Half-life2:Resistance

Barney Calhoun put his and in the group and then yelled, “Alright, everybody follow me! Stick close, and report anything suspicious you see, you all know as well as I do that there are assassins in these tunnels. Barney began to wade forward through the tunnel, followed closely by the sloshing group of resistance men. Ian nervously pointed his gun in random directions. It was of no use, of course, it’s not like he could see much of anything anyway.

Ian knew that his real job would not be fighting down here, but rather to communicate with the Vortigaunts. He decided to focus on that, to keep his mind off whatever might be lurking in these sewers. After wading for quite a distance in the disgusting sewers, the rescue party was stopped by Barney. “Alright,” he declared. “We’re pretty close now, once we blow open that granite wall, I need half of the group to take the Vortigaunts back to HQ, and the rest of the party and I will stay at the hole to make sure the combine don’t follow us, and blow something else up to keep them from pursuing. Ian, as soon as we get to that wall, I want you to think to them with your entire mind to try and communicate.” Ian nodded.

The group came up to the slimy wall of the sewer that they were supposed to blow, and Barney told them to line up against it. The fifteen members of the resistance rescue party lined against the wall with their backs to the brick, pointing their guns in all directions. Suddenly, the party seemed very quiet.

Then, Barney Calhoun whispered to Ian, “Alright, Ian, we need you to think, just try and think. Direct your thoughts towards that wall, and see if you get a response. Tell them to get as far away from the wall as they can, and definitely against a wall or something, because when we blow that wall, the debris is going right into that room.” Ian wasn’t sure how he would accomplish this. Nevertheless, he simply replied, “I’ll do my best.”

So, Ian faced the wall, closed his eyes, and began to think. “It’s me, its Ian… can you hear me?” he thought. It seemed like an eternity of waiting, and then Ian tried again, “Listen, please listen to me, we’re here to help you…” Ian paused in his thought speak for a moment, and waited for a response. Suddenly, a strange voice appeared in his head. “Ian, so you have come to save us. Its great timing, we couldn’t get through that wall… just tell us what we must do, and we will do it!” the Vortigaunt replied back to Ian.

Ian “spoke” back to them, “Great, you can hear me! Alright, I need you all to get as far away from the wall in question as possible, just back against another wall somewhere far away. When we blow this wall, the debris will fly inward. Once you get out, follow us back to HQ.” Ian waited again for a response. “We understand what you are saying, we have already backed away, and you may cause the wall to explode.” The Vortigaunt replied.

Ian turned towards Barney Calhoun and said, “The Vortigaunts have heard me. They are already against the wall.” Barney nodded, “Great,” he said, “blow the wall!” Another member of the rescue party hastily went to the center of the sewer wall, and pulled out a case of plastic explosives. He then molded the plastic explosives in a way so that it would explode inward, and then placed a fuse in the explosive. He set a time on the dial of the fuse, and then shouted to the others, “Fire in the hole! Take cover!”

Everyone edged across the wall as far away from the center as they could, and then crouched low, their backs away from the center of the wall, and their fingers in their ears. Ian crouched low in the dirty water and placed his hands over his ears and waited for the explosion. It reminded him of when the invasion had first began, and he was so sure that the teleporter missile that landed in Prague was going to create a nuclear explosion that he took cover.

There seemed to be a few moments of silence in the cave, and then, there was the deafening boom of the explosion. Although he covered his ears with his hands, the sound of the fiery explosion rattled Ian’s brain. The sewer wall shook at Ian’s side, and tiny pebbles showered all over his back.

Ian was stunned by the sudden explosion of the plastic explosive for a second, and then quickly got up with the others, rising in the water, and turning to face the center of the wall, where the explosion occurred. Through the settling smoke, Ian could see the jagged hole in the wall where the brick had been blown away. Ian was one of the first to run into the hole, and out of the sewer.

Half of the group followed Ian into the hole, and the other half leaned into the hole with their guns pointed into the tunnel beyond. Ian rushed into the smoky hole, his gun pointed. He left the cool, dark sewer, and entered the red-walled mining cave that had been dug out by the Vortigaunts. This was the same type of cave that he had always met the alien Vortigaunts. There were the usually colored lights on the ceiling, the pickaxes on the ground, and the dirt and rabble from mining. In the far corner of the cave, there were at least twenty of the three armed, one eyed aliens huddled there. The Vortigaunts seemed to have survived the flying debris well enough.

Ian thought spoke to the Vortigaunts. “C’mon, follow us!” He shouted with his mind, motioning for the aliens to follow him. The Vortigaunts cocked their heads, and then sprinted in their bird-like, hunched over position towards the hole in the wall. The other members of the rescue party entered, and helped the Vortigaunts leave through the hole in the wall. Suddenly, Ian heard the unmistakable whiz of a scanner.

Ian saw the little machine only for a second, it’s red, scanning eye spotting them. The scanner’s eye then turned blue, and went wide, and the machine sped off. “Guys, we’ve got company!” Ian shouted, just as an alarm went off in the tunnel. “Quick, let’s get out of here!” yelled Barney, pointing in the direction of the cave wall. Ian would have followed this advice, but not all of the Vortigaunts had left the cave, and he wanted to be absolutely sure that they were safe. After all, he had promised he would save them.

As Ian stood there waiting for the last Vortigaunt to exit the hole, he spotted a combine soldier coming in through the access tunnel. “You there, halt!” ordered the soldier in his garbled speech, through the gasmask he was wearing. Ian made no hesitation to point his small black weapon at the officer, and he pulled the trigger, letting off five shots. Ian was surprised by the recoil of the small weapon, as it made him jerk back violently. After all, he had never fired any kind of automatic weapon before.

Luckily, a couple of his shots struck the Combine soldier, causing spurts of blood to fly out from his wounds. The Combine soldier groaned, and crumpled to the floor. Ian was amazed that he was even able to kill the Combine soldier. “Great job,” said Barney Calhoun, firing at the tunnel entrance as more and more Combine troops began pouring down the incline.

Ian fired at the troops as well, and managed to down another one. Barney ordered to Ian, “Quick, you take those Vortigaunts to HQ. I’ll hold these troops off, and blow this hole closed again. Just go!” Ian made no hesitation to stop his firing, and turned to run out of the hole as a hail of Combine bullets ricocheted on the stone around him. He sprinted out of the hole that had been blown into the wall, and splashed into the sewer water, running towards the Vortigaunts, who were already on their way back to HQ. His heart was beating a mile a minute when he reached the head of the line of Vortigaunts, which was being led by another member of the resistance.
 
“Follow us!” Ian shouted with his mind to the estranged Vortigaunt creatures. The Vortigaunts were quick to follow Ian and his other compatriots as they began to jog down the sewer line. As they jogged farther and farther away from the hole in the sewer wall, the sounds of the gunfight grew softer. Ian hoped that the rescue party that had stayed behind to hold of The Combine would be alright.

Just then, when Ian thought that all of the sounds of the gunfight had dispersed (they were now very far away from the place where they had blown a hole in the wall) Ian heard a soft boom in the distance. Ian decided that this must have been the sound of the rescue party blowing the hole closed again.

He looked back into the darkness of the sewer for signs of the other members, but saw nothing. Another member of the party that was taking the Vortigaunts back to HQ re-assured him, “They’ll be alright, and Calhoun knows what he’s doing, don’t worry.” The resistance man said. Ian tried to believe him.

They jogged for a very short distance more in the dark, and Ian was sure that they were now close to HQ. Just then, he heard a noise that sounded like the cracking of brick. All of the members of the rescue part looked towards the ceiling.

