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"Our communication attempts with the fleet have failed too," one of the Stealth's reported. The alien was one of several in the passenger bay of a landed drop ship. "Our lines are still pushing forward but we cannot keep this momentum without the support of our fleets."

"For three days, we've managed to capture quite a bit of territory without their help," remarked the red fox, Chief Vale. Outside the ship were flashes of still waging battles beyond the horizon, and the lightning storm that has been brewing since they've landed. "Even with these serpent creatures fighting us every step of the way."

"They were once peaceful, remaining in the sea," remarked the Stealth. "The infection has probably marked them extinct now. Regardless, they are causing high casualties so do not underestimate them even though we've been beating them."

Tiriaq remained silent, trying to catch some sleep in the pilot's seat while he listened to the battle reports. There was still no news of the fleet, and nothing has been heard from Lead General Vale, the Chief's cousin, either. The only reason why they knew the fleet still survived was that there was no Creeper invasion coming from the sky.

"Our fire teams are spread thin burning the more dormant Creepers so we should slow our progress," advised the Stealth. The alien laid out a holographic map showing the continent they were fighting on, which had the combat lines drawn on them with the forces at each front. Several cities on the map were shown controlled by them, marking the speed they've been reclaiming the continent.

"Telling our forces to slow down might affect their morale," the Guardian that trained many of their soldiers stated, gazing over the map as well. "The determination I see in your soldiers is unlike what I've seen in other aliens. I don't know what would happen if you'd risk that."

Tiriaq was starting to doze off while the three commanders discussed their battle plans. Technically, Admiral Alexander was the Commander for the UDAS forces but he hasn't been seen very often since they reclaimed the first city. The few times he is seen is killing off the Creeper infections, many times it being the many varieties of large beasts that had once been called the wildlife of this planet.

The ermine had some difficulties believing how much they've accomplished in the battle. He's overheard the soldiers pass around theories for their success, even some as ridiculous that the Creeper race isn't used to being assaulted like this. Tiriaq didn't know why they were winning, but he did know that they were faring better because the soldiers have learned to avoid infection. Regardless of why they were winning, Tiriaq felt in his gut that the Creepers weren't fighting in earnest yet.

When Tiriaq had finally lost consciousness, he heard a report that alerted him and the three commanders in the ship.

"Inbound Creeper wave from orbit, thousands of them," reported a heavy accent over the radio that could have only been one of the Stealths. "Where's the fleet?"

"All lines halt!" ordered the Stealth commander. Over the radio it was obvious how quickly their morale was starting to fall with the absence of the protection the fleet brought them the past few days. "Fall back to the nearest stronghold and hold our lines!"

Standing from the seat, Tiriaq exited the ship through the passenger bay with the commanders, where they could see the Creepers falling from the sky through the dark clouds of the storm. The ground started to shake from the impacts.

Gunfire was heard in the distance, growing closer until one object from the sky was heading straight for the landing zone. The four of them dodged out of the way as it crashed into the ship they were just on, crushing it in half. From the ruin rose a large alien creature that none of them have seen before.

The Stealth commander didn't hesitate to charge at the creature with his melee weapon but the others were more accustomed using ranged weapons and all they had was their sidearm that were strapped to their hips at the moment. The Guardian made do and looked for an angle to fire at the creature, his shots made purely of liquefied plasma that melted through the creature's skin.

The fight led the creature to charge at the fox and ermine, so they didn't even have a chance to fight back before they had to dodge out of the way. When Tiriaq recovered, he saw the Stealth slicing through the head of the creature and quickly putting an end its rampage.

"No one rests today," remarked the Stealth before going back to speaking his native language through his communication device.

"Captain Dewitt, follow me," ordered the red fox, leading away from the dying creature. "We need to keep this landing zone cleared otherwise we'll lose half our ships."

Heading over to another nearby ship, the opened the weapons locker and pulled out some heavier weapons to deal with the new threat. After arming themselves, Chief Vale activated the radio system and linked with the battle report channel again. The ground continued to shake from the impacts.

