AN: I'm going to try saving most author's notes for after a chapter is finished, but there are some things I want to clarify right now so that the rest of the plot makes sense:
1. Elfangor and Cliffjumper are still alive in this story. Elfangor had many different ways to escape dying by becoming Visser chow in canon (morphing and having his ship burrow into the ground are two options), so here I am assuming he took them (canon does seem to imply that he wanted to die by the time he passed the box to the animorphs). As for Cliff, still working on that, but I'm trying to reconcile all of the bits of the Aligned Continuity (Prime, War for Cybertron, and Fall of Cybertron being the big ones), which means that Megatron already had access to Dark Energon by the time the Ark and Nemesis left for Earth. For the purposes of this story, he used some dead vehicons to test out his necromancer powers. Cliff is still alive, but he's currently comatose so that I can have more time to think about what I want to do with him.
2. David did not get the morphing power in this story. The Animorphs kept the box with them when the left the construction site. David is still living in peaceful obliviousness with his parents.
3. Timeline wise, this story starts somewhere in Season 2 of Prime and after The Departure for Animorphs.
4. Jake is still in charge of the Animorphs - Elfangor was separated from them when he escaped and had to wait a long time for the heat to die down before he could me, by which point Jake had cemented himself as group leader, so Elfangot took on the mentor role (Ax is conflicted on this). It also means that he can be more at ease around Tobias - who is not yet aware that Elfangor is his dad (I forgot which book that happens in).
5. Just a clarification note, but I'm using italics for both Bumblebee Speech and Thought Speak because trying to emulate the thought speech from Animorphs gets the text eaten by FFN.
With that out of the way, onto the actual chapter!
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"So you're saying that the Yeerks are using a quarry to dig up crystals?"
Jake took that in for a moment, before glancing at the two Andalites in the room. "Is there any Yeerk technology that uses crystals?"
"No, Prince Jake."
"If the Yeerks have begun to use crystal-derived technology, it is a new development."
Jake sighed - great, something they were completely in the dark about! That described most situations they were in, but now even Ax and Elfangor were unable to get help. Just perfect.
"So, what's the plan, Jake?"
Jake just stared at the hawk that was now his friend. "Plan? I just got the information from you!"
Jake glared at the hawk that his friend had been forced into. Before things could go any further, though, Marco decided to speak up. "Couldn't we just...use smaller morphs to sneak in and observe?"
Everyone turned their attention to Marco. "Look, I know how things have ended up when we've morphed bugs, but if the Yeerks are working on something new, we need to get an understanding of it right now. So much as I hate saying it, I think we need to take the risk."
The group shared another glance before nodding. It seemed they were going in.
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Back at the dig site, the Yeerk forces were still at work extracting the energon crystals from the ground. Human, Hork Bajir, Taxxon, each did their part to harvest every last fragment from the quarry.
Unnoticed by all of them, though, was the blue motorcycle that had pulled up on a cliff overlooking the area. Alien optics examined the pit, taking note of every detail.
"Optimus, Ratchet, this is Arcee, I'm at the quarry. Bee and Bulkhead are nearby."
"Understood," spoke Ratchet. "What do you see?"
"So far, just humans. They don't look like MECH - uniforms don't match. But they're armed, and whatever's going on here, they clearly know what they're doing."
"We here you, Arcee," was Optimus' reply. "Bulkhead, Bumblebee, what do you see?"
"Lot of heavy equipment here," noted the Wrecker. "Most of its excavation related, but I am see some aircraft her that don't look civilian. Or human."
"Cybertronian?"
"Nah - looks kinda like an insecticon, but it definitely ain't alive."
Back at the base, Jack glanced at Fowler. "I know you work with the Autobots, but have you ever encountered any aliens besides them?"
"As far as I can tell, no. We did get a call in Caifornia about a supposed UFO crashing in a construction site, but no evidence in favor of aliens was found when Unit: E arrived there, and we found no evidence of a coverup. Other investigations just proved that point."
"Um, team? There's something you should know."
Raf perked up immediately. "Bee, what is it?"
"I see...a group of squirrels."
"...What?"
"A group of squirrels that are acting very weird."
"Define weird," spoke an incredulous Ratchet.
"Well, they're watching the workers with a look that looks way more attentive than a rodent should have."
"I have my doubts that this is something you should be noting-"
"And they're moving. They went behind some bushes and...what?"
"Bee, what is it?"
"I just saw seven squirrels go into those bushes...and seven humans come out of them. And no, I didn't see any humans go behind those bushes earlier."
The Autobots and their human allies were silent. None of them had any idea how to take that statement.
Eventually, it was Fowler who found the will to speak. "Where are they going?"
"Looks like the main office of the dig site."
"Where we can't follow," noted the former ranger. "Scrap."
"Uh, what about is?"
Fowler turned to Miko and an incredulous Jack.
