Machinations of Doom

A

EPIC WORLD BOOK FOR THE RIFTS® SERIES

COMPATIBLE WITH THE ENTIRE PALLADIUM BOOKS® MEGAVERSE®!

WARNING

VIOLENCE AND THE SUPERNATURAL The fictional world of Rifts® is violent, deadly and filled with

supernatural monsters. Other dimensional beings, often referred to

as "demons," torment, stalk and prey on humans. Other alien life

forms , monsters, gods and demigods, as well as magic, insanity,

and war are aJl elements in this book.

Some parents may find the violence and supernatural elements of

the game inappropriate for young reader/players. We suggest

parental discretion.

Please note that none of us at Palladium Books'" condone or encour­

age the occult, the practice of magic, the use of drugs, or violence.

A RIFTS ~J GRAPHIC NOVEL AND RPG SOURCEBOOK FIRST PRINTING - MAY, 2007 Machinations of Doom originally appeared serialized over eight chapters in The Rifter';) 6-14, Copyright 2007 Palladium Books Inc, All rights reserved, world wide, under the Universal Copyright Convention, No part of this book may be reproduced in part or whole, in any form or by any means, without permission from the publisher, except for brief quotes for use in reviews, All incidents, situations, institutions, governments and people are fictional and any similarity, without satiric intent, of characters or persons living or dead, is strictly coincidental. Palladium Books®, Rifts:.; , The Rifier®, Rifts:i(): Promise or Power®, Coa lition War.;';, Megaverse®, Nightbane® , The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, After the Bomb® , Pbase World®, and Splicers® are Registered Trademarks owned a nd licensed by Kevin Siemb ieda and Palladium Books Inc. Machinations of Doom, Aishwarra, Anika Taherri, Anno, Archie TIu-ee, Battle Ca t, Bodakhao, 'Bot, ' Borg, 'Burb, Bowie, Chaos EUlth. Chi-Town, City Rat, Coalition States, CS , Combat Cyborg, Coming or the Rifts, Crazy, Crazies, Cyber-Doc, Cyber-Kni ght, Dead Boy, Dog Boy, Doctor Desmond Bradford, Doctor Roddy Heston, Dinosaur Swamp, E-Clip, Emperor Prosek, Erin Tarn, Federation of Magic, Free Quebec, Glitter Boy, Grackle Tootb, Great Catac lysm , Headhunter, lin-Ro, Juicer, Johnny Ferro, Kill Cat, Last Call, Lazlo, Ley Linc Walker, Lone Star Complex, Lord Dlll1scon, Madbaven, Magic Zone, Manistique Imperium, Mind Melter, Monkey Boy, M.O.M. conversion, Nal'llni, Naruni Enterprises, "TEMA, New West. Northern Gun , Pecos Empire, Pecos Raiders, Psi-Hound, Psi-Stalker, Psyscape, Project Omega, Republicans, Rifts Earth, SAMAS, Shakes, Shemarrian, Shifter, Skelebot , Stonnspire, SplYfll1 Dimensional Market, Splugorth, Millions of Splugorth, Splugorth Slavers, Techno-Wizard, Tolkeen, Vampire Kingdoms, Rifts® Game Master Guide, Rifts® Book or Magic, Rifis® Dark Conversiolls, Rifts® Atlantis, Wilk's, Witchling, Xiticix, Mega-Damage, M.D.C., S.D.C., I.S.P. , P.P.E., and other names, titles, in.itials. cbaracters, charac ter likenesses and slogans are trademarks owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books IllC.

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a PALLADIUM BOOKS®presentation

RIFTS® : MACHINATIONS OF DOOM

M

written & illustrated by RAMON PEREZ

GRAPHIC NOVEL By Ramon Perez

SOURCEBOOK MATERIAL Comic strip characters created by Ramon Perez, inspired by the Rifts® game line. Written by Kevin Siembieda Additional Writing by Julius Rosenstein Editors Alex Marciniszyn & Wayne Smith Interior Artwork Ramon Perez Ar t Direction, Typography & Layout Ramon Perez

Based on the RPG world, rules, text, characters, concepts and Megaverse® created by Kevin Siembieda.

Palladium Books Inc. 12455 Universal Drive, Taylor, MI 48180 Printed in the USA.

CONTENTS

\tAC HINATIONS OF DOOM ... ..... 5

SOU RCEBOOK Welcome to Rifts ................ 77

The Inside Track (Glossary) .. . ..... 77

E ~E MIES

OF THE COALITION The Lone Star Raiders ........ .... 78

Anika Taherri ..... ........ ... . .. 78

Bodakhan .. , .... . . . ............ 80

Bowie ....... . .... . ... . .. ...... 82

Jo hnny Ferro ...... .... . .... ..... 83

Moses . .......... . ............. 86

OJ . ................. .... . ..... 88

Shakes ....... . ................ 90

Magali .... . ... ........ ........ 92

Typical Mutant Rat . ........ .. . ... 93

"'IOTABLE VEHICLES

'Petunia' ............... . ....... 94

Johnny's Ride ....... . ...... . . ... 95

.-\GEN TS OF THE COALITION Dr. Desmond Bradford ............ 96

Agent Kreighoff ................. 98

Arquebus ..................... 100

K hola ................... . . ... 101

Oso ..................... . .... 103

Byss .................... . .... 104

Dr. Frederick A lexander ....... . . . 105

Dr. Rodriguez Heston ............ 106

The Coalition Army ... . ....... .. 108

LON E STAR COMPLEX: Sector 7C

Aishwarra ..................... 110

Omega Beast ... .... .. . ...... . .. 114

'IEA NWHILE ... Further Adventures

.. .. . ...... .118

.-\ LITTLE EXTRA .. .

VariousPinups ................. 120

Sketchbook .... ..... .......... .122

Monkey Interlude ...... . ........ 124

2

SPECIAL THANKS

To my good friend Rob who i used perpetu­ ally as a sounding board and pseudo editor on this book. To Coleen, who co-scripted the original first few chapters because I was too afraid to go it alone . To Bill and Kate for an extra pair of hands in laying out the book you now hold in your hands . And last, but most definitely not least, a big thanks to Kevin for giving a new kid a chance so many years ago.

- Ramon Perez, 2007 To Ramon Perez for his artistry, dynamic storytelling and dedication to Palladium Books and its many fans. Also to Julius, Alex and Wayne who worked hard to get this book out on deadline.

- Ke vin Siembieda, 200 7

3

WeLCOMe TO THe WOQLO

Q!fTS..,

AN EQA WHEQE MAGIC AND TECHNOLOGY COLLIDE ON A fUTUQE EAQTH RAVAGED BY MAGIC, SCARQED BY WAf) AND TRANSfORMED INTO AN ALIEN LANDSCAPe, IN THe DAWN Of THe THIRD MILLeNIUM, DURING A GOLDeN AGe Of SCieNTifiC ADVANCeMeNT, HUMANKIND 15 NeARLY OBLITERATeD BY THe RETURN Of MAGIC AND THe COMING Of THE RifTS, WHAT 15 LEfT Of HUMAN CIVILIZATION PLUNGES INTO SAVAGEQY AND BAI