Animorphs: Ressurection

[Estelore]

Arhareli's eyes widened at Marx's greeting.  

An Andalite exile, in human morph, on Earth?  No wonder he had chosen to alter his pigmentation; I imagine his fur used to be that same blue.

Reli inclined her head and said privately to Marx,
<I acknowledge you, exile. I do not know what you did to receive your sentence, but unless given a reason, I will not reveal your identity to the others.  I assume the Leeran knows, of course, but she is not without discretion.>

Reli waited for most of the humans to finish asking their questions, and then she opened her thought-speech to be public, attempting to summarize both her own questions and those of the others in the room.
<I am curious why this corporation would have need for a tail-fighter. Surely there are other options native to Earth, if combat experience is necessary.
I am still more curious why combat experience is needed at all in the field of mainstream communications, why a significant portion of the beings here are considered juveniles of their species, and why so many of us were brought here on company expense despite our vocal lack of interest in comm work.>

[BaronConall]

Tiberius nods at Reli in acknowledgement and gratitude

"As Reli her has ascertained, I am, in fact, an Andalite. A nothlit and exile, no less." Tiberius pauses to take in the reactions of those around him.
"My true name is Tiberi-Usmar-Xarllof. I have since established my position as CEO of GT&T for one reason. The monitoring of information. 5 years ago I was exiled for challenging a War Prince because I believed that our half of the galaxy has been secretly infiltrated by Kelbrid Space over the last 10 years. A challenge which I lost."

The now revealed Tiberi ****s his head and looks to the door on his right. "It appears we have a late, albeit Wild-Card arrival..." He continues to look off to the right. Send him in.

The oak doors open behind you to reveal two, intimidated looking human security personnel escorting a large Hork-Bajir.

"Ah," Tiberi says, "Welcome, Kage. I'm glad to find you accepted my invitation."

[warren_bearclaw]

Tiberius's story was fascinating to Marty, even though he should now refer to him as Tiberi, he guessed. Kelbrid Space... he hadn't heard of it before. The situation seemed rather serious. He wondered if it was in any way related to this meeting. As if on cue, the doors opened behind them to allow in a Hork-Bajir, a juvenille, it appeared. He was only six feet high, and yet the escorts seemed worried. Perhaps that was a sign of potential danger....

"Hello, Kage." he said simply, with a short wave and a smile.

[Estelore]

<Greetings, Kage; I am Arhareli-Winwall-Ajaht.>  She inclined her eyes toward the newcomer, and then turned her attention back to Tiberi.

<Forgive me the repetition, but why do we have this particular mix of individuals here?  If this is a combat mission, then it makes sense to have fighters, but perhaps not an exhibition artist like me.  If it is in fact a combat mission, then why are there juveniles here? If it is not, then why do we have fighters here? This situation still baffles me.>

[warren_bearclaw]

"We are a rather peculiar bunch..." Marty said. He sure hoped this wasn't a combat mission recruitment or anything of the sort. That wasn't exactly what he'd applied for....

[BaronConall]

Tiberi returned his attention to Reli, "This is not so much a combat mission as much as it is reconnoissance and evidence gathering mission."

At this point I re-enter the room. "I may be able to help explain the situation, Tiberi." I say.

"By all means." Tiberi replies, nodding his permission.

"Thank you." I address you all as a group. "Many of you may not be familiar with the term Kelbrid space. This is not surprising, as it is not common knowledge outside of the highest ranking Andalite military." I allow this information to sink in.

"Only half of this galaxy is actually mapped and explored, for the most part. For almost as long as Andalites have been capable of Z-Space travel, they have been in an uneasy truce with a race known as the Kelbrid. The terms of this truce are simple. Not Andalite is to enter Kelbrid space and no Kelbrid is permitted to enter Andalite space. To this day, no one has actually determined what a Kelbrid is or looks like. Similarly, no Kelbrid has ever ascertained what an Andalite is or looks like."

