The sun had just set, it's afterglow still vaguely visible on the horizon as a full moon came into view, hanging overhead. Atop the rooftops, it was clear that this would be a perfect night to strike.

A bullet was loaded into it's chamber, locked in place as the safety was flipped off. A scope watched down a long road. Trees lined it, along with countless buildings, each closed and shuttered as curfew began for the night.

Neon lights flickered on to illuminate the streets, coated in Combine propaganda. Down the middle of the pass strode a large group. Civil Protection moved on the perimeter and sidewalks, SMGs and heavier OICWs at the ready, eyes glowing a bright blue as they moved with purpose.

The main center of attention however, was the entity in the middle of their ranks. It was tall, dwarfing the CPs beside it, their heads only meeting the creature's chest. It's green trenchcoat billowed in the wind as it stomped along, each step bringing an almost clanking noise as it's metal-lined boots impacted the ground. It's head was small, ovular and metal, it's two eyes shadowed by rust as glowing orange permeated from the bulbous off-set lenses and the small filter-like hole beneath it rasping and wheezing. Unnaturally long, gangly arms stood in position, gripping a device of immense harm, one that corroded it's targets as much as it burned them.

The Cremator was a sight to behold, and was often the last thing many have seen. It's form moved down the streets, Immolator in hand, an entire squad dedicated to bringing nothing more than terror to the populace.

The rifle steadied, bipod in place on the roof. The user was cloaked in darkness, positioned perfectly to be nearly invisible.

A headset started up, a slight crackle in the listener's ears.

"Now."

A shot went off, a crack roaring through the air as a bullet was launched. It met the Cremator's head, the creature staggering for a moment before the body realized what occurred, and the creature then immediately slumped to the ground in a heap. Metrocops moved for cover, not even chancing themselves being hit or looking for the angle of the shooter as they rushed to the closest positions available.

"Done. Phantom, on you." the sniper muttered, staying low.

A figure emerged from the shadows of a nearby alleyway as the CPs took cover behind the rows of raised trees and brick, communications between each other frantic and disorganized.

The figure's garb was bright, mostly yellow in colouration. Formerly long sleeves were torn apart, and a CP vest covered most of their chest. Their pants were hole-ridden, patched-together only vaguely, and only really able to be on their body via a tight belt salvaged from Overwatch personnel. Their dirty, nearly ratty-looking green hair and the odd purple set of wires on their person only made them stick out even further, yet the Civil Protection didn't even seem to notice them approach, despite them passing by the light of numerous streetlights.

That was until the closest CP to them got shanked, a large machete cleaving open the officer's lightly armored neck before the figure hoisted the body in front of them. They threw the machete to the side as they did so, a strap allowing it to hang from their sleeves as they rose the cop's arm, the dead CP's OICW firing out a grenade to the other side of the street. Trees blasted apart, storefronts blew open, and three CPs died from the blast as the rest braced themselves. More from the figure's side tried to take fire at them, but they were already gone.

The remaining metrocops tried to call for reinforcements, but would find their radios congested with static as one more of their number was ripped apart by a cluster of rounds from the OICW, the rounds easily piercing through their light kelvar and plastic.

The rest began to open fire on the blasted side of the street, leaving room for another shot to land from the sniper, watering the nearby tree with blood from a splayed cranium. A bolt moved, and a casing flew to the side as another entered.

"Spook, add pressure, clean-up."

Another figure came from the alleyway, their blue clothes and hair moving low with a shotgun in their hands, rapidly approaching the remaining members of the squad. One tried to break from cover, sprinting across the sidewalk.

A blast of buckshot ended them on the spot, their blood covering one of the supports for the bridge above them. Another rose to aim at the second figure, but another blast near completely removed their white face mask, leaving nothing of their features behind but a pulpy mess.

The entire scenario only took around one minute. The sniper smirked. A new record.

"Clear." came from the blue figure, their voice somewhat shy sounding and quiet.

"Clear!" came from yellow, a cheerful boisterousness that seemed to counter the blue's.

"No lifesigns left, get out of there, the response is likely on it's way as we speak." the sniper noted, rising from their prone position.

"Meeting point?" Blue asked as alarms began to blare, both figures moving quickly out of the scene.

"Block 21's roof. Not far, but just enough distance to throw them off." the sniper responded.

"Alrighty, see ya' theres, lazyhead!" came Yellow.

"You too, lazybrain." the sniper gave a small smile, moving quickly as Overwatch began issuing orders.

"Anti-Citizen presence detected in Residential sector E2. Lock, control, contain." The voice was always something vaguely unnatural. Feminine, but foreign, with a cold voice that lacked dialect or inflection.

