Chapter Sixteen: Harbinger
Theta Prime lay down on the cold metallic surface of the machine and watched the display overhead light up. Number sequences, letters, images flashed on the screen above as her eyes grew heavy and her mind more distant. The flashes of white and blue led her down into an ocean, a sea of flickering memories. The last fragments of her trepidation faded away as she lost herself in the Animus drifting towards the ancestor she'd chosen to visit. Rather than decode her own memories and discover her own past she'd opted to visit her Father. It seemed strange to her that as her being flooded into the memory of her Father she found herself in a helicopter soaring over the canopy of the jungle below.
"We're over the DZ now gentlemen," she heard her Father say, "We're going in to find the Temple. If you see anyone, VC, friendly, anyone that isn't one of our squad, you are free to engage."
"I'm not too keen on shooting any of our boys Lieutenant," one the grunts in the chopper griped.
"Officially the United States has pulled out of Laos and Vietnam, the war is over gentlemen, if they ain't POWs and they're wearing our uniforms they sure as hell ain't friendlies."
Theta felt herself slipping away from her Father for a moment, her mind disconnected from the genetic memories that were decoded by the Animus. The connection soon reestablished itself. She felt a breath of air fill lungs that didn't belong to her. At first she assumed the connection was weak but soon she saw the debris and heard the shell-shocked ringing in her Father's ears. Gunshots soon came into crisp clear focus as the shock of the explosion wore off and Theta's Father, Lieutenant Morgan Eisley, got to his feet.
"Fucking VC," one soldier spat.
"There's something else," one of the privates screamed firing off randomly into the jungle, "There's something else."
"You alright Lieutenant Eisley?"
"We need to split up, Jacobs, you take three men out, fire as many rounds as you can. Draw the bastards away from the Temple."
Theta lost her connection again. She struggled to focus in, to pinpoint a memory, any memory, in that swirling mist. She found herself standing in the Temple once more with Morgan Eisley's boots on the ground. The stone walls were lit up with images, carvings overgrown with jungle vines that seemed to burn away as the Temple came to life. It was as if the structure was awakening and even though Theta was only reliving the memory she could feel her Father's awe, his fear, his pain. Finally he found his way to the innermost chamber where the sphere floated, suspended above the chamber floor by some sort of beam. The sound of a gun clicked behind him and the Lieutenant spun.
"Alistair Vidic," Eisley spat in disbelief staring at a decrepit old man who must've been nearly a century old.
"We've been looking for it everywhere, and at last you've found it," the old man groaned holding his weapon quite sure-handedly for a man of his age, "Hand over the Apple."
"They warned me you might show up," Eisley chuckled as if not at all afraid, "They told me the Templars had found this place first."
"We couldn't get the Apple," the old man explained, "We needed someone, someone of altered blood."
"Your forces have lost Vidic," the Lieutenant reminded the man, "And your alien assassins have abandoned you. You are the only Templar left who knows where this place is and this spherical device contains the only map back here."
"You don't know that," the old man tried to argue, "I might have told everyone in the Order where to find the Temple."
"And risk the chance of them getting it for themselves?"
"Just hand it over Lieutenant."
"How about I shoot you instead?"
"Shoot an old man? Even I know you're not that cruel."
"You're right," Theta's Father replied grabbing the Piece of Eden and holding it out in front of him, "So I'll just move you out of the way."
Theta watched as her Father, using the Apple, lifted the old man from the ground and set him down a few feet away. As the golden flames faded from the man's body her Father raced from the Temple. The sound of helicopters roared in his ears as he reached the top of the Temple and raced toward the hovering aircraft. Soon he was aboard with Apple in hand. As the helicopter rose up over the jungle canopy Theta felt herself losing control again.
"She's coming out of it," a voice said alerting Theta to the fact that she was once again in her own body living her own life.
Theta felt her eyes wet with tears. She searched the room with her pale eyes finally coming to rest on Allison Rogue. Theta knew little of the woman. Sure they'd had a few conversations but the two had never truly known each other. But now Theta felt an innate connection, as if she was staring at a long lost sibling suddenly returned to her by fortunate circumstance. She stepped from the Animus barely able to walk and embraced Allison with tears streaming down her cheeks. Everyone in the room was frozen in confusion and Alyx fought the urge to feel suddenly jealous at the show of affection. Even stronger though was her need to comfort Theta who had now broken the contact with Allison and turned to face a nearby computer panel. Theta stood pretending to input data as the others watched and waited for her to speak.
