The Redemption By: Gremlin

My name is Jake.
 If you're reading this, you probably know about the Yeerk invasion. You probably know of me and my friends who fight them, so I won't bore you with those details. I'll just start with what happened.
 I guess it really started when I was made controller. When the Yeerk was dying I saw it for the first time. The eye. I still have nightmares of it.
 The eye belongs to the Crayak. A monster that only wants one perfect race to serve it. I've fought it. Not directly, of course. Nothing could fight it directly and win. Instead, we ruined it's shock troups. The Howlers. You probably know of that story too. And of the Ellimist.
 Anyway, the story continued on a Monday. I hate Mondays. You're just so tired. You can't concentrate, especially after infiltrating The Sharing all Sunday night. I stumbled through the hallways, and tried to decipher the math homework I didn't do.
 Then, I ran into a kid in front of me. I looked up to apologise, but soon found it would be pointless. He was frozen in place. The Ellimist's doing. Marco's locker wasn't far, so I hurried to it. I needed to get all the Animorphs together for what the Ellimist had in mind. That's when I saw what really frightened me. Marco was at his locker, doing the homework he missed. Except, he didn't move. He was frozen too. I ran to Rachel's locker.
She was talking to Cassie. Both were frozen. The Ellimist had always left us as a group, but this time I was really alone.
 Then, I heard footsteps in the library.
 "Ellimist?" I yelled at the noise.
 "No! Ben." Came the reply, "What's happening? And who's Ellie Mist?"
 I wondered if the Ellimist had screwed up, but that wouldn't help. I ran through the statues in the hall to the voice. I charged through the doors to the library.
 I almost screamed when I saw Ben. Everyone was frozen, and he was reading a book! He looked up from the novel he had.
 "What are you doing?" I asked.
 "Reading Michael Crichton," he answered, "Hey what's your name anyway?"
 "Jake." I replied, "Didn't you notice everybody's frozen?"
 "Yes," Ben replied, "but I can't do anything about it, so I decided to catch up on some reading for English."
 "Smart logic," a voice stated.
 I spun around, while Ben looked up at an old man grinning.
 "Ellimist." I stated for the second time.
 "Yes." the man replied.
 "What?" Ben added.
 "Why are the others frozen?" I asked.
 "The other Animorphs are unnecessary." the Ellimist replied.
 "I feel like I'm missing something." Ben muttered.
 "That's because you are." The Ellimist answered, "Let's go, Jake. You too, Ben."
 "How did you know my name?" Ben asked.
 "Get used to it." I answered.
 With that, Ben stood up, and put his book in his backpack.
 "You won't need your backpack." I stated.
 "How do you know?" Ben asked.
 "Trust me." I answered. Ben rolled his eyes, set his backpack down, and took the book out of it.
 By this time, the Ellimist had already walked off, so we had to run a little to catch up.
 Once we caught up, the Ellimist began to tell Ben about the Yeerks. We walked into the teachers' lounge. The Ellimist then told of the other species, including the Crayak.
 "Wait a sec," Ben interrupted, "Are you one of those conspiracy fanatics who are always watching X-files and hiding in a bomb shelter in case the aliens attack?"
 The Ellimist laughed and pulled a switch. A door opened up. It led to the Yeerk pool. Ben's eyes expanded to about ten times their normal size. He looked at the Ellimist.
 "Oh, uh, ummmmmm, wow." Ben stammered.
 "Let's continue." Advised the Ellimist, as he walked through the passageway and past the Gleet BioFilter thingie.I followed. So did Ben.
 "Did you know about this?" Ben asked, "I didn't know about this. I mean, Mr. Creskin was always a little cruel, but I never thought he could be an alien. Is he an alien?"
 "Yes, I knew about this." I replied, "Mr. Creskin is not an alien to my knowledge. No, I won't tell you how I knew about it. Please be quiet. You're talking more than Marco."
 "Who's Marco?" Ben asked.
 "Nevermind." I answered.
 Then, Ben's eyes got wider than physically possible. He ran passed the Ellimist towards the Yeerk pool. Ben leapt at a cage and grabbed on it's side. He looked in horror at the man inside.
 The Ellimist and I ran up to him.
 "Family?" I asked.
 "Dad." He replied. Then, he pointed to the cage next to that, "Mom." Next, a girl with a Yeerk halfway in her ear, "Sister." Ben sat down and put his head in his hands.
 "Come on," the Ellimist lifted Ben up, "We must hurry if we are to succeed."
 Ben looked at the Ellimist, "What are we going to do, anyway?"
 "Save the Howlers." The Ellimist replied.
 "Save the Howlers?" I repeated.
 "That is what I said." The Ellimist answered.
 "Are these Howlers down here?" Ben asked.
 "No." The Ellimist replied.
 "Then, why are we here?" Ben asked.
 "You are not the only two recruited," The Ellimist explained, "There are a few more who will join."
