It was still dark out when the rebels moved out. Everyone had their duties as bags were distributed, and orders were given. They were to be divided into groups of five and move through different routes to reach the docks where the ship was waiting. Chell's group consisted of Crow, another rebel woman, and two rebel men. She hadn't learned their names yet and asking in the middle of the mission seemed too late.
The trip through alleys and side streets was mostly uneventful. There was a time when one of the men tripped over the outstretched leg of a zombie that had been dormant near a rusted dumpster. The woman had leaped on it, driving a knife through the top of its head before it could take a swipe at their teammate. The headcrab fell away, and Chell turned away at the grotesque sight of the shredded face. She would never get used to seeing such a horrifying thing happen to someone. The second man said a quick prayer for the dead human then the group fell back in line as if it never happened.
Chell was amazed at how efficient they moved. Every stumble was corrected by someone else, and the others would make sure the first person was okay to proceed. They had a rhythm in their movement, and Chell was left wondering how she fit in it. She felt like a leaf floating in a stream, being taken away and pushed in every direction except the place she wanted. In Aperture, she had a place that she fit in. She felt like a stranger in this world. It wasn't the life she wanted. Just what was next in her parade of obstacles?
In the end, Chell was still following a group of men and women who were about to enter a war zone. She held a gun so different from her portal gun, yet it was all too familiar at the same time. How many soldiers was she going to have to kill? How many would it take to ensure she doesn't die? It didn't matter. As long as she came out on top, Chell would keep fighting.
When they finally arrived at the docks, Chell's group placed themselves behind a cluster of shipping containers. She had been instructed on what to do. The thing about the combine troops is that the moment one dies, an alert goes out over their communication systems of when and where they died. Chell remembered how they would emit high pitched whines like a heart monitor when they die, so she believed that had something to do with it.
The plan was to hit the troops hard and fast before they had a chance to mount an offensive. To do that, they had to bide their time and strike hard to ensure they could get on the ship. Chell didn't think she could do it. She wasn't one to follow orders well, or even know how to fight within a group. That's why the moment she had an opportunity, she slipped away.
She had given an excuse to go check on the other groups to see if they were in position. That was a lie. She had her own agenda. She alwasy worked better alone, but having to fight in a group was different. There were too many variables and not taking them into account could lead to failure.
She had been analyzing the situation the moment she saw the area. There was a metal staircase with a walkway at the top that could be extended to reach the deck of the ship. A veritable maze of containers littered the area that provided cover but could also run the risk of being cornered by turrets. No soldiers. Not turrets; not anymore.
Then there was the Man. What was He? Why did He make Chell feel scared? Was He working with the Combine, and if so, why not lead them to her and the other rebels the night before? He had known she was watching him going by the small wave He sent her way. It was as if He was watching her. She didn't like it, and thinking about Him only lead to more questions that she would probably never get answered. He was unnatural, but Chell felt that He knew something about her. For what other reason would He be following her around?
Chell approached the large crane that was designed to lift the crates and swing them up onto the ship. It was a long climb to the top, but she had to get there, or this entire thing could go up in smoke.
She was halfway up the crane when she heard the sound of multiple combine troops falling to gunfire. With renewed vigor, Chell climbed faster than before, nearly slipping when one of the heel springs on her boots caught a rung in the ladder. She would have been fine had she fell, but it would have cost her precious time.
Just as she reached the top, she heard the ricochet of bullets off metal and saw sparks in front of her eyes. She had been spotted. Ducking down, Chell scanned the area to see a soldier on the deck of the ship taking pot shots at her.
She'd deal with them in a moment.
Looking down, she saw the rebels scrambling to reach the staircase, but it wasn't looking good. She already saw three dead rebels on the ground below her, and the walkway from the stairs was no longer extended out. Even if they reached the top, they wouldn't be able to get on the ship.
Chell had foreseen something like that happening, so that's why she snuck away. Once more, she scanned the area and smirked at what she saw. A broken slab of concrete from a destroyed building was leaning oh so nicely for her at a beautiful angle for what she had planned.
Pulling out her portal gun, she fired the blue portal. She sighed in relief as it stuck to the surface. Then with confidence that she held every time she took a leap, she jumped off the crane, headfirst, to the ground. As she fell, she brought the portal gun around and fired the orange portal. It stuck to the flat concrete, and soon she was flying through the air from the blue portal. She soared like a bird and the freedom she would experience never ceased to bring her joy. When she had her portal gun, she was untouchable.
She swore she heard all gunfire stop momentarily as she landed on the deck of the ship. Turning around, she locked eyes with the soldier that had been taking pot shots at her. They tilted their head to the side like a confused dog. "How-"
They didn't get to finish as Chell had brought up the machine gun and fired off several rounds into their chest. They stumbled back but didn't go down like she wanted. Panicking slightly, Chell fired off more shots but this time into the head of the soldier. A mess of wires and blood burst out the back of the head of the soldiers. She looked at the mess and felt a shiver run down her spine. Not fully human. Still not a killer.
Looking over the edge of the ship, she could see a group of rebels making it to the stairs. Racing across the deck and firing wildly at any approaching soldiers to force them into cover, Chell skid to a stop in front of a control pad. There were only two buttons as a cord ran from the pad to the walkway. Pushing the green button, Chell saw the walkway slowly extending outwards towards the deck. Far too slow.
Meanwhile, Chell fired her orange portal at a nearby steel wall on the ship and the blue at the ground near a group of rebels. She jumped through the orange portal to be among the rebels once more. "Come on! We have to move!"
She tackled one rebel as a soldier fired several shots off at them. Chell cried out in pain as she took the bullet in her arm. Despite getting grazed by a turret in Aperture, taking a bullet head still felt like her arm was on fire.
