Here's chapter 4, I hope that you like it :)

Chapter 4: Countdown

"If you want to fire me, fine, but do it now." Skipper looked dominantly at the penguin in front of him. He had known the consequences for failing missions and blown covers for a long time. It wouldn't be the first time that they had to put them in court for something like that.

The penguin in front of him showed for the first time an emotion, he smiled a little. "Fire you? Do you really think that we would fire one of our best captains? That we put them in court for only one failed mission?" Skipper raised his non-existing eyebrow. "What do you have in mind then? I failed, so what's my punishment?." He couldn't hide the bitterness in his words. "You won't be surprised to hear that I have to part your team. You are being transferred to Europe."

"Could you please be more specific about the location?" Those penguins from the head quarters never told something the normal way, no, they said it in riddles. Just like politicians. Always using fancy words, making the sentences too long for anybody normal to understand. "The Netherlands." It hit him immediately. He was sent to a country with cheese-eating, lump-bearing, maniacs. He had heard enough of that country to know what he could expect. It was his punishment. "You can say goodbye to your team now. You have thirty minutes."

30 minutes

How can you say goodbye to your best friends forever in thirty minutes? How can you kiss away your dreams in such little time? He turned around and looked at his friends, team mates, comrades. How were they supposed to move on without him? How was he supposed to move on without them? They had saved his life. They had always known that one day, everything would end. But they had never presumed that it could end so quickly. That they wouldn't have the time for a proper goodbye.

He waddled towards his friends, he tried to give them a small smile, but failed. "What's happening now Skippah?" The sweet little Private asked him. It was hard to look right into the small penguin's eyes. "I have to leave. I'm sorry guys." He looked down at the ground. He couldn't bear looking into their eyes. He couldn't take it to see their disbelief, their pain. That was why he had left them the last time without saying goodbye. That was why he had left a note.

How could this have happened? Kowalski knew that they were to blame. Skipper would have leaded them through this mission as flawless as he had always done, if they had listened. But they had been too overconfident, almost thinking that they were immortal, that no one could harm them. Only Skipper had it seen coming.

20 minutes

They watched each other in complete silence. What could they say to each other? Was there something they could do together? Skipper sat down, the tears filled his eyes. "I don't want to leave." Private sat down beside him and laid his flipper upon his shoulders. "Don't worry Skippah. I will never forget about the time we spend together…" Skipper hugged his little soldier. "I won't forget you either. I won't forget any of you. You were the best soldiers… No you were the best friends I ever had." They all hugged each other in a very manly way.

10 minutes

Rico enjoyed the time they spend together, just sitting and waiting for time to rip their team apart. Everything was already said and done. 10 minutes was too short to complete the things they were dreaming off.

He felt that he was about to lose his mind, but he had to keep it together. For Skipper. He kept repeating it in his head. For Skipper. For Skipper. For Skipper.

5 minutes

It was about time, Skipper saw three penguins standing several feet away from them. They were armed, as if they expected him to disobey their orders, as if they thought that he would fight them. But why would he fight? His friends looked at him, the tension was written all over their faces. He nodded, unable to say something. This was goodbye, maybe for forever, maybe for just a while.

3 minutes

The penguins were waddling towards them. Skipper stood up and turned towards his friends. "Nobody is ever going to take our memories about each other away. Nobody will ever break our bond. I will never forget you. NEVER!" He showed them his back, wanting to hide his tears.

1 minute

The penguins escorted him away from his friends. He tried to look back, but they prevented him from doing so. Private tried to stop them, but they just pushed him aside. Kowalski looked at everything which was unfolding before his own eyes. There were no options for a situation like this. Rico looked at the group of penguins waddling away from them, with his best friend. He couldn't help it, he just lost his mind. He flung himself towards them.

30 seconds

Skipper was thrown aside by Rico. He stood up and looked at the four fighting penguins. "Rico, NO!" He yelled, he had to stop him. The head quarters wouldn't tolerate this. But how hard he tried, Rico wouldn't listen to reason. Skipper covered his eyes. Normally, he would have enjoyed the violence. Now, he knew that it would get Rico in trouble beyond anything he could possibly imagine.

1 second

Skipper felt someone pull his wing and he had to waddle away from the fight, from his friends. He obeyed immediately, there was no use to delay it. And from deep inside, he was glad that he didn't have to witness what would happen to his friend, because he exactly knew what would happen to him.

Thank you for reading this story so far :)