Heavy Metal Thunder Page 40

  You lose 3 Blood in the terrible fight. If your Blood has dropped to zero or less, then you pass out, bleeding until you are dead and free of this harsh world.

  If you have survived, turn to section 298.

  562

  You check the guard’s body. You may take his Thick Pipe (Mace, bulk 2) if you wish. You also find a STELLAR radio. Just as you pick it up, the voice of the manager squawks on the other end.

  “Well?” he says, his voice high and shrill. “Did you kill the fool?!”

  Smiling, you say, “Yes, the fool is dead. And I’m coming for you next.”

  There is silence on the other end as the manager realizes he is living his worst nightmare. Then he says, darkly, “None of that matters. Those mechanical monsters must have torn all the way through the station. And I can hear more of them, eating their way through. We’re losing air like crazy now. Neither of us has much longer.”

  “Sounds pretty bad,” you say. “But I’ll wager I’ve got a little more time than you.”

  “Such tough talk!” squeaks the manager, then turns off his radio.

  You may take the STELLAR Hand-Held Radio (bulk 1) if you wish. You kick off and float back to your supplies and the door to the ruined dock, so that you can follow through with the last part of your plan to escape from the ghost station. You make a mental note to watch out for the manager.

  Turn to section 47.

  563

  The gun bucks in your hand and sparks fly up from one of the robots. It shrieks, then crashes in the darkness. The other deconstructor emerges into the light, segmented tentacles whirling, insect-like face glaring without mercy, pincers grinding against one another. You step back as it leaps into the air. The terrible face hovers before you. Full of the rush of the battle, you raise your gun and blast the monster in its face. Its momentum stops as its eyes dim, and it falls dead at your feet.

  Be sure to erase the number of bullets that you spent in the battle.

  Turn to section 298.

  564

  You leap, clear the door, and roll to safety before it slams against the wall: Gain 1 XP.

  Now you are trapped between the two doors. 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.

  565

  You jog down the hall back toward the lounge. When you reach the door, you push the button to open it. The door does not budge. At that moment red emergency lights flash on and off, and a dim siren chimes repeatedly. You seriously doubt that it has anything to do with the locked door before you.

  If you have a STELLAR Radio, turn to section 261.

  If you do not have this item, turn to section 115.

  566

  You slowly bounce along the hallway from floor to ceiling. The light from your helmet bounces around, cutting up the darkness to pick up motes of dust. The silence of the station reports your isolation, but you know that this is illusory; you expect, at any moment, for some strange thing that is also wrapped in the silence of the vacuum to turn the corner of the rounded hallway. The only sound you can hear is the terrible hissing of air as the vacuum robs your oxygen tank. If you do not find an area deeper inside the station where there is free air, you know that you will soon suffocate to death and become another piece of floating debris, no different from the rest.

  There is a door at the end of the hallway. It is slightly ajar. Just before you move to open it, you notice gobs of blood floating in the next room.

  If you want to open the door anyway, turn to section 120.

  If you would rather turn around and try the other side of the hallway, turn to section 305.

  567

  You yell and run at the monster. The metal coil ignores your battlecry and slams into your mouth. The thing takes you off your feet, whips your head around, and throws you on the floor at the far side: Lose 2 Blood. You offer up a pray of thanks to the god of dumb-luck for keeping the flaming end of the coil away from you.

  You nurse your damaged head and ego, then run to the end of the hall and turn a corner. A door lies there. You enter it and leave behind the mist of destruction: Gain 1 XP.

  Turn to section 223.

  568

  You rise onto your knees and clumsily throw your arms across a table, aiming down the barrel of your gun. A fraction of a second is drawn out like an hour. You see the scared revolutionary flailing his gun about, screaming and firing all around you, while the smiling revolutionary cocks his shotgun and ejects a spent shell as he prepares to fire at you again.

  You must now compute a number that will determine the outcome of your raging gunbattle against the two revolutionaries. This number is your 1 G Combat added to your Dexterity stat. If you are skilled in Weapon Proficiency: Ranged with the gun you are using, add 3 to this number. For every bullet you fire, of any caliber, add 1 to this number. Note that you must fire at least 1 bullet.

  If your number is 7 or less, turn to section 301.

  If your number is between 8 and 14, turn to section 491.

  If your number is 15 or more, turn to section 62.

  569

  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 while Cletus hollers like an insane man while kicking you in the side. You hear a terrific ringing sound and Buford crashes into the ground. You peel your eyes open and see Reika staggering under the weight of a heavy oxygen tank. She brings the thing down on Buford’s head again, nearly knocking his eyes loose from their sockets. Cletus’s boot crashes into your face, smacking your head into the floor again. You roll into a ball and pray that Reika can deal with this situation. Unfortunately Buford rises once more and punches little Reika in the gut, sending her to the floor. She seems out of the fight, but Buford rises and kneels over her, a line of bloody mucus hanging down from his leering face.

