(no subject)

[acts_of_gord]

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.

Comments

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon isn't really thinking at the moment. He's not even sure his brain is involved in what follows at all.

Freed of the Advisor's agonizing grip, his hand flew back over his shoulder and whipped out the gravity gun just as the helicopter arrived on the scene. Now it's swinging around, almost without him willing it, to line up with something that looks like a Combine radio mast poking out of the translucent metal-and-plastic nightmare sprawling all around them. Now the zero point energy fiend is wrapping around the mast, wrenching it free, and now-

Now the mast is smashing into the side of the tumbling, flaming horror in the skies, not with enough force to destroy it, but with enough to shove it hard off course.

And now he's got his brain back, just in time to realize that he's panting and trembling with effort as the most horrible stench he's ever smelled in his life suddenly fills the air.

[smelltheashes]

Total time elapsed since the Advisor made its presence felt: roughly forty-five seconds.

The man in the yellow suit is still staring in blank bewilderment, but now he's staring at Gordon rather than at the empty air.

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon doesn't notice.

"Prohaska!" he yells. "Are you all right? Can you hear me?"

What just happened will sink in later. Right now all he can think of are small things, and one at a time.

[smelltheashes]

"Tak--yes, yes, I am fine," he calls back. He bats Arnold's hands away from him. "I am fine, go and see to the pilot!"

"The pilot--?" Arnold blanches. "Oh, God, Shephard--"

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon's breath hisses between his teeth. "Find him- I'll be down as soon as I can," he says. He's going to have to stash the gravity gun before trying to climb back down. Both hands are kind of important for this.

He's forgotten that there's anyone else on the platform with him.

[smelltheashes]

By the time Gordon gets down, Arnold is already at the Marine's side. Shephard managed to bail out just before the chopper reached its target, but he didn't have much time to pick a good landing spot. It's a minor miracle he didn't end up impaled on any of the Combine machinery he landed in the middle of.

"Sergeant-Major? Adrian? Can you hear me?"

[hecu_marine]

On the bright side, there won't be a risk of smoke inhalation; Shephard had his gas mask on when he started his run, and he's still wearing it now. Helmet, too. However, that is where the bright side ends. The stench on the wind is not just Advisor flesh burning.

Still, Shephard is doing his best to push himself up on one arm and lift the other- hey, it's still more or less in one piece!- okay, waving's not gonna happen, but still... "Over here," he calls, and grimaces behind the mask. "Aw, Jesus. Fuckin' mess..."

[smelltheashes]

"I'm right here, Sergeant-Major," says Arnold gently. "Can you wiggle your toes?"

[hecu_marine]

"... most of 'em?" Shephard hazards. "Ain't real sure 'bout the-" He closes his eyes a moment. "Think I've got 'em all still."

It's begun to sink in that he just deliberately caused an aircraft wreck. He may have to throw up in a bit.

[smelltheashes]

"We'll get you out of here, don't worry," says Arnold. "I could use a hand here, Dr. Freeman, could you--"

"I will." Prohaska steps forward to slide an arm underneath Shephard.

[hecu_marine]

"Much obliged," says Shephard, and "D'awwwwfuck," as he tries to put his weight on... well, anything, really.

Gordon's here, but he's busy moving pieces of helicopter and Advisor out of the way with the gravity gun before anything can explode or burn or otherwise cause further damage. There's still a battle going on elsewhere, too; he's keeping an eye on the skies as he works.

[smelltheashes]

"You wouldn't happen to have seen a quick way out of here while you were up on that platform, would you, Dr. Freeman?" Arnold calls to Gordon.

[acts_of_gord]

"Head right, and skip the first passage entirely," Gordon calls back after a moment's thought. "There's a section where a lot of the barriers are down. Should save you some time."

He slides the gravity gun back into place on his back and turns.

"Get some bandages and painkiller ready for me. I'll follow you three in a bit."

[smelltheashes]

"You're not coming with us?"

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon nods up towards the ledge.

"I don't leave people behind."

[smelltheashes]

Prohaska lets out a long, slow breath.

"I don't know if you are truly Herr Freeman or not, friend, but you deserve his reputation far more than the one I know."

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon smiles faintly at that, but all he says is, "You'd better get going. They might have something else in reserve."

Besides, he needs to concentrate on climbing; that wound in his leg isn't getting any better any time soon.

[smelltheashes]

The man in the yellow suit finally stirs when he catches a glimpse of Gordon climbing up the wall again. "...the hell are you doing??"

[acts_of_gord]

"You need to get down," Gordon says tersely. "Come on. I'll make sure you get out of here."

[smelltheashes]

If anything, he looks even more astonished than he did when Gordon managed to stop the Advisor from crashing into them. Then his look immediately turns calculating. "Okay, I give up. What's your game?"

[acts_of_gord]

"I don't like it when people die."

Really, it's as simple as that.

"Come on. We did what we came for."

[smelltheashes]

The man in the yellow suit shakes his head, dumbfounded. "I don't get you, man. I don't get you at all."

But he starts climbing down anyway, carefully following Gordon's path.

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon just snorts. He's said what he needs to. Further words would be a waste of breath. Especially since they've got to get out of here; the drone's going to succeed or not whether or not they're in the line of fire, so why stay in the line of fire?

... wait.

"Just a minute. I have to get something."

He's not leaving here without a sample of Advisor genetic material. Just in case they can make something with it.

"Okay. We're going now."

[smelltheashes]

"Right."

A beat.

"...which direction are we going, exactly."

[acts_of_gord]

"Right, as it happens," Gordon says. "I saw a collapsed area we can cut through. The faster we get out of here, the sooner I can get off this leg. And if anything happened to the others, we'll be the first to find them."