OSCILLATIONS OF DARKNESS - A Coterminous Reimagining

[ramen]

Link to original Coterminous Post.

Spoiler: Actual Event Submission Stuffs

Steam Name & ID: ramen, STEAM_0:0:426186854
Discord Name & ID: ramen, @hl2rp

Workshop Content (collection including map, NPCs, unique tools/weapons, etc): N/A Yet.
Map (Workshop link & ID, like gm_flatgrass): N/A Yet.

Do you wish to spearhead the project if your concept is accepted? (You will run the event alongside the SS team): Yes.

Is this concept set in the Half-Life universe?: Yes

Will this concept follow Willard's Timeline?: No.

Will this concept affect the main server?: No.

Do you have any SS members vouching for the event?:

Ok thanks for reading this silly stuff.. Now onto the goods.

---

​

---

​

---

​

---

The Black Mesa Incident has shaken the Earth.
Gordon Freeman, the only hope for humanity, dead on some distant island within the Borderworld.

The invasion came swiftly, few survivors remain. Within the span of a week, the world was overtaken.
Humanity has been subjugated. The Nihilanth's Army reigns supreme.



The events of the Oscillations of Darkness take place 14 years after the Nihilanth's conquest of Earth.
Humanity's number dwindles as beasts and creatures of all types prowl the world.

In this Alternate Universe, the Combine has not invaded Earth, but have completely overtaken the Borderworld of Xen.
The Nihilanth seized its moment, and invaded through the few portals it had, due to Gordon Freeman dying before he could stop the operation.

Humanity now lives in a state of constant oppression, far worse than anything like we know.
They have all been forced to local urban centers, like pigs to pens, waiting their turn for the slaughter.
They have taken the lowest rung of the totem pole, being forced to labor all day, or face the dangers that lay outside of the walls of the city.
​

---

All of Xenian hierarchy follows a simple social order.
Your level within this order is predestined at creation. No beast may move or change their role.

​

1. Kingpins [1/2] - The autarches of the local cities. They rule with complete and utter power, no one dares to disobey. They control the masses through advanced telepathy.. They seem to already know your every thought.

@Imperator RAD-X (The Tyrant.)​

2. Controllers [0/2] - The local workforce leaders, commanding the local citizenry to work. They fly about, too and frow, keeping all humans inline.

3. Grunts [0/3] - The brutes. The soldiers of the cities. They are the directly responsible for the take-over of Earth. Now, seen in cities keeping control, when needed.

4. Vortigaunts [0/4] - The previous slaves, now holding some hierarchy. Few have defected from the Nihilanth since the invasion, be it of fear or choice. They now serve as the "model" denizen, a worker who chooses to stay under control.. Perhaps they are just biding their time?

5. Houndeyes [0/2] - The guard dogs, the bloodhounds. Tamed sometime after the invasion, now used by the Nihilanth’s army to keep citizens in check, or to seek them out in the wilds.

The uninvited refugees.
​

1. Shock Troopers [0/2] - Beasts previously a foe of the Nihilanth's forces, now an uneasy friend. They help on patrols of the cities from time to time.

2. Pit Drones and Voltigores [0/2] (EACH) - Scavengers, pests, the scum of the urban centers. Seen as the "Underclass" they're barely sentient, if at all. They don't seem to be outright hostile, and appear to have some sort of crude intellect. They have been allowed to live within the 'slums', and sometimes appear to work together.

​

1. Humans [∞] - The underlings, the less advanced, the un-adapted. The lowest ring of society, just above the pests that are the Pit Drones and Voltigores. You've been forced to work, day in, day out. Provide, work, sleep. Provide, work, sleep. The worst is yet to come..

---

The Urban Centers, the corrals of the remaining humans. They're desolate, and in disrepair. They exist until humanity dies out.
There are only 26 Urban Centers left, with two of which designated solely as factories to produce more Alien Grunts.

The centers were named by the Kingpins, of which there is one or two at every center.
The main twenty-four urban centers are named after the Greek Alphabet..

