ATOMIC HIGHWAY

DARK FUTUREThe Apocalypse Then Campaign

Hero’s MaidVersion 1.4

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wants the car and everything inside it, towed back hereas intact as possible. If the PCs question ‘J’ he is notwilling to give up more information. If asked aboutGrant he will tell them that he believes he is dead, andthat he was in breach of a prior contact. If asked if he islooked for anything specific in the car, he will tell themhe is not, but wants the car and all its contents if thePCs are to be paid. He is willing to pay $12,000 for thecar, but will try to negotiate for less. He will give anadvance of $1,200 if pressed. Assuming the playersaccept the deal, he passes on a temporary Datanetaddress and says he looks forward to hearing from themwhen they have recovered Ursula, before retreating intohis car and driving off.Checking out ‘J’PCs may wish to check out the story ‘J’ gave them,either through legwork or using the Datanet. Localgossip will confirm that Horatio Grant is a SanctionedOperative who worked out of Chicago on occasion anddid own a red G-Mek Interceptor called ‘Ursula’.Spending $5,000 on the Ratcatcher Service will not onlyconfirm that his last known location of Springfield,Illinois, but also that there is a $6,000 bounty currentlyplaced on his head by GenTech, Chicago. No furtherdetails of the bounty are posted, but as ‘J’ wants thecar and GenTech want simply want Grant dead, PCs mayfeel they can be paid twice. Finally, no gossip or evenpaying for a Ratcatcher trace provides any informationon ‘J’, it is as if he simply does not exist.InterludeThe drive to Springfield is uneventful, although the PCswill see a bunch of a local cykegangs known as theKnights of Illinois (Outriders, page 102) participating insome sort of group beating as they cruise down theInterstate. PCs who have Datanet access through aSatellite Uplink can determine none of the participantshas current bounties. While the Knights outnumber thePC two-to-one, they are not looking for a fight withwell-armed Sanctioned Ops, and so will flee in the faceof gunfire. The target of their attention is Karl Welty,who was travelling to meet his sister in Springfield whenthe Knights of Illinois caught him and decided to converthim into their cult, if rescued he will be very gratefuland offer the PCs free lodging in Springfield with hisolder sister, Shirl.

Hero’s Maid is an ‘Apocalypse Then’ campaign scenarioset in the Illinois, for starting PCs. It provides the firstcritical Plot Point for the Atomic Highway: Dark FutureApocalypse Then campaign. It assumes that the PCs areSanctioned Operatives, and have some mode oftransport. While the scenario is set in Illinois, anyAmerican city can serve as its starting point.A bit of recent historyHis name was Horatio Grant, a Sanctioned Operativefrom Chicago with a decent reputation for getting thejob done. One of his specialties was surveillance, and itwas for this role that ‘J’ a fixer working for aCorporation known as Thorn Industries, hired him.Grant’s target in this case was Tomo Itokazu, a GenTechmiddle manager working in the Corporation’s compoundin Chicago. Grant tailed Itokazu for weeks, recording hismovement using his Cyber-eyes, and directly sendingthe files to ‘J’ across the Datanet. All this changed aweek ago, when Grant followed Itokazu into a bar in theChicago NoGo, where Itokazu and a group of people hemet their descended into the cellar. Grant followed andrecorded Itokazu taking part in a Gangcult ceremony,which Grant recorded on his Cyber-eyes. Fearing he hadrecorded far more than was good for him, Grant fledand ran to ground, smashing the Satellite Uplink in hiscar and fleeing into the Illinois desert. Now, in an effortto retrieve the data that Grant has, ‘J’ has hired theservices of another firm of Sanctioned Operatives. Thisis where the PCs come in.

