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Time and Date
Date: Today's date +5 Years
7 Hour War Date: August 11th 2015
Minimum possible age: 22 Years old
Location
City 17: Sofia, Bulgaria
General Knowledge
Freeman: No information known by the public.
Black Mesa: No information known by the public.
White Forest: No information known by the public.
Canonical Characters (Alyx, Eli, etc): No information known by the public.
Combine Locations (Nova Prospekt, etc): Only high up personnel.
Year: 1995
Gordon's Sleep Cycle: Unknown
Major Event’s: 1.1. The Retreat to Xen
- Combine Empire Invades Nihilianth's Homeworld
- Long struggle ensues
- Nihilanth's Race Flees to Xen
Details:
The Combine Empire invades and takes control of the Vortigaunts' homeworld (which we have never seen), and attempt to enslave them, including their leader, Nihilianth (who is not necessarily a Vortigaunt). A long and bitter struggle ensues, as the Vortigaunts flee from planet to planet, battling and evading the Combine forces. With their backs against the wall, they flee to the border world Xen, where they wait for their demise. Xen is sort of like a "subway station" of the universe in that it can be used to cross dimensions. Marc Laidlaw calls it "a dimensional transit bottleneck--an area of continual contention."
(A quick note about Xen: Marc Laidlaw has stated that "nothing is native to Xen" which implies that life Xen is a mish-mash of beings from all over the universe, being willingly or unwillingly transported there. I will refer to the beings from Xen as the "Xenians", which include the headcrabs, ant-lions, vortigaunts, the race that Nihilianth commands, and so on.)
The Combine attempt to hybridize the dominant species of the planet (In Xen's case, the Vortigaunts) with their own technology to create a "Super soldier" that is adapted to Xen's environment and uses powerful Combine technology. (This is what they attempt to do on Earth, as well). Nihilanth and his people fight bitterly against the Combine.
Back on Earth, Gordon is studying for his doctorate at MIT. At Black Mesa in New Mexico, teleportation experiments are taking place. Under the supervision of researchers Eli Vance, Arne Magnusson and Issac Kleiner, crystals are retrieved from Xen, and organisms are analyzed. Research is developing.
Black Mesa's chief competitor for government funding, Aperture Science, also develops its own Portal technology parallel to Black Mesa onboard its many research facilities and enrichment centers, including the Borealis, a research vessel. One day, after what seems to be a severe mishap, the Borealis disappears completely off the face of the Earth, taking all passengers and crew with it. GLaDOS, an artificial intelligence program at Aperture Science, is made operational for the first time at one of Aperture's enrichment centers.
Year: 2000
Gordon's Sleep Cycle: Gordon is put into stasis
Major Event’s: 1.2. The Resonance Cascade
-- (i) The Resonance Cascade (Triggered by GMan)
- Combine Empire Notices
- Nihilanth defeated
- Black Mesa destroyed
- Gordon survives
- (ii) Gordon is Hired
Details:
They're waiting for you Gordon, in the test chamber.
Description: GMan Orchestrates The Resonance Cascade, "GMan", a very mysterious figure at Black Mesa, whose motives seem to be independent of both humankind and of the Combine, triggers a resonance cascade within the Anomalous Materials sector of the Black Mesa complex, by bringing in a specific test sample to be used. His selection of this hazardous material is masked by a system crash, to cut out formal communication between scientists. The resonance cascade rips open space-time and forms a portal between Earth and Xen. Nihilanth's race sees the dimensional fissure as an escape route. Of course, headcrabs and other life trapped on Xen decide to hitch a ride to Earth, for the fun of it. Black Mesa becomes chaos, as the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit, a United States Marine Corps Special Forces division is brought in to quell the results of the Resonance Cascade, including the elimination of all humans caught in the cross-fire.
This resonance cascade is so immense in nature, that the Combine Empire notices it, turning their interest to what is happening on Earth.
