much rather see money and effort spent in the development of
advanced suits of power armor like the long heralded "Super
SAM AS" and others (revealed in
Rifts® World Book
1 1 :
Co
alition War Cam p aign).
The situation remained a stalemate for years. It took the pro
posal of
Operation Phoenix
and several months of intrigue and
political machinations before the Coalition States passed a law
making the use of Juicers and Juicer technology legal under the
exclusive jurisdiction of the military. For more information
about Operation Phoenix and its consequences, see the
Uprising
section.
Juicers in Free Quebec
When Free Quebec became a Coalition State, it was forced
by treaty to abandon the creation of Juicers and to discharge
those serving in its army. It took five years for Quebec to com
ply and dismantle its Juicer Battalions; it had four such battal
ions, or some 8,000+ Juicers. By 40 P.A. there were no Juicers
in Quebec ' s Armed Forces - at least not on the official rosters
and tables of organization.
In reality, the Quebec government secretly moved several
augmentation facilities to the traders ' town of Old Bones, in the
ruins of the pre-Rifts city of Quebec. Old Bones is allegedly an
independent town, but is secretly under the control of the Free
Quebec government, which uses the town as an intelligence
gathering resource (enemies of the Coalition often foolishly talk
freely in Old Bones), and to maintain a small covert army of
Juicers, Crazies and other special operatives. The code name for
this secret operation is the
Liberty Reserve.
The Liberty Reserve is an unofficial army covertly trained,
assembled and maintained without the knowledge of the other
Coalition States, especially Chi-Town. As its code name implies,
the operation is meant to preserve Quebec ' s freedom, both from
the enemies of humankind and, if necessary, from the Coalition
itself! The plan was drafted years ago, when Quebec was being
pressured to abandon its Glitter Boy armed forces. The Quebecoi
leaders feared that civil war might erupt within the Coalition one
day, and that their state must be prepared. If such a war started,
Quebec would outfit an army of 1 0,000 volunteers with Juicer
augmentation and use it against its former allies. Alternatively,
the Liberty Reserve could also be called to duty if another en
emy, such as a horde of D-Bees, threatened the survival of the
State.
The current leader of the Liberty Reserve is General Maurice
LeNoir (8th level CS Military Specialist). General LeNoir is a
patriot who puts Quebec ' s interests above all other things, in
cluding the rest of the Coalition States and even humanity at
large. LeNoir operates from a hidden base built under Old
Bones. At this base, a small army of 500 Juicers and about
other augmented soldiers, including 'Borgs and Crazies, is con
stantly training. Occasionally, members of this army are sent out
on covert missions, usually against bandits, D-Bees and mon
sters (and occasionally to spy on the other States). The Juicers
do not wear Coalition uniforms and pretend to be independent
adventurers or mercenaries. All of them are dedicated fanatics
who serve for a period of two years and then accept the detox
process and partial or full bionic reconstruction as a reward;
most continue to operate in the service of their country. For
every existing Juicer, there are twenty other candidates who
42
would, in an emergency, receive the bio-comp augmentation and
fight for Quebec.
Free Quebec ' s Juicers use the standard augmentation, but
their training is usually more extensive and include the Juicer
Assassin and Juicer Scout O.C.C.s among their forces.
Lyboc's Secret Project
Colonel Thaddius Lyboc is an important spy master and secu
rity agent of the Chi-Town State. He is also an important man in
the Chi-Town underground, where he co-owns three body-chop
shops and has multiple contacts with the Black Market, criminal
organizations, and other underground elements, both Downside
(the lower levels of the Chi-Town arcology) and in the surround
ing 'Burbs. In recent years, Lyboc initiated a secret project de
signed to create a small but highly trained army of Juicer spies,
assassins and operatives. This secret unit has been operating for
several months in the countryside surrounding the Coalition,
without the "official" knowledge of the authorities. General
Cabot knows of the operation (he personally authorized the per
sonnel transfers that gave Lyboc his volunteers for the Secret
Juicer project), and he has covered for it, although he has yet to
give his blessing to Lyboc. This secret project would eventually
play a major part in the Juicer Uprising. See the
Uprising sec
tion
for more details.
Secret CS Juicer
Coalition Special Trooper
These augmented soldiers are the result of Lyboc ' s secret
project. The "official" reports are that a new unit, the Chi-Town
1
st Special Forces Battalion, was assembled by Lyboc to be
used in counter-terrorist, anti-guerrilla and reconnaissance mis
sions. The Special Forces Troopers were outfitted with a highly
stylized Death' s Head pattern armor, decorated with spikes and
equipped with a Forearm Integral Weapon System (FIWS , de
scribed in the New Weapons and Equipment section) and other
heavy weapons. They have been used sparsely, so they are not
widely recognized in the Coalition States, and in some places
they are not even recognized as Coalition soldiers, which is how
Lyboc likes it.
The typical Special Trooper is a highly dedicated and moti
vated Coalition soldier who has already undergone basic training
before receiving the bio-comp augmentation. The Juicer opera
tions are conducted in one of the three body-chop-shops partially
owned by Lyboc (which means that he actually gets to pocket
some of the military funds devoted to this secret project). The
typical term of service as a Juicer is two years, after which the
soldier undergoes detox; some volunteer for a third tour of duty,
accepting the greater risk of death in return for another year as a
Juicer powerhouse, and a few remain in service for the full 5-6
years, abandoning all hope in return for the chance to build a
stronger human empire and destroy the enemies of mankind.
In addition to standard Juicer augmentation, Special Troopers
are outfitted with a variety of bionic implants (many of them il
legal). They include cyber-armor for greater protection, a bionic
hand with concealed weapons, and (unknown to the soldiers) a
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