FSE

Furry search engine

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Quick mission, thought the young marten. His lungs and eyes burned, but he held his breath and kept his eyes shut while he sat in the dark corner of the tunnel. Smoke sunk into his fur, having no way to escape the tunnel so far underground.

Having just put on his mask, the smoke was quickly filtered out of his air supply. Cautiously the marten slowly opened his eyes and blinked away a few painful tears caused by the smoke. His vision was blurred at first but quickly started to clear.

The light enhancements struggled to keep the small flames from flaring up his vision. The flames leaked from part of the tunnel that had collapsed; collapsed onto several alien wildlife infections and two of his teammates. Other members of his team lay scattered on the ground; dead or alive, he didn't know.

This was a quick mission, he again thought. To map the tunnels and gather more information on these tunnels.

Staring at the pile of rubble, he saw no way through it. Their only escape route was cut off, leaving them stranded in the middle of the alien infestation.

"Get up Jun," a muffled voice demanded.

Glancing up over his right shoulder, the marten saw the Captain standing over him. He then realized the lieutenant waking up the others who lay scattered around the rubble. They both were wearing mask, like Jun, making them look almost like armored security forces more than soldiers.

Jun slowly stood but his body protested against the action in pain. Leaning back against the wall, he managed to stay on his hindpaws. He glanced at the lieutenant who had failed to wake up a couple of the soldiers on the ground.

"How'd they know who had the explosives?" Captain Dewitt asked. Whether the question was directed at Jun or no one, he didn't know.

"They've been watching us," Jun decided to answer regardless if it was meant to be or not. "Through the vines on these tunnel walls."

"We're aborting mission," Captain Dewitt said. The ermine turned to see that about a third of his team remained on the ground. "The only other way out of these tunnels is over twelve kilometers from here, and that is if there aren't anymore changes in the tunnels since the last scan."

Watching the soldiers stand up despite their injuries, Jun realized that they were four fewer than a few minutes ago. The Captain was demanding for them to keep moving but even as the marten willed to move, he found it difficult to leave the support of the earthen wall behind.

With some effort, Jun was able to follow his team. He wasn't the only one dazed so the pace was easy to keep up with. The mask and gear he now wore felt heavier and the tunnel seemed darker even with their own lights shining down it.

Only darkness and the roots of the infestation were all that could be seen. They left the cave-in behind, including the four who died as a result of the explosion. Once the rubble was out of view, it was difficult to gather their bearings because it didn't look like they were going anywhere.

Jun was unsteady but he was able to stay ahead of the others, who were more wounded. There were many others who were having difficulties supporting their own wait; many of which had to limp to keep moving forward.

Through the darkness it was impossible to notice the passing of time but it felt like hours of tracking through the darkness without any other sign of the enemy. The absence of the enemy started to make Jun fear of another ambush, one that'd claim all of their lives this time.

The strain on his body and mind was tiring, making him weary but the marten stayed alert to the motions within the light. One of which was the older ermine signaling for the team to halt and be quiet.

"What is it?" asked the lemur lieutenant. He kept his voice low. The lights from them turned off.

Something is nearby.

Soon they were plunged in darkness, relying only on the light enhancements of their helmet display. It was difficult to see much further than a few meters but Jun followed Captain Dewitt while they slowly moved forward.

A perpendicular tunnel soon came into view, and Captain Dewitt halted at the corner before rounding it. There was something different about the roots surrounding the tunnel as well; they looked withered and dying. Through the mask it was impossible to smell anything but there was definitely a thin gas of some type clinging to the roof the tunnel. It was coming down from the other tunnel, along with the sudden gunfire.

Captain Dewitt slammed himself against the wall away from the corner where they were being shot from. He leaned around the corner and fired a few times.

"I can't see anything," said Captain Dewitt quietly to the team. "More than a couple of them are armed. Watch our tail and nose." He then instructed through paw gestures for his lieutenant to move to the other corner across the hallway.

Obeying orders, Jun turned around and kept watch on whatever might approach them from behind. His eyes still couldn't pierce through the darkness but he was quickly distracted by a scream from the lieutenant.

"I'm hit," groaned the lemur. He was on the ground, halfway to the other side of the opening created by the perpendicular tunnel. The gunfire had stopped however, allowing him to get back up and retreat back to Captain Dewitt.

"Where are you hit?" the Captain asked but the Lieutenant immediately shushed him. The lemur gestured to a cracked portion of his armor, letting the Captain know that he was unharmed. After a few seconds, that ermine grew impatient. "What is it?"

"Voices," answered Lieutenant Sherman.

Jun returned his gaze to covering their tails but his ears were invested in the conversation.

"Some Creeper infestations still have some control over the vocal cords," said Captain Dewitt.

"I know, but their shots were far more accurate than what the infection can do," Lieutenant Sherman replied. "And they stopped firing to speak to each other."

