New Little Odessa

New Little Odessa, also known as N.L.O., is a small Resistance settlement on the Coast named after Colonel Odessa Cubbage, the leader of the Resistance group based there. It is visited during the Half-Life 2 chapter Highway 17, during which Gordon Freeman has to save the base from a Gunship attack with the newly introduced RPG.

Overview
New Little Odessa appears to have been a small seaside community before the Combine invasion. Like many other Resistance bases found along the Coast, N.L.O. has several docks that are not near water, which serves as more evidence that the Combine are indeed draining Earth of its resources.

The settlement consists of two houses, a couple of storage sheds, a lookout tower, and as in many Resistance bases, a windmill. The first and most significant house is two-story and contains a headquarters and radio in the basement. The ground floor is used for recreation and sleeping quarters. The first floor is empty, with most of the roof missing. The second building is a one room house used as a barracks. The settlement has an entrance on Highway 17 itself, barred with a gate, only opened with a code. The other entrance leads to the beach and is protected from Antlions with a Combine Thumper.

Half-Life 2
Gordon Freeman passes through N.L.O. during his journey to Nova Prospekt. He first sees the base through Combine Binoculars from across the bay, after killing a squad of Overwatch Soldiers that had been observing the base from across the bay with the binoculars (it is possible the squad was preparing a ground assault on the settlement). Through the binoculars, he can also see Cubbage talking to the the G-Man on the top of the main building.

When Freeman reaches N.L.O. a few minutes later, the G-Man is obviously gone, and Gordon arrives just in time to help defend the settlement against an imminent Gunship attack. Cubbage is in the main building's basement, teaching two Rebels and a Vortigaunt how to efficiently use the RPG against a Gunship. He then gives Freeman the task of taking down the Gunship. Freeman then succeeds in destroying the Synth, but not without sustaining losses in the Resistance ranks. When the fighting is over, Freeman goes on his way.

As the G-Man is seen at N.L.O. before Gordon's arrival, it is possible he delivered the RPG to Cubbage to help his soldiers fight off the incoming Gunship. Further supporting this theory is the fact that Cubbage seem to introduce the RPG to his troops when Freeman arrives, which would most likely have already been given if they had had an RPG for some time already. Like most characters who have been seen interacting with the G-Man, Cubbage makes no reference to him when speaking in Freeman's presence.

Dialog in Episode One suggests that Odessa later took credit for the destruction of the Gunship, and made no mention of Freeman's presence or actions at N.L.O.

Behind the scenes
N.L.O. is featured in the playable Half-Life 2 Beta, in the map " ". There appears a building located left of the barracks when facing the ocean, removed from the final version but similar to the Rollermine-filled building from the retail map " ". The main retail building is not the main building at that point, and has several differences with its retail version: it is in a much better condition (only the roof is partially missing), completely made out of wood, and mostly empty. The gate is also located higher on the road, and two trucks block the way to the beach, where no Thumper can be found. The Gunship also appears earlier in the map (near the stream), but does not attack Freeman until he has reached N.L.O.

When Gordon reaches the base, a placeholder for Cubbage, named "RPGGuy", briefly introduces him to the RPG inside the cut building. After the Gunship has started attacking, the player will not be allowed to use the weapon until the RPGGuy is killed after hiding in a shack, destroyed right after by the Synth's belly cannon, a feature cut from the retail game but still available in Hammer. However ammo cannot be found around the base, and the player must use the console to get more rockets. When the Gunship is defeated, a Rebel walks slowly along the road to the gate, then it automatically opens.

List of appearances

 * Half-Life 2