(I was supposed to put this up on August 9th, but I'm gonna be gone for a week tomorrow, so I'm putting it early. The reason why I wanted to put it up on that date is because my birthday is on that day. So once I come back I'll be 14 years old. Whoopee. Don't any of you DARE wish me a happy birthday, ok?

zUg mAh oAtaX: Thanks. Yeah, the end's depressing, but you gotta have some drama. It can't all be BAM BAM BLAM SHU-SHUNK ZAP ZAP AAAARGGGGHHH!, you know.

Raider2: Well, that wasn't what I was expecting. Hmm, maybe I should have just had Manners live. But you know, I was getting scared that the story might be considered childish where everyone lives happily ever after. A heroic sacrifice usually fixes that. Ah well, sorry about that.

Most Wicked: I keep hearing that, yeah. Yes, I know it is unrealistic (though I think it's not that hard to learn to use a gun or car), but you gotta stretch a little on the realism at times. I mean, we wouldn't even have that cool chapter where they fight the tank in another tank, and we wouldn't have this final fight. Speaking of which, let's just get on with it! (BTW, thanx for not minding the 'Dimitri' bit.)

Chapter 11: Holocaust

Dylan picked himself up from the Osprey's floor after the spray of bullets had ended. He heard how a helicopter flew over the Osprey, then watched how a nearby Apache was fired on. Dylan peered outside to see a helicopter flying amidst the other helicopters, but this one was different. It was smaller than the Ospreys, but wasn't as heavily armed as the Apaches. Also, it's shape was more sleek, and an alien was firing from a machine gun on the window.

"A Black Hawk?!" Dylan said when he finally recognized the support chopper. "What the Hell is this? We never had any Black Hawks during this mission! We only had Ospreys and Apaches!"

"I believe I can explain," a scientist said, crawling towards him, not wanting to get hit. "I worked at the weapons department. One of our experiments was a reinforced Black Hawk. We only finished one prototype, and agreed that it was perfect."

"A reinforced Black Hawk? What's that mean?" Dylan asked, peering back out. The Black Hawk circled over a nearby Osprey and let loose a stream of bullets. The Osprey survived the attack, but began to let out smoke.

"Well, for one, the bullets in it's machine gun are thicker than usual, and are able to penetrate thicker shields. Also, it's armor capacity has been greatly increased, and it can take much more damage than a normal helicopter of that size," the scientist explained, and as a visual example, two Apaches fired missiles at it, but the Black Hawk merely bounced in the air.

"And you just had to leave it in a place where the rebel slaves could take it for a spin?" Dylan commented, irritated. "That thing will kill us if we don't take it out. Guess I'll have to do it."

"Dylan, how are you going to stop it?" Adam asked as he walked over to him.

"I'm gonna board it. Adam, I want you to watch that Greshwald doesn't get hurt," Dylan signaled to the back of the copter. "Pilot, call an Apache to fly under us. Wish me luck." Saying no more, Dylan grabbed a rope and rappelled downwards.

He was now floating in an extremely dangerous place. First of all, they were flying very high, and if Dylan were to drop off the rope, he'd plunge to his death. Second, with the Black Hawk flying around, Dylan was practically a sitting duck. His worst fears came through when he saw the enemy fly towards him. The Black Hawk came so close that Dylan could see the slave piloting the helicopter.

Then the Apache appeared in front of Dylan. Dylan began to swing on his rope, and leaped into the open door on the helicopter. The Black Hawk flew past without firing, but Dylan saw the slave leader himself was manning the machine gun.

"Fly after that copter, will ya?" Dylan said to the pilot. The pilot nodded and flew after the Black Hawk, firing missiles while at it. Some of the missiles hit home, but the Black Hawk only shrugged them off. Dylan looked around the room for a weapon, and found a rocket launcher by the pilot. He grabbed it and prepared to fire.

The two choppers crisscrossed in a group of helicopters, avoiding military choppers at each turn. At one point, the Apache dived under an Osprey while the Black Hawk flew over the large copter. Dylan saw that the Apache was directly under the enemy. He fired a rocket at it, which caused the Black Hawk to bounce again. It slowed down enough for the Apache to fly right next to it, and Dylan came face to face with the slave leader. Dylan didn't waste time to pounce from one chopper to the other, and dived headfirst through the window and into the leader.

The leader slapped Dylan over the face with his claws, and Dylan could feel blood gushing from his cheek. He kicked the leader in the stomach, then stood up. Only then he realized there were about ten slaves in the Hawk, all loading up their electrical attacks.

