Half-life: Genesis

[AJ Rimmer]

Chapter 1: Waking up

With a scream Frank sat up in his bed. He remembered the clutching feeling of panic that had paralyzed him in his dream. It took him several minutes to control his breathing. He tried to remember a time when he had been able to have a good nights sleep, but he couldn’t recall any part of life where he’d been less miserable than now. Even though he knew he once had lived a rather quite existence. Now a days he only slept in short periods, constantly haunted by a nightmare that didn’t leave him even when was awake. He checked his watch, 4:37. As good a time as any to get up, ‘Early bird… what a joke!’ he thought.

He pulled on his Kevlar and made sure his 9mm was still in the holster where he’d left it yesterday. He took a moment to gather his mind and then walked out through the piece of cloth that substituted as door.
In the cold, dirty storage room there were several madras’s with people sleeping. He walked passed them all, quickly checking the corners of the room, sweeping for headcrabs and making sure the sleeping area hadn’t been compromised. A few people grunted in their sleep when the flashlight hit their faces but most of them wouldn’t wake up for anything less than the apocalypse.

Frank stepped into the elevator and pushed for floor 3. The control panel had 10 buttons, labelled floors 1-10. Floor 8 had a piece of tape attached underneath which was marked “Off limits”. He ran his fingers through his dirty hair. He hadn’t showered for at least two weeks, but neither had anyone else. The cold and lack of food made sure almost everyone forgot about the smell. The elevator climbed up the shaft slowly and creaked and squealed on its way. The elevator doors finally opened to reveal a room almost identical to the sleeping area about 30 feet further down but much more cramped. The room had been cleared out of all furniture and stacked with pillars of boxes of ammunition and weapons that reached from floor to roof.

Frank picked up the same shotgun he’d used since CF day, again sweeping the room briefly with his flashlight and 9mm at the ready. At least he tolled himself it was the same shotgun, he didn’t know for sure but it felt as his old one. He had been in charge of the armoury in Area 3 before CF day. He remembered grasping for a shotgun when the first reports of intruders had come in. It seemed as if he’d never put it down ever since.

He grabbed a box of shells and stepped back in the elevator. He noticed a sign someone had put up in the elevator. It was a piece of cardboard taped to the back wall. It read: “Welcome to the end of the world. Population: 96”. He turned back and pushed floor 5 and the elevator once again sprung to life. It creaked and squealed its way further up and finally came to a halt. The doors opened once more and revealed three shotgun barrels faced against Frank.

 

[PunisherUSA]

:O :O :O :O

and then what happened?
What does CF day stand for?
Who is Frank?
Who are the others with shotties?

SO MANY QUESTIONS!!

But seriously: this is pretty good writing, let's see more.

 

[jonesey2k]

yeh very good beginning.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Human Survival

Frank was the one to break the silence, ‘Hello AJ. How are you?’.
The man to the right pulled back his shotgun to the side of his lab coat and rest of the men did the same. ‘I’m fine Frank, as well as can be expected. And you?’
‘Okay I s’pose’.
Frank looked at the group of men put on guard duty. Two of them wore science team uniforms, torn and dirty. He knew them both. AJ was assigned to the lambda complex test team and knew more than anyone still alive about the Xen creatures, which is why he never left the compound, he was too valuable. Frank was with a small group of guards when they found him shaking like a leaf, desperately trying to hold back headcrabs in a small supply room in the Lambda complex with a Colt .45 in his hand. Out of those guards who found him, Frank was the only one still breathing.

The other one was a bald man with big glasses, his name was Walter and he was responsible for supplies inventory. Before the Containment Failure he worked in Sector E Test labs and for some reason he still felt enough dedication to his job not to reveal anything about what he had worked with. The Third man with them was a security guard. His uniform was covered in entrails from some Xen creature, he looked tired and he stared straight through Frank, the former members of Black Mesa Security personnel were the ones doing most of the fighting. This man was named Jim but was called Jimster, Frank had been on patrol with him a few times. They both owned each other more debts than either one of them could or wanted to remember.

‘Hey Frank. How you doin’? Captain Cleer wanna speak to you’ Jimster nodded towards the back of the room where a small group of men were standing around a box with a large stack of papers on. Frank walked across the room. It had originally been a storage room for spare parts. Now it served as strategy room and base of operations for the survivors in The Black Mesa Research Complex. The room was about 30 metres from wall to wall, in concrete, most of the metal doors had been welded shut, guards were constantly checking the two exits out; the elevator and a small maintenance door which wasn’t used by the creatures because it was too small, only headcrabs could fit, and the black ops didn’t know about it any more than they knew about the old supply area which hadn’t been used since the late 80’s in the old Black Mesa Strategic Defence Complex.

The whole area had been condemned since 1985 after the base was rebuilt into a research facility, it was in the deepest bowels of the huge underground complex, no heat and only old, dusty backup-generators supported the population of 96 survivors since seven months back. Down here numerous nuclear warheads had been stored, ready for use in the fight against Communism during the cold war. Now, nothing but empty silos and cleared out bomb shelters remained, a monument over humanity’s will to destroy it’s own kind, now turned into a symbol of the last stand for human survival from an outside threat.
Frank inspected the surroundings with practiced and perfected disapproval. In one corner a small group of security guards were talking, checking their shotguns nervously, a lone man sat with his head between his knees, hiding behind a small stack of boxes. In the far corner in the flickering light of a light bulb dangling in a chain, a man lay screaming in agony as two men tried to calm him down. Frank peeked over their shoulders and discovered the man had lost both his legs. A pool of blood was still growing underneath the shaggy looking madras. The wounds in the surrounding tissue were yellow and swollen, attacked by some vicious infection, from the looks of it he’d gotten into a fight with a zombie and gotten the shortest straw. The zombies were known for infecting their prey’s bodies with diseases of which no man knew of. He turned away.

The room was filled with people, but apart from the dying mans screams it was quite, not many conversations were held anymore, people were just too tired and depressed to talk. Suddenly it struck just how miserable he felt, he felt the hunger in his stomach, the itch in his scars, the pain in his right leg. He felt his tired, exhausted body, he felt the cold, he felt the irresistible urge to burn all his clothes, he felt total disgust for his own, filthy, stinking, aching body that shivered in the cold.
He stood still, took a deep breath and walked up to Captain Cleer. He looked up when Frank approached the improvised table.
‘Morelli. Good you’re here.’ Frank looked at the pieces of papers. They were blueprints over different parts of this sector.
‘What’s going on Captain?’
‘Something big Morelli.’ Captain Cleer was captain over Fox-company, 25th Recon Regiment. He and those of his men still alive had deserted and joined forces with remnants of the BMRF security personnel. Most of the soldiers who were with him then are still alive. He pulled up a laptop and put in a CD.
‘About two hours ago the on duty watchman got a radio message, he managed to record most of it before he lost contact.’ Cleer clicked play and a loud voice immediately started talking in the middle of a sentence:
‘…intenance area 2D, repeat, 2D. We’ll try and meet you halfway there but if we can’t we’ll be holding down the fort in secto AHHH zgrxzz…’ The voice disappeared in static but the screeching battle call of a headcrab and then screaming followed by gunfire was clearly heard. After a short pause the voice came back. ‘Repeat, change that, we “will” be holding in sector M, repeat, Sector M. Please send your units in ASAP We need help immideately the bastards are everywhere. We’re down to 9 men and we are running out of ammunition, we are carrying vital equipment to you! We need help right no… Oh shit, jesus christ!’ A loud metallic banging was heard in the background and more screams… Frank listened for a few seconds but the voice didn’t come back.

‘Do you know what this means?’, asked Captain Cleer after a moment’s silence.
‘It means we’re going to get ‘em… Don’t it?’ A security guard named Otis had spoken. He’d been standing besides the table quite all the time. He was short but skinny, he was one of the old guys, and together with Frank and one or two more security guards, they were considered to be in charge of the former security personnel. Word was he used to be one of the laziest, fattest, dumbest but most brilliant shooters on the workforce. He looked bitter and stared Cleer right in his small eyes. ‘Doesn’t it?’ He repeated, almost accusing.
‘Yes it does.’ Cleer returned the gaze and then turned to Frank.
Frank shook his head looked down on the floor. When he looked up again he simply said: ‘You can “not” be serious!’ He stared right into Cleer’s eyes.
‘Of course I am serious. Why shouldn’t I be?’
Frank was about to speak but Otis beat him to it. ‘It’s crazy! That signal came from Floor 15 in Sector M, nobody has been that far out for 2 months, the last guys who even tried it came back in half the numbers with two arms missing and all out of ammo. Why should we take the risk?!’ Cleer spoke shortly and sounded annoyed.

‘They say they have vital equipment for us! They claim they’ve found a storage room full of unused weapons and ammo.’ Once again Otis spoke before Frank could.
‘Alright. How many are you planning on sending in?’
’6 guards, 4 marines and one scientist’
Otis and Frank looked at each other and nodded in quite disapproval.
‘You’ll be leaving in a few minutes, get your men and whatever gear you may need. And get something to eat as well. You’ll leave through maintenance shaft 13C, it will be cut open and then welded shut again behind you. Good luck.’ Captain Cleer did a quick salute then walked off towards the elevator, presumably to get some sleep.
Frank and Otis spent a few moments discussing the finer aspects of the mission then left to get things ready. Frank walked off to get a lunch consisting of lobster á la Xen. Aka roasted headcrab. He noticed the man on the madras had stopped screaming. In fact he had stopped moving at all.

 

[PunisherUSA]

It only seems to get better. And I imagine you have the rest somewhat planned out with floor 8 being 'off limits', a mission at hand, 'vital equipment' etc.

Chapter 3!

 

[AJ Rimmer]

I wrote this maybe a month ago so I can decide wether or not to tell ya how it continues *nah-nah*
Just kiddin, Chapter 3's coming up but I have to ask you to be kind to me coz I'm sure I screwed up the floor plans quite a few times, but I'll ignore that to benefit the story.