Jun's fur stood on end, his thoughts immediately returning to the sight of the infected hatchling. He knew if someone else was infected like that down here, they had no chance of getting out alive.

"Captain," he almost hissed back at the two officers.

"What is it, Jun?" he asked.

"The hatchling who attacked the Velmarians on the shipyard is more than capable of speech," he reminded him. "It spoke with us after it took Yukiomaru."

Before the Captain could respond, a shout came from down the tunnel.

"Are you infected?"

It was a distant voice, but it sounded somewhat familiar to Jun. He couldn't place it but his cautious attitude remained.

How can there be others down here? Command Cassander is commanding the assault on these tunnels, and we're the first team to have been ordered to go down.

"Be careful," whispered the Lieutenant before the Captain could reply to the question.

Would anyone really be crazy enough to go into these tunnels, even if they were being attacked on the surface?

"No!" shouted the ermine down the tunnel. "Are you?"

There was a pause before the answer came. "No! We're coming out."

"Keep your eyes on our flanks," demanded Captain Dewitt to his team. "Jun come here, quick." The young marten obeyed. "Do you think they're infected?"

"I don't know," answered the marten. "I know the type that can talk are more than advanced enough to deceive us though. It's also puzzling to think of how someone else is down here."

"Go slow!" shouted the Captain before lowering his voice to his Lieutenant. "Keep your guard up."

The masked ermine reached for another weapon on his belt, one that Jun immediately recognized as the same type of weapon Yukiomaru used; a spear. Even in its collapsed form, it was easy to recognize.

"We're almost there," said the familiar voice, with out the high-pitched tone caused by shouting.

Jun watched with wide eyes, his curiosity starting to overwhelm his sense of caution. Through the darkness, he saw several tall figures walking towards them. He soon learned why was on the voices sounded familiar to him.

"Mother...father?" he muttered, staring at his two parents with wide eyes while they emerged from the darkness. They looked in rough shape but it was them, with no signs of an infection.

He thought they were dead, just two more added to the hundred million casualties of this war, just like Yukiomaru. The last any one has seen of his parents was that they were in the Capital city just before the invasion. The only survivors were gathered at the base, everyone else was presumed dead.

In front of him now stood both his parents and a handful of others who were all armed. The closer they got, Jun noticed that they were not only ruffled up a bit, but they were in a terrible condition. Some had blood-soaked bandages covered wounds, and they all looked seriously malnourished.

"Lord Fa?" questioned the Captain from behind the scopes of his rifle.

Jun sprinted forward and dove at his parents, wrapping his arms around their weak bodies. "Where have you two been?" he asked, squeezing their fur.

"J-Jun?" Sunee Fa questioned. She was in worse condition than Jun's father was.

"Jun! What are you doing down here?" Mew asked more directly.

Gunfire echoed nearby, distracting them all from the reunion. More gunshots followed and the sounds soon filled the tunnels.

"Report," demanded the Captain, turning toward the sound of gunfire.

"Two dozen or so infections coming from our rear guard," informed the Lieutenant Sherman. "We need to move."

"This way Captain," said the older marten. He gestured back the way that the unexpected survivors originally came from. "We have a defensible area that we can hold down here. We've burned out the roots so they'll have trouble following us."

Jun stepped back from his parents, and stood tall despite his sore body. In front of his parents, he felt his fear and blind rage dissipate. His goal of defeating this alien parasite in order to avenge Yukiomaru, and everyone else who had fallen victim to it's hunger.

He took off his mask and gave it to his father. "We can't get cornered in. Our way out is by keeping following this tunnel." He gestured at the tunnel the squad was originally following.

Jun realized that he now stood staller in comparison to his parents from the last time he saw them during their vacation into the mountains where the base was now built.

"Agreed," said Captain Dewitt. "While they are bottled up like this, they'll be easy to take out. My apologies Lord Fa, I don't know what you all are doing down here but our objective is now to get you out."

"We're not exactly in any condition to fight anymore, Captain," said the older marten. "Now's not the time to discuss it. We'll follow you, whatever you choose."

Jun didn't wait for his parents and moved straight for the line where the others were firing down the corridor. He looked over the shoulder of one of the soldiers who was knelt on the ground, and saw the infected wildlife moving towards them.

Even though in the dim light it was difficult to see the signs of infection. The reflective eyes that the wildlife shared with some of the species of this civilization, reflected at Jun. In that gaze, he saw the alien infection looking at him, the way the infected citizen who attacked him in the dark tunnels of the base.

Jun lined up his weapon's sights on the creature's eyes and pulled the trigger. His gunfire was added with the others while they shredded into the advancing enemy wave.

"Jun, we're moving out," Captain Dewitt said over the explosive gunfire. "Stay up with us. Major, guard our tails. We'll be moving at a quick pace."

