Steam rose from the dark and cold pod as a new combine prototype came out. There was no longer any fear, sympathy, sadness, or despair in the body now clothed in black body armor. His helmet was as black as his soul. His four orange lens glowed in the depths of the citadel chamber. He was escorted to the barracks. He was brainwashed, practically dead, now, he was the combine leader or better known as C9116.
The combine advisors have ordered him to be created in order to crush the resistance forces in city 12. It has been flooded with head crabs and zombies. Now it is a dangerous battleground. There is a secret weapon the rebels are trying to build and should it be unleashed, it would cause chaos to the combine bases near the area which planned to do further damage to the resistance. For C9116, his mission was to exterminate every resistance member and destroy the weapon.
If he failed, he would be given a permanent off-world assignment. He planned to move higher in the combine ranks to dominate the earth. He was taken to the barracks, where he was given a specialized gun laid on a blue table. It was a combine sniper and a powerful ar2 pulse rifle. He equipped himself with grenades and pistols.
When, he came out, he walked into a combine dropship along with his squad. The combine dropship flew over the landscape of the utterly ruined lands of the rebels. C9116 and his squad felt the dropship descending, the gunshots were loud and clear, but they kept watching the dark door of the container. As the dropship hovered, the door slowly opened and they jumped out. As C9116 ran behind rubble for cover, his radio beeped and he said in a voice deeper than any combine vocoder "All units clear the area!" Almost instinctively, he drew his weapon and fired rapidly across the streets which were caved in at the rebels.
The rebels convulsed as the dark energy pulses tore through them then fell to the ground. In a split second, he turned, facing a rebel who attempted to shoot him directly in the head with a sniper and scoped him with his upper orange lens. A blue point appeared on the rebels head. "Crap!" he exclaimed, but violently hit the ground after a combine sniper bullet went through his skull, leaving him in a pool of blood. A combine soldier kicked the door open and the squad unleashed gas bombs as gunfire sounded throughout a wooden house.
Combine snipers continued to shoot down rebels attempting to flank the combine. Meanwhile, a rebel rushed in a office and shouted "Ethan!, the combine are infiltrating our territory, we have to leave, now!", he hit the table with a clenched fist, "We can't, I've spent years planning this attack, tell the others to keep fighting!" C9116 gave a hand signal for the squad to stealthy move in the building. Before, some rebels were able to react, bullets mowed them down. The combine squad moved through the building, shooting down rebels. The rebel then told Ethan "The combine reinforcements have already arrived, if we don't pull out now, we could lose everything!" Combine soldiers moved in positions in darkness, as they heard the rebels argue back and forth.
"You're the leader, your supposed to do what's best for the resistance!", he looked down on the table momentarily pausing then suddenly pulled out a colt python, the other surprised rebel dropped to the floor as the bullet blew into a combine elite's ocular lens, sending it flying back. He jumped over the table, "Lets go!", he said as he picked up the rebel and ran out of the door. "Tell the others to retreat!" Ethan exclaimed. A door exploded and rebel bodies were quickly mowed down by combine gunfire. C9116 raced through the hallways, shooting down all enemies in sight. He was hunting down the rebel leader whom he had overhead in the office.
"Gather all the equipment, I'll meet with you later" Ethan told the rebel accompanying him. Their ways were departed. C9116's orange vision was scoping Ethan to get a clear shot from a higher level as he was in pursuit. The first shot was fired, slicing through the upper part of ethans shoulder, ethan was not going to let him fire again, so he fell to the ground and fired a few bullets at C9116. He moved back into darkness, missing several of them. He turned again, this time, opening fire with his ar2 rifle, there was no one on the ground, too quickly ethan grabbed his rifle and wrestled with him to shoot him.
Ethan was strong, but C9116 was superhumanly strong. With agile reflexes and footwork, ethan disarmed C9116 and threw his weapon away, pulling out his colt python, aiming for the killing shot, but C9116 grabbed his arm and forcefully pulled it away from him, shots went through barrels then C9116 violently shook the gun out of his hand and gave a hard blow with his elbow to the face. Ethan lay on the ground and C9116 drew a usp match pistol when a crowbar hit him in the chest, knocking it out of his hand. Ethan already was on his feet and exchanged punches with C9116, but C9116 caught his fist, hit him in the back, and sent him to the ground. Ethan quickly rolled away back to his feet before C9116 could stomp on him. There was a dense puncture in the ground. Ethan ran to his to his gun, C9116 kicked him down and ran to it. He picked it up and aimed at him.
