Battle filled my ears when I came back into consciousness, mixed with cries from Alyx for me to wake up. When I finally managed to pry my eyes open, I saw she was nearly on top of me, and here eyes were shiny, as if she'd been crying. When she saw that I had awoken, she looked away to wipe her eyes then turned back to me.
"Gordon, I-… I didn't… I…." She stuttered, and then just collapsed, digger her face into my chest. I rested my hand in her hair and even through the glove I could tell she hadn't had a shower in awhile. I, of course, was in no position to judge personal hygeine, however.
Suddenly the whole tower shook and I brought my head up in time to see the world leaning, about to turn on it's side. Alyx pushed up on her hands and turned around to see, but I grabbed her and held her tight as we rolled into the wall. Alyx quickly jumped from my arms and pulled me through the hole in the floor where the stairs were supposed to fit before the top portion could fall over entirely. The wall was warped from being stretched and the stairs had twisted in a way that made me feel a bit queasy as I ran down them.
From the second level I could more easily see the battle raging on outside. Small human airboats were carving through the ice, pelting the combine assault copters with turret-fire. Every few seconds a rocket from the deck of the Borealis would fly through the air into the side of a gunship or a troopship or just continue on towards the night sky. On the deck, the battle was hectic; Rebels and Combine were deploying right next to each other, trying to simultaneously fire and jump from whatever ship was carrying them. The stream of troops from both sides continued unabated, as combine troopships and foreign-looking helicopters carried soldiers into the fray.
My examination of the battle was cut short as a tug came at my arm- Alyx pulled me out of the trajectory of an incoming rocket. Rather than tear me apart, it continued onwards through the broken windows and into the night.
"Gordon, use your rocket launcher and help with the helicopters!" Alyx shouted as she leaned through the window and shot down a Combine soldiers. She ducked just as a flurry of bullets peppered the panel she was hiding behind, and, looking back at me, saw from my expression that I had lost the rocket launcher.
A combine helicopter, intent on flushing Alyx and I out of the bridge poured a stream of lead into the already structurally failing tower as it circled around, trying to find a shot. Suddenly a rocket, fired from a spot we couldn't see collided with its tail, sending it spinning out of control, directly for the bridge we were hiding in. I opened my mouth to warn Alyx, but the helicopter was closer than I thought- it collided with the top right side of the tower which at first simply caused the bridge to level out, but the momentum pushed it just out of balance and the already-weakened bridge began to tip the other way. Alyx and I didn't manage to get out. We were trapped as the whole bridge fell on its side, where it teetered precariously on the ship's edge, then slid off the ship entirely.
I was sure we were going to die. I held onto Alyx tightly, as I had done before, in the hope that at least she would come out in one piece. It was a rough ride, and the bits of glass that swirled around in the night wind cut my cheeks and made tiny holes in the HEV suit that were soon repaired. I hit the wall of the overturned bridge and lost my breath, but I was otherwise unscathed.
I thought the worst was over when the bridge fell onto the ice, but it proved to be too much to bear, and just as Alyx began to thank me for protecting her from the fall, the ice caved and we were plunged into the cold water.
My instincts told me to get the hell out of there, and I followed them at first- but just as I came to the window, the water rising above my head, I turned and saw Alyx floating limp in the water. I swam as fast as I could , chilled to the bone despite the HEV suit's best attempts to regulate my body temperature, praying I could get her out of the water before she died.
Holding her limp form over my shoulder, I pushed against the heavy water. I was nearly out of breath, and my swimming turned violent, my lungs burning more fiercely every minute. I took the biggest breath of my life when I finally managed to reach the surface, but I still didn't stop swimming. I pushed Alyx onto the ice, pushing myself down under the water again before I pulled myself up.
I saw she was still breathing and let the stale air out of my lungs. She was still out of it, though, so I carefully draped her over my shoulder again and pulled my pistol from my belt, along with a single flair. I kept a lookout for one of the strangely-marked helicopters as I trudged away from the Borealis, praying a stray bullet or a speeding airboat didn't cut me down.
Spotting a fleeing helicopter, I fired a flair in its path. The transport swerved to avoid it, then turned around. It hovered for a moment in the air then slowly came towards me. I could see our reflection in the tinted windshield. Alyx looked dead, and I looked not long for this world myself. After a tense few minute wait, it hovered just above the ice next to me. The door slid open and I saw a familiar face appear; it was Barney. He was clutching his arm just below the shoulder, and I saw the familiar stain of crimson blood just below his hand.