They stood there, dumbfounded, for a second, and then shot out of the way as quickly as possible, when suddenly, a huge piece of the top of the sewer crumbled out of the ceiling, and crashed onto the ground unexpectedly, causing light to flood in from the outside.

The crashing of the stone into the water caused a small wave in the repulsive stuff, and Ian could feel it grazing his skin. Ian was very frightened at this point. Suddenly, there was the noise of a megaphone outside the hole. “Throw down your weapons, fools! You have no chance of escape!” boomed the voice from outside.

Ian pointed his weapon towards the hole. Just then, four black wires were dropped through the hole, and then, Combine soldiers began sliding down the wires into the sewer, firing their weapons constantly. Ian dropped to the ground, hoping not to get hit. The other members in the rescue party began spraying bullets towards the ascending troops. Then, something strange happened.

One of the Vortigaunts made a strange hissing noise, and suddenly, without warning, green lightning-like streaks flew out of the Vortigaunts hands towards the Combine troops, instantly frying all four of them, and causing them to drop to the ground. It was simply an amazing sight to see.

Ian didn’t even know that the Vortigaunts were capable of attacking in such a way, but they had just now saved the life of the entire party. Ian got up again, and shouted to everyone, “Come on, there are bound to be more out there!”

So, Ian and the others sprinted through the light from the hole in the ceiling, and sped off in the direction of HQ. Ian was exhilarated by the whole experience. He had already killed two Combine troops, and had saved twenty alien slaves. The party of Vortigaunts and resistance men sprinted for a short time, and then, when they were satisfied that they weren’t being followed, they slowed to a jog.

When they reached the place where the hatch into HQ was, they all stopped, and panted to catch their breath for a while. As if expecting them, the hatch into HQ suddenly opened, and standing there holding the door open was none other than Dr. Isaac Kleiner.

Kleiner put his hand around his mouth, and then yelled, “Climb up here, men, quick!” So, The Vortigaunts and resistance men climbed up the ladder and into the hatch into HQ. Ian stood at the back of the line, and looked behind him for any other Combine troops; it had certainly been an exhilarating rescue indeed.

When Ian was certain that nobody was following the party, and that Barney Calhoun and his squad were not in sight, Ian climbed up the ladder, and slid himself into HQ, with Dr. Kleiner slamming the rusty metal door behind him.


-Chapter 20, Living a Lie -
 
Great :) I had just finished chapter 18, and was hoping for a new chapter , looks good :)
 
I red it all, and this stuf is great! Good writing, 1 type error, and lots of action. Tell us when is chapter 20 is gonna be released! I cant wait it! Keep on!
 
Very good story so far, I can't wait for chapter 20 to come out. This is probably one of the best fan fictions I have read on this website.

Need more!!! Every time you come out with a new chapter I read it that day and then I have to wait for your next one.

TYPE FASTER MAN!!! :)
 
sorry dude, no updates for a while, I'm going to go vacation in the caimin islands, and then I'm going to be at band camp so...3 more weeks.
 
woah! I emailed valve a moment ago, to confirm that they actually got my fan fic, and Gabe said that Marc Laidlaw was reading it right now! but marc says that he can't promise *when* he will read it, but only that he *will* read it. Yay!
 
Thats great, I can't wait until the next chapter is released. This will make a great mod one day.
 
congratulations dude... they gonna read it. cant wait for next chapter...
 
theotherguy said:
Alright, seeing as everyone else has their own personal forum, I am moving my story (which was originally created in "HL2 fanfic")
Also, I have included the zip file for easier reading....
My fanfic is available also at http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=1734062


sadly, the text is too large to simply copy and paste here, and im too lazy to break it all up again :sleep: sorry guys
Click to expand...

I started reading it from ff.net, and this caught my eye: "Xen was a very strangle place, filled with flora and fauna of all kinds that no-one could even have imagined. So, naturally, the greedy scientists thought of it as a way to make enormous amounts of money."

Scientists are naturally greedy for money? I would think that money would be the last thing on their minds when they can research something like Xen. Besides, they spend their lives in an underground laboratory in the middle of a desert instead of drawing a huge salary somewhere in the private industry.
 
Has me wanting more! Very good writing...be cool to see this kind of work published.
 
Cybernoid said:
I started reading it from ff.net, and this caught my eye: "Xen was a very strangle place, filled with flora and fauna of all kinds that no-one could even have imagined. So, naturally, the greedy scientists thought of it as a way to make enormous amounts of money."

Scientists are naturally greedy for money? I would think that money would be the last thing on their minds when they can research something like Xen. Besides, they spend their lives in an underground laboratory in the middle of a desert instead of drawing a huge salary somewhere in the private industry.
Click to expand...

ah, but these scientists are very greedy scientists ;) *cough* Dr. Breen *cough*

and yeah, I'm back from cayman, but I cannot write another chapter because I'm off to band camp tommorow, and I just got here.
 
damnit! you better have some interesting sexual escapades to talk about when you return from bandcamp....
 
I got one my friend had. Chick from the camp, right, taking photography classes, my friend was taking writing classes. On the last full day of the camp, she asked him to "come to the darkroom with her", But he misheard it as "Come to the DOCTOR with her". He missed a chance for a .... session.. in the darkroom. Or should I say the doctor's?
 
hehe I went to an outdoors camp before and "went for a hike"...twice in the same day....:)
 
practically crappping my pants in anticipation of the next chapter
 
alright, back from band camp. I am writing the next chapter now, so quit yer whining!

and eh, ew, no, h4vok, I did not do any :naughty: at band camp, and thankfully I am still a :angel:
 
Next Chapter Complete! Enjoy it, i've been writing it off and on all day.

-Chapter 20, Living a Lie –

Ian jumped down the short distance from the hatch to the tile floor, and stumbled forward a bit into the air-conditioned room. After shutting the hatch, Dr. Kleiner also jumped down next to Ian, and said, “You did it! These are all of the Vortigaunts, your rescue party actually pulled it off, I can’t believe it!”

Ian was bent over, and had his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. He was extremely tired after the rescue. Ian turned to Dr. Kleiner, and then rasped, “Yeah, but I think our cover is blown, The Combine is going to patrol those sewers now. We’re going to have to camouflage that hatch so they won’t see it, and we will only be able to go out in those sewers every so often, now. Also, Barney and the rest of the squad are still down there. I don’t know what they’re going to do to survive, but there were tons of Combine troops back there.” Ian seemed to be the only person in the room with a grave look on his face, while the others were celebrating. Whether he liked it or not, Ian had gained a great deal of respect for Barney Calhoun, and he would refuse to celebrate until his safe return.

Dr. Kleiner, however, continued in his joyous mood, and reassured Ian, “Don’t worry about Barney, that old security guard was always…well, he was ‘fashionably late’ all the time. But he always comes through, you’ll see. I swear that man was born to do this kind of thing; he was born to be a soldier, not some rent-a-cop security guard. Just don’t worry; he’ll be here in no time at all.”

Ian was not reassured by Dr. Kleiner’s consolidation, however. Ian looked around the room that served as HQ. The Vortigaunts were all huddled together near the middle of the room, conversing with each other in their alien language. It appeared that they were uncomfortable in this room, no doubt they were not used to the bright lighting, the cool air, and the buzzing computers of the office. The other humans in the room were also uncomfortable as well. The ones in the desks nearest the Vortigaunts had now moved away from them, and were standing in a ring around the Vortigaunts, looking terrified.

As if one of the Vortigaunts was reading Ian’s mind, it said to him through its thought-speak, “Your fellow humans are afraid of us. We can understand this. Even I remember Black Mesa, and being forced to slaughter helpless humans. This is something we regret, but we can not change. The Niniliath, our leader, had complete control over us at the time. In essence, it is not our fault. Please tell this to the other humans.”

