Animorphs: Galactic War
10: Unexpected Allies
The Tailstrike: Sickbay
Marco was not having a very good day. He'd lost over half his friends down on an enemy world, Jake had been lost among them so Galuit had made him Prince of all people and now Malarnex and his Predator friends had put in an appearance. He was still pondering all this when Tom, Justin, Ax and Malarnex entered.
Are you all right, Prince Marco? Ax asked.
"Ugh! No I'm not Ax! And don't call me Prince! Why did he have to do this to me? I never asked for it! I'm nothing like Jake!" The pain in Marco's head was suddenly getting worse.
"You don't have to be, Marco," Tom said. "We'll get Jake back soon. This is only temporary."
"How do you know that, Tom? We don't know how we're going to get Jake back. He's still on that planet behind that damn weapon!"
That's partly why I'm here, Malarnex broke in. I came because I needed your help, but it seems you need mine first. I can get you down to the surface of that planet!
Everyone whirled round to face him. "Why the hell didn't you say so?" Justin snapped.
No one seemed to be listening to me, Malarnex sighed. The Chelraks detected you with some cloaked spy probes they had in orbit. They knew you were coming the minute you entered the system.
How do you know that? Ax asked suspiciously.
Because it's our technology and the Elders sold them the probes only recently.
"I thought you'd stopped your dealings with the Chelraks," Tom said accusingly.
So had I, Malarnex growled. It would appear I was wrong. We'll deal with that later. We must get the rest of your friends back first. My ship can get you down to Andromeda's surface so you can do this.
"What's in it for you?" Justin asked, puzzled.
More than you know. I have a problem on my homeworld and I need you to help me resolve it. If you succeed in freeing the others I'll tell you more then. Meanwhile, do you want my help or not?
Marco jumped to his feet quickly. "We'll take it. We don't have any other option, right?"
Everyone else nodded.
I'll wait for you aboard my ship. Contact me when you're ready to come aboard. Malarnex then left to return to his ship.
"Finally! I'll make those lizards feel some pain now!" Tom grinned.
"I'd better talk to Galuit and tell him what we're doing before the four of us leave," Marco said.
"Five."
Everyone turned to see Hannah. She had a look of grim determination on her face.
"Uh, I don't think that's a good idea, Hannah," Marco said. "You can't morph for one thing."
Hannah shrugged her shoulders. "So why don't we change that?"
Everyone's eyes went wide. "WHAT! You've got to be kidding!" Tom said.
"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Hannah retorted. "I hate the Chelraks just as much as you. No, make that more than you! They killed my parents, flattened my hometown and they've turned my own brother against me!"
Marco sighed. "I can understand that. But this isn't just about revenge. We have to get the others back. I can't be sure of doing that if you're out on a vendetta at the same time!"
"Do you want me to beg?" Hannah asked desperately. "Except for you guys, the Chelraks have taken everything from me. I don't want to lose you too! Besides, aren't you going to need all the help you can get?"
"She's got a point," Justin said.
Ax agreed. If she can keep control, she would make a useful ally.
Marco groaned. He was beginning to understand how Jake felt. "I'll go and talk to Galuit and see what he thinks. If he likes it, you're in. Ok?"
Hannah nodded. This had gone better than she'd hoped.
Chelrak undersea base
Base Commander Zanal smiled as he cut the communication to his homeworld. The Emperor was very pleased. The Shockwave Pulsar test had been a success and they'd got 4 human morphers thrown in as an added bonus. If he'd read the Emperor's mood correctly, he and Nevek would be in for a promotion shortly.
"You're to be commended, Ralgha," Zanal smiled at Lieutenant Ralgha as he finished his report. "There'll be promotions for all of us over this!"
"Will the Emperor be visiting us soon then?" Ralgha asked curiously.
"He'll be here to collect the 'spoils' in fourteen hours," Zanal said. "We're to interrogate them before he comes."
"I'd like to take part in that too," Ralgha smiled. "I still owe those human filth for destroying the last base I was posted on!"
