$Id$
$Log$
+Revision 1.7 2006/09/12 08:49:08 Wibbleboy
+o Made several changes in response to suggestions in Wiki.
+
Revision 1.6 2006/09/07 14:05:53 Wibbleboy
o Added ammo usage footnotes
o Corrected various errata and non-errate errors.
<publisher>Project Aon</publisher>
<date class="publication"><year>2005</year><month>12</month><day>17</day></date>
<description class="blurb">
- <p>You are Cal Phoenix, the Freeway Warrior, champion and protector of Dallas Colony One. From the sanctuary of Big Spring your convoy of survivors begins the next stage of its life-or-death exodus: a journey to the fortified border town of El Paso, a destination that lies hundreds of miles beyond the sun-scorched wasteland of West Texas. In Slaughter Mountain Run your mission is to rescue Kate Norton from the clutches of your arch enemy - the H.A.V.O.C. leader Mad Dog Michigan. You have just seven days to free her and to rendezvous with the colony before it runs the gauntlet of fire that protects the only mountain road to El Paso.</p>
+ <p>You are Cal Phoenix, the Freeway Warrior, champion and protector of Dallas Colony One. From the sanctuary of Big Spring your convoy of survivors begins the next stage of its life-or-death exodus: a journey to the fortified border town of El Paso, a destination that lies hundreds of miles beyond the sun-scorched wasteland of West Texas. In Slaughter Mountain Run your mission is to rescue Kate Norton from the clutches of your arch enemy<ch.emdash/>the HAVOC leader Mad Dog Michigan. You have just seven days to free her and to rendezvous with the colony before it runs the gauntlet of fire that protects the only mountain road to El Paso.</p>
</description>
<description class="publication">
<p>Internet Edition published by <a href="&link.project.website;">Project Aon</a>. This edition is intended to reflect the complete text of the original version. Where we have made minor corrections, they will be noted in the <a idref="errata">Errata</a>.</p>
</meta>
<data>
- <p><strong>1990-1998</strong><br />Rise of global terrorism on an unprecedented scale. Political violence funded by organized crime syndicate called HAVOC - The Hijack, Assassination and Violent Opposition Consortium.</p>
- <p><strong>1998-2003</strong><br />The governments of many small and impoverished nations fall into the hands of HAVOC. International terrorists receive arms, training and shelter in these 'Badlands'.</p>
+ <p><strong>1990-1998</strong><br />Rise of global terrorism on an unprecedented scale. Political violence funded by organized crime syndicate called HAVOC<ch.emdash/>The Hijack, Assassination and Violent Opposition Consortium.</p>
+ <p><strong>1998-2003</strong><br />The governments of many small and impoverished nations fall into the hands of HAVOC. International terrorists receive arms, training, and shelter in these 'Badlands'.</p>
<p><strong>2003-2008</strong><br />Raids on oil and gas installations, assassinations, and the kidnapping of prominent world statesmen become commonplace as HAVOC attempt to terrorize the civilized world into submission. Despite public outrage and growing international tension, the major powers refuse steadfastly to give in to HAVOC's demands.</p>
<p><strong>2008</strong><br />President of the United States and General Secretary of Supreme Soviet both assassinated at emergency summit meeting. US, USSR and major European nations create the World Defence League and declare war on HAVOC. The Badlands are invaded, key HAVOC bases destroyed, and thousands of HAVOC agents are captured.</p>
- <p><strong>2009</strong><br />HAVOC leaders imprisoned for life in 'Deep Pens' - maximum security gaols located deep underground - to prevent their escape or release by HAVOC agents still at large.</p>
+ <p><strong>2009</strong><br />HAVOC leaders imprisoned for life in 'Deep Pens'<ch.emdash/>maximum security gaols located deep underground<ch.emdash/>to prevent their escape or release by HAVOC agents still at large.</p>
<p><strong>2010</strong><br />New leadership emerges to unify the scattered remnants of HAVOC and plan revenge.</p>
<p><strong>2011</strong><br />A WDL train transporting seventeen 100-kiloton nuclear warheads, destined to be neutralized and dismantled, is attacked by HAVOC agents. The train is destroyed and its deadly cargo stolen.</p>
<p><strong>2012 New Year's Day</strong><br />HAVOC hijack a WDL news satellite and broadcast a chilling ultimatum. They have planted the seventeen stolen warheads in major cities throughout the US, USSR and Europe. They call for the immediate release of all HAVOC agents held in Deep Pens, plus the payment of $2 trillion in gold bullion, or they will trigger the warheads one by one until their demands are met in full. A twenty-four hour deadline is set. WDL leaders declare emergency and request that the deadline be extended. HAVOC refuse.</p>
<data>
<p>You are Cal Phoenix, a survivor, born in California on Thanksgiving Day in the year AD 2000. In 2012, whilst on winter vacation at your Uncle Jonas' and Aunt Betty-Ann's ranch in Texas, you were invited to visit a shale-oil mine near Austin, the first of its kind in Texas. As Chief of Construction, your uncle was proud to take you on a guided tour of the whole underground complex, which, for security reasons, was totally self-supporting. It was during this tour on 3 January 2012, that the unthinkable happened.</p>
- <p>You remember how the ground shuddered when the shock waves from the first distant explosions reached the mine. Immediately you assumed it was the start of an earthquake, which you had experienced many times at home in California. However, as the levels nearest the surface began to collapse and the central elevator shaft filled with rubble, you realized the awful truth: the holocaust. At first there was no way of telling the extent of the surface devastation. Below ground, the safety generators had switched into operation automatically when the main power supply failed, and the tremors had faded quickly, which encouraged your aunt and uncle to believe that the damage above was superficial. Uncle Jonas was confident that the military would mount a rescue operation and that you would be brought out within a few days, a week at the most. Aunt Betty-Ann, too, was optimistic. After all, there were emergency supplies - enough to feed 200 men for a whole month. Little did she know that the three of you would end up consuming all those supplies, or that the mine would become your home, your shelter and your prison for the next eight years of your lives.</p>
+ <p>You remember how the ground shuddered when the shock waves from the first distant explosions reached the mine. Immediately you assumed it was the start of an earthquake, which you had experienced many times at home in California. However, as the levels nearest the surface began to collapse and the central elevator shaft filled with rubble, you realized the awful truth: the holocaust. At first there was no way of telling the extent of the surface devastation. Below ground, the safety generators had switched into operation automatically when the main power supply failed, and the tremors had faded quickly, which encouraged your aunt and uncle to believe that the damage above was superficial. Uncle Jonas was confident that the military would mount a rescue operation and that you would be brought out within a few days, a week at the most. Aunt Betty-Ann, too, was optimistic. After all, there were emergency supplies<ch.emdash/>enough to feed 200 men for a whole month. Little did she know that the three of you would end up consuming all those supplies, or that the mine would become your home, your shelter and your prison for the next eight years of your lives.</p>
<p>It was early September in the year 2019 when eventually you broke through to the surface. When first you set eyes on the landscape surrounding the mine, it was like looking at the surface of another planet. Few structures had survived the blizzards and intense cold that had swept around the world in the years following 'The Day', and now, after the dust had settled and the sun had returned, the once-fertile plains of Austin resembled little more than a desert of parched and broken rock, littered with the artefacts of an absent civilization.</p>
- <p>During the first few days, when you set out to explore this wilderness, it was easy to believe that you were the only survivors. But on the morning of the fifth day Uncle Jonas made chance radio contact with a family called Ewell who were living near the ruins of McKinney, thirty miles north of Dallas. They told him that they had been in touch with a handful of other groups who had managed somehow to survive the holocaust. Most were isolated and unable to move due to lack of fuel, food or water. They had urged those who could travel to join them in McKinney to start a new community there, and some people were already on their way. When your uncle and aunt accepted their invitation, the Ewells were enthusiastic, but they also warned you to be wary - not everyone who had survived wanted to establish a new community. The ruins of some large Texan cities, such as Dallas and Fort Worth, were controlled by gangs of criminals who fought with each other and terrorized anyone seeking to reestablish law and order. They urged you to avoid these gangs at all costs.</p>
+ <p>During the first few days, when you set out to explore this wilderness, it was easy to believe that you were the only survivors. But on the morning of the fifth day Uncle Jonas made chance radio contact with a family called Ewell who were living near the ruins of McKinney, thirty miles north of Dallas. They told him that they had been in touch with a handful of other groups who had managed somehow to survive the holocaust. Most were isolated and unable to move due to lack of fuel, food, or water. They had urged those who could travel to join them in McKinney to start a new community there, and some people were already on their way. When your uncle and aunt accepted their invitation, the Ewells were enthusiastic, but they also warned you to be wary<ch.emdash/>not everyone who had survived wanted to establish a new community. The ruins of some large Texan cities, such as Dallas and Fort Worth, were controlled by gangs of criminals who fought with each other and terrorized anyone seeking to reestablish law and order. They urged you to avoid these gangs at all costs.</p>
<p>It took more than a week to discover a vehicle that could transport you to McKinney. It was an old school bus, one that had been parked in an underground lot and had survived the years of sub-zero blizzards. With fuel and spares salvaged from the mine, you managed to coax it back to life, and then set off on your journey north.</p>
- <p>When you arrived at the town, it was easy to find where the Ewells lived - their ranch was the only place that was still standing. It looked more like an old frontier post than a ranch, with its fortified perimeter wall, lookout posts and stake-filled moat. However, after being ambushed and shot at by the city gangs of Fort Worth during the final stages of your journey, you fully appreciated the need for these defences.</p>
+ <p>When you arrived at the town, it was easy to find where the Ewells lived<ch.emdash/>their ranch was the only place that was still standing. It looked more like an old frontier post than a ranch, with its fortified perimeter wall, lookout posts and stake-filled moat. However, after being ambushed and shot at by the city gangs of Fort Worth during the final stages of your journey, you fully appreciated the need for these defences.</p>
<p>'Pop' Ewell, the seventy-year-old grandfather of the Ewell family, was the leader of this small colony of survivors, and it was he who had urged Uncle Jonas to join them when they had first made radio contact. The colony numbered less than a dozen at the time of your arrival, yet, as the airwaves became clearer and new contacts were made, soon this number had more than doubled to twenty-five. It was decided that a name was needed to identify the settlement. The name 'Dallas Colony One' was adopted, known as 'DC1' for short. From that day on, everyone worked hard to make DC1 a secure haven for those seeking refuge from the hostile wastelands and marauding city gangs.</p>
<p>'Cutter' Jacks was one such refugee. Before 'The Day' he had been chief mechanic at the International Grand Prix Circuit near Lake Dallas, and his incredible skill with, and knowledge of, engines was soon to prove invaluable to the colony. He taught you how to drive, and from a pile of old wrecks that you helped him salvage from the circuit, he built you a powerful, customized car. You used it to patrol the highways north of the city, keeping a lookout for gangs of city punks who frequently mounted raids to steal or destroy DC1's supplies. Cutter also taught you to shoot. It was your natural prowess with a gun, and your skill behind the wheel, that was to earn you the begrudging respect of your enemies, who took to calling you 'the Freeway Warrior'.</p>
<p>Six months after you arrived at DC1, the colony was faced with a major crisis. A heat wave was causing a drought that threatened to destroy the food supply. Crops were failing and the colony's artesian well, its only source of uncontaminated water, was beginning to dry up. The drought was also provoking more attacks from the city punks, who were desperate for food and water. Their common need had united them and now they posed a very real threat to the security of DC1.</p>
<p>It was the last day of May, 2020, when Pop Ewell made radio contact with another colony who were based in the city of Big Spring, 300 miles west of McKinney. Their situation was completely the reverse of DC1's: they had food and water in plentiful supply but they were desperately short of fuel. They told of their contact with survivors in Tucson, Arizona, who were also without fuel. The Tucson colony reported that the territories west of the Sierra Nevada mountains had been spared the worst effects of the radioactive blizzards that had devastated the rest of the country and, miraculously, much of southern California was still widely populated. In fact, it had survived the last eight years virtually intact. When you heard the news you could hardly believe your ears. Perhaps your family was still alive. After all that had happened, there was now a real hope that one day you might be reunited with them.</p>
<p>A meeting was held to decide how best to deal with the crisis facing DC1. Everyone agreed that to stay at McKinney would lead eventually to death, either slowly from starvation or suddenly at the hands of the murderous city gangs. The only choice open to DC1 was to try to reach California; only there lay real hope for the future of the colony. The decision was relayed to the survivors at Big Spring and a deal was struck to rendezvous with them as soon as possible. DC1 would refuel them in exchange for food and water, and together they would join up with the Tucson colony for the final stage of the journey to California.</p>
- <p>Careful preparations were made for the long trek, and three vehicles were chosen to make up the convoy: the school bus, your customized roadster, and a gasolene tanker laden with 5000 gallons of petroleum siphoned from underground storage tanks at the Ewell ranch. Supplies of food and water were adequate but the colony lacked sufficient firearms and ammunition with which to defend itself. So, on the day before the convoy was due to leave, one of the colonists was sent north to search the town of Sherman for weapons. He radioed back to say that he had found a cache of hunting rifles and ammunition, but that his truck had broken down and he was stranded in the town. He had also found a survivor - a beautiful teenage girl - and he requested that you be sent to Sherman to pick them up. As soon as you arrived you were ambushed by the scouts of a brutal gang of bikers known as the Detroit Lions and, in the ensuing gun battle, you killed Stinger - the scouts' leader.</p>
- <p>Later, you learned that the girl, Kate Norton, was the sole survivor of a Kansas City colony, which had been attacked and wiped out by the Detroit Lions. The Lions' leader, who calls himself 'Mad Dog Michigan', had taken a liking to her and spared her life. Mad Dog had once been a high-ranking HAVOC agent. He had escaped from Pontiac Deep Pen near Detroit, and he and his gang, most of whom were also HAVOC escapees, were heading for the Fort Hood Military Reserve near Killeen, Texas, the largest armoury in the whole of the United States. There he hoped to find enough weapons to equip the other HAVOC clans who were now in control of cities all along the eastern seaboard. Kate had managed to steal a motorcycle and escape from their camp, but Mad Dog had been determined to get her back. He sent his brother - Stinger and a handful of his best scouts to track her down. They had finally caught up with her at Sherman.</p>
+ <p>Careful preparations were made for the long trek, and three vehicles were chosen to make up the convoy: the school bus, your customized roadster, and a gasolene tanker laden with 5000 gallons of petroleum siphoned from underground storage tanks at the Ewell ranch. Supplies of food and water were adequate but the colony lacked sufficient firearms and ammunition with which to defend itself. So, on the day before the convoy was due to leave, one of the colonists was sent north to search the town of Sherman for weapons. He radioed back to say that he had found a cache of hunting rifles and ammunition, but that his truck had broken down and he was stranded in the town. He had also found a survivor<ch.emdash/>a beautiful teenage girl<ch.emdash/>and he requested that you be sent to Sherman to pick them up. As soon as you arrived you were ambushed by the scouts of a brutal gang of bikers known as the Detroit Lions and, in the ensuing gun battle, you killed Stinger<ch.emdash/>the scouts' leader.</p>
+ <p>Later, you learned that the girl, Kate Norton, was the sole survivor of a Kansas City colony, which had been attacked and wiped out by the Detroit Lions. The Lions' leader, who calls himself 'Mad Dog Michigan', had taken a liking to her and spared her life. Mad Dog had once been a high-ranking HAVOC agent. He had escaped from Pontiac Deep Pen near Detroit, and he and his gang, most of whom were also HAVOC escapees, were heading for the Fort Hood Military Reserve near Killeen, Texas, the largest armoury in the whole of the United States. There he hoped to find enough weapons to equip the other HAVOC clans who were now in control of cities all along the eastern seaboard. Kate had managed to steal a motorcycle and escape from their camp, but Mad Dog had been determined to get her back. He sent his brother<ch.emdash/>Stinger and a handful of his best scouts to track her down. They had finally caught up with her at Sherman.</p>
<p>When Mad Dog learned that you had killed his brother, he vowed to get even with you at any price. He abandoned his plans to loot Fort Hood and embarked instead on a relentless pursuit of your colony as it crossed the sun-scorched wastelands of central Texas. The journey to Big Spring was fraught with great danger. Yet, in spite of the many perils you faced, perhaps because of them, you felt yourself falling in love with Kate and you sensed that she, too, was becoming increasingly fond of you.</p>
- <p>Sadly, the convoy was only a few miles from Big Spring when disaster struck. The land surrounding the settlement was controlled by a gang of bikers, a renegade clan called 'the Mavericks' who had been the bane of the Big Spring colony for many months. As the convoy drew nearer to its destination, the Mavericks launched an attack, and, in the running battle that ensued, they captured and abducted Kate. The convoy entered the fortified gates of Big Spring to a rapturous welcome from the colonists of that settlement, but for you the mood of celebration was soured by the vivid memory of Kate's abduction. You vowed to rescue her, and, from that moment on, every waking minute of every day at Big Spring was spent thinking about little else.</p>
+ <p>Sadly, the convoy was only a few miles from Big Spring when disaster struck. The land surrounding the settlement was controlled by a gang of bikers, a renegade clan called the 'Mavericks' who had been the bane of the Big Spring colony for many months. As the convoy drew nearer to its destination, the Mavericks launched an attack, and, in the running battle that ensued, they captured and abducted Kate. The convoy entered the fortified gates of Big Spring to a rapturous welcome from the colonists of that settlement, but for you the mood of celebration was soured by the vivid memory of Kate's abduction. You vowed to rescue her, and, from that moment on, every waking minute of every day at Big Spring was spent thinking about little else.</p>
<p>By chance it transpired that the leader of the Mavericks, a blond-haired murderer called Amex Gold, was a former HAVOC agent who had served under Mad Dog Michigan before 'The Day'. He offered to join forces with the Lions, and, as a token of his loyalty to his former commander, he returned Kate to him. Together, the Lions and the Mavericks launched a hasty attack on Big Spring. However, although they outnumbered the colony by more than three to one, they were unable to breach the settlement's fortified perimeter wall, and were repelled with heavy losses.</p>
<p>On the day after the attack, Pop Ewell discovered the radio frequency that the clansmen were using and was able to eavesdrop on their communications. He learned that Mad Dog had ordered another HAVOC clan, based in New Orleans, to come and reinforce his command; they were expected to arrive within the week. He also overheard Mad Dog arrange a meeting with Mekong Mike, the leader of the Angelinos, a gang that controlled the city of San Angelo. He wanted him as an ally and was prepared to offer guns and ammunition in return for his help in destroying the Big Spring colony.</p>
<li><typ class="item">HE (High Explosive) GRENADE</typ></li>
<li><typ class="item">BINOCULARS</typ></li>
<li><typ class="item">COMPASS</typ></li>
- <li><typ class="item">C.B. RADIO</typ></li>
+ <li><typ class="item">CB RADIO</typ></li>
<li><typ class="item">ROPE</typ></li>
<li><typ class="item">THREE MEALS</typ> (each Meal takes up one space in your Backpack)</li>
<li><typ class="item">FLEXIBLE SAW</typ></li>
<data>
<p>Throughout a long and moonless night, the colony loads up and manhandles into line the vehicles that are to transport you west to Tucson. Preparations for the breakout did not begin until an hour after sundown, for Amex Gold has men positioned on nearby Signal Mountain with orders to observe and report all activity within Big Spring. These lookouts are especially vigilant; their leader is expecting the colony to attempt an escape and they know that their lives will be forfeit should they fail to predict exactly when it will occur.</p>
- <p>In near-blackness you service and refuel your roadster by sense of touch alone, while all around you the chill night air is alive with movement and whispering as your fellow colonists furtively attend to their allotted tasks. Although you cannot see them you know exactly the positions of the five other road vehicles that comprise the convoy. At the head of the line, twenty paces back from the west freeway gate, is the armoured tow truck that will lead the breakout. The driver is 'Pecos' Pete Tyler, and beside him you can picture his brother Rex riding shotgun. In the open back of their truck is Rickenbacker, a former flying circus stunt pilot, who has chosen to ride out in the open so that he can look after 'Icarus' - his motorized hang glider - which by now he will have carefully dismantled and strapped aboard. Next in line are two Amcorp Landcruisers - solar-assisted roadbuses that carry the Big Spring colonists, and behind them is positioned the gasolene tanker with Uncle Jonas at the wheel. The DC1 school bus is next and your roadster last, the back marker until the convoy is clear of Big Spring.</p>
+ <p>In near-blackness you service and refuel your roadster by sense of touch alone, while all around you the chill night air is alive with movement and whispering as your fellow colonists furtively attend to their allotted tasks. Although you cannot see them you know exactly the positions of the five other road vehicles that comprise the convoy. At the head of the line, twenty paces back from the west freeway gate, is the armoured tow truck that will lead the breakout. The driver is 'Pecos' Pete Tyler, and beside him you can picture his brother Rex riding shotgun. In the open back of their truck is Rickenbacker, a former flying circus stunt pilot, who has chosen to ride out in the open so that he can look after 'Icarus'<ch.emdash/>his motorized hang glider<ch.emdash/>which by now he will have carefully dismantled and strapped aboard. Next in line are two Amcorp Landcruisers<ch.emdash/>solar-assisted roadbuses that carry the Big Spring colonists, and behind them is positioned the gasolene tanker with Uncle Jonas at the wheel. The DC1 school bus is next and your roadster last, the back marker until the convoy is clear of Big Spring.</p>
<p>Once your preparations are complete you leave your vehicle and feel your way along the side of the school bus towards the boarding door. Cutter is sitting in the driver's seat, staring thoughtfully at the night sky, his face lit by the faint green glow of the instrument panel.</p>
<p>'Cal, you'd better get back and watch out for Pecos Pete's signal,' he says, on seeing you at his side. 'We're outta here in fifteen minutes.'</p>
<p>'I've decided I'm not goin' to Tucson with the convoy,' you reply, your voice steady and resolute. 'I'm not gonna abandon Kate. I'm the only hope she's got of cuttin' loose o' that psychopath Mad Dog Michigan, and I'm not gonna betray that hope. He's sure to have taken her with him to San Angelo, and I've thought out a plan to spring her from there while he's busy fixin' a deal with the Angelinos gang.</p>
<p>'I understand how you feel, Cal,' says Cutter, sympathetically, 'but you've a duty to the rest o' the colony that you can't just ignore. You're the convoy scout, the convoy's eyes and ears. We're gonna need you to get us across the mountains in one piece.'</p>
<p>'Rickenbacker in his micro-glider can scout for the convoy. With a CB on board he could stay in radio contact with Pop and be your eyes in the sky. He'd make the best scout the convoy could ask for,' you reply, convincingly.</p>
- <p>Cutter stares at you in silence then, begrudgingly, he nods in agreement. 'OK, Cal. As soon as we're safely away from here I'll talk to the others and get them to listen to your plan. But first we've gotta concern ourselves with gettin' out o' here in one piece - agreed?'</p>
+ <p>Cutter stares at you in silence then, begrudgingly, he nods in agreement. 'OK, Cal. As soon as we're safely away from here I'll talk to the others and get them to listen to your plan. But first we've gotta concern ourselves with gettin' out o' here in one piece<ch.emdash/>agreed?'</p>
<p>'Agreed,' you reply, relieved that at last you have told someone your decision to rescue Kate.</p>
<p>Suddenly the discordant blare of an auto horn splits the silence: it is Pecos Pete's signal to the other drivers to start their engines. Quickly you return to your roadster and, as you fire up its engine, you see the twin tail lights of the school bus shrinking in the dark as it heads towards the now-open freeway gate. The breakout has begun.</p>
<choice idref="sect293"><link-text>Turn to 293</link-text>.</choice>
<p>The bullets whine as they ricochet off the side of the Chevrolet and pass within inches of your body. You reach cover and Kate tosses her machine pistol to you over the side of the roadster. You catch it near the ground, but before you can draw back the firing bolt and return fire, you spot the outline of a man standing away to your right. He is armed with a pistol and he has you dead in his sights.</p>
<p>'Do like the man said, buddy, or take your last breath,' he says, and reluctantly you let the G-12 slip to the ground.</p>
<p>'Ain't no good you hidin' in there, honey,' says the voice from the pay booth. There is a pause, then slowly Kate climbs out of the car and stands beside you.</p>
- <p>The man with the pistol is tall and muscular and dressed in green army fatigues. His blond hair is cropped close to his head and his eyes are hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses. With his pistol still aimed at your heart, he walks slowly towards you, stopping at the entrance to the pay booth. Two more men in uniform emerge from the doorway - the rifleman and one other, armed with a sawn-off shotgun.</p>
+ <p>The man with the pistol is tall and muscular and dressed in green army fatigues. His blond hair is cropped close to his head and his eyes are hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses. With his pistol still aimed at your heart, he walks slowly towards you, stopping at the entrance to the pay booth. Two more men in uniform emerge from the doorway<ch.emdash/>the rifleman and one other, armed with a sawn-off shotgun.</p>
<p>'They don't look like clan punks, Sarge,' says the rifleman.</p>
<p>'We're not,' interrupts Kate. 'We're running from the clans.'</p>
<p>Bemused, the blond-haired man scratches his chin and turns to say something quietly to his two companions. It is then that you notice the faded sergeant stripes and the circular globe-of-the-world emblem that adorn his sleeve. Instantly you recognize the latter: it is the emblem of the World Defence League. At length, he turns to face you once more and says, in a friendlier tone, 'I think you two had better tell us your story.'</p>
<data>
<p>You pull the trigger and immediately duck your head behind the roadster's reinforced steel door.<a id="sect26-1" idref="sect26-1-foot" class="footnote" /> The speed of your reflexes saves you from being hit by the Maverick's gunfire as, in the throes of death, he empties his pistol into the side of your car.</p>
- <p>With the screams of the other clansmen ringing in your ears, you force yourself to concentrate on restarting your roadster. This time, despite an almost overwhelming urge to stamp the pedal straight through the floor, you take your foot off the gas as you turn the ignition switch. The move works - the engine roars back to life - and within seconds you are accelerating away from the Mavericks with your eyes glued firmly on the convoy's tail lights, glowing red in the distance. A few poorly aimed bullets chase your escape but you soon catch up with the school bus and pass beyond range of the clansmen's guns.</p>
+ <p>With the screams of the other clansmen ringing in your ears, you force yourself to concentrate on restarting your roadster. This time, despite an almost overwhelming urge to stamp the pedal straight through the floor, you take your foot off the gas as you turn the ignition switch. The move works<ch.emdash/>the engine roars back to life<ch.emdash/>and within seconds you are accelerating away from the Mavericks with your eyes glued firmly on the convoy's tail lights, glowing red in the distance. A few poorly aimed bullets chase your escape but you soon catch up with the school bus and pass beyond range of the clansmen's guns.</p>
<choice idref="sect312"><link-text>Turn to 312</link-text>.</choice>
</data>
</section>
<meta><title>50</title></meta>
<data>
- <p>Sergeant Haskell is only too willing to speak to his command unit at El Paso. He gives his call sign Palmito Four Zero - and as soon as it is confirmed as valid, the El Paso garrison relays news of what is happening in their area. Parts of the city and the military reserve are under siege from HAVOC-led Mexican clansmen. They warn that Fabens is a Mexican base, and that they have barricaded the east freeway approach to that town. In closing, they tell you to contact them again if you make it through Fabens. They do not sound very optimistic.</p>
+ <p>Sergeant Haskell is only too willing to speak to his command unit at El Paso. He gives his call sign Palmito Four Zero<ch.emdash/>and as soon as it is confirmed as valid, the El Paso garrison relays news of what is happening in their area. Parts of the city and the military reserve are under siege from HAVOC-led Mexican clansmen. They warn that Fabens is a Mexican base, and that they have barricaded the east freeway approach to that town. In closing, they tell you to contact them again if you make it through Fabens. They do not sound very optimistic.</p>
<choice idref="sect80"><link-text>Turn to 80</link-text>.</choice>
</data>
</section>
<meta><title>58</title></meta>
<data>
- <p>After your meal you try to think where you might find some gasolene. Sergeant Haskell and his men - Marines Gunter and Knott - have searched every square inch of Fort Stockton and know that there is none to be had here.</p>
+ <p>After your meal you try to think where you might find some gasolene. Sergeant Haskell and his men<ch.emdash/>Marines Gunter and Knott<ch.emdash/>have searched every square inch of Fort Stockton and know that there is none to be had here.</p>
<p>'What we need is an old road map,' says Haskell. 'One that would show us where the freeway rest stops and gas stations in this area were located.'</p>
<p>'I've got a map,' you volunteer, and take from your jacket the map that you snatched from Mad Dog Michigan's table at the stadium in San Angelo.</p>
- <p>'Hey, where did you get this?' says Haskell, as he examines the notes and other markings that have been made on the map of the United States. You tell him its origins and he scrutinizes it at length. Finally, he comments, 'What you've got here is a blueprint of a major HAVOC operation to take over the country. This is one hot piece of property: it shows clan strengths, supply areas, HAVOC strongholds, controlled cities, everything - even pockets of WDL resistance on the eastern seaboard. We've gotta get this to El Paso. If there's anything left of WDL headquarters then they must be warned about what is happening in the East.'</p>
+ <p>'Hey, where did you get this?' says Haskell, as he examines the notes and other markings that have been made on the map of the United States. You tell him its origins and he scrutinizes it at length. Finally, he comments, 'What you've got here is a blueprint of a major HAVOC operation to take over the country. This is one hot piece of property: it shows clan strengths, supply areas, HAVOC strongholds, controlled cities, everything<ch.emdash/>even pockets of WDL resistance on the eastern seaboard. We've gotta get this to El Paso. If there's anything left of WDL headquarters then they must be warned about what is happening in the East.'</p>
<p>'OK,' you reply, uneasily, 'but what about fuel? My roadster has barely enough to make it another twenty miles. All we need is enough gas to get as far as Kent in time for the rendezvous with the colony. Then we can refuel from the tanker and you can catch a ride with us all the way to Fort Bliss.'</p>
- <p>'There's a rest stop here,' replies Haskell, pointing to the map at a place on Interstate 10 that is half-way between Fort Stockton and a town called Brogado. 'There's no knowing if there's still any gas in its storage tanks but it's our only hope. It looks like a 25-mile-drive - do you think you can make it?'</p>
+ <p>'There's a rest stop here,' replies Haskell, pointing to the map at a place on Interstate 10 that is half-way between Fort Stockton and a town called Brogado. 'There's no knowing if there's still any gas in its storage tanks but it's our only hope. It looks like a 25-mile-drive<ch.emdash/>do you think you can make it?'</p>
<p>'I can try,' you reply. 'Like you say, it's our only hope.'</p>
<choice idref="sect281"><link-text>Turn to 281</link-text>.</choice>
</data>
<meta><title>70</title></meta>
<data>
- <p>Placing your hand under the dashboard, you pull down a handful of cables and isolate two - a red one and a black one - that are connected to the ignition lock. Quickly you rip these out and touch the exposed copper braids together. There is a bright blue spark and immediately the engine growls into life. After twisting the wires together, you throw the jeep into low gear and take off towards an open section of the perimeter wall. A wheeled screen partially blocks this access point, which is guarded by two clansmen armed with automatic assault rifles.</p>
+ <p>Placing your hand under the dashboard, you pull down a handful of cables and isolate two<ch.emdash/>a red one and a black one<ch.emdash/>that are connected to the ignition lock. Quickly you rip these out and touch the exposed copper braids together. There is a bright blue spark and immediately the engine growls into life. After twisting the wires together, you throw the jeep into low gear and take off towards an open section of the perimeter wall. A wheeled screen partially blocks this access point, which is guarded by two clansmen armed with automatic assault rifles.</p>
<p>You are fifteen yards from the screen when suddenly they realize that you have no intention of stopping.</p>
<p>Pick a number from the <a idref="random">Random Number Table</a> and add to it your Driving skill score.</p>
<choice idref="sect14">If your total is 4 or less, <link-text>turn to 14</link-text>.</choice>
<meta><title>74</title></meta>
<data>
- <p>The sound of their engines is getting louder with every passing second and yet you are unable to find a safe way down to the river bed - it is far too steep. Desperately, you drive back and forth along the edge of the bank until a volley of shots echoes across the plain and the first of the clansmen's bullets start to whistle past. You have been seen.</p>
- <p>Quickly you abandon your attempt to hide and steer your roadster back on to the freeway in a frantic bid to outrun the pack. The fastest bikes give chase and relentlessly they pursue you until the leader is within twenty yards of your tail. With mounting fear, you glance in your rear-view mirror to see him draw a stubby-barrelled weapon from a tube strapped to the fuel tank. At first you think it is a sawn-off shotgun, but then you recognize the weapon and your heart sinks. It is a D-40 - a laser sighted grenade launcher. You see the muzzle flash, then moments later there is a deafening explosion. The last sensation you feel is that of being hurled skyward, surrounded by fire and fragments of your roadster.</p>
+ <p>The sound of their engines is getting louder with every passing second and yet you are unable to find a safe way down to the river bed<ch.emdash/>it is far too steep. Desperately, you drive back and forth along the edge of the bank until a volley of shots echoes across the plain and the first of the clansmen's bullets start to whistle past. You have been seen.</p>
+ <p>Quickly you abandon your attempt to hide and steer your roadster back on to the freeway in a frantic bid to outrun the pack. The fastest bikes give chase and relentlessly they pursue you until the leader is within twenty yards of your tail. With mounting fear, you glance in your rear-view mirror to see him draw a stubby-barrelled weapon from a tube strapped to the fuel tank. At first you think it is a sawn-off shotgun, but then you recognize the weapon and your heart sinks. It is a D-40<ch.emdash/>a laser sighted grenade launcher. You see the muzzle flash, then moments later there is a deafening explosion. The last sensation you feel is that of being hurled skyward, surrounded by fire and fragments of your roadster.</p>
<p>The armour-piercing grenade has penetrated the trunk and exploded the spare fuel tanks you were carrying. Tragically, your mission and your life end here.</p>
</data>
</section>
<meta><title>145</title></meta>
<data>
- <p>The frightened man lowers his aim and sends the arrow thudding into the ground at your feet - a warning shot. At that moment your pursuer comes roaring up the track, closely followed by the other Angelino scouts whom you encountered at the bridge. You scream a warning to Kate and throw yourself down as a double burst of machine gun fire strafes the palisade. The bullets pass over your back and hit the archer in the chest, dropping him in a tangled heap on the threshold of the gateway.</p>
+ <p>The frightened man lowers his aim and sends the arrow thudding into the ground at your feet<ch.emdash/>a warning shot. At that moment your pursuer comes roaring up the track, closely followed by the other Angelino scouts whom you encountered at the bridge. You scream a warning to Kate and throw yourself down as a double burst of machine gun fire strafes the palisade. The bullets pass over your back and hit the archer in the chest, dropping him in a tangled heap on the threshold of the gateway.</p>
