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In his office on Drach'n Fury, Yukiomaru sat behind his desk reviewing the technicalities of shuttling everyone off the ship for a couple weeks. Nearly the whole crew was gone, except for a few of the top officers including himself, and the ship was strangely quiet.

Fury was offline and that added to the sensation. Rather than being in something alive and swimming through space, he now was only surrounded by empty walls and an empty husk. Yukiomaru felt that there was something more to the absence of Fury than just an empty ship.

The Admiral finished designating rendezvous sites in all the major cities that the crew resided in before a message came to his PawPad. It was from Jun, requesting for him to meet his parents planet side, Mew Fa, and Sunee Fa, for breakfast the next day.

Lord Mew Fa? thought Yukiomaru. That's the head of the Fa family; the most influential Lord in the entire civilization. I had no idea Tang was the heir to the family.

Yukiomaru replied with his agreement to them and he almost instantly received another message with the place and time. With his work done, the fox placed his PawPad in his pocket and stood from his desk. In the empty corridors, the Admiral felt it strange that Fury wasn't there to watch his back but he ignored the feeling and entered his room. Inside he found Yelena, packing his things.

"I asked you not to pack my clothes, Yelena," said Yukiomaru, hesitating in the doorway.

"You never do it properly," she said. Despite his objection, the meerkat continued to fold up his uniforms. "It's one thing you never learned during all your training."

"And you happened to pick up the finer points of folding clothes when training in close combat," remarked Yukiomaru. He stepped in and sat on the edge of his bed. "Did you know that Tang and Jun are the children of Lord Mew Fa?"

"Really?" she questioned, only slowing her slightly from her task. "I was curious on which part of the Fa family they were from but they kept a lock on their family ties every time I questioned about it."

"Lord Fa wants to meet with me tomorrow," he Yukiomaru. "Jun hasn't said why but it's in the city."

"I was planning on spending a day in the city," commented Yelena, folding another article of clothing. "Are you busy after the breakfast?"

"I don't believe so," Yukiomaru answered, still watching his Commander mother him. "I'm expected to speak with other military officials in five days but other than that I have those five days off."

"I'll drive you into the city then," she offered, placing the folded shirt into the fox's luggage. Yelena turned and looked the smaller fox in the eyes. "Our shuttle leaves in about an hour. We don't want to miss your meeting because you missed your shuttle."

"I'm not going to be late." From the wall, the young fox pulled down a couple of his weapons and also packed them.

"Come on, Yuki," she said once they were finished. "Let's not keep our pilot waiting."

"Stop talking to me like I'm a cub," Yukiomaru rebuked, picking up his luggage and following his officer out of the room. Yelena chuckled but said no more.

The last shuttle that was onboard the ship was waiting for them. No one else was on it other than the pilot, which is who Yukiomaru sat next to so he could look out the blast shield.

Behind the co-pilots controls, Yukiomaru donned on a headset and contacted the shipyard master.

"Benson Halls," he said. "This is the Admiral. I'm requesting a progress update please."

"Admiral Alexander," replied a much older voice. "I'm afraid there isn't much to tell you yet. We've only begun our inspection a couple hours ago."

"My ship has been boarded twice without me knowing," replied Yukiomaru over the channel. "Are you telling me that there's no sign of an unauthorized entry?"

"My teams haven't found anything yet but we'll keep you updated," answered the shipyard master. "If you're ready to head back home, I can give you clearance now. You're a little ahead of schedule."

"If there are no further updates, then please do so," replied the fox. "Admiral Alexander out." He took off the headset and turned to his pilot. The pilot nodded the acknowledgement and began warming up the engines. It didn't take long for the shuttle to leave out of the hangar of Drach'n Fury and take the Admiral and Commander back home.

After a long day of traveling on smaller vessels, Yukiomaru found himself standing over a pond on a small bridge in the officers' courtyard. The sun had already set below the horizon but the sky was glowing a dark red. The strange sky reminded Yukiomaru of a terrible dream he had before arriving back home; one where the Creepers have destroyed this world and everything they've built for tens of thousands of years. He hoped his meeting tomorrow with Lord Mew Fa would accomplish something to help prevent such an event from ever happening.

Later that night after Yukiomaru ravaged through his luggage and destroyed all the hard work Yelena put into packing it, Yukiomaru found himself lying on his bed, propped up against the headboard and staring into his PawPad.

