-=Chapter Ten: Intelligence=-

9:14 AM, Arctic location near Combine Outpost

The helicopter had taken the group of rebels all the way to a Combine outpost hidden in a valley, surrounded from two sides by a large mound of snow. It had landed silently at the foot of the south-western mound, where the occupants had jumped out carrying a large collection of weapons. Gordon had taken the lead, holding his shotgun confidently.

The plan was simple: Do some heavy damage from a distance, rush in, kill the survivors, steal whatever possible and try to set up a small base with what was left.

Gordon looked over his shoulder at the eight or so men holding RPG-25's. A laser-guided variant of the widely-used RPG-7, the Combine had inadvertently done the Resistance a favour when it redesigned these weapons, simply because they could be stolen from any old soldier with one.

"You need a cigar, Gordon." Barney chuckled to himself.

"Sorry?" Gordon looked back at Barney in confusion.

"A cigar." Barney repeated.

Gordon snorted. "Hell no, I don't smoke."

"No, I know..." Barney admitted, "but you'd look pretty badass with one."

Gordon was silent for a moment, before he burst out laughing. "You are nuts, you know that?"

"I think the correct term is awesome, Gordon."

Gordon looked at his watch, shaking his head with a broad grin on his face. He had recently corrected the time on it, because before it had been about twenty years slow.

9:15

Gordon gave a brief wave of his hand, motioning for the rocket boys to move in. They did, scrambling around the corner, crouching quickly before opening fire on the base.

The base itself wasn't very big. About the size of White Forest Inn, Gordon thought. So when eight laser-riding rocket propelled grenades slammed into various points of the outpost, bodies flying through the light of the Arctic morning, the Combine soldiers stationed there wet themselves.

"Go go go!" Gordon yelled, crouching low, shotgun cocked. He heard Barney and everyone else running behind him, his feet crunching on the snow.

Gordon took a brief glance up at the top of the mound to his left, smiling as he saw two small pipe-like objects sticking over the top.

Snipers.

Two of them, specially selected for the job. White Forest had about six Overwatch rifles in their possession, plus an Arctic Warfare Magnum rifle Alyx had brought along. The rebels had taken two of the Combine ones, and now the time to use them had come.

Gordon could hear the resounding cracks from both their rifles and the bullets breaking the sound barrier. Combine soldiers began falling, most deciding to take cover in the now-pitiful excuses for buildings, some of which had been so messed up that a homeless man would turn his nose up at them.

Nothing had caught fire — the wind had taken care of that — but most things had lost a wall, or part of one anyway. Large holes in walls coupled with the remains of mediocre quality bricks belched out smoke, the front of the outpost already hit for six.

Obviously a large amount of men had been eradicated in the sudden rocket attack and the snipers up on the mound had picked off anyone not quick enough to take cover. Now there was no one to be seen, probably because they were all taking cover. Smart move.

The group was about ten metres from the closest buildings now. Gordon's feet crushed the snow beside an armless soldier, his body scorched from what Gordon assumed, judging by the missing limb, a direct hit.

Suddenly, a soldier stuck a pulse rifle out from behind what was probably a doorway and opened fire. Gordon spotted it instantly and he dropped to the ground, getting off a shot before scrambling out of the way.

The building he was taking cover behind — even though 'behind' was actually the front from the rebels point of view — had a large hole in the wall at chest height, the bricks still smouldering. Gordon cocked his gun, poking his head inside to see in and spotted two soldiers waiting for him.

He wrenched his head back as three bullets cracked the air in front of him, whizzing off into the distance. Gordon exhaled loudly, rubbing his forehead with his arm.

He noticed Alyx crouching nearby, holding her machine pistol close to her body. He kept an eye on her as he pulled a grenade from his webbing, pulled the pin and tossed it inside, crouching down as he heard the soldiers inside yelling various curses and frantic yells to get the hell out before the explosion silenced them. A few chunks of burnt debris flew out over Gordon's head, landing neatly on the snowy ground a few metres away.

Gordon moved over to Alyx, who heard him coming. She turned — half expecting it to be a Combine soldier — and smiled when she recognised him. "Hey, what's up?"

"Not much," Gordon admitted, nodding at the hole in the wall. "Care to join me?"

Alyx's smile widened, looking back around the corner of the wall. "Hold on," she fired a short burst, followed by a sharp flatline. "Yep, let's do this."

Gordon nodded, turned around and stood up, pointing his shotgun inside. A fleeing soldier got the left side of his mask — and his face — blown off by the wave of shot.

