Welcome to Willard Networks!

Experience a next-level Half-Life 2 Roleplay experience. Taking inspiration from games such as Divinity Original Sin and Xcom 2. Featuring a completely overhauled combat system, gameplay and UI.

INCARCERATED

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This is the reason why OTA is and should be a restricted faction.
I don't think anybody asked; let the man shoot his shot. If you've got actual feedback, make a more informative post rather than a snarky remark.
 
  • --- Section One ---
  • *Steam Name:
    Stanford
  • *Steam ID:
    STEAM_0:1:41852222
  • *Discord Name & ID:
  • Stanford#2646
--- Section Two ---
  • *Character Name:
  • ECHO-74​
  • *Character Role:
  • Prison guard (Grunt)​
  • *Brief summary of the character:
  • ECHO-74 was a Civilian Protection intention 2 deployed in i17. He performed his duties well, and remained loyal to the Universal Union regardless of how corrupt the sector was. When the Overwatch AI turned back on he went beyond the call of duty and assisted in the sweeps for his former colleagues. He was out on patrol on his own when it happened, and immediatly 5 corrupt functionaries of Vuente's forces closed in on him and attempted to kill him. Somehow he was able to fight them all off, whilst injuring his leg and losing his armor. His actions were noticed and he was approached with an offer to join the Overwatch Transhuman Arm, which he graciously accepted. Now he's assigned to this fortress, waiting for his day to be deployed as a fully fletched soldier.​
  • *Why do you want to play this character?:
  • Because I wish to get a taste of how OTA operates. I'm planning on trying my hand at the application again once they open and think this would be a prime opportunity to try it out. I wish to use this opportunity to increase my roleplay capabilities as well.​
  • Full Backstory:
  • I17:i2.VICE-13 spent most of his career in industrial 17. Coming from a poor family before the war he had no choice but to join a low paying job as a gas station attendant. He was working during the resonance cascade and immediatly ran home to his family. They were safe, but for how long? Years passed, the city locked down under martial law whilst government forces continued their fight against the Xenian threats. But then it happened, the Combine arrived on earth. He hid with his family in the basement of their home, listening to the radio for updates... until the loss of Earth was announced. Fast forward a couple years and he finds himself in the heart of i17. He notices a poster, telling him of the benefits of joining the Civil Protection. Out of genuine interest or perhaps fear for his family's well-being, he enlists for the force. He steadily makes his way through the ranks up to an i2, when suddenly... OTA takes control of the garrison. A judgement waiver is called and multiple units with blue lit up visors approach him. Shocked amd confused he asks the group what was going on, but they give no response and merely raise their weapons at him. He knows what's about to come and dashes behind a dumpster as the group opens fire. His MP7 gets slung from his back and he flips the safety off, setting the fire-selector to automatic fire. Dazed and confused he steadies his breathing and calms himself, grabbing a fragmentation grenade from his belt. The pin is removed and the grenade is tossed inbetween the group, a couple seconds pass by before...BOOM!.... the grenade goes off and 2 rogues are taken down. VICE sprints out of his cover, MP7 raised as he pulls the trigger. One by one the remaining rogues fall and in true Civil Protection fashion, his reinforcements arrive late. Expecting regular CP foot units, he readies his weapon in case they were rogues as well. But when they turn the corner he notices it... they're grunts! They appear rather impressed by his accomplishments and contact their superior, informing them of the unit. A day passes and VICE is called over by an Ordinal who gives him the proposal of joining the Transhuman Arm. Disgusted with the betrayal of his "brothers", he accepts and is transferred. No one knows quite where to, but he now finds himself in one of the Overwatch's fortresses, told to prove his skills as a prison guard.​
--- Section Three (Optional) ---
  • Tell us about yourself:

  • I'm Stanford, 23 years old. I've been playing on this server since February this year and have made quite a lot of progress on improving my roleplay capabilities here. Heck I was even able to achieve a CP whitelist and have joined the Creation Team! Im friendly, very approachable, and love roleplaying games.​
  • Are you new to Willard Networks?:
  • I am not, I've joined the server in February.​
  • Are you familiar with anyone around Willard Networks?:
    I am know by a good chunk of people within the community.

  • What's your favorite thing about Half Life?:
  • How everything in this universe is set in a way where the community can speculate and discuss how things work. There's a lot of room for imagination.​
 
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  • *Out-of-Character Information
  • *Steam Name: ISpilledMyRamen
  • *Steam ID: STEAM_0:0:426186854
  • *Discord Name & ID: ramen#2015
    _______________________________________
*In-Character Information
*Character Name: Thomas Cooke
*Character Role: Prisoner
*Brief summary of the character: A "hardened" criminal from the depths of City-16.. Now imprisonment in a Combine prison..
*Why do you want to play this character?: I want to play a character who can hopefully become a leader. A person who can bring inspiration to others and lead others to their freedom.
  • Full Backstory...
**Accessing Prisoner File..
**File Requested: #17314..
**Username and Password required..
**Input Username: [RESTRICTED]
**Input Password: *********
**Password Accepted, Welcome [RESTRICTED]..
**Displaying Data..

