1 Episode Two: Bug Hunt
Part Six: Into Hell, and Back Again
RIPPER
I piloted the small shuttlecraft down to the empty docking platform on the Yeerk lunar base. The shuttle was cramped, hardly enough room for Sara and I.
"We should set down near the edge, then we can morph something small and get to the computers," Sara suggested.
"I do the thinking here, dog."
" I know, but most of it makes no sense."
The Yeerk lunar base loomed at us like an impending nightmare, as I glided the shuttle down to the docking platform, its landing beacons luminating the sky with an eerie red.
As we touched down, an automatic air platform tube attached to the ship, allowing us to cross over to the base.
"I have a bad feeling about this," She muttered to me.
"Yeah, me too," I replied, wiping sweat from my brow, " morph to spider."
The spider was small enough to get us to the centre of the base, and had good enough eye sight to avoid trouble.
Within two minutes, where the two of us had stood, two identical Tarantula's sat.
Woah! Sara exclaimed, Look at these eyes! It's like a fun house!
Stop playing! We need to get in and out.
Yes, massa Rippa, we bess we goin' 'bouts our bussiness's. She replied with a sarcastic old time slave accent.
I didn't care less. We were in the belly of the beast.
DAVID
"They're coming right at us!" LaRouche yelled franticly, as the Yeerk pool ship appeared in view from the far side of the planet, launching a salvo of Bug Fighters at us. Hundreds. Instantly, A Blade Ship materialized.
The Blade Ship of Visser 36.
Ah, So David Taggart and his Antimorphs have come to make revenge on the mighty Yeerk Empire? He sneered, appearing before us on the monitor.
"I have come to destroy Visser 69. And then to destroy this fleet."
I think not, Taggart. Your band of terrorists will fare no better than the rest of humanity. You will fail.
"We. Shall. See," I spat.
The first wave of Fighters reached us, Skorre and Aleks manning the turrets and blasting them to oblivion.
"Go after the Blade Ship! We can't take all these fighters at once," I ordered LaRouche.
"I got it," he replied, calmly.
I stared in disbelief, " Just how can you be so calm about this?!" I asked incredulously.
"Because I'm French," LaRouche replied matter-of-factly.
SARA
Demorph, we've been in morph for a while, lets get a sense of where we're at.
Aye-Aye, Skipper! I said sarcastically.
Just what the Hell is with you? He asked, clearly upset.
Uh, well, gee Ripper! You haven't exactly been a saint to me, you know.
It isn't my job to be a saint, kid. It's my job to get the job done and protect us all from those dogs. You don't know how smart they are.
I sighed, I just didn't know how to feel about Ripper. He had saved me from the Al Qaeda after they beat me, killing their leader, Bin Laden, just before he decided to go one step further.
I began to demorph.
Soon, I was human again, glancing around in my new surroundings.
A moment later, Ripper joined me.
We weren't in Kansas anymore.
The walls were covered in mucousy, organic tissue, that seemed to be growing into the complex. It gave the air a terrible stink, like ten thousand pounds of horse manure. And the heat…the heat was above comprehension, it was like…
"…like the god damned tropics in here! Woah! What the hell is this?" Ripper wondered aloud.
"I guess this is what bugs do in their free time," I responded.
"Right, well, lets just find out where we are, and get the files." Ripper started down the hall, his bare feet sinking into the moist membrane on the floor.
"Ewwww…" I muttered.
I turned around, staring into the face of a bug.
ALEKS
"Die motherfucker!"
Another Bug Fighter exploded into green flame as we made a strafing run at the Blade Ship.
"Intensify forward firepower, I don't want anything to get through!" David barked at Skorre and I, standing over LaRouche at the controls.
"I have an idea, David!" the Frenchman exclaimed.
"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Asked David, Firing the forward Dracon Beams.
"If we hit the pool ship's engines with a proton torpedo, we might be able to cause a chain reaction…"
"…That will destroy the battle ship from the inside out." I finished.
Amid the space battle, everyone stared at me.
