Reign and Thunder-Part 1- Infernal Sky
"It is difficult to fight with anger against a man who will buy revenge with his very soul."
-Hepataitus, 500 B.C.
[No, Skorre, get out of there!]
I yelled at the only alien member of the Anubis's crew, as he lowered the hostage to the floor. The hostage was no less than the head of Web Access America, Joe Bob Fenester.
"What the fuck is that?!"
I turned around and saw the twenty security men standing there in the doorway to the office.
[Sorry, gentlemen, but I have to cancel the party.] I said in my Andalite morph. I raised the Dracon beam. I let off five rounds and put down four servicemen. The last round triggered the sprinkler system.
[David, behind you!]
I twisted and decapitated the man behind me. I threw the grenade that I had in my hand.
[There are too many! Take the hostage and abort!]
Skorre and I ran and jumped out the window. And into the Bug fighter and gave the order to Sanders to pilot it off.
Mission accomplished.
I demorphed.
"Hello, Mr. Fenester."
"What the hell are you?"
"The new breed."
I aquired him, and so did my crew once we got back to the Anubis.
"What do you want us to do with him now?"
Said Skorre.
"When we get into the atmoshpere, eject him. We can't have two of him walking around."
Our plan was to aquire the CEO, and take his place as the head of most used internet company in America. It was all part of my plan to take over the planet. To do that, I needed to have power.
Later on, I visited Sara in the simulator. She was being brainwashed by the machine.
"Mommmy!!"
I saw the electricity run threw her.
"I want my mommy!"
She passed out.
I walked over to her.
"I'm sorry, Sara, but in time you'll realize that I am your true father."
I walked out of the room.
JAKE...
Me, Marco, and Ax were in the food court in the mall. They had just finished rebuilding the whole complex from scratch. I seems that the bug fighter that David's men shot down exploded. We where all dead until the ellimist found us.
"Cinna-Bunz. Must have... Cinna-Bunz."
Ax was going through a serious case of Cinnabon withdrawl. It seems that there were no other cinnamon bun retailers in the city, and in six months Ax hadn't eaten any since May.
"Hold on, Ax, we'll get you some." Said Marco.
"Give me the money, Marco, I'll order."
He gave me five dollars and I went to stand in line.
I had been waiting for a few minutes when I saw Erek walk up.
He looked just like a normal kid, but I knew that skin was really a hologram, and that underneath was a dog-like robot. Erek was at least 3000 years old, and had helped build the pyramids among other things.
"Hi, Erek, how's it going?"
"Jake, the Andalites are here."
This was good news, so why didn't Erek look happy?
"Great!" I said almost shouting.
A few people turned to look at me.
"What's the matter, Erek?"
"I don't think that they came to fight. They've set up an underwater installation near the old Yeerk one, and it looks like they've brought Quantom technology."
"What's that?" I asked, puzzeled.
"A Quantom bomb, or a Q-Bomb, is the Andalite equivalent to a nuclear weapon. It is only different in the fact that it uses Quantom molecules and is over 400 times as powerful. A Quantom virus can use the Quantom molecules to create a virus that can kill a certain species."
I was stunned by this news. If what Erek said was true, than the Andalites would rather kill billions of Humans rather than fight a war on earth.
Marco and Ax rushed up.
"Hey, Erek." Quipped Marco. "What's wrong, Jake?"
"It lookes like the battle is over." I said.
I explained the whole situation to them, after we had pulled into a table in the corner.
Marco looked like he was close to tears.
Ax was stone faced.
"These are not my people. MY people would never kill a whole species rather than fight a war. It is an insult to my honor simply to be a part of their military now."
Marco broke down. "God damn it, Jake! Why the Hell did we keep fighting? Huh? We lost our childhood for this! We skrewed up dozens of peoples lives, Rachel lost her whole family for it! And now, after three years of fighting, we find out that the people who are supposed to save us are going to commit mass genocide? Why? GOD DAMN IT, WHY!?" He shouted out. Lot's of people looked, but turned away after a few seconds.
A mall cop walked over. "Hey, kid. Are you O.K?"
Marco straigtened himself up.
