The Return to Liten (Game Over)

[Thor665]

You guys do all realize the case on me is a bollocks joke and you're all just lazily sliding onto it, yes?

camn, you're more than likely town, but I did do a reasonable summation of your case on me showing it was incidental silliness and all you could do was go 'oooh, he's being snarky'. That's terrible, the case is weak and you're choosing to put blinders on. Town needs less laziness in that regard as it allows scum to be lazy and go for stuff.

Unvote: MoI
Vote: Chess

Let's at least get an alternate wagon into play here. I want to see people lynch me because they *believe in the case on me* so if they want to keep their votes there I want them to restate and/or endorse the case as presented by camn.
Or we could lynch Chess who pretty much everyone but me or MoI has also said is crazy scummy, which people aren't even willing to say about me because we're lynching me...for...things?

[Furry]

Still like chess lynch over thor lynch

[chesskid3]

Thor putting a vote on someone he thinks is town.
scumclaim.

[chesskid3]

town mentality: ohsnap i'm going to get misslynched. best give my reads, vote for my topscumread,hope for the best.

Not woo lets lynch a townread of mine so i can get misslynched tomorrow instead.

[Thor665]

Your actions today have not helped my town read on you. If you are town - you suck at it
Lynchng me (I know I'm town) or you (I suspect you are town) it should be quite obvious which I believe has a higher percentage of lynching scum. I'd still rather lynch MoI but I don't see that wish being granted.

[chesskid3]

but once i'm lynched
and i flip town
guess who gets lynched tomorrow
and all you accomplished was you lynched a townread

[Thor665]

And the alternate is I allow a confirmed town to be lynched?
That makes less sense.

[chesskid3]

whether it's today or tomorrow
you're getting lynched

[SaintKerrigan]

The deadline is still tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. CST, but I may not be around at the time, depending on circumstances (I will still get flips tomorrow, it just might not be at the time of the deadline). Whether I'm on then or not, no votes will be counted after 2 pm tomorrow.

[camn]

Actually, Thor, you did nothing to effect my case. I totally see the timeline of the HH lynch as I laid it out. Your so-called arguments addressed it not at all.

I get a townread from Fuzzy.. which leaves chess or you as scum. Maybe both.
Chess is willing to go along with you under the assumption that he is next if you flip town. I am also ok with that.

Could someone else be scum? Sure. Maybe. Who Knows. But you will nag in my mind until I see your flip. So I intend to see it. THEN I move my suspicions on to someone else.

[Thor665]

And yet the entirety of that last post flipping my name with chess' is functionally leaving it identical - making the case one of blinders, especially when your town read Fuzzy would rather lynch Chess than Thor. Who's the town read you have who is voting for me?

[camn]

I agree. Either lynch would be fine with me...but where were you back when I was working on a chess-lynch?
Lets see... it was.. page 49-51.

Well.. at the top of 49 you were DEFENDING chess, and attacking me... while discussing setup.
Page 50...shooting down my chess case some MORE, and discussing setup...
Oh! Post 1243.. you could have actually HAMMERED chesskid... but you fool around discussing MoI's claim?

then you are VLA until we run you up.

You seem to have changed your tune on chess now.
I still support his lynch. Get another vote and I will hammer in the AM. But I don't have internets during the day... so it has to be tonight.

[chesskid3]

dude
I will open tomorrow with a self vote if thor is town

[Thor665]

Well.. at the top of 49 you were DEFENDING chess, and attacking me... while discussing setup.

Yes. That's called scumhunting.

Page 50...shooting down my chess case some MORE, and discussing setup...

You keep saying setup like it's a bad word. I disagree - setup spec is useful.

Oh! Post 1243.. you could have actually HAMMERED chesskid... but you fool around discussing MoI's claim?

Almost as though I am working over my issues and desires to lynch MoI, yes, what an opportunistic scum move of me.

then you are VLA until we run you up.

That's a cheap shot - it was declared V/LA because i was sick and catching up at work and it was site wide. Low blow and doesn't prove jack.

You seem to have changed your tune on chess now.
I still support his lynch. Get another vote and I will hammer in the AM. But I don't have internets during the day... so it has to be tonight.

Leave the blinders on - just do me a favor and actually apply some more brain power tomorrow before going 'lol, insta lynch chess next, ftw!'

[Furry]

Im still stuck on scumteam numbers things. I just CANT see chess scum unless there are multiple scum alive given his attitude, but no one works as his partner at this point. Not many people even work with eachother for the most part. Feel like im just missing something.

While I really dont like the Thor lynch, its looking like the only way a lynch can really happen.

unvote
Vote Thor

[chesskid3]

hmmm my reputation is on the line here

[Cogito Ergo Sum]

No offense, but you don't have a reputation.

P.S. Furry, if you're really conflicted, try re-reading your role PM.

[Thor665]

And that's lynch.

