The year is 2003. A routine day; May 16th - the scene is the infamous Black Mesa Research Facility. A routine test, undertaken by the Sector C science team, goes wrong - sample GG-3883 triggers a ‘resonance cascade’.

Unearthly beings flood into the facility. Portals begin to appear across the area, seeping creatures from the otherworldly ‘Xen’ into the facility and the rural New Mexico landscape. The government (and Black Mesa, to some degree) made some attempt to cover up the incident. The Hazardous Environment Combat Unit (typically nicknamed ‘HECU’) were dispatched to eliminate the staff of the facility. Despite the attempts by both the HECU and the Xenian creatures, the portals were, to some extent, closed, by a rocket launch from Black Mesa. As a result, the creatures on Earth were stuck - headcrabs, bullsquids, the like. As a result, a nuclear bomb is dropped on the Black Mesa Research Facility.

Of course, the ensuing conflict, as well as the sheer hysteria struck across the plains of space, lead to some - intrigue, to say the least. A third race - if they can even be called that - named the ‘Universal Union’ discovered Earth, with their sole goal being invasion at all costs.

The governments did not take much time to fall - surprisingly, the first country to surrender being Russia. Their combined might, alongside the assistance of the United Nations, was defeated in the titularly hinting ‘Seven Hour War’. Black Mesa’s former administration are placed as the Earth’s administrators, and the Universal Union (now referred to as the ‘Combine’ or simply the ‘UU’) place a suppression field over Earth, preventing childbirth from occurring, and diminishing the population down to a weary, aging state. This now reduced population (well below the six-billion it was prior) are all quickly moved to the former population-centres from before the war - now referred to as ‘Cities’. Places like London, Tokyo, Moscow, Geneva, and many others were transformed into ghetto-like areas, each loomed over by a central “Nexus”, home to the nefarious Combine’s armories and weapons-manufacturing centres.

From this now significantly reduced populace, the Combine picked out the unwanted - those too young, too old, or physically/mentally disabled, and killed them. Anyone below the age of eighteen and over the age of sixty-five was killed, as well as anyone with any work-hindering physical or mental ailments. Their goal had become increasingly clear during this time - Earth was a powerhouse for the Combine’s testing and manufacturing alike, the species being used to work this industrial machine.

To stop them from attempting to rise up and to delegate their power elsewhere, the Combine began cherry-picking people from the now small population-pool to become members of the Metropolitan Force - a dystopian police-force designed to oppress the mere thought of rebellion with ruthless violence and intimidation. The force was, in itself, rather basic - made up of former police-officers, criminals, and the like, the people in it were motivated to continue their jobs with luxuries above that of other citizens - food, drink, and such. They were also convinced with the knowledge that their family’s safety and “cohesion” was guaranteed, so long as they did their jobs.

After several years of oppression, however, people have begun to grow restless. Citizens dream of escape from the crowded, clumped city-centres, their days of overworking becoming tiring and stressful. Those outside the cities, living in the slowly-harvested ‘outlands’ know the comparable stress they suffer, having to avoid the Combine’s patrols and labourers, lest they be seen and killed-on-sight. The Resistance suffers this same annoyance, forced to hide outside of the cities (and inside, if they choose to be so daring), performing minor attacks as they build their strength. Any thoughts of a mass-scale uprising seem to be quelled by the Combine’s willingness to execute droves of citizens in response - that, and the fates of prior attempts of uprising. Small attacks had occured in lesser-urban areas of City 34, but had been quickly crushed by the powerful gauntlet of the Combine, and all those involved had seem themselves and their families killed publicly as a message to the rest of the population.

With their powerful mantle in place, the Combine have begun to expand their horizons on Earth. Citizens can become loyalists if their work is of-standard, and can even purchase stores and such from the Worker’s Union (the global ‘face of industry’ on Earth) of necessary, to sell food, drink, and anything in-between. However, their goals, despite their attempts to boost their public-image, remain nefarious, to an extent - their entire ideal is global domination, but even this can arguably be good or bad. Some would argue that a centralized government on planet Earth is a good thing - no more war, no more famine, nothing of the sort - but the reality is somewhat more bleak. Those supporting the Combine are generally perceived to have their own wealth and wellbeing prioritized first, given the Universal Union’s reluctance to inform anyone deemed ‘unnecessary’ of their goals.

This leads us to the current day - the year is 2020, and the Combine’s grip on Earth is slowly tightening. The Resistance is crumbling in cities globally, and it will take a lot of effort to bring it to any fighting-form to the Combine currently. Meanwhile, the Universal Union seem to be up to something - citizens seem to be infrequently taken from the streets,