Tensions grew
with the coming of 1998. The United States' Citadel Starstation
was slated to be fully operational by March. Soviet charges that
the space station was merely a military launching platform alarmed
a number of nonaligned nations. The right wing governments in the
South and Central Americas, many of them set up by the U.S. during
the Drug Wars (1987-1993), pledged their support to the U.S. The
NATO nations, including the new African members, also declared their
alliance with the US That move forced most of the remaining neutral
powers to join the Soviet protest. In six short weeks, only Switzerland,
Sweden, and Ireland continued to declare themselves neutral nations.
Two weeks before
Citadel was due for full operation, the station transmitted a distress
signal. Immediately after the message was sent, most of the satellites
orbiting the planet were swept clean from the sky, leaving the great
powers blind. In military panic, each sent 90 percent of their nuclear
arsenals skyward. Although the destruction was tremendous, it was
not complete. Pockets of civilization remained, some even oblivious
to the military exchange.
On the same
day that the US and Soviet Union were attempting to extinguish each
other, a company of US Army Engineers were in the southwestern deserts
building transportation bridges over dry river beds. They worked
deep in the inhospitable desert valleys, surrounded by a number
of survivalist communities. Located directly south of their position
on that day was a newly constructed federal prison. In addition
to housing the nation's criminals condemned to death, the prison
contained light industrial manufacturing facilities.
Shortly after
the nuclear attack began, the Engineers, seeking shelter, took over
the federal prison and expelled the prisoners into the desolate
desert to complete their sentences. As the weeks passed, they invited
the nearby survivalist communities to join them and to help them
build a new society. Because of each communities suspicions towards
one another, times were difficult at first. But as time nurtured
trust, this settlement -- which came to be known as Ranger Center
-- grew to be one of the strongest outposts. Ranger Center even
proved powerful enough to repel the bands of rancorous criminals
who repeatedly attacked in attempts to reclaim what was once "rightfully
theirs."
The citizens
of Ranger Center, after first believing that they were the only
ones who survived the nuclear maelstrom, soon realized that communities
beyond the desert's grip had also survived. Because they had such
success in constructing a new community, they felt compelled to
help other survivors and live in peace.
Toward this
end, the Desert Rangers, in the great tradition of the Texas and
Arizona Rangers a century before, were born.
A group of four
valiant Rangers, whose names have long been forgotten, were sent
out to establish communication with other survivors, and help to
rebuild humanity. Their journey was a long and painstaking trek,
facing many obstacles, and many hardships. During their adventure
they discovered the greatest threat to mankind since nuclear holocaust.
Death machines, evil robots with a lust for blood were threatening
to wipe out what little of the human race there was left. The heart
of this evil was a highly advanced Artificial Intelligence program,
producing robots in the old military installation, Base Cochise.
The Desert Rangers
knew that they had to confront this evil. Armed with only their wits,
their powered armor, and wielding Meson Cannons and Assault Rifles
akimbo, they stormed the Base Cochise. Wave after wave of robots
fell to the fury and wraith of the Desert Rangers. They made their
way into the heart of the base, setting the power generators to
self destruct. With only minutes to spare, they evacuated the base.
Shuddering explosions
rocked the base, fire blossomed throughout every doorway.
Everywhere walls
and supports buckled and crumbled with the explosions. Debris
and shrapnel flew everywhere killing everything it touched.
You can almost
imagine the robots screaming as they realize they, too, are mortal.
High
on a neighboring hilltop shielded from the explosions full fury,
the Rangers watches as fire and ruin claimed Base Cochise.
Deep in their
hearts they knew that in that hideous pyre burned the most malignant
creature that almost ended all life on Earth. But
certainly most important of all were the rangers who gave their
lives to destroy Base Cochise, the greatest threat that man has
ever known.
The robot menace
had been thwarted, but all is not well in the deserts of New Nevada.
Yes, the lights of Las Vegas now shine bright as ever, as the drugs,
prostitution, and violence become more common then ever. Roving
street gangs like the Badland Originals still plague the towns,
and stand in the way of law and order. The crazy cultist Servants
of the Mushroom Cloud continue to spread their gospel, converting
others to their twisted ways. Guns for hire banded together, forming
the Association of Irradiated Mercenaries, looking to make a quick
buck off of your funeral. The Desert Rangers face their own
problems: internal political maneuvering, threats of wars between
factions, and growing hostility toward the organization, tearing at
its very foundation. Rebuilding civilization is harder then it
seemed.
Welcome to Desolation.
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