The Soldier: A Young Girl's Record of an Alien Invasion [Youjo Senki/Animorphs]

[Winged One]

In either case, a Tanya cross is ripe for a story about putting up something more like an actual resistance. One that maybe shows that the OT Animorphs were kind of right about the consequences of going loud. And also I think we can expect about 20% more genocide than the original books. I was gonna say a higher number than that, but then I realized actually there was already quite a bit in the original timeline.

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Of all of Tanya's many sins, genocide wasn't one of them. But then, she wasn't facing an alien species specifically designed to make it a tempting course of action.

 

[Ellf]

Chapter Thirteen

Recognition passed over the policeman's face as he repeated his question. He knew who we were, or at least where he recognized us from. He'd spoken to me earlier this evening, and he'd seen Cassie earlier today. "What are you two doing here?"

He had us dead to rights, and if he wanted, he could easily eliminate us here. One wrong move, wrong word, and that gun was out before we could do anything. If I still had magic, the way I had in my last life, he'd never get the chance to draw the gun, even if it meant bloodying Cassie. As it stood, I prepared myself mentally to block the bullet.

"We're collecting shells," Cassie said, but then she looked down at her empty hands and mine. "Well, looking for them anyway."

"Have you seen any?" I asked, following her lead. It was as good a cover story as any to come up with on the spot. Who knew that Cassie had it in her to be this deceptive? Maybe I wouldn't need to worry about her compromising her ideals if this could work for her. She was a smart girl who had figured out some things.

The policeman offered a smile to me. Maybe something about the Yeerk inside him liked young humans. Or maybe it was the influence of the host. "Sorry, this is just for full members. Private business. You two understand, right?"

"Got it," Cassie said. "Yes, sir."

The policeman stared hard at Cassie, and she stood tall. She stared back, unwavering in the attention the officer laid on her. The officer split his attention between the two of us, and I had to do the same as Cassie. I stared him down, focusing on the slug within him. As far as it knew, I had no way to know it was there, but I knew. We all knew. Cassie stared harder than I did, meeting his gaze with cool determination.

The officer blinked first, shaking his head. Clearly, Cassie's staring got to be too much for him, as he waved us off. "Okay, take off. I've got my eye on you two. Don't let me catch you around here again. Get back with the others."

"Yes sir," Cassie said.

"Sorry, sir," I added, and the two of us spun around and walked away from the Sharing's private meeting area. The sun had settled beyond the horizon at this point, leaving only the twilit reflections of the stars on the water.

As we walked along the dunes, heading back toward the others, a rustling sound came from the dunes. I turned to meet it, only to see a dog bound out. Cassie instinctively placed herself in a defensive position, slightly ahead of me. I wasn't sure exactly what she'd planned to do, but she had good instincts.

Still, the dog was… Jake.

"Oh, it's you," Cassie said.

"Jake," I said, nodding to him.

<Yeah,> said the dog, tilting his head. <That was close. What were the two of you doing there anyway?>

"Cassie wanted to be available to back you up if necessary," I said.

Cassie glanced to me, but she nodded with a small shrug of her shoulders.

<And what were you doing there, Tanya?>

"Being her backup."

"Tanya didn't think I should go alone," Cassie said. "We just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Jake somehow gave a mental sigh. <You do know I was safer than you two. Nobody was going to worry about a dog. Not when they don't know we can morph.>

"You aren't wrong," I said. "But we need to be able to make a proper plan next time."

<There wasn't any time, Tanya,> Jake said as we walked along. <We don't really know anything yet. How can we plan without any sort of information?>

"And you found something out?"

<Too much,> Jake said, and it felt sad. Not that it sounded sad, but I could feel the emotion associated with the words. Something he'd seen or heard had shaken him. <Tanya, you and Marco were right.>

"About Tom?" I asked.

<Yeah, he's a Controller,> Jake said as we neared the spot where the others were. He paused for a second, sniffing the air the way that a dog normally would. Then he turned to me. <Tanya, maybe you and Jordan should head back to the main group. Nothing bad's going to happen at this meeting.>

"Jordan will ask why," I said. As much as I really didn't want to have my twin involved in this, it was beginning to look as if it were inevitable. If she hadn't joined us for this Sharing meeting, maybe we might have been able to keep it from her, but she already suspected something. While she was leaning toward cult as an explanation, it wasn't that far off from the truth. Just that the cult initiation involved surrendering your body and mind to an alien parasite. "She's already suspicious."

<That's a conversation we shouldn't be having on the beach when I need to morph back.>

"If you don't think she's a Controller, maybe we should tell her the truth," Cassie said.

While I didn't think my twin was one, she currently lacked any way to defend herself if she were to learn the truth. No magic, no morphing, and no weapons meant that if she were to find out, she would be in far more danger than we were. Of course, we were still in danger, even with the means to defend ourselves.

<Maybe, but I want Rachel's opinion on that as well as Tanya's,> Jake said. <But while she's there, I can't morph back, and… as much as I hate to say it, it's probably not a good idea for me to just stay a dog.>

Cassie leaned in to whisper in my ear. "There's also the fact that he doesn't know how to morph clothing yet. So, unless you and Jordan want to see naked Jake…"

<Hey!> Jake said sharply. <You know I can hear you, right? Dog's ears are pretty good.>

"Fine," I said. "But the conversation isn't done. Jake, is there anything I should know before I get my twin? Are we safe here?"

<Chapman said that there wasn't to be any bloodshed at a Sharing meeting,> Jake said. <Not yet, anyway. They don't have control of the right people. You were right about him too.>

I hadn't wanted to be. It wasn't like that last name was uncommon, but in our town, that was the only one that made sense. "Right. We'll talk later about that."

When Jordan wasn't with us. A part of me felt wrong, leaving her out of this, but there was a part of my life she already wasn't a part of. Sure, she might have suspected some of it, knowing how perceptive she was, but I did not want to drag her into Being X's machinations. None of my family deserved that. And no matter what that bastard said, I didn't either.

Cassie and I approached the others while Jake slunk off to the dunes

"Oh, I see," Jordan said playfully. "The dog runs off when he sees the boys. Poor thing."

"Yeah," I said.

"I don't see Jake," Jordan said. "I thought you guys were going to find him."

"Guess we got a little too close to the private meeting," I said. "The police officer directed us away."

Jordan met my gaze for a second, taking my measure. She was a ten-year-old girl, and somehow, she knew how to see through me. Yes, we were twins, but one would think that I would be better about it, given my experience. Jordan shook her head and turned to Cassie. "So, did Officer RA say anything about Jake?"

"Officer RA?" Cassie asked.

"Officer Racist A—" Rachel slapped her hand over Jordan's mouth, and then she pulled it away after a second.

"Gross! You little…" Rachel glared at my twin. "I'll tell Mom."

"She's said worse," Jordan said. "Especially about some of the cops around here. Some of them got kicked out of the city's PD and sent out here where they'd do less damage."

That might have been true. The city's police department did not have the best of reputations.

"He didn't say anything about Jake," Cassie said. "But maybe he went back to the bonfire or something. Why don't you and Tanya head over there? We'll come get you if we find him around here, but if we don't after half an hour, we'll come get you anyway. Maybe you'll find him there."

"Maybe," Jordan said, rubbing her chin. "Yaya, do you think we'll find him there?"

I shrugged. "I'm sure he can't have gone far." He'd only bounded past the dunes, after all. But Jordan didn't know about morphing. "We can check and come back if we need to."

"Yeah, that sounds fine," Jordan said. "And maybe that Mary girl will have seen him. She seemed to have less of the Kool-Aid than anyone else."

I hoped not. I knew that Jake hadn't been seen by her, but I was wary of most women with that name. Plus, this girl was a Controller.

"Yet she still drank it," I said, glancing at the others. "We'll reach out if we find Jake. But meet at the bonfire in half an hour regardless, please. Let's not make any rash decisions tonight."

Marco gave a thumbs up, while Tobias kept glancing toward where Jake had actually gone. Rachel practically gave Jordan a shove as she gestured for us to get going.

Once Jordan and I had walked nearly out of earshot of the others, my twin turned to me and, once more in our language, said, "Let's not make rash decisions? Yaya, are you thinking about joining this cult?"

I shook my head. "Not really, no. But joining is a rash decision. Trying to figure a way to deprogram someone is a rash decision."

"They're not much older than we are, Yaya," Jordan said. "How the hell are they going to deprogram a cultist? And why are they so interested in finding out what happened at the construction site last night? You caught that right? Both Tom and Mary."

"And the officer," I said. "They're all trying to find it out. If there really were kids or someone setting off fireworks… the only one who makes sense is the officer."

"It's creepy," Jordan said. "And… where is Jake? There's no way he's back by the bonfire. We would have seen him."

"In the dark?" I asked. "I couldn't really see you and the others from our spot on the beach."

Jordan glanced over to the crackling bonfire as we approached it. The flames had gotten lower, closer to a campfire, and the food smells were drowned out more by the wood smoke than before. The gathering of people who weren't full members of the Sharing had dwindled some. Sure, some people were around the fire, roasting marshmallows, but others had left entirely. At least I hoped that was what had happened.

