Disclaimer: Valve owns the Half Life/Portal storyline. I'm writing this for my enjoyment and a friend of mine told me to publish it to this site.
AN: A bit of context before I start this, I added a new charachter to the existing Half Life storyline. He's a heavy gunner for the United States Marines and has many ties to characters in the existing franchise, I'll reveal those over the course of the story. Also, m writing will probably be hit-and-miss for some of the charachters, but I hope you still enjoy reading it.
Chapter 1: Meet Chase...
Chase looked around at the scenery outside the helicopter. The surrounding cliff walls looked oddly familiar, but then again, so does everything in a desert.
"You nervous Jimmy?" One member of his squad said elbowing the guy next to him.
"Nah. We've got Chaingun-Chase with us. Ain't nobody going to take us by storm." Was the reply.
"Yeah until a sniper's bullet meets my head." Chase said sarcastically.
"Well keep it down!" His friend told him. A couple people laughed at the irony (Chase was well over 7' tall and by far the biggest man in his squad, probably even the whole regiment and then some).
"How 'bout I use you as a shield?" Chase said back. Everyone laughed.
Just then the chopper they were in started to creak and groan. A split second later Chase fell as the wall behind him gave out. He fell only 10 feet before landing on a cliff ledge. He got to his feet and looked at the chopper just in time to watch it catch fire and see the sergeant jump out of it just in time to be out of harm's way when the chopper crashed.
"Hey down there! Are you alright?" Chase heard a voice call from above him. He looked up to find another sergeant above him.
"Yes sir I'm alright. If I may ask a favor could your squad lower me down to the valley floor. The rest of my squad was in that chopper and I'd like to dig out any survivors." Chase answered.
"Sure thing Corporal."
"If I find anyone I'll send them up to you." Chase told the sergeant.
A few moments later Chase was being lowered to the valley floor. He promptly untied himself and ran over to the burning chopper.
"Is anyone in there?" He called.
"Chase! Help me!" Chase recognized the voice of his friend James.
"I see you James." He said pulling a piece of debris off of his friends leg. "Can you walk?" He asked.
"No." James answered, "Anyone who could ran."
"Alright I've got you buddy." Chase said pulling James over his shoulder. "Looks like you're the only one left. Now let's go." Chase said and he swiftly took off for the rope.
Upon arrival Chase swiftly tied James into the rope and the squad above pulled him up.
"Hey Kleiner!" Chase heard.
"Yes sir?" Chase yelled back.
"They're pulling the marines out of here. Find the nearest evacuation chopper and get the hell out of here. We have one waiting for us but after this guy it'll be full." The sergeant told him.
"Thank you sir. Will do." Chase yelled back and promptly took off down the valley. About two hundred yards off in the distance he spotted an open door with a chopper behind it. He took off in a dead-heat sprint in order to make it in time, but just before he got to the door it closed and the chopper on the other side took off. Chase sat down feeling defeated. As he was catching his breath he noticed a sign by the door.
"Black Mesa." He said under his breath. "Wait a minute why the hell am I here?! What is going on?! Is my dad okay?! What the hell happened here?!" Chase was quiet after remembering that no one was around to hear him. Or at least that was what he thought until a man with a briefcase tapped him on the shoulder.
"Holy crap!" Chase said as he flinched away from the man.
"Hello Corporal." The man said. It seemed as though he wasn't used to speaking as his phrasing was unusual.
"Who on Earth are you?" Chase asked.
"I'm not at liberty to reveal my identity to you. But I am here to ensure you make it out alive." The man said.
"Wh-what? A-Alive from what?" Chase stuttered. He was starting to get worried.
"How about we go and watch?" The man said. Before Chase could say anything there was a bright flash and they were in a bunker. Chase blinked to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
Chase looked out the window just in time to see a mushroom cloud appear in the distance. Then time seemed to stop suddenly leaving the cloud hanging in the air, frozen in place. "That." The man told him.
"Hey how'd you get us here?" Chase asked.
"I'm not allowed to say. All I am supposed to say is that you have been offered a job by my employers." The man explained.
"You seem an odd candidate for an H.R. position." Chase told the man.
"My employers are not ordinary people." The man said. "I can't reveal any more about them. All I can reveal is that they have instructed me to give you the option of working for them or being inside that nuclear blast right now."
Chase didn't really feel like he had a choice. "Okay. I'll take the job." He said nervously.
"Excellent choice. I have been instructed to give you the following information: After I've finished telling you this information, you are to close your eyes and go to sleep. Once you open them you will be in a new place. There will be a woman there with you. She will have had a similar choice to the one I offered you. See to it that she stays safe over the course of your journey."
"Alright. I'll do my best." Chase had a bad feeling that he wasn't going to make it out of whatever he was being put into.
"There's one last thing, don't ask or tell anyone about me or my employers. Your friends will inevitably mention me eventually and then you may talk about these issues." The man told him.
"Ok." Chase was beginning to feel tired.
"Thank you Corporal." The man said as Chase fell asleep and everything went blank...