That's just depressing. Lynched on confirmation bias and that really sorry case camn cobbled together. I guess I'll apologize to town for not being smart enough to not defend two scum back to back which is where the confirmation bias started - though I, quite frankly think brains should have been engaged as to why I would do that as scum. WIFOM aside, that would be terrible scum play.

MoI needs some more consideration after just lurking out of the conversation today.
Chess needs more consideration then the confirmation bias on him.
Camn needs blinders off

And probably, sadly, all my advice should be ignored because my reads were pretty spotty all game today. I'm mostly just grumping at this point anyway. Good luck town, and to hell with ya Arkons, I'm off to join my transgender wife and kids in the afterlife.

[MagnaofIllusion]

Well crap … I’ve had completely sporadic internet access this last few days.

I very much dislike how Almaster pitched what is essentially a MD argument instead of addressing my points.

I think AGM is the best lynch for today based on his behavior but would certainly have chosen a Chesskid lynch over Thor since I will maintain that his end of Day 1 position makes no sense as scum (despite what I consider fairly lackluster play, no offense Thor). If he does flip scum then that theory does get blown out of the water.
Everything below this is only useful if the game isn’t over. If the game is over than I was wrong about my theories anyway further demonstrating that isn’t going to be harmful.

--

This is really all I feel the need to respond to, because it shows that you have a fundamentally flawed approach to catching scum in this game.

No, it is not fundamentally flawed. You disagree with it because I’m pointing you out as scum. That you once again chose to attempt to minimize what I see as scum motivated play with phrases like “weak tells” and the like as opposed to actually responding I find scumtastic.

Your I flip scum argument is are problematic because they pick-and-choose based on YOUR concept of how scum should play and not the meta of how I ACTUALLY play as scum. I've been mafia three times, and I bussed hardcore every single time. If I was scum in this game, I would have been continuing that thread by out-of-the-blue bussing SO. Your suggestion that we then look at "the people I ignored" despite alllll the evidence pointing the other way shows that you have zero grasp on what is actually going on and want to apply a generic "one size fits all" lens to every scumhunting situation.

I disagree completely. Your argument here, involving self-meta, is ludicrous. You are trying to argue that you ‘automatically’ act the same way as scum always. I don’t believe you are that poor of a Mafia player that you would have such an obviously easily identifiable Meta. Your impression that human nature, in the context of an online Mafia game, is very difficult to change is incorrect.

We don't need cases. Cases at this point in the game are bad. What we need is big-picture process of elimination.

Yeah, because stating reasoning (via cases) why you are slotting people in the lynch pool for ‘big-picture PoE’ is horrible.

--

P.S. Furry, if you're really conflicted, try re-reading your role PM.

Are you still going with the theory that Furry is scum? Don’t you think letting you live so long as presumed Town thanks to your claim makes no sense for him as scum?

[Cogito Ergo Sum]

Are you still going with the theory that Furry is scum? Don’t you think letting you live so long as presumed Town thanks to your claim makes no sense for him as scum?

The only kill since my claim was on the vigilante.

[MagnaofIllusion]

Are you still going with the theory that Furry is scum? Don’t you think letting you live so long as presumed Town thanks to your claim makes no sense for him as scum?

The only kill since my claim was on the vigilante.

That's correct. You have, however, been calling him scum for a period longer than that. Do you think he would have leave you alive so long doing so?

[SaintKerrigan]

Final Vote Count Day 5

(4) Thor665: chesskid3, camn, AlmasterGM, Furry

(1) AlmasterGM: MagnaofIllusion
(1) chesskid3: Thor665
(1) Furry: Cogito Ergo Sum

Not Voting: none

With seven players alive, it takes four votes to lynch.
The deadline is on

Monday, January 10th, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. CST.

(Note the time change to several hours later than the previous deadline.)

- A lynch majority has been achieved! -

Unknown trench, Kehvit Mountain Range
Non-colonized Sector 1, UTP Planet Liten, Tynnfred System
December 5th, 2486 SC (Day 5, Month 15 LC)
0416 hours SST (0338 hours LLT3)

Sara looked behind her as she tramped over the hardened snow. The wreckage of the

Silver Ducky

had vanished from sight almost an hour ago, but still she looked for it.

Force of habit, I guess.

Thus far, there were no signs of Arkons in the area. Except, of course, for the one that had mauled Jezzy earlier. That bastard was probably masquerading as one of her people even now. Hell, how was she to know that there was only

one

Arkon in her unit...

They still don't know what Jezzy did...

All Sara had told them was that Jezzy had been killed by an Arkon. They didn't need to know the truth. They

shouldn't

know the truth, or their morale, already hanging by mere threads, would surely be rent asunder--

Stop being melodramatic. Just get them the hell off of Liten. Speaking of which...

Sara stopped and turned to face the others. "All right, we're far enough away. Bill, get the comm set up and hail the

Deborah

. The rest of you drop your equipment here and form a perimeter around this location. Move it!"

Chuck, still holding Furry in his arms, strode up to Sara as the other Meggidos strode off a short distance. "You want me on perimter, or do you want me to stay with Furry?" He asked.