"You were there weren't you?" Allison asked breaking the silence, "You were at the Starseed Temple?"
"I was," Theta admitted though she still did not turn to face them, "Or I should say my Father was."
"The last time I was in Hunter's Fall I was there too," Allison explained putting a hand on Theta's shoulder, "Lieutenant Morgan Eisley."
"How?" Theta asked finally turning around.
"You must share some ancestry," Alyx theorized.
"The Combine made me as a composite," Allison said suddenly, she was unsure of where the explanation was coming from as it left her lips, "A composite of numerous people's genetic codes so that they could probe as many memories of as many people as they possibly could. You must be a part of me and at some point the Combine must've tried to access your Father's memories through me."
"Spooky," Cheng said and as everyone turned their eyes to him he sheepishly stuck his head back in his work on a nearby laptop.
"That's enough remembering for one day," Theta said with a heavy-hearted tone to her voice.
Allison felt a cold chill crawl up her spine as she and Theta parted ways. Even with Julian at her side she felt utterly vulnerable as if some very dark part of herself had just been laid bare. In truth it was the opposite. There was no herself, not really. Her genetic code was a Frankenstein stitch job. The genetic memories of dozens, maybe hundreds, crammed into each cell of her young body. She was truthfully unsure of where her own genetic code, at least that which had nothing to do with genetic memory, was even her own.
Even more disturbing was that Theta had apparently shared a fate similar to hers. The woman certainly had to have spent time in Combine custody in order to implant the genetic memories of Morgan Eisley. Allison had largely overcome the darkened past of being experimented on by the Combine though much of her memory was likely unrecoverable due to the exorbitant amount of time she'd spent in the Animus. Theta was already emotionally distraught just from accessing her Father's memories. What darkness would possess Theta if she delved too deeply into her own memories and, in a way, deeper in Allison's.
"I'm a monster," she whispered absent-mindedly as she lay beside Julian. She half-hoped he'd heard her but the assassin of her dreams was already dreaming.
Adrian Shephard sat in his cell brooding. The man had been through every emotion in the spectrum in the last few days but his focus now had turned to anger. The grizzled General had lived through the entire nightmare the human race was still enduring from being at ground zero for the Resonance Cascade to the fall of City 12 less than a week earlier. Now the proud General was in cuffs waiting whatever horrors the Combine had in store for him. Inside the spirit of rebellion still burned brightly, still sought escape, still waited anxiously for the moment when freedom could be restored. Outwardly though you wouldn't be able to tell that the man was even awake. His eyes were shut in the darkness of his holding cell.
The door swung open, the sound of the rusty steel and the brightness of the light beyond instinctively forcing his eyes open. Two Overwatch soldiers stood before him, their blue armor faded and torn, beaten that way from years of service. Shephard had heard rumors that all Combine soldiers received one uniform and it was that first and only uniform that they took to the grave. Apparently that rumor had some truth to it.
The Overwatch led him down a corridor. They were in the City 12 prison far from the POW camp he'd been in only days before. This wasn't his first time being housed here. City 12 prison was where he was held after being framed for Desmond Mile's death. Shephard took this moment to wonder whether the City would have fallen if the Assassin leader were still alive.
They went deeper into the prison, down into the storage and maitenance areas. Shephard saw what they were doing down here. Some rooms had medical tables where prisoners were normally treated but now they were covered in the blood of innocent victims. The Combine preferred to torture their prisoners. The soldiers stopped at the end of a hall and punched a code into nearby door. The metallic hinges released and a hiss of sterile smelling cool air emerged from the chamber beyond. The Overwatch led him in and Shephard's eyes went wide when he saw them. Three rows of six and all but two were occupied.
"Now," one of the soldiers said in a robotic voice prodding Shephard to lay down in the nearest Animus, "We're going to see if your ancestors knew anything that can be of use to the Combine."
Alyx sealed her eyes shut tight and tried to make the images flee from her tired mind. She was exhausted and yet her busy mind would not allow her to find any rest. For the last three hours she'd tossed and turned seeking sleep. Theta lay beside her sleeping soundly despite her emotional ordeal in the Animus. Every time Alyx closed her lovely olive eyes she could see the calculations, the flashes of light, the aliens arriving through the dimensional breach. She hadn't directly witnessed the Cascade as Gordon Freeman had but her Father Eli had run many of the calculations and done the simulations. Those numbers flashed before her eyes frustratingly as she tried to sleep.
