READ FIRST:
This story was first and foremost inspired by a friend of mine at the time by name of ChibiXzaide. The original concept of Kiros was hers, as well as the idea of Irkens in slavery (and a rather gory scene later on). It was her dream that I based this on. Though we've fallen out and I continue to write this independently, I still want others to acknowledge that she is the creative genius behind this. I wouldn't have written any of this if not for her.
IMPORTANT NOTE!
This fic is an EXTREME AU (Author's Universe). Irkens, in the way both my friend and I have molded them here, have no Pak's, nor do they have Squeedily whatevers... mostly becuase no one can agree on how to spell it. In fact, they're a lot like humans in nature, right down to the fact that they reproduce in the normal way and such instead of the incubation tubes from the show. They still have antennae and everything, and green skin, and are allergic to water, but their height has increased slightly... more around four or five feet instead of three. So there. I'm not asking you to like the changes, but if you can appreciate a good story, I promise you won't even notice them!
Also... there is NO MENTION OR INVOLVEMENT of ANY characters in the show. I'm sorry, but there isn't.
DISCLAIMER!
I do not own Irkens. Jhonen does.
This will be the only disclaimer posted. So listen to it well.
There was never any chance for my people… Never any way we could fight them. They were too unpredictable, and too reckless. Perhaps even they were too lucky; I'm not really sure. All I know is that no matter our numbers, no matter how organized we had been, they'd always found a way to overpower us.
Perhaps they weren't as stupid and primitive as we had once believed… Our arrogance was our downfall; our steadfast knowledge that every other creature in the universe was beneath us, that none could stand up to the might of our empire. But though we had sent teams in, though we had learned of their history, seen quite clearly the signs that they, in the entire span of their species' existence, had always fought impossible odds and came out of their battles the victor, we held the certainty that it would be an easy victory. We were blind to the warnings. We were drunk on our conquest of the universe.
We were the stupid ones… and we paid the ultimate price.
Our entire race… disbanded, broken… all the power of our vast empire scattered to the four winds and seized by the enemy. They learned too fast, they took our technology, they modified everything to make it better, and they did at a pace none of our great scientists could match. Our languages, our codes, deciphered, broken; our ambushes were ambushed before we knew what was happening. We had gotten in over our heads, indeed. On an insane chance a single unit of theirs would appear in the midst of an entire battalion of ours, and the fighting would go on for days, and yet still they were the ones to fire the final shot, and ours was the last ship to fall.
Every individual of my people knows this story… knows how the mighty Irken Empire was defeated. I wasn't there… not really, being the young child I was, but I learned the story from my grandmother before she was taken away. I barely remember her, now, and I don't remember anything of my mother and father anymore. I heard that they were killed in battle, the both of them. At least they didn't die begging for their lives.
I bet the humans would have loved that.
"You, Truck-Driver! Get your lazy ass up from bed and get to your job! I'll not have another shipment late because you're a fucking idiot!"
I was suddenly hit rather forcefully in the stomach by a very heavy bag. My eyes flew open, and I gave a gasp as the air whooshed from my lungs. The rather lacking cot I was lying on creaked threateningly, shifting down a bit almost as if it was going to break, and I tensed, praying that it wouldn't. I knew that if the cot were destroyed, even if it wasn't my fault, I would be forced to take a new bed of straw without even a blanket to keep me warm in the incredibly cold nights of this area of Earth. I could barely stand the cold of this place as it was, seeing as 'my' room wasn't heated in the least, and the floors and walls were made of cement, something that was cold and stayed cold no matter what the season.
"Yes, sir…" I gasped out as soon as my lungs had enough air to do so, my voice a little strained as I lifted the heavy bag off me, moving to get up from the again creaking cot. The other two cots along the walls were empty; it figured that those selfish brats would leave me here without waking me. It gave them a chance to get away with slacking off, seeing as I was the one the human would be watching closely.
"Don't 'Yes, sir' me! Get to work!!"
I nodded meekly, moving to stand as well as I could, and shivering a bit as the cold air of the room hit me even harder through my threadbare shirt and pants. It was nearly winter in this place, and the nights were doubly cold because of it. I certainly wasn't looking forward to the snow falling… The shoes we were given were only the things humans had worn out too much for them to consider wearing anymore, and most of them had gaping holes and almost no soles left to them. With one last shiver I kept my eyes lowered to the floor, my antennae pressed against my head in a clear sign of submission as I moved to walk past my master and to my work. I gave a small gasp, however, as a strong hand slammed down on my shoulder with a crushing grip, steadily squeezing so hard that I had to bite my tongue not to cry out in pain. As it was, I could nearly feel the bone cracking under the skin.
"What does a slave always say to its master after an order is given, you filthy wretch?"
