There's not much to say here besides welcome back, and along with my hopes of you enjoying the very long-awaited chapter. Enjoy.

Gordon sat against a tree looking over his equipment while Qrow and the others sat around the fire, uncomfortably quiet. Thoughts ran through his head as he continued to sit there, not all of them the most pleasant of things.

'This is ridiculous! Why are we even out here doing this; to get back home? Why would we do that, if and when we get back home, we're just going to end up fighting aliens instead of abdominal demons. At least the demons don't shoot back at us-'

Gordon sighed before speaking. "Can't you just stop being negative for one second?" It went silent for a second, giving Gordon some peace of mind before it started again.

'Oh, so now you want to voice your own opinion to me while were alone but you won't hear me out when we're being shot at. Real cool, Dr. Freeman, real mature. You know, if it was up to me-'

"If it was up to you, nothing would change since we're the same person. I heard you in Black Mesa, I heard you in City 17, I heard you when almost everyone we know died around us. Don't act like anything that you say or do doesn't have any meaning to what we've done already!" He almost shouted at the voice...and the silence still remained around the campfire as well as the voice no longer responding.

Gordon stared at the group...and noticed that Jaune had walked away, leaving the others to stare at him now.

He looked over to where Jaune had walked to, and saw that he was turning around, a look of confusion, and anger upon it, yet he stayed quiet almost as if they were all waiting on Gordon to say something else. "Oh... I apologize for the...sudden outburst. It seems like I interrupted something rather important... please continue."

"What is all of this? Ruby's being hunted, the schools are being attacked, we have a mad scientist traveling with us that supposedly has a portion or something like that of the power you just described, and for what?! What is the point of all of this?! Will you just tell us what's going on?!" Jaune made rather clear with his tone of voice.

Eyes slightly drifted over to Gordon again, the term Mad Scientist seeming like a term that he would be offended by. Instead, he just shrugged it off. If anything, it put him in the same category as Kleiner and a few others he knew. It just comes with the job.

Qrow gestured to Jaune before sighing. "Would you sit down? You're stressin' me out, and I'm pretty sure the Doc here isn't taking all of this any better."

Jaune sat back down on the log and crossed his arm, a moody child is what Gordon would call this reaction if he didn't know any better, but this entire situation is something that is difficult to take in, even for an adult...

Qrow tipped the flask in his hand back and forth before lifting it up to take a swig, only to stop and put the cap back on while speaking. "Not many people are super religious these days, look at the Doc over there, I'm sure he's believing that most of this can be explained with science given enough time." He set the flask down on the ground.

Gordon started to open his mouth but decided to keep quiet. If anything, he'd seen more of the science than he'd wish he'd ever seen. Sure, he can't explain what exactly... all of what Remnant holds, but he doesn't want to stay here long enough to be able too. There's still the resistance back on Earth that needs to be taken care of, and he doesn't want everyone to experience any more losses like before.

Almost as if his eyes began playing tricks on him, the shadows from the campfire began to illustrate on the rock, going along with Qrow's words. He took off his glasses at this point and rubbed them a bit with a cloth, only to put them back on and see that it was gone... along with everything that he was hearing. He could see Qrow speaking, the movements of his mouth evidence enough proof, but what he couldn't get was that there were no longer any words to go with it. He could still hear the crackle of the campfire and the cicadas, or at least he hoped they were cicadas, chirping in the forest around them.

"It'ssss as you said, Doctor Freeman. These world religious views do not involve you. You are here to guide Ms. Rose to where she's supposed to arrive."

Gordon whipped his head around to see if he could find the origin of the voice, for he already knew who was speaking such words. He stared back in front of him and there he was, standing in the campfire completely unaffected by the flames. His suit and briefcase ever the same. His piercing green eyes staring into his.

"You're moving ahead of schedule, as usual. It worried some that you'd end up failing deadlines and being late like you were at your previous place of employment, but it seems you've...grown up some. I, of course, expected such results."

Gordon stood up, his hand reaching towards his crowbar but felt nothing. He didn't even bother looking to see where it went, he knew the man did something with all of his gear anyways. The others didn't seem to notice the man, and neither did they react to his sudden leap to his feet.

"If I'm supposed to do my job correctly, shouldn't I at least have some sort of report, or maybe something, anything, to explain my job?" He said angrily, his emotions getting the better of him.

