- Narrator: Ax
With the death of Edriss 562, Esplin 9466 becomes the new Visser One. He sets off to prepare for the open invasion of Earth.
Tropes:
- Coming in Hot: Ax and Rachel crash-land the fighter jet they stole to sneak aboard the aircraft carrier that Visser Two is on.
- Divide and Conquer: Visser Two's plan is to start a war between America and China to weaken Earth's militaries just in time for the Yeerk fleet to arrive.
- False Flag Operation: Visser Two sets up a scenario where it looks like a Chinese submarine has attacked an American aircraft carrier to get two human superpowers fighting each other.
- He Who Fights Monsters: The Animorphs discuss this before beginning their mission. Ax privately calls it "a morality of convenience" and notes that it sounds like Andalite morality. It comes to pass when Ax convinces Tobias, Rachel, and Marco to help him steal a nuclear warhead to threaten their own hometown with to prevent World War III from breaking out.
- Immediate Sequel: This book opens where the last book ended, with the Animorphs using the Z-space transmitter to finally contact the Andalite fleet.
- Impersonation Gambit: Several times do the Animorphs acquire a member of the military to get close to their goal.
- Ax and Rachel acquire a male and female pilot, respectively (the latter of which is a Controller), to steal a fighter jet and get to their destination in the middle of the ocean. The impersonation lasts as long as it takes for someone to stumble upon the stashed bodies of the actual pilots.
- Ax acquires Captain Plummer after he gets infested to call of the attack on the Chinese.
- Tobias acquires one of the aircraft's personnel to travel through it without being detected.
- The Needs of the Many: Visser Two won't surrender unless faced with total annihilation, so Ax decides to threaten the Yeerk pool, and by extension the Animorphs' hometown, with a nuclear warhead. He asks Jake for permission first, but when Jake says no, Ax knocks him out and proceeds.
- Rank Up: Visser Three is now the new Visser One, putting him in charge of invading Earth as he sees fit.
- Sycophantic Servant: The Yeerk who was promoted to Visser Two acts like a priest that worships Esplin 9466.
- This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: Jake is far from the most useless member of the team, but his obscure military knowledge comes in handy when infiltrating the aircraft carrier.
- War Is Hell: The Animorphs get a preview as to what open war with the Yeerks will look like once Bug fighters attack the aircraft carrier. The humans lose badly, and only the Animorphs can only keep some company as they die.
- You Are a Credit to Your Race: Ax privately feels this way about Peter's ability to help him jury-rig Andalite technology from human technology.Ax's narration: I have always believed in giving credit where credit is due. Even if it was to a human.
- You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Visser Two tries blustering with this once Ax is over the Yeerk pool with an armed nuclear bomb. After he surrenders, he asks Ax if he was really serious, but Ax can't find the answer.
