Heavy Metal Thunder Page 27

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

  You gain 3 XP for ruining a supply depot of the Invaders. Be sure to erase the bullet you used. 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.

  370

  The deck is almost comfortably warm, but its walls are painted in cool tones. The first thing you see is a large video monitor surrounded by smaller ones, all of which display the black of space with blue map overlays. Sometimes the monitors flash to different sections of the ship, like the engine room and its nuclear reactor, the precious shield generator room, and the various docking bays. Next you see the silent, efficient crew sitting at their computer monitors. Captain Numitor sits on a raised platform where he surveys the monitors, one arm propped up on his great chair in a very noble fashion, like a king of old. Except for a few guards with yellow badges, all of the crewmen wear the blue patch of ship personnel. The Captain wears a grey badge on his black uniform.

  “Slow us down,” says Captain Numitor. “Again, half our current speed.”

  “Yes sir,” says one crewman, and his fingers fly as he contacts the engine room. You are impressed with the division of labor, the acknowledgment of hierarchy, and wonder if perhaps you will ever be captain of such a ship.

  “Grinder missiles?” says Captain Numitor.

  “READY TO GO, SIR!” shouts another crewman, and you are surprised at his aggressive tone. He swivels in his chair and you note that his face is contorted by some kind of mania, and his sweater is smeared with what can only be dried blood.

  Just then the Captain’s aide approaches you. He is an elderly man and, seemingly recognizing you, nods. You salute and he raises a hand, an “at ease” gesture. “First time on deck?” he asks.

  “Sir, yes sir.”

  He nods in a friendly manner, then says, “Any questions?”

  “Sir, I’m wondering about the psychopath over there,” you say, nodding to the youth with the bloody sweater.

  “Ah, yes. He is a... a human fanatic, as they are called. A good soldier. Rather exuberant, however.”

  “Exuberant?” you say, not because you want him to elaborate, but because you do not know what the word means.

  The aide chuckles, says, “Yes, quite. It’s a well-known fact that his kind spend more time in lock-down than on active duty! A rowdy bunch, all around. Have to watch your tone around them, if you catch my meaning.”

  “So there’s a lot of these fanatics? What exactly are they about?”

  “They are a pro-human movement woken up by the presence of the Invader. What they are about is the destruction of all alien forces occupying our solar system... or so they say. Sometimes I think what they’re really about is a lot of shouting and fighting with the rest of the crew. Some call them a religion, others a philosophy. Still others call them a cult. They hold views of genetic intolerance, racist ideals concerning human supremacy, a blatant deification of native human culture. Sometimes, ah... sometimes I wonder if, perhaps, we simply shouldn’t try talking to the Invaders. If there is one alien race other than our own, then there must be many. Which means, son, that we are neighbors in a great galactic community. Does that not mean that we should try to get along?”

  You are instantly enraged. “They invaded our solar system, destroyed our colonies, and took our homeworld from us,” you say, straining against the impulse to murder your superior. “No human city has been left standing. What is there to talk about? Sir.”

  “It’s just one option,” the aide says, shaking his head testily. “One of many that could be explored, or at the very least, discussed. Now, good day.”

  Once the aide leaves, your blood cools down. You think about talking to the fanatic, but he seems incredibly busy at his console. 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.

  371

  “ATTENTION!” says the voice on the intercom. “DOCKING BAY DOORS WILL BE OPENING IN 90 SECONDS!”

  “Minute and a half!” you shout. “That’s it! Let’s get ready to move out!” The laborers, utterly exhausted, drop the boxes they did not load and rest against them, panting and sweating. The guards lazily sheathe their guns and stroll up the gangplank leading into the ship. Just then you realize that the guards may be completely worthless. In fact, with their guns, they may actually be a hindrance to your safe passage.

  You curse silently, thinking, Only a minute to go, and no way to get rid of those two without a fight. No choice but to let them eat up the supplies and just deal with whatever problems they cause later on down the road.

  Make a note that Cletus the Mercenary and Buford the Mercenary are with you.

  Then you turn toward the three laborers. A wicked idea blooms in your heart.

  If you want to refuse to let the laborers into the ship so they won’t eat up your limited supplies, turn to section 29.

  If you want to let them on board as payment for their hard work, turn to section 388.

  372

  Combat! The will to kill, the struggle to survive, the bloody battle from which only the gore-drenched few can emerge victorious. The Black Lance Legion have worked hard to burn away the civilized nature of modernity and hone your primal killer’s edge. There are two forms of combat they have taught you. What you do with this terrible knowledge is up to you.

  Ground Combat (or 1 G Combat) - The normal hand-to-hand mode of fighting that man has excelled in since he climbed down from the trees. Includes everything from grappling to striking to parrying to strangling.

