Gordon's vision turned to blackness, but even as he drifted unconscious he could hear Alyx crying over Eli's corpse…

Sometime later Gordon stirred himself back to life, he didn't have time to do anything more than open his eyes and groan before Alyx fell in to him. She began to hug him so hard he could have sworn his HEV suit had rattled off a warning. After twenty seconds Alyx pulled away with a look of embarrassment on her face. She looked off to the side as she said, "I'm sorry Gordon," her voice cracked as she continued, "It's just that dad's…gone and when I noticed you weren't moving I thought something had happened to you…." Alyx trailed off in her sentence as fresh tears started forming in her eyes.

Gordon was immensely saddened by his old friend's death but as he looked over at Alyx he knew that whatever he was feeling, Alyx was feeling 10x worse. Gordon gently placed a hand on her shoulder. Alyx seemed to have been waiting for the contact. As soon as Gordon's hand made contact with her shoulder, she dove back into the embrace she had so hastily departed; and let herself cry.

A few minutes passed by before Alyx retreated from Gordon, allowing him his first glance of his new surroundings. Judging by the constant whining of what sounded like rotor blades, it was clear to Gordon that Alyx had dragged him onto the helicopter. He found this strange before he remembered that although Eli's death had left them grief-stricken, the Combine weren't going to wait around while they came to terms with their feelings. They would have to continue with their mission, despite their feelings.

Gordon continued to glance around. He was lying in a small bed, most likely the only living quarters available on the helicopter. The room was only wide enough for six people to stand in and the room looked even smaller wit the amount of equipment hanging from the steel gray walls. Gordon's gaze finally rested on an IV needle that was linked to the emergency medical port of his HEV suit. Gordon grasped the small needle and pulled as quickly as he could. Gordon hissed in pain as the HEV suit informed him that the port had been re-sealed.

Getting up from the bed Gordon looked at Alyx and, when their eyes met, he gestured towards the cockpit with a perplexed look on his face. A silent question as to who was piloting the plane. Alyx pointed to herself and said, "I am, but it's on auto-pilot right now."

Gordon nodded as he continued to gaze at Alyx, she looked as if she had been crying for however long Gordon was out. Her eyes were red and her face was lined with tear trails. Gordon pointed towards the bed and moved towards the cockpit once Alyx nodded her head in affirmation to his silent order.

A few hours went by before Alyx woke up from her somewhat peaceful sleep. She seated herself at the pilot's chair, the fierce blizzard that was raging in the landscape below let Gordon and Alyx know that they were close to their destination.

In the distance they could see a collection of bright orange flares light up the snowy environment below. There was enough light that Alyx was able to see a small rebel outpost. Alyx was glad, since the helicopter was running dangerously low on fuel. Manoeuvring the craft expertly, Alyx placed the helicopter exactly where she intended it to be.

As soon as Alyx and Gordon stepped out of the helicopter, two rebels jogged up to meet them. Their normal rebel attire had been exchanged with white camouflaged clothing. Their helmets reminded Gordon of the one's worn by Civil Protection except for the fact that these were more stream-lined, with no circular ports over the wearer's mouth.

The rebels greeted Alyx and Gordon before gesturing for the two to follow them into the outpost. Gordon was impressed at the outpost's construction. It looked as if it was built completely out of cemented stone. The outpost was shaped like a U, with two bunkers giving way to a large blast door opening.

One of the sentries dug out a small key card that he swiped into the panel near the blast door. After entering a short five digit number into a keypad, the heavy blast doors slowly parted. The bunker beyond was brightly illuminated with fluorescent lighting giving Gordon a good view of the rebels inside who ran to various stations, either with equipment or weapons.

