Heavy Metal Thunder Read online

  The smiling revolutionary does not seem to notice you, but his scared friend aims his gun at you again, then back to the lawman, muttering to himself in terror. The lawman stares down the barrel of his gun, then screams, “It’s not true!”

  “Isn’t it?” you say. “Look inside yourself. There, you will find the skuzz-bag within.”

  “Kill you,” mutters the smiling revolutionary, his shotgun still on the cop. “Kill you.”

  Now the lawman seems to understand that he is truly outnumbered. After a few tense moments, he says, “Fine, you win. I’m going. I’m going.” He sidesteps slowly toward the door. You keep your gun trained on him, but move away from the door so that he can leave and file a formal complaint against the revolution.

  The scared revolutionary sighs audibly - then the smiling one laughs harshly, shouts, “Going, yes! Going to die!” With that, he fires his shotgun. The lawman, only a few feet from you, flies backward in a spray of bodily goo. You jump at the sound of the blast, then the killer turns to you and shouts, “All of us - going to die!”

  You dive to the floor as he fires again, destroying a chair near you.

  If you have at least one bullet in your gun, you can return fire by turning to section 568.

  If you don’t have any bullets, you can scramble for the dead lawman’s gun by turning to section 57.

  If you want to throw a chair at the killer for distraction, then run and attack him, turn to section 94.

  There is no cover near the door, but if you want to haul ass out of the all-you-can-eat buffet, turn to section 273.

  259

  You swoop down onto your massive net and scoop it up. You gun the jetpack full-blast and fly out of the dock and away from the ghost station. You glance back. All manner of deconstructors have surrounded the thing, bringing about its final doom. But they could not end you. You speed away from the colony, then bring up your star charts and plot a course for the next station. It will take weeks, perhaps months, to get there, flying long-range in short-range gear. If you survive the journey it will set some sort of record. Even if you don’t make it, but your body is discovered by beings thousands of years in the future, the size of your balls will at least set a record. You settle in for the long haul.

  You gain 3 XP for surviving the gauntlet of the ghost station.

  Turn to section 206.

  260

  You stuff your face with all the delights the cafeteria has to offer: Heal 5 Blood. You can gather as much Food (bulk 1) as you can carry with you. Furthermore, you gain 3 XP for surviving this ridiculous, deadly situation.

  During your meal, you realize that there are several dead bodies chilling in the area. For some reason it does not really affect your appetite.

  You can continue down the hall toward the ship docking bay by turning to section 254.

  261

  The radio squawks and you hear the voice of the manager. “Well?” he says, his voice high and shrill. “What happened?!”

  The radio is of low quality. Imitating the guard, you say, “The deconstructors are dead.”

  “And did you kill the fool?!”

  Smiling, you use your natural voice to say, “Yes, the fool is dead. And I’m coming for you next.”

  There is silence on the other end as the manager realizes he is living his worst nightmare. Then he says, “None of that matters. When you boys destroyed those machines, it must have sent a signal to the others. They’re swarming on the station and tearing through points all over the hull. Neither of us has much longer.”

  “Sounds pretty bad,” you say. “But I’ll wager I’ve got a little more time than you.”

  “Such tough talk!” squeaks the manager, then turns off his radio.

  So the whole station is coming apart. You will have to hurry if you’re going to gather supplies in time to get out of here alive. And you’ll have to watch out for that manager...

  Turn to section 115.

  262

  Tensions rise in the cramped quarters of the Narrenschiff as it glides through the nothingness of space. Everyone grows hungry again as stomachs demand to be fed. There is little joy in the affair.

  You must subtract 1 Food for every person on the Narrenschiff, including yourself. You may use your own supply of Food in your inventory, if you have any. If you do not have enough to cover everyone, you must use up all possible Foods and then lose 1 Blood due to the harsh effects of slow starvation.

  If you run out of Food during this meal, or have run out of Food long ago, turn to section 318.

  If you have had enough Food for everyone so far, turn to section 289.

  263

  “Eat it!” you scream as you throw the grenade. An incredible blast rocks the room. You hear nothing, only feel an incredible force tossing you about, jarring your head clear to the bone. When you come to, the room is in great disarray and the inside of your helm is splattered with blood. The robot is in pieces. Miraculously, you only lose 1 Blood. Though shaken, you are thankful that the grenade was not any more powerful than it was.

  You gain 1 XP for overcoming the robot. Be sure to erase the Implosion Grenade from your inventory, then turn to section 214.

  264

  You turn the handcart on and guide it through the hallway. It hums gently as it glides before you.

  Suddenly the lights flicker, then the hall is cast into darkness. You float free from the ground. The hum of distant machinery is silenced. The deconstructors must have destroyed the back-up generator. You curse and turn your helm light back on. You abandon the handcart, for it is now worthless. However, you can gather the food just as easily in zero-G, and so you kick off a wall and continue down the hall toward the lounge.

  If you are trained in Stealth, turn to section 535.

  If you do not have this Skill, turn to section 348.

