Making his way out of the broken elevator shaft, Gordon reaches an industrial storage facility near the surface only to stumble across a panicking scientist ordering a security guard in a nearby locked security room to open the nearby silo door to escape the people that are "coming for them." However, the security guard is killed by a zombie before he could unlock the silo door, and the panicking scientist runs off and dies to a trip mine. Exploring into the storage sector, Gordon encounters Black Mesa's Military Component, the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit (H.E.C.U. for short), making their way into the facility. Unfortunately, it seems that they're not actually here as a rescue team: their actual mission is to eliminate not only the aliens, but all witnesses to the Black Mesa Incident, including the entire science and security teams, and Gordon himself.
To combat this new threat, Dr. Freeman must equip military-grade weaponry and fight back. He even reaches the surface at long last... only to immediately be forced back below ground by the H.E.C.U.'s bombing. Crawling through vents, Gordon eventually stumbles into the locked security room at the start of the level where a hiding scientist informs him of how a science team at the Lambda complex at the far end of Black Mesa is working to fix up the whole mess regarding the Resonance Cascade, and advises that Gordon head over there as well by taking the rail route beyond the Rocket Test Lab. Thus, Gordon opens up the silo door, and begins to make his way towards the Rocket Test Lab.
This Chapter Contains Examples of:
- Artistic License – Military: Justified. The H.E.C.U. operate very differently to real life Marines, but they are a fictional branch falling under considerable corporate influence.
- Death Trap: The Marines have placed laser tripwires in key locations, some connected to automatic guns, and some to claymore mines.
- Helpless Window Death: A security guard in a locked-off security station gets grabbed by a zombie emerging from an air vent behind him, dragged in, and torn to shreds.
- Jerkass: Some of the H.E.C.U. Grunts seem to REALLY enjoy killing unarmed scientists.HECU Grunt: I killed twelve dumbass scientists and not one of 'em fought back. This sucks.
- More Dakka: Gordon acquires an MP5 Submachinegun.
- Mysterious Watcher: He looks down on you from a high catwalk. When you get up there, he's gone.
- Safe Zone Hope Spot: Both in a figurative (the rescue team) and literal (the surface) sense.
- Sequence Breaking: Several.
- It's possible to skip the entire level by forcing the scientist at the start to run into the locked security office door, which a glitch causes the locked door to open, and allows the player to push the button to open the door to the following "Blast Pit" level. To do this requires the player to break the scientist's scripted event by shooting him, which forces the scientist into its scared mode where it tries to run from the player who shot him. The goal then is to try to lead the scared-mode scientist running around to make him run into the locked security office door.
- Midway through the level, there's a barnacle tongue skip at the first conveyor belt area. Being pulled up by the barnacle tongue will allow the player to land on an upper walkway next to the elevator that leads up to the surface. Thus, skipping a major section of the level.
- Sidetrack Bonus:
- Traversing the conveyor belt areas aren't necessary to beat the level. They just lead to more supplies and Health and HEV stations. And you basically do a loop as the end of the conveyor belt section brings you back to the main path.
- The vent maze near the end of the level is filled with this. You can easily just beeline through the correct crawl-vent path to reach the end security office, but there's many dead end vent paths that lead to areas around the level where you can pick up supplies.
- Skippable Boss: There is an Osprey helicopter near the end which you can fight if you want to, however, considering that it's early in the game and you don't have most of your weapons, it's highly recommended you just run past into the tunnel entrance where it can't follow. There is an Osprey you do have to fight much later in the game, but by then you have the rocket launcher and Tau Cannon.
- Tempting Fate: "Rescued at last, thank god you're here!"
- Title Drop: The chapter "We've Got Hostiles" is named after one of the lines that the enemy soldiers introduced in this chapter can say when going on alert. Whether you actually hear them say this line during the chapter, however, is entirely up to chance.
- Video Game Set Piece: A guard gets pulled into a vent by a zombie, but doesn't go down without a fight.
- Wham Episode: The "rescue team" is anything but.
- Wham Shot: A scientist rushing to meet a H.E.C.U. marine, thanking him for the rescue...and the trooper coldly gunning him down. Yeah, the Marines are not here to help by any stretch.