*Prisoner Data...

  • *Prisoner Name: Thomas Cooke
  • *Date of Incarceration: 02/25/2016 [MM/DD/YYYY]
    *Former City: City-16 - Boston
    *Reason for Incarceration: Theft of [1] Ration Distribution Terminal, Theft of [2] Civil Medical Union Computers, Distribution of Falsified Documents, Consumption of [1] Biotic's Leg

    **
    Accessing Incidents Report..
    **Access Granted..
    *
    Viewing Incidents Report(s)..

    *Incident Report: #00824
    *Displaying Report:

    "On the morning of 02/23/2016, 10:42 local time, Civil Protection entered the RDC to find the Ration Distribution Terminal was missing. Alongside this, CMU reported that 2 of their medical computers were missing."
    *Viewing Addendum: #00824-A
    "On 02/25/2016 at 15:31, non-citizen, Thomas Cooke plead guilty to the thefts on 02/23/2016."

    *Incident Report: #00841
    *Displaying Report:
    "On 02/25/2016, 15:14 local time, Functionaries were dispatched to the Slums of City-16. Upon entering one apartment, one "Thomas Cooke" was found to be;
    a. Eating the severed leg of a Biotic;
    b. Hoarding several falsified Citizen IDs and CWU Access Cards.
    Upon further investigation into his apartment, Civil Protection functionaries discovered the stolen Distribution Terminal and Computers."
    *Viewing Addendum: #00841-A
    "Upon questioning Cooke on how he acquired the biotic's leg, he said he found a dead Biotic in the sewers and took the leg from the corpse."
 
  • --- Section One ---

  • *Steam Name: Fedora
  • *Steam ID: STEAM_0:1:40596937
  • *Discord Name & ID: Fedora#7644
--- Section Two ---
  • *Character Name: Quinten Darlington-Whit
  • *Character Role: Prisoner.
  • *Brief summary of the character:
  • A British Male who used to be a up-standing gentlemen, now dumped and grinded to the bone. He used to work within the Civil Authority, a well-known loyalist to the Combine cause but a set-up had him sent to this wasteland prison. He is unsure where his loyalities now lay after being betrayed but also believing in the Combine's cause...time will tell.
  • *Why do you want to play this character?:
  • I think it would be interesting to play a loyalist who was set-up and then sent to a facility where the "under-class" is sent. It can create an interesting dynamic between prisoners, perhaps the Wardens aswell.

  • Full Backstory:
    • Quinten Darlington-Whit could be said as a charmer's man, a compassionate gentlemen and with a look at his name, you could tell the man is posh. While having a tense relationship with his parents during his early life, he found himself working underneath his father's company in an administration position, dealing with authorities and having that sense of authority while working.
After the Seven Hour War, he found himself in a good position in City Two, unfortuantely, the British people did not take kindly to their occupiers and eventually, the situation went out of control in London. While, originally, Quinten's goal was to somehow leave the City, he found himself wanting to stay and see the action near-by - he somewhat enjoyed the Chaos. Unfortuantely, that become his biggest mistake as being set-up but either his allies or his enemies saw him getting arrested and sent to, what could be described as, purgatory.
 
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Аrтyoм Кrаvчеnко
The Combine's defeat in Operation KRAKEN would leave them fetching any shrivel of clues to help catch or kill the perpetrators, one of which was SRF Commando Artyom Kravchenko, gravely wounded in the urban battlefield of Moscow.
Presumed dead by his comrades, he was knocked unconscious until an expeditionary force found him the morning after, his body dragged and thrown in a van along with other captured prisoners, from fellow SRF to anarchists. The weeks he spent in the shelled remains of the Moscow prison, shells blasted through the walls, the lights began to cut and the situation was rapidly devolving. Artyom pleaded not to be executed, the interrogator found any information of his helpful. Seeing as he could be manipulated and the surroundings were beginning to fall further, Artyom boarded a train from the ruins of Moscow to a vast wasteland. He asked himself, was he in Kazakstan? Perhaps Mongolia? Upon wreckage of ships, he asked if it was the Caspian, but there was no response. Thrown into a concrete cell and left to rot, He remained in question.




  • --- Section One ---
  • *Steam Name: Pawlu
  • *Steam ID: STEAM_0:0:525144524
  • *Discord Name & ID: Pawlu#6215
--- Section Two ---
  • *Character Name: Artyom Kravchenko
  • *Character Role: Prisoner
  • *Brief summary of the character: An ex-SRF Commando, now beaten and dragged and sent to rot.
  • *Why do you want to play this character?: I wanted to revisit an old character and give him a twist.
  • Full Backstory: (See above)
 