"No, man. I just found out that my Brother Colin died. How the Hell would you feel?"
"Woah. I'm sorry, kid. My brother died when I was a kid, too. It's tough. Sorry."
He walked away.
Erek looked at us.
"There is a chance that you could get the Andalites to stop. You could go to the facility to convince them to leave. It is near the old Yeerk facility off the island. It is cloaked, but you could find it with sonar. If you decide to do this, you had better hurry. I have reason to believe that they will launch the Virus in less than two weeks."
JAKE...
The rest of our group hadn't taken the news too well. Cassie had broken down just like Marco, and I had never seen Rachel so mad in my life. We all gathered at Cassie's barn when her parents went out to talk to a man interested in buying one of their horses.
For a long time we all just looked at each other in silence.
[We have to do something.] Said Tobias. [ Isn't there some way that we could convince them to help us, Ax?]
[No.] Replied Ax solemnly. [If the Andalites have come to fight, they will fight. If they have come to destroy a race, they will do that, too.]
"What's wrong, Ax?" Sneered Rachel. "Aren't you proud to be a mighty Andalite today?"
I could see the rage boiling inside Ax.
"Rachel, cut it out. There isn't a thing that Ax could do to stop them." I said.
Rachel didn't reply to it.
I kept talking. "Still, it's worth a try. We could go to the facility and try to get them to stop the operation. Ax, can you identify the Andalite facility from sonar?"
[Yes. I was trained in such at the Academy.]
"Than what are we waiting for?" Said Rachel. "Let's do it!"
"Oh, no! We're doomed!" Cried Marco.
That got a nervous laugh from everyone. At least we would go out laughing.
AX...
It was about 3:00 in the morning the next day. We had all gone to the beach near the island, and we were presently standing waist deep in the water.
"O.K." Prince Jake said. "Let's do this."
We all started morphing into Dolphins.
[O.K., guy's. Let's go save the world.]
I took a deep breath and dove under the water. It wasn't hard to stifle the Dolphins sense of unconditional joy. This was the most serious mission that we had ever done.
[Ax, find us the target.] Called out Jake from behind me.
I closed my eyes and sent out the sonar bleeps. It took several tries but finally, almost beside the old Yeerk facility was the new Andalite one. Of course, it wasn't visable to the Human eye, but it registered on sonar.
[I see it, Prince Jake. It is right beside the old Yeerk facility on the right side of the cliff face. Follow me into the hatch.]
Before I could swim another inch I heard a familiar voice in my head.
[ Don't get TOO cocky, Animorphs.]
David.
[Let's see how you handle these new morphs.]
LaRouche.
Six Great White Sharks were swimming in diamond formation towards us.
[Marco screamed REAL good before he DIED!]
Sanders. In our last battle he had killed Marco until the Ellimist interfered.
[ Too bad your big friend ain't here to see ya DIE!]
It was Ripper. He was talking about the Ellimist.
Behind Cassie Aleks rushed up and rammed into her.
[You're not as tough as I thought.]
[ You're not welcome here!] Finished Skorre.
Cassie had recovered from the shock of being his from behind. She swam over to Skorre and, like a missile, slammed into him. Dark red blood filled the murky water.
[The Antimorphs!] Shouted Tobias. Then he souted what we were all thinking- [ How the Hell did they find out about this!]
David nor one of his team gave us an answer. They just charged us and tore into us. The only reason that we survived as long as we did is because we were faster. Marco zoomed overhead and Ripper came up from under him like on the Jaws poster.
[Jesus Christ!] Screamed Marco. I looked over at him. There was a HUGE chunk out of his left side.
[Ax, I need that entrance hatch NOW!] Screamed Prince Jake.
I looked over at him. He was running away from David.
[Come to me, my pretty! I want the Ruby slippers!] Cackled David, imitating the movie "The Wizard of Oz."
I sent out a sonar bleep and saw the touch pad that would open the hatch.
I zoomed in like a missle and hit the pad in the dead-center. The airlock screamed open.
The others saw this and swam in. Last came Rachel, helping the wounded Marco along.
In the hatch we demorphed and I approached the security terminal.
