Author's note: Stephan Herald was not in any of the Half Life games. He is a fictional character based off of the assassins in Half-Life: Opposing Force. The pun in the name is intentional.

Chapter Two: Even a diamond can be broken

Stephan Herald was always picked on the redundancy in his name. He never liked moving schools because of it, but he never let that stop him. He joined the Gymnastics team at an early age. His uncle taught him how to shoot by age six. By the time he was seventeen he was one of the best shots in the United States and had won the Silver and the Gold at the Olympics. Then he got a job with the Government and he was never heard from again.

But many of the Marines that were at the Black Mesa incident knew his name all too well. Some knew him personally. Some only knew the bullets that blew their brains over the walls behind them.

Stephan watched the helicopter's wheels land on the Helipad. He jumped out quickly with his 9mm pistol in hand. He and his teammates were so skilled they couldn't even see each other hiding in the shadows. They used their ropes to propel down into the Black Mesa Research Facility. They silently walked around, searching the room for Marines or scientists unlucky enough to have seen too much. But as they went on, they were unlucky enough to encounter Adrian Shepard. The five BlackOps, two females and three men, surrounded the Marine, but Shepard was too powerful and too smart to fall for their tricks. Stephan got two shots onto him, but the PCV protected the soldier. Adrian gunned down Kevin and Sherry. Rodger crept up behind Adrian with his knife in hand, but Adrian pulled out a monkey wrench and bashed his skull in. Three of their teammates were killed by one soldier. This was not good. Marsha, his last teammate approached him after they fled.

"Who was that man? He was one of the best fighters I've ever seen!"

"That was Corporeal Adrian Shepard, Special Operations unit. He was separated from his team. He wasn't informed of his orders, so he just went around shooting aliens left and right. He's trying to escape the labs and save as many lives as possible. He's our primary target. Our Secondary target is Gordon Freeman, a scientist with a HazMat suit on who's been killing Marines and aliens. He even took out Darla's team."

"Oh no…Darla? He'll pay…"

"Marsha, we're here to kill Shepard, not just Freeman. We'll figure a way to kill Shepard first then track down Gordon, all right?"

"She was my sister!"

"That's why you're not in the same task force, Marsha. Let's find a radio one of those stupid Grunts left behind, alright?"

"Okay, alright. Let's go. He took on all of us and killed three of our teammates…He's can't be human…"

"He's just a damn good soldier. Makes me not want to kill him."

"That was a sentence fragment, you know that?"

"Shut up you grammar Nazi."

Marsha giggled. Stephan was stunned by Adrian's performance. Stephan was the only one who was ale to get a shot on him. It all happened so fast. Kevin and Sherry had just drawn their weapons and had taken aim when he killed them with two well-placed shots to the head. Rodger was small and very quiet. It stunned him when Adrian heard him and crushed his skull with a household tool. So quick, so accurate. So deadly. Stephan liked Adrian more and more.

Their luck was starting to change. There was a large but easily defended room that the Marines had fortified with portable but reliable Auto turrets that didn't shoot at any US military signatures. Marsha went in first and slit the first man's throat. Another Marine came in sipping MRE coffee. Stephan put a bullet into his head. Two more Marines came in with their guns ready. Stephan was ready to shoot one, but these guys were faster. They opened fire. Stephan closed his eyes. He stood there for a few seconds and opened is eyes again. There was a foul-smelling stench from behind. He turned and saw a dead half-man half-thing dead on the ground. It had a white crablike creature attached to its head.

"Headhumper zombie. Little zits latch onto you and don't let go until you take a crowbar to it and kill the damn thing. Shepard knows that all too well," one of the Marines said.

"Adrian Shepard was here?"

"Yeah. Saved our asses on fourteen accounts. I saved his once, so we owe him thirteen. By the looks of you two we won't get to twelve. How unlucky for us."

Stephan looked at Marsha. Was killing Shepard worth it?

"Do you have a radio?"

"Yeah."

"Show me."

Stephan followed the big black man to a large, clunky black radio. Stephan changed the frequency and signaled the Marines to be absolutely silent.

"This is Stephan Herald to Mission Control. Come in, Mission Control."

"This is Mission Control, Stephan. What is your status?"

"I've lost most of my team. It's just me and Marsha now."

"Marsha and I!" she shouted.

"Shush!"

"And Shepard?"

Stephan hesitated. If Adrian arose again, he was as good as dead. He just hoped he didn't make too much of a scene.

"Dead. I was able to nail a headshot at the last minute. Primary objective complete. Secondary objective may prove difficult."

"That's what you were sent there for, Herald. Find Gordon and kill him. He's been elevated to a top priority target."

"Roger. Herald Over and out."

Stephan changed the frequency back.

"You did a good thing there, sir. We're here to capture or kill Gordon Freeman, too, sir. We'll help you in any way we can."

"Just don't get in my way."

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"Stephan, Stephan. You've done many things you shouldn't have. But my employers are ready to forgive you for your disregard for orders. We have a new plan for you. The world's changed because of you. Changed very much indeed."

Those are the last things Stephan really ever cared about in the Black Mesa incident. He used to be hard and cold, only showing kindness to his team, and he was rough on them. Now his heart was so soft he couldn't shoot a Headcrab zombie if it had just eaten his entire team. He shook his head and realized that he was on an airplane.

"We will be arriving in City Seventeen in three minutes. Please fasten your seatbelts and turn off any and all electronic equipment."

Stephan did as he was instructed and got more comfortable in his seat, despite the fact he would be getting up soon. Something big was in store for him. Something huge. And he had a feeling not killing Adrian Shepard and failing to catch Gordon was going to be the reason.

Author's note: I may or may not continue the story of Stephan Herald in a seperate story. I haven't decided. If you like my idea of BlackOps workjing with AMrines at Black Mesa, please say so in your reviews.