Salvation: A Half-Life/Mass Effect Universe Fan Fiction
Disclaimer: This fan-fiction takes place after the events of both Half-Life 1 and 2 and its episodes, and jumps to the events after Mass Effect 1 and 2. If you have not played or beaten these games this fiction may not make much sense to you. Characters property of their respective companies, Half-Life created by Valve and Mass Effect created by Bioware.
Chapter 11: Settle Down, Dr. Freeman!
The loud, high pitched, buzz of the microphone made him cringe slightly, sending a chill through his body. "Testing... testing..." He heard one of his colleagues speak over the microphone, clearing his throat, as he adjusted the microphone levels. "Everything seems to be in order..."
"Alright Gordon, your suit should keep you comfortable through all this." He heard his other colleague, Dr. Richardson begin, as he examined the huge machine before him. He'd run multiple simulations, but this was the first time he would be working with the actual AMS. "The specimen should be delivered to you in a few moments. If you would be so good as to climb up and start the rotors; we can bring the Anti-Mass Spectrometer to 80% and hold it there until the carrier arrives."
Gordon moved around awkwardly, still finding it difficult to adjust to this bulky, cumbersome Hazard Suit. He still didn't understand why he had to use this damned robo-suit instead of just wearing a standard lead-lined nitrite rubber hazmat suit, but protocol was protocol. He made his way towards the ladder, welded onto the inner stainless steel wall of the AMS, leading up to a small observation deck.
Slowly pulling himself up onto the deck, he made his way to the AMS rotor control terminal at the end. Spotting the switch to activate the rotors, he flipped it, engaging the spectrometer sequencing program. A large turbine-like rotary engine, suspended high above the primary AMS analysis port, began to turn rapidly, as a loud hum echoed through the room.
"Very good. We'll take it from here." He heard Richardson over the intercom, a tinge of condescendence in his voice. It wasn't to be unexpected, he was fresh out of MIT, new meat for the grinder. Most of his other colleagues were well into their fifties or sixties. It was no mystery why the person he related to best in this facility wasn't another researcher, but rather one of the security personnel. He'd developed a sort of rapport with Barney, being greeted and let off of the Black Mesa transit system, every morning as he made his way to the Anomalous Materials Labs.
"Power to stage one emitters in 3... 2... 1..." He heard Dr. Thompson, his other colleague in the observation booth, speak as he followed the readings on his terminal. Suddenly a bright orange, electrical beam came from the emitter above the AMS, bathing the room in a brilliant orange light as it reflected off the metallic walls. "I'm seeing predictable phase arrays." Thompson continued as Gordon slowly made his way back down the ladder, his work at the rotary terminal being done.
"Stage two emitters, activating... now" Thompson declared as three smaller beams appeared from the emitters above, supplementing the larger one.
The intercom opened again as Gordon reached the bottom of the ladder, turning to face the AMS. "Gordon, we cannot predict how long the system can operate at this level, or how long the readings will take." Richardson urged. "Please... work as quickly as you can." Gordon rolled his eyes. He never thought running the AMS at 105% was a good idea, especially with a sample this potent, and potentially highly unstable. He speculated about the possibility of a resonance cascade, but he put his trust in the tenure and experience of his older colleagues. Besides, the likelihood of a cascade was miniscule at best. An unprecedented energetic event, that was little more than theory. Being a Theoretical Physicist however, made such things difficult to dismiss.
"Overhead capacitors to one oh five percent." Thompson's voice came in, as Gordon looked on. "Uh... it's probably not a problem... probably..." Gordon looked up at the small window of the observation booth, concerned over Thompson's tone of voice and choice of words. "But I'm showing a small discrepancy in... Well... no, it's well within acceptable bounds again. Sustaining sequence." The confidence in Dr. Thompson's voice slowly returned, however not returning for Gordon, as the seed of concern had now been planted.
"I've just been informed that the sample is ready, Gordon. It should be coming up to you, any moment." Gordon looked over, as a platform from the deck below ominously rose out of the ground, presenting him with the Xen Matter sample, he was to insert into the AMS. "Look to the delivery system for your specimen."
He hesitated for a moment, before walking behind the specimen carrier, and preparing to insert it. As he grasped the handles in his hands, a sudden chill ran down his spine, and a single icy bead of sweat down his brow. He could also feel goosebumps form on his arms beneath his hazard suit. He attributed it all, to first time jitters, as he slowly walked forward, carefully easing the carrier into place.