Suddenly, the ground beneath him collapsed and he lost balance. He fell down in the hole as the ceiling collapsed on the gap, sealing off the opening. He was left in complete darkness. Concurrently, Ethan rushed to the helicopter with the remaining resistance members. It took off.
The combine forces were too late, as it was ascending in the air, it shot down those who were firing at it. The combine overwatch tried to contact C9116 with no success. Meanwhile, in the dark underground where C9116 fell, he stood up and turned on his combine vision. Many head crab zombies began to walk to him.
Perhaps a normal rebel would panic and despair in these forsaken depths or perhaps they would fight with the hope that they would return to the surface. C9116 was not motivated by either of these. He was like a computer program, bent on fulfilling his mission and all who oppose the combine would be crushed to bits. He raised his weapon and opened fire.
The energy pulses ripped off the headcrabs from the bodies, as green blood stained the muddy and rocky surface. Several fast headcrab zombies rushed, screeching at C9116. He killed most of them in seconds, while one attempted to tear through him with its claws. He hit it with the butt of his gun, breaking off its arm then shooting its head off. Ten then twenty bodies of zombies fell dead in piles.
He reloaded then with his sniper shot every black headcrab off of a zombie with deadly accuracy. Waves of zombine walked slowly towards C9116 then sprinted, carrying active grenades. The energy pulses of his rifle have ripped their heads off. He threw away empty barrels of ar2 rounds on the ground as he kept reloading. The energy pulses made holes in the zombines hands, and body then they fell to the ground like ragdolls.
He pulled the trigger, yet this time, he ran out of ammo. He quickly shot down zombine after zombine with his sniper. A grenade beeped behind him as a zombine wrestled with him. He shoved the sniper into its head and there was a loud explosion of the gunshot sound, infected blood sprayed everywhere. The corpse flew backwards and he grabbed the grenade then threw it far into the ribcage of a zombie, causing it to burst into pieces, killing its companions around it.
With one powerful swipe of his gun, he tore a headcrab attached to its host in half, followed by several sniper bullets piercing through the bodies of fast headcrab zombies. Pieces of headcrab flesh flew into the air as the impact of sniper bullets killed the hordes of headcrabs. He reloaded, he was running out of sniper rounds. Only time would tell how long he would last. With the butt of his weapon, he shattered the decaying ribcage of a zombie then shoved a grenade into its stomach and rushed away from the blast radius. Shooting more zombies in the head.
The grenade exploded, leaving only pieces of the bodies. He shot a flammable barrel, causing many to fall in pieces. Some cried as they were set on fire. After a few shots were fired, he turned to a fast headcrab who jumped at him with claws ready to strike him. He pulled the trigger once, nothing, he quickly kicked it in the gut, causing the body to break almost in half, it flew back.
C9116 tossed a grenade on the ground causing them to explode to pieces. He withdrew his gun and pulled out two pistols. He kept firing from left or right, taking down incoming zombies. One zombie who had his torso severed, grabbed C9116s foot, but C9116 stomped on the headcrab, removing it from its body. He now killed thousands with each shot he took.
C9116 found there were too many zombies to fight. He ran and tossed flammable barrels at the pursuing zombies, killing some and setting others on fire. He approached a ruined combine facility and kept shooting at them. He kept searching for ammo, but found none. He fired at the ones crawling to him.
He shot them faster than before. He kicked ones leg off then the other, dodged a swipe and broke his head off with his fist. He threw grenades as many zombies exploded in pieces. Without warning, a dark energy beam fired, killing several zombies in seconds. C9116 could see that it was an alien combine soldier.
This variant had the appearance of a worm and a stalker. It was clothed in black armor and had a gas mask. Both C9116 and the alien combine soldier shot quickly at the hordes of them. Many convulsed as bullets rained down on them. C9116 reloaded as the alien combine soldier kept firing. A fast zombie jumped at the alien combine soldier and with a powerful thrust, his black rifle through its chest, splitting it in half.