  • --- Section One ---

  • *Steam Name: landon
  • *Steam ID: STEAM_0:0:565672697
  • *Discord Name & ID: Landon#2591
--- Section Two ---
  • *Character Name: Yahui Huang
  • *Character Role: Prisoner
  • *Brief summary of the character: A former MAA corporal sent on an expeditionary mission long ago, now reduced to a PTSD-ridden and paranoid shell-- his mind ravaged by what he had witnessed there.
  • *Why do you want to play this character?: Yahui Huang was a character I played in the event Operation Sundowner, a extremely enjoyable event and a fun character to play. At the end of the event, Yahui's fate was left unknown (albeit presumably dead) as he was left to rot at the station. I feel like it would be cool if I could be given the opportunity to bring him back, and possibly expand and develop his story further. If things result in Yahui's death, then I feel like it would be excellent closure.
  • Full Backstory: Yahui Huang was born in 1988 to loving parents, in Beijing China. His father had been an American tourist who opted to settle down in the country, and his mother was a native there. He passed on traits from both of them, and as he grew up he formed aspirations in serving his country-- mainly by planning to join their military. However, his plans were cut as the Resonance Cascade happened-- shortly followed by the war which would determine the occupation of the Combine. His family, wishing to avoid any and all conflict, quickly surrendered to their new benevolent overlords.
    1658415234038.png

    Yahui was soon split up from his parents, and tossed around from city to city-- constantly being relocated. He tried his best to fit in within the new society, but his small social credit and lack of standing within the cities he was moved to made it hard for growth to occur. Despite his outcast status, he still had an undying loyalty to the Combine and their goals. He looked around the city he was currently in, trying to find any faction which would allow him to work alongside. He had found the only option in the area for him, was an MAA recruitment drive in his current place of residence-- City-3.

    Due to the heavily rising tensions with the SRF and City-3, the MAA had been allowing essentially anybody to enlist-- as they needed soldiers quick, and fast, to fend off the waves of Resistance fighters. He ultimately made the leap and applied with hopes this would help him branch out and grow-- landing him better positions in the future. He trained for various years, eventually rising up to the rank of corporal-- but not having actually been in any missions, besides training exercises. On his first mission, he was sent with a scouting team towards a Portal Impact Zone at the Russian Quarantine area, near City three. Being this was his first actual gig, he was racked with nervousness, unknowing of what to expect within the zone. However, when the events finally occurred, it would be one that would entirely change his life.
    1658415322728.png
    The Impact Zone had been clouded with a supernatural fog (which later would have coined the name 'Deviator Gas'), causing those within it to experience hallucinogenic events. This drove the scouting team mad, and Yahui was one of the most afflicted. He had seemingly lost any sense of rationality, constantly seeing ghosts and figures out of the corner of his eyes-- and overall not making much sense. The rest of his team took notice of this, and eventually, they turned on him and another one of their soldiers-- shooting them down in cold blood. Yahui laid there, bleeding out, when... by a miracle of God, perhaps, he survived.
    By the skin of his teeth, he managed to provide what medical assistance he could to himself-- using his fluency in medical skills to his advantage. He also saved the life of the other fallen member, and as they recovered they planned out their revenge. They were in agreeance that their so-called allies were actually spies for the SRF, and they deducted that if they weren't stoped soon-- this could endanger the Combine. With their loyalty in mind, they took arms and began to take action. They soon discovered that their fellow soldiers were to depart by train, and the two attempted to halt their plans.
    1658415409537.png

    However, things began to go south, and monster-like hostiles began to attack. Having been distracted by these grotesque and violent abominations, the train departed-- and the two were left behind, to rot and defend themselves. Yahui had been split up from his ally, as he waded through the decaying metro station-- narrowingly avoiding being spotted by the monsters which lurked in the shadows. Eventually, by fighting tooth and nail, he managed to escape with an inch of his life. He laid there in the thick snow, ultimately defeated, when he was found by a patrol of ECHO Grunts near the outskirts of the Quarantine Zone.

    They sent him for interrogation, providing the proper medical care needed-- and questioning him about what occurred. After hearing what nonsense he erratically spoke about, they determined he was a mentally-unfit autonomous unit. They soon had him transferred to the mysterious prison the Short Stories event takes place. He's intended to spend the rest of his days tirelessly slaving away, at the labor camp he has been newly transferred to.
    1658415590277.png
    Having been stripped of his Corporal status, Yahui is now convinced that the transhuman guards which patrol the corridors are perpetrators serving the SRF (also believing that he is still in Russia, himself)-- despite how ludicrous such claims are. He is hell-bent on escaping the prison and intends to continue his unhinged journey to "serve" the Combine-- even if he has to kill a couple of their units along the way. He constantly rambles on to whoever will hear, about communists, ghosts, and more importantly... traitor "friends"-- all of these byproducts of the permanent brain-warping caused by the Deviator Gas.
--- Section Three (Optional) ---
  • Tell us about yourself: I am Landon. I like stuff like Half Life, or something.
  • Are you new to Willard Networks?: I've been here for a while, most definitely new compared to a lot of the people in the community though.
  • Are you familiar with anyone around Willard Networks?: Yes.
  • What's your favorite thing about Half Life?: The aliens, like Xen, Race-X, etc.
 
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Lewis O'Sullivan

"Scrap"

=============================

"A Scavenger and Rebel, Scrap has spent most of a year in this backwater shithole of prison ever since he was shipped away after being caught back in City 24. Being a businessman in The Slum of City 24, Scrap got to know a lot of the dwellers within the district and became close to them and got to know a lot of their secrets by earning their trust..."

