A Fox's War

by Brandon Varnell

  “Ugh, why do we have to wear men’s uniforms again?” she complained.

  “Because it will be harder to recognize us if we dress up as men. Speaking of, can you help me bind my breasts?”

  “Do I really have to do that?”

  “Yes.”

  Christine grunted. After putting on her stolen uniform, which was so large that she needed to roll up the sleeves and the hem of her pants, she then snatched the role of medical tape from Iris and helped the vixen bind her breasts.

  “By the freaking gods, these things really are humongous.”

  “I know.”

  “What size are these?”

  “I’m ninety-nine centimeters. Don’t know what bra size that is.”

  “Have I ever told you that I hate you?”

  “I’m gonna call you out for boob discrimination.”

  It took more effort than it should have, but after much grunting and groaning, Christine finally managed to squeeze Iris’s boobs into the medical tape. They were still quite visible. Fortunately, the uniform that she put on afterward was baggy enough that no one would notice.

  “Hmm…” Iris hummed as she looked down at herself. “This is my first time cross-dressing. I wonder if I could somehow incorporate this into my sex games with Lily-pad and the stud.”

  Christine wrinkled her nose. “Whatever, sex fiend.”

  Iris just chuckled. “I am a sex fiend, aren’t I?”

  “Let’s just go.”

  “By the way…” Iris added as they left the locker room after hiding the two soldiers—who’d been placed under an enchanted sleep—inside of their own lockers.

  Christine sent her a scathing look. “What?”

  “You fill out that uniform nicely. Just like a real man.”

  “Oh, shut up!”

  The detainment group was directed toward a large underground hanger. Inside of the massive room, which had been built from a combination of concrete and natural bedrock, several military helicopters and a number of jet fighters sat. Having never seen this place before, Kevin and Lilian were bedazzled by the number of fighter crafts.

  “Hey, Beloved? Isn’t that helicopter from Modern Warfare?”

  “I think it would be more accurate to say that Modern Warfare got their idea for helicopters from this one.”

  “Oh.”

  “Kevin!” a voice called out to him.

  Turning around, Kevin gaped as Justin walked up to him, a large grin spreading across his face. The young man was wearing military fatigues and had a machine gun slung across his shoulder.

  “Justin? What are you doing here?” he asked.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Justin asked rhetorically. “I’m here to help out. Since we’re launching an all-out attack against Commander Paine and his forces, Mack asked me if I could go with you guys as an aide.”

  “So, you’re going to be helping us?” Lilian inquired. “Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

  “Oh, yeah. Don’t worry about a thing.” Justin gave them both a thumbs up. “I’ve already made my decision to live by my own ideals instead of someone else’s. That’s why I’m offering to help you guys.”

  Kevin grinned. “In that case, we’re glad to have you.”

  As Kevin and Justin clasped hands in what could have only been called a “bro shake,” Kotohime gathered everyone’s attention.

  “All right, everyone.” Kotohime clapped her hands together. “We’re heading off now. Please get on one of these three helicopters. Oh! And do try not to fall off,” she finished, tilting her head in a manner that was utterly adorable.

  Kevin shook his head. He could practically see the collective sweat dropping of his colleagues. They must have been unused to having such a gorgeous commander.

  He and Lilian clambered onto a helicopter with Justin, Kotohime, and three other individuals—all males. There were over twenty people going on this mission. It really was a large-scale operation, especially when compared to the journey that he’d gone on to find Orin and Kuroneko, which had felt more like an RPG quest than an actual mission.

  As he sat in the middle of Lilian and Justin, his gaze turned to two other soldiers. Both were male, though one of them looked incredibly short and the other appeared to be attempting to thrust out his chest. He couldn’t see their faces because they were wearing hats, the brims of which covered their heads.

  The wump-wump-wump of the helicopter’s choppers preluded the slight feeling of weightlessness. Lilian and one of the men shrieked as they were lifted off the ground. Knowing about all kitsune’s hatred of flying, Kevin wrapped his arm around Lilian’s shoulder and used his free hand to rub her nearest foxy ear.

