Disclaimer: The Animorphs series belongs to K. (God, I'm sick of these, and I've only written 11!)

Author's Note: -( )- Denotes thought-speech

Chapter 11: The Beginning

My gun flashed repeatedly as I kept a steady rate of fire on the seemingly endless hordes of Hork-Bajir and Taxxons that were advancing on General Doubleday's position.

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

"Griggs! You don't happen to have a spare clip, do ya?" I asked Griggs, as the final bullet left the chamber. He threw me another clip and I slammed it home, and clicked the locking mechanism shut.

"Would this be a bad time to tell you that you have to fire in short, controlled bursts, and that, unlike shooter games, you won't magically find ammo for your gun when your almost out?" he said with a laugh.

"Yeah your right, now really is a bad time," I said whilst firing off a controlled burst into the chest of an incoming Hork-Bajir, sending a spray of blood flying out as the bullets ripped his vital organs. After three years of fighting with teeth, claws and talons, fighting with a gun was almost like cheating. Almost.

Several of the remaining jets whooshed over-head and bombed the advancing Yeerks, causing them to break and retreat for the third time since they had arrived, almost three hours ago. I leant against the wall I had been using for cover, and collapsed to the ground from exhaustion. It had been a very long day.

I spared a second to look up at the sky, just to check on the Pool Ship. It was still in the atmosphere, about several miles in the air. As I watched, I saw something that would have caused me to fall to the ground if I hadn't already have been sitting down.

The Pool Ship burst into flames all along one side, and was slowly falling back down to the ground. Oh, god damn it, I thought If that thing hits the ground, it's gonna kill all of us! Taylor was watching my face, and when he saw the look of horror on my face, he turned to see what it was I was staring at.

"Holy hell!" was all he seemed able to yell, as he saw it as well.

"Leave the cussin' to the professionals, son!" yelled Griggs from inside the intact part of the building.

"Sarge, you gotta see this…" Taylor yelled back weakly.

"What is it Taylor…" he said, walking outside. He stopped dead in his tracks, "Oh fuck! We are so screwed if that thing hits us,"

"My thoughts exactly, sergeant," I responded.

As we watched, completely dumbstruck, I remembered that radio conversation I had had earlier with Rachel and the others; they were still on board! What the hell had gone wrong? I though to myself. Then, out of nowhere, several bright lances of light struck through the air and caused the Pool Ship to be lined with explosions. It careened a little before completely exploding, sending debris flying across the sky.

I felt hot prickles on my face and I realized that I was crying. I let the tears come, and I mourned the loss of all of my friends. As I sat there, I thought about whom it was that I just lost. Jake, the first person that I could have honestly have called a friend. Cassie, the kind, considerate animal-lover who helped me survive the first few months as a hawk. Marco, the joker, although we weren't that close, we were still friends and comrades; I was going to miss him. Ax, my shorm, my best friend, the only uncle that had never beaten me, and actually cared about me. And finally, Rachel. She had been the first person who truly cared about me, she had been there when I tried to commit suicide shortly after I got stuck as a Red-Tail. She had been the person who had worried about me when I got captured by Taylor. She had been the only one who didn't show her pity, and she had told me that they had heard me being tortured, and how much that had hurt her. She had been my girlfriend, and I never got to tell her that I loved her. And now, she was gone. They were all gone. Dead. All of them.

"Hey, Tobias? Tobias? Hello, earth to Tobias. Come in Tobias!" Havens wheezed. I looked up, and I guess the tears were still flowing, because he asked "Hey, you alright?"

I sighed, "No, not really. But I honestly don't want to talk about. How about you? You took a beating in the crash,"

"I was lucky, nothing more than a few flesh wounds, some bruising and a couple of broken ribs. That's why I can't breath and talk very well," he said with a grimace.

"So, what did you want anyway, Havens?" I asked. "Havens? Havens!" it was only then that I noticed that everything was still and quiet. No sounds of men shouting, screaming or yelling, or the occasional cracks of sniper rifles. Everything was dead silent and still. And I knew exactly why.

"All right, what is it this time Ellimist? Come to offer me a choice that isn't a choice, or how about another broken promise?" I shouted.

"When have I ever broken my promises, Tobias?" Came the voice of the all-powerful weakling. Can you tell that I don't like him yet, or am I being too subtle?

"Need I answer that question Ellimist?" I said. It was funny; I was talking like this to a being how could not only eliminate me from the space-time continuum, but all reference of my bloodline as well. Not that he hadn't done most of that already.

