Kanani opened her eyes to the sound of an annoying siren going off repeatedly.

Noshwin leaped out of bed and looked frantically around, "there's a fire! Save the women and 
children!!" He grabbed Muchi out his bed and ran into a wall.

"Damn you, Noshwin! I'm not a wo-Uff!!" he said, as he made firm contact with the wall.

"Um... You okay, Muchi?" said Kimodo, peering over the side of his bed at his bruised and 
disgruntled friend.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" he retorted, standing up and brushing off his clothes.

Likal and Orfaldo laughed raucously as Muchi smacked Noshwin up-side the head.

Kanani helped them up and went into the "bathroom" to change for the day.

*~*~*

They walked into a large dining hall, where all of the recruits ate every morning. There were 
hundreds. Kanani had never thought there could be that many young men in the entire universe.

A few of them looked up, noticed there was a woman among them, and began mumbling to one 
another, staring in awe as she walked by. Kimodo and Muchi glared at them for her, and Noshwin 
provided a convenient barrier between she and the staring eyes. Somehow, all alive and without 
having beaten up anyone, they got their breakfasts and sat at a large table at the back of the 
hall.

"I can't stand it when people stare at me... It makes me feel like I've done something 
horribly wrong and I'm getting publicly punished for it..."

They all laughed lightly at this as Likal and Orfaldo walked past.

"Hey, Chicken-head, Likal! Where are you sitting?" called Muchi.

"Yeah! Where are you and your rooster gonna nest?" added Kimodo, laughing.

The twins glared at them, "we aren't sitting with some silly woman, that's for sure!" called 
Likal as he marched off in a huff.

"Damn him! I'm sorry, Nani, but I can't be nice to that cockerel...   He's so slimy and he 
always insults you!" Frith frowned, but nodded in agreement, "he's really rude!"

"I don't think calling him a chicken will help his rudeness, guys... I wonder why he always 
goes after Nani, though..." Kanani glared at her plate, "I think he's afraid that a woman can 
be stronger than him." She looked at them all in turn, "you know? I'm so tired of being used 
and denounced only because I'm a woman! All my life it's all been because I'm a girl. Well now, 
I'm going to do something about it. I'm going to prove myself to that snake-skinned creep! 
I'll show him what 'some silly woman' can do." She smiled at the thought and blushed at 
Muchi's applause.

They spent the rest of the breakfast hour coming up with a secret handshake that only they 
could use. Kanani had them incorporate the Orlovian Ancient hand symbols for "love," "trust," 
and "friendship" to make it even more important to them.

As a strong team of young people they marched through the hall, smiling at the staring 
recruits and tromped up to their room, joking and laughing heartily.

Another alarm went off barely twenty minutes later to lead the recruits to the morning 
exercises.

The five went through crowded hallways to the training field 176A on the north side of the 
Camp.

There, the new recruits that had been on the buses the other day were all trying to line up 
into some semblance of order. It took twenty minutes, but they got how they were supposed to 
be. A very large, very burly man walked out of a small nearby building.

"Troops! By my count it took twenty total minutes of time, of my time, for you all to properly 
assemble! In this camp it will no longer take that long! Understood!? Now! Every morning you 
will quietly and efficiently assemble within the space of three minutes! Understood?! When I 
ask a question, I expect an answer! Understood?!"

All of them replied "yes, sir!" and he resumed his speech.

"I am Major Wilshonk, Commander of this Camp you're in. Everything I say, you do. If you 
refuse, you will be gone, understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes, Major," he corrected. "You all are in the Elite Corps of the Frizzghiggian Imperial 
Army, a very fast-paced, high-expectation, no-mistakes-allowed section of the Corps. We are 
Frizzghigge's hope for a better future.   You all have been hand-picked and selected on the 
basis of your intense skills in one or more combat areas.

"You all are twice as skilled as those in the regular corps, and I want you to prove that to 
me. I'm telling you all now, that there is a Commanding General or two among you. There are 
master spies, great leaders, future politicians, and a myriad of Sergeants, Majors, and 
Officers that will serve our beautiful planet with pride and honor, fit for an Elite. "His 
Excellency, Lord Ren Greatl, and the Empress Lady Kira Greatl, are depending on you troops 
being the best the Imperial Army has to offer. I hope you don't disappoint."

He walked carefully to a few standing officers, whispered something to them, and returned to 
the troops, looking them over carefully.

"In the Elite Corps, you are expected to be told something once and then know it better than 
you know your own name. We won't spend a lot of time reiterating every little thing we say, 
over and over again so the stupid ones can get it. You all are next to genius, and I want you 
to prove that to me.