[State your name and rank, please.]
[Aximili-Esgarrouth-Ithill. Aristh.
[Negative. Aristh Aximili-Esgarrouth-Ithill had been MIA for three Terran years.]
My spirits dropped.
[Can you put me through to the captain?]
[Of course.]
Immediately, an old Andalite face filled the screen.
[This is War-Prince Tak-Psyclos-Kelforn. To whom do I speak?]
[I am Aximili-Esgarrouth-Ithill.] I paused, then bitterly I said. [Aristh.]
The old Andalites face widened.
[Aximili? Is that really you?]
Suddenly, I remembered! Captain Tak had been my instuctor in Advanced Z-Space theory at the Academy. I also accidentally ran into him in the hallway of a carrier ship on a Wargames mission.
Then, he saw past me, to the group of wet, injured humans behind us.
[Aritsh, why have you brought Humans with you?!]
[It's a long story, but we have a human who is in shock. Request permission to come abord and for him to see the ships doctor?]
Captain Tak obviously saw the seriousness in the situation.
[Permission granted.]
MARCO...
About a half hour after we had come aboard the Andalite ship, Ax had explained the whole thing to the Andalite Captain. The doctor had wanted to see all of us, and he had given us all a shot. Afterwards, the Captain wanted to speak to us all.
[Aximili had admitted to giving you the morphing power. You must understand that on Andale, our homeworld, this would result in court martial. However, we are not on Andale, and I am not as stubborn and as the old fools in the Electorate. I see no reason to exercise dicipline. I would have done the same thing. Aximili has also told me of the last three years. Even Andalite warriors have lost under such overwhelming odds. I must commend you.] He paused. [Aximili has also told me of what you belecie our plans to be. It is partially true. The Electorate sees no use to spend so many Credits on such a remote planet that has no strategic potential. However, we cannot allow the billions of host available to the Yeerks continue to serve them. However, we do not plan to kill ALL of your race. The Q-virus that we have created will cause death only in humans over the age of 15 Terran years. That way, the species will live on. The Yeerks will not have any interest in so few body's. In addition, the virus will alter the host body so that any increase in cranial capacity will kill the host. The shot that you just received will render you immune from the virus.]
We all just sat there in silence.
Suddenly, the speakers on the wall came to life.
[Captain! There are intruders on the ship! Five morph capable humans and one morph capable Hork-Bajir have seized the ship! They have Dracon beams and are massacering our troops! They just entered the Med lab and have used Anti Q-virus vaccines!]
The Captain looked to us.
[What is going on here?!]
Jake rushed up.
"One of our group went traitor. He has his own team that is Yeerk-sponsored! They followed us here but we didn't think that they could get in here."
Just then, the door flew open. David stood there.
Without a word, he raised his hand and threw a grenade.
It went off, killing the Captain.
I heard the computor say the chilling words: [ Quantom virus Scatter-delivery system activated. Minus 10 seconds.
[9]
[8]
[7]
[6]
[5]
[4]
[3]
[2]
[1]
[0]
[Have a nice day.]
JAKE...
When I woke up I was in a tree. It must sound odd. But it was very true.
I opened my eyes and saw the blue sky. Then I realized the obvious and fell about ten feet to the ground. Around me I saw everyone else. Even some Andlaites. They weren't breathing. The only ones who were alive were My team and Davids.
I knew that I would have to keep watch until someone else woke up. I would have to subdue the Antimorphs to keep them from killing us.
Then, I heard the noises.
I climbed the ridge behind me and saw a horrible sight.
Hundreds of kids and teenagers were building a huge monument. Over them stood kids who looked like they had come right out of the movie Starship troopers. They wore almost the exact same uniforms and the guns were almost the same.
Then I looked up, and had the shock of my life.
Even though I had been to other worlds, seen dinosaurs and fought a war against alien slugs for almost three years, I never thought that I would see a flag with a Nazi Swastika flying in the middle of a Confederate flag.
To be Continued.
[ O.K. the last part might not site too well with some people. Don't worry, it's all relevant to the story. Some of you might also wonder how did the Antimorphs know what was happening? I'll explain it later. You can expect a new chapter to be added about every week.]
