Acario got them a docking bay near bay 387 and put the bubble ship down there. A bit if salt convinced their escort to confirm that they were harmless, so they were finally being left alone. Alloran and Rah Jaget stood in the fighter as Alloran brought it over bay 387. The Hork-bajir was quiet. No one had informed her of what was going to happen. If there was any truth to her claims, she probably knew already.
Bay 387 held a largish ship. It was about two thirds the size of a Blade ship, around two-hundred feet long. The design was very definitely Yeerkish. It was painted the darkest shade of black available and sported the sharp angels and sleek lines that yeerks liked in their ships. It was basically a cylinder with an X of swept-back wings crossing through it in the middle. It was thinner near the front and got noticeably larger where the wings joined. Most likely, they had melded the Yeerk transport craft to a local ship.
Efflit 1318 was standing outside of the ship, with several Hork-bajir behind him. Two of them were holding an Andalite's tail behind his back while a third held him still. There was no mistaking it. It was definitely Prince Aximili. Alloran brought the fighter in for a landing and pushed Rah Jaget out of the hatch, following her. (Here's the Hork-bajir. Now give me Prince Aximili.)
"So demanding," Efflit answered, smiling. "You catch more flies with honey, you know."
Alloran put his tailblade against the Hork-bajir's neck. (Give me Prince Aximili, or the key to finding this Allseer you want will be beyond your reach forever.)
"Oh, much better. See, that's using your head, Alloran. Of course..." Efflit raised a hand and the Hork-bajir Controllers leveled Dracon beams at the two of them. "...do you think you can strike faster than one of these Dracon beams can stun you? I doubt it, but I do not like to take chances. So what say you pass her over to me and we all walk away."
(I will give her to you when Prince Aximili is in my ship.)
"Of course, of course." At a nod from Efflit, the Hork-bajir marched Aximili towards the fighter. They were almost to the hatch when Ax stopped moving and Efflit flinched. A moment later, something landed on top of the fighter. It was a large bird, very far from home.
(Tobias...) Alloran whispered.
(Alloran,) he answered. He turned his eyes on Aximili. (Gotta say, this is kind of out of character. Ax was never one for games. So how about you reveal yourself?) He turned his golden gaze on Efflit. (Or I rip this Yeerk out of its host's head.)
A moment passed. Then, the Hork-bajir let go of Ax's arms and tail. The Andalite straightened up. Immediately, Alloran could tell there was something wrong with him. Something about his posture or...it was difficult to define. But Alloran could sense from him the same menace that had pervaded his own soul when he was enslaved by Esplin. The Andalite-Controller ignored Alloran and focused on Tobias. (So, you survived the crash. It was you who was responsible for that unpleasantness on Svutan, then.)
(Of course.)
(Pity. I had hoped he came to me and saved me a good deal of trouble. It would have been more convenient to end my search here.)
(Oh, don't worry. I can make sure it ends here.) A moment later, he added, (Alloran, I hate to tell you this, but he knows your people were hiding in the ship in small morphs. He can feel them. Best to have them demorph, this is going to get rough.)
Efflit frowned. "I do hate it when someone spoils the surprise."
(Don't try to fight that thing. It's mine,) Tobias added. (Get Rah Jaget out of here. She's more important than it knows.)
Tobias fluttered down and stood in front of Aximili. Alloran took a quick glance around him and then spoke to his troops. (Demorph. And prepare to fight.)
(Alloran, don't do something stupid.)
(I do not run from Yeerks any more than you do.) Behind him, Alloran's crew began to grow from various small animals.
Tobias turned his gaze on Aximili. (Fighting Yeerks is one thing. That...that isn't a Yeerk.)
In response, Aximili turned to face Alloran. A red gash appeared in the lower portion of his face. It grew into a hideous mouth rimmed with red teeth. He smiled.
Alloran took a step back. (What are you?)
(I am The One. The One who is Many. The One who is All. The One who will Rule.)
(The one who is going to die,) Alloran answered.
The One chuckled. It spoke with its mouth. "Alloran. You are as you always were. A fool, sent to amuse the likes of me."
Something struck Alloran, lifting him off of the ground and hurling him backwards. Calnen broke his fall and the two of them tumbled across the ground. Slowly, bruised, they pulled themselves to their hooves. Alloran saw a Hork-bajir lunge for Rah Jaget, but he never got close. Some invisible force lifted Rah Jaget from the ground and put her on the roof of the fighter. Unseen blades mutilated the Hork-bajir.
The One turned its main eyes on Tobias. The metal beneath the hawk cracked and fissured, but the Animorph remained untouched. A section of the steel floor peeled itself off and flew at The One, only to drop to the ground when it got within a few feet of him. (What in yaolin was that?) Acario demanded.
(The first blows,) Alloran answered. (Attack!)
Efflit nodded to his Hork-bajir. "Enough of the drama. Shoot them."
