Rocky Road

[Drake]

"Ahrahh!" Escar shouted as he was pulled free from the hulking taxxon corpse. He felt his arm get pulled from its socket and he was pretty sure he broke at least one toe as his feet got pulled under the alien body. But the thing he was still most worried about were the taxxon entrails covering his body. He wiped as much as he could from his face as he limped back toward the other, just praying that the guts weren't coated in stomach acid or something. He imagined that stuff could probably dissolve concrete if it had to.

"Thanks... lion." He couldn't remember her name, and didn't exactly have time to play twenty questions. Escar re-holstered his gun and switched his newfound dracon beam to his good arm. He wasn't incredibly familiar with using a dracon beam, but they were pretty much just point and shoot weapons, which he could handle.

So he did what the weapon was designed for. He pointed and he shot. And boy was it easy. It was hard to miss a shot at nearly point-blank range.

<<I told you we were going to die,>> Thomas gloated despite himself.

<<Shut up.>>

[Aubrey]

Another shove, another heave. Little by little, Aubrey was getting the jeep further up. Behind her, in some distant corner of her mind, she could hear the screams of the Taxxons combined with the loud screech of dracon beams shots. Somewhere nearby, the YPM official--or at least, someone, she couldn't exactly turn around and look--was keeping the Taxxons from making it far enough over to take a chunk out of her backside while the escort was being saved.

As she concentrated, a small thought began to emerge in her head, something she didn't quite want to acknowledge yet. Maybe they weren't going to make it out of this. Out of all the frightening life-threatening situations, out of all the stupid times to die, this could possibly be it. Devoured alive by Taxxons, because they tried to deliver a stupid briefcase to Cassie.

<<Aubrey, can you do it?>> Above all the noisy chaos surrounding them all, Suji's voice barely registered with Aubrey. Adrenaline was pumping heavy through her veins, and her ears were filled with the sound of her own heart beating. Everything about her was focused on getting the jeep up and get everyone moving. She wasn't even sure it was possible now, considering the amount of Taxxons attempting to surround them. The metal of the jeep creaked again, and Aubrey stamped her hooves harder and pushed her heavy body forward. The jeep rose another few inches.

<<I... well, any help would be great. I think it's moving,>> She finally responded. As she did, she took another couple steps forward. Suddenly, the space in front of her was empty. The surprise of having the jeep's weight abruptly disappear caused her to blink in confusion, and then she flinched when she heard the wheels' heavy thud as they made contact with the ground. The jeep bounced back and forth awkwardly, before settling down on all four wheels. One of the doors of the jeep took that moment to fall completely off, clattering to the ground.

Almost immediately, Aubrey felt her whole body sag; every single muscle in her body screamed, and her head pounded with the stress and fright of being surrounded by the Taxxons. Even then she managed to shout, <<The jeep is on its wheels! Someone see if it can work!>>

[Suji]

<<Don't mention it,>> Suji replied, whirling on another Taxxon. It reared, and one of its needle legs punctured her torso just under her right foreleg. Snarling, she gutted it. A Dracon gun shrieked behind, and she heard another Taxxon fall. She had a moment to realize, uncomfortably, that if their escort had wanted to shoot her in the back, he'd had a great opportunity for it. Of course that wouldn't make any sense; even if they were enemies, which they weren't, the lion morph was helping to hold the Taxxons at bay. Still, it was something hard to put out of her mind.

Behind her, Aubrey had righted the jeep. <<Good job!>> Suji could hear the exhaustion in the girl's voice. To Aubrey, she said: <<Take a moment and regain yourself, but as soon as you're able, we'll need you to help keep the perimeter clear.>> Samantha, not having to be told what to do, immediately swung herself into the driver's seat. The support bars on the top of the jeep had been twisted and bent, and she had to duck to get around one.

Suji turned, surveying the damage as quickly as she could. The sight wasn't exactly welcoming. She did her best to stay calm, but the amount of Taxxons converging on them was dismaying: for every one they killed, two more seemed eager to crawl over the body of their fallen brethren, slurping up the hot mess of intestines as they went.

A different sound than the scream of dying Taxxons and the firing of Dracon weapons tickled Suji's ears. A distant whomp-whomp-whomp that was strange not just because it was a wholly new sound, but because it came from above, rather than ground level. As Samantha tried to start the jeep, the sounds of the engine revving and failing drowned out the other noise.

