Ange, having understood the instructions, went down several floors. According to the plan, there was an incomprehensible icon in the Alliance language. It was not possible to deal with him, so the agent went to an unknown place… On the stairs stood a yellow zombie, a jumper, as Angel dubbed him. This was a chance to try out the AR4 in action, and the weapon showed what it could do – several holes immediately appeared in the headcrab and the degenerate collapsed. Shadow whistled, the lethal force of the weapon was terrible, capable of penetrating even the armored suit of elite forces.
But now he had to hurry, and he moved on. Too much time has already been spent on the arsenal. But the Alliance detachment could appear at any time, if it had not already appeared, in the laboratory. Flight of stairs brought to a new level. The flashlight beam drowned in the darkness of the hall. It was… quite scary here. Angel shrugged his shoulders as if trying to shake off an invisible cloak of fear. But he still took the first step and followed into this darkness. There were three corridors ahead… Ange winced, since there was no hall at all in the plan, but only one straight corridor. Well, straight is so straight and he went straight. The darkness seemed to thicken and the range of the beam noticeably shortened. “Damn, did I really run into this creature??!“- the thought came to the agent, but he did not have time to continue it. There was a whisper behind.
Angel turned on his heel and ducked. But the ray of light was drowned in darkness, and nothing was visible except the walls of the corridor. Someone whispered again, but he was again BEHIND! Pressed against the wall of the corridor, Ange turned off the flashlight. Now the whisper had no source at all, it simply was, existed everywhere and nowhere..
– Galgina’ag… Agri… Gal galiganam… – the words sounded in an unknown language.
Vortigaunt? But the voice was not similar at all… The voice… There was no voice at all, what is it??! Angel turned on the light again and ran further along the corridor… And came back to the hall from where he came out. Angry with himself and this uncontrolled impulse, the agent turned back into the corridor and quickly followed it without stopping. A few minutes in the darkness and the hall appeared. No! can’t be! He’s back again. Maybe they’re just very similar? But here it is, the staircase goes up, but it should go down! Pulling out a clip for an old machine gun from the compartment of his suit, he placed it near the entrance, and turned around and went back… The clip still lay where it was put… But what is going on here??! “Okay, there are two more corridors, I’ll see what’s in them."And he moved into the left corridor. Several minutes of movement in complete silence were interrupted by the voice of a man.
“… Yes, I understand the risk…” the beam of a flashlight snatched a man in a blue suit from the darkness. Middle-aged face, slightly pale, narrow and elongated with wide cheekbones and almost invisible scars on the cheek. The nose was thin, but not too thin. And eyes with an inhuman bluish glow.
– Who are you?! – Ange asked in a hoarse voice, but his “interlocutor” did not react in any way and continued talking as if nothing had happened.
– … but it’s still worth it… Don’t worry, he’ll be fine.
– With whom?! – the agent could not stand it and pushed the speaker on the shoulder… and the man disappeared into the darkness.
What was that?! Who is this man?! What is he doing here?! And where the hell did he go?. Just questions, no answers. Breathing deeply, Angel walked further down the corridor, stepping as quietly and carefully as possible. But this did not help, not even a minute had passed before shots were heard, and I had to turn around again. A man in orange ran towards the meeting… H.E.V.? Ainge ducked down and fired back, but the bullets missed him, and the man threw back the machine gun, grabbed the tire iron and rushed at him. He didn’t have time to do anything, the enemy melted into the air… And who was this??! Something here is not a good place.
Then Ange ran. The outlines of vortigaunts and creatures unknown to him remained to the side, again the same man in an orange spacesuit, more people in spacesuits carrying an orange crystal… Suddenly the ground disappeared from under his feet, and everything disappeared.
The darkness swallowed everything, even the sensations of oneself… Falling into nowhere… It is unknown how long it lasted, an instant, days, eternity… Time and space did not exist here. Only darkness… lack of reason and self-awareness… eternity of a moment… But then light appeared ahead, a faint echo of life. He was approaching and then the world was born..
The sky was unusual… Or was it always like this? What was it like before?? Memory didn’t say anything, it was silent… But the sky spoke, shimmering with all the existing shades of green, it concealed within itself many bright sparks that either faded out or pushed in, moved and stopped, lived and died. A green nebula floated by, and earth appeared in it… What is earth?. No, not earth, a piece of life. What at first glance was a huge dead rock, but was actually living matter. She lived and concealed other lives within herself. Here on it stood a small lantern, as if in old fairy tales about gnomes, small, gracefully bent and… alive. And not far from it, there grew a plant resembling a spider’s leg. Just as flexible and… deadly.
But then the island of life began to move away and another one appeared. A green creature with three arms and bright red eyes appeared on it… Vortigaunt, the name emerged from memory… And here are a few more of his fellow tribesmen… They appeared from a green ball that looked like a cloud of dust. They looked around fearfully and moved on, towards the unknown… Suddenly a green flash appeared, and everything drowned in it..
Now there were walls around. Brown-green, with intricate oval patterns, more like elms. Perhaps it was so, because the walls were alive too. It was a cylindrical room, the bottom of which was buried in darkness, and the top was hidden in a soft green glow. A network of bridges, made of the same material as the walls, crossed this abyss. Several creatures walked along one of them. Tall and strong, blending in color with their surroundings. And the same third hand as the Vortigaunts. They approached the green cloud and disappeared. But then a man in a blue suit appeared. He slowly walked across the bridge and disappeared into one of the corridors… A huge hall, similar to the previous one, but without bridges, and from here there was no entrance or exit in the human sense. And there was also the owner. Lord of this place. A huge creature, similar to a fetus, but uglier. Instead of legs there was an implant, made of unknown metal, without form or visual meaning, wires hanging from it. The creature’s entire body was covered with deep scars from operations. In front of him hung in the air a small island of earth, and on it that man.
-… Yes, I understand the risk, but it’s still worth it.
– You don’t understand anything. We are afraid for him. – answered the Voice. It is that the Voice, this creature did not speak, it conveyed thoughts.
– Don’t worry, he’ll be fine.
– No… Go away. We won’t give you what you demand. This is our defense.
“But…” the man tried to object.
– No. Leave. We don’t believe you.
– Well… I’ll be back..
Darkness again. But a bright orange light was born in her. The crystal was the only thing that created light here. A small island in the big Nothing. Bright threads connected the crystal and green clouds of dust. Teleports. But then a man appeared… And all this disappeared. Died. He took the crystal and killed… Killed what. Again the creature, in the huge hall. His silent cry is deafening.
— Thieves! Thieves. You stole it!
Time… Time passes, but the scream subsides. Silent cry. Crying for those who will die, for the world that is already dying. The voice subsides, but the pain remains. A quiet and haunting whisper says that death will come soon and you need to hurry. If he was destined to die, then he will still return the crystal back, even if this does not save the situation, but it will not go to his enemies. But one of them… A man in an orange suit appeared from the teleporter and the last battle began… A battle that killed both.
Darkness. Eternity. Nothing in everything and everything in nothing. Somewhere far away a man in a white suit. You can’t see his face, but you can see his cold blue eyes..
Angel was lying. I finally realized who he is. "What was that?"- a question arose. “You saw my memory” – it wasn’t a voice, it was a thought, but there was a clear feeling that it was alien. "Who are you?"No one and many at the same time."You are Nihilanth? The one who was the ruler of the Vortints."No, I’m not him. But his memory lives in me, like the memory of many creatures, some of whom may still be alive."What’s your name? What kind of creature are you?"Come to me and you will see everything for yourself.»
Angel opened his eyes and stood up with difficulty. He was in that very hall… Only it was lit, like the corridor. The only corridor from here. The whole body became numb from lying in one position for a long time, and even on the cold floor. But there was no time to rest. It was necessary to end this matter. About twenty meters down the corridor there was a door. Somehow he knew that this was exactly the place.
A small hall in the center of which stood a huge glass vessel. He was in it. Wrapped in wires and floating in a clear liquid. Controller.
– You came. – it was a telepathic voice.
– Yes. – answered Ange in a voice.
-You wanted to see him. Did you see.
— I thought all the controllers died along with Nihilanth.
– That’s how it was. But he was born here again.
-You were raised in this laboratory?
– Raised. No… Brought back to life. I don’t think so… Woke up my mind. Maybe.
– So you’re dead. — the agent approached the computer console nearby, but it was inoperative.
– No. Not anymore… They didn’t let him die. For a long, long time they changed his body, replaced the dead with the living. They needed our memory. But they didn’t learn anything.
– Your memory? What does it mean?
— Our. You are now part of us.
– I don’t understand…
—Your vortal thread is strong. You can hear us and we can hear you.
– But I thought only vortigaunts could do this..
– Those who are blind and see, those who are deaf and hear can do this.
– I don’t understand…
– What do you see in front of you??
— Living creature. But what does this have to do with it?? – Angelus was surprised.
— Others see him as a monster, an object for experimentation, a stranger, an alien… But you are the first to see life. You see what is, not what you want to see. You know the value of life, even if sometimes it costs death. You are the same as us, although of a different race.
“I guess I understood you…” Ange sighed.
– You will understand, you must understand, he waited too long.
-You were waiting for me? — there seemed to be nothing more surprising, but this surprised Ange even more.
– He hoped that someone would come who would take the memory. Who will bring peace. Take what our enemies should not see..
Everything swam in my eyes, and the shadow fell to my knees. Millions of sensations, thousands of images and an endless number of memories, all mixed up. But it didn’t last long and everything stopped. There was a bloody veil in the eyes, and blood began to flow from the nose.
– This one gave you only a part, only what is important to us. Your body is weak, unfortunately you can’t store as much as this one. Now go away. Someone else will bring it peace.
– Another? Who? — Angelus stood up with difficulty, leaning on the wall.
– The one who is chasing you. One who plays the role of a slave, unaware of his freedom.
– You don’t have to speak in riddles? This one doesn’t understand. — the agent didn’t even notice that he said it in the old language of the Vortigaunts, which they used before the Portal Storm.
— Alliance soldiers are here. And their leader follows you, but does not know about you yet.
– Then I’ll leave. I don’t want to meet them..

