move on

The Seven Hour War was a brief but decisive confrontation between the Combine and the governments of Earth, ultimately leading to a large human death toll and the Combine occupation of the entire planet. The war itself is never discussed directly in Half-Life 2, but it is mentioned briefly by Eli Vance in Black Mesa East. Looking at a small corkboard featuring several annotated newspaper cutouts and images, including a photo of a visibly damaged United Nations Secretariat Building in New York City, causes him to reminisce over the events during the war. In Episode Two, Eli later states that if the superportal matures, "it'll be the Seven Hour War all over again... except this time we won't last seven minutes!".

Very little is known about the war except that it began some time after the Portal Storms which raged across the Earth. These disturbances spread Xen life forms across the world, causing populations to move into cities for protection. Attracted to Earth by the dimensional rift caused by the Black Mesa Incident, the Combine, a vast alien empire, launched an invasive force that overpowered the planet, catching the human population by surprise and defeating all of its armed forces in only seven hours.[1] It was after this that Dr. Wallace Breen, former Black Mesa Research Facility administrator, negotiated a surrender, leading to a subservient and meager existence for Earth's remaining human population under the oppressor and "saving" the survivors at the cost of their freedom. Breen was appointed administrator of Earth but remained under the control of the Combine. Some time after the war, the Resistance was formed to combat the new Combine leadership.

Half-Life 2 begins an undisclosed number of years after the war & after the rule of the Combine has been firmly established. There is, however, some evidence from the Half-Life 2: Episode One official website indicating that Half-Life 2 takes place nearly two decades after the Black Mesa incident. Such a time frame is logically consistent with the aging of the series' characters between Half-Life and Half-Life 2. It also explains why there are no children in the game, the Combine having set up a reproductive suppression field a short time after the war to prevent any further reproduction for approximately twenty years until the events of Episode One, the suppression field being disabled after the damage the Citadel had sustained.

The exact manner in which the Combine forces invaded and conquered Earth during the war has not been revealed, but Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar describes a concept where Citadels were to be teleported directly to Earth. Once they had landed inside human cities, they began deploying Combine armies from within.

The Source[combineoverwiki.net]

- Ethan

The Combine occupation of Earth began in the aftermath of the Seven Hour War, some time after the Black Mesa Incident. Former Black Mesa administrator Wallace Breen managed Earth's surrender, thus allowing the Combine to seize power. He was then declared Interim Administrator of Earth, a largely symbolic position.

During the Combine's rule, the remnants of the human race were spread all around the world, in Combine cities, built from the remnants of Earth's devastated cities. The extent of the Combine's brutality during the occupation is not yet known, but it is believed that the Combine perpetrated genocide against mankind, installed a worldwide military and police force known as Overwatch, drained Earth of its natural resources, and put an end to all human reproduction through a planet-wide suppression field.

Around 20 years after the Black Mesa Incident, the occupation was compromised, when, following the destruction of Nova Prospekt, a massive uprising was born in City 17. This uprising was spearheaded by organized Resistance forces, led by former Black Mesa scientists, such as Eli Vance and Gordon Freeman.

The events surrounding Gordon Freeman's arrival in City 17 until the Resistance's successful defense of the White Forest rocket base transpired over the course of one and a half weeks, in an area of several dozen square miles, from City 17 to Nova Propekt on the coast. It is understood that this uprising was the first of its kind in 20 years, and that news of it reached far and wide by the time the Resistance launched its rocket into orbit and shut down the Combine's infant superportal. This act, for the first time since the Combine's invasion, stranded the entire Combine presence remaining on Earth from its home world. No further communication was possible between the Combine Overworld and Earth. News of this was certain to become global among the human inhabitants of Earth, and similar uprisings in cities around the world could be expected.

- Ethan

Human Sergeant

Acting as a squad leader, the Human Sergeant was to smoke a cigar and have a flattop haircut and bad attitude. He would command grunt squads and be in radio contact with command. According to concept art image featured in Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, he was originally to use an M60 for a spray attack, fire rockets with his dual LAW rocket launchers, and possess a melee attack at close range. While the M60 and the LAWs were modeled, they were removed from the last known iteration of the NPC, in which the M60 was replaced by a 20mm Cannon and the LAWs by a backpack. A combat knife can also be seen attached on his belt, although it is only part of his textures.

While the most complete name for the Human Sergeant is provided in Raising the Bar (where it is misspelled as "Sargeant"), this enemy class is referred to by a number of other titles. In the Half-Life files, his model and sound file folders are named "hassault" (for "human assault"); in the Half-Life SDK files, his folder is named "Hvyweapons" (for "heavy weapons"), while his .qc files use the terms "human heavy weapons" and "heavy weapons character".

Originally showcased in gameplay videos of early Half-Life builds, the Human Sergeant can be found in the Half-Life model files, as with many other enemies cut from the game. He is also featured in the Half-Life SDK files, where larger textures can be found. His sound file folder in the retail Half-Life files only contains the sounds for his 20mm Cannon weapon, not his voice. In the leaked Half-Life Alpha, however, a single alert sound is present in which he exclaims "You're dead! You hear me? Dead!".

Although not present in the build during normal gameplay, the Human Sergeant can be seen in the Half-Life Alpha during the pre-recorded demo files. Sometimes accompanied by a pair of soldiers, he is seen acting as a primarily stationary turret enemy, guarding a few key locations with a barrage of suppressing fire from his weapon. Prefaced by a short wind up time, his 20mm Cannon is demonstrated to be remarkably accurate, even at range.