The man didn't say anything, instead, he continued to stare at Gordon. His free hand waved at the others, from Jaune to Ruby, leaving out both Nora and Ren in his gesture, but he figured it meant nothing.

"A flower wilts when left uncared for. A crow is cursed to be alone, all things surrounding life, but pertain to a job as well. You see Dr. Freeman... your job is... rather straight forward. Deliver Ms. Rose to the designated destination, and deal with obstacles as you seem fit."

The man adjusted his tie.

"We're... currently in the process of transferring your contact, but... the current objective stays the same. We... hoped for you to meet the original contact when you first arrived, but it appears... that there were some complications on their end. So, you'll meet with someone we're not... entirely familiar with ourselves... he goes by the name... Oscar Pine. New to the job... but nonetheless responsible... I expect some on the job training from yours truly."

Gordon was about to ask if the man was about to train someone that he had no idea about, but that was all pushed aside when a slender finger pointed at Gordon, or next to him to be exact. He opened his mouth and stuttered before another figure walked beside him.

'See now this is what I'm talking about, giving me responsibilities without even asking my permission. I mean, do you even care about... what... I... think?'

Gordon was now looking at the figure, and it was looking back at him. Dressed in a lab coat, a ponytail hanging from the back of his, much fuller head of hair then himself, and a familiar pair of glasses as well. It was him, well, this figure looked exactly like him... and it only sounded slightly different.

'Holy shi-'

"I will be borrowing this... copy in the time being. Certain things must be finished in time, and someone of your qualities will serve that purpose."

Copy-Gordon is the first thing that came to his head when the figure started to open his mouth before he vanished in a flash, only leaving the two of them there.

"Now, Dr. Freeman, I must get back to... work. A certain casualty... report, you understand how those work don't you?"

Gordon reached his hand out, finally noticing that he was able to move. Before he could get a word out the man who was now walking towards a door that mysteriously appeared out of nowhere.

"Where...where are you taking him?"

The man continued to ignore Gordon, but what caught his eye more than anything was a pair of silver eyes staring not directly at him, but more at... him. Gordon looked at Ruby with complete and udder disbelief and then shot a look at the man who was now walking through the door, then back at Ruby once more. She looked confused more than anything, and when she tried to open her mouth as if trying to speak to him, she started to fall over; only to catch herself and bring a hand up to cover a yawn that was now emerging from her mouth.

Gordon wanted to get out of this ethereal experience as fast as he could, to at least try and ask Ruby before she fell victim to what he could only depict as something that the man-caused.

He wanted to jump up and stop her from falling asleep, but before he could do so, the same feeling overcame him as well and his eyes fell down with the weight of bricks.

Sitting in a black abyss, nothing insight as an ever-ending tone of loneliness seeps into your mind. Your body is the lightest it has ever been and with it the feeling of floating. You yourself know that something is wrong, yet the very feeling of wrongness is absent in your mind. You try to raise your hand, an attempt left fruitless as the hand you feel moving isn't in front of your eyes, or that the fact that the eyes you see out of are not even there to begin with. A sense of emotions flow over your system, and then nothing. In that minimal second, you felt every possible emotion you could have even begun to understand. Depression, vexation, satisfaction, abandonment, loathing, infatuation, resentment; all of which drowned you in the very feelings that you once tried to hide within yourself at the most opportune times.

Returning from the overflow of emotions, your mind wanders to the figure walking out of a strange door in, what you could only guess, to be in front of you. A suited figure that looked deathly pale with green eyes that would stare towards you in any situation and wouldn't change the slightest.

You want to move, to shout out towards the man and question what the very thing that is causing this mess to happen with you, the one that is simply… not there. Yet you can do nothing as he approaches, suitcase in hand. Fear begins to encroach upon your mind, the only emotion you can feel even though it's so small, it stills lies within you. Your nonexistent legs attempt to carry you backward, yet they cause you to stumble in the weightless abyss, and still, there is no movement from you.

The man had finally stopped, and his eyes are locked with what you can only guess to be yours. He speaks.

"I see you've finally awoken…" A loud scratch of static blares through your false ears, blocking out the very words you want to hear and recognize, yet fail to. "While a time of rest is… admirable, the time for recognizing one's potential has come to… bear fruit." A smile crept onto the man's face, a spine-chilling feel crept along your body, the man's eyes losing all sense of color and becoming complete black orbs of nothing, sharing the same abysses that surrounded your being.

