Legend Said
[4 Weeks & 3 Days before Jake, Rachel, and Cassie received the morphing power]
It was a sunny day just like any other, people were making their afternoon commute in the town, cars and people were driving by without anyone giving a care for anything particularly out of the ordinary. Theere was nothing wrong to notice, at least, nothing in their line of sight.
One person walked with an umbrella above him to shade his bald head from the glaring rays of the sun, he had left the hardware store with a full and very heavy cart he pushed with his other hand. He got into his car and drove off, for a long hour he navigated the roads and the turns, intersections, signs, and stoplights that were a mandatory part of the modern road experience. He drove until his car was treading scrubland, he moved deep into the wilderness until he encountered a depression in the ground, at which point he stopped and departed from the car, not turning off its engine. The man had taken his umbrella with him and looked up at the cloudless sky in the baking heat, the sun had lowered into the horizon considerably.
The Man smiled at his observation, the sky is turning pink, later would be a good time if-
((Sound,)) a voice spoke in the man's head, almost inuadible.
"Johnny Bilbo," the man said without hesitation.
((Enter.))
He walked forward, hours of driving meandering paths had led him to this moment, this time. He reached the verge and stepped down into the depression, he walked down the rocks, scrub bushes, and uneven ground until he reached the bottom, which was deeper than it looked. A lot deeper in fact, the depression was actually around fourteen feet deep, so the inside of it was already dark. The center of the depression had a small pool of water, hidden so well by a tarp that the only indication it existed was the slight smell of oasis.
The most atypical feature of the depression however, were the small collection of doors, cleverly hidden from view above, even inside the depression an untrained eye would not likely find anything out of the ordinary. The doors opened and out came the occupants of the depression, blue fur, two long, seven fignered hands, an even longer ropy whiplike tail with what looked like a bulb of asparagus-like scales at its end, two eyes stalks, mouthless faces and five slits for a nose, all of which was carried by two pairs of hooved legs, making them resemble centaurs.
There were ten of them in total, although only six emerged.
((Where's your stuff?)) The shortest one demanded, the one wearing 'brass' gauntlets with green 'jewels' for knuckles.
"Oh, right, I got quite a bit of it. I think it'll go faster if you help me carry it in," The human said.
((Request acknowledged and ignored,)) the brass gauntlet Andalite answered immediately.
"Ah, figures," the man said before racing back to his car, which was now invisible, he opened its back door and retrieved the bags, hurriedly carrying them into the scoop. He repeated this action, taking one bag at a time until all were at the bottom of the pit.
"That's the last of it," the human said.
((Alright, we pour it in,)) the brass gauntlet responded.
"What am I to do, then?" The human asked. "I can't help you guys refill the pond?"
((Exactly,)) brass gauntlet replied.
"Is that really fair? I mean, what kind of emergency is this if it's not all hands on deck?"
The green Andalite spared an eyestalk to her leader, an unspoken conversation between them.
((Fine,)) brass gauntlet conceded. ((Grab a scanner, and start pouring.))
"Thank you," the human said and immediately got to work, after scanning a jug of water to check for lethal chemicals, it beeped once, signalling that it was safe for Andalties to drink. From then on he poured the jugs out, partially obstructing the flow of water from with his fingers so that it wouldn't splash as hard, he repeated this continously.
((And considering everyting you've been doing for us, I suppose you deserve to hear about what's been going wrong as of late,)) BG then tilted his head towards the green female, who stepped forward to deliver the bad news.
((The rush we've gotten into is because the situation is dire, something has started attacking Andalites, wiping out entire teams in a single strike.))
((Whatever this thing is,)) the one whose eyestalks had been completely sheared off his skull piped up. ((It's smart, fast, and extremely dangerous, we because it assaulted a cache, just three days ago, and left no survivors, and every one of those Andslites were Standards.))
"Mercy!" The human responded, deeply shocked as he finished pouring a jug. "That is dangerous, hopefully you have some sort of countermeasure here..."
