Prologue
He was gone. He'd tried to leave a few times before, always coming back or being brought back someway or another. This time, though, something happened that was out of Raye Hino's hands. Chad Kumada was always around her, doing chores, learning from her Grandfather, and obeying Raye's every whim. Now, Chad was gone, and it looked like it would be for good. It wasn't simply his packing a few bags then leaving. No, it was much more solid than that, and it was obvious to Raye as she stood in the waiting area of Tokyo International Airport. From the windows here she could even see Chad's flight as it lumbered up the runway and into a take-off position. Raye, clad in her T*A school uniform of simple grays and a little red bow under her collar, stood silently in a grim stare as the 747 jet finally made it's finally ground run, and then took off into the blue sky, jetting quickly away from her. The plane just got smaller and smaller, and at last she couldn't stand to simply watch anymore. Raye turned quickly, her raven hair waving like a fox tail over her face and then back around to her backside. Now she faced her friends.
She could feel the soreness of wanting to cry in the back of her throat, and tears were just now moistening her eyes. But she couldn't let her friends see her cry – or at least that's what she told herself. She'd always told them how she didn't care about him anymore than a mere male friend. It was a lie, and one that not one of her friends believed. But Raye believed it; she forced herself to believe it. How could a beautiful miko like her fall for a shaggy haired, American bum like Chad Kumada? In Raye's mind it would be a disgrace of class. It was obvious, however, that her heart wanted things differently. The mix of these feelings were odd to her friends. They all believed, with the exception of perhaps the school-bound Amy, that love was something to jump at. Raye seemed to believe it too, but not with Chad. One may suppose that for Raye it wasn't love at first sight; rather, Chad simply grew on her. The whole thing was also confusing because Raye had always been a person of passion, and one who followed her heart. She didn't wear her heart on her sleeve, and she was a good thinker, but her feelings of different matters were usually what determined her actions. However, her relationship with Chad seemed to defy her personality in general. But now, for a while at least, there would be no more confusion. There would also be no warm, welcoming, shaggy haired face to welcome the girls to the temple, and there would be no Raye pushing around a man five years her senior. How old was he now anyway? She'd never asked him until the past Christmas. Raye was seventeen now, and that made Chad twenty-two. Raye shook her head as she realized just how little she actually knew about him, aside from knowing the ins and outs of his personality.
Besides his desires and personality, Raye had known little of Chad as far as his past went. He was rich, she knew that, and he was part Japanese, getting his Japanese name from his great grandfather, an immigrant who came to the United States before the First World War. He was apparently born in Cheyenne, Wyoming and his mother, Rebecca, was the daughter of the owner of an oil company, which explained his wealth. His father, Michael Kumada, was a rancher, and his strict rules as a father were factors in Chad's rebellion - a rebellion that took him first to his Grandparent's cabin in the Netherlands, then to their cabin in the Japanese mountains, and finally to Tokyo. Then, in a twist of painful irony, it was Chad's father that took him away from Japan. Michael Kumada was dead.
Chad had received word from his mother in the States about his father's death, and was also sent a one-way ticket home. That was only four days ago, and now he was gone, flying somewhere over the Pacific.
Among her friends, who up until now were silent, Mina was the first to speak, "I'm sure he'll be back," she said.
Raye shook her head, staring at the floor beneath her. She took a quick sniffle then snapped her head up, her eyes red, but holding back the tears fairly effectively. She forced out a weak grin that was lop sided, "An American," she began, "I guess that explains his accent."
Several of the girls gasped, "Really? He was an American?" asked Amy, "Where from?"
Raye began to walk forward, heading for the nearest exit to the parking lot, "Someplace called Cheyenne."
"That would be in Wyoming, in the Western United States," Amy added.
"But man, the poor thing," Serena added, "His dad died. He must be hurting."
I'm alone, and you're worried about him? Raye thought with a mental grumble. She huffed and then continued on, giving herself a strong stride and a proud strut, "Well, at least I won't have to yell at that goober anymore!" she declared as she made her way for the exit. It was something the girls all saw as an act. Sometimes they wondered if she meant it, but other times they could see right through their friend's words. But, still, they only rolled their eyes and followed her out.
