Acario spun around, knocking over a creature that looked like a cross between an elephant and a slug as he did so. The building was crowded, filled with all kinds of different creatures. The Howler was walking through the front door almost casually. Acario barely aimed before he fired his palm Shredder twice. The two beams of green light stabbed into the Howler's eyes. The monster stumbled back, clutching at its face. Acario moved.
He ducked down, morphing as he ran. The snake-like thing he had acquired earlier; that would blend in better. There were several of them here. Some sort of restaurant, Acario guessed; not that it mattered. He ran for the kitchen as fast as he could, though he fell to the floor when his legs retracted. A few precious moments later, he was slithering along. He ignored the shouts of the cooking staff as he shoved through them, slithering out the back door.
Less than three blocks later, he stopped in his tracks as the Howler emerged from around a corner, a hideous smile on its face. Acario had intended to try and pass himself off as just another...whatever this thing was... but somehow, he could tell that the Howler knew. It began trotting towards him, its claws retracting and springing out again in anticipation.
Acario raised his Shredder arm, more thankful than ever before that Estrid and the other scientists had designed a morph-capable weapon. Just as he fired, the Howler opened its mouth, cutting through the noise of the city and deafening the Andalite with an almost concussive "KEEERRRROOOOWW!"
The world disappeared into a haze of red. There was no sound but the Howler's trademark screech. Acario fell over, his Shredder firing wildly. A few moments later, the haze cleared, and the sound faded. The sigh that replaced it may have been worse. The Howler stood over Acario, one claw gripping him by his serpentine neck. The other was raised for a killing blow.
Acario stared up at the Howler. Something higher up caught his eye. The blasts from his Shredder had cut a line of destruction along the top of the building next to them, badly weakening it. With one good shot, there was a chance...
The Howler leaned in close. "My master commands your death, Andalite. Game over." Then, the strangest thing happened. The Howler leaned in even closer and kissed him, sharp teeth scraping over the space just below his morphs eye. It was enough time for Acario to snap out one final shot. There was a CRACK as a chunk of the building broke loose. The Howler looked up. Acario fired at the Howler, the force of the blast at such close range pushing them both apart and tearing Acario out of the Howler's grip.
Something surged within Acario, a feeling he could not describe. For a moment, it felt like he was holding his breath, watching a spinning coin, waiting to see which way it would land. His heart pounded and time seemed to slow. Then, all at once, the coin landed and time sped up again. The Howler took a step forward.
A hundred pounds of Kelbrid concrete-analogue crushed it flat.
Acario demorphed, gasping. The odds of that...impossible. His luck had always been good, but this... His thoughts cut off as he noticed something seeping out from beneath the chunk of building. A red and black gel that was slowly turning tan and liquifying.
Not wanting to touch whatever it was, Acario hollowed out a bowl from a larger piece of the building and scooped up some of it. Estrid had made some kind of super-virus. She could probably figure out what this stuff was. One thing was clear, though. Whatever he had just killed was no Howler.
Alloran, Alludra, and Calnen waited on the nameless ship's bridge, eight eyes glued on the planet below. Neither Alloran nor Alludra voiced their silent fear that they would be too late to rescue Acario. Sabion was keeping watch over Rah Jaget as usual. Calnen was guiding their ship into place. A voice crackled over the ship's external communications sytem.
(War-Prince Alloran?) Calnen began. (We are within orbit of the planet. Spaceport authorities are requesting identification. As our ship has none, I do not know what to tell them...)
Alloran swiveled an eye to gaze at Calnen. (I'm not deaf, you know. I can hear them just fine. Steady, Calnen. Tell them nothing.)
(Sir?)
(Keep flying. Bring us down to land as close to the fighter's beacon as you can. Ignore the authorities.)
(Sir, will that not - )
Alloran's tailblade twitched. (I did not take you for the type to question me, Calnen.)
(Yes, Sir.)
Alludra sighed. (Father, they will want to know who we are and what we are doing here. We cannot just ignore them.)
(Our presence here is an act of war. This ship is an invading force,) Alloran answered. (Telling them the truth will start a war we cannot afford. Lying will be more trouble than it is worth.)
The voice crackled over the communications again. (Sir,) Calnen repeated.
(What did I tell you?) Alloran answered. (Just. Keep. Flying.)
(You heard what he said,) Alludra argued. (They will be sending fighters to intercept us.)
(Good for them. What are they going to do, shoot us down?)
(Yes! That is exactly what they said!) Alludra answered.
(I'd like to see that. If they open fire on us, I will take the weapons station myself. The four Shredder batteries on this ship are upgraded versions of the ones on Dome ships. The shielding is at a comparable level.)
(That still does not mean fighting their whole planet is an advisable course of action,) Alludra answered.
(Sir, I must agree with Alludra. We should negotiate our way through proper channels. Acario's information has provided us with enough-)
(We don't have time!) Alloran shouted. (I don't care if we have some incident with the spaceport authorities! Right now, I have reason to believe that my people is in trouble down there. First, we extract our people. Then, we worry about any diplomatic necessities. Something you should have learned in your history lessons, Calnen. My first priority is always to my own. Land near the fighter's beacon. If they send escorts, ignore them. If they attack, I will kill them.)
Calnen lowered his stalks. (Yes, Sir.)
The communications system crackled again. Alludra pressed a palm to the pad next to it and hissed something in the Taxxon language. There was a pause. The voice came again. Something about it sounded uncertain. Alludra hissed again, louder this time. When the authorities tried to speak a third time, Alludra shut down the communications system. (There. Now they will think we do not speak any language known to them. That gives us perfect reason to ignore them.)
Alloran grumbled something vaguely approving.
They were making their descent into the atmosphere when the communications system lit up again. (Ignore them,) Alloran commanded.
(Sir? I think - )
(I said ignore them!) Alloran shouted.
Alludra sighed. (Dad? That's the fighter's channel.)
(Oh.) Then, (CALNEN! What are you waiting for! Answer it!)
(Yes, Sir,) Calnen answered, trying very hard not to sigh. The flat of Alloran's blade in the back of his head confirmed that he failed. A life-sized hologram of Estrid appeared before the communcations system.
(War-Prince Alloran. There is a complication. We believe we have found the Yeerks. But Acario is in grave danger and needs your help. Please, come as soon as you are able.)
(How about two minutes?) Alloran answered.
(Two minutes? But how...you were already in the system?)
(Things on Svutan were complicated. I will explain later. Do you know where Acario is right now?)
(I built tracers into all of the equipment I issued for this mission,) Estrid answered. (You can follow his movements exactly.)
(Alright. Get in that fighter and follow us. Calnen, take us to Acario. Now.)
(Directly to him?) Calnen asked.
(You're feeling insubordinate today, Calnen. Do. As. I. Say.)
(Yes, Sir.)
Acario was halfway back to the fighter when he felt the fur on the back of his head stand on end. Again he felt that strange, twisting sensation he had felt when the concrete fell on the Howler. He turned a corner. A blast of laser fire tore a chunk out of the street just behind him. (What now?) he wondered. Readying his Shredder gauntlet, he peered one stalk eye around the corner. Through an open window of a building down the street, he could just barely make out another Howler. (Three Howlers after me? No chance.) He spared another glance for the bowl he carried, filled with that strange goo. No, they weren't Howlers. But what were they?
They looked like Howlers. They certainly fought like them – though Acario had to admit that the first one had died more easily than he expected. And clearly they had Howler healing powers. But three Howlers wouldn't be hunting down one Andalite. And even if they were, they wouldn't go about it this way, coming after him one at a time. It was almost as though they didn't know about each other, or were working independently, but Acario knew that was impossible. Whenever a group of Howlers was in an area, they operated together. So what was going on here?
It was largely irrelevant at the moment, of course. Acario returned fire. The Howler leaped from the window, straight into the Shredder blasts. They fizzled away limbs, but the Howler ignored it. It fell three stories to the ground. A moment later, it was standing straight up, unharmed. Acario groaned as it advanced on him, its own energy weapon tearing pieces out of the wall and street. Energy bolts bounced off of the Andalite's cetsu shield as he held his position, returning fire.
It was a pointless fight. No matter how many times he shot the Howler, the thing was healed up again in seconds. By himself, there was no way Acario could do enough damage to kill it. Not before it could heal back up. He sighed and turned around, dashing down the street as fast as he could. The whole situation was confusing. Howlers fighting like themselves but acting strangely – and dissolving into strange goo when they were killed. This wasn't right, and until he knew what he was actually dealing with, Acario had no desire to stand and fight it.
Estrid. Chemistry was her chosen field of study. She would be able to tell what this gooey stuff was. Maybe that would tell Acario what he needed to know. And maybe then he'd be able to get these ones off of his back.
Estrid's saw Alloran's ship in the skies above Ulian. Two ships of a strange, bell-shaped design were flanking the spherical ship, but Alloran seemed to be ignoring them. Estrid herself was in the cockpit of the fighter ship, flying low and with the cloak up to avoid notice. Some probably saw the tell-tale ripple of air that announced a hidden ship, but she doubted anyone would comment on it to anyone important. She zoomed just over the buildings of Ulian, going straight to Acario's beacon. Estrid had never considered herself more than a competent pilot, but she had learned a thing or two from an Andalite named Gonrod. Though a notorious coward in any other situation, the Andalite was fearless while flying.
