Part Three: The Eye Of Akdor
DECEMBER SIXTH, 2000, ERIALIS SHIPYARDS OF NAHARA…
The personal Destroyer-class Warship of the Emperor emerged like a grim Leviathan from Z-Space. Over a mile in length and a quarter that in its width, it dwarfed any other ship in the fleet. It was named Iron Fist, and lived up to its name. It held twelve wings of Bug Fighters,almost eighteen hundred ships, and thousands of shock troopers and weapons of terror and fear. It's primary weapon was psychological: No fleet the Andalites held dared to oppose it.
For Efflit 1138 and the Demonoid known as Slip, the terror inside was more horrifying than all the weapons that the ship held: The Emperor himself, coming to activate the new flagship of the Empire.
A shuttle dropped from the belly of the Fist, flanked by a dozen Bug Fighters, keeping watch for any ambush. No Andalite would dare to assault the shuttle.
As it approached the Shipyard Docking Station, Efflit found himself recalling the last time such a visitor had arrived, and that had turned out quite badly for him, in the end.
Efflit would not meet with the Emperor. Neither would Slip. In the docking bay, His Highness would be met with a guard of three dozen Hork-Bajir and escorted promptly to his throne room on the adjoining 'Eye' ship.
Slip stood tall and imposing beside the Visser. "Both our hides are on the line, dude."
"Do not call me 'dude,' Slip."
"Whatever. You sure Taggart will come for his parents?"
"Very sure. I had the message put on the YNN last night. He's probably on his miserable way already."
Slip flexed his Demon arm, an extending, grey spike, "The Emperor knows what he is. How do you know that he's not planning to have Taggart come finish you off? And me, too, by that."
"Slip, while you and your friends made your living as gangsters and thugs on Terra Firma, I served as the second in command to Esplin 9466, commander of the invasion. He fumbled dozens of times in more than two years. In little more than half a year, I have succeeded more than he ever had."
"Define success." Slip said with a slight smile.
"This guerrilla group has done more damage to the Empire than the group my host once sided with, the Animorphs. Rachel Berenson was David Taggart's greatest enemy among the humans. They are very much alike: both prone to violence and cruelty, both leaders and brutal in their tactics. She knows how they think. Rachel would come if it was her young sisters or mother held captive. David will come for his parents, and when he does, I shall take him myself. I will see my highest lieutenants within his followers heads, then drown him amongst the rats and oily water."
ANTIMORPH FLAGSHIP, ANUBIS, APPROACHING NAHARA…
SKORRE
I was helping Marc LaRouche to sort the various ammunition stockpiles, things we had plundered from various sources over the previous months, but put off until it made a massive chore.
"What's going to happen to us, Skorre?"
I was taken back by LaRouche's question.
"What do you mean?"
"David keeps sending us against the Yeerks. It's only a matter of time until one of us buys the fuckin' farm. And the lease on that is shitty."
"You worry about the future?" I asked, sorting Dracon charges strewn amongst Shredder power cells.
"When David picked me up, I was a nerdy, antisocial kid. My parents were never around. No friends. I don't have anything to fight for on Earth. I can't even remember what my own mother looks like," LaRouche paused for a moment, sniffing, though he tried to hide it, "David wants his parents freed from infestation. He wants Earth to be freed. I would be happier just giving up to the Andalites, settling down, have a kid or something."
If LaRouche knew my hatred of Andalites, he did not hold back any of his opinions on the matter.
"With whom would you mate?" I asked.
LaRouche said nothing, but then spoke in a low tone, "I've seen Sara, the way she looks at Ripper. She's got a crush on him or something."
"She talks to him," I agreed, "But I know not of what they speak."
"I've noticed something. Ripper's become more humane, less wild, over the past few months, since we hijacked the Sehkmet."
"I have as well. But he still has moments when he goes mad, like at the Visser's summit."
LaRouche agreed, "He's unpredictable."
A pause for a moment.
"So what the Hell are we going to do? If we keep this up, we're going to lose sooner or later. The luck will run out."
"I could report you to David. I owe him my life and my freedom. If not for him, I would be among my people when the Yeerks took them, then incinerated when you destroyed their valley."
"Everyone owes David something. I don't. You know, he pretty much kidnapped me. I fuckin' fainted when he showed up, then he beamed me up."
I paused for a moment. LaRouche had been abducted?
