Ardan

I had never held a shredder before, I was fairly certain none of us had. I had seen them before, plenty of times. Most of the soldiers carry them and even my father had one. But I had never held one, never fired one. Today, we were being taught how to shoot.

Warrior Jassal was in charge of our training. {The first thing to know about shredders is not to be afraid of them. They are just a tool. That said, understand that I said tool not a toy.} The Officer gave us an accusatory glare, as if he expected the worst from us. {You will be shooting the targets, and only the targets, These shredders are on their lowest setting. You are not to change the setting under any circumstances. That we will save for another day.} He motioned to us at the younger officer with his stalk eye.

They handed them out a few at a time. We were ordered to shoot at the targets until we hit it. These first targets were white, and round, about the size of a head. They floated several feet above the ground, each about thirty feet away from us. Around the area was a force field that would keep any stray shots from hitting anyone or anything that might have caused a problem. No one hit the target on their first try. So far the closest anyone got was four shots to successfully hit the target, at worst it was eleven.

Finally, it was my turn. For a moment, I just stared at the shredder. It was heavy, I knew it would be, but holding it was still a surprise. It's surface was smooth and designed, naturally, for Andalite hands. Even so, holding it somehow felt... wrong.

I lifted the shredder and pointed it at the target. I tried to line up the shredder with the target, part of me hoping I would hit it on the first try, but I missed it completely and the stray shot fizzled on the force field. I tried again only to miss again. I didn't successfully hit the target until the eighth shot. It wasn't the worst, but it wasn't good. I kept telling myself it was only my first time and that I would improve, but it didn't make me feel any better.

After the initial shots were fired we were split into smaller groups. We shot at moving targets, larger targets, smaller targets, several targets all at once in various different sizes. The officers made it clear that if we were in a real battle, we would all be dead by now.

Jassal told us to take a moment to rest before we practiced tail-fighting. I took this time to examine the other Arisths. I didn't know any of them, which was a great relief. Some were gloating over how well they done with shredders others were complaining about Jassal, saying he was... well... something you don't call your superiors.

I tried not to laugh, only partially succeeding.

That's when one of the others screamed. He spotted them before the rest of us.

They stood over seven feet tall with a sharp beak and claws, huge blades protruding from their heads, their arms and knees and tails. It was a group of Hork Bajir.

Everyone was frightened. Some jerked and backed away while others prepared their trembling tails to fight this massive creature. My mind screamed for me to run, but my legs did not move. I stared, wide eyed, at it. I'd never seen one before, not in person. The pictures did not do this monster justice.

{Arisths! Is this any way for soldiers to behave!?} Behind the Hork Bajir was Jassal who, despite his harsh tone, seemed to be enjoying himself. He motioned to one, especially large, Hork Bajir with a large scar on it's chest. {This is Tol Rashal and he will be in charge of your tail-fighting drills.}

{But...} One of the Arisths started to say before stopping as Jassal stared at him.

{What was that?}

The Aristh fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment, before continuing. {But, sir, he's a Hork Bajir.}

{That's correct. And who exactly do you think you will be fighting out there?} He motioned to the Hork Bajir. {These are refugees and they have offered their services to us and I expect you to treat them all with the same respect you would offer a Warrior.}

I had to admit, I was skeptical. They were Hork Bajir. True, we would be fighting them out in the field and maybe using them for practicing made sense, but putting one in charge of our training? If I remembered right Hork Bajir were, well, stupid. They barely had the intelligence of an infant. I had never heard of anything like this happening before. Ever.

I couldn't help but notice the skeptical looks, not only from my fellow Arisths, but even some of the other adults in the room. The only one completely at ease seemed to be Warrior Jassal himself.

{I expect you can take it from here?} Jassal asked.

The Hork Bajir named Tol Rashal nodded. "Yes, I believe so."

That was strange. He didn't sound unintelligent.

That's when I started thinking about it. They were refugees, right? So, did that mean they had escaped from the Yeerks? Was there some way to do that? I stared long and hard at the Hork Bajir, as if the secret was there and all I had to do was find it...

I think he noticed me staring because he pointed his large, clawed hand at me. "You. Come here."

Hearts pounding, I came closer. {Yes, uh, sir?}

"I am going to show you how to deflect my blades, do you understand?"

{Yes.} I replied meekly.

Carefully, he lifted his hands and took a swing at me. It was clear he had no real intention of hitting me but I whipped my tail at smacked his claws away, a little too quickly. I felt a little foolish, but more then that I was... not scared, but intimidated. He did it slowly, at first, but slowly increased speed and started swiping at me with both arms. I was much faster then he was, but I only had my tail so keeping up the pace was extremely difficult. I managed to do it though. Mostly because he was going easy on me.

"Good." He said nodding his head, then turned to the others. "Most Yeerks controlling Hork Bajir are usually just wildly swinging their blades. It shouldn't be too difficult for you to take on a single Hork Bajir controller, however, you will rarely fight them one at a time. If you should find yourself faced with several Hork Bajir alone, the best thing to do is make a tactical retreat. Also, when dealing with a Hork Bajir controller, it's best to dispatch them as quickly as possible."

I was shocked. He spoke about killing them so... casually. He was a Hork Bajir, they were his people. I wondered how he did it.

We spent the next several hours learning everything we could about fighting Hork Bajir. They were very dangerous enemies, not only because of their blades, but because of their amazing healing ability. The best way to kill a Hork Bajir was to go for it's throat, or head. Severing a head, obviously, meant instant death, slitting a Hork Bajir's throat was also effective but not always fatal depending on how deep the wound. We also learned the ranges of a Hork Bajir's blades, how best to avoid them and move without getting cut.

