The Arisths
Book Two: The Escape
Part 1
Author's Note:
Welcome to book two! Just in case you're wondering, the order of the books will go like this: Terace, Esgarrouth, Assinko, Caroof, Maheen. In this book, I will introduce some new alien creatures (not in this installment, though) and here's the pronunciation key:
Soggor: Soe- gore
Anvarrian Cloaker: An- var- ian Cloke- er
Saccronian Beetle: Sack- crone- ian
Okay, I didn't invent the Anvarrian Cloaker, I just made up the name. It's really the chameleon monster from #30. Well, anyway, whether you enjoy it or not, please review!
Thanks,
John
My name is Esgarrouth- Hamoot- Isthill, Andalite aristh. Unless any of you don't know, aristh means "warrior cadet." It seems so long ago that I left my Dome ship, as it was under attack by Yeerk forces, although it happened mere weeks ago. In a borrowed ship, The Golden Nebula, we narrowly avoided Yeerk infestation, but are now lost in Yeerk controlled space. By "we" I mean my self and my fellow arisths, Terace, my best friend, Assinko, my younger brother, Caroof, our technology expert and strategist, and Maheen, our joker (no matter how bad her jokes may be) and the first female aristh. We were all friends before our adventure began, but now we must rely on each other more than ever… to survive. They all think I'm brave, heroic even, that I never get scared. But they're wrong. I am scared now, now that we are in the middle of the war. Scared of death, mostly; scared that I'll never get home. But I won't let it show, because they need my false bravado to keep their morale up. One of my teachers once said:
If you take away a warrior's morale, all he's got left is his Shredder.
I can't let that happen, not to my friends. I can't.
We had only come to this remote Yeerk controlled system a few days earlier, so imagine our surprise when we found that it was not remote at all. In fact it was the home system of the Skrit Na. The Skrit Na, though not true allies of the Yeerks, had sold all of their moons and surrounding planets to the Yeerks for ships and weapons. So the system was technically Yeerk controlled. As we (and everyone) knew, the Skrit Na world had plenty of zoos full of exotic creatures from all over the galaxy. It was the perfect place to get morphs.
Our plan was simple: we would capture a Skrit Na ship and each of us would acquire a Skrit and a Na.
Most people should know this, but in case you don't I'll tell you about the Skrit Na. They are actually two species in one. The Skrit, which resemble giant, shambling insects, have fourteen legs, six sets of antennae, but they are not very intelligent. The Skrit eventually form a cocoon and a year later a Na comes out. More intelligent than the Skrit, Na can walk on four legs, or rear up on two and use the others as hands. They have Andalite like heads, large, black eyes, a mouth and gray skin.
Any way, back to the point. We would hold them captive on their ship until we were done, and then let them go. We would land on the Skrit Na planet and locate the nearest zoo. Then we would use the Skrit or the Na, whichever was used to feed the animals, to sneak into the cages, then stun and acquire the animal. Each of us would get one battle morph and an insect morph. But first we needed a Skrit Na ship.
This was obviously not going to be hard. The Skrit Na world was a steely gray covered with millions upon millions of tiny pinpoints of light, hinting at the one giant city the planet had become. Orbiting the planet was an armada of ships of all shapes and sizes: Hawjabran freighters, Ognachic colony ships, Skrit Na ships (Of course) Yeerk freighters, Dalang trader ships, even a Dome ship. The Dome ship obviously belonged to the Skrit Na, as it was adorned with the Skrit Na colors. I could see the lights of a small city in the dome where the grass and trees should have been.
It was almost sickening.
Take your pick. Caroof was saying, referring to the many Skrit Na ships.
How about… that one. Terace said, pointing to a Skrit Na ship that was separated from the others.
It was the usual gray disk, covered everywhere imaginable with lights. For some reason, the Skrit Na think that this is attractive. We Andalites do not.
I'll fire from the main Shredder. Caroof, our elected pilot, said.
Aim for the engines. Terace commanded. He's like that sometimes, and we consider him our leader, although we've never told him.
Caroof lined up the cross hairs of the Shredder with the Skrit Na's engines.
TSSSSEEEEEEWWWWW!
Caroof fired once, and the engines exploded in a flash of orange and red. The lights adorning the ship flickered, and the ship was still.
Prepare to dock. Terace said. Caroof nodded silently.
We moved closer and came up next to the Skrit Na ship, connecting our air locks.
Okay, everyone take a Shredder and set it on Level Three. That should leave them stunned for a few hours. Do not, I repeat, do not use your tails. Terace ordered as we lined up at the air lock.
Yes sir! Said Maheen as she stood at mock attention.
Terace rolled all four eyes and opened the airlock.
The Skrit Na hatch didn't.
Terace paused realizing he had forgotten about the Skrit Na's unwillingness to being boarded.
Um, Shredders at, um, Level Five. Open fire! We took aim and fired.
TSSAAAPPP!
TSSAAAPPP!
The door twisted and melted.
We quickly reset our Shredders and leapt through the hole.
TSSEEEWWW!
TSSEEEWWW!
Dracon Beams!
The Na crew of four was crouched behind crates, shooting at us. I took cover in the doorway and fired off a few shots.
TSSAAAPPP!
TSSAAAPPP!
A light blue beam caught a Na in the chest and he fell to the floor, stunned.
TSSEEEWWW!
A red Dracon Beam sliced past me!
Aaaaarrrrgggghhhh!
A howl of pain! Assinko!
I turned to find my brother cradling his arm, which had a perfect hole in it that oozed green blood.
Assinko! I bent down as Terace took my place, covering us.
Urrgh. Get back into battle, Esgarrouth. He said, eyes closed tightly in pain.
No. I'm helping you back onto the ship.
NO, Esgarrouth. He growled.
Listen, you're my younger brother, and I'm supposed to be taking care of you.
I can take care of my self. He snapped.
I stood up again and started shooting. Maheen scored a hit on another Na. A Skrit got caught in the crossfire and fell dead, pierced by a Na's Dracon Beam.
TSSAAAPPP!
Caroof scored a hit!
TSSAAAPPP!
The last Na was shot in the arm.
We walked through the smoke and inspected the stunned Na. I went up to the Na who had been shot in the arm. I looked down at his prone form and suddenly-
"DIE, ANDALITE!" He was up! I aimed my Shredder-
WHACK!
He knocked it out of my hand and delivered a kick to my chest. I fell, bruising my stalk eye on the cold, metal floor. Suddenly, the Na was over me, holding the Dracon Beam to my head. I grabbed it, tried to push it away, but all I succeeded in doing was turning the level setting dial. Up? Down? I didn't know but I hoped now, especially when his finger tightened on the trigger…
TSSEEEWWW!