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TOM CHEERED UP a bit when he arrived in the mess hall, because there wasat a table He was still a plebe, since he hadn’t been promoted with the three of them They mostly avoided talk about Middle Company so they wouldn’t rub it in toovacation than they had, anyway He’d signed up for a relaxing wilderness survival excursion, led by a fors and climbed mountains and fended off wild animals

"It is res there are to sustain you in the wilderness!"

"How many did you eat?" Tom wondered

"Five different insects," Yuri answered proudly

"Ew," Wyatt said, rubbing the spot on her head where he’d kissed her in greeting

"Yeah, don’t elaborate," Vik urged his you ate like beetles orVik Vik had the weakest stoht on to what To wounds that start like rice and sprout into full-blown intestinal parasites?"

Vik shook his head "This won’t work, guys I know you’re juststuff up"

"No, the insects I consumed bore no rese of those parasites that grow in rice They have very gooey, putrid innards, and they are slightly off-white, like the contents of Vikraht now"

Vik finally tossed down his fork "I’m done with lunch because I’ because of you three You have not won this"

Tom, Wyatt, and Yuri cackled, because they didn’t believe hiroup, led by blond-haired, round-faced Combatant Snowden Gainey Tom pulled up his profile from memory

NAME: Snowden Gainey

RANK: USIF, Grade VI, Camelot Company, Napoleon Division

CALL SIGN: NewGuy

ORIGIN: North Westchester, Connecticut

ACHIEVEMENTS: Junior world squash champion, member of the Future Financial Innovators of America Society

IP: 2053:db7:lj71::224:ll3:6e8

SECURITY STATUS: Top Secret LANDLOCK-6

Within minutes, Tom realized that Snowden had a totally different leadership style than his previous siroup leader, Elliot Rae of one of the cots, visibly a part of the group, yet he’d also greeted them as they came in, which re out in the back corner, dread gli over his pale features as the nurew and grew Only once everyone was there did he finally perch himself on a cot

"Well, as you newbies have probably heard," Snowden ventured es as a Middle involves scenarios si siroups of Middles, and we rotate every week Today we’re fighting Yosef Saide’s group So, do you guys want to start?" It was posed like a question, like he needed their permission