#46 – Ego

Elphi 113 walked down the corridor toward the Blade Ship's war room. More accurately, he made his human host walk down the corridor. His human host was slow and clunky with no natural defenses, but Elphi 113 wouldn't need to defend himself here on the Blade Ship, the spearhead of the invasion of Earth.

Theoretically, he wouldn't have to defend himself. Visser Three's temper tantrums were legendary.

He had been sent from the Illrash Station, which was the Yeerks' intelligence center, in the Yableeth Sector. The Council of Thirteen had called for him, specifically. Elphi 113 had built a name for himself as the best tracker in the Yeerk Empire. He was the one the Council turned to when they needed an Andalite task force located. He was the one who hunted down rogues, Yeerks who were too squeamish for battle and stole spacecraft to try to escape the eyes of the Empire. It didn't happen often, but it happened.

Elphi 113 was very good at his job. The best.

Now, there were Andalite bandits on Earth, causing trouble for the Visser's invasion. Intelligence suggested there were eight to twelve individuals in the resistance; after looking at the compiled data, Elphi was very sure there were less. Seven, maybe, but more likely six. And he wasn't entirely convinced they were Andalites, either. They obviously had the morphing power, but telemetric and behavioral data from some of their assaults did not fit the profile of Andalite warriors. Elphi would interview witnesses and gain more information before speculating, but the number one rule of tracking was this: Never make assumptions, even if something seems sure.

As he approached the war room, he checked his chronometer and smiled. He was late for Visser Three's meeting, but that had been a calculated move. By arriving late and suffering no consequences, he would be demonstrating the fact that while he was here, he was in charge, not the Visser. The Council had summoned him to make up for the Visser's shortcomings, and he would be treated with respect while he was there. And when he did what Visser Three had failed to do for nearly a quarter of a cycle in a short period of time, his name would grow into a legend.

Elphi pressed his host's hand into the panel beside the war room door, which swooshed into the floor and ceiling. He strode confidently into the war room, where Visser Three was standing at the head of a long table. Seated around the table were a dozen humans and four Hork-Bajir. Visser Three's inner cabinet – which, given his murderous disposition, was a position no sane Yeerk wanted.

The Visser fixed his stalk eyes on Elphi as he walked toward the Visser, meaning to take his place at the head of the table and take over the session. (So nice of you to join us, Specialist,) Visser Three sneered. (I would think that the Council's pet would at least keep a working chronometer.)

Elphi 113 fixed him with a cold stare. "I am no one's pet, Visser, and you would do well to remember it. I was summoned to do your job, so stand aside and let me do it." Visser Three clenched his hands into fists and his tail tightened so much that it started quivering, but he stood aside and allowed Elphi to take the head of the table. He stood off to the side, by a viewport, and looked as sulky as an Andalite-controller could possibly look. Elphi stopped wasting time with Visser Three and got to work.

"Computer, user Tar-seven-seven-one-four. Acknowledge," Elphi said.

A mechanical voice answered, "Acknowledge, Specialist Elphi 113. Full data access granted. Command?"

"Display topographical map of Sector seven-eight-four, Earth." Above the table, a map of the sector where all of the "Andalite" attacks had taken place appeared.

"Highlight engagement zones with at least one casualty." Red areas appeared in the center of the sector, in a rough circle.

(Do you think we have not done what you're doing?) Visser Three asked acidly. (We are not stupid, Specialist, and -)

"Quiet," Elphi snapped at him, studying the map. He didn't miss the way the sixteen controllers present held their breath, though. Visser Three vibrated with rage, but was silent.

Elphi pointed at the nearest human controller. "Who are you?"

"Breen 7784. Sir," he added uncertainly, flicking a glance at the Visser.

"What battle morphs are the Andalites using most often?"

"Earth animals. We assume they had no battle morphs before their arrival; the only non-Earth animal we have seen is a Kafit Bird."

Elphi wanted to hit him. One of Visser's top lieutenants was an idiot who was making assumptions about things he could not know. "Computer, separate display. Show all confirmed morphs of the Andalite bandits on Earth."