Gordon pulled himself in, ducking down as he hit the concrete floor. He'd been expecting floorboards or something of that sort, but he rethought that and decided it wouldn't be very logical.

Alyx followed, landing with infinitely more grace, holding her gun out in front of her. Gordon moved, ducking low, through to the other side of the building. It looked like some sort of kitchen on the other side.

He stopped, sliding behind the bench, his boots scraping on the concrete. Alyx followed suit, apart from the whole sliding bit.

Gordon nodded at her, pumping his shotty, before the two simultaneously rose and opened fire on whatever poor soul was standing there.

It turned out to be two poor souls, one in the doorway — whose back turned into a crimson tossed salad — and the other beside him, MP7 pointed out a shattered window, who got a burst of small calibre bullets in the neck.

Gordon jumped over the bench — Alyx staying a little back — and he quickly scooped up the soldier's MP7 with his free hand, switching his shotgun to his left, and fired full auto one handed into the building opposite him.

One soldier noticed him but instead looked past him and fired a single pulse round at Alyx, holding the gun close to its body so as to absorb recoil.

Gordon realised what the soldier was doing and quickly put an arm across Alyx's chest, pulling her right shoulder backwards so that she stumbled out of the way, watching Gordon take the round in the chest. He growled, wincing, as he pointed his shotgun single-handedly at the offender and blew his head off.

Alyx didn't have time to admire the move, only to give a brief 'thanks' before assisting with the soldiers holed up in the other building.

Suddenly, Barney came crashing through the middle of the two buildings, backed by three rebels, his pulse rifle blazing. The remaining soldiers in the building were riddled with rounds, dancing like ragdolls as their life drained away.

Gordon nodded at Barney as he headed toward the shattered windows on the opposite building, jumping through one like some sort of ninja burglar, holding his shotgun.

A soldier fired at him, but not before Gordon did... and realised he'd forgotten to pump the action. A few bullets went into his shoulder, Gordon yelping in pain as he dived to the floor, noticing Barney and some rebels rush in and take care of the bastard.

Gordon lay on the floor, breathing deeply. "Is that... all of them?" he asked, rubbing his forehead.

"Yeah, I think so." Barney grinned widely. "How's your arm? I saw you get hit."

Gordon exhaled loudly, scratching his nose and adjusting his glasses. "I'm OK."

Barney chuckled. "Good thing you got that suit, huh?"

"Don't I know it," Gordon winked, watching as Alyx came in through the door. "Hey," she looked him in the eye, smiling even brighter than Barney. "Thanks for the save back there."

Gordon smiled, "No worries."

Gunfire interrupted them from somewhere past them, coming from their right. "OK," Barney exclaimed, hoisting his pulse rifle, "Looks like we still got some..."

A loud gunshot echoed out through the valley, almost blocking out the sound of a soldier hitting the ground with a lifeless whump.

Barney shrugged, lowering his gun casually. "Or we could wait for the snipers."

Suddenly, another gunshot. This time, there was no conjugation between the gunshot and a soldier falling. Barney looked out the door, over at the ledge. "Aw, crap," he breathed, ducking back inside.

"What's happening?" Gordon demanded anxiously.

"The snipers've been attacked," Barney growled as another shot reverberated through the valley. "The second one's givin' 'em hell, but his friend's dead. Down on the ground."

A fourth shot. By now everyone was looking at the snipers.

Gordon smiled, his brain coming up with something to do. Alyx noticed his devious grin appearing and she raised her eyebrows. "What are you thinking?" she asked slowly, watching him detach something from his back. "You can't be serious." She muttered as he pulled it off.

"Oh, but I am."

—

Jabbing the butt of his rifle at the Combine soldier, the second sniper looked down at his dead comrade, teeth gritted.

"You little piece of..." he growled, slamming the stock into the officer's hip. The soldier was unarmed, but was trying to lunge at...

Something whizzed past his head, almost like a military glow-stick. The sniper almost stopped, but instead he backed away slowly, watching the officer follow...

Another something whizzed past, but this time it was met by an obstacle known as Combine right temple and brain.

Grey liquid began squirting out of the wound, the soldier falling to the ground, its brain dead before its heart was.

The sniper looked down at the now faintly smoking outpost, before raising his gun and looking down the scope.

On the other end, Gordon smiled and gave a casual wave at the soldier.

The soldier waved back, beaming a big 'THANK YOU!' to Gordon.

Gordon lowered the crossbow, looking at it with a sigh.

"I don't think I remember you getting this," Alyx admitted with a chuckle. "What's the story?"

