Heavy Metal Thunder Page 26

  352

  You may make a note that this section of the text is a Regeneration checkpoint. Regeneration is an optional rule, the same as a “save point” in a computer game. It exists so that if you die, you don’t have to start over at the beginning of the game (unless you are a purist and you want to start over at the beginning). All you have to do is make a quick note of your current XP, current Blood if you think you won’t remember it, and put a mark beside the items in your inventory. If you die beyond this point in the game, you will be told to return to this section of the book so that you can try again with the same gear and stats that you had at this point.

  Turn to section 179.

  353

  As you charge forward the smiling revolutionary shrieks as if he’s genuinely afraid of the flying chair. You feel the rush of victory. Then the shotgun blasts the chair into a thousand pieces, you are blinded as your face is lacerated by a cloud of shards. Stumbling, you crash into the revolutionary and both of you hit the ground. You feel the shotgun and a pair of arms, so you grab on and hold, bearing your weight down into your opponent.

  As your vision clears you see the revolutionary as he tries to wrest the shotgun from your grasp. You use the only weapon you have left - your head - and slam it down into the man’s face. You do this over and over, until your vision grows dim and red. Then, just before you can pass out, you see the man’s eyes roll up into his head. You quickly yank the shotgun away from him, point it at his face, click - then, in a flash of light and blood, the man’s head explodes with such force that you are deafened. Below you churns a primordial soup of brains, bone, and even a spinning jawbone. The worst part is that the body is still jerking underneath you.

  During your terrible battle, you lose a bone-shattering 9 Blood. Furthermore, part of your suit has been shredded. If you have any Sticky Fix, you must use one dose now to fix your suit; otherwise, make a note that your suit has been damaged. Lastly, because of your wounds you temporarily lose 1 Strength and 1 Dexterity.

  If you have died, you may Regenerate by turning back to section 312, or, if you want to go back further, turn back to section 179.

  If you survive, then you turn and see the scared revolutionary, eyes wide and white with shock. “Dinner is served,” you growl. He gives vent to a mucus-curdling scream and dashes from the room.

  You search the bodies of the dead and find the following gear, which you may take with you.

  Krieger-Colt Pump-Action Shotgun (Shotgun, bulk 3)

  3 Shotgun Shells (1 bulk)

  Enforcer Automatic (Handgun, bulk 2)

  5 Handgun Bullets (bulk 1)

  Stellar Corp Law Enforcement Uniform (bulk 1, damaged and bloody)

  Steel Baton (Mace, bulk 2)

  When you are ready to hit the all-you-can-eat buffet (and scoop up some XP), turn to section 260.

  354

  You grip your spear with both hands and drive it forward, aiming for the deconstructor’s mouth.

  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 you have the Weapon Proficiency: Hand-to-Hand skill with a Spear, add 2 to this number.

  If this number is 3 or less, turn to section 60.

  If this number is 4 or more, turn to section 271.

  355

  “Yuh huh,” you mutter, nodding again and again. “Ship! Of course. Please?”

  She smiles, rewarding you with the sight of perfect white teeth all laid in neat rows. “My knight in black armor,” she purrs. She leans forward ever so slightly and her moundy-round orbs push out against her dress, handfuls begging to be ripped off her torso and eaten. “My name’s Zelda,” she says as she passes you and enters the ship.

  One of the guards leaves his post to follow her, but she leans out from the doorway and says tenderly, “Please don’t bother me for a moment, boys, I have to take a dump.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” says the guard, shyly.

  Make a note that Zelda the Lady has joined you.

  Turn to section 82.

  356

  Your jetpack flares to life and you swoop around the silent, massive lifeform. Fields of slender tentacles sway beneath you, and thin blue streams glisten in your helm light. You even pass by what appears to be a cluster of frozen white flowers, still and corpse-like in the dark of space. The landscape is both serene and sinister. You pass by a great hole torn into the creature’s skin, dark and large enough for a man to fit inside.

  Before you can decide what to do next, you feel something like a vice clamping shut on your leg and you jerk to the side. Jarred, you swing about and see a thick grey tentacle wrapped around your leg. It is far, far longer than the others, and before you can put into words the unfairness you feel at this cheap ambush, the tentacle begins to drag you down to its shorter brothers, all of which are bunched together and coiling about in anticipation.

  If you have a gun and want to blast the tentacle, turn to section 581.

  If you have a hand-to-hand weapon and want to use it against the thing, turn to section 101.

  If you want to try and wiggle free and fly out of its range, turn to section 343.

  357

  Aggression gels in the air, thick and hot. “You know what,” says the lawman, “I think maybe I’m just gonna do my job, if that’s alright with you. If it isn’t alright with you, I can either arrest you along with these other scum-bags, or you can leave now.”

