And here is Chapter 2, (note for previous viewers, major parts of this chapter have been revised to improve the writing and story, apologies for any confusion)

Unregistered Outbound Communication [Operations to begin in 18 hours]

"This is not good, his presence could upset all our plans."

"Nothing has changed, as I told you, he lost his memory, any skill or training he received while he was with the Confederates will have been forgotten, besides, he's one boy, he can't possibly stop what's coming by himself."

"He is Number 1, his mere presence could inspire the KND to fight longer and harder, I don't need this war to become anymore complicated than it already is!"

"His presence alone won't be enough to save them, fighting spirit means nothing in the face of insurmountable odds."

"You sound confident Admiral, you of all people should know the value of fighting spirit."

"Fighting spirit alone matters nothing unless its tethered to a distinct military advantage, a General such as yourself Arthurs should know that."

"Your being especially testy today Schmitt, I didn't know you cared for these primitives so much."

"I just think you're being paranoid, Number 1 or not, we're still going to decimate them."

"We're going to "subdue" them, it's not like we're going to kill anyone. Be grateful the council agreed to your conditions."

"Oh but you'd love to decimate them, to bring the armies of the Federation crashing down on this world and raze everything insight to the ground."

"True enough, so be happy you got what you wanted, it's not like I enjoy doing this, its just necessary."

"Necessary or not, they don't deserve this... and I never wanted this."

"Like I give a damn about what you want."

KND Moonbase: Med Bay

Nigel Uno sat upright in his hospital bed, rubbing his head with his hands and trying to order his thoughts. He had only been awake for about 10 minutes and he had already gone through a full range of emotions, ranging from happiness to shock to anger to confusion. Happiness because he had woken up to warm greetings from his best friends, shock from learning how much the Kids Next Door had changed while he had been gone, anger because he couldn't remember any of the events during his disappearance and confusion as to his current situation.

His first thought when they told him about the crash was that the cake ship that he had gotten into back in that canyon on Earth after the scavenger hunt, had accidentally crashed into the moonbase on it's flight from Earth. But, that was until they told him that he had been gone for over a year. He could still feel the shock from that revelation coursing through his body. A whole year, he thought, My parents haven't seen me for over a year, what was I doing up there? He had been told little since his awakening, only that he had been gone for almost a year and a half and some of the basic details of what had gone on in that time. Nigel was dying to ask more questions, but Rachel had taken the rest of sector V out of the med bay for a private conversation, leaving the only recently introduced admiral, Numbah 141 in the room with him.

Nigel looked over at the admiral, who was sitting in a chair on the other side of the room reading an old copy of a gaming magazine. The admiral was somewhat taller than the rest of Nigel's friends by about a few inches to a full head and had that air of professionalism to him that Numbah 60 carried around all the time. He had short cut, dark brown hair, a straight, serious face and grayish blue eyes that seemed much older than a kid his age should possess. He wore a uniform reminiscent of the KND dress uniform Nigel had worn when he received the KNDefense award so long ago, only it was light grey and had threads of yellowish, gold fabric woven into it. Also, the admiral wore a grey, peaked cap like those worn by adult military officers, instead of a plunger with a tassel in it.

The admiral had spoken little to him, merely introducing himself and giving him a few bits of information about the recent changes in the KND before retreating to his chair. Nigel decided that if was going to get any answers to his questions that now would be a good time to start asking. He called over to the admiral, "so tell me, what's been going on in the KND while I've been gone?" Numbah 141 looked up from his magazine and smiled thinly, "I'm surprised you haven't answered that question yourself already" he said in a slightly annoyed tone. His voice was deep and like his eyes, made him seem much older than he actually appeared, almost like a teenager. Numbah 1 scowled, he didn't like the vibes this kid was giving off, "no, I haven't figured it all out yet, I've only been awake for 10 minutes, so could you please just tell me what the heck has been going on around here!" The admiral sighed and put down his magazine, he was clearly irritated. "To put it simply, you've been replaced", he said slowly, in a very annoyed tone.