"Eventually Scrap's continuous luck finally ran out and he got ratted out to Civil Protection by one of his close friends. Scrap was held in a cell block and beaten for two days before he was interviewed, eventually leading to him taking the fall and being sent off when he refused to co-operate, only giving the Interrogators a glob of spit to the face when they persisted to try and negotiate to him"

"The plan for Scrap was unsure, Civil Protection at first wanted to ship him off towards a Re-Education centre outside the city to get information out of him as he was useful to them. However, they somehow changed their option and decided to ship him off to this backwater prison in the middle of nowhere, allowing him to sit there and rot with the other scum of the earth until he gave up the information they wanted."

"Of course, they never got this information as Scrap never said a word to them in over Seven months and so he gained a reputation within the prison walls. A supplier of Goods and tinkerer of sorts...almost as if he was right back in that small shop he ran back in The slums...Until lately..."

"It all started when he noticed the alarming amount of prisoners coming in each day and the amount of them going missing in the following weeks...something wasn't right and Scrap was not going to let himself go missing and so he devised a plan...A plan to escape. But would he need allies? Would he need contacts? Only time will tell..."

=============================


--- Section One ---

*Steam Name: General_Craw64
*Steam ID: 76561199149030942
*Discord Name and ID: General Craw419

--- Section Two ---


*Character Name: Lewis "Scrap" O'Sullivan
*Character Role: Prisoner
*Brief Summary of the Character: A Young Irish Man who is scarred by the friends he has lost and been betrayed by and has been left to rot after giving up everything.
*Why do you want to play this character?: Scrap was my Second character ever on Willard Networks and my first introduction to Rebel RP on the server and so I fell in love with the character and I feel as though I neglected him coming back now that I have the opportunity would love to give him a second shot.
*Full Backstory: See Above or look up his char bio.
 
  • --- Section One ---

  • *Steam Name: molnar_
  • *Steam ID: 76561198322680876
  • *Discord Name & ID: molnar#0301
--- Section Two ---
  • *Character Name: Echo-6 "Rookie"
  • *Character Role: Grunt
  • *Brief summary of the character: Echo-6 is the oldest member of his family. He must serve the invaders so his family can stay safe. He often relies on his superior's word.
  • *Why do you want to play this character?: I really like the combine grunts from half life Alyx. I feel like they are the line between CPs and OTA. Too modified to be a CP, but not that modified to be OTA.

  • Full Backstory: Echo-6 is your typical grunt soldier. His real name was Alex Oneal, he lived a relatively normal life in Poland. After the 7-hour war, he was relocated to city 17's District 45. His mother died along with his father, but his brother and sister were still alive. He heard that being a CP can give benefits to his family, so he joined the Protection team. After 2 years of serving as a CP, he volunteered to undergo additional augmentations and become a combine grunt for more benefits for his remaining family members. After the augmentations, he was sent to the incarceration facility where the story takes place.
 
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  • 1658474642803.png
  • Igor Ivanov
  • --- Section One ---
  • *Steam Name:
  • Suspicious Banjo Music​
  • *Steam ID:
  • STEAM_0:0:49381279​
  • *Discord Name & ID:
  • What?#2406​
--- Section Two ---
  • *Character Name:
  • Igor Ivanov​
  • *Character Role:
  • Prisoner​
  • *Brief summary of the character:
  • A career criminal from City 25 who was arrested and sent off to the prison instead of being shot for his failure to expect, and inability to resist his arrest.​
  • *Why do you want to play this character?:
  • Because playing a rowdy prisoner character is pretty fun and there's some interesting things you can get into when your character has nothing better to do while being locked up.​
  • Full Backstory:
  • A pretty unsavory person from his beginning. Igor came from the city of Vladivostok and was transferred to City 25 once the combine invaded. He got himself into petty crime with the city's large Russian population, and eventually grew into a career criminal with many connections. He often extorted citizens in the slums, ones he knew couldn't go to the civil protection for help. And traded weapons to other criminals which he sourced from rebel smugglers.​
  • He was caught after gaining a spot on the BOL list when he was lured into attacking an informant where a camera could spot him. Soon being captured by civil protection in a quick raid on his gang's hideout. Due to the sudden and surprise nature of the raid, Igor was caught off guard, surrendering to the police and being sent off to a distant prison where he's now spent months.​
 
  • --- Section One ---

  • *Steam Name: Scrapjunkie
  • *Steam ID: STEAM_0:1:16999712
  • *Discord Name & ID: Bumaye_#0161
--- Section Two ---
miiazzxwhwi.jpg