Chapter 3: Exposure


The door was put back in place and welders went to work behind it. Frank checked his shotgun and then his glock while the rest of the men checked their own equipment. After everyone was ready he started walking. The service tunnel was small and when filled with 11 men in full combat gear it was hard not to feel a bit claustrophobic. They reached the end of the corridor. There was a ladder that reached at least 20 feet, presumably to floor 10. Frank grabbed the radio from a young security guard whose name he didn’t know.

‘Attention Black Mesa, this is Team Bravo. We are commencing extraction mission of Group Columbus. Over.’ There was a short pause and then the voice of a young recon soldier responded; ‘Roger that Team Bravo, commencing extraction mission at 5:23 AM. Good luck. Black Mesa out.’
Frank heaved himself up to the ladder and started climbing. There was no light apart from the faint flash from a dying flashlight one of the soldiers had attached to his backpack. Frank didn’t see an end to their climb but kept on going anyway. After about a minute he reached out his hand and pushed open a square floor board and crawled out. He helped Otis to get up then grabbed his shotgun and peaked out in the corridor.

It was empty. The floor was covered in pieces of wood and steel, dust was everywhere, loose cables were hanging from the roof and missing floorboards added to the state of depressive decay that affected every part of this area of the Black Mesa facility. But unlike the rest of the facility, this area was mainly in such a poor state due to the test of time rather than an alien invasion. Once the bald headed scientist had come up through the hole Frank called for him. ‘Walter! Get over here!’

The small man rushed over, he had a backpack, a bag full of equipment and a stethoscope around his neck. What he thought he could use that for Frank had no idea.
‘What’s the Geiger count here?’ Walter started digging nervously in his bag and finally got up the small Geiger meter and checked the surrounding air.
‘Well within acceptable limits. I don’t understand it, this area isn’t very well protected against radiation and the bomb must have detonated at least within 7 miles of here. This area “should” be drenched in radiation but I’m not picking up any higher readings than you would at the outskirts of Hiroshima, just like Team Delta said it was on their last trip. It is truly fascinating. I’m rather looking forward to get back and hypothesize with my colleagues.’
‘Yeah me too.’ Frank answered without any irony.

‘Oh really? I didn’t knew you were interested in radiology Mr Morelli?’
‘I’m not. But I am looking forward to get back. Otis!’ Frank turned to his colleague and friend. ‘You wanna lead on?’ Otis stared into the dark corridor ahead. ‘I’d love to Frankie.’ Otis turned to the group of men holding the perimeter around the tunnel they just emerged from.
‘Flashlights on everybody, check your guns and let’s go. And let me know if you see a candy machine, I haven’t had a snack in ages.’ The group laughed, all except Walter who was busy counting exposure years and reading charts on radiation levels in his mind.
With Otis up front the team moved further down the corridor, finally came a section where the power worked and there was light, mostly very faint but still an improvement on before.

After about an hour they reached an elevator. Otis pushed the button and a loud bang was heard, a metallic squeaking noise and then movement. All guns were aimed at the elevator doors as they opened to reveal an empty lift. They all walked in and someone pressed the button to go up.
The freight elevator reached from floor 10 to floor 11, a distance of 100 feet, they were about to exit the missile complex and enter the Black Mesa Research Facility.
The doors finally opened about halfway. A tall marine called Webster pushed open the door and rushed out, he crouched in the middle of the hallway, scanning the corridor with the light attached to his M4 rifle. ‘All clear, recon, move in!’ The rest of the soldiers joined him and the security guards followed them. Frank got on the radio again.

‘This is Team Bravo calling Black Mesa, do you copy, over.’
‘We copy Team Bravo, what is your status?’
‘We have entered the Black Mesa Research Facility, repeat, we are in zone boogie and we are moving in. Over.’
‘Copy that Team Bravo, god bless. Out.’
‘God isn’t listening down here. Team Bravo out.’
He picked up his shotgun and joined the others as Otis led them on. The corridors were different here, the floor had carpets, the walls were covered up and didn’t show the pipes and cables that ran inside. They came upon a big reception area.

A desk and a number of broken security camera monitors were all that still was intact, on the floor, on some places covered in blood was the symbol of Franks former employers and a text that read; “Black Mesa Research Facility – Creating the next step in human development!” Frank spat on the floor. He was about to suggest resting for a while when a scream was heard, the sound of something braking and claws on cement. ‘Check your corners! Look out!’ Otis shouted as he stood pressed against a wall. Suddenly, a leading corridor on the left side of the room lit up in a green light, the sound of a portal opening was painfully recognizable to everybody. A young security guard stood at the corner of the corridor, he pulled up his 9mm and stood prepared. As the alien slave walked past him and prepared to attack Walter who had frozen in the middle of the room, he put the gun to the slaves head and pulled the trigger.

Blood and brains splattered against the opposite wall. The man looked proud, holding the gun where he’d fired it, he just had enough time to yell ‘I got him!’ before the green flash ripped through his hands. He cried out and fell to the floor, his pistol slid over the ground and the second alien slave ran over his body and charged for another strike. A round from Otis’s shotgun made it tumble to the wall, and another from a security guard made it fall on its face. It tried to get back up but one of the marines put his boot on its back and brought down the butt of his M4 as hard as he could on its head. The crackling noise made Frank a tad uncomfortable. He yanked Walter and pulled him to the man who lay on the floor, trying not to scream. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Jesus! ****ing shit it hurts! Awww shit! My hands! The bastard ****ing fried my hands! Shit!’ Walter checked his pulse and then his hands, they were burned and bleeding, his left index and long finger was missing as well as a big part of his right thumb. He put bandages on them and gave him a shot of morphine, there was nothing more that could be done. ‘He can’t get back alone, he’ll have to come with us.’ Frank said. Nobody argued. By now, every Xen creature in Black Mesa knew about them, and to send someone back alone was the same as shooting him. ‘Let’s get going, we’re about 200 metres to the north and 60 feet underneath Team Columbus. No time to waste.’ Otis followed his own orders and took the lead again.

 

[PunisherUSA]

Now I'll start giving some critique, small details mid you.

Back in chapter 2, a guy was saying the only people who made it that far came back half dead with no ammo, and that was 2 months ago. The problem, that's where 'Group Columbus' is right now, meaning they went further and they went recently.

As for the problem for layout (in advance) just add in a "hallway that seemed to last forever". Fixes floorplans in a jiffy.

O, "Let’s get going, we’re about 200 metres to the north and 60 feet underneath Team Columbus". People rarely use feet and meters together. Use yards.

Otherwise, good stuff!

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Actually Group Columbus had been trapped in BMRF until they tried and reach the "HQ" or whatever you wish to call it.
As for the hallway thing- pure gold, thankyou!

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Chapter 4: Primal fear


Otis peeked around the corner of a dark corridor. He checked the walls with his flashlight. He saw a sign that said “Entering sector N, floor 10”, another sign next to it indicated the freight elevator was located at the end of the corridor. He waved the men behind him to take places in the corridor. Sergeant Talbert was first in followed by two of his men. Otis checked the entire corridor was covered. Then he ran back to Frank.
‘We’ve got to get to the elevator. It’s about 100 feet down the corridor.’
‘So what are we standing around here for?’
‘Well partly because the army boys have to cut through that door.’ Otis nodded at a large grey metal door a bit down the hallway, a soldier was already getting the welding gear out of the bag. ‘But I mainly stopped because of that.’ He looked at a dark corner where the corridor was intersected by two other corridors. Lying towards a door was a tall man, big chunks of flesh was missing from his right side along with his hole right arm. The pool of blood was still growing in front of the man. He’d been attacked less than an hour ago.

Frank felt the panic inside him grow. As he watched the corridor with his flashlight he spotted several bloodstains on the floor and walls.
‘Let’s get the hell out of here as soon as we can.’ Frank started looking around nervously. ‘Keep your eyes peeled guys!’ He yelled to the group of soldiers crouching in front of him. The two soldiers up front laughed quietly and started talking to each other, mainly about how much they hated these pain in the ass security guards. Sergeant Talbert turned to them and put his finger to his mouth. ‘Keep it quiet troopers, stay alert.’ He then turned his gaze back towards the welder in front of him. He only caught a glimpse of the headcrab before it struck.

The thrust made him fall on his back, the headcrab grabbed a hold on his head with its four powerful legs, Talbert let out a muffled scream and grabbed the small body on his face, he rolled around in panic and desperately trying to fight it off. The two soldiers jumped on him and tried to get it off him, but the headcrab was the perfection in parasitic creatures, once it had grabbed its victim it would not let go. One of the soldiers pulled up his knife and cut a long deep incision in the round body. A slow, yellow liquid ran in streams over the sergeant’s face and the headcrab almost immediately let go. They pulled it off and threw it to the edge of the wall. Corporal Webster ended the screaming animal’s death spasms with a round from his shotgun.
Frank had sat paralyzed in the corner holding his shotgun close the whole time. This was his worst fear. This was what woke him up in the morning. His nightmare would always bring him back to this.

It had happen three times before, the second time it had stayed on for almost a full 20 seconds, hadn’t it been wounded by a gunshot it would have won. He remembered the horrible panic, the slimy, warm, wet body pressed against his face, his hands desperately trying to dig under it, the sound of gunfire and shouting muffled by the loud screaming of the crab. But the worst came after ten seconds, a long, slimy cold pipe being forced down his throat and nasal cavities very quickly. Not being able to breath, the terrible felling of his body going numb as he realized he was to be reduced to a mindless automaton which his friends were forced and bound to kill. After almost 20 seconds someone finally came to his aid and jabbed a knife into it, pulling it off, he threw up for almost 2 hours after Jimster had pulled out the pipes from his mouth. He had shot more alien slaves than he could count. He had wasted more bullsquids than most people had seen he had even managed to take down a Garg almost alone.

