Oh, did I mention that the Squids are fully human? They're just normal people who make up an Army that is named after a sea creature. No hybrids here.

General Mitchell is dragged backwards underneath the Capital, someone whom he can't see pulling at his bound arms behind his back. He quickly realises that there is no point in struggling so he forces his body to remain loose. After some minutes of being manhandled this way, Mitchell hears a door unlocking and opening. He is pulled upright and propelled forward into what he assumes to be a room, however, he can't see anything through the blindfold.

He stumbles, silently glad that his captors didn't tie his legs together. The General stands there uncertainly, waiting to be pulled by someone else or for his bonds to be released. He hears low voices talking a little away, four of them from the sounds of it. He tries to hear the words but they are talking too quietly. The voices stop and he hears a second door, sounding like it is in front of him, open and shut. He gave a low sigh. The owners of the voices must have left him, meaning that either they're going to collect him later, or he's in a cell. The second option doesn't make sense as what kind of cell would have two doors?

Suddenly, someone shoves his chest. General Mitchell reels back, his back painfully hitting a wall, his hands being caught between the two. A hand, rough and hard, grabs his neck, tight enough so that he can't move, but not too tight so that he can't breathe. A second hand takes the gag out of his mouth so that he can talk.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" a harsh and steely voice asks instantly.

"I'm General Mitchell of the Benjas," Mitchell says, instantly on guard although there's not much that he can do. "I'm here to discuss a peace treaty with the Squids-"

"Don't try to fool me with that treaty crap," the voice says angrily. "You were asking common people questions that don't need to be asked. Why are you really here?"

"I want to make a peace treaty," the General insists. "I was asking people questions because I'm interested in history an-"

"Stop lying to me!" The hand pushes Mitchell harder against the wall and he grunts slightly as his hands start aching. "You were asking about the army that was in charge before the Squids and you were trying to cover it up!"

"So what?" Mitchell asks, trying to move slightly so that his hands can get relief. "What does it matter to you what I ask about? I was told that they were completely gone. There was no harm to me-."

"Tell me why you were asking about the Sky Army."

"Tell me why you're so interested in knowing why I was asking about them."

The voice is silent for a minute and the General struggles to hide a grin. Clearly, he had won a point in that battle of words with his captor. The hand tightens again, a little too tight for Mitchell to breathe comfortably.

"Do you know how dangerous that was?" the voice hisses angrily. "Do you what the Squids would do if they heard whispers of the Sky Army drifting around the Capital? Do you know how close you could have come to destroying 12 years of work? Of hiding? Of staying alive and trying to blend in?"

"What?" General Mitchell asks, thoroughly confused. Instead of answering, the voice pulls Mitchell off the wall. He feels a hand take off his bonds and his blindfold. Mitchell blinks slightly as the low light finally reaches his eyes. As he instinctively rubs his wrists, he glares at the man who is walking away from him, throwing the gag and a piece of rope and cloth on the crude table that stands in the middle of the room.

"What the heck was that whole thing for?" he asks, a little angry at his mistreatment.

"You can't trust anyone here," the man says in his steely tone. "Especially when you're in our situation."

"As in, part of the Sky Army?" Mitchell guesses.

The man glares at him, confirming his guess that this man was a part of the supposed dead Sky Army. There's something familiar about him. Frowning slightly, General Mitchell tries to place where he's seen the man before. Take away the hard expression, replace it with one that is blank and vacant, dust him with woodchips, change his body so that it is relaxed, not tensed and angry, change the way he speaks to broken English and he's a lot like....

"Andy?" the General asks, confused.

The man, who is certainly Andy, doesn't respond. He walks to the other side of the table, putting the blindfold and the rope away in a drawer.

"So the Sky Army still exists then," Mitchell says, staying where he is.

"And you almost killed it," Andy replies instantly, snapping the drawer shut and glaring at Mitchell. He finds it rather unnerving that this lumberman can have such a harsh expression.

"Why are you hiding underground if there is an entire army here?" Mitchell asks. "Just take back your territory."

"If it was that easy, then why do you think that we haven't already done it?"

This makes the General pause. A suspicion enters his mind and his heart instantly sinks. His original plan is suddenly looking a lot more dire. "How many people are in the Sky Army?" he asks slowly.

Andy continues glaring for a moment, then drops his gaze. His shoulders sag slightly, however, his gaze is still hard when he meets Mitchell's eyes again, but it looks more like a mask.

