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Shepard stood naked in Breen's personal bathroom, in front of the sink. His appearance had changed drastically in his twenty-year absence. His skin was incredibly pale and palled. Long, curly, black hair hung down to his neck, matted to his skin. He turned on the faucet, and filled the basin with lukewarm water, dunking his head in. After a moment he withdrew, flinging drops of water everywhere. He struggled with the clean clothes Breen had provided him, as they were almost two sizes too small. Finally, he managed to pull them on, and stepped back.
He walked outside, to the combine elite; his personal escort.
"Come on, we're going to the armory," The elite said gruffly, walking off. Shepard followed. He tried to memorize the route as they went along, but virtually every corridor was alike. Just more of the dull, drab, black metal. Shepard frowned, but kept going. Eventually, the elite stopped.
"Here we are. You have been given permission to take whatever you need," The elite said. Shepard nodded, and went inside. He was confronted with rows and rows of weapons. The elite followed him in, and began walking down the rows. Shepard realized he was explaining what each gun was.
After ten minutes, Shepard knew almost everything about each weapon. He knew what type of ammunition to use, how many modes of fire there were, and how to field strip and clean each in under a minute. He selected a Combine issue pulse rifle, a magnum revolver, and long-range rifle. He turned to the elite.
"What do you do for food around here?" Before his guide could respond, a massive explosion shook the room. Shepard stumbled, but managed to keep his feet.
"What the hell was that?" He screamed, while the elite barked into his radio. He turned to Shepard.
"It's Freeman! He's inside the Citadel!"
"Shit!" Shepard yelled, expecting to have a few hours at least, before going after Freeman. He cursed again, and followed the elite, who was already sprinting away. They rushed down the hallways, Shepard managing to keep the pace. Despite being completely unmoving for twenty years, his muscles had not atrophied. Even so, the elite was much faster.
The elite pulled ahead, disappearing behind a corner. Shepard reached it several seconds later, and saw that his guide was gone. He stopped, attempting to catch his breath. Walking ahead, he saw the path end. It branched off into two different pathways, each leading into several more.
"Shit."
Barney stepped into the courtyard, directly in front of the train station. He was alone, having used his metro-cop uniform to sneak in. Seeing the two door guards with their backs to him, he drew his Glock, and silently stalked forward. When he was close enough, he lifted the weapon, and fired once. The shot tore through the back of the first guard's neck, his second shot dropping the other guard. He grinned.
"MOVE IN!" He yelled, whirling around at the sound of gunfire. Several metro-cops had moved in and, seeing Barney, opened up. He ducked into an alcove, popping off a few shots and tearing off his gas mask. He looked up, to see several resistance fighters rushing forward. Barney grinned, and signaled for them to set up a position. They did, and a firefight ensued.
The metro-cops were quickly overwhelmed, most of their experience coming from beating up winos and fighting gangs. They were not prepared for an organized assault. Barney walked across the courtyard, his soldiers following. A bullet panged off the wall near his head, and he ducked down. He raised the Glock, and emptied the magazine. The metro-cop in the alcove ahead dropped.
Barney stood up, and marched straight through, slapping a new magazine in and kicking open the door to the detention center. He shot the guard inside, and walked to the first door. He opened it, to find the room empty, aside from a gun rack. Moving to the next door down, he discovered it was locked. He went back to the first room, to the gun rack.
"Load up!" He yelled, grabbing a shotgun and filling it with shells. He grabbed a handful of extras, and walked back to the second room. He presses the barrel up against the knob, and fired. The knob flew off, the door flying open. Two metro-cops inside went down with one blast. Barney entered, walking to the cell at the far end of the room. Four men and two women huddled in the far corner, looking battered and beaten. They had hope in their eyes now.
"Need some help?" Barney asked with a grin. He shut off the force field, letting them out, "Somebody get these people some guns!" He called. He was obliged, and soon they were all loaded up, with several thanks.
