General Balls
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This isn't so much a fan fiction as it is a description of events. This is an edited copy of what I posted over herez. Basically my description of what I think the Dog vs. Strider fight could turn out as. It starts now:
You did not see it coming. Blinded by the morning light after hours spent underground, you emerge from the cave blind, stumbling, and completely helpless. You close your eyes for a while so they can adjust to the blinding light, and open them to certain death.
The Strider watched him emerge from the cave silently. Minutes before it had picked up strange signatures emitting from below this entrance. What was strange wasn't the magnitude of it, which by itself was phenomenal, but the actual type of signature. It had the readings of an explosion, but the sound itself was akin to that of an animalistic scream. But this was of no interest to the Strider, whose AI overrode the animals instant decision to move somewhere safer. Shortly after, human life signs were detected. The Strider immediately sent out a warning signal and waited to see if the human was hostile, in which case he would be cleansed. His actions indicated no hostility at all. This in turn set off another pre-programmed decision, and the Strider stirred into motion.
thump The monster took a step towards you. You have no chance. Killing it is completely out of the question. Small arms fire won't even dent it. You look for an escape route. thump Now you realise the predicament you are in. The cave emerges in a sheer rock face which very recently appears to have suffered an enormous earthquake of some sort. thump You know better. Massive rocks bar your way in every direction but towards the Strider, which now was quickly closing that gap. You look at the cave. thump Not a chance in hell. One strider is infinitely preferable to millions of pissed-off insects any day. Quickly you look back. thump The Strider has nearly reached the stream.
As it approached the stream, the Strider detected something in the human's hands. On further scans, it found that this was a standard issue human-designed projectile firearm. Immediately its initiative changed. The human is hostile. The human will be killed. The Strider brought its weapons to bear
The deep roar signalled the end of your life. Looking up, you see the main gun flick up ever so delicately to train its sights on you. There is no escape. Without hope, you sprint towards the only exit available to you, straight towards the strider.
After five seconds of running, you suddenly realise you're not dead yet. In fact, not a shot has been fired. Looking up in exasperation, you see the Strider leaning on one leg, apparently listening to something. Its weight shifts to another two-story stick. You can't tell for sure, but its behaviour seemed somehow confused. You hear a distant thump. Your heart sinks. There's another one coming.
But the thump seems continuous. As it gets closer, you realize it's not a strider, but something else. There were individual steps in the sound, and they were much too fast for something as big as a strider to have made. Before you have time to think further, a monstrosity of a machine bursts from the thick foliage of the surrounding forest and flies through the air to land at the base of the newly formed rubble with such a crash that you wouldn't have been surprised if it started another collapse in the caves below. With joy you recognize the metallic form of Dog, and hope flares inside you again.
More than surprised at the appearance of the robot, the strider was at loss of what to do. The animal had no idea concerning what this thing was and the Strider AI didn't cover this form of machine. It didn't think of it as an enemy, as it was made up mainly of combine architecture. But its behaviour was certainly not friendly. Confused, all it did was look uncomprehendingly at the thing. Dog started slamming the ground, smashing metre deep potholes in the earth, trying to draw attention to itself. Finally, the animals sense of curiosity overcame the AIs indecisiveness, and thus the creature was doomed.
You watch as the Strider leaned towards Dog, paralysed in the notion that it was preparing for a point blank shot. But, against all odds, it simply moved so close as if to touch the robot, and stayed there.
All is quiet for a second.
With a cry that sends birds scattering Dog leaps upon the Striders frame, grabbing the armour in a literal grip of iron and immediately starts trying to position himself to rip the armour clean off, legs trying to brace towards the back of the creature while the arms held a vice-like grip on the creatures plate-like armour. The startled Strider rose to its full height and starts shaking itself, with surprising strength for it's wiry frame, to rid itself of the gorilla-like robot on its back. With astounding speed, you see Dogs arm blur and suddenly an unnatural screech echoes off the forest as the steel of Dogs fist clashed against the organic metal of the Striders hide. The whole body of the Strider shuddered as it took the blow and the head dipped several metres as it reeled from the impact. But with a smooth yet fatally quick movement the Strider whipped it's head up and down, while moving to the right, catching Dog off-balance and throwing him out into the air. With amazing speed Dog caught the edge of the organic metal plate covering the Strider and used the amazing speed he had gathered to throw himself towards the strider and deliver an excruciating kick into the vitals.
The Strider stumbled, its body racked with pain. Dog used the time in which it was trying to recover to clamber up onto the back of the creature and, before it knew what was happening, the metal fist had smashed into its back again. With disturbing regularity, Dog started raining blows down on the Strider. Like a smith working a piece of iron, he smashed the armour again and again, always hitting the exact same location on the back, all blows accompanied by that alien screech of colliding metal. With no way of defending itself from such an attack, and the continuous blows weakening it, it was all the Strider could do to stay standing. Suddenly, with a resounding snap that hit the ears with a force similar to that of fingernails on a blackboard, only a few million times worse, the armour of the creature cracked.
