Galaxy's Edge Space Bar (archive)

[Terenia]

((haha, it's okay. My characters are rarely likable, and it isn't exactly like Efaen is a friend to the Yeerks.))

<The Yeerk is trying to say that he assumed Andalites were above hating all Yeerks,> Efaen says coldly, <is that right?> She doesn't wait for an answer, but rather barrels forward with her own opinions, <Well, Yeerk, I have seen a fair amount of your kind, and I have yet to meet one who wasn't a despicable excuse for a sentient life form. How can someone whose most basic instinct is complete ant total control of other beings be moral on any level?>

[Breekan1]

"rrrrrWhat do you know of Yeerrrrrk instincts? Do you think you'rrrre the rrronly one in the galaxy to hearrrr that voice in yourrrr head? To have yourrrr arrrms taken away?" Puk bares his teeth. It is not a smile. "But the Yeerrrrk doesn't have to be that way. The Yeerrrrk just wants to learrrrn, to see." He sighs. "But no one gets anywherrrre if we'rrrrre always... rrrif we don't rrrrespect!"

[Chad32]

<I thought we were much well known for hating all Yeerks. Not that it's very easy to start doing otherwise. The first impulse of any infestable species is suspicion of Yeerks, and most people that know of their species would ridicule anyone who thought otherwise. That is, unless they have a very good reputation and set of skills like Prince Ossanlin's to make people hesitate to throw them in a cell or something.>

The thought crossed his mind that if he left this bar, and was not with his Prince, he wasn't sure he wouldn't start ridiculing Yeerks again. He wasn't known for his bravery, and he knew what would happen if he started defending the Yeerk species in front of a group of Yeerk hating Andalites.

[Terenia]

Efaen gives Claxter a sideways glance and sends him a private mention, <<I wonder, young warrior, if your opinions are your own or if you are simply spouting off the beliefs of your prince. I do not doubt that Ossanlin is a great warrior, and a greater prince, but his associations here disturb me.>>

[Chad32]

<<To be honest, Efaen, I'm not so sure myself. I was afraid of going back to my old Prince, and I have been trained to never argue with a Prince. Prince Ossanlin does seem better than Prince Fasool, or at least nicer. I wonder how many people in his Domeship feel the way he does. On the other hand, Corliss hasn't opened fire on us yet and part of me is curious. Kind of like how you might see a strange mold in the dome, but deciding to inspect it for a while instead of just trimming it off and getting on with your day. Does that make sense?>>

<<Here's just hoping I haven't gotten myself into something worse than I was before.>>

[Terenia]

<<Curiosity isn't condemnable, but it should be met with caution,>> Efaen advises, <<Ossanlin may be amiable, and he may even have good intentions, but his relations with the Yeerks may eventually be his downfall. If the wrong person witnesses such an allegiance it won't matter what the Electorate says.>>

[Breekan1]

"The firrrst rrrAndyrite I met was the firrrrst rrralien to everrr show me rrrany rrrespect. He rrwas kind and rrrropen-minded. I'd hoped he rrrrwas norrrrmal."

[Chad32]

Claxter didn't really know what to say to that. A Warrior was supposed to listen to their Prince, bu Warriors were also supposed to act more independantly than Arisths. He needed to make up his mind and follow his path, but he wasn't sure anymore what that path should be. He stood their thinking inward about everything that had gone on that day. <<I don't have an answer yet.>> was all he could come up with to say at the moment.

[Myitt]

"It may sound ironic, Efaen, but that's precisely why I and my Yeerk, human and Hork-Bajir allies have risked our lives organizing this little civil war," Corliss replies testily.  "We experience the atrocities of war every day, and have left the relative comfort and order of our former lives within the Yeerk Empire or on Earth, because we too want to secure the freedom of others.  We could no longer be involved in a system of government and a network of propaganda that required taking over other creatures against their will.  All of our hosts work with us cooperatively, not as traitors to their own kind, but as a part of a militia working to secure the freedom of their own people.  Who cares if they're working with Yeerks to do so, as long as our intentions are honest?"

He pauses while Efaen falls silent, then speaks up again, spreading his arms.  "And if you're so adamant about killing every Yeerk in existence, every despicable creature not worthy of drawing breath, then why don't you kill me?"

<What?> Mike yelps.  <What are you doing, mate, she'll ****ing decapitate me!>

<If she does, sorry.  But I don't think she will.>

<Sorry?> his host demands.  <Sorry!  Jesus it's not your bloody head!>

<Stay calm.  I still have the Dracon.>

<Not as quick a draw as that tail of hers...>

[Terenia]

For a second Efaen looks as though she would gladly take him up on his offer. She ****s her tail and seems to be sizing the human-controller up.

<No,> she says then, relaxing, <Prince Ossanlin is the highest ranking Andalite soldier here, and he obviously desires your protection, for whatever reason. If I were to kill you against his wishes, that would not bode well for me. As long as he is here, I will not harm you.>

[Myitt]

Corliss tenses up for a moment, watching Efaen's tail out of the corner of his eye.  Then he relaxes a hair.

"Ah, so my alliance with War-Prince Ossanlin is the only thing keeping you from killing me, and my host, although we've done nothing to you and would rather ally with your people than destroy them."  Corliss nods faintly.  "I don't expect you to shun your beliefs just because I've told you I'm not like the picture of Yeerks you're so used to.  But surely you can at least admit the possibility that we're both working for the same goal?  Didn't you see me leave my host Michael when you were here under Terenia's control?  If I was really some despicable creature, surely Mike would've run away, or killed me.  You could claim he was brainwashed, but we are members of a faction of Yeerks who work to destroy the Empire.  What sort of self-respecting Imperial Yeerk would ever do such a thing?  And even those still amongst the ranks of the Empire...not all of them are terrible people.  Some are just trapped, unwilling to leave their lives and risk a terrible death for what they might never admit to believing."

[Terenia]

<The very existence of this so-called rebellion could be a fallacy,> Efaen says, crossing her arms, <A Yeerk ruse to gain Andalite trust. And voluntary hosts are not unheard of,> she glares at Corliss, expressing her disapproval of Mike, <As I said before, humans are hardly stable creatures.>

<<You are oh-so-flattering of my kind, Efaen.>> A new voice says privately to Efaen.

[Myitt]

Corliss nods again.  "It could be a ruse, yes.  But not three days ago we spent considerable time and energy moving and then demolishing our base, all for the sake of removing ourselves from the risk of detection by the Empire.  My friends have died in the name of the freedom of host species, people they'd never even met.  You can doubt the existence of the rebellion, but don't dare doubt the sacrifices we've made to help create peace between Yeerks and host species.  Even between Yeerks and Andalites."  He laughs quietly.  "Call us crazy."

[Terenia]

<<Terenia,>> Efaen acknowledges the voice quietly, but says nothing more to her, focusing on Corliss instead.

<Whatever sacrifices you have made I'm sure that you felt they were right for your people,> Efaen says noncommittally. <But I do not doubt that you are crazy.>

[Chad32]

(Even with Terenia in a pool, she's still in Efaen's head...)