  • *Character Name: Berry Jackson
  • *Character Role: Prisoner
  • *Brief summary of the character: A typical street crook. Once a slick haired grease junkie that helped run the streets in city 62, now a pitiful laborer. Coward couldn't even fight against the CPs putting him away
  • *Why do you want to play this character?: A weak character gives a chance for the big dogs to shine. End of the day, a finger snapping, leather jacket wearing greaser would be hilarious. Remember those 70s prison movies? Yeah.
  • Full Backstory: Ever since Berry was a boy to be the tuff guy. He saw the greasers on the TV and his grandfather was a world-star mechanic. Lacking actual tactile skill involving cars, Berry resorted to petty crime. Like a typical slimeball he began slinging coke in the streets of Boston. Yada yada, using some magical bullshit ours truly wasn't killed in the 7 hour war. City 62 wasn't kind to dirtballs like Berry. Upon being pushed out of any opportunities by individuals that were far better spoken and connected. Berry resorted to underground skullduggery. Stealing, stabbing, and faking till he made it. A generous amount of the underground wealth and manpower belonged to Berry. Until, in typical Berry fashion, he yapps his stupidly large mouth to the wrong guy. Within two hours he was in cuffs. Sent to this shithole.
--- Section Three (Optional) ---
  • Tell us about yourself: I like to have fun with things. I don't like to pressure others. I just want to interact with other characters, maybe bring out their goofy side, maybe their annoyed side.
  • Are you new to Willard Networks?: Decided to make a new forum profile, I've been around for a year give or take. Constant on and off playing
  • Are you familiar with anyone around Willard Networks?: I know a few names. Jewish Monkey, Wraygun, Silver
  • What's your favorite thing about Half Life?: The people. Your average citizen from hl2 may be one dimensional. But man! they crack me the hell up. Completely deprived of basic humanity but still saying stupid shit. What isn't to love?
 
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  • --- Section One ---

  • *Steam Name: Mikey
  • *Steam ID: STEAM_0:1:112147538.
  • *Discord Name & ID: MikeyMoe#4010
--- Section Two ---
  • *Character Name: VULCAN-20
  • *Character Role: Overwatch Squad Leader.
  • *Brief summary of the character: Repurposed and recycled squad leader unit who has found himself or it stationed at the prison.
  • *Why do you want to play this character?: I've been in the Overwatch Transhuman Arm faction for a while now and want to give a shot at leadership within it and with the new batch of grunts coming in giving a shot at playing the faction, I would like to attempt to guide and help the newer players understand how to play their characters and what to do.
  • Full Backstory: A captured soldier during the Seven Hour war, found useless by the combine regime and kept around as their biotically engineered and modified puppet. Stationed around different parts of the union, he's gained quite the amount of experience in the field, after his last mission which ended with poor results, he was given a punished and repurposed to guard the prison which takes place in the Willard Networks Short Story Incarcerated.

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--- Section Two ---
View attachment 12971
  • *Character Name: Arthur Lock
  • *Character Role: Prisoner
  • *Brief summary of the character: A rulebreaker stuck in the 50s Greaser era who does whatever for his advantage.
  • *Why do you want to play this character?: I want to play this strictly just to cause chaos, I know I will probably be killed by the guards very quickly; but from looking at the apps very seriously (Scrolling to see the names) I feel there is a loose cannon to cause chaos.
  • Full Backstory: His story changes from person to person, either he's a fatherless kid who grew up in a wrong neighborhood or any of the other stories he's given. He's likely to give you a sob story if you get to know him, but all those that know him all know of the same man with a different story. What can be confirmed is that he's a hooligan and will act with his best outcome in mind.
--- Section Three (Optional) ---
  • Tell us about yourself:
  • Are you new to Willard Networks?: Not really but I don't play the server a lot
  • Are you familiar with anyone around Willard Networks?: A bit yeah
  • What's your favorite thing about Half Life?: It's like 1984 but cooler
Holy KEK, I didn't even read any apps before making mine. Greasers are hilarious
 
  • --- Section One ---
  • *Steam Name: Darth Vader​
  • *Steam ID: STEAM_0:0:155946230​
  • *Discord Name & ID: Darth Vader#0680​
--- Section Two ---
  • *Character Name: Tarquin Sandu​
  • *Character Role: Warden​
  • *Brief summary of the character: A harsh, authoritarian commander who rules over his domain with an iron fist. Firm but fair, he has established a reputation for looking out for the guards serving under him and prisoners who co-operate. The corrupt and discontent however can expect brutal punishments at the slightest provocation.​
  • *Why do you want to play this character?: I'd very much like to play a different kind of CCA character for a change. Reginald, my main character, is a zealous fanatic but an administrator and government official at heart, at home behind a desk or broadcast screen. Hawthorne, my i17 Director, was sleazy and corrupt, wanting to make a profit out of everything. Sandu is very different from these two. He holds no love for the Combine yet still carries out his duties to the best of his ability. Like so many in the Half Life universe, he is trying to make the best out of his situation and for him, that is taking care of those he is responsible for as well as running his little fiefdom as efficiently as possible.​
  • Full Backstory:
  • "Welcome, I am Colonel Tarquin Sandu, Warden of this prison. In these walls, order triumphs eternal over chaos. Here, the penitent and collaborative are rewarded whilst the unruly and unrepentant are punished. You will find both redemption and damnation in equal measure available to you in my domain. The choice of which you receive is yours, we are watching."

