A Bridge Zhou Far - Three Stars Rising | Summary Thread

[Subotan]

"Psst! Hey! Listen!“

"What? “ Beskar poked his head inside taka’s tent. He was clearly not amused.

“I need to use the toilet, really bad! I must have undercooked my noodles...” said taka. taka did a little jig to show just how desperate he was.

Beskar rolled his eyes. “Fine, I’ll guard you on your way there.”

taka gave a quiet cheer and scrambled out of the tent onto the side of the moonlit mountain.

Beskar peered into the gloom.

“Where is the designated Lavatory Pit? I don’t remember building one…”

“Look! There’s a sign there, it must be over here” said taka

They walked to a forested area of the outskirts of the camp, quite a bit further away than usual. The hole could be seen behind a tree, obstructed from the view of the tents. For privacy reasons, of course.

“At last!” cried taka, and he hurried over to the small hole to do whatever business you might do is such a designated Pit.

“Pssss….”

Beskar awkwardly turned to the side and focused his entire attention on a bush even deeper into the forest. Looking closer he realized that there was some kind of hair snagged on the bush. Thinking that it might be a delicious rabbit, Beskar eagerly approached.

“BOO!” roared the bush.

Beskar screamed.

“Agggh! What the-”

The bush rustled and revealed that there had been a man crouching behind it, and that the hair which had been snagged in the bush was his long and messy beard, which now had pieces of bush snagged in it.

“Why hello, Beskar” said the Hairy Man. “It is such a wonderful night to be taking care of…business, yes?”

The Hairy Man stood up and motioned towards taka, who was blissfully unaware of the Hairy Man’s business and happily going about his business.

“But what is my business, you must be asking? I’ll tell you what it is, Beskar. It is Chinese business. No, I’m not a Jap or a Kuomintang or anything silly like that, Beskar, so you can relax.”

Beskar didn’t relax.

“For you see, my business is a very special, niche business. My work helps everyone, regardless of class, dialect, whatever. But the funny thing is Beskar, hehe, is that the Chinese, hoohaha, don’t even know that I’m doing their business for them, hahaha! Isn’t that so funny Beskar? Isn’t it FUNNY?”

The Hairy Man was now bent over with laughter, with huge guffaws erupting from the bearded maelstrom that was his face. Beskar was now stricken with terror, and he ran backwards to where taka was still sitting on the Pit. taka had by now noticed the Hairy Man and looked concerned.

“Tsssssss….”

“How are you still doing that? Come on, we’ve got to get away from him now!”

“But I’ve finished. I’m not doing anything, Beskar…” taka said.

They both slowly looked inside the pit, where the hissing continued unabated and tiny sparks could be seen flitting around amongst the brown.

“taka, I think we need to-”

With a massive KA-BLOOEY, Beskar and taka were both instantly killed by the bomb which had been planted inside the pit dug by the Hairy Man. After the explosion’s echo finally dissipated and the remains of taka’s protection group ran over to see what remained of their charge, a booming laugh could be heard from within the forest.

***

“Good evening Chaotix.”

Chaotix woke up with a start to find a big, big man looming over his bedding, and staring him right in the eye.

“I’m here to make sure that you don’t do anything stupid during the night. You wouldn’t be planning on doing anything stupid, would you?”

Chaotix shook his head furiously.

“Good, I love understandings. They make everything so much easier. I trust you will also understand my colleague coming in here and rummaging around in your things and loads of books, yes?”

Chaotix nodded, again, furiously.

The intruder smiled and turned to the entry flap.

“Hey, you’re late.”

A second man entered and reached inside his long coat to take it off.

“I’m so sorry. Let me make it up to you”

Instantly, he pulled a pistol from inside his coat, and smashed into the side of the big man’s head. He went down with a sharp crack and a short croak. Chaotix pulled his bedding up around him fearfully.

The attacker smiled and stared down at Chaotix. He frowned slightly

“What was that you called me?”

“Huh? I don’t even know who you are so how-“ stammered Chaotix

The attacked put a finger to his lips “No, shh. You do know who I am. Because you lot called we something a few days ago. The “Wide Eyed Nippo”. That was it. The Wide Eyed Nippo. Hehe. How droll.”

Chaotix, not knowing what to do, just mumbled

“But”, continued the Japanese, “It’s not fair that I get all the compliments. And it would be rude of me to flatter someone with sweet-nothings that clearly aren’t true. So, I’m going to do you a favour, Chaotix. I’m going to make you Wide Eyed.”

The Japanese cocked his pistol and aimed it straight at Chaotix’s head

“I’m going to make you so Wide Eyed I’ll be able to fit my fist through your face!” snarled the Nippo, as Chaotix let out a terrified scream, moments before the Japanese Officer hollowed out Chaotix’s skull.

***

“Comrades, we were attacked again last night”

GeneralHankerchief stared out across the remaining Communists. They were starting to get few in number, and you could see their self awareness of this grim fact in their eyes.

