"He found Them." The words echo in the minds of Jake and the other Animorphs, only days after the mission to purify the water supply, the Animorphs are to undertake their second mission. Uncertain as to what they are facing up against Jake calls a meeting in Cassie's barn to debrief the situation before departing to Harry's location, and for the first confrontation with Them.

Suffocate

Day 22, Morning

I sat down on a haybale, waiting for the others to file in. Earlier I had helped Cassie finish her chores around the barn before calling the others, and now we sat together, surrounded by caged animals and rays of sunshine. Ben was the first to arrive, trotting into the open barn door, disguised as Homer again, holding some strange device in his jowls, then his collar snapped off and from the seemingly aninimate object, Alice rose and took shape before slinking off into a dark corner to examine it for weaknesses or something.

Rachel came in, just leaving her bike on the barn door, then Marco.

"So, what's on the agenda today?" He asked as he closed the door.

Then, all of a sudden, Tobias appeared out of thin air.

"Gah! You always get me with that!" Marco said, smiling and bumping into Tobias with his elbow. Tobias smiled back, but faintly, and didn't return the gesture. Then recognition flashed in Marco's eyes, he looked around the room and saw that everyone was here.

"We just got word back," I said. "Harry's found Them."

Marco's eyes widened, and Rachel was just as surprised.

"That quick?" She said, impressed.

"I did say Harry could do anything," Tobias pointed out. "And now he has the location of a Controller base."

"A spaceport?" Marco said.

"Unclear," Ben said. "He said it was a pretty big operation, but couldn't get close enough to spot infrastructure."

"He said the ship was hovering right over a lake," Alice claimed from her spot in the shadows. "It remained there for several hours before leaving, he couldn't pinpoint its exact location, but the guards he ran into confirmed that something is going on there."

Guards, Them, using Humans and aliens alike for their nefarious purposes.

"So, do we know where he is?" I asked. "How far away is he?"

Tobias stepped forward and nodded.

((Take us there.))

We flew through the air in the form of ducks, making sure to fly as high as we can so that no bird of prey could hit us, Ellen had remained behind. After a while we lighted down, demorphed, and turned into our bird of prey morphs for the final stretch of the journey, there were loads of wilderness here, can't be too risky with predators, and they'd be better at handling whatever the Controllers throw at us anyway.

It felt so good to be in the air, catching the thermals under my wings, eagles like Rachel and Ben were better at soaring, but I didn't choose a hawk for its ability to soar. When we spread out all of our time was spent looking around for clues, signs of either Harry or his quarry, searching the forest floor extensively.

Our bird wings carried us, and we were mostly silent, filled with apprehension. This was it, no more delays, no more preparation, no more false starts, we were heading to a confrontation with The Controllers at last. As elusive as these guys are, and as terrifying as their presence is, I felt a pocket of satisfaction within the fear. I was dreading the first encounter with Them, the deadliest invader Earth has seen yet, but now they wouldn't just be some dark phantoms lingering behind my eyelids, we were about to make first contact, if we're lucky, we might not have to fight them at all.

Whatever the outcome, we still need to be careful, we still have no idea what we're dealing with, they might have weaknesses, but they could kill us all in the blink of an eye.

((Harry! You there?)) Rachel asked, almost shouting.

((We're not close enough,)) Tobias said. ((He gave us clear directions to where he was going, the lake's not even in sight yet.))

((Ah, he might've started moving away,)) Rachel said. ((Trying to meet with us?))

((No, he said he was staying to observe what he can,)) Tobias said. ((Once we're over the ravine, he'll be in thoughtspeech range.))

We flew for a few more moments in silence, returning to stew in our thoughts.

((You know guys, since we have some time on our hands. I think I should ask something...)) Marco began.

Oh, with that tone he has, it sounds pretty important.

((You know, Old Blood, New Blood, it's clear the Animorphs have history, the vast majority of which clearly happened before we became morphers, lots of stuff could've happened in those days.))

((So, you're interested in history lessons, Marco?)) Ben asked inquisitively, in thought-speech he was hard, but much less intimidating.

((Yeah. We have absolutely no idea about anything that's happened considering Animorphds in the past, there's the Antimorphs, who used to be Animorphs until they drank this diablo juice that turned them into human animals, and then there's this Lotr person who we have no idea who he is or where he came from, and all in the middle of this, you clearly have answers we don't.))

((Marco, what are you getting at?)) Cassie asked.

