It's strange how, when one has walked away from a problem and done something different for a few hours, how solutions pop into one's head.

Last night, around midnight, while taking a shower it occurred to me that I might be able to have a port that just accepts kill requests on the server...and lo and behold, a similar solution is posted here when I get to work.

Thanks to all of you. I think I can best this beast now. :)

-aijin