"Train." George ordered. He needed to talk to Reniku alone. But he couldn't just let them sit there and do nothing.

"Train? How?" Someone asked.

"Against each other. Fight. Train. Just do it." George replied.

They trained. For hours they trained. Not caring what time it was, or how tired they were. They just trained. Enhancing their skills. Enhancing their capabilities. Enhancing spead, agility, focus. They trained passed their breaking points. Trained even after their visions became blurry. Even after they felt themselves weakening. They trained. As long as they had to. Unit Nine was smaller now. Breaking the record of 100. They had forty. Only forty. When the Army General found out they would be treated worse than a joke. Like a stupid group of kids. Ignorant. Idiotic. Like they didn't deserve the title 'Unit'.

"Why are we doing this?" Someone asked impatiently, tired, doubtful.

"Because." Skipper replied, out of breath, but calm. "They're going to treat this unit like a group of ignorant idiots. But that's not what we are. They're going to laugh at us. We're just a small, weak group of forty. What kind of unit is that? Well I say they're wrong. And we'll have to prove them wrong. That's why we're doing this. To prove that we're not just a group of ignorant idiots. To prove that they're the ignorant ones. That they're the idiots. To prove our strength. We're better than them. Stronger and smarter than them" He scanned the group and smiled. "Let's prove it." Skipper was surprised at himself. He didn't think it would work, but it still sounded better than he had hoped. He didn't have much time to hop though. He just reacted to the question that was asked.

Silence followed that.

"He's right." Someone said loudly, breaking the silence.

That was followed by agreements. "Yeah." "He is right." "Right"

"What are we standing her for then?" Someone asked. She paused. "Let's do it!"

More agreements, then everyone resumed training. Harder than before though. Now they had a goal. Something to train for. They weren't just training anymore. They were training to prove something.

"That was pretty impressive Skipper." Kowalski complemented. He knew Skipper was persuasive. But he didn't know he could say something like that. Off the top of his head too. Skipper had a talent for team things. That would include inspiration.

"I didn't expect that either." Skipper replied. He opened his mouth to say more but the General interrupted him.

"May I have everyone's attention?" She said loudly.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stood at attention. That's what you did when the General entered the room.

She held up her hand. "At ease. There's no need for that. Come here, closer. I don't think you need to stay so far away." She said smiling.

No one moved.

"Come on. I won't bite." She laughed.

Skipper looked around. Everyone was used to being told to stay where they were. They never talked to the General the way he did. They were intimidated. Skipper started walking and motioned to be followed. Then everyone moved.

"Now." Sara said seriously after they all had gathered round. "I think you guys should know a few things." She paused. "First, I know you guys know this, Unit Nine has lost ninety percent of its men. But we are still a Unit. As long as we fight and stick together we'll be a Unit. Second, Scythro is no longer the enemy. He is neutral right now. But we have planned to meet next week. If all goes well, then we will have a new ally."

This was followed by murmurs of surprise and doubts.

"And last." She said loudly quieting everyone. "We still have a problem." She continued in a normal tone. "Our men are missing, and what Scythro has been accused of doesn't fit in his rule book. It isn't something he does. We have a third party. That was what was pushing us into war with Scythro." She paused to let that soak in. "In seven days I will go to the center of what would've been our battlefield and talk with him. If we can form a good alliance with Scythro, we can go out and find this third party without worrying about numbers." She finished.

"Got it?" George shouted after no one said anything or moved.

Everyone answered, yes or got it, or uh huh. They answered. That was all George wanted to hear.

Sara smiled at him. He knew what he was doing. And he knew how to make everyone else do what they were supposed to do. That was good at least. George was a good help. If she could, she would re-promote him to Lieutenant General. He deserved it.

After that everyone was able to relax for the rest of the day. Everyone enjoyed it too.

Kowalski, Skipper, Private, and Rico never left the training area. They stayed off to the side, near the walls. They were just talking.