"Chief," Tiriaq said, glancing out the window and seeing how many of the creatures were falling through the dark clouds. "We'll be overrun soon at this rate."

"I've ordered all forces to fall back to the city or landing zone," replied the red fox, turning back to the exit of the ship. "We have several vehicles loaded with retreating troops coming from the west. They're close but they're cut off. Go give them some help while I fight off anything that lands at the landing zone."

"Yes sir," replied Tiriaq, exiting the ship as well. Separating from the red fox, who was joining the other two commanders fight, the ermine saw no end to the Creeper forces coming from the sky. He went to his all-terrain personal vehicle and used it to drive off of the main landing zone.

Crossing the landscape, he saw other vehicles driving the way he came from, and different size of Creeper creatures landing to the ground all around him. Entering into the forest, he had to go slower but knew he was getting closer when he could hear the concentrated gunfire ahead of him. Artillery rounds flashed and reflected off the storm clouds ahead, but for some reason they seem to stir up more lightning.

The fur on the ermine's body started to rise and he could sense the imminent danger. Jumping from the moving vehicle, he landed hard and rolled into a tree just as a lightning bolt struck the vehicle. The vehicle veered of course and crashed into a different tree nearby. More lightning strikes fell into the forest, blasting against Tiriaq's fading hearing as he lost consciousness.

Waking up to the ground shifting, Tiriaq didn't know how long he's been out. Standing up, his vision was still blurred and hearing still dulled which made it difficult for him to maintain balance. Seeing the destruction of his vehicle wrapped around the tree, he could see that the wreck still looked fresh. Concluding that he wasn't out for long, Tiriaq went over to the wreckage and salvaged his main weapon.

His senses slowly returned but the shaking of the ground and blasting of lightning made it difficult to stay balanced. Walking slowly at first before turning into a light jog, Tiriaq continued his way to the soldiers that were cut off from the landing zone.

Once he reached a small clearing, he saw why the ground was shaking so hard as two of the serpent creatures were seen over the trees attacking what he could only assume the soldiers he was supposed to rescue. Tiriaq tried to hurry to the scene, but his haste was nearly a disastrous mistake when he nearly ran into an infected Stealth citizen.

The Creeper lunged at him without pause, giving Tiriaq little time to jump back and dodging the attack by mere centimeters. Tiriaq's paw instinctively went for his sidearm, instead of his main weapon, and he fired several shots into the infested alien. It faltered back, giving the ermine an opening to grab his sword and slash at the alien, nearly cutting it in half and effectively disabling it.

Stepping over the slain Creeper, Tiriaq moved forward and realized how populated the forest. Beyond him through the trees he could see the meadow where the soldiers were fighting off the serpent and many of the smaller infections. Between the Captain and them were at least another dozen Creeper forms.

Going quietly, Tiriaq moved toward the less populated area of the edge of the forest. Sneaking up on the nearest infested Stealth, Tiriaq decapitated it with one silent swing of his sword before moving forward. Two more were added to his kill list before Tiriaq emerged from the tree line.

"Team Zeta, this is Captain Dewitt coming from your east flank," he radioed to them. "Hold your fire."

"Good to hear from you, Captain," responded one of the UDAS soldiers. "Bring your team forward, and we'll cover you."

"It's just me, soldier," replied Tiriaq, running toward the ring of vehicles that were covering the soldiers. "I'll help you take out the serpent then we need to make a run for the landing zone."

The lightning drowned out last transmission, but the thunder was close enough to draw the ermine's attention. Turning around from the way he came, he saw someone he recognized to his horror.

There stood a Velmarian hatchling, his greenish eyes staring at the ermine who stood no more than three meters away. The same hatching that was confirmed infected, who killed several fully armored soldiers with his bare claws on the Drach'n dockyard, and on Velmaria when Admiral Alexander was rescued. This Creeper uniquely had unnatural, or as some have called supernatural strength, speed, stamina and dexterity.

