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Fire blossomed around the southern hemisphere of a green and lush planet. On the dark side it was easy to see that a fierce battle was being waged in orbit, no matter how small the battle was. Drach'n Fury was at the heart of that battle, surrounded by basic infections of the Creeper race. There were no infected ships, warrior-class infections or anything of a serious threat but there was plenty of resistance.

The crew of Drach'n Fury was alone; so far out from the battle that raged against two powerful forces that they were even out of communication range. Fury did not relent from his assault though, as the ship used every piece of arsenal he had at his disposal.

Creepers from the planet threw themselves at Drach'n Fury, but missiles or artillery ballistics targeted and destroyed them. Two squadrons of Immunity-class single fighters also protected the ship while they drew closer the inner levels of the planet's atmosphere. Once Drach'n Fury was close to the planet, the rest of the smaller ships launched. Lightly armored, a adolescent arctic fox piloted one Immunity himself.

"Pilot Cooper, keep your squadron close," Yukiomaru ordered. He sat behind the controls of the Immunity as it was launched out of the warship. Joining the battle outside, he could see his squadrons were effectively destroying the resistance. Drach'n Fury was firing its artillery rounds to punch a hole in the resistance, but still reserving its main cannons.

"Yes, Admiral," replied the experienced pilot. Flanking on both sides of Yukiomaru's ship was a squadron of Immunities.

The arctic fox accelerated straight for the planet below. It was still dark on this side of the planet, which allowed him to see that there was a storm brewing below.

"Escort my vessel into the atmosphere but break off immediately and cover air support," Yukiomaru ordered. "Do not stray towards the surface at all costs."

They're waiting for me.

A school of large infected winged creatures crossed Yukiomaru's path, but another pair of Immunities were trailing them and effectively destroying them. The resistance was incredibly light for what Yukiomaru expected.

A bright orange wall of fire started build around the shields of Yukiomaru's fighter. The friction of the planet cause no more than the usual turbulence and soon Yukiomaru slowed down enough that he could fly easily in the atmosphere of the planet.

"Break off Pilot Cooper," the Admiral ordered once they made it into the lower levels of the atmosphere. On his tracking sensor, there were more hostiles in the darkness but Yukiomaru ignored them. His escort broke off as ordered and started to hunt down those hostiles, allowing Yukiomaru to head straight for the surface.

Passing through a few stormy clouds, Yukiomaru's ship scanned the ground and gave him a landing zone. It did not take Yukiomaru long to land the ship and exit.

Stepping on to the ground, Yukiomaru looked around in the darkness. His eyes naturally adjusted to the darkness to see it well enough almost as if there was a full moon out, despite the cloud cover. Taking in a deep breath, Yukiomaru's assumption that the atmosphere was rich with oxygen was confirmed.

He glanced back up at the sky to see that the battle was visible through the clouds with dull flashes making their way through the moisture; the Immunities fighting in the higher levels of atmosphere, and Drach'n Fury fighting in low orbit. Gazing up at the sky, Yukiomaru remembered how much Jun had objected to coming to this planet. Certainly it did sound like a trap, because Euno told him where this planet was and who'd be on it but so far there was no sign of a trap. Regardless, they both knew that a trap would be preferable to the real battle that was to come. Not to mention that the crew objected to abandoning the armadas that were likely fighting the entirety of the Creeper's strength a few thousand lightyears away. The armadas just had to hold out because this battle Yukiomaru would be a key victory to ending the war.

The arctic fox gaze fell back to the dark landscape around him. He had landed in a large meadow bordering a lake and the start of a forest. There were no infected forms of Creeper trying to attack and swarm him; only the wind caused by the storm brewing overhead blowing over the trees.

Yukiomaru did not have to wait long until he could smell the approach of another creature. He picked up several different scents, but only one of them was recognizable.

"This is the one that turned our Blessing into a curse," came a heavy voice. Yukiomaru saw half a dozen silhouettes emerge from the trees. The two at the front appeared to be of the Guardian race and one of them nearby was a familiar amphibian race.

