"In line, boys, let's move." The woman at the front of the class crossed her arms as she watched the collection of youth form hasty ranks. Her pointed ears stood upright at attention and her tail swished slowly back and forth behind her. Though most of the young men were not fond of Sargent Wilskin, Jim quite liked her. She reminded him a lot of Captain Ameila, and not just because they were the same species.

Sargent Wilskin crossed to stand before her ranks of young cadets. "Obstacle course, boys. We'll head outside in a minute. You'll be on teams of two. Rules are simple. First team to get to the end will be the winner. Winners get to take off the next time I have you." The toothy grin that followed promised there was nothing pleasant in store for those who lost. "I will be kind and let you pick your partners."

"Dibs on Braxton!" Someone shouted from the back.

Without looking Braxton yelled back, "Dibs on not you!"

Jim snickered and nodded to Matt. "Why don't you take Brax this time, I'll go find Varian."

"However." Sargent Wilskin's voice cut through the eager discussion going on before her. "You will not be picking from your classmates." As if on cue, the large doors at the end of the hall opened up and rows of new recruits marched in to stand by the side. "You boys have been here a year. I want you to impress me. Our new little babies have never done one of my courses before, so it will be your task to make sure they get through unscathed. Good luck."

Braxton was the first one to make a choice. "I want the little one!" he declared eagerly. "C'mere six limbs!"

A small green and yellow creature looked up from among the ranks. "Me?" He asked, pointing at himself with one of his four arms. His large bat-like ears perked forward in excitement and his antena stood straight up.

"Yeah you. C'mere. You look small enough to carry."

"That's not fair!" Matt shoved his friend with a sulk. "You're cheating."

Braxton shrugged and sat down. "She said get them through, I can do that with him. Never said how I had to do it." He began extending his legs. The little alien scampered up his body, clinging to his back like it was a tree.

All around the group the second year cadets rushed to find a first year that they would pair well with. Jim hung back near Braxton. He'd never much liked diving head first into mass chaos. Trouble was fine with him, but he didn't do swarming crowds.

Not unexpectedly Sargent Wilskin did not fail to notice. "Let's move, Hawkins." By her side stood a huge muscle bound man that could only be the first years' instructor.

"Sorry Sargent." Jim sighed heavily and trudged towards the leftover cadets. About half his class had selected their partners and were breaking into pairs over near the door they'd exit through. Varian walked past talking to a taller boy with tan skin and black hair. A jittery brunette was following one of the Hamzak twins towards the door.

Jim's eyes scanned over the various young men (or those that identified with a more male gender depending upon their individual species) in their sharp white uniforms. Finally he settled on a young human. Had it not been for their uniforms, Jim suspected the boy would be the palest thing in the room. Conversely, the only thing Jim could locate that was darker than the boy's hair was Matt's skin.

"C'mon new kid," Jim gave him a lopsided grin. "You can be with me."

"Yes sir."

Jim raised an eyebrow. He certainly wasn't a sir yet, though he supposed his first year, he'd addressed everyone by sir or ma'am as well. "Just Jim is fine." He shrugged and offered his hand. "Jim Hawkins, you?"

The youth smiled as they clasp hands. "D'nahsy Syleven. You can call me Sy."

Jim jerked his chin towards the exit. "My friends are over that way. I'll introduce you while the rest of these lunks partner up."

Sy nodded once. Jim turned and wove his way past the other partnerships. Braxton, now towering over most of the other cadets, waved eagerly when he spotted Jim coming his way. Though Jim had known Braxton since his first week here, he'd only seen his friend's legs fully extended two or three times. Braxton wasn't shy about being a cyborg by any means, but he did not often have the opportunity to utilize his upgrades in this way.

"Guys, this is Sy." Sy raised a hand in greeting as Jim continued the introductions. "The cheating giant is Braxton Rudforest. This here is Matthew von Mars. Call him Matt."

"It's good to meet you," Sy replied softly.

Matt wrapped his arm over his aloof companion's shoulders. The boy's orange hair was a shocking difference to his blue skin. "This," Matt stated for him, "is Asterism Galaxy. Cool name, right?"

Asterism wrinkled his nose and pulled sharply out of Matt's grasp. "Kindly keep your hands to yourself. I may have to be around your sort, but I will not touch you."

The four armed creature hanging off Braxton waved. "Hi!" He perked his ears forward in a friendly manner. "My name experiment 628."

"Doors opening in ten!" Sargent Wilskin's voice carried across the room.

Braxton winked at his friends. "I'll see you later boys. 628 and I have this in the bag."

"Only because you cheat," Matt grumbled irritably. "Don't know why I'm bothering to compete, except I want to rub it in Jim's face when we beat him."

Jim laughed. "Like you could."

"Go!"

The doors slid open.