Seasnake: Today I present an alternate universe where the Keroro platoon was never formed and all of the frogs have slightly different career paths. Someone competent was sent to conquer Earth and quickly succeeded. Now, the Keronian army is busy colonizing their newly acquired planet. De arimasu.

K+ for some cursing. All relationships are cannon or close to it.

Pekoponians, the primary native inhabitants of Pekopon.

Physical features: Keronoid, two arms, two legs, similar bone structure, no tails, the single brain is housed in the head. Skin color ranges from dark brown to light tan. Rare alternate pigmentation has been documented. Hair colors varies. Hair typically turns white or gray in late adult hood. Mammal. Unable to breathe underwater. Infants are roughly 35.6-50.8 cm long. Adults can greatly vary in size, the average is anywhere from 1.9m to 1.5m in height. The females of the race are typically shorter and have less muscle mass than the males. The females typically have higher pitched voices than the males. Top foot speed is roughly 48.3 kilometers per hour. The average foot speed is around 16.1 kilometers per hour. The average adult can lift roughly 100 lb. No documented cases of Pekopons born with psychic or other phenomenal powers exist.

Survival: Live anywhere from 70-100 of their planet's years. Able to survive extreme cold or heat. Can survive two or more days without water and a week or more without food. Will only enter hibernation due to lack of nutrition combined with an undesirable environment or due to lack of sleep. Require several hours of sleep every day to maintain health. Can function without sleep no more than four days. Can only drink fresh water. Can consume virtually any animal matter and most plant matter. They successfully built settlements on every part of Pekopon, including areas of saltwater, deserts, and the arctic poles. Are easily killed with electricity. Can be killed by a single shot from a standard rifle. Adults have roughly 5 liters of blood. Loss of 40% of blood volume is fatal.

Intellect: Are sentient and sapient. Capable of full emotional development. Intelligence level varies greatly. Can have equal intellect to the Keronian average. No Pekoponian has yet been observed as equaling to the top ten percentile of Keronian intellects. Built one non-self sustaining, off planet settlement in an orbital space station. Never achieved space travel beyond the solar system.

Culture: Pekoponians never created a unified government. There existed over 196 subcultures on Pekopon. Most of the subcultures spoke a unique language. For subculture descriptions consult the attached file. Most Pekoponians have two names, an informal 'first name' and a more formal 'family name'. They do not have symbols. Are pack creatures. Family is a planetary value. All cultures demonstrate compliance when a weaker member of the pack is threatened. For other native species of Pekopon consult the attached file.

Giroro read through the entire provided information and gave an irritated sigh. How did he get assigned to this stupid post? Last he checked he was successfully advancing in rank. Now, he was stuck on a newly conquered world overseeing a bunch of native slaves. His commanding officer said they couldn't underestimate these captives and needed a solider straight from the field to be in charge. Technically, this position was a promotion but he would much rather be out in the field. Hopefully, if Giroro proved himself here then he could get promoted to Sergeant and maybe even get a platoon of his own.

The red frog set the briefing notes aside. He had nice living quarters compared to what he was used to. As the top official at the camp he got a small one story house complete with separate bedroom, bath, and meeting room. The structure was quickly built but better than the tents he was used to, the luxury made him feel like a slacker and he hated it. His job was to watch the slaves, command the other guards, and make the slaves do whatever the higher ups ordered. Giroro sighed again before finally turning his attention to the Lance Corporal standing patiently in his office.

"Alright, let's line them up for inspection. We need to assign jobs before we start," he explained to his second in command. Lance Corporal Zoruru nodded and walked to the door. Giroro hadn't seen the cyborg fight but could tell he deserved to be out in the field not babysitting a bunch of captives. He had probably been assigned here to scare the crap out of the slaves, which he did a marvelous job at. With Zoruru on duty rebellions didn't seem likely. Which meant there would be absolutely nothing to do here.

"No matter how dumb this job is, it's still my duty to do it right. Get to work," Giroro grumbled under his breath as he collected his knife and whip. He had to be careful about caring weapons near the slaves. What a stupid job for a weapon's specialist. With that thought, he walked outside to meet his prisoners. According to the file, this camp was brand new and the slaves had just been shipped in from other holding facilities. Their first job would be to clear the burned remains of what used to be a wooded area and start building an army base. While using machines would be faster than slave labor, this saved the army man power and gave the captives something to do. A little forced labor had also been proven to help shatter remaining planetary moral.

Giroro eyed the single file line of a few hundred Pekoponians. They had already been selected as suitable for physical work so he didn't have to worry about that. The single medic on staff moved down the line, quickly double checking the prisoners for any imperfections. Giroro looked about for his second in command and found the assassin standing on a piece of machinery, observing the captives from a distance. He definitely had an intimidation factor. Giroro scanned the line of prisoners. They were drastically different sizes, something not seen among Keronians. There were males and females, so he would have to make sure they didn't decide to breed. One slave caught his eye. She had pink hair and didn't look full grown. Unlike the other slaves who were either staring meekly at the ground or glaring at everyone with equal hatred, she had singled him out of the group. She had the steady gaze of a warrior. Giroro usually respected that kind of look but right now he had to concentrate on his job.

"Listen up! Males over here, females over here. And, if you can, arrange yourselves from shortest to tallest." Giroro stood near the middle of the line and barked out orders. The slaves looked about for a moment then started to move. Anyone lagging behind got a smack from one of the guards. Once they had done what he asked, Giroro sized up the two groups. He then turned to one of the guards. "Put the taller males on any job involving hauling. The shorter half of the males will lay the roads. The tall females clear out the remaining underbrush. And the shorter females operate any machines we need them to."

"Yes, Sir," the private nodded. The guards began to herd the slaves to the gate. The pink haired female stayed in the middle of the pack to avoid getting hit but didn't break eye contact with the Corporal. Giroro watched her unblinkingly until she disappeared from view. He shook his head then went to examine the perimeter.

The camp wasn't likely to see any trouble but a small Pekoponian resistance still existed and several other races liked to use Pekopon as a space port. An alien passing by might take an unarmed camp as an invitation to steal some slaves. In some parts of the galaxy Pekoponians had huge resale value. There were a few mounted weapons in the camp but nothing heavy enough to take down a ship. Giroro took note of what he needed then headed back to his office to place a few orders for some decent defensive weaponry. Unfortunately, he had a small budget to work with and he also needed to buy security for the weapons to make sure the prisoners couldn't use them. This job was turning out to be a bit harder than he expected.

Giroro was still in his quarters when he got a call from Zoruru.

"Corporal, a group of slaves is causing trouble and the guards are hesitant to shoot them down without your permission." Definitely, deserved to be in the field.

"I'll be right there." Giroro climbed onto his regulation saucer and flew out to the work site. Most of the Pekoponians were clearing the burned stumps and underbrush or dragging masonry stones but a small group was surrounded by soldiers.

"Stop! Stop, I'm sorry, I'll get back to work," one male cowering on the ground shouted as the guards whipped him. Giroro recognized the pink haired female from earlier. She stood stubbornly in the middle of the group. She covered her head with her forearms but refused to sink to her knees like her fellows had done under the assault.

"What's the problem?" Giroro landed.

"They refused to work. There were more of them at first but most have retreated," Zoruru filled him in.

"Refusing to work? That's stupid," Giroro walked a bit closer to the rebellion. "Let's get something straight, anyone who doesn't work is useless and anyone useless gets killed. You got that?" An adult female sniffled and held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. The guards stopped hitting her immediately and let her retreat.

"I never said I wouldn't work," the pink-haired one spoke up. "Ow, stop it."

"Stand down, Private," Giroro called off the guard who was whipping her. "What were you saying?" He stood with his arms crossed and watched her.

"I get it, you won, we lost. You stupid frogs are in charge now. I'll be your slave, fine! I just want to know what you did with my mother and brother. You separated us from our families," she glanced behind her but all of her followers had abandoned ship. Giroro couldn't help but respect that, dumb as it may be, she was the only one willing to take a beating. "If you won't tell me, then I guess you'll just have to kill me." She meant it.

"And if I tell you where you are, you won't cause any other problems?"

"Like I said, I admit defeat. You've taken over the whole planet. Fine! Just tell me if Mom and Fuyuki are alive!" Giroro considered it for a second. She had survived a several minute long beating; she wasn't going to give up now. It'd be a waste of a slave. Of course, showing weakness to the prisoners could prove to be fatal. What a crappy job. His best option was probably to compromise. He nodded to one of the guards. "Get her to change her mind. I'll be back in a few hours." As he walked away to the shout of "Damn frogs!" from the girl, Zorururu appeared beside him.

"Sir, indecision can appear as weakness."

"I'm not indecisive," Giroro snapped. "She's got a few hours to change her mind and act as an example for the others. If she insists on being stubborn I'll kill her." He sounded confident but really wasn't entirely sure.

Giroro flew back to his office and tried to concentrate on choosing gun turrets but he couldn't focus. If that girl stuck to her guns after hours of torture it would be a shame to kill her. Where was her family anyway? Giroro pulled up his digital list of prisoners. He scrolled through the portraits until he came across the girl's picture. Even for prisoners of war, the Keronian government kept meticulous records. Prisoner 723, apparently her name was Natsumi Hinata. The file had been right, two names. Which was her family name? Wait, she had said 'Mom and Fuyuki'. Fuyuki must be the name of her brother. Giroro searched the database until he found one Fuyuki Hinata. He didn't look anything like Natsumi but he was around the same age. That just left the mother to find. Giroro didn't have a full name but there was the only female of the proper age named Hinata. She looked just like Fuyuki, she had to be the mother.

After he finished placing the orders, Giroro headed back to the work site. He secretly hoped that Natsumi hadn't given up. No, no, she was a slave. It would be better for everyone involved if she just surrendered. He found Natsumi and two guards standing off to the side. She was curled into a protective ball but sat stubbornly still.

"Well?" he demanded.

"She's not budging sir. We've even electrocuted her."

"Alright, back to work men, I'll deal with this." He waited for the guards to shuffle away before turning to the girl. She was clearly exhausted and breathing heavily. She was covered in dirt, bruises and deep gashes. She looked up as he came closer.

"After this, you better not make any more demands, if you do I will shoot you," he stated calmly. Natsumi slowly sat up.

"I…I just need to know what happened to them," she said in an quiet voice.

"I looked up your family. Your brother is Fuyuki Hinata?" he began. She nodded desperately. "He was declared too frail for physical labor and docile enough to be a house slave. He's been sent to a military base here on Pekopon."

"That sounds like him," Natsumi let out a relieved sigh. "At least he'll be alright there. What about my mom?"

"Aki Hinata?"

"Yes."

"According to the records she put up a fight even after being captured. She was shipped to some research facility off world."

"What? Why?"

"It didn't say. But the scientist are only interested in the prisoners with special skills or something else they can't figure out," he didn't realize how kind he was being until after the words left his mouth.

"That sounds like Mom, too," Natsumi sniffled and whipped her eyes. "Okay, I'll do what you want. But if I find out you lied to me…"

"I wasn't." Natsumi shakily got to her feet. "If you tell anyone the truth about this conversation I'll have to kill you as an example."

"Yeah, I expected as much. I'll tell everyone you threatened to kill me." She looked down at Giroro and gave him a look that wasn't completely filled with hate as she limped away.

Giroro sighed and shook his head to clear the fog that had suddenly settled there. He wasn't going soft, was he?

"I don't need this," Sergeant Keroro complained and tossed the information on Pekoponians to the side. "They die when you shoot them, that's everything important." He said that just because it sounded cool. He reached for a dial on the wall and turned up the humidity another notch. With a content sigh he looked over the map in front of him. He was one of the officers at the new army base assigned to destroying the pitiful native resistance and to make sure that none of the other races who had their eyes on the world succeeded in stealing it. The biggest problem he had at the moment was the Nantoma. The ocean people weren't particularly dangerous out of the water but were currently doing everything in their power to slow down the colonization of Pekopon. Money was being wasted and superiors were getting annoyed.

"Sergeant Sir," private Tamama appeared at the door.

"What is it private?" he asked without looking away from the map.

"A new slave just arrived, Sir. I thought you'd like to see him." Tamama entered the room followed by a skinny Pekoponian male. Like all domestic slaves he wore brown shirt and pants and wore a collar that would electrocute him if he left his allowed area. "He's been declared not a threat and cleared for house chores. None of the other officers wanted him, I though you might." Keroro surveyed the male quickly. He had dark blue hair and wide, curious, but not particularly frightened eyes that darted around the room, studying everything with interest. Having a slave around to clean his office could be useful.

"Sure, why not?" Tamama practically glowed at having done something right. "Slave, you name is now Clowny and you will serve me."

"Actually it's Fuyuki," the boy politely corrected.

"Silence."

"Sorry." Fuyuki jumped to attention. Good, he knew better then to disobey his master.

"I think the humidifier is clogged, fix it," Keroro pointed to the vent in the wall.

"Um…okay I'll try," Fuyuki nodded politely and went over to the broken vent.

"Tamama, go find Tororo, he hasn't reported in yet," Keroro changed his focus to the private.

"Right away, Sir," Tamama all but skipped out of the room.

"Do you have a screwdriver?" Fuyuki asked.

"Top drawer of my desk," Keroro answered as he contemplated the map of the ocean. The Nantoma knew the oceans far better than the invaders did and they lived so far underwater that they had to careful with what explosives they used or they might disrupt fault lines. For this very reason, the army had assigned up and coming technical specialist Tororo to Pekopon. Unfortunately, the tadpole hardly ever showed up for meetings and just kept himself locked in his provided laboratory.

Fuyuki had managed to get the grate off and was poking around inside the humidifier by the time Tororo showed up.

"About time, Recruit. What have you come up with to solve the Nantoma problem?"

"Pupupu." Tororo snickered and held up a small canister with a skull and crossbones on it. "Neurotoxin designed to attack them but not hurt us."

"That's a rather small bottle for the whole ocean," Keroro pointed out.

"This is sample. It will take a lot of money to make the whole batch."

