 This article contains spoilers. Read at your own risk!
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 The title of this article is conjectural.
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| Although this article is based on official information, the actual name of this subject is pure conjecture. |
The Attack on Nova Prospekt was a major confrontation between the Resistance and the Nova Prospekt Garrison and Airwatch arms of the Combine Overwatch.
Following the capture of Eli Vance after a successful raid on Black Mesa East, rebel fighters Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance resolved to infiltrate Nova Prospekt to mount a rescue.
Although their effort to free Eli ultimately failed, the inadvertent destruction of Nova Prospekt following critical damage to the Combine's teleport chamber triggered an armed revolution against Combine rule in City 17.
Prelude[]
Acting upon intelligence by Combine double-agent Judith Mossman, Combine Civil Protection and Airwatch forces mounted a raid on Black Mesa East, resulting in the capture of Resistance leader Eli Vance and all of his research into local teleportation technology. Eli's daughter, Alyx Vance, tracked the dropship which carried her father and Mossman to the prison Nova Prospekt.
Freeman, cut off during the attack on the base, was forced to escape through Ravenholm. Reconnecting with the Resistance at Shorepoint Base, Freeman learned of Alyx's intentions to infiltrate the prison, and agreed to rendezvous with her. Forced to travel along the damaged coastal highways, Freeman evaded a number of Combine attacks, and successfully reached the Nova Prospekt beach perimeter.
Nova Prospekt was a widely-hated and greatly feared symbol of Combine oppression and brutality, and the prison had gained a notorious reputation among citizens. In particular, the prison's Depot, a Combine addition to the old prison, contained facilities for processing conscripts and prisoners into transhuman assets such as Overwatch soldiers and Stalkers, while other prisoners were subjected to horrific torture and captivity in squalid conditions.
Freeman was supplied with aromatic pheropods from a Myrmidont he had slain, enabling him to control the Antlions that had burrowed into the beach along the coast.
Attack[]
Freeman began his assault by deactivating the Restrictors installed along the beach perimeter of Nova Prospekt. Hordes of Antlions, hitherto kept at bay by the devices, swarmed the beach perimeter and quickly overran the fortified emplacements, despite heavy Combine resistance. Overwatch subsequently reported multiple exogen breaches throughout the prison complex. Two Airwatch Gunships attempted to contain the incursion, but both were shot down.
Entering the old prison complex, Freeman discovered that the Nova Prospekt garrison was rapidly losing control of the situation. Antlions burrowed underneath the compound and breached through the floors in dozens of locations. Unprepared for an assault from within, the prison garrison suffered heavy casualties as the Antlions laid waste to the facility. Block B2 quickly fell, and the guards were instructed to kill all prisoners in Block B7 to prevent their escape and rescue. The guards vainly attempted to slow the progress of the incursion with forcefields, though such defences were useless against breaches from below. The guards made extensive use of automated sentry turrets to replace the losses mounting through attrition, and set tripmines to inflict losses on their unrelenting foe. With Freeman's aid, these defences were soon compromised, and after fierce indoor fighting, the Combine lost control of Blocks A5, A7, B4, and D8.
Moving into the Depot, a Combine superstructure added to the old prison, Freeman reunited with Alyx. There, the pair located Eli Vance and moved him to the teleport chamber, intending to leave the facility for Kleiner's Lab. As Freeman reached a control room, several squads of prison guards launched a determined assault to recapture the room, though their efforts were repelled. Hacking into the prison's communications network, Alyx and Freeman exposed the treachery of Judith Mossman after overhearing a conversation between her and Wallace Breen. Aided by Alyx disabling the facility's security fields, Freeman progressed deeper into the facility and held his position while Alyx caught up. A large detachment of prison guards attacked Freeman's cornered position, but were beaten back after heavy fighting.
Reunited again with Alyx, the pair reached the teleport chamber with Mossman and Eli. Before Alyx or Freeman could intervene, Mossman teleported herself and Eli to the Citadel, leaving them behind to fend for themselves against an oncoming attack. Forced to hold their ground while the teleporter slowly recharged, the prison guards launched a ferocious assault against the teleport chamber. Aided by reprogrammed sentry turrets, the pair held off the attack long enough for the teleporter to charge, whereupon they escaped to Kleiner's lab. Due to the damage sustained in the fighting and the general instability of the Combine's facsimile teleporter, the unit exploded, destroying Nova Prospekt.
Aftermath[]
The explosion presumably killed the remaining garrison, as well as all of the prisoners held captive within the facility. Although Freeman and Alyx failed to free Eli, the destruction of Nova Prospekt was a decisive psychological victory for the Resistance. The prison had long held an infamous reputation among the citizenry for its brutality, and was a widely feared and hated symbol of the Combine's oppressive authoritarianism. The destruction of the prison inspired the downtrodden citizens of City 17 to launch an armed revolution against Combine rule.
The Combine's peculiar teleporter design resulted in a relativistic delay; though Freeman and Alyx experienced only seconds from their perspective, in reality over a week passed outside their teleport bubble. Consequently, many assumed they had been killed in the explosion, until their sudden reappearance to help coordinate tactical efforts against the Combine.
References[]
 Combine Occupation of Earth
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- ↑ Counting all corpses and zombies outside the Nova Prospekt perimeter and inside the prison
- ↑ Assuming the player kills all those encountered after leaving the Vortigaunt Camp, also counting corpses and those killed on cameras. Also counts the 5 Elites who break into the teleport chamber.
- ↑ Counting all corpses and zombies outside the Nova Prospekt perimeter and inside the prison