Chapter 1: World Events
In the latter half of the 20th century, the world was rife with conspiracies and secrets. UFOs were all the rage, and people could not stop talking about supposed sightings, military cover-ups, and the infamous Area 51. What they didn't know, however, was that Area 51 was nothing more than a farce. After all, there is little point in conducting secret research in a base that is no longer secret.Before pictures of Area 51 taken by Russian spy satellites even hit the public, the US Government was already moving all of its equipment, personnel, and projects to a new facility, called Black Mesa. It was there that the military conducted its secret projects, as well as its experimentation with alien specimens and technology, and the strange alien crystal that started the infamous Resonance Cascade.
The events that happen over the next several hours are still clouded in mystery and cover-up. What is known, however, is that the Black Mesa Facility was compromised and infested with alien lifeforms. The United States Marine Corps was sent in to try and clear the facility of all aliens and facility personnel, but quite a number of the senior staff managed to escape the noose they set, and the Marines were only able to contain the threat within the facility walls.
However, it wasn't long until things began to spin out of control. The portal opened by Resonance Cascade began to expand, and more portals began to open in various areas around the world. The secret was out, and soon the entire world found itself swamped under the onslaught of xenofauna. With these recent events coming to light, the US Government had no choice but to admit what it had been doing in New Mexico, and warned the rest of the world of the impending danger these portals represented. Unfortunately, this was only the first wave.
Over the next two years, most of the world fought back against the aliens that came through the portals, and for a time, it appeared that the humans were winning. However, some nations didn't follow the rest of the world. Many ambitious people began to study and exploit the portals, and one of these people was none other than Dr. Wallace Breen, former administrator of Black Mesa. Through one of these portals, he made contact with an alien force known as the Combine.
The Combine were a ruthless but pathetic race, made up of ugly beings totally dependent on technology to survive. Exhausting all of the resources on their native planet centuries ago, the Combine began migrating to other planets, enslaving its people, and stealing their resources. The Combine were interested in Earth ever since Gordon Freeman killed Nihilanth, their puppet leader on Xen. The Combine had already made preparations to stage an invasion of Earth, but were missing one critical piece of the puzzle, a puppet leader to rule the humans.
Dr. Wallace Breen fit the bill perfectly.
Days later, the Combine hit every major city on Earth simultaneously in what later became known as the Seven Hour War. It took just seven hours for the Combine to annihilate all of the Earth's armed forces, and for Breen to negotiate a surrender on behalf of Earth. For the next 15 years, the Combine ruled Earth with an iron fist.
Unfortunately for the Combine, in their third year of rule, the xenofauna that plagued Earth in the past began to pose the same problems for them. Even though they used some xenofauna (headcrabs) as weapons, they had to clean up the result anyways. There were also many resistance groups out there that still fought a guerilla war against the Combine, in hopes of liberating Earth from their iron grip. In response to these growing problems, the Combine decided to implement Kill Teams, specially trained units designed to combat the growing threat of both xenofauna and the resistance forces. They started screening human children for possible candidates. When a suitable candidate was found, the Combine took them and performed genetic enhancements to make them stronger, faster, and smarter than normal human beings.
Over the next 12 years, the Kill Teams proved ruthlessly efficient at the tasks they were given, with a flawless 100 percent success rate.
Recently, Combine has heard hushed whispers among the slaves, rumors of the prophesized return of Gordon Freeman, whose status is the equivalent of the Messiah. The Combine is prepared for him, however, and their Kill Teams stand vigilant in the event that the Freeman ever returns…