But no matter how many of them he had killed, he never got over his terrible horror of the headcrabs that he knew could lure in every corner. They had grown to become his most primal fear. And his most primal instinct was not to survive, but to at least survive them, to avoid them, to run from them as fast and as long as he could.
He looked at the headcrab lying in a pool of its own blood, lifeless. He felt ashamed, but grateful that no-one had seemed to react to his cowardice behaviour.
Talbert was lying on the floor barfing and the welder had paused in his work when suddenly a loud metallic bang was heard. Everybody searched for the source, then another bang came, and another, and someone screamed; ‘The doors!’ The young soldier stared at one of the two intersecting doors that were both being battered by something from the other side. Screams and battle calls were heard from behind them.

‘Five men go left, five men go right! Get ready, check your ammo, watch for headcrabs. Walter! Catch!’ Otis threw a 9mm Walter’s way, he was tending to the injured guard in one of the corridors behind the rest of the men. ‘Stay back there!’
Everybody stood huddled together, five men aiming to the left, and five men to the right. Otis and Frank were in the middle of both groups. The doors were being heavily beaten and the right one gave after first, a red thin hand bashed through the metal and tried to grasp the air, it grabbed both ends of the hole and bent the whole wide open. The massacred face of a zombie covered with a big headcrab pushed through the hole and sniffed around. Four quick shotgun volleys made it disappear, another hand came and ripped through another part of the door, hands were bursting through everywhere, more shotgun rounds forced them back. The door fell out of it’s frame and landed just a foot from Frank’s feet. Two zombies charged at them but soon fell down, Corporal Webster showered the approaching wall of zombies and alien slaves with his M4, Frank saw a zombie being shot right through where the face should be, yellow blood mixed with red on the floor in the cramped corridor, shotguns shells rained on the floor, bullets kept on swarming into the dark doorway. Frank could hear similar sounds behind him, the other door must have been breached as well.

Webster reloaded his M4 and the forward shooters gave covering fire, most of were about to run out of shells and needed Webster’s fire then. More alien slaves kept trying to get through but they didn’t let them, a few greens flashes swept past their heads and left bad burns on the wallpaper, a piece of the wall caught fire behind them. Webster’s M4 sprung back to life and the rest of the men quickly filled their weapons, and got back to the door. But it was empty. They waited and was about to turn around and help the other team when a blue flash ripped through the sky and caused a large piece of the cement wall to fall down on the floor in a cloud of dust.
‘Look out, shock trooper!’ Frank’s words were followed by a chain of bullets from Webster raining into the opening where a short grey creature was rushing forward, the bullets ripped through his flesh but didn’t slow him down, the shotguns started hitting him, and one round that struck in his head knocked him to the ground where he twitched and finally stopped moving.
After the shock trooper went down no more creatures came. After ten seconds Frank shouted;

‘Right side clear!’ Otis’s voice responded ‘Left side clear! Walter! Get down here now! Hurry!’ The man with glasses reappeared from the corner and crouched down besides a soldier who was lying on the ground in a big pool of his own blood. Frank looked at the man’s torso. His PCV had been torn apart and there was a big hole straight into his chest. He wasn’t even moving, he was already dead.
‘A shock trooper hit him right in the heart, son of a bitch!’
Frank picked up the dead soldier’s M4 and asked if someone needed it.
‘I’m almost out of ammo for this thing.’ One of the security guards held up his shotgun. Frank took his shells and told the welder to get back to his work.
Five minutes later he sat crouched behind a knocked over table, thinking. He saw the radioman come walking to him. He greeted and crouched down besides him.
‘Sir, we’re almost through the door.’

‘Good, get Black Mesa on the horn, I wanna tell them our situation before we leave.’
The man scratched his chin and looked uncomfortable, almost scared.
‘Sir that’s just it. I know they’re getting the signal, and there’s nothing wrong with the radio. But I’ve tried for five minutes now.’ Frank looked at him. He couldn’t be meaning what he thought he was meaning. ‘What are you saying?’
‘I’m saying…’ He sighed heavily. ‘I’m saying Black Mesa isn’t responding. They’re hearing us, but nobody is responding.’

 

[PunisherUSA]

ooooooo
just curious, how many chapters, and soes it have a definitive ending, or a 'leaves-you-hanging' ending?

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Ten chapters, and yes, it has an ending.


This is the beginning of Chapter five, it's 2000 letter's too long appearentely. So I'll dubbelpost for which I apologize in advance.

Chapter 5: Nowhere to run.


AJ was sitting with his back to a box and a shotgun in his lap. He was tired, he was almost dozing off but had to stay awake. He had the watch on the maintenance tunnel Frank and the others had left with and it was very boring. He was a scientist, he was easily bored, which was why he had tried so hard to get on the Black Mesa Science Team. And he had done it, he’d even gotten to one of the most prestigious area of the Black Mesa Facility, next to the experimental propulsion test labs and anomalous materials lab. It in fact was he who discovered that the mysterious yellow glowing rocks found in the border world possessed great power harvesting abilities.

He and his colleagues had conducted extensive examinations on the samples on the molecular level but they had come out more or less empty, apart from some very intriguing new strains of virus and evidence of extreme radiation. The radiation had how ever proved itself most interesting since it later became the key in unlocking the mystery of a great powerful entity. AJ opened his coat and pulled out a report that he had saved from the accident. He had brought it with him because he had a theory. A bad one. He read quietly.

“ Field Research Team B field report for excavation in sector 23A Border world. Classified
Excavation 13C in sector 23A. Excavation 13C has finally gotten some result. And what a result. We broke through the mountain wall at 09:23 AM Sunday 25th and found a chamber inside. The radiation in the surrounding mountain was almost too much for our HEV suits to handle and we temporarily lost contact with the Lambda team back in Black Mesa. Inside was three large stones stapled on each other as an arc, underneath was a burial site. A huge skeleton, at least the size of an eighteen-wheeler, to much alike a human to feel comfortable lay underneath the rocks. It turned out that the bones in what appeared to be the head was a source of radiation levels equal the same amount as approximately 2 neutron bombs. Around the skeleton were decomposed bodies of alien slaves. Some centuries old, some were just a week old. All of them had their collars removed. Something never encountered before anywhere in the border world. The head of the skeleton also had signs of fossilised samples of mineral 183D, the same mineral was found in sector 24A as well as in the burial chamber. The walls were covered with writings and signs. It shows the creature buried standing up above a specimen of creature 1742F or Garg, surrounded by specimens of creatures 2239E or Flying Controllers and rows of other Xen creatures bowing down to it. There are then more drawings carved into the walls showing the creature’s skull opening up and emitting a bright light. There is a lot of doubt in Field Team Bravo about what this means but it’s easily understood that this creature is regarded as some sort of god to the creatures of the border world. Samples taken from the creatures bones was analyzed using Carbon-14 dating. They were fossilised over twenty-five thousand years ago. Team Bravo marked the site for teleportation and evacuated to teleportation site 13. Field Report closed.”

AJ Closed his eyes and thought about the day he entered that cave. There was an eerie feeling in the room. The corpses of alien slaves and the huge ribcage in the middle of the room gave him a sense of pure evil, he felt cold, even though he only imagined it, his HEV suit had kept it at a steady 37 degrees Celsius. The next day he started to analyze the minerals found in the creature’s skull. Two weeks later another similar cave was found with a skeleton only 300 years old and later they found one less than 50 years old, all buried in the same ceremonial way.

No-one had seen a living specimen yet and no-one knew what they did, most just assumed it was a myth, a creature of such awesome strength the aliens had seen them as godlike. But AJ had a theory, he couldn’t prove it but he still thought about it. He decided to suggest mineral 183D for testing in the anomalous materials lab. The rest of the Lambda team agreed to his proposal and the administrator gave the all clear. The day after the sample was sent to be prepared for testing the Containment Failure occurred. AJ knew the exact time, he was waiting for the result to come in from the AM labs at the time and the moment everything went wrong, he knew why and what had caused it.

He had held it in his hand. He was sure if the men down at AM hadn’t abused the technology at their disposal mineral 183D wouldn’t have reacted the way it did. His theory was that mineral 183D had destabilized and caused a connection between one of the creatures and the sample in the test lab that opened a gateway that could be used at the alien’s discretion. He knew they could die, and he knew they could be born. The last he heard before he lost contact with everyone he had known was that a man named Freeman was going in after such a creature, by the sudden decrease in creatures he could only assume he had succeeded. But he feared it wasn’t over. He dreamt of it day and night, that they would return one day. If one of those creatures could somehow re-establish the connection it could all start over again.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Chapter 5: Nowhere to run


He checked his watch; 11:26, he better check the hallway before the next guy came on. He stood up and brushed his clothes and looked at the monitors. Nothing unusual, the same corridor as before, but… no, wait there was something different. The black and white image was different in some way. What was it? AJ looked carefully and there it was! The floor had changed colour, slightly darker than before. He looked even closer and tried to see if it was the lighting that had changed. Then his confusion grew deeper when he thought he had seen the floor move. Suddenly he jolted back. He tried to yell out but no sound passed his lips. He saw another man approach him in slow motion, he ran up to him and grabbed his Kevlar and shook him.

‘Whoa whoa, calm down AJ whatya doin’? Calm down what’s wrong?’ The man tried to get AJ off him but he kept on shaking him and stammering, suddenly he cleared his head and shouted so everyone in the room could hear him:
‘RUN!!! SNARKS!!!’
A second later the explosion knocked AJ and Jimster to the ground, AJ screamed as the flaming metal door landed feet in front of him. Jimster eventually got him to his feet and dragged him with him to a safe corner of the room, AJ was groggy and in a lot of pain, he heard shouting and screams coming from somewhere he couldn’t pin-point. He felt a stabbing pain in his legs, he heard someone shout:
‘Look out! They’re coming down the corridor! Aim high!’ Followed by gunshots, he saw a moving wall of brown, green and yellow blood covering the corridor, the sharp sound of intense gunfire filled the room mixed with the screams of alien slaves.