The computer displayed the data he wanted. He studied the animals and their statistics for a moment before making another request. "Computer, zoom on a populated area of Sector seven-eight-four. Population density, medium." The computer complied with that request, too. He watched as humans walked in between buildings and he observed them lounging around in certain areas, relaxed. "These battle morphs are not native to Sector seven-eight-four," he said under his breath.

Visser Three heard him. (Just because you cannot see them on your camera does not mean they are not there,) he said, trying to regain some momentum by talking to Elphi like he was an idiot. (There are wooded areas within the sector, and -)

Elphi pointed to the enlarged map with the humans. "Do these humans look worried about fearsome beasts to you, Visser? Are any of them carrying weapons? No, they're content in their safety." He pressed his human finger to his human chin, considering. He thought he was about three questions away from having his answer…but he didn't want to ask the computer those questions in the presence of Visser Three. He had strict orders from the Council to report his findings to them directly. They would then relay what they thought Visser Three should know to him. Elphi knew it was because they were afraid of him jumping too early and ruining everything. They did not trust him not to foul it up, in other words.

Well, neither did Elphi, based on the incompetence he had seen from him so far. In less than five Earth minutes, Elphi had seen what the Visser could not see in a quarter of a cycle. He knew that the human bandits – which they were, not Andalites - were getting their battle morphs from somewhere. Somewhere local – they were not traveling the planet acquiring these morphs. He wasn't convinced they had the means to do that sort of travel, and the fact that every single known engagement with the group took place within a couple of hundred miles of the epicenter supported that. He knew that once he found their source of battle morphs, he would be several steps closer to finding out who they were and where they lived. Following the Council's orders meant he would have to take those steps from the privacy of his own ship, however.

"Log out Tar-seven-seven-one-four, computer." The computer acknowledged, and all of the data projections disappeared. "The Council will be in touch," Elphi said to Visser Three as he turned to leave.

(That's all?) he asked, surprised. (You come all of this way to tell me nothing? Useless,) he spat. Elphi resisted the urge to turn around and tell him how insanely stupid and arrogant he was, but an incompetent general was the Council's problem, not his. After a few moments with his own ship's computer, and possibly a quick trip to the hot sector for some intelligence-gathering, Elphi was sure he'd have the answer for the Council that the Visser had failed to come up with.

Elphi traveled to the docking bay of the Blade Ship and boarded his own personal stealth cruiser. He waited for authorization to depart, got it, and took his ship out into space. He meant to stop and orbit above Sector seven-eight-four, but his engines suddenly died and his controls became unresponsive before he could get there.

All of Elphi's systems went out except for the communicator. The image of Visser Three's gloating face appeared. (Ah, Specialist, you would think that someone of your intelligence would rate a better vessel than one which malfunctions in Earth space.)

Elphi tried to be confident, but he was suddenly aware that he was on the Visser's turf. The Council was not there to protect him. "What do you want?" he asked.

(Tell me what you know about the Andalite bandits, and then I'll re-enable your ship's systems,) he promised.

One thing Elphi had learned in his time spent in Yeerk Intelligence was how to spot a liar. He knew that Visser Three would kill him, and he would throw away the answers he so desperately wanted in order to do it. Elphi tried anyway. "If you kill me, you kill your answers. And the Council will know it was you," he threatened. "You'll be tried and executed."

Visser Three laughed. (Oh, you overestimate your importance, Specialist.) Suddenly the laughter and good humor was gone from the Visser, and was replaced with rage. This time, it wasn't impotent rage. (Tell me to be quiet on my own ship, would you, Specialist? Treat me, Visser Three, like your underling? You think I'm the stupid one? Well, you're the one sitting in a bomb. You're the one the Council is going to lose to an unfortunate incident of Andalite sabotage.)

Elphi's last thought as his ship exploded was, Sooner or later, the human bandits will kill this maniac.

A/N – Thanks again for all of the feedback! After talking to a couple of people, I'm pretty sure I'm going to write a short story about what happens to Wylie after he gets away from The Sharing. It'll be separate from this one-shot piece, so keep an eye out! Thank you again, everyone!