"And what about me?" Joshua inquired, standing nearby. "I don't feel adept enough to--"

"Then you stay and tend Furry," Sara cut in. "Chuck, set Furry down and join the perimeter."

"Yes, Sara," Chuck replied. Gently he laid Furry down on the ground, the blanket he'd held underneath her serving as a shield from the frigid surface. He and Furry shared a long stare, and then he strode off to join the perimeter. Meanwhile, Sara knelt beside Furry.

"How you holding up?" she asked.

"I'll live," Furry grunted. "Nothing that can't be fixed shipboard--unless your

Deborah

's a complete junk of a ship."

Sara smiled. "Don't worry. It's as state-of-the-art as Spacefleet ships can get."

"I wonder...what will the commodore do with Joshua and I once we reach the ship? We

were

rebels, after all."

"Well, Commodore Kerry is a fair man, from what I've heard. You did plenty to help the UTP acquire that godforsaken IED, so I'm pretty sure he'll be lenient with you and Dr. Gordon."

"Sara!" Bill hollered. "Something's wrong!"

God dammit, why couldn't he just have come over and told me? Morale is tenuous enough as it is.

Sara gave Furry a quick look and a gentle pat, then stood and strode over to where Bill had set up the communications equipment. "What's wrong, Bill?"

"I've got the equipment fired up, but the stealth modules are malfunctioning."

"Malfunctioning? What does that mean?"

"It means they're shot to hell and not working, that's what!" Bill spat. "If we contact the

Deborah

, the Arkons will be able to trace us easily!"

Fucking shit, yet another problem.

"Just relax, Bill. How long will it take to fix things up?"

"You don't understand. Whatever happened, it fried the modules beyond any repair I can make here." He shook his head slowly. "We're fucked. There's nothing else to it. We're totally, and utterly, fucked."

"The hell we are. Hail the

Deborah

."

"Goddammit, weren't you listening? I said--"

"I know what you said," Sara said, slowly, firmly. "I also know we didn't land on this godforsaken rock, sacrifice more than half our team to steal an artifact the Arkons direly want, and come this close to getting away with it just to pussy up and pitch our controllers on the final boss. If we don't at least

try

, all our efforts will have been for shit, and I'm not gonna let that happen. Is that clear, Bill?"

Bill gulped. "Yes, Sara. I-- I don't know what I was thinking."

Sara put a hand on Bill's shoulder. "Then hail the

Deborah

. Let me know when you've got 'em."

Bill nodded and began fiddling with his controls. Sara lowered her tacvisor and looked at the nearby wall of stone and snow. Not far off down the right side of the wall, she espied multiple openings in the otherwise impassive surface.

Cave entrances...if we can hole up in there, we can sit tight until the

Deborah

sends a shuttle. Much better than waiting out in the open, at any rate--

"Got 'em!" Bill whooped. "I've got 'em, Sara, I've got 'em!"

Yes!

Sara turned and looked down at him, grinning. "Excellent work, Bill!"

"I've linked your wristcom to the transmitter, so you won't have to remove your facemask and use the headset," he explained. "Better talk fast, though. The shorter the transmission, the longer it'll take the Arkons to find us--hopefully."

"Understood. What's the channel?"

"Alpha-3-5."

Sara nodded and, holding her wristcom under her lips, she vocally changed the channel to the one Bill stated. "Here goes...Wristcom, open communication." She paused momentarily. "Captain Sara Gaints, reporting."

"Captain Gaints..." Commodore Kerry's voice was slightly fuzzy; probably an effect of the weakened, but not eradicated, jamming field. "Where's Major Sedarski, over?"

Her screams...

"Killed in action, I'm sorry to report. I'm acting commander for the duration of this operation, over."

"Noted. Not that I meant to be ungrateful that you aren't-- I mean, that you still-- What's the status of the mission, Captain Gaints? Over."

"We have the IED, sir. However, we've lost...um..." Sara quickly counted in her head. "We've lost seventy-five percent of our team, and the rest of us aren't in great shape. Of the colonists we rendezvoused with, only two still live. Also...I have reason to believe that at least one, if not more, of our survivors is an Arkon, over."

"An Arkon...are you certain, over?"

"Yes, sir. Respectfully, I request to delay further explanation until we're shipboard, over."

"Granted, your operative already informed us that you are unable to transmit in stealth. We'll have a Psychic Operative waiting for you when you get back. According to the data your transmitter is feeding us, you're up in the Kehvit mountains. Is this...accurate, over?"

"Yes, sir. Another long story that needs to wait, over."

"Acknowledged. Our shuttles aren't stealth-equipped, so we'll have to drop the

Deborah

into low orbit over your position to give the shuttle the best chance for success. Stay at your present location until the shuttle arrives to pick you up. ETA: two hours, space standard. Over."

"Two hours? Sir, there's a good chance the place'll be crawling with Arkons by then. Is there--"

"This is as fast as we dare operate, Captain. Any faster and we'll be detected by the massive Arkon fleet surrounding Liten. I'm sorry, but you'll just have to hold out, over."