One at a time we would approach a Hork Bajir and they would take a few swings at us and we would use our blades to deflect them. They went easy on us, today, but I had the feeling it wouldn't stay that way for very long...

{I think that's about enough for now.} Jassal said as he came forward. {Thank you, Tol.}

Tol Rashal nodded and motioned to the other Hork Bajir who followed him.

{That will be all for now. Eat and get some rest, Arisths. Today was just the basics, real training starts tomorrow.} And with that we were dismissed.

I decided to go to the dome to eat and relax, but it was hard to do when everything hurt. My hands were cramping, Andalites rarely used our hands for anything and I wasn't used to it at all. And my tail was still sore from sparing with the Hork Bajir, and it wasn't even a serious fight!

I wonder if my father felt as sore and tired as I am now back when he was an Aristh, even if the training wasn't the same.

I wasn't the only person there, obviously. Older officers and other Arisths were exploring the grass and enjoying themselves. A little reluctantly, I tried the grass... but it was good. I had been a little worried about it. I went to the stream to drink and noticed a group of Arisths standing close by. I thought about introducing myself, but I couldn't make up my mind about it. I pretended to wander around to get a little closer, so I could hear their conversation and decide whether or not so joining them.

{-ly unbelievable. It's a complete disgrace.}

One of the Arisths thought-speak was especially loud and angry, it made me hesitate. I stayed close to the stream, straining to listen.

{Hork Bajir! They have Hork Bajir on a Dome Ship!} One hissed kicking the ground with his hoof.

Another scoffed. {What self respecting Andalite would allow this?}

{Wait, look!}

They stopped and I peaked with one stalk-eye. The Hork Bajir had just entered the Dome and were heading for the trees... that's right, they eat bark. That's what their blades were originally for. They evolved for scraping bark from wood in order to eat.

I stared at the Hork Bajir named Tol Rashal... he was smart. He wasn't like the other Hork Bajir. I was sure that it was because of him that these Hork Bajir had managed to escape the Yeerks. How did he do it? I had to know.

I needed to know.

That's why I went after him, ignoring the looks from the other Arisths.

{Excuse me.} I called out to him.

He stopped and turned around. "What is it Aristh?" His voice sounded weary, so much so I almost turned back.

{I'm sorry to bother you, sir, but I...} My mind went blank. I stood there for several seconds, trying to find the proper words.

"What do you want?" He asked, a little more forcefully.

{I wanted to ask you about... about...}

One of the other Hork Bajir came closer to him. "Tol, you come and eat?"

He looked to the other Hork Bajir, then to me. "I suppose so, if you have nothing more to say."

He started to walk away and I felt a surge of desperation. {I wanted to ask you how you escaped the yeerks!}

He stopped, then turned around to face me again."What does that matter to you?" He asked, coldly.

{I...}

"...name."

{What?}

"Your name, Aristh. What's your name?"

{Ard- I mean... I'm Aristh Ardan-Semitur-Solon.}

I saw something in his face, his eyes. He knew my name, somehow, he knew. I wasn't sure how to feel about that. "I see..." He ushered away the other Hork Bajir. "Follow me, Aristh Ardan."

I did as I was told, following him around the outer rim of the dome. He was silent for a long time but I made no effort speak and simply waited

"You've no doubt noticed that I'm not like other Hork Bajir. My people would call me a Seer. My intelligence is simply due to a genetic defect. It's extremely rare. Usually when a Seer is detected they are taken and put under even more extreme surveillance and are raised for high ranking Yeerks."

{Did that happen to you?}

"No. For a long time I pretended that I was not different."

{You hid it from them? But how? I thought it was impossible.}

"If you are infested, yes, it is impossible. But I was just a child, not fully grown yet, thus useless as a host. I was warned that I had to hide my intelligence and also that, if I wanted to avoid the fate of those like me, I needed to find some way to escape before they inevitably found the truth.."

{Someone warned you? Who?}

He sighed. "Some Hork Bajir... to be honest, I don't really remember. I was very young at the time. It could have been anyone."

{So... what happened?}

"I did as I was told. I hid it from the Yeerks. I bid my time. They kept us fed and focused on training our bodies to be healthy, they thought we were all just dumb animals." He paused I could hear the hatred in his voice. "It was that arrogance that allowed me time to come up with a plan, dispatch the guards, and steal away from the facility." He shook his head. "But I hadn't thought it completely through. If it weren't for a Desbadeen captain taking pity on us we would have been captured again."

I stared at him, expecting more...

Was that it? That's all he had to say? {So... what you're saying...}

"My escape was due to Yeerk incompetence. They underestimated us and suffered the consequences... however meager those turned out to be..."

I felt my spirits plummet. I wasn't sure what I had been expecting. I felt like a fool. As if this Hork Bajir would have some magic secret that I could use against the Yeerks. I was stupid. I was so stupid. I stopped following him staring down at the dirt.

"I'm sorry." Tol Rashal had stopped and turned to face me. "I know that's not what you were hoping for, but that's exactly why you needed to hear it."

{Hear what?}

"The best thing anyone can do for your father is kill him, because he will never be free."

{You don't know what you're talking about! You're just-} I caught the words before I said them and I fought the urge to scream.

He was just a Hork Bajir. What did HE know about anything! He didn't know me OR my father! He didn't know anything! I didn't care who he was or what he was or what the officers thought of him!

I ran the other way.