-1Disclaimer: I don't own Half-Life.
The Black Mesa Incident
Chapter Thirty Five: Interloper
Expecting to land with a painful thud, Gordon was surprised to land as though he had just stepped out of a car. A loud thunderclap accompanied his first step, and he looked around the vast, green sky surrounding him. It was ominously still.
"Done… what have you done…"
The voice seemed to come from all around him, but didn't echo or reverberate as a loud voice would. Instead, it felt like it was… inside his head? Gordon frowned. That wasn't really something he needed. The voice had spoken in a slurred, stilted manner, indicating that it wasn't really comfortable with English. Which also meant it was probably plucking its' knowledge of the language from his head.
So that was two things he didn't really need right now.
The slow voice didn't seem to have anything else to say, so Gordon looked around his new terrain. It was relatively similar to the first area of Xen he had encountered; a dozen or so rocky platforms orbiting a much large island below. As before, spires stood high from the ground, reminding Gordon of a power plant. Electricity crackled up their length before disappearing at the top with a brilliant, if small, flash.
This island was bigger than the last, though. It even managed to fit in some hilly terrain on the far side. Two large blue objects reminiscent of Stingray fish floated past him, sporadically firing a twisting bolt of golden energy down at the ground. Gordon had seen these things before, back on Earth. They were dropping off those armoured aliens, the ones with the buzzing insect weapons.
He wasn't too keen on having to fight his way through any aliens at all at the moment. One huge mother alien was quite enough for the immediate future, thank you. Looking over, he followed their path across the island until they ended up at a floating platform which held something of great interest to Gordon. It was one of the hourglass shaped teleporter devices. A green-y yellow bolt of energy throbbed and pulsated in the centre of the shape. Hopefully that was just another form of portal. As soon as the stingrays reached the platform, they disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.
Looking back to where they had come from, Gordon could see them coming back again, heading for the same destination. Gordon smiled as the plan formulated and cemented in his brain. He prepared the timing of his jump.
A loud cracking sound below him quickly made him look down. The platform was breaking apart, and the stingray was getting to him nowhere near fast enough. A choked gasp drew his gaze up, and he caught sight of two of the floating, big-headed creatures that had attacked him in the Lambda Core teleport chamber. Down below, newly appeared electricity aliens glared up at him, steadily charging their green energy blasts.
Gordon ran for the stingray and activated the Long Jump device. It hissed compliantly as the aliens below fired on the platform, blowing it to pieces. As he flew across the green sky, Gordon realised that he was going far too fast to land on the stingray, and would likely overshoot it. With a faintly uttered curse that Barney would have thought too girly for the current situation, Gordon tucked the shotgun under his arm and swung his legs forward, signalling the device to slow his forward motion.
The hissing from the device didn't change one way or the other, but he certainly felt it slow, and within a few moments he gently touched down on the smooth blue surface of the stingray. It didn't seem to object or even notice his presence, so Gordon just clung on with one hand while looking around for the floating aliens. The two were closing in on him, although they seemed reluctant to fire while he was on the back of one of their allies. Gordon glanced back to the creature beneath him. He guessed they must be valuable commodities around this place.
His gaze travelled up, and he saw he was nearly to the platform. The fact that the creatures disappeared in puffs of smoke the last time they reached it hadn't escaped Gordon's memory, and he timed his jump so it gave him a fairly big margin of error. With a loud, continuous hiss, the Long Jump module took him to the platform, but Gordon noticed far too late that he had jumped too high, and was going to collide with the top of the hourglass instead of landing beside it.
Gordon didn't even have time to say anything before he collided chest first with the top of the structure, landing in an awkward heap before it.
"Oh… ow…"
He rubbed his dizzied head as he clambered to his feet. The strangled noise of the creatures above him quickly made him shake it off, and within a few seconds he had picked up his shotgun and stepped into the crackling 'doorway' before him.
Blackness surrounded him, interrupted by the briefest of green flashes.
Then, suddenly, he was somewhere else, as though he had simply opened a door and closed it behind him.
"Die… you all… die… you all… die…"
If he hadn't heard the same voice earlier, Gordon would have thought it was echoing because of the cave he was standing in. As it was, he was becoming slightly worried that the creature was becoming gradually more and more lucid. Just how much did it know about him?
He couldn't see much ahead of him out the front of the cave; just a greyer shade of green blanketing the sky. Gordon looked around. Another hourglass structure, no doubt the one he had just stepped through, sparked and fizzled weakly. So there wouldn't be a return trip anytime soon. Not that Gordon would know how to navigate his way back to Earth as it is. Every portal he had come through so far had sealed itself behind him. Which wasn't particularly comforting, now that he thought about it.