I didn't know where the Yeerks themselves hid when they weren't in a host or how easy it was for them to transfer to a new one. Could someone become infested here at the bonfire party? It might have been possible.

But it didn't seem as if Jordan had.

"Jake's not here. It's like he disappeared into thin air, the same way that Tobias guy appeared," Jordan said. "It's weird to be hiding behind the dunes like that, but maybe Jake got lost or something. Hopefully, he's not in the cult hands, being exposed to the brainwashing."

"Doubtful," I said. "This is a recruiting event, not a programming one. Jake is around, but he can be sneakier than we can."

Jordan gave me a disbelieving look. Which, to be fair, it did take several hours to find either of us in hide and seek on occasion. Well, when neither of us was the seeker. "Yaya, there's something you aren't telling me."

"There's always something I'm not telling you, Jordan," I said. "You know that."

"Yes, but… it feels different this time," Jordan said. "You're not telling me something that's more important."

I frowned. Telling her made her vulnerable and a security violation. However, telling her also would have her informed of the risks that existed out there. However, unless she was also capable of defending herself, I couldn't just allow her to have that risk thrust upon her. I didn't even like it with the other children, and only Rachel and Jake were related to me. Rachel was my older sister, but Jordan was my twin. I couldn't just brush her off, nor could I tell her to drop it completely. She was family, not a subordinate. And for all the faults I had in all of my lives, my respect and duty toward my family was not something I lacked. Ever.

"I can't… right now. Not here," I said. "I need to think on some things before I tell you, and I need to make sure of something."

Jordan hugged me suddenly. While I stiffened, my sister hugged me tightly, and she leaned in closely. "Whatever it is, Tanya, you know that I'll have your back. You can tell me anything, and Mom and Rachel will never know. Dad either."

"I know," I said, returning the hug. It was less awkward in this life, especially with family. "But…" I wanted to make sure that they were safe. All of them. If the Yeerks were Being X's move in this life, then I needed to figure the best way to counter them without losing those whom I was responsible for.

And part of that meant keeping my twin safe.

"You can tell me later," she said. "I think they found Jake."

Good, he'd found a place to demorph. As my twin and I separated, we saw the five of them approaching us. A glance toward the private area showed that the Sharing's full member meeting was breaking up too.

"I'll… tell you some of it at home, maybe after school on Monday," I said. I couldn't tell her everything, but she'd guessed some of it. And the lack of knowledge could actively hurt her.

Jordan nodded. "I look forward to it, Yaya."

I just hoped I was right.

 

[Blaflaix]

The city's police department did not have the best of reputations.

Click to shrink...

They completely missed the alien invasion!

 

[Ellf]

Chapter Fourteen

After class on Monday, I accompanied my older sister and Cassie to the mall, where we were planning on meeting up with the others. If all had gone according to plan, Jake would have spied on our vice principal this afternoon, without his knowledge, and hopefully some sort of information we could use would have come out of the deal. Given the mall was his suggestion, he was unlikely to have been compromised. Lucky child.

I still didn't like that these children were conscripted into this, but I couldn't ignore the possibility that they could have good ideas. I just needed to help them along and ensure that they survived intact. Tom was already a prisoner of war for the other side, and there was little we could do about it for now.

"We need to tell Jordan," I said as we were walking. "She already figures something is up, but she doesn't know specifics."

Rachel glanced at me and then to Cassie. She sighed. "I don't even like that you are involved, Tanya. Do you really think it's a good idea to tell Jordan?"

"She'll figure out something," I said. She already knew some of what I hid. I didn't tell her everything about my previous lives, but she'd been with me during some low times. "And telling her increases her chance of being safe. I'm not saying let's have her involved, but she should at least be able to know how to be safe."

The morphing power was something that we could probably share, but I wasn't sure how to operate the device that I'd retrieved from the Andalite. I just knew that allowing it to fall into the hands of the enemy was a bad plan.

"We can't tell our parents," Cassie said. "As much as I'd like to believe that my parents are free, Tom alone demonstrates that we don't know who we can trust."

"We can trust Jordan," I said. "But… there is a way to be sure. A three-day camping trip. The Yeerk won't survive that if there is one, assuming that Tobias's information is correct."

Rachel shook her head. "You're not wrong, Yaya, but what if Jordan has nightmares or worries?"

"She already will even if we don't tell her," I said as we made it into the food court. "She just won't know what about."

The boys were already there with a couple trays of nachos. They waved to us, and Jake ran a hand through his hair in a nervous fashion.