"Yukiomaru Alexander," remarked Euno while the group approached the fox. "I am surprised you came here when you knew you'd be outmatched. You cannot even defeat me."

Yukiomaru growled, his ears splaying and lips curling.

"So why did you come?" asked Euno.

The arctic fox did not answer, and only glared at Euno and the four other Perfected Infections that would be his opponents. Euno had gotten the best of him twice before, but Yukiomaru prided himself on learning from his mistakes. Still, Euno had mentioned that Kazamde was young, and weak. How much stronger are the others that have probably lived since the Guardian's homeworld fell.

Maybe it was a mistake coming here.

"It does not matter," answered the infected Guardian at the lead. "He has received the Blessing and yet has desecrated our planets. Our army is putting an end to his race and their allies, and we will put an end to this threat here."

"If you insist Elder," Euno said. "But five against one is poor odds for the little fellow."

Yukiomaru was confused by Euno's statement; it did not concede with the usual behavior that Yukiomaru has seen in his enemies. The Creepers always fought to win at all cost no matter how small the battle was.

I might have a chance to defeat them one on one.

"Very well," answered the Infected Guardian, the assumed leader. "Euno, since you delight in meddling with this creature, you fight him. You two as well." The leader pointed at the other guardian and some sort of winged creature that stood next to Euno.

Three?

Yukiomaru was not given a choice as the green and pink Guardian charged right at him. The arctic fox sidestepped the punch that was thrown at him, and counterattacked with a kick aimed for the body of the Creeper. With only one hindpaw on the ground, it quickly changed the direction of its momentum and dodged the counterattack.

Euno attacked in that instant Yukiomaru had attempted a counterattack. A hard blow was dealt to Yukiomaru's chest, practically shattering his armor. The painful force of the blow knocked all the wind from Yukiomaru's lungs and threw to the ground on his back. Skidding a meter in the dirty, Yukiomaru took a painful but deep breath. Glancing back up he saw his three opponents waiting for him to get back up.

"Why do you fight, Yukiomaru?" questioned Euno.

The arctic fox pushed himself back up to his hindpaws. "Why do you ask so many questions?"

"Why do you fight?" repeated the Creeper.

Yukiomaru realized his armor was shattered and useless now. In the darkness the wind was picking up and causing drag on his coat.

"Kazamde had infected me, and my very soul with those horrid dreams," Yukiomaru answered not even glancing at the Creepers while he removed his coat and broken armor. "Aggressor is responsible for the death of those that have loved me and I have come to love, Mew and Sunee Fa, and so many others."

"You fight for revenge then?" asked Euno.

Yukiomaru removed the restricting clothes that was worn beneath his armor to protect his fur from being chafed to allow himself more maneuverability. He only wore a pair of loose-fitting shorts. He'd need all he could to defeat the Perfected Infections. Glancing up at Euno, he glared at him.

"I fight for those who have fallen," answered Yukiomaru. He did not expect Euno to understand, but he was reminded of why he cannot fail here. "To protect their home, to protect their loved ones. I will finish this fight so that we can all go home and live in peace. Even regardless of your race's infectious and consuming nature, you have given me enough reason to fight you."

From his armor on the ground, Yukiomaru pulled out the spear that was his favored weapon. He launched himself at the Creepers, using the extended reach of his spear to swing at the three enemies. The three of them jumped back but Yukiomaru targeted the closest one, the winged creature and redirected his momentum in its direction.

Yukiomaru swung the spear at the creature's head, but the creature put up one of its arms and blocked the spear just a few millimeters from the glowing and deadly blade. But Yukiomaru had the creature secure in that spot for a moment, so with one hindpaw on the ground, he twisted himself and spun a kick directed at the creature's head.

Landing the hit, the creature was thrown to the side by the dazing kick. It did not even regain its balance by the time it crashed into the dirt.

The arctic fox didn't have time to savor the small victory of landing a single, but critical hit as the Guardian counterattacked. The arctic fox turned in time to block the open-claw attack with a paw, but as he was counterattacking by swinging his spear around he felt a blow land on his flank.