“I know it’s hard, fellow Maoists, but we must struggle on. Only by continuing to fight can we beat the counter-revolutionaries. To disperse and give up allows them to pick us off, one by one. But together, we, the microcosm of the Chinese people, are strong enough united to fight off the Revisionists in grisly combat. And it is such unity that we must tighten!”

The Communists all nodded glumly, and set off, deeper into the mountains. The altitude was really starting to rise by this point, and snow could be seen further up the mountain trail.

Alive players: 33/40

ACIN
ArpeggiateTHIS
autolycus
AVSM
Captain Blackadder
Cultured Drizzt fan
Cute Wolf
Death is yonder
Double A
GeneralHankerchief
johnhughthom
Jolt
Joooray
landlubber
M3YUZ
Methos
miotas
Nictel
Niklas
Pinman
Psychonau
Renata
Romanic
Seamus Fermanagh
Secura
shlin28
Sigurd
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
TheFlax
Thermal Mercury
wideyedwanderer
Wishazu
Yaseikhaan
YLC

Lynched players 2/40

Azathoth
Beefy187

Killed Players 5/40

Winston Hughes
Sasaki Kojiro
taka
Beskar
Chaotix

[Subotan]

As the People’s Extraordinary Detachment ascended into the cold, snowy mountains, the debate between the Socialists became quite heated. Confusion arose as the nature of the explosion last night. Had one of the defenders betrayed taka? Was the Hairy Man some sort of serial killer? Was he even a –perish the thought - a Trotskyite? None could say for certain, and this was probably the main reason why none of those accused of being involved in the blast were eventually chosen to be executed by the evening. Instead, the Maoists picked Shlin28, who had a reputation of insubordination and challenging authority. By the time the Communists drew to a halt, Shlin28 had just edged out in front of the other candidates.

“I am to be to lynched for this? For manning the barricades against the encroachment of tyranny and despotism? I am a hero of the people, a lone guardian standing up for what I believe in, true Communism, a Communism without states or generals!” declared Shlin28, raising his voice above the howling winds and screaming blizzard

GeneralHankerchief in turn levelled a finger at the accused “Silence! Since when has undermining the leadership of the Party been “true Communism”? Such words are the words of a mole, burrowing away at the foundations of our Revolution.”

Shlin28 pointed back “A mole? Ha! That is rich coming from someone who has imposed tyranny over our Worker’s Brigade. If I am a mole, then it is only to undermine and destroy dictatorship and autocracy.”

GeneralHankerchief’s face turned red in the fierce cold as he shouted back at Shlin and the watching Proletariat “Only through decisive courage and leadership can we strive towards our worker’s paradise and secure our brilliant Socialist dawn. You, Shlin28, are a Revisionist, twisting and bending the true words of the party into the speech of a snake. The People have chosen you to be executed, and executed you shall be!”

He jabbed in the direction of Shlin28, and Yaseikhaan appeared at the Chairmans side. Yaseikhaan whipped his sword out his sheath, and held it behind him, with his arm fully extended. The Special Operative then pushed off his back leg and leaped forward towards the gaping Shlin. In midair, Yaesikhaan whirled his sword out from behind him and swung it around to connect with Shlin’s waist as Yaesikhaan touched the ground. The blade then ripped through Shlin’s torso, tearing a pathway through to his opposite shoulder and severing Shlin in half. Shlin’s halves fell backwards, and Yaesikhaan booted them off the mountain edge with a mighty kick, and Shlin28 sailed off the edge, leaving a red pathway all the way down the snowy cliff face. The Communists looked on with a mixture of horror and disgust, and even the Chairman appeared a bit white. The Special Operative replied with only a glare as he wiped his sword and face clean.

“Well, as well as that, I have a few other announcements to make. It appears that a clique has formed, the Fengxi Clique, which consists of The Flax, Romanic and Renata. This means that in the event of a tie, they along with the other Officers will be able to vote to decide the fate of a candidate (And some other examples which have yet to become clear…. - Subotan). So congratulations to the new political force!”

The Communists politely clapped, and the Fengxi Clique cheered.

This round shall last until 20:00 GMT+1, which is now the deadline time for all phases (I mentioned this in another write-up)

Unofficial tally:

4 shlin (landlubber, Romanic, Secura, WEW)
3 johnhughthom (autolycus, Cute Wolf, Pinman)
3 Sigurd (Niklas, Psychonaut, Yaseikhaan)
2 wideyedwanderer (Captain Blackadder, miotas)
2 ArpegiateTHIS (CDF, TheFlax)
1 autolycus (shlin)
1 AVSM (ArpTHIS)
1 YLC (YLC)

Jolt showed up in the end, so he won't be counted as being on the bad list. Yaseikhaan missed the deadline though.

******
13 Not voting ( everyone else, except GH) -

ACIN
AVSM
Cute Wolf
Death is yonder
Double A
Joooray
M3YUZ
Nictel
Seamus
Sigurd
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Thermal Mercury
Wishazu

The bold represents the Bad List. If anyone on the bad list misses the next lynch, they will be WOG'd, hard. On a lighter note, TheFlax is off the Bad List!