"What? I saw Star Wars!"
"Right, let's do it!" David said, "Strafe the pool ship!"
RIPPER
A Bug! Right in front of me!
My system flooding with adrenaline, I jumped back, just as it's stringy tail balked at me.
"SSSSRRRREEEEEWWWWSSSS!!!!" I screamed in a high pitch voice.
"Sara, run!"
No time to think, no time to morph, a Bug was chasing me through it's hive at top speed!
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…" I panted, running out of breath.
I was gaining on the bug! I was going to make it! I was going to get out alive!
I ran right into a dead end.
SKORRE
"David, get to the torpedo tubes, drop the forward Dracon cannons!" I yelled as we made out approach on the looming pool ship, it's colossal, spider like form filling me with dread. I had only been on it once, but I knew that it contained enough Yeerks in its pool to enslave the average population of most planets.
David dropped the powerful forward cannon while Aleks and I manned two of the quad Dracon turrets.
"Aha! Another one bites the dust," growled Aleks.
LaRouche took over the forward cannon, squeezing off several rounds as he piloted the Anubis through over fifty enemy ships.
"I got one, I got on!" He chanted, ecstatic that he had downed a Yeerk fighter.
"Great kid!" Shouted David, muttering, "Don't get cocky."
Visser 36's face lit the bridge again.
If you are attempting to down the Avenger, do not be so sure that you will succeed. Our Leviathan series pool ships cannot be destroyed by a simple- The Visser was cut off.
An unseen lieutenant with a human voice interrupted, "Um, Visser…The Avenger isn't a Leviathan, it's a Gorgon class, sir, first series ever built, Taxxis ship yards, human year 1970, anchored on Taxxis, 1976, after Andalite engagement, entered the fleet 1978…"
What?!!? A GORGON CLASS!? Visser 36 roared, enflamed with anger, Foolish, Efflit 1010, just as foolish as your pool brother.
In the corner of my eye, I saw Visser 36's tail blade flicker, and heard a sound, like a sack of potatoes falling to the ground.
Aukum 1450, you are lieutenant now.
"Thank you, Visser, but we have analysed their attack and there is a danger, should be prepare the emergency shuttle's on the Avenger?"
Evacuate? In my moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their destructive capability!
"Never underestimate a human, Visser," grunted David, Firing a salvo of proton torpedo's into the pool ship's engines.
SARA
The Bug had Ripper cornered, but I was faster.
I grabbed it's tail, cutting myself on it's blade, at the same time aquiring it's DNA into my blood stream.
The Bug went into a trance like state, like all animals do when aquired.
"Run, Ripper!"
Instead, he grabbed the Bugs soft face, aquiring it after I let go.
"Die…you son of a bitch!"
Ripper pushed his claw like fingers into it's eyes, steam flowing from the holes as it's acid blood ate away at him.
"GRAAAAWWWWW!!!" Both Ripper and the Bug cried.
The monster collapsed, dead.
Ripper held his hand in the sky, a conquering hero over his victim.
I stammered, " Oh my God, Ripper…your hand…"
I looked at me like it was the littlest thing in the world, "Nothing a little morphing won't fix," He winked.
I nodded.
And morphed the Bug.
LaROUCHE
"YEE-HAAWWW!" Exclaimed Aleks exuberantly as the pool ship Avenger exploded in a greenish blue fireball, chunks of debris flying in all directions.
"We've lost the Avenger!" Yelled a Yeerk over the comlink.
I want a status report! Barked the Visser.
"Seven hundred million Yeerks in the pool, a hundred fifty thousand crew, including troopers, four wings of Bug Fighters, each wing with seven squadrons of twelve ships, two Lancers, Sub-Visser's 91, 11 and 821 lost. Intelligence from the Andale system…"
My invasion plans!
The Visser impaled the poor deck officer, Aukum 1450, with his blade, Taxxons clambering to get a piece of fresh meat.
You snivelling Taxxon fodder, you insolent little slime! I will crush you, Taggart, I will destroy you!