 "So," I said as the three of us continued past the Yeerk pool, "Who is joining our little group?"
 "You will learn that soon enough." The Ellimist stated.
 "Which species is it?" I asked, "Human? Hork-Bajir?"
 "Neither." The Ellimist answered.
 "Gedd? Nahara?" I continued asking.
 "Still wrong?"
 "Alloran?"
 "What's an Alloran?" Ben asked.
 "Still wrong, Jake." Then, the Ellimist pointed at a certain alien. I groaned.
 "Cool." Ben said.
 "They're cannibalistic." I informed him.
 "Not cool." Ben answered.
 "This one is Sliir." The Ellimist rambled off some facts, "He was part of the Taxxon Rebellion until captured. One of the smartest Taxxons, he was Arbron's right-hand man, I mean Taxxon. Still needs to be kept in a
high-security prison facility. Host, Sub-Visser 96. Visser 3's main assistant, or should I say, main surviving
assistant."
 "Who's Arbron?" I asked.
 "Leader of the Taxxon rebellion, unless you count the living hive..." The Ellimist rambled.
 "You know what those things remind me of," Ben told me, "the Zerg. You know, from StarCraft? I love that game. The Protoss rule, but I do pretty good with the Zerg as well."
 Then, the Taxxon woke up. I guess it didn't really wake up, but that's not important. The Taxxon immediately reached into what I assumed was his ear. Slowly, a Yeerk was pulled out. Ben looked sick. Then, to both our
disgust, the Taxxon ate the Yeerk. This was when the large centipede finally noticed us.
 "Swir Sleeee Snerwa!" It shrieked.
 "Oh," the Ellimist realized, "I forgot. You can't understand it." He -or she, it, they- snapped his finger.
 "Fooooood!" The Taxxon hissed.
 "Turn off the translation!" Ben yelled. The Ellimist grinned as the Taxxon charged us.
 "Where's a fly-swatter when you need it?" Ben muttered.
 Then, the Taxxon stopped. It looked confused, and stared at it's stomach.
 "No hunger," It muttered, "Lack of hunger.No desire for food." The Taxxon would not shut up about it. The creature was worse than Ax describing taste. Then, it slowly walked over to us.
 "Sorry," it muttered. That's when the Ellimist explained he needed to recruit Sliir to save the Howlers. Sliir was only too happy to leave the pool.
 "So," I asked the Ellimist, "We're going to leave for the Howlers' planet?"
 "No," the Ellimist replied, "We leave for the Tacra homeworld."
 "What are the Tacra?" Ben asked.
 "An aquatic species recently discovered by the Andalites," The Ellimist explained, "If the Tacra are enslaved...Jake remember when the Yeerks were making shark controllers?"
 "The Tacra are worse than sharks?" I said.
 "As Marco would probably have said, 'Tacra would make sharks go vegetarian'." The Ellimist replied, "But that is unimportant at this time. Now we must hurry to get the last two members."
 "Tacra and..." Sliir began.
 "Andalite." The Ellimist finished.
 "Slewran." Sliir muttered.
 "What did he say?" I asked.
 "Do we want to know?" Ben answered. Then, a bright light flashed, and we were on a beach. A very alien beach.
 "Welcome to the Tacra homeworld," the Ellimist stated, "Enjoy your stay, it won't be long."
 The four of us walked to a building by the sea. It looked very small, mostly made of pinkish sand. The Ellimist turned a lever at the bottom of it's front door. The door opened up to reveal a ramp going down into a barely lit corridor. We began going down into it. Sliir was looking very nervous.
 "What's wrong?" Ben asked.
 "Andalites." Sliir replied, "I really don't want to work with Andalites."
 "Why?" I asked.
 "Why? Andalites hate Taxxons. They find us disgusting. When the Yeerks were taking over species, Andalites completely overlooked Taxxons. It didn't matter that we had a rebellion like other species. We were below Andalite contempt. It doesn't matter we have no control of ourselves around food. Even Yeerks can't control the hunger we face. Yet Andalites think Taxxons are inferior. Arbron didn't always have control. He was an Andalite!" Sliir's voice slowly gained anger as he spoke. By the time he was talking about Arbron, Sliir was practically screaming.
 "Be quiet, Sliir." The Ellimist advised.
 Suddenly, an Andalite tail pressed against the Ellimist's throat.
 < What are you things, and why do you bring Taxxon filth here? > A voice asked.
 "Whoa," Ben said. He never heard thought-speak before.
 "Esquerian-Karamiy-Liadron, I am the Ellimist. I must speak with your Prince."
 "Yeah," Ben added, "Take us to your leader."
 < You shall not get by me. > Esquerian answered. Wrong move. The Ellimist froze him and we continued.
 "Hey, Elle E. Mist." Ben asked, "Could you teach me that freezing move thing?"
