PART I: Pursuit of Vengeance

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-=Chapter One: Reanimation=-

Thirteen months after Gordon's death, 12/11/2022

The cold wasn't something they appreciated as others might.

For thousands of years, the Trysikan people had lived on a planet the human race would call tropical. However, the sweltering climate of the jungle-covered planet they had lived on — and been enslaved on for the past century or so — could only be described by one word in their native language: Jhevitsk.

Inferno Abyss Correctional Facility in Northern Sweden was anything but jhevitsk.

It was ironic, really, that it had such a name as Inferno Abyss. One could say the title was synonymous with hell, but since the only people who would actually consider it to be 'a place of pain and turmoil' were humans, they couldn't tell if the Combine had named it so on purpose or if they had merely misinterpreted the definition of 'hell' as a fiery hole in the ground rather than a place of suffering.

Because it most certainly was not a fiery hole in the ground. What it was could be identified as a freezing cold concrete base built in front of a towering rocky mountainrange.

It was snowing heavily when the dropship landed on the helipad northeast of the courtyard, and the cloudless evening sky was a dark gloomy grey. Even though dropships were not commonly used for non-militant transport, the five Phyx had come via a Combine stealth carrier callsigned Serenity that had taken seven months to get there so it wasn't as if they had the option of taking a helicopter from high orbit above the blue and green planet.

The five occupants disembarked, empty handed and wearing only thin red robes adorned with brazen stripes of expensive fabric. Their skin was deathly pale and their faces were thin and bony, as if they were the disciples of death incarnate.

Soldiers stood to attention as the five towering creatures slowly made their way off the helipad, onto the snowy ground. Despite the fact that their clothes wouldn't have given protection against even the lightest rain they didn't appear to be affected in any way by the cold, although they themselves didn't look like they even had emotions.

Two soldiers approached them, their booted feet crunching in the snow. All around them, the wind howled loudly and the snow fell onto their thick clothing. "Follow us." The soldiers ordered distortedly through their respirator-clad mouths, before they turned around and headed for the dark collection of buildings not far west of the helipad. The five Phyx obeyed without objection, their robes concealing their presumably lean legs as they trudged after the guards.

Seven months previously, the guards at Inferno Abyss had completed a very basic long-range communication system that was effectively a very primitive email delivery system. It couldn't receive any form of reply, it couldn't send anything above the simplest form of ASCII-encoded text and the connection it had created to send the text message had collapsed less than a second after it had been established.

It had effectively been the digital equivalent of a very fast, very accurate message in a bottle.

However, even though the device was now about as useful as the stick of a lollipop it had confirmed one thing: a single green LED had affirmed that the message had successfully been sent.

This news had spread quickly through Combine forces stationed — and stuck — on Earth. It was not only incredible, but proved that they weren't entirely cut off from the rest of the Universal Union. At least, they hadn't been for about eighty milliseconds. Now they were again, and for seven months they had been praying that the Advisors on Trysik had acted on their message and that they had sent a group of Phyx on the ridiculously tedious trip to Earth that would take approximately half a year.

The only connection that the Combine force on Earth had had with the Universal Union Capital was through the gigantic nexus known only as the Citadel. While it had not been the only Citadel on Earth, it had been the epicentre of Combine Administration on Earth and by far the biggest. Apart from other, less relevant things, the Citadel in Romania was the only one that had had an Advisor Conference Room, a tunnelling entanglement teleportation system powered by a dark energy fusion reactor and a penthouse-like office at the pinnacle of the towering structure.

When this Citadel was destroyed all contact with the Combine Capital millions of lightyears away had been severed in a fleeting instant of bright light and roaring explosions.

However, the possibility of re-establishing that connection, retaking control of Romania and crushing the radical human uprising before it evolved into a devastatingly powerful mutation had existed in the infant superportal, created by the insanely large amount of dark energy that had been released when the Citadel had been destroyed.

