Heavy Metal Thunder Read online

  DO NOT PANIC AT TALK OF THE INVADER!

  IS HE HERE YET? THERE’S WORK TO BE DONE!

  Invader. Your mind races. The Great Invasion… the end of the human species!

  With a terrific shock, part of your memory races back. You remember the human species at the height of its being, great nations and corporations sending pioneers out from the cradle of the earth to harvest the bounty of the solar system. Wealth flowed and some men became like gods. Then came the Invader. They never communicated with us, never told us their true name, only brushed through our system’s defenses analogous to hot knives and butter and wiped every major city from the face of the doomed earth. It has been three years since that terrible time and even to this day they are idly wiping out the few space stations that still gather resources from the Belt and from the inner planets.

  Humanity has lost every single space battle, utterly. But one battle, one single lost battle, resulted in the capture of a small alien vessel which was secreted away. A group of determined scientists reverse-engineered the thing. They created a hidden refuge called Black Heaven, then built ships of their own. A human space army, the Black Lance Legion, was formed. Though you cannot remember the details, you became a part of it. You have lived under a totalitarian regime and have been trained for one purpose: To conduct a guerilla war against the Invasion force and take back the blood that was stolen from your kind.

  The cobwebs and mist that cloud your mind begin to clear, and the particulars of your training seem to make sense. The Black Lance Legion has taught you several skills so that you may effectively fight the enemy that seeks to make your solar system his home. Below is a list of nineteen skills available to Jetpack Infantrymen. You may choose 5 in which you are proficient.

  Navigation. The ability to make sense of the hidden paths within the void. Skilled navigators can use the stars and planets as guides to find the quickest routes through the solar system. Becoming lost in the void can be a fate worse than death in battle.

  Computers. Knowledge of the various systems built by humans that store and retrieve information and guide machines. Even without this skill you can still use a computer, as can most humans in the space age. However, this skill will give you the upper hand in making any program do what you want.

  Stealth. The ability to move about unseen and unheard. In this era, Stealth also includes an understanding of how to hide your infantry armor’s various electronic, heating, and other apparatuses prone to remote detection by the enemy.

  Pilot Ship: Small. The ability to pilot the smaller commercial and military spaceships made by humans. Includes use of older pre-Invasion ships as well as the newer, advanced ships. The controls of spaceships are very complicated, and without this skill you will be almost completely clueless about ship functions.

  Demolitions. Knowledge of the ingredients of explosive materials and the know-how to put a simple bomb together.

  Jetpack Skill. Every Space Infantryman understands the basics of piloting his own jetpack. This skill will give you greater understanding of jetpack piloting, jetpack maintenance, and knowledge of the Legion’s more advanced jetpack models.

  Weapon Proficiency: Hand-to-Hand. With the introduction of bulletproof energy shields and jetpack infantry that can move faster than bullets, close-in combat has become important on the battlefield. A good infantryman can outmaneuver and kill enemies up close, pierce the shields of enemy ships, and hack through hulls using the expensive, energy-producing weapons made by the Black Lance Legion. If you pick this skill, you will be proficient in the use of one type of H-to-H weapon: Blades, which includes knives and swords; Maces, which includes heavy blunt weapons like steel batons and maces; or Spears, the long, piercing weapons of the Legion. Blades are good for slashing flesh and hacking off limbs, Maces are good for bashing armor and bones, and Spears work well if your enemy is some distance away, or when used in groups of other spearmen. You may select proficiency in one of these weapons if you choose this skill, but you may choose this skill more than once if you desire proficiency in more than one type of H-to-H weapon.

  Weapon Proficiency: Ranged. Knowledge of the Way of the Gun. Energy shields are expensive to make, and are not widely used; plus, to kill from afar is still the safest path in war. If you choose this skill, you will be proficient in the use of one type of gun: Rifles, which includes long-range single shot rifles and automatic rapid-fire rifles; Handguns, which include small automatic handguns and older revolvers; or Shotguns, which are the heavy bruisers of gun warfare. You may choose this skill more than once if you desire proficiency in more than one type of ranged weapon. Note that once you have chosen to fire a gun at the enemy, you must fire at least one bullet, even if you realize afterwards that you have no hope of hitting the enemy!

  First Aid. The human body is not a perfect engine of warfare; wear and tear, and even death, are inevitable. To stay one step ahead of the Widowmaker is paramount to survival. This skill includes knowledge of healing medicines, drugs that enhance performance, poisons that impair bodily functions, and knowledge of the application of first aid in space.

  Xenology. Little is known of the Invader, but a few of the enemies’ ships and bodies have been captured and studied extensively by the Black Lance Legion. Xenology can give a soldier the upper hand when dealing with a strange, alien species. Knowledge at this level includes the basic information that your leaders think may be of use to an Infantryman, but does not include classified information.

  Sixth Sense. When death can occur anywhere and anytime, a warrior’s mind does anything it can in order to stay alive. Some soldiers seem to develop a sixth sense that warns them of danger when their eyes and ears do not. Some tacticians in the Black Lance Legion believe that intuition is the ability to scan and sort information on a subconscious level; when in danger, the subconscious warns the conscious mind via a peculiar sense of fear. While no good Infantryman wants to live in fear, separating raw fear from that inner voice of warning can help one tread the fine line between being smart and alive and being a coward.