  265

  Batter up, you think as you swing the heavy wrench into the control panel. The panel shatters and sparks fly. Electricity has a voltage party on your body and you invent a crazy dance of pain on the spot.Luckily the door grinds open slowly. Air rushes into the room and throws you against the far wall: Lose 1 Blood.

  You reenter the hallway, which is still brightly lit. Its gravity pulls you down. You throw off your helm and breathe.

  You wonder why the door suddenly stopped working. Is the station slowly losing power on its own? Or is there someone - or something - shutting down its systems?

  Because you have survived this experience, you have gained a greater understanding of the world. As you fight your way through this situation you will earn Experience Points, which are abstract representations of your actual experience. When you gain enough Experience Points (or XP), you will gain additional character Levels and receive additional Stat Points, Skills, and Blood.

  You start out this game of survival at Level 1. For surviving the situation just now, you gain 1 XP. Be sure to record this. When you have at least 15 XP and make it out of the ghost station alive, then you will gain one character level and the rewards that come with it.

  When you are ready to continue down the hallway, turn to section 178.

  266

  You must now compute an abstract number that signifies everything you’re throwing at these attackers. If you are skilled in Weapon Proficiency: Ranged, and it is with the type of gun you are using, add 3 to your total. For every 2 bullets that you choose to fire, add 1 to your total. Add your Dexterity to the total.

  If the number you have created is 5 or less, turn to section 553.

  If the number is between 6 and 10, turn to section 15.

  If the number is greater than 11, turn to section 292.

  267

  Nobody moves for a long time. “No go,” says the Captain, darkly. He levels his revolver and, as you move to the side, you hear it blast loudly. His second shot tears into your thigh and you crash into the ground in agony: Lose 3 Blood and 1 SD.

  If you die, you may Regenerate by turning back to section 312, or, if you w
ant go further back, turn to section 179.

  A third shot cracks the air. You cringe instinctively. When you open your eyes, you see the Captain stumble, then fall in a heap. One of the guards stares down the barrel of his rifle, then smiles and winks at you. “If you ain’t dead,” says the other, “hop in.”

  The laborers seem shocked by the bloodshed.

  “Don’t worry,” says the killer guard. “If the new guy bleeds to death, we can eat him later.”

  “Thanks, fellas,” you say. You may take the dead man’s Old School Revolver (Handgun, bulk 2) and 2 Handgun bullets (bulk 1) if you wish.

  Satisfied with having commandeered a ship, you can turn to section 379.

  268

  “Hey, listen guys,” you say, feeling out the guards’ personalities so that you can manipulate them. “I’m new on this ship. Is there any way I can get in there and see how a real Black Lance Legion ship is run? I’m just interested in the organization, you see...”

  “Hell no,” says one guard. “Screw off.”

  “Hey,” says the second guard, nudging the first. “This pretty boy don’t have any weapons. Why don’t we let him in, and if he causes any trouble, we’ll just...” then the guard points his gun at you and says, “Pshooo!”

  The other laughs, says, “Cool. You hear that, pretty boy? Anything funny out of you, and we’re legally entitled to blow the back of your head off. Got it?”

  “Uh, sure...” you say.

  “What?”

  “Sir, yes sir!”

  “Well alright then.”

  You gain 1 XP for “tricking” the guards.

  To enter the deck, turn to section 370.

  269

  You stand over the body of the doctor and, resting from the ordeal, you feel cold clarity wash through your awareness. To remain on this ghost station with these desperate men is madness. There are no ships with which to escape - but you still have your jetpack. It’s a short range vehicle and there’s no way you could fill it with as much fuel as you need. But in the void of space, all things are weightless; as long as there are intact fuel lines in the dock command station, which was not destroyed with the docks themselves, it is conceivable that you could fill some containers with enough fuel to get you to the nearest working station. But even that must be incredibly far from here - you will need a working oxygen tank and lots of spare oxygen. And food, you will have to find food that would normally be impossible to carry, but enough of it to sustain you through the trip… an incredible amount, to be sure, but an amount that you could still pull through space.

  That means your infantry suit will be your means of escape. As crazy as it seems, it is the only vehicle capable of flight from here. The entire plan depends on the fact that the fuel lines in the dock command center are still receiving power - and also, that you cannot trust the other three men, cannot let them do anything to get their hands on your suit.

  Just then you hear feet pounding in the hallway, panicky shouts, the barking of orders. The door to the medical room flies open. The manager stands before you. He eyes the doctor’s body, shouts, “What the hell is going on in here?!”

  “He tried to kill me,” you say, staring him down. “So I stomped his ass.”

  “What the... how can... well, I...”

  “What’s going on?” You see commotion in the next room, and push past the manager. You see the guard and the laborer putting on armor, loading rifles, tying some sort of rope to their belts.

  “There’s something punching through the inner perimeter,” says the manager. “I’ve been watching the station status logs. We’re losing air like crazy. Walls were being breached in two different areas, but now those things are traveling together to a single point - our backup power system, near here.”

  It must be those two giant drill-headed deconstructors I saw outside, you think. “What about primary systems?”

