Let's Read Animorphs! The Whole Series! Ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

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Acebuckeye13: Nov 2, 2010; If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling
1-800-GAMBLER; Ultra Carp

quote:

And to all Andalite warriors: The People expect that every warrior shall do his duty.

Pretty direct reference to Horatio Nelson at Trafalgar here. Most of the comparisons to the Andalite military and government in this thread have been to the post-Cold War US, but Napoleonic Wars-era England is definitely an apt comparison as well. Particularly given their emphasis on rigid discipline and focus on naval superiority.

Also I haven't read this book in a long while, so that twist legitimately just took me by surprise. And I honestly can't remember (And am excited to find out) what happens next!

# ? Feb 26, 2021 04:56

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# ? Apr 28, 2024 06:17

QuickbreathFinisher: Sep 28, 2008; by reading this post you have agreed to form a gay socialist micronation.
`

Weren't the ships in Andalite chronicles named things like "SpaceTree" and "WarHoof" and things of that nature? Or am I misremembering? If they were, it's mildly interesting that either this one has an Andalite name or maybe Ax just isn't consciously translating it.

I don't think Tobias is wrong, but I do think Ax wants him to be.

# ? Feb 26, 2021 05:09

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

QuickbreathFinisher posted:

Weren't the ships in Andalite chronicles named things like "SpaceTree" and "WarHoof" and things of that nature? Or am I misremembering? If they were, it's mildly interesting that either this one has an Andalite name or maybe Ax just isn't consciously translating it.

We've run into two Dome Ships....the one that got shot down at the beginning of the series, and the one Elfangor was stationed on in Andalite Chronicles, and those were the GalaxyTree and the Starsword. We also saw Alloran's personal experimental fighter the Jahar, named after his wife.

It might be that Ax isn't translating this, or it might that that this ship, which isn't a Dome Ship, but an Assault Ship (designed to land troops and support them after they landed) has different naming conventions.

# ? Feb 26, 2021 05:17

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

If I'm gonna compare, I think Alloran is my favourite of the Andalite captains we've met so far. At least he only wanted to kill the enemy.

# ? Feb 26, 2021 05:28

Acebuckeye13: Nov 2, 2010; If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling
1-800-GAMBLER; Ultra Carp

Ships also don't have to follow a specific (Or obvious) naming convention. During World War II, the US Navy aircraft carriers included the Lexington, Saratoga, and Yorktown (Revolutionary War battles), Hornet and Wasp (Insects, and the names of Revolutionary War-era ships), Shangri-La (A mythical place referenced in a speech by Roosevelt as the origin of the Doolittle raid), Antitem (A Civil War battle), and of course Enterprise (Another Revolutionary War-era ship). So while there isn't any obvious connection between the name Ascalin and the other Andalite ships we've seen, that doesn't mean there isn't any. (Or, conversely, Andalite ships may not have any naming conventions at all.)

# ? Feb 26, 2021 05:38

Shwoo: Jul 21, 2011

I always thought the Ascalin turns out to have been named after an Andalite captain who doesn't appear until book 54, but after looking again, that character's name is very slightly different.

# ? Feb 26, 2021 06:46

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Maybe it's just because this book is directly from Ax's POV, but the Animorphs (minus Tobias) are kind of being dicks about his torn allegiance, and IIRC will continue being dicks about it. But on the other hand, you have to cut them some slack from this being a hugely stressful situation for them, which doesn't come through because it's an Ax book and he feels mostly overjoyed and relieved to be "home" again. Like, it's one thing to be morphing animals and fighting aliens among the familiar landscape of your hometown, sleeping in your own bed every night and still going to school, but now all of a sudden they're the stranded aliens a million miles from home with no way of getting back. No matter how resilient you've become, that would be pretty hosed up! And it's a neat role reversal with Ax.

quote:

<There�s a lesson there, Aristh,> the T.O. said. <We Andalites are strongest when we fight alone.>

<Yes, sir.> I knew what he meant. He was talking about the humans. And I really should just keep quiet. <And yet, with all due respect, it was my human friends and I who destroyed the Yeerks� attempt to create a species of ocean-going shock troops for use here on Leera. If the Yeerks had succeeded in that plan, the situation here today would be impossible.>

Precisely because this book widens our scope of the war, it would be pretty funny if the TO is like "Oh they ended up getting aquatic shock troops from some other planet and these ones are waaaaaaaaaay worse."

# ? Feb 26, 2021 07:21

QuickbreathFinisher: Sep 28, 2008; by reading this post you have agreed to form a gay socialist micronation.
`

Acebuckeye13 posted:

Ships also don't have to follow a specific (Or obvious) naming convention. During World War II, the US Navy aircraft carriers included the Lexington, Saratoga, and Yorktown (Revolutionary War battles), Hornet and Wasp (Insects, and the names of Revolutionary War-era ships), Shangri-La (A mythical place referenced in a speech by Roosevelt as the origin of the Doolittle raid), Antitem (A Civil War battle), and of course Enterprise (Another Revolutionary War-era ship). So while there isn't any obvious connection between the name Ascalin and the other Andalite ships we've seen, that doesn't mean there isn't any. (Or, conversely, Andalite ships may not have any naming conventions at all.)

True enough. It's interesting that one is called Star Sword because imagining Andalites using swords, especially with their weak lovely arms, is very funny.

# ? Feb 26, 2021 10:11

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Acebuckeye13 posted:

Pretty direct reference to Horatio Nelson at Trafalgar here. Most of the comparisons to the Andalite military and government in this thread have been to the post-Cold War US, but Napoleonic Wars-era England is definitely an apt comparison as well. Particularly given their emphasis on rigid discipline and focus on naval superiority.

Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. Especially the "the captain's ship is his castle and he has absolute power there" aspect. Which makes me realize, I don't actually know what US naval culture and protocol is or has ever been like, now or centuries ago.

QuickbreathFinisher posted:

True enough. It's interesting that one is called Star Sword because imagining Andalites using swords, especially with their weak lovely arms, is very funny.

Especially considering every single one of them has a better one at the end of their tails. I doubt they would have ever developed melee weapons.

# ? Feb 26, 2021 10:37

Bobulus: Jan 28, 2007

Possibly there are tail swords? It ties on to the existing tail blade and extends reach, at the cost of speed?

[/asspull]

# ? Feb 26, 2021 19:40

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Bobulus posted:

[/asspull]

That would make a terrible scabbard for a tailsword.

# ? Feb 26, 2021 19:50

Mazerunner: Apr 22, 2010; Good Hunter, what... what is this post?

it's actually an andalite word pronounced "sword" that means something entirely else

# ? Feb 26, 2021 21:14

Grammarchist: Jan 28, 2013

I wonder if there are Andalites that lose their tails in battle and choose to get a morning star prosthetic to stomp around like a medieval ankylosaurus.

# ? Feb 27, 2021 00:38

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

I think the Andalites' Spartan/bushido warrior culture is extremely lovely towards the disabled.

# ? Feb 27, 2021 00:44

WrightOfWay: Jul 24, 2010

freebooter posted:

I think the Andalites' Spartan/bushido warrior culture is extremely lovely towards the disabled.

This shows up in a later book! Andalites are extremely lovely about it

# ? Feb 27, 2021 00:59

Terror Sweat: Mar 15, 2009

Grammarchist posted:

I wonder if there are Andalites that lose their tails in battle and choose to get a morning star prosthetic to stomp around like a medieval ankylosaurus.

Only if they can't morph I guess

# ? Feb 27, 2021 01:47

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Animorphs-Book 18:The Decision-Chapter 15

quote:

I stood there like my hooves had been nailed to the deck. It wasn�t possible! An Andalite ship�s captain a traitor?

Or was he a Controller?

No one moved. The computer guided the Ascalin down, down to sweep slowly forward, just a few hundred feet above the rocky ground. In seconds we�d be down.

T.O. Harelin was bleeding profusely from his severed tail. But I knew he would rather die than live without a tail.

This may give you some idea about what Andalites think of the tailless. This whole thing will be gone into in more detail in a later book, but keep in for now that this book was written just about 8 years after the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which said that employers and public accommodations had to provide access to people with disabilities, and there was controversy over the law at the time, with people saying it was a waste of money and basically that people with disabilities should just suck it up and deal. it's kind of hard to put yourself now into the mental space of 20 years ago, but in a lot of ways, the Andalites are very American, and as Applegate/Grant wrote them, Andalite positions on issues tend to be exaggerations of American conservative views from the 1990s. And we'll see this again in other things, and I'll try to point out what the hot button issues they're commenting on.

quote:

The humans! It hit me like a Dracon beam blast. My human friends were back in the sick bay.

The captain knew their secret. In a matter of seconds, so would the entire Yeerk Empire. The news would flash to Visser Three. There would be no going home for them. Ever.

And Earth, like Leera, would fall to the Yeerks.

<Prince Jake! Tobias! Cassie! Marco! Rachel!> I cried in private thought-speak. <If one of you can hear me, you must escape! The captain is ->

<The captain is a dirtbag,> Marco�s thought-speak voice said, startlingly clear and close.

<What? Where are you?>

<Oh, gee, Ax, we decided not to just sit in our room with our hands folded like good little girls and boys,> Rachel said. <Sorry.>

<Ax, we are on the bridge,> Prince Jake said. <We saw what happened. Or saw as well as we can in these morphs.>

<Prince Jake, it is absolutely vital that Captain Samilin be stopped!>

<We can�t take him out,> Cassie said. <We would demorph too slowly. But I happen to be on the captain, and I can definitely distract him.>

The Ascalin was settling toward the ground. Through the front viewport I saw row after row of Hork-Bajir, all with weapons drawn, totally surrounding the landing area.

<Do it, Cassie,> I said grimly. <Distract him and I will do the rest. We have just seconds!>

I stared, riveted, as a flea too small to be seen became a flea too large to be ignored. It grew on the captain�s back, larger, larger, with twisting, morphing features.

<What is -> the captain yelled in surprise.

FWAPP!

I struck! My tail blade whipped forward, aimed for Samilin�s neck.

He jerked back, dodged. My blade hit his upper right front leg a glancing blow. All around the room flies and cockroaches no one had noticed began to grow as my human friends demorphed.

But now the captain swept his Shredder toward me and I struck again.

FWAPP!

The weapon flew from his hand and skittered across the deck.

It was the captain and I, tail to tail. We faced each other, each quivering with energy and focus, each waiting for the opening that would allow us to swing the killing tail slash.

I flashed on the scene with Visser Three. This was the second time I had gone tail to tail with an enemy. This time my foe would not escape.

TSEEEWWW!

T.O. Harelin! He had snatched up the fallen Shredder and fired. The captain sizzled, looked horrified, then disappeared.

<Computer!> the T.O. yelled. <Emergency override, switch controls to manual!>

WHAM!

