Heavy Metal Thunder Read online

  “You sumbitch! Who’s fault you think this is? I seen you slurpin’ up our food like it was nothin’!”

  The two face off, their chests and noses nearly touching. “You rotten bastard,” hisses Cletus. An air of menace and hostility settles in the small room. It becomes difficult to breathe. “How dare you say I been eatin’ more’n my share.”

  “Boah, who you thinks been rationin’ out the goods an’ keepin’ us alive this whole time? It’s been me who’s leadin -”

  With that, Cletus jumps chest-first into Buford and pushes him away. Buford flies at his friend with a wild haymaker; his huge fists disappear in a blur only to reappear next to Cletus’s nose, crushing it unmercifully. Immediately you rise up and push the two away from each other with great difficulty, shouting, “Gentlemen! Please! There’s no reason to fight each other!”

  The two calm somewhat. Then Buford turns to you slowly and, eyes slitted like a snake’s, says, “You’re right, no reason for us two to fight. Hell, way I see it, this here mess we’re in is all your fault.”

  “The Invader -”

  “Don’t try to pass the buck!” Cletus screams, then pushes you to the ground roughly. “Always tryin’ to blame someone else! Well no more! No more!”

  You look up at the two burly mercenaries. Hunger and frustration have drowned out whatever capacity for reason these two have. Madness has set in. Only blood can end this debate.

  The two mercenaries charge at you, and they mean to kill you.

  If Reika and the three laborers are with you, turn to section 224.

  If only Reika is with you, turn to section 569.

  If only the three laborers are with you, turn to section 378.

  If none of these people are with you, turn to section 387.

  319

  “Get the hell out of here, pig,” you say, sneering at the lawman. “The revolutionary forces run this show now.”

  While the smiling revolutionary cackles, the lawman shouts, “Are you insane? Is everyone on this station crazy?!”

  “Well,” you say, stalling for time, “sometimes normal things look insane if it’s a crazy person who’s looking at them.” You stare the man down, hoping that if he leaves then the so-called revolutionaries will calm down. “You’re the problem. Just leave.”

  But the hands of the gunmen still shake, and the tension coils harder, tighter, threatening to explode.

  Add your Will and your Charisma stats.

  If the total is 8 or more, turn to section 327.

  If the total is 7 or less, turn to section 357.

  320

  You are carried through dark hallways. Faces before you. You hear yourself speaking. Time passes as you fade in and out of consciousness.

  When you come around again, you are in a dull grey medical room lit by a few dingy bulbs hanging from the ceiling. You are propped up in a padded, leaning chair, covered in several thick blankets. A doctor in layers of grey wool and a toboggan speaks with some others, men in Legion black and grey.

  “There’s dehydration, signs of muscular atrophy,” says the doctor, shaking his head at the others. “If he’s come a fraction of the distance claimed then we’re going to see psychosis, mental degeneration, no doubt about it. And this alien food he’s eaten, there’s just no telling -”

  One of the soldiers, a small hard-faced youth, says, “If we don’t verify his claims now, if we fail to question and cross-examine -”

  “The wild claims made by this AWOL grunt,” says another soldier similar to the first, “are very out of the ordinary, you understand. Paperwork regarding various forms of punishment need to be filled out sooner rather than later, so that they can be processed in a timely manner, if punishment is indeed in order.”

  “Don’t care, don’t care, don’t care,” says the doctor, as if he has been arguing for a long time.

  The other soldiers, unmistakably pencil-pushers, speak all at the same time to the doctor. You get the impression that they want to interrogate you to determine the truth of your story, but the doctor seems overly protective.

  Though you do not remember telling your story, you must have. You clear your throat, then say, “I’m not lying.”

  The pencil-pushers look at you as if insulted by the interruption. “This informal committee will determine the validity of your claims.”

  The door slams open without warning. Everyone jumps - then salutes.

  A tall man with short black hair and a pointed beard enters. He has cool grey eyes and bloodless lips. The man’s black uniform and sweater are only slightly neater than anyone else’s, though he has several pins and medals on his breast. You know at once that the man is Captain Numitor, highest-ranking officer on the Penelope’s Vengeance. Several armed guards escort him. You salute without thinking, and several intravenous tubes clatter against your arm and chair.

  “Stop saluting, gentlemen,” he says, and you detect some sort of aristocratic accent. He nods to you, says, “You’re the man who crawled through hundreds of thousands of miles in space to warn us about the Invader ship?”

  “SIR YES SIR!” you shout.

  “Don’t shout at me,” he says, though not rudely. Very calmly the Captain says, “Your story checks out. We’ve found what must be a tracking beacon attached to our hull. Good work. Very good work, son. What’s your name?”

  “Uh, sir, Mister Wiggles, sir.”

  The room grows still. Just then you notice a squat, muscular man in the corner, a bald man with a great black beard. He is staring at you with disturbing intensity. You vaguely remember that the man had something to do with your training. He may have been in charge of training new recruits.

  Captain Numitor turns to the man, says, “Faustulus, I was under the impression that Black Lance Legion personnel are to receive new names worthy of the species.”