"Understood, sir. Better tell your flyboys that we're at the bottom of a canyon so they'll know to look down there, over."

"Roger, wilco. One more question: we sent a team of our marines to take out an Arkon communications jammer, and although the jammer is obviously defunct, they haven't reported back as directed. You're in the same general vicinity they were sent to; would you happen to know the whereabouts of our team, over?"

Sara paused. "All K.I.A. as well. However, they were instrumental in aiding our own mission to destroy the jammer. They did not die in vain, over."

All true...technically.

Kerry sighed. "I'm sorry to hear the news, but at least their deaths weren't meaningless. Thank you, Captain. Hopefully, we can discuss things further once you and your sqaud arrive on the

Deborah

, over. But in case you're compromised...prepare to enact Emergency Protocol 136. We can't let those bastards have the IED, over."

Sara gulped. "Roger, sir. Will comply. Captain Gaints, over and out. Wristcom, cease transmission."

Sara lowered her hand and sighed.

EP-136...the mutually-assured failure protocol..."If you can't prevent the enemy from taking something, ensure he doesn't get the chance to take it, by any means necessary."

"Two hours?" Bill groaned. "How the hell are we supposed to--"

"Those caves." Sara gestured her right arm in the direction of the openings she'd seen earlier. "We'll hole up in there and hold that position as long as necessary."

"Or as long as we can."

"...as long as necessary. You trying to be Pal or something? Where's that excitement you used to have?"

He looked at his feet. "Times change."

"Hey, relax, it's going to be fine." Sara tried to enthuse her voice as much as she could. "Two more hours and we're home free. Pack up the comm equipment. I'm calling the others back."

"Yes...uh, yes, Sara."

Sara changed the wristcom back to the team channel and ordered her team back.

Come to think of it...I could've just used the wristcom to contact everyone after the crash. Why the hell didn't that occur to me?

Moments later, everyone was gathered around Sara.

"So...did you get the

Deborah

?" Kestrel inquired.

Sara nodded. "Yes, we've contacted the

Deborah

, and they are dispatching a shuttle to our location. ETA: two hours, space standard."

"Two

hours

?" Pal moaned. "That's bullshit, man, bullshit. We can't--"

"Oh, quit your bitchin' already, Pal," Dylan snapped. "It's not helping."

"Worse," Sara continued, "the stealth modules in the comm equipment were somehow destroyed--probably an aftereffect of the crash--and we were unable to transmit in stealth."

"Oh, so we just threw blood in the water,

and

the rescue boat's taking its sweet time gettin' here." Pal shook his head. "That's just fucked up--"

Chuck elbowed Pal in the ribs. "Seriously, Pal, just

shut

the

fuck

up!"

"The fuck do you--"

"Enough!" Sara barked. "It's not all bad. There's some caves just over there--" She pointed at the caves. "--that we can bunker up in. That way, we'll at least make it harder for them to find us."

Pal rolled his eyes. "Oh,

brilliant

idea. Let's go inside the small, dark caves so we can be buried alive by the first good explosion anywhere in the vicinity--"

"Actually, the rock predominantly found in the Kehvits is really dense," Joshua interjected. "Dense enough that you'd need a force greater than half that of your Nutcracker to do any significant damage to it. It

should

hold for quite awhile."

"Um, wait a minute," Bill objected. "How's a rock that dense possible in Liten's lighter gravitational force? You shouldn't be able to get something that dense on a relatively low-grav planet like this, or else gravity would be

much

stronger."

Joshua shrugged. "We were curious about that ourselves, but those Arkon buggers decided to invade right before we got around to sending a science team to this location. Perhaps Liten wasn't always a low-grav planet--"

"God

damn

!" Without warning, Pal's laser rifle was aimed at Joshua. "You motherfucking bastard!"

"Pal!" Sara screeched. "Lower your weapon, right--"

A beam of orange light pierced Joshua's heart. He doubled over and clutched at the hole through his torso. "But what-- is this-- I don't even--" He collapsed onto the crusted snow and tumbled onto his side.

"Jesus, Pal!" Sara dashed to Joshua's side and felt for a pulse; none was found.

What the fucking hell? Why does this have to happen

now

, of all times--

"You motherfucking bitch!" Furry hissed. At that moment, her face could've been used as the textbook definition of how seething anger looked. "What the fuck were you fucking

thinking

, fucking god--

sssss

ouch--goddammit!"

"I caught that motherfucker fucking with the comm equipment earlier," Pal explained tensely. "Later, we discover that the stealth mojos got fucked to hell. It don't take a math wizard to put two and two together."

"...

honestly

?" Furry screamed. "You didn't even bother to fucking

ask

, you fucktard asshole! There's no fucking way you meant that,

no fucking way

!"

Kestrel raised her own laser rifle. "Let's grease this trigger-happy motherfucker before he arbitrarily--"

"

No

!" Sara bellowed. "Kestrel lower your fucking weapon!