((We do,)) an Andalite wearing a pair of black alien goggles that were black caps of soft leathery glass or plastic covered the entirety of its eyes, and wore a suit seemingly made of shawls and bandages.
((It can't shoot in this outpost with the barrier active, so when it finds us, it'll have no choice but to get inside, and when it does...)) Goggles raised the very long and pointy alien weapon, an Andalite sniper rifle, and patted it twice with its gloved hand.
((We have a security barrier set to capture here,)) BG clarified. ((When it jumps through, it'll be paralyzed.))
((Then it will pay for what its done to our brothers and sisters!)) Greenie said.
((It's heading right this way,)) Two Eyes clarified. ((It's actually within ten miles of here and hasn't moved since yesterday. But it can move disturbingly fast, that's how it got the drop on Gonrod and his followers, once the monster is within range, it stays put for a day then launches its assault.))
All of the Andalites looked up at the darkening sky, except for Goggles, who was huddled down low, watching the surroundings through his lenses.
((And the fiend so far always struck at night,)) BG noted as he sauntered to the pool and stuck his hoof in to drink.
The Human looked up and noticed that the sky had turned a rosy and lavender hue.
After cursing his luck, he turned to BG, "And how many Andalites has this guy killed? I mean, surely you can take him, right?"
((Twenty eight, excluding Gonrod's group)) Two Eyes reported. ((Those are just the ones we can confirm were done in by him.))
((So bunker up,)) BG said as the human finished emptying yet another jug. ((We're in for a siege.))
He watched the sunset, low to the ground, hidden under a tiny bush. He always got antsy in the daytime, especially when exposed like this, the sun beat down on the bare kin of his back, there was no cover except for his own ability to hide. If a human came by he'd be very easy to notice with his pale skin, fortunately he chose a place that was remote. The sky was darkening, and as it did he silently moved his hand to pet the small drone resting at his side.
It was barely the size of a baseball, but that could be easily changed, despite its apparent inertness, it held the tracking device that he knew its owner knew his quarry could see. The drone imitated all of his life signs as well with not even anything to hide them, unlike the stealth systems adorning his own wrists, ankles, and hair.
Soon, he praised with a smile. To continue the grisly work. Just another step.
The sky turned dark, and as he watched the sun dip below the horizon, his anticipation grew. Some minutes after the sky had turned dark and the stars had come out in full, he finally rose from his tiny hiding place. Muscles aching for action, his breath deep, prepared to carry out what he hoped would not be a grisly night, he began walking forward, sending the tracking device away.
Night
((It's coming straight for us!)) Goggles reported, uncurling and standing with his weapon at the ready. ((ETA six minutes!))
((Do NOT fire!)) BG ordered.
"Huh?!" The Human said, confused and a good deal outraged. "But...now?! Why now?"
Greenie gave the human a long stare, and then a weapon.
((Get to your position,)) she commented, prompting him to take the hand held Shredder and move to the center of the formation. Greenie walked forward into the pond in the center, stomping her hoof down through the tarp. She drank from the pool that the rest of the camp used, and when she had her fill she lifted her leg up, and the hole she punched in the tarp closed itself, showing no sign of it ever being penetrated to begin with.
((ETA four minutes.))
Three
Two
One
10
9
8
7
6
5
((Wait,)) Goggles reported. The entire camp was dead silent.
((It's not slowing down.))
"What?" The human asked. "It flew over? What does that mean?"
((It means that this fiend still doesn't know where we are. Crayak's eyelashes, you're just dense today,)) Two Eyes commented.
((Assume heat stroke until proven otherwise, humans get that easier than we do,)) Greenie defended the guest.
((And it means that we do not attack or do anything it would notice until it hits the field,)) BG ordered.
For another minute the camp was tense, until Goggles reported in.
((It just landed, a 1.477 miles away.))
((Can you ID it?)) BG asked.
((Negative, it has something that messes with my cameras, but its movement pattern suggests it's searching.))