"Gordon! Thank god, I thought you might've drowned or- is that Alyx? Damnit, get it here!" he said as a bullet bounced off the windshield. I carefully obliged, lifting her into a seat in the helicopter and climbing in after her. The door shut behind me after I got in and suddenly the battle sounded far away.
"Hell, Gordon, she need a doctor. Her head's all cold and she's turning blue. Look, I'm no good in a fight right now- damn Combine got me in the arm. I'll make sure Alyx is okay, and you make sure those damn Combine don't get a hold of the Borealis." He said. I wouldn't have had time to object even if I wanted to. Within a few seconds we were hovering over the edge of the Borealis, Barney forcing me out the door. I looked to the stump of twisted metal where the bridge had been and figured I was on the port side, near the bow of the ship.
As if on cue, A Combine dropship pulled up to the ship 10 feet to my left- I tossed a grenade and jumped behind the nearest cargo container, bracing my arm to increase my accuracy. The grenade went off just after the first jumped out, sending him head-first into a container. The second man was propelled into the air, and the 3rd man fell between the dropship and the Borealis as the grenade pushed the giant creature back.
I fired at the creature's stomach, about where the metal troop carrier connected with its skin, and was surprised to see it sort of buck as another man attempted the jump. His left leg caught the edge of the ship, but the rest of him pulled it over the edge. The creature regained its compsosure for a minute, so I fired an energy ball at it. The ball bounced between the troop carrier and the creature's soft stomach, leaving bloody, burning marks with each bounce. The creature limped back over to the ship and miscalculated the height it needed for it to clear the edge- it hit the edge hard, and the front half of the troop carrier fell, pulling a large metal bar out of the creature's skin. I could see the other bar that held the carrier pulling its skin on the back of its stomach, and fired relentlessly, tearing up the skin. As my Assault Rifle automatically reloaded, the bar broke free and the metal carrier fell, breaking through the ice, sealing the combine inside to a watery grave.
I barely heard the faint sound of footsteps in between the sounds of battle and wheeled around. A Rebel was limping towards me, blood flowing freely from a hole in his leg. He had a Rocket Launcher propped on his shoulder, pointed at the floor.
"Doctor Freeman! Do-" he called, but was stopped mid-sentence as a combine assault copter gunned him down. The rifle spun around towards me, and grazed the back of my ankle. I ignored the pain and dove toward the Rebel's body. I grabbed the Launcher mid-roll and fired a shot as I stood. It seemed wildly off, but I quickly guided the laser back onto the helicopter, causing the rocket to swoop around and explode under the helicopter's cockpit. It didn't seem to do much damage to the helicopter, but it stilled spun out of control, presumably because I'd killed the pilot.
I went on the move towards the bridge, keeping my eye open for spare rockets. Most of the fighting was concentrated at the bow, so I thankfully didn't encounter any combine as I ran with a slight limp from the helicopter.
As I moved, I fired another rocket and guided it into a helicopter already preoccupied with an airboat below. The helicopter remained under control, but it stopped for a moment during which the Tao cannon tore up its propeller, causing it to crash into the Borealis and slid down, sending sparks in every direction as it ground against the hull.
I was out of rockets now, but it looked like the stream of helicopters had ceased. I stole a quick glance at the ice below, and was taken aback by the carnage. An airboat was there with half a rebel, a splotchy trail of blood lead up to the smoking remains. A helicopter had torn the cage apart, along with the unfortunate driver.
My limp went away as the HEV suit repaired the tissue on my ankle, and I decided the airboats would have to handle the rest of the helicopters, because I was out of rockets and tired of looking.
The starboard side of the ship was thick with fighting. I came up to the container maze and could hear the fight still raging on inside. Rather than make my way through, I jumped up and lifted myself on top of a container. Marking a path with my eyes, I sprinted along the top of the maze, surprising the few combine who managed to spot me before I got them. After ambushing a few small groups, they were watching the tops, and I was forced to jump down and assess the situation.
The sky was clear of helicopters, and the dropships had stopped. I heard a cheer from the back of the ship, and where one of the large beams of metal that had been part of the bridge before now held a makeshift, hole-filled flag with frayed edges and a few off-color patches. The flag was white, and bore a simple image of a human, colored in black in the center.
The battle was over. You couldn't walk more than 3 steps on the deck without stepping over a body, but even that was a small price to pay. Whatever weapon was aboard the ship was now just waiting for us to retrieve it.