The officer walked in a gloomy mood. Good for the soldiers, their chip cuts off such things. And he, unfinished, has to live with it. The operation turns into a massacre, of course, two soldiers are not so much, but the way they were lost… And they are still only in the middle of the journey, it is still unknown what kind of creatures there are, given the reception at the very beginning, optimistic pictures were not painted… Several invisible zombies were hanging on the ceiling and they received a volley from all guns.
– I don’t like it here. – Raven muttered.
– Not you alone. — Osa answered. “It feels like you’re constantly being watched by hungry eyes.”.
– Yeah, and most importantly, it’s not clear where this look comes from..
The atmosphere around was heating up and every soldier probably felt it, but no one could say anything. Vague forebodings, a desire to get out of here and request support in the form of hundreds of soldiers… But no one noticed the predatory gaze of two red eyes hiding in the darkness of the ventilation until it was too late..
Darkness fell suddenly. The night vision device showed only a black picture, the infrared scanner did not even pick up its own people who were standing nearby. Raven understood what happened immediately, but the order to lie down on the floor remained stuck in his throat. Soldier’s cry and shooting. He was able to squeeze out the sound only when he was already falling to the floor:
— Lie down. – falling to the floor, he rolled towards the wall and began shooting at the ceiling, approximately above the head of the already silent soldier. He was hit by the wind and without thinking, he automatically recoiled to the side. The cracking of bones and the death rattle of a soldier were heard.
The officer did not know what to do, he understood that it was useless to fight THIS. But there was neither the opportunity nor the scope for action to retreat. Swallowing convulsively, he sent another burst into nowhere. The answer to them was only indistinct, either laughter or hissing. Although perhaps he only heard it… The bright light blinded his eyes.
In fact, the light was not so bright, but after the darkness, it pierced my eyes like a hundred small arrows. It took a few moments to understand that it was all over and he was alive. Breathing heavily, Raven stood up and looked around the squad… Two more soldiers… The same thing happened to them as to the soldiers near the entrance – scattered bloodless pieces. “Oh, at best, after this they will make me a stalker… At worst (or best?) – I’ll fall for this creature’s breakfast.».
…And again the dull corridors. The road to Hell, in both senses. And this road led even lower. The detachment passed the arsenal, which was locked, and continued further down. There was no light on this floor and Raven’s heart sank, but it was not a creature, so everyone silently turned on their flashlights and walked along a straight corridor with the hope that the creature had had enough and would not hunt in the near future. But then, as always, mocking fate or blind chance intervened, which, however, does not cancel the actions. The wasp noticed the open doors and, looking in, froze.
– What’s there?? – asked Grom, moving the machine gun from one hand to the other.
— Embryo. – Wasp answered stupidly.
— Embryo?! – asked RS4 and the deputy looked inside.
It turned out that in the middle of the room there was a flask with a controller. “It must be a rare, and therefore valuable, carcass." – thought the officer. There was almost no information about these creatures, or rather, Raven only knew what this creature from Xen is called and looks like. Where does this knowledge come from?? Unknown. The Alliance did not provide this knowledge, but both the appearance and the name surfaced in my memory..
“What would he…” Raven’s temples tingled sharply and he wanted to massage them, but the helmet was in the way of his hand. The past… What he seemed to have forgotten irrevocably now came to mind. What happened before the operation..

