The Lost Town is a JNFWoP location based in Cannibal Sector One. At the time I first started thinking about it there was a discussion on the list about how people saw different areas of Mort, from Suburbia to the Cannibal Sectors. One of the over-riding thoughts I had after the discussion was that everyone's view of the Cannibal Sectors were a little boring. Admittedly when I used to run them I also had the generic half-destroyed buildings and the mountains of rubble, but that was basically it. I also only really used Carrien and Carno-Pigs there and didn't give much thought about the other inhabitants of the 'Sectors.

What I wanted to do with Lost Town was develop an area of the Cannibal Sectors that showed that this was a definitive place, and not just part of a generic landscape. I wanted a location that visiting Operatives could identify with and also be scared when new things appeared. In short I wanted an area that showed definitive signs of life and yet still remain true to how Nightfall had described the Cannibal Sectors.

That's when I started thinking about what would happen if you were in a helicopter and crashed into the Cannibal Sectors. Originally I was going to describe how a Contract Killer and his media girlfriend battled through everything to escape, but then I started thinking of a darker story completely...

Anyway, I hope that you like what I've written. I'm biased but I think this is probably the best piece of SLA related writing that I've done to date. I've outlined the different descriptions that I've done below as well as just the links to the pages, so that GMs who just want to use (say) my insect ideas can go straight to the relevent page.

Lost Town 1

"We heard the reports on the mayday channel as the 'copter took a nose dive. They were saying something about an explosion taking out their tail rotor, when the comms suddenly cut. We scrambled four SCAFs to the location their transponder was giving out, but they got there too late to do anything. The 'copter had crashed into one of the giant sewer pipes that runs through the area, taking out a section over a hundred metres in length. The SCAFs said that they could still see most of the helicopter, but it was under a vast amount of sewage. They had to turn back because of the insects that were swarming in the area. Never did find out if any of those fly-boys actually survived the crash. I hope not for their sakes."

Shiver Rico Lopez, CS1 Perimeter Wall. (c)898SD Department of Shivers. Not for Public Release.

Cannibal Sector One is the largest of the five Cannibal Sectors and is the most famous due to having Salvation Tower at its centre. Although few people have heard of Salvation Tower, many know of it as the building that looms in the skyline. For unknown reasons it always appears to be visible even when people are a vast distance away (and when pollution, rain, other buildings and even the curvature of the planet should be hiding it). It is also in Salvation Tower that the immortal Manchine Digger is meant to haunt.

Throughout the daytime much of the sector is quiet and appears to have little life. Besides the swarms of inch long insects there are a few feral animals that can be seen darting around, trying to find scraps to live on. However, at night the sector is a different story and only the very bravest (or very foolish) would consider travelling across the area. As twilight starts numerous fires are lit, some to act as protection and some to act as traps, and the once quiet Cannibal Sector becomes alive with animal sounds and screaming from the unfortunate.

"There were two dozen of us in the 'copters that set out at dusk. Sixteen Shivers including me and a further eight Operatives. The pilots made another four and we had four SCAFs as protection. Even knowing the Cannibal Sectors I thought that more than three of us would have made it out of there. The Operatives had the hard job, they had to actually go and rescue the black box. All we had to do was guard the copters four hundred metres away. PP8 and a HEAP loaded FEN AR and it still wasn't enough."

Shiver Rico Lopez, CS1 Perimeter Wall. (c)898SD Department of Shivers. Not for Public Release.

Situated about halfway between the SLA Perimeter and Salvation Tower is a surviving group of apartment blocks called Lost Town by the Perimeter Shivers. First identified in 898SD, Lost Town has been the site of many dead Shivers and Operatives in the last five years. The area itself is quite unremarkable as the Cannibal Sectors go. The accepted area is less than five miles square and is believed to have been a light industrial - medium residential area before the Fall. However, now it remains abandoned with little sign of life during the daytime. One of the peculiarities of the area is that the rain is normally only a light drizzle here, although there have been reports of torrential rain occasionally.

The residential area is mainly four-storey apartment blocks, all identical in shape and size and laid out in regular sections. The apartments are all made from concrete and little else of the structures remain; windows have been smashed, doors have be broken apart and most of the contents have been ripped out. All around the streets are vast amounts of rubble and brickwork, strewn inside and out of the area. It is believed that an explosion shattered nearby brick buildings, sending their remains throughout Lost Town. There are signs all around the area that show that the apartments were once occupied, with clothed skeletons buried amongst the rubble. A few of the streetlights in the area still flicker on and off throughout the streets, even though they have been around for hundreds of years.

The industrial side of the area appears to have mainly been a waste water pumping station with perhaps a filter system to separate the liquids from any more solid items (including discarded household waste, drowned animals and the odd dead body). One of the more noticeable parts of the industrial area is the remains of a transport helicopter that is buried in about two metres of sludge. The sludge comes from a fractured sewer pipe that the helicopter crashed into, shattering the pipe and allowing the sewage to pump out into the area. Although the actual pipe still gushes water everywhere, it all seems to sink below the surface quite quickly. All that is left around the helicopter is a small puddle of sludge extending about one hundred metres from each the side of the helicopter.

"Our first warning was when Dan slipped under the surface. Trog reached for him, burying his arm deep into the water. Bringing his arm back up, he just stared at where his hand used to be. I started to formulate a fold to the 'copter, but as the water erupted in front of us, I changed the location to the shore. By the time it activated we were down to five and one of those needed serious medical care."

Operative Char Spacey, SCL 9A. (c)898SD Department of Shivers. Not for Public Release.

