Hawk Men of the Amazon!

**Brief** | A stealthed Hawk Men! encampment is set up on the map, shooting all nearby infantry with speed-lowering attacks.

*"Four hundred years! Four hundred years of isolation to develop their own unique culture and language, and in two years those idiots ruin it all by just handing them guns, cars, and booze!"*

- Professor Monty Jones
On April 12, 1969, one Professor Monty Jones led a select team of professors, anthropologists, guides, and other adventurers deep into the Amazon Rainforest. They were in search of a long lost indiginous tribe that was said to dwell deep within the rainforest, only rarely seen by the occasional explorer or surveyer in times past. His spirits downcast by the desolation of China as an archaelogical and anthropological exploration zone and the resulting conflicts from Imperial expansion and Pahit suppression, Jones had chosen to embark on a new expedition outside of his usual haunts. Loaded down with maps, local guides, survival kits, and other necessesities, the exploration team had set off down the basin into the great unknown, searching for the people known only as the Hawk People from their distinctive symbol found scratched on several trees. The team searched for several weeks, hacking through underbrush, coming down with and recovering from debilitating illnesses, negotiating the treacherous river currents, and slogging through miles and miles of thought previously uncharted terrain. But on May 3, one guide caught sight of what appeared to be the side of a straw hut. As Jones and the rest of his group crept forward, they saw a clearing in the rainforest with several straw and wood huts, a central campfire, several animal corpses skinned and set aside for eating, and a number of wood tools. Jones, inwardly rejoicing, raised his camera and prepared to capture the moment of discovery.

And then, as the roar of an engine was heard, a brown and green pickup truck rumbled forward out of the underbrush. Jumping from the driver's seat and adjusting his jeans, the village chief came forward smiling, handed Jones a beer and a cigarrette, and in broken spanish welcomed the team and asked them if they were visiting or just passing through.

As the distraught Monty would later learn, the supposed lost village of the Hawk People as well as several other nearby tribes had in fact already been rediscovered more than a year ago by explorers working under the jurisdiction of the organization known as the Technocratic Combine. First discovered almost entirely by accident, the initial exploring team had managed to get on friendly terms with the curious Hawk People, and shortly after returning to civilization paved the way for diplomats and traders on behalf of the United Technate of the Americas to 'modernize' the Hawk People and the other tribes of the region. Contracts were made recognizing the tribes as independent indigious groups within the greater protection and domain of the United Technate in exchange for rights to utilize the rich natural resources within the tribal domains, and over time water pumps, electrical generators, civilian vehicles, trade foods and drinks, modern clothes, and other luxuries from the 20th century began to make their way into the hands of the tribal groups. The Hawk People began to enjoy the benefits of radio, football, pickups, and running lights and water, and in return pledged their support to the Technocratic cause.

This support has extended even to battle, for on occasion the Humanitarian Guard will do their part to 'help stimulate local indiginous economies' and hire Hawk People tribals to use as auxiliaries in battles with the various resitance groups and religious cults that lurk within the jungles and forests of Latin America. They are no good as serious combat units, of course – the men and women of the Hawk People are brave and disciplined, but they are also unused to the sheer violence and pandemonium that can erupt in a firefight involving infantry firarms, vehicular support, and even artillery, naval, or aircraft support, and their tactics used in warfare against other tribes have yet to catch up to those used by modern revolutionaries and guerillas.

Where they do shine, however, is in slowing down the opposite or locking down an area. Armed with camo pants and bandannas adorned with feathers, Hawk People skirmishers will set up in secret throughout the underbrush or other nearby terrain, armed with hunting rifles and tranquilizer darts loaded with the venom from the poisonous frogs they once used to coat their blowdarts with. When given the order, such skirmishers will pop up from their hiding places and begin to open fire on any infantry that enters their sights, though their need to keep concealed and avoid return fire means they'll often fire on infantry first and check their colors second. Any infantry hit with the neurotoxin-filled darts will live, but the effects while under the effects of the short lived toxin aren't pretty, and most units hit will be too focused on emptying the contents of their stomach into the grass and sweating profusely to do much moving about.