((Pull visual,)) BG ordered.
Goggles nodded before grabbing his sniper rifle's shooting end, and twisting it until the piece disconnected from the barrel and stuck at a 90 degree angle, making it look like the top half of a capital I.
From the end of his gun beams of light shot out, revealing a hologram to the entire camp. It was the landscape at night, the sky was littered with stars, and in the center of the image was an orange ring of light. There were other rings inside, but they were staticky, jumped like a TV with poor signal, and in the center of the ring they saw it. Barely visible, a creature was prowling on all fours, head low to the ground, zig-zagging across the scrub.
The that hunted them. Its movements, and what they could see of its obscure body shape was deeply unsettling.
((That freak's a predator, through and through,)) Two Eyes commented, prompting Greenie to shudder and lean into BG's side. They watched the creature for a tense few moments before it jumped away, pouncing in another direction and remaining still, a few seconds later it moved again continuing its slow prowl through the scrub. This continued for a short while lnoger whilst the human remained dismayed and unsettled by the enemy.
"Well, good thing this guy doesn't actually eat people, right? Ha ha!" The human pointed out, laughing.
The Andalites all shared a dark expression between eachother that the human was oblivious to. But regardless of what they thought, everyone was worried at the sight of the creature stalking them, all of them feared what would happen if it found their hideout, and their trap failed. It had already erased several dozen other Andalites, they don't want to become an even more endangered species on this planet.
The creature went still, before it raised itself upright, kneeling on the ground, it shook its head for a moment until it got to its feet, and then jumped. As it sprinted the form of the creature blurred and disappeared. The entire camp was tense.
((Where is it going?)) BG asked, almost in a panic. Two Eyes checked the trap, making sure it's ready.
((Not here, he's going to miss us!)) Goggles informed.
"How many nights can we do this sort of dance?" The Human asked, squating on the ground, his posture low as if to hide.
Another one of the Andalites checked the pond, only sparing it a glance. She looked to BG and announced her findings with confidence.
((Nine,)) She reported, squinting at BG knowingly.
((It passed us)) Goggles reported.
A few more tense minutes followed until the fiend stop and begans talking again, only this time it was further away from the outpost. The image returned and the camera was able to focus on the vague shape again, its hands searching, sprawling as it began its search anew. Half an hour they watched, half an hour as it moved under the starlit sky searching for them, until finally, it then smacked the ground hard enough to create an explosion of dirt and rocks. It kneeled once again, before jumping away, but this time not stopping to search.
((Its moved on,)) Goggles reported, although everyone was still tense.
((How long are we going to maintain the trap, for?)) Another Andalite asked.
((As long as it takes for a messenger to check on us,)) BG reported. ((We need to contact the others, this is serious business.))
((Wait, I recognize that shape!)) Two Eyes commented. ((There's no mistaking it, it's an A-))
All of a sudden the canopy of the camp erupted into a storm of sparks as the barrier captured the intruder, causing it to convulse. The Human retreated further in the camp as everyone opened fire. Green lasers from shredder beams and all other assortment of Andalite weapons accosted the intruder, and the Human watched tentatively with wide eyes. The barrier deactivated in an explosion of sparks and the intruder dropped to the ground, BG walked imperiously to its smoking ruined form, unraveled his tail blade and stabbed it in the chest. After a second he yanked his tailblade, lifting the remains in the air.
The outer scraps fell away to reveal an entirely metallic doll body. Hanging limply and uselessly just as if it would if it were truly caught in the barrier.
((What is this?!)) BG exclaimed, unable to suppress his shock.
((The Barrier, it's short-)) Greenie reported before the second wave arrived.
The center of the camp exploded, sand, the scant bushes at the bottom of the Andalite encampment, and the Andalite occupants went flying. Goggles was smashed into a rock, causing him to fall unconscious, while Two Eyes was pushed away into the hard dirt but came back to face the attacker. He charged it head on, hooves kicking up the dirt, tail blade fully unravelled and ready to cut the enemy down, a shredder in hand. The attacker turned to face the Andalite as he swung his tail blade, catching it with a single hand.
