Apostasy#5: Advent of Incursion

The comic opens in darkness from Mark Meriwhether's point of view, as he wonders where he is. A vision of Barney starts talking to him in a strange voice, telling him this is no time for relaxation. Before Mark's perplexed eyes, Barney morphs into Galena, telling him a great deal of change is in the horizon in the same odd intonation.

The vision of Galena starts to morph again as it tells Mark he should ready himself. The shape turns into a mysterious man in a blue suit with a crop cut: the G-Man. He concludes by saying Mark should ready himself for the advent of incursion.

Mark wakes up in shock. He starts to look around, confused at his surroundings, and then sees a secret door start opening. He hides behind a crate.

Out from the door comes Doctor Isaac Kleiner, complaining about his working conditions. Mark approaches him from behind and Kleiner asks if the noise behind him is Lamarr. Mark grabs him in a chokehold and tells him to guess again, then starts interrogating Kleiner on where's Galena, before being interrupted by a headcrab leaping at him.

As Mark struggles with the headcrab, Kleiner begs him not to hurt her. Kleiner picks the headcrab up and explains she has been debeaked and is completely harmless now. Confused and disoriented, Mark gets up and asks who Kleiner is and where's Galena. Kleiner explains Doctor Noland will be back shortly and introduces himself.

At that moment in Sector 13, Alyx Vance and Galena Noland are sneaking out with two suitcases, carrying Gordon Freeman's HEV Suit within. Galena is badgering Alyx to take a break and Alyx gets annoyed, telling her they're not out of danger yet.

Alyx and Galena proceed. Galena starts to apologize to Alyx and Alyx interrupts her, saying it's not the time. Alyx starts trying to hack a Combine lock as Galena checks behind them.

Galena spots two approaching Civil Protection officers on patrol and runs back to Alyx, telling her to hurry. Galena starts to panic and Alyx tells her she's not helping. Just as the officers close in on them, Alyx manages to unlock the door.

Alyx and Galena hurry into the now open door. Galena says they have to go, but Alyx stops to lock the door again in order to not draw attention. Just as the patrolling Civil Protection units walk by, the door flashes red and locks. One of them spots it and wonders why the lock just flashed red, but his colleague tells him it doesn't matter since it's locked anyhow. They keep chatting and move on as Alyx finally relaxes for a moment.

At that moment in the Overwatch Nexus, Barney, in citizen clothing, is being interrogated by two superior officers of Civil Protection. They ask if he heard the shots from inside and he confirms, saying he ran out, asking what happened, and then was knocked unconscious. His interrogators ask what happened next and Barney continues to lie, saying he got up and chased them to the attic, trying to keep tabs on them until reinforcements arrived.

The interrogator asks about a third person and Barney says he didn't see anybody else, just Mark and Galena. He's interrupted by a CP officer saying one of their trigger-lock traps was just circumvented in Sector 13 and the superior officer tells them to put the entire sector on lockdown. Back in Sector 13, Overwatch makes a lockdown announcement to the residents. Galena asks what is that and Alyx, scared, says they need to hurry. The Civil Protection superior officer tells Barney to report to his shift.

In the canals just outside of City 17, Jack is trying to sneak out with the rockets he stole for Colonel Odessa Cubbage. He tries to subdue a Civil Protection officer quietly and then jumps into the water, but someone spots him.

Jack curses his luck as a Civil Protection unit aims at him with a submachine gun, but a noise distracts the officer and he ends up accidentally shooting his colleague instead of Jack.

Jack grabs the Civil Protection officer's legs and pushes him into the water. They struggle but Jack overpowers and kills the cop.

As the officer's radio automatically reports his death and calls for backup, Jack tries to barricade a door and jumps back into the door. The cops break through his makeshift barricade as he swims away with the rockets in tow.

The Civil Protection squad find the two dead officers but Jack manages to sneak away underwater. He resurfaces gasping for air and enters a pipe, but then overhears a Combine hunter-chopper coming in.

Back in the city, Galena and Alyx Vance are still escaping. Alyx says they can rest for a moment. Galena asks her if she's sure and Alyx explains that they made it out of the sector just in time to escape the lockdown. Galena says she thought they were goners for a second and starts talking about the terror she felt, but then notices Alyx is awfully quiet.

Alyx is crying. Galena asks if she's alright and Alyx, sobbing, says she's fine. Galena asks if it was that close and Alyx says yeah, it was that close. Alyx opens up and says all she could think of was her dad and that she would never see him again. Galena comforts her.

Galena tells Alyx she's a survivor. Alyx thanks her and says they should get going. Then she gets serious and tells Galena that if she tells anyone about their moment, she'll kill her. Galena smiles and picks up the suitcases as Alyx discreetly smiles as well.

Back at Doctor Kleiner's lab, Doctor Kleiner is telling Mark about the Resistance's secret project, a teleporter. Mark is drinking clean, untainted water and realizes he's starting to remember thinks, like his birthday. Doctor Kleiner explains that he will start remembering a great deal as the Combine toxins are purged from his system.

As Doctor Kleiner goes on a tangent about how the calendar has shifted since the Combine invasion, a call starts to come through. Doctor Kleiner is annoyed by the interruption and takes the call. It's Barney telling him he found someone. Doctor Kleiner exclaims Great Scott! as he sees who it is.

On Doctor Kleiner's screen are Barney Calhoun, back at his shift as a Civil Protection officer, and Doctor Gordon Freeman himself, in a Combine citizen uniform. The issue ends. Next: Red Letter Day.

3 thoughts on “#5: Advent of Incursion”

Michael Andrei Palon

September 20, 2022

Now, to wait for the sixth and also last chapter… when’s it coming?

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BrashFink

August 23, 2023

I have never really said this before, but my font choice for Gman is my absolute favorite font work of this entire comic. Most of the font work compared to what I can do now… is atrocious. LoL

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darthxodius

April 10, 2024

Good stuff. I am surprised on the number of missing words or incorrect tense. Could have used another round of proofreading. Otherwise, excellent comic with fun paneling.

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