Yukiomaru nearly lost his balance but he managed to stay on his hindpaws by taking a few steps away from the Infected Guardian, and Euno who just managed to hit him. By now the other Creeper recovered from being hit, but he didn't care. Yukiomaru charged forward, thrusting his spear for Euno's chest.

As he predicted, Euno dodged but the Guardian was close enough that Yukiomaru aimed for his real target by using a spin to redirect his momentum and he aimed his elbow to land directly on the cheek of the Guardian. The creature reeled back a bit, but the blow wasn't nearly as hard as the kick landed on the winged Creeper, which allowed Yukiomaru to swing up his spear and slice threw feather and fur to slice across from the Guardian's hip to the opposite shoulder.

The other two would be trying to take advantage of the opening and counter attack, so Yukiomaru kept his spinning momentum and turned around to block against the winged Creeper's, but the Creeper had both its claws open and aimed to grab hold of the spear Yukiomaru held.

With his enemy holding onto his spear, Yukiomaru couldn't use the weapon. The Creeper was aiming to take the weapon from him however as it instantly kicked up underneath the spear and up at Yukiomaru's jaw. He tilted his head back and dodged, while counter attacking by thrusting the spear towards the beak of the creature. The creature reeled back for a moment, giving Yukiomaru time to yank the spear from its claws, land a kick on the creatures gut and spin to land another kick on the injured Creeper's torso to send both Creepers back a couple meters.

Euno attacked in that moment but Yukiomaru reacted quick enough to defend against the attack. With the spear being held in the paw that he used to defend against, Yukiomaru closed his other paw and threw a punch at Euno's cheek. It barely grazed his cheek, but Yukiomaru brought up his knee to the creature's gut. Euno bent over from the force of the blow, allowing Yukiomaru to uppercut the creature under the jaw.

Fast and furious came Yukiomaru's strikes as Euno continued to reel back from them but he knew he only had a split second before one of the other two would come back so Yukiomaru kicked out and struck Euno on his chest to send him back a meter.

He could hear one of the other Creepers coming at him from behind, so Yukiomaru spun and raised an arm to defend himself but he saw that it was the Guardian with those vicious claws exposed.

The claws dug into the fur and skin on Yukiomaru's arm, slicing into his bicep painfully. He winced at the pain but did not get a chance to counterattack as the winged Creeper kicked Yukiomaru's back knee, causing his leg to buckle. The Guardian brought his paw and back-swiped Yukiomaru's cheek, with those claws cutting into his flesh again.

The arctic fox thrust his spear forward at the Guardian, who dodged, but he then dropped low to the ground, and swiped a kick out at the legs of the Guardian and winged alien that surrounded him. The Guardian was tripped but the winged creature had time to jump back.

Yukiomaru spun off the ground and jumped back from all three Creepers. Painfully the claw marks on his arm and cheek bled out over his fur. His fur was ruffled up by the few hits that had landed on his body, marking the signs of where his body felt sore and bruised. The Perfected Infections could land a hard hit.

The other three took a moment to recuperate as well, and stood together a few meters from Yukiomaru. All this time the Elder Guardian stood by and watched, along with another strange bipedal alien that was furless.

"You certainly do learn fast, Yukiomaru," Euno mocked.

Above them were still the dull flashes of the battle going on overhead. Thankfully no one on either side of that conflict had attempted to interfere with their fight. Yukiomaru bled, but he wasn't the only one as the Infected Guardian suffering the blade end of the fox's spear. Euno had suffered a few hits as well, marking his body in small cuts or bruises. And even the winged alien had suffered a harsh kick to the head.

"Jun would be impressed, if only he was disappointed that you have kept fighting a losing war," Euno continued to speak. The mention of Jun by his enemy raised Yukiomaru's fur. "I often wondered what you'd do if you were to lose Jun. Would you then submit? You fight alone always. When have your friends helped you?"

"Shut your muzzle!" screamed Yukiomaru. His lips curled and a throaty growl rumbled deep inside his chest. Yukiomaru lowered himself into a fighter's stance, the spear spread out behind him clutched tightly in one paw.

The air around them started to mist up, and Yukiomaru could not resist the growls that escaped from his throat. The fog grew thick that it dulled out the flashes even more from above. Soon it'd be difficult to notice any sign of battle except for a distant and dull explosion coming from high atmosphere.

"That's enough Euno," said the Elder. Yukiomaru could barely hear his words with the blood rushing through his head, and his own growls filling his ears. "I ordered you three to finish the fight, not to stand around and talk."

Euno only smiled to the response of the Elder's words, or to Yukiomaru's reaction. For whatever reason the alien smiled, Yukiomaru did not care and only thought on destroying the creature. Yukiomaru remained in his ready stance, and this time he would wait for the other three to charge at him. If Euno were attempting to provoke the arctic fox, he'd remain calm and let the enemy come to him.

The three Creepers started to spread from each other while giving Yukiomaru a wide berth. They moved to surround him but the arctic fox waited patiently. He tracked Euno with his eyes, while the other two he listened to carefully.

A slight change in the wind made Yukiomaru's ear swivel toward the sound. He ducked his head and dodged the winged alien's attack. Yukiomaru swung his spear out to counterattack but he heard the other two charge in as well. Turning around, the arctic fox was only able to catch a glimpse of his attackers, but that was enough to see that one was aiming low and the other was aiming higher.

Yukiomaru sprung off the ground and dived backward as they attacked, dodging both of them. The fox used his momentum to land on his paws and push himself off the ground to backflip back up onto his hindpaws.

Once his hindpaws touched the ground, he pushed off toward Euno and the Guardian to counterattack. He fell short as something gripped his tail, and stopped him in midair. Yukiomaru landed on his hindpaws again, turned to look to see the winged alien had caught his tail and was swinging a kick up at Yukiomaru's muzzle. He didn't have time to dodge the attack.

Pain lanced from underneath Yukiomaoru's cheek, crushing the fox's jaw upward mashing his teeth together painfully causing a taste of copper to flood his muzzle. The force of the blow caused the fox to land on the ground a meter away. Trying to shake off the dazing hit, and ignore the pain, Yukiomaru rolled to his paws and knees to get up but received a kick to his gut. Being thrown through the air another meter, Yukiomaru lost grip of his spear.

His opponents wouldn't relent. The arctic fox rolled with the force of the blow and jumped up to his hindpaws. The weapon lay on the ground a meter away, but Yukiomaru didn't have time to even glance at it as his three opponents moved into to attack. He blocked the third attack from the winged alien, pushed him off and turned to attack the Euno. The amphibian dodged, but that gave Yukiomaru the millisecond he needed to jump back and dodge the Guardian's claws.

The arctic fox had little time to prepare himself as his three opponents charged at him again. Yukiomaru defended himself by blocking one attack, dodging another and blocking more. He counterattacked where he could but he was unable to land a hit again, but instead only received several more hits.

The Guardian must have noticed that they got an upper paw. He risked exposing his claws again, and caught Yukiomaru across the shoulder. The claws cut through his fur, skin and muscle causing a sharp pain to Yukiomaru. Before he could have a chance to recover, Euno kicked the fox squarely in the chest. The fox was thrown to the ground once again and skidded through the dirt, only coming to a halt as part of his body fell into a small creek.

Yukiomaru gritted his teeth. His body ached all over and he could feel the fiery sensation of the fresh cuts burning. The last blow had knocked all the wind out of Yukiomaru and when he inhaled, a liquid tickled his throat and caused him to cough. A red liquid splattered across his fur.

Yukiomaru resisted the pain and tried to push himself off the ground. His legs wobbled, having several fresh bruises under his fur on his thighs but Yukiomaru was able to stand. On his hindpaws again, the fox looked up at the three aliens. They were now waiting for Yukiomaru to regain his stance but the soreness and pain was difficult to ignore especially when moving only made it worse.

Yes the infection would allow his body to heal but that'd take hours. This battle would be over before then, whether he won or lost.

"Yukiomaru," Euno said, his expression returning to neutral instead that of eagerness to defeat the fox. "Your race may have learned to live with nature but you still have conflicts with some of your own where that overrides your desire to preserve nature. Your race does not love each other. You cannot be allowed to protect them anymore."

