Gordon Freeman versus Vault 101
Welcome everyone to the first of what I hope to be a series of one-shots called…
Deadliest Character!
Yes I am fully aware of (and a huge fan of) screwattack's "Death Battle" series, in fact they were the inspiration for this, and as such I will plainly say I will NOT attempt to create any battles that they have already done.
This is a first battle created by me to whet your appetite, however I am seeking a partner for future installments, you can see more details in the closing author's notes, but for now…
It's time to see who is the deadliest character!
Disclaimer: All characters and settings are the property of their respective owners.
Gordon Freeman vs. Vault 101
Multiple television monitors on the back wall flickered with various images from around the globe, half of them seemed to be showing what looked like the bombed out remains of a large city and landscape, while the other half of the monitors showed cities that seemed to have large metallic buildings crudely placed within older and decaying cities.
The light of the monitors spread across the stainless steel desk and floors, as one of the two leather seats swiveled around to face away from the monitors and look across the desk.
In the seat was a man in light grey dress clothes, but no tie and the jacket left unbuttoned to show the white shirt underneath. The man had slicked back black hair, and a closely shaven black goatee on his chin, and he peered sinisterly across the desk towards you, the reader.
"This episode brings you," after a pause for dramatic effect, the man continues "a theoretical physicist forced into a battle for humanity's freedom," the monitors all showcase a man with a brown hair, beard, glasses, wearing an orange and black suit with the symbol for lambda emblazoned just beneath the collar.
"and a teenager on the cusp of adulthood thrown into the remnants of civilization!" The monitors then showcase a figure wearing thick white armor and a matching helmet with a T-shaped visor.
"Which of these two iconic survivors can live through a confrontation, with the other? Welcome dear readers, I am Howard Heat, and it is up to me to analyze their skills, abilities, and tools to see who is the deadliest character!" Heat shouted as thunder boomed in the background. Heat gave an annoyed sigh, turned to his right and yelled "Steve! Wrong sound effect!"
"Sorry!" Then a short heavy metal instrumental played. Heat gave a satisfied nod before swiveling the chair to its previous position.
"Without further ado, let's begin the breakdown!" Heat shouted as the monitors all cut to showcase the man in the orange suit.
"Gordon Freeman graduated from MIT with a Ph.D. in theoretical physics, but after an experiment with portals goes wrong, he is forced to fight aliens, and eventually become one of the key defenders of the entire human race!" Heat explained as the monitors showed various pictures of Gordon Freeman along with miscellaneous information, before the monitors cut to first person perspective videos of Dr. Freeman using a variety of firearms to fight through aliens and soldiers.
"Despite having had no true combat training prior to the Black Mesa Incident, Gordon Freeman proved to be a deadly force to be reckoned with against the aliens, and even the elite military team sent to sweep the incident under the rug, and after being in some sort of stasis for ten years, he awakened to find the world under the rule of the alien Combine, and quickly made himself their most dangerous enemy."
Heat then put down his papers and stared at the ceiling wistfully. "I wish I could be frozen in stasis… just imagine the changes," after sitting perfectly still for a moment he picked up his papers, before just throwing them to the side. "Let's skip to good part, what kind of heat is he packing?"
"Gordon Freeman had to resort to many different salvaged weapons throughout his adventures in the Half-Life series, the latest loadout he utilized, barring special equipment, is as follows." Heat then gestures towards the monitors as they list of a small list of weapons.
RPG – launches rockets that can be guided by the launcher's laser
SPAS 12 – Pump-action semi-automatic shotgun that can fire up to two shells simultaneously
Crossbow – A jury-rigged crossbow that superheats rebars before launching them
Colt Python – A .357 revolver magnum with high accuracy and power
USP Match – A 9mm pistol
MP7 – A submachine gun with a built-in grenade launcher
Overwatch Standard Issue Pulse Rifle (OSIPR) – An automatic rifle that can also fire powerful dark energy balls
MK3A2 Grenade – A cylindrical hand grenade
"Not a bad selection if I do say so myself," Heat says with a smile. "For melee combat the man likes to bludgeon military grunts and headcrabs with a crowbar, and on the defensive he currently wears the Mark V Hazardous Environment Suit," as Heat says that a mounted orange and black suit is wheeled in by some large man in a t-shirt and baseball cap. "Steve get out of here!"
