Because FFN for what ever reason has added asterisks as part of their unacceptable symbols list, translated speech will now be preceded and succeeded with dollar signs "$". Hopefully, this won't make any of my non-English speakers seem greedy.
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Esplin Nine-Four-Double-Six Prime
I swung my arm down and struck the hairy, black, humanoid creature on its shoulder, knocking it down. The small grey four-legged creature clamped its mighty jaws on one of my legs. I used my prehensile tail and flicked the creature away.
I was in the morph of a creature that had no formal name. I acquired it on a small moon, where life only existed on its north pole. It was a fairly warm climate which was odd. My morph was somewhat andalite-shaped: a lower body with four legs and a tail with a torso and head on top. My morph had white skin that was rubbery to the touch in some places and leathery in others. My four legs were more like the legs of an andalite dralei lizard or a hork-bajir chadoo. My prehensile tail was long, like a snake. My torso had two strong arms and two arm-length tentacles sprouting from the shoulder. I also had two wing-like appendages from my back that offered no flight. My head was not particular fearsome looking, but it contained a beak-like mouth that was quite sharp.
I was engaged in battle with the Andalite bandits at the human Community Center. The Andalite youth who almost never morphs struck my back with his tail blade, but my blubbery wings deflected the hit. The black creature and the brown four-legged creature that sometimes attacks on its hindlegs both charged me in unison. My arms and tentacles were able push them back.
>Foolish Andalite Bandits! Surrender now!> I threatened.
A small, dark brown blur raked my chest and caused me take a step backward. The blur then perched itself on top of the other brown creature.
Of course, the ever-present bird with the rust-red tail feathers. I made it a point to learn this creature's name: Red-tailed hawk.
>Do not speak at us, Yeerk. Wasting words is for humans, not warriors such as us.> said the hawk. >Destroy him!>
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrllll! A roar was heard. I knew the roar well. The deadliest of the Andalite bandits: the orange creature with the black stripes.
The orange creature leapt at me and I attempted to bat it aside, but it got its horrible claws into my tough skin. Worse than the claws, the orange creature attempted to bite me.
I pushed the creature off, but I was bleeding. The six bandits then started to rush me.
>Hork-Bajir!> I summoned. Instantly a small group of my warriors arrived and engaged the bandits as I made my escape. I demorphed and made my way through the hallways of the human building trying to reach the Bug Fighter that would take me back to my Blade Ship.
>Where are you running to, Visser?> said the voice.
I turned my stalk eyes to see David Hunting, the morph-human, walking toward me from a shadowed hallway. He was dressed in all black human clothing except for a long, flowy white coat like human doctors wear.
>You have fought six andalite warriors to a stand-off.> David said. His mouth moved as he talked as human mouths are wont to do. >Surely there is no reason to fear me.>
David stopped walking as he stepped out of the shadowed hallway. >Then again . . . .>
David rushed at me with the speed of a Garatron. I felt a strong hand close around my neck. Before I knew it, I was locked in struggle with a Gervasid. David in morph. I stabbed my tail blade into David several times, but I could not pierce the strong hide of his gervasid morph.
>It is time to accept the truth, Esplin. I am your new master now.> David said.
>Never.>
>The only alternative is to—>
David was interrupted by two shredder beams hitting him in the back. David looked around as if he had been hit with a raindrop.
>Human! Stop!> said the Andalite youth.
>Surrender your prisoner and yourself to us, renegade!> said the hawk.
David sighed. >This won't do.>
David released me and attacked the Andalites. I ran out of the building and looked for my cloaked Bug Fighter, but it was no where to be found.
>WHERE'S MY SHIP!> I shouted.
My Blade Ship instantly materialized, but so did David, still in gervasid morph.
>My ship now, slave!> David shouted as his immeasurably long tail whipped out and wrapped around me, imprisoning me. David walked aboard my Blade Ship and made his way to the bridge. My Temrash was there. As was Iniss, my most trusted lieutenant. My temrash was in his human host named Thomas Berenson. Iniss was in his human host, Hedrick Chapman.