One man in a HEV suit becomes of great interest to G-Man during the incident. Gordon Freeman, a newly assigned scientist in the Anomalous materials lab, shows exceptional skill in dealing with Xen beings and U.S. troops. G-Man's interest peaks as Freeman navigates through Xen (the Xenians believe that Gordon is just as much of an enemy as the Combine) and defeats the Nihilanth. G-Man is impressed.
Eventually, Black Mesa is destroyed by nuclear detonation (noted in OF). Several survivors exist, including Wallace Breen, Black Mesa's former administrator; Barney Calhoun, a security guard; Dr. Issac Kleiner, a prominent scientist at Black Mesa; Dr. Arne Magnusson; Dr. Eli Vance; and of course, Alyx Vance, Eli's daughter. Alyx is of particular interest to GMan
Description: Gordon is Hired - At the end of Half-Life G-Man, impressed by your work, gives Gordon a choice between his death or working for the G-Man. Half-Life 2 assumes he chose life over death. After you choose to work for him G-Man puts you in a slow-time-warp (i.e., you are put into stasis) to call upon you when needed.
Year: 2004
Gordon's Sleep Cycle: Gordon not aging
Major Event’s: 1.3. The Portal Storms
- Storms begin
- Population shift to urban areas
- Combine set plans for invasion
Details:
Unfortunately, though Black Mesa has been obliterated, Earth has yet to feel the brunt of this disaster. "Portal Storms", a seeming side-effect from the resonance cascade, form a dimensional rift between Xen and Earth. These Portal Storms spread outside the confines of what is left of Black Mesa and throughout all of Earth, providing temporary, chaotic, and destructive links between Xen and Earth. Aliens (from Xen) of all types are teleported into suburbs. Headcrabs crawl along the aisles of grocery stores while others teleport into swimming pools and homes. Utter chaos erupts on Earth. The freed Vortigaunts use these storms as a ticket out of Xen and onto Earth, fleeing from the Combine.
A huge population shift occurs as people move into the cities, protected by soldiers and barbed wire fences, to escape the monsters. A feeling of safety comes from the people of Earth, as they can once again live normal lives within the confines of the cities, as the alien species continue to infest the outside world. Vast networks of ant-lion nests are formed throughout the Earth's crust, housing millions of new species.
The Combine, who have been keeping an eye on Earth since the resonance cascade, finally decide to take action. They plan on taking the Portal Storms to their advantage and use them as a method to mount an invasion on Earth. Now that Nihilanth's race has fled from the border-world to Earth, the Combine can forget about Xen and enslave both Mankind and Nihilanth's race in one fell swoop, on Earth.
Year: 2015
Gordon's Sleep Cycle: Gordon not aging
Major Event’s: 1.4. The Combine Invade Earth
Attack launched
- "Portal Storms continue"
- Combine force storms wide
- 7 Hour War begins
- Overwatch soldiers created, citadels delivered
-7 Hour war Ends - Breen made Administrator of Earth
- Population centers destroyed
- Events of 'Portal' take place
Details:
Forcing space-time and the portal storms wider open, The Combine launches a multi-pronged, all-out assault on the entire Earth. They teleport troops as well as drop-ships, gun-ships, and striders from Combine off-world outposts through the Portal Storms, and onto Earth. Once there, the Combine uses the same technique that they used on Xen on the humans, building a super-army out of the combination of the DNA of the most dominant species on Earth (the humans) and Combine technology.
The primary Citadel is established in City 17. This enormous structure is home to the Earth based Combine control center. Combine armies are produced here as well as vehicles and armaments. Combine presences are established in other cities around the world. (It is hinted that there may be other secondary Citadels around the world, linked by a network.)
While fighting each other, the humans and Combine also have the threat of Nihilianth's race. The freed Vortigaunts ally with the rebel forces, wanting revenge against the Combine. The headcrabs, being headcrabs, just attack anyone they can find. Other monsters find their place assaulting both Man and Combine.