Suji had been still for too long, and paid for it with another laceration cut down her back. Roaring, she spun on the Taxxon. It was so close that she couldn't even get a could swipe in, and had to practically hug the creature's torso to escape its jaws. Knowing that she'd regret it, she pulled her lips back over her fangs, and sunk her teeth into the tender, alien flesh. The taste was absolutely disgusting, and she didn't let go until slop of it was caught in her mane.

[Drake]

Tseeew. A taxxon lost its legs.

Tseeew. A taxxon lost an eye.

Tseeew. A rock exploded, spraying gravel all over a group of approaching taxxons, doing nothing.

As Escar shot, shot, and shot some more, he made an attempt to climb backward onto the half-crushed jeep. Even though it was right-side up now, it wasn't easy. Most of his attention was still focused on delaying the inevitable. Which was being eaten alive by taxxons.

He had killed so many, yet there were still so many still trying to reach them. It kind of made him wonder why. Why would the taxxons risk so much for just a few handfuls of meat? Why didn't they just give up and settle for their fallen brethren? The best answer Escar could come up with on short notice was because they wanted something that tasted different.

But whatever the case, they needed to get out of there. Escar 907 now stood on top of the jeep, leaning against one of the bent support bars as he fired his weapon. "Are we going to go or not! Because we gotta!"

[Aubrey]

<<Alright,>> Aubrey said, acknowledging Suji's thought-speak. Her morph just wanted to settle down in the dirt and take a break, but Aubrey knew better. It would make it harder to get back in the battle, and it made her more vulnerable to the advancing Taxxons. Instead, the Cape Buffalo stood on all fours and took some breaths. As she did so, she heard the jeep's sputtering engine as Samantha attempted to get it started.

Please start, come on. Hadn't the escort said that it would work? Was he wrong? Aubrey lifted her head, her eyes focusing on the dent in the jeep's hood made by her horns. Maybe it had worked before. Maybe it didn't now.

<<Keep trying. We'll try to keep them off the jeep as long as we can,>> Aubrey said to the two YPM and Samantha. The YPM official had climbed into the jeep next to Escar, sweat rolling down his face. His eyes were scanning the skies as if he was desperately looking for something. The distant sound Suji had heard had never reached Aubrey's ears, and so she only found the official's distracted gaze annoying. He should be shooting Taxxons, not zoning out.

Turning away from them, Aubrey dashed over on the opposite end of where Suji was tearing apart Taxxons. The Taxxons over here were closer, now, climbing over their dead comrades and snarling in anticipation. They wasted no time zeroing in on the large beast in their way, and Aubrey had to dodge out to the right to avoid having a chunk of her shoulder being bitten off. Aubrey jerked her head sideways, goring the nearby Taxxon with her horn. Guts and blood poured over her body, slicking down the wiry brown fur on her back. Another Taxxon just barely brushed her other side, and Aubrey turned swiftly and charged him. The Taxxon split apart like butter, and Aubrey had to thrash her head back and forth to free her horns from the sudden mess.

Without Aubrey realizing it, another Taxxon had crept up behind her. It sank its teeth into Aubrey's flank and took a bite. The Cape Buffalo bellowed in pain, and Aubrey instinctively kicked up her back feet. Her hooves tore a new hole in the Taxxon's body, giving Aubrey enough time to wiggle free and amble away. The Taxxons had turned away from Aubrey for the moment and had begun to feed on the other fallen Taxxons. Hot red blood streaked down her leg, and she glanced over at the jeep. It still wasn't moving.

<<Suji? I don't think the jeep is working,>> Aubrey said privately. <<Do you think we'd be able to clear a way together to run through? Maybe we could make it to some cover, somewhere?>> Overhead, the strange sound was getting closer. Close enough so that Aubrey could hear it. She looked up, wondering. A helicopter?

[Suji]

Aubrey's thought-speak confirmed what Suji (and probably everyone else) was starting to suspect: something was wrong with the jeep. She mentally pushed away a wall of panic that was threatening to bear down on her. Panicking was contagious, and Suji would not be the one to start the chain reaction. <<We'll have to try,>> she replied to Aubrey.

