wall, close enough now that the defenders cannot fire on them
without risking hitting their own robot vehicles and floundering
troops.
Hundreds of Juicers reach the wall just as the decimated com
mando teams are about to be overwhelmed. The fight in the tun
nels is close combat, the type of fighting that Juicers excel in;
the advantage is theirs. Outnumbered, the humans and dog boys
in the garrison fight heroically, but in vain. The commander uses
Mark V APCs as "mobile fortresses" within the tunnels, firing
heavy weapons into the advancing enemy. It is not enough. As
the fighting inside the tunnels intensifies, the defenders can no
longer fire on the Juicers outside. Once all the Coalition robot
vehicles are destroyed or captured, the remaining Juicers charge
the wall and open more breaches along its entire length. The sur
viving Coalition troopers are trapped in small pockets and me
thodically eradicated; no prisoners are taken.
There are no CS survivors, with the exception of a SAM AS
and Jet B ike squadron that flee the area at flank speed, pursued
by Juicers on hover bikes and flight packs (the squadron com
mander is later court-martialled for cowardice in the face of the
enemy and executed; the rest of the squadron is not punished;
they were following orders, after all).
Adventure/Scenario Ideas:
If the player characters are in
volved in this siege, the best place for a party of elite warriors
would be among the sapper teams who are sent out in small
groups. The characters get to sneak past Skelebot guards (lots of
prowl rolls), advance under the cover of darkness and battle to
wards the wall, blow a hole and then get into an extended fire
fight with desperate and angry Coalition troops. Do the
reinforcements arrive before they are overwhelmed?
The CS Sortie
In the words of General Ross Underhill, "the events of the
Juicer Uprising will go down in our military records as classic
examples of incompetence and gross ineptitude." Things looked
extremely bad, at first.
B ack in Newtown, General Orly falls prey to panic when he' s
notified that the Border Wall has fallen. Claiming that saving his
command (his army) is the most important thing, the General
plans to abandon the city and break through the besieging forces.
He does not consult on this move with his superiors, deciding
that it would be "easier to get forgiveness than permission."
Orly ' s plans call for achieving air superiority with his "air
force" of SAMAS and Sky-Cycles, and then leading the ground
troops out, led by his tank company. His 200 SAMAS and 1 00
jet cycles attack the Juicer formations at 7:00 p.m. The Juicers
react by scrambling their own hover vehicles, jet packs and the
lethal Icarus Flight Systems, not to mention the occasional prac
titioner of magic among their allies. Outnumbered and outgun
ned, the Coalition flying troopers suffer over 20% casualties and
fail to damage the Juicers ' heavy weapon emplacements. When
Orly ' s tank force tries to force a breakthrough, it is riddled with
missile and grenade fire; in a matter of minutes, 1 3 of the 48
tanks are destroyed. Orly has to stop the attack, having achieved
nothing but the destruction of much of his army.
Ironically enough, the Juicers don 't realize what Orly ' s plans
were; if they had known the CS commander wanted to abandon
the city, they would have let him do it - after all, it is Newtown
141
they are after. Instead, Julian the First believes Orly was trying
to do a "sortie," a quick in-and-out attack to weaken the be
siegers. Thus, in a way, Orly ' s defeat worked against the rebels '
interests, as it keeps Newtown out of the Juicers ' hands a little
while longer.
The First Relief Attempt
Had Orly communicated with his superiors, he would have
known that help was on its way. Upon hearing of the Juicer Up
rising at Newtown, the Coalition High Command ordered
Norvell to use the troops slotted for the Tolkeen operation to re
lieve the city.
The relief force consists of three reinforced battalions (over
2,000 soldiers), an armored cavalry company ( l 00 tanks), and
one airborne regiment (three Coalition Death' s Head transports
with full troop complements) and an air wing (24 jet fighters) to
provide air support. In all, almost 4,000 soldiers and hundreds of
vehicles leave New Chillicothe and are headed towards New
town. Opposing them is a rag-tag force of some 3 ,000 Juicers
and 2,000 mercenaries, outlaws, and D-Bees.
The battle would have ended in a decisive Coalition victory if
it hadn't been for the leader of the Juicer force, Captain Terror
(9th level "standard" Juicer), an experienced veteran. Captain
Terror has both the military training and the toughness necessary
to make Juicers obey orders. Realizing that an open field battle
would lead to the destruction of his forces, Captain Terror pre
pared a series of hit-and-run ambushes, and spent the next few
days organizing a complex system of tunnels, trenches and hid
den strong points as the Coalition troops in New Chillicothe
gathered the supplies needed for their trip. The leader of the
Juicer army made the best use of the weapons and equipment
available, preparing a number of observation posts, sniper posi
tions, and field fortifications to give his troops the best edge pos
sible.
When the aerial scouts of the Coalition Army start probing
south, they will be met by ground fire, mostly from light missile
launchers. No aircraft will rise to challenge them, however. The
scouts ' reports seem to indicate that a medium-sized body of in
fantry, estimated as less than 3 ,000 troops, is blocking the main
paths toward Arkansas. General Norvell decided to strike and
destroy this "helpless" formation before moving on towards
Newtown. His plan is to place the airborne regiment behind the
enemy formation, and then attack the Juicers from both sides,
crushing them.
The three Death ' s Head transports, protected by 18 jet fight
ers and 60 Sky Cycles, is sent out as the main force moves on
the ground towards the Juicer formations. As the flying regiment
approachs, Captain Terror orders his hidden air force to attack.
1 00 Icarus fliers and about as many assault hovercraft and Sky
Kings take to the skies; previously kept hidden to better surprise
the enemy, they do so admirably. One of the largest air battles in
post-Rifts history follows. The light but agile Icarus fliers dart
past the fighters and jet cycles, and head for their main target:
the Death' s Head transports. Although the Coalition aircraft ex
act heavy casualties on the enemy, enough Juicers manage to
reach the transports, destroying their flight systems and sending
the heavy ships crashing to the ground. Of the 450 soldiers car
ried by the three transports, less than a dozen survive the fiery
crashes. An additional twelve fighter jets and over twenty Sky
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