Something caught Estrid's eye as she neared Acario's position, but she flew too fast to get a good look at it. Reluctantly, she circled around and decelerated. As she neared the location again, she saw it. It was a Howler, standing on top of a building. It looked like the other two she had seen, but it was carrying a good deal of equipment. A large pack on its back had some sort of antenna – communications or monitoring equipment, she guessed. It wore a bandoleer across its chest, but instead of carrying ammunition or explosives, there were dozens of small, tube-shaped containers. Very odd.
It held a visor to its eyes and was gazing in the direction Estrid's tracking equipment assured her led to Acario. This Howler was observing. Was that odd for them? She had no idea.
She opened a channel to Alloran's ship. It took a moment before Calnen answered. He was rubbing the back of his head and was squinting in pain. (Greetings again, Estrid. What is it?)
(I've got a Howler here. He's on top of a building, and seems to be observing Acario and his pursuer. Would the War-Prince like me to apprehend the Howler, or go after Acario?)
(Get Acario,) Alloran answered. (This ship is equipped with four capital-grade Shredder batteries. I will 'apprehend' the Howler.)
(Yes, sir,) Estrid answered, trying not to show her opinion of Alloran destroying a building on a Kelbrid world. Hopefully, Alludra could convince him to utilize some tact. She peeled away from the Howler, making way again for Acario's position. He was on the move, though not too quickly. Clearly, he was still on hoof.
It was easy enough to catch up to him, but considerably harder to find a way to extract him. Unlike Alloran, Estrid was not in favor of turning her fighter's weapons against buildings or civilians. Acario seemed to be keeping away from the Howler pursuing him, but it did not look like he was going to lose the creature any time soon. Though Acario was faster, beings of all sorts made way for the Howler. Neither looked like they were going to tire.
Finally, Acario turned into a wide alley. Estrid accelerated and overtook him, bringing the ship down at the far end and aimed the Shredder at the Howler. She hesitated before firing, though. The ship was still cloaked, invisible. Neither seemed to know she was there. Acario ran with abandon, speeding forward as fast as he could.
Straight into the cloaked ship.
He fell to the ground with a cry. That was when Estrid decided to fire. Not even the Howler's regenerative abilities were a match for the powerful Shredder canon the fighter carried. It sizzled for a moment, and then disappeared without a trace.
As Acario struggled to his feet, Estrid uncloaked the ship and opened the Ramonite door. She spent the next several minutes insisting that she hadn't intended for Acario to run into the ship.
It was a harmless lie.
Calnen tore through the skies of Ulian, feeling close to panicking. Any minute now, these ships would get tired of flanking them and open fire. Alloran would begin shooting at the Ulians, and things would only degenerate from there. (Sir, with all due respect-)
(Why do you keep talking?) Alloran wondered.
(I do not mean to be insubordinate, sir. It is only that, as your tactical adviser, I feel that it is within the realm of my duties to advise you that-)
(Calnen? If this keeps up, I am going to advise you to begin searching our database for the best way to extract your own tail from -)
(Father? Calnen?) Alludra interrupted. (The communications relay?)
Calnen answered it without thinking and was rewarded with the flat of Alloran's tailblade in the back of his head. It was the third time in less than an hour. The caller was Estrid again. Acario was visible in the background, bleeding from a head injury.
(I see you got him,) Alloran greeted her. (Good job. The Howler you mentioned was not at the coordinates you specified, though. I assume he saw you and moved.)
(He could not have noticed me,) Estrid argued.
(Howlers, I hear, have good eyes,) Alloran answered.
(But he was focusing on Acario. It takes concentration or a great deal of luck to notice the slight ripple a cloaked ship gives off.)
Acario butted in. (Howlers can see heat. Probably saw the heat from your engines.)
(Then why did the one chasing you not notice me?) Estrid responded.
(I don't know. Maybe he was too focused on me to notice.)
(Too focused to notice a ship landing in front of him?) she answered.
Acario had no response to that.
(It is irrelevant now. Why are they after you?) Alloran demanded.
(I killed someone important a few years back,) Acario explained. (They're bounty hunters.)
(They will lose track of you when we exit the system.)
(A Howler? Don't be so sure, old man. Something...weird...is going on here.)
(Estrid? You said you found the Yeerks. Where?)
(What are you going to do?) she answered.
(What any logical commander would do. I am going to fly to where they are, point all four of these batteries at them, and fire them all at once.)
(And if Prince Aximili is with them?) she asked.
(That was only a rough plan.)