San Salvador

San Salvador ("Holy Savior" in English) is the capital city of El Salvador. It is the country's most populated municipality as well as its most important political, cultural, educational and financial center. In Project PAW, it is one of the visitable Earth locations.

San Salvador is located in the Salvadoran highlands, surrounded by volcanoes and prone to earthquakes. The Spaniards called the area "El Valle de Las Hamacas" (English: *The Valley of Hammocks*), a translation of the name given it by the native Pipil people in allusion to the need for beds that would sway with the earth's movements during an earthquake.

By the year 2044, San Salvador has fallen into severe disrepair and ruin despite not being one of the cities targeted by the Mutricon Raid of 2042. Many of the neighborhoods and areas are controlled by gangs, heavily armed and assisted by P.A.W. units. These gangs are very hostile and will attack any opposing faction on sight. As a result, many consider the city far too dangerous to bother pillaging. Those who dare to enter will face heavy opposition by the *El Gobierno Perdido* gang, whose infantry consists mainly of armored foot soldiers as well as EGP P.A.W. units.

This gang has many strongholds located throughout San Salvador, where loot such as weapons can be found and taken if one manages to push through the heavy resistance that plagues the country.

## Chokepoints

### Aeropuerto Internacional de Comalapa

Aeropuerto Internacional de Comalapa (Spanish: Comalapa International Airport) is a Level 2 Chokepoint. Once the official airport of El Salvador, it has fallen into complete disrepair once EGP took over the city. The airport is relatively small and only has two floors total, with each floor spanning five miles. Several hostile forces patrol the airport's floors and will fire on sight, so Stealth Class units should make full use of their abilities here. While the second floor is heavily populated by EGP soldiers, the first floor is significantly less busy which makes the first floor more quiet. As a result, engaging hostiles should be taken with caution, as gunfire and hostiles calling to arms can be heard much more easily.

Weapon caches are scattered throughout the airport. On the first floor, they are scarce and typically hidden in suitcases and abandoned shops. The cash registers in said shops can be looted as well and have varying payouts, but this *will* attract hostiles due to the noise. On the second floor, they are more frequent but also more guarded by hostiles as a result. Here, they are more out in the open, sometimes even in the middle of the walkways. There are also some crates hidden in tents. Also, the second floor contains many glass windows, which enemies can easily be pushed out through or make for a quick escape if a fight becomes unwinnable.

Both floors are very spacious, leaving little room to take cover for save for a few support beams and decorative pieces. Care should be taken not to dive into combat recklessly, as EGP soldiers are large in numbers (especially on the second floor) but they can be encountered individually.

The caches primarily carry weapons, so this dungeon is a relatively easy way to attain weapons. Bank (ᗷ) may also be obtained from the aforementioned cash registers and very rarely from caches.

The runway of the airport is also explorable. It has been reduced to an airplane graveyard, with two passenger jets, a VTOL warship, and a bifuricated airbus rotting in the center of the runway. The two passenger jets and the airbus can be explored, serving as very tight close quarters mazes. Small melee weapons, SMGs, and shotguns are proficient here while any other type of weapon isn't recommended. The airbus contains crates while both of the passenger jets contain secrets. The VTOL warship is normally inoperable, but a Driver Class or Mechanic Class unit can fix it and use it for a quick escape and return to New Pangaea. However, regardless of how well it's fixed, it will always malfunction once it reaches New Pangaea or if the unit(s) attempt to use the warship to go anywhere other than New Pangaea or another San Salvador chokepoint. The VTOL Warship will respawn if it's used.

Any attempt to leave the airport by foot will result in EGP soldiers and P.A.W. units to open fire.

### Lake Ilopango

Lake Ilopango is a Level 4 Chokepoint situated in and around the titular lake. On the surface there is very little to explore with only a few small, scattered villages to visit that may occasionally have crates available that only give Bank (ᗷ). During the twilight hours, however, EGP soldiers will patrol the area and terrorize the civilians within. Caution should be taken if engaging the soldiers, as there is very little cover save for the lake itself, various trees, and the buildings which are made of wood which makes them easily destroyable.

In the center of the lake lays a few islets, known as the Islas Quemadas. A rogue P.A.W. unit in an Exocet chassis resides here and will attack the players if disturbed. During this fight, the volcano underneath the lake will erupt, heating up the lake and thus make it fatal to fall into the water while fighting the Exocet unit. There is no cover save for a few rocks, forcing the player(s) to run and gun or get creative when fighting the Exocet. Once killed, the rogue unit will drop a crate and the lake will return to normal temperature. Be warned that the lake cannot be explored during this boss fight, and any units in the lake while the Exocet is being fought will be immediately rushed to shore.

Once killed, another Exocet unit will replace the fallen unit 24 hours after its death.

The lake itself is explorable but only to Marine Class units and Driver Class units if they are in a waterborne or amphibious vehicle. The lake houses many caves and an active volcano near the bottom. It may go off at random and when it does, pyroclastic lava will disperse into the lake. Care must be taken to avoid the lava as it inflicts damage to both organic parts and a unit's chassis. In addition, there will be constant shaking due to the volcano, which can throw units off balance. After the shaking has occurred, the volcano will let out a strong shockwave that can send units flying and damage them greatly if they hit a wall. When this happens, units have to "anchor down" themselves into a solid object to keep from being flung away. There are no enemies in the lake, with the lake being the only hazard.

Any units who successfully reach the bottom will be rewarded with multiple crates. However, the lake heats up the deeper down a unit goes and if they are too close to the crater in the center they will burn to death. In addition, the lake will begin to heat up and erupt if more than one crate is taken. This means that the unit(s) in the lake must quickly swim back up to shore or risk being immolated by the pyroclastic flow and/or the heated water.

This Chokepoint can be visited by foot via the adjacent town Ilopango, albeit it is difficult given the hostile units and soldiers that are frequent in the town. EGP soldiers reside here as well and will open fire on P.A.W. units if seen. The city is relatively barren, and there is nothing much to see unless one wants to explore the buildings or engage the EGP soldiers.

## Trivia

* Altezza has mentioned being born in San Salvador to a mother of 8 kittens, which would make her Hispanic. She was one of only two survivors of the litter.