1 Episode Two: Bug Hunt
Part Four: Revolution/Counter-Revolution
MAY SIXTEENTH, 2000. ANTIMORPH FLAGSHIP, ANUBIS, OVER YEERK LUNAR BASE, SOL SYSTEM
DAVID
We made the run successfully, each snatching up five eggs. We had thirty of them now, more than enough to start an infestation.
Whoever the long-dead creators were, they had designed a frightening organism, indeed. We had managed to salvage a few of the laboratory records, giving us insight into the biological weapon that was the Vynock- Type. It began as a simple, leathery, translucent egg, less than a meter tall, very lightweight. Each egg contained four creatures. When it sensed movement, the egg lets loose a hand-like creature, that would attach to the face of a nearby host.
The hand-thing would lay an egg in the host, that would take on elements of the host DNA, causing mutation. When the time was right, the embryo-turned- monster would lunge out, clawing through the chest and running away, eventually maturing into an adult. The adult would try to make contact with a nearby colony, where the Queen would make more eggs to further infestation.
We had one Queen egg, twenty-nine warrior eggs.
We had also changed our original plan to drop the eggs on earth. Now knowing more about the Vynock-Type, I for one had no desire to cause full scale infestation and lose our planet forever.
Instead, we would drop all of the eggs on the Yeerk lunar base, that had been established in the early days of the invasion. It consisted of a dozen bunkers, interconnected by sub-terranian catacombs and tunnels. A hangar, barracks, and several Anti-Air towers rounded the complex out. Better still, there was a crew of five hundred Controllers, mostly human. It would be an easy take over for the beasts.
"We just made the exit from Z-Space, and we're cloaked above the Lunar Base," LaRouche reported.
"Good, prepare the capsule."
I had made the decision to drop all thirty eggs in a modified Escape Pod. The Pod would land in the area where the Yeerks kept live stock for the human hosts consumption, and there they would multiply.
The Yeerks were foolish, leaving that area in the open, under an oxy-tarp, a thin , camouflaged ameoba that actually repaired itself in milliseconds if punctured, making it all the more valuable than armour plating when guarding something of this nature. Apparently, the creature was from the planet of Pentasera, one of the few creatures left alive after Yeerk take over.
"So, this is the plan?" Asked Aleks, "Wont the Yeerks notice the pod and kill the eggs?"
I replied, pointing out the obvious, "No, soon after landing, the eggs will hatch, sensing the movement of the Cows. By the time the Yeerks make their way to the pen, it will be too late, and the infestation will have begun."
"…and we don't have to worry about further contamination, either," Pointed out LaRouche.
"I thought you opposed this, Marc!" exclaimed Sara, alarmed to find herself alone in opinion.
"I still do, but we have to follow orders, as much as we don't want to. Plus, dropping the bugs on the moon is better than dropping them on earth."
"I still think you're crazy, David," Sara said.
"Think what you want, it makes no difference," I said, looking towards earth.
The planet was different than before, the atmosphere was a dirty green, and there was noticeably less ocean than since we last saw it. I knew Yeerk Planet Processing Protocol. By now, a primary function for earth had been set, like industry on Bajir, or ship building and space ports on Taxxis. They would mine the entire planet out within five years, ship most of the water off planet to supply the Empire. Of course, animal and plant species that had no use would be exterminated, some just dying from the atmosphere change. Earth would never be habitable, in the way we knew, again. A stabbing feeling touched my heart, sadness, knowing that everything was gone, we were the only ones left. A feeling that I was to blame…
NO! The Yeerks were to blame, THEY had stolen my life, with the aid of the Animorphs. It was all their fault, I was justified in my actions, I was a General, a leader, above any ones judgement. I could take any steps I wanted to wipe out the Yeerk Empire. The rest was just collateral damage. A necessity.
I was snapped out of my thoughts by Ripper's insane rambling.
