Half-life2:Resistance

Finally, The Combine realized what was going on, and a hail of bullets flew down towards them from the wall. Luckily, the car had already sped up and was now directly under the strider. The bullets from the wall struck the strider above, and a shower of sparks rained down.

Harper yelled out in the split second while one of the strider’s legs began to swing towards the car. The huge leg of the strider barely missed the car’s rear bumper, and the sedan sped through the opening of the gate. They were finally outside of City-17.

“Yeah!” shouted Ian. Harper kept the car steady and drove at maximum speed down the road. There were thousands of bullets pouring down upon them now, but miraculously, very few actually hit the car. And, through another stroke of luck, the gate had already begun to close, so the strider was stuck inside the city as the car sped away.

It was absolutely brilliant, the most daring and lucky escape in history. They were long gone before The Combine even knew what hit them, driving southeast towards the Black Sea.
------------
“They did WHAT?!?!?!” The assassin screamed into her radio. She had just learned of the daring “escape” of Ian Olbowski. “I’m sorry ma’am,” the operator said. “They just drove right through! They were gone before we could even get an APC out there. We don’t even know where they’re going!” The assassin was red with fury “This is unacceptable!” she yelled. “I’m going to hunt him down myself! I will track him, I will find him. You will all pay for your failure!”

The assassin cut off her radio in an angry rage. She had expected Ian Olbowski to do something risky after they announced his name, but not THIS risky. This sudden occurrence had totally blown her mind. Her employers would surely kill her for this, unless she was able to find him, of course.

She made no hesitation to jump onto her sleek black motorcycle, and then sped through the streets towards the East Checkpoint. This had been a terrible mistake, but she would make up for it. She would find him.

*Twelve Years Earlier*

Gordon Freeman awoke, winded, in the compartment of one of the Black Mesa trams. He was on a tram? What happened? How did he get back on a tram? He felt his head. No bumps, no bruises. He had just been through the three strangest and most significant days of his life.

It all came back to him in a flash. The expeditions to Xen, the resonance cascade, the alien invasion, the Niniliath. The Niniliath still haunted his mind. He had just killed it. Or at least he thought he had killed the giant, floating king of aliens. Its words still echoed through his mind…

How had he suddenly found himself on one of the transportation trams? Had it all been a dream? Had none of this really happened? Maybe he had just fallen asleep on the way to work, and dreamed all of the fantastic stories about aliens up. He hoped so.

He sat up in the leather chair of the tram, and looked out the window, and almost lost his balance. The tram appeared to be flying through…space? Yes, that’s what it looked like, there were stars shooting by. That was certainly very strange.

He looked around the tram, and suddenly, without warning, his eyes fell upon a dark and sinister looking man in a blue suit. Gordon’s heart skipped a beat. This man in the suit had been following him around. He had seen him all over, but he was always out of reach, out of range. And here he was, standing on this same strange tram which was flying through space.

This must be a dream. Or else Gordon was a schizophrenic. Before Gordon could ask the man in the suit any questions, the man spoke.

“Gordon Freeman, in the flesh,” he said, slurring his S’s into long, snake-like hisses. “Or rather In the Hazard Suit,” Gordon looked down and noticed his hazard suit, the orange suit that was designed to protect against nuclear radiation, but had ended up keeping him alive through the alien invasion. The man in the suit continued to speak. “I took the liberty of relieving you of your weapons…most of them were…government property. As for the suit…I think you’ve earned it.” The man spoke in a strange, high-pitched voice, with strange pauses now and then. Gordon wasn’t sure whether he was human or not.

The man in the suit cleared his throat and continued. “The border world, Xen, is in our control…for the time being. Thanks to you! Quite a nasty piece of work you managed over there! I am impressed…. You see Mister Freeman, that’s why I’m here. My..er…employers have authorized me to offer you a job. They agree with me that you have limitless potential.” Gordon couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He didn’t even know this man, but his “employers” were now offering him some kind of job.

Suddenly, the door of the tram opened, and Gordon feared that he would be sucked out into space, but no such thing happened. Then, a greenish light appeared in the door. The man in the suit continued on. “If you’re interested…just step into the portal and I will take care of the rest. Otherwise…well… lets just say I could offer you a battle you have no chance of winning…rather an anti-climax after what you’ve just survived.”

Gordon weighed his options. He could go into the portal and get some kind of job with this shady suited man, or he could refuse and most likely the suited man would kill him. He didn’t like the look of the pasty, skeletal man in the suit before him, and he feared what power might lurk beneath the man’s sinister figure.

He decided to take the man up on his offer. So, without saying anything more, or asking any questions, Gordon Freeman jumped into the portal, and disappeared. His vision went blank, and the sound of the suited man’s voice echoed behind him like a snake.

“Wisely done, Mister Freeman; I will see you up ahead!” And with that, Gordon Freeman was never seen again. At least until the suited man needed him again….


-Chapter 24, The Hive-
 
Just read this last chapter, very good story.

YAY, Gordon is finally in it, well sort of anyway.

Can't wait for the next chapter to come, the story just keeps on getting deeper and deeper.
 
Yaaay! :)
Gordon rocks!
Hurry up with next chapter!


Breen's propaganda message:
And in the next thrilling chapter we will see:
1. Car chase against Alien Gunship!!!
2. Father Gregory's shotgun frags!!!
3. Fall of Combine Empire!!!
4. Human conquest of galaxy!!!
5. New, improved crowbar, with autoaim!!!
 
I am in awe. When this is finnished I will print it off and put it next to greats on my bookshelf such as J.R.R Tolkien....
 
Excellent. Simply excellent. Well worth the wait.

This really is the first piece of 'fanfiction' I have read that has such a complex plot and interesting characters. You used what we know about HL2 as a jumping off point, and it's worked out beautifully.

Gordon's in it! I was wondering how you would manage to voice the character of someone who we controlled (in HL) and who never spoke or showed any personality of his own. Having Gordon be the 'strong, silent type' but letting the audience know his thoughts is the perfect way to do it. You captured what we were all thinking when we got to the end of HL1.

So, a huge thumbs-up from me. Keep up the good work!
 
jabberwock95 said:
Excellent. Simply excellent. Well worth the wait.

This really is the first piece of 'fanfiction' I have read that has such a complex plot and interesting characters. You used what we know about HL2 as a jumping off point, and it's worked out beautifully.

Gordon's in it! I was wondering how you would manage to voice the character of someone who we controlled (in HL) and who never spoke or showed any personality of his own. Having Gordon be the 'strong, silent type' but letting the audience know his thoughts is the perfect way to do it. You captured what we were all thinking when we got to the end of HL1.

So, a huge thumbs-up from me. Keep up the good work!


meh...for a moment there I thought you were jabberwocky from PHL..
 
maybe, just MAYBE an update sometime this weekend, folks...but I have homework, so we'll have to see :thumbs:
 
lol I had to know you were gonna have a thread about it :p this is much better than goin to fanfic to read it! Now if you can get the text copy from your teacher I can read it during english instead of sleeping :p

and when did I register an account?! o_0
 
Heh, walmart security, it's about time. (he's a freind of mine that I know personally, he was the first person ever to read my fanfic)
 
Sprafa said:
meh...for a moment there I thought you were jabberwocky from PHL..

Nope, I'm a completely different Jabberwock. I sometimes wonder why he chose the name too.
 
And So, another chapter is complete

Another Chapter done!

-Chapter 24, The Hive-

The engine roared like a caged beast as Harper kept the accelerator pressed to the floor. Ian was sure that The Combine would begin their pursuit. After all, they had just left City-17 a few moments ago. “That was fantastic!” Ian exclaimed while breathing heavily from excitement.

Harper grunted. It seemed that he didn’t want to take his eyes off of the road, so he wasn’t exactly open for conversation. “Is anyone hurt?” Ian asked, looking back to the rear seat of the car. Alyx and Tonya were smiling, after the exhilarating escape. “Never felt better!” Alyx exclaimed. Tonya agreed. “How are you doing? Are you alright?” Ian thought-spoke to the Vortigaunt in the trunk.

“I am in excellent condition, Ian. One bullet did pass through the trunk, however, but it missed me, and hopefully any other important parts of the vehicle.” The Vortigaunt spoke without emotion, as they always seemed to do while practicing thought-speech. Ian was grateful that nobody in the car had been struck by a bullet. It seemed impossible to him that no-one had hit them. The guards on that wall must have been horrendously trained.

It occurred to Ian that by now, most of The Combine’s force must have been made up of converted humans. After all, most of the jobs in the city had been abolished by The Combine, yet Ian rarely saw any homeless in city-17. That’s where all the unemployed people went. If anyone lost their job, they must have been forced into the military. The Combine seemed to be a very communistic society. It surprised Ian that such human characteristics could be found in such an alien race.

Ian quickly checked the cabin of the car for damage. There was a single bullet hole in the rear right window, and there was one directly over the passenger side of the windshield. He could also see a couple of dents in the ceiling where bullets had grazed the car. Yes… they had been very lucky not to have been hit.

In front of them, the road had changed from cobblestone into smoothly-paved concrete and asphalt. However, the road seemed to be in utter disrepair, and many of the lane lines had completely disappeared, and potholes were commonplace.

The landscape was normal for Eastern Europe, with rolling hills, and dispersed patches of trees and shrubs. It was the first time that Ian had seen nature since his capture three years before. In fact, they must have been driving on the exact same road that Ian had been taking his mother and Tonya on back in 2007.

His mother… Ian felt a stab of grief when he remembered his parents. Both dead at the hands of The Combine on the same night… They had such hopes for Ian. He was sure if they were alive, they would be proud of him now, how he had grown from a boy into a man in such a short time. Sometimes someone’s strengths can only be exposed during moments of despair.

They drove for fifteen minutes more, and Harper began relaxing a bit on the gas. The car slowed from over 90 miles per hour down to 70. Harper also seemed a bit more relaxed too, and he turned towards Ian and smirked. “I told you we could make this thing! They’re scrambling around back there, wondering what hit them! They couldn’t even shoot us! No doubt they’ve sent cars after us, and they may have sent an alien gunship. We should be able to evade them if we don’t stop, and if we begin to take a random route. We got a pretty good head start on them.”

Ian gave a single, quick nod. “Understood… do you know of any quicker or less obvious routes to get to Ravenholm?” Harper thought for a moment. “Yeah, but it’s been a long time since I’ve driven all the way down to the Black Sea. I think about five miles down this road there is a side road, its dirt, and winds through the hills. I don’t know what condition it’s in now, but The Combine will have a tougher time tracking us on it than on this road.”

Ian agreed. “Then let’s take it.” He replied. Alyx then asked, “Do you think it would be a good idea to take our guns out now? Seeing as we might be getting followed pretty soon…” Harper responded, “Of course. Like I said, they are going to be pursing us. God knows what else is out here. Don’t you remember the Breen propaganda videos? Supposedly anything outside of the protection cities is heavily infested with alien life. The Combine might not be everything that we’re going to have to worry about.”

Alyx started taking the weapons out from under the seats, and began preparing them for action, cocking and cleaning the weapons, and then laying them neatly on the seats. Ian also took his pistol out from its holster, loaded it, and put it on the dash board.

Hills flew by as Harper guided the car down the road. Then, on the road there was a streak of dirt visible. The streak led to a dirt road that crossed the main road diagonally. “This is it, if I remember correctly.” Explained Harper, as he slowed down, and turned onto the dirt road, causing the car to kick up dust in its wake. The dust temporarily obscured the vision of the passengers as they continued to speed down the rocky dirt road.

“We’re about three hours from Ravenholm now,” said Harper. “It’s going to be a long ride. Hopefully, we aren’t going to run into any trouble, Combine or otherwise. Just keep on guard; we could be seeing a gunship any time now.” Harper shifted into gear, and continued to motor the car down the dusty road.

Ian wondered just what was out there. He had heard what Dr. Breen was saying about the horrible things that went on outside of the protection cities…were they true? Grotesque images ran through Ian’s mind. Sometimes imagination can be much worse than reality.

They passed a single, decimated, half-timbered house that appeared to have been bombed out during the invasion. Ian could imagine the ghosts of whoever lived there. They had a life before the invasion. They had hopes and dreams, and now the only reminder of the life that had once been led there was a rusted out car with a “for sale” sign posted on it. But as soon as Ian had seen the house, it disappeared, for the vehicle sped on.

