Alyx descended into the ships bowels, keeping her gun out in front of her for protection. As she reached the end of the stairs, she poked her head around the corner, making sure that the way ahead was safe. The halls were whitewashed and bright. 'Crap.' Alyx thought. She would be really easy to spot. She pressed on anyway.

As she progressed, the small walkie-talkie in her ear crackled.

"Dr. Breen is now moving down section C. Any units in that area, assist Breen."

"And that's where I'm going." Alyx said to herself.

She jogged down the hallway, spotting large, yellow letters painted on the walls. She was in sector B, according to the graffiti. She stopped at a small map on the wall and studied it for a second. She now knew where sector C was and sprinted towards that direction, making sure that every turn she made was safe.

The minutes passed and Alyx became a bit frustrated. She had been running in different directions, losing her bearings. She almost gave up, when she saw a familiar figure run past the hall to her right. It was Dr. Breen. Alyx snarled and darted after the elderly man.

She turned the corner, keeping an eye on her foe.

"Breen!" she called out. He peeked over his shoulder and spotted his pursuer. Alyx could see fear in his eyes. She smiled at this and picked up speed. Her smile faded when she saw a stair up ahead, in which Breen ran up to the deck. The helicopter was right above their heads. If she couldn't catch up, he would be gone. She pushed herself to the limit. Suddenly, two Combine soldiers popped out of opposite halls and fired upon Alyx. She skidded to a halt and dove around a corner. She stood, out of breath and frustrated. The only thing standing between her and Breen were a couple of gung-ho soldiers. Alyx readied her gun and waited for the bullets to stop firing. She then heard the two guns being reloaded and took it to her advantage. She spun from her corner and fired. Two of her bullets penetrated the first soldier's helmet, while three hit the second guard in the chest. They slumped to the floor. She ran, jumping over the bodies.

The rain felt like a swarm of bees on her skin as she jumped onto the deck, gun ready for anything. What she saw shocked her.

"Oh, god no!"

Breen's helicopter was lifting off of the deck. She shielded her eyes from the copter's blinding floodlights. Through her fingers, Alyx could see Breen, waving mockingly. Out of rage, Alyx feebly raised her pistol and fired blindly at the aircraft. It had no effect. The helicopter disappeared within the storm.

Alyx fell to the deck, cursing under her breath.

"He was right there!" She snapped. "He was right there!" She ran her hand through her hair in frustration.

Behind her, Captain Ralf approached, sporting a nasty cut on his forehead. Alyx turned to notice her friend.

"We have taken the boat." He informed. He then looked into the darkness surrounding the boat. "I'm guessing Breen got away."

Alyx nodded. Inside, she still couldn't believe it. She exhaled as she rose from the deck.

"How many did we lose?"

Ralf's face turned bleak. "Well, the Combine were able to activate some of the Hunters on board, making this whole thing worse. We lost about half the company."

Alyx closed her eyes in frustration.

"Hey," Ralf said, trying to comfort her. "This was a tough objective. Despite all odds, we succeeded. You did good."

Alyx gave a tired smile and nodded.

"I'm going to see how dad is doing." With that, she moved below decks. She then found a small area to sit down and broke down, letting her emotions come out.

"He was right there." She whispered between sobs.

---

"Having Breen that close in my grip and then letting him go was devastating for me." Alyx continued. "I mean, if I had caught him, this war could have been over."

Gordon understood her dilemma. The failure was on her shoulders and it had to have been heavy. Even though he knew it was not her fault. After a few moments of silence, Alyx went back into her story.

"So we took the ship. However, we were not out of the clearing yet. We knew that the Combine would send air support in a few hours. Our only option was to reach the coast before the Combine attacked us. Of course, easier said than done."

---

"Alyx." The soldier spoke up. "It's time to wake up."

Alyx groaned as sunlight hit her eyes. She had spent a restless night within her small cabin. Of course, the boat rolling around didn't help her. She grumbled, indicating that she understood. The soldier left the room and Alyx fell out of her bunk, her boots clanking against the floor.

"Okay," she said to herself. "Let's go find dad."

---

The salty sea breeze hit Alyx as she walked onto the deck. Not a cloud was in the sky and the sun blaringly bright. As she looked out at the water, she could see the coast about a few miles out. She smiled, realizing that they were almost there.

"Hey!" she called at the nearest rebel. "Do you know where my dad is?"

The soldier pointed up at the command tower. She nodded her thanks to him and started to climb the nearest stairs, moving towards the main observation room.

She was breathing hard as she ascended the last stairs. She opened the nearest bulkhead door to find twenty rebels crammed into a circular room. The room was surrounded by glass windows, allowing the occupants to spot anything approaching the ship.

Looking through the small crowd, Alyx could see her father holding a pair of binoculars up to his eyes. She walked up next to him and bumped his shoulder. He turned and smiled.

"Good morning baby."

"Good morning. How far are we?"

"Well, the coast is ten miles away. Unfortunately . . ." Before he could finish, another rebel in the room dropped his binoculars.

"Here they come! Five Combine gunships at one o'clock!"

Eli raised the binoculars up to his eyes again, scanning the sky ahead of them. Sure enough, he could spot five dots traveling over the coast towards their ship. It would take the Combine five minutes to get within range to attack. It would take the ship fifteen minutes to reach the coast. The rebels had no effective weapons against the air force. Eli's mind was racing franticly, trying to come up with a plan.

"Drop the planks!" He shouted. "We are landing fast and hard onto that beach."