Too late! The Ascalin hit the ground hard. I was thrown off my hooves. My human friends, all back in their own bodies now, went rolling and tumbling. Only the T.O. managed to stay on his feet.

<Computer, emergency liftoff!>

<Unable to comply,> the disembodied voice said. <There is severe main engine damage.>

I saw Harelin rock back on his hooves at this news. <Humans, remorph! The only way out of here is to be invisible. Aristh, you, too.>

<I�m not running away!>

<Yes, you are, Aristh Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. You and the humans will escape and get word of this evil to the commander. That is an order.>

<But ->

<Do you know how to take an order?> he roared.

<Yes, sir.>

<Morph something small. I�ll blow you out the emergency hatch. Get as far from the Ascalin as you can. You won�t have much time. Do you hear me?>

I knew then what he was going to do. I knew he had no choice. He could not allow himself to be taken by the Yeerks. He could not allow any of the Andalites on board to be taken alive. And there was simply no way to escape this trap.

<Prince Jake, we all have to morph small. Um � um � flies! Morph to flies, and fly up to the ceiling of the bridge. There�s an escape hatch.>

I noticed Rachel looking at me with total disdain. Then she looked to Prince Jake. �What do we do?�

�What he said,� Prince Jake said. �Do it.�

I focused my own mind on the fly morph. I expected T.O. Harelin�s face to reveal surprise or horror as I began to undergo the changes. After all, flies are pretty horrific even by Earth standards.

But the T.O. wasn�t interested. He was staggering now from the loss of blood. And he was making an announcement that would be transmitted throughout the ship.

<To all warriors and crew of the Ascalin. This is the tactical officer. The captain is dead. We are surrounded. No chance of escape. Nothing to do now but inflict the maximum damage on the Yeerks. In three minutes I will begin firing all ship�s weapons. The Shredder flashback will cause the ship to explode.>

He let this sink in for a moment.

<Perform the ritual of death, my friends. Thank you for your service to this ship. You die in the service of the People, defending freedom.>

I was shrinking rapidly. The deck was rushing up toward me. Insect legs and insect antennae sprouted from me. But I was Andalite, at one with every Andalite on the ship.

From all over the ship, a hundred thought-speak voices spoke the words of the ritual. I couldn�t help but join them.

 I said. I should have bowed my head, but I no longer had a head that could bow. All over the ship I knew my fellow Andalites were raising their stalk eyes upward.

 I said, and heard the echo of all those strong voices. <My life is not my own, when the People have need of it. My life is given for the People, for my prince, and for my honor.>

I fired the fly�s legs, started the wings beating, and flew up toward the escape hatch. I have never felt worse than I did at that moment. So many would die. And I would live.

<Aristh?> the T.O. said weakly.

<Yes?>

<Maybe I was wrong. Maybe different races can be stronger together. Go with your humans and prove me wrong.>

The escape hatch blew open before I could answer. A powerful rush of escaping air launched me out into the Leeran dusk.

<Jake � Prince Jake,> I said. <We must get as far away as we can.>

We flew, rolling and tumbling through the air, riding the strong breeze wherever it took us. When the Ascalin blew itself up, we were safe from the blast. And safe, too, from the thought-speak cries of a hundred dying heroes.

RIP, Andalite friends. You gave your lives to fight the Yeerks and so the Animorphs could live.

Chapter 16

quote:

<Okay. Now what?> Rachel said.

I didn�t have an answer. I couldn�t think. I just kept turning it over and over in my mind: An Andalite ship�s captain had turned traitor. It was impossible. Because the more I thought about it, the more I realized he could not have been a Controller.

The Ascalin had been in space for weeks. In order for a Yeerk parasite to have lived in Captain Samilin�s brain, it would have to have had Kandrona rays. There was no way for even the captain to conceal a portable Kandrona aboard the ship.

 Rachel repeated.

 I said.

<Well, if you don�t, who does?> she demanded. <What are we going to do? Fly around looking for the nearest Dumpster so we can see if there�s a tasty pile of rotting fruit? Come on, we need a plan.>



<We need to find a way home,> Marco said. <Obviously, thanks to Captain Benedict Arnold back there, this whole war is going bad on us. I didn�t think the almighty Andalites did things like that. I thought it was just us poor, dumb, primitive humans who�d sell out to the bad guys.>

<How about everyone getting off Ax�s back?> Tobias said.

<Yeah, poor Ax,> Rachel sneered. <He throws us over in a flash for his big deal captain who, oops, turns out to be a traitor.>

<Rachel, I don�t think that�s really fair,> Cassie argued.

<Fair? Fair?!> Marco yelled. <If it wasn�t for us totally ignoring Ax and his precious captain, Ax would be dead back there along with ->

 I cried. 

I had not intended to say that. And I did not mean it. Not really. I wanted to live. I felt terrible about it, but I wanted to live.

Tobias and Rachel are right. Cut Ax a break here. He just got reunited with his people, who he hadn't seen for almost a year, just to find out the Captain of the ship was a traitor and watch the ship and all its crew die. And none of it is his fault.

quote:

<Okay, everyone shut up,> Prince Jake said at last. <That was rough, what happened back there. A lot of good guys just died. Everyone is hyped up. So let�s just chill.>

He waited a few moments before going on. <Here�s what we do. We keep flying till we�re near the two-hour limit. We won�t get far in these bodies, even with this breeze, but we want as much distance as we can get.>

We flew in silence, seeing the strange planet through the distorted compound eyes of flies, hearing almost nothing, smelling things we could not identify. We were alone in silence with our thoughts. And after a while I almost wished the yelling and accusations would start again.

It�s a terrible thing, living when so many others have died. It�s terrible because no matter what you do, a single thought keeps popping up in your head: I�m glad it wasn�t me.

I was glad it wasn�t me.

We landed amid a tumble of rocks that would hide us from view. We demorphed. From what I could recall of the display on board the Ascalin, we were in a no-person�s land between the Yeerk and Andalite forces. The battle could sweep over us at any moment.

�Okay, I�m calm now,� Rachel said as soon as she had emerged from the fly morph. �So now that I�m calm, same question: Now what?�

�What do you think about having Tobias take a look around?� Prince Jake asked me.

 I said.

Prince Jake looked at me with a narrowing of the eyes and pressing together of the lips. The expression is �annoyance,� I believe.

�Tobias? Go up and take a quick look,� Prince Jake said. Tobias flapped up from the ground.

Prince Jake looked at me. �Now, listen up, Ax. I know you�re feeling bad. For lots of reasons, probably. But you feeling bad doesn�t let you off the hook.�

<What hook?>

�Look, we got Andalites shooting at Yeerks. We have no humans in this fight except for us. Maybe you�re not the big expert, but you know more than we know. So snap out of it.�

Tobias circled overhead and came quickly back down to land somewhat painfully on a point of rock. <We have about a thousand heavily armed Hork-Bajir on one side, coming toward us fast.

They�re backed up by these kind of big, flat, oval ships flying maybe a quarter mile up and firing Dracon beams. Taxxons coming behind them. And over there, we have about two dozen Andalite ships, also low down, and maybe a hundred tough-looking Andalites on the ground. I may be wrong, but I don�t think the good guys are gonna win this round.>

<We should try and reach the Andalite forces,> I said.

�Why, so some other Andalite traitor can rat us out?� Rachel said harshly.

My tail blade was at her throat before I knew it.

She stared at me with cool, blue human eyes. �What�s the matter, Ax? Does the truth hurt? You blew us off so you could suck up to Captain Creep back there. If we go and find more Andalites, what happens? You tell us to go sit in a corner and be nice while you start yes, sir-ing and no, sir-ing the
next Andalite you see?�

I pulled my tail blade back, horrified that I�d gotten so emotional. I felt the anger drain away.

Rachel was right.

<I made a mistake trusting Captain Samilin. I made a mistake dismissing all of you. You have � you have kept me alive and befriended me for a long time. All I can say is that none of you knows what it�s like to be completely cut off from your own people.>

<One of us does,> Tobias said quietly.

<All I can do is say I�m sorry. And I will consider Jake my prince until he says otherwise.> I

turned to face Prince Jake, focusing all my eyes on him. <You are my prince until you, and only you, say otherwise.>

For once he did not say, �Don�t call me prince.�

Instead he said, �Fine. Now what I want to know is this: Is there anyone on the Andalite side we can be totally sure of?�

It was a hurtful question. I felt the last of my pride melting away. <The commander. If he were a Yeerk spy, this entire battle would already be lost.>

�It looks pretty lost to me,� Marco said bluntly.

<Force Commander Prince Galuit-Enilon-Esgarrouth lost his entire family to a Yeerk raid on an Andalite outpost. His entire family: wife and three children. They died rather than be captured. Their bodies were fed to the Taxxons. We can trust Prince Galuit.> I sighed. <And we probably should trust� no one else.>

Well, that's just horrifying.

# ? Feb 27, 2021 05:14

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Epicurius posted:

Well, that's just horrifying.

, huh?

Also, despite their now having spent an hour or two flying around a completely alien environment, it is strangely... absent from the writing. On the ship, the narration spent more time describing the oceans than the land, and even here at ground level there's nothing mentioned but some rocks. Is it day or night? Any colors? Smells? Plants or any signs of life at all, besides the invaders? This section feels rushed.

# ? Feb 27, 2021 06:29

Acebuckeye13: Nov 2, 2010; If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling
1-800-GAMBLER; Ultra Carp

Fuschia tude posted:

, huh?

Also, despite their now having spent an hour or two flying around a completely alien environment, it is strangely... absent from the writing. On the ship, the narration spent more time describing the oceans than the land, and even here at ground level there's nothing mentioned but some rocks. Is it day or night? Any colors? Smells? Plants or any signs of life at all, besides the invaders? This section feels rushed.

Yeah, that's one of the things I noted as well. The lack of description of the self-destruction of Ascalin felt especially notable, since it just sort of... happens.

# ? Feb 27, 2021 06:36

Pwnstar: Dec 9, 2007; Who wants some waffles?

Regarding swords: I can imagine that at some point in Andalite history using your tail blade was considered barbaric and primitive, we invented tools so lets use them etc. Then when they reverted from city life to their open spaces small tribe existence they got over those hangups. Obviously this is just some bullshit I'm making up and not in the books.

# ? Feb 27, 2021 08:29

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Re: lack of description I think it's because they're flies and can't see jack, plus they're in a pretty barren part of the continent anyway.

# ? Feb 27, 2021 09:01

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

I just realised something.
The Yeerks were gonna win Leera, badly, and were defeated by literal ghosts. A genuine Deus Ex Machina. Imagine trying to explain that one.

# ? Feb 27, 2021 09:03

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

I just realised something.
The Yeerks were gonna win Leera, badly, and were defeated by literal ghosts. A genuine Deus Ex Machina. Imagine trying to explain that one.