"We'll talk about it later," Rachel said. "Let's see what Jake has to say."

I nodded and we took a seat at the table.

"Glad to see you here," Tobias said, eying my sister. He gave me a slight nod.

"Yeah, Jake was ready to tell us all about what he saw today," Marco said. "See, he was a tiny little lizard, and with tiny little lizard eyes, he thought he saw something."

Jake shook his head as he took a nacho. "No, I know I saw something, Marco. I saw the wall open up like it was some sort of secret passageway right out of an old movie, and…" He put down the nacho, frowning at it. "Then I heard screams. Human screams. They sounded far off, but that's what they were."

I met my cousin's eyes as Marco looked away. I could sympathize with him, knowing what I did. What the Yeerks were doing was highly unconscionable.

"You were a lizard at the time," Marco said. "Who knows what you heard?"

"I know," Jake said. "I wish I didn't, but I do."

"So, it was the Yeerk Pool entrance?" Tobias clarified.

"An entrance, surely," I said. "Depending on how large it is, I wouldn't be surprised if there are multiple entrances across the city."

"I can't stand the thought of what's happening to people down there," Cassie said. She visibly shuddered. "It's sickening."

Rachel looked at me and pursed her lips. "We have to do something."

"Yeah, let's rush right down there," Marco said. "Then it can be us screaming."

"You can't just ignore what's going on," Rachel said. "You know it as well as any of us."

"Sure, I can," he said. "I just have to remind myself that hey, guess what? I don't want to die."

"That's it, then? Just whatever's best for Marco?"

"Rachel, what would we do down there?" I asked.

"And Marco's not being selfish," Cassie said. "Remember his dad. What would happen to him if Marco…"

"He's not the only one with family," Rachel said, squeezing my shoulder. "And yeah, I'm worried about what might happen to them. We all have people who care about us. We all have family."

"I don't," Tobias said softly. He smiled wryly at us. "It's true. Nobody gives a rat's rear about me."

"I do," Rachel said immediately. She gave Tobias a smile of her own.

"Look," Jake said, raising his hands. "I'm not going to ask any of you to come with me, but I don't really have a choice. I heard that scream today. The scream of someone being infested, by them. And I know Tom is going there tonight. I have to help him. I have to at least try. He's my brother. I have to do it, for Tom."

I watched with rapt attention as each of them made a declaration of help. Marco was Jake's best friend, Rachel's cousin, Cassie and Tobias had their own reasons, and then they turned to me. It was almost inspiring, watching them make their declaration. I could sympathize with Marco's desire. Death was not pleasant, and in this life, I had people who would actually care that I was gone. But I could not let the children get into this on their own.

"Tom is my cousin too," I said. "I'll help. But we need a better plan than just go in and grab him."

Especially with the morphs we had available to us.

"She's not wrong," Cassie said. "Back in the ancient days, and really, I mean the really ancient days, the Africans, early Europeans, the Native Americans… they all believed animals had spirits. And they would call on those spirits to protect them from evil. They'd ask the spirit of the eagle for his sight. They would ask a lion for his strength."

"We're… doing something similar. Yes, it was Andalite technology that made it possible, but we're still just scared little humans trying ot borrow the mind of a fox, the eyes of an eagle or… a hawk or osprey." She smiled at Tobias and me. "And the strength of the lion. Just like thousands of years ago we're calling on the animals to help protect us from evil."

"We're just normal kids though," Marco said. "Six of them, up against the forces of an invading alien army. Who'd you bet on if it was a football game? We're toast."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Cassie said. "We're fighting for Mother Earth. She has some tricks up her sleeves."

Marco groaned and made a joke about Birkenstocks and trees which had everyone laugh. Well, I didn't, but Cassie did.

"We do have our morphing ability," Rachel said. "That's really what we have going for us. But so far, all we have are a cat, lizard, dog, horse, armadillo, and a few birds. We probably need a bit more firepower. We should head for The Gardens. We need to acquire more DNA from some animals that are not going to be easy to acquire."

"Now… that sounds like a plan," I said and glanced to Cassie. Admittedly, it was only the start of one. Arming ourselves with better morphs would be step one.

Jake nodded. "Can you get us in, Cassie? We're definitely going to need some better morphs."

"I can get in free," she said. "But you guys will have to pay. I can get you a discount on tickets so it'll be cheaper."

"Oh, I'm sure we could talk them into letting us in for nothing," Marco said. "Just tell them we're Animorphs."

"We're what?" Rachel asked.

"Idiot teenagers with a death wish," Marco said.

"Animorphs," Jake said, and I ran it through my mind.