SetupThe meeting between the PC’s and ‘J’ should take placein one the Filter zones of a city. Any city will do, butone reasonably close to the Illinois desert, such asChicago, Milwaukee or Indianapolis would make themost sense. ‘J’ requests that the PCs meet him in atruck stop car park, neutral ground patrolled by SecurityGuards where no one is likely to make a false move.About ten minuets after the PCs show up, ‘J’ pulls-upalong side their vehicles in an armoured black Lincolnand steps out dressed in a black Medolucci Suit andmirror shades. The job, he will describe is simple, hewants the Operatives to retrieve a red G-MekInterceptor belonging to operative known as HoratioGrant. Grant was last seen in a nearby Bartertownnamed Springfield, and his car is named ‘Ursula’. ‘J’

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Act OneSpringfield is briefly described in the appendix/sidebar,and is a well-fortified Bartertown, mainly used as asupply point by haulers traversing Route 66. As with allBartertowns, dollars are next to worthless here,although bullets, smokes, drugs and water can allcommand a good rate of exchange. There is a distilleryhere making crude fuel from the polluted lake, as wellas a bar named ‘The Still’ and a impromptu marketwhere small item’s can be bartered. There are anumber of significant NPCs that the players may wish totalk to here:Kenny GeePlayers wishing to use the Datanet without a SatelliteUplink can barter with Kenny Gee for access. A smartlydressed Japanese man, Kenny is easy to find, as one ofthe Bunkers has ‘Kenny Gee’ spray-painted on it in foothigh letters. Kenny himself does not know that much ofinterest, although he did see Grant was in townrecently.HaughtOne of the gang leaders of the Knights of Illinois, Haughtis a giant of a man clad in biker leathers and bits ofcustom-made plate armour. Anyone asking members ofthe Knights of Illinois in Springfield will be directed toHaught if they make a difficult Appeal/Persuade roll. Ofcourse if the PCs got involved in fighting the Knightsduring the Interlude, they don’t even get to make theroll and will be met with open hostility instead. Haughtknows a lot of what is going on, he arranged to meetHoratio Grant four days ago in a canyon east of Route66. While Grant never made the meeting a bunch ofPlague Riders did turn up later and drove the Knightsout of the area, which has prevented Haught fromlooking for where Grant got to. If asked Haught willmention that Grant had arranged to meet him so theKnights could protect him from someone else, and thatGrant had agreed to pay them with some electronic fileor other. Haught may even be willing to bartersomething to get a copy of the file, reasoning it must bepretty valuable. If the PCs agree to this, Haught willsupply them with a Solar-powered 10 Meg hard drive tostore the file on. Anyone checking can discover thatHaught has a $3,000 bounty outstanding, placed by theBoeCore Corporation in Milwaukee.ShirlShirl Welty, a buxom market trader with straw-colouredhair, was Grant’s main squeeze in Springfield, who hidhim in the town for the three days between him fleeingChicago and heading off out west. Most of the traders inSpringfield’s market know this, and will be happy topass it on to any customer’s inquiring about Grant,providing they buy something first. Shirl is Karl’sbrother, and if players rescued him from the Knights of

Illinois on their way to Springfield, then Shirl willhappily answer all their questions. Otherwise, she willbe very guarded, knowing that Grant was on the run.The PCs will have to somehow prove they are going tohelp Grant before she will cooperate. Shirl knows whereGrant planned to meet Haught, and can draw theplayers a map. She also knows the password to Grant’scomputer and the fact he was working for a man named‘J’ before he went on the run.

Act TwoIf the PCs follow directions recovered from eitherHaught or Shirl, have them make an Understanding +Survive roll to locate Ursula, success means they locatethe car within a few hours, while failure means theyarrive after nightfall. The car itself has clearly crashedinto a large rock and looks immobilised, while a pack ofCoyotes are dining on the remains of the driver. Thispresents three problems.The first problem that the PCs may come across is thatUrsula’s defences are still running. Any vehicle goingwithin Short range will be locked onto by the AutomatedFire Control, which will then fire Ursula’s turretmounted Heavy Machine Gun at it. The computer hasbeen set to fire at vehicles, not living beings, so the PCsand Coyotes are free to approach without being shot.Due to the battle with the Plague Riders earlier, theHeavy Machine Gun is down to its last 5 shots. Thecomputer has Attribute 2 and Skill 2.The second problem is the Coyotes (Medium Canine,page 108), who are rabid and psychotic with flecks ofgreen foam around their mouths. They will attack anyliving thing that approaches, and will fight to the death.The third problem, which will be apparent only whenthe PCs get close enough to Ursula to look inside, is thatGrant was killed by a large drum fired through Ursula’swindscreen. The barrel is dented and has a biohazardsymbol marked upon it. The disease in the barrel is notnormally fatal, anyone coming into contact withmoisture containing the disease, including breathingwithin Ursula or being bitten by a coyote, must succeedon an Extreme (2 Successes) Toughness Attribute roll.Failure results in them suffering from dizziness, nauseaand general feelings of illness starting the next day andcontinuing until medical treatment in a hospital or clinicis achieved. If all the dice come up one, after 24 hoursthe character dies unless kept breathing by an externalforce. The safest way to deal with this is to burn thebarrel and the Coyotes, and only enter Ursula in a GasMask.Recovering GrantHoratio Grant is not only dead but also mainly digested,ripped apart by the coyotes after they dragged him outof Ursula through the windscreen. His light pistol (halfloaded) can be recovered, as can his knife. Characters

