Various Unprotection Examples/unprotect.zip/unprotect/WASTEPAK/WASTEP.DOC

Text File | 1989-03-08 | 68KB | 1,347 lines

                WASTELAND

                Paragraphs

                   by

                  GtR>










Another GtR> Plagarite Production

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    While you're playing Wasteland, you'll be referring to paragraphs in
this book.  We know that as a Desert Ranger who enjoys the best of challenges,
you wouldn't randomly read these paragraphs in search of clues.  But intense
radiation, coupled with the blazing sun, can impair your good judgement,
rendering you totally unable to resist.  Fight your best fight here -- try not
to read a paragraph until you're instructed to.  You'll get a lot more out of
Wasteland this way.  Once you successfully complete Wasteland, you can then
kick back in your best lounge chair under a shady cactus and read the rest of
the fictional vignettes.



1    You creep up to the window and, in the soft, muted lights, you see a
tall woman with long, blond hair.  She sits before a mirror and brushes her
hair, then stands and walks over to the sunken tub off to her left.  She kneels
and her blue, silken robe drops to the floor.  She turns the water on and steam
slowly fills the air.
    You watch in fascination as she reaches down into the tub, whirls, and
points an Uzi in your direction.  "Stop reading paragraphs you're not supposed
to read, creeps."  She sighs deeply. "Next time I'm going to demand they put
me in a Bard's Tale game, this Wasteland duty is dangerous."


2    You have come upon the rail-nomads' camp.  Ornery looking longhorn
cattle wander among dusty tents, from which sullen faces peer.  In the
background, a ramshackle collection of railroad cars, patched with wood, hide,
and an odd piece of corrugated aluminum, sits on a rail siding.  Two of the
cars, the locomotive as the front and the caboose at the rear, appear to be in
better condition than the others.  As you approach, a strained silence falls
over the camp and you grow uncomfortable under the collective gaze of the
assembled nomads.  Finally, one of the nomad steps forward.  "Welcome Rangers.
I am the Brakeman of this train.  I would be honored if you would visit with me
in the caboose before leaving our camp.  In the meantime, please accept our
hospitality."  The Brakeman turns and strides back into the camp.


3    The Hobo nods to you, and then drains the bottle of Snake Squeezins.
"Twins born by the same hands," he intones solemnly, "are twins no more. Wake
the sleeper to cure the sick."


4    "We have four clans here: the Chattanoogas, the Amtraks, the Conrails
and the Hiders.  You may acquire provisions for your party at our trading car
or amuse yourselves in the casino car.  You may, of course, avail yourselves of
the services of our Hobo oracle.  If you dare, you can try to reason with the
Hiders, though finding them is difficult.  I am told that you have already met
our Brakeman." At the mention of the Brakeman, a brief scowl crosses the
Engineer's face, but his smile quickly returns and he adds, "We feel safer with
Rangers here, so stay as long as you like!"


5       You study the torn piece of paper in your hand.  Originally written in
red ink, the text has turned into large fuzzy blotches of pink.  Though mostly
unreadable, you make out the word MORTAL followed by HIDEOUT: TYRANNOSAURUS,
but TYRANNOSAURUS has been scratched out and AZRAEL has been written under it.


6       The diary talks about the last days during which the satellite facility
was operating.  "Las Vegas is still intact.  Needles wasn't damaged by bombs,
but some flooding occurred when the river level rose.  Quartz suffered a lot of
damage."  In hurried script, the last diary entry reads, "We're abandoning the
satellite installation so we can join the farmers out at the Ag Station.  We've
deactivated the alarms and electronic countermeasures that protect this place."


7       Once the introductions have been made, the Big Boss pulls out a box of
cigars and passes them around, explaining that it is his special blend, grown
somewhere further north.  When everyone is comfortable, and the bodyguards have
taken up unobtrusive positions behind you, he begins to talk.
        "You must be the Rangers sent to help."
        "What do you mean?" you cautiously ask.
        "One of my men is missing.  We don't think he's dead, because he's too
valuable to kill.  We think some other group in town has grabbed him.  If we
don't get him back, the whole town will probably be overrun by these damn death
machines that have started to appear, because he's the only one in town with
the scientific know-how to fight them.  He's the one who thought of the
landmines, and they've destroyed more robots than anything else in town."
        Brygo reaches into his desk and brings out a drawing of a rather
ordinary looking man.  "This is Max," he explains.  "He came to us about a year
ago from the Wasteland to the east.  He was the greatest hand-to-hand fighter
we'd ever seen and he also seemed to know a lot about the science from before
the War.  He didn't remember where he came from -- at least, that's what he
told us.  I quickly made him my right hand man."
        "When we began to hear rumors of death machines coming out of the west,
and especially when the first of them reached the Vegas borders several weeks
ago, Max grew frantic.  He began to talk crazy, about how all life was in
peril, and how only he could save us.  He said he needed special equipment, and
that someone near Vegas should have it.  I should have put a guard on him then,
but instead, I decided to Ace out to look for help.  One night Max disappeared.
We've been looking for him ever since without success.  Now I've lost my best
man, and things are getting worse.  Newer and stronger robotic death machines
are appearing all the time.  If we don't find Max soon, even a fortress like
this may not be able to hold out the death machines.  Go see Charmaine in the
Mushroom Church.  Tell her I sent you and she may be able to help."
        You nod your head.  "Yeah.  We've tangled with some of these death
machines before, and we gotta stop whoever's making them.  Any clues?"
        "There are two other power groups here in Vegas that we know of.  Fat
Freddy runs the criminal element.  He'd like to take over my position.  There's
also the servants of the Mushroom Cloud -- religous fanatics who won't be happy
until every person in Vegas has been converted to their own poisonous religon.
There may be others.  Vegas is a big town.  But those are the ones we suspect
most.  I need you to go find Max.  What do you say?  Will you do it?"
        The Desert Rangers huddle for a few minutes.  You decide that taking on
this mission could be quite an adventure and decide to go for it.  Besides,
your curiousity has been aroused.  You are sure that Max knows a lot more than
he has told Brygo.  If you want explanations, he's the man you'll need to see.
        "All right," you tell the Boss, "we'll find him if he's findable.  In
the meantime, you try to hold out here."
        The Big Boss stands up, shakes your hands, and wishes you all luck.
Then he shows you the way out.


8    Fat Freddy has long-since forgotten the concept of personal hygiene.
His dirty black hair clings to his face like dead ebony vines.  A thin,
scraggly beard barely conceals deep red pock marks.  Effluvium that scrapes
your nasal passages raw seeps from every one of the fat man's pores.
    "I am so glad to meet you.  I've always admired the Rangers and I
consider you the only people I can trust with some secret information."  The
fat man's yellow eyes slip side to side in his obese face.  "Faran Brygo is
trying to get $100,000,000 in diamonds to York Isle on the east coast of the
continent, and he needs someone like you to make the journey.  If he succeeds,
he will destroy the economy of the world and we will all be thralls in his new
empire."
    Freddie produces a handkerchief and wipes the sweat from his brow.  "I
will let you keep the diamonds if you can stop his mad plan.  Find him, kill
him, and you will save the world."


9    The battered ID bracelet on Dewey's wrist has several legends engraved
and scratched out, but one remains clear.  It reads "27," and, judging from the
lack of corrosion on the number, it was recently inscribed.


