Three days had passed in arduousness, and Lynn had found herself struggling to grow accustomed to her new army. Joining her toon and training in null gravity wasn't much of a problem – she had had practice sessions before as a launchie and, even if these lessons were more strenuous, she was starting to get the hang of it.

No, what was getting to her was the less physical work. She had never placed much emphasis on her studies before, and now it was coming to bite her. Neil and the other officers had coded a schedule into the desk network which required all members of their toon sign in and out each day and cited them automatically to their Toon Leader if they slacked off using some complex programs which went over her head. They didn't have to do the two hours a day in one session so most made a habit of splitting them up into more manageable periods throughout the day, but if they failed to meet them by lights out they were reprimanded the next day by their Toon Leader. Lynn found that out the hard way.

The Commander had set up an interesting system where doing well in one's classes or acing a test or quiz would give them free minutes to reduce their required study time with, and, as a result, the more intelligent of soldiers in the army ended up having more free time on their hands. It didn't do much from Lynn herself, though. Hearing a particular group of smarties in the barracks laughing and socializing amongst themselves while she was stuck on her desk scrolling through molecular physics textbooks and doing homework aggravated her and she was forced to get used to droning them out.

Neil had also programmed a deskpage which sorted the 41 troops in the army from 1st to 41st on the basis of their academic performance and automatically updated every morning. As expected, Neil himself held the first position every day without fail, while a close second was a young brainiac by the name of Hayao. The following positions always shifted around a lot, with Lynn noticing that the Lieutenant Commander and Alpha Toon Leader, Amadei, usually floated somewhere between 6th and 3rd. Lynn herself was almost always dead last, which Amadei said would get her kicked out if she didn't improve.

Despite being bogged down with studies, Lynn still leapt at the chance to train in the Battle Room using what free time she had left. The other four boys in her sub-toon continued to hang around her until, before she realized it, she had become accustomed to their company. They together trained under their toon's officers during regular practice sessions, sat together in classes, and spent most of their recreational time with each other. She grudgingly accepted Timmy's offer to go to a battle room during their free time and get in some extra practice along with the others.

At 0600 on the morning of her fifth day in Turtle Army, the lights of their barracks lit up overhead and the soldiers began to obstinately stir from their bunks. At first, Lynn moaned and tried to go back to sleep, but she stopped herself upon recalling that today was the day of her first battle. Her first chance to prove her worth.

She swung herself out of bed and rubbed her eyes drearily while trying to wake herself up. Without even bothering to put on her jumpsuit, she reached into her locker and pulled out her desk. She placed it on her lap and powered it up, immediately pulling up the shortcut to the deskpage containing the army's updated academic rankings. She scrolled down with her eyes peeled expectantly. Finally, she saw her name and grinned. "Yes! I went up!" she shouted, pumping her fists.

"To 37th," Timmy muttered, peering over her shoulder; "that's still pretty bad."

"What do you know, 30," she replied, pushing him away. "I'll be passing you up soon. In grades, and in the Battle Room."

"Yeah right," he snickered in reply.

…

"Get moving soldiers!" Amadei shouted at them and the other boys with the tone of a drill sergeant, walking down the lane between rows of bunks. "Battle Today! Shower time ends at 0620! Breakfast at 0640! Flash Suits on by 0650! Alpha Toon, don't slack off!" The boys that hadn't already gotten up were starting to rouse, and the Commander watched the scene in silent examination from his position beside the door. Amadei's short figure made him smaller than about half the army, but still they all respected his commands (grudgingly, in some cases); even - or rather, especially - the leaders of the other toons.

Once she had stood up, replaced her desk, and slipped on her jumpsuit, Lynn rejoined Timmy and the rest of her sub-toon to file through the lane between bunks towards the door to head to the showers. As they passed by Neil, her friend Klas muttered to her once they were through the door. "He's not looking good."

She had noticed it herself. Commander Tokar looked tired, with dark bags under his eyes as if he hadn't been getting much sleep recently. She'd been in Turtle Army long enough to have heard the rumors – that he had difficulty sleeping and would often worked through the night. She had taken them with a grain of salt before, but getting a close look at him now made her wonder if there had truth to them after all. In thought, she let out a surprised yelp as she felt a hand clap her in the back and almost send her face faulting into the floor.

"Watch it, doll back!" she yelled back at the offender, Timmy, angrily as he and Feliz laughed; already losing her train of thought and returning her focus to the upcoming battle.

