FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Snows on these mountains have never brought with it the very essence of death. Wind cut more than the ice it threw, offering no hint of remorse to those who sought shelter from the storm. Dozens of the planet's inhabitants failed to withstand the biting winds, and froze to their deaths. Each death added to the weight that burdened the mind of one who agreed to this destruction.

Sheltered from the storm by the ruined walls of his home a marten stood and stared out at the storm. Jun had grown taller since the turn of the war, and the finishing of the first atmospheric generator almost four years ago.

"The destruction of Canidera's ecosystems is not yours to be burdened with," the words of a soldier lightyears away echoed in the martens mind.

"My sister had said the same but that does not change the fact that I still feel responsible," Jun had wanted to reply. "It is hard for me to watch the wildlife that I observed as a pup die because of a decision I had made."

Jun had not sent the response because he knew that the burden he felt would only worsen the burden on the creator of the plan. More than a month had passed with Jun failing to find the to send back to Yukiomaru.

Snow blew through the shattered window that Jun stood in front of, bringing a chill with it but he was heavily padded and protected from the unnatural environment. Turning around, the marten stepped over the dead body of an infected animal that had taken refuge in the building. The hallways were dark but his eyes were already adjusted making it easy for him to find his way into a secluded room that once was the storage cellar for his house.

Inside the cellar came warmth with light and noise. Soldiers were sleeping in makeshift bunks while their officers discussed over maps at the center of the room.

"Don't be so naïve," one of the officers was overheard. "The Creepers are still here and we cannot start neglecting the ruins on the outskirts."

"We find one every other month," argued another officer. "The Creepers are practically extinct in this region. We need to continue fighting, and the fight is at the equator. The battalions are requesting more aide there, and all we're doing is hiding in the snow."

Jun sat in a ruined chair near one of the bunks where his pilot, Juliet Lani. She was lying in her bunk with her PawPad illuminating her porcupine features.

"Have you read the latest reports on the fleets?" the pilot quietly asked, ignoring the argument of the officers. She sat up and showed her PawPad to the marten.

Jun glanced at the PawPad, it's glowing light illuminating his own features. The blizzards that are destroying his planet, and the war that had destroyed his civilization had long since stripped away any innocence he once had. The life he knew of excitedly exploring the stars on the prototype warship with the only friend he knew was only as if he read about it in a fiction story.

Glancing over the reports he read that while causalities were high, most battles were resulting in victories. One report caught the marten's attention however.

"Drach'n Fury is returning here?" he muttered to himself.

"They have a dozen stops before they arrive but yes, they're coming back," replied Juliet, withdrawing her PawPad to read the details. "Admiral Alexander is a hero, an icon among not only our fleets but of just about every alien fleet allied with us. I'm surprised they haven't been using him for morale purposes sooner."

"We all, us and the aliens, realize that he's too valuable on the frontlines to be used merely as propaganda," Jun stated. He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. He must be coming back to see what our plan has done to our planet. He shouldn't be coming back, not yet.

Juliet remained silent while she lied back down on her bunk and continued to read the news. Besides the strong winds coming from above, the only other sounds came from the arguing officers and sleeping soldiers.

"The cities near the equator have sufficient battalions, we need to stay here and ensure that the Creepers are extinct," the officers continued to argue. "Chief Colin Vale has ordered us to stay here."

"He ordered us to complete a mission and we can accomplish that with a tenth of our current force."

Jun listened to them argue, and the reports that they read from different battles around the planet. He had started to drift off when the officers' arguments had died down. However a new report came in of a ship landing outside the building.

With his attempts to ignore the unexpected news in order to sleep, Jun failed when his ears caught a specific name being mentioned. Before he could confirm the news, the door to the cellar burst opened and several heavily armored soldiers came in.

"I'm surprised that you would be here, Jun," a female voice said. The owner of the voice walked behind the soldiers until they moved out of her way. All the soldiers and the officers in the room stood up and saluted her.

"I thought you were on the Lutracha main station," Jun said, standing as well and hugging his sister. "What are you doing here Tang?"

"To see you," she admitted returning the brief hug. "And to take you to command. I want to discuss the war with you."

"You personally came to take me back to command?" questioned Jun. "I would have thought that you, the leader of our surviving civilization, would have more things to do than come pick up her younger brother."

