I had had a horrible nightmare before the mission. In it, I had morphed into lion and was facing my mother/Visser 3 in battle. It was either her or me. I'm sorry. I had said, before crushing her head in my jaws.
I was not looking forward to the mission. The idea was to get myself, Ax and Tobias captured. I would have David in my pocket. David's job was to get the keys and get clear of the base. David would be the one to help us get out. David considered himself the ultimate cat burglar, well, not cat exactly, but you know what I mean.
Once I had the keys, Ax, Tobias and I would morph hork bajir and let the other hork bajir out. Meanwhile, the others would go bash morph and wreak havoc. The hork bajir would take out the cannon positions, smashing them, or maybe just throwing them over the edge of the cliff. The guards who were supposed to be in charge of the cannons on the rim had been captured on the way to their shifts. Everybody who was fit would be at the base, infiltrating the guards.
The problem was the sheer volume of hork bajir controllers in the area. I counted exactly ten humans. One of them was a girl that Tobias recognized from previous missions. Oh my God.
What? What is it? Rachel asked, as we flew down to the niche that Tobias said would shelter us until we were ready to fight.
She's here, Taylor. Sub-Visser 51. Tobias' thoughtspeak voice had caught in his throat.
Well, your torturer will be here won't she? Rachel growled. I'll give her a shove for you Tobias, or a throw. I think that cinderblock building right there will suffice.
I would go in because the yeerks already knew me. I had nothing to hide from them, except maybe David. I grabbed David in my talons. David cringed. I sailed down to a spot outside the base and Ax and I demorphed behind a rock.
I slipped David into the pocket of my hooded tunic. Toby had brought it for me. We needed it, because clouds were quickly coming in overhead. It was almost as if the sky itself were preparing for battle. I heard thunder rumbling. I calmly walked out of cover with Tobias. I took a captured Dracon Beam that Toby had captured. Ax took the modified shredder. We walked boldly out into the open.
All activity stopped, several hork bajir controllers, Toby's people among them, closed in on us. "You're people have taken mine as slaves. According to the Japanese Tradition, I am allowed to battle their captor for vengeance! Where is the coward that calls herself your leader?!" I demanded, pouring all the anger and rage and hatred that I could into that one statement.
Taylor stepped forward. Her eyes flicked to Tobias, then to Ax. She sneered at me. "The Visser will be here at five p.m. tonight. By all means, BE MY GUEST!" She shouted, raising the plastic arm at me. From it issued forth a gas that Tobias had warned me would knock us out.
I slumped forward, and the last thing that I heard before blacking out was David saying, Jake… ahhh… we're… in…
I began to come to ever so slowly. I heard strange voices murmuring in an alien language. It was not hork bajir, or Galard. No, it was definitely…
Feralae. David pinched my finger. Feralae are you alright?
I opened my eyes and sat up. "Yeah, I think so. Remind me never to do that EVER again."
It figures that she'd send Taylor to do the job. Tobias said bitterly. Tobias was shackled to the chain link. I can't get these things off. David can you…
I think so. David scuttled over to where he sat. Yeah, I got it. I don't think anybody will notice.
I checked the time, not that we had a limit. As long as it wasn't five. We needed to be in and out before then and be far, FAR away from the base. I had stored the shredder in my left boot and a dagger in my right. I had a belt on as well. Toby had braided it from strips of young grapevines. The yeerks hadn't taken off my shoes. That was a relief. I'd need a weapon in hork bajir morph.
That was when I noticed the crowd of Ketrans keeping a wide girth from us. "Tobias, are they…"
Yup. That's them alright.
"Um… hi! I'm Fera."
They stared.
"I came to help you."
They kept staring.
This isn't getting us anywhere. David sighed, plopping down on the ground.
I pointed to myself. "Feralae." I pointed to Ax. "Aximili." I pointed to Tobias. "Tobias." I picked up David. "David. I." She pointed to herself. "Will get you." She pointed to the Ketrans. "Out." She pointed to the door. "David get moving man." I said, turning to him. "Keep me posted."
Gotcha. David went to the barred door and slipped underneath it, digging under the dirt floor.
The ketrans watched, wide eyed. Then one of them stepped forward. "Kiari." She pointed to herself. "Ketran. Dular istha moranan nirga. Isna keroo na?"