Captain Cleer aimed his MP5 at the oncoming force of alien slaves, they kept on coming, a moment ago his troops hadn’t let them come within 20 feet of the opening where the door was but now they were inches from the main room. He took aim and let down two slaves with three rounds, another one went down with a short burst and one tripped over his fallen comrade and the Captain shot his head clean open before he got up.
‘Grenades!’ Three or four grenades rained in to the corridor and carcases blasted into the room and back into the corridor but they kept on coming.
‘We’re running out of ammo here!’ A soldier with a heavy machine gun shouted just as he stopped firing and threw up his 9mm, the slaves started getting into the room, they ran across the walls and were mowed down but kept on coming.

‘There’s too many sir! We can’t hold them back!’ A corporal shouted to Cleer as the slaves got closer and closer to the centre of the room where the soldier were holding down the fort.
AJ could see clearly now, he saw hundreds of alien slaves pouring into the room, he saw the man who had dragged him to the corner shooting his pistol at the mess of monsters, he had saved him for nothing, in a few minutes they would all be dead. He knew it, it was inevitable. He looked on the floor, his right kneecap was missing and a large portion of his left foot was gone. He couldn’t run. He wouldn’t run. He had nowhere to run.

The slaves got closer and closer, a few soldiers up front got into hand to hand combat while reloading. Cleer strapped the last grenade onto his belt, put in the last clip into his 9mm, made sure his backpack was full with satchels. He yelled into the corporal’s ear to give him cover fire for as long as he could and started running. He broke free of the men and brought up his knife to his front, he cut open one slave, another, he shot one a few feet ahead and pulled the pin to one grenade. He literally dived into the corridor and crawled on the floor, all around him claws bored deep into his flesh, he felt someone holding his foot but he shot the hand off without even looking. He crawled further, put the pain out of his mind, he felt more claws shoot deep into him, big pieces of flesh got torn off his back and legs, he couldn’t move any more, they held him down, they looked on him, and he grinned back.
The explosion shook the room, the corridor gave a crumble and collapsed, alien slaves flew threw the air and arms and legs rained on the floor and concrete fell down and blocked the tunnel.

The soldiers started reloading quickly, Jimster lifted AJ and tried to get him to elevator but no more than 5 seconds after the explosion a loud blast was heard. A metal door at the other end of the room had buckled in, a loud sound of footsteps, heavy, big feet running on metal floor echoed like the grim reaper himself. AJ whispered to the guard who sat with him:
‘Run! It’s over! Run! Save yourself!’ Jimster shook his head and whispered: ‘One way or another sir, I’m staying with you.’ The soldiers re-positioned themselves and the steps came closer and suddenly a big purple flash ripped the door out of its hinges.

‘Look out! Voltigore!’ The shout was immediately followed by gunshots, the door was covered with bullets in seconds, out stormed a raging bull, a monster from another world, insane with fury and unstoppable it charged on the soldiers, a purple flash and three men were thrown into a wall covered in flames, screaming in agony, another blast and two more followed them. A third blast ripped the corporal apart and the monster ran its massive head into the remaining troops. After it stormed alien slaves, shock troopers and grunts. AJ felt a blast hit the concrete wall behind him. The guard stood up and shot down the shock trooper, he tried to drag AJ to the elevator but more blasts made him drop AJ and return fire.

There was a blast and the guard fell down next to AJ, half his head missing, AJ grabbed his gun and shot the shock trooper trying to hit him. Two slaves fired a blast at him who knocked his head into the wall and felt blood trickling down his forehead, before he got his head up again he felt a hand lift him up in his shoulders, he stood on his bad knee and missing foot and stared straight into the eyes of two alien slaves. They stood and looked at each other for what seemed like an eternity, until one of the slaves ripped his claws around AJs legs and tossed him into the wall, AJ let out a scream of pain and the slave lifted him into the air and let him down hard, his companion grabbed a hold of AJ’s torso and started to pull, soon enough AJ split in two.

He lay there, barely alive in a growing pool of his blood, seeing a monster from another dimension eating his right leg and the man who had died protecting him having his head eaten by another monster, he saw the room full of dying marines and guards, blood everywhere and monsters killing without mercy, ignorant to the men’s terrible screams of pain and dread. Two slaves were fighting each other over who was going to eat a soldiers thigh when a slave looked deep into AJ’s eyes. The last thing Adam Joseph Henderson of the Black Mesa Lambda Science Team Bravo saw was a claw being brought down on his face, a second later his head was ripped clean off.



PS. Let me know if this is boring you because I never can tell with people. (especially over the internet )

 

[Brian Damage]

Quite good. Story's rather gripping, and I like the addition of the updated Otis...

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Then I'd like your opinion on the next chapter, coz I always loved Otis and... well... tell me if I did a good enough job on the next bit here.

Chapter 6: Into eternity


‘This is Team Bravo to Black Mesa do you read me, over?’ Silence.
‘This is Team Bravo, can anyone read us? Over.’ The silence was only interrupted by the faint humming of a fan somewhere.
‘This is Team Bravo, is there anyone there? Please respond!’ Nothing but static.
The guard threw away the radio. ‘It’s useless, I’ve been trying for an hour, Black Mesa isn’t there!’
Frank squeezed his shotgun. It couldn’t be true.

They had reached the elevator. It was in an old abandoned missile silo, the huge cylinder had been emptied and fitted with a small cargo elevator. It was stuck about 100 feet above them, Otis had sent one of the guards up a service ladder to try and un jam it. He’d been up there for 20 minutes now and Frank was getting worried about him. He stood and stared over the fence that went around the whole silo. He picked up a quarter and dropped it into the pit. After about 20 seconds a small metallic noise echoed down in the dark. Frank thought of his time at Black Mesa. He’d been liked by most of the people he’d worked with. All of them were dead. He had met Otis while trying to get as deep into the facility as possible, after the rumours of the bomb had started floating around. Otis had confirmed that the rumours were true, he’d met a soldier who had told him after Otis told him he’d helped one of his colleagues escape. Otis used to joke a quarter saved his life, because if he hadn’t had his hand stuck in the candy machine in the central transit hub when the first soldier found him, he would have tried to shoot the man and the highly trained professional would certainly have killed him before he even had gotten a chance. In his own logic, had‘This is Team Bravo to Black Mesa do you read me, over?’ Silence.

the quarter that was supposed to be in his pocket actually been there, he would have died. The man was a corporal apparently, Otis didn’t know what happened to him. Most likely he evacuated with the rest.
He and Otis had gotten as deep into the base as possible. They were at least 700 feet under sea level when the bomb went off. It was as if the world had ended, after there was nothing but silence.
They stopped after have gotten maybe 200 feet further down, they found a radio and set up a beacon. Survivors started dropping in. One, two at a time, sometimes many at once. Many severally injured from radiation, they searched even further down until they found a way down to the sewers of the former missile base. Round about 200 people had died since then, and only 20 had joined them. Frank remembered the week he had spent in Black Mesa from CF day until the bomb went off. A nightmarish time when no-one understood what was going on, all his friends slowly dying on him, scientists cowering away or being eaten and a constant re-assuring that the military was coming to help them.

He looked down into the deep. Somewhere down there was his quarter, to him it was useless, there was nothing he could or wanted to do with that quarter, or any money. He had a 20$ in his pocket left from before. He probably would never use it. He didn’t get depressed when thinking of his situation. He had since long accepted the fact that he would never see his girlfriend again, or his parents… or sunlight.
Sergeant Talbert walked up behind him and leaned over the fence next to Frank. He looked very pale and leaned far over the fence.
‘Hey sergeant. How are you doing?’ Talbert looked him and then quickly leaned over the fence again and vomited. Frank looked away.
‘I get it, dumb question. Don’t worry, it’ll pass in a few hours.’
‘Are you sure? Well when does the foul aftertaste go away?’
‘About a week.’ Talbert threw up again. ‘Try and move a lot, I know it sounds like a bitch thing to do but it counters the nerve toxin, it keeps away the nausea.’

Talbert nodded and asked if there were any news from above. Frank looked up, not expecting to see anything. He wasn’t disappointed.
‘Nope. Not a sound. I hope nothing happened to him.’
‘You know, if he can’t get the elevator down here we’re gonna have to climb. And that’s a bad thing.’
‘I know.’ Frank nodded and stared into the distant down there, where the darkness seemed to spread into eternity. A smarter man would have gotten poetic about it. The darkness seemed to spread higher and higher up, he was afraid it would devour him. Talbert coughed and threw up again. ‘Listen, go for a walk, trust me, it helps.’
Talbert nodded and walked away. Otis passed him on the way.
‘Hey Frank, any news from above?’
‘Nope. Nothing.’
‘I thought so. Well, nothing to do but hope for the best.’ He looked down the hole with Frank in silence.
‘You know my cousin is the one who got me this job.’ Frank looked at him and laughed out loud.
‘Seriously? Oh man that is priceless! Your cousin?’ Otis nodded. ‘Aww shit that’s messed up… What does he do?’
‘My cousin? He works at NASA. He pulled some string with someone at the experimental propulsions lab and here I am. Anyway I’m relieving you, go get some shut-eye, you look like shit.’

Frank nodded and walked off howling with laughter. If anyone else had told him he needed some sleep he would have ignored him. He would only take such advice from Otis. He passed the small stretch of corridor that led from the small control room to the silo when he heard a hissing noise. He froze on the spot, he slowly turned to a dark corner and spotted one of the four little legs that reached the light from the lights in the ceiling. He couldn’t move, he was paralyzed just like before he was unable to move, every part of his body reacted to the tiny, terrible little parasite in the same way. He saw it crawl closer, he saw it get ready, he saw it jump.
Two shots sounded and the little crab got thrown to the side in mid-air. Frank turned to his right and saw Otis with his Desert Eagle aiming slightly in front of Frank.
Frank stared at him and smiled, partly in disbelief that he made that shot but mostly in gratitude, Otis smiled back.

‘Morelli, when are you gonna learn that I always have you back covered huh?’
Frank didn’t answer, he had stopped smiling. He pulled up his 9mm and aimed above Otis’s head. He put up his finger to his mouth and took careful aim. Otis stared at him with confusion and whispered: ‘What is it?’ He then let out a scream of pain. The huge, green tentacle behind him had thrust its big black horn through Otis’s torso. He was spewed like a pig, his screams for help echoed in the empty room, the men had rushed into the corridor behind and Corporal Webster started spraying the tentacle with his M-249 SAW, Frank was firing his 9mm at the tentacle who wasn’t even responding to the fire. It lifted Otis off the ground and shook him in the air like an animal with a dead prey. Frank yelled out to Otis who still screamed at the top of his lungs. The tentacle started to swing Otis into the walls like a rag doll, he screamed even higher and finally he slipped off from the horn and landed on the gantry opposite the corridor in the silo, the tentacle still took no notice of the bullets but swiped with its horn at its attackers who backed off, all except Frank who kept firing away his 9mm in vain.

The tentacle returned to Otis, who was lying on the small stretch with his intestines torn out of him, with his last strength he pulled up a grenade and pulled the pin, the tentacle got close enough and Otis shoved the grenade into the tentacles slimy pulsating small mouth under its horn. It twitched and banged its head against the walls but couldn’t get rid of the small object lodged in it which was bound to bring death. The tentacle swung its massive body and suddenly its horn was thrust upwards, the mouth and surrounding green armour was blow apart and splattered flesh over the walls and men standing on the platform. Otis whispered;
‘Eat that you outer space octopus.’ The tentacle had frozen in the air but now fell to the side, right on the gantry where Otis lay, its head landed a few feet from Otis and the whole gantry shook. Frank waited a second and then rushed up to him.

‘Otis! Oh my god!’ A huge chunk of Otis’s torso had gone missing, he had trouble breathing and his blood was everywhere. Frank lifted his bloody head and held him in his arms. ‘Does it hurt?’ Otis coughed and looked at Frank, blood sipped out of his mouth when he spoke. ‘I can’t feel a thing Frank. But my mom’s gonna worry when I don’t make it home tonight.’
‘That’s probably for the best old buddy.’ Frank smiled at him while he was fighting to hold back the tears when a metallic noise was heard, the gantry was giving up to the overwhelming weight of the head of the tentacle and Otis at the same time. Otis pushed Frank away from him, Frank backed off a few feet and whispered: ‘You’re gonna be alright buddy, Walter will patch you up, it’s gonna be okay, you hear?’ Otis nodded and tilted his head slightly so he could see Frank and suddenly smiled as he said: I tell you; wouldn't you just love a cold beer right about now? I know, I would.’ He gave a little chuckle and the gantry collapsed and dragged down Otis and the dead tentacle down into the darkness. Down into eternity.
A moments silence and then a loud metallic rumble was heard deep down in the dark.
Frank stared into the deep in disbelief, it wasn’t true, it couldn’t be true. Otis was gone. He was dead. His friend for the last year, the only one he could talk to, the only reason he had remained sane for the last year was gone. If there was a hell, he and Otis had been through it and back a hundred times over. They had saved each other more times than either one could count. And he was dead, buried with the remnants of a huge monster from another dimension at the bottom of a huge hole.

 

[Brian Damage]

You like gory stuff, eh? Dunno about killing off a canon character, but whatever floats your boat.

A couple of inaccuracies: Xen and Race-X don't get along, and it seems doubtful that the Slaves/Vortigaunts would actually eat a human... The Grunts, yes, but the Grunts are practically animals...

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Haven't you ever seen an action movie? It has to get dark before the ending.
Also I reckon the food situation drives Xen creatures to certain measures just like humans, it's been a year.
As for the Xen and X-race, I'm sorry I should have checked with the dpt for Xenobiological studies in the Lambda sector, my mistake. :thumbs:


Still Chapter 5.


There was a crumbling sound and a mechanical humming. The elevator was coming down. Two minutes later the large freight elevator came creaking down and came to a halt at the platform.
‘What kept you so long?’ Said sergeant Talbert. The thin security guard was covered in alien blood and entrails.
He stared at the sergeant, he was still out of breath and sweaty.
‘There was a shitload of ‘em, let’s hope there isn’t as many on floor 15 or we’re fried.’
He looked around and asked. ‘Where’s Otis?’ Several speaking stares told him everything he needed to know. They walked into the elevator and pushed the button. The elevator creaked its way back up. Frank stood and looked out off the railing down into the hole where he had left his companion, his friend. He felt as if he had lost a part of himself, a part of his existence. It was down there, down in the gaping hole of his past. The elevator kept on going up, away from Otis, past floor 11, floor 12, 13, 14 and after 300 feet they finally stopped at floor 15. There was an identical platform as down from where they came from but the big titanium door in front of them was closed. Talbert ran up and joined a datapad with the control panel next to the door, after a few seconds the door hissed open and team Bravo was greeted by gun barrels. One of the men inside dropped his MP5 and ran up to Talbert and hugged him.
‘Oh thankyou, oh dear god thankyou! We’re saved! Thankyou god!’ The rest of the men rushed forward and greeted them, though most of them not as heartedly as the first man.
A security guard in a freakishly clean uniform and a still perfect crew-cut under his helmet walked up to the sergeant and shook his hand after the man had let go of him.
‘How do you do Sergeant, I’m officer Johnson, how are your men? Thankyou for coming to our rescue. I’m afraid we’re a bit shorter than we told you in our last transmission. The bastards gotten 4 of us so now we’re down to 5. And you?’ Talbert shook his hand and saluted him.
‘We’ve lost 3 men, one injured and two KIA’s. This is security officer Frank Morelli, he’s the team leader.’ Frank shook hands with the security officer who seemed disappointed over having traded a big muscular marine sergeant over a filthy, thin short security guard.
‘Hello Mr Morelli. Thankyou for your quick appearance. We’re all eager to get to your basecamp.’
‘Well, I’ve got bad news for you Johnson.’, Frank said bitterly. ‘Cause basecamp isn’t there anymore. There’s nowhere to go but up now.’

 

[Brian Damage]

Actually, the "Xen dislike Race-X stuff" is pretty well known. If they meet in a the game environment, they fight.

Anyway, keep going...

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Chapter 7: A place to call home



Frank sat down near the wall, he felt woozy. He was sitting in the far corner of a barrack, leaning against a bunk still left there. The barrack still made a suitable place to live, if only for a few hours.
‘The most important thing in life.’ Frank thought. ‘Is to have somewhere to call home. If only for a few hours, no matter what form it may have, everyone want somewhere to rest. Somewhere to feel safe. Frank hadn’t felt safe for ages. About the same amount of time since he’d last gotten a good night’s sleep. He looked at the small group of people sitting around the burning barrel, warming their hands, eating the corpse of a dead creature which wasn’t meant to be. He sat and thought about his life. His life it seemed, had changed completely in the last two hours. He now had nothing to connect him with the rest of the world.

For all it mattered, he had never existed outside this world. Maybe it was all a dream, maybe he had never been outside this nightmare, maybe there wasn’t such a thing as sunlight, just a myth, like survival. In the beginning, all he had thought about was to get to the surface, to get out of this hell on earth, after a month he had accepted that they needed to wait until they tried to brake out of Black Mesa, and after a year, he had accepted he was dead. He didn’t think of getting out, he didn’t think about seeing his parents again, he knew he was dead, he had come to terms with it.
He sat in the corner thinking when Corporal Webster walked up to him. He crouched in front of him.

‘Sir, are you alright?’ Frank looked into the young soldiers eyes. He was young, maybe 19, definitely not more than 20. He suddenly felt ridiculous, thinking that this man was about to die before being 20, he himself was only 22, although he felt much older, he felt as if he had aged a good twenty years down here.
‘I’m fine corporal. Why do you always insist on calling me sir? I hate it!’
‘I’m sorry sir, force of habit I guess. Would you like some food sir?’ The corporal pointed back to the burning barrel with his thumb. Frank stood up and adjusted his Kevlar.
‘Sure, why not. What’s on the menu?’
‘Bullsquid sir.’ Frank lit up a bit.
‘Really? That’s almost good. Don’t you think?’
‘I’ve never had the pleasure sir.’
‘Tastes like fish actually. Well, not like a good fish but still.’ Frank smiled and walked up the group of men.

The big dead grey creature was rotating on an improvised barbeque over the open fire, small chunks had been torn out and were being eaten by the soldiers. Frank turned to Walter to ask if he’d checked it for poison but he was busy trying to eat as much of the left hind leg as possible. Frank picked up the knife next to the barrel and cut out a piece of the tail and sat down next to Talbert.
‘How are you doin’ Talbert?’
‘Much better now, thanks. But the aftertaste won’t go away!’
‘I know, don’t worry. It’ll disappear soon enough.’ Talbert nodded and Frank took a big bite out of the piece of flesh. After a few minutes most of the people had stopped eating and Johnson stood up.
‘Right, now let’s decide our next move.’ Frank stared at him, what was wrong with this man? He sounded as if he didn’t get the fact that they were buried about 800 feet below sea level in an old abandoned missile base flooded with radiation. Well no, that wasn’t true, an old abandoned missile base that ‘should’ be flooded with radiation. Walter had found very little trace of radiation despite the fact that they had come closer to the surface where the radiation was the worst. There was no explanation for that. Johnson stared at Frank.
‘Well officer? Any suggestions?’ Frank looked around him, most of the men from Johnson’s group were looking at him.
‘No.’ Johnson looked at him in disbelief.
‘No? That’s it? That’s all you have to say?’
‘Yes.’ Frank smiled benignly.
‘Okay, well those of us who know how to do our job have come up with a plan.’ He put the emphasis on job. A tall, pale security guard picked up some blueprints and rolled them out on the floor so everyone could see them.
‘This is where we are.’ He pointed at a small cluster of rooms that made up the barracks. ‘And over here…’ He drew his finger over to three floors above them. ‘…is a maintenance tunnel that runs all the way to sector P, and here, in sector P…’ He produced another set of blueprints. ‘… is a service elevator that runs all the way to floor 35, and from there it’s only 100 feet to the surface. And once out there we’ll contact the authorities and they’ll come for us.’ Johnson looked at his men with pride. ‘What do you think?’
Talbert nodded and said: ‘It sounds like a plan.’

