With a case of hard drives and Sasha as stakes, how will the contest of these two strategists go? The first time round, Monicruel took Torg by surprise, but this time Torg's had a few days to plan out a proper response...

Personally, I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that the hard drives are not in that case anymore.

If Torg is there, then I'm betting the rest of the crew are as well. Sasha may have already been rescued.

Torg didn't seem to need to mention Sasha, and there's no way he'd just be chilling there as he's had several face to face (online) chats with Monicruel. She probably panicked after her sister didn't contact her within a day or two, and has concluded that (as I have) Teresa was off copying those drives. For who.......

I concur with balthazar, if Sasha was at that facility, I'd almost wager Torg has extracted her already. I'd also be very surprised if that isn't Riff or Sam or Zoe up in the security box in the main panel.

I'd be surprised if he didn't have backup, a sniper on overwatch, or Sam just waiting to burst in and attack. Wait! It's been exactly three days, right? How long does it take for Sam to make a vampire? Three days. They caught Teresa and turned her into a vampire! It all makes sense. MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-

Well predicted, habitually_dubious.

Let's see... Bun-bun, Zoe, Sam and Kiki are still about, somewhere. I'd imagine that Sam is getting Sasha out (immunity to guns, plus he'd volunteer for that job) and probably Bun-bun/s along in case Sam gets distracted, partially to remind him of what he's there for and partially to help mess with anyone in their way.

I don't know where Zoe is, but I'd imagine that she has the Kiki-wing remote (and probably Kiki) to retrieve Bun-bun in an emergency.

I don't see them catching Slaughteresa and making her a vampire, for the simple reason that then she'd be immune to guns and stuff. Yes, Sam would be the senior vampire and thus theoretically she'd have to obey him; but she's female, and Sam's not very smart. She could probably talk Sam into ordering her to do whatever she wants, handing her a wooden stake, and exposing his heart in three minutes flat, and then Torg had to deal with a super-strong, bullet-proof and smart enemy.

@3C: That, and they established in the 'Boy's Night Out' storyline that Sam doesn't remember how to turn someone into a vampire.

From the look on Slaw's face in panel 3, she's thinking and scheming. Like the rest of us, she's working out where each of Torg's cohorts is at. So, we know that Torg is in the hot zone and Riff is in the booth. Sam is passed out on the floor of the booth because he forgot he doesn't breathe again--or maybe rescuing Sasha, but I find the former more likely (or at least funnier). ZHOAS is either propping a door open or standing watch somewhere. I initially took Hunter's idea about a 'sniper on overwatch' to refer to Bun-Bun, but it could also be that Zoe's prowess with firearms extends beyond shotguns. Though I think it's more likely that Zoe left to extract Sasha after the others left with Teresa and is waiting somewhere with the inflatable escape XT-34.

Anyway, if Torg is smart, he'll make it appear to Teresa that he's sticking closely to the plan that they used in breaking in to hC--making her think he's some kind of one-trick pony. But it'll turn out he's actually got something planned that she couldn't predict--banking on Teresa underestimating him (much like Monicruel did).

I'm just waiting for Torg to trap Teresa in a freezer and ask her "Are you cold, Slaw?".

Gah! Torg, don't tell her *anything*! You're totally getting played! Teresa isn't giving up here: she's learning more about you, stalling for time, making new plans, and annoying her sister at the same time.

This is a fascinating battle of masterminds, really. Teresa is essentially a female Torg:
(1) They're serendipitous.
(2) They're both great at making people underestimate them. Mostly by putting on an air of being dumb and flaky.
(3) They both have surprising levels of insight into the way other people think.
(4) They both know how to put people off their guard by flirting.
(5) They're great at irritating people--a huge advantage, really, as irritated people don't think clearly.

But in an ultimate battle of wits between them, I'd put my money on Torg. While Teresa can operate as part of a team when need be, she comes across as the 'lone wolf' type in the end and has yet to demonstrate any manner of leadership skills. Torg on the other hand knows how to convince people to follow him, knows how to gauge his teammates' skills, and knows how to put those skills to effective use.

I've just realised that Zoe's arm is visible in panel 5 here. Evidently she talked Noah around to her side, one way or another...

@Cs: I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that. I started to say something about it in the main forum, but realized that it probably qualified as 'speculation.'