"Well, I'm here now so let's go," she said before turning to the officers. "Pilot Lani, if you'd be kind enough to follow us in your vessel."

"Yes ma'am," replied Jun's personal pilot.

"My apologies Major but my brother and his pilot are needed elsewhere," Tang turned to the officers. "I will assign another squadron to you as compensation."

"Forgive me, my Lady--"

"Don't call me that, that was the title of my mother," Tang said sharply. Jun knew that Tang had refused to accept the former titles of their parents. Even ranks among the military seem to have lost their meaning.

"This war is total, and total wars redefine civilizations on every level," the words of Velsh'nark echoed in his mind. "It is the type where proclaimed leaders fall and natural leaders rise."

"But we do not need another squadron here when the battle on the equator is in more desperate need of reinforcements," the officer finished.

"Do you all agree on this?" asked Tang, directing her question directly at the officers.

"We will not abandon our posts," answered one of them. "But we are in agreement that we do not require reinforcements to accomplish our mission."

"Very well," Tang said. "I will inform Chief Vale that the reinforcements are needed elsewhere. Do not forget that you are not only intended to secure this area but you are the first line of defense for the Sanctuary."

"Understood, ma'am," saluted the officers.

The two martens left the cellar with their heavy escort. Tang paused at the top of the stairs, taking a moment to look around at the home where they both grew up. It was now nothing more than a ruin.

"Seeing this place in this state is depressing," Tang mentioned before continuing toward the exit of the building. "No wonder you haven't responded to Yukiomaru."

Jun hesitated a moment when he heard the fox's name being mentioned. "The Admiral is too busy to be bothered with my constant messages. What we discuss does not benefit the war effort, or our planet."

The moment they stepped outside, the wind tugged on their heavy clothes. Persistent on penetrating through their fur and freezing them, the wind did not stop until the hull of the military craft protected them.

"He is worried about you, Jun," Tang said, now able to speak without the roar of the wind trying to drown her voice. "When was the last time you've been to the Sanctuary?"

Jun narrowed his eyes at her. "So he asked you to come get me?"

"Admiral Alexander has expressed his concerns to me," admitted the female marten. "That is not why I am requesting for your assistance however. We will discuss that more at Command."

"I haven't been to the Sanctuary for two months," answered Jun, looking away from his sister. "Seeing the forests that we're growing in there reminds me too much of what Canidera used to be like before it was infected."

With the ship taking off and gaining altitude, the lights of the city-sized base could be seen in the distance. The dome of the base covering the ground where Canidera City once stood, where Aggressor landed and was killed, and where Yukiomaru Alexander was captured by the parasite.

"The Sanctuary is the only hope this planet has for having a future," Tang said, glancing out the window at the lights too. "And all of Canidera's inhabitants."

The storm caused severe turbulence that caused the shuttle to violently rattle. Once they broke through the storm, the severe turbulence stopped. Jun's pilot could be seen following them outside the window in a separate vessel.

Breaking the atmosphere, the new structures were seen in orbit of the planet. There were the space stations where nearly a million civilians now called home. Defense platforms built with plasma-based technology that the Guardian alien race had shared with them. The Huli system was almost as heavily guarded as it was before the Klienestov destroyed its defenses before Drach'n Fury pushed it into the sun.

The martens' vessel and its escort docked with a warship, destined for the most impressive addition to the system's defenses. Before the blasts doors could close, Jun could see Canidera covered in clouds. Not a single kilometer of ground was visible from orbit. Bordered on a warship, Jun followed his sister into the mess hall.

"Did you hear that Drach'n Fury is on its way back?" asked Jun, after both martens sat with some food.

"Yes," answered Tang. "Fury claims that it is a morale move that they're taking advantage of during our recent string of victories. The Admiral will be making quite a few stops but he claims that his true goal is lead the fresh fleet we have ready out to the front lines."

"You don't believe him?"

"Knowing that you two miss each other, and that he asked me to check up on you personally I think he's trying to come see you. Admiral Alexander is a strong little fox but he, like everyone serving on those fleets, does miss home once in a while."

"He's not going to like what we've done with his home," muttered Jun, remembering the cloud-covered planet that was being destroyed by the ice.

They ate in relative silence, only exchanging a few words for the next several minutes until Tang suggested that they get ready to leave the warship.