They drove on for some time, perhaps twenty or thirty minutes, down that dusty dirt road through the Eastern European countryside of the former Czech Republic. It was about that time when Harper noticed something along the road. “What are those?” he asked, still speeding down the road, kicking up dust.

Ian squinted, and saw several holes dispersed on the road ahead of them. “I don’t know…looks like nothing…” Ian replied. For all Ian could tell, they were simply places that had been bombed during the invasion. They were commonplace, nothing to worry about.

Harper kept driving, and avoided the couple of holes that were on the road. Ian looked into one of them. He expected it to be shallow, just a crater from a bomb, but he saw what looked like an immensely deep tunnel. He could see nothing but blackness. No bomb could have made that hole.

Alyx seemed to see the same thing, and said, “Hey, uh…Harper, I think I know what those things are-“suddenly, before Alyx could finish her sentence, there was a huge jerk as the car stopped in its tracks. Ian’s head flew forward, but his head was kept from hitting the dash by his seatbelt.

“Ah, crap! I didn’t see that hole, our front wheel is stuck. We’re going to have to get out and push it!” Harper exclaimed angrily, opening his door and shutting off the engine. Alyx seemed to have forgotten about what she was going to say before, and got out of the car as well. Tonya and Ian followed.

Ian went around to the front of the car to see what had happened. The car leaned diagonally on its right tire. There, in the dust below the tire, was another one of the holes. The tire was resting in the hole in such a fashion that the car could not get out of its position on its own power.

Harper examined the situation as well, and then grabbed the bumper of the car. Alyx grabbed onto the bumper right next to Harper, and Ian and Tonya grabbed onto the rim above the wheel that was in the hole.

“Ready?” Harper asked. “Yeah,” everyone replied. “Alright…one…two…three, LIFT!” Harper exclaimed, lifting his end of the bumper. The others gave a huge heave, and they were able to lift the tire out of the hole. Then, they began to push the car backwards, so that the tire could rest outside of the hole.

Suddenly, as they were doing this, a deep rumbling sound began to reverberate beneath them, and they could feel the deep vibrations. Ian’s instant thought was “earthquake?” Why would there be an earthquake in Eastern Europe?

“Into the car, now!” screamed Alyx. “I’ll explain later, just get into the car right NOW!” Alyx ran towards the car, opened the door, and got in. The rumbling began a crescendo, getting louder and louder. Ian could now hear that the sound was made up of individual little bursts and echoes, like the sound that rain makes, but much deeper.

He wasted no time running to the car, and he got in on the driver’s side. Harper and Tonya did the same, and Harper fumbled with the keys and started the car. “Drive! Drive now! Go!” Alyx yelled. Harper pressed the accelerator down, and the car sped away from the holes, kicking up dust behind them.

Collectively, they all looked behind them, but they could see nothing through the brown dust. “Those aren’t just any holes…” Alyx began to explain. “They’re the nests of…things. We call them ant lions. We saw them on Xen during the Black Mesa years, but they must have adapted quite easily to Earth. Did you notice that no other creature was alive out there? They must have all become the ant-lion’s prey.” Alyx kept looking back as she said this, expecting something to come charging out of the dust at any moment.

So this is what Dr. Breen had been warning about. There were probably thousands of species from Xen that migrated during the invasion, completely obliterating the Earth species. These ant-lions were only one of these species. Well, at least Alyx was able to warn them just in time, they would be safe now….

Just as Ian was thinking this thought, a loud clank came from the roof. Ian looked upwards, and noticed, with fear, four huge indentations on the roof. An ant lion was upon them. “Roof!” yelled Ian. He picked his pistol up from the dash. Alyx and Tonya did the same with their weapons, and Harper instantly got the idea to try jerky movements to knock the ant lion off of the roof.

The car twisted back and forth, and Ian could hear the scurrying of the ant lion as it tried to maintain its hold on the roof. Then, Ian felt a sharp stab of panic as the creature moved from the roof to the windshield.

The ant-lion leapt from the roof onto the hood of the car. The creature was insect-like, it’s yellow carapace and multi-jointed legs giving it the sleek cut look of some kind of enormous insect. It had four sharp, and dangerous looking legs, and two small pincers at its front. The mandibles of the drab yellow, insect-creature chattered as it let out a screech, and leapt for the windshield.

At that very moment, Ian heard a chattering sound reverberating from the back of the car. Just as the ant-lion began its leap, gigantic green electric beams illuminated the outer portion of the car. The Vortigaunt in the trunk had just let out a massive amount of electricity. Ian knew that the Vortigaunts possessed the electricity ability, but not on this scale.

The electricity flowed all around the outside of the car, but it did not come inside the cab, because everything was grounded by the tires. However, the ant-lion was not as lucky. The electricity instantly killed the insect creature, and its legs fell out from under it. The beast lost its hold on the hood of the car, and slammed into the windshield, leaving a substantial crack in the glass.

The ant-lion spun off of the windshield, flew over the car, and smashed into the ground behind the car, and its dead body was quickly lost from sight. “Thanks!” Ian said aloud and through thought speech to the Vortigaunt in the trunk. “No problem, friend. I don’t think I’ll be able to do that again any time soon. It wasted all of my energy.”

The car continued to speed down the dirt road. “Don’t get to celebrating yet, kid, we’ve got more company!” Harper yelled, shifting gears on the car. Ian looked out of his window, and saw five, no, six ant-lions! They were all motoring their legs at incredible speeds, keeping pace with the car.

Ian rolled his window down, and aimed with his pistol at the sprinting ant-lions. He yelled, and pulled the trigger of his gun. He began firing rounds at the ant-lions, who were getting ever closer to the car. He struck one in the leg, and it collapsed, and rolled forwards from its own momentum.

“Ha!” exclaimed Ian, continuing his firing. The ant-lions simply kept running, and ran right over the dead body of their fallen comrade. “Here, try this!” Alyx shouted, handing Ian a shotgun from the back. Alyx then rolled down her own window, and began firing her sniper rifle at the ant-lions.

Ian accepted the shotgun gratefully. He cocked the rifle, and fired a volley into the mass of ant-lions. The shotgun wasn’t as accurate as the pistol, but it’s wide spread insured that some of the pellets would strike the ant-lions.

The three of them kept firing at ant-lions on all sides of the car while Harper drove on, running over a few that managed to get in front of the vehicle. But the ant-lions simply kept coming. Every time they killed one, it seemed that two more would appear in their place, popping out of holes all over the ground.
 