"Most of them are dead, or captured, or scattered so far that they can't be gathered together again," he says. His voice sounds like he is trying to hide some sort of hurt that he feels inside. "Anyone who was captured is most likely dead by now. Here.... Well, I'll just show you."

Andy goes to the second door that Mitchell had correctly guessed was on the opposite wall. When he opens it, Mitchell sees a long cavern on the other side, with all sorts of items on the edges. A few tunnels branch off from the cavern. Mitchell had expected an army base, crawling with people and with the constant low murmur of voices. But there are only a handful of people walking around, maybe 10 or 20. And it is quiet, very quiet. Andy goes through the door and after a moment, the General of the Benjas follows. Andy takes him through the large cavern and to one of the tunnels on the other side. The General looks around, uncomfortable with the lack of people and supplies. He only sees three people with swords at their hips, all the others are unarmed. Was it just because they don't want to wear a weapon? Or because they don't have any?

Andy glances at Mitchell, guessing what he is thinking. "We don't have a lot of weapons," he admits quietly. "What we do have, we try to keep in the best condition but.... Well, it's not great."

"You don't have a lot of resources?" General Mitchell asks.

Andy shakes his head slightly. "We smuggle down what we can, but the Squids are always on guard."

The two of them reach the other tunnel and enter. This tunnel slopes up slightly, with steps every now and then.

"If the Squids are your enemy, then why are you hiding underneath their main base?"

Andy grins at him slightly, a grin that looks slightly evil. "It's the safest place," he says. "This is the last place the Squids would expect us to be, right under their noses. In their centre of power." He faces forward and keeps walking, his small grin fading.

Something in the way he acts seems familiar to Mitchell. He had met only a few members of the Sky Army years and years ago when he had first become the General of the Benjas. Something in the set back shoulders and the hard eyes and the partly-evil smile suddenly seems familiar. Mentally, Mitchell cuts the long brown hair short, fits him in shining yellow armour and it clicks.

"Is Andy your real name?" he asks.

Andy stops instantly. He gives Mitchell a hard glare that the General returns. They have a mini staring contest which Andy loses. He gives a quiet sigh.

"My real name's Adam," he says quietly. "I go by Andy to keep the Squids off my back."

The name and its association with the Sky Army is instantly recognisable. "As in, General Adam of the Sky Army?" General Mitchell asks.

"There's not much left to be a General of now," Andy - or more correctly, Adam - mutters before moving off again. Mitchell catches up and grabs his wrist, stopping him.

"Hey, you asked why I was asking about the Sky Army," he says.

Adam pulls his wrist out of Mitchell's grip and crosses his arms. "You planning on telling me now?" he asks, his voice becoming angry again.

"Listen, the Squids are making peace treaties left, right and centre. Most aren't suspicious of it, but my allies and I are. We're worried that the Squids are going to try and take over our territory. They've already started to push the boundaries."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Will you help us? You know more ab-"

"No."

General Mitchell stops, surprised at Adam's hard and firm 'No'. Adam starts walking again, not waiting for Mitchell to catch up.

"Wait, why not?" he asks, jogging up to walk beside Adam. "We'll all fight together, like a team. It won't take much to push back the Squids."

Adam doesn't say anything for a minute. He watches the ground as they continue through the gradually climbing tunnel.

"We can't fight," he says finally. "Not anymore."

Mitchell waits for him to elaborate more but he doesn't. Was it because they were too small? There can only be between 50 or 60 fighters here, assuming that there are more than he can see. The two reach the end of the tunnel, a locked door set flush to the rock and blended so that if he wasn't looking, Mitchell would have missed it.

"You need to leave the city tomorrow," Adam says, turning to Mitchell. "Make sure it seems normal like nothing happened. I'm not risking what's left of my army just because some guy went around poking his nose into what he shouldn't have."

"I had my reasons," General Mitchell says back, only a little offended by what Adam had said. It was very accurate.

"If we're lucky, neither of us will see the other again."

This time, Mitchell grins. "Luck's never been a fan of me. And it doesn't look like it's fond of you either."

The corner of Adam's mouth twitches up. "We won't gag you or tie your hands this time, but don't make any sound."

Someone blindfolds Mitchell from behind and two people grab either of his arms. Mitchell gives a low huff.

"Just so you know, I hate you for blindfolding me Adam," he says in a friendly tone as the two people on his arms take him through the door.

Adam doesn't answer. Not another word is said that night as the two members of the Sky Army deposit Mitchell back onto the streets of the Capital and fade from existence.

Aaaaand this is the scene that made me come up with the entire book. Don't ask how it happened, I have no clue.