RAVAGED PLANET:

THf BRAVf NEW WORLD PLAYER'S GUIDE

BY MATT fORBECK
 CREDITS

Written and Designed by: Matt Forbeck

Editing: Hal Mangold

Cover: Paul Bonner

Cover Background: Zeke Sparkes

Interior Art: Don Hillsman, Michael Phillippi, Justin Long,

Eric Polak, Richard Pollard, and Curt Shoultz

Computer Coloring: Chuck Croft, Chris Impink, Zeke Sparkes, Matthew Tice

Graphic Design: Matt Forbeck and Zeke Sparkes

Proofreading: Ann Kolinsky and Pat Kolinsky

Special Thanks to: Amber Bucheit, Rachel Butterworth, Ken Carpenter, Frank
Chafe, Martin Forbeck, Marcello Figueroa, Leticia Hayler, Michelle, Caden, and
Shane Lacy Hensley, Christy and Jolm Hopler, Ann Kolinsky, Ray Lau, Jim
Pinto, Dave Seay, Matt Tice, Jennifer Wick, Maureen Yates, John Zinser, and
Jo1m and Mary Zinser.

Playtesting and Advice: Shane Lacy Hensley, Aaron McConnell, Hal Mangold,
Ashe Marler, Zeke Sparkes, and John Zinser

Dedicated to: Ann, the light of my life .

Pinnacle Entertainment Group, Inc.

Brave New World, Defiants, Defiance,

PO. Box 10908

Bargainers, Patriot, Superior, Truth, the

Blacksburg, VA 24062-0908
Yankee, Triumph, Inc., Evil Unlimited,

www.peginc.com
delta, alpha, ovenant, Delta Prime,

[email protected]
and all character names and likenesses

(800) 214-5645 (orders only)

depicted herein are Trademarks of

Pinnacle Entertainment Group, Inc.

Stop by www.peginc.com © 1999 Pinnacle Entertainment Group,

for regular, free updates! Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Printed in the USA. Brave New World

created by Matt Forbeck.
 TABLE Of CONTENTS

WELCOME TO DELTA TIMES .............. 4 LIVING IN AMERICA ..................... 12 CHAPTER ONE:

Patriot's Journal: United States HEW POWER PACKAGEs......... 109

An Introduction ......... 5 of Anarchy ............. .. . 73 The Power Packages .. 109

Patriot's Journal: America the Battered ... 74 The Covenant .. ......... .. 110

The Final Days ........ ... 6 Atlanta ... .... ...... .. .. .......... 75 Covenant ... .................. 117

June 16, 1999 ......... .. ........ 6 Boston .... ........................ 76 Defender ...... ................ 123

The Beginning ........ ........ 6 Crescent City ........ ... ... .. 76 Genius .......... ................ 123

My Awakening ..... .......... 8 Dallas ............... .............. 77 Hot Shot .............. ........ 125

Drafted .......................... 11 Detroit .......... .... .. .... ........ 79 Screamer ........ .... ...... .... 125

Back to School .... ......... . 12 Denver .............. .. .... ....... 79 Shrinker .. .............. .. ..... 126

Delta Squadron .. .......... 13 Los Angeles ........... .. ...... 80 Sneak .... .. .................. .... 126

Dallas .... ...... ................... 14 Miami .......... ..... .. ........... 82 Telekinetic .... .. ... .. ........ 127

My Decision ............ .. .... 15 New York City .... ........ .. 83 Teleporter .. .. ................ 128

Regrets ........ .. .......... .. ..... 17 Philadelphia .... ........ ..... .85 Tough ............ .... ........... 128

My Delta Prime Days .. 18 San Diego ................ .. .... 86

The Bicentennial San Francisco ................ 87 ARCHETYPES ........ m ................... 129

Battle ................ .......... 20 Washington, DC ........... 88

The Cold War The State of the Union . 90 THE GUIDE'S HANDBOOK .... u ..... 145

Heats Up .... ............... 21

Ufe in the Cold ........ ..... 22 AWORLD Of HURT ..................... 92 CHAPTER TWO:

The Great This Ravaged Planet .... 93 THE TRUTH Of THE MATTER .. 141

Mistake of '88 ........... 22 Africa .... ............ ...... ....... 93

Guides Only ................ 147

A Career Change .......... 24 Australia ............ ......... ... 94

Patriot's Journal ... .. .... 147

Life on the Run .... .... ..... 25 Canada ...... ................ .. ... 96
Death of a Hero .... .... .. 149
Working for China .... ... .. .................. .. 97
Crescent City ............. . 150

the Family .. .. ............. 26 Europe ...................... ..... 98

United States
Leaving the Family ...... 27 Middle-East .......... .. .... 101
of Anarchy ...... ........ 151

The Defiant Years .. ....... 31 India .. ..................... ..... . 102

Ravaged Planet .......... 152

Redemption .......... .. ...... 34 Japan .... .. ...................... 103

America, South and Central THE AUTHOR'S

Right or Wrong .. .. .... 35 America .. ................. 104 AHERWORD .......................... 155

July 4,1999 ............... .. .. . 37 Soviet Union .... ........... 106 Wh a t" s In a N arne ?...... 155

My Trial .......... ..... .......... 38 The United Na tions ... 107 What's the

August 4, 1999 .. ...... .. ... .46

Game About? ... .. .. .. 155

REQUIEM fOR PATRIOT................ 48

My Thoughts .... .. ........ 156

Sources of Inspiration 156

The Death of a Hero ... .49

Many Thanks .. ............ 157

CRESCENT CITy ............................ 54

INDEX........................................ 159

Ufe in the Big City ....... 55

The Early Days .... .. ....... 56

The City Today ........ .. ... 58

The Government .... ...... 60

Major Buildings .. ........ .. 67

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When I heard Patriot had left Delta

PATRIOT'S JOURNAL:
Prime, I cheered, although quietly. Lots
of people had left the Primers in the
AN INTRODUCTION
past, mostly moles sent to infiltrate th.e
Defiance. I said a silent prayer that thIS
If you've been living under a rock in
wasn't the case here.
some God-forsaken part of the third
When I finally had a chance to work
world for the past few months, let me
with Patriot, it was easy to see where
fill you in on the biggest bit of news
the fire in his belly came from. This was
since the Great Mistake.
a man who believed in America.
The Defiant known as Patriot was
I'm not talking about the America
captured in the streets of Crescent City
you and I grew up in, the fract~red
this spring while attempting to rescue a
nation that's torn itself apart WIth fear
newly awakened young delta woman
and loathing. I mean the America we
from a Delta Prime recruitment team.
all dream about, the one our teachers
This was the kind of thing Patriot
told us about in school, the country the
did all the time. Ever since he left Delta
framers of the Constitution always
Prime back in the late '80s, he's
intended for their descendants-both
struggled to redeem himself in the eyes
literal and figurative-to inherit.
of the Defiant community.
Here are some words of Thomas
For doing so, the goverrunent has
Jefferson's that Patriot was fond of
branded him a villain of the first order
quoting:
and spared no expense or effort in
hunting him down. Despite that,
"We hold these truths to be self­
whether through luck or planning, he
evident, that all men are created
always managed to stay at least three
equal, that they are endowed by
steps ahead of them.
their Creator with certain
Unfortuna tely, this June, his long,
unalienable Rights, that among
one-man assault on Kennedy's America
these are Life, Liberty and the
came to an end.
pursuit of Happiness .-That to
Thankfully, the young woman got
secure these rights, Governments
away. Patriot would have wanted it
are instituted among M en,
that way. He was never afraid to risk
deriving their just powers from the
his own freedom for that of innocents.
consent of the govern ed,-That
This time, though, his luck finally ran
whenever any Form of Government
out.
becomes destructive of these ends,
it is the Right of the People to alter
My fRlfND THf HfRO or to abolish it, and to institute
As the editor of the Delta Times, I've new Government, laying its
known Patriot for many years. When I foundation on such principles and
was younger, I remember hearing organizing its powers in such form,
about his exploits on behalf of Delta as to them shall seem most likely to
Prime. Even then, long before he joined eff ect their Safety and Happiness. /I

the Defiance, I admired his heroic

efforts to help those in need, whether You might recognize this quote. It's
they were deltas or regs . from the Declaration of Independence.

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PATRIOT'S JOURNAL:
TH£ B£GINNING

Where should I start? I know, I

TH£ fiNAL DAYS
know: the beginning. But which
beginning?
Do you care that I was a scrawny kid
JUN£ 16, 1999
from Chicago before I became a delta?
Do you want to know what it was like
It's been a danm good run, but it
to fight alongside Superior and the rest
looks like it's finally coming to an end.
of Delta Squadron in the early days of
Here I am, rotting in this cell in New
my career? Or what it felt like to miss
Alcatraz in the center of Chicago Bay.
out on the Bicentennial Battle? Or what
I've been in a lot of hard situations so
it was that finally got me to toss aside
far, but nothing this bleak.
all my years of senrice with Delta
I'm not a man of words, but I've
Prime to join the Defiance?
decided to resort to them now. In the
I'll get to all that in a minute.
end, they're all I have left.
First, let me tell you about the
The warden came down to talk to me Yankee.
yesterday. Making this record was his
When I was a kid, he was my first
idea. He thinks I'm going to give him
and greatest hero. Joe DiMaggio, Bob
something he can turn around and use
Cousy-you can keep them. Sure, I
against me in court, I'm sure. Not that
loved sports as much as any other red­
it matters. They've already got plenty
blooded American boy, but the deltas
of evidence. I'm headed for a face
always did it for me, and the Yankee, in
down with a firing squad either way.
his star- spangled costume, he was the
I wonder how many bullets it's
best.
going to take?
Yeah, looking back on it, the costume
I'd guess that not too long after ~'m was pretty damn goofy, but it was a
turned into fertilizer, this record wlll
product of the times, a more idealistic
get published. If the feds print it, you
era. Most of the heroes dressed that
can be sure tha t a lot of it's going to be
way in those days.
rewritten. I can only hope that Truth
You could always tell the good guys.
gets her hands on a copy before it's
They were the ones in bright, primary
mangled by the "free press."
colors, wearing symbols that hit you
People deserve to hear the truth. like a club.
Of course, what I'm writing here
Of course, the bad guys were almost
may not be the whole truth and
as goofy. I mean, the worst villain of all
nothing but the truth. I only know
time was a guy named the Devastator.
what I know, and that's my truth.
How corny can you get?
That's what I'm trying to set down
I know, I've been guilty of that
here.
myself. When I started out, I was a
If I hadn't been captured by that
bright-eyed kid with delusions of
Delta Prime strike force yesterday, I'd
bringing Americans-style justice to the
still be out there fighting for the truth
world. I believed in my country, right
instead of trying to write about it. I'm or wrong. That's why I called myself
done with that now. If you're reading Patriot.
this, the fight is up to you.

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RAISED BY UNCLl SAM Maybe that's why the Yankee was

always my favorite. Most kids my age
From a very young age, America was worshipped Superior instead. And why
the most important thing in my life. My not? No one ever beat Superior. Sure,
father had been killed storming the they might get away for a while, but in
beaches of Normandy, while I was just the end, he always got his man.
a baby, and my mother passed away To me, though, Superior's
from grief soon after. I was made a superiority was always a bit suspect.
ward of the state and turned over to St. It's easy to be sure of yourself when
Savio's Orphanage in Chicago. So even you can kick anyone's ass. How much
from the beginning, the feds weren't bravery does it take to waltz into a hail
just my government. They were my of bullets when you know you can't be
parents. hurt? Just because he was lucky
When I was a kid taking classes at St. enough to be given such incredible
Savio's school, the civics classes were powers, he was the idol of millions, the
always my favorite. I memorized the Atlas with America on his shoulders.
entire Declaration of Independence, the Me, I stuck by the Yankee. In those
Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, not days, he was getting older, but he never
to mention the Gettysburg Address. I seemed to let it slow him down. Sure,
knew their words backward and he was strong and fast and he hauled
forward, and I vowed to live my life by in more than his share of evil deltas,
them. but for him it was a real risk.

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Remember that time back in '62 It was my last year at St. Savio's.
when he got shot? We almost lost him Graduation was coming up in a couple
that day, and it shook me to the bone. months, and I was due to be kicked out
While he was recovering, I realized that on my ass to make room for the next
this was a man who laid his life on the class of parentless punks. I had no idea
line every time he put on his costume. what I wanted to do with my life, but
Tha t earned my respect. When he got the Army was going to be waiting there
back on the streets as soon as the for me as soon as I stepped off the stage
doctors would let him, that got my at the graduation ceremony. Just like
admiration. these days, back then no one ever got
When Chicago disappeared, America out of serving his four years. And this
mourned the loss of Superior most of was back in '62, before the DRA was
all. I wept for the Yankee. even a twinkle of a bill in JFK's eye.

My AWAKENING
AfATEfUL ENCOUNTER
As I jogged through the nearly
Just about every aspect of my career
abandoned streets, I heard a choked
as a delta's owes something to the
scream from up ahead. I turned the
Yankee, right down to my red, white,
corner, and I spied four people
and blue mask. Even though he never
standing under the glow of an old
knew it, he even had a sort of hand in
streetlamp. Three of them were a
my awakening. Well, it was less of a
family: a mother and father in their 50s
hand and more of an inspiration, but I
and a boy not much younger than me.
was a pretty impressionable kid.
As I later found out, these were the
That's what we call it when a delta
Billingtons, a wealthy family that had
finally gets his powers: awakening.
been downtown to catch a production
According to the eggheads I've talked
of Camelot . They were on the way back
to, a good chunk of the planet's
to their car, and they'd taken a wrong
population has the potential to become
turn. At the time, they didn't realize
a delta. It's locked away in our DNA,
how wrong the turn would be.
that code of life that tells us who we
The fourth person was a man named
are. At the moment a delta awakens,
Wilbur Jeffries. In those days, we'd
the DNA morphs into something new.
have called Jeffries a hobo or a bum. He
Of course, not everyone realizes that
was as homeless as they come. One of
potential. It takes a lot to get those acid
those sad and lonely people that
chains fluxing-usually some kind of
somehow fall through the cracks.
near-death experience-and most
Jeffries was also a delta with a power
candidates don't pass that final exam. he barely knew how to control, and he
In my case, I was hustling through
was using it to rob the Billingtons. The
downtown Chicago, on my way back
awakening doesn't always come to
to the orphanage from a date. It was
those who deserve it. If Jeffries had
past the nationwide curfew for kids,
been able to pull himself together long
and I knew I was going to get it from
enough to approach the proper people,
Sister Mary Victoria. And if the police
he could have mastered his powers and
caught me on the street, it was going to
turned his life around. Instead, he was
be worse.
wasting his abilities on petty crime.

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To this day, Jeffries just boggles my Jeffries' temper wasn't the only thing
mind. about him that was unstable. Billington
I mean, I can understand someone reached out a hand to calm the mugger
who can make his body parts explode down, and Jeffries stepped forward
using it to rob banks or mastermind and poked the well-dressed man in the
plots to take over the world. This chest with a grimy fist.
Jeffries guy, though, all he wanted was Jeffries' hand went off like a
enough cash to pick up a bottle of gunshot, and a gaping hole appeared in
cheap scotch. Billington's chest. From where I stood,
In his constantly intoxicated state, it with Jeffries' back to me, it looked like
never occurred to Jeffries to knock the greasy man in the tattered coat had
over a liquor store. Instead, he was just shot the sharp-looking man dead.
going to mug an innocent family.
Jack Billington IV, the father, was
doing his best to protect his wife and fiNEST HOUR OR BIGGEST MISIAK£?
kid, but he saw that Jeffries was Barely even pausing to think "What
agitated, so he was trying to talk some would the Yankee do?", I sprinted
calm into him. Apparently he spent his straight for the killer.
last moments doing that instead of Looking back on it, it was one of the
reaching for his wallet, and the money dumbest things I ever did in my life. I
didn't show up fast enough for Jeffries' attribute some of it to my near­
taste. worship of people like the Yankee.

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After hearing story after story about

their bravery in the face of incredible
odds-all in the name of saving their
fellow Americans-I couldn't see
myself doing any thing less.
I was 18 years old. Like most men
that age, I was confident in m y
immortality. I was going to take this
murderer down and save the day. I
never gave it a second thought.
I can only guess what went through
the Cynthia Billington's head in those
last moments. There she was, standing
there with her teenage son behind her.
Her husband lay dead at her feet, and
their attacker stood there in front of
them, staring at a smoking stump
where his hand used to be.
And then this idiot kid runs out of
nowhere to tackle the bastard.
Honestly, it was the turning point in
my life.
I hit Jeffries from behind and just to
one side, knocking him awa y from
Cynthia and young Jack and wrapping
my arms around him, reaching for the
gun I thought he had. Mother and son
took the hint and ran for safety, he
pulling her along as she tripped along
after him, screaming for help .
Meanwhile, I wrestled Jeffries over
onto his back. I hadn't found the gun
yet, which scared the hell out of me.
Sure the man was going to pump me
full of bullets, I laid into him with both
fists.
A few frantic swings later, I had
pulped the man's face, and I still wasn' t
dead. Still sitting on the man, I grabbed
him by the front of his filthy shirt and
looked around for the gun. That's
when I saw the stump of his hand, still
smoking even then.
Shocked by the sight, I goggled at
the man for a moment. As I looked into
his mad eyes, he grinned up at me, spat
out a tooth, and said, "Boom."

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1m: AfURMATH At the time, I didn't really know

what had happened-I just thanked
The explosion shattered every God I was alive-but I was dead sure
window on the street and left a crater that if I ended up going back to St.
in the asphalt like a meteor had landed Savio's in a squad car, Sister Vic would
there. Bricks fell from the facades of the toss me out of the school right then and
buildings. The streetlights popped like there. I was still hoping to get my
overfilled balloons. diploma, so I let myself out the back
In short, it was a disaster. door of the pharmacy and slipped off
I came to in the front of a darkened into the night.
drug store across the street from the
crater. I was lying in a heap of broken
bottles of lotions, potions, and pills.
The sirens and the flashing lights woke
DRAFTED

me up. When I got to St. Savio's, Sister Vic

By all rights, I should have been was up and waiting for me, her face
dead, dead, dead. I was covered with beet-red beneath the white halo of her
bruises and cuts from the glass 1'd wimple. I told her I'd gotten into a
landed on, but I was breathing just fine. fight, which was close enough to the
I struggled to my knees and peered out truth that I didn't bother confessing it
the broken window. as a sin after mass the next day. She
The street was filled with Chicago gave me the tongue-lashing of my life,
police in their old black- and-white but none of it hurt any worse than the
squad cars. They'd cordoned off both bruises I was carrying.
ends of the block and were poking Two months after that, I graduated
around, interviewing people, and from St. Savio's, and sure enough,
trying to piece together what had Uncle Sam was there before my
happened. tasseled cap even touched the ground. I
Jack the V and his widowed mother was drafted into the Army, and during
were off to one side, tears spilling my physical, the Army doctor realized
down their bloodied cheeks, the red there was something different about
and blue lights strobing across their me.
faces. A detective was asking them For one, every time the nurse tried to
questions, but it didn't look like he was give me a shot, the needle bent or
getting much out of them. They were in broke. The first time it happened the
shock, emotionally and physically. doctor chewed the woman ou t for
There were beat cops poking their being incompetent. After the second
noses into different places on the street, time, he pushed her aside and told her
making sure everyone was all right. For he'd handle it himself. The third time,
a moment I wondered why they hadn't he stared at the broken needle and then
come into the shop to check up on me. at me, then murmured to the nurse,
After all, the place was a complete "Get me the colonel."
wreck. An hour later, a pair of MPs escorted
Then J realized that every place on me into Colonel Drake's office. He gave
the street was a wreck. They just hadn't me the lowdown on who I was and
gotten to picking through the closed what was going to happen to me from
storefronts yet. there on out. I was a delta, and as a

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delta, I was going to be assigned to the academy, I found a bunch of other

Delta Academy, effective immediately, scared kids doing their best to keep
as in right then and now. moving in a world that had suddenly
The next morning, I was on a plane been turned upside down.
for Washington. To this day, some of them are my
This was back before the passage of closest friends.
the Delta Registration Act, although My coaches there worked me like a
only by less than two years. If tha t kind three-legged mule, but they taught me
of thing happened these days, I'd have a lot. I think they'd call it tough love,"
II

been tossed in jail for failing to register. without any of that love stuff.
If I'd been lucky, someone might have These days, life at the academy's a
believed that I really didn't know I'd lot more rigid than it was then. I was in
become a delta until that moment in a crash course for deltas discovered
the doctor's office. Otherwise, I'd have during their draft physical. These days,
been sent to the Fortress for sure. if you' re found out that way, you've got
Maybe I'd have even been transferred a one-way ticket to the Fortress. The
to New Alcatraz eventually and ended only students the academy gets are
up right here just the same. those who tum themselves in right
Of course, I'm not looking at life in away- or who are turned in by their
prison this time around. No, the only parents.
penalty for my crimes-such as they Since Delta Academy students are by
are-is death. definition minors, they often aren't
held responsible for not registering
themselves. Their parents are. These
BACK TO SCHOOL
days, more than one student studying
As it was, I was bundled onto the at the academy has to send letters
next troop transport back to Chicago, home to a federal pen.
and I reported for duty at the Delta
Academy the next day. Since I already IHTfR DUAHfY
had my high-school diploma, I wasn't
Anyhow, the academy's where I met
required to take any of the regular
Delaney Cadre, the woman who would
classes, but I was put through a crash­
one day be my wife. And yes, she was
course in how to handle my powers.
in Chicago the day the Devastator
After extensive testing, the quacks at
destroyed it.
the academy's infirmary determined Remember- before when I said I
that my skin had gotten tough enough cried for the Yankee on that day? Well, I
to bounce a low-caliber bullet off of.
mourned the loss of a lot of friends on
Also, I could fire blasts of plasma that day, but none more than Delaney.
energy out of my fists . Not a bad
She was my life.
package overall. They had just the Delaney was a senior a t the
training regimen already set up for me,
Academy while I was there. We were
and I started in on it right away.
sparring partners for a brief while, and
I remember my days at the academy we even had a date or two, but we
fondly. When I got there, I was a scared knew it couldn't last. Soon enough, the
kid, new to my powers, and all alone
coaches told the Army I was ready, and
against the rest of the world. At the
off I went.

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Anyhow, I stepped into uniform all

DILTA SQUADRON
starstruck by the names I was going to
Ever since its founding in World War get to work with. In addition to the
II, Delta Squadron had a reputation of Yankee and Superior, the Silver Ghost
having the best and brightest deltas in was still kicking around (in a
its ranks. Those are the top-ranked semiretired, advisory capacity), plus
deltas, of course, the ones the public Warband, the Old Soldier, Mary
saw. I was a grunt, just another rookie Hartless, and Jack Magruder were team
hoping to make a name for himself leaders there, and they were in their
among the greatest deltas of all time. pnme.
In those days, Superior was the de I was looking forward to working
facto leader of Delta Squadron, despite with them all. I thanked my lucky stars
the fact he was outranked by Yankee. for giving me my powers, for leading
Even though the Yankee was nominally me into such a life.
in charge of us all, he was in his 50s I had no idea what I'd gotten myself
then, just a bit older than I am now. He into.
was past his prime, and he knew it.
He'd given over the position of ranking WAR IS HUL
field commander to the seemingly
ageless Superior, contenting himself The fact is that Delta Squadron, like
with taking a strategic position behind most military institutions, is in the
the scenes instead. business of war.

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After Superior put a sudden end to

World War II, it quickly became clear
that America was the superpower in the
world, in more ways than one. We
tossed the noninterference Monroe
doctrine out the window and quickly
got involved in every government you
could think of. We were the policemen
of the world .
Most people think of that as a figure
of speech, and for most Americans it is.
Not for us in Delta Squadron. We got
sent off to prop up every little petty
dictator in the world, anyone who paid
lip service to the idea of democracy as
opposed to communism, even if they
were ruthless fascists.
You've got to remember, this was
before we had a ruthless dictator of our
own. The idea that freedom-loving
Americans were willing to fight, die,
and kill to keep oppressors in office
was a bit strange to some of us then­
certainly to me---but I was a soldier,
and I supported my country, right or
wrong. I did what I was told.
In the end, we kept the Soviets out of
a good portion of South America and
most of Africa and Europe. We had to
sell our souls to do it, but KeIUledy told
us it was worth it.
We believed him.

DALLAS

Do you remember where you were

on November 22, 1963? If not, you were
probably too young. There's no other
excuse.
The day Jackie KeIUledy died was a
turning point for our nation. Up until
then, we were still a democracy, at least
in name.
Although it wasn't official until
many months later, that idea died in
Dallas with the First Lady.

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I'm not going to go over that story Of course, just because we'd
here again. You can read the Warren captured Castro and disbanded his
Commission Report if you like. As far revolutionary force years earlier didn't
as I can tell, it's pretty accurate. A team mean we could go home. The Cuban
of Dreadnauts zoomed in and took out people were discontented for a reason,
the Presidential motorcade before the and that still hadn't been resolved. To
Delta Squadron soldiers working with this day, we've still got forces there
the Secret Service could even react. centered in Guantanamo Bay. No
Afterward, Superior hunted each matter what Kennedy may try to tell
one of them down. Two of them­ you, people want to be free-and
Donna and Dennis Krueger-didn't they're willing to fight for it, no matter
survive arrest. Of the three others, Bill how long it takes.
Houseman is doing time in solitary Even so, I mourned for the First
confinement in the Fortress. Jack Ruby Lady-our last First Lady, it seems­
got killed by another prisoner soon right alongSide the rest of the country.
after being transferred over to New And the rest of the world, for that
Alcatraz. No one shed a tear. matter. In retrospect, it was Jackie that
To this day, Lee Harvey Oswald is held Jack Kennedy together. Once she
still at large. Delta Squadron-and later was gone, he fell apart, and so did the
Delta Prime-claims to have nearly rest of the country.
captured him a dozen times, but
somehow he always gets away. These
days, he's got to be at least as old as I My DICISION

am-probably more. But he's still out It wasn't long after JFK recovered
there, and I'm finally in here. from the "cowardly delta attack" that
the Delta Registration Act was rammed
MISSING THE ArnON through Congress. As a member of
Delta Squadron, I was one of the first
Ironic, isn't it? I was nowhere near
Dallas that day. I was part of the people asked to register my powers.
Since I was already working for the
occupation force in Cuba that had put
government, it didn't seem like much
down Castro's attempted rebellion. We
of a choice, but I still wrestled with it.
were stuck there in the Caribbean,
The patriotic boy I'd once been knew I
making sure that Fulgencio Batista
was giving up some of my most
Zaldivar kept his job as leader of the
cherished Constitutional rights when I
country.
signed on that dotted line, but at the
The funny part was that Batista
time I was prepared to make that
actually called on the US for help. We
sacrifice.
helped him out all right, but I don't
think he was too excited about the It was for the greater good, I told
myself. There were deltas running wild
price he had to pay. Either way, at the
out there, bad ones. If I wasn't part of
end of the day, he was out of power.
the solution, I was part of the problem.
Sure, once we took care of the rebels, he
At least that's what my CO in Delta
was still sitting in his office in the
Squadron told me. You might have
capitol, but it didn't really matter.
heard of him.
From that point on Washington was
His name was Superior.
calling all the shots.

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had. But it was the first encroachment

THE HORNS Of ADILEMMA on my rights as a human being. It was
When that red, white, and blue the first step toward officially
soldier put that dreaded piece of paper segregating hvo peoples that were
in front of me, it already had all my really one. Once that happened, it
vital data on it. All it needed was my would be a simple matter to keep
John Hancock. chipping away at those rights until l ­
The government knew all about who or those like me-suddenly had no
I was, of course. When I got my protections at all.
security clearance for Delta Squadron, But at the time, it seemed harmless.
the FBI had crawled into every dark And Superior personally asked me
corner of my life, and they'd to comply with the law-this in a
pronounced me clean as a shiny, new, country in which I'd sworn to uphold
silver whistle. Just about everyone I the laws and even enforce them. This
knew of in Delta Squadron, all my was the man who'd killed Hitler,
delta buddies, had already registered who'd single- handedly put an end to
without even asking many questions. World War II. He was the foundation of
To them, this was just a formality. America as I knew it, my beloved
To me, though, it meant something. country.
Sure, there wasn't any direct harm in I took the pen he handed me, and I
me admitting to information about did something I'd always regret.
myself that the government already I signed the damned thing.

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REGRETS
My NEW EMPLOYER
Unlike Delta Squadron, Delta Prime
Yeah, like the song says, I've had a
came directly under the jurisdiction of
few, but some of mine are worth
the Department of Justice. Back in
mentioning.
those days, it was headed up by
Right after I registered, I felt a great
Attorney General Bobby Kennedy,
relief, as if the world had suddenly
none other than Big Jack's very own
been lifted from my shoulders. I should
little brother.
have known it was only repositioning
That particular move pissed off J.
itself before it really came crashing
Edgar Hoover, then the head of the FBI,
down.
like you wouldn't believe. His G- men.
Soon after it became apparent that
were now second-class citizens when It
only about 50% of the delta population
came to federal law enforcement, and
in the United States was going to
he didn't like it one bit. Rumor has it he
register voluntarily, Delta Prime was
spent the next several years building
formed. Its mission: to protect the
up his own secret FBI delta tea.m set to
United States against delta threats both
take his side in any open conflICt.
foreign and domestic.
In fact, rumors persist to this day
Who else was better to police the
that Hoover was behind RFK's
deltas than the deltas themselves? At
assassination in '68. Sure, a delta by the
least that was the theory. Given how
name of Sirhan Sirhan did the actual
well the regular government agencies
deed, but he was blasted apart by delta
had handled the situation over the
Secret Service agents before Bobby's
years, it seemed like the right thing to
body even hit the ground. We may
do. At least, the thought went, we
never know who was really behind the
couldn't do any worse.
attack. Either way, you can be sure that
Little did we know how wrong we
Hoover shed no tears the day Bobby
were. In the end, all we did was
Kennedy was put in his grave.
escalate the situation to a fever pitch. A
Hoover or no, as soon as my term
lot of innocents have died in the Delta
with Delta Squadron was up in '66, I
Wars, as they've been called over the
was asked to join Delta Prime. I'd had
years by the less-judicious members of
enough of military life, I told myself.
the press. And it's at least partly our
Putting down insurrectionists in
fault.
foreign lands had always left a bad
Sure, there are lots of deltas out there
taste in my mouth. With the draft,
who are just crooks who happened to
though, I hadn't really had much of a
luck into their powers, but we didn't
choice. It was Delta Squadron or
stop with them. No, we had to tum.
Leavenworth.
every innocent kind and hard workmg
I chose freedom over jail.
American who somehow ended up
I was only 18. How could I have
with powers into a criminal just for
known there was any other choice?
wanting to live their own life.
Since then, I've learned a lot about
Most of these people didn't ask for
life. It's not so much about taking the
their powers. Given half a chance,
choices that are presented to you as it is
they'd get rid of them forever.
in coming up with your own course of
It's just not that simple.
action.

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THf NOT -SO-NOBLf £XPfRIMfNT

Joining Delta Prime was pretty much
My DILlA PRIMI DAYS
So I put up with it. I had my job, and
the same kind of choice. Again, it took
I did it. While mobsters ran amok
Superior himself to convince me that
around the country, while the Catholic
joining up was the right thing to do. In
Church kept the masses opiated with
the two years the DRA had been in
all their talk from the Pope's Covenant
existence, the Primers had only
of peaceful coexistence between deltas
managed to get an estimated 25% of
and regs and uniting against larger,
the unregistered deltas to change their
common foes, I was busy hunting
tune-forcefully or not.
down and locking up dangerous
/I
The remaining three quarters of the
deltas," some of which were barely out
rogue delta population was now firmly
of diapers.
entrenched in their lawlessness, or so it
Bringing in the kids was always the
was described to me. It was the
worst. It wasn't their fault they hadn't
government's responsibility to protect
registered. Their parents just didn't
its people against any threat, from
want them hauled off to the Delta
without or within. Given the number of
Academy, vvhere they'd never see them
delta-related disasters we'd seen over
again.
the past two years, it was pretty
The problem, of course, was that the
obvi~us the people needed protecting.
law didn't care. As a duly deputized
I sIgned up. I told myself it was the
representative of that law, I couldn't
right thing to do. I could protect the
care either. I wasn't allowed to .
innocent and drag in the guilty. Never
mind the only thing some "villains"
were guilty of was not complying with TRUTH AND (ONSfOUfNCfS
the Delta Registration Act. Did it really matter that those kids
were being torn from the only homes
WORKING FOR THf MAN they'd ever known to spend their
childhood as wards of the state? Did it
I also told myself that the best way
matter that their parents weren't going
to effect change is from within. If there
to be able to see their kids again? Not
was no way to fight City Hall, I sure
because the academy doesn't allow
wasn't going up against the federal
vi itors. It does.
gov.e rnment. That would mean going
No, the parents were going to jail for
agamst everything I'd fought for and
harboring a fugitive. If they were lucky,
believed in my whole life.
they'd get out in time to see their
It would also mean going against
children graduate from Delta Academy.
Superior, a man who'd become a real
Then they'd have all of about three
father figure to me, the orphan from
days before the kid was shipped off to
Chicago. I knew he had his own
do her manda tory four years in Delta
agenda, but I trusted him as much as I
Squadron.
ever trusted anyone.
N i~e kn~wing you, kid. Don' t forget
I told myself I wasn't being
to wnte. Still, I closed my mind and
cowardly.
h~rdened my heart and did the job
I was being practical.
wIthout question. That was my life,
I didn't believe it either.
and it wasn't a bad one either.