"How would you get it into the right currents?" Fuyuki joined the conversation with confidence. So much confidence in fact, that the two Keronians didn't notice his interruption.

"Yeah, how are you going to do that?" Keroro agreed.

"Dump enough of this in and currents won't be a problem, pupupu."

"Wouldn't that cost a lot of money?" Fuyuki wondered.

"We've got a tight budget to consider, Recruit. And what about the fish? The superiors already nixed the idea of draining the salt out of the ocean because it would kill the fish and throw the whole planet out of whack," Keroro continued.

"Nantoma DNA is too close to most of the aquatic life for all the fish to be saved."

"Run some tests if the fish death rate is over 50%, no to the poison."

"Sounds kind of dull, but if you say so." Tororo started to walk away.

"That's 'if you say so, Sir'!" Keroro corrected. "And remember the budget! If you go over it I'm the one who gets in trouble." He ordered the tadpole's retreating figure.

"What exactly are the Nantoma?" Fuyuki asked after a moment.

"Some sapient race in your oceans. Half-Pekoponian and half-fish is what I hear." Keroro leaned back in his desk carelessly.

"Like mermaids? Awesome!" Fuyuki's eyes sparkled.

"Yeah, something like that. Either way they're being a real pain in the butt."

"How high of a rank is Sergeant?" the boy asked changed the topic.

"I've got nine more promotions before I become an admiral. But that's hardly a challenge. Soon I'll be…Hey! Why aren't you working?"

Zeroro carefully read the brief description of the native inhabitants. It wasn't much but it was enough to know how to kill them effectively. With that information memorized he looked over his mission file. Another assassination. Soldiers with his skill set were in high demand on conquered worlds. Lance Corporal Zeroro looked over the target data. An adult male who was attempting to build a rebel army by collecting survivors and slaves. He and his followers were believed to be hiding in a mountainous wooded area. There wasn't enough information to send in an aerial strike team. They would end up wasting a bunch of bombs and old wood forest by burning everything to the ground. That's where Zeroro came in. Go in, find the would-be rebels, kill the leader and anyone else he could find, report back, done.

Secretly, Zeroro was glad to be doing this instead of the army destroying a full forest. Pekopon was a beautiful planet. It was a shame the Keronian government planned to choke most of the life out of it. Hopefully, there would still be a few old wood forests left standing by the time they finished.

It didn't take Zeroro long to fly to the target location. At the forest edge he hid his flying star and continued on foot. There wasn't any wildlife to worry about and the rebels wouldn't camp this close to the woodland edge, so he moved quickly though the trees. He wasn't looking for traps and didn't see the metal device until it was too late. Zeroro screamed as the trap snapped shut around his leg. He lay on the forest floor to catch his breath. Nobody seemed to be nearby or have heard him, good. He carefully shifted around to get a look at his leg without making the injury worse. The device was obviously designed for larger forest creatures, not Pekoponians. It may or may not have been laid by the rebels but that didn't make him any less struck.

Lance Corporal Zeroro spent several hours trying to free himself. His leg didn't seem broken but he couldn't get the contraption to release him. The spring mechanism was out of reach from his current position so he couldn't break it. He was afraid to struggle incase he ended up snapping his leg or ankle. By the time the sun started to rise, he was forced to consider his options. This was a solo mission, no back up was coming for at least a week. There was no food within reach so he would probably starve to death if he stayed like this. He was the evil alien invader so if a Pekoponian found him, he would be killed. If he cut off the bottom part of his leg, would bleed to death before reaching medical help?

A soft rustling in the underbrush caught his attention. Zeroro instantly went still and hoped they wouldn't find him. A gasp came from his left. Zeroro twisted around to see a young female Pekoponian with green hair watching him. "Here, I'll help you." Her high pitched voice sounded concerned as she hurried towards him. Zeroro didn't move. Was she really going to help him? "I'm sorry, I don't know what that old trap is doing here." She wrestled with the device for a moment then managed to get the bolt loose. Zeroro sighed with relief as the pressure left his leg. He considered himself lucky that his only injury was a deep gash on both sides of his leg. "Are you alright? Were you stuck here long?" she asked.

"No, I'm alright. Thank you for your assistance." Zeroro made to stand up and the girl held out a hand to help him. She must be a Keronian supporter, supposedly those existed.

"You must be tiered. Come on, I'll carry you to my house. I have bandages and food there."

"Your house?"

"Yeah, my whole family lives in these mountains. My house isn't far." Zeroro eyed her. It was probably unwise to trust the enemy. Then again, he was far too tiered and injured to carry out his mission at the moment and returning to base as a failure wasn't a particularly better option.

"It would be an honor to accept your hospitality." She smiled and carefully picked him up. Zeroro rode on her shoulder as she walked through the woods with ease, obviously she had lived here all her life.

"My name is Koyuki Azumaya, but you call me Koyuki."

"Lance Coporal Zeroro," he returned.

"What were you doing out here, Zeroro?" she asked in a friendly tone but Zeroro didn't want to be overly trusting.

"Do you know what I am, Koyuki?"

"You're one of the alien invaders, right? I didn't think you guys cared about us out here."

"We…don't really. I'm looking for a rebel leader suspected of hiding in these woods."

"Oh, there's a new camp a few miles East of here, that's probably who you want," she said calmly as a small cottage came into view. Zeroro sat in silence for a moment as Koyuki opened the door and walked inside the wooden structure. She set him down and retrieved a bundle of bandages and a jar of salve from a cupboard.

"Thank you for your kindness," Zeroro said as she cleaned and bandaged his wound.

"Don't thank me, I couldn't just leave you there, could I?" Koyuki smiled. "Do you have to leave right away or would you like some tea?"

"If it's truly alright."

"Of course it is, you're a guest." Zeroro watched her fetch water and add leaves to the clay teapot before he spoke up again.

"You don't mind what my race is doing?"

"Well… how do I say this?" Koyuki considered. "Um, I don't think its right but humans have war all the time so…I don't think you're any worse. Even if I didn't approve, I wouldn't have left you there. All life deserves respect, right?" She flashed him a small smile.

"… I agree. But… that's not a view largely shared on Keron."

"Is Keron where you come from?"

"It's my home world."

"Wow," Koyuki muttered. She poured Zeroro and herself cups of tea. Zeroro watched her carefully to make sure she didn't put anything poisonous in his. He then waited for her to take a sip before drinking.

"Zeroro, you look a bit like a ninja," Koyuki changed the topic.

"I'm an assassin."

"So am I," she beamed at him.

"What?"

"That's part of why my family lives in the countryside. We all study the way of the ninja. I'll show you." She whipped off her kimono to reveal a black outfit underneath. She then took a running leap at the wall of her house, walked up the vertical surface, and came to a stop while standing on the ceiling. She smiled at Zeroro while she hung upside down.

"That's impressive Madam Koyuki," Zeroro found himself smiling back. "I didn't know your race could do that."

"I don't think there are a lot ninjas left," Koyuki easily detached from the ceiling and landed back on her feet. "Say, Zeroro, what are you going to do after you kill the rebels?"

"What I always do, go back to base and get my next assignment. I am in the army, after all."