  “He’s not leaving,” says the smiling revolutionary, gesturing toward you. “Nobody, nobody, gets out of here alive.”

  Deflated, your spirit sinks: You temporarily lose 1 Will and 1 Charisma from your stats. You realize that you are trapped in this insane asylum, forced to continue this dance of death. No easy way out.

  If you have a gun, you can show the lawman you mean business and draw it on him by turning to section 258.

  If you have a gun, you can switch tracks and even the odds by drawing it on the revolutionaries by turning to section 242.

  If you want to backpedal and try to talk the revolutionaries out of whatever they’re doing, turn to section 572.

  If you really want to flip the script on them, you can try to haul ass out of the all-you-can-eat buffet by turning to section 273.

  358

  You realize that the lights and the sound are calibrated to disorient the human nervous system. Though you would like to further explore the room, you know that you will not be able to hold out for very long against this psy-weapon. You back out of the chamber and shut the door behind you. (You gain 1 XP for holding out as long as you did.)

  Turn to section 239.

  359

  You aim and blast the sides of the deconstructor. You hear the whine of pierced metal as your bullets slap into the beast. Suddenly sparks shoot up from a blasted steel panel and a great chunk of the deconstructor slides off and into the void. Far away, you hear a series of explosions, and the other deconstructor crashes into your own; most likely, the guard has just used his grenades. Your deconstructor grinds against its dead brother, trying to draw clear of it and continue on, however hobbled it may be. Just then your line snaps loose from the wall and you fly toward the machines - and, worse yet, towards the vacuum from the breach in the wall. By some terrible stroke of luck, both good and bad, your head slams into the damaged area of the deconstructor, sending up a ray of sparks and stars in your vision. You are thrown free of the dead machine. It shuts down, slides backwards. You slide across the floor and wall, sucked in by the outrushing wind.

  Just as you slide near the gap, the ruined hulks screech to a halt in the ruined hallway, plugging up the hole from which they came. The hole is sealed such that the tornado in your ears because a thin whine of escaping air. You drop to the ground, exhausted.

  You rise and stumble over the wreckage. You see the guard, alone, crawling toward an open doorway. You join him and the two of you collapse in a new hallway, bodies wracked
by adrenaline.

  You lose 4 Blood from the terrible battle, but you gain 3 XP for destroying the deconstructors. You check your inventory: Somehow, in the rush of the battle, you have lost one item (your pick, but the item must be of at least 1 bulk, so losing 1 bullet won’t suffice).

  Be sure to erase the amount of ammunition that you used, then turn to section 126.

  360

  Your need for air overcomes your greed. You kick off and float back towards the door. You enter the small antechamber. Strangely enough, this room is now as dark as the former. You push the button to seal off the room and open the next door. Nothing happens. You push the button again, harder. No air, nothing. You push on the door, but it does not budge.

  If there were a panic button on the panel, now would be the time to push it.

  If you have an Intelligence of 3 or more, you can use it by turning to section 44.

  If you have a Handgun and at least 2 Handgun bullets and would like to fire at the door, turn to section 424.

  If you have a Handgun and and at least 2 Handgun bullets and would like to fire at the control panel, turn to section 170.

  If you do not have this weapon, you can beat at the door and control panel by turning to section 349.

  361

  You fight your way up the slope with renewed intensity. You grab onto a piece of the pillar that you can see is loose, then put only a fraction of your weight onto it as you crawl forward. Once past it, you dislodge the chunk of concrete and send it skidding down the slope. One lead dog jumps out of the way to avoid it, but accidentally brushes into the other. The two tear into one another until the weaker falls from the support beam: Gain 1 XP.

  You continue on with the rest of the pack not far behind.

  Turn to section 510.

  362

  You rest as the bodies of your fallen enemies drift about.

  If you have any SD damage, and have no Sticky Fix to repair your suit, then the void bleeds you for that much Blood. For instance, if you have lost 1 SD, then you must now lose 1 Blood; if you have lost 2 SD, then you must now lose 2 Blood; if you have lost 3 SD, then your tattered suit comes apart and your body is immediately frozen and you die in the cold of space.

  You feel a strange need. You gather up the bodies of the aliens and look at them. You feel the urge to look upon the true face of the enemy. But the idea of doing so... is terrifying.

  If you are trained in Xenology, turn to section 389.

  If you do not have this skill, you can take off their helmets and look at them by turning to section 250.

  If you do not have this skill, you can just search the bodies for gear by turning to section 324.

  363

  “Sorry boys,” you say. “I’m on a mission to save the human species, not waste time with a few dogs. Enjoy your last few seconds of retirement. You’ve earned it.”