10    "Everyone is worried about Mayor Pedros but others are held hostage
too.  Felicia Pedros, his wife, is our friend.  We think she has been moved to
the outlaw hideout.  We hope you will try to rescue her.  And remember what
Ellen said when you go to the Stagecoach Inn."  They smile and leave.


11    "Yeah, some of the guys working in the base took sick.  Mad Dog Fargo
and Metal Maniac are still in the back rooms, sicker than dogs."


12    A man sits up in his cell and stretches.  "Rangers -- great.  I should
have known.  I need you guys here like I need a hole in the head."  He stares
at you for a second, then sighs.  "Look, I guess I could use your help.  I
need some capable fighters in Las Vegas to help me with a shipment back east.
Are you guys up for it?"


13    The book you find is a slim volume written in a light, delicate hand.
The work is titled, "Love Slave in Santa Fe."  It reads:
    I recall the first time the invader chieftain called my name.  "Diana,"
he said softly, "are you not yet finished chewing the leather to make soft
moccasins for me?  A man has needs."
    I hung my head in shame.  "Forgive me, beloved Red Hawk, but I am the
lowest of your 30 wives.  How can you even think of me when you have so many
women more beautiful than me?"
    Red Hawk smiled.  "Yes, I have 30 wives, each more beautiful than the
last, and each of them insatiable.  If I could find other men to help me take
care of my wives, I would, but no one except for the bravest warriors of
Wasteland could satisfy them.  You, my newest wife, are the only comfort I
have in my life......."
    The account ends abruptly here, the last few pages of the book torn out
by a previous reader.;


14    The Director, a handsome, slender man, waves you to chairs that face
his desk.  Beyond his desk you see a window into an alien landscape.  Through
the window you see a red world with strangely-shaped plants.  You see animals
slinking through the shadows and crawling across massive rock outcroppings.
You shudder.  It just doesn't feel right.
    The Director, Irwin John Finster, notices your stare and smiles like a
snake oil salesman.  "I see you've noticed my pet project.  This is how the
world will be when all men are gone.  It will once again return to the pristine
paradise it was before man rose up and destroyed it."
    He turns away from the window and smiles at you. "By the very fact that
you are here, I know you have recovered certain items of a technical nature.
Whatever prompted you to violate this base's security, I do not know, but I am
willing to forgive it."  He sits, leans back and steeples his fingers. "Because
of the delicate nature of our work here -- all very hush-hush, you know -- I
must ask you to leave."
    Suddenly he leans forward and scowls.  "If you do not want to go, well,
we are not without means to deal with even the likes of dreaded Desert Rangers"


15    Max reaches up and gives his head a bit of a twist.  You hear a click
and the android smiles.  "I came down here to negotiate a peace with the
cyborgs and what do they do?  They rip me up and start using me for spare
parts.  Ingrates!"
    He stretches and stands.  "I have to get back up to Vegas and help
prepare for the next assault, but I've got a mission of great importance for
you.  Head northeast from here and, across the bridge, you'll find a hidden
base.  It is a journey you must succeed at.  There, you will find lost
technology and information that you can use to stop Cochise before it's too
late."
    A secret passage slides open in the room's south wall.  At the same
time, a blast-proof security door slides down in front of the entrance to the
room.  It short circuits, preventing exit.  "Go through the secret passage to
get out of here.  One thing," Max adds, "It is possible you'll need to recover
some equipment from Project Darwin before you can complete the rebuilding of
the sleeper base.  Be careful, though, and rebuild as much of the base as you
can before you venture off to Darwin.  I don't like the things I've heard about
it at all."


16    The old man stands in the shadow of the satellite dish and sighs
loudly.  "Rangers, thank the gods you have come here."  He thrusts a bony
finger as the red planet hanging low over the horizon.  "The Space Pirates
from Phobos come daily to steal our food.  They carry it off to their goddess,
a harsh, cruel woman who has no appreciation for artwork and will tolerate no
illumination or visual symbols in her edicts to subjects.  You must find the
rocket ship and travel to that malevolent star.  Trail the death bunny to its
lair and you wll save the earth from this horrid invasion."


17    "We have three clans here: the Atchisons, the Topekas, and the Santa
Fes.  You may acquire provisions for your party at our trading car or amuse
yourselves in the casino car.  You may, of course, avail yourselves of the
services of our Hobo oracle.  I am told that you have already met our
Brakeman."  At the mention of the Brakeman a brief scowl crosses the Engineer's
face, but his smile quickly returns and he adds, "We feel safer with Rangers
here, so stay as long as you like!"


18    "Faran must have sent you to look for Max.  Las I knew he was headed
for the sewers.  He built a special key to get down there.  It's called a
Sonic Key.  Max made a few of them and told me that he was hiding one somewhere
in the old golf course.  Didn't tell me where, though.  Didn't do him any good,
either.  The Newmen grabbed him before he could do anything.  If you return to
me the Bloodstaff from the Mushroom Church in Needles, I can show you the way.
Tell the bishop BUZZARD."


19    The screen flashes to life with Capt. Phil Thomas's personnel file.
Aside from test scores and other nonsense you read, "Capt. Thomas' performance
in the village strafing runs were admirable.  The AH-6503 attach helicopter
performed at the height of technical specs and destroyed to small Mexican
villages before having to return to base and reload.  The AH-6503 is the
ultimate weapon."


20    The Premacorin Mural is a work of art which you have only heard rumors
about.  It records all human history in one vast display of guady colors.  At
the beginning of the display you see the image of Charles Darwin walking arm
in arm with an ape in a wedding dress.  Next to that you see a youthful
Egyptian pharaoh in mummy wrappings and a gold mask dancing on the stage of a
place called (according to the neon lights behind him) Radio City Museum of
Unnatural History.  Proceeding along, you see a masked man brandishing silver
six shooters on the back of a silver Tyrannosaurus, hot on the trail of a
mustachioed man wearing a swastika.  A fat man in a red uniform with white
trim flies through the sky in a sleigh pulled by eight F-19 Stealth bombers.
He has bags full of guns, ammo and bombs, which he is freely dropping down to
King Arthur and his knights so they can battle Genghis Khan and the Yellow
Peril.  Yet further on, a man in a green and gold uniform (with the number 12
emblazoned on it and a G on the helmet) has just thrown a missile to a man
vanashing in the white glow of an atomic mushroom cloud.  Finally, at the far
end of the wall, you see the ape in its tattered wedding dress, squatting and
studying the fire-blackened helmet.


21    Fat Freddy is a genetic nightmare -- a squamous mass of slimy flesh
shuddering and twitching before you like some animated blob of flesh covered
jello.  He smells like a swap, a foul, choking miasma of rotting mastodonian
flesh left to putrefy.  His presence is overwhelming -- perhaps he has some
mutant ability to control men's minds.  While in his presence, you have to
sternly control an urge to salute or kneel.  There is no doubt that he is a
leader of men.
    When he speaks, his voice sounds like bubbles of carbon dioxide
burbling up out of a morass.  It is difficult to understand him, but after the
first few phrases of introduction, you begin to get the hang of it.  Fat Freddy
is a man driven by ambition, and he has an offer to make.
    "Brygo thinks he controls Vegas," burbles Freddy, "but he isn't half
the man I am.  Haw! Haw! Haw!  This should be my town, and it will be.  I've
had your men watched since you got to Vegas.  They tell me you are the best
fighters ever seen in these parts.  Well, then, it shouldn't be too tough for
you to do me a favor.  Kill Faran Brygo, and bring me the onyx ring he always
wears.  When you do that I'll give you $25,000 and anything else you want in
this town."
    You tell him you need a few minutes to think things over, and go into
a corner to confer among yourselves.  You have a very strong feeling that
Freddy doesn't want to hear any negatives out of you.