    View attachment 12937
Part 1: Before the War

View attachment 12959

I should probably start right at the beginning. I was born on August 17th, 1954 in Bucharest, Romania. My father was rarely with us, he worked at the Securitate and was always off doing the regime's dirty work, but when he was home, he would spend every waking minute with me and mother. My mother was a housewife to the core, she'd gotten a job as a secretary for some Party office I've forgotten the name of but our family was always her main concern. Then there was my brother, Remus. The less said about him the better, I wish he'd chosen a different path but family be damned he was going to run off to the West and become a businessman! Didn't matter to him if it nearly tore our family apart and almost cost father his job at the Securitate. Never did learn what happened to him, and I never want to.

Growing up in the 50s and 60s was pretty good for me. It was only later that I came to realize the scale of the horrors inflicted by Gheorghiu-Dej and why none of the other kids at school dared even touch me because of my father's position, but at the time it was wonderful for young me in all his blissful ignorance. I always had a passion for History at school, I was completely shit at everything else but I never really cared too much, getting a position in the Party would have been pretty easy if father kept climbing the ranks of the Securitate. I probably could have easily followed in his footsteps and joined them, but by the time I was old enough to make that choice, I'd become disillusioned enough to not want anything to do with propping up Ceaușescu and his new government.

There was only really one place I could go, I wanted to serve my country and make father proud but at the same time I didn't want to help Ceaușescu, the military was an easy choice. After a few years of officer school, I finally commissioned out as a Sub-Lieutenant (Or a 2nd Lieutenant as it is mostly called nowadays) in 1976. That day was and still is the proudest of my entire life, I still have the picture of me and my fellow cadets celebrating afterwards on my desk down in this hellhole. A reminder of happier times.

Things started to take a downturn in the 80s, the austerity program was the beginning of the end of the Socialist Republic in my opinion, that's when the dissent started. Being a freshly promoted Lieutenant back then, I felt the affects of it same as everyone else. As things got worse and worse, Ceaușescu started to grip harder and harder. This was exactly why I hadn't joined the Securitate all those years ago, and many of my fellow officers and the men under my command began to wonder if we would be turned against our own people to save that Dictator's hide. I told them that would never happen. I was wrong.

1989 was the final straw for us all. Ceaușescu has practically gone rogue at this point, ignoring all calls from Moscow to reform. He was stuck in his own little world where he could do as he pleased without consequence, it was only a matter of time until the people revolted, and they did. I was a Captain at the time, in command of a company of men recalled to the capital due to the ongoing protests. When things turned nasty, I at first followed command and tried to keep order, whilst I agreed with the protestors in principle, I couldn't just sit back and let the capital fall into chaos. Ceaușescu had to fall, but this was not the way in my mind.

That changed after Milea's death. At the time, we all thought that Ceaușescu had finally gone mad and had him killed for being reluctant to order us to fire on the protestors. Disgusted and realizing that the real cause of the chaos was Ceaușescu himself, I led my men in joining the revolt alongside vast swathes of the rank and file. The Army had switched sides, and Ceaușescu's regime soon fell.

After the revolution was over, I was quickly promoted to Major and assigned command over the battalion my company had previously been a part of, my predecessor having resigned following the fall of the Socialist Republic. For the next 12 years, I served my country and my men faithfully, the revolution had taught me one thing, and that was I had to put my troops first above everything. They relied on me for leadership and guidance and I was responsible for them, I guess that's what made accepting the Combine's offer so easy...


Part 2: Resonance Cascade and the 7 Hour War

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The day of what is now called the "Black Mesa Incident" is one that I try to forget, writing about it now is... Hard for me. Even harder than what came next. The Combine Invasion was hell yes, but we had been fighting hell for 3 years before then. But Black Mesa? That was unlike anything we had ever seen.

My battalion was conducting exercises on the coast, all very standard. I was sitting in my tent, wondering what new strategies my company commanders would come up with to best each other as I looked at the map and put myself in each of their shoes. My train of thought was interrupted by a loud screech followed by a thunderous boom. The next thing I remember I being helped up by my adjutant from the ruins of my tent, then I looked up, and saw death. A giant, gaping wound in the sky, with all kinds of strange creatures pouring out of it. We all just stood there in shock for a few moments, unable to comprehend what was happening. That changed when one of the creatures landed near us and leapt on a nearby private's head. I can still hear him screaming when I try and sleep at night, watching helplessly as that thing clawed and drilled into his head. I still blame myself for it, if I had acted as an officer should and not been paralyzed by inaction, maybe he'd still be alive. Maybe...

It wasn't long before we were overrun by those things, they started to swarm out of the ocean before long, a teeming mass of alien horrors that butchered everything in their way. Giving the order to fall back, I retreated my scattered battalion to our base, a few miles from the training area. With communications down, we were cut off and alone. I sent a small team of scouts to try and reach Bucharest and find out what was going on, but otherwise kept everyone safe inside the base. My Captains wanted me to let them take their men to defend the town nearby but I refused, it would have spread us out too far and just resulted in their deaths, we had already lost nearly half our men to the initial attack and we had to stay together. The base was the only defensible location for miles around, I sent a volunteer down to the town to call all civilians to our base where they would be protected but we could offer no escort for them. Many died on the trip to safety, but it meant that my fighting men were at full strength. Strength we would need very soon.