Behind the flickering structure, Gordon made out the figure of another HEV clad scientist, sat limply against the wall with his or her helmeted head slumped against their shoulder. Although Gordon was again tempted to claim a helmet for himself, part of him noted that he probably wouldn't like what he would find beneath.
And so, he turned around and headed for the mouth of the cave, shotgun at the ready. The sky was simply an endless grey mist extending all around him, small balls of light randomly placed on the horizon like tiny suns. It would have been breathtaking if it wasn't so terrifying. The damp, rocky floor ended just a few feet ahead of him, but he had the option of going left or right.
As he took a leaning peek around to the right, a familiar sight writhed into view. The green tentacle monsters from the rocket test chamber. Or at least, one of them. It was too far away to reach him, even if it had noticed his presence. Hell, for all he knew, it had, but was aware of its' limitations. Gordon nodded. He respected that in an alien killing machine.
Turning around, he explored his only other option. The wall of the cave beside him slanted down, creating a hill above it. A quick look around the rocky mound gave Gordon his destination. Before him lay a huge quarry of an area. On the hill he now hid behind and on one beside it, two of the armoured alien creatures stood guard. Whether they were watching specifically for him, or simply on guard duty, Gordon didn't know. But they weren't really what was holding Gordon's attention. No, it was the sizeable canyon broken into the far wall of the quarry directly in front of him. If it weren't for the damn guards, he would be home free. Or at least, 'the next alien death trap' free.
Gordon reminded himself not to try and make fun of sports terms. As Barney had reminded him so many times, it just made him seem bitter about being so bad at them. Of course, most of the jocks at his old high school had probably never fought their way through a huge, city sized scientific facility while fighting off aliens, soldiers and every single natural disaster known to man. And to top it all off, he had been entrusted with the safety of the world.
Take that, Eric Collins in 10th grade.
He shook his head free of such thoughts and concentrated on what exactly he was going to do. As he rested back on the side of the cave's mouth, the Long Jump module dug awkwardly into his back.
Silently, he cursed the device.
Then he realised something.
Silently, he praised the device.
With the Long Jump Module, he would be able to shoot across that field in no time. Hell, their hornet bullets probably wouldn't be able to keep up with him. Well, maybe not, but Gordon lived in hope that fate would throw him a bone at some point. Then again, he had probably used up all of his bones every time he fought a soldier, fell of a cliff or ran headfirst into an alien army.
Reconsidering his position, Gordon was grateful for all the bones he had thus far received, and needed no more for the time being, thank you very much.
Cricking his neck, Gordon stepped out between the two hills. Neither of the creatures had noticed him yet. With a deep breath, he launched himself forward, allowing the hissing device on his back to take him as far as it could go before he threw himself into another jump.
The creatures' growls echoed all around the sizeable quarry, and from nowhere, something that sounded amazingly like Earth alarms sounded. Glancing over to his right for the source, Gordon saw three solid (yet organic) looking towers rising and falling from the ground, encased in a complicated metal framework that twisted and bent upwards to the sky. At the very tip of each of the frameworks, a light flashed red.
Who would have thought that red meant the same thing on Xen?
Beside each of the towers, an electricity alien watched him as he bounded across from them. But none of them made a move to stop him. They simply stood and observed. The armoured aliens, on the other hand, were nowhere near as docile, and were more than willing to pitch in to the resistance movement. The sharp buzzing of the hornets quickly caught up with Gordon, and just as he reached the canyon, two sharp pains cracked into his right shoulder and the back of his left leg.
His landing otherwise impaired, Gordon tumbled forward in an awkward roll that didn't stop until he hit a wall of rocks rear first, ending up looking at the ceiling. Gordon genuinely wished he had the time to lie on his back with his feet resting on an alien rock, just staring at a golden crystal in the ceiling. But, as the loud growl fast approaching from behind hastened to remind him, time was something Gordon Freeman would never take for granted again.
Scrambling to his feet, Gordon realised that the growl hadn't come from behind; the reverberation of the canyon around him only made it seem that way. Slowly, he peeked over the haphazardly placed boulders in front of him. Inside, Gordon saw another of the Gargantuan blue creatures, like the one he had blown up in Black Mesa with the military air strikes. Or the one he had killed at the tram station.
When he thought about it, Gordon was really kicking ass today.