"Sorry!" the big guy runs off leaving the suit behind.
"This model of the HEV suit provides both shielding and armor plating to protect against injuries, along with automatic injectors that combats deadly toxins, and injects morphine, allowing Dr. Freeman to function normally even after being on the receiving end of a gun barrel. It also enables his eyesight to zoom in on distant objects, increase his lifting power to carry heavier weaponry more easily, and enhance his sprinting speed. It also features a flashlight and oxygen. This is the must-have suit for any hazardous environment." Heat says.
"But there's one weapon that makes Gordon Freeman stand out from any other hero with big guns, and that is…" Heat excitedly gestures towards the monitors as they show an image of an oddly shaped device with a barred cylinder surrounding an orange energy source, and ending with three claws on the end. "the Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator! Better known as the gravity gun!"
"What better ammo then the random crap you can find lying around the area? This baby can easily lift items as heavy as explosive barrels and then hurl them across distances you only wish you could throw. It's also great for snatching distant objects, including projectiles, and then throwing them back at your enemies to give them an explosive taste of their own medicine! Kaboom!" Heat shouts as these features are demonstrated on some hapless soldiers on the monitor.
"The Gravity Gun can't lift living creatures or anything much heavier than what Gordon Freeman himself seems able to lift, nor can it catch small projectiles flying at the speed of bullets, the gun has pretty much become Dr. Freeman's most useful weapon for dispatching aliens and alien slaves." Heat exclaims.
"In addition to his armament, he has cleverly learned to utilize shortcuts and backdoors such as ventilation shafts with little difficulty, and he has a natural talent for firearms since he can use all of these weapons effectively almost as soon as he gets them," Howard lists off, getting up from his chair and pacing, "but the man isn't without weaknesses," Heat continues as he sits back down in his leather chair.
"He seems to have a knack for losing most of his weapons on a regular basis, forcing him to find whatever weapons he can get his hands on, he also has a knack for being almost literally followed by trouble everywhere he goes, landing him and whoever happens to be around him in trouble." Heat explains.
Howard then twirls around in his chair for a bit before coming to a sudden stop and sighing. "Oh and if it wasn't obvious enough… he NEVER talks!" Heat cringes with extreme frustration. "Come on! Would it kill him to say SOMETHING? 'hasta la vista,' 'hail to the king,' or something? ANYTHING AT ALL WOULD WORK!" Heat shouted as he fell to his knees and shouted to the ceiling as the lights cut out once again.
"Raised from infancy to late teenage years by their father, this nineteen year old is forcefully thrust out from their sheltered life in Vault 101, and forced to survive in the remains of Washington D.C. 200 years after a nuclear war," Howard Heat then pauses and rummages through his papers with an increasingly frustrated look on his face. "What the hell is this Steve!? There's nothing in here about a name or gender or even a damn photo of their face!" Heat shouted.
"Sorry!" Steve shouted back.
"Ugh… fine, we'll just call our ambiguous friend here 101 from here onwards, sheesh," Heat sighs while stroking his forehead. "Despite 101's ambiguity to even this show, 101 began killing gangs, mercenaries, mutants, and anyone who tried to get in the way even though the only sort of combat experience they had was shooting mutated cockroaches with a bb gun." Heat said as the monitors all showed clips of the armored 101 shooting down raiders and super mutants.
"Due to the post-apocalyptic environment 101 had to survive in, 101's weapons loadout usually consists of whatever weapons can be found and repaired to working condition, this includes pistols, swords, shotguns, rifles, automatic weapons, energy weapons, and… oh yeah…" Heat starts grinning maniacally "heavy weapons and explosives!"
The monitors all switch to images of a variety of weapons, "Some notable weapons include, the plasma assault rifle, 10mm sub-machine guns and pistols, the Gatling laser, dart gun, shishkeb flaming sword, and the awesome, explosive fat man!" Heat shouts excitedly as the monitors all showcase a metallic catapult with a gas tank just underneath the launching rig. "The Fat Man is a gas-powered catapult that launches miniature nuclear missiles! Devastating anything caught in the blast!"
