Far away from the Blade ship where Darkblade waited semi-patiently to leave the Taxxon world once again, Sub-Visser Seven was also waiting. Not as patiently as the former, since he had no greater desire than to be as far from the planet he was currently on as his ship could carry him, but so far he had refrained from killing any more of his troops.

Something caught his attention then, something that was very wrong. One of the Taxxon workers had fallen off a mag-lev track. Now, in and of itself that was quite normal, it was even expected of the stupid creatures. Taxxons, after all, were not the most coordinated species in the Yeerk Empire.

But one of the Taxxons seemed to be moving away from the wounded one, struggling to fight the cannibalistic instincts of the worm. This was most intriguing to the Sub-Visser. Once the Taxxon had managed to find a refuge under one of the larger ship-cradles, Sub-Visser Seven gathered a small contingent of his fellow Hork-Bajir Controllers and moved in quickly to confront the Taxxon.

They soon had the strange Taxxon surrounded, aiming Dracon beams at him. Despite the rather obvious fact that Hork-Bajir did not need weapons to deal with a Taxxon. In a cordial, almost jovial voice, the Sub-Visser addressed the anomalous Taxxon.

"Welcome to the Taxxon homeworld, friend. I am Sub-Visser Seven. You interest me. Indeed, I am very interested in any Taxxon who will not eat fresh meat. And you, you seem to have gone out of your way to avoid it. Come," Sub-Visser Seven said, grinning. "We have much to discuss."

The Taxxon almost seemed to be about to run away, before he accepted the futility of such a tactic. Sub-Visser Seven and his underlings led him to the nearest mag-lev car, commandeering it for their own use. Although the former occupants were not exactly pleased about that.

As they passed the various ships being refueled, repaired or rebuilt, Sub-Visser Seven wondered if this was his old host. The Navari had been telepathic.

Well, he thought there is only one way to find out. Leaning toward the supposed Taxxon and speaking in a low voice so as not to attract unwanted attention, he spoke.

"Ono adashi merhath havra, nara sheenath talwhac."

Which was if memory served, Navari for: I know it's you, stop projecting please. Despite having excellent hearing, there was no response to his request. Perhaps this was not the Navari, and so Sub-Visser Seven decided to try another tactic.

"So, Andalite, how long have you been in this morph?"

That got a twitch, which mildly disappointed the Sub-Visser. This couldn't be his old host, which meant that he hadn't come back after all. Sub-Visser Seven had still held a foolish hope that he might have reconsidered his opinion of Yeerks, since they would have made for quite a team.

Getting back to the Andalite, Sub-Visser Seven saw that he was resolutely trying to conceal his shock at having been found out.

"Ssssewwaari ssstwweeeshh."

He couldn't have known what he was saying. Even Taxxon Controllers could barely speak the Taxxons' native language, and certainly an Andalite couldn't. But there was a third option, that maybe this was not an Andalite at all.

Mountain Taxxons, rebels that refused to submit to the Yeerk Empire, and would occasionally cause trouble for the Yeerks on the planet. They were a nuisance, and any that were captured were immediately given to their fellow Taxxons for interrogation. This could be one of their spies.

"Don't waste that snake-speak on me, Taxxon. If you're one of ours, you should be able to speak Galard."

Galard was a language used by many species across the galaxy, back in times of peace. It was made up of many languages and thousands of individual dialects. It had mostly gone unused now, except for among the Yeerk Empire where it was used constantly to communicate among the differing races the Yeerks had conquered.

The Taxxon looked utterly bewildered now, unsure of whether he should answer or not. As the mag-lev car moved further and further away from the spaceport, something occurred to the Sub-Visser and he laughed aloud.

"So. You want to resist me, do you? Good, I could certainly use the amusement. It gets awfully tedious being a mere head-of-security on this backwater planet. I suppose you're one of those Mountain Taxxons, those who still refuse to accept our control. It doesn't matter much, I suppose. All of you break eventually."

The mag-lev car turned gently, slowly moving towards one of the many Taxxon hives in this sector. This one was a bit out of the ordinary, though. Instead of being a place where Taxxon Controllers could relax and eat, these Taxxons were not Controllers. They were pure Taxxon, completely without the mild form of restraint the Yeerks imposed.

"Rebels are just fresh meat, but you're a Taxxon, so I'm sure you'll understand. Any Mountain Taxxons we catch are just fed to loyal Taxxons after the mandatory interrogation. Of course, Taxxons don't have any real interest in asking questions, nor the patience for it. They do ask a couple questions, maybe one or two, and then the feast begins."

Sub-Visser Seven chuckled coldly as the Taxxon shuddered slightly, grinning at him.

"Of course, you could tell me why you're really here and what your mission really is, Andalite. You'll still be killed, naturally, but I can make it painless. A much better alternative to being eaten alive, I can assure you."

The Andalite in Taxxon morph gave him nothing more beyond that first initial shudder. Staring at him in a manner Sub-Visser Seven could not read. They both stayed silent for some time, just staring at one another out of the corners of their eyes, each sizing the other up.

Finally, Sub-Visser Seven broke the silence. Speaking in the same low voice he had used at the outset.

"There is another option, Andalite. None of our people has ever taken an Andalite body. Your warriors all use that annoying Andalite tail-blade on themselves rather than being taken alive. It's such a pity, really. There has never been an Andalite Controller in all the universe, and I want to be the first."

The Andalite twitched, then stared hard at him. There was no discernible expression on the Taxxon's "face", but the Andalite's posture spoke volumes. Sub-Visser Seven could almost feel the disgust radiating from the Andalite and filling the half enclosed car.

"Let me take that body, Andalite. You'll live, it's the only possible way you'll live."