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Knowledge of having a few days off normally didn't affect Yukiomaru. Never has his motivation ever been anything other than improving his own military prowess. Now that had changed when he had started to desire the company of a marten that had supported him since the first time they learned about the Creepers.

With Jun, he had surveyed the top of the circular facility. Blass surrounded them on both sides, one showed the storms aggressively attacking the structure, but looking into the facility was bright, and full of green foliage. The Sanctuary, a biodome that harbored all life that they could salvage and save from the artificial storms, was the last place on the planet that supported the native life.

Rivers, lakes and hills were all part of the rebuilt landscape that housed hundreds of different animal species. The metallic walls that enclosed it were full of the planet's citizens but few were permitted to the tranquility of the Sanctuary's biodome.

The fox and the marten were allowed access after they had visited the top of the facility that overlooked the biodome and frozen wasteland outside.

Yukiomaru could smell the earthly scent of the trees, and hear the birds tweeting. The dirt and grass he felt on the pads of his hindpaws felt soft. The bright rooftop of the dome was as bright as the sun, illuminating the colorful trees. The fox walked side by side with the marten until they came across a small stream. The sound of it alone made Yukiomaru's throat feel dry.

"The dome itself is slightly heated," explained the marten. They sat next to the stream, and Yukiomaru couldn't resist taking a short drink. "That way no snow builds up and risk collapsing the structure. It grants the facility plenty of water not only for those who reside in the facility but also these streams and lakes."

"Water and electricity seem rather abundant here," mentioned Yukiomaru. He wiped the water dripping from his muzzle with a paw. He smiled at Jun, pleased to hear how well the facility was doing. "What happens after the storms disappear?"

"We'll deconstruct the glass dome and allow the foliage to spread back out to the planet," Jun answered. "The facility will remain to be the base of operations for rebuilding it all."

"I'm considering talking with the Lead General now that we've conquered much of the Creepers territory," started Yukiomaru. "We can start to focus on our civilization. Draw a perimeter and defend it while we offer some of our forces to aid the others in the fight."

"Dropping us down a level is a bit selfish," remarked Jun but his tone of voice wasn't chastising.

"I suppose so," the fox muttered. "I suppose I am destined to continue this war."

"That is not exactly what I said though," said the marten optimistically. A slight change in the circulated breeze made the trees sigh. "You have done enough Yukiomaru."

"I agree." The voice did not belong to the fox.

Yukiomaru's fur instantly bristled hearing the strange accented voice. The fox jumped to his hindpaws and twisted to look at the trees. Jun was more hesitant and confused by a strange presence and slowly stood up and peered at the trees. Emerged was an amphibian that Jun had met with not long before Yukiomaru had returned.

"Euno, what're you doing here?" asked the marten, still confused about the intrusion.

The intrusion elicited a different reaction from the arctic fox. His heart skipped a beat and sped tremendously. The fur on his neck and tail expanded, every fur on his body slowly standing on end. A low growl started to rumble deep within his throat, with his lips quivering at the sight of the amphibian creature.

"What do you want?" growled Yukiomaru. Every instinct in his body screamed for him to attack but they were in the place of the planet's last hope. Without taking his eyes off the alien, Yukiomaru stepped in front of Jun, pushing the marten behind him.

"I'm seeing why you'd sacrifice every ecosystem on the planet in exchange for this frozen wasteland," said Euno. He stopped no more than a couple meters away once he cleared the tree line. "Yukiomaru Alexander, the one who burns prospering planets."

"Yuki?" muttered Jun. The wind in the dome was starting to act erratic.

"Our civilization has learned to coexist with the natural ecosystems of the planets," Yukiomaru said. Each of his words were emphasized by his growl. "You attacked us indiscriminately. Offered no negotiation or even a chance to surrender!"

"Aggressor was older than you know," replied Euno. "His motivation for specifically attacking your race is unknown even to us. Even so the memory you witnessed while incubating should be enough to agree that there are always a few good but it is too costly to try to save them."

"Don't speak of that dream to me!" screamed Yukiomaru at the top of his lungs. He took an aggressive step toward the amphibian. "I will never accept it! Kazamde's crimes were nothing compared to that offense against me!"

Alarms started to blare in the distance, echoing from the facility walls, spreading into the Sanctuary dome itself. Jun stepped back speaking to his PawPad and alerted the facility, and defense fleets of the breach. He paused for a moment when he noticed the wind dropping the temperature rapidly.