It didn't take long for him to find the media reports of the Creeper threat and the mobilization of the fleets. He found it intriguing reading how the different cities around the planet have reacted to the news, and although many agreed that measures needed to be taken, there were articles claiming it an extreme reaction to a far off problem.

Yukiomaru was pleased to see that most of the sources were classified, including himself. Only his name, Admiral Alexander, was mentioned but few knew who he was. There was no confirmation about Velsh'nark or the Stealths being here either.

After reading through dozens of media outlets, Yukiomaru turned off the device, rolled over and stretched before curling up to sleep.

The next morning, Yukiomaru woke instantly at the sound of a chirping animal. Being flown out to the reaches of space for a year had made such sounds strange to the fox. With the early morning sunshine shining through the window, Yukiomaru decided to get up and start preparing for his meeting.

Yelena walked in while Yukiomaru was dressing. "You're wearing your dress uniform? Don't you have anything else to where?"

"No I don't," Yukiomaru answered, straightening out his uniform. "I only have what's been provided for me, just like the last seven years."

"Yes but this is the first time you've been granted an allowance," Yelena declared with a proud expression. "Let's head now and we'll buy you some new clothes."

"I don't think we have the time," Yukiomaru objected.

"Nonsense," responded Yelena. "If we leave now then we'll have plenty of time."

Yukiomaru couldn't think up of an excuse so he held his tongue and followed Yelena back out of the officers' facility. Once outside, Yukiomaru couldn't help but to follow his commander to her personal vehicle.

"They allow you to pilot the best warship ever built but you can't drive your own transportation," commented Yelena. She led the shorter fox to where her own personal vehicle was. "You look taller. I didn't really notice it until we got back yesterday but you've grown a bit."

"Thanks," muttered Yukiomaru. Heading into the main city, there was other traffic but there was no risk or delays because traffic moved so smoothly due to the safety features of the vehicles and the superb design of the roads.

The ride took approximately an hour before they parked in one of the city parking lots. Yukiomaru followed Yelena but felt like an adopted child taken shopping for school clothes. They still didn't have much time.

Inside a downtown apparel store, Yelena immediately started searching for an outfit for Yukiomaru by grabbing an arm full of clothes.

"We only have an hour so start trying on these clothes," she said, shoving them into Yukiomaru's paws. "These will make you look more proper for meeting with Lord Fa."

"I never thought you'd enjoy shopping so much," commented Yukiomaru and turning toward the curtains. Behind the curtain he switched from one outfit to another. Civilian clothes were very different than what the Admiral was used to, and he actually liked some of the outfits.

"We should get going Yukiomaru," Yelena's voice said through the curtain. "If we want to walk there."

The fox emerged from the curtain wearing an outfit that looked similar to the ones the Fa siblings were wearing, a jacket over it. "This will do," he said.

"Very stunning," commented Yelena, following the Admiral out the building. The act of walking out of the building immediately charged Yukiomaru for the outfit.

Yukiomaru ignored the comment and set a calm pace down alongside the city buildings. With the sun coming down around the dome shaped buildings, the fox was reminded that the temperature here controlled and he found himself overheating.

"Where should I meet you once you're done?" asked Yelena once they arrived outside of the stylish landscape of a restaurant.

"I'll give you a call and let you know where I am," the fox answered. "Will you be in the city for the entire time?"

"If you don't need me, I will be exploring the city," Yelena said. "We've always lived near it but never had permission to explore it on our own so I'm sure I can spend the whole day here if I could."

"I'll keep you updated then. Thanks for giving me a ride, Commander."

"No problem, Yukiomaru."

Yelena turned back to the city but the fox went inside the building. Walking in he told the employee about his meeting with the Fa's, and he was immediately escorted to a secluded room. Inside he found Jun and Tang chatting in a booth in the midst of the suite-like room.

"Welcome Admiral Yukiomaru Alexander."

Turning around he saw an older marten standing there with another female marten.

"Lord Mew Fa and Lady Sunee Fa," the Admiral greeted with a bowing motion. "Thank you for inviting me today."

"Don't worry about the formalities," said Mew Fa with a smile. "Come sit with my family." He gestured toward Tang and Jun before stepping toward them.

"Hey Yukiomaru," greeted Jun. Both him and his sister were smiling at him. Their parents sat next to them. "I was wondering if your General was actually going to give you time off or not. I'm glad they agreed because you deserve the break and now you'll be well rested to go back to commanding Drach'n Fury."