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willing to get gore on their hands can also recover hisCyber-eyes, which have survived undamaged.Recovering the CarOne these hazards are overcome, the PCs are free totake the car. The crash has demolished the front wingand collapsed the wheel arch, meaning it can no longerbe driven. Apart from the crash damage and the missingwindscreen, the rest of the car is fine apart from theSatellite Link, which someone has comprehensivelydemolished, apparently from inside. Players searchingthe glove box will find a copy of the ‘LA Times’, about afortnight old. The headline mentions the food riotsthere, while on the margin of the page, someone haswritten in biro ‘Disc crashed in Rachel, NV’.Stealing the CarThe PCs may decide to screw over ‘J’ and simplyabscond with the car at this point. If so, they can havesix rolls on their choice of the Automobile, Military orSporting Scavenging tables, as well as Ursula itself.

This will result in ‘J’ sticking a $6,000 bounty on all ofthem for double-crossing him, as will Tomo Itokazu oncehe realises they have the car. It will also make gettingfurther work more tricky, as nobody likes untrustworthyoperatives.Cracking UrsulaPlayers who wish to copy the files from Ursula’s harddrives must know the password for the machine, whichthey may have obtained from Shirl. Alternatively, thiscan be bypassed by characters with the Datanet Useskill, or by hiring Kenny G or another Datanet hacker todo so. The only interesting thing on the computer is therecording of ceremony that Tomo Itokazu attended. Seethe Epilogue for more details if the PCs are unluckyenough to watch this.

Ursula

Customized G-Mek InterceptorMuscle 3Nimbleness 3Toughness 2Speed 4Passengers: Driver+1Armour: 8Weapons: Heavy Machine Gun (pivot, roof, turret),Light Grenade Launcher (fixed, forward)

Customisations: Automated Fire Control, Oil SlickDispenser, Onboard Computer

Health: 75

Optional Encounter

Plague RidersThe Plague Riders are one of the larger Gangcults inIllinois, and the PCs may run into them at any time theyare traversing through the state. The closest group toSpringfield is the same group that killed Horatio Grantrecently, offering the PCs a change of revenge. As wellas their normal mix of bikes and dune buggies, onegroup of the Plague Knights has a pickup truck uponwhich they have mounted a trebuchet. However, ratherthan firing boulders, the trebuchet fires barrels ofBiohazard Waste the Plague Riders have scavenged froma disused hospital. The plague from these containers isthe same as the one in Act Two.

There are approximately a dozen Plague Riders in eachgroup (Raiders, page 103), including the Pickup crew.Assume the leader of any group of Plague Riders has atleast a $6,000 bounty outstanding, payable by a randomCorporation.

Optional Encounter

The Duchess of HazzardIf the players recover Ursula, Katherine Hazzard willplan an attack upon it, assuming that Horatio Grant isalive inside it. This of course will not happen if theplayers somehow prove that Grant is dead, such asdisplaying his corpse around Springfield, or getting intouch with GenTech to claim the bounty.Katharine specialises in remote assassinations, i.e. onesthat do not involve her being around the target. If theplayers spend any time in Springfield with Ursula, shewill send a couple of hired thugs (use Bartertowners,page 100) to plant a bomb on Ursula, while if they campout in the wastes she may try and set up a sniperposition, and shoot Grant when she sees him, or the PCthat she mistakes for him.If these attacks fail, she has one last card up her sleeve.An old G-Mec Interceptor she has stripped out and filledfull of computers and explosives. She will try to get thisremote-controlled killer as close to Ursula as possible