The only Yeerks who see them vanish get vapourised immediately afterwards so there's nobody to do any explaining

# ? Feb 27, 2021 09:09

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

freebooter posted:

Re: lack of description I think it's because they're flies and can't see jack, plus they're in a pretty barren part of the continent anyway.

Sure, but they've been demorphed for a while now, and there was barely any description of the planet from the ship, either. It jars particularly because the series has generally been so experiential and focused on a sense of wonder. Now this is their first time ever on an alien planet after months of hearing about them and seeing new space aliens, but the only reaction is :geno:

# ? Feb 27, 2021 15:35

Ceebees: Nov 2, 2011; I'm intentionally being as verbose as possible in negotiations for my own amusement.

Fuschia tude posted:

Now this is their first time ever on an alien planet after months of hearing about them and seeing new space aliens, but the only reaction is ?

Turns out, it all just looks like the hills and quarries around LA, or Canadian woodlands.

# ? Feb 27, 2021 17:18

disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

Fuschia tude posted:

Sure, but they've been demorphed for a while now, and there was barely any description of the planet from the ship, either. It jars particularly because the series has generally been so experiential and focused on a sense of wonder. Now this is their first time ever on an alien planet after months of hearing about them and seeing new space aliens, but the only reaction is ?

If one of the others were narrating, yeah, I'd absolutely expect this. Ax has other things on his mind right now.

# ? Feb 27, 2021 19:44

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Animorphs-Book 18:The Decision-Chapter 17

quote:

It sounded simple: Reach the Andalite forces. But it is a very dangerous thing, advancing toward a lot of angry, very dangerous, very heavily armed, very nervous warriors.

<The automated defensive grid will fire at anything in the air that comes too close,> I warned. <Anything. If it is more than a few feet above the ground the sensors will pick it up, target it, and fire.>

�This ground is too rough to walk over,� Cassie said thoughtfully. �And it�s getting dark. We could try smaller birds. The seagull morphs again. No, wait! Bats! Not as fast, but very agile. And with echolocation we can fly close to the ground even in the dark.�

�To the bat morph, Robin!� Marco said, with cheerfulness that seemed totally out of place.

�We morph, then we fly, hugging the ground the whole way,� Jake said. �Once behind Andalite lines we try and figure out a way to reach this Prince Galuit.� He looked at me. �And whatever happens, we stay out of this battle till we reach Galuit. Understood?�

<Yes, Prince Jake.>

Prince Jake looked at me with an unsmiling mouth. Then he said, �Don�t call me prince,� and formed a small smile with his mouth parts.

<Yes, Prince Jake,> I said.

I had been in bat morph before, and after doing mosquito and fly morphs it seems almost normal.

It has fur, for one thing. And I find fur very comforting, even when it is dark brown and very different from my own blue.

But bats are almost cripples on the ground. Bat legs are stunted and clumsy, and their front legs - or arms, whatever - are encumbered by leathery wings. Being unable to run is disturbing for any Andalite.

I focused on the bat, this strange creature from a strange planet so far away. I shrank, down and down as if I were falling. As if I might fall into one of the thousands of bubbles in the volcanic rock beneath me.

My front legs withered and left me almost facedown on the rock. My tail blade crinkled, like a burning leaf. The crinkling, withering worked its way up my tail. I couldn�t help but picture the tactical officer in those horrible moments after the captain had struck and cut away his tail. I hadn�t liked T.O. Harelin. He seemed to me like too many older officers: full of prejudices and arrogance. But he had been a true Andalite. He had died a hero.

Now my hind legs began to shrink, staying perfectly symmetrical till they were quite small. Then, at the last moment, tiny claws replaced the hooves. My arms moved back, rotating a few degrees around my body. My fingers elongated relative to the rest of the arm, which was shrinking. Skin began to grow in loose, gray-then-black folds. It hung down from my arms as if I were wearing very loose human clothing.

Clothing is pliable fabric designed to cover the human body. Sometimes as protection against the cold. But mostly, as I understand it, because humans believe much of their body to be unacceptable.

They are right, of course, but they cover all the wrong parts: There is nothing uglier than a human nose.

The loose-hanging skin tightened and became wings. My ears grew larger. And of course, like almost all Earth creatures, I acquired a mouth.

I could see quite well. Not as well as a bird of prey, but almost as well as a human. But sight is not the special power of bats. The special power bats have is the ability to fire a series of ultrasonic sounds that bounce off solid objects and send back a sonic picture to the bats.

The Leeran sun was dropping fast. The bat eyes were already straining to see. But I had a perfectly clear picture of the rocks around me.

<Okay, let�s go find this Andalite honcho,> Marco said.

I flapped my wings and flew. Once more in the company of my human friends.

I felt strangely at home. As though, despite Prince Jake�s anger and Marco�s sneering and Rachel�s outright suspicion, I belonged with them.

For some reason at that moment, even with the images of death aboard the Ascalin fresh in my mind, I saw myself far away, in a very different body, eating delicious cinnamon buns with a mouth.

I wanted to be back there. I wanted to be back on Earth.

Captain Samilin had sold out to the Yeerks. Was I selling out to the humans?

He's wondering if he's a traitor himself....if he's "gone native", like people used to say. Obviously the humans and Andalites aren't enemies, but he's starting to question if he's really an Andalite anymore if he feels more comfortable with his human friends on earth instead of dying glorious death in battle with fellow Andalites.