You're no longer floating in a blacken abyss, but instead, you're sitting in a chair overlooking to be some sort of facility. Men are running outside following another while shouting words she couldn't understand. More are doing exercises while one is standing above them while shouting still.

Rubbing her eyes, she finds herself finally able to move, and with it is able to stand up. Upon doing so, the sound of a door opening sounds from behind her. In walk two men, one of them appearing to be the man she saw before, still wearing the same suit and carrying the same briefcase. Next to him however was a man in a brisk tan suit, with varying medals covering his left breast.

She wanted to speak, but instead, her body moved on its own and her arm was brought up, almost as if she was saluting the two. The other man dismissed her and she lowered her arm and turned around, only to keep on watching what was going on outside. A door to her left opened up down on the grounds and a somewhat familiar man walkout. The man with the briefcase stood next to her and stared at the same man as she, the build and everything seemed familiar, but she couldn't place a finger on it. The two continued to watch him as he ran across the ground only to stop and stare at the two of them for a second before continuing his run towards the opposite building.

Slight breathing could be felt on her ear. "How does it feel to see your killer before even knowing him?"

And with that, she fell back into the black abyss.

She floated for a short time before finding herself sitting in a chair once more, this time in a very different environment. Here she was surrounded by others dressed similar to herself, clad in black with various bandoliers and what appeared to be balaclavas on some of them. Sounds began to become clear to her, but very slowly until a nudge was made in her side, making her turn. A girl who looked to be slightly shorter than herself, her hair was kept in a black beanie, but what appeared to be the strangest of all of this was her eyes. Two different colors, one brown and the other pink.

"So, Blakey, does Lieutenant Taurus really live up to his name 'The Bull' or is he nothing but a calf in bed?"

Blake stared at the girl before blinking and nearly falling out of her chair before leaning over to her and whispering. "SHHHH, keep quiet you, and how many times do I have to tell you it's not like that!"

The cheeky girl leaned back and chuckled before whispering back. "Really? Because as your SB [1] at the moment I see it as my responsibility if my mate gets up in the middle of the night and just so happens to go into the captain's room. It also just so happens to be my responsibility to listen in and make sure nothing goes wrong, and correct me if I'm wrong, but purring doesn't seem to be just nothing~"

The talking from upfront suddenly stopped as a slap on what seemed to be aboard got the two's attention. "Staff Sergeant Politan, I hope your willing to share what your whispering as of this moment since it seems to take so much more important than the mission briefing right now!"

She quickly stands up and salutes. "It's nothing First Lieutenant, Me and First Sergeant were just talking about her adventurous nightlife into the wild, Sir!"

He stands quiet for a second before speaking. "Is this true Belladonna?"

Blake stands up quickly while also saluting. "Yes Sir, I was just confirming that the animals found where not what they appear as, and, well Sir, they were rather disappointing"

Where the room once had slight muttering went entirely quiet, and Blake could see out of the corner of her eye Politan was still saluting while turning to look at her, her mouth dropped and the surprised look she was giving her was entirely, too priceless if she had to be honest. When she looked around, Politan wasn't the only one giving her that look, half of the room was doing so as well.

The man known as 'First Lieutenant' looked rather agitated and waved his hand. "You're all dismissed. If you have any questions, look over the handout first then come speak to me."

Politan nudged Blakes's arm slightly and the two of them started to leave the building along with the rest of the crowd. "I swear kitten, you keep crawling up the wrong tree you're gonna get a lot more than a simple bite you hear?"

Blake sighed. "Whatever you say, I at least know when my lucks run out-"

A voice from behind them caused the two of them to stop. "First Sergeant, can I speak to you for a moment?" She froze as Politan gave her a devilish grin.

"Now what was that about your luck running out? Or is it possibly a life instead?"

"Staff Seargent, I asked for Belladonna, you're not needed here"

She quickly spun around on her heels and saluted the man. "Of course, First Lieutenant, I was just... making sure my partner knew about our plans later this evening. That is all"

The man hummed before speaking. "Understood. You're dismissed"

Politan quickly dropped her arm and shot Blake another smile before jogging out of the building. Until the door finally closed, she finally let out a sigh of relief. "Is there anything I can help you with Lieutenant, you see-"

She felt a hand grip her shoulder and turn her around. "I thought I told you to call me by my name when it was just the two of us?"