It was pacing aimlessly from side to side in a circular sort of 'junction' in the canyon. Directly behind it, Gordon could see a cave leading to yet another part of this twisted, obviously broken island. The creature took that moment to notice his comparatively miniscule head poking over the top the boulders. Lumbering towards him, the ground shaking with every step, the creature lifted its' hands to remove the blockage in the way.
Gordon activated the Long Jump and used it as he ran up along the wall. The girlish yelp he let out as he twirled uncontrollably past the roaring creature and into the 'room' beyond did nothing to diminish how impressed he was with himself afterwards. He smiled as he looked back to the wall he had just traversed. He had just done a Matrix. That was pretty damn cool.
Oblivious to how impressive the move was and more irritated that its' little orange prey had got away, the blue monster turned and started coming at him again, lifting its' sizeable claws in a manner Gordon had seen before. It meant that pretty soon, it would start turning on the blowtorches from hell.
Gordon turned and ran to the cave that would lead to his freedom. More boulders stood in his way, but he quickly traversed them.
And almost fell into the seemingly bottomless chasm below.
"Where the hell did…?"
Another distinctive rumble from behind him dissuaded any more stupid questions, and Gordon leapt once again, activating the Long Jump as the creature fired. He could feel the heat on his ankles as he flew through the air. But he didn't care; once again, he was in the clear and ready for whatever else was coming.
And then the Long Jump Module stopped hissing.
Any hint of satisfaction that had wormed its' way onto Gordon's face was now well and truly gone. All he had left was sheer panic as he tumbled down towards the ledge instead of over it. With a grunt, he tossed his shotgun onto the ledge as he descended. It landed successfully, but the bespectacled scientists didn't have much of a chance to celebrate before he slammed chest first into the thick rock.
His pained grunt echoed down the chasm below, reminding him just how far he had to drop if his skinny little arms failed him. And, to top it all off, his glasses were crooked. If he dropped them down the chasm now, that was pretty much it. Oh, the irony. The great war machine Gordon Freeman, beaten because he didn't wear contacts to work today. Gordon's expression hardened.
Like hell.
After a few breaths, Gordon threw his left leg up and successfully onto the ledge beside him, the tip of his toe just managing to get a grip. With that amazing acrobatic feat accomplished, Gordon pushed down with his hands for all he was worth, slowly and shakily rolling himself up and onto the solid yet soggy ground.
And here he was again, staring up at the ceiling after yet another daunting physical feat. But then Gordon remembered the cause of said feat and sat up, quickly removing the Long Jump Module from his back. His HEV suit pinged in protest, irritated at being separated from its' kin, regardless of whether it was working or not. And, judging by the severe amount of melted orange goo coming from the back, Gordon decided he would have to go with a resounding 'not'. And since he didn't design the damn thing or even use it outside of training sessions, it looked like it was staying put. Which would be a problem if there was anymore jumping between floating platforms to be done.
However, a quick press or two of the test buttons indicated that the right jet was working, just not the left. So, Gordon mentally theorised, tapping the device thoughtfully as he looked out the grey misty sky on his right, if I just adjust my jumps… I should be okay.
He sighed. Gordon hated the word 'should', especially when it was followed by the words 'be okay'. It meant he was going to be in a world of pain in a few minutes time. As he slipped the device back onto his shoulders - his HEV suit welcoming it back with a positive beep - Gordon resolved not to use it unless absolutely necessary.
Naturally, what he saw beyond the cave made it necessary.
The ground in front of him led out onto a curved bridge of sorts, moving out in front of him before curving in a semicircle off to the right, leading to what Gordon could just barely make out as another miniscule crack in the rock face, at least big enough to allow one of the armoured aliens through. But coming out of a hole in the ground below the bridge… that was a problem.
A trio of the green tentacle monsters had decided to set up camp there, and were making a delightful show of thrashing around and smashing their gigantic beaks into the bridge. Gordon felt like he was being mocked.
At that moment, he decided he didn't like being mocked.
Taking a few steps back, Gordon tried to remember that his -for lack of a better term- jetpack would only be blasting out of the right nozzle, so he would have to adjust his jump accordingly. So if he wanted to go to the right, his best bet would be to turn around and back up onto the bridge, and then make a jump for it, going left.
Gordon scowled at how little that made sense, and decided to simply wing it and see how things ended up. With a deep breath, he ran to the ledge and aimed for the other end of the curved bridge. If he could, he would rather bypass the whole thing, and, God willing, he would land relatively painlessly on the other side.