  Zero G Combat - The Space Age combat that the Jetpack Infantry specializes in. The Black Lance Legion grunts engage the enemy in intense aerial combat among the stars, grappling for supremacy on wings of fire. A good Jetpack Infantryman has to maneuver with grace and bash with skill.

  You begin your personal war with 1 point in each of these modes of combat. During the course of your training, you have earned 1 more point that you may distribute as you see fit.

  Turn to section 334.

  373

  You bend low to the ground and shine your helm light on one of the glistening blue channels. You follow it, study the way it branches into smaller channels, how it connects to larger ones. The only thing you can make of them is that they are veins and arteries that transport some kind of blood throughout the creature’s body.

  You follow the larger branches of the blue arteries until you come to a small plot of frozen white flowers. Within the little garden shines a blue disc, like a ring perhaps three feet in diameter, laid out on the ground. The blue veins connect to this shining thing. If the blue channels are indeed veins, then the thing within the garden must be the heart of the beast.

  The need to kill this pet of the Invaders hums within you. But you do not trust these strange flowers that grow in the cold of space.

  If you want to wade through the flowers to get to the heart, turn to section 461.

  If you want to fly overhead and get a head-on view of the heart, turn to section 507.

  374

  “Don’t even think about it!” screams the smiling revolutionary.

  “I’m... I’m not!” the other shrieks. He holds his gun firmly, raises it toward you.

  “Now, hold on a sec!” you shout.

  “Drop ’em!” shouts the lawman.

  “Shut up!” shouts the smiling revolutionary. “Shut up! Shut up! Now! Now! Now!”

  The tension builds - then explodes.

  Turn to section 380.

  375

  You blast at the enemy as he raises his long rifle and attempts to do the same.

  You must now compute a number that will determine the outcome of your gun battle. This number is your Dexterity added to your
Zero G Combat stat. If you have the Jetpack Skill, add 4 to this number. If you are trained in Weapon Proficiency: Ranged, and it is with the weapon you are using, add 3 to this number. If you are using a Shotgun, add 1 to this number no matter how many shells you fire. For every 3 Handgun bullets you fire, add 1. For every 2 Rifle bullets you fire, add 1. For every Shotgun shell you fire, add 1.

  The long rifle fires in a flash of light. You lose 18 Blood, but you may subtract the number you calculated from this amount. If you lose at least 1 Blood then you also lose 1 SD.

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

  If you survive, then the Invader’s body jerks back and forth as it is run through with gunfire, then oxygen and red ice spews from the demolished suit. You brake hard, then crash into a bed of ash beside your fallen enemy.

  You gain 2 XP for killing the Invader sniper. Be sure to erase the amount of ammunition that you used.

  Turn to section 362.

  376

  You hear a man shouting in panic, then wild gunfire. You come upon a ruined deconstructor, tentacles limp, smoke rising from its blasted shell. You skirt around it, then crouch close to a wide intersection near the sounds of battle.

  Just as you are deciding what to do, two green-armored men with rifles run into the intersection, one firing in front, the other behind. The one in front is skinny, and his eyes and mouth are stretched out in absolute terror. He shrieks wildly as he fires his gun at the unseen attacker. The other man is bigger than the first, with wiry hair, and a steady stream of cool comments seem to come from him, though you cannot hear over the gunfire. You hear a shriek and a crash as the man wastes one of the deconstructors.

  There is another sharp explosion as the skinny man dusts off one of the monsters. He suddenly whirls on you, lips quivering as he hollers insanely. You raise your hands as he levels his rifle at you. It clicks, empty, and before you can say anything he runs at you, screaming, “Raider!”

  You must dispatch this panicky fool before he kills you. And you’ll have to do it fast, while his buddy is preoccupied with the last of the deconstructors.

  If you have a Handgun and at least 1 bullet, you can try to smoke his ass by turning to section 266.

  If you have a Knife, carve him up by turning to section 333.

  If you have a Mace, hit a home run on his skull by turning to section 437.

  If you have a Spear, run him through by turning to section 209.

  If you have none of these weapons, take him out bare-handed at section 49.

  377

  The armory has been almost completely trashed, and secretaries and minor lawmen lie dead on the ground. Several morale-boosting posters have been shot up. Worst of all - you see no less than eight revolutionaries at the far end of the room, laughing and screeching as they arm themselves. Several of them turn to you and eye you warily, though none of them confront you.

  You can see that most of the gun racks are being ransacked by the revolutionaries. However, a smaller gun rack stands nearby, all alone and aching to be pilfered.

  If you wish to announce to all and sundry, “Alright boys, party’s over. I’m taking you down,” then turn to section 279.

  If you wish to keep your head down and walk over to the smaller gun rack, turn to section 577.