It also became evident that the ant-lions could fly, or at least they could make short assisted jumps with their wings, which were concealed under the backs of their exoskeletons. As Ian blasted one of the ant-lions with his gun, another one leaped high into the air, and hovered at extreme speeds towards the car.

It smashed into the door, and grabbed hold of the metal with its razor-sharp claws. The ant-lion stuck its head into the window of the car, and its mandibles chattered in front of Ian’s face, attempting to bite him. Ian couldn’t lift his gun to blast the creature, and he feared for a moment that it was going to eat him right then and there.

However, just as the creature was leaning in to chomp Ian’s head in half, Alyx pressed her sniper rifle directly into the ant-lion’s abdomen while leaning out of her window. She let off a shot. It’s amazing what a sniper rifle can do at point-blank range.

A hole blasted through the creature as the bullet made its entry and exit, and yellow-green blood spattered all over Ian. The ant-lion flew out of the window, and its corpse hit another ant-lion causing it to fall.

“Thanks!” Ian managed to exclaim, wiping the alien blood from his face, and continuing the massacre of the insectiod creatures. “There are so many!” Tonya said as she reloaded her weapon. Ian felt pride seeing Tonya fighting side by side with him. Plus she was a better shot.

“I know! Once we get out of their pheromone range we should be ok. But I don’t know how big that would be! Back on Xen, their pheromone ranges were fairly small, but that was only because the planet was made of thousands of tiny chunks.” Alyx explained. Ian didn’t have time to think about any of this. The ant-lions were popping up everywhere, coming from the ground and the sky, forever pursing them.

How many had Ian killed, thirty, forty? There was no telling. They just kept coming, and he kept firing. “Ah! Take a look at this!” Harper yelled. The group collectively looked through the windshield, and saw there on the dirt road a massive hulking figure. It looked like another ant lion, only it was red, and was huge. It had a gigantic carapace shield at its front. The thing was extremely menacing.

“That’s an Ant Lion Guard! Don’t go trying to kill it, just drive around it!” Alyx yelled, and then went back to shooting at the ant-lions, who continued to pursue them. Ian watched as the Ant Lion Guard ducked low, let out a huge, bellowing roar, and began a rhino-like charge towards the car. It was like a game of chicken.

Harper turned the wheel with huge force, and the car made a sharp turn. The Ant Lion Guard continued on its path, and missed the turning car. Their sedan rolled up onto a hill, and then Harper managed to steer it back onto the road, and continued along his previous path.

They looked back, and watched as the Ant-lion Guard turned around, and began charging towards their car again. The beast picked up speed, and got very close to the back of the car. Ian felt a huge jerk as the ant-lion guard rammed the back of the car. He watched as the rear bumper of the car flew backwards and landed on the road behind them.

The ant-lion guard began to slow down, and slowly it was left far behind the car. The tired insect creature stopped in the middle of the street some twenty yards behind them, and they could hear its massive bellowing roar of defeat as they sped off.

Seeing no more ant-lions, Ian exclaimed, “Yes! We made it! Those things never stood a chance!” The others couldn’t help but smiling in their apparent victory. Tonya yelled, “Did you hear that thing? I could almost feel its frustration!” Harper and Alyx, however, were not celebrating quite yet, and continued to be on guard.

After about fifteen minutes of driving with no more disturbances, Harper replied, “So it seems we made it out. Good job. I’m proud of all of you. But the fact still stands, we are still many hours away from Ravenholm, and we’ve got to be prepared for more of this.”

Then, the main road was visible again, and Harper steered the car off of the dusty dirt road and onto the paved one. They could finally get going at top speed. Hopefully, nothing else lurked out there. But it was a slim chance, they were only about twenty miles outside of Prague, and they had already met an enemy that used up quite a bit of their ammo, and damaged their car considerably.

Ian’s heart raced, and he breathed fast as he thought about what had just taken place. Yes, it would be a long, tough journey…he just hoped that the journey’s end would justify the difficulty of getting there. The car sped down the main paved road through the Eastern European countryside, missing its rear bumper, and with more dents than one could imagine. And yet it functioned.
___________________

The assassin had been speeding along the dirt road for quite some time now. She had seen the distinct tracks of the sedan. They had come this way. She had also seen the carcasses of the dead ant-lions that were littered all over the road.

She didn’t have to worry about the ant-lions. She simply used the pheromone spores that she carried with her for protection. Whenever an ant-lion would appear, she would simply throw the pheromone in a random direction, and they wouldn’t follow her. They were hopelessly stupid creatures, easy to control.

Her motorcycle was no doubt faster than their pathetic, worn out sedan. She would catch them. She would make them pay for her embarrassment. In the end, Breen would thank her, and the resistance would be in her hands.

But what were they doing? Where were they going? She would find this out too. They had just ordered a Combine gunship to be sent on reconnaissance, and a couple of APCs had already left city-17. They would overtake the pathetic group of resistance members.

When she caught Ian, she would bring him to the Nova Prospect…he would be retrained there, he would have a new…outlook on life. She would get them, no matter what the cost.

*Six Years Earlier*

Gordon Freeman had been inside the portal for some time now. After he had jumped into the swirling, green portal outside of the tram, his vision had gone completely blank. He didn’t know how long he had been in the portal, as he lost all sense of time. He felt that he was no longer in his body, and that he was one with the darkness that surrounded him.

He hadn’t even formed a complete thought when suddenly, he was awakened. He heard the hissing voice of the man in the suit reverberating in his head. “Sorry to disturb your…sleep, Mr. Freeman.”
The man hissed in his mind. “I thought that you might be…confused about being woken up prematurely, Mr. Freeman…but we’ve been rather busy in your absence…”

They had been rather busy in his absence? Who were “they”? How long had he been gone? He had so many unanswered questions. As if to answer his question, the man in the suit said, “It’s been six years, Mr. Freeman. For six years you have been traveling. Just look around you!”

Instantly, Gordon’s view came back into focus. He saw stars. Was it night time? No, the stars were everywhere. He pushed his hand forward. His gloved hand struck glass. He tried to look around. He was inside some kind of capsule, and tubes were lodged in his nose and mouth.