"Skippah?" Private asked curiously. "Why does the Generals room have so much purple and gold in it?" He had been wondering that ever since they entered the room the first time. What was so significant about those two colors?

Skipper sighed. He found himself doing that a lot lately. But thinking about the unit colors made him think about how the whole unit was supposed to be covered with them. But Unit Nine wasn't being supported. So it didn't have the materials to cover everything. "Those are the Unit colors." He replied. "Every unit has three colors that identify it. Unit Nine for example is identifies by purple, gold, and red. Each color has a meaning. A purpose. These colors are different from the ones humans use. They have different meanings. Each of the fifteen Units has a specific mix of three colors. These three colors are given to the unit for its strengths, status and obedience." Skipper explained.

They gave him looks of confusion. Specific mix of colors? What?

"We might as well start with the three categories. The first category is strength. Different tints of Green, Purple and Blue identify different strengths. Unit nine has a rich purple color. That means two things, a rarity in colors. Only two colors in each category mean two things. Unit Nine's purple means stealth and speed. We usually move silently and fast, giving little evidence that we were there. Purples usually mean speed or stealth. The darker the color, the better the skill a Unit's proven to have. Greens usually mean strength or power. This could mean in muscle or numbers. Units with dark green are usually listened too and respected by the surrounding cities and neutral units. Blue's identify a units brains. A unit that has been gifted with a blue color is usually very smart, clever, and understanding. They are also units to stay away from. They can't usually beat their enemies to a pulp. But they're smart enough to make any plan used against them backfire.

"The second colors. Red, orange, and yellow. They identify a units obedience and acceptance to new rules. Units who do what their told and don't put up any fight at all to its superiors get yellow. Units who ask questions and negotiate rules get orange. Units who fight with their superiors about rules, don't accept them at all, and ask a lot of questions or just don't listen, units who fight the Army Generals and Global General for what they believe in, get red. In the end, all units must listen to their supiriors or face severe punishment.

"The third colors include, gray, white, black, and gold. They stand for a units rank or overall relationship among the others. Unit Nine is isolated, it was forced to be. Gold is for the units who have almost no relationship with the others. Black is given to the units who only really communicate with other units under the same Army General. White belongs to units who communicate with many other units, who help out other units. Gray is given to units who help out and communicate to almost all of the others." Skipper looked down. "Unit Nine used to have different colors. It used to be yellow and white. A respected unit too. But shortly before I left the first time, the Army General interfered, told us to stay in our territory or face annihilation. Become a neutral. Or just punished, beaten. He started to make rules, put limits and restraints on what Unit Nine could and could not do. And Unit nine objected to them, unit nine argued with him, refused to accept the new rules. So he changed its identification. We were now identified by purple, red, and gold. But that's not the point. He abused his control. And the Global General believed him over us. Because of rank. And the colors that we now had lost us our respect, half of our isolation was us, the other half was everyone else." Skipper paused. Army General Filos. He was unfair to Unit Nine. Treated the unit like dirt.

He sighed. There was nothing he could do. It infuriated him. He was a man of action, not being able to do anything was like not being able to breathe. Skipper hated feeling so helpless. He could do other things, help other situations. But it sermed that the only one who could help Unit Nine was the Global General. And the Global General was not on their side. The unit could do nothing.

He continued with the explanation of colors. "Colors identify a units capabilities, what they can do how they adapt, how well their communication is. When a unit is stripped of its respected identification colors and given disrespected colors, its performance is also usually hurt. An easier way to put it would be, when Unit Nine was stripped of yellow and white and given gold and red, it was like being a general demoted back to private. Unit Nines confidence was shot.

"Scythro learned this, Rather quickly too. It's another reason why he'll turn out to be a good ally. He gave us a break. He didn't bother anyone, if he stole things he made sure no one found out. And he started making deals with our territories civilizations." Skipper explained.

"But wait, how come the humans haven't found out about the units, and the cities? How is everyone staying hidden?" Kowalski asked.