"Dylan!" someone called his name. Dylan looked out the window and saw that his Osprey was there, with Adam waving for him. Dylan pulled the pin off his last grenade, then dived out of the window. He grabbed the floor of the Osprey and hauled himself in. The grenade blew up in the Black Hawk, but Dylan saw that the leader had dived out and was hanging on the side of the window. Also, apparently the inside of the Hawk was resistant too, and the helicopter kept flying.

"Is Greshwald all right?" Dylan asked, though he should have known that he was all right. He had seen the Black hawk at all times, and it had never fired on an Osprey as it had ducked among the retreating helicopters.

"Yeah, but the Hawk's still in the air and looks like one of the aliens survived," Adam said staring out of the Osprey. The leader had scurried back inside after dodging the grenade and now was manning the machine gun again.

"I know. I've seen him boss around the others and signal orders through the radio. He must be the leader of the slaves."

"Then I bet if we can take him out, we'll take out the whole rebellion," Adam suggested. "But he's in the Black Hawk. The thing's near impenetrable. How are we gonna stop him?"

"I'm gonna try and beat him man to man," Dylan said. "Hey! Try to get close to it!" he called to the pilot.

"Are you mad?!" the pilot answered. "It'll shred us!"

"Yeah, and it'll do so any way if I can't stop it!" Dylan called back. The pilot sighed and sped off to follow the Black Hawk, which was picking out helicopters as it passed by.

"Dylan, why are you doing this?" Adam asked.

"Because someone has to, and I'm responsible for our squad," Dylan replied, then saw they were next to the Black Hawk again. The leader aimed it's gun at Dylan's head, but the marine answered by flicking something at him. The leader, in fear of a grenade, grabbed the object and threw it back. Only after the grenade had been thrown back did the slave realize it wasn't a grenade, but Dylan's helmet. Dylan used this opportunity to leap into the Hawk and began a fistfight with the leader.

"Wow, would you look at that," the pilot of the Osprey pointed towards the setting Sun going under the horizon.. "The first stars are up, and they're on the same side as the Sun. Isn't that strange?"

"Those aren't stars," Adam said, and the pilot saw that the dots of light were growing larger. "It's the missiles!"

Meanwhile, Dylan was fighting the slave leader head on. Dylan's final grenade had taken out all the slaves, so now only the pilot and leader were manning the Black Hawk. Dylan swung his foot at the leader, causing him to fall on the ground. Dylan pointed his rifle at the alien's head, but he retaliated by firing an electric blast. Dylan flew backwards in the chopper and the leader leaped onto him.

The leader tried to plunge his claws into Dylan's eyes, but the marine answered by smashing his fist into the slave's own eye. The alien leaped off Dylan, who used he momentum to jump up himself. The leader recovered faster than Dylan had expected, and swung his claws at the marine. Dylan toppled backwards, but instead of feeling the ground, he saw how he plunged out of the Black Hawk's door. But as he fell, Dylan's leg kicked the leader in the jaw, and he too fell out of the opposite door.

The slave pilot stared down and cursed at the marine, then looked up when he saw an unnaturally bright light. He didn't waste a second to plunge through the glass of the window, as a Tomahawk speared through cockpit. Such was the force that the missile kept flying, helicopter in tow. If anything could destroy the Black hawk, it was probably a nuclear explosion.

The pilot fell downwards and grabbed a rope hanging from an osprey. He hauled himself up and was met with the end of Adam's rifle. The slave gave up and lifted it's arms.

Meanwhile, Dylan and the slave leader fell past Adam's Osprey. Dylan thought his end had come when he felt a hard landing. At first Dylan thought he had fallen onto the ground and had died, but he realized he was on one of the Ospreys. On the left wing, to be exact. Dylan climbed up and saw that the leader had fallen onto the other wing. There were lots of other helicopters in the air, with Tomahawks weaving among them.

Dylan checked his PCV vest's status. The suit had been emptied of all armor. Dylan's rifle had fallen over the side of the Osprey, and the slave leader too was unarmed. A fair fight, Dylan thought.

"As human say," the leader spoke in his poor English and leaped onto the middle of the Osprey, "bring it."

"You're on," Dylan accepted the challenge and climbed onto the helicopter himself. It was time to finish this war once and for all.

The two circled on top of the flying Osprey's roof, looking for a place to strike. Both fighters had to continually keep their balance on the flying helicopter, which made fighting difficult. The leader begun the attack by running at Dylan with his claws. The marine lifted his hands to protect his face, but the leader's attack was a ruse. At the last moment he dived under Dylan's legs and stood up. This caused Dylan to fall forward onto his stomach.