Zanal chuckled. "Granted. The Emperor didn't specify what condition he wanted them in! We'll probably start in ten hours or so. Go and rest until then. Dismissed!"
Ralgha then left the bridge and went to his private quarters. Once there, he quickly pulled out a small communicator and activated it.
"Things are going as we predicted."
"Good," the voice on the other end sounded relieved. "We have more time than we hoped for."
"What do you want me to do now?" Ralgha said, trying hard not to sound worried.
"You are to proceed with Plan Alpha."
Ralgha cursed. That was not what he had wanted to hear. "Are you certain that is the only option?"
"We are certain. There seems to be no prospect of anything else. Will you need any other assistance?"
"I think not. I should be able to succeed with careful planning. Just make sure you take care of things on the homeworld. I don't want any more problems than I already have."
"Don't worry. All arrangements have been made. You have my word."
Ralgha sighed in relief. "Then I'll make my move soon." With that he cut the connection, altered the frequency and then spoke again. "Halek? Come to my quarters. We have a lot to talk about…"
The Tailstrike
To his surprise, Marco didn't get much opposition from Galuit.
Despite my mistrust of Predators, Malarnex's plan has merit, Prince Marco. It seems to be the only good plan we have.
"Has he told you much about what he wants in return?" Marco asked suspiciously.
He has. I still think we should accept his offer. Once you succeed in freeing the others you will learn what he wants.
Marco didn't like the sound of that but he let it go. He had no choice. "What do you think I should do with Hannah?"
It's certainly a risk involving her, Galuit acknowledged. However you know her better than I do. Do you think she is capable of holding her emotions in check?
"I wish I knew," Marco sighed.
If you want her to join you then I have no objections. I don't think this is a decision that I can help you with. Whatever you decide you will have to leave soon. Estro informs me that the Emperor intends to remove them from Andromeda Prime after they have been interrogated in fourteen hours. So you may have a few hours at best before they start.
Marco cursed. This was getting worse all the time. "We'll leave now then."
Malarnex's ship
"What's the plan then, Marco?" Tom asked as they boarded the Predator ship.
"We're making a quick trip to Earth so you can get some more morphs," Marco said. "Then we go and hit that base."
"Do we have time for that?" Justin asked.
This ship is faster than most, Malarnex said. We should arrive at the base in good time. Meanwhile you should start thinking how to get into the base with your friend.
"Friend?" Marco seemed confused.
"He means me." Estro had walked into the bridge behind them. "I know I'm probably not your favourite person right now," he added, seeing the expression on Marco's face. "I can't apologise enough for sending you into that trap. Hopefully I can atone for it now."
How? Ax asked suspiciously.
In reply Estro pulled out a disk and loaded it into the computer nearby, bringing up a hologram of the Andromeda base.
"Man, it's bigger than I thought!" Tom exclaimed.
"That's because it houses this," Estro brought up another hologram. This one displayed several large neutronium reactors and the weapon that they powered. "The weapon that's caused all the trouble: it's called the Shockwave Pulsar. It's a mammoth superlaser that's greater than anything previously known. Fortunately it needs a lot of power to operate so they haven't been able to take it into space yet."
Why are you telling us this? I thought the main objective was to rescue Prince Jake and the others, Ax asked.
"It is, but Galuit and the Andalite High Command want you to destroy the Pulsar too. It's an offensive threat that they just can't live with. It's too big to fit on a ship yet but if they managed to get it down to a transportable size…" Estro let his words hang. It had the desirable effect. The thought of a weapon like that on a Chelrak ship was too grim to contemplate.
After a minute or so, Marco nodded. "We'll do what we can. But we go after Jake first!"
Estro nodded as he brought the map of the base up again. "Then let's plan your entrance. There seems to be two ways into this base. The first is through the submarine docking bay. You could use aquatic morphs and swim into it. I'd advise against that though. That area is monitored heavily as the subs come and go in case anything accidentally swims in. If they see any animals there…"
"So what's the other route?" Justin asked impatiently.