The hatchling started to reach for a strange melee weapon he carried. Tiriaq couldn't even react fast enough to bring up his weapon when a familiar voice stopped the hatchling, and grabbed the attention of both of them.

"Kazamde," said the familiar high-pitched voice. Emerging from the forest was the arctic fox Tiriaq once trained himself, Admiral Yukiomaru Alexander. "Your confidence in your reinforcements have made you bold. It's about time you came out of hiding."

"You know my name, Yukiomaru," replied the hatchling. The two younglings spoke as if they were old rivals. "The infection in you must have taken affect but I do not understand why you ignore and betray us."

"Captain Dewitt, go aid the soldiers and get them back to the landing zone," ordered the young Admiral, without even taking his eyes off of the hatchling he called Kazamde. "Kazamde has hidden from me long enough; I'll take care of him."

"Bold words, fox," taunted Kazamde.

Lightning struck down in the small distance between the hatchling and the ermine. The temperature plummeted and froze the rain before it touched the ground, creating a hail-like affect. Even if he wanted to stay and help the Admiral, the weather seemed intent on keeping him separated and he was forced to rejoin with the surrounded soldiers. One of them came up to greet him.

"Captain Dewitt, this weather is getting out of control," remarked the armored raccoon. Before another word could be exchanged, the ground shook as another serpent emerged amongst the ring of vehicles. The tree line looked like it was moving closer, but they quickly realized the Creepers that were hiding in it were now charging in.

Tiriaq turned to see Kazamde and Admiral Alexander fighting each other with their melee weapons. The speed and acrobatics of the two were unlike anything the ermine has ever seen before. But beyond the two fighting younglings, was the charging wave of the Creepers. The ermine pulled up his main rifle, aimed across the field and started to put a burst into each Creeper that fell into his sights. Several went down with the combined fire of the soldiers and Tiriaq.

One of the Creepers made it through their fire, and charged at the ermine but he answered in kind by grabbing the hilt of his sword and taking a few steps toward the infested Stealth.

Turning back to the serpent, he saw it thrashing around and overturning several of the vehicles. The ermine armed his weapon with explosive rounds and aimed for the creature's head. Beyond the serpent, the other one was being pelted with artillery rounds until it finally went down.

Firing short bursts at the serpent, Tiriaq drew its attention as it reared up and prepared to strike down on him with its open fangs. The moment it opened its jaws, Tiriaq fired a grenade into its mouth. The explosion knocked the creature's head back as it spat its acidic poison into the air. Blood rained down as well, and Tiriaq could see that the lower half the jaw was hanging off the serpent by only a view tendons.

Firing explosive rounds into the wound, the Serpent continued to flail until it fell to the ground and stopped moving for good.

"Serpents are down," Tiriaq radioed to the survivors. "Fall back to the vehicles and load up. We're heading back to the landing zone."

Several of the soldiers were doing just that, but they did not dare turn their back to the enemy. Whenever a Creeper got close enough, they remembered their training from the Guardian and counterattacked instead of fled.

Tiriaq turned his attention back toward the tree line where he came from, and focus fired on the smaller infestations that were emerging from the woods.

Admiral Alexander was standing opposite of Kazamde, and they seemed to be talking about something before they again went at it. This time neither of them was armed, leaving them to fight with their claws. Eventually Kazamde managed to pick up the Admiral's spear but the Admiral gained the hatchling's strange curved blade in turn. The two fought with the unfamiliar weapons but it did not show, as they seemed to be experts with those weapons.

The wind was coming from their direction, blow fiercely through the ermine's fur, which started to make him wonder if their fight was affecting the weather. Tiriaq didn't have time to dwell on those thoughts when he noticed the vehicles starting to leave. The soldiers were controlling the mounted guns on those vehicles and they fired into the tree line as they headed back to the landing zone.

"Come on Captain," urged the raccoon who drove the last vehicle. "We have to get out of here before more serpents arrive."