That night, we were attacked by a horde of the aliens. I watched good soldiers get cut down by green bolts of energy, I saw officers I had know for years crushed under the foot of some demonic juggernaut and I saw fallen heroes rise again as twisted mockeries of nature, their corpses enslaved to a parasite. By dawn, I was a changed man. Only two things mattered now, survival and victory. I took the shattered remnants of my battalion and marched on to
Bucharest, along the way we picked up a few refugees and civilians fleeing the hordes that were swarming all over the country. Anyone who could hold a rifle and shoot it was welcome, anyone who couldn't was left behind, we couldn't afford to be slowed down by them. Am I glad I did that? No, of course not. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. It was the only way.

By the time we reached Bucharest, something had changed in the alien horde. They were no longer a unified force, the different species started to turn on each other and those who remained together lost all sense of co-ordination and strategy, clearly whoever was commanding them had been killed. Regardless, they were still a threat, and the "Portal Storms" as they were now being called had started to ravage the globe. With communications restored, we learnt the awful truth. This hell wasn't just confined to us, it was happening worldwide, the entire planet engulfed in chaos and torment. Hell on earth doesn't even begin to describe it.

With so much of our country overrun by those monsters and with chaos reigning supreme, the only way to restore order would be to regain control of our key military installations and conscript the populace into auxiliary detachments. With most of the general staff missing in action or otherwise out of the city, I took the initiative to secure the city and lead its defense, I had my men set up defensive positions around the capital and dig in, ready to repulse any attack from the aliens. Impressed by my efforts to protect the capital and to maintain order with the limited power I held, the President approached me and granted me the rank of Acting Colonel, signing an executive order which granted me all the power I needed to restore order and stability. Called the "Bucharest Defense Decree" it was also certainly unconstitutional and illegal, but the Judiciary had much bigger things to worry about.

It was during this several month period of anarchy across the country that I turned the capital and the surrounding area into a haven of stability and order. With most of the military out hunting down the alien hordes destroying our country and reclaiming our fallen cities, and armed with the Bucharest Defense Decree, I became the de facto ruler of my own little kingdom. Some may have called me an opportunistic warlord, but I was merely a patriot protecting my country and my soldiers. With martial law in effect, I crushed the doomsday anarchists and other elements of the populace who were further fueling the chaos. It was here I gained valuable experience commanding both Police and Military forces, something that would be noticed later, though I sometimes wish it hadn't.

When the country was at last secured (On paper at least) and the Bucharest Defense Decree ended, my position as a Colonel was confirmed by high command and I was awarded several medals for my actions. Whilst I wasn't exactly a popular figure among the masses for what I had done, the military, police and government were very grateful, and assigned me as the Military Governor of the newly designated "Capital Region" all part of a country-wide re-designation into 'Regions' to reflect the new landscape.

My three years as Governor were wracked with constant unrest, civil strife and several open revolts. The situation steadily declined as the portal storms ripped more and more of the Earth apart and the aliens, now called 'Xenians' continued to be a constant threat. In response, I launched crackdown after crackdown, adopting a 'Carrot and Stick' approach which worked very successfully. Some might say I acted as a tyrant then, abusing my power to oppress the people and muzzle dissent. The simple fact is, it was all for the greater good, without my harsh measures the Capital Region would have fallen to lawlessness and despair. As the saying goes "You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs" and this omelet was critical to the survival of my country.



The 7 hour war was, and still is, a blur for me. I was called to the Presidential palace along with the general staff and every senior official in the city. I assumed it was a meeting concerning the sudden surge in violence and size of the portal storms, and I was right, in a way. Just as we were being shown blurred images of strange vessels emerging from great rifts in space right beside our planet, the first wave landed.

This attack with simply there to probe out defenses, test our mettle and see how many forces they would need to commit. We pushed them back, just, with half of Bucharest burning after an hour of fighting. I was deep underground in a bunker by this point, directing my forces as best I could. The second wave was the true assault, and it ended all hope of victory. In under 30 minutes, my proud Capital Army was reduced to small isolated pockets of survivors, Bucharest was reduced to rubble and the Combine had barely even started.

The President tried to sue for peace with his cabinet, but they were turned to ash by a dark energy cannon without so much as a second thought. I sent out an order for all remaining forces to flee into the countryside and abandon the cities, the war had been lost the moment the first Synth entered our atmosphere. The remaining few hours of the war felt like days, I was sitting numbly in a bunker surrounded by support staff as I listened to my fellow Governors and other Military offices go silent one by one, each city falling in rapid succession to the last. When Dr Breen's voice came over the airways and announced the peace treaty, I felt only sorrow at what we had lost, and what we will never get back.


Part 3: The Combine

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Me and all the other survivors from Bucharest were herded together in a big detainment camp just outside the city. I had tried my best to save as many of my people as I could, but I had failed. Picking me out from among the crowd, one of the Synths marched me up to a command tower overlooking the quickly-assembled camp. I expected an execution honestly, these bastards were ruthless, no sense leaving any potential leaders alive right? After all, was that not the reason the President and his entourage were slaughtered?

