Jeff Probst smiled as the sun rose over a hill deep in the jungles of Indonesia.

He knew that what he loved to do was about to start all over again. All of the sudden, an army of sixteen people began to take form at the top of the hill. These sixteen people were about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime again. They were about to play Survivor, a game that they all knew and loved. Some of them had been successful in their previous attempts; there were two winners among the cast. Others hadnt been so lucky and were looking for revenge. As Jeff surveyed the group, he knew that this was going to be a wild season. The group of sixteen stood in front of Jeff, and he welcomed them. Before all else, we have a very important task. He grabbed a bag at his feet. Time to pick tribes. He walked to each person in the line of sixteen and told them to grab a stone out of the bag. Once everyone had a stone, they were told to reveal their stones. Rob and Sugar had the proper stones. You two will be captains, you will have to alternate genders, so it doesnt matter who goes first. Rob Mariano stroked his chin, he pointed at Helen Glover. He knew she would be a good worker and would be competent at challenges, a must if you were going to survive on Marianos tribe. Sugar had less strategy. She always did. She decided to go with someone she knew from her previous season, so she chose GC. Rob and Helen put their heads together to decide on a male that they would want on their team. They both agreed. There was one man in the line who stood head and shoulders above the rest in terms of athletic ability. Rob looked at Jeff and said, Ill take Dave Johnson. GC leaned to Sugar and told her who to pick. She didnt even consider that he might be wrong, so Sugar chose Alicia. Mariano, Helen, and Dave put their heads together. Who would be the strongest girl, Rob asked. The answer was clear. Rob knew that he didnt want her on his tribe again, but he knew she could beast it up in challenges. He pointed at Danielle DiLorenzo and she joined his line. Sugar got to choose a male next. She decided to choose Jamie Newton because he looked like he could compete with people like Dave and Rob. Rob chose Brian Corridan next. He knew that it wasnt the ideal choice, but he didnt want Ryan Shoulders and he knew that Todd Herzog was the only person who could compete with him intellectually. Sugar chose Cirie next. Sugar had played with Cirie before, but only for three days. They generally got along, but other than that didnt have much interaction. Rob was more than happy to choose Andrea Boehlke as his next pick. He had thrived in this game when he was able to easily manipulate young women. It worked with Amber, even though they were married. And he had done it again in Redemption Island with Natalie, Ashley, and Andrea. Sugar was next, and she chose Todd Herzog to join her team. That meant that Ryan Shoulders was more or less stuck on Robs team. Rob thought to himself well, every season has to have a first boot. Sugar chose Shambo Waters next. She knew that Shambo was good at challenges, even if a little crazy. Rob, you get to choose for yourself and for Sugar.

