Salvation: A Half-Life/Mass Effect Universe Fan Fiction

disclaimer: this fan-fiction takes place after the events of both Half-Life 1 and 2 and its episodes, and jumps to the events after Mass Effect 1 and 2. If you have not played or beaten these games this fiction may not make much sense to you. Characters property of their respective companies, Half-Life created by Valve and Mass Effect created by Bioware.

Chapter 1: Vengeful Lament 

It didn't take long for the tears to well up in her eyes, as she wept over her now lifeless father. "Dad! Oh God! Dad!... Dad!"

Despite all the lives he had seen lost to this accursed rebellion, none had pained the armor clad figure beside her more than this... So desperately he wanted, at that moment, to give her the comfort she needed. But nothing he could do or say would bring back her father, and his dear friend.

"Oh my God... Dad... please... don't leave me..." She begged in a whimpering voice, as her tears flooded out, onto him.

As she lamented over her fallen father, the armored figure beside her stood up, while the other refugee's of White Forrest quickly began to pour into the hangar, with their weapons drawn.  

"What happened?" "Oh my God, Eli!" "They got Eli!" "Whats going on?" "Who did this?" "What happened?" The voices filled the air, as they immediately took notice of tragic scene, but to him he may as well have been listening to a deafening silence.

He leaned over Alyx, and all he could think to do at that moment was to place one gloved hand on her shoulder as she wept. And suddenly without thought or hesitation she stood up and embraced him closely.

"Oh Gordon...! Gordon, he's gone... he's gone." Her embrace shocked him a bit at first but it didn't take more than a second for him to reciprocate... He opened his mouth as if to say something... but he just didn't have the words. There was nothing that COULD be said... Instead he simply stopped and held her tight and close.

It gave her the solace that she needed, atleast for a moment, as some of the other refugees now began to gather around Eli's body and mourn his tragic loss. Tears flowed throughout the room, as a dark silence overcame everyone, and all that could be heard were the sighs and sniffles of the mournful, heartbroken crowd.

"Eli... No!" Came a familiar voice, as Gordon saw his former mentor emerge from the crowd of woeful refugees that had enveloped him. "Oh no! Eli..." He uttered, in an anguished voice, as he dropped to his knees beside the body of his lifeless friend.

"He's gone Dr. Kleiner... he's gone." Alyx replied, with her eyes shut and her arms still tightly wrapped around Gordon. As she said it, she began to tremble and weep uncontrollably again, as a large knot swelled in Gordon's throat as well, and twin tear drops rolled down his cheeks.

"Eli... You... you were always the best of us, old friend. I'm so sorry." Dr. Isaac Kleiner said mournfully, as he released a long drawn-out sigh...

"Alyx, my dear - what happened? Are you alright?" He beckoned, as he stood up and walked toward the grieving daughter.

Slowly letting go of Gordon's embrace she turned to him and replied "I'm not injured, but..." A look of despair overtook her face once again and tears began to roll down her cheeks, as now Dr. Kleiner was the one that quickly rushed in and embraced her "I know, I know, my dear... I'm so very sorry..."

As a white sheet was drawn over Dr. Eli Vance, Gordon simply stood there for a moment, looking down at the puddle of blood spilling out from under the crimson soaked cloth.

"Come my dear, come with me, I'll get you some tea. It'll help calm you down... There there..." Gordon heard Dr. Kleiner, doing his best to offer what little comfort he could, as he and Alyx slowly walked out of the hangar.

But he stood there... Even as they began to lift his fallen friend, the man who felt more like a father and a mentor, off the ground and remove him to await his final rest, he stood there...

His jade, green eyes stared blankly into the large hole in the wall made by those that had done this. He saw it play over and over again in his mind... Him, slammed up against the wall, and pinned there like a worm awaiting disection... Something had frozen his entire body in place. Despite how hard he tried, he could not move, he could do nothing... nothing but bare witness...

He saw it stick that... that damned proboscis like appendage into the back of Dr. Vance's head, and he was absolutely powerless to do anything. Despite all his strength, despite all he had accomplished to this point, despite every blow he had struck... He was helpless when it really mattered. It played in his head, over and over. Each time he saw the image in his mind, it grew more vivid than the last. He relived every horrific moment.

Then he saw them take her... "Gordon!" She cried out, in horror, as they prepared to drive that same damn thing into her... And he... he would have been helpless...

"If it wasn't for Dog..." he thought to himself "She would have..." Suddenly he stopped... he stopped reliving the experience, and it stopped playing in his head as he realized... how close he came to losing her... A sudden clarity fell over his thoughts. Only now did he understand what she had come to mean to him...

