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

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freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

disaster pastor posted:

More like "is it OK to attack people so stupid they come out, threaten to kill you in a minute, then make themselves utterly defenseless for most of that minute."

Honestly, it'd be doing them a favor.

One of the things the TV series got right was that morphing takes a few seconds instead of 1-2 minutes. 60 seconds is an extremely long time in a crisis situation! So the books are constantly handwaving that away and having people morph in the time most convenient for the narrative, except for the handful of times when a long morphing period cheaply adds tension (usually, from memory, when they're falling through the sky and need to morph birds).

# ? Dec 30, 2022 02:15

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# ? May 25, 2024 19:08

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 25

quote:

Tseeew! Tseeew!

Dracon fire shattered the windows of several cars.

All along the train the lights flickered off, then on again. And I smelled smoke.

Shouting! It was Marco. But I could not understand what he was saying.

The acrid burning smell grew sharper.

I heard the problem before I saw it. A crackling, sizzling, snapping, live cable had detached from the ceiling. It flew madly around the inside of the car like an electrified whip. Blue-and-white sparks shot in every direction.

The cable swung toward us!

Cassie dove under a seat. The cable missed her by inches. �If that thing hits the fuse, it�ll blow this train before we get to the pool!� she yelled.

The cable whipped past my head!

I ducked.

�Can�t you guys do something?� Marco yelled.

�I�m on it.� Cassie rolled out from under the seat, struggled to her feet, and grabbed the overhead passenger bar that ran the length of the car.

<Cassie! No!>

The live cable hit the metal bar! Blue-and-white sparks raced right for Cassie!

Cassie released her grip on the passenger bar a nanosecond before the blue-and-white streak sizzled past her.

The train hurled around a corner. Cassie was thrown roughly to the other side of the car.

So was I. My hooves skidded out from beneath me and I fell heavily on my side.

�Can�t we slow down?� Cassie shouted.

�No!� Marco yelled. �I haven�t figured out how to work the brake.�

Just then, I heard the doors at the back of the car slide open.

And looked up to see a squadron of three Blue Band Hork-Bajir clumping toward us. They must have been hiding on the train all along. No other explanation. How could we have missed them?

I scrambled to my feet. Tried desperately to keep my balance.

Cassie was not in morph. Neither was Marco. It was up to me. I would have to keep the Hork-Bajir from killing us before the train reached its destination.
I readied myself for battle. Curved my tail over my head.

The live cable snapped and sizzled around me.

The Hork-Bajir moved steadily forward, eyes on me, the blades on their knees and elbows whisking.

Then �

WHOOOSH!

Something came whizzing through the car door the Hork-Bajir had left open. A red-tailed hawk!

�Tseeer!�

It buzzed the Blue Bands� heads, raked their heads with its ripping talons! The train rounded a corner at shocking speed.

And in their startled surprise, the Hork-Bajir reached for the metal passenger bar to steady themselves.

Just as the live cable whipped against it.

ZZZZZAAAAATTT!!!!

The lights in the car flickered off and on. The metal bar turned blue and white. Sparks flew wildly through the air.

I watched the three Blue Band Hork-Bajir turn momentarily translucent as volts of electricity surged through them.
Then, it was over.

The electrical current, overloaded, went dead. And the Hork-Bajir fell to the floor.

Cassie rolled out from beneath the seat.

It was almost pitch-dark. The only light came from the dim lamps set in the tunnel walls.

<Tobias!> I shouted. <Where are you?>

Tobias didn�t answer. But I saw the red-tailed hawk dart out a broken window and disappear.

 I said to Cassie.

But Cassie had run to the window. �Thank you, James,� she shouted.

But her voice could barely be heard over the clattering of the racing train.

Not a good chapter for communication.

Chapter 26

quote:

On and on through the dark tunnel we raced.

The train was now traveling on newly laid track. At intervals we raced past teams of Taxxons and Hork-Bajir, digging at work sites by the light of burning flares.

Some looked curiously at the dark, empty train hurtling past, but then continued with their work.

Marco came out of the engineer�s booth. �We�re almost there, kids. We�re about two minutes from impact. I suggest we start morphing now into survivable forms. Roach or flea. Either one can tolerate all sorts of abuse.�

�What about the detonator?� Cassie said.

�I�m going to key it now,� Marco said.

�No!� she cried. �You can�t key it now. That only gives the people at the pool three minutes to escape. That�s not enough time.�

�Cassie!� Marco sighed. �We increase the risk � �

<Cassie is right,> I said abruptly. <We agreed to give a full five minutes to those who wish to escape. To give them less would be dishonorable and inhumane.>

Cassie looked at me and smiled.

�Okay. It�s two against one. You guys win.� Marco paused. �So, who�s going to key the detonator?�

�Coin toss,� Cassie said quickly.

<What?>

�It�s the way we make most major decisions,� Marco said dryly. �First, you choose heads or tails. Then you toss a coin. Whatever side is faceup when the coin lands is winner.�

The procedure was simple enough. But I could not help but think if this was the methodology by which humans made most of their major decisions � Well, it explained much.



�Oh.� Cassie. �Right.�

�No offense, Cassie,� Marco said. �But I think it should be me or Ax.�

�Why? You don�t trust me to give the people only five minutes to escape?�

�I don�t trust you not to sacrifice yourself somehow in the process. No unnecessary heroics. They give me gas.�

Cassie looked embarrassed but did not argue further with Marco.

I entered into the decision-making process called the coin toss. I declared �heads� and I �won.�

�You know how to key the detonator?� Marco asked, beginning his morph to flea.

<Of course.>

Marco was morphing quickly. <Good luck, Ax-man. See you later.>

I watched as his head shrank to the size of a pin. His arms retracted and disappeared. His body shortened until it was almost flat. And then, zip! He was no larger than a grain of rice.

Dark, scaly material began to cover Cassie�s face.

Her arms melted against her sides and wings flared from her shoulders. Her legs shriveled untilthey appeared to be wires and she fell forward. In less than thirty seconds, she was a roach. I watched her scurry underneath a seat.

The train zoomed on. We were deep, deep inside the tunnel. All around us was blackness. I poked my head out one of the broken windows and saw the end of the line.

A dim light. The station at the Yeerk pool complex.

One minute had passed.

The train hurtled closer to its destination.

The final station. Where the train was supposed to stop and unload its passengers.

But this train was not going to stop. This train was not going to slow down.

Hork-Bajir and human-Controllers lingered on the station platform. Several watched the speeding train approach with alarm.

The Hork-Bajir and human-Controllers suddenly scattered. They knew something was wrong.