It wasn't a bad name, even if it was only going to be used by us. "We still need more of a plan beyond that point. If we're going in tonight, we need to know what the full plan is. Extraction points, timing. What to do if things go wrong. And they will."

"Pleasant," Marco said. He gave me a funny look. "But she's not wrong. Firepower alone isn't going to be enough. If we're trying to save Tom, we need more of a plan."

"We can talk more about it as we head to the Gardens," Jake said. "But we should get going."

"Do we have enough for all of us to go?" Rachel asked as we started outside. I gave her a knowing look, and I tapped my pants pocket. Jeans were useful, and I had a bit more money saved up than my sister.

It didn't take long for the bus to arrive, and we all boarded easily. Jake borrowed Rachel and Tobias's notes to help with his homework while we continued to pool our funds to get us ready to go in. In reality, I had enough to cover three of us, especially with Cassie's discount.

"What kind of firepower do you think we'll be able to acquire?" Rachel asked. "We should get as many morphs as possible to have the choice available."

"I'm not sure the zoo has anything that could deal with Visser Three if he were to turn into that monster that ate the Andalite," Jake said.

"Fleas?" Marco winked. "No one can kill fleas. We'll itch him to death."

I snorted. "Not necessarily a bad option. We don't have many good ones. Each of us should acquire at least one morph that could qualify for some sort of assault, even if that's not our goal. Yes, the main goal is to liberate Tom, but I think the biggest goal should be ensuring we get out alive and free."

Marco nodded. "I very much am a fan of both of those things. But I know I'm being weird. I haven't done any of the morphing stuff yet. You guys all have. I'm not even a full-fledged Animorph yet. I'm still normal.'

"I still feel normal," Cassie said, frowning.

"Cassie, you can turn into a horse," Marco said. "I'm not sure Rachel's kid sister ever was normal, but it's different for Jake. I mean, he turned into a lizard. He's always been a reptile."

Jake took a swing at Marco, who ducked it, laughing.

"So, the goal is to get in, get Tom, get out," Marco said. "Morph if we have to."

"We will have to," I said. "Anticipate fighting, at the least, the Hork-Bajir and Taxxons."

"So animals that can take them on," Rachel said. "Any ideas, Cassie?"

"We'll see what we can access," she said as the bus pulled into the parking lot of the Gardens and we got off to get in line.

We used to do family weekend trips to the Gardens back when our parents were together. It was a unique theme park local to or town that combined both the typical theme park side with an animal part not unlike a zoo or aquarium, combined. They did dolphin shows, and there was a section where you could get closer to some of the safer animals along with a monkey habitat. The theme park side had the typical rides like roller coasters, Ferris Wheels, and even a water park section which I fully enjoyed. Both Jordan and I had been too small to go on the roller coasters our last trip.

As we made our way through the gate, I considered whether I should just morph the Hork-Bajir that evening and use that form along with the Dracon Beam to aid with the infiltration. If we had more forewarning about Tom, it might have made some sense, but convincing the others to wait until the next time Tom would be feeding the Yeerk inside him seemed like a potential landmine. If we could free my cousin tonight, it would be a worthwhile endeavor, but even obtaining information about the Yeerk Pool could be useful. How large was it? How many Yeerks were in our town alone? What damage could we possibly do to their operation to slow them down?

And how could I best keep Rachel and the others alive?

That was my primary goal. Tom was secondary, as much as I hated to admit it.

I just hoped I wouldn't have to kill him.

 

[Spi.Guyver]

"Just tell them we're Animorphs."

Click to shrink...

It has been a long while since I read the books, did they ever actually call themselves that in canon? And if so, did it happen so early in the series?

"We need to tell Jordan," I said as we were walking.

Click to shrink...

I do hope this happens. If for no other reason than because I want to see things go off the rails of canon a little.

I just hoped I wouldn't have to kill him.

Click to shrink...

This feels like foreshadow. I hope this is not foreshadow. While I want the story to forge its own path, I also want some of the staples of the series in tact. Maybe I'm just impossible to please.

 

[LocalCatHybrid]

You know, I vaguely remember some tumblr post somewhere saying about how each Animorph's main morph says something about them; like Jake is the tiger because he's the leader, Rachel the bear because she's fierce etc. And it kind of tickles me that it seems Tanya's main morph is going to be the walking misunderstanding that is the Hork-Bajir

 

[Prince Chrom]

It has been a long while since I read the books, did they ever actually call themselves that in canon? And if so, did it happen so early in the series?

Click to shrink...

Not only is that name in the books, the quote in question is a direct quote from book one.