I'm not too sure on this chapter, I don't really like it, there's something
wrong with it, but I can't see what. I don't know, i'll probably tweak this
around more in the future.
*********************
"3...2...1... The portal is open Gordon. Good Luck! Contact us using the soldier's transmitter when the area is clear of hostiles" The voice poured out the speaker. "What are you waiting for?" Gordon gulped and ran into the glowing, green, pulsating portal.
For Gordon, everything went black. He could feel nothing. He couldn't turn back, all he could do was relax. He knew what was going to happen next, and after a few seconds, he prepared himself for the imminent, bone jolting shock which occurs when the portal journey comes to an end. The darkness around him brightened slightly, and he slowly unhooked the assault rifle from his shoulder. He didn't know what was waiting for him out there, and he didn't want to take any chances. The blackness was now a subtle grey, and he could just pick out faint shouts and gunshots. 'Hurry up. Come on, come on.' He clutched the rifle tightly. He hadn't had much training since last year, and already, the cumbersome firearm was restricting the little movements he dared to make in the darkness. The gunshots were getting louder, the surroundings lighter. A buzzing filled his head, and he suddenly felt himself falling slowly, the majestic surroundings of Xen filling his vision. As he hit the hard earth, shocks ran through his legs, the HEV doing its job, but still, he stumbled. 'Not the most elegant landing ever' He thought to himself, springing quickly into a crouching position.
Gordon seemed to be at the bottom of a small slope, maybe a hill, and he scrambled up slowly. He lowered himself to a prone position, and raised the gun to his eye. He could see Alien Grunts, Slaves, even the odd Houndeye was scampering round, and he immediately wished he had a silenced weapon. He cursed under his breath. 'One shot will have them all onto me' At that moment, a soldier called for assistance to his right, and Gordon noticed Alien Grunts moving to he direction of the shouting. 'Idiot.' He thought to himself. 'He's bringing the Aliens closer, if one of them sees me...' He didn't think on. All he knew, all he wanted to know was that if he didn't get those creatures away, the grunt would't be the only person in trouble. He didn't see any other choice. 'They'll notice me anyway'. He raised his assault rifle, and aimed for the stomach of an advancing Alien Grunt. He discharged only a few shots before the group of Grunts noticed, and they all turned in the direction of the orange-clad human. Gordon fired off a couple more shots, but most seemed to bounce harmlessly of their armor. He released another volley of shots in frustration into the vast paunch of the mildly injured Alien Grunt, and it finally fell.
Hornets buzzed past his ear, causing him to fall instinctively to the ground, leaving the bizarre insects to soar over his exposed head. He rolled onto his back, sat up, and released almost a full magazine into the next Grunt before it cried out and collapsed. 'One more... easy' Gordon scrambled up off the ground to dodge another load of Hornets, and then fired off yet another round to finish off the last lumbering Xonian. Gordon heard the soldier cry out, weaker that time.
"Medic! Can anybody hear me?" Gordon took another glance around. To his surprise, none of the other Aliens seemed to have noticed.
"Quieten down, they'll hear us" Gordon whispered as he neared the injured man, who was collapsed on the ground, leaning on a crumbling rock "Can you move?" Gordon asked. Large burns ran down his arms, and his face was streaked with blood; human and alien.
"Who are you?" The young man whispered, his eyes wide open in surprise.
"It doesn't matter at the moment. Can you move? We need to get away from here, fast" He winces.
"No... I don't think I can. One of those, those, electric things got me, right in the chest. They took out all my pals too. I can't breathe." He coughs. Gordon takes another glance at the weakening battle which was going on just over the slope.
"I'm sorry, i'm not a medic, just hold out. You'll be fine, just stay awake. Okay? I need to help those guys too. My job is to get you lot outta here. I'm not to sure how at the moment, but I have to try. Are you armed?" He winces again.
"Yeah. I'll be OK. Just say you'll come back?"
"I'll come back. I promise. Be careful." The soldier picked up his rifle, and almost smiled.
"You too."
As Gordon walked around the slope, he glanced back at the injured man behind him. His head was tilted back, his eyes closed already, gun in lap, but his chest, thankfully was still rising and falling slightly. Gordon doubted that he'd survive much longer. He took a deep breath, and carried on. By then, the humans seemed to have pushed back the aliens by this time, and corpses from both sides litter the ground. A lone Slave rans forward to attack the soldiers who were dug in deep, but was cut down by the group of three, and they let out a cheer. 'They know who's winning too.' Gordon started to run forward towards the jubilant human grunts, assault rifle in hand. They finally noticed him.
"Identification." One of them shouted.
"Gordon Freeman. I'm with you. I was actually sent to help, but you're handling yourself nicely." Gordon said, and slowed down to a jog. They looked at him for a moment.