"Miko, are you crazy. Do you remember how badly things have gone for us when we try to tag along with the Autobots?"
"Yes, but since the bots don't have any mini-bots..."
"Minicons," corrected Ratchet.
"...Then they aren't going to be able to help out here. But we can."
"No way. I am not risking you kids out there."
Optimus, however, saw things differently. "Agent Fowler, while I do not wish to risk the children by having them aid is, this may be an occasion where their help is a necessity to understand what we are facing."
Fowler stared at Prime for a moment, then sighed. "Fine. But I ain't covering things for you with June if this goes wrong."
Miko squeed in excitement while Jack merely nodded. "I understand."
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"Why exactly does Visser Three want this material again? I do not remember any of our projects relying on crystals," spoke one controller.
The controller serving as foreman practically rolled her eyes - why did people keep asking the same stupid questions all the time?! "It was determined that this crystalline substance has enormous energy storage properties that allow it to function as extremely long lasting power supplies. Visser Three believes that they could enhance the energy efficiency on several of our vehicles and weapon systems. Also, he may be doing this to, as humans say, get a leg up on Visser One."
Unnoticed by the controllers, seven bats roosted above them, giving them a perfect position to listen in on the conversation, banal as it was. Needless to say, the Animorphs were...rather disappointed by what they heard.
"Seriously?" Asked Rachel. "This stuff is just fuel? Plain old fuel, not something for a super weapon?"
"Armies run on their stomachs," noted Cassie. "And for machines, the same applies, but with fuel."
"This is an excellent discovery," noted Elfangor, "but I believe it also poses a new problem."
Jake glanced at the Andalite Prince. "Specifically?"
"How do we destroy this place?"
The Animorphs all went silent at that. The reasoning was two fold - moral and practical. The only way to ensure the Yeerks could not exploit the crystalline fuel deposit was by destroying it completely. At best, this would require an enormous amount of weapons or explosives. And it would also mean killing many people, most of whom had done nothing to warrant death other than be controlled by a Yeerk (which wasn't a crime unless it was done willingly).
"...We can figure that out later, let's get out of here."
Deciding that leaving that topic for another day was the best course of action, the group slowly crawled out of the room, eventually moving into a hallway to demorph - swifter forms would be better for an escape.
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"Raf, it's Jack. Miko and me are just outside the building."
"Alright. Be careful - no telling what's inside there."
"Plus we'll have to find our mystery people," noted Miko. "It's not like there going to walk right out the door."
As soon as she said that, seven humans walked right out the door and found themselves looking at the duo.
"...I spoke too soon."
For a moment, silence filled the air - the nine humans all unsure how to react.
That question was soon answered when a guard came upon them. For a moment, they too were silent, but then they pulled a radio up to their mouth. "Andalite bandits!"
"Crap/scrap," thought the nine.
"Run!" Shouted both Jake and Jack, which resulted in the nine going into a mad dash as the dig site was put on high alert.
"Jack, what happened?!"
"A guard saw us and the seven we were following. Everyone's on alert now. Arcee, Bulkhead, Bee, we need pickup now!"
"We hear! Raf, give us their location ASAP!"
The conversation continued, but Jack paid it no mind, instead focusing on maneuvering his way through the vegetation that surrounded the quarry. Nearby, the leader of the seven they had been following was doing the same, with the rest of them not far behind. They ran as fast as they could, but there was some awareness that they might not be able to escape on just their feet.
Jack and Miko, of course, had a workaround. "Arcee, how's pickup coming along?"
"As well as it can. Listen, there's a campsite up ahead, we'll pick you up there. Try to get the group you were following to calm down before them. We'll be over in three minutes."
"No ground bridge?"
"Too any witnesses."
"Fair enough." Ending the call, Jack turned to his counterpart. "Look, I know you don't have a reason to trust me, but we have people coming to pick us up in three minutes. If you wait with us at the campsite ahead, they'll take you too."
The leader of the seven opened his mouth to say something, but stopped before a word was spoken. A second passed, before he finally let out a sigh. "Alright, we'll follow you." Then his attention turned to the group. "Guys, these two have help coming to get them out of here. They offered to take us along."
"Are we really going to trust the people we just met?" Intoned Marco.
"I don't think we have a choice," was Jake's retort.
The rest of the Animorphs weren't happy with that remark, but also knew that Jake had a point. And thus, reluctantly, they formed in and made their way to the campsite.
Unfortunately, just before they reached the area, they found an unwelcome sight - a group of human controllers blocking their way.
Miko glanced at Jack. "Think we can go around."
"Group's too big. Maybe distract them?"
"You said the group's too big. They'll just send one guard to investigate. And I'm pretty sure talking our way out is not an option."
"Nope," confirmed Jake. "I think we'll have to fight."
"How," asked Jack. Instead of answering, though, Jake closed his eyes and focused.
And then he started changing.
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AN: Well that happened fast.
Thoughts?
Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!