Two Eyes remaining optics widened in shock as the creature grabbed his tail close to the blade and rammed it into his chest, causing him to fall down immediately. The other Andalites got back on their feet, aiming their weapons at the intruder, the rest hidden in the Scoop emerged to face the attacker, ignoring The Human hiding in the corner. When the adversary's eyes found the human, his hands abandoned Two Eyes' tail, and rose.
"I surrender," he announced calmly in the face of the seven Andalites he was faced with, hands raised to the sky.
((Surrender?)) BG answered angrily as he got up, one of his eyestalks were focused on Greenie's body, mangled by the emergence of their assaulter. His brass gauntlets were glowing with blue energy, prepared to kill. ((Surrender?! We do not accept su-))
"You can come out now," the invader spoke up with his icy voice. "My orange eyed friend."
"AAAAUUUUGGHH!" The Human cried out as he convulsed, falling to the ground, behind the Andalites, all of their attention was turned to the Human as he convulsed, his eyes were so consumed by pain that he was gone. The Human convulsed on the floor, the body was changing, an extra pair of limbs came out, then another, they smashed themselves onto the ground and lifted. The Human's body was briefly raised from the dirt floor of the pit until it started to drop again, and out of the Human's back, the true attacker emerged.
((What?!)) BG uttered in shock. ((Warlike? Whe-))
In their total surprise the Andalites were unable to notice the intruder that 'surrendered' jumping out of the pit.
Twutwutwutwutwutwutwutwutwu!
The fiend unleashed the full might of his torthon rake on the Andalites, with all of them gathered in place, they didn't stand a chance.
"AH HA HA HA HA HA HA AHA!" Warlike cackled with joy, his orange eyes shining like tiny suns as his prey were torn to shreds, the wings on the side of the weapon jutting out with every shot before going back into the weapon. the rock and dirt of the carefully carved scoop were launched into the air, every wire, every plate, every panel, nothing for ten feet behind the first touch of earth was not pierced, not even the unconscious and already dead were spared.
Four seconds, and it was over. Everything in the camp was a ruin.
Sparks flew and flames dominated the pit as the smoke rose into the night sky. While the smaller fires were figuring out how to rage under the soil, Warlike looked up to the stars at the edge of the scoop, to the unexpected player. His sharp teeth arranged into a neutral to lukewarm smile.
The two faced off, orange eyes piercing into a cold and calculating expression, his own eyes still closed, until the interloper broke his silence.
((What is your name?))
"My name is lost," Warlike responded, clenching his long fingers before running them over his bare chest. "It was taken from me, THEY took it from me, years after I was banished from my own kind and made into...what you see before you. I took the long slumber."
Warlike motioned to ruined piles of flesh he was surrounded by, baring his teeth, his face becoming an enraged snarl as he talked.
"Then I trusted. THEY said they would get me out of it, THEY said that the salvation I was waiting for for so long was in their hands, I acted in faith of the Andalite's promise," Warlike uttered the name of his enemy like the darkest curse he knew.
"They used me, they betrayed me, and expected nothing to come of it! You may not smell like them, or sound like them, but I warn you, my patience is thin. If you are an ally to this race of abominations, tell me where they are located, tell me where Elfangor Sirinial Shamtul is, and I'm sure I will leave you behind forever."
((I'm not affiliated with the Andalites,)) the being spoke with disdain. ((From what I can tell so far, Warlike, we share a common desire. I have a score to settle with them, as well.))
"What?" The orange eyed creature asked. "For what grievance do you believe the Andalites deserve death?"
((What grievance haven't they commited? But why are you here, in particular? You were going to kill these Andalites, but how did you plan to do that?))
Warlike laughed, a rough chuffing sound born from his throat.
"Ha! Well, take a drink. There's plenty of water, you killed the Andalites before they could relieve their bowels in it!"