Buried nose first into the sludge, the helicopter was a large transport 'copter with GoreZone logos visible in a few places. Its rear rotor blade is missing, although most of the primary one is still there. It is claimed that these are still rotating slowly, but this is probably due to the constant rain. Most of the Shivers who man the nearby perimeter wall believe that this was the helicopter accident that killed the raven-haired reporter Dannii Reverb and the Contract Killer Xtreme. The more popular rumours are that Xtreme was going to take on the Manchine Digger for the season end of Xtreme Manchines. Following his successful twelve week run of taking on Manchines in close combat with his custom twin-blade, it appears that he was stopped before he even reached his goal. The show's co-host Dannii Reverb was also killed, as were the eight GoreZone bodyguards also on board.

Following the crash a four man SCAF team were sent into the area and they found that the helicopter was almost completely covered in sewage. The SCAFs were unable to find any survivors, although they had to abort the search due to the amount of insects that were swarming in the area. These insects, which were over an inch in length, were attracted to the raw sewage that was pumping out of the now broken waste pipe. Due to the dense swarms that were circling the area, the SCAFs found that the insects were blocking their air intakes. Rather than stay in the area, the SCAFs left to return the next morning with troops, to pick up anyone who had survived the night. A red BPN had been issued over night and the next morning a squad of Operatives was sent with Shiver back up to the area to search the helicopter and the surrounding area for survivors. Forty eight hours later only three people of the rescue team were rescued and they had not been able to find any traces of the Contract Killer or Dannii Reverb. Although several further missions were tried, each venture into the area has ended in the deaths of most of those involved. Gore Zone still offers an open White BPN worth 2500 credits to prove what happened to Dannii and Xtreme.

"I can still hear the noises; a chittering from all around and a constant heavy drone from their wings. Everywhere you looked you could see them. Everywhere you looked they were all you could see. I reached my hand out and clenched my fist, crushing a few who had landed on my open palm. Opening my hand again, the dead became just another food source for those still around. The cloud disappeared within a few minutes, swarming over the crashed 'copter and the Operatives that were there. Only then did I realise that the cloud had sealed our fate in the area. Three of the SCAFs had crashed and the other looked like it had only just landed in time. Both helicopters were venting a dark smoke from their exhausts as their blades slowed down. I'm just glad I had my helmet on, Chistle was still shaking as the insects crawled out of his empty skull."

Ex Shiver Janney May, CS1 Perimeter Wall. (c)898SD Department of Shivers. Not for Public Release.

The area immediately surrounding the crashed helicopter has become a small lake of polluted rainwater. At the far end the pipe still gushes out sewage, but most of this seems to drain into the ground quite quickly. All that is left is a pool of water approximately six hundred metres in diameter. This pool tends to stay at quite a constant depth, even if there has been severe rain in the area. The helicopter is in the middle of the water, and is about half submerged into the mud at the bottom. The depth of the water by the helicopter is thought to be only a few metres although there are areas in the pool that are a lot deeper. Across from the flowing pipe is the other half of the pipe. The water flowing to the abandoned pumping station is usually about one metre deep, although the pipe does dip downwards a little further along. The inside of the pipe normally has a large collection of flies, mostly sleeping unless disturbed.

During the initial rescue mission for the helicopter it was found that a group of Carnivorous Pigs had moved in over night to the pool. Extremely territorial, they spend most of their time fully submerged except for their snouts. Feeding on the refuse from the pipe, the pigs have grown larger than normal, and with thick blubber underneath their skin, they are hard to kill. Their favourite tactic is dragging people under the water surface, pinning them to the floor underneath their bodies. They will also bite submerged limbs, which with the amount of toxins in the water is hard for even a Stormer to regenerate quickly. Even with the plenitude of food arriving from the sewer pipe, the pigs still prefer fresh meat if they can get it, acting hostile towards anyone attacking their territory. They have learnt over the last few years that they are more formidable in the water than on land, and so will stop attacking anyone who makes it back to solid ground. The only guaranteed way of killing them is to destroy their heads, although even then their death throws can still trap or crush people.

Lost Town 2

"With all transport taken out by the insects, we tried radioing for help. Unfortunately this close to the ground something was jamming our signals. We tracked the source of the jamming to about three clicks to our east, in what looked like an industrial complex. We left the SCAF and 'copter pilots behind to guard the vehicles and in case any rescue parties showed up before we got back. They had two coloured flares; a red to let us know they were under attack and a green to let us know that help had arrived. The rest of us including the five Operatives set off for the complex. That was the last time we saw any of the pilots again."

Shiver Rico Lopez, CS1 Perimeter Wall. (c)898SD Department of Shivers. Not for Public Release.

The insects that inhabit Lost Town are feared by most who travel through the area. Although originally similar to the many species that inhabit DownTown and other parts of Mort, the Cannibal Sector insects have mutated to survive their dangerous habitat. The most obvious mutation is that most of the insects have grown in size from less than a centimetre to upwards of five centimetres. The size of the insect is normally an indication of how hostile the insect is. The larger ones will hunt in swarms, attacking anything that is large and moving, whereas the smaller ones will feed mostly from dead or dying corpses. There are stories of large insects stripping the flesh from unprotected people in a matter of minutes.

Besides size, there are other mutations that the insects have evolved. One of the more worrying recent mutations arises from the levels of industrial pollutants that discharge their waste into the Cannibal Sectors. The heavy metal content of the waste has been absorbed into the insect, causing some to be slightly armoured. Although this is a hardly noticeable effect, it does cause two significant problems. The first is that the insect swarms are finding it increasingly hard to prey on each other, causing an increase in the number of attacks on humanoids by them. An additional problem is that much of the metal content is electrically conductive. When these insects swarm around vehicles, instead of just blocking air intakes and exhaust systems, they can also cause electrical shorts and malfunctions, severely damaging the machinery beyond repair. A more recent mutation amongst the insects is that of the smaller insects laying their eggs in live bodies instead of those that are dead and decaying. Although initial puncture wounds by the insects are easily healed, the actual larvae can remain undetected for up to four weeks before they start hatching and trying to eat their host. A more worrying concern is that these larvae tend to be stronger and more virulent than those grown in decayed flesh are. Recent descriptions of insects affecting Ebb abilities have yet to be confirmed, although it has been hypothesised that this could be due to the level of irradiated pollutants that the insects may have ingested.

