Let's Read Animorphs! The Whole Series! Ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

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disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

OctaviusBeaver posted:

Didn't he build a distress beacon from RadioShack parts and they called a bug fighter down and got captured? Maybe that wasn't a z space thing though.

It was, but they had to steal Chapman's transponder to get it working. It's why they morph ants.

# ? Jul 8, 2022 18:30

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# ? May 27, 2024 12:09

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 11

quote:

I can�t wait to get away from those lunatics at the office.� Dad stuffed a handful of underwear and shorts into the open suitcase on the bed. �I�m glad I had those sick days stored up. People get all crazy over some stupid piece of electronics that probably won�t work anyway.�

I was standing next to him, in his bedroom at home, helping him pack. Dad took his camera out of a drawer and tossed it in with the heap of clothes.

�So, Dad? When we get to Acapulco, can I rent a Jet Ski?�

�They pollute and make noise,� he answered as he folded a screaming Hawaiian shirt, �And they�re dangerous. Do you want to be responsible for affecting your environment in a negative way?�

�No, I just want to fly through the water at fifty miles per hour and jump a ten-foot wave.�

�We�ll see,� he said.

�Why can�t we wait until Nora can get some time off? Why do we have to go away now?� I pressed.

�I told you already, Marco,� he said, tossing a faded bathing suit into the bag. �Because I need to get away from work for a while. It�s obvious that idiotic device I�ve been working on is important to somebody. God knows why! But I�m in danger because of it. Kidnapped and held prisoner by some nutbags in costumes? I don�t need that kind of stress. Let someone else finish the project.�

That was the last thing I heard my father say.

There was a terrific bang. The bedroom door burst off its hinges and four human-Controllers dressed as cops rushed into the room.

Dad froze and look puzzled.

And then four separate Dracon beams converged on the figure of one solitary human. For a fraction of a second I saw clothes, skin, hair, all of it vaporize, leaving a blackened carcass haloed in blinding light.

The body evaporated in a cloud of smoke. A charred scuff on the floor was all that marked the spot where Dad had stood.

Then all four guns pointed at the boy. At me, Marco. I didn�t even scream as my own body disappeared in flames.

Because it wasn�t really me. It wasn�t my dad, either, the guy the Yeerks now thought was dead.

The Yeerks left and I began to demorph. I wanted to see the scene with my own eyes.

Watching it all through the distorted prism of cockroach vision, sensing and feeling it all from under the molding by the closet, had not been enough. My human body emerged from the insect.

�All clear,� I said quickly. The curtains were still drawn closed. �Are you guys okay?� The hologram of Erek shimmered and disappeared. He was lying on the floor by the bed. Scorched and smoking.

But it was Mr. King I was really worried about, the Chee who had played the part of my dad. He�d been reduced to a clump of patchy holographic images. Beneath and between the weak projections of human body parts, I could see damaged circuitry. The elaborate mechanical frame was now nearly skeletal.

�His projection capacity has been severely damaged,� Erek observed, coming closer.

�Can you fix it?� I said anxiously.

�I hope so. But I have to get him home first. His structural matrix is in obvious jeopardy.�

�What about yours?�

�My systems are ninety-nine percent intact,� he said easily. �Were the projections convincing?

The program to simulate the destruction of you and your father?�

�Awesome,� I said. �The Yeerks won�t be looking for us anymore. I told Jake I�d do whatever it took to get them off our trail.�

Erek helped Mr. King to his feet. I peered out the window through the slit in the drapes. A police car was parked out front. The four Yeerk executioners stood casually on the sidewalk, talking to Nora.

They knew her. She knew them.

A new aggressiveness controlled her movements.

It didn�t take a math prodigy to figure out what that meant.

Nora had been taken.

The Controllers climbed back in the squad car and drove away with the lights flashing silently.

I got a sick feeling in my stomach. Not the kind you get when you smell rotten milk. The kind you get when you want to cry, but the tears just won�t come.

Nora had been a nice lady. Could I have saved her? Could anyone have saved her?

The Yeerks must have taken her away in the night, as Dad was begging me to let him return home to get her.

I�d known she was in danger and I�d done nothing.

That was wrong. What was worse is that a part of me had wanted her out of our lives.

My stomach squeezed tighter.

No. I hadn�t wanted it to happen. No.

I thought about my father. Can a person take that kind of loss twice in a lifetime? The �death� of the person they love most? The one they eat breakfast with each day? The one they sleep next to each night?

No. It would break him, the way losing Mom had.

�Come on,� Erek said.

Nora pulled out of our driveway, following the Controller cops in her own car.

Erek and a barely concealed Mr. King, his android form breaking out all over, hobbled out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

�Can I help?�

Erek laughed.

�Can you bench-press five hundred pounds? He�s mostly dead weight.�

�Oh,� I said dejectedly. �Okay. I�ll get the door. How will you two make it home?�

�I�ll project a hologram around us, an image of something slow-moving. I do a pretty good garbage truck.�

The two Chee stumbled onto the back deck. I glanced back into the family room.

My eye caught a photo tacked to the cork board over my father�s worktable. It was a snapshot of me and Dad, taken by Mom on a sundrenched day several years ago.

Suddenly, reality hit.

I was dead. And this was the end � of school, of dates, of video games. Of everything normal.

The kid in that photo had prepared his last frozen pizza dinner. Had gone to his last math class. Had seen his last movie at the Cineplex.

That kid would never even hang out in his own backyard again. Because this wasn�t his home anymore. He had no home. He�d made the necessary sacrifice.

I could take the photo with me. It was small enough to fit in the beak of the osprey I would morph to fly away.

I took two steps toward the cork board, then stopped. No.

I had my memories.

They would have to be enough.

So a few things in this chapter. First, the power of Chee holograms yet again win out, as well as the fact that both Chee could take and survive concentrated Dracon fire, for all that Erek's "dad" is pretty badly damaged (but fixable).

Also, what do you think about Marco not trying to save Nora. Sensible? Oversight on his part? Him still having the idea that his parents will reunite and Nora not being a part of that plan?

Chapter 12

quote:

�Akka upe ozo oti. Scule! Muta pule.�

Ax looked at me hopefully.

<Is the translator chip working yet?>

�Uh, no. Not unless muta pule means something to you. Let�s see � nope. Nothing.�

Ax�s eyes drooped and he turned back to the contraption they had been working on for the past few days.

Few long days, I would add. You should try spending your nights under a tree at Chee Park with a dog for a pillow.

The Chee tell some great stories about the last ten centuries. Kings, conquerors, explorers, that kind of thing. Mr. King was the cook on Darwin�s ship and Henry Ford�s production chief. I mean, that�s very cool stuff. Fascinating stuff.

But honestly, without HBO, life gets a little scary.

�Kino ala ozo nev � nev � never catch them unless we know they�re coming � nem zurka kakis loti.�

�Ax! Hey, for a second there, that was English. You did it.�

<No,> Ax said quickly. 

He glanced at my dad.

�Could you couple it with this?� Dad lifted a blue wire, then pointed to a green, circular component.

<That would take time,> Ax said. 

Ax had been sifting interplanetary chatter for hours. And for hours we�d been gathered with him, all of us, in Ax�s scoop. We�d come for the unveiling of the Z-space transponder. Dad hadn�t mentioned it was still under construction.

�So, it doesn�t even translate?� Rachel said impatiently. �What does it do?�

Ax stopped working and looked at us with his main eyes. He put a delicate hand on either side of the device. It was fairly small. Mini-cooler size.

But it was clear from the way Ax held it that it meant more to him than an icebox. He cradled it like a newborn baby. Wires dangled like legs. Incomprehensible cosmic chatter streamed softly from its earpiece.

<The transmission capacity is not yet enabled. Neither is the translator. But this device can monitor unscrambled Yeerk communications, which I have been doing for some time now.>

�Ax, you�re amazing,� Cassie said.

Ax looked at Dad and flashed one of his eye-smiles.

<At times you humans truly scare me,> he muttered softly. <A mere four decades from first orbital spaceflight to the discovery of Zero-space communication?> He stamped the dirt with a hoof for emphasis. <We Andalites may wish we had left you to the Yeerks.>

�So far you Andalites have left us to the Yeerks,� Rachel pointed out dryly.

Ax could have countered the insult. But I think he was still torn between the pride of creation and the humiliation of learning that humans - that my father - had, in one huge intuitive leap, created a device that was in some ways superior to Andalite technology.

�Ax, what�ve you heard?� Jake said.

<It is very difficult to piece together,> Ax said tentatively. <My knowledge of Yeerk culture is not great. I do not fully understand the nuances of Yeerk communication.>

<Don�t worry, Ax-man.> Tobias, from a perch in a nearby tree. <What do you think they�ve been saying?>

<But I would be speculating. Guessing,> Ax protested.

�Go for it,� Rachel ordered. �Live dangerously. If you don�t, I�m leaving.�

<There is one thing,> Ax began. <One very disturbing conclusion that I can draw, though with limited certainty.> Ax looked at me. <Visser One has returned to Earth. But for a grim purpose. She is being held at the Yeerk pool. She is to be executed as a traitor.>

I felt my body stiffen, my heart stop.

�Marco, Eva is Visser One,� Dad said, his voice quaking.

I nodded.

<From what I understand,> Ax continued, <death as a traitor means death by Kandrona starvation. The event awaits only the necessary witness from the Council of Thirteen, who will arrive in two days. Visser Three will then be elevated to the post of Visser One. And,> Ax added, <there are rumors - nothing concrete, but suggestions - that the execution of Visser One is part of an overall change affecting Earth.>

I knew what that meant. We all did. Visser One, originator of the Yeerk invasion of Earth, favored a slow infiltration of Earth, a quiet, stealthy assault.

