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

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TCE: Feb 26, 2016

I'll selfishly vote Everworld, since I know I'll only ever read them in the context of a thread like this, whereas Oz I'll probably take a look at on my own at some point.

# ? Nov 25, 2022 03:49

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# ? May 27, 2024 06:33

Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

I have no opinion one way or the other, now that Tripods are out of ths running.
I just really like the word Applegrant.

# ? Nov 25, 2022 03:57

Rochallor: Apr 23, 2010; ふっっっっっっっっっっっっｃｋ

I'd like to stay on the Kapplegrant train as well. If memory serves the final Animorphs book ends with a preview for Remnants, which is the only bit of it I've ever read.

# ? Nov 25, 2022 04:15

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

freebooter posted:

I read Everworld but went off it near the end and never finished it, so that would be neat. I do think it missed the sweet spot that Animorphs hits - it's unrelentingly bleak and miserable, there are no thermals or thermal-equivalent moments if you get what I mean, and the way it manages the "leading a double life" aspect is neither as fun not interesting as Animorphs.

I never read Remnants so would be really interested to go into that fresh.

This is me too. I similarly fell off near the end, but I have like the first dozen books or so. I don't even know how long it ran.

And I'm more interested in Remnants, too. I'd never heard of it, but it seems to get universal praise from places like this thread that discuss Applegrant's work.

# ? Nov 25, 2022 04:23

Vandar: Sep 14, 2007; Isn't That Right, Chairman?

I'm going to put in a vote for Oz because holy hell Oz is WEIRD.

Epicurius posted:

Finally, if you want to get away from Applegate for a while, there are L Frank Baum's Oz books, which if your only familiarity with Oz is the 1930s movie with Judy Garland, is weirder and more magical than you'd think.

Good movie, kind of a bad adaptation! The movie only covers like half of the original book and still leaves out stuff from that first half!

I'd kind of love it if someone in Hollywood would take a crack at adapting the original book again.

# ? Nov 25, 2022 05:49

mind the walrus: Sep 22, 2006

Oh, speaking of fantasy movie adaptations that only cover the first half of their books, if possible let's also throw in an outside pick for The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. The second half is basically a German version of a Isekai and kind-of rad.

# ? Nov 25, 2022 05:52

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Fuschia tude posted:

This is me too. I similarly fell off near the end, but I have like the first dozen books or so. I don't even know how long it ran.

There are only 12. But Applegrant did all of them rather than farm them out to ghostwriters, and because they're aimed at slightly older readers (or at least, the protagonists are 16ish) the books are also individually longer.

# ? Nov 25, 2022 06:47

Kazzah: Jul 15, 2011; Formerly known as
Krazyface; Hair Elf

I absolutely fuckin love the Everworld books and I want everyone else to love them too

# ? Nov 25, 2022 07:05

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

So I've made a poll to determine what we read next of the three choices. I'm keeping it open until New Years, because it will probably take us that long to be done with these books (and because there will probably be people who are going to be busy for the holiday. I'm doing this as a webpoll because even though i appreciate everyone's input, i know that there are probably people who read the thread and don't contribute a lot, and i want them to have a voice too.

So, please vote, and we'll see what we come up with:

https://linkto.run/p/UGO2F096

# ? Nov 25, 2022 22:44

Jim the Nickel: Mar 2, 2006; friendship is magic
in a pony paradise
don't you judge me

I voted for Everworld but Remnants is a loving trip and certain aspects of it really got under my skin as a kid (baby�s first cosmic horror lmao) so I�ll be happy if that one wins too.

theCalamity posted:

I voted for Remnants only because I started reading it long ago, but dropped off. Got to like book 5 of it.

It�s a loving trip

Jim the Nickel fucked around with this message at 17:03 on Nov 27, 2022

# ? Nov 26, 2022 18:29

theCalamity: Oct 23, 2010; Cry Havoc and let slip the Hogs of War

I voted for Remnants only because I started reading it long ago, but dropped off. Got to like book 5 of it.

It�s a loving trip

# ? Nov 26, 2022 23:18

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Book 52-The Sacrifice

Chapter 1

quote:

<Heads up. Something�s definitely going down> Rachel, in bald eagle morph, braked and swooped and circled.

James, in peregrine falcon morph, followed, circling almost in tandem with Rachel.

That kind of close formation flying was a mistake.

Different species of birds of prey do not typically fly together, especially in synchronized motion.

I was in northern harrier morph, several feet above my companions and hanging back. Trying to keep a reasonable distance between us in case we were being observed from the ground.

I wondered if Rachel would rebuke James. He was new and sometimes made minor mistakes. But Rachel was too eager to pursue her investigation into what was taking place on the ground below to correct James.

I, too, said nothing to James. Of all the Animorphs, I had been most opposed to our recruiting handicapped young humans to be warriors alongside us in our fight against the Yeerks. So far, the overall performance of James and the others had set my mind somewhat at ease.