 "No." The Ellimist then froze two guards and opened another door which opened into a meeting room several Andalites and some bizarre creatures which I assumed were Tacra stood there.
 The Tacra looked like crabs. Except they had many more legs and moved forwards instead of side to side. They also had spines on their back and seemed to have forearms similar to praying mantises. Their face consists of five eyes and a snout that looks like a dogs, minus a nose. A similar snout, only sideways was in between the space between the sides of the first snout. That's about the best I can explain the Tacra. Sorry.
 One Andalite, who I assumed was the leader, demanded.
 "No." Ben laughed.
 "I have come to take a Tacra and an Andalite on a mission which may change the outcome of your war with the Yeerks." The Ellimist explained.
 "Yeah, no big deal." added Ben.
 < Who are you? > The head Andalite asked.
 "I am the Ellimist."
 < Why do you bring Taxxon filth with you? >
 "This is beginning to get old." Sliir muttered.
 "My companions are irrelevant." The Ellimist replied to the Andalite.
 < Very well. I suppose I shall join you if it changes the tides of war. > The Andalite consented.
 "I am not taking you." The Ellimist replied, "I am taking your nephew." The Andalite looked very serious at this news.
 He told the Ellimist. However, this led him to being frozen as well. One of the Tacra crawled up to the Ellimist.
 "We are willing to go," It rasped. I shivered.
 "That is one creepy voice," Ben told me.
 "I know," I answered.
 "That thing could scare off Darth Vader." Ben added.
 "That thing could scare off The Predator." I replied.
 "Spiderman."
 "The Hulk."
 "Superman."
 "Not Superman," I argued. We debated this a little bit, while the Ellimist chose one of the Tacras. Then, we left the room, Ben and I were still arguing.
 "Is there a point to this?" Sliir asked us, shocking both Ben and me slightly.
 "No." We simultaneously replied.
 "Who is the Andalite?" the Tacra asked. The Ellimist pointed at Esquerian. Sliir groaned.
 "Must we unfreeze him?" He whined.
 "Yes." That's when Esquerian woke up. He shook his head and pointed his tail blade at us. The Ellimist smiled and there was a flash.
 We were then in the middle of a plain. The reddish grass was chest high. I looked at Ben, Sliir, and Esquerian. The Ellimist had left. Esquerian was dazed to say the least.
 "Where's that Tacra?" I asked.
 "I tripped over it." Ben answered. Sliir and I help Ben off the Tacra, and we put the Tacra on Sliir's back so it could see over the grass.
 "What's your name?" I asked the Tacra.
 "Quintorilex-Bajidypal." It replied.
 "How about Quinn?" Ben asked, and Quinn agreed.
 "Let's find some shelter." I decided, "Or at least search for the Howlers."
 "Wait," Ben said, "Mr. Anti-Bug over there hasn't joined our discussion."
 We walked over to Esquerian. He was rubbing his head.
 < As there are no others of higher rank, I am taking leadership of this group. > He informed us.
 "Let's put that to a vote." Ben muttered.
 "I second the motion." Sliir added. Then, we heard a rumbling in the distance.
 < What is that? > Esquerian asked.
 "Stampede!" Ben yelled.
 We ran. We ran hard and we ran fast.Nothing could stop us. Nothing, until Sliir spotted a boulder.
 "Head for the rock!" He yelled. Sliir reached it first. With a leap I would have thought impossible for a Taxxon, he landed at the top. Quinn was still holding onto his back.
 Ben and I reached it about the same time. I lifted Ben up until Sliir grabbed him, and then held on while Sliir lifted both of us onto the rock.
 Esquerian was last, and he wouldn't let Sliir lift him up.
 "You idiot!" Ben yelled, "You would rather die than let a Taxxon help you?"
 < It is better to die a noble death than to live as a coward. > Esquerian replied.
 "What's noble about being trampled or impaled by dumb animals?" I asked, "And what's cowardly about accepting help?"
 To this, Esquerian finally consented. He grudgingly took the Taxxon's hands, I mean claws, or whatever they are, and was lifted to the rock.
 That's about when the stampede hit us. There were so many bizarre creatures in it, I couldn't describe them all. Most went around us, but the creatures were so tightly packed, that some ran into the rock. Fortunately,
we all stayed on, despite it being very cramped.
 When the stampede was over, the five of us got off the rock.
 "I don't think I'll need to stay on your back," Quinn told Sliir, as he slid off the Taxxon's exoskeleton. Now, the
grass was all flattened. We stared at it for a little while.
 "Let's go." I said.
 "Wait! What's that?" Ben pointed to a Creature with a head that looked like lava still cooling. It's hand had steel claws attached. There was an almost comical walk to it. It had the blue eyes I had seen before.
 "That," I replied, "Is a Howler."
 That's when the Howler spun it's waist around, much to all our disgust, and began to walk towards us.