"It is difficult to fight with anger against a man who will buy revenge with his very soul."
-Hepataitus, 500 B.C.
[No, Skorre, get out of there!]
I yelled at the only alien member of the Anubis's crew, as he lowered the hostage to the floor. The hostage was no less than the head of Web Access America, Joe Bob Fenester.
"What the fuck is that?!"
I turned around and saw the twenty security men standing there in the doorway to the office.
[Sorry, gentlemen, but I have to cancel the party.] I said in my Andalite morph. I raised the Dracon beam. I let off five rounds and put down four servicemen. The last round triggered the sprinkler system.
[David, behind you!]
I twisted and decapitated the man behind me. I threw the grenade that I had in my hand.
[There are too many! Take the hostage and abort!]
Skorre and I ran and jumped out the window. And into the Bug fighter and gave the order to Sanders to pilot it off.
Mission accomplished.
I demorphed.
"Hello, Mr. Fenester."
"What the hell are you?"
"The new breed."
I aquired him, and so did my crew once we got back to the Anubis.
"What do you want us to do with him now?"
Said Skorre.
"When we get into the atmoshpere, eject him. We can't have two of him walking around."
Our plan was to aquire the CEO, and take his place as the head of most used internet company in America. It was all part of my plan to take over the planet. To do that, I needed to have power.
Later on, I visited Sara in the simulator. She was being brainwashed by the machine.
"Mommmy!!"
I saw the electricity run threw her.
"I want my mommy!"
She passed out.
I walked over to her.
"I'm sorry, Sara, but in time you'll realize that I am your true father."
I walked out of the room.
JAKE...
Me, Marco, and Ax were in the food court in the mall. They had just finished rebuilding the whole complex from scratch. I seems that the bug fighter that David's men shot down exploded. We where all dead until the ellimist found us.
"Cinna-Bunz. Must have... Cinna-Bunz."
Ax was going through a serious case of Cinnabon withdrawl. It seems that there were no other cinnamon bun retailers in the city, and in six months Ax hadn't eaten any since May.
"Hold on, Ax, we'll get you some." Said Marco.
"Give me the money, Marco, I'll order."
He gave me five dollars and I went to stand in line.
I had been waiting for a few minutes when I saw Erek walk up.
He looked just like a normal kid, but I knew that skin was really a hologram, and that underneath was a dog-like robot. Erek was at least 3000 years old, and had helped build the pyramids among other things.
"Hi, Erek, how's it going?"
"Jake, the Andalites are here."
This was good news, so why didn't Erek look happy?
"Great!" I said almost shouting.
A few people turned to look at me.
"What's the matter, Erek?"
"I don't think that they came to fight. They've set up an underwater installation near the old Yeerk one, and it looks like they've brought Quantom technology."
"What's that?" I asked, puzzeled.
"A Quantom bomb, or a Q-Bomb, is the Andalite equivalent to a nuclear weapon. It is only different in the fact that it uses Quantom molecules and is over 400 times as powerful. A Quantom virus can use the Quantom molecules to create a virus that can kill a certain species."
I was stunned by this news. If what Erek said was true, than the Andalites would rather kill billions of Humans rather than fight a war on earth.
Marco and Ax rushed up.
"Hey, Erek." Quipped Marco. "What's wrong, Jake?"
"It lookes like the battle is over." I said.
I explained the whole situation to them, after we had pulled into a table in the corner.
Marco looked like he was close to tears.
Ax was stone faced.
"These are not my people. MY people would never kill a whole species rather than fight a war. It is an insult to my honor simply to be a part of their military now."
Marco broke down. "God damn it, Jake! Why the Hell did we keep fighting? Huh? We lost our childhood for this! We skrewed up dozens of peoples lives, Rachel lost her whole family for it! And now, after three years of fighting, we find out that the people who are supposed to save us are going to commit mass genocide? Why? GOD DAMN IT, WHY!?" He shouted out. Lot's of people looked, but turned away after a few seconds.
A mall cop walked over. "Hey, kid. Are you O.K?"
Marco straigtened himself up.
