1 Episode Three: Hunting Games
Part One: Old Foes
VISSER 27'S FLAGSHIP, JUDICATOR, ON THE FRINGE OF THE SOL SYSTEM, JUNE 2ND, 2000
The bridge of the Judicator was filled with an aura of unease. Admiral Pietta stood with the ship's Captain, Niloc 021, watching their new guests situated around the fleet commander, Visser 27.
Pietta watched with animosity and disdain for the wanderers, all seven of them.
"Bounty Hunters. We don't need that scum," Pietta muttered to Niloc, careful not to be overheard.
"Yes, Sir," responded Niloc, always one to agree with a superior.
Pietta had good reason to be suspicious of the mercenary's, for a Bounty Hunter was nothing more than a hired gun, a heartless assassin who worked for the highest bidder, and killed without mercy or question.
They often worked for the Yeerk Empire, hunting down escaped hosts and assassinating key enemies. However, the Andalites occasionally employed them for espionage, though they would always refuse to admit it.
The Na, Sna Quarren, held a massive Drac-Pike, that would send currents of Dracon energy into a target like a devilish cattle prod, or could shoot a short range stream to disable an enemy. On his sides where two heavy Dracon Pistols.
Next was S'nillitaiaficius, an Ongachic, a nomadic race not used by the Yeerks. From his dark and boney bro, to his thick, dark boots, the humanoid was adorned with Hork-Bajir blades and Andalite pelts, concealing the most dangerous of his arsenal, a repeating Dracon Rifle and a Sonic Stunner pistol.
The massive Assassin Droid, Kil-Um Two-Four-One, stood beside Srill. Ancient and rusty, feared by his enemy's, 241 had developed a limited form of sentience, still following orders from a hundred years ago. No one knew who built him, as all his designers had been ruthlessly hunted down by the droid, fearing that they could reveal a flaw in his design.
A Hawjabran, who's name was unpronounceable with a normal tongue, was adorned in ancient battle armour, carrying a formidable Scatter Dracon Gun, akin to a human shotgun, as well as a string of Poisonous gas's and explosives on his chest.
Smeagol 711, a renegade Yeerk in a Hork-Bajir host, carried only a powerful heavy Dracon cannon/grenade launcher. He was despised by the Yeerks and Andalites alike, having been banished from the Empire for killing his superior officer. He surveyed the scene with suspicious eyes.
A Leeran, Mu-Chin, carried a spear gun loaded with thousands venom-tipped darts, capable of killing a victim in seconds, as well as an Andalite Shredder as a side arm. He must have felt Pietta's hatred, due to the Leerans nasty habit of reading minds at close range.
Lastly, the monsterous figure, the most feared Bounty Hunter in the galaxy, Tak Sistranus the Gervasid, of the Minas Morgul Tribe of Eastern Pentasera, stood, his eyes bearing down on the Yeerks he hated. He remembered all too well the pain they had caused him.
The Gervasid stood nearly ten feet tall his scarred, green skin shifted colours every few hours, part of his uncanny ability to assume near-perfect camoflauge. Tak's massive tail, over 25 feet long and strong enough to stand on, with a a hollow spine that could fold open to allow a narrow fin to emerge, was currently stored along the spine of his back, giving the sinister reptile a hunched over look. His head looked like a velociraptors, with long, thick and hollow horns where the ears should be, sensing the most minute vibration in the air and earth and translating it to a phonetical sound in his mind. Two long tusks sloped his mouth, lined with long, jagged teeth. His back was covered in short spines, his spittle a poisonous venom. His hands were currently exposed, three fingered and webbed, hooked claws. His feet were a cross between a frog and a goat, in slender positon behind him, much like an ancient Velociraptor, allowing him to leap over sixty feet in the air, The goat like hooves would open to expose even more webbing. Tak saw only in infrared, each species giving off a different aura and scent. He was the perfect killing machine, a class-one species, un infestable due to his not having an ear, but allowed to control half of the planet Pentasera, due to their annoying habit of not dying when attacked.
"I was there, you know, when Sistranus and his friends attacked poor Sirex's laboratory, beginning his disgrace, he was my superior, poor old Yeerk," Pietta murmured to Niloc.
Gervasid shared a planet, Pentasera, with the artistic farmers, the Sstram. They shared some features, but the Gervasid where warlike and fanatic, barbarians who hunted and exterminated the docile Sstram for more than two hundred years. Only did the coming of the Yeerk Empire halt their rampage, even the Andalites had difficulty with them.