  “Hawa…”

  Even over the whirring of the helicopter, Kevin could hear Lilian’s muttered words.

  Truly, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

  Within the control center, amidst the aids rushing to and fro, the computer monitors as they flashed, and the operation coordinators as they spoke, Mack stood with his arms crossed and a stern expression on his face.

  He did not have Davin’s commanding presence. However, those within this room understood that, in the absence of the Four Saints, he was their indisputable leader.

  “Mack, operation Capture and Detain has begun,” one of the aids announced. “Kotohime and her team are away.”

  According to their reports, Commander Ethan Paine was in Washington, DC, meeting with the president, several prominent members of congress, and the United States military. It was likely to discuss the plan to annihilate the yokai with the toxin-bearing missiles. Their hope was to intercept the missiles, capture Ethan Paine, and convince the president to stop this pointless war by revealing how Paine’s plan would indiscriminately kill 70-90% of the US population.

  “New report coming in,” another aid said. “Kiara F. Kuyo and her team have just made contact with the train.”

  “Thank you.” Mack said absently, staring into space, his eyes narrowing. “Now, let’s see which routes are the decoys and which one is real.”

  Kiara and her group were not traveling by helicopter, nor were they traveling by land vehicles. Due to their need for speed, she had decided to authorize the use of her personal jet. One of the many benefits to having been in charge of a multimillion-dollar company was that she had a lot of money to spend. A lot of money.

  “Kiara,” her pilot’s voice came from over the speakers. “We’re coming up on the train.”

  Sitting down in a comfy chair, Kiara nodded at the words and stood to her feet. The other members of her party were lounging around the large interior. Two of them were even playing billiards.

  “All right, people! Listen up! It’s time to get this party started, so strap on those parachutes and get ready!”

  Everyone stood up and followed her instructions. They were a mixed bunch, to be sure. Kiara’s group consisted of three humans, one kamaitachi, an ubagabi—a giant head that spewed flames from its mouth—-a yamabiko—which looked like a cross between a dog and a monkey—and a Mōryō, a yōkai with black skin, red eyes, and long hair.

  Cien was also a part of her group. He stood apart from the rest, his arms crossed as he observed her. When he finally noticed that she was looking at him, he turned his head to try and hide his blush.

  Is that admiration I see, or does the boy simply have a crush on me?

  Ignoring Cien for now, Kiara wandered over to the hatch, which opened when she pressed a button. The ground appeared far beneath her. She grinned when, upon looking down, she saw the train blitzing across a set of tracks. It was moving quite fast.

  She turned back to the others. All of the humans were now in parachutes. The only yokai among them who needed a parachute were the yamabiko and the Mōryō.

  “You all remember the plan, right?” she asked.

  “You go in, stop the train in its tracks, and then we descend from above and scout the train to see if this is the real route or the decoy,” said one of the human
s. There was a sniper rifle strapped across his shoulder and he had a pistol holstered to his thigh.

  “Glad to see you were paying attention. The operation is now a go!”

  Kiara leapt from her jet. The feeling of her stomach doing flip flops didn’t bother her nor the way her eyes watered. She fell quickly. The earth rose to meet her. Flipping her body around, Kiara slammed into the ground, which generated a massive shockwave, destroying the tracks and everything else around her. Leaping out from the crater that she had created, Kiara bent her knees, and then burst across the ground. She reached the train in seconds.

  “Kkkuuuu…!!!”

  Using her single hand, Kiara cocked her fist back and slammed it into the train. She felt her knuckles strain against the metal. A brief moment of agony jolted her, traveling from her fist to her brain, but that was secondary compared to what happened to the train.

  The front train car was halted, abruptly and without warning, as the metal collapsed in on itself. The rest of the train did not. It slammed into the next train car, which slammed into the next train car, and the next one after that in a repeated process. With nowhere to go, the train cars were blasted away, with some flying far from sight and others becoming outright demolished.

