Landing their nameless ship would have required an enormous mess of red tape that would have bogged the Andalites down for dekarotes. They were an unregistered, unknown vessel making an unscheduled stop for reasons they could not adequately explain. And while the residents of Ulian were not strangers to such things, it was a whole lot easier to slip Acario and Estrid in quietly than try to get through the enormous mess that docking on the planet would make. So when they were in orbit, just beyond the close-range sensors of Ulian, Acario and Estrid boarded the ship's single fighter and took off. It was a whole lot easier to slip a single fighter onto the planet than it would be to hide a full-sized transport ship.

Estrid would have liked to pace the ship, but there was not enough room for that. She had to content herself by impatiently tapping her tailblade against one of her rear hooves. Acario slouched at the command interface. He held two fingers to it casually, keeping his main eyes on the viewscreen. His stalk eyes drifted around the cockpit, though they paused far too often on Estrid, and for far too long..

(Must you continue to stare at me?) she sighed after she caught him lingering for a third time.

(I'm not staring,) Acario said defensively. (I'm just...you seem nervous. Have you ever been to a world like this before?)

(Never,) she admitted. (I have only been off of the homeworld once, and that was...not pleasant.)

(You should get around more,) Acario answered. She glared at him for a moment before he realized the reason why. (Sorry, I really didn't mean it like that. There's a lot of interesting things to see out in the galaxy; it's a big place. You can find some really interesting stuff. But I really don't think there's much chance of that on this planet.)

(I thought this was an industrialized world, frequented by many species.)

(Yeah. Just like a dozen other ones in this sector. You've seen one, you've seen them all. They all blur together after a while.)

(How many have you seen?)

(Worlds like this? Maybe two dozen, all told. I find it's usually best to avoid these sorts of places when I can. There are always two kinds of people on top in these places: the local governmental official and the biggest crime lord.)

(I have found that those two often end up being one and the same,) Estrid observed. Bitterly, she added, (It seems that far too often, those authorities who you should be able to trust turn out to be the ones you can rely on least.)

Acario nodded. (That's where I run into problems, you see.)

(The crime lords do not appreciate new competition on their worlds, I take it.)

(Nah, that isn't it. I'm not competition for anyone. I'm just a petty crook. I do a little smuggling, a little peddling, maybe a quick con or two, but I'm nothing to these sentients. I come, I swap some stuff, I leave. Problem is, I seem to have the worst luck. I'm always getting into trouble with sentients I shouldn't have problems with. I spend a couple of dekarotes in a place like this, and suddenly I've got a price on my head and need to hop over a couple systems to keep the bounty hunters off. )

(I would hope that those bounties have expired by now. I would rather not have to defend you from bounty hunters.)

(I take care of myself just fine,) Acario answered. Thinking back to her fight with Sabion, though, he added, (But I'll admit I'm glad to have you with me.)

She rolled her main eyes. (I am certain. Are you going to invite me for some more...whatever that was?) Estrid tried to sound confident, but her voice shook a little.

(Nah, nothing like that. I just mean your blade can be scary.) When Estrid made no reply, he continued, (I've still got a few friends here, but they aren't going to be too quick to tail-slap us when they find out I didn't bring them any presents.)

(So how do we evade the local customs security? Would you like me to send them a false identification signal or...)

(I try to be as quiet as I can be at times like these. We'll take one of the smuggler paths down to the planet and dock in one of the...well, let's say that they're less careful about keeping track of who comes and who goes.)

(Smuggler paths?)

(No matter how good security is, there are always a few gaps in the fence. That's how you slip in things you're not supposed to have – or sentients who are trying not to be seen. With this planet, it's a design flaw in the security sensors. At one point -)

(One of the planet's moons pulls one of the security sensors out of alignment, creating a blind spot through which we can approach undetected,) Estrid finished. (Yes, I can see that.)

(I'm impressed. Have you done this before?)

(No. Have you?)

(I'd say about a hundred times, if I'm feeling modest. One-fifty if I'm in an honest mood.)

(I do not think you have an honest mode.)

(Did I manage to get a joke out of you?)

(I was being completely serious. How did you get involved in drugs and smuggling?)

(What, Uncle Ally didn't brief you on me?)