<<Samantha, go horse. Escar, be ready to mount up.>> Suji targeted the other YPM member privately. <<You'll be on cover fire, with us.>> It probably sounded like a death sentence, and to be honest, Suji wasn't so sure it wasn't. But she wasn't putting more weight on Samantha, and in the end, Escar (and his briefcase) was their mission objective.

Samantha seemed like she was going to try the jeep engine again, and Suji cut in: <<Now.>> It wasn't their ideal plan, obviously, and she knew that everyone would have preferred the jeep to just work. But they had to deal with things the way they were, not the way they wished they were. Samantha hopped out of the jeep, and began morphing. By the time she was fully horse, the helicopter was unmistakable, gaining on them.

Friend or foe, friend or foe, Suji thought to herself. They were being picked up by a cloaked bug fighter a few miles from their current location, but it couldn't risk flying through here. Whoever owned this helicopter, they were flying low, risking detection by the Empire. Or, of course, they were the Empire.

Either way, it was another variable that Suji hadn't been anticipating. The Taxxons were difficult enough to defend against: they had no way to take out that helicopter and hold off the cannibalistic aliens. <<Ignore the helicopter for now,>> Suji told them. <<Our problem is on the ground.>> And it's not like we can do much about it anyway, she thought.

Ignoring her own orders, Suji glanced back at the thing. There was something off about it, and it finally struck her what it was: hanging off of the passenger's side was a turret. A modified Dracon cannon that was slim enough to fit unto a human-made aircraft. Before she could warn anyone to duck, or do anything, she saw the point of the canon draw energy. The blast ripped through the air, shrieking its way down towards them. It overshot, though, and hit a cluster of oncoming Taxxons, who were turned into what could have passed as an enormous vat of steaming centipede stew.

The Dracon canon whirred again, but this time the shot was narrower, more precise. It shot again and again, destroying the Taxxons around them efficiently and accurately. Enemy of my enemy, then. Suji thought, and though it definitely was better than the alternative, she knew they weren't out of the woods. For all she knew, they were Empire officials who were tracking down Escar themselves, and were eager to collect a few Animorph prisoners while they were at it.

<<Same plan. Samantha, take Escar. Go to the drop point. Do not stop.>> Suji bonded forward, slowing her pace so that their other Controller could keep up. With the help from the overhead cover, they were able to dispatch the Taxxons that got through with ease... compared to moments before.

[Drake]

When it was clear that the helicopter was specifically shooting the taxxons, Escar stood up from where he was trying (unsuccessfully) to crouch down out of sight in the back of the jeep. He then climbed over to where Samantha was nearly finished morphing into a horse so that he could hop on. Hopefully to ride safely into the sunset, but that didn't seem likely.

He put a leg over her back just as her hair turned into a beautiful flowing mane. He was lucky that it did, too. If Samantha's mane hadn't been there, he would have slid right off of the other side. Escar's host hadn't ridden a horse since he was seven, and even then it was just a pony strapped to a wheel.

<<This isn't going to turn out good,>> Thomas said to Escar mentally.

"This isn't going to turn out good," Escar agreed aloud.

He grabbed a fist-full of mane in each hand. One hand still holding a dracon beam, the other attached to a dislocated arm and a briefcase. And there was no saddle. If staying put seemed like a safer alternative, Escar would have objected to this plan. But as things were...

"Yah, yah! Giddeup!"

[Aubrey]

((I hope this is OK. If it doesn't work, tell me and I'll change it asap.))

The jeep wasn't going to work. That was just their luck. Aubrey hurried over to Samantha as the woman morphed, feeling the blood oozing down her leg and weariness blanketing her whole body. The Taxxon had managed to scrape enough off her flesh to leave deep teeth marks, and if she leaned too far on that side, pain would shoot through her whole body. This wasn't the first time Aubrey had been in pain, and probably not the last, and so she merely took a deep breath, winced, and moved on. Overhead, the droning of the helicopter was getting closer and closer. It had to be the yeerks. Nobody would be stupid enough to fly that low. More good luck, right.