"OK. Are there many 'things' left?" One of them asked.
"No, no. Well, not that I could see. Six at the most, well, maybe more. I haven't really explored. We need to leave." Gordon took a look around once more.
"You're right. Portal?"
"Yeah. Just down there. It's still open" Gordon pointed roughly in its direction. "Someone's been hit pretty hard near it. We should head across now. I don't actually think those Aliens are going to be much of a threat now. Come on." They scrambled up the side of he trench.
"Where is it? Come on!" One soldier said, reloading his gun. Gordon raised his to his eye, and casually took out a Houndeye which had wandered round a corner, and the whole group started to sprint down the slope.
"Are you the only people left?" Gordon asked.
"I think theres a few more of us left, a few hundred metres, over there." He points behind Gordon. "Mr. Freeman is it?. Did you say that someone was injured?"
"Yeah. Go and find him. Wait by the portal, and take out any hostiles you see." They nodded in agreement, and walked off, rifles at the ready, towards the lone soldier. Gordon jogged over the sandy floor, following the very rough directions of the grunt, and trying to avoid the glassy stare of the corpses which littered the battlefield, and checked the trenches for any human, or alien, life. Dust flew up in front of him - a bullet hole! He stopped in his tracks, and raised his arms, and his rifle, into the air. "What was that for?" He cried out.
"You scared me, sorry sir." A lone grunt limped out from a sandbag wall which was ahead. "I wasn't expecting someone in bright orange to pass by."
"You've got a point. Look, i need to contact... Earth, i heard that you had some kind of transmitter..." Before Gordon could finish, he interrupted.
"Follow me." He hopped down into a hole. Two more grunts were crouched in the dirt. They briefly introduced themselves, and one of them turned and blew grit off a large machine which sat in front of them.
"I'm guessing that you're the reinforcements they were sending. What do you need me to say?"
"Well, just say that we're almost ready, and we have casualties." The lively young man slapped earphones on, passed on their message, and a couple of seconds later, he got a crackled reply:
"The portal is ready, you've done all you can over in Xen, get through as soon as you can, the aliens are sending out reinforcements. Hurry!" Whoever was speaking didn't sound too pleased, but Gordon found no time to think about it. He pulled himself, and the other grunts out of the hole, and they both sprinted roughly towards the group he had left minutes earlier. The four other soldiers were waiting by the pulsating green portal impatiantly.
"Go! Get through, theres more on the way!" The grunts didn't need convincing. They all dived into the portal, safe at last.
*********************
"3...2...1... The portal is open Gordon. Good Luck! Contact us using the soldier's transmitter when the area is clear of hostiles" The voice poured out the speaker. "What are you waiting for?" Gordon gulped and ran into the glowing, green, pulsating portal.
For Gordon, everything went black. He could feel nothing. He couldn't turn back, all he could do was relax. He knew what was going to happen next, and after a few seconds, he prepared himself for the imminent, bone jolting shock which occurs when the portal journey comes to an end. The darkness around him brightened slightly, and he slowly unhooked the assault rifle from his shoulder. He didn't know what was waiting for him out there, and he didn't want to take any chances. The blackness was now a subtle grey, and he could just pick out faint shouts and gunshots. 'Hurry up. Come on, come on.' He clutched the rifle tightly. He hadn't had much training since last year, and already, the cumbersome firearm was restricting the little movements he dared to make in the darkness. The gunshots were getting louder, the surroundings lighter. A buzzing filled his head, and he suddenly felt himself falling slowly, the majestic surroundings of Xen filling his vision. As he hit the hard earth, shocks ran through his legs, the HEV doing its job, but still, he stumbled. 'Not the most elegant landing ever' He thought to himself, springing quickly into a crouching position.
Gordon seemed to be at the bottom of a small slope, maybe a hill, and he scrambled up slowly. He lowered himself to a prone position, and raised the gun to his eye. He could see Alien Grunts, Slaves, even the odd Houndeye was scampering round, and he immediately wished he had a silenced weapon. He cursed under his breath. 'One shot will have them all onto me' At that moment, a soldier called for assistance to his right, and Gordon noticed Alien Grunts moving to he direction of the shouting. 'Idiot.' He thought to himself. 'He's bringing the Aliens closer, if one of them sees me...' He didn't think on. All he knew, all he wanted to know was that if he didn't get those creatures away, the grunt would't be the only person in trouble. He didn't see any other choice. 'They'll notice me anyway'. He raised his assault rifle, and aimed for the stomach of an advancing Alien Grunt. He discharged only a few shots before the group of Grunts noticed, and they all turned in the direction of the orange-clad human. Gordon fired off a couple more shots, but most seemed to bounce harmlessly of their armor. He released another volley of shots in frustration into the vast paunch of the mildly injured Alien Grunt, and it finally fell.
Hornets buzzed past his ear, causing him to fall instinctively to the ground, leaving the bizarre insects to soar over his exposed head. He rolled onto his back, sat up, and released almost a full magazine into the next Grunt before it cried out and collapsed. 'One more... easy' Gordon scrambled up off the ground to dodge another load of Hornets, and then fired off yet another round to finish off the last lumbering Xonian. Gordon heard the soldier cry out, weaker that time.
"Medic! Can anybody hear me?" Gordon took another glance around. To his surprise, none of the other Aliens seemed to have noticed.
"Quieten down, they'll hear us" Gordon whispered as he neared the injured man, who was collapsed on the ground, leaning on a crumbling rock "Can you move?" Gordon asked. Large burns ran down his arms, and his face was streaked with blood; human and alien.
"Who are you?" The young man whispered, his eyes wide open in surprise.
"It doesn't matter at the moment. Can you move? We need to get away from here, fast" He winces.
"No... I don't think I can. One of those, those, electric things got me, right in the chest. They took out all my pals too. I can't breathe." He coughs. Gordon takes another glance at the weakening battle which was going on just over the slope.
"I'm sorry, i'm not a medic, just hold out. You'll be fine, just stay awake. Okay? I need to help those guys too. My job is to get you lot outta here. I'm not to sure how at the moment, but I have to try. Are you armed?" He winces again.
"Yeah. I'll be OK. Just say you'll come back?"
"I'll come back. I promise. Be careful." The soldier picked up his rifle, and almost smiled.
"You too."
As Gordon walked around the slope, he glanced back at the injured man behind him. His head was tilted back, his eyes closed already, gun in lap, but his chest, thankfully was still rising and falling slightly. Gordon doubted that he'd survive much longer. He took a deep breath, and carried on. By then, the humans seemed to have pushed back the aliens by this time, and corpses from both sides litter the ground. A lone Slave rans forward to attack the soldiers who were dug in deep, but was cut down by the group of three, and they let out a cheer. 'They know who's winning too.' Gordon started to run forward towards the jubilant human grunts, assault rifle in hand. They finally noticed him.
"Identification." One of them shouted.
"Gordon Freeman. I'm with you. I was actually sent to help, but you're handling yourself nicely." Gordon said, and slowed down to a jog. They looked at him for a moment.
"OK. Are there many 'things' left?" One of them asked.
"No, no. Well, not that I could see. Six at the most, well, maybe more. I haven't really explored. We need to leave." Gordon took a look around once more.
"You're right. Portal?"
"Yeah. Just down there. It's still open" Gordon pointed roughly in its direction. "Someone's been hit pretty hard near it. We should head across now. I don't actually think those Aliens are going to be much of a threat now. Come on." They scrambled up the side of he trench.
"Where is it? Come on!" One soldier said, reloading his gun. Gordon raised his to his eye, and casually took out a Houndeye which had wandered round a corner, and the whole group started to sprint down the slope.
"Are you the only people left?" Gordon asked.
"I think theres a few more of us left, a few hundred metres, over there." He points behind Gordon. "Mr. Freeman is it?. Did you say that someone was injured?"
"Yeah. Go and find him. Wait by the portal, and take out any hostiles you see." They nodded in agreement, and walked off, rifles at the ready, towards the lone soldier. Gordon jogged over the sandy floor, following the very rough directions of the grunt, and trying to avoid the glassy stare of the corpses which littered the battlefield, and checked the trenches for any human, or alien, life. Dust flew up in front of him - a bullet hole! He stopped in his tracks, and raised his arms, and his rifle, into the air. "What was that for?" He cried out.
"You scared me, sorry sir." A lone grunt limped out from a sandbag wall which was ahead. "I wasn't expecting someone in bright orange to pass by."
"You've got a point. Look, i need to contact... Earth, i heard that you had some kind of transmitter..." Before Gordon could finish, he interrupted.
"Follow me." He hopped down into a hole. Two more grunts were crouched in the dirt. They briefly introduced themselves, and one of them turned and blew grit off a large machine which sat in front of them.
"I'm guessing that you're the reinforcements they were sending. What do you need me to say?"
"Well, just say that we're almost ready, and we have casualties." The lively young man slapped earphones on, passed on their message, and a couple of seconds later, he got a crackled reply:
"The portal is ready, you've done all you can over in Xen, get through as soon as you can, the aliens are sending out reinforcements. Hurry!" Whoever was speaking didn't sound too pleased, but Gordon found no time to think about it. He pulled himself, and the other grunts out of the hole, and they both sprinted roughly towards the group he had left minutes earlier. The four other soldiers were waiting by the pulsating green portal impatiantly.
"Go! Get through, theres more on the way!" The grunts didn't need convincing. They all dived into the portal, safe at last.