"Yeah, kid, dumb little tagalong, fuckin' keepin' us from guttin' dogs and Yeerks, gonna get even now, you know what they say…" Panted Ripper.
"What do they say, Ripper?" Asked Skorre
"For every revolution, there's a counter-revolution."
SARA
"Jettison the pod," David ordered.
LaRouche responded, initiating the sequence to drop the life pod-the life pod that would bring death to hundreds of Yeerks.
I looked out the bridge window to see the pod streaking down to the moon, to the quarter mile wide, green life form that had been targeted. The live stock feeding area.
"They've picked it up," LaRouche said, turning up the volume on the comlink.
"Air control, unidentified object coming in at 234 degrees latitude, 432 degrees longitude. Scan confirms, not meteorite, possible escape pod, life forms detected, it could be from a Blade Ship."
Another voice responded, " Blade Ship? Was there a problem on Visser Thirty- Six's Blade Ship?"
"No, its docked in Norway, but it could be from Visser Twenty's fleet, they got thrashed over the seventeenth moon of Taloraan the other day, we're not far from there, either."
"Alright, we'll take it down, looks like its headed down to the live stock pen, the oxy-tarp should repair itself before any damage occurs. I tell you, Temrash, I need a vacation, too much damn work. The Empire isn't paying me enough for this."
"Tell me 'bout it."
The comlink went dead.
YEERK LUNAR BASE
Fest 023 sat at his desk, sorting paperwork.
Life just isn't what is used to be, the old Yeerk thought, a nostalgic smile creeping to his Sstram lips.
For an under-visser, I've seen a lot of action, I deserve a nice log retirement, maybe a holiday to the tenth moon of Lummod IV, the Mak planet, though Fest. Though Lummod IV was a barren desert, the tenth moon was a virtual paradise, one of the only places left untouched by Yeerk 'Simplification.'
Yes, a holiday would be rather nice, I would think, He said to his host, a Sstram named Sskruouss, You'd like it there, beaches, tall tree's, only a small garrison, yes we do deserve a break. Maybe I can even arrange some temporary freedom for you, eh? In a controlled environment, of course.
I want none of your freedom, Yeerk. I only desire true freedom, not some illusion.
Sstram never shut up, Fest muttered, silently.
Why do I even keep this host? I've had it for more than fifteen years, I could have a nice Hork-Bajir, or a Mak, or a Nahara, a human. Anything but a Taxxon or a Gedd. I won't go back to that.
I've aged faster than I should've in this body.
It was true, given enough Kandrona, a Yeerk could live for thousands of years.
But, as Fest knew, Sstram never shut up. The under-visser was always jumpy, paranoid, fearful, when surrounded by others. It had taken a toll on his consciousness and spirit.
Fest was snapped from his thoughts by the lieutenant at the door.
"What is it, Lieutenant?"
"The escape pod has just landed, sir. The oxy-tarp repaired instantly, no cattle were lost."
Fest smiled. If there was one good thing about these humans, it was the food. Cows were deliscious.
"Good, gather a team, ten humans should be sufficient. I will accompany them."
"Yes, sir."
Fifteen minutes later, ten human-controllers and Fest were standing by the entrance to the cattle pen, the humid atmosphere making breathing difficult for the Sstram, as its lungs needed more thin air to breathe.
"Let's go."
Taking the vibroblade from his belt, a human youth cut a hole in the side of the oxy-tarp, holding the giant amoeba open, like a grotesque door, for his comrades to enter.
None of them were armed, all the weapons in the task force were needed to quell the human rebels on Terra Firma, and the entire garrison was mostly mechanics, repairing fighters and cruisers. Besides, this was just an escape pod, no need for them to arm themselves.
Of the eleven, six were medics, two mechanics, an intrpreter, a protocol officer, and the moon security chief, Husem 991.
"Husem, let me see that draco-lamp," Fest asked his subordinate.
Husem handed his officer the quarter meter long stick, showing the room in a dim, red glow.