[Subotan]

Psychonaut was standing on guard. Chosen by the Chairman to help watch over a particular member of PEXDET,he was maintaining the outer perimeter. There wasn’t much to maintain, to be honest. The fierce wind and dizzying altitude made it beyond unlikely that they would be subject to a Reactionary assault. But, orders were orders, regardless of how cold Psychonaut got. Personally, Psychonaut had thought it would make more sense to keep a closer watch for threats around their charge, but their group had spare numbers, so…

“Hey!”

Psychonaut looked over to see a man approaching him. He was wearing a grin that was a little too wide for Psychonaut to feel comfortable. Psychonaut aimed his rifle at him, just to be sure.

“Halt!”

The man laughed, and opened his coat to show that he wasn’t carrying any sort of firearm. Reassured, Psychonaut lowered his weapon.

“So what’s a Marxist like you doing stuck all the way out here then, eh? I can’t imagine there’s much to look out for in this part of the camp” said the man, tilting his head down the blocked road from whence the Communists had came..

“Oh, you never know. The Japanese are sneaky blighters. You saw how they caught us unaware in Heihui Chen. They could be planning anything even as we speak” said Psychonaut

“Really? Wow, I had no idea. To think that they might be planning countless ways to bring us civilization. Tsk tsk.” said the man, shaking his head.

“Yeah they really are…wait, what?”

The man flashed another uncomfortable smile, and grabbed Psychonaut by the back of the neck. Too shocked to react, Psychonaut could only scream as he was pulled down onto a blade that was thrust into his belly.

“Sneaky doesn’t even begin to describe it“ whispered the Jap Officer, as he ripped his katana out of Psychonaut’s abdomen, and held it behind his head, steadying Psychonaut to keep him in an upright position.

“You should be proud, Psychonaut. This is an antique blade that has slain Russians, Koreans, Germans... and a lot of Chinese. ” And with that, he brought the blade down fast onto Psychonaut’s neck, slicing through it, and decapitating him.

The Japanese Officer laughed, and wiped his sword on Psychonaut’s hat, before sliding his katana back into its sheath, and slipping away into the night.

***

“Comrades, I have more bad news.”

The Chairman had gathered the Maoists in the freezing cold in the middle of the camp. The Communists were tired and cold, and several of the Marxists, notably Thermal Mercury, M3YUZ, Wishazu and spL1tp3r50naL1ty looked close to death.

“Psychonaut was murdered last night, whilst protecting one of our dear comrades, apparently by the Japanese. We still have more work to do Comrades, and we cannot quit until every single last Counter-Revolutionary is dead and held aloft as a banner to strike fear into the Bourgeoisie, and hope into the hearts of the Peasants.”

A few Communists nodded. Most remained glumly silent.

“Oh, and I have more news. I have searched Azathoth’s belongings thoroughly, and it turns out that he was a loyal Communist who wasn’t even susceptible to any Imperialist propaganda. So I guess that's something to celebrate...”


Alive players: 31/40

ACIN
ArpeggiateTHIS
autolycus
AVSM
Captain Blackadder
Cultured Drizzt fan
Cute Wolf
Death is yonder
Double A
GeneralHankerchief
johnhughthom
Jolt
Joooray
landlubber
M3YUZ
miotas
Nictel
Niklas
Pinman
Renata
Romanic
Seamus Fermanagh
Secura
Sigurd
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
TheFlax
Thermal Mercury
wideyedwanderer
Wishazu
Yaseikhaan
YLC

Lynched players 3/40

Azathoth
Beefy187
shlin28

Killed Players 6/40

Winston Hughes
Sasaki Kojiro
taka
Beskar
Chaotix
Psychonaut

Phase ends at 20:00 GMT+1

[Subotan]

PEXDET were still slogging their way through the mountains and cold, and although they had found discussion difficult in the harsh climate, one candidate for the lynch eventually emerged above the others. Niklas said nothing to defend himself, remaining totally mute whilst the accusations flew around him. By the time it was time to set up camp near the top of the pass they were traveling through, it was obvious Niklas was going to be lynched.

The Chairman summoned Niklas in front of him, and said in a booming voice

“Niklas! You are accused of murdering Psychonaut last night. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Niklas said nothing.

“Did you not hear me? Speak up!” said GeneralHankerchief, scowling.

“…”

“Fine, have it your way.”

GeneralHankerchief nodded to Yaseikhaan, who rolled his eyes and lazily shot Niklas. Niklas fell to the icy earth without a sound, and he bled out without making so much as a peep.

“Huh, that was odd. He’s normally so talkative as well.” The Chairman shook his head and addressed the crowd once more

“Now that the remaining thirty of us can continue on our-”

A hand shot up in the audience: “Erm, sorry, but that’s not true. Wishazu and Thermal Mercury are both dead” said M3YUZ

“What? How is that possible? They both started marching with us, correct?”

