The Fall of Earth

Chapter 1: Welcoming Committee

Santego Military Base, Arizona

Mitchell, fully laden with his combat gear ascended the stairs and climbed into the back of the V22 Osprey transport helicopter. Soon they were climbing into the sky and finally sped eastward. He sat back in his seat and fastened the safety buckles over his shoulders. The room was pitch black save a small pair of red lights on both walls to illuminate the faces of the rest of his team. There were six of them all together, first was their squad leader, a tough as nails sergeant named Sean Corbin, himself, a burly corporal named Rico Valdez, a scrawny little private with glasses called Ryan Roycewicz, a silent and unassuming private given the nickname "Woodstock", and last was a slightly insane private named Dominic Barlow. Mitchell fidgeted in his seat and tried to readjust his Powered Combat Vest to little avail.

"Where the hell are we going anyway?" asked Valdez.

"Last I heard we were going to see the Super Bowl," joked Roycewicz.

"Shut up you little punk before I permanently shut your trap," threatened Valdez.

"You will do no such thing maggot!" ordered Corbin.

"Hey serge why don't we have our orders yet?" asked Barlow.

"We will be briefed with the others teams once we reach our drop off point," answered Corbin.

"Hopefully this will just be a milk run," said Mitchell.

"I doubt it, we're at DEFCON 3, that's got to mean something big is up," noted Roycewicz.

Washington DC

"General, what exactly is your backup plan in case this is bigger than we think it is?" asked Adams.

"The Joint Chiefs and I have discussed our options and do have a backup plan in case things go south fast. We will call in the Army to evacuate all of the nearby townships and create a full military blockade. Inside the complex we deal with the threat and get the facility personnel out as quickly as possible."

"Before you continue General, I disagree with your idea to evacuate the personnel. If one of them spills to the media we're dead in the water. I want all the base personnel silenced, except for that Wallace Breen character. I want your men to capture him and get him on a plane to Washington as soon a possible, he has complete knowledge of all of Black Mesa's various projects and he can give us insight into what has happened," interrupted Adams.

"Mr. President I don't believe that this is a wise idea. If the public did manage to find out that we murdered our own people to cover this up it would almost definitely make the situation worse."

"Are you questioning my judgment General?" asked Adams, coldly.

"Sir I just think that we should…" began Overbeck.

"I think that this is the best course of action for us to take and you better implement it. Now continue with your plan," interjected Adams.

"Right away Sir, after that we would proceed to permanently seal off the facility from the rest of the world and then closely monitor the situation from then onwards," finished Overbeck.

Adams nodded his head, he was satisfied with this plan and felt if changes were needed he would voice his opinion.

V22-Osprey VTOL "Merlin-4"

"Get ready back there, this is it. We'll be arriving at the drop off point in sixty seconds. Good luck to you all out there," said the pilot of Merlin-4. The side door began to open and the entire room was bathed in sunlight, Mitchell squinted as his eyes adjusted and soon enough he could see the multitude of barren, sand covered plateaus that dotted the New Mexican landscape. Shortly thereafter, a large complex suddenly seemed to appear from the base of one of the many mesas. The chopper stopped and the serge walked toward the exit. He dropped the two coils of black rope out of the chopper and proceeded to grab hold and begin rappelling down to the complex below. Valdez and Roycewicz followed next, then Woodstock and Barlow, last to go was Mitchell. As he gripped the rope and prepared to descend the pilot turned to face him.

"We'll keep her warm for when you guys get back," he chuckled and gave Mitchell a salute. Mitchell returned the salute and began his descent. Once his boot hit the fresh pavement he gathered with the rest of the platoon. Lieutenant Beckman was in the process of issuing their platoon's orders.

"Alright men, these are the battle plans given to us by high command. Sergeant Ironside will command fireteam Lima, their job is to link up with second platoon in the Biodome Complex. Sergeants Farrell and Weston will take their teams, Alpha and Foxtrot respectively and secure the Hydro-Electric Dam. Fireteam Zulu under the command of myself will move to take control of the Lambda Complex, here. Ross's fireteam Delta will storm the Sector C Test Labs while Tango under Ryder will take the Coolant Reserve. Lastly fireteam Yankee under Sergeant Corbin is to proceed to the Administration Offices with a special mission. You are to capture Dr. Wallace Breen, he is the head of this facility and command wants him alive for questioning." He held out a picture which Corbin took and placed in his pocket.

"Move out!" he yelled and all the teams quickly dispersed.