"Where are all the cattle?" Asked one of the mechanics.
"Probably scared, ran away. Maybe a few got injured," Suggested the interpreter.
The group walked slowly over the Pentaseran grass that had been planeted under the oxy-tarp.
"Is it possible that some of the cattle could have been sucked out the oxy- tarp?" Asked Husem, looking up at the green, translucent amoeba above them.
"No, I've never heard of that happening, not on a hundred moons," said Fest, eying a structure a hundred yards to the east, "I see the pod."
Quickly, the group ran to the pod, covering the distance in less than two minutes.
What they saw was horrifying.
Nearly a hundred cattle lay around the pod, each on its side, each with a claw-like monster attached to its head, a tail wrapped around its throat.
"What in the galaxy is it?" Asked Husem, eerily.
"I…I don't know, I've never seen a thing like it before," Fest stammered, making his way into the pod.
No light reached the inside of the pod, save the draco-lamp that Fest held.
"Damn lamp, I can hardly see!" The Under-Visser called behind him.
No one replied.
Fest shifted his head to the side, seeing a cluster of leathey- looking…eggs.
"Eggs?" Whispered Fest, getting close to one of them, peering inside.
Inside, the old Yeerk saw four of the hand shaped objects.
He got even closer, his face right by the side.
The face-grabber moved, it's reflexes faster than an Andalite tail blade, shooting through the side of the egg and onto Fest's face like a bullet.
It's tail wrapped around the Sstram neck, choking his windpipe. When Fest instinctively opened the mouth to draw in more air, the alien shot a pipe- like organ down his throat, releasing pheremones that sent the Yeerk Under- Visser into a coma.
As all consciousness slipped from his mind, the host, the Sstram, Sskruouss, regained control of a brief moment, his life long ambitions realised.
Finally, he, too, lost consciousness, drifting off to the netherworld of sleep.
The last thought of Sskruouss the Sstram, was that in death, he would finally be free…
Part Four: Revolution/Counter-Revolution
MAY SIXTEENTH, 2000. ANTIMORPH FLAGSHIP, ANUBIS, OVER YEERK LUNAR BASE, SOL SYSTEM
DAVID
We made the run successfully, each snatching up five eggs. We had thirty of them now, more than enough to start an infestation.
Whoever the long-dead creators were, they had designed a frightening organism, indeed. We had managed to salvage a few of the laboratory records, giving us insight into the biological weapon that was the Vynock- Type. It began as a simple, leathery, translucent egg, less than a meter tall, very lightweight. Each egg contained four creatures. When it sensed movement, the egg lets loose a hand-like creature, that would attach to the face of a nearby host.
The hand-thing would lay an egg in the host, that would take on elements of the host DNA, causing mutation. When the time was right, the embryo-turned- monster would lunge out, clawing through the chest and running away, eventually maturing into an adult. The adult would try to make contact with a nearby colony, where the Queen would make more eggs to further infestation.
We had one Queen egg, twenty-nine warrior eggs.
We had also changed our original plan to drop the eggs on earth. Now knowing more about the Vynock-Type, I for one had no desire to cause full scale infestation and lose our planet forever.
Instead, we would drop all of the eggs on the Yeerk lunar base, that had been established in the early days of the invasion. It consisted of a dozen bunkers, interconnected by sub-terranian catacombs and tunnels. A hangar, barracks, and several Anti-Air towers rounded the complex out. Better still, there was a crew of five hundred Controllers, mostly human. It would be an easy take over for the beasts.
"We just made the exit from Z-Space, and we're cloaked above the Lunar Base," LaRouche reported.
"Good, prepare the capsule."
I had made the decision to drop all thirty eggs in a modified Escape Pod. The Pod would land in the area where the Yeerks kept live stock for the human hosts consumption, and there they would multiply.