“Yes, but as they were especially weak due to hunger and muteness, they fell further and further behind. I was the last one to see them both alive…”

“Oh no, that’s terrible! How did they die?”

“Well, I was calling out to Thermal Mercury and Wishazu to hurry up, but eventually they stopped for a rest whilst the rest of you went on ahead. However, when they stopped to rest, hundreds and hundreds of rats erupted from the undergrowth. It was like the Yellow River flood all over again, only this time with rodents”

The Maoists collectively “Eww’d” and the Chairman grimaced
.
“They saw the rats and got up and started to run towards us, but they were just so weak from speaking eating so little. The rats overwhelmed them and dragged them both to the ground. Then, the rats devoured them alive, munching and gnawing the two helpless Communists until there was nothing left but bones. I didn’t want to get eaten either, so I ran on ahead to join with you guys, so…”

GeneralHankerchief’s tongue was stuck out in disgust “What a horrible and humiliating way to die. Oh well, I guess that will teach all of you lot to eat all of your rations, hmm?”

A splattering could be heard from behind a snow drift. Puzzled, ACIN and autolycus went to look for what had caused the disgusting sound.

“Oh! Look what we’ve found!” they both cried in unison, as they both grabbed a man and pulled him up to show to the Socialists. Vomit could be seen smeared around his mouth and little dots were apparent on his Imperial Japanese Army uniform.



“A spy!” cried the jubilant Communists.

“Lynch him!”

“Torture him!”

“Eat his heart, so we may gain his courage!”

These and many other suggestions were yelled out by the angry Maoists. The Chairman had to fire his Mausner into the air to get the jabbering peasants to shut up.

“Shut up, you jabbering peasants! We need to discuss sensibly what to do with this trembling Imperialist. He may be of more use to us alive than dead, or cooked.”

The Communists grudgingly agreed.

“Oh, and I have something else to announce. It turns out that both Sasaki Kojiro and Winston Hughes were both loyal Comrades, neither susceptible to the treachery of the Imperialist Monster.”

It is now the night phase. There is an Incident taking place, namely, what to do with the Japanese Prisoner, so make your suggestions now.

8 Niklas (ArpTHIS, AVSM, Blackadder, CDF, AA, landlubber, Seamus, WEW)
4 Cute Wolf (DiY, JHT, Romanic, Flax)
3 johnhughthom (Cute Wolf, Pinman, autolycus)
1 YLC (M3YUZ)
1 Nictel (Sigurd)

***

14 Not voting (everyone else, including Chairman GH) (Could someone count who these were please?)

Alive players: 31/40

ACIN
ArpeggiateTHIS
autolycus
AVSM
Captain Blackadder
Cultured Drizzt fan
Cute Wolf
Death is yonder
Double A
GeneralHankerchief
johnhughthom
Jolt
Joooray
landlubber
M3YUZ
miotas
Nictel
Niklas
Pinman
Renata
Romanic
Seamus Fermanagh
Secura
Sigurd
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
TheFlax
Thermal Mercury
wideyedwanderer
Wishazu
Yaseikhaan
YLC

Lynched players 4/40

Azathoth
Beefy187
shlin28
Niklas

Killed Players 6/40

Winston Hughes
Sasaki Kojiro
taka
Beskar
Chaotix
Psychonaut

Devoured by Rats - 2

Thermal Mercury
Wishazu

I am looking for replacements for the above two players. Contact me if you are interested, or know someone who is.

Sorry for it being so late. As I mentioned earlier, I'm not exactly in the best of moods for lots of writing, and this write-up took longer than expected. It shall end in 23 hours at 21:00 GMT+1

[Subotan]

Secura was about to blow out his (?) lamp when a rustle from outside his tent gave him pause. Secura strained his ears to check that the Hairy Man, or the Vengeful Killer, or the Japanese Psychopath was not lurking outside his tent. The pitter-patter of several pairs of feet was a very relieving sound to hear, for someone used to lone killers striking in the dark. He refocused on the lamp, and was about to blow it out when-

"STOP RIGHT THERE, CRIMINAL SCUM!"

A tall man burst through the entrance of Secura's tent and Secura screamed as four knives suddenly cut through the fabric of the tent, ripping holes large enough for four men to clamber through

The tall man pointed a long finger at Secura, who was lying stunned on his bedding "Secura, I have evidence, EVIDENCE, that proves that you are a Counter-Revolutionary Agent! How do you respond to this allegation?"

"What."

"Yet more proof! Take him down Comrades, before his nefarious activities corrupt us all!"

The four men gleefully produced their weapons and aimed them, regardless of Secura's protests

"But wait, what are-"

But in a blaze of fire and led, his question was silenced, permanently.

***
deathisyonder was sleeping in bed. His sleep was deep, so deep in fact, that he could not hear the quiet tapping on the outside of his tent.