  Stat Mod Skill: Weight Lifting. If you pick this skill, then you have spent a little time in the gym and take care of your body. You may add 1 to your Strength statistic. (This skill and all other Stat Mod Skills may only be chosen once.)

  Stat Mod Skill: Intensive Study. You have a college-level proficiency in one or more subjects. You have trained your mind a little more than most and can have an intelligent discourse on a few things. Add 1 to your Intelligence statistic.

  Stat Mod Skill: Gymnastics. You have some understanding of how to leap and fall without hurting yourself, and how to move quickly without wasting energy. Add 1 to your Dexterity statistic.

  Stat Mod Skill: Public Speaking. You don’t feel quite as much fear as others when it comes to making your thoughts understood by a group. Add 1 to your Charisma statistic.

  Be sure to make a note which 5 skills you choose. You must choose all 5 now. As you rise in levels, you will be able to choose more skills to add to your repertoire of knowledge.

  Somehow, you were separated from your unit. Your mission to find supplies and a ship with which to escape this station is now charged with the extra duty of remembering more of your past and what is going on in the war that rages in your solar system.

  You find a First Aid Kit (bulk 3) behind the bar. It can be used twice, and heals 3 Blood with each use.

  To exit the bar on the other side and continue deeper into the station, turn to section 541.

  188

  If you are using a Mace, you can bash this thing by turning to section 210.

  If you are using a Blade, invite these monsters to a razor party by turning to section 201.

  If you are using a Spear, run them through by turning to section 496.

  189

  The manager raises the rifle and points it at you, his tear-streaked face purple with rage. You stare at him for a moment, body still but heart thundering like mad. Then you flex your left fist, punch yo
ur jetpack control switch, and rocket forward and around in a high-speed loop.

  You crane your head about to look at the window. You see the window spiderweb as the manager fires his rifle. The manager’s body flies forward, drawn out by the suck of the void. He careens through the heavy window and it shatters, shredding his body into a thousand glistening pieces that freeze in the shape of an unreal monster, a beast of icy red coils and shards of crystalline blood, an image of the thing this man kept inside his heart.

  A small, malicious being like him could never touch a survivor like you. You gain 1 XP for the use of your Skill and 2 XP for outliving the manager. You see dozens of deconstructors file into the open hall doorway. You turn about and leave them to their work.

  Turn to section 259.

  190

  The two lead dogs are nearly upon you, snapping their jaws insanely.

  If you have a Spear, turn to section 291.

  If you do not have this weapon, turn to section 578.

  191

  The manager raises his rifle and points it at you. He hates you, hates your strength of will and ability to survive and, overcome by that hatred, is willing to kill you so that no one can escape the ghost station.

  You stare into his eyes. The gun wavers in his hands. As he puts the rifle into his own mouth you realize that maybe there can be no hatred without love, and so it makes sense when he blows his brains out and floats back into the darkness. Maybe the crazy bastard loved you enough to sacrifice himself. Or maybe he was just trying to psych you out by tricking you into watching a man spray brain-chunks out the back of his own skull.

  The deconstructors file into the open hall doorway. You turn about and leave them to their work.

  You gain 1 XP for the use of your Stat and 2 XP for outliving the lovelorn manager. Perhaps he will be reading notes evaluating your performance in the Big Corporate Meeting of the Beyond.

  Turn to section 259.

  192

  Your awareness seems to fragment as the sense of impending doom grows and feeds back into you, replacing the blood in your heart with pure darkness. Slowly you reach behind yourself, grasp your black helm, and pull it down over your head.

  Zelda sees your motion, says, “What’s wrong?” just as you close the dark visor over your face with a loud clunk. She approaches and you can just barely hear her. Concern grows in her features, then fear. You see that she is screaming at you but you cannot answer. Her chest rises and falls as she takes in huge panic breaths, and you stand before her dumb and immobile.

  The unthinkable happens. One window of the ship shatters and blows outward, you see boxes and gear fly free, Zelda rises into the air and slams into a wall, you are tossed but grasp some metal hinge. A large box slams into the opening, sealing the vacuum off, but before you come to a rest on the ground you see the metal just in front of your face explode inward as something from the outside pierces it, then the vacuum sucks against the ship again. Chaos before you, limbs flailing, objects crashing against one another.

  As you haul yourself towards an exit, two more holes are blasted into the side of the ship and you know that a sniper is attacking from a hideout on one of the asteroids. As the vacuum churns within the Narrenschiff you clamber into a small depressurization chamber, lock the door behind you, then kick open the exit door. Darkness lies before you and you blast your jets on full throttle. All is silent, but the kick of the jet behind you is a roar of freedom in your blood, a freedom from all ties as you leave behind the fantasy world of soft things and enter into the dance of death with which you have become familiar.

  A sniper in the service of the Invaders waits for you on one of the asteroids. Now, finally, you will face the true enemy. And one of you will die.

