Heavy Metal Thunder Page 37

  “Didn’t find so much out there,” says the guard, “except for some kinda killer robots.”

  “Who is that man?” barks the manager.

  “Dunno,” says the guard, sitting on an empty crate and leaning his rifle against the wall.

  “I’m a soldier in the Black Lance Legion,” you say. “I think I got separated from my unit.”

  The old laborer stands suddenly, paces about tiredly. He wheezes as he walks by you. “Jus’ about figures,” he says. “We get abandoned by our people, people come in to help, then they abandon they own people... jus’ about figures.”

  “Figures?” you say, darkly. “How so.”

  “That’s jus’ people,” the old man wheezes. “Either meanin’ good but too dumb to follow through, or out for theyselves and jus’ makin’ hell all over. Worthless, man, just worthless...”

  Suddenly something terrible flares up in you. Something about the man’s words drives you beyond anger, beyond any fury you have ever felt. Your vision goes red and your muscles tense, then coil upon you. You feel the unendurable need to crush this man.

  If you wish to slam your fist into his face, turn to section 583.

  If you wish to push him into a wall and crush him against it, turn to section 129.

  If you want to hold in this overwhelming urge, turn to section 283.

  516

  You continue down the darkened hallway and float into the lounge. The boxes drift near the floor. You tear open one and, to your delight, find tons of rations, snacks, even complete meals. You check a side room and find it full of jugs of water. You spend half an hour stacking the items in the hallway, then carefully push the entire mass before you. The trip down the long hallway is a small nightmare of organizing and reorganizing, but you are thankful that the entire length of the hall is a straight stretch with no narrow or closed doorways.

  You stop near an entrance to the docks and spend some time reorganizing the mass of goods in a space nearby. Then you reenter the dock command station, casting your light about for fear of the stalking manager. You gather up the steel fuel canisters, then attach a line from your jetpack to one of the things and refuel yourself. Your heart begins racing with the hope of escaping this ghost station. You push the fuel canisters through the air and slowly kick them against a wall near the rest of your supplies. Then you return to the command station and gather up as many of the giant oxygen tanks as you can. Another half hour passes as you come near to exhaustion collecting your supplies together.

  Then, you hear a radio sputtering in the darkness.

  Turn to section 180.

  517

  You aim down the barrel of your gun.

  “Don’t do it!” says the laborer. “I - I - I can’t cover my whole body... you might hit me!”

  “Do it!” screams the girl. “Come on, you pussy! Shoot!”

  One shot, one kill, you think to yourself. Let’s just hope the kill isn’t the girl.

  You must now compute a number that determines the outcome of your shot. This number is your Dexterity. If you are skilled in Weapon Proficiency: Ranged with the gun you are using, add 3 to this number. You cannot increase your chance of a successful shot by using more than one bullet; this is a skilled shot, and it only takes one bullet to blow someone’s dome wide open.

  If your number is 5 or less, turn to section 290.

  If your number is 6 or more, turn to section 474.

  518

  You jog in a straight line, ignoring side halls. All signs indicate that the ruined docks are straight ahead. You hear a radio sputtering far behind you. You turn and look, but the halls are empty. The manager may be following you. You continue on.

  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 COMMAND STATION - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT.”

  Just before you enter, you hear the radio sputtering again. “They’re here! They’re he-” says the voice on the radio, just before the signal is cut off. But there is no time to deal with the manager, wherever he is, so you rush into the dock station.

  The room 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, see the vast expanse of a ruined dock. Blasted hulls float, charred and weightless. You even see a clump of red ice which 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 jam more steel canisters onto separate pumps.

  You take a quick glance at the equipment littering the room. Nothing seems useful - then 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 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. Unless you gain the Computers skill later in the adventure, you must keep this item until the text indicates that you may discard it.

  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 that you can use to gather all the food in the lounge.

  If you wish to use the handcart to haul oxygen tanks near a door to the dock, turn to section 17.

  If you wish to take the handcart to the lounge and gather up all the food supplies you can carry, turn to section 264.

  If you wish to wait by the fuel canisters and make sure nothing happens to them until they are full, turn to section 40.

  519

  Visibly relieved, the men race up the gangplank. One of them does not look at you, however, as he is still too angry. Another smiles at you weakly.