KND Moonbase: Observation Deck

Meanwhile outside the med bay, Rachel was deep into a heated argument with Numbah 5 while the rest of sector V stood on and watched. "When I first asked you if you knew anything about Numbah 1's disappearance I clearly remember you responding with a NO, care to revise that now?", Rachel was seething mad. Deep down she was happy that Nigel had returned, but right now all she could focus on was her anger at being lied to. Abby groaned and tried her explanation one more time, "look Rachel.." "It's Numbah 362 to you right now", interrupted Rachel. Abby winced, rarely did Rachel insist that people, especially friends, use her number. "Alright Numbah 362, I know you want to know what happened to Nigel, but we really can't tell you!" "Can't or won't", demanded Rachel through gritted teeth, "I am your supreme leader and you are expected to share ALL information with me, regardless of whether or not you made any promises to Numbah 1. I might be willing to forgive you, if you would just tell me WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!"

Abby cringed, but she didn't back down, "we did make a promise to Numbah 1, but we also were forced to make promises to other people as well, people who apparently outrank you." "OUTRANK ME", exclaimed Rachel, "do I need to repeat myself? I. AM. THE. SUPREME. LEADER! There is no one higher ranked than me!" "Look, all I can tell you is that there are people who outrank you", explained Abby nervously, "and Nigel was chosen to go work for them, they call themselves the Galactic Kids Next Door and no one on Earth is supposed to know about them", Abby shrugged, "I can't tell you any more because even we don't know." Rachel's anger subsided a bit, but she was still pissed off, "galactic level Kids Next Door", she thought out loud, "does that mean they use aliens or something." "All we know is that they only pick the best operative from each planet and that was Nigel, we don't know anything else, honestly the last time we saw him he got in a GKND ship and flew off, we didn't even see any GKND operatives."

Rachel was still angry, but now she was equally contemplative. "I'm guessing that means that Numbah 74.239 was working for the GKND as well?" "Yeah", agreed Abby, glad that Rachel was finally changing the subject, "he was the main link to Earth for the GKND, I think, Numbah Infinity was also working for them to." "Son of gun, so that's why we could never find him after the treaty", swore Rachel, "I swear we searched the whole planet for him, well that explains that."

Abby decided to take a chance, "and apparently, Numbah 274 was working for them as well." Rachel turned her head around to gape at her, she obviously could not believe what she was hearing. Abby held up her hands in defense, "leme finish, leme finish." Rachel crossed her arms and nodded her head go, "Numbah 274 only turned on us because he was following the GKND's orders, according to Numbah Infinity, he was helping us from the teenz side the whole time." "Why do I have a hard time believing that", said Rachel in a skeptical tone. "I know it sounds crazy, but isn't this whole thing already crazy" asked Abby. Rachel sighed, "you've got that right." Abby then remembered something and asked, "hey Numbah 362..." "Rachel's fine now Abby", she cut in, with a small smile. Abby smiled as well, "Rachel, how did you know to order the defenses to stand down?" "I don't know, I just got this feeling is all", said Rachel, "it was weird, I just knew somehow."

Lost in thought again, Rachel turned around and started pacing the deck while Abby continued, "look sir, I understand how you feel about this, but I think we need to be focusing on the now instead of the then, Nigel's lost his memory and besides us there is no one on Earth who can tell you anything more about the GKND, we should focus on bigger questions right now, like why Numbah 1 would return without any reason." "Maybe he just got homesick", said Numbah 2, "I know I would if I was stuck out in space for over a year." Rachel shook her head, "maybe, but thats not like Nigel to put personal desires before the mission, I know", her expression saddened. "Well then maybe he's on a mission", added Numbah 4, "it wouldn't be the first time Nigel's flown in and out on some random adventure." "Again, maybe", said Rachel, "but if so then why is his memory gone and why is he all the way out here?" Rachel sighed again and suddenly seemed to lose strength, she leaned against the wall, overcome with a sudden wave of weariness, "I'm so tired of asking all these what-if questions." Abby put an arm around her shoulder for comfort, "It doesn't matter what happened, what matters is he's here and it doesn't look like he'll be leaving anytime soon." Rachel smiled at that, but it quickly turned into a frown, "sure, but that still doesn't answer the question, if he's not here to see us and he's not on a mission", she turned her head to stare out the viewport into the depths of space, "why did he leave?"