As she approached the jeep, she heard Suji giving orders to the others. Aubrey felt a small burst of relief--Suji always seemed to maintain a level-head in the worst sort of situations. It was comforting. The YPM official didn't seem to feel the same way, however, as he made a nasty face at Suji's order and grunted in disagreement, nervously handling his dracon beam. "But that horse can hold more people than--"

TSSEWW! The noise from the cannon was almost deafening, and Aubrey felt the wiry hairs on her back stand on end. Her ears twitched back and forth, trying to register the sound. What the hell? Her head swung around to look up, eyes straining to see what exactly was in the sky. The Cape Buffalo, for all its power and muscle, wasn't blessed with the best eyesight in the animal kingdom. Looking back down, however, she could see the masses of Taxxons being razed to the ground. The stench from all the dead bodies piling up was becoming disgustingly overwhelming, and the heat from the sun above only seemed to aggravate it. It looked to be that the helicopter was taking care of most of the Taxxons that had been on their way to surround the Animorphs and YPM. Were they being helped? Was it a YPM helicopter?

Either way, Suji wanted them to keep moving on. Aubrey turned and took off after the lion and horse with its rider. She got a few steps forward before the YPM official yelled out behind her, "Wait! Don't move!" Thinking what else could this nervous little man want, Aubrey craned her neck and looked backwards. Her eyes widened, and she stiffened. He had his dracon beam trained on her, finger wrapped around the trigger. "Don't go anywhere, or I'll shoot your friend dead. And so will they." With his free hand, he was pointing upwards.

[Suji]

Escar seemed... enthusiastic about the escape plan. Which was fine with Suji. Better than cowering in the back of the jeep and being uncooperative, at least.

"Wait! Don't move!" Suji turned, expecting to have to put their extra YPM Controller in his place, but she froze at what she saw. Around them, Taxxons continued to be shot down by the helicopter. Samantha, who hadn't been about to stop (as par Suji's orders), did come to a halt when she heard the rest of the YPM's (if he even was YPM) message about shooting them dead. Escar turned, carefully, almost losing his balance as he looked at his partner.

"What are you doing, Quar?" He sounded more surprised than alarmed.

<<Suji?>> Samantha asked privately. Right. Orders.

Suji was at a loss. Every fiber in her being rejected the idea of playing into a hostage situation. This man had betrayed them, and was now threatening her fellow soldiers. It was everything she could do to keep herself collected. Slowly, she responded to Aubrey and Samantha. <<Listen to him. For now.>> What else could they do? If it was just this man, she'd probably be willing to risk it. At this point he was just dead weight anyway, and she was... reasonably confident that she could reach him before he could fire more than twice.

Of course, two shots would be all it would take to kill any one of her comrades, if he got lucky.

<<Announce yourself.>> Suji broadcasted, knowing that it'd reach the helicopter. <<Or I take my chances and turn Quar here into Taxxon chow.>>

"No need to be uncivil," a female voice announced from a loudspeaker. It was distorted by the sound of the rotating blades, but still audible. "We're not murderers. Just give us the briefcase and everyone makes it home in one piece."

Suji's eyes moved over to Escar. <<Did you know about this?>> From the look of shock and horror on his face, however, she could tell that he hadn't.

[Drake]

At first Escar was shocked, then worried, but by the time Suji asked if he knew about this, Escar was livid. "That no good, back-stabbing traitorous little..." Escar mumbled furiously under his breath.

"No I didn't know about this!" he yelled. He would have started on a whole monologue about why he was innocent and how Quar was no better than the taxxon guts he was standing in, but the situation didn't really permit for such luxuries. Any moment now the helicopter could open fire on them and take what they wanted. He wouldn't put it past them to break their promise not to hurt anyone if they cooperated.

But... they weren't opening fire. And there was a reason for it. Escar grabbed the briefcase in both hands and held it close to himself as he realized why that probably was. "I don't think they want to risk hitting what was inside the briefcase," he whispered to the horse he was sitting on. "Can we use that?" He trusted the horse to use thought speech to relay the information to the others.

[Aubrey]

<<Listen to him. For now.>> Suji's orders. Since Quar's shout, Aubrey hadn't bothered to move a muscle anyways. The shock of it had glued her in place, and she felt a burst of anger hit her. They weren't being saved by YPM, obviously. But it didn't sound like they wanted to shove yeerks into their ears either. At least, not yet. <<...Who are you people?>>

Quar didn't answer. He merely looked quickly up at the helicopter then back down at the four of them. His nervousness plain across his face. "Come on. Hand over the briefcase." His other hand had slipped back around the other side of the dracon beam, ready to shoot.

