VINDICATION

Chapter 51: Enemy Tactics

****This chapter is dedicated to Arliquin, my new reviewy-peep of reviewy DOOM!!


Dib stirred in the middle of the night, yawning and stretching. It had been six days since the press conference, and he was exhausted from the frantic rush of getting all of the spacecraft equipped with the necessary long-range weaponry and radar devices. Putting his glasses on and looking around, Dib noticed that Zim must have gotten up after they had fallen asleep together.

“Computer, where’s Zim?”

“Zim is in the War Room.”

“Oh jeez, he’s got YOU calling it that too?” Dib laughed and shook his head, then climbed out of the bed.

“It’s not like I have much of a choice in the matter.”

Dib smirked. “That’s true. Programming and all…”

“Uh, not so much…” the computer replied.

Dib quirked a brow, then pulled a t-shirt on over his head. “What, did he threaten to dismantle you again?”

“Yes.”

Dib burst out laughing. “Oh, I see. Well, thanks for the info.” He jogged off to the lab, or “war room” as Zim now called it, grinning to himself. I really, really hope GIR never rented 2001: A Space Odyssey, or his computer might start getting ideas…

*************

Zim sat with a schematic and blueprints of The Massive spread out on the table in front of him, scribbling as he measured and re-measured various spots.

“Zim?”

The Irken jumped in surprise, then looked over at Dib, who was standing in the doorway to the lab. “What are you doing awake at this time of night?”

“Morning.”

Zim frowned. “What?”

“It’s two in the morning, Zim.”

The Irken scowled. “Don’t correct me. And…I knew what time it was, anyway.”

Dib chuckled and shook his head, walking over to Zim and looking at the papers spread out on the table. “What are you doing, anyway?”

“Planning out our attack on The Massive.”

The human nodded slowly, then quirked a brow. “Why are you doing it now?” He slipped an arm around Zim’s shoulders, looking down at the schematics absently. “Can’t you sleep?”

“Irkens don’t really need sleep, you know. It just allows me to replenish my energies more efficiently than when I am awake.”

“Ah.” Dib nodded, turning his head and licking at the side of Zim’s neck, sucking gently at the smooth green skin. “How close is the Armada now?”

Zim shuddered, then growled softly. “They have just passed Pluto’s orbit.” He looked at Dib seriously. “Of course, you do realize that we are going to have to launch the Earth-fleet in a pre-emptive strike, which means that they will be taking off when the Armada is on the final day’s approach.”

Dib nodded. “I can’t really say much for their tactics. They’ll probably just shoot at whatever they can. If only we had some way to confuse the Armada and buy ourselves some more time…”

Zim looked at Dib and quirked an antennae. “Are you saying you human pig-smellies don’t have your own forms of battle tactics after how many thousand years of existence?”

Dib blinked at him. “Well, yes, I mean we have camouflage and guerilla warfare and stuff, but I don’t see how we could use camouflage out in sp—” Dib halted suddenly, then grinned. “Oh, no…no way…you’re not gonna believe the idea I just got…” He began to laugh, running over to a nearby shelf and pulling out the standard blueprint for the human fleet spacecraft, bringing it back and spreading it out on the table. Grabbing Zim’s pen, he sketched overtop of it and then showed it to him.

Zim’s eyes narrowed, and a grin crept across his face. “Brilliant…absolutely brilliant…”

********

The next day saw a labour force unlike any other being gathered into Cape Kennedy, and the ships belonging to the human fleet began to undergo a transformation. Sharp curves were added to the bodies, and a superior paint job applied to the metal. As soon as the fleet ships were painted, an enormous Irken military insignia was painted onto each one.

On the morning of the day the fleet would launch, Dib and Zim stood in the hangar at Cape Kennedy, looking over what appeared to be an entire Irken fleet composed of over four hundred heavily armed spacecraft.

“Today, we become the enemy...” Zim purred, rubbing his gloved hands together with glee as the humans began to suit up and prepare for battle.