  Faustulus jerks, seemingly embarrassed, then says quickly, “Ah, sir, there were... a certain situation... ah, disciplinary measures, you know...”

  “I see,” says Captain Numitor. “Well whatever the man’s done in the past, that’s over. He’s alerted us to an imminent attack and put himself at great danger to do so. Besides, the Mister Wiggles that we have on file is, I’m sure, listed as dead, along with the other men we lost in the Stellar harvesting operation.”

  “Yes, sir,” says Faustulus.

  “Put in a new name for him.”

  “Yes, sir, I’ll get right on the paperwork,” says Faustulus, bowing his head slightly. Numitor salutes casually and Faustulus, the man who trained you and gave you the name Mister Wiggles, leaves the room in a hasty shuffle.

  Captain Numitor regards you with his cool gaze for a moment, then says, “Any questions, soldier? You’ve earned the right to ask.”

  “Sir, may I leave here and walk around a bit?”

  “Absolutely not,” says the doctor.

  “If you feel up to it,” says Numitor, “then yes, of course.”

  With that, Captain Numitor turns to leave. His eyes lose focus, as if he’s already planning something that has nothing to do with you and your problems. “Sir!” you say, embarrassed by your own outburst. “Has the tracking beacon been destroyed?”

  The Captain pauses at the door and while the pencil-pushers glare at you for your rudeness, Captain Numitor says, “No. No, it has not. In fact, it’s where it always was. And we’ve slowed down slightly.”

  “Sir?”

  “Well we’ve got to say hello to the enemy sometime, haven’t we?” Captain Numitor flashes something like a smile, then leaves.

  You rest for a moment. While you do feel tired, the doctor’s intravenous fluids and medicines have strengthened you up greatly: Restore 8 Blood and any temporarily lowered stats to their maximum.

  Turn to section 473.

  321

  You feel a slight prick as the needle goes through your suit and into your arm. Then - searing pain. You jerk away instinctively and the needle, still mostly full, is torn from your arm. Your arm burns, the
muscles twitch uncontrollably, then the room starts to spin. You can make out the face of the doctor, leering, full of hatred. You grasp the sides of the examination table to keep from falling, then throw up onto yourself. You lose 3 Blood from the terrible poison he has injected into you. Moreover, you temporarily lose 1 Dexterity and 1 Strength point.

  The doctor lunges toward you and you manage to wrap your hands around his wrists and hold him back. Sweat rolls down his face in torrents and his lips contort like a madman’s. The doctor is not well and he is trying to kill you.

  Turn to section 241.

  322

  “Stand down, peckerwoods,” you say.

  “But you heard what he said!” Buford shouts, pointing at Cletus. “You heard that ol’ boy as good as I did!”

  “I can hear you both,” you say, “and all I hear are two dumbasses without the sense to know we’ve got only a little food and a long way to go before we can find any more. We’re not wasting any food just so you guys can escape the illusion of your own impotence for a few minutes.”

  “Huh?”

  “Can’t you just have an arm wrestling contest?”

  “It would be a waste of time,” says Cletus, “cause I’d win, easy.”

  “Like hell!” says Buford.

  You turn away from the two as they battle for alpha male status. You have avoided disaster for now, but hauling two people like them on such a desperate mission worries you to no end.

  Turn to section 143.

  323

  The weight of your jetpack, the crumbling of the wall, and your own clumsiness conspire against you. You lose your grip and fall backwards. You slam into a loose section of floor, which breaks free, then you roll, fall, and crash front-first into a hard tiled floor: Lose 2 Blood. The dust and rubble from your fall sprinkles onto you. Open pipes bathe you in cold water.

  You take a moment to get your bearings. You are in a demolished restroom which opens up near the bottom of the dark crater. You can see an exposed section of twisting hallway to your left, in the direction that leads deeper into the station. The hallway turns too often to see the end of it. Just then you hear scrambling just below this room’s opening; the dogs are leaping up and down, splashing and barking madly, desperate to get at your throat.

  You pull yourself up painfully, then run into the hall to your left.

  Turn to section 65.

  324

  You pry the field-generating short sword from the fighter’s hand. The weapon hums in your hand. Field-generating weapons are the special advanced-technology weapons used by infantrymen to hack through the invisible shields of large vessels. Charged weapons are much better than inert weapons. You may take the Charged Gladius (Blade, bulk 2) if you wish.

  You may also take the Alien Sniper Rifle (bulk 3) if you wish, though it does not seem to use your own caliber of ammunition. You have the feeling that you can trade it for something else when you reach your home ship.

  A search of the sniper’s hideout reveals a stockpile of oxygen tanks, frozen food, tanks of water, a shelter much like a collapsible Wilderness Void Tent, and even some liquid hydrogen fuel. You gather the stuff up behind you, but you are determined not to make another shipless journey unless you must; you set off in search of the ruins of the Narrenschiff, praying that she can be salvaged.

  Turn to section 351.

  325

  A sharp warning licks at the back of your neck and, without thinking, you turn about in a tight loop. You see that two Invaders with a net stretched between them were sneaking up on you. In a flash they fly by you and you lash out with a swing that destroys the neckpiece of one of the Invaders. He drops his end of the net as he desperately tries to hold in the oxygen leak, and the other cuts his losses and bails on his comrade.

