Animorphs Reborn #1 The Sanctuary (Sequel to Animorphs #54)

Animorphs Reborn #1 Chapter 2

The Rachel raced straight towards the Blade ship. Jake had just ordered Menderash to ram the Blade ship, since our only advantage was speed. Well, speed and size.

The Blade ship is stronger, has better weapons, more power, but because we're smaller, and harder to hit, we're also faster. We don't need much energy to go fast.

Tssssseeeeeewwww!

The Dracon cannon fired at us again, and it barely missed the cockpit. It would have hit the cockpit if I was flying her, but Menderash was. As a result, we missed the Blade ship.

I whistled. "Close one, eh Menderash?" I said cheerfully, patting him on the shoulder. "Maybe you should've let me take this one." I didn't like feeling vulnerable. Weak.

He ignored me, which was what I was expecting.

Tobias didn't though, <Marco, you know Menderash is so much better than you at flying the ship. We all know that.>

"Only just," I admitted. "But I make up for that with my charm, and good looks."

Tobias rolled his eyes at me, it would have been weird seeing a hawk perform such a human gesture, but he'd been doing it for years now. <Oh, yes. Mighty Marco, I bow down to your greatness.>

I ignored him.

Nobody else said anything, they were too absorbed in the space battle that could determine the fate of our lives. Nothing like a healthy does of danger.

Menderash swerved the ship, and turned it as fast as he could, which was at about snail pace, and then aimed at the back of the Blade ship. The Dracon cannons were slowly swiveling around to face us. The entire Blade ship was too, but it wasn't doing a very good job. It'd only take another ten years at this rate.

Tssseeewww!

I hadn't been paying attention. While watching us almost get zapped to pieces, Santorelli was thinking ahead and he was manning our own, smaller Dracon cannon. Told you he's Einstein. He might have even hit the Blade ship, although it didn't look like it did. That might just be because space is a vacuum, and that means no dirty grey smoke clouds from Dracon blasts. Made it harder to tell what was a hit and what was a miss.

"Tobias?" I asked our own personal scout.

<It was a hit.> he said flatly. It was too serious to keep joking now, <Doesn't look like it breached anything other than the outer plating though.> Tobias' eyes were fierce, filled with determination. He wanted to avenge Rachel, you could see it in his determination. In his eyes. In his soul.

I wondered if now, that it started again he was reminded of Rachel. Maybe he always thought of Rachel. I felt guilty for almost forgetting her over the past three years. I didn't have any strong ties within the Animorphs, not like Tobias and Rachel, not like Jake and Cassie.

Tssssseeeeeewwww!

The Blade ship shot at us again, but it was off by a long shot. It didn't manage to turn fast enough to aim properly.

We had a definite advantage now, the Blade ship had already been hit once, and we were unscathed, and we had them unorganised. Rachel could out-fly the Blade ship any day, so what was a minor advantage before, turned into a major advantage at close range.

Menderash was good. He was really good. He was like Tobias when it came to flying, except Tobias couldn't fly the Rachel with anywhere near the same grace that Menderash managed to pull off. Sometimes, even though we were getting Draconed, I would be awed by the flight of the Rachel. But that's besides the point. Menderash was pro. It was obvious. And that just made me want to get better than him even more, I'd fly the Rachel as well as him someday.

"Yeehah!" I yelled, trying to lighten the mood a little. I did an impersonation of riding an electric bull. "This is what you call an adrenaline rush!"

"Oh, shut up Marco." Jeanne said absentmindedly.

I almost cracked a smile. Almost.