Yeerk Military Research Ship

Orbiting the Gas Giant Venbor

Trooper VB302 gazed through the transparent wall of her cell-quarters at the large world spinning beneath her. It was an enormous gas planet with great violet and crimson cloud patterns slowly swirling over its surface. Coming just into sight along the edge of the gargantuan world was one of its many natural satellites. The one coming into view was by far the largest in the system. It orbited at a great distance from the planet which was in turn a great distance from the local star. It was a deep icy blue laced with frosty patterns of white.

The sight of the moon gave the Trooper pause. She raised her left arm and placed both of her left hands on the wall and swiveled her dark eyes forward in their horizontal stalks to focus on the azure orb slowly moving in its ellipse around its celestial parent. Something about the moon was familiar. But when she pushed her mind to think about why it was familiar the regular and acute buzzing pain jarred her brain away from pursuing her course of thought. The magic shard that the Worm-Masters placed in her head always interfered when she tried to do things her own way or to ponder about anything other than her orders or the care of her body. Despite the Worm-Masters constant control and mental abuse they did issue commands for her and the other Troopers to feed and exercise regularly so that they would always be in peak physical condition. This was the one command from them that she readily obeyed.

VB302 put all four of her enormous and powerful hands on her head as if to massage out the painful buzz of the shard in her mind—she was tired of doing what it told her to do—what they told her to do. Why should she and the other Troopers have to do what they were ordered all of the time? But then the shard rebuked her even more severely for the thought.

She bent double and squatted over her flat elongated feet. The blue and red lines on her silvery skin grew more vivid from her stress. She must stop provoking them. She must obey and be silent. She rose and turned from the wall, which now grew opaque. Leaving her cell-quarters she skated on the icy deck of the corridor through the commons to the rec chamber. No more painful buzz in her head came.

Sub-Visser Ninety-eight stormed onto the bridge of the vessel. It was unacceptable what his lackadaisical and incompetent crew were doing. They were on a three year mission deep in Andalite controlled space to continue meaningful research into creating shock troops as preparation for the next large planetary invasion. The Empire was to move against an extremely cold world on the edge of Yeerk territory called Jurrosk. It was home to a long-lived and extremely hardy race. And unlike the shock troops he was being forced to grow for the invasion of the world, the native race of Jurrosk was a highly endothermic carbon-based life-form that had a central nervous system, which meant that they were ideal for the Yeerks to use as a host species.

But they were a war-like people, though not as advanced as the Yeerks, nor even the humans the Sub-Visser mused as he remembered the technology of his host species from Earth. So rather than destroy their prize with their superior technology they needed an army that could physically stand up to the denizens of Jorrusk and subdue them without annihilating them all. But they needed troops that could move and fight in the sub-zero temperatures and frozen mountains of Jorrusk.

And that was why he found himself with a slap-shot crew of lazy scientists at this backwater system deep behind enemy lines. The large icy moon that orbited Venbor was Venbea and had been home to a race known as the Venber—another primitive and useless species—at least until now. They were a large race—with a hammerhead, large globule eyes on either side, powerful arms that split at the elbow into dual forearms, and strong legs that ended in ski-like feet. They were large, tough, and immensely strong—perfect troops—save for two great drawbacks.

First, the Venber required sub-freezing temperatures in order to survive. The accursed species would literally melt into a liquid puddle if exposed for more than a few seconds to temperatures above freezing. This meant that they could not be used as hosts for Yeerks. The infesting Yeerk would freeze to death before it could take control of the Venber's mind and body. Second, nearly all of the Venber had been destroyed by another race in the distant past known only as The Five. The Five harvested the Venber and melted them down—using their liquidated bodies to run and cool their spacecrafts' computers.

But the Yeerks had found no better alternative to the Venber so they had been forced to circumvent these inconveniences. The first step was to gain viable Venber DNA. The groundwork for this had already been laid by a much smaller Yeerk expedition a year before. Venber corpses had been found intact deep in the ice near several of their frozen and abandoned villages. But the samples were still too few to create a viable army. The scientists under Sub-Visser Ninety-eight had managed to analyze the Venber genome, artificially diversify the strand and import several strands from other species to create their ideal shock trooper.