((The Animorphs have history,)) he said. ((And clearly, a lot of baggage that comes with it, and much of that baggage stems from the fact that whatever happened between you and ETCS has now resulted in them and the Old Bloods now being bitter enemies. Now don't freak out, but it's obvious that you've neglected to tell us this history, despite the fact we're allies. Now this wasn't out of actual malice, I think the real reason why you're tight-lipped about this stuff is because of our view on ETCS, your enemy.))

Of course. Now that he put the pieces together, it clicked. Ben's description of The Chee and their fate, those looks Harry gives Marco when he thinks neither of us are looking, the fact that they even included them as suspects in the Antimorph Venom Plot to begin with! I didn't believe that the organization would be that bad, I knew they would be likely to do some shady stuff. I thought the Old Bloods were strange for their dislike of ETCS, but now that Marco put those pieces together, it looks like I was wrong, those men might be more of a threat than I realized...possibly an existential one.

((You kept quiet because you were afraid of me, due to my connection to the organization, and by extension, whatever bad actors inside of it clearly are running riot in your eyes.))

((Well, you do have a lot of secrets,)) Rachel started. ((But everytime I asked you on the subject, you gave answers, but you didn't expand on them at all! You just gave us close ended questions so we'd turn back! What are you hiding!))

((Rachel, enough!)) I said.

((Clearly, you don't do this out of malice, I know you don't consider us your enemies, if you did you wouldn't have tolerated us, much less subtly warned us about ETCS. But you don't think we're trustworthy, yet either, which is why you didn't give us real answers. And you clearly want to work with us, as you said, Alice, "a cause without unity is no cause at all," and we can't be united as long as we're ignorant.))

((So,)) I said. ((Tobias, Ben, Alice, it's clear we have some catching up to do, but you can trust us. Please, answer us honestly, what makes ETCS dangerous to us?))

The others were silent, clearly contemplating.

((Everyone, it's not complicated,)) Ben said, judging by his words, he was clearly referencing some private thought-speech conversation, and including us in it by choice. ((You said it yourself, "Tobias," we're not going to lie to them at all. And I'm not going to let ourselves be ruled by fear, they asked, I will answer if you won't.))

((Where do we even begin?)) Tobias said, his voice taking on a hint of despair. ((There's...there's just...so much...))

((Then why not at the beginning?)) Cassie suggested. ((At ETCS' first transgression?))

I could almost feel Tobias' eyes staring into us.

((Okay...okay. The beginning.))

((ETCS are monsters. The most powerful human agency in the world, whose power is expanding so fast they're about to become the most powerful human entity in the world. All because the American government's given them blank checks and unlimited power to do what they want in the name of "defending Earth."))

((Absolute power corrupts absolutely...)) Cassie quoted.

((Torelli was always a bad actor, deceptive enough to hide his true intent, smart enough to make a plan, and viscious enough to carry it out,)) Ben said. ((At first we...our parents' generation, I mean, worked with them, he didn't seem any different than any other regular human they allied with. We operated in secret, our collaboration meant human society was allowed to advance without cultural or technological interference, human society would advance slowly, but it was stable, and everything was of human design, as a result, humans understand most aspects of human society. Earth was the world of Humanity, culturally and technologically free from extraterrestrial influences, free to develop on their own without technology they didn't know how to deal with, mankind became far stabler than most other races, allowing for greater population and prosperity. But Torelli wanted something else.))

((He gathered a conspiracy of like-minded humans among our parent's allies, he convinced them to begin fighting to accumulate political power and military might, and using everything the alien invaders brought with them to do so,)) Alice explained. ((Just in time he did this when the occurence of alien interlopers inexplicably increased, and all of them were resulted in requiring an expansion of the group that would become ETCS, Torelli climbed the ranks until he reached the top. Their power eclipsed our own and kept growing until one day, Torelli betrayed us, crushing The Chee, siezing The Cube, and invading our home, targetting everyone they could, man, woman, child, eldery, crippled, the survivors scattered from our secret base, now ETCS territory. And we've been living as criminals on the fringe of human society ever since.))

We all remained silent as we process the information, wings still carrying us over a hill, but something didn't add up.

((Hold on,)) I said. ((If ETCS took the morphing cube, then how did the Mercora get it?))

((They gave it away,)) Ben said, bitter, angry, voice rumbling with outrage. ((They gave the Cube to Them because above all else they wanted to take alien tech and use it for their own goals. Aliens take Pemalite relics and experiment with them on the planet because they're better at gleaning secrets from them, ETCS wait and observe, and when they get something substantial, they invade, making them all prisoners, and taking everything they have for the-))

((-anyone hear me?)) Harry's voice finally spoke up, his voice filling me with a sense of optimism. ((Tobias, Alice, Ben, Ellen, Jake, Cassie, Rachel, Marco, if you can hear me, then please respond!))

((Loud and clear, Harry!)) I said eagerly, the gang's fully back together! ((We're on our way, just flown over the ravine! Have you gotten any closer to this so-called lake?))

((Finally, I've been calling for hours. I'm within spitting distance of it, if you're flying over the ravine right now, then don't stop for anything! I've figured out when their air patrols come through,if you stick close together and fly just above the treeline, you won't even encounter them.))

((You heard the guy,)) I said. ((Form up and stick to the canopies!))

And just like that as I lowered myself to the treeline, and the others all did the same and converged their paths with mine. After a good distance we finally joined, a bizarre flock of seven birds, a Bald Eagle, then a Gold Eagle with Eyelizard hiding in his feathers, a Peregrine Falcon, two Ospreys, a Red Tailed Hawk and a Merlin. Best not let any birdswatcher's catch up to us.

((So, about their air patrols,)) I asked. ((Did you see what they looked like?))

((They're not the drones that are keeping everything locked in, they're actual creatures. I couldn't quite see them the first time round, but they're birds, alien birds who are about between the size of a robin and a crow, there were about four or five of them in each patrol, their feathers, eyes, even their legs and beaks were pure black, and their tailfeathers were shaped like Maple leaves!))

There it is, the first sighting of a Controller, an avian species that appears to be used to patrol around and watch the sky. They have eyes and ears, but so do we, and birds of prey are pretty tough...as long as they're not shot. But why does that one sound familiar?

((Did you see them carrying any weapons?)) I asked.

((None that I could see, their bodies seemed too small, they just flittered through the branches on designated paths at specific times of the day. They're fast, but as long as we get the drop on them, I think our birds of prey should be able to take care of them no problem, especially Ben and Rachel.))

((Aw yeah!)) Rachel crowed. ((Bring it!))

((No!)) Marco said fearfully. ((We should avoid contact, we don't know what we're dealing with. These Flitterers might be poisonous or venomous!))

((Flitterers?)) I questioned. ((Flitterers?))

((Hey, as far as names go, there are worse ones,)) Cassie said. ((There's an actual species of bird called blue footed boobies.))

((Ha!)) Harry barked out a laugh.

((Agreed, Flitterers it is,)) I said.

((Did you encounter any others?))

((Just some ground patrols further. These spindly eight legged things who are orange like sunkist, they had quite a few weapons on their persons, I think they're all human designed, though. And their eyes were quite the shade of yellow.))

I flashed back to an earlier time, when everything was fuzzy and I realized where I recognized that creature from.

No way, it's exactly like the one from my nightmares. Surrounding me, grabbing me and restraining me, but how? I thought those things, those...Graspers, were just figments of my subconscious, dreams aren't real, not outside of Fantasy books, are they?

((Most of the patrol consisted of humans, though, about twenty-five humans each along with a few aliens.))

((Did they have worms?)) I blurted out. ((Giant worms with a bunch of centipede legs, four gelatinous eyes and mouths filled with needle-sharp teeth?))

The boy was silent for a few moments, a pause that stretched out into infinity.

((Y-yes,)) Harry said in shock. ((There was one at minimum in every ground patrol, often several, they held human pistols. I saw one eat a fox that couldn't get out of its way fast enough, just lunged and gobbled the poor thing whole. At least those Hungerers are kept on leashes, if not they'll eat everything they come across!))

And there it was, it was real, somehow, some way, those dreams I had were real...those were real Controllers, or at least their hosts, their drones...

((Did you already come across them?))

((No, we never met these creatures,)) I said. ((I don't know how, but I know what they look like.))

((Are you serious?)) Marco said.

((Yeah, I saw them in these wierd dreams I've been having. But it always feels like I saw them from somewhere else before for some reason. But I can't remember where.))

((Hmmm,)) Ben wondered.

((That's super wierd,)) Rachel said.

((It might mean something, though,)) Cassie said.

((Might?)) Marco said. ((This is insane! Noody can actually see things in dreams!))