They had blocked most of it out by this point, a white noise for the city that resounded at countless points. It was like the Breencasts before they had been silenced, but unlike them, it did not alleviate the people's fears, only making them realize more and more that this was not how things should be.

A Hunter-Chopper passed overhead, the sniper sticking to the nearby shadowed wall, their high collar moving violently from it's low height.

"Cracking down harder and harder." they muttered through comms.

"Yeah, they really don't like us messing with those Cremator squads. Probably going to need another one just to clean up this one." Blue responded.

"I's dun' like the eggheads. Are mean n' weezy-weezy." Yellow responded. Most would probably raise an eyebrow at the butchering of language, but both were quite used to it. "Is more o' them than evers, toos. Reminds me o's old times."

"Yeah, haven't seen armed Cremator squads of this size since the city's founding. If they're deploying them like this, then they're really, really worried." Blue responded back.

"Tha's wha' you's get when there be no communicationstuffs. They's on their own." Yellow added.

The sniper moved from rooftop to rooftop, making some leaps that would be near impossible for a normal human to commit to as they slid by. Overwatch had already deployed support to the scene of the crime, APCs roaring beneath them as they approached the target site. A little roof of one of the few abandoned apartment blocks. They weren't empty or abandoned due to parasites or danger in structural integrity. No, it was abandoned during a Judgement Waiver, when Civil Protection killed everyone inside. It was often averted, even by CPs. A perfect place to hide out.

Thus, the sniper let out a breath as they reached it, moving over to the roof access and sliding down the side of the door, putting their rifle next to them, the L42 resting gently as the youkai known as Sekibanki cracked their knuckles then relaxed somewhat, the door opening next to them quite soon after.

"Beat you this time, Tatara." Seki noted.

"How'd you…" the karakasa's mismatched eyes widened as they eventually locked onto the reason for their knowledge of who it was. Flying lazily towards them over the rooftops was another of Sekibanki's many heads, which the youkai took in hand, disconnecting their own head as they shoved the replica into their neck, reconnecting their actual head afterwards.

"You think I don't work without a spotter?" Sekibanki smirked.

Kogas pouted a bit, sitting down next to them regardless as they re-chambered the rounds in their M4, relaxing somewhat as they did so.

"Damn dullahans." Kogasa muttered.

"Rokurokubi, actually." the other corrected, raising a finger as they did so.

"Practically no difference."

At that, the supposed 'dullahan' stretched their neck, leaving it inches from Kogasa's focused face.

"That so?" Sekibanki spoke calmly, the karakasa jumping a bit in response.

"Yes, it is so! Nearly made me fire off a shot." Kogasa retorted with no small amount of annoyance as the rokurokubi retracted their head, a cheeky grin on their face.

"Bu' tha' safety's on." came another voice, Kogasa jumping again in the other direction as the other seemingly appeared.

"Gah! Geez, Koish', we talked about this!" Kogasa fumed, the green-haired satori looking a little more glum at the statement.

"Sorries." they responded, plopping themselves down between the two of them. "Was tha' goodlike back there?"

"Definitely, Koishi. You did good. Took out most of the squad yourself." Sekibanki replied, ruffling Koishi's bare head of messy hair as they did so, the girl smiling in response.

"Just hope that distraction was enough for Kirisame. Gods know they'll need it." Kogasa added, the three stiffening one another as a rumble and the sound of a muffled explosion echoed to their location as the Overwatch AI barked out more orders.

"That'll be them." Sekibanki added. "Knowing how they are, they'll be fine. Taking out a Cremator squad here alone should definitely screws up their patrol patterns for a bit, gives them ample wiggle room to get that data of theirs."

"Yep yep. Witchylady be fastlike." Koishi commented, tapping their hands on the rooftop in a rhythmic pattern.

"Did hear something interesting on the Resistance channels though, while we were waiting for the patrol." Sekibanki started, looking to change the topic. "Word is Yakumo's finally coming back to town."

"Aren't they two months overdue? I thought most of them were dead." Kogasa commented.

"Does this mean tha' Moko-fella's comin' back toos?" Koishi asked, tilting their head to the side.

"Apparently they ran into problems. Not to mention the whole City 17 exploding thing. And yes, Koish', Mokou's coming back." Sekibanki clarified.

"Yay!" Koishi seemed to clap lightly and rapidly. "I's been plannin' for all sorts o' stuff to do with 'em!"

"Yeah, City 17's thing was a mess, certainly. Good n' bad." the umbrella leaned back further, looking towards the sky.