That day, when Chad left, was now two years into the past, and life continued on as usual. The sun still rose and set everyday, and the duties of a miko were still in the daily doings of Raye Hino. Raye was nineteen now, and had graduated, as had the other girls. All had followed their dreams one way or another. Amy was already in college, studying to be a doctor. Serena joined Mina and Lita in a community college, and Raye was splitting time between her temple life, song writing and, as of recently, voice acting. The latter job she had managed to get through countless auditions and two agents. Raye enjoyed her life as it was, and the quiet of the temple that had been missing for some three years or so when Chad was there had returned. Her duties as a Sailor Scout were limited to simple crime fighting these days, and mystic powers and galactic evils seemed to be rare, very rare indeed. In fact, as of two years ago, just before Chad left, the really big battles for the scouts had ceased completely. So, amongst the peace and free time, all the girls were able to pursue their dreams and goals hindered only by the problems of every other college girl.
Raye stood still for a moment, raising a forearm to her brow and wiping sweat from her skin, her other hand filled with a broom. She sighed as she looked outside from within her fire reading room, noting the white snow falling in serene paths to the ground. The big, puffy flakes fell slowly and without wind to cause them to drift. The sky was gray with winter cover, but otherwise the day was beautiful. It was a bit chilly, which made Raye wonder how on Earth she was sweating so much.
As she looked out at the snow-covered city, four figures appeared head first at the stairs. They continued up to the main entrance to the temple, and Raye's friends were soon haling her, and they were soon followed by the short figures of Artemis and Luna, the two guardian cats. She smiled brightly, waved, and was about to call out to them with a cheerful greeting when her call was pre-maturely silenced by the look on the faces of Mina, Lita, Serena, and Amy. They all had a look of seriousness, Serena's face was filled with concern, and Mina looked as if the family dog had just stepped in front of a bus. They were all also in a hurry, running to Raye and once they closed in, Serena began to yell.
"Raye, Raye!" she called, "Something's happened! Something bad, really bad!"
When everyone reached her, Serena bent over huffing and puffing. Luna soon caught up and hopped up onto Serena's shoulder.
Mina wasted no time and handed Raye a roll of newspaper. Raye took it slowly, raising an eyebrow questioningly, "What's wrong, girls?" she asked, "You're scaring me. Tell me."
Raye sighed and gave up her questioning to unroll the paper. It didn't take long for the front page to take her breath away. There on the front page was the image of a huge city, what looked like the downtown of some big city, in ruins. Buildings blown out, smoke everywhere, and in the middle the figures of beings stood amidst the destruction. The beings caught her eye right away, as they looked like people. But these people, if the picture told the truth, were huge, towering nearly two stories themselves. She couldn't make out any details in the picture aside from the destruction. Then, her eyes drifted to the top of the page to the title of the article. Again, Raye's breath, if any was left from the first shock, was gone from her lungs in a loud gasp. The title was printed in large, bold characters which Raye read aloud.
"United States Invaded?" she read, the actual article making her question if it could be true, "Is this a tabloid?"
"No, it's my local newspaper," Mina said, "I knew you didn't get one, so I rushed over as fast as I could."
"But," Raye stuttered, "But, but what happened? How could the US be invaded?"
"It's China," Litas said loathingly, "China and from the looks a few allies."
Amy nodded, "They think it involves Iran and Iraq, India, North Korea, and Mexico."
"Mexico?" Raye asked, "I thought they were good guys."
"Mexico has a grudge with the US," Amy explained, digging into her world history, "I thought about this, and my guess would be that China, being the main aggressor, bargained some land off once it was conquered, and Mexico said yes. It would give an excellent invasion point for the Chinese."
"What, did you spend all night on that?" Serena asked.
"It just came out this morning," Amy returned.
Lita raised her hand, silencing them both, "The news is saying now that China launched attacks simultaneously on the US and Europe."
"Dear God," Raye said as she read on going silent for a bit, then bursting out, "This is terrible! Are we going to do anything? Has the government acted?"
The girls looked at each other and shrugged. They knew only so much. But the entire world was holding it's breath with those five girls.
Amy's guess was on the money. China, is preparation for the invasion of the United States bargained off a potential part of the US, specifically most of Texas, Southern California, New Mexico, and Arizona. It was all land lost by Mexico as a result of the Mexican-American War of the 1840's.