(He told me not to drink anything you gave me. That was approximately it. I could find very little else about you, even in the public records. Only that you were expelled from the Central Academy.)

(Yeah, that sounds about right.)

(After that, there is no record of you at all.)

(No public record. You weren't checking the TCS files.)

(Why would Transcontinental Security have files on you?)

(It's kind of a long story.)

(Until that moon gets in the proper position, we are not going anywhere.)

Acario thought about it for a few moments. (Yeah, alright. I've never been one to be ashamed of my past. For about a kilorote after I got kicked out of the Academy, I went to work for my uncle. He knew a thing or two about smuggling. He ran quite the successful operation, probably the most profitable one in the west. TCS busted him when he was trying to pawn off an Escafil Device to some Mak. They were going to have him executed, but they wanted to try and find out what else he sold to who. Turns out TCS takes Seerows's Kindness pretty seriously. I, being the good nephew I am, tried to bust him out. I didn't succeed and had to get lost myself. So I ended up wandering around, dodging the military and trying to make a living of my own.)

Estrid stared at him with all four eyes for a full minute. Finally, she managed to form her jumbled thoughts into a coherent sentence. (Those are some very serious crimes.)

(You bet your stalks they are.)

(So why did you come back to the homeworld?)

(Pretty simple, really. Uncle Ally called me, and I had to answer. My father was a pretty close friend of his before the old Butcher got Yeerked. They served under Seerow together, and both were there when the Yeerks turned on us. He kept on working with the Butcher for a while, even stayed with him after the whole disaster on Hork-bajir. But eventually...well, my father was always a lucky Andalite. Maybe he relied on that a little too much, because one day, his luck ran out. A stray Dracon beam took him right through the head. Uncle Ally took pretty good care of us after that. After everything else that happened, when he needed a tail, I didn't have much choice but to give him mine.)

Acario took a few moments and shook himself out of his narrative. (Uncle Ally used to be a great guy, before all this happened to him. You mentioned you studied under his brother...)

Estrid nodded slowly. (Yes. I was to be his successor. He was...a very different being. I would rather not discuss it.)

(In that case, there's a bottle of oeda juice in the lower-left container.)

(I am not going to drink anything you give me.)

(You can pour it yourself if you want, but I've got to do something until this moon gets into position.)

(There are no orbital sensors around this planet,) Calnen reported. Alloran gave no indication that he heard. There was no need to acknowledge something like that. (Long-range sensors indicate only one notable cluster of structures on this side of the planet. According to the echo-images, it is most likely some sort of temple that served as the main Kelbrid command post for this planet.)

(Alludra, do we have any data on the range of Kelbrid sensors?) Alloran demanded.

(No, father. Acario never had need to document it.)

(Very well. Calnen, activate the cloaking system and put us down one decirote's trot from the temple. That should keep us covered. Sabion, initialize the Shredder batteries just in case. Slow initialization, there is no need to let everyone know where here by announcing it with sudden power surges. Calnen, any sign of the Yeerk ship?)

(Nothing so far, War-Prince, but there is dense forest around the temple-area, as well as numerous rocky outcroppings. It could be present.)

(Good. Take it slow, pilot.)

Alloran pulled his Shredder-gauntlet tighter. He flexed the fingers of his cestus-shrouded hand and twitched his tail. The old War-Prince was ready for a fight. He hadn't had the luxury of one for kilorotes and it would feel good to strike down a Hork-bajir with his own tail again.

Calnen set them down quietly and all gathered in the southern shaft to disembark. (Remember that these Yeerks possess an Escafil Device,) Alloran noted. (They are, unfortunately, morph-capable. They could be anything, anyone, anywhere. Additionally, remember that Hork-bajir are tree-dwellers. Always keep a stalk up. Alludra, you have read Acario's reports more than anyone else. What can we expect from the Kelbrid here?)

(I am not sure. Information about the Kelbrid is vague. They are rarely seen, and Acario never had much interaction with them. There are rumors that they have strange, mystical powers, but Acario believes those are lies the Kelbrid spread themselves. According to his physical description, they are not likely dangerous.)

(Anyone who can hold a weapon is dangerous,) Alloran muttered. (Be on your guard, all of you.)