22    If you read any further, Wasteland Thought Police will appear at your
door within three hours to conduct you to a cell in Needles where your
fingernails will be systematically removed.  You have not been instructed to
read this paragraph anywhere, hence so dire a punishment.


23    "Things have been rather nasty in Quartz," you are told.  "One of the
larger desert bands, led by a guy called Ugly, has taken an intense interest
in, ah, civic affairs.  Normally a town of our size could drive them off
because the bandits don't try all that hard when attacking, but this time they
hit us with a vengeance.  It's almost like they don't want to remain in the
desert."


24    The bartender smiles at you.  "Which one," he asks, "Hotspur or
Falstaff?"


25    Charmaine takes the Bloodstaff and smiles.  She begins to twirl it and
you hear the acolytes hidden in the shadows behind her begin to hum.  "On
Wisconsin" as she marches back and forth.  "Now we'll win the big game.  If you
help Faran Brygo get his diamonds to Yorktown back east, we'll be able to place
some big bets there on the next World Series.  We have a four-armed pitcher
who's guaranteed to win for us."  Charmaine smiles and points back the way you
came.  You must travel back to Cooperstown and get us the blessed Bat of the
Sultan of Swat.  Then you will be ready for the trip with Faran."



26    Ugly's smile makes you uneasy, as uneasy as staring down the bore of
his weapon.  "It's really very simple," he laughs.  "The bomb's disarm code
is 11-27-57-04-30."


27    You unsnap the ID bracelet from Louie's limp wrist and run your thumb
over the worn silver surface.  The number "99" is etched into its tarnished
face.


28    As you board the locomotive you are met by a short, but solid looking
fellow.  He is dressed in garishly striped overalls and wears a rather battered
and much patched engineer's cap.  "Greetings, I am the Engineer of this train."
The Engineer makes a sweeping gesture that encompasses the entire camp.  "I
hope your stay with us will be a pleasant one."


29    Going back to his work, Sam says, "I suppose you wanna know about the
Bloodstaff."  He wipes his hands on a greasy rag and sighs.  "Don't mind
telling you the murders have lots of folks worried.  People just up and vanish.
Then, when we find them again, they've been drained of blood -- every drop."
He squints at you and his voice drops to a tense whisper.  "I seen one of the
bodies and it had a cut in the neck, just like a scar my grandmother had on
her neck.  She said one, when she was little, a priest used the Bloodstaff on
her after she got snakebit.  I think the Bloodstaff is involved, and that
means trouble."


30    The Junk Master speaks and tells you how to find Base Cochise, home of
the Deadly Robots.  He sniffs and takes a pull from a small bottle of Snake
Squeezins.  "Out in the middle of nowhere, that's where it is.  Way up in the
northwest.  We've tried to scavenge things out there, but the robots are
deadly, so we backed off."  He looks at you rather strangely.  "If you venture
out into those mountains up there, fine, but don't expect any of our people to
go with you.  We got more sense than you Rangers."


31    The Guardians, as you have heard, are very friendly people who are
great admirers of the Rangers.  They have planted fluorescent orange flags to
mark the outer edges of their mine fields.  You've been told by a Guardian
that the only safe passage is to walk with feet straight and breath held
between the flags and the Citadel wall.


32    The bartender smiles at your question. "Which one, Cretian or Proteus?"


33    "Hi.  They call me Crumb," he purrs as he moves closer to you and
starts to stroke your nametag.  You jerk him violently by the collar, and he
squeals with delight at your show of might.  "See Faran Brygo!  He's my Boss!"
As you throw him down onto a table and head for the door, he yells, "Use the
password PHOENIX."  Before you can get out the door, he puckers his lips and
blows a kiss your way.


34    "Darwin was a science base a long time ago.  Supposed to be hush-hush,
but I grew up in its shadow, so....."


35    A man sits up in the cell and stretches his arms.  He squints at you
as if you're brighter than the desert sun, then allows a small smile to grace
his tan, weathered face.  "Rangers, I should have known.  Listen, I've been
sent down from Vegas to recruit folks who know the right end of a gun from the
wrong.  Bandits ain't the only thing crawling out of the desert, and we've got
a war on our hands.  Interested in heading back with me?"


36    Capt. Andrea Mills's personnel file flashes up onto the screen.  Aside
from a large amount of test scores and other data, an occasional paragraph of
interest slides by.  One that catches your eye read, in part, "Despite her
having won the Nobel last year, Andrea's been unable to finsh work on the clone
pods.  She is unsure they are safe, and the chances of a clone surviving
production is not thought to be that great."


37    You appear on what seems to be the lower half of a large chessboard. A
booming voice echoes through the game grid.  "Do not stray from the path if
you value your health."  Spectators fill the dark galleries to hoot derisive
jeers at you and wager against your success.


38    "Everyone is worried about Mayor Pedros but others are held hostage
too.  Felicia Pedros, his wife, is our friend.  We think she has been moved
to the Temple of Blood in Needles.  We hope you will try to rescue her.
Remember what Matilda said when you go to the Whiplash Inn."  They smile and
leave laughing.


39    The guard looks you over closely and then tells you to wait outside as
he disappears into the tent.  You hear a brief muffled conversation and the
guard returns with another man.  The newcomer introduces himself as the
headman of the Atchison clan.  He understands that you have done a great favor
for his brother.  He dismisses the guard and motions you closer.  He explains
that they keep no treasure here, but he will give you directions to a secret
cache.  "Here, take this shovel," he instructs you.  "Stand on the sout rail,
west end.  Take twelve paces to the south.  Dig and you shall be rewarded."
The guard returns and the headman bids you good day.


40    Maj. Harrison Edsel's personnel file flashes up onto the screen.  Aside
from a large amount of test scores and other data, an occaisonal paragraph of
interest slides by.  One that catches your eye reads, in part, "The discipline
problem with Edsel has resolved itself.  Once he learned he would be
transferred to Base Cochise to program that computer with his new artificial
intelligence routines, he stopped complaining about the primitive rules
restricting his creativity on this project."


41    "I think Finster has something to do with the strange creatures here
abouts."


42    The Director, a slender, handome man, stands as you enter the room.
"Rangers, thank the heavens."  He follows your gaze as you stare out the
window behind his desk and study the alien landscape below.  The Director
smiles.  "As you can see, that lurid, red landscape is the closest
approximation we have to the surface of Mars.  We have Martian raiders coming
to our world here and stealing animals and slaves.  We hope, by breeding
hunter-killer animals we can the the Martian starships and mount a counter
offensive against the extra-terrestrial raiders."  He nods.  "Will you Rangers
join our effort?"


43    As you pass the open doorway of this car you are almost overcome by
the strong odor of fermented cactus fruit.  As your eyes become accustomed to
the darkness of the car you can make out a straw-covered floor littered with
numerous bottles of Dr. B. Bilious Balfour's Snake Squeezins.  At the back of
the car lolls a rotund figure rocking back and forth as if the mere act of
sitting offered a difficult feat of balance.  Finally, seeming to take notice
of you, the shadowy figure issues an invitation:  "Welcome to my humble abode,
gentlefolk.  Step on in."