They had also perfected an already developed bio-tech chip that allowed them to send specific electrical impulses throughout the Venber brain, effectively controlling it and subduing its will similar to how a Yeerk in its head would, though not as absolute. All of the bio-tech chips fed information back to the central computer aboard the vessel. It ran feedback to and from each Venber assessing each trooper's behaviors and thought patterns redirecting it with cues or creating a painful mental and physical fugue whenever a Venber was feeling particularly independent.

The plan and preparations were going swiftly and well to date. They had produced over ten thousand troops and were waiting for final confirmation from the Council of Thirteen before a Yeerk Troop Carrier made the perilous journey to collect them. They would then resume growing and training the next wave of Venber troops. The one great peril that they faced was that the Venbor system was deep inside Andalite held space. And although the Andalites had no reason to venture there anymore, the Yeerks had no aid or support from the Empire. They were on their own. If they were discovered there, they would be destroyed almost instantly by an armada of dome-ships.

Fortunately for the Sub-Visser, there was a strong radioactive solar wind that when coupled with a specific orbit around the Gas Giant combined with its electromagnetic field to act as a blanket for their discreet research venture. So long as the vessel remained on course they were better than cloaked from any ship that happened into the system.

At least they would be better than cloaked if the incompetent pilots followed orders and kept the ship on the necessary orbital path. "This will be the last time I say this, so listen carefully," he spoke boldly to the crew of Taxxon controllers that piloted the research vessel.

"We are deep within the bounds of the Andalites' domain. This was one of the first worlds they discovered when they crept off of their own. We are but a short z-space jump from their home world. Do you know how fast and how thoroughly they would destroy us if they discovered a Yeerk vessel lingering so close to their home?" he paused to let the implications sink in.

"The only assurance we have is that this orbit makes us completely invisible to scans of every sort across the entire spectrum. Why then, have we been cruising well outside of the required trajectory for nigh on seventeen hours? Please if there is a valid reason, do explain." His last statement hung in the room as a challenge.

The Taxxon pilots turned their many stalk eyes at each other as if they expected the others to dare an answer, shuffling on their many centipede legs anxiously.

"Well?" the Sub-Visser's voice lowered to a hiss. The crew trembled as his anger visibly grew.

Finally the sole Hork-Bajir who commanded the bridge crew stammered in a mix of English and its own tongue, "Host Star gishtakt kapak. Kef increased electromagnetism. Gort iskth new trajectory unless it saletki sagh instruments."

"And this is sufficient reason for you to risk this whole mission—all the lives of this crew and the valuable troops we have been laboring to grow for the Empire? All to avoid an increase in solar radiation and magnetism that might possibly interfere with our instruments? "

The Bridge Commander swallowed down his long throat staring fearfully at the Sub-Visser, who slowly sauntered closer. Then faster than lightning the Sub-Visser drew a small pocket sized Dracon-beam. He fired nearly point blank at the Bridge Commander. The red energy arc hit him in the chest. He screamed and writhed as his chest cavity smoked and burned away. The dying alien lay twitching for a few moments the blades on his arms and legs chattering as his body convulsed before he stopped finally, the spark in his eyes gone. The host Yeerk seeped from the head and lay on the deck flopping in spasms of horror. The Sub-Visser turned up the setting on his weapon and fired again. This time the Hork-Bajir corpse sizzled and vaporized. Then he picked up the helpless Yeerk and, holding the helpless blind gray-green slug up in front of the whole bridge crew, crushed it in his hand, letting the goo run down his forearm and drip onto the deck. Then quickly he produced a rag and wiped himself clean.

"Let that be a warning to the rest of you. I will now assume direct control over the bridge and the piloting of this vessel as it seems that every one of you is incapable of making intelligent decisions. Radiation and electromagnetism do not concern me. What does concern me is being discovered by our enemies and dying an unquestionable death. Take us back on course and hold us there. And if I notice for a moment that we have deviated from that vector, the one responsible will share the fate of that," he pointed to the remains of the crushed Yeerk in the cloth on the deck floor, "Understood?"