… The full moon was shining in the sky and the pale rays illuminated a small house. The only surviving building left on the outskirts of the village after a devastating explosion. Someone’s push makes you fall to the ground… Soldiers… A squad of combines is moving towards the building… One of them knocks down the doors and shooting begins… But the roar of the heart muffles even the shots… Finally, silence… The legs carry themselves to the house… The girl… The only survivor… The soldiers pull her out… She was in the basement, that’s what saved her… He knew she would be there, and that it would save her..

… Then everything floated and the memory ended. The raven leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.
— Vint, check the console. – he gave the order in a hoarse voice.
The soldier immediately began to carry out the order and immediately began to extract information.
— Controller. Creature from Xen. Captured dead. Restored using implantation of grown organs. An attempt to obtain information from him has not yet been successful..
— What information? – asked the officer.
— About the race of the Supreme… It’s not clear what kind of race. The title is definitely working.
— Higher… Yes, that’s the name… And what about the properties of this controller??
— Levitation… Generation of plasma discharges… Nothing more.
– Forgot telekinesis. – no one immediately understood where and who said this, but they understood, as always, late.
The officer looked at the controller in the flask, and suddenly came across his meaningful gaze. The next moment, an invisible wave blew away the glass and threw the soldiers against the walls. Liquid spilled all over the room. The wasp fired, but Zen’s spawn did not wait on the spot and quickly flew to the side, throwing a plasma charge in response. While the soldiers were trying to figure out who would get to their feet and who would get out of the way of the charge, the controller flew up to the wall and you fired a small charge at it. The raven did not even immediately understand that the wall was actually a huge gateway and only realized when it began to open. Behind him in countless flasks were the inhabitants of Xen. The same controllers and other, various creatures, clearly with intelligence, but special attention was attracted by the huge blue monster that was next to the escaped controller. One of the soldiers realized what was happening and opened fire, but it was too late. The glass cracked and shattered and now a new, more dangerous enemy has appeared. The blue giant released a stream of flame and had to take cover, whoever saw where.
The wasp tried to outflank the creature and succeeded. Hiding behind tables and computers, she crawled out behind him. The soldier had five grenades in his kit, the sniper had not used a single one yet and so she collected all this stuffing together and ran in the hope of jumping on the alien’s back. But he suddenly turned around, with surprising dexterity for his size, and waved him off with his paw. The wasp did not have time to do anything and, having received a blow, flew into the corner. The blow stunned her, but still left her alive.
Raven decided not to waste time. And he immediately gave a abrupt but clear command:
— Grenades!
Several of them flew to the blue flamethrower at once. He managed to turn around and take the explosion, as they say, with his chest. Accepted and… endured. The officer could only remember a few strong expressions that clearly did not come from the Alliance and give the last order.
— We retreat! — he picked up the staggering Wasp and, under the cover of Thunder, went out into the corridor. It was necessary to take the group further. They clearly could not cope with this creature; they needed funds for larger goals.

Edgelus wandered down the corridor. Headcrabs and rare zombies ceased to be a hindrance for him and he no longer paid attention to them. Trying to digest new memories brought one headache. He just wanted to strike his enemies with lightning. Although the creation of lightning is a biological feature of vortigaunts, and not part of the vortal threads. In general, just trying not to think, Ange walked further and further. Finally the path led him to the penultimate section. It was impossible to penetrate deeper; permission of the first category was required, that is, only for the manager of the entire complex. It was impossible to break such protection with a master key; each such lock required its own approach. Of course, there is no such lock that cannot be cracked, but time… Time did not wait, and neither did the Alliance squad. They were here somewhere. Edgel heard the shots and saw everything that happened through the eyes of the controller… It was necessary to finish the job and leave. There was the last computer left from which information had not yet been downloaded and it was somewhere here.
Leaving no time for respite, he began to act. First office, operating room, no computer. Second, third, fourth same thing. The fifth symbiote storage… The sixth, finally a computer.
Ange pulled out a bunch of flash drives and inserted one of them into the Alliance console… A zombie corpse lay nearby. Edge turned around remembering. Well of course! This is the same room! This is where that rebel was! And it was this zombie that killed him. Tried to kill. The body is only a zombie, which means this scoundrel is still alive and quite possibly… We need to wrap it up. If he is alive, leave it to the soldiers, if there are traces left, they will fall on this freedom-loving man. Information quickly migrated to a new location. And what is there… Experiments on humans. Lots to do Cross and Green. And the rest of the staff. And now it’s time to leave..

