Hi again. So here's the next chapt.

Enjoy.

Skipper and the guys had just joined the line. They were expecting and order from George.

But it didn't come. Not right away.

"I'm going to ask you all a set of questions before training today. Am I clear?" George said with authority.

"Yes, sir!" everyone replied.

"Good. Now, are you all loyal men?" he asked, pacing in front of them all.

"Yes, sir!" they all replied.

"Are you willing to die for this unit, its men, and all who it protects?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Are you all going to be obedient and listen to all directions given to you?"

"Yes, sir!"

George stopped in front of Skipper. He smiled at him. He was standing up straight, head straight, not flinching at anything. All of them were like that. "Are you going to be truthful, honest, and honorable?" He asked

"Yes sir!"

"Major," He said.

"Yes, sir?" Skipper asked calmly, not moving his eye sight from looking forward. He didn't know what George wanted. Whatever it was, it probably wasn't good.

"Where were you last night?" George asked.

"In my quarters, sir," Skipper replied. He was caught. George knew now. He picked a damn good time to let Skipper know. Crap. Skipper thought, Now. Of all times, why now? After all these years, he's still a jerk. Skipper though that the surveillance crew let him off the hook. He should've k now better. They were loyal men, they didn't let anyone off the hook. If you broke a rule, they would make sure you were punished for it.

"Are you sure Major?" George asked, giving Skipper one more chance to come clean.

"Yes, sir I'm sure." Skipper replied retaining composure, and remaining calm. He wasn't going to get a confession that easily. He still didn't really know if the Colonel knew exactly who was on the roof. He could still manage to get away from this.

"Huh. You see, I was hoping to make this easy. But if you're not going to cooperate…" George replied. He was actually hoping that Skipper would just come out and say it. But he knew that Skipper was a hard one to crack. "Come with me boy." He turned and walked away from the group.

Skipper swallowed hard. He didn't know what George was going to do, and he didn't know if he wanted to. He only hoped it wouldn't be too bad, or too painful for that matter. He wanted it to be short. Just an explanation and scolding and then for it to be done. He followed George reluctantly.

When they were far enough away that no one could hear them George stopped. Skipper did too.

"Attention," George mumbled, loud enough so Skipper could hear him.

Skipper snapped into attention, a skill he had learned the last time he was here. He almost knew what was coming. George was probably going to ramble on about rules and obedience.

George would normally do that, to anyone who wasn't Skipper. He knew Skipper wouldn't really care for that stuff. He was just going to pretend to listen and say yes sir when he needed to. George knew this, he had figured it out. So he went with something that might actually work. As hard as he possibly could, he slapped Skipper across the face. He actually hurt his hand in the process. He could've beaten him to a pulp, if he wanted to. But a slap was good enough. It was all the pain, with a mark that would soon go away.

Skipper didn't expect that. He honestly did not see that coming. The slap spun him around a few times and left him sitting on the floor not knowing what had just happened. His cheek hurt too. He rubbed it. That really hurt. A punch wouldn't have hurt this bad. That was the single fact that shocked him the most. Georges slap hurt more than a fist would have. He didn't think it was possible.

George laughed, "You gonna tell the truth this time?" He asked. "Where. Were. You. Last night?" He repeated, angrily.

It took Skipper a few seconds to snap back into reality. He didn't know if he should tell the truth, or let George tell him. It was clear that George knew. It didn't take a genius to see that. "I-I-"

"Don't lie to me boy." George warned.

Skipper sighed. But instead of telling George, he was about to, he was suddenly filled with annoyance. "If you know why are you even asking?" He snapped, annoyed. He didn't know what would come next, and at that moment he really didn't care. George knew. It was simple. He knew. There was no point in asking if he already knew.

George took a deep breath. Now he remembered. Yes he liked to show Skipper that he had the superior power. Sure, it was simple, easy, and interesting. Skipper had gained quite a tight grip on his temper. He had more control now than George had ever seen before. But he was still Skipper. And there was one thing he was good at, opening his mouth. It wasn't always bad; it had even proven to be useful at times. But it was a danger to himself. That mouth of his always got him into trouble. And it was about to get him in trouble again. "Get up," George growled.

