Comrade Blyatlov posted:

I specifically recall it being honky tonk blues

quote:

<Take off! Move!> Visser Three commanded the crew of the truck ship.

Almost immediately, the huge thing began to move forward. Very slowly at first. But as it moved, it created a headwind. The bridge was moving away from me. The ship was rising as it went. A hundred feet up now. Two hundred!

<Ha! Not so easy, Andalite!>

Right then I had a powerful urge to shock the evil monster and say, <Guess what, creep? Not an Andalite at all. The name is Tobias!>

But I wasn't ready to start bragging. The truth was, it was looking bad. The ship was slowly picking up speed.

I flapped harder, harder. I gained again. But it was painfully slow. I was wearing out. The Dracon beam weighed me down. The headwind was building.

Ahead of me, just a few feet away, I saw the bulge of the bridge.

I gained a foot. Another. Another.

I landed and folded my wings. I couldn't fly any more. But I could still pull myself along with my talons, gripping the small edges and ridges that ran along the top of the ship's bridge. I was there! Below me, transparent plastic. I could see the crew on the bridge. Taxxons stared wildly up at me.
With one desperate lunge I propelled myself into the air. I had to fly full force to stay ahead of the onrushing windows of the bridge.

Then, with one sharp talon, I pulled the trigger on the Dracon beam.

<Fry, you worms!>

There was no recoil. Not like a regular gun at all.

But a beam of intense red light lanced from me to the bridge. It burned a hole through the window, sliced through a fat Taxxon, and began slicing up control panels and instruments like a hot knife going through butter. I squeezed that trigger for as long as I could.

quote:

At last, exhausted, I could do no more.

The Dracon beam slipped from my talon and plunged toward the earth below.

But I had done it.

It was an incredible and terrible thing to see. The ship, big as a skyscraper, vast beyond belief, shuddered as though it had hit a speed bump.

Still it rose, sharply upward into the sky, as if it were a whale breaching. It aimed for space, its natural home. But it was clear that it was no longer under control. It rolled suddenly onto its side.

BOOM! A ball of orange flame!

The out-of-control ship had smashed recklessly into one of the helicopters. The chopper fell in ruins.

The Bug fighters and the Blade ship scurried quickly out of the way. But too late.

KA-RUNCH! BA-BOOM!

One of the Bug fighters had slammed into the side of the ship. The Bug fighter was finished. The Blade ship and the remaining Bug fighter withdrew quickly.

And then I saw the hole.

A tear a hundred feet long had been opened in the side of the truck ship. From the hole, the water of the lake gushed. It was a waterfall from the sky. Millions of gallons hemorrhaging out.

<Oh, boy,> I whispered.

We were maybe seven hundred feet up over the forest now, when I saw them.

Cassie first. Then Rachel and Marco together. And Jake. They fell, fully human, from the torn side of the ship.

They plummeted, helpless, doomed, to the uprushing ground!

<Noooo!>

I knew there was nothing I could do. I knew it. But still I hurtled after them. Hurtled with all my speed to them as they fell, arms flailing, mouths open in screams of terror.

cptn_dr posted:

We posting Animemes now?

chitoryu12 posted:

Radio Free Kobold posted:

Well they survived (probably?) that's more than I was expecting.

Radio Free Kobold posted:

I mean there's nothing saying you can't morph into a bird mid-air

quote:

They fell.

But as they fell, they began to change.

Cassie was the first. Feathers sprouted from her skin. One of her morphs was an osprey. A distant cousin of the red-tails.

She fell, and as she fell, she became less and less of a human.

Marco and Rachel had both previously morphed bald eagles. Bald eagles are huge birds, much bigger than red-tailed hawks.

As I watched, long wings replaced their flailing arms.

Jake had morphed a peregrine falcon. Peregrines are so fast they make red-tails look like they are standing still.

As I watched, a peregrine's beak grew from Jake's mouth.

Not enough time. Not enough time! They would hit the ground before

Shwoooop!

Cassie opened her wings and skimmed above the treetops. Marco barely made it. He fell down into the forest, out of sight. I was sure he had been too late.

But then, up from the trees floated a bird with a six-foot wingspread and a proud white head.

<YES!> I cried.

In the sky overhead, the huge truck ship stopped climbing. It rolled again, onto its back this time, and plunged back to Earth.

<Man, that was WAY too close!> I heard Marco yell. <That does it. I have had it with this Animorphs stuff!>

<You're not safe yet!> I told him. <Look!>

With the truck ship out of the way and falling to Earth, the Blade ship and the Bug fighters came after us.

<Quick! Into the trees! Out of sight!> I yelled.

Like a well-trained fighter squadron, we swooped down into the forest. Down below the tops of the trees, where the Yeerks could no longer see us.

BOOOOOM!

An explosion like a bomb going off. The truck ship had hit the ground.

The concussion rolled us over like a tidal wave of air.

I rocketed into a tree, but was able to avoid being hurt. <Everyone okay?> I yelled.

One by one they said yes.

