The Fall of an Empire (invader zim fanfic)

Chapter 2: Contact

It took the Armada a few days to reach the supposed planet since they were too far initially to render a high-resolution image. After finally traveling the few hundred light years between them and this new object, they we're finally able to see it for the first time.

It was orbiting a red dwarf star at an unusually far distance. Upon first glance, I didn't seem like much, but as they got closer, they began to see just how strange this thing was. As more details about its physical features became apparent, Red and Purple, along with all the other Irkens a part of the Armada, began to see firsthand why this thing was considered anomalous.

Its surface was a deep crimson red with darkly colored capillary shaped mountain chains covering its surface. From what could be seen, these mountains look eerily similar to giant blood vessels, and the texture was oddly similar to that of exposed flesh, living flesh.

Everyone within the Armada cringed at the sight of it due to its grotesque appearance. The only one who didn't share the same feeling, at least not entirely, was Red. He analyzed the celestial body before him and began to understand why the navigator was so eager to explore this place. This thing was a freak of nature in almost every meaning of the phrase. It didn't look right, and it stood out from all the other planets the empire had ever seen. It was at that moment he changed his mind.

"It seems I took this a little too lightly," Red expressed before turning back to the navigator who spoke before. "You! Stop the Armada and scan the surface. We need to see just what this thing is."

The Navigator obliged and sent out an announcement to the rest of the fleet.

"All ships within the flotilla, by order of tallest Red, our journey has come to temporary pause. Every vessel must stop proceeding for the foreseeable future until we are given the order to continue."

One by one, every single ship accompanying The Massive came to a hault. The Armada was still a fair distance away from the object in question, but they had already stopped and couldn't continue any further. Regardless, they were still able to perform accurate scans of the celestial body from their current position.

"You!" Red pointed at another Navigator. "Make sure our weapons are ready in case -" Red was cut off by Purple, disrupting his train of thought.

"What!?" Purple exclaimed with his mouth still full of donuts. "Why stop everything for one, measly little planet? We're gonna blow it up anyway, so why waste time!?"

"I know, Purple, but just look at it," Red pointed at the screen. "As true as it might be that we will blow it up anyways, we at least need to understand what this thing is if someone else hasn't already. This is a serious situation, and we must tread carefully."

"Tread carefully!? You're talking about a dumb hunk of rock the size of a large moon! Why do we need to be careful with something like this!?"

Red tried to form an answer but couldn't think of anything. The reason why he wants to be cautious in investigating this newly discovered planet was because of the unexplained radio bursts coming from a seemingly inhospitable body. Not only that, but he started feeling weird the closer he looked at it. It was almost like it knew he's there. Regardless of the unexplainable sensations, red understood immediately that the situation they're in shouldn't be met with a passing glance.

"Listen, seeing when planets are blown up is fun and all, but we have to take our time every once in a while when we come across something new," Red explained in a reasurring tone. "This is one of them, so please, don't make this harder than it has to be."

Purple wanted to retort Red's reasoning, but he couldn't think of anything to say. As much as he hates to admit it, his co-leader is right about their circumstances.

"Alright, fine. I just hope you make it quick."

Red nodded before immediately getting to work. He made sure everything was in shape and assembled a research team on the occasion they needed someone to explore the surface. This was one of the few times in a while where Red was serious and took his role as tallest to the highest regard. This was a side of him he never showed that often unless they were in a situation that had to be taken seriously. When there's no time for indifference or tomfoolery of any kind, Red was always first to take charge.

After some time, the navigator Red ordered to perform surface scans had sent him a report. It contained all the data and information collected about the celestial body from what they could tell. Upon looking at it, Red was perplexed. The data he was looking at didn't make any sense to him, but since scanners were up to date, there was no way it could have been a misread.

The report he was sent stated that this new planet was made entirely out of organic matter and had low surface gravity despite its impossible density. Not only that, but seismic readings show a steady rhythm happening underneath the surface: There was a constant 1.5 magnitude earthquake happening all around the planet before seismic activity suddenly spiked all at once a few hours later; then, it settled back to zero before returning to that 1.5 baseline.

'What in all of Irk is this?' He thought to himself in silence.

It was after that he continued reading the report until he reached an audio log. The description under it stated that the audio documented is a more sped up version of the surface quakes discovered as well as the sound generated being increased to frequency Irkens can hear. He played the log and heard something he never thought he'd hear. After pressing play, Red heard a constant thumping from his device. It sounded like a steady heartbeat coming from something they thought was a dead world. They were so wrong.

It was at this moment that Red understood what exactly they have found: it wasn't a massive hunk of rock of any kind, but a living creature with a size comparable to that of entire worlds.