Now

!"

Begrudgingly Kestrel complied. "I think this is a mistake--"

"Shut up!" Sara's eyes were wide open, her movements exaggerated; a thousand thoughts ricocheted rapidly inside her mind. "Pal, look at Joshua!

Does that look like a fucking Arkon to you

?"

Pal glanced over at Joshua's corpse, still as human as human can be. "Um...well, it sure

seemed

damning-- I mean, the hell was he trying to fuck with the comm for anyhow--"

"Mother

fucker

!" Furry yelled. "Would someone

please

kill that--"

"Stop it!" Sara yelled. "None of us have slept well the past few days, and it's clouding our judgment! Yes, that was an asinine move by Pal--but that doesn't make him an Arkon! We aren't going to survive this mission if we just wantonly killing each other, so get your fucking act together!"

Sara turned and stared into Furry's fiery eyes. She attempted to force calmness into her voice. "Look, I know you hate Pal for what he did, but you can't let it consume you! The last thing we need is--" She stopped herself.

--another Jezebel. Dear Darwin, I almost let

that

bomb out.

"Look, we can sort things out later, but right now, we just need to get the hell off this planet. Can you at least put your feelings on hold until we're off Liten?"

Furry said nothing, simply glared at Sara. Sara stared right back, keeping her expression steeled and calm despite her mind being in the exact opposite state.

I can't afford to let the crazy out now--how will I get them back if the crazy gets out--damn it all!

Finally, Furry nodded, albeit very slowly. "All right...for

now

."

"Thank you." Sara turned to face the others once again. "Meggidos, grab the equipment. I'll get Joshua's stuff--"

"No." Furry's voice was soft and bitter. "Leave it. It's...fine..."

Sara went over to Joshua's pack and picked it up. It wasn't that heavy, but holding it with only one hand wasn't easy. After a bit of repositioning, she managed to lay the top portion of the pack on what was left of her left arm, while the right arm supported the bottom; her hand snaked up and held the front side, preventing it from sliding forward.

"I said it wasn't necessary," Furry reminded her, a distinctive edge to her voice.

"I know," Sara replied. She brought the pack over to Furry's side and gently set it down. "I just thought I'd let you take a memento."

Tears streamed from Furry's eyes, freezing on her face shortly afterwards. Pushing herself onto her seat, she took the pack from Sara and opened the main compartment. It wasn't long before she pulled out a two-dimensional photograph, and she promptly pushed the pack aside. "That's it..." she whispered. "I don't need anything else."

Sara had only seen a few twodee photos in her life. Although twodee photographs weren't unknown within the UTP, they were rarely used due to the stigma they bore as a "poor man's holophoto". Even on Pittsburgh, any family that wished to have at least some measure of respect saved up two years wages for a holocamera rather than buy a twodee camera at a thousandth of the cost. Thus, she found herself staring at the black back of the photograph in Furry's hand, despite knowing it was impolite.

Furry turned the photo in her hand and held it down, exposing the image to Sara's view. "Go ahead, you can look."

Sara knelt and gazed into the image. It was of a beige-skinned woman, her hair long, black, and spilling onto her shoulders in big, playful curls. Dark, emerald-green eyes stared passionately back at Sara; plump, crimson lips traced a warm smile on her face. The purple gown she wore hung gently on her shoulders, while her bare arms crossed themselves just below the ample swell of her breasts. A pink belt encircled her waist, with the bottom half cut off by the bottom of the photograph. A large tree trunk was immediately behind the woman, it's jagged, dashed bark in stark contrast to the woman's smooth appearance. Behind the tree was a small bit of boing grass-covered plain, placed in the lower third of the photograph; clear, bright, scarlet sky occupied the two remaining thirds.

It was truly beautiful.

Sara glanced up at Furry. "Was she his wife?"

Furry chortled. "That's not his wife, although she was a beauty, too. No, that's Joshua, before the sex change."

Sara gasped. "Seriously? She's Joshua?"

"Yep. We were very good friends back then, despite her being four years my senior. And god, she was so beautiful, even with the quirky personality."

"So why'd he--she--change sex?"

"Well...she never did say. Might've had something to do with the jokes made about her masculine name. Or maybe she got tired of guys trying to get in her pants every five seconds. I dunno, though, we drifted apart a bit after the change." She looked down at the photograph. "Those early years were some of the best years of my life. If only...if only one could change the past."

Sara nodded. "If only."

"Ah-ah-ahem."

Sara and Furry glanced up and saw Chuck standing above them. "We're all packed up and ready to go, if you girls are done socializing," he said.

Sara nodded and rose to her feet. "All right. Pick Furry up and let's head out."

* * *

Unknown cave, Kehvit Mountain Range
0422 hours SST (0400 hours LLT3)

As soon as they arrived at the outside of the nearest cave entrance, Sara ordered Dylan and Kestrel to scout the immediate interior; shortly afterward, they reported the designated area clear, and the others moved in. Sara retreated back near the IED's chest.