<<If your helicopter friends shoot us, you'll hit the briefcase and it'll disintegrate along with us. Then what?>> Samantha said, throwing out her thought-speak to everyone and relaying Escar's idea. Aubrey felt a tiny bit of hope. It wasn't much, but she was right. If they wanted the briefcase so much, they wouldn't be willing to accidentally miss and hit it. It was a good idea. Right?

Quar's finger tightened around the dracon beam's trigger. "Then I shoot you one by one until I get to you, Escar. First up is Miss Buffalo over here," He said, and then made sure to let everyone see him flip the intensity switch on the dracon beam to the highest setting. All the nervous energy Quar had been exuding earlier in the day was being channeled towards a twitchy trigger finger. Aubrey wouldn't put it past the yeerk to accidentally end up shooting her.

Her heart thumped in her chest. <<Suji?>> The thought-speak was private, and it was obvious that she was asking 'what now?'

"Hand over the briefcase, Escar."

[Suji]

<<I'm going to tell you this once,>> Suji broadcasted, though clearly directed at Quar. Her voice was collected but strained. <<Lower that weapon, and we'll talk about this. I can assure you that if you fire on any of the people here, even if you manage to take one or two out, you will not be walking away.>> Then, perhaps the only hint at just how deep her fury with the situation went, she added: <<I will peel your face from your skull like a can-opener on aluminum.>>

Well, his host's skull, but Quar would feel it too. And he would either be trapped in a dying host, or he'd exit. And then she'd kill him just as easily.

Suji saw a trickle of sweat come down his temple, could smell the fear on him. He had a bit of power in this situation, but he was desperate too. Dangerous. His eyes flicked over to the lion, though he kept his weapon aimed at Aubrey.

"Not to ruin a beautiful moment," the voice on the loudspeaker of the helicopter came in again. "But you guys need to move." Suji realized they hadn't heard the blast of a dracon weapon in a few moments, meaning that no more Taxxons were approaching. "We're still in Taxxon-country, and I'm guessing they're more than a little pissed that about the situation. So unless you want to give them time to dig out a pit from beneath you, everyone needs to march. North. Now. We'll cover you till we're near enough to your pick-up location. Then, you give us the briefcase for our trouble."

Suji weighed this. The voice from the helicopter sounded more reasonable than Quar, but there was no doubt that this was still a hostage situation. All the same, she was right. They had to move. The Taxxons had already wrecked their ride by digging a ditch, and Suji had fallen into Taxxon-made pits before. It wasn't an experience she was eager to repeat.

<<Fine. We'll go as soon as Quar lowers his weapon.>>

"Not a bloody chance-"

"Quar, do it. Jesus." The helicopter ordered. Reluctantly, Quar complied.

And they all began walking.

[Drake]

"Want me to get down and walk?" Escar asked Samantha. He was still sitting awkwardly on the animorphs saddle-less back.

<<Better not,>> she replied. <<Who knows when we might have to bolt.>> The reasoning was sound, but Escar felt that if they did any actual "bolting," his ride would take off and he would be left sitting in the dust with a broken tailbone. Regardless, he followed her suggestion.

It was impossible for Escar to get back the air of confidence that he had possessed when they had departed, but he still made an effort not to show his concern. He figured it was best that, as the only non-animal, he try not to let their captors know the situation was getting to him. But after a while of conversationless travel, Escar could not go another step without asking the question that was on his mind.

"Why?" he shouted over the ever-present sound of the chopper blades. "Why do this Quar? What are you getting out of this deal? You know how important these documents are. What they could mean. What are you getting that is worth throwing it all away?"

<<You still think he is YPM?>> Thomas asked, doubtfully.