The War-Prince took point, with Calnen and Alludra walking side-by-side and Sabion bringing up the rear. Despite their size, the Andalites were silent as they stalked through the forest, moving with the grace and ease that only creatures accustomed to walks through the trees could. No one spoke. The only sounds were the planet's ambiance and the occasional tightening of a strap by one of the Andalites.

After an hour and a half, the silence deepened. Now, not even a bird chirped, nor did an animal move in the underbrush. There was no sound. None at all. It was the lack of sound that comes before an ambush – or during a walk through an empty graveyard. The less they heard the more paranoid the Andalties got. When the wind scratched a tree branch against another, it took an act of will for the warriors not to shoot at the sound out of reflex. Few understand how truly terrifying silence can be. In that quarter-rote, those four Andalites learned first hand.

At last they came to the edge of the trees. Beyond them was a village. Small, primitive huts stood in clusters. In the center of the village was a large, spherical structure made of a reflective black material. Nothing moved. There was no sound coming from the village at all. (Deserted?) Sabion asked.

(Perhaps,) Alloran muttered.

(What do you think happened?) the young warrior asked. (Do you think the Yeerks took all the villagers?)

(Perhaps,) Alloran repeated. He walked forward almost mechanically, as though he did not have control over his body. The others followed, their Shredders and tails at the ready. When they entered the village, they saw that there was little need for that.

Bodies lay here and there. Many of them resembled four-foot tall bears covered in scales instead of fur. Their lifeless hands clutched primitive spears, bows, and clubs. Mixed in with those bodies were six lifeless Hork-bajir. At the fringes, the bodies were perfectly intact, without any wounds on them at all. But as they got closer to the black, spherical building in the center of the village, the bodies were in worse shape. Some were missing eyes or fingers. Some were missing entire limbs. And some where completely dismembered.

There was not a speck of blood anywhere.

(What...what in yaolin could have done this?) Alludra gasped.

(I can think of no weapon with this capability,) Calnen responded, sounding dazed.

(This is impossible...) Sabion trailed off.

Alloran remained silent, lost in his own thoughts. He was sickened at the sight of these slaughtered beings. Who had killed them? Why? How?

(It must have been the Kelbrid,) Calnen surmised. (The destruction is greatest closest to the sphere. Such an unknown weapon could only have come from them.)

Alloran said nothing. Instead, he slowly raised his arm and pointed his palm towards the black sphere. He did not know why the Kelbrid had slaughtered these people. But it angered him. He had been called the Butcher of Hork-bajir, but nothing he had done was like this. Not like this. He sent the thought-signal to the device on his arm. Beams of green light lanced out of the lens on the palm of his hand again and again, striking the building. Some danced off, reflecting off of some unknown force. They struck huts, setting them ablaze. The other Andalites hunkered behind their cestus shields to avoid being harmed by the ricocheting blasts. Alloran remained still, shooting until his hand was numb and a good section of the sphere was rubble.

Then, slowly, something appeared from behind some of the rubble. A familiar shape. Tall. Bladed. Dark green...a Hork-bajir. Alloran took more careful aim. (It has been far too long since I killed one of you, Yeerk scum.)

The Hork-bajir raised her hands. "Rah Jaget no Yeerk. Rah Jaget free. Free like Andalite. Yeerk dead."

(How did it die?) Alludra asked.

"It die when he come. Die like rest."

(He who?) Sabion asked, now lowering his weapon.

"He. He that killed all them. Yeerks try to fight him, but he...he kill them."

(How did he do that?) Calnen asked.

"Rah Jaget no know. One moment, Def attacking him. Yeerks attacking him. Then Def dead. Yeerks dead. The Hork-bajir no understand and they attack him. But not Rah Jaget. Rah Jaget recognize him."

(Who is he?) Alloran demanded, stepping closer. He lowered his weapon, but he was now within tail range.

"Rah Jaget no know name but Rah Jaget see him before."

(Where?) Alloran asked as nicely as he could.

"Rah Jaget see him on Earth."

(It had to be Prince Aximili,) Sabion decided. (Only an Andalite could have this sort of power. I don't know how, but it had to be him.)

But Rah Jaget was not finished. The hork-bajir knelt on the ground and drew a shape in the dirt with one clawed finger. The shape she drew didn't look anything like an Andalite. It looked like a hawk.