Elyon

Escape

"Planetwide broadcast?" Red guessed, glancing around the room.

"Or we've already targeted your location and are giving you one last chance to come in peacefully." Purple shrugged his shoulders. "Take your pick."

"Yeah Pur," Red growled, "Fantastic, I'll just up and come in peacefully and you'll have me deactivated within the hour."

"Who said anything about deactivation?" Purple peered at the screen. "You're sick, Red. The Krissirks and their poison infected you. I'm sure the Brains will understand, we can fix this."

Red stared hard at the screen. Even through the video feed he could still see the black strings attached to Purple's body, but they seemed to be slack. He could even see Skiftsom standing behind Purple, holding the strings, but not pulling them. Skiftsom stared coldly back at Red, seemingly content to let Purple do his own talking.

"Pur, you've got it backwards." Red shook his head. "I've seen things... you have no idea. And I still see things you wouldn't believe. One of them is right behind you."

A small smirk worked its way across Purple's face. He lifted a hand and twirled a dark strand idly around his claw, the motion casual enough to be mistaken for twiddling his claws by anyone else. "You might be surprised."

"But Pur, you're a puppet!" Red exploded, grabbing the screen. "You're being used don't you see?"

Purple's hands dropped to his sides as the strings tightened. "No more than you are. You think you're free of strings? You just chose different strings."

"I don't want to hear from you, you twist everything!" Red snarled. "I want to hear from Purple!"

The strings slackened again as Skiftsom smiled, cold and confident.

"I'm not being used." Purple's eyes narrowed. "Things are getting done. We're moving forward. We're wiping out the threat, just like we started, except you got distracted and left it all to me. Well I'm getting it done. Just cause you switched sides doesn't stop that."

"It isn't a threat, Pur. It's the truth." Red's antennae lowered. "We're not the—"

"Don't say it!" Purple hissed, eyes narrow. The strings were still slack, and a sick feeling settled in Red's stomach. "Don't you dare say it Red. It's treason and you know it. Even for us. You say it, and the Brains will order your execution."

This was Purple talking. No wonder Skiftsom looked so confident, allowing him slack. Purple was really ready to turn him in to die for this.

Red shut his eyes, his head hanging. He could hardly imagine moving forward without his co-Tallest, much less fleeing him the rest of his life. But going back was unthinkable. He opened his eyes, staring down at his armor. He could never go back on this. All because...

He lifted his head. "We're not the highest beings." He finished softly. "We're not almighty, and I know who is."

"Red!" Purple barked, a hint of fear in his voice.

"Ayam. Ayam is the highest being." He fixed his eyes past Purple on Skiftsom. "And nothing will change that, not even my death. Zim was right."

"And you can go join him!" Purple spat. "Good luck getting off-world before incineration Red. I hope your precious Ayam greets you on the other side."

The screens went black as the transmission died, and Red's shoulders slumped.

"Incineration? What did he mean?" Dantie asked.

"He's going to destroy the whole planet." Red said hollowly. "We have two levels of planetary cleansing, a surface sweep and complete destruction. He's going to destroy the whole thing."

"We can't get off-planet?" Dantie turned to the Cherub, wide-eyed. When he received no answer, he sat slowly. "How long?"

"This planet will be space debris within two hours." Red said flatly. "We'd have to find a perfectly intact ship immediately and gun it hard to be in a safe zone by then."

"Then we'd better be going."

Both their heads jerked up at the rasp. The Cherub had stepped aside, revealing a tunnel opening. A haggard looking set of pink eyes peered out, framed by a gaunt face. "Follow me." The voice whispered, as the eyes vanished.

Red's antennae twitched. "I know that voice," He muttered, but clambered through the opening and into the tunnel. He cocked one antennae back to ensure Dantie was following, relaxing when he heard his companion scrambling after. "Who are you?" He called.

"Time for that later," came the answer back, still a reedy croak of a voice. "Now we fly. Last pod off."

Up ahead, a tiny shuttle glowed to life, casting a dim light on the tiny Irken that scuttled toward it. Red saw the curl of the antennae. Female, he noted, and extremely tiny, but he couldn't see her face.

She was so small though. And her voice was...

He froze, Dantie running into him from behind. His voice was low and strained as he hedged, "Counselor Traz?"

"Not the time, my Tallest." She rasped, unlatching the hatch and hopping in. "We need to leave now. Get in."

Wordlessly, he climbed into the pod. It was a pod built for one, two at most, and Red was hunched uncomfortably. As Dantie wedged in, Red picked up Counselor Traz and set her on top of his knee, where she could reach steering and so there was a little more room. She was hardly bigger than the length of his hand, an anomaly among the council for her to be allowed into such a position, but her prowess at codes and encryption programs had superceded the heightocracy. She still had the disdain of most of the council, but flourished in her department.

Until they found her on a ship, fleeing with other defectors, with a copy of the Letters encoded in her PAK. Then she was taken to the torture wing, and any information she had was extracted past her screams. She and the others had been forced to change the Massive's security, then scheduled for execution.

He stared down at the top of her head. Scars patterned her skin, and one antenna hung limp. A few of the heavier scars ran along her throat.

"You were so small," he said quietly, "You found a way out, didn't you?"

"Yes my Tallest." She rasped, tapping a path into the computer. "Belt yourselves and hold me still. We're going to the surface and straight to orbit. With luck we'll make it clear before the planet blows."

Red glanced out the hatch. The Cherub stood just outside, hands on the back of the craft, ready to push. "Don't worry. Something tells me we'll make it just fine."

.....

Note: FYI there will be no romance in this story so stop dat ship right dere now. I made her female cause, well, I kind of automatically type "he" a lot when writing up extra Irken characters and I'm trying not to do that.