least a thousand more Juicers was approaching the base ! The
commander did the only thing he thought he could accomplish.
He abandoned the base and led his command to the outpost pro
tecting the Red River natural gas plant. There, he and his troops
dug in and prepared to withstand a siege, while sending desper
ate messages for help to Chi-Town.
Abandoned by the Coalition States, with an army of hateful
Juicers already surrounding the city and another on the way,
King Randall (who was privately sympathetic towards Juicers
anyway) had no choice but to offer his surrender to the gathered
Juicers. At first, this proved to be troublesome, because the Juic
ers at Fort El Dorado had no leaders; envoys could not find any
body who would claim to command the Juicers. Eventually, a
five-year old Juicer called Crush Durgan gathered enough sup
port to convince most of the thousand Juicers in the area to fol
low him. Crush talked to the envoy, and agreed to spare the city
from attack, on a few conditions. Among them was to allow the
Juicers to examine every UTI facility in the city to see if the
Prometheus Treatment existed. Additionally, the city would
have to provide food and supplies for the surrounding army, as
well as a ransom of fifty million credits.
King Randall was forced to agree to all terms. The city walls
had been destroyed, his defense forces were demoralized and
decimated, and the Coalition was not hurrying to help. The ran
som was paid (when divvied up, each Juicer got a little over
50,000 credits) and the Juicer "army" was given food, medicine
and ammunition.
145
One event marred the victory; as soon as the order to examine
the UTI Superhuman Body-Chop-Shop was made public, the
building, which had been untouched by the previous night' s fire,
mysteriously exploded with all UTI employees inside ! A search
of the rubble did not reveal any recognizable bodies, and offered
very little in the way of clues.
After that, the conquerors of Fort El Dorado went on their
separate ways. Some decided to return to their former lives,
while at least half marched towards Newtown in search of an
swers and revenge.
Adventure/Scenario Ideas:
The player characters could be
travelers staying at Fort El Dorado, minding their own business
(or perhaps on their way to a different adventure) when the
Juicer revolt explodes in the streets. Enemies could include an
gry Juicers, trigger-happy guards, terrified mobs, or the fire it
self. Magicians and psychics may try to help quench the fire
with their abilities, but they may trigger a violent response from
the terrified citizenship, who hates and fears such powers.
Choosing Sides
As the weeks pass and Newtown remains under siege, some
of the other nations of North America and beyond, start consid
ering a course of action to take.
Tolkeen and the Federation of Magic:
At this point,
Tolkeen has the most to gain out of the uprising. Every soldier
sent to Arkansas is no longer threatening Tolkeen' s borders (al-
though the majority of the CS troops don't seem to be leaving).
When they heard of the Coalition defeats, the leaders of that
city-state discussed a course of action and thought about launch
ing their own offensive, but thought better of it.
The Federation of Magic is also interested in anything that
can harm their bitter enemy. They have so far contented them
selves with sending small teams of scouts and spies South, to
find out more and to covertly assist the uprising; some of these
groups have Dragon Juicers among them.
Lazlo and New Lazlo:
Both nations are not displeased by the
Coalition' s troubles, but regret the loss of life and property dam
age that warfare brings to any city. They fear this is a portent of
things to come. Their hearts go out to the people of Newtown
and the communities around them; the Juicers appear to be little
more than bandits, and if the Coalition wins (as it is likely to do),
it will exact a terrible revenge on any person or kingdom who
helped the rebels.
The NGR:
The New German Republic is sympathetic to
wards the Coalition cause, but can do little else besides offering
moral support. The German government will tighten up its re
strictions and laws against Juicers, and might even outlaw
chemical enhancements altogether!
Atlantis:
Although the Splugorth lord of Atlantis has little in
terest in North America, he may send a few spies there to dis
cover what is going on.
Naruni Enterprises:
Ever since UTI became a competitor,
Naruni' s local marketing teams have viewed the company with
suspicion. According to rumors through the transdimensional
pipeline, UTI is a puppet for a band of interdimensional con
querors ! Naruni has dispatched its own spy teams into Arkansas
to learn more.
The Pecos Empire:
This bandit kingdom is biding its time. If
Lone Star sends some of its troops north, it would be a golden
opportunity to raid throughout Texas.
Adventure/Scenario Ideas:
Player characters could be
agents (willing or otherwise) of any of the above nations and or
ganizations, or might cross paths with them.
Dangers in the Countryside
The first consequence of the uprising is an increase in law
lessness and chaos, not only in Arkansas, but in the adjacent re
gions. Among the new dangers encountered in the countryside
are:
Bandits:
Gangs of marauders, bandits and raiders roam freely
through the countryside, and both the Coalition and the Juicer
rebels are too busy fighting each other to do much about them
(heck, rogue members from either side may be the marauders
and bandits). Typical bandit gangs number 2D6 vagabonds, I D6
wilderness scouts and/or I D6 headhunters (with maybe a couple
Juicers, Crazies or 'Borgs). Most are equipped with light and
medium body armor, energy rifles and a few light vehicles.
Well-armed bandits will have access to robots and power armor.
Our heroes may come upon such a band tormenting a lone
farmer and his family, attacking travelers, or even ambushing
the party itself.
146
Coalition Juicers!
As the main armies are slowly assembled
in Missouri, Colonel Lyboc tries to redeem himself by sending
his Special Forces Battalion (see the Coalition Juicers section)
or Special Forces Teams out in force. These CS Juicers are on
search-and-destroy missions, and will target any major leader of
the uprising. At least once, Julian the First is attacked by two CS
Juicers and one Psycho-Stalker, but he manages to hold the as-
sassins off until other Juicers arrive and take care of them (the
player characters could be involved in this assassination attempt,
on either side of the conflict). A typical search and destroy team
will have 1 -2 Psycho-Stalkers, 1 -4 CS Juicers and 1 -4 Coalition
'Borgs. The team will usually try to attack from an ambush posi
tion. Characters who are well trained in guerrilla warfare could
play a deadly game of cat and mouse with such a team.
Simvan Monster Riders:
A large, nomadic gang of these
cannibalistic D-Bees has been attracted by the war. Their goal is
to sack villages and carry off weapons, valuables and live vic
tims to be eaten at leisure ! The player characters could be the
only hope for kidnapped villagers, or might themselves be am
bushed or captured.
Trouble with spies from the Federation of Magic:
These
guys aren't the nicest people around and can be involved in all
sorts of foul deeds.
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