Blake scowled at him before looking away. "And I believe I told you I was done with you; Adam."

His hand moved down to her arm now. "You don't get that choice Blake, I do. Last time I checked; you'd still be nothing but a Seargent like your friend there if it wasn't for me."

She got out of his grasp and took a step back. "You should honestly check again First Lieutenant, because last time I checked, I don't remember receiving any sort of help whatsoever. So, if you want my honest opinion, you can royally fuck-off, Sir." She quickly spun on her heels, and any sounds that came from behind her would be lost to the abyss that she quickly fell into.

Tumbling over and over, she came to a stop inside of a helicopter. It was completely silent, well, as silent as it could be with the sound reverberating around them. Almost all of them were completely geared up, guns in hand, balaclavas on, and headgear attached. Taking more notice, the only ones who still were covered up completely were herself, and Politan. Taking sight of her, Politan leaned over and whispered as loudly as one could inside of a flying helicopter.

"Now I know you're thinking of killing every son of a bitch in here, but just hear me out. If we grab one, I want it, you hear!"

"That's disgusting and you know it!"

"Sure, but as long as you understand~"

A crackle of radio came over her earpiece, and it appeared to be speaking to all of them. "Alright people, we went over this time and time again. There's no mistake about it, the brains went and caused another problem, and while we wouldn't normally come in, the Jar-heads went and fucked it up even further. That's all there is to it. We get the payload to the delivery point, and we leave it at that. Eliminate any survivors and get out. Those idiots had their chance to leave, it's not our fault if they decided to stay behind! We get in and get out. Fifteen to drop."

With that, the doors opened to the helicopter and lines fell to the ground. It appeared to be pitch black outside, but with the slip of the balaclava over her head and the NVG as well, the once complete darkness was lit up around her. She followed behind Politan and hooked onto the line before jumping out and repelling her way to the ground. With a rather quiet stomp onto the ground, she unhooked herself and started the quiet run towards the nearest building where the others had started to line up.

As she made her way over to the others, an explosion rocketed off in the distance and caused her to stop. Even in the dead of night, the sounds of gunfire and what she could only guess to be... some sort of otherworldly force in a way. The briefing didn't sit well in her head, the constant headache ringing whenever she tried to look back in it. All she could really recall was that it was something not from this planet; aliens as Politan liked to put it across. Multiple figures flew through the sky, some of which she knew was the same Black Hawks she came in on. While the others didn't even resemble even a jet in the night sky, because last time she checked, any sort of jet didn't have a tail like that of a manta-ray.

Another explosion went off, this time a little closer than before, and she shook herself of the distraction. Looking back at where the lineup once was, the door was now open and everything seemed calm. Quickly making her way over there, upon entering the building, she was greeted with an impromptu command station and corpses of various shapes and sizes.

The ones she could easily point out where that of scientists, young and old alike. Their corpses were slumped across the wall, almost like the ones who shot them lined them up like a firing line. The ones who she suspected to be most obvious suspects of said action were in the process of being dragged out of sight. A clean shot in each of their heads. As she continued to walk forward, a voice called out to her.

"First Sergeant, I hope the sight of bodies isn't ruining your midnight stroll, but we have a job to do and I'd appreciate if we were all on the same page."

"No sir, not at all. Just thought the stars looked mighty fine tonight."

The older man who called out to her turned around and walked back inside. Taking a moment, she now recognized the individual as Captain Jeffery Gail. What made her do a double-take is that he is already here, even she didn't see First Lieutenant Taurus anywhere, not that she had an issue with that. Why someone that normally came much later, or even being this close, in general, was a surprise. Apart of her wanted to see Someone even higher up appear, then again, the other part wanted to never see them.

"First Sergeant, I need you to take Staff Sergeant Politan and a small unit to check out ahead. There's an area..." He looked down at the map before him, before a soldier next to him pointed to a square on the map and he nodded his head before speaking to her again. "Head to Building F and clear it out for us. Also, you meet any scientists along the way, at least leave one for interrogation. We're in need of some updated intel and someone who's been here through all of this would be helpful. If you have any questions or come across anything important, you report to me directly. You're dismissed."

Blake nodded her head and a small thought went right past her mind and straight out of her mouth. "What will be done with the scientist afterward Sir?"