KND Moonbase: Med Bay

Nigel was baffled, "REPLACED?!" "In a manner of speaking", replied the admiral in a cold tone. He eyed Nigel, like he was trying to decide wether it would be worth it to continue this conversation. Forget Numbah 60, this guys almost like Numbah 86, condescension and all, thought Nigel. "After you disappeared", the admiral went on, "things got pretty tough for the KND, Father's been on the warpath ever since you stole his pipe and... by the why what happened to that thing any way?" "I think it might be in my ship... or maybe at my old treehouse", thought Nigel, "I still can't remember." The admiral nodded and continued, "anyway, Father immediately stepped up his game after you left, I guess he thought we were hiding you or something." "He hit every KND treehouse worldwide and when he couldn't find you, he started launching massive attacks on the moonbase and even occupying free kid territory on Earth to try and lure you out of hiding. Of course he never listened to us when we told him that you weren't here." The admiral leaned back in his chair, his eyes glazed over and he stared off into the distance as if seeing right through Nigel, "it was a dark time, we were losing operatives left and right, either to decommissioning or in combat, our normal methods couldn't keep up with Father's brutal assaults."

"Then there was the Beach War", the admiral's face grew downcast. "What happened then", asked Nigel, his curiosity peaked. "Father occupied half of the beaches on the west coast of the U.S. during the busiest day of summer vacation, he held every kid there hostage and tried to force us to give you up." "How do you play into this", asked Nigel, a bit apprehensive. "I was the one sent in to clear out the beaches. I pulled together an army of operatives and quite the arsenal of 2x4 tech. This was before I was admiral, back when I was just an operative like everyone else." Nigel noticed the admiral's fists were clenched as he spoke, though his face and voice remained level, "Father's AA fire shot every one of our ships out of the skies, we crashed with no air support, barely any weapons and no vehicles. We were forced to use the wreckage left over from the crashes to fashion makeshift weapons and vehicles to use instead, 2x4 tech from 2x4 tech, not much to work with." His voice finally clenched up at that last sentence, the admiral obviously did not have good memories from this conflict. "We had barely any vehicles after that and only basic weapons and artillery, we were forced to mount mass infantry charges against the adults positions, first World War style. Day after day, week after week for three months we did that over and over again."

The admiral glared up at Nigel his eyes angry and accusing. "Do you know how many operatives I lost during that war." "I don't.." started Nigel, "TWO HUNDRED", yelled the admiral, "I started with 400 operatives and I lost TWO HUNDRED in that war alone, we lost even more in battles before hand too." "Why are you getting angry at me though, it's not my fault", demanded Nigel, he was getting angry himself now, "I know I wasn't here but that doesn't mean that any of this was my fault directly." "Of course it's your fault, it was your disappearance that caused all this in the first place", yelled the admiral, he was on his feet now and his hands were firmly balled into fists. "What gives you the right to chuck duty and go prancing off on some intergalactic adventure while the rest of us are left behind to suffer Father's wrath!" "It's not like I had a choice", argued Nigel, "really", shot back Schmitt, "because from what I hear, you did have a choice, and you chose your galactic friends over us!"

Nigel's words caught in his throat, "I.. wait, how do you know about the GKND?!" The admiral smirked, "I have my sources Nigel, you don't get to be in my position without having some connections." The admiral sighed and sat down heavily in his chair, he seemed to have burnt out his rage and looked haggard. "After the war, I was the first to realize that the only effective way to combat a global threat was to have a global response system." The admiral had returned to his original composed state, though a bit worse for wear and was back to eyeing Nigel with a controlled, but angry expression. "We had a fleet already from the get go, but it was barely organized and we could only call upon operatives who were free from missions to fill it." The Admiral raised his head a bit higher before speaking the rest, "I was the one who organized a dedicated fleet, filled with operatives who's only job was to command and control KND ships. A constant and reliable support force. The fleet slowly took over for individual sectors, it allowed us to do away with the cobbled together sectors we'd thrown together in then years since you left." The Admiral lowered his head and sighed, then reaching for his magazine he said, "there's your answer, happy?"