Mina looked at Raye anxiously, as if waiting for something. She was waiting for a word, a name to be precise. She stared at Raye's expressions, trying to catch any hint of worry, trying hard to see if she cared at all for a distant friend. Finally, after no results, Mina couldn't take the suspense any longer.
"Raye, the reason I hurried straight for you is," she paused and fumbled her hands together, "I don't want to worry you, but…"
"Chad's in America," Raye said in a dull monotone, "Is that what you were going to say?"
Mina opened her mouth to talk, but then only nodded. Raye dropped her arms to her sides and stared at Mina sternly. She ground her teeth behind two tightly closed lips and took in a deep breath before turning and slipping inside the fire room without another word.
Lita elbowed her friend, "Nice going, Mina." She growled.
"I just thought…maybe…she would actually care." Mina hung her head.
"Honestly," Serena said in a moment of rare calmness, "I think she does. She cares more than she wants to…a lot more."
Mina wanted to add her own thoughts but was cut off as a loud rumble was heard in the distance behind them. Another one, this one deafening and violent, followed it causing the ground beneath their feet to quake. All four turned around and Raye rushed out as well, catching herself on the doorframe before she could fall over the exit. When they all looked to the noise, they all gasped in shock. Fire was erupting from the middle of downtown Tokyo, followed upward by dark, black smoke. Soon another explosion burst in the city, and that one was followed by at least five others.
"This is bad," Lita said.
"Scouts," Serena announced with a hard gulp, "Transform…be ready for a fight…a really, really big fight."
Chad Kumada once thought his life couldn't get any worse once he had left Japan. He was convinced that leaving Raye only to attend his father's funeral was a combination attack on his emotions; as if life had decided to take his fragile heart and trample on it. Though as bad as life seemed on that flight home, he had no idea what lay ahead of him – if he did, he more than likely wouldn't have been thinking in such a way. He had tried to go back to Japan, but life intervened as he was forced to make a choice. His father, as it turned out, had left the family estate, a 20,000 acre ranch out side of Cheyenne, Wyoming, solely to him. He chose the ranch, seeing that it was the more logical approach to a new start in life. It was either go back to Japan, hoping to become something out of nothing, or stay in America and have a career waiting for him.
Fortunately, it was in his blood to take to ranching well. He was not only a natural, but after the first few months of work, he grew to enjoy the life. He had a horse of his own, his own, spacious room, fresh air, open space, and a group of good friends who accepted him without question. He learned that he loved cattle drives, and he loved to ride his horse, Cisco. He loved being out in the fresh air, and within months he was enjoying the fruits of his labor in the form of hard, well toned muscle. In fact, Chad was still slim, but was now well muscled, his abs, chest, arms and legs all toned to that a sculpture by his hard efforts.
The men Chad knew at the ranch were the same ones he'd known from before he'd left America, just a bit older. First there was old Ko Gardal, who was now into his sixties, and the oldest member of the ranch hands. He was a close friend of the family since Michael Kumada and himself were kids. Ko hopped on to the ranch work when he was twenty, and had stayed on for life. Next was Teddy Frauer, who, before Michael had been married, was the ranch's cook; now Teddy did the hard labor with the rest of the guys, and also like the rest of them, he didn't complain about a bit of it. Finally, there was Dan Ferguson, the youngest of the bunch and was Ko's nephew. He was Chad's age and had always known Chad more like a cousin than an acquaintance, a result of Chad seeing Ko as a sort of uncle.
Ko, above all the others, was amazed at Chad's work ethic upon his return from Japan. Chad had once been nothing but a dreamer and talker – lazy and, as his father once put it, "…about as helpful as a hungry coyote in the kitchen." But Chad's three years at the shrine had completely changed him, and for the better in many peoples' eyes – and Chad himself was one of those people. Even so, with his new life in place, he still couldn't bring himself to forget, or to even stop loving the girl he knew in Tokyo, Japan.
Two years had past on the ranch, and Chad was no longer looked up to as the owner of the ranch, but also the boss. His responsible handling of the property had put the ranch through the tough and easy times with near equal success and his life seemed to be turning around. Then the nightmare came. Two years and three months after he'd left Japan, in the dead of winter, when the seas were cold, the lands white with snow in the Northeast and dead in the Southwest, the United States was attacked in what could easily be called one of the most aggressive invasions in history. Hitting America from three sides, the Atlantic, the Pacific, and from Mexico, China and its allies invaded the United States – and to a large extent, succeeded. Many people didn't even know what had hit before the attack was nearly a week old. The East and West coast of America had suddenly gone black with a lack of power. Next, the East coast, from New York to South Carolina was assaulted with a heavy attack of submarine launched Nerve Gas Missiles.