The Yeerks were foolish, leaving that area in the open, under an oxy-tarp, a thin , camouflaged ameoba that actually repaired itself in milliseconds if punctured, making it all the more valuable than armour plating when guarding something of this nature. Apparently, the creature was from the planet of Pentasera, one of the few creatures left alive after Yeerk take over.
"So, this is the plan?" Asked Aleks, "Wont the Yeerks notice the pod and kill the eggs?"
I replied, pointing out the obvious, "No, soon after landing, the eggs will hatch, sensing the movement of the Cows. By the time the Yeerks make their way to the pen, it will be too late, and the infestation will have begun."
"…and we don't have to worry about further contamination, either," Pointed out LaRouche.
"I thought you opposed this, Marc!" exclaimed Sara, alarmed to find herself alone in opinion.
"I still do, but we have to follow orders, as much as we don't want to. Plus, dropping the bugs on the moon is better than dropping them on earth."
"I still think you're crazy, David," Sara said.
"Think what you want, it makes no difference," I said, looking towards earth.
The planet was different than before, the atmosphere was a dirty green, and there was noticeably less ocean than since we last saw it. I knew Yeerk Planet Processing Protocol. By now, a primary function for earth had been set, like industry on Bajir, or ship building and space ports on Taxxis. They would mine the entire planet out within five years, ship most of the water off planet to supply the Empire. Of course, animal and plant species that had no use would be exterminated, some just dying from the atmosphere change. Earth would never be habitable, in the way we knew, again. A stabbing feeling touched my heart, sadness, knowing that everything was gone, we were the only ones left. A feeling that I was to blame…
NO! The Yeerks were to blame, THEY had stolen my life, with the aid of the Animorphs. It was all their fault, I was justified in my actions, I was a General, a leader, above any ones judgement. I could take any steps I wanted to wipe out the Yeerk Empire. The rest was just collateral damage. A necessity.
I was snapped out of my thoughts by Ripper's insane rambling.
"Yeah, kid, dumb little tagalong, fuckin' keepin' us from guttin' dogs and Yeerks, gonna get even now, you know what they say…" Panted Ripper.
"What do they say, Ripper?" Asked Skorre
"For every revolution, there's a counter-revolution."
SARA
"Jettison the pod," David ordered.
LaRouche responded, initiating the sequence to drop the life pod-the life pod that would bring death to hundreds of Yeerks.
I looked out the bridge window to see the pod streaking down to the moon, to the quarter mile wide, green life form that had been targeted. The live stock feeding area.
"They've picked it up," LaRouche said, turning up the volume on the comlink.
"Air control, unidentified object coming in at 234 degrees latitude, 432 degrees longitude. Scan confirms, not meteorite, possible escape pod, life forms detected, it could be from a Blade Ship."
Another voice responded, " Blade Ship? Was there a problem on Visser Thirty- Six's Blade Ship?"
"No, its docked in Norway, but it could be from Visser Twenty's fleet, they got thrashed over the seventeenth moon of Taloraan the other day, we're not far from there, either."
"Alright, we'll take it down, looks like its headed down to the live stock pen, the oxy-tarp should repair itself before any damage occurs. I tell you, Temrash, I need a vacation, too much damn work. The Empire isn't paying me enough for this."
"Tell me 'bout it."
The comlink went dead.
YEERK LUNAR BASE
Fest 023 sat at his desk, sorting paperwork.
Life just isn't what is used to be, the old Yeerk thought, a nostalgic smile creeping to his Sstram lips.
For an under-visser, I've seen a lot of action, I deserve a nice log retirement, maybe a holiday to the tenth moon of Lummod IV, the Mak planet, though Fest. Though Lummod IV was a barren desert, the tenth moon was a virtual paradise, one of the only places left untouched by Yeerk 'Simplification.'
Yes, a holiday would be rather nice, I would think, He said to his host, a Sstram named Sskruouss, You'd like it there, beaches, tall tree's, only a small garrison, yes we do deserve a break. Maybe I can even arrange some temporary freedom for you, eh? In a controlled environment, of course.