Stack has been through a lot. https://cryptowinscasino.co.uk/withdrawal/ Black Mesa, the Seven Hour War, the first rebellion, the Alliance’s hunt for former soldiers… the list is not so short. A person having completed at least one of these achievements would become a veteran. But it was not only necessary to be able to stand up for oneself, in order to survive, it also required luck. Demian was incredibly lucky. And it looks like his luck has come to an end.
Laboratory G-18. Genetics on the path of human evolution… Yeah, now. Genetics is a tool to turn into a weapon. That’s exactly what Stack might have said. He went through this whole damn complex and realized that there would be no turning back. That creature… It doesn’t look like anything else. Not on the Vortigaunts, not on the Alliance, not even on the floor of the mythical Race X, with whom he managed to communicate a little, through a machine gun and grenades, before flying away from Black Mesa. Where and how it came from here was difficult to predict. The message he left on all servers was primarily addressed to the rebels, if Michael, or Uranus followed him. But it also concerned the Alliance. You don’t need to be a psychologist to predict the reaction of combines. They will, of course, ignore the message and rush here with even greater anger… Straight into the mouth of Death. Yes, yes, there’s no other way to say it. All she has to do is chew and swallow.
As for Demian? He knew – either shoot himself right now without suffering, or continue the search. The first is too fast and irreparable, and the second… it won’t get worse anyway. That is why Stack has been going through the lock from the last sector for two days now. If only the Administrator had access here, then this could definitely be what you are looking for. The job was almost done when he heard footsteps… Footsteps… Human footsteps! The captain immediately grabbed the machine gun and took cover around the bend into the corridor. There is no one here except soldiers. But the creature must have gotten to them. More precisely, almost all of them, except one. And this one walked along the corridor. Well, he deserved a quick death. Stack rolled out from behind cover and opened fire.

Angel walked down the corridor, not believing that half of the work had already been done.Of course, he still decided to look at the administrator’s castle. Who knows what difficulty it has?? And so he walked forward, almost happily, without thinking about anything… And only his reflex, along with his suit, saved him. A man rolling around the corner opened fire, several bullets bounced off the black plates and Ange rushed into the nearest doorway. Luckily the doors were open. What a curse! It was a rebel. “Probably mistook me for a soldier,” the agent thought. You can also play soldier. He put the AR3 around the corner and fired a burst. A short answer was heard and I had to pull back my hand with the weapon, the burst was accurate. Okay, Ange fired another burst. But there was no answer. Heather. Or was it a good turn??! Angel listened. Silence. “No, he still saves the ammunition and waits for me to stick my head out.”. The agent closed his eyes, remembering the map of this place… Yeah, there must be a workaround here. He moved with it, having first fired a burst into the corridor and reloaded. And when he found himself near the door, he almost collided head-on with the enemy. It turned out that he also wanted to use this route. There was no time or space to throw up the AR3, I had to kick it. The enemy engaged in close combat and, throwing a machine gun at Enju’s face, struck himself. Angel had to parry the blow with his hand and regain his balance as his leg missed.
Two bodies merged in a duel. The arms and legs themselves searched for the target and the agent was imbued with respect for the enemy, this was not just an ordinary rebel, this was a seasoned warrior who knew how to hit with his bare hand and accurately send blows with bullets. No one gave in, Edge had brutal training behind him, and his opponent had years of experience. It is unknown how long they spent like this, but frozen for a moment, alone in front of one and listening to every breath of the enemy, watching his every movement, they heard footsteps… Several people were walking along the corridor, it was impossible to sneak here, even a shadow could not hide its step. What can we say about the Alliance soldiers?. Wasting no time, Ange rushed towards the thrown AR3, his opponent also followed suit and rushed to his machine gun. The agent took aim at the enemy’s head, but he himself was met by an enemy front sight.
The echo of a double shot was heard and two bodies rushing between the terminals exchanged fire with each other. But then, in the respite between the shots, the footsteps of soldiers were heard already a meter from the room..

RS 04 led the squad to the penultimate sector. You can take a break here. They won’t be returning back soon, maybe they’ll be able to slip through, but for now we need to look at the Administrator’s computer, that’s where there should be information about everything in the laboratory and, first of all, about the disaster. Of course, the officer himself had no doubt that the culprit was a creature from the dark. But the authorities needed proof.
A short respite was interrupted by the sounds of gunfire. Who could it be?! Who cares! I had to check it out and see what was there. The detachment did not require a command; everyone followed the commander without a word. The shots stopped, but Raven remembered where he was from. The echo of footsteps sounded far away, and he could not do anything about it; the acoustics here did not count on secret operations of soldiers. Suddenly the shots were repeated, now they were firing simultaneously from SMG1 and… similar to AR2, but still somehow different, the sound was more muffled, but more aggressive. When there were a couple of steps left to the room, both guns fell silent. Nodding to Thunder, Raven literally rolled into the room, taking aim at any movement. But a burst from a machine gun forced him to seek cover, despite the burst from a machine gun from Grom, an unknown enemy opened accurate fire, and both soldiers involuntarily had to take cover. The enemy turned out to be experienced and able. The burst was not only well-aimed, but was also fired against the suppressive fire of a machine gun, which means the shooter was not afraid to stand under a shower of bullets and was lucky without receiving a single one. A Worthy Enemy. But he’s already a corpse, even if he doesn’t know it. Against a squad…against half a squad he won’t be able to withstand. The fourth jumped over the terminal he was hiding behind and rushed into battle. The burst hit him along the edge of his helmet, but he did not pay attention to it and jumped behind the cover of what turned out to be a rebel. With all his might, the officer punched him. He tried to dodge, but did not have time and received a scratch on his cheek. After which they both rolled on the floor. The fists were powerless against Raven, but the rebel received quite a bit, but still the officer was quite surprised when, using an invisible technique, he flew across the room and knocked Thunder down.

