Half-Life 2:Opposing Force.
Authors Note: At the time of writing this, the time and date are 11th of March...lets see what time it is upon finishing...Oh, I do not own the Half-Life series. But it would rock if I did. In this chapter we'll go slightly into the mind of the Combine soldier.
Chapter Four: Sinking Feeling.
The Combine soldier rubbed his neck as he searched for his assaliant. He had found no luck in finding superior weaponry to the pistol he had now, and he had very little doubt that his enemy already had an assortment of weapons ready to blast plasma into his chest...to kill him...then he would mutilate him, carve his blasphemous name into his flesh and-
STOP! Think about the hardware. The hardware is your main priority. Hardwarehardwarehardwarehardwarehard-
The Combine soldier slamed himself into the nearest bulkhead. Several times infact. This process gradually took his mind off of his...thoughts. His training constituted of corporal mortification if any disturbing thoughts/dream/fantasies etcetra, etcetra of the sort came snaking into his mind. He was grateful of course, for such things plauged him daily. He wondered vaguely if any of his companions were also troubled by such things. He sighed, gathered himself, and started to run through the corridors again. He busied himself by reloading the PP9 he had with him as fast as he could several times to amuse himself. He had the highest reload time record in the Delta Squad, so such mechanics were hardly any trouble for him to master. The different Squads in the military often used their free time to hold reload, firing, assembly and disassembly of weapons, and target range contests to keep troops amused. He often delighted in taking part in them, hoping to catch the eye of his superiors.
The transmitter on his belt suddenly started to beep wildly. Yanked out of his thoughts, the Combine soldier quickly inspected the device. The device was a small nuclear radiation tracker. It showed that he was within several dozen meters of the target.
And of course I am convienanlty seperated by it in the form of several dozen iron walls.
He checked the direction, noting it as being toward the west. He looked around and opened a nearby hatch. He found himself inside a large cargo area. Most of it was full of water. He checked the radar signatures being transmitted to him via several surveilance sattelites in oribt. A good portion of the ship was underwater. He rechecked the tracking device, and dived underwater. With his advanced combat uniform on, he was an adept at any form of combat and any physical undertaking. He swam through the water faster than any normal human would be able to. He took a glimpse back into his human memories as he swam.
He remembered being the captain of his high school swim team. This was probably a false memory, but he enjoyed it anyway. He remembered outswiming anyone who ever dared to challenge him, his arms became a blur as he sped down the lanes. He smiled again through his mask. A mere shadow of what he was capable of doing now. He came up to a submerged hatch, and opened it into an area that was not yet flooded. He quickly went in and slamed the hatch shut to avoid anymore water coming through.
The soldiers tracking device was beeping furiously now.
I am close.
(Perspective Change)
Jon Loc led Adrian through the submerged corridors of the rapidly sinking ship as fast as his strange legs would take him. Adrian had to smile at the Vortigaunts name. It was based of John Locke, an old philosopher from Europe in the 1700's. Jon was apparently into all the old "Freedoms of speech, life, and happiness" philosophies from the 18th century. He was surprised at how much the aliens had learned when the Combine came to power.
"This way, Shephard." Jon said. He led him through another hatch. As Adrian started to follow, a loud banging erupted from the far end of the hall, back where they had just came. Adrian motioned for the alien to stop, but he was already out of sight. Adrian quickly ran behind several boxes nearby, and waited. The banging grew more and more violent than the next, and after several seconds a portion of the ceilling gave way.
Five Combine soldiers fell into place. One of them wore a completely black combat suit, accompanied by a large green eye at its gas mask. It carried a large sniper rifle, and several grenade canisters on its belt. Adrian also spoted a silenced pistol of unknown type to him. He looked over to the hatch where Jon had gone through, and saw that the alien was waiting for him to come through. Adrian motioned toward the end of the hallway. The alien seemed to understand, but then it turned and continued on its way. Adrian swore to himself, and unholstered the Plasma Rifle he was carrying.
"Team Alpha, fan right. Delta, left. Your main priority is the hardware. I'll handle the marine." the black one said. The four other's turned, made pairs, and ran into different rooms. The black suited soldiers eye piece glowed as it searched the corridor for a moment. It focused on the door Jon had gone through. It was still open. It walked down the corridor, and inspected the door for a moment before steping over the threshold and going through.
Shit, he's gonna find Jon...Adrian thought as he readied himself to go after the black suited Combine. As if on cue, the lights in his corridor flickered, and went out. He heard something that sounded like lighting nearby. After several seconds, another sound similar to the first. A door at the far side of the corridor opened, revealing Jon Loc. The alien gestured for him to come forward. Adrian nodded, and started to run over when a black hand grasped his neck, and held him there.
Shit, stupid stupid!
"Give me the hardware, and maybe your friends death will be quicker than usual." The black suited Combine said.
"This one does not know of such a thing." Jon quickly answered.
Some humming from the black suit. After a moment, he snaped, "Your lying!" He tightened his grip on Adrians neck. Adrian croaked.
"What was that, human!" The black suit said. He loosened his grip a bit.
"F-...fuck you." Adrian snaped.
"I see then." The soldier kneed him in the back. Pain shot up Adrians spinal cord for a moment, but the soldiers death grip did'nt even allow him to scream.
The soldier got on his communication link. "Team Alpha, back to the insertion point...Team Alpha?"
Jon smiled, "Those ones are no more."
The black suited Combine snarled. "Team Delta, back to the insertion point."
"Yes, sir." a voice said.
