(I don't own Half-Life or any of its expansion packs)

Chapter 3: Operation: Black-Mesa

XXX

"Hey Cooper, you alright?"

"Where am I?"

"The mess hall man, you OK you look pale?"

"Sorry, thought I was somewhere else"

"OK, as I was saying, that lad Adrian Shephard apparently topped his group in advanced training yesterday. He even bet Brian. He got 3:27! I topped my group with 6:15 ! that kid is something else. All the superiors are taking big interest in him. I heard his aggression is his downfall on the field. Barnes is always on his case about keeping his cool in the field-

While Hicks was sitting there sucking the ass off Adrian Shephard, his voice became murmured and eventually faded away.

"I coulda' sworn I was some place else but where?"

Suddenly, images flashed in my head that I was lying on my back in the Osprey, Kennan and Psycho looked like they were lifting me out of it.

"Why can't I move my limbs?"

Kennan was speaking to me but I couldn't make out what he was saying. Jesus I hope my limbs aren't severed! What the fuck's wrong with me?

"Help!"

It feels like I have a bad case of shellshock but worse. Then a man I have never seen before shined a light in my eyes. He was definitely a HECU medic but I have never seen him before. Charlie Team have no medic since Jones had a breakdown after advanced training. I was lying on my back staring right up at the ceiling. I decided to look at my surroundings: I was in the middle of a lab that looks like a mortar hit. The walls were wiped clean of paint and dry blood covered all the posters. To my left was a steel door with a control panel, a table toppled beside the window and empty bullet casings scattered all over the floor. When I looked to my right-

"Oh, Jesus no!"

Jay was lying right beside me but his jaw was completely eviscerated. A rush of sadness overwhelmed me and I felt like crying my eyes out. Beside me lay my first friend in the HECU, who thought me how to use a sniper rifle, who I went to Dan's bar with on a second Saturday. He didn't deserve such a horrible death.

"He's not smiling anymore" I felt myself say out loud.

"Your finally with us again" said a tall, broad man with sweat smudged into his face camo. He looks battle fatigued.

" My name is Flynn Hogan, I'm with Echo Team- well I'm the last of Echo Team."

"What happened to Jay!" I felt myself ask with a tone of anger in my voice.

"He, ugh helped myself, Psycho and Kennan to get you and your Captain out of the Osprey and to a safe place until vorts appeared out of nowhere and attacked us. He died saving all of us. He was a honourable soldier, I feel honoured knowing him even for the short period of time that I did."

"Ok, two things: Where the fuck am I? What the fuck is a vort?

"Your deep down in the Black Mesa Labs, your Osprey crashed through 4 levels of labs and ended up here. Were actually in the abandoned section of Black-Mesa. It's a miracle that it didn't burst into flames and blow up. Secondly, a vort is one of the alien bastards were fighting against, it has a gigantic red eye, a third arm in its chest, and in green shackles. It fires bolts of green electricity that somehow they can generate themselves."

"Ok, where's the rest of my team?"

"Hicks went off to join up with Bravo Team, there heading towards Sector C to find Freeman, Greene is unconscious, Kennan and Psycho are gone to find Breen in the Administration building on the surface."

"Who's Freeman?"

"OK, sit down buddy, ill fill you in on everything"

After the rough journey on the tram, I decided to get off at Sector D Administration. I slowly opened a door leading to a long corridor and it was pitch black. I turned on my night vision and slowly progressed down the corridor. I ended up at what looked like a T junction, I decided to go right and there was a door located to my left. I opened the door and the first thing I saw was 2 security guards by the door and one of them kicked the door back in my face and it closed.

"Open up, I'm here to help" I yelled, being sincere.

"No chance buddy, we know your orders so step off or we will open fire"

I cursed to myself, I'm not letting two fat security guards tell me what to do so I ran through my options in my head: pepper the door with bullets, roll a grenade in or breach bang and clear.

"Breach bang and clear" I decided.

I kicked the door down and just before the guards could let a shot off I threw a flashbang in and let it blind them before I went in and finish them. I advanced in and one of the guards was clutching his face in his hands so I fired a burst of 3 bullets into him, then spun around to the other who desperately fired his weapon in any direction hoping to hit me. The lucky sucker hit my shoulder with one, so I decided to just shoot him once in the head. And so I did. I surveyed the room, nothing special so I left.

I walked further into the complex until I walked into a storage facility that was deafening silent. My instincts told me something was horrible wrong and my instincts never let me down so I decided to trust them so I dropped to one knee and wait until I knew it was clear until I started to move again. There was too many boxes in my path so Ill have to take it slowly. Just then, as I was about to move something staggered into my view from behind one of the boxes. It was a small little crab creature

"Aww, look at that thing!"

I slung my rifle around my shoulder and moved closer to it,

" Get away from it, it will kill you!" a voice said echoing behind me so I shot the crab.

I turned around with my m4 raised and a scientist walked out with his hands in the air.

"Please don't shoot"

"Give me one good reason"

"I-I see your wearing a PCV, I can fit you into something much more combat worthy"

"Bullshit!"

"I think I should know, I created the PCV, just lower your emm..weapon and follow me and ill show you my lab"

"fine, Bravo Team can wait" I muttered

Corridor after corridor, we finally arrived at the scientists office – well lab.

"My name is Ralph Hendrix, I was the original designer of the HEV suits – "

"HEV?"

"Hazardous Environment Suit, It's designed to protect the user from radiation, energy discharges, and blunt trauma during the handling of hazardous materials, it can also protect the user from combat, well to a certain extent. I created the HEV Mark I, It was, by calculation perfect, it had a radio, tracking device, HUD, morphine administrator, but sadly, it was too heavy to move freely in. I then built the HEV mark II which was perfect, but the administrator thought it was too "marine like" so he removed me from the production of the HEV suit and replaced me with Gina Cross, she merely just copied my work to create the mark III,IV,V. Anyway, I have a Mark II here if you want to try it out."

"Fine"

After Hogan filled me in about the monsters, and Freeman, we decided to join up with Bravo Team who are currently on the hunt for him. We had to rendezvous at the silo where were going to stop a rocket launch the civvies are planning. We decided to get the tram to Sector A where there is a train heading straight to the rocket silo.

"Check your ammo" I told Flynn

" 2 mags left in this glock"

" I have a deagle you can use if things get hairy"

"Thanks Cooper"

"You know what? I think I'm going to buy a big mansion after this"

"Ha! Me too"

As we reached the training complex, we soon realized that the whole place was run by aliens…

I told Flynn to take point while I watched our rear, as we entered the live fire training exercise room, the whole room started to beam in multiple hostiles, Flynn and I battled for a good twenty minutes with the creatures while sustaining damage, we finally made our way to the train…

"What the fuck is that !?! " screamed Flynn

I looked to see what he was talking about and a gigantic blue monster stepped out onto the track and picked up the train and threw it through the wall next to us. I got up and checked my HUD : Health: 74%, PCV:51%. I started to shoot frantically at the monster as it approached me and Flynn but it was no use, the bullets were simply bouncing off it. I looked at Flynn and he knew exactly what to do:

"Run!"

We made our way through multiple tracks and finally lost the creature. We found ourselves at a military checkpoint. I walked over to one of the soldiers, he was a tall, skinny man with a thick mustache and had a cigar lighting in his mouth, his helmet indicated he was a Major. Just before I could open my mouth he said :

"Stand at attention soldier! My name is Major Coolidge, I'm with Echo Team, Ourselves and Bravo Team are trying to take Freeman out. Bravo team are waiting in the missile silo. Freeman's trying to launch that rocket, were not going to let him. He's on a one person train, he's going to be coming through here, were going to ambush him, you up for it"?

"Hell Yeah" I said without hesitation

Just then the radio the Major was beside crackled to life: "Echoteam, inposition?"

I placed myself behind a crate with Flynn while the other marines hid behind various crates and bunkers. I could hear his train coming up the tracks then hear the breaks jam to a halt. I heard the Major on the radio, possibly onto Bravo Team. Then came Gordon Freeman. He got off his train and picked up some ammo, he was in an orange suit, a bandage soaked with blood on his right arm, an m4 slung around his shoulder, he also had a glock holstered and he was carrying a crowbar..

"A fucking crowbar?" I whispered to Flynn

"I cant wait any longer, lets drop this motherfucker!"

"NO! wait for the signal!

But it was too late, Flynn left his position and completely exposed himself to Freeman.

"Hey Freeman, it's just me and you, lets do this the old fashioned way eh?"

Freeman glanced at his surroundings, presumably looking for an ambush but there were no indications of one. Freeman put his m4 resting against some sandbags and a 30 cal. The switch to the barriers was on the wall next to him and facing him was a bunker with two soldiers on a turret, but Freeman didn't notice. Freeman shot Flynn with a cheeky smile while he raised his crowbar and charged for him. Flynn dived to his right, took out him combat knife, and tripped Freeman. Freeman's crowbar slid across the ground near where I was standing. Freeman scrambled across the ground reaching for his crowbar but before he could grab it, Flynn dived onto Freeman repeatedly punching him in the face. Freeman grabbed his arms and hit him a hard headbutt which shattered his nose. Flynn fell backwards and that's when I heard Major Coolidge scream "Open Fire " Freeman dived behind the sandbags and grabbed him m4. Flynn charged towards him but it was too late. Freeman had opened fire and hit Flynn multiple times in the chest. Flynn stumbled back and fell. "NO!"

I left my cover and ran to Flynn, there was blood all over his chest and he was coughing up blood.

"What will I do buddy, you're the medic you tell me!"

"I used my supplies keeping you alive so do me a favour and stay alive" managed Flynn with a weak smile

"Thank you Flynn, for everything"

"Do me one favour, Cooper"

"What?" I demanded

"Get that son of a bitch"

Flynn coughed one more time then he stopped breathing. While I was talking to Flynn, Freeman used the 30 cal and killed off Echo Team. I got up and walked over to the radio :

"Command this is Charlie Team requesting an Osprey to take me to the rocket silo to rendezvous with Bravo Team over, Freeman has killed off Echo Team and is headed towards the silo over"

"Uhh, Affirmative Charlie Team, ETA 7 minutes out"

I looked up and cocked my m4,

"Freeman better watch his back, because I'm on his tail"

(Hey guys, Happy Christmas :), this chapter took a bit but its done :) its tied in with Macharius's "Survival Instinct" which is a fantastic fanfic (READ IT !) :) anyway tell me what you think about the confrontation with Freeman, Thanks !)