FSE

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Stars stretched out in front a meerkat standing on the bridge of Drach'n Fury. The stars looked peaceful, as they once had when she first boarded this ship. It was difficult to believe that somewhere among those stars, at that moment, were thousands of her kin and alien races fighting and dying to the Creeper's reinforcements.

Canidera had been purged of the Creeper infestation by Yukiomaru so the war was going far better than it had five years ago. That won't be able to be said for much longer if the reports of deaths and defeat continue at the rate they were now.

With the thoughts of reports, Yelena was reminded that she had received one from the Guardians a couple minutes ago. She walked away from the view of the stars and sat in the commander's seat. With Yukiomaru off duty, she had the responsibility of commanding the ship until Yukiomaru's next shift started.

Opening the report, Yelena read over the words carefully. The translated document was from a scout that was surveying the system the Stealths originated from. Last time Yelena saw that planet, it was burning and its oceans were being evaporated due to the Guardians' bombardment. Nothing but a barren smoldering wasteland was to be expected there but the scout reports vegetation growing again.

"Creepers," muttered Yelena, her eyes reading over the text. The report emphasized the fact that the vegetation was growing at an alarming rate but there was no way to confirm it was the Creepers yet. Regardless of the lack of confirmation, the Creepers were growing behind the front line again.

"Cassander," Fury interrupted the meerkat while she was still reading. "New orders coming from Guardian commander."

"What is it Fury?" she asked directly. With a swipe of her paw, she closed the report and started searching for the new orders.

"We're being requested to go investigate the Stealth's homeworld," answered Fury. "Uproot the infestation if it is indeed the Creepers and rejoin the fleet as quickly as possible."

"I wonder why they won't send a burner fleet," Yelena mumbled to herself. "They are equipped to burn worlds faster than we are." Those burner fleets might be otherwise preoccupied with the front line battles to be bothered hitting a small world so far behind. "Alert Yukiomaru of our orders, and move away from the fleet. Set course to the Stealth homeworld."

"Yes, sir!" Fury responded.

Searching through the computer at the commander's seat, Yelena found the actual orders that were relayed to her. Reading through it, there was no suggestion of an army being grown there but the growth over such barren land was unusual. Drach'n Fury was equipped with personnel to possibly find out why the Creepers were able to root on the planet again, and Yukiomaru was capable of dealing with any significant threat.

"Yukiomaru has been made aware of the situation," Fury informed Yelena. "He request to be woken when we're near. Estimated time is about four hours."

"Thank you Fury," Yelena said. She checked the maps to see where they were in relation to the old Stealth world. They were relatively close, only a few star systems away. "Begin scans of the Stealth system. Let me know if you detect any presence of threats. Compile any useful data into a report for Yukiomaru so he's up to date when he wakes up."

Yelena hated to sit while on duty so she stood back up and paced across the bridge, keeping up to date with reports that were displayed over monitor screens. She also had the holographic map up that showed Drach'n Fury slowly approaching toward the designated coordinates. On the map was also the fleet that they separated from but it wouldn't be long before that fleet disappeared on the maps boundaries.

With the meerkat pacing around the bridge, she had her paws full with commanding the ship. Most of the crew had to be waken up while the ship was going into full alert and a briefing was sent to the officers.

"When we're in range of our short range scanners, scan the planet," ordered Yelena when they were an hour away. The ship was slowing down tremendously; they were nearly there. Yelena waited for a few minutes before she grew impatient. "Any signs of Creeper forces?"

"None beyond the infestation on the planet," replied Fury. "No defenses detected. No out-of-atmosphere forces detected. No offensive units detected."

"They're just growing on the planet with no intention of taking over this zone again?" questioned the meerkat. She knew that last time they were here, it was light defended but turned out to be a trap that nearly killed everyone who fought in that battle. She was growing concerned by the familiar feeling of ease approaching this planet.

Left alone on the bridge, Fury didn't bother offering his opinion. Instead he informed her that, "Yukiomaru Alexander and Jun Fa are on their way to the bridge."

Distracted from her thoughts, Yelena glanced at her PawPad for the time. "I wasn't going to have you wake him up for another fifteen minutes."

"He's awake," Fury stated. "He's updated on the situation."

Yelena was used to Fury being straightforward. It wasn't much different than Yukiomaru had acted; especially when they had first met years ago back in the academy.

The arctic fox that walked through the doors leading to the bridge still had that serious expression but with the marten behind him, he somehow looked different. Over these years he's learned to let down his guard surrounding his emotions, even if it was just a little.

"Admiral," she said, saluting the fox. "I had not yet expected you. We're closing in on the Stealth homeworld and will be there within the hour."

"Thank you Yelena," said Yukiomaru, being far less formal. His eyes locked onto the map and his expression showed his concentration. "It's Euno."

