acts_of_gord: (Default)
Gordon Freeman ([personal profile] acts_of_gord) wrote2011-09-26 08:34 pm

The Star

The landing was as simple as a landing can get when there are enough sand-dwelling alien insects around to throw even the Combine off their pace. The slaughter of antlions was nothing short of amazing. There was a bull, too, but the less said about that the better- by the time it was dead they'd used up near all their medkits, and Sergeant-Major Shephard was quoting Milton through clenched teeth. Apparently he'd never seen a man finish off a fifteen-foot-long armored alien bug with the business end of a crowbar before.

Gordon will never in a million years admit that he caught himself enjoying that particular moment of insanity. At least, not to anyone else.

Anyway, the time of slaughtering bugs passed, and the time of sounding out the Combine presence in the area has also passed, because on the journey inland towards the location of the Gene Worm the advance force encountered a number of humans. None of them spoke much English, but they had enough German for Gordon to communicate with them. He didn't like the look he caught them exchanging with one another when he introduced himself. It wasn't quite the look he got in Seattle, but it was close enough...

And now that they've all been shepherded carefully and secretly to the local Resistance hideout, he's been asked to come and meet somebody. This, he isn't looking forward to.
smelltheashes: (...Gordon Freeman?)

[personal profile] smelltheashes 2011-09-27 04:06 am (UTC)(link)
...

Another huff of laughter. "Oh my God. Oh my God. You're actually serious, aren't you? You actually think you're the Gordon Freeman."
smelltheashes: (...Gordon Freeman?)

[personal profile] smelltheashes 2011-09-27 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
He keeps on laughing, a high-pitched gurgling cackle. "You really--oh, man--" The man actually has to lean against the wall for support.
smelltheashes: (...Gordon Freeman?)

[personal profile] smelltheashes 2011-09-27 04:16 am (UTC)(link)
He holds up his free hand in a 'give me a second' gesture. A few seconds later, the laughter finally subsides and he looks up. "Oh. Oh, my God." He wipes tears from the corners of his eyes. "You know, I've met some real wackjobs in the past ten years, but this? This takes the cake."
smelltheashes: (...Gordon Freeman?)

[personal profile] smelltheashes 2011-09-27 04:27 am (UTC)(link)
"Annnd I can't let you do that," says the man seriously. "There's crazy, and then there's suicidal."
smelltheashes: (...Gordon Freeman?)

[personal profile] smelltheashes 2011-09-27 04:44 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you have," says not!Gordon dismissively; clearly he doesn't believe a word of this. "And what happens when the Combine get tired of you poking at them? I'll tell you what happens. They're going to poke back. With a finger big enough to squash you flat."
smelltheashes: (...Gordon Freeman?)

[personal profile] smelltheashes 2011-09-27 04:51 am (UTC)(link)
"Exactly. The only thing you can do is not be where the hammer is falling. That's what we're doing here."
smelltheashes: (...Gordon Freeman?)

[personal profile] smelltheashes 2011-09-27 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
A patronizing smile. "Sure. And which of the voices in your head told you that?"
smelltheashes: (...Gordon Freeman?)

[personal profile] smelltheashes 2011-09-27 11:54 pm (UTC)(link)
The man nods. "I might just do that," he says. "But we can't have you wandering around unsupervised, now can we?"
smelltheashes: (...Gordon Freeman?)

[personal profile] smelltheashes 2011-09-28 12:08 am (UTC)(link)
He nods again, eying Gordon suspiciously. "Maybe I will. I think I know just the person to keep you under wraps, too..."

He reaches back behind him, pulls a .44 off the wall, and trains it on Gordon without breaking eye contact.

"Okay, let's go."
smelltheashes: (...Gordon Freeman?)

[personal profile] smelltheashes 2011-09-28 03:53 am (UTC)(link)
There isn't, so far. The man just leads Gordon down another series of narrow concrete corridors to what appears to be the sleeping quarters. "Mayr?" he calls into the mostly-empty barracks. "I got a job for you..."
smelltheashes: (Resistance)

[personal profile] smelltheashes 2011-09-28 04:13 am (UTC)(link)
"Yes, Herr Freeman?"

A young woman--a girl, really, she's probably not a day over eighteen--slides out of one of the upper bunks and steps forward. She's fair-skinned, red-haired, blue-eyed, and quite... let's say 'shapely.'

"This guy's part of the American resistance group. Would you mind... 'taking care' of him for an hour or so?" The man in the yellow suit winks. "You know what I'm talkin' about."
smelltheashes: (Resistance)

[personal profile] smelltheashes 2011-09-28 04:52 am (UTC)(link)
The girl looks pleasantly surprised. "[You speak German?]" she asks. (Her accent marks her as Austrian.)

The man in the yellow suit is nonplussed.
smelltheashes: (Resistance)

[personal profile] smelltheashes 2011-09-28 05:03 am (UTC)(link)
"[Really? I lived in Innsbruck when I was a little girl!]"

The man in the yellow suit grimaces and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Anna, you know how I feel about you saying stuff I can't understand..."

The girl looks contrite. "Sorry, Herr Freeman."

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