"We're in luck. Since high command wants Breen so badly we've been deployed next to the Office Complex. Lock and load everyone!" ordered Corbin. Mitchell quickly put on his gas mask, placed his helmet on his head and loaded a fresh clip into his M-16 assault rifle. They silently entered through the main door and observed the map at the front desk.

"We just need to follow the green line along the walls," said Barlow. Are you joking? That's all we have to do? Thought Mitchell. This would be a cake walk mission, it had trainee written all over it. They followed the green line for about ten minutes before arriving at a door with a brass plaque on the front of it.

Dr. Wallace Breen PhD.

"How do we get him?" asked Valdez.

"I didn't bring three canisters of knockout gas for no reason soldier," replied Corbin. Mitchell pressed his ear up against the door and heard muffled sounds that sounded like hurried footsteps.

I need to destroy all the documents related to Project X thought Breen as he gathered all the papers into one extra large manila envelope and sealed it. He then pulled a lighter from his pocket and was about to light the manila envelope on fire when he noticed two small, metallic canisters roll along the floor towards him. Before he could react the canisters released a dense white cloud of smoke. Breen dropped the lighter and the envelope and began to violently cough before collapsing to the floor of his office unconscious.

"Move in men," ordered Corbin and Yankee team moved into the office. Valdez hoisted Breen onto his shoulders and the others covered the door.

"Merlin-4, package has been secured, requesting extraction," said Roycewicz over his headset.

"This is Merlin-4, roger that Yankee, I'll be waiting for you at the drop off point." As Mitchell surveyed the area one last time he noticed a large manila envelope on the floor next to a lighter. He picked it up and signaled to the serge.

"What do you have there soldier?" he asked Mitchell.

"I have no idea sir. All I know is that Breen tried to burn it, I found a lighter right beside it" reported Mitchell.

"Then it must be important" said Corbin. He then took the envelope and led the squad back down the hall to the main lobby. Soon they were back outside and were loading an unconscious Breen onto the Osprey. The serge handed the pilot the package.

"What's this?" asked the pilot.

"We don't know for sure but my guess is that it has to do with what's going on here" said Corbin.

"What next sir?" asked Barlow.

"We leave" replied Corbin, simply.

"Wait a minute, I have General Overbeck on the horn, he's addressing you guys specifically" informed the pilot.

"Gentlemen, you are to be commended for apprehending Wallace Breen. We will analyze those documents you recovered as well. However you are not finished your mission yet, I want you to link up with fireteams Bravo, Oscar, Charlie and Sierra. Your current objective is to secure the Administration Complex. After that fortify it and wait for further orders, also all Black Mesa Personnel must be silenced."

"Silenced, sir may I ask why?" inquired Mitchell.

"No you may not soldier" snapped Overbeck before cutting transmission.

"Well you heard the man, let's move out marines," ordered Corbin and the squad moved back into the complex as the Osprey lifted off and flew away. They proceeded back down to the offices and sat down in a lounge waiting for the other teams to arrive. Shortly afterward Oscar and Charlie teams arrived and they began setting up their blockades at each entrance to the sector. As Mitchell looked up after putting another sandbag down he noticed shadows around the corner of the hallway. He pulled out his M-16 and aimed it near where the shadows were.

"Show yourselves!" he yelled and another marine team rounded the corner.

"Jesus kid, you're jumping at shadows. You do realize that nothing's happening here, we haven't seen any hostile creatures, just a bunch of panicked scientists. We're Bravo team just for your information" said the squad leader.

Two hours later…

"Where the hell is Sierra team?" wondered Mitchell. No one had any idea, they were supposed to have arrived hours ago.

"I don't like the looks of this" said Valdez. Suddenly everyone's headsets blared with static.

"This is sergeant Benjamin Denvers, we've got contacts only, they're not humans, and they're just ripping us apart. Help us augghh!" he managed to scream out before the transmission turned to static.

"Sergeant Denvers do you copy, sergeant Denvers do you read me?" asked Corbin over the comm. channel.

"Alright Bennett, Roycewicz and Valdez, we've pinpointed the location of the transmission. Go there and find out what the hell is going on" commanded Corbin.

"Yes sir," they all answered in unison and left to follow the beacon on their GPS navigators. The source of the transmission was not far from their camp and as the yellow dot approached all became dead silent. Mitchell looked up and saw a large blood smear on the wall that lead around the corner. As he rounded the corner he nearly dropped his GPS in shock. Decorating the walls and ceilings was the blood of Sierra team, their bodies scattered across the tiled floor. Mitchell, Roycewicz and Valdez put away their GPS systems and readied their assault rifles.

"Come in Bennett, what the hell is happening down there?" demanded Corbin.

"Sir we found Sierra team, they're all dead."