The pine marten that had followed Yukiomaru on the bridge didn't react to that but his posture slumped slightly at the last two words.

"The Perfected Infection?" asked Yelena. "Wouldn't he be raising a bigger threat here if it were one of them?"

Yukiomaru remained quiet while he was going over his thoughts. His gaze was still staring at the map, which zoomed in on the updated scans of the planet.

"This is where Kazamde was killed, isn't it?" questioned the pine marten. Yukiomaru nodded slightly but still kept his silence. "Choosing the same location, and growing an non-threatening infestation here, I think he's trying to lure Yukiomaru."

The marten still stood next to the fox but he looked down at him and placed a paw on his shoulder. "You don't have to go Yukiomaru. He could be setting a trap for you."

"I don't think it's a trap," Yukiomaru replied. His stare on the holographic planet broke and he looked from Yelena to Jun. "Either way we can't allow this infestation to take root after we had already cleared this sector of the Creepers. Keep our forces on the ship. I'll go down and remove Euno from the planet."

"Yuki, you don't have to do this alone," Jun said. "We can just burn out the infestation from orbit."

"Thanks Jun," Yukiomaru said, smiling up at the taller marten briefly. "But I'm the only one that can kill Euno."

"Nishant Gerbo can," remarked Jun. His eyes were staring into the arctic fox's, and it was easy to detect the concern he felt for him.

"Pilot Gerbo is heading for the front line," Yukiomaru reminded the marten. "He's way ahead of us and the fleet, it'd take too long for him to come back here to deal with one infection."

Yelena stood near by wand watched Jun try to convince Yukiomaru to avoid fighting the creature named Euno. She had seen what the Creepers' infection had granted Yukiomaru, and the others called Perfected Infections. Their raw power was capable of changing the landscapes of any world. For Yukiomaru to go up against that had caused her to worry for the little fox's safety as well. Yukiomaru was always rational and practical though.

"Do you really think you can defeat Euno on your own?" Yelena asked. The pine marten and arctic fox turned to look at her. Jun's look begged for support to keep the fox out of harm's way. Yukiomaru stared at her blankly for a moment before he answered with a nod.

"I can do it," he answered, staring right into her eyes. The same words that Yelena had once trusted the fox with before, and had come to learn to believe the fox could do anything he said he could.

Yelena had disliked the arctic fox when she was in the academy. The fox was getting a tremendous amount of attention in his training, and she was part of a select few students that were chosen to do nothing more than to help train the kit.

When she had seen the arctic fox fight with his trainers though, she couldn't help but to admire how he was on par with trainers that defeated her. The fox must have weighed no more than sixteen kilograms when he was put up against a rather mean-spirited trainer that weighed over forty kilograms.

Yelena, being fascinated with the fox's capabilities, had started to sneak into the gym during his training sessions. She watched the fox go up against several trainers, secretly wishing that the trainers would win and that the fox wouldn't be seen as so special anymore, but each time the fox was able to stay up to par.

One late evening, the fox was fighting with a trainer that didn't hesitate to use cheap tactics to win. Yelena watched from a dark corner while the trainer used his weight to throw heavy attacks at the much smaller fox.

The first attack was a punch thrown at Yukiomoaru, who dodged it by jumping back. The punch missed but the trainer placed that paw on the ground and used his momentum to swing a low kick at Yukiomaru. The fox kept dodging the attacks, unable to get in reach for a counter attack, while he was slowly being pushed into a corner.

With nowhere to go, the trainer used his longer reach to his advantage and attacked the fox again. When the fox tried to dodge the attack, the trainer grabbed hold of him and pulled him into a crushing grip to the trainer's chest. The trainer squeezed Yukiomaru, making his bones audibly pop under the strain and eliciting a few painful screams from the fox. Yukiomaru had his arms being squeezed to his sides, his legs failing to land a crippling kick. He struggled back against the trainer but there was little he could do in a grip like that.

Yukiomaru's painful screams continued. For the first time Yelena was starting to feel sorry for the fox. Why was the trainer still hurting him? This wasn't training, it was just cruel. They were torturing the fox.

A loud crack was heard echoing through the gym, and the fox's arm was suddenly pulled from its socket. Yukiomaru's painful scream that followed was painful to Yelena's ears. The earsplitting cry was soon replaced by another crack.

Yelena still didn't know if the fox had acted on reflex but when his arm dislocated, he brought his hindpaws up and to the best of the trainer's trousers. He extended his claws, digging into the fur and flesh of his trainer and pushed off to give him a slight bit of room from the grip. Claws still dug into his trainer, he pushed himself up and over the trainer's arms, grabbed on of the trainer' paws, and flipped backwards away from the trainer. The result of him holding onto the trainer's paw twisted the paw with Yukiomaru's weight and broke the wrist of his trainer.

