Twg Iv: Freya

Cold_NiTe · April 2005

I didn't freak out Talesin. I just said, that claiming a human is a wolf to votekill him is a convenient out. Anyway I have no way out of what I assume to be impending death. And according to your seer, at least I'll be votekilled instead of wolf killed.

Brute it's sad to see you go mate, we only got like 2 pms in conversation, but good to see that we had similar opinions. I'll see you on the other side? <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' />

TheMuffinMan · April 2005

Everyone knows where i stand in this, but i do not want to cause an instalynch so i will not vote for mantrid just yet. We know that Mantrid is a wolf and that there is no way that he will be alive at the end of the day, so we can afford to take our time. Tonight, we still have a number of suspects to scan, and the longer we wait the more likely it is for a wolf to make a mistake and reveal himself.

Sky · April 2005

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Pulse @ Apr 19 2005, 12:54 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> </div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Sky @ Apr 18 2005, 06:36 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>If Mantrid isn't a wolf...and I go tonight....I won't be able to verify Talesin is telling the truth about Mantrid...which means that he would be free to dictate yet another "wolf" to kill. Which means that, after that night's wolfing, the wolves would win. </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'>
The psychic gets PMed before the wolves choose their victim, doesn't it? Couldn't you just say it on IRC?  </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> 
Why, yes I do. Completely forgot about that. Okay then, now I have no qualms about lynching Mantrid.

Mantrid · April 2005

You know what, fine. Its hopelss now. The game is over. The other wolf is Hellfire3k. Mantrid.

iFire · April 2005

On the human network, Talesin is probably the conduit to seer or (seer), The Muffin Man is claimed as human by Talesin. Sky is the psychic.

The only last remaining players would be Hellfire3k, Pulse (Not in Sky's network), Cold NiTe. As a wolf, Mantrid will be highly suspect in anything he says. So the last remaining people would be Pulse and Cold Nite. After tonight one more human will be down. The seer's last choice would be critical.

Athough a wolf would have perfect knowledge of remaining humans.

Mantrid · April 2005

Oh, and thats an Instalynch, by the way.

lolfighter · April 2005

Why do you always have to instalynch in the middle of the night. >_<

Current votes:
Cold NiTe - 0.1
Hellfire3k - 0.1
Mantrid - 4 (Talesin, Sky, Pulse, Mantrid) (Instalynch)

I'm on it. Expect an update in two hours or so.

lolfighter · April 2005

GAH! Talesin, please clear out all this clutter the next time you pass by.

No posting in the thread unless you're in the game. No posting when it is technically night already. Thank you.

Cleared.

lolfighter · April 2005

It is now night seven, no posting!
(Yes, I know I'm running late. Bear with me.)

Pulse leaned against a doorframe, panting with exhaustion. He seemed to have lost Mantrid for now, but eventually he might catch up with him. Pulse didn't really know what to do: He couldn't keep running forever, and he had no idea where to get a weapon from. A noise echoing down the corridors sent him running again.

He turned a corner and bumped right into Sky. Pulse stumbled and fell, more from exhaustion and surprise than actual loss of balance. Sky staggered, but remained on his feet. Pulse sat up and looked at Sky and his companion, Hellfire3k, who carried a lethal-looking rifle at port arms. Hellfire3k remained impassive, but Sky extended his left hand to Pulse. He raised his own left hand to take it, and was all the more surprised when he felt Sky's fingers tighten around his neck. A pistol had appeared in his right hand, and he was holding it right into Pulse's face.
Sky hissed at him: "What are you?"
But Pulse only replied with a panicked look. His eyes darted to Hellfire3k, who responded by raising his rifle - and aiming it right at him! Pulse's terror doubled.
"I repeat: What are you?"
Pulse could not keep the fear out of his voice as he stammered a reply: "I... I am Pulse. I'm y... I'm your crew mate."
Sky did not show any hint of a reaction. Instead, his fingers tightened even more.
"What else do you want! What else can I tell you! Dammit, are you going to kill me now or what? Go on, if you don't kill me somebody else will!"
By means of answering, Sky released his grip, pocketed the pistol and helped Pulse to his feet.
"No, I am not going to kill you, at least not right now. Now let's hear where you were going in such a hurry."