Of course, not only had the human Resistance proven to be much better equipped and much more intelligent than the Combine had first thought by launching a rocket derived from blueprints of the Titan II-class of ICBM and closing the superportal, but also dealing catastrophic amounts of damage to the Universal Union Capital also.

The Combine Empire had been horrified at this unprecedented turn of events. For the first time in history, the inhabitants of an invaded planet had dealt an almost cataclysmic amount of damage to the force on the planet in twenty years. Not only that, but they had managed to cut off any possible way of reinstating the original Combine Administration on their planet by both closing the superportal and massacring a large percentage of the population on the Combine Capital at the same time.

But then, not a week later, a signal went out from somewhere in the Arctic regions of the planet proclaiming some sort of parasitical robotic horde had been released on the planet.

It had given a strange feeling of relief, while at the same time caused great pain. It meant that the planet Earth would be wiped completely clean of all life — native and Combine — except on a cellular level. This artificial intelligence would expand until it had taken complete control of the planet's inhabitants and turned them into slaves.

Slaves with no way off their planet.

Thus Earth had been officially declared the most disastrous failure in the history of the Universal Union.

Nobody had ever expected to hear from it again.

But they did.

Five months later, the Advisors on Trysik received a single text-based message sent from within fifty kilometres of the signal sent out by the AI horde the year before. After reading it, they had taken action and sent a team of converted Phyx on the slow trip to Earth, to do the only thing they were good for:

Resurrection of the dead.

The five Phyx were seated on one side of a small wooden table, sitting in uncomfortable metal chairs in a room that was only slightly warmer than the blizzard outside. Around them stood a group of ten guards, and one senior officer sitting opposite them, his gloved hands clasped together. "We are extremely glad that you have graced us with your presence here," he began humbly, looking up at all of them with his masked face, "and we would like to inquire of you any news that you have concerning the situation that the Universal Union is in at the moment."

All five of the Phyx answered in eerie unison, their voices a chilling chorus of somewhat ominous emotion. "The Capital of the Universal Union suffered fatal losses in excess of twenty billion when the rocket-propulsion system of the human Resistance detonated in high orbit above the planet."

"Shit..." someone whispered from behind the seated assembly.

The officer at the table bowed his head in remorse, "I see. Do you have anything else to report?"

Again, the five spoke simultaneously. "Since the Capital was attacked, the Combine Empire has been reduced to independent administration by each planet's Advisors and a replacement has not yet been selected. The Universal Union is also currently in no position to give any sort of militant assistance whatsoever."

"When did you last receive word from the Universal Union?"

"The stealth carrier capital ship we were onboard during our voyage here was always in contact with the capital of Trysik. What we have told you was the most recent news we received before we disembarked, and we acquired it approximately one and a half hours before our dropship was deployed."

The officer put a hand to his covered forehead. Things weren't going so well. "Are there any orders for us?"

"We were asked to suggest you prepare for evacuation from the planet."

The officer's head snapped up sharply, looking at the pale gathering before him. "Evacuation?" he stood up, looking down at the seated Phyx. "Evacuation?! Such a thought is unprecedented! Never before in history has an invading force that has taken control of a planet had to evacuate it!"

"The idea of an enslaved race successfully damaging the Capital so significantly that it became unfit to serve as the epicentre of Combine Administration is also unheard of, Major General." The Phyx replied calmly. "But such has come to pass. Are you willing to allow the human race the opportunity to crush you, as it has already proven it can?"

The general scanned his eyes from one end of the table to the other, furious at the thought. "Are you telling me that you were suggested this by the Universal Union?"

"Exactly."

The Major General exhaled loudly through his respirator, sitting back down. "Right. When will you be able to give news back that we will not be leaving the arrogant bastards on this planet with a feeling of victory?"

A pause from the thinly clothed company gave the general a foreboding feeling of dread. "Well?"