Okay, I guess I better do it now, before something else happens.

"Kestrel," she called, "bring the Nutcracker over here."

Kestrel looked puzzled, but she complied with the order, sitting it right next to the chest. "What're you doing, Sara?"

"Carrying out orders," Sara replied, stepping over to the Nutcracker and squatting beside it. "Kerry told me to prep EP-136. Hopefully this'll do the trick, if it needs to come down to that."

"Aw, fuck," Pal grumbled. "As if we--"

"Shut

up

, for fuck's sake," Bill hissed.

Silently everyone watched as Sara used her one hand to prep the Nutcracker for arming and set the timer to two hours. She then synched her wristcom to the bomb and turned on the remote detonation program.

"Remote detonation program activated," a synthesized bass voice said. "Please speak detonation phrase. Say 'start phrase' to begin phrase recording and 'end phrase' to cease phrase recording."

Sara took a deep breath. "Start phrase. December Ash. End phrase."

"Detonation phrase recorded. Please speak disarm phrase. Say 'start phrase' to begin phrase recording and 'end phrase' to cease phrase recording."

"Start phrase. Green hills of Pittsburgh. End phrase."

"Disarm phrase recorded. Do you wish to keep these phrases?"

"Yes."

"Phrases locked. Only the recorded phrases may detonate or disarm the Nutcracker Tactical Warhead now, and only the creator of the phrases may detonate or disarm the Nutcracker Tactical Warhead. Remote detonation program shutting down..."

Sara lowered her arm and stared at the "arm" button, flashing a bright red light underneath a clear plastiphane cap. She began to reach for the button, but her hand refused to move forward.

It

must

be done, dammit...

Forcing her hand forward, Sara flicked the cap up and fiercely jabbed the flashing red button. Immediately the button ceased flashing and became a solid red.

"Nutcracker Tactical Warhead, armed," the synthesized voice from earlier spoke. "Time until programmed detonation: one hour, fifty nine minutes, fifty-six seconds and counting. Remote detonation and disarming are only possible via their respective phrases."

Sara sighed. "It's done. Chuck, Dylan, you get first watch out by the cave entrance. Kestrel, Bill, you relieve them in two hours. If for some reason I'm not up by second watch, someone wake me. Everyone else, get some shuteye, and that's an order."

"Wait, so

Pal

gets full shuteye and the rest of us don't?" Kestrel complained. "That's not fair at all--"

"He's the most on edge, and thus most in need of rest," Sara said quietly. "You all have your orders, operatives. Carry them out."

Four reluctant ayes were afforded Sara, and Chuck and Dylan lumbered up to the cave entrance and set up positions behind conveniently-positioned boulders. Sara quickly looked over the others to make sure they were at least appearing to follow orders; then she spread a blanket out on the rock floor and lay down on it.

Less then ten Liten seconds later, she was fast asleep.

Thor665, Joshua Gordon,

Human Colonist

, was shot on a whim on Day 5.

Night 5 has begun. Deadline is on Thursday, January 13th, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. CST.

[SaintKerrigan]

Southwest Istor Forest
Colonized Sector 1, UTP Planet Liten, Tynnfred System
December 2nd, 2486 SC (Day 1, Month 15 LC)
1303 hours SST (1327 hours LLT1)

Sara leaned against a tree and sighed.

More than an hour--no, three hours--of searching, and no sign of colonists other than that damned arrow. Maybe it was just a coincidence after all...

Scout Jackson leaned on a tree nearby, just across from Sara. "You callin' it off, Sara?"

There's probably not much point left, but...

"Not just yet. It's not like we've got anywhere better to search, so we might as well keep trying this lead. Even if it just turns out to be a goose chase after all. But a short rest first."

Jackson nodded and took out a compressed-water canteen from his pack. After removing the canteen from its plastiphane shell, he pressed the small, green button near the opening. A second later the canteen had decompressed some of its water reservoir into the drinking chamber, occupying the upper third of the canteen. Unscrewing the cap from the opening, Jackson took a couple of quick swigs.

Sara thought about doing the same, but she'd had some water on the last breather they'd taken, almost five hours ago, and she didn't urgently need another drink just yet.

Besides, conserving the supplies is never a bad idea.

"So, I was curious," Jackson said. "It's not that often that rookies make seconds in the SOB Actually, it rarely happens. What's your story?"

"Well..." Sara stared vacantly at the leaves above Jackson's head. "I had to work for everything I've gotten, work ten times harder than everyone else just to prove I belonged, let alone be among the best. On Pittsburgh--my homeworld--I had to prove I had brawn as well as brain. When I signed up for Hellgate, I had to prove that a woman from Pittsburgh could be as good, if not better, than officer candidates from more prestigious worlds--"

"You weren't drafted?" The surprise in Jackson's voice was evident.