Ian agreed silently with the Vortigaunt, and then yelled out to the other humans cowering around the Vortigaunts. “Friends, don’t be afraid of the Vortigaunts, one of them just spoke to me through the psychic link they have, and he told me that he was sorry for what happened at Black Mesa. They were only slaves at the time. There is no reason to fear them now, they mean you know harm.”

The others did not look like they believed him, and still kept their distance. Just then, Dr. Eli Vance and Dr. Mossman, and some unidentifiable woman emerged from the door at the far end of the room. Dr. Vance laughed, and then shouted to the party, “You’ve done it! They’re here! Our valuable allies have finally come to us! You did a great job, the rescue party was well sent. How many losses were there?”

When Dr. Vance got closer to him, Ian responded, “None that I saw personally. But Barney and the rest of the squad are still out there, and we haven’t heard from them in a while.” Dr. Vance seemed un-phased by the news, and just replied, “Yeah, he usually pulls stunts like that. Anyway, I’m so glad that you got all of the Vortigaunts here! They will be the greatest ally we have, no doubt about it! Dr. Kleiner and I can begin work immediately on implanting the translator that we created into their brains.”

Dr. Kleiner looked shocked. “Translator? What Translator? You never said anything about any kind of operation with a translator!” Dr. Kleiner said in a high pitched and speedy voice. Dr. Vance laughed and replied, “What do you think we were working on at Black Mesa with those captured Vortigaunts? We knew that they had some kind of language, and the technology was new…”

Dr. Kleiner’s baffled look was still on his face, “Ah, well…err… I guess it was supposed to be a secret lab, and we aren’t supposed to know these things. Anyway, I was just in anomalous physics, working with Mr. Freeman. I didn’t know anything about the biotechnology wing. Say, weren’t you a physicist too?”

Dr. Vance smiled and responded, “Yeah, I was in anomalous physics too, but my wife wasn’t. She was working in Black Mesa too. She was in the biotechnology wing. She told me everything.” Vance’s smile disappeared from his face, “But then she was killed. All I lost was my leg…she lost her whole life at Black Mesa…”

Dr. Kleiner seemed to understand now. “Ah, so now you want to continue your work. Well, Doctor, let’s get started on that operation!” Ian simply stood there, watching this conversation unfold. Of course, he barley understood anything they had just said, since most of it was just technical jargon. But what he did understand was that the two of them were going to perform an operation the Vortigaunts, and implant a translator of some kind. Apparently, this translator would turn the alien language into clear, understandable English.

After his conversation with Dr. Kleiner, Eli Vance put his arm around the unidentified woman who had entered the room with him. “I almost forgot, “he beamed, “This is my daughter, Alyx, and she’s been traveling with me all over the place, while I try to avoid The Combine.” Alyx looked to be of mixed race, with medium-dark skin, and oriental eyes. She appeared to be in her early twenties. She was wearing a leather jacket that looked to be duct-taped together, and wore a grey shirt underneath that boldly said, “BLACK MESA” on it.

Alyx rebelliously pulled away from her father’s arms, and said, “I can introduce myself, dad.” Dr. Vance chuckled while Alyx rolled her eyes. “Alyx is our star sharpshooter; she could hit a tin can from a mile away, hanging upside down, with no scope.” Alyx laughed, “Trust me, I’ve tried it.” She said.

Dr. Vance walked away with Dr. Kleiner, and got the Vortigaunts to follow him. Soon, they would perform the operation that would give the Vortigaunts a voice to speak with. Ian found it all very exciting. After the Vortigaunts had left, the other resistance people were visibly relieved, and sat back down in their chairs. Xenophobia is a part of human nature that doesn’t go away so easily.

Ian and Alyx were left standing there awkwardly. Ian extended his hand, “Hey, I’m Ian Olbowski; I just got here two days ago.” Alyx shook his hand and said, “Yeah, I’ve heard about you. You’re that kid who can talk to the Vortigaunts, right?” Ian didn’t like being known for the mutation that allowed him to speak with the Vortigaunts, but he nodded his head anyway.

“It looks like we’re in for a long ride now. I don’t think that The Combine cared about us so much until now. We’re more than just a little thorn in their side. I think, they’re going to come after us now, I think they are going to actively hunt for us.” Ian said.

Alyx just shrugged, and said “I guess.” Ian responded, “You guess? Don’t you even care about what happens to the resistance?” Alyx seemed offended, “Of course I care about the resistance! I’m just not worried about those combine pigs coming after us, because I know we can take them. It’s what I’ve been practicing for in the past six years. Ever since The Combine emerged from Black Mesa, my father and I knew that we would not be safe. The enemy that killed my mother, and ruined my father’s and my life will pay. Dr. Breen will regret coming after the resistance, because I am going to put a bullet right through his head!”

Ian backed off from Alyx during her sudden rant. He was surprised at her anger. He had always felt sort of apathetic toward the Combine. He responded, “You have quite a vendetta against a man who doesn’t exist, Alyx.” Apparently, this was not the right thing to say, because it made Alyx even angrier.
 
“Oh, is that the word on the street now?” she sneered sarcastically, “He doesn’t exist, you say? Well, I know better than anybody, he really does exist! Breen was the administrator of Black Mesa, way before the invasion. He and my dad were close. They weren’t friends, but my dad was high up in the hierarchy of scientists, and he was respected. When I was five or six, my dad would take me to work, and parade me around like I was some kind of trophy or something. I remember Dr. Breen then; as much of an ugly old man then as he is now. Do you know what Breen did when my dad took me to work? He gave me a lollipop! That sick old man who is running The Combine gave me a freaking lollipop! So you don’t tell me he isn’t real!”

Ian was shocked. Harper had told him that Breen didn’t exist when he was rescued. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know…” he stammered. The anger slowly disappeared from Alyx’s face. She responded, “Its okay, I just was feeling so angry, after my dad mentioned my mom to Kleiner. I just felt like I needed to take it out on someone. I shouldn’t have exploded on you like that. I would just prefer it if you didn’t talk about Black Mesa. I have too many bad memories there.” Ian agreed not to talk about it.

“So, you’re a sniper?” he asked. Alyx smiled. “I’m the best, Ian. Every sniper here takes lessons from me.” Ian considered this for a moment. “I could use sniper lessons.” He concluded. Alyx then replied, “Alright, it’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“Cool, can my cousin come too?” he asked. “Yeah, just make sure that your cousin knows what they’re doing.” Well, that was quick, he thought. Ian wasn’t lying; he really did want sniper lessons. He wasn’t into being directly in the action of battles; he would want to keep his distance. It was safer that way. And who better to train from than the master of sniping herself? As for Tonya, she herself had said that she wanted to be part of the resistance. Plus, school was no doubt worthless under the rule of The Combine.

“So, when would be the best time for these lessons?” he asked. Alyx thought for a moment, and then replied, “If there aren’t any operations going on, you can come to HQ around this time, and take lessons in the firing range next to the armory. Be warned though, sniping isn’t as easy as it sounds.” Ian didn’t expect it to be easy. “Right,” he responded.

“I hope Calhoun gets back here before I get sick of waiting for him,” she sighed, “He was the contrast to Dr. Breen at Black Mesa for me. He’s about ten years older than me. When he was hired, the scientists all immediately hated him, since he was not a very thorough security guard, and liked to argue with them about physics. The scientists thought that he was just being stupid, and didn’t understand physics at all. But I knew better. Barney’s insight into the situation would have saved the whole complex in the end; but the scientists were just too pompous to take his outside, yet wise comments seriously. Barney was like a protector to me, he let me into a lot of the secret areas of the plant, and he always had a joke to tell. I was very glad to hear that he had survived Black Mesa, and was working with my dad here in Prague. Don’t you find it so coincidental that almost all of the surviving scientists from Black Mesa all ended up here?” She asked, “Yeah, it’s like the universe bent to work for us.” He responded.

