Preface: Welcome to my story, yes I know the premise sounds weird but even though it starts strange and slow but I am a fan of crack fic taken seriously. A lot of work has gone into world building, so far a 100 year something timeline and last time I checked 50 something character profiles for canon and OC characters (Yes there's OC characters but I hope they are all realistic, I really do not like self insert characters, all characters should be interesting with flaws and be believable). This fic is written so that either fan of sonic or half life / portal can hopefully enjoy it but this is primarily a sonic fanfic. This thing has turned into a multi character multi POV extravaganza building a hopefully believable world consisting of freedom fighters and multi dimensional portals. I apologize for things I've missed editing but I try and fix things I find going back. Later chapters are better than the first ones, this is my first fic. If you like crack drama taken seriously or parental fics (like Sally adopting Tails), this may be up your ally. Thanks to all the others who write fanfics, this is my contribution back to the community. As always with me, commenting is not necessary but deeply appreciated as it is a HUGE motivation and it helps me when people spit back what they like or didn't or what they understood. Helps me write future chapters. This fic is mostly improvisation though so it's not going to be perfect, it just needs to be believable (as it's gotten really complicated to keep track of 50 something characters, Sonic has so many characters! ) and so far I think I've achieved believable enough. - Xen Traveler

Chapter 1: Nobody rides for free

She was cold... no… it wasn't cold, it was numb. Alyx Vance had been floating in this empty void for, she didn't know... It could have been days... maybe weeks… or even longer, she couldn't tell. It was so dark, she couldn't even tell if her eyes were open or closed. She gave a depressive sigh, her mind endlessly wandering as she floated endlessly.

The last day she remembered had been wild, she had trekked through City 17's quarantine zone to rescue her dad. He had gotten captured by the Combine's Overwatch division. After an adventure through condemned subway tunnels, she managed to intercept and derail his transport train. When she had finally caught up to him, she learned the reason he had been targeted in the first place. He had found The Combine were keeping a survivor of Black Mesa incident in stasis, hidden in a vault floating above the quarantine zone. Dad thought it was his friend from Black Mesa, Gordon Freeman; they were wrong…

Whatever he was... it wasn't human... it looked human, but... the way he talked... It was like he had an alien accent? Like some otherworldly being had been uncomfortably shoved in a human skin suit. As thanks, the strange being had offered her what had first sounded like a wish. He had not been able to grant her wish though, removing the Combine from Earth was too big of a "Nudge". He did offer her something she didn't even know she wanted though... Alyx hugged her knees, curling into a ball as she started shaking. She had been shown the moment of her fathers death… The strange man had then given her the opportunity to change the future, a new possibility… Her act had saved his life... That act had come at a terribly high price though… Her saving the alien man hadn't been enough compensation…

She slowly continued shaking, she wanted to cry. She had been so angry at first, now she was doing all she could to blink back tears. As payment for transporting her through time to save her father, the alien man had then offered her employment that she couldn't refuse. After their deal, he left her alone, suspended in this dark void; she hated the dark...

She just wanted to go home and see her dad. She missed bantering with Russel as he guided her through the quarantine zone, she enjoyed his jokes and ramblings on what life had been like before the Combine's invasion. She tightened her grip, hugging her knees to her chest. She missed Dog, she had just finished upgrading him too... It's not like he'd need food, he was a robot after all... Hopefully Dr. Kleiner would keep him company. She wilted a little, missing her patchwork family.

She sighed, uncurling; the exhaustion was overwhelming. She had gone through so many emotions, her mind felt like a frayed rope. Bouts of rage and desperation had turned into boredom and depression. She wasn't dead, at least she didn't think so. She continued to wait, the void drifting her forward. She froze. Wait, she thought. She was drifting forward… this was different.

*CRACK*

*ZAP*

Her heart thumped as the sound of thunder echoed around her as a wave of energy seemed to pass through her, shaking her being.. "Hello?" Her voice strained, cracking from the lack of use. The emptiness around her transitioned to a starfield, particles of light slowly flowing by her as the sound of slow whirring materialized around her.

