A Bridge Zhou Far - Three Stars Rising | Summary Thread

[Subotan]

South Side Beginning of Day 3

Yaseikhaan was, amongst other things, an insomniac. He had always found it hard to sleep since he had been disturbed in bed when a shell landed near his house in the Zhongshan Warship Incident. It was thus no surprise that he was up and about at two in the morning, pacing back and forth through the now-small camp. He soon tired of this, and went over to the gorge to admire the view in the moonlight. He sat on the edge, and dangled his feet off the cliff top, wiggling his toes over the 100 ft drop. But crunching leaves behind him caused him to spin round and spring to his feet.

Standing there was a Japanese Officer, in full uniform, and holding in both of his heavily veined hands, the sharpest and longest katana that Yaseikhaan had ever seen. But Yaseikhaan showed no fear, despite not having any sort of weapon on him to counter this threat, and he merely raised up his hands into a boxing position.

"Attacking an Officer?" tutted Yaseikhaan "How sly. No matter, my allies will surely arrive any second now to capture you and reveal your identity"

The Jap raised an eyebrow and gestured behind him. There was total and complete silence, with not a flicker of movement visible. If Yaesikhaan did have allies, then they were invisible ones. Seeing this, Yaseikhaan said nothing, but he bit his lower lip and chewed on it anxiously. His fists tightened, and his feet bit into into the crumbly soil.

"Well, you know what they say..." said Yaseikhaan to the smirking Jap. "...Fortune favours the brave"

With that, Yaesikhaan swung his left foot up like a hammer into the Colonel's face, who fell back onto to the clay soil with a thump and a bloody nose. Yaseikhaan jumped onto the Jap like a cat, and pummelled him in the chest with a hail of short, sharp punches. The Japanese's eyes bulged as the air in his lungs was beaten out of him with a animal-like ferocity. Scrabbling for his sword with his left hand, his long fingers eventually managed to clasp the leather handle, and he slammed the pommel into Yaeikhaan's temple, who was knocked off the the Reactionary and sent sprawling on the ground. Not even pausing for breath, the Counter-Revolutionary staggered to his feet, and plunged his sword into Yaseikhaan's back, severing his spine, and killing him instantly. The Jap closed his eyes and collapsed onto the ground, breathing deep and fast, his heart racing from the fear of how close to death he had come.

***

GeneralHankerchief was not happy. Not happy at all. One of his loyal officers had been murdered in the night because of Bourgeoisie actions, and it was his Special Operative to boot.

"I am not happy. Not happy at all." reiterated the Chairman "Not only did a loyal Officer of mine die, but, somebody slipped up and didn't do what they were meant to do. They know who they are, and I have a good idea myself of who they might be."

He flashed a hard stare at the Communists, and the Detachment did a collective gulp.

"Tomorrow night, we shall be in range of the Wenti Bridge, and I expect to cross it tomorrow morning, so, be prepared.I shall pick my new Special Operative tomorrow morning, so nominations are now open.

Also, I have some happy news, for a change. It turns out TheFlax, although originally a brave Stalwart of the Revolution, was tempted to the Nationalist side through promises of plunder and treachery, successfully infiltrating the Fengxi Clique! Truly, this was a despicable act for the TheFlax to commit, and I am glad we managed to purge such Counter-Revolutionary elements from our glorious People's Army, for fear of diluting the inevitable Worker's Revolution with revisionism and anti-Marxist thoughts and activities!"

North Side Alive: ?

South Side Alive: 11/40

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

Lynched players 7/40

Azathoth
Beefy187
shlin28
Niklas
Pinman
TheFlax
YLC
miotas

Killed Players 10/40

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

Devoured by Rats - 2

Thermal Mercury
Wishazu

[Subotan]

North Side Beginning of Day 3

autolycus once again assembled the soldiers on the North Side of the Nuqi River to find that, once again, nobody had died during the night.