But Visser Three, a jumped-up egomaniac, has pushed for all-out conquest from the beginning. His dearest dream is to annihilate human power centers in an Independence Day-style war. To drive large numbers of humans into infestation camps. To do it quickly and publicly.

If he gets his way, the Animorphs won�t matter. Everything will be lost. Millions will die. Human culture will be pulverized.

<Of course, this is only speculation,> Ax reiterated.

I laughed bitterly. �Ax, your speculations are like computer computations. This is more than a good guess.�

�It can�t happen,� Jake said, his voice hard. �We can�t let Visser Three get promoted. If Yeerk forces change their tactics - if they decide to go public - it will be the end.�

What could I say? I�d just risked everything - every one of us - to pull my father out of trouble. I couldn�t argue now for a mission to save my mother. The situation was different, far more dangerous.

It meant a trip to the Yeerk pool.

And then Cassie�s voice, sounding clear and innocent. And persuasive. �If Ax can�t be sure what the Yeerks are planning, there�s only one person who would be.�

She was taking me off the hook. She was giving me the chance I couldn�t ask for.

Every muscle in my face tensed until it hurt. I would not cry. I just wouldn�t again forget that, in some ways, Cassie is the bravest and the smartest of my friends.

Still, I waited for someone else to speak. The image of my mother on death row, Yeerk prisoner,

Yeerk victim, battered and beaten, bruised and broken, blazed in my mind�s eye.

�Visser One,� Jake said.

So first, we get to hear more of what's probably Gallard. It could be the Yeerk language, I guess, but given that Ax can understand it, I'm guessing Gallard.

And now Marco has an opportunity....a very brief opportunity to save his mother, due to Visser-One's disgrace and punishment. But saving his mother will probably mean Visser Three's promotion, which could lead to the earth's devastation.

# ? Jul 9, 2022 04:47

Zore: Sep 21, 2010; willfully illiterate, aggressively miserable sourpuss whose sole raison d�etre is to put other people down for liking the wrong things

Marco having conflicting feelings about Nora especially rings pretty true here. She's someone his dad cares a lot about, but emotionally he's been preparing on some level to rescue his mom since before she came into the picture and I have the feeling that even if he had more time and a choice in the matter he probably would have let the Yeerks take her.

And also for all they're framing this as letting Visser 3 get the promotion... he's already gonna get it. Visser 1 is sentenced to death (and Visser 2 is still 'Yeerk not appearing in this Narrative') for things entirely outside of their control already and its not clear how they could realistically stop Visser 3's ascension and the change of plans for the invasion at this point.

It does kind of make me wonder why they're killing Eva though, she should still be a pretty good host body. You'd think one of the Taxxon Council of 13 members would be itching to trade up into her even if they don't want any lower level Yeerks to learn her secrets.

Zore fucked around with this message at 04:59 on Jul 9, 2022

# ? Jul 9, 2022 04:56

Capfalcon: Apr 6, 2012; No Boots on the Ground,
Puny Mortals!

Zore posted:

Marco having conflicting feelings about Nora especially rings pretty true here. She's someone his dad cares a lot about, but emotionally he's been preparing on some level to rescue his mom since before she came into the picture and I have the feeling that even if he had more time and a choice in the matter he probably would have let the Yeerks take her.

I don't think he would have let the Yeerks take her, honestly. That's pretty monstrous, and for all the questionable things they've done up until now, "condemning someone to mental slavery because she's not your real mom" doesn't really come anywhere close. Being focused on your "real family" is a good enough explanation for me, and honestly, there's a better than even chance she was taken in the hours after Marco went full gorilla when rescuing his dad.

Zore posted:

It does kind of make me wonder why they're killing Eva though, she should still be a pretty good host body. You'd think one of the Taxxon Council of 13 members would be itching to trade up into her even if they don't want any lower level Yeerks to learn her secrets.

Well, the only real candidate would be the Council of Thirteen, as Eva would have far, far too much information to be handed to anyone else, and honestly, being a Taxxon probably isn't that bad if you're waited on hand and foot... and arm and head and... well, you get the idea.

# ? Jul 9, 2022 06:21

Strategic Tea: Sep 1, 2012

quote:

The kid in that photo had prepared his last frozen pizza dinner. Had gone to his last math class. Had seen his last movie at the Cineplex.

That kid would never even hang out in his own backyard again. Because this wasn’t his home anymore. He had no home. He’d made the necessary sacrifice.

God daaaaaamn this book has all the lines that stick with me

# ? Jul 9, 2022 09:09

dungeon cousin: Nov 26, 2012; woop woop
loop loop

drat, I feel bad for Nora. Not only is she enslaved but she believes her family is dead. She's in such a horrible place right now. Also it's not hard to imagine that this kind of situation has happened to other poor people. I got spoiled about stuff later in this book and man, I am gonna have some things to say.

dungeon cousin fucked around with this message at 10:38 on Jul 9, 2022

# ? Jul 9, 2022 10:07

disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

Capfalcon posted:

I don't think he would have let the Yeerks take her, honestly. That's pretty monstrous, and for all the questionable things they've done up until now, "condemning someone to mental slavery because she's not your real mom" doesn't really come anywhere close. Being focused on your "real family" is a good enough explanation for me, and honestly, there's a better than even chance she was taken in the hours after Marco went full gorilla when rescuing his dad.

Agreed. Rescuing his father was already one huge, improbable success, and not only was there more to do with him after he rescued him, it's almost a guarantee that the Yeerks went for Marco's house and infested Nora immediately, because where else is his father going to want to go after escaping that situation? Even if Marco had said "yes, we need to get Nora out now" right after the fight, the Yeerks still would probably have gotten to her faster than Marco could have gotten the team together. He's beating himself up because something terrible has happened to her and it feels like he could have prevented it, but it's much more likely he would have gotten himself and his father captured and/or killed.

# ? Jul 9, 2022 15:13

FlocksOfMice: Feb 3, 2009

This book is doing an incredible job of capturing the surreality of the realization that parts of your life are completely and utterly over and how mundane and natural it seems and how cosmic and huge it seems at the same time. This is great, I wish I had stuck through the ghostwritten monster of the day books until I got back to this.

While the filler books were fine and had a lot of good strong stuff mixed within, it really feels like after the first dozen or so books it does lose a lot of its really BRUTAL aspects that are only showing up again in here.

# ? Jul 9, 2022 18:21

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

The death fake out is a bit off and feels too easy to me - surely the Yeerks would try to infest his dad again rather than just kill him?

disaster pastor posted:

Agreed. Rescuing his father was already one huge, improbable success, and not only was there more to do with him after he rescued him, it's almost a guarantee that the Yeerks went for Marco's house and infested Nora immediately, because where else is his father going to want to go after escaping that situation? Even if Marco had said "yes, we need to get Nora out now" right after the fight, the Yeerks still would probably have gotten to her faster than Marco could have gotten the team together. He's beating himself up because something terrible has happened to her and it feels like he could have prevented it, but it's much more likely he would have gotten himself and his father captured and/or killed.

I agree with this - but without a doubt, he would have taken the risk and tried if it had been his dad or his own mum. And part of the reason he's beating himself up is because he knows that.

FlocksOfMice posted:

This book is doing an incredible job of capturing the surreality of the realization that parts of your life are completely and utterly over and how mundane and natural it seems and how cosmic and huge it seems at the same time.

And how suddenly and unexpectedly it can happen

# ? Jul 10, 2022 03:29

Zore: Sep 21, 2010; willfully illiterate, aggressively miserable sourpuss whose sole raison d�etre is to put other people down for liking the wrong things

freebooter posted:

I agree with this - but without a doubt, he would have taken the risk and tried if it had been his dad or his own mum. And part of the reason he's beating himself up is because he knows that.

Yeah, and to be clear this is mostly what I meant about Marco feeling guilty. Because he can absolutely make the choice not to save Nora here but there isn't a chance in hell he'd make the same decision for his own mother or father. Compounded by the fact that his dad cares about Nora a lot more than he does and realizing the pain he's gonna cause his dad.

# ? Jul 10, 2022 03:37

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 13

quote:

I. had to say something. Had to let them know I hadn�t lost sight of the realities of this war.

�So what if Visser One is our best shot at finding out what Visser Three has planned? We risk our butts for her?�

Jake looked at me with eyes that said, �Give me a break. You know you want to save her.�

�Listen!� I continued, more forcefully. �If we can rescue her - and that�s a big if - she�ll still have the Yeerk in her head. Why would it cooperate with us? Why would it tell us anything?�

�It won�t,� Jake answered simply, sinking my counterargument. �But we can starve it out.�

�Is that painful?� Dad said anxiously. �Would she survive?�

�It�s living hell,� Jake answered. �But it would be more fun than anything she�s been through so far.�

Rachel glanced at Dad, then at me. �Where will your mom and dad go?� she said. �They�ll have to leave the country. Get as far from here as they can.�
�I can�t do that,� Dad protested. �I won�t leave Nora.�

�You don�t have a choice,� Rachel said coldly.

Another twinge of guilt struck me like a facial tic. Nora was probably the one Dad wanted to save. He could have left the country with her, his wife � been fugitives with the woman he loved �

 Tobias said. <Good climate, no tourists, low prices. Friendly locals. They�re a little on the slow side, but they can tell a great story.>

�The free Hork-Bajir colony,� Cassie cried. �We�ll send them to the Hork-Bajir!�

It was the perfect solution to the problem of safety for my parents. Dad aimed a look of resentment at a far-off tree. An alien race of parasites had played god with his freedom. A bunch of kids had co-opted his free will. His life had been totally taken over. He understood his new reality, but he didn�t like it.