Two dozen Dracon beams fired at once. They bounced harmlessly off of the cetsu shields the Andalites hastily erected. (Return fire!) Alloran called.
The coordinated flash of green light was blinding. For a moment, the Andalites could see nothing. Then their eyes cleared. All of the Hork-bajir stood still, unharmed. Efflit smirked. "Please, Alloran. Please." He nodded to the ship behind him. "We're standing within the ship's shields."
Alloran winced. (He always was too clever for anyone's good,) he muttered. (Sabion, Alludra, and I will form a frontal shield. Calnen, Acario, and Estrid, remain behind us. We are going to get Rah Jaget.)
(And then what?) Acario asked, nodding to The One. (We going to get that...thing there?)
(I don't know,) Alloran answered. (Rah Jaget first.)
The Andalites slid to the side, towards the fighter. Tobias and The One glared at each other, the docking bay warping around them. The floors quivered and broke. Pieces of the walls and debris flew. The One was sweating and Tobias was breathing heavily. Unseen knives slashed at one another. They pummeled at each other with invisible fists, each turning the blows aside. They were evenly matched.
"Impossible!" The One shouted. "Where could you have learned to use your power?"
(Funny thing. The Allseer isn't all that hard to find.)
Efflit frowned as the Andalites made their way towards their ship, "Can't have them making off with that Hork-bajir," he sighed. He nodded to a Hork-bajir next to him. "Stun her." To another, he ordered, "Get it out here. I think we might need it."
A beam of red light struck Rah Jaget. She fell forward from the roof of the fighter. A moment later, the Andalites surrounded her. (Get her in the ship,) Alloran ordered.
Something came out of the Yeerk ship. At first, the figure was indistinct, hidden behind the ranks of Hork-bajir. They parted for it and Alloran frowned. It was a Howler, if the descriptions he heard were correct. This one wore a series of loose belts around its torso, each of which carried a different weapon. There was a standard energy gun, like a Shredder or a dracon beam. There was a second gun, one that appeared designed to shoot projectiles. It was very similar to human pistols. A third firearm seemed to be a sort of dart gun. In addition, the Howler wore several knives and small, curved-metal pieces that appeared designed to be thrown.
The Howler led with its energy beam, firing at the Andalites. The cetsu shields reflected the beams. The Howler holstered that weapon and drew the pistol.
(The cetsu does not block projectiles,) Estrid reminded them grimly.
Acario opened fire. The pistol in the Howler's hand sizzled and vaporized. So did the hand, but a moment later, it grew back. The Howler smiled. "Afraid of that one. I see."
In a flash, it was halfway to the Andalites. A split second later, all six Andalites opened fire. The Howler moved unbelievably fast. It twisted and dodged, still advancing at blinding speed. Some of the Shredder fire hit it, but not nearly enough; not nearly as much as should have. A few holes showed through its chest, and it was missing an arm, but the wounds were already repairing themselves. The howler was among them now. It opened its mouth to unleash its signature cry.
It stopped, coughing and choking. Acario stumbled and collapsed against the side of the ship. Alloran and Sabion lost no time. Almost simultaneously, they ignited their tailblades and slashed at the Howler with energized blades. The Howler raised its claws to parry the blows, but they were sliced clean off. It leaped back and drew the dart gun.
Efflit gazed across the docking bay at the Andalite who had collapsed against the side of the ship. "Interesting. He is already managing some manner of control. Best grab him and the Hork-bajir both." Satisfied that the Andalites were sufficiently engaged with the Howler, Efflit nodded. "Move out." The Hork-bajir advanced.
Alloran saw the advancing lines of Hork-bajir and grimaced. (We have to pull out. Sabion, Estrid, help me with this thing. Alludra, Calnen, get Acario and Rah Jaget into the fighter. Calnen, prep for takeoff.)
Alludra and Calnen herded Acario into the ship and then dragged Rah Jaget inside. While Calnen prepared the ship for takeoff, Alludra stood in the hatchway behind her cetsu, shooting at the Hork-bajir.
Alloran, Sabion, and Estrid stood in a triangle around the Howler. They struck all at once, three tails flashing, enhanced by their energy sheaths. The Howler twisted and dodged, deflecting their tails with strikes of its sharp claws and flashing knives. Alloran felt sharp claws sink into the shaft of his tail, turning a blow aside. Almost at the same time, Sabion stumbled back with a knife driven shallowly into his chest. Estrid's tail sliced into the Howler's side, but didn't hit anything immediately fatal. The wound was healing before her eyes.
They traded blows for only a few moments, but all four emerged battered and bloodied. The Howler dove and rolled out of the fight, one leg barely working. Sabion was bleeding badly, with a knife in his chest and one in his tail. Estrid had several deep slashes down her chest, and gash across her face where the Howler had almost gouged out her eye. Alloran may have had it the worst, with five knives buried in his upper heart and a dozen deep slashes on his tail and chest.
The Howler's wounds were still healing, but any sign of struggle would be erased in moments.