Plague Rider PickupMuscle 4Nimbleness 2Toughness 3Speed 2Passengers: Driver+4Weapons: Trebuchet (fixed, forward)Customisations: Off-Road capableHealth: 105Total Cost: 18

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before detonating it. Note that strictly speaking, usingexplosives indiscriminately to collect a bounty on atarget guarded by other Sanctioned Operatives is not ahundred percent legal and that the PCs could try toclaim compensation from her in the courts, if your gameis that way inclined.

Katherine HazzardThe fiery-haired Duchess of Hazzard is a SanctionedOperative working out of Pittsburgh, infamous forher cool demeanour and calculating approach toher work. Katherine is meticulous and careful,preferring to engage her targets in situationswhere they cannot effectively fight back, such aslong-range ambushes, explosives and unmanneddrones.

Rearing: Remnant (Pittsburgh PolicedZone)Pursuit: Road WarriorMuscle 2Understanding 3Tenacity 4Appeal 3Nimbleness 4Toughness 2Senses 3Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Datanet Use 2, Drive 3,Lore 3, Melee 2, Notice 2, Persuade 3, Shoot 4,Stealth 2, Tech 3

Attacks: As Weapon / Armour: 2 / Health: 16Armour: LightWeapons: Submachine Gun (fully loaded), HeavyRifle with Scope (fully loaded), Knife

Gear: Gas Mask, Geiger Counter, Toolbox and ToolsCyberware: Datanet Plug

Customised G-Mek InterceptorMuscle 3Nimbleness 3Toughness 2Speed 3Passengers: DriverArmour: 8Weapons: Heavy Machine Gun (fixed, forward)Customisations: Automated Fire Control, OnboardComputer, Robotic Drive, Satellite Uplink, SelfDestruct System (this does 30L damage).

Health: 75

ConclusionAssuming the PCs have recovered Ursula and havemanaged to get it back to the Filter zone where theymet ‘J’, then the hand over should go without a hitch.‘J’ will pull up in his car, and if assured that Ursula isintact, (i.e. is not stripped of everything valuable) willhand over the money as several workmen load Ursulainto an unmarked trailer. He will then thank the PCs fortheir work and depart. If the PCs try to renegotiate thecontract at this stage, around thirty guards with pump-action Shotguns will appear and ask the PCs to leave,without either Ursula or their pay. If the PCs refuse, afirefight will ensue, with the guards being quicklyreinforced with the Filter’s security staff and an attackHelicopter using Maxiscreamer and Tear Gas.EpilogueTomo Itokazu dies three days after the scenario iscompleted, regardless of the outcome. He suffers atragic accident occurring during an impromptu site visitto an acid processing plant. The ZBC Newscast reportsthat the GenTech Detective Corps have discovered noevidence of suspicious activity and have officially ratedit accidental death.Watching the CeremonyIf the PCs decide to watch the recording of theceremony, then they have problems. The recording iswhat Grant saw when he followed Tomo Itokazu downinto the cellar of a Bar in Chicago’s NoGo, where he anda group of Gangcultists communed with what looks tobe a fungal creature of living flame. There is not enoughdetail from what Grant saw to replicate what theGangcultists were doing, but the terrifying and aliennature of the flame being is enough to give anyonewatching it a Point of Psychosis. Should the PCs wish toinvestigate the bar in the recording, they will discover itis a charred shell, and asking locals will reveal a rumourthat an unidentified cykegang recently firebombed it.

Credits

Written by Alexander J BatemanAtomic Highway by Colin ChapmanDark Future by Richard Halliwell and Mark GascoignePlaytested by James Day, Sarah McClennan, Dave

Perry and Ian Wilson‘Atomic Highway’ Copyright Radioactive Ape Designs.‘Dark Future’ Copyright Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2011,variably registered in the UK and other countries aroundthe world. Atomic Highway and Dark Future usedwithout permission. No challenge to their statusintended. All Rights Reserved to their respectiveowners.