Apparently, this capsule was cruising through outer space at breakneck speeds. Through the glass, Ian could see stars and gas clouds in a blur of speed. The man’s voice continued to his in Gordon’s ear. “It’s…err…amusing what relativity can do to your perception of time, Mr. Freeman. It seems that Einstein was right after all. Unfortunately, Mr. Freeman there were some…species that were not so happy with your…err…personal holocaust on Xen, I’m afraid. And because of some… current events, you’ll be coming back home in…oh… about six more years. So, sleep tight Mr. Freeman. I will see you up ahead.”

Before Gordon could reply or even think about what the man had said, his vision blurred, and he went back to sleep.
-Chapter 25, The Checkpoint-

EDIT- I want to remind everyone that my full fanfiction can be found at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1734062/1/
 
Great Stuff!! I love the gmans speech: “Sorry to disturb your…sleep, Mr. Freeman.” Just the sort of thing he'd say.
 
Apparently, this capsule was cruising through outer space at breakneck speeds. Through the glass, Ian could see stars and gas clouds in a blur of speed. The man’s voice continued to his in Gordon’s ear. “It’s…err…amusing what relativity can do to your perception of time, Mr. Freeman. It seems that Einstein was right after all. Unfortunately, Mr. Freeman there were some…species that were not so happy with your…err…personal holocaust on Xen, I’m afraid. And because of some… current events, you’ll be coming back home in…oh… about six more years. So, sleep tight Mr. Freeman. I will see you up ahead.”

Ian? What's he doin there suddenly? :p JK mate !
You're doing a great job makes my desire for HL2 even bigger...
thx
 
heh, yeah, I kind of get used to saying Ian after a while, so right there...eh...yeah. It was late. ;)

writing the new chapter right now. If im fast, it's out tonight, if not, tommorow night.
 
I've just read it all, and I don't know what to say... It's really, really good! Give us the next chapter now!
 
next chapter is now complete!

-Chapter 25, The Checkpoint-

They had been driving for a long time, perhaps four hours, down the long, winding road that led southeast. It had become twilight, soon to be night. The road twisted among the hills, getting them closer and closer to Ravenholm.

The landscape became bleaker and bleaker as they drove. The road was in utter disrepair now. In the three years under Combine rule, the road had cracked and had become filled with potholes to such an extent that plants could be seen taking root among the cracks of the road, tearing it apart even more.

They hadn’t come across any more hostile aliens yet; but they were always suspect of a marauding horde of ant-lions, or some other kind of foe. However, it was becoming evident that the alien infestation had become extensive in the area. Earth’s ecosystem was being chocked to death by the invading Xen species.

There were strange tentacles growing randomly amongst the native Earth trees; thick and orange, looking more like animals than plants. There were also strange mushroom-like plants that emitted a faint orange glow lining the road, like natural streetlights.

They had also seen some of the passive animal life that had invaded from Xen. There were slow, repulsive green reptiles that had tentacles in front of their mouth, and had only two legs. Alyx recognized them and called them “Bullsquids.” She said that they would be harmless to the car, and would only become a threat if they slowed down. Apparently, their main prey was the headcrab, and they were able to spit globs of hydrochloric acid at their victim, killing it quickly and painfully.

Ian also saw glimpses of three-legged “Houndeyes”, running in packs between the trees. Alyx said that these creatures were similar to dogs, and hunted in packs, emitting sonic screeches that stunned their prey. But the most astounding things about these strange, passive three-legged animals were their multi-faceted insect-like eyes, which took up most of their heads, and gleamed in the headlights of the car.

Ian still had the shotgun in his hands, and leaned against the door, the wind blowing in through the window, and playing with his short, newly-grown hair. Harper sat in the driver’s seat, his vision still intent on the road. Alyx was babbling on about the ecosystem around them, pointing out strange things and naming them. Tonya was listening intently to Alyx’s explanations, nodding, and asking questions. In his head, Ian heard the Vortigaunt in the trunk murmuring a meditating ritual.

Harper turned his gaze from the road to Ian and said, “We are getting very close to Ravenholm now. We just passed around Bucharest, Romania, we’re about twenty or thirty minutes from the Black Sea, and Ravenholm is just a bit south down the coast.” Ian nodded to show he understood.

Harper had been giving reports of their progress, which country they were in, what road they were on, what river they were passing over. It was good news that they were so very near Ravenholm now. “That’s great!” Alyx responded. “I can’t wait to get out of this piece of junk! At least the ant-lions were the worst thing we encountered so far… I can’t Imagine what we would do if The Combine had sent a gunship after us.”

“Agreed,” Harper said, “But we need to stay on guard. I think that they actually did send a gunship after us, but it just doesn’t know where we are. I also think that the only reason we haven’t encountered any other alien that was hostile was pure luck. Do you notice how there are no living humans out here? I think that everyone was either moved by The Combine, or killed by one of those…things.”

Harper turned the wheel as the car came around another turn. He was right. Ian wondered how many people had been killed in the invasion, and just how many protection cities there actually were. Certainly, City-17 couldn’t have been the only civilized outpost in the whole of Eastern Europe. After all, very few people lived in City-17 compared to the dense population of the areas which they were now traveling through. There must be other cities nearby.

The sky became dark, and Harper switched on the high beams of the car. Ian looked up at the night sky. The moon had risen. It was full, shining with full reflective light. It seemed incredibly starry in the countryside, when there were no other living humans around for miles. It was almost as if they were in space.

A flock of birds crossed in front of the moon, their silhouettes appearing clearly to Ian. But then Ian realized that they were not birds at all, but rather some strange, flying reptilian creatures that resembled manta rays. Breen was right; the infestation outside of the cities was indeed extreme.

They drove on through the night for twenty more minutes, until when they came up on a hill; Ian could actually see the faint outline of the Black Sea on the horizon. “There it is!” He exclaimed, pointing at the shimmering waters of the sea. “Indeed it is,” replied Harper. “We’re practically on top of Ravenholm now.”

Instinctively, Harper caused the car to accelerate a bit, picking up speed as they rolled down the hill. About ten seconds later, Ian could see faint blue glows on the road ahead of them. There were about fifteen spherical objects rolling along the road ahead of them, emitting blue light.

“What are those?” Ian asked. Harper strained his eyes to see. “I don’t know…they’re moving really fast. They don’t look natural-Oh, crap! Those are…“ He was cut off suddenly as one of the blue objects accelerated and slammed into the grill of the car.