  As she stood in front of the train, her breathing only somewhat heavy, Kiara pulled her fist from the massive hole that it had punched into the front car. She looked at the devastation that she’d wrought, wondering if maybe she should have been a little less violent. That attack could have caused the missiles to explode.

  Well, if they haven’t gone boom, then that means this is likely the fake route.

  She sighed. Rotating her arm to make sure it was still in working order, Kiara ignored the pain in her shoulder as her team descended from the plane. The yokai reached the train first. The Mōryō hovered over each train car, checking to see if there was any sign of the missiles. When the others arrived, they also checked the cars.

  “Kiara here,” Kiara said into a communication device that she fished from her business suit. “I’ve disabled the train and we’re currently checking to see if the missiles are onboard. I don’t think they are, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

  Static crackled from the device before a voice spoke up. “Roger that, Kiara. Let us know what you discover.”

  “Will do. I—”

  Just then, a massive explosion ripped through one the train cars. The yamabiko, who’d been checking that car, was consumed by the flames, which were then forcefully dispersed by a strong gust of wind.

  Kiara shielded her eyes from the blast, wincing as she felt several pieces of shrapnel pierce her arm. She lowered her arm when the wind died down. What she saw sent ripples of surprise and frustration through her.

  YK Units. Nearly a dozen of them. More train cars exploded, and while her team was able to escape due to their having realized what was happening, it didn’t help their situation. As each car erupted into flames, more of the Yokai Killers were revealed. It was an army of yokai killing machines.

  This… could be trouble, Kiara thought as nearly one hundred V-shaped visors flashed red.

  “The transport that Kiara’s group attacked appears to be an ambush!” one of the communication aids shouted, shock permeating his voice. “Multiple Yokai Killers have emerged from the train cars and are attacking them!”

  “What?!” Mack shouted back.

  “Both the air and sea groups have also been attacked by Yokai Killers! None of the routes appear to have the missiles! They’re all traps!”

  “Damn it!” Mack slammed his hand onto the command table. “We’ve been tricked!”

  With a snarl on her face, Kiara didn’t waste time in unleashing her full power. A bright red aura appeared around her body. It was youki made manifest, flickering like a flame, distorting the world around it.

  The ground beneath her feet cracked underneath the power. The abrasions spread further and the very earth cratered as Kiara leapt into the air. Her leap took her all the way to one of the many groups of Yokai Killers. With a roar that sounded more like a rabid beast than a dog, Kiara slammed into them like a vengeful god. Howling flames erupted from her fist, spreading everywhere, engulfing the Yokai Killers before they could react.

  There were two ways to kill a Yokai Killer: destroy their core or use their elemental weakness against them. Yokai Killers had a power generator, or core, which was charged by youki—the power that yokai used to create their techniques. If a Yokai Killer’s core had been made using water youki, then using thunder youki would damage them. Likewise, if their core was a fire core, then water techniques would destroy them.

  Kiara did not have an elemental affinity. As an inu, her only abilities were her insane physical strength and her youki aura. That meant she could only use the first method, destroying the core, which she accomplished by annihilating absolutely everything. If the Yokai Killer’s core was stored somewhere in their body, then so long as the body was wiped from the face of the Earth, the core would be destroyed too.

  The Yokai Killer group that she’d crashed into was obliterated. Nothing remained. Their bodies had been consumed by her youki, and their cores had been destroyed by the overwhelming might of her aura.

  Leaping onto the nearest train car, Kiara used the small moment of reprieve that this had granted her to survey the battle. While the yamabiko had been killed in that first explosion, the other members of her squadron had escaped mostly unscathed. The Mōryō, kamaitachi, and ubagabi were fighting together, covering each other’s weaknesses. Meanwhile, the humans had taken up sniper positions and were laying cover fire. The sniper took shots at the Yokai Killers that came too close to the yokai, while the other two would fire with a machine gun and rocket launcher respectively. While they helped keep the Yokai Killers off the yokai, Cien protected them from the enemies that tried sneaking in on their position.