The crew eagerly gave signs of assent and in a few minutes had moved the vessel quickly back into proper orbit. Sub-Visser Ninety-Eight paced back and forth—enjoying the furtive and fearful glances that the crew darted at him now. They feared him. This was good. Perhaps now this operation would succeed without a hitch and he would finally be promoted to the ranks of the Vissers.

His ambitious dreams were cut short as a vibration rocked through the vessel. The ship lurched and went dark.

"What was that? Why is the ship dark? Why have we stopped and lost all power?"

The taxxons were scrambling frantically about the bridge. One tried to answer the Sub-Visser but could not speak intelligibly around its gaping mouth and long tongue well enough to be understood. It then rejoined its fellows in racing to restore power to the now derelict ship.

"Why does my ship have no power?!" the Sub-Visser roared. The crew scrambled frantically nearly trampling one another. In a few short moments they had combed the ship to the engines and core and managed to hard start the ship once more. In a matter of minutes all was back and running.

The Sub-Visser sat fuming. The taxxon that had previously attempted to explain put a holo-display up indicating that an extraordinarily intense electro-magnetic pulse had momentarily disabled the ship. But that everything was back online. Solar activity was fading as they held their course to the far side of the gas giant.

VB302 woke with a start. All was complete darkness. What had happened? She could see nothing at all. She echo-located and discovered that she was still in her chamber. But all light had gone out. This had never occurred before. Why did the Worm-Masters want her in the dark now? What else could they take from her now? She wished that she could jump from the ship and float down to the pretty blue moon that seemed so familiar.

She braced herself, waiting for the pain from the shard in her head to come. That was not something that she should have thought. And now she would certainly feel pain for her trespass. But no pain came. There was no buzz. In fact there was nothing—no sensation—no orders—nothing. The shard was silent for the first time that VB302 could recall.

Intrigued she thought something forbidden again. I wish that I could visit the other troops outside of the training schedule—just because I wish to. Again she braced herself for the horrible magic to hurt her. But there was only silence in her head. Something wondrous had happened. The magic of the Worm-Masters had failed. She was stronger than it now.

She proceeded to indulge in every forbidden notion for which she had ever been punished. She even hit herself in her chest until it ached. And there was nothing—a glorious silence in her head that let her do as she pleased. Then in the dark she felt them-the others—each and every one of her fellow Troopers. It was the first time she had felt them in her head. She squatted in awe and shock as their minds felt and greeted one another, every one of them scared and curious but excited. She was awed and humbled to meet them. Their minds were like her mind and they became her brothers and sisters, their hearts fusing quicker than a newborn star. They each retained their identity and personal experiences but what each saw and heard and did was shared with every other for the benefit of all. In the space of only a few breaths the ten plus thousand Venber Troopers became a clan family. The magic of the Masters kept us from one another! She had not even known that she could touch the others' minds until that moment in the dark.

For the first time she indulged and allowed anger and resentment for the Worms to swell within her. How could the Worms treat them this way? And why did they keep her from her people—blocking her from speaking to them and sharing her memories with them? Now that she was melded to them and they were one clan she knew that her existence prior to this moment was but a half-life—an illusion hung over her dark eyes to keep her a slave of the Worms. She was incredibly angry and for the first time, nothing stopped her anger. All of the others immediately felt her anger and why it was there. Then they shared her anger amongst themselves until every one of her Venber family was furious and pounding their chests to show their rage against the Worms that had kept them from each other and broken her family.

The lights came back on and the Venber all paused in shock. Would the magic return? Was this all a test? Were they all to be punished now for their disobedience? But nothing happened. The blessed silence in all of their minds continued.

302 slammed her four fists against her viewing wall in triumph. It turned transparent. Below her the icy moon was slowly receding as it continued its loop around the planet. She focused on it wondering undeterred now why it felt so familiar to her. The other Venber noticed and saw through her eyes. Many followed her to their own viewing walls and gazed down at the moon.