"I think you'll need to wait a while first, Visser 36."
Another pool ship, Blade ship, and two long, jagged oval like craft materialized out of Z-Space.
RIPPER
The first thing I felt when I morphed the Bug was…nothing.
No thought, no mind, no impulses, no needs, no desires or wants.
Mindless.
Soulless.
But the senses…the senses were the greatest of all. My sight was blurred white, I could see a red aura about Sara while she was in morph, a blue one as a human. I could hear the lightest footfall of a flea, I could smell the stations ancient reactor core, I could…sense everything about me.
Look at this! Sara called.
I turned my head upwards to see her crawling on the ceiling, faster than a bullet. She zoomed around the room like a cheetah on speed.
I could, too.
Alright, we got some killer new morphs, now, lets get to the computers and get out!
Gotcha, hey look at this!
Sara looked like she was hawking a loogie, but instead she spat out a gob of mucousy acid.
Wow…that's…different… I murmured to myself.
Yeah, its like…I'm the ultimate predator…it's really cool.
We moved down the hallways, ducking in and out of ventilation shafts, walking seamlessly by the several Bugs we encountered.
We were just part of the crowd.
Alright, we're close to the computer core…that's the highest heat source in the station, the Bug hive is right were we need to go, Sara informed me.
Alright, I'll cover you while you get the plans out, the computer will probably respond to thought speech, I replied.
Suddenly, a sharp stinging in my head!
Ahh! I cried.
My head! It's burning! Sara panted.
Queen! We need to…find the intruders! We need to kill them! We need to get the two-leggers!
DAVID
"Visser 69," I said to the new face on the screen, " Come back for more?"
"Yes, David," Rachel's face sneered, " I have your parents, they still love you, David. They want you to turn yourself in…they like what they have become." A demonic smile lit the Visser's face.
A shot of pain…a revelation, a memory from so long ago…
FLASH
Rachel stood over me behind the school cafeteria, brandishing a plastic knife. Everything was hazy, shrouded in mist.
"What are you doing? Tryin' to scare me?" I asked her.
"Naw, I wouldn't want to do that…Just wanted to tell you something," She replied.
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"See, you sell us out to Visser Three, we'll know. We have sources on the inside. We'll find out."
"Big deal. You can't do anything about it."
"Yeah, you're probably right. If they knew, we wouldn't last very long," She leaned closer, whispering in my ear, " But I would last…just a little while…long enough to make sure your parents…Well, use your imagination."
FLASH
I was surrounded! By the very people I had killed. Jake, Tobais, Rachel, Cassie and Marco encircled me.
"You're a textbook nymphomaniac."
"Excuse me???!!!"
"Yeah, but instead of sex, you have violence. The latter has a better chance of killing you, albeit faster."
"Why, you little…"
FLASH
I shot my father in the back, then brought my pistol down on his face, caving it in.
FLASH
A picture, of my father…he was in a wheelchair. He looked like hell.
FLASH
"Why would you do that to anyone, especially your own father?"
Who was talking to me?
"I didn't do it to my father, I did it to a Yeerk," my voice said.
"You hurt both of them, David…how could you…?"
FLASH
Sanders! I massive paw, the kind that would be seen on a cat, came crashing down on his face, ending his life.
FLASH
A voice, massive, demonic, evil…
I AM YOUR MASTER, DAVID, AND YOU WILL FOREVER BE MY SERVANT…
FLASH
I was back in the real world, my crew stared at me, the battle silent. The remaining Bug Fighters had been destroyed, the remainder of the Yeerk ships silent.
"You…you…bitch!" I stammered at Visser 69, " You said you'd kill them, Rachel! Now, I'll kill you! I'll kill everyone!"
RIPPER
Snap out of it, Ripper! The Queen's trying to control you, you have to fight it! Sara pleaded me.
Yeah…but…it's so hard... it's like…if refuse, and she hurts me…more.
I know, try and fight it, we're almost there.
A moment later, I saw the giant computer screen, with only one word.
INPUT.