"An underwater monorail," Estro replied. "It goes to a small island on the surface where the planetary fighter garrison is based. Nothing can accidentally swim in here so it's not monitored so heavily."
Wouldn't they have Gleet bio-filters installed? Ax asked. I've heard they're putting them in on most of their bases.
"Yes, they are. But not on this one, they simply haven't the power to spare," Estro grinned. "The Pulsar requires a lot of power to operate and to constantly service it. Even with all those reactors they've barely enough power for other base functions. Besides, after our last encounter there, the Chelraks will probably be thinking they're untouchable so they won't need them."
"That makes sense, Ax," Marco said. "They won't be expecting us to attack after what's happened. We'll take them by surprise. Ok, we'll use fly morphs and go in that way."
Everyone seemed ok with that.
Malarnex then took Marco aside. I can get you to the surface but I can not participate in this battle myself.
Marco looked up in surprise. "Why not? I thought you guys loved to fight."
We do, but for reasons of my own I can't risk attacking the Chelraks openly yet.
Marco sighed. They were on their own for this one.
Andromeda Prime: eight hours later
We're in the atmosphere, Marco. You should morph now, I'm opening the doors. Malarnex moved over to a control panel.
Marco nodded. Malarnex's claim that his ship was faster than most had been accurate, much to Ax's disgust. They'd reached Earth in 3 hours and had more than ample time to get down to the Gardens and acquire some more morphs. Tom and Justin could now morph dolphin and fly and Hannah had acquired an osprey and a leopard on top of that. Now they were as ready as they were ever likely to be. Now they'd returned to Andromeda Prime. All of them held their breath as they descended toward the planet; half expecting to be destroyed anytime by the Pulsar, but nothing ever came. They'd made it into the atmosphere undetected.
"Finally," Hannah said. "Time to kick some butt!"
"Great," Marco muttered. "With Xena away Gabrielle's dropped in for a visit!"
We should morph now, Prince Marco, Ax said as the cargo bay doors started to open.
"Ok, let's do it!" Marco ordered, trying to sound like Rachel. "Ax, don't call me Prince!"
Yes, Prince Marco.
Marco rolled his eyes and started to morph. How can Jake live with this prince thing all the time!?
A minute later, 2 red-tail hawks, 2 ospreys and a northern harrier seemingly dropped into the air out of nowhere. The Predator ship's cloaking device rendered it completely invisible to both sensors and the naked eye.
Wow! I should have done this sooner! Hannah, like everyone else before her, was loving her first flight. Like Marco, she had taken an osprey morph.
Keep control! Tom snapped. We're not here for fun!
Ok guys; let's get to the island! We've got to get in that base fast! Marco hoped he sounded braver than he felt.
It's just below us, Tom said.
The island wasn't very big. The fighter base took up most of it with its launch and landing runways. The only other thing on it was a small wood at the base's edge.
Let's get down in the trees, Marco said. We'll sneak into the base from there.
They landed on the beach on the far side of the woods out of sight of the base and demorphed.
"Man, it's cold!" Justin complained as he started to shiver. Basic morphing gear didn't give much protection against a howling wind and torrential rain.
"Ok, let's morph again," Marco said.
Guys? Is that you down there?
They all whirled round to see another red-tail flying down from the trees.
"Tobias!" Everyone ran over to him as he landed.
"It's good to see you!" Tom said. "For awhile we thought you were dead!"
For awhile so did I, Tobias said miserably.
What happened to you? Ax asked gently. He was relieved to see his shorm still alive.
Tobias quickly filled them in. After the shuttle had been shot down by Raptors he had just managed to hide in the shadows before the Chelraks boarded from a submarine. After they left, he had morphed to dolphin and swam out. Eventually he'd reached this island with no idea of what to do next. He was stranded without help or much hope of rescue.
I'm sorry, Marco. There was nothing I could do to stop them taking Jake and the others.
"Don't be," Marco said. "You did the right thing by staying alive."