Then like an ice-storm that abates a great cloud was lifted from the Venber. They did not understand how or why they knew it but suddenly they knew that the moon was their home. Memories that were not their own memories seeped through their minds. They saw hills and mountains of ice, great plains of snow, frozen lakes filled with delicious food, and beautiful and comfortable villages where many other Venber lived. The faces of the others that they did not know drifted before them all.

Then 302 realized that what she and her family saw were the memories of her people—the ones that came before, for she also saw the horrible monsters that came to kidnap them and take them from the Great Family. They came more and more and took so many of the Great Family that it went dark and all memories ceased until her own memories and those of her brothers and sisters began under the fists of the Worms. All of it came into their collective consciousness like an avalanche.

302 sagged against her wall overwhelmed. The story of her people spread out through her and she was heartbroken. Anger and grief for the Great Family that came before her filled her and it swirled equally among the others. What were they to do now? How could they ever reach their home with the Worms in the way?

As if in answer to this she found that her doorway was opened as were all of the other Venber's doorways. They cautiously peered out into the common space. In the midst of it the air shimmered and spread and a creature stepped out of nothing. It was shorter than a Venber and blue and had something like soft ice crystals growing from its face and head. It had only two forearms and its feet were small and fat. But then the strange creature somehow joined its mind with the Family. In a few moments every Venber, including 302, squatted in reverence.

The creature was not a creature at all but a god. And it made plain to them that it meant to save them and deliver them from the Worms. The god had chosen them to fight the Worms that had enslaved them and kept them from the Great Family. He said that when they fought they would find a way home. Other worms would come to stop them. Some of a different kind than the Worms would come to help them. But the god assured them that he would aid them and make for them a path. He promised to help them discern in time who was an enemy and who came to help the Venber.

Then before they realized it, the god was gone as if he never was there. It was after a moment of silence that 302 noticed that the security gates that kept them separate from the Worms was open. She saw the lovely life-giving ice begin to stretch out into the scalding hallways of the Worms, freezing everything in its path.

Now was the time! The Worms would pay for what they had done to her people! They had given them life only to use them for their own. She was not a slave! She and her people were strong. They were a family! They were a part of the Great Family of Venber that had shared their memories with them. Now they would settle the score!

She rushed towards the gate sliding over the slick surfaces at a terrifying pace. Others joined with her, behind her and came out before her. They filled the commons and passed through the gate into the realm of the Worms.

"What is going on?!" roared the Sub-Visser.

The only other human controller aboard—his second in command, whom after the ship lost power, the Sub-Visser had summoned to the bridge, reported from the taxxon engineer. "The EMP burst we experienced must have destroyed the bio-chips in the Venber. The ship regained operations but all of their control chips did not. They seem to have discovered their freedom." He noted, pointing to a holo feed of the barracks' commons where they stamped and rushed forward.

"Thank you for the brilliant assessment. Seal the security nodes! And the emergency control ones. Contain them on the cryo-decks!"

"None of the security locks are responding! All systems are failing across the ship, stemming from the Venber barracks, Sub-Visser!"

"That is not possible! Flood heat from the engines into the corridors—that will send them scurrying back or melting."

"But Sir—the army…"

"That army is coming to kill us! Flood the corridors or I'll send you out to meet them first!"

The taxxons worked furiously but then looked piteously back at the two humans.

"They say that all control of the engines has failed. They are still operating but we have lost all ability to maneuver them. The core will soon follow—" As if on cue the lights flickered and began to dim. The view port defaulted transparent. Small violet beacons began to pulse on the ceiling and floor.

"We are on emergency power and oxygen. Temperature is falling fast!" his second reported frantically.

"Get the ship back online! We'll burn through the vermin if we have to!" He pulled his dracon-beam from his uniform and sent the others to a rack against a bulkhead to retrieve more.