"Will you go to other planets?"

"I won't be stationed on Pekopon forever. Once they get the rebellion under control I'll be sent somewhere else."

Koyuki seemed to think for a moment then her face turned serious. "Take me with you."

"Wh…! What are you saying?"

"I want to travel and see other worlds. I don't want to sit here and never use my skills like my parents and grandparents did. I want to fight for something. And if I join your army then they won't hurt my family, right? I could show your people our style of martial arts. Don't you want to see that?"

"Yes but…"

"Then take me with you. It's dangerous doing missions by yourself. I can be your partner," she leaned closer to the alien.

"Madam Koyuki, there are rules…" he trailed off, not entirely sure how to express how taboo her idea was.

"At least give me a chance. Please?" Zeroro sighed, he did owe her his life. The least he could do was try and grant her request.

Tamama sat on a bench as he read through the provided description of Pekoponians. That did answer most of his questions about the race. He looked up as the transport vehicle landed. He quickly stood at attention. His first solo assignment. It was just guarding a prisoner but if he did it well then Sergeant Keroro would be proud of him. A light blue Keronian exited the ship first. He noticed Tamama and saluted. "Private first class Taruru, here with the prisoner, Sir."

"Private second class Tamama, assigned to guard the prisoner while it's on base." Tamama saluted politely back. With introductions out of the way, Taruru assumed a more informal posture.

"Just you? You won't be able to handle it by yourself. I could but no way you can."

"What did you just say?" Tamama growled but was ignored.

"This prisoner was basically the princess of Pekopon," he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at the ship. "Her family controlled half the planet or something like that. Anyway, once they realized we were taking over, they flipped sides. They've been helpful ever since the first invasion wave so they get some privileges. The rest of her family is being held by the higher ups somewhere but she gets to do pretty much whatever she wants. Just make sure she doesn't run off, kay?"

"I'm not stupid."

"She's still a prisoner, you know. But the bosses let her get away with a lot. She's kind of a v.i.p.p.o.w. She's bossy too, see? She's going to walk all over you."

"I really hate this guy…" Tamama muttered.

"Oy! Momomo, come meet your new guard," Taruru called to the ship.

"It's Momoka!" a female Pekoponian stomped out of the ship in a huff. Instead of typical slave clothes she wore a nice quality dress.

"But it's a dumb name."

"Momomo's even dumber!" She screamed at the private. Tamama chose to intervene.

"I'll call you Momoka, if you like," he offered. The girl's demeanor instantly changed.

"That's nice of you. What are you called?"

"Tamama."

"Beeeyyy, I've got to go do more important work than you will ever be asked to do." Taruru trotted back to the ship. Both Momoka and Tamama glared at his retreating back.

"What an ass," Momoka complained as Taruru flew away in the transport ship.

"Yeah…so why did you come to this base, Momoka?"

"I'm looking for someone…" she turned shy. "And well, I heard he was here…"

"Who?" Tamama tilted his head in an adorable fashion.

"F…Fuyuki, he's supposed to be working here."

"Oh, I know him. That's Sergeant's slave."

"What? You know where he is? Take me too him," Momoka grabbed him by the front and started shaking him. Tamama didn't mind.

"Okay, this way." He wiggled out of her grip and lead her though the army base. The people working gave them curious glances but always looked away after noticing Momoka's slave collar. Her collar was more comfortable and prettier than other slaves' but still easily recognizable as a tracking device.

When they arrived at Keroro's office they could hear two voices from inside. "See? These writings indicate that they consider this spring a holy place. If you take that over they'll do anything to get it back," Fuyuki pointed from a photo of an ancient text to a map.

"Not bad work, Fuyuki. With your help I'll solve this Nantoma problem in no time," Keroro nodded.

"Thanks," Fuyuki smiled bashfully and scratched his head.

"Ahhh, there he is," Momoka shyly peeked around the door frame.

"Don't you want to say hi?" Tamama asked.

"Well…well…"

"Momoka, is that you?" Fuyuki noticed them lurking in the doorway.

"You remember me?" She looked ready to have a heart attack from excitement.

"Of course I remember you. We were in the same class for years." Fuyuki walked towards her.

"Private Tamama, I assume this is the slave you've been assigned to guard?" Keroro asked.

"Yes, Sir, she is." Tamama approached the Sergeant's desk while the two Pekoponians got reacquainted. "Her father is apparently very helpful to the army so she gets treated well compared to other captives," he explained.

Keroro nodded, "it sounds like an important job. Do you best, Tamama."

"Sir, yes, Sir," Tamama saluted happily.

Kululu quickly scrolled through the information on Pekoponian's the military had sent to everyone. Nothing he didn't already know. He closed that file and pulled up the list of prisoners that were currently being transported into his lab. While studying prisoners of war wasn't the most exciting of tasks, he did to have a classified military outpost on an asteroid near Pekopon all to himself. His budget was nice and large, as well. So as long as he did what the government wanted and studied the prisoners for them, he could do anything else he felt like. Not a bad deal at all.

"I already did a preliminary examination for every prisoner. You should have the files," the pink medical officer, who was part of the crew that had been assigned to drop of his guests on their way to get supplies for the invasion, told Kululu.

"Yes, they're right here," he opened the new folder on his lap top.

"I assure you they're all in good health, so unless there's anything else you need…"

"No go ahead. I'll make sure to fix that pesky 'good health' problem. Kukuku."

"Eh…right, good bye," she said pleasantly as she exited his lab and headed back to her ship through the air lock. Kululu waited for her ship to pull away before deciding to look over the prisoners.

He sat in a mechanized chair that was programmed to move him anywhere in the lab without any effort on his part. He pushed a button on the arm and his chair slid along a special track that gave him a good view of the prisoners. Kululu came to a stop in front of the first clear plastic cell. He pulled up the corresponding digital file and read it over. "Believes that he exists in an alternate plane of existence and is narrating the events of real life…" Kululu stared at the screen for a moment. The army was seriously wasting his time with this nonsense. Clicky. He pressed a button that opened the floor underneath the unfortunate prisoner and sent him plummeting to his death. After his satisfying scream ended, Kululu moved onto the next prisoner.

This one was some manner of fur covered creature. The cells weren't sound proof so it had heard the man's scream. It leapt about the small space as if trying to find a weakness in the cell. "A mammal called a 'dog'. The specimen has twice the brain power of the other members of the species," read the file.

"Hmm, could be interesting," Kululu left the animal where it was. He then moved his chair along the track past the dog's cell and the adjacent cell full of five normal dog specimens for comparison.

The next prisoner instantly caught his attention. A bucksome adult female with long dark hair was pacing around her cell, more out of curiosity than intent to escape, it seemed. All the slaves had been given identical baggy gray outfits but the clothes didn't take away from her figure. When she noticed Kululu watching her she walked right up the glass. Her lips started moving so Kululu turned on the microphone so he could hear her clearly.

"-gar, you mind telling me what's going on?"

"Hm…" Kululu ignored her question and looked over her file. Unnaturally strong and physically skilled compared to the rest of her species and she claimed to have no special training to account for it. "According to this, you took down a whole platoon worth of soldiers, and are stronger than you should be." Why not try the easy approach first?

