Urb and Garg's Multiple Choice Fan Fiction

[M_Gargantua]

This is a very successful Fan fiction on another forum so I thought I would continue it here. Basics of it is that I write a part and give you guy's choices on what happens next. It was started by a fellow named Urbanebula then haned to me when he got to busy.

Heres a teaser, Im giving you this alone because I want your opinions if I should just make one big post of the rest of it, and then resume with the choices, or If I should release it up to it's current point in multiple posts.

so without further ado:
Two corpses lay beside one another, each on shot in the head by a combine sniper rifle. The rear wall of the run down apartment was covered in brain matter and a cupboard had toppled onto its front, its doors shattered by the impact. It was now a coffin for a sleeping man.

Marks eyes peeled open to see nothing but darkness. The sleep crust surrounded his eyelids and he reached up to brush it away. His elbow knocked the side of the wooden enclosure. He paused, reaching upwards to feel the backside of the wardrobe, now the top of his hiding place. He pushed on it and the cupboard shifted on the floorboards emitting a loud creak. He paused again, lifting his knees so that they were pressed against the wooden top and forced it off of him.

The morning sunlight ripped through the apartment giving it a warm orange glow. The battered sofa had been tipped over by the combine during the raid. The two bodies brought back the memory of what had happened.

Mark, his roommate Todd and Lisa, his girlfriend had been planning on moving out of the city and joining a small resistance crew led by a friend on the outskirts. Todd’s brother Daniel had contacted him the day before not realizing the line was tapped. The combine raid came shortly after.

The metro police stormed the apartment with stun batons. While the three friends successfully held them back with household items none of them had noticed the blue beam seeking out its target from across the street. Lisa was the first to die. A shot to the left eye killed her instantly. As she collapsed Mark dove to catch her. The shot that was meant for him missed by mere millimeters and struck Todd in the temple. Mark, now alone and crying, curled up on the floor and waited to die. The metro cops approached and engaged their stun batons. The first strike across the back of Marks head knocked him onto his back, the second smashed his nose and he blacked out. He could just make out some radio chatter from one of the officer’s radios. Something about a ‘Free man’ being nearby and they rushed away in a hurry. A final grunt smashed his baton against a cupboard, which toppled and fell onto the helpless body.

With his best friend and fiancé dead and left for dead himself Mark was going to get revenge or at least kill the squad that raided his apartment. He had been reciting the squadron name to himself while lying under the cupboard.

“Patrol Unit: Delta One Forty Seven.”


now here's your first choice

A: Just post the rest of it (take in mind that it is pretty long.)

B: Give you guys it parts at a time, as to not overload the forums with a 24000 word post

 

[M_Gargantua]

heres more of it:

He looked at the pale faces of his friends his eyes fixed on Lisa’s engagement ring. He had proposed many years ago before the ‘7-hour war’ started. They promised to protect each other and they would wed when this was all over. He felt a tear forming in his eye. He rubbed it away quickly. He had grieved enough for now. He had a much more demanding task to deal with. Getting out of City 17 alive. He ran to the closet and opened an old toolbox. Taking out a wrench he grinned to himself and bolted out of the door.

Usually the hallway would be well lit and chattering would be heard from all the apartments. However now the combine had cleared it out, killing the weak and frail while ‘collecting’ the strong and intelligent. The name ‘Nova Prospekt’ had been thrown about several times in the past. It was a prison on the coast that had been occupied by the combine a few weeks earlier.

Down the stairwell and out of the front door Mark could smell smoke and the clapping sound of machineguns and loud explosions were all that could be heard. The Citadel was on full alert, its mechanisms and wires all in motion, throwing dust and grit up into the air.

Marks apartment block was on a T-junction. He now had three options to go with the three routes away from his home. To the left was a train yard, which then led on to five miles of cargo shipping canals. This is where Todd’s brother Daniel’s resistance thrived. The right hand route led into the cities old business complex towards the towering Citadel. The final route was straight on which led to an industrial district, where the gunfire was coming from. The resistance had obviously spread the word through the entire city. Rubbing the claws on the wrench in his left hand Mark decided what to do.

Mark turned to his left and ran down the street towards the arch roof of the central train station, which ripped out above the skyline like a pyramid. Still the towering Citadel behind him dwarfed this mere structure. He stopped running, his heart pounding loudly filling his head with its vital beat. He had heard something to his left and looking round spotted an alleyway. Combine chatter. He crept to the alleyways entrance pressed against the wall as tightly as possible.