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Prime, the blue shirts. Unlike the

DELANEY AGAIN Primers in red, we didn't spend our
I met Delaney again in Delta Prime, days tracking down people whose only
and we got assigned to the same unit. crime was not registering as deltas.
Within a few weeks we were dating. A No, we spent our days investigating
few months later, we were engaged. We delta crimes and then bringing in the
were married within the year. mad dogs who corrunitted them.
Those were years of bliss. I was There's not a cell block in New Alcatraz
young and in love, married to a that doesn't have someone on it who I
wonderful woman. I had put the put away. And nearly all of them
doubts of my job behind me, and I was deserve to be there.
doing the right thing to bring peace For hauling in the terrorists and the
and prosperity to my country. I was criminals, I feel no shame. Being a delta
willing to die for my country. More to might make you faster, stronger, or
the point, I was ready to kill for it. tougher than most people, but it
doesn't make you any better than
DOING MY JOB anyone else.
If you were a greedy, murderous
Despite how strange that kind of life
bastard before your awakening, then
might seem to you, it wasn't all tearing
afterward you're still a greedy,
innocent children away from their
murderous bastard. You're just more
parents. Delaney and I actually worked
dangerous than ever.
in the Special Forces division of Delta

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THE BICENTENNIAL BATTLE

Actually, doing my job and doing it

right is why I missed the Bicentennial
Battle. Delaney and I had been
investigating a series of mysterious
drowning murders in the Arizona
desert-which is what made them so
damned mysterious-when I found
myself on the wrong end of a blast of
water strong enough to knock me into
a wall and crack my skull. Fortunately,
Delaney cornered my assailant and
cleaned his clock.
It wasn't the first time I'd been hurt
in the line of duty, and it wouldn't be
the last. Over the years, I'd almost
come to expect it.
With the success rate of delta healers
these days, especially those who are
part of the Covenant, breaking a bone
or two is no big deal. You're pretty
much fine unless some part of your
body suddenly goes missing or you're
DOA.
I was under the care of a delta healer
in Tempe when the word that the
Devastator had taken over Chicago
came down. Delaney was on the next
flight out.
I didn't even ask her not to go.
Nothing would have stopped her.

SIDHIH£D
The healer told me that because of
my wounds I wouldn't be going
anywhere for a couple days. Delaney
assured me that she could handle
herself just fine, and I believed her.
From what it sounded like, most of
Delta Prime and even a number of do­
gooder Defiants had taken up the
Devastator's challenge. For Delaney,
this was her chance to finally work
alongside the legends she'd always
heard about.

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I'd been one of the lucky ones, top of

my class. In Delta Squadron, I had been THI (OLD WAR HIATS UP

part of Superior's handpicked team, The Bicentennial Battle was the

the people assigned to the most worst disaster in the history of
dangerous missions of all. Even as a humanity, but the destruction wasn't
"mere"-I always preferred "pure"­ over yet. The disappearance of the
delta, my skills helped me stack up most powerful people on the planet
well against some of the alphas. created a power vacuum . Suddenly the
Delaney had been good herself, but as USA wasn't the home of the most
one of the Bargainers, she wasn't really dangerous person on the planet.
suited for frontline battles. She was one The balance of power tilted back and
hell of an investigator though. forth like a seesaw in a hurricane. At
Anyhow, Delaney hadn't even met first it looked like the Soviets were the
Superior or most of the rest of the new world power, then the Chinese,
members of myoid squad. This was then India or even France or Britain. Of
her shot. course, the US was right in there with
the rest of them, fighting like a punch­
KISS IT GOOD-BYE drunk boxer that had taken the sucker
punch of his life.
I never should have let her go. I was
still in the hospital when the reports
about the Chicago disaster started My LlH, My WORK
streaming in. At first, no one could tell Those were strange days, but I threw
what happened. All communications in myself into them-hard. I suppose I
and out of the city were just cut off. was trying to get over my grief, but this
Nobody knew the city was gone. That was a cause I could get behind.
was simply inconceivable. America was no longer the unassailable
Pictures of the damage pretty much fortress it had once been. Before the
fit that description too. They were just Bicentennial Battle, no one would have
impossible to believe. The destruction dared attack America for fear of Delta
could be summed up in one word: Squadron wiping them off the map . All
total. you had to do was look a t Korea or
I've seen pictures of ground zero at Vietnam to see what our deltas could
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Chicago was do.
much, much worse. Literally millions Now, with the alphas-the cream of
of innocents died in mere moments, our delta crop-gone, we'd been cut
most of who never even knew they down to size, and everyone wanted a
were in danger. shot at us.
We lost the Yankee. We lost Superior. Kennedy was the worst. He
We lost most of Delta Prime and Delta absolutely refused to believe that the
Squadron, including just about every country he was in charge of was
good-hearted alpha on the planet. suddenly knocked from the top of the
And I lost Delaney. world. He seconded a lot of us from
I still remember her last words to Delta Prime into the CIA. If we weren't
me: "See you on the other side." the undisputed top country in the delta
If I get the death sentence I'm race anymore, we had the best
expecting, I'll finally get the chance. espionage organiza tion by far.

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Of course, the rest of the world

wasn't going to stand by and watch the
GHTING My HANDS DIRTY
CIA run rampant over the entire planet. That's a part of my life I'm not
It was a golden age of spy versus terribly proud of. I managed to avoid a
counterspy. It seemed like every month lot of the wetwork myself, sticking
or so you'd hear about some spy or mostly to the espionage side of things,
another getting caught in a foe's but there were times I got blood on my
country and being executed for his hands . When it comes down to killing a
trouble. man or spending the rest of your life in
Well, I heard about it, but then, I was a Soviet gulag, the choice becomes a lot
on the inside. After the Bicentennial easier than you might think.
Battle, I had what the shrinks called I spent the next 10 years jetting
"survivor's guilt." I knew all about it around the globe, infiltrating different
and why it was irrational and all that. I government and criminal organizations
just needed a way to rechannel it. wherever I went. It was a real James
When Kennedy asked Primers Bond kind of life-without the pretty
interested in "serving overseas," we all w omen or the ama zing gadgets.
knew what that meant. kay, there were some beautiful
I didn't just step forward. I ran. women, and some of the people I
worked with had some truly
astonishing pieces of technology, but
LIfE IN THE (OLD that's not the point.
The point is that there was a lot of
Technically speaking, I was still part work for a spy with armorlike skin and
of Delta Prime, but I answered to the an undetectable weapon in the form of
CIA. If you haven't figured it out by a handblast as deadly as any gun. Like
now, the CIA isn't a nice bunch of the song says, I got around.
guys-more like a gang of thugs with In the end, I think I did some good
the power of the US government for America, even though it was at the
behind it. expense of our rivals around the world.
Sure, most of the directors over the And that's enough said about that.
years had the best interests of the
country at heart, but they really didn't
care who got hurt in the process. So
hurt a lot of people, I did.
THE GREAT MISTAKE Of '88
The rationale was that the I worked for the CIA for 12 years. I
communists were out to bury us. Belt wouldn't say I was happy, but it took
Kruschev actually came right out and my mind off the pain I was still
said it. It was our job to make life at suffering from the fallout of the
home safe for the innocents there. Bicentennial Battle.
If some of us had to get our hands Chicago was gone, but Crescent City
dirty to leave the rest of the country was thrown up on the rim of the Windy
with a clean conscience, that was a City's watery grave like some kind of
price we were willing to pay. Of course, skyscrapered phoenix. We had the
we weren't the ones who actually had Russkies on the ropes, and it looked
to cough up. That duty fell to the like the Iron Curtain might crumble at
people we captured, tortured, or killed. any time. In the intelligence
community, we were riding high.

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1m LAnST RUSSIAN RfVOLUTION

It all fell apart in '88. That's when the
Soviet Union really started to dissolve.
The long-term effects of communism
and decades of steady battering from
us capitalist pigs finally caught up with
the country, and the people demanded
a change in leadership.
They got it.
Unfortunately, they got the leader
they truly deserved in General Mikhail
Tretyak. "Mighty Misha," as they called
him, took over the country in a bloody
military coup in which he personally
killed every member of the politburo
that wouldn't pledge his unswerving
support to the new regime . He was,
you see, a delta, and with the support
of Crimson Pride behind him, there
was no stopping him.
Tretyak lived only by one rule: Might
makes right. And he had a lot of might
on his side.
Within weeks, Tretyak had the
mighty Soviet Empire rolling along like
the troubles of the early '80s had only
been a speed bump. It seemed he kept
the whole thing going through only the
force of his own iron will. Without him,
the Soviet Union would have
crumbled.

IHf RUSSIAN SOLUTION

Of course, that meant Tretyak had to
die.
The CIA's long-standing policy had
been that it was in America's best
interest to keep matters in the Soviet
Union as unstable as possible. The
thinking was that, as long as the
Russians were busy dealing with
problems in their own backyard, they
wouldn't have time to be a threat to us.
Tretyak had put an end to all that, so
we needed to put an end to him.

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That's what we in the trade call a

tragic miscalculation. The CIA made a ACAREER CHANGE

clumsy attempt to assassinate the The Great Mistake was the last straw
Soviet leader. The backup plan was for me.
supposed to put the blame for the Kennedy trea ted the American
botched killing on Beijing, pitting the public like mushrooms: He kept them
Soviets against the Red Chinese. in the dark and fed them shit. Most
Best case, we waxed the premier. people thought the US had been the
Worst case, the Chinese took the fall innocent victims of an unprovoked
instead. Of course, we were wrong. Soviet attack, and no lying, pinko
commie was going to tell them
THE REAL MISTAKE different.
Of course, that's just what Kennedy
Not only did our field agents blow told the reporters, which they turned
the assassination, they literally got their around and fed to the public.
heads handed to them by Tretyak's I knew better.
personal guard. Our agents were deltas It had been bad enough when
themselves, and no slouch at their jobs Chicago was destroyed while I lay
either, but they never really had a healing in a hospital, but at least then
chance. I'd been innocent myself. This time,
Worse yet, the Soviet investigation that wasn' t the case.
managed to pretty quickly pierce the I'd hadn't been one of the agents that
facade pointing at Beijing. It wasn' t had set up the Tretyak assassination
long before Mighty Misha knew who attempt, but I damn well could have
had written his name on the bullets his been. If the CIA had sent me there­
would-be assassins had been carrying. and if my Russian had been a little
Tretyak was mad as hell, and he better, they might have-I'd have gone.
wanted to make a point. We even gave It could just as easily have been my
him the excuse when a number of Delta fault.
Primers were caught in Chernobyl As it was, I felt guilty as sin. While
right before the reactor melted down. rescue workers were swarming around
Before cooler heads could prevail, he San Francisco, Houston, and Atlanta, I
actually ordered the launch of a limited was making up my mind to leave Delta
nuclear strike against the United States. Prime, to join the Defiance Movement,
While the first missile was still in the to go rogue. In short, to betray my
air we retaliated in kind. When the beloved country.
gl~wing dust finally settled, millions
were incinerated, and millions more
lingered in radioactive suffering before MOVING ON
giving up the ghost. In the Soviet I didn't tell anybody about it. That
Union, Kiev, and Minsk were gone. In would have been suicide. Worse yet, if
America, San Francisco and Atlanta I'd told one of my friends he'd have
were inaugurated as nuclear only had two choices: turn me in right
graveyards for untold numbers of away or become an accomplice to my
innocents. crime.
The world wept bitter tears and No, I didn't tell anyone. I just walked
dreamed of vengeance. off the job.

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law enforcement agency in the country

LlFI ON 1"1 RUN to the fact that I'd gone from authority
The first couple years after I tore up figure to wanted man.
my registration card, I was pretty much Of course, the Defiance did the same
on my own. I was a man caught damn thing. They'd seen a number of
between worlds. I had given up on the Primers" defect" over the years, only to
legal, government-sponsored path I'd eventually reveal themselves as moles
followed my entire adult life, but with and turn in every Defiant they'd come
that kind of history there was no way across.
the Defiance was going to have Before you register, it's easy to
anything to do with me. become a Defiant. Hell, to some of the
Over the years, I'd made a name for Defiant leadership, simply refusing to
myself. I'd taken pains to keep myself comply with the DRA is proof enough
disguised-some fantasy about of your sincerity. Once you've been
someday having a private life, I inside the government, though, you've
guess-but my mask was nearly as been tainted, and it takes a long time to
famous as Superior's face. Even so, wash the blood from your hands. I
everyone in Delta Prime knew what I didn't really care. Primer, Defiant, it
looked like. It was an open secret. was all the same to me. I knew there
It wasn't long after I lit out on my was a demand out there for a delta of
own that Delta Prime put out an all­ my unique skills and powers. It was
points bulletin on me, alerting every just a matter of finding an employer.

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Well, most of the time. In fact, it was

WORKING fOR THE fAMILY just such an incident that led me to
I worked for the Crescent City mob leave the Gabriels, the family I was
for a short while, mostly on a contract working for in Crescent City.
basis. The only problem was I didn' t Don Paolo Gabriel, the family' s
feel like 1'd really moved up in terms of patriarch, had gotten word of a young
m y employer. man in a friendly family who'd
Sure the pay was a bit better, but the suddenly come into his powers. The
hours were nearly as bad, and I was poor son of a bitch had his awakening
working what I had always though of when a delta battle tore through his
as the wrong side of the fence. Still high school, leaving a wide path of
there were more similarities between destruction in its wake . He'd been on
the two than I was comfortable with. the run ever since.
Just like the Primers, the Mafia The Don asked me to find the poor
expected me to follow orders without kid and offer him a job. If he wasn't
question, believe fanatically in my interested in the job, I was to make it
bosses, and kill to further the clear to him that refusing wasn' t really
organization's ends. an option. I reluctantly agreed.
I didn't much care for it, but it was a When I found the kid, I got the shock
paycheck. And at least the mob never of my life. He was a delta all right. He
asked me to haul in other deltas for was also only six years old.
forcible recruitment. I just couldn' t do it.

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THE TURNING POINT I left a trail of unconscious bodies

behind me on my way in. When I got to
On the other hand, I couldn't just Don Gabriel's inner sanctum, he was
walk away. If I did, the Gabriels were actually waiting for me there.
sure to send someone else after the kid. He was sitting in that overstuffed
If I could find him, so could whoever leather chair of his, right behind that
followed me. Now that I knew where huge mahogany desk that had been
he was, I had to actually do something polished to a mirror finish. His hair
with him. had gotten gray over the years, and
The way I saw it, I had two choices. I he'd put on a few pounds, gotten soft.
could take the kid with me and live on His eyes, though, were as hard as ever.
the run from the Gabriels for the rest of He looked at me like a lion sizing up
our lives. Or I could make them leave his next meal.
us alone. "Come in," he said. "I've been
I was already on the run from the expecting you." He waved toward a
government. I didn't want to add the chair in front of his desk. I'm not quite
Mafia to the pack of hunters. I decided that stupid. I ignored his offer.
to make the Gabriels the prey instead. "I know what this is about," he said,
leaning over his desk, talking to me like
OPEN SEASON we were two old friends in on some
kind of secret, "and I can't tell you how
I actually gave Don Gabriel a chance
angry I am about it. You had a good life
to leave me alone, but the old man
with us here. We treated you well:
didn't see the wisdom in my offer. To
money, clothes, women."
his mind, letting me openly defy his
With that he leaned back into his
orders meant that anyone else in his
chair and looked at me with disgust.
employ might think she could get away
/IAnd now you're going to throw all
wi th telling him off.
that away. Over what? A pissant kid.
He couldn't allow that kind of
Some snotnosed brat you don't even
insubordination, so he put my name at
know."
the top of his hit list. Before long, I had
I kept my mouth shut and let him
lots of dark-haired guys in nice, Italian
rant. I wasn't there to talk, and he
suits knocking down the door of my
wasn't the kind who would have
pad.
listened.
Of course, I was expecting them.
"Jesus, Patriot, what were you
When it was all over, I sent flowers to
thinking? That the punks just an
their widows.
'innocent child'? Are you on drugs?
Nobody's irmocent!/I
LEAVING TH£ fAMILY He was standing up now, slamming
his hand down on his desk. He stared
This went on for a couple of days at me for a long moment, his steely
before I finally managed to sneak my eyes blazing at me .
way into Don Gabriel's fortress-like Just then, a door to the left opened
house one dark night. The place was up, and Vito Gabriel walked in. Vito
crawling with guards and all sorts of was a delta like me-very much like
electronic security, but I'd seen a lot me, in fact. Our powers were almost
worse in my spookshow days. identical.

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"I guess that's my cue." Vito smirked I glowered at him. He was right. I
as he sauntered into the room. He was trying to put that part of my life
flashed me a wide grin full of perfectly behind me, but he wasn't making it
straight, white teeth. His dark hair was easy. 1'd killed many times for my
oiled back, and he wore a sharp, black employers, but 1'd never killed for
Versace suit. myself. This time, ] couldn't even say I
His right fist glowed softly in the was just following orders.
dimly lit room. My hands started to heat up, but as I
I looked over from Vito to his uncle brought them up, Vito leveled a hotly
Paolo. The Don was wearing the same glowing fist straight at my head.
shit-eating grin. "Don't even think about it," he snarled.
"1 don't know what you're smiling "1'11 drop you like a brick."
about," I told them with a calm I barely He had me cold, so I let my hands
felt. "Neither one of you is getting out cool down. Guys like Vito rely on their
of here alive." powers too much. They get cocky,
The Don barked a sharp laugh. "Be careless. He would slip up eventually. I
serious, son. I know guys like you. I've just had to wait for my chance.
been working with them my whole life. "Smart boy," said the Don. I wanted
You've lost your edge. You've gone to reach out and wipe the smug look
soft. Anytime a killer starts worrying off his face-along with most of his
about saving kids, he's not much good teeth-but now wasn't the time. I
as a killer anymore." needed to be patient.

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The old man looked me in the eyes, I looked up at Vito, stunned. He

serious now. I'll remember his words stood there, his fist still smoking from
until my dying day-which may not be the blast.
all that far way, I know. "Uncle Paolo was right, Patriot,"
I'm all too aware of that. Vito grimaced. "There are lots of people
"Patriot, I've been following you who wanted to see him go down. He
now for many years. I keep track of all was getting old, soft. Time passed him
the important people in my town, delta by."
or no. And now I've had the pleasure of He looked down a t the old man's
working with you for the past few body. It lay slumped over the desk,
months." blood still spilling from its head,
He paused for a moment to wring creating an ever-widening crimson
his hands. "This little job I sent you on, pool that was beginning to drip onto
it was a test. And I have to say, you the floor.
failed it horribly. All you had to do was When he looked back up at me, I had
bring in one kid-show me that you my fist pointed at his head. It was
would follow my orders without glowing hot.
question. He winked at me. "You don't really
"Instead, you defy me openly. You want to do that, sport. As it is, you've
know, if you had come to me and tried already got one murder on your
to talk to me, honestly and in private, hands."
none of this might have happened . But He motioned toward the Don's
no. You have to turn it into an 'issue' swiftly cooling body. "The man who
between us. led a manhunt against you is going to
"You known the situation I'm in. You be found dead in his house from a delta
know that there are people who would blast. Who do you think the cops are
like to see me fall from power. To lose going to be looking for after that?
face in front of these vultures is to court "After all, you're the one with the
death." registered powers. I'm just the grief­
He really seemed like he'd given the stricken nephew who---as far as they
whole matter a lot of thought. I looked know-is a reg.
closer and saw the bags under his eyes. "You've got the power, the motive,
This was not a man who was sleeping and-thanks to you breaking in here
well. tonight- the opportunity." Vito smiled
"Now, I don't have a choice. It's at me broadly. "I couldn't have planned
either you or me, Patriot. You or me. it better."
''I'm afraid," he said, his voice heavy I kept my fist leveled at him. "Tell
with regret, "it's going to have to be me," I asked flatly. "Since I've got his
you." death on my plate, why don't I go for
With that, he leaned back in his chair two? Either way, the penalty's the
and gestured from Vito to me with his same. They can't execute me twice."
hand. He kept his eyes on me the entire Vito mulled that over for a moment,
time. but he already knew the answer.
Don Paolo Gabriel knew the blast "Two reasons, actually. First, Uncle
was coming, but he never saw it. It Paolo was right: You're getting soft. I'm
caught him in the side of the head and not threatening you at all, and you're
nearly took it off his shoulders. not the kind to kill in cold blood .

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"Second, I've just done you the favor

of your life."
I looked a t him hard, confused.
"Think about it, Patriot. I've just
killed the man who was leading the
charge after you. After this, there's
going to be a battle to see who gets to
take over the Crescent City operations.
I've got my money on the right horse,
and if we win, I can guarantee we
won't bother trying to settle an old
score Uncle Paolo had with you.
"You're free.
"As far as I'm concerned, you can
walk away from here tonight and never
look back. Sure, the cops are going to
pin the murder on you, but with all the
other charges they've already got on
you, that's the least of your problems,
right?
"At least you know the family isn't
after you any more."
He paused to look me dead in the
eye. "You're free to go, pal. But you'd
better hurry. Some of those guards you
took out are bound to start waking up
soon-and if they find you in here with
Uncle Paolo's body, well, who knows
what might happen."
I lowered my fist for a moment, and
it was then that Vito began to laugh. It
started out as just a chuckle at first, but
it got louder and louder until it grated
on my nerves.
"Hey, Patriot," Vito said as he
walked over to the picture window
behind his dead uncle's desk. "I always
knew you were a smart guy."
With that, I brought both fists to bear
on the man and blasted him right
through the window. He tumbled out
from the second-story in a shower of
shattered glass, a hole smoking in his
expensive suit.
He cursed me all the way down. I
was pretty sure he'd survive the fall,
but to tell the truth, I didn't really care.

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THI DlflAHT VIARS THE DHIANCf MOVEMENT AND ME

I've got to admit, despite the fact I'd
After the papers told the world that
been part of the government for m~st
I'd assassinated Don Paolo Gabriel, I
of my adult life, I never really felt lIke
instantly became more infamous than
much of a joiner. The military wasn't a
ever before. As with most events in my
social club. It was a job and a dead
life, there was an upside and a
serious one at that.
downside to this .
Joining up with the Defiance fit me
The downside was the public was
just fine. More than I though it would.
now screaming for my head-loudly.
After all, as organizations go, it's not
Delta Prime was already doing its best
much of one. It's mostly just a bunch of
to find me though, so I don't know that
deltas who use the internet and other
this really made my life a whole lot
means to coordinate a loosely run
worse.
resistance movement against the
The other problem was that Vito
United States government.
actually survived the fall. To this day, I
I knew all about the Defiance from
don't think he's ever forgiven me for
my days in Delta Prime. I'd hauled ill
blasting him out the window, and
more than one Defiant in my day, and
that's just the way I like it.
I'd sat in on the interrogation of a few
The main bright spot was the fact
of those.
that my having supposedly killed the
Whenever I did, one thought always
head of the Crescent City mafia
struck me: These are the people we're
apparently turned a lot of heads in the
so afraid of? Dear God, most of them
Defiance too. These people, though,
could barely string three sentences
knew what a bastard the old Don was,
together, much less mount a massive,
and they thought that anyone who
coordinated campaign against a
killed such a dangerous, old bastard
powerful, popular, and entrenched
must be okay in their books.
government.
As a result, I was contacted by the
In those days, I didn't think the
Defiance for the first time. In fact, it
Defiants had a chance.
was Truth herself who sought me out. I
Of course, I'm not so sure if I'd
guess she figured that with her special
change my tune these days. Over the
talent she could size me up better than
past few years, the Defiance's influence
just about anyone else. Apparently she
and power has grown by leaps and
liked what she saw, because she soon
bounds, but it's hardly ready to turn
after offered me a probationary
the world on its ear.
membership into her little club .
All rumors to the contrary, the
The first direct benefit of this was I
Defiance will not be la unching a
was able to find a home for the little
massive sneak attack on the world at
boy 1'd rescued. He seemed to enjoy
the end of the millennium. That kind of
being on the road with me, but it was
undertaking requires all sorts of skills,
no life for a child . Truth placed him
ordnance, and intelligence that only the
with a truly wonderful family who was
government of a large country could
willing to care for him and-more .
possibly supply.
importantly-risk jail to cover up hIS
Let's just put it this way: It ain't
true nature.
gonna happen.

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There are factions that think that

MYTH MANAGEMENT blowing up the White House is the first
The other common misconception step toward peace. There are others
people seem to have about the Defiance that think Kennedy's doing a great job
is that it's one, large, well-oiled of keeping the regs in the dark, it's just
terrorism machine. That's what the that they want the reins of power for
papers tell you, after all, so it must be themselves. Then there are those that
true, right? just want to be left alone but find that
If there's one thing I've learned over they can't peacefully convince the
the years it's that you can't trust Primers to do that.
anything anyone ever tells you. It Most, if not all, of these factions use
doesn't matter if it comes from the lips the forums and chat rooms at the Delta
of Dan Rather or straight from the Times website to relay information back
mouth of el presidente himself. People and forth to each other. Lots of people
only tell you what they want you to try to use all sorts of crazy codes to
hear. That's true of the President, your communicate with each other. It's a
preacher, your family, and yourself. website, after all, which means it's not
That's doubly true for me, so be exactly a private venue.
careful when you're reading this. For Others freely speak their minds,
one, are you sure this piece was giving details on where they are and
actually written by Patriot? Who told what they've been doing. Most times
you that? And who told them? they do this because they're confident
And how do you know that what they'll be moving on before anyone
I'm writing hasn't been edited? A smart from Delta Prime could use the
censor would actually leave in text like information to track them down. Other
what I'm writing now-or maybe add times, they're just desperate enough for
in some herself-just to make the help to not really care too much about
whole piece seem that much more who answers their call.
authentic.
It's a twisted world out there,
troopers, and there are days when you My SIDE
shouldn't even trust yourself. For me, When it came to choosing sides, I
those are the best ones, because at least stuck with myself. If you're a new
I know I'm ready for whatever cards Defiant, I suggest you do the same.
the world has to deal me. Sure, there are factions within the
Defiance that you could do a lot worse
than fall in with, but once you do, you
fACTS AND fAnlONS become a target for every other faction.
The truth is-if you think you can It's best to step back from the whole
trust what I say-the Defiance is really politically twisted thing and take your
a loose conglomeration of several time before you declare any alliances.
different resistance movements, each of Of course, I didn't take that advice to
which tells you that it's the heart of the heart myself. What was it Sister Cabrini
Defiance. Getting all of these factions to used to tell me? "Do as I say, not as I
agree on anything is like trying to talk do!" I can see her point now. Looking
sense to your dog. It only wastes your at myself, I'm a pretty lousy example of
time and annoys the dog. how to do things right.

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I fell in with Truth pretty quickly.

She's a powerful woman, and I'm not
THE TRUTH
talking about her delta abilities. Being Truth's all about the truth. She wants
able to figure out if someone's telling to drag it screaming and crawling out
the truth or not isn't much good in a of the backrooms and boardrooms and
firefight. into the harsh light of day. She figures
No, Truth's just a forceful that if all the regs really knew what
personality. When she's convinced of was going on in this country-if they
something, she argues for it like Moses could really see how much we're all
bringing down the 10 Commandments alike-we wouldn' t be in the state
from Mt. Sinai and smashing them at we're in.
his people's feet. "Knowledge is power," she's always
When she talks, you listen. telling me. "Right now, the people have
At least I do, and if you're reading given Kennedy and Delta Prime all of
this on the Delta Times website, you the power. The government's got a
probably agree with me. stranglehold on information in this
Truth's one of the few people that country. When that's broken, the
actually manages to stay above the people will be able to free their minds .
fracas that's always going on between Like the song says, if they can do that,
the different factions. She's got no the rest will follow."
interest in anyone's agenda but her I like Truth a lot, but I don't know if I
own, and hers she wears on her sleeve. always agree with her. In my

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experience, there are some matters that

can't be settled by talking it out. Of RIDIMPTIOH

course, she'd fight to the death to I bear a lot of guilt for the things I
defend my right to disagree with her. did when I was a member of Delta
Or fight to take that right back. Prime. I was a willing party to the
No matter whether you agree with atrocities the President visited upon the
the woman or not, she's worth listening American people. Even I wasn't always
to. She's been at this Defiance thing a the one committing the actual crimes, I
while, and people have a way of seeing was complicit in them.
the honest goodness in her and I knew what was going on, and I let
opening up to her. it happen. Worse yet, I had the power
There's not an important Defiant in to stop it, and I didn' t.
this country that doesn't count on Once I got in with Truth and the
Truth as a reliable source if not actually Defiance though, that changed. It was
as a friend . I'm talking about real like I'd been reborn, given a second
Defiants, of course, not crooks or killers chance to make things right, and I
who simply wrap the title around didn' t waste any time trying to make
themselves as a cloak of respectability. up for past mistakes.
Those posers toss around words like I spent a lot of my time avoiding the
"freedom fighters" or "rebels" when all Primers that had been assigned to
they really want to do is rob, riot, and hunting me down. They were a dogged
kill for the sheer "pleasure" of it. bunch, always just a step or two behind

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me. Still, I managed to keep them

guessing about my whereabouts and
DOWN UNDER
my motives for a long time. A lot of deltas dream about making
Unfortunately, that didn' t last. it to the land down under, but it's not
all it's cracked up to be. All kinds of
deltas-good and bad-run rampant
SAVE THE (HILDREN around the place, which makes it a
There's that old saw that says dangerous place to live, delta or not.
something like, "If you want to change The people who are afraid of deltas
the world, start with the kids." aren't all wrong, you know. There's a
I took tha t to heart. lot to be afraid of.
Under Truth's guidance, I made it Sure, you can leave your country
my mission to find young deltas and behind for a life in another land where
contact them before they were hauled you've got rights. Given the current
in by Delta Prime. Sometimes it was a state of affairs in the USA, there's no
thankless job, with more than one shame in giving up and heading out.
brainwashed kid wanting to turn me in All I'm saying is if you're looking for
as soon as he saw my mask. paradise, there's no place that qualifies
I can hardly blame the kids for being on this ravaged planet.
afraid. After all, the papers had been
telling them for years that Patriot was
the kind rogue element that would rip AMERICA, RIGHT OR WRONG

open your skull and eat your brains That's the phrase that my instructors
with a golden spoon. You can see why in Delta Prime pounded into my head
they might not have been happy to see over the years. The idea behind it is
me . that you always do what your country
Others though-most of them asks of you because it's your country,
already on the run from the Primers­ no matter what you might personally
were ready to discount what they'd believe.
heard about me. It's easy to think that That's a crock.
the government might have lied about Abe Lincoln said it best. We're
someone else when you've got a supposed to be a democracy. "Of the
platoon of Primers hauling in your people, by the people, and for the
family for questioning and hunting you people."
down like a rabid dog. We're not here to serve some crazed
I hauled a lot of young bacon out of despot just because he's in charge.
the fire and turned them over to Truth. America's about the people, not the
She tells me she's managed to place power.
them all with sympathetic families I believe in that catchphrase though.
willing to risk jail to give a poor, "America, right or wrong." America
scared, innocent kid a second chance. might be wrong these days, but I'm not
Of course, some of those kids aren't about to abandon her. This is my
in this country anymore. A few of them country, dammit, and I'm going to stick
have even escaped to places like with her, no matter what.
Australia, where there are no laws For some people, that means they
against having delta powers, and should stay in their jobs and do what
people like us can live free. they can to change things with what

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little power they have. You see this

when a Primer hauls in a kid and
PROfiLES IN COURAGE
falsifies the report to show that the Kennedy himself wrote a book once:
poor rookie's only had her powers for a Profiles in Courage. It was about
few days, all so she can avoid a free standing up for yourself and your
trip to New Alcatraz. country and what you believed in.
That might have been enough for me You should go back and read that. It
at one point, when I was able to fool rings more true today than ever before.
myself into thinking that my You don't see a lot of courage in
superiors-all the way up to the America these days. No, you see
President himself-knew better than I people cowering in fear of atomic
what was in the country's best annihilation and delta-caused mayhem.
interests. The American public is frightened
Not anymore. I stopped doing that a out of its collective mind. It's easy to
long time ago. see why. Never in the history of
humanity has the future of the world
ever been so uncertain. Never has so
WE THE PEOPLE much hung in the balance.
In the end, it all gets right back to This isn't a time to be scared though.
that preamble to the Constitution: "We When the days are darkest, that's when
the people." you need to look deep inside yourself
We the people give the government for the light.
its power. That's one thing that's never In this new world, it's the time to be
changed in America, even in the last 40 brave.
years.
Think about it. When Kennedy
pushed the Delta Registration Act
THE WAY BACK
through Congress, was there a hue and As a people, we can put an end to
cry from the people? No, we let it zoom the fears that put a stranglehold on our
right on through. Hell, we couldn't get freedoms. We can restore democracy to
that bill passed fast enough. our land once again. We can make our
And when the President declared country right. All it takes is courage.
martial law 36 years ago, did the If we're not afraid of the "Soviet
American public complain? You might threat" or the "Delta threat" or any
thjnk we would have, but no. other threat the government might
Why? manage to come up with; if we take
We were scared. each day knowing that it might all
We were scared, so we surrendered come to an end and stand our ground,
control of our own destiny and put it in preferring that it end well rather than
the hands of a power-mad man with go on so badly; if we truly share the
aspirations of ruling over us like values of our founding fathers-that
royalty. we have the right to life, liberty, and
Back in the early '60s, the media the pursuit of happiness-then nothing
used to call Kennedy's White House can stand in our way.
"Camelot." At the time, I'm sure they Well, that's not exactly true.
never realized how prophetic they Nothing can stand in your way. By
were being. the time you read this, I'll be dead.

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JULY 4, 1999

It was one of the few times in my life

that I really felt like I was part of a
My trial ended today, on our nation's family, and my brothers and sisters
birthday. As I sit here writing these were everyone else in the country. And,
words, I can hear fireworks exploding of course, the President was our
in the distance. I can 't see them from benevolent father. That all changed
the tiny window in m y cell, but I can when our country's doting mother got
imagine them in my mind's eye. blown to pieces in Dallas in 1963.
The Fourth of July was always my If there's one thing I could change in
favorite holiday, even when I was a kid. all of history, it would be that one
As an orphan, lots of the other holidays moment. I'd have Superior sweep in
didn't mean a whole lot. Sure, at St. just minutes earlier and mop the floor
Savio's they always made a fuss over with the entire Dreadnaut team.
us kids during Christmas and Easter Better yet, I'd do it myself. And then
and even our birthdays, but it wasn' t I'd continue on to find the Devastator
like celebrating with a real family, if and put him in his grave 13 years
you know what I mean. before the Bicentennial Battle.
When the Fourth rolled around The seeds to that tragedy-to the
though, the entire country got together whole downfall of our nation-were
and congra tula ted ourselves and our sown on that fateful November
founders on being brave enough to morning. But there's really no such
stand on our own. thing as a second chance.

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My TRIAL
I've never really been much on
second chances myself. If you do things
right the first time, you don't need
them.
That's not to say that I always did
everything right. But I always did my
best.
I don't regret saving that girl from
the DP recruitment team. Sure, I knew
they'd be hot on her heels, and I knew
there was a good chance they' d be
ready for me. I did it anyway.
Why?
Because she needed a hand.
I mean, isn't that why you help
people?

THf (HARGfS
Still, that's not wha t I was on trial
for. Actually, helping the girl" flee
justice" was one of the charges, but
there was a laundry list of others, most
of them a lot more serious.
The worst charges were things like
"espionage," "dereliction of duty," and
so on. Technically, I was AWOL from
Delta Prime too, since I never had my
resignation approved.
Anyone of those charges would
have been enough to give me a lifetime
pass to the New Alcatraz cafeteria . That
wasn't enough for Walter Mulroney,
the federal prosecutor on my case. No,
he wanted me to go down for a capital
offense: murder.
Now, I've killed a lot of people in my
time, almost all in the service of my
country. I almost couldn't believe
which one Mulroney decided to charge
me with: the death of Paolo Gabriel.
To me, it's the final insult to my
country that the federal prosecutor
couldn't come up with a real crime to
hang me for.