She could still fire the portal gun at least, but if she needed to use a sidearm, then she was screwed.
She felt someone grab her arm, and as she turned to look, there was a second sharp pain in her arm. She attempted to jerk away, but the rebel who had her arm held tight. "Not so fast. Let the medkit do its work!"
"We don't have time to wait!" Chell cried out as she grabbed the medic by their vest and dragged them through the portal. They cried out in surprise but looked around in confusion. Chell suppressed her smile. She was the same way the first time she walked through a portal.
Although no one else could get that luxury. Chell stuck her head back through the portal and yelled for the other rebels to come with her. Some cried out in fear while others only looked on in wonder. "Now!" she commanded.
Everyone around jumped to action as they hurried through the portal, fighting off combine forces as they went.
Just as Chell closed the portals, the group running up the stairs made it. When they saw Chell at the top with the group of six other rebels, they had a brief moment of confusion before jumping to action once more. The height advantage the combine might have had from the ship was lost
A rebel named Rita ran to the railing of the ship and shrugged off her pack. Chell had spoken with her the night before. She was the weapons expert of the group and had arms thick as tree trunks and could navigate her way around any gun that was put in front of her. Rita had even managed to fashion a sling for Chell's portal gun so she could use it or an MP7 at a moments notice.
Rita undid her pack and pulled out a long-barreled gun and strapped it down to the railing. Within moments, Chell saw a stream of bullets lay down suppressing fire from the railing to prevent anyone from reaching the stairs again.
"You guys go! I got it covered here!" Rita called over, all the while she never stopped firing.
Going to the main entrance to below deck, a rebel took the center and twisted the large round handle to the watertight door. Koji took the lead as he waited for the door to swing open, a large revolver in his hand.
It happened so fast. Koji had been prepared, but they had been ready for longer. Two soldiers with glowing orange eyes stood crouched on the other side of the door, and the moment Koji was in view, he was filled with pellets from their shotguns.
He went limp like a ragdoll as the blood burst from her chest and stomach. Chell's eyes widened as she stared at the going puddle of red spilling from Koji. It was like steel wires were holding her in place as she watched the life slowly drain from him. She knew him for less than sixteen hours, and yet he was gone in a moment.
When she looked up the soldiers were dead, and the rebels were looking around as if unsure what to do. Is that all it took? One major person falls and they devolve into disorder? Where was the team she saw moving through the alleys?
No. They were still there. They were in shock, but she couldn't let them stay in a stupor in the middle of a war zone. She wasn't a leader or leader material, but no one else was making a move...
With resignation, Chell slowly picked up the revolver that Koji had dropped. It had his blood on it, but she ignored it for the time being. Tucking the gun into her belts, Chell hoisted the portal gun once more. No one else would die today. "Follow me and keep quiet."
Moving to the front, Chell lead them into the dark.
The hallways were cramped, but they had plenty of smooth steel walls. For that, she was thankful. As they reached the first turn in the hallway, Chell held up a hand for everyone to stop. She silently instructed two rebels to focus their guns on a nearby wall as she fired the first portal. She then fired the second so that they'd be able to see down the hall around the corner.
Just as she thought, three soldiers were waiting for them. They were shocked to see the rebels, but that didn't last as Chell's group filled them with holes through the portals. The sound was loud and reverberated harshly in the enclosed hallways. It made a loud ringing sound in her ears that forced her to wait until it passed.
That was the way each room and hallway was checked. Chell would take the lead and use her portals to check rooms or around corners. It was efficient, and they managed to clear each floor without losing anyone else.
As they entered the bridge, Chell instructed some of the people to stay posted at the doorway to prevent anyone from sneaking up on them in case they happen to have missed any soldiers. Out the window, Rita could be seen still firing. She had been joined by Crow, Apollo, and the Vortigaunt with the duster. They flanked her sides, providing additional coverage and suppressing fire with their energy attacks.
Then she caught a reflection. It was the Man in the suit. She could see His reflection in the glass of the bridge windows, but the moment she turned to look at Him, He was gone. His disappearing act sent anger through her. Just what was He?
Turning back to the console, Chell set the portal gun down for the freedom of both hands. Like every time before, her hands moved as if they were completing a dance they had done thousands of times before. She no longer questioned why it happened. In fact, there was no questioning her at all as she managed to shut down security measures, bypass overrides, and tear the worlds of code apart. She was the one in control. The security bowed at her commands with each line of code she typed and each firewall she smashed her way through. No one could stop her. She was-
Oh shit.
She had overlooked a program. It had been running in the background the whole time, and she didn't realize until it was too late. The unseen camera mounted into the ceiling swung down to look directly at Chell. It beeped several times in quick succession while flashing a bright yellow light, then a single bright white flash sent Chell stumbling backwards. She rubbed at her eyes until her sight came back, but she could still see spots.
Hands were on her, pulling her back, as gunshots went off. Then came the sound of sparking wires as electrical currents were severed and machinery destroyed.
"Shit! They got our picture!"
Chell blinked the last of the spots away as she approached the console again. The camera hung limply from the ceiling like a decrepit chandelier. Chell pushed it to the side and kept working. There was no point in attempting to scrap the data from the photo. It was an instantaneous system that shared major security breaches to the higher-level and nearby Combine Outposts. It wouldn't take a genius to know what would happen next.
"Can't be helped now. We need to get this thing moving," Chell said aloud. Despite her words trying to settle everyone, she was angry. Her face would soon be in the Combine database, and if they didn't know who she was, her gaze going to the portal gun still resting on the console, they'd know soon enough.
