Disclaimer: I don't own Half-Life.

The Black Mesa Incident

Chapter Six: Opposing Force

The loud, harsh voices of his fellow soldiers was all that was keeping Corporal Adrian Shephard from falling to sleep. All his life, he had fallen to sleep in vehicles as though he were a baby. Cars, Trains, Planes, Helicopters… hell, he once fell to sleep on the back of a motorcycle. Fell off and broke his arm, too, but he never told his squad that. They ribbed him enough as it was.

"Hey, Shephard! Keep those eyes open! You don't want to miss this!"

Now aware, Adrian looked out of the side of the Osprey Helicopter, half expecting to see something of interest.

Nothing but rocky cliff faces and the burning sun.

The other soldiers laughed, and Adrian rested his head back once again.

The radio in the cockpit burst into life in an obnoxiously loud and high pitched way, the voices barely audible through all the static.

Thorne's low rumble of a voice came over from opposite Adrian. Thorne was one of the more respected members of the group, mostly because he could beat seven shades of shit out of anyone who gave him attitude. And God forbid somebody made a racist black joke. He certainly wasn't a 'let it go' kind of guy.

Adrian liked him because he treated everyone in the group as equals.

"Just where the hell are we, anyway?"

Jack Kowalski, the engineer sat beside Thorne, laughed. "Well the pilot thought we were goin' to your mother's house. So far," he chuckled, "this all looks familiar."

Kowalski was a bit of an enigma to Adrian. Sometimes he was an asshole, and other times he was the best guy to have with you. It seemed that in the personal moments, he had no idea what he was doing. But if you were in a training situation, a battle, or even a bar brawl, he would have your back and you could trust him.

At least, that's what Adrian thought. He had a tendency to overanalyse everything.

Thorne was not amused. "Yeah, that's real cute, Jack."

The only response was a cocky grin, Kowalski's cigarette dangling loosely between his lips. "Anytime, anywhere!"

Adrian didn't know how he could leave a smoking cigarette in his mouth like that. Whenever he had tried it, the smoke had gone in his eyes and made them water like crazy.

One of those things his buddies laughed at him for.

God, he needed a smoke.

Thorne sniffed the air. "Hey, man, you smell that?" he asked.

Adrian wasn't sure who he was talking to, so he decided to respond.

That was, if Kowalski hadn't beaten him to the punch. "Smell what?"

"Smells like… another babysittin' job to me, man!"

"Yeah, no shit, man!"

Richards suddenly sprang to life beside Adrian, almost making him jump. "Babysitting job, my ass! This has training mission written all over it! Why else would they withhold our orders for so long, huh?"

Richards was always a mouthy bastard. His high pitch nails-on-a-chalk-board voice didn't help, either. He was one of those guys who Adrian always saw in movies, but thought they were just confined to fiction. The kind of 'asshole for no reason' kind of guy. And if he was hiding some heart of gold under there, Adrian was yet to see it.

Thorne snorted his agreement. "Yeah, man. What the hell's up with that? Throwin' all of us into this hunk of junk and not even telling us what we're going in for!"

At this moment, the Commanding Officer of the group (whom everyone simply called Brown for a reason Adrian was yet to discover) spoke up.

"Do you have a problem, Private? I will give you your orders when we reach the LZ!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

The response wasn't without some venom.

Kowalski shrugged. "I don't really give a damn what we're goin' in for, as long as I get to kill me somethin'."

"I heard that!" Richards said, smirking.

A relative silence descended in the cabin, and Adrian feared he might fall asleep again from the steady thrum of the helicopter blades.

"Man, if we're goin' in for another search and rescue operation, I'm gonna be pissed," Thorne grumbled, fiddling with his semi-automatic.

Kowalski grinned. "Yeah, and I'm gonna be pissed if I have to seek out and rescue your sorry ass!"

The radio crackled to life in the cockpit, but this time Adrian could hear it clearly.

"Anybody got a clear view of the LZ yet?"

"Uh, negative, I-"

"Hey, Shephard!"

Adrian slowly rolled his gaze over to Thorne. "Yeah?"

"What do you think of all this weird shit?"

It was something that Adrian prided himself on. As well as being an uncanny marksman, the other members of his group would always ask him for his opinion. Maybe it was the fact that he almost always had a nose in a book or a newspaper.

This time, however, he wasn't particularly in the mood. Feeling slightly edgy after three weeks non-stop training, Adrian rested his head back and closed his eyes. "How the hell should I know? Probably some government cover-up. There was that weird pale guy in the suit watching us train for the past three weeks.