Did I? My mind flooded with sun-washed scenes of peace and harmony. Mom climbing a tree next to Toby. Dad teaching English in a flower-filled meadow. They could act as advisors for the Hork-Bajir. They could be unofficial governors of the valley� . What was I thinking?

�Great idea,� I said with mock enthusiasm. �Except it assumes that we make it out of the Yeerk pool death trap.� I frowned. �Look, our odds for success might be pretty good in a world where Rachel is short, fat, and ugly, and Tobias is a stork. But in this world? We�ve used up most of our nine lives, kids. The Yeerks have got to have beefed-up security forces to prevent Visser One�s escape. The odds are worse than slim.�

�They�re dim,� Dad echoed. �And grim.� I glared at him. Okay, so maybe we try to rhyme with each other�s last word. But we do that when we�re alone.

Dad smiled at the ground. A peace offering. I tried to finish my argument.

�What I�m trying to say is that we don�t have a plan. We don�t even know how to get into the pool anymore. Not since they closed the car wash.�

<That�s not true,> Ax said, glancing up with his main eyes. He tuned a big knob on the Z-space transponder, then another, littler one. He removed the earpiece from his ear.



<Where?> Jake said.

<Unclear. But it connects to a new underground facility for docking and repairing Bug fighters. The tunnel also carries out a complex decontamination process equipped to kill any living thing.>

�Ax,� I said. �Last time I checked, we can�t morph inanimate objects like chairs and tables. And if we could, they wouldn�t stand much of a chance against a pack of Hork-Bajir.�

�What about tiny animals?� Cassie suggested. �Would a flea or a fly be less susceptible to decontamination?�

<No,> Ax said with certainty. <Yeerk decontamination is thorough and effective.>

�Then why are you telling us this?� Rachel exploded.

<A Bug fighter�s shield is sufficiently strong to block decontamination,> Ax suggested gently.

Jake smiled, an engaged yet tentative grin.

�I get it,� he said. �All we have to do is steal a Bug fighter, find the new tunnel, fly through it, land in the docking facility, evade security, make it to the main pool, kidnap Visser One, drag her back to the ship, and escape. It�s all so simple.�

Rachel looked happier now that there was the promise of danger.

Cassie raised an eyebrow thoughtfully.

Tobias fluttered to ground level, giving me the impression that he supported this madness.

�You�ll have to lay a trap for the Yeerks,� Dad said suddenly. �If I�ve followed this debate correctly, you need a reaction large enough to bring in a Bug fighter, but small enough to give you some control.�

I looked at him. My father never ceased to amaze me. Neither did the resilience of the human spirit.�

Dad�s catching on,� I said approvingly. �We do need a trap and I�ve got me an idea.�

As much as Marco's dad is over his head and feeling out of control, he's no less intelligent or perceptive. Marco talks a lot about the traits he gets from his mom, but I think he gets a lot from his dad too.

Chapter 14

quote:

Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Is this the po-leese? I�m calling from the National Forest. I�ve got the darndest dang thing you ever did see trapped up here. It�s some kind of monster with blades all over it.�

Howls and groans echoed through the dark hills.

My friends?

Maybe.

Or maybe not.

The voice on the other end of the cell phone sounded like it was talking into a tin can. It asked for clarification.

�Monster! Blades!� I cried. �I swear, I got me a real, live, outer-space alien!�

Instantly, I was headquarters� number-one priority. Where was I, they demanded? Who was I? I gave my location, then cut the connection.

Spastic laughter gripped my chest. This plan was too insane! And I�d just set it in motion.

<Keep it down!> Jake roared from a shadow somewhere near.

I pulled a camouflaged hunting cap down over my head. This fashion statement was on loan from Jake�s dad. It was supposed to shield my face so the Yeerks in the Bug fighter wouldn�t recognize me as the boy gunned down the other day. The boy supposed to be dead.

�Let�s hope this works,� I whispered, fastening the earflaps under my chin and looking toward the sky.

A Bug fighter took exactly four minutes to swoop down from orbit. Its lights smeared a bloodred line across the sky. I crouched behind a massive pine tree. When the fighter passed low and slow overhead, I suddenly wished I�d snagged the hunting jacket, too.

Not the orange one.

The plan was for the Yeerks to see a cowering human - that would be me - attracted and repulsed simultaneously by the sight of a struggling Hork-Bajir, caught in some kind of leg trap.

Who was I to mess with the plan?

I cowered. Expertly.

I was glad Dad was safe at the Hork-Bajir colony. He had wanted a part in the mission. He�d been outvoted.

<They�re coming in,> Rachel said. <They�re going to land. Get ready!>

I fingered the coil of cable clutched to my chest. The fighter hovered lower and slower. Through the small, eyelike windows at the front, I saw a Taxxon at the controls.

Pshhhhhhh-shhhhh-thooomp!

The craft landed. A heartbeat later, a hatch slid open. Two Hork-Bajir jumped out, huge menacing shapes in the gloom of the forest.

Then - a tiger streaked from the utter darkness of the trees into the small clearing.

�Rrrrrroaaaaahhhhhh!�

WHAM!

One Hork-Bajir, knocked off his feet.

WHUMP!

A grizzly reared up and sideswiped the second warrior.

Craack!

That was his head, meeting the hull of the ship.

�Gahh � � he said softly. �Lahh � � Victim two. Knocked silly.

One more to go.

The Taxxon inside skittered hysterically from the controls to the hatch, and plunged onto the forest floor!

�Sneeet! Sneeyanyanahhhh!�

Look out! I screamed silently. Jake made me promise not to say a word. If the Yeerks thought a human was part of the attack, we�d be charred toast. All of us.

Yes! A wolf sprinted from the trees on the right. An Andalite streaked in from the left, a lightning line of blue.

Ploosh! Ploosh!

Cassie plowed into the Taxxon�s rear half. Ax took the front.

The Taxxon was thrust into the night sky. A wormy constellation spinning clockwise at hyperspeed.

�Skreeeeeeeeyaaaaa!�

Ka-blooooosh!

He landed with a watery thud.

I ran toward the fighter. Tobias was already demorphing, growing smaller and smaller in the mantrap that held his Hork-Bajir leg. Once bird, he could wriggle free.

<Tie them up,> Jake ordered. <Just tight enough to keep them here till the free Hork-Bajir can pick them up.>

�What about the Taxxon?� I said.

<He can fend for himself. Maybe he makes it. Maybe he doesn�t.>

�Right.�

I wrangled two bladed Hork-Bajir arms into position and bound them together with cord. One of them groaned faintly, face in the dirt. Rachel silenced him with a flick of a great grizzly paw.

My heart was pounding wildly. But I managed to maneuver the legs and bind them. Then the hands and legs of the other one.

<Come on,> Jake ordered, demorphing.

Rachel climbed on board. Tobias flew in.

I looked down at the Hork-Bajir I�d just tied up. To the touch, the skin was rough as bark. His back heaved and fell. A sharp snort accompanied every intake of air. I was going to the Yeerk pool. And this breathing sawmill was going to be my costume.

I hope they realize that if the Taxxon does make it, it'll eat the tied up Hork-Bajir.

# ? Jul 10, 2022 04:09

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

quote:

They could be unofficial governors of the valley�

Lol, problematic

# ? Jul 10, 2022 04:22

Capfalcon: Apr 6, 2012; No Boots on the Ground,
Puny Mortals!

freebooter posted:

Lol, problematic

Yeah... there's a big jump from "my parents could live together and teach their hosts things" to "...and they could even run the place soon enough!"

More generally, this plan... really stinks. They jump some pilots, then fly the same ship back to the pool and hope no one notices? That the ship isn't gonna have anyone checking in with updates on the search?

As a side note, the Animorphs' Hork-Bajir morph (both of them) should be on every wanted poster in the Yeerk Empire by now.

Capfalcon fucked around with this message at 06:17 on Jul 10, 2022

# ? Jul 10, 2022 06:14

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

freebooter posted:

Lol, problematic

In his defense, he realizes it's a dumb idea himself

# ? Jul 10, 2022 21:16

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 15

quote:

�How cool is this? This has got to be a limited edition sport model. I mean, wow. The Yeerks must only have made a few hundred of these.�

I walked to one of the tiny windows. Red spotlights still crisscrossed the ground below, pulsing in deliberately slow cadence.

<Actually,> Ax corrected, <this is the standard model. Albeit the newest versions His multifingered hands worked frantically to keep pace with controls made for the five hundred or so little claws of a Taxxon. <This model has been produced by the thousands.>

I watched Ax in profile as he worked furiously to dim the searchlights. He was having some trouble. The cab lights went black, then red again. The outer lights brightened before they dimmed our RV-sized cockroach without legs.

Cockroach. The kind of thing that makes your mom frantically beat the wall with the kitchen broom and not want to eat for a whole day afterward.

A Bug fighter is not warm and fuzzy. It�s not the kind of vehicle into which you want to crawl.

The sudden sound of compressed air being released �

�Ax?�

Whoooossshhhhhh!

�Aaaaaax!�

My head was thrown back. My body slammed against four other bodies on the cabin�s back wall. A hawk screeched nervously as momentum plastered his bony body to the ceiling.

 Ax said loudly. <Please remain calm. I think the cockpit was modified for a mutant Taxxon, a Taxxon with twice the normal number of appendages.>

I took a deep breath. Nice luck. Hijack a ship built for a mutant.

�Do you need help?� Jake asked.

�This is so stupid,� I cursed under my breath.

From where I sat, helplessly pressed against the bulkhead, Ax looked totally confused. His weak fingers ran over every button like a deranged pilot with a phantom checklist.

�Uh, Ax-man,� I said, �do you have even, like, one little clue?�



Tobias fell to the floor with a thud. We�d stopped accelerating. Now we hovered indecisively.

Ax flipped two switches over his head, then pressed a red button. There was the sound of a fan.

