Chapter 11
The night before the mission, we were getting ready. Sam, as usual, was preparing the weapons he wanted to take, a Dracon beam and a sword. I still was wondering why exactly he brought the sword.
Anyway, Ax was also getting his stuff ready to go. He had promised us he would try to bring the andalite forces to earth. He said he couldn't guarantee anything, but after the hospitality we had offered him, he said he would be happy to try.
"So, Sam." I said as I walked up to him. "Why is it that you bring that sword. You haven't used it." It was his katana. It was in a sheath.
"I like it. We didn't go to my house to get them for nothing. Besides, I could use it one day, and you will be thanking me."
"Well, I don't see the use for it. You have a dracon beam, why would you need that for a battle with aliens?"
Sam started to answer, but Ax interrupted, {Sometimes Stealth is key. A weapon such as a sword is fast, easy to use, and doesn't make a noise or light to give it away.} he said.
"So is a sniper rifle." I added. Sam smiled. I was going to say more, but then I realized that he was right. You needed weapons to cover many different types of battle.
"Well, anyway, I was thinking of maybe getting everyone together before we left. It would just be better for making sure we have the plan down pat." Sam said. "We can touch up plans and such before we do what we always do, screw up."
"Alright, will you be staying here?" I asked.
"Yeah, you can go and get them to come here. I will be waiting."
I turned away and shed my outer clothing. It was almost chilly, but I was morphing. It wouldn't make any difference soon. As soon as I dropped the last of my clothes, I immediately felt the rush of feathers growing all over my body.
Within seconds, I felt my lips harden and my body shrink. When the bones finally hollowed out and rearranged themselves, I was at the end of my morph. It took about fifteen seconds. I was a fast morpher, and talented too. Nobody noticed though. They all worshipped Cassie for being able to have almost complete control over the morphing process.
I was kind of jealous.
But either way, I was perfectly happy with my ability. I don't like to brag or show off. {See you in a few minutes.} I said to the three of them as I spread my wings and flew. A peregrine falcon isn't good at gaining altitude in the night, especially with no thermals.
What a pain.
By the time I made it to full height, I realized I needed an owl morph. I could see, but just barely. It was enough to locate the houses I needed to visit.
Since Cassie was the closest, I decided to get her first. I wanted company.
{Cassie, we are holding a meeting out at the church.} I said as I flew over the house. She would know what it meant. {Meet me on the roof, I have a little while.}
I set down on Cassie's roof until I heard her window opening. A few seconds later, an owl flew out. {Hi Gordon.} Cassie said.
{Hi Cassie. I am going to go get everyone together for a meeting. It isn't much, but Sam is cautious. He wants to get everything set before it happens this time.} I explained.
{Oh, I can understand that.} she replied.
I stared at her for minute before finally asking. {When did you get an owl morph?}
{Yesterday. Thought t would be useful one day. The vision is wonderful. Far better than an osprey's at night. It looks like you are in a spotlight, I can see you so clearly.}
{Well, I will have to get me one of those sometime soon.} I said. {Let's go.}
We had just lifted off when I heard Tobias Calling. {Wait up, I am going too!}
Cassie and I both flew in a circle until Tobias got there. {Hi.} I said.
{Yeah, just thought I could maybe get them with you.}
{No problem.}
So the three of us all flew off into the night sky. The first stop was Rachel, she lived the closest to Cassie. We had Tobias go down and get her. He was the quickest. A few minutes later, Rachel and Tobias both came up together, Rachel's Eagle dwarfing Tobias.
{Man, I can't see. How can I be expected to kick some ass if I can't see.} she complained.
{You can see, just not as well as in the day.} I pointed out.
{Well, it's like being half blind. Look at cassie, she has an owl morph, I need one.}
It went on like that until we got to Whitney's, a whole two blocks down the road. I went down to get her. I knew her the best.
{Hey, Whitney, up for a night stroll.} I called as I settled down on a rail on a balcony. {I'm here on the balcony.}
It was like two minutes before the door opened, but what I saw was not what I thought it would be. Instead, it was Whitney's mom. I was going to fl away, the falcon in me was screaming to leave, but I stayed.
"Hey, Whitney. Come check this out." She called into the house.
"What is it?" Whitney asked, trying to pretend she didn't know.