"We're almost at P.A.W.," she said, leading Jun up to the observation deck. "I don't think you've seen it since the beginning of its construction."

Up on the deck, Jun could see the gas giant slowly approaching. Around the planet was a ring, but this ring was not of nature. The entire ring was an artificial structure, a defense platform, dockyard, and command center. Dozens of large ships were already docked, many of them alien and few of them belonging to the UDAS.

"P.A.W. is what our soldiers have started to call it in honor of our heroes, Sky Sterling and Yukiomaru Alexander," stated Tang, staring at the ring. "Both happened to be arctic foxes so naming the base Platform of the Arctic's Wrath is rather clever. The aliens don't' know our history and have called it other names but personally, I like the name P.A.W."

"Is it really the command center of the aliens?" asked Jun, having heard little about the ring.

"P.A.W. is only sixty percent complete but yes, the Stealths, the Beasts and many of the other aliens that we've come across have their hierarchy leaders there," answered Tang. "The Guardians still use that mobile base of theirs, in which I cannot pronounce the name of but they have some of their leaders stationed here to organize all the aliens."

The martens watched the structure drift closer until it their ship was too close to see much more than a small section of the station.

"The Guardian ambassador is meeting with us so let's not keep him waiting," suggested Tang, leading Jun off from the observation deck. "The fleets are growing concern about the lack of resistance from the Creepers so they want your input."

"I'm not a military strategist," Jun stated, following his sister back through the corridors of the large ship.

"No but your theories about the parasite have been accurate ever since we discovered them," responded Tang. "And the fleets haven't met any serious resistance in nearly a year. We know that the Creepers are far from defeat."

"Even in victory we are not content," muttered Jun. The martens made their way to one of the airlocks while the ship finished docking.

Jun was impressed with P.A.W., it being an intergalactic embassy, military stronghold and a civilian trading station. Without any opportunity to explore the station more, he soon found himself stuck in a well-lit room with several military officers from different aliens species. Some of the aliens he didn't even recognize but the most common races were his own and those belonging to the Guardian alien race.

"The size of the fleet that attacked our homeworld could hardly handle the Creeper forces," spoke a Stealth alien. "Now any fleet of the same size is more than capable of defeating a world just as heavily defended. The Creepers are not putting up a big fight and are retreating more than."

"Creepers may be demoralized because they've never suffered such a series of defeats," suggested another strange alien.

"Don't be so naïve," said one of the Guardians. This one was a dark purple alien with bright pink feathers. "The Creepers do not have morals or principles, they are motivated only by the instinct to consume. No one in our history can remember such ease for victory in the past so there is another reason why the Creepers are changing behavior."

"They're obviously holding back for a counterattack," muttered Jun, glancing to the side of the room.

"We are aware of that possibility, Heir Fa," said the same Guardian. The translation was difficult for the ambassador, mostly due to the fact that Tang and Jun didn't want to be called the same titles of their parents.

"And yet you're all avoiding the possibility of that they're about to hit us back," Jun argued.

"Schools of Klienestov had launched counter attacks against us but we've been able to push them back regardless of what they do," said the purple alien.

"At significant cost," finished Jun. "None of the reports mentions any attacks from the Perfected Infections, like Kazamde."

"There is no proof of such Creepers," argued the Stealth. "We all read the report from your Admiral Alexander but no one, not even in the Guardian fleets have ever seen one. Your Perfected Infections do not exist."

The fur on the back of Jun's neck rose, and his lips curled in a snarl.

"No disrespect Heir," chimed in the Guardian before Jun could respond. "We are prepared to fight against individuals of the destructive power suggested by Alexander. However, we cannot slow the fleets' momentum to prepare against a battle we've never fought before."

"Is it not an ancient strategy for the enemy to lure armies by pretending to retreat?" questioned Jun, standing up from the table and turning to leave. "I do not understand why I am here when you all know this."

Several of the aliens glanced each other briefly before the Guardian turned back to him. "We've contacted another alien race, just one survivor. It has requested to speak to you."

Jun raised an eyebrow in suspicion at the purple alien. "It mentioned me specifically?"

"It is irregular but yes, it has," answered the Guardian. "It has found refuge on one of the ships belonging to Alexander and must have learned about you there."

"Any other survivors from its race? What are they like?"

"No. It says the Creepers consumed its race. They were an aquatic race, of silver scales and blue fins."