"Goood morning Ms. Vance." An all too familiar voice echoed. The sound of his footsteps materialized, circling around her. He faded into reality, his pace slow and methodical. He was wearing the same blue old world suit and tie. A pale complexion contrasted sharp fluorescent eyes. She could see the wrinkles on the middle aged man's clean shaven face. He had the grin of a predator, stories of a wolf in sheep's clothing nagging her thoughts. "I hope these accommodations haven't been too... harshhh, I must apologize-"

A fury flared in her. "I want to go home!" She snapped, cutting him off.

He paused, giving her a pensive look. A look of pity crossed his face. "That would be... unwise... Ms. Vance." He continued his stride, folding his arms behind his back.

Rage flared in her eyes, her tongue about to lash. Her mind went unnaturally still as if someone just tuned a radio to static.

"You… will let me finish." He coldly uttered, he came to rest in front of her. "Like it or not, more then one... world? restsssss on what you do next. Besides…" He smirked. "If you go home now... what's to prevent that infection of yours from spreading?"

Her mind cleared of the fog. Shaking the haziness away, she began processing his words. "Wait." She winced. "what infection?" She asked. "What are you talking about?"

A malicious smile tugged at his lips, his eyes growing dark. "That was quite the trek through the quarantine zone you haaaad, that poor creature... Jeff you called him?" The smile crept into a sneer. "Crushed him in a trash compactor! Ha, nasty bit of work, I might add… You do know how to get thingsss done." A wild and excited look crossed his face. "Nasty miasma he let off, hmm?" a look of mock concern crossed his face. "It even had It's own hazard suittt! You had nothinggg to protect yourself!"

She froze, a blank look of horror crossing her visage. Her mind raced back to the distillery, remembering the Combine hazmat team, dead on the floor. Fungal biomass covered the walls of the facility as the only survivor stumbled blindly, infected with some sort of Xen parasite. Images of the things split head flooded her mind, stumbling blindly through the bowels of the building. She could remember it hunting for headcrabs and other fauna to consume, spewing black bile upon its victims. She shuddered as a pit of dread started in her gut, a cold tugging her core down. The sinking cold feeling started to overtake her. She wavered as her eyes met his glowing pupils "How… How do you know anything about that?!" The dread was turning to panic. "That guy Larry! Lary was living in there just fine!" Her attempt to comfort herself wasn't working. It felt like the warmth of life was being drained from her, leaving her crushed, cold and alone.

He ignored her statements. "Quite a place to just be… Mmmm… walking around? Hm? They don't call it a quarantiiiine zone for nothing Ms. Vance..." He started pacing as his eye contact never seemed to waver from her. "I am not per-se... against you Ms. Vance." He swallowed, clearing his throat then turned to face her head on, clasping his hands in front of himself. "How about we make a deal that is... mutually beneficial?"

She felt uneasy and she shifted her feet as her stomach starting to hurt, she crossed her arms over her gut. "How… How d-do I know you're telling the truth?" Her voice wavered. Suddenly there was a building pressure in her chest and she started coughing, spores spewing forth from her throat. Her skin started to crawl as her vision became spotty. She could make out the spore spewing cysts that adorned Jeff forming on her arms and she started to panic. "Stop it! PLEASE STOP!" She shrieked, beginning to hyperventilate. In an instant, her breath cleared as the spore cloud faded. Her arms were normal. Slowly shaking, she took a deep breath, the sinking feeling increasing. She swallowed, her mouth dry as she grimaced. "F-fine." She took another hesitant breath. "Of all the things you've done, from teleportation to time travel... you can fix this, right?" She let out a choked sob "What do you want from me?"

He smirked and the black void faded around her. She was now in a train passenger car, shapeless lights fading by in the windows. His eyes seemed to flash with excitement. "Wonderful, please take a seat Ms. Vance." He said, gesturing to a window side table.