"I'm really happy. We're either incredibly lucky" announced autolycus to the sprightly Communists "Or we've got an incredibly cowardly mafia faction. Either way, it's good for all of us, and least in the short term. But we're still going to lynch someone today, because that's what the Chairman would want. "

With the rain still lashing down around them, the North Side survivors packed up their tents and equipment, and trod along the muddy paths towards the Wenti Bridge. They expected to reach by the end of the day, and they were confident that the following day, that they could mount an attack against the Kuomintang Fortress, provided there was one there.

North Side Alive: 8/9
autolycus
wideeyed
AVSM
Nictel
Split
ATPG
landlubber
Romanic

South Side Alive - ?

Lynched players 6/40

Azathoth
Beefy187
shlin28
Niklas
Pinman
TheFlax
M3YUZ

Killed Players 9/40

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

Devoured by Rats - 2

Thermal Mercury
Wishazu

Deadline is in 36 hours, at 22:00 GMT +1.

[Subotan]

South Side Beginning of Night 3

PEXDET had just finished their final day of being separated, and it had been a lively and exciting ones at that, and not just because there was a fierce thunder storm. Yaseikhaan's death had cast a long shadow over the Reds, and three Reds in particular. Joooray, Sigurd, and Death is Yonder had all been charged with protecting the Special Operativethe previous night, but as Yaseikhaan's stiff corpse showed, someone had slipped up.

"Seeing as Sigurd was going to be investigated last night, it is entirely possible that he may want to go out in a blaze of glory, like some sort of divine wind." fumed the Chairman "A very Japanese-ish notion, don't you think, fellow Communists?"

"That is completely false!" roared Sigurd "I have done nothing but strive for the victory of the working class against the tyrannical invaders and Japanese subjugators. As your Commissar's investigation will show, I am entirely free of revisionist thought and counter-revolutionary temptations. But furthermore, we must question the leadership of PEXDET, for criticism is not revisionism. I assert that our Chairman is a Master of Puppets, and we are dancing on his strings!"

At this, several of the Communists gulped and agreed with the leadership that such moves were a sign of desperation from a flailing Reactionary. But then the Commissar a completely offensive name spoke up

"I have Dug up evidence that means we should not lynch Sigurd. I can't tell you what it is, but take my word for it; do not lynch Sigurd."

Sigurd sat back smugly confident.

"It's you!" yelled DiY and Joooray at each other. There wasn't much to go on except debating skills, and in the end, DiY just managed to convince the Socialists of his innocence. Joooray was brought forward to the cliff.

GeneralHankerchief made another announcement "Since Yaseikhaan perished last night, my Commissar shall perform the execution today. I also have more news about our ex-Comrades. CDF was a completely and utterly dedicated Marxist, with no qualms about him. arpeggiateTHIS was even more important, as a Soviet Alumnus, he was extremely proficient in using firearms and guns, and his great skills are now surely missed. "

ACIN was not particularly skilled at murdering people, so he decided the cleanest and easiest way would be to just push Joooray off the cliff, as had happened the previous two days. But in the dark and gloom caused by the thunder storm, ACIN misjudged his shove, and Joooray toppled off the cliff edge in a messy stumble, rather than soaring clean off. Jooray hit rocks and bounced on his way down, before getting snagged on a branch fifteen feet down the gorge wall. Seeing his good fortune, he called out to the others:

"Hey, it appears I'm in luck. Oh what a fantastic day, clearly destiny does not intend for me to die here, for I am unlynchable! I shall climb up and join you all sh-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a huge bolt of lightning blasted out of the sky and ripped down the gorge, throwing tendrils of energy across the gorge, searching for a point to reach Earth. Joooray, dangling out into open space on his little branch was the perfect vehicle to do so, and he was blasted by the thunderbolt off the branch. Killed instantly, he Rode the Lightning all the way down the Canyon, before anding with a sizzling splash into the savage rapids below.

Joooray - 3- Renata DiY ACIN
DiY - 2 - Joooray Seamus
Blackadder - 1 - Jolt

North Side Alive: ?