"No, man. I just found out that my Brother Colin died. How the Hell would you feel?"
"Woah. I'm sorry, kid. My brother died when I was a kid, too. It's tough. Sorry."
He walked away.
Erek looked at us.
"There is a chance that you could get the Andalites to stop. You could go to the facility to convince them to leave. It is near the old Yeerk facility off the island. It is cloaked, but you could find it with sonar. If you decide to do this, you had better hurry. I have reason to believe that they will launch the Virus in less than two weeks."
JAKE...
The rest of our group hadn't taken the news too well. Cassie had broken down just like Marco, and I had never seen Rachel so mad in my life. We all gathered at Cassie's barn when her parents went out to talk to a man interested in buying one of their horses.
For a long time we all just looked at each other in silence.
[We have to do something.] Said Tobias. [ Isn't there some way that we could convince them to help us, Ax?]
[No.] Replied Ax solemnly. [If the Andalites have come to fight, they will fight. If they have come to destroy a race, they will do that, too.]
"What's wrong, Ax?" Sneered Rachel. "Aren't you proud to be a mighty Andalite today?"
I could see the rage boiling inside Ax.
"Rachel, cut it out. There isn't a thing that Ax could do to stop them." I said.
Rachel didn't reply to it.
I kept talking. "Still, it's worth a try. We could go to the facility and try to get them to stop the operation. Ax, can you identify the Andalite facility from sonar?"
[Yes. I was trained in such at the Academy.]
"Than what are we waiting for?" Said Rachel. "Let's do it!"
"Oh, no! We're doomed!" Cried Marco.
That got a nervous laugh from everyone. At least we would go out laughing.
AX...
It was about 3:00 in the morning the next day. We had all gone to the beach near the island, and we were presently standing waist deep in the water.
"O.K." Prince Jake said. "Let's do this."
We all started morphing into Dolphins.
[O.K., guy's. Let's go save the world.]
I took a deep breath and dove under the water. It wasn't hard to stifle the Dolphins sense of unconditional joy. This was the most serious mission that we had ever done.
[Ax, find us the target.] Called out Jake from behind me.
I closed my eyes and sent out the sonar bleeps. It took several tries but finally, almost beside the old Yeerk facility was the new Andalite one. Of course, it wasn't visable to the Human eye, but it registered on sonar.
[I see it, Prince Jake. It is right beside the old Yeerk facility on the right side of the cliff face. Follow me into the hatch.]
Before I could swim another inch I heard a familiar voice in my head.
[ Don't get TOO cocky, Animorphs.]
David.
[Let's see how you handle these new morphs.]
LaRouche.
Six Great White Sharks were swimming in diamond formation towards us.
[Marco screamed REAL good before he DIED!]
Sanders. In our last battle he had killed Marco until the Ellimist interfered.
[ Too bad your big friend ain't here to see ya DIE!]
It was Ripper. He was talking about the Ellimist.
Behind Cassie Aleks rushed up and rammed into her.
[You're not as tough as I thought.]
[ You're not welcome here!] Finished Skorre.
Cassie had recovered from the shock of being his from behind. She swam over to Skorre and, like a missile, slammed into him. Dark red blood filled the murky water.
[The Antimorphs!] Shouted Tobias. Then he souted what we were all thinking- [ How the Hell did they find out about this!]
David nor one of his team gave us an answer. They just charged us and tore into us. The only reason that we survived as long as we did is because we were faster. Marco zoomed overhead and Ripper came up from under him like on the Jaws poster.
[Jesus Christ!] Screamed Marco. I looked over at him. There was a HUGE chunk out of his left side.
[Ax, I need that entrance hatch NOW!] Screamed Prince Jake.
I looked over at him. He was running away from David.
[Come to me, my pretty! I want the Ruby slippers!] Cackled David, imitating the movie "The Wizard of Oz."
I sent out a sonar bleep and saw the touch pad that would open the hatch.
I zoomed in like a missle and hit the pad in the dead-center. The airlock screamed open.
The others saw this and swam in. Last came Rachel, helping the wounded Marco along.
In the hatch we demorphed and I approached the security terminal.
[State your name and rank, please.]