Not breaking eye contact, she hesitantly made her way to the table, taking a seat. Breathing deeply, she slumped, wiping away the buildup of tears with her palm. "So what's the catch? What do you want from me? What do I have to do for you to fix this?"

He sat down across from her, clasping his hands, a dark grin on his face. "Nobody rides for free, hm?" His expression got serious. "I have a rogue investment, I neeeed your help to reclaim. A doctor Julian Kintober was supposed to prepare a hidden colony, but in my... confinement... he seems to have gone rogue." The alien man hesitated. "It has been... detrimental, on the indigenous species." He shifted uncomfortably. "I want you to help reclaim the losssst potential, and repair the relationship between Humans and... the indigenous Mobians..."

Her heart skipped a beat, slowly leaning back in her chair. "There's somewhere else we can go? a colony? Maybe even just to recover?" The realization shook her.

He met her hesitant gaze. "There is. However, as I said previously… it is at risssk. The man appointed ambassador for his technological prowess has crowned himself king. He ravages the natural resources and native species, similar to how the Combine ravage erm... Earth..."

She frowned, getting a serious look. "Ok... few things... Who is this Julian guy and where did you find him?" She looked at him confused. "Can't you see the future? How could you miss this if he is destroying your plan?"

He frowned, looking out the window. "Our vision is limited, even more so on those who traverse the multiverse. The number and severity of the boundaries crossed, the more obscure the individual becomes." He glanced back at her. "Aperture Science and their employees crossed many thresholds. Dr. Julian used to be at their employee. I met him after he had defected to Black Mesa. We struck a deal, the life of him and his nephew Colin... for being the technological ambassador to Earth." He shifted in his seat. "We knew there was risk but... choosing him should not have led to thissss." The alien man frowned. "Our sight showed there should have been another man, but he never showed up..."

She looked down, her face scrunching. "That, name's ringing a bell, Dad used to work with him at Black Mesa… He hated him…" She looked up, a pensive look on her face. "So... if he's been as bad as the Combine..." She took a breath, wincing. "What exactly do you want me to do?"

He tilted his head. "Simple Ms. Vance. I want you to deliver a message for me... Prepare for unforeseen consequences... It would do good to work with the local Mobian insurgent group as well. After that? Prepare the way for your former kin... they won't be too far behind..." Tilting his head down to his watch, he rested his free hand in his jacket's pocket.

She looked out the window, the Xen like landscape was amazing. They were flying by giant crystalline structures. The nebula in the backdrop was breathtaking, it was hard to believe any of this was real. "I guess it's good to know there is hope for us... if we can get away from the suppression field..." A nagging thought hit her. Her head snapped, looking at him. "Wait, what do you mean by former kin?"

He cleared his throat. "My err, employers have authorized something... unusual... to fix your growing problem and to help you better relate to the local populace. You will be given a body they will trust more than a human. We... fear the locals would kill any human on site at this point."

She could hear what he was saying but... she couldn't move or speak. The pit of dread started returning. His image distorted in front of her, everything starting to stretch. She got up from the table, her balance shot.

"In a multiversal sense, it is still your body... just, Mobian?" He echoed. "Use the chance well Ms. Vance... Your former kin depend on your success." He started walking away, a door forming in front of him. He paused, looking over his shoulder. "Play your cards right Ms. Vance, you could see your father very soon." He exited, the door of light closing behind him. The world seemed to tilt on its axis.

*SLAM*

Her head cracked against a table as she spun to the floor. Laying sprawled on the ground she groaned. Her vision was tunneling, she rolled over, clutching her gut. "Oh man..." She wheezed, her ears ringing. "That doesn't feel good at all!" A sharp pain pierced her stomach. She spammed, clutching her gut she vomited on the ground.