"Is chance for big change! Nobody be movin' around, sos not everybody be strangers. Bu' then there be more eggheads…" Koishi seemed to swap between tones at seemingly random, cheerful one moment, nervous-sounding the next.

"And Elites, and dropships, and everything else bad about the Combine. Surprised they haven't been deploying the Striders out in Residential yet." Kogasa commented. "Hope and fear. Something we know pretty well."

"A mixture o' emotions tha' can call peoplepersons to action. Hope tha' they's might see another day, n' fear tha' they's dun'." Koishi added.

"That was… surprisingly thoughtful coming from you, Koish'." Sekibanki noted.

"Emotions be easy to read, when you's look at 'em from the outsideplaces. Everybody be readable." Koishi's head seemed to drift off, looking into space at nothing in particular as the sounds of APCs roared below as they scrambled.

"Yeah, try that on Matara, you're not going to get far, Koish'." Kogasa countered.

"Ohs, they's easy." Koishi replied, head drifting less as their glowing green eyes looked in Kogasa's direction. "Is always smugness n' pride. They's radiate it. I's can't even read normal mindthingies anymore, n' I's can still feel it."

"This is Wolf-1, contacting Team-Charlie, come in, over." the somewhat androgynous voice echoed from their headsets.

"Rokuro here, you are loud and clear, over." Sekibanki responded.

"We require some additional support at the compound. Your diversion helped, but there's some unexpected resistance here. As in, they have an actual tank here. Not some APC, but honest-to-gods hover tank, over." Wolf-1 explained.

Sekibanki's eyes widened, as did the rest of the group. "Other resistance, over?"

"We got a trickle of CPs, but we've got confirmation that they're starting to scramble dropships. We found something big, over." Wolf clarified.

"Copy that." Sekibanki started, rising with their rifle, the others getting up as well. "We're on route. How long can you hold, over?"

Koishi seemed to move around to the back of the stairway as they spoke, pulling out a key to unlock a box hidden under a blue trap, rummaging through various supplies before pulling out a pair of brick-size blocks, covered in a green wrapping and numerous wires, along with a small electronic detonator.

"I give us ten until this thing starts blasting the building apart, and we're swarmed with Overwatch soldiers." Wolf-1 spoke, before the sound of an explosion rang through the radio. "Alright, scratch that, I give it five, over!"

"Understood, hang in there, over." Sekibanki spoke, flipping up the headset as the green-haired girl stuck the blocks on their makeshift belt.

"Overwatch deploys hover-tanks?" Kogasa seemed to raise an eyebrow at the concept as the three began to move, youkai capabilities allowing them to easily move quickly over the rooftops as they began to move towards the growing pillar of smoke on the horizon.

"Must be something new. I mean, they have hovering outposts, why not vehicles?" Sekibanki replied.

"Is still oddstuffs. APCs serve similar role alreadies." Koishi commented. As another explosion rang out from the direction, the three stopped their conversation, focusing on the rooftops ahead. And a minute or two later, they'd find out exactly what was causing this.

The building itself was large, seemingly a former school, converted by Overwatch into a dense fortress, the dark heart of the residential district. Windows replaced with turreted slits, covered up by blue-gray plates, and a small spire, jutting unnaturally out of the building like a parasite, the great wire atop it directly attached to the looming Citadel that lied in the center of the city.

In front, numerous barriers lined the premises, CPs behind many as more trickled in from the surrounding blocks, but most notable was the large vehicle parked directly in front of the building.

It was shaped like a large metal wedge, it's front-side lined with treads as it's back hovered off the ground, emitting massive amounts of heated air from vents on it's backside. A pair of pulse-guns flanked a massive cannon, likely based on a strider's, just from the look of it. Streams of intermittent pulse fire was launched out from the two side-guns, peppering the front of the building with dents and holes, tearing apart concrete and brick piece by piece.

"Wolf-1, we're on site. Prep for exit, Phantom's moving for the tank now with Spook covering them, over." Sekibanki relayed as they got into position on the rooftop, steadying their aim as the other two moved down from the roof via a fire escape.

"Copy that. We've got a couple wounded here, but we're ready to move, over." Wolf responded.

Below, the satori moved into position. Even as CPs rushed to the front beside them, Koishi quickly tossed a block onto the back, just adjacent to the large vents. They threw the other low, sliding it underneath the non-hovering section of the vehicle before they backed up rapidly, crouching behind a large dumpster as they held the detonator, flipping open the switch before pressing down on the trigger.

