Chapter 17 (Sam)
After they all dove off, me and Tobias talked for a while. There wasn't really much to say. He was kinda worried they would not be able to get anything and this would all be a waste.
"But you had the dreams, same as Gordon and Cassie, so why are you doubtful?" I asked. "You should be happy, I mean, we could get some andalites to help us."
{I know, but there is too much of a margin of error. Anything could go wrong, and we could lose it all. And besides, even if there was andalites, who says they would help us?}
"We have a common goal, to get rid of the yeerks, who says they wouldn't?" I could see where he was coming from, but I could also see them helping us. I mean, they were our allies. What else would they do? Kill us in our sleep. Risks were a part of life. This could be the best thing to happen since we lost our lives.
"Anyway, Tobias, I think you probably need to go back soon. It looks like the boats are just about stopped. They probably have an idea of where it is." I told him.
{Alright, but it will be pretty hard to get home over the water, besides, you said you would take me home when you go.} he complained.
"I said that? Well, I am not going home until I get the go ahead. Something, anything, could happen. So I am staying here for a while." I told him.
{Well, you know where it is, maybe you could take me most of the way home and you can just come right back. How long does it take you to get here?}
Well, had to calculate this. It took me fifteen minutes to fly out here when it was about half this far away. That was my estimate. I was flying really fast and the boat was going fast too.
So I would probably take about half an hour to get home to take Tobias home. "Alright, I will take you home, but if anything happens while I am gone, I am having bird kebabs for supper tomorrow. Come here." I said as I opened my arms so I could hold him.
{Be gentle. These bird bones are fragile and I can't morph to repair them.} he said. Then he flapped up lightly into my arms.
I got up and felt the familiar feeling. It was like having static electricity running through my body. My hair almost felt like it was standing on end, but it wasn't. Plus, I could feel my body restrict. I thought about Tobias and the pressure on my chest loosened up.
{Thanks, I couldn't breathe there for a minute.}
At this point, I simply concentrated on how my body was to move, other than having it move naturally. It took quite a bit more concentration, but it really was worth it in the long run.
Slowly, my body lifted up and I eased my body to a slight angle, so there would be less wind resistance. Let's go!
Slowly I accelerated to something that felt like warp speed. It was probably only about 60-75 mph, but I was in the open air, and it felt like a lot more.
This speed, though, was quite a difficult task to keep up, but as long as I kept concentrating, I could do it forever. If Tobias was to talk to me and distract me, we could very well be food for the fishes at this speed.
I think Tobias knew that, because he didn't talk the entire trip. By the time we got back to the mainland, Tobias was relieved to be rid of me.
{Thanks for the ride, but try to not hold so tight next time. It was rather uncomfortable and the bird in me almost panicked.} he said as he flew off.
He was right, I probably was squeezing pretty hard trying to keep him from falling. Oh well, I had a job to do.
I turned around to go back in the exact direction I came from when I thought about something important. I only had one gun with me. The dracon beams, although will naturally recharge, do eventually run out if used too long.
I looked right back to where came from and backed up until I was over a landmark I could remember over the beach. A big tree, easy to remember. I flew upwards to go as high as I could. Until the air was barely breathable.
The rest of the group says that flying as a bird is the coolest thing in the world. I am sorry, but flying as a human has to be better. It is like you always dreamed it to be, just your body floating in the sky, it was like a dream come true. Being a bird was different. According to Gordon and Tobias, you get a set of instincts along with the body, so you couldn't get too much natural enjoyment out of it. It was probably mostly psychological.
The one thing different is that I can't be as agile in the air. I can't just open my wings and let the wind take over. I actually have to think about it.
Either way, I flew in a straight line to where me and Gordon live. Our own little shack in the woods. When I got there, I immediately went for the hidden stash of guns and weapons. They were hidden in the walls near the roof. Somewhere only I could get. I made it that way, but I never had any intention of keeping them from him if he needed them. But if you think about it, he never really needed them. He always battled in morph.
I had to telekinetically pull the nails out of the wood to get the board off. So, I took two more dracon beams and put them on the hitches on the belt. They stuck there quite well. Then I raised my hand again and the board and nails, now glowing red, were put back in place.
I got out of the house and into the field, where I slowly raised myself off the ground and stated to glide across the trees.
{Have fun!} I heard Tobias call from the house. I could just now see him fluttering in the bell tower. My eyes were really good, along with hearing, reflexes, strength, agility and thinking ability. Unfortunately, this split second concentration lapse from looking back caused me to lose control and fall towards the treetops.