The next stage of the Combine's plan takes root. Wallace Breen, "made" optimistic about the Combine takeover, is appointed the Administrator of Earth, acting as a puppet for the Combine. How he is selected for this role is unknown at this time. Breen's first act is to surrender Earth to the Combine, explaining that the Combine has arrived for good, to immortalize humanity, convinced by the Combine that the loss of life is inevitable in this transition period as Earth joins the Universal Union. Breen formally "surrenders" Earth after 7 hours of combat between Mankind and the Combine. Breen being a human helps the Combine, too. He is a species-specific leader - this helps propagate the lie that the enslavement of humans is a positive step forward, and humans, seeing a human in power, can be more readily coerced into their new lives.
Most of the major population centers of Earth are destroyed. Those still alive moves into the country, spreading out to avoid Combine capture. Small pockets of rebel fighters surface but have to establish bases in un-safe areas in the country, where the Xenians have manifested themselves, finding niches in Earth's ecosystem. Still under the spell of the Combine, and ignoring the massive genocide, Breen views the building rebel force as a group of short-sighted troublemakers.
The remaining populated areas are named City 1, City 2...City 17, City 27, etc and are placed under control of the Combine, who are establishing a huge presence on Earth. The United Nations in New York City is taken over and destroyed. [ screenshot, from Eli's lab ]
Meanwhile, all scientists have evacuated their facilities atAperture Science, including their main enrichment center. The events of Portal take place. 1 The 'Aperture Science Hand-Held Portal Device' is inadvertently released into the wild, however, it is not known what becomes of it.
Year: 2017
Gordon's Sleep Cycle: Gordon not aging
Major Event’s: 1.5. Rise of the Combine Overwatch
- Control of media takes place
- Nova Prospekt established as "storage and experiment area"
- (iv) Civil Protection established
- Transitional Tasks
Details:
Wallace Breen takes residence on the top floor of the City 17 Citadel, under the close counsel of the Combine, attempting to quell the rebels. Breen attempts to console humanity by permanently making a connection between himself and it. He does by controlling the media. Huge television screens are erected in city centers. Newspapers, television, and other forms of communication are censored and their content is controlled.
Breen's message is simple: That humanity should not attempt in any way to cause friction in the transition period as mankind integrates itself with the Combine. He believes in order to join this Universal Union, Man will have to sacrifice a lot, but he still believes that the ends justify the means. He truly believes that joining the Combine will be positive to humanity, and tries to convert the rest of it to his point of view. After The Portal Storms, mankind are in such disorder that they can and will believe something like this.
Ruling by fear, the Overwatch assure to continue to protect human city centers from the outside aliens, and thus fearful humans continue to live in the cities out of fear for their families and themselves. The Overwatch's brutal reign begins.
The Combine's purpose with Breen is also simple. His purpose now is to prepare Earth for an eventual total Combine migration. His job is to eliminate any resistance to the Combine. Using controlled raids and a "civil-protection" force, Breen captures and converts any resistance to stalkers, human slaves. Additionally, the Overwatch attempt to re-enslave the Vortigaunts, with some success. The Combine's ultimate purpose is to convert all of humanity into stalkers, and all of the vortigaunts into the slaves they were before Gordon freed them.More important minds are taken to Nova Prospekt, where they are stored in containment and experimented on - the Combine want to get as much knowledge out of humanity as they can before they destroy it. All of these things are leading to a drastic change in the purpose of humanity - it is about to become a slave race.
The Combine Overworld orders some transitional tasks, above and beyond Breen's power. First of all, the Overwatch enact a Suppression Field to prevent humans from procreating. (In particular, protein chains important to the development of an embryo were specifically blocked.) They do this so no new humans can be born, and that the humans left on Earth will be the final generation of them. They also put a biochemical in the water supply to make people gradually forget the past, and so they can more easily comply with Breen and the Combine - to forget why they hate them. Finally, the Combine begins to drain Earth's oceans. These tasks show that the Combine is preparing Earth for new residents.
