Part Six: Day Of Infamy
Monday, September 11th, 2000, Outskirts of the Noldor system…
Antimorph-occupied Yeerk freighter, Sehkmet, en route to Taxxis…
DAVID
It had been almost a month…but the results were sure to yield great gains for us.
The Yeerks didn't suspect a thing. We were just the crew of the Sehkmet, taking it to its scheduled destination.
They had no way of knowing it was us. We had enough supplies to get to Taxxis without stopping, with the Anubis attached via the umbilical to the starboard side.
Besides the nukes, the Sehkmet also carried other things from Terra Firma, including, to the delight of Aleks, several crates of narcotics, Heroin and Opium, and some Marijuana.
Also included in the vast cargo hold were some DVD's, CD's, Books ( I began to read Lord of the Rings) and food from earth.
Britz was troubling me. He had seemed so polite and helpful before we set foot on the Sehkmet, but afterwards had been hostile to us all. Especially Aleks.
The Hybrid reminded me…of myself, curiously enough, when I first became an Animorph. Defiant of Jakes commands, protesting every move the group made.
I kept my eye on him, so that his dissent would not increase to the level that mine had.
That could be deadly.
I was sitting in my quarters, the former bunk of the Captain, staring into space, contemplating what was about to be done. Within the day, the former capital world of the Yeerks, the Taxxon homeworld, the most developed planet in the Empire, would be in ruin and chaos.
"We're nearing the dog-world, boss," Ripper's raspy voice came through the intercom, "Come and watch them burn!"
I stood up and pulled on my shirt.
This would be a day long remembered.
LaROUCHE
We were all there, on the bridge, the seven of us.
The Taxxon world was below us, once a barren desert, now a populated metropolis, filled with spaceports and cities…most of the Yeerks laboratories and…civilians…dwelt here.
We were going to obliterate them.
This past month I'd been doing soul-searching. What the fuck were we trying to accomplish, making war on the Yeerks, as they marched all over the populated galaxy? Could anyone, no matter how righteous, justify a slaughter like the one we were about to initiate? By doing this, weren't we worse than the Yeerks?
David joined us on the bridge, ready for his moment of triumph.
The traffick around the planet was busy, as was probably usual. Blade Ships. Lancers, a Pool ship on the horizon, some smaller private aircraft, several Bug Fighters on patrol…plenty of witnesses.
"Freighter Sehkmet, what is your cargo and destination?" Came the crackling radio, the Yeerk on the other side sounded human. Did he have a family? Was he a voluntary or was he just taken? Would are attack kill him? Question upon question raced through my mind…
"We are the freighter Sehkmet, out of Terra Firma, Sydney landing zone, our cargo is of a military nature, classified by order of Visser 61…clearance code Z89-91B-91…our destination is Shai-Mez spaceport on Taxxis," I listed off mechanically.
"Well, your not even on the right side of the planet…what did you say your name and rank was?"
"Uh…Under-Visser…uh…aw, fuck it!" I shut the radio off, muttering, "Lousy conversation anyway."
"Do it! Do it! Do it now! Burn the dogs! Burn 'em alive! KILL THE BASTARDS!" Cackled Ripper.
"Kill them all," was David's order.
Falling through the atmosphere of the planet…I began to let the bombs drop.
SKORRE
We flew high above, faster than sound, dropping a barrage of nuclear ordinance…taking them totally off guard.
"We're under attack! Andalites! Fuck! They're using nuclear weapons! All over the damn…" Static replaced the frantic screams of the ground contoller.
Suddenly, it was as if time itself was breaking apart…screams of those dying below us filled me! I couldn't take it…
"It's too much!" Sara cried…she felt it too!
Britz was standing in the corner…looking determined and ready.
"Keep them dropping! Get me a line of communication to the Barad-Dur!" David commanded.
LaRouche, still opening the bay doors, opened up the channels.
A Hork-Bajir filled the monitor.
"Who contacts the citadel of the Emperor? Speak, you miserable persons!"
"I am David James Taggart, Antimorph Commander. I desire to speak to the Emperor."
"The Emperor would not speak with you, you vile Okken!"
"Tell him we are attacking Taxxis. I'm sure he will find it interesting."
The Yeerks hadn't heard of our attack on the planet yet! The Hork-Bajir was full of alarm…but rushing to bring his Emperor to the screen.
Another bomb…another colossal mushroom-shaped cloud below us…Bug Fighters were almost certainly being dispatched…we still had a quarter of our supply left.
"I am Sauron 001, Emperor," Said the Hork-Bajir cyborg that filled the screen. The parts of him that were still organic were badly burned…yet still familiar to my eye.
"I am now destroying your former capital world, Emperor," Said David smugly, " What say you to that?"
"I would say that it was written long before human or Yeerk walked on soil. I have long known of this petty campaign, prophesized millennia upon millennia ago. Your diminuative assault will not weaken the true throne of the Empire. I was prepared for it."
What was he talking about? David was taken back by it, obviously, struggling for a counterattack.
"What? How could you have known?"
Sauron laughed, " Don't dare tell me you know not what you are, for you act just as you should. One does not rise this far in life without some help from the Demon realms."
"Keep dropping!" David turned to me, and spoke back to Sauron, "What the Hell do Demons have to do with anything?"
"You BEAST! You are accomplishing your destined mission as we speak, yet you are ignorant of it! 'The Beast shall rise and reality shall Bleed!' You Drac-spawn! The Dark Lord is now laughing on his throne, and the Shrikes are to be loosed on mortals once again, and still, you know nothing!"
"Fuck you! I contacted you to make a deal! Leave Earth and we stop this shit! Give us our parents and we leave you alone for good!"
"I have no intention of that."
David looked grim, "Then I'll see you in Hell."
"I don't doubt it for a moment."
The video went blank.
The sound of the last bomb whistling to the devastated soil below us, and the devastating explosion, stuck in my mind.
Taxxis was in ruins.
That's when he pounced.
DAVID
Britz was on me in a flash, his wristblade tearing a gash into my chest.
"Shit!"
"Traitor!" Spat Aleks, silent until now, even through the excitement, " Kill him!"
A spot on Britz's cheek was glowing molton red.
FLASH
Puck took a lick on Britz's cheek…
"Fudge packer…"
FLASH
Aleks jumped on Britz, throwing him back onto the wall.
"LaRouche! Get us the FUCK UP out of here!" I ordered, " The Yeerks will be right on out asses!"
LaRouche obeyed, avoiding any Yeerk ships that were in pursuit.
"Why, Britz? Why'd you do it?" Asked Sara, sympathetically.
"He would kill the innocent to further himself! He is a monster! A Beast!" The Hybrid said, then, in a voice not his own, " One of you shall challenge him. All of you shall die. I am you! I am you, Taggart! I tried and they destroyed me! We always die! Never win! I'm just part it now! Don't fuck up like me! Fuckin' Puck, he's not the ringleader, but he's the chief of your little project! Deceiver! Illusion! Vermin! David Berenson is my name, and I died at the hand of Manimal and Maiar…YOU WILL ALL BLEED!"
Aleks drew his sidearm and shot him dead, three Dracon beams to the body.
With his last breath, Britz gasped, "…All will die…all will be reborn…so far to go…"
We all stood in silence for a moment.
"Get us out of here," I said to LaRouche.
And we were gone.
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER TWELFTH, 2000…
Sauron 001 stood facing Tessk 1420, his newest leading scientist. Once a pupil of Sirex 4891, Tessk was now following most of his mentors research and projects.
At Saurons side was Eussh 013, and Rico Muerte, his host.
"Can you guarantee that the new sentinels can adequately provide security for the council on Nahara?" Asked Sauron.
"Of course! They combine the best elements of the cyborg and the greatest elements of these…demons, as you call them. The three will be more than necessary," answered Tessk, quite sure of himself.
Three bodies lay on the table, several months of decomposition already at work, but to some degree, the flesh had been preserved.
"We knew there would still be a use for these three when they were found. They served us well in life, even better will they serve in death," Eussh said speaking for both him and Rico.
"I never forget my boys. I always took care of 'em," Rico said of his own will.
"Yes. Perhaps even Stantford will be dulled at their sight. His old comrades…" mused the Emperor.
Tessk looked jubilant.
"I present to you, Slip, Coil, and Roach…the first demon/human hyrbrid…the Demonoids!"
Slip opened his eyes.
ALEKS
I crouched in the darkness, not content with how things were going…
"Got to get away…but they won't understand…they won't understand, they won't understand…"
Sanders walked behind me, "Of course they wont understand, dude. I'm beyond their understanding. Their just mortals! Sugar and Spice and everything…useless unless you're baking. I'm more than that. More than flesh…more than blood…"
Sanders changed form, as he often did, into Rachel's body.
"You know, I don't think their a word in this language just KILLER enough for me. Oh, my name will be on everyones lips…assuming that their lips haven't been torn off. But not quite yet. That's alright though…"
Rachel became Sauron 001, the cyborg, Yeerk Emperor.
"I can be patient. Everything is well within perameters. He's exactly where I want him to be…and so are you, Aleks. Yes, your right where you belong."
Sauron bent down to me, and became my old boss, Rico Muerte.
"What? You think that as long as you got your soul, everything will be all peachy keen? A soul is more slippery than a greased-up weasel, man, why do you think I sold mine? Well, you probably think that you can be your own man, and I respect that…but you never will…"
Rico became Slip, and Slip patted me on the back like an old friend.
"You'll always be one of us…always in the night with us, playing all the evil games we played. You always liked them, didn't you, bro? Always liked 'em, right from the beginning. And that's where we're going…"
Slip stood up, and became Puck, that disturbing creature we had 'seen' before…
"Right back to the beginning…at the BANG! Not the word…but the true…beginning," He paused, and walked around the room, like a conquering hero, " The next few months will be quite a ride, and I think we're all going to learn something about ourselves in the process."
He looked down on me.
"You'll learn that you're a pathetic shmuck…if it hasn't sunk in already. Look at you…actually trying to do what you think is right. Just like the Beast. You still haven't learned. It's not about right…and it's not about wrong…"
Puck turned a final time…into something so horrible…to terrible…it went beyond my imagination and burned my soul. A great Darkness. Evil incarnate…The Dark Lord…
"It's about POWER."