"Hey! Pssst! Deathisyonder! Can I come in? I have an important proposition for you!"

But DIY was just too sleepy to hear the stranger's tantalizing offers, and he merely turned over in his sleep when confronted by a nasty dream about Kuomintang. DiY hated the Kuomintang so much. They had come into his village, raped and murdered all the women, and then got the rest of the men in his village hooked on opium. No, he could never ever side with the Nationalists, and if he ever found one, why, he'd strangle him with his bare hands, whether he was an Officer or a humble peasant.

"Hey, DIY, you like the KMT, huh?" hushed the voice from outside the tent. "Come onnnn, let me in!"

DiY stirred and replied with a faint "Zzzzzzzzzz"

"Oh screw it", muttered the Kuomintang Officer, who stormed off back to his tent, muttering curses about how close he had been to converting the poor sop to the glories of Nationalism.

***

"Comrades, I have yet more good news" declared GeneralHankerchief

The Communists had become accustomed to the constant declarations of good news, and had by now realised that good news was more of a synonym for neutral news than anything which would help them stay alive.

The Chairman continued "We were not attacked by the Japanese or the Kuomintang last night? Isn't that wonderful? We may have permanently crippled last night both Imperialist forces, through the leadership of your wise Officer Corps"

But a voice spoke up "But where's Secura then?"

GeneralHankerchief replied with a nod and a knowing wink "Ah, but she has been dispatched by the true forces of the Revolution. We managed to engage in intense self-criticism of the Party, it's objectives and means of achieving them, and we came to the conclusion that Secura had to be liquidated."

Scowls could be seen from more than a few members of the audience.

"In addition, it is become clear that a new political alliance, the Clique of the People's Hammer, has been forged on our travels. It consists of miotas, arpeggiateTHIS and Death is yonder."

The Clique of the People's Hammer cheered, and the Socialists politely clapped, whilst the Fengxi Clique booed in political rivalry.

"Oh, and it has become apparent that shlin28, whilst living, was indeed the true Communist he claimed to be. We are extremely saddened by his death at the hands of, erm, us. However, it does appear that he was a Socialist who had Fascistic leanings, and he appears to have been rather partial to Japanese foreign policy and Emperor-worship."

But, nevertheless, the threat of Japanese soldiers rampaging down the pass after them was still plausible, so they continued marching towards Yan'an. The hills were becoming much smoother and easier to walk on. In the distance, a wide, raging river could be seen, and it was estimated that they would reach the crossing point for it at nightfall.

This phase shall last 23 hours until 20:00 GMT+1.

Alive players: 26/40

ACIN
ArpeggiateTHIS
askthepizzaguy
autolycus
AVSM
Captain Blackadder
Cultured Drizzt fan
Cute Wolf
Death is yonder
Double A
GeneralHankerchief
Jolt
Joooray
landlubber
M3YUZ
miotas
Nictel
Renata
Romanic
Seamus Fermanagh
Sigurd
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
TheFlax
wideyedwanderer
Yaseikhaan
YLC

Lynched players 5/40

Azathoth
Beefy187
shlin28
Niklas
Pinman

Killed Players 7/40

Winston Hughes
Sasaki Kojiro
taka
Beskar
Chaotix
Psychonaut
johnhughthom
Secura

Devoured by Rats - 2

Thermal Mercury
Wishazu

[Subotan]

As predicted, the People's Extraordinary Detachment eventually decided to rest for the night near the south bank of the river. "Bank" implies that a sandy beach slides down to the lips of a quiet, peaceful river sea. That was not the case, for this was the Nuqi River. The grass approaching the river was torn from it's gentle amble towards the shore into a sheer hundred feet of scraggly cliff edges and broken rocks, before plunging into a raging torrent of white fire. The river ripped at the sides of the gorge with a ferocious energy that turned all Communists pale, and left none with a sense of security.

But if anyone was left feeling insecure, it was TheFlax, for he had been chosen by the Proletarian Masses to be the most likely to be an imperialist. He had been caught visiting not one, but two tents during the night.

"What kind of Working Class Hero visits two tents at night when he claims that he shall only visit one?" bellowed GeneralHankerchief at TheFlax "Deceit and lies such as this serve only to undermine the Chinese Soviet Republic and the victory for which it fights! All night actions must be co-ordinated and organised by me, lest we nurture the growth of the repulsive fungus of Bourgeois Treachery. Although it is now too late for TheFlax to take heed of this vital warning, I strongly urge the rest of you Comrades to watch what happens when the Officer Corps are left uniformed. Thank you for your understanding."

Oblivious to the protests of the other members of the Fengxi Clique, GeneralHankerchief snapped his fingers, and Yaesikhaan appeared at his side like an apparition. Seeing him appear, TheFlax gasped and struggled to emit a reply

"But...but...I'm innocent! I was protecting roles! I was putting myself in the place of my defendees, to sacrifice myself for the Chinese Nation, just as Beefy187 did! To kill me would be madness!"