The adrenaline flowed and my instincts took over. I spread my arms and stopped just inched from the treetops. I stood there for a minute, just admiring how quickly I had reacted as I reached out and touched the treetops. I smiled. Nothing could stop me now.
So I got back up and flew towards the empty beach where the tree was. It didn't take me long to find the right Bering, because it was right between two piers out by the harbour. Simple, really. So I gathered up all the concentration I had and flew out towards the battleship.
After about another half an hour, I was surprised to see that there were no tankers anywhere. No boats or airships. I was out of luck, even with my enhanced eyesight, I couldn't see anything. So I flew directly up to maybe get a better view.
I still didn't find anything immediately, and I was starting to get frustrated. I really strained my eyes and went up higher. I could see just a tiny speck of black very far off. I thought that was it, but I wasn't sure. A lot can happen in an hour, maybe they moved, or maybe I got a slightly wrong direction. Either way, I was pretty safe thinking that was what I was looking for.
I focussed again and flew towards the black dot, which very soon revealed itself to be what I wanted it to be. Three tankers and, the blade ship?
Oh, shit, this was about to be interesting. I went down to the water's surface and skimmed along it until I was underneath the back end of one of the boats.
I stayed there, underneath it for another half an hour before anything happened. You see, I was almost nervous, because I heard nothing of any of the rest of the group, and the yeerks seemed to be closing in and confident that this was where they were supposed to be. So I was kind of eager to get something going, but not until I knew it was needed.
After the half hour, something interesting happened. All the big boats started releasing all their little boats ad submarines. Before long, there were boatloads of taxxons being shipped to the water. About twenty of them were in the middle of the three ships. I was just behind the one tanker, hoping not to be seen. Like I said though, there were twenty of them, and they all disappeared beneath the water.
Right before I was about to light up the taxxons, I heard a familiar voice. {Ah, so it is the andalite bandits, here to steal my prize?} he was gloating. I didn't see any dolphins around, but rest assured, they were there. And I knew better than for them to think I was here, so I was essentially on my own.
I stood back and watched as the taxxons fought with a dolphin for a while. The one dolphin in it's own right was doing quite well, bursting and slapping it's way through the soft bellied taxxons. They were exploding underwater like balloons on a sea urchin.
It didn't bother me at first, but after the smell bubbled up and rose above the surface. And I may be the first one to say I can deal with smell, I live with Gordon. But the smell of those guts was just nauseating.
I couldn't stand to be by the water any more, so I rose above and stood on the deck for a while. I could still smell it, but it wasn't as bad up there.
But it wasn't long before I could see Visser Three had become sick of waiting and began to morph. What turned out was a giant purple whale thing with flippers all over it and shark teeth. He only got half of the morph done before falling out of his ship and into the water.
{Guys, you better swim faster, we have a guest.} I heard Gordon say, but there was no answer. He was on his own.
As soon as the Visser finished the morph, he started after the taxxon killing dolphin. It was not long before he had caught up to the dolphin. It was obvious that the dolphin didn't stand a chance.
This was enough. I jumped out of my protection at the back of the ship to see many guards manning the little boats. They were all trying to clean up the taxxon mess without throwing up. It wasn't working. They were puking left right and centre. It was gross, but not as gross as the taxxons.
I raised my first gun and pointed it at the nearest guard. "Okay, it is about time we put an end to this."
That immediately got them moving. They all stared at me and a few raised their guns. I raised my other hand and pushed them all down. Then I moved the dial on the dracon beam with my mind and shot at on man to the next. Only the ones with the guns. The rest were harmless. It was on stun, so they would be fine.
I walked through the crowd, hey all stared at me, but every time they tried for me, I would deflect them away effortlessly.
{Anyone, can you hear me? I need help! Anyone?} I heard Gordon yell again. I would do my best to help him soon, he was fine for now.
In a decent shot of unconcentrated energy, I raised my head and pushed all guards away from me. Apparently, this pissed someone off, because they started calling for backup. I shot the communicator out of her hand before she could finish the call.
She smiled at me evilly. So I smiled right back and shot her in the face. It was still on stun, so it didn't kill her. Lucky for the slug I had a heart.
Almost immediately, though, two bug fighters Came down and released ten hork bajir on the other end of the ship. The bug fighter was too big to move around, so I waited patiently for them all to get to me. It didn't take long.
