The G-man just stood there meeting Gordon's gaze with an unfaltering cold stare. Silence had fallen, even the Advisors seemed to be bowing to this man now. And then he slowly raised his hands, all the while looking straight at Gordon, and started clapping. A slow, almost mocking clap echoed off the walls. The G-man's face remained expressionless.
"The right man at the wrong place has made all the difference." he said in his slow monotone. "Even though we, err- parted ways for a while I made sure everything was..." -he peeked around Gordon at Alyx- "...taken care of."
"You bastard!" Alyx screamed and struggled against her bonds. "You sent those Advisors to white forest! You assassinated my father!"
The G-man was as expressionless as ever.
"His time was spent, my employers had no further use for him. And no I didn't send them anywhere, I just simply didn't stop them."
"Your employers?" spat Alyx. "Do you work for the Combine then?"
"Oh please, the combine have tried -and failed - to capture or control us for some time. But you took care of that little problem when you closed the superportal, their last remaining hope of maintaining control."
He straightened his tie, then continued.
"Now they have to rally to the new source of control -me- in order to avoid execution -by you."
The corners of his lips twitched, as if he attempted a smile.
"Everything goes as planned."
"You made sure of it all, from the resonance cascade at Black Mesa to the destruction of city 17. You were there from the beginning, making sure the world spiraled down to your own ends." Alyx whispered. "I'll kill you."
"I assure you the feeling is mutual. However, your… friends have unfortunately bound your life to that of my champion: Doctor Freeman." said the G-man.
There was a few moments of stunned silence.
"You will remember that day atop the citadel when I was offered some extraordinary offers for your... services." the G-man continued. "I told you I will not offer you the illusion of free choice. And even though you escaped my grasp for a little while you were never very far from my plan."
This time he really did smile.
"The one Free Man was never really free at all, my influence controlled your every step."
"But you cannot touch him directly." interrupted Chell. "My father made sure of that."
"Well well, it looks like miss Rattman found her voice. And yes, it is true that I cannot directly control or harm Doctor Freeman, but that makes no matter. My secondary influences are more than enough to control him."
"We will free the Freeman again, like we did before when we saved him on that fateful day atop the Citadel." said one of the Vortigaunts.
The G-man's face twisted in anger.
"You failed. I retook control the moment you were distracted long enough with the injured miss Vance." He said in a menacing tone.
"And in doing so we saved her life and placed her beyond your control as well."
"Irrelevant! With the power of project Aurora I will open a gate to bring forth the full force of my employers' armada!"
He was actually yelling now.
"And the first ones to fall will be you."
The vortigaunt stared at the G-man for some time, one red eye meeting his icy grey-blue. And then he threw his own curse right back at him.
"Prepare for unforeseen consequences."
A sudden loud noise deafened Gordon. Purple and blue light exploded into existence right in front of them and Gordon felt his bonds crumble and vaporize. When he reopened his eyes his gasped in surprise. Doctor Mossman and a Vortigaunt that had the unmistakable glow of antlion essence had appeared in front of them, as if from thin air.
The G-man's lip curled.
"You..."
"Yes, me. The first and the last Vortal resistance." the Vortigaunt replied.
The G-man snarled and raised his hands. "This time I won't let you live."
The Vortigaunt assumed a battle stance. "Likewise."
A psionic blast channeled forth from the G-man, tearing up floorboards as it channeled towards the Vortigaunt.
But the Vort was ready for him. Three beams of green- purple and blue lightning met the G-man's attack half way and a catastrophic blast ensued, knocking Gordon off his feet for what felt like the tenth time today.
Doctor Mossman had him on his feet in seconds.
"Here Gordon, we have got to protect the all knowing vort from the rest of the forces while he takes care of our mutual fiend!" she shouted and shoved a pulse rifle into his hands.
Sure enough, Advisors were already closing in on the otherwise-occupied vortigaunt. Gordon fired away. An advisor fell to the floor and attempted to crawl away, but Alyx reached it before it got far.
"This! Is! For! My! Dad!" she said and pulled the trigger of a large handgun with every word.
Gunfire drew Gordon's attention to Barney and Chell. Barney was protecting her with his body while trading fire with an Overwatch Elite.
"Don't worry Chell I got th.."
A shot hit him squarely in the chest, stopping him in mid sentence.
His gun fell from his hands and his eyes rolled back in his sockets before he slowly slumped down in a heap on the floor. Time seemed to stop for Gordon. Chell's face showed everything that he felt. Pure hopelessness reflected in her eyes as she stared at the limp form of Barney in front of her.
Then her expression turned to stone. She grabbed Barney's gun and turned on the Combine Elite.
"You killed him you son of a bitch! And now I'm gonna kill you!" she screamed deliriously and opened fire.
For a moment the Elite faltered, seemingly taken aback by her sudden display of ferocity. But that was all she needed. Chell's unrelenting fire tore the Elite asunder, and she did not let up until he resembled a sieve.