Still, I was uncomfortable treating James and his team as a true part of the resistance.

And even after all this time on my adopted planet, Earth, I was acutely aware of being an outsider. The only Andalite, the only alien in our band of guerrillas. Though on several occasions I had spoken my mind, on many others I had hesitated to do so.

I had no real authority over James or Rachel. They were likely to reject any instructions or directives from me. Rachel, because she listened to no one but Jake, and then, often with barely concealed resentment. And James, because he acted as leader and to some degree protector, of the seventeen
new recruits. James was Jake�s lieutenant.

Jake is our leader. He had sent the three of us on a reconnaissance mission. We were to make note of what was happening in the city and report back to our base of operations. The secret Hork-Bajir camp.

I doubt that Jake had anticipated anything as dramatic as what I saw below me. It appeared that the city was under military occupation.

Police, uniformed military men and women, and official trucks and cars blocked off many streets.

Drivers were being stopped and asked to exit their cars. Then they were taken to join the crowds of people being diverted into train stations at gunpoint.

<What�s going on?> James asked. <Are those people being protected, or persecuted? Evacuated for their own protection? Or being taken prisoner?>

 Rachel answered. <That�s the problem when the good guys and the bad guys all look alike. It�s hard to know who�s an uninfested human and who�s a Controller. This war gets more complicated every day.>

I agreed with Rachel�s statement.

My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. It is my real name. The others do not use their real names, though at this point, they could do so without increasing the danger of discovery.

Our identities are known now to our enemies. We have been exposed. The danger could not get any nearer, clearer, or greater.

Furthermore, our best weapon, the blue box, has fallen into the hands of the enemy. They now have the same Andalite morphing technology as we do.

It has always been difficult to distinguish humans from human-Controllers. At least at a glance.

Now it is also difficult to distinguish real animals from morphed human-Controllers.

I don�t think I�m doing a very good job of explaining our situation.

Jake is very good at explaining.

I will try again.

A race of aliens that resemble large slugs has invaded Earth. The aliens are called Yeerks. Since the Yeerks have no useful bodies of their own - no means of movement, virtually no sensory abilities - they search out host bodies. They are parasites.

The human and the Yeerk coexist. But the relationship is far from symbiotic. The Yeerk is in total control.

The Yeerks� plan is to use Earth as a hub planet. Here they can potentially acquire millions of host bodies. A massive force of human-Controllers will enable them to effectively push out into other galaxies.

The Yeerks have already enslaved other species to use as hosts. For example, the Hork-Bajir and the Taxxons.

Hork-Bajir have excellent bodies for purposes of combat. They are seven feet tall with blades on their elbows and knees, foreheads and wrists. They somewhat resemble the long extinct reptilian creatures humans call dinosaurs.

Taxxon bodies are large and unwieldy, like a massive sack of guts. They possess hundreds of centipedelike arms and legs. Their mouths are rimmed with razor-sharp teeth. Their eyes are red and gelatinous.

Because of their voracious hunger, Taxxons are excellent at instilling terror. Once they sense blood, they cannot be turned back, even if it means their own deaths. They are driven by a ravenous hunger that never, ever abates. It is difficult sometimes not to pity them.

Of course, the bodies the Yeerks covet the most are bodies like mine. Andalite bodies. Andalites have four legs. This gives us the speed of horses. We have two pairs of eyes, one pair on stalks. This enables us to see in all directions at once.

We have the ability to speak without using our mouths. This is very fortunate considering Andalites have no mouths.

For purposes of combat, our tails are equipped with a deadly sharp blade.

But it is our ability to morph, to transform into other creatures, that makes our species the envy of the galaxy.

Only one Yeerk has ever succeeded in acquiring an Andalite body. Visser One. The leader of the Yeerk invasion.

For that desecration of my species, I hate him.

And for killing my brother, Elfangor.

So, as you can see, it's an Ax book. He's, to a large extent, restating what's happened to this point, but doing it in a very Ax voice, which i like. The book was ghostwritten by Kimberly Morris, who had also written the Cassie book with the morphing cube, the David returning book, and the Ax book where the Andalite hit squad comes to earth, and i really like hrer authorial voice.

Chapter 2

quote:

<Okay. No doubt about what�s going on,> Rachel said angrily. 

<Oh, yeah. That roundup is definitely not for the citizens� protection.> James said.

James was new. He was still learning. But he was smart and learning fast.

<Human-Controllers, too,> Rachel noted. <Guns and Dracons.>

James circled, maintaining his altitude. <Question is, why are the Yeerks herding people into a subway station?>

<Trains are a good way of transporting a lot of people at the same time. And fast,> Rachel replied grimly.

<The Yeerk pool,> I said. 

<Where Yeerks live when they don�t have a host body.> James. <Where they feed, too, right? If the Yeerks are taking humans to the pool in big groups, it means they�re mass-producing new human- Controllers.>

<A Controller factory. Assembly line and all. It�s sick.>

Rachel and James were discussing the Yeerk pools. It�s a pretty basic concept. Yeerks must feed every three days. The majority of Controllers, not important enough to be in possession of private, portable pools, must journey to a central place to absorb the life-sustaining Kandrona rays. If the Yeerk is deprived of Kandrona rays, a painful process of starvation ensues.

<The Yeerk pool is only a train ride away,> James said wryly. <Very convenient. The Yeerks have solved the problem of commuting. Provide your employees with free transportation.>

<Feeding a large number of Controllers is the one difficulty the Yeerks have not yet successfully mastered,> I said thoughtfully. <The Yeerk pool has always been the one sure place we have been able to cause serious disruption.>

We, the resistance, the Animorphs, have located, damaged, or destroyed more than one Yeerk pool and Kandrona source.

Animorphs. Marco coined the term back before I was rescued and joined the team. The original members of the Animorphs are Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias, Marco. And me. The only Andalite.

None of us are adults. The others are now of the age to be attending what humans call �high school.�

We have no �high school� on the Andalite home planet. But we do have the Academy. I was an aristh in the Academy. What humans would call a �cadet.�

My brother, Elfangor, was a great Andalite military hero. He was killed here on Earth by Visser One, then known as Visser Three, leader of the Yeerk invasion.

Before he died, Elfangor gave the morphing cube to this group of human young people. The ones who call themselves the Animorphs.

For a long time, we were the only ones with the ability to morph. Us and, of course, Visser One, who only had the ability because his host body was an Andalite.

In our last major battle, the Yeerks were able to steal the blue morphing cube that transfers the morphing technology. Thus, we have lost our one true advantage.

But while we still had the cube, Jake realized that in order to continue the fight against the Yeerks we needed to increase our ranks. As I mentioned, I was wary of the decision to enlist handicapped children, mostly due to their lack of combat experience.

However, I could not deny that because the Yeerks would never consider handicapped human bodies suitable hosts, these children were likely to be uninfested.

There are seventeen new recruits, including James, the boy called Tuan, and the girls called Kelly and Collette.

On my planet we call such individuals vecols. Andalite custom ordains these disabled live in isolation. It is largely for their own sake, as they would feel great shame as part of society. So it is out of respect for vecols that they are kept from full participation in the world.

My experiences on Earth, however, have led me to question the wisdom of the Andalite custom.

Not that human custom regarding the disabled or handicapped is not also flawed.

As we suspected, a few of the new recruits were healed by the morphing process. Only three, James and Craig and Erica. Their healthy DNA was restored although they have sworn to continue life as handicapped people. For security reasons. At least until the war is over.

James is a good soldier. They all are. But inexperienced.

I felt we should proceed no further on our own. <We should report this to Jake immediately,> I said.

<No time,> Rachel replied tersely. <Ax, look at all those people being forced into the subway! In just a few hours, the Yeerks could produce another thousand human-Controllers.>

<So, what do we do?> James asked.

I could hear the eagerness in his voice. The eagerness of a new soldier. One not yet exhausted and sickened by war.

<Let�s see if we can either close that tunnel down or slow up production.> Rachel answered.

It was a foolish course of action. There were only three of us. Yes, we had been clever and productive in the past. But that was before the Yeerks had forced us to become refugees.

<Ax?> Rachel prompted. <Are you in or are you out?>

 I repeated.

<Look, those are innocent people down there.> James�s voice was getting angry. <Don�t you care?>

Innocent people.

Humans.

Did James mean that he did not consider me part of their team because I am not human?

I am not an adult, but I am not a child, either. My feelings are not easily hurt. But still, I could not help but think it odd that James would seem to feel the need to instruct me as to what emotions were appropriate in this situation. And to question my loyalty.

I was still trying to decide what to say, when we heard the bloodcurdling cry.

Something swooped past me, clipped my wings, and sent me spinning.

I heard cries of surprise from James and Rachel, too.

I righted myself in the air. Felt talons rake my back! I shot forward, out of my attacker�s clutches.

I poured on a burst of speed and wheeled to see what had attacked.

A group of peregrine falcons, reforming to strike again. Yeerks in morph.

I saw James bleeding and circling downward with a broken wing.

Rachel flew, talons extended, beak open, rushing the falcons.

The Yeerk-falcons scattered with cries of alarm and then divided into two groups of three.

One group headed for me.

The other group headed for Rachel.

It was interesting that none of them pursued James. They must have thought he was a real falcon. Or maybe they thought he was already dead.

<Still want to report back?> Rachel asked.

 I replied.

Just as a note, there's an editorial error here. One of the characters that became an auxiliary animorph in book 50 was named Timmy. He's called Tuan here, because he was originally named Tuan in the first draft of book 50 before his name was changed in the final product. That change got missed here.