Uh, computer…access all information relating to fleet movements, garrisons, bounty's, troop deployments, convoys, cargo ships and security. Sara said slowly.
"Information accessed, Visser Three.
Woah, it thinks that you are Visser Three! I exclaimed.
Sara turned to me, When you think about it, it makes sense. Up until recently, he was the only thought speech using controller in the galaxy, so the computer was just assuming I was him.
She again spoke to the computer screen.
Computer, place all information on one high-density data disk.
"Processing."
A moment later, a small disk, the size of a human fist, dropped out of a hatch on the computers side.
Let's book! I yelled.
I turned around to face the Queen.
ALEKS
The oval shaped ships began launching wave after wave of fighters, LaRouche realized that they were carrier ships.
"We need to get out of here," He said, "We can't fight them all!"
"I'll kill 'em! I'll kill 'em all!" David raved. He sounded like Ripper.
I took charge.
"Skorre, restrain David. He's lost it, I'm assuming temporary command."
Skorre grabbed Davids arms as he kicked against the massive Hork-Bajir.
Having…difficulty, Taggart? Asked Visser 36.
"LaRouche, get us out of here!" I called.
"What about Ripper and Sara?" He asked.
"Fly right by the moon, if they are still alive, they had better hurry up and dock with us!"
SARA
The queen was huge, well over fifteen feet tall, bearing down on us.
She had come to find the warriors who disobeyed her orders.
Bitch.
I swung my tail around, connecting with her flesh.
"SSSSREEEEEAAAAA!!!!" She wailed.
Come on, the poison will slow her down, but we gotta get to the shuttle! Ripper grunted, running ahead of me.
We ran…faster than I had ever moved before. I would later discover that a Bugs top speed is around seventy miles per hour.
I was pushing that.
Some time later, we saw the docking platform, on the far side of the Oxy- Tarp.
Move! Move! Called Ripper as we exited the docking pipe and bounded into our shuttle, even more cramped than before.
As we demorphed, Ripper flew us away.
DAVID
I later came out of my little fit. I didn't remember much at the time. I didn't even know what I had seen.
Aleks gave his temporary command back willingly, and we picked up Sara and Ripper in orbit of the moon. Their information will prove vital, as will their new morphs.
I stood on the bridge, near LaRouche.
"What is our course?" He asked.
I sighed. Would this never end?
"The Skrit Na homeworld. We need to take some down time."
We entered Z-Space.
Efflit 1318 and Nodnarb 395 kneeled before the hologram of the Emperor, on the new pool ship orbiting Terra Firma, the Conqueror.
"They have escaped you…again," Came the mechanical voice of the Emperor.
"Yes, my Emperor," Efflit replied.
"I should crush you. You lost many Bug Fighters, and a pool ship."
We did not anticipate that they would have such prowess in battle, Emperor.
Beneath his cloak, the Emperor waved his hand, dismissing it.
"It is of no concern. Soon, the Empire will be changed. I tire of the Council of Thirteen. Their bureaucracy stunts our expansion. They say that we have enough, now that we rule the humans. They are fools. A shadow of what they once were."
Niether Visser spoke.
"Soon, we will retake our homeworld. The fleets of Visser's Nine and fourteen are preparing to strike. The Andalites have moved most of their ships to their own system, anticipating their attack. The blockade is greatly weakened."
"It will be an easy victory, my Emperor."
"Do not be so sure, pool-cousin. I am promoting you for your performance over Taloraan, Efflit 1318. You are now Visser Twenty Seven. And you, Nodnarb 395, will go to the Pentaseran city of Cirith Ungol and meet with the Gervasid chieftain, Val Zimcorus. You are appointed the rank of Visser Twenty Nine."
The newly appointed Visser flinched. He was once again below Efflit.
The transmission faded.
Efflit 1318, Visser 27, stood up, and motioned to the lieutenant in the corner.
"Send out the call for bounty hunters. We will find those Antimorphs."
END OF EPISODE TWO
COMING SOON
EPISODE THREE, HUNTING GAMES.