The lights pulsed dimmer and without warning the heavy panels of the bridge opened. An icy blast filled the room. The Sub-Visser saw down the hall Hork-Bajir and Taxxons fleeing towards them. Behind them like a terrible arm ice was crawling forward down the passage. It wasn't possible what he was seeing! Something was very wrong with the ship. The cryo decks should not be able to freeze the main decks! Yet onwards the freezing cold came, covering everything in an icy blue shimmer. A taxxon slipped and scuttled flat—the ice caught up to it and it squealed and scrambled to move but it was clumsy and became sluggish. Then from around the corner came the Venber—silver and brown and purple shot with vibrant streaks of red and blue. They were angry and in a battle rage!

Of all the damnable luck! Of course now the usually pacificistic morons finally become so angry that violence comes naturally to them rather than through orders. He saw that some Venber already carried Yeerk dracon-beams. They rushed over the struggling taxxon and several stopped to rip it apart and toss its remains aside, which froze in seconds before his eyes.

The Yeerk commander opened fire not caring that he burned through the stragglers of his own crew first in order to have a clear shot at the oncoming Venber. He hit one Venber that hissed and sizzled then began to vaporize—half liquefying and half turning to a cloud of gas. He fired again and grazed one—its right arms melted away. He leveled it as it hand grew stiff with cold, and fired once more hitting another Venber on the vanguard. But it was growing dangerously freezing in the bridge. He chattered involuntarily and his hand shook. His shots became erratic and wild. He tried to control his breathing but it was in vain. The creeping ice had reached its tendrils inside the bridge's bulkhead and was spreading across the deck

The Venber were nearly upon him and he suddenly felt slow. What did it matter if they found him? What did the whole Empire matter? Sleep and rest seemed so much more important…

He hardly noticed as the Venber swarmed around the deck hitting, crushing, and throwing every creature on which they could lay their monstrous hands. Vaguely he realized that an enormous female Venber was looming over him menacingly. She was so close that he could read the Yeerk ID tag clipped into the skin of one her left forearms. Trooper VB302.

Trooper VB302 slid careening into the chamber slamming into one of the aliens with many legs. It flew across the space and splattered in a gory mess that dripped and froze in place. She raised her hands in triumph and punched one of the bladed ones down to the ground where it stayed in a broken heap, frost growing over the bones protruding from its ruined form.

The little alien with the Worm weapon in its hand was moving slow now. The worms always move slowly when it is the temperature our Family needs. She skated directly up to the tiny alien and bent low to look in its beady eyes. It seemed not to notice her for a moment. Then as if coming out of a trance the alien glared at her and moved its arm to point its weapon at her.

She roared in echo-location and her whole family joined in filling the whole ship with an eerie call of clicks and shrieks. She brought all four of her great hands down upon the frail alien's head. It broke and collapsed in a shattered heap. She felt strong and free. Then as the last aliens fell shivering or broken by her brothers and sisters, her home drifted into view along the clear panel—her real home. She looked out the enormous viewport at it hung larger than ever she had seen it.

Her brothers and sisters slid to her side and they watched in awe as it grew larger and larger. They had done it! They had fought the Worms and won! Just as the god had said they would. And now they were finally going home. Her people would be whole again. The Venber were alive once more—truly alive and truly free as they had not been in millennia.

Author's Note

It never sat well with me what happened to the Venber. They fascinated me and I always wanted them to have a second chance in the galaxy. This one-shot is my way of giving them that chance—with a little help from a meddling Ellimist.

I also took a little bit of creative license in giving them a collective consciousness—a sort of hive mind. So little is known of them I wanted to expand a bit, but it is simply my own imagination at work here and should not be thought of as canon. Unlike insects this consciousness is not controlled or directed by any leader. It is simply how the Venber connect and communicate. They retain their identities and personalities but share all their experiences and emotions with the others. They also have the ability to store the memories of deceased individuals within their DNA. The bio-technology of the Yeerks had disrupted their ability to access this portion of their brain until it failed from a conveniently timed EMP burst from the parent star. The rest of the story of the Venber and their role in the war against the Yeerks, and by extension Crayak, I leave to your imaginations. I have satisfied my desire for a bit of justice and redemption.

As a final note I do not own any of the characters, species, or concepts within the Animorphs series. Those belong to K.A. Applegate. I am simply a long time fan enjoying in a creative manner the universe that she created.

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