There was a giant spark of electricity, and the car jerked back. The car began to slow down, and the headlights flickered on and off. “Ah! They’re Rollermines!” Harper exclaimed. Ian wondered what Rollermines were as he leaned over the dash to examine the thing.

It was stuck in the grill of the car, and it was a spherical metal object with spikes sticking out of it at all places. It glowed blue with electric energy. Ian suspected that it had emitted an electromagnetic pulse of some kind, since the car was now going very slow, and the headlights had shut off.

Before Ian could ask Harper what was happening, the other Rollermines latched onto the car, and it became completely immobilized. Then, when the car was stopped, an electronic voice boomed into the cabin of the car. “Unauthorized Citizens, you are not certified to enter this area! Exit the vehicle immediately, and go to the nearest Combine Checkpoint. You will face charges, and will be severely punished. Do not resist!” The electronic voice shrieked.

“Damn it!” Harper yelled. “This car isn’t going anywhere, The Combine sent out Rollermines. I think there is a checkpoint up ahead. They’ll be coming for us soon; we’ve got to get out of here right now!” Harper kicked his door open, leaned over and got the guns from under his seat, and jumped out of the car.

Ian decided to follow Harper’s lead, and grabbed as many guns as he could from under his seat. “I’ll open up the trunk.” Ian suggested to Harper, getting out of the car. Ian touched onto the concrete of the road, and turned around. The Rollermines were still sticking magnetically to the surface of the car.

Suddenly, one of the Rollermines let go of the car. Beeping, it rolled towards Ian. He had no time to react. The Rollermine got close to his leg, and Ian felt a huge jolt through his foot as the Rollermine let out an electric shock. Ian’s leg went numb. Before Ian could fall, he pointed at it with his shotgun, and pulled the trigger.

Sparks flew from the mine as it careened up into the air. Beeping, it landed several yards away. Ian fell to the ground, his left leg no longer able to support him. He could feel nothing. “Guys,” He shouted to the others, “Help me!”

Alyx was blasting the other Rollermines off of the car with her pistol. Noticing Ian on the ground, and hearing his call, she ran over to him. “Ian, are you alright?” she asked. “The damn thing shocked me. I’ve got no feeling in my left leg!” Ian replied, clutching the area on his leg where he had been electrocuted.

“Here, we don’t have much time, use this as a crutch!” Alyx said, picking up a long branch from the ground nearby. Ian took the branch, and with effort he stumbled up from the ground, supporting his weight on the makeshift crutch.

“Come on! I think The Combine soldiers from the check point are coming down the road!” Harper shouted from the trees. Tonya was following him. “Hold on, I’ve got to get the Vortigaunt out of the trunk!” Ian yelled back, hopping around to the back of the car.

Alyx helped Ian unlatch the trunk of the car. The cramped Vortigaunt was curled into fetal position inside the trunk. Hesitantly, the Vortigaunt uncurled, and Ian and Alyx helped him get out of the car. “We’ve got to go, quick!” He said to the Vortigaunt. The Hunchbacked, one-eyed creature seemed to understand, and the three of them moved as fast as they could into the trees towards Col. Harper.

Ian was the last person to make it into the brush, hobbling along on his branch. He stumbled up the embankment on the side of the road over dead leaves, and amongst the tree trunks. He looked around in the misty, dark woods. He couldn’t see Harper, Alyx, Tonya, or the Vortigaunt anywhere. Suddenly, he felt like a child lost from his parents.

He was about to call out to them when suddenly, from behind a bush came a hand. The hand pulled him down by the pant leg, and Ian fell down behind the bush. He felt pain in his left leg as he went down. Pain: that meant that he was not totally paralyzed in his leg.

“Shhhh!” The voice of Harper hissed. Harper had pulled Ian behind the bush. He saw Alyx, Tonya, and the hunched Vortigaunt huddled behind it as well. “They’re out there, examining our car now. We have to get out of here, and quietly.” Harper whispered.

Ian rolled over and looked down towards the road. Between the trees, he could make out the outlines of two combine soldiers, their silhouettes appearing in the headlights of the vehicle they had come in. Ian had an idea. “Maybe if we get to a better position,” He suggested, “We’ll be able to snipe them.” Alyx agreed, “Good idea, let’s get up to the top of the ridge on this hill.”

Alyx took the lead, her head low, carrying her sniper rifle. Tonya, Harper and the Vortigaunt followed. The Vortigaunt’s single eye glowed red in the darkness. Enough feeling came back into Ian’s leg for him to walk again, and he was able to stagger back up on two feet. He followed them up the hill, momentarily glancing back at the two Combine soldiers. He hoped that they would not see him.

It surprised Ian how suddenly and quickly The Combine had reacted to their car coming down the road. Then it hit him: The Combine had been expecting them. This meant that The Combine somehow knew where they were going. The only way that The Combine would know this is if they had an agent following them. Great that’s another thing for them to worry about.

Ian struggled to get up the hill with the rest of his group. The others had already made it to the top, and were lying prone on the ridge. Ian made it to the top with the rest of them, and got down on his stomach in the long grass next to Alyx. He could clearly see over the trees now, and he saw that the two Combine soldiers were searching their car. The soldiers were opening the doors, opening the trunk, and examining the Rollermines that had been damaged. The Combine’s APC was parked in front their shabby sedan, and its headlights gave light to the scene.

They had been lucky to get out in time before The Combine appeared. Alyx handed Ian one of the sniper rifles, and whispered, “Okay, we made it. This is a great position; we can probably pick off both of the guards easily. Then, we can get down to the street and steal their APC. Besides, I don’t think our car is working anyway.” Harper turned his head towards Alyx.

“Are you sure that there aren’t any more waiting in the APC? How do you know that this isn’t a trap?” Harper asked insistently. Alyx peered through her scope, and remarked, “It doesn’t look like there are any other soldiers in the area, and the APC looks empty. I’m going to go for it.”

Alyx loaded her gun. “Ian,” she said, “you take the soldier on the right, I’ll take the one on the left. On the count of three, we both fire, ok?” Ian whispered, “Got it.” He put his eye up to the scope of the weapon, and slowly focused his gaze on the black gas-masked Combine soldier on the right. His crosshairs fell over the soldier’s head, and his finger waited on the trigger.