"I fight you to protect them because we do love each other," Yukiomaru said, his voice heavy with his exhaustion. "Kazamde's attempt to spoil my mind has proven that true to me. You only make assumptions because your mind has been spoiled too."

"If they were just assumptions, then why do you fight alone?" questioned the amphibian. "You may be the only one to understand what a civilization should be like, but your hopes are not realities."

"I know what we are, and I chose to fight alone to protect the others from getting hurt," Yukiomaru answered. Blood had leaked from his lips down to the underside of his jaw. "I struggle to defeat you and I am cursed with this infection. You think anyone else would be able to stand a chance?"

"Love is irrational by nature," Euno replied, seemingly disappointed.

"And you know everything because your mind was spoiled once and you destroyed your own race?" questioned Yukiomaru. This conversation was going nowhere and Yukiomaru was getting tired of it. His body may heal in the time it'd take to have a philosophical discussion, but so would the others.

"My race could not see over their own greed, like every other race including yours," Euno said defensively. "We're getting nowhere. It is a shame."

Euno didn't make a move but the Guardian was more than eager to charge at the fox again. Yukiomaru's body was sluggish to respond and he didn't know if he could even defend himself against one of the Creepers now.

The Infected Guardian brought his paw back with his exposed claws, aiming to swipe across Yukiomaru's neck. Yukiomaru was ready to spring back.

Instead with a flash of light, the Guardian was pierced through the Guardian's chest. All the Perfected Infections, including Yukiomaru, expressed shock.

The Guardian stopped its charge and stood stunned for a moment while a fresh chest gushed blood over his fur. There was a distinctive whine coming from behind Yukiomaru before another flash of light blew a larger hole in the Guardian's chest.

The Guardian dropped to the ground, lifeless. His body would heal but it'd take time after such fatal wounds.

The sound of a pair of pawsteps approaching distracted Yukiomaru. He turned but was unable to see anything in the mist, or smell who it was that was approaching.

"Yukiomaru chose to fight alone," a familiar voice said that brought relief and anxiety to the arctic fox. "It is a choice that I do not agree with."

The tall pine marten finally emerged from the mist, fully armored and wielding a plasma rifle that was produced from the Guardians.

"You are right Euno," Jun said. "Love is irrational. We are irrational beings then."

Yukiomaru's gaze was fixed on Jun that he was only able to notice the sound of a scuffle coming from behind him where Euno and the winged alien stood. Turning his gaze, he saw another armored mustelid, this one an ermine, had attacked Euno with a sword. Euno dodged the attack just in time, and counterattacked but surprisingly the ermine was able to get out of range.

"Admiral," another familiar voice said, this one feminine. Yelena Cassander was near where Yukiomaru was fighting earlier. She had his spear in her armored paws and she tossed the weapon to the fox. Yukiomaru caught it.

He was still surprised that they had defied his strict orders by coming down to the surface. They may have given him the edge he needs to win the fight. Afterall, Jun did just incapacitate the Infected Guardian.

"We all make mistakes, Euno," continued Jun stepping beside Yukiomaru. Captain Dewitt didn't bother to try to attack Euno, and the aliens didn't retaliate by attacking him either. "Our race has made grievous mistakes, and it cost us our most valuable planet, Lutracha. We have grown since then and have been working to remedy our mistakes. Your remedy is no different from the ancient warlords: conquer all to secure peace. How has that worked out in the past?"

The roars of engines were heard overhead, far closer to the surface than what Yukiomaru had allowed in his orders. The mist started to clear up that had just formed moments earlier, to reveal that the sun would be rising soon.

With the mist thinning, Yukiomaru and his enemies could see that there was more than just Jun and the officers of Drach'n Fury. There were nearly three dozen soldiers on the ground and a squadron of Immunities flying overhead.

"I am not here to reason with you though Euno," said Jun. "We are here to protect Yukiomaru, the fox that we love; my best friend that I have come to love. We are irrational beings that protect what we love. We love our home, and we love each other. We will not change that." Jun raised the Guardian-designed weapon at Euno.