>There we go,> David said as he dropped me on the floor and demorphed, >now we're all together again. I don't think Esplin will be giving us anymore trouble.>
Iniss and my temrash looked at each worriedly and back at David with cowering fealty.
They used to give me that look.
David looked around with a vacant expression. >Hey Chapman! I'm bored. Make me a weapon I can blow stuff up with.>
>Don't listen to him! He's not your master; I AM!> I shouted. I morphed to Anterean Bogg, the form I used to kill great Elfangor.
I finished my morph and looked down at David who now looked quite small and insignificant.
>Now, it is your time to die, human!> I shouted.
>Are you stupid?> David said, almost lackadaisical. >You can't kill me.>
>You will never defeat me.> I maintained. >NEVER!>
I lunged my arm at David, but David sped-morphed into a reptilian bird with razor sharp wings. He flew up toward me and his wings cut me in half. I fell to the floor in two pieces.
>You know who the boss around here is now, right?> David warned Iniss as he landed and demorphed. >Now hurry up with the weapon.>
My temrash approached me. "$Visser? Visser? We're here.$" He said in Taxxon speech.
>What?>
I woke up. David had not taken over. It was just a dream. Of course it was a dream; David was speaking in thought-speech in his own body. Plus there's no way he could have acquired that bird form he sliced me in half with. That species went extinct before he was born.
"$I apologize for waking you, my Visser,$" said the Taxxon outside the entrance to my quarters, "$but we have arrived at the chosen destination.$"
We were on our way to inspect Sub-visser five-hundred-nine's task force. They were a trap put in place to catch David.
But David now knows that his former mating partner is a controller, so naturally, the trap was near useless. Human behavior is even more unpredictable than Skrit Na, but any other sensible species would never come back here again.
Visser Two was my inspector. I'd never met him before, though we both fought at the Hork-Bajir Seizure Campaign. He was one of the first yeerks to be given the Visser rank. He was what the Andalites would have referred to as "an old hoof and tail". He was one of those old yeerks who talked about the old pools on the old world. He fought alongside great Akdor against the Andalite who is now my host.
Alloran. He was still dreaming. It is not uncommon for yeerks who have had the same host for a very long time to be able to control the host body while its consciousness was asleep or even catatonic.
Alloran was having a particularly disturbing nightmare. Much like my own. He dreamed he was in the Gale of Liberty, a field used for official ceremonies on the Andalite Home World. He dreamed he was in chains with me still in his body. Humans with large Shredder rifles had rounded up yeerks in various host bodies. Andalites were there as well, including Alloran's wife and two adult children. David was standing at officiate. He was about to perform the Hortashorm Talig, an Andalite ceremony of disgrace. Usually at a Hortashorm Talig, an Andalite official would cut off the tail of the disgraced Andalite with his own tail blade, but in the dream, David wielded an axe, a human weapon historically used for executions. David raised the axe and prepared to swing down.
I didn't want Alloran to finish this dream. >Wake up, Alloran.>
>Esplin? Why did you wake me?> Alloran asked with confusion in his voice. Normally I preferred it when he dreamed. He was quiet and his nightmares usually entertained me.
That was before we both started dreaming of him.
I did not bother answering Alloran. Except in certain cases, talking to one's host is like talking to the grass.
"$I suppose we could always wait for the young Visser to finish his beauty sleep.$" the Galard of Visser Two's gruff Hork-Bajir voice rumbled the halls of my Blade Ship. I took offense to being called young. I was nearly sixty in Andalite years, forty in human years. Given the life expectancies of yeerks today, that makes me practically geriatric. Given proper Kandrona nutrition and avoidance of certain diseases, yeerks can live up to four hundred human years, but this war makes it hard to live that long.
>'Beauty sleep' is a concept lost on you, Old One.> I retorted.
"$Young punk$" Visser Two whispered.
"$Enough, you two. I'm ready for the Visser to explain to me the purpose of this task force.$" said the Councilor.
