Hi, y'all. I'll keep uploading a chapter every friday until it's done, so stay tuned!
Adrian Shephard was getting exceedingly tired of looking at the inside of an Osprey. Sure, when you're on your way to kill terrorists or do a training mission, you're pumping yourself full of adrenaline and the time flies. But when one has to sit and wait for hours on end, it gets a little annoying. He was almost considering counting the number of exposed bolts for the twentieth time, when the man in the suit appeared in front of him again. "Ah. Mister Shephard. How nice it is to see you again." He said in his inhuman voice, pausing and giving intonations at all the wrong places, "My employers have looked over your files, and due to recent events have decided that your services may be… needed once again. The last time you were in… active duty, you were at the Black Mesa compound. Things have… changed, since then. Now then, I'm sure a man like you won't want me telling you what to do, so I won't keep you waiting. Wake up, Corporal Shephard. Wake up and feel the frostbite."
As soon as he finished his little monologue, the man simply vanished, and Adrian had a sensation of waking up, even though he'd been awake before. He looked around and saw that he was still in the osprey, but when he looked out the window, he was falling towards the snow. His instincts from marine training kicked in, and he jumped into the pilot's seat, grabbing the yoke and pulling up hard. When the nose didn't pull up, he looked to his left and saw that the engines were offline. He switched on the auxiliary generator, and pulled on the yoke again, this time with hydraulics pushing the ailerons upward, and the plane started to level out. He extended the flaps and tried to find a nearby place to land, but saw nothing but snow stretching for miles. He braced for impact and the Osprey hit the ground, making a huge gash in the terrain, before stopping a few feet away from a frozen lake.
Adrian checked all around and found that the cabin had stayed mostly intact, and kicked open the door to get outside. Considering that his fatigues were meant for the desert, as his last mission had been at Black Mesa, he was very, very cold. He looked around to see if there were any building or people around, and saw a faint light emanating from the south. Considering that he had nothing better to do, he decided to head towards it.
After about an hour, he was very glad to have his body armor and mask with him. While he normally found them cumbersome, he was glad to have the extra heat retention. He was able to see where the light was coming from more clearly now, and he realized it was an old research base. He started running to get there, and his sweat started to freeze on his face and limbs, making him even colder.
He finally reached the building, and tried to open the door. He found it was unlocked. He walked into a small room, and heard a voice. "Okay, we've got something. Yes, it's human." The voice said, and suddenly the lights went out. Mist filled the room, and faint beams of light started scanning Adrian all over. A door at the opposite end of the room from where he came in opened up, and he walked through. He took off his mask and started wiping his face with his sleeve, trying to get the now thawed but still cold sweat off his face. A woman of about thirty years walked out of a small room next to the one he'd come from, and offered her hand. "I'm Andrea. And you are…" her gaze drifted down to his uniform, with its desert camouflage and American flag on the shoulder. Andrea's eyes widened, and she had a look of shock. "Where did you get that uniform?" she asked carefully, as if not sure if what she was seeing was real. Adrian looked down, not really sure what was so strange, but responded with "From the government. Why?" She looked at him, a bit of fear in her eyes and said carefully, "That's a United States uniform, correct?" Adrian nodded his head. Andrea looked shaken. "The United States of America hasn't existed for twenty years. Adrian stepped back and stumbled on his own feet, slumping against the wall. "What… what do you mean? I was just on a mission yesterday… I…" His voice broke. "I was just talking to my buddies. We were talking just yesterday… no…" He started rambling, and Andrea looked a bit concerned. "Look. Why don't you come with me, and I'll introduce you to some of the people around here. I think you're just a bit confused. You must have been wandering out in the snow for a while to have gotten here. What city did you come from?" "Pheonix." He muttered, and she looked even more concerned, but led him through a doorway into the rest of the base.