  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 12 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.

  Cletus savages your head with his boot once more and a red haze covers your vison. You grab his leg in your arms, then roll into him. He falls screaming and you look down at his face. As in a dream, you see your own limbs rearranging his face, blow after bloody blow. Like blowing out the candles on a birthday cake the light in his eyes goes out and you hear the devils in your mind applauding. You drop his limp body and leap at Buford’s back. Your knee crashes into the back of his fat head, then continues on until his face smashes into the wall. The man falls unconscious and you beat his head until something like soup pours out.

  You lean over Reika and shout her name until she recovers. She smiles weakly, says, “You okay, soldier boy?”

  “Yes ma’am,” you say, elated. “Thanks, Reika.”

  She smiles her crooked smile.

  “But I didn’t have to thank you,” you say, growing serious. “Cause you owed me one, anyway.”

  Turn to section 341.

  570

  The man lunges at you wildly and you drive the end of your weapon into his chest, winding him and pushing him back. He drops his rifle and you swing yours into his face, knocking him about, then trip him as he staggers. You stand over him and bash hi
s torso with your weapon, shattering his ribs and grinding his organs into mush.

  Turn to section 530.

  571

  The next day everyone gathers around for another meal. You must subtract 1 Food for every person on the Narrenschiff, including yourself. You may use your own supply of Food in your inventory, if you have any. If you do not have enough to cover everyone, you must use up all possible Foods and then lose 1 Blood due to the harsh effects of slow starvation.

  If the girl Reika is with you, turn to section 400.

  If she is not, turn to section 492.

  572

  “Well, well, well,” you say pseudo-casually, “looks like I just walked into Crazy Town. So who’s the mayor around here? Just kidding - don’t answer that.”

  “Stop joking around!” the scared revolutionary shrieks. “This is serious, man!”

  “Yeah, I know it’s serious,” you say. “I know things have gotten a little out of control around here. But there are other ways of doing things than shouting and waving guns around, fellas.”

  While the lawman eyes you suspiciously, the smiling revolutionary chuckles, says, “You dumbshit consumer. This isn’t crazy at all. In fact... it’s pretty simple. The food here is poisoned in such a way that it makes us stupid, slow, spineless, over a long period of time. Now that I’ve let the truth out, this little man with his big gun is scared. He knows we’re all going to die, and he can’t handle it. Well… death is the ultimate reality, you robots, and I’m going to prove it.”

  You realize at once that you can’t sway the smiling man at all - he’s beyond saving. You focus on his scared friend, whose gun wavers continuously between you and the lawman.

  If you want to tell the scared revolutionary that you will protect him from the lawman and his “friend” if he wants to leave and forget about this scene, turn to section 293.

  If you want to psych him out and tell him to kill his friend in exchange for his own life, turn to section 30.

  573

  You gather your inner strength about you, then glare at the dogs and shout senseless words of warning to them.

  If you have a Will score of 2 or more, turn to section 84.

  If your Will score is only 1, turn to section 455.

  574

  Buford retches long and loud, then screams out, “I... will never... give u-u-u-up!” moments before he cranes his head back and sprays vomit into the air. Before you can tell him that such an act will disqualify him, he crashes to the ground in agony.

  With juices dripping down your face, you beam with pride: You gain 3 XP for showing those brutes that you are a force to be reckoned with.

  While Buford practices his different moans and Cletus gives his best corpse impression, you take stock of what’s left of the food. Erase 8 Foods from the Narrenschiff’s inventory. But it is worth it, for your victory fills you with such magnanimous feelings that you pray the moment will never end. You are superior, and nothing can ever change that.

  “Ah demand a rematch,” moans Buford.

  “Hell yeah,” groans Cletus, stirring suddenly. “Cheatin’ assholes.”

  Turn to section 143.

  575

  “Beat it, dipshit,” you say. “If you had a gun pointed at me, then sure, maybe we could talk. As it is? You’re dead weight.”

  “But, but,” the man stammers, his face melting pathetically. “But I’m a mechanic, I can fix the ship if...”

  “Dude!” you say. “Does the ship look broken to you? No?”

  “Well it could be, in the future, if...”

  “Your mechanic-skills are going to be put to the test when I smash your face if you don’t beat it!”

  The man wanders off, crying out in that sorry voice of his. Behind you, the guards laugh moronically.

  Turn to section 77.