"It took us four hours to make the short journey from the helicopters to the industrial complex, mainly because of the rubble that was lying everywhere. We were attacked by insects once, but we'd already learnt to just stand still and wait until they flew off again. As we got to the edge of the industrial complex the Lieutenant got the Operatives to scout ahead for us. They weren't too happy about it, but they were better equipped than we were. After a half hour they returned having found what was causing the interference. There was a huge machine underground that was still active. Unfortunately sleeping Carrien surrounded the whole area; too many for us to be able to successfully attempt a surprise attack on. The Operatives had slowly backed out of the area before they were discovered. If the machine was still active after all this time, it was unlikely that we would ever have found out how to shut it down anyway. The only alternative now was to try and find the highest location around and hope that it would be high enough to not be blocked by the machine."

Shiver Rico Lopez, CS1 Perimeter Wall. (c)898SD Department of Shivers. Not for Public Release.

The Lost Town sector changes quite dramatically as it moves from the outskirts to the industrial complex to the east. The journey between the two is mainly over a landscape of rubble and ruins of buildings. Near to the broken sewer the ground is quite hilly, but this starts to level out towards the industrial areas. The buildings are visible from a distance, mainly as they are in contrast to their stark surroundings. The factories resemble concrete bunkers from a distance, although they have been coated in a brick red anti-erosion mixture. Those factories that are still standing rise to about five storeys in height. Entrance doorways are usually reinforced metal doors that have eroded or been damaged, leaving large rust covered holes through them. Any windows in the area still have the remains of the bars that once protected them.

Inside the building there are the remnants of the machines that once worked in the area. Most of these are large behemoths, whose purpose is unclear even to those that are technically minded. Many of the machines are sunk in to the ground of the building, going deep below the normal ground level. The majority are rusted and now beyond repair, with broken and corroded parts. Some show signs that they have come under attack, be it from workers on their last day, or Carrien marauding through the area. On occasion a plant will be found that still has some parts active. This is normally due to the plant having a nuclear power supply, buried deep in its foundations. The sounds of poorly maintained equipment echo throughout the building as the machinery continuously keeps repeating the same tasks.

"The day's end caught us unawares. One moment it was relatively light and then the next thing we knew darkness had descended and there was a night chill in the air. With the industrial area behind us we set out to travel to the highest apartment block that we could find. All around we started seeing fires flaring up in the distance as the nightlife of Lost Town started to wake up. Even shared nervous looks as we started to walk a little faster towards the apartments."

Operative Char Spacey, SCL 9A. (c)898SD Department of Shivers. Not for Public Release.

Surrounding those buildings with active machines, almost as if guarding them, are large groups of Carrien. It is unknown what draws the Carrien to the area, although the machines do generate a certain amount of heat and the buildings they are in do protect them from the rain as well. A common belief is that the low humming of the machines helps to make the Carrien very docile and sleepy and that even Mutant Carrien can find peace near these behemoths. Operatives have reported finding rooms of Carrien asleep that they have been able to back out of without discovery, even to the point of being ignored by half-asleep Carrien who have woken when disturbed. If the Carrien attack any interlopers they tend to respond sluggishly and without real desire to hurt anyone, preferring to retreat back inside of the buildings instead.

However night in the industrial sector is a different matter. Whatever the effects of the machines on the Carrien during the day, the night sounds of the Lost Town filter through to them and the Carrien rise to hunt for food. Extremely territorial during the hours of darkness, the Carrien will even chase those who try skirting the edge of the industrial sector. It is thought that the Carrien prefer the night time because they know that the insects tend to remain dormant during this time. They are also unlikely to come under attack by any patrolling SCAF teams. The Carriens natural night-sight allows them to move around without difficulty and they use this time well to track down food for those of the pack who stay near to the machines. One peculiarity with the Carrien here is that there have never been any reports of young Carrien, either asleep or with the hunting packs in the night. It is guessed that they live deeper in the depths of the old machines, safe from any threat.

"As we walked through the abandoned streets on the edge of the residential area we could see a robed figure at the far end of the road. One of the Operatives fired at it with an AR, while us Shivers started diving in to cover. The attack we were waiting for never came though. The figure just stopped in its tracks reached down to where he had been shot and then rubbed his fingers in front of his eyes. We couldn't really make out what it looked like but it shouted down the road whether we had seen Dannii. One of the Ops shouted a sarcastic comment back, to which it just shrugged its shoulders before disappearing behind one of the buildings. By the time we got there it was long gone. Probably just as well it was about the same size as the Stormer with us. "

Ex Shiver Janney May, CS1 Perimeter Wall. (c)898SD Department of Shivers. Not for Public Release.

It is the centre of the residential area that seems the most occupied part of the sector at night. It is here that the greatest number of fires are lit by the inhabitants of the area. The light from this area defuses through the night rain to give a strange glow over the centre of Lost Town. There are many stories about why there are so many fires in one place with the most prevalent one being that there is still a group of survivors from before the Fall whose families live in Lost Town to this day. Not knowing what has happened to the area and believing that the whole planet has fallen, they spend most of the day hiding and then set great fires at night time to scare away animals and to try and attract other people who have also survived.

Whether this is true or not is unknown. Those Operatives that have been in the area claim that there are oil-drum fires at the corners of every street leading into the area, almost as if they mark a territory line. There are few signs of life besides the fires though and no indication that anything is a live inside the area. One squad forced to wait for evacuation claimed that they waited within 10 metres of an oil-drum only to have it light as dusk fell without ever seeing anyone. Hesitant to investigate further, they nonetheless started to enter the fire lit streets. As they did, they started hearing voices all around them, whispering in a language they couldn't understand. The noises quietened as they slowly retreated back to their original place. The Operatives claim that even with the whispers sounding like they came from just behind them, they never saw anyone or even a hint of movement.