Now, the Gervasid kept to themselves, in their swampy homelands of East Pentasera, divided by an ancient wall encircling the entire hemisphere, only serving as mercenary's and hunters.
Sistranus had made a name for himself, a symbol of dread and judgement.
He had never lost a bounty, and his fee was exorbitant.
"There will be a substantial reward for whoever finds the Anubis," began Visser 27, walking down the column of assembled hunters from seven worlds, " You may use any methods necessary, but I want them alive."
He stopped beside Sistranus, pointing at him and making eye contact, "No disintegrations."
Sistranus replied in a gutteral, harsh tongue, "As you wish."
"When do we get paid?" Asked Smeagol.
"You will be paid upon delivery of the Antimorphs. There will be no cash advance."
"…And how much?" Finished Sna Quarren.
"Five hundred thousand Imperial Credits, Sanctuary on a planet of your choice."
"But the YNN promised fifteen million!" Shouted the Hawjabran, obviously dismayed.
"Propaganda. I am altering the bounty," Was the Vissers' cold reply.
"No way! I didn't drag myself all the way from Concord Dawn to collect five hundred large," fumed the Hawjabran, "I'm not goin' to waste my time on this one, no way in the Halls of Quayar, the Empire has screwed me over before!"
"You would be wise to restrain yourself, Hawjabran," Efflit gave a menacing glare.
The Bounty Hunter promptly shut up.
A deck officer approached the Visser, "Sir, we have a priority signal from Taxxis."
"Very well, inform the Emperor that I will contact him momentarily."
"No, Sir, It's not for us. It's for everyone. The entire Empire."
This caught Efflit's attention.
"Put it on, immediately!"
The communication monitors roared to life, showing the hooded face of the Emperor.
"Citizens of the Empire," he began, " This day is the dawn of a new era. An era of power. An era of expansion. An era of fear. The bureaucracy of the past will haunt us no more. For, it is with a deep regret, that I must announce a New Order. At exactly midnight, Taxxis Standard Time, Belorn 002, Zilnay 003, Willak 004, Saru 005, Wyrme 006, Vilkim 007, Tessio 008, Corleownee 009, Elron 010, Mallarrie 011, and Jekyyle 012, every member of the Council, save myself, was cruelly slain by the Yeerk Peace Movement, working with the aid of the Andalite Intelligence Service and Andalite Naval Force, with the full knowledge of the Electorate, in an attempted coup. It was only the quick thinking of my security crew that I survived."
Pictures flashed across the screen, Blade Ships exploding in space, a convoy of Lancers obliterated by long-range missiles, an old Hork-Bajir trapped in a doorway by a dozen others, shooting him to shreds with Dracon fire. A buiding collapsing after a Bug Fighter crashed into a council members penthouse. The systematic assassination of the Council of Thirteen.
"The Council of Thirteen is no more. There will now be only one. I am the sole ruler of the Yeerk Empire. As I speak, forces are amassing in the Moria System, preparing to retake out glorious home world of Mordoria."
The monitor flashed to show nearly twenty pool ships, a half dozen Blade Ships and a hundred Carriers, flanked by dozens of Lancers, decending on a brown, volcanic world. The birth world of the Yeerks.
"No longer will our fleets lose to Andalite treachery, no longer shall we base our government on the planet of the Taxxons. No longer shall we Yeerks cower in the night! We shall emerge, victrorious, over the bloated corpse of the Andalite Electorate! And, ruling from the Dark Tower of Barad-Dur, no longer shall the Emperor fear assassination!"
The emperor removed his hood, showing, for the first time, his true face.
It was a Hork-Bajir, but not a Hork-Bajir.
The Emperor was a Cyborg. His face half flesh, half metal. One eye was a deep blood red, all three horns metallic. Flesh grew into alloy, making a diabolical creation.
"I am Sauron 001. Supreme Warlord and Emperor of the Yeerk Empire."
The screen went blank.
Tak Sistranus began to walk away from the control room, exploding in chaos over this new news.
He would find these Antimorphs, creations of his old enemy, Sirex.
For Ssonora, Wilch, and Galuit, he would find them.
Authors Note: Now begins Episode Three of Six. Sorry for all the Lord of the Rings allegory. I'm going to TRY and stop using star wars quotes, after this episode. Lord of the Rings references will be limited to names. This chapter was just an introduction to the rest, sorry it is so short. I have a crappy sketch of a Gervasid I did in math class, if anyone wants to see, email me.