Also, for those who celebrated it, i hope you had a happy Thanksgiving.

# ? Nov 29, 2022 04:33

kiminewt: Feb 1, 2022

Hyper advanced aliens don't have any airborne weapons more advanced than just sending a falcon after them.

# ? Nov 29, 2022 06:32

Roadie: Jun 30, 2013

kiminewt posted:

Hyper advanced aliens don't have any airborne weapons more advanced than just sending a falcon after them.

This is one of the few setups where I think it really works, what with the Yeerks being one generation away from being cavemen and almost all their stuff being copied or stolen tech.

If anything their tech base should be even more patchwork, with super effective stuff bought off the intergalactic grey market paired with the equivalents of using stolen assault rifles as clubs after the ammo runs out.

# ? Nov 29, 2022 07:58

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

Roadie posted:

This is one of the few setups where I think it really works, what with the Yeerks being one generation away from being cavemen and almost all their stuff being copied or stolen tech.

If anything their tech base should be even more patchwork, with super effective stuff bought off the intergalactic grey market paired with the equivalents of using stolen assault rifles as clubs after the ammo runs out.

That's still one of the more mildly mind boggling things about the series is that it's only been roughly 30 years, 40 tops, from the day Seerow landed on the Yeerk homeworld for the first time to "today" in the series, that being basically early 2001, maybe 1999 if we go by that whole "we've been fighting for three years now" and assuming the series starts the same year Book 1 is published in 1996. Either way, it kind of feels like the Yeerks and the Andalites have been at war for centuries sometimes, given how universally deep each races' cultural hatred is for the other at times. And yet this is also a universe where the original Star Wars movie is almost as old as the conflict between them.

# ? Nov 29, 2022 08:44

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

I don't remember if it's ever touched on but do the Yeerks even really have an industrial base? None of the Ged/Taxon/Hork Bajir had one from memory. They seem to make a limited amount of fighters and blade ships as well as plenty of small arms but otherwise you don't see a lot of advanced tech other than the occasional macguffin.

# ? Nov 29, 2022 09:53

Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

nine-gear crow posted:

That's still one of the more mildly mind boggling things about the series is that it's only been roughly 30 years, 40 tops, from the day Seerow landed on the Yeerk homeworld for the first time to "today" in the series, that being basically early 2001, maybe 1999 if we go by that whole "we've been fighting for three years now" and assuming the series starts the same year Book 1 is published in 1996. Either way, it kind of feels like the Yeerks and the Andalites have been at war for centuries sometimes, given how universally deep each races' cultural hatred is for the other at times. And yet this is also a universe where the original Star Wars movie is almost as old as the conflict between them.

Yeah! I absolutely got the impression the Yeerk/Andalite war had been going for centuries or more and covered most of the galaxy. It was weirdly... relieving?? isn't that strange... to find out the war spanned only a few decades and dozens of star systems.

# ? Nov 29, 2022 10:04

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

Saros posted:

I don't remember if it's ever touched on but do the Yeerks even really have an industrial base? None of the Ged/Taxon/Hork Bajir had one from memory. They seem to make a limited amount of fighters and blade ships as well as plenty of small arms but otherwise you don't see a lot of advanced tech other than the occasional macguffin.

No one really seems to have a major industrial base as we understand them, humans are notable in-universe because we number in the billions while there are multiple spacefaring races with multiple planets colonized who never get above a few million people total. The Andalites have completely decentralized and artisanal production for literally everything, Ax relates that his mother makes subspace transceivers and this kind of work is done solo or in small groups across the planet.

As for the Yeerks, the majority of their species was on the homeworld which has been blockaded since the war started. Though presumably most Yeerks have actually been born since and in space. They don't seem to have developed anything novel, all their tech is explicitly just modified versions of stuff the Andalites gave them (Dracon beams, their interfaces with their slug forms) or created/stolen from third parties. The Taxxon don't seem to have the capacity to work beyond basic survival without some kind of uplift and the Hork-Bajir were genocided down to a few thousand members.

Honestly the closest we get in the series to any other species that has the capacity to mass produce weapons of war is the Arn and possibly the Leera?

In general I kind of like the reveal as we slowly expand out that the Andalite/Yeerk war is ultimately a fairly small thing that matters because of the damage it keeps doing to everyone else slowly being dragged in. But the existence of things like other species supplying the Yeerks means that there's a large part of the galaxy that doesn't really see this as some kind of struggle for survival but as a war between two uh 'nations'

Zore fucked around with this message at 10:24 on Nov 29, 2022

# ? Nov 29, 2022 10:22

WrightOfWay: Jul 24, 2010

The Skrit Na probably have industry. We know that the Yeerks trade with them for technology.

# ? Nov 29, 2022 16:38

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

The thing about the Skrit Na is that they can't be used as hosts, which is why they're able to deal with the Yeerks from a position of neutrality. We do get suggestions throughout the series that the Yeerks have infested aliens other than the Hori Bajr and Taxxons. Tom's old Yeerk mentioned that they had also taken over the Ssstram and the Mak, for instance, but they don't show up in the series.

# ? Nov 29, 2022 16:49

kiminewt: Feb 1, 2022

I suppose you could also argue that Yeerk tech is lopsided and they invested a lot in space travel/warfare and Kandrona-related fare but not in any of the rest.

They might have not had the need nor time to develop atmospheric flying drones, for instance. It doesn't seem like they even have a huge fleet of the bigger bug fighters near earth.

Anyway, cool bird fights

# ? Nov 29, 2022 17:39

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

Plus remember the top Yeerks all have their flights of fancy. (Former) Visser One's big plan to subjugate Leera involved genetically modifying earth sharks to use as melee troops remember :v:

# ? Nov 29, 2022 18:52

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

Yeerks definitely have the "The War Will Feed Itself" vibe, but someone's gotta be making the Bug fighters sufficiently evil looking so we don't have any friendly fire issues.

# ? Nov 29, 2022 21:29

Jim the Nickel: Mar 2, 2006; friendship is magic
in a pony paradise
don't you judge me

Epicurius posted:

Just as a note, there's an editorial error here. One of the characters that became an auxiliary animorph in book 50 was named Timmy. He's called Tuan here, because he was originally named Tuan in the first draft of book 50 before his name was changed in the final product. That change got missed here.

This poo poo drove my thirteen year old brain absolutely insane

# ? Nov 29, 2022 21:40

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 3

quote:

Rachel and I streaked down toward the crowd of people being hustled into the subway station. Several of the uninfested humans saw us and screamed. Others ducked and covered their heads with their arms.

We must have been an odd and frightening sight. A screeching eagle. A northern harrier. And six peregrine falcons giving chase.

Tseew! Tseew!

Dracon fire! But the beams went wide and hit the concrete overhang of the subway station. Shattered the tile sign that announced the station�s name.

The Dracon fire created a panic. The crowd surged back, away from the subway station entrance. Several people were being trampled.
But the Hork-Bajir guards ignored the injured humans. They quickly formed a barricade behind the crowd and continued to herd their prisoners down the station�s stairs.

<Here we go!>

Whoosh!

Rachel tucked her massive wings back against her body and zoomed down into the subway station. I followed into the relative dark. My feathers skimmed the heads of the taller humans. And every instinct of the bird and the Andalite recoiled at entering a confined and relatively airless space
headfirst.

Near the bottom of the stairs, first Rachel, then I thrust our feet and swept our wings forward to help slow us down. When we reached the platform we righted ourselves, flapped hard to maintain stable, even flight.

Rachel and I were inside the tunnel now.

And we could hear the cries of the pursuing falcons.

<Ax, Rachel? Can you guys hear me? If you can, I demorphed, remorphed, and followed you in. I�m on your tails, behind these Yeerk jerks. And they�re even worse at flying in this place than I am.>

The fact is that peregrine falcons are incredibly fast flyers. But the Yeerks� inexperience with their morphs and their own arrogant characters would work to our advantage now. At least I hoped so.

Beneath us, humans continued to stream down onto the subway platform.

A train sped by. The noise was disconcerting to both my Andalite brain and the harrier brain.

Through the dirty windows of the train cars I saw far too many scared human faces.

This train was obviously Yeerk-controlled. And there was no choice but to follow it into the ever-darkening tunnel. The falcons would be on us in moments.

Through the tunnel we flew. We tried to fly above the rushing train, not directly behind it.

<What a ride!> Rachel screamed.

I agreed. Even flying above the train we were pulled along by its draft. Exciting, in one way. Terrifying in another.

But it was no use. Even with this advantage, the six Yeerk-infested falcons were closing in. Their desire to reach us was clearly overriding their inexperience and the difficulties of underground

flight. <Land on the roof of the train!> I called. <We�ll let the train lose them for us!>

Imagine it.

The train whizzed beneath us but always pulling ahead. At my estimation it was traveling at approximately forty to forty-five miles per hour, creating the interesting optical illusion that there was no separation between cars. And that we were no longer moving at all. In short, the train was traveling far, far faster than any of us could fly.

To land would be incredibly dangerous. But it was the only way we could possibly outfly the Yeerks.

I kept my eyes focused for something, anything, to grip and hold on to. After a moment or two my eyes adjusted to the darkness. I could make out individual components of what had been just a long, blurred strip of metal. Now I saw that along the right and left side of each car�s roof was a raised lip.

<Rachel. There. On the left and right edge. A ridge.>

 Rachel responded. <James? You still with the Yeerks?>

<Right behind you.>

<Okay, Ax. Go!>

This seems like a bad idea.