Peeking around the corner he felt the sweat dripping of the end of his nose. He was terrified. He took the wrench in both hands, which were shaking wildly. He took a deep breath and ran around into the alley, the wrench above his head ready to smash his unsuspecting victim. He closed his eyes and hammered the weapon down onto his target

* CRASH! *

Mark gasped and opened his eyes. A combine radio lay smashed on top of an overturned, empty ammunition crate. The combine had obviously cleared out when they went after the “Free man” the day before. Mark scratched the back of his head and wiped the sweat from his face. Maybe next time he would actually kill somebody. Could he kill anybody? As strongly as he believed resistance was the answer, Mark had never so much as hurt anyone intentionally.

Mark briefly searched the area for anything that could be useful. Turning over crates to reveal nothing but air and asphalt. This was hopeless. The combine weren’t stupid enough to leave weapons lying in the streets. Mark looked up to the sky, which had been pummeled by gun smoke and fumes. Suddenly he stopped breathing, there was someone behind him. He quickly spun round bringing his wrench above his head once again.

“Whoa!” the man was shielding his face “Calm down buddy!”

“Sorry!” shouted back “You scared the crap out of me!”

The guy pulled his arm away from his face. He was wearing civvies up to his chest where there was some stolen combine armor. The overthrow was obviously going well so far.

“I thought you could help me out.” He said.

“Really? What’s the problem?”

“Gordon Freeman has put a match to the oil.”

“Eh?” Mark was puzzled by this riddle sentence.

“He’s sparked up a flame. The resistance is tearing through the outskirts and is closing in on the city centre.”

“Oh that’s what the combine are talking about.”

“Exactly.”

The man gestured for Mark to follow him out of the alley and out onto the baron street. He began explaining the events of the last day that Mark had missed. The resistance was a much bigger event than anyone originally anticipated.

“Gordon Freeman is on his way to Dr. Vance’s labs to the south of the canals.” He said. “I have a few units waiting at key points of the canal in order to supply ammunition and weapons to Mr. Freeman.”

“Is this where I come in?” Mark asked

“Yes. I need one man to simply drop of a crate containing a combine stimpack and another containing an HEV battery. Just throw them over the edge of a bridge and return to base”

“And if I refuse?”

“I’ll have to do it myself.”

“What’s this about a base?” said Mark, hoping for a place to stock up on weaponry.

“Eli’s lab.” He said, “It’s a series of underground tunnels that run out in all directions.” The occupants of some mining town to the south helped to dig them out before the tunnel had to be closed off. I’m not sure why Eli ordered it to be sealed.”

“By the way,” said Mark “I didn’t catch your name.”

“I’m Daniel, Resistance Sergeant. I came to the city to find my brother Todd. So how about you? What’s your story?”

“Oh, well…”

“Actually,” Daniel interrupted “forget that. Will you help us?”

What should Mark do?

Mark knew what he had to do. He had to tell Dan about his brother. It wasn’t going to be easy, then again things like this weren’t meant to be.

“Listen Dan,” he started “I don’t know how to tell you this.”

“Just say it,” Dan said, “The longer you hold something back the harder it is to explain it. Is there a problem?”

“Todd was killed last night in a combine raid.”

“What?” Dan’s eyes were wide and his hands started to tremble.

“It was just after you called. Our phone line must’ve been tapped.”

Dan staggered over to an over turned APC. He eased back, now leaning against the handrails on the side. He reached down into a pack hanging on his belt and pulled out a cigarette. He pulled the night watch type hat over his eyes and stood there. This went on for about 5 minutes.

“You alright?” Marks voice broke through the sound of distant gunfire and explosions silence.

“Am I Hell!” Dan snapped, tossing the butt of the cigarette across the pavement towards Mark. “I’m sorry. This S*!* happens in wars right? I guess you just have to suck it up and drive on.”

Dan pulled a pistol from a holster on his right hip. He slowly clicked a round into the chamber as the sound of a helicopter reared up in the background.

“Oh no!” Mark shouted, “If that chopper sees us we’re done for.”

“Don’t worry! We came prepared.” Said Dan.

 

[rambler]

those choices sucked

 

[M_Gargantua]

well, I just wanted to know if you guys wanted me to post it all and give you the current choice, or just post it in parts then start with the choices again. because this story is just being introduced here, it was started a year or so ago.

anyway heres more:
“Prepared?” Mark pondered as the radio on Dan’s belt buzzed into life.