"When we said we had been requested to suggest you prepare for evacuation, the optional factor was not evacuation. The optional factor was preparing for the evacuation that will take place in approximately eight months."

The general's enraged visage was thankfully hidden from everyone, though all the people present could tell — and in fact, all of the Combine guards present were — infuriated at this information. "Are you all telling me that the Universal Union has already decided to evacuate us from the planet?"

"Correct, Major General." The Phyx answered, their tones veiling the slight feeling of anxiety they had resulting from the sight of the general's hands shaking. Evidently, he was not very happy with the news.

He stood up again, but this time it was suddenly and violently. "So..." he whispered, taking a very slow step to the side of his chair with his hands clasped behind his back, "the Universal Union has resolved that we have failed our mission?"

The Phyx did not answer. The Major General did not ask for one, merely continued his monologue in a sinister whisper. "They have made a choice without even considering that this revolution has only caused minor damage to the overall force on the planet?" Suddenly, he spun around and kicked the metal chair he had been sitting in, sending it flying through the air before slamming into the wall with a resounding clang. "That is bullshit!" he yelled, glaring at the Phyx from behind his mirrored lenses. "We are deemed inadequate to stop this Resistance, all because of a single major attack on the Capital taking place a mere fortnight after the inhabitants began their uprising?"

"Major General, we have to agree with the Advisors in this situation," the Phyx interjected calmly, "since you have not yet crushed this Resistance, despite the fact you have head more than a year to do so."

"Irrelevant!" the general snapped back, slamming his gloved fists down on the table. "They have not had any considerable successes since! There is only one place on this forsaken planet that has been retaken by the human race and it is only because of the legendary Dr. Freeman, anticitizen one."

"Yes, we were informed of the notorious Dr. Freeman in your message. Are we correct in assuming he is..." they paused before speaking again, as if they took delight in the next word, "dead?"

The general snorted, his irritation still fresh. "One of them is. We still haven't got the faintest clue how there can possibly be two of them — if both really are legitimate — and the entire force that attacked White Forest base in Romania was eradicated by a Croatian fighter squadron so... well, dead men tell no tales, I guess."

The Phyx's dull eyes seemed to light up at the mention of death. "Are we also correct in assuming you require our... talents?"

The general looked at them, nodding slowly. "Yes, actually. In fact, we can begin whenever you are ready."

"Excellent." The Phyx all stood in unison, their eyes glistening in excitement. "If it pleases you, we would like to be taken to the body immediately."

The general nodded again. "OK. You four," he pointed at a group of guards behind the Phyx, "take them to the corpse. I'll be joining you in a few moments."

The guards nodded agreement, and they exited with the five aliens. After they had left, the general looked at where his chair had been and sighed deeply. "If we're going to be evacuated..." he muttered, looking up at the remaining guards slowly, "...then we'd better make sure we drive this planet into the ground before we are."

"This man..." the Phyx observed, "he is in military uniform."

The general nodded, looking at the body lying in the transparent vacuum-sealed coffin. They were standing in a subterranean room, covered in brightly lit white walls. The floor was a very light grey colour and it was completely made of metal plating. The whole room was empty, save for a collection of machines in one corner and the large see-through rectangular prism in the middle of the room.

Inside this sealed container was a body, in the same condition it was the day it was killed. The man was lying on his back, blood covering the top of his shoulders and the back of his neck. A single bullet had been found in the back of his head.

"He is human," the Phyx continued, looking at the general, "and you saved his corpse. For what reason?"

The general chuckled, "Gordon Freeman is the reason. Witnesses saw the two brawling it out in the courtyard. This guy got the jump on him, apparently dived behind some crates and that was it, Freeman shot him in the head before he hit the ground. For some strange reason, the three witnesses remember opening fire at Freeman but don't actually remember seeing him escape. He just... well, disappeared."

"What is unusual about this man's death then?"

"Humans haven't killed each other since we turned up." The general explained bluntly. "And this guy's wearing a uniform that hasn't existed for twenty or so years."