Thirty seconds.

Twenty-nine seconds.

The detonator. I pressed in the first three digits of the four-digit code. Then I began my morph.

Fortunately, the morph began in my hind end. With any luck, the last thing to go would be a finger.

I am the servant of the people �

Fifteen seconds.

I am the servant of my prince �

Fourteen seconds.

I felt my tail curl. Experienced an odd, dry, shriveling sensation. My hooves felt papery and crunchy. My chest cleaved, forming a thorax and belly.

Nine seconds.

Eight seconds.

I am the servant of honor �

I could hear shouts and screams now above the clatter of the train. It was clear that a collision was imminent.

Dark, crusty exoskeletal material crept over the backs of my hands. My fingers shortened.

Three seconds.

Two seconds.

I pressed the fourth digit just as my finger disappeared.

The train hit the end of the track and I felt it go airborne.

It arced through the air.

And jackknifed over the Yeerk pool.

isn't Ax's prayer there the same as Elfangor's as a cadet?

# ? Dec 30, 2022 04:00

mind the walrus: Sep 22, 2006

Ax is really getting his big Spock moment right there

# ? Dec 30, 2022 04:11

Strom Cuzewon: Jul 1, 2010

Epicurius posted:

Chapter 25

Not a good chapter for communication.

Chapter 26

isn't Ax's prayer there the same as Elfangor's as a cadet?

It's the death ritual / suicide run ritual

quote:

<I am the servant of the People [bow head]. I am the servant of my prince [raise stalk eyes upward]. I am the servant of honor. My life is not my own, when the People have need of it. My life is given for the People, for my prince, and for my honor.>

# ? Dec 30, 2022 11:45

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 27

quote:

The impact was incredible. Even the roach felt it. It was as if the Earth itself had exploded.

I was thrown through the air and hit a surface which could have been anything - a wall, a floor, a ceiling. Thankfully, my lightweight roach body kept me from being injured. Though for a moment or two I felt quite disoriented.

As soon as the motion stabilized, I realized I was floating. The train had landed in the Yeerk pool. The car was filling up with liquid.

I began to demorph. I hoped that Cassie and Marco had also survived.

Fortunately, the car was not completely filled with liquid by the time I had regained my Andalite form. My head and shoulders were still above the sludgy water.

Every one of the car�s windows had been shattered. Getting out of the wrecked train did not present a problem.

When I emerged it was into a scene of dark and hideous tragedy.

Humans, Hork-Bajir, and Taxxons swarmed toward the crash site.

It occurred to me that the Yeerks had not yet realized that what they had just witnessed was not an accident, but rather, an attack.

Dead slugs were everywhere. Floating on the surface of the pool. Pasted to the sides of the buckled and destroyed train. Scattered all over the docks.

Humans and Hork-Bajir in cages screamed and struggled and begged to be released.

I looked around and saw a familiar head pop up through the gray sludge.

Cassie!

She leaned her head to the side and pounded it with the heel of her hand. Her expression was one of utter disgust. Then I saw her pull a slug from her ear.

She flung it at the side of the train. It made a heavy, wet sound on impact.

�Hey! If you�re finished your swim, don�t you have an announcement to make?�

Marco! He stood atop the wreckage. He was already morphing.

Cassie climbed up next to him. �Listen to me! Listen!� she cried.

No one paid any attention to her.

�Ax! They can�t hear me! Too many of them can�t hear me!�

<Keep trying, Cassie!>

She did. And finally people noticed the young girl standing on top of the wrecked train in the midst of the pool. Finally, hundreds of frightened and bewildered creatures listened.

�There are ten one-thousand-pound bombs on this train,� Cassie shouted. �They�re going to go off in four minutes from now. You have four minutes to evacuate. Anyone still here in four minutes is dead.�

If there had been panic before, Cassie�s announcement produced utter pandemonium.

Now the Yeerks knew for sure the crash was no accident.

Hork-Bajir stormed for the exits. Knocked over human-Controllers and even Taxxons in their efforts to escape.

Those Controllers with morphing ability began to morph birds, cheetahs, rats. Anything fast. Anything that could fight its way free.

Marco and I raced to the cages where humans and Hork-Bajir were held prior to infestation.

FWAP!

FWAP!

FWAP!

I used my tail to sever bars, locks, chains, and head harnesses. Marco helped the freed people to stand, to take off.

Cassie stood strong in the midst of the streaming mass of creatures. �Get out! Get out!� she yelled. �All of you!�

Several human-Controllers did not run immediately for the exits or the tunnels. Instead, they joined our efforts to free the imprisoned. Perhaps they were unwilling hosts whose Yeerks were currently feeding in the pool. Perhaps they were human-Controllers who worked with their Yeerks as members of the freedom movement.

Quickly these helpers gathered tools and stray pieces of metal wreckage. And began to break open the locks of the cages. Cage by cage they worked to free the prisoners.

I turned back toward the pool. And saw Marco as gorilla struggling with one of the cage. A female human-Controller ran over with a key. She turned it quickly and helped him release the trapped people.

Just as something monstrous rose from the surface of the pool.

it is clearly impossible to kill Visser One, so why try?

Chapter 28

quote:

The people backed up, and began to run.

I did not wonder at their actions.

The head of the creature in the pool resembled that of an octopus. Twenty bloodshot eyes dotted the bulbous face. Twenty tentacles grew out from the bottom of the head, as large around as eels.

Visser One. Not his most horrifying morph, but certainly bad enough.

<Andalite scum! Vile human resistors! I will tear the heads from your bodies before I let you escape again!>

Marco stood his ground. <You want to fight? We can fight. But it�ll be a short fight. About one and a half minutes. Two minutes, tops. And no winners.>

The visser�s bloodshot eyes glared. Slowly he began to move through the thick, viscous layer of dead slugs toward the edge of the pool. Still, Marco stood unmoving. The visser lifted one tentacle, as if to strike Marco. Then swiveled several of his eyes to look once again at the ruined and smoldering train.

<That�s right,> Marco said calmly. <Ten one-thousand-pound bombs right behind you. No lie.>

For a moment I thought Visser One would spontaneously combust. Rage emanated from his morphed body. Rage and frustration. He tried to speak but his voice came out as a choked gurgle.

And then the octopuslike creature sank below the surface of the sludgy pool.

No doubt the visser was already morphing to something that would allow him to escape. Visser One always looked after his own interests.

By now the cages were empty of humans and Hork-Bajir alike. The pool complex was largely deserted.

The pool itself remained, stocked with those Yeerks that had not died when the train crashed.