 "Those are some frightening beasts." Quinn stated.
 "If these are the good guys," Ben muttered, "I'd hate to see our enemies."
 The Howler stopped, stared at the five of us for a second, and kissed - I think it was a kiss - Esquerian.
 < Moronic...creatures! > Esquerian yelled, < How dare you do such a vile thing! >
 "Hey, Esque." Ben said, "How about not trying to make the guys we're gonna ally with hate us?"
 "You refer to me as Esque?" Esquerian asked in shock.
 "I like it." Quinn said. The name stuck.
 "Hello," The Howler said, "I am Liadora. You are the first to visit this planet. Welcome. I will take you to our
homes."
 "The question is," Ben asked, "Do you get HBO?"
 "Why is that the question?" Liadora asked.
 "Nevermind." Ben muttered.
 "Liadora," I questioned, "Did you start that stampede?"
 "Yes. We howl to start it and direct the animals to a cliff. The front of the group can't stop in time, and go over the edge. Then, some Howlers at the bottom cut up the animals for food. It is much easier this way, rather
than racing the beasts down and trying to kill them one by one."
 "Okay," I replied, "Let's go to your home."
 "You seem familiar," Liadora told me, "But that is unimportant. Come, follow me. We will reach the village before dark."
 "You know," Ben told me, "The way she talks, I get the feeling Howlers will make Amish look like New York at New Years."
 "Let's just get to the village." I replied.
 "Yes," Quinn answered, "We should ally with those we might save." Liadora shivered at his voice.
 "Those really don't look like the type that shiver much," Sliir commented.
 < This is idiotic. > Esque muttered as he followed from a distance, I began to wonder about Esque's trustworthiness. However, there wasn't time to worry about that. The Crayak's new underlings would come at any given time. We had to be as prepared as possible.
 Ben's words were prophetic. The Howlers' village was reminiscient of an African tribe's huts. They were made of bamboo-like plants and mud. Liadora brought us to the largest and took us inside.
 "My daughter," a voice echoed, "Who have you brought to us?"
 Our eyes grew accustomed to the darkness of the room, and we looked up to see a large Howler. There was something different about it, though. It looked more, I don't know, older.
 "Who's this guy?" Ben asked.
 "This is Brelkov." Liadora replied.
 "Is he Russian?" Ben questioned. Liadora looked confused.
 "He is our leader. He was the first to mature." Liadora explained.
 "Oh." Ben said, "Are you really his daughter?"
 "No," Liadora answered, "He just likes to refer to us like that."
 "My daughter," Brelkov calmly continued, "Please answer me."
 "I apologize," Liadora told the head Howler, "These are strangers. They have come to protect us from a great evil."
 "How did she know that?" Ben asked.
 "Here is their leader," Liadora brought Esque forward.
 "That dishonorable, slinking...rat!" Sliir hissed, in a voice so that only Ben, Quinn, and I could hear it, "I bet he
was talking to her privately in thought-speak the entire time!"
 "Jake," Ben muttered, "What are we gonna do about that jerk?"
 "I don't know," I replied.
 "Really?" Brelkov said in amazement, probably to some comment Esque made, "I can not believe you had the courage to save the lives of your subordinates in the stampede. And the quick wit to notice the rock as
safety. Amazing."
 "Brelkov," Ben suddenly asked, "What's that smell?"
 "Ahhhhh. That is what our hunting party has cooked for our dinner. Come, you five shall be our guests of honor. And you," Brelkov then pointed to Esque, "Shall sit by me at the feast." With that, Brelkov escourted Esque to dinner.
 "Well, yippee." Sliir muttered.
 "Hey Sliir," Ben asked, "Do Taxxons have sarcasm?"
 "No," Sliir answered, "I have merely learned it from human controllers." Then, those two walked out to the
feast as well.
 "Liadora," I said, "You can't believe all of what Esque tells you."
 Liadora nodded, though I don't think she really believed me, and also left.
 "Well, Quinn," I asked the only companion left, "What's your opinion of this?"
 "There is no doubt in my mind that many Andalites are brave and noble. However, this one has not demonstrated either characteristics so far." Quinn replied. We left the hut to see a huge fire cooking meat.
 "What is your homeworld like?" I asked Quinn as we headed towards the cooked food.
 "The ocean covers 80% of all the planet," The Tacra explained, "In it there are many, many predators, so we have learned to have homes on the beaches. We are the only known creatures on our planet that can survive
above the water. There are no big islands, as Andalites have, just many small ones. The ocean depth is about 6 miles." Just then, Ben interrupted Quinn.
 "Hey, you guys, this stuff is great! The meat is finger-lickin' good, I guarantee!." He said, imitating Col. Sanders from KFC. We joined the feast, which was more like a party.
 Much, much later, Liadora showed us where we slept. All five of us.
 "What?" Sliir complained, "Liadora, since Esquerian is our fearless leader, shouldn't he have the honor of his own hut?"