In the West, along California's coast, and well into Oregon, a mix of Chinese and Indian navies commenced their attack, landing many Arabic troops on shore. At the same time, a large force of Chinese and Mexican forces came up through Mexico and into Texas, Arizona, California, and New Mexico. The attack was so powerful, so potent, and so sudden, that within the month, before Christmas had even passed, only two pockets of resistance were left to fight the invasion – of these two pockets, the largest including parts of Montana, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Texas and Utah, and contained all of Wyoming. The smaller included small bits of Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri. These two pockets were all that was left, and as far as original territory went, only two complete States were left – Wyoming and Kentucky. Each day they seemed to grow smaller, though by Spring the war seemed to be at a stalemate. The Chinese had the numbers and the resources, but the Common Americans, now backed into a corner, were beginning to show grit that hadn't been seen in them since the Second World War. The borders were filled with constant American guerilla attacks.
Now, despite the overwhelming appearance of things, word had it that America was slowly but surely gaining territory in the West. However, the success could not be continued without man power, for the United States Military had suffered incredible losses in the first few weeks of fighting. The Army and Airforce were so low on man power, simple mechanics had to be to drafted from the civilian population to fill the ground crew and maintenance shortage. The National Guard was even suffering on the a shortage of soldiers. The branch that suffered the most, however, was the Marines. The US Marine Corps had been nearly wiped out completely, leaving their strong fighting force widdled down to a mere 2500 men. There was no escaping it, and the new president, Frank Wieder, knew that the Draft would need to be brought back. Thousands were already volunteering for the military as it was, but then others, with draft notices, were pouring in soon as well.
Chad was one of those draftees. He'd received the letter the twenty-third of December, 1999. It was bound to happen sometime, Chad was of the right age and was a strong young man, but still, everyone at the ranch was shocked. Perhaps the person to take it all the hardest wasn't even Chad, but his mother, Rebecca. The day he received the letter from the government facilities housing the President and the high commanders somewhere in Montana, Rebecca Kumada was the first to see it, the first to cry, and the last to stop crying. Ko and the other hands were distraught and worried for their boss. But they had others to worry about as well. Family friends had volunteered, been drafted or simply ran from the war. Then, two weeks after Chad's drafting, Dan too was drafted.
As for Chad, his mind was set on trying not to be afraid. Riding on a bus to the make shift boot camp near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Chad thought about so many different things to worry about he'd managed to get himself sick once or twice on the four our trip. He was worried about his family, his ranch and his friends, he worried that he wouldn't come out of this whole ordeal alive, and then he worried about Raye. He wondered if in this terrible happening if she would be safe in Japan. He knew his history, and history told him China would most certainly have bad blood with Japan from past wars, and that fact definitely worried Chad.
However, upon arrival at camp, his worries were stripped away by a sight that dropped his jaw open and widened his eyes. As the bus exited the highway and turned onto the dirt road that lead into the camp, Chad saw several huge being standing still, like giant statues, on the South side of the camp. They were humanoid giants, standing easily 50 feet tall, give or take a few. They all appeared to be the same type of what was obviously a machine, and they were built in a way that made them look lumbering and awkward. Squares and cylinders of different shapes, molding into each other seamlessly with bolts and joints made up the torso; great spheres, looking like giant Lego joint pieces made up the shoulders, and the arms, like the legs, were made up of more polygon shapes. The head was an oddly shaped, rounded cylinder that narrowed gradually from top to bottom, and the font, which could be the face, was simple yellow screen.
Chad had seen these things once before, at a Frontier Days air show in Cheyenne. He'd been fascinated by them and still was, apparently. They were called Mobile Suits, and these were MS-11's, code named Leo. They were also of British design, and a result of cooperation between the US and Britain in the 1980's. China also had Mobile suits, and so far they had proven to have several types. First was their CU-3 Zaku, a response to the MS-11. The Zaku, thus far, had proven to be a much more effective suit than the Leo, but it still wasn't the worst the Chinese nightmare had to offer. Next was the CU-17 Serpent, a terrible, legendary suit of massive power. It was slower than the Zaku, but its fire power made it the bane of any American pilot. The Zaku only carried a large caliber machine gun, which shoot a 45mm round. The Serpent's weapon was a giant Gatling gun, also 45mm, which was covered by a shield. The rapid fire and tenacity that seemed common among Serpent pilots was something be feared, and also something the old Leo was no match for.