I chanced looking up a bit, my eyes wide a frightened as I knew I had been caught in a trap the human had obviously planned out for me, if his almost violently eager grin had anything to do with it. My master was very strong, and very cruel. I had seen what types of punishments he could deal out at a whim, for such small offenses as accidentally burping in his presence. I gulped, the pain in my shoulder beginning to make me a bit woozy as I tried to keep my voice steady enough to answer.
"Y….y-yes, sir…. Sir…. W-w-we should always s-say… 'yes, sir'…."
"You'd better remember that, you alien slime. Now get to work, before I decide you're too worthless for me to keep around!"
"Yes, sir!" I gasped as he finally released my shoulder, the pain actually sharpening acutely before finally beginning to fade once more. My master had almost broken the bone this time… I wouldn't have been surprised if I had a fracture, but of course I would still be expected to lift the loading boxes and every other heavy piece of work, regardless. Such was the life of a slave.
Resigning myself, I began forward, but gave a yelp as a pain flared up in my back, forcing me forwards and off balance. With a rather nasty grating sound, I fell to the hard concrete, my hands being scraped raw on the stone as I had attempted to catch myself, breathing in gasps from the pain that I knew was only the start of my day.
"Get up off that floor, you clumsy fucker! I don't feed you unless you work!" my master was standing above me once more, just smirking in a cruel way as he watched my pain, obviously enjoying it. There was no doubt in my mind that he had kicked me as I was walking past him; he had done it before, and all I could do was get back up and hope that he wouldn't kick me back down or keep me there with a foot on my back. I was lucky this time, as he let me get up.
"Yes, sir!" I said again, not wanting him to find any other excuses to cause me more pain. Already my breathing was becoming a little irregular, a sure sign that I had been hurt more than I knew at the moment.
"All those shipments had better be early, or you'll get no food for three days! Now get the hell out of here!"
"Yes, sir!!" with a small whimper that was just quiet enough to hide from the human, I broke into a very painful jog, throwing open the door and going out into the chill, overcast outside of Earth. I stopped a few steps out, my normally lowered eyes trailing upwards in horror as I saw the very threatening clouds overhead, knowing exactly what they would mean for us slaves. Already the wind was blowing hard and cold from the direction of the storm, and I could almost feel the burning already on my skin from the high humidity. I trembled lightly; my master wanted all the shipments done early in this weather?! When he didn't allow us the chemical soaks that would make us resistant to water effects?
"Hey, look who's finally up! If it isn't the worthless royal, eh, Jeran?"
"Ha! Exalted Prince Kiros! What, the master didn't like you taking your beauty sleep? Teach you to think you're better than us, Truck-Driver!"
I finally looked down again as I heard two voices that I dreaded almost more than the master's. Strutting towards me, they looked like some strange gigantic insects compared to the landscape, certainly out of place in a way that only Irkens could ever be. I shook my head slightly, not wanting to get into a fight with the either of them. Trying to be as professional as I could, I held up the bag I was carrying with me. The bag was special to me, something that held the things I used for my job, and also everything I owned, including the last broken bits of reminders of my mother and father that, for some reason or other, my master had allowed me to keep.
"No… no, I never did!" I was trying to be reasonable, but as they kept coming, I knew everything I was trying was in vain… even though both Jeran and Gorit were smaller than me; they were also older, and definitely more experienced at beating others. With their appearance, coupled with the impending rain… it was more than certain that I wasn't going to be eating for the next few days, "I just want to do my job, guys. Please, let me do my job."
Jeran snorted; he was the more sadistic of the two, and where Gorit was more a follower, Jeran was a leader, and took no notice of my rather pathetic pleas. Yes, even I admit that I was being pathetic. He just kept coming, snatching up the bag and holding it out to Gorit, who took it with a chuckle of glee. I tried to snatch it back, but Jeran slammed a hand into my chest, forcing me back, and over a large rock that I hadn't seen, causing me to fall backwards and hit the cement side of our 'quarters' hard, knocking the wind out of me.
"I've got no use for snobs, royal. Don't even pretend that you wanna do your job for that fat hog any more than the rest of us do."
Perhaps if I had had any breath to speak with, perhaps if I had had any real control of my body other than to sink down to the ground with a look of horror and fear on my face as I stared past Jeran, I might have stopped him before he could finish his sentence. But as it was, all I could do was watch as Jeran's look rapidly changed from cruel victory to surprise, pain, and terror as a very strong, very large hand clamped itself hard around his neck, squeezing until he was making choking, gasping sounds, trying to claw at the hand that was cutting off his air supply.
