Black Bloom 2

by Bronycommander

Chapter 11 Direct Intervention

Chapter 11: Direct Intervention

At the control interface, a squad of Elite Soldiers attacked the group. Konrad used an Energy Ball, to disintegrate the entire Squad. An alarm sounded and a red warning symbol appeared on the screen.
Konrad used the interface. “I don’t get it. Why are they hanging around here? It looks like they were deliberately trying to blow the reactor. But why?”

The window opened revealing the core. The core was a blue sphere encompassing a pitch-black volume of space that looked like a black hole, ebbing and receding in an agitated fashion, and occasionally gave off flashes of yellow light.

“Oh my god. It looks pretty far gone. I hope Doctor Kleiner was right.” Alyx used the interface. “Let’s see if we can find a way through the control room.” She opened a blast door with another interface.

“The elevator's down in the core entry. Let me see if I can call it back to this level.” Alyx used the interface.

“These readings are off the chart. Hope it's not too late to reengage the containment field.” She turned to Gordon. “Good thing you know what you’re doing.”

The elevator arrived. “Well…Here’s your elevator. Gordon I…I wish there was something else I could do to help.”

“I can help him. My armor is made for situations like this. I am immune to radiation.”

"Very well Konrad, just hurry back.” Alyx laid her hand on the glass.

“Be careful, uncle.” Apple Bloom did the same with her hoof.

Down at the core, a Stalker deactivated a bridge. “You don’t have to kill the Stalkers. If we don’t attack them, they won’t attack us. We just have to be fast enough.”

“If you say so, Konrad.”

Gordon activated the bridge. They sprint across. Gordon was a little bit scared as a Stalker walked right past him. But the Stalker passed him as if he weren't there at all.

“See? As long as we don’t attack them, they leave us alone.”

"How did you know that?"

"Let's just say, I used to monitor them before being deployed to the front," the soldier replied with a light frightened and unpleasant voice.

At the first room, Konrad took care of the Soldiers while Gordon activated the containment system. “According to this interface, we have to do this in two more rooms.”

"Alright, let’s go, Corporal.”
The two men had to cross the unstable core without being atomized.

After taking out more Soldiers, Gordon activated the second machine.

“Let’s pray this works.” Konrad jumped on one of the rotating containment pincers to reach the last room. He made it but was about to lose his balance. Gordon grabbed his left hand to pull him up.

"What did your handbook say again? If it's stupid but works, it isn't stupid." Gordon could sworn that the former soldier gave him an not amused look. That's what he thought as the helmet covered his face.

"DON'T remind me of that."

Manhacks attacked. Gordon just threw them into the core, atomizing them.

Apple Bloom and Alyx were watching over them from inside the control room. Konrad gave Apple Bloom a thump up to show that everything was fine. "Like my colleagues said to me back in black Mesa: 'With my brains and your brawn we'll make an excellent team.' And we really make an excellent team. You're make a good uncle for Apple Bloom. And if the theory about the Multiverse is correct, you'll make a good father for Ruby too."

"How did you that?"

"Apple Bloom told me about it on our way to Black Mesa East."

At the last room, the machine malfunctioned. “I see the problem. The generators are out.” Konrad looked down.

“No problem.” Gordon ractivated with Energy Balls the 3 generators, then the machine.

The core was now stable. It was now a non-ebbing blue ball, the black volume inside it having disappeared, with its four rotating containment pincers above retracted to contain it.

“Your suit and the gravity gun! They are normal again!” Konrad noticed how they reverted back into ordinarily state.

“I liked it that way. Anyway, let’s meet with the rest of the team again.”

“I am right behind you.”

"And Konrad, sorry that I tried to stab you 20 years ago."

"It's belongs to the past, I don't look back anymore. Forgiven."

The former Overwatch Soldier sounded honest and returned with Gordon to the control room.

“You did it, uncle!” Apple Bloom cheered.

“The containment system’s back in place. It won't last forever, but at least we've bought a little time.”

Alyx smiled at Gordon. “While you were in there, I did some poking around in the control data. They were trying to start a chain reaction, all right...But destroying the Citadel is just a side effect.” Alyx walked to the interface.