The fox was ignorant to the erratic winds, or even the fact that the stream near them had a thin layer of ice forming on the surface.

"Calm yourself," said Euno, his voice calm. "I am not here to conflict with you or your military. Only to observe."

"Your observations are done here," Yukiomaru growled.

"Yuki," muttered Jun softly.

The white fur on the fox fell slightly and he glanced back at Jun. He noticed the weather then and more of his fur fell with his expression lighting up. Still with his tail bristled, he returned his glare to Euno.

"How'd you resist the Blessing?" asked Euno. He wore no other expression than a blank one. It was impossible to read his emotions. "You were being held for longer than it should take for the memory and Blessing to manifest."

"My name is Yukiomaru Alexander," declared the arctic fox. "No matter what you do to my mind, I will always remember that I am Yukiomaru Alexander!"

Euno and Yukiomaru stared at each other, neither saying a word. Their stare lasted only a few seconds until the amphibian broke it and looked away.

"Very well," said Euno. "Yukiomaru Alexander, I thought you'd like to know that your forces and your allies have upset our race. While you try to forget what you've done, our retribution has arrived on the front lines. Do not take us lightly; and be warned, my desire to observe is not permanent, nor universal. When I say you've done enough, it is true that you have done enough to intrigue the other Blessed into testing you. You killing Kazamde is an interesting matter to them."

The amphibian turned back toward the trees and walked away. Yukiomaru did not take his eyes from the creature, even after he was out of view. He could now sense the amphibian's presence, and would have been able to earlier if he hadn't let his guard down. The Creepers have breached the battle lines and reached Canidera again, and that knowledge had submerged Yukiomaru back into reality.

His fur remained bristled while he contemplated the fact that a Perfected Infection was here on Canidera, and what he had said about the Creeper's retribution. What was said angered Yukiomaru but most of that anger was directed at himself. He had failed again.

The more he thought on his failures the more it upset him, causing soft growl and tears to escape him.

"Yuki," Jun said again, placing a paw gently on his shoulder. "Our teams are coming in to search for Euno. Our defense fleets are rallying around the planet so that he doesn't escape."

"He's gone," said Yukiomaru, feeling the absence of the other Perfected Infection. "You can't stop him. He's off planet now."

"Still, we need to make sure he didn't spread any infection, and we need to defend ourselves against a potential attack," remarked Jun. "We're trying to rush communications from the frontline to see if what Euno says is true. I've also sent news to quicken progress on Drach'n Fury."

"I truly am destined to fight this war," muttered Yukiomaru. He still didn't dare to even glance at the marten. "It follows me. I started it! Only I can finish it."

"There's nothing we can do right now," said Jun. He was cautious of Yukiomaru's behavior. He had hoped the fox had gotten over his self-blame. "Drach'n Fury will need at least a few more days to be completed. Let's go back inside. The teams will tests Sanctuary for any sign of infection."

Struggling to contain his emotions, Yukiomaru agreed and followed Jun back into the facility. The station was on high-alert and locked down. The patrols on duty escorted Jun and Yukiomaru to their quarters that they have been staying in where they were required to remain while the facility was searched.

"I'll be in the shower," declared Yukiomaru. The anxiety of not being able to do anything was frustrating to him but he knew that if he were to battle with another Perfected Infection here, it'd compromise the entire project. The shower was designed with no door or curtain. Instead it relied on two walls that overlapped each other, leaving a small walkway between them to enter the shower, to keep the water in.

Stripped of his clothes, the arctic fox stepped under the hot water. Even though it wasn't incredibly hot, an unnatural amount of condensation could be seen falling to the ground around the naked fox' hindpaws like fog.

Even with the constant stream of hot water impacting his fur, and the tile around, Yukiomaru could hear that Jun had followed him in. The marten glanced at Yukiomaru around the corner of the shower-side wall.

"Are you all right, Yuki?" he asked with concern detectable in his voice.

Yukiomaru glanced at Jun, thinking on how to answer. Hot water ran through his soaked fur on his back. He wasn't concerned about his nudity. With a sigh, the fox leaned back against the opposite wall and slid down and sat on the floor. He curled his soaked tail around himself and kept his stare on Jun.