"I'm afraid I don't know what to do with my time off," admitted Yukiomaru, feeling the literal burden of his uniform gone. "The Commander seems very excited to take me shopping."

"We've heard good things about you Admiral," Mew Fa said. "The horrors you've seen out there are quite serious. Tang has told me about the botanical creatures and they seem quite horrific. Jun also says considering his conversations with the alien Velshnark, they're a serious threat to our civilization."

"They are," replied Yukiomaru. "From what I've gathered from Velshnark is that this race has consumed thousands of civilizations and it's very much possible that some of these civilizations were far more advanced than we are."

"Do you think its hopeless then?"

"Absolutely not," answered Yukiomaru. "Velshnark's race has been combating this parasite for longer than we've been exploring the stars. They can make a stand against them so if we develop plasma-based weapons too then we too can make a stand."

"Velshnark's living at one of our compounds so I've talked more with him," Jun commented. "He obviously approves our response to the Creeper threat, and said something along the lines of 'At least we're not ignorant like the others.'"

"I'm meeting with many of the higher officials of the UDAS later this week," continued Mew Fa. "There's a lot of skepticism toward the mobilization and construction of the fleets so that's why I requested this meeting with you Admiral. Only limited information has been released from the military to the media outlets and I want to hear more from you personally."

"You want me to just start from the beginning?"

"Please. This place is protected from eavesdroppers."

Yukiomaru started where he met with his crew in the military base not far from the outskirts of this city to where he downloaded Fury into the ship. He recapped the events that led to the first encounters of the Creepers on Bridging Albatross, the Stealth on the barren world and the frozen world that they were successful in establishing trade rights with the aliens. Each encounter dealing with the Creepers was detailed, along with the two assassination attempts of the Stealth. After nearly half an hour, he ended his tale with the story of the Velmarian ship and the infection that took place there.

"I'm not sure what the Velmarians were doing out there," commented Mew once Yukiomaru finished. "They're far beyond their territory but it looks like the Creepers found them. They're a lot closer than what has been revealed to us. What are your thoughts when dealing with the Creepers?"

"This Aggressor took a couple shots directly from our most powerful weapons, including the Leathilium prototype missiles" said Yukiomaru. "A massive cluster of infected ships and other strange forms of Creepers seemed to come out nowhere once this creature appeared. They easily overwhelmed the Stealths' defenses and destroyed the entire fleet. We were lucky to catch the creature by surprise otherwise I doubt we would have been successful in injuring it so much. If this things gets pass the Black Line then it will cause an inconceivable amount of damage, if we are able to stop it. Defense of the Black Line needs to be explored but most of all the defense of this system should be top priority."

"I think I understand, Admiral," said Mew Fa. He touched the screen of his PawPad and quickly changed the subject. "Now one of the main reasons why I brought you here is I wanted to request that you take my pups with you when you go back to your ship. I believe they'll make an excellent addition to your team and this is a great opportunity for them. If this war lasts longer than we'd like, which I think it will considering the Creeper territory size, then they need experience with those that combat them. Also the Drach'n fleet is the most advanced ever built so they'll be safest with you."

"It would be my pleasure if they would join us again," answered Yukiomaru, allowing himself to smile at the two younger martens. "But if you two come, I need Tang to assist my new science team in finding a form of detection for the Stealths."

"I'll add it to my list," replied Tang.

The suite doors were opened again and several restaurant employees walked in with plenty of food. They set it all on a table nearby before they left again.

"Please come eat," offered Sunee Fa, gesturing Yukiomaru over to the table.

"Thank you," he said and followed the family of pine martens to the table.

"So Admiral Alexander," said Sunee after they've began eating. "Where are you staying when you're on the planet?"

"At the officer's facility a dozen or so kilometers out of the city," answered Yukiomaru.

"The pups have been bothering me about it for a while now but we'd like to invite you to stay with us at our estate," Sunee said. "We already have a room prepared for you so you don't really have an excuse to say no."

Yukiomaru smiled, silently chuckling to himself. "You're right. I can't say no."

"Great," said Jun with a grin. "In a few days we were heading up to the mountains and thought you'd like to join us. We haven't been up to the mountains for a few years."

"I don't think you'll be giving me a choice anyway," remarked Yukiomaru but not unkindly.