Skipper got up. He didn't know what else to do, and sitting on the floor wasn't helping any. Apparently a quick talk wasn't going to happen. "What?" Skipper asked, unemotionally and disrespectfully.

George absolutely hated to be disrespected. It hit a raw nerve. Skipper had just hit that nerve. Before he could stop himself, George threw a fist forward hitting Skipper just above his left eye.

Skipper was on the floor once again. This time he was in more pain though. The slap did not hurt more than a punch. Not one of Georges anyway. He knew then that he had made a mistake. He should've known better. George could detect disrespect a mile away. He should've been more careful. Now he had a killer headache, and possibly a black eye. And he deserved it.

"Boy I know what you've been doing. Those silly creatures you've been talking to. That device of yours-" George hisses.

"It's a walkie-talkie," Skipper corrected. He got up, still holding onto his eye. "It's just a walkie-talkie. The only thing I'm using it for is to figure out what's going on back home. I need to know how the zoo is fairing without us. And yes it concerns me. You wouldn't understand. I left Marlene in charge. She's an otter at the zoo and a good friend of ours. She's very trustworthy and knows when to keep her mouth shut." Skipper sighed, "And yes I know it's against the rules to tell an outsider about the units."

George thought for a moment. He was still angered by Skippers short burst of disrespect. But kipper knew the punishment. He thought the otter was trustworthy. Well he'd just have to see about that. Skipper had to be punished for knowingly breaking a rule. "Come with me, the General want's to speak with you."

Skipper followed George to the Generals quarters. He was nervous. Just a little, but he didn't know what to expect.

George left Skipper in the Generals quarters. She was standing over the round battle table, tapping it with one flipper. "You broke the rules Skipper. You'll have to be punished at some point," She stated. "But that's not why I want to talk to you." She looked up, and sighed. "You know he has a short temper," She said, "Why do you insist on pushing him?"

Skipper shrugged, "He annoys me sometimes."

Sara shook her head. "You two make my life quite difficult. Did you know that?"

"I'm sorry. But he tries my patience," Skipper explained.

"He's allowed to. He's-"

"My superior, I know," Skipper finished. He didn't like that fact, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"Never mind that, I'm afraid I can't help you with him. What I wanted to talk to you about is the army General," Sara informed.

"What about him?" Skipper asked.

Sara sighed. "We can't do it anymore. He's taken so much from us. Rules. He and his ridiculous rules. He's taken out supplies away, he's taken rights away, he's made us helpless towards him," Sara explained stressed out.

"Hold on, what did he take away?" Skipper asked calmly.

"He took away our supplies. If it wasn't for the Yulandas we wouldn't have any weapons at all. Nothing but those stupid guns. He stop supplying the unit with supplies. We have to make our own training objects. We are constantly finding ways to improve our courses. He's taken the right of argument away. If he caught you arguing with George," She paused, "Skipper you'd be done. You'd be put in the PCU for at least a month."

Skipper gulped at that. Things were getting bad. Real bad.

"And that's not all. That's just the beginning. He's taken away the right of forage. We can't go out into the woods anymore. Not unless it's a mission. He's taken our communication rights too. He's not even letting us upgrade our security."

Skipper thought for a minute. That was against protical. The Army General didn't have the power to do something like that. "He can't" Skipper argued.

"No he can. It's against protocol, but he makes things up, reasons for his rules. He had the Global eating out of his flippers. Skipper, I can't promote anyone. He took that right away too," Sara explained.

"Then what can we do?" Skipper asked. There was no obvious way to solve this. Unless… "We have to go up against him."

"No, we can't. Do you know what that'll do to us? Everyone in the entire unit would be punished," Sara argued concerned. She had a duty to the unit. She couldn't let them all suffer.

"Yes. We can. If he wants to mess with us, we'll mess with him," Skipper countered.