"I was being selfish," said Yukiomaru finally.

Jun entered the shower more, and stayed clear of the water the best he could because he still had his clothes on. However he was not concerned of getting wet when he sat down next to the arctic fox.

"I had hoped to stay here," admitted Yukiomaru shamefully. His ears folded back on his head, and he stared at the water circling around the drain on the ground. "Remember when I left Canidera four years ago? I said I didn't want to fight any more. I still don't, but now it is worse because I want to stay here with you. That is all I want."

"I want you to stay too, Yukiomaru," Jun confessed. He had to raise his voice slightly to be audible over the constant splatter of the shower water falling on tile. "We don't know what's going on at the front line yet but I'm sure they'll need your help. I... I only hope that you will allow me to go with you this time."

"It's too dangerous," muttered Yukiomaru. His golden eyes remained staring at the floor. "Drach'n Fury has been in more than a few battles that nearly cost us the ship."

The sound of the shower filled the silence that passed between the two of them until the marten cautiously brought up the subject he knew Yukiomaru hated.

"What did they do to you?" he asked. "What is the 'memory' that Euno was talking about?"

Yukiomaru hesitated before he answered. "I thought I told you: they showed me a false life; one where the civilization ignorantly destroyed its own planet. I was there and felt helpless to do anything about it. A hatred for them was born and it burned inside me until it corrupted my very essence. Compared to that civilization, the Creeper's planets look like a sanctuary."

"Why does it bother you so much?" Jun asked, still being cautious about the subject.

"Because," Yukiomaru had started to say but he hesitated again. He only wished to have all those memories of being in captivity forced from his mind. He didn't want to talk about them, or ever bring them up again. "Because I fear that it wasn't just a dream... That I might go back and be stuck there. I still wonder if this is all real." His lip started to quiver as he tried to suppress a growl. "Living that other life was as real as all of this. And even if this is my reality, I've failed and doomed our race that I love so much!"

His paws were starting to shake as he clenched them into fist, his claws digging into his own flesh. Jun placing a paw on his shoulder was the only thing to calm him down. "If you won't allow me to go with you, then I'll find my own way toward the front line. Yukiomaru, you are a brother to me and I will respect your decision but I know you need help. I will stay safe behind the frontlines but close enough that we can communicate easily, and see each other more often."

Yukiomaru contemplated the marten's words for a few seconds. He turned to look into the marten's blue eyes and smiled, content with Jun's decision. "I guess I can't stop you from doing that." Jun returned the smile when he heard Yukiomaru's compliance. "When will Drach'n Fury be declared fit for duty?"

"Shipyard Master Halls is calling his staff to start working overtime on it so it's hard to say but he still predicts a few more days," answered Jun, now speaking more openly. "He mentioned something about anomalies with the hull and measurements, or something. I figured it was just damage from your battles but he seemed concerned about it so it will at least be a few more days."

"Are there refugees living here in Sanctuary?" questioned Yukiomaru. After his few days of only asking what Jun was doing, he was now taking an interest in the progress on Canidera.

"We house approximately two million here," answered Jun. "Most of them are the workers and their families. They all don't get rooms like this one with their own shower. Public showers and restrooms are available for most of them. This room is reserved for the managers running the project if they need to stay here for a few days on business."

"Tang mentioned something about the equator and the battles there?" continued Yukiomaru.

"Yes, the Creepers are sheltering down near there and are providing a stiff resistance," Jun replied. "I think they know that it's their last stand on this planet."

"How long until we estimate we have them eradicated?"

"Up to two years."

Yukiomaru stood from the floor, his fur still dripping with water. The condensation that had formed the low fog had lifted, allowing all the water to be vented for recycling. Jun stood up with him, and felt the weight of the water not only in his fur but soaked through his clothes. He hastily took them off and gathered them in his arms so that he could have them dried soon.

"Then I will join the frontlines at the equator, and finish the battle before I depart for the frontlines beyond the Black Line," announced Yukiomaru, stepping toward the exit of the shower. He stopped and glanced back at Jun briefly. "I'm tired of suffering because of the Creepers. I am sure we all are so we'll turn off the generators next week and restore our planet to what it once was."

Yukiomaru exited the shower and went to dry his fur. Regardless of the lockdown, the fox was determined to finish this battle. Then he would go and destroy the Creeper's reinforcements.