Heavy Metal Thunder (57 page)

“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
.

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
.

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
.

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
.

“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
.

“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
.

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
.

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
.

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
.

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
.

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.
)

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 can leave the room and continue down the hall to
the docking bay by turning to section
254
.

You gain
2 XP
for killing the panic-driven
man. You may take the dead man’s empty
STELLAR Guard Standard-Issue Rifle
(Rifle, bulk 3)
.

The other guard fires once more.
There is a high-pitched whine followed by a crashing sound, marking the end of
the small deconstructors. He turns to you,
then
his
eyes open in surprise.

If you wish to hold a gun on him, turn to section
6
.

If you wish to say “I mean you no harm,” then turn
to section
383
.

One day, Simeon steps out of the small restroom.
“Ah, now sir, Mister Wiggles,” he says, and you note that he has an air of
authority about him. “I just fixed the shitter.”

“No kidding?” you say. “I didn’t know it was
broken.”

“Oh yeah.
Oh yeah
. You know that little sound it made when you flushed? Kind of
like,
ti
-ting,
ti
-ting-ting,
ti-ti-ti
...”

“
Nah,
didn’t notice, sorry.
But thanks for fixing it.”