((But Jake remembered the appearance of one alien that Harry saw, when nobody else even got so much as a description of them. That can't be a coincidence,)) Cassie defended me.

((But prophecies?)) Rachel asked. ((Visions? That sounds a lot like magic...which is dubious at best.))

((Prophecy or not, I think it's too early to draw any conclusions,)) I said.

Ridiculous, it's like Marco said, it seems insane, and I agree with Rachel that it is pretty dubious, whatever its cause. These...visions...they were also more vivid than any other dreams I had, I was self-aware in them. But then I got to thinking on the dream I had last night, the night Tobias woke me up...

((Harry,)) I asked. ((Did you see giant lizard-men?))

((What?)) Marco squawked.

((Seven foot tall, covered in blades at their heads, wrists, knees, ankles, and at the ends of their tails. Red eyes on dark scaly hide, long necks and limbs with beaks at the ends of their faces?))

((One of those? No,)) Harry said. ((I haven't seen anything that big yet.))

((So much for visions,)) Marco said. And I felt stupid for asking.

((It might not be wise to dismiss it outright,)) Ben said. ((The supernatural very much does exist, for exa-))

Wait!

((Flitterers!)) I alerted everyone. ((I see them, they're lower than us, coming from the left!))

((There they are!)) Rachel said.

And just like that, they arrived, The Flitterers were pure black creatures, exactly like Harry described, exactly like in my dreams. They were pure black, a human wouldn't be able to discern any features on the alien, but bird of prey eyes are better at distinguishing shapes than human's are, so I saw their large eyes and heads, their cranium was much bigger, and clearly differently shaped than any other species of bird on Earth.

Four of them danced, zipping and darting through tree branches. Pure black shadowds, just like Harry described...just like when they appeared in my dreams, too.

((Those things are freaky!)) Cassie remarked.

((But why are we encountering them? Harry, you said that we would never see them!)) Marco said.

((It must be because of our converging flight paths,)) Tobias said. ((It added to our travel time!))

((It doesn't matter how we got here,)) Rachel said. ((They're almost right on top of us, we're going to have to fight!))

((But we're right above them!)) Cassie pointed out. ((So we have the advantage.))

((They're agile, but we outnumber them two to one and we have superior angle of attack,)) Ben pointed out. ((This won't be a fight, it's an assassination.))

((How do we know that? We have no idea what they have...)) Marco pointed out.

((Here they come!))

And in that next instant, I made the snap judgement, the first contact between us and Them had officially arrived, due to a mistake in our own travel times. This encounter was purely an accident, we weren't prepared, it was here whether we liked it or not, they were almost right below us. This moment always felt like a piece of important history for me, for us, especially in hindsight of what came after...

((Attack!)) I declared, swooping down on a single Flitterer, the black bird didn't know what hit it as I plucked it out of the sky, held in my talons.

The alien cried in shock, this wasn't the ordinary pure sound of a bird, but there was more behind it, its vocal cords were clearly advanced, capable of actually speaking. It shrieked out what were clearly words, warning its fellow Flitterers.

This one, this one we'll take prisoner, I decided, looking to the right in front of the rest of the group.

((Ha!)) Rachel swooped down, taking one in her eagle talons, her long claws stabbed into the Flitterer. The first kill, the first casaulty of the entire war!

It had finally begun!

Ben missed his Flitterer and so did Marco, but Alice took it down with her Merlin claws.

The last Flitterer shrieked as it tried to fly away.

((Cassie, wait!)) Tobias warned only for a Red-tailed Hawk and Osprey to collide into eachother, both of them went down!

((No no no! Don't let it get away! It'll warn the others!)) I said.

Then suddenly a blur through the trees, the Flitterer tried to dodge, but the Broad-winged Hawk flapped its wings, bursting through the branches, talons outstretched.

((Gotcha!)) Harry cried as he grabbed The Flitterer, piercing it with his talons.

((Harry!)) I said. ((Thank God you're back.))

((I told you I'd track it down,)) he said proudly.

((Good job,)) I said, congratulating Harry on his take-down as my mind returned to the struggling Flitterer. ((Somebody contact James and tell him to come here with a birdcage. I have a prisoner!))

((Wait a second,)) Harry said with all eagerness drained from his voice. ((What if it's warning the others? We don't know if it has a comms! I meant to guide you guys deeper in so you could take a look. At the lake.))

((No, he's a prisoner,)) I said. ((There's much we can learn from him.))

((And there are no signals coming from him,)) Alice said. ((He's ours, and he's not getting away.))