"Thank you, Lee." Tiberi cuts in. "The situation is, if my information sources are correct, this may no longer be the case. It is my belief that the Kelbrid have begun to infiltrate Andalite space on fact-finding missions. The reason I have called together such a diverse cross-section of races, age groups and skill sets are for two reasons. The first is to ascertain whether this Kelbrid infiltration is malicious in its' intent and to alert the Galactic community immediately. The second is because, if the Yeerk-Andalite war has taught us anything, it's that the most unlikely of groups are capable of the most incredible things."

Tiberi pauses to look around the room once more.

"I feel I must tell you that in bringing you here, I risk exposing my Andalite heritage. So certain am I of this infiltration that I am willing to risk a second exile from my newest, adopted race." And my own life...

[Estelore]

<Correct me if I misunderstand you, but... if no Kelbrid has seen an Andalite, and therefore an Andalite would be unidentifiable by a Kelbrid for any reason other than having an unfamiliar appearance, the same is true in reverse: we don't know anything about them, or how to identify them... and for all we know, they could look exactly like us? In addition to this, if they have not been into Andalite space, they will definitely have never encountered Hork-Bajir, who were created within Andalite space, and who have therefore never existed in Kelbrid space.  Even if Kelbrid were identical specially to one of the other three races represented here, they would assume on sight that Hork-Bajir are from Andalite space; they would then assume the mutual avoidance treaty has been violated.>

Arhareli struggled to work out the entire spectrum of possible scenarios in her head, until she finally just gave up trying.

She spoke privately to Tiberi and to the Leeran, who could hear anyway.

<Forgive me, but this reeks of suicide.  How do you intend we pull this off, and are you coming with us?  Please do not misunderstand; I see how much you are willing to risk.  However... I do not believe these children would be equally willing to take those risks.>

((gonna' hit the hay now; great plotting, GM!))

[Cobra (Gymn)]

"Didn't I hear of 'Kelbrid Space' before? Maybe in reference to the Yeerk-Andalite War?" Chris is trying to place where he heard the term before. It sound familiar.

[RAFrukh]

((Sorry...GESB...))

"Hello." I said to all of them simply. I was nervous, what could I say?

[A ghost you know]

Jim turned and waved at the Hork-Bajir. Kage, was it? "Hi, Kage."
Turning his attention back to Tiberi, he frowned. "If nobody's ever seen a Kelbrid, how do we know what we're looking for or where we're looking for it?"
He realized there was another problem. "And come to think of it, if the Kelbrid have never been into Andalite space, they won't recognize any of us. Won't they suspect something if a group of strangers shows up?"
I'm beginning to understand the diversity - the original Animorphs survived because each of them had different strengths and weaknesses, so they could cover each other. This should be a very interesting mission, assuming we can deal with these problems...

[Gumby]

Fisher listened as Tiberius, Tiberi, explained that he was an Andalite exile which explained the funky hair color. He listened to him explain the reason for his exile, the failed challenge and the belief that the Kelbrid were scouting out Known Space.

Fisher was no genius, but from the tone of this conversation, if all those war movies meant a thing, it sounded like he was about to be inducted into some government special operation named Black Shadow or some BS like that. He’ never heard of the Kelbrid, but as Tiberi went on, it sounded like they were the Andalites intergalactic neighbor who stayed inside his house all day.

A six foot Hork-Bajir was escorted into the room by a pair of security guards who then left. Fisher’s hand drifted a little more to his pistol, a reflex after all the movies he’d seen of the old Yeerk Invasion.

However as Fisher listened that he was planning to take them on a recon mission into Kelbrid and quite potentially hostile space, he leapt to his feet half shouting.

“Well shouldn’t we warn the UNSN Command of this? Isn’t there a better choice for a recon team than a mish-mash of aliens, high-schoolers and me? Shouldn’t the Andalite Electorate or whoever know about this? And what the hell are we planning to fly in there anyway?”

