Author's Note: I'm back! I'm updating really quickly now, aren't I?
(Pause)
AREN'T I?
Disclaimer: Alright, I confess! I DO own the Animorphs! I'm KAA, and I didn't come up with this until it was to late for it to be published!
Just kidding.
Chapter Fourteen: Esi's POV"Well... well, you see, Visser..." the human-Controller stuttered. He glanced at my tail. "We... that is, Sub-Visser Thirty-Four, thought that since you... er... have... shall we say, experience with the... um, Taxxon rebels, you might... uh..."
[Stop that ridiculous stammering or bring in someone competent!] I roared. The Yeerk before me went white.
"Be able to advise us," he finished quickly. Again, he glanced at my tail, which was beginning to twitch.
[Can't you figure this out on your own? Send a single Hork-Bajir out and slice them up or something, it's not that difficult!] This was foolish. I felt that my time would be better spent convincing my twin to address me by my rank.
[As if that will EVER happen,] Alloran informed me. He'd gotten quieter in the past five years, but he somehow seemed confident whenever I as little as THOUGHT about Esp. [And if it did, you probably wouldn't like it. Admit it, slug, you LIKE IT when your twin calls you Esi.]
[SHUT UP!] I screamed at him. I shouldn't have reacted. Now Alloran would have the satisfaction of knowing he'd ground my nerves. To make myself feel better, I replayed my most recent favorite fantasy, allowing Alloran to see it. In it, I was holding his wife's head under the surface of a Yeerk pool with my tail, while Alloran screamed at his own helplessness to save her.
[No,] Alloran whispered, suddenly back to my preferred state of him, weak and afraid. [No, not again... please, no. Not Jahar...] It was pathetic, but easier for me than when he fought for control. I tuned out my host body's pleading, and tuned in to the human-Controller's explanation.
"...they've managed to steal weapons from us, too, so they aren't as helpless as they have been. And they've also stolen some Bug fighters..."
[Well, if you know the situation SO WELL, why do I need to be here? This isn't the only planet with an annoying resistance, AS I'M SURE YOU ARE AWARE?]
"Visser..." the Controlled protested. "We have been informed that Earth's resistance may come here to aid the Taxxon rebels as well!"
That got my attention like nothing else could. [The Andalite Bandits will be here?]
The Yeerk looked confident at my piqued interest. "We are almost certain."
I smiled. It's rare for my to do that when I'm not torturing someone. It was even rarer for me to say what I said next. [What can I do to help?]
For the next five hours, the Sub-Visser and I exchanged what we knew of the Taxxon rebels. Their attacks occurred randomly, often taking the base completely by surprise, but the format was lamentably simple. They popped up out of the ground, tore up any Controller they could bite, stole whatever they could, and disappeared back into their tunnels. The only real tactical advantage they ever had was the element of surprise. And this time, they wouldn't even have that.
The Sub-Visser was eager. Eager to win... no. Eager to kill.
I felt a tingle in the back of my neck. I recognized it, though I hadn't felt it since the Andalite Bandits had first wounded me. Fear.
Fear of what? The Andalite Bandits were somewhat dangerous, but the Taxxon rebels were a mere nuisance. Neither group was a significant enough threat, together or separately, to cause this kind of fear.
Fear of the Sub-Visser. She had a Hork-Bajir host, with wickedly glittering blades. She was obviously experienced with them. That was normal with the Yeerk Empire. It was her eagerness to use them that unnerved me. She was far to eager. Far to bloodthirsty.
Far to much like me.
I dismissed my worries. It wouldn't matter. After today, I would go back to Earth, and I would probably never see this particular Sub-Visser again. It was time to decide which morph I would use to eliminate the resistance.
The Andalite Bandits, AND the Taxxon rebels? It was to perfect. This would require an all-purpose killer. I chose my personal favorite.
Antarean Bogg.
BRRRRRRRR-EEEEEEEEEEEET! BRRRRRRRR-EEEEEEEEEEEET! BRRRRRRRR-EEEEEEEEEEEET!
The attack! It had begun! I began to morph.
I emerged a few moments later. I was disappointed. The Taxxon rebels were there, certainly—but where were the Andalite Bandits?
[They must be in Taxxon morph,] I decided. Alloran laughed.
[They wouldn't do that in an attack. For spy missions, maybe, but no one wants to be a worm when they don't have to be.]
Even I had to admit he was right. I turned it against him. I have a talent for that. [Which is why Yeerks take host bodies. Since you understand so well, why do you resist me?]
My host began to scream at me. His thoughts were scrambled in his rage, but I understood enough to guess at the rest. Most of it was profane.
A Dracon beam hit me suddenly. I had been distracted. Now I was losing consciousness.
Right before things went black, I saw someone who couldn't possibly have been there. But there he was, almost hidden by the wreck of a Bug fighter, still pointing at me with his Dracon beam.
Esp. My twin. He'd shot me.
Alloran spoke weakly. He was more alert than I, but he, like me, was blacking out. [Can you blame him?]
Author's Note: You all thought he was going to say it was Elfangor, didn't you? CONFESS! YOU THOUGHT HE'D SEEN ELFANGOR!
Nah, that doesn't happen until later. Sorry this chapter is so short. I'm trying to do a minimum of one thousand words per chapter, but I just couldn't type that much this time. In case you can't tell, I can't type evil psychopathic personalities very well. Which is weird, because I have a semi-evil, mildly psychotic personality myself. At least on the computer.
Since she was to late to vote last time, AND ACTUALLY WOULD HAVE, I'm letting Korean Pearl decide whose POV the next chapter should be from. You go, girl! (Signed review, please. I don't want someone impersonating you.)
Mob: WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER READERS WHO WERE TO LATE TO VOTE LAST TIME AND ACTUALLY WOULD HAVE?
Me: Look, I'm tired of setting dates and waiting. I'm tired of choosing. So I'm asking someone with good ideas, whom I'd trust with this sort of thing, and who hasn't voted before, to help me.
Mob: WHAT ABOUT WRAITHLORD42?
Me: He'll have his chance later.