 Ben and I tried to keep a straight face, while Quinn did what I think was a Tacra laugh. Esque shot him a look of pure anger.
 "What is you spined servant doing?" Liadora asked.
 "Oh," Esque lied, "That is their way of showing honor." Quinn, Sliir, Ben and I were rolling on the floor with laughter now. (Not literally, of course, except Ben.)
 "Wow," Liadora said, "They really respect you." This just made us laugh harder. She left, and we settled down for the night.
 At some point, which I assume was about midnight, Ben woke me up.
 "What is it?" I groaned.
 "There was a flash of light," Ben explained, "No joke. We better check it out." I nodded, and we woke up Quinn and Sliir.
 "Let's tell the Howlers." I told the others, the Crayak's attack had begun.
 "Shouldn't we wake your leader?" Liadora asked us once we told her and Brelkov.
 "No," Sliir muttered, "That hero needs his sleep."
 "If this is the time of trouble," Brelkov stated, "We shall need a quick-minded and intelligent leader."
 Sliir walked back to the hut, grumbling some words I couldn't make out. I don't think I wanted to, either. A few
minutes later, Esque, looking very tired, and not heroic at all, stumbled out behind a very annoyed Sliir.
 < What seems to be the trouble? > The Andalite muttered.
 "Weren't you listening when I told you?" Sliir asked.
 "We've seen something that could be the Crayak's forces." I explained, wishing Cassie was here to calm these guys down.
 < Could be? > Esque said, in a superior tone, Then, he began to head back to the hut to sleep.
 "This is not how a true hero would act," Quinn muttered, just loud enough so Esque couldn't hear.
 "But, he said he was a great hero and your leader." Liadora stated, confused.
 "Have you ever heard of lying?" Ben asked.
 "No, Esquerian must wish not to hurt the creatures if they are good." Brelkov rationalized.
 "Sure, bud." Ben spat sarcastically, "Hey, can Liadora go with us? There's safety in numbers."
 Brelkov consented, and the five of us set off.
 "Great leader," Ben hissed, "What a pile of bull. He just wanted to sleep in and be lazy. I could be a better leader than him, but then, what would Jake do?"
 "Jake leads you?" Liadora asked.
 "Unintentionally." Sliir explained.
 "Oh, he is your second in command." Liadora reasoned.
 "Nice girl," Ben muttered to me, "But a little dense."
 "She's naive." I told him, "The Howlers have never dealt with liars before."
 About this time, we could see the ship. It was unlike anything I had seen before. Completely impossible to explain, except, fear seemed to ooze from the core of it.
 "Creepy." Sliir commented.
 "To say the least." Quinn added.
 "The very least." Ben muttered.
 "You guys, let's be serious," I said, "Liadora, you are the toughest here, try to find the opening of the ship. When you do, and see the creatures, come find one of us.
 "Ben and Sliir, hide here. Once you see the aliens, follow them, but from a distance.
 Quinn, come with me. We'll circle the other way around the ship." The others agreed. Ben gave me a mocking salute, and we left.
 "I wish to debate the statement that Liadora is the toughest." Quinn told me, "On land, it may be true, but Tacra exist on a world where you must dominate in the water."
 "Sorry," I told him, "Liadora is the toughest we have on land. Your very proud about Tacra?"
 "We have gone through many battles to keep our existance." Quinn explained.
 "Fighting sea life?" I asked.
 "No. Howlers themselves." Quinn stated, "They came to our planet, and attacked. We stayed in the water until they came after us. Then, we destroyed the Howlers. More kept coming, but they were also destroyed. Many Tacra died. More Howlers died, though.
 "Finally, the Howlers stopped coming. Now, I am teamed with Howlers. I feel they deserve happiness as everyone else, but I do not wish to be considered less than they."
 "No problem." I answered. That's about when we saw the aliens leave the ship. Those things made Howlers look like pussy cats.
 Their head was like a lamprey's, with sharp horns on the tip of it's snout, like a rhino. Four arms about the size of a tree came right below the head, each had five very lethal looking claws. Ten small legs encircled the
creature's base, allowing it to move like a spider. They were scouting the area, with some very big machetes.
 "There was a small river, a little ways back." Quinn told me, "It's deep, though. Wait a little while, since you know I'm not fast on land, then lead them there. I will show you how we beat the Howlers."
 I waited about ten minutes. Then, jumped up and yelled at the beasts. Three saw me and began coming at me, blades drawn. I turned and ran. The river came into view, but those monsters could move very fast on their legs. They were slowly gaining. Then, I reached the edge. I leapt as far as I could, and swam to the other side. The aliens looked at me as if debating whether or not to follow. They chose to follow.