Even more strange seeming was the connection. Just before going to sleep Theta had explained her visions to Alyx in more depth and the act of explaining it all in detail had calmed the woman considerably. There were words in there that seemed familiar to Alyx but one stood out. Starseed. Alyx knew that word through Eli only, it was one that the man had spoken, written, and warned his colleagues about just before the disaster. Just before the Earth was invaded. Even after the Combine had arrived, Alyx knew, the Starseed cyrstals that her Father had known continued to be a point of interest as Eli went over and over again in his mind what went wrong that day in the Test Chamber at Black Mesa.
Alyx felt like she had all the pieces to the puzzle but had no idea what the big picture was meant to resemble. No matter how she twisted these ideas in her mind she could not make sense of them. She crawled quietly out of bed and stood at the door wrestling with the temptation to go back into the Animus. She'd sneaked out the past two nights to delve into her Father's memories once more. She heard Theta stirring behind her.
"Alyx?" the woman cooed softly and Alyx felt her heart grow lighter and a smile emerged on her lips as she turned back toward bed.
"Just getting a glass of water," Alyx assured her, she walked over to a nearby refrigerator and removed a pitcher of purified water.
Alyx lay back down beside Theta and turned to face the half-asleep woman. Theta was truly a beautiful sight even if her breath at this distance wasn't exactly flower fresh. Alyx closed her tired eyes and instead of Eli's endless calculations she saw the face of a lover and a friend. Sleep came swiftly.
Emil Nemico wasn't sure why he had such a spring to his step as he marched toward the General's office. It was not even dawn and yet the slug had called for him. Lucky for the General as a Synth assassin Emil needed almost no sleep. Where once he'd been at odds with his transformation and filled with rage towards the Combine Emil now felt truly rejuvenated, given a new lease on life. There were downsides of course and as he stepped into the climate controlled bunker of the slug-like alien general he was reminded of them. He could not disobey the Combine and for now that meant subservience to the odiferous gastropod Yvolslog Urwell.
"You sent for me General," Emil said turning to the sickly pale thing, it's grotesque girth for some reason entirely naked and stuck against a nearby wall.
"Yes, I need to know if your team is ready," the General explained in a meandering barely understandable attempt at English. Emil's new computerized brain was programmed to decode the General's native alien tongue and display it in subtitles on his heads up display but in the last two days he'd found the General preferred to speak in English. Emil knew it was likely just to annoy him as the General often took a long time to say things and his stilted English was hard to dissect even with his synthetic ears.
"My team is prepped and ready for assault," Emil replied, "Overwatch could use a little work but then Overwatch has always needed more than a little work."
"I suppose you would know," The General cackled, "You used to be fighting against them."
"When do we deploy sir?" Emil asked not wanting to give the General any satisfaction if he could help it.
"Ressian still hasn't made contact," the General explained, "You're to leave in one hour. One thousand Overwatch, four humanoid synths including yourself, and we'll have gunship and Strider support as well. Remember, we need that Apple and my superiors have told me that they while they want assassin dead they want his wife and Alyx Vance, alive. Once you have the two women raze that entire base and kill everyone inside it."
"Very well, sir," Emil replied turning toward the door.
"The fall of the human race has come Nemico," The General said, "Be glad you're on our side now."
The sound seemed to cut through the barrier her sleeping mind had assembled against intrusions. Cursing under her breath Alyx's eyes snapped open to see Theta getting into battle-ready gear across the room. Alyx felt a sudden lump well in her throat as she leapt up and grabbed her shirt and gun and rushed over to Theta.
"Perimeter alert," Theta explained, "Two targets. Not human."
"Combine?" Alyx asked.
"We're not sure, all I know is that they made it across the hopper mine field with ease and cut through the East Wall defenses like they were nothing. We've got two dozen men out there trying to hold them back but communications have been spotty."
"You can't go out there yourself," Alyx said grabbing a nearby M4 assault rifle
"That's what you're planning on doing isn't it?" Theta asked with a sly grin.
"Well yeah but I-"
"Come on," Theta winked.
