Chapter 4-Assualt

    Skipper and Kowalski were very tired after training together. They went to kama early, before the sun even set. Since the others were gone, Skipper got a bunk this time. They plopped down in their beds like cold turkeys and curled up under their covers.
    “I have never been so overworked in my whole life,” Skipper moaned.
    “Eh, you will get used to it,” Kowalski assured him. “It is normal training for me.”
    “Does Mr. Halloweentown train you all the time?” he wondered. “And not someone less rough like Lyla.”
    “Oh, Austin isn’t that scary, Skipper,” he replied annoyed. “Only the captain and the lieutenant are allowed to train privates. Though I do agree, Lyla is very nice.”
    “So how long have you stayed here in Antarctica?” Skipper questioned. “All of you guys seem so foreign. I have never seen penguins here before.”
    “A few weeks. We came here on duty to make sure there are no enemy troops taking refuge here.”
    “Enemies? What kind of enemies are you talking about?”
    “Well…I guess you should know who our tuktok enemy is,” Kowalski decided and peered down at the bottom bunk. “We are tracking down enemies. They are this group of ex-military penguins that we were sent to track down. They are the Southern Raiders or so I hear. They are nothing but a problem and we are sent to eliminate them.”
    Skipper perked up with interest. “But why? What is wrong with them?”
    “Well, I don‘t know much,” he admitted. “TJ and Austin won’t tell me and…well…the others won’t either for that matter. I hear that they are trying to take over the WORLD. We have been tracking them down all over the world actually. We followed them here but I don’t think they are here. The team has went out scouting every araw for weeks and they found nothing.”
    “That’s incredible. I wasn’t sure what you guys trained for and now I know we are training for a purpose. So you have been all over the world?”
    “Um…only a few countries actually,” Kowalski answered.
    Skipper thought about Kowalski’s words in silence. He had no idea that the ibong dagat team had an arch enemy they were tracking all across the world. He was actually part of it and could already imagine himself fighting them in the future. Such a great future…Wait a minute. They traveled all over the world. That meant that he would have to leave Antarctica probably for a long time. Was this worth it?
    He glanced up at Kowalski. Yes, it was definitely worth it.
    The door to the sleeping quarters opened and the returning scouts filed in. Skipper leaped up suddenly and expected to be drowned in ice water. Instead, the team didn’t even seem to notice them. He layed down and just watched.
    “How did the privates do, Lieutenant?” ordered TJ.
    “I do say, that knew recruit, Skipper, has outstanded me in madami ways than one. I have never trained such a prodigy.”
    TJ and Austin turned to look at Skipper. He quickly closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. Kowalski really was so he was pretty real looking.
    “He is already better than Kowalski at nearly everything. He is stronger and madami capable of doing the basic exercises they did today.”
    “What exactly did you make them do?” TJ pressed.
    “Push-ups, suicides, trench digging, and taking cinder blocks to the mast. Skipper succeeded in everything, even in battle training. He just started and is almost equally matched with Kowalski. Well, that isn’t saying much actually.    “
    “I knew I made a good choice with that little recruit,” TJ sinabi proudly. “Anyway, I have some other news. We need to leave right away. We saw the Southern Raiders from a hill. They are already out at sea and are heading north. We need to as well. Everything is ready to go.”
    “Should I wake the apprentices?” Austin asked.
    “No. They will find out when they wake up.”
    The crew gathered around their captain for instructions. Skipper watched with curiosity. They were leaving today. No madami Antarctica. That was a good thing. No madami ice and snow.
    “Dave, you man the ship,” TJ ordered. “We leave now.”
    The crew left leaving the sleeping quarters empty. Skipper still felt like a dollop of Daisy, but now he was too interested in what was going on to sleep. He swiftly slipped out of his bunk and into Kowalski’s who was still fast asleep.
    “Kowalski! Brainatron, wake up!”