  378

  Immediately the laborers leap up and tackle Cletus. Bawling like a wounded animal, Cletus disappears under a landslide of stomping feet. The men show him no mercy; all their lives they have been pushed around by similar mindless brutes whose only authority comes from the end of a gun.

  Buford charges and slams into you. You crash into a stack of boxes and your head slams painfully against the floor, jarring you. He lashes out with a series of wild punches. You hear a terrific ringing sound and Buford crashes into the ground. You peel your eyes open and see one of the laborers staggering under the weight of a heavy oxygen tank. The young man brings the thing down on Buford’s head again, nearly knocking his eyes loose from their sockets. Buford swings his fist out and catches the smaller man in the gut, dropping him painfully, but you are on top of Buford before he can fully recover. A red haze dims your vision and you are aware only of the exertion in your limbs.

  You must now compute a number that will determine the outcome of this fight. This number is your Strength stat added to your 1 G Combat stat. If you are skilled in Weapon Proficiency: Hand-to-Hand, and it is with the weapon you are using, add 2 to this number. If you are using a Blade, add 1 to this number. If you are using a Mace, add 2.

  During the fight you lose 10 Blood, though you may subtract the number above from this amount. You may also subtract your Defense rating, if you have any.

  If you die, then you may Regenerate by turning to section 312, or, if you want to go further back, section 179.

  When you recover, you see a pulpy, bloody mess beneath you; the thing that was once Buford moans, his throat nearly crushed, then the broken bits of his teeth trickle into the back of his throat and suffocate him.

  You glance over at the laborers. They are panting and leaning against one another. Cletus is dead on the ground, a bag of shattered bones and ruined organs. One of the laborers nods to you, and you nod back. Another smiles slightly, then hides his mouth behind his hand guiltily.

  Turn to section 341.

  379

  “ATTENTION!” says the voice on the intercom. “SEVEN MINUTES UNTIL DOCKING BAY DOORS OPEN!” The lights blink ominously, then a group of people rush toward a large ship nearby, where they are repelled mercilessly by a line of gunmen. The cries of the dying and the bereaved tear through the docking bay.

  “Step it up!” you shout to the laborers, then you turn to the guards and say, “Be ready, we might have to repel boarders any second now.”

  One guard scratches his beard, then says, “Here comes one now.”

  A squat, hairy man rushes through the crowd toward you. “Please let me on board!” he squawks, in severe pain from his run.

  “Why should we?” says a guard, stroking his rifle.

  “I’m... I’m a mechanic,” says the man. “What if summin’ goes wrong with yer ship? I can help, man, I can help!”

  The man is in terror at the thought of being left behind.

  If you want to invite him on board, turn to section 559.

  If you want to reject the man, turn to section 575.

  380

  Thunder shatters the room, deafens you, and a bullet slams into the side of your ribs. You cannot breathe, your legs go loose, and you fall against the wall and slide down painfully. You force your eyes open. You see the lawman flat on the ground, his chest peppered with holes, his eyes still. The smiling revolutionary stumbles backward slowly, his face now pale and loose; he clutches a spreading red spot on his chest, leans against the wall for a moment, then falls forward, limp and heavily.

  In front of you, the scared revolutionary clutches his smoking gun, eyes wide with terror as he glares at you. While the man stares at you, you stare back, then feel of your wound. A bullet is lodged between your ribs: You lose 6 Blood to the terrible assault. 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 wound you temporarily lose 1 Strength and 1 Dexterity.

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

  Finally the revolutionary lowers his gun to his side, looks away from you as if he’s written off your existence, then walks out of the room. You stumble painfully to your feet.

  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 Bu
llets (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.

  381

  You and Reika jog down the hall toward the far side of the station. Screams of terror echo in the distance. Bullet-holes riddle the area and bloody corpses line your path. You come to an electronic map on the wall. As you study the map a terrific explosion rocks the station. You ignore the distraction, intent on your own survival. According to the electronic map, docking bays are blinking out and going black all around the station.

  “What’re you doin’?” Reika says.

  “What’s it look like? Saving our lives.”

  “Ignore that thing. It’s never right, never has been. Follow me!”

  Before you can come up with a counterargument, another blast rocks the station and the map goes black. You hear gunshots, then screams mixed with laughter. “Fine,” you say. “Lead the way.”

  During your run through the halls of madness, you see a door marked

  STELLAR CORP LAW ENFORCEMENT ARMORY

  AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY!

  The lock has been smashed open, and you can hear activity inside.

  If you want to enter the armory, turn to section 245.

  If you want to bypass the area and hurry on to the docking bay, turn to section 539.

  382

  Something hot burns in your mind and you cannot straighten out the crashing train of your thoughts. Anger wells up in you like never before, and you say, “John Christian, I went through Hell because of you, and I’ve come through the other side as something more than I was before. The void always repays its debts. Now it’s time I repaid my debt to you - by sending you to Hell!”