Chapter 3: Ambush
Chapter 3: Ambush
Ben drives the jeep towards Outpost 14, which sits between White Forest and Black Mesa East. Once the jeep has stopped, Joe, Karen and Fred all got out, while Ben just sits and takes in what he's seeing.
Outpost 14 has an incredible vista, with City 17 in the distance with the Citadel towering over it. It looks deserted, with stains of blood on the walls, which indicates that it was indeed attacked, but there are no bodies to be found. Ben just imagines what could have happened here, with fellow rebels like the one on the radio being pinned down and exchanging gunfire with the oppressing forces. He couldn't think in detail about what happened after the skirmish, either if the enemy just left, or if they executed any survivors and took over the outpost for themselves. He could smell one thing though; this is probably a trap.
"Be alert, guys!" Ben orders the others. "I don't think we're alone here."
The group searches the main building first. Nobody to be seen, and everything on the room seems to remain intact. Joe heads towards the small elevator in the corner.
"Send me down." he requests.
Karen heads over and presses the button, and Joe descends to the generator room which can be seen below the main floor. Fred was ordered to keep on watch, just in case Ben is right, and that someone else exists in the area.
"What makes you think we're not alone?" Karen asks Ben, who's has his hands placed on the table in the middle.
"The transmission claims that was they were fighting was not Combine." Ben replies.
"Not Combine?"
"That's what I asked when Mossman told me." Ben continues.
"Could it be antlions?" Karen asks again.
"I doubt it. They mainly out at the coast." Ben quickly dismisses Karen's theory.
"Then what could it be?" Karen asks for the last time.
"I don't know." Ben responds. "But I have a feeling in my gut that we'll find out soon enough."
Ben then looks down into the generator room. "Anything unusual in there, Joe?"
"Nada." Joe replies. "Everything seems fine down here."
"Should we check the communications building?" Fred asks.
"Good idea." Ben agrees. "You and Karen go ahead, and I'll bring Joe back up."
Joe takes a gentle jog back to the elevator, and Ben presses the button to bring him up. The two then head towards the communications building where Karen and Fred are waiting.
"The doors won't budge!" Fred exclaims.
Ben and Joe go over to the doors, and prepare to bash through them.
"On three, give it all you got, OK?" Ben says, with a slight tone of aggression. He doesn't seem to like what he'll find in there.
"Got it." Joe simply responds.
"One."
Ben and Joe ram their shoulders into the doors. It moves slightly, but it's not enough.
"Two."
The two ram into the building again. It's starting to move, but it requires a lot more force.
"Three!"
Ben and Joe use all their strength to ram into the doors for the last time, and they blow open. Karen and Fred bring out their SMGs ready for precaution, with Fred remaining outside to stand guard. while Ben heads inside to check the radio. Joe takes a breather, having used a lot of force to break down the doors, then after a few seconds, he raises his SMG like Karen and Fred have done.
"Radio seems fine." Ben announces. "It's almost like the attackers fixed the place before leaving."
"Why would they do that?" Karen asks.
"Because my suspicions are right." Ben replies. "This is a trap."
Suddenly a gunshot is heard. The trio turn round and watch as Fred drops his SMG and falls down the the ground, lifeless. Karen rushes outside to check his pulse. She attempts a CPR, then examines his head, and sort a massive red hole, with a bullet lodged inside of it.
"He's dead." Karen remarks with a shock.
"Take cover!" Ben orders.
The remaining three rebels run outside and take cover just as the enemy opens fire on them. When the gunfire has stopped, Ben peers out of cover to get a look on the soldiers. Five of them, with white armor with strokes of yellow with red eyes on their helmets. These were the soldiers that Ben saw in his dream.
Joe peers out of cover and shoots one in the head, killing them. The Cerberus grunts were so sure that they could outsmart the rebels that they didn't even bother to put their shields up. Once the soldier that Joe killed fell to the ground dead, the remaining four put up their shields.
Karen sends a full SMG round into one of the soldiers, but the bullets were all absorbed by the kinetic barriers.
"Shit! They have shields!" she yells out to Ben and Joe.
"Fuck!" shouts Ben as he realizes they have no chance against this new found enemy. "Back to the jeep! Quickly!"
"They've blocked it off, though!" Joe quickly reminds him.
"Double fuck!" Ben shouts again!
The skirmish continued on, with the rebels exchanging gunfire with the Cerberus grunts. As two more grunts fell, one barked out "Bring in an Atlas!".
"What does he mean by that?!" shouts Joe. Then suddenly, a giant object falls from the sky and lands with a big impact. The object then transforms into what seems like a mech, with another grunt inside, who Ben quickly assumes is the pilot. The Atlas mech then brings it's right arm up and aims at Joe.
"Joe! Look out!" Karen manages to yell before the Atlas fires a rocket in Joe's direction.
"Shit!" Joe yells out and tries to move, but it was too late. The rocket hits the ground and explodes, sending him flying across the path and landing near Karen, not moving at all. Karen checks his pulse, and gets nothing. Joe is dead.
"Joe's dead, Ben!" Karen yells out to Ben. "Who the fuck are these guys?!"
"I don't know!" Ben shouts back, "But these bastards are just as bad as the Combine!"
With his rage built up, Ben lets out a scream and moves out of cover, killing the last surviving grunts, but get's pinned down by the Atlas. Karen lobs a grenade at the mech, and when it explodes, stuns it for a brief second. Ben tosses his SMG aside and runs towards the mech with his pistol in hand.
The Atlas begins to direct it's cannon at Karen, but it didn't see Ben running up and jumping onto it. With his pistol, Ben shoots the glass seperating the pilot and him. The pilot then knocks the pistol out of Ben's hand and gets into a struggle with him. Ben then lobs a grenade into the cockpit and drops down to the ground, running towards Karen as the grenade explodes. The Atlas mech starts malfunctioning and explodes into a giant fireball, with parts of it being scattered around the battlefield. Ben takes a second to catch his breath while Karen closes the eyes of Joe and Fred. Once Ben has regained his breath, Karen walks back to him.
"Is that all of them?" she asks.
"I hope so." Ben quietly replies.
Suddenly, Karen lets out a gasp as Ben's face is sprayed with blood. Looking down, she sees a sword sticking out through her torso, and with one last look at Ben, she feels the sword getting pulled, and falls to the ground, dead.
"You." Ben says with a sharp tone of anger and fear. He's now face to face with the man that he saw in his dream.
"What a shame." the man replies. "She would've made a great phantom. I take it you know who I am?"
"Yeah." Ben says. "I don't know your name, but I saw you in a dream last night."
"The name's Kai Leng. And you saw me in a dream?" Leng asks.
"I did. Now, I'm going to kill you before that dream happens for real."
"That wouldn't be wise." Leng says with a smile.
Ben could feel himself being grabbed from behind and having a sword placed under his chin.
"Hope you're ready for a trip to Nova Prospekt." Leng simply says.
This was the last thing Ben heard before being knocked out.