  576

  You have a few gut feelings about the people locked in this dance of death. As for the lawman, you feel that he knows the station is being destroyed and he knows he’s going to die. As such, he’s coping the only way he knows how - by doing his job, no matter how absurd it seems to “arrest” someone a few minutes before everyone dies. He has had some sort of psychotic break with reality in order to protect his ego against all-out panic.

  As for the smiling revolutionary, his stance seems so rigid, his smile so unwavering, that you feel as if he is completely crazy. Knowing of the station’s imminent destruction, he has decided to follow through with some plan to lash out at “the system” even if it kills him. His life no longer matters to him.

  The second revolutionary, the scared one, is terrified and will probably do anything to get out of this situation. For him, life is worth clinging to no matter what, if only for a few extra minutes.

  You gain 1 XP for using your skill. Now return to section 425 to make your decision about what to do. (Of course, you cannot return to this section to collect another sweet XP.)

  577

  You act as if nothing is out of the ordinary and walk toward the open gun cabinet. You can feel the eyes of many men burning into the back of your head, but the overall tone of their joking does not change; they make continual, violent references to corporate heads and what they plan to do to them. Finally, after what feels like a thousand steps, you reach your goal. It seems the cabinet has been picked over already, but you find the following gear that you may take with you.

  (There is a Bulk of Bullets Table in the Rules Index in the back of the book, if you need it.)

  Enforcer Automatic (Handgun, bulk 2)

  12 Handgun Bullets (bulk 1)

  Enforcer Longshot Special (Rifle, bulk 3)

  4 Rifle Bullets (bulk 1)

  3 Shotgun Shells (1 bulk)

  Stellar Corp Law Enforcement Uniform (bulk 1)

  Steel Baton (Mace, bulk 2)

  Collapsible Combat Knife (Blade, bulk 1)

  First Aid Kit (Bulk 3, heals 3 Blood, 1 dose)

  You also find a Light Bulletproof Vest (Bulk 2, Defense 1), the first set of armor you have encountered so far. Armor works like so: When you lose Blood, you will be told if you may subtract your Defense rating from the amount of your Blood loss. If the text makes no mention of subtracting your Defense rating from Blood loss (for instance, if you lose Blood due to starvation, or due to a blow to a part of your body not covered by armor), then, of course, you may not subtract your Defense rating from the Blood loss.

  Once you are ready, you give some thought to the revolutionaries across the room. I wonder what, exactly, their revolution is all about? you think. Fair treatment of the workers? Increased wages? Paid holidays?

  “You know what I’m gonna do to that manager Thompson when I get hold of him?” one drunk revolutionary screams. “I’m gonna point my gun at him... and blow his head off!” Many of the others laugh raucously as they load their guns.

  Guess that answers my question, you think. You turn about slowly, then leave the room. Miraculously, none of the revolutionaries harasses you.

  If Reika is with you, turn to section 539.

  If not, turn to section 10.

  578

  You clench your gloved hands into tight fists. You kneel. Just when you hear the dogs above you, you rise and lash out at the nearest dog. You catch it in the legs, hard, and when it bites down on your gloved hand you pull back, wrench it around, and toss the growling beast into the darkness below. The other dog leaps onto you, biting and twisting its head around. You fall against the wall, struggling madly with the primal beast. The merciless teeth tear 3 Blood from you, but you may subtract your Strength score from this amount of damage (and, of course, if you get a negative amount you do not get to add this to your Blood score). Eventually you pull the thing loose from you, then give it a hard kick with your booted foot and send it off the ledge.

  You quickly haul yourself onto the beam. You have dropped the lead dogs, but more are on their way. They seem to have no fear.

  Turn to section 510.

  579

  “I
’ve never been in one of these ships before,” she says. “I feel like I’m going crazy sometimes.”

  “Most people feel like they’re going crazy all the time. Don’t worry, ma’am, it’ll pass.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Sure. As soon as we make it to my Black Lance Legion ship, you’ll feel right at home.” Immediately you tense up, for your guts tell you that someone like her most likely would not survive long living under the tyranny that created you.

  “What’s wrong?” she says, needling her eyebrows together. She looks concerned. She turns to you and, for some reason, arches her back so that her soft breasts brush up against your arm.

  If this is too weird and you want out, make an excuse by turning to section 533.

  If your Charisma is 4 or more, and you think you’ve got what it takes to handle the situation, turn to section 466.

  If your Charisma is 3 or less, but you want to push your luck anyway, turn to section 16.

  580

  You feel great apprehension as Buford and Cletus take the pilot and co-pilot’s chairs. You stand behind them and hover nervously over the various controls, then say, “You boys know how to fly this thing?”