Sara shook her head. "No, I joined the army voluntarily. I graduated from Hellgate number one in my class

and

the first officer in thirty-nine years to graduate a lieutenant. I was originally scheduled to be deployed to Arcadia, one of the contested systems in the 6th Sector, but at that point was the point where the SOB got hold of me."

"Hmm. You joined as a lieutenant, yet you're now a captain. How'd you swing that?"

"Margaret had me promoted almost as soon as I joined you guys, and then she made me her second. I thought all the Meggidos knew that already."

"I did." Jackson dashed some more water down his throat. "I was asking

why

you think you got the promotion."

"Oh. Well, Margaret's told me that I have potential, and she saw it in me."

"Are you sure that's the only reason? The two of you are quite...friendly, after all."

Sara narrowed her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, I guess. I just find it intriguing that Jezzy, who has always refuted Margaret's advances on her, got passed on for second in favor of someone who is frequenting the major's bedroll. It makes one wonder..."

A slight wind whistled its way through the forest, stirring the leaves slightly. Sara stared down at them idly.

Could it be? Is Margaret just...no. No, Margaret's not that way. She's not that way at all--

"I've got movement."

Sara glanced at Jackson; his eyes were fixated on his portascanner. She pushed off from the tree and unslung her laser rifle. "Where?"

Jackson forward and to the left, then held up two fingers followed by a fist.

Northeast, twenty meters.

Cautiously Sara stepped behind a tree, rifle at her shoulder, eyes flicking to and fro, straining to find a target amidst the motley assortment of trees.

Is it one of the colonists? An Arkon? Some goddamned animal? Where is it, dammit?

Jackson, who had followed her behind the tree, tapped one finger on her thigh, followed by five taps.

Fifteen meters. It's coming closer...

A sudden movement ahead of her. Just a brief instance of maroon between the browns of two trees, but she'd seen it. She softly jabbed her elbow into Jackson's arm and held it there for a moment.

Contact.

Shortly after she took her elbow away, he tapped once on her thigh, followed by a slightly longer press.

Ten meters...

Once again the maroon appeared, and this time Sara was able to get a clear view of what it was: a Caucasian human male, blond-haired with streaks of white, sporting a solid maroon shirt and dark blue jeans, both covered lavishly with dark stains. Sara almost sighed in relief, but a thought froze her:

What if he's an Arkon? They are goddamn shapeshifters, after all.

Then again, how was she to tell whether he was an Arkon or not? That was one of the major reasons the Arkons were such a pain in the ass in the first place...

"Step out," she whispered to Jackson. "But have your rifle ready."

Jackson nodded. "Yes, sir."

He slung the portascanner on his left shoulder and, gripping his laser rifle, stepped away from the tree. Sara followed, holding her laser rifle at the hip, but still aimed in the man's general direction.

The man froze when he saw them, five meters away. He glanced first at Jackson, then at Sara, then back at Jackson. "My...my god! You came! You actually came!" Tears rolled freely down his cheeks. "Oh, Jesus, I can't believe-- we're all right, we're going to be fine!"

And just like that, he dashed up to Sara. Sara stiffened as he threw his arms around her and crushed her in his embrace, laser rifle and all. He clung to her, sobbing joyfully, and Sara allowed herself to relax.

If he was going to kill me, it would've happened already.

"I'm Captain Sara Gaints, second in command of this operation," she told the man. "I'm presuming you're one of the surviving colonists?"

He finally released her, dabbing his eyes with his hand. "Goodness, where are my manners? Basilika, Hans Basilika, but you can call me Hans! I am...er,

was

...a colonist of Liten. Until...until those Arkons bastards blew everything to

hell

!"

"Well, you'll be all right, now," Jackson said. "Do you know where we can--"

"Did anyone else survive?" Sara interjected. Jackson gave Sara a strange look, but she ignored him.

Don't start with the IED, it'll just make him ungrateful.

"Oh, yes!" Hans laughed. "Hundreds of us, actually! Those Arkons didn't give Furry enough credit, and she got a lot of us out of Vodlesta alive! Ha!"

"Governor Hampton? Where is she? Where's the others?"

"That's why I'm way out here, actually. Travis spread a bunch of us throughout Istor to leave signs, make it easier for a rescue party to find us. We daren't use our long-range comms out of fear of Arkon detection. But now that I've found you, I can take you straight to them!"

Now I need to ask.

"What about the alien artifact that triggered this invasion? What became of it?"

"Yeah, that damn thing's there, too. I suppose that's why you're

really

here, now that I--"

"No." Sara held up her hand. "We're here for both the IED

and

any surviving colonists. Make no mistake about it."

Even though our orders are to prioritize the IED over the colonists should it come to that...

Hans beamed. "You don't know how glad I am to see you, truly! We should get going as soon as possible!"

"Not just yet. We need to get the rest of our team gathered, first."

"Of course, of course. Go right ahead!" He clapped giddily. "With you fellows here, things are finally starting to look up!"

Sara nodded. "If you'll excuse me..." She tapped her wristcom and brought it beneath her lips. "Margaret, good news. We've found one of the survivors, and he knows where the other colonists

and

the IED are..."