In addition to the inspector who was also a Council of Thirteen candidate, I also got an actual Councilor. I was told I would be getting Councilor Eight, a former Visser I served under. Instead, I got Councilor Four. This Councilor was present when David Hunting sabotaged a group of technically advanced androids the Dayangs had sold me. I would have killed the dayangs responsible, but Councilor Four forbade me. I hated him.
Councilor Four had the body of a S-s-stram. S-s-stram had serpentine bodies. No legs, but they had five arms that encircled their body in a pentagram formation. One arm stuck straight out of his back; two arms were closer to the middle of his chest. The arms themselves were unremarkable, Taxxon-ish even. The head ended in curved horns useful for headbutting, a rather undignified why of fighting, if you ask me.
All five of Councilor Four's claws opened and closed quickly in unison, a S-s-stram gesture of excitement. His five arms don't have to move in unison, but they usually do. Something pertaining to S-s-stram etiquette. We yeerks sometimes feel the superficial, subconscious habits of our hosts are annoying and unimportant, but we let them go because they are just that: superficial and unimportant.
The three of us plus two of Councilor Four's Blue Bands plus two Hork-Bajir bodyguards of Visser Two's was present. Visser Two's bodyguards each wore a bandolier with a Dracon beam on it. Councilor Four's Blue Bands wore bandoliers with Dracon Beams as well, along with their signature Blue Bands. One of the Blue Bands also had a small device attached to his bandolier. Probably the Councilor's personal organizer.
As we left my Blade Ship, we passed through a new sensor that I recently had installed. It is designed to sound an alarm when a non-controller walks through it. Hopefully, it'll help protect me from the Andalite Bandits. And David. The seven of us walked through it and it confirmed that all seven of us had yeerks in our hosts' heads.
We traveled in Councilor Four's personal Carrier Ship to the planet surface. A Carrier Ship is a rather impractical and indulgent vehicle. It is larger than a Bug Fighter, but smaller than a Blade Ship. It is just large enough for a Councilor to hold political rallies with other councilors, complete with seven Gedd workers and six Blue Bands. We parked our cloaked ship in front of the large human dwelling belonging to the Gimble family. They were all controllers of course.
It was evening time on Earth, and the streets were quiet, so we had no danger of being spotted. As we entered the house, seven humans stood at attention.
"$Seven human-controllers?$" Visser Two said incredulously. "$This is your crack task force to deal with David Hunting?$"
>They are also ready to start a branch of the Sharing.> I grumbled, not really believing that part of the plan. The Sharing was the idea of the traitor Edriss, not mine.
"$And with no weapons?$" Visser Two pointed out. "$How are they supposed to defend themselves, let alone capture, a morph-capable warrior without Dracon Beam weapons?$"
>They have access to human weapons.>
"$I know enough about the humans to know that they don't give weapons to anyone.$" Visser Two hotly retorted.
"Sir, this is the South. They give you a gun out of the womb." Said one of the human controllers.
Visser Two gave him what the Andalites would call the "Stalk-blade", basically a look from a stalk eye that figuratively cuts like a tail blade. Visser Two didn't have stalk eyes, but the idiom fit.
"$My Visser, while my subordinate is being flippant, his point is that we do have easy access to human weaponry, such as it is.$" Said Sub-visser five-hundred-nine, the commander of the task force. She responded in formal Galard; that was wise. She was in the body of a human female named Stephanie Gimble, the former mating partner of David Hunting. I have been told that it is unusual, but increasingly frequent, for humans as young as David Hunting to begin mating, but what behavior can be considered usual for humans?
>I revoked her weapons issue, because she misused it the last time David was here.>
"$David's been here before?$" Councilor Four asked.
Ah, dapsen. >Yes. She failed to capture him last time. I admitted.>
"$So what in the name of the Kandrona do you think would possess him to return to a known trap!$" Visser Two asked incredulously.