The explosion was near deafening, only exacerbated by the detonating of pulse-capsules, sending dark-fusion laced shrapnel in every direction as the tank's armor was completely pierced, transforming the potent anti-armor tool into a flaming husk. CPs nearby were torn apart by the blast, and those further out were riddled by shrapnel and disoriented by the sound.

Thus, a true slaughter began. The sniper above picked out targets, one by one, ending Metrocop after Metrocop as their rounds easily pierced through plastic, rubber, and kevlar alike. The karakasa moved to another alley, cutting off some of the more intact CPs as their M4 blasted out semi-automatic death, each blast ridding another of life with a near measured rhythm to each shot.

The satori moved in with the chaos, intercepting those who would retaliate against their friends with a mixture of blade, bullet, and grenade, their machete and shirt wreathed in blood by the end of it, and their OICW's barrel hot from constant usage as the organization of the lowest branch of Overwatch in the sector was completely ruined. This was only worsened for Civil Protection by those emerging from the building, four figures, riddling the rest with saturation fire as they moved for the alleyways, the sound of Dropships on the horizon only rising in volume as they left the premises.

"This is Wolf-1, we're clear of the building. Move for Meeting Point E2-S, we've got something to secure. We need it moved to the Outlands immediately, over." Wolf informed as Sekibanki lowered themselves, reloading their rifle.

"Copy that, we'll be there shortly after we get the heat off ourselves. Give us ten to twenty, over." Sekibanki replied. "Phantom, Spook, status?"

"Alright here. CPs got a couple of shots off, but i'm stable. Hurts like hell, though." Kogasa responded.

"Is goodlike here! Got more shinythingies for me collection." Koishi added. Sekibanki rolled their eyes a little at that, knowing Koishi's odd habits of taking pretty much anything that wasn't nailed down to their targets. They blamed the witch for that habit.

"Understood. Let's move out, get somewhere safe, and let things simmer down before we meet up with the group. If they attracted this much heat, that thing they grabbed must be important." Sekibanki spoke as dropships continued their approach to the building.

Then came the noise. The Citadel far above shifted, moving. One of it's titanic plates detached from the citadel's main body, rising up and revealing a set of rib-like arrays, pulsating outward and locking into position. The sound of machinery whirring up could be heard across the city, ending in a long droning sound, a resonating noise low in pitch, as if the horn of a train had been combined with that of foghorn and a nuclear siren and amplified to cover countless miles of city and Outland alike.

Endless swarms deployed from the now exposed section of the Citadel, large forms of gunships and dropships combined with thousands upon thousands of Scanners of both varieties, moving into the city with great haste.

"Alert. A judgement waiver is now in effect. All citizens are to assume inspection positions. Capital prosecution is discretionary for all Civil Protection teams. Airwatch augmentation forces 2 through 8 are engaged. Code reminder: Search, Restrict, Amputate." the voice was only barely audible over the droning noise.

Sekibanki gritted their teeth, even as the the three dashed into the alleyways surrounding the smoking school. This was nothing but a warm up.

A distant hand clasped down on a detonator, a chain of explosions reduced much of the building to ruins in turn, a rising pillar of smoke acting as a beacon for incoming Combine forces. Yet those rebels never saw this, for each split apart, finding their own ways into the sewage-laden tunnels that ran beneath the district.

The meeting spot was dark and damp, the smell of rot and excrement tainting the air, only eclipsed by the bubbling of toxic waste around, silencing the rest by simple quantity. This was one of the places within the tunnels where it was at it's least prevalent, but that murky green still bubbled in pools within the fetid water that ran in the adjacent channel to the site.

The site itself was small. A small set of old maintenance rooms, diagrams on the brick walls faded away with time. Sekibanki was the last to arrive, having took a roundabout route to make sure they weren't followed. Around a table in the room's center sat a very odd group.

Practically hovering over the table was a taller woman, hair a complete white. Scars marred their face, but two red eyes stared on, the dog-like ears atop their head twitching as Sekibanki approached.

"You're late." they spoke. Momiji Inubashiri's voice was always steely. Perhaps it was constant stress. Perhaps it's because war had been all they had known for the last 20 years, regardless, the tengu swished their tail as their ruby orbs locked onto the dullahan's own.

"Apologies." Sekibanki spoke as they sat at one of the chairs, leaning their rifle against the table. "I nearly had a run-in with an Assassin on my way here."

Numerous eyes widened, but the tengu opposite them merely narrowed their eyes, their jaw giving a small twitch in movement.

"Shit, really?" came a voice to Momiji's left. The blonde haired and raggedly clothed human leaned in somewhat.