The slave fell backwards onto his back, painfully crashing on Dylan. The leader rolled around and grabbed Dylan with a headlock. Dylan fought to stand up, but even when on his feet, the leader didn't let his vice grip off. Dylan expected this and grabbed the leader's hands. He then threw the surprised alien over his back and took a deep breath. The leader angrily stood up and ran at the marine, who answered by charging himself. The two smashed into each other and grabbed each other in an attempt to throw each other. Neither side was able to throw each other, so the two kept hanging onto each other and spun on the Osprey's roof. They realized that for either side to win, they'd have to let go and back off. But neither one dared, then the other could take a cheap shot.

Their dilemma was quickly answered when both of them heard a horrid roaring noise. The two looked towards the osprey's front and saw a Tomahawk flying right at them. They both jumped backwards as the missile passed by. Dylan was nearly pulled along by the air current, but was able to stay on the Osprey.

Insanely screaming, the leader pounced at Dylan as he fought to keep balance. He smashed right into the marine, and the two tumbled onto the Osprey's left wing, dangerously close to the spinning rotors. The leader's eyes gave out a cold stare as he began to force the laying Dylan's head towards the rotors. Dylan gasped as the leader's claws wrapped around his neck and began to push forwards with all his might. He was exhausted from the day's events and didn't have the strength to properly fight against the slave's merciless attack.

The leader laughed heartily as Dylan's head was a few inches from the blades, but then Dylan kicked upwards. The slave leaped upwards and Dylan rolled out of the way and stood up. The slave fell back onto his feet, but was losing his balance. He shook from front to back, nearing the rotors at every bend.

Maybe it was that he didn't want to end the fight like this. Maybe he thought the alien deserved to live. Maybe he just wanted to help out the poor soul. Whatever it was, Dylan grabbed the flailing arms of the leader and pulled him away from the dangerous propellers. When the leader turned to look at the marine, Dylan could have sworn he saw a small spark of gratitude in the slave's eyes.

But the slave soon took a feral look and swung his hand in an arc. Dylan stepped backwards to dodge the claws, then leaped further backwards as the leader kicked forwards. Dylan climbed back onto the middle of the helicopter, and turned to stare at his fighter.

His face was filled with alien fist.

-----

"NO! Dylan!" Adam yelled as the Osprey he was in flew over the other helicopter. The leader leaped in front of Dylan and got ready to do something else horrendous. "You bastard! It's not enough that my Team died, my friend's got to pass away too, huh?!" he yelled and lifted his rifle away from the hostage slave pilot and at the slave leader.

"Let him fight," Adam heard a frail voice below him. He looked down and saw Greshwald.

"Greshwald?! What are you doing?! You're supposed to be resting!"

"I woke up, okay? I crawled over here to watch what was going on. Listen, I'm sure Dylan can find a way to stop that psycho. It's his fight, so let him finish it."

"All right," Adam nodded reluctantly. He turned again towards the captured pilot, but he had given up a long time ago and sat on the ground, watching how his leader fared. Adam shrugged and joined Greshwald and the pilot in watching.

-----

Dylan looked drowsily up to see a looming form. He shook his head to clear his mind, and the strange revolving stars went away. But the looming form cleared away to reveal the demented slave leader. The alien pulled Dylan up and tightened his claws around his neck. Dylan shook and twisted to breathe, but the leader didn't allow that.

Suddenly, Dylan's mind flashed back to earlier that day, in the rail systems. He had been in a heated fight with Gordon. He had got the scientist's neck in his hands just like the leader right now. He remembered what Gordon had done, and realized the roles had changed. It was now his turn to give out punishment.

Instinctively, Dylan drove his boot into the slave leader's crotch. The leader stopped to gape in surprise, then let go as his eyes began to fill with tears. The leader shuffled away towards the front of the Osprey, and Dylan stopped to rest.

"Sir!" the leader heard a slave call in his native language. He turned with tear-filled eyes and saw that one of the alien-manned Apaches had broken out of the formation flying near the ground, and had flown to his aid. A slave waved through the open door and threw a large blue object at him. Dylan watched as the slave caught the large object, and then saw as he fitted the object into his third arm growing from his chest. Then Dylan understood what it was.

It was like the hivearm of the alien drones, except it was much larger, requiring the leader's both hands to hold it.

It was the gargantuan's hand.

