Sy and 628 were waiting with trays at their lunch table. The older four boys set their lunches down and claimed their seats. Jim settled in next to Sy. Braxton was between Varian and 628. Matt took Sy's other side. Sy was in the middle of drawing his usual condiment star on his sandwich bread.

Jim lightly touched Sy's shoulder on his uninjured side. His jacket looked as though it had been rinsed out, but faint blood stains were still visible on the white fabric. "Are you alright?"

Sy blushed and nodded. "Just fine. I got permission to go clean my jacket and everything was alright after that."

"I heard you had to go to med bay," Jim pressed. "You're sure everything is alright?"

Sy looked Jim in the eye. He flicked his eyes towards 628 and back again as he answered seriously, "I'm fine."

The small alien's ears and antennae were pressed against his scalp tightly. His face was coated in a blanket of guilt. He wasn't even eating his lunch. Braxton had an arm wrapped gently over him. The cyborg stroked the small alien's head lightly as he spoke with 628 in a quiet voice.

Jim wisely let the subject drop. "I don't know how your morning went guys, but blaster class was a lot of fun today!"

Sy latched onto the subject quickly. "Oh yes! We had fun in sword class too! We were doing some sparring drills, and then we had group elimination matches. 628 did fantastic! He was wielding two swords at the same time and held off at least four opponents at once."

Braxton ruffled his ears. "No kidding? You're cookie tough!" Jim looked to Matt for the translation.

Matt sighed affectionately. "One tough cookie."

"Maybe on your planet." Braxton nudged his smaller friend, finally drawing a small smile onto 628's face. "Tell him pal."

"I cookie tough."

"You said it!"

628 perked up again, his ears standing tall and proud once more. "Sword class was good! Mister Cat said I do well, I fight natural!" He puffed up more and pressed both right fists against his chest. "I kill natural!"

Sy giggled. "He said you fight naturally. As in it comes easily to you. Not that you need to fight a "natural"."

Braxton put his hand up to shush Sy. "No, no, I like his way better. I'll help you kill naturals, little buddy. We'll slaughter every single one we come across." 628 nuzzled him happily. His spirit renewed he turned and dove into his meal with vigor. The other five boys followed his lead.

"Excuse me," A deep voice interrupted their meal. A cragorian stood at the end of their table. His white uniform indicated his rank as a cadet. "I have the sign up sheets for the first round of mission volunteers. Is anyone here interested? You can put your name down for one mission."

"I am," Jim replied as he reached for the clipboard. "Thank you. How about you guys?"

"I'm in," Braxton answered brightly. "I think we all might be."

"Not me," Varian shook his head and focused on his meal. "I have too much to do with my free time to spend it on someone else. Sorry." He sighed. "Like preventing another robot uprising."

Sy smiled over at him. "You don't need to be sorry, Varian, your free time is just that. Yours. You should focus on what matters to you."

"Hey Sy, you know the admiral's grandson, right?" Jim stopped on a page with two spaces left. "Want to join his mission with me?" Sy bit his lip. Jim grinned. "It's always easier with a leader you trust." He signed his name on one of the last two slots and slid the papers to Sy. The younger boy hesitated only a moment more before putting his name down in the last position. He passed the clipboard to Matt so he could look it over next.

Matt flicked through the papers for a moment. "Ah, here's one with enough room for all of us." He jolted down his name and slid it over to Braxton. "You sure you don't want in, Varian? You could be with us three."

Varian nodded. "Thanks though." Once Braxton and 628 had signed up, Varian accepted the board and passed it back to the young man without putting down his name.

"Thank you, guys," The rock skinned man shot them one last smile before wandering off to the next table.

Braxton ruffled 628's ears. "You're going to do fantastic in a field test. It's so much better than school! Last year, my first mission, I was assigned to the opposition team. We were infiltrating a fancy party and had to assassinate the "king". You have any idea how much fun it is to not follow any of the rules we were taught? To just be a...a villain? A pirate?"

Jim smiled faintly. "Yeah."

Braxton laughed. "What would you know? You were on the guard team, Jim, remember?"

Jim shook his head. "Of course. I just remember how much fun you had. Even when I took you down, you loved it." He laughed. "You called me an oil scented acid rat!"

"And you called me a rapscallion. Who even uses that word any more?" Braxton countered with a scoff.

"Well clearly I do. I thought your skills of deduction were stronger than that, Braxy. You're starting to slip a little. Maybe I should recommend you stay back a year?"

"Oh, please do!" Braxton perked up at the offer. "Sounds like the first years have a class leader I could actually stomach!"

Sy looked up from his meal. "What's wrong with yours?"

"Have you met Gray?" Braxton asked incredulously. "I don't think you'd have any questions if you spent more than a few moments with him."

"I have," Sy answered hesitantly. "When I transferred here, he was the one to collect me from the transportation ship. He was," there was an almost imperceivable pause, "pleasant. Perhaps a little forced, but I attributed it to the late hour and, you know…' He trailed off with a small shrug.

Braxton laughed. "Oh that's rich. I knew you were naïve, Sy, but I didn't think it was that bad!" Sy tensed at the words.

"I told you to be nicer to him, Braxton," Jim reminded him hotly.

"Oh lay off it, Jim, you gotta admit I'm right. When has Gray been anything less than miserable to us?"

Jim hesitated a moment before he sighed. "I'm sure there was a reason he was being polite. Sy knows what's what."

Matt slid his empty tray towards the younger boy. "Well let's hope he remembers what's a trash can, because it's his turn to take trash!"

Sy laughed brightly. He slid Matt's tray under his own as he answered, "I assure you, I at least know that much. Who else is done? You can stack trash on mine. Who's got glasses and such today?"

"Me!" 628 bounced up to stand on his seat. "Glasses are mine!"

AN: Alright! We are officially all caught up! Ideally I'll be posting once a week from now until I run out of back log. I've got another 50k or so words written at this point, so hopefully I'll finish writing it before I catch up with myself! Love you all, see you next week!