"For defense 101 has will be wearing winterized T-51b power armor. Power armor was designed by pre-war military to provide the maximum amount of ballistic protection a soldier can carry without totally sacrificing mobility thanks to micro-servos that help move the suit with the wearer, the T-shaped visor on the helmet is even bullet-proof. Protecting both 101's body… and identity…" Heat sighs upon the realization of the later. "It also provides some protection against radiation."
"That's not all, 101 wears the wrist mounted Pip-boy 3000A, featuring a Geiger counter, radio, tv-screen based flashlight, while also acting as a journal for storing all the random crap tasks that the lazy bums of the Capital Wasteland can't be bothered to do themselves." Heat explains the wrist-mounted computer on 101's left wrist. "Most importantly, it's somewhat neural interface enables the Vault-tec Assisted Targeting System, or V.A.T.S." Heat continues.
"Using V.A.T.S., 101's reaction time is significantly increased for a few seconds, allowing 101 to carefully line up shots on specific body parts for disabling or outright killing targets, but do note that this does not necessarily increase accuracy, and the V.A.T.S. system needs to be recharged and cannot be used in succession."
"Lastly, 101 learned how to pick locks, and hack computers in order to break into various bunkers in search of food and ammo," Heat paused before leaning back in his chair, "Weaknesses, well considering that 101's not the only one in the wasteland with access to advanced technology poses a problem, and not to mention some serious parental issues… sheesh."
"Alright viewers, I've talked your ear off long enough all by myself," Howard Heat pauses and looks at the vacant leather chair to his left, "The combatants are set and now it is time to see who is the DEADLIEST CHARACTER!"
The battle is approaching…
"Rise and…shine Mr. Freeman. Rise… and shine." A quivering yet haunting voice rang in his ears as the thin face and psychedelic colors flashed before him. "My… employers have… quite the surprise for you… today Mr. Freeman, yes quite the surprise… They are… most eager to see what…heh… you can do."
"Not to say… you haven't done well… no in fact, you have done quite remarkably… sometimes just a good idea to… assess all available… resources…" The man explained with a hiss, "So once more… rise and shine… Mr. Freeman."
The next thing Gordon knew, he was standing right in front of a large steal door with a nearby console, around him was a dusty military complex's yard, littered with sandbags and ammo crates surrounded by crumbling walls and supported with makeshift steel beams and crudely constructed stairs.
Crunch…
Gordon pulled out his Match pistol and aimed in the direction he heard the sound of glass being pressed under the weight of a heavy boot. His gaze only saw empty space where the complex's wall turned a corner. Gordon hugged the wall and slowly crept towards the corner, still keeping his pistol primed.
Biff!
The armored 101 came around the corner and slugged Gordon in the cheek, pulled out a 10mm pistol and readied it to aim at Gordon, however Gordon caught his balance quickly and grabbed 101's pistol arm and pushed it away while bringing his Match to aim at 101's gut. 101 however grabbed Gordon's arm before he could line up the shot, leaving the two arm locked and struggling to aim their pistols at the other.
Battle… BEGIN!
Gordon slammed 101's hand against the complex wall, forcing 101 to drop the pistol. Gordon then kicked 101 away and aimed his pistol at 101. The pistol rounds did little more than damage the paint job on the power armor, allowing 101 to unflinchingly draw a rusted sword attached to a motorcycle gas tank on the armor's back. 101 twisted a knob and the blade caught fire while it was being swung towards Gordon.
Gordon stepped back, receiving a light blow across the HEV suit's chest before ducking another horizontal swing. Just before 101 could deliver a vertical coup de grâce, Gordon pulled out a crowbar and blocked the swing. Gordon stood up while pushing back before engaging in a crowbar versus shishkebob melee battle. The two combatants spent more time dodging each other's strikes than actually trying to go in for the killing blow; however Gordon broke the stalemate by stepping forward, taking a diagonal strike across the HEV suit's torso, and then slamming the crowbar down on top of 101's helmet.
The gambit paid off and 101 was brought to one knee having already been off balance from the shishkebob swing. Gordon whipped out his pistol and immediately began back-pedaling while taking a few shots at the motorcycle gas tank on 101's back, causing a small flaming explosion.