“Since we took out Breen's reactor, this is the only way they have to send a transmission packet back to wherever they came from. I can't tell what the packet contains, but it's important enough that they're willing to sacrifice the whole Citadel to send it off. We need to get it to my Dad and Dr. Kleiner at the outpost right away. I've been pulling down a copy. Whatever it is, I have a feeling its bad news for all of us.” She looked worried.

“There’s something else. It’s Judith.” She activated a message. “Take a look.”

“I'm fairly sure I've pinned down the location of the Project. It's hard to say how much of it might have survived intact, or whether there's anything remaining that could compromise our work... if it were discovered by the Combine. We'll need to take a close look at it, of course, but I should be able to give a better opinion within a few hours. If the site is where we think it is, then it should be no more than...” There was an explosion. “I'm going to cut this short. We may have been spotted.” Mossman fled as Combine troops attacked.

“Where is she?”

“What is that? Run for it!” One of the rebels shouted as a three legged creature destroyed the camera.

“She’s in serious trouble. We need to get this and the transmission packet to my Dad. He'll know what to do with it. The packet’s done copying. I got it right here.” She held a small USB stick in her hand. Now let’s get out of here.”

A siren went off. “Uh oh… I think they felt that! I secured an exit elevator. It’s this way!”

“Ah just want to get out of here.”

"We all want Apple Bloom, we all,” Mia said as they followed Alyx.

“Something tells me they don't want us reading their mail.” Alyx spotted Soldiers that tried to stop them.

“This lift will take us to a train platform. If we can hitch a ride it should take us straight out of the city.” Alyx noticed the gravity gun. “Hey, the gravity gun’s back to normal. Well… it was nice while it lasted.” She drew her gun.

At the train platform Alyx hacked two Rollermines that took care of the Soldiers. “Coast is clear.”

Once they were in the train, it moved.

“Well that was a nice clean getaway.”

“Yes Alyx, we made it!”

“Yes, Apple Bloom we did it. I don't know what's in this copy we made, but they're not thrilled about us having it. You know, all things considered, we’re not doing too...” Alyx was interrupted by a groan.

“Oh no… It’s a stalker car. God damn the Combine. This is what happens to you if you resist. Or if you're just in the wrong place at the wrong time. They're me... If I ever let my guard down... God, I hope you don’t remember who you were.” Alyx closed one of the pods where the Stalkers where in.

Gordon and Apple Bloom looked at each other. Now they knew from what Barney and Jacob had saved them.

Mia rubbed her back to comfort her. “Mommy’s here for you.” Even Konrad was disturbed by them, as every Soldier that wasn’t fitting for the Overwatch was either killed or turned into a Stalker as he was turned into an Overwatch Soldier. Apple Bloom could tell it as he was lightly trembling in fear.

“All right. Let’s see where this train is headed.” Alyx walked to the control panel.

“With any luck we should be well out of the city before it's too late. Thank god we’re not on foot.” She sighed. "Let’s hope the worst is over. It looks like you’ve saved our lives again Gordon.”

The train rumbled. “What’s that? Oh my god. Brace yourselves!”

Gordon along with Konrad and Jacob were thrown into the back of the train as it derailed.

The crash awaked the Stalkers. They all screamed and roared. Alyx, Mia and Apple Bloom were trapped as pods were on top of them. “Daddy, get it off me, please!” She cried scared.

Gordon helped Alyx, Jacob Mia and Konrad Apple Bloom. She trembled in his arms.

They crawled through a hole to the underground of City 17, not knowing that they would meet a new enemy.

Author's Note:

Those who played Half Life should know which enemy they will meet.

I always tried to do this level without killing the Stalkers and you have to be very fast. Their look remind me of the Borg. The only thing that's scares me, is the sounds they make.

Also, as Gordon needs his suit to survive in the extremely radioactive Citadel Reactor Core and the Stalkers and Combine Soldiers meet in the core are seemingly unaffected, It makes sense to me that they are resistant or immune to radiation.