Heavy Metal Thunder (50 page)

“Finally!” shouts the laborer.
“Somebody
with some goddamn sense around here.”

“Screw you!” shrieks the girl. “I’ll never marry
you!
Never!
”

“Chill!
Now!” you bark out. “Look bud, I don’t think the girl wants to marry you. So
why don’t you put the gun down and find something else to do with your last few
minutes?”

“Like what?” he says darkly, pressing the gun to the
girl’s temple. You can tell that he is teetering over the edge. One wrong move
and he will break.

You say...

(Striking a friendly pose,) “You can escape this
place with me, as soon as we get a ship.” Turn to section
557
.

(Staring him down,) “I don’t give a shit what you
do. Put the gun down or you’re going to die in agony.” Turn to section
330
.

You jam down hard on the jetpack controls, swinging
wildly and screaming so hard your lungs grind in your chest and a wad of phlegm
plasters against your helm, thus shielding you from the terrifying sight of the
chomping jaws of the beast. The tentacles at your legs tighten painfully as you
wait for them to relax their grip for one instant so that you can take
advantage and escape. Unfortunately, as their grip tightens and tightens, you
realize that moment will never come. Just as the massive mouth surrounds your
head, you flip the switch to MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE and tear yourself free from the
monster’s grip. The cold, biting vacuum rushes into one of your legs, licking
and freezing like a psychotic Old Man Winter: While you have escaped the
monster, you have also torn your suit.

You lose
4 Blood
from the terrible ordeal.

If you have any
Sticky
Fix
, quickly
turn to section
456
.

If you do not have any of this stuff, turn to
section
54
.

Your jet kicks to life behind you, pulling your feet
into the air as bullets whizz by all around you. It picks up speed and you
nearly catch up with the others. While Uther and Sybel expertly guide theirs
with mastery you had not known possible, Marcus scrapes along the wall the
entire time. You come to a curve in the hallway and Uther swings around,
disappearing from view; Sybel brakes, kicks off from the far wall, then turns
as well; fortunately for Marcus, the others curved along the same wall which he
seems stuck to, and so he naturally falls that way at the turn, cursing all the
while as precious gear drops from his belt due to being scraped along the wall
at high speeds.

You try to brake, but crash into the far wall as
bullets smack and ricochet off the steel wall. You lose
5 Blood
from the
impact; however, if you have the
Jetpack
Skill
, then you may
subtract 3 from this amount; furthermore, you may also subtract your
Defense
rating.

If you die, then you may
Regenerate
by turning back to section
161
.

If you survive, then you join the others further
down the next hall, where you see Uther helping Marcus to his feet. While it is
difficult to hear anything besides Marcus’s wild, sharp tongue, you dimly make
out the Commander saying, “... it’s alright, soldier, everyone has different
skills that they bring to the table...”

You all jog away from the scene of the battle until
you are sure that your pursuers are far behind. “Let’s track that other heat
signature,” says Uther.

“On it,” says Sybel, reading his strange gadget.
“This way.”

Turn to section
558
.

You glance over at the girl, who is trying to look
tough but is visibly shaken, then step over the dead laborer’s body and 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.
)

Slippery D’s Hip Urban Snacks (Food,
bulk 1)
(The bag has a picture of a man who looks very cool
and in control, and an equally cool-looking young lady hangs on his arm. Their posture
implies that they will soon perform the reproductive act with one another and,
if you eat their snack, they may let you watch.)

You gain
3 XP
for surviving this ridiculous,
dangerous situation.

“Well,” you say, finishing up, “looks like it’s time
for me to hop on a space ship and get the hell out of here.”

As you turn to leave the room, you regard the girl.
She is looking back at you, her grey eyes cold and hard.

If you want to invite her to come with you (since,
by your own personal moral code, her life now belongs to you), turn to section
105
.

If you want to leave before she pulls some kind of
trick like she did to that laborer (bless his heart), turn to section
254
.

The coil flops around and sears bits of floor before
you. You glance back and see the mist advancing rapidly. Stuck between a rock
and a hard place, you run at the coil as fast as you can.
This isn’t fair at
all
, you think.

If you have a
Dexterity
score of 2 or more,
turn to section
554
.

If your
Dexterity
score is not that high,
turn to section
548
.

Your spear slams into the mouth of the
deconstructor, tearing up its insides and running its body into the ground. You
duck and lean to the side as a tentacle from the other swings over you. You
yank on your weapon, trying to free it.
The deconstructor
charges, catching you in the chest with a heavy blow.
You lean, dig your
foot into the fallen one, and finally yank the weapon free. Bouncing away from
the other, you wait, see it raise two tentacles for a power-attack - then you
dive at it, catching it in an eye with a spear thrust. Jarred, it falls
sideways. You pounce on it, slamming your spear into it until its top cracks
open and it falls to the floor, lifeless.

You lose
1 Blood
in the fight. If your Blood
has dropped to zero or less, then you lie down to rest… asleep among the dead,
doomed to never wake.