Alyx followed her down the hall racing to keep up with the woman's quick steps and frantic movements. The two stopped to find Julian getting into his HEV suit. Cheng stood beside him informing him that the repairs and modifications he'd asked for hadn't been completed. The suit still bore several partial tears and bullet impact dents in the high-tech hardened armor material and the once bright orange color was now faded considerably. It was also missing a chunk from one sleeve that the assassin had cut out previously to make room for his hidden blade. Julian was soon wearing the armor which Cheng had modified the other arm allow his other hidden blade to be worn at the same time. Previously Julian could only use one hidden blade while wearing the suit.
"Nice Cheng," Julian remarked, "I hope the old Mark IV holds up."
"Any news on what we're facing?" Alyx asked the young assassin, she noted that his almond eyes were brimming with an anxious fire.
"From the descriptions I've heard I have only one guess," Julian said, "Ressian Malil."
"The Combine assassin?" Alyx asked suddenly feeling not-so-brave, "She followed us here."
"She was sent here," Julian corrected holding the Apple up before passing it to Cheng, "To get this. Keep it safe Cheng."
"Yes sir," the man replied in a loyal military tone.
Alyx and Theta bid the assassin farewell turning to their own plan of action. The two headed for the nearest armored ATV but not before loading up on ammunition. Alyx grabbed an SMG to compliment her assault rifle and trusty pistol and made sure her kris was in its sheath at her side. Theta on the other hand went for an RPG-7. A nearby soldier pulled the two aside before they could get their gear on the ATV. The man looked pale as a ghost as he led them to a nearby monitor explaining that he thought Theta deserved the first look at what they were dealing with.
Alyx watched as Ressian's quick moving black shadow appeared on the monitor darting quickly over the dangerous hopper mines that surrounded the base's East Wall. The sight that found her eyes next stole the fight from her bones. Despite the numerous modifications she recognized the mechanical canine immediately as it appeared on screen storming through the hoppers without care for the scorch marks and dents appearing in its armor as it did. The monstrosity then tore directly into a defense patrol knocking aside Resistance soldiers with impunity.
"Dog," Alyx said breathlessly, "What have they done to you?"
"You know that monster?" the private asked with eyebrows raised, Alyx cut him an angry glare that made him tense up as if ready to be hit.
"Of course," Theta said realizing the connection, "The one from your memories, the one you told me about the first time we met, who was there in the swamp."
"They can't get away with this," Alyx spat grabbing the RPG that Theta had set down and strapping it into place on the back of the ATV.
"Are you sure you want to fight?" Theta asked.
"They're right outside the walls for Christ sake," the private said, "They're tearing our men apart if we don't do something."
"I'll fight," Alyx said revving up the engine, "Now get on."
Julian rushed out of the main gate half expecting to find the area covered with Combine. Nearly a hundred soldiers had been rallied, awakened from their slumber before the sun even crested the horizon, to deal with this threat. Julian scratched his head as he made each pre-dawn shadow his home. He sprinted silently toward the action, a rising cloud of smoke and the sound of gunfire leading the way.
Why would all this be necessary for one Combine assassin? Sure Ressian was a threat but Julian was confident that a few dozen gun toting soldiers would be able to handle her. The men of Hunter's Fall were renown for their skills and some had even served in the battle that had put City 12 in Resistance control years back. As the young assassin neared the battle he began to realize why such a high alert had been raised within the base. His mind flooded with emotions as he watched the seven remaining soldiers try to outrun the hulking terror that Dog had become. Did Alyx know of this?
Julian pulled out his XM-8 realizing just how unprepared he'd come. He'd armed himself thinking the Maldragon assassin had arrived with a few Combine Overwatch and her own dark steel sword. His sword was forged of the same dark blue steel apparently made from materials unobtainable on Earth. The assassin drew that sword now and started in toward the metal behemoth but his vision was drawn away to a quick moving blur on the edge of his sight. He stopped and darted off toward it confirming that it was indeed Ressian. The alien assassin stopped and looked at him, her mandibles crossing in a sort of sickly smile as she drew her sword.
"So you decided to deliver yourself to me," she snickered.
"What did you do to Dog?" Julian asked holding his sword out defensively while trying to think of a strategy, any strategy, that could get him past her sword, behind her.
"War Hound is a creation of mine," Ressian boasted, "I merely saw what could be beneath that pathetic husk."
The alien attacked first swinging in low for Julian's knees, the assassin sliced high but the hardened exoskeleton of Ressian's elbow caught the blow and deflected it harmlessly. The blow stung Ressian more than she would admit and certainly more than she would visibly react to. The Dark Xenian steel from which the swords were forged was almost enough to slice through her protective exoskeleton. She came on strong with spry speedy attacks that drove the assassin back defensively. Julian had no room to counter attack and no time even if he had the space. The dense trunks of the trees seemed to swallow the combatants as they danced deeper into the forest.