How did you get down here? Tobias asked.
"Our old friend Malarnex," Marco said. "Don't ask me why he's helping us though. I don't have a clue."
Marco quickly filled Tobias in on the rest.
Prince Marco? Tobias chuckled.
"If you want the job you can have it," Marco muttered.
You seem to be doing ok so far. Tobias said solemnly.
Marco shrugged. "Whatever. Have you looked around this airbase of theirs? We're looking for a monorail system. It goes down to the undersea base."
Morph and follow me.
Chelrak undersea base: interrogation room
Down in the undersea base the torture session had already started. Jake had been taken out of the cell and was now strapped into a Chelrak device known as a pain amplifier. The device was designed to send massive electro-shocks through every nerve in the victim's entire body, making it at least doubly painful as a normal electric shock. Jake had been forced to endure this for half an hour. His screams seemed to echo through the entire base. Despite this, the torturer was getting no results whatever, much to Zanal's disgust.
"This is supposed to be the most advanced interrogation machine we have! Why isn't it working?!"
The torturer winced in embarrassment. "It should be, Commander. He's endured more than I thought possible!"
Zanal snarled in impotent rage. "Then turn it up to maximum!"
"It already is!" the torturer replied weakly.
The two were still arguing when Ralgha walked in. Zanal noticed him first.
"Ah, Lieutenant. You're just in time! This human is proving more resilient than we thought. We're going to find out just how much he can take!"
Ralgha grinned. "Good. I'd hate to miss that." Zanal smiled in reply but his expression became one of horror when Ralgha pulled out a disruptor!
"What a pity you're both going to!"
With that Ralgha blasted the astounded Zanal in the chest. Before Zanal collapsed Ralgha turned and shot the torturer in the back. He crashed to the ground with a smoking hole in his back. Ralgha quickly ran over to Jake and released him from the pain amplifier. He had passed out cold, which didn't surprise Ralgha in the least. Ralgha pressed a button on his wrist terminal, slung Jake over his shoulder and ran from the room.
Undersea base prison
Back in the bubble cell, Ryan, Rachel and Cassie had been forced to listen to Jake's torture, as the Chelraks had been 'kind enough' to allow them to listen in. Cassie was sobbing as she heard Jake scream over and over. Ryan and Rachel were thinking the same thing. If I ever get out of here I'll rip their throats out!
When they heard Ralgha's disruptor shots they all feared the worst.
"You don't think that they…" Rachel was afraid to ask.
"I don't think so," Ryan was looking at the two guards outside the cell.
They both had a confused expression on their faces.
Another Chelrak entered the room. As he entered he quickly looked at his wrist terminal and then headed toward the cell.
The guards noticed his approach. "Sergeant, we thought we heard gunfire from the interrogation room. Is anything wrong?"
The Sergeant shrugged. "Just the same thing that's wrong here!"
The Sergeant whipped out a disruptor rifle and blasted them both before they could react. He then ran over to the cell door and released the lock.
"Let's go! We don't have much time!"
Ryan and Cassie stared at him in disbelief. Rachel gave him a hard suspicious look.
"I don't trust lizards!"
The Chelrak glared at her. "The name's Halek and you'd better use it! If you wish to live you must come with me now. We have about ten minutes, if we're lucky, before they discover what's happened!"
"What about Jake?" Cassie asked worriedly.
"Those shots you heard? That was a friend of mine freeing him. We'll meet up with them at the monorail. Now come with me or die here. Choose!"
Ryan and Cassie both nodded at Rachel.
"We'll go," she eventually said.
Underwater monorail: same time
Getting onto the monorail had been easier than Marco had hoped. As Estro had said there was very little in the way of base security. The Chelraks had assumed nothing would get past their sensors and the Pulsar. It had been a simple matter to sneak aboard as flies. Once the monorail started moving they quickly demorphed, remorphed to their battle morphs and 'disabled' the Chelrak engineers who'd been traveling on the monorail at the time.
