"the treatment." Any number of adventures and intrigue can take
place while the characters wait.
The Devon Incident
The plan would have worked out perfectly, if it hadn't been
for the Devon Incident. In some ways, such an incident was al
most inevitable, given the impulsive and erratic behavior of the
Juicers. Or perhaps the hand of Fate intervened. In any case,
only a few thousand Juicers are treated before things fall apart.
The incident that precipitates the whole Uprising is one of
those unforeseen events that can change history. Coalition inves
tigators eventually piece together the chain of events, and can
only find one person to blame, a young officer named Max De
von, thus the entire incident is named after him.
It all starts with a simple misunderstanding. One of the "sam
ple" beneficiaries of the Prometheus Treatment, who has been
paraded around the camp every day to prove the treatment
works, is a Juicer veteran called Sam "The Dagger" Greenwood.
Sam is fairly well known, having served in Ishpeming with dis
tinction for several years, and has a well earned reputation. Fur
thermore, he had been converted over eight years ago by UTI
and should, by rights, be already dead.
As luck would have it, another well known Juicer leader, a fa
mous veteran named John Slaughter, had recently arrived at the
camp, along with a fairly large mercenary band (90% Juicers).
Slaughter had met a different Juicer who also went by the name
137
Sam "The Dagger." The last names were different, but they are
rarely used among mercenaries anyway. The day of the incident,
Slaughter runs into the "sample" Juicer. Slaughter is introduced
to Sam "The Dagger," and when he doesn't recognize him,
Slaughter starts shouting that the CS is using an impostor and
trying to trick them ! Ironically, the so-called impostor is the
genuine article.
The incident might have blown over without a problem. In
fact, another Juicer who knew both "Sams" was stepping for
ward to explain everything. Regrettably, the shouting match oc
curred at a temporary Treatment center, guarded by a Coalition
platoon under the control of a young lieutenant, Max Devon. Lt.
Devon was a recent transfer from Lyboc ' s intelligence division,
and was perhaps the only CS soldier in the entire region who
knew that the Prometheus Treatment was, indeed, a lie ! Startled
and scared by the outburst, the officer thought that the gig was
up, and reacted without thinking, ordering his soldiers to fire
into the crowd and kill Slaughter!
It proved to be a fatal mistake. Not only did the soldiers fail
to shoot Slaughter (who nimbly somersaulted out of the way),
but their laser beam volley cut down Sam "The Dagger" and the
Juicer who could have explained away the misunderstanding.
The startled Juicers in the camp found themselves being fired
upon and instinctively fought back. A general melee broke out
around the Treatment Center and chaos rippled throughout the
camp as the shooting and fighting spread to the surrounding
area. Other Coalition guards tried to help by charging in with
guns blazing, but this only made matters worse, as other Juicers
thought they were being attacked and shot at them !
General Orly decided the only thing to do was to leave the
Juicers alone to sort things out. He ordered all Coalition troops
and UTI personnel to retreat behind the fortifications protecting
the city. Since most Juicers did not know what was going on,
they let most of the soldiers and researchers escape without inci
dent.
The only serious casualties were taken at the site of the origi
nal fight. The Coalition platoon was wiped out with the excep
tion of Lt. Max Devon, who was captured alive. Over a dozen
Juicers were killed by stray gunfire during the fight. There were
an additional dozen minor injuries on both sides. Things calmed
down quickly as soon as the Coalition troops had left the camps,
and Orly actually reported to his superiors that he thought this
was a minor incident. Unknown to him, the damage was already
done.
Under torture, Lieutenant Devon confessed everything he
knew, which was plenty. He had overheard his superiors dis
cussing the real implications of Operation Phoenix and had seen
reports that the implant would only add a few years to the Juic
ers ' life spans. Word of Devon' s confession spread among the
thousands of Juicers in the camp in a matter of hours. Anger and
despair raged through it. Some Juicers called for a general attack
on the city right then and there. Others decided it was time to
pack it in and go home.
Adventure/Scenario Ideas:
If the player group is in New
town at the time, they get to witness the situation first-hand.
Characters involved in the shoot-out will have to deal with trig
ger-happy CS soldiers. The player characters may contribute to
the anarchy or play a role in defusing the situation, or they might
seize the initiative and get the Uprising started even sooner!