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I had always been pretty careful Apparently the government wanted

about committing crimes in the past. to make an example of me. They
Part of the training I got at Delta Prime wanted me bad enough to actually
and with the CIA concentrated not only grant Vito immunity for previous
on what to do but how to get away crimes in return for his testimony.
with it clean. That was my job, and I You'd think a detail like that might
was good at it. have raised a few red flags for the
It's hard to cover up for a crime you judge or jury, but they didn't seem
didn't actually commit though, worried about any potential conflict of
especially when someone out there's interest.
doing his best to frame you for it. All
the evidence against me was
circumstantial, of course. The kicker
WE, THE JURY
was the eyewitness: Vito Gabriel. I was actually flattered that Judge
I never should have let that son of a "Iron" Mike Byron bothered to call in a
bitch live. jury for my trial. That's a nicety that
most judges don't mess around with
these days.
WITNESS fOR THE PROSE(UIION Rumor had it that word had come
You probably saw at least part of down from the highest levels of the
Vito's dramatic testimony against me. government that my trial was to have
It was on every channel, I'm told, and I every semblance of being fair and
believe it. impartial. Note that a "semblance"
I watch the news regularly myself, doesn't mean "really."
just so I can keep up on what Kennedy In fact, the jury was stacked with the
wants everyone to believe. When most conservative bunch of delta­
you're fighting a disinformation haters you could find. My attorney, the
campaign, it helps to know what you're legendary defense lawyer Connor
up against. My favorite bits were the Darrow, did his best to stack the jury in
times I was spotted in different cities my favor, but it didn't do much good.
across America, some of which I'd Apparently the government stacked
never been to in my life. the entire jury pool, which was
Anyhow, Vito stood up in that "selected" long before Darrow even
witness box, laid his hand on the Holy saw these people.
Bible, and swore to tell the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Then he proceeded to lie through his MY LAWYER
teeth. Darrow's really one of a kind. He
Vito was no stranger to a courtroom, actually took my case on free of charge
of course. Mulroney had personally because, in his words, "It was the right
brought him up on charges of thing to do."
racketeering and conspiracy a half You can't buy help like that.
dozen times over the years. Believe me, I tried. No other lawyer
That's what happens when you're in the entire city would touch my case
the head of the leading local crime with a habeus corpus. They all knew it
family. The law always wants to talk to was a losing proposition from the start,
you. and none of them wanted to be

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branded a "Defiant sympa thizer" for

taking the trouble to lend me a hand.
THf COURT
Judge Byron was about to appoint me a Connor's record isn't exactly as
public defender when Darrow stepped spotless as his grandfather's, but it's
forward. not from a lack of skill. Under
In my opinion, Darrow's a great Kennedy's version of martial law, the
man, cast in the mold of his burden of proof in a violent crime is
grandfather, the near-mythic Clarence not "beyond a reasonable doubt." It's
Darrow. He takes on cases because he more like, "If you might be guilty, the
believes in them, win or lose. country's probably better off with you
The elder Darrow had the reputation in jail."
of having never had a single client I mean, why take chances, right? It's
actually face the death penalty for his better to have an innocent person rot in
crimes. What's even more amazing jail than risk the lives of the rest of us.
about that is he went out of his way to After all, if the prosecutor believes
take capital cases simply because he enough in the case to bring charges,
was so against the death penalty. you're probably in a position to have
Connor's like that-he's got that committed the crime. Even if you're
same sense of being on a crusade­ "innocent" this time around, who's to
except he takes cases in which the say you haven't committed the crime in
defenders are deltas. I don't know if he the past? Or worse yet, might do so in
likes losing or he's just plain stubborn. the future?

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"Iron Mike" was pretty clear with his actually managed to summon up tears
instructions to the jury members. for his "poor, dead uncle."
Unless Darrow could prove my The at-home viewers were instantly
innocence entirely, I was to be convinced that the government was
convicted. simply putting down a mad dog,
Of course, all that happened off someone who was a danger to
camera. themselves and their children. I wasn't
the hero the Defiance had made me out
to be. In fact, I was a dozen times worse
THf IVlDfNCf than the original reports had led
The trial itself was fairly short, but everyone to believe.
the case the prosecution presented was If the prosecution had suddenly
pretty darn good. Vito was a sharp introduced a charge at that point,
man, and he'd planned this crime as a claiming that I ate babies, I think the
frame job from the start. Even in the public would have believed it.
pre-martial law days, I'd have been Like I said before, the Kennedy
facing an uphill battle. government rules through fear. Once
As it was, I was doomed. Mulroney was through with his case,
I mean, I was in the room when the person everyone was afraid of was
Paolo Gabriel died, and I'd busted a lot me.
of his guard's heads to get there. Better You can guess how things went from
yet, since Paolo had put out a call for there.
my death, I had a strong motive for
wanting him dead.
And, of course, Paolo had been THf DfHNSf
killed by a delta blast to the head. The Conner did his best, but it was
crime fit me to a T, and they wrapped hopeless from the start. Still, we had to
me up and found me guilty in it. try.
The best part was that Vito was an He called in Hector Comacho (my
unregistered delta. Sure, everyone in old CO in Delta Prime), Captain Suze
the family knew he had some kind of Connick (my CO in Delta Squadron),
mojo working for him, but he kept his and even Sister Cabrini. Each one of
cards pretty close to his chest, and none them testified to the strength of my
of his close associates were going to character and convictions.
turn him in. Those that had thought Sister Cabrini's words were
about it had ended up like his Uncle particularly moving, as she told the
Paolo: unable to give it another thought world about the orphaned child she'd
for the lack of brains still in their skull. helped raise. "I've always been proud
Still, either the bosses at Delta Prime of him," she said. "No matter what
didn't know anything about it-which anyone says about him, I know him,
I found hard to believe-or better yet, and he's a good man."
they did, and they didn't want to do The jury wasn't swayed.
anything about it. I'd bet my last dollar Conner even put me on the stand.
that Vito's immunity package included Conventional wisdom said doing
a wink and a nod from Delta Prime. something like that was suicide, but
Vito's eyewih1ess testimony was the when you're already pretty much dead,
final nail in my coffin. The bastard what have you got to lose?

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My nSTlMONY Patriot: I came to ask Mr. Gabriel to

leave me alone.
Darrow: For the record, please state Darrow: And did he agree to do
your name. that?
Patriot: My name is JOM Cruise. Patriot: No. In fact, he ordered one of
People call me Patriot. his men to kill me on the spot.
Darrow: Tell me, Mr. Cruise­ Darrow: And who was this man, this
Patriot. Where were you on the night in killer?
question, the night of the murder of Patriot: Vito Gabriel. He's sitting
Paolo Gabriel? right over there. .
Patriot: I was in his home. Darrow: But you're not dead, and
Darrow: And what were you doing neither is Vito Gabriel. What
there? happened?
Patriot: I was working for him at the Patriot: Vito shot his uncle instead.
time, and I'd decided to quit. He didn't Darrow: Why would he do that?
much care or that, so he'd put out a Patriot: My guess is he wanted him
contract on my life. dead.
Darrow: He wanted you dead? Patriot: Seriously, Vito wanted to
Patriot: Yes. take over is uncle's operations in
Darrow: It seems like you'd hardly Crescent City.
be welcome in his home then. What Darrow: Did he succeed at that?
were you doing there? Patriot: With his uncle out of the

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way he was able to take control of the matter how perverted its values have
city's most powerful criminal become over the years. I still believe we
organiza tion. can get to a place in which we see each
Darrow: But Paolo Gabriel was other as human beings, where we can
found dead from a delta blast. How do break down the walls that force the
you explain that? situation to become "us" versus
Patriot: Paolo's a delta, a blaster. It's " them."
a well-kept secret. There's no justice in this society
Darrow: Do you have any way to anymore, my friends. There's "just us."
prove that? That might seem fine to you when
Patriot: Any doctor could figure it you're part of the "us" in power, but
out. being on the other side of that fence
Darrow: I see. I have no further isn't all it's cracked up to be.
questions. When it really comes down to it, that
Patriot: Judge Byron? I'd like to say wall's just a sham that's been put up to
something in my own defense. make you think you need the people
Patriot: Ladies and gentlemen of the who raised the wall for you. They tell
jury. Let me first say how wonderful it you that, if the wall was to come down,
is to see a jury in this country after so you'd be overwhelmed, destroyed, and
much time. even killed .
You've heard enough lies here today. That's a lie.
I'll make this brief. There are all kinds of deltas in this
I've done a lot of things in my life­ world, just as there are all kinds of
even some things I'm not so proud of­ people. Having amazing powers
but I didn't kill Paolo Gabriel. doesn't make you any better or worse
Even if I'm innocent of that though, than your fellow human beings. 1£
there are plenty of other charges the anything, it only makes you all that
goverrunent could convict me on. I much more human to begin with.
haven't led the most exemplary life, as 1£ you're going to convict me just for
I'm sure you know. But before you go being a delta, than go ahead. I'm
into that room and deliberate-before certainly guilty of that.
you deliver your verdict-you need to Please remember one thing for me.
ask yourself one question. Just about everything I did in the
Why am I here? course of my life, I did for my country.
It's because I'm a delta. Not just for me or for other deltas, but
Because I'm a delta, the government for you and everyone else in this great
sees me as a threat to this great nation nation of ours.
of ours. And maybe you agree. After all, I'm nothing if not a patriot.
But the fact is I'm no monster. I'm Now that I've stepped out of line,
just as human as you-or your Uncle Sam wants to disown me in the
children. I come with all the flaws and worst way. You can stop that from
blessings of humanity, and at the heart happening. You can make a difference.
of myself, I'm no better or worse than All you've got to do is what your heart
anyone else. already knows is right: find me
Although perhaps I'm a bit more innocent-if you dare.
foolish than some. You see, I still Please, for your sake and mine, be
believe in this country of ours, no brave.

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from the shadows and stand on their

THf WHOLf POilU own once again. Unfortunately, any
Haven't you been paying attention? time someone steps forward to fill that
I might talk a good game, but that's kind of a role, she gets shot down­
not worth a whole lot when you're up sometimes literally.
against almost four decades of martial The way Darrow argued it in his
law. The people's need to be protected closing remarks, a verdict against me
by our government like a classroom of was a verdict against hope, against any
lost kindergartners has allowed those chance for a change for the better in
in power to strip us so cleanly of power this country. Not only that, but he
that it's almost impossible to even warned that my death would cause
think about taking it back. riots across the country when outraged
It's been that way so long, I don't deltas decided to take their anger out
even think we'd know what to do with on their fellow citizens.
that power if we had it again. Sure, deltas were hauled in by the
The general helplessness of our government all the time---and nobody
people has been so ingrained into our ever rioted then-but they rarely got a
society, that it's almost impossible to trial. And if they did, it sure wasn't the
fight. What we need now are leaders main source of news and entertainment
who can show the people how to have on television for months at a time.
courage, who can help them get to a According to Darrow, I'd become a
place where they feel like they can step hero to deltas everywhere.

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Better yet, m y trial had become a

metaphor for how American deltas
THE VERDICT
everywhere were being treated by their T~e jury deliberated for three days. I

govenunent. The government had was Impressed that it took that long­
wanted to make a quick example of me even encouraged. For a few happy
to show what happens to a Delta moments there, I even found myself
Primer who deserts his post. hoping for an acquittal-or at the very
Instead, they got the trial of the least a hung jury.
century. In the end though, it just meant more
Darrow did a good job turning the time for me to rot in jail.
whole point of the case around on the The verdict came back just like I
feds. It quickly went from being a expected it to.
murder case to a trial about how the Guilty as charged.
government treats and recruits deltas.
In fact, Darrow did his level best to put THE SENTEN(E
the Constitutionality of the entire DRA
During the sentencing hearing,
on trial.
Darrow hauled in just about everyone
And the best part was that once the
who might have a single good thing to
whole thing got started the government
say about me. I was amazed and truly
was too afraid of public backlash to
touched b y the number of people who
turn the cameras off. Either that, or
stepped forward to reveal how-at one
they ~ust kept hoping for Mulroney to
time or another in the past-I'd
turn It back around in the end.
actually done something that had
He never did.
changed their lives for the better. Some
Not that it mattered all that much, of
of them I'd even saved from certain
~ourse. As much effort as Darrow put
death.
mto the case, you just can' t turn around
I didn't even recognize most of them,
decades of indoctrina tion in the course
but they were grateful just the same.
of a few days.
Mulroney ignored the character issue
In the end, I think we did manage to
and stuck to the" facts " of the case
reach some people. Judge Byron, I
know, was sympathetic to my plight.
s~ch as they were. He showed hu~e
pIctures of Paolo Gabriel's bloody
He was old enough to remember what
corpse. He brought in Paolo's widow
~t was like to live free, among a people
and bereaved children. He even got
m control of their own destiny. Still,
Vito up on the stand to curse my name.
even if we changed his mind abou t us,
In the end, it took the jury another
we weren't going to change his actions.
three days to come up with the final
"Iron Mike" was hard-minded
decision of my life.
enough to remember tha t no rna tter
I'm sure you read about it in the
how many fancy verbal games Darrow
papers or saw it on TV. There's no
might play with Mulroney, the fact was
secret about what the result was.
that this case wasn't really about the
Death. What else is there for a man
Delta Registration Act or any kind of
in my position?
delta scare.
Now I've just got to wait for my turn
In reality, it all carne down to
to walk the last mile.
murder, and as I said before, that case
Delaney, baby, I'm on my way.
was pretty damn tight against me .

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AUGUST 4, 1999
POINTS Of VIEW
Some people would call me a traitor
Today is the day I die.
to my country. I was an exemplary
In my line of work, I think about soldier for a good, long time, and then
death a lot. Oh, I try not to let it bother
something suddenly went wrong.
me, but there's always this very real
From that point of view, I should
threat of dying hanging over me like
now make a deathbed conversion back
the sword of Damocles.
to Kennedy's doctrine. I should
There are lots of ways to die. I
apologize for leaving the fold of Delta
always thought I'd end up getting shot
Prime and working against my
to death in a gunfight or having my
government. I should truly regret what
head torn off by some delta outlaw or
I've done.
whatever.
Well, that's not going to happen.
I expected to die young.
Others-Defiants, probably-might
When I was young, death didn't
say that I was more like Saul on the
mean anything to me. Risking my life
road to Damascus. For a long time, I
was a thrill.
worked on the side of evil, until
Sometimes I think that's one of the
suddenly I was struck down and saw
reasons I didn't try to leave the
the light.
government earlier. I actually enjoyed
After tha t, I worked to make things
my work.
right, to atone for my past misdeeds.
Hey, I got to travel the world, meet
Unfortunately, I'm being cut down now
all sorts of people, and then oppress before I can complete my work.
them on behalf of the United States
You know, that's a point of view I
government. Plus I got paid. could really get behind. But it's not
Back then, death seemed like
entirely accura te either.
something far off, something for other
I'm tired. My work here is done. I've
people. Not for me.
struggled long and hard for the
Hell, I could bounce bullets off my
Defiance over these last 10 years.
skin. Death wasn't even on my dance
Sometimes I think I've made a dent in
card.
the injustice we all face every day.
Since then though, deatll's become
Other times, well, I'm not so sure.
an old friend.
Either way, my work is over. There's
I've seen lots of people die over the
not going to be any cavalry coming
years. Some were friends I mourned.
over the hill this time. There won't be
Others I killed myself.
any daring jailbreak. The warden's not
It's never easy.
going to come down here this evening
I like to think tha t everyone I ever
and find an empty cell.
hurt deserved it, but I know that's not
And that's okay. I had a good life. I
quite true. But most of them got what
muddled through it as best I could, and
was coming to them-at least from
all I can say is I hope I left things better
Uncle Sam's point of view.
than I found them-or at least better
Now it's my turn.
than they would have been if I'd not
And death's no friend of mine.
been around. But just because I'm
If you were to look back on my life,
about to shuffle off this mortal coil
you'd probably see it in one of two
doesn't mean my work's over.
ways.

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OUR WORK
Whoever might read this-whether
you're a Defiant or a Primer or even
just an average Jane or Joe--I've got a
challenge for you.
Look around you and think about
what this country's become. Watch
how people can be ripped from their
beds in the middle of the night. How
they can be tossed into jail without any
recourse. How we all live in terror.
There are good reasons to be afraid.
This is a dangerous word we live in,
after all. But the fact is that the worst
crimes are the ones we've committed to
ourselves.
We let the government take over our
lives. We were scared, and we gave
over our power to a small group of
people who wield it like a club.
We were afraid that things were
getting out of control, so we
surrendered control to a "higher
power," our federal government. Now
things truly are out of our control.
Let me say this again: We did this to
ourselves, and we did it willingly.
But it's not too late.
We can change things, turn it all
around, restore a government of the
people, by the people, and for the
people.
We just have to want it bad enough.
If you do, if you want liberty so bad
you can taste it, then step up and take
charge of your streets. Take charge of
your community. Take charge of your
life.
That's the secret that our President
doesn't want you to know. He's only in
power because we let him be.
And we can change that.
All you need to do is want it bad
enough to step forward and grab back
the control you surrendered.
It's yours for the taking.

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The truth can't be silenced!

RIQUlIM FOR PATRIOT

IFeatures II Memorial I IArchives I

i;Crew' IEvents I Links
Feahues II Memorial II Archive II few II Events II Links

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THE DEATH Of AHERO THE (OLD, HARD fACTS

Since this is supposed to be a news
For those of you who've been living
article, I should get the facts out of the
on another planet for the last few
way before we go much further.
months, here's the news of the year:
John Cruise-better known as the
Patriot is dead.
masked Defiant called Patriot-was
As my regular readers know, Patriot executed early this morning by a firing
was a good friend of mine, and I'm squad.
going to miss him more than I can Cruise was incarcerated in New
possibly express in a few, short w?rds. Alcatraz prison, in the heart of Chicago
He was a true friend, a true Amencan,
Bay, for the past six months. He was
and-yes-a true Defiant.
there on charges related to his work to
He's one man who lived up to his
undermine the Delta Registration Act,
codename.
most often by helping unregistered
Now, I know some of you are
deltas avoid capture by Delta Prime.
shaking your heads. "What?" you're
The most notable charge in the
asking yourself. "Is she on crack?
laundry list of offenses Cruise allegedly
Patriot was the most subversive
committed was the murder of noted
Defiant around!"
mob leader Paolo Gabriel nearly 10
That's certainly one way of looking
years ago. The conviction on this
a t it. After joining the Defiance about
charge is apparently how Cruise
10 years ago, Patriot threw himself into
merited his death sentence.
the organization in a way that few
Cruise was brought out into the
others had before or have since. That
prison's exercise yard for his midnight
fervent dedication to liberty and
execution. Apparently at the moment
freedom for Defiants and deltas and
that Patriot was brought into the yard,
regs everywhere was what drove him
a group of Defiants attempted a valiant
to such amazing lengths.
jailbreak aimed at freeing Cruise before
That's exactly what I'm talking
he could be killed.
about. Patriot was dedicated to the idea
Unfortunately, Delta Prime was more
of America as it was created by our
than ready for this last-ditch effort to
founders-not the beastly thing it's
free the prisoner. In an unusual move,
been mutated into today by Kennedy
they increased the power to the null­
and his jackbooted thugs.
field generator that surrounds the
He cared about all those inalienable
island, instantly nullifying the powers
rights that most of us just pay lip .
of everyone of the Defiants-even
service to. Not him though. To Patnot,
those that thought they were safely out
our rights as citizens were something
of the field's range. Primers flying
sacred, right up there with mom and
specially shielded Armorgeddon suits
apple pie. . made quick work of the suddenly
You could even say that Amenca
unpowered rescue team.
was his religion. Sure the flock may
More than one Defiant died on that
have strayed from its proper course,
island that night. Hard numbers are
but he was determined to do what he
impossible to come by, but I estimate
could to keep the rest of us on the
that up to three "rescuers" died, and
straight and narrow.
four more were captured.

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ATIMf fOR DYING Then, with the ease of decades of

practice, Cruise tied his mask over his
Then, of course, there was Patriot. face. The red, white, and blue
He stood straight and proud in his bandanna fluttered softly in the night
prison blues, unshackled and ready for breeze coming in off the bay as Patriot
his final reward. Never once on the stood tall against the surrounding
long walk from his cell to the yard did darkness .
he falter. Not once did a hint of fear The warden shook Patriot's hand
creep into his eyes. strongly, then gave him a quick, solemn
Cruise knew what was coming. He'd salute and backed away.
been preparing for this moment for
weeks. There were no surprises for
him, only the question about what THf SHOTS HfARD 'ROUND THf WORLD
might wait for him on the other side of The two rifleman sighted down the
this life. length of their weapons. Then, on a
In short, he was the epitome of signal from the warden, they fired as
bravery. one.
The two-man firing squad, each The first shots smashed into Patriot,
bearing a high-caliber rifle loaded with knocking him into the ground. Silence
armor-piercing bullets, waited for the reigned for a long moment.
signal from Warden James Leffort. The Then he got up.
warden, looking grim due to the duties It's no surprise that a man as tough
he was obliged to carry out, stood as Patriot wasn't going to go down
patiently by a nondescript black with a single bullet. Two guards came
telephone, hoping that someone on the from the back of the small group of
other end would pick it up and observers assembled to watch this, and
announce that Cruise would be they helped steady the wounded delta
reprieved. on his feet. After a moment, he
The call never came. shrugged them away and nodded for
Sensing tha t the time for mercy had the executioners to go on, almost as if
passed, Warden Leffort gave the two he was taunting them to do their worst.
riflemen a nod. They raised their rifles. The guards moved away, and the
The warden asked Cruise if he had shots rang ou t a second time, this time
any last words. He did, and he spoke knocking Patriot's battered body clear
them so well as to move the entire off his feet . He lay there bleeding for a
audience from pride to tears to shame. long moment. The prison doctor went
(The transcript of this speech is over to examine his body, hoping to
included at the end of this article.) finally be able to pronounce the man
Then, granted the condemned man's merCifully dead-but it was not to be.
final request, Warden Leffort himself Patriot struggled to his knees. He
stepped forward and handed Patriot stayed there for a long moment, but
his mask. The man who'd gone from when the riflemen drew a bead on him
hero to villain-or the other way again, he made a superhuman effort to
around, depending on your point of make it to his feet. "I'm not dying on
view-stopped and looked into the my knees," he stated flatly as he
eyes of his mask for a moment like he tottered precariously in the middle of
was trying to recognize an old friend. the yard, waiting for the next shots.

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They finally came.

This time, the bullets punched clear
THE AfTERMATH
through Patriot's body, blasting Then, of course, there were the riots.
outward from his back. He wobbled Actually, it's almost difficult to call
there gracelessly for a moment before them riots. The word "riot" implies a
finally collapsing in a heap that looked general breakdown of the social
curiously small for such a solid man. structure, one in which most if not all
The doctor tiptoed over to the corpse of the people in an area suddenly
and carefully examined it for a full decide to leave the law behind.
minute before finally declaring Patriot In this case, the only people rioting
dead. were the less-responsible Defiants.
The two guards who had helped Many Defiants took to the street in the
Patriot to his feet before now carried aftermath of Patriot's execution,
out a gurney and carefully placed the determined to exact some kind of
dead delta's body upon it. With little retribution from the government and
ceremony, they covered the entire thing the people who had put the best­
with a white sheet that rapidly stained known Defiant to death.
red, then rolled the whole thing out of It was days before the police finally
there. had everything well in hand. In Los
Somewhere in the audience, a press­ Angeles, the riots raged much longer,
hardened woman silently wept. with Delta Prime actually ordering the
I know because it was me. incineration of an entire city block.

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After all, it's the only sure way to

know that you've killed everyone in
THE fUNERAL
the area, right? It certainly manages to As a veteran of Delta Squadron and
get that down pat. Delta Prime, Patriot was theoretically
Most of the rioters got tired of entitled to a military funeral with full
hurting innocents and damaging honors. Instead, he was stripped of
property once the sun came up the next even those last of his rights and buried
day. In fact, lots of Defiants actually in a nondescript grave in a small
pitched in to stop their rioting brethren ceremony.
when the local police and Delta Prime The location of Cruise's tombstone
units proved less than effective. was supposed to be a tightly held
When the sun came up, lots of the secret, but eventually word of its
rioters went home, but there were a location leaked out. Over the past
few notable ones that just kept going week, the place has become a kind of
on and on and on. impromptu shrine. Dozens of people
Paula Wax ton-a Defiant who once have left flags of all sizes on and
ran under the tag of "Liberty" and was around his gravesite.
even Patriot's partner in the Defiance Other people leave more traditional
for a couple years in the mid-'90s­ things, like flowers. And many of the
actually went so far as to knock the top Defiants who have managed to sneak
off of the Crescent City Police past the low-grade security to pay their
Headquarters. Repairs continue today. respects have even left their masks.

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It was a quiet, Catholic ceremony, sacrifice for those I care most about. I'm
even though Cruise hadn't been a going to die for them.
practicing Catholic for years. It was "My only hope is that my death
presided over by Father Patrick won't be in vain, but that's not really
Cooney, an old friend of Cruise's from up to me. No, it's up to you.
his childhood at St. Savio's Orphanage "It's up to you to go back to your
in the lost city of Chicago. homes and talk to your families and
A few of Patriot's friends from his friends and tell them what I was all
days with Delta Prime actually got up about. Tell them that I lived my life the
to say a few words about him. The best I knew how, trying to put an end
most touching came from a hard­ to the fascist, martial-law chokehold
edged Hector Comacho, who called threatening to strangle every last
Cruise, "The toughest son of a bitch, I freedom out of this country.
ever had the pleasure of working "Tell them that when it would have
with-and against." been easiest to keep my head down
In generat Defiants stayed away and my mouth shut-when the
from the ceremony, as the cemetery smartest thing to do would have been
was crawling with all sorts of police to run and hide-I held my ground.
and Delta Primers. Later that night, Tell them that I stood up for what I
though, a small group of Cruise's most believed in, that I fought against
loyal friends got together for a injustice in all its forms, right up until
midnight meeting over the grave of the the bitter end.
man they-and the rest of the "And better yet, tell them that they
country-had just lost. can do the same.
We all wept bitter tears. " A grea t American once said, "1
regret that I have only one life to give
for my country." That's exactly how I
PATRIOT'S LAST WORDS feel. Because if 1had more lives, you
When asked if he had any last can bet they'd be lining up behind me
words, this is what Patriot said. to fight the good fight against President
"My fellow Americans, today I Kennedy and his fascist thugs!
finally fulfill a dream that I've had ever "Of course, that's not how it works,
since 1 was a boy. Today, I get to do so I'm depending on the rest of the
something both for my country and world to wake up and follow my lead.
what 1 believe in. It's time to stand up for our rights or
"I get to die for them. lose them forever.
"Some might fear death, but death's "And may God have mercy on those
been my friend for a long time. No, who stand against the side of justice."
that's not what I fear most. With that, Patriot stood ready to
"The thing that stops me in my receive his final punishment.
tracks is the thought that I could have According to the doctor who
done more to help my fellow citizens. examined Patriot's body after the final
That maybe 1 was too slow or simply shots, he had one last thing to say. As
didn't work hard enough to improve he lay there bleeding to death, he
the lives of others. managed to croak out this final
"Now, I can lay those fears to rest, thought:
for I am about to make the ultimate "Ever Defiant."

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The truth can't be silenced!

CRESCENT CITY

IIFeatures II Memorial I IArchives I

I
;Crew" IEvents I Links
Features II Memorial II Archiv II few II Events II Links
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I mean, how are you going to lie
LIfE IN THE BIG (ITY about something that big?
Crescent City is the newest kid on The fact is a staggering number of
the block-if the block you 're talking people shuffled off this mortal coil that
about is "world metropolitan centers." day, and a lot of real estate went along
Like the song says, "If you can make with them. That's a mindboggling
it there, you can make it anywhere." tragedy, the scope of which is almost
Sure, it used to refer to New York City, impossible for the human mind to
but the Big Apple's fallen on hard times comprehend.
these days, what with most of Go ahead and give it a try. I can't do
Manhattan declared a warzone. it.
Most people have heard about
Crescent City-if not, crawl out from
beneath that 40-ton rock you're living
ATRIUMPH OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT
under-but not everyone's been there. Of course, where most of us saw the
Hey, the city's only been around for most horrible crisis of all time, one man
just over 20 years, after all. What can saw opportunity. Ben Archer, the
you expect. president of Triumph, Inc., the largest
private employer of deltas in the world,
had a vision. Where there was dea th,
THE NIGHT lHE UGHTS WENT OUT he would bring life. Where there was
It all began on July 4, 1976. Most of destruction, he would rebuild. Where
the people in the city of Chicago were there was despair, he would create
busy celebrating the country's hope.
bicentennial in true Midwestern style: While most of the Chicago suburbs
the barbecue. were still digging themselves out of the
While most of the average shmoes water, Archer was busy buying up
were munching on bratwurst and huge tracts of the freshest lakefront
watching the fireworks fill the sky, just property in the world. Some called him
about every decent alpha on the planet a vulture for doing so, but the fact was
was engaged in a roaring battle against that he was paying good money for
the Devastator and his Dreadnauts in land that was all but gone. Most people
the heart of the city, right atop the then­ were more than happy to cash his
tallest building in the world: the checks-at least at the time.
mighty Sears Tower. A lot of those people are now kicking
It was just after dusk when that big themselves for not having held out just
flash of white light went off and ruined a little bit longer. Before too many days
everyone's day. had passed, it became apparent what
I'm not going to go into the gory Archer and Triumph were trying to do.
details about how many millions of At his own expense, Archer sent in
people were gone along with the city of dozens of teams of deltas to help clear
Chicago, a few of its suburbs, and a lot the rubble around the newly formed
of the bedrock that sat beneath them. Chicago Bay. No matter what you
You can get that kind of information might think of his motives, Archer 's
just about anywhere. Most of it's even actions saved lives . When it was all
fairly accurate, despite the government over, Triumph's deltas pulled more
censors. than 500 people from the wreckage.

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On the one-month armiversary of the Archer 's architects labored day and
disaster, Archer held a press conference night for the entire year that his delta
and made his now-historic teams cleared the rubble from the city.
armouncement. He would be founding When they were done, they submitted
a city in the ruins around the Chicago their plan to the Illinois legislature for
crater. For the shape it makes on a map approval. With President Kermedy's
as it hugs the edge of Chicago Bay, it tacit backing, the scheme was
was to be called Crescent City. overwhelmingly approved.

THE (ARLY DAYS

THI LAYOUT
Crescent City is flat-out huge. It
When Crescent City first began, it
extends all the way around Chicago
wasn't more than mile after mile of
Bay, which is basically a monstrous,
waterlogged coastline. Even the waters
circular hole with a diameter of about
of Chicago Bay were filled with filth
50 miles . This stretches from what was
and trash dragged in during the
once the northern suburbs of Chicago,
disaster.
right to the edges of Gary, Indiana
It was one huge mess.
(which was spared from the
Under contract from the federal
destruction).
government's disaster relief program,
The city streets are actually laid out
Triumph, Inc., set to work. It was the
in ever-expanding crescents that follow
largest and most focused delta effort
the edge of Chicago Bay. The first street
ever, surpassing even the failed attempt
is called Bayshore Drive, and it runs
to foil the Devastator's plans. After all,
along a huge cement levy that prevents
there are a lot more pure deltas than
erosion from hauling Crescent City into
there ever were alphas out there.
the bay. The streets that run concentric
The deltas had the place looking
to Bayshore Drive are called First
much better in short order. Well, it
Crescent, Second Crescent, Third
actually took the better part of a year,
Crescent, and so on. These run all the
but by the time summer rolled around
way out to Ninth Crescent before they
in 1977, the place was ready for some
give way to the older grid-style roads
new construction.
tha t used to pass through the Chicago
And so the cranes rolled in.
suburbs.
Cross-streets run through the
THI MAN WITH THI PLAN crescent streets, cormecting them like
When Archer envisioned Crescent spokes in a wagon wheel. The first of
City, he wasn't thinking about just any these is Center Street. This runs directly
city. He had a plan. east-west from the bay, and the corner
Most older cities simply grew up of Center and Bayshore is the ritziest
from whatever they happened to start address in town. The cross-streets
out as. The streets were often laid rurming clockwise from here are called
down haphazardly, seemingly with no North 1s l Street, North 2 nd , and so on.
rhyme nor reason. (Here's a quick tip for you out-of­
That wasn't going to happen in towners: Crescent names are spelled
Crescent City. out, while street names are ordinal
numbers.)

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The ones tha t run coun terclockwise

are called South l>t, South 2nd , and so
on.
This is all easy to understand when
you're looking at it on a map, but when
you're wandering around downtown
on foot, it's a whole different story.
What it boils down to is that there are
two kinds of streets in town. The
crescents are all curved, so if you look
down them, they eventually disappear
around corners. However, they follow a
wide curve, so you don't really notice
this when you walk along a block, only
when you look down a crescent. The
"streets," though, are straight as an
arrow, right up until they run into the
suburbs that used to sprawl around
Chicago.

THE LAND
Originally Crescent City only
covered the land inside the crescents
themselves. This extends out about two
miles from Chicago Bay, roughly the
amount of land that was devastated
when Lake Michigan rolled into the
hole where the city of Chicago had
been. Over the years, though, some of
the older suburbs have been annexed,
and the city has grown beyond its
original, not-so-humble space.
The land is hard and rocky, perfect
for building skyscrapers on, just like
the ones Chicago had been so famous
for. People nostalgic for the old city
claim that the Crescent City skyline
doesn't hold a candle to that of the city
it replaced. If you ask someone a bit
more unbiased though, you almost
always hear that Crescent City has one
of the most amazing skylines on earth.
This is only marred by the dozens of
cranes that always seem to be either
building a new place or rebuilding one
that's been knocked down.