"OH SHIT!" Dylan yelled and leaped backwards as the leader sprayed fire at him. Although it had been severed from the monster itself, the hand was still quite usable. The slave walked forwards and fired again, which Dylan responded to by jumping backwards again. He realized he'd run out of helicopter soon, and then he'd be cooked.

"Dylan, catch!" Dylan heard someone yell. He looked up to see his osprey circle above the one he was standing on. Greshwald waved through the door, while Adam grabbed the captured slave pilot from the throat and threw him to Dylan.

"NO!" the leader yelled and reached forwards, which caused him to drop his flame thrower. Dylan grabbed the slave, who had a worried look on his face, and pulled him forwards as a human shield.

"Have a taste of your own medicine, ya freak," Dylan grinned, pulling the slave's wristbands to his collar. Immediately they began to excite the particles in the air, causing the slave to load it's electrical beam. The leader screamed, grabbed the flame thrower, and ran at Dylan while firing flames. Dylan answered by firing the charge, causing the leader to fly backwards, and Dylan himself to fly backwards from the recoil.

At the same time, the nuke hit. -----

Lieutenant Manners looked up through the window as he heard the roaring noise. He had overcome his fear a while ago and had begun to pass time by playing Minesweeper. Now he firmly stood up to watch as the first Tomahawks flew into the cavern.

There Lieutenant Paschal Richard Manners saluted the oncoming wall of fire, and had only one thing to say as the windows shattered.

"God bless America."

-----

The massive explosion first rocked the silo. Any aliens left in Black Mesa looked in wonder as the mountain itself bulged outwards. Then it burst open, and the trademark mushroom cloud of a nuclear holocaust rose to the sky. The explosion grew, eating up everything in it's path. Every building in it's way crumbled, blown off by the combustion. Whole mountains strained and toppled downwards. The front lobby crumpled into a pile. Even the remains of the dam were instantly vaporized as the massive cloud, fed by the huge vats of nuclear waste, expanded, leaving no place in Black Mesa safe.

Meanwhile, a chain reaction began under the compound. The very foundations began to plummet on top of each other. Whatever scientists and aliens who looked for refuge in the lower levels were instantly crushed by the upper levels which fell like a stack of cards on top of each other. A massive hole appeared on the ground of New Mexico, dragging everything inside. Even the mushroom cloud itself sunk into the earth's bowels. Then, finally, it stopped. The mountains had toppled on top of the gap, hiding the remains of the facility from the world. The Administrator had quite effectively removed all traces that there had ever been anything there.

Dylan knew immediately to close his eyes as he heard the explosion. But he had not been expecting the force of the shock waves. The whole Osprey itself tilted by 45 degrees as the force of the shock wave reached them. Although the cloud itself didn't reach the squadron of fleeing helicopters, the shock wave caused everything to tilt. Dylan felt how he began to tumble along the Osprey's roof, and soon found he flew over the side of the cockpit.

He flipped in the air and grabbed the nose of the Osprey. The slave pilot rolled over the side and to his certain death. The Osprey's pilot, after recovering from the nuke's shock, pulled the Osprey back to a normal position. Dylan hanged on the Osprey's tip, and turned to see he wasn't alone. The leader also had rolled over the side and had grabbed the osprey too. The two stared at each other, and began to ineffectively kick each other.

"This not work, we go up," the slave leader mongered, and Dylan agreed. The two hauled onto the Osprey's windshield, and began to wrestle each other. After a while they crashed through the window and continued wrestling on the cockpit floor.

"Hey, get out!" the pilot yelled. "I've got a copter to fly!"

"How many parachutes do you have?" Dylan asked and beat away the leader's claws reaching for his face.

"Enough to get all the passengers of the chopper, why?" the pilot asked. Dylan leaped away off the leader and climbed onto the control panel. The leader leaped at him, grabbing him in a bear hug.

"Tell them to bail out. Don't wait for me, I'm going down with this freak!" Dylan ordered and fought to escape from the leader's grasp. The leader bought it all, but Dylan was just using a clever ruse again. Looking down, he kicked on the 'FUEL DUMP' button.

"Oh shit!" the pilot screamed and ran out as the Osprey began to violently shake and plummet. Warning lights blared all over the cockpit. The slave, caught by surprise from the sudden free fall, fell backwards. Dylan landed on him and smashed him in the face a couple of times, then ran into the cargo bay.

Everyone had leaped out by now, and Dylan and the slave were the only ones in the falling Osprey. He frantically looked around, and saw salvation. Adam's Osprey was flying right next to the falling one, and he threw a rope over to the other Osprey. Dylan dived out of the Osprey and grabbed the rope. He swung out of the Osprey, and hung in the air. He sighed with relief, but suddenly felt great pain in his legs.