  You feel a strange, bitter stabbing in your guts. The fact that these men did not try to kill you for your comments, and even seemed relieved when you admitted to “joking” with them, strikes you as horribly sad. You know that, with no time to spare, the men were desperate to get on this ship but really had no way to challenge you. And probably that is the way those men have felt their entire lives: Dependent on the mercy of monsters, with only their willingness to toil and sweat as the sole card to play in a gamble that their masters will show them some kindness and will let them live.

  You feel disgust toward this attitude - then you remember that it’s not like you challenged the two guards, though they struck you as pretty worthless human beings. Because they had guns, and a brute willingness to use them. Then you feel disgusted with yourself.

  “THIRTY SECONDS TIL OPENING,” says the voice of the intercom. You enter the Narrenschiff and seal the door behind you.

>   Make a note that the Three Laborers are with you.

  Turn to section 427.

  520

  The three guards for the shield generator room lie dead. The room grows quiet. Black smoke rises to intertwine with the shaking chains overhead. In one still moment of calm clarity, you realize that you have spilled an awesome amount of blood in the name of your species: You gain 7 XP.

  You turn back to Marcus. Several dozen alien dead clog up the entire stairwell, their stiff limbs poking out all over, and a river of blood gushes down to the floor below. Leaning against the box, Marcus turns to you slowly, his face ashy and grey, and says faintly, “I just killed like a hundred dudes...” He smiles weakly.

  You clamber over to him and see a bullet hole in the front of his suit. “No,” you mutter.

  “Cromulus,” he says, “you did alright, man.” He stares into the distance and his features go slack. But just before his violent soul can slide into death, he blinks and says harshly, “Now help me up.”

  You laugh and bend over to help the man up. Amazing, you think. The guy must have like 30 Blood!

  Sybel runs past you, then stops at the large metal door to the shield generator room. Uther stares down the corridor by which you entered, his handgun held low. “They’re regrouping,” he mutters.

  Your com-link clicks on. “Captain Numitor here. Are you gentlemen dead?”

  “SIR NO SIR!” shouts Commander Uther.

  “Bit of a situation here. Our guards have killed all but three of the attackers, but they’re quite dug in next to our shield generator. Some of our infantry have returned and will assist, but in the meantime, it seems that one of the Invaders is strapping a large rig to himself.”

  “A suicide bomber?” says Uther.

  “We think so. You understand the position I’m in.”

  “Yes sir,” mutters Uther.

  The com-link goes silent. “What does that mean?” you say.

  Commander Uther ignores you, says, “Sybel - the door?”

  “Electronically locked,” says Sybel. You see that he has hooked some device to the door’s keypad and works frantically at its controls. Suddenly the heavy door grinds open and Sybel says, “Come on!”

  You drag Marcus into the shield generator room while Uther covers you, firing a warning shot to the regrouping aliens in the far corridor.

  Turn to section 87.

  521

  You manage to twist your leg around and bend your knee as the doctor pushes you back. You squeeze your boot between your bodies, then push him back as hard as you can. He stumbles and crashes into a table, spilling vials and jars all around. The syringe flies through the air and shatters on a wall. As the doctor, shaking and cursing, fumbles with the vials looking for one in particular, you leap off the table and run at him. He unwisely turns to the side and you kick him in the head so violently that he slams into the ground, nearly senseless. You run to him and stomp his head repeatedly. He tries to roll into a protective ball, but it is too late: His skull soon cracks under your blows and his head becomes a wet bag of sloppy goo. Blood splatters onto the floor from his ruined nose and eye sockets and you fall against the far wall, exhausted from the beat-down.

  You gain 1 XP for killing the mad doctor.

  Turn to section 269.

  522

  Your blade crushes the deconstructor’s eye, then slides into its head. The thing shrieks once, then falls still and dead. You whirl just in time to see the tentacle of the other whip over your head. You jerk your knife free, then dive onto the other, pushing it to the ground. As its arms flail above you, you jam the knife into its underbelly once, twice, then again, until it heaves under you and falls shuddering.

  You have survived your first fight. Turn to section 298.

  523

  “Help!” You cry out, “I’m hurt!”

  You forgot that in space... no one can hear you scream.

  Your body, in desperate need of oxygen, is racked by pain and fatigue.

  If you have the Wrench, you can slam it into the control panel by turning to section 265.

  If you have the Knife, you can try to wedge it between the door and wall and pry it open by turning to section 83.

  If you did not pick up either of these items, you can go back to the other room by turning to section 493.

  524

  “Let me help,” you say, rushing to Uther’s side. You study the device. It is a small, complicated bomb. If wired properly it will provide a massive explosion.

  “You know how to work this piece?” Uther grunts.

  You nod, then begin connecting the various wires. Satisfied, he rises to watch the other door.

  Sybel’s door slides shut just as gunfire slams into it. “That’ll buy us some time,” he mutters.

  “This hallway’s clear,” says Uther, peering through the third door. “Looks like we’ll be going this way.” He hauls Marcus up to his feet. The man groans loudly, then turns it into a defiant snarl.

  “Done!” you shout, then slide the setup over to the computers directly beneath the shining generator. You nod to the Commander, then take Marcus onto your own shoulders once more.

  You gain 2 XP for using your training.

  To leave the shield generator room, turn to section 38.

  525

  You grab the still-running machine and turn it about. “I got use for you, pal,” you say. “And if this doesn’t work, you get to clean up my blood and guts.” You push the thing forward like a man in a grocery store looking for the best deal on an extra minute of life. You study the rhythm of the door for a moment, then push the machine forward.

  The door slams into it once, twice, and the machine bucks against the wall. You clamber onto the vibrating thing. It squeals under you. You roll and fall onto the far side. Just then the whole machine seems to loosen under the door’s assault, then comes apart completely. You roll away as it shatters and throws metal plates and bolts everywhere. The door continues its work. You gain 1 XP.

  Now you are trapped between the two sets of doors. There are loose papers scattered about the hallway. You rest for a moment to consider your options. Just then you hear a vent click on loudly. You look up. You see pink mist filling the air above you. It is heavy, and begins to fall toward you.

  If you wish to stay where you are and get a nice pink-mist sauna experience, turn to section 457.

  If you want to get away from the stuff and move on towards the next door, turn to section 11.

  526

  You cross the silent, grey landscape with gliding steps until you reach the dark hole. It looks as if something has dug the hole into the beast. You shine your helm light inside and see exposed pink flesh, frozen over. Thick blue veins jut out from the wound. The scanner on your helm lamp beeps with a finding: Traces of liquid hydrogen are bubbling out of the creature’s wound and are dissipating out into the void.

  Strange, you think. That’s the same stuff our ships use for fuel. You decide to move your investigation elsewhere.

  If you wish to look at some of the waving tentacles, turn to section 402.

  If the mound seems more your thing, turn to section 300.

  If you want to follow some of the blue channels on the skin of the beast, turn to section 373.

  527

  The boredom drills into your skull. There is only darkness, cold, the glittering of cruel stars that never move or change. Thoughts of suicide come and go, but as the days linger the thoughts come more often than they go.

  “I could unzip my suit,” you mutter to yourself, vaguely curious as to what you will do. “Just unzip my cage, ziiiiiiip, then the cold would come, fwooosh. Only a little pain, then rest...”

  But you continue on. Something within you demands survival. However, you temporarily lose 1 point from your Will stat. And the battle against the cold nothingness drags on.

  If you have a Locket and Holophoto, turn to section 142.

  If you do not have such a trifling item, turn to section 36
.

  528

  Something definitely does not feel right. This doctor is most likely living the last few hours or minutes of his life, and here he is worrying about the health of a man he barely knows. He seemed interested in your suit earlier. Perhaps he is not so resigned to death as it would seem. You glance up at the man’s face - you smell nervousness, dark intent, the cold will of a man determined to follow through with a plan. You do not trust him at all.

  For successful use of your skill, you gain 1 XP.

  To stop the doctor, turn to section 22.

  If you think you might be mistaken, you can let the doctor continue by turning to section 321.

  529

  You look around the room. It is drenched in the blood of the silent dead. Well, you think to yourself, looks like I cleared the room of hostiles. Mission accomplished, I guess. For some reason, you are not filled with a sense of power at your awesome conquest. Instead, a strange liquid gels in the corner of your eyes, then trickles down. You shrug off the feeling and chalk it up to battle fatigue.

  You gain 3 XP for surviving the ridiculous, dangerous situation, then step over the bodies to inspect the gear you can take with you.

  (2) First Aid Kits (each Kit has 3 bulk; each kit heals 3 Blood.)

  Clopadropin (bulk 1) (Each dose of this prescription painkiller heals 1 Blood when taken. There is enough for 2 doses.)

  Flexadrone (bulk 1) (Whenever you temporarily lose Strength points due to injury, this drug will heal 1 Strength point. There is enough for 1 dose.)