Corporal Webster stared at him and asked him: ‘What? You think it’s a good idea?’
‘No, I don’t, I think it sounds like a stupid, moronic, idiotic, suicidal idea. But what are our choices? If we stay here we’re either gonna run out of food or ammo or heat in a week. If we go with Captain America’s plan, we’re either gonna get out of this ****ing place or we’ll die trying! Personally, I’d like to find out.’
Webster nodded in silent approval. He turned to Frank. Frank sat quiet for a while and then rose up and said.
‘Okay, looks like we’re off to take a hike! Pack your bags cause we ain’t coming back! We’ll leave first thing in the morning.’
‘Why not now?’ Johnson looked at Frank with an almost challenging stare of superiority. Frank didn’t return it.
‘Because I want a chance to die in my sleep before we go about this suicide mission.’

Frank woke up at 5, he felt strange, something was wrong. It took him a while to find out what it was. He remembered his nightmare from the night but they hadn’t awoken him. He was drenched in sweat and was shaking like a leaf, but for the first time in months he felt somewhat rested. Of course, he had actually only for slept about 5 hours but that was much more than he was used to.
He looked around him and saw that the bunks around him were empty, had he overslept? He rubbed his eyes and saw that someone had left his Kevlar next to the right bunk. He stood up and put on his Kevlar and helmet and quickly walked across the room, in the corridor outside he saw almost everyone of his men stand gathered around something. He walked up to them and peeked over their shoulders. On the floor lay a small white headcrab, about the size of a rat rather than a small dog.

‘It jumped Webster last night. He didn’t see it coming.’ Said Talbert.
‘Who would see it?’ said a big security guard from Johnson’s group.
‘Where’s Webster?’ Frank looked around for him and found him standing in the corner, scratching his face. He had an ugly scar that ran along from his under his eye to down to his chin.
‘Are you okay corporal?’
‘Just fine sir, the little bastard jumped me but couldn’t keep a hold on me when I ripped it off. I bashed it with my pistol and down it went.’
Frank nodded and addressed the guard with the radio.
‘Go wake Walter up. And get your Kevlar on!’
The man returned with a confused Walter on his tail.
‘What the devil is going on? Couldn’t you’ve let me sleep for just a little while longer? I need my beauty sleep.’ He pushed his way into the crowd and looked down on the little parasite.

‘My god, what is that?’ He dived down and examined it closely. After a while Frank rouched down beside him and asked him what it was.
‘Why it’s a baby headcrab.’
‘What?’
‘A baby headcrab, that’s what they look like before they grow. We never managed to get a specimen but we did examine them in the wild. They are born in the borderworld by a creature some of us have come to call big scrotum…’ There was a moment of giggling. ‘…yes yes, we don’t know how they grow, but once they’ve grown into full size, they are teleported into battle. There are usually many hundreds of them near the mother, guess this one got lost somehow.’
‘But why have we never seen them before?’
‘Well, the baby headcrabs are almost defenceless, therefore, they don’t leave the safety of the heavily protected mother, or big scrotum (more giggle) but stays in the nest until they’ve grown.’
Walter suddenly realized what he had said. Frank stared at him along with everyone else.

‘Walter. Are you telling me…? That these things are “nesting”?’
Walter opened and closed his mouth several times. He looked at the dead headcrab in his hand. He looked up and nodded slowly.
Frank stood up.
‘Where’s Johnson?’ Two guards from Johnson’s group looked at each other in disgust.
‘Still sleeping.’ One of them said bitterly.
‘Wake him. We are leaving. Now.’

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Chapter 8: The Darkness below


The maintenance railway cart rumbled through the dark tunnel, they were travelling at about 20 kph, a wagon behind the first cart had those of the men who didn’t fit on the first.
They had gotten to the old railway system and taken it for about 4 miles.
It was only 2 miles left to the service lift and things were going well. But when things are going well, it’s always a lie.
‘So what is this thing anyway Peter?’
A security guard who was sitting at the end of the cart looked up and answered Webster’s question.
‘It’s a railways system throughout this entire part of the base, it was used to transport missiles during the cold war. I was sent down here about 15 months ago when some old security system found an intruder.’
‘An intruder?’

‘Yeah. A coyote that looked for food.’ Peter laughed and went back to checking his shotgun.
Frank sat right behind the driver, he held his shotgun close. The railway tunnel was dark, completely dark. The air was humid and cold. He felt very cold and shivered.
His clothes under his Kevlar were filthy and smelled terrible, they were wet and sticky with blood. While getting a train car from an old abandoned hangar they had lost two of Frank’s men and when loading it onto the rail with a crane a group of slaves had attacked and killed two more from Frank’s group. Left now were Frank, Corporal Webster, Sergeant Talbert, security guard Peter Münster, Private Johnny Harold and Walter. The man who had been injured during their first encounter had been killed by an alien slave in the beginning of the attack.

None of Johnson’s men had been killed or injured. They were very good fighters, but Frank hadn’t seen Johnson himself during the fight.
He suddenly became aware of the train slowing down.
‘Webster! Why are you stopping!?’ He peeked over the edge and over the corporal’s shoulder.
‘The track ends here.’
Frank looked ahead of the train, and he was right. The track ended right there, and continued about 20 feet further ahead. The piece of the tunnel that was missing was lying on the platform underneath that section of the tunnel.
‘Webster, on me!’ Frank climbed off the train and Webster came after him.
They walked out of the tunnel and looked at the section of the railway that had been removed from the rest. It had been removed with a crane that was now nowhere to be found.

‘Great! We’ve come all this way to be stopped by ****ing road maintenance!’ Frank heard someone say behind him. He walked around the big cylinder of concrete and then looked at Webster on the opposite side of the tunnel.
‘How come they never performed maintenance work on the transit system?’ Webster laughed and it echoed through the huge cylinder.
‘Well, I guess the transit system only transported about 3, 4 people per train. This railway transported some 60 tons of explosives packed in an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile.’
‘Yeah yeah I s’pose so.’ Frank looked up to the men on the train, some of them had gotten up already.
‘Alright! Saddle up folks! We’re goin’ for a walk!’

They walked through the dark tunnel, a few flashlights searched the walls and the ceiling.
Frank held his shotgun in front of him, he had taped his flashlight to the barrel and searched all around him.
‘Check your zones, be ready, just a few more hundred yards now!’ Talbert shouted with M-249 SAW at the ready.
The men moved on down, it was pitch black but they kept on going into the dark.
After a few minutes they got to a station platform. The rail continued into the open air on a small thin beam. They all got on the platform and then walked through a short corridor until they came to a door.
They positioned themselves around the door, two men on each side and the rest in front of the door.

Frank tried his security code, it didn’t work. He didn’t really expect it to but it was worth a shot. He gave the door a good hard kick and it fell to the ground. They rushed in into the dark, eerie corridor behind. The dust was everywhere, in the air, on the floor, embedded in the walls and dimming the lights in the roof.
It was very dark, even darker than in the tunnel, Frank couldn’t see his hand in front of him.
‘Webster, Harold, up front! Night vision goggles on!’ Talbert ordered the two men to the front of the group, they put on their night visions and led the men through the hallway.
After a while they got to two doors, Frank tried his security code again and this time the doors opened. Frank looked surprised until he realized it; They had re-entered the research facility, they were clear of the parts of the missile base that had been re-sprayed with the BMRF-logo for legal purposes, this was actually part of the research facility.

They walked through and found themselves in a big lobby, there was an old shaggy sofa at one wall, a small desk labelled “Storage” and at the end of the room, an elevator.
Frank walked slowly up to the elevator and stared at the metal doors. Above them was a metal sign labelled “Black Mesa Complex Surface Access”.
Frank stared in disbelief. “Surface Access” he read again. “Surface”. His mind couldn’t grasp the concept. He feared it all to be a dream. He wanted to pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t sleeping, but he was afraid. Afraid that his saga wouldn’t end. He wanted it all to end, one way or another. He wasn’t clinging on to life, he hadn’t for a long time. But now, for the first time in a year; There was a shred of hope, an ounce of light in his miserable life.
But did he have to courage? Did he possess the bravery to risk losing the possibility of getting out? He knew, that when he pushed the button of the elevator, he would know. He would know whether or not he would see the sun again. Ever.

He reached for the elevator button and felt his world change as he heard the distant buzzing of an engine.
There was loud celebrating for a few seconds, then silence returned as the elevator slowly creaked its way down the long shaft. Suddenly, the buzzing came to a halt, but the doors didn’t open. Frank waited a moment then forced the doors apart. The elevator was stuck a few floors up. He looked back and explained to the rest of them.
‘Anyone wanna go up there and fix it?’ He asked them. A security guard stepped forward.
‘I’ll go.’ Frank helped him up to the ladder in the shaft and watched him climb up.
In the other end of the room, a man from Johnson’s group was resting in a small dark area in the back of the room where no-one could see him. His name was Martin. He was stunned, the thought of getting out of here shook him so much he felt he had to be alone for a while. He put his shotgun next to him and put back his head, he stared into the roof. It was dark, he saw nothing up there except a few busted lights. He closed his eyes for a long time. He thought of his home, his parents whom he hadn’t seen for two years. He was going to see them the weekend before CF day for the first time in a year. And with just a little bit of luck, he would see them again soon. He smiled and opened his eyes.