Part Six: Into Hell, and Back Again
RIPPER
I piloted the small shuttlecraft down to the empty docking platform on the Yeerk lunar base. The shuttle was cramped, hardly enough room for Sara and I.
"We should set down near the edge, then we can morph something small and get to the computers," Sara suggested.
"I do the thinking here, dog."
" I know, but most of it makes no sense."
The Yeerk lunar base loomed at us like an impending nightmare, as I glided the shuttle down to the docking platform, its landing beacons luminating the sky with an eerie red.
As we touched down, an automatic air platform tube attached to the ship, allowing us to cross over to the base.
"I have a bad feeling about this," She muttered to me.
"Yeah, me too," I replied, wiping sweat from my brow, " morph to spider."
The spider was small enough to get us to the centre of the base, and had good enough eye sight to avoid trouble.
Within two minutes, where the two of us had stood, two identical Tarantula's sat.
Woah! Sara exclaimed, Look at these eyes! It's like a fun house!
Stop playing! We need to get in and out.
Yes, massa Rippa, we bess we goin' 'bouts our bussiness's. She replied with a sarcastic old time slave accent.
I didn't care less. We were in the belly of the beast.
DAVID
"They're coming right at us!" LaRouche yelled franticly, as the Yeerk pool ship appeared in view from the far side of the planet, launching a salvo of Bug Fighters at us. Hundreds. Instantly, A Blade Ship materialized.
The Blade Ship of Visser 36.
Ah, So David Taggart and his Antimorphs have come to make revenge on the mighty Yeerk Empire? He sneered, appearing before us on the monitor.
"I have come to destroy Visser 69. And then to destroy this fleet."
I think not, Taggart. Your band of terrorists will fare no better than the rest of humanity. You will fail.
"We. Shall. See," I spat.
The first wave of Fighters reached us, Skorre and Aleks manning the turrets and blasting them to oblivion.
"Go after the Blade Ship! We can't take all these fighters at once," I ordered LaRouche.
"I got it," he replied, calmly.
I stared in disbelief, " Just how can you be so calm about this?!" I asked incredulously.
"Because I'm French," LaRouche replied matter-of-factly.
SARA
Demorph, we've been in morph for a while, lets get a sense of where we're at.
Aye-Aye, Skipper! I said sarcastically.
Just what the Hell is with you? He asked, clearly upset.
Uh, well, gee Ripper! You haven't exactly been a saint to me, you know.
It isn't my job to be a saint, kid. It's my job to get the job done and protect us all from those dogs. You don't know how smart they are.
I sighed, I just didn't know how to feel about Ripper. He had saved me from the Al Qaeda after they beat me, killing their leader, Bin Laden, just before he decided to go one step further.
I began to demorph.
Soon, I was human again, glancing around in my new surroundings.
A moment later, Ripper joined me.
We weren't in Kansas anymore.
The walls were covered in mucousy, organic tissue, that seemed to be growing into the complex. It gave the air a terrible stink, like ten thousand pounds of horse manure. And the heat…the heat was above comprehension, it was like…
"…like the god damned tropics in here! Woah! What the hell is this?" Ripper wondered aloud.
"I guess this is what bugs do in their free time," I responded.
"Right, well, lets just find out where we are, and get the files." Ripper started down the hall, his bare feet sinking into the moist membrane on the floor.
"Ewwww…" I muttered.
I turned around, staring into the face of a bug.
ALEKS
"Die motherfucker!"
Another Bug Fighter exploded into green flame as we made a strafing run at the Blade Ship.
"Intensify forward firepower, I don't want anything to get through!" David barked at Skorre and I, standing over LaRouche at the controls.
"I have an idea, David!" the Frenchman exclaimed.
"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Asked David, Firing the forward Dracon Beams.
"If we hit the pool ship's engines with a proton torpedo, we might be able to cause a chain reaction…"
"…That will destroy the battle ship from the inside out." I finished.
Amid the space battle, everyone stared at me.
"What? I saw Star Wars!"