Talesin bent down, examining the mauled remains of brute force.
"I don't know what posessed him to go looking alone. Cold NiTe, stay on the lookout, damn you! At least he dropped his pistol. I doubt it would have fared better than him if it had gone through that machine."
TheMuffinMan examined the weapon. "It's just jammed," he said, pulling the slide back, ejecting the jammed cartridge and letting the slide snap forward again. "He must have been in a big hurry if he didn't have time to clear the jam. My guess is that the formtaker was already at close range when he tried to fire at it. I wonder whether he got to use the injector, and whether it worked."
"Whether it worked or not, it didn't work well enough to save him at least," Cold NiTe interjected.
"TheMuffinMan, you have a little gun experience it seems," Talesin observed. TheMuffinMan nodded with a shrug. "A little."
"That's still more than I have. You keep the weapon. If anyone's experienced at handling injectors, it's me," Talesin said with a dry chuckle.

Hellfire3k, Sky and Pulse had taken cover around a corner. A little down the corridor, Mantrid was hiding in a small alcove.
Hellfire3k shouted: "Give up, Mantrid. That corridor is a dead end, you know that. And you're not getting past us. Toss your weapon our way and come out with your hands above your head."
From down the corridor, Mantrid's response came: "Do you know what Swiftspear and that bastard you're protecting there were about to do? They were going to blow the machine section loose! They were willing to kill us all to save their own hides! I prevented that! And now you want to kill me?"
"That's your assumption," Sky replied. "You were the one that started to shoot the moment he saw us. We just returned your fire. Once again: Surrender yourself, or we have to do what we have to do."
"Surrender myself to what? My execution? In your book I have already been trialed and judged!"
"In my book, you continue to resist us and get shot. Surrender, and you have a chance to prove your innocence."
Hellfire3k took position, half-covered by the corner he was aiming around. Sky crouched by his feet, aiming down the corridor as well with both hands tightly gripping his pistol.
What happened next, none of them had expected: From the alcove, they heard laughter.
"Ha ha ha, you really got me there. I do not surrender to you, oh Grand Judge Sky, but you shall have what you wish for. But my death shall not go unavenged. Hellfire3k will be my arm beyond the grave."
Pulse could not help but shoot a panicked look in Hellfire3k's direction, but neither he nor Sky as much as blinked.
A single shot ran out, and a smoking pistol clattered to the floor plates, followed by the body of Mantrid, the gory remains of his head spattered across the walls.
"If you even get a grave," Sky remarked drily.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Players still left in the game:

Talesin
TheMuffinMan
Pulse
Sky
Hellfire3k
Cold NiTe

I will need PMs from the guardian (if alive), seer (if alive) and any remaining formtakers before we advance to day seven.

Day seven will begin on thursday, the 21st of April, 22:00 GMT.

This is even later than before, but I have a job interview that day and will be travelling three hours each way, so I will not only be getting home a little late, but probably also be a little exhausted and need some rest before I can write more. Wish me luck. <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' />

lolfighter · April 2005

Sorry guys, after checking the length of the trip, I won't be able to make it. New beginning of day seven is friday, the 22nd of April, 21:00 GMT.

lolfighter · April 2005

It is now day seven, post away!

Hellfire3k and Sky were walking down the corridor with Pulse trailing a little behind them. Hellfire3k always kept his rifle at port arms, and Sky kept his hand in the pocket where he had his pistol. Only Pulse was effectively unarmed - he did have Mantrid's gun, but the last round in it had gone into Mantrid's head. And Mantrid's last words wouldn't leave him alone. Sky seemed to fully trust Hellfire3k, but Pulse found that he could not. And Hellfire3k. even had the best weapon.
"What are we going to do when we find the others?" asked Hellfire3k.
"If there's even anybody else alive. And who knows what they have experienced since we last saw them? They might shoot on sight. We should be prepared to do the same if necessary." answered Sky.
"And how will we know whether they are human or not? For that matter, how do you know that I am human? How do I know that YOU are human?"
"I don't, and neither do you. But we are both armed, we have both had countless opportunities to kill each other, and we are both still alive. For the moment, that is good enough for me. But I don't know how we will deal with the others. We'll think of something."
"I guess so. And what about you, Pu--"
Hellfire3k had turned around to talk to Pulse. But Pulse was no longer behind them.

