Hidden in the mountains outside Tokyo lie a small, self-sufficient, wooden cottage. This cottage may be far from any human population, but still inhabits a young girl by the name of Azumaya Koyuki. Koyuki was very lonely by herself, or so many people thought. They knew vaguely she was a shinobi whose clan had dispersed and assimilated into society, but what people didn't know was Koyuki had a student of her own. A man by the name of Dororo, or rather, a Keronian. Dororo was a trained assassin from the distant planet Keron, who was reborn once arriving on Earth. Instead of violence, he chose to repay the planet by nurturing it, protecting its inhabitants and honoring it any way he could. Dororo was a kind and gentle soul who hid amongst the shadows. Koyuki knew Dororo was lonely, too. They were simply lonely together.
-
"Alright, let's make sure everyone's in attendance" said a monotone, half-asleep Keroro.
"Keroro, if you're not going to take this seriously then what's the point of having a meeting at all?" Giroro chimed in.
"Ku ku ku!"
"Ah, what do you want from me Giroro?" Keroro asked perturbed. "I do nothing and you complain and now I'm here to form a plan and you still complain!"
The platoon sat in the large, main room in their underground base. Mois was her perky self as usual, whereas everyone else just seemed out of it.
Giroro and Keroro continued arguing until the sound of the sliding door interrupted.
In walked Dororo.
"Forgive me, I do not mean to be late again."
"Tch, it's not like you missed anything" Giroro said, fed up with Keroro's whining.
Keroro gero'd in protest.
Dororo walked in and sat down as Keroro continued on with the plan. Every so often Giroro would chime in in protest but nonetheless a normal afternoon for the Keroro platoon. Dororo mostly kept to himself in his mind, meditating or thinking about the Earth. He often thought back to the day Koyuki rescued him. She believed he was a Kappa and poured water on his head. As Dororo knew now, most people were frightened by Kappa's and their violent nature, but Koyuki didn't hesitate at all to save Dororo. What would he have done without her? The thought terrified him. He could not stand to think of his old self and his past actions as an assassin. No, he was not like that now. Dororo was now a pacifist, only fighting if it was necessary to protect Pekoponians or his comrades.
"Taicho-dono" said Dororo, raising his hand.
"Uh, yes, Dororo?" Keroro said, answering him.
"I want to ask that-"
Before Dororo could finish his sentence, every blue screen in the base turned red. Kululu's face appeared on the giant screen, generating a loud laugh, as the words "UNKNOWN AIRCRAFT DETECTED" flashed in white. Everyone rose out of their seats in panic at the sign, and Kululu began tapping away at his computer to figure out what was happening. They turned to Kululu as he began his signature laugh.
"Kuku! Seems it's only a lone escape pod from a Keronian ship."
They looked towards the big screen where an image of a falling ship appeared.
Giroro looked with intent as he noticed the emblem on the front of the ship.
"That's... thats Garuru's ship!" He exclaimed trying to keep his calm.
"Kululu, can you find where this ship is going to crash?" Keroro asked, turning back around.
"Sure sure..." he said with little emotion as always. He began laughing again and pulled the coordinates up on screen.
Then the platoon and Mois all left in a hurry.
-
The platoon unkemptly parked their scooters near the crash site and ran to see who was inside. As Giroro approached the ship, he found the door to be completely knocked off. He looked inside to see various small fires sparked from impact, but no Keronian.
"There's no one inside!" He called out to the platoon.
"Ahh... maybe they escaped?" Tamama suggested.
"Are you sure there's no one in there Giroro?" Keroro called out.
"I just looked!" Giroro objected. "Come over here and look for yourself if you must."
Dororo kept quiet as they bickered amongst each other but awoke from his silence the second he heard a small click.
"Giroro-dono!" Dororo shouted as he jumped in towards Giroro, swiftly moving him away from the ship. The ship made no noise for a second and then exploded, debris flying everywhere.
Everyone was taken aback, especially Giroro, who could not believe he had just barely escaped his life.
"T-thank you, Dororo."
"No need." Said Dororo, humbly.
Dororo rose to his feet and helped Giroro as well. He turned to Keroro, who was on the other side of the explosion.
"Are any of you injured?" He called out.
"Ah, no, Dororo, we're okay." Keroro called out, still slightly in shock from the explosion.
"Or like, survived by the skin of our teeth?" Mois added, turning her head and smiling.
The group began to fan out in search of the mysterious escapee. They donned their scooters and Mois donned her spear, and flew off. As they left, a shadowy figure hid in the trees, smiled and nearly laughed at the sight of their departure.
-
"I don't think this was the work of an oshigotonin." Giroro added during their conversation back in Keroro's room.
"Shurara seemed okay once we got that helmet off him." Tamama said through the munching of his chips. "It'd be weird if he tried attacking us again now."
"I tried reaching out to my brother. No contact."
"Have you communicated with HQ?" Dororo asked Giroro.
"Yeah," he said solemnly "no word from them either on the whereabouts of the Garuru platoon."
"I'm sure they'll send out a search team after them, after all, they should've been stationed closer to Keron Star." Keroro inputted.
"Still, that wouldn't explain how an escape pod made it all the way to Pekopon." Giroro responded.
"Oh yeah..." Keroro said, stumped.
Suddenly Fuyuki burst through the door, holding his phone with an article pulled up on the screen.
"Gunso! Did you hear about the ship that crash-landed near by?" He yelled.
"Ah, yes, Fuyuki-dono. We inspected it but no one was left inside."
"We think they might have escaped or it carried no one at all." Giroro added.
"Oh, that's too bad." Fuyuki said disappointed.
"All sorts of reporters are there now covering the ship."
"Reporters?" Keroro questioned.
Fuyuki walked over to Keroro's TV and turned it on. He began flipping through channels until he found coverage of the crash site from a young woman on a local news channel.
"We have begun getting reports of 'negative auras' near the crash site. People have begun searching for possible aliens or potential pilots. Strange footprints have also been found, but it is suspected to have been from local wildlife. We'll continue coverage of the crash once we have more information."
"I do not believe the ship was uninhabited." Dororo declared.
Everyone turned to look at Dororo.
"Do you not think it is strange that a ship belonging to Garuru-dono could end up on Pekopon if it had not been purposely piloted here? I do not think this is the work of Garuru-dono or his platoon members."
"Dororo's right." Giroro chimed in. "Nothing about this seems normal. I think we should continue to investigate."
"GERO! What about our invasion plan?"
"Gunso-san, I'm not sure invading the planet with dressers would work again..." said Tamama sheepishly.
"Giroro and I will investigate tonight when most Pekoponians will have left the site of the crash."
Giroro nodded in response to Dororo's decision.
And soon night came.