"Right, let's do it!" David said, "Strafe the pool ship!"
RIPPER
A Bug! Right in front of me!
My system flooding with adrenaline, I jumped back, just as it's stringy tail balked at me.
"SSSSRRRREEEEEWWWWSSSS!!!!" I screamed in a high pitch voice.
"Sara, run!"
No time to think, no time to morph, a Bug was chasing me through it's hive at top speed!
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…" I panted, running out of breath.
I was gaining on the bug! I was going to make it! I was going to get out alive!
I ran right into a dead end.
SKORRE
"David, get to the torpedo tubes, drop the forward Dracon cannons!" I yelled as we made out approach on the looming pool ship, it's colossal, spider like form filling me with dread. I had only been on it once, but I knew that it contained enough Yeerks in its pool to enslave the average population of most planets.
David dropped the powerful forward cannon while Aleks and I manned two of the quad Dracon turrets.
"Aha! Another one bites the dust," growled Aleks.
LaRouche took over the forward cannon, squeezing off several rounds as he piloted the Anubis through over fifty enemy ships.
"I got one, I got on!" He chanted, ecstatic that he had downed a Yeerk fighter.
"Great kid!" Shouted David, muttering, "Don't get cocky."
Visser 36's face lit the bridge again.
If you are attempting to down the Avenger, do not be so sure that you will succeed. Our Leviathan series pool ships cannot be destroyed by a simple- The Visser was cut off.
An unseen lieutenant with a human voice interrupted, "Um, Visser…The Avenger isn't a Leviathan, it's a Gorgon class, sir, first series ever built, Taxxis ship yards, human year 1970, anchored on Taxxis, 1976, after Andalite engagement, entered the fleet 1978…"
What?!!? A GORGON CLASS!? Visser 36 roared, enflamed with anger, Foolish, Efflit 1010, just as foolish as your pool brother.
In the corner of my eye, I saw Visser 36's tail blade flicker, and heard a sound, like a sack of potatoes falling to the ground.
Aukum 1450, you are lieutenant now.
"Thank you, Visser, but we have analysed their attack and there is a danger, should be prepare the emergency shuttle's on the Avenger?"
Evacuate? In my moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their destructive capability!
"Never underestimate a human, Visser," grunted David, Firing a salvo of proton torpedo's into the pool ship's engines.
SARA
The Bug had Ripper cornered, but I was faster.
I grabbed it's tail, cutting myself on it's blade, at the same time aquiring it's DNA into my blood stream.
The Bug went into a trance like state, like all animals do when aquired.
"Run, Ripper!"
Instead, he grabbed the Bugs soft face, aquiring it after I let go.
"Die…you son of a bitch!"
Ripper pushed his claw like fingers into it's eyes, steam flowing from the holes as it's acid blood ate away at him.
"GRAAAAWWWWW!!!" Both Ripper and the Bug cried.
The monster collapsed, dead.
Ripper held his hand in the sky, a conquering hero over his victim.
I stammered, " Oh my God, Ripper…your hand…"
I looked at me like it was the littlest thing in the world, "Nothing a little morphing won't fix," He winked.
I nodded.
And morphed the Bug.
LaROUCHE
"YEE-HAAWWW!" Exclaimed Aleks exuberantly as the pool ship Avenger exploded in a greenish blue fireball, chunks of debris flying in all directions.
"We've lost the Avenger!" Yelled a Yeerk over the comlink.
I want a status report! Barked the Visser.
"Seven hundred million Yeerks in the pool, a hundred fifty thousand crew, including troopers, four wings of Bug Fighters, each wing with seven squadrons of twelve ships, two Lancers, Sub-Visser's 91, 11 and 821 lost. Intelligence from the Andale system…"
My invasion plans!
The Visser impaled the poor deck officer, Aukum 1450, with his blade, Taxxons clambering to get a piece of fresh meat.
You snivelling Taxxon fodder, you insolent little slime! I will crush you, Taggart, I will destroy you!