If you have survived, turn to section
298
.

You hoof it down the hallway, legs pumping
frantically as bullets whizz by all around. While Uther and Sybel expertly
guide theirs with mastery you had not known possible, Marcus scrapes along the
wall the entire time. At a curve in the hallway, far ahead, Uther swings
around, disappearing from view; Sybel brakes, kicks off from the far wall, then
turns as well; fortunately for Marcus, the others curved along the same wall
which he seems stuck to, and so he naturally falls that way at the turn,
cursing all the while as precious gear drops from his belt due to being scraped
along the wall at high speeds.

As you run, one bullet smacks directly into your
jetpack, nearly causing you to lose balance.
Hope that stupid thing still
works
, you think.
Might be important later
.
At the intersection several more bullets smack into your bulky jetpack.
You trip, fall, and crash into the far wall.
You lose
7
Blood
from the impact; however, you may subtract your
Strength
stat
and your
Defense
rating from this Blood loss.

If you die, then you may
Regenerate
by turning back to section
161
.

If you survive, then you join the others further
down the next hall, where you see Uther helping Marcus to his feet. While it is
difficult to hear anything besides Marcus’s wild, sharp tongue, you dimly make
out the Commander saying, “... it’s alright, soldier, everyone has different
skills that they bring to the table...”

You all jog away from the scene of the battle until
you are sure that your pursuers are far behind. “Let’s track that other heat
signature,” says Uther.

“On it,” says Sybel, reading his strange gadget.
“This way.”

Turn to section
558
.

The gaping mouth opens wide, ready to clamp down on
your head and shatter your helm. You feel a dozen small tentacles probe at your
feet, your legs, your knees. You raise your gun and point it at the back of the
creature’s throat. You think about saying, “Bon
appetit
,
asshole,” but instead scream out, “Show Mama how a piggy eats, you beautiful
bastard!”

You must now compute a number that will determine
the outcome of the battle. This number is your
Dexterity
stat. If you
are skilled in
Weapon Proficiency: Ranged
with the gun you are using,
add 3 to this number. For every
Rifle bullet
you fire, add 1 to this
number, or for every
2 Handgun bullets
you fire, add 1 to this number.
Note that you must fire at least 1 bullet.

If your number is 5 or less, turn to section
114
.

If your number is between 6 and 12, turn to section
284
.

If your number is 13 or higher, turn to section
428
.

Your voice wavers. “
Stuh
-stop!”
you shout.
“
Ch
-
ch
-
chu
-chill!”
The dogs smell your weakness and
redouble their efforts. You dive under the support beam. The dogs drop down
into the room behind you. You feel teeth sink into the soft flesh behind your
knee: Lose
2 Blood.
You pull away and scramble through the rubble.

You rise to your knees on the far side of the
pillar. You feel ahead in the darkness and find a control panel. You pull a
small emergency latch and an unseen door opens, flooding the chamber with
light. You enter and shut the door behind you. The barking of the dogs
disappears suddenly.

You have survived your encounter with the dogs: Gain
2 XP.

Turn to section
187
.

You quickly spread one dose of the stuff onto your
suit, sealing it before the vacuum can make your flesh its home. You gain
1
XP
for surviving your encounter with the head of the beast.

As you fly away from the head, you see scattered
around the bulk of the massive beast even more heads, more seas of tentacles.
They are alarmed at your fight against their brother, but cannot reach you. You
laugh wickedly, hungry to hurt this pet of the Invader. Wise to the monster’s
tricks, you look for weak points that you can investigate.

If you want to look at the hole you see in the
distance, turn to section
384
.

If you want to follow one of the blue channels that
runs
throughout the beast’s skin, turn to section
373
.

You lean back on your palms. “Sure is nice that they
put this stuff in here with all of these traps,” you say. “Now that’s just
playing fair, I say.”

You close your eyes just before the mist kisses you.
You feel intense burning on your face and in your eyes. You roll away in agony:
Lose
2 Blood.

The mist touches the floor. You note that a cluster of
loose papers on the floor blacken and crumble under the mist’s touch. Your face
hurts terribly. You imagine it in your suit, your lungs. You turn towards the
other door and run. The mist expands to fill the hall behind you... and keeps
coming.

Turn to section
229
.

Your stomach heaves suddenly and you tilt your head
back,
then
spray vomit in a great shower all around
you. Before you can pass the act off as a normal occurrence, you fall
backwards, dizzy and weak.
“Hah ha!”
Buford bellows.
“Looks like I done gone an’ shown two
ol
’ boys who’s
the King o’ the
Eatin
’ Ring.”

With that, Buford proves himself the better eater
and, by extension, the better man. You grit your teeth in impotent rage,
knowing that you can do nothing to challenge his superiority over you. While
Buford struts around, proud and in agony, you roll Cletus into a corner and
take stock of what’s left of the food. Erase 8 Foods from the
Narrenschiff’s
inventory.