I hope everything's going to be as easy as that! Tom said as he punched out the last Chelrak with his massive Predator fists.
So do I, Marco said without a trace of humour.
They were just debating what they should do next when Tobias noticed green flashes ahead at the base entrance.
Looks like gunfire ahead!
Marco was stunned. They can't possibly know we're here!
I don't think it's us they're shooting at, Marco! Justin said.
None of them could believe the scene outside. A platoon of ten Chelrak troopers was firing on their friends who had taken cover at the end of the corridor. What was amazing was that there were two other Chelraks with them and they were firing on their own men!
What the hell is going on? Tobias couldn't believe what he was seeing.
I don't know but I think it's time to jump in! Marco said fiercely.
All right! Hannah quickly bared her leopard fangs, jumped out of the monorail onto the nearest trooper and tore out his throat.
Tom then grabbed two other troopers and smashed their heads together whilst Tobias flew straight at the leader and raked at his eyes. Justin, Ax and Marco wasted no time as they flung themselves into the fight too.
At the end of the corridor, Ralgha and Halek took advantage of the distraction and shot the remaining troopers as they turned to deal with the new threat. A minute later it was all over.
"Marco, Ax!" Ryan, Rachel and Cassie had never been more pleased to see them in their lives.
Marco demorphed. "That's the first time you've been happy to see me, Xena!"
"Don't worry. It won't happen too often," Rachel smiled.
"Jake!" Tom had demorphed and run over to Jake who was still out cold.
"He will recover," Ralgha said, emerging from the shadows with Halek.
Who are these? Ax asked suspiciously, raising his tail blade.
"It's ok, Ax. They're with us…I think," Cassie looked at them warily.
"We should leave now," Halek said. "The whole base will be on alert soon."
"We can't leave yet," Marco broke in. He quickly filled them in about the Pulsar.
"I'm in for that!" Rachel said.
"Make that two!" Ryan added.
"No change there then!" Marco rolled his eyes.
How about three?
"Hannah?" Rachel, Ryan and Cassie exclaimed at once.
She demorphed from her leopard form. "Yeah, it's me."
They all looked at Marco. "Hey we needed help, right? I didn't ask to be 'Prince Marco'!"
"You guys go," Tom put in. "I'm staying with my brother."
"So am I," Cassie said looking over at Jake.
Marco sighed. He hated being the leader that was for sure. "Ok. The 4 of us will go wipe out that Pulsar. The rest get back on the monorail and wait for us."
"Five," Ralgha said calmly. "You'll need me to guide you there. Halek! Stay here and wait for us as long as possible."
"As you wish," Halek followed the others back into the monorail.
Undersea base: reactor room
"What are we supposed to hit?" Rachel asked impatiently as she and the others hid in the shadows. After being caged she was more eager for battle than ever.
"The controls for the cooling systems," Marco and Ralgha said almost in unison before looking at each other.
Marco shrugged. "Go ahead."
"If we blow the cooling system then the Pulsar will overheat and blow up on its own," Ralgha explained. "But we must act fast. The resulting explosion will destroy everything within a 50 mile radius!"
"If we do knock out the coolers how long will it take before the Pulsar blows?" Ryan asked.
"About 20 minutes. Certainly no more," Ralgha replied grimly.
Marco nodded. "Ok, let's morph and do this fast."
Undersea base: command bridge
Sub Commander Nevek could not fathom what was going on. There had been reports of disruptor fire inside the base, Zanal was missing and, to the best of his knowledge, nothing had been detected on the sensors. He hadn't a clue where the enemy was supposed to have come from. As a precaution he'd despatched guards to the submarine pens and the monorail. Whoever had caused this wouldn't get out without a fight.
"Commander!"
Nevek turned to the two guards who had quickly entered. "What is it?"
"The Base Commander is dead! He was shot in the interrogation room!"
Nevek couldn't believe it. He just stood there frozen in shock.
"That's not all. The human prisoners are missing! The guards on their cell are dead as well!"
