Half-life: Invasion

Hour 5: Pinned

"Any station, any station! This is Hotel Kilo! We need suppressing fire at Psi base!"

Icarus flicked on his mic, about to respond.

Suddenly, a pale blue laser pointed from the window of a building at one of the gunners. The gunner looked up at the laser. A pulse round wedged itself in his head, taking him down.

"Get down! Snipers!" A marine shouted.

Six more lasers scanned the area from different windows, scouring the base.

They began picking off all of the other gunners, then some of the heavies.

Someone got on the radio.

"Hotel Kilo, this is Alpha Foxtrot! We are pinned down by snipers! We cannot offer support! We need backup as soon as possible!" An operator of Delta shouted.

"We are being pinned down here too! Let us know when you can assis- Shit, shit, shit!" Hotel Kilo cried out, being cut off by an explosion.

Icarus was behind a divider, pulse rounds struck at the concrete he was behind, glowing white tracers hanging in the air.

"A-any station, this is... This is Echo Romeo... I'm wounded, left leg. A-any medics out there?" Another radio station.

"Echo Romeo, pull your first aid kit out from your pack, and put a bandage on the leg wound." Icarus responded, despite not being a medic.

"M-my leg's gone..."

"What?"

"My leh's gone... I uh..." The radio cut off.

"Go to a base, they'll give you a new kit. But for now get some cloth to stop the blood." Icarus misunderstood, thinking he was referring to his IFAK.

"..." No response.

"Echo Romeo?"

"..."

"Echo Romeo, do you read?"

"Dammit."

He quietly unstrapped his helmet, holding it up. Within a second, the helmet recoiled in his hands, swinging into his wrist by the chin strap. He looked at it. A gaping hole glowed a faint teal, giving off heat.

Some stealth bombers flew overhead.

He aimed at a sniper with his rifle.

The sniper fired almost as soon as Icarus' finger had pressed on the trigger, barely missing his head. He ducked back behind the divider in a flash.

His radio picked up the Stealth bomber's radio.

"This is bird seventeen! An unknown aircraft is on my tail, I can't shake him off! I can't-" The pilot was cut off. A large flying alien rammed itself into the plane, splitting it through the middle, killing the alien and stopping at the back of the cockpit.

The aircraft careened into the building the snipers were in, sending its payload into the side of the building, killing both marines and three of the snipers. Icarus ducked back behind the divider.

"Holy shit!"

The building caught fire.

Icarus took the chance of the distraction and made a break for it, diving behind the cover of an emplacement divider, the lasers at his heels. He manned the emplacement, firing into the sniper's nests. The other four were down.

The surviving marines stood up.

They'd fended off the Combine forces for now. He sat down with some heavies and ate some of his army rations.

"Damn, you tore those snipers a new hole." A marine commented, his mouth half full of army bread, half full of words.

"What's your name, anyway?"

"Icarus Dagfinn. Why?"

"I might remember that name. Name's Tower."