He jumped, and the Long Jump Module activated, the spurting of the jets behind him less than encouraging. But even more worrying was the fact that he was barrelling straight towards one of the tentacle monsters. True, it was the one closest to the exit… but that really didn't reassure him in any way. Grasping the shotgun by the stock with his left hand, Gordon reached out with his right.
As the creature heard him approach, it lifted its' beaked, small eyed head in order to strike down at the insect hissing towards it. Gordon latched onto the neck just below the beak, swinging around with the Long Jump's momentum guiding him around in a full semi-circle. When he came around to the crack in the rock face, Gordon released his grip, allowing the Long Jump to continue doing its' job and transport him to safety.
But as he travelled between the two walls and through the rocky corridor beyond, Gordon noticed that no matter how he swung his legs forward, the Long Jump wouldn't stop. It continued throwing him forward, and, as the left jet finally gave up and died, it sent Gordon spinning around into the open area beyond. Several boulders and outcroppings of rock stood around one of the hourglass teleporters, as though guarding it. As Gordon shot past in an inadvertent rush, he noticed that two of the armoured aliens were hiding behind a rock each.
As though sensing their presence, the Long Jump did the most obvious thing; it sent Gordon hurtling down towards the one on the left. It barely had a chance to look up before Gordon bore down on it with the speed of a bull, knocking it back and into the wall behind it. Gordon ended up lying atop with the creature with his legs in the air, his feet just managing to tickle the aliens'… well, it didn't really have a nose, but if it did, Gordon guessed that his feet would be tickling it.
"Sorry," he mumbled, slowly rolling himself off and straightening his askew glasses. He frowned. 'Sorry'? Where had that come from?
The creature was out cold, however, which was a bonus. And something in the impact had disengaged the Long Jump, which Gordon also counted as a good thing at the moment. The glowing, whirring beauty of the portal beside him beckoned, and Gordon picked up his shotgun to continue on.
A deadly growl behind him made him increase his pace somewhat, and Gordon leapt inside just as he heard the distinctive buzz of the hornet weapon.
He half expected to feel the old stinging sensation in his backside, but was once again surprised as he stepped out into someplace completely different. The bright luminescence of the portal behind Gordon bathed him in a blue light that made him squint. He jerked himself back to reality and backed away from the hourglass teleporter behind him. If it was still open, that creature could follow him through…
Keeping his shotgun trained on the portal, Gordon slowly backed his way into the only exit he could see from the quick glances over his shoulder; a corridor leading into whatever alien complex lay beyond.
He waited until the portal was completely out of sight before he turned around again, and even then he kept an ear out. As he walked down the corridor, a distinctive hazy purple light mingled with the deep, dark blue of everything around him. His gaze fell on the walls, and for the first time he took them in. They looked like the ribs of the some… creature, all sewn together to make a web along the walls, with blue muscles spread across beneath as padding.
Unconsciously, he ran a hand down it. The walls had a spongy feel to them, while the web felt completely solid. Like… bone…
Gordon withdrew his hand and started wiping it on his leg. He stopped and shook his head at the stupidity of the subconscious gesture.
He walked on, and had to stop at the exit of the corridor to take in the chamber before him. He was inside a cylindrical chamber, extending up as far as the purple haze replete across the area would allow him to see. The highest objects he could see, however, were two conveyer belt like bridges running across from one end of the chamber to the other. Atop them, large round objects that Gordon could only assume were eggs balanced seemingly precariously on the belts as they ran out of doorways on one side and into another on the opposite side.
He was on the bottom shelf of what he could see were three shelves that curved around the chamber, taking up approximately half of it. A flat, simple platform attached to a pylon indented into the shelves rose and descended at regular intervals, eventually reaching the conveyer belts.
Gordon had no idea how the conveyer belts were kept in place. There didn't seem to be anything holding it, just a small stone bridge of sorts between belts. Something else was unnerving him as well. Everything was so silent. Nothing made a noise. Not the machinery, nothing. In front of him, brown skinned electricity aliens worked calmly and equally silently, pushing the eggs onto the platform and then signalling to another of their comrades above to raise it up. This wasn't going to be at all easy.
Slowly making his way forward, he tried to keep to the walls to avoid being spotted by any of the aliens above. The one on his floor seemed to be the only one around. He crept forward, inching his way closer and closer. As he got within a few footsteps, he pulled out the crowbar and prepared for a stealthy blow to the head.
Then his booted foot caught on something, and he tumbled. The creature whirled around almost before he hit the ground, staring down at him with its' red eyes widened in shock. Gordon pulled up the shotgun and cocked it, not particularly caring about the loud noise that echoed around the otherwise silent chamber. Stealth was pretty much blown by this point.