�Time for us to get gone!� Marco ordered. Rapidly, we morphed to birds. Two ospreys and a northern harrier. And we took off after the escaping horde.

Wings working madly we raced along one of the tunnels through which crowds of escaping

Hork-Bajir, Taxxons, human-Controllers, and uninfested humans were frantically scrambling their way to the surface. To freedom.

Birds of every kind screeched and smashed into walls in their panic to get out. People were knocked on the floor, stepped on by humans too panicked to think.

All around us was chaos and madness and fear. It was the saddest thing I had ever seen in this horrible war. Desperation brought on by the knowledge of imminent death.

We had just cleared the first major loop up and away from the pool complex when the first bomb exploded.

BA-BOOOOOM!

There was a short delay and then it was as if a hurricane fueled by a blast furnace had come raging through the tunnel.

Large areas of the roof fell in. The floor buckled and collapsed. My ears were bombarded by screams and cries and shrieks.

I had lost track of Cassie and Marco. I did not know what to do except keep flying. The air was almost solid with dust and debris. The heat was overwhelming. But still I flew.

BABOOOOM! BABOOOOM! BABOOOOM!

Explosions reverberated through one cavernous tunnel after the other.

Finally, miraculously, where the ceiling had caved in up ahead, I saw light. Just a pinpoint. But it was enough.

I flew toward it, rising out of the hideous underground into the open sky.

Well, the mission was a success, so to speak. i do wonder how many people got trampled trying to escape, though.

# ? Dec 31, 2022 04:41

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Epicurius posted:

Chapter 28

Well, the mission was a success, so to speak. i do wonder how many people got trampled trying to escape, though.

Not to mention bombs big enough to collapse that tunnel complex, which supposedly extends under most of the city, would kill a whole lot more people on the surface than anyone who could have possibly heard Cassie on the train.

# ? Dec 31, 2022 08:31

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

quote:

�Ax! They can�t hear me! Too many of them can�t hear me!�

<Keep trying, Cassie!>

If only somebody present were capable of telepathy

# ? Dec 31, 2022 08:43

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

Hey, here's a random question I've been thinking about a lot.

When the Blue-Bands were first introduced, they were introduced as like, the best of the best and the baddest of the baddest. They were meant to be a major, dangerous threat.

Do you think they've lived up to that? It feels to me like they're kind of a dropped ball. They haven't really done anything more than the normal Hork-Bajir Controllers, you know?

# ? Dec 31, 2022 09:04

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Vandar posted:

Hey, here's a random question I've been thinking about a lot.

When the Blue-Bands were first introduced, they were introduced as like, the best of the best and the baddest of the baddest. They were meant to be a major, dangerous threat.

Do you think they've lived up to that? It feels to me like they're kind of a dropped ball. They haven't really done anything more than the normal Hork-Bajir Controllers, you know?

Yeah, I first noticed them a few books ago, when Ax hacked into the Yeerk computer system to find Tobias's mom or whatever it was. The narration was all "the Blue Bands are the most fearsome, terrifying Hork Bajir fighters we've ever encountered" and I was like "Who?" I'd completely missed their introduction several books earlier. To be fair, they were always dispatched so quickly they hardly made a ripple anyway.

# ? Dec 31, 2022 09:53

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Vandar posted:

Hey, here's a random question I've been thinking about a lot.

When the Blue-Bands were first introduced, they were introduced as like, the best of the best and the baddest of the baddest. They were meant to be a major, dangerous threat.

Do you think they've lived up to that? It feels to me like they're kind of a dropped ball. They haven't really done anything more than the normal Hork-Bajir Controllers, you know?

Conceptually, they're a good idea. The Year's are too often cannon fodder who in practice aren't much of a threat, and an elite combat unit that can take the Animorphs on helps raise the stakes.

In practice, they were introduced too late to matter. They should have had their own book, that ends with the Animorphs taking them on and barely escaping with their lives.

# ? Dec 31, 2022 12:36

Star Man: Jun 1, 2008; There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow

All these aliens see humans as primitive and unnoteworthy, but all it takes is just some guys with assault rifles and they just lay waste to a bunch of controllers armed with death rays. I realize that orbital bombardment and superior fighters and cloaking technology would make this a one-sided fight for the Yeerks very quickly, but it is just insane how it seems like the Yeerks are just utter morons.

# ? Dec 31, 2022 21:58

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

Star Man posted:

All these aliens see humans as primitive and unnoteworthy, but all it takes is just some guys with assault rifles and they just lay waste to a bunch of controllers armed with death rays. I realize that orbital bombardment and superior fighters and cloaking technology would make this a one-sided fight for the Yeerks very quickly, but it is just insane how it seems like the Yeerks are just utter morons.

I said way back near the start of this Let's Read project that in the war between the Yeerks and humanity, the Yeerks were a hunter with a very high powered rifle, and humanity was a rhino stuck in a pit. The hunter could shoot the rhino and kill it at their leisure at any point, but if the hunter ever fell into the pit with the rhino, the rhino would absolutely gore the hunter to death.

The hunter has just fallen into the pit with the rhino.

# ? Dec 31, 2022 22:23

mind the walrus: Sep 22, 2006

Star Man posted:

All these aliens see humans as primitive and unnoteworthy, but all it takes is just some guys with assault rifles and they just lay waste to a bunch of controllers armed with death rays. I realize that orbital bombardment and superior fighters and cloaking technology would make this a one-sided fight for the Yeerks very quickly, but it is just insane how it seems like the Yeerks are just utter morons.

I think one of the ways to justify this and square the Star Trek side of things with the relative realism of Earth is that apparently Earth's biodiversity is very rare in the Animorphs universe and thus overwhelming to the Andalites and Yeerks alike. They just kind-of find the whole environment insane to their sensibilities.

It's like the old jokes about how the Colonial powers were never prepared for the absolute fuckery of the jungles of Asia, Africa, or South America, only this time the natives are actually very capable of winning because the colonizers and the smallpox are kind-of the same organism.

# ? Dec 31, 2022 22:36

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

Plus while the Yeerks could trivially kill everyone on Earth at any point that runs directly counter to their objective which is to have as many viable host bodies as possible.

I think its also important to remember that the Yeerks were uplifted by the Andalites within the last 40 years and they uh never really developed most of the technology or tactics they use. Their military is explicitly a weird backstabbing cargo cult that hasn't really internalized anything like 'training' and they seem to have so far kept the Andalites perpetually on the back foot almost exclusively because both groups have wildly different ideas about what is 'valuable'. The Andalites keep sending hilariously small amounts of resources the Yeerks can stomp in the places they value most. Meanwhile the Andalites have kept a perpetual lock on the Yeerk homeworld since the start of the war, presumably using a lot of their fleet power, and the Yeerks don't really seem to give a poo poo.