This epistle in the Oscillations of Darkness takes place at the very first Urban Center;


URBAN - CENTER : Ω

Now, we dive into the lives of the unfortunate, the crushed dreams of the damned. We take a peek into this crumbling metropolis.​

---

​

1. This story will be open to any and all who choose to join. Applications are required to play as a Xenian/Race-X. Anyone not applying will be a human.
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ a. You may apply for a special start as a human, if you so choose, but do not expect it to be anything grand. It's details will be thought up by the SS Team.
2. The race you apply for, Xenian or Race-X, will determine what language flags you get. Xenians will get Xendarian, Race-X get Incongrous. Humans get English.
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ a. All Vortigaunts will start with Xendarian, as well as Vortigese. Race-X can not learn Xendarian.
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ b. Houndeyes can not speak any language, but can understand Xendarian and English.
3. A Vortigaunt whitelist is preferred for applicants applying as Vortigaunt.
4. Xenians/Race-X (and applied for Humans) will receive information about their characters via Forums Conversation, if accepted.

---

Hello, and thank you for reading!
I was inspired to make this event after hearing about the old event "Coterminous."
This SS is in a way, a tribute. A reimagining of this old story. A fresh twist on the groundwork laid.
I'll be adding a rough application, if anyone wants to apply, even though this is still an event submission, technically. Who knows.
Thank you, this has been Ramen!​

APPLICATION FORMAT

The * symbol represents a required filling, below.
Please DO NOT put your answers in bold, as to make the entry easier to read. If you put answers in bold, I will read your application very angrily.


--- Section One ---

• *Steam Name:
• *Steam ID:
• *Discord Name & ID:
• *Timezone:

--- Section Two ---

*Caste you're applying for:
*Character Name:
*Brief summary of the character (be creative):
*Why do you want to play this character?:

As always, the more creative and expressive the application, the higher chance of being accepted. This is not first come, first serve.

​

 

[The Milkman]

Wasn’t this already done before

 

[Imperator RAD-X]

 

[ShadoWiz4rd]

Needs more shock trooper roles (And hound eyes/bullsquids working as trackers/watch dogs with grunts)

 

[ramen]

Needs more shock trooper roles (And hound eyes/bullsquids working as trackers/watch dogs with grunts)

I can do houndeyes, but Bullsquids will be more of the feral beasts.

Edit: Added the dogs.

 

[ShadoWiz4rd]

I can do houndeyes, but Bullsquids will be more of the feral beasts.

Edit: Added the dogs.

Can't wait for the vortal hound masters to patrol the outter areas with a grunt escort

 

[ramen]

Submission has been extended!

 

[ramen]

 

[ramen]

Bump, check this shit out yo!

 

[RedHotGinger]

Very simple things to point out, but this seems a bit too similar to the Combine.

While the Combine and Nihilanth ultimately were after similar things, they key difference between them is one is violently desperate and the other is completely indifferent. Nihilanth wouldn't be basking in absolute authority quite like the Combine would, and honestly, wouldn't have swept through humanity anything like the Combine did.

Even the security forces of Black Mesa and the US military proved somewhat capable of putting a dent in these alien forces. Xen isn't as powerful as the Combine and it would take years and years (at least) for the same outcome to be reached. Frankly, total world domination probably would not have occurred without the Combine.

So I'd bullet point some changes I would make, not only to make it narratively distinct, but also serverwise.

1. The Nihilanth hasn't conquered all of Earth, or even most of it. Its an active marital occupation, but one that has been largely stopped in its tracks. Perhaps taking the Americas, but little else aside from footholds. Portal storms are still a weapon to be used but at this point humanity has only gotten better at stopping this form of assault.
2. Desperation from the Xenian forces is the name of the game. As it always was. The Combine are still out there sniffing out the portal crisis, and now the Nihilanth is between a rock and a hard place. As Mankind still holds him back, and might even have some inclinations about the Combine.
3. The system is not designed like Combine rule. Xenian forces are far weaker than the Combine ever were and take anything they can get. With humans holding them back, and Vortigaunts likely to alter sides if given the absolute chance, I dont imagine he would be pissing around with needless Tyranny.

Optional bits:

1. Humanity's remaining sovereign states have just unlocked Portal Technology since the start of the invasion. Making their already staunch defiance open to the very real chance of absolute retaliation. Though still partial rudimentary, its possible for anything to be sent behind enemy lines in a flash. Manpower, or ordinance.
2. Humanity is entirely aware of the Combine and even consider getting them involved to be a reasonable action, only knowing the Nihilanth is afraid of them and that they are far more powerful. For now, they haven't gone out of their way to do this, but a sort of cold-war state now exists given they technically have the option to do so. Something that could be played off to make Xenian forces a sort of circumstantial, lawful-evil force for good.

 

[Asimo1234]

Even the security forces of Black Mesa and the US military proved somewhat capable of putting a dent in these alien forces. Xen isn't as powerful as the Combine and it would take years and years (at least) for the same outcome to be reached. Frankly, total world domination probably would not have occurred without the Combine.

While Xen is indeed barely anything compared to the Combine, it is hard to leave out just how fragile human civilization is to an event on this kind of scale.
Portal storms would be fucking the climate and infrastructure across the globe, even if they don't deposit a mass of Xenian creatures all over the place. The location of the BMI alone would put a major breadbasket for the world out of commission. All of it thrown together, and if the Nihilanth isn't defeated in a matter of weeks, would mean that the global food chain is going to suffer badly. Failed harvests and all that.
After about a year, expect a large chunk of humanity to have starved to death. Which would remove even more people from the already fragile supply chains. And don't expect those starving humans are going to sit by idly waiting to die while governments hog the available food to keep their troops fed that are keeping the Nihilanth's forces at bay.

It certainly wouldn't be a simple 7 hour war resulting in humanity being totally defeated. But human civilization is going to take a very rough hit in the first year, and they'd need some miracles or unseen levels of cooperation in order to not just fall over and die.

Then finally comes in the infestation. While it is a little difficult to say howmuch of the infestation fighting techniques are from Combine research, or human research. The fact of the matter is that the moment the portal storm begin, Earth is going to start getting terraformed by Xenian flora.

Though I suppose a case can be made for Eurasia to just use the Russian nuclear arsenal to glass America the moment the battle there seems lost, which could be used as a story element to describe that after the first year of figthing, with humanity a starving mess and the Nihilanth's army all but glassed, it created a lul and stalemate in the fighting.

 

[ShadoWiz4rd]

While Xen is indeed barely anything compared to the Combine, it is hard to leave out just how fragile human civilization is to an event on this kind of scale.
Portal storms would be fucking the climate and infrastructure across the globe, even if they don't deposit a mass of Xenian creatures all over the place. The location of the BMI alone would put a major breadbasket for the world out of commission. All of it thrown together, and if the Nihilanth isn't defeated in a matter of weeks, would mean that the global food chain is going to suffer badly. Failed harvests and all that.
After about a year, expect a large chunk of humanity to have starved to death. Which would remove even more people from the already fragile supply chains. And don't expect those starving humans are going to sit by idly waiting to die while governments hog the available food to keep their troops fed that are keeping the Nihilanth's forces at bay.

It certainly wouldn't be a simple 7 hour war resulting in humanity being totally defeated. But human civilization is going to take a very rough hit in the first year, and they'd need some miracles or unseen levels of cooperation in order to not just fall over and die.

Then finally comes in the infestation. While it is a little difficult to say howmuch of the infestation fighting techniques are from Combine research, or human research. The fact of the matter is that the moment the portal storm begin, Earth is going to start getting terraformed by Xenian flora.

Though I suppose a case can be made for Eurasia to just use the Russian nuclear arsenal to glass America the moment the battle there seems lost, which could be used as a story element to describe that after the first year of figthing, with humanity a starving mess and the Nihilanth's army all but glassed, it created a lul and stalemate in the fighting.