Yaseikhaan looked up, dark eyes slipping out under the brim of his Mao hat, before letting out in a sinister whisper

"Madness? This. Is. CHINAAAAA!"

Still screaming that last syllable, he ran up to TheFlax, and with a sledgehammer kick to the chest, he lifted TheFlax off the ground where he had been kneeling, and sent him hurtling through the air. He soared over the long grass, too winded to scream, before plunging down over the edge of the Nuqi Gorge, plummeting to certain death with an eerie silence.

"That makes such a change from the usual blood and guts" complimented GeneralHankerchief to the satisfied Yaseikhaan. "But now, onto other business. As you have just seen, the Nuqi River is hard to cross. We have two options to get across it. One, is the Lanmu Bridge, which you can see just in front of you. As you can see, it is a very old and possibly rotten ropebridge, and it may be perilous to cross.

The alternative, is a large stone bridge three days walk downstream, the Wenti Bridge. However, there is a fortress placed over the bridge, and it is not unlikely that a Kuomintang Force of an unknown size will be stationed there. Three days is of course a long time to divert, and we must take into account the fact that the Japanese may be behind us, and that travel will be slow thanks to the mountain gun.

You must decide, soldiers of PEXDET, since I cannot make such an important decision for you. We must come to a collective decision so as to ensure unity and happiness.

Oh, and I have information which proves that Psychonaut was in fact a Kuomintang Agent! Although he was not the Kuomintang Colonel, it is clear beyond doubt that our Japanese foes have done us a great service by slaying Psychonaut. Truly, such divisions within the International Bourgeosie must be exploited to ensure the collective victory of the international working class!

It is now the night phase. This phase shall end in approximately 23 hours time at 21:00 GMT+1. There is now an Incident taking place, and you have two proposals, Agree:Nuqi Bridge and Agree:Wenti Bridge. This will have an important outcome for the game (Much as the others did, although their outcomes were far more subtle), contrary to certain player's comments (Here's looking at you Romanic).

The Fengxi Clique has disintegrated!

The Flax - 8 - ACIN, Cute Wolf, Joooray, landlubber, DIY, ATPG, Renata, Yaseikhaan
Cute Wolf - 3 - TheFlax, WEW, Sigurd
aThis - 1 - CDF

Revolt: Romanic, aThis - REVOLT FAILED

Didn't vote: ELEVEN -

autolycus
AVSM
Captain Blackadder
Double A
Jolt
M3YUZ
miotas
Nictel
Seamus Fermanagh
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
YLC

The Bad list returns...

Alive players: 25/40

ACIN
ArpeggiateTHIS
askthepizzaguy
autolycus
AVSM
Captain Blackadder
Cultured Drizzt fan
Cute Wolf
Death is yonder
Double A
GeneralHankerchief
Jolt
Joooray
landlubber
M3YUZ
miotas
Nictel
Romanic
Seamus Fermanagh
Sigurd
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
TheFlax
wideyedwanderer
Yaseikhaan
YLC

Lynched players 6/40

Azathoth
Beefy187
shlin28
Niklas
Pinman
Renata

Killed Players 7/40

Winston Hughes
Sasaki Kojiro
taka
Beskar
Chaotix
Psychonaut
johnhughthom
Secura

Devoured by Rats - 2

Thermal Mercury
Wishazu

[Subotan]

The discussion about which path the Communists should follow continued long into the night. Although at first it seemed obvious that the Maoists should take the sturdy stone bridge, wily persuasiveness from Romanic managed to convince the Socialists that it was smarter to strike from behind, and a further suggestion from miotas to cut the rope bridge after they had crossed it changed the mind of even the Chairman.

After voting had concluded, GeneralHankerchief stood up and announced the plan of action

"We don't know what lies on the other side of that bridge. For all we know there could be a nest of imperialist vipers, lying in a trap for us. Thus, I have decided to choose an Assault Squad to charge the bridge and seize the opposite side of the gorge for us, allowing us to safely bring the others and the heavier equipment over. The Assault Squad shall consist of nine people"

Pulling a crumpled piece of paper out of his Mao shirt pocket, he read aloud:

"autolycus (wielding the flamethrower)
wideeyedwanderer
AVSM
M3YUZ
Nictel
Splitpersonality
ATPG
Nictel
landlubber
Romanic
"

Romanic and autolycus both went particularly pale, since they had voted for the bridge which they were about to storm.

"But never fear, lucky Comrades. I have entrusted Director autolycus to lead you to glory, a particularly hot, napalm-flavoured glory, as he will be armed armed with the flamethrower! And you should all spend the rest of the night alive anyway, since we *ahem* YOU won't be crossing it until tomorrow morning. Just remember a phrase I heard when those German advisers came over here: Schadenfreude ist die schönste Freude."

Since most of the Chinese peasants could barely read Chinese, let alone speak German, this went completely over their heads.