"I come with an offer to you and humanity." He said.

"Uh-huh, what is it this time? Found another planet to whisk us off to?" I said, annoyed.

"No, not at all. I offer you the chance to become the champion of mankind, and defeat the Yeerks once and for all, and keep Earth safe." His booming voice said.

"Hmmm…" not what I was expecting. The next second, the air split and he appeared, in a different guise. Instead of his usual old man disguise, he was a tall, humanoid, with long hair and a comical beard.

"I offer you the chance to become my champion in my game with Crayak to rid humanity of the Yeerks," he repeated himself.

"Well… what's in it for me?" what did I honestly have to loose? "Do I get my dead friends back? Or are you gonna screw me over again?"

"I can not give back to you what is still alive," he said cryptically. I felt a wave of relief wash over me as the meaning of the words sunk in. They were still alive! "But I can aid you and the rest of humanity in this game,"

Okay, it must be big if he was willing to go against his principles and help the human race directly.

"Alright. What is this game then?" I asked, now I was curious.

"This is the final game for Earth. The winner takes Earth and all of its inhabitants, and can do whatever they wish with them and the other cannot interfere," he said, "Now, if Crayak wins, it will mean that every human will be enslaved by the Yeerks, and the galaxy with have to deal with the problem of over six billion Yeerks running rampant,"

The mere concept of that idea frightened me. Firstly because the human race would be enslaved, just like the Hork-Bajir. Secondly, because there would be six billion controllers plaguing the galaxy; the Andalites would be crushed in months.

"All right, I'll play. What do I get in return, if you can't give me my friends?" I asked, grudgingly accepting his offer.

"I will give you and humanity everything that will be needed to fight off the invading Yeerk fleets. I will provide ship design schematics, the ability to colonize planets, the ability to terra-form the planets called Mars and Venus. I will provide humanity with weapons, equipment, resources and the desire to fight," after he said all that, I felt a bit overwhelmed. He was actually helping us.

"You really want to save Earth, and the human race, don't you," I said to the Ellimist.

"As I once said, in a thousand, thousand worlds, there is no greater beauty than Earth. And the human race, although primitive, is capable of understanding and a will so indomitable, coupled with its sense of compassion and loyalty; humanity is unlike any race before it. Humanity deserves the opportunity to survive in the universe," his speech was moving, and he clearly meant it all.

"What do I get personally?" I pressed

"I will give you… for lack of a better term, abilities," he said

"Such as…" I said, eagerly.

"I will give you unlimited morphing time, your human form as your proper form, as well as a few special gifts that I haven't given to an individual for the last one hundred and forty-six million years, of you time. I will give you abilities of leadership, the ability to shot fire, ice and lightening out of your hands, along with a powerful sonic boom ability. I will triple your bodily strength, your agility and your running speed," he listed. He was almost turning me into a Jedi from Star Wars.

"Done," was all I said. The Ellimist smiled and I felt a sudden surge of power flow through me. He was about to leave, so I asked, "Who's my opponent?"

"None other than your old nemesis, Esplin 9466, otherwise known as Visser One," he replied, and then disappeared. Time started up again, and Havens was looking at me.

"The General wants to see you, Tobias," he said. I had forgotten about our conversation.

"Good, because I have something that I need to tell him," I smiled and stood up. I followed Havens away from the perimeter, and inside the building. General Doubleday had hunkered down in the gymnasium, and it looked more like a command center, and less like the place that I hated so much. The general looked up from the tactical display on one of the computers, and smiled.

"Tobias, my boy. I need your input on the situation," he said

"Okay. Firstly, the Yeerks have routed again, and have fallen back. The Yeerk Pool has been destroyed by the Yeerk fleet that has just arrived," he seemed to sag at these words.

"The Yeerk Pool has been destroyed?" he said incredulously, "And a Yeerk fleet is in orbit?"

"Yes," I said grimly, "But I have some good news,"

"Good news?" he asked skeptically.

"Yes," I started, "But what I'm about to tell you is in the strictest of confidences, and only the most important officers, and my fellow squad members must be told,"

I waited several minutes before continuing, so that everyone except the General, my squad, and the senior officers remained.

"Okay, a quick question before I begin. General, do you believe in God?" I asked.

"As any good Christian would. Why?" he asked.

