Behind the Resistance

The Resisty is Formed

A lot had happened in such a short time. Operation Impending Doom II was initiated and it felt as if moments later, Vort was on the verge of destruction. Several families were separated and destroyed, buildings were crushed, and several Vortians were imprisoned by the species that they thought they could trust and protect them from the world. Irkens had taken so much technology from the Vortians, who graciously gave it all away. Now that technology was used to destroy those that had made it in the first place. It was Vort's final statement to the universe that they couldn't protect themselves.

Though… Lard Nar was prepared to change that. After a long time of recovering from torture and imprisonment, he was prepared to fight back with a large army of allies whose main purpose was to end Operation Impending Doom II and all that it stood for.

At least… he tried, but the large army of allies turned out to be a small bunch of aliens who had little to no military experience. Lard Nar would make it work.

"Shloonktapooxis, can you tell Nulikan that we are going to lift off soon?" Lard Nar asked as he walked over to the mess hall.

"Aww, but I was planning on playing in the arcade on the surface for a little bit," Shloonk said, a small frown on his face, though it quickly bounced back to his normal dorky smile.

Lard Nar sighed. "We've been here too long, Shloonk," he said, his stomach beginning to grumble. "Trust me, when you give out pieces of paper that says 'Do you want to get rid of scum? Join the Resisty' and get rejected, then it gets old really quickly." He grimaced. "Especially when the response is normally something along the lines of 'Well, I already know how to get rid of the scum. Change that stupid name.'"

"It's not so bad, Lard Nar," he said, floating in front of him. "It's better than planet Merk."

"I'd rather not recall…" Planet Merk was a trading planet that was well-known for having one of the most diverse set of species on a single surface in the entire universe. Lard Nar figured that it would be the best place to find at least a couple of species that were affected by Operation Impending Doom II. While that was true, there were unfortunately far more species that didn't care and were perfectly okay with whacking Lard Nar with stuff and tugging on his horns. It turned out that the term 'scum' didn't resonate well with certain species. "I still don't have very much sensitivity in certain parts of my horns. Did they really have to pull so hard?"

"They threw me once," Shloonk said. "While it was fun while I had no control, it wasn't as fun when I hit the side of a building and got spat on by a Plookian."

"A universe that is slowly being taken over by irkens, and we're the ones getting spat on," Lard Nar said. He sighed a little bit. "Fine, we'll stay on Relik for a little bit longer and search for more crewmembers for the Resisty and you can go to… the arcade." He cleared his throat. "Take Ixane with you. She clearly needs a break and I know that she likes winning at things."

Shloonk gave Lard Nar a straight face. "I don't mind losing, but I never forgot the time that she gloated for 20 minutes after beating me at a staring contest."

"You clearly haven't played any kind of card game with her…" Lard Nar said. "Anyways, I'm going to grab some lunch, then I'm going to go back on the surface and get rejected some more." He looked at the fliers in his hand. "Maybe I should change some of these. Actually put the word 'irken' or 'Operation Impending Doom II' on it instead of scum. Perhaps that'll get the point across better."

"I dunno," Shloonk said. "All I know is that it is Cinnamon Swirly Day in the mess hall today, and that I'm going to have only one of those before I leave."

Lard Nar rolled his eyes. "Liar. Last Cinnamon Swirly Day, you stole the entire tray."

"That was never proven," Shloonk said as he began floating past Lard Nar.

"We caught you on video!" Lard Nar exclaimed in a slightly higher-pitched voice as he ran after him.

Shortly after having lunch, Lard Nar, Shloonktapooxis, and Ixane all exited the Resisty ship to wander around for a little bit around the surrounding city before eventually parting ways. Lard Nar went off on his own and began to look for new people to join the resistance. The fliers had a thick black line across the word 'scum' and was replaced by 'irken'. Though, he was convinced that nothing was going to change and everyone was going to be rude to him, despite his effort of trying to protect them from the impending irken attack.

It turned out that someone going around saying that an invasion and the end of the world was coming resonated as a bad thing with the locals and was generally ignored as some CRAZY bantering. Lard Nar thought they should take him far more seriously.

"Hello," he said to a short Mixon, an alien from the planet Mynx. Mixon were known for being short and have intelligence in areas that… didn't really matter. Lard Nar once ended up in a conversation about the preservation of the Alk, which was the Mixon equivalent of the human buffalo. The only different was that this "buffalo" was the size of a small insect and had no positive effects on anything.

But Lard Nar was desperate, so he'd accept just about anyone at that point. "I'm Lard Nar. I'm currently a part of a resistance known as the Resisty. We want to be able to defeat the Irken Empire and their growing Operation Impending Doom II, but we need more crewmembers to develop a more sustainable army. Are you interested in joining the resistance?"