They kept killing the zombies until none were left. C9116's radio beeped. The alien combine soldier sent a message to him, saying "I have been dispatched to find you for the overwatch forces." C9116 ordered the alien combine soldier to guide him out of the underground. They approached a dark and rusty combine facility where a dark blue light flickered and supplies were found. C9116 resupplied himself and found that the light was emitting from a combine command console.
He accessed it and played the only video found. A combine scientist wearing a mask similair to that of a combine elite and soldier. An unrecognizable body lay on a surgical combine bed, motionless. The combine scientist said "This is attempt 116, life levels are decreasing, the body needs to be sterilized." The video faded out then it reappeared.
The combine camera was focused on a dark room illuminated by a dark red light. The being was being cut open by a red laser beam. Despite the buzzing sound, the scientist said "Sterilization is commencing." The video then shifted to the scientist removing the bloody green organs of the blood-covered being on the table. "Sterilization is near completion." The video then skipped to the scientist surgically replacing certain body parts with combine implants.
The video ended suddenly. He walked out, taking a digital map of the ruined area of what was once a combine base. He knew now that there was a combine project in progress, but where was it?, what happened to it? Did it disappear completely? These things were the least of his concern, he needed to reach the surface. He kept walking through the muddy land with the alien combine soldier following. Meanwhile on the surface of city 12, Ethan spoke with the rebels about the combine in their base.
"We lost the position, the combine got to it before we could reach victory!" one exclaimed. "Take it easy" another said, "They won the battle, but not the war, we'll find a way to take them down." A rebel said "well, what do we know so far?" "They've already got 5 bases in the eastern part of city 12, they're growing fast." Ethan stood, with his shoulder leaning against the wall and his arms crossed.
One pointed at a map, saying "We've got these bases for our next targets, the combine are advancing, so we have to move fast, anyone know what new upgrades they have?" "I've fought a new kind of combine soldier, its a shame i couldn't kill him earlier before i detonated the charges under the base, now hes dead, there's no way anything can survive down there." As they kept discussing, a female rebel stood behind the door, listening. A hand swiftly covered her mouth, she struggled, but the one behind pushed her against the wall. "Rachel, what are you doing here?, your not supposed to disturb the meeting!, get back over here!" Jason whispered.
"I know, but its just, i want to know what's going on!" she replied. She wasn't serious. Her true intention was far deeper than that. "I want to know if Trevor is still alive, did the combine kill him?" she thought to herself. "Fine, ill go back with you" she sighed.
"Pack up your bags, we move out tommorow, we'll show the combine what we've really got" ordered ethan. C9116 came to an immensely muddy area. There were more alien combine soldiers firing at the zombies. C9116 opened fire on all of them, causing them to fall into the mud. One communicated over the radio, "There are 5 bombs which need to be detonated so there can be an opening."
The radio beeped, C9116 said "Cover me" then ran through the mud to a platform. There was no ammo on the ground for the alien combine soldiers to use. Blood spattered as the zombies fell to the ground by the fatal blows of the dark energy beams. C9116 shot zombies in the head with his sniper and sprinted forward when a green acid was flying towards him. He took cover, ready to deliver a fatal shot, but the creature was gone.
This was no ordinary moving zombie. He climbed over rubble to a platform. A swipe of a poison zombies hand, sent him to the edge. He got up, now facing 5 poison zombies. They each threw poison headcrabs at him, with the orange vision of his upper lens, he calculated precisely the movement of them in a split second. He ducked and fired into their underbelly.
They flew back, screeching from the killing blow. Another sniper bullet was fired at the throat of another, separating its head from its body. Although the corpse collapsed, the poison headcrabs walked forward about to jump on him. A grenade landed on the ground in the center of all of them, after it exploded, they were in pieces. They menacingly threw more poison headcrabs at him, he moved to the side, letting some fall down into a dark pit.
The rest, he shot and killed. He wasted no time, he shot each headcrab off the body of the zombie then threw two grenades, killing the other. He quickly shot the others with his sniper. Meanwhile, one alien combine soldier was struck and died. The battle intensified, only time would tell how long the rest would last.
There were now zombines walking towards the alien combine soldiers. After C9116 killed the remaining poison zombies, he sprinted to the bomb and tried to detonate it. Without warning, the abnormal zombie crawled on a wall and shot green acid at him. He hid behind a wall, tossed deactivated manhacks in the air then pressed a button which activated them. Their razor blades spun at extremely high speeds. They flew towards the zombie, attempting to cut him.