"Is that why I'm here? I mean I've always been a good at sports but I've never been in the military or anything. I only fought those aliens because they tried to take away my kids." Maternal instincts then, duly noted. He'd have to study her physical abilities before determining if it was a genetic fluke or something she got from the environment. The woman noticed him typing on his computer and pressed both hands to the glass. "Are you writing something about me?"

"Clicky." A panel opened in the floor below her. She screamed with excitement rather than fear as she fell down a perfectly safe chute that led to a different cell where Kululu could better observe her behavior. He'd watch her for a day or two then put her under stress.

Kululu's chair came to a stop in front of another cell. A male in this one, an adolescent male, according to his file. He lay on his back in the middle of the cell with both hands folded behind his head and his eyes closed. He looked awfully relaxed for having just heard the panicked screams of his fellow captives. Kululu watched the white haired male for a moment but he didn't stir. Was he asleep? Why was he here, anyway? Kululu started to read the file but cracked up after the first sentence. The rest was slow reading because he had to pause to laugh after every other word. When he finally finished, he looked up at the prisoner, who apparently wasn't asleep after all and was watching him from his prone position with deep blue eyes.

"Kukuku. You took a war cruiser for a joyride?" The male didn't respond in the slightest. Kululu double checked, the microphone was on, he could hear him. The boy continued to watch him with a slightly unnerving, emotionless gaze. Kululu considered what to say next but the male finally spoke up.

"So, you're the one who's going to pick apart my brain?" He eyed Kululu up and down then turned his face away. "That's fine." He closed his eyes again.

"Eh?" the scientist tilted his head in confusion. Well, that was one of the odder conversations he'd ever had. He decided to come back to this prisoner later.

Kululu reviewed the other prisoners but none were as interesting as the hot mom or the blue-eyed boy. He ate a quick lunch then returned to work. The adult female was relaxing in her much larger and nicer prison and the young male was still lying on the floor of his cell. Kululu chose to start work on the most interesting and the most boring. He had a robotic arm pull one of normal dog specimens out of the cell and place the animal in a machine that would record its brain wave activity over the next few hours and set a nice baseline so he could study the unusual specimen.

With that out of the way he pressed a button to call the boy to his lab. The young male was satisfyingly startled as the ground opened beneath him. After a brief fall he landed in the large chair placed in Kululu's main lab. He winced from the fall and didn't have time to react before restraints appeared from the furniture and secured both his wrists.

"Kuku. Snuck aboard a Keronian war vessel, locked the crew out of the control room, played tag with the military pilots for over twenty minutes, and one is quite sure how you did any of it." The boy shrugged in response. "Some of them think you can teleport."

"If I could do that, I wouldn't still be here," he pointed out.

"I know that," Kululu snapped. He was slightly annoyed by how unafraid the boy seemed.

"The original plan was to damage the other ships but once I was onboard it was obvious that you had the technology to take over Earth no matter what I did. So, I figured I might as well have a bit of fun before getting shot down," he gave a cocky smile.

"Your motives are boring. My job is to find out how," Kululu said dismissively. Although that did explain why the boy wasn't putting up a fight, he had already accepted the fact that he was going to die.

"That's a secret," he winked. Still, having fun apparently. That would end momentarily.

A headband device with large spikes designed to stab into the subject's head, came out the back of the chair. The Pekoponian twisted around to try and get a look at it.

"Try not to think about the invasion. It will be more fun for me that way, kukukuku." The boy sent him a stubborn glare. Kululu's finger hovered over the button that would snap the device onto the boy's head.

A sudden siren from the control panel distracted him. Forgetting entirely about the Pekoponian, he pulled up the security footage. "What?" The dog that he was studying had broken out. How? It wasn't intelligent enough to do that. And it certainly wasn't supposed to be smart enough to push the emergency release button placed on the wall like it was just now. Who designed this lab? It wasn't at all secure. No matter. It took Kululu two seconds to override the prisoner release command. In that two seconds the prison doors only opened a fraction before slamming back into place. But the momentary opening had been just enough for the intelligent dog to slip through. The abnormally intelligent dog was now running through corridors and the dog that had pressed the release button was sitting still and looking confused. Ah, so the smart specimen had communicated instructions to its less evolved kin while being held. Minor miscalculation, but nothing worrisome. Kululu activated the security system and sent guard robots after the intelligent animal. The first robot didn't last a second. The dog bit right through its arm and kicked it against the wall.

"Damn it!" Kululu growled as he typed furiously. That creature was faster than the guard robots. It even dodged the turrets that popped out of the hallway wall. Alright then, time for something it couldn't dodge. Kululu waited for it to enter a certain stretch of hallway then shut the fire doors to box it in and activated the emergency system to remove all the air from the enclosed area. There, no way out. Kululu glanced back to the Pekoponian. He was straining in his seat to watch the monitors, not even trying to hide his curiosity.

That's when an ominous rumbling sound came from above. Kululu looked up right as part of the ceiling exploded. The Pekoponian's chair was knocked to the ground and his restraints released. The dog landed in the laboratory and immediately locked eyes with Kululu. Uh oh. Kululu did a quick mental inventory but the dog stood between him and the closest weapon. The furred animal growled low in its throat and took a step towards him. Just as Kululu started to panic, the Pekoponian moved. He snatched the 'closest weapon', an open power core, from the low shelf. Without hesitation, he lunged forward and jabbed the live device into the dog's flank. The animal twitced as the electricity coursed though its body. In a moment it fell over motionless. The Pekoponian gave a sigh of relief and Kululu stared at him.

"Fool, you just saved your slave master."

"Yes, but if he killed you, the Keronian army would gas the whole lab." The boy stood up.

"…true." Kululu looked away from him as he ordered a few guard robots to come in and collect the limp animal. The Pekoponian stood calmly leaning against the wall as the two robots entered, picked up the dog, and left. "How did you get on board?" Kululu asked. The boy looked at him with mild confusion then understood and smiled.

"I stole a saucer from one of the ground troops. They had those invisibility shields on but I could still see them. I got on board using one of the maintenance hatches above the cannons, I figured even alien ships would have those. The crew wasn't paying attention so it wasn't hard to lock them outside. And figuring out the ship controls was the easy part."

Kululu typed up a brief summery and saved it. "There, the government doesn't care about you anymore."

"Mutsumi."

"What?"

"My name's Mutsumi Saburo," he smiled at the frog.

"Kululu."

"Kululu?"

"I don't like having debts, so consider yourself free from slavery. Do whatever you want," he said and turned back to his computer console to start repairing the damage the dog caused. For a moment, he thought Mutsumi had left but then heard a scrapping sound. The boy pulled a box next to Kululu's chair and sat on it.

"If you really want to repay your debt tell me about all this crazy tech."

"Kukukuku."