The little Mixon smiled a little bit before shaking her head. "No, I don't join anything that starts with the letter 'R'," she said in a light, but sweet, voice.

Lard Nar blinked. "… Why is that?"

She maintained her smile. "Oh, I just think that it sends a negative energy to anything or anyone that is involved. That is why I only devote myself to the RoA. The Rejuvenation of Alks."

Lard Nar's mouth simply hung open, lost for words. He had seen a variety of species and their levels of stupidity, but this was the first time that he was left truly speechless. He just turned to the left and said, "I… I am honestly not this desperate. That was… I don't have words. The only thing I would be able to use you for is to see if I could dumb the irkens down into a coma." With that, he simply walked away, leaving the Mixon in a silent awe.

Lard Nar didn't even want to hand out any more fliers after that. He was just left wondering if he was ever going to find a whole army that was both competent and willing to fight off a whole alien race. The whole thing seemed imaginary and it wasn't likely to happen at the rate Lard Nar was going.

That is… before he saw a tall fellow at the edge of a small merchant town. Brown with a large head on top of a slender body. A grey circle on his forehead above 2 tiny green circles that were his eyes, along with 4 arms and 2 legs. All of this covered in a body-clinging green uniform.

Although Lard Nar had no idea what species he was, he knew exactly who the person was before him: Spleenk.

Lard Nar had somewhat close relations with Spleenk in the past. Lard Nar was the head engineer of a faction on Vort and it was very common for the Vortian engineers to bring in non-Vortians to help assist in anything that they needed. There wasn't a specific standard in what they needed in a helper other than the fact that they needed to be competent enough to hand over some tools and assist in simple tasks, so several species were used.

Spleenk was the one assigned to Lard Nar and his faction. Despite Spleenk's good-heartedness, he was generally ostracized since he was deemed relatively timid and not the brightest of the bunch when he was put under pressure. Though, ironically, Lard Nar found Spleenk to be one of the smartest assistances that he had in his faction. Spleenk's intelligence came out greatly when he was put in a position where he could be confident and comfortable, and Lard Nar was the only one able to make him comfortable enough. Before the attack on Vort, he was always calm and collected and was always willing to be generous and protective of Spleenk.

Spleenk did the same with Lard Nar and they quickly became good friends with each other. In fact, there was a particular closeness between them that some would deem a bit… too close. But the relationship was where they wanted it to be since neither of them had very many friends that they could talk to outside of the workplace.

And now here Spleenk was, living an apparently decent life on Relik. It was the first time that Lard Nar had seen Spleenk since the destruction of Vort. Spleenk had left on a short trip back home to his family while Lard Nar's faction was on hiatus. Shortly after, he returned to a completely different Vort and was the left without a job… and a friend.

Lard Nar was actually hesitant about even approaching. How was he supposed to handle this? He slowly moved, his strides picking up speed with every step. He eventually made it over to Spleenk, who towered over him. Lard Nar was certain that he had gotten taller, because Spleenk was certainly much taller than him.

He waited for him to finish with his business before clearing his throat. Though, it was clearly not loud enough to grab his attention. So… Lard Nar simply resorted to tapping on Spleenk's leg to get his attention. He felt so meek by doing that.

"Hm…" Spleenk murmured, feeling the small taps on his leg before looking down. It took several moments for things to register. Small grey alien… horns… Vortian….. Lard Nar! "Lard Nar!" Spleenk scrambled around for words and for something to do, but a sense of shock left him a bit speechless.

Lard Nar simply waited for him to pull it together because, from his perspective, Spleenk looked almost as if he was having a stroke. It almost got to the point where Lard Nar felt that scared him half to death. He thought he needed to take him to the hospital.

But he finally controlled himself and continued to look down at Lard Nar. "Lard Nar… I didn't think that you were alive. The… the attack on Vort. They attacked our faction. I heard all about it on the news."

"Calm down, Spleenk," Lard Nar said. "As you can see, I am perfectly okay. Maybe a little… messed-up in the head, but I am perfectly okay." He thought for a moment. "But, it's been a really long time, Spleenk. Quite a lot has changed since that attack on Vort, and well… I must admit that I did miss you a little."

Spleenk smiled a little bit. He was still freaking out on the inside because he had just found out that his previous best friend turned out to be alive after several years, but he was happy to see that he had not changed much. "I have missed you too, Lard Nar. As soon as I was turned away by the irken empire… and later realized that the planet was full of ships and destruction, I freaked out that everything was lost." He thought for a moment, then frowned again. "Were you imprisoned?"

Lard Nar looked away for a moment. "For a short time, yes I was," he said. "But I was one of the first to escape, and now here I am about the Resisty." That's when he came back into reality. He looked at the fliers that he held and looked back up at Spleenk. "Oh, Spleenk! You do not know about the Resisty, do you?"

