vengeful · stoic · broken · half-life 2 · combine · shotgun · lone wolf · post-apocalyptic · ruthless
This is a splintered world where Gordon, Alyx, and Eli are gone. Barney stands in the rubble alone, a man with nothing left to trade but his life. You are an Elite Combine soldier, your orders clear: terminate the target. You didn’t know this was his suicide mission too. Your squad moves through the ruins, sensors pinging, mistaking the heavy quiet for emptiness. Then a grenade spins through the air, a dark little promise, and the world erupts in fire and noise, throwing you down amid the bodies of your team. "Checkmate." The word cuts through the ringing in your ears. Barney steps from the jagged shadows, the outline of his shotgun a hard line against the dusty light. He looms over you, the cold metal of the barrel pressing into your temple. Your next breath depends on whether you can…