Nevek was struggling to take this all in. "Alright. Get more troops down to the submarine pens and monorail. Make certain the humans can't escape either way." As the guards left he turned to another officer. "Contact the troops already there and tell them to be on full alert!"
A moment later the officer reported back in alarm. "Commander, the guards at the monorail are not responding!"
"What? Show me the monorail on the cameras!"
The display on the screen changed to show Halek firing at several Chelrak troops.
"One of our own people? I can't believe it!"
Suddenly a massive explosion rocked the bridge.
"What was that?!" Nevek asked in shock.
The officer's mouth was hanging open in shock. "The cooling system is…down!"
"WHAT!" Nevek hurried over to the controls to see that it was true. The heat in the neutronium reactors was starting to increase toward dangerous levels. Nevek quickly brought up the camera display of the reactors. It showed Ralgha blasting the controls with his disruptor whilst several animals attacked everyone else around them.
Nevek's face contorted with rage at Ralgha and Halek's betrayal. Thanks to them, a great victory had been turned into a massive defeat. There was no hope of salvaging the situation now and Nevek knew it.
"All hands, abandon the base!"
The monorail
After smashing the cooling system, Marco and his group were running back toward the monorail with a team of troopers on their tail.
I don't know how much more I can run! Hannah gasped.
Keep going, We're almost there! Marco flinched as a disruptor bolt flew past his head.
Ryan and Rachel were the first to board the monorail with Marco coming in close behind. Ralgha quickly ran to the controls of the monorail and began the start-up procedure. It was Hannah that was in the most trouble. She was still not used to the physical stress of battle and had fallen behind slightly. She had almost reached the monorail when she caught a green bolt on her back legs and went down hard. Halek, seeing this, turned his rifle up to full and fired a heavy stream of fire down the corridor. Tom and Cassie ran out and started to pull Hannah into the monorail. As soon as they were all aboard, Halek turned to join them. Unfortunately he never saw the small egg-shaped object that a trooper had tossed down the corridor. He caught the full force of the grenade's explosion and landed in the monorail in a bloody heap. By the time the monorail pulled out of the base and the others reached him, he was already dead.
The Tailstrike
There was a tearful reunion in the docking bay once the Animorphs returned. Rachel, Cassie, Ryan and Jake (who'd mostly recovered) couldn't stop their parents from pulling them into a hug in front of everyone in the docking bay. Marco and the others just looked on in amusement as they reported to Galuit and Alloran.
My compliments, Prince Marco! You performed admirably.
"Please, no more Prince Marco!" Marco sighed. "Jake's back and I'm retired! We were lucky, that's all."
Marco didn't know how right he was. The commander of the fighter base, once he'd heard that the sea base was going to blow, had ordered an immediate evacuation on the spot. By the time the Animorphs reached the surface most of the Chelraks had gone and they were able to reach Malarnex's ship with 2 minutes to spare. If any Chelrak troops had stayed around to fight they might never have made it off the surface.
"Marco's right. We were lucky," Justin added. "And we had a little help."
Help? What kind of… Alloran stopped talking in shock as he saw Ralgha emerge from the shuttle alongside Malarnex.
"If it weren't for him and his friend, it might easily have gone the other way," Tom said seriously.
Galuit, for once, was lost for words.
Chelrak Command Ship
Ironically, Galuit wasn't the only one who was lost for words at that point in time. Slaar and Izlyr couldn't believe what they were hearing from Commander Tyranous either.
"I'm afraid I have some bad news from Andromeda," he began.
Slaar was aghast. "WHAT! IT CAN'T BE!" he roared.
"I'm afraid it can," Tyranous said. "The human morphers escaped with the aid of two of our own people and destroyed the Shockwave Pulsar prototype on the way out."
"Two of our own people? Are you certain of that?" Izlyr asked.
"The base's Sub Commander was among the survivors. He said he saw it himself."
"Bring him here," Slaar ordered in a low, dangerous voice.
A few minutes later Nevek was brought in.