Timmy thumbed the hilt of his blaster still holstered on his side in anticipation, staring at the blank wall that would soon open and reveal a force field protected gate leading into the Battle Room. In their flash suits and standing at attention, Turtle Army had divided itself into the four toons and were waiting for orders. His own Alpha Squad was nearest to the door, standing in rows of three, as they would be the first to enter. Amadei and the two seconds – Jonas and Hans – stood at the front of the toon, while Neil situated himself next to the wall where the gate would soon appear. Timmy himself stood in the center of the fourth row between Lynn and Klas, Feliz standing in the following row and the final member of their sub-toon, Nike, standing in the preceding one.

Although he was meant to be still and ready, Timmy looked around curiously at others. The veterans in the other toons looked to be full of confidence and eagerness for battle, while a good number of those in Alpha Toon looked to be uneasy or else neutral as if unconfident in their abilities. Despite all her big talk, Lynn's nervous shuddering could be clearly seen as the clock ticked down.

"Nothing to be concerned about!" Neil shouted to the army, drawing back his attention. Tired though he may look, the pressure of leading the battle seemed to have cleared his mind, Timmy noted. "Bigfoot Army is one of the weaker teams – not even in the top twenty. This should be an easy victory, but that doesn't mean its ok to slack off. We're going with Strategy: Calvary Escort this time – Alpha, split into your sub-toons and join with Beta, Gamma, and Delta." Of course, they'd already been talking plans for the past two days, and, seeing how he had gotten it down the first time it was stated, Timmy didn't see much need to listen.

One thing he liked about Alpha Toon was that they were almost always the first to see action, and this strategy was no exception. Even acting as meat shields to take fire for Beta, he still had the opportunity to rain hell down on the enemy toon before he went down. And the more troops he froze or injured before that happened would increase his own standing.

Silence fell as the gate slid open, and Neil stared through it keenly. The room wasn't empty; but there were no stars littering it either – a massive structure consisting of nine large pillars connected by five rings was anchored in mid-air in the center of the room. A cylindrical frame. Neil let out a confident hum. "Beta Toon! Draw the enemy into the center region of the cylinder! Gamma, take control of the top and fire down! Delta, take the bottom! Go!"

Led by Amadei, Alpha Toon immediately marched forward to step through the gate row by row. He smiled as it was finally his turn and laughed as he felt the feeling of weightlessness over take him the moment he passed through the force field. It was as if, after a lifetime of being tethered down by the laws of nature and gravity, he was finally free. He didn't have long to enjoy himself, however, as he saw Amadei holding onto the wall to the right of the gate and moved to join him. The other two sub-toons each led by a second from Alpha had split up in separate directions, waiting to join up with the toons they had been tasked with escorting.

Bigfoot Army was filing out of their gate a distance away at about the same time, and Amadei grunted while motioning towards the cylinder – with Beta Toon still filing out. "We're going first. Pair up and jump for the columns or the rings. Try to spread out, and keep cover until Beta makes it out." They complied and grabbed hands in pairs. Amadei himself joined with the sub-toon's least skilled soldier, Nike, before jumping off in order to help ensure that he hit his target safely and didn't fly right past it, while Timmy and Klas continued the trend with Feliz and Lynn respectively.

Timmy landed on one of the columns just as it was Delta Toon's turn to begin exiting. He flung Feliz onto the space above him, a feat made possible due to their weightlessness. "FIRE!" he heard Amadei shout just as he whipped out his pistol and aimed a shot at one of the approaching enemies. They were still a distance away so he missed, but just barely. He ducked for cover as the incoming toon returned fire in earnest, peering over every few seconds to fire another shot.

Bigfoot Army had reached the opposite end of the cylindrical frame and taken position behind the rings and columns so that they could protect themselves and fire back. Beta Toon joined them, and the battle quickly transformed into a form of three-dimensional trench warfare with the center of the cylinder, some forty meters across, as no man's land.

"Alpha, cover us!" the Beta Toon Leader shouted over the clamor of blaster fire, and Timmy and Feliz peered out and open fired while a small squad leapt through the gap towards an adjacent pillar; the others doing the same as another small unit moved in the other direction.

He heard a distressed cry from Feliz as a shot struck him in the shoulder and he jerked backwards, spiraling away helplessly. With three of Bigfoot's ten man toons assaulting them, they were outnumbered and outgunned; it was only due to Beta's (and Amadei's) skills that they were able to hold their ground at all.

But it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed. Bigfoot Army, having nearly twice their numbers, was spreading around the edges of the cylinder at an alarming rate. Five minutes in, and Bigfoot Army had controlled some 270 degrees of the cylinder's center compared to Turtle Army's 90. With more ground taken by the enemy came more angles that the Turtles had to avoid fire from.

Timmy forced a smirk from beneath his visor as he pressed his back against the column. By this point, it was too dangerous to peer out and take a shot without getting hit himself. 'Great... I'm stuck here.'