FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Viewing out from the cockpit of the fighter, the arctic fox could see half of the planet. He had expected the planet to have scars after what the Guardian fleet bombed it. Rather than a red and black charred planet, it had green covering the continents.

There were even rivers and small seas forming already again. The oceans were completely evaporated by the bombing, but all that water had fallen back to the ground. The temperature of the planet would have been raised and it'd take millions of years for it to settle back into habitable planet again. Now the planet has been unnaturally changed in a very short amount of time. Obviously it required a tremendous amount of energy to transform the planet like this.

Yukiomaru scanned the planet for any unusual fluctuations in the planet's electromagnetic fields or the weather. The slight glow from his monitors reflected a slight blue off the white fur of Yukiomaru, until it turned a slight purple as a portion of the monitor highlighted unusual activity in red. A lot of energy was being emitted across a large span of ground; the Creeper infestation was growing there at a rapid rate. There's where Euno would be.

Adjusting his trajectory, Yukiomaru's ship started to rattle as it fought against the atmosphere. Inside the ship the fox felt nothing more than a slight vibration. The ride to the surface would be the easiest part of this mission.

Kazamde had the same affect on Velmaria. Yukiomaru remembered reading the report of his rescue and the details about the planet being overgrown with unnatural vegetation. He didn't even know that there was that much water on that planet to support all that growth, but Kazamde managed it.

This planet was different though, it suffered the bombardment and was deteriorating ever since. Euno not only stopped that, but reversed it in a fraction of the time it took Kazamde to build his forces on Velmaria, and try to infect the fox. Euno was on Canidera not long ago; and the scouts would have seen the growth on the planet if it were being grown before then. The creature on the surface now must be stronger than Kazamde.

Yukiomaru realized that Jun and Yelena were worried about him because of this. He knew the danger but he couldn't ignore it or run away. It'd follow him and always find him. With a war against a parasitic race like the Creepers, the only way to end it is through victory or absolute defeat. Defeat wasn't an option.

Yukiomaru knew with his infection, he was a great asset in the war. After all he did kill Kazamde that could have been a disastrous enemy. He still hated the war, and would like nothing more than to stop fighting. Maybe he could even find a cure for himself and live normally with Jun. That wouldn't happen until this war was over though, and the more he fought, the sooner it'd be over. The thought of abandoning his friends and kin in order to run away from the war was incomprehensible.

Whatever the reasons why he wanted to quit, the war simply did not allow it. Yukiomaru focused on where he was flying the ship again. He had broken through the atmosphere now and was flying parallel to the surface toward the target location. A lot of the vegetation was young, but there were several trees tall and thick as trees a dozen year old back on Canidera, before the planet was destroyed by the snowstorms of course.

Flying so fast overhead didn't offer the best view. The arctic fox scanned a clearing ahead and started to slow his fighter down. He circled around a large meadow, scanning for any sign of the Creeper but there was nothing down there but the foliage. Euno was nearby, Yukiomaru knew that. He lowered the ship and started to land; if Euno did decide to attack, the ship wouldn't provide any protection against it.

Grass moved like waves from the energy produced by the fighter until it finally stopped and hovered a dozen centimeters from the ground. The engine shut off, and the grass stood back up only to sway in the breeze. Yukiomaru opened the hatch up, breathing in the air of the planet for the first time since its destruction, and jumped out.

Landing on the ground, he grabbed his spear from his coat and looked around. There was no sign of Euno and he still wasn't making a move.

"You lured me here," Yukiomaru muttered to himself. "Now what do you want?"

There was no answer while the fox eyed the treeline. It was strange seeing this vegetation. It all was new, and never had a chance to go into a sleep cycle so there was no soft brush from the previous years. It was fresh and looked rather unnatural growing straight out of the dirt. He waited for several minutes but no answer.

Relaxing a bit, Yukiomaru sniffed at the air. There was no strange scent of the Creepers that this planet had before. A breeze stirred the leaves of the trees, and made the grass sway bringing a cool, crisp and fresh scent to the arctic fox. The trees had no vines that the Creepers favored to grow, and the few blossoms were so fragile that the wind took them from the trees and carried them off.

This vegetation looked nothing like a Creeper growth, that Yukiomaru has seen on dozens of other worlds. In fact, most if it was very similar to the plant species that grew on Canidera. It wasn't hostile at all.

"Where are you Euno?" asked Yukiomaru, feeling as if the peaceful scenery was luring him into a trap.