"It's a bird, a falcon." She answered. She tried to reach out slowly to pet me, but I fluffed my feathers and made a hissing sound.
I didn't know I could do that.
She backed away immediately and stared at me. I liked her, she was a cool teacher. I actually kind of missed her, she got along with me quite well. It actually surprised me that they never went after this family. I hung out with Whitney as much as I did with Sam or Tobias.
Whitney walked out onto the balcony and looked at me. {meet us at the church in fifteen minutes, we are having a meeting.} I told her. She let out only the slightest nod to let me know she understood.
I backed off and flew away. "Isn't that cool." I heard Sharon say as I left. Sharon is the name of Whitney's mom. I knew her that well. She was a teacher who I could call by her first name.
I never did see Whitney, she must have went right there instead of meeting up with us. Apparently she was busy.
I met up with Cassie, Tobias, and Rachel in the sky. We then went to get Jake and Marco. They were both a t Jake's house, so it was easy. Rachel went to get them, and they were both out in a hurry.
{No problem.} Jake said. {Tom's out at a sharing meeting, and mom and dad are both out enjoying a nice night alone. Marco and I were playing goldeneye.}
{And I was kicking his ass.} Marco added.
{Whatever, you beat me once.} Jake said back.
{Ah, yes, but that one time, I beat you by such a higher margin, that it beat you out by all the times you won.}
{Whatever, that makes no sense.}
So they fought about that and that Cassie had an owl morph as we led them back to my little church.
Home, as anti-religious as I was.
When we finally made it there, Whitney and Sam greeted us, with Ax holding standing off to the side. They were around a little fire.
We all demorphed and sat on the logs set up for us. It was actually kind of nice. Peaceful.
Sam stood up. "I guess you are all wondering why I brought you all here today." He said.
Marco laughed. "We know why we are here. But why now?"
"We have to make sure we do this right. If all goes well, then we have a contact in the andalite military. That contact could very well be the help we need to win this guerrilla war. Isn't that right Ax?"
{Yes, if I was able to put in a good word....}
Sam cut him off. "Good enough. Now, this is imperative that we don't fuck this up. We can't do our little half-assed schemes that so far have left us just barely able to escape. This time, we need to be precise. That would be nice."
"Give me a hell Yeah!" I added. But something was wrong. Even though this was exactly how it was supposed to be, I could feel something complicated running through Sam as he spoke the words, and his mouth was letting it show. It was unnerving, but I let him continue.
There was no reply to my 'hell yeah', so Sam did his thing. "First thing's first. Ax, do you have the working transmitter?"
{Yes, it is...}
Sam cut him off. For some reason, Sam didn't like Ax. "Good. The plan is to go out to the farthest reaches of the forest by the mountains and activate that thing. This will hopefully draw a bug fighter down to earth so we can steal it. We will all lay in wait and hope for the crew to come out. When they do, Wham!" Sam punched his hand. "We get them, anything missing?"
Jake got up. "Well, there are the alternate scenarios. Like more than one show up. Or the blade ship. Anything can happen, so we need to be able to adapt quickly. Don't forget, the order to withdraw is prime. The most important thing is safety. The safety of all you."
Sam stood back up and intercepted Jake. "But that is where we have the problems. What do we do in those situations. We are going in without a plan again. That is only vague, we need more direction."
"Sam, sit down. Jake knows what he is doing." I said.
Jake shrugged. "Mostly. It depends on the situation, and so many things can happen, so just be on your toes. There are too many possibilities to try and cover them all. Especially we are leaving at four tomorrow morning."
Sam was confused. "Since when are we going at four in the morning?"
"It was the decision as of two days ago. That way we could leave notes for the parents. Like saying we were going out for a morning walk." Cassie said. Even I was surprised.
Early, sure, but four AM?
Oh well, all's fair in love and war. "Well, I guess it is settled." Rachel said. "Now can I go back home? It is ten at night and I am tired. We all need sleep before tomorrow. I have to go." She got up as a feather pattern flowed out of her beautiful body.
Yes, I had a bit of a crush, but let's not get into that.
"See you tomorrow at four." I smirked and went into the house to get sleep. All of them morphed and flew away. Even Tobias left with Rachel. Sure, I was able to work with minimal sleep, but were they?
I mean, come on. Four AM? And we needed to get up even earlier to get ready.