Date: Today's date +5 Years
7 Hour War Date: August 11th 2015
Minimum possible age: 22 Years old
Location
City 17: Sofia, Bulgaria
General Knowledge
Freeman: No information known by the public.
Black Mesa: No information known by the public.
White Forest: No information known by the public.
Canonical Characters (Alyx, Eli, etc): No information known by the public.
Combine Locations (Nova Prospekt, etc): Only high up personnel.
________________________________________________________
HL2 LoreYear: 1995
Gordon's Sleep Cycle: Unknown
Major Event’s: 1.1. The Retreat to Xen
- Combine Empire Invades Nihilianth's Homeworld
- Long struggle ensues
- Nihilanth's Race Flees to Xen
Details:
The Combine Empire invades and takes control of the Vortigaunts' homeworld (which we have never seen), and attempt to enslave them, including their leader, Nihilianth (who is not necessarily a Vortigaunt). A long and bitter struggle ensues, as the Vortigaunts flee from planet to planet, battling and evading the Combine forces. With their backs against the wall, they flee to the border world Xen, where they wait for their demise. Xen is sort of like a "subway station" of the universe in that it can be used to cross dimensions. Marc Laidlaw calls it "a dimensional transit bottleneck--an area of continual contention."
(A quick note about Xen: Marc Laidlaw has stated that "nothing is native to Xen" which implies that life Xen is a mish-mash of beings from all over the universe, being willingly or unwillingly transported there. I will refer to the beings from Xen as the "Xenians", which include the headcrabs, ant-lions, vortigaunts, the race that Nihilianth commands, and so on.)
The Combine attempt to hybridize the dominant species of the planet (In Xen's case, the Vortigaunts) with their own technology to create a "Super soldier" that is adapted to Xen's environment and uses powerful Combine technology. (This is what they attempt to do on Earth, as well). Nihilanth and his people fight bitterly against the Combine.
Back on Earth, Gordon is studying for his doctorate at MIT. At Black Mesa in New Mexico, teleportation experiments are taking place. Under the supervision of researchers Eli Vance, Arne Magnusson and Issac Kleiner, crystals are retrieved from Xen, and organisms are analyzed. Research is developing.
Black Mesa's chief competitor for government funding, Aperture Science, also develops its own Portal technology parallel to Black Mesa onboard its many research facilities and enrichment centers, including the Borealis, a research vessel. One day, after what seems to be a severe mishap, the Borealis disappears completely off the face of the Earth, taking all passengers and crew with it. GLaDOS, an artificial intelligence program at Aperture Science, is made operational for the first time at one of Aperture's enrichment centers.
Year: 2000
Gordon's Sleep Cycle: Gordon is put into stasis
Major Event’s: 1.2. The Resonance Cascade
-- (i) The Resonance Cascade (Triggered by GMan)
- Combine Empire Notices
- Nihilanth defeated
- Black Mesa destroyed
- Gordon survives
- (ii) Gordon is Hired
Details:
They're waiting for you Gordon, in the test chamber.
Description: GMan Orchestrates The Resonance Cascade, "GMan", a very mysterious figure at Black Mesa, whose motives seem to be independent of both humankind and of the Combine, triggers a resonance cascade within the Anomalous Materials sector of the Black Mesa complex, by bringing in a specific test sample to be used. His selection of this hazardous material is masked by a system crash, to cut out formal communication between scientists. The resonance cascade rips open space-time and forms a portal between Earth and Xen. Nihilanth's race sees the dimensional fissure as an escape route. Of course, headcrabs and other life trapped on Xen decide to hitch a ride to Earth, for the fun of it. Black Mesa becomes chaos, as the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit, a United States Marine Corps Special Forces division is brought in to quell the results of the Resonance Cascade, including the elimination of all humans caught in the cross-fire.
This resonance cascade is so immense in nature, that the Combine Empire notices it, turning their interest to what is happening on Earth.