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TH£ (ITY TODAY

THf (ITY'S fHL
The city has been described as
Crescent City (or the Big Croissant as
looking like "new nostalgia." Archer
it's called by the French--mostly
and the rest of the city plarmers wanted
because the city's flaky) is a city with
a place that people would feel at home
many facets. In one sense, it represents
in right away, so they took pains to
the greatest horror that deltas can have
reconstruct some of Chicago's
upon the world, since every time you
landmarks (Superior Park is basically
look at the bay, you can't help but
Grant Park). However, they also
remember the battle in which so many
wanted it to look like it was on the
millions of lives were lost.
cutting edge of tomorrow, so we've got
On the other hand, it's a town of
buildings like the Delta Academy and
hope. At least that's what the Crescent
the Triumph Tower.
City Council (also known as C3 or "C
There are lots of art deco elements,
cubed" --sometimes councilors are
but they surround buildings
called"cubes") would like the world to
constructed from glass and steel. The
think. Crescent City has adopted a
builders used the opportunity to go
delta-friendly policy despite the fact
wild with the architecture, though, so
that it's built around what's basically a
just about every building within
watery gravesite for millions killed in
downtown Crescent City has its own
the worlds most notorious delta
kind of identity.
incident.

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No block after block of the same THf PROMHHfAN (ITY
kind of places here . Instead, the
architecture echoes influences from The fact is that even though the city
many different peoples and eras. In went up in record time-mostly due to
that it's quintessentially American, an registered delta labor from Triumph,
eclectic blend of the best parts of the Inc., and other, smaller companies-the
past mixed with some of the most construction industry here is still
exciting visions of the future . booming. After all, they've always go
This is an important part of the city's to come in and clean up after the
identity. It's always reinventing itself massive delta battles that rock the place
for .the future, while keeping an eye on on a fairly regular basis.
the past. That's where the city gets another of
Much of the city is underlit by huge its many nicknames: Prometheus.
spotlights which playoff the sides of That's after the ancient god who
the buildings. This gives the city a brought fire to the people, but paid for
sense of drama that other cities just it by being tied to a rock where a bird
don't have. There are some in the could eat his liver. Worse yet, it regrew
Defiance who claim that the lights are every night, so the bird could come
there just so the feds can keep an eye back and have its ravenous way with
on the city at night, but even those Prometheus again the next morning.
cynics can't deny the magic of the city Living in Crescent City is kind of like
at night. being Prometheus. It seems like every
The tops of many buildings have week or so someone's knocking
moving spotlights too, so you can't something down, whether during a
ever see the stars from the streets of delta battle or in the aftermath. Still, we
Crescent City. Only the top floors of the keep rebuilding the place. Sometimes it
Triumph Tower and have that kind of seems pointless, since we know the
unobstructed view, and then only when places are going to get damaged again,
Archer orders the lights shut off, which but we're just stubborn that way.
he only does when the mood strikes Spotted throughout the best parts of
him. the city, there are buildings covered
The skyline of Crescent City is with scaffolding, their tops shorn off.
staggeringly impressive, although it's Streets are often blocked off until
best seen from a boat on the bay or rubble and bodies can be cleared.
from the heights of the 1-90/ 94 There's even one tall building-the
overpass that was built over the New Hancock Building-that's still
surrounding suburbs to bring traffic standing, even though a hole's been
into the heart of the city. blown clean through the center of it.
If you get a chance, be sure to take The construction crews came in and
one of the Chicago Bay tours at night. shored up the weakened parts and then
It's a breathtaking experience, and actually built around the hole, leaving
rumors that these boats have been the path through the heart of the
attacked by some sort of watery beasts building intact. And all around town,
seem to be unsubstantiated. The people there are holes in the ground where
I've interviewed sure thought that's buildings have been knocked clear
what was happening, but no one ever down to their foundation so they can
actually saw anything. be built back up again.

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Inevitably, they fall back into their old

THE ALPHA THREAT patterns of behavior-most of them
The fact is that most deltas don't were in jail for a reason after all-and
have the kind of power necessary to it's up to Delta Prime or even the
actually knock over an entire building, Defiance to bring them down.
but they can sure knock holes in them. Rumor has it that the Primers have
Punch enough holes in any structure, even inducted some alpha prisoners
and it's going to come crashing down into its ranks on some kind of a work­
around your ears. release program. If so, the government
Worse yet are the occasional alphas sure is being quiet about it. Maybe they
that manage to break out of New realize that even a public as oppressed
A1catraz. You'd think these losers as ours is going to protest having
would spend their time putting as violent criminals released onto the
much distance between themselves and streets to "protect" us.
their prison as possible. Instead, lots of The more suspicious members of the
them set up shop right here in town. Defiance even suspect that the feds
Now, these alphas often have just the sometimes release these alphas from
kind of power you'd need to knock time to time, just to inspire fear in the
down a skyscraper or at least level a populace. As Kennedy'S proven over
brownstone, and they're not afraid to and over again, a frightened
use it. By definition, any alphas who popUlation is a controllable population.
didn't disappear during the
Bicentennial Battle or directly
afterward were in delta-proof jails.
You see, these places have a power­
THE GOVERNMENT

dampening field that surrounds them. Crescent City works under the
This keeps the delta prisoners in and traditional system that Chicago once
keeps any other deltas from mounting had. The city's split up into a number
successful jailbreaks. Sure, it doesn't of wards, each of which has a
keep people from trying, but it's a rare representative known as an
day when someone manages to leave alderperson to the city council. There's
the Fortress or New A1catraz without a also a mayor to execute the council's
warden's permission. desires.
The theory is that this field is what In a way, it's a microcosm of the
kept the jailed alphas from going federal government. The council acts
missing during the Vanishing. I mean, like Congress, and the mayor's like the
think about it. While they're under the President.
dampening field, these people have no However, because the country's been
more powers than the average reg. under martial law since long before the
Whatever called away all the deltas founding of Crescent City, neither the
must not have spotted the ones who mayor nor any of the alderpersons
had their lights hidden under a have actually ever been elected to the
federally sponsored, concertina wire­ pOSitions they hold. In fact, Mayor Alan
lined bushel. Jefferson was appointed by the
Every now and then, an alpha governor of Illinois, and Jefferson in
manages to get out, whether by turn appointed each of the
jailbreak or actually on parole. alderpersons in the city.

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This means that everyone in Jefferson doesn't really care, and

Crescent City's goverrunent, from the neither apparently do most of the
top on down, indirectly-or even citizens. Even if the city's full of
directly sometimes-owes his or her corruption, it runs pretty damn
position to JFK. smoothly. All you've got to know is
who's hands to grease, and it's easy to
get just about anything done.
THf MAYOR As far as public safety goes, there's
You may have heard about how, not an easier big city in which to reside
back in the old days, Mayor Daley used in America . From all accounts, Mayor
to run Chicago like one vast, incredibly Jefferson's in cahoots with Don Vito
corrupt but equally efficient political Gabriel, the head of the Crescent City
machine. mob. Anytime the criminal element in
Daley had nothing on Jefferson. "Old the city gets out of control, Jefferson
Jeff," as the papers sometimes call him, cracks his whip, and Gabriel makes
has the city in an iron grip. With the sure his people fall in line.
full backing of President Kennedy and If the problem comes from outside
Ben Archer, there's little that can stand the Gabriel family, there are lots of
in the mayor's way. He appoints different ways to take care of it. Maybe
people he trusts into positions of power the Crescent City police department
throughout the city, which-of suddenly decides to launch a "war on
course-they abuse. crime" against the interlopers at the

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mayor's request. Or perhaps there's a THE CITY COUNCIL

mob war. As long as it's confined to the
criminal element-and sometimes even The city council is made up of a
if it's not-the police often let such bunch of the mayor's toadies. Every
things run their course. After alt if it's now and then, one of them gets it into
only a bunch of gangbangers killing his head that he's got some real power
each other, few people are going to due to his position, and he challenges
complain. the mayor on one issue or another.
If things really get out of controt the These people never make it in their
mayor can always call in Delta Prime. office long.
Apparently the trade-off for having the Unfortunately, the mayor never asks
largest delta prison in American right problem councilors to resign. He just
off the coast of your city is that you also makes life uncomfortable enough to
get the Delta Prime headquarters make them want to leave the position
downtown. (It was moved here back in far behind.
1980/ right at the same time that There are currently 50 different
construction on the New Alcatraz wards in Crescent City. These are
federat delta-ready prison began. No theoretically evenly divided among the
coincidence tha t.) city's nearly two million citizens.
You can ask the people who got (There are over seven million people in
killed in the last crossfire whether or the metropolitan area .) However/ that's
not they think it's a good deal. not always the case.

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The city council spends most of its You'd think that kind of incident
time dealing with the smaller issues of might turn a person against
the city government, leaving the larger unregistered deltas like the Defiants,
decisions to the mayor himself. It's but not Marita. She seemed to
almost like being a member of Britain's recognize the problem for what it was,
House of Lords. You've got the title, and she's since become a staunch
but really there's little to show for it supporter of civil rights, something we
other than a good table at the best don't have many of in the Crescent City
restaurants. government.
Most councilors can't do a whole lot For her troubles, Suarez has
to improve the situations that people in withstood aU-but-overt threats on her
the city find themselves in. Sure, they life from other members of the council
can get a health inspector to look the and the Crescent City police. There
other way, and they can get a pothole have, in fact, been over a dozen
filled, but compared to the power the attempts on her life, but she's managed
mayor wields, these are petty things. to survive them all.
However, they can certainly make life Many less-brave individuals might
miserable for those that cross them, and have stepped down from Suarez's
for this reason alone, most people treat position long ago, but not her. She's
the councilors with respect. determined to have her way or die
trying.
COUNCILORS AT LARGf
The two best-known councilors are THf POI.ICf
"Big" Bill Macy and M arita Suarez. As The police in rescent City are pretty
ward bosses go, Macy's one of the much like you'd expect them to be-if
biggest, and I'm not just talking about you know real cops and not what you
the fact he wears the longest belts I've see ev ry Tuesday night on CCPD Blue.
ever seen. There's been talk tha t Macy Some of them are good-hearted men
might actually make a play for the and women who are there to do their
mayor's position at some point. People job: to serve and protect the people of
have even seen Macy dining at the Crescent City.
governor's mansion in Springfield, but Others are jackbooted goons ready to
nothing's come of it yet. beat the city into submission. These
Still, you can be sure there'll be no people take what they want and smack
good from that unholy coalition. down anyone brave enough to protest.
Suarez, on the other hand, is a There are far too many of these kinds of
woman of the people. It amazes me officers on the force today, but I
sometimes that she's still in office, but suppose that has to do with the police
as I mentioned before, the mayor commissioner: Stuart Fleming.
refuses to summarily remove people Fleming's from the old school of
from office. police work. By that, I mean the really
Suarez kind of inherited her position old school of the '20s and '30s, when a
from her husband. He was killed by a person's rights didn't mean a thing if
stray shot in a delta battle in Superior they got in the way of a cop on the job.
Park during the Taste of Crescent City That kind of thing thinned out a bit in
festival a few summers back. the '50s, but with martial law declared

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in 1964, it was suddenly in vogue With Crescent City, there was some
again. Under Kennedy's rule, it's been hope that it would be more of a melting
that way ever since. pot than any other city in America, but
Fleming's as crooked as a switchback it just didn't work out that way.
street. He takes payoffs from the mob, Instead, we've got some of the most
from Triumph, Inc., and even from the vibrant ethnic neighborhoods of any
feds. In short, if you want the police to city in the world.
look the other way in Crescent City, all We've got Greektown, Chinatown,
you've got to do is make a donation to the Indian district, the Italian section,
the Police Officers' Widows and the Hispanic barrio, an African­
Orphans Fund-in the name of American area, and so on. Plus all the
Commissioner Fleming, of course-and white folks that somehow always seem
you're all set. to end up in the nicer parts of town.
There are some good cops on the Actually, it's not as bad as that made
force. I know some of them personally. it sound. The fact is that Crescent City,
However, they're few and far between. like many American cities, is divided
Whether that's because they're all into neighborhoods just as often by
afraid to take a stand against their money as by race. And there's one hell
commissioner or they're all just evil, of a gulf between the haves and have­
power-mad bastards, it's impossible to nots.
tell. Either way, things here aren't all that
In my younger days, I'd have been bad in any neighborhood-at least
more willing to give someone the structurally speaking. The fact is that
benefit of the doubt. These days, I there are no old buildings in Crescent
always just assume the worst. I save City. Every structure in the entire city is
myself a lot of time that way. less than 25 years old.
Of course, that doesn't mean that
some of them aren't rundown. The
THE PEOPLE streets gangs quickly worked their way
As I mentioned before, there are 50 into the low-income housing
different wards in Crescent City. Many neighborhoods (better known as "the
of these wards are drawn along the Lost Projects"), and certain parts of the
lines of the neighborhoods that were city resemble warzones in third-world
planned out in Crescent City, but some countries more than neighborhoods in
actually cross the standard lines like a the newest metropolis on the planet.
drunken snake.
When the city was founded just over
20 years ago, Ben Archer had a strong THE NfiGHBORHOODS
vision for what he wanted "his" city to The area in the dead center of town,
look like. From all accounts, present­ right near the intersection of Center
day Crescent City doesn't look much Street and Bayshore Drive, is by far the
like the original plan. nicest in the entire region. Here, people
Sure, you can lay down all sorts of live like royalty in luxury high-rise
zoning laws and the like, but the fact is condos and world-class apartments.
that people tend to like to live near The shops and restaurants here are on a
their families and other people they par with the finest places in the world,
know. and the rents are on that same level.

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The Near Southside of the city is the out a good living and keep their heads
home of the Lost Projects. This is where down. Lots of them are just happy they
the people who work the grunt jobs don't live any closer to the heart of the
Downtown live. Many of them are too city where most of the delta conflicts
poor to afford cars, and they rely on always seem to take place. The Lower
public transportation-both buses and Southside continues all the way down
the El-to get to and from work. to Indiana these days, almost merging
You can always tell which directions with East Chicago and Gary.
the buses and the trains roll from Honestly, I don't understand how
Downtown. The ones that stick to the people live in this part of the world.
north are pristine clean. Those that The foul air always makes me gag.
move through Near Southside are The Near Northside is known to
covered with graffiti. Some of the tags most people as Triumphville. This
are pretty darrm good work, but most region of town is filled with young
are simply the work of vandals who people and young families. The upper
barely know one end of a spraycan middle class mix with students here.
from the other. The older people often work for
Lower Southside is a blue-collar Triumph, Inc., in one capacity or
area, filled with factory districts another, and the college kids take
interspersed with modest housing classes at either the University of
tracts for the people who work at the Crescent City (UCC) or the University
plants. Most of the people here squeak of Illinois-Crescent City (UICC).

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DCC's by far the bigger schooe just

recently joining the Big Ten athletic
conference. DICC's considered the
preppy older brother of VCc, even
though the hvo schools were founded
a t the same time.
The Far Northside is the high-tech
portion of the city. This area is filled
with all sorts of massive office
buildings that would be dwarfed by
the skyscrapers downtown. It's also
where some of the wealthier families in
Crescent City live. If you've got lots of
money and you feel like actually
having a driveway instead of an
underground parking structure, this is
where you want to be.
Some of the houses along Bayshore
Drive in the Far Nor thside are truly
magnificent mansions. Real estate
prices here are at an all time high, with
many of the estates being snatched up
in multimillion dollar deals.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTAI'ION
One thing Archer got right when he
set to making the world's most modern
metropolis was the public
transportation. American cities,
particularly those in the wide-open
Midwest, traditionally have lousy
means of public transport. Not so in
Moontown. (The moon's a crescent,
see? Bah! I never liked it much either,
but for some reason it stuck.)
Crescent City is serviced by an
extensive subway system that's still
called the UEI" -short for eleva ted
train-in remembrance of the old
Chicago train system. This is so despite
the fact that most of the trains' tracks
run underground. There are some
lengths of the system that do rise to the
third or fourth story of nearby
buildings, though, and these are what
remind people of the old system.

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In fact, this is where Kennedy made

MAJOR BUILDINGS
his famous speech for the official
I don't have enough space here to "grand opening" of Crescent City. Of
give you a rundown on the entire city, course, this was in 1980, years after
but I'm going to at least touch on the people had started living here again,
highlights. but no one seemed to care much.
There are tall bulletproof-glass
shields between the stage and the
CITY HALL crowd. They were installed for
This large place is built like a huge, Kennedy's speech and never taken out.
glassy cube, giving rise to even more Ever since that incident in Miami
cube references about the people who when that crackpot in the crowd took a
work there. More than once, the shot at Madonna, performers have
mayor's been accused of not being able been extremely security conscious. For
to "think outside of the box." that reason, the Crescent
Despite its basic, utilitarian style, it's Amphitheater's always at the top of
got some art deco trimmings, like the any tour date list.
large, red, neon sign that reads The bulletproof shields front a trench
"Crescent City Hall" in Cotton Club­ that's always filled with either security
style letters. The cube stands alone in guards or cops in riot gear. In Crescent
the center of a large city block in the City, you don't rush the stage unless
heart of Downtown, surrounded by you're hopped up on something.
trees and an open park. Which of course means it happens at
The edges of the block are lined by least once at just about every popular­
huge cement planters full of shrubs and music concert.
flowers. There's enough room to walk
between these, but not enough for a car
full of explosives to get through, which
THE DELTA ACADEMY
I'm pretty sure is the point. This one's a doozy. This is where
registered deltas from across the
country come to train. The school logo
THE CRESCENT AMPHITHEAUR is a sharply cut diamond, which
This is a large, open-air concert supposedly represents the pressure the
setting in the center of Superior Park. students go through in the course of
(See page 70 for more on that.) It's their studies. When they're done,
shaped like a classic, old bandshell, they're harder than diamonds, it's said.
except the seats are all top-of-thc-line, The shape of the building actually
plastic-covered folding stadium seats, follows the logo's design. The bottom
complete with cup holders for jumbo­ 50 floors stand like an inverted
sized drinks. pyramid stuffed tip-first into the
The area above the stage is roofed, ground, and the 70 floors above that
although the rest of the region is open are basically the same pyramid slapped
to the air, even in the expensive seats. atop the other. Theoretically this means
(There are cheap seats on the lawn out there are at least 20 floors extending
back.) There are massive TV screens to into the bedrock beneath the city too,
either side of the stage, perfect for but rumor has it that there are actually
concerts or making speeches. far more.

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The Academy actually has its own Folks in these parts don' t care for
underground EI stop that lets off on the those wussy domes! Even when
third floor down. The regular trains temperatures plunge below freezing
stop here, but only a few people ever and there's snow on the field, you can
get on or off. The security around this always count on some fan to be out
place is tighter than a drum. there with his shirt off. Football's
To fit within a city block overlooking meant to be played outside after all.
Bayshore Drive, the Academy Building And compared to the weather the
had to start out relatively small at the Packers get up in Lambeau Field, the
bottom. At its widest point (floor 50), winters at Memorial Field are like a
it's as big as the entire block. week in the Bahamas.
Underneath that, there's a lot of open The entire place is a living memorial
space, and this is all paved ovel~ with a to the people who died in the
lot of cement planters and red brick Bicentennial Battle. In the center of the
paths cutting through the bare cement west side of the stadium (which runs
parts. lengthwise north-south), there stands a
There are also lots of places for statue of Superior leading some of the
people to sit around the planters and world's most notable heroes into their
eat lunch or have clandestine meetings. final battle. At dusk, when the orangish
If you're looking for such a place haze of the sunset settles over the
yourself, you could do worse. It's westward-looking figures, it's a truly
pretty gutsy to hang around outside inspiring piece of art.
the Academy if you're an unregistered And I'm a card-carrying Defiant.
delta, but you wouldn't be the first one (And please, for God's sake, don't e­
to do it. mail me about getting yourself a
Security here is tight but mostly membership card. That was a joke.)
transparent. Small cameras are all over
the place, but they're hard to spot
unless you know they're there. The POLICE DEPARTMENT
edges of the top part of the Pyramid, as This building was actually modeled
the place is sometimes called, are lit after the police department in Beverly
with a single line of neon lights, Hills, only it's a lot bigger, taller, and
making the place really stand out in the more menacing. Nothing in California
Crescent City skyline at night. It looks can hold a candle to downtown
like an outline of a pyramid floating in Crescent City, it seems-at least
midair. Of course, the sides of the architecturally speaking.
pyramid are then triangles, each Like just about every major building
forming the letter delta. in town, the place is liberally lit with
spotlights at night. This not only
dramatically casts the place against the
MEMORIAL flUO dark of night, it also makes it easier to
This is the football arena for the spot potential intruders.
Crescent City football team, the Few people are crazy enough to try
Crushers. It looks like the old Soldier to actually try to break into the CCPD's
Field, where the Bears used to play, and headquarters, but it's been known to
It's open to the air and has real, natural happen. The building's also the site of
grass. the city jail after all.

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The Crescent City jail isn't certified

as a safe holding facility for deltas, but
PRIMf HfADQUARTfRS
it sees some use for that in a pinch. This is the main field office of Delta
Nullification fields are apparentl y Prime in the entire Midwest. In fact, it's
really difficult to pull off-there being the largest DP facility outside of the
only a few in the entire world that I main office in Alexandria.
know of-and the CCPD just doesn't With the Delta Academy and New
rate. Alcatraz in town-not to mention a
Most delta prisoners are held here vibrant Defiant community, thank you
only shortly before being run out to very much-Crescent City's a hotbed
New Alcatraz in a police helicopter. A of delta activity. The Primers recognize
few-those with more manageable this, and so they coordinate most of
powers-are detained here on a more their domestic activities out of this
permanent basis. centrally located office.
Commissioner Fleming's office is in Delta Prime's chief officer in the area
the top of the building's central tower. is a woman known as Charlene
He tells people it's so he can look down "Charlie" Parker. She's one tough, old
on the city like a concerned parent. bird, and she commands the respect of
More like a hungry vulture, I say. the people under her with her hard­
Chief Newcomb maintains his office nosed attitude and her iron will.
a bit closer to his officers-and the Back in the early days of Delta
ground . Squadron, Parker was known as the

(RESCENT (IlY POLICE DEPARTMENT

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Hamel

Canary. She actually fought alongside SUPERIOR SQUARE

the Yankee and Superior and the rest as
a teenager in World War II. This is the Times Square of Crescent
As a pure (non-alpha) delta, Parker City, and it's right at the heart of it all:
worked her way up the ranks of Delta Center Street and Bayshore Drive. It's
Squadron and later Delta Prime. But an open area of about two city blocks
she hit a glass ceiling due to the fact her (one north and one south of Center
powers never progressed. At least that Street), and it's surrounded by huge
was true up until the Vanishing. Soon buildings, lOO-foot-tall TV screens, and
after most of the alphas went missing, massive billboards, neon lights, and
Parker starting savagely climbing the stock and news tickers.
DP ladder, eventually landing herself a Just off of Superior Square is the
job as the head of the Crescent City Theater District, home to a half-dozen
office. of the best theaters in the country. With
The DP building is a modern manTel. the downfall of Manhattan, most
It's a single pyramid that stabs upward production companies have packed up
into the night like a glittering blade. Its their bags and moved out here. Sure,
walls are so steep that they almost look Crescent City may not be the safest city
like they're straight, but they gradually in the world, but it' s a far cry from the
narrow until they meet almost on a dangers that run rampant through the
restricted-access, open-air observation heart of the Big Apple.
deck and helipad on the lOOth floor. Superior Square is one of the most
commonly named places when people
are asked where they want to be on the
SUPERIOR PARK last evening of 1999. Whether you
This massive strip of greenery sits in consider that New Year 's Eve or the
the center of the city's museum district, next to be the last one of the
just to the north of Center Street. It millennium, you can be sure it's going
takes up several blocks along Bayshore to be one hell of a party.
Drive, and it stands directly across Personally, I'm staying home that
from the Bayshore Marina, the place at night. I don't really believe in all this
which Crescent City's rich and famous Y2K crap, but there's more than one
dock their yachts. nutjob delta out there, and that's a
On a hot summer day in Crescent perfect night for one of those
City, the place is absolutely packed. apocalypse-cult types to make sure the
This is where the city holds its Taste of world-ending prophecies he's bought
Crescent City food and music into actually come to pass.
celebration over the Fourth of July Right in the heart of Superior Square
weekend every year. It's also the home stands a massive statue of Superior
of the Crescent Amphitheater (see page himself. It's guarded day and night, but
67 for all the details), the center of the that doesn't stop people from messing
yearly Crescent City Blues Festival. with it. Some Defiant actually made off
The park's even got a replica of the with the thing's head last year, and the
original Buckingham Foun tain in the Primers still haven't been able to track
center of it, recreated in loving detail. it down. In the meantime, the mayor
It's a favorite meeting place in the park, commissioned another head, but
because everyone knows where it is . honestly, it's not quite the same.

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THE TRIUMPH TOWER

This is the home of the largest
employer of delta labor in the entire
city, and it's a fortress. The place is
absolutely huge, taking up at least six
city blocks. The streets that would run
through the block still do, just through
reinforced concrete tunnels tha t
actually pierce the building at street
level.
This is the latest "tallest building in
the world," standing 150 stories tall,
and it's the centerpiece of the city. It's
an art deco masterpiece, lit all over
with glowing spotlights. At different
times of the year, Archer has the
building's maintenance crew put
different-colored filters over the lights,
giving it a festive feel appropriate for
each holiday. Christmas and the Fourth
wouldn't be the same in Crescent City
without the Triumph Tower looking
down on us all.
The building starts out covering all
six blocks, but most of the building
ends around floor 100 or so. Then five
towers stab out of the rest of the place,
one at each corner, and one at the
center of the side faCing the bay.
Between the towers are battlements of
offices that are 10 stories each, lining
the edges of the building. The towers
each reach 40 stories into the air, with
the central tower going all 70 stories
up.
Ben Archer's office is at the top of
that tower, 150 floors above the ground.
Some people say the rarified air up
there makes people lightheaded, which
is why Archer likes to conduct his
business there.
The place is kind of like the city
itself. It would have been almost
impossible to build without delta labor,
but no one ever seems to mention that.
Especially not JFK.

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WWW.DELTATIMES.COM

The truth can't be silenced!

LlVIMG 1M AMERICA

IFeatures II Memorial IIArchives I

.:~Crew" IEventsl,c
- - I~
Links
-~

Features II MeIl10riaL II Archive II Crew II Events II Links

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As they say in business school,

UNITED STATES Of ANARCHY caveat emptor, or "buyer beware." That
With the Kennedy propaganda means that, as a consumer, it's up to
machine being what it is, most people you to take care of yourself. You've got
don't know a whole lot about what's to evaluate the truth in anything
going on in this great big world of ours. anyone ever tells you. Few people out
After all, it' s in the feds ' interest to there have the power I have to know if
make sure that you don't know any people are telling me the truth, and
more about the actual situation than even I get fooled from time to time .
they w ant you to. And, no, I'm not going to tell you
We're here to put a dent in-if not an how.
actual end to-all of tha t. There's a lot Caveat emptor means you should
more going on in the world than I can take anything anyone tells you with a
cram into this little overview, but I'll grain of salt. That includes what you
try to touch on as many high points as I read here. I do the best I can to verify
can. every bit of information I publish, but
If you 're interested in a particular sometimes that's not always possible.
place, go ahead and search the website Of course, if you're talking about
for other articles. Maybe you'll find something you get from an "official"
something on what you' re looking for. news source, than you're going to need
If you can' t find out about what you more like a whole shaker of salt.
want to know, go ahead and e-mail me
about it. If I get enough requests about TIMELINESS
an area or situation-or if the request
just tickles my fancy-I'll make a real The other big problem with a guide
effort to learn m ore abou t it, and I'll like this is that it can only ever be a
report in here with anything I can find snapshot of a raging river. The world
out. changes on a daily basis, sometimes in
amazing ways, and it's impossible for a
small publication like the Delta Times to
THE HArlIRE Of INfORMATION keep up with it all.
There's no way that I can make these For that reason, I tend to concentrate
reports as complete as I' d like them to more on easily made generalizations
be . For one, there's just me and a legion than more newsy bits of information.
of volunteers out there, reporting on Those newsy bits often aren't relevant
whatever we can find out. We don' t for more than a week, and sometimes
have a highly trained staff of they're even out of date by the time I
experienced, full-time professionals get the material posted on the web.
backing us up. Nobody's more frustrated about it than
On the other hand, we aren't subject 1, but that's the nature of the beast.
to government censorship of any kind. Now that we've gotten all the
If you hear about something on your disclaimers out of the way, let's get on
local or national news-whether on TV with the guide itself. It's the best, most
or on the radio or in the paper-turn accurate, and most important we could
here next, and you might be able to make it, and I hope you get some real
find out a bit more about it than the use out of it.
feds would like for you to know. Either way, good luck!

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I'm here to tell you that it's time for a

AMERICA THE BATTERED
change. Like that world-famous delta
That's right. Once it 'was "America Bob Marley once sang, "You've got to
the Beautiful," but it's just not that way stand up for your rights!"
any more. If we just keep taking the abuse from
I'm not saying that there aren't still our government, then nothing's ever
some really pretty parts of the country. going to change. We've got to stand up
That's not the point. and say something-do something­
As a people, it seems to me we about it. Until that happens, we' re
sometimes act less like a na tion of never going to win back our freedoms .
winners and more like a battered wife. The saddest part is our rights
We've been beaten and bruised by weren' t taken from us. We gave them
someone we claim to love-and who up. We were so scared about outlaw
claims to love us. To any outsider, the threats that we actually s urrendered
answer is obvious: Leave the bastard. our rights willingly. And now we're
But there's some fear there. If you going to have to fight to take them
leave the nation, could you survive on back.
your own? Could you hope to find That's enough soapbox for now.
something better? You're not here for a speech. You're
And like a battered spouse, deep here to learn more about the once-and­
down we still love the bastard-or at future greatest country on the face of
least that's what we tell ourselves. this planet.

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end until death finally took them. Even

ATLANTA
with the Red Cross and the tremendous
We'll lead off with one of the most federal disaster relief team that was on
tragic stories around. the spot, there were just too many
Once the belle of the ball in the last injured people for them all to be saved.
century, Atlantawas enjoying Of the ones who managed to find
something of a revival in the '80s, once some medical treatment, most of them
again reclaiming the title of "the capitol died within days anyhow. There's only
of the South." so much you can do for someone who's
Unfortunately, that was all cut short taken a lethal dose of radiation.
in 1988. When real culprits behind the The region around Atlanta was a
failed assassination attempt of Soviet charnel house for weeks on end .
Premiere General Mikhail Tretyak were Everywhere within about 10 miles of
brought to light-and they were found the center of town was knocked flat,
to be American-Mighty Misha's and 20 miles outside of that, things
vengeance was swift and terrible. were considered radioactively hot. To
The nukes he launched destroyed enter this no-go zone was tantamount
both Atlanta and San Francisco, turning to a death sentence.
their downtown areas into smoking, Of course, an incident like that
radioactive craters and killing millions spawned a whole bunch of deltas, bu t
of people. most of them died as well. Being able
There hadn't been a disaster of that to fly or shoot blasts from your hands
magnitude since the Bicentennial doesn't do you a whole lot of good
Battle. against radiation sickness. Still, there
r don't know why most of the world were some who were far enough away
didn't go up in a cloud of glow-in-the­ from the effect to survive, and a few
dark smoke that fateful week. r closer in were even lucky enough to be
suppose we can thank our lucky stars saved by their powers.
that Misha didn't launch an all-out Today, Atlanta's still a no-go zone. If
attack and that we didn't overreact to you're close enough, r understand you
the assault ourselves. It would have can still see a soft, radioactive glow
been so easy for the violence to escalate coming off the ruins of the city at night.
to a point at which the survivors would Some foolhardy souls have actually
have counted themselves lucky to only resettled in the ou tskirts of town. There
have to hang out in their bomb shelters are some prime pieces of real estate out
until their grandchildren were grown. there, and you can have them pretty
That said, the destruction in Atlanta cheaply if you like.
was horrifying. In fact, Congress passed the
The worst part wasn't the blast itself. Radioactive Homestead Act in '89,
The people at ground zero died which was designed to get the areas
mercifully quickly. There was a great repopulated. Anyone who actually
flash of light, then they were gone. lives on a property can file a clam for it
The people on the ou tskirts of town and get it for pennies on the dollar­
or in the near suburbs had it much and that's after it's already been
worse. Many of them were scorched by devalued by the disaster.
the radiation. They lingered for days on Not too many people have signed up
for the plan.

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are treated well, especially compared to

BOSTON
other posts they might end up with.
Beantown looks pretty good for a Competition to get into the college is
major American city a t the turn of the pretty stiff.
millennium. Sure, it's had its share of There are no teaching requirements
problems, but it's gotten away for those given jobs as professors at the
comparatively unscathed. CPR. It's a pure research institution.
Boston's population has surged over Still, a few notable professors, like Dr.
the past 20 years or so, mostly due to Alan Hambly, do handle the occasional
the exodus of people from New York graduate-level seminar.
City. Other cities from Philadelphia to Even with the high level of
Washington, DC, have also felt the maintenance that most delta-built bits
crunch, but Boston seems to have taken of tech require, the results are so
the brunt of it. amazing that the government's been
Perhaps it's because Boston is the willing to pour literally billions of
unofficial gadgeteer capitol in this dollars into the CPR. In fact, that's
hemisphere. All sorts of tech-minded where the first delta-dampening field
deltas congregate around the brilliant was developed. Before that, the
minds at MIT, hoping to spark-or government had to take extreme
steal-ideas off of each other and measures to keep captured deltas
advance their research and their imprisoned. Thankfully, no one's been
fortunes. able to figure out how to produce more
In fact, MIT has even opened its own than a few of these devices, and their
College of Para technological Research, power requirements are equivalent to
better known as the CPR. Some people that of a large city.
joke that MIT's hoping that the CPR Of course, when there's a delta crime
can pump some new life into the involving amazing tech, this is where
American economy. They can laugh all the feds turn first.
they want, but so far it seems to be
working.
The real benefit of MIT's CPR is the CRESCENT CITY

testing facilities they offer to their In my not-so-unbiased opinion, there

researchers. They've got buildings that is no greater city on the planet than
are pretty much explosion proof, and Crescent City. Its very existence is a
believe me, those claims have been symbol of how we can pull together to
tested time and time again. pull victory out of the jaws of defeat, of
Of course, the feds have first crack at how we can go on to survive and even
any technology developed a t the CPR. thrive in the aftermath of the ultimate
By law, any deltas working there are disaster.
working for the federal government, In short, it's all about human
and the fruits of their labor are owned resilience .
entirely by Uncle Sam. J feel so strongly about this place,
Many tech-oriented deltas hire on that I've written on it extensively
here instead of with Delta Prime once elsewhere. If you want to learn more
they finish their stint in Delta about the newest metropolis on Earth,
Squadron. Deltas working at the CPR turn to page 54.

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and do their best to hide their heritage.