The assassin was in trouble for while his opponent had yet to land a single blow he was sure that if and when he found the opportunity his attacks would count for little. That was the secret of the Maldragon swordsmen, the near invincibility of their armored shell. Physical superiority pretending to be hiding vulnerably behind a blade.
Julian extended his hidden blades using all three in conjunction as he went on the offensive . Each of the blades were each eighteen inches long though he could scarcely get that close to the quick handed alien assassin. The darkness of the pre-dawn seemed to be his greatest ally for despite her massive insect like eyes and background as an assassin the alien's eyesight seemed lessened in the shadows. So Julian fell into instinct as they struggled beneath the shadows of the tree tops.
Ressian was no fool, she sensed this strategy even before the assassin spun around to her backside and attempted to strike at her vestigial wing plates. It was the one place her species was truly vulnerable, the one place the human assassin could have delivered a death blow. But the alien was too quick and was just as instinctive as the human even with her impaired eyesight. She spun on Julian launching several attacks meant to keep the assassin at bay but in the exchange she knew she'd hit him at least once.
Julian fell back feeling the pain shooting through his shoulder. He put pressure on the wound feeling his blood rush over his hand. He was on the defensive soon, keeping the alien's attacks at bay, the strike of steel on steel sending sparks flying illuminating the dark as they fought. Suddenly Julian was falling over, tackled by the alien assassin who, as soon as she returned to her feet, darted away. At first Julian thought to chase after her but he soon realized her deception and found himself staring down at a small explosive device stuck to the chest plate of his HEV suit.
Alyx felt anger overwhelming her sadness as she stepped off the ATV. They were still a good distance away from the towering animal that had once served as her kind and benevolent watchdog. Now he shot pulse rounds from his gauntlet and tore Resistance soldiers apart with his bare hands. Several other soldiers had arrived with them and they too stood with trepidation and fear eyeing War Hound before finally lifting their weapons and charging bravely into battle.
"You don't have to do this," Theta protested watching as Alyx grabbed the RPG from the back of their vehicle.
"I can't let him do these things," she said with sadness crackling in her voice, "sometimes you gotta put a bad dog down."
Theta watched as the tears began streaming from Alyx's eyes. Alyx shouldered the RPG and walked headlong toward the monster. Explosions rocked the battlefield, bullets flew by impacting uselessly against War Hounds seemingly impenetrable armor. Alyx felt the weight in each step and despite all the noise of the fight around her all she could hear was her own heart pounding in her ears as if begging her not to go through with it. She watched as her beloved companion picked up a nearby ATV and threw it at three soldiers, two of them were crushed beneath the weight, the third escaped only to be hit by pulse rounds from War Hound's gauntlet gun.
It had to be done she knew. She seemed fearless, almost insane to those around her, she was so close to the monstrous robot. Dog turned to regard her, it's cracked eye lens forcing it to dialate it's orange pinhole pupil to regard her fully. War Hound lifted it's gauntlet and let out an eerie metallic howl that sent pulsing waves of anguish through Alyx's body. She fired the RPG at a nearly dangerous range. War Hound lifted it's plates to shield itself as the grenade impacted and shrapnel cut into the bots impressive armor. It howled in rage but Alyx was already on the move and loading another rocket.
Theta grabbed a nearby assault rifle from a fallen soldier and fired off a grenade launcher round to distract the beast from its target. The tactic worked just long enough to let Alyx finish reloading but also just long enough for the bot to send a pulse round down range. It impacted Theta's abdomen just as the rocket left Alyx's RPG. The rocket soared through the air finding it's way to War Hound's chest. Heat and tearing force pulled at the bot's chestplate breaking apart its armor coating and riddling it's innards with shrapnel. War Hound was still on his feet though and Alyx, expecting plenty of resilience from her old friend, was already loading up another rocket.
War Hound turned his attention to Alyx now allowing several of the other nearby soldiers to fire off grenade launcher rounds. Alyx noted that War Hound seemed to be slowing down and each grenade that burst near enough his chest was likely doing serious concussive damage, along with allowing shrapnel to tear apart his inner workings. He was firing at her now with his pulse gauntlet on full tilt, somehow the trees managed to provide the cover she needed though several of them fell down due to the sheer amount of rounds per minute Dog was turning out. Even with the concerted efforts of more than a dozen soldiers trying to bring him down and distract him Dog was still catching up to her.