***

CDF had always had a terrible fear of heights. Even walking through the mountains had been pretty bad, and he was most certainly not looking forward to the crossing of the Nuqi Gorge tomorrow. Sensibly for someone in his position, he had set up his tent, far, far away from the cliff edge, in a location that was practically in the thick woodland that surrounded the clearing around the road and bridge. CDF felt safe as he picthed his tent, unrolled his bedding and lay down to sleep. He was worried about the fact that nearly all the previous members of his group had either died or been exposed as Imperialists, and also because of the attempt on his life made a few days ago, but he was sure that no Jap or Nat would try again to kill him, thanks to the guards stationed outside his tent.

And he was absolutely right.

"SeeeDeeeEfffff..."

Cdf, always a light sleeper, woke up. Someone had called his abbreviated name, someone deep in the woods.

"CulturedDrizztFan..."

"Someone must be lost in the forest" though CDF "As a good Communist, I should go over and help them."

Cdf threw of his blanket, put on his boots and coat, and most importantly, his pistol. He crawled outside his tent to find arpeggiateTHIS reading some book about the American Revolution.

"Hey, aThis, I think there's someone trapped in the forest. Come look for him with me."

aThis rolled his eyes "Aww, but I'm about to find out what Cognitive Madisonianism is!"

"Forget that!" cried CDF "There's someone who needs our help!

aThis reluctantly put his book down, and together with CDF, they both wandered into the forest. The undergrowth soon became thick and knotted, and movement became slower and harder. Finally, they both staggered out into a small clearing.

"Welcome CDF, and arpeggiateThis to my grove" said a deep but loud voice. Directly in front of the pair, the bushes shifted and rustled, and out stepped a big, Hairy Man. CDF and aThis both looked as if they had been bleached

"Oh Christ, you're meant to be dead" stammered aThis, as the CDF fumbled for his pistol, and aimed it at the calm Hairy Man. Aiming straight for the centre of the messy beard, he pulled the trigger; only for the Hairy Man to brreak out into a belly-aching laugh.

"Ho ho ho! Do you really think I'd be foolish enough to let something as simple as your gun prevent you from hearing one of my lectures? For you see, my lectures reveal the truth about society, a microscope on the open wounds of Socialism and Capitalism. I pull back the curtain, I shine the spotlight, and open the mind to the realities of life under the State. For the State is a parasite on the Nation, a vampire who sucks the lifeblood out of the people through tax and war. The State hungers for the People to be fed to it, to be processed into little instruments of authoritarianism, to help it enslave the free and those who desire true liberty. But too often, rebellions against the State only result in the establishment of a new State, of old tyranny under a new mask. Only by casting off the shackles of desire for Order can we return to life in the Commune, on the local level, so that true, direct democracy can be implemented and ensure that we are our Masters." rambled the Hairy Man. CDF and aThis just looked on, stunned by the constant noise that enveloped them.

And then the Hairy Man suddenly stopped:

"But you must be wondering; Where do I fit into this? Well, you are one of the said instruments, a tool of the tinpot dictators. Only by your example can the people of China realise their destiny and overthrow their masters, foreign or national, Capitalist or Socialist, despotic all!" bellowed the Hairy Man, raising his hands up towards the sky. Flicking his wrist, he revealed that he had a bomb in his right hand, and he whirled it towards the gawking Communists. Hissing, the explosive distracted the Maoists from the Hairy Man, who, still laughing, slipped back into the forest to watch with glee behind the safety of a tree the massive explosion which blew the pair to pieces and scattered their remains all over the forest.

***

"You there! Get up you lumbering oaf!"

The Communist immediately woke up, and stumbled out of his tent, dazed and groggy. He attempted to stand to attention, but only succeeded in knocking his tent over

"That is a DISGRACE! How dare you act so rudely and unprofessional towards me! You are a soldier of the National Revolutionary Army, not a warlord's bandit!"

The Communist blearily replied "Yes sir, of course sir, I'm so sorry sir..."

The loudmouth continued to scream in the Communist's face"You better be, you stinking dog! And what is this trash?", referring to a copy of the Communist Manifesto lying in the dirt.

"This propaganda will NOT be tolerated in my presence!" hissed the loud man, before stamping on the little book with unnecessary force. "I expect to see you tomorrow for an attack on the Communist scum tomorrow night!"

"Uh, yes, of course, Colonel, sir." replied the dazed Communist, who still had no idea what he had gotten himself into.

***

"Well comrades, the Hairy Man still walks amongst us." declared a glum GeneralHankerchief to the crowd. "All we can hope is that if there are Japs on the other side of this bridge, that he is one of those mown down."

The Assault Team did not take this comment with as much humour as GeneralHankerchief intended. However, their mood was otherwise jolly. The weather was dry and crisp, as it had been for several weeks. The grass surrounding the bridge was parched and brown. The wooden bridge was sturdy and most certainly not damp. Under these conditions, even if the wood was rotten, the chances of it breaking were happily low.

As the Assault Team prepared their equipment, the Chairman made another announcement.