Just then, a new thought began brewing in his labyrinthine mind... Not only had they murdered one of his oldest and dearest friends, and the only man he had left on this ruined Earth he felt he could look up to as a father... But they came so very close to taking away the one person in this world who he now knew mattered more to him than anyone, or anything else. The woman who mattered more to him than life itself - his own or otherwise... The thought began to cycle in his mind, over and again. He could feel his own fist clench through his rubbery gloves, and his chest and brow tighten with anger.

"Doctor Freeman?" Came a voice from one of the few refugees remaining in the hangar. "Are you alright?"

But no response came.

"Uh... Doc?"

Just then, with a rapid jerk, he turned and marched with a purpose, out of the hangar, the way the three of them had come in. Up to now he had been fighting for survival, liberation, freedom... But now only one thing drove him, only one thing was on his thoughts... Vengeance.

Gordon stepped onto the elevator platform, and slammed his closed fist against the up button, forcing the door to shut behind him, and causing the lift to slowly ascend.

"Wait! Doctor Freeman, where are you go..." The bewildered refugee below couldn't even finish his sentence before the lift's door slid open, and Freeman was out the door.

Gordon began making his way toward the car garage, where his jaded yellow 1969 Dodge Charger awaited him for yet another ride into the impending doom of the Combines hands. He passed through the stream of humanity coming and going with little regard for them, nearly knocking over two citizens and shoving a third into a nearby wall. Each of them stopped and looked at him with disarray and inquiry as to where he was going.

"What the hell's his problem?" asked one of the refugees to one that nearly had a close encounter with the floor on Gordon's way out.

"I have no idea, but did you see that look in his eyes? I'm not gonna be the one to try and stop him, be my guest." The other one snickered as they all continued to look at the cold, calculating man now entering the garage.

Resolute, he gave the room a quick scan before spotting his car on the other side of some stacked tires, and a couple of worn out tool chests. He didn't say one word to anyone in the room, as his steadfast steps carried him to his allegiant vehicle. The air around the entire compound was still heavy with the lament and sorrow of what had just transpired. All around him tears ran, and people leaned up against the walls looking downward at the floor with a grimace.

As he climbed into his vehicle; a relic of a better time, but one that had now seen far worse than most ever would, he couldn't help but stop for a moment and think about the great loss that now burdened his heart. But only for a moment, before the seething anger that now blinded his actions returned.

A single rebel, dressed in blue resistance fatigues reluctantly approached his car. "Uhm... Doctor Freeman, are you going somewhere?"

Gordon said nothing as he cranked the key, igniting the engine.

"Doc, where are you going?" Inquired the same refugee, a look of concern now overtaking his face.

Gordon once again remained silent as he began to gas the engine, causing the car to let forth a fusillade of furious roars, seemingly now sharing his appetite for revenge.

"Wait Free Man." A heavy, raspy voice called out to him, resounding with wisdom and sagacity, as a slick skinned alien approached his car. "I know what drives you Free Man. You seek now to rend the cords of those who have taken something most dear from you."

With his hands resting firmly on the wheel of the car, Gordon took great care to heed everything the vortigaunt said, for theirs was the wisdom of eternity and the cosmos, but even then, very little could sway him from what he vowed to do.

"But be not imprudent in your actions, Free Man." The vortigaunt continued. "For even we, that have endured these binding shackles for generations, have taken great care not to rush blindly into the fires of our enemies. The lesser master lays defeated, we know the greater will also fall in time... And even though many of our own kin lay scattered at your feet, we embrace you as sib."

Gordon's grip on the wheel loosened slightly. "Think well on your actions now Free Man, where to now? And to what end?" The vortigaunt's words echoed with acumen and clarity, and were successful in making the Free Man reconsider his plan of action, but only for a moment...

Gordon released a long overdue sigh while looking down through his steering wheel... "Open the gate..." He ordered with a scowl on his face that embodied a plethora of anger, hatred, remorse, sorrow, and fear...

"Very well, Free Man." Conceited the vort, with obvious disapproval and concern. "We have come to place great trust in your judgement... And if we can not deter your course of action, then may the Vortessence guide you on your journey. Chalam baugk go'rel a ragm." The vortigaunt slowly turned and stepped away as the heavy, steel gate to White Forest slowly slid open.

He did a quick check of the dashboard display to make sure he had enough fuel. The meter marked just under "F", more than enough. His gloved hands tightly gripped the wheel and his eyes stared outward into the night, as he readied himself for lied ahead... The mechanical screech of the opening gate stopped with a bang, revealing that the gate was now fully open.

"Well, if none of us can stop ya, then be careful out there Doc!" exclaimed the nearby gate operator. "Come back safe, and give 'em hell for Eli!"

Gordon turned slightly to her saying nothing but acknowledging her with a very slight nod. He released one hand from the wheel and grasped the gearshift, taking it out of park. And with the screech of burning tires, and the roar of a V8 engine, he bolted off into the falling darkness...