Ill take Whitney, Jeff. Rob knew this was a win-win. Not only did Whitney fit the Andrea/Ashley/Natalie/Amber demographic, but she wasnt Leslie Nease, and Rob knew that was a good thing. That means Leslie is on Sugars tribe. Jeff threw the tribes their buffs. Rob, your tribe will be called Akal. You will wear Red. Sugar, your tribe will be called Prajurit. You will wear Green. Are you guys ready to see your first immunity challenge? Everyone nodded in return. Jeff could see by the looks on everyones faces that this meant business. This time around, people were here for one reason and one reason only: Money. He knew that this always yielded a great season and he could wait to see how it played out. All 16 of you will begin on a mat, when I say Go you will race out to your raft. Underneath the raft are 12 bags filled with puzzle pieces. You must untie each bag and bring them all back. Once you are back, you will pick one person to put the puzzle together. Whichever tribe finishes the puzzle first will win immunity and reward. The reward today is matches. That is right, no worrying about rubbing sticks together. We will flat out give you fire. The losing tribe? No matches, and you go to tribal council TONIGHT. Sound worth it? everyone nodded in response. Ok then. Ill give you a minute to strategize. Everyone lined up at the start. When Jeff lowered his hand, all sixteen of them were off. He was surprised by their speed. Clearly, no one wanted the embarrassment of being voted off first. Everyone swam out to the raft. It was really close except for a few people. Rob and Dave were miles ahead of everyone, Cirie was having a rough go but wasnt too far behind. The Akal tribe all got to their buoy first. Rob jumped down and grabbed the first bag, only two feet underwater. He then went for bags two and three all in one breath, and succeeded. Akal had 3 bags before Prajurit had even gotten to their raft. Dave Johnson dived in next and got bags four and five in a row. Prajurit now had two bags, but Akal was only looking stronger and stronger. GC had gotten the first two, but he was tired from the swim out and had to tag out with Jaime. On the Akal side of things, Dave and Rob were proving to be a formidable team. Everyone was letting them get all the bags, and no one seemed to mind. They were now at eight bags while Prajurit was only at 5. On Prajurit, Alicia decided to take over. She wasnt the most adept swimmer, but she was able to pull herself down into the depths to grab the sixth and seventh bags in a row. Akal just kept marching ahead of Prajurit. They consistently had a 3-4 bag lead on the clearly inferior team. Rob and Dave were getting a little tired, so they let Helen into the mix. But one bag was enough for her. Rob asked that Dave go down to get the last bag because Rob was going to have to do the puzzle. Just like that, Prajurit watched Akal begin to swim away. Each of them, except Rob, was carrying at least a bag or two. Sugar was cheering on Alicia, but they were only at eight bags at this point, a far cry away from the requisite twelve. Once they got to the beach, Mariano took over, he began pouring out bag after bag of puzzle pieces. He noticed immediately that this type of puzzle was a Survivor staple, straight edges with words.

Probably something relating to immunity. Behind him, he heard Sugar scream. He assumed that Prajurit finally got their last bag and was heading back, and he was right. Helen watched Rob from the sidelines. She envied the way he moved as if he wasnt even thinking. He grabbed pieces that she didnt even see. Its almost as if the puzzle was putting itself together. When Prajurit got to the beach, Rob was half done. Todd took the bags and began to pour them out. He knew that he was going to be the reason that Prajurit won or lost. But by the time he was putting together his first few pieces, Rob was putting the finishing touches on the phrase Welcome to Indonesia. Todd didnt even stand a chance. Akal were the winners, and Prajurit would be facing the vote sooner than the ever imagined. ************** Back at the Akal camp, spirits were incredibly high. Rob and Dave were met with pats on the back. Rob tried to shrug it off as a team effort, but as he told a producer later that day That was no team effort. That was Rob and Dave teaching this team a lesson in how this game will work. Unfortunately for Rob, Brian noticed this dominance too. And, as he told a producer, Ill be damned if this season is a Redemption Island repeat. I didnt come back to Survivor to give Rob Mariano another million dollars. Get off of the island, asshat. As the tribe began to get their things together, there were clear cliques forming. The bigger, stronger males (Rob and Dave) were building the shelter with the women who were competent enough to help. (That, of course, included Helen and no one else.) Ryan Shoulders walked into the woods to find the water supply. He could tell by the way that the first challenge went, there was a good chance that this would be a Pearl Islands repeat for him. He was, once again, stuck on a tribe with two huge physical threats and where he would be underappreciated. He was relieved when he found the water well, but he knew that unless he could find a way to make it to the merge without a scratch, he had no shot in hell at winning this game. Andrea was another person who noticed Robs dominance of the tribe already. She knew why he had picked him. She may have followed him in Redemption Island, but she knew that wasnt going to be the case this time. She knew that if she wanted to win this game with any class at all that it would not be with someone like Rob at her side. Or, to put it more accurately, with her at Robs side. He was far too good at this game and he had to be stopped. The only person who didnt come to camp resenting Rob just a little was Dave. In fact, Dave saw this as a perfect opportunity to create a friendship and maybe even an alliance. He figured that the two biggest threats in the game needed to stick together otherwise they were likely to be torn apart and thrown out immediately. Rob couldnt have agreed more. Danielle was one of the wild cards of this season. Rob knew that. She was a big personality, but she was also capable of following, as she did in Heroes Vs. Villains. Rob knew, though, that this time she would be very wary of her alliance leader. You dont get backstabbed like that and dont remember it. That night, the entire Akal tribe sat around the campfire telling jokes and eating rice. They were happy that they didnt have to vote someone off on day one, but that didnt mean that the game was aside. No, as any returning player would tell you, the game is never aside. There are always times for goofing around and getting along, but sooner or later, you will have to stick a machete in someones