Upon arrival, Chad was pushed and shoved out of the bus along with about twenty other men around his age, if not younger. Immediately Chad was greeted by a massive brute of a man, dawning army BDU's and a fowl mouth. Without even saying a word, Chad had somehow managed to earn a full out verbal assault by this monster. His name was Sergeant Gromer, and that was all they needed to know at the moment, aside from his proud statement that he was in the Marines for twenty-five years. That boasting earned a quick snap by one of the recruits.
"So if you're such a proud Marine, sir," the young man belted out, "Why aren't you out there fighting instead of yelling at us?"
Every eye was on the man who said it. He was a mid-height man with short, brown hair and thin wire rimmed glasses.
Sergeant Gromer's face was red in a half second flat, and with the color came the look of Satan himself within the eyes of a human being. He marched over to the young man and smirked, "And who might you be?"
"Melvin Renaude, sir, reporting for duty," the young man stated proudly, "Just came all the way from Japan this winter to volunteer!"
"I could care less where you came from, buddy boy. But I am shocked and appalled that you have a name. The last I knew, they didn't give horseshit a name. We just called it horseshit and left it on the ground." Gromer belted.
"And last I knew, Sergeant," another man spoke up, "People didn't waist breath yelling at horse crap either."
The man that spoke was Chad, and through his shaggy hair he was glaring at the sergeant with a cold stare. Gromer took note of it immediately and within moments he was out of Melvin's face and into Chad's.
"Well, you're in boot camp now, boy," Gromer screamed, "And here, it's my job to yell at horseshit, bullshit, dogshit, lizardshit and whatever other kind of shit the army decides to pick up. And so far it looks like I got myself one massive pile! Speaking of different kinds of shit, congratulations, you just got yourselves some new names. I could care less what your name is. The name your mother gave you is now null and void, and you are now officially dogshit. And you," Gromer looked to Melvin, "You are gonna be my little horseshit. And I think I'm going to have a lot of fun shovelin' this pile of lazy-ass trash into shape!"
When a drill sergeant tells someone he's going to whip that particular person into shape, it would be a wise decision on anyone's part to believe the sergeant and disregard whatever it is the other person is thinking. Sergeant Gromer's promise was no exception by any means, and that went double for Chad Kumada and Melvin Renaude. From day one both of them were primary targets for Gromer's abuse, which included everything from the simple push-up, to the degrading insults to, to the miles of marching alone in the frigid Wyoming winter.
By now two weeks had passed since the beginning of military training for Mel, Chad and the rest of their squad; and by now both Chad and Mel were beginning to stick out like a pair of sore thumbs. That is not to say they did not beforehand, but now they stuck out in a different way. It was a way that surprised most, and really surprised the pair of men themselves – they were becoming stronger, one could say braver, even. They were growing into roles they never thought they would have before. They had been torn down in the first week from human beings to worthless pieces of trash. Trash is what they felt like, emotionally and physically. Yet this was the way for things to play, it was, and still is, the way a soldier is made. The squad was dismantled from the bottom up then rebuilt as soldiers. Gromer's efforts were showing their pay off by now as the men started to work not as individuals in competition to impress, but as soldiers who relied on one another for victory. Two trainees, however, began to show promise for more than the role of simple grunts. Two men already, if they kept their performance up, had promotions waiting for them at the end of camp. Chad and Mel were growing into leaders.
On this particular day, a sunny, blue-skied winter day, the obstacle course was being run. The men had to run two at a time through a series of obstacles designed to promote agility, strength and even mental toughness. With snow all about them, a frigid wind blowing against their bare faces, and particles of ice punching invisible needles into their skin, the men began their run pair after pair. Chad was in the lead with his partner, Mark Gallo, a young Italian man from the sticks of southern Illinois. Mel was right behind him with Josh Howard, a blonde, stocky Missourian. Behind the two pairs was the rest of the line of about forty men, all hoping to get the whole ordeal over with in the correct amount of time. If the time limit wasn't met, the entire squad had to run the course over again.