South Side Alive: 10/40

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

Lynched players 8/40

Azathoth
Beefy187
shlin28
Niklas
Pinman
TheFlax
YLC
miotas
Joooray

Killed Players 10/40

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

Devoured by Rats - 2

Thermal Mercury
Wishazu

[Subotan]

North Side Beginning of Night 3

The Communists still felt obliged to lynch someone for some reason in the fierce thunderstorm, even though they had spent three days without a single kill.

"We have to fight Fire with Fire, boys." announced autolycus with a stern severity "Even when fire has already been attempted" referring to the quaking Romanic and his bridge-jumping exploits.

"I'm a good Communist. Really! I don't know why you're all ganging up on me..."

askthepizzaguy approached Romanic and laid a hand on his shoulder: "We do have a good reason. Just Because." , before drawing his butcher's knife. Romanic stepped back, clearly panicked

"Now now now there's no need to go psychopath on me. I ;m sure we can come to a convienient arrangement where we-"

Just at that moment, a huge lightning bolt blasted the tree Romanic was standing under. Although the thunderbolt left Romanic frazzled, he was otherwise unarmed. But the tree was charred to a crisp, and it's brittle roots has become blackened and twisted, and they gave way. The tree crumbled and collapsed, right on top of the screaming Romanic, who was crushed by the falling lumber.

askthepizzaguy tutted, but the others seemed quite glad that ATPG didn't go as psychopathic as Romanic had feared.

North Side Alive: 7/9
autolycus
wideeyed
AVSM
Nictel
Split
ATPG
landlubber
Romanic

South Side Alive - ?

Lynched players 6/40

Azathoth
Beefy187
shlin28
Niklas
Pinman
TheFlax
M3YUZ
Romanic

Killed Players 9/40

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

Devoured by Rats - 2

Thermal Mercury
Wishazu

[Subotan]

The Communists woke up to find that the thunderstorm which had dispatched Joooray had since passed, and also that no-one else had been dispatched during the night. The Socialists were relieved to see this, and GeneralHankerchief once again took credit for this accomplishment.

"And who knows, maybe all the reactionary thought has been purged from our People's Army, through the leadership of the Party as directed by myself, the Chairman and Party Secretary of the People's Extraordinary Detachment." declared the Chairman and Party Secretary proudly

"Hold on," questioned a Maoist "Since when were you the Party Secretary of this here military force? We did not elect you to such a position!"

"Au contraire" replied GeneralHankerchief (Despite the fact that none of his audience could speak French) "As the supreme Party authority in the region, I have the authority to create and dissolve party titles at will; thus, I have added to my responsibilities that of the Party Secretariat. With the increased power that my new office affords me, I have decided to reshuffle my Officer Corps. Comrade Seamus Fermanagh is relieved of his post as the Medical Officer, and he has been allocated the position of Special Operative. Comrade Jolt has been promoted to the role of Medical Officer! Congratulations you two! You shall be using your new powers shortly, I fear."

For about 200 metres away, over a small hill and down a gentle slop, the Wenti Bridge crossed the Nuqi River. As the Communists had feared, it was patrolled by Kuomintang soldiers. But, thankfully, thanks to the wise leadership of PEXDET, the Reds were well prepared to take the bridge from the clutches of the international Counter-Revolutionary conspiracy. The mountain gun and the mortar which they had dragged with them all this time was about to come in useful.

***

Bu Jingyi was standing on guard on Wenti Bridge. A half hearted defender of the Nationalist cause, he wasn't that much committed to the defence of the Motherland against the invading Japanese. But duty was duty, and he was obligated to defend this bridge. He would actually have much rather have been at home in Sichuan with his young family, tending to his crop, but he had had the misfortune to be conscripted into the National Revolutionary Army. There wasn't much he could do about it except wait his time out, and hopefully eventually get posted to a location where he could slip away from his superiors. He'd heard that only 3/5s of soldiers conscripted into the army actually made it through training, with the rest either dying or going AWOL in the night. Now would be a good time to do it actually. The night was dark, thanks to the new moon, and the clouds obscured the starlight. He couldn't help but think of the time when he-