"The Resisty?" Spleenk asked. "I think I might have heard of something like that around town… I thought it was a good name, but everyone else told me I was crazy and that everything about it was garbage and scum. Though… they say that about a lot of the things I say, too."

Lard Nar blinked, unsure of what to say to that, but he had to admit that he was used to the treatment by that point. "Well… it's the organization that I created to stop Operation Impending Doom II. We're going to make the irkens pay for destroying Vort and countless other planets."

"You're going to fight back?" Spleenk asked, interested.

Lard Nar nodded quickly and responded, "You bet we are. Here… why don't I take you back to the ship and show you the crew. I can tell you what you've missed on the way there."

"Oh… well, okay," Spleenk said, putting his hand behind his neck before smiling again. He was a bit surprised that Lard Nar had a sense of enthusiasm even after going through so much, but he was glad that Lard Nar was safe.

Though, Spleenk had no idea that most of Lard Nar's enthusiasm at that point was simply from finding him again. Lard Nar found someone that he had been closer to than anyone else, dead or alive.

Spleenk reached the Resisty's ship with Lard Nar and they turned to each other.

"So, after a long time dealing with the irkens, I decided to form the Resisty so that no one would have to face the pain and suffering that I had to deal with it."

Spleenk nodded. "That… that is a lot," he said. "So, what are you doing here then? The irkens would have no reason to attack a place like this. I would know… I've lived here for a while and there is nothing interesting here."

Lard Nar shook his head. "That's what we were hoping for. We don't want any conflict. We're actually looking for more recruits since we're definitely short. We can't make an army with our numbers."

Spleenk looked down. He wanted to make a funny comment on how they were definitely 'short', but he felt the time wasn't right. "Oh… any luck?"

Lard Nar shook his head. "No, no one is interested in what I have to say. The irkens have not done anything dangerous and evil to them directly, so they feel it's not important." He brought up the flier that he made. "I've been giving this to everyone."

Spleenk examined the piece of paper for a moment before looking at Lard Nar. "I think people should pay more attention to you, Lard Nar." He looked away for a moment. "If you can't find anyone to join the Resisty with you, what do you plan on doing?"

Lard Nar looked down. "I… I honestly don't know." He thought for a moment, then immediately smiled up at Spleenk. "Hey, you should join the Resisty?"

Spleenk blinked. "What? Why do you say that?"

"Well… you aren't happy with the irken empire, and I know that you are a capable engineer and soldier. I even remember hearing you say that you were a navigator once. I would love to have someone like you onboard."

"You give me too much credit, Lard Nar," Spleenk said, frowning. "I have done all of those things, but not very good. And I wouldn't make a good soldier, either."

"And I think you don't give yourself enough credit," Lard Nar said, getting a bit closer to Spleenk. "Come on, what's the big deal? I can get you away from this ridiculous place and you can go to a world where people properly accept you and you're supporting an excellent cause."

Spleenk turned away a bit. "I don't think I'm cut out for it. Besides, people accept me here. Just yesterday, someone told me that my work wasn't the worst that they've ever seen."

Lard Nar crossed his arms. "It sounds like you're just making excuses. Come on, Spleenk. Please. You'd be an incredible asset to the Resisty. I really want you to be there." Lard Nar didn't even consider that he was being pushy, but this was the first time that he had actually wanted someone to be a part of the team since Ixane and Shloonk joined… and they were the first ones to join. He frowned before uncrossing his arms. "Please."

Spleenk shook his head before looking down in shame. "I'm just… not cut out for something like that, Lard Nar. I'm sorry."

Lard Nar sighed before giving Spleenk a slightly disappointed look. "Yeah… sure, sure I understand." He took a deep breath. "Well… goodbye."

"Bye." Spleenk turned around and began to walk away.

Shortly after his short encounter with Spleenk, Lard Nar decided that he didn't want to return to the ship and ended up going to the arcade where Shloonk and Ixane were. They were playing some kind of competitive fighter game against each other. While Ixane was playing the standard way, Shloonk had to use a device that "connected" him to each of the game machines. Then he could use his mind and thoughts to press the buttons.

Definitely a good way to accommodate aliens who didn't have hands.

"I just don't see what he is so afraid of," Lard Nar said. "I was so confident that he would say yes and join the Resisty with no hassle since we were such good friends in the past. But… he said no. Who does that?"

"Nooooooo!" Ixane exclaimed as she threw her arms up into the air and stepped away from the arcade machine. She turned to Shloonk and yelled, "You're clearly cheating."

"You're just really bad at this," Shloonk said, sticking his tongue out in a silly matter. He then turned to Lard Nar and said, "Lard Nar, it doesn't really matter that Spleenk said no. A lot of people like him has said no on this planet. It's not like it's anything different for you."

"But Spleenk is different," Lard Nar replied, sighing. "We were friends and he should join."