<<I have no idea,>> Escar admitted. <<But we'll soon see. Hopefully.>>

[Aubrey]

Aubrey willed the stupid controller to listen to Suji and lower the weapon. The man's whole hand--the one holding the dracon beam--was shaking with his nervousness. It made Aubrey very uneasy. Even if the helicopter people didn't intend to shoot anyone, this one didn't seem to have the same clear-headed attitude. Quar only glanced upwards once as the person in the helicopter began speaking, then quickly back down. The muscle of his throat worked as if he would disobey, but then he reluctantly lowered his weapon. Aubrey felt her shoulders droop and let out a breath. While the situation wasn't over yet, she was happy that that thing wasn't pointed at her anymore.

The Cape Buffalo turned its head back around and began walking with the rest of the group. Turning her back to Quar wasn't her ideal position, but there was not much else she could do. Overhead, the rhythmic whack of the helicopter blades hummed, a constant reminder that some large dracon cannon was pointed at them and could vaporize them at any point. Well at least no more Taxxons for now. Hopefully. As Aubrey walked, blood continued to slick down the fur of her leg, leaving one bloodied footprint in her wake.

Behind the heavy form of the Cape Buffalo, Quar had both hands clasped around his lowered dracon beam again. His host had been panicking earlier--mostly due to Suji's threat of face removal--but the man was calm now. The two were having a mental discussion about the value of thinking one's actions through before actually acting when he heard Escar's voice above the helicopter blades.

"Of course I know how important these documents are. But why should we always have to depend on them?" It was obvious he was referring to the Animorphs, but he wagged his hand in their direction anyways. "They're not the only ones on this planet or in this war--they're not the only ones who are affected by what happens. We have a right to those documents, too, and a right to figure out what needs to be done with them."

[Suji]

<<Do you need to demorph?>> Suji asked Aubrey. The truth was, they could probably both use it. Her lion had some pretty severe lacerations, but she thought she could make it to the drop point if they had to. If Aubrey needed to demorph too, though, it would make sense to stop and for them to do it at once.

Suji listened carefully to Quar's "reasoning," as she figured it at least mirrored the reasoning of his superiors in the helicopter. Understanding their motivation would be a key to getting out of here alive, and (thought it seemed increasingly unlikely) completing the mission.

We may not be the only one's on the planet, she thought to herself, but we've sacrificed more than the YPM, that's for damn sure. She wouldn't exactly dismiss the YPM's contributions, but Suji would laugh in the face of any one of them that claimed they fought as hard for freedom as the Animorphs did. The Animorphs were the real soldiers in this fight, and the only legitimate opposition to the Empire -- as overpowered as they were. Hell, the free human rebels did more damage to the Empire than the YPM did.

The worst part was that so many of the YPM acted like the Animorphs should practically get down and worship the ground they walked on. They weren't like their Empire brethren, after all. What did they want, the Animorphs to bake them a fucking cake? Maybe they could take it and throw themselves a party while they all patted each other on the back for being part of the "good guys" without ever actually having to lift a finger.

Suji glanced back over at Escar, who was still clutching the briefcase to his chest. Okay, maybe she'd been a bit unfair. Escar at least was risking his life to give them this information, and even he seemed angry about the turn of events.

Still.

<<If you're finished whining,>> Suji broadcasted, directed at Quar. <<I have hurt people. We're stopping to demorph. Samantha, go ahead and stop.>> Privately, to Aubrey, she added: <<You first. I'll watch him.>>

"What? You can't just stop, we need to keep going!" Quar began to raise his gun, but Suji had been waiting for it. While they were walking she'd gotten slightly closer, and now he was within reach.

Suji sprung, launching her heavy body across the distance between them. Quar fired, but the shot hit the dirt, and she felt the heat on her torn belly. She landed on him, and with one enormous paw (claws retracted), knocked the Dracon weapon from his hand effortlessly. It tumbled across the hardpan. She pressed her maw close to his face, bared her teeth, and hoped there were was still plenty of Taxxon gore caught there.

"WHOA! BACK OFF! BACK OFF OR I START FIRING! YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS!"

<<Just so we're on the same page,>> Suji said in a low voice, whispering privately to Quar. <<The only reason you're not dead already is because of your guardian angel up there.>> She let her bright blue eyes move up slowly, then back to him.

"3! 2!"

Suji leisurely moved off of him, padding over to the fallen Dracon gun. She swept it towards Aubrey. <<For whenever you're finished.>> Then Suji sat down on her haunches, watching Quar pick himself off of the ground. Her tail twitched back and forth, agitated.