The Phyx looked back at the body, noticing it was clad in a dark brown gasmask, military green combat webbing and urban camouflage shirt and pants. "Yes, he is." They agreed.

"You guys know about the Black Mesa Incident, don't you?"

The Phyx looked back at the general. "We are not the most knowledgeable on the topic, but we have heard about it. Who hasn't in the Universal Union?"

"Well, from what we know some special forces unit got sent in to see what was going on with the facility. We assume that this guy was part of that unit, and that he had a bone to pick with Freeman."

"Freeman's reputation is because of the Black Mesa Incident and his survival, yes?"

"Well, I hate to say it, but his current reputation is because of the amazing talent he has at killing us. But no, the reason he was famous among the human race when he first turned up last year was solely because of what he'd done at Black Mesa."

"So... Freeman killed this man's comrades to escape Black Mesa?"

"We think so. I mean, it's not like there was anything else Freeman could've done to piss this guy off."

"But why did you keep his body?"

"Because..." the general eyed them cryptically, "... he almost got what he wanted."

That told the Phyx everything they needed to know. "What do you want us to tell him, once we have raised him?"

The general chuckled again. "I don't know, say you're gods or something, divine host that want him to kill Gordon Freeman."

"Will he believe it?"

The general shrugged, "Black Mesa got nuked, people. If he somehow got out of the facility then I'd be surprised if some divine person wasn't watching over him. Then again, that means someone might be watching over Gordon Freeman too. Someone who could make two of him."

The Phyx nodded once more, looking back at the body. "Bring him out."

6:47 PM, White Forest

The fact that White Forest base was still operational was a perfect testament to the undying will of the human race.

In the first month of the Uprising, it had been heavily attacked by Combine forces. One such assault was carried out by a force of around twelve thousand foot soldiers and about fifty aircraft and it resulting in a devastatingly high number of Resistance casualties and partial destruction of the base itself. Even now part of the mountain lay in the steep and narrow valley far below, along with large amounts of concrete debris that had come down with it when the inadvertent avalanche had occurred.

About half an hour after this happened, a squadron of Croatian fighters had bombed the Combine force inside the remains of these bunkers. Having already been both damaged and uncovered by the collapse, these bombs eradicated the majority of the Combine attackers before most the soldiers down there even saw them.

The parts of the base at the front of its perimeter had lain in ruins. Trees had been toppled, grass and bloody soil had been tossed up everywhere, mangled metal and burning corpses had been strewn across the churned up peak of the mountain and pillars of smoke had ascended into the cloudless heavens.

Now, a year and a bit later, what could be repaired had been. The destroyed bunkers had been rebuilt — even if they were somewhat smaller due to the fact part of the mountain was gone — and the bodies had either been buried in a forested part of the mountain — Resistance losses — or at the foot of the mountain around a large sign reading 'these are the graves of those who ascended this mountain with hostile intent'.

Of course, almost all twelve thousand soldiers had been buried here. The graves were spread throughout half the valley, all in a line leading to the sloping path that lead up to the peak and, ultimately, the base itself.

It hadn't been attacked since. Not by land, not by air and... well, not by sea either.

Things had returned to normal. Well, to be more precise, things now felt as normal as was possible fighting for freedom in an alien-invader-induced dystopia. But this had become the normal for the people at White Forest for almost a year now. There was no more going to work, watching a football or baseball game, spending quality time with your kids 'normal' anymore. You were lucky if you got to see your children or any of your family.

And that was the reason the people at White Forest were fighting. It wasn't just for themselves, it wasn't just to manifest their hatred into the bullet-riddled corpse of a Combine soldier. It was for the human race.

So that maybe, just maybe, people could see their families again.

A single booted foot hit the gravel, crunching as the owner put their other foot down and stood up, stretching from the time they'd spent in that car. About a metre away, an identical pair of crunches sounded as another person removed themselves from the vehicle. Neither pairs of feet moved for a few moments, before one of them started walking toward the base with the other pair following closely behind.