The sentries escorted Gordon and Alyx up to a rebel commander. The commander wore the same outfit as his subordinates except for the green paint on his shoulder patch that marked his rank. He looked up at the pair as he said, "Doctor Freeman himself, eh? We'll be providing you with an escort soon, I just need time to—"

The Commander was interrupted as the radio clipped to his belt started to buzz with static. A rebel's voice was barley audible as the speaker tried to be heard above the interference. "Commander, this is recon…….we're se-……multiple hostiles…….combine force….We're try-……falling back." There was a brief pause as the recon shouted to someone away from the radio, "Set off those charges, now!" Another burst of static ensued before the recon officer returned, "Be advised commander……….too many…..we'll be trying to…….Look out!-" The rest of the transmission ended with the man's screams followed by a burst of static.

The Commander held his radio in shock before he turned to another soldier, "Lieutenant, prepare for battle."

The lieutenant pressed a switch and alarm klaxons could be heard blaring inside the bunker. Followed by the officer's commanding voice as he barked into the COM, "Combat Teams, prepare to defend the base. Secure the blast doors and bring the defensive grid online."

The doors behind the commander opened with a metallic thud, revealing a small armoury inside. The commander grabbed an SMG and a belt full of grenades before he gestured to Alyx and Gordon, "If you two wouldn't mind, I could use your help."

Gordon and Alyx both nodded as they stepped inside. Gordon grabbed as much ammo for his shotgun and pulse rifle as he could carry, while Alyx just grabbed ammo for her modified pistol.

Meanwhile the commander was getting a sit-rep from his sentries in the bunkers. "Sentry group Alpha, status?"

"All clear out here, sir. But visibility is restricted"

"Roger that. Bravo?"

"Quieter than a tomb."

"Keep your eyes sharp," The commander replied before switching COM channels, "What's our turret status?"

"We're getting them online now sir." The engineering officer had just finished his sentence before turrets deployed from both the ceiling and floors surrounding the blast door.

"Sentry Alpha to command, we've got contacts!" the sentry had barley finished his sentence before pulse rifle fire could be heard pounding on the COM channel. "Christ!" The officer's voice shouted into the COM before he turned to his men and ordered, "Return fire!"

"Any Striders?" The Commander asked, pressing Bravo for details.

"Negative, sir. But we've got Overwatch troops escorting packs of hunters!" A Bravo sentry replied, shouting to be heard above the gun-fire, Combine radio chatter, and screams from hunters.

"Sentry group Alpha to command, we're being over-run here sir!"

"Roger that, Alpha. Set the charges and fall back to the tunnels."

"Yes, sir."

"Bravo, you'd better do the same."

"Already on it, sir."

Two minutes went by before explosions went off with such magnitude that they shook the foundation of the reinforced concrete outpost. Two teams of rebels poured up from an old vent opening. One of the rebels spoke as he pushed himself up, "Whew. Nothing is getting through that mess."

"Commander, external cameras show Combine troops right outside. The hunters are trying to ram the door down!"

As if to prove that the officer was correct, hunters could be heard screaming in their strange dialect as they attempted to force the steel door down. All at once, the fluorescent lighting in the base went out, leaving the occupants in darkness. A dim amount of illumination came back as the emergency backup generators activated. "Commander, the turrets are down! We need time to tie them into the backup generators; E.T for repairs is five minutes. But our guess is that the hunters will break through in three."

The commander stood with grim determination as he knew there was only one way they could still survive this. He took out a deep breath before he barked into the COM, "Open the blast door."

"Sir, we'll be sitting ducks!"

"We'll be dead anyway if we can't get the turrets fixed in time," The Commander turned to his fellow troops as he shouted, "Arm yourselves!"

Rebel soldiers loaded their weapons and took up defensive positions near the blast door. There wasn't much cover in the closely packed hallway but whatever was available they took advantage of. "Open the door!" The commander said as he spoke back into the COM.

The steel doors slowly parted, revealing the stormy blizzard raging outside. A loud cry pierced the sound of the storm as a pack of hunters emerged into the building. The commander raised his SMG at the nearest hunter and squeezed the trigger as he shouted, "Open fire!"