Warm air rushed out from under the seats that lined the sidewalls. Ax�s stalk eyes swung around, puzzled.

�Much better, Ax,� Rachel said impatiently. �You have the makings of a great heating-and cooling engineer.�

�Maybe we should read the owner�s manual?� Cassie.

<No. No, that will not be necessary,> Ax declared, newly confident. <I have an idea. Rather than search for the tunnel entrance based on clues from Z-space chatter, why not let the Bug fighter guide us? All low-level Yeerk combat ships are programmed to return to base automatically if flight begins
to seem, um, erratic.>

�A safety precaution?� Cassie asked.

<No. A security measure. The Yeerks don�t trust their own pilots.>

�Yeah, well, good for them. We need autopilot bad.�

The ship jolted. It began to ascend rapidly, then pivot slowly. And suddenly, even though it was night outside, everything through the main windows appeared lit up bright as day. Yeerk night-vision technology.

I moved to the front of the ship to get a better view. Silly of me. If I�d waited a half-second longer, I wouldn�t have had to walk.

The ship pitched forward and angled down toward the earth. Before we could yell, the six of us were trapped in a pile-on.

<You should always wear the safety restraints,> Ax scolded, struggling futilely to get four humans and an angry bird off him.

I pulled myself to my knees. Below us, through the night-vision windows, was the ocean, crashing whitecaps and heaving swells.

�Ax, are you sure everything�s okay?�

�We�re pointed straight for the water!�



� Yeeeeeooooooooowwwwwwwwww!�

The scream was unanimous.

�OhhhhhhhhMyyyyyyyyyGooooooodddd!!�

I was down! We shot Earthward like a bullet. Acceleration crushed my chest. Rachel�s leg wedged against my neck. I could feel the skin of my face pulled back by the force.

�Yaaaaahhhh!�

Remember kids, always wear your seatbelts. I'm also not sure which I like better....Ax reassuring Marco that this is a standard model bug fighter, or Ax being both overconfident and unable to drive the ship.

Chapter 16

quote:

�Yaaaaaaaaaah!�

Seconds from plunging us into the watery depths, the Bug fighter got a different idea. It slowed, stopped, pivoted. And shot upward!

�Ahhhh! What�s going on?�

Everyone but Ax and Tobias skittered and slid across the floor, back against the bulkhead.

<Perhaps �> Ax said shakily. <Perhaps we did not register sufficient velocity. If the ship intends to follow an underwater course, sufficient speed must be attained beforehand.>

�Underwater!�



�Won�t that kill us?�

<At these velocities, death is always a possibility.>

Great. Killed by autopilot. Totally humiliating death.

Then - the image of my mother popped into my head, as I�d seen her in the Yeerk pool, at the trial. Bones broken and body bloody. She�d asked for more of the Yeerks� cruelty. Begged me to let Visser One continue to control her. Because she knew it might give Earth a better chance for survival.

If she could take that kind of torture, I could deal with being at the mercy of autopilot.

I glanced out one of the windows. Ocean and forest and city lights were dropping away, like a high-speed pan-out from a satellite camera. For just an instant, I could make out the dots of lights that were the city. The stadium, the business district, the �burbs, and the boonies.

Whooosh!

Then we pulled away so fast, all light converged into one bright dot, one speck of city. More dots came into view, until I could see hundreds of beacons of blazing white light. For a second, I thought they were stars. Then I realized that each one was a city. We were almost in outer space! Cassie gasped. It was unbelievable.

<We should reach the apex of our trajectory at any moment,> Ax said, inappropriately calm. <It would be wise to fasten your safety restraints.>

Again, the ship slowed. You couldn�t feel g-forces anymore, but the earth below stopped receding. It was like we�d reached the end of some massive, invisible rubber band.

I�d shot off too many rubber bands during math class not to know what would come next.

Was I distressed?

Yes. Oh yes, I was.

Fwooop!

The ship tilted into a dive and without a second�s hesitation -

�Aaaaaahhhh!�

<Aaaaahhhh!>

Raced toward Earth. Faster. Faster!

We punched through the clouds, a millisecond of fog.

Then, the sparkle of the city. The curved coastline.

And the ship diving straight at the water!

A plain of blue and silver filled the cockpit windows. Growing clearer and sharper every second!

Shimmering waves �

Someone screamed again. And at that moment I saw death.

We�ve dived from planes, demorphed in midair, dodged Dracon beams, done all these things and more at lightning-fast speed. But nothing, nothing compared to this.

Just a fraction of a second to know, not even to articulate, okay, you�re about to die.

Rushing toward a blue wall of death at a million miles an hour!

�Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!�

<Ahhhhhh!>

Six screaming voices. A weird whooshing in my head.

And then I opened my eyes.

Schools of fish streaked through the Bug fighter�s red lights.

I was alive. And we were under the water. The ship had become a submarine! Autopilot banked and steered some secret course known only to the enemy.

I looked at the others. Rachel held Tobias�s hawk body loosely but protectively. Ax stood on wobbly legs. Jake and Cassie were clutching hands. No one said a word.

We dove deeper, into darker ocean depths.

Leveled out along the ocean bottom, skimmed across a topography more bizarre than anything on the face of the planet. A cavern disappeared beneath us. A mountain jutted into blackness overhead. A bright yellow sea creature fled in our wake.

And suddenly, our lights illuminated a massive obstruction. Jagged, angular, covered over with sea life and yet, a familiar sight.

<It�s a ship.> Tobias.

Yeah, like what you see on a cable show. Lost Ships of the Sea: Terror, Treasure, and Discovery.

�Go Hork-Bajir,� Jake ordered. �Now. We may not have much time.�

We morphed. Six panting, muscular, seven-foot-tall, blade-wielding bodies made the Bug fighter a tight fit. But it was the morph for the job and I knew what to expect. Good eyes. Slow mind, a little apprehensive. Powerful body. Just one of hundreds, maybe thousands of slaves to the Yeerks. No one would notice us. No one would know we were not Controllers. I hoped.

The ship banked automatically, just missing the side of the seafaring relic. We began to circle slowly above it.

The hull was gigantic, tipped on its side against the ocean floor. Large sections were broken off, plates of riveted steel scattered all around. A turret and three heavy guns protruded from the deck.

<World War Two,> Jake murmured. <It�s a battleship.>

The Bug fighter circled once more, then set a course for the center of the sunken ship.

<Here we go again,> I yelled, throwing up my bladed arms in disbelief. <Don�t tell me we can fly through steel.>

We shot toward the hull. I decided not to close my eyes this time. What would be the point?

<The Z-space chatter,> Ax said suddenly. <There was the mention of a human ship. This is the entrance to the tunnel!>

Just as we were about to crash, the ship fractured. Just opened like a hinged box, revealing a long slit through the superstructure.

Dead fish and other sea creatures poured out from the battleship opening, swarming our windows.

<Intense radiation screens,> Ax explained. <They are not uncommon as protective devices for Yeerk battle stations. Living things are destroyed instantly.>

I swallowed hard.

We passed through the slit with inches to spare and were swallowed into featureless blackness.

The ship dove swiftly under the seafloor, through an underwater tube to the center of the earth.

Gradually, the walls of the tunnel changed from water to soil. From rock to concrete.

And suddenly, our Bug fighter and its Hork-Bajir crewmen pulled into an enormous, lightflooded cavern. Service hangars lined the walls of the dome-shaped space, as big as the main Yeerk pool. The floor was alive with Taxxon and Hork-Bajir crewmen streaming to and from docked fighters. Human-Controller maintenance workers buzzed from ship to ship in one-person pods.

A Blade ship was being serviced in what looked like a private hangar.

Our Bug fighter zoomed purposefully along a line of docked Bug fighters until it came to an empty stall.

We descended slowly and landed with a slight jolt.

<We have docked,> Ax said unnecessarily.

Jake stood up. <Let�s go, guys.>

It seems to me the big problem with all of them morphing Hork-Bajir is that the Yeerks use Taxxon controllers to fly their ships. The last chapter even brings up that the controls are designed for the many limbs of a Taxxon. So, you know, if I'm some Controller who sees them leave the ship, by first question is, "Who was piloting?"

# ? Jul 11, 2022 04:24

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 17

quote:

Six Hork-Bajir backed down the debarkation ladder and stepped onto a hard concrete floor. I, for one, was doing my best to look extremely mean.

<All these fighters,> Cassie said in private thought-speak. <The Yeerks have an amazing force!>

Yeah, the power assembled here was more than any of us had expected. Dozens of Bug fighters. A Blade ship. And these were just the ones in for servicing.

If the all-out invasion came, it wasn�t going to be pretty.

<Stay calm, everybody,> Jake said. <Pretend you know where you�re going. And look tough.>

Other Bug fighter crews marched across the mammoth room. We mimicked them by forming three rows of two and striding along until we neared a security checkpoint.

Two Dracon-slinging Hork-Bajir heavies looked us over carelessly. The third one, a thinner, savvier-looking guy, raised a bladed arm for us to halt.

If I�d been a normal kid, without the superhuman bravery of an Animorph, my heart probably would have stopped. It wasn�t just the three security guards. I mean, the six of us could take them. It was the other hundred or so Hork-Bajir milling around. The complex was alive!

The thin security guard slid off his stool, walked up to Ax, looked him up and down. Then he backed away and snorted to the others.

�Grrraffshhh Grrrrufssshhhht!�

Finally, he waved us on.

<No, you have a nice day, sir,> I said softly. Nobody laughed. <Look, we might be in a Yeerk fortress, but life�s about experience, right? This is experience.>

<Shut. Up,> Rachel said.

<Okay.>

We followed other crews to a long corridor at the edge of the cavern in which we�d parked the ship. There was a moving walkway, like the conveyer belts for people at the airport. In lanes on either side of us, transport vehicles raced in both directions.

