Adrian Shephard's History
Corporal Adrian Shephard is a US Marine Corporal assigned to the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit from the Santego Military Base, Arizona, where he was trained by Drill Instructors Dwight T. Barnes and Sharpe, and the protagonist of Half-Life: Opposing Force.
He is one of the soldiers sent to the Black Mesa Research Facility to eliminate the Xen invaders. Shephard, however, is not aware of his classified mission to silence the witnesses, especially a scientist named Gordon Freeman, since his squad leader dies before he can be briefed. Soon Shephard finds himself separated from his unit and ends up fighting solely for his life, aided by fellow Marines scattered around the facility and Black Mesa employees.
The Opposing Force instruction manual features several diary entries made by Adrian Shephard prior to the Black Mesa Incident, giving some insight of his Advanced Training before the disaster and G-Man's interest in him.
Since May was incorrectly changed to March, it is corrected here.
"May 3 - Another typically hellish day at base camp... I'll be glad when this is over and I can finally can get assigned a mission. There has been this really weird civie spotted at the base. Rumor is he's from some government branch looking to recruit; others say he's with some secret research group. I would jump at the chance to join. It would be cool just for the change and the adventure."
"May 7 - I finally saw the government guy today. I am not sure he is a g-man, but he was wearing a really uptight suit and carrying a briefcase. He looked more like a lawyer or insurance agent to me. I did notice him checking me out. Several times throughout the day I spotted him just watching me during training. I wonder what he's up to..."
"May 9 - For weeks our drills have been the same crap day after day. Today we assemble for the morning run and our drill instructor tells us we have one week to become experts at indoor strategic combat. We will be spending every day this week at the combat simulation facility. As far as I know this is a specialized training not taught in boot camp. What I want to know is if this is to test our ability to adapt or if we are being readied for a specific mission? Time will tell..."
"May 12 - The rumors have been flying since our indoor combat training began. Most of my peers are convinced that we are being primed for a mission. No one can agree on what the mission is. I have heard the name Black Mesa Facility thrown around a lot, but I have no information about the place. The rumors are that some top-secret research is going on there. Doesn't sound too exciting to me..."
"May 15 - The rumor has been confirmed. We are being trained for a mission at the Black Mesa Facility. All I know is that the place is being used by scientists who are doing some kind of new research. I can't imagine what we would be needed for. We were told today to be ready in case it happens tomorrow. I don't know what "it" is, but the whole thing is a little strange. I kind of hope it doesn't happen; the mission doesn't seem to have much excitement potential. I'd rather hold out for something with more likelihood of combat."
Opposing Force
Shephard, 22 years old at the time, was to reach Black Mesa aboard a V-22 Osprey designated Goose 7. With him were other Marines such as Tower and Jackson. When the nearby Osprey, Goose 3, and his are attacked by Alien Aircrafts, it crashes in Black Mesa, killing most of the passengers, including the commander before Goose 7 is briefed on their mission. Shephard must then make his way through Black Mesa to be evacuated. When he arrives at the extraction point however, the G-Man prevents him from catching the last Osprey, forcing Shephard to leave the facility by other means and going through parts of the facilities not seen in Half-Life and dealing with the Race X aliens and the Black Ops to finally defeat the Gene Worm.
Unlike the other Marines, Shephard works with the increasingly distrustful scientists and guards in order to make it out of Black Mesa alive. This is due to the fact that he never received the orders to kill them, as his Osprey was shot down before his commander could inform the squad of their mission. However, he has seen several hints to this. When he first wakes up, the security guard who opens the door for him tells the Corporal that he heard rumors about the marines not being here to rescue them. Later, a surviving scientist informs him that he isn't sure what is worse to encounter, the military assigned to silence all witnesses or the invading aliens. Later still, Shephard sees a scientist who begs him for mercy. It should be noted that not all scientists were killed on sight, as there is at least one scientist being held prisoner at the site of the evacuation.Shephard and Freeman do cross paths during the game, but at that point Shephard is merely an observer to Gordon's travel to Xen - they never fight against each other at any moment. It should be noted that while Shephard witnesses Gordon Freeman's transportation to Xen, he has the option to follow him through the teleporter before it collapses. However, upon doing so Shephard will find himself teleported several meters away from Gordon, before falling through space. Doing so will produce the message "Evaluation terminated: Subject attempted to create a temporal paradox." and end the game (it actually allows Shephard to enter Freeman's timeline, that is, the original Half-Life, thus the paradox. This also occurs if Adrian attempts to kill Freeman).
The G-Man appears to take an interest in Shephard's movements, even before the Black Mesa Incident occurs: as early as three months prior, Shephard spots him in his training base. At one point, Shephard finds himself trapped in a collapsing room, with toxic waste quickly filling the room; the G-Man observes him until the very last moment, when he opens the locked door to allow him in to safety. However, despite this act of mercy, he directly sabotages Shephard's attempt to leave the doomed facility by closing a hangar door to an HECU evacuation site, thereby preventing any chance to escape. Later, Shephard deactivates the thermonuclear warhead brought in by the Black Ops to destroy Black Mesa, but the G-Man reactivates it. In the end, the G-Man reveals that he has successfully argued for Shephard's life, detaining him in some unknown void. He expresses a degree of respect for Shephard's abilities, even praising him for having abilities to "adapt and survive against all odds" which the G-Man states "rather reminds me of myself."
