//------------------------------// // 4 - Desychronized // Story: Half-Life : A World Beyond // by Random Gamer //------------------------------// Clara, like the skilled assassin she was, managed to climb up to the sniper's next - an old building with a bell tower. Getting in required some tampering with the security to temporarily get the clearing she wanted but once she got inside, it was child's play. A quiet assassination followed and she become the de facto sniper in Sector 10 to 20. It provided an excellent view of said sectors, though some were more visible than others. Everything went according to our plan but not theirs and we ran into a serious problem. "Trixie and Conner are two sectors to the north, you guys see them?" Said Clara through the radio, using a very specific frequency not avaitable to regular Civil Protection units. Apparently, even the Combine were afraid of the number of the beast. "Not yet. How does the situation look on your end?" I asked. "Everything fine and dandy?" "Not at all, Terin. Trixie looks ready to jump out and start shooting while Random is just standing next to her, as if waiting for her signal. This looks bad. Very bad." "Agreed. We need to get there, immediately. I hope whoever these uniforms belonged to had clearance for Sector 18." Said Darek and we started running towards a checkpoint leading to Sector 17 and hopefully to 18 as well. "Guys, if anything screws up, shoot. Shoot your way out. I'll cover you if I can." said Clara, signalling us to improvise if neccesary. We reached the checkpoint when the problems started. "Clearance not high enough, return to your posts." uttered another CP as we tried to pass through. "Excuse me? I just got clearance all the way to 18. Please, check again." I said, hoping the one and only CP in the checkpoint would turn around. He did and checked if our clearance was elevated via a security terminal. "Negative, you still don't have the clearance to-" He was interrupted by Clara who used her Overwatch Sniper Rifle to silence him with a precise and silent shot in the cranium, spraying the terminal with blood. "Update your clearance and go. We don't have much time left. Trixie and Random started plan b. I repeat, they started plan b." "Understood. Nice shot by the way" said Darek. We managed to hack the terminal, turn off all the cameras for all Sectors from 10 to 20 and update our clearance. Then we ran, ran as fast we could to reach Sector 18. Thankfully, 17 was just a small, deserted outpost and served as a shortcut to 18. We reached it just in time before any shooting took place. "Attention, attention! All CP units in Sector 18, let CR890 and FI777-E pass though Sector 18 and 19. We will serve as their escort if problems arise." I announced through the regular Overwatch radio, using Trixie's and Random's stolen uniform tokens. Hopefully, this will be the only thing I'll have to do. "Understood JP889-X. Dispatch an escort to said units. We detect you have a far greater clearance than anyone else in the area. Report any problems directly to me. Legate Cyral out." Replied a local high-ranking officer. Phew, that was close. "Clara, did you-" said Darek through a secure frequency. "Yep, I did. Now keep going. I'll have to reposition to get a better view up to Sector 23. In the meantime, try no to cause any trouble." said Clara and cut the transmission. "Well, I hope nothing more screws up while we're on our way." I said. "You think? You didn't see the sectors up front. We'll have to shoot our way through those, no matter how hard we try." said Darek, full of doubt. I didn't reply to his pessimistic remark and walked to Trixie and Random, hoping I'll escort them safely to Sector 23. After that, we ourselves have to think of a way to get out of the city.