Combine (Half-Life)
The Combine is a government that features in Half-Life.
Contents |
History
The Combine were a multidimensional alien empire that encompassed several parallel realities and controlled an unknown number of other species. The Combine empire expands by invading worlds and exploiting their resources and species as it sees fit. By manipulating these species through methods including bioengineering and implantation, the Combine creates races of physically superior super-soldiers uniquely adapted for the particular environments of the conquered worlds. This process results in a highly mobile, aggressive, and adaptive military force which is able to respond to any threat and eliminate any opposition posed by a planet's inhabitants.
Following the Black Mesa Incident, the demise of Nihilanth led to the breach between Earth and Xen to become unstable creating a series of immense portal storms. These resulted in 'portal storms' creating several interdimensional gateways forming all over the planet. The Combine came to use this as an opportunity to launch a massive invasion of Earth. Within seven hours much of the planet was under the Combine's control with humanity losing the resultant Seven Hour War. Dr. Wallace Breen a former administrator of the Black Mesa Facility came to discover a means to communicate with the Combine and negotiated Earth's surrender. Five years ago, admist the construction of the Citadel, the Combine managed to locate the G-Man in an apartment complex located in the Quarantine Zone of City 17. The Combine haphazardly imprisoned him in a Vault, which they then left hovering over the zone and powered by energy harvested from Vortigaunts held captive in substations. The Combine made plans to relocate the Vault but were having delays for unknown reasons. After discovering the Vault and mistakenly believing the individual held inside to be Gordon Freeman, Eli and Alyx Vance set out to release him. Despite the Combine's efforts to stop her, Alyx managed to bring down and infiltrate the Vault and open the icosahedral cell he was contained in, releasing the G-Man. The G-Man took Alyx away with him into his realm and escaped.
Overview
In appearance, the Combine were an immense inter-dimensional empire that consisted of a number of species that were either allies or slaves. To collaborators, they were referred to as Our Benefactors.
The ultimate goal of the Combine to enslave and control the Multiverse.
Their empire was composed of an untold number of species with entire alien ecosystems enslaved to their will. They seem to only assimilate intelligent species from the universes they conquered and manipulated these races through many means which included bioengineering and artificial implantation. The products of the Combine's re-engineering process were known as synths which were synthetic robots that served a variety of functions within the Combine.
The Combine are known to utilise a number of different methods in controlling the remnants of Humanity from drugging the water supply to the mass broadcasting of propaganda throughout every city to the control of memory itself. Memory replacement is a psycho-engineering process used by the Combine for transforming humans into Transhuman soldiers. Civil Protection officers are offered the chance to willingly undergo the process to advance through the ranks.
Permanent off-world relocation was a threat and punishment that could be made to towards citizens in the empire.
The Combine operated two different branches on Earth that included:
- Civil Protection : an enforcement branch of the military who patrolled the cities and monitored the public airways whilst conducting apartment raids. Its members were noted to receive little to no augmentation.
- Overwatch : consisting of human soldiers that had been surgically modified with Combine technology that made them deadlier and more resilient than normal human beings. They were highly trained and could adapt well to other environments outside of Earth where some some units could face permanent off-world assignment. Assignment on other worlds was considered a terrible fate for Overwatch soldiers and was often used as a punishment or threat only. The Combine Overwatch served as the primary military force of the Combine on Earth and were its Transhuman arm.
Leadership of the Combine was headed by a mysterious race of beings known as the Advisors.
Upon taking over a planet, the Combine came to set up suppression fields that reduced a species birthrate to 0 leaving the people the last of their generation.
A set of regular broadcasts were made by Dr. Breen that was transmitted to the people of Combine-controlled settlements via screens with these being referred to as Breencasts.
The Combine showed no hesitation in acts of extreme brutality and even genocide to maintain control over a populace.
Opposing the Combine on Earth was the Human Resistance who sought to topple the invaders rule.
Technology
Weapons developed by the Combine included:
- Pulse SMGs :
- Rollermines :
- Hopper Mines :
- Suppression Device :
Vehicles and craft used by the Combine included:
- Hunters :
- Striders :
- Hunter-Choppers :
- Gunships :
Suppression Fields could be set up that prevented the formation of certain protein chains that were vital for embryonic development. As such, these were able to inhibit reproduction of a species with the Combine able to reduce the birth rate of a species to 0.
Their technology allowed them to traverse entire universes and dimensions in their conquests. It was shown that their teleporters required a dark fusion reactor to power it.
Members
- 314 URB-LOC 0017 Advisor :
- Wallace Breen :
Notes
- The Combine was created by Gabe Newell with Marc Laidlaw adding to the design and them making their first appearance in Half-Life 2 (2004).
- Some elements of the Combine's appearance, such as that of the Advisor, are inspired by the works of Frank Herbert.
- Marc Laidlaw commented, "I'm pretty sure Doug was restating something I'd told him; I [am not] clarifying it, since it's the foundation on which the series continues. What we saw in HL1 was the very end of a long struggle between the Combine and the last of the Nihilanth's race ... The Nihilanth's "world" (if it could be said to have) was long since in the past as far as the Nihilanth was concerned; Xen was their final retreat, and they had their back to the wall, as it were, when the fissure appeared that let them spill into our dimension. Xen itself is sort of a dimensional transit bottleneck—an area of continual contention."
Appearances
- Half-Life 2:
External Link
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