The night before the mission, we were getting ready. Sam, as usual, was preparing the weapons he wanted to take, a Dracon beam and a sword. I still was wondering why exactly he brought the sword.
Anyway, Ax was also getting his stuff ready to go. He had promised us he would try to bring the andalite forces to earth. He said he couldn't guarantee anything, but after the hospitality we had offered him, he said he would be happy to try.
"So, Sam." I said as I walked up to him. "Why is it that you bring that sword. You haven't used it." It was his katana. It was in a sheath.
"I like it. We didn't go to my house to get them for nothing. Besides, I could use it one day, and you will be thanking me."
"Well, I don't see the use for it. You have a dracon beam, why would you need that for a battle with aliens?"
Sam started to answer, but Ax interrupted, {Sometimes Stealth is key. A weapon such as a sword is fast, easy to use, and doesn't make a noise or light to give it away.} he said.
"So is a sniper rifle." I added. Sam smiled. I was going to say more, but then I realized that he was right. You needed weapons to cover many different types of battle.
"Well, anyway, I was thinking of maybe getting everyone together before we left. It would just be better for making sure we have the plan down pat." Sam said. "We can touch up plans and such before we do what we always do, screw up."
"Alright, will you be staying here?" I asked.
"Yeah, you can go and get them to come here. I will be waiting."
I turned away and shed my outer clothing. It was almost chilly, but I was morphing. It wouldn't make any difference soon. As soon as I dropped the last of my clothes, I immediately felt the rush of feathers growing all over my body.
Within seconds, I felt my lips harden and my body shrink. When the bones finally hollowed out and rearranged themselves, I was at the end of my morph. It took about fifteen seconds. I was a fast morpher, and talented too. Nobody noticed though. They all worshipped Cassie for being able to have almost complete control over the morphing process.
I was kind of jealous.
But either way, I was perfectly happy with my ability. I don't like to brag or show off. {See you in a few minutes.} I said to the three of them as I spread my wings and flew. A peregrine falcon isn't good at gaining altitude in the night, especially with no thermals.
What a pain.
By the time I made it to full height, I realized I needed an owl morph. I could see, but just barely. It was enough to locate the houses I needed to visit.
Since Cassie was the closest, I decided to get her first. I wanted company.
{Cassie, we are holding a meeting out at the church.} I said as I flew over the house. She would know what it meant. {Meet me on the roof, I have a little while.}
I set down on Cassie's roof until I heard her window opening. A few seconds later, an owl flew out. {Hi Gordon.} Cassie said.
{Hi Cassie. I am going to go get everyone together for a meeting. It isn't much, but Sam is cautious. He wants to get everything set before it happens this time.} I explained.
{Oh, I can understand that.} she replied.
I stared at her for minute before finally asking. {When did you get an owl morph?}
{Yesterday. Thought t would be useful one day. The vision is wonderful. Far better than an osprey's at night. It looks like you are in a spotlight, I can see you so clearly.}
{Well, I will have to get me one of those sometime soon.} I said. {Let's go.}
We had just lifted off when I heard Tobias Calling. {Wait up, I am going too!}
Cassie and I both flew in a circle until Tobias got there. {Hi.} I said.
{Yeah, just thought I could maybe get them with you.}
{No problem.}
So the three of us all flew off into the night sky. The first stop was Rachel, she lived the closest to Cassie. We had Tobias go down and get her. He was the quickest. A few minutes later, Rachel and Tobias both came up together, Rachel's Eagle dwarfing Tobias.
{Man, I can't see. How can I be expected to kick some ass if I can't see.} she complained.
{You can see, just not as well as in the day.} I pointed out.
{Well, it's like being half blind. Look at cassie, she has an owl morph, I need one.}
It went on like that until we got to Whitney's, a whole two blocks down the road. I went down to get her. I knew her the best.
{Hey, Whitney, up for a night stroll.} I called as I settled down on a rail on a balcony. {I'm here on the balcony.}
It was like two minutes before the door opened, but what I saw was not what I thought it would be. Instead, it was Whitney's mom. I was going to fl away, the falcon in me was screaming to leave, but I stayed.
"Hey, Whitney. Come check this out." She called into the house.
"What is it?" Whitney asked, trying to pretend she didn't know.
