Before the smoke cleared, she vaulted the railing, dropping into the trenches below. She sprinted through the steam and sparks, her flashlight cutting through the gloom.
Below her, the Citadel pulsed. It was a looming monolith of dark metal and blue light, tearing at the sky. In the timeline she remembered, this moment had been a victory. She and Gordon Freeman had lit the fuse that brought the reactor to critical mass. They had escaped. They had won. alyx star redux