Add to that Taxxons, Gedd and Hork-Bajir don't have anything resembling a military for the Yeerks to steal from and that the only Andalite they ever infested was a jackass megalomaniac, its really no wonder why the Yeerks have such a poor overall grasp of pretty much everything. Even most of the high level Yeerks we see in human hosts are things like 'High School principal', 'High School student', 'College student' etc and you can see how that probably hasn't helped much either :v:

Zore fucked around with this message at 22:52 on Dec 31, 2022

# ? Dec 31, 2022 22:48

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

I stand by my theory that Andalite high command is intentionally sandbagging in order to solidify their place as 'space police' in this corner of the galaxy and also take over andalite society in a soft coup

# ? Dec 31, 2022 23:44

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

His Dark Materials finished up. It's a good, cozy show; not that great, but not horrible. Something good that really sticks out about the show is how good the CG is for the animals like the various daemons or the polar bear. It makes me wish that someone out there decides to make a show or movie based on Animorphs. They could really do some body horror with the transitions. They could really bring it all of the aliens to life.

# ? Jan 1, 2023 00:29

ANOTHER SCORCHER: Aug 12, 2018

Mazerunner posted:

I stand by my theory that Andalite high command is intentionally sandbagging in order to solidify their place as 'space police' in this corner of the galaxy and also take over andalite society in a soft coup

I definitely think the way to think about Andalite-Yeerk War is more like the War on Terror rather than a traditional conflict. The Andalites have the Yeerk homeworld locked down, and whenever the Yeerks get too involved somewhere the Andalites show up and start blowing the poo poo out of everything.

# ? Jan 1, 2023 02:05

mind the walrus: Sep 22, 2006

Just for the SEO -- any Animorphs adaptation in the 2020s is a probably a terrible idea that is lose-lose for everyone involved aside from ideally giving Applegrant a well-deserved set of royalties. It would be a difficult, thankless production that would have to work extremely hard to be marketable to the point where it either wouldn't be an Animorphs adaptation or it would have to have a budget akin to the 90s Canadian show again.

I -- an actual, invested, unironic Animorphs fan in 2023-- would not be interested in an Animorphs adaptation. I would not go out of my way to watch it. I would not tell people about it on social media.

This is not because I dislike Animorphs or am against the idea of adaptation.

Just... some stuff really isn't worth the trouble.

# ? Jan 1, 2023 05:48

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Both Jake and Visser One want to wish you a happy New Year. More chapters tomorrow.

Also, regarding a movie, it was talked about, and then last year, Applegrant rmwithdrew themselves as consultants due to unspecified "created differences", and we haven't heard anything about it since

# ? Jan 1, 2023 07:32

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Epicurius posted:

Both Jake and Visser One want to wish you a happy New Year. More chapters tomorrow.

Also, regarding a movie, it was talked about, and then last year, Applegrant rmwithdrew themselves as consultants due to unspecified "created differences", and we haven't heard anything about it since

Of course, they don't own the rights and were only being kept in the loop as a courtesy; for all we know, it's still going forward.

That'd probably be a bad idea and a bad adaptation, but :shrug:

# ? Jan 1, 2023 08:15

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 29

quote:

Late that day, we perched on the roof of one of the few skyscrapers left in the area.

The destruction was breathtaking. Below us, there was a sinkhole where much of downtown had been.

Everything had just caved in. Half the mall, several office buildings, train stations, stores - all were gone.

Most of downtown had simply collapsed, swallowed up by an explosion the size of a small nuclear blast.

The buildings still standing were cracked. Some listed to the side.

The entire area was ringed with fire engines, ambulances, military vehicles, and onlookers.

<Well,> Marco said thickly, <we did some serious damage. Just like we hoped to do. I�ll bet we killed a million Yeerks.>

<Yeah,> Cassie agreed, no note of satisfaction or joy in her voice.

I felt no sense of satisfaction or joy, either. There were many bodies down there. Human bodies. Taxxon bodies. Hork-Bajir bodies.

And perhaps three of the dead or mortally wounded were Jake�s parents and brother. I knew we were all wondering if they had been at the pool when the explosion occurred. I also knew none of us would talk about it. Not to Jake and not to each other.

What could we possibly say? Also, I could not forget that many human-Controllers had lingered in order to save other humans who were not Controllers.

I suppose I had always known that Cassie was right. Always known but had been reluctant to admit that Aftran had not been the sole member of a Yeerk resistance movement. That there were many Yeerks who, given a choice, would choose not to conquer. Would choose not to kill. If they ever were lucky enough to be given such a choice.

Yes. Cassie was right.

We heard the heavy flap of wings and Jake in peregrine falcon morph settled beside us.

Everybody�s back at camp and safe,> Jake said. <Captain Olston and his troops got out of the area in time.> Jake paused. Then said, <Good job.>

 Rachel said slowly. <There�s no telling how many human-Controllers the Yeerks created down there in the past week. Thousands maybe. No telling how many escaped.>

<Yes,> Jake agreed. <But without the pool, the Yeerks have no way to feed. It�ll be a pretty horrible three days, but at the end, we�re going to have a lot more dead Yeerks. And a lot of humans who have no illusions about what we�re fighting against. Not to mention the Hork-Bajir who�ll be freed, too.>
<Well, that�s something,> Marco pointed out. <But you know what the saddest thing about this whole situation is?>

 Cassie answered.

<The saddest thing is that this is our greatest victory. And I�ve never felt more depressed in my entire life.>

<Well, just when you think you can�t get any more depressed,> Tobias said, <look who�s dropping in.>

A large gray shadow fell over the city. We looked up and saw Visser One�s Blade ship hovering, a swarm of Bug fighters surrounding it.

 Marco said gloomily.

<No telling what kind of morph got him through,> Tobias commented. <But we�ve hurt him. And he�ll have some explaining to do to the Yeerk High Council.>

<Come on,> Jake directed. <We�re of no use here anymore. Let�s get back to camp.>

One by one we took off and winged our way back home.

Visser One wasn�t the only one who would have some explaining to do.

I, too, would have to justify my actions to an angry Andalite high command. If I chose ever to speak to the Andalites again. They would never understand and I would never be able to explain.

But for good or ill, I had thrown in my lot with the humans.

Humans.

Violent but peace-loving.

Passionate but cerebral.

Humane but cruel.

Impulsive but calculating.