Pa-CHUNK

What was that? Bu immediately stood up, peering into the darkness without much success. It was certainly not a natural noise, and he picked up his rifle to make sure than nothing human was skulking around in the gloom. He thought he could hear whisperings in the dark, but an annoying whistling from above was preventing him from being able to make out what was said. He better call the Colonel in charge of the guard to see if he could pick anything being said out of the infernal EEEEEEEEE-

Ka-BOOM

The mortar shell slammed into Bu's position with a satisfyingly humongous explosion. The fireball didn't just light up the night sky, it bathing everywhere in sight of the fortress in a cosy orange glow for several seconds, and illuminating the Communists' manic glee. The flames revealed GeneralHankerchief, who was standing on a small hillock with his arm fully outstretched, bellowing an order to the mountain gun crew.

Earth jumped up and the trees shook as the mountain gun fired a shell straight at the Wenti Bridge gate, blowing it to smithereens. Now it was the turn of the Kuomintang to scream and cry out in panic, as the Socialists rushed forced, yelling battle cries and storming the bridge. The Nationalists all ran to the South Bank of the bridge and attempted to fight off the attackers, but to no avail, thanks at least in part to the demon who dropped in from the North Bank. Breathing flame, he belched napalm all over the stone bridge, catching many of the Nationalist grunts unaware, and shortly dead. The demon wielded his flamethrower with skill and self-indulgence, laughing as he did so. But he stumbled in the assault, and his torch swung to the side to engulf Comrade AVSM in liquid fire. He screamed, and attempted to flee from the all-consuming fire, but he only managed to run into the side of the bridge from where he toppled, soaring down into the depths of the Nuqi Gorge like a dying firefly.

As the survivors from the North Bank caught the Rightists in a pincer movement, one of the Communists hung back. wideyedwanderer was a bit nervous, as he'd neer fought in a battle before. The screaming, the fire and the explosions all terrified him, and gave him pause. He waited on the North Side of the Gorge, ostensibly protecting the rear from any attempts by the Kuomintang to bring up reinforcements, although he knew as well as anyone that there was no chance of that happening. But, a movement could be seen in the gloom. It wasn't enough to be a reinforcing army, maybe one man at most. Pointing his rifle cautiously, he shuffled over to the rustling, out of sight from the bridge. The man disappeared behind a tree, and wideyedwanderer followed. Sidling around the tree, he couldn't see anything; the man had disappeared.

"Huh. Was probably just another conscript like-"

He was cut short by a sword bursting out of his stomach. He gasped and choked as a voice whispered in his ear

"Just so you know, we're not cowards. We've just been biding our time."

The mystery man then pulled his blade out of wideyedwanderer's belly, and decapitated wideyedwanderer in a one swoop.

When the smoke and all the corpses had been cleared, the Chairman and Party Secretary stood on the wall of the bridge to make a speech

"Welcome back comrades! Reunited, we are are at our strongest...even if we have endured a few casualties along the way. wideyedwanderer's death is of particular concern. As the killers came from the North Bank, they must both have been in the Assault Squad. However, we now know that YLC was in fact a Japanese Soldier, not even a collaborator, but a full-blooded imperialist! Lucky us!"

The Socialists then gathered their packs and set off over the bridge further North, towards Yan'an, though dusty plains and and Gobi sandstorms.

Alive: 16/40

ACIN
ATPG
autolycus
Captain Blackadder
Cute Wolf
Death is yonder
Double A
GeneralHankerchief
Jolt
Joooray
landlubber
Nictel
Renata
Seamus Fermanagh
Sigurd
Split

Lynched players 11/40

Azathoth
Beefy187
shlin28
Niklas
Pinman
TheFlax
YLC
miotas
M3YUZ
Romanic
Joooray


Killed Players 12/40

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


Devoured by Rats/Consumed by Flames - 3

Thermal Mercury
Wishazu
AVSM