DALLAS
This is especially true of deltas. A
The people of Texas have long had a "delta from Dallas" is immediately met
reputation for thinking of their state as with suspicion by most people.
a whole 'nother country. If that had Most people in the country have
been true in '63, Kennedy would have bought into the conspiracy theory that
bombed city of Dallas flat in retaliation more deltas were involved in the
for the attempt on his life and the death assassination attempt than were
of his wife. reported in the Warren Commission
As it is, Kennedy has never forgotten Report. Any Texan Defiant old enough
that it was Dallas that was the site of to have possibly taken part in the
the most traumatic incident of his life. atrocity is immediately under suspicion
He's been back to the city several times by the general public, ironclad alibi or
since, but always with even more no. Even Defiants too young to have
security than the normal squadron of possibly taken part in the massacre are
Secret Service deltas that usually mistrusted by most.
surround him at all times. Of course, the people of Texas don't
The name of Dallas has become really take all of this lying down.
associated with shame, and the taint There's a independence movement that
has grown to affect the entire state. was spawned in the state back in the
When traveling outside of their home early '80s, and since then it's done
state, most Texans conceal their drawl nothing but grow in popularity.

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A lot of deltas (both Defiant and

otherwise) support the notion of an
independent Texas, but it's never going
to happen. At least not without a war.
Kennedy'S gone on record that
there's no way the country's going to
lose a state on his watch, and it doesn't
look like his watch is going to end
anytime soon. That hasn't stopped any
of the talk in the Lone Star State.
In fact, there's a group of Defiants
calling themselves the Texas Dangers
that's thrown themselves into the
independence effort. They haven't
actually gotten to the point of resorting
to terrorist acts, but they do what they
can to make life difficult for federal
employees in their home state.
The Dangers have been negotiating
with Texas government, hoping to get
some concessions. Rumor has it that
there's some kind of deal tha t' s been
cut in which the country of Texas
would agree to award deltas their civil
rights. All the Defiants have to do in
return is pick the right side when the
bickering turns violent.
In the meantime, the public seems to
have an ongoing love-hate relationship
with anything Defiant. When the
Defiants are busy hassling the feds-or
at least giving the Primers headaches­
then they're the darlings of the ball. Of
course, not all Defiants are as
politically motivated as others, and
those that cause problems for the
community are openly hated by all.
It points to a real perception problem
the Defiance has. Anyone who doesn't
register calls herself a Defiant, whether
she supports our general goals or not.
Because of that, we get lots of
murderers, terrorists, and thieves
grouped in with us. Those kinds of
friends the rest of us really don't
need-at least from a public relations
point of view.

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you can expect the entire city to go up

DETROIT
in flames during a gang war that's
Detroit, like New York, is a city that's going to make the situation in New
been torn apart by the "delta problem. " York City look like a Sunday picnic.
In Detroit it's mostly delta-on-delta The other option is that Webber
violence, although a good portion of actually manages to wipe out the other
the city's been damaged in the crossfire gangs, establishing Detroit as its own
the Detroit Free Press often refers to as kind of free city. Of course, if he
"colla teral damage." actually manages that Kennedy's
Detroit is the home of dozens of going to have the National Guard and
gangs, many of which have delta Delta Prime breathing down his neck
members or are even run by deltas. before he can finish pa tting himself on
Some of these people claim to be part the back.
of the Defiance, but in most cases this is In that kind of situation, the conflict
only to give themselves a veneer of might go regional, engulfing nearby
respectability in some quarters and cities and maybe even reaching
terror in others. Cleveland or even Crescent City. From
In fact only one gang has done there, it's just a few short steps to a
anything to really back up its claims to national civil war.
be part of the Defiance: the Motown Webber's one hell of a Defiant, but I
Warlords . Despite their violent name, doubt he's actually got the political
the Warlords preach using violence acumen to pull off a rebellion of tha t
only in self-defense. Unfortunately magnitude. Stilt until Kennedy's out of
some members of the gang believe in the White House, I'll be pulling for
the credo, "The best defense is a strong anyone and everyone who stands
offense." against him.
The Warlords' leader is a man
known as Juwan Webber. Webber's a
strong, tall African-American with skin DENVER

tough enough to bounce shells off of. Denver's the city the Defiance loves
He's survived dozens of assassination to hate. The Mile-High City is one of
attempts, enough to make some of his the few in the country that's actually
foes claim he's a ghost. Even Rasputin proud to call itself "Defiant-free."
himself would have given up on living Mayor Ross Higgins has labored
by now. long and hard to give his city the
Webber's an honorable man who squeaky-clean image it has today. He's
believes in what the Defiance stands got a crack platoon of Delta Primers on
for, but he's also a gang leader in a call with his office at all times, and
difficult position. As the current king of they're some of the best delta hunters
the hill known as Detroit everyone else in the country if not the world.
in town-the cops, the feds, Delta The skyscrapers that spire out of the
Prime, and every other gang in the Denver valley in the Colorado high
city-wants to knock him down. plains stand straight and true, entirely
Honestly, it's just a matter of time unscarred by the delta battles that have
until Webber either goes down or busts torn other large communities to shreds.
out. If he's taken down by someone, The sun that sets in the nearby Rockies

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goes down on a people full of self­

satisfaction in the fact that they've LOS AHGELfS
managed to run off just about every The City of Lost Angels, as some
hint of the Defiance. people call this place, is full of all sorts
The Denver school system's got an of trouble. It's always been that way
early detection system for deltas. It's out here in the land of the surf and sun,
comprised of specially trained teachers but ever since the DRA, it's only gotten
and police officers who constantly worse.
monitor the student population, First, the place has got nearly as
looking for any hint of delta powers. many gang problems as Detroit. There
More than that, the police have a team are currently two that are battling it out
of delta hound officers at their disposal, in a turf war that extends from South
and they use these deltas to help them Central into Bell. The smart money
sniff out their genetic brethren, no seems to be on Los Reyes (tha t's
matter how well hid they might be. Spanish for "the Kings"), but the
Thankfully, most hounds have to get Everybody Killers (also known as the
within a few yards of a delta to actually EKs) are sure making them work for it.
detect one that's not using her powers. Both gangs supplement their
Unfortunately, they can follow a delta standard firepower with delta force,
who's actually using her powers as if but the more they do, the more they
they were a pack of bloodhounds on call down the wrath of Delta Prime
the trail of a wounded fugitive. Most upon them.
newly awakened deltas are too The other major group of deltas in
inexperienced to avoid these hunters, the area comes directly from
and they often find themselves either Hollj'\vood. There are a number of
being drafted or packed off to the different delta talent agencies out in La­
Fortress before they barely even realize La Land-including a branch of
what's happened to them. Triumph, Inc.-but the best-known is
The mayor's claim to the contrary, the Talent Agency.
there is a Defiance Movement in the This simply-named group is run by
Mile-High City. It's just deep the notorious Brian Selvin, self­
underground. Defiants in Denver proclaimed agent to the stars. Selvin's
almost always wear masks, but no fame trades upon the names of his
other kinds of costumes. It's a lot easier clients, including Schwarzenegger,
to ditch a mask and a jacket than it is to Stallone, Willis, Chan, and so on. He
actually change clothes. specializes in deltas who can actually
Defiants that are captured in Denver act-or so he claims.
are placed on public trial. The charges There's a lot of work in the movie
are almost always trumped up, but the industry for deltas who can work as
result is always the same: conviction. In stunt doubles. It really increases the
most cases, the Denver DA-one David realism of the films when you can
Twist-does his level best to drum up a actually show the bullets bouncing off
capital offense. For this reason alone, the hero's chest.
Colorado has been the site of more The trick, of course, is finding one of
delta execution than any other state, these stunt deltas that can act his way
something the mayor trumpets at out of a paper bag. If you've seen them
nearly every press conference he holds.

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on the screen, chance are that Selvin's Many of the stars Selvin represents
their agent. Or at least he's been since do double duty as both actors and
Marty Stever was put away. members of Delta Prime's reserves. In a
Stever was the top agent for delta pinch, they can be called upon to lend a
talent in Hollywood for years . That hand. It's pretty strange to find
lasted right up until Delta Prime yourself being chased down the streets
figured out he was actually using some by the star of Delta Blues, but believe
unregistered talent who he'd supplied me, it's even worse to get caught by
with fake papers. The scandal nearly him.
blew the lid off this town, and this is a Most reservists aren' t called on in
city that's used to scandals. any but the most troubling times.
It was even rumored that Stever was During the last big quake, they really
a delta hlmself, one capable of using came out of the woodwork, giving a
some kind of Jedi mind trick to helping hand to anyone in need. They
persuade casting agents to give his also helped fight those wildfires a
clients a call. That was never proved, couple years back that threatened to
and the fact that Stever 's doing his time engulf some of their mansion-sized
in San Quentin rather than New homes.
Alcatraz means he's no more a delta Of course, a lot of Defiants did the
than Robin Williams or Darryl Hannah. same thing, but you're never going to
I mean, at least as far as we know, read about that in the regular papers.
right? Only right here in Delta Times .

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A lot of them are also on the run

MIAMI
from their own fascist governments.
Will Smith can sing its praises all he Just about every banana republic from
wants. This is one city in some serious the Rio Grande down to Tierra del
trouble. Fuego is governed by a petty dictator.
Despite what Kennedy might want You can bet your last dollar that if
you to think, deltas aren't the only those fascists weren't actually installed
problem the US faces today. Illegal by the US, they maintain their positions
drugs is another big one, and Miami is by Kennedy's grace.
the biggest port of entry for these cash There are a few exceptions to this, of
crops in the entire country. course-like Costa Rica-but I'll get to
Miami's also the big city for those la ter.
Hispanic deltas everywhere. The place Miami is latino at its heart. The pulse
is crawling with all sorts of deltas from of the city pounds with a salsa beat.
sou th of the border- sometimes way Sometimes it seems that the natives'
south. They come here thinking that manana philosophy has actually
the only way to make a name for infected the law in the town as well ,
themselves is to come to America. They since active pursuits of Defiants are few
see the licensing deals that some of the and far between.
Triumph, Inc., deltas have set up for That's not to say the place is a haven
themselves, and they think that they for unregistered deltas. Nothing could
could be making a lot of pesos here. be further from the truth.

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The local cops usually have their

hands full with drug lords and the like, NIW YORK (ITY

so they're not too worried about rogue If you can make it there, you can
deltas until they become an active make it anywhere.
problem. When that happens though, Those words are as true today as
they smack them down hard. ever. The fact is that New York City is
Miami cops-including the the toughest place on the planet to be a
Primers-are known for carrying more reg. Even as a delta, it's no walk in the
ordnance than those in just about any park.
other city, except possibly LA. Most Things here were fine up until '64.
carry machine pistols of one kind or After all, as the headquarters of the
another, often with armor-piercing United Nations and the New York
bullets. Stock Exchange, Manhattan was
To an outsider, this might seem fairly always under Superior 's watchful eye,
extreme, but to the Miami cops, they're along with the eyes of at least a dozen
just evening the playing field. other alphas.
Smuggling drugs pays pretty damn That's not to say that New York
well, and it seems like the first thing didn't have its share of delta crime. In
every pusher spends his cash on is an fact, it had a lot more than that. Every
assault rifle and a Kevlar vest. Going up and coming madman in the country
up against guys like that with just a knew that the place to really make a
revolver is silly. You might as well be statement was right in the heart of
using a Super Soaker. Manhattan.
Still, if you're looking for a town Of course, most of those jokers got
with a great night life, you've found the their heads handed to them on silver
place. Most of the bars in town are platters, complete with a side helping
open until the sun comes up. The rest of utter humiliation. But that's just the
never close. The people party with a way it was. It seemed like every week,
frenzy you don' t see in many other some other idiot would step forward
places. with a new plan for world domination,
Maybe it's the thought that Miami starting right in downtown Manhattan.
was next on Mighty Misha's list of They were doomed to fail. They
places to be permanently removed were the idiots. The smart ones started
from consideration for the next out someplace else and then worked
Olympic games. Maybe it's the Latin their way up to Manhattan.
influences on the culture. On June 16, 1964, it stopped being a
Hell, maybe it's the heat. They've got la ughing rna tter.
plenty of that. That's the day the Devastator got
If you're a delta in Miami, all I can into his longest battle against Superior
say is stay away from the drug lords. If to date. Superior was tracking down a
they think they can find a use for you, series of mysterious bombings that
they'll make you an offer for your eventually led him straight to the
services. If you refuse, they'll make it Devastator's secret hideout deep
painfully clear to you how dumb of an beneath the streets of the city.
idea it is to decline their deal. All in all, From there, it was only a matter of
it's best to keep your head down and time before a fight broke out.
your nose clean.

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Superior and the Devastator battled Lots of people have left the city once
it out toe to toe for a good, long while, and for all, but New Yorkers have
but the fight was destined to never go proven a stubborn lot. Most of them­
the distance. Superior might have had particularly those who've got real
the reputation as the toughest alpha estate on the island or a great
ever, but the Devastator sure gave him apartment-just refuse to go.
a run for his money. Some congresspeople have actually
Their battle raged across the streets suggested that Kennedy close down
of New York for over an hour, and it the entire island of Manhattan and
drew in other deltas on both sides. leave it to the deltas that war across it.
Delta Prime warred against Dreadnaut Up until now, he's refused to do that at
in a fight that shook the city's very every turn .
foundations. To him, giving up an entire borough
Just when it looked like Superior had of the nation's largest city would be a
his old foe on the ropes, the Devastator huge step in the wrong direction, and
broke loose and zoomed back to his he's not willing to do that-at least not
headquarters. When Superior caught yet. Let things go on the way they have
up with him there, the son of a bitch for a bit longer though, and you never
actually triggered off a doomsday know.
device he'd been saving for the To counteract the number of
occasion. unregistered deltas in the Big Apple­
The resulting explosion leveled over some of which call themselves Defiants
six blocks and damaged many more. and many of which don't even
Windows were reportedly shattered up bother-the President has assembled
to two miles away. Superior and many the largest domestic group of Primers
of his Primer buddies-along with ever to patrol the city's streets.
thousands of innocents-were buried The effort seems to have done little
under several tons of rubble. to sway the fervor with which rogue
Superior eventually managed to dig deltas plague the island. If anything, it
himself out of the rubble, but the seems to have made the situation even
Devastator's plan had worked. In all more desirable to the rogues, as it's
the commotion from the destruction, he given them that much more of a
had managed to get away scot free. challenge.
I think that incident should have The results can be seen on just about
been the warning sign for the every street in the heart of the city.
Bicentennial Battle. It put us on notice Buildings have been knocked down or
about the lengths to which a man like punched through. Cars have been
the Devastator was prepared to go. tossed here and there like cheap, plastic
It wasn' t until '76 that he topped toys. Chalk outlines are far too
himself once and for all. common of a site.
Ever since the Vanishing, things in Some people ask why Mighty Misha
New York have gotten worse. Entire bombed Atlanta and San Francisco
sections of the city have been destroyed instead of a nerve center like New York
in delta battles, many of which City. If you're there, all you've got to do
involved large numbers of Delta is look around to see why.
Primers squaring off against an alpha We 've already taken care of that for
escaped from New Alcatraz. him.

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PHILADELPHIA

The City of Brotherly Love has been

a disaster area for the past 30 years,
surpassing the record of the next­
highest city-New York-by five years .
Today, things aren't as bad here as the y
once were, but that's probably because
most of the delta loons take their
business up the interstate to the Big
Apple instead.
At one time, Philadelphia was a city
of great history, mostly dedicated to the
founding days of the greatest
democracy on the face of the planet.
These days, the democracy's not faring
so well, and the city almost seems to
mirror the country's ills.
Most of the historic monuments have
been torn to pieces in the course of
delta battles raging through the city.
The Liberty Bell-for instance-was
used to kill the Statesman back in '84,
crushing him to death. The already­
cracked bell was destroyed in the
process. Its shards were recovered and
mostly reassembled . If you ever make
it downtown, you can still see them on
display.
Similarly, Independence Hall was
torn to pieces in a delta battle in '92.
Everybody's long since forgotten what
the battle was about or even who was
involved in it. It's not really all that
important when stacked up against
what happened.
These days, downtown Philly is a
ghost town. Nobody really bothers to
come down here anymore. There's not
much to see, and most of the businesses
that used to be here have moved to
safer ground .
Of course, most of the delta
problems left with the people. Who
knows? Given a few years, the city
might actually manage to bounce back.

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reinforced cement, and it's covered

SAN DIEGO
with razor-sharp blades all along its
With the ongoing border war that surface. In most places, it stands stark
keeps flaring up between the US and and clean, but in others-most notably
Mexico, San Diego is a much more near San Diego-it's covered almost
important city than you might think. entirely with spraypainted tags.
Sure, it's always been a port of call, a The fact is that, no matter what the
final waystation, and a checkpoint President might like you to believe, it's
between the two countries. It's also impossible to patrol a border as long as
been a hotbed of drug smuggling for the one the US shares with Mexico.
that exact same reason. Still, that doesn't stop us from trying.
That was all before Kennedy decided Despite the fact that most of Mexico
to put up the Wall. is now nothing more than a cheap labor
You've probably seen it on TV, but camp for US businesses who aren't
there's nothing like actually being perturbed by sweatshop conditions for
there. It's literally mile after mile of their workers, we apparently don't
guard towers, searchlights, roving want any Mexicans sneaking into the
teams of dogs, and rolls of concertina country on the sly.
wire. The most shocking testimony to this
And that's just on the edges. is the fact that when a guard shoots
The Wall itself is a sheer surface down a Mexican trying to sneak into
that's 25 feet high. It's made of our country, no cleanup crew ever

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comes out to remove it. Instead, the were supposed to take out a huge
corpse is left there to hang as a dire number of people with a low level of
warning to any who might be thinking lingering radioactivity, making it safe
of following in its fa tal footsteps. for the city to be occupied after the
You'd think this would be enough to people in it were dead.
stop the illegal immigration, but The casualties in San Francisco were
apparently the feds-and everybody much higher than they were in Atlanta,
else-has underestimated the tenacity but the property damage was
of the people living in the Mexican comparatively minimal. The Golden
border towns. Dozens of p opJe try Ga te Bridge came down in the initial
ery day, and a few of them even blast, but m ost of the rest of the city
make it. Most of th em, however, never still stood tall.
reach the fabled land o f opportunity. The rescue teams waited outside the
All I have to say about the matter is city until they got the go-ahead from
that if the Mexicans want so badly to the federal nuclear disaster teams to
get up here, just imagine how awful it move on in.
must be down there . When the relief agencies finally
showed up, they found there was no
one there to save . The streets and
SAN fRANCISCO homes were literally packed with
If you left your heart in San bodies, many of which were already
Francisco, you can kiss that baby good­ beginning to rot. There was little to do
bye. The whole place went up in a blast except start carting out the corpses.
of radioactive fire only about an hour The cleanup crews spent the better
after Atlanta led the way straight into part of a year actually hauling dead
hell. people out of the city, and they still
San Francisco was one hell of a city. couldn't get them all. Eventually, they
Only a ways off from Berkeley, it was just gave up, leaving the rest of the
one of the few major cities that actually bodies to their fate. Most of the victims
considered itself delta friendly in those were either tossed into the ocean,
days. Since then, the idea of a city even incinerated, or buried in a mass grave.
being tolerant of deltas has long ago Even now, over a decade later, it
fallen out of fashion. seems like you can still smell death in
There are some in the Defiance who the air of the city. The place is still like a
say Kennedy might have given Misha a ghost town. Some people have moved
hand in choosing his targets for the in to take the place of the dead, but
attack. After all, if he was looking to many others- either out of respect or
take out a city that had been a thorn in some irrational fear-have opted to
Kennedy's side for long enough, he leave the place alone .
couldn't have done much better. These days, San Francisco is known
Of course, that's all a lot of nonsense, as the Haunted City. If you're looking
right? for a place to hide for a while and
Let's hope so. you're not afraid of possibly stumbling
One of the worst parts about the across some long-forgotten corpse­
destruction of San Francisco is that the which happens all the time-'Frisco
Russkies used neutron bombs. These might be the place for you .
Otherwise, I'd give it a wide berth.

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Like I said before, this place is

WASHINGTON, DC
symbolic to just about everyone
Last, but hardly least, there's the involved in the Defiant / Delta Prime
nation's capitol. Bluntly put, this is a conflict-which includes just about
town at war. everyone in the country. For that
Since this is the heart of the nation, it reason, the more active elements in the
holds a great symbolic importance for Defiance are constantly on the attack in
most Americans on both sides of the DC. This ranges from assaults on
"delta issue," as Kennedy likes to congresspeople to terrorist bombings.
phrase it. We Defiants prefer to call it It causes me a great deal of shame to
what it is: a total violation of our civil be associated with these terrorist
rights. elements. The vast majority of Defiants
It's not just a delta issue, you see. not only aren't involved in such acts,
The fact is that everyone in the country they are disgusted by them.
has given up some measure of his Still, it only takes a few of these
rights in the past 36 years . bastards to make a bad name for us all.
These days, government goons can Of course, Kennedy's hardly going
knock down your front door, roust you to stand for this kind of insurrection
and your family out of bed, tear apart almost literally in his backyard. DC's
your home, and haul you off for got the largest concentration of Delta
questioning in the middle of the night Primers in the country. In fact, there are
without so much as nodding in the probably more deltas in this city than
direction of a warrant. You can be held anywhere else in the w orld.
for weeks at a time-really, as long as Think about it. Fict there are all the
the police like-with little or no Defiants-bo th from peaceful and
recourse. You can be forced to testify violent factions-working against the
against anyone---except yourself; there government. Then th ere are all the
are some basic rights we still haven ' t Pr im ers that Kennedy's allocated to
lost-and you can be tossed into jail for fightin g these Defiants. Add on all the
contempt if you refuse. If you speak Primers who w ork for different
out against the government, you can be government organizations which are
jailed for sedition or even treason . headquarters in the area-mostly in
Needless to say, I'm wanted in every northern Virginia-and you've got one
state in the nation, and I regularly hell of a bunch of deltas.
appear on the FBI's Top 10 Most
Wanted list. THE SCARRING
Who says there aren't any fringe
benefits with this job? DC may not have any more scars on
its facade than a place like Manhattan
or even Crescent City, but they're a lot
THE HEART OF OUR GOVERNMENT more noticeable. DC's a city of
The reason I stepped up on tha t monuments, and a lot of these have
soapbox there for a moment is that DC been damaged, knocked down, or even
just brings it out of me. This is entirely destroyed over the years. The
supposed to be the core of our na tion, Washington Monument alone has been
the place where our freedoms all begin. closed down for repairs over 20 times
Instead, it's their graveyard. in the past 30 years.

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One of the worst battles was in '96 Thinking of that day always gives
when the Dreadna uts-Ied by a p ower­ m e grea t hop e. N o t only were the
mad Lee Ha rvey Oswald-actually Dreadnauts soundly defeated, but we
threatened to reprise the Devastator's were all able to set aside our differences
trick from 20 yea r bef fe, but this time for a shor t time to face a common
taking out the entire capitol city. D ltas threat. I've actually seen this happen on
from both the Defiance and Delta rare occasions before, often to fight off
Prime actually fought side b y side external threats in distant countries, but
against the Dreadnauts that summer­ nev er on so massi ve and effective a
something most of the new reports scale.
never mentioned at the time-and they an we ever manage to put aside
prevailed, but not before two of the our differences once and for all? To
Smithsonian Museums were destroyed realize that deltas and regs are really
and the Washington Monument had just people?
the top knocked clean off of it. Some days I despair that all the
Hundreds were killed in the struggles are just pOintless, that we're
crossfire, both delta and reg alike, but never going to be able to change
at the end of the day, the city was still anything, that we're stuck in a death
there. The Primers actually even spiral from which we'll never pull out.
captured Oswald, although they On my better days, I think about
couldn't hold on to him. He escaped who we are as a country and where
the day before his execution. we've come from, and I find hope.

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THE STATE OF THE UNION

ARM£D AND DANG£ROUS
The saying goes that an armed
My notes on some of America's
society is a polite society, but I don't
major cities should give you a bit of a
think the statistics have really borne
better understanding about what's
that out. The fact is that a lot of
happening around the country, but that
arguments that might have otherwise
doesn't really give you the whole
only become fistfights often escalate
picture. I want to try to describe h?w
into shootouts.
America's seen by those who aren t a
Most classy businesses have
part of our struggles.
weapons checks at the doors and metal
As a country, we're extremely
detectors to ensure compliance. The
violent. In a planet as ravaged as this
security guards are always armed and
one, a violent people is hardly unusual.
armored and often more than a little
It's just that we're violent on such a
trigger-happy. After all, it only takes a
personal level. . . few irate punk ta king potshots at you
In other regions, the vIOlence IS often
to really put your nerves on edges .
more organized, with the guns and
In some parts of the country­
other weaponry for the local
notably the West-duels have come
government's dissenters being
back into fashion. If two people want to
supplied by recognized resistance
kill each other somewhere in an open
fronts. I mean, look at the PLO, the
area in wruch no bystanders are likely
IRA, and the like. These are real
to be hit by a stray bullet, most people
organizations with a real agenda and
don 't see anything wrong with that.
real procedures. . . Sometimes the local law doesn't even
In America, we take our dissent a bit
bother hauling in the winner for
more personally. Sure there are
questioning, as long as there are plenty
crackpot militia units all over t~e pla~e, of witnesses to corroborate the story.
many of which are mixed in with white
The real problem is that, when a
supremacist organizations, but these
shootout begins, just about everyone in
are the exception, not the rule.
the area is ready to take part. This leads
Don' t get me wrong . There are a.few
to bloody massacres in which just
militias out there with their hearts ill
about everybody in the room is going
the right place, good men and women
to learn about stopping a bullet the
who just want to the country to return
hard way.
to the kind of place it once was, but
Taking hostages is a common tactic
these are real aberrations.
for desperate souls that are outgunned
There's even the Defiance, but as
by their foes, but it doesn't always
you've probably seen if you've read
work out the wa y they hope. Most
this far, we're hardly what you could
times, people ignore the hostage and
call a unified front .
start firing anyhow.
In general, just about everyone you
Then there are the people who back
meet on the street is armed in some
down from the fight but come back
way. Guns are the most popular for
later to settle the score. Hopefully they
people over 21. Most minors carry a
manage to cool off in the meantime, but
knife of some kind, either a
often enough, they don' t, and people
switchblade or something nastier.
end up dead as a result.

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To counteract all of this, the

government set up an instant
DIVIDfD Wf fALL
background check, but it only does so All that said, there's really no
much good. If you come up as having massive movement to change things.
been convicted of a felony or any People seem to just be too scared to
violent crime, a licensed dealer can't stick their heads up to really take a look
sell you a gun. at what's going on long enough for
However, private individuals aren't them to want to make a difference.
required to deal with the checking Those that do often find themselves
system-and even if they were, it shot down-literally--either by those
would be difficult to monitor it. They who wish to see them fail or simply at
can sell guns to whoever they want, so random.
all a convicted criminal really needs is a The average American, it seems, just
friend to buy the gun for him. Not too wants to be able to live a peaceful life,
tough to get around. Sometimes the hoping that the people she loves are
private seller even reports the guns as going to be safe and sound from one
stolen to help protect himself from any day to the next. Unfortunately, that
liability if the guns turn up as evidence means he's not paying any attention to
in a crime. the fact that the infrastructure for his
All in all, it's a brutal place in which American dream is crumbling out from
to live, and life seems cheaper here underneath him.
than ever before. Hopefully, we'll figure it out in time.

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WWW.DELTATIMES.COM
The truth can't be silenced!

it WORLD Of HURT

IFeatures II Memorial I IArchives I

!:'Crew IEvents I Einks
Features II Melnorial ll Archive II Crew II Events II Links
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THIS RAVAGED PLANET

AfRICA
The fact is the Delta Times is an Africa's the continent that most
American newspaper. I'm an American. Americans seem to forget about when
I live in an American city, and I write in they're talking about life abroad. I
American English. By definition, most think it's less a case of racism and more
of wha t I publish is going to have an the fact that most countries on the
American point of view. continent don't pose any kind of direct
However, that doesn't mean I can't threat to American interests. The one
cover international news, which I do all notable exception to that is Moamar
the time. Getting reliable information Qadafi (or however it's spelled this
on international incidents is even more week), the ruler of Libya.
difficult than it is for domestic events.
After all, news that comes from abroad
is usually filtered through at least two LIBYA
sets of censors if not more. For some reason, Qadafi's got it in
Despite that, I think my staff of his head to give the US a hard time, up
correspondents and myself do a fairly to and including terrorist attacks on
decent job. I've actually managed to do our citizens and military outposts
some extensive traveling around much abroad. Every so many months, he
of the world myself, so some of my sends a fanatic follower of his out into
basic knowledge of these different the world, and inevitably we either
places comes firsthand. hear about the lunatic getting caught or
Still, there's only so much territory I we see his handiwork on the 11 o' clock
can cover, so a lot of what I publish on news.
international events often can't be The CIA, along with several
independently confirmed. That said, I seconded team members from Delta
trust my sources implicitly. Otherwise, Prime, has la unched over a dozen
I wouldn't be dealing with them in the missions against Qadafi, and to date
first place, right? none of them have met with any
Most Americans don't know a whole success. In fact, every time we make a
lot about what's going on overseas. move against the madman, he attacks
They know the Mexicans want our us in kind. I understand that a Libyan
jobs, the Russians want to blow us up, terrorist was actually found in the
and-if they're reading the tabloids on White House a few years back. I don't
the supermarket newsstands-the think there was enough left of him to
Martians want our women. scrape into a body bag, much less stand
Well, I'm here to tell you things trial for his crimes.
aren't always that simple. There's a
whole world out there, packed with all SOUTH AfRICA
sorts of different people, cultures, and
governments. They've all got problems South Africa is one of the most
of their own, bu t in the end, they're all notable countries on the continent
basically just like us here in the USA: because of the incredible civil war
generally good people just doing their that's been going on there for the past
best to get by. several years. The country used to
labor under a system known as
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apartheid, a kind word for "separate

but equal, bordering on actual slavery." AUSTRALIA

This went on for decades, but it all The land of Oz has weathered the
finally came to a head back in '96 when last half of this century amazingly well.
Nelson Mandela, the leader of the most Maybe it's the Australian history of
popular opposition group, was being founded by criminals in the first
murdered in the middle of one dark place, or perhaps the culture just
night. doesn't get itself up in arms all that
It seems that this was the final often over things like terrorists.
affront in a long line of grievances the Whatever the reason, Australia is one
large black majority had against the of the few countries that has no
white ruling class. Things had been bad equivalent of the Delta Registration
up until then, but afterward, there was Act.
no looking back.
The only thing that saved the whites
was the fact they'd been routinely THf fXODUS
imprisoning every black delta they That alone would make the Land
could get their hands on for years. Down Under a haven for deltas on the
When the revolution finally came, the run, but Australia's actually kind
poorly armed rebels were forced to face enough to invite them to immigrate
off against a cadre of powerful and down too. Just about any delta that
well-trained deltas, including several in applies for Australian citizenship
suits of power armor descended automatically gets it. All she has to do
directly from the Armorgeddon suits is actually be in Australia to fill out the
employed by Delta Prime. papers.
Of course, that's not as easy as it
sounds. Officials from every other
THf RfST OF THf (ONTII~fNT country in the world fret over the
Most of the rest of Africa is in a fairly possibility that their top deltas might
stable cycle right now. Many of the actually defect to Australia. Just about
countries are led by military dictators every flight that's headed to the
whose power comes from either the Australian continent is checked for
United States or the Soviet bloc. deltas, up to and including sweeps by
Without the steady supply of guns, delta hounds, looking to expose the
ammo, and deltas the ruling parties efforts of their own kind.
receive, they'd soon be overwhelmed Still, deltas make it into Australia
by the rebels, who are almost nearly every day. In general, rogue
invariably supplied by the other side. deltas-Defiants or otherwise-love
Much of Africa is mired in these the land. They can openly use their
brush wars that flare up occasionally, powers and be themselves without fear
or in putting down the latest internal of reprisal, right?
uprising. Every now and then, the two Well, that's partially true. The
things happen at the same time, and government's policy is not to treat
the reigns of power change hands, but deltas any differently than anyone else.
the difference hardly matters to most However, the citizens aren't always so
Africans. Meet the new boss, same as kind and forgiving as their elected
the old boss, see? officials.
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~:=. -.'

Even in Australia, deltas sometimes Patriot, for instance, was down in

find themselves rousted out of their Australia several times, and he
beds in the middle of the night to find managed to keep his 10 secret. That's
themselves the guests of honor at a because he left his mask behind in the
hemp necktie party. Other times, US and kept his head down while in
they're just gunned down in the streets. Oz.
The real problem with the A ussie
policy is that anyone can identify you
MASKS Of ALL KINDS as a delta . If that person then decides
The one thing the Aussies have made she wants to do you bodily harm,
illegal is the wearing of masks. There there's really no place for you to go.
are to be no secret iden tities in their Most deltas of means live in places
land. with security that would give Fort
Visiting deltas often find this Knox a run for its money. Others do
troublesome and are forced into their best to keep their addresses secret,
making a quick choice. If they remove if not their faces . In those cases, the
the mask, they risk having their true delta's life is an open secret, and those
identity exposed to the world. If not, who know how to pry can get into it
they're going to be run down and with little trouble.
tossed in jail, and as you might have If you do decide to try to make it to
guessed, the Aussies have a lot of Australia, remember this: You can' t run
deltas working for their police force. away from yourself.
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(ANADA

The Canadians actually have a pretty

liberal view toward deltas. They have
their own form of the USA's Delta
Registration Act, but it's not nearly as
much of a disaster up there. They don't
have a mandatory delta draft, you see.
Sure, if you're a Canadian delta, you
have to report in at the local police
station every time you stay in a town
for longer than 24 hours, which is
pretty much like it is here. Granted, it's
a pain, but it's nothing like being
hauled off to Delta Academy or the
Delta Squadron boot camp.
Lots of Defiants make a run for the
Canadian border shortly after their
awakening, hoping to win themselves
political asylum. Those that actually
apply with the government are kidding
themselves.
The Canadian government regularly
extradite captured d eltas back to the
US. The on ly real benefit of living north
of the bord er is that there aren't nearly
as many delta mounties as there are
Primers, making it a lot easier to live
your life in peace and quiet, if that's
what yo u're looking for. There sure are
a lot of wide-open spaces you could
hide in for months.
The biggest problem Canada has
these days are little brush wars they
always seem to be getting into with
deltas from Indian tribes who want
their independence. Most of these are
quickly squashed, but the rebels'
friends always crop up again
somewhere else.
Then there's the situation with
Quebec's bid to become its own nation.
The relations between the Canadian
and Quebecoir governments are
strained, mostly due to Free Quebec, a
delta-reinforced terrorist group.