"'Fat hog', eh? 'Fat hog'?!" my eyes became even wider, locked onto the face of my master, something I normally didn't dare look at, but now his rough, rugged, and battle-scarred face was red with fury, his immense bulk a virtual powerhouse that could inflict some of the worst pain imaginable. Our master was fairly old by human standards, somewhere above sixty, and he had fought in the original war between our peoples when he was sixteen. He knew every way possible to torture an Irken, and he was always looking for a chance to do so. I did not envy Jeran at all, especially not with the next hissing sentence, "We'll see how disrespectful you feel after some time in the screamer bin, you little ass-fucker." Barely loosening his hold enough to let Jeran begin breathing again, he actually lifted the Irken into the air with one heavily muscled arm, turning his raging glare to the two of us left basically shaking in terror, now, "You, Truck-Driver! I told you to get to work! Don't let me catch you slacking again! And Truck-Loader, give that bag back to him before I decide you can join your little 'friend'! Half rations tonight for the both of you!"
"Yes, sir!" we both said in unison, our voices a little shrill from fear, but strong from the force of our need to show our master that we would do as he said. Not really pausing, I sprang up and grabbed my bag from Gorit before he could even move to give it to me, sprinting as fast as I could manage through the dusty, cleared out area of the loading strips, heading for the trucks. Hurriedly on the way, I reached into my bag, fumbling about a bit before I managed to catch the ring that held the keys to every truck on the strip, pulling it out and almost ripping the side of the worn bag even more than it had been with the sharp keys.
I came within sight of the trucks just as I heard a boom of thunder sound far in the distance, and my antennae twitched at the sound. I looked up at the sky fearfully, my eyes still a little wide from what I'd very narrowly avoided before, scanning the clouds and deciding that I didn't have too much time to waste. Leaping into a slightly faster sprint, I leapt up to the first truck, a heavy, slow thing used for carting large shipments, which was what my first order was, according to the paper set on the steering wheel. Closing the door behind me, I immediately started it up. The truck rumbled to life loudly, the entire cab shaking with the power of the engine, and I couldn't help but breathe a slight sigh of relief as I began my job. As long as I did this well today, I would be alright. Master had said half-rations… that meant that he was going to give us food, today.
…Jeren and Gorit hadn't bothered to wake me up when I slept through the alarm… that meant that I had missed breakfast, and now I groaned slightly as my stomach growled, the emptiness almost painful. Master didn't feed us much as it were, and missing breakfast meant that I would have to do a full day of good work on an empty stomach just to get half of what I normally would, which was a few slices of bread and Irken meat of various levels of spoilage, and perhaps a few pieces of Earth fruit that didn't have juices that would burn us. It wasn't much, but it did keep us alive… I only wished that I wasn't so hungry right now…
It would keep me alert, I supposed. I needed to be alert to keep from getting too badly burned by the rain coming. It would require a very clever series of intricate parking and manipulation of doors and such to make it possible, but I knew I could do it. I wasn't a truck driver for nothing, after all.
"Truck-Driver! Finally starting your day, eh?" I sighed slightly at the jeering yell from across the loading area. Of course I could never expect to be left alone at all by those humans that worked for my master. It wasn't as if they couldn't drive the trucks if I were a little late, but of course they took that time to slack off, just like how Jeren and Gorit did. It made me wonder why I was the one always getting punished….
My thoughts were interrupted by the sudden sound of a drop of rain hitting the windshield of the truck, and I grimaced, my antennae flattening in irritation. Damn rain… always coming sooner than you wanted it to. I was hoping to at the very least be able to load the truck without having to skitter under cover like a scared rat, but I guess I'd have to endure the taunting jeers of the humans once again. Sometimes I just felt like getting rid of them somehow… or getting away. But of course I had nowhere to go, and an Irken stuck on Earth with no master is just target practice for any human that may walk by. More so an Irken that had dared to strike out… I'd be lucky to even get past the door before I was shot on the spot.
Not to mention in this season, without having any chemical baths, it was just plain fucking insane.
The shipment warehouse wasn't too far away from the truck area, thankfully, and the rain hadn't gotten too bad as of yet. I carefully pulled the truck up to the loading doors, furrowing my brow in concentration as I looked out the side mirrors. If I did this right, I would be able to load the truck from inside without having to go over a gap where the rain would come through. But I had to make very certain that I didn't scrap the back of the truck against the wall… If I did… well… Master wasn't in a good mood today, and I'd be lucky if I came out of the beating able to walk. A slave that damaged their Master's property was almost as doomed as one that struck out against the humans…
Finally, I judged that it was as good as I was going to get, and I stopped the truck, shifting it into Park and turning off the engine. I didn't want to waste gas, especially if it would take a while to load up the truck. I was only thankful that the enormous flatbed had been covered on all sides by a tarp, and I wouldn't have to keep darting out into the now pounding rain to set the boxes carefully on top of one another, then back to get another box.
I actually doubted I would have been able to live through that… For all the Master's faults, at least he didn't particularly WANT us dead. That would lose him money, and as long as he had an investment and use in us, we were to be kept alive.