… So Demian had to shake off his old ways and show that he is still capable. At first he was surprised to see a human face in front of him, and not a respirator. But the enemy did not give him time to think, and he had to fight in hand-to-hand combat. The guy turned out to be young, but trained, and Stack tried his best to keep up. And the soldier himself didn’t strain much. During a short break, when they increased the distance between them, the footsteps of soldiers were heard in the corridor, and the Captain realized that now his enemy would have help. Grabbing the machine gun, he still tried to shoot the enemy, but he disappeared the way Stack appeared in this room. Demian did not have time to follow him, reinforcements appeared, and the soldiers opened fire. But he didn’t lag behind, and with aimed fire, he made it clear who they were dealing with. But here, clearly the captain of the squad, an elite soldier rushed at him. Taken aback by such a breakthrough, the rebel did not have time to catch the enemy’s monocular, and it ended up in front of him. The first blow ran across his cheek and left a burning scratch. Fighting him hand-to-hand was suicide. It is unknown what melee techniques this soldier possessed, but his thick armor, which cannot be penetrated with a fist, was also enough. I had to throw the elite over myself. To where the rest of the soldiers took refuge. After this, Stack decided to retreat through the second entrance, and while the soldiers were trying to figure out what was what, he disappeared from the room. Now the path was only to the last sector..

… Angelus disappeared from the room just before the soldiers arrived. During. Now let them deal with each other. The path from here led to only one place, and so he headed. It turned out that the lock in the last sector had been moved and was almost broken, I just had to make a little adjustment, and the door opened.
There was a huge hall with several branch corridors. And ahead was the door to the Administration Room. Here it is, the treasured computer. We must hurry, someone will come here soon. And while the copying is going on, you can take a look at the cause of the disaster… Yep, here it is! Project Death. The destruction in this room was the first, then everything went from there… And what’s on the cameras. Empty. Something about the project. The terminal is missing… How is the terminal missing??! Did someone really tear it off?. Wait, there is a recording… Encrypted. There’s no time, we’ll dump it onto a flash drive, then we’ll figure it out… Ange pulled out an information storage device called a flash drive and, hiding it, saw a rebel run into the hall and disappear into one of the corridors. This means that the soldiers will be here now and you have to hide from them yourself. Without hesitation, the agent disappeared into the opposite corridor. All the doors were locked, except for the last ones, and it was here that he jumped in, closing the doors behind him… And there were soldiers here too… A couple of soldiers were lying on what served as their beds. Both are in the same black suits as Angelus, an AR3 lies next to both, and both are looking at the ceiling… Or somewhere else. The helmet on the head was the same as that of the elite forces, only the monocular was dark blue… What happened to them, there is no time to guess, as always. But if they were alive, they wouldn’t lie like that, but would do at least something. Meanwhile, a detachment of soldiers was already in the hall.

Raven and his squad pursued the rebel to the last. But they fell behind a little and ran into the hall and lost their goal. Several corridors led from here. But still he has nowhere to go.
— Thunder, Wasp, stay at the exit. Screw, Administrator’s computer, Falcon cover it. Shemale with me. – Having given abrupt but clear commands, Raven followed into the nearest corridor. The first doors were closed, I had to use a universal key. It should be noted that this key was a privilege for elite soldiers. He opened all the doors of the Alliance. Any lock, even the administrator’s, had two or more access codes. One of them was the code of the elite forces, before which any doors were opened. It was this code that opened the door. Inside there was a small warehouse in boxes, there was no time to check, and Raven moved on. After checking all the premises, he returned.
– Damn him, he must be here somewhere. – the officer muttered under his breath and headed into the opposite corridor.
And, despite all the tactics, he was drawn to the last doors. The rebel could have hidden in the past doors and attacked from behind, but that was what Hornet was there to cover her. And now he was drawn to look through the last doors… Here lay three bodies of soldiers. Strange, but Raven had never heard of the black uniform of the elite forces. One of the soldiers was without a helmet and his bluish, thin face radiated calm. Yes, he doesn’t care anymore. The raven covered the open eyes of the eternal sleeper with his palm. Something drew him to sentimentality. Impermissible for his rank, but still… He took off the helmet of the second soldier and wanted to cover his eyes, but froze with an astonished face under the helmet. There was an ordinary face in front of him. Without pallor and sunken cheeks, without a bald spot and a hollow at the temple where the chip is hidden… The face of an ordinary person and looking so lively… Even too lively..

Angel calculated everything and screwed up on the little things. Well, how could he know that his helmet would be removed?? He didn’t see the surprised face for a moment, he was still pretending to be dead, but then he began to act. With all his might, he kicked the elite bent over him in the stomach. He flew off and hit the wall. At the same time, Angel grabbed his machine gun and even fired a burst, but the soldier retreated to the side with inhuman speed. Without wasting time, the agent jumped out into the corridor and hit the head of the emerging soldier with his butt, ran along the corridor and suddenly jumped out into the hall at two more who were guarding the exit. He raised his AR3, and something strange happened… The weapon escaped from his hands and flew to the ceiling. For some time, he blinked, wondering why the soldiers didn’t shoot him, but then he realized that they also didn’t have weapons and were no less surprised by what had happened than he was. “The confiscation field,” Angel thought, “it’s present throughout the entire level, and someone turned it on.”. But who?». The question was interesting, but it will be more interesting now.
The sniper was the first to come to her senses, she jumped and kicked, aiming for the head. But here reflexes have already come into play. You can easily fight back from this technique, catch your heel in flight and sharply throw it higher, and retreat yourself. The girl hit her head on the floor with all her might, and only moments later, the rest of her body landed. An ordinary person, such a blow would kill or incapacitate. But either the combines are stronger than ordinary people, or they just have a good helmet, but the girl began to rise, albeit slowly. Finish it off quickly. But he didn’t have time, a second soldier ran into him. This one hit without dexterity, but with strength. Wrist grab, jerk and trip. The girl was pushed down from above by a machine gunner. But then there were steps from behind – the soldiers left behind caught up with him and also without weapons. Well, let’s see who wins.
The first one easily flew to the side, but the elite soldier was not a miss. We had to not only attack, but also defend. Hit, block, dodge, hit again… And now skip forward and hit in the back. The soldier did not fall as expected, but he had to run a couple of steps to maintain his balance. He’s a worthy opponent, but the helmet interferes with your vision in close combat. It’s the helmet of the Alliance assassins that has a large view, but for the elite ones, despite being almost identical, it is small… But it seems that the soldier also thought so and began to take off his helmet… Well, let’s look at your blue face, freak… But what is it??! Under the helmet is the head of an ordinary person. A black-nosed, thirty-year-old man with an unusually unfriendly look. Has the Alliance really begun to make soldiers more carefully?. There’s no time, it’s coming.
And black and white began to dance. Arms and even legs went into action, looking for weaknesses in the enemy. Another warrior emerged and rushed to help his comrade. This one isn’t bad either, but not good enough. But those who had been shot down came to their senses and also connected. Now Anju had to go away almost all the time and fight off the blows. But still he answered and answered accurately. From time to time, one or another enemy flew to the side. Everyone has already measured this room with their spine, all except one..

