Private Yiroro marched at a medium to fast clip down one of the many gleaming corridors on the Keronian Battlecruiser. His destination was the Central Command Deck. As the orange-and-white soldier walked, he reflected upon his military past. All those drills and lectures and marches and simulations are finally paying off. I wonder if any of my fellow recruits made it into my platoon? I sure hope that weird Taroro or that tall Doruru haven't failed their final exams. They both showed pretty good promise on the battlefield portion of the test, and it would be a shame to send them off to some reconnaissance unit, and waste their excellent combat abilities. Then we would never know what kind of soldiers they would turn out to be. Wait a moment. Do I turn right or left here?

Suddenly, Yiroro's thoughts were interrupted by a crackle on the intercom.

"All new recruits please report to the Central Command deck for further placement and instruction." Crackle.

I KNOW! thought Yiroro. I've been training for this my entire LIFE, thank you! Plus, they told me where to go when I BOARDED this hunk of junk! Sheesh!

"I know that you've been training for this your entire life AND they told you where to go when you boarded this FINE SHIP. This is simply a reminder for those lacking in memory availability or comprehensibility. Again, all new recruits please report to the Central Command Deck for further placement and instruction. Thank YOU."

Riiight, thought the newly-grad. Oh look, a sign! It says that the Command Deck is this way! Here I go! Yiroro turned down the right corridor, and noticed that the lights seemed suddenly dimmer than the others aboard the ship. Also, it came to his attention that this particular hallway was noticeably dirtier than the others, as well. I hope I haven't wandered into a restricted area by mistake. But how could I? I followed the sign. They must just be getting sloppier on these high-class cruisers. I must remember to notify my commanding officer once I am assigned one.

The young soldier continued his trek down the scummy passageway until he came to another fork. This one was different however as it was blocked off on either side by large metal panels. Yiroro saw no way to open these panels, and was about to walk away when he noticed two levers jutting out of the floor between the two obstructions. Yiroro decided to pull the right lever, thinking that the shinier one would be more reliable. He also liked the cartoonish red nodule on the top of the grip of the lever. Yiroro tugged as hard as his stubby arms would allow, but to no avail. The lever simply would not budge. Sweating, the young Keronian tried again, altering his grip on the handle. His right hand rested on top of the scarlet protrusion. It went down into the handle about two inches, and clicked. Oops! thought the perplexed cadet. A hidden trap-door opened under him, and he fell with a quick meep!

The sun brightly shone on a warm spring day as a young girl, age 13, pulled her hair back into its usual position, placing one skull-shaped barrette in her fuchsia hair, and letting the rest cascade behind her.

"Hey Heiwa! Earth to Heiwa! We're supposed to be raking, remember? These autumn leaves won't rake themselves!"

Autumn? Whu-? Heiwa looked around her. It was fall, after all. The air was crisp and dark clouds were rolling in. "Kee!" Surprised at reality, Heiwa started raking like a mad woman, trying to catch up to the time she had wasted, and trying to finish before the storm came. Stunned, her 16-year-old brother leaned on his propped up rake and watched, confusion spreading in his facial expression and mind.

THUD! Yiroro's face collided with the deck of yet another corridor inside the battlecruiser's hull. The rest of his body slowly slumped to lie on the shiny metal. He groaned and slowly rolled onto his back and stared at the luminous paneling on the ceiling. After a while he rose into a sitting position, and looked around. On his left he saw a door marked 'HQ.' A bit rattled from his recent drop, the young amphibian groggily stood and approached the door. He listened for telltale sounds that would normally be emitted from a meeting of recruits and their future commanders. The noises Yiroro heard were shouts, squeals, whistles, bells, and the occasional scream of agony. This must be the place, he thought. Carefully, he turned the doorknob and entered the dimly lit room.

The sky darkened as it filled with black clouds, heralding the coming storm. The two teenagers ran to the same bus stop from their house, hoping that the bus had not yet passed them by, and that they would not be drenched in the inevitable downpour. Once the pair reached the designated street corner, the female looked up into the clouds, anticipating the approaching rain.

"Cadet Yiroro reporting for duty, SIR!" saluted the eager young soldier upon stepping into the 'HQ.'

After his eyes became accustomed to the low light in the room, (which only took about ten seconds due to his large eyes) he realized that there were only four other Keronians there. They were all seated at a low table in the center of the floor, each one with a cushion that matched the color of their respective skin tones. One was black, one was blue, one was crimson, and one was grey. The black military 'man' looked up at him from the head of the table (which was directly facing the door.)

"What is the meaning of this?" the black soldier demanded of the orange-turning-red soldier. "You are disrupting a very important strategy meeting! Oh! Wait a minute, I just remembered something. Are you the new recruit that was assigned to our platoon?"

"Um, I g-guess s-so…" stuttered the quaking frog.

"Well, in that case have a seat!" grinned the obvious commander. "Gamama, get the man a cushion!" The grey soldier dashed off into a shadowy corner. "Now, what is your name soldier?"

"Yiroro, sir!" declared the now comfortable cadet. "I graduated in the second-highest margin of my year, sir!"

"Good to know you!" smiled the other frog. "You may address me as Sergeant Patutu. Have a seat," he motioned to the orange cushion that the grey frog had placed at Yiroro's end of the table.

Yiroro sat, and looked around at his new fellows.

"Allow me to introduce the rest of my platoon," said Patutu. "To my right here is First Sergeant Timama," he gestured toward the crimson one. "And to my left sits Sergeant Major Gamama," he motioned to the grey figure. "The (blue) one on your left there is known as Lance Corporal Makuku."

Yiroro waved to all the soldiers as they were introduced. The only one to return his wave was Makuku, who hastily retracted his arm after seeing Timama glare at him.

"Your rank will now be changed to that of Buck Private and you will be an official member of my platoon. Welcome aboard, soldier!" saluted Patutu.

Yiroro returned the salute and said, "Thank you sir!"

Unlike Yiroro's basic cap, which consisted of one main head-part and one flap on each side, Patutu's hat had only one flap on the left side of his head. Makuku had four flaps instead of two, and Timama had no flaps, but instead a single conical spike jutted out of the top of his cap. Gamama's headwear was fairly normal, but the flaps were triangular, as opposed to the normal ovular design.

Another difference between the troops in Patutu's platoon and other Keronian soldiers were their faces. Makuku's was normal, but Patutu, Timama, and Gamama all had decidedly unusual visages. Patutu had eyes of different colors (one black-pupiled and one white-pupiled), while Gamama's eyes were much smaller than any Yiroro had ever seen. Timama's eyes were covered by severely scratched glasses, and he wore a gas mask over his mouth.