Nigel was far from happy, but the last thing he needed was to make an enemy of the KND's newest commander on his first day back so he said, "yes, thank you for the information, I didn't realize that leaving the KND would cause so much damage and I realize that no matter how indirect I am to blame, so I'm sorry for all the trouble my absence has caused you." The admiral looked up from his feet, he no longer looked haggard or tired, in fact he looked rather lively and was grinning as a matter of fact, "now that's what I want to hear" he said, in a tone that was much more jowly than any Numbah 1 had heard him use before. The change in attitude was so unexpected that Nigel could only stammer and say "huh."

The admiral laughed, a deep throaty laugh that echoed in the small confined space. "I really had you going there for a second didn't I?" He chuckled, "no no, I was just testing you is all" he explained. "...What? But.. wha...why?" "Look Numbah 1, don't get confused, deep down I am somewhat angry at you for all that's happened, but I knew from the moment you left that none of this was truly your fault. Sure it is indirectly, but come on, this sort of thing happens all the time when you work with the KND. It's just that, well, I never knew you before you left and all that was left over was your legend, the famous Nigel Uno, leader of sector V, the greatest KND operative in the world. In my time I've come to learn that anyone with that kind of reputation is either a stuck up, condescending, know it all or is actually smart enough to appreciate their position and be modest about it." The admiral smiled, "and I'm glad to say that you fall right into that second category."

Nigel was baffled by the admirals mood swing, but decided to accept it and instead grinned back and said "well it's nice to know I don't have to pin you down with Numbah 86." The admiral laughed again, "yeah I did seem an awful lot like the ol decommissioner didn't I" he kept laughing, "you can guess we get into quite a lot fights, ol 86 and me." "I bet", said Nigel, still a bit baffled, "ironic since I'm part Irish", explained the Admiral, his laugh subsiding to a chuckle. "One thing still bothers me though", noted Nigel, "whats that", asked the admiral. "Well you said that you I had been replaced, replaced from what", asked Nigel. The admiral grunted in response, "well, lets just say that you might have played a bigger role than you were privy to", explained Numbah 141. He sat back in his chair again, sighing, "things weren't the same in sector V after you left, let's just say the KND's star sector lost it's edge without their 'fearless leader'."

He looked at the ceiling, "when it became clear that we couldn't rely on sector V any more to solve all our problems, that's when talk of the fleet first started picking up, we became what you and sector V were back in the day: the answer to everyone's problems." Nigel stared at him, "I'm surprised I've never heard of you before now, when did you join the KND?" Schmitt shrugged, "three years ago, of course I was only a minor operative at the time, I didn't become sector leader until about a month after you disappeared, I was pretty much a nobody while you were still here." "What sector were you assigned to", Nigel pressed.

Schmitt pointed his index finger at the ground, "no sector, I was stationed here as Moonbase security personnel for the first year and a half of my time in the KND. There wasn't any sector in or near my state that needed more operatives, so it made the most sense to stick me up here. After you left and adult attacks began to rise, the KND established several new sectors and treehouse bases to expand its national coverage. An area near my neighborhood in California was selected as a location, as a result I and four of my fellow Moonbase guards that lived in the same area were reassigned to that treehouse, sector CAL."

The admiral looked back at Nigel and looked like he was about to say more when he heard a knock on the door. He turned his head to look at the door before turning back and saying, "seems like it's time for you to get reacquainted with your old comrades huh." He stood up and straightened his uniform, before walking out of the door on the other side of the room. He waved back without turning his head, "times have changed Numbah 1, but it's nice to see you haven't." With that he walked out of the room. Nigel watched him go, and when he was finally gone he shook his head, what a strange boy, he thought, and that's how his friends found him when they burst back into the room seconds later.