acts_of_gord | Assault on City 17: Team Dunkirk

Entry tags:

Assault on City 17: Team Dunkirk

The group of fighters tasked with getting civilians out of the line of fire opens on an unremarkable side door of a thoroughly unremarkable building. The walls here are largely grey brick, scribbled here and there with graffiti in a mingle of languages- English, Spanish, something that might be Russian or Ukrainian. A tattered poster of a white-bearded man in a business suit hangs limply from the wall next to a roll-up garage door.

Barney leans forward to rap swiftly on the smaller door, as there's no handle to open it from the outside. The first thing anyone sees of what lies beyond is the muzzle of a shotgun. Before any hostile reaction can happen, the wielder leans forward: a bald, bespectacled, lab-coated figure, blinking in the light of day. "Barney?" he says. "Alyx? My God, when did you get here? And who are these people?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Luckily, Chell's well-conditioned eye spots a vial of something very similar to what Gordon once gave her, rolling off into the sewer. She catches it in the nick of time, and gives it to Alyx. "Here. This will help."

Alyx waves her off, shaking her head. "Doesn't work on me. I'll be fine, I heal fast..."

Chell nods, still wary, and pockets it for use later. If she's going to be support, she might as well be useful.

She positions her gun, and sets up another portal, marking progress in a clear zone.

"Oh my!" says Kleiner, adjusting his glasses. The death of the metrocops doesn't even rate batting an eye when there's a portal to investigate. "How on Earth did you manage that, miss? Is it replicatable?"

It's something of a pity Gordon isn't here. The crowbar may be needed to pry Kleiner away.

Charlie just watches. Alyx and Chell both have reflexes that make even Shiva look clumsy. He's really not sure if he's needed. It's like working with Batman again.

"It's... I wouldn't know. It's Aperture Science... they don't exactly give away their secrets easily."

Yes, but Charlie can fight. All Chell can do is not get shot and make escape routes.

Alyx just facepalms. "Doc..."

Bwoop, says D0G firmly, knuckle-walking his way over to the scientist and tapping him firmly on the shoulder. When Kleiner looks up, the robot makes a flexing gesture with both hands that wordlessly indicates I can pick you up by the back of the neck and carry you away forcibly if I have to.

"We'll talk later, then," Kleiner promises. Somewhat reluctantly he steps back from the portal and makes for the subway entrance.

The only lighting down here is emergency lighting, the kind that keeps on running even after its human masters have forgotten its existence. All the other electricity's been cut. Probably just as well, given the dank, wet smell down here.

Sonia and the other rebels have flashlights with them, which they switch on. Kleiner, for his part, carries no such illumination- but he does have his shotgun at the ready. "I do hope Lamarr had the sense to flee the area on the surface," he notes as they move forward. "There's bound to be wild headcrabs down here, and it's difficult to tell them apart in the dark."

"Reminds me of the slum I lived in in high school," Charlie says softly to no one in particular.

Chell, for her part, has seen plenty of 'dank,' but never anything quite this dark, even at Aperture's worst.

She's trying not to be afraid, and succeeding well, given the new circumstance.

"D0G, lights."

Bwoop. A small pair of lights mounted on either side of the robot's 'head' blink on. They're not much brighter than the rebels' flashlights, but every little bit helps.

"Right. You see anything moving that's not us, shoot it."

No offense, Kleiner, but Alyx isn't going to wait and see if the thing jumping at her head has a beak or not.

It doesn't take long for the noises to start. Scratchy noises, spludgy noises, noises that might be things being dragged, things that might simply be echoes... it's hard to say.

But the shadows are drawing awfully thick up there.

Charlie studies the shadows as best he can. There's nothing to draw a bead on, but he's more and more sure that something is about to makes its move.

Gordon's data sheets were very, very good, but they can't really describe the screech that suddenly rings out as the first headcrab leaps out of the muck- or the vile, gorbling wail that the two half-gutted, clawed, faceless corpses make as they stagger forward under the control of the alien parasites completely encompassing their heads.

Dr. Kleiner gulps, but raises his shotgun to take aim.

"Aim for the heads!" shouts Alyx as she opens fire. "That's the only thing keeping them moving!"

Chell backs away from the fight, wishing she knew how to fire a gun, and wasn't such a--

"Hey, Alyx?... have another gun?"

She shakes her head. "Just--stay out of the way!"

Chell does so, careful to stay away from Kleiner.

Probably for the best. Kleiner turns out to have decent aim with the shotgun, but poor recoil control. The first zombie he shoots down drops like a brick off the twenty-second floor, but he stumbles backwards a little himself in the process.

Chell sees this, and steps in between rounds. She clips her gun to her cargo shorts, and asks, politely, "Mind if I borrow that?"

"If you can put it to better use than I, be my guest," says Kleiner. "It's got a dickens of a kick."

"Hmm." She ponders this as she takes it, and then decides. "I believe I can handle kick."

After the portal gun? Any amount of kick is easy. Except maybe from some advanced military system. She carefully takes aim with the shotgun, and shoots a zombie in the side of the stomach. Then the neck. The next shot, though, hits the head square on. "Aims a little different than mine, but same basic principle." She nods.

Alyx glances in Chell's direction long enough to let out a low whistle. "Nice."

"It's not all that different from... my other gun?" She shrugs, honestly not seeing the big deal.

It's all well and good, but one of the crabs got past both women and is heading straight for a leap at Charlie.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject