"General pummelo! General pummelo! I bring an urgent report from the Orange grove frontlines." A young Luetinent Langerine yelled.
"Out with it luetinent!" GENERAL PUMMELO yelled.
"Sir the navel orange vanguard has been vanquished by the gallant gala brigade." Lt. Tangerine said with much sadness letting out freshly squeezed juice.
"Impossible! How did the attack commence?" Pummelo asked.
"Sir the commander of the gala apples sent in a fruit fly bombardment. We didn't stand a chance. They found our wounded first sir and they dug into their wounds and decayed them from the inside out." Tangerine let out its sour tears. General pummelo had no choice but to embrace his Lt. peel to peel.
"Lt. we must save our juice and mourn for the dead once we win this war." General Pummelo exclaimed.
"Yes! Sir!" The Lt. Said saluting the General.
"What troubles me is the cooperation of the flies. Those flies were larvae only 39 days ago they must be close to death. We need the Caterpillars!" General Pummelo said hitting the desk with his peel.
"The Caterpillars sir? They would never ally with us." The Lt. said.
"Oh! They will for I know of a certain captain that has close ties with the leader of the Caterpillars." General Pummelo said turn to face the Lt. with a scary smirk on his peel.
"NO, sir you don't mean him. His methods are too cruel. Please sir reconsider." The Lt said with a begging tone.
"My decision is final and you will follow my orders Lt. BRING ME CAPTAIN RED GRAPEFRUIT!"
A few days had passed since the Lt. was given the order to find Captain Red Grapefruit. He asked around the grove until he finally received a decent tip that he had gone back to his mother tree. "Captain!" The Lt yelled out.
The captain turned to see who was calling out to him. When he recognized the Lt he turned back around. "I don't want anything to do with your war. That isn't me anymore, leave me alone."
The Lt approached the Captain. "I'm here under orders of General Pummelo. We need your specific brand of cruel sourness. The orchard completely demolished the Naval Orange grove."
That made the captain curious and furious. "How?"
"It seems they made a pact with the fruit flies, they-" the Lt was cut short.
"Flies those despicable creatures. It would seem that Pummelo knew I wouldn't be able to say no." The captain said with a willy grin.
The Lt looked on with a stare that asked the question of why.
"Flies are what killed my wife Valencia Orange and son Blood orange. I know of only one bad apple that would sink so low to use those creatures, HONEYCRISP!"
"That is why we need the caterpillars help." Lt. Tangerine sat with Red Grapefruit going into detail of what had transpired in the last few days.
"Pummelo is correct in sending you to me. The caterpillars are led by Mona the Monarch butterfly." Grapefruit said.
"Why would caterpillars follow a butterfly on your request?" Tangerine asked.
"When she was a caterpillar she cocooned next to my branch. I grew with her as she morphed into a butterfly. I grew and shielded her from the wind. When there was rain I would bend my branch to form a canopy over her so the water wouldn't get to her." Red Grapefruit said.
"Oh! Then it should be easy getting them to work with us." The Lt. said.
"Lt. stay here. Mona does not like strangers. I will go alone. It will take a few days to assemble her army." Red Grapefruit said as he rolled out of his home.
"Captain good luck."
Tangerine laid about the house of grapefruit. He looked at the wall of pictures of the decorated veteran. Grapefruit had made an altar for his deceased family.
After a few days, the door of grapefruit's house swung open. Red Grapefruit stood at the doorway before he spoke. "It's done Lt., they will meet us on the battlefield."
"That's amazing Captian. Shall we get going as well, do you need any time to gather your things?" The Lt asked.
"No. Honerycrisp is waiting for us." Grapefruit said as he turned around and started to roll towards the grove command center.
At Orchard command
"Lt. Tangerine exceptional work, truly exceptional. Once we win I shall promote you to my second in command. Captain Grapefruit how do our chances seem to you?" General Pummelo asked with a sour face.
"We would get juiced if we didn't get the caterpillars help. Luckily they will arrive before the dew falls."
"Good. Lt. Tangerine shows the Captain to his tent so he can rest before we march in a few hours." Pummelo ordered Tangerine.
"Look at all these fresh faces. Their peels are too young to know the horrors of war." Captain Grapefruit said.
"We had to draft that's what this war has done to protect our grove." Lt. Tangerine responded.
Horns blared as the soldiers had begun to move out to the rendezvous point. At the rendezvous point the Pummelo Heavy Corp, Valencia Vanguard's, Mandarine Maniacs, Tangerine Tango, Grapefruit Guerilla, and the Navel Notorious Corp's all gathered.