<We�re definitely headed for the pool,> Tobias observed.

<We�ll have to split up to find Visser One,> Jake said. <The place is huge and we probably don�t have much time.>

A few moments later we emerged from the connecting tunnel into the cavernous Yeerk pool complex we�d come to know and love.

And there, in the center of the sloshing pool itself, tied to a stake in the middle of the infestation pier, was Visser One.

My mother.

<That was easy,> Cassie said.

Visser One - my mother - was roped and chained. If there was a part of her body that wasn�t bruised or bleeding, I couldn�t see it. It hurt just to look at her.

I wanted to run to her, cut her free. But didn�t. It would have been suicide for all of us.

Controllers jeered and yelled at her from the side of the pool. She was no longer their visser. She was a traitor, a loser. Torture, humiliation, death. The Yeerks had made the execution a public event.

And obviously, the starvation was well underway. The visser thrashed madly and screamed incomprehensible words at the crowd.

The Yeerk in my mother�s head was desperate. Surrounded by Kandrona she couldn�t have, starving in the midst of plenty.

A sick, retching feeling twisted my stomach.

<Mom!> I yelled in private thought-speak.

Her jabbering stopped abruptly. She�d heard my thought-speak. My mother was still alive enough to know my voice!

<Mom!> I yelled again. This time, she didn�t respond. Or couldn�t. Visser One reasserted control, roaring and wailing, spitting at her tormentors. Pulling at wrists and ankles bound tight and black with bruising. I had to look away.

A bladed claw pressed gently against my back. It was Jake.

 he said. <But we have to do it right.>

<Visser One knows who we are,> I said quickly. <In the state she�s in, starved out of her mind, she could say anything.>

<Would anyone listen to her?> Cassie said. <Would anyone even understand?>

<She will not talk,> Ax said.

<What makes you so sure?> Tobias said.

<She has nothing to gain by telling them. She will die anyway.>

<True,> Tobias said thoughtfully. <But you could also argue that she has nothing to lose by telling them. I know what it�s like. I know what it does to you. If she thinks it might save her, she�ll talk.>

<How can we get her out of here?> Rachel said practically. <We can�t just pick her up and carry her all the way back to the ship.>

<Right,> I said, struggling to focus, to plan. <We wouldn�t get two feet without being slaughtered. We are seriously outnumbered.>

<Okay, so the subtle rescue-and-escape plan is not happening,> Cassie said. <What �>

<Back to the ship,> Jake commanded. <Now.>

<And leave Visser One?> Cassie cried, indignant. <We�ve made it this far. We can�t give up.>

<No one said anything about giving up,> Jake said.

He turned his fierce Hork-Bajir eyes toward the entrance to the connecting walkway. Scrutinized the channel through which we�d arrived at the Yeerk pool.

Ax was the first one to understand.

 Ax said. <But as you have witnessed, Yeerk ships are not as responsive as Andalite craft. I do not think such tight confines are maneuverable>

<We�re going to fly her out?> Rachel said.

<Got a better plan?> Jake was already moving toward the walkway, back to the ship. We followed, walking quickly. Stepped onto the conveyer belt with a group of Taxxon pilots.

And then, as we approached the maintenance dome, a security force assembled.

<Please let them be there to question these Taxxons,> Tobias said.

�Sttoooopflesshh!� the lead security agent commanded.

Jake stopped.

<Keep walking,> he told us. <I�ll handle this.>

�Your fighter is overdue. Explain!�

�Yes,� Jake said, articulating human language sounds as clearly as a Hork-Bajir beak would allow. �We were cruishh � cruising over the forest when our right thruster stopped working. I had to land. My orders were to have the fighter maintenanced here.�

<Stay cool, everybody,> he added privately.

�That�s a lie,� cried the thin Hork-Bajir from before, shoving Jake into his men. �There was a full system check. Nothing is wrong with your ship. Gufleccccssshhhh!�

Hork-Bajir from neighboring hangars craned their necks to see if there would be a struggle.

<On second thought,> Jake directed, <everybody, run!>

Running is a good idea. Also, there's something particularly sadistic about sentencing somebody to Kandrona starvation and then chaining their host next to a Kandrona pool. Very Visser Three

Chapter 18

quote:

Jake raised his bladed elbows and sliced into the wall of Hork-Bajir trying to restrain him.

Note to self: Do not attempt to contradict Yeerk security forces. It only leads to mayhem.

<Get to the fighter!> Jake screamed.

He punched another Hork-Bajir out of his way and raced down the long row of ships. Suddenly -

Tseeeeeew! Tseeeeeew!

The air around him exploded in a flash of Dracon fire!

<No!>

Jake disappeared in a cloud of glowing smoke.

<Jake!> Cassie screamed.

<Relax,> Jake called out to us, panting heavily. <I�m okay. I�m crouched behind a service trolley.>

He was out of sight, but that didn�t mean security believed he was dead. All attention, all guns, all Dracon beams swarmed toward the smoky cloud where Jake had last been seen.

No one noticed the transformation that was taking place behind other conveniently placed pieces of equipment. A muscular blue Andalite and a red-tailed hawk, growing and morphing where two Hork-Bajir had stood seconds before. Tobias flapped up, high and silent, into the bowl of the dome.

Thwack � Thwack-Thwack-Thwack!

Ax!

�Aaghshs � � Four Dracon beams clattered to the ground. Four warriors clutching fingerless stumps let loose with desperate, confused cries.

Ax shot off like a bullet in Jake�s direction.

Cassie, Rachel, and I, still in our Hork-Bajir morphs, grabbed the Dracon weapons off the floor.

<Fire at Ax!> I yelled.

It was our best chance, our only option for cover. As long as we shot at the Andalite, the Hork-Bajir wouldn�t shoot at us. We ran after Ax. Missing every shot.

<Get to the ship!>

Bug ship crews were running for their fighters. We had no time!

Words to live by: When you�re running from the enemy, don�t look back. It never does any good. I turned around to see a stampede of angry, armed Hork-Bajir pouring through the connecting tunnel.

Did I need to see that? Was that good for morale? No. It was not.

�Traitors!� I raged suddenly, waving my Dracon beam toward a disorganized group of security Hork-Bajir. �Over there. Over there! Get them!�

�Guflesshhhkkl Defffantii!� cried the leader of the first wave. �Die, traitors!� Off they went.

Security force against security force.

Exactly what we needed. Civil war. Confusion. Yeerk against Yeerk.

<Get your butts in the ship!> Jake roared. <I�m inside. I�m waiting!>

Where were Rachel and Cassie? I�d lost them. I was alone.

I ran.

My long, hard claws scratched the cold, hard floor. The Hork-Bajir heart pounded like a bass drum in my chest. Lungs burned. Sweat dripped into my eyes.

Our ship�s bug-eye windows glowed red, powering up.

<All systems are go,> Ax said from inside. <Autopilot is disabled. I have full control.>

<Let�s ride, Ax,> Jake ordered.

<Wait! For! Me!> I bounded up the narrow maintenance ladder and into our ride.

Ax was at the controls. Tobias was perched like a figurehead inside.

<Let�s cruise for some chicks,> I breathed, already starting to demorph. 

We lifted off.

<Shields up,> Ax said.

Ka-Bammm! Dracon fire grazed our force-field bubble.

Ax didn�t wait for further orders. He knew what to do.

We shot into the air. Dove down. Shot up again. I felt like I�d left my stomach in the maintenance hangar.

I was human now, morph-capable. I�d had enough of the Hork-Bajir. I wanted something hairy and familiar.

<There!> Tobias yelled. 

We rose again. Then, dipped. Rose, dipped. Bug-fighter frenzy: The carnival ride from hell. Ax moved in and opened the hatch.

<Shields down,> he said.

Cassie was crouched low, shielding her head from Dracon fire. I reached out with a still forming gorilla hand. Grabbed hold. Pulled!
<Ahhh!>

Cassie was in.

Rachel tumbled through the hole after her.

<Shields up.>

Tseeew!

The maintenance vehicle exploded in a flash of heat that sent us rocking.

<Ax,> Jake ordered, <get us out of here!>

As dangerous as it is to attack the pool, it's also sort of the place the Yeerks are least prepared for an attack. First, it's "their" place...the place on earth they feel safe and protected. Second, there are so many Yeerks who aren't direct combatants; that are there for feeding or relaxation or other tasks, that Pool Security has to be careful they don't hurt or kill people on their own side.

# ? Jul 12, 2022 03:08

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Epicurius posted:

Second, there are so many Yeerks who aren't direct combatants; that are there for feeding or relaxation or other tasks, that Pool Security has to be careful they don't hurt or kill people on their own side.

...have they exhibited such caution before?

# ? Jul 12, 2022 06:48

Zore: Sep 21, 2010; willfully illiterate, aggressively miserable sourpuss whose sole raison d�etre is to put other people down for liking the wrong things

Fuschia tude posted:

...have they exhibited such caution before?

Yeah, we've seen the Animorphs use Human/Hork-Bajir/Yeerks as shields before, especially if Visser 3 isn't there to push the issue. Besides him very few Yeerks really seem into casually killing their compatriots or underlings.

The only people everyone seems willing to always sacrifice is Taxxons :v:

# ? Jul 12, 2022 07:36

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Sorry, but new chapters tomorroe.

# ? Jul 13, 2022 04:23

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 19

quote:

I moved to a window. The red, bloodshot �eyes� of Bug fighters everywhere were coming to life.

One rose from its hangar, still tethered to the maintenance tubes and tools that clung to its hull. It tried to accelerate.

Blaamm!

A white flash. An instant explosion.