While the NPC was cut from the final product, the Human Sergeant's face was reused with slight modifications as a HECU Marine featured among the four original head models.

Archer

The Archer's model has the size of a small shark. A fish-like creature, it was to be met underwater. According to its animations, it was to attack the player by biting and launching energy bolts from below the water's surface.

The creature's name is most likely based on that of the real world archerfish, as they mainly share the same behavior.

Kingpin

Twice the height of an average person, it was to have a massive brain filling its entire body, with four eyestalks spaced evenly around it. An early version was to walk on three chitinous legs with a clicking sound; a later version, called Sactildiae Nefariousium, traded the rear leg for a thick, worm-like "tail". Its psionic attacks and psionic defenses would have made it immune to missile weapons.

It was to be found at least on Xen, in some caves. Additionally, as stated by Marc Laidlaw, the Kingpin appeared in several concept art pieces of the Topside Motorpool area. It was to break free from a squad of soldiers tormenting it, and destroy them with the player's help.

Central Intelligence Agency

The CIA was sent in by the U.S. Government to cover up the Black Mesa Incident by eliminating all surviving personnel and invading alien lifeforms and planting explosives to destroy the entire base. They were unaware of old nuclear warheads left behind from the decommissioned Cold War missile base the research facility was built on. The player was tasked to stop them as the explosives could trigger a nuclear blast large enough to destroy the entire Western United States.[1]

This plot device was recycled for Half-Life: Opposing Force in which the Black Ops are sent in by the government after the Marines pull out to destroy the facility by planting a thermonuclear device. The bomb is deactivated by Adrian Shephard but later reactivated by the G-Man which leads to the ultimate destruction of the facility.

Charger

The Charger was to be a two-legged insect-like creature, with a small head dotted with two moving flaps (possibly ears, since holes can be seen in the inner sides) that could cover its head completely. It was to have seven eyes, three big and four small, randomly spread around its face (or only three, depending on the two textures files), six pointed teeth, and overall colors similar to that of the Bullsquid.

While not explicitly identified as a Charger, concept art (by Ted Backman) for a similar looking creature without wings and possessing a ruminant-like tail can be seen in Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar. It is described as "a demonic bipedal monster".

Mr. Friendly

About the size of a horse, Mr. Friendly was to be a creature that crawled on legs of uneven length with hoofed feet at its back and horn-like spurs on its front. It moved in an awkward, shuffling manner while its spurs dragging across the ground made a noise resembling "fingernails on a chalkboard". It would act as a non-hostile scavenger that ate the corpses of dead enemies. This behavior would serve as a logical explanation for the disappearance of bodies that was done to improve the performance of the game. It could also alert the player to nearby threats.

“It's a carrion eater, and it thinks you are the coolest thing it's ever seen because you create so much food! You can snuff it if you want to, but, if you pay attention to its behaviour, it'll act as an early warning system. It can sense danger like a horse. If a bad-ass monster is close by, it'll make a warning cry and run away.”
— Ted Backman
One of its proposed attacks was to pound the ground and knock the player's weapon out of his hand. It was even suggested that Gordon's glasses fly off and leave the player stuck in combat with blurry vision, a feature that would have been challenging to implement considering the game technology available at the time. Its most recent attacks in the game's development are demonstrated in the model's animations. Two sequences show it rearing up on its hind legs and whipping its target with its tentacles, a double whip variation also included, as well as vomiting at the player when at range.

Panther Eye

Of the size of a panther, it was to throw its victims on the ground and attack them somehow with its mouth and some sort of beige tongue located behind its chin (as seen in the red version), while blocking them with its paws. It was also to slash and push its victims with the claws of its upper paws. The creature was to run very fast, making it a very efficient opponent, and waving its tail while being idle. Other animations see it crawling on its belly to avoid being noticed. Overall, its behavior was to be more or less like a panther or any feline animal from earth, hence its name.

The blue version has compound eyes, likely allowing the creature to see with a very large view angle.

The leaked Half-Life Alpha contains 4 Panther Eye sounds, used for when it is idle. It consists mostly of high-pitched groaning sounds (reminiscent of the "Sound Dog" concept) and undetermined noises.

Stukabat

A bat-like creature with six eyes, the Stukabat would have been met in open spaces and attack the player from the air with its claws. According to its animations and early gameplay footage, the Stukabat was able to hang itself on ceilings like a normal bat, walk on the ground after being forced on it aided by its single rear leg and its wings, and would not always attack the player. It would also emit bird of prey-like noises.

Flocking Floater

Described as a "living balloon" with a faintly glowing head, it is held aloft by buoyant gases trapped in its head membrane. The wing on its rear portion is fully articulated like a bat wing, tipped with poisonous spines, and serves as a sail.

It was to be seen at least on Xen, though the map files present in the WC map pack suggest that fights between the HECU soldiers and these creatures were to take place during the On A Rail chapter.

- Ethan

Project Borealis is a community/fan made project aiming to bring some closure regarding the Half-Life series through a game that fans of Half-Life new and old can enjoy. the project is being created on the Unreal Engine 4 to give it the updated look that Half-Life has deserved after all these years. We’re aiming to make the game feel just as familiar as long term fans will expect it to, while modernising the graphics and technology.

"Join The Resistance"[www.projectborealis.com]

- Ethan