That changed if one of us were injured too badly to work, however….
I was reminded of my still very sore and jolting shoulder, grimacing again as my antennae gave one violent twitch in reaction to it. If that was bad… I shuddered to think of what would happen to me. In fact, I just plain shuddered, as I was gripping the handle of the truck door, steeling myself for the mad dash that I would have to perform to get out and into the warehouse. There was a large tarp in the seat beside me… a precaution for these types of situations that were held in every truck. I grabbed it, forcefully ignoring my injured shoulder as I threw it over me and threw the door open, jumping down to the wet ground. My voice escaped me in a yelp as I suddenly realized to my intense dismay and agony I had jumped into a puddle, and my worn shoes, already ragged and filled with holes, instantly became soaked. I fought back a cry of pain as I dashed for the door to the warehouse, going in and slamming it behind me, throwing off my shoes as fast as I was able to and trying desperately to dry my smoking, burned feet off.
The pain was horrible, worse than anything else I could ever imagine; even my Master's frequent beatings, and I threw the tarp off, as well, trying to keep any lingering water that was on that from touching my skin. There was the loud sound of laughter off to my right, and I lifted my head, glaring half-heartedly at the human workers, knowing that that would likely get me in trouble, but the acid-like burning fuzzed my mind so that I couldn't give a shit if I had wanted to. My teeth grit very hard, but slowly I began to relax as the water either evaporated due to the dryness inside or burned itself to nothing on my skin.
I carefully ran my hands over my feet, wincing and flattening my antennae to my head, as they were incredibly tender, checking to make certain that the water hadn't done too much damage. Apparently, I had been lucky… There were only a few small spots where it had burned any deeper than the first few layers of skin, and my hands wiped away that blood pretty easily. It was a good thing Irkens healed fast… If my feet didn't go through any more damage, they would probably be most of the way healed by the time I got back to my room at the end of the day.
Straightening, I noticed two of the humans approaching me, and immediately regretting my glare from earlier I lowered my eyes in submission, going to get a towel and move my shoes to a small heating register, where the warm, dry air would dry them out as I loaded the truck. Of course, my now meek behavior had no effect on the humans, and one slapped me hard on my injured shoulder, making me gasp as I immediately stopped moving.
"Hey, there, Truck-Driver. I noticed that you were getting a little snippy with us, weren't you?" the human was laughing a bit in between his words, obviously enjoying this. The other was barely keeping a straight face, I could see, when I looked to him from the corner of my eye. One thing I was grateful for about being Irken is that our eyes had no pupils, making it very difficult for humans to tell exactly where we were looking. It was perhaps just a small form of resistance to them, I guess… to look as if I were paying attention to them when my actual gaze was elsewhere…
That trick didn't work on the Master, though…
"Oh, yes he was…" the other human decided to chime in, giving a smug little sneer. Obviously I was not expected to answer any of their questions as of yet, "Don't think we didn't see that glare you gave us, Irken." That was perhaps the worst insult a human could come up with to call us, seeing as how much they hated the Irken Empire… or what was once the Irken Empire, was still very strong. Being called an Irken-lover was possibly the worst insult a human could ever give another human, enough of one that it could easily incite a fight to the death.
"Y'know what? I think our little alien friend deserves to be taught… some manners…." The first human grinned, and I cringed somewhat, seeing his hand come up, forming into a fist. This so wasn't my day….
"Steve, stop that stupid shit and get back to work!" another human came up, larger than the others, his hand gripping the 'Steve' human's arm at the wrist before it could come down to strike me, "Do you want to piss off the boss by beating his slaves? The shipment is already going to be late as it is, so I suggest you do what you're paid for." His tone got a little lower, as if he was passing some very important and touchy information, "The boss is already in a bad mood today… he's using the screamer bin to punish one of his slaves right now."
The 'Steve' human stopped at that, his sneer fading as he looked a little nervous, before masking it with righteous anger, tearing his hand away from the lager human and glaring at me, "One of these days, you little insect. One of these days I'm gonna kick your ass." He was taking the other human's advice. I relaxed a bit from my tense, braced posture, breathing a quiet sigh of relief as I watched him, and then the other human, go back to start loading boxes. The first human glared down at me, now, his eyes hard and cold, obviously not having stopped the other for any iota of regard for my health.
"Get back to work, fucking alien. I'm not getting a pay cut because of you're slacking off!"
I nodded once, meekly and submissively, before I darted off to the loading area, checking the paper I had brought with me in one of my tattered pockets as I identified what shipment was going up first. My eyes narrowed a bit as I read it, then re-read it, finally making a groaning sigh as I stopped at the area where it was, just looking at the massive pile of rolled up carpets before me.
This was gonna hurt… a lot.
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