He knew straight away something was wrong. There was something in the ceiling. Something new. He froze. The big, red fleshy mouth lowered its tentacle towards the floor a few feet from him. He sat up and was about to shout, to warn the others. The headcrab was too fast, before he could even flinch it had grasped around his head, he tried to scream but not a sound came out, the headcrab began the process, the slimy pipes was forced down Martin’s throat and nose and the poison was injected into him via the claws and he went into cardiac arrest. After a few seconds, his heart stabilized, refilled with the nerve toxin of the headcrab. The last human thought in Martin’s head was: ‘It’s a trap!’
Two of Johnson’s men were chatting when they heard a noise from a corner. They waved another guard to follow them and walked over to the dark corner.
They walked around the corner next to the door and the man up front swung around with his gun up and ready. The powerful claws tore threw the air and the man turned around, his left eye clawed out and blood all over his face, screaming. The two other men pulled up their guns and pointed them at the ex-human.

‘Don’t move Martin! I’ll shoot if I have to! I swear to god I’ll shoAHHHH!!!’ The powerful tentacle got a grip around his chest and he was pulled into the air, his ribs cracking under the pressure. The third man cried out ‘Timmy!’ and then got his arm torn away and a swing at his face, he felt the claw touch his neck. He fell down with blood spraying onto the floor from his neck. The zombie walked out into the light and roared. The roar was followed by gunfire and after a short burst from several M4s it fell to the floor next to it’s two victims.
Frank and the men got into defensive positions and got ready. ‘Where’s the barnacle?!’ Talbert shouted and almost as if someone wanted to answer him the remains of a body of a security guard fell almost 14 feet from the roof and landed with a splat.

The men stood silent, guarding the elevator, in a matter of seconds their forces was cut from 11 to 8, and one in the shaft. The eerie silence that occupied the room was freaky.
Suddenly, a green flash ripped the air apart and out of it came an alien slave. It powered up for an attack but it soon went down. There was a second silence. It lasted for a minute. Frank broke it.
‘Do you think that was it?’ ‘BANG!’ The metallic banging made everyone jump. The big security door in which they had entered was being hit by something from the outside. ‘BANG! BANG! BANG!’ Something big was on the other side.
‘Talbert! Get ready with that MG! We’re gonna need it!’
‘What is it? A voltigore?’
‘Too slow, I think it’s a grunt.’

 

[PunisherUSA]

had to catch up reading..

Damage, which one's are xen, and which are race-x? All the guys who teleport in are from xen, right? So who falls under race-x? I can't remember.

But good stuff! good stuff!

btw damage, if you think this is gory...
There's muuuuuuch worse.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Chapter 8 continued




The banging got louder and louder until the door ripped apart and two big grunts stormed in, their hives guns firing blindly. Talbert fired up his M-249 and the two monsters fell down, behind the corridor vomited aliens, slaves, zombies, shock troopers, grunts poured into the lobby. The sergeants MG was running continuously, spewing bullets into the crowd of monster, the M4’s gave backup and the security teams cleared up everything that was still moving after the big artillery chewed through them. The aliens just kept on coming, in bigger numbers they charged onwards, no mercy, no remorse.
The men kept firing, Frank took out a slave that managed to break out on the left flank, then another that followed him, he got help from Webster when a grunt ran the same way and faced the same destiny. They got closer and closer, the 40 feet room was now reduced to an 8 feet stretch of floor between the men and the monsters.

Frank heard the elevator kick to life again, in a few seconds it would be there, and in a few seconds the monsters would be there to. He wasn’t gonna let them win, not now, not here. Not this close to the finish line. He picked up the M4 of a security guard in front of him, he had gotten a flash from a shock trooper in his head. He sprayed the slave in front of him, it went down, he took out the zombie next to him. A shock trooper, a slave, another slave, another zombie; Down, down, down, down. He kept firing until someone yanked in his shirt and dragged him into the elevator. Talbert kept on firing his M-249 on the hoard when Frank saw Johnson. He was standing in a corner at the other end of the room, his head between his knees, shaking. Frank cursed him in his mind, but then he saw a young guard. He was running across the room right into the monsters. His Kevlar was stuffed with explosives. He held the detonator in his hand as he dived into the pot of aliens.

The elevator was already two floors up when the explosion came. The whole shaft shook and Frank lost his balance. Once the dust cleared he stood up and helped Walter to his feet. He looked around. In the elevator was Corporal Webster, Talbert, Münster, Walter and Private Harold. Only his group had made it. He looked down on the gantry floor, through it down to the burning inferno down there. Someone whom he never knew had saved his and the others lives. Even though they knew nothing of each other.
Down in the lobby, Johnson crawled up from the debris. He stood up and stumbled through the mixed variety of alien carcasses.
He heard something behind him. He turned around and behind him stood three houndeyes.

He heard the high-pitch noise building up, he reached for his gun but was knocked to the ground by the sound. He put his hands on his ears, they were bleeding and he heard nothing but a loud ringing. He saw the houndeyes stand in front of him. He didn’t hear them preparing to attack again but suddenly a shockwave hit him in the stomach and he screamed. Then his kidneys and liver exploded.
Frank sighed and sat down at the wall of the elevator that kept on climbing upwards. He was exhausted. More than ever before in his life. He was out. He’d done it. He had survived. He was about to get out of Black Mesa. He had left the darkness below him, gone for ever. He would never look back and feel sorry. For the first time in longer than he could remember, He smiled. He truly smiled with every ounce of his body, with the whole essence of his being, he smiled. He felt good.


The last few chapters will be a one-poster per chapter.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Chapter 9: The end



The metal doors squealed and stopped after having opened a centimetre. Talbert pried them open and helped Walter through. The rest came after them. There was a short corridor in front of them, maybe 4 feet. Frank walked over to the set of doors marked with the red sign “Exit”. He almost lost balance as he walked up to the doors. He put his hand on them and took a deep breath. He pushed them open.
Like blind puppies, the small group of men crawled out onto the asphalt. Frank held up his hand and stared at the sun through his fingers. He could hardly see a thing.
After a few minutes the men started to see more clearly, Frank’s head hurt but he could see.

They were in a parking lot, there were big concrete walls around the compound. The elevator was in the middle of the parking complex. They walked around the elevator, the entire parking lot was empty. They walked along the road to the next lot, empty, the next lot, empty that one too.
‘There are no cars left! ****! **** **** **** ****! Son of a bitch!’ Webster screamed and kicked the road sign next to the exit.
‘Calm down man, there’s gotta be a car somewhere around here.’ Talbert walked through the gate and they continued down the road. They came to another parking complex, in the middle of the compound was a small building, three storied high. They entered the building and searched the rooms. Many of the offices were covered in blood, a few rotting bodies were left. The maggots were crawling over them, the stench was terrible. Signs from gunfire was visible in the entire hallway. Frank and Münster each looked with sympathy on a dead security guard, his left arm was gone and his body was covered in flies and maggots, his shotgun still in his hand. The zombie in front of him showed how he had died.

They got to the top floor and found an office with a window and checked their surroundings. There was a car park a few compounds further down where the employees had gathered their cars, probably so the security personnel could guard them from thieves easier. They were about to get out of the building when Frank saw something in the corner of his eye.
He leaned out of the window and then dragged Walter to the window.
‘Walter. Tell me what that is.’ Walter stared into the desert, behind a small cluster of rocks was two big red sets of legs. On them was a big plate, big enough to fit a jeep on, underneath was a huge sack, hanging. Frank could just make out a few small, crawling white spiders all underneath it.
‘Is that what I think it is?’ Frank looked into Walters eyes.
‘Yes, it is. They’re spreading.’

Frank looked as the big scrotum on legs walked along from the group of rocks into the open desert and then disappeared behind another set of cliffs.
‘Where is it going?’
‘Probably to make a nest. I think they’re starting to build up an army.’
‘If that’s the case we have to warn the outside before they grow in numbers. Let’s get going.’
They got out of the building and to the lot. There were three SUVs on the lot, two were working. They loaded up in them both and drove off through the car lots, looking for a way out. Once they got to the end of the lots they arrived at a big tunnel through the mountain. The sign above read “Black Mesa North Access Tunnel, 11 miles”.
‘Yes! This is like a safe tunnel, for wartime, it runs under the mountain for a full 11 miles, the military doesn’t have anything that could damage it, that’s the whole point of it. There’s only an exit and an entrance, no doors on the way so the aliens won’t be a problem inside!’
Webster looked at the other in his car with a big smile. Frank looked back with an expression that was the closest to complete bliss that any man could come to.

They drove into the tunnel, slowly they rolled through it, at about 40 mph.
Frank sat in the back seat with his shotgun in his lap. He felt his body disappear. He felt too good to be human. He wanted to leave this existence. He felt too good to be trapped in this fragile, dirty, smelly, tired body. He felt he had deserved to feel nothing but happiness now in his life. Never before had he thought this feeling possible, especially not while in Black Mesa.
‘Hey! There’s a tape in here!’ Frank awoke from his thoughts.
‘What?’ He looked up front, Münster was holding a tape that he just picked up from the glove compartment.
‘There’s a tape here.’ He repeated. Frank nodded to the radio.
‘Well, put it on.’ Münster put it in and pressed play. After a few seconds he recognized the song and suddenly started laughing. He laughed and laughed and Frank followed his example. Soon everybody in the car was laughing to the bizarre situation.

Out of the speakers the music played out:
“That’s great it starts with an, earthquake, birds and snakes and aeroplanes, Lenny Bruce is not afraid.”
They kept on driving through the tunnel with “It’s the end of the world” by REM playing.
After about half an hour, they got out of the tunnel. There was a gate inside the small compound, Webster shot the lock and opened the gate.
As the small convoy of SUVs drove out the gate, Frank realized what had happened.
He, Frank Morelli, had left The Black Mesa Research Facility. Behind him, he left a job, all his friends, endless dead aliens, dead scientists, and dead security guards. All the people he knew were dead. Outside he didn’t know anyone any more. All he had left in this world was the men in these two cars. At least that is what he felt like. He thought it over and over. ‘I only have them. I have no-one but these men, these five men are all that remains of my past, of my world, of my life.’ He looked at two men sitting in front of him, and thought:

‘And that’s all I need.’
He lay back, close his eyes, and slept. He slept without any nightmares, for the first time he ever could remember. At last, he was at peace.
And so, in a cloud of dust, two SUV’s made their way into the desert, carrying the last human beings to ever leave the Black Mesa Research Facility in New Mexico on CF-day + 365 at 11:34 AM.


But wait! It's not over yet!

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Chapter 10: The beginning


High over the New Mexico desert, a lone experimental fighter plane soared through the air, impossible for any human technology to track unless told its exact location.
The pilot looked down on the ground beneath him, he thought he saw some tire tracks but it was hard to tell, anyway he would have to check it out on his way back.
‘This is Black Eagle One to command, starting Black Mesa recon mission 12, over.’
‘Roger that Black Eagle One, you know the drill. Over’
‘That’s a yes command.’ There was a brief pause and then the pilot spoke again.
‘Alright, going to 2000 feet and commencing recon run. He looked at the mountains passing underneath him and reported as the set of cliffs he knew would allow him to see the facility came closer. ‘Alright, approaching checkpoint Charlie following waypoint route Charlie, Bravo, Delta, Alpha. Going over main facility… now…’ There was another moment of silence and the pilot’s voice returned:

‘Holy shit… What the hell is… what the **** is this?’
‘Black Eagle one could you repeat that last bit please? Over’
‘Command this is Black Eagle One. There’s ehh… There’s something down there.’
‘What do you mean Black eagle One? Over’
‘It’s… **** I don’t know what it is but there’s something down there.’
‘What do you mean? Specify, over.’
‘Creatures sir, lots of them, right on checkpoint Charlie. There’s thousands of them, hundreds of thousands sir. There are some big blue things as well sir, a whole ****ing wall of them, at least twenty sir, big as houses. Co-continuing to checkpoint Bravo.’
‘Roger that Black Eagle One, calm down pilot, you sound nervous.’
‘I’m sorry sir, passing over checkpoint Bravo now sir.’ The man wiped his forehead and looked on the ground, he saw endless rows of aliens look up at him, his estimate of a hundred thousand of them was a slight underestimate. At least those that he had saw before.

‘Holy ****! Jesus Christ! Oh my god!’
‘Come in Black Eagle One! What is it?’
‘More of them sir, a shitload more sir! They are gathering in an area between the cliffs, aww shit, there’s gotta be more than a million sir, a lot more. The… there are big tentacles at the edges, coming out of the sand, those big blue things are everywhere and the smaller bastards are everywhere too, and there are sort of… uhmmm… big armoured things on four legs and big sacks under… aww shit! I’m coming over the next area now sir…’ Command remained silent.
‘Oh shit, oh god no… ****ing hell! Sir! Forget what I said, I can’t count ‘em, there are too many, ****ing way more than a million, probably more like five million and…’
The only sound the corporal back in command heard in his head set was the pilot’s heavy breathing. His voice was on the verge of braking into hysteria when he spoke again.
‘Sir… there are uhm… three big things in the middle of the biggest concentration of creatures sir. Th-they are uhm… hovering above the rest sir, they… oh my god… they look like big babies command…’ The man was fighting the panic now. And few people could have blamed him. Underneath him was an alien army forming, a force without mercy, without remorse, without any doubt as to its goals. They were superior in numbers, in stamina, in morale, in force and in firepower. And it was getting ready to march onwards…

The pilot looked at the scene under him. He was almost ready to cry.
‘Sir, I’m circling around now, those big… things in the middle are creating some kind of… gate or something, big green balls of energy, flashing. I think that’s where the creatures are coming from command. They… wait a minute what’s this, on of them is- OH ****! Incoming! Incomizgxxczzzz… Mayday, mayday! Black Eagle One goin’ down, repeat Black Eaglzxgxccz… AHHHH!!!
Then nothing but static.
The corporal back in Santego Military Base looked at the captain standing behind him.
‘We’ve lost Black Eagle One sir.’
‘I figured that out myself corporal, thanks!’ The captain looked bitter.
‘What does this means captain?’

‘It means corporal… that this is the beginning…’
Captain Sholow looked around at the man in the flawless suit.
‘The beginning of what, “sir”?’
‘The beginning captain. Of the end…’
The men in the control tower looked at the tall man who stared out the window.
‘What the hell does that mean?’ The captain was pissed. Who the hell was this ****ing guy who always came to “pay a visit” every time there was a recon mission to Black Mesa scheduled?
‘It means captain… that you should start preparing your troopss…’ He turned around and picked up his briefcase. ‘Now you will have to excuse me, a great many matters require my attention in these troubled timess, I do hope you understand…’
The man brushed of some dust off his shoulder, fixed his tie and walked out the door.

The end



That's it.

 

[PunisherUSA]

That's some good! But I would classify that as a 'leaves-you-hanging' ending.

How long did it take you to think/write all that up?

 

[Brian Damage]

A nicely apocalyptic ending. Well done, that was very atmospheric.

Last niggle: I'm pretty sure the Houndeyes, Bullsquids and Headcrabs were just randomly-teleported wildlife, though, not part of the actual army...

Punisher, I know there are more gory things out there, I've read them. And the Xen are the original alien forces from Half Life, Race-X are the new ones (Pit Drones, Shocktroopers, Voltigores, the Pit Worm and the Gene Worm) introduced in Opposing Force. They both teleport. And they don't like each other.

 

[PunisherUSA]

ok, thanks for clarifying.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Uhhhmmm... it took about two, three weekends.

 

[jonesey2k]

Amazing work sir. Makes me want to read more! Top notch!

 

[AJ Rimmer]

I do have another one that I've begun but I'm not so sure it's quite as good.
Maybe I'll post and you can be the judge.

 

[Darkside55]

Very cool stuff, Rimmer. It was very tense; the action was gory but realistic.

Now for the minor little "complaints":

1. The way all the aliens worked together, not talking about Xen and Race-X but how even the wild animals like bullsquids and headcrabs and barnacles and voltigores worked together. That actually made less sense than shock troopers working with grunts and slaves, because the sentient creatures could've formed a temporary alliance this late into the invasion. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," so to speak.

2. Where'd chapter 6 go? It went straight from 5 to 7.

3. If Frank's kidneys and bladder exploded, why isn't he dead or dying?

That's really it, just tiny little nitpicks. Everything else was great. I loved how you made the zombies seem like actual threats rather than mindless shotgun fodder that couldn't get within a few feet of you, let alone attack fast enough to cause some damage. Also, I think that's the first time anyone's ever considered multiple Nihilanths. That was cool.
The whole thing was very well-written, good show. Looking forward to whatever you've got coming up.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Very cool stuff, Rimmer. It was very tense; the action was gory but realistic.

Now for the minor little "complaints":

1. The way all the aliens worked together, not talking about Xen and Race-X but how even the wild animals like bullsquids and headcrabs and barnacles and voltigores worked together. That actually made less sense than shock troopers working with grunts and slaves, because the sentient creatures could've formed a temporary alliance this late into the invasion. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," so to speak.

2. Where'd chapter 6 go? It went straight from 5 to 7.

3. If Frank's kidneys and bladder exploded, why isn't he dead or dying?

That's really it, just tiny little nitpicks. Everything else was great. I loved how you made the zombies seem like actual threats rather than mindless shotgun fodder that couldn't get within a few feet of you, let alone attack fast enough to cause some damage. Also, I think that's the first time anyone's ever considered multiple Nihilanths. That was cool.
The whole thing was very well-written, good show. Looking forward to whatever you've got coming up.

1: I decided to ignore that because I wanted all the cool creatures together (OK, so in reality I didn't know that they didn't work together but let's pretend like I had a reason for doing it )
2: Dunno what went wrong there, having to split the chapters up screwed things up a bit.
3: That was Johnson, not Frank.

 

[PunisherUSA]

There is a chapter 5 and 6 on page 1, and 7 is on page 2. By saying "Still chapter 5" he's not saying that is chapter 5. (I'm too lazy to go see what he was talking about)

Jhnson gets his kidneys/bladder exploded by Houndeyes. Not Frank. It's also the logical way to die from shockwaves of sound, rather than gibbing (a la HL1).

One thing I forgot to mention AJ, it's a pretty good idea to give frank headcrab-phobia. That is rarely seen in science-fiction settings where the person is grossed out, constantly fearing and paralyzed by the sight of an alien.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

I made the mistake of writing that the first chapter on page 2 is chapter five, when it is chapter 6.
Thankyou Punisher. :cheers:

 

[PunisherUSA]

Here is a compiled .txt

Im also gonna see about making an html with frames for both stories.

 

[-JeZ-]

Thanks again Punisher mate :thumbs:

 

[oldfaq]

hahahah,
AJ Rimmer man that rocsk... Gman, he's defineelty quite the charactre! ahhaha awsome story as always
oldfaq

 

[AJ Rimmer]

hahahah,
AJ Rimmer man that rocsk... Gman, he's defineelty quite the charactre! ahhaha awsome story as always
oldfaq

Thank-you!