The Hork-bajir army was advancing, showering the Fighter in Dracon fire. Acario stumbled into the doorway and was shooting over Alludra's shoulder. Efflit stood within the Yeerk ship's shields, watching calmly. "Disable the engines," he ordered. "Let's keep them here."
Tobias and The One continued their silent, mostly invisible battle. Were it not for the occasional ripples in the ground, it would look as though they were only staring at each other. The air shimmered around them and the floor warped as unseen forces hammered at one another. It was a stalemate.
Alloran made a quick decision. (You two, get into the ship. Seal the hatch and put all shields to maximum. I will be back in a moment,)
(Sir?) Sabion questioned.
(DO IT!) Alloran roared. He turned and ran behind the ship. Unsure what to do, Sabion and Estrid followed his orders, backing into the hatch. Even exhausted and wounded as he inexplicably was, Acario was still an amazing shot. He stood in the doorway, leaning against Sabion as the two of them kept fire concentrated on the Howler and the Hork-bajir.
After a few moments, Calnen sealed the hatch and raised all shields to maximum. (What is the War-Prince planning?) he asked.
Acario shrugged. (No idea.) He turned his main eyes to Estrid, still leaning against Sabion. (And that? That was a Howler.)
(That was nothing like what we saw previously,) Estrid admitted.
(And what's with that bird?) Sabion demanded. (What is going on?)
(Something very, very strange,) Alludra offered. (My father feared that there were unusual forces at work in this. Perhaps...)
The ship shuddered. No doubt something was trying to get in. Most likely the Howler, with an army of Hork-bair behind it. (Transparent,) Calnen ordered the ship. The walls disappeared. On one side, the Hork-bajir clung to the side of the small fighter, trying to rip the engines off by hand and burn them away with Dracon beams. On the other side of the ship...
(Wha...what is that thing?) Acario demanded, staring with all four eyes at the monstrosity on the other side. It would be two stories tall, if it wasn't lying on the ground. It was relatively thin, most of its length taken up by thick tentacles that ended in sharp-looking, serrated pincers. The top of its body split into six different heads, all looking like a Taxxon.
For a moment, all stared at the creature. Then, it clicked in Calnen's mind. (It is the War-Prince. That must be one of the morphs that the Yeerk who controlled him used his body to acquire. The DNA is still within him.)
A moment later, the fighter was lifted into the air by some of Alloran's tentacles. The rest of his body surged forth beneath it, easily battering aside the small army of Hork-bajir. He coiled around the Howler, lashing at him with pincered-tentacles. The Howler fought well. It succeeded in slicing off several pincers and tentacles, and its dart gun almost tore off one of Alloran's heads. But such things were flesh wounds to this monster.
The Howler began to climb over the coils, digging in with its claws. It howled, but Alloran's morph seemed immune. Two pincers grabbed it by the arms and pulled. Both arms came off, but the Howler kept running. It fled back into the ship. Alloran roared out loud and in their heads. (COME, YEERK SCUM! SEE THE MONSTER YOU CREATED!)
The Hork-bajir fled, running back into the ship as well. A few brave ones dared to shoot their Dracon beams at Alloran's monster, but that only annoyed him. (PATHETIC NOTHINGS! YOU ANNOY ME!) he called, tearing the heads off of any creature foolish enough to stay where he could reach them.
Only The One remained, locked in its battle with the Animorph. Still they stared at one another, oblivious to the battle or unconcerned by it. Alloran turned to The One and reached out with one pincer. (You are coming with me!)
The One glanced at him. Everyone gasped as Alloran rose into the air, more than a dozen feet off of the ground. (Impossible!) Estrid gasped.
A blow of invisible force struck The One, throwing it several feet. Tobias had managed to strike it when it was distracted by Alloran. The War-Prince fell back to the ground. The One, realizing that it could not fight Tobias and Alloran, turned and fled for the ship as well. Alloran began to give chase. That was when the massive Dracon canon mounted beneath the nose of the ship turned towards him and fired. A huge chunk of his side was burned away, a blow nearly fatal even to this creature. The canon tried to fire again, but at the last moment it jerked to the side.
Alloran turned to Tobias. (Did you just-)
(Yes. Let's get out of here. Order your people to fly.)
(And how will we get out of here?)
(The same way.)
(Calnen! Back to the ship!) Alloran ordered. At the same time, he rose into the air, Tobias lifting him with the same power The One had used. The Animorph himself was flapping his wings, preferring to fly of his own, more natural power.
A few moments later, Alloran was demorphed and the fighter was docked with the bubble ship. Moments after that, they were in the atmosphere of Ulian, pushing out to where they could translate to Zero-Space. Tobias stood on the bridge, surrounded by the Andalites. Acario had passed out and was in his quarters. Rah Jaget was in the bubble, asleep under a tree. The others had morphed away their wounds and were now in top condition.
(Alright,) Tobias sighed. (I guess I've got some explaining to do.)