This would give C9116 time to detonate the bomb. He configured it for detonation. A large explosion caused rocks to fall on the swarming zombies down below. C9116 ran as the zombie kept destroying the manhacks. He shot zombies from left to right, giving the alien combine soldiers time to reload.
He ran to the next platform, but there were many zombies, crushing each other as they tried to walk through the entrance to kill C9116. He threw a few activated grenades in the confined area. When they exploded, blood soaked the walls. He ran through, shooting down any zombie in the way. The abnormal zombie was not far, pursuing him.
He fired a few shots at it. The energy pulses hit the wall, he missed. In front of him jumped a fast zombie and jumped at him. He shot its arm off then grabbed it by the head and crushed it. Blood splattered and gushed out of its head, leaving it motionless. The inside of the headcrab looked like lasagna that was vomited with the fragments of the human skull still stuck to what was left of the corpse.
He ran and detonated the next bomb. Another large explosion caused heavier rocks to fall. Three more bombs awaited detonation. More alien soldiers were killed and it was increasingly difficult for them to keep fighting. Either the 5 bombs detonated, making a way of escape to the surface for C9116 or they would met certain death.
C9116 could not keep fighting the zombies underground although he was very skilled. Sooner or later he would run out of supplies and be torn apart. Death had no mercy for anyone. He swiftly ran to the next bomb.
Meanwhile, the rebels ran through the abandoned buildings of city 12 and into the technologically advanced areas of the combine base. They took out a sonic device from a bag, placed it on the ground, and activated it. A sonic shockwave disabled the combine surveillance. "Hurry, its only temporary!" communicated a rebel over the radio. The rebels shot down every combine soldier in sight.
"Get the charges set up, we're going to blow this place up" said ethan through the radio. As the rebels kept shooting down an almost powerless combine force. They set charges on the combine the rebels ran away, Ethan then pressed the detonate button and there was a huge explosion. When the smoke cleared, there was not a single scratch on any combine architecture. "What the?, these bombs were supposed to demolish their buildings!, blast!, hold your ground!" said ethan.
Rpg rockets flew, killing combine forces. "Team 2, move in!" Ethan shouted. Combine apcs drove in, choppers, and gunships all attacked the rebels. Some managed to use an electric device to open a combine door. Rebels stormed in, firing everywhere. The combine had already lost half of the base, now occupied by rebel forces.
"All units, move in!" ethan exclaimed as more rebels sprinted into the open building. Ethan charged in and set up a charge on consoles. "All units, take cover!" he shouted then detonated them. He hid inside a hole in the ground. The lights and power systems of the combine failed.
The rebels began their clever plan of taking control of the base. Stalkers were shot down before they could repair the damages. Ethan shot down soldier after soldier with his mp7 submachine gun. He found a control room where the combine communicated with the others. He shot all the stalkers quickly and reconfigured the console with special tools. The rebels had overtaken the base, now ethan cut off the mask of one soldier and reconfigured it.
"Sector 13 report!" said one combine over the radio. Ethan, now wearing a combine mask said "Sector 13 is stable!" He quickly removed his mask and left the room, closing the door behind him. "We don't have much time, they'll suspect something wrong any minute now, get in your positions!" Ethan radioed in. "Overwatch, ready weapons, prepare for assault!" radioed a combine elite soldier.
Apcs drove in at high speeds, firing rockets into the area. Soldiers were deployed from dropships to ground level. "Now!" Ethan radioed in. The ground exploded, debris flew everywhere, and the front-line of the combine force was destroyed. Grenades were thrown at any combine in the area as gunfire quickly emerged.
Rockets flew at combine aircraft. The rebels took cover while attempting to block the entrance, causing the combine stay outside, while they used the abundant supply of combine weaonry from the base. "The rest of you, go around, get ready for the ambush!" ordered ethan. His father died during the seven hour war, but passed a legacy to him and he was not going to leave it to waste. He was going to leave his mark on the world before death, one way or another.
Two hunter-choppers fired at Ethan. He dodged then destroyed both of them with rpg missles. Deep in the underground, C9116 was close to reaching his goal. Only one bomb was left for detonation. He raced, dodging each zombie attack and in return, showering them in pulses. There was only one alien combine soldier left.