Chapter 4

quote:

The train roared beneath me. I swept my wings forward to kill air speed. It didn�t slow me down much. The drag was too great.

I hit the top of the train hard. But my talons managed to catch the lip. Barely. I kept my wings forward and the rest of me strained back to slow my body�s momentum. If I pitched forward and fell, I would have great difficulty righting myself without letting go of the lip. And without flying off the train and shooting headfirst into the wall of the tunnel.

The effort was great but it was not the first time I had landed on a moving vehicle. I managed to stay upright by hunkering down as close to the roof as I could.

A moment later, Rachel landed on the car behind me. she laughed.

<I�m on,> James called a moment after that. <And I do NOT love doing that.>

Further along the dark tunnel we raced. Carefully, without letting go and using my wings for balance, I glanced behind me.

We seemed to have lost our pursuers. It was time to abandon the train before it brought us into the Yeerk pool complex unprepared.

It was definitely time to morph.

One by one we opened our wings to catch the current and �

WHOOOSH!

Were torn off the roof of the train, tossed backward like tumbleweeds in a tornado, tumbling, whirling, spinning!

<Woo hoo!> Rachel, of course.

One by one we fought to get control of our bodies, land without serious injury on the tunnel�s narrow walkway.

<This falcon is nauseous,> James said. <Is that possible? Pease tell me I�m not going to hurl.>

 I said. <But you might want to demorph just in case.>

<Yeah,> Rachel said. <And then morph something big and mean. Something that will help us fight our way out.>

As we�ve mentioned in the past, morphing isn�t graceful or pretty. And it is quite unpredictable.

SPLOOOT. SPLOOOT.

Fortunately, my legs were the first part of my Andalite body to emerge. I felt a strange tingling as my tail began to sprout from the harrier�s tail feathers.

<There they are!> The Yeerk-falcons were back.

And none of us was entirely finished with our morphs.

But my Andalite tail was now fully emerged.

The blade was in place. Along with one stalk eye bursting from my still-feathered head.

<Don�t let them get away!!> The angry voice of a Yeerk-falcon.

<I�ll take the Andalite!> another shouted.

I saw the falcon hurtle toward me in the dark. I lifted my tail, and WHAP! Sent him flying like a tennis ball.

THUMP!

Five Yeerk-falcons left.

Peregrine falcons in a pack might be a danger to a lone northern harrier, but they are a minor nuisance to an Andalite. A second falcon screamed and zoomed in toward me. I lifted my tail and the bird was no longer a problem.

Hurriedly I completed the morph. Rachel was behind me. She had reversed her morph and was in her eagle morph again. But a bald eagle on the ground is not as deadly as one in the air. And it would be difficult for her to lift off in the stifling tunnel.

James, the least experienced of us, had not begun his remorph. He crouched against the tunnel�s grimy wall, reluctant to let the Yeerks identify a new human resistor. One who was supposed to be paralyzed and in a wheelchair.

It was up to me. Only four Yeerk-falcons remained but they were angry.

That�s when I saw it.

A low-hanging electrical conduit. Live.

<Rachel, James,> I said in private thought-speak. 

<Go for it, Ax-man.>

I lifted my tail and aimed. Fortunately, the blade on my tail is not metal and my hooves would ground me. I felt nothing but a slight flutter through my body as my tail blade sliced through the electrical conduit that powered the tunnel�s lighting system.

The dim lights in the tunnel went dark.

I waited the few seconds it would take my eyes to adjust to the gloom. When they did, I still could see no more than dark and darker shapes.

<Whoa,> James whispered. <I�m almost all lion now. The lion�s eyes are seeing more than the falcons� in this light.>

The unexpected turn of events had momentarily confused the Yeerk-falcons. I heard low muttering from them but no screams of attack.

And Rachel had begun to morph again.

I'm pretty sure falcons can't vomit. i don't know, though.

# ? Nov 30, 2022 05:40

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

I'm convinced that they really should be taking out human-controllers now. It might even be easier when they're a "faceless" animal attacking them.

The war is turning really bad so the Animorphs need every advantage they can get. Morph-capable controllers are too big a threat to treat lightly. And when the Controllers are a group of easily breakable birds attacking them in an enclosed space it feels like a missed opportunity not to permanently get rid of them.

# ? Nov 30, 2022 11:28

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

dungeon cousin posted:

I'm convinced that they really should be taking out human-controllers now. It might even be easier when they're a "faceless" animal attacking them.

The war is turning really bad so the Animorphs need every advantage they can get. Morph-capable controllers are too big a threat to treat lightly. And when the Controllers are a group of easily breakable birds attacking them in an enclosed space it feels like a missed opportunity not to permanently get rid of them.

Ax probably just killed one in that last chapter.

# ? Nov 30, 2022 14:13

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

Epicurius posted:

Ax probably just killed one in that last chapter.