"Go ahead," Tiriaq said, glancing at the raccoon briefly. "I'm going to stay with the Admiral. He might need my help."

"Make sure you get back to the landing zone," commented the raccoon before stepping on the accelerator and launching the vehicle after the others.

The few times he tried to get a clear line to take out the hatchling, the Admiral kept getting in the way because of the mobility of the fight. The younglings' fight moved around the field, and Tiriaq gave them a wide berth. After giving up and aiding the Admiral, Tiriaq focused on hunting down the Creeper stragglers around the field, or those that were still falling through the clouds.

The crackling of thunder drew the ermine's attention, and he saw that lightning was emitting from Kazamde himself, reaching out for the Admiral. The fox dodged the strikes, which tore through the ground until they were separated by ten meters. The Admiral now stood on the neck of the dead serpent.

Tiriaq watched from next to one of the nearby trucks after he had just used it for cover to take out another straggler. He's never seen anything like it before, how could the Creeper conduct electricity and use it as a weapon?

The wind again started to grow stronger, and the rain was replaced with snow and the temperature was cold enough that the blood in the dead serpent started to freeze before it drained from its body.

"You must know that you are going to lose this battle," Kazadme said with his voice raised. There wasn't any bit of exhaustion in his voice despite the intense fight.

"I am only here to kill you, Kazamde," replied the Admiral.

Without another word, the Admiral threw the strange blade at Kazamde and charged forward while he pulled out his secondary weapon, his sword. The hatchling dodged the thrown weapon but the Admiral gained the opportunity to ram into Kazamde and aim for a vital area with the sword. The hatchling dodged, having the sword go under his arm instead of piercing through his heart.

The Admiral's next moves were too fast for Tiriaq to follow. He only was able to see the fox rolling into the reptilian, somehow grab the spear from the reptilian's grip, spin and drive it through the reptilian's chest. The end of the spear appeared through the back of Kazamde, and blood swelled from the wound.

Kazamde stumbled back, clenching his fangs. Blood started to leak from his mouth as he tried to speak. The mutterings from the Velmarian weren't audible to Tiriaq, and he felt like he had somehow missed out on why Kazamde failed to dodge that attack.

The Admiral took a step back, pulling his spear from the hatchling's body. The hatchling fell to his knees, and the Admiral put the spear at the tip of Kazamde's throat. With one thrust, the spear went clear through the hatchlings throat, similar to the first time the Admiral killed the hatchling before his infection.

The hatchling went limp, and fell to the ground once the Admiral pulled the spear from his throat. The blood stained the fox's white fur, but he started to move the body away from the meadow, and toward the tree line. Cautiously, Tiriaq approached the fox.

"We should head back to the landing zone, Admiral," he said hesitantly, watching the Admiral drag the body in a drier part of the meadow, under the trees. Creeper infections were still falling from the sky, and the battle sounds were still audible over the rough winds and rain.

"Stand back," instructed the Admiral. "If he's left alone too long, he'll warm up and his wounds will heal."

Doing as he was instructed, Tiriaq took a few steps back. The possibility of Kazamde recovering from the attacks seemed to be impossible considering the two very fatal wounds he's sustained. Admiral Alexander stepped back as well, before pulling a frozen small orb from his coat and tossing it onto the body of Kazamde.

The orb shattered and exploded in a misty display, leaving ice crystals covering the entire body and the surrounding ground. Tiriaq recognized it as the leathilium compound that fuels the ships to travel faster than light speeds. The Admiral stuck the end of his spear into the ice, instantly igniting it. The wave of heat was incredibly intense and nearly singed some of the ermine's fur.

The hatchling's body quickly turned to ash under the intense burn. They watched for a few minutes while the flames burned, but the battle was still being lost now that the lines were meaningless against the reinforcements falling from the sky.

Once the body of Kazamde was destroyed, the Admiral and Captain started heading back to the landing zone. They fought through the forests, but when they arrived, the landing zone was overrun with Creepers, including a dozen of the serpents.