Heavy Metal Thunder (65 page)

Rumor has it that no branch of the Legion is based
on Earth. Sadly, our entire homeworld has become a hellish stronghold of Invader
rule. As far as the Earthbound humans know, the entire solar system has fallen
to the Invader and they are living in the final days of their species. Unless
the Legion can stop the Invaders, then the people of Earth are doomed to die as
slaves in alien farms, in nightmarish laboratory pens, or as gladiators for the
entertainment of the Invaders. The only safe place left for humans, it seems,
is in the darkness of space... where the guerilla war has just begun.

The large ships of the Invaders and the human
guerilla Legion are equipped with shield generators that produce a
nearly-impenetrable solid wall of spherical force around the entire ship.
Lasers cannot pass through unless fired at a certain frequency attuned to the
specific shield; thus, a ship can fire through its own shields; also, a ship
could fire through an enemy’s shield if it had detailed information on the
specific field generator.

Energy-producing or “charged” weapons can hack
through and temporarily disrupt portions of an enemy shield. These weapons are
expensive to make. Jetpack Infantry Infiltrator units charge enemy ships (while
Invader units do the same), hack their way through the shield, and attempt to
clear the distance to the ship before they are detected and attacked by enemy
artillery and laser fire.

Infantry are placed in a very vulnerable position
while they hack through a large ship’s shield. They usually receive cover from
friendly bomber Wing units, which are small, fast, unshielded ships that streak
by the enemy and fire missiles. Some of these missiles are equipped with energy
disruption mechanisms similar to Infantry handheld weapons; thus, shielded
ships are kept busy tracking and felling these missiles, some of which could
prove dangerous to them. This distraction allows Infantry time to reach the
enemy ship and cut their way inside. All ships are manned by internal defense
forces; Infantry must lug their heavy packs through the ship, blast through
enemy defenses, find the shield generator, blow it up, and get out before their
own ship wastes the enemy vessel.

Ship Production and Shield Technology

All Invader and human Black Lance Legion capital
ships are uniquely designed; no two are alike. Pre-Invasion human ships had no
force shielding capabilities, so they fell easily to the seemingly invulnerable
Invader forces. Furthermore, pre-Invasion ships were mass-produced, so when
vulnerabilities were found in one, then they could
all
be hit at the
same vulnerable spots. The reverse-engineering of a single captured enemy ship
(including the copying and re-tooling of its shield generator, advanced
engines, computer networks, and powerful hull designs) have given the new Black
Lance Legion a real chance at winning battles against the enemy.

Force shields are invisible unless they are
deflecting fire. Unlike pre-Invasion ships, which are well-lit and brightly
colored, all Invader and Black Lance Legion ships are very dark and difficult
to see in the vacuum. Infantry from both armies are darkly armored; usually, a
jetpack’s flare is visible such that a soldier’s computer-equipped helm can
track and separate friend and foe once the flare of the jetpack is scanned and
logged.

The Invader: Trinity Nemesis

What little we know of the Invader is usually
classified and available only to high-ranking Black Lance Legion officials. We
know they came without warning. The Earth is firmly in their grasp and now
they’ve turned their attention to leisurely blasting the system colonies. Their
technology is better than ours and they’ve probably done this before. Why
Legion officials refer to them by the codename Trinity Nemesis is unknown to
those without access to classified information.