101's power armor kept the damage from being debilitating and instead pulled out an SMG strapped to the hip and open fired on the retreating Gordon. Gordon took quite a few shots but covered his head and jumped behind some sandbags, falling on his rear end in order to more quickly hide behind the bags. Gordon checked the suit's status and noticed that the shields were now in the single digits while the suit was reading that Gordon himself had taken some light damage.
Taking a deep breath Gordon pulled out his own SMG and rolled to the edge of the sandbags before open firing in 101's general direction. 101 was also in the process of heading towards another wall of sandbags that were adjacent to some makeshift stairs. 101 took some light fire while trying to return fire, to no avail as Gordon would successfully retreat back behind cover. 101 got behind the sandbags and found an assault rifle with some ammo behind the bags.
101 loaded the rifle, and popped out to fire some shots at Gordon, who returned the favor by firing with his SMG. This went on for several minutes until Gordon found himself out of ammo. Gordon looked around and noticed several sandbags partially walling off a section of wall adjacent to the massive steel door.
101 on the other hand decided to change the battle plan; 101 pulled out a grenade in the left hand, and the dart gun in the right. 101 dashed for the stairs, while ascending them 101 hurled the grenade to Gordon's position, luckily for Gordon he had already begun dashing towards the sandbags he noted earlier. 101 quickly hit a button on the pip-boy and time seemed to slow down for 101. Taking advantage of this, 101 fired the dart gun and struck Gordon in the back of the neck, and quickly whipped out the assault rifle and used burst firing in an attempt to hit Gordon. Much to 101's surprise Gordon managed to keep sprinting towards the sandbags as if he had never been hit by the poisoned dart, and took relatively few assault rifle rounds before leaping behind the sandbags.
Gordon pulled out his colt python, whipped around, activated the zoom feature of his HEV suit, lined up a shot, and then fired just as the zoom deactivated. The shot nailed 101 in the torso before Gordon proceeded to unload the remaining rounds. Fortunately for 101 only the second shot managed to even grave them, the rest simply missed while 101 scrambled for cover. The moment 101 reached cover an explosion rocked the wall, 101 looked in the direction of the noise to momentarily see a small shell dive into the wall some feet away from him.
KABOOM
The force of the explosion forced 101 out from cover and up on top of the wall. 101 got their second wind just in time to see Gordon launch a third grenade from his SMG at 101's location. With no option, 101 dived off the wall towards Gordon, landing on the ground just below the explosion, by the time 101 got their footing Gordon had ducked back behind cover.
101 ran up to the sandbags, assault rifle primed, and looked over top of them to find nothing but a few metal plates resting against the outer wall at an angle. 101 kept the rifle primed and scanned the area with the pip-boy's light and then noticed a ventilation shaft. 101 cautiously crouch walked toward the vent.
Wheeeee fwoom!
101 jumped in the air just as an energy ball came flying from the vent opening, to no avail as the orb ricocheted off of one of the metal plates resting against the outer wall and glanced 101's back, forcing 101 face down into the ground, when 101 came around a green beeping cylinder rolled up in full view of 101's visor.
Thinking quickly 101 grabbed it and tossed it upward just in time to minimize the damage from the explosion. As 101 took a deep breath, they took a second look at the vent, realizing that the power armor made it impossible to follow Gordon through it. 101 gathered what weapons were around the field and approached the console at the large steel gate.
Inside the compound Gordon Freeman found himself in a storage closet and was using his flashlight to look around while holding his SPAS 12 shotgun. Gordon was out of ammo for his pistol and SMG, and there weren't any supplies to be had in this closet. Well it was a military complex, surely there were weapons deeper in. Gordon switched off the flashlight and cautiously opened the door.
Gordon quickly but quietly approached the opposite wall and prepared to round a corner.
Ratatatatatatatatata
Gordon quickly halted stepping out when a ceiling mounted turret started open firing on him. He took a quick peek around to find 101 stepping away from a security console and proceeding further into the complex. Gordon grabbed one of his grenades, hit the switch and held it while the light on it began beeping faster. He then tossed it around the corner at an upward angle, and about two seconds later…
KABOOM
The sound of crashing metal was the cue for Gordon to round the corner with his shotgun primed. He ran around the next corner and found a large robot clunking towards him.
