Bug fighter

Bug fighter
Owner	Yeerk Empire
Users	Yeerk Empire Animorphs
Weapons	Dual Dracon beams
Status	Discontinued
Appearances
First Appearance	The Hork-Bajir Chronicles (chronologically) The Invasion
Game	Animorphs

"Bug fighters are the smallest of the Yeerk ships. They aren't much bigger than a school bus. They have a cowled, insectlike look, except that on either side there are very long, serrated spears pointing forward. So they look a little like a cockroach holding two spears."

―Marco

A Bug fighter is a small Yeerk spacecraft that is piloted by one Hork-Bajir and one Taxxon. They resembled cockroaches, hence the name, are about as big as a school bus. They have two long serrated spears on their sides that point forward which are Dracon beam emitters. The ships can be modified to travel underwater.

History

Creation

"We suspect that they have built fourteen fighter craft, based on a new design but similar in capabilities to your own Andalite fighters. These fighters are armed with two Dracon beam weapons, a blending of Andalite shredder technology with some Ongachic particle-wave technology. [...] Forty thousand Hork-Bajir hosts, maybe twelve of their new Bug fighters up and flying... that's what we call them."

―Dak Hamee to Alloran-Semitur-Corrass

In 1968, after conquering the Hork-Bajir homeworld, the Yeerks began mining, using their newfound knowledge to create Dracon beams, Bug fighters, and Blade ships, replacing the Ongachic, Hawjabran and Andalite spacecraft they had stolen.

Usage

"Slowly the Bug fighters descended. It was easy to see where they'd gotten their nickname. They were slightly larger than the Andalite fighter and shaped like legless cockroaches. There were small windows like eyes on the forward-thrust head of the bug. And on either side of the head were two very long, very sharp, serrated spears. The Yeerk Bug fighters touched down, one on either side of the Andalite ship."

―Jake

In 1997, Edriss 562, who held the rank of Visser One, passed on the duty of overseeing Earth's invasion to Esplin 9466, who held the rank of Visser Three. The Yeerk Empire then deployed a swarm of Bug fighters towards Earth, where they were soon attacked by the Andalite Dome ship GalaxyTree, which had exited Z-space around Earth's orbit. However, the Yeerks had anticipated this and had arranged an ambush of their own, having hidden Visser Three's Blade ship on one of the craters of Earth's moon. Despite many of the Bug fighters being shot down by Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, the Andalites suffered many casualties and lost the battle. Elfangor eventually fled from the battle and landed in an abandoned construction site in the same city in California where the Yeerk Empire was basing its invasion. A pair of Bug fighters, along with the Blade ship, managed to track him and also landed on the site, without using any cloaking technology. When Elfangor's fighter shot and disintegrated one of the Bug fighters, Visser Three ordered them to destroy the fighter; the remaining Bug fighter, along with the Blade ship, then fired twin Dracon beams at the Andalite fighter and successfully disintegrated it.

A little over a week later, two Bug fighters escorted Visser Three's Blade ship back to the construction site, where the Visser was to pick up Rachel, whom Iniss 226 had captured. During their rescue mission, the Animorphs turned on two of the earthmovers that were at the site. While the Yeerks managed to disintegrate one of them, the other earthmover collided with one of the Bug fighters, causing the Bug fighter to explode.

Shortly later, two Bug fighters were deployed to patrol a lake in the city's mountains and also protect the Truck ship as it drained water from the lake in order to transport it to the Pool ship. Seven days later, four Bug fighters were deployed to the lake to provide security for both the Truck ship and Visser Three's Blade ship. The Bug fighters were assigned with shooting down Tobias, although Tobias landed on the Truck ship, preventing the Yeerks from firing at him as they would hit the Truck ship as well. Tobias then destroyed the controls of the Truck ship using a Dracon beam, and the careening Truck ship slammed into a Bug fighter, with resultiong explosion creating a gash on the side of the Truck ship. The remaining three Bug fighters, along with the Blade ship, were able to evade being struck by the out-of-control Truck ship.

The Yeerk Empire was alerted to a distress signal coming from a quarry not too far from the city in California where they were basing their invasion out of; however, the signal was coming from an outdated frequency, specifically a frequency that the Andalite military had used to send them false instructions before. Realizing it was a trick by the "Andalite bandits", Visser Three flew down to the quarry in his Blade ship, which he kept cloaked, along with one uncloaked Bug fighter. The Bug fighter then did a fly-by before landing in the quarry, and the Hork-Bajir-Controller onboard the Bug fighter was tasked to step out, in an attempt to lure the Andalite bandits out of hiding. As the Animorphs attacked the Hork-Bajir-Controller, a hundred Hork-Bajir-Controllers armed with Dracon beams took positions around the edge of the quarry. The Animorphs were surrounded and then captured, although they were able to escape.

This section requires expansion

Appearances

This section requires expansion

• The Invasion
• The Visitor
• The Encounter
• The Predator
• The Forgotten
• The Exposed
• The Revelation

Gallery

"Someone took a picture of me? Not cool. Do you see what I'm wearing? I'm Spandex-boy. Totally not cool." The image gallery for Bug fighter may be viewed here