The being narrowed his eyes and slid down to the bottom of the depression, stepping on fire and shrapnel without any issues. He walked over to the tarp in the center of the depression, now burning, and kneeled down. He put his hand forward, but before touching the water, he stopped, yanking it back. The being opened eyes in shock, before closing them again, and turned to Warlike.
((Anti-morph serum!))
"Oh. You are a morpher," Warlike said, squatting down. "Otherwise you shouldn't have a problem. I do assume you have a scanner hidden on that hand of yours, right?"
((Now I understand,)) the interloper realized, rising to his feet. ((You tracked down that human, an ally of theirs, and took over his body, making sure to bring in an unusually large shipment of water.))
The Interloper turned to the scanner that was in Greenie's mangled fingers.
((And by making sure you poisoned the entire resorvoir without alerting them to the contamination, you intended to keep the Andalites cooped up in here, drinking the poison until they succumbed to the Anti-morph serum.))
"Oh, bravo. S-grade detective work!" Warlike praised, before his grin vanished. "Although, I didn't anticipate you commandeering the use of my decoy. You know my name, you know what possessions I have, and their weaknesses, you claim to share my enmity for the Andalites, and are good at rooting out hidden nests, judging by how you were able to find this place. Just who are you?"
((...I am Lotr,)) The man responded, opening his eyes for the first time, revealing two glowing purple rings. ((And I seek not a slave, but an ally.))
Warlike smiled, his features rendered savage by the brutal shadows the flames cast.
"So you are one of those, that makes this simple. But please do forgive me when I don't believe you when you say that you don't want me to be enslaved."
((I intervened because your plan would've taken too long,)) Lotr explained. ((The Andalites aren't the only threat on this planet. My other enemy had their sights on this Scoop as well. Had I not attacked, they would've found this camp, and then enslaved both you and the Andalites, using you as a weapon again! At that point the Andalites would've been too weak to fight due to how much Anti-morph serum they consumed, then dead the next day, and you would've captured and enslaved you so totally that not even your body and senses would be yours.))
Warlike's smile vanished, his long scraggly black hair dancing in the gentle wind.
"More fear mongering? More taking advantage of my paranoia? I have enough characters like that in my memories, leave now before I flay you alive!"
((But without me,)) Lotr continued, crouching down. ((How would you find The Light Machine?))
Warlike's eyes widened in realization.
"What do you know about the Light Machine?"
((It's one of their most important assets on the entire planet. I know that as long as it exists, victory is impossible. It is very well protected, guarded by legions of ETCS soldiers, too well-protected for me to destroy on my own.))
((We need to leave this place as swiftly as possible. If you come with me, then I will provide ultimate proof that I am to be trusted.))
And suddenly in the middle of the scoop The human that Warlike had used as a host began stirring and moaning, awakening from the sleep caused by the pain he had just suffered, still whimpering from the tiny shadows of agony. Lotr and Warlike both turned to face the person.
((I already helped you clear this holdout, and warned you of the next coming threat. Why are so hesitant? Do you really have anything to gain by staying here with him?))
"Anyone who chooses to be a tool out of their own free will is a freak."
Warlike then lifted his foot and crushed his head, the insides of it splattering across the ground in a colossal splat, the grisly death announced with an explosive crunch.
((Let us leave.))
"No," Warlike responded. "I need to eat."
And in the dark, a pair of geese flew away from the flaming scoop into the night sky. The blanket of stars above them glittering, twinkling in the sky. Behind them the smoke seemed to rise for miles in the sky, an unnoticable trail in a sky of pure evening. The two birds powered away, the Interloper leading the other one.
((You wanted me as a partner, what are we going to do once This Light Machine is gone?))
((What else?)) Lotr gladly answered. ((We'll search far and wide, and kill them all. In the following months, we are going to hunt them down!))
((To kill them all,)) Warlike summarized.
((To kill them all!))
((Now, about this other threat...I'm listening.))