But then, the creature did something that surprised him. It pulled on something on a nearby pillar, letting the platform beside it descend. With an urgent flick of the head, it gestured to the platform.
For a few moments, Gordon just stared up at the creature, eyebrow cocked. But then, as he looked into the creature's eyes, he saw something other than the usual blank ferocity he was used to.
There was desperation in those red eyes.
Feeling just as frightened as his new comrade appeared to be, Gordon slowly climbed to his feet and stepped onto the platform. After the briefest of nods, the creature pulled again on the pillar, and Gordon rose up to the next shelf. He half expected the creatures up there to attack. But all of them seemed to be making a pointed effort not to see him. Those that did accidentally look at him quickly averted their gaze, occupying their attention with something else.
An alien stood beside the pillar spared a quick glance around the chamber before pulling on a similar white growth, sending Gordon up to the conveyer belts.
He frowned. Were they setting him up for a trap? Were hundreds of aliens going to pop out of those eggs and rip him to shreds?
Looking down, Gordon noticed both of the pillar guarding aliens staring up at him, their gazes as pleading as their were unnerving. So they were victims in this place, too. Aliens, yes, but victims nonetheless. Whether they were just a precious few or a representation of the entire race, it didn't matter. Gordon had to do his best to help them. With a new resolve, Gordon looked for his next exit.
The conveyer belt in front of him was sending the eggs from left to right. In both the exiting and entering passageways, Gordon saw a shimmering wall of light that the eggs passed through without complaint. But somehow, Gordon had the feeling he probably wouldn't enjoy being pressed against it while a huge egg squashed against him the other way.
Timing his steps, Gordon moved out onto the conveyer belt and onto the small stone bridge that linked it to the next belt. This one also had eggs going from left to right. But unlike its' twin, the exit was not covered with a blue shield. Whether this was accidental or something the aliens below had done, Gordon didn't know. But he had learnt that opportunities to survive were things to be taken. And so, Gordon stepped between two boulder sized eggs and allowed himself to be carried away by the surprisingly sturdy machine.
Eventually he entered the corridor ahead, and could only watch as the egg in front of him dropped down out of sight. Looking down, Gordon saw that the conveyer belt suddenly stopped and led down to a perfectly square pool of glowing water. It looked just wide enough to accommodate the eggs, and deep enough to be an entirely new system of underwater conveyer belts.
It wasn't something Gordon thought he would enjoy, so as he fell, he reached out with one hand and latched the entire arm over the ledge of the tall, square pool. He only just managed to heave himself out over the top as another egg came silently tumbling down, landing with nary a splash behind him as he dropped to the ground below. He couldn't tell if the ground was soggy, or if it was his own boots squelching.
Just above him, a walkway overlooked his position. With guardrails. They had guardrails on an alien planet. But not a highly valued, overflowing-with-money complex like the Black Mesa Facility, oh no. They relied on nearby pipes and jumping skills to traverse their walkways.
Off to his right, a wide, murky passageway beneath the walkway allowed Gordon the barely silhouetted view of another of the electricity aliens, surrounded by eggs that dwarfed its' spindly figure. What was in those eggs? More of the electricity aliens? Or something he hadn't met yet?
Looking up to the walkway again, Gordon could see another of the electricity aliens, again ignoring him or at least doing its' best impression of doing so. His gaze travelled down to the left beneath the walkway, and there, Gordon saw a pillar that seemed to rise and fall out of the ground every fifteen seconds or so. As he got closer, he saw a perfectly sized hole in the corner of the walkway above, allowing whoever (or whatever) that stood on the pillar to ascend up.
It was amazing how similar they were to human beings. If Gordon hadn't been soiling his HEV suit with the fear of being killed at any moment, he would have marvelled a little more at the beauty of it all.
Waiting for the platform to sink solidly into the ground, Gordon stepped on, and let it carry him up, pressing every single limb he could as close to his body to avoid getting it lopped off. The last thing he needed was a severed limb dangling around inside his HEV suit. The electricity alien had its' back to him, pretending to watch something down below where he had once been. But somehow, Gordon knew it was watching him as much as it could, figuring out where he was and then trying its' best not to look in that direction.
Gordon didn't want to give it anymore reason that necessary, so he started walking past it down the walkway. It led through a small doorway. Beyond was a walkway overlooking a deep, bottomless cavern. He turned around to go back the way he came. Maybe there was another way out there.