They all raised their dracon beams at me and started belching out commands. I smiled again. They were trying to hold me up. I 'dropped' my gun and flashed my eyes from one gun to the next, each one flying out of it's holder's grip. They were left with nothing left.
They all stared at each other for a second before they rushed at me. I jumped, flipped and turned around behind them. I got out my other two guns out and blasted four of them away before the human guards grabbed me from behind. I jumped up, using all my energy to get all three of us in the air. I was only ten feet in the air when I flipped backwards, putting the two humans below me. I continued to flip around until my feet were on their backs and they were still holding onto my arms.
I kicked off their backs, making them let me go and having them fall to the ground. I did another backflip, and before I could right myself, two hork bajir guards jumped up and me. I was a mere ten feet in the air, so this was hardly a difficulty for them. I moved my guns around and managed to catch them in midair, making their successors trip over their falling carcasses.
I decided higher was better, so I decided to hover a good fifty feet above the ship's deck.
{Rachel! Jake! Whitney! Anyone? Sam!} I heard him call again. That was my cue. I aimed my gun at the section of the ship that the gas was in. I had read enough tom clancy books to know where was what. I aimed, and shot at full power towards the gas. Even on high, it took a while to go through the metal and blow up.
I was singed from the blast, but needless to say, those who got off the ship early were safe. It mostly blew up and not out. Things did fall though.
After that fireworks display, the two bug fighters started to come after me. They couldn't get at me, because I was too responsive. I went and hovered over to the other one so they wouldn't shoot at me. They still came at me though, so I shot down at the other wreck of a boat. Trying to blow up any and everything in and on it. Not at people though. Not that cold.
Just them, they both rounded out and came at me. I was really smart, and jumped higher and shot at the ships. They got a dual dracon beam through the hull and engine. They fell slightly, colliding with the ship. I flew upwards real quick, to shield from the impending explosion.
Right after the second explosion went BOOM!, Gordon called me again. {Time to go!} he said. He was getting farther away.
Why nobody followed me that day is a mystery, but I guess I didn't really leave them anything to follow me with. There was the blade ship, but I guess that doesn't go anywhere unless Visser three was in it, so it didn't follow me. The third tanker was still just sitting there, not able to do anything to help.
I made it home in one piece, and for that I am glad. But you have to admit. That was pretty fun.
After they all dove off, me and Tobias talked for a while. There wasn't really much to say. He was kinda worried they would not be able to get anything and this would all be a waste.
"But you had the dreams, same as Gordon and Cassie, so why are you doubtful?" I asked. "You should be happy, I mean, we could get some andalites to help us."
{I know, but there is too much of a margin of error. Anything could go wrong, and we could lose it all. And besides, even if there was andalites, who says they would help us?}
"We have a common goal, to get rid of the yeerks, who says they wouldn't?" I could see where he was coming from, but I could also see them helping us. I mean, they were our allies. What else would they do? Kill us in our sleep. Risks were a part of life. This could be the best thing to happen since we lost our lives.
"Anyway, Tobias, I think you probably need to go back soon. It looks like the boats are just about stopped. They probably have an idea of where it is." I told him.
{Alright, but it will be pretty hard to get home over the water, besides, you said you would take me home when you go.} he complained.
"I said that? Well, I am not going home until I get the go ahead. Something, anything, could happen. So I am staying here for a while." I told him.
{Well, you know where it is, maybe you could take me most of the way home and you can just come right back. How long does it take you to get here?}
Well, had to calculate this. It took me fifteen minutes to fly out here when it was about half this far away. That was my estimate. I was flying really fast and the boat was going fast too.
So I would probably take about half an hour to get home to take Tobias home. "Alright, I will take you home, but if anything happens while I am gone, I am having bird kebabs for supper tomorrow. Come here." I said as I opened my arms so I could hold him.
{Be gentle. These bird bones are fragile and I can't morph to repair them.} he said. Then he flapped up lightly into my arms.
I got up and felt the familiar feeling. It was like having static electricity running through my body. My hair almost felt like it was standing on end, but it wasn't. Plus, I could feel my body restrict. I thought about Tobias and the pressure on my chest loosened up.
{Thanks, I couldn't breathe there for a minute.}
At this point, I simply concentrated on how my body was to move, other than having it move naturally. It took quite a bit more concentration, but it really was worth it in the long run.
Slowly, my body lifted up and I eased my body to a slight angle, so there would be less wind resistance. Let's go!
Slowly I accelerated to something that felt like warp speed. It was probably only about 60-75 mph, but I was in the open air, and it felt like a lot more.