[Aximili-Esgarrouth-Ithill. Aristh.
[Negative. Aristh Aximili-Esgarrouth-Ithill had been MIA for three Terran years.]
My spirits dropped.
[Can you put me through to the captain?]
[Of course.]
Immediately, an old Andalite face filled the screen.
[This is War-Prince Tak-Psyclos-Kelforn. To whom do I speak?]
[I am Aximili-Esgarrouth-Ithill.] I paused, then bitterly I said. [Aristh.]
The old Andalites face widened.
[Aximili? Is that really you?]
Suddenly, I remembered! Captain Tak had been my instuctor in Advanced Z-Space theory at the Academy. I also accidentally ran into him in the hallway of a carrier ship on a Wargames mission.
Then, he saw past me, to the group of wet, injured humans behind us.
[Aritsh, why have you brought Humans with you?!]
[It's a long story, but we have a human who is in shock. Request permission to come abord and for him to see the ships doctor?]
Captain Tak obviously saw the seriousness in the situation.
[Permission granted.]
MARCO...
About a half hour after we had come aboard the Andalite ship, Ax had explained the whole thing to the Andalite Captain. The doctor had wanted to see all of us, and he had given us all a shot. Afterwards, the Captain wanted to speak to us all.
[Aximili had admitted to giving you the morphing power. You must understand that on Andale, our homeworld, this would result in court martial. However, we are not on Andale, and I am not as stubborn and as the old fools in the Electorate. I see no reason to exercise dicipline. I would have done the same thing. Aximili has also told me of the last three years. Even Andalite warriors have lost under such overwhelming odds. I must commend you.] He paused. [Aximili has also told me of what you belecie our plans to be. It is partially true. The Electorate sees no use to spend so many Credits on such a remote planet that has no strategic potential. However, we cannot allow the billions of host available to the Yeerks continue to serve them. However, we do not plan to kill ALL of your race. The Q-virus that we have created will cause death only in humans over the age of 15 Terran years. That way, the species will live on. The Yeerks will not have any interest in so few body's. In addition, the virus will alter the host body so that any increase in cranial capacity will kill the host. The shot that you just received will render you immune from the virus.]
We all just sat there in silence.
Suddenly, the speakers on the wall came to life.
[Captain! There are intruders on the ship! Five morph capable humans and one morph capable Hork-Bajir have seized the ship! They have Dracon beams and are massacering our troops! They just entered the Med lab and have used Anti Q-virus vaccines!]
The Captain looked to us.
[What is going on here?!]
Jake rushed up.
"One of our group went traitor. He has his own team that is Yeerk-sponsored! They followed us here but we didn't think that they could get in here."
Just then, the door flew open. David stood there.
Without a word, he raised his hand and threw a grenade.
It went off, killing the Captain.
I heard the computor say the chilling words: [ Quantom virus Scatter-delivery system activated. Minus 10 seconds.
[9]
[8]
[7]
[6]
[5]
[4]
[3]
[2]
[1]
[0]
[Have a nice day.]
JAKE...
When I woke up I was in a tree. It must sound odd. But it was very true.
I opened my eyes and saw the blue sky. Then I realized the obvious and fell about ten feet to the ground. Around me I saw everyone else. Even some Andlaites. They weren't breathing. The only ones who were alive were My team and Davids.
I knew that I would have to keep watch until someone else woke up. I would have to subdue the Antimorphs to keep them from killing us.
Then, I heard the noises.
I climbed the ridge behind me and saw a horrible sight.
Hundreds of kids and teenagers were building a huge monument. Over them stood kids who looked like they had come right out of the movie Starship troopers. They wore almost the exact same uniforms and the guns were almost the same.
Then I looked up, and had the shock of my life.
Even though I had been to other worlds, seen dinosaurs and fought a war against alien slugs for almost three years, I never thought that I would see a flag with a Nazi Swastika flying in the middle of a Confederate flag.
To be Continued.
[ O.K. the last part might not site too well with some people. Don't worry, it's all relevant to the story. Some of you might also wonder how did the Antimorphs know what was happening? I'll explain it later. You can expect a new chapter to be added about every week.]