He froze. One of the floating, big-headed creatures, coming down from the invisibly black ceiling. It looked to the electricity alien almost accusingly, and suddenly, with a loud yell, the creature stumbled back, clutching at the green bond around its' neck. It fell to its' knees, and suddenly, the pain stopped. Gasping for breath, the creature looked to its' 'master', and then to Gordon. Looking almost saddened, it climbed to its' feet and turned towards him. It started charging.
Looking from left to right, Gordon lifted his shotgun, aiming it for the electricity creature. Then, ignoring how his gut instinct was screaming at him, he turned and fired on the controller. The pellets ripped through the creature, sending it tumbling down to the ground with a high pitched wail. The electricity alien fired, sending a bolt of green energy past Gordon and exploding wildly on the wall behind him.
The alien froze, looking from Gordon down to the controller below. Then, looking back to him, it nodded in the direction Gordon had come from, gesturing with a vague wave of its' spindly, clawed hand to the left hand corner. Gordon looked over as he walked past the alien. There was light coming from somewhere beyond, becoming all the more visible in the haze that surrounded them.
He looked back to the creature and nodded. But it wasn't interested in thanks, and merely gave him a shove in the back. Gordon stumbled forward and did as he was told, walking purposefully into the chamber beyond.
A long, tall corridor stretched out in front of him, the pale fog making it difficult to see exactly where it ended. But one thing was for certain; there were a lot of eggs in here. And Gordon had no desire to open even one of them, let alone the dozen or so that were gathered around him. He slowly started creeping his way through them, when that old throaty gasp sounded above him.
Looking up, one of the controller creatures floated down from the abyss of the fog above him, stick-thin hands already glowing with golden energy. Gordon started running, barging his shoulders into the surprisingly sturdy eggs as he went. So sturdy, in fact, that they were starting to hurt as he finally reached the end of the corridor. A entrance into another corridor on his left seemed to offer some hope. But as he stepped through, Gordon was forced to come to a literally crashing halt, slamming shoulder first as he looked back into an egg.
With a weary groan he pulled himself to his feet, rubbing his head as he looked at the obstacle in front of him. This corridor was significantly thinner than the one before, and left little to no room for negotiation around them. And the eggs were far too tall for him to reach.
A screech from behind made him instinctively duck his head, and he whirled around. The controller had made its' way around into the corridor, and another was slowly floating down from the ceiling to join him. Were they coming through the ventilation system, for God's sake?
Was there even a ventilation system?
Half a dozen globes of pure yellow energy shot towards him prodded him from his inward questioning. He dove forward, letting the blasts sizzle over him and impact on the egg behind him. Turning over so he was lying awkwardly on the Long Jump Module, Gordon aimed the shotgun up at the controllers and managed to blast one away while catching the other in the side of its' bulbous head with two shots.
A dull thumping distracted Gordon from following up the attack, and he looked to the egg. Part of the rock hard shell broke outwards, flying over his head and tapping quietly against the floor. A pink, fleshy stump moved into view, quickly managing to smash its' way out from the small hole. Before Gordon, towering over him and looking more than a little annoyed at being woken, an armoured alien - sans armour and the hornet weapon - started making its' way towards him.
Looking quite smug from where it floated above, the controller seemed content to watch as the alien lumbered towards Gordon. The scientist got to his feet and cocked the shotgun. He glanced up at the floating creature with an eyebrow raised in the best 'oh really?' expression he could manage. Returning his attention to the monster, he fired again and again into the monster, relentlessly firing and reloading until the weapon in his hands was empty. The pellets blew expansive yellow holes through the creature, puffs of yellow moisture spraying out onto the egg behind it as it stumbled back, grunting with every shot.
The controller above screeched again, and thrust its' hands together. But Gordon could only manage a grim smile as he looked back to the fallen alien behind him, resting against the egg. Because now he had a stepping stone. Clambering up onto the body, Gordon managed to lever himself up onto the top of the egg. Struggling to his feet on the slippery surface, Gordon delicately hopped from one egg to the other as though he were using stepping stones to cross a raging torrent of a river.
Down below him on the right, Gordon saw an opening that he assumed would have been a doorway in normal circumstances. With the egg blocking it, through, it was more like a small, low-down window into a basement. Without checking first -always a bad idea, but he was being chased at the moment- Gordon slid down the gap between the egg and the doorway. It was something he knew the controller would have trouble doing, since its' head was far bigger than his body.
Looking up, the desperate smile quickly slid from his face. Two more controllers hovered above him, and another pair of electricity aliens on his right charged their attacks, ready to strike. Beside them, two eggs lay, somehow managing to be the most menacing things in the room.