"I think you'll need to wait a while first, Visser 36."
Another pool ship, Blade ship, and two long, jagged oval like craft materialized out of Z-Space.
RIPPER
The first thing I felt when I morphed the Bug was…nothing.
No thought, no mind, no impulses, no needs, no desires or wants.
Mindless.
Soulless.
But the senses…the senses were the greatest of all. My sight was blurred white, I could see a red aura about Sara while she was in morph, a blue one as a human. I could hear the lightest footfall of a flea, I could smell the stations ancient reactor core, I could…sense everything about me.
Look at this! Sara called.
I turned my head upwards to see her crawling on the ceiling, faster than a bullet. She zoomed around the room like a cheetah on speed.
I could, too.
Alright, we got some killer new morphs, now, lets get to the computers and get out!
Gotcha, hey look at this!
Sara looked like she was hawking a loogie, but instead she spat out a gob of mucousy acid.
Wow…that's…different… I murmured to myself.
Yeah, its like…I'm the ultimate predator…it's really cool.
We moved down the hallways, ducking in and out of ventilation shafts, walking seamlessly by the several Bugs we encountered.
We were just part of the crowd.
Alright, we're close to the computer core…that's the highest heat source in the station, the Bug hive is right were we need to go, Sara informed me.
Alright, I'll cover you while you get the plans out, the computer will probably respond to thought speech, I replied.
Suddenly, a sharp stinging in my head!
Ahh! I cried.
My head! It's burning! Sara panted.
Queen! We need to…find the intruders! We need to kill them! We need to get the two-leggers!
DAVID
"Visser 69," I said to the new face on the screen, " Come back for more?"
"Yes, David," Rachel's face sneered, " I have your parents, they still love you, David. They want you to turn yourself in…they like what they have become." A demonic smile lit the Visser's face.
A shot of pain…a revelation, a memory from so long ago…
FLASH
Rachel stood over me behind the school cafeteria, brandishing a plastic knife. Everything was hazy, shrouded in mist.
"What are you doing? Tryin' to scare me?" I asked her.
"Naw, I wouldn't want to do that…Just wanted to tell you something," She replied.
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"See, you sell us out to Visser Three, we'll know. We have sources on the inside. We'll find out."
"Big deal. You can't do anything about it."
"Yeah, you're probably right. If they knew, we wouldn't last very long," She leaned closer, whispering in my ear, " But I would last…just a little while…long enough to make sure your parents…Well, use your imagination."
FLASH
I was surrounded! By the very people I had killed. Jake, Tobais, Rachel, Cassie and Marco encircled me.
"You're a textbook nymphomaniac."
"Excuse me???!!!"
"Yeah, but instead of sex, you have violence. The latter has a better chance of killing you, albeit faster."
"Why, you little…"
FLASH
I shot my father in the back, then brought my pistol down on his face, caving it in.
FLASH
A picture, of my father…he was in a wheelchair. He looked like hell.
FLASH
"Why would you do that to anyone, especially your own father?"
Who was talking to me?
"I didn't do it to my father, I did it to a Yeerk," my voice said.
"You hurt both of them, David…how could you…?"
FLASH
Sanders! I massive paw, the kind that would be seen on a cat, came crashing down on his face, ending his life.
FLASH
A voice, massive, demonic, evil…
I AM YOUR MASTER, DAVID, AND YOU WILL FOREVER BE MY SERVANT…
FLASH
I was back in the real world, my crew stared at me, the battle silent. The remaining Bug Fighters had been destroyed, the remainder of the Yeerk ships silent.
"You…you…bitch!" I stammered at Visser 69, " You said you'd kill them, Rachel! Now, I'll kill you! I'll kill everyone!"
RIPPER
Snap out of it, Ripper! The Queen's trying to control you, you have to fight it! Sara pleaded me.
Yeah…but…it's so hard... it's like…if refuse, and she hurts me…more.
I know, try and fight it, we're almost there.
A moment later, I saw the giant computer screen, with only one word.
INPUT.
