Warning: Rated for language, some violence and adult behavior.

The main characters of this story are based on characters from the cartoon 'Code Lyoko.' I do not own, nor do I claim, any copyright to these characters.


The meeting was a routine one. The Commandant, his assistant, and the Cadet Major were gathered in the Commandant's office for their regular status meeting.

"We still have the problem of replacing the squad leaders that were expelled," said Mitchell Peters, the Commandant's Assistant, "that's three boys."

"Any recommendations," said the Commandant.

"Uh, yes sir, but it's a little unusual," said Albert Snow, senior and Cadet Major, "I was thinking about Cadet Stern."

"Stern? He hasn't been here long enough," Peters said.

"That's why I said it's unusual," replied Snow, "as far as I can see, he's gotten with the program so far, even given the Commandant's supplemental tutoring. Or maybe because of it."

"How long have you been thinking about this, Snow," the Commandant said.

"Ever since the incident happened, sir. Once I knew who got busted, I knew this would come up, so I started thinking. This is what I came up with."

"Anybody else? We have to replace three squad leaders."

"Truth be told, no sir," Snow said, "given what you've taught me about leadership, there's no one else even approaching ready. And if Stern had been here longer, I wouldn't have any reservations about recommending him."

Commandant Krieger was silent for a moment.

"I want you to reorganize the squad assignments to distribute the boys affected. Add no more than two boys to the other squads. Then create one oversize squad and put Pennington in it. Then give that squad to Stern and let's see what he can do with it."


Three days later, Cadet Ulrich Stern stood at attention in the Commandant's Office. He had been called here just before lunch. In the office with him was Cadet Major Snow.

"Stern, I've got news for you," Commandant Krieger told him, "you are to take command of a squad of students, starting right now."

"Sir?" Ulrich asked.

"You are taking command and responsibility of eight of your fellow students," the Commandant told him, "you will be their first line of support here in the school, like Squad Leader Benson was supposed to have been to you and Pennington."

"Sir, thank you for the vote of confidence," Ulrich began, "but I'm not a leader. I've always been more of the following kind, when I did anything."

"Well, Stern, if you're a follower, that must have been some gang you ran with," Snow told him, "either that, or you just have a natural leadership quality in you. But follower or not, you're a Squad Leader until you're told otherwise. Get Me?"

"I get you, Cadet Major!" Ulrich replied.

"Good," said the Commandant, "in our afternoon study sessions together, I'll begin to explore some of the finer points of Command and Leadership with you. And in your copious amounts of free time, Cadet Major Snow will bring you up to speed on your duties as Squad Leader. Dismissed."


In his dreams, he was herding cats.

He was trying to get them all in a line, trying to get them to listen to him, but they were cats, and didn't pay much attention to what people said.

And off to the side, his Love, his Life was rolling on the ground, laughing her head off.

"Mwahahahaaa! I can't believe you were trying to do that! Hahaha! You should see yourself!"

Ulrich just smiled a weak smile and said, "the Commandant seems to think I can lead a squad here." He jerked his head at the cats.

Yumi stopped her laughing and stood up. "Of course you can, silly," she told him as she embraced her love, "just be yourself. You know what to do."


One of the perks of being a Squad Leader was that Ulrich got a room to himself. Another 'perk' was he had to be up at least an hour before the rest of the student body to prepare himself to get his squad moving. That first morning he wished he had stayed in his bed the night Dexter got taken out, only to be mentally smacked by Yumi down the bond they shared. He could almost feel her glare at his evil thought, so he mentally apologized to her and Dexter. That earned him a warm embrace and strength to face his responsibilities.

With the reorganized squad assignments came reorganized sleeping arrangements. Squads at Ravensbrook slept in the same general section, so when the squad assignments got changed, the sleeping arrangements had to be changed too. Ulrich's squad, Lima Squad, had gotten bunks at on the top floor of the dorm building, and the bunks that were farthest from the locker rooms. There was a definite pecking order amongst the squads, and Lima Squad was low man on the totem pole.

Ulrich seemed low man on the totem pole among the squad leaders too. In all, eighteen boys were affected by the Master Ralph incident. Since Ulrich was one of the eighteen, that left seventeen other boys to be distributed amongst the other squads. Seven filled the spots left by the cadets arrested along with the three squad leaders. Each squad had six cadets and one Squad Leader, for a total of seven people in a squad. When the reorganization was complete, Ulrich's squad had eight boys and himself, and Alpha Squad took the last two.

