Yuriko, Kiko, and the other palace defenders paused. They had felt a tremendous rush of wind, watching the Normal sail off towards the city square. Now, all was silent.
"Is it over?"
Yuriko turned to Steph before glancing out at the eerily quiet town. "Yes Steph," she smiled. "I think it is."
A collective sigh seemed to escape everyone's lips, their shoulders slumping as they now gazed out at the battlefield. The Normal had destroyed a good portion of the city yet it appeared most of the kitsune had survived. Yuriko now smiled, watching as Akira made his way towards the palace with quite a few allies in tow.
"Akira," Ayami called, flying towards her husband before squeezing him tightly. "You're okay."
Akira smirked, comforting his wife as he gazed at Yuriko. "We had help," he stated. "My sister and your cousins helped turn the tide."
Yuriko nodded, giving the two kintaro and the Yakuza mistress Aiko a warm smile. Haley now approached, picking her cousin Yuriko up and squeezing her tightly. "Yuki," she exclaimed. "How you been cuz?"
"I've been well Haley now can you put we down I can't breath."
"Miss Yuriko wheres Darren?"
Yuriko tried to collect her breath as she looked to answer Misaki's question. Darren had runoff to help Tatsu, she knew she should have stopped the boy, but he was the Catalyst. She now hoped that Darren was okay. Watching a figure approach, Yuriko gasped. "Oh no."
The others now turned to where Yuriko was pointing. Kari and Kiko screamed, Akira dropping to his knees as he let out a mournful cry.
Darren cradled the body of the kitsune lord Tatsu. Tatsu was motionless, tears visibly falling from the teens eyes. The sorrow on his face clearly visible as Tatsu's blood stained his shirt.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't save him."
************************************
Casseus now reviewed footage from the Normals excursion. Despite being banished from the kitsune kingdom, the operation had gone amazingly well.
Thirty five percent didn't sound like much. If you scored 35% on a test it would be seen as a colossal failure. In war though 35% was seen quite differently.
The population of the kitsune homeland was around 600,000. In the time the Normal had been there, they had wiped out 35% of the population.
"210,000," Casseus whispered in awe. "We slaughtered 210,000 of them!"
Casseus couldn't believe the efficiency of the Normal. They had arrived with an army of 20,000. They had lost a little more than 5,000 men. Just a little more than a quarter of their forces. That 20,000 highly trained soldiers could Wipeout a third of the population was astonishing.
Casseus now watched as the Boss entered his lab. The Boss had obviously taken some damage during their encounter with Tatsu. Walking with a visible limp and holding an ice pack, Casseus watched as he collapsed into a nearby chair. "So how we do?"
"Our field reports indicate kitsune casualties at 35%," Casseus stated. "210,000 dead with a little over 5,000 casualties for our side."
The Boss simply nodded, pulling back his hood as he leaned backwards, letting the ice pack settle on his very swollen eye. Casseus gave the Boss a befuddled look. He had never seen the man's face. The Boss appeared to be a relatively young man, perhaps no older than 34 or 35. The man's face, if it wasn't swollen, would have been quite distinguished with a regal handsomeness to it, topped with neatly maintained brunette hair.
"Something wrong?"
"No," Casseus stated, shaking himself from his stupor. "I just hadn't seen you without your hood before."
The Boss simply grunted, wincing in pain. "Gotcha," he grumbled. "Yeah usually try to stay incognito. Helps with the mystique of being Boss. Let others let their imagination run wild as to how I look. Kinda hard to intimidate anyone looking like some douchebag from the suburbs."
Casseus simply nodded, his former master had always thought that as well. "The mission appears to have been successful," he stated. "And we appear to have neutralized Tatsu as well."
"But nothing is certain," the Boss added, to which Casseus nodded. "That guy was tough. If the Harris kid wasn't there I don't think we'd be sitting here."
Casseus simply nodded in agreement, his experience with the kitsune had shown them to be exceptional fighters. Tatsu though was on an entirely different level.
"Still," the Boss grumbled. "Only 35%, was hoping for more." The Boss groaned, limping towards the monitor Casseus was studying. He now furrowed his brow as he watched the Catalyst, the Yakuza, the Tanuki, and the Dragons decimate his troops.
"Dragons and Tanuki will be tough to deal with," he grumbled. "And Evan wants to take out the Catalyst so bad that if we interfere he could turn on us."
"So what is our next move?"
"Pretty sure trying to get back to the kitsune homeland is going to be tougher than last time," he said. "However, these Yakuza don't have the backup the kitsune do. Taking them out would be the next best move."
"I agree," Casseus stated.
"We just need some recovery time," The Boss sighed. "Losing that many troops will take some time to recoup. Afterwards we make our move."