  Moving into those positions is a smart move, but it won’t mean much once the Yokai Killers begin to overwhelm us with sheer numbers.

  Kiara knew better than to stay in one place. Leaping off the train car, she landed on the ground and rushed towards another group of enemies that were trying to come up on her squad. She attacked them ferociously, tearing through their bodies with her claws, demolishing them with her overwhelming aura.

  Several dozen tendrils tried to attack her, but she pushed more youki into her aura, creating a barrier that blocked the tendrils. She then attacked her enemies in return. Slamming her fist into one of the Yokai Killers caused its chest to cave in. Her youki exploded from its back as she unleashed her power, annihilating its core and causing it to revert back into quicksilver.

  She stumbled forward when something slammed into her back. Spinning around, she slashed at the machine that tried to stab her from behind. It was also destroyed when her youki engulfed it in hellish red flames.

  “Kiara!” her communication unit crackled to life.

  “I’m a little busy here!”

  Shoving her fist into the nearest Yokai Killer, she gripped its core in her hands and crushed it. With a yank, her hand was free, and she didn’t hesitate to spin around and rip it to shreds as well. Several more Yokai Killers in her vicinity were then wiped out when she unleashed a roar that shook the very earth. Yet no matter how many she seemed to destroy, there were more ready to replace them.

  “We know! That’s why we’re sending reinforcements your way! Phoebe and her squad are heading towards you! If you can hold out for thirty minutes, they’ll be there!”

  “Thirty minutes? That’s a tall order.”

  “We don’t have another jet, and all of our helicopters are being used for the mission to capture Ethan Paine.”

  “Tch!”

  With a click of her tongue, Kiara reared her fist back and slammed it into an energy ball that had been shot at her. The sphere, which appeared to have been composed of fire youki, dispersed into particles around her fist. She then launched her own attack. It was a bright red ball o
f crackling energy, which slammed into the Yokai Killer, pulverising it.

  Kiara fought her way through a horde of machines, which attacked her all at once. Tendrils and energy projectiles bounced off her aura as she made her way to Cien. The young inu looked like he was having a tough time. He was fighting six Yokai Killers at once, and he was losing.

  His fur was covered in dark crimson splatters. His muzzle, streamlined like a wolf’s, had several cuts on it. His clothing was torn, and there were holes in his body—tiny puncture marks like thin needles had stabbed straight through his muscles. Despite this, he fought on, doing his best to keep ahead of his foes.

  Feeling a grin threaten to split her face in half, Kiara leapt onto the nearest Yokai Killer, slamming a heel drop onto the back of its head. Her aura flared. It ate away at the quicksilver body, cutting through it like a scythe cutting wheat. Kiara felt resistance when she reached its core. Grunting, she put even more power into her attack and tore through the core, then she sliced through the rest of the machine.

  Two more Yokai Killers tried to attack her from behind. Their attacks, tendrils and energy projectiles, bounced harmlessly off her protective aura, and she spun around, her only arm flashing forward as she sliced through the air. Four crescent-shaped blades of red youki erupted from her clawed hands. They slammed into the machines, sending them skidding along the ground. Feeling her feet pounding against the earth, Kiara leapt into the air and rotated, reorienting herself. Fiery youki burst to life around her feet. The two Yokai Killers were unable to move before she pounded them with a fierce kick. Their chests caved in, then an explosion of energy blasted their bodies apart.

  Landing back on the now scorched ground, Kiara looked at the flabbergasted Cien. “Back up is coming, so be sure to hold out for half an hour, all right?!”

  Cien, unable to speak, nodded. That was good enough for Kiara. With her aura still going strong, she launched herself at the next horde of enemies. She didn’t know how long she could keep this up, but she only needed to last for thirty more minutes.