Ian breathed out slowly, trying to fight his nervousness off. This was the first time he had actually attempted to shoot someone with a sniper rifle. It made him feel like he was doing wrong. His conscious nagged at him, but he shrugged it off. They were only aliens, after all.

“Okay Ian,” Alyx whispered. “One…” Ian’s finger ran up and down the trigger. “Two…” Ian tensed up, getting ready for the shot. Suddenly, without any warning, Ian’s scope went black, and the sniper rifle fell from his face. A hand had knocked his rifle aside. Stunned, Ian dropped the rifle, and it rolled down the hill.

“Don’t shoot!” A strangely familiar voice in a Russian accent snapped next to Ian’s head, speaking English, of all things. Alyx had also dropped her gun, and was looking in the direction of the voice. Ian looked towards where the sound had come.

Crouching there next to Ian was a bald, slightly overweight man with a goatee, clutching an antique shotgun. He wore a green vest and jacket, with green pants. He had the collar of a Catholic priest on, and wore a golden necklace with a tiny golden crucifix hanging from it.

“What was that for? Who are you?” Alyx asked firmly in English. The man held up his hand in a sign of peace. “I must ask the same for you. Why are you here? You must not shoot the guards, they are more important than you think. Tell me who you are, and I will spare your life.” The man asked in his Russian accent.

“We are from City-17. We are coming to Ravenholm to speak with the sect of alien resistance that we hear is here. We are part of the resistance, and we need their help. Who are you? Why did you stop us from shooting these guards?” Alyx responded, her hostile tone not changing.
 
The man sighed, “So you are the ones that the overseers foretold. This is interesting. I now see you as friends…for enemies of my enemies are indeed my friends. My name, by the way, is Father Gregori. Perhaps you’ve heard me on the radio. I could not allow you to shoot these guards because they are important. They are the ones that guard meddlers from entering the Holy Ground of Ravenholm, and they keep the Sacred Ones inside…If you had killed them, my work for salvation would have been in vain.” Gregori ended his eloquent reply, and allowed the information to set in.

No wonder he seemed so familiar to Ian. Ian had been listening to the man’s voice for three years on the radio. His broadcasts were what gave Ian hope in his time of doubt. Father Gregori had become somewhat of a legend to the former slaves, and Ian was extremely flattered to meet the priest.

Ian didn’t have a clue as to what Gregori meant when he spoke of “salvation” or the “sacred ones,” but it all seemed foreboding. The guards were there for a reason. Something terrible must live in Ravenholm.

“Father Gregori,” exclaimed Harper, “how lucky of us to run into you! How did you find us?” Gregori replied, “I was out in these woods hunting The Sacred Ones when I noticed the headlights of your car… I waited on this hill to see what would happen, and most luckily you came to this hill.” Harper nodded in understanding, and then asked, “Would you allow us to follow you into Ravenholm?”

A smile spread across Father Gregori’s face. “Of course, my friends, I will show you into Ravenholm. Follow me…but tread lightly, for this is hallowed ground.” Father Gregori nimbly got up off the ground, and jogged into the trees ahead. Ian grabbed his sniper rifle from the hill in front of him, and limped off after Gregori.

The others got up as well, and started to follow Ian. The party left the hill and ran into the woods, leaving their car and the two Combine guards behind. The old priest Gregori would run on for a while into the woods, and then he would wait by a tree for the rest of them to catch up. After three of these waits, the rest of the group was keeping up with Father Gregori nicely, and he was able to speak with them.

“Friends,” he said in between stops, “I see that you have one of the aliens with you. I have seen many of his kind in Ravenholm. How do you even communicate with the fellow?” The hunchbacked Vortigaunt answered himself in the computer-generated voice that he had, “The have put an implant into my head, along with the others of my people, I am able to speak in their language, and can understand what they say. They brought me along as a translator o the Xenian resistance in Ravenholm.”

The Vortigaunt blinked, and ran along. Gregori stopped at another tree to rest. “My friend, you will be most useful…I am unable to talk with the Xenians that are living in Ravenholm. I simply protect them from meddlers and The Forsaken Ones…”

He trailed off, and then changed the subject, “You are from City-17, eh? I once lived there; before the invasion. I placed many traps around the city, so that if human resistance occurred, they could use my traps to their advantage…I must remember to show you where they are. After the invasion, I traveled to Ravenholm, where I had family…they’re all dead now, of course…”

Father Gregori stopped talking, and listened to something, looking at the air. His expression changed to one of fear. “Come, quickly! The have sent a gunship after you! You must be important fugitives, to receive such treatment!” Father Gregori tensed up, and then ran through the trees in the night.

Ian listened for the sounds of a gunship in the wind…yes; he too could hear the sound of distant propeller blades… Ian dashed after the strange priest with the rest of his group, dodging trees, and causing the dead leaves to crinkle on the ground as he crushed them under his feet.

The party began to sprint now, for they heard clearly the sound of a Combine gunship. They must have been followed more closely than they had expected… The Combine knew that the fugitives were traveling to Ravenholm now, and they would be looking for them.

As Ian was sprinting next to Gregori, suddenly, a circle of light appeared ahead of them…it was a spotlight. Ian ran to the right and Gregori to the left to avoid the spotlight. The leaves around them blew about in swirling vortexes as the Combine gunship sped over the trees. The familiar flying manatee-like machine whirred beyond the treetops, turning its spotlight back and forth. Its noise was unbearable.

Luckily, the gunship didn’t notice them, and it continued on its path over the woods. Gregori stopped for a moment, and crouched behind a bush. Ian crouched down next to him, trying to catch his breath. The other members of the group also got down, breathing heavily.

“That was close.” Father Gregori rasped. “I hope that the destination justifies your hard journey, friends…this is the most attention Ravenholm has gotten from The Combine since the invasion.” After catching her breath, Alyx asked, “How much farther are we from Ravenholm?”

Gregori looked around him in the woods. Ian didn’t know what Gregori was looking at; it was pitch dark out there. Then he responded, “It’s not much farther now, just beyond this hill.” Gregori got up again, and the race to Ravenholm began once more.

They continued up the hill, stopping only to look around for the gunship or any Combine guards. When they made it to the top of the hill, Ian could make out the full moon ahead. The bright orb shined in the night like a beacon over the Black Sea, which loomed large on the horizon. There on a rock near the coast was the silhouette of what Ian perceived to be a lighthouse.