Generous but selfish.

Humans. Altogether a contradictory and deeply flawed species.

And yet � And yet, somehow I knew that they represented the best hope of the galaxy.

Perhaps the only hope.

<Ax.> Jake, addressing me in private thought-speak.

<Yes?>

<Thank you,> he said.

<You are welcome,> I answered. Then to myself, I mentally added, <Prince Jake.>

Well, that's the book. Tomorrow, we start Book 53, The Answer. Meanwhile, I leave you with this poem..

After Blenheim
By Robert Southey, 1798

quote:

It was a summer evening,
Old Kaspar's work was done,
And he before his cottage door
Was sitting in the sun,
And by him sported on the green
His little grandchild Wilhelmine.

She saw her brother Peterkin
Roll something large and round,
Which he beside the rivulet
In playing there had found;
He came to ask what he had found,
That was so large, and smooth, and round.

Old Kaspar took it from the boy,
Who stood expectant by;
And then the old man shook his head,
And, with a natural sigh,
"'Tis some poor fellow's skull," said he,
"Who fell in the great victory.

"I find them in the garden,
For there's many here about;
And often when I go to plough,
The ploughshare turns them out!
For many thousand men," said he,
"Were slain in that great victory."

"Now tell us what 'twas all about,"
Young Peterkin, he cries;
And little Wilhelmine looks up
With wonder-waiting eyes;
"Now tell us all about the war,
And what they fought each other for."

"It was the English," Kaspar cried,
"Who put the French to rout;
But what they fought each other for,
I could not well make out;
But everybody said," quoth he,
"That 'twas a famous victory.

"My father lived at Blenheim then,
Yon little stream hard by;
They burnt his dwelling to the ground,
And he was forced to fly;
So with his wife and child he fled,
Nor had he where to rest his head.

"With fire and sword the country round
Was wasted far and wide,
And many a childing mother then,
And new-born baby died;
But things like that, you know, must be
At every famous victory.

"They say it was a shocking sight
After the field was won;
For many thousand bodies here
Lay rotting in the sun;
But things like that, you know, must be
After a famous victory.

"Great praise the Duke of Marlbro' won,
And our good Prince Eugene."
"Why, 'twas a very wicked thing!"
Said little Wilhelmine.
"Nay... nay... my little girl," quoth he,
"It was a famous victory.

"And everybody praised the Duke
Who this great fight did win."
"But what good came of it at last?"
Quoth little Peterkin.
"Why that I cannot tell," said he,
"But 'twas a famous victory."

# ? Jan 2, 2023 05:15

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

Is this the first time they've explicitly acknowledged killing humans?

# ? Jan 2, 2023 15:10

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

There's a lot of things you could do differently with these books in retrospect, but one key improvement would be scrapping the Chee and having their role replaced by the peace movement. So many of the books in the middle section of this series lean hard on the Chee's intelligence network and that's a logical thing for the pro-peace Yeerks to be doing.

# ? Jan 2, 2023 15:45

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

Rochallor posted:

There's a lot of things you could do differently with these books in retrospect, but one key improvement would be scrapping the Chee and having their role replaced by the peace movement. So many of the books in the middle section of this series lean hard on the Chee's intelligence network and that's a logical thing for the pro-peace Yeerks to be doing.

I think that having the Chee be willing to replace them when they're on extended missions while having the intelligence on targets of opportunity come from the Yeerk Peace Movement would be a good middle ground. The Chee are really interesting, and their ties to the larger stakes of the war is a great addition.

# ? Jan 2, 2023 16:15

mind the walrus: Sep 22, 2006

Capfalcon posted:

I think that having the Chee be willing to replace them when they're on extended missions while having the intelligence on targets of opportunity come from the Yeerk Peace Movement would be a good middle ground. The Chee are really interesting, and their ties to the larger stakes of the war is a great addition.

You're not wrong but there is an element of "don't we have enough on the board?" with them, which is the same reason a lot of the single books with aliens of the week also hit a bit of a saturation point. Hell even as a kid I remember finding the Elminster and Crayak to be a "oh come on them too now?" moment.

I would consider scrapping and streamlining most of the space stuff and nixing pretty much all factions that aren't directly Yeerk/Andalite-related, maybe even combine the Elminster and Crayak into one character (and no cheating with some "oh but they're the same being split into two" I loving see you over there thinking that already and no that actually takes away complexity/depth rather than adding it!)

Move the Chee stuff over to splinter factions of Yeerks, even 1-2 other human cells that are working with Yeerks (both for and against; you know you want to see some starfucker Yeerk sympathizers begging to get a slug put in their head and realizing what it actually entails; classic Vampire poo poo), and you add a fuckton of grey area wartime morality the series is going for except this time we aren't as worried about android dogs with super-strength.

It's fun to spitball this though because at the end of the day you can't get rid of the Andalites and their design is like, intentionally as unfriendly to adaptation as humanly possible.

mind the walrus fucked around with this message at 22:14 on Jan 2, 2023

# ? Jan 2, 2023 16:47

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

Book 53, The Answer, is a Jake. It�s also the first time we�ve gotten Jake�s perspective since 47 (the Civil War one). Wonder how he�s doin.

# ? Jan 2, 2023 22:34

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

I salute you, Jake, for channeling the spirit of Saint Sherman and leveling a town.

# ? Jan 2, 2023 22:39

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Book 53-The Answer
Chapter 1

quote:

<They�re going after the elementary school,> Tobias said.

<They�re going after everything,> I answered.

<Why are they doing this? It makes no sense,> Tobias said. <It�s not just brutal; it�s stupid. Pointless destruction.>

The nearest Bug fighter swooped low and slow. It fired its Dracon beams and the two-story gym exploded into charred stucco and twisted steel beams.

It drifted almost casually above the tired old low-slung classrooms and fired again, dragging the beam end-to-end along the buildings.

<They�re sending a message,> I said. <Mess with us and this is what we do.>

We had destroyed the Yeerk pool. The Yeerk pool was now the world�s biggest sinkhole. It looked like a crater. It was a crater, with half the mall in ruins on one slope, jumbled bits of fast-food restaurants, streetlights, ripped up concrete, cars, skinny trees, all tumbled together at the bottom. The water of the Yeerk pool, looking like molten lead, soaked up through the dirt. An Exxon sign lay half submerged in it. A couple of dozen empty one-liter soda bottles drifted around like someone�s idea of toy boats.

How many Yeerks had died? Certainly thousands. Maybe tens of thousands. How many Hork- Bajir? How many Taxxons?

Humans?