"How?" Sara asked. She didn't see any way that they could mess with the Army General. The whole unit would get punished.

"We threaten him. If he doesn't return our rights, and supply us, Unit nine will withdraw from the circuit," Skipper said confidently. If the Army General thought he could get away with this than he was dead wrong. He couldn't get away with misuse of power. There wasn't any way he would do it.

"You mean become a neutral?" Sara asked shocked.

"Yes, we'll have Scythro as an ally. He could show us the ropes. And besides, Unit Nine may be small, but it's made of strong men and women. We'll survive."

"Skipper. I don't know if that's possible," Sara replied worried. If the unit withdraws from the circuit, they could be a target. Other units could be ordered to attack.

"It is. He's gone too far." Skipper sensed Sara's worry so he came up with another option, sort of a first step. "We could try something else first," He suggested. "We could just disobey."

"Hmm. We could. But if he found out?"

"Then we'll confront him. If he gives us difficulties, we give the threat. If he still does not take us seriously, we withdraw. And he will become the first Army General to lose a unit in over three centuries," Skipper replied.

Sara thought about that long and hard. Skipper was right. And very clever. "Then we'll start the disobedience. Go get George, he'll have to be my first victim," Sara ordered, with a smile. She wasn't big on disobedience. But this might actually be fun.

Skipper smiled. "Yes Ma'am." He saluted and left to go get George. He knew right away what it would be. George was still a colonel. The first act of disobedience would be a promotion. Skipper knew it. And as much as he hated George, Skipper thought, honestly, that George deserved the promotion. Sara was a good General. One of the best in his opinion. The Army General, was probably the worst. But he was good at what he did, so he never got in trouble. Well, he hadn't before. Unit nine was about to change that. It was time to stir the pot a little.

Skipper ran up behind George, he was watching everyone to pull ups. He stopped right behind him.

"What do you want boy?" George snapped turning around.

Skipper half grinned at George. "The General wants to see you." He reported. "You might like it."

George eyes Skipper carefully. Something wasn't right. "What's going on?" he asked, skeptically.

"Unit Nine is going to stir the pot a little," Skipper replied calmly.

George took a deep breath. He wasn't sure about what that meant. But he had a feeling it wasn't completely good. He turned back to the group. "Drop." He ordered.

They all let go of the bars and dropped to the floor. A few of them fell on their butts. This included Kowalski, Rico and Private. They still weren't used to the work outs.

"Wait here until I come back." He turned to Skipper, "You come with me," he ordered.

Skipper shrugged, "Why not?"

They walked in silence back to the Generals room. George hesitated before opening the door. He still wasn't sure about why the General wanted to speak with him. And he didn't really know if he wanted to find out.

Skipper pushed the door open and walked in. He knew George was probably suspicious. Skipper had known George for a while before he left. George was a thinker. He knew when to shut his brain down, but when he didn't need to he thought a lot. And of course when you think you come up with some very odd and suspicious reasons for someone to want to talk to you.

George followed Skipper in. He was curious, suspicious, and confused all at the same time. An unhealthy mix.

"George," Sara said smiling. "Let me explain before conclusions are jumped to. Skipper came up with a solution to one of our problems,"

George looked over at Skipper surprised, he didn't expect him to be capable of a solution to one of the units problems. Some of those problems were difficult.

"The Army General, as you know, has been breaking rules associated with his protocol. But he hasn't been punished, because he has the Global eating out of his hands. The plan is simple, three steps. The first step is disobedience, the second a warning, and the third withdrawal of Unit Nine from the circuit," Sara explained. "We're not putting up with him anymore."

George had to figure that out. He eventually got it. "So why did you call me here? You seem to have everything figured out," He said.

"We don't need to figure anything out," Sara replied. "As a first act of disobedience," Sara said with authority, "I hereby promote Colonel George, to Lieutenant General."

George was shocked. He didn't know what to say. He was happy yes. But completely confused.

Skipper and Sara laughed at Georges reaction. It was, in a way, priceless. "Skipper patted George on the back to wake him up. "Come one George, it's a good thing."