This speed, though, was quite a difficult task to keep up, but as long as I kept concentrating, I could do it forever. If Tobias was to talk to me and distract me, we could very well be food for the fishes at this speed.
I think Tobias knew that, because he didn't talk the entire trip. By the time we got back to the mainland, Tobias was relieved to be rid of me.
{Thanks for the ride, but try to not hold so tight next time. It was rather uncomfortable and the bird in me almost panicked.} he said as he flew off.
He was right, I probably was squeezing pretty hard trying to keep him from falling. Oh well, I had a job to do.
I turned around to go back in the exact direction I came from when I thought about something important. I only had one gun with me. The dracon beams, although will naturally recharge, do eventually run out if used too long.
I looked right back to where came from and backed up until I was over a landmark I could remember over the beach. A big tree, easy to remember. I flew upwards to go as high as I could. Until the air was barely breathable.
The rest of the group says that flying as a bird is the coolest thing in the world. I am sorry, but flying as a human has to be better. It is like you always dreamed it to be, just your body floating in the sky, it was like a dream come true. Being a bird was different. According to Gordon and Tobias, you get a set of instincts along with the body, so you couldn't get too much natural enjoyment out of it. It was probably mostly psychological.
The one thing different is that I can't be as agile in the air. I can't just open my wings and let the wind take over. I actually have to think about it.
Either way, I flew in a straight line to where me and Gordon live. Our own little shack in the woods. When I got there, I immediately went for the hidden stash of guns and weapons. They were hidden in the walls near the roof. Somewhere only I could get. I made it that way, but I never had any intention of keeping them from him if he needed them. But if you think about it, he never really needed them. He always battled in morph.
I had to telekinetically pull the nails out of the wood to get the board off. So, I took two more dracon beams and put them on the hitches on the belt. They stuck there quite well. Then I raised my hand again and the board and nails, now glowing red, were put back in place.
I got out of the house and into the field, where I slowly raised myself off the ground and stated to glide across the trees.
{Have fun!} I heard Tobias call from the house. I could just now see him fluttering in the bell tower. My eyes were really good, along with hearing, reflexes, strength, agility and thinking ability. Unfortunately, this split second concentration lapse from looking back caused me to lose control and fall towards the treetops.
The adrenaline flowed and my instincts took over. I spread my arms and stopped just inched from the treetops. I stood there for a minute, just admiring how quickly I had reacted as I reached out and touched the treetops. I smiled. Nothing could stop me now.
So I got back up and flew towards the empty beach where the tree was. It didn't take me long to find the right Bering, because it was right between two piers out by the harbour. Simple, really. So I gathered up all the concentration I had and flew out towards the battleship.
After about another half an hour, I was surprised to see that there were no tankers anywhere. No boats or airships. I was out of luck, even with my enhanced eyesight, I couldn't see anything. So I flew directly up to maybe get a better view.
I still didn't find anything immediately, and I was starting to get frustrated. I really strained my eyes and went up higher. I could see just a tiny speck of black very far off. I thought that was it, but I wasn't sure. A lot can happen in an hour, maybe they moved, or maybe I got a slightly wrong direction. Either way, I was pretty safe thinking that was what I was looking for.
I focussed again and flew towards the black dot, which very soon revealed itself to be what I wanted it to be. Three tankers and, the blade ship?
Oh, shit, this was about to be interesting. I went down to the water's surface and skimmed along it until I was underneath the back end of one of the boats.
I stayed there, underneath it for another half an hour before anything happened. You see, I was almost nervous, because I heard nothing of any of the rest of the group, and the yeerks seemed to be closing in and confident that this was where they were supposed to be. So I was kind of eager to get something going, but not until I knew it was needed.
After the half hour, something interesting happened. All the big boats started releasing all their little boats ad submarines. Before long, there were boatloads of taxxons being shipped to the water. About twenty of them were in the middle of the three ships. I was just behind the one tanker, hoping not to be seen. Like I said though, there were twenty of them, and they all disappeared beneath the water.
Right before I was about to light up the taxxons, I heard a familiar voice. {Ah, so it is the andalite bandits, here to steal my prize?} he was gloating. I didn't see any dolphins around, but rest assured, they were there. And I knew better than for them to think I was here, so I was essentially on my own.
I stood back and watched as the taxxons fought with a dolphin for a while. The one dolphin in it's own right was doing quite well, bursting and slapping it's way through the soft bellied taxxons. They were exploding underwater like balloons on a sea urchin.