 Out of nowhere, Quinn appeared, and I quickly learned why Tacra would make sharks go vegetarian. His forearms moved faster than I could see. Probably faster than an Andalite tail. Serious. He massacred two, but the third tried to hit him, as he lost his machete earlier. The beast ended up having his arm punctured by Quinn's spines. Soon, all three were dead.
 "Yikes." I said in shock as the three bodied began to float down the river.
 "Let's find the others," I added, "Wait. We can't lead all these things to the water. Let's take a body back to
the village. Maybe Sliir can think of a better way to fight them." Then, we lugged one of the things all the way to where Sliir and Ben were. Liadora was there as well. They were just about to follow the monsters. However, we
brought the body back to the Howlers' huts. We were pretty confidant over our victory. However, the battle was not over.

"Hey, Esque," Ben yelled at the hut when we returned, "We want to show you something."
 < What is it, human? I am tired - AAUUGH!!!! >
 What had happened was Ben and Sliir put the dead creature's face right in front of the hut Esque was in. When Esque went out, he was two inches from it's very ugly head. Quinn's mutilating it earlier didn't help the
thing's looks. Anyway, Esque screamed, and ran back in the tent. Sliir, Ben, and Quinn were all laughing. So were several of the smaller Howlers.
 "Back off, guys," I told them.
 "Sure, Jake," Sliir said, then he grew dead serious, "I think I feel a pulse."
 "Yeah right," Ben said, "That monster is bacon."
 "I'm not lying," Sliir told us, "This thing is in a deep coma, but there is a heartbeat."
 We dragged the monster into a hut. Sliir did some tests. He looked very grave.
 "Apparently, these creatures can regenerate. Even more so than I. They are soaking some type of energy that will constantly heal them, making the creatures impossible to kill without destroying the energy source too."
 "So what, they're solar powered freaks?" Ben asked.
 "No," Sliir stated, "My hypothesis is that something on their ship supplies the energy."
 "Does that mean what I think it does?" Quinn asked.
 "Someone or some people will have to sneak on the ship, and stop the emitter." I muttered. Everyone was silent.
 "I must go," Sliir muttered, "I am the only one who could possibly run the machine."
 "Couldn't Esque?" I asked.
 "No," Quinn told me, "I've been with his uncle. Even he admitted Esque did not do well at school."
 "So," Ben spat, "Esque is a brat with a free ride since his uncle is a man, or whatever, with power."
 "Also," Quinn added, "Esque's father was a War-Prince."
 "I hate snobs." hissed Sliir, "And they always find a way to survive."
 "Anyway," I said, trying to bring the subject off Esque bashing, "Sliir, your going. I'm gonna go, too."
 "What?" Ben asked, "Why do you get to go?"
 "Ben, I have an advantage over any of you." I told him.
 "What is the advantage?" Quinn asked.
 "I can morph."
 "Huh?" Ben said.
 "Then," Sliir reasoned, "You are the Andalite Bandits. Hah! I was right! No Andalite could be that noble! They would never fight in such a successful manner against Yeerks! Andalites are still jerks! Wait, one gave
the power to you. Okay, one Andalite has half a brain. Besides Arbron, of course. Arbron is the only Andalite genius, though. And this happened after he went Taxxon."
 "Yeah. Okay." Ben muttered, "Let's see you morph."
 "Just a second." Sliir said, as he went back to the monster's hut. A few minutes later, he returned.
 "What happened?" Quinn asked.
 "I shattered the monsters ribcage," Sliir explained, Ben and I felt nautious, "What? Would you rather have it attack the camp?"
 "Anytime, Jake." Ben said. That's when I morphed a Howler. The other Howlers looked in shock. So did my companions.
 "That is where I saw you," Liadora exclaimed, "You were kissing that one female. That's what freed us from the Crayak."
 I was an instant hero. Every Howler wanted just to see me.
 "That was cool." Ben told me.
 "What does temperature have to do with it?" Quinn asked. Then, Ben tried to inform Quinn about slang.
 "Looks like it is us two." Sliir told me.
 "I think I'll demorph now," I told everyone. They backed away from me. I think Ben made some comment on giving me "morphing space." I was in mid-morph when a familiar face charged out of a certain hut. Esque took one look at me and almost fainted.
 < How did that mere human get morphing powers? > He demanded.
 "Didn't you give him the gift?" Liadora asked.
 < Of course not. I am a noble and true Andalite. I would never share my technology with anyone. > Esque proudly stated.
 "A true leader would not hold himself above his men." Brelkov retorted. Esque ignored him.
 < That...thing must have stolen our Escafil device. >
 "That's bull," Ben yelled, "How would Jake know how to use it?" However, Esque wouldn't listen to reason.
 < You freak of nature, > He told me, 
 "What?" Ben practically screamed.
 < You heard me correctly, human. > Esque told him.
 "I've got a name, genius." Ben spat.
 Esque threatened. Ben got the threat, and he was smart enough to decide he didn't want to meet Esque's tail anytime soon.