He kept his eyes on the map as the man beside him went quiet. "We're cleanup Sergeant. We'll take care of it. Now then, I believe I said you were dismissed, First Sergeant."

She saluted and spun on her heel and began walking over to Politan and the few others that were surrounding her. She tried to recall who they were, but that was put away by the fact that each one of them had balaclavas over their heads. Upon reaching the group, Politan leaned over while pulling up the balaclava only enough so her mouth was showing.

"Let me guess, you need me and my merry women to go with you into the depths of alien-infested territory." Blake paused after she said those words and one of the women on the other side of her punched her arm. "I'm joking there Blakey," She tapped her ear before Blake took notice that she left the comms on.

"I suppose I should give you a rundown of the crew you're in charge of. To start off, the one who punched me rather brutally would be Maize thinks more with her fists than anything really-" Maize punched her in the arm once more, and Politan started to rub her arm.

"Sheesh woman, I get it, I talk too much. Next up is Lydia, the one and true silent threat. While she mostly keeps to herself, did you know that-" Lydia was the one to punch Politan in the other arm this time. "Goddammit people, do you even know how to take a joke?"

Politan sighed as she rubbed her arms once more. "You know what, I'm not even gonna bother introducing the last fella, I don't want to get hit again; but did you know-" Lydia and Maize both punched at Politan and caused her to curse as she turned around. "Jesus Christ women, why can't you just let me talk for once!"

Blake tapped her foot for a second and sighed. The other three stood at attention while Politan continued to rub her shoulders. "So, there you go Chief, a ragtag squad of... well not misfits, but they should suffice for this simple recon, don't you think?"

Blake nodded her head before speaking. "We could have skipped most of the rif raf there Staff Sergeant, we have a job to do and I'd much rather finish it quickly before the Captain over there stares a hole through the back of my head. Let's get it down people, we have time, but I'd rather be back before anything bad can go wrong."

It was the dead of night, the sounds of gunshots and explosions rocketed off in the distance. This, however, was ignored by the five figures making their way through the now-abandoned buildings and rubble that littered the grounds of Black Mesa. Each time they entered a building, they were met with the same scene over and over again. Dead scientists that appeared to be herded into one area and shot, or found hiding in an office corner and shot there. A variety of aliens, that in turn Politan would stop and fiddle around with before being forced to move along. Each time they encountered an Alien, a group of either dead soldiers or scientists would be crowded around it or be in a line as if they tried to run away from them.

Besides the occasional splash of water from an open sprinkler head or a puddle of blood, the five were silent in their footsteps and their words. This continued on for what seemed like forever to Blake, but it quickly came to an end when the sound of laughter was coming from a building, they thought empty, in front of them.

With a quick flick of her hands, the group dispersed into the shadows and around corners in hopes and eventually a high success of finding alternate routes to enter in through.

Her breathing was silent as she continued to run, and with a click of her comms, she stopped moving while hugging a wall. "Captain Gail, everything has appeared to be clear so far, no sign of survivors. Building F is looking to be empty-" A loud explosion came over the comms and she had to take it off in hopes of saving her eardrums. "Sir, is everything alright?"

"You keep on clearing out that building First Sergeant." His voice sounded distant as another shot went off. "Will someone kill these damn idiots so we can continue on with this cleanup" A scream rocketed off through the comms after another explosion went off. "What do you mean it's only one? Is it Shepard, then why isn't he- AGHHH" Then everything went silent.

"Captain...Captain! First Sergeant Blake Belladonna to Captain Jeffery Gail, do you read me?"

Silence floated through the comms as the sounds of a grunting man supposedly taking off the ammunition off the now killed soldiers. She scowled before switching back to her squad. "Lydia, I need you to go back and make sure that everything is all in order."

"Ma'am?"

"We need to make sure that our 'package' is all in order. That is the last thing we need is that to go haywire, let alone go off too soon, or else it's all of us gone."

"Right right, we got it Chief. She's already heading out. I'd suggest you come over here and check something out. We've got a group of interesting 'hostiles' ripe for the picking." She chuckled on the other side of the comms before Blake cut her off. "You will hold tight until I get there, and I repeat, you will not engage."

She could hear Politan chuckle before shutting off her comms. Blake knew her for a while but still wasn't comfortable with how she treated anyone that wasn't her as anything but a toy. Her footsteps splashed against the puddled floor. She remembers reading about a certain Gordon Freeman causing an issue for the marines, but this is a first about a 'Shepard.' Whoever he might be, he already is a problem to be able to fight an entire outpost by himself. She knew she was close now; laughter was heard over the quietness of the building.