>He is a human, one of questionable sanity. He is sometimes unpredictable.>
"$But he's not a moron!$" Visser Two vented, being unnecessarily scathing. "$What idiot would return to known trap?$"
>A human would!>
"$I don't think so, Esplin!$"
Two animals jumped through the glass windows of the human dwelling. They were incredibly fast as they pushed their way through the human-controllers. I almost didn't see them until it was too late.
Luckily, the Councilor's Blue Bands were quicker. They each drew their Dracon Beams and fired a paralyzing shot at the two animals; both animals seemed to be unconscious.
"$What manner of creatures are these?$" Visser Two demanded.
"Um, this is a cheetah, and I think this one is a leopard." Said a human-controller.
"$They are Andalites!$" said Councilor Four with glee. All five of his arms rocked back and forth, a gesture of satisfaction.
"One of them could be David." Said Sub-visser five-hundred-nine.
"$We shall know soon enough.$" Said Councilor Four confidently. "$Blue Bands! Take them to the investigating room, I shall see to it personally that they demorph.$"
>Councilor, with all due respect, I have more experience—> I started.
"$I'll have you remember my record as Visser One during the Pentasera Seizure Campaign!$"
I had forgotten his record. The one where he tortured many Andalite prisoners. Even morph-capable ones.
Both Blue Bands each grabbed one of the creatures, and followed the Councilor out.
>Well, it seems, I was right about human stupidity.> I said as the councilor left.
"$We don't know if one of them is David. Besides, they might not even be Andalites.$" Visser Two sneered.
So, he had heard about my attempt to trick the Council with real animals during Visser One's trial. Not my proudest moment, but oh, if it had worked!
Still, the old one had a point. This did seem a little too easy, and only two bandits . . . . . .
The Blue Band without the device on his bandolier returned to the house. "The Councilor would like all of you to board the Carrier Ship." He said.
The human-controllers looked around as if they weren't sure that this included them, but they decided it did and followed the Blue Band in suit.
"$Why do you speak English?$" Visser Two asked the Blue Band.
The Blue Band did speak the human language English. I didn't even notice that.
The Blue Band looked at Visser Two for a long time as if he didn't understand the question. "$Force of Habit$" He finally said. In Galard.
"$Before Blue Bands, worked for Visser Six.$" The Blue band continued in broken Galard. Visser Six was a human-controller. There was a long pause before he spoke again. "$He preference English. I do not speak Galard good.$"
While it is true not every yeerk is an expert linguist, I expected better from a Blue Band. Still, the Blue Band Corps had a high casualty rate, so perhaps the standards have dropped.
When I'm Visser One or when I'm on the Council, I hope to have Blue Band Hork-Bajir that can at least speak one proper language!
As we entered the Carrier Ship, alarms started going off.
"$What's going on?$" Visser Two demanded.
The Councilor slithered quickly, as if frightened, toward us.
"$We've been tricked! More Andalite Bandits! Hiding in the others' fur in small morphs.$" The Councilor barely sputtered. "$Quickly! We must engage them!$" The Councilor said as he gestured wildly with his two front claws.
And just his two front claws.
I whipped my tail around and nearly struck the "Councilor", but S-s-stram are swift and he evaded my strike. I whipped twice more and twice more missing before the fake Councilor slithered away. I was about to pursue when Visser Two grabbed my shoulder.
"$What do you think you are doing, Visser Three?$" He accused manically.
>That's not the real Councilor!> I maintained.
"How can you tell?" asked one of the male human-controllers. I'd forgotten they were there.
>When he spoke, he only gestured with two of his claws. The Councilor always gestures with all five in unison.> I explained.
"$So that Councilor . . . .$" began one of Visser Two's bodyguards.
"$ . . . . wasn't the real Councilor.$" finished the other bodyguard.
"But an Andalite in morph." Said one of the female human-controllers.
"Or David." Reminded Sub-visser five-hundred-nine. At least she was doing her job, keeping watch for David.
"But if Hruthin morph my Councilor, how tell who real and who not?" asked the Blue Band, this time in a meshing of English and the limited Hork-Bajir language.