"Okay, that might make this slightly harder," I said, "Okay, there is no God, no Buddha, no Mohammed. No fair, all-seeing, all-knowing, ever-watching being. There is instead The Ellimist and Crayak. Two omnipotent beings, who reside in the space-time continuum, and play games that control the fate of the galaxy. The Ellimist is, as far as we know, the good guy of the two. He genuinely cares for the galaxy, and wants it to evolve on its own. Crayak, however, is evil incarnate. He causes whole species to turn on each other, so that one dominant race is left, completely under his control,"

General Doubleday was staring at me like I had gone crazy. He then thought this through, and then asked, "What has this got to do with anything?"

"You see, General, the Yeerks are backed by Crayak and us humans are backed by the Ellimist. And the Ellimist and Crayak have decided to play one more game for the control of Earth, and the right to do anything with its inhabitants. So if Crayak wins, we all are either dead or infested," I said, "That is exactly what the Ellimist is trying to avoid, and so, he has chosen me as his champion, and, for once, he's going to help us,"

"What kind of help," Griggs asked curiously.

"He gonna provide us with the schematics and resources to build our own ships, terra-forming equipment, so that we can colonize Mars and Venus, all the weapons to fight this war, and increase our desire to fight off the Yeerks," I listed, running over that part of the conversation in my head.

"If he's giving us all that, why don't we have it immediately?" Doubleday asked.

"I seriously doubt that he's allowed to interfere that much. I presume that he's gonna plant the seeds of the schematics in some military scientist's head, and our ships will be born that way. And, we gotta deal with the situation at hand first," I said, voicing my theories.

"And that is what I called you here to discuss," Doubleday said, "Do you have any ideas as to how we win down here, especially now that the Pool Ship has been destroyed and there is a Yeerk armada in orbit,"

"I don't know, but we have to take the town back somehow and…" I trailed off, as I felt a surge of power running through me, and I remembered what the Ellimist had given me, "I might have an idea,"

"Well, lets hear it then," Doubleday said. I remained silent. "Tobias, answer me!" he yelled, at that was what did it. I felt the anger course through me, and my veins burnt. My hand sprang open, and was ablaze with fire. Everyone yelled in surprise, and Griggs grabbed one of the jugs of water and threw the contents on to my hand, trying to douse the flames. I flicked my wrist and a jet of flames flew from my hand and made a fire on the floor, which Griggs quickly doused.

"Okay, so the Ellimist wasn't lying when he said he'd give me powers," I said happily.

"Tobias, son, are you gonna explain to me what the hell is going on!?" The General said, sounding shocked.

"Well, the Ellimist promised me powers, and I guess he wasn't lying," I said, still joyful, "Okay, stand back, there's something I want to try," They moved out of my way, and I faced the wall. I concentrated, and in a sudden rush, my veins turned blue and started to glow. I flicked my wrist and extended my fingers, and bolts of lightening flew from them.

"Now that is cool!" Taylor exclaimed, "So, Darth Sidious, how does this help us win this battle?"

Before I could answer, a soldier ran into the room yelling, "We're under attack, Sir!" The General walked over to the intercom microphone that was sitting on the desk and order, "Every man to the front, we are under attack. I repeat, we are under attack," He then shut off the microphone, and turned to me, "Come, you can showcase your powers on these fools attacking us,"

Nodded in agreement, and hurried outside to the perimeter. As I arrived, one of the soldiers, McCloseky I think, turned and said, "There's a lot more of the bastards this time, sir. I think it might be a last ditch assault,"

"Yeah, I think I might be," I replied, looking over the barricades.

"Tobias, I guess now would be a very good time then," said the General.

"Okay, I'll give it my best shot," I sighed, and leapt over the barricade.

"What the hell is he doing!" shouted McCloseky.

"Just watch, son," the General replied.

I stood there and focused. I needed something that would deliver a huge, final blow to them. The sonic boom, of course! I focused again, and my hands went a strange green colour. I clenched my fists and felt the power build up. I smiled, and then released the energy at the Yeerks. The air around me rippled like someone throwing a huge rock into a pond, and the concrete split. The air pushed forward and tore up the ground and the Yeerks, spending them flying backwards. The Big Fighters in the sky were thrown about, and then they crashed into the surrounding buildings. The more destroyed of the buildings crumbled from the immense pressure of the blast.

After the sonic boom finished, no Yeerk was left standing. The concrete in front of me was torn and missing. The buildings were crumbled, but there were no Yeerks. I turned, and faced the looks of disbelief and awe coming from the soldiers who had witnessed it. They respected and feared me, they held me in awe, and you know what, I felt good; it felt like they trusted me.

A/N: There, I told you all it would be longer than the last one. Also major plot developments. Please, read and review. Its nice to see the comments.