Soft Landing
Floyd Mason was on patrol duty.
Mr. Calhoun'd saddled him with it after the Advisors attacked White Forest. Said something about away from a radio being the safest place to put him. He'd taken offense to that- but only at first. Pretty quickly he caught on to the fact that patrol duty let him indulge in being a Top Secret Super Soldier, at least in the down moments. As long as there wasn't a headcrab or a bullsquid or something in his part of the woods there was no one to see him slipping like a ninja from tree to tree, spinning this way and that to catch sight of any Combine that might be trying to infiltrate the base. More to the point there was nobody around to see him fail to pull off the ninja supersoldier act when he tripped over fallen branches or misjudged the ground beneath him. Either way, he was good. No witnesses, that was Floyd's motto.
His patrol route took him down to the river below the base today. Fine with him. Too bad about it being bullsquid nesting season. Mr. Calhoun had made it very, very clear that he wasn't to waste ammo, and Floyd knew (if he didn't admit it out loud) that his aim wasn't the greatest. He tended towards the school of 'more metal in the air means less enemy in your face', especially when it came to fast-moving enemies. If there were any bullsquid nests along the river he was in for a world of trouble, he just knew it. He checked his gun- not that he hadn't checked it before- and moved carefully down the slope towards the riverbank.
... damn it. Bullsquids. Two of them, on the far shore- but next to a sandbar shallow enough that the water wouldn't even slow them down. He readied his gun. The first bullsquid looked up and caught sight of Floyd; it stomped one hoofed foot and let out an angry bellow. The second, however, looked up- and turned and ran.
Floyd blinked. So did the world.
WHOMP!!!
Oh, thought Floyd dazedly, so that was what solid rock to the back of the skull (and the back of the back, and the back of the butt) felt like. Wow. New experience for him. He pushed himself up, blinking furiously, and tried not to let the world spin too much around him, since the gigantic shadow was kind of taking up most of his field of vision and it made orienting himself a whole lot less pleasant than it haaaa..... wait, huh? Giant what?
Floyd looked up. And up.
"Hi there!" called Chen, from the railing of the ABSOLUTELY GIGANTIC SHIP that HAD NOT BEEN THERE BEFORE. Seriously, the thing was huge. "You okay down there?"
"Yeah, um... yeah." Floyd rubbed at the back of his head; it felt like all the bone was still there. "Nice boat."
"Thanks!" said Chen, grinning. "You should see the inside!"
"I... okay?" As Floyd blinked some more, people started filing out of somewhere on deck (he had no idea where) and coming up to the railing, pointing and exclaiming. He didn't recognize a single one of them. "Chen?"
"Yeah?"
"Where the hell did you get a giant teleporting ship full of people?"
"The ship's from Nova Scotia!" Chen answered. "The people're from City 08, though."
"City- wait, what?"
But Chen was too busy talking over his shoulder to people coming forward, and Floyd did recognize them. That was Dr. Mossman, there, and that was the Vortigaunt who'd come with her, and Donna, and-
"Looks like Alyx and Dr. Freeman found you guys, huh?"
"Yup!" Chen turned back towards the stern of the ship. "Hey, Eleanor! Come on up and have a look- we're almost at White Forest!"
"I'm coming," answered a young, almost waifish-looking blonde woman elbowing her way through the crowd. "Nearly lost all my tools when we popped out. I hope you've got a spare set of metric wrenches for that helicopter the base has."
"Aw, you'll be fine," said Chen. "Floyd? Just in case, would you mind heading up to base ahead of us and telling Mr. Calhoun we're gonna need an extra hundred and fifty or so seats at the table tonight?"
Mr. Calhoun'd saddled him with it after the Advisors attacked White Forest. Said something about away from a radio being the safest place to put him. He'd taken offense to that- but only at first. Pretty quickly he caught on to the fact that patrol duty let him indulge in being a Top Secret Super Soldier, at least in the down moments. As long as there wasn't a headcrab or a bullsquid or something in his part of the woods there was no one to see him slipping like a ninja from tree to tree, spinning this way and that to catch sight of any Combine that might be trying to infiltrate the base. More to the point there was nobody around to see him fail to pull off the ninja supersoldier act when he tripped over fallen branches or misjudged the ground beneath him. Either way, he was good. No witnesses, that was Floyd's motto.
His patrol route took him down to the river below the base today. Fine with him. Too bad about it being bullsquid nesting season. Mr. Calhoun had made it very, very clear that he wasn't to waste ammo, and Floyd knew (if he didn't admit it out loud) that his aim wasn't the greatest. He tended towards the school of 'more metal in the air means less enemy in your face', especially when it came to fast-moving enemies. If there were any bullsquid nests along the river he was in for a world of trouble, he just knew it. He checked his gun- not that he hadn't checked it before- and moved carefully down the slope towards the riverbank.
... damn it. Bullsquids. Two of them, on the far shore- but next to a sandbar shallow enough that the water wouldn't even slow them down. He readied his gun. The first bullsquid looked up and caught sight of Floyd; it stomped one hoofed foot and let out an angry bellow. The second, however, looked up- and turned and ran.
Floyd blinked. So did the world.
WHOMP!!!
Oh, thought Floyd dazedly, so that was what solid rock to the back of the skull (and the back of the back, and the back of the butt) felt like. Wow. New experience for him. He pushed himself up, blinking furiously, and tried not to let the world spin too much around him, since the gigantic shadow was kind of taking up most of his field of vision and it made orienting himself a whole lot less pleasant than it haaaa..... wait, huh? Giant what?
Floyd looked up. And up.
"Hi there!" called Chen, from the railing of the ABSOLUTELY GIGANTIC SHIP that HAD NOT BEEN THERE BEFORE. Seriously, the thing was huge. "You okay down there?"
"Yeah, um... yeah." Floyd rubbed at the back of his head; it felt like all the bone was still there. "Nice boat."
"Thanks!" said Chen, grinning. "You should see the inside!"
"I... okay?" As Floyd blinked some more, people started filing out of somewhere on deck (he had no idea where) and coming up to the railing, pointing and exclaiming. He didn't recognize a single one of them. "Chen?"
"Yeah?"
"Where the hell did you get a giant teleporting ship full of people?"
"The ship's from Nova Scotia!" Chen answered. "The people're from City 08, though."
"City- wait, what?"
But Chen was too busy talking over his shoulder to people coming forward, and Floyd did recognize them. That was Dr. Mossman, there, and that was the Vortigaunt who'd come with her, and Donna, and-
"Looks like Alyx and Dr. Freeman found you guys, huh?"
"Yup!" Chen turned back towards the stern of the ship. "Hey, Eleanor! Come on up and have a look- we're almost at White Forest!"
"I'm coming," answered a young, almost waifish-looking blonde woman elbowing her way through the crowd. "Nearly lost all my tools when we popped out. I hope you've got a spare set of metric wrenches for that helicopter the base has."
"Aw, you'll be fine," said Chen. "Floyd? Just in case, would you mind heading up to base ahead of us and telling Mr. Calhoun we're gonna need an extra hundred and fifty or so seats at the table tonight?"