4.

Gordon was right. The sunrise was just as good, if not better from the air. Alyx, Gordon, and Dr. Kleiner were all on the same helicopter, admiring the view.

"Well I haven't seen something this magnificent in ages. Thank goodness we can enjoy these things again!" Dr. Kleiner said with a smile.

"Don't get too used to it, Doc," replied Alyx, "we have a huge task on our hands. Who knows what we'll run into. Who knows what dangers we will face. Look what happened to dad!"

"Alyx.. you can't let that bother you... Think of all the other people they have killed! Think of all the families torn apart by this. There are children that will never see their parents again! Just be thankful that Gordon and Eli helped you and saved you, so that we all can help everyone else!"

This was the most energetic conversation Dr. Kleiner had taken part in since Eli's death. It obviously bothered him just as much as it did Alyx; Dr. Kleiner however knew and realized that he had to ignore it to get past the pain. This was something Alyx always had trouble with. When to let go... When to hold on... When to keep pushing until the end is close...

Gordon noticed a blip on the radar and called Barney on the radio. "Is this it, Barney? We're coming up on the place right now, aren't we?"

"Yeah, Gordon. This is it. We'll land right on the south side of that large building."

Turma Group had gotten some information about 2 weeks ago concerning a small makeshift lab in New Little Odessa. Their sources said that some people with inside information and some vortigaunts had set up a way to communicate with other labs across the area. The vortigaunts claimed that they had also received some coordinates concerning Dr. Mossman's location. Whether this was true or not was yet to be seen.

Barney slowly dropped his helicopter beside the building and everyone else followed suit. The vortigaunts were waiting for the team outside the door.

From outside Gordon could hear the unsuccessful attempts to contact other surviving clans of hopefuls. Gordon and Barney walked in slowly and told the other troops to relax for a while, but stay alert; he just couldn't escape that feeling that something was wrong.

"Gordon, this is our lead research technician on the Turma team, Dr. Conrad Wallace," said Barney, leading Gordon to the communications array. "He has trained many vortigaunts, and knows ins and outs of these nearby locations. He was an undercover technician at the Citadel. Luckily, he escaped detection when everyone was fleeing. I convinced him to work with us." Wallace extended a hand to Gordon. After their briefing, Wallace told Gordon, Alyx, and Barney everything he and the vortigaunts knew about the Borealis and Mossman's location. "Our transmission was directly from her. She wanted desperately to talk to Eli... But she was too late. She demanded I get in contact with Gordon here and tell him what she knew. Our transmission was cut three-quarters of the way through reception. All she told me was some numbers... coordinates no doubt. Put these into your location system."

Wallace handed Gordon the note with the coordinates on it. Alyx entered the numbers in, and the map zoomed in to an isolated island off the northern coast, close to the polar regions.

"But that island is so small.. What could be there?" Alyx wondered aloud to the group.

"We'll have to go there and see. We can't afford not to. Something must be there..." Gordon responded.

Suddenly, Griffith Anderson burst through the door with a halt. His deep voice reverberated alarm. Gordon started. He knew something was wrong immediately. He and Barney rushed outside, leaving Alyx and Dr. Wallace inside. "Arm anything you can, Alyx. Someone is coming!" Gordon yelled behind him.

Alyx hid Wallace in the basement and equipped all weapons she had. Her hair stood on her back and arms as she felt the vibrations of a Combine ship nearby. Her mind raced among many things... help, the doctor, time... Gordon..."GORDON! Watch above!" she yelled at her companions as the ship crash landed just a few yards from the helicopters and troops standing ready. Everyone took any cover they could find and prepared for what was to come.

Combine filed out of the ship as Gordon and Barney dove behind some barrels. Gordon's shotgun was drawn and aimed as he fired shots at three approaching soldiers. Barney ran along the wall of the communication house hoping to provide Griffith support against the twenty remaining Combine. Barney could almost sense the anxiety in the air... he knew these moments were the ones his troops had been dreading. Barney had hoped the forces had disbanded after the portal was shut down, or maybe that they had just given up. It seemed to him that they were just as hard on the resistance as they had ever been, just pushing hard no matter what the loss.

"Barney!" Griffith yelled across the courtyard. There's more your way!"

To Barney's horror, another ship had landed to his right... with Combine fighting Anderson to his left, Gordon fighting them to his rear, and more coming to his right, he was nearly surrounded. He made his way quickly to the nearby shed, punched out a window, and shot all he could. There was no way he could make it through this many. "How many of these things are there?" he screamed aloud as 10 approached him from his front and right. He shot away, hitting three in the head, two in the abdomen, and one in the groin. He made to shoot again.

Click.

Click click.

Nothing. He was unarmed, and four enemy soldiers were swarming his front. He put his back to the wall, ready to make a dastardly run for the opposite shed, where Anderson and his group were holding up. Just as he was ready to run, Gordon and five other soldiers burst from behind Barney's shed, flanked the Combine, and picked them off one by one.

Anderson yelled from the opposite side that he and the rest of the group had killed a total of 33 Combine. Gordon had destroyed both ships and his group and Alyx had killed 12. Barney had nailed 8, two plus the six at his shed.

All of the troops met again in the communications house where Dr. Wallace was hidden. As a man used to conflict, trial, and fighting, he shook it all off like nothing happened.

Barney walked over to meet Gordon halfway. "Gordon, I owe you one."

Gordon laughed. "Forget it, Barney. Just get me that beer."