Chapter 18

quote:

I flapped my leathery wings and fired my echolocation bursts and flew just inches above the rocks. The bat�s echolocation sense created a sort of picture, like a sketchy line drawing, with edges all sharp and clear and surfaces just sort of scribbled in.

I dived between rocks, and rose just millimeters before hitting obstructions. I turned left, right, left in sudden, acrobatic jerks.

<This is insane!> Marco yelled.

Insane can mean several things when used by Marco. It can mean �stupid� or it can mean �fun.� I think in this case it meant fun. Because as insane as it was, it was exhilarating.

<Yee-hah!> Rachel yelled, then laughed her feral, dangerous laugh.

Soon it was a sort of precarious game: How close could I fly to the jagged rock edges without ripping a wing or crushing my fragile bat bones in an impact?

And it took my mind off darker, muddier thoughts.

Then the exquisitely sensitive bat ears, the ears that could hear the echoes of hypersonic echolocation heard something new. A hum. A vast, pulsating hum that grew and grew as we flew on.

<Prince Jake, I believe we are hearing the Andalite sensors,> I said.

<Oh, that�s what that is?> Cassie remarked. <Almost like music.>

We flew on, low, occasionally scraping on jutting rocks. Then -

<Whoa! Pull up! Pull up!> Cassie cried. She was in the lead.

I shot upward.

TSEEEWWWW!

The blast of the Dracon beams and Shredders was deafening. The flashes were blinding to the bat�s eyes. Hork-Bajir, twenty at least, were piling up against a group of three Andalites and two Leerans. The fighting was intense. It would be over in a few minutes.

It would be a slaughter. But Prince Jake had ordered us to stay out of it. And I would not abandon him and my human friends again.

And yet, a phalanx of Taxxons was moving in to finish off the wounded Andalites who had already fallen.

To my surprise, it was Cassie who said, <Jake, we should do something.>

<Didn�t I say we had to stay out of the battles?> Prince Jake demanded.

<Yeah, that�s what you said,> Tobias answered. <So what are we really going to do?>

Prince Jake hesitated. Then he said, <Okay, let�s rescue them. Land, demorph, remorph, fast, fast, fast!>

Heh. All of Jake's commitment to staying out of it falls apart when he sees people in trouble. That's not a safe instinct, but it's a good one.

quote:

But before we could land, the entire rock bowl where the Andalites and Leerans stood exploded.

Ka-BOOOM!

The shock wave sent me spinning through the air. I landed on my back, half-unconscious, deafened, blood in my eyes. And overhead the Yeerk ground attack fighter swept by to the hoarse cheering of the Hork-Bajir.

A huge, clawed foot landed inches from me. Hork-Bajir ran over me, stampeding in a forward rush, ignoring the tiny, winged creature that was me. They fired their Dracon beams steadily, yelling with triumph in their voices.

I heard no answering Andalite Shredders. The Yeerk forces were advancing. The Andalite line was broken.

<Prince Jake!> I called. <Tobias!>

<Get in the air!> Prince Jake yelled back to all of us. <Everyone who can fly, up! Get up!>

Could I fly? Yes! I rose from the ground just as the first wave of Taxxons came rushing forward.

Taxxons are huge, long worms. Like Earth centipedes, only much larger. Taxxons live in a state of eternal hunger. Desperate hunger. They will eat anything - dead or alive. Even their own fallen or injured brothers.

I fluttered past an open, questing Taxxon mouth. I saw a fellow bat, flying just a few feet above me. I saw it very clearly. And then, in an instant, it was gone. Simply gone.

<Where�s Tobias?> Rachel cried.

<Tobias!> I cried. <He � he disappeared!>

<What do you mean, he disappeared?> Prince Jake demanded.



Now, twenty feet up, I could see more of the battlefield. The line of Hork-Bajir was already far ahead of us. Taxxons writhed across the dark landscape below.

If there were Andalites anywhere nearby, they had been destroyed. In my mind I pictured the tactical display aboard the Ascalin. I could see where we were and where the forces had been arrayed.

<We�ve lost,> I whispered, not sure if anyone even heard me. <We�ve lost.>

As if to confirm my grim realization, I saw the engine flares of a dozen or more distant Andalite ships rising from the surface of planet Leera. Rising, and running for their lives.

So, the Andalites, defeated, are running, and Tobias has disappeared.

# ? Feb 28, 2021 04:57

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Man, they're lucky this happened to them 18 books down the line when they've expanded their morphing arsenal and not, like, in book 4. "Uh... Rachel, you be a cat, Jake I guess can go dog..."

# ? Feb 28, 2021 06:56

Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

# ? Mar 1, 2021 02:28

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Animorphs-Book 18:The Decision-Chapter 19

quote:

We stood, in our own bodies, amid the filthy, reeking waste the Taxxons had left behind. We hadn�t found Tobias.

Rachel was alternately crying and raging. Marco was sitting, silent. Cassie kept holding on to Prince Jake. And Prince Jake kept pulling away to pace, to mutter to himself, to wonder half-aloud what he should have done. What he could have done.

I stood off by myself. I couldn�t help feeling that I was to blame. I was humiliated. I felt sick. I had turned away from my friends and trusted my own people instead. One of my own people had betrayed us. And the rest of my people � well, they had probably fought well and bravely. But they had lost.

Just like the Hork-Bajir war. We had lost again, and condemned another race to slavery under the Yeerks.

And what a race! The Leerans were amphibians. They could travel in water or on land, although they built their cities underwater. But the terrifying thing was that the Leerans possessed limited but very real psychic powers.