"So, what do you think of our plan, Lieutenant?" Sara asked, slyly. She smiled at George.

George shook his head, washing the initial shock away. He smiled back at Sara. "I think, it's time to have some fun," he replied.

"Gather everyone. I have a few things to say," Sara ordered kindly, happily.

Skipper was glad to see the General so happy and relaxed, instead of all stressed and tense. He had finally found out what was wrong. And he'd solved it. Well almost solved it. Sara had hope now. The only thing left to worry about was the third party. And Sara could wait until tomorrow to discuss that with Scythro. She had the right to be happy.

Skipper and George walked to the center of the training area. They looked at each other for a moment, nodded, and whistled loudly. George had more practice so his whistle was louder.

Everyone looked at the two curiously, wondering why they had whistled.

They motioned for everyone to come to the center of the training area. Many looked questionably at them, but they all eventually started walking to the middle. After a few minutes everyone was gathered in the center of the room.

Sara came in a few minutes later with the surveillance crew. When she walked in all became quiet. The surveillance men joined the group. She walked to the front of the group. "I know that the past few weeks, this week especially, has been very difficult for you. The unit has been taking what seems to be an endless down spiral of very bad luck. But. I believe that the down spiral is about to end. Our rights have been taken, our identity dishonored, our numbers critically reduced. Yet all of you, no matter how few, stand here. You stand with dignity, pride, honor, and above all, the will to continue," she said confidently. "But, I'm not going to ramble on about that. You already know all that stuff. What I want to tell you, is how we're going to end the endless down spiral. The army general hasn't been treating us very kindly. No, we are like the dirt under his feet. Well I do believe that it is time to give him a run for his money, no? It's quite simple. We have the color red. We are disobedient, right? Let's show him what disobedient really is. We have been restricted by words. But I don't see any guards here. Our rights have been taken by words. And again, where are the guards to reinforce them? There are none. Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words shall not contain us." She paused, "Three steps. One, disobedience, two a warning, and three… withdrawal from the circuit."

Many gasps were aroused by the thought of withdrawal. Then one person spoke up.

"Well. Let's have some fun then!" she said.

Cheers erupted. Everyone was tired of being restricted. Having little rights, little freedom. They all respect Sara. Even with their freedoms they had listened to her. The restrictions and limitations had taken away the right of argument and rejection, of judicial compromise and duels, the right to choose their arsenal of weapons, the right to converse with anyone they wanted. Gone. They had tried multiple times to explain to the army general how wrong that was. They tried to compromise with him. But he didn't listen, wouldn't listen. So, this three step plan was their last choice. And there was no way they could fail. This time, the army general would listen, or lose a unit to neutrality. It was his choice.

One of the surveillance men had stayed behind in the surveillance room. His name was Theodore. He was able to watch and listen to Sara. But he had to keep an eye out. Suddenly one of the computers started beeping. He went over to the screen and analyzed it. He didn't like what he saw. It terrified him.

Coming towards the main gate was a truck. The army generals truck, followed by to others. He was back, and he brought reinforcements this time.

Theodore bolted out of the room and down the hallway filled with fear, adrenalin pushing faster than ever. The army General never showed up with reinforcements. Something terrible was about to happen. Sara had to know.

He bolted into the training area and ran through the crowd straight up to Sara.

"What's the matter Ted?" Sara asked calmly. She didn't know what was wrong, but it couldn't be too bad. Could it

"It's him," Theodore explained between breaths, "Army General, Stefan, he's got reinforcements. I don't think he came to talk Sara."

"Everyone get ready. George get the weapons. No guns. Skipper help him. We might have trouble. If he's going to make a new rule, we're going to fight it," Sara instructed.

George and Skipper went and got weapons. They gave everyone knives, spears and swards. A few received bows and arrows. Sara stayed with her weapons, the bow and arrow, and her spear.

They stood in two lines of forty. Sara, Skipper, and George stood in front of them. They were ready for anything. They were going to give the Army General his choice. And this time, Unit Nine would not lose.