<p>You spring to your feet and rush forward to help Kate drag his body away, so that the gate can be closed. The other members of the settlement come to your aid and, once the gate is secure, they point to the cave mouth and urge you to enter. You do not want to abandon your roadster to the Angelinos, but to stay here and attempt to fight would be suicidal. Reluctantly you leave the gate and follow them into the cave.</p>
<choice idref="sect8"><link-text>Turn to 8</link-text>.</choice>
</data>
<data>
<p>You decide to spend the night in the library's main hall. After clearing a space near the centre, you build a small camp fire, using a few of the many thousands of books that line the walls. Then, once it is ablaze, you help Kate to prepare the food she has found. Outside, the weather has grown steadily worse. Thunder rolls across the surrounding plains and the jagged flashes of forked lightning illuminate the roiling clouds of dust with increasing regularity.</p>
- <p>'I don't like it - it looks real bad,' you say, as you stare anxiously out of the window at the raging storm.</p>
+ <p>'I don't like it<ch.emdash/>it looks real bad,' you say, as you stare anxiously out of the window at the raging storm.</p>
<p>'It ain't all bad,' replies Kate. 'At least we don't have to worry 'bout Mad Dog's boys showin' up outta the blue.'</p>
<p>The food and wine taste delicious (restore 3 <typ class="attribute">ENDURANCE</typ> points), and, after eating your fill, you both settle down to sleep in front of the glowing embers of the camp fire.</p>
<p>It seems as though you have only just closed your eyes when you are stirred to consciousness by a loud crackling sound and the acrid smell of smoke. Horror fills your senses when you open your eyes to see yourself surrounded by a blazing wall of yellow flame. Lightning struck the library roof while you were asleep, starting a fire that has been fuelled by the shelves of dust-dry books, and which has now spread to the main hall where it threatens to consume you both.</p>
<data>
<p>Beyond Sterling City the freeway follows a wide, dust-filled gully that was once the North Concho River. You are staring at this dead watercourse, trying to imagine what the river must have looked like before 'The Day', when a road sign flashes past. You stop the car and turn back to read it. It says:</p>
- <signpost>BROOME - 2 MILES</signpost>
+ <signpost>BROOME<ch.emdash/>2 MILES</signpost>
<choice idref="sect220">If you possess a <typ class="item">CB Radio</typ>, <link-text>turn to 220</link-text>.</choice>
<choice idref="sect46">If you do not possess this item, <link-text>turn to 46</link-text>.</choice>
</data>
<meta><title>219</title></meta>
<data>
- <p>The time Sergeant Haskell used to observe the barricade was well spent. He noticed that the Mexican clansmen have positioned an anti-tank weapon behind it, which doubtless they will bring into action if it is needed. Littered around it are several dozen boxes of shells. If one of those boxes were to explode, it would set off the others and destroy most of the central section of the barricade. Haskell has an incendiary grenade which would do the job, but in order to make sure that it landed in the correct place - in one of the boxes of ammunition - one of you would have to go to the barricade and place it there. Neither of you are keen to volunteer for this mission, so you decide to settle it on the toss of a coin. Sergeant Haskell calls and, unfortunately, you lose.</p>
+ <p>The time Sergeant Haskell used to observe the barricade was well spent. He noticed that the Mexican clansmen have positioned an anti-tank weapon behind it, which doubtless they will bring into action if it is needed. Littered around it are several dozen boxes of shells. If one of those boxes were to explode, it would set off the others and destroy most of the central section of the barricade. Haskell has an incendiary grenade which would do the job, but in order to make sure that it landed in the correct place<ch.emdash/>in one of the boxes of ammunition<ch.emdash/>one of you would have to go to the barricade and place it there. Neither of you are keen to volunteer for this mission, so you decide to settle it on the toss of a coin. Sergeant Haskell calls and, unfortunately, you lose.</p>
<p>Haskell gives you the incendiary grenade and you hand him your signal flare. Then, when the number of Mexican clansmen on guard are at their fewest, you leave the cover of the yucca forest and creep towards the barricade.</p>
<p>Ten yards from the wall of cars you see an opportunity to throw your grenade into an open ammunition chest.</p>
<p>Pick a number from the <a idref="random">Random Number Table</a> and add to it your Stealth skill score.</p>
<meta><title>226</title></meta>
<data>
- <p>Unable to crack the code, reluctantly you abandon the storage tank and content yourself with siphoning what you can from the fuel tanks of the dead clansmen's motorcycles. Unfortunately, your efforts net you barely enough gasolene to reach Brogado - the next town on the freeway. As you pull away slowly from the service area you are not the only one who is praying that you will find some fuel in Brogado.</p>
+ <p>Unable to crack the code, reluctantly you abandon the storage tank and content yourself with siphoning what you can from the fuel tanks of the dead clansmen's motorcycles. Unfortunately, your efforts net you barely enough gasolene to reach Brogado<ch.emdash/>the next town on the freeway. As you pull away slowly from the service area you are not the only one who is praying that you will find some fuel in Brogado.</p>
<choice idref="sect347"><link-text>Turn to 347</link-text>.</choice>
</data>
</section>
<p>Reluctantly, you let your gun slip to the ground as the muzzle of a rifle emerges from the darkened doorway.</p>
<p>'You too, honey,' says the disembodied voice, and Kate obeys, tossing her machine pistol out of the car so that it lands deliberately near your feet.</p>
<p>'Don't even think about it,' says another voice, away to your right.</p>
- <p>From behind a wrecked auto steps a tall, muscular man, dressed in green army fatigues. His blond hair is cropped close to his head and his eyes are hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses. Pistol in hand, he walks slowly towards you, then stops at the entrance to the pay booth. Two more men in uniform emerge from the doorway - the rifleman and one other - armed with a sawn-off shotgun.</p>
+ <p>From behind a wrecked auto steps a tall, muscular man, dressed in green army fatigues. His blond hair is cropped close to his head and his eyes are hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses. Pistol in hand, he walks slowly towards you, then stops at the entrance to the pay booth. Two more men in uniform emerge from the doorway<ch.emdash/>the rifleman and one other<ch.emdash/>armed with a sawn-off shotgun.</p>
<illustration class="float">
<meta>
<creator>Brian Williams</creator>
<data>
<p>You shoot less than a second before the Maverick discharges his pistol, yet your aim is deadly accurate. You deal him a fatal wound to the head that spins him sideways with the force of its impact.<a id="sect258-1" idref="sect258-1-foot" class="footnote" /> Unfortunately, the pistol in his hand is not a standard factory model: it is a weapon he has customized to fire in fully-automatic mode. The selector is set to auto and, as he falls to the ground, he squeezes the trigger and empties the fourteen-round magazine in a line across your car.</p>
- <p>A sharp, stinging core of pain erupts in your left arm as one of the 9mm bullets finds its mark: lose 4 <typ class="attribute">ENDURANCE</typ> points. With determination, you force yourself to ignore the agonizing pain and concentrate instead on escaping from the clutches of the other Maverick clansmen. Again, you attempt to start the car, but this time you take your foot off the gas as you turn the ignition switch, despite an almost overwhelming urge to stamp the pedal straight through the floor. The move works - the engine roars back to life - and within seconds you are accelerating away from the barricade, your eyes glued firmly to the convoy's tail lights. A few poorly aimed bullets chase your escape but you soon catch up with the school bus and pass beyond range of the Maverick's guns.</p>