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(HINA
HONG KONG
The most active hotbed of delta
You'd think the most populous
activity is in Hong Kong. This British
country on the face of the planet would
province was supposed to be turned
have the most deltas, but that's just not
back over to the Red Chinese when the
true. I'm sure they've got plenty of
lease on the island was up in '97, but
people with the delta factor in their
the Brits backed out of the deal.
genes, but they just don 't seem to get
Possession, as they say, is nine tenths of
that many people who actually trigger
the law, but the Chinese weren't about
it off.
to give up that easily.
On the other hand, it could be that
Hong Kong is the last bastion of true
the powers are triggered off just fine,
capitalism on the planet. All that stuff
but the people simply don't survive the
that's against the law with American
experience. The fact is that most
stock and commodity exchanges­
Chinese people live far from what we
trading insider information and the
would consider modern medical care,
like-it's all legal in Hong Kong. Hell,
and it's possible that most newly
it's actually encouraged.
awakened deltas in China simply die
This is a land that's always been on
before they can ever make use of their
the edge, caught firmly between two
powers.
differen t cultures warring
These are all just th ories, of course.
metaphorically for the hearts, minds,
No one really knows for sure why there
and souls of the people. These days, the
are fewer deltas per capita in China
war's become a bit more real.
than the rest of the world . Maybe the
In late '98, the Chinese government
Chinese government is simply
actually led an invasion force into
hoarding the deltas, never letting the
Hong Kong, determined to take the
general public know of their ~xisten~e .
place back by force . The British
Perhaps the Chinese people SImply lIve
government sent thousands of troops
safer lives and have less opportunities
to rebuff the attack, and the Hong Kong
to be awakened. If the Chinese
residents-fearful of losing their
government knows the answer, it's not
liberated way of life if the place was to
telling.
fall under communist control-lent
Rumor has it that Chinese scientists
their support to the people who'd
have actually developed a program to
colonized their land over a century
create deltas in the lab . They find
before.
eligible candidates-those with the
The conflict is still raging on to this
delta genes-and then subject them to
day. The Chinese absolutely refuse to
untold horrors, trying to trigger off an
give up a place they feel is rightfully
awakening.
theirs, and the British are holding on
Those deltas the Chinese do have,
equally tenaciously. The fighting is.
they train to become soldiers of the
house-to-house and vicious, both SIdes
state, proud representatives of their
being careful not to bring the city down
government and their people. At least
around each other's ears.
that's what their pamphlets say. The
After all, that wouldn't leave the
few Chinese deltas who have managed
winner much of a prize to gloat over,
to defect often tell a different story.
now would it?
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IUROPE
GfRMANY
Germany was pretty much shattered
Europe is just about as fractious now
at the end of World War II. The entire
as it has been since World War II. These
country ended up under Allied control
days, the conflicts are rarely between
after the war, much to the Soviets'
countries. Instead most of the problems
dismay. At the time, they didn't have
come from within.
any alphas around to argue with
There have been rumblings about the
Superior, so they end ed up letting the
entire European community someday
argument go . In later years, they'd
melding itself into some kind of single
come to regret having given up any
economic-if not actually pol itical­
claim on the industrial giant, but there
unit. Of course, that kind of massive
really wasn't a whole lot they could do
undertaking would require the
about it.
individual countries to start thinking
Most German deltas these days
about working together for their own
immediately register w ith the
benefit instead of them each constantly
government upon their awakening.
examining their own proverbial navels.
They do this without questioning the
Let's just put it this way: It ain' t
idea that they do this for the greater
gonna happen any time soon.
good and that the government really
does know how to best make use of
fRANCf their amazing abilities.
The French have the most laissez­ Kennedy must cry himself to sleep
faire attitude about deltas in all of wishing he could get the same kind of
Europe. They pretty much treat them reply out of the American people, but
all the same: They don't like any of we're just not built that way, I guess.
them, and they wish they'd go away.
It's not that the French people GRfAT BRITAIN
actively persecute deltas. They leave
The United Kingdom is the opposite
that to their government. They just
of the US in at least one vital regard .
seem to resent them on a personal
There, all guns are illegal, except in the
level. They seem to find people flying
hands of law-enforcement officials.
around in the air or bouncing off the
According to JFK, this would then
sides of buildings gauche.
leave the populace unable to defend
Paris, of course, is where most of the
itself against the incredible abilities of
deltas in France end up eventually. The
even a single delta criminal.
City of Lights seems to draw them in
That hasn' t turned out to be the case.
like moths to a flame.
In fact, whenever there's a problem in
And that's where most of the delta
which deltas are involved, the British
battles happen too. Most of you have
people mostly do just what they're
seen the pictures of the Eiffel Tower
supposed to : duck, run, and call the
with the top ripped off of it. The French
police. The bobbies' rapid response
people decided to leave the n:onument
teams are then on the scene within
the way it is to serve as a remmder of
scant minutes, ready to take out any
how much the world we live in has
deltas they might find.
changed.
It doesn't always work.

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The deltas know all about the rapid The worst part of the conflict to date
response teams, so they move around a was when a rather explosive alpha
lot, making hit-and-run strikes the Catholic was found by some loyalist
police find nearly impossible to follow. thugs in the wrong part of Derry back
Still, even though the Brits seem to in the late '60s. The battle was short
catch a lot fewer deltas-both good and and sweet, but in the end, most of
bad-they always end up with a lot downtown Derry was leveled by the
fewer bodies around too. delta's death blast. Worse yet, the delta
was apparently hunting for a
Protestant arms cache, which he never
IRELAND found but still managed to trigger off
Ireland is in many ways like Britain with his dying boom.
with the exception of the heavily armed Thousands were dead in an instant.
factions running about the place. These You'd think that kind of a disaster
people don't really have anything to do would give people pause to think, but
with deltas, as such. Instead, they're in fact it just made things worse as
soldiers on different sides of the blame for the incident was tossed
Troubles, the conflict between Irish around faster than bullets. In retaliation
republicans on one side (often led by for the" terrorist act," the Irish
the Irish Republican Army) and Irish Parliament was blown up three months
loyalists on the other (of which the later, with the Orangemen taking
Orange Order is the most notorious). responsibility. It's gotten worse since.
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ITALY THE COVENANT

Italy was on the losing end of World The Covenant has branches in just
War II, and it's been paying ever since. about every country on the face of the
Still, Kennedy seems to have a soft spot earth. As the Papal-sanctioned force of
in his heart for it. You rarely hear of deltas, they hold themselves above
efforts to destabilize the government. political laws, recognizing only the law
In fact, the Italian government is one of God-at least as the Catholic church
of the most stable in Europe or even the sees Him.
world. (Besides the USA, of course. You Many Covenant deltas have what
can't get much more stable than almost have best been described as "saintly"
40 years under the same President.) or "holy" powers. Why and how this is
That's likely because it's reputedly the so, is unclear at the moment. Maybe a
most corrupt. The Cos a Nostra has its delta's personality actually has some
hand in just about everything that goes kind of effect on the kind of powers he
on in Italy, and tha t alone keeps things awakens with.
running smoothly. It reminds me a bit In many countries, the Covenant is
of Crescent City that way. treated like the Red Cross: a neutral
The only exception to this is Vatican organization that's allowed to cross
City. The Pope and his cadre of delta­ borders and go where it likes at will.
powered Catholics known as the Not so in the USA, of course, despite
Covenant see themselves as above Kennedy'S Catholic roots. Still, there's
petty local politics, even in Italy. more tolerance for them than some.
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SPAIN MIDDLf-IAST
Spain has been rocked by a civil war
Since the beginning of recorded
that's been going on for decades. The
history, the Middle-East has always
Basque separatists in the northern part
been a part of the world plagued by
of the country have always been a
troubles. The end of the 20 th century is
thorn in the side of both the fascist
no exception. If anything, in fact, the
dictator Franco and his successor,
problems have gotten worse.
Miguel Alvarez Cabanas.
This problem has grown even larger
ever since the Basques managed to ally IRAN
themselves with the local version of the Back in the late '70s, the Ayatollah
Defiance, promising the rogue deltas Khomeni declared that delta powers
that an independent Basque state were an aberration in the eyes of Allah.
would accord every delta the full rights All those people who had these powers
given to any citizen. Believe it if you were to be banished from the Islamic
like. church and from the land of Iran.
Alvarez's own deltas spend most of Most awakened Iranians do one of
their time trying to figure out how to two things. They either leave the
eliminate the Basques and their delta country or take their own life in
allies, but to date, they've had little despair. There are a few who actually
luck. The total destruction of Seville in stick around to live in secret among
'85 put the world on notice that the those who might otherwise harm them,
Basques are not to be trifled with. but they are occasionally found out.
For these brave souls, the penalty is
SCANDINAVIA death, and the sentence is carried out
both publicly and quickly.
Both Non-vay and Sweden are
virtual havens for deltas throughout
Europe. These socialist countries have IRAQ
always been extremely forward­ Iraq is run by a madman of its own,
thinking in their treatment of deltas, the notorious Saddam Hussein, a
and it shows. power-hungry bastard who occu~ied
All awakened deltas are immediately the neighboring country of KuwaIt
assigned to training camps to help back in the early '90s. There was a
them learn to use their powers to their strong movement within the American
best effect. After the completion of this govenunent to go over there and kick
six-month course, the deltas then work the Iraqis out of Kuwait, but with all
with a placement organization to match the problems at home, Kennedy
them up with a position that both couldn't actually spare the troops.
needs them desperately and which Hussein has used his power over
they would find challenging and fun. two oil-producing countries to force the
Still, with the Soviet bloc-in the cost of raw oil upward over the years.
form of Finland-knocking on In my opinion, it's only a matter of
Sweden's door, these two countries are time before someone gets tired of
always in a constant state of paying too much for gas and se~ds
preparation for war. some troops in to liberate KuwaIt.

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ISRAH INDIA
Unlike most countries in the Middle­
The Indian subcontinent is another
East, Israel actually embraces its deltas
place which always seems to be filled
as gifts from Yahweh, sent to lead them
with conflict. It seems like the Indians
pe~ple into the next millennium. They
have been fighting with their Pakistani
belIeve these gifts must be used in the
neighbors since long before anyone can
service of God-and the Israelis in
remember.
particular.
Both the Indians and the Pakistanis
This way of thinking is so
revere their deltas, with some Hindu
indoctrinated into Jews that it's rare for
schismatics actually seeing their local
an awakened Jew to not immediately
deltas as different living embodiments
contact Mossad to sign up for training.
of certain aspects of the ancient Hindu
In fact, practicing Jews from all around
gods. The official line is that this kind
the world often leave their country to
of thinking is blasphemous, but it's
emigrate to Israel as soon as they
nevertheless taken hold in the minds of
discover they've got delta powers.
many people, even if they're afraid to
Because of these policies, the Israelis
openly admit it.
have one of the most powerful and
The casualties in this war that's
effective government-run teams of
flared on and off across the Indian
deltas in the world. Only the Delta
subcontinent have been astronomical.
Primers and the KGB even come close.
Of course, the most tragic incident was

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the" accidental" detonation of that

nuclear bomb in the Indian city of JAPAN

Madras. Soon after he killed Adolf Hitler in

Indian politicians theorize that the that Berlin bunker back in '44, Superior
explosion-which killed thousands of flew directly to Tokyo, confronted
people and made a good portion of the Emper r H irohito and demanded his
city unlivable-was actually triggered unconditional surrender. Hirohito
by a Pakistani delta intelligence agent, looked aro und at the bodies of his top
but with the destruction as complete as delta guards scattered all about the
it was, no one' s ever been able to offer Imperial Palace and did the only thing
any solid proof. he could.
Tha t didn't stop the Indians from He gave up.
blaming the Pakistanis for the event, Th Emperor was deposed soon
but without any hard proof, the Indian a fter, and a new, democratic Japanese
president was reluctant to press go 'ernment was installed to take his
forward with an attack that was sure to place. Thi ngs changed rapidly for the
lead his country straight into nuclear Japanes from that point forward.
Armageddon. The Japanese had always been an
Deltas have a kind of dual insular c untry, long ignoring the
relationship with the public in India. happenings in the outside world. After
On one hand, everyone loves to read World War II, that just wasn't possible
and hear about the deltas battling the any m ore. Japan was suddenly thrust
forces of evil wherever they go. A good directly into the international scene,
portion of the Indian moviemaking and not wholly on its own terms.
industry is based on a popular series of
films starring Indian deltas.
On the other hand, no one really THE GOLDEN YEARS
wants to have anything to do with a From the mid-'40s up until the mid­
delta in real life. They see deltas as '70s, the people behind Japan's
magnets for trouble. As heroes, the government had an extremely open
deltas may be destined to succeed and policy toward deltas. As a recently
survive, but the same can't be said for defeated people, they were happy to
anyone who might be standing nearby take advantage of any edge they could
at the time. find, and they knew an edge when they
Even so, the world's largest saw one.
democracy has instituted a mandatory Japanese anime and manga of the
delta draft. If you're awakened, it's time is filled with all sorts of stories of
your duty to serve your country for at the deltas and how they were able to
least five years. There is no refusal. save the country from ruin time after
Foreign deltas are viewed with time. The most popular of these deltas
intense suspicion by both Indians and was a group known as the Silent
Pakistanis. If you find yourself there Samurai. They were called this for the
someday, I recommend judicious use of way they were able to sneak up on
a mask. Don't tell anyone who you are people quietly, not because they were a
unless you've been hauled down to the collection of mutes . This group of
local police station. By that pOint, alphas were the undisputed champions
you're already doomed. of the entire country.
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It was a golden time for Japanese

deltas, and even some gaijin deltas SOUTH AND (INTRAL AMIRICA

from the US and around the world The lands south of the American
found some acclaim from the Japanese border share one thing in common.
people. With few exceptions they're all
That all changed soon after the governed by petty dictators propped
Bicentennial Battle. up by the CIA.

THE fMPEROR STRIKES BACK MEXICO

By the time of the Vanishing, Japan America's neighbor to the south is
had come to rely very strongly on its by far one of the most unstable
alpha heroes, and when they were countries in the entire hemisphere. The
gone, the country dissolved into fascist government is constantly
widespread panic. This only escalated fighting off coup attempts from within
when the delta prison at Okinawa and rebellious guerillas from the
suddenly lost power on February 18, various provinces.
1977, and dozens of alpha criminals The Mexican goverrunent has
were able to escape at once. changed hands over 20 times in the
The most violent and dangerous of past 40 years, and the delta policy has
these criminals, one Akira Yoshihama, bounced up and down like a kid on a
stampeded up to the seat of the trampoline. It all depends on who's in
Japanese government in Tokyo and power.
proceeded to start killing every Thi week, the country's being run
representative in the place. by General Juan Alberto Gutierrez.
In the end, the Emperor himself Alberto managed to claw his way to
stepped into the fray and shamed power in a bloody, delta-backed coup
Yoshihama into actually surrendering he led himself. That's right, Alberto's a
to the Japanese authorities. delta. In fact, he's an alpha who was
With this simple act, the Emperor doing time in the Mexican version of
established once again who was really New Alcatraz when the Vanishing
in power in Japan: him. went down.
Since that day, the Emperor has Unfortunately, that doesn't mean
ruled over Japan with an iron fist, that the Mexican goverrunent's all that
preaching a return to the days of old, friendly to deltas. After all, deltas are
the days when Japan was an island of the base of Alberto's power, so he
mystery to the outside world. Life as a knows firsthand what kind of a threat
delta in Japan is harsh. As soon as they can be.
you're awakened, your life is given
over to the state.
From that point on, your days are (OSTA RICA
not your own. You exist solely to serve Costa Rica's almost like a slice of
the Emperor and-through his heaven on earth, especially if you're a
wisdom-the Japanese people. delta. First of all, it's a tropical paradise
Of course, the Japanese Defiance has with miles of pristine beaches and
something to say about that, even if it unspoiled jungles and oceans. But
can't always find someone to listen. that's not all.
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The president of Costa Rica is Senora

Marta Allende Alonzo . Allende is a
THf RfST
beautiful, distinguished woman in her Most of the rest of Central and South
late '50s-and she's a delta. America is just the kind of unstable
Deltas are free citizens in Costa Rica banana republics you've heard about in
accorded the rights of any other citize~. the news. Anticommunist fascists-or
However, they are expected to help the just about anyone supportive of the
government withstand attacks on both Kennedy regime-are supported by the
of its borders by CIA-led forces. CIA. Drug lords war with each other
The edges of Costa Rica are ravaged over both customers and prime
warzones, patrolled by delta guards, croplands.
constantly on the alert for new In these lands, deltas are a prized
incursions by their neighbors to the commodity. If your powers are
north and south. The central part of the revealed, you can expect a visit from
country, though, is far from the front. the government or the local drug
When you're there basking in the lords-or all of the above. If you refuse
tropical sun and sipping a frozen to enter the service of your visitors­
margarita, you can almost forget about which can pay pretty damn well, by the
the problems in the rest of the world. way-well, let's just say that a lot of
Don't relax for too long though. I've good deltas have disappeared in the
been to this place, and it's one country jungle and never been heard from
worth fighting for instead of against. again.
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1"1 SOVIET UNION

Ever since the fall of Nazi Germany,

the Soviet bear has been the biggest
threat to the United States by far. It's a
huge country with vast resources and
the only nuclear arsenal that rivals our
own.
We should know. We have the
dubious honor of having been the only
nation to have ever engaged in a
nuclea r exchange with the Soviets, and
the people of seven cities paid dearly
for it.

TH£ (OLD WAR RAG£S ON

The so-called Cold War resumed
after the bombings with barely a
hiccup. The fact is we still don't trust
the Soviets, and we've given them no
reason to trust us. It doesn't look like
that's going to change anytime soon
either.
These days, it's a game of spy versus
counterspy with the CIA and the KGB
spymasters squaring off on opposite
sides of the chessboard. They use regs
and deltas alike as pawns in their
massive, complicated game, jealously
guarding their more powerful pieces,
saving them until the moment to
pounce is ripe.

Lin B£HIND TH£ IRON (URTAIN

As a delta anywhere behind the Iron
Curtain-basically any Soviet-allied
country-you've got two options. You
either come clean after your awakening
and "voluntarily" join the Soviet delta­
training machine, or you spend the rest
of your days working in a gulag
somewhere in Siberia.
If you join up, eventually you 'll
make it into the Red Brigade, the
Russian version of Delta Prime.

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The Red Brigade is divided into two
different sections. First, there are the THE UNITED NATIONS

Hammers, the deltas charged with the Let's face it: This organization is the
defense of the Soviet Union. Then there biggest joke on the planet.
are the Sickles, the Russians' The UN's supposed to be a venue in
specialized delta attack team. which the various countries can get
Both teams work closely with the together and air their grievances
KGB. Many Hammers work as against each other and maybe even
counterspies in Moscow and other work together toward some common
Soviet cities, doing their best to ferret goal.
out spies from the US and other Well, lots of grievances get aired,
nations. that's for sure-mostly about the fact
The public arm of the Sickles is a the UN's offices are still in Manhattan,
delta strike team that's called in to one of the most dangerous places in the
handle hostage situations and the like. US-but little else ever happens. The
The top-secret Sickles are inserted into five main members of the UN security
other countries under deep cover, council-the US, Great Britain, the
working as horribly powerful Soviet Soviet Union, China, and France-each
spies. have veto power over any actions
suggested by the others, so nothing
THf RULING CUSS ever gets done.
If the US proposes something, you
Mikhail Tretyak has been the ruler of can be sure the Chinese or the Russians
the entire Soviet Union for over a will veto it, and if either of those
decade now, and he shows no signs of countries tries something, we almost
slowing down. Every now and then, always shoot it down.
reports of Tretyak's failing health filter Of course, there's UNDDO-the
out of Moscow, but within days, we see United Nations Delta Defense
fresh video of the" kid from Kiev" Organization. This is the UN's elite
walking through Red Square and strike force, comprised entirely of
shaking hands with his grateful deltas seconded to the team from their
citizens. respective countries.
Tretyak's a good communist, but he When UNDDO's on, there's no
rules with an iron hand. There have better team in the world, but that's not
been no less than five serious attempts always how it is. Trying to coordinate
at a coup-that we know of-and he team members from several different
has smashed them each down quickly nations is always difficult-the default
and ruthlessly hunted down the language is English, it seems-but
pretenders to his office in the Kremlin. working with all the tremendous egos
None of the aggressors has ever is even worse.
confessed to CIA backing, but you can Still it was UNDDO that brought
be sure that at least a few of them down those terrorists threatening to
received some kind of American blow up the Sphinx back in '86, and
support. they' ve proven themselves a valuable
According to a CIA friend of mine, force for stability-if not actually
"Rasputin wasn' t this hard to get rid peace-throughout the world.
of."
(HAPTER ONE: HEW POWER PACKAGES

 (HAPTER ON£:
NEW POWER
PACKAGES

You've patiently waded through all

that background information, and hey, 1"1 POWIR PACKAGIS
you've been pretty darn good about it. Every power package has at least
Now here's the meat of the book: one entry: powers. Under this, we list
brand-new power packages for you to what powers a hero gets if you choose
make all-new heroes out of. this package for her. Remember, a hero
There's a whole lot of stuff here for only ever gets to use one package, so
you to sink your teeth into, 10 new choose wisely.
packages in all. That's as many as you Many packages also come with
got in the Brave New World Rulebook, another entry: quirks. When you pick
automatically at least doubling your this package, the hero gets these quirks
starting choices. along with the powers.
And don't fret if you don't see your Last, every package comes with its
ideal type of hero here. As always, own tricks. Heroes don't get these
there are more to come. automatically. They can pick them as
That's not all. We're also drawing part of their three free tricks (during
back the curtain-at least partially-on character creation) or they can pick
a powerful faction in Brave New World them up later.
known as the Covenant. These men Heroes with other power packages
and women battle against evil on can't use these power-package tricks
behalf of none other than the Supreme (except in special circumstances), no
Pontiff himself, the Pope of the Holy matter how many successes they might
Roman Catholic Church. Of course, get on a roll. A hero can only ever use
they've got to be ordained members of power-package tricks from her own
the Catholic clergy to be eligible to take power package.
the Covenant package, but if that's Enough of all that. Let's get on with
their vocation, so be it. the packages!

15 PIlLlCC CROSS paul

 (HAPTER O"E: NEW POWER PACKAGES

INTRODUCING THE COVENANT

THf (OVfHAHT Of course, all of this happened long
The Covenant has its roots in the before the first deltas were discovered
very beginning of the Catholic Church, in the early 20 th century. After that
right back to when the early Christians point, all bets were off.
were busy turning the other cheek to In the early '20s, when it became
their Roman persecutors. Back then, apparent that people like the Silver
Peter I, the very first Pope, began what Ghost weren't just an anomaly but a
eventually evolved into the Covenant. whole new subgroup of the human
Peter realized that the Catholic race, the Pontiff decided to announce
Church was one of the first lines of the existence of the Covenant.
defense against creatures of evil. As The theory here was that with the
such, it was the church's sacred duty to encroachment of deltas and other
prepare a force of holy warriors to supernatural threats on modern life,
defend the hapless bulk of humanity people needed to know that the forces
against the encroachment of the of light were on their side, that there
darkness. Peter believed then- as the were champions of righteousness ready
Covenant instructors still teach to this to stand against the shadows.
day-that the only true defense against It worked famously. Enrollment in
the darkness is light, and nothing the Catholic Church jumped by almost
shone more brightly than the light of 50% overnight. Other organized
God . religions announced groups of their
According to church histories, own soon after, but none of them were
Peter's teachings were borne ou t more able to steal the Catholics' thunder.
than once over the centuries. Covenant In fact, the Covenant's mere
forces battled against things that could existence is considered to be one of the
only be called demons many times over reasons Kennedy was elected to office
the centuries, and they always came in the first place. The Pontiff has a strict
out victorious. policy of not handing ou t political
Of course, that's only as far as we endorsements, but the very fact that
know, and we're relying on the there were so many new Catholics in
Catholic Church to be entirely up front the country certainly h ad an effect
with us. You can be sure that an up n the polls on election day.
organization of that size has got some Catholicism had always been
secrets it's not willing to share, even important in many European countries,
with its own members. but it had been losing ground to the
Only the Pope know aU. Members various fla ors of Protestantism in
of the Covenant report directly to him, Ameri ca. The unveilin g of the
and he releases information to them Covenant really gave the whole
only on a need-to-know basis. organization a kick in the pants.
For centuries, the Covenant was the Across the world, attendance at
Catholic Church's secret weapon. No Catholic masses is up, and more and
mention of it was made in the public more people are calling themselves
records, and all those who happened to Catholic. The church hasn' t been this
discover its existence were popular since before Martin Luther
neutralized- sometimes violently so. nailed his note to his church door.

is POLIce CROSSPOLII

 CHAPTER ONE: NEW POWER PACKAGES

THE OLD WAYS THE NEW WAYS

Of course, with this amazing surge As America swung to the far right,
in popularity, the Catholic Church politically speaking, in the '60s, the
didn't see a whole lot of reasons to Holy Father in Rome remained silent,
make drastic changes in the way it does refUSing to break with the modern
things. Sure, the mere presence of tradition of not becoming involved in
deltas has required the Church to make secular matters, preferring to leave
some adjustments, but overall, things those to the governments the people
are handled the same way as they were found themselves under.
at the turn of the century. This didn't sit well with many
This means that all the masses are younger Catholics around the world.
still said in Latin, and that most of the They saw what was happening, and
time the priest stands with his back to they decided that to remain silent in the
the congregation as he conducts the face of such rampant abuse of power
services. The ancient majesty and would be a sin. Instead, these young
reverence of the original Christian priests, nuns, and deacons took the
church is still intact, although this has opportunity to preach nonviolent
meant keeping the majority of the resistance from their pulpits.
church's followers at arm's distance. This cause was taken up by many
Even with record attendance in other religious figures at the time, most
Catholic schools and universities across notably the Reverend Martin Luther
the country, there just aren't that many King, Jr., a name which held some
people who speak Latin. This resulted irony for the Holy See. These men and
in the formation of a brand-new schism women decried the authoritarian
of the Catholic Church in the late '60s. actions taken by governments across

jSPIII.ICC CROSS paul

 (HAPTER ONE: NEW POWER PACKAGES

the world to protect their citizens from

the "delta threat." They saw that these
THE PAPAL RUCTION
moves involved the steady Of course, the Supreme Pontiff has a
encroachment on the civil rights of few other choice words for the men
people everywhere, and they refused to and women of the Schism. The one he
stand by and watch this quietly. uses most often is "heretic." In fact, in
In 1968, a number of Catholic official speeches and letters from the
clergy-mostly American, but with Catholic Church, the Schismatic
support from across the globe­ movement is often simply referred to
declared their separation from the as the Heresy.
Church in Rome. No longer would they That said, the Pope has taken a
remain aloof from the course of secular decidedly ambivalent stance against
affairs, trusting that if their faith was the Schismatics. Instead of demanding
strong their rewards would come in the that they return to the fold, he's opted
afterlife, no matter the abuses they to open an honest dialog with the
endured on earth. leaders of the new nondenominational
These rogue clergy banded together organization with the hope that they
with other ministers from several other might see the light of reason and give
Christian-and even some non­ up their worldly struggles.
Christian-religions to form a new Not every other religious leader has
organization, one dedicated to fighting been so understanding. Many pound
for peace and harmony and human on their pulpits with righteous fury,
rights in every corner of the planet. demanding the return of their lost
Because the vast majority of these sheep to their flock. Some have even
clergy were Catholic, they called gone so far as to have their "lost souls"
themselves the Schism. imprisoned for stealing church
 (HAPHR ONE: NEW POWER PACKAGES

p roperty-the very churches the CATHOLICS IN AMfRICA

Schismatic pastors were leading up
u ntil they decided to part way w ith Catholicism is a central religion in
their leaders. the w orld, and especially in Kennedy's
America. As the first Catholic
President, Kennedy has developed
THf SCHISM close ties to the Vatican over the years
As a active force in the battle for the and to the Covenant in particular. He's
restoration of human rights to both even known to have private audiences
deltas and the general population with the Pope on a regular basis.
everywhere, the Schism is the de facto That's not to say that the Pope
religion of Defiants everywhere. To call approves of what Kennedy'S done to
the organization a religion is something what was once the most powerful
of a misnomer. It's actually more like a democracy on the face of the earth. The
ecumenical league of ministers all Pontiff is actually a big believer in the
working toward a common political form of government the United States
goal. popularized over 220 years ago, and
Needless to say, the Schism has been he's not terribly happy with how JFK
outlawed in many countries, including has turned his once-proud country into
the United States. Strangely, the Italian a nation terrified of its own shadow.
government has not cracked down on Still, Kennedy ostensibly gives
the Schismatics, this despite the fact ranking Covenant officials free reign
that Vatican City is only a stone's throw within the borders of the United States.
away from the central seat of the Italian Of course, even though they may have
government. a special status, Delta Prime insists on
The leaders of the Schism vary from sending along guides with Covenant
country to country. In America, there's operatives wherever they go.
a triumvirate of powerful people who These Primers are supposedly
lead the cause. These are Cardinal around to help the Covenant people
Joseph O'Conner, Sister Mary Victoria, out and to act as ambassadors of good
and the Reverend Martin Luther King, will on behalf of the American
Jr. government. In fact, they're actually
0' Conner and Victoria hail from the there to make sure the Covenanters
Catholic Church, while King's religious stay in line and doesn't step on the
roots are based in the Southern Baptist wrong toes.
Church. All three have survived several While not all members of the
assassination attempts over the years. Covenant are deltas-not by hal£­
In fact, both O'Conner and Victoria those who happen to be are all
only stepped up in the last decade after registered with the government of
their predecessors were either killed or which they happen to be citizens. The
tossed in jail. word"delta" appears in bright red
King has always surrounded himself letters on their 10 cards, so when in the
with a close-knit group of trusted US, they must work closely with Delta
deltas who have been able to keep him Prime or face imprisonment. This
from harm. Without their aid, the man punishment hasn't been invoked often,
would certainly have been killed but the threat of it hangs over the head
several times over. of every Covenant delta in America.

~ 'S pI-Ice CROSS PIII.II

 (HAPTER ONt HfW POWER PACKAGfS

THf (OYfNANT IN AAURICA AMfRICAN SCHISMAriCS

In the United States, the C ovenan t Of cours ,Ken nedy blasts the
has the official blessing of JFK himself. A merican followers of the Schism for
They are not to be hassled by Delta just abo u t the same reasons he doesn't
Prime or any other governm ent touch the Cath olic h urch.
organization. The traditional rules It's not his religion, so h ~ has no
regar ding sanctuary in a church still sentimenta l ttachment to it. In fact, the
hold strong, although they are rarely P ap al d eclaration of the Schismatics as
invoked . Were they to be taken heretics m akes them all fair game in
advantage of more often, there is little JFK's book.
doubt that Kennedy would u se this s a The Schism has been dem onized in
reason to strip the Catholl Church of America alm a t as much as the
its status in America. Defiance. The only d ifference is that
Kennedy is reluctant to move agai nst there are a lo t of regs in the Schism .
the church for several reason s. Firs t f The Sch i.s m's very reason for
all, it's his own religion, and he exi. tence is poli tical, p utt ing it in dir ct
apparently still ha some d e p -s ated conflict wi th Kennedy and his aims on
respect for the entire organiza tion, its a cons tant ba j . ' hese are his foes in
people, and its b liefs . m ore wa ys th an one. In fact, the
Secondly, lhe popularity of the , ch ism 's leadership has called for the
church would make it difficult to overthrow of Kennedy's government
remove from power. The backlash tha t on more than one occasion.
would take place from the gov rn ment
moving against the Cath olic Ch urch
would be unimaginable.
THf SCHISMATIC (OVIHANT
Third, as an apolitical organiza tion, Of co urse, w h en the Schism first
the Ca tholic Church doe exac tly what fo rmed, it attracted the atten tion of
K nnedy wants it to. It keeps the Catholics and religious figures of all
people hoping for a better life w hile s tr ipes. Among them w ere some
never encouraging them to ta ke action . m embers of the Covenant.
Sure the Catholic people are famo us for The men and women who'd been
praying for an end to th state of trained as the frontline of defense for
martial law in the US, but that's about Catholics everywhere now formed an
as far as it goes. Kennedy doesn't seem organization of their own, formally
to be too bothered by the prayer. known as the N ew Covenant. In
Last, Kennedy's actually built up a America, m ost of this group's
decent relationship with the Pope. In operatives are called "Newbies," which
fact, John-Paul II is actually the was originally meant as a derogative
President's confessor, supposedly privy term, implying the recklessness of
to Kennedy's innermost thoughts and you th and the overconfidence of a
secrets. Of course, all of these are held high-school freshman. Of course, the
under the sacred seal of the Newbies took the name and made it
confessional, and even if the Pope their own, and there are many active
wanted to take action based on members of the Schism who are proud
something the President told him, he's to call themselves Newbies, no matter
bound by his vows not to. what their age may be.

;5 pOLIce CROSS poLtI

 CHAPTER ONI: NEW POWER PACKAGES

OTHER RELIGIONS
The fact that the Covenant plays an
important part in this book and in
Brave N ew World is not meant as a
ringing endorsement of Catholicism or
any other faith. In fact, in Brave New
World, several other faiths have similar
organizations dedicated to ideals
nearly identical to those espoused by
the men and women who answer
directly to Pope Jolm-Paul II. We hope
to cover more of those as the Brave N ew
World saga develops.
In the meantime, you can assume
that every major religion has its own
kind of version of the Covenant. The
Jewish Kabbalah, which has strong ties
to the Israeli intelligence organization
known as the Mossad is one such
organization.
I roes that come from those various
organizations have powers that are
mostly similar to those of the people of
the Covenant, although you should feel
free to tinker with them a bit and tailor
them as close as possible to each
religion's own system of b liefs.

HANDLING RELIGION IN THE GAME

In general, organized religions in
Brave New World are treated as good
things. They are generally helpful
organizations, most of which teach
things like personal responsibility,
being kind to your neighbors, lending a
hand when it's needed, and respecting
the rights of others.
Of course, that's not ahva ys true. The
Catholic Church, for instance, has had a
spotty record over the centuries with
regard to honoring other belief
systems. For those of you who were
asleep in your history classes, we spell
that rocky period of time "the
Crusades."