<Do not attempt to fly a ship undergoing maintenance,> Ax counseled. <Something is bound to go wrong.>

<Yeah, well, we�re not doing so hot ourselves,> I said.

Handheld Dracon fire battered our shields. Ax pointed the ship at the connecting tunnel and slammed on the gas.

Wee-oo-wee-oo!

A deafening alarm! Flashing lights seized the controls. I looked at Ax.

<We do not have clearance. Too narrow.>

<Do something, Ax!> Jake cried.

Ax did. He slowed the ship, turned our Dracon cannon on the rock of the connecting tunnel, and fired. Solid rock began to burn and melt and disappear!

Tobias was monitoring the shields. <Shield strength is fading, Ax! Twenty-eight percent. Twentysix!>

The stone blazed. Chunks of smoldering, flaming cliff crashed onto the conveyor belt we�d walked across minutes before.

Ka-Bam! Bamm! Bam, bam, bam!

Dracon fire continued to rock us from below.

<Ax! Can you fly us through, yes or no?>

<Yes.>

<Whoa!>

The ship banked forty-five degrees! And Ax took us into the flames. Scraping � bumping � screeching through the exploding rock!

We were like a bullet in a gun barrel.

<Ax, you�re craaaaazy!> Cassie screamed.

Suddenly, light. Air.

The gigantic Yeerk pool complex opened up before us.

<Nice work, Ax-man,> Jake said, breathing hard. <Now, let�s take their minds off Visser One.>

He aimed the Dracon cannon at a complex of outbuildings on the edge of the pool. Fired.

Missed!

<Let the master take over.>

I took the controls.

Tseeeew!

An outbuilding disappeared. Another erupted in flames.

Tseeeew!

An unmanned earthmover vaporized. Controllers scattered in all directions. It was a Hollywood summer weekend movie. I ruled.

I turned the cannon on the pool.

My mother might have been delirious, but her eyes went wide at the sight of the training cannon.

<Careful,> Rachel said.

I aimed at the edge. Not at the Yeerks, not at the Controllers. Just at the thick metal tank. The symbol of enslavement.

Tseew!

A low-power burst made the tank wall melt. No major damage because I wasn�t trying to destroy it. I was just trying to get everyone to run.
Hork-Bajir and humans fanned out in a desperate escape.

<Take us in,> Jake said to Ax. <Rachel, Marco? You ready?>

I snorted. <If we can�t do it, no one can.>

<Let�s do it!>

Ax hovered the ship above the Kandrona slop.

The under-hatch opened.

<Shields down,> Ax said nervously.

<Go!> Jake yelled. <Go!>

We jumped out. Gorilla feet and Hork-Bajir talons slammed onto the metal peninsula where my mother was tied up. The infestation pier is as wide as a boardwalk, but it�s as dangerous as a rope bridge strung across a canyon in the Andes.

Rachel quickly sliced the cuffs that held my mother to the pole. Chest � wrists � ankles.

My mother didn�t seem to know we were there to help. The screaming Yeerk in her head was too far gone.

<Grab her,> Rachel growled. <The ship�s about to get hit!>

Tseeeew!

A Dracon bolt hit the ship over our heads! The force rattled the pier and burned a scar into the side of our fighter!

<Hang on!> Jake called from above. <We�ll be back.>

No choice. Ax had to pull away or be massacred. The ship raised its shields and buzzed into the air.

<We�re stranded,> Rachel said. <This isn�t how it was supposed to work out!>

Another Bug ship zoomed through the connecting tunnel, swarmed the air over the pool. Ax shot straight up to the top of the dome, the attacking ship right behind.

Tseeew!

Dracon fire missed Ax as he pulled steeply back.

Tseeew!

Jake shattered the shield of the enemy ship.

I turned back to my mother, leaned low to protect her body from the fight. <Mom, it�s me. It�s Marco.>

Carefully, I lifted her into my arms. She was silent for less than a second, then the screaming started again.

Tseeew! Tseew!

<Duck!> Rachel yelled. Stray fire from the aerial fight was dislodging pieces of rock from the ceiling! Small boulders rained lo the floor like deadly hail.

Ka-plash! Ka-plash-plash-plash!

Chunks splashed into the pool, feet from us, covering us is a spray of goo.

<We�re in trouble now,> Rachel said solemnly, pointing to a fearsome-looking group of Hork- Bajir marked with blue armbands on their bulging biceps.

<Who are those guys? They�re � huge. Crap. They�re the most pumped Hork-Bajir I�ve ever seen!>

I threw my kicking, fighting mother over my shoulder.

<Let�s get to the other pier!> I shouted.

<Then what?>

<Run like hell.>

The gap between the piers was at least five feet. Maybe more. Rachel ran down our pier like it was an airstrip. She lifted up � rocketed through space �
The perfect long jump.

<Marco, come on!>

No choice. I taxied like a DC-3. The jump was too long, too �

<Ahhhhh!>

We hurtled through the air above the churning Yeerks. And crashed onto the reinfestation pier.

Suddenly, my mother went totally limp.

Oh, God. Was she dead? Had I killed her?

No. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at me pleadingly.

�Kill it,� she whispered.

What? I looked down on the pier.

Visser One! The overgrown leech had escaped from my mother�s ear and was trying to bail! It must have tried to drop into the Kandrona that was food, that was life� .

Trouble was, the timing of the jump had been off. Visser One had hit the pier as we landed. And now it was wriggling away.

Well, they saved his mom. Visser One is still free, though, for now.

Chapter 20

quote:

�Bam!

A blue-banded Hork-Bajir slashed Rachel in the face!

Bam! Bam, bam, bam!

She struck back, a kickboxing, blade-slashing frenzy. The Hork-Bajir staggered, but stayed on his feet.

�I am Grath,� he growled, eyes yellow-orange infernos. �I am the leader of the elite Blue Band Squadron. You will surrender or you will die.�

<Surrender?> Rachel said to me, incredulous. <He doesn�t know me very well.>

�A Hork-Bajir�s gonna die on this pier, Mr. Grath,� she snarled. �But it�s not gonna be me.�

Whooosh!

�Kill it!� My mother�s voice rose louder now, trembling with anger. Visser One was crawling, shriveling up to half its size, then stretching forward. Shrivel, stretch. Shrivel, stretch. A slow, relentless rhythm toward the pier�s edge.

I reached to grab it �

Bam!

<Ahhh!>

A claw-foot stabbed my leg! Another Hork-Bajir had landed on the pier!

I dropped my mother in a heap.

�You will die, Andalite!� Another Blue Band jabbed my back!

BAM!

I whirled and punched him in the chest. 

I glanced down to where my mother lay motionless, semiprotected between Rachel and me, oblivious to the battle. Bruised and broken, she was barely able to lift her head.

But still, she raged. �You won�t get away, filthy worm!�

Tseew! Tseewtseew!

<Ahhh!> Rachel cried. <I�m hit! Bad.>

Had to help Rachel!

�Kill it!�

Had to help Mom!

I clenched my fist, a gorilla wrecking ball. I brought it up, ready to slam it down on the slug.

Tseeew!

�AAAAaaarghhhh!�

Searing pain raced through my right leg!

I dropped to the pier, clutching burns so painful I couldn�t think. The smell of my own burning hair and flesh filled my nostrils, sweet and sickening� .

<Marco!> Rachel.

�Kill it!� My mother.

Insane fighter combat in the air overhead! More rock raining down!

Bam!

The Blue Band slashed me on the face.

Okay. That was unnecessary.

Rage drove me to my feet.

Ka-bam!

�Galaaaah!�

I punched Blue Band off the pier. Splash!

He flailed, struggled in the muddy sea� .

A Bug fighter buzzed my head. The wake of air pushed me down. The roar of engines filled my ears, a shrill, deafening whine.

Then, without warning -

TSEEEEW!

A red flash over our heads.

Ka-BLAAMMM!

The Bug fighter blew apart, showering us with fiery debris!

Mounds of guts and severed limbs everywhere!

<No!>

Jake, Ax, Cassie, Tobias � gone!

All gone.

<Nooooooooooo !> Rachel!

I spun around, jumped over Mom. Smashed into the two warriors that pinned Rachel to the pier. The anger was overwhelming. The pain nauseating.

Whoomf! Bam!

I slammed my pile-driver arms into the Hork-Bajir chests. The bodies rolled, splashed �

<Come on! Let�s move!> I shrieked.

My head was reeling. Rachel�s left arm was a vein and a skin flap from falling off. My mother was helpless. Two more bladed Blue Bands were clanging down the infestation pier, gaining speed to make the jump �

Suddenly, the dome went eerily quiet.

The other Bug ship had disappeared. No roar of engines. No Dracon weapons firing. No battle. A new sound �

The sound of laughter, mind-filling, evil thought-speak laughter, flooding the pool complex.

The Blue Bands froze in their tracks.

I looked across the pool. Visser Three stood on the shore, his stolen Andalite head tilted back. Then, he began to morph.

The blue Andalite body turned black. Long, flat appendages sprouted from his neck and back, then opened outward in both directions, forming wings. Huge black wings!

Growing fuller and wider till they joined in the center. A continuous delta wing. A living stealth bomber.

A head grew in the middle. No, not a head �

A mouth! Wide and long and lined with a darting silver tongue that licked rows of shimmering teeth.

Then eyes � orange globes big as softballs, flanking the mouth like hardened gobs of tomato sauce. <Haa, haa, haa,> he squawked. <Poor little Andalites. Abandoned on the pier. Abandoned to die� .>

The massive wings undulated only once, but it was enough to make the visser rise into the air. A second wing flap and he soared toward the top of the dome, an enormous silhouette engulfing us in shadow.

<Meet the Bievilerd!> the visser roared. <A little something I picked up on the planet Ondar. Its teeth will shred your flesh like paper.>

Rachel and I were silent. What could we say to that?