“Target! Air recon unit inbound! 2 Airships packing some serious heat and a dropship.” Dan ripped the radio out of his belt and to his mouth.

“Rodger that Ranger 230. Engage at will!” Dan looked to Mark. “Follow me!”

The two men sprinted to a nearby alleyway, which led through to another street, dodging crates and trashcans while leaping over pipes and bodies. The sound of propellers was now deafening as the first gunship flew overhead. The radio kicked in.

“D@** it Danny! Hurry it up. They’re trying to strafe us!”

The two men emerged from the alleyway. Marks heart was pounding in his ears. As the sound of the world came back there was a ringing in his ears. Then it cleared to the sound of gunfire and shouting.

“Hey,” a voice shouted “Get down!”

Mark looked down to see that he was standing dead centre in the middle of the road. He froze.

“What the Hell should I do?” He thought. He looked to his right to see one of the whale like gun ships facing him preparing for a strafing run. It moved forward firing white-hot shells into the brittle concrete. Dust and debris flew into the air and Mark had to act fast. The beam of bullets drew closer and he dove sideways behind a wrecked car.

Down the road Dan had already reached the squad. He looked back to see Mark flinching under the car. The sparks flying of the cars roofs were singeing the back of his neck.

“D@** it!” he yelled, “Jimmy, Gregory! Come with me. The rest of you cover our a**es!”

The three men set of running from cover to cover. Barrel to truck, truck to crate, crate to car. Dan gave the order for cover fire and the squad that stayed back all fired on the gunship. The bullets deflected and bounced off of its solid armored surface. This thing was going to take more that a few machine gun clips to even slow let alone destroy. For now however, all they could do was divert its attention. It turned and began a strafing run towards the squad. The bullets smashed through the sandbags and the men ducked for cover.

“D@** it!” one man called out “Harrison’s hit. S*!*, he’s bleeding bad!”

“On the way.” Dan called back. “Mark, come on! Run!”

Mark made a run for the three men and tripped on a wrecked axel. He staggered to his feet.

“D@**. He isn’t going to make it!” Dan yelled “Gregory, cover fire! Jimmy! Come with me!”

Gregory fired at the second gunship, which was hovering overhead. It turned back on itself and headed towards Mark. Dan ran out and grabbed him, throwing him to the floor. The gunship fired and the shots ripped through Jimmy’s body. He continued running as the blood and bone slapped against the floor behind him. He was dead before he hit the floor. His eyes stared aimlessly into the ground with flooded with blood as he landed. Mark and Dan could do nothing but stare. Each hole wound was about the size of a fist.

“S*!*!” Dan shouted.

Mark was frozen on the spot, too terrified to move. Dan reached over to the body and pried the Mp7 out of his hand. He pushed it into Mark’s hands.

“Listen to me!” Dan shouted, “You’re going see a hell of a lot of this for the next few days. Don’t let it get to you! If you do, you’ll be the next to die. No emotion and no fear from here on! Got that?”

Mark nodded timidly. He had dealt with death before. In fact the day before he had lost 2 people very close to him. This was a lot more brutal than that however. The power of the gun ship’s weaponry was too much to handle. The mound of flesh and bone that lay before him was an ugly mass of death. The fact that it was a living breathing human just a few seconds earlier was far too much to take.

“Mark!” Dan was red in the face “Snap out of it! Move back to the barrier! We got a man down.”

Dan grabbed Mark by the arm just to get him moving. The gunship fired streams of bullets into the floor, inches behind them. Mark swayed and staggered as he ran. When they reached the barrier the gunship. Tilted and banked up over the rooftop.

“Are they falling back?” yelled one man

“I hope so.” Called another. “I’m almost out of ammo.”

“Wait!” Dan hushed his squad.

There was a faint whirring noise just above the roofs to the left. A cinder block fell into the alley and smashed on the concrete floor. A massive drop ship curled its body down into the narrow space throwing dust and gravel all around the men. Just below the main body of the craft was an APC. The vehicle lowered and dropped down into the alley blocking the escape route. The vehicle had a machine gun and rocket turret.

“S*!*!” Yelled Gregory “Get down!”