Uh, computer…access all information relating to fleet movements, garrisons, bounty's, troop deployments, convoys, cargo ships and security. Sara said slowly.
"Information accessed, Visser Three.
Woah, it thinks that you are Visser Three! I exclaimed.
Sara turned to me, When you think about it, it makes sense. Up until recently, he was the only thought speech using controller in the galaxy, so the computer was just assuming I was him.
She again spoke to the computer screen.
Computer, place all information on one high-density data disk.
"Processing."
A moment later, a small disk, the size of a human fist, dropped out of a hatch on the computers side.
Let's book! I yelled.
I turned around to face the Queen.
ALEKS
The oval shaped ships began launching wave after wave of fighters, LaRouche realized that they were carrier ships.
"We need to get out of here," He said, "We can't fight them all!"
"I'll kill 'em! I'll kill 'em all!" David raved. He sounded like Ripper.
I took charge.
"Skorre, restrain David. He's lost it, I'm assuming temporary command."
Skorre grabbed Davids arms as he kicked against the massive Hork-Bajir.
Having…difficulty, Taggart? Asked Visser 36.
"LaRouche, get us out of here!" I called.
"What about Ripper and Sara?" He asked.
"Fly right by the moon, if they are still alive, they had better hurry up and dock with us!"
SARA
The queen was huge, well over fifteen feet tall, bearing down on us.
She had come to find the warriors who disobeyed her orders.
Bitch.
I swung my tail around, connecting with her flesh.
"SSSSREEEEEAAAAA!!!!" She wailed.
Come on, the poison will slow her down, but we gotta get to the shuttle! Ripper grunted, running ahead of me.
We ran…faster than I had ever moved before. I would later discover that a Bugs top speed is around seventy miles per hour.
I was pushing that.
Some time later, we saw the docking platform, on the far side of the Oxy- Tarp.
Move! Move! Called Ripper as we exited the docking pipe and bounded into our shuttle, even more cramped than before.
As we demorphed, Ripper flew us away.
DAVID
I later came out of my little fit. I didn't remember much at the time. I didn't even know what I had seen.
Aleks gave his temporary command back willingly, and we picked up Sara and Ripper in orbit of the moon. Their information will prove vital, as will their new morphs.
I stood on the bridge, near LaRouche.
"What is our course?" He asked.
I sighed. Would this never end?
"The Skrit Na homeworld. We need to take some down time."
We entered Z-Space.
Efflit 1318 and Nodnarb 395 kneeled before the hologram of the Emperor, on the new pool ship orbiting Terra Firma, the Conqueror.
"They have escaped you…again," Came the mechanical voice of the Emperor.
"Yes, my Emperor," Efflit replied.
"I should crush you. You lost many Bug Fighters, and a pool ship."
We did not anticipate that they would have such prowess in battle, Emperor.
Beneath his cloak, the Emperor waved his hand, dismissing it.
"It is of no concern. Soon, the Empire will be changed. I tire of the Council of Thirteen. Their bureaucracy stunts our expansion. They say that we have enough, now that we rule the humans. They are fools. A shadow of what they once were."
Niether Visser spoke.
"Soon, we will retake our homeworld. The fleets of Visser's Nine and fourteen are preparing to strike. The Andalites have moved most of their ships to their own system, anticipating their attack. The blockade is greatly weakened."
"It will be an easy victory, my Emperor."
"Do not be so sure, pool-cousin. I am promoting you for your performance over Taloraan, Efflit 1318. You are now Visser Twenty Seven. And you, Nodnarb 395, will go to the Pentaseran city of Cirith Ungol and meet with the Gervasid chieftain, Val Zimcorus. You are appointed the rank of Visser Twenty Nine."
The newly appointed Visser flinched. He was once again below Efflit.
The transmission faded.
Efflit 1318, Visser 27, stood up, and motioned to the lieutenant in the corner.
"Send out the call for bounty hunters. We will find those Antimorphs."
END OF EPISODE TWO
COMING SOON
EPISODE THREE, HUNTING GAMES.