Ian did find it extremely odd that so many of the scientists ended up coming to City-17; in spite of Dr. Kleiner’s inside information that terraforming would begin here. It made him wonder if there was something about City-17 that the scientists knew, but just were not sharing with him. He hoped that in the end, he would find out the mystery of the occupied Eastern European city, and why his life was ruined because of it.
 
Alyx spoke again, “All of them except Gordon Freeman…” Ian had heard that name before. “I’ve heard about Gordon Freeman. What was he like?” he asked. Alyx had a sad look on her face.

“Well,” she replied, “Gordon was new at the facility; Dr. Kleiner had recommended Freeman to Dr. Breen straight out of MIT. Kleiner had been one of Freeman’s professors at the university, and Gordon had shown exceptional results there. Breen needed an anomalous research physicist for the team, and Gordon looked like what he needed. Gordon quickly made friends with my dad, and Dr. Kleiner, and became one of their lead advisors and co-workers. He was awarded employee of the month just before the incident occurred.”

“ I wasn’t there the day of the incident, thank God, but my dad told me what happened. Breen was pushing the lab into an experiment on some really valuable crystal from Xen. He said it was supposed to be the ‘final key’ or something. Anyway, Gordon was the one in the test chamber, he had to actually handle the crystal while Dr. Kleiner looked on and tested results. But that is where the portal was opened, and the invasion began. Right after the incident, most of the scientists assumed that Freeman must have died, but during the assault of the facility, Gordon was spotted all over, helping scientists and security guards escape Black Mesa before it got nuked by the government. The last time Gordon was seen, he used the teleporter to get to Xen. Apparently, he killed the Niniliath there. He was never seen again. Since then he’s become the personal hero of the resistance movement. We will never be the same until we have Gordon on our side again. But that isn’t going to happen. He’s been dead for twelve years.”

Alyx ended her long winded speech about Gordon Freeman there. So, Ian thought, everyone here lives in the shadow of Gordon Freeman, as many of them would not have survived Black Mesa without him. Now, they use him as some kind of rallying patron saint. It’s quite amazing how a nerd like Gordon Freeman could become a hero to so many people. “Sounds like you could have written his obituary.” Ian concluded. Alyx smiled, “I did.” Then she turned and began to walk away.

Before Alyx could walk off, there was a sudden loud, metallic banging on the hatch into the sewer. Both of them immediately turned and ran across the tile towards the hatch, where the banging continued. Alyx and Ian both gripped a side of the rusty valve that opened the hatch, and turned it with a grinding squeal. The door opened sluggishly, even while both of them pulled at it.

When they opened the door, the bloody and beaten Barney Calhoun slumped forward, and fell to the ground, his bloody and dirty face showing upwards. “I told you I would make it!” He rasped. Ian and Alyx were shocked by his condition, but nonetheless glad that he had made it back to HQ. The rest of the ragged rescue party stumbled in through the door. None of them was really seriously injured, except for the occasional bullet wound to a leg or arm. All of them looked terrible, however. They were dirty and smelled of the rot of the sewer, and most were specked with their own blood, or the blood of others.

Ian and Alyx got down on their knees on either side of Barney. “What happened?” Asked Ian, Barney turned his head to face him. “After we blew the wall back in, we were running toward HQ, and the dang Combine blew holes all through the roof above us, and started dropping in all over the place. We were able to fight ‘em off, but not without getting pretty badly hit.” Barney pointed to a tear in his bloody pants that looked like a bullet wound. Alyx pulled back in fright. “Barney, we need to get you medical attention right away!” She said urgently. Barney replied through his hoarse voice, “That sounds like a plan.”

So, Alyx and Ian got the others to carry the most badly injured rescue party members to the operating room, where they would attempt to save their lives. The other party members received medical attention and first aid from a few scientists remaining in the lab. They spoke about how hopeless they felt trapped inside the sewer while The Combine lobbed grenades and fired into the holes. They were just surprised that so few had been seriously injured.

Alyx and Ian stood outside the operating room, and hoped and prayed that Barney and the others would be all right. They waited for an hour or two, just sitting there. Then, the operating room door opened up, and Dr. Kleiner came out. The bald scientist with glasses turned toward Ian and Alyx and asked, “Do you want the good news or the bad news?” Ian chose the bad news. “Well, in that case,” said Kleiner, “Two of the resistance members in that firefight have tragically died in the operating room.” Ian and Alyx were devastated, and pulled back from emotion, for they didn’t know if Barney was one of the two. Dr. Kleiner went on, “But the good news is, Barney is expected to pull through nicely, and our Vortigaunt patients have received their implants without rejection. Both Barney and the Vortigaunts should be ready for action in less than a week.” Selfishly, Ian was relieved. Alyx then asked, “Can I see him?”

Dr. Kleiner nodded, “Of course you can.” Alyx opened the door, and Ian tried to follow her through, but Dr. Kleiner’s thin hand blocked him. “Only one at a time.” Dr, Kleiner ordered. Ian backed off, and then asked, “Kleiner, you’re not an M.D. how do you know all about medical care and operation all of the sudden?” Dr. Kleiner laughed nervously. “I may be more versatile than you think, Mr. Olbowski.” Ian wasn’t going to take this vague answer. “No, really Dr. Kleiner, how do you know how to remove a bullet from someone’s leg?” Dr. Kleiner sighed, and then replied, “Dr. Breen made sure that all of the lead scientists were trained for “disaster medicine.” Of course, we all should have foreseen that this meant that a disaster was actually going to take place.” There was irony in the old man’s voice as he thought about this.

“You know what,” said Ian, “Barney isn’t going anywhere, and I’ve got to get back to the apartment and make sure Tonya is ok. I’ll be back tomorrow. But for now, I’m dead tired.” Dr. Kleiner shrugged, and replied, “Your choice. See you tomorrow. After this implant in the Vortigaunts, it looks like your job has been taken anyway.” Ian hadn’t thought of that. It didn’t matter anyway, since he wasn’t in the resistance to have a job, he was in it to fight The Combine.

Ian waved goodbye to Dr. Kleiner, and headed across the room to the elevator, got in it, and pressed the UP button. It felt like he was leaving from the longest day of his life. He exited the elevator into the darkness of the cellar. He went up the stone staircase to the wooden trapdoor. However, when he pressed up on the plywood of the door, he was unable to open it. Instead, the door made a dull thud against the dumpster above it. Of course, someone had left the dumpster on top of the trap door. Laboriously, Ian was able to open the trap door as far as he could, and slid out from under the wooden door and scraped against the cobblestone underneath the metal dumpster. Since the dumpster was sitting on wooden pegs, there was just enough room for Ian to slide out from underneath, and stand in the alleyway.
 
Ian brushed the dirt off of him, and looked around. It was getting dark, and the city seemed quiet. It was odd, especially after such a huge battle had taken place in the sewers. Ian heard the whirr of engines and looked towards the darkening sky. There were Combine gunships flying around, looking like giant manatees. They were searching for something, or someone, Ian concluded. Their spotlights waved back and forth in the night, lighting up little patches of buildings as they searched.

Ian decided that it would be a good idea to lie low, and hide from the gunships on his way to the apartment. So, Ian ran from shadow to shadow, dodging every now and then the circle of a spotlight. He did this all the way back to the apartment building, with a couple of close calls.