We had tried to warn people, but the devastation had been too complete, had come too suddenly.

<It�s not a message, Big Jake,> Marco said. <The Yeerks know now that we�ll do whatever we have to do, they know it�s all-out war. We blew up their only on-planet food supply. We�re way past sending messages. Look: They�re drawing a circle.>

Marco was a hundred feet higher up than me. He was in osprey morph, I was in falcon, Tobias was himself: a red-tailed hawk.

<Marco�s right,> Tobias said. <They�re making a big circle.>

More Bug fighters than I�d ever seen in one place. Maybe fifty of the things. They blasted schools; they blasted businesses; they blasted homes and churches. The shock waves would reach us, echoes of destruction. Pillars of smoke rose high in the air. Fires, some blazing and roaring, others smoldering sullenly, created thermal updrafts that were bread and butter to three mismatched birds of prey. We soared easily, effortlessly. We had the best possible seats for the show. With raptor eyes we could see every sickening detail. We could not miss a shot, could not fail to see lovingly tended
gardens, prized homes, businesses, cars, burn as quickly and brightly as match heads.

The refugees people who had been our neighbors, friends, classmates the shocked, scared, lost refugees fled on foot, carrying what they could, running
between stalled cars. Overpasses were all down, traffic lights all off, bridges were collapsed: Nothing with four wheels was moving.

A news helicopter was perhaps five miles off, no doubt filming and sending the pictures out live. The Yeerks could easily shoot down the copter. They were letting it film. Maybe even piloting the craft themselves. They wanted the world to see the violence. They wanted humans to be afraid. The infiltration phase of the war was over, over. From now on the Yeerks would be as subtle as sledgehammers.

I caught a rush of warm air, the thermal energy released by a burning supermarket, and I soared higher, up and up. I could see what Marco and Tobias had understood: The Yeerks were creating a circle of annihilation. The collapsed Yeerk pool was the center. They were burning, blackening everything in a radius of two miles.

That would be virtually all of what had been our home town.

And I had done it. I had given the order to destroy the Yeerk pool. All of this was a result.

But why? That was what bothered me. This wasn�t the time for moaning over the destruction, or even for second-guessing myself. I was done with that. Why? Why were the Yeerks doing this?

<Maybe they think we�re down there,> Tobias suggested.

I noticed something in the far distance, south of where we were. More smoke. And with my falcon�s eyes I could just barely make out hints of still more Bug fighters. They looked like a cloud of gnats.

Tobias yelled. <Hey! Jets!>

I followed the direction of his gaze, and sure enough, there they were: a flight of four F-16�s.

They were racing straight toward us. Straight toward the Bug fighters.

<It�s suicide,> Marco said.

We watched, helpless to do anything. We had spent the morning watching helplessly. The F-16�s came straight in. Two of the Bug fighters broke off from torching civilian buildings and turned lazily to meet the attack.

Missiles flew from the F-16�s and the jets broke away. Two Dracon beams fired and the missiles were destroyed in midflight.

The Bug fighters accelerated, easily caught the jets, and fired again. Three of the four exploded. There were no parachutes. No possibility of parachutes. The fourth jet rocketed low, leveled off seeming inches from the scorched ground and hit afterburners.

The Bug fighters let him go: They had nothing to fear.

No, that wasn�t quite true. The Yeerks were scared, just not of jets. This circle of destruction was evidence of fear. They were creating a barrier of sorts: not a wall, but a desert of ash and cinder so that an enemy wouldn�t be able to get close, unseen.

It gave me a grim satisfaction. The Yeerks were scared of us. But what were they protecting? The ruins of the Yeerk pool?

<The helicopter!> Marco yelled.

The Yeerks had decided that show time was over. They torched the news copter. A twirling cinder fell to Earth.

<Something�s going to happen,> I said.

<And there it is,> Tobias said, as always more observant in the air than any of us.

It was as big as a sports arena. It moved slowly, cumbersome in atmosphere. It was designed for space, not, like the Bug fighters, to be comfortable in air.

The Pool ship looked like a fat, swollen, three-legged spider. I�d seen it before, up in orbit, high above planet Earth.

The Pool ship: home of the Yeerk invasion force, base of the Bug fighters. It was a space-going Yeerk pool, well-defended, dangerous, but essentially a portable barracks, a giant mess hall that served up hearty doses of Kandrona rays, the sustenance that a Yeerk must have every three days or
die.

The Bug fighters rose to greet their mother, swarming around the Pool ship, bristling, daring anyone to attack.

The Pool ship waddled down out of the sky, shouldering through the clouds. And gently, delicately, ever-so-tentatively, it rested its bulk on terra firma.

<The Pool ship,> Marco whispered reverently. <The mother of all targets. I would give both of my arms to see that thing burn.> Then he laughed harshly. <You know what this means, don�t you?>

<They�re getting hungry,> I said. <They�re getting very hungry.>

They are getting hungry. That also means they're vulnerable.

At leat we get one last thermal reference.

Chapter 2

quote:

My name is Jake.

My name is Jake Berenson. The days of secrecy, of lurking in the shadows are over. The Yeerks know my name. They know my height, weight, eye color, Social Security number, and favorite foods.

At long last they know the word Animorph, Marco�s word for us.

My brother Tom is one of them, a human-Controller. He has been for a long time. He�s been
elevated to security chief for all Yeerk forces on Earth. My parents, my mom and dad, are Controllers now, too. Host bodies for Yeerks. They know it all now, the Yeerks do. All our names. All our deeds.

I�ve fought them for more than three years. I was just thirteen when I started. I�m sixteen now, though that fact, like so many facts, has been deliberately obscured in the secret accounts we�ve kept.

I�m a sixteen-year-old kid named Jake Berenson, and I am the leader of the Animorphs.

In the past it�s been hard for me to say that, to take on the title of leader. In the past I�ve questioned myself. Wondered whether I was right, wondered whether what I did was good, wondered whether I had any right to make life-and-death decisions. I�ve felt sorry for myself at times. Maybe anyone would, in my spot.

But I had to put all that aside now. I had put it all aside. Not because I was suddenly convinced that I deserved the power, was worthy of it. That wasn�t it. I knew better than to get too caught up in the myth of Mighty Jake the Yeerk Killer.

I had given up soul-searching because I realized now that it was simply too late. Way past too late. The battle had become a war. And I was, for better or worse, the only leader we had.

From here on out the second-guessing, the legitimate doubts, and the self-indulgent whining, they were over. Save them for my old age in the unlikely event that I ever had an old age.