The ringing in her ears grew as she grasped for anything, trying to pull herself up as her vision spun. She blacked out. Opening her eyes, it was dark. She glanced to the side, it looked like she was still in the train car. The colors outside were no longer the blues and purples of the nebula, it seemed to be a sickly red. Her vision slowly focusing, she wobbled and groaned as she got to her feet. Something felt different... She shook her head, the haze muddling her thoughts. The memories slowly started to trickle back, the alien man's solution to her sickness surfaced and the sinking feeling returned.

She took stock of her surroundings, her eyes landing on a restroom sign to the far end of the car. Dashing forward she skid on her sickness; catching herself mid stride, she yanked the sliding door open. Stepping in, she reflexively pulled the door shut hard. "AHHH!" She cried as it slammed. She crumpled forward feeling like someone had lit her spine on fire, punching her in the lower gut. Dazed, she looked behind herself only to notice a fluffy orange tail extending from her rear. It was caught in the door frame. Blinking back tears, she maneuvered back to open the door, pulling her tail gently from the frame. She had a fluffy tail that was a bright orange transitioning to deep black. There was a bend right at the transitioning tip, it was crooked and didn't look right. That couldn't be good. Wincing she touched it and twitched at the fire like pain... not really knowing what to do, she could at least tell it shouldn't be bent like that. She took a deep breath and *POP* "GRRRR!" The guttural cry came from her throat as her knees buckled she tumbled forward, catching herself on the sink. She turned her stance to examine new tail, it wasn't fully straight but it looked better...

She had a tail! Closing her eyes she grabbed her face, her eyes crushing closed as she started shaking with panic. She needed to ground herself! Panic attacks weren't allowed! In the age of the Combine, Panic attacks only got people killed! Dropping to a squat she hugged herself, dipping her head between her knees. Her eyes closed as she began taking deep breaths. She was safe for now, at least she thought she was. She seemed human enough, at least she was still a biped. Trying to focus on reality, she winced. Her senses seemed stronger; she could smell the old metal around her, the wind outside causing the container to groan and creak.

Alyx steeled herself, her eyes closed as she faced the sink. "Don't freak out, don't get mad or depressed, just..." A terrifying thought struck her and her face fell to dejection. She wavered, as tears came to her closed eyes. "What if dad doesn't believe it's me... what if..." Her grip on the sink intensified straining the bolts holding it to the wall as she started shaking. "No! Don't think like that! He won't stop loving you!" She choked as she brought a sleeve up to wipe the tears from her scrunched eyes.

Steeling her nerves once more she slowly opened her eyes, looking upon her reflection in the dim light. Short fur covered her face, her mouth was a short muzzle. Her ears had migrated to the top of her head, poking out from in front of her headband. Her hair was still jet black, matching the tip of her tail, ears and hands. She seemed to have a white patch crawling from her neck to the tip of her chin. Her green eyes looked the same, maybe a little bigger. For the most part she looked like one of the old animals from earth but on two legs, like one of the picture books she had grown up with. "So this is a Mobian?" She questioned. Getting closer, she poked one of her ears watching it flick back. Her mind wandered as she tried to remember different pictures and names from the books she read as a kid. Fox, she looked like some sort of bipedal fox.

She was still wearing her Black Mesa hoodie with leather jacket on top. Her blue jeans were still just as dirty, being held up with a leather belt. Her backpack was still on her back, full of all her junk. Russel's gravity gloves still adorned her hands but his headset was now around her neck. She took it off, examining it and turning it in her hands. It didn't look like it would fit where her ears were anymore. She put it back around her neck, she was going to miss Russel... She could hear faint static out of the ear-cups. Maybe she could re-purpose the radio circuitry? She took a deep breath, holding it… and exhaled. "Ok Alyx…" She watched her face in the dim light of the mirror, her eyes narrowing as her ears seemed to turn back and flatten. "Figure out where this is and where to go." She muttered.

Exiting the restroom, she looked out the train car's window. A heavy haze was outside, tinting the sunset a deep orange. "The pollution here seems worse then back home..." She muttered. Her dad had told her of how the old cities would have orange sunsets, a byproduct of all the hydrocarbons burned. The Combine had never been a fan of fossil fuels, they used dark matter reactors for most of their energy needs. The Combine loved to drain the oceans of water though, taking the Earth's most prized resource. She shook her head. "Back on track, need to focus!"

She exited the passenger car into what looked to be an old train graveyard. In the distant skyline, she could see smoke stalks spewing black soot from the cityscape. A bitter scent hung in the air. The humidity that clung to her made her new skin itch. "This place may be more toxic than the quarantine zone back home..." She mumbled. Hundreds of dilapidated cars were stacked around her, a few hundred meters in front of her was a wire fence.

Kneeling down she swung her backpack forward. Taking a deep breath she opened her bag and started taking stock of what she had. First she pulled her homemade multitool; activating it, the holo projector came alive. Good, the micro reactor still worked; she clipped the tool she had made from a micro cassette recorder to her belt. She still had her fabricator upgraded pistol; the modified 1911 looked to have 18 in the magazine. Looks like she had 54 spare cartridges across 6 magazines for the firearm. Her sawed off shotgun had a total of 10 rounds with 5 in the mag. She had 4 Combine made syringes, each full of Xen healing water. She heard a cry of chirps and winced; pulling out a clear polymer tube, she still had a live antlion grub... There probably weren't any Combine med stations she could use it at. That thing could not get out... She would need to deal with it or risk the whole ecosystem here... She shuttered, thinking how the antlions had killed most of Earth's native animals. Carefully putting the grub back, she found her liberated compact pulse rifle with 8 full 30 round dark matter containers. She heard a clink and pulled two bottles of the vodka she had grabbed for Russel when she was at the distillery.

Rifling through her bag's secondary pocket she found her grenades, or her lack of fragmentation grenades... and abundance of Xen flora spore pods... She almost felt ill, they weren't the parasite but she had to get rid of these things somehow... She didn't want to be around Xen spores anymore. Burning them probably wouldn't do anything more then setting them off. Slinging her bag back on her back she started to hunt through the random garbage around her, looking for something to contain the pods. Managing to find a plastic barrel with its lid intact, she carefully loaded the spore cysts in and started to seal the top.

*CRACK*

She flinched as thunder started to rumble in the distance, it started drizzling rain. Her breath returned to calm as she continued to seal the container. She continued to work as the sound of the rain started to slap against the metal around her, the air getting a metallic scent.

"HALT MOBIAN!" A robotic voice boomed.

Alyx froze, her head darting towards the sound. A tall blue bipedal robot stood just meters away, its wrist leveled towards her. The plastic barrel filled with dangerous spores the only thing between them.

"SURRENDER TO BE ROBOTICIZED OR FACE LETHAL FORCE!" It ordered as the scent of the bitter rain was starting to intensify. She leapt back, it opened fire grazing her leg through the barrel. She screamed, managing to slide behind a nearby concrete barrier. In the heat of the crossfire the plastic barrel lit up, rupturing with the agitation of the spore pods. It spewed its contents skyward, the cloud dissipating as it was cut by the rain. The blast threw the robot meters away, it landed in a trash heap.

"UHHHG!" She clenched, her teeth straining as she could smell burnt hair and plastic. She could feel the skin still burning on her thigh as the itching sensation she was being drenched in increased. She grasped for the Combine antimatter rifle and leveled it at the crumpled form of the robot. Pulling the trigger it refused to unlock... "Of all the times! WHY BREAK NOW!" She seethed. A cold realization shook her, Russell had told her these were genetically locked to the original user, new body meant new genetics.

Her ears twitched towards the sound of the robot in the distance, "WARNING, FAIL- FAILURE TO COOPERATE WILL RESULT- RESULT- RESULT- LETHAL- LETHAL- FORCE." It's synthesized voice glitching as the sound of scraping metal against stone drew near.

