Adrian Shephard opened his eyes, the unforgettable sound of helicopter blades forcing his mind into focus. Looking around he finds himself back in the transport helicopter he and his squad arrived in. He looks around in extreme confusion, only seconds ago was he fighting a giant worm coming out of a portal on the wall and now he was inside a transport helicopter.

The memories come flooding back into the soldier's mind; his transport being shot out of the sky, the alien threat attempting to take over the facility and killing every one of his comrades and all of the personnel inside. His brothers being turned into zombies by alien crabs and attacking their own. Every time he killed one of them or found their bodies he took their dog tags, he had to make sure those families had their closure. He thought about the Black Ops. Rage filled his mind for every one of his friends they had ruthlessly slaughtered just because they had seen the alien threat. Were they not sworn to secrecy too? They were an elite special force; they knew they couldn't say anything. Adrian scrunched his face in anger and balled his fists up tight. The memories of the alien world "Xen" came back to him. The serene beauty of the border world was outshined by its hostile entities attempt to take earth for their own. He hoped that he had stopped Race X from invading earth.

Snapping back to his situation the confusion starts coming back to him; am I being evacuated? Surely not, if the appearance of the Black Ops were anything to go by. Looking around the vehicle he could only see the empty benches and dim red light from the ceiling, the entire thing empty save for him. Staring out of the open door he could see the rising sun glaring at him as if with contempt, a taunt to times before his reality was flipped on its head. He could see the passing desert and canyons as the Osprey flew 'hopefully' away from Black Mesa.

He turned his head forward again and was startled to see a man standing in front of him. He instantly recognized him as the man he would see around boot camp talking to his instructors. The same man who followed him throughout his journey through black mesa and always disappeared seconds after he noticed him. Shephard was dumbfounded on how he got here and why he was just so casually standing there.

The Government man or "G-man" as Shephard had taken to calling him had very pale deathly looking skin, almost as if he hadn't seen the sun in 20 years. The man's eyes a bright green deep within the man's sunken sockets. The man's black hair styled in a crew cut and dressed in a in a deep blue 2-piece suit. Shephard could only imagine what was in the briefcase he held in his right hand. The man took a second to fix his dark purple tie and wipe something off of his suit. The man then began to speak in a slow and hoarse tone.

"So Corporal Shephard we meet at last. Please don't think I've been avoiding you; a great many matters require my attention in these…" the man pauses and takes in a breath before continuing in a deeper tone. "Troubled times." "I do hope you understand, and now I require a further indulgence on your part, I cannot close my report until every loose end has been tied up"

As the man stopped to take another breath many questions began racing through Shephard's mind. Report?! Is he documenting this?! Is that what's in the briefcase? A fucking report?! What does he mean by loose ends? Does he mean everyone involved?

Before Shephard could ask, the man had already resumed speaking.

"The biggest embarrassment has been the Black Mesa facility, but I think that's finally taken care of itself."

Adrian couldn't see the facility, but he could smell the smoke and hear alarms blaring from it. From the tone in the man's voice, it almost seemed as if he mea-

[BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM]

Adrian was far enough away to where he wasn't deafened by the explosion, but he could see the flash of light right before the soundwave hit him. Adrians mind ran at a mile a minute before he remembered one thing. The nuclear warhead the Black Ops had set up in the tunnels had just detonated. BUT THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! I DISARMED THE NUKE! THERE WAS N-. Shephard's mind suddenly clicked as he felt the air flow around him and into his gas mask. The soldier looked back to the man standing in front of him. Unfazed. Unmoving. Not a hint of emotion from what had just happened. All of those innocent scientists and his comrades from the HECU were gone in one fell swoop because of this government asshole. Adrian even felt some sympathy for the aliens inside the facility who had just been disintegrated in seconds. Dumb bastards never even had a chance; not even the Black Ops deserved that. They were just following orders, possibly even the aliens didn't have a choice and had to follow the orders of their leaders. He looked back at the G-man who had a serene grin plastered on his face.

"Quite so"

The man couldn't see it but behind the mask Adrian was filled with rage, his fists balled up thinking about all the lives lost just so the government could save face. I'm going to kill him, the second I get the chance I'm going to kill this bastard. Shephard was then caught by surprise when a flash of crackling green light took over his vision as the helicopter was teleported. Adrian looked outside with shock at the passing floating islands before realizing he was in Xen. The sound of the wind echoed through Adrians ears as he looked out to the colorful sky and the floating rocks lit up by the orange crystals growing on them. He had only been here a few times while using the displacer cannon, mostly to just pick up supplies and hide from enemies. The sky itself like a nebula floating in the vastness of space, Adrian almost forgot about his predicament before being brought back to reality by the man in front of him as he began to speak again.

"But there is still the lingering matter of witnesses. I admit I have a fascination with those who adapt and survive against all odds. They rather remind me of myself."

Adrian grits his teeth with the compliment, he was just trying to get out of there, he wasn't some one-man army. Was he really that special? To be able to escape and survive where other could not. Did that really make him different?

"If for no other reason, I have argued to preserve you for a time."

With another flash of light, he found himself in another dimension with white orbs of light flying past on a river of absolute darkness. Adrian knew the man standing before him could not be an ordinary human. A god perhaps? But why would a god care so much about what had happened on the mortal plane? Adrian had to slow his thoughts to keep himself from passing out. The man continued his speech.

"While I believe a civil servant like yourself understands the importance of…" the man paused again, and his smile grew.

"Discretion, my employers are not quite so trusting and rather than continually subjecting you to the irresistible human temptation of telling all, we have decided to…" the man paused again. Adrian was very nervous; he could understand pausing for a breath, but this guy just seemed to pause mid-sentence for no apparent reason.

"Convey you somewhere you can do no possible harm, and where no harm can come to you. I'm sure you can imagine there are worse alternatives."

Adrian had so many questions he wanted to ask. Who are your employers? Who are you? How are you teleporting me? Where are you putting me? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? Before Adrian could ask the door to the cockpit opened up with a green crackling portal in the doorway. There appeared to be no cockpit behind the ball of green energy, but it was too dark for Shephard to see. The man in front of him adjusted his tie, swept his suit and walked into the orb. With a green flash and the sound of electricity, the man was now gone.

Adrian was terrified, he was stuck in the middle of literal nowhere with more questions than he could count. Stuck in a seated position unable to move his body all he could do what look around and think. His eyelids started to lower, the exhaustion of the incident beginning to take hold. He tried to fight it, but it was a losing battle, the darkness took its hold on him, and his mind finally drifted off to coma.

SUBJECT: SHEPHARD

STATUS: DETAINED

FURTHER EVALUATION PENDING…

Well, here it is the first chapter of many. This is my first time writing something like this so sorry if my writing isn't good.

The next chapter will set up the main plot and Adrian will get his mission.

Also, the Xen in this story will be based off of the Xen from Black Mesa and not the original half-life and its expansions. I made that decision because the Xen from Black Mesa felt like an actual ecosystem and not some empty void.

Don't forget to review.