The trainer reeled back with a painful and angry yell, while Yukiomaru landed on the ground and slumped to one knee. His left arm was dangling at his side, no longer useful for the fight.

When Yelena saw the trainer recover from the broken wrist, he charged at Yukiomaru and kicked him hard enough that he flew across the arena.

"Stop!" Yelena had yelled and ran over to the arena. The trainer was surprised to see her and only growled more. She ran over the fox who was standing back up and stood to protect the fox that she had disliked so much. "He's hurt."

"You're not supposed to be in here," said the trainer with a rude and accusing tone. He continued to hold his broken wrist with his other paw. "Alexander's training is not to be interfered with by the other students. Obviously, it's far more extreme than what you're capable of handling. Now get out!"

Yelena had placed herself between the small fox kit, and the trainer so she was surprised when she felt Yukiomaru brush pass her. He turned to look at her, with a blank expression before promising, "I'll beat him."

"Do you really think you can beat him when you're injured like that?" Yelena asked. "You shouldn't have to through with this."

"I can do it," Yukiomaru promised. His expression remained blank but it changed slightly, just for a moment, which Yelena could have sworn that she saw Yukiomaru appreciate the fact that she stood up for him. Hesitantly, she stepped back.

She watched Yukiomaru resume sparring with the trainer. The trainer tried his best to exploit Yukiomaru's injured arm but the fox started to take riskier moves by getting inside the reach of the trainers attacks. Normally it wouldn't have worked but Yukiomaru attacked at the unpredictable moments. He landed hits on the trainer more than the trainer landed hits on him.

No more serious injuries were placed on the other but after five minutes, they were both exhausted and beaten that the trainer finally decided to call it off.

"Take Yukiomaru... to the infirmary," ordered the trainer to Yelena. He was sitting against a pillar trying to catch his breath and holding his broken wrist again. Yukiomaru walked over to the meerkat, unsteady on his hindpaws.

"Told you," he muttered before collapsing to the ground. Yelena sprinted over to him and checked to see if he was all right.

"Be careful with his arm," said the trainer, still breathing heavy and wincing when he moved. He then muttered to himself, "He's getting too good." The trainer then picked himself up and walked over to Yelena, who had picked up the fox. "This way."

Yukiomaru was placed on a bed in the infirmary and he was unconscious for the rest of the day but the trainer was also placed in a bed. Yelena couldn't help but to admire Yukiomaru; it was brave of him to continue fighting with an injury that would have crippled her.

From that day, Yelena had continued to assist the fox by trying to beat his ruthless trainers and teachers. The very rare times Yukiomaru had some time between training and studying, Yelena had become adept to looking after him as if she was his big sister. She had come to learn that the fox's confidence wasn't out of ignorance, but it was logical, rational and well-founded.

His confidence now was no different, even if he was flying down to a planet to face a far stronger foe that the trainer he beat many, many years ago.

"I'm not sure if it's a good idea for Yukiomaru to go down there alone," said Jun, watching the fighter fly into the planet's atmosphere.

"Don't worry Jun," said Yelena, turning to the pine marten. The marten stared at the map, obviously filled with worry. She smiled at Jun; even with everything that has been going on they have found time to learn to really care about each other. "Yukiomaru says he can beat Euno so we have to trust him. He always keeps his word, and will never make a promise he can't keep."

"I know," Jun responded. "He will do his best to defeat Euno, but I'm worried about what it'll do to him."

"What do you mean?" asked Yelena. She knew that Yukiomaru had been struggling with what had happened to him ever since he was infected. He hated fighting this war but this would be a step towards finishing it.

"Yuki misses my parents," Jun said. "He didn't know them for long but they were like parents to him. The Creepers killed them though. Under all that training and his serious demeanor, Yuki really is sweet. He cares for me, you and all of us. He wants to protect us, and the fact that he can't is tearing him up inside. You know that Yuki wants to stop fight too, right?"

"I do."

"Yuki wants to stop all this fighting. He wants to go home, and have others around him that really care about him and just not about his military career. Ever since we rescued him from Velmaria, he has been worried that his fighting to destroy the Creepers will make others care less about him. As if he's become some sort of evil being for doing what he does. I wish he'd stop torturing himself. I wish he'd stop fighting."

"Yukiomaru has always been sensitive," Yelena stated. She watched the marten's eyes glaze over as he was getting upset over the topic.

"I hate to see him tear himself up over things that he can't control," muttered Jun. "I wish he knew how much I love him. I wish this war was over."

"Me too," replied Yelena. Yukiomaru's ship was landing soon so she focused her attention on the planet, since the atmosphere started to shift. Whatever reason Euno had to draw Yukiomaru here would soon be found out.