"One thing we could do would be to inject the drug into the air vent system. That would guarantee that the formtakers are exposed to it," TheMuffinMan suggested.
"I would agree with you completely - if we had more of the stuff. But we only have a few vials. At those concentrations, it would cause mild discomfort at most. We would be wasting our advantage. But I still don't have any plan as to exactly what we should do now," said Talesin.
"But I do," said Cold NiTe. "We have enough vials by now, and most of us are dead. We could just give everyone an injection and be done with it."
Talesin looked at Cold NiTe, awestruck. "Of course! I had that in mind all along, but we didn't have enough vials for everyone, and I completely forgot about it! Let's find the others. I just hope they'll cooperate. Keep your weapons handy..."

Pulse awoke with a splitting headache. He could feel a big bump on the back of his head.
At first, everything was blurry, but slowly the world slid back into focus. He was in a small room with two doors. One of the doors was a solid bulkhead door, the other had hardened glass plates. The room beyond the glass door was dark, but Pulse could make out the shape of a man - or was it really a man? He staggered to his feet and put his face to the glass. The figure turned its head, but he couldn't make out features. He saw the jaw moving, and a voice came through a speaker, hauntingly familiar. But it couldn't be.
"Woken up, have we? Enjoying your last minutes of life? My master will be here soon, you know."
And then it dawned upon Pulse what the small room was. An airlock.
"Let me out of here, you damned formtaker!" he cried. The figure seemed to hear him.
"Oh right, that is what you call them. Formtakers. The name is oddly appropriate. Well, if they are formtakers, then I am their formgiver. I serve them to the best of my abilities, and through me they can take the shape of my host. And you never suspected me at all. How naive you are."
As the figure spoke, a second figure approached it. When it came close, the first figure dropped down before it, right knee and hand on the floor, left hand on the right knee, head bowed. The second figure walked over to the inner airlock door, and when it got close, Pulse saw the brown, leathery skin and purple eyes of a formtaker. It opened its mouth to speak. Pulse expected it to speak in an alien language, but instead it spoke perfect basic: "I think our friend Pulse is dying to know who you are, servant. He will be dying anyway, so you might as well show yourself."
The second figure got up and walked over, and as the light from inside the airlock shone directly on it, he recognized the face of Captain Heartline.
Pulse had to struggle to stay on his feet, the surprise completely overwhelmed him. And now, the formtaker's features began to change, and he saw another sickeningly familiar face. His jaw did press-ups. Pulse hardly noticed that the airlock cycled, blowing him into space. He even forgot to exhale.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Players still left in the game:

Talesin
TheMuffinMan
Sky
Hellfire3k
Cold NiTe

Instalynch is at three votes.

Day seven will end on saturday, the 23rd of April, 21:00 GMT. Considering how few players are left, 24 hours should suffice.

Pulse · April 2005

Well, I had a nice run. It's a shame too, I was that close to surviving the game. Anyways, I think you all know how to avenge me.

iFire · April 2005

Cold NiTe <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' />

TheMuffinMan · April 2005

Yep, Cold Night is the last wolf in the game. Luckily, Pulse seered him before being killed. We might as well let Talesin post his story though, so lets refrain from killing him just yet.

Sky · April 2005

/me pokes Talesin

>_>
<_<

lolfighter · April 2005

Current votes:

Cold NiTe - 1.1 (Hellfire3k)
Hellfire3k - 0.1

Talesin · April 2005

The intercom clicks a few times, and the grilles across the ship start to sputter, spark, and die with quiet pops as the speakers blow. Nevertheless, it's about that time again, and the meeting room is lit.

-------
</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Talesin looks even more worn today, deep circles under his eyes from a lack of sleep. The uniform nowhere to be found, traded for a sturdy pair of dockworker coveralls and a tie-dyed t-shirt. He's already smoking, leaning back in the chair and at least looking more relaxed than he has since the start of this ordeal.

He looks around the table and nods. "This is over. The SEER device, which I left in the hands of Pulse, identified the last formtaker last night. My suspicions were correct about Cold-Nite's erratic behaviour, after looking at them closer. Sky has confirmed that Mantrid was a formtaker, following his... self-elimination. Unfortunately, it is apparent that the formtakers finally figured out who had been keeping it safe... I can't help but blame myself. It might have been the network traffic to Pulse's quarters, or the one or two visits I had to make, to check on the samples."

It takes him a moment, but he manages to reach up and tap the button.. the cigarette apparently holding something stronger than usual today. The projector springs to life, starting to sputter, but stabilizing after a moment. The readout doesn't even bother with comparisons, the analysis is so far off from the norms.. the overlay almost appearing more to be a mineral, than a protein. "If it was not clear, Cold-Nite is the last formtaker. Mantrid's last breath was an attempt to divert the SEER stack to Hellfire3K. Again, it'd be suspicious of him to just give out the name of his fellow... being, so the order was not changed."

He looks up, lazily exhaling a thin stream of smoke. "TheMuffinMan, if you would kindly put an end to this, we can deal with the ship following us, and maybe, just maybe get home in one piece, with no more loss of life. I'd do it myself with the hypo, but I doubt that Cold-Nite will be willing to sedately accept an anti-formtaker injection, and my coordination is a touch off at the moment."</td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'>

Sky · April 2005

/me ends it

Cold Nite

/me d0nces

Cold_NiTe · April 2005

I'll write up a story post for my death, if you want. I could do a damn good one too, and you know it. Just pm me before it's over.

lolfighter · April 2005

The End

"Just great." TheMuffinMan ducked behind a corner as a bullet whizzed past him. "Stop shooting, damn you! Hellfire3k! Sky! What the hell are you doing!"
Turning to Talesin, he said: "And did you see where Cold NiTe went?"
"I don't have the slightest idea. One moment he was there, the next he was gone."
Down the hallway, Sky yelled: "Throw your weapons our way and come out with your hands up! We don't want to kill you, but we will if you force us to!"
Talesin yelled back: "No way! We have no guarantees from you! But I have one: A drug that can confirm whether you're human or not!"
"And you suppose we'll just let you inject us with something? Think again!"

"Just what the hell is going on here?" For a moment, the two warring factions completely forgot their dispute. From a perpendicular corridor, their Captain, Heartline, had emerged - right in the crossfire. "Sky, Hellfire3k, stop shooting at once! TheMuffinMan, Talesin, get over here! Don't just stand there staring at me, get a move on!"
The four crew members complied with their orders, slowly approaching their Captain. The first one who spoke was Sky: "Sir, I thought you were dead?"
"He never was," Talesin said. "He wasn't even sleeping. We just presumed that he was out of the picture because he didn't show any signs of being awake or conscious. Sir, what happened to you?"
"I have no idea, Talesin. I woke up in the medical quarters a few hours ago. Very hungry, I must add. Intravenous feeding isn't very nourishing. But tell me what's going on here? My ship looks like a battlefield! Most of my crew is dead! What have you been doing here? And this better be good!"
Nobody answered. All four just stared at Heartline, unable to find the right words. TheMuffinMan reached into his pocket. Talesin looked at him and his eyes grew wide as he yelled: "No! Not the head!"
"Fair enough," said TheMuffinMan as he pulled out his pistol and pumped half a dozen rounds into Captain Heartline's chest at point blank range.
Hellfire3k swore and swung his rifle around, but Sky was faster, knocking the muzzle of the rifle away and kneeing Hellfire3k in the gut. As he lay coughing on the ground, Sky stood over him, admonishing: "Think, Hellfire3k. You've been on this ship for even longer than I have. Did you ever hear Heartline say 'my ship' or 'my crew?' He always emphasized how we shouldn't get too caught up in the hierarchy to forget that we were all part of a team. He always called the Freya 'our ship.'"
"Those formtakers sure are good. Almost had me fooled," TheMuffinMan said. Talesin knealt over the body.
"No, not a formtaker. Heartline was more thoroughly examined than anybody else. And yeah, I even gave him an injection. He was no formtaker." Talesin brushed some hair away from the back of Heartline's head, uncovering a brown and purple bump. "But look at this: That's not human anatomy. I wouldn't be surprised if it goes all the way into the brain stem. Heartline was posessed by some sort of mind parasite, if you ask me. I wonder whether he could have been saved."
"I wonder whether we can be saved," Hellfire3k coughed, having recovered from the blow Sky had given him. "It seems like there's still a formtaker at large. And something tells me that it's Cold NiTe."
"And do you remember those charges that Pulse told us about? I don't like it that those are unwatched," Sky said.
"To the machine room, then," TheMuffinMan decided.