We were all still alive, Cassie, Marco, Rachel, Tobias, and me. We�d been formed into a groupby accident. A chance encounter in an abandoned construction site with a dying Andalite prince named Elfangor. He had given the five of us the Andalite power to morph, to become any animal we could touch. Later Elfangor�s brother Ax had joined us.

We were just kids. But in some ways we were the ideal guerrilla fighters. The morphing power let us fly and dig and crawl, sense, hide, and fight with far more than human power. Our youth made us the least likely of suspects.

The Yeerks had carried on a subversive war of infiltration for more than a decade. They had first discovered our planet back at the time of the Gulf War. For various reasons their then Visser One had fashioned a plan to slowly infiltrate human society, infest hundreds, then thousands, eventually millions of humans with the Yeerk parasite, and when it was too late to stop them, seize sudden control of the planet. Only then would the Yeerks finalize an almost bloodless conquest.

But that visser moved on and was replaced in command of Earth by the evil creature we had long known as Visser Three. Visser Three was a less subtle enemy. Less adept at subversion. A brute.

We had fought him, lost, won, but above all survived. And, in surviving, we had slowed his conquest, frustrated his plans, driven him to ever wilder schemes. We had forced his hand, in the end, I guess.

Now the war of subversion was over. Visser Three was promoted to Visser One and all his most brutal instincts were unleashed.

In this new, open war, we had scored some impressive victories. We had destroyed the Yeerk pool. And we helped to motivate at least partial and spotty efforts by the military to respond to the Yeerk threat. Marco�s mom was free of her Yeerk slave master, free of the violent, dangerous creature who had been the very Yeerk who launched the invasion of Earth - Visser One. That Visser One was dead and his human host now worked with us. We had used the morphing cube to make new Animorphs, to increase our numbers.

But we had taken hits, too: We had all been driven from our homes. We had lost all vestiges of a normal life. We now hid with the free Hork-Bajir in a valley deep in the mountains.

And we had lost the morphing cube. The Yeerks had it. My brother Tom had taken it, and, when I might have stopped him - Cassie had let him and it go.
With that act, Cassie had surrendered our edge, our one great advantage: that we alone had the power to morph.

The Andalite technology was now in Yeerk hands, and we had already seen that Yeerks were using it just as we had used it: to capture all the amazing powers to be found in the animal kingdom.

The six of us, Marco, Rachel, Tobias, Ax, Cassie, and I, had stayed together through impossibly bad times, through every defeat, every close call, every mind-twisting weirdness, every horror. None of us had ever turned against the others. There had never been a betrayal.

Cassie let Tom take the morphing cube. Perhaps she had done so because to her the alternative was worse: She feared for me, for my soul I guess, if I was forced to kill my own brother.

Not good enough. Not for me. All that counted now was that we win, and Cassie, maybe for the most decent of motives, had hurt us badly.

I loved Cassie. Always had. Still did. But there was this thing between us now. And I could never trust her again. She had put my personal well-being ahead of winning a war we absolutely could not lose. And, I knew, that her decision might have come in part from my own self-doubts, my
own inability to throw off moral ambiguity.

If I had been stronger � if I had been as strong as I should be, maybe Cassie would not have made her fatal mistake. I saw that clearly now. Too late for either of us.

And that was the other reason why I would allow myself no more second-guessing. A leader who shows weakness invites disaster.

We flew back to the Hork-Bajir camp. And as we flew I thought. Not about how my orders to destroy the Yeerk pool had resulted in the literal obliteration of the city, but about how, how, how I could destroy the Pool ship.

And about that distant pillar of smoke away to the south.

There had to be a way to take out the Pool ship. Destroy that ship and the war might be won. It was the target I could not possibly resist.

A fact that would be known by my brother Tom, and my parents, and by their ruler, Visser One.

The sort of start of book summary, although those of you who skip them should read this one. We also learned Jake's last name and his age.

# ? Jan 3, 2023 04:14

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

Jake you're sounding an awful lot like one Rand al'Thor immediately before he torches an entire palace to kill one person and very nearly firebombs his allies

# ? Jan 3, 2023 04:35

mind the walrus: Sep 22, 2006

It's a good recap, and I do like that while we're supposed to see Jake's detachment as a bad thing the scene also makes it really really hard to argue for that humanistic compassion.

# ? Jan 3, 2023 05:22

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

Jake's been in and out of almost a fugue state for the last few books since their secret blew up and his parents were taken. This internal dialogue is showing how badly he's spiraling at this point even if he's looking more functional.

And he really should not be in this position any more, especially as we're in out and out open warfare. But no one else is stepping up or stepping in. And its the culmination of the question he's had as his arc from the beginning about leadership and what it does to the person who has it.

Zore fucked around with this message at 05:41 on Jan 3, 2023

# ? Jan 3, 2023 05:37

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

The Air Force also lost a pair of F-35s on this mission. Not to the Bug fighters, there was a light drizzle on the way.

# ? Jan 3, 2023 06:53

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

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

I wonder how long it would be before this escalated to nuclear strikes on the landing point or if the US military is too compromised at this point to pull it off.

Surely after aliens land and blitz Suburbia, USA off the map someone's preparing something.

# ? Jan 3, 2023 08:55

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

How many books are left in the series at this point? And are they all good ones?

# ? Jan 3, 2023 09:11

QuickbreathFinisher: Sep 28, 2008; by reading this post you have agreed to form a gay socialist micronation.
`

Tree Bucket posted:

How many books are left in the series at this point? And are they all good ones?

This is the penultimate book. Buckle in!

And yes, I would argue that they're both good.

# ? Jan 3, 2023 09:30

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

I read ahead and yes they are both good

Holy gently caress Arbron just gets pointlessly wasted by some poachers after he saves the Taxxon race? jfc they really put the boot in

# ? Jan 3, 2023 11:59

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 3

quote:

�It�s too dangerous.� That was Eva, Marco�s mom. The woman who had been host body to the first Visser One. �Visser One will know that you know. He�ll know you�re coming. He can�t let you destroy a Pool ship - that�s the only large-scale food supply the Yeerks have. The Blade ship can only service so many. Lose a Pool ship? The Council of Thirteen would have Visser One executed.�

Marco shook his head. �He�ll think we�re cocky after taking out the Yeerk pool. Maybe he�ll underestimate us.�

�No,� Eva said flatly. �He�ll never underestimate you again. That�s over.�

We stood around a small fire. It was chilly. Fog had a tendency to form in this deep valley,sometimes so thick we could barely see our hands in front of our faces. It wasn�t that bad now, but it was still cold.