Suddenly, energy began arcing out of the machine violently, as the overhead capacitor beams interacted with the sample. "Oh dear!" He heard Thompson yell as he instinctively backed away from the torrential machine.
"Gordon! Get away from the..." "Shutting down..." Thompson stated, interrupting Richardson's instructions. "Attempting shut down..." He heard Thompson yell out, with deep concern as energetic pulses now shot out violently from the AMS's core. One came inches away from striking Gordon, who was backed away, against the stainless steel wall. "It's not... it's not shutting down!" Thompson shouted in horror. Suddenly a huge surge of energy pulsed straight into the observation booth. His two colleagues screamed in agony as a massive explosion rocked the entire AMS.
Suddenly, the violent maelstrom of light and energy was quelled... all he could see was darkness, and the only sound he could make out was that of his own heavy breathing. Despite the calm, he was terrified... he frantically looked around but saw nothing but darkness in any direction.
"The Free Man..." He heard a voice call his name. "You have returned..." He heard the same voice call out again. It was a voice he knew he had never heard before, but there was something familiar, something he wanted to recognize but couldn't. He continued to breathe heavily in the darkness, he could feel himself running, but as far as he could tell he wasn't moving. "Free Man..." he heard the same voice again. "Come, Free Man." The voice seemed closer now, almost as if echoing inside his own mind. Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him, the kind of feeling one gets when they are being watched. Slowly he turned around. There in the darkness, he saw the outline of a strange alien creature, it had smooth green skin, and multiple red eyes... "The Free Mas has returned..."
He heard the creature speak, causing him to open his eyes wide, and take a huge gasp of air. Suddenly, he was on his back... surrounded by a bright orange light. Feverishly, he tried to stand up, finding this impossible, however. He was enclosed in some sort of strange box... "Where am I?" He thought to himself, panic stricken. Just then, his memories came surging back; The Combine, The Advisors, City 17... everything. He moved his hands around, searching for a way out of this casket, no doubt a device of Combine design, created to be his tomb.
Dr. Chakwas was busy inputting information into her holoterminal codex, when she heard loud pounding coming from inside the Muscle Mass Regeneration Chamber. "That can't be..." She said to herself, astonished, as she stood up and walked towards the MMRC. "He shouldn't be awake for another 18 hours..."
Suddenly the pounding from within grew fiercer, as the MMRC, and the table which it lay upon rocked back and forth feverishly. Determined to get out, and not let this... whatever it was be, be his final resting place, he began pounding furiously against the steel enclosure. He slammed his open palm hands against it, and kicked at it with his feet, doing anything and everything he could to break free.
"Calm down in there!" Dr. Chakwas yelled out, trying to ease the tensions of the man inside, not fully sure if he could hear her. "You'll hurt yourself!" The violent thrashing from within the MMRC continued, and showed no sign of ceasing. Finally she came to the conclusion that she had no choice, but to let him out before he injured himself. As she extended her hand to the control panel, before she could lay a finger on it, unexpectedly the lid flew open rapidly with a loud crashing sound.
Garrus hummed cheerfully to himself, as he worked on some calibrations in the ship's Main Battery Room. Suddenly, he was startled to hear a loud crashing sound, followed by a woman scream. "What the hell...?" He uttered as he turned around in a jerk. "That came from the medical bay..." He said to himself, as he dropped what he was doing, and bolted out of the battery room.
Garrus rushed in the door, finding Dr. Chakwas backing away in his direction, towards the door. He looked up, and saw the man they had recovered, frantically looking around, clearly in a panicked state.
Dr. Chakwas jumped, startled, as she backed up into Garrus. "Oh, Garrus!" She yelled out, as she turned, revealing that it was only him. She side stepped him a bit, putting Garrus between her and the raving Freeman. "He's gone berserk." She told him, as she pointed at Gordon. "He broke out of the MMRC, I tried to calm him down, but he won't listen."
"Heh..." Garrus chuckled snidely. "I'll handle this." He reassured Dr. Chakwas, as he put a hand up, confidently nodding his head.
Gordon looked around, in a panic, trying to make sense of his surroundings. The lack of his glasses, made everything blurry and hard to make out. "What is this place? Where am I? What have they done to me?" His mind ran rampant, still utterly convinced that this was all the work of the Combine. Just then he saw a blue clad figure slowly approach him. It's face was gray, with strange markings and protrusions. Whatever this creature was, he didn't need glasses to discern that it wasn't human.
He took one foot, and took a step back, planting it firmly perpendicular to his opposite one, fortifying his stance, taking the semblance of a coiled cobra ready to strike. Slowly the blue figure continued to approach him.
"Listen buddy..." Garrus told Freeman, as he slowly walked towards him, extending one of his hands. "Just calm down, alright?" Freeman, glaring at him with his cold green eyes, all the while. "Just take it easy..." He said, as he reached out to place a hand on Freeman's shoulder.
Before he was able to lay it down, Gordon quickly swatted at it, taking Garrus' arm in his hands. Before Garrus even had a chance to react, Gordon torqued it back, causing Garrus to grunt in pain. The pained expression on Garrus' face was quickly replaced with one of anger, as he glared at Freeman angrily.
Garrus clenched his unrestrained fist, and quickly brought it forth, taking a swing at Gordon. If he wasn't going to calm down, he was going to be put down. Unexpectedly, Gordon foresaw the swing coming, ducking underneath, causing Garrus to hit nothing but the air. Gordon stood back up, Garrus' arm still clenched in his hands. Before Garrus was able to regain his composure, and line himself up for another shot, Gordon torqued his arm even further, this time locking it firmly behind his back. "Ahh!" Garrus shouted in pain, as Gordon firmly held his arm in place, contorting it in a way that it shouldn't. Taking the back of Garrus' collar in his free hand, Gordon proceeded to forcibly slam Garrus' face down onto Dr. Chakwas' table, catching the Turian completely by surprise.
"Uhh..." Garrus groaned in a daze as Gordon lifted him back up, only to slam his face back down a second time, with a loud thud. Dr. Chakwas' entire table rattled violently as Garrus' face bounced off it. Freeman released him, allowing him to drop to the floor, as he clenched his face writhing in pain, grumbling something profane beneath his hands.
Just then, Gordon spotted the outline of his black rimmed glasses on the table. Still panic stricken, he quickly grabbed them, put them on, and ran out of the Medical Bay, past Dr. Chakwas; who stood cowering in a corner, terrified after seeing Garrus get manhandled.
"EDI!" She yelled out, rushing over to tend to Garrus, immediately after Gordon left the room. EDI's blue spherical body emerged from the Medical Bay terminal as Dr. Chakwas tried to pry Garrus' hands off his own face so she could examine it. "Put the crew on alert!"
The Normandy's internal airlock door slid open, revealing Tali, Grunt, and Shepard crammed inside. Slowly Shepard made his way back into the ship, still clenching at his ribcage, followed by Tali and Grunt; who was already removing his helmet.
"Commander!" Joker said in an outburst, relieved to see them intact. "Are you guys alright?"
"We're fine Joker." Shepard replied, as he released the locking clamps on his helmet, causing it to hiss as he pulled it off his head. "A bit close for comfort, but otherwise alright." He hunched over once again, as he grunted slightly, clearly favoring his abdomen.
"Dr. Chakwas should have a look at you, let's get you down to the Med Bay." Tali told Shepard as she placed one hand on his back. "Nah, I'm fine." Shepard responded, giving Tali a smile to ease her mind. "Besides, I gotta contact the Illusive Man, and let him know what happened."
"John, that can wait... You need to..." Suddenly, the Normandy's alarm system went off, interrupting Tali, as red lights flashed on board. Joker gulped, as the alarms brought the horrific memory of the Collector's attack on the Normandy flooding back.
"Commander." EDI's voice came in, addressing Shepard. "You are needed on the Crew Deck." She declared.
A look of exasperation came over his face, as he let out a long drawn-out sigh. "Now what..."
Red lights flashed, as the alarm's wail echoed through the ship. Gordon made his way into the Normandy's Mess Hall, frantically searching the area, looking for some sort of indication of where he was, or how to get out. The gleaming metallic walls of the Normandy were reminiscent of those he had seen inside the Combine Citadel.
"Settle down, Dr. Freeman!" He heard a man's voice, as somebody unexpectedly came up from behind him, clasping their arms around him, restraining his arms down.
"Shit!" He thought to himself, as he struggled to break free. "I can't let them take me again!" He pushed hard, with every bit of strength he had, backwards, causing his captor to get slammed against a nearby wall. The force was successful in causing him to loosen his grip, but not release it. Gordon, still clutched tightly, pulled a short distance forward, before reversing direction and plowing the crewman into the wall once again.