Barney and the soldiers went from cell to cell, killing metro-cops and freeing prisoners. Soon, he had assembled a formidable army. He led them to the train station, the twenty-five men and women overwhelming the four door guards, and the sniper up above.
"All right men, this is it. Every single one of these bastards will be in here, holed up. They'll be afraid, making them far more dangerous than usual. I don't want any heroes in here, but remember, these pricks are traitors to our entire race! They will show no mercy, so show them none in return! Gordon may be scoring a massive victory elsewhere, but this one is far more important! Waste 'em all!" He hooted, kicking down the door. Several metro-cops huddled near the far wall, taking cover behind benches, trashcans, whatever they could. Barney fired a blast, tossing one backward. His soldiers opened up, coating the walls and floor with bullet holes. Several cops fell, blood squirting every which way.
Barney stepped inside the room, ducking behind a bench. He raised the shotgun, and saw a gas mask, peeking up at him. He fired, blowing it away. Pumping the slide, he stepped to the side.
Shepard jogged down the corridor, trying to remember the way back to Breen's office. He felt he was doing a fairly good job, but he was not at all sure. A minute later, he was rewarded, when he saw the familiar wooden doors. He kicked them open, and stepped into a disaster zone.
Breen's desk was overturned, the chair flung into the window, sticking in the glass. A beam hung down from the ceiling, along with several bits of wire. Sparks flew, and the lights flickered. The carpet was in flames, but not spreading to the rest of the floor.
Shepard cursed, and stepped into the room. He shook his head, brushing the annoyingly long hair from his eyes. Walking to the other end of the office, he saw the main doors, dangling from their hinges. Somebody had detonated something in this office, likely a packet of C4. Figured; Shepard had gotten the impression that Breen wasn't well-liked.
Even so, Shepard would need the scientist for now, being his only link to Gordon Freeman and the others. He cursed under his breath, and set off down the corridor. As soon as he cleared the doors, a second explosion sounded, throwing him back into the office. He crashed through the desk, and blacked out.
Barney leapt over the turnstile, entering the main lobby. He gunned down two metro-cops, and ducked behind a flower pot. He peeked over, to see the resistance fighters peppering the area with bullet holes. Several cops fell back. Barney looked across the room, to see Jensen, hiding behind a bench.
"Jensen! Gimme a grenade!" He yelled. Jensen felt around in his pockets, producing one. He threw it at Barney, who caught it out of the air. He armed it, and lobbed it over the pot, throwing it into the subway tunnel. It exploded, killing several cops.
"Move up!" Barney shouted. He stood up, when a massive explosion shook the area. Barney lost his footing, hitting the floor and covering his head. After several minutes, the explosion stopped. Barney looked up, to see a large piece of shrapnel sticking out of the floor, just a foot away from his head. Cringing, he surveyed the rest of the area. The train station was destroyed. Rubble lay strewn about the floor, bodies covered in blood. Jensen was impaled to the floor, a table leg through his stomach. No one in the room had survived, clearly. Barney let a tear flow down his cheek, and walked into the tunnel.
A groan stopped him. He whirled around, to see a metro-cop, struggling to get out from under a beam. He leveled the Glock, and fired one shot. The cop stopped moving.
Shepard peeled himself from the window, feeling several glass shards still in him. Two combine elites entered the room.
"What the hell is going on?" Shepard demanded. The elites shook their heads. One of them stepped forward.
"Gordon Freeman infiltrated the Citadel. We apprehended him, and took him here. We believe Doctor Breen escaped, but Freeman was able to pursue him. He killed Doctor Breen, and escaped, along with Alyx and Eli Vance."
Shit! Shepard thought. Three of my targets, helpless and captured, and Breen let them escape!
"Is Freeman still on site?" He asked, out loud.
"We don't know, Sir," The elite responded. Shepard growled, and fingered the Magnum. Before the elites knew what he was doing, he had placed a bullet in each ocular device, dropping them. He holstered the Magnum, and turned to the window. He would not be needing the Combine, now that Breen was gone. This was his vendetta, and part of it was already finished.