Heavy Metal Thunder Read online

  You lose 4 Blood in the terrible battle. You gain 3 XP for successfully destroying the deconstructors. Be sure to erase the hand-to-hand weapon that you lost.

  Turn to section 126.

  28

  You are in no great haste to try your luck at running around those doors like some kind of nutty video game. You have an idea: You could move the weakened cleaning machine in between each door, like a barrier, and jump over the cleaning machine itself.

  It’s so crazy, it just might work. That is, by turning to section 525.

  That’s the dumbest idea ever, the machine will never hold up. Run the gauntlet by turning to section 513.

  29

  As the laborers move to climb the gangplank, you say, “Who-o-oa, now, hold on there a minute. Where d’you boys think you’re goin’?”

  “Huh?” says one, stupidly. “What... do you mean?”

  “What do you think I mean? I never said you could come on board. Get lost.”

  “But,” says another, “sir, please! W-we can’t possibly find another ship in so short a time!”

  “Pathetic,” you say, turning to leave. “Always making excuses, your whole life long. That’s why you’re at the bottom of society, you know. Victims of your own stupidity.”

  While one laborer clutches his fists at his side, blood boiling in his face, an older one says, “Please, I beg you! Please, don’t kill us!” Tears well up in his eyes, tears fueled by a lifetime of disappointment.

  If you want to say, “Just messin’ with ya, come on!” then turn to section 519.

  If you still want to refuse them, turn to section 363.

  30

  “Hey bud,” you say. He whirls toward you, gun aimed at your chest. His eyes are unfocused. You snap your fingers quickly, say, “Hey! You listening to me?”

  “What?” he shrieks, annoyed.

  “You want out of this mess? Or you wanna die for nothing?”

  The man’s lips peel back, and he shrieks, “What do you want?!”

  “I’m the man with the answers and I’m going to get you out. Now, do you want out?”

  “Of course...” the man groans.

  “Then kill that man.”

  “H-h-he’s a cop, man!”

  “I’m not talking about the cop. I’m talking about your idiot “friend” there. He’s the problem. If you kill him, you can get out of here and spend your last few minutes doing something you enjoy, rather than die for nothing.”

  “Hah!” says the smiling revolutionary. “He would never do that. The People’s Underground Revolutionary Forces are made of sterner stuff than that.”

  But you see the scared man warring within himself, searching your face for the answer to all his problems.

  Add your Will and Charisma scores together.

  If the number is 6 or more, turn to section 395.

  If the number is 5 or less, turn to section 374.

  31

  Both sides blast away at one another. Chunks of the wall shatter and fly into your face, your eyes, your neck. Several Invaders fall to your combined gunfire, but more seem to fill the area, firing round after round at your position.

  Though you cannot seem to make any headway against the alien defenders, you gain 1 XP for surviving. Be sure to erase the amount of ammunition that you used.

  “They’re getting reinforcements!” shouts Marcus. “And we’re boxed in here!”

  If your Intelligence is 3 or more, turn to section 463.

  If your stat is not this high, turn to section 66.

  32

  The red emergency lights glare with portents of doom as you pass through the hall, wary of the manager. The hallway ends at a curving branch. Many doors are labeled for entrances to the docks; strange, to think that a vacuum lies just beyond those walls. You follow signs along one wall until you come to a door marked, “DOCK COMM STATION - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT.”

  The dock command station is dark, but still has gravity and air. You notch your helm into place and click the light on. Unlike the gentle tan of the hallway, the command station is steel-grey. The room is huge, full of control panels, chairs, papers, equipment everywhere. A window covers the entire front section. You look out and see the vast expanse of a ruined dock. Blasted hulls float, charred and weightless. You even see a clump of red ice that may have once been a man. A large steel net rotates slowly just outside the window; you can use that, later, to haul your supplies through space.

  Far down the station you see two service vehicles and protruding fuel lines. You jog to the area and find steel canisters. You haul them to the fuel lines, then jam a line into one. The pump is labeled, “LIQUID HYDROGEN - CAUTION!” While you cannot remember if the Black Lance Legion used anything different for their machines, nothing really tells you otherwise. You turn the pump on and the canister jerks a little while the pump hums with life. You breathe a sigh of relief, then you jam more steel canisters onto separate pumps.

  You take a quick glance at the equipment littering the room. Nothing seems useful until you notice a bulky hand-held computer with a wide screen labeled, “STELLAR NAVIGATION UNIT”. Upon closer examination, it seems the device is full of star charts, maps of the Asteroid Belt, and even notes the locations of other STELLAR stations. The nearest station, another asteroid mining complex, while still incredibly far away, seems that it might even be along the same route taken by your Black Lance Legion ship - and the hunting Invader ship.

  Of course, the estimate is approximate; minor deviations in flight paths in space can end up at vastly different points. Still, the machine provides some hope, for the next station is a place that you could journey to and at least get some kind of ship.