back. They all knew this. And they all hoped that they would get the chance before someone else did it to them. ******* The Prajurit tribe had set a record. They were the only tribe in Survivor history that would be going to tribal council on day one. They knew that this wasnt good, and they knew that they had to get to the game really quickly. But, there was still the issue of making their camp livable. It was a tall order for one day, but everyone got right to it. Jamie and GC began working on the shelter, while Leslie and Sugar went to go find water. Of course, no one could go anywhere without hearing whispers behind them. But they knew that was something that was just going to happen. Todd knew that this tribe was full of bush league players. All except Cirie. He knew one thing about Cirie: She was pissed. She had missed out on the million dollars twice, and knew that she deserved it. He definitely didnt want Cirie against him. So that was the first place he went. He rushed out to Cirie who was gathering wood for the fire and told her that they were the two masterminds on the tribe, and that the only way that they could beat Akal was if the two of them worked together. Cirie knew exactly what Todd meant, and she couldnt have agreed more. She knew her road to the merge was easy. She was going to have to compete mentally against players like Shambo? GC? Leslie? It was almost insulting. But she shrugged. A million dollars against Parv and Amanda spent the same as a million against Jamie and Sugar. Leslie knew that she was in trouble from the get-go. She was the last picked for tribes. She had the reputation of annoying, and she had only a few hours to change it. She started by asking Sugar what she thought. Sugar said that she wanted the tribe to be strong, and that meant getting rid of Shambo. Leslie jumped on that immediately. Sugar suggested that they try to get Jamie and GC on board. Leslie went after Jamie. Alicia knew what the priority was this time around. She was clearly on the physically inferior tribe, and that meant cutting as much dead weight as possible. Id be willing to get rid of Leslie AND Sugar if I could at this point, Alicia told a producer in her first interview. She knew that most of her tribe would be on board, so at this point it was a matter of getting a bug in as many ears as possible. Alicia wants Leslie or Sugar, Todd told Cirie. Alicia had approached him at the water source. He agreed. Cirie also agreed. It made sense. If Todd and I really want to run this game, we cant do it outright. We need to know when to lay low and allow someone else to take the reins. What does it matter to me if its Leslie tonight? Sugar? Shambo? Theyre all the same. The producer was taken aback by Ciries callousness, but not surprised. Cirie was here for blood this time. Jamie and GC were working on the shelter when Sugar and Leslie approached them. Todd noticed the four talking and knew that he had to reconcile that quickly. After Sugar and Leslie left, Todd went to strike. What were you guys thinking for the vote tonight? Todd asked them. In return, they kind of grunted with We need the strongest I guess. Todd pitched them the idea of Sugar and Leslie. They nodded in approval, but he wanted to get Shambo just to be sure. Todd hated having to be the head of the operation this early in the game, but he hated surprise tribal councils more.

Shambo seemed responsive to the idea. But Todd knew she was unpredictable. He knew that he didnt need her per se, but he was always open to the idea of a new ally. Do you know who they are going for? Shambo asked Todd. Todd didnt know, but he quickly answered with, Its you. They think you are weak. Jerks Shambo said. Todd knew he had her. As night fell, the Prajurit tribe got ready for tribal council. Everyone seemed uneasy. 24 hours was not enough to gain allies and vote someone off. ************