"We thought we'd been quiet enough as we got near to the highest towerblock but we were all proved wrong. The grenades landed behind us, fired by someone inside the building. As we rushed towards the building trying to make it harder to be seen by the shooter we ran right into his traps. Trip lines linked to grenades and punji sticks buried into the ground finished off most of the first squad with only Janney being thrown clear by the explosions. The Operatives didn't do much better especially when the Scout and the Stormer were sniper shot as they tried to lay down covering fire for us. Seeing some of the first squad still pinned by stakes we had no choice but to head to one side sprinting for cover. That's when the ground gave way underneath us. "

Shiver Rico Lopez, CS1 Perimeter Wall. (c)898SD Department of Shivers. Not for Public Release.

One of the lost souls that has been reported by most of the survivors of the area is a figure who always appears some distance away from any Operatives. Always dressed in a robe that disguises him and limping slightly, the figure appears to be over two metres high and of considerable build. Most of the time the figure ignores any people and walks away without comment. Those that check where the figure has gone can find no trace of it afterwards. On a few occasions where the figure has been forced to communicate it has always asked the same question "Have you seen Dannii?" Although no definite description has ever been established it is commonly believed that the figure is one of the GoreZone bodyguards or perhaps even Xtreme himself, searching unendingly to find the famous GoreZone host Dannii Reverb who was also never found in the area.

However one thing that has also been reported by those that have met with the figure is that when he asks the question a small blue light can be seen from under the cowl of the robe, where an eye would be. This strange fact, along with the figures ability to ignore damage, witnessed on several occasions where squads have shot first and asked questions later, have led many to believe that the figure is in fact a Manchine who killed Xtreme and repeats the last phrase the Contract Killer ever said. If this is the case then the Manchines actions are quite strange as on several occasions it would have had the opportunity to ambush squads in the sector but it has never taken them. Additionally there are no signs of those that it has no doubt killed, either from bodies left at the scene or from trophies that it carries.

Lost Town 3

"It took me a couple of minutes to get my bearings. I'd fallen into a cavern filled with reinforced concrete stalagmites. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness I could see a dead body lying in front of me, a gaping hole in its skull where it had been shot before falling in here. Picking myself up, I realised there were other dead bodies here as well, just dried up husks and skeletal remains. Turning on my spotlights I counted six other Shivers and the remaining two Operatives. The third Operative had fallen on to one of the concrete ruins, piercing his armour and killing him quickly. As we flashed our lights around the caverns we lit up hundreds of eyes reflecting back at us."

Shiver Rico Lopez, CS1 Perimeter Wall. (c)898SD Department of Shivers. Not for Public Release.

A second more deadly figure that roams the area is an unknown War World Veteran who survivors call Massacre. Although rarely seen there are numerous stories of this trained killer using his war-world weaponry to protect his territory. Protecting one of the highest apartment blocks in the area, Massacre's territory is best left alone by any that pass through the town. The thirty storey high apartment block is little more than a concrete shell, with rubble strewn across the ground surrounding it. It looks as if the surrounding buildings have been destroyed leaving this one block standing out on its own. Scattered amongst the ruins on three sides are the remains of those who have travelled too near to the block, some identifiable as humanoid, some not. Those that have survived journeying through the rubble on the other side have spoken of traps throughout the wreckage; from precariously balanced beams designed to flatten the unfortunate, to tripwires linked to grenades and derringer guns.

Those who have survived an encounter with Massacre have had little to describe. The armour that he has been seen in dates over three centuries and hasn't been seen on any war-worlds for more than two decades. Massacre is believed to be armed with at least a sniper rifle, grenade launcher and assault rifle and seems to use his ammunition supplies generously, implying that he either has a large supply or knows where he can get more from. The grenades that he uses for traps have various insignia on them, from DarkNight, Thresher and SLA. Several helicopters passing through the area have been attacked when they have passed to close to Massacre's apartment block. It is Massacre who is believed to have shot down the helicopter carrying Xtreme and Dannii Reverb and GoreZone currently has an Extermination Warrant for his death (current price 3000 credits). The Ministry of War is also said to be interested in his capture, primarily to determine his weaponry and equipment.

"As we were running out of the cavern, we could hear the dreadful screeching of the rats behind us. As we went round one corner we ran into three small people dressed in rags. One of them had a coat made out of the pelts of rats and was pouring liquid on the floor of the cave entrance we had just run through. As our flashlights lit up the rats coming towards us, the rat-coat man started banging two rocks together over the liquid. Guessing that he was trying to set it alight, I bent down and used red-thermal on the liquid. We both shot back as the liquid ignited with Rat-Coat looking at me strange with his one good eye. As the rats came through the fire, they tried to put themselves out by rolling on the floor. The three people dived forward with their clubs and started killing as many as they could, smashing their clubs against the rat's heads. We joined in as more and more rats came through the fire."

Operative Char Spacey, SCL 9A. (c)898SD Department of Shivers. Not for Public Release.

Underneath the sector there is known to be a network of tunnels that once formed part of the sewer system and underground travel for the area. These days the most common inhabitant of the tunnels is the rat, which as a species has mutated due to the extent of the pollutants in the area. The most common mutation for the rats is that they have grown to the size of small DACs, with some reaching knee-height. These rats tend to be skinny and malnourished, as there is not normally enough food for them. When a food source is found the rats are quite ferocious against anything that is trying to prevent them from eating. It is not uncommon for those rats which are larger to eat the smaller ones whilst they are gorging themselves. Working primarily from smell, due to the natural darkness of the caverns, the rats have been known to ignore those who are in full-environmental armour. However if the rat pack is hungry enough it will attack everything it comes across, using their sharp claws and teeth to chew away at armour so that they can get to the soft flesh inside.