Cold NiTe came out of the machine room just as they reached it. He froze as he saw them. Hellfire3k took aim.
"Drop your weapon, Cold NiTe," Talesin said. "You have one last chance to prove your innocence, and you know what it is."
Cold NiTe complied. "Give me that injection, then. You'll find that you have nothing to fear from me."
Talesin walked over, but just as he was about to give Cold NiTe the injection, Cold NiTe elbowed him in the face. Nevertheless, as Talesin staggered from the blow, he managed to inject half of the ampoule into Cold NiTe's left arm. He yelped in pain, but took off running down the corridor. Hellfire3k fired a few shots after him, and one shot hit home, grazing Cold NiTe's right calf, but he kept running.
"'et 'im go!" Talesin said, clutching his broken nose. "'et to a bachine 'oom gonsole ad cheg de chaages!"
Sky rushed to a console and started checking the charges.
"They're active! He put them on a countdown, and I don't know if I can stop it in time! Only thing I could definitely do is advance it."
"Fat lot of good that will do us!" said TheMuffinMan from another console. "Good news is that we have control over the drive back. Swiftspear's access override lockout must have auto-terminated when he missed two checks in a row."
Hellfire3k's face seemed to light up like the proverbial lightbulb. "You can advance the timer, you say? And we have control over the drives? Gentlemen, it's time to take a chance - but we're used to that by now, wouldn't you say?"

Cold NiTe limped through the ship as fast as he could. His right leg and left arm hurt like hell, and the drug that Talesin had administered made him feel drowsy and ill. It didn't matter. He would return to his ship and blow the Freya to bits. The experiment hadn't been a complete failure: Sure, they had lost three formtakers, and they had failed to take the Freya intact, but they had still learned much about the humans. When he reported back, the data he had gathered would be invaluable in case the High Council decided on an invasion. And the rewards that were without doubt awaiting him...
He had no use for his human form anymore, and cast it off with a slight exertion of his mind. He had felt the death of the formgiver, and would not be able to take human form again, but he did not need to anymore.
He had reached the airlock that he and his fellows had first used for entry during the blackout that had followed the EMP burst. His spacesuit was still hidden nearby, and he quickly put it on. A shudder passed through the ship. The charges had blown ahead of time, but that was of no concern to him now. He held on to a pipe as the athmosphere rushed out of the habitat and cargo sections. Had the machine section survived? It did not matter either, he would destroy it. The Freya was completely unarmed, it was no threat to him at all. He had won...
He cycled the inner airlock door, and the small pocket of air that had been trapped inside rushed past him. He stepped inside the airlock, cycling the inner door, then the outer. Before him, his ship floated - but it was approaching. This puzzled him, for he had issued no commands to it - and then he realised what was happening. Cold NiTe let out a yell of rage, but in the vacuum of space, nobody heard him.

As predicted, the machine section had survived the detonation. Talesin, TheMuffinMan, Sky and Hellfire3k watched the main machine room monitor in stunned silence as the cargo and habitat sections collided with the alien ship, destroying both ships in the process. There was no explosion or any similarly dramatic display, but they knew that neither Cold NiTe nor anything else was still alive among the debris. They had taken a collision course towards the alien ship, then blown the cargo and habitat sections loose, letting inertia carry them towards the alien ship while the machine section veered off.
"We're alive," Sky summarised.
"And they're dead," TheMuffinMan added.
"Barnard's star?" Hellfire3k suggested.
"Let's do it," Sky agreed.
"And the machine section mainframe has backups of my medical research. The next time formtakers try to attack a terran ship, we'll be ready for them. Formtakers, take heed, mankind is upon you," Talesin said ominiously. Despite the sombre mood, the others had to suppress a snicker.

Yes, they would be ready.

-- The End --

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This marks the end of The Werewolf Game IV: Freya. Congratulations to our winners, the humans. And congratulations to our formtakers: You did very well. Fate had different intentions though.

I'll have a postgame thread up in a little while.

Twg Iv: Freya

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