Two, honestly. "No longer a problem" is a hell of an euphemism.

# ? Nov 30, 2022 14:27

OctaviusBeaver: Apr 30, 2009; Say what now?

Being grounded doesn't protect you from electrocution, Ax man. Actually it's the opposite. Maybe he was distracted by an attractive female the day they taught that.

# ? Nov 30, 2022 14:51

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Re: murder and squeamishness, I'm pretty sure Marco killed a human-human in the last book when he shot down that helicopter.

# ? Dec 1, 2022 02:36

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, we also haven't seen them going out of their way to spare human controllers like they did earlier in the series so there's the vague implication that they've been killing people the last few books we just haven't really drawn attention to it.

# ? Dec 1, 2022 03:07

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Sorry about this, but new chapters coming tomorrow.

# ? Dec 1, 2022 04:19

mind the walrus: Sep 22, 2006

It's ok I could use the time to process Ax just straight up mercing some Human Controllers. Man there are a lot of innocent host bodies that get killed in this series.

# ? Dec 1, 2022 04:27

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

They knew the risks, they knew what they signed up for when they got infested involuntarily.

# ? Dec 1, 2022 04:44

CidGregor: Sep 27, 2009; TG: if i were you i would just take that fucking devilbeast out behind the woodshed and blow its head off

mind the walrus posted:

It's ok I could use the time to process Ax just straight up mercing some Human Controllers. Man there are a lot of innocent host bodies that get killed in this series.

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

They knew the risks, they knew what they signed up for when they got infested involuntarily.

Well sure, that's how it's gotta be, you know. Killing "defenseless" Yeerks in a pool instead of a host, that's a war crime. It's only acceptable if you kill them in their innocent host bodies while they're being forced to try to kill you.

Wait--

# ? Dec 1, 2022 05:30

kiminewt: Feb 1, 2022

Pretty sure the next chapter has one of my favourite bits in the series. Can't wait.

# ? Dec 1, 2022 05:41

mind the walrus: Sep 22, 2006

CidGregor posted:

Well sure, that's how it's gotta be, you know. Killing "defenseless" Yeerks in a pool instead of a host, that's a war crime. It's only acceptable if you kill them in their innocent host bodies while they're being forced to try to kill you.

Wait--

I mean it's annoying, but that is a pretty excellent object lesson in how framing matters.

# ? Dec 1, 2022 19:40

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 5

quote:

It took her only moments. And then she was a great horned owl.

The four remaining falcons had re-formed and were coming at me. Even in the darkness they would provide relatively easy targets.

I lifted my tail blade in preparation.

When they were only two feet away �

WHOOOOSH!

I did not hear Rachel fly past me. I felt Rachel fly past me.

Owl feathers are the softest feathers imaginable. The result is that owls can fly making no sound at all.

The falcons never even heard her coming.

Rachel took down the first falcon with her talons neatly and dropping it to the tracks below. The remaining three falcons wheeled away.

Rachel followed them. <It�s not so easy, is it, Yeerks?> she taunted. <You don�t just turn into animals and everything is fine. It�s harder than it looks, isn�t it?>

The falcons crowded at a turn in the tunnel. One of them collided into a wall. He let out a cry of alarm and fell to the ground.

The Yeerk-falcons were disoriented. Confused and panicking.

I watched as the fallen falcon demorphed and then began to morph to Hork-Bajir.

Before he could complete the morph, there was a terrifying scream and a lion leaped out of the dark. James.

I heard the Yeerk�s last words. <No! No! Don�t want to � die � please � aaagh �>

I did not like it. I am a soldier. But there was something unseemly about dying in a dark and filthy tunnel in midmorph.

I heard a sound that was even worse. Cries of victory and satisfaction from Rachel as she downed another of the falcons.

The other Animorphs and I truly worry about Rachel.

On the Andalite home planet, when a warrior becomes too fond of war he is shunned. A warrior should love only the cause not the killing.

If Rachel were an Andalite �

But, she is not. And I am not a human.

Only one Yeerk-falcon remained. Perhaps it had escaped Rachel.

But we had bigger problems now. Out of the dark three Hork-Bajir came trotting toward us like commandos with a very serious purpose.

The lights had been cut. Members of the resistance had been spotted entering the subway station.

They were coming to investigate. But in the near-total blackness the Hork-Bajir could not see me or James directly in their path. They could not hear Rachel coming up from behind.

We were ready.

Rachel buzzed the guards. One of the Hork-Bajir reeled back and fell onto the train tracks. On the way his elbow blades accidentally sliced into the stomach of the second Hork-Bajir. There was a horrible moaning as both were electrocuted by the live third rail.

James took care of the third Hork-Bajir.

And then with one stalk eye I spotted the remaining Yeerk-falcon streaking toward me. It was a bold and brave move but he was the enemy.

I lifted my tail and struck with the flat of my blade. The blow brought him down but did not kill him.