"Frankly I don't give a shit. I want to get out of here with my body in tact. Aleks wouldn't help me, he's just a power mad freak, almost worse than David. Ripper's completely insane. You could come with me. And Sara. Blow this joint and get out of here."
I said nothing.
"What do you say?" Asked Marc LaRouche.
"I owe David my life. I will stand with him until his end. Or mine. You may go your own way, Marc LaRouche, and I will not hinder you. But I cannot stop David from what he may do."
DAVID
We were cloaked, our modified system invisible to any scanner the Yeerks had watching the sky. Completely undetected.
And just the way I wanted it.
I had summoned LaRouche to the bridge, for our new task.
"This could be it, LaRouche," I said, "Our chance to take out the Yeerks in one thrust, and get what I came for."
"How would we do that?" He asked incredulously.
"Why, we take control of whatever weapon they are building and use it against them. It worked very effectively on the Sehkmet, so why not here?"
LaRouche nodded grimly, "And what do you want me to do?"
I smiled, "We're going undercover."
We took one of the small, cramped shuttlecraft from the hanger and morphed to Gedd. LaRouche had aquired his Gedd morph a few weeks ago when we put in at a small Skrit Na space station and jumped a few Gedd-Controllers for their money and weapons.
LaRouche had aquired this body, knowing that it might be useful in the future. You never really know, do you?
LaRouche piloted the shuttle towards the Yeerk armada. It consisted of a Pool Ship, the Tyrant, a long, imposing vessel that I knew was the Iron Fist, a few dozen Lancers, two long, flat carrier ships, each holding two dozen wings of Bug Fighters, and several support ships. In the distance was a Blade Ship, that I suppose belonged to Visser 11. They were all situated around a massive platform, the shipyards, where a few Pool Ships and carrier's were under construction. Near the middle was a massive gap. Something was there, but it was cloaked. Several supply and command ships were floating around it.
Our communicators came to life. "Unidentified shuttlecraft: What is your destination and clearance?"
I put my Gedd lips to the very small microphone, "Rrrromputerrrr rrrepaaiiirr, on the Tyyyrraaant. Sub-Visserrr fourrrr hundrrred six orrrrderrrs," I slurred with my oversized Gedd tongue, in Yeerkish.
There was a pause.
"You are cleared. Proceed to docking bay fourteen."
LaRouche piloted the ship to the docking bay, in sector four of the Tyrant, and exited. The Yeerks had identification of the Anubis and both Bug Fighters, but not our shuttles. Even the Yeerks didn't specify theirs. Too many, and too insignificant to bother with.
We have an hour and twenty minutes left before we have to demorph, I said in thought-speech to LaRouche, glancing at the digital clock on the control panel, Let's find whatever the fuck their building here, then get our asses out!
We wandered the corridors of the Tyrant. Everywhere were Hork-Bajir and humans, with the occasional Andalite trotting past. A few Naharans and Sstram roamed, but it was mostly officers and soldiers. Visser 11 had amassed more controllers than normal to his Pool Ship, probably siphoned off from the rest of his fleet.
Or, they were the Emperor's High Guards. Much more deadly than the average controller.
We need to find the bridge. Maybe we can see whats up from there, LaRouche offered.
Good idea. We have at lead fifty minutes left.
It took us about twenty minutes to find the bridge, and another ten to get cleared with security. Finally, we were standing in the bustle of the command center, many controllers, mostly humans, standing all around us.
But with my cold, weak, Gedd eyes, I could still make out two figures near the window.
One was our prime nemesis, Efflit 1318.
The other was the Emperor.
And beyond them, outside the window, was a massive, massive, massive construct. Standing vertically in space, it was a giant cone, one end tipped, with small buildings jutting out from the sides.
Look at the size of that thing… LaRouche said.
He was right. It was colossal.
That's got to be…at least ten miles long, I said, comparing it to the size of the Iron Fist.
But what is it? LaRouche asked, slowly.
Visser 11 answered his question promptly.
"Behold, my Lord," he said with pride, "The final fury of the greatest hero of the Yeerk Empire, subjugator of the Hork-Bajir, the Wrath of Sulp-Niar, and the designer of our greatest ships and weapons, the Eye of Akdor."
Holy shit… I blurted to LaRouche.
Efflit smiled, "In death, he shall destroy them all."