Leeran-Controllers would be able to see past morphs and into the mind inside. It would be impossible to fool them for long. And if Leeran-Controllers were ever brought to Earth, their powers would soon reveal the truth of the Animorphs.

Not that the Animorphs would ever likely be able to return to Earth.

It was Cassie who shook me out of my dark thoughts. In a whisper she said, �Ax. I don�t think Jake wants to have to ask you again, but what do you think we should do?�



Past Cassie�s head I saw distant red flares from Yeerk ships dropping from orbit to land more and more troops on the continent. Soon the continent would be an impregnable garrison of Yeerk forces.

�Tell me more about the Leerans,� Cassie said.

I shrugged. <I don�t really know any more than you know. They are amphibians. They live primarily in the oceans. Originally I suppose they came on land to lay their eggs. Now I suppose their technology allows them to do all that in their underwater cities.>

�So why do they even care about what happens on the land?�

<They wouldn�t care. Except that the Yeerks can use the continent as a base for attacks against the underwater cities. Other than that, I don�t suppose the Leerans would even � care � what �> I stopped breathing. Yes! Of course! Of course that would be Galuit�s plan.

�What? What is it?� Cassie demanded sharply.

<Prince Jake!> I cried.

�Yeah?�

<We must reach the ocean. If I am right, some Andalites will be in the Leeran cities. In any case, we must get to the sea as quickly as possible!>

�Why?�

I hesitated. <Prince Jake � Jake � you must trust me. We cannot stay on land. We have to reach the water.>

Prince Jake looked at me for a long time. �Okay,� he said at last. �I trust you.�

<One more thing,> I said. <If at any time it seems the Yeerks may catch us, if it seems they might take me alive, you must not let them. You must destroy me yourself rather than let them take me. Promise me.>

�What? Why?�

<Because I think I know what is going to happen. And if I am right, this defeat will become the greatest victory in Andalite history. And that information cannot fall into the hands of the Yeerks. No matter the price. No matter what.>

So what's going to happpen? What has Ax realized?

Chapter 20

quote:

he continent was small by continent standards, but it still took the rest of the night to reach the shore. We morphed birds and flew. We stopped when we were near the two-hour limit and rested. And all the while I wondered if there was enough time left.

We flew above scenes of recent carnage. Burned-out ground skimmers, crumpled Andalite fighters and Yeerk Bug fighters.

As the sun rose on Leera, I looked down and saw a still-smoldering Andalite ground attack ship crumpled into a Yeerk ship. They had hit so hard that you couldn�t tell where one left off and the other began. And then, finally, there was the sea. It stretched forever, brilliant blue, far more vivid and bright than the oceans of Earth, which are usually gray.

I tried to look around and spot some landmark. Some outline of coastline that would seem familiar from my faint memory of the holographic maps. But it was just endless miles of muddy shallows, overgrown with rushes and reeds and strange yellow trees that swirled horizontally.

<Big ocean,> Rachel said. <How do we ->

<How do we what?> Prince Jake asked.

It took several seconds for us to notice, to realize. Rachel was gone!

<Rachel!> Cassie cried. <Rachel!>

We searched the sky. Nothing. Not even our powerful raptor eyes could see anything. No clue.

No sign. Nothing.

And there goes Rachel.

quote:

<What�s happening?> Marco demanded, angry because he was afraid. <She was just here! She was talking!>

<Ax, what is this?> Prince Jake asked. <First Tobias, now Rachel!>



<Maybe someone on the ground shot her,> Cassie moaned. <Oh, God, Rachel! Rachel!>

<There was no Dracon flash,> I said. <Nothing. One second she was there. The next second she was gone.>

<Maybe it was someone or something on the ground,> Prince Jake said. <We have to get out of here. Into the water!>

We dove from the sky. I knew no one had fired at us, but I dove as fast as the humans. Whatever was making my friends disappear, it scared me. Whatever it was, I didn�t want to be in its sights.

Down we dove, wings back.

Splash!

I went under, plowing into the warm water. I instantly began to demorph. I bobbed to the surface, already more Andalite than harrier. The water saturated my feathers, but the feathers were disappearing. I sucked air in through a nasty hole that was part beak and part Andalite nose.

I dove under again, and finished demorphing. I surfaced and found Prince Jake, Cassie, and Marco all treading water, finishing their own demorphing.

�Dolphin morph!� Prince Jake said. �Ax, you�ll have to morph your tiger shark.�

�Wait, no!� Cassie said. �We don�t know what�s in this ocean, but the Yeerks thought hammerhead sharks would be the baddest things around, right? That�s why they wanted to create shark-Controllers to fight in this ocean. We should all go shark.�

�Yeah. Good point,� Jake agreed. �Okay, then. Let�s go shark. And everyone watch everyone else. We�ve had two people disappear. We�re not going to have a third!�

Shark, I thought, and began to perform the morph.

I should explain the Earth creatures called sharks. They are fish. They breathe by extracting oxygen from the water itself, using thin membranes called gills.

But there are many fish in Earth�s oceans. Only a few are called sharks. Some sharks are pleasant, peaceful eaters of plankton. Others are small and prey only on smaller fish. But there are some sharks that humans call �man-eaters.� These sharks are swimming killing machines. If it is possible to imagine a Yeerk having its own natural body, a body perfectly adapted for the Yeerk�s ruthlessness and destructiveness, the shark would be that body.