The raven fought with all possible dexterity, but his new opponent was resourceful and burned like fire with every touch. Even the nimble Wasp couldn’t reach him. And the only reason they haven’t been scattered like cockroaches yet is the skills of the Fourth. Some things were thrown up by the memory invested by the Alliance, some surfaced from the far corners of the forgotten past, and some were already put into the body. All this gave him the opportunity to stand on equal terms with the enemy. Who is he? Why is he wearing a black suit like those soldiers?? Of course he could have taken it off one of the bodies. But where did he learn to fight like that?? He used different styles at the same time, combining them and creating seemingly impossible techniques. Besides Raven, Falcon was not bad in hand-to-hand combat. True, he had already flown to the side once, but compared to how the light Wasp was already measuring the entire hall with her body, even this inspired respect. There was one more question though. Where does this field come from and why did it confiscate everyone’s guns??! The citadel also had one, but it was aimed only at those who did not have symbiotes. And yet, it did not hang from the ceiling, but was usually destroyed. Whatever it was, I had to hold on.
From the outside, the entire squad turned into a whirlwind, it was impossible to distinguish individual movements, everything merged into one. Only the less agile fell, so that they could jump up again and rush back. The soldiers could not get a critical hit with their fist, their armor was too thick for this, and, probably, that was the only thing that saved them now. And their enemy was wearing an armored suit, however, he would have been dangerous without it.
During all this, Raven forgot about Vint, and he was now working hard, trying to turn off the field, but nothing worked. Someone turned it on directly and cut off control from the computer network. For the fourth time giving out an unprintable tirade, Vint nevertheless abandoned the hopeless case and, deciding that he would not help his own in battle anyway, disappeared into the corridor where there should be a generator powering the field. And he was in the last room. Having opened the doors, the soldier could only cautiously look in here. Without a machine gun, he was like without hands. But here it was, fortunately, empty. The generator stood alone in the middle of the room and hummed incredulously. Just press a button… I heard the creak of a door behind me. Vint turned around and saw the frozen rebel, but the next moment, he was in front of him and the technician literally flew into the room. Ignoring the pain in his back, he rolled over to the generator and hit the switch. The invisible tension disappeared, however, as did the rebel, most likely rushing to the exit.
Raven didn’t even notice when the confiscation field stopped working and the weapon crashed to the floor. The fight captured him to the end; no one tried to interfere in the deadly dance of two people. Wasp was the first to understand everything and rushed to her rifle to take aim and lower her weapon. She could not shoot, her commander was too close to the target and stubbornly refused to notice that he could retreat and give the squad the opportunity to open fire. A rebel flew out of the corridor, knocked her down and, grabbing her neck in a grab, dragged her to the exit. Her attempt to escape was unsuccessful and only caused unnecessary pain. This bastard held her tightly and covered himself with her body. The rest of the soldiers were watching her with all their guns, but did not open fire yet. And while all the attention of the soldiers was focused on the rebel and Wasp, Raven finally saw the lying machine gun of Hornet, who did not have time to pick it up. In one leap he was near him and was already catching his enemy in black, but he also kept his weapon at the ready. The echo of a dull metallic knock echoed through the hall – this was the rebel, moving backwards, running into the locked doors. And silence.
Everything froze, as if in stasis. Dead end. Why Raven did not shoot, he himself did not know. His opponent also froze. A stalemate, the first one to pull the trigger will die first – the enemy will notice his slow movement and pull the trigger himself. And in this case both will die. Of course, this enemy is a most dangerous subject and must be destroyed at any cost, even with your own life. But the instinct of self-preservation suddenly came to life, although before that it showed no signs of its existence.
The rebel and the rest of the soldiers also froze. The soldiers knew that their target would not escape, and therefore were in no hurry to shoot. The door is locked, only the squad captain has the key. You can take your time and try to save your fighter alive. And the rebel, in turn, had nothing to do at all. The plan to cover up and leave failed. Negotiating with the Alliance is useless; they would rather kill one of their own than make concessions. There’s nowhere to go, the door is locked. There is nothing to go into battle with – the machine gun was taken away by the field, and it remained somewhere in the corridors.
In such a situation, when no one knows what to do, every little thing matters. But it would be difficult to call it a trifle – Death. Darkness flooded one of the corridors and began to creep towards people who had not noticed anything in the large hall.