"Die asshole!" she screamed as her last bullet pierced his helmet.
"Remind.. me.. never to piss you off." a voice grunted at her feet. Chell's face lit up.
"Barney! You're… I mean.. I thought you were..." she fumbled for words.
"Body armor. Still hurts like shit though, but I guess I'm lucky to b.."
Chell silenced him with a kiss before he could say anything else. Gordon couldn't help but smile. Amidst all this battle and impending doom Barney managed to not strike out, for once.
The thought only lasted a moment though, he just managed to redirect an Advisor's attack away from the all knowing vortigaunt in time for Alyx to shoot it down.
"This isn't working Gordon!" she yelled. "The only way we will win is if we blow the Borealis! We have to find that bomb. I will go, you stay here and fight."
Gordon wanted to stop her from going alone, but was momentarily distracted by gunfire in his direction. When he looked back, Alyx had already gone.
Chell and Barney joined him in forming a defensive line behind the all knowing vort, who was now battling the G-man in earnest. The G-man shattered windows high above and directed the torrent of broken glass towards the Vort, but he simply put up a shield that turned the glass to fine sand which he blew back at the G-man in a giant cloud, blinding him. Then in the moment it took him to recover, the vort shot a ball of green lightning at him. The G-man swatted it away the instant it reached him, and the duel continued.
Gordon and the rest of the resistance weren't having it easy either, they traded gunfire from behind cover but more and more soldiers were arriving by dropship. Father Grigori fired both of his barrels into a charging hunter and it stumbled and fell.
"Nice one Grigori!" yelled Barney.
"Thank you Barnicle, you're not too bad yourself." Father Grigori started laughing, but a stray round struck the side of his head and he fell to the floor, never to move again.
"There is no time, just keep fighting!" Judith yelled.
"Bastards!" yelled Barney and resumed fighting.
A soldier charged Gordon with a shotgun. Gordon took aim but when he pulled the trigger his rifle only made a click. Empty. With no firearms remaining, he did the only thing he could. He tackled the soldier the moment he came close to their cover.
The shotgun went off but Gordon was out of its way. He wrestled with the soldier on the ground, fighting to keep the shotgun out of his face, but combine soldiers were no longer human and possessed great strength. Gordon hammered an elbow into his jaw in an effort to stun him, but to no avail.
"Here Gordon, its my last one!" yelled Barney and tossed him a crowbar.
Gordon caught it with one hand while keeping the gun down with his other, and then hammered the crowbar into the soldier's skull, silencing him for good.
"ENOUGH!" the G-man boomed behind them, and a force similar to that of an Advisor pulled them into the air and bound them there.
Gordon saw that the all knowing vortigaunt was now kneeling in a pool of greenish blood in front of the G-Man.
"Enough bickering. You're too late." The veil in the Nihilanth's gate twitched ever so slightly.
"It is never too late." wheezed the vort.
Gordon's earpiece buzzed to life again. "The bomb is armed, we have about forty-five seconds before this place goes boom." said Alyx.
"And how do you intend to stop me? I have beaten you." the G-man addressed the vort.
The Vortigaunt suddenly stretched forward and grabbed hold of the G-man's leg.
"Embrace eternity."
Tendrils of green electricity shot across the G-man's body and formed a net of glowing energy. The force binding Freeman instantly dropped him to the floor.
"I have bound his power, do it now Freeman!" yelled the vortigaunt.
Gordon did not wait. He charged the G-man, crowbar in hand.
"I.. made... you!" the G-man squirmed.
Gordon's crowbar connected with his face, and the curved end sank into his skull.
"Double tap!" yelled Barney as he connected a flying kick with both feet to the G-man's chest, sending him flying back through the veil. Gordon immediately felt his vocal chords release.
"And I have unmade you." he whispered as the G-man went flying through the veil.
They didn't have time to admire the scene though, Alyx appeared in the doorway behind them.
"Run! This place is gonna blow any second now!" she yelled.
Gordon and the rest of the survivors made a beeline for the breach and plowed into the heavy snowfall outside.
"Move it! To cover!" said Alyx through ragged breaths and pointed to the wreck of a dropship impaled in the ice.
"I guess they don't handle the cold so well." said Barney.
The survivors stumbled through the snow and collapsed in a heap behind the cover of the dropship. The bomb went of in a blast of heat. Ice instantly vaporized beneath the power of the fusion charge and a wave of steam enveloped the survivors. But when it dissipated five survivors remained. A crater had been melted in the ice where the explosion occurred, and the little that remained of the Borealis sank into the arctic through the ice.
Gordon stared at the spot where the Borealis disappeared for some time thereafter. Alyx silently slid her hand into his. He looked at her and smiled, then touched his hand to his earpiece.
"Gordon Freeman to white forest, it is over. This is D-day."
Alyx's jaw dropped.
"Your voice..." she whispered.
"Yeah, I guess we should call this G-day then, eh Gordon?" said Barney with a wink.