He saw the leader, with a mad look, hanging from Dylan's legs with his claws. Dylan screamed and tried to shake his legs but that only hurt more. He stared as the alien Apache appeared by the Osprey's side, and the leader leaped backwards into the open cockpit. He grinned as he began to call out orders. The Apache began to pull away.

"Adam, your rifle!" Dylan called up. Adam immediately dropped his rifle downwards. Dylan grabbed it in midair, twirled it around, and began firing. But he didn't fire at the Apache, instead at the Apache's missiles. He smiled sadistically at the leader's look on his face. The missiles blew up, taking out the Apache's right wing and half of the propellers. The Apache began to crash-land, but Dylan didn't care, as he climbed up into the Osprey.

"Nice work, Dylan. I knew you could beat him," Greshwald smiled, then passed out again. Adam just shook his head and laughed

"Follow that falling Apache, please," Dylan said to the pilot. He nodded and began to fly towards the ground. The fuel-less Osprey smashed into the ground, killing everything, providing there would have been anything in it. The Apache crash-landed nearby, though in a more controlled way.

Dylan's Osprey landed nearby the two wrecks, and Dylan and Adam leaped out. They walked over to the Apache, and saw as a few slaves crawled from under the wreckage, the leader with him. They all began to lift their hands up and down at the marines, and the leader kept mumbling something. Finally, Dylan realized he was talking again.

"We give up, no more kill," the slave leader pleaded with a tired look on his face. He knew he had been beaten, and now only hoped for mercy.

"Well, what do you know?" Dylan commented. "Well, let's go. There's still all those aliens set free in the U.S, remember? Let's kill those aliens and get on."

"NO!" the leader yelled. "We. help you kill, and we live," the leader offered his deal. If you can't beat them, join them.

"What do you think, Dylan?" Adam asked. He took his rifle back and pointed it towards the beaten slaves, waiting for Dylan's order.

Dylan himself now scratched his chin. On the other hand, the aliens were enemies, even if they offered to fight against themselves. It could be best to just kill them and go on. However, the marines' forces were dwindling, and some back-up would be useful. And besides, maybe they could negotiate some form of peace treaty.

"Let them help us. I like him," Dylan said. He really admired the slave: he had fought really well up on the Osprey. He was a good representative of his race; it'd be a shame to kill him. "Come on, leader, I'll teach you a bit English while we get ready to finish off the other aliens." The leader stared in surprise at this sudden show of mercy. He took out his radio and began signaling his Apaches with new orders as his retinue boarded the Osprey.

"Now look," Dylan explained as they flew off into the night. "Osprey," he patted the helicopter.

"Osprey," the leader repeated. The two, marine and alien, smiled at each other. They had finally understood that conflict was not the only answer. But there were still some aliens who thought otherwise. But now they had formed a small-scale alliance, and even that was enough ground for a possible peace treaty. The alien Apaches, no longer sulking below the other helicopters, flew along the other helicopters, not being fired on after Dylan had explained the new situation.

Yep, Dylan thought, the day hadn't been a total waste. "Rifle," he told, showing his M4, and the leader repeated.

-----

".the situation is still dark. The strange beings are spreading like a wildfire, but the military is able to keep them slightly contained. But it's only a matter of time until."

Mr. Vladimir Putin turned off the TV in his office. The news flash was being shown on every channel, but Putin knew what was going on.

"Well, I've done my deed," the President of Russia said in English to the shadows, "now, it's time for some well deserved payment."

"Indeed," the Administrator nodded, stepping out of the shadows. He opened his briefcase and dropped a pile of notes onto Putin's desk. "Here are the plans for the experimental gluon gun and my thanks for contributing to the construction of the now removed Black Mesa."

"Thank you, Mr. Administrator. But why did you want me to send Dimitri and his goons into the facility? I know that I was mad that I wasn't paid for my contribution, but I wouldn't have taken such measures if you hadn't asked."

"I'm in the process of hiring new employees into my company. Mr. Eshtelkov seemed to be perfect for the job, but so were many others. I had to test him in Black Mesa, like I did to so many others. But Mr. Eshtelkov was not astute enough for the job. We have no need for headless people."

"Forgive my asking, but what are you employing people for?"

"I would love to tell you, Mr. Putin, but then I would have to kill you." The two laughed out loud, although both knew that he wasn't joking. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some pressing business," the Administrator said, looking at his diamond watch, and disappeared, leaving the President alone with the gluon gun plans.