 "Esque," I told the Andalite, "I don't want to get into this with you."
 < Hah! You are a coward. I knew it all along. > Esque retorted.
 "Esque, the Ellimist sent both of us. We need to fight the Crayak's forces, not each other." I stated.
 < Fine, if you will not fight, I will kill you. > Esque told me. That's when the Howlers grabbed him. They bound
him in some type of plant, put him in one of the huts, and blocked the entrance.
 "Hurry," Liadora exclaimed, "You must destroy the monsters before they attack us."
 "Yes," Quinn told me, "Ben and I will try to protect this place as much as possible, but the more we procrastinate, the more of us will die."
 I nodded, and walked into the hut with the Crayak's monster. I touched his ribcage, which was already healing, and concentrated. I acquired the monster. Then, I left the hut.
 "Let's go, Sliir." I ordered, "Ben and Quinn, don't do anything too stupid."
 "Gotcha." Ben answered, with a mock salute.
 Sliir and I snuck towards the ship. There were several scouting parties we had to hide from, but we finally made it to the ship.
 "What should we call these, things?" Sliir asked me.
 "I don't no, Regenerates." I muttered.
 "Not very original." Sliir muttered.
 "Who do you think I am, Marco?"
 "Who's Marco?"
 "Nevermind."
 I began to morph the Regenerate. My face became disgustingly long. My mouth suddenly circled as my jaw disintegrated. Another set of arms sprouted right below my original set. My legs sprouted into fifths, and circled the base of my torso. However, the most surprising thing was, I couldn't hear. I felt movement, but I couldn't hear the type of noise. Then, I realized, the Crayak wanted Regenerates to fight Howlers. Of course they wouldn't hear. Howling was the Howlers' chief weapon. Then, the mind surfaced.
 It held utter contempt for all life, including others of it's species. Whenever it saw something, it began to devise the easiest way to kill it. The human part of my brain was sick. Then, I saw Sliir. Sliir said something, and to my surprise, I could understand it if I really consentrated. However, there was no volume.
 "When are we going?" Sliir asked. I began debating decapitation or impaling the Taxxon, then my human brain gained control.
 < Now. > I told him. I turned towards the ship, and focused on the Regenerates guarding it. They only worked
together to destroy other races first. Then, they would turn on each other. I looked for the known pressure points on them, and walked up towards the guards. I began to slaughter the two. It was massacre. I caused them a slow, agonizing death that would hold them for a few days. Then, they would be fully healed. Once I had done that, I was beginning to feel extremely sick, but motioned for Sliir to come with me to the ship. I turned and picked up the machetes, and we boarded the ship.
 I hated myself by the time we got to the bridge. I just could not believe the way I attacked the Regenerates I had seen.
 I swore to myself I would never do this morph again. Once at the bridge, though, Sliir ran to it's engineering
part and began to look for the power source.
 "I've found it." Sliir yelled triumphantly, while I held off the Regenerates who realized I was not one of them. I
was getting hurt, but managed to heal. All four of my arms held machetes, and I had positioned myself to attack them without them realizing where I was until it was too late. The regenerate part of the mind loved every
second.
 < Destroy the device. > I ordered.
 "I've got a better idea," Sliir informed me, "I reverse it's allignment. That will cause the creatures to die.
This way, if the Crayak wants to send any Regenerates back, they die too."
 < Good thinking, Sliir. Do it. >
 Sliir began to reverse the power sources allignment. I just kept attacking the Regenerates, but some recovered by now, and I was losing the battle.
 "You might want to demorph now." Sliir finally told me. I began to return gratefully to my human state.
 WHAM!!!!! A Regenerate fist barely missed me. I looked at the behemoth. I understood the monster's expression,now. It was amused at my changing. However, all this meant was it wanted to kill me more. Then, it
keeled over in pain. So did every other Regenerate on the ship. Sliir had done it just in time. Then, he ordered all available energy to the energy source. After that, we left the ship.
 "Jake," Sliir told me, "Someone's going to have to maintain the ship."
 "I know," I replied, "So, you're gonna live with the Howlers?"
 "Ben too." Sliir answered, "We talked when we were watching the ship last night. His family are all Controllers. Neither him nor I wish to be under Yeerk control."
 I nodded. That was all I could do. Then, we looked at the village of the Howlers. It was on fire.
 Sliir and I ran as fast as we could. When we finally reached the village there wasn't a creature in sight. Then,
through the smoke, I saw a figure come walking up to us, stepping over the many Regenerate bodies,
which had already died.
 "I am glad the two of you have returned." Liadora told us, "Come with me. This village is destroyed, but it is a small price for victory. I will take you to where we hope to build a new village."
 "Won't the fire spread?" I asked. To this, Liadora pointed to some clouds.
 "Soon, it will rain so hard, we won't be able to see five units in front of us." She explained, I was going to ask
her what a unit was, but she had already walked off, so Sliir and I ran to catch up with her.