[warren_bearclaw]

The others assembled seemed to be neglecting the fact that Tiberi had information that at the least suggested that the Kelbrid had infiltrated, thus, they must have some identifying information about them.

 "What information led you to expect that it was the Kelbrid that have been spotted in chartered regions of space, if you don't mind me asking? Surely you must have some knowledge that led you to suspect the Kelbrid, rather than another unknown species."

 Tiberi didn't rise to the top of the corporation for nothing. Marty had followed the company for the past couple years, as well as researched GT&T's past performance. Tiberius was intelligent, even for an Andalite in disguise. He wasn't the type to make arbitrary assumptions of the sort, and certainly not one to plan espionage based on a random guess. And Marty was pretty sure that Tiberi had considered the dangers of the mission, and chosen wisely, even if the logic he'd used wasn't understood by all. Surely he had his reasons.

In response to the others' concerns, he said, "It isn't entirely rare for a new race to be discovered, even in chartered space. The Kelbrid may have reason for suspicion when several new life forms appear together, but they would have no evidence that we are from Andalite Space. Even they can not have explored all regions of space. It seems reasonable to assume that if Tiberi was exiled for this suspicion, neither government would be very accepting of this proposed mission. That's why it is being done in secret. Correct, Tiberi?"

[BaronConall]

I speak up in response to the sudden influx of questions, first addressing Fisher.

"Tiberi attempted to war the Andalite Electorate with what he thought to be sufficient evidence. In the end, he had his tail-blade removed and was exiled. How much more of a chance do you believe he would have if he were to contact UNSN Command, declare that he has been deceiving the Human public for half a decade and wishes for them to embark on the same mission that resulted in his exile from his own birth race? Also, the treaty stipulates that no Andalite is permitted entry to Kelbrid space."

Tiberi held up a hand, interrupting. "Also, what I am asking of you is not to infiltrate Kelbrid space. I am asking you to locate Kelbrid infiltrators within Andalite space." he pauses to address Reli, "Make no mistake, I have no intention of sending anyone on a suicide mission, but I do need fresh minds that are open to all possibilities and able bodies to protect them in the event that there is any violence."

He then addresses the group as a whole again, "My position within a communications company serves one ultimate purpose; To monitor and follow communications within Andalite space. Within the last six months, I have picked up an increase in what I can safely say is Keblrid communications being sent from within Andalite space with the end destination being deep within the heart of Kelbrid space" Tiberi pauses to let this process.

"My largest concern is that these transmissions are originating from within a prison containing on of my most trusted sources. These transmissions are originating from earth."

[Gumby]

He had to stop watching those movies, he was jumping to conclusions way to fast. Those movies, plus a few years of service without doing anything with his gun at all, Fisher was definitely getting edgy.

He heard again about an attempt made by an Andalite named Tiberi to warn the command about this threat, why in hell they'd ignored him was beyond Fisher. Signals being transmitted to alien space? That was cause worthy of investigation!

"Those stupid blue sons of..." He finished the sentence with an exhaled heartfelt expletive. Rubbing his hand across his face, he slumped back to the floor. Yeah, if alerting the UNSN would have worked an Andalite would have tried it by now.

"Well I understand that, but you must know you can't just pluck me from service and take me down to find some transmission source, now without..." His voice trailed off, an Andalite, particularly a rich one, would have probably have made a way to get an excuse a lowly Corporal's leave for awhile.

This probably meant that Fisher was on shore leave or something like that, he was probably excused from service for now.

Sinking even deeper onto the grassy multi-colored floor, he sighed deep.

"Well, when are we going?"

[A ghost you know]

Jim softly whistled in surprise. "Kelbrid communications are coming from Earth? That means either Kelbrid look enough like one of the races usually found on Earth to get by, they're morph-capable and have acquired morphs of races usually found on Earth, or they've gotten a few people to give them information without technically violating the treaty."
He paused, realized Tiberi hadn't provided all the necessary info, and took a guess at why. "I'm guessing you have more information for us, probably once we agree to go on this mission? I'm in."