  Meanwhile the first Invader flies at you, his mace ready to bash your skull in.

  You must now compute a number that will determine the outcome of the battle. This number is your Strength stat added to your Zero G Combat stat. If you have the Jetpack Skill, add 2 to this number. If you are trained in Weapon Proficiency: Hand-to-Hand, and it is with the weapon you are using, add 3 to this number. If, for whatever reason, you are fighting unarmed, subtract 5.

  During the battle you lose 7 Blood, though you may subtract the number you calculated from this amount. You may also subtract your Defense rating from this amount. However, if you lose 3 or more Blood, then you also lose 1 SD.

  If you die, then you may Regenerate by turning back to section 161.

  If you survive, then you and your enemy circle in wild arc before you lock hands, then lash out with your weapons. For the split second that you are together, it seems you stare at his curving horns and shadowy helm for an eternity. Then there is a flash, a blast of heat, as you knock something off of his jetpack. The insides of his suit ignites and his body freezes moments after the inferno takes his life.

  You gain 1 XP for the use of your skill, and 3 XP for killing two Invaders. You may take the enemy’s Charged Mace (Mace, bulk 2) if you want.

  As you try to get your bearings, you realize that you have drifted far from the main battle. A cloud of shattered armor and frozen corpses surround the melee between the two large ships. Just before you can rejoin the battle, you notice that someone else has drifted as well. The infantryman’s jetpack sputters, then dies, as the person drifts. He is far away and your helm cannot properly identify him, so you fly closer, thinking that if it is a human then he needs help, and if he is an enemy then he will make an easy kill.

  When you come within range of the wounded unit, the heavy metal music in your ears seems to grow dim, and your heart thunders ominously, for your helm identifies the casualty as John Christian.

  Turn to section 532.

  326

  You and Buford stare at one another as you roll around furiously in this feast of the mad. Buford eats an entire bin of bacon and ketchup and comes out looking like he was in a terrible accident. You feel your own stomach extending painfully, pressing up against your spine and unnecessary organs not directly involved in the eating process.

  You feel as if you are dying, but you can tell that Buford is also in great pain.

  “Stop,” Cletus moans from the floor. “Pull out... before someone... gets hurt...”

  “Neber,” mutters Buford, food spilling out of his sickly face moments before he crams it back in. “Narben...”

  If your Strength is 5 or more and your Will is 2 or more, turn to section 574.

  If your stats are not this high, or you want to stop before you seriously injure yourself, turn to section 458.

  327

  The lawman pauses for a long time. “Fine,” he says suddenly. “But I’m going for backup.” With his gun trained on the revolutionaries, he sidesteps slowly toward the door. You move away so that he can leave and file a formal complaint against the revolution. (You gain 2 XP for psychologically overpowering the lawman.)

  “Wrong way,” says the smiling revolutionary.

  “Huh?” says the lawman.

  “The exit is -right here!”

  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. He shouts out, “UuuwwWwwWWWwwaaAAaaa!!!” and, while unintelligible, you have no doubt what he means to do with you.

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

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

  If you don’t have a gun, or 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.

  328

  You adjust your position on the table, then stretch your arms. Th
e weight of the jetpack is incredibly uncomfortable.

  “Why don’t you take that thing off for a while,” says the doctor, filling a syringe. “Sit back, and we’ll try to enjoy our last few minutes of life.”

  “Can’t take it off,” you say.

  “And why not? Has this space cult really programmed you so well?”

  “I... it’s not about being programmed. I still mean to get out of here.”

  The doctor smiles sadly and taps air bubbles from the syringe.

  “What is that stuff, anyway?” you say, nodding to the syringe.

  “It’s a mixture of vitamins and energizing supplements. It will invigorate your body and sharpen your mind - but also, it helps reduce emotional peaks. Such as fear, panic... the terror I’m sure we’re all going to feel in our last few minutes as the vacuum slips into this place. I’ve already taken some myself.”

  “Wait... is it some sort of coma-inducing stuff so I won’t be afraid when the station falls apart?”

  Taken aback, the doctor laughs awkwardly, says, “No-o-o, I promise it’s quite harmless.” He shakes his head at the situation, then feels about your arm for a place to inject the drug.

  If you have the First Aid skill and would like to use it, turn to section 418.

  If you have the Sixth Sense skill and would like to use it, turn to section 528.

  If you do not have these skills, you can let the doctor inject the drug by turning to section 321.

  If you do not have these skills, you can tell the doctor you don’t want the drug by turning to section 25.

  329

  The ship looks small - no sense in fighting your way onto a larger, better-protected ship that’s only going to make a bigger target for the Invaders, you figure. It is a slim, steel-grey vessel that seems to have a large modified engine, surely a sign that it’s fast. As you push through people and draw closer to the ship, you see three men in laborers’ coveralls running up and down the ramp loading supplies onto the ship from a large cart parked below. Two other men armed with rifles, either mercenaries or ex-lawmen, stalk about the ship’s ramp and exchange nervous glances while shouting at the laborers.