"Ugh!" The crewman grunted with a cough, as he let Gordon go, having had the wind knocked out of him. Gordon quickly spun around, and leveled the unsuspecting crewman with a solid right hook, before he could get his bearings back.
"Ow...!" Gordon cringed, shaking his right hand, as a sudden sharp pain shot through his knuckles. Despite everything he'd been through, the concept of punching was still fairly new to him.
But it was obvious to him now, he was going to have to fight his way out of this place. He looked down at the coughing crewman, and spotted what appeared to be a pistol sheathed on his belt. He bent down and pulled the sidearm out of its holster. From a compact position, it unexpectedly opened up in his hands, expanding to take the shape of a full sized handgun. This certainly was a strange looking pistol, like none he'd ever seen before. Then again the Combine weren't exactly known for their conventional weaponry. He found a trigger, a barrel, and a safety, that's all he needed.
"Put the weapon down!" He heard a woman's voice exclaim, as he removed the safety mechanism from the pistol. He looked up to see what appeared to be some sort of woman. Her skin was as blue as the ocean, and she had some sort of strange ruffling on her head. She had a pistol locked onto him, as he returned the favor.
"Drop it!" He heard another voice yell out. This time, it belonged to some sort of green amphibian looking creature, that walked upright like a man. It rushed into the room, an assault rifle drawn and locked onto Freeman as well.
"What in the world...?" He thought to himself, as he looked on at these strange beings before him. Before he knew it, he was faced off against a number of aggressors. Most of which human, others... well he couldn't say. "They don't look like Combine..." he thought to himself. "But what the hell are they?"
He kept his weapon drawn, aiming back and forth between all of his would-be assailants, as each of them kept their weapons locked solely on him, each ordering him to relinquish his weapon. He breathed heavily as he looked at the semi-circle of foes formed around him. "Why haven't they attacked me yet..." He asked himself. But given the look of the company he was in, he wasn't about to drop his weapon.
His eyes narrowed, and he focused on controlling his breathing. If it was going to come down to a fight, then so be it. It wouldn't be the first time he faced insurmountable odds. He furrowed his brow, as he steadied his aim and slowly began to squeeze on the trigger.
Suddenly, before he could fire, he felt something firm, and cold jab into the back of his head. He could tell, almost immediately, that the object pressed against his head, was the barrel of a gun.
"I know this must all seem very shocking, Dr. Freeman." Commander Shepard began, holding a pistol firmly to the back of Gordon's head. "But I'm going to have to ask you to please drop your weapon. You have my word that no one here is going to hurt you."
"Damn..." Gordon thought to himself, as he clenched his lips, knowing he had lost. The only thing he could do now was comply, and hope that this man, whoever he was, would make good on his promise. Gordon sighed and reluctantly dropped his weapon. The strange, green, fishman then walked over to him, and bent over to pickup his relinquished pistol. Seeing this, the rest of the men, women, and... creatures before him gently lowered their weapons as well, giving Gordon an ounce of relief.
"Speak for yourself, Shepard!" He heard someone yell out angrily, as he felt the pistol barrel slowly lift away from the back of his head. That's when he saw the blue armor clad alien, come barging out of the room he was just in, a large knot now present on his forehead.
"Garrus, you will stand down!" He heard the man behind him order, with a commanding voice.
"Just give me five minutes alone with him Shepard, that's all I want." Garrus said, as he rapidly approached Freeman, cracking his knuckles. Gordon looked on, as Garrus came right up to him, sticking a finger in his face. "You may have caught me off guard, the first time you little..."
"Garrus, I said stand down! That's an order!" Shepard barked once again, this time with significantly more indignation in his voice.
Garrus stopped, and glared hard at Freeman. Freeman just stood there, looking back at him, not sure what to make of everything that was going on. This wasn't the resistance, but it didn't have the make of the the Combine either. He couldn't figure out who these people were.
Garrus stormed off, passed Freeman, stopping to address Shepard. "You just make sure, you keep him the hell away from me..." Garrus demanded in a stern voice, before walking off in a huff back into the Main Battery Room.
Shepard sighed and shook his head, as the other members of his crew began to disperse, and return to their posts. Gordon slowly turned around, turning to face a man dressed in dark gray armor, sporting a small insignia that read "N7." A confounded look still predominant on his face.
"Dr. Freeman... It's a real honor to meet you." Shepard said, extending a hand out to be shaken. "I am Commander John Shepard, and I suppose I have some explaining to do."