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These days, the Catholic Church is a

mostly benevolent entity, whether you
COVENANTS AND BARGAINS
agree with most of what they have to The one group of people the
say or not. Of course, that doesn't ovenant really has a problem with is
preclude the presence of evil or simply the Bargainers. After all, these people
twisted individuals working within the admit to dealing with demons on a
larger structure of the Covenant and regular basis, something that's flat-out
the church in general. It's a big faith, wrong in just about anybody's version
after all, and for the most part it takes of the Bible.
all comers. More open-minded Covenant heroes
Have fun with working with the try to take the a ttitude of despising the
different religions that crop up in the sin but not the sinner. After all, these
course of your game, but please be sure are still human beings we're talking
to treat other people's beliefs with a about, and everyone's got the chance
good dose of respect. You'd expect the for redemption later on down the line.
same of them. Other Covenant leaders aren't so
We've tried to do exactly that in this understanding. At the very least, even
book and throughout the game. meeting a Bargainer can put a
Dealing with religion can be a touchy Covenant hero on edge. Covenant
subject, and it something that many heroes add +5 to their rolls when
games ignore. We feel that avoiding resisting persuasion attempts of any
something that's so central to the lives kind made by a Bargainer. Their
of many people today would be doing inherent distrust of anything that deals
a disservice to both the various with the warmer side of the afterlife
religions and the people playing the makes them difficult to deal with-at
game. least from a Bargainer's biased point of
view.
 CHAPTER ONE: NEW POWER PACKAGES

COVENANT SCHISMATIC HEROES

Some heroes are bound to want to
As a member of the Covenant, the
join the Schism, and that's just fine.
hero must be an ordained member of
New Covenant heroes are pretty much
the Roman Ca tholic Church. This
the same as those who belong to the
includes priests (fathers), nuns (sisters),
original Covenant. They just answer to
and deacons (brothers). The available
a different leader. These rules assume
powers are the same for each kind of
the hero is a Catholic Schismatic, but
religious figure, although their
that's not necessarily so. The Schism
religious powers and duties can differ
takes in people of all faiths.
quite a bit.
For the most part, the powers of
Not every member of the Covenant
heroes of other faiths are going to work
is a delta, but throughout the following
identically to those of the Catholic
pages, we assume that any heroes are.
Schismatics. It's up to the Guide to
Of course, a player can always take on
tinker with any variations that might
the role of a Covenant reg if she likes. If
seem appropriate.
so, just ignore the bits that refer to delta
powers.
COVENANT MARTIAL ARTS
REGISTRAIION AND THE DRAfT One of the more amazing and useful
skills the Covenant has developed over
As registered deltas, Covenant
the years is a new kind of martial arts
heroes are theoretically eligible to be
that's based on Spirit instead of Speed. It
drafted by the US government at any
involves the hero finding a calm center
time . This has rarely been enforced,
of power within himself and then using
however, especially after the first few
that to open a barrel of whup-ass in the
Covenant agents simply pleaded
physical world.
conscien tious objector sta tus and
Covenant martial arts works just like
refused to participate. With regular
the standard version of martial arts,
deltas, the objectors would simply be
except it's a skill that comes under
forced to rot in jail, but Kennedy
Spirit instead. It comes in three flavors:
relented at the pleading of the Pope
barehanded, blade, and club.
himself.
Like any other close combat attack,
These days, the government and the
covenant martial arts uses the hero's
Covenant occasionally work together,
Strength as the basis for any damage
but only on a non-conscription basis.
rolls. Of course, many Covenant
Covenant operatives work with
operatives use close combat weapons
members of the Defiance nearly as
to give themselves that extra edge.
often, claiming that their status as the
confessors of the Defiants in question
means that they aren't permitted to UNIFORMS
testify against them or provide Delta Covenant heroes often wear the
Prime with any information that could official uniforms of their office. They
lead to them coming to harm. have several different kinds of
Of course, heroes from the Schism uniforms they wear on different
are on their own-at least according to occasions. For daily use, they normally
the church's official stance.

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 (HAPTER ONE:HEWPOWER PACKAGES

only wear their traditional collar or The Covenant crossbow is similar to

habit. When on the job as a Covenant regular crossbows with one exception:
operative, they often wear brightly It automatically reloads the bolts from
decorated body armor covered with the a belt, making it a lot faster to use in
symbols of their faith. combat, since the hero doesn't have to
Covenant heroes aren't always eager reload between shots. In fact, the
to betray their roots. At those times, ammunition comes in disintegrating
they don't bother wearing any belts that can easily be fed into the
Covenant or clergical uniform, firing mechanism, making the weapon
preferring to dress just like the average simple to reload_
person-or delta, at least-on the
street. These plainclothes Covenant
operatives only reveal themselves
(OVfNANT HfROfS
when necessary, although most carry a For some reason, anyone who's an
badge of office on their person at all ordained member of the Ca tholic clergy
times. The only real excep tion to thi is ends up with a distinct set of powers if
when the operative is deep undercov r. they awak n as a delta after being
ordained . W hen we talk about
Covenan t heroes, these are the k inds of
WfAPONS deltas w 're talking ab out.
Covenant agents use weapon s However, it's possible for a hero to
similar to those of any other hero, have awakened as a delta before being
although they tend to favor guns of ordained. In that case, the he ro might
Italian make, like Berettas. They also h ave any kin d of power package at all.
make frequent use of a kind of weapon That's the reason why, although most
not seen in the hands of many other Covenant deltas a re of a certain type,
heroes: the Covenant crossbow. just about any kind of delta can be
This crossbow is exclusively found working for the Covenant.
manufactured for the Vatican by the Here are the actual details on the
Beretta Corporation, although a civilian stand ard Covenant delta p ower
model is also available for the general package itself.
public-without the crucifixes and
other emblems that adorn the REQUIREMENTS
Covenant variety.
very member of the Covenant must
The Covenant crossbow can fire
have the foll ow ing skills at the listed
bolts of all kinds. Most modern
minimum levels: academia: occult 2,
crossbow users employ metallic bolts,
Covenant martial arts 2, faith 3, language:
but the Covenant swears by traditional
Latin 2, and profession: clergy 3. Of
wooden ammunition for its usefulness
course, they can have higher skills if
against all kinds of tal-gets, particularly
they like.
certain supernatural elements of evil.

COVENANTCROSSBOW

Rate of Range
Weapon Type Action Ammo Shots Q uickness Fire Increm ent Damage Cost
Covenant X-bow Auto Bolt 20 1 1 5 Sd6+S $500

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 CHAPTER ON£: HHV POWER PACKAGES

They must also have the duty -5: appropriate to helping the hero in
Covenant, ordained, and patron +5: whatever situation she's found herself
Covenant quirks, and if the hero is a in. Since God works in mysterious
delta, she m us t be registered. M st ways, the inspiration is never so direct
Covenant heroes have the pacifist -3 as to actually c me straight ou t and
quirk, but not ll . Some subscribe to the a1 wer w hatever question a hero might
/Iye for an eye" phil 5 p hy a nd are have.
happy to use force w hen it's ca lled for. lnst ad, some thing happens to point
the hero in the right direction. It's then
POWERS up to the hero to lue into what's
happen ing and fo llow the right pa th.
Covenant: The hero has acces t all
Often the hero only ac tu all y gets the
Covenant powers.
hint if she conducts herself in a manner
befitting her office.
TRICKS For exampl ,a hero that's searching
Blessed: Wit] two extra successes on for a lost chi ld migh t d iscover an
a faith roll, the hero picks up ano ther elderly woman who's just been
delta pOint. Thi trick cannot be used knocked over. 1£ the hero stops to help
again until all of the h ero's d lta pOints the w oman, the lady m ight start talking
have been spen t. On e that happens, about this beautifu l child she saw the
the hero can use th trick to pick up other day, the one that reminds her of
another free delta point. Unused d lta her grandson.
points are lost at the end of th -es .ion. If the hero's ready to receive this
Divine Inspiration: Wi th three extra ki nd of help, he should clue in to the
succe ses on a faith roll, the h ro gets fac t that the child is possibly the one
some kind of di rection from G d that's he's looki ng for. Otherwise, the
 (HAPTER ONl: HEW POWER PACKAGES

opportunity simply passes him by. It's Unless it says differently in the
up to the Guide to fig ure out exactly power d scription, it takes three full
how subtle to be wi th these clues, as actions for a hero to trigger a new
the situation warrants. power. During that triggering time, the
This trick can only be used once hero d e n't have any powers at all.
during each gaming session. Once it's If the hero becomes stunned while
been triggered, it's no good until the trigger ing a new p wer, the fait h roll is
next time the players get together for automatically failed. To activate a new
the game. power, he must start all over again
from scratch.
(OVfHAHT POWfRS
Covenant heroes have access to a
AURA Of RIGHTEOUSNESS
broad range of powers, each of which is Target Number: 5
triggered by a faith roll. For every point For every success the hero gets on
of faith the hero has, she has permanent his faith roll, he can add +1 to any
access to one particular Covenant persuasion rolls of any kind made for
power. the remainder of the encounter.
The only way for a Covenant hero to To get this power rolling, the hero
pick up more powers is to improve her must first make some kind of little
faith score. When she raised her faith by sermon or vocally offer up a prayer for
1 point, she gets to choose another those he's about to talk to. The people
Covenant power to have access to. to be persuaded don't have to hear the
Although Covenant powers have Covenant hero talk for the power to
their basis in the awakening of a delta, have an effect upon them, as long as
the Covenant believes that the powers the hero makes the required faith roll.
are actually given to them directly by This power's actually about the hero
God. This is the explanation they have taking a moment to get in touch with
for why ordained clergy always end up God and sense the power of God
with Covenant powers as opposed to within himself. Armed with that feeling
any other kind of power package they of potency, the hero is so much more
might pick up . confident that other people can actually
Every Covenant power comes sense a divine power within him.
complete with a full description, as The more cynical members of the
well as a Target Number required to Covenant suspect that there may be
trigger it off. Some of the Target more than a few less-than-scrupulous
Numbers vary according to what the televangelists using this power.
Covenant hero is trying to do, while
others are actually opposed rolls, but DIVINE MERCY
most are just flat numbers. Target Number: 5
A Covenant hero can only use one This works similar to the healer's
power at a time. If he switches from power found in Brave New World.
one to another, the original power he However, the hero only adds +1 to her
was using instantly fades away as soon medicine roll for every success she gets
as he begins to activate the new power. on her faith roll. A Covenant hero with
In any case, each power only lasts for a this power can also learn the healer
maximum of three hours . tricks healing disease and healing poison.

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 CHAPTER ONE: HEW POWER PACKAGES

GOD'S WILL day, and anyone who eats of it can add

Target Number: 5 +3 to any healing rolls he makes for
When this power is in effect, any himself that day.
creatures of supernatural evil cannot The hero can only use this power
come within 1 inch of the hero for once per day. Most Covenant heroes
every success he gets on the roll. It's up are sure to feed others in need before
to the Guide to decide which creatures they feed themselves.
might be affected by this power, but a
regular delta with an evil streak just MIGHT OF GOD
doesn't qualify. Target Number: 5
This power fills the hero with holy
MANNA strength-although sometimes too
Target Number: 5 much of it. For every success the hero
To use this power, the hero must gets on his faith roll, he can add + 1 to
have some kind of food and water (or his Strength, potentially making him
some other kind of drink) handy. It even more powerful than a goliath.
doesn't have to be good food or fresh If the hero gets five or more
water, but it has to be edible and successes, he also adds +1 to his Size
drinkable. and becomes obvious -3 (which is the
For every success the hero gets on concealable variety) and must take -2
her faith roll, she manages to somehow from his initiative rolls . A hero that
produce enough extra food and drink experiences a growth in Size is in for
to give one person a good, healthy some hurting once the power fades .
meal. This meal is solid and filling When this happens, the hero takes a
enough to sustain a person for an entire wound in every hit location all at once,
just like massive damage.

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 (HAPTER ONE: HEW POWER PACKAGES

When the extra Strength fades, a

wounded hero can ignore any wound
levels that would have been absorbed
by his extra Strength.

Example: Father Lange uses his

might of God power and makes a
faith roll. He gcts fou r successes,
50 he gets to add +4 to his
trcl1gth. In the course of a fight,
he take five wounds to his head
and th ree to his torso. When his
extra Str ngth fades, it takes up to
four wounds in each hit location
away with it. This means Father
Lange is going to have no wounds
to his torso, but (5- 4=) 1 wound in
his head.

SHIELD OFGOD
Target Number: 5
When walkin g through the valley of
darknes", hav ing this p ow er can really
help you to fear no evil.
This power grants the hero a level of
1/- armor for every success she gets
on her faith roll. For example, if the
hero gets six successes, she then has
armor 6/-.

WRATH OF GOD
Targe t Number: 5
The hero is able to call down the
wrath of Cod in the form of fiery
vengeance. This holy strike comes in
the form of a column of fire that
appears from nowhere to engulf the
target.
For every success the hero gets on
his faith roll, the attack does 1d6+ 1
points of massive damage.
The faith roll also acts as an attack
roll. Figure the attack as if it were a
standard ranged attack with a Range
Increment of 10. The Rate of Fire is I,
and the Quickness is 1. If the faith roll is

is POLIce
CROSS pOLir
 CHAPTER ONE: NEW POWER PACKAGES

higher than the Target Number along energy shield power, and a ranged attack
with all the applicable modifiers, then would have hit the shield if she hadn't
the attack hits and does damage. dodged, the attack doesn't penetrate
Worn armor does not protect agains t the shield, no matter how powerful it
the wrath of God. Only armor powers do. is. Instead, it's bounced off the shield at
The wrath of God works like an area­ any other target of the hero's choice­
affect weapon. If the attack misses, even the original attacker.
check for deviation to see where the Use the hero's dodge roll as her attack
column of flame erupts. If there's roll. If it beats the Target Number the
someone s tanding even partially on hero would need for a similar attack,
that spot, she's affected by the attack the turned attack hits the chosen target,
instead. doing all its regular damage.
This trick cannot be used against
close combat attacks or ranged attacks
DfFfHDfR with an area of effect.
The hero has the ability to project a
force field from her hands. This acts
like armor against anything attacking it
GfHIUS
from the outside, although attacks from This hero's the sharpest tool in the
the inside of the shield go right through shed. H e's able to pick apart problem s
it like it wasn't even there. worse than the fabled Gordian knot
Most defenders work in conjunction with his ra zor-sharp intellect.
with a partner. The defender throws up The genius isn't much help in the
the shield, protecting them both, while middle of a combat situation, but he's
the partner attacks from behind the fantastic when it comes to devising
safety of the shield. solutions to problems. In fact, few reg
tacticians stand a chance against a
POWERS genius, whether facing off across a
chessboard or an actual field of battle.
Energy Shield: The hero can project
In short, the genius is brilliant.
an energy shield in fron t of her with
one hand. This shield is armor 20 / - ,
and it's big enough to protect the hero POWERS
and up to two other people behind her Brainy: Add +5 to all Smarts rolls.
against aU attacks from the front.
TRICKS
TRICKS Stroke of Brilliance: With three extra
Shield Attack: With an extra success successes on a Smarts roll, the hero has
on a barehanded close combat attack, some brilliant insight that's appropriate
the hero can use the shield as a to helping her in whatever situation
weapon. The attack does Strength+5 she's found herself in. What the insight
points of damage. If the hero doesn't might be is entirely up to the Guide,
get the extra success, the attack does its bu tit should be rela ted to the
normal damage. adventure and involve some clue that
Turnabout: If the hero gets an extra the heroes have simply been
success on a dodge roll while using her overlooking up until this point.

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 CNAPHR ONE: NEW POWER PACKAGES

This d iffers from the divine inspiration With this trick-and an extra success
trick in that the hero can only use it on a tactics roll-the hero can not only
pick up on a standard clue that's poke holes in a plan, he can actually
previously been missed. Divine come up with ways to improve the
inspiration actually guides the hero in plan.
the right direction, clues or not. With In the game, the hero makes a tactics
stroke of brilliance, it's up to the hero to roll to evaluate a plan and find the
piece together what's going on from holes in it. For every extra success he
the clue she discovers. gets on the tactics roll, the Guide must
It's up to the Guide to come up with give him an idea for how to plug a hole
the clue for the hero. If there simply in the plan.
isn't anything the hero's missing, then Normally it's up to the players to
she realizes that and can then turn her handle improving their plan on their
attention fully to what she does know own, but the hero's so brilliant, he's
as opposed to hunting for further data. able to come up with ideas that might
This trick can only be used once never occur to the players. To replicate
during each gaming session. Once it's that, he needs access to the Guide's
been triggered, it's no good until the insight, however limited it might be.
next time the players get together for Guides should watch out for heroes
the game. that abuse this trick. For one, the Guide
I've Got a Plan: Of course, doesn't have to give the best way to get
sometimes the heroes are ready to take around a problem. Any way will do.
a more active role in a situation than Also, just having a plan often is only
merely gathering evidence and the first step in surmounting a difficult
laboring over different theories. That's situation. Executing it is something else
where this trick comes in. altogether.

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 CHAPTER ONI: HlWPOWIR PACKAGlS

trick to w ork, the her must also get an
HOT SHOT
ex tra success on the attack roll.
Most people who play with fire ge t O therw ise, it's just a normal attack. If
burned, but with a hot shot, it's the hero is stunned while she's
actually impossible. A hot shot is able building her power, the bonus is lost.
to produce flame from his mouth on
command and spit it at targets as a
deadly weapon. SCREAMER

A hot shot's also invulnerable to This hero's got a set of pipes on her
damage from fire or heat. Smoke that would make the fat lady forget all
doesn't do a whole lot to them either. about singing and take up knitting
When you can spit fire, smoke instead. Not only does she have an
inhalation's not really going to be a incredible voice, but she can actually
problem for you. belt out vibrant notes pure and strong
enough to shatter glass or even
POWERS eardrums.
Spitfire: The hero can spit fire from
her mouth. This is a ranged attack that POWERS
works as described on the Spitfire Table Sonic Blast: The hero can belt out a
below. The damage done is massive sonic scream capable of making a
damage. person's brains want to start crawling
Fireproof: The hero is entirely out of his ears. This is a ranged attack,
immune to damage from fire, heat, or using the shooting skill. See the Sonic
smoke. Blast Table on page 126 for details.
The damage done is applied directly
TRICKS to the head. No other part of the body
Burn, Baby, Burn: With an extra can be affected . Don't forget that all
success on a spitfire attack, the target head shots do two extra dice of
ignites, assuming that's possible. If the damage, so the attack's damage is
target is somehow fireproof but the effectively 7d6+S.
attempt to ignite it is made, the extra Most armor in useless against the
success is wasted. Once aflame, the sonic blast unless it entirely encases the
target continues to take Sd6 points of target's body. Good earplugs work as
massive damage each turn until the armor 10/- against sonic attacks, but
flames are put out. when they're in place, the target
Flaming Hot: The hero can pump up literally cannot hear anything else at
the flame in his belly to make it red hot, all.
increasing the amount of damage it Soundproof: The hero is entirely
does by +2 for each action spent on the immune to damage from sonic attacks
buildup, up to +10. For the flaming hot of any kind.

SPIlfIR£
Rate of Range
Weapon Type Action Ammo Shots Quickness Fire Increment Damage Cost
Spitfire 1 1 5 5d6

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TRICKS TRICKS
Shatter: With an extra success on a Growth Charge: With an extra
sonic blas t attack, any glass within 1 success on a close combat attack when
inch of the hero shatters. Add + 1 inch at a smaller Size, the hero can grow at
to the range for each additional extra the same time and use the momentum
success. to add to his damage. For every point
Rattle Brain: With three extra the hero increases in Size during the
successes on a sonic blast attack, the attack, add +2 points to the damage
hero can choose to do no damage to the roll. The hero takes no damage to
target. Instead, roll for damage and himself or his weapon for this kind of
figure the wounds normally. Then h ave charge.
the target make a stun check as if he'd Disappear: With an extra success on
taken twice that many wounds . a dodge, the a ttacker loses track of the
hero. Findjng hi m again requires a full
action, unless the h ero counterattacks.
SHRIHKER

As the saying goes, it's not the size of

the d og in the fi ght. It's the size of the
SNEAK

fi gh t in the dog. Lo ts f h eroes are the flashy type,

The hero can actuall y shrink to almost demanding that people look at
minuscule sizes-down to about 1 them. That's not so with the sneak.
inch-while retaining his current traits When you need to get into someplace
and abilities, including his Strength. quietly, this is the hero for the job.
This makes it easy for the hero to slip
under doors, sneak into rooms, or get POWERS
around with little chance of being seen.
Blend In: Add +5 to stealth rolls
Nightvision: The hero sees normally
POWERS in the dark.
Shrinking: In one action, the hero
can shrink herself and her clothes (but QUIRKS
nothing else) down to one inch in
Light Sensi tive: If exposed to light
height or return to her regular stature.
when using dark vision, the hero must
For each point of reduc tion in Size, the
make a Difficult (10) Strength roll or be
hero adds +1 to stealth. Other effects are
stunned until he la ter m akes the roll.
up to the hero' s imagination and the
Guide's approval.
Armor: As the hero gets smaller, his TIlJCKS
flesh and bones get d enser. For each In Plain Sight: As long as the hero
point of reduction in Size, the hero gets gets an extra ~ uccess on a stealth roll
armor +2/-. and stands still in any kind of

SONIC BLAST

Rate of Range
Weapon Type Action Ammo Shots Quickness Fire Increment Damage Cost
Sonic Blast 1 1 5 5d6+5

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 CHAPTER ONE: NEW POWER PACKAGES

darkness- ven just a shad ow-he's POWERS

virtually invisible. Add + 10 to his last Telekinesis: The hero can m en tally
stealth roll until he moves or takes an manipulate objects. To attack, h must
action. This trick doe n' t work against use telekinetic rnartial arts, a skill based
someone who can see the hero before on Sma rt . W hen th e her d es damage
he m akes the stealth roll, but a ll the with this kind of attack, he rolls his
hero has to d o is get the p erson he's Smarts ins tead of his Strength . This skill
avoiding to turn around, and then he comes in three s tyles: baremind ed,
can disappear. blad ,an d clu b. The he ro can m ove
Radar: With an extra suc ess on a things in his line of i ht up to Size 3 at
perception roll, the h ro can ke p track up to twi e his Pace.
of things all aro u nd him, not just those
he can see with his eyes. This trick
doesn't work in noi ' y environment. TRICKS
Fast Mind: With an extra success on
a telekinetic martial arts roll, the hero can
TELEKINETIC make a second attack with the same
weapon. He can continue to do this
This hero can actually move things again and again-as long as he keeps
with only the power of his mind. The getting extra successes-but the Target
power itself is invisible, but the effects Number goes up by +5 each time.
of it are not. Mental Shield: With an extra success
The best part about this power is that on a dodge roll, the hero can use his
the hero only has to look a t something telekinesis to block incoming attacks.
to be able to move it with his mind. This gives the hero armor 10/- for the
This makes it difficult to lin k delta rest of the round .
powers directly to the telekinetic.

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 (HAPTER ON£: HEW POWER PA(KAGES

T£L£PORT£R
TOUGH

Now you ee him. N ow you don't. No thing gets to thi hero . His skin is
This hero can actually lip through tougher than just about any armor.
space from one loca tion to another­ H ero s with this power are known to
without actually ever going to any take tremendous risks that could
points in between. Even so, this endanger even their own nearly
amazing power is not without risk. invulnerable skins. They douse
themselves with gasoline and run
POWERS about on fire. They leap out of
buildings, believing they'll survive the
Teleportation: With a successful
Easy (5) navigation roll, the hero can fall. They walk into firefights, bouncing
bullets off their chest.
teleport from one location to another.
In short, they're nuts, but since they
For every success the hero gets on the
can usually get away with it, what's the
roll, he can teleport 10 inches. He can
harm?
even teleport into places that he can't
see, although doing so involves some
risk and requires an extra success. POWERS
Either way, a hero can't ever teleport Armor: 20/­
into a place he's never seen before. Fast Healer: The hero gets to make a
If the hero blows the roll, he healing roll every eight hours instead
teleports his body into a space that's of once per day.
occupied by something else. When this
happens, the hero is pushed to the TRICKS
nearest available open space and may
Catch Attack: With an extra success
be injured. Treat this as a 5d6+10 attack
on a dodge roll, the hero actually
that no armor can do anything against.
reaches out and catches whatever it
The hero can also teleport away from
was that was trying to hit him, whether
an attack with a successful dodge roll.
it's a bullet or a sword. Either way, the
attack does no damage to him at all.
TRICKS If the hero catches a close combat
Teleport Friend: For each extra weapon, he can instantly try an
success on a navigation roll for a opposed Strength roll to disarm his foe.
teleport, the hero can teleport one more If the hero catches a bullet or other
person he 's touching with him. For weapon fired at him. He can hurl it
each passenger, the hero must make back if he likes, although throwing a
another navigation roll to see if the bullet at someone isn't likely to do
passenger takes any damage. much to her. Either way, the hero gets
Teleport Foe: The hero can teleport +5 to persuasion: intimidate rolls for the
away a foe he's touching. In combat, rest of the encounter.
this requires a hit in close combat. If No Fear: On an extra success on a
successful, the hero can automatically barehanded close combat attack, the
teleport the target wherever he wants hero does Strength+5 points of damage.
within his range-even into something This is because he can use his body as a
solid, instantly doing the regular deadly weapon with no fear of it
amount of damage. becoming damaged in the attack.

'5 CROSS POUI

 ARCHETYP{S

(OVIMANT

PROfiLE PERSONALITY
Smarts: 3d6 The Lord works in mysterious ways, my
Academia: occult 2, area knowledge: friend, but as His instrument, I can be a
Crescent City 2, language: English 2, little more direct. This is a world full of
language: mystery, and the lambs of the flock must be
Latin 2, protected by the shepherdS that have
medicine 2, dedicated themselves to that cause.
profession: I count myself as one of
clergy 3 those shepherds, and as a
Speed:2d6 member of the Covenant,
Dodging 1, it's my sacred duty to
driving: bring the foes of the light
personal to justice.
vehicle 1, I'll pray for their
shooting 3, souls la ter.
stealth 1
Spirit: 5d6 Quote: Bless you.
Bravery 2, Covenant Now get out of my
martial arts: way!
barehanded 4, faith 5,
scrutinize 2, search 2
Strength: 2d6
Climbing 2, running 2,
swimming 1, throwing 2
Size: 5
Pace: 7
Delta Points: 3
Quirks: Brave +1, delta ±O, duty
-5: Covenant, ordained + 1,
pacifist -3, patron +5, public
identity ±O, registered ±O, self­
righteous -2, wise +3
Powers:
Covenant: The hero has access
to the following Covenant
powers: divine mercy,
God 's will, might of
God, shield of God,
wrath of God .
Tricks: Blessed, bull's eye, divine
inspiration
Gear: A Covenant crossbow with two spare
clips and 40 total wooden bolts, a
crucifix, Covenant body armor (Kevlar:
10 / -), a Winchester Defender with 20
shells, and $25.
 ARCHHVP£S

IHHNDER

PROFILf PERSONALITY
Smarts: 2d6 You know, I never asked to be a delta.
Area knowledge: Crescent City 2, Heck, before I awakened to my powers, I
disguise 2, language: English 2, pretty much thought the same thing about
medicine I, navigation I, profession: deltas as everyone else I knew. They were
law2 just a bunch of terrorists too proud to
Speed:4d6 lay down their arms for the good of
Acrobatics 2, dodging
the entire country. If they'd just
2, driving: personal
surrender, everything would be
vehicle I,
fine.
lockpicking:
How little I knew!
mechanical
These days, I see things a
I, martial
whole lot different. I've watched
arts: barehanded
the Primers break into houses in the
3, shooting 2,
middle of the night, hunting for
stealth 1
people fitting my description.
Spirit: 3d6 My parents and friends have
Bravery I,
had to suffer for just knowing
perception 3, persuasion:
me.
bluff I, persuasion: charm
I've dedicated
I, scrutinize 2, search I,
myself to helping
shadowing 2
the Defiance
Strength: 3d6 bring Kennedy
Climbing 2, sport: aerobics 2, down. I may not
running 2, swimming 2, throwing be able to blast a
2 Primer out of the
Size: 5 air, but I can help
Pace: 9 protect our own,
Delta Points: 3 and that's exactly
Quirks: Ambidextrous +5, beautiful + I, what I'm going to
curious -3, delta ±O, heroic -5, secret do!
identity ±O, self-confident +2,
squeamish -2, tough +2, Quote: Get behind me!
unregistered ±O
Powers:
Energy Shield: The hero can
project an energy shield in
front of her with one hand. This
shield is armor 20/ -, and it's big
enough to protect the hero and up to
two other people behind her against
all attacks from the front.
Tricks: First move, shield attack, turnabout
Gear: A Colt Python with a spare cylinder
and 40 rounds of ammo, a Ford Taurus
SHO (financed), and $400.
 ARCHETYPES

GENIUS

PROFILf PfRSOHAI.ITY
Smarts: 5d6 Excellent! I appreciate you bringing this
Academia: occult 1, academia : history 1, flux capacitor to me post haste. A device of
area knowledge: Crescent City 3, this intricacy must be studied so as to
bureaucratics 1, computing 2, further the cause of science.
criminology 1, language: English 2, Some people may claim
that because I've got a
medicine 1, naviga tion 1,
superpowered mind, I'm
profession: business 1, science:
somehow cheating. I
biology 1, science: chemistry 1, honestly don't see
science: physics 1, tactics 1 how. To me, thinking
Speed:2d6 the way I do is as
Dodging 1, driving: na tural as breathing,
personal vehicle 1, and I have only the best
shooting 2, stealth 2 of intentions. My work
Spirit: 3d6 is for the betterment of all
Bravery 2, perception 3, humanity, both delta and
scrutinize 4, search 2 reg.
Strength: 2d6 Now if I could just get the
Primers to leave me alone,
Climbing 1, fighting:

everything would be
barehanded 3,

exquisite. If they catch me,

swimming 1,
I'm sure they'd draft me into
throwing 2
their nuclear weapons lab . I
Size: 5 want to use my amazing gifts
Pace: 7 to help people, not kill them.
Delta Points: 3 That' s why I' m with the
Quirks: Alert +3, clumsy Defiance. It' s the only choice
-3, delta ±O, famous that makes sense.
+2: in his real identity,
glass jaw -3, Quote: Fascinating! Let me
photographic memory explain to you what that is
you're looking at.
+5, secret identity ±O,
skeptical -1, snobby ­
1, stubborn -2,
unregistered ±O
Powers:
Brainy: Add +5 to all Smarts rolls.
Tricks: Fast learner, I've got a plan, stroke
of brilliance
Gear: A Colt 2000 with three clips of ammo,
a taser, a Cadillac Allante (financed), and
$100.
 ARCHETYPES

HOT SHOT

PROfiLE PERSONAUTY
Smarts: 3d6 Hey, baby! Where you going? You don't
Area knowledge: Crescent City 2, have to be afraid of me. I'm one of the good
computing 3, gambling 2, language: guys, the Defiants.
English 2, language: Aw, now, don't
Spanish 2, security 2 act like tha t!
Speed:4d6 Don't believe
Dodging 4,
what you see on
driving:
TV. You think those
personal
talking pigs don't just
vehicle 1, martial arts:
tell you what Kennedy
barehanded 3, shooting 3,
wants you to hear? Buy
stealth 2
yourself a vowel, baby,
Spirit: 3d6 'cause you need a clue!
Perception 2, persuasion:
Personally, I dig being a
bluff 2, scrutinize 2,
delta. There's nothing like
search 1, shadowing 2
being able to fry the ass of
Strength: 2d6 someone who's truly
Climbing 2, running 2, deserving of it. Before I got
swimming 1, throwing 2 my powers, people used to
Size: 5 pick on me all the time.
Pace: 9 Who's laughing now?
Delta Points: 4
Quirks: Alert +3, delta ±O, Quote: jEstoy muy caliente,
impulsive -3, lucky +3,
baby!
secret identity ±O, sharp

eyes +1, stubborn -2,

temper -2, unregistered ±O,

vengeful -2, wise +3, young

-1
Powers:
Spitfire: The hero can spit

fire from her mouth. The

damage done is

massive damage.

Fireproof: The hero is

entirely immune

to damage from

fire, heat, or

smoke.

Tricks: Bull's eye, burn, baby, burn, flaming

hot
Gear: A Colt Python with a spare cylinder
and 40 rounds of ammo, a Kevlar vest,
and $200.
 ARCHETYPES

SCRUMIR

PROFILf PUSONALITY
Smarts: 2d6 I used to be a pretty d amn good singer.
Area knowledge: Crescent City 2, Well, I've still got a great voice, but I don't
computing I, disguise 2, etiquette I, sing in public much anymore. Not since
language: English 2, that club I was doing a gig at in
navigation 2 downtown Crescent City got
Speed: 4d6 caught in a Defiant /
Dodging 3, driving: Primer crossfire. I
personal vehicle 2, nearly got killed
martial arts: barehanded that day, but
I, shooting 4, stealth 2 when that
Spirit: 4d6 Primer tried to
Arts: music composition 1, use me as a
bravery 1, perception 2, human shield,
performing: singing 3, something in me
persuasion: charm 2, snapped.
scrutinize 2, search I started screaming
1, shadowing 2 at the man until he
Strength: 2d6 dropped me. Then I
Climbing 2, kept screaming until
running 2, blood was running
swimming 1, out of his ears. I
throwing 2 don't know what
Size: 5 happened to him in
Pace: 9 the end. I didn't stick
Delta Points: 3 around to find out.
Quirks: Beautiful +1, delta ±O, I've been on the run
destined for greatness +5, famous ever since. Every now
+2: in regular identity, frail -3, and then I do an open
gullible -2, secret identity ±O, mike at some no­
sharp ears + I, unregistered ±O, name dive, and I
voice + 1: soft, wanted -5: for always bring the
the death of a Primer house down. That's
Powers: a figure of speech,
Sonic Blast. of course.
Soundproof: The hero Anyhow, it's not
is immune to damage the same, but
from sonic attacks. that's my life.
Tricks: First move, bull's
eye, rattle brain Quote: Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, DIE!
Gear: A Colt Agent with a spare cylinder
and 40 rounds of ammo, a Kevlar vest, a
Ford Mustang (financed), and $200.
 ARCHETYP£S

SHRIMKER

PROfilE PERSONALITY
Smarts: 2d6 Hey, you! No, not over there. Down
Area knowledge: Crescent City 2, here! Further down!
professional: psychology 2, language: Most of the time, people don't look for
English 2, security 2, tactics 2 another person to be this small. After all, at
Speed: 4d6 just over an inch tall, I look a whole lot like
Acrobatics 1, dodging 5, driving: those miniatures I used to play games with
personal vehicle 1, shooting 1, stealth when I was in college. They're not nearly as
4 handsome, of course.
Spirit: 2d6 Being small has some real advantages,
Bravery 1, perception 2, persuasion: not the least of which is people
charm 1, scrutinize 1, search 1, underestimate you. I pack a lot
shadowing 1 of power into this tiny
Strength: 4d6 package, and when I want to
Climbing 2, fighting: kick someone's butt, I can
barehanded 5, running open a full-size can of
2, swimming 2, whup-ass no matter how
throwing 2 tall I might be.
Size: 6 Just watch where you're
Pace: 9 stepping, all right?
Delta Points: 3
Quirks: Brave + 1, Quote: Really, size
brawny +3, code doesn't matter!
of honor -3, delta
±O, greedy -2,
heroic -5, iron
jaw +3, secret
identity ±O,
sense of
direction +1,
tough +2,
unregistered ±O
Powers:
Shrinking: In one action, the hero can
shrink down to one inch in height or
return to her regular stature. For each
point of reduction in Size, the hero
adds + 1 to stealth.
Armor: For each point of reduction in
Size, the hero gets armor +2/-.
Tricks: Bull's eye, disappear, first move
Gear: A Derringer with six rounds of
ammo, a bulletproof vest, a taser and
$350.
 ARCHHYP£S

SHIAK

PROFILf PfRSONALITY
Smarts: 2d6 Hello.
Area knowledge: Crescent City 2, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. I
computing 1, disguise 3, language: know it can be a little unsettling when you
English 2, security 2 suddenly realize someone else is in the
Speed: 5d6 room with you, especially if you
Dodging 3, driving: personal
thought you were alone.
vehicle 1, martial arts:
That's what I do. I hide. I
barehanded 3, martial arts:
disappear. I blend in.
blade 1, shooting 3, stealth 4
As a Defiant, you can probably
Spirit: 3d6 guess how handy this ability is
Perception 4, scrutinize 2, in my line of work. When
search 1, shadowing 4 you've got the whole of
Strength: 2d6 Delta Prime hunting for
Climbing 2, running 2,
you, it's important to
swimming 1,
just be able to slip into
throwing 2
the woodwork.
Size: 5 Of course, if Delta
Pace: 10 Prime can't ever find me, what
Delta Points: 3 makes you think you could do
Quirks: Cautious -3, any better? There's nothing to
delta ±O, destined for
stop me from watching you
greatness +5, double­
any time I like. And I will be
jointed +1, light
watching you.
sensitive ±O, light
And if you do something
sleeper +1, secret
wrong, I'll stop watching and
identity ±O, self-
start doing.
righteous -2, sense of

direction +1, sense of time

Quote: Big Brother, I'm watching
+1, unregistered ±O, voice you.
+1: hard, wanted -5
Powers:
Blend In: Add +5 to
stealth rolls
Nightvision: Can see

normally in the

dark.