  “Knocked out in the original attack,” says the manager, hands shaking and tearing through his hair. “That backup generator is all we’ve got! If they hit that, we’re going to be in the dark... no life support at all, man, nothing! And then they’re going to pound right through the middle, the vacuum will be here before you know it! You and the others, you’ve got to stop those things!”

  You curse silently. Your plan to get fuel for your trip won’t work if there’s no power to run the lines. Joining the guard and the old laborer to destroy the deconstructors could provide valuable time to follow through, to escape. Or, the whole thing could divert you from what you should be doing now - using every valuable moment you have to get the fuel, gather supplies, and jet out of here. The manager is gathering no weapons or armor at all; while you gather supplies, he could do little to stop you, once he realized what you were doing.

  If you want to join the two men and try to save the backup generator by destroying the deconstructors, turn to section 24.

  If you refuse to go with them, you can haul ass to the dock command station and gather fuel before the deconstructors hit the generators by turning to section 225.

  270

  You run at the thing screaming a war-cry. It whips about you, arc-fires blazing. The world seems to slow down as your mind speeds up. The thing whips above your head. You throw yourself low. The thing shifts wildly, then slams into you. You crash into the wall. The thing pushes against you, its regular orbit interrupted. As it crushes your lungs, you grab hold near its end and keep the torch from searing off your face: Lose 1 Blood.

  Suddenly it changes direction and whips away from you. You dive and roll. You limp to the end of the hall and turn a corner. Finding a door, you enter it and escape the mist of destruction: Gain 1 XP.

  Turn to section 223.

  271

  You charge the deconstructor, ducking low to avoid its tentacles. Your spear slams straight into its mouth, shattering teeth and forcing the thing back against a wall. You lean against the spear, forcing it inward, as the thing flexes the tentacles holding it up. It raises against the wall. A forearm tentacle swings about, smacking you in the ribs, forcing out air. You ignore the pain, jamming the spear in deeper. You force the thing into a corner between the wall and the ceiling, pushing with all of your might, until the spear is jammed nearly through the beast. It shudders, its eyes dim, and you drop the thing as its tentacles go slack.

  You lose 1 Blood. If your Blood score has dropped to zero, then you lean against your foe and join him in death.

  If you have survived, turn to section 298.

  272

  You walk the cold grey halls until you come to the engine room. You enter and see many black-clad personnel moving about the great nuclear reactor that powers the Penelope’s Vengeance. Steam drips from the walls, and the floor vibrates sickly. Black-clad Legion women work alongside bearded men, shouting at one another to be heard over the constant angry hum of the reactor. You see small children scampering about metal walkways, faces black with soot; they are in charge of cleaning places too small for adults to fit into. There are even a few elderly people working slowly, eyes vacant with old age; you suspect they are kept around so that in the case of a radioactive leak, the old can stay and patch up the dangerous problem while the younger people, whose bodies are more fit and perky and smooth, can evacuate and continue to live meaningful lives.

  You notice one rusty-haired youth who goes about his job with ferocious speed. He glares at some of his co-workers with feral eyes, and many avoid him. But anytime he finishes a task, he smiles with maniacal glee.

  Another worker nearly bumps into you. You stop him and ask, “What’s up with that freak over there?”

  “Oh, him?” says the worker, laughing good-naturedly. “He’s one o’ them... uh, he’s a human fanatic, is what he is. Good worker, though, got no problems.”

  You look at him questioningly.

  “Me? I was workin’ for Stellar, see, got picked up. This job’s a little different though, cause I can’t leave. Funny, huh? Well, it isn’t. Listen, I’m think
in’ of tryin’ to escape -”

  “I don’t care,” you say. “What’s a human fanatic?”

  “Guess it’s some kind of religion. Or a philosophy. Mostly, though, it’s kind of a cult. Wipes out the mind, you know. No room for independent thought. Me, I tend to live and let live. If someone’s got a problem with me, we talk it out. These guys? Hell. Shit, man. You better believe me. Most of them spend more time in lock-down than anywhere else. All I’m saying is, has anyone even tried talking to these so-called Invaders? Maybe it’s just some misunderstanding -”

  You feel non-negotiable rage. “They invaded our solar system, destroyed our colonies, and took our homeworld from us,” you say, straining against the impulse to murder the man. “No human city has been left standing. What is there to misunderstand about that?”

  “I’m just saying, is all!” says the man, his head shaking wildly as he sidesteps away from you. “I can’t even talk to you people! You sound just like one of them!”

  Once the man leaves, the anger fades. You think about talking to the fanatic, but he seems incredibly busy. You decide to hurry to the supply depot to check out your gear, since there’s no telling when you’ll need it.

  Turn to section 410.

  273

  You scream a defiant battlecry that seems strangely high-pitched as you haul ass toward the door. Just as you near the beautiful exit, the shotgun blasts like thunder and you rocket forward, feeling a thousand nails driving into your back. You slam through the door and careen into the hallway. The door swings shut behind you. You stagger to your feet, mumbling apologies to your killers. Strangely enough, they do not follow you.