 Liadora was right. When I finally caught up to her, a light drizzle had started. Soon, we were completely soaked. However, it wasn't cold, and there wasn't a wind, so it didn't feel that bad.
 When the rain finally stopped, I could see some Howlers clearing land for their next village. I could also barely make out the shape of a Tacra, an Andalite, and something else. I couldn't see Ben, though.
 "Where's Ben?" asked Sliir.
 "You will soon see." Liadora replied. Sliir and I sprinted to the village, with Liadora following.
 Once we got there, and Sliir asked another Howler where Ben was, we were led to a small, makeshift hut. We walked in, and Ben was there.
 He had a bruise covering half his face. There were bandages around his ribs and his right arm. His leg had a splint, his lip was bleeding, and his nose was probably broken. He looked up at Sliir and me. Then he grinned.
 "What happened?" I asked.
 "Oh this?" Ben acted as if it was nothing, "One of those monsters punched me."
 "When you were escaping?" Sliir questioned. Then, Quinn walked in the room.
 "No," Quinn told Sliir, "We had evacuated all of the Howlers, and then there was a scream in thought-speak. So, Ben went back for some bizarre reason, and dragged out Esque. While he did that, one of the enemies managed to see him. That's why he's this busted up."
 Ben smiled to this, "That's not all I did."
 Quinn nodded, and yelled, "Hey Rikwan, come here."
 However, Liadora came in when that happened and told Quinn not to yell, as it frightened the children.
 That's when a creature came in that I hoped I would never see again.
 "You rescued a Regenerate?" Sliir yelled.
 "You don't understand," Ben told us, "Regenerates aren't as bad as we thought."
 "Yes they are. I've been one." I replied.
 "Let me explain," Rikwan told us, "Apparently, when you saved the Howlers, the Crayak couldn't make anymore troops. Instead, he found us. Now, the reason he chose us was only partially due to the fact we couldn't hear the Howlers' screams. We also have a bizarre genetic ability to regenerate when a certain energy is created. However, when this happens, it also produces a hatred in our minds we cannot control.
 "Now, the former village of the Howlers was on the edge of the energy field, so we weren't as vicious. This is why Ben and most of the others are still living. When the energy was reversed, we found ourselves back to
normal, but dying.
 "We all tried to crawl past the edges of the field. Two of us made it. The other is still recovering."
 I hated myself at that moment. I'm pretty sure Sliir hated himself, too. We just killed off a group of people that
were taken advantage of by the Crayak. They didn't even have control of what they did, not really.
 "I'm sorry." I told Rikwan. It was the only thing I could think of to do. Rikwan nodded in reply. Then, I walked out of the hut.
 < Jake! > A voice yelled, I looked to see a partially burned Esque limp towards me.
 "Do you still want that fight?" I spat.
 < No! > Esque replied, 
 "When did you realize this?" I asked him.
 < When I was tied up, I began to examine your actions. You, who I thought was a coward, and a Taxxon were the ones who would save the Howlers. I had done nothing.
 < Then, Ben, an average human, was the one who rescued me, at a great cost. > Esque explained.
 "How great?"
 < There is internal bleeding, or so Rikwan says. The Howlers don't have the technology to heal him. > Esque replied.
 "Maybe not," an old man walked up to us, "but I do."
 "We've won?" I asked the man, who was obviously the Ellimist.
 "For now, but let's return to the Tacra Homeworld."
 < What will the Howlers' think? > Esque asked.
 "I have already told their leader. They will be fine. So will the Kran'Tlin, whom you refer to as Regenerates. Let us go."
 There was a bright flash of light, and Esque, Quinn, Sliir, the Ellimist, and I stood on the beach. Ben was
sitting on it.
 However, it was obvious he was fine. So was Esque, whose burns were gone.
 "Thanks, Mr. Ellimist, sir," Ben said, "But Sliir and I would like to go back to the Howlers."
 "You are needed elsewhere." The Ellimist replied, then there was another flash, and those two were gone.
 "Where did you send them?" I asked.
 "To the Chilar homeworld. They are plants, but that is unimportant. Quinn and Esque, I will leave you to help
prepare for the Yeerk invasion. It will come soon. Farewell."
 Right before the flash, I grinned as the thought-speak came, < You know, Esque isn't that bad of a name. >
 After that, I was back in the school, with the clothes I had on when I left. They had been ripped up pretty bad, but now they were like new.
 "Before I leave you," The Ellimist said, "I must tell you this: the Crayak is very upset at you now. He may attack you in some subtle ways. Fortunately, we worked an agreement. No more than five."
 "You made an agreement on him attacking us?" I yelled. Unfortunately, he left, and every person in the hallway stared at me, since he continued time again. I sheepishly grabbed my books and headed off to Marco's locker. He wasn't going to be happy.

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