I turned to Ax, he was standing very attentively. Translation in progress, please continue speaking.
"Nirga istha moranan, totopica ekuata bo karinstol." Kiari explained. "Refa loraton catilan ki ensiitovi, alta kara alta enasi."
I think I've got it. She says that she is Kiara, a Ketran wise one of about sixteen human years. She is the descendant of the refugees from the tropical equatorial low crystal. She is the captain of the NC2B also known as the NC.
North Carolina? Tobias joked.
I chuckled nervously. "Ax, can you explain the escape plan?"
"Dere is nu need." Kiara said. "Ur on translatirs ara coming online. Thank you very much for bringing us up to date."
We looked at each other, shocked. "Good, that makes things easier." I paused, then pointed out to the pool. "Have you seen the slugs in that pool?" I asked. "They call themselves the yeerks and they are in the process of enslaving this planet. This planet is called Earth and our species are humans. Ax is an andilite. Tobias and David were trapped in morph, nothlits."
"Morph? Is this an ability of your people?" Asked Kiara.
"Sort of. The andilites created a biotechnology that allowed them to acquire the DNA of any animal and then morph that animal for two hours, and then to become that animal. My father was an andilite trapped in human morph, he gave that power to me to defend myself and my home against the yeerks." I explained. "But not before the yeerks took him. The yeerks crawl inside the heads of sentient species and control them. That's what they want with you. They want to enslave your species. Since this is my planet, we figured that we wouldn't let that happen. You need to fight back."
"We are Ketran, we do not kill. It is one of the most important sacred laws, only second to 'Lift for all.'" Kiara glowered at me.
"Yeah." I said, rolling my eyes. "The yeerks have their sacred laws too, mainly, 'Everybody else is born to be our slaves,' and 'If they resist, kill 'em.' Kiara you need to fight back and escape, at the very least you guys can help us smash the base. You can do that without killing. There's some dracon cannon installations on the ridge, at the very least you can help the hork bajir freedom fighters smash them."
"We will not kill." Kiara said stubbornly.
"At least let us get you out of here." I said, arms akimbo. "We'll protect you and you can fly away."
"How would you suggest escape?" Asked Kiara.
There was a tinkle as David pushed the keys under the hole that he'd made. Like this. He said as I took the keys.
"Right. David get out of here." I said in a hushed whisper.
You don't need to tell me twice. David headed for a second hole that he had dug under the fence.
I closed my eyes and focused on the hork bajir, and I felt the changes begin. Ax and Tobias began to morph hork bajir as well. The hawk to hork bajir transfer seemed natural enough, but the andilite to hork bajir morph was absolutely grotesque. Ax's arms grew out of control, outsized to his body. The blades swished out of his arms and back legs, which were quickly thickening and strengthening. Ax's hooves melted into feet.
Then my own blades appeared, and I grew huge. I stand about five foot five normally. My body stretched like silly putty, six, six and a half, seven, almost eight feet. I was taller than the average hork bajir! All the time my body was human with these enormous blades. To add to the weirdness, my neck stretched into an arch without growing new vertebrae and without changing into a hork bajir head. My clothes mostly morphed with me, but the sweatshirt was in shreds.
It took about five minutes, but I was ready. I walked over to the door, motioning Tobias and Ax to come forward. They did, the Ketrans following curiously. I slowly, carefully, inserted the key into the lock. Then I creaked the door open. The guard had his back to me, I tapped him on the shoulders and he turned, puzzled at a surprisingly human gesture. I aimed the punch that I had always dreamed of launching and he went down, blood dripping from his nose. Idiot. I stated. We walked down the hallway, opening doors and letting out both Ketran and hork bajir alike. We turned a bend in the hallway and ran right smack dab into…
Taylor! She was there! "What are you incompetents up to?" She demanded.
"Prisoner Transfer." I said with a growl. "Orders from the top, don't like it you can buzz off."
She seemed to take that, and walked on her way. Then she stopped.
I could almost see the gears turning in her maniacal yeerk brain. She turned…
AND I BACKHANDED HER AGAINST THE WALL!! Taylor collapsed and I shoved her and the guards into one of the cages.
I took a lipstick out of Taylor's purse and wrote, 'Hiya yeerk Bitch say hi to Visser 3 for me- Feralae' Then I hung the keys tantalizingly out of their reach. They wouldn't be troubling anybody until it was all over.