((Did you reach the ship?)) Tobias asked.

((Yeah, I don't know what they're doing, but it's a pretty big operation right over the lake, and I have a pretty good idea of the patrols, but that's going to change very soon. They're about to be on high alert when they find the bodies.))

Right, The main problem is to deal with the creature in my talons right now.

((Eyelizard,)) I said, holding the still struggling, squawking Flitterer in my talons. ((Take care of the captive, make sure he's in a place he won't escape or call for help until we come back for him.))

((Oh, crap...)) Harry said.

((What now?)) Rachel asked.

((Eyelizard's the best set of...er, eyes out of all of us,)) Ben explained. ((If we want to actually observe the enemy, we're seriously handicapping ourselves.))

((He's sneaky enough,)) I said as Eyelizard jumped from Ben's feathers and took the Flitterer, he fell until he landed on the forest floor, he recovered for a moment before scurrying off into the underbrush where we came, our alien prisoner's calls for help faded into the distance shockingly quickly. ((And he can catch up with us.))

With that I began flapping forward, moving just above the trees while Harry led the way forward, his Broad-winged hawk was quite good at moving between tree branches. Hold on...

((By the way, Harry,)) Cassie started.

((Hmm?))

((Where did you get that Broad-winged Hawk morph from?))

((Yeah, I've been wondering that myself,)) Ben said.

((Oh, so that's what this bird's called? On the way I realized I needed a bird of prey morph, so I flew by the territory of one so it'd attack me. Then when I was dead on the ground, I demorphed and grabbed it before it could fly away, acquired it, then morphed into it.))

((What?)) I said, shocked.

((Oh, that's so metal!)) Rachel said.

((No, it's insane!)) Marco said.

((Insanely reckless!)) Tobias said, outraged, and for the first time since we his Father died, yelling. His voice turned into something a lot scarier now that he had anger behind it. ((What if that bird killed you before you could demorph? Have you no consideration for your well-being?! We don't believe in cannon fodder!))

((That's right!)) I scolded. ((Do you not have a single shred of self-preservation? How can we wage a geurilla resistance against the Controllers if everyone jut gets themselves killed?))

((Wait...so...being able to move your morphed bodies, even when they're dead...is not normal?))

At that everyone was silent at the information.

((Uh...so, that isn't normal, is it?)) I asked.

((No, it's not,)) Tobias said. ((I figured there was a reason your father vouched for his precious only child to come with us.))

((That is beyond metal!)) Rachel said.

((Did you...always know you could do that?))

((Well, yeah, I'm pretty in-tune with my own body, afteral, but it doesn't make me immortal,)) Harry said. ((Just so long as my head and body remain roughly intact, I-))

((Hold up! Contact!)) Alice alerted us. ((Coming from further in!))

And sure enough, the underbrush ahead of us was rustling, and judging by what we were hearing, it was big.

((Everyone, land!)) I ordered. ((We're exposed!))

And just like that we all landed on a pine tree, as my peregrine falcon talons made contact, I hoped that its branches would conceal us from view.

The alien was also talking in this insanely deep voice that shook my wishbone, and made the Preregrine Falcon instictively afraid.

"I'm approaching the site of the incident now, the Animorph won't know what hit it!"

From what I could see it was moving entire bushes aside, not just swiping them away, but uprooting them, and its footsteps were loud, not like a human stomping, but that kind of loud that made you feel the ground shake with every one of its steps. And then it appeared, and I froze in disbelief. There it was, its skin was scaly and dark, its feet giant claws like a Dinosaur's, blades jutted out at the knees, elbows, forearms, head, and tail.

((Holy moly,)) Marco said, intimidated. ((It's like a cuisinart!))

((Stay calm, it still hasn't seen us!)) Tobias said.

I just couldn't believe it. Its skin was dark and scaly, legs long as it ran through the forest, just gliding through everything as fast as an Olympic Gold Metal sprinter, its beak was full of razorsharp teeth, andm peering at everything on ground level with those red glaring eyes, fearsome in every way, carried by its long neck thick with muscles, and three blades sprouted up from its forehead like some sort of mohawk. All of this was actually taking place right before my very eyes, in broad daylight. And holding a gun.

"Right, Animorphs," The giant lizard person said with contempt. "And no, I'm not waiting for backup, reinforce the interior levels, and prepare for an attack, if I don't call again, assume I'm dead."