With the disturbance caused the fighter ship Yukiomaru landed fading, and the breeze settling, the world sounded eerily quiet. No song of birds, no chirping of insects, and not even a far off howl. Only the soft breeze that brushed against the leaves of the trees and bushes gave life the planet. Underneath all that though the soft sound of a stream.

Yukiomaru turned toward the sound and looked up at the sky. All the water of the planet was evaporated and yet so little was in the sky. There were only a few clouds above the arctic fox. The planet had very few lakes that he saw from orbit too; a lot of that water must've been used to grow this vegetation.

Still without even sensing the presence of the Perfected Creeper, Yukiomaru decided to explore. He stepped toward the sound of the stream, heading straight for the tree line. Stopping at the first tree that grew on the edge of the meadow, Yukiomaru looked up at its leaves. There were a few blossoms among them but they looked nothing like the hostile type that had possessed a threat before.

He took once glance back at the fighter ship, seeing that it was still left alone. If Euno wanted to strand him on the planet, he must have known that Drach'n Fury is overhead. If the fighter ship is destroyed, an evacuation team will be sent. Considering how the war was going, and how much they need every new ship they can get, Yukiomaru was still hesitant to leave the fighter unprotected.

Regardless, Yukiomaru couldn't wait forever for Euno to show himself. Turning back to the trees, Yukiomaru stepped into the woods. He heard the trees move with every slight change in air pressure, and the sound of water running over rocks. No movement of an animal, threat or otherwise, could be heard.

Through the trees and with the sound of the stream growing louder, something sparkled in Yukiomaru's direction. It caught his eye and he tensed for a moment before he realized it was a reflection of sunlight off of water. The arctic fox took a few more steps through the trees until he found himself on the shore of a lake. The water was incredibly clear for being so fresh of a lake, and there was lots of aquatic vegetation underneath the surface. The lake didn't look swampy with the weeds growing from its base, but instead it was almost like another fresh meadow.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Yukiomaru jumped at the voice. Without a doubt that voice belonged to Euno. He took a fighter stance turned back to the woods in search of the alien.

"Relax, Yukiomaru Alexander," said Euno again. His voice originated from the lake. The arctic fox turned back to the water, being reminded that Euno looked to be of an amphibian race. That silver and blue creature was sitting a rock, staring back at Yukiomaru. "Please do not try to attack me here. I put a lot of work into making this planet habitable again. Don't you like it?"

Yukiomaru glared at the alien. "Why'd you lure me down here?"

"To show you what we can do," said Euno. He stood up on the rock before wading into the water, coming closer to the fox. Yukiomaru took a few steps back. "Tell me what you think of this planet."

"It's infested," Yukiomaru said. He remembered how an old enemy that nearly killed him, left his with a scar through his chest, had been able to be domestic. Slowly hesitantly lowered his weapon and relaxed from his stance a little more.

"Come now," Euno said. He waved one of his webbed paws at the trees across the lake behind him. "Doesn't this look familiar?"

Yukiomaru glanced at the trees behind Euno. "It looks like Canidera, before your race came and destroyed our civilization and our planet."

"Aggressor attacked you," Euno said, glancing straight into Yukiomaru's eyes. "Do you hold me accountable for Aggressor's actions? Should I hold you accountable for the actions of your pirating race? Velmarians, I believe they were called." Yukiomaru was taken back by that. His eyes widened slightly at the thought but it wasn't comprehensible. The Creepers have attacked thousands of races indiscriminately.

"With the power Kazamde gave you, you can regrow Canidera to what it once was," Euno continued, smirking slightly. "What we can do is make a planet habitable. Imagine this planet in a thousand years if it is left alone. It will prosper. Animal species will evolve again. Now imagine if the Stealth race returns; nature will be divided by their cities and roads again. The planet will start to die again."

"Canidera can take care of itself," said Yukiomaru, defensively. "It will take time but we do not need to interfere with nature."

"That is exactly what we're trying to do," Euno said. "Stop the plague of civilizations from interfering with nature."

"And my civilization?" snapped Yukiomaru, taking an aggressive step toward the amphibian alien. He gripped his spear tighter. "We're just another plague for you to eradicate?"

"You are overpopulated," answered Euno, his voice turning threatening.

"That gives you permission to attack us? Kill millions of us?" yelled Yukiomaru.

"It is necessary," said Euno. A rumble that represented a growl rolled from his words.