One man in a HEV suit becomes of great interest to G-Man during the incident. Gordon Freeman, a newly assigned scientist in the Anomalous materials lab, shows exceptional skill in dealing with Xen beings and U.S. troops. G-Man's interest peaks as Freeman navigates through Xen (the Xenians believe that Gordon is just as much of an enemy as the Combine) and defeats the Nihilanth. G-Man is impressed.
Eventually, Black Mesa is destroyed by nuclear detonation (noted in OF). Several survivors exist, including Wallace Breen, Black Mesa's former administrator; Barney Calhoun, a security guard; Dr. Issac Kleiner, a prominent scientist at Black Mesa; Dr. Arne Magnusson; Dr. Eli Vance; and of course, Alyx Vance, Eli's daughter. Alyx is of particular interest to GMan
Description: Gordon is Hired - At the end of Half-Life G-Man, impressed by your work, gives Gordon a choice between his death or working for the G-Man. Half-Life 2 assumes he chose life over death. After you choose to work for him G-Man puts you in a slow-time-warp (i.e., you are put into stasis) to call upon you when needed.
Year: 2004
Gordon's Sleep Cycle: Gordon not aging
Major Event’s: 1.3. The Portal Storms
- Storms begin
- Population shift to urban areas
- Combine set plans for invasion
Details:
Unfortunately, though Black Mesa has been obliterated, Earth has yet to feel the brunt of this disaster. "Portal Storms", a seeming side-effect from the resonance cascade, form a dimensional rift between Xen and Earth. These Portal Storms spread outside the confines of what is left of Black Mesa and throughout all of Earth, providing temporary, chaotic, and destructive links between Xen and Earth. Aliens (from Xen) of all types are teleported into suburbs. Headcrabs crawl along the aisles of grocery stores while others teleport into swimming pools and homes. Utter chaos erupts on Earth. The freed Vortigaunts use these storms as a ticket out of Xen and onto Earth, fleeing from the Combine.
A huge population shift occurs as people move into the cities, protected by soldiers and barbed wire fences, to escape the monsters. A feeling of safety comes from the people of Earth, as they can once again live normal lives within the confines of the cities, as the alien species continue to infest the outside world. Vast networks of ant-lion nests are formed throughout the Earth's crust, housing millions of new species.
The Combine, who have been keeping an eye on Earth since the resonance cascade, finally decide to take action. They plan on taking the Portal Storms to their advantage and use them as a method to mount an invasion on Earth. Now that Nihilanth's race has fled from the border-world to Earth, the Combine can forget about Xen and enslave both Mankind and Nihilanth's race in one fell swoop, on Earth.
Year: 2015
Gordon's Sleep Cycle: Gordon not aging
Major Event’s: 1.4. The Combine Invade Earth
Attack launched
- "Portal Storms continue"
- Combine force storms wide
- 7 Hour War begins
- Overwatch soldiers created, citadels delivered
-7 Hour war Ends - Breen made Administrator of Earth
- Population centers destroyed
- Events of 'Portal' take place
Details:
Forcing space-time and the portal storms wider open, The Combine launches a multi-pronged, all-out assault on the entire Earth. They teleport troops as well as drop-ships, gun-ships, and striders from Combine off-world outposts through the Portal Storms, and onto Earth. Once there, the Combine uses the same technique that they used on Xen on the humans, building a super-army out of the combination of the DNA of the most dominant species on Earth (the humans) and Combine technology.
The primary Citadel is established in City 17. This enormous structure is home to the Earth based Combine control center. Combine armies are produced here as well as vehicles and armaments. Combine presences are established in other cities around the world. (It is hinted that there may be other secondary Citadels around the world, linked by a network.)
While fighting each other, the humans and Combine also have the threat of Nihilianth's race. The freed Vortigaunts ally with the rebel forces, wanting revenge against the Combine. The headcrabs, being headcrabs, just attack anyone they can find. Other monsters find their place assaulting both Man and Combine.
