The Plan


(Author's note; A sequel to "Hope and Despair", which follows "The Warrior", and before that there's a few more. Read them first to understand all this better.)


Visser One's base, Larynia said calmly. She was the only one calm after the news. Even if her stalk-eyes were darting back and forth, she was calm. That could present a problem.

"It's totally impossible to reach," Sara sighed. "We've tried. A few hundred times."

Jake paced back and forth. "There is a way," he said. "There is a way. We've overlooked something."

"If there's a will, there's a way," Tobias agreed. He rubbed his hands together and held them closer to the fire in the middle of the circle.

"Are you INSANE?" Marco asked. "We've got the Time Matrix. Buried under Visser One's house. Remember Visser One? He's the big blue bad guy with a really huge attitude problem and a monster morph for every occasion."

Visser One is not the main problem.

"No. Of course not. The main problem is that we're supposed to dig a huge pit to find a big sphere called the Time Matrix under the entire old construction site… which, incidentally, someone built a Yeerk base on. That Visser One is there is just a big, ugly bonus."

Marco? You're talking too much.

"Sorry."

I think that we should consider our options, Larynia suggested with a tone that made "I think" sound like "I command".

"Option one," Sara said. "Ignore it. It's impossible."

Might be true. But we don't know unless we try.

"Option two," Tobias said. "Take the entire army in a huge blow against the base."

"The army, Tobias," Jordan snapped, from where she stood glaring into the fire. "Is like a pestering fly to Visser One. He'd crush us."

"If we reach the Time Matrix that wouldn't matter."

"If we don't reach the Time Matrix it would."

"Option three," Marco said. "Stealth. Sneak in, sneak out."

Jordan shook her head. "Sneakily dig a pit under Visser One's house. Very good idea, Marco. How?"

"Option four," Jake said before Marco said something he'd regret. "Morph something with access."

"And how are we supposed to get our hands on something to morph?" Marco wondered. "Ask politely? Ah. I can see it now. 'Hey, Vissy? Can I morph you?' Nice one."

Marco. Your mouth needs shutting.

"Sooo sorry."

Jake shook his head. "Or free someone with access."

Tobias looked up. "Rachel. She's a high-ranking Sub-Visser. She'll have access."

"Good luck," Jordan said. "Don't you think we've tried that one?"

Of course you have, Larynia said. But you failed. We intend to succeed.

"Easier said then done," Marco commented darkly.

Larynia shot him a stare which made his arms fly up to protect his face.



"So the plan is go in, grab Rachel, pull her out, and lock her up for three days. Easy. Piece of cake." Marco grimaced where he sat in a corner near the camo-bug's controls. "I'm such an optimist."

"If Rachel's Yeerk doesn't want to be grabbed, we have a problem," Jake said. "Rachel wouldn't be easy to 'grab' unless she wanted to. Neither will Controller-Rachel."

"Specially not in grizzly morph."

We cannot succeed only the four of us, Larynia said. We are too few.

"We should be able to find a way to turn that into an advantage," Jake said. "Or at least less of a disadvantage."

Tobias climbed into the camo-bug, grinning. "I've got an idea," he said. "If we can't get to Rachel, we'll make her come to us."

How?

"Set a false alarm for them finding the army. According to Sara, Rachel comes running anytime the Yeerks get a sniff of where the army is." Tobias rubbed his hands together. "And not only Rachel. Also… Ax."

Larynia swivelled both stalk-eyes towards him Aximili? And Rachel? Will come to us?

"Yes," Marco said smugly. "And yes, and yes."

I like it.

"All we need is some type of trap," Tobias said. "Some way to separate her from her troops. Cause she'll bring troops. I'm thinking about using my camo-bug."

Will she bring her own bug fighters?

"Of course," Jake said. "She'll bring enough to crush the army. That's the reason she'll be coming, anyway. So we can count up a large number of Hork-Bajir, some human-Controllers - probably morphables - Taxxons, and herself… and Ax."

"And bug fighters."

"They don't use camo-bugs very often on Earth," Tobias said. "There are only a dozen of them, in fact. Visser One has two, Sara and Jordan told me, but he won't be lending them out to anyone. I'll be able to shoot down whatever Rachel brings."

And they will be equally able to shoot you down, Larynia pointed out.

"The camo-bug is built to be impossible to find," Tobias disagreed. "You can see it, if you know what to look for, with your eyes. It's impossible to see on scanners and detectors and radar and anything else. And people in bug fighters have a tendency to forget their own eyes when they have seventeen different scanners."

Jake nodded. "The camo-bug is invisible. You can't even find even it if you use a cloaking-detector. Believe me; I tried. Or Rheith - my Yeerk - tried."

Who is the best pilot?

"Marco," Tobias admitted. "He's the best with weapons, too. But I know the camo-bug better."

"And maybe we shouldn't get you anywhere near Rachel," Marco said. "Sentimental reasons, you know. You'll never be able to hit hard enough."

Tobias shrugged, but his face showed concern.

"Tobias takes the camo-bug," Jake decided. "And he won't be shot down."

"Except for an extremely lucky shot," Marco muttered. "We set a trap someplace we've picked. Night-time's best, I think. We let Rachel and Ax land, then Tobias blows the rest out of the sky before too many troops are deployed. Fine. Then what?"

We grab Rachel, Larynia said. Do we have any morph that can grab this grizzly you mentioned?

Jake and Marco exchanged a glance. Tobias shook his head.

"And we have a further problem," Marco said. "Ax. He will also be hard to 'grab'."

Leave Aximili to me, Larynia said. He never could win over me when we played tail-fight.

"I saw him fight a lot of times, before the defeat," Marco said worriedly. "He's older, now. More experienced. And, on top of that, he was good to start with. He's really good with that tail."

Are you suggesting that I am not?

"Never would dream of it," Marco said truthfully. "But be careful."

Jake sighed. "Tobias takes the fighters. Then blows up any enemy troops he sees on ground. Larynia takes care of Ax." He peered at the Andalite. "Just don't kill him, okay? We need him alive. And Rachel? That's our job, Marco."

"A gorilla and a tiger? Maybe polar bears would be better."

"No," Jake said. "Two polar bears would be brute strength and they could take Rachel anytime… but any Taxxon or Hork-Bajir with a dracon would see us in the dark. We might as well wear big neon signs saying 'shoot here'. "

"No prob. I bought a few saying 'don't shoot me'."



Marco looked up towards the sky where Tobias had flown up. There was no trace of the camo-bug. No, wait… There; a flicker of colour. It barely lasted a second, but it was definitely there. He turned his gaze up to the silver disc that was the moon. The only sight on Earth still beautiful; the night sky. At least when those red clouds disappeared.

Jake nervously flicked his tiger tail. See anything?

Nothing, Marco said. But the bug fighters will be cloaked. We won't see them.

Tobias will, Larynia said. Her tail was cocked and ready, and her delicate fingers were closed around a small shredder - Marco had insisted that she should have it, going as far as stating that she was coming no-where near the battle without it. Are the Chee in place?

Yeah, Jake said. I hope.

The Chee were putting up the hologram of the army and the refugees, mostly to fool the Yeerks that there really was an army there.

And we've all checked the area? Marco asked.

I know it by heart, Jake said. Lots of places to hide, many places to fight on… although hopefully the hologram will lure the Yeerk warriors away.

I'm worried, Marco said.

Larynia reached out her free hand to grab his gorilla fingers. Certainly you are. You're always worried.

The enemy you underestimate is the enemy that kills you, Marco said. And I really don't want to get killed right now. I feel like we missed something.

Surely we did, Jake agreed. It can't be this easy. But let's hope it is, cause this is probably the only chance we'll get.

Then a flash of red light appeared in the sky.

Dracon! Jake warned. Stay hidden. They've seen the hologram.

Suddenly the bug fighters popped into view. Dozens, an army of them, maybe a hundred in all, dropped their cloaking and started firing on the fake army.

Oh, no, Marco mumbled. Too many. Way too many.

Tobias will never shoot all those down in time, Larynia agreed.

We make the best of it, Jake said. We know the terrain. They don't. We can see them, they can't see us - until we want them to. They don't know about Tobias. He's our backup.

They're landing, Marco announced.

Two bug fighters swooped down. The doors opened. An Andalite stepped out, followed by a Hork-Bajir. He looked around, his tail swooping through air, and then turned and called an order to the fighter.

The other bug fighter opened its door. A Hork-Bajir leaped out, looked around, and then Rachel stepped out.

Three more fighters landed, and Hork-Bajir and Taxxons came out, some holding dracons, some not.

Where is Tobias? Jake muttered. Why hasn't he started yet?

The bug fighters in the sky kept shooting at the hologram. The fake army looked as if it was busy fleeing, and more Hork-Bajir and Taxxons were placed on the ground to chase them. But there was no sign of Tobias.