Other common mutations with rats are those that are diseased and have festering boils and puss filled sacks across their bodies. Strangely the rats themselves seem to be immune to the disease acting primarily as a carrier. The disease actually seems to make those infected stronger, enhancing their skeletal structure until the body is effectively lightly armoured. The skin of these rats can still be damaged but the rat itself is relatively unharmed unless the skeletal structure is pierced. Those rats that are diseased appear to have a higher social standing than the uninfected rats and there have been stories of Operatives attacking a solitary diseased rat to find themselves attacked from all angles by normal rats as if they are trying to protect the diseased ones. The rats tend to gather in packs of twenty to forty although larger numbers have also been reported.

"It happened before we could react. I guess the rat-man with us had already signalled to them which ones to take out first as the Ebon Op was ambushed before she could do anything. There were about twenty of them and they just dropped from the ceiling. We got time to take a few of them out first but then they just overwhelmed us. Fucking cavemen is all they were and they still took us out."

Ex Shiver Janney May, CS1 Perimeter Wall. (c)898SD Department of Shivers. Not for Public Release.

The Scavs that have been identified in the tunnels have been categorised into several different variants, some of which have not been seen in other parts of the cannibal sectors. The category most likely to be found by Operatives is those described as Rat-Catchers. These smaller than normal Scavs are the ones who are responsible for scavenging food sources for the rest of the Scav family. Wiry and capable of moving quickly the Rat-Catchers tend to be the more intelligent Scavs, utilising any tools and equipment they find as well as flammable liquids to further help them in killing rats. It is not uncommon for the Rat-Catchers to use fire to scare the rats into a place where they can easily be killed. They will also use pits with sharp stakes in them and then drive the rats to the pit, waiting for the majority to escape before finishing off the unlucky ones who have been trapped. A pit like this can be used several times with the rat-catchers driving the rats back and forth, sometimes using themselves as bait to be followed.

Normally the Rat-Catchers work in groups of two or three, with one of the group being the senior Rat-Catcher normally identified by his coat of rat-fur. The Rat-Coat wearer is also the Scav who carries any flammable liquids as well as the sacred stones used to light the liquid. Occasionally they will also have a burning torch that they can use, although this rare and only highly regarded Rat-Catchers will be allowed to carry a part of the home-fire with them. Although a normal Scav the Rat-Coat wearer sometimes knows basic Killan and will talk in simple phrases to any Operatives that it encounters. The Scavs that are with the Rat-Coat wearer tend to look up to him unless one of them is trying to gain the position of the Rat-Coat wearer. If this is the case the Rat-Coat wearer is likely to enforce his position through the use of his rat-killing club, with the winner being allowed to wear the coat of rats.

"It was the smell that first struck me. I remember waking up lying on what I first thought was just rubble, but then I found out it was skeletal remains. I was in a steel cage with four others including the Operative Ebon. The Lieutenant was also with us, but guessing from the shape of his skull and the insects that were crawling over him, he wasn't going anywhere. Outside the cage was a fire and as the screaming started I realised that the other op was slowly being cooked alive by the Neanderthals that were dancing around him. It looked like they had built the fire over his armour, using the metal to help cook him without drying his flesh out. After about an hour his screaming stopped and then later a large female Scav came to the fire and was the first to eat from him. She looked the oldest and ugliest of the Scavs, having her portion first before any of the others ate anything. While the others dug in to his flesh I saw the Matriarch cuddling two of her young. She watched me looking and then vomited her freshly eaten food over the babies, allowing them to eat the partially digested Operative."

Shiver Rico Lopez, CS1 Perimeter Wall. (c)898SD Department of Shivers. Not for Public Release.

The main bulk of the Scavs are fighters and protectors of the tribe as a whole. It is their responsibility to ensure that the tribe survives. A typical Scav is over six feet tall and quite muscular. The majority are males, as most of the females look after the young back at the home-fires of the tribe. It is not uncommon for the males to have mutations or malformities, predominantly being raised brow lines and extra musculature throughout their skeletal structure.

Normally the Scavs will attack all at once, with the strongest and bravest attacking first trying to overwhelm those they think will be a greatest threat. Preferably they will target Stormers or Shaktars and Frothers, pinning them down to the ground and hitting them repeatedly with clubs. However in some occasions especially if the Scavs have been following Operatives for some time, they will attack those with Ebb-abilities first. This is not due to them having a fear of ebb-abilities, but rather because they prefer the taste of Ebon-flesh above that of Humans or Stormers. There have been reports of Scavs who have natural abilities that block out some if not all of the Ebons abilities, preventing them from formulising any abilities and giving the Scavs quite an advantage. Ebons that have been affected claim that the Flux that they are trying to use is absorbed by the Scavs, causing their abilities to be a lot weaker or to even misfire. The Department of Ebb is known to be interested in any Scavs that exhibit these abilities for scientific research.

"There was nothing we could do as they slowly worked their way through the survivors. It looked like they were getting impatient though as they tied the Ebon over the fire whilst there were still three of us left. Anyway after the fire flared over her we started hearing her scream. She'd been unconscious since the Scavs had attacked us, and I guess waking up to find that you're next on the menu isn't the best start to the day. As the fire grew larger she went quiet and I thought the shock had been too much for her. Then I found myself in the open air, rain trickling across my face. The Ebon was coughing her guts up next to me as were Janney and Cole. I don't know how she'd done it but getting us out of there had obviously done her a great deal of damage; her vomit was dark black with blood and her eyelids had broken blood vessels all around them. I looked around, choose the tallest building I could see and started dragging her over to it, the others following behind me."

.Shiver Rico Lopez, CS1 Perimeter Wall. (c)898SD Department of Shivers. Not for Public Release.