What is bitch? Ax asked.
"A slut."
What is a slut?
"A whore."
What is a whore?
"A prostitute."
What is a prostitute?
"You don't want to know Ax, trust me." I looked down at the lipstick. It was a shade of twenty-four hour red that SO did not go with Taylor's complexion. I tossed it on the ground and crushed it. Jake, stage one complete. How are you holding up? I asked as I demorphed.
This is Alloran. We're ready to morph. Toby has completed her assault on the holding pens. Stage Two complete. Ready to begin stage Three.
"Okay Kiara," I said, taking her hand. "When we open the door, all of you fly out. Head north in a straight line and we'll catch up to you in bird of prey morph."
Kiara didn't notice as I acquired her DNA. I know that I'm not supposed to do that, but something deep inside of me was urging the outside of me to try and understand this Ellimist. I knew deep inside that understanding him and understanding Ketrans would be critical in winning the war.
I remorphed, lion. Good old Leroy Brown, I thought as the lion instincts bubbled up inside of me. With a flash of Ax's beautiful tail and a grunting roar as Tobias ripped the weakened door off it's hinges, we exploded from the compound just as we heard. "HOOOOHHHHEEEEEERRRRRRRR!!!!" As the others morphed and exploded from their hiding places.
They were followed by the hork bajir battle cry, "FREE OR DEAD!"
The Ketrans streamed out into the sunlight after the dimness of the holding cells. The yeerks were too stunned by the suddenness of the attack to react. Tobias took the time to demorph before following the Ketrans into the sky. Kiara was bringing up the rear of the Ketrans' escape. "THANK YOU FERALAE!!" She bellowed as she streamed after them.
I roared with all my might, causing a pair of Taxxons to back up. YOU'RE WELCOME KIARA!! I shouted. Then I lunged forward, literally cutting the Taxxons in half and going right on through.
The next half an hour was a blood bath. Tobias darted in and out. Ax's tail flashed. I caught a glimpse of Alloran slipping behind a building to demorph and remorph before charging back into the fray.
Slowly we worked our way along the base from one end and made our way back to the other. Then I saw something that filled my heart with dread. Two bug fighters escorting a medevac copter, they were coming right toward us! You guys they're coming! I warned them. Vissers One and Three coming up fast in a Medevac Chopper!
Then pull out all of you! We want to avoid a conflict with the Vissers! Jake shouted. Suddenly all of us pulled into a tight knot. Tobias darted into the trees ringing the perimeter of the compound. Ax and Alloran demorphed, remorphed and went next. I was demorphing at top speed behind one of the rocks. The others simply ran, darting under a ledge so that they wouldn't be seen from the air.
One by one they demorphed, remorphed, and flew. I saw Rachel snatch a white rat out from under a log before continuing on her way. I was the only one left and I was almost finished demorphing when I was suddenly surrounded by hork bajir wearing blue bands on their upper arms. Alloran had told me about these guys. They were Visser One's elite guard, like the Nazi SS or the Black Shirts during world war two.
Then I heard, "A bitch am I?" Taylor stepped out, Visser One and Visser Three in tow.
"Yup, from what I've heard from the Andilite Bandits you're one Hell of a Bitch, you hoe. Nice hot hoe yup yup. I'll bet you spend your spare time on a street corner with that phat ass of yours. I wonder how many guys you pick up a day." I could see Taylor about to blow a coronary. Her eyebrow was twitching and there was a tick jumping in her cheek.
"Such vile language for such a prissy little girl." Visser One commented. According to Marco, Visser One knew who we were, but didn't tell the other yeerks because of the advantage it gave her over Visser Three. "Tell me little girl, what interest have the bandits taken in such a wimpy species as the Ketrans?"
I chuckled darkly. "Let's just say that we're repaying a debt." I said with a sneer. Visser Three was morphing rapidly into a California Condor. It was the biggest bird that my mother had. She was cutting off escape from the air. "And infuriating the enemy is what a guerilla group such as the Andilite bandits do best. We figured at the same time we'd do the hork bajir a favor and free some of them in the process."
"Too tempting to pass up hmm? Visser 3 asked. I should have posted extra security.
I closed my eyes, focusing on the one aerial morph I had that could possibly out run the condor.
I focused on the Ketran.