All of the other squads got the opportunity to choose the cadets they would be taking in. Ulrich got the rest. And looking at the names on the list, he could see why.

Dexter Pennington was an obvious example. He had been Ulrich's roommate, and one of the few people Dexter had started opening up to. He was also an easy target for bullies, as shown by the Master Ralph incident. The others were just like Dexter, withdrawn or shy, physically weak, or just maladjusted. One of the squad leaders called Lima Squad the Last Boys, which quickly got corrupted into the Lost Boys. And that name stuck, because they all, the Squad Leader included, were surely lost.


Cadet Major Albert Snow looked at the cadets of Lima Squad. They all were standing at attention just outside their dorm room doors; well, about as close to attention as they ever came anyway.

"Alright, listen up!" the Cadet Major began, "there's been a change in squad staffing, as you may have guessed by now. There are now two over sized squads at Ravensbrook, Alpha Squad and Lima Squad. As you may have deduced, you are in Lima Squad. Your Squad Leader for the remainder of the term is Ulrich Stern. Squad Leader Stern!"

Ulrich stepped into view and stood at attention. Both last night and this morning early, Cadet Major Snow assisted Ulrich in preparing for his responsibilities. And the first responsibility was that a Squad Leader had to look ready to go before any of the squad rolled out of bed in the morning. So Ulrich stood there in his uniform, crisp and pressed, the very image of inspiration and confidence. Ulrich was so nervous he felt like puking.

"Squad Leader Stern Reporting, Cadet Major!" Ulrich replied to Snow.

"Take Command!" The Cadet Major saluted Ulrich, and Ulrich returned the gesture. The Cadet Major turned and left the area, leaving Ulrich alone with his squad.

Ulrich stood there a moment, looking at the boys that were now his responsibility. Suddenly, he felt her. Yumi was with him as he began his new responsibilities. She gave a little giggle as she witnessed the scene, giving her own little opinion of the whole deal. Then, she flooded him with strength and her love and a parting, go get 'em, tiger.

"Squad! Fall out to the field for PT!"

The cadets of Lima Squad ran past him, down the stairs to the field. As the last one past him, Ulrich turned on his heel and followed them.

"Pennington! You should have done that when you woke up! Now get down to the field! Surely you can hold it for fifteen minutes!"


The boy went ooff! and fell to the ground. He lay there a moment curled up around his stomach, where he had just been hit.

"Point! Winner!" The referee called out, pointing to the other boy still standing. That boy raised his arms, one hand containing the pugil stick he used on his opponent, and ran back to his comrades, whooping at his easy victory.

Dexter Pennington slowly got up from the ground, tears evident on his face. He walked from the circle, throwing off the protective equipment and the impotent weapon he was given, brushed past his squad mates and left the field.

"Pennington! Dex! Come back!" Ulrich called out to the boy, but Dexter didn't listen. Ulrich took out after him.

"Squad Leader! Do not leave your squad!" called out the referee.

Ulrich turned. "Lima Squad, fall out and follow me!" The rest of the Lost Boys got up and followed their Squad Leader. The other squad, Alpha Squad, shouted out their jeers as Lima Squad quit the field. The referee said nothing.

Ulrich and the rest of the squad quickly caught up with Dexter. "Dexter, slow down!" Ulrich called out, "it's over now!"

Dexter Pennington whirled around, "it'll never be over, Stern! Do you want to know what happened? That asshole told me that Master Ralph was going to pay me another visit real soon now! Me and the rest of Lima Squad! They've got us all in a nice convenient, isolated spot, and now they're going to come and finish it!"

"Bullshit," was all that Ulrich said, "Lima Squad, gather 'round!"

The rest of the squad gathered around Ulrich and Dexter. Ulrich then said, "you heard what Dexter just said, that those 'Master Ralph' assholes are still running around, that they're waiting for their next chance to get at you. Well, I'm here to tell you that will not happen again! I will tell you right now that if anybody tries to do something like that to one of you guys, the only thing that will get to jail faster than they will will be the headlights of the ambulance that brings them in."