((It can't be, it's just like my dream...)) I whispered.

((It is,)) Ben said. ((Exactly as you described.))

((So, Jake's a prophet now?)) Harry asked.

((How does it know we're here?)) Marco asked, before the answer came.

"Three of their lifesignals went dark all at once, and the fourth' disappeared. I'll investigate until I find something, or come back, until then complete radio silence, Sub-Visser 3-089 out."

((So, we have an officer on our hands,)) Tobias observed.

((Aw crap, there goes the surprise thingy...)) Harry grumbled.

((Element of surprise?)) I said.

((Yeah, that...))

((James is on his way,)) Alice said. ((He'll be here in forty minutes.))

((And with that thing on the loose?)) Cassie said. ((He'll be seen!))

((Then we take him out, too!)) Rachel exclaimed, Flitterer blood still on her talons.

((Rachel, you're crazy! We have no idea what that thing's capable of,)) Marco said.

((Alice,)) I asked. ((Do you have a jammer?))

((Yes, it's Pemalite tech, nothing will get out.))

((It's decided then,)) I said, jumping off the branch and fluttering to the ground. ((Land and change to battle morphs.))

((W-what? You're going with her idea?)) Marco sputtered. ((He's already looking for Animorphs, we'll just get ourselves killed!))

((We outnumber him literally eight to one, he has no weapons, we have a jammer, and invisible air support. I think the odds are optimistic we can take out this Blade Dragon,)) I said. ((Maybe even gain another prisoner! Jame's already on his way anyhow.))

((Oh,)) Marco said. ((I like that math!))

((Let's do it!)) Rachel cried.

The Blade had found the aftermath of our first struggle, and removed four parasites from the Flitterer's heads. Thank goodness he elected to remain in place to find all of the alien remains. Tobias got out his invisibility rig, and turned back into his Red-tailed Hawk morph, now flying above him, invisible, everyone had gotten into position. Our plan of attack was an ambush, we figured he would return where he came from in a straight line, and so we found the perfect clearing to hide and wait for him. For the first time ever, we were all assembled in our battle morphs, A Tiger, a Wolf, a Grizzly Bear, a Gorilla, a Red-tailed Hawk, a Hyena, a Moose, and a Broadwinged Hawk would be arrayed against an alien invader, this one was apparently an elite, the best of the best, he would only give 100% and so would we, we were ready.

Our plan was to attack him in waves from separate directions, Rachel, Alice, and Marco, The Bear, The Hyena, and The Gorilla, would be first, they would be emerge from right in front of the Blade Dragon's return path and try to to take him down, failing that, keep him in position, on the right flank, me, Cassie, Tobias, and Harry, The Tiger, The Wolf, and the Hawks, would enter the fray. If even that additional reinforcement isn't enough, Ben is waiting further back than all of us, behind the 1st wave, out of sight, to enter the fray and finish him off.

This was it, first contact had gone surprisingly well, we had beaten the enemy and wiped out an entire patrol before they could warn the other Controllers, but they had measures in-place anyway. They were monitoring their lifesigns remotely somehow, so they knew we were there the second Rachel killed the first one.

The Old Bloods were still morphing by the time Tobias we got word back.

((Alice, activate the jammer, he's bounding right for you!))

Then the circular pendant-like device around Alice's neck began spinning while on her still changing body.

((Be ready,)) I whispered as the sound of shifting sand right next to me continued. I got ready to pounce, the awesome power in my tiger haunches summoned, The Tiger instinctively knew this was an ambush, it waited eagerly for its prey.

Then came the footsteps, those thundering footsteps approached again as the creature approached. The approach of the Blade Dragon sounded much more intimidating from down here.

"-come in! I've found the remains of all but the missing one, have you found any sign of the Animorphs?"

He got close enough for us to finally here his voice.

"Excavation Base, this is Sub-Visser 3-089. Respond!"

The Blade Dragon finally leapt over the bushes, it only took a few bounding steps before it reached the end of the clearing.

The 1st Wave emerged!

Rachel, Marco, and Alice all exploded from the bushes, Marco reared up and roared alongside Alice and Rachel, the full ferocity of their opening display of force caused the Blade Dragon to jump backwards out of the way.

"This is Sub-Visser 3-089, all Nameless! I am under attack by morphers!" The Blade Dragon announced as Wave 1 reached him. Marco flanked him to the right, in front of me, Rachel to the left, and Alice attacked head on.