It has massively powerful jaws lined with razor-sharp teeth. It has skin that is literally covered in millions of very tiny teeth. Skin that can rip human flesh. And it has an array of senses each attuned to one thing: finding prey. Finding and killing. Excellent eyesight. Excellent sense of smell that can detect a handful of blood molecules diluted in a billion gallons of salt water. An electrical field sensor that feels the energy of other living creatures.

If some scientist had sat down to design the ultimate seagoing predator, the ultimate seagoing biological weapon, and had come up with the hammerhead shark, he�d be very proud of his work.

I felt myself morphing the shark. Felt the scythelike dorsal fins grow from my spine. Felt my tail blade split to become the swept-back, skin-slicing tail. Felt my stalk eyes move out to the sides to become the ugly hammer�s head. Felt the new senses come alive in my brain. Felt the teeth - the rows of serrated, triangular, flesh-ripping, bone-crunching teeth.

And I felt the shark�s cold, clear, brutally focused mind join my own.

I kicked my tail and moved through the water. Jake, Cassie, and Marco swam beside me. I suppose, like me, they felt powerful at that moment. And would have felt more powerful still, except for one terrible reality: There should have been six of us.

And now only four sharks swam out into the Leeran ocean.

So, in spite of the loss of Rachel, they got to the sea. Now they just have to find the Leerans and the Andalite War Prince.

# ? Mar 1, 2021 03:12

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Weird that Ax uses the phrase "destroy" rather than "kill," as though he's a dog being put down by the council after it kills another dog at the park.

quote:

far more vivid and bright than the oceans of Earth, which are usually gray.

Jeez, buddy, you live in southern California!

# ? Mar 1, 2021 03:31

Shwoo: Jul 21, 2011

Ax posted:

But there are some sharks that humans call �man-eaters.�

And the hammerhead isn't one of them, you nerd.

Tiger sharks have made way more attacks on humans, more than any shark other than great whites. Ax should have used his tiger shark morph.

# ? Mar 1, 2021 10:49

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

You sure? I thought hammerhead was a maneater

# ? Mar 1, 2021 10:53

QuickbreathFinisher: Sep 28, 2008; by reading this post you have agreed to form a gay socialist micronation.
`

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

You sure? I thought hammerhead was a maneater

17 documented confirmed attacks since the 1580s, none of them fatal. That said, they are unpredictable and can turn on a dime because of their head shape, and can be a little territorial/not like company. Their mouths are kind of small and inconveniently located for the type of bites you'd get from say a tiger shark, which is basically an oceanic trash compactor and will swim with it's mouth open until it finds something new to test a bite of. Not that they couldn't gently caress you up if they wanted to, but it's kind of more difficult for them than it would be for your more standard issue shark. But they can be subjected to a little nip from a human diver's tagging pole and not be incensed to violence, and they're nowhere near as unpredictable or aggro as a bull shark.

Source is working at a lab working directly with sharks and rays (mostly lemon but some nurse and tiger as well as whatever else was on the lines - tag and release) which instilled me with a healthy respect for hammerheads nonetheless, like I said, they are unpredictable, fast, huge, and extremely intimidating to see in action. I can't remember how their jaws are suspended compared to other sharks but I seem to remember a more solid attachment than the classic tiger or great white who can jut it's teeth out to get the extra morsel. Because hammerheads feed in the sand, they don't need as much of this as a mostly pelagic hunter would. Lemon and nurse bites (mainly due to the latter being cute) were far more common among the staff.

# ? Mar 1, 2021 15:13

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

Huh! Thanks for the information! I wonder where I got that impression from, I must have read it somewhere a long time ago or something.
Also you sound like you have a super cool job

# ? Mar 1, 2021 18:40

QuickbreathFinisher: Sep 28, 2008; by reading this post you have agreed to form a gay socialist micronation.
`

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

Huh! Thanks for the information! I wonder where I got that impression from, I must have read it somewhere a long time ago or something.
Also you sound like you have a super cool job

Haha, it was definitely extremely cool, unfortunately haven't been doing that for years. But yeah, I have way more information than anyone usually needs to know about shark behavior.

I meant to post a bit more during the Marco book but never got the chance to. Glad Leera gave us an opportunity to revisit.

# ? Mar 1, 2021 23:36

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

Here's my shark story

I was swimming from one yacht to another, probably 50m, and was about halfway when someone on the second yacht leant forward and screamed THERE'S A loving BRONZIE IN THE WATER

Thanks, dude. What the living gently caress am I supposed to do with that information?

# ? Mar 2, 2021 00:29

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

I also thought for some reason hammerheads were one of the Five Maneaters, alongside great whites, tigers, bulls and oceanic white tips. Maybe it's an old Pluto's-a-planet thing.

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

Thanks, dude. What the living gently caress am I supposed to do with that information?

Swim faster.

# ? Mar 2, 2021 00:58

HisMajestyBOB: Oct 21, 2010; College Slice

freebooter posted:

I also thought for some reason hammerheads were one of the Five Maneaters, alongside great whites, tigers, bulls and oceanic white tips. Maybe it's an old Pluto's-a-planet thing.

Swim faster.

Hammerheads have been demoted to dwarf shark because they don't clear their area of the ocean.

# ? Mar 2, 2021 02:38

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# ? Apr 28, 2024 06:17

WrightOfWay: Jul 24, 2010

I was also under the impression that hammerheads were a species of shark that attacks humans so I think it might just be a 90's thing. Plus, any shark that looks as imposing as a hammerhead must be incredibly dangerous.

# ? Mar 2, 2021 02:52

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > Comedy Goldmine > Let's Read Animorphs! The Whole Series! Ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

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