As she had a front-row seat inside JS's mind, Eve felt the Rogue's hate against JS and his thoughts about torturing him. Yet JS's fun was evident. Considering just how precarious was their situation, Eve wondered whether JS wasn't really a bit crazy. She was focused on him, when a lauder and lauder noise distracted her. The former slaves were moving, speaking, shouting, acting as "normal" people! JS jumped inside the trench sporting the typical smile of the cat that had eaten the rat. "What happened with the Rogue? I couldn't understand the Rogue language," Eve asked. "And the former slaves look 'normal'!" "With the Rogue?, nothing. He asked me and the other Eartheners to betray." JS smiled mischievously and pulled from his pocket a remote control: "I couldn't resist the temptation to sneak the Rogue's remote control." Then he spoke to the former slaves: "Now the remote control is set to the minimum and has no effect on you. If we destroy it, you'll be as normal as you were before, and the microchip in your brain would be only a piece of plastic. Only this remote can turn on your chip. Once destroyed it you are free." JS put the remote on the floor: "Please, ma'am." A Twi'lek woman crushed the remote control and everyone screamed and wept for joy. Early next morning a speaker began to crackle suddenly: "People of New Mars, give up! We'll have pity on you and won't punish you! Earthener mercenaries lay down your arms and we'll allow you to leave the planet. All of you have been misled by the ambition of this Earthener, Jay Sea, a thief and a debauched murderer. Jay Sea wants to be the king of New Mars and seize its wealth. Are you willing to die for his greed?! We grant you an hour, then you must raise the white flag. You are just a pitiful bunch of peasants with a bloody villain as commander. Unconditional surrender or we'll have no mercy." When the proclamation ended, screams, shouts and gunshots rose from the RAT's ranks and a deep silence fell on the New Martian lines. S'skash, Eartheners and aliens looked at JS who remained impassive with a sneer on his lips. "He's really pissed off!" he thought addressed to Eve. Then JS looked at the others and exclaimed: "Nuts! You know well that the word of the Rogue is worth less than a spit. Remember Lucas, remember our comrades killed and eaten by the RATs, remember how the Rogues reduce people into slaves and take a decision! For myself I'll fight to death." "To death!" shouted Eve. "Show them our colors!" "To death!", everybody shouted, but Levis, a SM, dampened their enthusiasm, exclaiming: "But we have no flag here!" JS looked around and shouted: "No, we have one!". He pushed through the crowd and grabbed a female slugh kitten. JS tied the puppy to a hook and proudly roared: "This is our flag!" The S'skashs looked stunned and Eve nearly choked. One of them asked puzzled: "But, sir, do you know what a slugh puppy means, here on NM?" and added, all in one breath: "It means the pus*y!!!" "And THAT is what I fight for!" JS replied "This is my flag! Rogues and RATs are rapists, murderers and cannibals. In the end, all is very simple. From THAT all we came, THAT means mother, our loved ones, home, country. The essence of war is the control of THAT. We can use hard four-syllable words like demography or economics, or as simple as life and food, but at the core it's the same. Our dignity and our freedom are at stake!" JS stared straight into Eve's eyes, and thought: "It's for you that I'm fighting!". "I love you!" thought Eve and ordered: "Show our colours!" JS jumped on the edge of the trench and waved the "flag" amid the others' huzzas. Thank you TheAntFarm: TycoStation Xurge3D: CyberM4 V4; Space Marines M3 V4 Porsimo: M150; M356 SAW Visual Silence: ShadowOps Anton Kisiel: Apollo Maximus Capsces: Cole Traveler: Shades of Maquah CP: Grey Alien Traveler: Battle Slug Nikitacreed: Battle Slug text Antony Appleyard: coils of Razor Wire