Tricks: Bull's eye, extra

damage, in plain
sight
Gear: A Remington
M700 and 50 rounds
of ammo, a Derringer with four rounds
of ammo, a Kevlar vest, a hunting knife,
and $50.
 ARCHETYPES

TEIIKiMETI(

PROflU P£RSONALITY
Smarts: 5d6 How do I do it? Well that would be
Area knowledge: Crescent City 2, telling, wouldn't it?
computing 2, criminology 2, disguise Actually, I don't mind. I'm a delta,
3, language: English 2, telekinetic you see, and I do this all with the
martial arts: bareminded 5, power of my mind. Really, it's
telekinetic martial arts: club 3 incredibly simply once you know what
Speed: 3d6 you're doing. Sometimes I wonder why
Acrobatics 1, dodging 2, driving: I wasn't able to do this all my life. Or
personal vehicle 1, shooting 2, why everybody just can't do it
stealth 3 anyway.
Spirit: 2d6 I guess I'll never know. I try not
Leadership 1, to ask these
perception 2, questions too much.
persuasion: I'm afraid I wouldn' t
taunt 1, scrutinize like the answers. In
I, search 1, the meantime, I enjoy
shadowing 2 doing what I can do,
Strength: 2d6 and as long as Delta
Climbing 2, running Prime never figures out
2, swimming 2, who I really am, life is fine.
throwing 1
Size: 5
Pace: 8
Delta Points: 3
Quirks: Addiction -1 : caffeine,
alert +3, arrogant -3, delta
±O, honest -3, loyal -3,
photographic memory +5,
secret identity ±O, tough
+2, unregistered ±O
Powers:
Telekinesis: The hero
can move, hit, or
bend things with
his mind .
Tricks: Fast learner, first
move, mental shield
Gear: A Colt Python
with a spare
cylinder and 40
rounds of ammo,
a Kevlar vest, and $200.
 ARCHETVP£S

TmpORTER

PROfiLE PERSONALITY
Smarts: 4d6 Where'd I come from? Why right over
Area knowledge: Crescent City 3, there, pal. How'd I get past the security?
language: English 2, navigation 5, Well, that's part of the trick. I never really
profession: architecture 3, went past them so much as I bypassed
security 2, tactics 1 them.
Speed: 3d6 I teleported over here you see.
Dodging 3, driving: personal Slipped right between two points in
vehicle 1, shooting 3, stealth 2 space without crossing the ones in
Spirit: 2d6 between.
Perception 2, persuasion: bluff 1, There's no door that can stop
scrutinize 2, search 1, me. No cuffs that can hold me.
shadowing 2 There's nothing that can get in
Strength: 3d6 my way.
Climbing 1, fighting:
Give me that Delta Prime
barehanded 3,
badge. I can add it to my
fighting: blade 1,
collection. Ciao!
running 2,

swimming 1, throwing
Quote: Hi! Bye!
2

Size: 5
Pace: 8
Delta Points: 3
Quirks: Alert +3, brave
+1, code of honor - 3, curious
-3, delta ±O, gear + 1: night­
vision goggles, impulsive -3,
secret identity ±O, self-confident
+2, softhearted -I, unregistered
±O, wise +3
Powers:
Teleportation: With a successful
Easy (5) navigation roll, the
hero can teleport from one
location to another. For
every success the hero gets
on the roll, he can
teleport 10 inches away.
Tricks: Bull' s eye, teleport
friend , teleport foe
Gear: A Colt 2000 with four
clips, all filled with ammo, a hunting
knife, lots of maps of Crescent City, a
pair of handcuffs, and $350.
 ARCHETYPES

OU6H

PROFILI PIRSOHALITY
Smarts: 2d6 Let me tell you about me, man. I'm 18
Area knowledge: Crescent City 2, years old, and I'm freaking immortal!
demolition 2, gambling 2, language: Yeah, I know, all 18-year-olds
English 2, security 2 think they're immortal, but with
Speed: 3d6 me it's the truth. Here, watch me
Dodging 4, driving: personal vehicle stab myself with your knife.
I, shooting 3, stealth 2 See? Nothing! Well, my
Spirit: 3d6 shirt's got a ri p in i.t now,
Perception 2,
and the tip
persuasion: ,,~,.
of that's
bluff 2,
blade's a
persuasion:
little
intimidation
bent,
2,
but I'm better than
persuasion:
new, dude!
taunt I,
Nothing can hurt me! It's a
scrutinize I, search I,
freakin' dream come true!
shadowing 2

Strength: 4d6 Quote: Give me your best

Climbing I, fighting:
shot!
barehanded 4, fighting:

club 3, running 2,

swimming I,

throwing 2

Size: 5
Pace: 9
Delta Points: 4
Quirks: Death wish -5, delta
±O, destined for greatness

+5, public identity ±O,

lucky +3, seJf­

confident +2,

unregistered ±O,

wanted -5

Powers:
Armor: 20/­
Fast Healer: The hero gets to make a
healing roll every eight hours instead
of once per day.
Tricks: Catch attack, first move, no fear
Gear: A Colt 2000 with a spare cylinder and
40 rounds oJ ammo, a leather jacket, a
baseball bat, and $300.
HARD TIMES IN CRESCENT CITY
PArRIOT ON TRIAL
ALWAYS WATCH YOUR BACK
SHAKING DOWN THE WRONG MAN ON THE WRONG DAY

THE (OVENANT AT WORK

ABAD DAY fOR DELTA PRIME
CHAPTER TWO: THE TRUlH Of THE MATTER
 (HAPIlR TWO:
THl TRUIH OF
IHl MAIIlR

GUiDIS ONLY PATRIOT'S JOURNAL

In case you hadn't figured it out Patriot's story is all his own, a classic
from the big warning sign on page 144, tale of an all-American kid grown up to
this part of the book is for Guides only. discover that the America he's living in
If you're a player in Brave New World, is nothing like the one he idealized in
put the book down slowly and back his youth. When he finally figures that
away. out-despite years of living in denial­
Or just go back to reading the earlier he decides to take the fight to the
parts of the book. It's up to you. people responsible for the delusions
In this chapter, we finally get down he's tossed off: the US government.
to revealing what's going on behind the
scenes in all the different areas we
talked about in all those sections from No GOOD DUD GOfS UHPUHISHfD
the Delta Times website. Of course, In the course of his awakening,
we're not letting it all out quite yet. Patriot made not one, but two enemies.
Even Guides need their surprises too, The first was Wilbur Jeffries, the
and you can be sure we'll get around to exploding man who was forced to
revealing all of those in the proper detonate his whole body for the first
time. time. Jeffries plagued Patriot time and
As a guide, you've got to remember time again over the years, until he was
that it's your duty to keep these secrets finally stuffed into a New Alcatraz cell
until the heroes learn about them in the five years back.
course of play. When that happens, you Jeffries actually ran into Patriot while
get to sit back and cackle, then watch the hero was waiting for his sentence to
their jaws drop as they realize what's be carried out. He tried to save the state
really going on. the cost of an execution, but Patriot put

'S POLiCe CROSS POUI

 CHAPUR TWO: THI TRUTH Of lHI MATT£R
the man into the prison hospital for a
few weeks instead. What Patrio t didn 't
THf GRfAT MISTAKf Of '88
know is Delta Prime put Jeffries up to Patriot's inside assessment of the
it, and even though he failed, Jeffries situation is spot on. The general public
will be released from jail this fall for his believes that G neral Tretyak's attack
efforts. was an act of naked, unprompted
Then there's Jack Billington. Jack aggr ssion, but he really was
always held Patriot to blame for his responding to an assassination attempt.
father's death, despite Patriot's account The CIA now claims that the agents
of how the situation unfolded. He w orking with the assassins were
made it his life's mission to bring the actually working a sting operation.
hero down. In the end, Patriot might They say they w ere really trying to
not have fallen at Jack the V's hand, but save the Premier, but only the most
Billington was there in the front row at dyed-in-the-wool, blinders-wearing
the hero's execution nevertheless. patriots are buying that story.

DALLAS WORKING fOR THf fAMILY

There's a lot that happened behind That delta kid that Patriot risked his
the scenes on that fateful day back in life to save rather than turn him over to
1963, but we've covered that pretty the mob is now in his early teens. His
well in the Brave New World rulebook. If name's Brendan Sain, and you can bet
you don't know what we're talking you'll be hearing from him in the near
about, pick up that book and start future. Patriot kept in touch with him
reading. You're in for the surprise of over the years, and Brendan's just
your life. about ready to pick up where his
mentor left off.
 (HAPTER TWO: THE TRUTH Of THE MATTER

THE DUIANT YEARS DEATH Of AHERO

In this section, Patriot's actively
Is Pa triot dead? Well, he was shot
downplaying the competence of the
down in front of dozens of reliable
Defiance. This is part of an active
witnesses, including the governor of
disinformation campaign designed to
Illinois and the mayor of Crescent City.
lull Delta Prime into a false sense of
If you can't believe them, who can you
security. If Patriot hadn't written it this
believe?
way himself, you can bet that Truth
Ah, let's rephrase that.
would have edited the piece to read
As far as anyone knows, Patriot's
that way.
extremely dead. Of course, the funeral
In case you haven't figured it out by
was a closed-casket ceremony.
now, Truth doesn't always live up to
Also, a week later, the dirt over
her name. She's what's called an
Patriot's grave was found dug up and
"untrustworthy narrator." As one of
replaced again. Some people claim
the most prominent members of the
that's because the man's back from the
Defiance, there's a reason behind
dead, but in reality, it happened when
everything she does, and she's more
some Delta Primers exhumed the coffin
than happy to lie to further the
late one night. But if they found
Defiance's ends.
anything unusual there, they're not
As for that patriotic rant that Patriot
telling.
goes on, he really does believe all that
stuff. How do you think he got his
name, after all? THE AfTERMATH
Instead of killing off a threat to its
PArRloT'S TRIAL power, the Kennedy government
created a new one. Patriot's life has not
As Patriot says, his time in court was
been forgotten, and his death has been
merely a show trial meant to show the
burned into the minds of people
American public all the horrors the
everywhere, regs and deltas alike.
criminal known as Patriot had
Deltas everywhere are now wearing
committed. This would have backfired
black armbands featuring the icon of
on the government, had the entire
Patriot's mask. The same icon is
proceedings not been heavily censored
popping up in spraypainted versions
and edited before being broadcast to
on buildings, subways, and overpasses
the world.
all across the country.
In case you're wondering, Connor
When Primers speak of Pa triot, they
Darrow's not a delta. He's just a
recall their greatest foe with awe. And
conscientious lawyer willing to stand
they wait for others to take his place.
up for what he believes in. There aren't
When deltas speak of Patriot, they
many good lawyers out there that are
do so reverently, as of a great leader
openly sympathetic to deltas.
who has sadly passed away-and as a
Keep this in mind if your heroes ever
great example of how a Defiant should
end up in court. If they need a lawyer,
live and-if she has to--die.
Darrow's the man for the job-for all
The government was hoping to
the good it's going to do them, of
make an example out of Patriot. What
course. No one's that good.
they made was a martyr.

)5 pOLIce CROSS PUUI

 (HAPTER TWO: THI TRUTH OF THI MATTER

CRESCENT CITY UNDER THE (ITY

When Triumph, Inc., set about
So you want to know what really
building Crescent City, the architects
happened to Chicago? Sorry, we're not
took the opportunity to build a
quite ready to talk about that yet. In the
complicated system of underground
meantime, though, we've got some
tunnels to run beneath the city proper.
other juicy bits for you to chew on.
These tunnels carry electric, cable,
telephone, and high-speed data wires­
TRIUMPH, INC there are no telephone poles anywhere
Although he doesn't advertise it, Ben in the city-and various parts of it
Archer is actually a registered delta . serve as sewers, subway routes, and
He's made himself a deal with the accessways to the basements of just
President, though, to keep himself about every building in the city.
permanently out of the draft. Even Everybody knows about the tunnels
though he's getting on in years now, that run beneath Crescent City, but few
the Primers wouldn't care. They abuse people go there. In among the standard
deltas of any age. urban legends of giant crocodiles and
But the word's corne down from the massive, child-eating rats, there are
highest level. When it comes to Archer, rumors of an entire subculture-so to
hands off. speak-of the disaffected who live
What are Archer's powers? The beneath the surface of the streets. The
funny thing is that no one outside of rumors are at least partially true, as
President Kennedy and a few select several bands of homeless gangs Ii ve
associates actually knows. It's one of away from the sunlight, but if there's
the tightest-kept secrets in America . actually a single ruler of these people,
he's yet to make himself known .

:;s paLlc~ CROSS PULII

 (HAPTfR TWO: THf TRUTH Of THE MATTER

THf ALPHA THRfAT (ODf BLUf

N ew Alcatraz is the finest m aximum Chief "Heavy H arv" Newcomb is
security system ever built, featuring the only real force for justice il1 the city,
state-of-the-art delta-power dampers and that's the reason Commissioner
w ith m ultiple redundant power Fleming keeps h im on. Harv 's a
systems. So how d es anyone ever practical m an. H e kn w w ho' in
escape? charge, and he has no illusions about
They d on ' t. Okay, they do, bu t n )t what w ould happen to him if he was to
really. take an active stand against it.
Th fact is that the warden actually Still, he manages to create justice
allows determin ed criminal to escape where he ca n find the opportunity.
from time to time. O therwise, they'd New omb's go t a core team of tms ted
never be abJ ~ to get out. In fa t, certain officers that a re sp read ou t in d ifferent
alp has who p romise to work for Delta positi n throughout the force. Only a
Prime on a limited basis are often few of these officers have ac tually
gran ted unofficial amnesty at the publicl y declared their Ie yalty to
com pletion of an ssignmen t-untiL
G Newcomb for fear of r percussions
they're caught again, tha t is. from thei r les -conscientious partne rs.
Loose alphas scare the hell ou t of
people, and when peopl are scared,
they dem and more fun d ing for the UNITED STATES Of ANARCHY
p risons . AI -a, peop le a ren' t so There's a lot going on in the US th a t
concerned about Kenn d y' 5 goo ns Tm th doesn ' t know abou t-or isn' t
routinely iolating innocent citizens' ready to hare with the world . Here's
civil rights w hen their lives m ay be on some of it.
the line.

THf GOVfRNMIHT THf WASTELANDS

While a lot of peop le were
Crescent City is as C n'up t as incinerated in the bom bings in A tlanta
Chicago ever was, and tha t's saying a and San Francisco, even more
lot. Mayor Jefferson p retty much le ts contracted radi tion sickness and died.
Don Vito Gabriel have free r ign in the Of course, some of those p eop le
city, as long as he manages to maintain actually became deltas instead.
some kind of control over the les er Word is that A tlanta's where all the
gangs. vamp ires came from . The th ory is
Vito rules over the criminal elemen ts they're a bunch of deltas who became
of Crescent City with an iron hand . All ligh t sensitized by the blast and
gangs pay tribute to him in one form or somehow all turned into the same kind
another. Those that don't are quickly of d elta in the same kind of way
exterminated by Vito's personalleam Catholic clergy always become
of delta enforcers. Even Delta Prime Covenants. Since there have been
would hesitate to go up against this similar clans of vampires found in San
powerful bunch of deltas, but since the Francisco too, there may very well be
Primers' superiors order them not to, some truth to this-or it might be
there's not much of a threat of that. something even more sinister.

;S PlllCe CROSSpuUI

 (HAPTER TWO: Tm TRUTH Of THE MATTER

(VIL UNUMITED RAVAGED PLANET

This criminal organization has its

It's a big, battered world out there.
fingers in just about every kind of
crime you can imagine. EU avoids the
searchlights, preferring to be the power !.IBYA
behind the throne, so to speak. Qadafi has been a thorn in
EU spends a lot on "active R&D." Kermedy's side for decades, and he's
Roughly translated: They steal secrets. survived several attempts at retaliation.
The CPR lab at MIT is rife with EU In the course of one of these, the Libyan
spies, and more can be found ruler nearly died and-you guessed
throughout Triumph, Inc.'s corporate it-became a delta.
structure. Since then, Qadafi has assembled a
Better yet, the EU's actually vast organization of delta terrorists.
supporting the Texan rebels that are These are some of the people who give
hoping to launch an armed rebellion the rest of the Defiance a bad name.
against the US to establish an
independent Texan nation. The EU
board of directors doesn't really care CHINA
who wins in the conflict. Th y only To the American public, it seems like
know that wars sell devices of there are barely any Chinese deltas.
destruction. The fa ct is the cOl-m tr y's rife with them,
With all tha t's going on all over the and they're consi dered the people's
world these d ays, Evil U n lim it ~ d is greatest asse t. A uch, th e government
making a mint. They pas the i de term ined to keep tbeir ex ist nce of
graveyard as they la ugh all the way to each delta a secret l-mtil it's necessary to
the bank, and they never mi a beat. revea l her powers. Un til then, tJle n tire
country is complicit in keeping q uiet
HOLLYWOOD about the delt 's abilities.
A f w rebels have tried t br ak the
As alway, L -La Land is fu ll of all sil nee, bu t even they don' t have
sorts of machinations which y u enough informati n to be dangerous.
w l-i ldn' t believe if you saw them in a Only the men in Beijing hav any real
m vie. idea how many delta are in their
The fact L that Marty Stever" not a country, and tiley're not telling.
delta, but Brian Selvin is. He" go t
limited mind control powers that h Ip
to convince studio execs that his clients THE COVENANT
are d cent Cl ctors. (UnfortwM t ly, his No o ne knows wh y Ca tholic clergy
clients can't seem to convince even who become d elta all end up w ith th
their fa ns of the same thing.) It's no sam e se t of p owers . Well, w e d ,but
c incidence tha t Stever is rumored to e're n o t q uite ready to tip o ur hand
have the powers that Selvin actually ye t.
has. Selvin arranged for tever ' fall The Covenan t has spent a lot of
from gra e. Stever 's due fo r parole years building a p u blic face that w ould
soon tho ugh, and thert the sparks are b acceptable to th leaders of just
re lly going to fly. about evelY m ajor n a tion , but th re's

jS POLIce CROSS POLII

 (HAPTER TWO: THE TRUTH Of THE MATTER

more to the organiza tion than meets Tretyak's amazing power is to be
the eye. There's a top-secret cabal that able to come back from the dead . It
works inside of the Covenant, doesn't stop him from being killed, but
unknown to anyone outside except the nothing's been able to permanently put
Pope himself. These are the people the him down yet.
Pontiff calls in when there's a job to be Every time you hear about the
done that the public Covenant couldn't Russian premier falling ill or
risk soiling its reputation by dealing disappearing for a few days, what's
with it. really happened is he's survived
The key words here are "plausible another attempt on his life. Depending
deniability." Some of the members of on how badly his body was mangled, it
the Covenant's Curia have been caught takes him a while to recover.
over the years, but few have been taken
alive, and none of them have talked­
at least as far as the Vatican knows.
THE UNITED NATIONS
In another world, the United Nations
might be this ravaged planet's greatest
THE SOVIET UNION hope for peace. It could work to bring
General Tretyak has apparently together countries with radically
survived several assassination attempts differing points of view and give them
fr m both within an d w ithout his ow n a venue in which they could talk with
government. N ot all of them w ere each o th er and bring their problems to
successful, but the fact is tha t orne of peaceful resolutions.
them were. After the attemp t w hich That won 't happen here. The
sp urred the Great Mistake f '88, coun tries jus t have too m any internal
Tretyak ac tually b ecame a d 1ta. problems to work with each o ther.

;5 POlice CROSS POUI

THE AUTHOR'S Af~TER=WO=-RD_ __ __

CROSSPOLII
---­
 THE
AUTHOR'S
AfTERWORD

Hi. This is where I finally drop the

corporate "we" and talk to you directly. WHAT'S TH£ GAM£ ABOUT?
If you've made it this far, you've
probably read both this book and the
WHAT'S IN AHAM£? Brave New World rulebook. You've
Let's get this one out of the way right probably already got some good ideas
away. Brave New World is not named of your own concerning what this
after the Aldous Huxley novel. The game's all about.
name is taken from the same place I mean, there's got to be a point to it
Huxley found the name for his book: all, right?
William Shakespeare's The Tempest. The easy answer is this: Brave New
The play centers around Miranda­ World is what you make of it. In some
the beautiful daughter of the wizard respects, a roleplaying game is like a
Prospero-who's been isolated on an mirror. You keep reading it long
island with her father for most of her enough, and sooner or la ter you see
young life. She's not seen anyone your own ideas staring back at you.
outside of her father and a slave named And that's fine. Better yet, that's the
Caliban ever since she can remember, way it's supposed to be. After all, when
and when she finally has her first you sit down to play the game with
encounter with someone from the your friends, I've already handed the
outside world, she exclaims, "0, brave ball off to you. It's your job to run with
new world, that has such people in't." it and see where you can go.
Seeing as how this game's all about As I wrote in Brave New World, it's
people with wondrous powers capable your game. Do with it what you will.
of turning the world on its collective The only real rule is have fun. If that
ear, it was just too appropriate to pass happens, then I've done my job, and so
up. have you.

i5 PBl.ICC CROSS paUl

 TH£ AUTHOR 'S AfTfRWORD

My THOUGHTS
out bombs o r g uns to m ake their point.
Those days are gone, and a lot of
Okay, so I wussed out on the people are asking why.
question. How very political of me. I'm less interested in placing blame
Somehow, I think that's appropriate. and more in what we're planning to do
All right. Let me tell you what I had about it as a nation. The first reaction
in mind when I wrote the game. Again, most people have when they're scared
this doesn't have to mesh up with what is to crack down on anything out of the
you want to do with the game at all. It's ordinary. Unfortunately, that usually
your game, after all. means trampling on individual rights.
While most of use are usually willing to
make some sacrifices for the common
THE TfRROR good, where do you draw the line?
When you're watching the news, And what happens when you find
you see a world filled wi th all sorts of yourself part of the group being
horrible things. Sure, there are the singled out to make the sacrifices? Or
natural disasters-the fires, the floods, simply the target of ignorant hate?
the earthquakes-but there's nothing Hate comes from fear, and fear comes
that can be done about those. from ignorance.
The things that really shake me are That's what Brave New World is all
the ways we hurt each other, and not about: exploring what it's like to be on
just in the personal ways. It's the the other side of all of that and what's
slaughters. wrong with it.
I'm talking about Oklahoma City, the
World Trade Center, Atlanta's Olympic
Park, and-of course-Columbine.
THE GAME
Then there's Bosnia-Herzegovina, Also, this is a game about people
Haiti, Somalia, Kosovo, or even Pol with powers, not powers with people.
Pot's Cambodia or Hitler's Germany. It's dark and gritty, with a healthy dash
Visit the Holocaust Museum in DC if of the fantastic.
you get a chance. The horrors are You might notice that Brave New
unimaginable. World owes a lot to superheroes and
comic books. I love comics, and I think
it's a great medium for storytelling.
THE RESPONSE Better yet, the superhero trappings help
Brave New World concentrates on divorce the setting that much farther
domestic terror and how we react to it. from reality, making the serious issues
Who do we blame? And what measures of the setting easier to swallow and
are we prepared to take to make sure it even enjoy. After all, this is a game, and
never happens again? the whole point is to have fun.
There was once a time when we I'll leave you with this. In Brave New
didn't have any metal detectors in World, you playa person with the
airports much less schools. (Of course, power to make a difference in the
if you go far enough back, we didn't world. In reality, we've all got that
have airports either, so that's progress power-right up until we hand it over
for you.) Not so long ago disgruntled to someone else. Use your power
students or employees rarely brought wisely, and never give it up.

;5 POLICE CROSS PUUI

 THE AUlHOR'S AFTERWORD

SOUR(IS OF INSPIRATION
When concocting something like a
roleplaying game, you draw on a lot of
different influences. There are certainly
more than I can remember, but these
are the ones that spring to mind. I
heartily recommend each of them.
If you've got any sources that
remind you of Brave New World, send
them on in. 1'd love to check them out
myself.
Some of the influences are more
obvious than others, and a few are even
a bit obscure. Believe me, all of them
played some sort of role in the
forma tion of the game.

1984 by George Orwell. (The classic

d ystopian novel.)
60 Minutes. CBS.
Astra City by Kurt Busiek, Brent
Anderson, and Alex Ross. Homage
Comics.
The Bill of Rights.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.
(For pointing me to the right title, if

nothing else.)

Champions by Ray Greer, George

MacDonald, and Steve Peterson. (I
even wrote Western Hero for this
game system.)
CNN Headline News. Time/Warner.
(I'm a CNN junkie.)
The Constitution of the United States of
America.
The Dark Knight Returns by Frank
Miller, Klaus Janson, and Lynn
Varley. DC Comics. (My favorite
comic ever.)
DC Heroes Roleplaying Game by Greg
Gorden. Mayfair Games.
Deadlands: The Weird West and
Deadlands: Hell on Earth by Shane
Lacy Hensley. Pinnacle
Entertainment Group . (Deadlands:

;SPOI.IC£ CROSS POL l{

 THE AUTHOR'S AHERWORD

The Weird West was PiImacle's first

roleplaying game, and the influences MANY THANKS

on Brave New World's rules are hard Since I've got the space here, I'm
to miss.) going to do the right thing and rattle
The Declaration of Independence by off a list of some of the people who
Thomas Jefferson. deserve my undying gratitude. Bear
James Bond novels (by Ian Fleming) w ith me if you can.
and films (from MGM/UA). If your name's not on this list and it
Justice Leaglle of America by various should be, please be forgiving. It's been
creator:·; DC Comics. (I loved the a long road.
Giffen, DeMatteis, Maguire run.)
Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex To AIm Kolinsky and Marty Forbeck,
Ross. DC Comics. my wife and son.
Marvels by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross. To my parents, H elen Forbeck and
Marvel Comics. Ken Forb ck. And to my stepmoth r
Maus: A Survivor's Tale, and Maus II: Nancy FOL"beck.
And Here My Troubles Began by Art To all m y sibs, Mark, Kim, and Jody
Spiegelman. Pantheon Books. Forbeck. And all my steps, Susie, Dan,
The Psycho by James Hudnall and Dan and Steve Schooff.
Brereton. DC Comics. (I was given And just to get their names in the
the issues to read after I'd started the book, some of my extended family:
game. Dead on.) Todd, Murray, and Henry Dunsim,
Ronin, directed by John Frankenheimer. Lorie, SavaImah, and Delaney Forbeck,
MGM / UA. Giovanni Marta, Todd and Jack
The Shadow by Andy Helfer and Kyle Rongstad, and Alyssa Whitney.
Baker. DC Comics. To the man who founded Pinnacle,
The Siege, directed by Edward Zwick. Shane Lacy Hensley.
20," Century Fox. To my other partners, Michelle
Starman by James Robinson and Tony Hensley, John Zinser, Dave Seay, and
Harris, among others. DC Comics. John and Mary Zinser.
Star Wars by George Lucas. (Okay, not To the rest of the PiImacle crew,
directly, but it seems like everything especially Zeke Sparkes, Hal Mangold,
else that's come out this summer's John Hopler, Maureen Yates, Marcelo
got some kind of Star Wars Figueroa, Leticia Hayler, and Ray Lau.
cOImection.) Sister Cabrini, Bink Noll, and Warren
Storm Watch, especially Warren Ellis' Hecht for teaching me to love the
run. WildStorm Productions. language.
The Uncanny X-Men during Chris To Troy DeIming and Will Niebling,
Claremont's run. Marvel Comics. for getting me into this industry.
Underground by Ray WiIminger. To all my other friends in the
Mayfair Games . industry. There are too many of you to
Villains and Vigilantes by Jeff Dee. list, but you know who you are.
Fantasy Games Unlimited. Of course, the biggest thanks of all
The Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave goes out to you. After all, what's a book
Gibbons. DC Comics. without a reader, and what's a game
We by Eugene Zamyatin. (The first without a player?
dystopian novel.)

)S POLlC~ CROSS POUI

 INDEX

A D K
S
Academy 67
Dallas 77, 148
Kiev 24, 107
San D iego 86

Africa 93
Defender 123, 130
San Francisco

Atlanta Denver 79
L 24, 75, 84, 87, 151

75, 151, 156

Detroit 79
Scandinavia 101

Libya 93, 152

Aura of
Disappear 126
Schism 113

Light sensitive 126

righteousness Divine mercy 120

Screamer 125, 133

Lo:; Angeles 80

120
Shatter 126

Australia 94
E Shield attack 123

M Shield of God 122

Energy shield 123

Manna 121

B Europe 98
Memorial Field 68

hrinker 126, 134

Bicentennial Evil Unlimited 1 2

Shrin kin g 126

Mental shield 127

Sneak 126, 135

Battle 20, 104

Mexico 104
Sonic blast 125

Blend In 126
f Miami 82
Soundproof 125

Blessed 119
Fast healer 128
Middle-East 101

Boston 76
South Africa 93

Fast mind 127

M ight of God 121
South America 104

Brainy 123

Fireproof 125
Mins 24
_oviet

Bum, baby, burn

Flaming ho t 125
Union 106, 153

125
France <:i8
N Spain 101

New York 83
Spitfire 125

(
G N ightvision 126
Stroke of

Ca nada 96
brilliance 123

Genius 123, 131

No fear 128

Catch attack 128

Su perior Park 70

German y 98

Central America
Superior Square 70

104

God 's will ] 21

P
Great Britain 98

Chernobyl 24
Phil delphia 85

Chine 97, 152

Grea t Mis take 148

Power
I

row th chargE> 126

Telekinesis 127

C s ta Rica 104
packages 109

Covenant
Prime
Tel kinetic 127, 136

100, 110, 117,

H Headquarters 69
Teleport foe 128

119, 129, 152

Ho llywood 152
Telep ort friend 128

H ong Kong 97
eleporta tion 128

Covenant
R Tcleporter 128, 137

crossbow 118
H ot shot 125, 132
Radar 127

Covenant
ough 128, 138

Ra ttle brain 126

Triumph Tower 71

martial arts 117

Covenant
Turnabout 123

In plai n sight 126

powers 120
India 102

Crescent
Iran 101
U
Amphitheak'r 67
Iraq 101
United

Crescent City 150

Irela nd 99
N ations 107, 153

Crescent City
Israel 102

Hall 67
Italy 100
W
Crescent City Police
I've got a plan 124
Washington, DC 88

Department 68
Wastelands 151

Wrath of God 122

Japan 103

35 PIJUCE CROSS POLII

 WAIT, THERI'S MORf!

Come on, we weren' t going to get you all worked up about Brave New World
and then just leave you hanging. If you liked this book, there's a lot more where
that came from!

BRAVE NEW WORLD:

AROLEPLAYING GAME

This is the book that starts it all! You literally

can' t play the game without it.
This deluxe, hardcover book comes complete
with all the backstory and rules you need to get
your Brave New World saga rolling. If you
haven't got a copy already, be sure to head
down to your favorite retailer and demand
yours now!
Written by Matt "Brave New World"
Forbeck. Cover by Zeke Sparkes.
224 pages, 64 in color! SKU# 7000 $30.00

POWER SHIELD

THE BRAVf NEW WORLD GUlDf'S SCRHN

N w that you know the game, it's time to

actually play it. N o more fumbling thro ugh the
book looking fo r tha t crucia l table. They're all
her in an easy-t -refe rence forma t on the
inside of this dazzlingly colorful, trifo1 d screen,
the perf ct place to keep your secrets b hind.
Power Sh ield also come with The Ripper, the
firs t Brave New World adventure. It's a great
launching poinL for your v ry ow n Brave New
World saga.
Wri tten by Shane "Dead lands" Lacy Hen -1 y.
48 pages, plus screen! SKU# 7001 $1 .DO

DUIANTS:

THE DUIANCE SOURCEBOOK

The battle for Brave New World rages n . This

book dra ws back the veil f secrecy that
surrounds the most powerful group of rebels in
America: th e Defiance! L ern th truth about
Truth an d the organ ization she's behind.
Dcfiauce also comes wi th six brand-new
power pack ges for use in your game. No good
Defiant would be caugh t without it!
Written by Matt "Brave New World "
Forb ck, with a hot cover by Brian DeSpain.
128 pages, oj tcover SKU# 7003 $20.00