The two pairs of shoes made their way over to the rebuilt entrance to the subterranean parts of White Forest comprised of a collection of buried bunkers, offices, small laboratories and two large missile silos. They'd just been out searching some of the more secluded parts of Romania for small Combine units that might have set up makeshift outposts in these areas. They'd found nothing, but then again they hadn't expected to.

Besides, the Romanian Resistance was sending a company of soldiers and its three stolen Hunter-Choppers to help out the Resistance in Ukraine — one of the countries bordering Romania in the northeast. This unit of soldiers was scheduled to be leaving White Forest around noon tomorrow and were estimated to arrive one and a half hours after departure.

The pairs of shoes casually continued their walk toward the reconstructed White Forest bunkers, a guard outside one of the salvaged double blast-doors nodding at them in acknowledgement. "Evening, you two."

They returned the greeting, heading through the doorway as the blast-doors slid back on their metal guides, the pneumatic parts hissing as they worked. The two stepped inside the bunker, looking around the wide hallway-esque area they had found themselves in. The lighting gave the crème painted walls a familiarly warm light yellow tint, complementing the suitably forest-green paint lining the lower section of the walls. On the other side of the bunker was a collection of crates filled with munitions and the like, along with a few rebels scurrying around so as to complete whatever tasks they had been entrusted with by — most likely, anyway — Dr. Magnusson himself.

One of the soldiers noticed them. "Ah, Dr. Freeman, Alyx," he grinned, greeting them with a relaxed nod, "glad to see you're both alright. Well," he corrected himself with a brief laugh, "apart from you, Dr. Freeman. How's that wound healing up?"

The day previously, Gordon had encountered a somewhat vicious pack of Antlions in the mountains around White Forest. One of them had slit his left cheek from top to bottom, but thankfully it hadn't been deep enough to cut into his mouth. He'd returned to White Forest with a gloved hand dripping blood all over the concrete floor. Dr. Taylor had fixed it up right, but it had started scarring already.

Gordon smiled gently. "Hasn't been irritating me since this morning. Barely even notice it now."

The rebel chuckled. "Good to hear it. Well, I'd better leave you to your business. Doubtless Magnusson will want a full report."

Alyx laughed. "You got that right," she agreed.

The rebel smiled, giving them a short wave before he headed off. Alyx and Gordon continued on their way to Magnusson's office per usual.

By the time the two had arrived at Dr. Magnusson's office, something else had happened that had rendered the importance of their report null and void because the Gman was there waiting for them. Magnusson noticed them entering and gave a sharp nod in their direction. "Huh," he muttered impatiently, "you've finally graced us with your presence, have you?"

The two ignored him, as was their duty when Magnusson was in a pissy mood. Any kind of indignant response would be met with eternal damnation, or so he seemed to believe.

Barney, who was sitting in one of the two couches in the office, gave them a friendly wave. "How's it going?"

"Yeah, good," Alyx replied with a smile as she sat down, "just got back, actually."

"So what's this about?" Gordon asked, looking at the Gman as he sat himself down on one of the couches with Alyx.

The Gman smiled. "Unfortunately, my time of... relaxation has been ended."

"What, why?" Gordon demanded with a frown, leaning back against the old cushions of the couch.

"The Fissionist requested I return to our Council Chambers to discuss something approximately twenty minutes ago," the Gman explained calmly. "The length of this absence is indefinite, thus I cannot be certain as to how this will affect our attack. I may be back before tomorrow, but the Fissionists may require something of me."

"Didn't they tell you what it was for?" Alyx asked.

The Gman shook his head. "They merely insisted I depart for the Council Chambers as soon as possible. Since I do not want to waste precious time, I would ask that I be allowed to take my leave soon."

Magnusson nodded from behind him. "You can go whenever it suits you."