44    The fetid, musky scent of a dead animal oozed from the car in a miasmal
cloud.  Within, mummified by the overpowering heat, you see the dried remains
of a flower-stren old bum.  This is the oracle the railroaders have referred
to, and he's obviously long been dead.  You notice a large quantity of empty
Snake Squeezins bottle, and you suspect that that vile liquor is the author of
many of the oracle's procouncements.


45    The faded map on the wall shows the world well before the war.  You
notice a star that roughly corresponds to your current location.  On a long,
southeast diagonal you see another star.  A third star, to the west and out
from Needles, forms a shallow triangle out of the three stars.  Obviously
other bases are hidden at these sites.


46    You stare in utter disbelief as the Snake Squeezins vanishes down his
throat.  The Hobo smiles, his eyes glaze over, and he burps.  "Beware the man
who has lived longer than the Wasteland."  Your oracle's eyes clear and he
smiles drunkenly.


47    As you scan over the large, messy room you think to yourself "Early
American pigsty."  Piles of dirt cover the long-lost floor.  The earthed smell
of compost hangs heavy in the air.  In the far corner of this indoor barnyard
you spot a square-shaped room.


48    Lt. Russel Heller's personnel file flashes up onto the screen.  Aside
from a large amount of test scores and other data, an occaisonal paragraph of
interest slides by.  One that catches your eye reads, in part, "I thought
Heller would be a discipline problem, but I grossly underestimated the
situation.  He does not get along with the other workers and considers the AI
work being done in Project Haskell the ultimate work.  He even considered the
move to Needles to finish Haskell a blessing."


49    You study the torn piece of paper in your hand.  Originally written
in red ink, the text has turned into large fuzzy blotches of pink.  Though
mostly unreadable, you make out the word MUERTE followed by HIDEOUT:THANATOS,
but THANATOS has been scratched out and KAPUT has been written under it.


50    Carved into the weathered hardwood you see, "The launch code is MORTAR"


51    The game High/Low is played with two nuclear warheads.  Both players
toss a nuclear warhead into the air and the one whose bomb explodes higher in
the air wins.  This game is usually played by people of low intelligence, hence
the name High/Low.


52    Col. John Smith's personnel file flashes up onto the screen.  Aside
from a large amount of test scores and other data, an occaisonal paragraph of
interest slides by.  One that catches your eye reads, in part, "After the
confrontation with Finster concerning the shift of Darwin's focus, Smith
requested and got a transfer to the Base 2 operation.  He remained acting
commander until the project's completion in 1995."


53    "Finster forced all the sick out, to prevent the spread he said, but
it was just leaves them to die without help."


54    The Brakeman tells you, "Take this visa card and give it to the Head
Crusher in Quartz."  As the Brakeman passes you the card, the sunlight catches
the dove hologram and glints brightly.  You slide it into your breast pocket
as he turns and leaves without another word.


55    After years of searching you've finally found it.  You unfold the
piece of parchment paper and read, "When you reach the Martian Base, quickly
access the Navigational Laser Center on the left of the entryway and type
GWCD."


56    Closer now, you can hear the conversation of the men you saw when you
came in.  There is a short silence after each man voices his thoughts.  They
speak of varmints who are impossible to kill.  The varmints are stealing their
food faster than ever before and they seem to be massing for a major attack.
The simple weapons of the farmers are not enough to stop them.  They have no
idea what to do.  One of them jumps as he notices you and they all turn to
face you.  A stocky man they call Miguel approaches.


57    Head Crusher says, "Thank you.  Go to the Atchison's tent and tell
them CATERPILLAR."


58    The Martian Commander slithers forward on his coppery-scaled stomach.
"So, Rangers, you have found our secret starport."  His laughter, hissed
quietly and malevolenty, crackles through the speaker on his helmet.  "It
matters not.  Our robot warriors have conquered your world.  You will now come
and be our slaves......."
    You smell the sweet odor of flowers as your sight dims and you fall
unconscious.......


59    The thin Martian atmosphere saps your strength, but you dash across
the maroon landscape and dive at the Slavemaster.  He raises a psuedo-pod and
crashes it down upon your head.  A sucker tears your flesh, but you strike
out and smash his writhing purple lips back into his needle-sharp teeth.  The
Slavemaster reels back, but you give him no pause, no chance to recover.  You
wrap your hands around a rock and, as your tortured lungs labor to pull in
enough of the oxygen-poor air to keep you conscious, you crush the
Slavemaster's head.
    You cast the green, gore-spattered rock aside and look at the other
slaves.  "Come," you growl breathlessly, "Now we fight for our freedom and
our world!"


60    As you might expect from his surroundings, the demon-priest is an
utterly corrupt individual.  A flowing blue robe covers his diseased body, and
a foul smirk twists his face askew.  He smiles and teeth blacker than ebony
glint in the half-light.  Palsey-wracked hands grasp the Bloodstaff tightly
and threatens you with it.  "You will not have it,"  he whispers harshly.
"You cannot take my life!"


61    This detective reminds you of Humphrey Bogart.  As you approach, he
snicks a match with his thumbnail and lights a cigarette.  An overflowing
ashtray sits on his desk beside and open bottle of Scotch.  His eyes are cold
and hard as he watches you.  You note the lump of a roscoe in a shoulder
holster under his gray suit coat.  He introduces himeself as Spam Shade and
points out that he will not play the sap for you or anybody else.  That
settled, he asks what you want.


62    Torn and battered, your part drags itself through the sub-terranian
Martian titanium mines.  Your lungs burn from the thin air, and you'd give
your right arms to be back on earth.  Then, suddenly, a vision of female
loveliness appears to you.
    Tall and slender, with golden hair cascading down over her diaphanous
gown of shimmering green and gray, she smiles and your heart quickens.  "Do
not believe the Serpoids are the Martians because they are not.  They conquered
us a century ago to turn our beloved world into a staging area for their
conquest of your home.  Please join with us and help repulse these invaders."
    She gestures and a secret opening appears in the south wall of the
tunnel.


63    Capt. Phil Thomas's personnel file flashes up on the screen.  Aside
from a large amount of test scores and other data, an occasional paragraph of
interest slides by.  One that catches your eye reads, in part, "Thomas, a
recent transfer from Project Darwin, has expressed reservations about Finster's
experiments.  He voiced some of the same objections to them that prompted me
to leave Darwin.  I don't know if he's on the level, or if this is some trap
set by Finster....."


64    Your Martian guide leads you through a twisting pathway of long
abandoned tunnels that finally leads into a beautifully-sculpted city.  The
artistry, though alien, makes harmonious symbols that give you a warm feeling
when you look at the buildings.  The architecture almost sings, and you hear
a pleasant symphony of echoes as your booted feet click against the city
streets.
    Your guide, her golden hair riding unfelt breezes, leads you to a
massive door.  You feel the power and you could swear the patterns change, but
you cannot put your finger on any particular change at any one time.  At about
the time it hits you, the door speaks -- it's alive!
    "Welcome, Earthmen," it booms, "Speak the name of your beloved and
enter as friends."


65    The binding threatens to splinter apart as you take the book in your
hands.  The pages have warped into stiff yellow curves through contact with
liquids.  Some pages at the beginning have been torn out.  Where the writing
begins, it is a crude scrawl, with some letters written backwards.  Deciphering
it is no easy task.  Luckily it is fairly short, so you persevere.

"The Secrits of Las Vegas.
    My name is Dave Dawkins.  I found this old empty book, and I'm gonna
rite down all my secrits case I fergit them.
    I'm a gard for Fat Freddy.  He is #2 in Vegas and he wants to be #1.
There is a big reward for anywun who can kill Faran Brygo, the Big Boss.  Brygo
stays hidden most of the time.
    My hare is starting to fall out.  I wunner if its bucuz I joined the
Servants of the Mushrum Cloud.  It gives me a good feelin to be with my new
friends in the Temple.  They tole me the secrit password.  It is 3 letters --
NRC.  Nurk!  A lot of the Servants are bald.  Maybe I will be 2.
    Lately there has bin a lot of fitin.  I try to hide, but ware is it
safe?  Robot Deth Masheens are the wurst.  Ar guns don't always kill them
sukkers.  Freddy sez we need better wepuns and thats why we gotta find this
Max guy.  I dint say nuthin.  Im afraid to tell him that the Servants say Max
is kapchurd by the Siborgs.
    I am looking at my words in this book and I am proud.  I dint no I cud
rite so good till I tride it.  I will rite again later."
    Here the writing breaks off.  From what you know of the Vegas
situation, the diary can't be more than a week or two old, but Dave apparently
didn't come back.


66    Although you do not recognize it at first, the object before you is
massive and sends shivers up your spines.  You study it, splitting up to
explore both sides at the same time.  From the other side someone yells, "It's
a missile -- but the insides have been removed!"


67    The guard looks you over closely and then disappears into the tent.
You hear a brief muffled conversation and the guard returns with another man.
The newcomer introduces himself as the headman of the Atchison clan.  He
understands that you have done a great favor for his brother.  He dismisses
the guard and motions you closer.  He explains that they keep no treasure here
but he will give you directions to a secret cache.  "Here, take this shovel,"
he instructs you.  "Stand on the north rail, west end.  Take four paces to the
east and seven south.  Dig and you shall be rewarded."  The guard returns and
the headman bids you good day.


68    Closer now, you can hear the conversation of the men you saw when you
came in.  There is a short silence after each man voices his thoughts.  They
speak of Martians who are impossible to kill.  The Martians are stealing their
food faster than ever before and they seem to be massing for a major attack.
The simple weapons of the farmers are not enough to stop them.  They have no
idea what to do about it.  One of them jumps as he notices you and they all
turn to face you.  A stocky man they call Miguel approaches.


69    "He's an inhuman monster.  Just cuz he don't get sick he figures no
one else should."


70    Capt. Andrea Mills's personnel file flashes up onto the screen.  Aside
from a large amount of test scores and other data, an occasional paragraph of
interest slides by.  One that catches your eye reads, in part, "Despite her
having won the Nobel last year, Andrea's relationships with other project
members have not changed.  She's still her affable self, and she's made others
feel, through their work on the clone pods, they'be each earned a piece of
that Nobel themselves."


71    "Hi.  They call me Crumb," he says with a nod of his head.  After he
exchanges handshakes with everybody, he tells you "See Faran Brygo.  He's my
boss.  Be sure to use the password KESTREL."  As you leave, ye yells, "Tell
him I sent you!"


72    You bow deeply out of respect for the Martian Emperor, and he smiles
graciously.  He nods toward your guide and looks upon here with love in his
eyes.  "I thank you, Alandriana.  Once again, my beloved daughter, you have
served me well."
    He turns back to you.  "I need your help to rid our world of Serpioids.
We need to destroy the base on Phobos and can only do it with a device you call
a 'plasma coupler.'  Your scientists developed it after we sent them telepathic
transmissions that instructed them in its construction.  We need to get it into
the heart of the Serpioid base, then detonate it.  Our problem is that none of
us Martians can withstand the radiation the Serpioids need to live."  His voice
drops.  "You, on the other hand, can live for a while in that radiation bath.
Will you help us?"


73    "Faran must have sent you to look for Max.  Last I knew he was headed
for the sewers.  He built a special key to get down there.  It's called a
Sonic Key.  Max made a couple of them and told me he was hiding one somewhere
in the old golf course.  Didn't tell me where, though.  Didn't do him any
good either.  The Newmen grabbed him before he could do anything.  If you
return to me the Bloodstaff from the Mushroom Church in Needles I can show you
the way.  Tell the bishop PASTEL."


74    The Martian Warlord hands you a Firelance and some Verchitin armor. "I
realize this is not as good as having a Red Ryder Range Model Air Rifle with a
compass in the stock, but it's the best we can do."  He leads you out to the
Ornijetcopter and you board the strange craft.  "Good luck," he says, "Alwa
nasci korliri das."
    You frown and ask him what that last bit means.
    He smiles. "It's an old Martian warning.  It means, 'Keep your powder
dry.'"


75    Head Crusher says, "Thank you.  Go to the Atchisons tent and tell them
LADYBUG."


76    Charmaine takes the Bloodstaff from you and her face lights up.
    You clear your throat.  "We've done out part," you say, "now do yours.
We need to find this character Max before all of Vegas is overrun by these
killer robots."
    "Ah, yes, Max," she croons, "that strange flunky for Faran Brygo.  You
probably don't know that he is a robot."
    The news hits you hard.  "Things keep going from bad to worse," you
mutter.  "Outlaws, Blood Cultists, Killer Robots, Bomb Worshippers, and now
Cyborg Robotsnappers!  What next?"
    She inserts the Bloodstaff into a secret compartment and turns it.  You
hear a low groan, as if some new doors were opening up.  "The way is now clear
for you," says Charmaine.  "If you survive your encounter with the Newmen, look
me up in a couple of months.  I might have another mission for you."
    You can only grumble and take your leave.


77    A pair of Blood Guardians flank a complex control panel, the like of
which you've not seen before in the Wasteland.  One of the guards looks at you
and you hear him mutter "infidels" under his breath.  Beyon them you see a
large area of painted floor that looks very much like a giant chessboard, but
you can't begin to guess at what it might be for, or what it's doing in the
middle of a temple.


78    The Martian Warlord hands you a Firelance and Verchitin armor.  "I
know you'd much prefer a Red Ryder Range Model Air Rifle with a compass in the
stock, but this is the best we can do."  He waves you toward the Ornijetcopter
and says, "Wodpre rashi Karna das."
    You frown, "What?"
    He blushes purple.  "It's an old Martian wish from one warrior to
another.  It means, 'Keep your powder dry'."


79    You've entered a room where dozens of drills and saws are singing an
ear-piercing song.  Blue and white sparks jump from welders and cutters,
dropping to the ground to bounce out their brief lives.  A robot torso passes
before you as it lumbers its way across the room on one of the countless
conveyor belts.  Even the robot repair area looks in need of repair, with the
roof and wall supports laying exposed.  In the far corner you notice a square-
shaped room.


80    "Irwin John Finster, he runs Project Darwin.  He still thinks the
world's like it was before, you know?"


81    The Ornijetcopter takes off on an azure tonge of flames and shoots
towards Phobos.  Suddenly, out of the brown shadow of Deimos, three Serpioid
fighters stoop on your craft and fire their missiles.  Your craft shudders
under the impact.  The blast rips the cockpit away and shred the controls
beyond any chance of repair.  With black, choking smoke pouring from the
cockpit, the Ornijetcopter spirals into the dense Phobosian jungle!


82    The impact of craft hitting planet jars everyone aboard and, if not
for your Verchitin armor, all of you would surely have perished.  Suddenly the
door to your craft opens.  Standing there, dressed in a spotless white suit, is
Irwin John Finster.  "I suppose," he begins, "I owe you an explanation."