The typical Scav family is lead not by the most powerful male of the group but rather by a Matriarch whose age is often at least double that of the next oldest Scav. The Matriarch has an almost empathic hold over the family as a whole and seems to be able to communicate her desires without words. The Matriarch is often found near to the home-fires of the Scav, normally being too large too move from their cave. Covered in loose fitting rags, the Matriarch will often be attended by several of the younger female Scavs, who will look after the Matriarchs every need. It is the Matriarch's responsibility to look after the youngest of the family, from suckling them herself, to softening their food by regurgitating her own. Although the Matriarch is not known to produce children herself she is always capable of lactating to feed the baby Scavs in their first few months. It is believed that the Matriarch's suckling of all that are part of her family is what keeps the Matriarch in her position in the family.

Every few generations one of the babies will be chosen by the Matriarch to replace her, remaining by the side of the Matriarch and suckling from her into her teens, eventually becoming the same size as the Matriarch. It is believed that there is some enzyme in the Matriarch's milk that over time affects the chosen child so that she will also gain the abilities to control the Scav family as well. Although the male Scavs are normally not prevented from procreating with whichever female Scavs they want, the Matriarch will prevent any of them from even touching the child she has chosen. Those that try are soon abandoned by the Scav family, even being hunted by other Scavs in some cases.

Lost Town 4

"My first real memory after the Scavs attacked is being half carried and half dragged up a flight of stairs by one of the Shivers. I remember the broken banister that wouldn't have stopped us from falling down into the centre of the staircase. I remember being carried over a gap in the staircase that had a skeleton some five stories below it. I also remember passing a window and seeing two bright lights, one green and one red floating in the sky about five kilometres away. The Shivers also saw them and stopped. As the two lights descended behind a building the Shiver that carried me started carrying me further up the stairs. No-one said anything but we all shared a thought for the Shivers we had left by the helicopter."

Operative Char Spacey, SCL 9A. (c)898SD Department of Shivers. Not for Public Release.

The streets above the main Scav areas are strangely deserted and quiet. Most of the buildings are similar to those in the heart of Lost Town, four to six storey high apartment blocks that are now little more than just concrete shells. However whereas the other buildings showed signs that they had once been occupied, these blocks have been methodically cleaned of anything that could be used for another purpose. The husks that have been left show signs of conflict using weaponry that even Operatives would not be able to get their hands on. Large gaping holes that expose the insides of the buildings are common and occasionally whole building sides have been demolished. It is as if some great fight was put up by the former inhabitants of the blocks against Slayer knows what.

Whereas the centre of Lost Town still had the occasional flickering light, this section is quieter than any other part of the Cannibal Sectors. The odd feral hound is the only sign of life in the area, with even rats and insects being rare. The rain here is continual and never ending, always at a constant amount even as the rest of the sector changes from downpours to light rain. The only light that affects the place is that which is filtered by the high-rise apartment blocks in the distance and what little reflects down from the cloud covered moon above.

"We were almost at the top of the block when Cole was ambushed by the Cognate. One of the killers, a large brute with a hand-axe cleaved down Cole's left arm, splitting the flesh to the bone. I kicked loose a section of the banister and rushed up the steps to attack the brute just as a masked girl stepped from the shadows and plunged a dual-pronged knife into my side. As Rico punched her in the face I saw another figure behind her raise a baseball bat with nails in it. With the girl lying in front of me I could see that her mask was broken revealing terrible burns on one side of her face. The second figure shouted out the name 'Raven' before swinging his baseball bat at Rico. I think that's when the first brute exploded in to flame and fell through the staircase. "

Ex Shiver Janney May, CS1 Perimeter Wall. (c)898SD Department of Shivers. Not for Public Release

At the edge of the main residential area are the apartment blocks that rise up like tombstones for the whole sector. The majority of the blocks are at least twenty stories high and form a slight crescent in the south-west corner of the sector. The middle few blocks are higher then the rest, reaching up about thirty storeys and they have survived better than the rest. Although covered in thick grime, the red bricks that the buildings are made out of can still be seen. The majority of floors have high-arched windows, although the glass has long since been broken from them. Water pours along the sides of the blocks, funnelled by the build up of hardened slime on the outside of the buildings.

Inside the buildings the structure is little better. Most of the floors have been made from wood, which has been weakened by age and rain. Internal plaster walls have long since disintegrated into powder and carpets have grown rotten or been eaten by small insects. The buildings harbour a dry smell of refuse and decay and have the feel that they could never have truly been a home to those who once lived there. Every now and then little signs of former habitation still survive, from a child's discarded toy, to a set of initials scratched into the walls. If the streets below are quiet, then these buildings are deathly silent. The only noise is that of the wind whistling slightly through the broken windows and the quiet groaning of the rain-soaked floorboards as they try senselessly to resist gravity's pull.

"By the time we got the roof Cole was almost out of it completely. The cut on his arm was bound tightly but the bandages around his waist had come undone during the climb up the final few floors. Looking over the edge I could see the whole of the sector lying in front. I could see the glow from the centre of Lost Town and the original building that we had tried to get to. In the distance you could make out the lights of the Wall and ever present as always, Salvation Tower. I reassembled the emergency radio that Janney had managed to keep hold of all this time and pointed the transmitter towards the Wall, hoping that our faint signals would be picked up by someone on duty there."

Shiver Rico Lopez, CS1 Perimeter Wall. (c)898SD Department of Shivers. Not for Public Release.

Skirting the borders of the abandoned residential area is thought to be a Cognate who according to their territory symbols are called the Watchers. They are believed to spend most of their time hidden amongst the higher floors of the apartment blocks, where they are unlikely to be found by Carrien or Scavs. It is thought that they spend their days watching those who pass through the area, venturing out at night to attack anyone who is trespassing in their territory. There have also been reports of the Cognate near to the Industrial area during the daytime, either near to the Carrien's lair or by the helicopter on the outskirts of Lost Town.