Gordon whipped his eyes around, looking for an exit. One of the electricity aliens looked over its' shoulder as it charged its' blast, indicating three small open vents in the wall behind it. Red light glowed out from inside, contrasting heavily from the purples and blues permeating the room. However, Gordon didn't need any more encouragement, and ran straight for the openings. As he moved, Gordon quickly removed his Long Jump Module, the HEV suit's negative ping almost humorous.
He dove for the vent just as the Long Jump exploded against one of the controllers' energy blasts. Or at least, the bright yellow explosion indicated as much to Gordon. He slid instantly down to a lower level of the vent, and he started crawling, mindful of anything that could be following him.
Vents. It always came down to vents.
Although these ones were a bit… different. The warm, organic feel of the walls notwithstanding, some strange red spores floated in the air all around him, reminding him of how dust appeared when caught in a ray of sun, just on a larger scale. He continued crawling. Eventually, he came to a drop in front of him that led down to a display of purple walkway beneath.
Before continuing on, he loaded up the shotgun, using up all of the shells on the front of his ammunition belt. Once that was done, he slid the belt around so that the next helping was in front of him. With a deep breath, Gordon cocked the shotgun, and dropped down feet first into the room beyond.
This chamber far dwarfed any Gordon had seen before from this place. This time, at least half a dozen floors ran around the enormous, loosely cylindrical chamber. At each one, Gordon could see electricity aliens posted. His eyes continued to drift up, and almost at the very top of the structure, a portal floated, surrounded by a strange construct that rotated continually around its' axis.
Walkways on the upper floors stood next to several rotating, star shaped platforms, each of these elevators winding up a solid pole extending from the ceiling like a nut up a screw.
And controllers were descending. Three of them, from what Gordon could see.
Although it was after a pause, the electricity aliens still began charging their green attacks, although they seemed to take an inordinately long time to do so. The controllers, however, were nowhere near as inhibited, and launched a volley of glowing orbs down upon him. Gordon ran around the walkway, only just managing to keep ahead of the explosions as he circled the perimeter of the chamber.
He ended up in a small sheltered area, a ramp inside leading up to the next floor. An electricity alien there fired on him, but deliberately missed. Gordon was starting to enjoy this treatment. He sprinted up the ramp and looked for his next way up.
Before him, a walkway extended out to the other side of the chamber. A pole beside the middle of the walkway quickly revealed a twirling platform, coming down from the floor above. An electricity alien was stood on it, and immediately began charging as Gordon walked towards it. He wasn't sure if he should be getting ready to duck of if he should just get on the platform.
A controller floating up beside him quickly answered that question. He fired blindly at the orbiting creature as he increased his pace. The platform began to corkscrew upwards just as he stepped onto it, and only the spindly yet surprisingly sturdy grip of the electricity alien on his wrist stopped him from falling into the foggy abyss below. He stared at the creature in wonder as they ascended, paying no mind to the screeches of the controllers as he reached his next destination.
When he saw two of them floating before him, he somehow wished he had been paying attention. He raised his shotgun when a blast of green electricity from beside him struck out, hitting the right-hand controller and impaling it all the way across the chamber and into the wall opposite. Its' brethren looked too stunned to do anything at first, but quickly recovered and turned towards the electricity creature beside Gordon.
It quickly grabbed Gordon by the arm and urged him onto the walkway in front of him. Gordon reluctantly started running to the next stop, but couldn't help looking back as the electricity alien closed its' eyes and bowed its' head before the controller. Then, with a furrowing of its' already fearsome brow, the controller did something that sent the creature screeching and spasm-ing off the platform and into the darkness below.
Gordon clenched his jaw, his grip on the shotgun tightening. He ran at the controller, which had since dedicated its' attention to him. It fired three blasts. Gordon ducked two and leapt over the last, reaching out with his right hand to grab onto the spindly legs of the creature that dangled limply down.
With a pained screech, the creature dipped for a moment before ascending upwards to the only comrade it had left, a controller floating impatiently beside the portal. As it approached, continually screeching, the controller above prepared a blast and fired it off as they approached. It seemed to be heading straight for him, so Gordon waited. Then, just as the orb reached them, Gordon gave a good tug on the creature above him and then released it, managing to pull it down into the path of the yellow blast just as he dropped.
He landed on a thin walkway beside the final spiralling platform, his legs giving out beneath him from the sudden impact. He slid off the side and quickly wrapped his arms over the top. Down below, Gordon noticed that all alien eyes were on him, looking up at him in what he could only describe as silent hope.
