Station 6

"Black Mesa East to Station 6. Do you read? Dr. Freeman is on his way downriver. Lend him the Airboat and give him all the help you can. Repeat: Gordon Freeman has returned! It is critical he reaches Black Mesa East!"

- Alyx Vance

Station 6 is a large Resistance Underground Railroad station. It is located at the end of the City 17 Canals, just outside of the City 17 Wall, and is featured at the end of the Half-Life 2 chapter Route Kanal.

Overview
Station 6 is a small, cramped, shantytown with a simplistic dock that houses the Airboat built by the Resistance. It is surrounded by pools of contaminated toxic waste, into which the dock leads.

By the time Gordon Freeman arrives, it is being heavily shelled with headcrabs, resulting in most inhabitants either being killed or taken over by headcrabs.

Features
Station 6 is mostly composed of makeshift huts built using scrap metals, other garbage or junkyard materials. These huts are used for nothing more than roofs to cover most of the station, protecting the inhabitants somewhat from the elements, and to hide the station from overhead onlookers. Station 6 contains a supply of SMG1 ammunition and two working radios at the entrance and at the dock.

The dock, located near the huts, contains large amounts of fuel and supplies to maintain the Airboat and possibly other machines or vehicles.

Because of the large concentration of toxic waste in the area, inhabitants have to be careful not to step in it or risk injuries. Planks of wood and other materials are placed over the pools of waste to make crossing over them without harm easier and less dangerous.

The residents, before they are killed, seem surprisingly healthy for anyone living in what is essentially a toxic waste dump.

Half-Life 2
At the time of Gordon Freeman's arrival, Combine forces have discovered the base, possibly thanks to an audible Hunter-Chopper, and start bombarding Station 6 with Headcrab Shells. All inhabitants can be presumed killed or turned into Zombies, including the man who helps Gordon enter Station 6 and Arlene, the woman who gives him the Airboat (if the player leaves the immediate area of her and returns after loading the next map, a Fast Headcrab is found to have killed her, but without turning her into a Fast Zombie). Returning to the radio man causes a headcrab shell to collapse the tunnel. Though he is unseen, considering the circumstances, he is most likely killed.

After Freeman has traversed the base, which at the time is crawling with Headcrabs emerging from the landed shells and roving Zombies, he is given the Airboat to escape to Black Mesa East.

Although it is unknown if Civil Protection destroys the base after shelling it, Station 6 is almost definitely destroyed when the Citadel explodes after its core collapses.

Trivia

 * This is the only place where a Headcrab can be seen just after it has attached to a host. It is seen from behind a chainlink fence and the man cannot be saved, but the Headcrab on him can be killed.
 * Station 6 is the first time the Fast Headcrab can be seen, although no Fast Headcrabs are seen leaving the shells.
 * In the PC version of Half-Life 2 there are more shantytown structures, more connections to the canals, and two less loading points than in the Xbox version of the game.

List of appearances

 * Half-Life 2
 * Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar