Heavy Metal Thunder (17 page)

If you have at least one bullet, you can shoot the
priest by turning to section
275
.

If you do not have any bullets, or do not want to
use them, you can beat the priest down old school by turning to section
412
.

You take aim at the coiling grey monstrosity - then
fire. Without a sound a chunk of the thick flesh flies apart. Dark blood sprays
from the ruined limb,
then
shimmers as it turns to
ice. The tentacle’s grip weakens and you twist free.

You jet away from the ruined tentacle and its
shorter brothers. You gasp for breath and try to stifle the panic-chemicals
clogging up your bloodstream.

You gain
1 XP
for surviving your encounter
with the arm of the beast. Be sure to erase the amount of ammunition that you used.

The need to kill whatever this thing is grows in
your gut. Once you chill your nerves, you take a look at the nearest landmarks
that you could investigate.

There is a grey mound that you could check out by
turning to section
300
.

Some of the blue channels sparkle
nearby.
You could follow one of them by turning to section
373
.

You haul yourself onto the beam. “Screw you, pups!”
you shout back at them. The beam is tilted in such a way that you can walk its
length as long as you crouch low and grip it with your hands. Your worthless
jetpack weighs you down. After a while you risk a look behind you. The two lead
dogs are almost right behind you - and even more wild dogs are scrambling up
the beam not far behind.

If you have a
Dexterity
score of at least 3,
turn to section
361
.

If
your
Dexterity
score is 2 or less, turn to section
540
.

Many hours ago.
You see the stations of the STELLAR mining company lit all around, and many
brightly-colored ships hover about, moving between far away asteroids and
docking bays. You move the video feed forward. Dark shapes approach the
stations. You zoom in on the image and can just barely make out three dark
ships, long and lean, their hulls bent in weirdly organic shapes. There are
flashes, explosions all along the stations. You slow down the video as much as
you can, and see the red lines of powerful lasers tearing into the STELLAR
hulls. The devastation is awesome, fast,
efficient
.
One station fights back by firing a line of massive guns along its side. An
Invader ship ceases its firing, and you see the reflection of some sort of
electronic shield shimmering around it, protecting it from the bullets.
Missiles jet from the ship; you slow down the video, see them cut through the
invading ship’s own shield,
then
slam into the line of
STELLAR guns, obliterating them utterly.

A mass of things fly from another Invader ship.
These things spread in all directions and latch onto the surface of many
stations. You reason that they must be the deconstructor machines.

Another ship flies into view, as dark as the others,
from the opposite side of the field. It stops and the Invader ships react
immediately, moving into some sort of defensive formation. You cannot make out
the other ship, but it seems blocky, less organic... something about it seems
familiar. It must be your ship, the one you came from. Points of light arc out
from the human ship, and you can make out the tiny flares of jetpacks on a host
of fighters. The jetpack
infantryman fly
toward an
Invader ship, which releases its own fighters. The points of light fly all
about one another like angry packs of hornets. Points collide with one another,
there are flashes of light,
then
tiny explosions as
infantrymen on both sides are killed. Your heart races - you must have been one
of those warriors. You see many Invader infantrymen break from the battle and
streak towards the human ship; sparks fly and you see the shield of the human
ship shimmering under the Invaders’ assault. The warriors cut through,
then
streak toward the ship. There is thunder in your chest
and cold sweat beads on your forehead, for if your ship was destroyed then you
are truly lost in the void.

Flashes of light as the human ship
blasts the Invaders streaking down onto it.
Only a few make it to the hull. You cannot see them as their jetpacks go black.
More human infantrymen streak from the ship,
then
fall
upon the Invaders on the hull. Flashes, sparks, puffs of explosions as the
Invaders are overwhelmed.

You look back at the jetpack battle between the
ships. The Invader infantry, weakened by the loss of the ones who flew toward
your ship, are routed and overwhelmed by the humans. Rather than release more
fighters, the three Invader ships turn and fly from the battle, leaving their
deconstructors behind.

Cowards!
you
think.
Three to one odds weren’t good enough
for them?

Now the human ship sends out smaller ships
of its own,
which spread out and dock with the blasted
stations. They remain for a while - you fast forward through the video as they
gather survivors from the ruined STELLAR colony. The humans ignore the
deconstructors. Later, all units converge on the dark human ship, which turns about
and flies from the area.

You let the video roll as you sit back. You must
have been wounded in that battle. Knocked unconscious, with your oxygen tank
damaged, leaking slowly. Then, thought to be dead, you were abandoned with the
rest of the scrap.

Just before you turn the video off, there is a dark
blur against the field of stars. You rewind the video and slow it down. You see
a single Invader ship, probably one of the three from the battle. And it is
flying on the same course as your own ship. But how could they possibly know
where...