"Just get a picture of me Jackson; when will I ever get a chance like this again?"

"Yang, I'm pretty sure this goes against the whole 'keep it contained and make sure nothing is a left' aspect of our job?"

"And I'm just saying I want a picture with this dead alien to put on my mantle when I get back home."

Blake heard laughter once again, and now she could see what was causing it. It was a group of six marines, one with light blonde hair standing in front of them all, but what stood out most of all was the dead alien in her arm, almost like that of a headlock. It had a single bullet hole in its head and had a single lifeless eye. Contrary to the marine's words, one of them was actually taking a picture of her with the alien. A quick chuckle came over the comms from Politan before she spoke up. "I want the Blondy for myself Chief."

"You're not going to take anything Staff Sergeant. We're going to clean this up and head back-"

A new voice suddenly appeared over the comms.

"Disregard that order Staff Sergeant. Capture one of them alive, we need a target for interrogation. We need to take care of Adrian Shepard as soon as we can."

"First Lieutenant? We had orders-"

"Those orders are irrelevant First Sergeant. Command has fallen, and I've been tasked with taking the lead in this operation. You have any questions, direct them to me."

Blake cursed to herself before responding. "Yes, sir... You heard the man people, take them out, but leave only one... they don't have to walk If not necessary."

Vents opened up along with a door across from her, guns drawn and aimed at the marines in the center, they never stood a chance in the first place.

Blake stood in the back of the room looking at the mess in front of her. First Lieutenant had arrived around fifteen minutes after they cleared the room along with a few other specialists. They had begun moving the bodies out of the room while he walked in front of the now captured marine holding a lead pipe. Politan was standing near him while holding a devilish grin. He had ordered the other two to go out and stop Shepard's movement through the facility.

Taurus swung the pipe at the marine, who she now knew was a soldier by the name of Yang Xiao Long. The pipe slammed into her gut, only for her to spit out some blood onto the floor, her face still holding a smile, though terribly blacked and blued. "Where is Adrian Shepard you trash of a soldier. The sooner you tell me where he is, the faster your death will be!"

They heard a chuckle come out of the woman in front of them. "I've told you already...If you haven't already stopped him, then I'm pretty sure you're the failure of a soldier." She let out a louder laugh, well, the best she could with what Blake could confer is a few broken rips at this point.

Taurus looked almost furious at this point and he threw the pipe onto the ground before gesturing towards Politan. She turned around and shattered a glass box, that's when Blake took notice of what he was asking for. She was grabbing a fire ax from the wall.

"First Sergeant, get over here and hold out her arm." This was replied with a quick shake of her head to decline the order. Torture was one thing, she knew this, but the session was over at this point, he was just making the marine suffer. "First Sergeant, I swear to God if you don't get over her right now, I will have you court-martialed and put on trial!"

Blake only shook her head again. She would have spit onto the ground if not for her mask covering her mouth.

He was about to shout at her once more but was stopped by a soldier walking through the door. Taurus pointed a finger at him, "Grab her arm and hold it out for me!" The man stuttered on his words for a moment before doing a quick salute and rushing over to the marine. He grabbed her arm and held it out. She couldn't resist even if she wanted too, the amount she had been beaten was out of her control, and it was a surprise that she was even still conscious.

Blake turned away the moment she saw Taurus lifting up the ax, and after a loud grunt, only a scream was heard. Blake grimaced as she heard the scream, only turn into a soft whimper, then the clanging of an ax hitting the ground. She hesitated to turn around, only when she did, she did not enjoy the sight in front of her. A now dismembered arm laid on the ground, and the soldier that was holding the arm was now bandaging the arm. Before she could ask why he was doing it, Taurus spoke up.

"Sergeants, you will stay here to stop Sheperd." He spits on the ground before grabbing ahold of the marine's face. "You're going to die here. Not from a bullet, or even a stab wound. I'll make a nice little trail here, just so those disgusting aliens will follow a nice trail of blood and eat you alive. If not that, I've heard blood loss it pretty nice."

He chuckled slightly before walking out of the room, only to be followed by the unnamed soldier.

