trans_9 | Just a look

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Just a look

Loren had been on the meatship for a long time and there were still some places she hadn't been to. Take Engineering, for example. Which was why she was down here for a visit, just a look around really.

And if she happened to see anyone, well she was always up for making new friends. Provided they weren't Yeerks.

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"Thanks. And it will." Loren said firmly. "If I have anything to say about it."

That earned her an approving Andalite smile. 

Ax picked up one of the tools he'd been using, then realized he had no reason to have done so and set it back down. < He's...Is he still the same as you remember him being? It's been at least fifteen of your years for him. A lot can happen in that time. >

"He's different, of course. He's been through a lot, even more than what we went through together. It was weird at first, and it still is sometimes, to think that I've missed out on so much. When we were on Earth he'd given up on war and now, well, he's become the hero I always knew he was. But in a lot of ways he's still the same person." Loren chewed her lip and let out a long breath. "Basically, I guess what I mean is I love him for him and not how he used to be before I came here."

< I'm certainly glad to hear that, > Ax said. It was interesting that Loren though Elfangor was basically the same person after all the time he'd spent flying around in space fighting the Yeerk. Ax was sure that he personally was quite different than the child he'd been when the Animorphs found him in the sunken dome. How strange.

< Has he told you much about the intervening years? >

Loren brushed her hair back. "Not really, no. I mean, he'll speak about it generally but not in any specifics." Which... made sense. She still remembered comforting Elfangor after he fought against the hork-bajir for the first time. Then the Taxxons, and- so many times they'd had to fight. It'd scared her to death. And there would have been so many more of those times for Elfangor, times that she missed. She wasn't sure if there had been anyone to comfort him then.

Ax nodded thoughtfully. he said thoughtfully. Hearing tales of fierce battles was exciting when it was second-hand, but less so when one had actually experienced the fight.

Then again, he doubted that there was anything that would make tricking the Abomination into trying to rid himself from skunk smell with grape juice any less entertaining. Even thinking about it now made him smile.

A long pause, then. "If you don't mind my asking, what stories have you heard about him?"

Danger ~~Will Robinson~~ Aximili, danger!

Ax said with a shrug. < He's one of our greatest war heroes. What stories do you want to hear about him? >

Well, it can't be that dangerous to share some stories, can it?

"I guess you could start at the beginning." Loren suggested.

Oh Ax, if only you knew just how dangerous.

< Well, > Ax thought for a moment. < The first time he was really noticed... > ...Must have been right after the Ellimist tore him away from his life on Earth. Ax decided not to say that. < An Andalite Dome ship, the StarSword, was under attack by a swarm of Bug Fighters and a Pool ship. The StarSword had been crippled, and the captain ordered all remaining Tail Fighters away so he could initiate the self-destruct. Just after all our Fighters flew out of range, a visser's Blade Ship appeared out of Zero-Space and sliced away the remaining engines so that the StarSword couldn't self-destruct. >

Ax noted that, even though he had both heard and told this story multiple times over, even though he had been in so many fights against the Yeerks that he'd lost count, he was still a little excited about this story. It was one of his favorites -- very dramatic, and his brother had survived it triumphantly. < The Blade Ship would have captured the StarSword, > he continued. < And it was the Blade Ship belonging to the Abomination; Visser Three. But then a lone Fighter came out of nowhere and its pilot announced that he'd take care of the Blade Ship, then switched to an open frequency that both the StarSword and the Blade Ship could monitor.

< Elfangor told the Abomination that he was aimed directly at his ship, and that he'd punch up to maximum burn in ten seconds. The Abomination quailed and tried first to shoot at Elfangor and then to dodge, but Elfangor was too fast. He rammed the Blade Ship with his Fighter and severed the bridge entirely. Minutes later, the TailStrike came out of Zero-space, and the Yeerks fled in fear. >

Loren could literally feel the blood rush to her face. Her lips were set in a thin line and her body was not only tense but disturbingly still.

"He..."

...

...

Wait for it, Ax.

"...He rammed a ship? Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that like trying to commit suicide?" Cause she would really love to be wrong right now.

Ax recognized that expression. Happy humans did not where that expression.

< It was very brave of him, > he said quickly. < Lone Tail fighters aren't equipped to take out Blade Ships, there's no telling what it could have done with the crippled and helpless StarSword. >

Because yes, that sort of move was usually a suicide swoop. Elfangor had been lucky to survive.

"That's not answering my question, so I take that as a yes." Loren put her hands on her hips to keep herself from throttling the air. "So his Fighter came out of nowhere? Just where did he come from then?"

Ax said uncomfortably, shifting his weight from hoof to hoof. He could argue that it was true, he'd never been told where Elfangor had been. He wasn't sure what the official story was, even. < It was a very long time ago. I was very, very young. >

"He didn't come from another ship? Because I would think they'd keep track of that. Right. So, how did he manage to survive ramming his ship into a Blade Ship?" She didn't know exactly what a Blade Ship looked like or could do but from what Ax had said she could imagine.

< No, there weren't any other ships nearby at the time, > Ax said. He winced at the tone of her question. < His ship was very badly damaged, but like I said, the TailStrike arrived shortly after he rammed the Blade ship. They sent out a few fighters of their own to retrieve him, and then they healed him on board in their medical facilities. >

"So what, he was just randomly out there? Just how long ago was this?" Call her crazy but this was starting to sound like divine intervention... Or some other kind of intervention.

< Approximately sixteen or seventeen of your years prior to the point Stacy abducted me, I believe, > Ax said. Which was also shortly after his own birth.

Very shortly.

"Uh huh, and how far in my future are you?"

DANGER!

Oh, Ax definitely sensed the danger. Loren was currently reminding him very strongly of Rachel.

"Alright, how about this. What year was it when you were taken? You were on Earth so you'd have to know, right?"

Ax shifted his weight between his hooves again before reluctantly providing the year. She would come to her own conclusions.

Well, it wasn't like she wouldn't find out eventually, right?

She did some math in her head, then she double checked it. Triple checked it. And then, finally. "Thank you Ax, you've been very helpful."

< ...You're welcome, > Ax said. As soon as she left the room, he was going to call Elfangor and warn him. It was the least he could do after this.

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