83    The pit boss sends a stream of brown saliva from between his front
teeth to the tip of your boots.  He slowly sucks on the tobacco pocketed
between his cheek and gum as he continues to eye you.  Working a finger into
his mouth, he scoots the chew around and finally breaks the silence.  "See
Crumb, the manager," he says with a long drawl.


84    In the shadow of an enormous satellite tracking disk stands the old
man.  Over 100 years old, he is still vigorous and bright of eye, although he
rambles incoherently at times.  The farmers remove their hats as they approach
and wait for him to speak.  Frowning, deep in thought, he stares at what appear
to be the ramains of a 15-foot tall carrot.  He holds a long shaft of broken
metal in one hand and mumbles something about wascally wabbits that he had to
beat away with his best rake.
    Miguel explains that you have come to help.  The old man studies your
weapons, and tells you that he doesn't think your peashooters will do any good
against the armored varmints, but that you're welcome to try.  If you succeed,
he wants you to come back and see him.  There is something he would like to
show you.
    Free to roam the veggie field, you head towards the carrot patch.  From
a distance, you hear the old man warn you, "Watch out for Harry, the Bunny
Master!"


85    You know the Guardians to be strange collectors of old items and as
xenophobic fools who would not hesitate to kill strangers without ever seeing
the whites of their eyes.  You've learned that the flags are in place to mark
the closest an outsider may approach the walls without being attacked.


86    "The Head Crusher likes visa cards."  The man smiles.  "He slathers
peanut butter on them and eats them."  He shakes his head.  "Weird, but then,
most everything is weird out here -- present company excepted, of course."


87    The room is empty except for a small, square room in the corner.  There
is an oval pattern on the floor that reminds you of alien eggs just waiting
for you to examine them too closely so they could explode in your face.  You
hesitate, but then get on all fours to study the pattern more closely.


88    "Finster forced all the sick ones out, to prevent the spread he said,
but it just leaves them to die without help," grumbles the bartender.


89    Finster sits down on a Phobosian tree.  "At birth the Serpioids
captured me and educated me to be a spy against my fellow humans.  I rebelled,
but I cannot strike them directly."  His hands shake.  "You have to understand.
Their queen is my sister!"


90    Faded but still visible, you see a map tacked on the wall of the area
before the war.  You see a small star that roughly corresponds, as nearly as
you can tell, to the base you now stand inside.  Almost directly south you see
a second star, and directly west, at the map's far edge, you see a third star.


91    Dr. Franklin Beams's personnel file flashes up onto the screen.  Aside
from a large amount of test scores and other data, on occasional paragraph of
interest slides by.  One that catches your eye reads, in part, "Dr. Beams's
assessment of Edsel's obsessive behavior concerning the computer and AI just
works as another nail in Edsel's coffin.  The faster I can get him out of here,
the better.  Let Cochise's boss dealy with a fully aware computer."


92    Head Crusher says, "Thank you.  Go to the Atchison's tent and tell
them LIZARD."


93    The diary talks about the last days during which the satellite facility
was operating.  "Las Vegas is still intact.  Needles wasn't damaged by the
bombs, but some flooding occurred when the river level rose.  Quartz suffered
some damage."  In hurried script, the last diary entry reads, "We're abandoning
the satellite installation so we can join the farmers out at the Ag Station
and defend the world against the newest threat.....the invasion from Mars!"


94    A speaker crackles.  After a flourish of trumpets you hear: "You have
the privlege of an audience with His Brightness, the Supreme Commander of
Mushroom Forces, Western Sector.  Unfortunately, our Great Leader is away on
urgent business.  Aware that you will require aid in your holy assult on the
infidel Temple of Blood to steal the Blood Staff, he has opened our armory for
your use.  Take all you need.  If you fail in your quest, you may return here
to commit ritual suicide."


95    "Things have been rather nasty in Quartz,"  you are told.  "One of the
larger desert bands, led by a guy called Pedros has taken an immense interest
in, ah, civic affairs.  He even calls himself 'Mayor'.  Normally a town of our
size could drive them off because the bandits don't try all that hard when
attacking, but this time they hit us with a vengeance.  It's almost like they
don't want to remain in the desert."


96    Three Card Monty is played with three cards; one is a queen and the
others are 10's.  The dealer shuffles the cards and places them face down on
the table.  The player has one guess to pick out the queen.  The bet is $10.


97    You leave the weeping Finster behind at the crash site.  You can
sympathize with him, and would have preferred to have him helping you, but
you can understand his reluctance to face his own flesh and blood.  Still,
his heart is in the right place.  Onward you trek to destroy the Serpioid base,
and try to redeem Finster's soul.


98    The Brakeman tells you, "Take this visa card and give it to Head
Crusher in Quartz."  As the Breakman passes you the card, the sunlight catches
the skull and crossbone hologram and glints brightly.  You slide it into your
breast pocket as he turns and leaves without another word.


99    Faran Brygo's office is modest, yet clean and pleasant.  Two guards,
one tall, blond and stern looking, the other shorter and stockier, flank the
desk.  Brygo, a dark, handsome man, smiles at you.  "I understand you want to
speak with me, gentlemen?"


100    Maj. Peregrine Cite's personnel file flashes up onto the screen.  Aside
from a large amount of test scores and other data, an occasional paragraph of
interest slides by.  One that catches your eye reads, in part, "Peregrine
accurately assessed the security problems with the storage area.  While the
base is not meant to be an armed camp, his precautions are well noted and
should provide a surprise for unauthorized personnel operating in the base."


101    Lt. Russel Heller's  personnel file flashes up onto the screen.  Aside
from a large amount of test scores and other data, an occasional paragraph of
interest slides by.  One that catches your eye reads, in part, "I thought
Heller would be a discipline problem, but he's not.  His jokes relieve the
tension as we work to finish the base.  Others worry about the news that
Edsel's new computer is helping to finish Cochise all by itself, but Heller
shrugs it off.  'Who wants to work with someone who won't sit down for a cold
beer after the work's done anyway?'  Perhaps mankind does stand a chance
against superior machines."


102    The Serpioid ambush takes you by surprise.  The Serpioids rise up from
the underbrush, which you ignite with your Flamelances, but their tactical
advantage spells doom for you.  Their advantage evaporates, however when
Finster appears and launches himself at the Serpioid leader.  Finster's kick
snaps the Serpioid's head back and drops him where he stood.  The battle begins
and energy weapons burn to life around you......


103    The Mushroom Bishop explains to you, "I sent out my second-in-command
to look into a series of murders."  You notice the bishop nervously twisting a
ruby ring around his finger.


104    The pamphlet contains two tips for the wise: "(1) Buy an Ak-97 assult
rifle. (2) If there's someone hanging around your neighborhood you don't know,
shoot him."


105    "No," Finster shouts.  "We can't take any more time to skulk around.
We've got to go straight in.  Don't worry, I know the password. It is TRAITOR!"


106    Your savage attack blasts away the enemy pillbox and you pour into
the heart of the Phobos defense.  Finster blasts a control panel.  "Perhaps,
with their defense system down, the Emperor can aid us."


107    You lift up Louie's lifeless wrist to look at his gold ID bracelet.
Twisting it over to view the underbelly, you see "27" etched on the dulled
surface.


108    Hidden panels in the walls drop away and Serpioid snipers open up on
you.  Your Firelances rake the ambush ports with murderous sheet after sheet
of flames and you hear the screams of Serpioids as they reel away in death.
    "Finster, look out!" one of you screams, but it is in vain.  A pit
opens beneath his feet and he vanishes.
    A vile, female voice fills the corridor. "Leave now, earthmen.  You
cannot save him or your planet.  At least save yourselves."