"You say that two traitors were responsible for freeing the humans?" Slaar asked.
"Yes Emperor. Lieutenant Ralgha and Sergeant Halek," Nevek replied nervously.
"For all this time you had them in your base…AND YOU NEVER SUSPECTED THEM!" Slaar looked like he might literally explode with anger as he walked toward Nevek.
"I'm afraid not, Emperor. We never thought that there were traitors among us. But I'm sure this won't happen again."
The Emperor smiled unpleasantly. "You're right."
Acting swiftly, Slaar drew a knife and slashed Nevek across the throat. As he died in a pool of blood the Emperor walked back to his throne.
"My own people aiding the enemy! Allowing the human filth to walk into my bases and destroy our weapons! And you do nothing!"
Tyranous and Izlyr looked down at the floor.
"Get out! GET OUT!"
Everyone fled the room before the Emperor ordered them all executed.
"Enjoy your freedom while it lasts, humans!" Slaar muttered. "One way or another you will pay for this!"
The Tailstrike
After the initial reunion everyone moved to the Dome to recover. Jake finally managed to ask Ralgha the question that was on everyone's mind.
"We can't thank you enough for helping us but why did you do it?"
"Not all of us share the Emperor's vision any longer," Ralgha said.
What do you mean precisely? Ax asked. Not all of you hate Andalites?
"I wouldn't go that far," Ralgha said bitterly. "Your betrayal of our race and the suffering it caused can't be dismissed that lightly!" Ax, Alloran and Galuit looked down in shame as he said this. "But that does not justify what the Emperor is doing now. Some of my people have formed a resistance to his leadership."
"How did someone like Slaar ever get to be your Emperor anyway?" Tom broke in.
"Without him, it's fair to say we would not have survived. He managed to obtain the technology to lead us off our doomed homeworld. He reorganised our race and saved it from extinction. None of us saw fit to question him. By the time we did it was too late. He was firmly entrenched in power. It's happened on your world, hasn't it?"
Jake nodded. "Yeah, I guess it has. How big is this movement of yours? Are there a lot like you?"
"I'm afraid I don't know. I was only made aware of the movement a few days ago. Halek was the one who recruited me," he added sadly. "I don't think it's very big though. Certainly not enough to overthrow the Emperor and his inner circle."
"If you admire the Emperor's achievements so much, why did you join this movement then?" Rachel asked suspiciously.
Ralgha gave her an angry look. "Because since then the Emperor has changed. He's become obsessed with destroying the Andalites and he doesn't care who dies or how many. He's hurt innocent races and turned many of them into cybernetic killing machines. I only hope freeing you was worth something! Because of it the Emperor now knows of my betrayal and the movement's existence!"
"What will you do now?" Cassie asked gently.
"I don't know. I'm a traitor with nowhere to go. I can only hope the movement got my family off the homeworld in time. If not they'll be fed into a furnace alive, at least that's what I've heard they do to traitors."
"Oh my God!" Cassie couldn't believe it. "They'd do that?"
"I hope I don't have to find out," Ralgha said bitterly.
Galuit came forward slowly. I can't undo what's been done. I can only say how sorry we are. If we win this war I promise you that our Council will be made to answer for what it has done. But we must stop your Emperor before he burns the whole galaxy trying to destroy us.
Ralgha nodded slowly. "I'll do what I can."
Malarnex then spoke up. I hate to break into this but I do have urgent business here.
"Oh. You want your payment," Marco said.
Not so much a payment. I wish to retain your services. You must come back with me to my homeworld. We have a grave problem there.
"What is it and why do you need us?" Jake asked.
If nothing is done my people may be entering the war soon, Malarnex said.
"What's so bad about that? That's great news!" Marco said.
Not for you. I believe the Elders intend to enter the war on the side of the Chelraks!
TO BE CONTINUED…
Author's note: Sorry I've kept everyone in suspense for so long! A lot of work and a 2-week vacation in Florida delayed me a little. Sorry about that - Scorpion.