Ducking, leaping, crawling, climbing, and running, Chad burst through the course with speed gained by his experience of the course three times before. He was soon at a line of tires, which he and Gallo both ran with minor difficulty. Then they met the barbwire covered ditch, an indent in the ground that the two needed to hit the dirt and crawl through. Here Chad inadvertently got ahead of his partner by diving into the snow blanketed ditch head first, barely passing between the first boundary of wire and the ground. Gallo got on his belly and crawled through as fast as he could, unable to catch up with his buddy. All the while Chad was yelling back at him, screaming encouragement and urging him to continue.
"C'mon, Marko!" he called, "Move it!"
"I'm moving! But your diving into this stuff didn't help the situation!" Mark returned.
Chad got up and out of the wire laden ditch, "Shut up and move! Let's go!"
The leader of the two then headed for the Wall, a log wall ten feet high which employed thick rope to scale. Chad leapt and grabbed the rope, slamming his boots to the wood and advancing upwards and over the wall. He waited a few moments, catching his breath but also allowing Mark to grab the rope. One his friend did so, Chad grabbed the rope and pulled. Two weeks ago it may not have done too much. But his arms had grown at an incredible rate, as had the rest of his body. His increase in brute strength was amazing, able to be seen in his everyday appearance, let alone his actions. He tugged at the rope and held on, giving Mark the boost he needed to catch up without a serious delay of time.
Simultaneously both jumped down and sprinted for the finish line, coming in more than three minutes under par time. Chad looked back to see Mel and Josh join them. He waited longer, not seeing anyone else come over the wall for a while. This two others came, and finally another pair leapt over. It was taking too long, and Chad knew it.
Taking the initiative, Chad hopped u once and sprinted back to the starting line. There was room for a third person to go through, and he'd do the course again for his team if that was what it took to over come this trial after so many tries before. He burst back into the pack, passing pairs as he did, but also turning and barking at them to continue, to hurry, and to never stop.
"C'mon guys! Get used to the cold, we'll be fighting in it soon enough. But you gotta get to the fight first, and that means getting through this stupid course, now move!" And so he continued, rallying every pair he passed, helping those that fell to their feet, nudging those that slowed and inspiring those who were not trying hard. Soon however, Chad got his own encouragement as he began to hear someone yelling behind him. As he came to the barbed wire ditch a second time he turned to see what was causing the ruckus. There, several pairs behind him, was Mel Renaude, doing the same thing as Chad but in his own way. Mel had also improved on his physical abilities. While Chad was bulkier and taller, Mel had toned out and bulked up some as well, turning into one of the men of the squad in the best shape – he too was passing the pairs with ease.
By the time the men had all gone through, about thirty seconds under the limit of time, Mel and Chad had run the course a total of three times, and they had purposely lagged behind together to push on the stragglers of the squad. Both of them came through the finish line in dead last, panting and heaving loud breaths. Their lungs hurt, their cheeks were bright red and they couldn't feel most of the appendages on their bodies.
"Well, I gotta say I'm a little surprised at the fact any of you made it past that course in the first place – but under par time, every single one of you did alright for once," Gromer barked into the group of panting men, checking his watch, "Everyone go get yourselves a hot shower. Everyone, that is, but Dogshit and Horseshit. You two get to spend some time with me."
Everyone looked at Chad and Mel with a sorrowful face but soon made their way for the barracks in a slow, synchronized walk. The two commanded to remain, however, could only slump and continue to take hearty, painful breaths. Gromer advanced onto them and stood over them with his usual cocky, straight-backed stance.
"You two are still the sorriest pieces of trash I ever did see. You two managed to do something as stupid and insubordinate as taking the course three times without orders to do otherwise. And will you idiots stand at attention when I'm talking to you?" the sergeant growled.
Chad and Mel, swallowing a breath each, stood at rigid attention, straightening out their legs and setting their arms at their sides. They tried hard not to ruin their stances by breathing hard, and their pulses soared as the lack of recovering breaths and the ice cold air tormented their bodies.
"But I must say, boys," Gromer's tone softened, "It was also an exemplary deed of leadership and effort to work as a team. Congratulations Kumada, and Renaude, Week Two is now over, and you two just got your names back."