Part One: Old Foes
VISSER 27'S FLAGSHIP, JUDICATOR, ON THE FRINGE OF THE SOL SYSTEM, JUNE 2ND, 2000
The bridge of the Judicator was filled with an aura of unease. Admiral Pietta stood with the ship's Captain, Niloc 021, watching their new guests situated around the fleet commander, Visser 27.
Pietta watched with animosity and disdain for the wanderers, all seven of them.
"Bounty Hunters. We don't need that scum," Pietta muttered to Niloc, careful not to be overheard.
"Yes, Sir," responded Niloc, always one to agree with a superior.
Pietta had good reason to be suspicious of the mercenary's, for a Bounty Hunter was nothing more than a hired gun, a heartless assassin who worked for the highest bidder, and killed without mercy or question.
They often worked for the Yeerk Empire, hunting down escaped hosts and assassinating key enemies. However, the Andalites occasionally employed them for espionage, though they would always refuse to admit it.
The Na, Sna Quarren, held a massive Drac-Pike, that would send currents of Dracon energy into a target like a devilish cattle prod, or could shoot a short range stream to disable an enemy. On his sides where two heavy Dracon Pistols.
Next was S'nillitaiaficius, an Ongachic, a nomadic race not used by the Yeerks. From his dark and boney bro, to his thick, dark boots, the humanoid was adorned with Hork-Bajir blades and Andalite pelts, concealing the most dangerous of his arsenal, a repeating Dracon Rifle and a Sonic Stunner pistol.
The massive Assassin Droid, Kil-Um Two-Four-One, stood beside Srill. Ancient and rusty, feared by his enemy's, 241 had developed a limited form of sentience, still following orders from a hundred years ago. No one knew who built him, as all his designers had been ruthlessly hunted down by the droid, fearing that they could reveal a flaw in his design.
A Hawjabran, who's name was unpronounceable with a normal tongue, was adorned in ancient battle armour, carrying a formidable Scatter Dracon Gun, akin to a human shotgun, as well as a string of Poisonous gas's and explosives on his chest.
Smeagol 711, a renegade Yeerk in a Hork-Bajir host, carried only a powerful heavy Dracon cannon/grenade launcher. He was despised by the Yeerks and Andalites alike, having been banished from the Empire for killing his superior officer. He surveyed the scene with suspicious eyes.
A Leeran, Mu-Chin, carried a spear gun loaded with thousands venom-tipped darts, capable of killing a victim in seconds, as well as an Andalite Shredder as a side arm. He must have felt Pietta's hatred, due to the Leerans nasty habit of reading minds at close range.
Lastly, the monsterous figure, the most feared Bounty Hunter in the galaxy, Tak Sistranus the Gervasid, of the Minas Morgul Tribe of Eastern Pentasera, stood, his eyes bearing down on the Yeerks he hated. He remembered all too well the pain they had caused him.
The Gervasid stood nearly ten feet tall his scarred, green skin shifted colours every few hours, part of his uncanny ability to assume near-perfect camoflauge. Tak's massive tail, over 25 feet long and strong enough to stand on, with a a hollow spine that could fold open to allow a narrow fin to emerge, was currently stored along the spine of his back, giving the sinister reptile a hunched over look. His head looked like a velociraptors, with long, thick and hollow horns where the ears should be, sensing the most minute vibration in the air and earth and translating it to a phonetical sound in his mind. Two long tusks sloped his mouth, lined with long, jagged teeth. His back was covered in short spines, his spittle a poisonous venom. His hands were currently exposed, three fingered and webbed, hooked claws. His feet were a cross between a frog and a goat, in slender positon behind him, much like an ancient Velociraptor, allowing him to leap over sixty feet in the air, The goat like hooves would open to expose even more webbing. Tak saw only in infrared, each species giving off a different aura and scent. He was the perfect killing machine, a class-one species, un infestable due to his not having an ear, but allowed to control half of the planet Pentasera, due to their annoying habit of not dying when attacked.
"I was there, you know, when Sistranus and his friends attacked poor Sirex's laboratory, beginning his disgrace, he was my superior, poor old Yeerk," Pietta murmured to Niloc.
Gervasid shared a planet, Pentasera, with the artistic farmers, the Sstram. They shared some features, but the Gervasid where warlike and fanatic, barbarians who hunted and exterminated the docile Sstram for more than two hundred years. Only did the coming of the Yeerk Empire halt their rampage, even the Andalites had difficulty with them.