I want none of your freedom, Yeerk. I only desire true freedom, not some illusion.
Sstram never shut up, Fest muttered, silently.
Why do I even keep this host? I've had it for more than fifteen years, I could have a nice Hork-Bajir, or a Mak, or a Nahara, a human. Anything but a Taxxon or a Gedd. I won't go back to that.
I've aged faster than I should've in this body.
It was true, given enough Kandrona, a Yeerk could live for thousands of years.
But, as Fest knew, Sstram never shut up. The under-visser was always jumpy, paranoid, fearful, when surrounded by others. It had taken a toll on his consciousness and spirit.
Fest was snapped from his thoughts by the lieutenant at the door.
"What is it, Lieutenant?"
"The escape pod has just landed, sir. The oxy-tarp repaired instantly, no cattle were lost."
Fest smiled. If there was one good thing about these humans, it was the food. Cows were deliscious.
"Good, gather a team, ten humans should be sufficient. I will accompany them."
"Yes, sir."
Fifteen minutes later, ten human-controllers and Fest were standing by the entrance to the cattle pen, the humid atmosphere making breathing difficult for the Sstram, as its lungs needed more thin air to breathe.
"Let's go."
Taking the vibroblade from his belt, a human youth cut a hole in the side of the oxy-tarp, holding the giant amoeba open, like a grotesque door, for his comrades to enter.
None of them were armed, all the weapons in the task force were needed to quell the human rebels on Terra Firma, and the entire garrison was mostly mechanics, repairing fighters and cruisers. Besides, this was just an escape pod, no need for them to arm themselves.
Of the eleven, six were medics, two mechanics, an intrpreter, a protocol officer, and the moon security chief, Husem 991.
"Husem, let me see that draco-lamp," Fest asked his subordinate.
Husem handed his officer the quarter meter long stick, showing the room in a dim, red glow.
"Where are all the cattle?" Asked one of the mechanics.
"Probably scared, ran away. Maybe a few got injured," Suggested the interpreter.
The group walked slowly over the Pentaseran grass that had been planeted under the oxy-tarp.
"Is it possible that some of the cattle could have been sucked out the oxy- tarp?" Asked Husem, looking up at the green, translucent amoeba above them.
"No, I've never heard of that happening, not on a hundred moons," said Fest, eying a structure a hundred yards to the east, "I see the pod."
Quickly, the group ran to the pod, covering the distance in less than two minutes.
What they saw was horrifying.
Nearly a hundred cattle lay around the pod, each on its side, each with a claw-like monster attached to its head, a tail wrapped around its throat.
"What in the galaxy is it?" Asked Husem, eerily.
"I…I don't know, I've never seen a thing like it before," Fest stammered, making his way into the pod.
No light reached the inside of the pod, save the draco-lamp that Fest held.
"Damn lamp, I can hardly see!" The Under-Visser called behind him.
No one replied.
Fest shifted his head to the side, seeing a cluster of leathey- looking…eggs.
"Eggs?" Whispered Fest, getting close to one of them, peering inside.
Inside, the old Yeerk saw four of the hand shaped objects.
He got even closer, his face right by the side.
The face-grabber moved, it's reflexes faster than an Andalite tail blade, shooting through the side of the egg and onto Fest's face like a bullet.
It's tail wrapped around the Sstram neck, choking his windpipe. When Fest instinctively opened the mouth to draw in more air, the alien shot a pipe- like organ down his throat, releasing pheremones that sent the Yeerk Under- Visser into a coma.
As all consciousness slipped from his mind, the host, the Sstram, Sskruouss, regained control of a brief moment, his life long ambitions realised.
Finally, he, too, lost consciousness, drifting off to the netherworld of sleep.
The last thought of Sskruouss the Sstram, was that in death, he would finally be free…