"But you're not around all the time, Squad Leader," one of the other boys said.

"You're right, I'm not," Ulrich replied, "but where are we guys, a military school! What's one of the things they've been teaching here? How to fight back! If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that bullies like the ones who don't fight back. They pick on the ones they think won't put up a fight. Guys, we have the perfect opportunity to change that here! All we have to do is make use of it."

"You saw how I did back there," Dexter said, "we've been doing this since the school year started, and I haven't gotten a bit better. We can't make use of what's here if we're not capable of doing it."

"I am not expecting any of you to become Rambos," Ulrich said, "but what I do expect is that all of you stand up against this crap when it comes up."

"Why, so we can get the shit beat out of us?" one of the other boys said.

"If that's what winds up happening, yes," Ulrich replied, "but that doesn't mean you roll over, stick your ass in the air and let them have their way. It means you put up one hell of a fight and make sure they know they've been in one! Pennington, back there, he said what he said and you did what?"

"I, nothing," Dexter replied, "I stood there and he hit me in the stomach."

"That's right," Ulrich replied, "Master Ralph isn't running around here, only the fear of him is. The rest of the school knows it, so they used it against you. Now here's what I want you guys to do..."

Ulrich spoke with his squad a little longer. They then turned and returned to the circle they had just left. Alpha Squad jeered at their return.

"Sir, Cadet Pennington requests a rematch," Dexter called out the referee.

"On what grounds, cadet," the ref replied.

"On the grounds that my opponent is a dickless asshole, sir!"

The boy from Alpha Squad who had just fought Dexter charged out of the group and at the boy.

"Hold it! Attention, all of you!" the ref hollered, barely regaining control.

"Sir, this cadet requests permission to pound the shit out of Cadet Pennington!" the other boy shouted.

The ref looked at the group, Alpha and Lima squads. Alpha Squad was surprised by what had just transpired. They were usually the best at any school competition, and pugil sticks were no exception. Generally, the other squads just took their licks and went their way. But this was different.

Lima Squad looked out for blood. Something Stern said must have caused the whole lot to suddenly grow backbones for this to come up. The Commandant gave specific instructions to keep an eye on Stern's bunch, to see how he did as a leader. It looks like the referee was about to get a first hand look at Stern's work.

"Alright, suit up. The still rules apply; all of them," the ref said.

Pennington and the other boy put on their protective gear. The squads circled up, and the two contestants met in the center. The other boy said something, just before the ref blew his whistle. Before the sound of the whistle had died out, Dexter moved. He swung his pugil stick down and up, and caught the other boy directly in the crotch. As the boy doubled over, Dexter then swung from side to side, hitting the boy in the head, knocking him out.

"Whoa! Stop it! Stand Back!" the ref hollered. He ran over to the downed boy, quickly checking him over for serious injury. After making sure the boy wasn't dead, the ref stood up.

"Pennington! You will accompany me to the Commandant's Office this instant! That was totally uncalled for!"

"Sir!" Ulrich said, "I encouraged Cadet Pennington to do what he did!"

The ref stared wide eyed at Ulrich, then said, "alright Stern, you can explain what just happened to the Commandant. I'm sure he will just love the tale you have to tell, I'm sure looking forward to it. Now Fall Out! Alpha Squad! Dismissed! Lima Squad! Dismissed!"

As Dexter and Ulrich followed the referee to the Commandant's office, the rest of Lima Squad stood there for a moment, then followed them.

When the ref saw this, he said, "I said Fall Out! What do you think that means!"

"Stern is our Squad Leader," said one of the boys, "and he stood up for us. Good, bad or indifferent, we will stand with him."

Oh yes, the referee thought, the Commandant is going to be very interested in this.

"Alright, it's your funeral. Fall in!"


The Commandant was very interested in this turn of events. So much so that he had Lima Squad do two hours worth of calisthenics under his personal supervision. Ulrich had Dexter lead them, since he was the weakest and slowest of the squad, which enabled him to set the pace. The Commandant didn't seem to mind, but he still pushed the whole squad for the whole two hours. When they were done, everybody, Ulrich included, just about dropped dead from exhaustion. The Commandant dismissed the boys, and they dragged themselves to the showers.

Before he left, the Commandant said to Ulrich, "good job, Squad Leader. Now report to my office for our study session."