GESB: Operation Time-Cops

[Terenia]

Tamora shows no indication of having heard Alic or anyone elses comments. She is crying openly now, huge heaving sobs that shake her restrained body and make it difficult for her to breathe. She looks awful: her short hair is askew and ornamented with various twigs and leaves from when she had been knocked unconscious in the forest, her eyes are puffy and bloodshot, snot is dripping openly from her nose and her clothing is torn and dirty. She does not seem to notice or care the condition that she is in, though, and she just continues to wail like a human child as the gravity of her situation begins to take root, infesting her mind.

[Chad32]

<Will you please calm down, Tamora? We are not going to harm you.> Claxter said. <what happened to upset her so much?> He asked. We looked around the medbay for some sedatives to inject into her to calm her down.

The noise started waking Derrel up from his stunned state. He tried to move, but couldn't, and heard Tamora's crying. <What is going on now? I hate this place. I hate all of you. I want to go home and forget all these stupid aliens exist.>

[Terenia]

Zorish lets out a heavy sigh with Derrel's lungs, relieved that he regained consciousness quicker than Tamora had the past two times she had been knocked unconscious.

<If you are very, very lucky, that will be what happens, Derrel,> Zorish comments, <although your ignorance will likely only last a few months, maybe a few years, until the Yeerks take over Earth in its entirety.>

Zorish then focuses his attention on the sputtering Tamora, who is struggling to breathe between her running nose and gasping sobs.

"Tamora," his voice is the sharp, authoritative voice of a Sub-Visser, and yet it holds a slight edge of softness to it, "Tamora I am fine. Calm yourself."

"But - they - are - gonna -" Tamora chokes, "kill - you." She then lets out a hopeless wail, "They're gonna kill us all!"

"No one is dying, Tamora," Zorish lies softly, "calm down and clear your head. Have I taught you nothing?"

It is with great force of will Tamora manages to slow her breathing down until Zorish cannot tell if she is crying or not. Tamora focuses on the in and out of her lungs expanding and collapsing, blocking out the clear images of destruction that had driven her into such a terror. It takes time, but after a few minutes only silent tears still flow freely down Tamora's face. Zorish's voice has allowed her to regain some semblance of control over herself.

[Chad32]

Claxter found the sedatives, though Zorish talking to Tamora seemed to have calmed her down. He felt a little guilty about what they were doing to her. She obviously had feelings for her Yeerk, and would obviously be even less happy with them once she saw Terenia. He wondered if it was even the right thing to do to take Tamora instead of just leaving her at the mercy of the Yeerks after terenia was disposed of.

<I have some sedatives to give you to help during the remainder of the trip, Tamora.> He said. If he talked to her before just injecting it into her arm, it might help her impression of them.

[Myitt]

Myitt glances up at Tamora and the newly conscious Zorish/Derrel with an expression of irritation, as if all the sobbing and consoling were preventing Corliss from answering her hail.  Then she sighs, unfurrowing her eyebrows. 

"Do you want me to wipe your nose?" she asks, half-sarcastically.  "Listen to your Imperial friend, Tamora.  Nothing bad is going to happen to you.  It was a pretty awful trick I played, but you're safe now."  She fishes in her ratty jacket pocket and holds up what is obviously a Kandrona generator between her thumb and index finger.  "Okay?  Can you at least trust me that much?"

[Terenia]

Tamora whimpers, but otherwise makes no indication of hearing Myitt. When Claxter approaches with the syringe, however, she lets out a cry of terror, trying to pull away.

"Tamora!" Zorish snaps, "Calm down! If they were going to kill you they would have done so already."

Tamora tries to relax and stops fighting her bonds, but her muscles remain rigid and her eyes wide as she gazes up at Claxter's Andalite face.

"If you kill her," Zorish says in a softer, more sinister voice that is directed towards Claxter, "I will make you beg for death."

[Chad32]

Claxter decided to put the sedative away. Obviously Tamora was capable of remaining somewhat calm on orders from Zorish, and didn't want him injecting anything into her. He ignored Zorish's empty threat, though with two known Andalite controllers around it was clearly possible he might be captured alive by one as well.

<We're not going to kill you, Tamora. I can't say the same for your ally, though.>

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Ossanlin shares a glance with Myitt momentarily before shifting his eyes to the human.  If she was reacting this poorly, and she already disliked her sister, this would probably project an even worse image into her mind.  He had gone much farter than anyone else would've in his hooves, even if everything still fell apart, which was the likely outcome, he had tried everything.  Efaen would be free from her slave-driving human child Yeerk controller.

<We are trying to come up with peaceful ways to resolve this dilemma for both yourself, Tamora, and for your Yeerk.  We'll have more options once we reach our destination.>  He turns his main eyes on Derrel.  <Things would be so much easier if you were simply a rebel, Zorish.  But I suppose that's too much to ask of you...devoted Imperial to the last.  You must be to have been willing to serve under such an insane egomaniac.  I suppose ego must be an important part of a mind in order for it to believe that it is somehow...better... than everything else.  The fact is that the Yeerks are simply another sentient species that have the ability to make decsions.  No better or worse than any others who possess free will.  They certainly do not have the right to take over the lands and minds of other sentient species and force those that do not accept their tyranny to cooperate through butchery and brute force.>

[Terenia]

"I do not need to hear a lesson in morality from an Andalite," Zorish sneers, "or are you forgetting who left an entire debrief species to perish? We, at least, do not murder entire sentient races indiscriminately merely to stop our enemy." Zorish pauses, listening to Tamora's sniffling. When he speaks to Ossanlin again his tone has softened somewhat, though his distaste for the Andalite is still plain, "You are a walking contradiction, Captain," he glances at Myitt and Hadrin, "you as well. You're sole caveat, you say, is the involuntary infestation of a sentient being. Yet here you are confronted with an entirely voluntary Yeerk-host relationship and now you balk because we are not a part of your little rebellion. Clearly my relationship with Tamora is not a true concern of yours. Neither, I think, was gathering intelligence that could have been accessed through much simpler means. What is it you truly want from us?"

