URBANEBULA'S NEW STORY. Created 17 years ago2007-09-29 16:23:29 UTC by monster_urby

You know the drill, just read it and make a choice at the end.

HL2: Bitter Divergence.
Part 1

The high pitch ringing of the entryway airlock alarm cut through the deathly silence of the silos tunnel network. There was a slight pattering noise, quite a way off. The patter became a rumble and very slowly mounted up to a roar. It was the sound of the footsteps of a hundred rebels, running as fast as they could towards the entryway, the lights lining the tunnel shaking as they thundered by. They were all breathing rapidly with the weight of their gear pulling them down. The breath turned to mist in the icy atmosphere as the resistance gasped for air through congested red noses.

?Hurry!? shouted Staves from within the crowd, pushing the members in front as they steadied their pace. ?We can?t let the Merge into the facility!?

Inside the airlock, 20 Merge grunts, decked out in snow white camouflage, were packed in tight, like sardines in a can. The Merge was a variation of the metro cops, a sort of Combine SWAT team. They were at the stage above the ranks of the metro cops but still not among the Combine soldiers. They were still predominantly human, having emotions and the sensations of pleasure and pain. However they remained just beyond the point of no return. Slight biological modification meant that while they were capable of disobeying orders, they knew it was in their best interests to comply. The leader of the group had a green stripe running up the sides of his helmet and body armour. His gloved hand reached out and brushed the ice off of the keypad and punched in code. The console beeped and the door remained secure.

?Bravo report.? The radio crackled into life. ?Report your status, over.?
?This is Johansson reporting in.? The leader responded, still tinkering with the keypad on the wall. ?Entry point located and bypassed. I am attempting to bypass the second door.?
?Good. You?re right on schedule.?

On the opposite side of the door the rebels were setting up. They had overturned transport trolleys and stacked up wooden pallets in preparation a few days earlier, having defended against the Merge for 3 months already. A few of the members present were newcomers, still dressed in standard issue citizen jumpsuits. The veterans looked worse, with torn clothing and battle scars. Every so often a Merge grunt would fall with his armour intact and that would then be snatched up by a fighter in a second. Staves had a full set, none of which matched one another. On top of his faded and battered jumpsuit he had a black City 19 metro cop vest and his legs and arms were protected by combine pads of various origin, size and colour.

?Twenty in the airlock!? shouted Peterson, as he hammered away at the security console, jumping from camera to camera, searching the perimeter. ?Holy shit!? he cried ?We?ve got about fifty more outside and two drop ships inbound.?
?Ok people,? Staves climbed up onto a stack of crates and spoke with a tone only he could pull off, motivating each and every rebel in the room. ?This is the big one. You will listen to your squad leaders, Quinn and Becker. They will listen to me. I?m right here with you, and I will see to it that every single one of you will perform to your utmost capabilities. Now let?s kick some ass!?

Make a choice. Vote A B or C.
D doesn't really count.

A) W00t! Another masterpiece from Urbeh, write more! (I write, you read)
B) See above and add "Yeah, and make it a multiple choice one!" (I write, you read and make a choice.)
C) WTF is this shit!? (I don't write)
D) Mmmm...chicken (I go and eat chicken, then I come back and wait for a proper answer.)

D, then B

Ill have to say a.

A combination of D and B.

B

Bee

It's 'bout time.

B

B then?

Good

I've already eaten the chicken anyways.

HL2: Bitter Divergence.
Part 2

?Sir!? Peterson was calling from the security booth, a hint of panic in his voice. ?They?re overriding the doors. I can?t control them from here. They?ve severed the connection.?
?Then get out here and get ready to fight.? Staves barked.

Johansson tapped another four digits into the keypad. Luckily for him, one of the Merge?s modified attributes was an unlimited amount of patience. When combined with their slightly raised speed this made tedious tasks take half the time. The tiny screen above the keypad lit up. It beeped and the door creaked as its gears began to move, turning slowly like a clock, every second passing as quickly as an hour. It was a countdown to the very last moments of more than a few lives.

Mitchell was in Quinn?s squad. He was new to the vast cold wastelands where he found himself now. He had gotten out of City 19 without a scratch, ducking and dodging his way past the furious battles that had taken place after the citadel had been knocked out of action. He looked down at the mp7 that had been forced into his hand by Quinn just minutes earlier. The man next to him shifted uneasily.

?You ok pal?? he whispered, a look of concern on his face.
?Yeah, I?m fine.? He glanced up briefly to see the man?s face. He was quite a bit older than all of the other resistance fighters in the room. His face was dirty and quite hairy. He was wearing a citizen jumpsuit, like Mitchell?s, only much more filthy. The guy looked like he?d been living in a ditch for a week. He looked back down to his mp7 as the noise of the door faded. ?I?m fine. It?s just I?ve never used one of these before.?
?Quiet!? another man urgently whispered.