109    The wall map is covered with scribbled marks that are virtually
unreadable.  A star over one building in the southeastern section of town has
the legend "Bar -- trouble spot" scrawled over it.  A skull decorates another
building in the central eastern part of the town.  The word HIDEOUT covers it.
An arrow leading from the word draws attention to another building diagonally
to the southwest, though it has the word SEKRET painstakingly written beside
it.


110    The Hobo guzzles the Snake Squeezins the way an assult rifle gobbles
bullets.  His eyes glaze over and his voice deepens.  "Those who guard the
past guard the secret to immortality."


111    "Don't get your hopes up.  He have to deal with the Bloodstaff murders
first."
    You frown. "What murders?"
    The robot clerk squints at you.  "You mean you're not here about the
murders?  People are found deak, drained of blood.  We think it's some mutant
vampire or something from the desert."  He looks at you very hard.  "How do I
know you're really Rangers?  Just you keep your noses clean in my town, hear?"


112    The glowing torchlight flickers across a horrific scene.  Men in torn
and blood spattered robes struggle against the ropes binding them to massive
steel tables.  The tables slope down at the head and a catchbasin at the lowest
corner is used to collect the dark flow of blood dripping from the small wounds
cut into each writhing victim.
    Priests rush from one table to another, gathering buckets the way a
dairy farmer gathers the bucket of milk from his cows.  They pour the smaller
quantities of blood into a hole in the floor, but you cannot tell where the
dark fluid drains away to in this dim chamber of horrors.


113    "Where did you find that?  Oh my God, you've found the thief.  Where is
he?  Tell me, I must know!"


114    "Well, victims get red faced and all delirious."  The bartender shakes
his head.  "It's really odd."


115    Without Finster and his knowledge of the Phobosian Citadel you can only
stumble around blindly.  You slink through corridors and around corners, easily
avoiding the inattentive Serpioid sentries.  Then you catch a flash of white
from a window and, for a half second, you see Finster.
    You blanch.  The building he's in bears the legend "Ministry of Genetic
Rehabilitation."


116    Gunfire rips the Master Geneticist in half.  You slit Finster's bonds.
"We must hurry," he urges, "The final invasion begins in an hour!"


117    The Hobo quickly drains the bottle of Snake Squeezins and drops into a
trance.  Then, uttering each word metronomically, he says "A steel storm
threatens the City of Gold."


118    You see an empty room with a small square room in the corner.  On the
floor is an intricate diamond pattern.  You remove a magnifying glass from you
back pocket, get down on all fours, and begin to carefully study the pattern
of dots.


119    Fat Freddie turns the ring over in his thick hands.  A smile creeps
onto his face like scum over stagnant water.  "I don't believe it, you actually
were foolish enough to kill him."  He stares at you with piggish eyes.  "You
are obviously too dangerous to live."


120    Finster points out the window.  "Dive for cover!" he screams. You look
up, then suck tile as a kamikaze Serpioid in a fighter corkscrews down into the
hanger where you have taken cover!


121    The bartender frowns.  "Not much news since the plague forced Finster
to isolate the base."


122    Three Card Monty is played with three WWII generals.  One pretends he's
Montgomery, while the other two are Bradley and Patton.  A German player then
tries to figure out which one will lead the invasion.  If he guesses right,
the Fourth Reich gets to start with bases in Germany, France and England.


123    You peer at him over the top of your sunglasses.  As you cock your
fist to counsel him on the error of his reticent ways, he blurts, "The password
is THERMODYNAMISM!"


124    You see written here: "The launch code is MOTEKIM."


125    The explosion rips the hangar apart, but a force shield projected from
Finster's belt holds off the ocean of fire washing through the hangar. "Quick,"
he yells, "Get to the fighter over there.  We've got no time to waste."


126    Felicia smiles as you cut her bonds.  She nearly falls as she makes her
first attempt to stand up.  "Don't worry about me," she says, "Ace is being
kept in the cells."


127    You unravel the message from the leg of this massively strong pigeon.
"Boss," the note begins, "I've tracked the bum to Needles.  There's lots of
ruins and abandoned buildings here, so the search is not easy.  I know he's
hiding in one of them, and I hope I can find him before someone else does.  I
don't know if we want his information to fall into the wrong hands.  Oh yeah,
there's Rangers about, so it looks like things actually can go from bad to
worse."


128    The Hobo finishes the Snake Squeezins in record time and smiles wisely
at you.  He burps.  "One man's dream is another's nightmare, but a machine's
dream is everyone's nightmare."


129    "Faran must have sent you to look for Max.  Last I knew he was headed
for the sewers.  He built a special key to get down there.  It's called a Sonic
Key.  Don't confuse it with the four keys of the Citadel.  Max made a couple of
them and told me that he was hiding one somewhere in the old golf course.
Didn't tell me where, though.  Didn't do him any good, either.  The Newmen
grabbed him before he could do anything.  If you return to me the Bloodstaff
from the Mushroom Church in Needles I can show you the way.  Tell the bishop
DIPSTICK."


130    You're drawn into a large room filled from floor to ceiling with
countless computers.  The flashing lights and video screens bring the room to
an eerie life.  Through the glow of colors, you spot a small square room in
the far corner.


131    Once the introductions have been made, the Big Boss pulls out a box of
grenades and passes them around, all the while explaining that it is his
special blend, made somewhere further north.  When everyone is comfortable, and
the bodyguards have taken up unobtrusive positions behind you, he begins to
talk.
    "One of my men is missing.  We don't think he's dead, because he was
too valuable to kill.  We think some other group in town has grabbed him, but
if we don't get him back, the whole town will probably be overrun by these
damn death machines that have started to appear.  He's the only one in town
with the scientific know how to fight them.  For example, he's the one who
thought of the landmines, and they've destroyed more robots than anything else
in town."
    Brygo reaches into his desk and brings out a drawing of a rather
ordinary looking man.  "This is Finster," he explains.  "He came to us about a
year ago from the Wasteland to the east.  He was the greatest hand-to-hand
fighter we'd ever seen and he also seemed to know a lot about the science from
before the War.  He didn't remember where he came from -- at least, that's
what he told us.  I quickly made him my right hand man.
    "When we began to hear rumors of death machines coming out of the west,
and especially when the first of them reached Vegas borders several weeks ago,
Finster grew frantic.  He began to talk crazy, about how all life was in peril,
and how only he could save us.  He said he needed special equipment, and that
someone near Vegas should have it.  I should have put a guard on him, but
instead I decided to send Ace out to look for help.  One night Finster
disappeared.  We've been looking for him ever since, but without success.  Now
I've lost my best man, and things are getting worse.  Newer and stronger
robotic death machines are appearing all the time.  If we don't find Finster
soon, even a fortress like this may not be able to hold out.  Go see Charmaine
in the Mushroom Church.  Tell her I sent you and she may be able to help."
    You nod. "Yeah.  We've tangled with these death machines before, and
whoever is making them has gotta be stopped.  Got any clues?"
    "There are two other power groups that we know of here in Vegas.  Fat
Freddy runs the criminal element.  He'd like to take over my position.  Then,
there's also the Servants of the Mushroom Cloud -- religious fanatics who won't
be happy until every person in Vegas has been converted to their own poisonous
religion.  There may be others.  Vegas is a big town.  But those are the ones
we most suspect.  You get Finster back in one piece, and I'll pay you $20,000
and give you command positions in my special forces.  What do you say?  Will
you do it?"
    The Desert Rangers huddle for a few minutes.  From the veiled looks and
secret gestures you've intercepted between Brygo and his men, it's obvious
that the only way you'll get out of this room without a fight, is to take the
assignment.  Besides, your curiousity has been aroused.  You are sure that
Finster knows a lot more than he has told Brygo.  If you want explanations,
he's the man you'll need to see.
    "All right," you tell the Boss, "we'll find him if he's findable.  We
may have to leave Vegas to do it.  In the meantime, you try to hold out here."
    The Big Boss stands up, shakes your hands, and wished you all luck.
Then he shos you the way out.


