Here's a sneak peek at what's coming. ;)
A race of clones, trained from birth to conquer and destroy everything in their path, governed by iron fists and control brains with authority over all.
Invading was what Irkens did best. Becoming an invader was the highest achievement an Irken could obtain. Years of intense combat and survival training were mandatory and grueling. Designed to break you, only the fittest for duty were assigned. Irken medicine and PAKs worked so quickly that training leaders would break your bones on purpose to build your resolve. Punishment was usually self-mutilation.
Truly, there was no physical injury that Zim couldn’t bounce back from. Irken invaders were machines trained to kill without mercy.
However, Zim’s first words had been “I love you.”
Training had been bloody. Claws and teeth and Pak legs, ripping and slicing and mutilating. Soldiers lay dead and hellfire rained down endlessly. Ash blinded his eyes and choked his lungs. He stood over a mountain of bodies, bleeding and panting heavily, nursing a broken arm. His Pak was sparking from where he’d lost two of the legs.
An incredulous laugh. Then, a maniacal one.
“Victory for Zim! My Tallest! Zim has done it! What say you of Zim’s worthiness as an Irken Elite!?”
Tallest Miyuki gave Zim an uneasy look. The more dust cleared, the more terrible the sight. Every operator behind the one-way glass stopped what they were doing and stared in horror. The silence was tangible.
Zim was suddenly struck with a blow dart.
Confused, he called out, looking around.
He swayed sideways, falling to the ground. Several guards ran at him with electric spears, shouting orders Zim couldn’t understand. His hearing was dulled. His vision went dark.
It would seem he had failed.
Zim had always been different. He was small.
When height is your race’s most significant measure of capability, breaking the mold is near impossible, it would seem.
He would just have to try harder.
He was too intelligent. That made him a threat. He was insane. That made him ruthless.
From then on, they merely sought to entertain him. He could never be allowed to become an Invader.
It would mean the end of the empire.