The Gman turned to him, smiling. "Thank you, Dr. Magnusson. I apologise for any inconvenience that may result from this situation."

Dr. Magnusson waved the apology away, "don't mention it, Gman. After all, we have no business arguing with the Fissionist Faction."

Giving a thankful nod, the Gman turned back to the others, extending a hand to Gordon. "Until we meet again, Dr. Freeman."

Gordon stood, shaking the hand firmly. "Same here, Gman."

The Gman smiled, giving his hand to Alyx. "Ms. Vance."

Alyx smiled brightly, taking the hand. "Take care of yourself."

Finally, Barney shook his hand. "See ya later, Gman."

The Gman gave a final wave to everyone, "I trust that you will be successful in the attack tomorrow." He added finally, before he left the room.

And White Forest.

And Romania.

And the planet Earth.

And the dimensions of the space-time continuum that we are familiar with.

"Fellow Members." the Gman looked around at the glowing suited people seated all around him. He himself had taken his spot on the ring of elevated seating that surrounded the room, a comfortable position that proclaimed the person seated atop it deserved respect.

"Member Eight." They answered in perfect, ethereal unison.

"If you would proceed with your explanation as to why I have been called here?"

The First Member cleared his throat. "Member Eight, at exactly 6:24:32 PM European Standard Time a Combine stealth carrier entered high orbit above the planet Earth. At exactly 6:26:12 PM European Standard Time a single dropship was deployed from the underside of this stealth carrier. Inside this dropship were five Phyx that we estimate departed from the Combine-ruled planet Trysik seven months ago. They landed approximately ten minutes ago, at the Combine correctional facility Inferno Abyss in Northern Sweden."

The Gman nodded slowly. "Is that all you wish to inform me of?"

"Yes."

"Have we decided on a course of action?"

"No."

"What do you suggest, then?"

"Member Eight, are you aware of the abilities the specially-trained inhabitants of Trysik possess?"

"The Phyx?"

"Correct."
"Are they not infamous for their advanced knowledge in the field of resurrection?"

"Again, you are correct."

The Gman paused uncertainly. "You are suggesting they are at Inferno Abyss to raise the dead?"

"Yes, but we are all in accord that there is a specific body they are focusing on, given the location that their dropship landed at."

The Gman stopped dead. Inferno Abyss... "They are attempting to resurrect Corporal Adrian Shephard?"

"That is our hypothesis."

"But for what purpose?" The Gman inquired. "That is the question we should be pondering."

"We already have a theory," Member One continued. "It involves using Corporal Adrian Shephard to destroy Dr. Gordon Freeman. The Combine stationed at the base have undoubtedly decided that he had bad history with Dr. Freeman, since humans have not killed each other nor worn his uniform for twenty years. His Marine uniform would have told them he had most likely been at Black Mesa during the resonance cascade and therefore Gordon Freeman probably killed his comrades there. As we are all aware, Adrian Shephard had a lust for revenge. The Combine doubtlessly realised this and therefore decided that he would be a prime candidate to send after Gordon Freeman."

"And Corporal Shephard almost succeeded in killing Dr. Freeman, didn't he?" the Gman concluded slowly.

"Correct."

The Gman stroked his chin. "Members, I request I returned to Earth to prevent this from taking place."

The Members looked at each other, their expressions not exactly encouraging the Gman to feel any better about the situation. "What is it?"

The First Member looked over at him. "Member Eight. Approximately three minutes ago, Adrian Shephard rose from the dead."


Well, people, things are going to get better from here on out. I'm actually surprised at how quickly I came up with an idea, but it just seemed so good that I decided to use it. Of course, it needed a bit of work and one critical part of it made it necessary I separate this fic into two parts - don't worry, it'll all be right here in this fic, not two separate ones. The Pursuit of Vengeance was selected for a reason that should become apparent soon - if it isn't already.

Next chapter (hopefully): super-shooty action that you've come to expect from me.