Alright, this chapter will detail what was happening on Half-Life Earth after the previous Half-Life chapter in this collection. To be specific, this chapter takes place after the end of Half-Life 2: Episode 2. So, you could say this is my version of Episode 3... sort of.

Disclaimer: I do not own Half-Life, Halo, or any other franchise referenced in this story.

It had been a trying time for the Resistance. Though the Combine Citadel in City 17 had been destroyed, and thus their pathway to the rest of their Empire, the local Overwatch forces were still numerous in number.

A number of battles had been fought, culminating in the conflict at White Forest where the Resistance was able to keep the Combine from creating another Superportal from the Citadel ruins, albeit at the unfortunate loss of Eli Vance.

His daughter Alyx, unfortunately had little time to mourn, as she and Gordon Freeman still had a mission to meet up with Judith Mossman and find the Borealis, a legendary Aperture Science research vessel that had gone missing years ago.

Mossman's last report indicated that she and her team were up north, but it seemed that the Combine were on their trail, hoping to scour the research ship as well. The two Resistance heroes had headed north on the helicopter they recovered, before bad weather forced them to crash land and proceed on foot.

Unsurprisingly, Alyx had been rather sullen throughout their journey, as opposed to her usual fairly jovial mood. Gordon himself wasn't much better, but while Eli had been a good friend to him, Alyx had been his daughter; he could only imagine what kind of pain she was feeling.

Unfortunately, he couldn't do much to comfort her: Combine forces had noticed the crash and the duo were beset upon by Overwatch soldiers alongside escorts of Hunters, and the occasional gunship or Hunter-Chopper.

And throughout all this, Gordon was also distracted by what little Eli had told him about their 'mutual friend'. The image didn't paint a pretty picture, and considering Eli's death happened before he could reveal more, well... Gordon doubted it was a coincidence.

He didn't have much time to ponder these events, as the two allies made their way through the snowy landscape, eventually coming across the compound where Mossman had made her transmission.

Several Resistance fighters had stayed behind to cover her escape, and were close to being overrun by Combine soldiers backed by Hunters when Gordon and Alyx appeared, beating them back.

The soldiers within revealed that Mossman had headed in the direction of the Borealis, which wasn't too far away from where they were now. The heroes of the Resistance took a snowmobile in that direction, avoiding a number of zombies, Rollermines, and evading a Combine gunship that attempted to kill them.

Gordon eventually managed to shoot the Synth war machine down, and a few minutes later, the Borealis was in sight. Unfortunately, the Combine were crawling all over the ship, with Striders and Hunters patrolling around it.

Luckily, the Combine hadn't actually managed to really remove whatever tech was inside, which meant Gordon and Alyx still had a chance to meet up with Mossman and discuss their next move.

Her makeshift headquarters weren't much: it was a run down prefab building, likely used for research purposes prior to the Seven Hour War. Now, the Resistance had taken the place over, connecting to the nearby radio tower with enough power to contact White Forest.

It was here that Alyx and Gordon found Judith, who was in the middle of discussing things with Dr. Kleiner. A Vortigaunt was also present, standing off to the side as the two scientists spoke to each other. And it seemed Kleiner was telling Mossman about the unfortunate events at White Forest.

"Eli's dead?" She was clearly holding back tears. "No, it can't be true."

"It is." Alyx's monotone voice drew everyone's attention to their arrival. "We saw it happen personally."

"Alyx... I am so sorry." Judith approached the young woman, then hesitated, not sure whether or not put her hand on her shoulder or hug her. "He was a good man."

"Yeah. He was."

Silence reigned for a moment, as the full weight of Eli's loss sank in. Everyone present had been close to him in some way, and to lose him like this, just after one of their greatest victories was just unbearable.

"We'll have time to mourn Eli later." Gordon hated having to do this, but they needed to stay focused. "We need to know what the Combine want with the Borealis."

"Right." Mossman cleared her throat and wiped her eyes. "Yes, as I was calling to tell White Forest, I do have some news in that regard. I'm still not too sure what's onboard that ship, but the Combine managed to make contact with their Overworld again."

"What?!"

"Does that mean we have another superportal to deal with?" Gordon asked. Mossman shook her head.

"That's the strange thing." She walked over to a nearby terminal, keying up some data. "The transmission was cut off right after it started. And Ezekiel... well, you tell them." She gestured to the Vortigaunt standing to the side.

"The Shu'ulathoi, Advisors, cut the transmission off here." The Vortigaunt explained. "Peering through the Vortessence, we have caught glimpses of the other side. The Combine Overworld lies in ruins."

"So, the Combine is gone?" Kleiner asked, a modicum of hope.

"We can't be sure of that." Mossman said. "Not without more data. But considering the circumstances, I think it's safe to assume that the greater Universal Union as at least crippled for the moment."