Kowalski took one last drag of his cigarette and expertly flicked it across the cabin and out the side of the helicopter. "Y'know, you're the only one who saw that guy, Shephard. You sure you're not making this stuff up?"

"It's not just me. There were rumours flying about all over the place about him before I finally saw him."

Davies, the medic sat on the far side of the cabin, was silent. As usual. No-one really knew Davies that well, and those that tried didn't succeed. Adrian suspected that the bespectacled medic was hiding something dark from his past. Adrian had decided to leave it alone, though. No point in riling up the guy who might have his hands inside your guts someday.

Richards snorted. "Maybe he's dreaming about him." He elbowed Adrian in the ribs. "That guy in the suit break your heart, man?"

Kowalski snickered as he pulled out another cigarette. Adrian wished he wouldn't smoke them so openly.

"Shut the hell up, Richards. I'm trying to get my beauty sleep."

"Heh. I think someone's just findin' it hard to give up the smokes!"

Thorne shot Adrian a look. "You givin' up, Shephard?"

He shrugged loosely, idly looking out the side of the helicopter. Another Osprey came into view beside them.

"Helps you live longer."

Kowalski smirked yet again. "Yeah, well you know what helps me live longer? Good aim!"

Adrian shook his head. "Kowalski, you-"

His voice left his throat as he looked out at the Osprey beside them once again. Some… thing was floating above it. It looked like a Stingray fish. The way it moved, it was almost as if it was… alive…

"Hey, Shephard. You there?"

Thorne's words barely registered.

"What the hell're you lookin' at, man?"

Radio chatter became more and more intense from the cockpit as a beam of light came out of the underside of the Stingray ship.

Brown suddenly sprang to life from where he was stood at the head of the compartment. "All right, listen up privates! We have an extremely hostile situation-"

The Osprey beside them exploded.

Everyone struggled to get out of their seats and see what was going on. Adrian couldn't bring himself to move from his seat. The Stingray ship was gone.

Light surrounded the Osprey.

The radio continued to bleat on as Brown issued orders.

No-one was listening to him. Explosions rocked the helicopter, and Adrian was blinded. The last thing he saw before a piece of the helicopter's hull that had been blown loose knocked him unconscious was Brown falling out of the side of the side. Or was he jumping?

Blackness consumed Adrian.

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The sound of an explosion rocked Adrian from unconsciousness. Slowly, he looked around and got his bearings, the act of sitting up costing him more energy than he could afford.

Machine gun fire rattled through the air.

His vision cleared, thanks in no small part to his HECU vest. The nanoscopic probes it injected into his bloodstream enabled faster healing. Adrian couldn't be more grateful right now.

The Osprey was half buried in the ground beside him. It had crashed through an electric fence.

Richards and Davies ran through his peripheral vision on the far side of the wreckage, shouting to each other over their own gunfire.

What were they shooting at?

Adrian got to is feet and tried to get over to them, only managing a slow stumble. A strange gurgling sound came from the other side of the Osprey. That was where Richards and Davies were aiming their fire.

Was it some kind of animal?

The familiar whine of an incoming air-to-ground missile echoed through the sky.

Before Adrian could look up, he was blown back into a rocky cliff face, his ears whining from the explosion.

Unconsciousness once again welcomed him into its peaceful embrace.

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The vest did its work well. Still groggy, Adrian slowly brought his head up from where he was lying. He was on the floor in a small room. At least, he assumed it was a room. There could have been a staircase behind him for all he knew. Unfortunately for him, he didn't have the strength to turn over and find out.

Davies was knelt beside him, staring out the door with baited breath.

Adrian managed to turn his head to look out the doorway.

In front of him was a small bridge crossing a gorge. Richards ran out through the doorway on the other side, looking over his shoulder desperately.

"Get down!" Davies yelled.

Green electricity shot out from the doorway and hit Richards square in the back, knocking him flat on his face and sending him skidding along the ground. He twitched violently as the electrical current wreaked havoc with his nervous system.

Silently cursing, Davies ran out onto the small bridge, opening fire with his 9mm on whatever had created the green electricity.

Adrian tried to get up and help.

All it accomplished was exhaustion, and, again, unconsciousness.

Adrian hoped that when he woke up again, the situation would be a little better.

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(A/N: Next chapter: Office Complex.

All this feedback is very much appreciated, folks. So please don't stop yet; we've got a long way to go!

Incidentally, Happy New Year! I hope you all have a prosperous 2007.)