A.N.~And here is the start of Skippsy's mission :D

Chapter 1: Base V

Skippsy steps into the base and straightens her feathers. It had been a long flight from New York to Alberta, Canada. She, feeling sore, exhausted, but over all excited, waddles to the administration area and clears her throat. "Hey."

The king penguin before her takes out a headphone and looks at her. "What?" He asks gruffly.

"I was told to come here for a meeting with Commander Gray." She says.

"Two floors down, third door on left." He rolls his eyes. "And if she's not there, don't come back here. Try the room next door."

Skippsy nods. "Alright, thanks." She says before continuing down the hallway to the stairs. She notes that this base seems much cleaner and emptier than the other bases she has been in. It nearly is quiet enough to hear her feet on the floor. "I wonder where everyone is at..." She mutters as she descends the steps and glances around.

A couple of agents are starting to walk past her, but then they stop. "You took the stairs? We have an elevator."

"I'm sure there is one, yes, I just didn't feel like searching it down when the steps were closest. But thanks anyway." She nods.

"Okay then." One of the agents nods before she and her friend waddle away again.

Skippsy continues on her way and then knocks on a door.

"It's open!"

She opens the door and closes it behind her. "You wanted to see me, Commander?" She turns and looks at her.

Commander Gray nods as she is looking at her computer screen. "Yeah, take a seat." She moves a black two of spades onto an ace and pauses her game before turning to look at her. "We're not completely sure of what's going on, but we've been losing agents up in the territories."

"Bears maybe?" Skippsy suggests.

"Well, I don't think a bear would send back dead bodies, Skippsy." Gray looks at her, slightly amused. "I'm sending you with someone who knows the area to find out what's going on...Also, we had an agent go missing yesterday, Agent Mathias. You are to try to recover him...Preferably alive, but if that is not possible, then the most of his remains you can get."

Skippsy nods some. "File for more details?"

"It's with Ethan." She nods.

"Ethan?" She tilts her head.

Gray nods. "He is going with you on Operation: Waheela since he knows the area."

"What the kipper is a waheela, if you don't mind my asking, Commander?" Skippsy asks with a strange look. "Is that the agent's last name? Some Canadian town?"

Commander Gray chuckles. "It's a legendary bear-wolf that is said to lurk about in the Northwest Territories. Mind you, I don't name the missions, I just plan out and assign them...However, if you do see a waheela, get some proof, why don'tcha?"

Skippsy just blinks. "Ehrm...Alright then, ma'am, I'll see what I can do...Where am I finding this Ethan dude at?"

"I expect he's in the break room." She nods.

"Alright." She says and salutes.

"Dismissed." Gray nods and returns to her game of solitaire. "Don't die, alright?" She calls after her.

Skippsy sighs as she waddles. "Like any of us agents plan on dying on these things..." She mutters and shakes her head. She then starts looking for the break room and waddles in. "Um, is anyone in here named Ethan?" She asks.

Two heads look up at her.

"Okay, um, an Ethan going on Operation: Waheela?" She tries.

One of the Ethans returns to his food, the other gets up and waddles over to her. Skippsy gives him a quick look over. A chinstrap penguin. He is taller than her...Maybe around Marissa's height, possibly a little taller. Deep, coffee-colored eyes...Or maybe they just seemed coffee colored because she's hungry. She considers this momentarily before sticking out her flipper to him. "Skipper Skippsy." She says.

"Where is your team then, Miss Skipper?" He asks, glancing around.

"Back in New York, the commander didn't want them along." She shrugs.

Ethan nods. "Alright, Miss American Skipper, I'm Agent Ethan. "He nods and shakes her flipper.

"You can just call me Skippsy, Ethan." She says.

"I'm sure I can, Miss American." He nods and gets the file. "Guess you're looking for this, eh?"

"Yes." Skippsy nods and reaches for it.

Ethan hands it over with a nod. "Pretty simple mission by the reading." He says and returns to his spot. "The only danger I see being nature."