+ <p>A sharp, stinging core of pain erupts in your left arm as one of the 9mm bullets finds its mark: lose 4 <typ class="attribute">ENDURANCE</typ> points. With determination, you force yourself to ignore the agonizing pain and concentrate instead on escaping from the clutches of the other Maverick clansmen. Again, you attempt to start the car, but this time you take your foot off the gas as you turn the ignition switch, despite an almost overwhelming urge to stamp the pedal straight through the floor. The move works<ch.emdash/>the engine roars back to life<ch.emdash/>and within seconds you are accelerating away from the barricade, your eyes glued firmly to the convoy's tail lights. A few poorly aimed bullets chase your escape but you soon catch up with the school bus and pass beyond range of the Maverick's guns.</p>
<choice idref="sect312"><link-text>Turn to 312</link-text>.</choice>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>Drawing on your reserves of nervous energy, you race up the last few steps and lash out at the door with the sole of your boot. The door flies wide open and slams against the wall, sending the red-headed clansman who was about to investigate the noise, sprawling flat on his back.</p>
- <p>Inside the observation room you see two men - one dressed in a flamboyant mix of bright colours and the other attired in sombre black - seated at a table with a map of the United States spread before them. A muscular clansman, his chest criss-crossed with cartridge belts, stands behind the man in black and beyond him, huddled in the corner of the room, is Kate. Clearly she has suffered at the hands of Mad Dog Michigan and the sight of her bruised face and her pained, dispairing expression stirs you to a fit of rage.</p>
+ <p>Inside the observation room you see two men<ch.emdash/>one dressed in a flamboyant mix of bright colours and the other attired in sombre black<ch.emdash/>seated at a table with a map of the United States spread before them. A muscular clansman, his chest criss-crossed with cartridge belts, stands behind the man in black and beyond him, huddled in the corner of the room, is Kate. Clearly she has suffered at the hands of Mad Dog Michigan and the sight of her bruised face and her pained, dispairing expression stirs you to a fit of rage.</p>
<illustration class="float">
<meta>
<creator>Brian Williams</creator>
<data>
<p>Your escape from the building goes unnoticed by the few clan patrols that are operating in the area. Mekong Mike has brought most of his men up to the central and northern sectors, partly as a show of strength to Mad Dog Michigan and partly as a precaution in case Mad Dog's talk of an alliance turns out to be a bluff, and he is really here to try to take over the city.</p>
<p>The further you venture north, the more clan activity you find, and you are forced to stay hidden for longer periods as you snake your way through the ruins towards the centre of the stronghold. You are working on the assumption that Kate is with Mad Dog Michigan, and he is likely to be found where the number of clansmen is greatest.</p>
- <p>It is shortly before noon when you catch sight of a building that dominates the centre of San Angelo - the Reagan Memorial Stadium. Scores of motorcycles and their riders are gathered around its entrance where two large, tattered banners are fluttering symbolically in the breeze. One bears the lion's head mark of the Detroit Lions clan; the other is emblazoned with the long-horned steer skull symbol of the Angelinos clan. From your location opposite the entrance you overhear two Angelinos talking. You learn that some sort of motorcycle race is to take place here this afternoon, to celebrate the signing of a pact between the two clans. Now you feel sure that Mad Dog and Kate are here somewhere inside the stadium, and you apply yourself to finding a way in.</p>
+ <p>It is shortly before noon when you catch sight of a building that dominates the centre of San Angelo<ch.emdash/>the Reagan Memorial Stadium. Scores of motorcycles and their riders are gathered around its entrance where two large, tattered banners are fluttering symbolically in the breeze. One bears the lion's head mark of the Detroit Lions clan; the other is emblazoned with the long-horned steer skull symbol of the Angelinos clan. From your location opposite the entrance you overhear two Angelinos talking. You learn that some sort of motorcycle race is to take place here this afternoon, to celebrate the signing of a pact between the two clans. Now you feel sure that Mad Dog and Kate are here somewhere inside the stadium, and you apply yourself to finding a way in.</p>
<p>After watching the entrance for over an hour, only two options appear open to you. You can try to hide in one of the trucks that are carrying spares for the clansmen's bikes, in the hope that they will enter the stadium before the race; or you can attempt to scale the stadium wall at one of the many places where it has partially collapsed.</p>
<choice idref="sect299">If you decide to try to stow away in one of the service trucks, <link-text>turn to 299</link-text>.</choice>
<choice idref="sect93">If you decide to attempt to climb over the wall, <link-text>turn to 93</link-text>.</choice>
<data>
<p>You complete your detour of Sterling city without incident and rejoin Freeway 87 a few miles south of the town. The hour you spent driving across the dusty plain has made you very thirsty, and you must now take a Drink or lose 3 <typ class="attribute">ENDURANCE</typ> points.</p>
<p>The freeway follows a wide, rock-strewn gully that was once the North Concho River. You are staring at this dead watercourse, trying to imagine what the river must have looked like before 'The Day', when a road sign flashes past. You stop the car and turn back to read it. It says:</p>
- <signpost>BROOME - 2 MILES</signpost>
+ <signpost>BROOME<ch.emdash/>2 MILES</signpost>
<choice idref="sect220">If you possess a <typ class="item">CB Radio</typ>, <link-text>turn to 220</link-text>.</choice>
<choice idref="sect46">If you do not possess this item, <link-text>turn to 46</link-text>.</choice>
</data>
<meta><title>311</title></meta>
<data>
- <p>At once you recognize the brown, thin-legged arachnid by the dark, violin-shaped marking on the back of its head. It is Loxoscees reclusa - a poisonous Fiddleback spider.</p>
+ <p>At once you recognize the brown, thin-legged arachnid by the dark, violin-shaped marking on the back of its head. It is Loxoscees reclusa<ch.emdash/>a poisonous Fiddleback spider.</p>
<p>Nervously you watch the spider while Kate salvages a scrap of stiff board from the rubbish-strewn floor. She tells you to keep absolutely still, for she intends to try to knock it off your arm with one quick flick of the card.</p>
<p>Pick a number from the <a idref="random">Random Number Table</a>.</p>
<choice idref="sect202">If the number you have picked is 0-2, <link-text>turn to 202</link-text>.</choice>
<data>
<p>You tell the soldiers who you are and how you came to be here in Fort Stockton. At first, they listen to your fantastic account with cool scepticism. They cross-examine you both in an attempt to find a flaw in your story, but when they are unable to find any, their attitude begins to change. By the time they have finished their interrogation, you have managed to win their respect and admiration.</p>
- <p>Once they are convinced that you are genuine colonists they recount their own tale. They are WDF marines who, before 'The Day', were stationed at an underground tracking facility in Brownsville, Texas. Twelve of their unit survived the post-holocaust years, but soon after their return to the surface they were the victims of a clan attack. They were the only survivors of the attack and were forced to flee Brownsville on foot. Eventually they managed to find a vehicle that worked - the pick-up truck - and had got this far when the fuel ran out and the engine broke down. They are trying to reach their command headquarters at Fort Bliss, located just north of El Paso, where they hope to rejoin remnants of their unit. They arrived in Fort Stockton three days ago and have been prevented from continuing their journey on foot by the blistering day temperatures and the fierce night storms that have swept down from the Barrilla Mountains.</p>