[Myitt]

Hadrin had stepped up to the med bay doors, tired of sitting in the cabin by himself.  He leans against the wall near the doorway, and looks down when Zorish indirectly addresses him and Myitt.  Even Hadrin himself doesn't quite know why they've intercepted his former superior, only that it has something to do with a friend of Myitt's.  Something about that bar she was always skulking off to when she was off duty.

Myitt smiles at Zorish, putting the Kandrona generator away.  "You can't be faulted for your intelligence, Sub-Visser," she says.  "Of course, it isn't exactly a complicated proof, figuring there's more here than a few oddball traitors who just really, really don't like you.  I'm afraid you're just going to have to wait until we land at our destination.  It shouldn't be much longer."  She pauses to yawn, covering her mouth with the crux of her elbow.  "Which is good, because this whole charade is exhausting."

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Ossanlin keeps his eyes level with Zorish.  <There are extremists and murderers amongst all species, including the andalites.  You may have forgotten that genocide was a course of action decided upon by a single andalite who possessed much different views than my own.  He acted upon his own authority.  Saying that he is a model for every andalite is much like saying your Visser 3 is a model for every Yeerk.  Are you as idiotic and egotistical as the arrogant Visser?  Perhaps I was wrong about you...>  He pauses a moment.  <As far as government goes, many of our government officials are corrupt as well...any government will have certain levels of corruption, it's inevitable.  However imperfect our government is though, it is not trying to assert dominance over entire species of free sentient beings.  If your own people don't step up and fight your own government's decisions to take over entire species, then another government will be forced to stop them.  I serve the Electorate because it is the most efficient way to stop your people from forcing yourselves upon entire races of sentient beings.>

<And perhaps you might remember that it was our race, namely the venerable Prince Seerow who gave you the ability to move about the stars and see the wonder of our galaxy.  In return, your leaders' lust for power and dominance led you to betray his trust, and our people demonized him for unleashing the scourge of the galaxy.>  Ossanlin continues to stare at Zorish and Derrel with his main eyes.  <As I said before, atrocities have been committed on both sides, we are not innocent, but neither are you.  Sometimes one must choose between the lesser of two evils, and while the andalite government is somewhat corrupt and far beyond close-minded, they are definitely the lesser evil in this case.>

[Chad32]

<I have heard about the quantum virus. I believe the one who released it was disgraced, and later even became a slave to our enemies. That may be fitting, I suppose. I personally don't have a problem with you, Zorish. You're just unfortunately in the way of our true objective which my Prince feels shouldn't be revealed until later.>

[Terenia]

Zorish scowls at Myitt, but his look of dissatisfaction changes into a sharp, biting laugh when Ossanlin speaks, " You actually presume to tell me that Andalites, the great meddlers of the galaxy, do not presume to assert dominance over other species? That is all you do! You share nothing and your allies only remain your allies so long as they listen to Andalite law. I have no doubt that should your beloved Electorate be victorious over the Empire you will attempt to elliminate all Yeerks from existence. Once you have won, and the rebellion no longer serves a purpose, you will crush them as well. There can be no equality when confronted with Andalite arrogance."

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Ossanlin continues his calm, assertive tone.  <There are many amongst my government who would like to do just that, eradicate all Yeerks.  If the Electorate should decide upon that course of action, the Andalite government will have it's own rebellion to deal with, and I will be right up with the front line of that rebellion.  As I said, the lesser of two evils.  I should say that the arrogance of many of my species does indeed rival that of many Yeerks, I will not dispute that.  However I will dispute the charge that my species tries to assert dominance over others.  There is a great difference between pursuit of diplomatic relations with other sentient species and simply landing on their planet and robbing them of all free will.  You see, they have the choice of whether they wish to be our allies or not, and we don't enslave them if they choose not to be.>

<However it seems that our conversation has taken a bit of a hypothetical turn, no?  We are talking about our own choices to serve our governments.  You see I'm a bit of an odd bird amongst my species...my best friend and most-trusted comrade is a Yeerk, albeit not one whom infests my head.  It's very difficult to lump me in with the rest of my species.  At any rate, I've told you why I serve my government, but you haven't seemed to tell us why you serve yours.  That's really the root of the conversation here.  All you've done is insult my government and my choice to serve the Electorate, not to mention my entire species as a whole, without presenting any conscionable evidence as to why you might serve your Council of Thirteen.>

[Terenia]

From the look on Zorish's face he clearly does not believe Ossanlin, bu he let's his statements pass by unopposed. When the Andalite asks about his allegiance to the Council a look of belligerent pride crosses his face.

"The Council of Thirteen is old, very old," he says, "some say they have existed since before even the first Gedd was infested. I don't know about that, but the fact remains that they are old, and wise. They also have created a clear path to success in the Empire. One that has allowed me the rank of Sub-Visser with relative ease." Zorish pauses, allowing a bit of a sneer to return to his face, "For all their greatness, though, the Council is flawed. They make poor decisions and limit the Empires success. They take slews of involuntary hosts by force when it would be much more successful to convince others to allow us in. Perhaps open war worked with the barely sentien Hork-Bajir, but even they resist, brutally at times. There is a better way for the Empire to spread," Zorish closes one of his restrained fists, as though to emphasize his point, "why waste energy, and forces, when there is no need?"