Jetnal threw down his pick in anger and rushed towards Lt. Harkal. Harkal raised his cannon and glared. "You don't want to do this, kid. Pick up your tool and continue working, or face disintegration."
"I'd rather DIE than continue working for YOU!" Jetnal punched the air for effect.
"So be it. According to regulations, you have five seconds to comply with orders. I suggest you rethink your plan."
"Five-four-three-two-one, eh? There. Go ahead, shoot me. I dare you."
Harkal leveled his gun, but didn't fire. "What's going on here? Why so desparate for death?"
"Desparate for release of any sort, you little son of a--"
Suddenly Auroc's pick slammed down on top of Jetnal's head from behind. His outer skull shattered, spewing cerebral matter and fluids everywhere. Auroc shrugged. "I feared he would irritate you to the point that you would harm us as well."
Harkal blinked and turned to face Auroc. "Er... Don't do that again. It's messy, and against protocol. But I won't harm you, you just made my job easier."
Auroc bowed and returned to work. Murphy looked at him and cocked his head. "What'd ya do that for? Leave it to the guys with the guns!"
"I figure if I do things like that, I'll win favor with the staff... win trust. Then they won't expect it when I... strike." He emphasized 'strike' with an unusually strong swing of his pick, sending shards of the boulder flying everywhere.
"When you strike?" Both bug-people were now picking regularly while talking to keep Harkal from coming over.
"Haven't you heard? I'm organizing a rebellion. Jetnal was part of the plan. He offered to sacrifice himself to help our cause. I plan to get trusted enough to be issued a Commando Suit... Then, no one can stop us. We'll have numbers AND weapons."
Murphy's arm went limp. "That's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard of!"
"Would you prefer we spend our whole lives in this godforsaken place?"
A lightly-armored chozo ran into the control room. "Overseer, I must suggest hiring more personnel as guards. We just had an attempted uprising."
Ki'Tchek winced and apprehensively turned to face the scout, then the supervisor. "Uh... An uprising?"
The supervisor chuckled dryly. "I'm never wrong, am I? I wish that weren't true..."
"Yes, Overseer, an uprising. One of the bug-people attacked a Commando, but another one took him out with a pickaxe."
"Why didn't the Commando do anything?"
"I don't know, but that's hardly a high-priority subject."
Overseer Ki'Tchek nodded. "First off...Miner 24005, codename Auroc. He should be..rewarded." He turned on the Public Announcement system. "Unit number Two-four-double-oh-five, report to the command center immediately for a promotion."
The PA blared. "I Repeat! Two-four-double-oh-five, get in here for a promotion!"
Auroc blinked. "Already? That was fast. Well, seeya, Murph!" He dropped his pick and scurried off.