She turned the final corner trying to thread the RPG between several trees that lie between her and War Hound. The beast growled but now its growling seemed hauntingly pained, as if it knew it's time was near. She fired anyway steeling herself from any remorse that might overwhelm her. The rocket fled the RPG and miraculously managed to miss the trees. It struck the lower edge of the whole in his chest digging itself well in as it detonated. Alyx began reloading with tears in her eyes as Dog fell to the ground. This dark wraith of her former friend struggled to stand, it's plaintive howls sounding all but identical to those Dog made the day that Eli died. A well placed grenade from a nearby soldier finished the beast which collapsed to the ground in a lifeless heap. Alyx had no time to mourn her friend however. Her feet carried her quickly to Theta.
"Get a medic out here," Alyx demanded feeling somewhat relieved to find that Theta was still alive.
"Alyx," Theta struggled to say coming in and out of consciousness.
"Hold on, you'll be alright" Alyx assured her, "I'm not going to loose both of my best friends today."
Julian cursed himself for not being quick enough to catch up the alien as he surged through the corridors and buildings of Hunter's Fall. He'd been forced to first remove the explosive device from his HEV suit before pursuing her. Luckily Ressian had infiltrated far from unopposed and despite her stealthy movement through the complex she'd left a trail of injured witnesses. Resistance soldiers directed him as he followed her into the personal quarters of the officers and scientists. He found her standing at the door to his bed chamber holding Allison by her hair.
"Enough games," Ressian demanded, "The Apple or the bitch dies."
"She's pregnant," Julian tried to argue.
"You think my species cares about the young of your species?" Ressian laughed coldly.
Julian felt fear course through him especially when he saw what was behind Ressian. Julian tried to shout a warning to the man to stop but it was too late. Cheng had the Apple above his head clutched with both hands. The scientist had his eyes closed as if he though it would assist in his concentration. An orange and gold light seemed to wrap the alien then. Allison was released and leapt to Julian's side as Cheng forced the alien assassin into the air and began bashing her into the walls with the Apple's psychic energy.
"Stop Cheng!" Julian shouted, "It'll drain your strength! You'll be an old man!"
Cheng did stop but not of his own accord. Fatigue shot through his body as the battered alien fell to the floor. Julian knew that she was only stunned, he took out his sword and rushed in. Before Ressian could react Julian had pried his dark steel blade into the hinges of her wing plates. Up he stabbed rending apart the soft inner flesh of the Maldragon's body until the cold steel of his blade emerged from her grotesque mouth. Strange creamy blood oozed from her mandibles as Julian wrenched the blade around inside her for maximum damage.
"Treacherous assassin!" Ressian cried though her words were hardly understandable.
The alien struggled to get free wrapping his arms around trying to grab at the assassin. The strength was leaving her arms though and soon her already black eyes grew cold. Her body stopped twitching a few moments later and Julian removed the sword allowing her body to clang against the cold steel floor of the corridor.
"Is she dead?" Allison asked as Julian turned the body over and began slicing at her neck determined to remove her head and be sure that she wouldn't be coming back.
"The bitch is dead," Julian assured her, "Check Cheng."
"How is she doc?" Alyx asked the medic who was tending to Theta's wound.
"She'll be alright," the medic replied with a grin, "The bullet had to pass through her body armor, absorbed most of the impact. If it hadn't been for that the bullet would have torn clear through organ tissue. Instead it was just a few centimeters beneath the skin."
"You saved my ass out there," Alyx said kissing Theta.
"Ooo... does that mean your ass belongs to me now?" Theta asked returning the kiss with ten times the passion, "You were great out there and I promise my science team will do what it can to get Dog back, whatever the Combine did, it can be reversed."
"I hope you're right," Alyx said with a sad smile watching as Theta tried to stand, "You sure she's alright Doc?"
"She's fine," the medic assured, "I wouldn't recommend much action anytime soon."
"Commander Theta," a soldier said interupting the conversation, the man, in his early thirties, wore an expression of worry a mile wide, "We've got a problem."
"What is it soldier?" Theta asked grabbing her assault rifle as if ready to get right back out there.
"Dropships Inbound Commander," the soldier stuttered with fear in his voice, "Dozens of them."