Blake turned around to see Politan exiting out through a different door. "I'll catch you later Blakey, I don't want to hang around a hard-ass like yourself currently. You're just killing the mood at the moment. I'll be back after having some fun with this Shepard fellow."

She couldn't even think of a word to stop her from leaving, not that she wanted to at the moment. With Politan gone, it was only her and the marine left. She turned to look at the beaten, and near-death soldier. Her weapons that she had on were lying against the wall, strange was a term that was long gone at this moment, having seen much weirder things since she came here. Blake saw a few photos poking out of her bloodies vest, and with it grabbed ahold of them.

They were very different in each one, each of them having different figures in each one. One thing that stood out though, was how there was always a select few soldiers appearing in every single one of them. All of them looking extremely happy, as if she acted as a center point to their happiness... something she had been lacking for some time. She tossed the photos onto the ground, some of them splattered in blood. In the end, there was a decision to make, and that was to end the soldier's life right here and now then leave, or let Shepard come and take care of both of them. Blake pondered this thought for what seemed like almost half an hour. She sat on the ground, walked around the room, the only sounds coming from it are the small mutterings coming from the marine.

She stopped in front of her once more and only heard the few words come out of her mouth, and with it, a look from her bruised face with a smile. "Imagine if we were friends in another life? Could you do it again?"

Blake pulled out her gun and held it to the marine's forehead. Her mask gave no emotion, so no one could see the intense frown on her face on the other side. She cocked the gun and pushed it further, tilting the head back. Before she could pull the trigger, the opening of a door took her attention.

"Staff Sergeant, this isn't a good ti-"

A shot rounded off, and everything felt off for Blake. This was mostly for the case that she was no longer standing up, that and everything in her body felt limp. There was no pain, but there was a quick loss of thought and strength. A feeling of liquid falling onto her face gave her the sensation of what she feared; death. It wasn't long, but the few words she heard only told her of the fate she had now, was shared between her squad.

"Ah, Shepard. Glad you could make it buddy."

Everything went black for Blake, and she fell into the black abyss that was death.

Blake quickly awoke from the sleep she was in, and without hesitation, rose up. Without hesitating, she dashed towards the bookshelf across the room from her. Her hands started skimming across the books, only to stop on one. A Tale of heroics of the Simple Shepard.

She pulled it down and began skimming through the pages, only to stop on one. It was like the one she saw in her... in what she could only hope was a dream. She couldn't imagine doing anything like what she did, like an entirely different life where she... where she did such terrible deeds. She dropped the book with the picture in her other hand. She turned around holding it in front of her, and as soon as she lowered it, standing there was Adrian Shepard, still in his full wear, gasmask, and everything.

Blake didn't hesitate in her words. "Take off the mask."

"Excuse me what?"

"Adrian Shepard, if I am to trust you from the point onward for whatever job, mission, or assignment, I don't care. I need you to show me your face."

"What?"

"Corporal Adrian Shepard of the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit, I am asking you as your intended target, be it murder or whatever it is, I need you to show me what lies underneath the mask of yours!"

Shepard stopped for a second, more confused with this bombardment of everything than ever before. He raised his hand to her, but let it fall back down. She could hear him sigh underneath the mask before raising his hands to the back of his mask. He began to slip it off of his head, and eventually, off, he let it fall to his side. Blake could only stare, as her grip on the photo left it, and let it fall to the ground before she spoke.

"You've killed me before Adrian Shepard... I know you're not from here and I... am more lost than I've ever been."

Would you look at that, I did it. Yes, it has been such, such a long time since I last posted. Mostly because of the procrastination and a few other things. The torture scene, while I thought that was a part in the game, I could be entirely wrong. I say this since I had this entire scene in my head for the longest time, but the moment I got to writing it, I couldn't find source of it at all. Besides that, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and with it we have essentially two more chapters until season 4 is finished, then we move forward with that.

Black Mesa, the Half-life remake is practically done at this point, Zen being finished. Without a doubt, everyone who reads this needs to play it, because it's fantastic and looks great, on Ultra at least. The new VR games that are coming out look amazing as well, I hope you all have seen it. Then there is the new season of RWBY that is out. I haven't gotten to see it yet, but I am excited to start watching it.

Any sort of criticism is most certainly welcomed. If any of you are looking forward to my other stories, it'll be next year before February for sure. Everyone has an absolutely fantastic year and thank you for being patient with me.