�It�s too dangerous,� Cassie�s dad said. He was sipping a cup of what passed for coffee here in our rough-and-ready camp.

�This is a job for the military now,� Rachel�s mom argued. �You kids have done enough. The secret is out: Leave it to the people who should be protecting this country. I mean, we paid enough in taxes to support the military; well, now let�s see what we got for all that money.�

We were in a council of war. I was getting so I hated these meetings. Too many voices, too many opinions. So many opinions sometimes that it seemed the consensus would always come down on the side of doing nothing.

But we were guests among the free Hork-Bajir. This was their valley, their trees, the only home they had. We�d come running to them with our families in tow when we needed a place to hide. So at the very least I had to listen to Toby, the young female Hork-Bajir seer. And only a fool would dismiss Eva�s input: None of us knew the Yeerks half as well. And of course, there were my fellow Animorphs.

But added to all that we had Marco�s dad; Rachel�s mom; James, the representative of our new, adjunct Animorphs; Tobias�s mom; both of Cassie�s parents, who only cared about making sure no one got hurt � too many people with too many agendas. But I still didn�t know how to tell adults, my
friends� parents no less, to be quiet and let me do my job.

I tried not to show my impatience, but these days I�m not so good at that. Cassie was watching me. We�re not as close anymore, but she still knows me.

She said, �Look folks, we�re going to try. I don�t think the question is really �whether� but �how.��

�No one has decided any such thing,� Rachel�s mom said angrily. �My daughter is not going to be dragged into some suicidal undertaking like this.�

Rachel laughed. Rachel�s not a person who�ll be one way with her friends and another way with her family. There�s only one version of Rachel. � Mom, if we go, I go. If we don�t go, I still go. Visser One parks his Pool ship right out in the open and we�re not going to ram it down his nonexistent throat? Hah! I�m with Marco: Blow it up. Blow it up real good.�

I hid a grin. Rachel is the original Nike girl: Just do it. Just do it, and if that doesn�t work do it harder and meaner.

�It seems a waste to simply blow it up,� Toby said, speaking for the first time. The Hork-Bajir are a fearsome-looking, but basically peaceful race that, left alone, would live in the trees eating bark and caring for the forest. Toby is one of a rare Hork-Bajir mutation: a seer. A sort of Hork-Bajir intellectual and leader. She leads the free Hork-Bajir, a small but growing band of Hork-Bajir who have been liberated from their parasitic masters.

�What do you mean?� I asked Toby.

�There are hundreds of captive Hork-Bajir aboard the Pool ship,� Toby said. �If we could free at least a portion of them � and of course there are the ship�s massive weapons systems. Imagine controlling all that power.�

�Take it?� Marco yelped. �Steal the Pool ship!�

Rachel jabbed a finger at Toby. �This is my girl,� she said.

Rachel�s �girl� was nearly six and a half feet tall, and looked an awful lot like a kid�s notion of
a goblin. Not to mention the fact that she was armed with razor-sharp blades growing from wrists and elbows and forehead.

<It is the approach Visser One would not expect,> Ax opined cautiously. <It is, of course, possible. It is not like stealing a Bug fighter. Every system on board the Pool ship is encrypted, and the codes will probably change hourly. It might take me an hour to break any one sequence, and if I am a minute late it will roll over and I will be starting back at the beginning. An hour to get you into navigation, for example, if I am lucky. And another hour to gain access to weapons systems.>

And then everyone started talking at once, arguing, posturing, scoring debating points.

�Okay,� I said holding up my hands for calm. � That�s enough, folks, thanks for coming.�

�You don�t just dismiss us!� Rachel�s mom yelled.

�Sure he does, Mom,� Rachel said cheerfully.

�I need Rachel, Marco, Tobias, Ax, Toby, James, and Eva,� I said.

I hadn�t meant to exclude Cassie. I really hadn�t. But it was too late. She looked like I�d hit her.

She blinked and turned quickly away, covering the moment with aimless chatter to her parents.

Tobias gave me a dirty look. And if you think a red-tailed hawk�s gaze is always a dirty look, you�re close to being right. Still, I knew Tobias was mad at me. Everyone was. Everyone but James who was excited to be included, and Eva who hadn�t really caught what was going on with me and Cassie.

There was nothing to be done now. I couldn�t go running after Cassie. The insult had been delivered. There was no taking it back now.

I said, �As much as I hate to admit it, Rachel�s mom is partly right: This isn�t just our fight anymore. Three pilots died today. Probably Air National Guard. It shows that there are military forces out there that could help.�
�
All due respect,� Marco said, �those pilots didn�t do much good.�

�If we�re going after the Pool ship we need a diversion,� I said. �We�ll need a great big diversion. I want tanks and jets and soldiers. And I want us - some of us at least - to be right out there in front with them. I want Visser One to be dead sure we�re trying to either blow up his precious ship or get inside it.�

�And we will be, right?� James asked. �I mean, one or the other, right?�

I shook my head. �Visser One will consider the possibility that we�re using the attack as a cover. He�s slow but he�s not a complete idiot. He�ll figure one of three things: First, the attack is the real thing. Second, the attack is a cover for the next attack. Third, the attack is a cover for us to infiltrate rhe ship and destroy it from inside. Any of those three options he does the same thing: lifts the ship off and amuses himself blasting everything in sight with the Pool ship�s big Dracon cannon.�

�Okay,� Toby said. �I give up: How is he going to be wrong?�

�When the diversion comes, we�ll already be on board the Pool ship, working on breaking those access codes,� I said. �The diversion won�t be to cover us getting on. It�ll be to cover the fact that we�re already there.�
I
t sounded good. Sounded like I had a plan.

I didn�t

Sorry. Just one chapter today. But do you think Jake is losing it?

# ? Jan 4, 2023 04:10

GodFish: Oct 10, 2012; We're your first, last, and only line of defense. We live in secret. We exist in shadow.

And we dress in black.

Just caught back up and drat, I picked a hell of a time for it.

# ? Jan 4, 2023 07:32

JesusSinfulHands: Oct 24, 2007; Sartre and Russell are my heroes

I've read this book many times (it's my favorite!) but often just glanced over the summary parts of the first two chapters so thanks y'all for pointing out just how ruthless and unhinged Jake's internal monologues have become. I wonder if the others besides Cassie can tell.

# ? Jan 4, 2023 11:07

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# ? May 25, 2024 19:08

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

QuickbreathFinisher posted:

This is the penultimate book. Buckle in!

And yes, I would argue that they're both good.

Also both Applegrant-authored, for the first time (in the main series) since starfish book.

# ? Jan 4, 2023 11:33

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

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