Or prayer.
Gordon heaved himself up onto the platform, watching as the controller charged another blast, holding steadfast at its' post beside the portal. Whatever was through this gateway, it was important. And Gordon was willing to bet it was the 'single powerful being' he was here to greet.
The platform arrived, and, keeping his eyes on the creature, Gordon stepped back onto it. It spun him around, and with each turn he grew closer and closer to the portal. And as he ascended, each blast from the controller sailed down below him, destroying the pole beneath. So there was definitely no going back down.
Finally, the platform brought him to the top, overlooking the spinning portal device just a footstep before him. It also brought him shotgun to face with the creature beside it.
"Hello."
Gordon fired, sending the creature sailing down into the blackness with a trial of yellow blood filtering out behind it.
He knew he didn't have much time before the platform descended again automatically, so Gordon closed his eyes and stepped forward, letting himself fall.
With a flash of green and a sound akin to air rushing out of his ears, Gordon suddenly stepped out somewhere else. Somewhere very dark. And again, that long, droning voice echoed throughout his mind.
"The last… time…"
There was no sky. That was the first thing Gordon noticed. No mist, not purple clouds, no untraceable sources of light… nothing. Just blackness, all around. Even sound wasn't a factor here. His footfalls didn't make a noise. Gordon tried to speak. Nothing came out. Or at least, no sound came out. Because he was definitely still breathing.
He turned around to face the only source of light. A hellish stone construct, all pointed spikes and jagged edges sat in the middle of a rocky island ahead of him. In the very centre of the construct, held like it was precious gem on a pedestal, a red portal throbbed and shimmered. Even though everything he had learnt today seemed to indicate that red was bad, it seemed that it was his only way out. Between it and him, several more floating islands lay before him, the distance between them making it more a matter of using stepping stones than long jumping. Not that he could long jump if he wanted to.
Gordon slowly walked over, expecting one of the smaller stepping stones to fall away as he stepped on them, leaving him to float in nothingness for the rest of eternity as one last final joke from whatever had been playing with him for the past two days. But no sudden traps, no gunshots hitting him in the back and no aliens clawing at his suit. Just these islands… and the blackness around him.
Looking around, Gordon could see that there was nothing. Absolutely nothing but these islands. And, he remembered, looking back to the red energy before him, the portal.
He cautiously reached a hand out for it, somehow thinking that he would be able to feel anything negative if it was there.
"Hurry up, Freeman! I can't keep it open forever!"
Gordon quickly looked around. That sounded like… that was the scientist from the Lambda Core. Before he had a chance to question it, another voice came to him.
"Freeman, yeah, I got that. You're becoming quite the legend around here."
That was the security guard, Wilder. Gordon frowned. It sounded like the voices were coming from all around him. Cautiously, he moved his hand closer to the orb. And a flood of ghostly voices echoed around his mind.
"Gordon Freeman. You've finally found us."
"This is the last entrance to the Lambda Complex-"
"And then you showed up, so it seemed like fate. Don't you think?"
"Bullshit. You give me that fucking weapon right now or I will blow your head right off, I swear to God."
"You'll have to sneak and fight your way from one end to the other."
"Remember we're down here, all right?"
"The government didn't do this!"
"Always wanted to do a John Woo."
"You've gotta believe me. I… there was nothing I could do…"
"Damn… you don't stop, do you?"
"You can trust them. You can trust all of us."
"Okay, Gordy. You're set to go! Good luck! I'll want to see her again, y'hear?"
"Coulda fooled me. You're a natural!"
And finally, a far more familiar voice. Gentle, comforting, safe… Eli's voice.
"Just be safe out there, all right?"
With a gasp, Gordon breathlessly removed his hand and took a step back. He simply stood staring at the orb as he caught his breath. That was… that was the voices of everyone he had met since the accident. Well, perhaps not everyone, but there were enough unintelligible voices that Gordon was fairly sure they were all in there somewhere. Gordon wondered if the creature beyond was trying to deter him, to make him stop.
Unfortunately for it, all the voices did was make Gordon stronger.
He stepped up onto the pedestal, and into the red orb. Slowly, the world faded away, consumed by the same blackness that surrounded the islands.
Gordon's heart throbbed in his chest. It was time.
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(A/N: Those quotes are all taken from different points in the story, going backwards to the first, most significant thing Gordon heard post-accident. If you really wanted to, you could go back through the story and find them, but seriously, just take my word for it. :)
Anyway, reviews are welcome as always!
Next Chapter: Worlds Collide)