He sliced with his arm and kicked his leg out just before Marco laid out a punch.

And that was the exact moment everything began to go wrong.

((Ah! My eyes!)) Marco cried in pain as three blades pierced him in his fat Gorilla stomach and the arms blades slashed him across the face, blinded!

Its foot landed swiftly at the ground in timefor it to lift its other one and slam it against Alice's Hyena head, kicking her away and making her fly to the ground.

Rachel, roaring swiped with her paw, but the Blade Dragon ducked down, a blur, then it leapt backward, extending its left arm, cutting Rachel's side open with the blades as it jumped away, moving back.

((Aaah!)) Rachel cried in pain. ((You'll pay for that!))

The Blade Dragon landed a few feet away from Rachel, away from us as Marco stumbled away, unable to continue the fight, and Alice got up, Rachel turned to face her enemy.

"Ah," The blade Dragon said, narrowing his eyes in understanding before it stood tall, reached into a massive pocket strapped to its leg and got out a giant pistol!

((Harry, Tobias, take his gun!)) I ordered.

BLAM! The shot was far louder than it was depicted in movies, defeaningly loud!

((Aaaaaah!)) Marco said, collapsing to the ground. ((Did I just get shot?!))

((Marco! Demorph!)) I ordered.

Rachel reared up, roaring, and shifted her center of gravity to mount all 600 pounds of her into a bear charge as Alice got up and charged again.

"You've made a terrible mistake!" The Blade Dragon cried out. "I shall capture you, and earn so much prestige! Whichever one of you is the strongest male shall be my new host!"

I charged, Cassie following me just as the hawks reached him.

"TSEEEER!" tobias cried out, causing the Blade Dragon to look up at nothing, drawing attention away from Harry who flew in from the other side to take his gun.

The Blade Dragon turned as Harry grabbed his pistol, but he grabbed at the last second, just as Tobias slashed his gun-hand.

"Gah!" The Blade Dragon cried as he dropped his weapon and he slashed with his arm!

((Harry!)) Tobias cried as the Broad-winged Hawk fell to the ground in two pieces!

I let out a might roar and jumped up, paws out, jaws open, the Blade Dragon turned to face me and jumped. No, not just jumped, it vaulted over me! It swiped down with its arm and I felt three razor sharp knives rake across my entire back.

((Auuugh!)) I cried in pain and The Tiger grew enraged.

I turned around and the Blade Dragon landed on top of Rachel and jumped off, whipping the bladed tip of his tail against Rachel's face, trying to gouge out her eyes but missing by a hair. When it landed it swiped against Alice as I moved to rushed forward again.

Alice was kicked away again, this time sporting gouge on her face as the Blade Dragon rushed forard, slashing!

Biting, knicking pain erupted all over me as I was cut, again and again and again! Arm, shoulder, face stinging I leapt up again, roaring, but the Blade Dragon dodged out of the way. Alice jumped up and managed to bit down on the Blade Dragon's thigh.

The creature grunted in pain as it landed, and just like that a Moose entered the fray! Ben to the rescue. The Blade Dragon looked up at its new assailant and jumped, Alice still grabbing down on his leg, he vaulted over The Moose, spinning in a way that Alice was impaled on his antlers! Crying out in shock and pain she let go.

((Clarjiatz!)) Ben cursed as he lowered his head, trying to extricate Alice from his rack.

Cassie leapt up to try to bite down on his long neck, he retracted back and grabbed her with both of his hands and headbutted, stabbing her!

((Cassie!))

The wolf yelped in pain as Rachel reached The Blade Dragon.

((Face me! You emo freak! We'll see who guts who!)) Rachel roared as she charged again, The Blade Dragon removed the blades and threw Cassie into Rachel's face.

"You can't fight fate!"

Rachel ignored her and continued, getting up and on two legs and swiping, the Blade Dragon dodged the first one and began swiping with everything it had until Rachel's paw batted him away, he staggered but didn't fall.

"I will crush you, then lay waste to what's left of your dying nation!"

I reached him again and jumped onto his back, I tried to bite down on his neck but instead got a mouthful of quils, I then felt a sharp pain in my back! The Blade Dragon, it's stabbing me with his tail! Again and again the long shiv pierced me. No! I gotta get off!

My mouth perforated, and losing more blood from my wounds I jumped off of the Blade Dragons back. Rachel tried to grapple with him while I was on him, his arms were restrained but he kept thrusting his head forward, and now her face and arms were were in tatters, bleeding all over. Just then Ben returned to the fray, he ran behind the enemy and reared up, slamming his hooves down on the Blade Dragon's back.