Horrified, you realize that the Invader infantry
that streaked toward your ship weren’t meant to destroy it - they must have
planted some sort of tracking beacon. The Invaders did not retreat because they
feared a single human ship - they ran because they wanted the human ship to
leave, to return home... and to broadcast the location of the guerilla forces.
Your blood catches like ice. Not only are you trapped on this station, doomed
to die, but you are witness to the fact that your comrades, and possibly the
majority of the human rebel forces, are going to be destroyed at the hands of
the alien Invaders.

A strange instinct tickles at the back of your mind.
You check the log again for this station. Power failing, water
draining.
More hull breaches as the two large deconstructors
go about their task. You check the log for the dock. It is completely
destroyed. But there is a dock command station. It is still intact, and even
has power. Not only that, but there are a few fuel lines and tanks still
intact. Maybe...

Just then, there is a knock at the door. You turn
and see the doctor. “You want me to look at your wounds?” he says, quietly.

“What for?” you say. “Aren’t you resigned to die,
like the others?”

“I try not to think about it. If I can just stay
busy...”

“Well, I’m fine.”

As he turns to go, you say, “Wait! Do you have
medical supplies here?”

“Of course.
I can show you to my office, if you like.”

“Might be some useful gear,” you say, rising to
follow him.

Turn to section
433
.

You lean over Marcus, weapon held ready. “Finest
animal...” he mutters, “in
all the
universe... the
most powerful... highest complexity of nature’s work...”

“Hold on,” you say. “Going to get you patched up,
buddy.”

Sybel’s
door slides shut just as gunfire slams into it. “That’ll buy us some time,” he
mutters. He runs to the other door, then says, “This hallway’s clear.
Looks like we’ll be going this way.”

“Done!” shouts
Uther,
then
slides the bomb over to the computers directly beneath the shining generator.

You haul Marcus up to his feet. The man groans
loudly,
then
turns it into a defiant snarl.

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

You whip the long pipe around and scatter the
clustered mass of dogs. Several fly off the pillar, others slide backwards and
are attacked by their comrades. One dog leaps from the pack and bites down on
the pipe; you hear a terrible crunch as his own teeth shatter in his mouth. The
mad beast does not let go. You push him from the beam. He scrambles backwards,
then
pulls your weapon from your hands as he falls from the
support beam. Erase the
Spear
from your inventory.

While the dogs regroup, you dive under the pillar
and push through the rubble. You hear several dogs jump down into the room
behind you. 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
.

As you are pulled nearer the head of the beast, you
feel a dozen small tentacles probe at your feet, your legs, your knees. The
gaping mouth opens wide, filling your field of vision, and a dull black tongue
rolls about slowly, a sleepy monster ready to crush you against a bed of jagged
teeth. You raise your weapon and prepare to strike in the vital moment when you
are nearest the beast - the moment just before the mouth will clamp down on
your head and shatter your helm.

You must now compute a number that will determine
the outcome of the battle. This number is your
Zero G Combat
added to
your
Strength
stat. If you are skilled in
Weapon Proficiency:
Hand-to-Hand
with the weapon you are using, add 3 to this number. If you
are using a
Spear
, add 3 to your number. If you are using a
Blade
,
add 1 to your number.

If your number is 9 or less, turn to section
476
.

If your number is 10 or higher, turn to section
295
.

The manual uses an insane set of technical jargon
maddening in its complexity. Tortuous minutes pass but, eventually, you are
able to find a status log of all the stations and the ships they have in port.
As for the stations, their status is either black, which means that they are
completely without power, or they have a jumble of flashing red-flag systems
alerts: massive hull breaches, oxygen leaking out of control, water conduits
emptied out. More alerts pop up all the time as the deconstructors continue
their work.

You check the logs for the ships and your heart
sinks, for there are no ships listed as functional. Every last ship has been
destroyed. Even this station lists its ship bay as nonexistent, a ruin.
Furthermore, none of the long-range communication arrays have been left
standing. Things look grim.

Then you notice a recorded visual log. Your pulse
races as you realize you can now see the event that led to your abandonment
here on the ghost station.

Turn to section
152
.

You note the smiling revolutionary. His rigid
posture, his dilated eyes, his unwavering smile, his supreme confidence - all
of it convinces you that he has taken a large dose of
Agrocine
.
This illegal confidence-boosting drug is often used to help people through job
interviews, or to ask someone out on a date, or even before a fight. It is
difficult to talk someone on
Agrocine
out of doing
anything they want to do. The drug is notorious for its long-term effects,
namely heart disease and various degenerative effects on the brain. But this
man seems so sure of himself that you suspect he has taken a lethal dose. If
you, the lawman, or the Invader
don’t
kill him any
sooner, he will not survive beyond the hour.

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.)

You leap about and manhandle the limp corpses. You
find the following items which may be of use. You may take or leave what you
like, but be sure to adjust your inventory accordingly.

Butane Lighter (bulk 1)

“Guide to Marcella
Mercerism
” (bulk 1)
(This appears to be a
theological treatise.
The cover bears a tagline that
reads, “Hear of the gentleness that overcomes!”)