  You gain 1 XP for the use of your skill. Turn to section 247.

  193

  The deconstructors tear up the hallway, rising to engulf you both. The guard shoots downward at one machine, cursing wildly as his bullets ricochet off the spinning drills. You yank the implosion grenade from your belt, straining to hang on to it. You find a latch on the device, then pull it outward. The device hums in your hands. You release it and it streams down the hallway, then disappears in the maw of a deconstructor. There is a sharp crack, a flash, and the behemoth lurches backward, drills flying free from its ruined body. It slides backwards into the vacuum, then crashes into the hallway below, sending up sparks and pieces of itself.

  The guard fires at the other until his gun clicks empty. He tosses it down into the last deconstructor, then tears the string of grenades from his chest. He yanks the pins from all of them and drops the entire bundle, which streaks downward and disappears into the other beast’s mouth. A series of explosions rocks the machine’s innards and it too slides backwards, crashes into the other deconstructor, and very nearly seals the breached hallway. You and the guard topple to the gravitized wall, now the floor again, and stumble away from the battleground, panting and shaking.

  You gain 3 XP for successfully destroying the giant deconstructor. Be sure to erase the Implosion Grenade from your inventory, then turn to section 126.

  194

  You raise your weapon high and glare down at the shining heart of the beast. “Guess it’s not your day, ol’ buddy,” you say, then strike. The thin membrane shatters, then thick shards of freezing water burst out into the void. You stumble backward, blinded by the sparkling mist, then blast your jets and fly away from the area.

  The effect on the massive beast is violent. Everywhere you see clusters of tentacles shrivel and curl upon one another. Large mounds unfold, strange blind heads with gaping mouths snap and bite before they, too, succumb to death. An unhealthy brown hue spreads across the flesh of the beast for several minutes. Finally, cracks spread, then chunks of frozen skin shatter, tubes like wet noodles spring out, and all manner of liquids and gases spray out.

  Your helm computer leaps to life, beeping as it identifies the elements as they spray and freeze in the vacuum: Oxygen, water, hydrogen.

  “Hell’s bells!” you shriek. “Air, liquid water, fuel!” The beast was a living farm for the Invaders, a growing supply depot, and you’ve just tapped its veins. You fly outward to your net and quickly haul it back to the dying beast, desperate to refill your supplies before they are lost to the vacuum. The spraying tubes dance around wildly, slick in your hands.

  In a few minutes your empty oxygen tanks, fuel containers, and water jugs are full. Then the tubes sputter, cough, and run dry. The skin of the beast hardens underfoot and it dies.

  You gain 3 XP for ruining a supply depot of the Invaders. But best of all, you are now better equipped for your desperate mission against the stalking Invader ship set on destroying your comrades.

  Turn to section 420.

  195

  The doctor pushes on you until your back is against the wall. You cling to his wrists as the syringe hovers near your torso.

  You must now compute an abstract number that will determine the outcome of the battle. This number is your Ground Combat (or 1 G Combat) added to your Strength stat.

  If this number is 3 or less, turn to section 246.

  If this number is 4 or more, turn to section 521.

  196

  You and the Captain seem to draw your pieces simultaneously. Time slows down and thickens in your veins as the fate of your life hangs in the balance.

  If you are using a Shotgun, and are trained in Weapon Proficiency: Ranged with that weapon, turn immediately to section 406.

  Otherwise, you must compute a number that will determine the result of your gunfight. This number is your Dexterity stat. If you are trained in Weapon Proficiency: Ranged, and it is with the weapon you are using, add 3 to this number. For every 3 Handgun bullets you fire, add 1 to this number, or for every 2 Rifle bullets you fire add 1, or for every Shotgun shell you fire add 1.

  Be sure to erase the amount of ammunition that you used.

  If your number is 10 or more, turn to section 45.


  If your number is 9 or less, turn to section 345.

  197

  You fire at the giant drill-bits on the deconstructor’s head, knocking one loose and sending it spinning, destroying some others; the ruined bits topple into the beast’s maw, grinding as it digests itself. But the thing keeps rising, intent on tearing you to pieces. The guard has even less luck than you, cursing as his bullets ricochet about. The beast rises, rises - soon, it is nearly on your feet. You fumble with your grappling line, desperate to escape from the remaining drills before they grind you to pieces. Just as they are upon you, you see that they are - perhaps - vulnerable where they join the beast’s head, jointed steel bits that connect to the deconstructor’s gaping mouth. You swing about, ready to smash the drills at their base.

  You must now compute a number that determines the result of your combat. You must use a hand-to-hand weapon against the dangerous drills; if you do not have a H-to-H weapon, you must use the butt of the gun you are currently using. If you are using a Mace, add 2 to the total; for any other hand-to-hand weapon, add 1. If you are skilled in Weapon Proficiency: Hand-to-Hand, and it is with the type of weapon you are using, add 2 to your total. Add your Strength and Dexterity to the total. Add your Ground Combat (or 1 G Combat) to the total.

  Also, be sure to erase the amount of ammunition that you used.

  If the number is 6 or more, turn to section 468.

  If the number is 5 or less, turn to section 27.