Jon frowned. At the back end of the corridor a door opened. Adrian's eyes widened. It was the soldier from the medical office.
"YOU!" the soldier bellowed. The black suited Combine looked up at him. Adrian reacted quickly. He quickly steped on the black soldiers foot, causing the soldier to let out a yelp of pain, releasing his hold on Adrian. Adrain turned and kicked the black suit in the stomach. The soldier shruged it off and tackled Adrian, smashing his forehead into a nearby pipe. Blood clouded Adrians vision. He collapsed to the ground moaning in pain. Jon arced his arms back, let out a bolt of green electricity at the black suit. The soldier let out an other worldly scream as everything that was electronic in its suit became red hot. The soldiers head exploded within its mask, and the body fell to the ground, still jerking.
Jon quickly turned to meet the pissed off soldier from the medical office. It raised its arms to let out another bolt of electricity. The soldier skided to a halt and rolled to avoid the bolt. Adrian got up holding his head in his left hand, blood pouring through the spaces between his fingers. Jon ran towards him, and took cover behind the boxes. The Delta team finnaly arrived, and both soldiers let loose with their plasma rifles. The plasma shots tore through the boxes, but none struck Adrian or Jon. Adrian rose and fired two shots with his Desert Eagle. Two bullets sent a soldier sprawling to the deck in a flurry of blood. The second rolled to into cover with the soldier from the medical office. Adrian kept his gun trained on their cover. Sure enough, a soldier rose with his rifle toward them. Adrian quickly fired. The shot tore through the soldiers gas mask, flinging its body backwards.
"We must go, Shephard, water is about to flood this corridor."
Adrian nodded, and both of them ran down the corridor, and through the door they had intended to take in the first place. Several seconds later, water burst into the corridor. Only one more section remained before the entire ship was under water.
(Perspective Change)
Walter Bennett fidgeted to himself in the confines of the small submarine that lay in the secret cargo hanger of The Huey. Being stuck in the thing for at least thirty minutes with an arrogant pilot didn't exactly make one feel very comfortable.
"I told you, I told Cap'n Stuart, I told that hot broad from the medical wing, hell, I told that Vortigaunt who was carrying the nuke that this operation wasn't gonna work in any way!" Otis said, for the fourth time in the last two hours they had been confined to the small vehicle.
Walter sighed, and checked his watch. Not that it accurately told time anymore. His watch read 5:45 AM, when in reality the time was 7:37 AM. He often marveled at how accurately he was able to calculate time without the need of a watch. Of course, 5:45 would have been right ten years ago, but Earth no longer rotated on its axis, thus causing its orbit around the sun to prolong itself by several hours. The average day on Earth, provided no portal storms took place, was about 27 hours now. The early portal storms had been the worst, right after the Black Mesa incident. He never did bother to reset the watch. It served as a reminder of why the world was in its current state. It served as a reminder of his, and the others mission.
"..and of course you all just ignore poor old Otis. And you call him fat behind his back! I kill four marines and countless aliens back at BM' and THIS is the thanks I get?" By now he was just rambling. The only truth he had yelled about were his kills. No one escaped Black Mesa without putting a gun to their hands. Walter himself had taken the lives of two marines, and several vortigaunts.
"...but NOOO, no one ever listens to-"
"Shut up." Walter sighed.
"Yeah, yeah ok." Otis said, putting his hands back to the controls. "Maybe I already asked thiscan't remember off handbut: when are we getting the hell out of here!" he said.
"When Jon gets back with the device." Walter said, casting his gaze back outside. He noticed a signifigant difference in the tilt of the floor when he'd last looked out. "Which I hope is soon..."
"Some piece of info doc, he's DEAD. No one else on the upper decks survived." Otis said as he looked back outside. "C'mon doc, the Combine are gonna come through here at any moment! And besides, this ship is sinking faster than my first date."
"This part of the ship is already under the waves..."Walter said. Judging from the echoes emitting from the wall, he estimated that much of the ship was underneath the Atlantic now. "We'll give it another ten minutes."
"'Aww c'mon doc! Overwatch is gonna be in here-"
"You've already established that." Walter said. "If we leave without that device the European rebellion will never get off its feet!"
"Well we can't help that your damn Vortigaunt friend is probably lying in pool of his own yellow blood. I say we ship off now."
"Ten minutes and that's final!" With that, he changed the setting of his watch to "timer", and set it for ten minutes. It was the first time he had ever changed the settings in ten years.
(Perspective Change)
For a spilt second, the Combine soldier was left to himself in the long corridor. Alone with his infinite rage. He had not only failed at getting the hardware, but he had lost his chance at exacting revenge upon the blasphemous human! How could he have failed so miserably? He had always succeded in pleasing his superiors, always lived up toand exceededexpectations, he was the Delta Squads best to offer. One of the finest soldiers in the Trans-Human army, and he couldn't even retrieve a simple box.
He blamed it solely on him. In a short half hour that human had become the very bane of his existance. How could he have lost? Every confrontation he'd ever had with a human rewarded him with a fresh new kill, and now he had...lost? The feeling was so alien that he could not begin contemplating it. Unacceptable. Defeat was not in his vocabulary. He would get back up on his feet. He would run after those two rebels and he would kill them.
At that very moment, the wall behind him burst like a water mellon, sending gallon after gallon of water spilling into the corridor until the only thing the soldier was doing was swiming for his life.
Authors Note: Hmm...Should I make these chapters longer? If so, please tell me! Also, the reason I had to add all the perspective change things was because any attempts at making a line barrier failed for some reason.