<You will die!> the visser cried. <And everyone here will see me kill you!>

<We have to move!> I yelled to Rachel.

 she said.

<You have to!>

But I knew it was impossible. A river of blood gushed from her severed arm. She was losing consciousness.

Visser Three closed up his wings and dove for the pier, a missile with a mouth.

There was no escape. No escape!

I tried to lift both Rachel and my mother. They shuddered and gasped with pain. My attempt was pathetic! My injuries made me too weak to do anything� .

Suddenly -

Zzeeeeoowwwwww! A Bug ship zoomed out from behind a storage building! Tseeew!

A Dracon blast, right into the Bievilerds belly.

�Rooooaaaaahhhhhhhhh!�

The visser shrieked. The fighter rocketed toward us.

<Marco!> It was Jake�s voice � Jake�s fighter!

<But I saw you crash!>

<No,> he said. <You saw the Yeerks crash. Where�s your faith in the Ax-man? Hang on, we�re coming in.>

Visser Three has a new toy.

# ? Jul 14, 2022 02:47

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

A bievelird? As in, an evil bird?

# ? Jul 14, 2022 03:03

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

A bievelird? As in, an evil bird?

:Look, you try to keep coming up with names for alien animals....

# ? Jul 14, 2022 03:29

Acebuckeye13: Nov 2, 2010; Ultra Carp

I still need to catch up with everything since... oh god, the Helmacrons, but I'm glad I skipped ahead to catch up with this book.

# ? Jul 14, 2022 03:45

Mazerunner: Apr 22, 2010; Good Hunter, what... what is this post?

love how V3 always always stops to introduce his latest morph. He's so excited for show-and-tell with his andalite bandit buddies

# ? Jul 14, 2022 05:17

WrightOfWay: Jul 24, 2010

I feel like it's been a while since we got a new Visser Three morph.

# ? Jul 14, 2022 05:38

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Funny how he always happens to have picked up the apex predator megafauna from all of these various planets. He was apparently off on a galaxy-spanning DNA collection safari during the years Visser One was on Earth setting up The Sharing.

# ? Jul 14, 2022 07:40

Strategic Tea: Sep 1, 2012

lmao

Let's Read Animorphs: Mounds of guts and severed limbs everywhere!

# ? Jul 14, 2022 13:38

Capfalcon: Apr 6, 2012; No Boots on the Ground,
Puny Mortals!

Fuschia tude posted:

Funny how he always happens to have picked up the apex predator megafauna from all of these various planets. He was apparently off on a galaxy-spanning DNA collection safari during the years Visser One was on Earth setting up The Sharing.

While Visser Three as a murder safari connoisseur is very believable, I wouldn't be surprised if he just told his underlings to ship the most dangerous animals to his Blade Ship and the one who shipped the weakest would be a test dummy.

Or just told Iniss 226 to do it.

# ? Jul 14, 2022 17:57

Acebuckeye13: Nov 2, 2010; Ultra Carp

Clearly Visser 3 just does what the Animorphs do and visits alien space zoos for cool new morphs.

# ? Jul 14, 2022 18:04

Mazerunner: Apr 22, 2010; Good Hunter, what... what is this post?

I still think my fave V3 moment was the time he couldn't be in the book because he had to go to a management conference on the moon

# ? Jul 14, 2022 19:52

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 21

quote:

Tseeew!

A second hole sizzled the Bievilerd�s folded wing. It crumpled, wilted, crashed �

<Andalite filth!> the visser screamed. <You will pay. I will make you pay! Kill them!>

Tseew! Tseew!

Jake took out the two remaining Blue Bands just before we were sliced in their mobile Cuisinart-of-war.

<I�m losing it, Jake,> Rachel mumbled, still fallen close by. <You have to get us out of here!>

I tried to lift my mother again, but this time she resisted, summoning all her feeble strength. Dracon strafe sprayed the pier� .

�Die!� she wheezed, eyes fixed on a small gray spot an inch from the edge.

Visser One!

<Mom, stop!>

She fell forward, arm extended, clutching �

�Die!�

The Bug ship flew in over the pool, blocking us from Dracon fire, hovering low just feet away. My mother�s face was distorted. Real human tears ran from her cheeks. Rage, pain, joy � And then her hand squished the parasite.

But the slug was still alive� .

�No!�

I slammed my foot on the still-wriggling worm. And it was clear �

� it was clear that Visser One�s journey had ended.

My mother, Eva, looked into my gorilla eyes with an expression of sick satisfaction. In spite of everything, it scared me.

�Now we can go,� she whispered.

Then she fainted in my arms.

Ax lowered the shields. I jumped on board. Jake and Cassie leaped out, lifted Rachel, and set her inside. The operation took longer than it should have� .

<The ship is hit!> Cassie yelled.

<It can�t be!> Tobias said.

<Ax?>

We dropped. The engines died like we�d pulled the plug.

Ka-PLASSSSH! We smashed into something � soft � something fluid.

Glug-glug-glug!

Ax�s nimble fingers worked frantically on the controls. I moved to a window.

<We�re in the POOL!> I cried.

Cassie coaxed Rachel through her demorph to repair near-fatal injuries. I had to do the same.

<Prince Jake, I cannot regain takeoff velocity. The pool is like a bog. The more we move, the more it sucks us under.>

We were slowly sinking into the heart of enemy territory!

I slammed a human fist against the cabin wall.

Saw that my mother�s eyes were open. Saw that she was trying to speak but could produce nothing but a scratchy, phlegmy sigh.

�Mom, what is it?�

She looked up at Ax.

�Send the Dracon beam supply into overload,� she muttered.

�What?� I said. �Ax, did you hear that? She said to send the beam supply into overload.�

Ax turned his stalk eyes.

<That will explode the ship. It will destroy us.>

�Ax, listen to her!�

<Does your mother wish to see us die?> Ax said privately.

�Ax, she�s free now,� I said. �She�s free!�

�It won�t explode the ship,� she went on, gagging with the effort. �Not if you time it right. When the Dracon power supply reaches one hundred fifty-five percent of maximum, shunt it to the engines, then fire the beams to bleed off any overcharge.�

I looked at Ax. Ax looked at Jake. Jake looked at Cassie, who was looking at a now-human Rachel.

<It makes sense - I guess,> Tobias said from his perch near the controls.

<Then do it,> Jake said.

<But �>

<Do it.>

The screaming sound of beam overload raged until even I thought the ship would explode. But my mother had been a Yeerk host for a long time. She�d learned a few things. She knew what she was doing.

The screaming stopped. Ax fired the beams directly into the pool. A cloud of smoke and steam billowed around us. <What�s going on?>

<Technically?> Ax answered. <Water molecules are exploding. Simplistically? We are boiling Yeerks.>

Cassie turned away from the window. The ship began to rise.

Ax punched the power.

In the background, Visser Three continued to roar. <You will die, Andalites! I will kill you slowly and painfully! You are mine!>

We zoomed through the burned-out connecting walkway. Blew through the docking area, the repair facility, and into the tunnel. Yeerk fighters were on our tail.

I knelt next to my mother. Took her into my arms as we erupted into the sea. Cradled her gently, securely.

The Bug fighter punched through the ocean surface and into the night sky. Then up, up into the atmosphere.

Ax�s voice came as a distant alarm.

<We are outnumbered, Prince Jake. Ships are dropping from orbit to attack.>

<No choice,> Jake answered. <Ditch the ship.>

Immediately, the ship turned, dove, plummeted toward the National Forest.

We crash-landed and bailed seconds before Bug fighters shot up the wreckage.

Not far from the place in the woods where this adventure had begun. We were almost back at our starting point.

Only this time, I had a prize.

RIP Visser One. Eva is free.

Chapter 22

quote:

Mom?�

�Yes, sweetheart?�

She put her hand on my shoulder and looked into my eyes.

Her own eyes had healed up pretty well. The scars on her face and arms, the broken bones, the bruised tissue � Nature had done a good job.

First aid from the Chee hadn�t hurt, either.

She looked just like she used to. Well, almost.

The change was nothing obvious. It was a sort of tension, a vigilance in her face. It hadn�t been there when I was younger.

Because she hadn�t been a slave before.

A golden sun warmed the sky. Fluffy, non-threatening clouds dotted the blue.

A perfect day. But if it was a perfect day, why didn�t I feel perfect? If this was my dream come true, why did I feel so wrong?

We were footsteps from the valley of the Hork-Bajir, the Promised Land for refugees. So why did I feel uneasy?

�Sweetheart, what is it?� Mom said again.

�Nothing. Just that this valley is awesome. You�re going to be safe. Free. And I�m glad, that�s all.�

We crested the hill and the full effect of the valley spread out before us.

Standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon? Same kind of feeling.

Mom was visibly impressed.

�The Yeerks have no idea. They think they destroyed all this.� She darkened suddenly. �And they will yet. Visser Three will have force enough to launch his attack in just a few months. He�ll burn cities from orbit, Marco. He�ll enslave the human race.�

She had been Visser One. Who was I to argue with her predictions?

�Yeah, well, maybe not,� I said bravely. Being brave is my job.

A waving hand caught my eye. Down the slope, near a group of Hork-Bajir flashing blades in welcome, was one smiling human.

Dad.

I didn�t say anything. Neither did my mother. She just took off down the slope like a woman who hadn�t seen her husband in months and months and months� .

It was a movie cliche. It was lovers reunited. It was the dream I�d had ever since I knew my mother was alive. Dad opened his arms and she tumbled into them.

They embraced. They held each other for a long, long time.

Everything I�d worked for was right before my eyes.

So what was this heaviness pressing on my heart?

The Hork-Bajir had prepared a feast. Bark Wellington. Bark Schnitzel. Bark chow mein. Bark fum� � la cr�me.