I bent quickly and picked him up.

<Let me go!> he begged. <Please let me go. I am so close. Only minutes away.>

<Minutes away from what?> I asked.

<It only takes two hours. Right? I�ve been a falcon for one hour and fifty-five minutes. In five minutes I�ll be free!>

So. This creature wanted to be a nothlit. Wanted to be trapped in his morph.

<You will not be free. You will still be a Yeerk inside,> I pointed out.

 the falcon insisted. 

I understood. This creature was like Tobias, my true shorm. What a human would call my �best friend.�

Tobias was once a human boy. A very unhappy human boy. He stayed in red-tailed hawk morph for longer than two hours. I suspect he did it on purpose. It was his way of escaping the complexities of human life. Although he exchanged them for a new set of complexities.

It was logical that among the Yeerks there might also be those who felt overwhelmed by the demands of war. I knew of the Yeerk resistance. With Cassie�s encouragement we had allowed one of its freedom fighters to morph a humpback whale and escape life as a parasite. In exchange for this gift, Aftran had promised never to reveal our identities to the Yeerks.

I said nothing but I released him. Gently I tossed him into the air.

<Thank you!> he cried gratefully. I watched as the falcon flew off down the tunnel and disappeared into the dark.

I did not notice Rachel zooming after him.

Honestly, one of the most brutal chapters in the series so far, i think.

Chapter 6

quote:

<Aaaaaahhhh!>

Suddenly, there was an eruption of screams and screeches from down the tunnel. A human voice. The cries of a peregrine falcon.

Rachel.

Had she caught the Yeerk-falcon?

I did not know.

I did not want to know.

But our ill-conceived, spur-of-the-moment mission had not succeeded. Had any of us really thought we would be able to stop the train full of prisoners and thereby slow the Yeerk infestation of new hosts?

Our next step was clear.

We needed to get out. Quickly.

Rachel came flapping toward me out of the darkness.

James appeared not far behind her, big paws stepping slowly and cautiously along the narrow walkway, shaggy lion�s head watching. Observing. There was blood on his jowls and paws.

<The Hork-Bajir took off down tunnel,> he said. <Limping, actually. I didn�t stop him but I managed to slow him down.>

Rachel landed on the ground with a flourish of her soft-feathered wings. <Good job, James. You, too, Ax.>

 I said.

<Are you kidding?> Rachel argued. <We�ve got the Yeerks on the run! We�re right here in the tunnel! Let�s do some serious damage!>

I tried to keep my voice from showing my impatience. And I resolved to tell Jake that Rachel was unfit for missions without him. Her eagerness to fight was getting to be too much.

<Rachel, there are only three of us,> I said reasonably. <And I think we would do better to learn more about this operation before we strike again with a larger and more prepared force.>

Rachel�s large owl eyes blinked. I could not tell if her response was hostile or thoughtful.

<Okay,> she said after a long silence. <You�re right. I�m going Hork-Bajir. Follow the group that went down the tunnel and see what I can find out. I�ll just see what I can see. I won�t fight. Give me half an hour.> I said nothing.

<That okay with you, Ax?> she asked. Now I heard definite antagonism in her voice.

 I said shortly. <If you choose to investigate further, that is your decision.>

There was a long pause.

James finally spoke. <Ax is right. We need to be careful. You go Hork-Bajir, Rachel. See what you can find out. But we�ll wait here. Just in case.>

<If I don�t come back, don�t come after me,> Rachel said unnecessarily.

We would not.

The resistance could not afford to lose even one member now. And certainly not three. We shouldn�t have been in the subway station in the first place.

We had not even managed to stop one train-load of prisoners. And undoubtedly there were many tunnels and many trains.

We had done nothing but put the enemy on high alert. And endangered our own lives.

I wished now not for Jake, but for an Andalite commander. An experienced soldier. Someone who better understood when to fight and when to watch.
Someone who understood tactics. Someone who understood me.

I watched silently as Rachel morphed. As she trotted awkwardly along the tunnel�s narrow walkway into the darkness beyond.

And I sincerely hoped for her safe return.

# ? Dec 2, 2022 04:43

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

Oh yeah, they are absolutely falling apart at the seams at this point. And this is probably the first few chapter where everyone talking up Rachel being bloodthirsty and reckless really feels shown rather than told, Jesus that was a brutal few scenes.

# ? Dec 2, 2022 05:04

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# ? May 27, 2024 06:33

CidGregor: Sep 27, 2009; TG: if i were you i would just take that fucking devilbeast out behind the woodshed and blow its head off

I think I feel worst for the poor human not only trapped as a bird forever now but STILL being controlled by a Yeerk who probably couldn't even leave anymore if it wanted to. That's a whole new layer of hosed up, good lord.

CidGregor fucked around with this message at 05:19 on Dec 2, 2022

# ? Dec 2, 2022 05:14

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