Ian creaked open the cast iron gate into the yard of the apartment building, walked along the front path and up the steps to the front door. He placed his hand on the knob, looked back behind him, and then entered the complex.

The clerk was asleep on his desk in the dim light of the ceiling fan lamp. Did he always stay at his desk like this? Ian crossed the lobby, and ascended the stairs to the fifth floor. The apartment complex was quiet; there was very little noise from any of the tenants.

Ian came to his own door, and found it unlocked. He opened the door, and entered into the darkened apartment. Tonya had made it safely to the apartment, and was sitting on her bed, reading what looked like one of her school books. “Hey,” he said to her. Tonya looked up in surprise and replied, “Ian, you’re back!” she closed her book and threw it down on the bed next to her.

“How was school?” He asked. Tonya responded, “It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever done, I don’t know if I can even call it a school. I don’t think they even cared that I was in there. We didn’t learn anything at all. There were no regular subjects, no math, no English, no science, nothing! The only thing we learned was how to love The Combine, how to obey the laws, how to tell on our mummy and daddy if they do something wrong! It’s just stupid! Don’t worry, Ian, I didn’t listen to any of it.” Ian smirked. “That’s exactly as I expected, Tonya,” He said, “It’s such a shame that you love school so much, because I’m taking you out of it.”

A look of surprise spread across Tonya’s face. “Really?” she asked. Ian told her about the events of the day, and told her about the offer Alyx gave him to teach him and Tonya the ways of the sniper. Tonya found it all very exciting, and was eager to begin learning about sniping. She had always wanted to resist The Combine, like her cousin, Ian, had done so valiantly in the past few days.

So, Ian told her to go to bed, as he looked out the window. In the darkness of the night, the Combine gunships were still searching the skies, and above everything, Ian could see the mighty citadel, sticking up towards the sky like a great spear, black and wicked. Parts of the citadel glowed, and Ian had no idea what the glowing parts were for, but he knew that there must be something evil going on inside The Citadel, as things always were with The Combine.

Ian lay down on the couch, and watched the TV as Dr. Breen droned on about how citizens should not be alarmed about the holes in the street, they were simply “making repairs”. Yeah, right. Ian fell asleep to the propaganda of Dr. Breen, and dreamlessly dozed.

Meanwhile, In Dr. Breen’s office, the commander of City-17’s forces was being chastised. “You let them escape!” shouted Dr. Breen. His face was red, and he was standing behind his desk, shouting at the commander, who showed no emotion, for he always wore a gas mask. “W-w-w-well sir,” the commander stuttered. “We never expected them to burst through the wall like that, it was just unheard of!” Dr. Breen sat back down. “Do you have any idea just how important the alien slaves are to us? Do you have any idea of the intensity of the war I fight with the rouge aliens on the countryside? Those alien slaves were a necessity, commander. It is a huge blow to us not to have our own personal ambassadors to those rouge aliens that we still fight. Commander, I want the resistance found right away. I want you to find them and destroy them; they are a horrible thorn in my side. But I know, commander, that you will probably not be able to find them, or their demagogue, Father Gregori. I know this because you are incompetent, commander. This is the last straw, commander, one more screw up, and you’re gone. No, you’re not gone, you’re dead.”

The commander swallowed hard. “Don’t worry, your excellence, Governor Breen sir. I have it already taken care of; an assassin has been sent from the home world. She is the best, I guarantee you, and she will find and destroy them. As for the Vortigaunts, not all of them are loyal to the humans. In fact, one of them is under our complete control right now. It will only be a matter of time before this Vortigaunt reveals their location to us, Governor.” Dr. Breen smiled. “Ah, finally, you pull through, commander. I knew I could count on you.” Dr. Breen laughed a slight laugh, and the commander joined in nervously. Breen cut him off suddenly, “But I’m serious, commander, this is the last time. If you fail, your head will be on my wall.” The commander bowed, and headed out of Breen’s office.

Somewhere thousands of light-years away, a female assassin was preparing to enter a teleporter. Her mission was clear: Find and destroy the resistance in City-17, Earth Colony. She was the best assassin ever to be trained by the mighty Combine. She had found and conquered resistance leaders on Xen in the Third War, and she could easily do the same on Earth in the Fourth War.

So, as she entered the yellow steel teleporter in a run-down military complex on the Home World, she did so with confidence. She couldn’t feel anything different anyway; after all, she was genetically engineered for this job.


-Chapter 21, Sniper School-
 
Dum-DUM-DUUURRRM!

Oooh, an assasin... asassin... assassin... assassassinin... person who hunts down people.

And a nasty Vortigaunt? The thick plottens...
 
Hehe. I love snipers, I love my L96-A1 :sniper: Keep up the good work lad!
 
I couldn't believe that the story could get any better, but it did. Great work!
 
Your writing improved while you were at band camp. I guess musical talent improves writing talent. Nice plot twists!
 
actually, it improved because I read the entire Ender's Game series at band camp, and I realized "hey, I don't have any real conversations!" so I tried to emulate the conversation and descriptive style of the Ender's Game series (unintentionally)
 
Cant wait for the full story to be completed and in a txt file for me to dl lol
 
next chapter done!

-Chapter 21, Sniper School-

Ian woke up, as usual, to the droning voice of Dr. Breen on the television. He sat up on the couch, and looked around the apartment. Tonya was still sleeping, and the room was flooded with the light of morning. Ian could see the light gleaming off the metal of the citadel far away. It was like a second sun, with the light blindingly flaring off of its side.

Ian woke Tonya up. She rolled over, and rubbed her eyes, “Hey, Ian. Do I get to go to sniper school today?” She asked eagerly. Ian smiled, and replied, “Yeah, of course you do. Although I’m not exactly sure what I am going to do with you while I’m at work.” Tonya seemed to contemplate this for a moment, and then said, “You could put me in resistance HQ while you’re at work! I’ll learn far more that way anyway than going to school!”

Ian wondered whether the school would notice that she had left, and if The Combine had laws for participation in school, but he had no choice but to accept her offer. “That sounds like a great idea, Tonya. I’ll drop you off there while I am at work, and afterwards, we’ll both take sniper lessons from Alyx Vance.

Tonya got up, and they both drank some of the bottled water from the closet. Then, Ian decided that it was time to go. They left the room, went down the hall, and descended the stairs. Nobody was in the hallway or in the lobby, which wasn’t surprising. Most of them had probably already gone to work.

They exited through the front door, and crossed the sun-bathed front courtyard. The streets were busy, as usual. But there seemed to be a disproportionate number of officers patrolling the streets today. The Combine was tightening their security. They would not make the same mistakes that they had made yesterday. No doubt there were patrols going on all over the sewers now. But it didn’t bother Ian, he knew that the next time the resistance decided to stage an attack on The Combine; it would be through some other, unheard of method.

That was one of the advantages of being a small, shady resistance operation; The Combine would never suspect what their small force would do next. As Ian and Tonya were walking along the sidewalk, they noticed that an entire group of citizens was being arrested on the street corner. Officers had some lined up against the wall, and were handcuffing another one of the citizens on the ground. There was a scanner flying around taking photographs of them all.

Ian knew that these citizens that were being arrested would soon become slaves working in mines under the citadel, just as he had been. No doubt The Combine had already filled and overfilled their quota of slaves after Ian’s group had escaped.

They passed the group of slaves being arrested and made their way towards the United Combine Munitions Factory. They tried their best to avoid the officers that were around the streets, and had their picture taken by a few scanners. When they turned a corner, they noticed that the entire portion of the street that served as the intersection had been blown in, revealing a huge swath of sewer underneath.