Then a flash of dracon. A bug fighter blew into a billion pieces, and the pieces fell down, burning.

Rachel spun around. "What was that?" she roared in a voice that could be heard even where Jake, Marco and Larynia stood hidden.

To answer her, another bug fighter was blasted.

"Well, shoot it!" Rachel raged. "Whatever it is, shoot it!"

Bug fighter debris fell out of the sky like a rain of burning metal. Tobias obviously knew his way around the weapon station.

Then the bug fighters began shooting around themselves, wildly, mostly hitting their own. The rain of debris increased. Rachel and Ax stood near the landed bug fighters, watching the growing army of landed Hork-Bajir and Taxxons and watching the slaughter in the sky.

Let's hope no-one gets that lucky shot, Marco whispered.

Tobias lived as a bird, Jake said. He's probably somewhere above them all. They didn't think about that.

Larynia squeezed Marco's fingers.

Then suddenly a dracon beam hit the Yeerks assembled on the ground.

About time, Jake said. We move fast. Soon.

Rachel was roaring. She had taken a small telephone from her pocket and was barking orders into it. Ax was almost red with rage, calling orders in thought-speak, but not many of them were followed.

Bug fighters had stopped dropping down to position troops. They were shooting wildly among themselves, causing just as much damage among themselves as Tobias did.

Tobias burned a large number of Hork-Bajir and Taxxons on the ground before they got the picture and started leaving, forgetting their roaring Sub-Vissers and ignoring the hologram of the fleeing army.

Then Tobias changed the settings to low and blew apart two bug fighters on ground.

Rachel's and Ax's. They were thrown away by the explosion, landed at the edge of the flames, but got quickly to their feet. The main part of the Yeerk guards that had stood near were gone. There were only four left.

Now!

Jake leapt out of cover, kept to the shadows, reached and struck a Hork-Bajir before anything else happened. He half-saw, half-smelt Marco not far away, punching a Taxxon in the face so that he popped open. Larynia used her shredder on the two remaining Hork-Bajir.

Rachel was morphing.

Get her while she's half-morphed! Jake called, and Marco sped up towards her, keeping mostly to the shadows.

Then Jake, who was further away, had to jump even further back to avoid a piece of falling bug fighter. After that he started forwards again to help Marco with the almost-completely grizzly version of Controller-Rachel.

Larynia looked around for Ax. But however she looked, she couldn't find her cousin. Andalite eyes could see in every direction at once, but they were not great for darkness. Especially not in the jagged, rocky terrain which left plenty of shadows and plenty of places which could hide animals as large and larger then Andalites.

She cast a glance at where Marco and Jake were - successfully - trying to overpower a large, shaggy creature. Larynia didn't need to wonder whether the creature was strong. It had slammed a blow at Marco's face which sent him flying.

FWAP!

Larynia's weak fingers lost their grip on the shredder.

Her stalk-eyes swept back behind her.

Cousin, Ax said. A surprise, to find you here.

Larynia swept her tail downwards to scoop up the shredder. But quick as she was, Ax had guessed that would be her move and stepped down one front hoof firmly on it. Then his tail swooped down towards her shoulder.

A CLANG as she blocked it. Ax kicked away the shredder and reared up on his hind legs. His front legs kicked. Larynia side-stepped, swept her tail towards his belly but there was another CLANG as he blocked the blow and kicked out towards her side with his hooves.

The blow made her side-step again, this time not voluntarily. But three quick snaps with her tail made Ax sink down on all fours with blood dripping from his front leg.

She aimed at his head but Ax blocked it, and somehow locked her blade in his and twisted it to the side.

It felt as if the blade might break off!

Where the blade was attacked to the tail, there was a sharp pain. And Ax had locked her blade so that she couldn't pull it loose!

A trick I learned, Ax said, twisting Larynia's blade further to the side. Very useful. You couldn't have predicted this, could you, cousin dear?

Yeerk filth, Larynia spat. She pulled desperately at her tail.

Ax's face mirrored hate. He twitched his tail.

There was a loud snap.

Larynia's blade hung limply from the tip of her tail. Useless. She took one step back, all four eyes aimed on her cousin. She knew very well that she was trapped. And she didn't like it one bit.

Ax laughed cruelly.








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Author's note;

Hehehe. I'm just piling up trouble for the poor group, aren't I? Wonder what Larynia will do this time. Without a working tail-blade, and Andalite isn't much trouble... hope you read the next part. It'll be up soon!

Merry Christmas!