The former witch known as Marisa Kirisame hadn't changed much with the war. They still wore that ridiculous hat, even if they could barely cast a cantrip anymore. But the lines on their face still grew deeper, their eyes more knowledgeable. But their skills translated quite well into proper action out here, and few doubted their talents. "Must've really kicked the hornet's nest with that stunt then, huh?"

"Is mores like ya' torched it then beat it with a broom." Koishi commented as they popped up behind Marisa.

Marisa didn't even turn, just squinted for a second before giving a shrug. "Yeah, that works."

"Focus." Momiji cut in. "We called you three here for a reason. We retrieved something from that base that could change everything, but we need it delivered to the Outlands as soon as possible, even with the waiver in effect."

"What exactly is it?" Kogasa spoke from Seki's right. "What could've possibly stirred them up this much?"

Marisa gave a great smile as they pulled what looked like a USB from one of their pockets, sliding it over to Sekibanki, who grabbed it before it fell off.

"That." Marisa started. "Is the administrative access codes for the entire Outlands security network."

"It's the key to shutting down those outposts for good. But it's time limited, on an automated switch every few days. Now normally, they'd switch it manually by now, but Kirisame planted a virus into the local systems that when combined with the crippling the superportal close caused leaves them helpless."

"Okazaki did their work good." Marisa's smile turned to something with a slightly smug edge. "But we're still on a clock. Didn't affect the automated timer, just blocks out the manual. We got a day and a half to get this over there, meanin' the time we really have to act is quite short."

"But we do have a plan. We need you three to do it because I don't trust anyone else to be as quiet or speedy as you three. You understand?"

Sekibanki parsed the information for a moment before giving a nod. "We understand. But how do you expect us to get out there through the Waiver? They've probably shut down all the district intersections and the exits. We're limited on options."

"These tunnels run through to the Maintenance District, and luckily, the only district that won't be affected by the lockdown is the abandoned one adjacent to it." Momiji replied.

"The quarantine zone?" Sekibanki rose an eyebrow.

"Correct. It's dangerous, but preferable to the alternative. While we don't have any of the Resistance there, it's not completely abandoned. The resident there wouldn't normally be inclined to help, but hand them this and they'll understand." The tengu passed over a a strip of paper, covered in odd symbology. Sekibanki took a long look at it before pocketing it alongside the USB.

"Now, any questions?" they finished.

"Um, wha' if the Combine find us?" Koishi piped up. "Wouldn't tha' make goin' through tha' other districtplacething difficultlike?"

"That's what we're going to solve." Marisa replied. "Overwatch wants our asses specifically, not yours. To their knowledge, we're the ones with the codes. So, we're gonna' pop back onto the surface, raise a little chaos here, a little demolition there, and keep them focused on us so you can go about your business with ease. We've got some backup in reserve to help, no worries! Once the wounded here are healed up, we're moving."

"This all sounds fine to me, then." Sekibanki answered. "We're ready to move whenever."

"Good." Momiji nodded. "Stock up on supplies here, then move as soon as possible. We're going to be uprooting this spot when we move out to cover tracks, so make it quick, you three."

Koishi gave a smile at the offer of supplies before moving over to the table full of them, examining everything she saw before stuffing it into their small pack. Kogasa soon followed, stuffing a few boxes of shells and medical vials into their pouch. Lastly was the dullahan, recovering the few boxes of ammo for their rifle before turning towards the exit, the others following suit.

"Oh, and fellas?" Marisa called out as they were prepping their own leave. The three looked back, and the witch gave a smile. "Good luck."

Sekibanki paused before giving a solitary nod, gesturing for the others behind to move.

The three slinked off into the labyrinthian maze of tunnels, vanishing from both sight and sound in short order.

"Moms, wha' do you think their chances are?" Marisa commented, looking over to the wolf loading their sidearm.

"They'll make it." Momiji replied curtly, sparing them a glance as their sharp eyes met Marisa's.

"They have to."

Author's Notes

Well. Been a while since i've written. Been taking a break due to writer's block and a plethora of other things interrupting my thoughts. Been wanting to get back to this world for a while, been writing some drabbles or whatever, but I think it's finally time to work on a proper continuation for Gap, since it's still one of my favorite stories i've written, since HL is still a passion of mine, especially since the announcement of HL: Alyx.

One of the big wants from the original was the presence of more Touhou characters. This story will definitely correct that lack, and you'll see many, many prominent names throughout the story. You'll also see many elements from the Beta of Half-Life 2, which already feature prominently in this chapter.

Mainly posting this to gauge if there's still any interest here, there's still a lot of work to be done on the later chapters.

Still have other projects to work on too. (Cold Heart, Renewed Soul isn't dead. Just in a serious case of block on that one.)