  If you are skilled in the use of Computers, you can download the navigation data directly into your helm computer. Otherwise, you must take the Navigation Computer (bulk 3) with you. If you do not have enough room in your inventory, you must discard enough items to leave room for the necessary computer.

  The transport vehicles seem to be empty of fuel. In another corner you find a huge array of steel O2 tanks and an electronic handcart. While the fuel pumps hum, you haul oxygen tanks onto the hand cart, then push them into the hall near an entrance to the docks. You lift one off and carefully set it down - then, realizing your need for speed, kick the whole cart over and dump them all noisily into the hallway. You continue the process several times. As you work the robot moves back and forth down the hallway, gathering food and water for you.

  You and the labor-bot amass a ton of supplies. Perhaps an hour passes in this way. Then, without warning, the lights flicker and go black. Even the red alarms continue for only a few seconds before they, too, are cut off. The whir of the air conditioning system clicks off, and you slowly rise from the floor. You can hear rumbling, grinding, far away.

  The backup generators have been destroyed and more deconstructors are tearing their way through the station. The end is near. You kick off a wall and check the fuel canisters. You disconnect one, glad to see that it is full, then attach a line from your jetpack and refuel yourself. You seal the canisters, then kick them into the hallway and gather them near the rest of your supplies. The robot floats down a side hallway, treads moving uselessly, head whirling in confusion.

  Near exhaustion, your heart races with the hope of escaping this ghost station. You kick off and stop at the door to the ruined dock so that you can follow through with the last part of your plan.

  Turn to section 47.

  33

  You raise up over the box, blood singing in your ears drowning out all else. A horned head hovers into view. You fire - and the guard falls back, one of his horns shattered, blood spurting from a new opening in his head. You drop down again just as the other two return fire, their bullets ringing against the steel box that covers you.

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

  Your com-link clicks to life. A calm, aristocratic voice says, “Commander Uther, do you r
ead me? This is Captain Numitor.” You can hear him loud and clear over the Penelope’s powerful communications link.

  “SIR, YES SIR!” cries Uther.

  “The good news,” says Numitor, in a conversational tone, “is that our infantry have beaten back the attackers. Unfortunately I’ve had to recall most of them. You see, some nine enemy units have broken into the Penelope. We had quite a battle on the deck and killed three of them, but they managed to find our shield generator. Another has died against the soldiers there, but the last five are putting up quite a fight. My second is throwing around the word ‘retreat’. How are things over there, Commander?”

  “Few minutes, sir!” says Uther. “Few minutes, that’s all we need.”

  Damn! you think. I hope that hot supply depot chick didn’t get her face seared off or her intestines blown out by some monster. I never even caught her name...

  You prepare to fire at the second guard.

  You must now compute a number that will determine the accuracy of your second shot. This number is your Dexterity. 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 Rifle, add 2. If you are using a Shotgun, add 1. 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. Furthermore, if you have Sixth Sense, add 1 to this number.

  If the number is 7 or less, turn to section 488.

  If the number is between 8 and 13, turn to section 111.

  If the number is 14 or more, turn to section 422.

  If you are completely out of bullets, turn to section 471.

  34

  While the ship directs itself, you spend some time going over the supplies that the laborers loaded. The ship’s relatively-advanced engine uses liquid hydrogen as its fuel, just as your jetpack does, and there is plenty of that on board. You find many heavy tanks full of compressed oxygen. Best of all, there is plenty of water; so much so that, not only will none of you have to worry about rationing, you can even take baths. (Since the small ship is equipped with Fat Mass coils that induce artificial gravity, you won’t have to worry about any embarrassing acrobatics while bathing.) There are also boxes full of various amenities that will make your life easier - much easier than floating through the void alone, with nothing between you and freezing death but your infantryman space suit. Furthermore, if you have been lugging around the Navigation Computer then you may discard it now, as it is easy to download its information into the Narrenschiff’s computer systems.

  The only possible problem with the supplies is the amount of food on board. There seems to be quite a bit, but it is still not enough to make you feel comfortable. Make a note that there are 30 Foods on the ship. During your journey you will have to keep track of all the Food eaten by you and your companions.

  Suddenly, exhaustion overwhelms you. Drained by your struggle, you find a thick blanket and curl up in a corner of the room. The corner is warm and the blanket is soft and comforting. So different from everything else you remember. You fade into black.

  Turn to section 338.

  35

  With bile in your heart you realize there’s no turning back. You manipulate the grappling rope’s harness on your belt and lower yourself near the spinning drills that cluster about the mouth of one of the behemoths. You hear the ricochet of bullets dangerously near you as the guard fires on the other. With one hand ready to raise yourself on the rope, you heft your weapon with the other. The terrible maw of the deconstructor looms before you, death spinning all around.

  You must now compute an abstract number that signifies the strength of your attack. This number is the total of your Strength and Dexterity and Ground Combat (or 1 G Combat). 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.