As the men ducked behind their pathetic sandbag wall, the drop ship hovered backwards and dropped off its second delivery. 10 metro police armed with automatic assault shotguns. They bounced out of the drop pod and 2 climbed onto the APC gun turret. The resistance could do nothing but watch as they loaded a chain of ammo into the machine gun.

“Hold your fire.” Dan whispered, “I’ve got an idea.”

What’s Dan’s idea?

Dan searched the alleyway for a possible exit. He saw a loosened manhole cover not 100 feet behind his squad. The only problem was that the only cover from his current position was a few cardboard boxes and some trashcans.

“Fitzgerald!” he yelled. A small skinny man who had been hunched over Henderson’s twitching body looked up.

“Yes sir?” he rose on his knees and as he Mark could see a red cross on his arm and another on a battered belt bag. He was a medic.

“What’s the wounded status?”

“We only got the one sir. It’s Henderson and he’s…” Fitzgerald paused as he looked at Henderson face. Blood had spurted out of his mouth and nose due to the fist-sized hole in his stomach. He was staring into the sky with eyes that were no longer focused on anything. They were perched on one spot, the belongings of an owner who no longer needed them. “F***! He’s dead sir!”

“There’s going be a Hell of a lot of death to go around Fitz. Get used to it.” Fitz folded Henderson’s arms across his chest and pulled his eyes shut. “Let’s move people. We can get to that sewage opening. Only problem is the only cover available is minute. Run you’re a**es off and you might make it. Don’t stop to help anyone. On my signal.”

Dan stood up and the combine troops all turned on him.

“GO!” Dan yelled and dove to the floor. The combine fired at his position before realizing the group was on the move. Dan got into the crowd and they ran in a swarm. The combine APC opened fire. Machine gun bullets smashed into the back of the group dropping 5 men. A rocket was launched and another 3 went down. The group reached the manhole still under heavy fire. The cover came of and the men poured into it like liquid not caring which way they fell. Heads hit concrete with other people’s boots in their mouths and a few fingers were broken. A broken finger was a very fickle matter in this type of situation. The sewers were well lit by grids and open covers so the men could almost see.

“Well that went well.” Said Fitz.

“Shut up Fitz.” said Gregory.

“Now what?” asked Mark.

“Run!” Yelled Dan. He scrambled to his feet and began running down the tunnel. The men climbed to their feet and looked at each other. Then they heard it. A faint beeping noise was coming from the street above. A small canister bounced off the ladder and settled at their feet. Dan yelled again “RUN GOD D@** IT!!!”

The men ran from the grenade as fast as they could. The grenade let out a mighty bang as it detonated sending dust, debris and flesh in a thousand directions. The metal ladder sprayed fragments everywhere and a large chunk hit Gregory in the back.

“Ouch!” he yelled as he rose to his feet “That bloody hurt!”

He dusted himself off but paused when he hit something wet on his hip. He turned to see that the metal shard had already hit something before him. A man lay on the floor behind him with his skull clearly visible.

“That was close.” He said.

“Who did we loose up there?” yelled Fitz.

Dan scanned the group, shrugged and simply walked off down the tunnel.

“What’s eaten him?” asked Mark

“His f***ing brothers dead a**hole!” Said Gregory and he also pushed past and moped off behind Dan.

“What the f***?” yelled Mark.

“Hey.” Said Fitz “He’s lost his entire family to the combine now. His bro was the last.”

“Yeah but why the Hell did Gregory give me an earful?”

“No idea.” He said, “I’m pretty new to Gregory myself. We picked him up just outside of Ravenholm. He’s always saying he got mistaken for a priest there or something, I’m not sure. He comes off as a bit of an a**hole really.”

“No kidding?” laughed Mark. Fitz seemed to be the only guy in the group who Mark could really talk to. Dan was too harsh with words and just seemed to focus on the militant side of everything. Fitz was the kind of guy who you’d imagine working with children. He was soft spoken and kind.

The group sidled a good few feet behind Dan and Gregory. Nobody said a word to them despite the fact that conversation was bursting out between all the other guys. Mark and Fitz talked all the way to the end of the tunnel until Dan halted everyone at a T-junction.

“Alright guys.” He said, hands on hips like the classic hero stance you’d see on TV “We did good today but we’ve got a long way to go to Eli’s place. We’ll split up and keep a low profile from here on. One team can go left with me and the other will go right with Corporal Fitz here. Let’s keep it even now. How many we got left?”

“Twenty one sir” said Gregory right beside him like a teachers pet.