Not much is known about the Cognate except for basic descriptions of the group. The leader is a large man who could easily be mistaken for a Stormer, due to his size and his ugly looks. Bald and with facial scarring that drags his lips away from his mouth he constantly drools whilst running his tongue over his exposed teeth. Normally the first to attack any trespassers he favours a hand-axe, repeatedly attacking his opponents as if in a frenzy. The second member of the Cognate is a raven-haired girl who wears a mask that covers her burnt face. Quiet and stealthy she has a dual-pronged knife that she will attack with, trying to gut her opponents. The knife is an unknown design and is strong enough to puncture light forms of armour with ease. Her face is mostly burnt on the left hand side although the right hand side is quite attractive. When not wearing her mask she tries to keep her hair over her burnt face as if embarrassed by how she looks.

The third member of the cognate is an average sized man who uses a baseball bat with nails hammered into it. Normally covered by a cloak, he acts almost as if he is protecting the girl, attacking those who attack her. Although only a slight build he moves quickly and effectively, his powerful attacks betraying his modest size. He is believed to have some kind of armour underneath the cloak which is powerful enough to prevent 12mm rounds from hurting him. The final partial member of the group is a Carrien who seems to have adopted the Cognate. Only seen on occasion it is thought that the Carrien is an outcast from the tribes in the Industrial Sector and uses the Cognate to protect himself, whilst searching out food sources for them in return. The Carrien tends to rely on his claws and teeth when in combat, although sometimes carries around a nailed baseball bat. Slightly smaller than most Carrien he likes to use his night-sight to stalk opponents, finding out which one is likely to be the bigger threat before attacking them with the rest of the Cognate.

"We'd been on the roof for about an hour when I first heard the sound of a helicopter coming towards us. It had the heavy drone of a transporter, although after a few minutes you could hear the turbine whine of SCAFs with it. The others heard it too and as we huddled together on the roof the Ebon started sending small fire bolts in to the sky directly above us. They weren't flares but they were enough."

Ex Shiver Janney May, CS1 Perimeter Wall. (c)898SD Department of Shivers. Not for Public Release.

Overall the whole of the sector can be divided into four main sections. The top third of the Lost Town is the industrial area with the heavier machinery to the East. On this side it is not uncommon to see lights still flickering and to hear ancient machines still rumbling underground. As the industrial area proceeds to the West, it thins out, with smaller warehouses replacing the heavy factories to the East. Equidistant from these two sides is the shattered remains of the helicopter that first bought the sector to the attention of SLA Industries. In the centre of the sector is the true Lost Town, the central residential area made up of mostly four storey high apartment blocks. This area is thought of as haunted with fires starting mysteriously and voices echoing throughout the quiet buildings.

Underneath the Lost Town are the many caverns that the Scavs inhabit. Safe from patrolling SCAFs, the Scavs will attack any threats to their family's survival and to ensure that the home-fires continue burning at all times. On the outskirts of the sector are the high-rise apartment blocks that mark the boundary of Lost Town, especially to the South and East. It is here that little stirs, almost as if the few inhabitants are frightened of awakening whatever destroyed the area in the first place. Of the twelve BPNs into the Lost Town sector, only two have ever been successfully completed and these both were Red BPNs to try and rescue crashed vehicles.

"They did what they could for the Shiver but he died on the way back. I had used all of my Flux on flame-flares to get the helicopter to us in the first place and so there was nothing I could do. There must have been something on the blade of the axe as his wounds resisted the KickStart the rescue crew had on them at the time. He had been coughing bad, further rupturing his stomach and then he just went silent. I never saw the other two Shivers again. I hear one of them now works for Cloak and the other is a Captain on the Wall. I hope they have less nightmares about Lost Town then I have, although I doubt it."

Operative Char Spacey, SCL 6C. (c)902SD Department of Shivers. Not for Public Release.

Sue Wilson's Lost Town Writing

Dr Goodall? Yea I met him a couple of times. Bit weird if you ask me, bounces around a lot asks lots of silly questions. He wanders in here every couple of months to resupply. Where did you say he was working?CS1!! Shit I though he was wandering around wasteland. Nah you've got it wrong. He's been alive far too long for him to be going down there."

Chelsy McCray, shop keeper.

--Extracts from the on going observations of Mutant human cultures by Dr David Goodall. Meny Instant Press system - 900 SD

Report 0203900-1
Back with the more successful group again. Generally these are in better condition than most of the mutants I have been studying. They suffer from less disease, this may be due to the increased territory and thus better food supply. However the group shows the same abnormalities that I have observed in all the groups. There is no individual which is overly afflicted. I discovered the reason for this on my last visit when I witnessed the birth of a new member of the community. The new born babe was brought before the matriarch, and it became rapidly clear that it was missing one arm, and its skull was ill proportioned. The child was instantly killed and then thrown to the waiting family who devoured it despite the screams of the mother. At first I was horrified, but I suppose in some strange way they were doing the unfortunate soul a favour. It is unlikely that one so deformed would survive long in this environment. The other children with the group are well looked after, and never left alone. When food is available the children are fed first, the smallest feeding on regurgitated material from the oldest nurse.

The matriarch, I term Mother,is amazingly obese, much more so than one would expect for a community with a limited food supply. I can't help feeling this is some genetic abnormality.

I received the DNA reports back from the lab and they confirm my suspicion that all members of this group are genetically related, with mother being mother, grandmother or great grandmother to them all. I await further analysis but they also seem to be very inbreed. May be this explains the power she has over them. I have witnessed some minor dissent when she is out of sight, yet she seems to know and chastises the offender immediately on her return. How she knows of this remains a mystery. Often I can see no way any one could have communicated the information.

It seems they found my last hide and destroyed it after I left, but I have been able to set up a new one in a forgotten side tunnel. From this vantage point I can get a good view of the cavern they are using as a main home at the moment.

Once again they seem to have set up a central base and are sending out raiding parties to bring back food and equipment. Mother is definitely still in control and holds ever increasing power over the group. The old man seems to have vanished since I was last with this group. There is no sign of him, but considering the way they responded to the dead child it is likely he ended up in the pot with the rest of the evenings meal.