The alien fell down and in response thrusting his tail into Ben's belly over and over again!

((GAH!)) Ben cried out in pain.

"Your cause is lost! You can't hope to kill us all!"

((Restrain the tail!)) I said, rushing forward to help him.

Almost as if he knew I was coming, the tail swiped at my face again, taking out my left eye.

((Aaahh!)) I cried as I lunged forward, grabbing the tail at its base and biting down as her as I could, trying to break bone, just then it swiped both of its arms, multiple times.

((Ah!)) Ben cried as he fell down, his front legs chopped in half!

((Ooof!)) I cried out as the full weight of a moose knocked the air out of my lungs. I felt the alien wriggle under me, its powerful body heaving with all its might to get our from under both myself and a demorphing moose.

Rachel lunged down at his face, jaws open, the Blade Dragon's head snapped again, but this time he bit down on Rachel's lower jaw!

((Huh? AAAAHHH!)) Rachel confusedly screamed as the alien began thrashing with his neck back and forth, tearing more flesh as he left from underneath myself and Ben.

I left from Ben's rapidly changing form just as Rachel brought her paws to bear on the Blade Dragon, it slashed and slashed again until her limbs fell to their sides, useless!

I rushed again, roaring just as the Blade Dragon stabbed Rachel's belly and swiped across with his tail, causing her entrails to fall to the forest floor!

It let go and face me, jumping again, stomping on my back, I swiped up with my paws, raking my claws down his legs, but they couldn't break the skin! It swiped downward again and all of a sudden lost feeling in the back of my body, I fell to the ground and turned around just as Ben charged, demorphed into his human morph.

"Even if you kill me! You cannot stop us! Your worlds and everything in them belong to The Nameless! You cannot fight fate. EVERYTHING IS OURS!" The Blade Dragon's voice thundered in utter surety.

My legs! I can't move my legs! Why won't my legs work?!

"AAAAAAUUUUUUGH!" Ben roared in inhuman fury, swinging his fists against The blade Dragon's head and chest, battering his head like a punching bag, the Blade Dragon raised his fists and slammed them down onto Ben's shoulders, bringing him to his knees. Ben reached forward, murder in his eyes and grabbed the Blade Dragon's crotch, squeezing hard.

The alien made a special screeching sound as he thrust down his beak, stabbing Ben through the shoulders and threw him away. Rachel charged again, trying to bite forward, trying to bite him, but her merely dodged to the side and swiped at her throat, cutting her jugulars!

"GRRAAAAAAH!"

Ben charged in again just as Alice entered the fray, biting down on the base of the Blade Dragon's tail, all of a sudden it closed its eyes and began moving its head away as Ben began whaling on his chest again, beating away his swipes.

All of a sudden he headbut again, his forehead blades disappeared, causing a raptor's cry of pain to emanate!

((I'm going down!) Tobias said as he reappeared, impaled on the Blade Dragon's head blades!

The lifted its legs until it was completely even above the knee, then kicked at Alice, grabbing her by the neck, Ben tried kicking the alien leg away, but Alice let go of the tail, and the Blade Dragon thrust forward, impaling Ben just above the waist!

No. No. Is that? No! Everything's going dark! I realized as Marco reentered the fray.

A Gorilla punched the Blade Dragon, finally making him fall to the ground, his foot still strangling Alice's Hyena morph to death.

Demorph, I have to demorph! I realized focusing.

The Blade Dragon continued slicing his arms at Ben and Marco as they physically struggled to restrain its limbs. Eventually, Ben, bleeding profusely from the holes in his collar and waist, stopped going for the arms.

Human. Go human, The Tiger is dying! I focused as the changes began happening, every sound became blurry as the sound of sand could be heard, I couldn't feel anything. Human! Human! Demorph!

"RRRAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUGH!" Ben let out the cry of the spirit of violence itself, eyes clompletely gone with rage as he whaled down on the invader's head, his fists coming in as a blur, beating down on the Blade Dragon's skull again and again and again. The Blade dragon kept slicing and slicing with all three of its limbs, disemboweling both Ben and Marco, who whaled down on the alien like a gangland brawl. as Cassie emerged, going for a leg but getting her eyes sliced out in the process, she lunged again behind the fog.

Demorph! Change! Return to Human! Return to...and everything went dark.