The Robo-Doc: During the shoot-out, one of the characters
(Juicer, friend of a Juicer, maybe even an innocent bystander)
sees one of the UTI technicians get shot by a long burst of laser
fire. The unarmored humanoid collapses - and the player char
acter sees that beneath the human-looking flesh there is nothing
but strange circuits and mechanical parts: the UTI employee is
some sort of android ! A few seconds later, the android explodes,
leaving no trace of its body behind. Does the character tell the
tale to other Juicers, or does he try to find out more about UTI?
The JAL Rises Again
Julian the First, leader of the Juicer Army of Liberation (see
the Juicer Organizations section for more details) seizes the op
portunity. Accepting Devon' s confession as truth, he rallies the
Juicers at the camp and works them into a frenzy against the
Coalition. With the support of a grizzled veteran like Slaughter
and others, he is able to convince about one-third of the Juicers
to join him. A quarter are confused and undecided as to whether
they should leave while the going is good or throw in with Julian
the First. Another quarter believes the treatment really does ex
ist' but that the Coalition would never admit it or give it to them.
They plan to attack Newtown, take over UTI and get their an
swers (and perhaps the mythical cure), one way or another.
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About one-tenth of the Juicers decide to go home. They leave
with a lot more hatred for the Coalition, but with little desire to
fight. Along the way, some will engage in a little banditry to pay
for their troubles.
Hundreds of Juicers slipped out in the middle of the night.
The rest, nearly 1 0,000 Juicers and thousands of their friends
and allies, stay as they prepare to give the Coalition a nasty sur
prise the following day.
Adventure/Scenario Ideas:
If any character is a skilled
Juicer (level 6+) with a good reputation, he/she will get a chance
to speak during the conclave. They may support or oppose Jul
ian, or may propose their own plan of action. A sufficiently con
vincing character will have the chance to become one of the
leaders of the Uprising ! All kinds of rumors, speculation and
plans can be made.
Julian the First
Leader of the Juicer Army of Liberation
This charismatic leader is a Mega-Juicer with an axe to grind.
Three years ago, he was a mercenary in a small group led by Di
ane "Lightning Strike" Danforth, a human mutant with electrical
powers, and, incidentally, Julian ' s wife. Diane ' s band had the
misfortune of running into a Coalition battalion on maneuvers.
For no reason other than the fact that there were D-Bees among
the band, the Coalition officer ordered an attack on the travelers.
Only Julian was able to escape with his life.
The bitter Juicer took over the Juicer Army of Liberation and
has used it to extract revenge on the Coalition time and time
again, orchestrating a number of assassinations, acts of sabotage
and raids against the CS. To Julian, the offer of the Prometheus
Treatment seemed too good to be true, but he came to Newtown
nonetheless, if only to see if he could throw a monkey wrench in
the Coalition' s plans. Now he has the chance of a lifetime: an
entire army to jam down Prosek' s throat! The first to fall will be
Newtown.
Julian the First - Mega-Juicer
Alignment:
Aberrant
M.D.C.:
1 43
Attributes:
I.Q. : 1 6, M.E. : 1 4, M.A. : 23, P.S. : 32, P.P. : 2 1 , P.E. :
28, P.B . : 1 2, Spd.: 87
Disposition:
Julian ' s major goal in life is to pull the Coalition
States down. He never dreamed he would get a chance before
he died. Now that he has this opportunity, he wants to make
the most of it. He knows he doesn't have long to live (some
1 0- 1 3 months at best), and he wants to inflict as much dam
age as he can before he goes.
Despite this, Julian is not a berserker or a suicidal fanatic.
He wants to win the war, not just go out with a bang. He will
craft the best possible plans and will not send men to their
deaths needlessly. However, he will reject any attempts to
make a deal with the Coalition. He sees an opportunity to
mount a noble crusade against the evil Empire. After he has
razed Newtown to the ground, he will try to get Tolkeen,
Kingsdale or other CS enemies to throw in with him and deal
Emperor Prosek and his empire-building dreams a serious
blow.
P.P.E.:
2 1
Level of Experience:
8th level Mega-Juicer
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