The door ground to a halt. The Merge squad scanned the unoccupied room and started to move in, very slowly.

?Now!? Staves called out. Jumping from behind the oil drums he was using as cover. The rebels poured out of their hiding spots and opened up. It brought a smile to Staves? face to see the entire Merge team jump out of their skin and fumble away at their weapons in a panic.

The rebel gunfire cut through the misty air and smashed into the bodies. The sound was tremendous as all sorts of weapons were fired and men were hit. Five grunts dropped to the floor before the others could even steady their aim to return the fire. When they did, the rounds hit home, shattering the pathetic barricades of trash and thumping into flesh. Mitchell hadn?t moved, he was behind an overturned table, clutching his gun and covering his face.

?What the hell are you doing?? screamed the old rebel. ?Fire your fucking weapon kid!? He got to his feet vanished into the smoke filled air, firing his weapon off to cover himself.

Mitchell felt someone grab him by the arm. He was spun round, dropping his mp7 and was face to face with Becker, one of the squad leaders. ?Are you one of mine?? he shouted. Mitchell couldn?t focus on Becker?s face. He was looking past him, into the rear of room. Three rebels had already been dragged away from the fight by the only medic available. One of them was trying to push the medic away to help the other two with his remaining arm. Becker turned to look at them and then turned back to Mitchell. He pushed the mp7 back into his hands and moved his face in closer so that it was all Mitchell could see. ?You wanna go sit with ?em? You do your part first, you hear me??

Johansson squatted behind a stack of metal cases. He looked back to the airlock and assessed the damage. Seven of his men had fallen already and he had to react quickly. He leaned out and fired several rounds from his AR2 into the mass of confused rebels dropping four to the ground. The older rebel was making a scramble for some of the fallen Merge soldier?s armour. Johansson watched as he switched from cover to cover, firing as he moved and getting closer to the armoured corpses. He lined up the rebel in his sights and without hesitating, let off three rounds into his chest.

?Shit!? Quinn called out ?Staves! Staves they?re killing us!?
?I know. I?m taking care of it.? Staves was never one for subtlety. He climbed up onto a pile of barrels and emptied an entire round into the Merge?s lines. He dropped five more grunts and hopped back down to the ground. The airlock began closing again, getting set to bring another batch of soldiers into the fight.

Mitchell stood up and took aim with his sub machinegun. He followed a grunt as he moved between cover and then froze. The grunt had spotted him. He dropped down to a crouch and aimed right up into Mitchell?s sight. For a split second his mind wondered. Would he feel the round hit home or would his death be swift and painless? Would he die were he stood or would he take a shot to the neck and be dragged off to die elsewhere? His finger twitched and he tried to focus, tried to get a shot off first. The soldier steadied himself and suddenly burst into a fountain of blood. Peterson had fired just in time. Mitchell gasped and fell to his knees behind the table. Peterson squatted next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

?Hey,? he smiled ?You owe me one, right?? Mitchell nodded. He wouldn?t have laughed if he had known what was coming.

Johansson had seen Peterson?s kill he was going to get even. He aimed his rifle at the table and fired off another three rounds. The bullets ripped through the surface, two of which hit Peterson in the neck. Mitchell flinched as the third shot ripped through the table just inches from his face. He leapt over to Peterson?s writhing body and grabbed his head. He was trashing wildly as he twitched and clutched at his throat, blood pouring out at rapid pace.

?Oh shit!? Mitchell screamed ?Medic! Medic!?

As the remaining rebels finished off the last of the Merge soldiers Johansson retreated towards the airlock. He slipped through with just enough room and vanished behind the reinforced doors. Quinn reached the door just as it was closing and punched at the metal panels.

?Cowardly motherfucker!? he yelled.
?Quinn!? Staves cut in. ?That?s enough.?

Mitchell was standing over Peterson as the medic was desperately trying to stop the bleeding. Peterson was spitting blood out of his mouth and breathing rapidly until he slowed and eventually stopped. Mitchell turned away, the water in his eyes glistened in the dim lights of the tunnel.

?Don?t even think about it.? Roared Becker, reloading his shotgun ?We?re not done yet.? Just as he finished speaking the entire base rumbled.

?What the fuck?? Quinn gasped
?Damn it!? Staves looked up the tunnel towards the opposite end of the base. The tremor had caused dust to drift down from the ceiling. ?They?re blowing the other side open to flank us!?

A) Send Quinn?s squad (including Mitchell) to the opposite side to counter the flank.

B) Send Becker?s squad

C) All fall back to the centre of the base and defend as a larger group

D) Stay put here.

tl;dr

D

hmmm.
I'm gunna say C.

Make sure they grab some any armour that's to hand too, including stripping the dead rebels.

I also say C.

Get another piece of chicken if there's any left, then c.

C looking popular. Anyone else?