"How is that possible?" Alyx interjected. "What could do something like this?"

"I can't be sure." The Vortigaunt said hesitantly. "But the Shu'ulathoi do not want it to follow them here."

"That's great news!" Kleiner exclaimed. "If this is true, then we have no need to fear Combine reinforcements."

"Perhaps, but we must be cautious." Magnusson walked onto the screen next to Kleiner. "If there is something that has crippled the Combine, then I don't think we want it anywhere near Earth."

"It also begs the question as to what the Combine forces still on planet will do now." Mossman added. "If they can't get reinforcements, well... a desperate enemy is a dangerous one."

Gordon was about to agree when the world froze. Everything became blurry as time stood still, an increasingly familiar sensation to the physicist as his so called 'benefactor' made his appearance.

"Doctor Freeman." The suited man appeared in the middle of Gordon's vision, spatially overlapping against everyone else. "I am... here with a warning for you. The Borealis... is a vessel of great power... one which certain... interested parties might wish to obtain. Now... time is very short... but-"

The G-Man paused in mid-sentence, which terrified Gordon, then the entity looked at something to his right, something Gordon couldn't see. "I'm afraid that I must... cut... this short, Doctor Freeman." If Gordon wasn't mistaken, the G-Man almost seemed... afraid.

The G-Man abruptly vanished, causing time to resume normally. Gordon shook his head, clearing it before looking around. It seemed no one had noticed his little conversation once more.

Still, this exchange only brought more confusion, as well as a spike of fear up Freeman's spine. It couldn't have been a coincidence that the G-Man had contacted him now. That man had been unflappable through everything that had happened. To hear him so worried about what was happening to the Combine, well... it wasn't a pleasant thought.

"Regardless, your mission has not changed." Magnusson's voice brought Gordon's attention back to the situation at hand. "We must ascertain what is on the Borealis and ensure that the Combine don't claim it."

And with that, the attention shifted back to the task at hand.

"We have a major problem."

"I take it you've heard the news."

"The Universal Union's been consumed by the Flood already. We didn't account for this."

"C'mon, we knew that was inevitable."

"It should've taken years at the minimum, not weeks! How the fuck did this happen?"

"I don't know! The Combine may have been bloated but they weren't stupid. Their destruction should've bought us more time... unless they had help from someone..."

"What? Who are you talking... Oh. That. Little. Shit!"

"I think I have an angry conversation to make in the near future."

"You and me both."

...

In a black featureless void, a rectangle of white light appeared out of thin air and a man wearing a suit and holding a briefcase stepped through the entrance. As soon as the doorway in space time closed, the G-man began walking away, with a quicker gait than usual for someone like him.

"Going somewhere?"

A voice emerged from his right. Young, male with a barely contained undertone of fury. A chill went through the G-man's essence as he turned to regard this familiar voice. He was leaning against an invisible wall with his arms crossed, clad in the armor he often wore whenever he went into direct combat.

"Indeed." The G-Man adjusted his tie. "I have some... business... to take care of-"

"It can wait." Another voice appeared behind the G-Man, causing him to turn and see another armored figure standing there as well. "We need to have a talk." The look on the Separatist Ruler's face was anything but friendly.

"More specifically," The G-Man turned again to the Republic Supreme Commander behind him, fury etched onto his visage. "on just what the hell you WERE THINKING?!"

"I don't... believe I know... what you are... talking about."

"Really?" The Separatist Ruler drawled. "So you didn't notice the fact that the Universal Union fell to the Flood in a matter of weeks? You had nothing to do with that?"

"I can... assure you, I... was not involved with that." The G-Man blinked as his briefcase disappeared from his hand.

"Judging by the evidence, I'd say you had involvement." The Supreme Commander had the G-Man's briefcase open and was looking through it. "In fact, the Gravemind contacted you specifically." Without warning, the Separatist Ruler had his hand wrapped around the G-Man's neck.

"Are you really surprised that thing betrayed you?" The Separatist Ruler lifted the man up. "It's been known to do that."

"You... cannot do this." The G-Man gasped. "My employers-"

"Have already been sealed away." The Supreme Commander replied. "It was either that or the Parasite, and they chose wisely."

"The question remains;" The Supreme Commander's glare turned back to the suited entity. "what should we do with you?"

Well, that's the end of that chapter. It's not much, I know, but I figured I'd add something to this for Half-Life. So if you were worried, you can rest assured knowing that the Half-Life Earth is safe from the Flood... for now anyway.

As a side note, I now have a Patr[e]on account under hunter 139, just as an FYI... man I really suck at advertising myself. Don't worry, I'm not going to lock any of my stories behind a paywall, but major patrons will get to read a new chapter one week prior to its release, or a sneak peak of events that will happen in a later story.

With all that said, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and reviews are always welcome.