This had been the place where The Combine started coming down into the sewer and harassing Barney’s group. The hole was surrounded by yellow caution tape, and there were human workers attempting to repair the street.

They passed the hole, the workers, and the Combine cops guarding it, and made their way along the street towards the munitions factory. When they got to the factory, however, they did not immediately enter the front door of the building. Instead, Ian and Tonya cautiously went around to the alleyway where the dumpster blocked the entrance to HQ.

Ian explained to Tonya about the trap door and the staircase under the dingy blue dumpster that sat before them. Ian pushed the dumpster to the side, and lifted the wooden trap door up. He got out of the way, and allowed Tonya to go down into the dark cellar beneath the door first. Then, Ian lowered himself into the square hole, and closed the wooden door behind him.

Ian and Tonya descended the familiar stairs, and came to the elevator. Ian simply said his name into the panel next to the elevator, and the lights came on all around the door, revealing the metal elevator. Ian and Tony stepped onto the elevator, and Ian pressed the DOWN button.

The elevator slowly descended down to the floor that contained HQ, and the doors hissed open. Ian and Tonya stepped out into the bright, busy room. There were the usual resistance members doing their work, but now there were also Vortigaunts walking around. Surprisingly, one of the three-armed aliens came up to Ian and spoke.

“Greetings Ian,” it crackled through its new, electronic voice. “The implant went well, and we are able to speak now. I am the Vortigaunt who was speaking to you through your mind earlier. We cannot thank you enough for saving us. We are eternally grateful.” Ian gave a little flattered bow to the Vortigaunt, just as Dr. Vance came up behind the Vortigaunt.

Smiling, Eli Vance said to Ian, “Isn’t it great? We can finally speak with them! We have been talking with them about the resistance, and the rebellious Xen aliens that these Vortigaunts are in contact with.” Dr. Vance looked around the Vortigaunt at Tonya, and said, “Ah, so you brought Tonya with you. I’m sure we can make accommodations for her. How old is she?”

Ian replied, “She’s now fourteen, although she thinks she’s eleven, and has the street smarts of a twenty five year old.” Tonya shot him a rebellious look, and Ian merely smiled. “Well, I’d love to stay here and chat, Dr. Vance, but I’ve got to get to work. Take good care of my little cousin!”

Dr. Vance waved to Ian as he walked off to the elevator, “Don’t worry, Ian we’ll find something for her to do!” he called. Ian got onto the elevator, pressed the UP button, and caused the elevator to ascend. Once the elevator reached the top, the doors opened, and Ian exited the elevator. As soon as he was out of the elevator into the resistance HQ, the lights turned off; as usual.

Ian ascended the concrete staircase in the dark, and opened the wooden door to get outside. Thankfully, this time, the dumpster was not over the trap door, so Ian was easily able to slip out into daylight undetected. He strolled out of the alleyway, and went up the front steps to the door of the factory.

The fake Combine guard that stood at the door stood aside, and allowed Ian to scan his card in the small machine next to the door. The door beeped, and Ian was allowed to enter. The small concrete room that served as the lobby of the munitions factory had not changed from the day before. The same sulfur-yellow light shined, and gave the room a melancholy mood.

This mood was emulated on the visibly bored clerk’s face. Blandly, the clerk looked up at Ian, and said, “Back again, eh? Well, Calhoun isn’t here to look over the workers today, but the other foremen are available if you have any questions. Apparently, Calhoun had some kind of work-related injury last night. Just goes to show that you should try to remain cautious here at work today.” The clerk said this with irony in his voice. “Also, The Combine has us scheduled for some kind of inspection today, so stay on your best behavior,” the clerk grunted. It was obvious that such inspections were commonplace, so the clerk was not worried.

Ian moved over to the door into the factory grounds on the far wall. He scanned his papers in the machine next to the door. The machine spoke in it’s computerized voice, “Citizen Ian Olbowski, checked in at 8:05AM. Job: Canister placement and fitting for A-317 Plasma Shells.” It was basically the same message as the day before.

The door slid open, and Ian entered the huge, loud, steamy factory room. The workers in their blue jumpsuits were all doing their same boring, mechanical jobs. There were only three overseers up on the steel platform today; however, due to Barney’s “work related injury”.

Ian began to move to his post to perform his mind-numbingly boring job when an announcement came over the loudspeakers of the plant. It was the voice of one of the overseers. “…Excuse me, could I have your attention please? Attention workers, the head foreman, Barney Calhoun had a very serious work-related injury, unfortunately. So, we will be taking over the operations from here on out. There is… an inspection scheduled for today, and we want our best image to show for The Combine inspectors, so please work with extreme diligence. Thank you.” The loud speaker crackled off, and the workers were left with the task of putting a show on to impress the inspectors.
 
Great, this is just what Ian needed, more people breathing down his neck while he preformed the most boring job in the world. He would show them just how diligent a worker he was. Ian sat down at his terminal, and attentively pressed his little green button.

Earlier that morning, in the teleporter level of the citadel, a bright flash of green light lit up the massive metal room. The commander shielded his eyes momentarily, to block out the light of the teleporter bringing its newest arrival. Out of the greenish smoke of the teleportation device stepped the slender silhouette of the female assassin. In the darkness, the only thing that showed beyond the curves of the assassin was the orange light that shone on the front of her sleek gasmask.

The commander shifted his weight onto the other leg as the assassin slid out of the darkness into the light of the room. She was now completely visible, wearing a full body, black armored suit, and carrying a huge sniper rifle on her back. She turned to face the commander, and saluted him.

The commander saluted back, and then asked, “How was your journey, agent?” The female assassin sighed through her gasmask, and replied coolly, “quick and painless, commander. Let’s hope that this mission is the same. Take me to where I need to be.”

The commander was not surprised by her bluntness. He had dealt with assassins from the home world before, (even though this assassin was particularly famous.) Assassins were always the same way. They felt that their agendas were far more important than the particular planet that they were on, and they wanted their job done; and done quickly.

The commander led the assassin through the huge, dark Citadel, and out of one of the main blast doors. Before them stood the slave grounds, which were newly revamped and updated for security since the escape a few days ago. Slaves now were constantly followed, and chained, and it was very rare for slaves to go out on building parties. They couldn’t afford to take any more chances.

The commander turned and spoke to the black-clad female assassin through his white gasmask. “We need you to investigate some areas for us. Anything you can do to find out about the whereabouts of the resistance in the area would be infinitely useful to us. We have a few leads for you, based on proximity to recent attacks, other than that, we don’t have much.” The assassin turned her expressionless gasmasked face away from the commander, towards the city. With every syllable, her eyepiece lit up, “Excellent, commander, I will begin immediately. The resistance will not last another week.”

The commander replied, “I hope that I am hearing an oracle, agent.” He then turned and went back into The Citadel. The emotionless assassin turned away from The Citadel, and immediately received a list of leads. Inside her eyepiece, semi-transparent text was displayed.


Assassin Agent 223105
Mission: search, infiltrate and destroy.
Suggest that you begin with the following target:

UNITED COMBINE MUNITIONS FACTORY- address downloaded through uplink

Investigate immediately for anything strange. Kill anyone who finds out what you are doing. Follow standard procedure, you know the drill.


Ian had been pressing the little green and red buttons for no less than an hour now. The parts kept coming by like an army of shells. The machines pressed the shells together the exact same way. It was enough to explode your brain. Ian wondered when his own mind would melt from boredom.

Suddenly, the loudspeaker crackled on again, “The inspector is here. Answer any questions they have, and just be generally nice to them. If you have any questions or problems, save the report until after the inspection is over. That is all.” The loudspeaker crackled off again, and everyone in the room was watching the front door in anticipation.