  If the result is 8 or more, turn to section 468.

  If the result is between 7 and 5, turn to section 27.

  If the result is 4 or less, turn to section 51.

  36

  Cold and darkness are your allies. For days the twinkling stars laugh at you, for you are trapped inside your will to survive. Come and join us, they say. Transcend your bestial flesh. Shine forever with us...

  The torture goes on and on, unbearable. You realize that time itself is the definition of torture. Death is escape. “Death is escape!” you shout, half-asleep. When no one tells you that you are wrong, your hand lingers on the latch to your helm, ready to pull it off and end the boredom.

  You slip into insanity. Then you realize that only the insane have what it takes to cling to something as painful as life. You smile a death’s-head grin. “If there is no God,” you cackle, “then God is Nothingness! Send your worst, cold demons of the void! It’ll take more than torture and less than nothingness to end me!”

  You survive for a few more days, but it takes its toll on you. You temporarily lose 1 from your Will stat. However, if your Will has already dropped to zero, then you lose 2 Blood instead.

  The slow, grinding battle for survival in the void continues.

  If you have a Framed Photo of a group of laborers, turn to section 303.

  If you do not have this distracting item, turn to section 92.

  37

  “No you didn’t,” says the Commander. “I see them right there.”

  Even more confused, you say, “Whuh... where?”

  “Down there,” he says nonchalantly - then slams his fist into your gut.

  It feels as if a grenade has gone off inside of your suit and you double over and fall to your knees. As you hack and slobber on the ground, the Commander says, “See them down on the floor there?”

  The psychotics laugh at you.

  Once you catch your breath, you scream out, “All I want to do is kill aliens, sir!”

  “You don’t want to chase paperwork?” says the Commander, looking down at you. “Are they not a comfort to your kind? Boxing up reality until reality goes away, and then the last thing you are allowed to file... is your own death certificate?”

  “No, sir,” you say, shaking your head as a coughing fit grips you. “God damn, no, sir.”

  One of the men in the rear says, “Man is a map between dog and the superman. Much in this one is still dog-like.”

  “Let’s bring the dog along anyway,” says the Commander. “Maybe we can teach him a few tricks.”

  “I don’t... need any paperwork?” you say, rising on shaky knees.

  “Not if you can prove you’re human,” says the Commander. “And, who knows? We might make something admirable of you yet.”

  “SIR!” you shout. “YES SIR!”

  Turn to section 58.

  38

  Commander Uther takes the lead, handgun in one hand and charged mace in the other, while you and Sybel carry Marcus. “Captain!” shouts Uther.

  Over the com-link, Numitor says, “Commander Uther - the shield?”

  “Set to blow!”

  “Good job!” You catch a note of relief in the man’s voice; it betrays the fact that he has many lives in his hands right now, and he doesn’t want to sacrifice any of them. You do not envy him his position.

  “Give us three minutes, sir, three minutes.”

  “Okay. You’ve earned it, Commander.”

  A terrific explosion shakes the entire ship. The floor creaks under your feet, and the dim lights in the near-black hallway shudder off for a moment. Marcus groans, “There go your shields, assholes... suck on it.”

  While Marcus seems to pass in and out of consciousness muttering, “Suck, suck it...” Uther shouts into his radio, “Heimdall! We’re out of here!”

  “Hell!” cries a dim voice. “Damn! Fine! Okay!”

  “You alright? Heimdall, try to get back to where we came in. Can you get back there?”

  “Hellfire, sir, I dunno, we’ll try, we’re under major fire here.”

  You become lost in the labyrinthine halls. When
Uther falters at several intersections, Sybel shouts out directions. A minute passes, then another then even Sybel hesitates before giving directions.

  Marcus hangs like dead weight, making it impossible to breathe, much less move another foot. It becomes obvious that you are all lost in the black ship which is about to be blown to pieces by the Penelope’s Vengeance.

  You hear gunfire and screaming at the next intersection. “That’s Heimdall,” says Uther, rushing ahead. “Those bastards are right on his tail!”

  “We’ll all go down to Hell together!” growls Sybel, unsheathing his wicked charged blade, a maniacal fatalistic doom-glow in his grey eyes.

  “No!” shouts Uther. Into his com-link he shouts, “Heimdall, set your beacon and throw it! Then fly like hell - we’re at your right at the next intersection!” Uther mutters darkly, “We’re getting out of here yet.”

  Beacon? you think. Just what is he planning?

  In a hail of gunfire from the far hall, you see several human infantrymen fly around the corner at suicidal speed. The world seems to slow down as some terrible feeling stomps in your guts.

  “Captain Numitor!” Uther shouts, his voice drawn out in your mind. “We’ve set a beacon, a signal for you! I need you to blast the tightest, thinnest laser shot you can right at that beacon!”

  Hell, you think. This is the end.

  If you killed John Christian, turn to section 177.

  If you let him live, turn to section 104.