Giroro floated over the heads of the slaves on his saucer. The Pekoponians trudged back into the camp after a hard day's work. He had been at this dead-end post for three months but still refused to let his guard down. Zaruru was the only one under his command who felt the same way. The assassin always kept watch over the perimeter but the rest of the guards seemed to be slacking off. Giroro shouted at anyone caught being lax in their duties but boredom was a powerful enemy. More and more often he was disciplining soldiers for sleeping on duty or tormenting prisoners for a bit of fun. Giroro knew rumors about him being soft on the slaves were in circulation and it made him mad. Just because he didn't approve of dragging two Pekoponians behind the dinning hall and having them fight each other for food, did not mean he was soft. The last person guard he had caught doing that was still locked in one of the solitary cells. At least he had a competent second-in-command who agreed there was nothing honorable about picking on the slaves for no reason.

Giroro checked to make sure the guard at the door was taking mandatory head count, that was another job the guards liked to slack off on. In the three months here, there hadn't been a true attack on the camp. Zaruru had killed a couple of large carnivorous creatures at the perimeter and brought them back for the cooks, and a couple of weeks ago there had been an alien vessel idling nearby. Giroro had ordered everyone to defensive stations. But after a brief stare down, and likely after noticing the amount of weaponry the camp had, the ship flew away. All in all, the post was as dull as Giroro had expected. That didn't stop him from making all of the guards practice defensive drills constantly, of course.

The red Keronian surveyed the slaves below him. They were all looking down except for one. Natsumi caught his attention as she walked. The girl gave him a meaningful look and a small smile. Giroro blushed. He had routinely hidden roasted sweet potatoes and other extra food under her mattress over the past months. He really didn't know why he did it but he continued to do it anyway. Natsumi noticed his embarrassment and smiled wider. Giroro quickly flew away. Only when he got back to his private quarters did he chastise himself for running away from a slave.

Giroro barely had time finish that day's paperwork before he received a call. They were almost completely done laying the assigned road way so Giroro expected it to be new instructions from HQ. However, he was greeted with a familiar face when the video channel opened.

"G…Garuru?"

"Giroro, you dare address you superior officer so informally?" Giroro quickly jumped to attention. Garuru continued, "The higher ups are pleased with your reports and the pace of work. I'm on my way to an army base on Pekopon and have been instructed to collect you and Lance Corporal Zaruru and drop off your replacements on the way."

"I'm getting a new assignment?" Giroro struggled to contain his excitement.

"Yes, as head of security at the army strong hold," Garuru said with what could be considered a proud nod. "Lance Corporal Zaruru will be placed with an invasion platoon as per your recommendation."

"That's good news, Sir," Giroro made sure to keep his military formality.

"I will arrive at sunrise. Be prepared to leave." Garuru cut the call.

Giroro was ecstatic, finally a job where he could do some productive work. He'd rather have the position Zaruru was getting, but being in charge of defending an entire base against the aliens that continued to try and steal Pekopon sounded rewarding. He didn't waste time before calling Zaruru to his office and giving him the news. The cyborg didn't hide his relief and headed back to his bunk room to pack. That just left Giroro with one thing to do. He called one of the guards on duty and ordered prisoner 723 brought to his office.

"What do you want?" Natsumi demanded as the guard tugged her inside by her chain.

"I've got it from here, Private," Giroro dismissed the other solider. The guard saluted and left. Giroro waited for the door to shut behind the Keronian before speaking. "Nastumi, I'm leaving tomorrow morning."

"Huh? Why?" she blinked.

"As of tomorrow I'll be in charge of defending a Keronian strong hold and…" he glanced at the wall, "I want to bring you with me."

"What?"

"It's just…you don't deserve to die here."

"Nobody deserves that!" Natsumi smacked her hands down on the surface of his desk and yelled in his face. "What you're doing to us is inhumane!"

"I…I may not be able to change what happens to the rest of Pekopon. But I can change what happens to you," Giroro met Natsumi's gaze with resolve. "You have the strength of a warrior, Natsumi. If I leave you here you will die and I…don't want that to happen. A warrior deserves to die in battle."

"Giroro…" Natsumi leaned back from his desk with shock written on her face. Giroro didn't know how she had learned his name but it was nice hearing her say it.

"I have the authority to buy you from the government. It'll take most of my wages from working here but you'll come with me tomorrow," he looked sheepishly back at the wall.

"So, I belong to you now?"

"Not yet, I haven't paid for you yet."

"Humph," Natsumi crossed her arms. She clearly did not like being referred to as property. After a moment of silence, she made up her mind. "It's not like I have much choice I the matter. But you do seem a bit more reasonable than the other frogs so fine, go ahead and buy me if you want." She used a bitter tone of voice but didn't flat out reject Giroro and that made the red frog's heart soar.

Keroro sat behind his desk with pride. The Nantoma resistance had withered away to practically nothing in the three months he had been in charge of the operation. This would look very nice on his records. For his help, Fuyuki got to serve Keroro every day. A wonderful prize as far as the frog was concerned. Who wouldn't want to spend more time with him? Fuyuki seemed to appreciate his gift. Even after three months of living on base he continued to be fascinated with everything Keronian. And he was always respectful about his curiosity so Keroro found it endearing.

Keroro had decided he liked the Pekoponian and planned to claim him as his upcoming bonus. He was a good slave, not physically fit in the slightest but decently intelligent and always polite. Yep, Keroro could see the boy being his private servant from now until he became an admiral. When he was old he wouldn't want any other slave dusting off his nifty admiral hat.

"Sarge," Fuyuki entered the room carrying a box. Keroro had given him a much nicer set of clothes and private sleeping quarters complete with bathroom so the Pekoponian was clean and healthy. He still wore a slave collar like all other Pekoponians that was nonnegotiable. "The books you ordered came in. They look interesting can I read them when you're done?"

"You can read them right now. I don't care about that Pekoponian history crap I just ordered them because it seemed like something you would like."

"Really?" Fuyuki's eyes sparkled. His happiness made Keroro feel good inside. Who knew being nice to a Pekoponian would be so rewarding?

"Yeah, you've got so much free time, I figured you could use some entertainment."

"Wow, thanks! You're a great friend," Fuyuki said with genuine joy then left to put his books away.

Friend, huh? Keroro absentmindedly picked his nose. Fuyuki must not have had many friends before the invasion or he probably wouldn't be calling his ownerthat.

"Koyuki," Zeroro gently shook the sleeping girl's shoulder.

"Zee?" She stirred.

"We have another mission." He stepped back and let her sit up.

"Another? Okay, I'll be ready to go in a minute," she yawned. Zeroro nodded and backed out of her room. The girl so adorable when she woke up, not to mention, the best friend he had ever had.

Zeroro once again thanked the universe, fate, and everything lucky that his superiors had allowed him to keep her. Technically she was his property and slave. They kept up the master and slave act whenever they were in public but in reality they were best friends and partners in combat. Koyuki's family had been collected by the government but they were, probably, being treated well in exchange for their cooperation. Koyuki knew the current situation was the best she was going to get so she didn't complain. It was a grim thing to think about, but she and her family were better off than 99% of the Pekoponian population.

"I'm ready," Koyuki appeared in her ninja outfit. Zeroro nodded and climbed onto his flying saucer. Koyuki leapt onto hers and flew beside him. "Who's the target?"