  The faces of the laborers grow pale, drawn out, eyes horribly wide, mouths bent like limp scar tissue. You stare at them, your hand faltering at the door. You realize that you will have nightmares about the Hell they must be going through and you hate them for it. You hate them for their impotent rage, their weakness, that willingness to serve for their entire lives and then the stupid shock they exhibit when their lords and masters don’t bow down to their simpering idiocy.

  God damn them, you think bitterly, raging against the horrible feeling turning in your gut. What they are - that’s not human.

  “THIRTY SECONDS TIL OPENING,” says the voice of the intercom. You enter the Narrenschiff and seal the door behind you. There is no window on the door, and the hull is thick. You can guess that they have run up the gangplank and are banging on the door, using the last few seconds of their lives to beg for mercy from one who cannot hear their cries. You are thankful for the thick hull, but you figure the nightmares to come will probably add the sounds in for you.

  Turn to section 427.

  364

  You steel your reserve and say, “Nay, temptress. I say thee, nay!”

  “Please!” she says. “I beg you, please!”

  “I will not hear it! Your feminine wiles can only cause trouble against my brotherhood of good and noble men. Get thee gone!”

  One of the guards rises, shouts, “You faggot! You idiot!”

  “You see?” you bark. “Already she has caused strife among blood brothers! Woman, begone!”

  With a terrible shriek most unbecoming of a lady - but which embodies the frustrations that make up the entirety of her being - she stalks away from your ship. She approaches a large vessel farther down the line where a line of lawmen in riot gear stand guard. Dozens of dead men lie at their feet. She never says a word to them, but they part for her and she disappears within.

  Hm, you think. She must be a lawman or something.

  “You freaking idiot,” mutters one of the guards behind you. “I swear.”

  Turn to section 82.

  365

  You stand your ground as the monsters emerge into the light. Segmented tentacles whirl about, insect-like faces glare without mercy, steel pincers grind against one another. You charge into them.

  If you are using a Blade, turn to section 201.

  If you are using a Mace, turn to section 210.

  If you are using a Spear, turn to section 496.

  366

  “Funk dis!” you scream. As the guard shoots down at the rising behemoths, you crank your grappling harness on and rocket upward through the hallway. The guard does a double-take at you, but you cannot make out his complaints over the rumbling of the deconstructors. You open the door and pull yourself up into it, then close it behind you.

  You run down a hallway. Soon, the lights flicker, then the hall is cast into darkness. You float upward. The deconstructors have destroyed the backup generator and, with it, all hope of getting fuel from the dock lines. You float onward, following the light on your helmet.

  Soon, all the hallways look similar. Dark, full of nothingness. You float for hours. For a while you are overcome by grief - then, a sense of nothingness. Perhaps a day stretches by as you wander. You see the body of the manager, frozen and purple, and you scream in terror. He clutches a long rifle in his dead hands. Then you hear the rumbling of more deconstructors. The end is coming. The hall shakes, terrifying, like a nightmare. You cannot stand it, cannot stand it, overwhelming. Before you can stop yourself you crack the rifle free from the frozen hands and point it toward your face. Reassuring. You squeeze the trigger and feel a terrific explosion as your skull is shattered, rushes into the vacuum, then freezes in death.

  You have died in the darkness of the void, another victim of the ghost station.

  THE END.

  367

  You realize that the lights and the sound are calibrated to disorient the human nervous system. Though you would like to further explore the room, you know that you will not be able to hold out for very long against this psy-weapon. You back out of the chamber and shut the door behind you. (You gain 1 XP for holding out as long as you did.)

  Turn to section 430.

  368

  The guard slams his fist into your torso, driving the air from you. You feel like either you are going to black out or your heart is going to explode. But you do not cry out.

  You must now compute a number to see if you are being beaten to death, or just close to it. Add your Ground Combat (1 G Combat) to your Strength and your Will stat. If you are trained in Weapon Proficiency: Blade, add 3 to the number.

  During your pounding you lose 5 Blood, but you can subtract the number calculated above from this amount. If your Blood has dropped to zero or less, then the guard has pounded your body into a gooey mess sloshing around inside your suit. If you have survived his onslaught, then continue on.

  You deftly reach down to your utility belt, free the knife from its sheath, and jam it into his gut. The guard slams several more punches into your torso, then looks down in confusion. When he sees the knife in him, he yelps and falls off of
you, crawling away. You stumble after him. As he rises onto his hands and knees, grunting like a hog, you straddle his back, lay the knife along his throat, and yank it toward yourself. Blood gushes onto the floor like wine from a barrel and the guard crashes to the floor, splashing the stuff everywhere.

  You gain 2 XP for killing the guard. You search his body and find the following items:

  STELLAR Hand-Held Radio (bulk 1)

  Lounge Card Key (bulk 0)

  Turn to section 565.

  369

  You aim your gun down at the shining heart of the beast. “Be seeing you,” you say, then fire. There is a brilliant flash, 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 up. 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.