"$We don't have time for that. We paralyze everyone and ask questions later!$" Visser Two yelled in uncharacteristic recklessness.
He had never dealt with true morphing masters like the Andalite Bandits, so I understood his frustration. It served him right, if you ask me.
We made our way toward the Councilor's Interrogation Room. As we got closer, the other Blue Band with the device on his bandolier and the two earth creatures came out of the room together.
>ANDALITES!> I bellowed. >FIRE!>
The Blue Band and Visser Two's bodyguards opened fire on the Andalites in morph. No hits.
"$You were a better shot the first time!$" grumbled a bloody Councilor as he stumbled-slithered out of the room. Then again . . . .
>Councilor Four? Is that you?> I asked.
"$Of course, it's me, you shitting idiot!$" The Councilor growled as he moved all five of his claws maniacally up and down. It wasn't a normal S-s-stram gesture, but like Visser Two, he was probably frustrated having never dealt with morphing masters like I have.
Fools. All of them.
>Why are you so smug?> Alloran said, speaking up for the first time in a long while.
I ignored him. One thing I learned with Alloran is that taunting him only fuels his drive to harass. If you give him the silent treatment, he shuts down in frustration.
Still, it's not in my nature to keep quiet.
"$To the bridge! They're not escaping my ship!$" the Councilor grumbled.
We got to the bridge and the Councilor himself took the flight controls and started piloting the ship. That's odd, why isn't one of his Blue Band piloting? Of course, the only one we seem to have isn't exactly the sharpest shorm in valley.
"$We're docking directly into the Blade Ship this time.$" commanded the Councilor. "$There will be no escaping this time! I will make them suffer for doing this to me.$"
He didn't gesture, but I assumed he meant the claw marks on his face. Many times, I've received similar marks from the Andalites in battle. Of courses, I have the option of morphing which will restore my form without scars.
Docking directly into the Blade Ship? That meant going through the Belly hatch.
We made our way into the Belly hatch of my Blade Ship and landed.
We left the ship and I noticed there was no crew around to operate the hatch. Then how did it open?
By the time everyone had left the Carrier ship I realized.
>THIS ISN'T MY—> I started, but was shot by a shredder beam. Not Dracon.
I was paralyzed and couldn't see around me, but it sounded like everyone was getting shot. I then felt robotic tendrils grab me all around and lift me up. I was able to look up and see that the tendrils came from a hovering droid.
Not Yeerk technology. Nor Andalite technology.
Alloran echoed my thoughts. >What manner of monstrosity is this?>
I saw the Councilor and his remaining Blue Band in front of me. "Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!" he laughed as he changed shape.
Demorphed. Into David Hunting. "$Thank you for reminding me about S-s-stram gestures, Visser. I made sure to get it right this time.$"
>You speak Galard.> I noticed.
"$A little.$" David said coyly. I noticed he was wearing a full assortment of human clothing, meaning he morphed with them. That's not supposed to be possible.
"David . . . ." Sub-visser five-hundred-nine muttered in disbelief.
"Ah, Stephanie. My most powerful enemy is here, yet the face I fear most is yours." David said, switching to English. "Mostly because I do not know who I'm looking at."
The Blue Band put a comforting hand on David's shoulder, but he briskly knocked it away.
As David spoke to the sub-visser I started to morph, hoping he would not notice, but I could not grow larger for the tendrils squeezed me tighter.
"Ah ah ah!" David said wagging a finger at me. "I already thought of that. Ayla."
He prompted someone I didn't see. The Blue Band maybe?, but it was not the Blue band that came to him, but another droid. From the droid, David took out a human syringe.
"I gave my Andalite friends my special vitamins, now you can have it too!" He said as he stabbed the syringe into my neck and injected who knows what into me.
>NO! GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME, ABOMINDABLE HUMAN FILTH!> I protested, but it did me no good. I began to morph the xitem fly, a small insect morph I acquired a few months ago.