Wanting to end this quickly, she grabbed for the shotgun in her open bag on the ground and opened the breach. The gun's modified side magazine inserted the rounds into the main magazine, the little arm swift in its motion. She closed it, cycling the action to load a round. She looked over the barrier to see the robot split at the torso crawling towards her, she also noticed the dissipating spore cloud looming over where the barrel had been. She groaned. "COME ON! I was trying to prevent that!" She snapped as her frustration bleed through. She noticed the robot stop crawling and lifting its wrist to aim at her. She slid back behind the barrier as the sound of blaster fire lit up the concrete divider.

"CALLING- CALLING- BA BACKUP-" It glitched as the sound of it scraping its body against the gravel continued.

Her heart jumped at what it said. Clutching her wound she dove through the pain, rolling from cover. She lined up her shot. *BOOM* The head of the robot exploded. As it crumpled, she crumpled with it. She was clutching her ears, blinking tears from her eyes. Her ears were ringing harder than they ever had. She was used to gunfire but this was ridiculous! She felt ill... Gathering herself up she limped over to the robot, or what was left of it.

It was bigger then her and human shaped, what was left of its head showed it had a red visor for an eye on what used to be a domed head. minimal armor protected the joints, she didn't see the legs. winching and kneeling down, she grabbed the hand that seemed to be shooting lasers, turning it over. Maybe she could make a weapon with it? Her guns worked but if that was an indicator, they were now way too loud for comfort. Grabbing her backpack, she put her shotgun back and pulled out her pistol. Glancing down, she also picked up and stowed the now useless pulse rifle, maybe it would come in handy if she could hack the lock.

The ringing in her ears was starting to subsiding, glancing around she made sure there weren't any more robots. Examining the joint of the arm, she lay down perpendicular to it and aimed her gun. Trying to make herself as straight and thin as possible she tucked her chin to avoid any shrapnel. Preparing herself for the headache she winced, pulling the trigger. *BANG* Twitching violently, she held her head as the ringing came back, It might have been worse than a grenade. She shook off the feeling. Turning to pull herself up on her elbows, she grabbed the now severed arm, shoving it in her bag as she got to her feet. She needed to find or make a different weapon.

Steadying herself, her head was still ringing. She slung her bag on her back after putting her things away, starting to move for the fence. As she jogged, she debated on using a stimpack injection. Biting her cheek she powered on, she didn't want to waste one if she didn't need to, It felt like it was just a burn. As she moved, her adrenaline slowly numbed the pain to a throb. She began to run towards the fence separating the junkyard from the rest of the city. On the other side there looked to be an industrial district, tall factory buildings filled her view. Carefully she scaled the fence making her way over. With warehouses on both sides, she trudged forward. She needed to find where she was and a place to sleep for the night.

Chapter 1 end

Author's notes: Hey anyone who is reading this, hope you enjoy this. This is more just ideas that have been bouncing around my think space for a while. I do not know how many times iv re-written this in different forms. There aren't enough SatAM fanfics or Half-life fanfics so I wanted to correct that. Thought hey what would happen if the freedom fighters met the resistance? Anyways... this is more just putting stuff down on type and maybe giving back to the community that has entertained me since high school. Hope it brings you some joy. I do not have a set update schedule as work is work and life are things that happen. I hope to continue though... Comments even negative ones that are constructive are appreciated but not necessary. let me know if my grammar needs work, I am gifted more in technical writing then creative. I apologize for wrong use of commas or other punctuation. I use text to speech and "if it sounds correct" for editing and I guess this story is practice. Currently I have 4 chapters trying to be around 3k words each and I am editing / rewriting and of course writing new chapters.

Author's notes 2: This next part is across the whole work. Please do not re-post to other sites without explicit permission. This work does not intend to infringe on any copyright, this work does not make any sort of money and if anything is intended as keeping fan communities alive online. If either Valve Software or SEGA want this taken down off the website then full permission is given. I own no characters I guess except fan characters, and fan characters are fan characters so I don't care too much, this is a hobby but I may use them as remixes in other media or maybe original media some day, who knows. Please support the official release.