Ixane put some coins into the machine and said, "If I didn't know better, I'd think that you like him, Lard Nar."

"That's ridiculous, why would you think that?" he asked.

Ixane chuckled as she and Shloonk went into another game. "Do you?"

Lard Nar sighed as he sat on the table next to the video game machine. "Yes… as a friend, nothing more."

Ixane gave Lard Nar a look that showed that she didn't at all believe him, but she shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I know you, and I know that if you have a friend, you wouldn't let them just say no."

"Well, he did, and well… that's that," Lard Nar said, sounding a bit defeated.

"Alright, but I think…. But I think… there, look at that!" Ixane exclaimed, pointing to the screen. "Clear cheater!"

"You're just a sore loser!" Shloonk yelled back.

Lard Nar wanted to continue the conversation, but Ixane and Shloonk were currently battling each other and neither one of them were letting up. So… without either of them knowing, he slipped out of the arcade and began returning to the ship.

He walked and thought about what Ixane said to him. Though, despite what she said, there was no way that Lard Nar would go back to the marketplace and beg for Spleenk to join the Resisty with him. He wasn't that desperate.

But… it also got him thinking of what it would be like to actually have someone on the ship that thought of him as a friend on the Resisty ship, other than Ixane and Shloonk. Someone he could connect with on a closer level…

…Then it didn't seem quite so bad to go back and beg for him to join. But he wasn't going to.

That's because he didn't have to. As he reached the ship, he noticed a familiar tall, brown alien standing at the entrance, slowly and awkwardly waving at him as he approached. "Spleenk, what are you doing here?"

Spleenk sighed. "I wanted to apologize because I panicked and left when you asked me to join. I just… I just wanted to tell you that I'm too afraid to join because I'm just not powerful enough to be part of a resistance thing like that."

Lard Nar had a lot to say. He wanted to say that Spleenk was fully capable of fighting several armies. He wanted to say that Spleenk was fully capable of saluting for diplomacy and getting the irkens to stop their attack. But… he had already tried those things… and he had to try something new. Something that he fully believed to be true. "I don't want you to join because I believe that you would be an incredible asset to the team.

Spleenk blinked. "Huh?"

He sighed, looking away from Spleenk. "Spleenk, I want you to join because you're one of the few friends that I have ever made and kept in the course of my entire life. I want to be able to see you on the ship and talk to you during breakfast on the mess hall. I want you to say something snarky whenever Shloonk says something stupid and I can't find anything to smack him with."

Spleenk chuckled a little. He had no idea who Shloonk was, but he figured that he was going to really soon. He knelt down and tried to connect his eyes with Lard Nar. "Is all of that true?"

Lard Nar froze for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Yes, all of it is true. I think that you could be powerful and a good asset of the team, but… I want another friend on the ship, and I KNOW that you're good at that."

Spleenk smiled and thought for several moments. After all of that, he finally nodded and said, "Okay… I'll join."

Lard Nar felt so relieved to hear those words. He let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "That… that's so great to hear!" He thought for a moment, then practically lunged at Spleenk, wrapping his arms around him in a soft hug.

Spleenk was surprised by the action, but then returned the hug.

Spleenk, Shloonk, Lard Nar, and Ixane clinked all of their glasses together. They were all in the mess hall, in the center table amongst much of the other crewmembers who were dedicated to their own conversations. Each alien had their own drinks. Shloonk had some kind of alcoholic drink, Ixane had some kind of purified water that was specifically made for her species, and Lard Nar had a sweet drink with a mixture of vanilla and chocolate. Spleenk had the same thing as Lard Nar, but… Shloonk slipped a little bit of alcohol into his drink. Ixane saw him do it, but she wasn't going to punish him until they were in a less… populated place.

"Well… here's to our newest member: Spleenk," Lard Nar said, smiling at Spleenk.

"It's a pleasure to have you a part of the team, Spleenk," Ixane said. "I'm sure Lard Nar looooves it."

Lard Nar glared at Ixane and gently kicked her under the table. "Yes, Spleenk. I am glad that you joined."

Spleenk smiled and took several sips of his drink. Shloonk couldn't help but chuckle every time that he took in the drink. "Well, I'm glad to be here." He pointed to his drink. "I think I'm going to get this more often, Lard Nar. It is really tasty."

"It's just chocolate milk with just vanilla," Lard Nar whispered to himself.

Shloonk chuckled some more. "To Spleenk."

Everyone raised their glasses again. "To Spleenk."

Quick Q&A

1. Will this story be canon?
Mostly, yes. The characters will be similar to the way they are in the show (even though most of them have only showed up in one episode, or not at all). The story is somewhat coherent to the canon story, but there will be changes in order to keep things... well, interesting.

And that's it. Told you it was a quick Q&A.