- Prelude -
It all began at the Black Mesa Research facility, located somewhere in New Mexico. On May 16th (year undefined) in the anomalous materials laboratory, a theoretical physicist named Gordon Freeman was sent into a test chamber with a strange and unknown crystal to conduct a critical test. This crystal was supplied by a peculiar man known only as the G-Man. Some scientists, including Eli Vance, were uneasy about the stability of the crystal and objected to the test, but they were ultimately overruled.
The test proved to be a disaster of devastating proportions. A resonance cascade opened a portal to another dimension, linking Black Mesa and the rest of the planet to an unknown world. Alien monstrosities begin to pour out from the portal and proved to be nothing but aggressive and hostile. The government attempted to contain the disaster by sending military forces to wipe out all life at the facility, be they alien or not. By the end of several days the entirety of Black Mesa had become a bloodbath beyond salvation and all occupants were given no choice but to flee.
Not all lives were lost, however. Taking up arms against the alien invaders, Gordon Freeman escorted several survivors out of the carnage and bloodshed, including Dr. Isaac Kleiner, Dr. Eli Vance, and security guard Barney Calhoun. Since then nobody has seen or heard from Gordon Freeman. It was also rumored that a military Corporal by the named of Adrian Shepard escaped but, like Gordon Freeman, he has yet to be heard from.
Now almost two decades have passed since what is now referred to as the "Black Mesa Incident." A multidimensional empire known as the Combine, a combination of alien, synthetic and human elements, have overwhelmed the Earth's military forces and have now come to rule over Earth after a brief conflict known as the Seven Hour War.
Doctor Wallace Breen, a highly prestigious and powerful scientist, as well as the former administrator of the Black Mesa Research Facility, negotiated the surrender of Earth to the Combine, and was thus rewarded with power. Now he resides in a towering Combine Citadel in the European metropolis known as City 17. He has been given the title of the apparent "Ruler of the Earth."
The Combine have locked humanity under oppression. Innocent citizens are being pulled off the streets, seemingly at random, to be interrogated and tortured. Massive suppression fields have been activated over all the major cities across the globe, preventing humans from procreating. The Earth has been reduced to dystopia, and is being slowly drained of all its natural resources.
Yet hope remains. An underground coalition of scientists and rebels are forming a resistance in City 17 against Dr. Breen and the Combine. And what's more, there is rumor that Gordon Freeman is returning…