But the explosion had disturbed every animal in the forest. The birds had all either hidden or flown away during the earlier fighting. Those few birds still left now took wing, startled. I saw her take off. The hawk. She was scared and wanted to run to the sky.

But the sky was not a sanctuary for her.

I don't know which ship fired the Dracon beam. Whether it was one of the Bug fighters, or the Blade ship.

You see, they'd had a good long look at me. And she looked just like me.

The Dracon beam sizzled. It burned off a wing.

And she fell to Earth, never to fly again.

quote:

The Yeerk truck ship burned. What was left was eliminated by the Yeerks. No evidence was left behind. No proof that we could show to the world.

But we had destroyed it. And a Bug fighter as well. And we had gotten out alive.

Most of us.

It was a day later when I went to see Rachel again. It was like she was expecting me.

"Hi, Tobias," she said. "Come in. It's safe."

I hopped through the window and fluttered over to the dresser.

"How are you doing?" she asked.

<I'm okay,> I said.

She looked unsure of what to say next. "Look, um, Tobias . . . maybe this seems crazy. But Cassie and I were thinking, you know, that maybe we'd go back up to the lake. Try and find . . . her body. The hawk. You know, and at least bury her."

<No, that doesn't sound crazy, Rachel,> I said softly. <Not crazy at all. Just human.>

She looked keenly at me. "Well, we are human. All of us."

<Yes. I knew I was human when I realized how . . . how sad I was that she was killed. See, a hawk wouldn't care. If she had been my mate, I would have missed her, been disturbed. But sadness? That's a human emotion. I know it seems strange, but I guess only a human would really care that a bird had died.>

"If you helped us look, maybe we could still find her body."

<No. Her body will be eaten. By a raccoon, or a wolf, or another bird. Maybe even another hawk. That's the way it is.>

"That's the way it is for wild animals, Tobias. Not humans."

<Yeah. I know. That's how I know that you are wrong, Rachel, at least partly. I am a human, yes. But I am also a hawk. I'm a predator who kills for food. And I'm also a human being who . . . who grieves, over death.>

She looked terribly sad. She's very human, my friend Rachel.

I went to the window. It was a beautiful day outside. The sun was bright. The cumulus clouds advertised the thermals that would carry me effortlessly to the sky.

I flew.

I am Tobias. A boy. A hawk. Some strange mix of the two.

You know now why I can't tell you my last name. Or where I live. But someday you may look up in the sky and see the silhouette of a large bird of prey. Some large bird with a rending beak and sharp, tearing talons. Some bird with vast wings outstretched to ride the thermals.
Be happy for me, and for all who fly free.

wizzardstaff posted:

I think they've discussed this plan already so it's not really a spoiler to talk about their reasons for not doing it:

1) They value the lives of the human hosts, who are essentially hostages. Jake doesn't want to kill his brother Tom but he also doesn't want to kill a random stranger who happens to have a Yeerk in his head. Unless that stranger is a Hork-Bajir or Taxxon.

2) If they managed to just take out the slug inside a Controller and spare the host, then the aliens will want to re-acquire their asset with a new Yeerk. The teens can't provide witness protection.

3) If they decide to save people in a public way that prevents the Yeerks from silently taking them back, then they switch from a cold war to a hot one which they are not prepared to fight.

So they're stuck with sabotage and nonlethal interference. It would really help if they could recruit some experienced strategists or freedom fighters who could help them execute a guerrilla war. But they're in suburban California and don't know any insurgents, and on top of that they have no idea who to trust. Their best hope lies in teaming up with a stranded Andalite teen, a traitorous human edgelord, and a group of disabled kids who get used as pawns. And also an underground civilization of pacifist robot dogs.

Ytlaya posted:

Ignoring the needs of the narrative (and the fact that they're kids who aren't exactly the most logical/reasonable), the most logical thing to do would probably be to travel really far to some other countries where the Yeerks haven't infiltrated (and it shouldn't be that difficult to get an idea of what regions they occupy) and reveal the situation to leadership there. The whole mind speech thing (or recording a video of them morphing or whatever makes this very easy to do in a way that wouldn't risk themselves and would convince the listener/viewer that the situation is real.

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

Not to mention existing authority figures are shown to be infiltrated - police, their high school - their decision to go on hit and runs makes a lot more sense

Kchama posted:

If they tell someone and they turn out to be a Controller then they basically have to kill them on the spot like Cassie did to that cop. A pretty serious disincentive to running around telling people, because otherwise they're giving stuff away and will be under attack soon.

OctaviusBeaver posted:

I always thought they should kidnap known controllers and tie them up for a few days without revealing their own identities. Those people will already 100% believe in the Yeerk invasion and they can't turn traitor because they would get instantly snapped up and reinfected. Use those people to start isolated resistance cells and spread the word.

quote:

My name is Cassie.

quote:

I can't tell you my last name. I wish I could. But I can't even tell you what town I live in or what state. We have to disguise our identities, we Animorphs. It's not about being shy. It's about staying alive.

If the Yeerks ever learn who we are, we'll be done for. If they don't kill us outright, they'll make us Controllers. They'll force a Yeerk slug into our brains, where it will take control of us, making us slaves - tools of the Yeerk invasion of Earth.

And I really don't like the idea of being under the control of an alien. I don't like the idea of being dead, either.

On the other hand, there are some things I do like about being an Animorph. Some very cool things.

Take the other night. It was late. I should have been in bed. Instead I was in the barn, get ting ready to turn into a squirrel.

Technically, the barn is really the Wildlife Re habilitation Clinic. My dad is a vet. So is my mom, but she works at The Gardens, this big zoo. The Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic is just my dad and me. We take in injured birds and animals and try to save them, then release them back into their natural habitats.

That's where I was. In the barn. Surrounded by dozens of cages full of birds, from a mourning dove who'd run into a car windshield to a golden eagle who'd almost been electrocuted by a power line.

In another part of the barn we have bigger cages for the badgers and opossums and skunks and deer and even a pair of wolves who'd been poisoned. At the other end (far from the wolves) we keep our own horses.

There's an operating room and a couple of small recovery rooms, too.

Back to that night. Have you ever watched a squirrel in the park? They are constantly alert. Constantly looking around. It's like every minute of every day they're thinking, "Hey! What's that?"

So I knew that if I morphed into a squirrel, all that nervousness and fear would become a part of me. It's something we've all had to deal with: controlling the animal instincts, the animal mind that comes along with the animal body.

Anyway, that's where I was, in a gloomy barn with just the yellow overhead bulbs to light the room. Why was I there? Because someone, or something, had been sneaking in and getting at the birds. We'd lost a patient just the night before. A duck.

And because I couldn't sleep, anyway. I kept having these dreams. Only they weren't like normal dreams, somehow. More like ... I don't know. Just really strange, that's all.

"Relax, Magilla," I whispered to the squirrel in my hands. "This won't hurt at all." I pulled some chestnuts from my pocket and handed him one. Another nut fell to the floor.

Some morphs are easy. Some are terrifying. When I was a horse, that was cool. When I had to become a trout, well, that was a little more weird. The whole time I just kept thinking how someone could fry me and serve me with tartar sauce.

And I don't like tartar sauce.

"Squirrel," I told myself. I always try to get into the feeling of what it might be like to be the animal before I even start morphing.

The first physical change was in my size. I started shrinking. It's a very bizarre feeling. See, you feel like you're standing totally still, but the ground keeps coming up toward you. And the ceiling is moving away. Door handles aren't where they should be anymore. All of a sudden they're over your head.

I had shrunk to maybe two, two-and-a-half feet tall when my arms came sucking back into my body. Right about that point, the real Magilla tore out of there. He ran back to his cage, got in, and - I swear this is true - closed the door. Anyway, I still had normal (although short) legs, but my arms were stunted. I still had the normal number of fingers, but they were teeny tiny now, way too small for my body.

My ears traveled up the side of my head to rest on top. Soft gray fur spread across my body in a wave. My face puffed out and grew pointed.
Then, the wildest thing! My tail sprouted out of my body! And what was cool was that I wasn't a squirrel yet. I was still about half human, the size of a small child, and my tail just shot out, about two feet long! Much longer and bigger than it would be once I was totally squirrelified.
I tilted my head back and I could see this bushy gray tail arched up over me. Way cool.

My legs sucked in and I was down on the ground, down on the cement floor of the barn.

I suddenly discovered I hadn't swept and mopped as well as I thought I had. Amazing what you can see when your face is just an inch from the floor.

Then the squirrel brain kicked in.

WHOA! YOW!

Man, did I have energy!

It was like I was plugged into a million volts. I was supercharged! My slow, sluggish human brain was just blown away by the sudden explosion of energy.

A noise!

What's that? I cocked my ears. I swung my head, focusing my big eyes. A bird in a cage!

A new sound! What was it? I spun around.

No, wait! What was that? And that? And the other sound?

PREDATORS! They were everywhere! I was surrounded! PREDATORS!

Epicurius posted:

My name is Cassie.

nine-gear crow posted:

WOOP! WOOP! BAIL OUT! BAIL OUT! ABANDON THREAD!

(J/K, this is a Good Cassie Book.)

Epicurius posted:

Be nice. There are a bunch of good Cassie books.

Soup du Jour posted:

Both Cassie and Rachel get shafted with some of the worst books in the second half of the series but it averages out since they have some great ones in the first half.

nine-gear crow posted:

And I wonder if that’s a matter of the ghostwriters just not getting their characterization as well as Applegate and Grant did. Because I remember reading this one and going “Wait, why the gently caress does everyone hate Cassie? She’s kind of great.”

disaster pastor posted:

There's a formula for several of her books that's essentially, "here are multiple sides to this interesting problem, which has no right answer! But Cassie's right."

Safety Biscuits posted:

Before anyone complains, yes, I know dolphins aren't fish, ok? This is the best I could do.

Safety Biscuits posted:

Before anyone complains, yes, I know dolphins aren't fish, ok? This is the best I could do.