Skippsy nods, though ignores him as she skims through the file. "Have you any idea of where we are really going?"

"I have the basic idea." He nods.

"Then let's go." She nods.

Ethan chuckles and looks at her. "Already, Miss American? But you only just got here. Surely you'd rather have a bite and a nap first."

Skippsy shakes her head. "This is a life or death mission for that Mathias. Those things aren't as important."

Ethan laughs more. "You haven't been out in the terrain, trust me, Skippsy, you want that snack and nap first or you won't make it there."

"And where do you expect for me to do all that at, hmm?" She looks at her and crosses her flippers. "I don't live hereabouts. I don't sleep in break rooms."

"Commander Gray said to have you sleep in General Garrison's office." Ethan shrugs. "Now why she would let you sleep there..."

Skippsy nods some and yawns. "Gray and I go way back...If it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't be here." She sighs and then shakes her head. "But that's not things you need to know, that's just between her and me."

Ethan shrugs. "Eh, you're just an odd one then."

"Odd?" She looks at him. "Go back to your sandwich."

"Ooh, Miss American Skipper is throwing orders around to agents now, eh?"

Skippsy rolls her eyes and just waddles out. "And to think he's kind of cute..." She mutters. "Though I thought Canadians were...A little more welcoming and polite..." She scratches under her beak. "Maybe he's like that Beaver musician Trixy complains about."

She then waddles to the office and gets the key from the closest potted plant and enters. She flops out on the couch and conks out in is woken about an hour later by the smell of coffee and blinks her eyes open. "Huh?"

Ethans holds out a cup to her. "We need to get going now after you've had something to eat." He says.

Skippsy sits up, rubs her eyes, and gets the cup. "Okay."

"I've got the packs already set. It's going to be a long hike."

"Hike?" She looks at him. "Isn't there a jeep thing?"

Ethan looks at her. "No."

Skippsy shrugs some. "Just thought I would ask." She says and drinks the coffee with a small face. "Is it possible to have a fish to put in this?"

"A what?" He looks at her strangely.

"A fish? A little herring or something?" She asks, getting up.

Ethan clears his throat. "Possibly in the break room...Though isn't that kind of...Weird?"

"Don't knock it 'til you've tried it." She shrugs, waddling ahead to the break room. "Skipper and I have had our coffee like that for as long as I can remember...As did our dad."

"There is another you?"

"I have a brother, yes." She nods. "But he doesn't do so many solo missions...Plus, I'm better at them."

"Sure you are." He nods.

"I am too." Skippsy gasps. "Gray taught me herself!"

Ethan shrugs. "She's taught many herself, and they all claim to be the best."

"Maybe because we all are the best." She shrugs and enters the break room.

"I'm pretty sure you are all cocky and vain." He grins and grabs a snack.

"Not true." She says. "She trained me alone, not in some class. She showed me some of her signature moves."

This catches Ethan's attention. "What are you then? Her niece or something?"

"No...But...Nevermind." Skippsy sighs and stirs a fish in her coffee. "I'm not discussing something like this with a stranger."

"Paranoid much, eh?" He chuckles.

"Yes." She says with her beak a bit in the air. "And if we are going to work together at all, Ethan, we need to get off on better feet."

Ethan nods some and thinks for a moment. "I'm sorry, but I've dealt with Americans before and it didn't turn out very great."

Skippsy nods some. "And I'm sorry, but I'm like this with everyone." She nods. "Sarcasm is just how my team and I communicate."

"Alright...Who exactly is leading the expedition?" He asks, going over to a corner and pulling out the backpacks.

"Well...I'd think me, but you're the one who knows the area and where we are going." She nods.

Ethan nods some. "I guess joint-leadership then, eh?"

Skippsy sighs and finishes her coffee. "Yeah I guess." She grabs the other backpack and gets it on. "So let's get this show on the road, oof."