It didn't bother me at first, but after the smell bubbled up and rose above the surface. And I may be the first one to say I can deal with smell, I live with Gordon. But the smell of those guts was just nauseating.
I couldn't stand to be by the water any more, so I rose above and stood on the deck for a while. I could still smell it, but it wasn't as bad up there.
But it wasn't long before I could see Visser Three had become sick of waiting and began to morph. What turned out was a giant purple whale thing with flippers all over it and shark teeth. He only got half of the morph done before falling out of his ship and into the water.
{Guys, you better swim faster, we have a guest.} I heard Gordon say, but there was no answer. He was on his own.
As soon as the Visser finished the morph, he started after the taxxon killing dolphin. It was not long before he had caught up to the dolphin. It was obvious that the dolphin didn't stand a chance.
This was enough. I jumped out of my protection at the back of the ship to see many guards manning the little boats. They were all trying to clean up the taxxon mess without throwing up. It wasn't working. They were puking left right and centre. It was gross, but not as gross as the taxxons.
I raised my first gun and pointed it at the nearest guard. "Okay, it is about time we put an end to this."
That immediately got them moving. They all stared at me and a few raised their guns. I raised my other hand and pushed them all down. Then I moved the dial on the dracon beam with my mind and shot at on man to the next. Only the ones with the guns. The rest were harmless. It was on stun, so they would be fine.
I walked through the crowd, hey all stared at me, but every time they tried for me, I would deflect them away effortlessly.
{Anyone, can you hear me? I need help! Anyone?} I heard Gordon yell again. I would do my best to help him soon, he was fine for now.
In a decent shot of unconcentrated energy, I raised my head and pushed all guards away from me. Apparently, this pissed someone off, because they started calling for backup. I shot the communicator out of her hand before she could finish the call.
She smiled at me evilly. So I smiled right back and shot her in the face. It was still on stun, so it didn't kill her. Lucky for the slug I had a heart.
Almost immediately, though, two bug fighters Came down and released ten hork bajir on the other end of the ship. The bug fighter was too big to move around, so I waited patiently for them all to get to me. It didn't take long.
They all raised their dracon beams at me and started belching out commands. I smiled again. They were trying to hold me up. I 'dropped' my gun and flashed my eyes from one gun to the next, each one flying out of it's holder's grip. They were left with nothing left.
They all stared at each other for a second before they rushed at me. I jumped, flipped and turned around behind them. I got out my other two guns out and blasted four of them away before the human guards grabbed me from behind. I jumped up, using all my energy to get all three of us in the air. I was only ten feet in the air when I flipped backwards, putting the two humans below me. I continued to flip around until my feet were on their backs and they were still holding onto my arms.
I kicked off their backs, making them let me go and having them fall to the ground. I did another backflip, and before I could right myself, two hork bajir guards jumped up and me. I was a mere ten feet in the air, so this was hardly a difficulty for them. I moved my guns around and managed to catch them in midair, making their successors trip over their falling carcasses.
I decided higher was better, so I decided to hover a good fifty feet above the ship's deck.
{Rachel! Jake! Whitney! Anyone? Sam!} I heard him call again. That was my cue. I aimed my gun at the section of the ship that the gas was in. I had read enough tom clancy books to know where was what. I aimed, and shot at full power towards the gas. Even on high, it took a while to go through the metal and blow up.
I was singed from the blast, but needless to say, those who got off the ship early were safe. It mostly blew up and not out. Things did fall though.
After that fireworks display, the two bug fighters started to come after me. They couldn't get at me, because I was too responsive. I went and hovered over to the other one so they wouldn't shoot at me. They still came at me though, so I shot down at the other wreck of a boat. Trying to blow up any and everything in and on it. Not at people though. Not that cold.
Just them, they both rounded out and came at me. I was really smart, and jumped higher and shot at the ships. They got a dual dracon beam through the hull and engine. They fell slightly, colliding with the ship. I flew upwards real quick, to shield from the impending explosion.
Right after the second explosion went BOOM!, Gordon called me again. {Time to go!} he said. He was getting farther away.
Why nobody followed me that day is a mystery, but I guess I didn't really leave them anything to follow me with. There was the blade ship, but I guess that doesn't go anywhere unless Visser three was in it, so it didn't follow me. The third tanker was still just sitting there, not able to do anything to help.
I made it home in one piece, and for that I am glad. But you have to admit. That was pretty fun.