He was badly wounded, perhaps he would not survive. It was too late to be concerned now, all that stood across from him was the last bomb. There was too much at stake. He sprinted towards it, unaware of the claw which flew at him. It was the fast abnormal zombie fiend.
There was no time to dodge now. No more escaping hits. He was going to be hit and possibly die on the spot then out of nowhere, a hand grabbed the claw and kicked the zombie, sending it flying back. It looked exactly like the being in the video he saw. It jumped forward, dividing the ground between C9116 and the zombie.
Both dove down in a muddy area surrounded by walls of concrete. C9116 grabbed onto a piece of metal before he fell to his death. The being was formerly known as the combine berserker. Afar from it was the abnormal zombie who was already standing. Two beings seemed to be evenly matched, one was a more evolved form of a headcrab, the other a technologically advanced being manufactered by the combine.
Which was superior, natures biological breeds or organism modified by complex technology from the combine? It was once said "You can't defeat mother nature." The being didn't plan on defeating her, it planned on destroying her. Who is mother nature to stand up against the universal union? Observe the polluted environments, the barren lands where oceans once dwelt, and the combine empire growing while the earth rots away, the combine have made a living testament, showing that they are more than able to bring her down to her knees.
It stood, looking at the zombie through its three dark blue lens. It wore a mask and had long arms and legs like a hunters. Its body was protected by a thick blue armor. It raised its three claws up then stampded at superhuman speed, striking first with its middle claw at full speed into the headcrab infested face of the zombie. The zombie moved to the side and attempted strike it in the face.
Too quickly, the being flipped up and with the claws on its feet, one claw piercing the zombie arm and the other going into its chest. Green blood spewed down on the floor. The being jumped back, taking pieces of decayed flesh with it. The zombie's claw thrust through the beings hand, but it was stopped from doing further damage by thick black cables attached to the beings arms. Blood poured down from its hand as both looked at each other face to face.
The being shoved its knee into the zombies torso, in defense, the zombie had a third retractable arm and tried to cut the being in half. It grabbed it with one claw then violently tore the limb off with one stomp of its foot. It raced back, this time calculating its moves. It was going to tear it apart limb from limb before delivering a killing blow. The abnormal zombie charged in first, unleashing a barrage of blows.
The being blocked every hit then thrust his claws forward at the zombies face. It moved out of the way with agility, allowing an opening for attack in the side of the being. The being's bones cracked as the claw went into flesh and tendons. It quickly broke the zombies arm and moved back from the zombie with its arm now dangling and dripping with blood. Green acid flew at the being from the glands of the zombie.
The being jumped over it like a shark that torpedoes out of the ocean. He landed on the ground now, charging at the zombie. It dodged the green goo and shoved its claw into the zombies gland. The being fiercely ripped out its gland as green blood mixed with reddish and dark brownish flesh. The being quickly dodged its hits until both of their arms clashed against each other.
Cables grabbed a hold of the zombies arm as its other hand dug into its stomach,tearing through organs. Impulsively, the zombie grabbed its arm, now trying to reach for its stomach. It tore out the cables which held captive its arm. The zombie was too late in trying to counterattack. Its hand was already being crushed by the superhuman strength of the being.
Its hand now grabbed a firm hold of the zombies stomach. The zombie viciously slashed through its arms, exposing muscle tissue and weakening the grip of the being. The zombie jumps back then swipes its arms at the being, causing him to fly in the air. It landed on all fours when it landed on the ground. It grabbed a metal stick and threw it like a spear at the zombies chest.
It penetrated into it. The being, already at its face, thrust it deeper. Furiously, it tore through its arm, cutting into pieces. The zombies claw attempted to tear out its mask. C9116 climbed over the broken bridge-like structure to a higher level.
As its mask was being crushed, it kept hitting its arm, almost breaking it until finally the zombie let go. The being leaped into the air and tore out chunks of its back out. Suddenly, the zombies face began to convulse violently. Its body grew more until large alien bags covered it. It was about to explode, taking the being with it.
It stampeded through the muddy land to the being. The being rushed towards it and grabbed it by the face. It began viciously tearing out the headcrabs from its face. Severed legs fell to the ground as headcrab underbellies were torn open.