"That's the key to the Elite Corps: If you're strong, hit something and prove your strength. 
If you're smart, plan something and prove your intelligence. If you're capable of swaying the 
people, sway some, and prove your ability. You have to project yourself in whatever field 
you're half-way decent in. You won't get conveniently 'discovered' here; you have to show 
your true colors on your own.

"We will start training by having you do whatever I do, but do it fifty times, and better. 
That's the second rule of the Corps: Do everything more often and far better than anyone else. 
You have to push yourself to the absolute maximum. Now. Do what I do once and then do it in 
that same order fifty times each, and then I want you to run three laps around the base. 
Within the next... Two hours you ought to be done with this little warm-up and the real 
training can commence."

He did a series of painful-looking exercises and watched as they all copied the movements.

He yelled and screamed irately at many people, telling them that they had to do better than 
whatever it was they were doing. He offered no advise, no compliments, only the bare truth.

Kanani almost laughed at the irony of it all. So many years of her life rejecting her birth 
culture to turn to its clone later on.

That day was long, arduous and painful. By the time it was lights-out, most of the entire Camp 
was already fast asleep; some still in their clothing from the day.

Spowaban visited Kanani at about 10:30PM to ask her how she fared. She replied that she had 
never worked harder and yet, she was happier than she'd ever been. She could do the work they 
required of her. She knew she could, there was no doubting it. She only wished it wasn't so 
hard on the others...

The next day, they obeyed the proper schedule with great success. It was also Kanani's first 
real "school" lesson. They were learning the arts of espionage, war technology, proper 
leadership and command, proper fighting methods that would aid the training, and an arsenal of 
other subjects close to war and battling.

The Major who was teaching them was a small, soft-spoken man with a mean glare and a sharp, 
quick intelligence. He didn't seem like much, but when he turned his glare on a person they 
wanted to shrivel up into a ball and sink into the ground.

He was, however, a very witty man who always had a dry, sarcastic response to everything.

He also became Muchi's idol within five minutes.

To understand that statement's true meaning, Muchi must also be understood. When Muchi 
decided to idolize some person or thing, he would likely die for that person at a single word. 
He had already been idolizing Kanani for her strength, but he was then idolizing Major 
Shrintol for his similarities with himself. They were both small, but smart; not much on the 
surface, but with a firm core of strength. He truly idolized Major Shrintol with every bone in 
his body.

Kanani found a niche of comfort with Major Wilshonk, a very loud, but somewhat gentle man with 
a firm voice and a silly wink. His inner kindness seemed to remind her slightly of Erfen in a 
way, and she adopted him as an Army father-figure in Spowaban's absence. He was very quick to 
tell a person what they were doing wrong, but only told a select few what they were doing 
right. Kanani was one of those few, and she was honored to be a part of it.

Quite frankly, she didn't find it as difficult as anyone else found it. Her years hunting for 
hours on end, her constant beatings, her training with Spowaban; all of it had rendered her 
tougher than almost anyone else there. She ached, yes, and sported some very colorful bruises, 
but ever since she was six years old she had been bruised and aching. It was nothing new to 
her. Her feet weren't bleeding, she didn't have any internal injuries, and wouldn't suffer any 
scarring. The worst thing she suffered were headaches from going so long without eating. Once 
she had some bread or something she felt better and was ready to go about her training.

Life for Kanani was wonderful, with the exception of Likal and his near-silent brother. 
Whenever she did anything, they always had to shoot barbs at her that she was a 'weak and 
foolish woman.' It infuriated her friends to no end, especially Kimodo and Muchi.

Muchi's protection, she understood; it was a form of his "worship," but it was Kimodo's 
defense that she wondered about.

In many ways, he was even more protective of her than Muchi was, but he didn't seem to have 
any reason to be so protective. Whenever anyone other than the other three men in the group 
said her name, his head shot up wearing a deadly glare. He was extremely watchful of her, and 
often kept a hand on her elbow whenever they were together.

She simply ignored it, thinking it was just a quirk in his personality, like Muchi's was, but 
he didn't act such ways any other time. He always kept an arm over her shoulders when they sat, 
he would hold her hand or arm when they walked, and he always kept an eye on her during 
training. If any other soldier dared to look at her, he would give them a glare of impending 
doom even fiercer than that of Major Shrintol.

Every time he could he would kiss her on the cheek, or rub her shoulder, or something small 
and affectionate. Finally, she had no choice but to consult him about it. Barely three months 
after they had joined the corps she had an answer to her question...