After a few more short bursts, Jun turned back to the Captain and his parents. They started moving down the tunnel even in the enemy still behind them. Through the darkness, the scene quickly grew chaotic after they found themselves fighting on both fronts; the Creepers becoming more aggressive in their attacks.

The condition of Jun's parents and their group slowed them down considerably. Even while they left a trail of infected bodies behind them, the numbers was slowly wearing them down.

Several hours went by before they stopped after appearing in a natural cavern and aquifer that the Creeper had spread its infestation to.

"Ammo is running a low," Lieutenant Sherman said. Jun watched his parents struggle with the others, their bodies being far worse than Jun has ever seen before.

"Preserve our ballistic ammo as much as possible," ordered the Captain. He personally checked some of the most wounded from Mew Fa's group.

They remained silent with the soft echoes of the gunfire echoing occasionally in the cramped tunnels. The heavy breathing of the wounded and the sound of the small underground stream served as white noise compared to the firefight.

"Where's your sister, Jun?" asked his mother, after resting for a few minutes.

"She's on a station in orbit," he answered, looking at his mother. Her fur was thin, hanging loosely on her bones with little sign of muscle underneath. His father and the others weren't any better, and it broke his heart to see his parents like this. He redirected that pain into the anger he felt for the parasite. "Working on a poison to eradicate this infestation from Canidera."

Once we're out of here, I'll have Commander Cassander order the bombing of all these tunnels. I will kill them all, even if it means destroying our own cities.

"Why are you down here?" his mother asked. She knew they had little time and she'd ask as many questions as she could before they'd be forced to move again.

"With both of you gone, and Tang now absent, I'm the heir to the Fa faction," said Jun, sitting next to his mother. He was surprised to learn that he was now almost as tall as her, but not quite. "No other civilian faction is alive that we know of so it's my responsibility to keep everyone alive."

"You didn't answer the question," she said through heavy breaths.

Jun glanced at his mother, seeing that her expression has soured by what he had told her. "I'm done here to personally destroy this infection. Now why are you down here?"

"We stayed in the city after the invasion," she answered. She readjusted how she was sitting on the ground and leaning against the rocks but it was clear she was in pain. "There were still survivors scattered in different holdouts and we were trying to gather them all at the local police station. We were attacked and forced out. The mountains would have been the safest bet but we heard that something landed and destroyed the eastern portion of the city so we couldn't go that way."

"Instead we went south toward the desert," continued Jun's mother. "Before we could even get out of the city, we noticed that this tunnel was growing on the side of one of the foothills. We didn't know it was caused by the infection so we thought we could hold out in there. Nearly a hundred of us went in, and we were cut off. Now we're all that's left."

"Commander Cassander had search parties all over the city to survivors," Jun said, frustrated that his parents weren't found earlier. "How did they not find you?"

"When we held out in the police station, we only held onto a few rooms and the others were taken by infected officers," she answered. "It would have taken a military force to find us and I doubt Commander... wait, what happened to young Admiral Alexander? Why isn't he commanding the military force?"

Jun's eyes went wide. She doesn't know?

The shock in Jun's expression made his mother realize the answer, and that she asked the wrong question. She knew her son was close to the young fox; he was the only friend that Jun truly had and if he was killed, she only made it worse by bringing up the topic with Jun now.

"How long have you've been the leader of the family?" she asked, quickly changing the subject.

Jun still hesitated, his thoughts reminding him of what happened to Yukiomaru. Fire and smoke swarmed angrily behind the fox while Aggressor burned. The botanical flower that sprung out of the ground to consume of the fox was so sudden that no one had a chance to react to it. Yukiomaru was gone in an instant.

Sunee looked away, knowing that she disturbed her son by bringing up the painful topic but when Jun was about to answer, a low rumble rolled through the natural cavern. The conversations around the cavern stopped as everyone took notice. Jun looked downstream where the water disappeared in the darkness, toward the sound that slowly faded away.

That sound! I recognize it.

He stood and followed the stream, despite the demands from his mother to stop. Through the darkness, he could hear the water start to splash as its current grew rougher until the unmistakable roar of a waterfall was heard.

An infected burrowing creature lunged out of a nearby hole at him. Jun stumbled back in surprise while the creature flew at him. It squealed while a wooden pole went right through it, in midair, and slammed it to the ground. The marten looked at who was holding the spear, it was Captain Dewitt.

"Jun, don't wander off," he said, pinning the infected creature with his boot before pulling his spear free from it. "Do you know what that sound was?"

Jun didn't answer and kept moving forward along the stream. Captain Dewitt followed. They quickly reached the end of the stream, where it fell far below and formed the waterfall. Another massive cavern, this one heavily infected was beneath them.

Dim morning light was coming through from some opening that was out of their sight but it granted them view of the thick vines that all fed into the middle of the cavern. The vines were no doubt from the feeding grounds that were once scattered around the city. In the middle of all them was a large and familiar plant, about the size of a house.

"They're growing another Klienestov," muttered Jun, his fear returning.