Report 0603900-2
The young girl I've labelled Cone reappeared. A bit of a relief seeing as I had not seen her since my return. She is obviously pregnant again, I'd guess at 8 months. Which means it is probably the result of the mating - rape by One-ear I witnessed last time. She spent the morning lying next to Mother being groomed and petted. Some times it is hard to reconcile this care and tenderness with the brutality I see. May be this one will live a little longer than the last one.

Report 0803900-3
Their food supply seems to be running short again. They have been fighting amongst the family. Mother seems to be unconcerned with this, even when they draw blood. I hope they don't move one too soon. It is hard to keep up observations when they are travelling. Still I should get some warning. Mother is finding it increasingly hard to move round, and Cone can not be far off now.

Report 1003900-4
They got very excited last night. I was woken by Mother shouting. I still can't understand exactly what they are saying, but they were obviously very excited about something. One of them, a male have only seen on odd occasions before, I believe he may be a scout for the family, was making strange noises and gesturing out into the tunnels.

She picked out some of the larger males, and seemed to be telling them something. They then grabbed a few other and all headed off into the tunnels. She got the rest of them to stoke up the ever burning fire.

Report 1103900-5
Well they are not going to be short of food. There was lots of excitement as 4 of the larger members dragged in a pig. Mother congratulated them in her own way. (She hit them less than she did the others.) It promoted a feeding frenzy. I doubt any of the meat got any where near the fire. One of the males pushed Cone out of the way when she came to feed and Mother screamed at him. The effect was amazing. He huddled in the corner for over fifteen minutes, his hand over his head. Cone got a large choice bit of rib and ate it in front of him. I swear she was taunting him. But he didn't make one move against her, even when Mother hobbled off into her small sub cave.

Report 1103900-6
Last night one of the raiding groups, the one lead by the male I have labelled Wagstaff, came back with a small cache of weapons and a fe members light I noted. Some of them were definitely SLA only things, but there were a few others that I couldn't identify. I'll try and get closer and see what they have got. They have some ammo but not much.

Report 1203900-7
Wow. I have no idea where Wagstaff got this stuff from, but given the blood on the handle they didn't give it up without a fight. Ok there are Fen 603's and a MAL AR, fortunately with no Ammo, and two things I have no idea what they are. I left it all there. The last time I moved anything they "brought back to mother" she beat one of her consorts to death. As savage as these things are I don't want to be responsible for any more fatalities.

Report 1203900-8
The MAL AR has gone. Must have been late, Mother had it hanging on her throne as a trophy or something and now it is not there. Strange. Wagstaff was waving one of the 603's round. He and a few of his closest groups then vanished into the tunnels. Bodes ill for some one.

Report 1303900-9
Wagstaff and his friend came back with two more pigs and some large white worm like thing. I have no idea where they got it from. Mother insisted they cooked it before they ate any of it and she got Smallchild to rub some of that mould they supplement their diet with into it. It seemed to go down well. I wish I could understand what they are saying. I am sure I could learn so much about the other things living down here.

They seem to be out of Ammo as they just threw the 603's into the corner when they came back. I marvel that their apparent knowledge of surface technology. Occasionally I see them making use of some device, only to discards it once the batteries are dead or the Ammo expended. Despite this I have never seen any of them teaching one of the others. A hierarchy appears to be developing between those that understand the equipment, which are rapidly becoming favoured by Mother, and those who do not.

Report 1403900-10
They have gone. I have no idea how. Last night they vanished all of them without disturbing me. Damn. I was making progress. I wonder what scared them off. They left a few broken things, but nothing of value. Time to start again.

Mutants

They are descendants of the people who once lived in the collapsed tenements and those who retreated into this darkness in hiding, the mutants are barely human now. The mutated humans rarely risk the surface, preferring to use the advantage of home ground and the darkness they are accustomed to. Long exposure to the pollution of Mort, the lack of light and constant inbreeding has caused a variety of mutations. Miss-shapen limbs and strange skin colouring are ubiquitous, and more serious problems common.

Numbering in the hundreds, the mutants are split into smaller families throughout the tunnels. Collecting in groups of around twenty, they hunt in their immediate area searching for anything they can eat, whether it's rats, Carrien or unlucky Operatives. Each smaller family, consists of about a dozen older adults (male and female), will have a place they call home, normally a building that has been buried. Here they will start a fire from a branch from one of the other families, and this will mark the centre of their territory until the fire dies out. As the group gets too large to be sustained, Mother chooses the best to keep closest to her, and sends new families out to find new areas to take over. She is also believed to know when the smaller families are under attack, sending others out to help them if needed. This is made possible by the innate tactical and communication abilities of the figure known as Mother; just as inbreeding can create cretins it can also create genius and miracles. This is what is happening with this group: 'Mother' is empathic.' Cone', her prodigy, is developing similar and possible even more advanced talents.

For the most part Mutants avoid people entering the tunnels if they are in groups, they may attack the solitary traveller, but they are a rarity. Some how Dr Goodall hides amongst them and they ignore him despite the equipment and food he carries.

It is possible Goodall is of the same genetic stock as the mother and her family and thus they scent him as being one of them and so ignore him. Or maybe 'Mother' is aware of his observations. Maybe she has him lined up as the next mate for her beloved Cone in an attempt to bring clean DNA back into the family..?

BPN

A Meny researcher by the Name of Dr Goodall recently send to DNA for analysis 2 of the samples contained sequences that may be of interest to scientists at Karma, but there was not enough sample to work with. The BPN is to locate Dr Goodall, find out where he got the samples from and obtain more. In fact the samples are from Cone and Mother and Goodall is some where in CS1 The squad have to locate Goodall (or hang around until he reappears from one of his infrequent resupplying trips. They then have to find 'the big group' and some how get blood samples from the two most protected members of that group, both of whom are more than capable of summoning help even if silenced. On the plus side the Mutants do not have much in the way of ammo, but they are on their own territory.

This should probably be a Black, but Karma are feeling cheap and calling it a Yellow.