Stack realized his doom. He had no place to retreat and could only die. The only question is how? Useful or not? Apparently, that guy is not from the Alliance, Demian made a mistake in attacking him. Probably, if he had immediately started negotiations, now the two of them would have fought together and quite likely killed all these advisor pawns. But what’s done is done. There he froze with a weapon in his hands, it should be noted that unfamiliar, although similar to an AR3, but now there is no time for that. He has a chance, Stack no longer has it. Another question is what to do with this girl in your arms. Alliance sniper, female combin, and at the same time still a woman. The hand rose with difficulty to grab it and use it as a shield. Now all I have to do is hold on and not let you escape. If they still start shooting, he will throw her down… Damn it, he fought for so many years, but he thinks about skirts… He can’t even harm the enemy. What can we do, in the army he was taught that women are civilians and they need to be protected, and even as a child he was also taught not to pull their pigtails… Well, what should we do now?? Die heroically?!
… In one of the corridors darkness began to spread, as if it were alive… But in reality it was alive. Here she is creeping closer into the hall. Apparently all the game has fallen into the snare and it’s time to empty it. What will happen if she breaks free?? The Alliance will still stand, will send striders and stormtroopers, but the rebel bases will perish. I need to take you all with me. Let her crawl closer. The palm was squeezing a small ball, and the thumb was resting on an almost invisible button. He found this thing in the laboratory, it was clear that it was a grenade, but what is the range of action? He kept this gift for the creature, but the cunning creature has not attacked him since then. Well, that means it will come in handy now, it’s even better, more enemies will die.
The darkness was already close, and everyone noticed it. Just a little more, just a little, wait..

Angel froze with his weapon and thought what to do. Negotiations are useless, action is needed here. His opponent is not frail, his reaction is clearly superhuman, just like his. Actions… What to do? He can’t stand like a statue forever?! He didn’t pay attention to the rebel, who, of course, did a great job, distracting almost all the soldiers to himself. Suddenly, his opponent’s face changed and a painfully familiar feeling appeared… Death. She’s here. It was time to act somehow and he jumped forward, casting a quick glance at the black, shapeless tentacle that was grabbing an already empty space. And then everyone opened fire. Somehow there was no time for our petty feuds, Ange thought, when this creature is ready to eat the first one it comes across.
Whether intentionally or not, all the soldiers had to pay attention to the creature and Angela too. Everyone understood that if they started shooting each other now, they would doom everyone. Temporary neutrality was needed. And this is just in time… A soldier without a helmet, his former enemy and clearly the captain of the squad, threw something to one of the soldiers:
— Vint, open the door!
And almost after these words, something small from the rebel flew. He clearly did not accept neutrality and decided to kill everyone. Perhaps this is a logical decision on his part. The ball, falling to the ground, began to scatter thin threads towards the walls. The running Vint barely dodged one of these, another soldier helped him. If Angel served in this detachment, he would know this soldier under the call sign Falcon. Here is Sokol, whose machine gun, like Vinta, remained in the administration room, attacked the rebel. And the technician stood up and activated the door. On time, it should be noted. The ball no longer scattered threads, but began to grow and suck in. Death, having received a huge number of bullets from Angel and the Alliance soldiers, did not flinch. And even the suction funnel did almost no harm to her. That’s right, almost. A funnel formed in front of her, preventing her from attacking herself. Everyone rushed to the door, Falcon, throwing the rebel aside, also hurried to get away. Osa raised her rifle and immediately lowered it. A small tentacle nevertheless escaped and, grabbing the rebel, dragged him towards itself, but the black hole was stronger and began to attract him to itself. The agent didn’t see the rest of the time. He fled from here and so did the soldiers. This is not the time for shootouts. A powerful explosion was heard from behind. Well, maybe now it’s time to continue solving our problems? Raven thought so too. But both looked back and continued silently running down the corridor. Death cannot be killed.
The black abyss overtook them, and the explosion turned out to be nothing to them. A tentacle broke out and I had to fall and roll across the floor so as not to lose speed. Here is the second tentacle, from which Osa had to literally jump onto the wall and, pushing off from an invisible barrier, run a couple of steps along it. The third tentacle was luckier. It grabbed the soldier and dragged him along. And it didn’t take long before the Bumblebee disappeared into the darkness, when this darkness began to move even faster. You can’t feed her! The explosion apparently took away her strength, and now she needs to replenish it. At their expense. Fourth tentacle. Now the captain of the soldiers had to dodge. He just darted to the side.
The corridors flew one after another, there were stairs between them, but no one paid attention to it. The path that they had covered for so long was now covered many times faster. Someone fell, but they immediately picked him up, without leaving him to live. Everyone has already realized that after the next victim, this creature will overtake them. Even Angel had to unwittingly help the soldiers… And corridors, corridors, corridors. How many more are there??! There’s a familiar gateway ahead… And it’s open?! There were a couple of soldiers standing there.

Raven ran with all his might. His enemy became an unwitting ally, and they had to unwittingly help each other. Of course, none of them fell or even stumbled, but the other soldiers were not as dexterous, at least as Wasp. Who is this guy and what is he doing here, it’s not really important right now. Interrogation after, first we need to get out of here alive. A familiar gateway to the warehouse appeared ahead, and then to the exit. That’s just why it’s completely open, and where are the two soldiers from?? Was another detachment really sent for him too??! But this too can wait a hundred paces away, he shouted at the top of his lungs:
— Close the gateway. Fast.
The soldiers hesitated a little, but when they saw the darkness moving, they understood everything and rushed to carry out the order. The rest of the Fourth detachment flew into the warehouse, the last wasp had to roll, already before the closing doors. But that’s all… It’s like they hit my whore with a battering ram, but it’s no use.
— Gamma Squad Leader, RS000-04. Where are you from?? What squad? Who is the commander? – he began to ask the soldiers.
— Private CS 325-46, Beta Squad, commander of ES 012-21.
– Thank you for your service, soldiers, where is the captain??
— At the entrance to the warehouse, he’s about to go look for you.
– Clear. Look, this creature is dangerous, if it starts to break through, don’t engage in battle, get out of here quickly.
And then Raven remembered something very important. With all this, his emotions still took over, an unforgivable mistake. And the guy in the black armor suit disappeared. Didn’t even leave a trace. The wasp was nearby and said quietly, over a closed channel:
– Forget. I don’t think he’s worth the whole squad. And he will put the whole squad down.
– Well… Let them figure it out at headquarters who he is. We have a different order. — Raven involuntarily agreed.
– … RS 4? – Officer 12-21 asked in surprise. – I didn’t think you were alive.
— Alive. But half of the squad died while completing the mission.
– So they died with honor in battle. I believe the task is completed?
– Yes. But now we should call in air support and a couple of striders.
– What do you want to say??! – the soldiers, especially those of the elite forces, did not request extra forces to help. And such a crowd surprised the officer.
— The creature is in the laboratory, my entire squad was powerless against it. Bullets won’t kill him, he needs heavy artillery. And not in small quantities. I don’t know how long the airlock will hold her, but it certainly won’t hold her.
A heavy and resounding blow sounded, confirming Raven’s words.
— Head, I heard? Call for help, no less!
And the radio operator of the Beta detachment immediately began communicating with headquarters. But he was interrupted by an incredibly powerful blow. The gateway definitely couldn’t stand it. Two soldiers ran out of the warehouse.
“Captain, there…” began one.
– I see. — Beta captain replied.
The morning sun did not provide much light, but even in this darkness, one could see the darkness floating out of the warehouse. The soldiers opened fire, someone fired an energy ball, but it all sank into the abyss, and it continued to move. Here she crawled out of the warehouse. It can be seen that the darkness has the shape of a sphere. And not paying attention to the soldiers, it took off, or rather jumped, and ended up four meters away on a rock. And immediately disappeared.
“Damn…” croaked 12-21.
– That’s how much it can do. – said Raven. He understood that the creature would move towards the city. That’s where the food is, and that’s where it should be caught. There is no way to catch up with the creature.
— Raven, what do you have?? – a voice sounded from a portable radio station. This was the headquarters that Head had just contacted and managed to say a few words.
— Mission completed. But the reason escaped from the laboratory.
-What do you mean?? What’s the reason?
— A creature created, or simply staying in a laboratory. It destroyed all personnel and the previous squad. The remaining creatures that escaped only increased the chaos. A creature of extreme danger, it has just knocked down the double sluice and disappeared between the rocks. Stalking is not possible. Presumably will move towards City 12.
– What kind of creature? What does it look like?
– Covers itself with a sphere impenetrable to light. No one saw what was under the sphere.
— Upon arrival, you will make an oral and detailed report.
– That’s right!
– But first… Not far from the laboratory, a resistance camp was spotted. Take the Omega squad, it is currently guarding the train station near you, and destroy the camp. Contact Omega leader for details.
– Order accepted. Let me get started?
— We will send several stormtroopers to hunt the creature. Help is needed, call sign Ghost. Start the task. End of connection.

Uranus and Michael decided to distract Willow again and took her hunting with them. She’s suffered too much from the headcrabs, now let her let off some steam on them.
– Well, who taught you to hold a gun like that?? – Temerson asked the girl. “Don’t strangle him like he’s a snake.”. Hold it tight, but not that tight. Like this. See that Antlion??
“You don’t want me to kill him with a pistol.”? — Willow was surprised.
– No. I want you to get into it. — Michael answered serenely.
– But he will attack us!
– Certainly! – Temerson continued to smile. – And as you wanted? He’ll attack like hell. But for this case we have Uranus.
– Don’t worry Willow, I’ll cover you. — the vortigaunt calmed the girl.
Deklin still looked at the mural warily, but took aim and fired. The creature remained in place and did not move.
– You probably missed. — Michael answered.
– But he should have rushed at us! — the girl couldn’t understand why the insect was still standing still.
– Must. And he would have rushed if Uranus had not killed him the day before yesterday. – Michael couldn’t help but laugh.
– So he’s dead?! Oh, you… he… and I… – and she also laughed. – But why is he standing on his feet??
— It is nailed to the board with a crossbow bolt, and the board is buried in the ground. I decided that such a goal would be interesting and not dangerous. Now try again.
Willow now took aim and fired without fear. A bullet with a vile sound pierced chitin.
– That’s it, now try to shoot him in the head.
The girl took aim again, but then a quiet sound was heard in the distance, the sound of an attack aircraft blade cutting through the air.
“Camp…” was all Michael said.
Uranus and Willow also realized that the attack aircraft could only be heading towards the camp and they needed to be warned. The three started to run. Uranus fell behind immediately, vortigaunts are not fast. But people ran faster than the wind. The run lasted only a quarter of an hour, but that was enough. Shots were heard ahead. Michael and Willow saw a terrible picture – the entire camp had turned into a battlefield. Here you can see Irwin in the center giving orders and falling dead from an assassin’s bullet. Igor fell from a machine gun fire, but managed to throw a grenade that took two soldiers. The rebels fought furiously, but the soldiers surrounded them and shot them like in a shooting gallery. The first impulse was to go to help, and Michael had already started to go, but someone’s heavy hand lay on his shoulder.
– You can’t help them anymore. — Uranus, breathing heavily, still caught up with them.
– Let’s see. – the former soldier tried to break free, but despite all his heroic strength, he failed.
– No. You’ll only die. Your death will not make their fate easier. — Uranus stood his ground, and an Alliance soldier would have envied his composure.
Temerson said nothing, he again tried to break free, but immediately stopped all attempts. An energy ball flew into the camp killing the last survivors.
– Let’s leave. – answered the vortigaunt.
– Where? – the soldier responded dully. He just lost almost all his friends and acquaintances. People whom he knew for a very long time and managed to love them.
— Mine thirteen. This is the last place.
Willow stood silently. She hardly knew these people, and the Vortigaunts, but still they died, and this created another scar in her heart. No, she didn’t cry. But I wanted to burst into tears. Uranus took them both by the arms and led them along. This was the end of their camp. But they are alive and there is still a way to the mountains ahead. So this is just the beginning. Start of a new life. That’s exactly what the Vortigaunt thought as he led the two friends away from danger.