The group of resistance members and the priest descended the hill, and the foliage began to become less dense; a sign of civilization. Father Gregori slowed, and the group came to a clearing in the trees. The old priest raised the hand that was not carrying his shotgun, telling them to stop.

“We have come to the edge of Ravenholm. You can see the fence right here,” Gregori explained, pointing to a chain-link fence ahead of them that had barbed wire lining its top. Ian wondered what horrible things lived in Ravenholm. “This fence,” continued Gregori “keeps the meddlers out, and The Forsaken Ones in.”

Ian asked, “Not meaning to sound intrusive, but who exactly are ‘The Forsaken Ones’?” Gregori turned to him, and raised an eyebrow. “I apologize,” he replied, “I forgot that not all men use my terminology. The Forsaken Ones are the poor souls who cannot die, whose souls are constantly tormented. They are the non-sleeping, the undead. They are what you would call zombies.”

Tonya seemed shocked, and exclaimed, “Zombies!?!” Gregori nodded. “To be specific,” he explained, “they are the zombies of the headcrabs: the poor souls who become the prey of those horrendous demon-creatures. I fear that these people cannot reach their final glorious and rightful place in heaven, when their souls cannot rest. So, I perform the work of god, the work of salvation. I hunt the zombies, and kill them one by one, so that their souls can rest in heaven.”

Ian suddenly got a devastating memory of his father. He had a flashback of his father lying on the ground, the huge quivering yellow mass latched onto his head. He had been a good father…although distant. Ian hadn’t been religious, although his father and mother were devout Catholics. Even so, he hoped that Gregori was wrong, and that his father’s soul was at rest.

“My father,” said Ian “was infested by a headcrab…” Gregori put his hand on Ian’s shoulder, and consoled, “My friend, your father will be lifted high in heaven. His soul now burns with anguish, but in the end, he will be free.” Ian looked at the old priest. “Thanks…I guess.” Ian replied.

Harper interrupted, “Sorry to burst your bubble, Father, but how are we going to get through this fence?” Gregori took his hand off of Ian’s shoulder, and walked over to the fence. “Why, just like this.” He said, putting his hand on the chain link fence, and bending away a part that appeared to be cut by wire cutters.

The Vortigaunt, Ian, Alyx, Tonya, and Harper all went through the hole, and Gregori followed them in. They were now in Ravenholm. “Be careful,” said Gregori, “Sometimes they can surprise you. Stay close to me, and fire at whatever moves. I will lead you through the town and to the mines, where the Xenians are headquartered. You won’t have to worry about Combine troops here; they are too afraid to cross the fence. Now, come!”

Father Gregori jogged off over the grass field, and the rest followed him in the deep night, towards the city of zombies.



___________________________________________________________________________________________

The assassin had gotten a call on her radio that an unmarked sedan had been stopped outside of Ravenholm, Romania. All of the Rollermines had been shot off of their vehicle with small weapons, and nobody had been found in the ground or the air search of the woods around. The license plate matched the car that had sped out City-17 that morning.

There was no doubt in the assassin’s mind. The fugitives had fled to Ravenholm. But why would they go to an experimental ghost town that the Combine had used to test their infection delivery system? Her superiors had assured her that it would be suicide for them to go there… no matter, she would find them.

She pulled up to the checkpoint in her motorcycle, her night vision goggles were active, and she was looking around the area…nothing to be seen. The guard at the checkpoint came up to her. The guard in the black gasmask asked her, “are you sure they went in there? It’s suicide!” The assassin sighed at the guard’s incompetence.

“Just let me through!” she snapped. “Understood,” said the guard, walking over to a panel, and disabling the forcefeild on the road. The assassin pulled back the accelerator, and sped down the forest road towards the ghost town of Ravenholm.

She had them cornered now, and they would not escape. She was already forming a plan in her head…

-Chapter 26, Ravenholm-
 
aah perfect timing, 8 minutes after I finished chapter 24 :E It is indeed The best fanfiction. I long for the next chapter almost as much as for the game itself...
 
you know... i have been thinking of what i am going to do after the Make something unreal contest... well i would like to turn this into a movie, not a game because it just could not do it Justis, using the half life engine. considering i would already have 95% of the resources and all i would have to do is put it to together. so if you let me ill do it along with any one else that wants to.

BTW if hl2 story is anything like this it will be the best game ever :)
 
Bigcheese said:
you know... i have been thinking of what i am going to do after the Make something unreal contest... well i would like to turn this into a movie, not a game because it just could not do it Justis, using the half life engine. considering i would already have 95% of the resources and all i would have to do is put it to together. so if you let me ill do it along with any one else that wants to.

BTW if hl2 story is anything like this it will be the best game ever :)

you mean with the hl2 engine, not the hl1 engine, right? Sure, do whatever you want with my story, just make sure to give credit to me...and as long as it's not sold.

thanks to everyone who reads my story...I probably would have stopped writing it by now if it werent for the great responses :cheers:
 
Damn.. You're still on with this? I loved the two latest parts! :D
 
Bigcheese said:
you know... i have been thinking of what i am going to do after the Make something unreal contest... well i would like to turn this into a movie, not a game because it just could not do it Justis, using the half life engine. considering i would already have 95% of the resources and all i would have to do is put it to together. so if you let me ill do it along with any one else that wants to.

BTW if hl2 story is anything like this it will be the best game ever :)

you serious? u rly gunna try an do that? how????
 
i am a modder. have been and always will be.

making movies in unreal is the ezest thing in the world. there are so many tools to do it. but i dont know about hl2 so ill just wait.... and wait.

also it helps that my best internet frend is a kick arse 3d modler.

if you guys have any sugestions or want to help (any one can do voice acting) just pm me. :)
 
cool, if you go ahead with it please tell me! and good luck!
sounds rly interesting :)

id really love to voice the combine :D:D:D i can (with a lot of fiddling) probably make a combine-ish sound
 
heh... count me inn.. i made tons of maps for hl1, and i cant wait for hl2 map editor.

Great job on story theotherguy!
Keeeeeeeeeep writing! :)
 
It's officially the weekend here, are you going to get out another chapter this weekend??

The story has been awsome so far.
 
I will try to get another chapter in this weekend. But I have quite a bit going on. I'll begin writing today, but probably wont finish until sunday night.
 
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