The Blue Band with the device on his bandolier exited the Carrier ship looking like he had seen battle. He carried the unconscious body of the Councilor with him. He also dragged behind him seven chained up Gedd-controllers, like a human slave train. The two andalites in earth morphs followed closely, also looking like they had been cut upon. I wondered what became of Councilor Four's real Blue Band Squad.
"Biran!" David gestured with his hand.
The Blue Band with the device on his bandolier threw the device to David. David immediately pressed a few buttons and then put the device on his belt.
Four more hover droids entered the bay. One tied up the Councilor. Three more entered the Carrier Ship. For the Blue Bands, I figured.
For some reason my morph stopped.
"$So the Andalites work for the human, now?$" Visser Two questioned.
"Who, Biran? Biran is 100 percent free hork-bajir, as is his brother Yenke," David said gesturing to the two Hork-Bajir playing Blue Bands, "but inside Yenke's head is a yeerk! Or in actuality . . ."
"An andalite in yeerk morph." Realized one of the human controllers.
"Jason!" David said, having recognized the human-controller. He displayed one of the inner fingers on his hand. An obscene human gesture. "Right here, buddy!"
"The yeerk is an andalite. The cats are definitely andalites. Why are they working for you?" asked a different human-controller.
"Oh, you see, they kinda have to." David said as he pressed a button on his device.
The animal the human-controllers identified as a "cheetah" began to demorph. The demorph was awkward, as if the andalite wasn't controlling the process. Where the cheetah once stood, an Andalite was there now.
The Andalite youth that never morphs. The one who has engaged me in several tail blade fights. An excellent fighter, despite his age and apparently the theories that he did not have the morphing power were inaccurate.
The Andalite said nothing as David seemingly forced him to demorph, but I could tell he was a little bit unnerved.
"Now let's see . . ." David said as he looked at his device, seemingly looking at a list. "Ah, here we go."
David pressed a button and the Andalite youth started morphing again. This time it was a creature I knew: the djabala. An andalite animal, it is the animal used for morph proficiency tests on the Andalite home world. It was Alloran's first morph, probably this youth's as well.
>You control their morphing.> I realized.
"Yep. All thanks to my special biomechanical parasite-vitamins. I can control their morphing and now I can control yours!"
>And I thought Seerow blundered badly. I thought you yeerks would be the great scourge of the universe.> Alloran commented, fearfully. >Whatever fool gave this monster the morphing power is a bigger idiot!>
>NO!> I shouted. >You monster! You beast!>
That wiped the grin off of David's face. He walked over to me and looked angrily into my main eyes.
FWAP! He punched me across my nose, wrenching my head to the right side of my body. My nose began to bleed.
"Don't ever call me that!" David threatened.
>Beast.> I repeated defiantly.
>He's going to hit me again!> Alloran yelled. I ignored.
David's face contorted into a seethe, then dissolved into a chuckle. "Doesn't matter, you're not gonna live beyond today."
The andalite still in the earth morph growled. I couldn't tell if it was directed at me or David.
David seemed to think it was directed at him. "Ayla." He prompted. Two more hovering droids showed up and wrapped the two hork-bajir, the earth morph, and the djabala in its robotic tendrils.
David sauntered over to one of the Hork-Bajir. "Out!" He said putting his had next to the Hork-Bajir's ear. I watched as a yeerk came out. No, an andalite in yeerk morph. He placed the "yeerk" in a small container with water in it, and put it in one of the pockets of his coat.
The newly "freed" hork-bajir, (if you can call it that being bound by robotic tendrils) glared at David.
"You make her sad!" said the Hork-Bajir.
Her? I wondered. One of the andalites is female?
David relieved all of his prisoners of their Dracon Beams.
"Big day, Esplin. It's a good day to die." David said as he left, the two droids imprisoning the andalites and hork-bajir following him.
Many beings have vowed to kill me. The idea that this human youth thought that he would finally kill me was enough to make me laugh.
>You're not laughing, are you, Esplin?> Alloran retorted.
>Beast.>