Ian quickly realized that he was not paying attention to his own station and switched back to his duties just in time to continue pressing his buttons. Just then, the door into the factory slid open, and the black-suited female assassin and about a dozen Combine guards poured into the room.

The assassin looked around the room with her single, orange eyepiece with her hands clasped behind her back. The other guards stood with weapons ready at the wall behind her. Ian watched as the agent paced up the steel staircase up to the overseers platform. The assassin spoke with the overseers for a moment, nodded her head, and began to descend the staircase.

Just as Ian thought that the inspector was going to leave, she began pacing up and down the lines of machines, inspecting progress and asking questions. Ian continued pressing his buttons. After some time, the assassin came to Ian’s line of machines, and began asking the workers questions.

The assassin came to Ian, and asked him some very blunt questions, “Have you heard of the resistance?” she asked, breathing through her sleek gasmask. Ian turned toward her. He decided not to lie. “Yes, I’ve heard of them, but I thought that they were all captured or killed by Breen.” He said, trying to leave any hint of nervousness out of his voice. The assassin continued to ask him questions, “Are you involved in the resistance?” Ian spoke plainly and sternly, “No, ma’am I have never even seen someone in the resistance.”

The light on the inside of the agent’s eyepiece narrowed to a small horizontal slit. Ian took this “expression as skepticism. She snapped back, “You’re lying.” She accused. Ian felt a rush of adrenaline as a wave of fear came over him. How had she known? But before Ian could answer, there was a loud crash.

Both Ian and the assassin twisted their necks toward the sound, in alarm. One of the machines had malfunctioned, and a mechanical arm was flying all over the place, throwing volatile shells all over the room. Ian recognized the man who was in charge of the station with the malfunctioning arm. He was part of the resistance, and his eyes seemed to say “run.” Ian mouthed the words “thank you” to the man as the assassin ran over to the station to try to stop the malfunctioning arm.

Ian backed away from his station, and walked calmly to the bathroom. He felt like a coward, walking into the public restroom like that while action was going on out on the factory grounds. He hid in a stall, and waited for the sounds from outside to die down. After it was silent, he waited another ten minutes.

After he had waited ten minutes, he peeked out of the bathroom cautiously. The factory grounds had seemed to have calmed down, and the guards and the agent had already left. However, the worker that caused the ruckus had disappeared as well. Ian guessed that he had been arrested. He felt honored that the worker had risked his own life for him. He would be eternally in his debt.

The loudspeakers came on again. “Well, that was the most terrible inspection in the history of this plant, workers. The inspector has given us a few recommendations: there will be a quarter of your pay taken away starting today. Tomorrow, there will be a huge plasma Breenscreen on the north wall, and there will be a scanner assigned to every row. I am deeply disappointed in you all.” Ian felt a stab of guilt at this announcement.

He sulked like a beaten dog back to his station. The others were looking at him like he was crazy as he pushed the little green button. He knew that now he would be tracked by The Combine and that assassin in particular. His going into hiding in the bathroom had probably proven to the assassin that he was part of the resistance. Yet again, he would have to live life on the run. Either that or he would have to kill the assassin himself.
 
Worried, Ian continued his task for the rest of the day, receiving dirty looks from his peers. A tired Ian got in the line of workers to get out of the factory. He scanned his papers in the reading machine, the mechanical voice announced, “Time of work: Full 8 hours. Pay: 75%” some of the other workers were grumbling over the lack of full pay, but Ian said nothing. He was worried about far worse matters.

He exited the building, looking around the square for any signs of the black clad assassin, but saw nothing. He nervously walked around the square for a moment, to draw suspicion off of him. He knew that he was being watched. Ian walked around a few back roads and alleyways, and came back to the munitions factory from behind, crouched low in the shadows of the alleyway, and opened up the trapdoor under the dumpster that led into HQ.

He hoped that he had not revealed the position of HQ to whoever was probably watching him. He lowered himself into the hole, and walked down the dark steps towards the elevator. He said his name into the machine next to the elevator, and got on. He descended, as usual, directly down into HQ.

The elevator beeped, and the metal doors slid open with a hiss. The resistance members looked like they were taking a break at the moment, and were all gathered around talking to each other in some kind of lounge room off in another direction. There were Vortigaunts scattered about, talking to the various scientists.

Eli Vance happened to be talking to a Vortigaunt at the time, and when he saw Ian, he smiled and came over to the elevator. “Hey, kid, you don’t look so good.” He consoled, putting his hand on Ian’s shoulder. Ian glanced at Eli’s prosthetic leg, and then quickly focused on the old black man’s face. “I’m sorry, doctor, I may have just revealed our position to The Combine.” He said grimly.

Ian told Eli Vance of everything that had happened that day. “I’m sorry…” Ian apologized, “maybe I slipped or something, I don’t know.” Dr. Vance’s face was grim, but he spoke with reassurance in his voice. “Yes, Ian, it is true that they probably think that you are involved in the resistance. Luckily, however, I believe your actions have shifted attention off of the United Combine Munitions Factory and onto yourself. Expect some…visitors at your apartment sometime tonight. You’re lucky that Tonya was not at the apartment tonight, or you might have gone back. I’m afraid that you’ll have to stay here at HQ from now on, and your job is officially terminated. You’ll disappear from society. It’s the only way to keep the resistance safe.”

“I’m sorry,” Ian apologized. “Don’t apologize, Ian, it happens all the time. Soon, we will all have to go into hiding, and that is when the resistance will truly begin.” Dr. Vance took his hand off of Ian’s shoulder and his face had a brighter look. “You should get to Tonya, she and my daughter are waiting for you to start the sniper lessons. She’s waiting for you in the firing range, next to the equipment room.”

Ian thanked Dr. Vance, and headed off to the firing range. On the way, he passed none other than Barney Calhoun, with a cast on his leg, hobbling around on crutches. “Hey!” called Barney. “Hey,” replied Ian. “How is your leg?” he asked. Barney hit his cast with one of his crutches. “Oh, you mean this thing? It’s doing fine. The operation went well. It should be healed enough for me to limp around without crutches in a couple of weeks. I forgot to mention to you yesterday, Ian, you had one hell of a shot, for having no experience with automatic weapons. You also did a great job getting those Vortigaunts back to HQ. You’ll make a great commander some day, kid.” Barney held out his gloved hand, and Ian shook it.
 
The stubble-faced Barney smiled, and bantered, “Hey, catch me later; I’ll buy you a beer!” Ian replied, “Sure, once The Combine legalizes alcohol again!” Barney chuckled, and allowed Ian to go along his way. Living here from then wouldn’t be so bad after all.

He came to a door that had white lettering on it that said: FIRING RANGE, WEAR PROTECTIVE HEADPHONES AT ALL TIMES. Ian twisted the knob of the green door and entered the room. The concrete room that served as a firing range was long, and there were targets and obstacles all along the blue far wall. Nobody stood behind the yellow safety bars that served as a barrier into the firing range except for two people. Alyx Vance and Tonya each stood side by side, both holding their own sniper rifles, and Alyx was showing Tonya the various parts of the weapon and their purpose.

When Ian entered the room, Tonya and Alyx looked up. “It’s about time you got here, Ian, we’ve been here for twenty minutes!” Alyx joked. Tonya waved to Ian, and then said, “Hey, Ian, I’m so glad that you left me here today instead of taking me to school. It’s so much more fun!” Ian smiled, “Well, that’s good Tonya,” he replied, “Because we’re staying here.”