The next stage of the Combine's plan takes root. Wallace Breen, "made" optimistic about the Combine takeover, is appointed the Administrator of Earth, acting as a puppet for the Combine. How he is selected for this role is unknown at this time. Breen's first act is to surrender Earth to the Combine, explaining that the Combine has arrived for good, to immortalize humanity, convinced by the Combine that the loss of life is inevitable in this transition period as Earth joins the Universal Union. Breen formally "surrenders" Earth after 7 hours of combat between Mankind and the Combine. Breen being a human helps the Combine, too. He is a species-specific leader - this helps propagate the lie that the enslavement of humans is a positive step forward, and humans, seeing a human in power, can be more readily coerced into their new lives.
Most of the major population centers of Earth are destroyed. Those still alive moves into the country, spreading out to avoid Combine capture. Small pockets of rebel fighters surface but have to establish bases in un-safe areas in the country, where the Xenians have manifested themselves, finding niches in Earth's ecosystem. Still under the spell of the Combine, and ignoring the massive genocide, Breen views the building rebel force as a group of short-sighted troublemakers.
The remaining populated areas are named City 1, City 2...City 17, City 27, etc and are placed under control of the Combine, who are establishing a huge presence on Earth. The United Nations in New York City is taken over and destroyed. [ screenshot, from Eli's lab ]
Meanwhile, all scientists have evacuated their facilities atAperture Science, including their main enrichment center. The events of Portal take place. 1 The 'Aperture Science Hand-Held Portal Device' is inadvertently released into the wild, however, it is not known what becomes of it.
Year: 2017
Gordon's Sleep Cycle: Gordon not aging
Major Event’s: 1.5. Rise of the Combine Overwatch
- Control of media takes place
- Nova Prospekt established as "storage and experiment area"
- (iv) Civil Protection established
- Transitional Tasks
Details:
Wallace Breen takes residence on the top floor of the City 17 Citadel, under the close counsel of the Combine, attempting to quell the rebels. Breen attempts to console humanity by permanently making a connection between himself and it. He does by controlling the media. Huge television screens are erected in city centers. Newspapers, television, and other forms of communication are censored and their content is controlled.
Breen's message is simple: That humanity should not attempt in any way to cause friction in the transition period as mankind integrates itself with the Combine. He believes in order to join this Universal Union, Man will have to sacrifice a lot, but he still believes that the ends justify the means. He truly believes that joining the Combine will be positive to humanity, and tries to convert the rest of it to his point of view. After The Portal Storms, mankind are in such disorder that they can and will believe something like this.
Ruling by fear, the Overwatch assure to continue to protect human city centers from the outside aliens, and thus fearful humans continue to live in the cities out of fear for their families and themselves. The Overwatch's brutal reign begins.
The Combine's purpose with Breen is also simple. His purpose now is to prepare Earth for an eventual total Combine migration. His job is to eliminate any resistance to the Combine. Using controlled raids and a "civil-protection" force, Breen captures and converts any resistance to stalkers, human slaves. Additionally, the Overwatch attempt to re-enslave the Vortigaunts, with some success. The Combine's ultimate purpose is to convert all of humanity into stalkers, and all of the vortigaunts into the slaves they were before Gordon freed them.More important minds are taken to Nova Prospekt, where they are stored in containment and experimented on - the Combine want to get as much knowledge out of humanity as they can before they destroy it. All of these things are leading to a drastic change in the purpose of humanity - it is about to become a slave race.
The Combine Overworld orders some transitional tasks, above and beyond Breen's power. First of all, the Overwatch enact a Suppression Field to prevent humans from procreating. (In particular, protein chains important to the development of an embryo were specifically blocked.) They do this so no new humans can be born, and that the humans left on Earth will be the final generation of them. They also put a biochemical in the water supply to make people gradually forget the past, and so they can more easily comply with Breen and the Combine - to forget why they hate them. Finally, the Combine begins to drain Earth's oceans. These tasks show that the Combine is preparing Earth for new residents.