her. Perhaps her time with Dib and more so Gaz, had changed her in ways she never thought possible.

It's in that moment that Mia seems to notice her distress for what it really is. "He'll be fine." She assured her.

"What are you going on about?" Tak asked playing dumb.

"The Dib, you're worried." Mia teased slightly.

"Me? Worried for that worm? Preposterous!" Tak lied.

Mia didn't buy it for a second. "Right…" She teased.

Tak went to argue, but was interrupted when Tesi exclaimed. "I'm in!" She wastes no time punching in the command to open the throne room doors. She then navigates to the drone operation commands. She turns off their lethal settings and gives new orders for them to aid and assist the humans below. While others begin to clear the streets of the dead.

Meanwhile, Jamie and her team have made it to the front entrance of the castle. As she feared it is heavily guarded by armed drones. "Okay guys we just have to hold tight here and hope the others can turn this situation around…" She stops as the drones' red lights turn a soft blue and the castle doors open.

The rebels point their weapons at the drones that are now right in front of them. They were now fully exposed.

"The Irkens set us up!" One of the adults exclaimed harshly.

"No wait!" Jamie orders them to stand down.

A single drone turns to face them, no one dares to move! "Aid and assist protocols activated." It said in a tone that was somewhat calming. "How can I be of assistance?"

Jamie stands up slowly from her crouched position. "We need help defending this position." She told the drone. "There is a rogue Amon inside. Do you understand?"

"Strong hold defense Protocols are now in place." The drone answered simply. "Lockdown procedures activated. Lockdown will not be lifted until Rogue Amon is neutralized."

Suddenly two drones go back into lethal mode and race into the castle before heavy metal doors a drop down to block the entrance. Soon all entrances and windows are also closed off by thick heavy metal. Leaving Jamie and her team outside with their new drone allies.

At the same moment Dib enters the hallway leading to the throne room, he sees the door is open, but to his dismay it's slowly closing! He forces himself to run faster, he can practically feel Red's breath on his neck. Red is not really that close though, and even if Dib makes it, Red may be shut out. Luckily, Red speeds up as Dib does, and they both dive through and two drones join them moments before it closes.

"Nowhere to go now…Zim." Red cackled.

"Oh trust me." Dib said turning off his disguise as the two drones stand beside him, one to his left the other to his right, weapons aimed at Red. "I have you right where I want you..."

(Back with Jamie…)

"A Ship is approaching." The drone reports. "Passengers; 3 Irkens, two Amons, one Shrew. Intent unknown. Shall I neutralize them?"

"NO!" Jamie exclaimed. "That's the Tallers, they are here to handle Red…I mean the Rogue." She corrected herself, trying to calm down. She wasn't sure the drones would continue helping if they knew their current Tallest was their target.

"Tallest Red is compromised." The drone conclude. "Command Override, all pervious orders given by Tallest Red have been lifted. All soldiers have been ordered to stand down and await further action."

Instantly, the battle above Earth's atmosphere stops, all Irken soldiers have been locked out of their controls. Their ships float aimlessly in Earth's orbit as the Rebel forces hold their ground between them and Earth.

"What happened?" Gaz asked over the Comms. "Why did they stop?"

"This Tesi reporting from the Tallest Command. I repeat, this is Tesi reporting from Tallest Command." Tesi's voice ranged out over both Rebel and Irken Comms. "Tallest Red has been relieved of command and will be neutralized shortly. All Irken soldiers are to stand down. I repeat any lethal action towards the rebel forces will be seen as a violation of a direct order and will result in your immediate execution."

"They did it." Lard Nar's voice was stunned. "We have control of Earth." The Rebels began to cheer over their Comms, congratulating each other. The Irken scourge that had plagued them for so long had been neutralized, but even still the threat was not complete over.

"The rest is up to Zim and Razor now." Miz's voice brought silence over the Comms. Her words reminded them that in order for them all to truly be free…one final battle must be won.

Gaz clenched her fist at the thought, as she whispered on final pray. "Be careful." She begged. "Just this once, don't do anything reckless…"

(Meanwhile Back with Kazar…)

"Please tell me he didn't follow you." Reed pleaded as Kazar came rushing into the medical wing.

"No He went for the decoy." Kazar assured them. At the moment Reed was patching up Ash who had suffered a serious blow when they had all faced Red head on. "Will he live?" He asked.

Reed looks skeptical." Not without the expertise of a medical drone." He revealed. "I managed to stop the external bleeding but I can't handle anything internal."

The Amons froze as Tesi's message rings out in the halls around them.

"I repeat: Tallest Red has been relieved of command and will be neutralized shortly. All Irken soldiers are to stand down. I repeat any lethal action towards the rebel forces will be seen as a violation of a direct order and will result in your immediate execution."

"Guess it's just a waiting game now." Dalk whispered.

"I'm not sure ill last the wait." Ash rasped harshly.

Suddenly Rachel comes rushing in. No doubt she's looking for medical supplies. Her expression is ghost white.

Kazar knowns it's because of Dib, she must have saw his wounds when he ran past. She stops her, hand on her shoulder.

"I have to help!" She exclaimed. "Dib…"

"Zim has him…" Kazar assured him. "We need your help now."

Rachel looks around and seems to notice Ash's condition for the first time. She can tell he is barely holding on. The other Amons don't look much better. She finds her resolve and calls over the comms. "Tesi we need drones for Medical aid in the Med Wing Stat!"

"Understood." Tesi's voice answered and she send out the order.

"You're going to be fine." Rachel assured them as she began to go into Autopilot, her time helping at the school clinic was starting to pay off. The Amons allowed her to help, no doubt trusting that they were in good hands.

And once the drones arrived they were fast to aid her and soon she was busily at work.

She could hope Dib could manage in his condition, and that Zim would end this battle quickly; for all their sakes.

Otherwise the body count was only going to rise!

-To Be Continued