Gordon laughed. "Oh, I found it on my way to Nova Prospekt," he paused, "next to a rebel missing a face," he added with a tone lacking the earlier enthusiasm.

"Right..." Alyx nodded.

Gordon looked back at the other building, specifically the kitchen. "What does the Combine eat, anyhow...?" he pondered aloud, walking out into the middle section, before something hit him — hard and sharp — in the left leg. He toppled as his legs were knocked from beneath him, looking down the gap between both buildings to see two soldiers climbing from some sort of vehicle. Barney, Alyx and the rebels were outside immediately, firing their various weapons at the soldiers.

They never had a chance.

The Combine, I mean.

Down they went, missing all sorts of essential body parts.

Alyx went to help Gordon up, noticing his leg where the bullet had hit. She looked into his eyes. "Can you feel anything?"

Gordon nodded. "Something's in my leg, but the morphine's numbing the pain..." his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

Alyx moved closer, but Barney halted her. "He's taken five bullets today." He explained, "three in the shoulder just before."

Alyx looked up at Barney. "Good thing we're staying here for a while," she muttered eventually. "I'll bring the chopper over and set some defences up."

Barney nodded. "Good idea."

—

"Ugh," Gordon's vision returned slowly. "What's going on?"

He was lying in a bed, a medic standing next to him with his hands on his hips. The medic looked at him with a slight frown on his face. "I'm surprised you're still alive, to be honest."

"What happened?" Gordon asked, looking over at the medic wearily.

"You got shot. Multiple times."

"Yeah, no shit." Gordon grumbled. "I mean the mission."

"Oh," the medic muttered. "Well, we've found some useful information."

Gordon sat up suddenly. "Really?"

The medic grabbed his shoulders, slowly laying him down again. "Dr. Freeman, you've been out for five hours. I've been wondering if it's safe to do surgery on you because," the Medic looked at a clipboard lying on a bench nearby "you have more bullet wounds than holes in a piece of Swiss cheese."
Someone knocked on the door. "Yes, come in," the medic announced.

Alyx opened the door. "How are you, Gordon?"

"Confused," he admitted with a smile. "Where am I exactly?"

"The Combine outpost." She explained. "This is the medical facility."

"So you've been using Combine stuff on me...?" Gordon asked the medic.

"You should be thankful." The medic grunted. "That stuff is amazingly good. Why, an hour of rest and you'll be as good as new."

Gordon nodded. "Thanks for that,"

The medic smiled. "You are quite welcome. Now, excuse me. I have to look after another patient."

Alyx watched the man walk off. She looked at Gordon. "Mind if I sit down?"

Gordon motioned with his hand to do so. "Be my guest."

Alyx sat herself down on the edge of the bed, smiling at Gordon. "Did you hear about the discovery?"

Gordon shuffled, moving to a more comfortable position. "Yeah, I did. What is it?"

Alyx's smile widened. "Dr. Mossman isn't here. But," she added quickly, noticing Gordon's expression change, "we know where she is."

Gordon's eyebrows rose, before he too smiled widely. "That's great! Where is she?"

"The bigger base you mentioned. She was transferred only recently, when the soldiers here got word that the Superportal was down."

"And how is she? Or don't we know?"

"We don't know," Alyx agreed. "But we do know she's alive and well. Apparently, the Combine didn't even attack her. Maybe she's intended as bait."

Gordon nodded. "How big is this base?"

"Oh, about the size of..." she paused, thinking of a comparison. "Black Mesa East, maybe?"

Gordon nodded. "Alright. I'll go in myself."

Alyx frowned, looking at him. "What are you talking about?"

"If we attack with only twenty soldiers, Barney, you and I, we'll get our asses handed to us."

Alyx nodded slowly. "But, Gordon..."

"Alyx." Gordon looked her in the eye. "You said it yourself. I'm an amazing person who can do amazing things."

And the Gman kind of confirmed this last night.

Alyx looked at him. "Are you sure?"

"Alyx, I broke into Nova Prospekt by myself."

Alyx smiled weakly. "But you needed me to get you out."

Gordon nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'd probably be dead if it wasn't for you."

A pause.

"Alyx, do..."

"Gordon, you know I'd love to come with you."

Gordon smiled, lying back. "Thanks."

Alyx stood up. "I'll let you rest." She told him, moving for the door. "Sleep well, Gordon."

Nothing super epic, but whatever. Next chapter focuses some more on Chell and... it's in 2021 for once. Not sure of the details yet (haven't even started it) but I know the basic outline and I'm sure you'll all enjoy it.