+ <p>Once they are convinced that you are genuine colonists they recount their own tale. They are WDF marines who, before 'The Day', were stationed at an underground tracking facility in Brownsville, Texas. Twelve of their unit survived the post-holocaust years, but soon after their return to the surface they were the victims of a clan attack. They were the only survivors of the attack and were forced to flee Brownsville on foot. Eventually they managed to find a vehicle that worked<ch.emdash/>the pick-up truck<ch.emdash/>and had got this far when the fuel ran out and the engine broke down. They are trying to reach their command headquarters at Fort Bliss, located just north of El Paso, where they hope to rejoin remnants of their unit. They arrived in Fort Stockton three days ago and have been prevented from continuing their journey on foot by the blistering day temperatures and the fierce night storms that have swept down from the Barrilla Mountains.</p>
<p>They have set up camp in the ruins of a nearby motel and they invite you there to share their food and drink, and to formulate a plan to find some fuel for your roadster. Their provisions are basic but you receive them gratefully: restore 2 <typ class="attribute">ENDURANCE</typ> points.</p>
<choice idref="sect58"><link-text>Turn to 58</link-text>.</choice>
</data>
<data>
<p>The race is about to begin. Eight bikers are drawn up in a line at one end of the arena, each man standing astride his machine and revving its engine in response to the loud cheers of the clansmen watching. The riders have their eyes fixed on a pot-bellied Angelino who is perched atop a wooden tower in the centre of the track. Above his head he holds a checkered flag, and, as he brings his arm down, the crowd screams and the riders surge away from the line.</p>
- <p>Under cover of the noise and commotion of the race, you approach the observation block. An enclosed corridor leads to a flight of iron stairs where two burly clansmen - one an Angelino, the other a Detroit Lion - stand on guard with machine pistols at the ready. At the top of the stairs is the door to the block itself. The noise of the crowd and the roar of the motorcycles have helped you so far, but the race is now into its fourteenth lap, and you know that if you are to succeed in freeing Kate you must get past these guards and storm the observation block before the race ends.</p>
+ <p>Under cover of the noise and commotion of the race, you approach the observation block. An enclosed corridor leads to a flight of iron stairs where two burly clansmen<ch.emdash/>one an Angelino, the other a Detroit Lion<ch.emdash/>stand on guard with machine pistols at the ready. At the top of the stairs is the door to the block itself. The noise of the crowd and the roar of the motorcycles have helped you so far, but the race is now into its fourteenth lap, and you know that if you are to succeed in freeing Kate you must get past these guards and storm the observation block before the race ends.</p>
<choice idref="sect9">If you possess an <typ class="item">HE Grenade</typ>, and wish to use it, <link-text>turn to 9</link-text>.</choice>
<choice idref="sect89">If you possess a <typ class="item">Signal Flare</typ>, and wish to use it, <link-text>turn to 89</link-text>.</choice>
<choice idref="sect163">If you possess a <typ class="item">Siren</typ>, and wish to use it, <link-text>turn to 163</link-text>.</choice>
<li>Pick a number from the <a idref="random">Random Number Table</a>.</li>
<li>Turn to the <a idref="crtable">Combat Results Table</a>.</li>
<li>Find your Combat Ratio along the top of the chart and cross-reference it with the random number you have picked. (E indicates enemy's loss of <typ class="attribute">ENDURANCE</typ> points. CP indicates Cal Phoenix's loss of <typ class="attribute">ENDURANCE</typ> points.)</li>
- <li>Continue the combat from stage 3 until one combatant has zero <typ class="attribute">ENDURANCE</typ> points, this is when he is declared dead.</li>
+ <li>Continue the combat from stage 3 until one combatant has zero or fewer <typ class="attribute">ENDURANCE</typ> points, this is when he is declared dead.</li>
</ol>
<section class="backmatter" id="smevazn">
<section class="backmatter" id="errerr">
<meta><title>Errata</title></meta>
<data>
- <p>(<a idref="tssf">The Story So Far</a>) Replaced <quote>re-establish</quote> with <quote>reestablish</quote>, replaced <quote>syphon</quote> with <quote>siphon</quote>.</p>
+ <p>(<a idref="dtd">Dateline to Disaster</a>) Replaced <quote>training and</quote> with <quote>training, and</quote>.</p>
+ <p>(<a idref="tssf">The Story So Far</a>) Replaced <quote>re-establish</quote> with <quote>reestablish</quote>, <quote>syphon</quote> with <quote>siphon</quote>, and <quote>'the Freeway Warrior'.</quote> with <quote>the 'Freeway Warrior'.</quote>.</p>
<p>(<a idref="gamerulz">The Game Rules</a>) Replaced <quote>if you pick a O</quote> with <quote>if you pick a 0</quote>.</p>
<p>(<a idref="gamerulz">The Game Rules</a>) Replaced <quote>On pages 6 and 7 you will find an Action Chart</quote> with <quote>An Action Chart has been supplied</quote>.</p>
<p>(<a idref="gamerulz">The Game Rules</a>) Removed <quote>For ease of use during play it is recommended that you photocopy these pages</quote>.</p>
<p>(<a idref="cmbtrulz">Combat Rules</a>) Removed <quote>on the inside back cover of the book</quote>.</p>
<p>(<a idref="equipmnt">Equipment</a>) Replaced <quote>map of Western Texas</quote> with <quote>Map of Western Texas</quote>.</p>
<p>(<a idref="equipmnt">Equipment</a>) Replaced <quote>potassium iodine</quote> with <quote>potassium iodide</quote>.</p>
+ <p>(<a idref="backpack">Backpack</a>) Replaced <quote>C.B. RADIO</quote> with <quote>CB RADIO</quote>.</p>
+ <p>(<a idref="tssf">The Story So Far</a>) Replaced <quote>fuel, food or water</quote> with <quote>fuel, food, or water</quote>, and <quote>'the Mavericks'</quote> with <quote>the 'Mavericks'</quote>.</p>
<p>(<a idref="sect8">8</a>) Replaced <quote>gun fire</quote> with <quote>gunfire</quote>.</p>
<p>(<a idref="sect18">18</a>) Replaced <quote>gun fire</quote> with <quote>gunfire</quote>.</p>
<p>(<a idref="sect23">23</a>) Replaced <quote>Small blanket</quote> with <quote>Small Blanket</quote>.</p>
<p>(<a idref="sect18">18</a>,<a idref="sect23">23</a>,<a idref="sect36">36</a>,<a idref="sect63">63</a>,<a idref="sect71">71</a>,<a idref="sect101">101</a>,<a idref="sect126">126</a>,<a idref="sect138">138</a>,<a idref="sect146">146</a>,<a idref="sect183">183</a>,<a idref="sect187">187</a>,<a idref="sect232">232</a>,<a idref="sect248">248</a>,<a idref="sect266">266</a>,<a idref="sect308">308</a>,<a idref="sect348">348</a>) Replaced CCS Bonuses in <quote>[]</quote> with <quote>()</quote>.</p>
<p>(<a idref="sect48">48</a>,<a idref="sect64">64</a>,<a idref="sect124">124</a>,<a idref="sect207">207</a>,<a idref="sect227">227</a>,<a idref="sect253">253</a>) Replaced <quote>Backpack items</quote> with <quote>Backpack Items</quote>.</p>
<p>(<a idref="tssf">The Story So Far</a>,<a idref="sect123">123</a>,<a idref="sect153">153</a>,<a idref="sect205">205</a>,<a idref="sect208">208</a>,<a idref="sect288">288</a>,<a idref="sect303">303</a>,<a idref="sect321">321</a>,<a idref="sect331">331</a>) Replaced <quote>'the Day'</quote> with <quote>'The Day'</quote>.</p>
- <p>(<a idref="crsumary">Combat Rules Summary</a>) Replaced <quote>cross-refer</quote> with <quote>cross-reference</quote>.</p>
+ <p>(<a idref="crsumary">Combat Rules Summary</a>) Replaced <quote>cross-refer</quote> with <quote>cross-reference</quote>, and <quote>zero ENDURANCE</quote> with <quote>zero or fewer ENDURANCE</quote>.</p>
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Project Aon Git Repositories / project-aon.git / blobdiff