"Intruder aler…"
BAM
Gordon immediately unloaded two shells into the robot before it could finish sounding the alarm and proceeded to do that with every protectron he encountered. Gordon finally rounded one corner to find a pair of gated doors left wide open, and 101 standing there with a large pack mounted on the armor's back, while the attached gun was revving up.
PEWPEWPEWPEWPEWPEWPEWPEWPEW
Gordon bolted for the opposite door the second laser bolts came rapidly firing out of the Gatling gun, but was not spared the brunt of the assault and took numerous shots before escaping into another outdoor section of the complex. 101 followed while keeping the Gatling laser revved up. When 101 rounded the corner there were two gas barrels lined up right in front of some sandbags, and Gordon Freeman holding the Gravity Gun in his hands.
Gordon activated the firing mechanism on the two barrels sending them both flying at 101 and then ducking behind the sandbags. 101 tapped the button on the pip-boy and managed to shoot down both barrels long before they got close while also puncturing the sandbags with a few rounds of the Gatling laser.
Gordin winced as one round managed to hit him, he knew he'd have probably collapsed already if it weren't for the morphine, desperate to finish off 101 he pulled out his rocket launcher and fired the moment he popped out of cover without waiting to aim.
101 dropped the Gatling laser and dived back into the building, propelled even further by the rocket explosion. As two more explosions rocked the entryway, 101 grabbed one other weapon that was previously in the room next to the Gatling laser. 101 loaded a mini-nuke into the catapult, stepped out and aimed the fat man in Gordon's direction.
Gordon dropped his rocket launcher and pulled out his gravity gun right as the nuke was launched at Gordon, he activated the attraction mechanism and just barely caught the mini nuke, holding it just in front of the gravity gun's claws. Even behind the helmet 101 was obviously shocked by this development, and even more surprised when Gordon launched the mini nuke back at 101.
KAAAAAAAABOOOOOOOOOOMMMM…!
FATAL BLOW
"Damn talk about out of the fire and into the firefight!" Howard Heat exclaimed as he spun around in his leather seat excitedly while the monitors behind him looped a replay of the battle. "At first the two were roughly evenly matched in terms of engaging in melee and gunfights, however seeing as how this was 101's home turf, Gordon quickly realized he was disadvantaged in weapon and ammo quantity."
"101 was quick to beat Gordon to a weapon's cache and quickly tilted the fight against the good doctor, but it was when 101 decided to try and finish off Gordon quickly that proved to be the fatal mistake." Heat narrated as the monitors replayed 101 loading up the fat man. "Unlike lasers or bullets, the mini nukes are launched at a velocity that Dr. Freeman's gravity gun could catch, and then all he had to do was punt the nuke right back at 101. Not even the power armor that had kept 101 safe from all previous assaults could guard against the mini nuke's sheer explosive power."
"The deadliest character this round… is Gordon Freeman!" Howard Heat announces as the lights dim.
Special thanks to the following for information used in the making of this analysis and battle:
Fallout 3 and all it's DLC
Half-Life 2 & episodes 1 & 2
fallout wikia
half-life wikia
planet half-life at gamespy
I hope you enjoyed this battle, let me know with a review.
Quick note: I probably won't do another character like 101's lone wanderer again, and by that I mean that I'm not likely to do a character that is so heavily customizable by players, I mainly went ahead with the Lone Wanderer due to how easy it was to maintain enough ambiguity to where it didn't ruin the customizable character, and even then some assumptions ended up being made.
I am seeking a partner for this series in order to broaden research done into relevant characters, and to reduce personal bias (I will of course not intentionally be biased but I am only human). If you're interested in being my partner then PM me the following
1.) Your idea for our first Deadliest Character story as a pair
2.) An interesting "host" character of your creation, by interesting I mean someone who could potentially have an interesting dynamic with Howard Heat.
To be a partner in this project you must have a willingness to give fictional characters due research.
Looking forward to any replies from you guys, spread the word to any other fellow fanfiction readers who might be interested.