Now, the Gervasid kept to themselves, in their swampy homelands of East Pentasera, divided by an ancient wall encircling the entire hemisphere, only serving as mercenary's and hunters.
Sistranus had made a name for himself, a symbol of dread and judgement.
He had never lost a bounty, and his fee was exorbitant.
"There will be a substantial reward for whoever finds the Anubis," began Visser 27, walking down the column of assembled hunters from seven worlds, " You may use any methods necessary, but I want them alive."
He stopped beside Sistranus, pointing at him and making eye contact, "No disintegrations."
Sistranus replied in a gutteral, harsh tongue, "As you wish."
"When do we get paid?" Asked Smeagol.
"You will be paid upon delivery of the Antimorphs. There will be no cash advance."
"…And how much?" Finished Sna Quarren.
"Five hundred thousand Imperial Credits, Sanctuary on a planet of your choice."
"But the YNN promised fifteen million!" Shouted the Hawjabran, obviously dismayed.
"Propaganda. I am altering the bounty," Was the Vissers' cold reply.
"No way! I didn't drag myself all the way from Concord Dawn to collect five hundred large," fumed the Hawjabran, "I'm not goin' to waste my time on this one, no way in the Halls of Quayar, the Empire has screwed me over before!"
"You would be wise to restrain yourself, Hawjabran," Efflit gave a menacing glare.
The Bounty Hunter promptly shut up.
A deck officer approached the Visser, "Sir, we have a priority signal from Taxxis."
"Very well, inform the Emperor that I will contact him momentarily."
"No, Sir, It's not for us. It's for everyone. The entire Empire."
This caught Efflit's attention.
"Put it on, immediately!"
The communication monitors roared to life, showing the hooded face of the Emperor.
"Citizens of the Empire," he began, " This day is the dawn of a new era. An era of power. An era of expansion. An era of fear. The bureaucracy of the past will haunt us no more. For, it is with a deep regret, that I must announce a New Order. At exactly midnight, Taxxis Standard Time, Belorn 002, Zilnay 003, Willak 004, Saru 005, Wyrme 006, Vilkim 007, Tessio 008, Corleownee 009, Elron 010, Mallarrie 011, and Jekyyle 012, every member of the Council, save myself, was cruelly slain by the Yeerk Peace Movement, working with the aid of the Andalite Intelligence Service and Andalite Naval Force, with the full knowledge of the Electorate, in an attempted coup. It was only the quick thinking of my security crew that I survived."
Pictures flashed across the screen, Blade Ships exploding in space, a convoy of Lancers obliterated by long-range missiles, an old Hork-Bajir trapped in a doorway by a dozen others, shooting him to shreds with Dracon fire. A buiding collapsing after a Bug Fighter crashed into a council members penthouse. The systematic assassination of the Council of Thirteen.
"The Council of Thirteen is no more. There will now be only one. I am the sole ruler of the Yeerk Empire. As I speak, forces are amassing in the Moria System, preparing to retake out glorious home world of Mordoria."
The monitor flashed to show nearly twenty pool ships, a half dozen Blade Ships and a hundred Carriers, flanked by dozens of Lancers, decending on a brown, volcanic world. The birth world of the Yeerks.
"No longer will our fleets lose to Andalite treachery, no longer shall we base our government on the planet of the Taxxons. No longer shall we Yeerks cower in the night! We shall emerge, victrorious, over the bloated corpse of the Andalite Electorate! And, ruling from the Dark Tower of Barad-Dur, no longer shall the Emperor fear assassination!"
The emperor removed his hood, showing, for the first time, his true face.
It was a Hork-Bajir, but not a Hork-Bajir.
The Emperor was a Cyborg. His face half flesh, half metal. One eye was a deep blood red, all three horns metallic. Flesh grew into alloy, making a diabolical creation.
"I am Sauron 001. Supreme Warlord and Emperor of the Yeerk Empire."
The screen went blank.
Tak Sistranus began to walk away from the control room, exploding in chaos over this new news.
He would find these Antimorphs, creations of his old enemy, Sirex.
For Ssonora, Wilch, and Galuit, he would find them.
Authors Note: Now begins Episode Three of Six. Sorry for all the Lord of the Rings allegory. I'm going to TRY and stop using star wars quotes, after this episode. Lord of the Rings references will be limited to names. This chapter was just an introduction to the rest, sorry it is so short. I have a crappy sketch of a Gervasid I did in math class, if anyone wants to see, email me.