    Skipper shook Kowalski sa pamamagitan ng the shoulders until his topaz eyes flew open and he jumped back with alarm.
    “Hey, guess what I just heard?” Skipper exclaimed and estola most of Kowalski’s bunk, banishing him to a corner. “Well, for a start, I overheard Austin tell TJ some nice things about me.”
    “Uh-huh,” Kowalski murmured uncaringly and tried to get back to sleep.
    “Hey!” Skipper slapped him for some focus. Kowalski jumped up and tried to leave the bunk, but Skipper barred his way. “That’s not all. We are leaving right now. I heard TJ say that we were all leaving. They found the Southern Raiders and we are following them out to sea.”
    “Oh, cool,” sinabi Kowalski. “According to my calculations, we have been here exactly 318 hours and we need to get going. Where are we going?”
    “Somewhere up north according to TJ. What are we still doing in bed? Let’s go.”
    They jumped out of kama and headed up to the deck with everyone else. It was dark outside and the weather was perfect for sailing. They went to the very front of the bangka and looked over the edge with fascination. The ship slowly began to move, taking Skipper away from Antarctica, probably forever.
    “Kowalski,” Skipper moaned.
    Kowalski quickly carried Skipper to the bow and draped him over the edge. Skipper spewed for probably the eighth time. He had no idea ships were so rough and rumbly. He gorged on a bunch of isda and was now hacking it all back up.
    “ You okay, dude?” asked Kowalski and pulled him back on the deck where he collapsed the moment Kowalski let go. “You look terrible. Then again, sea sickness is common among those who consume large amounts and have little ship riding experience.”
    “Oh…Kowalski.”
    “Ugh.” Kowalski returned Skipper to the edge of the bow and waited. HE was getting pretty bored tending to Skipper’s puking needs. He stared out over the cold Antarctic water with boredom. They had been on the ship for four hours. Then Kowalski noticed something that was just sliding into view. It was very dark, but he could see a light. Perhaps it was just a trick of the light that sometimes happened this far down south. He kept staring at the faint light and it was very unusual. He pulled out his trusty pencil and loyal notebook and tried to write down all the possibilities of what it could be. He stared at it for minutos until it seemed to be growing. Maybe he should tell TJ or somebody. They would probably just say he was thinking nonsense.
    The light was getting closer…He decided to go tell someone. There was no one else on deck that could see it except Skipper who was about to puke his guts out.
    “I’m going to check something,” Kowalski decided. “Just try not to puke until I get back, okay?”
    Kowalski abandoned Skipper and went straight to the control center inside. He peeked in the window and saw Dave driving the ship, but he looked very…distracted. Well, no wonder. The rest of the crew (that sinabi they were doing important maintenance) were playing Stomp the Wombat. He hesitated before barging in. The moment he did the penguins hot-potatoed their cards to TJ who quickly tried to hide all the cards.
    “Hello, Private,” TJ greeted guiltily. “Um…we were just checking the cards for…um…
    “Whatever,” Kowalski interrupted. “I just found something weird that I need you to see. Outside.”
    TJ rolled his eyes and slowly tended to Kowalski’s need like it was a huge burden. “Where is this little nightmare?”
    “Right there. That light.”
    Kowalski pointed out the window at the direct light. TJ squinted to see it at first and then he just stared at it like it was the most important thing in the world. Then he jumped up and roughly pushed Kowalski away. He fell to the ground and stared after TJ with hatred.
    “Hey!” he whined. “That wasn’t nice.”
    “Austin! Get over here!”
    The two of them tried to look out of the periscope at the same time, trying to push each other away to get a better look.
    There was no warning, just a terrible whistling that started quiet and then got louder. BOOM! There was a loud crash and then the ship rocked so hard that all the penguins were thrown off their feet. Kowalski was so stressed and had no idea what was happening. The other sure did.
    “Brace yourselves, team!” TJ shouted in a panicked tone. “We are under attack!”