"They live underground. Plants that they grow and the rivers and lakes that they thrive on, are above ground of course. But the cities themselves are in the rocks below. That is also where all neutral units tend to live." George explained.

They all jumped to the sound of his voice. They didn't know he was there. He came up so quietly. And they were focused on colors. Skipper didn't even realize George was there.

George laughed at them. "You boys seem a little jumpy. Hiding something?" he asked. They did seem a little more jumpy that usual. Especially Skipper.

"No. just didn't know you were there Colonel." Skipper replied calmly. He was startled by the colonels' appearance. He could've made some noise. Given some kind f hint that he was there.

"I thought no one could sneak up on you boy." George stated.

"You did it once before Colonel." Skipper replied calmly. It was true the Colonel had snuck up on him before. He was one of the only people who could.

Silence filled the room. They were the only five that were still there. Everyone else had gone somewhere else.

"How many hidden civilizations are there?" Private asked curiously. If every unit had many to protect, then how many were there?

"Every unit has a different number of cities to protect. Last time I checked there were

53 cities." George informed. "Unit Nine protects four, the Negarios, the Yulandas, the Delivarians, and the Genhiis. Before you ask each city has its own occupation. Delivaria is a farming city. Yulanda is a manufacturing city. Negario is a fishing city. Genii is a warrior city. Delivaria and Negario don't need explanations. Yulanda manufactures a lot of our weapons now. They make our swards, knives, spears, arrows, bows, shields and quivers. Genhii warriors. They trade with Yulanda for knives and spears. That's it. They make their own bows and arrows. They'll trade with Delivaria too, but they have their own little farm. They can only support themselves with their farm. They don't usually call on us for help, but they do like us. All four cities like Unit Nine. They're very friendly towards us. Delivaria usually gives us food, but since their food is MIA, we've been struggling for a few weeks now. The Genhiis have been very generous with us, so have the Negarios, so we haven't starved. But I've noticed something. And I need to ask, it's part of a new freakin' rule. Why haven't you boys been eating?" George asked.

Skipper didn't know, neither did Kowalski, or Rico, or Private. They hadn't eaten in three days. But they didn't feel hungry. They didn't even remember to eat. They were always asking Skipper questions in their spare time. And he was busy answering them. They didn't even remember that they could eat. Food never crossed their minds. Their penguin survival instinct must've kicked in, without them realizing it.

They all shrugged. They really didn't know why they hadn't eaten.

George sighed. He didn't really care. Nor was he concerned. Yet. Penguins can go for a few weeks without eating. As long as they drank something he was fine with it. The last time Skipper was here, he drank a lot, and ate too. But he seemed to have grown out of that. Many kids did.

"We're not going to kill ourselves. I think we're smarter than that." Skipper stated.

"We are drinking. As long as we do that I think we'll be ok for a while." Kowalski added.

"Good. We don't need you four dying on us." George replied. He turned away from them. "I hate to say it. But you guys are the best group we have right now. Besides me, Reniku, and Sara that is." He walked away.

They watched him walk away.

"I think he's got a soft spot for you Skippah." Private stated. George seemed to like Skipper. They fought a lot sure. But George could talk to Skipper quite well. He could cooperate too. Under some sort of pressure that is.

"I don't know Private. I think he tolerates me." Skipper replied. George seemed to tolerate him more than he usually would. Maybe he was nicer under stress. Or maybe he had changed. Either way, Skipper might like him better this way. He was a good fighter. They both were. But that didn't mean that they liked to be constantly fighting with one another.

"Rico time." Skipper said. He was curious.

Rico coughed up a watch. He held it up.

"Ten fifteen." Kowalski informed. At first he thought the watch was wrong. But the time explained why they were alone. And he was starting to feel tired.

"Let's call it a day boys." Skipper stated.

They walked back to their room and went to sleep. But they didn't go into a deep sleep. At least, not for long.