"Supposedly a Nantoma is trying to sneak off world on a freight ship by hiding among the Pekoponian slaves used to load the cargo. The ship leaves this evening and there isn't enough evidence to delay the shipment. The ship is owned by a wealthy trader from off world that the government doesn't want to offend so we're supposed to deal with this quietly."

"Nantoma can hide their tails on land, right? How are we going to find it?"

"Supposedly their tails reappear when they encounter water. We need to get the slaves wet without their owner getting suspicions."

"Do Keronians have a sprinkler system?"

"In some buildings. It depends if the cargo is sensitive to water. If we can't use the sprinklers you might have to play a bumbling slave again and spill all the drinks you were brining to the workers."

"Sure. I don't mind playing dumb. It's kind of fun. Deception is one of the most important parts of ninja arts," Koyuki said cheerfully.

Zeroro smiled under his mask. He and Koyuki had already combined much of their assassin and ninja magic in their three months of working together but he still wanted to learn more about her planet's teachings. If things were different he might even choose her way of life over the way of a Keronian assassin.

Tamama ate a piece of cake while he watched Momoka finish her work out. He hadn't expected to like the Pekoponian but she turned out to be lots of fun. She was surprisingly tough too. She made a good training partner. Momoka was never as intense about exercise as Tamama but she kept herself motivated by muttering about how she needed to impress Fuyuki. Of course, then she would change her mind and insist that a being a demure lady was the best way to get Fuyuki's attention. Tamama personally thought she should learn to be tough and defend the boy from any danger, that's what he was doing for Sergeant Keroro after all. But he kept that thought to himself, Momoka wasn't the kind of person to accept a lot of criticism.

Momoka walked over to where Tamama was and sat down on the ground to stretch. For reasons that were beyond Tamama, she didn't like to eat cake after training. He passed her a bottle of water.

"Thank you," she said with a smile. Tamama watched her take a sip. Yep, he could live with her for a long time without it getting annoying. Keroro planned to keep Fuyuki with him and if Momoka continued pull strings to follow Fuyuki then that meant that Tamama got to guard Momoka and stay with Keroro. It was perfect.

Well, almost perfect. Tamama did have one rival to worry about. Apparently an Angol had been sleeping in Pekopon's orbit. She had woken up during the invasion and insisted she had dibs on the planet. Apparently, there had been a lot of diplomatic discussion over the issue. That's when Keroro had first been called to Pekopon. He knew the Angol and had convinced her to leave. Tamama wasn't stupid, he knew she wanted his Sergeant all for herself. She was off with her tribe right now but if she ever came back he would make her regret it.

Tamama occasionally had to lay down the law when Momoka started getting disrespectful or wanted to go into a secure area of the base. But other than that, they acted more like friends and equals than a prisoner and her guard.

"Tamama," Momoka spoke up, "how much longer are we going to stay here?"

"Just until we get the planet under control. Then Sergeant will probably want to go fight rebellions on other planets."

"Are we going to invade other planets?"

"Probably not. Front line invaders can't take slaves with them so I won't get to be one of those. But there are lots of jobs that could make Sergeant an Admiral."

"That's the highest rank?"

"Yep. But they might have to invent a new higher rank just for him, tee hee." Tamama finished his cake and took a drink from his own water bottle. They were outside in the training yard and Pekopon was dry compared to Keron so he needed to stay hydrated.

"I'm not going to be a slave forever. Daddy's working to buy our freedom. Then I'll buy Fuyuki and we'll have beautiful babies." Momoka fantasized as little hearts floated above her head. Tamama didn't bother commenting.

"Kukukuku," Kululu chuckled as he watched the athletic dark haired female, which he had affectionately named Dynamite, take her daily exercise. He had discovered the source of her strength two months ago. The only reason she was still alive was because she was simply the best pet ever. Not to mention, a few more weeks of mental work and she could likely be converted to a useful weapon, or at least be trained to pilot the battle robot he had built to look like her. Mutsumi made endless, not so subtle, jokes about that particular robot's design.

Speaking of which, the door to the computer lab opened. "Bad news, Kululu," Mutsumi strode casually in, "one of the ninjas didn't survive the brain scan."

"Tsk, I was looking forward to studying those."

"Weren't we supposed to try and keep them alive?" Mutsumi plopped down into his Pekoponian sized chair.

"Try being the important part, they know what to expect when they send me prisoners," Kululu turned away from watching Dynamite exercise and looked over the data Mutsumi had just collected. The Pekoponian leaned back in his seat and flicked through the current prisoner list. No two ways to say it, it had turned out that the boy was hiding a genius level intellect under his 'bored with life' exterior. Kululu normally hated sharing space with anyone but nowadays found himself actually missing Mutsumi if he wasn't around. Not that he would ever tell the Pekoponian that.

Mutsumi helped Kululu with work at random intervals whenever he felt like it or when Kululu had a deadline coming up. He spent the rest of his time web surfing the space internet or just found someplace odd to lie down and didn't move for hours. Kululu had caught him dozing on top of his battle robots multiple times.

Kululu read through the gathered data on the ninjas. None of it was particularly interesting. A notice appeared on his screen to tell him that he had a new priority message. He abandoned the boring data in favor of news from HQ. Mutsumi was reading something of his own but still instantly noticed the change in Kululu's mood.

"What's wrong?" He turned in his chair to face the back of the alien's head.

"They reassigned me. I only have three days to finish my work here before they send a replacement and ship me to some base on Pekopon."

"Good, this job was getting a little old."

Kululu swiveled in his chair to look at the boy. "They demand all projects and specimens stay with the base."

"Oh…" Mutsumi understood instantly. "I'm still on the books?"

"Yes and no."

"Should I start cleaning the base and doctoring reports?" he offered. Kululu considered his options for exactly one second before deciding to go with a plan he had been toying with for the past month. After all, he still kind of owed him for saving his life.

"Kukuku, I was thinking something a tad more permanent."

Mutsumi blinked once then grinned. "Grown fond of me, huh?"

"Don't flatter yourself, Chump. You're useful is all," Kululu said from behind his hand.

"Right," Mutsumi's smile grew slightly bigger. "So, what does this entail?"

"Don't put anything in your mouth until I say otherwise and stay off the third floor," Kululu spun back to face his computer. "I've got numbers to crunch, go do something productive." The Pekoponian nodded and stood up. "Oh, and I'll need a blood sample." A tray with a syringe popped out of the wall.

It took the better part of a day for Kululu to finish. A full transformation required a lot more thought than a temporary one. When changing into something for a day he didn't need to consider things like immune system function, cellular growth rate, long term brain wave stability, ect. Even still, he would have been disappointed in himself for how long it took to set everything up if lots of his time hadn't been spent double checking every single component. Finally, he sent a call through the base for Mutsumi to come and did a final systems check while he waited. In a minute the door opened and Mutsumi strolled in while muttering to himself.

"Sabero, Sabebe, Sarere, Saroro, Mususu, Musisi, Mututu, Mutsutsu, Mutsutsu, I could live with that. Saroro or Mutsutsu. What do you think?"

"Kukukuku, let's see if you survive the procedure first, shall we?"