[SaintKerrigan]

Night 5 is now over. Day will break once I've resolved night actions...

[SaintKerrigan]

Unknown cave, Kehvit Mountain Range
Non-colonized Sector 1, UTP Planet Liten, Tynnfred System
December 5th, 2486 SC (Day 5, Month 15 LC)
0507 hours SST (0536 hours LLT3)

Sara lay atop Margaret, their bodies entwined and enmeshed. Beneath them, a white-sheeted bed with just the perfect thickness for the two of them. Sara smashed her lips to Margaret's for what felt like an eternity of love. When she pulled away, it was only to smother the rest of Margaret's body with kisses. Her neck, her chest, her bosom, her legs, her feet, and everything in between.

Margaret moaned softly. "I love you, Sara," she breathed.

Smiling, Sara leisurely crawled forward, just above Margaret's tender flesh, her tongue caressing Margaret's torso all along the way. She paused mere centimeters above Margaret's face, gazing into those beautiful, vibrant emerald eyes.

"I love you too, Margaret," she murmured. Once more her lips met Margaret's, and she drank deeply of the love that poured from Margaret's mouth. When she could breathe no more, Sara pulled her head away and gazed down. To her surprise, Margaret's face seemed to be literally vanishing into the sheets.

"I love you, Sara," Margaret whispered faintly. Getting on her knees, Sara quickly realized that it wasn't just Margaret's head that was being consumed by the whiteness of the sheets...

"Margaret!" Sara cried, rising to her knees and seizing Margaret's arms, pulling them above the bed. "Oh, Margaret, don't go!"

The bed disappeared, and there was nothing around them but whiteness, pure whiteness. Voices suddenly became audible, and they quickly rose to a tumultuous clamor as Sara fought desperately to pull Margaret away from the whiteness enveloping her.

"I...ove you...Sa...a..." By now, Margaret's torso and legs had vanished; only the front of her head and her arms remained free of the whiteness.

"Don't give in, Margaret!" Sara screamed, now on her feet and yanking with all her might. "You can resist this! You can defeat the whiteness! Just don't give in, dammit!"

Margaret smiled; whiteness crawled around her hair, onto her face. "Joi...me...s'ch...peace..."

"No, Margaret! No, no, don't do it--"

The whiteness entirely enveloped Margaret's face, and with it her head. Pulling on Margaret's arms as hard as she could, Sara heard an abrupt

crack

, and the arms broke away from Margaret's body. Sara stared at the arms in her hands, unable to let them go.

"Nooo!" Sara wailed, breathing heavily. "Oh god, no, please, no, no no no..."

She looked down where Margaret's body formerly resided, and only then noticed the whiteness engulfing her own feet--

"Sara!" Something was shaking her body. "Sara, wake up!"

Sara's eyes shot open and she rolled over onto her back, staring up into Chuck's face. "Did I miss the alarm?"

Chuck shook his head. "Worse--Dylan's dead, less than ten minutes ago. Brain-fried, from the looks of it."

Fucking Arkons, can't they leave my troops alone?

"How the hell did that happen, Chuck? He was supposed to be on watch with you."

"I know, I know. I look at him one moment, he's there doing his watching, I go back to doing my watching, and next time I look at him he's dead. I don't know how that Arkon fucker got in an out without me noticing it, I just can't believe it!"

"Yeah..." Pal remarked slowly, sitting on his blanket. "That

is

rather hard to believe."

Chuck whirled and glared at Pal. "You're in

no

position for talking," he growled.

"Oh, what are you worried about," Pal countered. "You're

innocent

, right?"

Nearby, Kestrel yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Well, there goes any hope of sleep. Not when that Arkon's up fragging people."

Unfortunately, she's right about that.

Sara sat up and pushed herself onto her feet. "All right, then, we'll stay awake. Chuck, did you bring Dylan's body in yet?"

"Yeah, I dropped him off behind the IED box. I also found this in his hand..." He handed a holograph to Sara. She activated it, and a miniaturized head and bust of Ingrid Cortega appeared, smiling sensuously.

"What off Earth...could they have been lovers or something?"

Chuck shrugged. "If they were, they did a good job hiding it. But, um..."

Sara cocked her head. "Speak your mind."

"Look, um...could we at least bring his body back with us on the shuttle? I feel bad enough about the other ones we've left behind."

"Me, too. If we aren't pressed for time, we'll do it."

"Thank you."

Sara yawned, fished in her pack for an adrenaline stimulant, pulled open the mouthflap on her mask, and swallowed the pill dry. For a brief moment, she wondered if she was overdosing, but the thought was swiftly brushed aside.

I need to be awake, alert. We all need to. Otherwise we might not survive this hell...

Cogito Ergo Sum, Dylan Richards,

Human Neighbor

, had his brains scrambled on Night 5.

Day 6 has begun. With five players alive, it takes three votes to lynch.
The deadline is on Thursday, January 27th, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. CST.