"It appears that Niklas was a loyal Communist, with absolutely no chance of defecting to either Reactionary gang. So yeah... "

The Assault Squad was ready, and there was a mass intake of breath before they started creeping across the bridge. The rope bridge did not sway as much as would be expected, and the Communists were reassured by the solidity of both the planks and the thick rope. autolycus, armed with his weapon, headed the small battalion as they calmly walked across the bridge. autolycus was the most nervous of the grouping, as he was the most likely to be killed first if there were enemies on the North Side, and he scoured his destination looking for signs of movement. They passed halfway, when, suddenly, a movement caught autolycus' eye. Aiming at the point of movement, he fired his weapon, unleashing a storm of death at the opposite bank, and the large, fat, pigeon which had emerged from the bank was now falling to a crispy doom. For autolycus was wielding the flamethrower, and his reckless actions had unleashed a firestorm which had turned the dry, wooden, non-rotten and thoroughly harmless bridge into a flaming deathtrap. wideyedwanderer, who was behind autolycus, screamed in his ear

"You idiot! You've killed us all!"

The Assault Squad was too far from the South Bank, where the remaining Communists were howling and facepalming in despair, to retreat back across it, thus leaving one way out; a charge across the burning bridge to the North Bank. autolycus snapped out his stunned inaction, and rallied his comrades:

"Forwards, Socialists! Only by charging through the fire and the flames can we prove how Red we truly are!" called the Officer to his men, before sprinting forwards. The others did not need telling twice, and they were running behind him as quickly as they could. autolycus neared the other side, and with a terrific leap, he soared through the air and managed to land on the safe, hard Chinese ground. One by one, the others followed on after him, before only Romanic was left on the bridge, running for his very survival through the roaring fire. The ropes holding the bridge started to unwind and shrivel, and the planks became charred and brittle. Suddenly, the left rope snapped, swinging the bridge down to the right, with Romanic still on it. He yelled, and made a desperate attempt to jump to the other side. The extra pressure his legs put on the charcoal plank he stood on caused it to snap in two, and in turn weaken his jump. The extra force caused by Romanic's leap proved too much for the bridge, and the Lanmu Bridge finally disintegrated, falling down into the the Nuqi River below. But Romanic was still soaring through the air towards safety, but he had jumped too soon, or not far enough. Instead of managing to land on the top, he slammed into the sheer cliff wall, his feet lucky enough to find some footing on a slim ledge. Romanic, dazed, leaned back due to the rebound, stretched out his arms and toppled backwards, to certain doom.

But an iron grip clamped down on Romanic's burning wrist, and Romanic looked up to find Nictel grasping his arm and attempting to haul him to safety. Nictel heaved, and slowly, but surely, managed to pull Romanic up and over the edge, onto the North Side of the Nuqi River. The Communists on both sides of the river cheered and danced, including the Chairman, before he called out to the Communists on the opposing side:

"autolycus! Move downstream to the Wenti Bridge! We shall meet you there and launch a two-pronged attack on the Kuomintang Fortress there! Such an assault can only be victorious!"

autolycus replied in a similarly loud voice: "Of course Chairman, we shall meet you down there in three days!"

The Communists, shocked and pleased on both sides of the river, set off along the path of the gorge. The road for the Northern Bank Communists took them away from the river edge and deeper into the Chinese interior, although it was certain that they would eventually meet up.

All those in the aforementioned Assault Squad are now NOT allowed to post in this thread; a separate one shall be made for you. Absolutely no communication is allowed between the two groups for three day and three night phases; you're separated by several miles now, not several metres. If you have special actions, then you shall requirements may be amended.

Due to a shortage of food, as you did not take all the food from the peasants, the immunity the Officers enjoy has been weakened, although it still exists, and the Chairman is as strong as ever.

The Clique of the People's Hammer no longer exists!

It is now the day phase. It will end in approximately 24 hours at 15:00 GMT+1 tomorrow. Sorry for it being late, but I got really distracted this morning.

Lanmu - Renata Romanic YLC Joooray Sigurd DiY aThis YLC miotas autolycus AA Seamus Jolt Blackadder

Wenti - Khaan GH CDF ATPG WEW Landlubber Nictel


North Side Alive: 9/9
autolycus
wideeyed
AVSM
M3YUZ
Nictel
Split
ATPG
landlubber
Romanic

South Side Alive: 14/40

ACIN
Captain Blackadder
Cute Wolf
Death is yonder
Double A
GeneralHankerchief
Jolt
Joooray
miotas
Renata
Seamus Fermanagh
Sigurd
Yaseikhaan
YLC

Lynched players 6/40

Azathoth
Beefy187
shlin28
Niklas
Pinman
TheFlax

Killed Players 9/40

Winston Hughes
Sasaki Kojiro
taka
Beskar
Chaotix
Psychonaut
johnhughthom
Secura
CDF
aThis

Devoured by Rats - 2

Thermal Mercury
Wishazu