What I didn't expect was a job offer. The Combine's master AI, Overwatch, couldn't manage all the individual processing facilities alone, and seeing my record as a proven administrator, it wanted me to manage this camp. Seeing no alternative and perhaps a way to help my imprisoned countrymen from the inside, I accepted, and became one of the first members of the CCA.

In those early days, administration was simple. I sat up in my command tower, gave direction and management as well as ensuring everything ran smoothly. I tried to make life easier for the people interned there, really I did. But when I went down to tell them of what I wanted to do, they nearly killed me for being a 'Traitor' to humanity. Of course, not everyone felt that way, mostly surviving policemen and a few soldiers but there was a sizeable chunk of normal civilians who saw that collaborating with the aliens was the only way we could survive, just like Dr Breen had said. These individuals would go on to join an early version of the Civil Protection established to keep order as Overwatch gradually phased out the Synth Legions for an occupation force.

Soon, the processing camp was turned into a labour hub. The newly designated 'Citizens' under my authority were rebuilding Bucharest, now renamed "City 27" With the newly formed 'Civil Protection' under my command I quickly began enforcing a similar version of my rule whilst Acting Colonel in defense of Bucharest. I didn't really notice how these new rules were a lot harsher than before until now, its only in reflection that I realize how much crueler and frequently used the stick was, and how rotten and seldom given the carrot had become. But that is the price of change, we live in harsh times, and harsh measures are required to see that we come out of this intact.

Whilst I had become harsher towards the average citizen, the same could not be said for Civil Protection and the very first 'Loyalists' who were starting to crop up. The genuine fanatics were just maniacs, but most had simply seen the wisdom in collaborating to survive. It was these kindred spirits that I swore to protect and defend as best I could, if the ignorant masses ignore what has to be done then so be it! But they will fall in line and allow us with the vision and backbone to see and do what must be done to lead them onwards.

By the time City 27 was finished, I was looked upon quite favorably by my new overseer, Dispatch, for my efficient administration. I was offered the position of City Administrator but I declined, these were the early days and anything could have happened, in hindsight I am extremely glad I made that choice considering what happened to most of those Administrators following the eastern uprising.

Dispatch then offered me two roles I could fulfil. I could become a General in the MAA or I could become the Warden of a new prison facility. I was starting to get old then, my fighting days were over, the prison job looked interesting enough so I accepted, and that was that. Ever since then I've been down here in my realm of iron bars or getting some well-earned R&R at City 55. I've never gone back to Bucharest, I can't bear to be anywhere near it these days. I choose to remember it how it was, not what I made it today.


Since taking command of this facility, I've always tried to rule firmly but fairly. If a prisoner co-operates and shows a genuine desire to reform, I'll let them move into the nicer parts and see that they get something extra with their daily meals for example. However, if a prisoner steps out of line I'll have them beaten within an inch of their life by my Grunts in full view of everyone at morning roll call, then put on double shifts and reduced rations for a week. If they offend again, the CPRD can have them for all I care. Whilst I have no love for the Combine, the only way humanity can get through this is by collaborating and that is what I try so hard to show those incarcerated here, those who refuse to see this are a danger to us all. You a second chance with me, not a third.

The Guards here are good lads mainly. The Grunts are a bit aloof, they aren't fully human after all, but they aren't complete robots like the OTA, you can still joke and laugh with them but it always seems like there is just something missing. I feel sorry for them really, and I'll do my best to make sure they get to keep that slice of humanity they have left. The CPs are a mixed bag. Some are much like me, they're just trying to make the best out of a bad situation and have been vilified for it. Others however, joined just for power and status. Thankfully, the latter usually end up getting caught being involved in corruption or some other illegal activity and I have them punished in front of everyone the same as a prisoner, shows that I treat everyone fairly and won't excuse this sort of behavior.

The new batch of prisoners should be arriving soon so I'll bring this to a close. This prison, whilst a small cog in a very large machine, is a cog nonetheless. As long as I keep it safe, secure and running efficiently, then the machine which is humanity will keep on going and keep surviving as best it can. I have failed my people before, I will not fail them again. I am Colonel Tarquin Sandu, Warden and Administrator of this facility. In these halls, order triumphs eternal over chaos. Here, the penitent and collaborative are rewarded whilst the unruly and unrepentant are punished. Both redemption and damnation in equal measure are available in my domain. The choice is the inmates' to make.

I am its Judge. I am its Jury. I am its Executioner.

I am its Warden.


--- Section Three (Optional) ---
  • Tell us about yourself: I've been playing HL2RP for a few years now, I mainly prefer to play Combine factions (CCA and CP in particular) but enjoy playing citizen or neutral characters to from time to time, chiefly Vortigaunts.​
  • Are you new to Willard Networks?: No.​
  • Are you familiar with anyone around Willard Networks?: Yes, I know quite a few people.​
  • What's your favorite thing about Half Life?: The atmosphere and worldbuilding through the environment.​
Romanian Colonel Tarquin Soll in HL2rp?????
 
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