"It's a bird, a falcon." She answered. She tried to reach out slowly to pet me, but I fluffed my feathers and made a hissing sound.
I didn't know I could do that.
She backed away immediately and stared at me. I liked her, she was a cool teacher. I actually kind of missed her, she got along with me quite well. It actually surprised me that they never went after this family. I hung out with Whitney as much as I did with Sam or Tobias.
Whitney walked out onto the balcony and looked at me. {meet us at the church in fifteen minutes, we are having a meeting.} I told her. She let out only the slightest nod to let me know she understood.
I backed off and flew away. "Isn't that cool." I heard Sharon say as I left. Sharon is the name of Whitney's mom. I knew her that well. She was a teacher who I could call by her first name.
I never did see Whitney, she must have went right there instead of meeting up with us. Apparently she was busy.
I met up with Cassie, Tobias, and Rachel in the sky. We then went to get Jake and Marco. They were both a t Jake's house, so it was easy. Rachel went to get them, and they were both out in a hurry.
{No problem.} Jake said. {Tom's out at a sharing meeting, and mom and dad are both out enjoying a nice night alone. Marco and I were playing goldeneye.}
{And I was kicking his ass.} Marco added.
{Whatever, you beat me once.} Jake said back.
{Ah, yes, but that one time, I beat you by such a higher margin, that it beat you out by all the times you won.}
{Whatever, that makes no sense.}
So they fought about that and that Cassie had an owl morph as we led them back to my little church.
Home, as anti-religious as I was.
When we finally made it there, Whitney and Sam greeted us, with Ax holding standing off to the side. They were around a little fire.
We all demorphed and sat on the logs set up for us. It was actually kind of nice. Peaceful.
Sam stood up. "I guess you are all wondering why I brought you all here today." He said.
Marco laughed. "We know why we are here. But why now?"
"We have to make sure we do this right. If all goes well, then we have a contact in the andalite military. That contact could very well be the help we need to win this guerrilla war. Isn't that right Ax?"
{Yes, if I was able to put in a good word....}
Sam cut him off. "Good enough. Now, this is imperative that we don't fuck this up. We can't do our little half-assed schemes that so far have left us just barely able to escape. This time, we need to be precise. That would be nice."
"Give me a hell Yeah!" I added. But something was wrong. Even though this was exactly how it was supposed to be, I could feel something complicated running through Sam as he spoke the words, and his mouth was letting it show. It was unnerving, but I let him continue.
There was no reply to my 'hell yeah', so Sam did his thing. "First thing's first. Ax, do you have the working transmitter?"
{Yes, it is...}
Sam cut him off. For some reason, Sam didn't like Ax. "Good. The plan is to go out to the farthest reaches of the forest by the mountains and activate that thing. This will hopefully draw a bug fighter down to earth so we can steal it. We will all lay in wait and hope for the crew to come out. When they do, Wham!" Sam punched his hand. "We get them, anything missing?"
Jake got up. "Well, there are the alternate scenarios. Like more than one show up. Or the blade ship. Anything can happen, so we need to be able to adapt quickly. Don't forget, the order to withdraw is prime. The most important thing is safety. The safety of all you."
Sam stood back up and intercepted Jake. "But that is where we have the problems. What do we do in those situations. We are going in without a plan again. That is only vague, we need more direction."
"Sam, sit down. Jake knows what he is doing." I said.
Jake shrugged. "Mostly. It depends on the situation, and so many things can happen, so just be on your toes. There are too many possibilities to try and cover them all. Especially we are leaving at four tomorrow morning."
Sam was confused. "Since when are we going at four in the morning?"
"It was the decision as of two days ago. That way we could leave notes for the parents. Like saying we were going out for a morning walk." Cassie said. Even I was surprised.
Early, sure, but four AM?
Oh well, all's fair in love and war. "Well, I guess it is settled." Rachel said. "Now can I go back home? It is ten at night and I am tired. We all need sleep before tomorrow. I have to go." She got up as a feather pattern flowed out of her beautiful body.
Yes, I had a bit of a crush, but let's not get into that.
"See you tomorrow at four." I smirked and went into the house to get sleep. All of them morphed and flew away. Even Tobias left with Rachel. Sure, I was able to work with minimal sleep, but were they?
I mean, come on. Four AM? And we needed to get up even earlier to get ready.