The Uprising

The Combine War takes place an unspecified amount of time from the Black Mesa Incident in the original Half-Life. The war is fought between the Combine Empire and the Earth Resistance Forces, aided by collective bands of Vortigaunts.

Prelude to War
After the Black Mesa Incident, the Portal Storms attracted the attention of the Combine Empire. The Combine's motive for invading Earth is unknown, though it is surmised that the Combine simply wished to take control of Earth's resources, and enslave its population, as it had done so many times before. The Combine invaded Earth, igniting the Seven Hour War.

The War
The events in Half Life 2 take place in an unspecified amount of time after the battle which ignited the Combine War. The battle shattered Earth's armed forces in just Seven Hours and the Combine rounded up what was left of the civilian populace, and crammed them into large cities, surrounded by forcefields and tightly policed with Combine patrols. It is likely that what was left of Earth's armies was assimilated into the Combine's occupational force. The Combine also turned captured Resistance fighters and dissenters into Stalkers or Overwatch soldiers. Those who cooperated were allowed to become Civil Protection, the general police force of City 17, and others like it.

The Combine made a move against the Rebels after they captured the town of Ravenholm, which was in the form of a massive headcrab bombardment. The townsfolk was transformed into a wandering zombie crowd, the sole survivor being Father Grigori, the local town pastor who "tends to his flock" as he says, by "liberating" the humans that the headcrabs have taken control of. Grigori's fate is unknown after the Ravenholm chapters, but some claim to have seen him run away from the Zombies cornering him into an open tomb.

The war escalated when Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance destroyed the teleporter at Nova Prospekt. The Rebels saw this as a signal to begin the uprising against the Combine. A massive battle ensued for well over a week, with no side faring better than the other. With Freeman's assistance, the Rebels were able to capture the Combine Overwatch Nexus, the central control centre for operations in the city. As the Rebels advanced closer to the Citadel walls, the Combine handed the streets over to Striders, who proceeded to exterminate any resistance personnel they could find.

However, this proved to be ineffective, as the portal at the top of the Citadel was destroyed by Freeman. In Episode One, Freeman and Alyx were able to temporarily stabilize the CItadel's collapsing core, for long enough to get most, if not all remaining citizens out of City 17.

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