Yukiomaru's fur bristled at the last word. He swung the end of his spear at Euno, who easily sidestepped it. The arctic fox didn't move to attack again. "Necessary? We have known for thousands of years what overpopulation can do. We keep our population from spreading over so that resources will last forever. It is your war that you brought to us that had destroyed the planet, destroyed those resources and destroyed our lives!"

"You value your lives too highly," Euno said with that strange growl. "We are all part of the ground we evolved from. When we die, we go back to the ground. Except when you burn that ground, like the dozens of worlds your fleets have destroyed."

Yukiomaru growled deep in his throat. Euno wasn't going to be persuaded as he had hoped. Why did Euno even bother trying to be diplomatic with him if he was going to insult him and call his life, the life of his friends, meaningless?

The arctic fox slashed the spear at Euno. The alien ducked to dodge the attack and lunged at Yukiomaru to counterattack. Aiming a closed webbed fist at Yukiomaru's gut, the fox sidestepped, and brought the butt end of the his spear up to smack Euno. It missed like the first attack when the alien rolled in mid air.

They both took a step back from the other to regain their stance.

"So you would destroy this world?" Euno asked rhetorically. "This planet is recovering with no threat of the military Creepers, and yet you'd destroy it?"

It was still too big of a risk to let Creeper grown foliage to be left behind the front lines. Answering in kind, Yukiomaru attacked, thrust the spear at Euno's silvery chest. A freezing breeze travelled with the spear, freezing the moisture in the air. Euno jumped back, the moment his webbed feet touched the ground, he sprung forward again going around Yukiomaru's spear.

The arctic fox used weapons and paws to fight the alien, but he could not land a hit. Yukiomaru's reflexes could hardly keep up with Euno's attacks, the same way he had difficulty with Kazamde. Except, Euno was faster and was more resistant to the cold that slowed Kazamde down, which eventually allowed Yukiomaru to kill him.

A kick was thrown at Yukiomaru. He didn't have enough time to dodge, so he reflexively blocked. The kick was far stronger than the arctic fox had anticipated. The blow bent his wrist back and still landed squarely on his chest. The fox was thrown back back from the hit, feeling his wrist had been sprained. The fox managed to landed on his hindpaws. At the same moment there was a series of loud _pop_s.

Euno that had lunged to attack Yukiomaru again was cut off by a series of plasma-based projectiles. The fox glanced over to see who it was, to only have his heart sink at the sight of the pine marten.

"Jun?" he questioned. "What're you doing here?"

"Jun Fa," said Euno, relaxing from his fighter stance. "I was under the impression that you would have known what Yukiomaru Alexander and me are like. And yet you interfere, knowing that you will be most likely killed?"

Yukiomaru growled at Euno and shot him a threatening glare.

"We protect each other, Euno," Jun said. His rifle was still raised and aimed squarely at the alien. "I would give my life for Yukiomaru's."

"Jun," remarked the arctic fox glancing at the marten. Was he trying to provoke Euno? It'd be best if he would stay quiet and just leave.

"That is illogical," said Euno. He looked to be actually confused. "Yukiomaru Alexander is the stronger fighter but you are valuable to your citizens. There's nothing to gain from sacrificing your life for his."

"I wouldn't give my life just in hopes of winning the war," Jun said. "I would do it because I care for Yukiomaru."

"Care for him?" questioned the alien. His large eyes glanced from the marten to the fox. Both of them were about to defend the other, with far less regard to their own safety. It brought a nostalgic feeling to Euno but he couldn't remember why.

Mingling in large groups always brought disaster to planets. The planet's safety was top priority, but it wasn't the only priority. Slowly the alien started to realize the love between Yukiomaru and Jun. Through war and infection, these two would not turn on each other no matter how bad it got. Their whole race was like that.

"Protect the innocent," Euno said to them suddenly. He turned and walked back to the lake without another word, or a glance back.

Yukiomaru and Jun glanced at each other and exchanged confused glances. Looking back after Euno, he seemed to have vanished completely. He was no longer even in the area.

"Let's go," said Jun. Yukiomaru nodded and followed the marten back toward the meadow. "Are we going to ravage this world again?"

"No," Yukiomaru answered. He didn't know why Jun was so reckless to come down to the surface, and fire a weapon at Euno. Still, he was grateful that Jun intervened; and was flattered that he would do that for Yukiomaru. "It's no threat. Euno won't risk having this world bombarded by creating a hostile infection. We should study this planet instead."

"Very well, Yukiomaru."

The fox smiled at Jun, who was still slightly taller. The marten smiled back at him.