132    A growl rumbles from the bartender's throat.  "The Martians forced all
the sick ones out, to prevent the spread they said, but it just leaves them
to die without help."


133    Each of you mans a gun station as the fighter bursts from the flaming
hanger.  Fingers tighten on triggers and massive energy puses coax sour, ozone
vapors from the atmosphere.  You blaze away at the swarm of enemy fighters
whirling around.  Your shots blast the Serpioid ships apart, but the horde of
them looks too great for even you to defeat.
    Suddenly the fighter lurches to a stop as a blue-green light bathes it.
The wings disintegrate and Finster screams, "Tractor beam.  Their command ship
has us!"


134    "That's a brilliant plan!" Finster exclaims.  "You'll get a promotion
for that one!"
    In accordance with your plan, he cuts the engine back and the tractor
beam drags you quickly toward the floating Citadel that is the Serpioid
flagship.  Then as you grow close, Finster punches the afterburners and your
ship, a fuel-laden bomb, dives in at the flagship.
    "Hope your force field holds, Irwin," you laugh.
    He swallows hard.  "My power level is too low.  We're going to die!"


135    Finster huddles with the rest of you in the corridors of the flagship.
"If not for your quick thinking and linking my power belt into the fusion
engine on the ship, we would have died.  Now we've crippled the flagship.  We
have won!"
    "No," you remind him.  "It won't be over until your sister is dead!"


136    The darkened cell reeks of decay.  You take a step inside and feel
something slick on the cell's floor.  You stoop and touch it, then recoil as
if burned.  The empty cell is full of blood!


137    The bartender sighs. "He was working in the base as a janitor.  Now
he's real sick."


138    A squad of Serpioids fills the hallway.  "Come, Rangers," the leader
invites, "Come and die."


139    High/Low is a game played with two dice.  The player rolls a die and
then the dealer rolls a die.  If the player rolled higher than the dealer,
he wins.  The bet is $10 per roll.


140    "He wandered in from the desert to study here.  He talked with Finster
but got sick before he got a job."


141    Snake Squeezins drip off the Hobo's chin as he drains the bottle.  His
eyes grow distant and his voice drops an octave.  "To the mother who speaks in
riddles comes a child of promise.  Aid her and aid justice."


142    You stoop and recover your African Throwing Knives from the Serpioid
bodies.  You grin at Finster.  "I'm going to skin one of these things, someday,
and make me a pair of boots."


143    You unceremoniously rip the bracelet from Hewey's limp wrist.  Rubbing
it against your chest several times to remove the blood, you see "13" engraved
on it.


144    You can hardly believe your eyes.  Here, in the middle of the Guardian
Citadel's fourth level, you stand before the object of five year's seach.  You
remove your gloves and gently run your hand over her belly, fighting back the
temptation to throw yourself entirely against her.  Slowly, you take several
steps back.  Unable to resist it any longer, you blurt triumphantly to the
crew, "The Titanic!  What a find!"


145    This paragraph can be reached from no place in the whole adventure.  We
know who you are, and will get you for reading this paragraph.  Expect it most
when you expect it least.


146    The bartender leans forward.  "Darwin was a science base a long time
ago.  Supposed to be hush-hush, but I grew up in its shadow, so......"


147    You flip the lifeless Hewey onto his back with the toe of your boot.
After you rummage through his pockets, you start removing his jewelry, having
a particularly hard time working the ID bracelet over his swollen hand.  You
finally separate it from the dearly departed with a hard jerk that pops the
bracelet off.  Flipping over the bracelet, you read the only etching of "11".


148    The Hobo lowers the now empty bottle of Snake Squeezins and stares at
you with glassy eyes.  "Destroy the wombs and destroy the threat."  He then
passes out.


149    "Hi.  They call me Crumb," he says with a nod of his head.  After he
exchanges handshakes with everybody, he tells you "See Faran Brygo.  He's my
boss.  Be sure to use the password CLOVER."  As you leave, he yells, "Tell
him I sent you!"


150    "Where did you find that?  Oh my god, he must be dead.  The Bloodstaff
was stolen from here and I'll generously reward you if you find it and bring
it back.  Last I knew it was going back to downtown Needles."


151    Your mouth dries instantly.  Perched within a weightless bubble of
blood, Finster's sister laughs derisively.  "Come so far just to die.  Poor
little men.  Your world is lost."


152    The hastily inhaled Snake Squeezins dull the Hobo's eyes and deepen
his voice.  He tells you, "A body is only a box to keep your mind in."


153    "Not by a long shot," you scream back at her.  You flich the charging
level of the needle rifles you found earlier.  "Eat hot slivers of death,
witch."  The deafening roar of your assault swallows any comment she tries
to offer.


154    As you gently thumb through the brittle pages of the little black
book, you notice a list of names and phone numbers, some of which have four
stars next to them.  At the bottom of the last page you notice some unusual
text: "The launch code is ATOM".


155    You unceremoniously rip the bracelet from Dewey's limp wrist.  Rubbing
it against your chest several times to remove the blood, you see "16" engraved
on it.


156    The Snake Squeezins vanish into the Hobo faster than water evaporates
in the desert.  The Hobo smiles quizically, his eyes get a distant look, and
he burps.  "Trust the one born beneath the battlefield."


157    Finster and his sister stand over your dead bodies.  "The fools should
have realized,"  she says, "those were my weapons.  Having them explode when
used against me is easy."
    Finster smiles.  "They were more foolish than that, Lucretia.  They
actually trusted me."  The twins' laughter echoes in your dying ears for an
eternity.


158    "Where'd you get that ring?" the detective demands.  "I think his
Holiness is looking for that thing."


159    She beckons you to come nearer, the shining three-inch red nail on her
index finger mesmerizing you closer and closer.  Pushing the hair away from
your ear, she whispers, "Ugly's bomb disarm code is 31-17-54-07-99."


160    Snake Squeezins lubricate the Hobo's throat and loosen his mind to
travel places unknown to the sane.  "Man before wife, save a life."


161    You study the torn piece of paper in your hand.  Originally written
in red ink, the text has turned into large fuzzy blotches of pink.  Though
mostly unreadable, you make out the word MUERTE followed by HIDEOUT:THANATOS,
but THANATOS has been scratched out and MORS has been written under it.


162    The coppery-skinned youth smiles.  "I come from the Junkyard Village.
My father is the Junkmaster and he'd be very grateful if you would return me
to my home."  He looks down at his feet.  "I understand, though, if you do not
want to take me home.  You are the might Desert Rangers who have destroyed
the Guardians of the Old Order, so you don't need any help.  Still, my father
knows where you enemy lairs."


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Plagarited @ 1989 by GtR>