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Information Processing
It's been a long three hours for the crew packed into the helicopter buzzing its way towards the last known coordinates of Dr. Mossman and her team. For the passengers, it's been a time of constant intrusive noise and turbulence, both physical and emotional. For the pilot, it's been twenty minutes of deciding on a name for the craft (Pringle Runner ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
The Shephard household had a rule when Adrian was growing up, and that rule was: whatever money you made at a job outside the home, you shared some of that with the family. Made sense, really. Wasn't a lot of money to go 'round at the time, between one thing and another (which is to say, between five children, three of them born within two years). ( Read more... ) -
The Big Day.
Shephard ducked out of the base this morning to make a fast run to Milliways. No offense to Freeman or the people who make decisions around here, but he's not about to leave base defense in the hands of one civilian, no matter what civilian it is. Thank God that General Rogers was there, that's all he's saying... and that, upon checking, someone ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
The remains of his hastily bolted dinner (headcrab jerky soaked in hot water and eaten in a corner of the base where he wouldn't be asked to make conversation) behind him, Gordon dusted off his hands and started making his way back towards the sleeping quarters. Whatever else the other rebels might be doing tonight, he was entirely too tired to ( Read more... ) -
White Forest
The chopper's made good time, for all that Adrian's periodically had to circle around, double back, or otherwise divert from his planned course. He's thrown off his pursuers or left them in pieces on the ground, and he's taken down a dropship or two (one he considers a confirmed kill, and one he thinks might've made it out alive- but no way in hell ( Read more... ) -
Interlude
The soldiers of the Combine do not know fear. That was taken away from them. Most of them thought little of it before and think nothing of it after. They have no use, no need for fear; one more weakness that the human species had, that was all. It means nothing ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
Adrian Shephard likes to think of himself as a pretty adaptable man. Throw him into a strange situation in a new environment and he takes to it quickly, under just about any circumstances you could care to name. Mama Shephard saw to it that all her kids grew up like that. It's served her middle child well in all kinds of places and situations, ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
Outside the bugs might still be screaming. It's hard to say. The humans operating the floodlights came forward to grab Chell and Adrian as soon as they saw them- well, to grab Chell. Shephard almost got shot, because when the antlions are swarming and the bullets are flying, a gas mask looks an awful lot like a Combine full face helmet ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
The church basement full of headcrabs turned out to have a small supply of canned food stashed away, although a few of the older cans had to be discarded (Adrian gave Chell a few quick lessons on botulism, what caused it, and why it was bad). The last building they searched had some ammo that was suitable for the Desert Eagle, but rounds for ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
They're still in fairly open country, at least compared to the dense forests they'd been traveling through before emerging into the weird three-legged thing's range. This must've been farmland once. The trees're too young and the soil too good (Adrian dug up a sample to have a look) for their sparseness to indicate a disaster; they're just new. ( Read more... )