An ear-splitting cry resounded from the Strider, a cry so wracked with pain and hopelessness that you temporarily forget its role as a Combine tank and realise it is an animal. This hurts it. This is what happens to those serving the Combine. Total enslavement and death. Suddenly you pity the poor creature beneath that armour, and thus the hatred you feel towards the oppressors intensifies.
With a great effort the Strider rouses itself to what it perceives as its last act of its life. But before it can do anything else, Dog reaches into the recently made crack, and rips out a combination of muscles, wires, and internal organs. With a strangled cry, the Strider stiffens, and collapses to the earth with a resounding crash. Just before it hits, Dog jumps off and hits the ground solidly.
The echoes die away. All is quiet once again.
You approach the still Strider. With surprise, you hear something you've never heard before. A regular moan, changing in pitch every so often, sounding liquid and parched. It hits you. This is the sound of the creature breathing. The last effort of its body to keep running in a vain attempt to heal its fatal injuries. Your mindset completely changes as it fully sets in that this is an animal. An animal forced into obedience and sent to its death by masters that only cared for it's effectiveness in battle. But here, in death, it wasn't an enemy. It was just another creature with an unlucky life, trying desperately to survive so that it may live it, in hopes that things could suddenly get better than the hell it has currently lived through.
Silently Dog approached it's defeated enemy and, with an almost delicate motion, jabbed a metal finger into the soft underbelly at a point only it knew the import of. With a gurgling sigh, the breathing stopped with a disturbing abruptness. The Strider was dead. Standing there, the triumph you feel is overpowered with sadness at the abomination. So much you were in your thoughts that at first you didn't notice the blue spot on Dogs head.
Before you have a chance to cry out, a shot rings out and an energy enhanced round smashes into the metal, renting a dent dangerously close to the nerve-centre of the robots AI. Immediately Dog springs over the body and, with disturbing brutality, rips off one of the Striders legs with the sickening sound of tearing flesh. Dog beckons to you, turns and, brandishing the leg as a weapon, charges down the valley. You smile, cock your SMG, and sprint after him...
If you're too lazy to read the entire thing, here's a shortened version:
You come out of cave. You think strider kill you. It don't. Dog comes. Dog hits it lots. Strider gets dead. Fin.
What is thought by the masses? :bounce:
You did not see it coming. Blinded by the morning light after hours spent underground, you emerge from the cave blind, stumbling, and completely helpless. You close your eyes for a while so they can adjust to the blinding light, and open them to certain death.
The Strider watched him emerge from the cave silently. Minutes before it had picked up strange signatures emitting from below this entrance. What was strange wasn't the magnitude of it, which by itself was phenomenal, but the actual type of signature. It had the readings of an explosion, but the sound itself was akin to that of an animalistic scream. But this was of no interest to the Strider, whose AI overrode the animals instant decision to move somewhere safer. Shortly after, human life signs were detected. The Strider immediately sent out a warning signal and waited to see if the human was hostile, in which case he would be cleansed. His actions indicated no hostility at all. This in turn set off another pre-programmed decision, and the Strider stirred into motion.
thump The monster took a step towards you. You have no chance. Killing it is completely out of the question. Small arms fire won't even dent it. You look for an escape route. thump Now you realise the predicament you are in. The cave emerges in a sheer rock face which very recently appears to have suffered an enormous earthquake of some sort. thump You know better. Massive rocks bar your way in every direction but towards the Strider, which now was quickly closing that gap. You look at the cave. thump Not a chance in hell. One strider is infinitely preferable to millions of pissed-off insects any day. Quickly you look back. thump The Strider has nearly reached the stream.
As it approached the stream, the Strider detected something in the human's hands. On further scans, it found that this was a standard issue human-designed projectile firearm. Immediately its initiative changed. The human is hostile. The human will be killed. The Strider brought its weapons to bear
The deep roar signalled the end of your life. Looking up, you see the main gun flick up ever so delicately to train its sights on you. There is no escape. Without hope, you sprint towards the only exit available to you, straight towards the strider.
After five seconds of running, you suddenly realise you're not dead yet. In fact, not a shot has been fired. Looking up in exasperation, you see the Strider leaning on one leg, apparently listening to something. Its weight shifts to another two-story stick. You can't tell for sure, but its behaviour seemed somehow confused. You hear a distant thump. Your heart sinks. There's another one coming.
But the thump seems continuous. As it gets closer, you realize it's not a strider, but something else. There were individual steps in the sound, and they were much too fast for something as big as a strider to have made. Before you have time to think further, a monstrosity of a machine bursts from the thick foliage of the surrounding forest and flies through the air to land at the base of the newly formed rubble with such a crash that you wouldn't have been surprised if it started another collapse in the caves below. With joy you recognize the metallic form of Dog, and hope flares inside you again.
