Rachel, who'd clearly been paying attention to more than just the conversation that he and the rest of the Animorphs had been having with Rita, so when she and Tobias had gathered them all up at Cassie's barn, it was with a plan that she'd made.

"While we were all talking to Rita," Rachel paused for a moment, looking like she didn't quite believe the name she'd just said, then sighed and rolled her eyes. "Well anyway, while we were all talking to her, I noticed that there was some kind of broken machine on a pedestal. Like it was something important, you know? I think that was the Kandrona."

"Considering what Rita and whoever her forces are did to the Yeerk Pool, I wouldn't be surprised," Jake said, folding his own arms. "Where'd you find it?"

"It looked like it was where the EGS Tower used to be," Rachel said, standing up and pacing a bit, as though she couldn't quite stand staying still while she was talking about that kind of thing. "I'm sure that's where we'll find the Kandrona."

Once they'd all morphed into their respective bird forms, traveling to the EGS Tower and then demorphing again, Tommy took a deep breath and started morphing into a lion.

"Okay, we're here, but let's take it easy on any innocent bystanders," Jake said, casting a long glance at all of them as they took on their respective combat morphs. "Tobias? I know you're wearing out, but could you stay up and keep an eye out while we morph?"

(Not a problem, Jake.)

After all of them had made it into the building, past the front desk with its human-Controller guard, they split up into two groups to take the freight elevator. He, Jake, and Rachel went up first, since their three morphs were the most powerful in their respective arsenals. Roaring alongside Jake and Rachel, Tommy gathered himself for a leap as human and Hork-Bajir Controllers all charged into the room.

Swiping with his paws, Tommy knocked aside one of the human-Controllers who had attempted to attack him, even as Rachel plowed a Hork-Bajir Controller into the far wall. Cassie, Ax, and Marco arrived soon after that.

(About time you got here,) Rachel said, turning to blink at the three of them. (We already took care of the welcoming committee.)

(Sorry,) Cassie said. (Ax pushed the button for the wrong floor,) she glanced down at the pair of Hork-Bajir that Rachel had tossed aside. (You guys know they have more than just these two here guarding the Kandrona- Jake, you're bleeding!)

(I'm fine,) Jake said, as the six of them all joined up again. (The human-Controllers ran down that hallway,) he continued, nodding in the direction they'd gone. (Come on. We haven't won this battle yet.)

The six of them charged down the hallway, Rachel smashing down the door in front of them, leaving them facing down eight Hork-Bajir Controllers. They were outnumbered by two, but that didn't stop Rachel for a second. Nothing really seemed to stop her; which was both good and bad, really.

The fourteen of them slammed into each other, the wild screams and roars of combat seeming like almost as much a physical force as any of the blows that rained down on all of their respective heads or bodies. The sudden sound of breaking glass, just as he'd grabbed the head of an attacking Hork-Bajir in his jaws and was shaking the thing to death, proceeded the screaming of yet another of the Hork-Bajir Controllers.

Tobias came screaming in through the shattered remnants of that window, and three of the Hork-Bajir Controllers – the only three that could – turned and ran from the blood-soaked room they'd all been fighting in.

(I'm hurt bad,) Marco said, after he'd piled the broken door and a semi-intact desk in front of the empty doorframe. (I gotta morph out.)

(Do it,) Jake said. (Everyone, demorph.)

Rachel, who was missing a paw just as Tommy was missing both his tail and a chunk of his face, tried to refuse the order, but in the end all of them returned to their human forms. All but collapsing to the floor as he regained his human form, Tommy let the following discussion between the rest of the Animorphs wash over him without really noticing it. After a bit of rest, however, they all made their way into a back room that held the Kandrona.

Rachel was the one who got rid of it, morphing into an elephant so she could shove it out through a nearby window to smash on the ground several stories below, and Tommy found himself pleased to have at least a bit more time to rest. Still, in the end they were all gathered together in the room where the Kandrona had once been, demorphed and resting.

"So, what does all this mean?" Marco asked. "We've destroyed the Kandrona, but there's still that witch out there."

"We can't worry about that," Jake said, standing back up. "We've got enough to deal with here."

"We're going to end up meeting with her later, it sounds like," Cassie said, giving him a worried look.

"Or, at least I am," he said, feeling all the more uneasy; he didn't like the thought that someone else might have taken an interest in him.

Someone who seemed to be nearly as much of a threat as the Yeerks, and was also trying to take over the Earth, just like they were.