"Gero, gero, I've got a busy day coming up. Yep, everyone's coming to me because I'm awesome like that," Keroro relaxed at his desk. Fuyuki was sitting in his corner, reading a book and didn't look up.

"Mr. Sergeant Sir," Tamama appeared at the door, trailed by Momoka. "A soldier is here with a Nantoma that tried to sneak off world."

"Good, send the Nantoma to interrogation. I'll reward the soldier by telling him 'good job' myself."

"That's so nice of you, Sergeant," Tamama giggled and skipped away.

"I'll just stay here," Momoka shyly sat next to Fuyuki.

Right after Tamama left, a red frog came to the open door and knocked. "Excuse me, Corporal Giroro reporting."

"Giroro! I haven't seen you in ages. How's it going buddy?" Keroro said excitedly when he saw his old friend.

"If you read you messages, you would know. I guess you're just as careless as ever." Giroro crossed his arms.

"No need to say that."

"I'm the new head of security at this base and surrounding land resources," Giroro helped him out. Keroro was going to say something but at that time, a Pekoponian who had been standing in the hallway poked her head inside and spotted the boy in the corner.

"Fuyuki!" She charged into the room, almost knocking Giroro over.

"Huh? Sis!" Fuyuki dropped his book and stood up right as Natsumi reached him and pulled him into a hug.

"Gero?"

"They're brother and sister," Giroro supplied. He looked away from the touching scene because if he watched it he might accidentally do something to damage his reputation as a hardened warrior.

"Fuyuki, I'm so happy for you," Momoka said but didn't try to interrupt the hug.

"I thought you trapped in a prison camp somewhere," Fuyuki spoke up.

"I was. Giroro just got me out this morning." Natsumi pulled away but still held Fuyuki's shoulders. "Have you been here the entire time? Are you alright?" She looked him up and down for any injuries then noticed Keroro. She instantly turned to the frog and bore down on him with flaming eyes. "If you hurt my brother…"

"Gero!" Keroro flinched away.

"No, he's been nice to me," Fuyuki quickly pacified his sister.

"Um…should we come back?" A voice directed everyone's attention to the doorway. The stood a Pekoponian female, Tamama, and a blue Keronian.

"What? No, come on in," Keroro waved at them to enter.

"Greetings, Giroro, Keroro, We're just here to report that the Nantoma has been captured," Zeroro saluted.

"Do I know you?" the Sergeant tilted his head.

"But…We grew up together. How can you not remember me?" Zeroro retreated to a corner.

"Oh Zee," Koyuki said sympathetically.

"What?" Keroro didn't get it.

"That's Zeroro, we went to school together. You picked on him constantly," Giroro offered.

"Really?"

"Zero, zero, zero," Zeroro muttered.

"Hi, I don't see many Earthlings," Koyuki decided there was nothing she could do for her friend at the moment and addressed the other humans.

"Yeah, I guess that comes with being enslaved," Natsumi said. "Anyway, I'm Natsumi. Technically, I belong to the red one over there."

"Koyuki, I'm Zeroro's slave but we're really a team," she introduced herself with a grin.

"Hi, I'm Momoka and I'm Fuyuki's future sweetheart."

"Koyuki, are you a ninja?" Fuyuki guessed from her outfit. "That's so cool." Apparently he didn't hear the sweetheart comment.

"Cool in a 'nice to know you' way, not a 'let's get married way'," Momoka specified on his behalf.

"Do they know each other?" Tamama wondered about the slaves but nobody paid him any mind.

"He wore a germ mask all the time," Giroro continued talking to Keroro.

"Not ringing any bells."

"Wow, it looks like we've been invited to a party."

"Huh?" Everyone stopped their conversations to look, once again, to the open door.

"Kukuku, didn't mean to interrupt. I'm here for my new assignment," said the yellow frog as he walked into the room. His companion followed a few steps behind him. The light gray tadpole had on a tan hat, headphones, and a spiral symbol identical to the yellow frog's only rotated ninety degrees and colored bright orange on both his stomach and hat.

"You forgot another appointment?" Giroro grumbled.

"No wait, I've got the paperwork somewhere." Keroro started looking through his desk.

"Sarge, I think it's in here," Fuyuki went over to help him. Kululu snickered and the tadpole swiveled his head around to look at the room.

"I know you," his eyes stopped on Natsumi. Giroro was instantly on alert. "Natsumi, right? We went to the same school."

"What?" the girl looked at him suspiciously.

"Oh right," the tadpole seemed to remember something and glanced down at himself. "Three days like this and its already escaping my mid." He reached up and twisted one of his headphones. Surrounded by a white glow, his body stretched upwards. When the light faded a Pekoponian stood in his place.

"Saburo?" Natsumi recognized him.

"Strange coincidence, huh?" Mutsumi said with a small smile. "Who are your friends?"

"I'm Koyuki," the ninja didn't hesitate to introduce herself.

"Hold on!" Giroro shouted at Kululu and jabbed a finger at Mutsumi. "That's a Pekoponian? What the Hell was he doing as a Keronian. That's illegal!"

"He's a Keronian he just likes to turn into a Pekoponian temporarily. Nothing illegal about it."

"But he just said…"

"He is a citizen of Keron. Good luck proving otherwise, kukuku."

"Ah…" Giroro stared open mouthed at the scientist.

"Here it is! Assignment for Sergeant Major Kululu," Keroro held out the file triumphantly. Kululu walked up and took it.

"Wait, Saburo, what is he saying?" Natsumi asked.

"Almost everyone I know is dead and there isn't much future in being a Pekoponian anymore. So, why not? Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same," he shrugged. Natsumi didn't know what to say.

"Bye," Kululu stated as he headed out of the office.

"Be right there," Saburo responded cheerfully, then flashed Natsumi a quick smile. "Nice seeing you. Try to stay in one piece, okay?" The white glow reappeared as he walked away. By the time he reached the exit, he was a Keronian again. He disappeared out the door after Kululu.

"Bastards," Giroro grumbled. It was so unfair. He wanted to turn Natsumi into a Keronian, too.

"What was that about?" Momoka wondered.

"Don't worry, I don't think it important," Tamama said dismissively.

"Do you have a target for us?" Koyuki asked Keroro.

"Huh? No."

"In that case we're going to get some sleep. We had to stay up late last night." She walked over and picked up the Keronian assassin. "I'll see you around," she bid goodbye to the other Pekoponians as she left. Zeroro just hung limply in her arms without comment.

"Okay, bye," Natsumi waved.

"Natsumi, we better go too," said Giroro. "We need to complete a review of the base."

"Fine," Natsumi gave Fuyuki another quick hug. "I'll see you this evening, alright?"

"Yeah," Fuyuki sighed happily. Natsumi nodded then walked alongside Giroro as he left the office.

"That was a rather rushed scene, don't you think so, Sir?" Tamama asked the Sergeant.

"Tamama, you will soon come understand the way these things work," Keroro nodded as if he were a wise sage.

"It feels like we should know them…" Fuyuki considered.

"You think so?" Momoka tilted her head.

"Fuyuki, stop worrying about that and bring me my lunch!"