More than surprised at the appearance of the robot, the strider was at loss of what to do. The animal had no idea concerning what this thing was and the Strider AI didn't cover this form of machine. It didn't think of it as an enemy, as it was made up mainly of combine architecture. But its behaviour was certainly not friendly. Confused, all it did was look uncomprehendingly at the thing. Dog started slamming the ground, smashing metre deep potholes in the earth, trying to draw attention to itself. Finally, the animals sense of curiosity overcame the AIs indecisiveness, and thus the creature was doomed.
You watch as the Strider leaned towards Dog, paralysed in the notion that it was preparing for a point blank shot. But, against all odds, it simply moved so close as if to touch the robot, and stayed there.
All is quiet for a second.
With a cry that sends birds scattering Dog leaps upon the Striders frame, grabbing the armour in a literal grip of iron and immediately starts trying to position himself to rip the armour clean off, legs trying to brace towards the back of the creature while the arms held a vice-like grip on the creatures plate-like armour. The startled Strider rose to its full height and starts shaking itself, with surprising strength for it's wiry frame, to rid itself of the gorilla-like robot on its back. With astounding speed, you see Dogs arm blur and suddenly an unnatural screech echoes off the forest as the steel of Dogs fist clashed against the organic metal of the Striders hide. The whole body of the Strider shuddered as it took the blow and the head dipped several metres as it reeled from the impact. But with a smooth yet fatally quick movement the Strider whipped it's head up and down, while moving to the right, catching Dog off-balance and throwing him out into the air. With amazing speed Dog caught the edge of the organic metal plate covering the Strider and used the amazing speed he had gathered to throw himself towards the strider and deliver an excruciating kick into the vitals.
The Strider stumbled, its body racked with pain. Dog used the time in which it was trying to recover to clamber up onto the back of the creature and, before it knew what was happening, the metal fist had smashed into its back again. With disturbing regularity, Dog started raining blows down on the Strider. Like a smith working a piece of iron, he smashed the armour again and again, always hitting the exact same location on the back, all blows accompanied by that alien screech of colliding metal. With no way of defending itself from such an attack, and the continuous blows weakening it, it was all the Strider could do to stay standing. Suddenly, with a resounding snap that hit the ears with a force similar to that of fingernails on a blackboard, only a few million times worse, the armour of the creature cracked.
An ear-splitting cry resounded from the Strider, a cry so wracked with pain and hopelessness that you temporarily forget its role as a Combine tank and realise it is an animal. This hurts it. This is what happens to those serving the Combine. Total enslavement and death. Suddenly you pity the poor creature beneath that armour, and thus the hatred you feel towards the oppressors intensifies.
With a great effort the Strider rouses itself to what it perceives as its last act of its life. But before it can do anything else, Dog reaches into the recently made crack, and rips out a combination of muscles, wires, and internal organs. With a strangled cry, the Strider stiffens, and collapses to the earth with a resounding crash. Just before it hits, Dog jumps off and hits the ground solidly.
The echoes die away. All is quiet once again.
You approach the still Strider. With surprise, you hear something you've never heard before. A regular moan, changing in pitch every so often, sounding liquid and parched. It hits you. This is the sound of the creature breathing. The last effort of its body to keep running in a vain attempt to heal its fatal injuries. Your mindset completely changes as it fully sets in that this is an animal. An animal forced into obedience and sent to its death by masters that only cared for it's effectiveness in battle. But here, in death, it wasn't an enemy. It was just another creature with an unlucky life, trying desperately to survive so that it may live it, in hopes that things could suddenly get better than the hell it has currently lived through.
Silently Dog approached it's defeated enemy and, with an almost delicate motion, jabbed a metal finger into the soft underbelly at a point only it knew the import of. With a gurgling sigh, the breathing stopped with a disturbing abruptness. The Strider was dead. Standing there, the triumph you feel is overpowered with sadness at the abomination. So much you were in your thoughts that at first you didn't notice the blue spot on Dogs head.
Before you have a chance to cry out, a shot rings out and an energy enhanced round smashes into the metal, renting a dent dangerously close to the nerve-centre of the robots AI. Immediately Dog springs over the body and, with disturbing brutality, rips off one of the Striders legs with the sickening sound of tearing flesh. Dog beckons to you, turns and, brandishing the leg as a weapon, charges down the valley. You smile, cock your SMG, and sprint after him...
If you're too lazy to read the entire thing, here's a shortened version:
You come out of cave. You think strider kill you. It don't. Dog comes. Dog hits it lots. Strider gets dead. Fin.
What is thought by the masses? :bounce:
