//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 Undue Alarm // Story: Black Bloom 2 // by Bronycommander //------------------------------// Chapter 10: Undue Alarm Gordon was again in stasis as out of nowhere, purple Vortigaunts appeared. They rescued, Alyx and the others. Gordons “Employer” was amused at this but then realized what was happening and fixed angrily his tie. “We'll see about that.” Two Vortigaunts teleported Gordon away. Then everything went black. “He has to be somewhere around here. “We've got to be close...just gotta be! Any luck over there, Dog?” Dog found him in a pile of rubble. “Dog, I think I found something. Drop whatever you’re doing and help me over here…” Alyx gasped. “Oh my god! Gordon!” Alyx hugged him. “I was so worried…” she chuckled in embarrassment. “Hey, the gravity gun! Give it to him, Dog.” Gordon took it. “There, Gordon. Dog’s happy to see you… I can tell. Okay, Dog, go get the monitor set up so we can check in with my Dad. He must be worried sick about us.” She looked up into the sky. “The citadel’s really coming apart.” The top was gone and a red glow was around it. “I’ll still don’t know how we got out of there. The last thing I remember is…Breen falling, A huge explosion…and then…I heard Vortigaunts. Next thing I knew, Dog was digging me, Jacob and Mia out of the rubble. We haven't found Apple Bloom and Konrad yet. It’s all so strange… We should…” "Alyx, come in!” “Huh…It’s my dad. We've been trying to reach him for hours. Wait till he hears that we found you.” Jacob and Mia tried to reach Eli. “There’s too much interference! Can you help us out?” “Yes, Jacob. Dog, give us a hand with this.” Dog used his body as antenna by twisting his hand to get a better signal. “Okay… Little to the right… There we go. Hold it there. We got it. Dad?” “Alyx, where are you? Please, God, tell me you’re out of the City!” "Well, not quite yet but-but listen, Dad, we found him!” “What?! You found Gordon? I don’t believe it. But listen, you have got out of the city. The citadel could blow any moment!” Kleiner appeared on the screen. “There’s no question that it will, I am afraid. Our remote sensors indicate the process is accelerating toward a dark-energy flare.” “Izzy…” “Anyone left in the vicinity will be subjected to energetic events whose effects are beyond my powers of speculation.” “Isaac, please.” “The ravages to cellular material are unimaginable.” “Kleiner! Stop!” Eli pushed him away. “Oh dear, Eli, I'm sorry, but...surely there's no need for undue alarm? Alyx is well out of harm's way by now.” “Well, actually, we’re still at the citadel.” “What? Oh dear! But there's really no time! The core is exceedingly close to collapse. Why, there's no way to get far enough without first...well...nothing short of a direct intervention in the core could possibly retard the reaction.” “Izzy…” “You mean…going in?” Alyx looked at Gordon. “Into the core, yes. But it's far too dangerous to consider. The chamber will be bathed in radiation.” “Well, you do have the Hazard Suit. If we found a way into the Citadel, it’s possible we could---“ “Alyx, no!” “But Dad…” “Izzy, talk some sense into her!” “I'm sorry; Eli, but I don't see any other way. It would help us evacuate more citizens....” “We can do this, Dad.” “Okay, Alyx, okay… Just promise me--- Promise me that you won’t take an unnecessary risk.” “I promise. I love you.” She held her hand on the screen. “I love you, too, baby. I’ll be praying for you.” “Don’t worry. I’ll see you soon.” The transmission ended. “Yeah… Don’t worry…” Alyx mumbled. “Hmm... let's see if we can find a way into the Citadel from somewhere along the rim.” The way was blocked by a crashed Gunship. “Hmmm. Dog? A little help please?” Dog picked it up. “Thanks…” Alyx crawled through with the others. “Okay, boy. Pack up and meet us on the far side of this ridge.” Alyx looked down. “Whoa! What a drop… After you Gordon.” “We must get into the citadel anyway. While searching Gordon, we got a weak radio message from Konrad. He is trapped on the lower levels with Apple Bloom,” Jacob explained. “Then we get better moving. Careful.” They walked careful along the cliff to the other end. “Why’s Dog taking so long? Dog… Dog… Huh… Look out!” a shatter part fell to the ground where Dog was. “Oh my God! Dog! Dog! Dog, are you all right?” Dog came to them undamaged. “Oh, thank God! You scared the hell out of me. Now stay with us… and help us find a way over.” Alyx looked at the citadel. “I cannot believe we're trying to get back in that place.” “Us either. This isn’t going to be easy, but it’s the only way to get our daughter and friend out,” Mia said to Alyx. Dog tested the distance by throwing a rock over the ravine. Then he ran off. “Was it something I said?” Alyx was confused. Suddenly Dog threw an old van to their location. The group was missed barely by it. “Dog…really…that was a little close. What’s gotten into you, huh? How exactly is this supposed to help us?” Dog opened the driver door for her. “What? Wait a minute…Oh no. You’re not serious? Are you?” Gog made some sounds. “Well, Gordon...unless you have a better suggestion... He is a robot. He's done the math.” Under her voice she asked, “You did do the math, right? Uh huh. I want you to get out of here as fast as you can. Go find Dad. We’ll catch up don’t worry.” Dog hugged her one last time. “All right, all right. I’ll miss you too. Now don’t worry about me. I’ll see you soon.” She stepped into the van. “Get in.” Dog picked it up. “Okay Dog, let’s do it. Before I change my---“Dog threw the van into the citadel. “Good throw, Dog! Now go, boy! You’ll be fine just…” The ground started to rumble. "Uh oh. What now? The ground below the van collapsed. It fell through several floors. “Whew. Hey, let’s get off before the next ride starts.” As they got out, the van fell into the abyss. Jacob was dizzy. “Remind me to do this never again.” An orange glow swept through the structure in contrast to the blue it used to be when functional. Fires have spread across the structure. “It’s just like in Black Mesa after the Resonance Cascade, don’t you think, Gordon?” Gordon nodded. Just like in Black Mesa when he fought Zombies with Jacob. A generator exploded. “My God. This place is really coming apart,” Alyx commented. A Soldier was in the corridor, using CPR to revive someone. His helmet and AR2 were right next to him. “1…2…3.” No breathing. “1…2…3. Come on, breathe!” “Apple Bloom!” The Soldier startled, drew his sidearm. “Mia! Man, I am glad to see you! I am trying to revive her. But I had no success so far.” “Apple Bloom…” Mia cried. “Mo-mommy? Why’re you crying?” Apple Bloom breathed again. “Apple Bloom! I thought we had lost you!” With tears of joy they embraced for a hug. “I'm glad to see my life saving efforts weren't in vain.” “Konrad!” Apple Bloom hugged him. For the first time, she saw him without helmet. He was bald, unrecognizable, and even without helmet, his voice sounded still less human and not like Jacob without mask. Apple Bloom swore she saw some metal where his larynx was supposed to be, but is was covered by the uniform so only a very small part of it could be seen. That must give him that robotic or cyborg voice. “I hate to break this family moment, but we have a meltdown to stop.” “Right Alyx, lead the way, Gordon.” Jacob was also glad that Apple Bloom was alive. Konrad putted his helmet back on. "How did you end here?" Alyx asked confused. "I can't remember exactly. I heard Vortigaunts, then an explosion and a cry of pain. When I woke up, I found myself here with Apple Bloom who was not breathing," He explained “Priority alert: Internal stabilization teams, deploy sterilizers. Deploy...” the Overwatch Voice was slowed down, looping, and generally confused and detached which was a sign that the Citadel's functions were failing. The way was blocked by a force field. “Oh my God…Stalkers. Well, they shouldn’t bother us if we leave them alone.” Alyx walked to an interface. “I’ll just disable this field and…” but it couldn’t be disabled. “Damn. I can’t get this down. Somethings… it’s that Stalker.” She pointed to a Stalker that worked on an interface. “He’s holding it from the other side. We don’t have time to look for another way around. How are we going to get through here?” “With this maybe?” Apple Bloom pointed to some Rollermines in a tube. “Good idea. They could help us get out of here. Can you find where those Rollermines are going? I’ve got an idea how to use them here.” Gordon climbed down. “Deploy, Diagnose. Deploy, Diagnose. Present singularity. Present singularity.” Gordon returned with one. “Ah, you found one. Dad taught me how to reset the targeting system on those things. A little extra juice in the right spot and it’s on our side. Hold it out where I can work on it.” Alyx used her EMP-Tool on the mine. The mine emitted an orange light instead of her signature blue. “There it is. It’s a lot more unstable, but it should last long enough to take out the Stalkers.” Gordon launched it. The mine took first the working Stalker out, then the other one who attacked it with his laser. “Okay…we can get through now.” The mine glowed red and exploded. Alyx deactivated the field. “Let’s go.” “Alert. Alert. Alert.” On a catwalk Solders were passing by. “Ah, soldiers! Looks like they're too busy trying to get out of here to worry about us.” They died from an explosion. On a field bridge, a generator malfunctioned, killing all Soldiers on it. “Holy crap… we’ve got to cross through that?” “We have only one chance. Run.” Mia picked Apple Bloom up. “I’ll be right behind you, Gordon.” Gordon sprint through first. Then Alyx and the rest. “We made it!” After a short walk, they came to a strange looking room. “What went on in here?” “Looks like an emergency evacuation chamber to me, Alyx.” Konrad had never seen this part of the citadel before. “What are those things?” Alyx saw some kind of pods being stored under them. She spotted an interface. “Maybe this console has some useful information.” She used the interface. “Let me see if I can pin down a path to the core.” Just like Black Mesa when the airstrikes started, the citadel rumbled. An image of Breen was on the screen. He said the same words before Gordon reached him. “Breen!? But how…” Alyx realized it was just a recording. “Oh… thank God… it’s just an old recording. Let me see if I can find a map.” All screens switched. A grub-like creature was on them. “What in the hay is that!?” “I don’t know, Apple Bloom.” Jacob looked down as an alarm went off and a pod was prepared for launch. Apple Bloom tapped it gently in curiosity. It launched psychic attacks. “Everyone out!” Konrad deactivated a field. Just as he did this, the pod was launched. “Mah head feels like it’s about to explode.” Apple Bloom was holding her head. “Whatever this thing was, it’s gone now sweetheart. The attack obstructed my senses und gave me headaches.” “Same here, Mia. Let’s go,” Alyx said as Gordon took the lead. He walked straight into a Confiscation Field. “Security alert: Unregistered weapons detected. Confiscation Field engaged." “Gordon! What’s going on in there!” “Warning. Counter-resonant singularity device detected. Confiscation field failure.” “Hey it’s doing something to the gravity gun. It looks like it did in Breen’s portal reactor. I’d say their security device backfired.” “That’s right, Alyx. You should have seen what it did when we fought Soldiers,” Konrad commented with a chuckle. “It’ll sure come in handy if it stays that way.” The gravity gun emitted blue light rather than orange, quaked in Gordon's hands, and created small bolts of energy across its muzzle. He threw an Energy Ball into the generator to activate a bridge. At the other side, Soldiers engaged him. “Soldiers! Incoming!” Konrad shouted. Apple Bloom stayed in cover. Still she, Mia, Alyx and Jacob were impressed by the new gravity gun. Any Overwatch Soldier punted by it was instantly killed, and their body retained a charge that killed others if it stroked them. If grabbed by the gun's secondary fire, they were likewise killed. It also had the side effect of vaporizing any weapons the soldiers were carrying. “That’s impressive for sure,” Jacob commented. After crossing the bridges, a Dropship carrying a Strider was flying by only to crash into the ground. The group made its way to an elevator. “Looks like this could be a transport elevator to the core,” Alyx commented as Gordon used an Energy Ball to activate it. The lift down was difficult. Either Gordon had to throw debris out of the way that fell down to prevent the elevator from being destroyed, or had to restart it as it stopped on every floor. At the bottom, where the core was, Alyx pointed up. “Look out! Run!” Large debris fell down and destroyed the lift. Everyone made it in time. Konrad had to dive to prone to make it. “That was close.” Apple Bloom helped him up. “This could be it. Careful.” Alyx pointed to a door where a stylized version of the international symbol for radioactivity was on it. It was the core if the citadel. “Finally. Let’s stabilize this thing before it collapses and get out of here.” Jacob checked his MP7, Mia her Shotgun. There was no turning back now.