As I unpacked the supermarket cans I�d brought along, I assured the Hork-Bajir it�s the thought that counts.

I�d forgotten a can opener, but who needs one in the valley of the walking Swiss Army knives?

The sun began to set as we finished our dinner. The Hork-Bajir lighted their campfires. Mom listened intently as Jara Hamee started one of his now-famous stories.

Dad pulled me aside.

�Marco?� he said in a whisper. �Was there any way to save Nora? Is there any way to save her now?� His words made me feel a little sick. But by now, I knew that life, and love, were complicated. �You know that I love her - �

I nodded. Made the decision.

�Dad, what if Nora was a Controller all along? What if the Yeerks put her in your path because they knew you were involved in secret work?�

Pain knotted my father�s face.

My conscience was heavy. Permanent damage had been done. My family was back together, but not really.

Not honestly.

It was a desperate speculation, one that, I hoped, would make it easier for my dad.

It didn�t make it any easier for me.

�What are you saying?�

�You were set up by the enemy,� I said. �You can�t blame yourself.�

What would you have done if you were Marco?

# ? Jul 15, 2022 02:10

HisMajestyBOB: Oct 21, 2010; College Slice

drat, that's a good one.

From a kids perspective, I totally understand Marco here at the end. But as an adult, I think Marco needs to accept that his Dad loves Nora more than Eva.

# ? Jul 15, 2022 04:49

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

Well maybe, except for the whole "in the middle of a war that she's now a casualty of,"

# ? Jul 15, 2022 05:06

Capfalcon: Apr 6, 2012; No Boots on the Ground,
Puny Mortals!

HisMajestyBOB posted:

drat, that's a good one.

From a kids perspective, I totally understand Marco here at the end. But as an adult, I think Marco needs to accept that his Dad loves Nora more than Eva.

I don't even know if that's true, but it doesn't have to be for the guy to be in a miserable situation. The guy mourned his wife, rebuilt his career from part time janitor to brilliant engineer reshaping the field of physics, and even managed to find love again.

And now, on top of everything else that has been pulled out from under him over the last few days, his son is telling him that Nora never really loved him. Marco's honestly doing what he thinks is best for his Real Family, but it's still a monstrous thing to tell someone if you're not 100% convinced.

On an unrelated note, the Yeerk Pool Jacuzzi definitely killed a lot of Yeerks that were completely defenseless, and we only get a moment of Cassie being upset instead of a longer discussion about it.

Things have gone a long way from the beginning.

# ? Jul 15, 2022 05:08

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

Is Marco doing what's best for his family, or is he acting to try keep his father focused and functional? I feel like it could be either...

# ? Jul 15, 2022 05:17

Acebuckeye13: Nov 2, 2010; Ultra Carp

HisMajestyBOB posted:

drat, that's a good one.

From a kids perspective, I totally understand Marco here at the end. But as an adult, I think Marco needs to accept that his Dad loves Nora more than Eva.

I don't think it's necessarily fair to say he loves her less, but more that he's moved on. He took Eva's death extremely badly, but eventually he was able to accept his wife was dead, pull himself back together for his son, and eventually move on and find new love.

Meanwhile, Marco never really got over it - he didn't completely implode like his dad did, but he was still feeling her loss right up until the start of the series, when he received incontrovertible proof that she was alive. And at that point, he couldn't move on, because he knew she wasn't dead, and his entire life refocused around the goal of fighting the Yeerks for both revenge and the chance to get her back.

So it's not really a mature adult versus an immature kid reaction, or that his dad loves Nora more than Eva - it's that his dad, for completely valid reasons, let go, and Marco, for equally valid reasons, never did.

# ? Jul 15, 2022 05:20

Zore: Sep 21, 2010; willfully illiterate, aggressively miserable sourpuss whose sole raison d�etre is to put other people down for liking the wrong things

Yeah, what Marco does here is completely understandable but also probably the coldest thing he does in the series. At least on an interpersonal level, not going to count all the mauling and mass murder :v:

# ? Jul 15, 2022 05:59

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 23

quote:

The waves lapped at the sandy shore.

<Three miles,> Tobias called down. <The closest humans are three miles down the beach. But I don�t think they�re going anywhere. They�re, um, pretty focused on each other.>

Not that I could see the waves. It was night, with an unhelpful crescent moon.

�This thing is really ready?� Jake asked, looking down at the infamous Z-space transponder. We�d let a little time pass. Not much. Just enough to let Ax finish the device.

<Ready for transmission, Prince Jake. The translator chip has been installed and enabled.>

Jake smiled. Gave me a not-so-inscrutable look of � a look that acknowledged our friendship under fire.

Dad and I had been reported gunned down by unidentified intruders. The local police had no leads. No clues.

No surprise.

The investigation was underway. A lie that made the neighbors feel better.

Nora was a casualty, one more Controller in our midst. She still lived at the house, still taught at my old school. Tobias spotted her one night loitering around a known Yeerk pool entrance.

Maybe � maybe someday I could save her.

Chee Land wasn�t so bad. That�s where I stayed now, mostly. They had TV. They had Oreos. When I needed a cable fix, I spent the night at Ax�s scoop. It was too risky for me to be at Cassie�s or Rachel�s or Jake�s.

And when we didn�t have a mission, I went to the valley. Always to the valley.

�Let me go over this one more time,� I said. �Transmission may mean interception by the Yeerks, so we have to be careful what we say. And we can�t hang around when we�re done. Ax takes the machine with him so the Yeerks can�t track us to this transmission site.�

�Wait,� Rachel interrupted. �Can�t we encrypt the transmission? Like they do in the movies?�

<It will be encrypted, in four separate pathways,> Ax said with a hint of disdain. <But to Yeerk cryptographic equipment, the disguise is elementary.>

�But there�s a chance?� Cassie said hopefully. �A chance they�ll think the signal is coming from one of their own ships?�

<A small chance,> Ax answered.

�Let�s do this,� Jake said, rubbing his hands together.

�Let�s hope the fleet is open twenty-four hours,� I said. �Ax, you�ve got the Andalites on your speed dial, right?�

I shifted my feet anxiously in the sand. Breathed deeply.

Ax typed a line or two of code on the abbreviated keypad. His fingers trembled slightly. This was a long-distance call.

I glanced at the sky, into the sea of stars and planets and alien worlds that lay beyond my view.

�Look!� Cassie said, pointing to a small dome-shaped light on the side of the machine that glowed a regal blue.

<We have a connection,> Ax said.

All four of his eyelids blinked rapidly. His posture straightened.

A voice � a scratchy, commanding voice �

<Who is this?> demanded the Andalite officer on the other end. <Who is initiating this contact?>

It was surreal! This voice � these words � Our link to another world!

Jake signaled Ax to answer.

But Ax shook his head.

<No. I believe this is your moment.>

Jake glanced at each of us, ran his hand through his hair.

�This is �� He cleared his throat. He glanced back at Ax and smiled. Then he leaned in close to the device.

�This is Earth,� he said.

So, that's the book. I think it was really good, and I feel bad for the people who dropped the series after Australia.

Just so people know, we have 10 books left, 9 series books and one Chronicles book. The next book is an Ax book called The Deception, by Elise Donner, who also wrote the Marco book where the Animorphs play Visser One against Visser Three, and the Rachel book where Jake is out of town, and Rachel has the Animorphs start an intimidation campaign against Controllers.

# ? Jul 16, 2022 03:21

dungeon cousin: Nov 26, 2012; woop woop
loop loop

Throwing Nora under the bus like that is a very hosed up thing for Marco to do, but there's not much else he could have done in the state he's in. Marco has completed his number one goal in this war. Now he just wants to keep his family safe and happy which right now includes making his dad completely write off Nora. His dad can't still love Nora because then he's gonna want to do anything to save her and put himself in danger. They probably have the means to rescue her but it would interfere with Marco's desire to finally have his happy family back which is the state of mind he's in right now. Nora could live with them in the Hork-Bajir valley but it would contribute to the image of a whole, unbroken family Marco has been wanting. From an obtuse perspective you could say that Marco traded the free will of one mother for another.

I really feel bad for Nora even if everything turns out well in the end and the Yeerks being driven off Earth. She'll still think her family is dead unless the Animorphs become public knowledge. And if that does happen and Nora finds a way to contact Marco and his dad then she's gonna learn about Marco discarding her and learning about that kind of betrayal is really gonna gently caress her up.

I wonder what Jake has been dealing with throughout all this. He's probably been questioned a bit by Tom and depending on what the public was told about Marco's disappearance he probably had to put up an act of grieving for his friend.

# ? Jul 16, 2022 03:34

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# ? May 27, 2024 12:09

disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

dungeon cousin posted:

They probably have the means to rescue her but it would interfere with Marco's desire to finally have his happy family back which is the state of mind he's in right now. Nora could live with them in the Hork-Bajir valley but it would contribute to the image of a whole, unbroken family Marco has been wanting. From an obtuse perspective you could say that Marco traded the free will of one mother for another.

I'm not sure they do have the means to rescue her. Any apparent Andalite so much as breathes in her direction, the Yeerks are going to wonder if Marco and his dad are really dead or if something tricky is up, and they'll start investigating with Marco's friends. Freeing Eva was one thing, she's Visser One's host and even the Andalites would want her as an intelligence source. Nora is just some random Controller now.

Anyway, yes, excellent book, though I'm still on the "Marco did nothing wrong and couldn't reasonably have saved Nora" side. And the next book is wild. (Plus, Ax finally gets his own spot in the rotation instead of sharing with Tobias, though there are barely enough books left for it to matter.)

# ? Jul 16, 2022 04:02

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > Comedy Goldmine > Let's Read Animorphs! The Whole Series! Ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

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