acts_of_gord | (no subject)

This place is not the first patch of Polish earth that has seen this many deaths. But the others were done by humans, and were driven by human hatred. The Combine have no such drive spurring them onward; quite simply, they do not care who learns about this place, or about what they've done here, only that the job of making this world their own gets done with as little interference from the local population as possible.

So there is nothing deliberately intimidating or sinister about the complex of plastic and steel and energy fields surrounding the European geneworm's spire. It's just one more blotch of alien architecture designed for funneling fuel into the alien monster's mouth, for inhaling everything Earth has to give and expelling the winds of an alien dimension in its stead. It could be anywhere. It has been anywhere, as ruins in North Dakota and Chapada dos Guimarães and Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park and the forests of central Africa will attest.

But it still seems oddly appropriate, to Gordon, anyway, for the tiny scrambling band of humans to be flinging everything they have with all their might at a foe this far advanced here, of all countries. Maybe it's not mustering the cavalry for one screaming ride of explosive defiance straight into the teeth of the invading tanks, but... well, the battle here feels like something he thinks those men would approve of, even if it is only a distraction to allow their vermifuge-laden Combine scanner to slip through and poison the monster at the heart of it all.

He's pretty sure he'll be deaf for a good several hours by the time it's all over. But he'll accept that. Some prices, you pay.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

smelltheashes

This spot was picked as the drop zone because it appeared to be deserted. As far as one can tell, it is. There's nothing here but loosely stacked freight containers, long since emptied and therefore not worth guarding. The man in the yellow suit is already crouched behind the furthest one, looking out toward the Gene Worm's complex.

From:

acts_of_gord

"Doesn't look too different from the last few," Gordon notes. "They'll probably have manhack or scanner patrols out this far. Won't be soldiers until we get further in, or until one of their sweeps spots us. We'd better start moving."

From:

smelltheashes

"Right." The man in the yellow suit nods and gestures toward each of them in turn. "You, on my right. You, on my left. You, cover the rear."

Lest they forget who's in charge here.

From:

acts_of_gord

Arnold rolls his eyes and looks to Gordon for approval before falling back to do so.

Gordon nods, tells himself that as soon as the scannerdrone reaches the Gene Worm they can all turn around and run like hell, and moves up with his shotgun at the ready.

From:

smelltheashes

"On three. One, two--"

And the man in the yellow suit takes off in a dead sprint toward the next piece of suitable cover.

From:

acts_of_gord

Well, he's got the right spirit, at least, even if this isn't how Gordon would necessarily handle things. Might as well keep up. They've got work to do, and that spire isn't getting any closer on its own.

He's still listening for the whine of incoming engines, or the roar of combat in the distance, of course.

From:

smelltheashes

He won't have to wait long. The familiar drone of manhacks is rapidly increasing in volume.

From:

acts_of_gord

Right. Gravity gun time.

Let's see our friend in the yellow suit handle this.

From:

smelltheashes

Said man swings his crowbar like a baseball bat, taking out a manhack with every swing. Whatever else you can say about him, the man has good aim.

...though he does get slightly distracted by the gravity gun.

From:

acts_of_gord

Gordon doesn't say anything at that. He's busy snatching the things out of midair and punting them into each other, or into the ground if he can't get a target fast enough. If there were something bigger around he'd be shooting whirling death into the middle of its center of mass, but for now- well, he's done this often enough that it's second nature by now.

From:

smelltheashes

Arnold and Prohaska are kind of out of luck. The whirring balls of death are too small and quick to fire at, so they're reduced to using their guns as makeshift clubs.

One almost wishes Shephard were still here; the profanity coming out of Prohaska is impressive.

From:

acts_of_gord

Gordon makes a mental note to introduce the two of them when it's all over. Shephard will probably owe him for it.

When the buzzing dies away he looks around, panting. "We should move," he says. "Before they send a scanner instead. Is everyone all right?"

From:

smelltheashes

"'m fine," Prohaska grunts.

"No you're not, your scalp's bleeding, hang on--" Arnold fishes a tin of bandages out of his pack and attends to Prohaska's wound.

The man in the yellow suit eyes the gravity gun with interest. "Where'd you get your hands on something like that?"

From:

acts_of_gord

"My fiancee's father invented it," says Gordon. "For mine clearing, and moving heavy and unsafe loads. It's a zero point energy field manipulator. He called it the Gravity Gun."

From:

smelltheashes

The man in the yellow suit lets out a low whistle. "Sounds like a sweat deal. No wonder you stuck with her."

From:

acts_of_gord

Gordon gives him a withering look. "That's not why," he says shortly. "Come on. The further in we are when we engage the Combine forces, the better a chance we have of the payload reaching its target."

From:

smelltheashes

"Aww, c'mon, I'm just sayin'--"

"Herr Freeman." Prohaska's tone demands instant attention. "More viscerators are coming."

From:

acts_of_gord

Gordon gives the Pole a curious look. Arnold, however, twigged to his meaning immediately. "Manhacks," he mutters.

Gordon nods and starts moving. Not like he can't use the gravity gun while he's running like hell; he's done it ofen enough.

From:

smelltheashes

"Shitshitshitshitshit--" The man in the yellow suit catches up quickly.

From:

acts_of_gord

"This is more than usual," Gordon mutters. "It wasn't this bad in Australia, or South America-"

And that's it, because he needs his oxygen if he's going to both fight and run, and believe us, he sure as hell intends to do both. If he's lucky Arnold or Prohaska will spot a way forward that'll give them a crack at cover while he holds off the incoming buzzbots.

From:

smelltheashes

Arnold spots it first. "Left!" he hollers, veering left toward a ditch not unlike one Gordon hid in back in North Dakota, once upon a time.

From:

acts_of_gord

"You first!" Gordon says to the man in the yellow suit. Arnold may be the one tasked with covering the rear but Gordon's better equipped for holding off uglies just at the moment.

And anyway, if there's a chumtoad waiting in there he'd rather someone else encounter it first.

From:

smelltheashes

"--wait, what?"

The guy claiming to be Gordon Freeman is actually letting him lead?

From:

acts_of_gord

"Just move, there's no time!"

He's going to be punting manhacks in every possible direction within five seconds and this yoyo is giving him a hard time about it?