Both Alyx and Tonya had confused looks on their faces, and simultaneously said, “Really?” Ian told them about the assassin, and how he and Tonya now had to go into hiding. Alyx looked concerned. “Well, that’s not good. But at least you get to stay here.” She supposed. Tonya seemed unphased, and simply added, “Well, I never liked that apartment anyway,” and that was that.

Alyx picked up her sniper rifle. The sleek, scoped weapon gleamed in the light of the firing range. “We might as well get started,” she suggested, “Ian, go pick up a sniper rifle from over there, and I’ll teach you and Tonya the basics.” Ian walked over to the dingy green table, and picked up his own sleek, black, Combine issue sniper rifle, and a couple of clips.

Once they all had their rifles, they all sat down in chairs, and Alyx taught them how to reload and fire their weapon, and how to put it into different firing modes. Tonya and Ian caught on quickly, and were able to reload the rifle clips in no time at all.

Then, they all lined up at the firing range, and Alyx began to instruct them. “Great, now we’re going to begin firing at those targets over there. I want to see how you do on your own before I show you how it’s really done. Ian, why don’t you begin firing first? Just try to hit that middle target over there, the one that’s shaped like a man.”

Ian put the scope of the sniper rifle up to his eye. Instantly, his view was magnified several times. He could easily see the center target. His wavering crosshair fell over the drawn on head of the target, and he tried to steady his aim. Then, slowly, carefully, he pulled the trigger.

The recoil from the explosive power of the gun caught Ian off guard, and his shot went wild, striking the concrete far off of the target, and causing chip of concrete to fall off. Alyx came over to him, and suggested, “Keep the butt of the gun firm on your shoulder, right here. It should lower your recoil.”

Ian took her advice, and this time, with the butt of the gun in a comfortable position, he was able to pull off a perfect headshot. The bullet ripped right through the target, leaving a hole right through the painted on head. Ian laughed with the sheer joy of success. “Perfect!” congratulated Alyx.

Then, Tonya was given a chance. She was able to get a headshot on her first try. She never even wavered from the target once. Her skill was definitely impressive. They continued like that, for some time, firing and reloading at will. Then, Alyx stopped them, and said, “Now let me show you how it’s really done!”

The other two backed off, and Alyx, with lighting speed, put the scope up to her eye. She fired with amazing speed, headshotting every target, and then reloaded her weapon with no pause at all. It all took under five seconds. Alyx smiled at them. “You look at me like I’m some kind of ghost,” she laughed, “some day you’ll be as good as even me, I see potential in both of you.”

Ian took it as a compliment. Tonya and Ian continued to get lessons from them for about an hour when it was agreed that they were tired, and had better retire for the night. Ian cleaned his gun, and put it back onto the table for further use the next day, and he, Alyx and Tonya exited the room, jokingly conversing with each other.

When they entered the main room, they found Barney Calhoun, Eli Vance, Isaac Kleiner, Dr. Mossman and a couple of Vortigaunts talking with each other. Dr. Vance turned to Ian, Alyx and Tonya. “Ah, you three are just in time.” He said in a business-like fashion. “We were just speaking with these Vortigaunts about our next mission. Apparently, when The Combine invaded, and made the switch to human-like forms, their previous alien-like forms were deemed worthless, and were cut off from The Combine. There are now quite a few rebellious Xen aliens living on this planet. The nearest group of them is hiding out in the mines near a place called “Raven Holm,” where the esteemed Father Gregori is said to live. We have deemed it important to seek the alliance of these rebellious aliens. We don’t have to talk about it tonight, but in the upcoming weeks, we may need your help on such an expedition.”

Ian nodded, “I would always be proud to help, sir.” Dr. Vance seemed to change to a lighthearted mood. “It’s getting late, Ian. I know that you’re going to have to stay here, so I’ll have to give you a room. There are quarters somewhere along the floor right above us. You can set up there.” Ian began to walk towards the elevator. “Thanks.” He called. “No problem.” Dr. Vance responded, and then turned to talk with and work out the logistics of the upcoming mission with his compatriots.

Ian and Tonya got on the elevator, and ascended slowly one floor up. The floor had a chain link fence separating it from the elevator, and there was a door that opened and allowed Ian to step off of the elevator and onto the floor.

There was a long hallway in front of him, with a huge metal pipe leading all along its right side. The walls were dark, and there were small, yellow lights illuminating the hallway from the ceiling. Ian noticed grey doors that lined the sides of the hall, and guessed that they must be the doors that belonged to the rooms that quartered members of the resistance that lived at HQ.

He and Tonya began knocking on doors, and finally came to the first unoccupied and unlocked room. Ian opened the door into the small cell that would serve as their quarters from then on. The cell was tiny, and was a bland grey. It resembled a jail cell. There was a metal bunk bed on the left side of the room with green mattresses.
 
Tonya yelled, “I call the top bunk!” and before Ian could react, Tonya ran over to the bunk bed and climbed the ladder to the top. Ian snickered and shook his head. He checked his watch. He had spent longer than he expected in sniper school, and it was now late. He was tired, anyway. So he turned out the light, said “Good night” to Tonya, and crawled under the green wool covers of the bottom bunk bed. For the first time since the invasion, he felt like he was home, among friends. He quickly fell asleep.

Naguk-digh, the Vortigaunt, paced around in his cell, his middle arm picking something out of his teeth with its three sharp claws. Naguk-digh did not like the implant that the humans had put in his head. Whenever he tried to speak his native language, it would come out as that horrible, guttural language the humans called Czech. Or, when the scientists wanted it, it would come out as that even worse language that they called English. It was not right for the humans to do this to him with their awful machines.

He longed to speak and think again in the beautiful language of the Niniliath, the language he had known his whole life. Ever since that terrible human Gordon Freeman had destroyed the Niniliath, things had never been the same. Naguk-digh had thoughts that were reserved all to him after that, and he was no longer controlled by the holy green cuffs on his arms and neck.

The others enjoyed the “liberation,” but he did not. He missed his old master. He missed being told what to do. He thought that he had gotten back into his master’s graces when he had entered The Combine to work for them. But then, the horrible humans kidnapped him from his rightful place. It was not right. Humans had no right to take him away from his masters. Humans did not know the joy of the Niniliath.

Then, Naguk-digh had an idea. He would need to end this injustice. He would stop the humans. He would contact The Combine, and they would be grateful. That’s what he had been trained to do, after all. Yes, this is what Naguk-digh would do. He would just have to figure out how.

The female assassin stood still in the Combine Citadel. She was contemplating the information she had received that day, and was writing it in her computerized log inside her head.


LOG 1
Agent 223105

Subject “Ian Olbowski” is curious. I am absolutely sure that he is part of this resistance. However, he escaped from my grasp. I have interrogated the citizen who aided him in his escape, but so far this citizen has yielded no information worth using.

It is unclear currently whether the United Combine Munitions factory is hosting the resistance as of yet. There are far too many machines for the resistance to be hosted in the factory itself, but perhaps there are other facilities where they meet, etc.

I sent a raiding party to Olbowski’s apartment, but he was not there. Clerk says that he never lived there. This is curious. It is likely that this rebellious citizen has gone into hiding. I will find him, and when I do, I will make him tell me exactly where the resistance is.

I am confident of victory.


END LOG 1

The assassin smiled a sinister smile beneath her gasmask. She felt a rush of confidence, as she always did at moments like this. She had never failed before, and she would not fail this time. The rebellious citizen was nothing more than a scurrying ant to her. It didn’t matter how much he ran around, she would eventually crush him.

And after she crushed him, she would crush all of the other ants on this pathetic world, and it would fall helpless before The Mighty Combine.

-Chapter 22, Spies-
______edit________
sadly, even a compressed raw text file is a couple of KB too large to upload
 
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