The US Arsenal would be enough to get the job done if they're some how made to self destruct if russia launched on the US they'd get dead handed and then there would be a nuclear holocaust

 

[Asimo1234]

The US Arsenal would be enough to get the job done if they're some how made to self destruct if russia launched on the US they'd get dead handed and then there would be a nuclear holocaust

I mean the US did detonate a nuke at Black Mesa. I think you'd have to remove Gman and Freeman to give the Nihilanth a chance. Kinda depends on how willing the US is to mass nuke itself to take care of the Xenian threat, but yeah, Nini isn't going to win with large troop formations primed for nuking.
The biggest reason the HECU teams got fucked at BM is because shit just kept teleporting all around them, and they couldn't get a battle line going.
If the US can dig in around BM and Nini isn't able to teleport shit around them, then yeah, the invasion is kinda fucked.

I dunno, we don't know how many forces Nini had to go fuck up Earth with. And how well he could teleport shit in beyond Black Mesa in significant scale.

 

[ShadoWiz4rd]

I mean the US did detonate a nuke at Black Mesa. I think you'd have to remove Gman and Freeman to give the Nihilanth a chance. Kinda depends on how willing the US is to mass nuke itself to take care of the Xenian threat, but yeah, Nini isn't going to win with large troop formations primed for nuking.
The biggest reason the HECU teams got fucked at BM is because shit just kept teleporting all around them, and they couldn't get a battle line going.
If the US can dig in around BM and Nini isn't able to teleport shit around them, then yeah, the invasion is kinda fucked.

I dunno, we don't know how many forces Nini had to go fuck up Earth with. And how well he could teleport shit in beyond Black Mesa in significant scale.

What if he brings in the sigmas?

 

[RedHotGinger]

It certainly wouldn't be a simple 7 hour war resulting in humanity being totally defeated. But human civilization is going to take a very rough hit in the first year, and they'd need some miracles or unseen levels of cooperation in order to not just fall over and die.

This operates on the assumption humanity is really weak or fragile which really isn't the case.
On phone, so no long response yet, but while it would be a tough fight it's doubtless xens forces would not be able to take over the planet. Or at the very, very least would take years and years to barely accomplish it.

 

[Asimo1234]

This operates on the assumption humanity is really weak or fragile which really isn't the case.

The main problem isn't military might. It is the simple fact that through globalization, the entire supply system is connected.
And because of US hegemony, it has a big hand in that supply chain. Unless the Nihilanths invasion is quickly stopped, the US is going to be dropping out of the supply chain, which will cascade into shortages all over the globe.

Not to mention, as I said, portal storms are going to be doing a big number on global food production. No matter how well put together your civilization is, when people start starving, it is over.
The Portal Storm alone might be enough to wipe out a large chunk of humanity, which would cripple the rest of the economy and make invading so much easier. Hard to put up a fight when your production of war-materials has been decimated.

 

[ramen]

man yo… it’s an alternate timeline ss….

 

[ramen]

Read everything.
All in all, this is just a fun little SS, not to be seen as entirely “realistic”. It‘s an alternate timeline’s Nihilanth, who’s to say this army isn’t more powerful than the base HL’s?

Freeman is dead, nothing stopped the invasion. It had full effect. The Combine completely controls Xen, and is actively seeking tears in space and time to move through Earth which is something I planned to expand on if ever accepted.

Yes, the Nohilanth's army is nothing like the Combines, and I do agree it wouldn't likely result in a full takeover, but rather a cold-war state, like you said.

Again though, all-in-all, it's a silly little SS idea I wanted to expand on eventually.

 

[RedHotGinger]

All in all, this is just a fun little SS, not to be seen as entirely “realistic”. It‘s an alternate timeline’s Nihilanth, who’s to say this army isn’t more powerful than the base HL’s?

Narrative viability/believability aside, I'll just say this

In terms of an all-powerful, highly oppressive, human exterminating, Alien Empire The Combine is just a cooler variant of the Nihilanth. The original version of this event was pretty copy/paste of the Combine as well (I think), so I think the best thing to do would be spicing it up. If the only thing that changes is Xen fungus being everywhere, I dont feel the setting differentiates enough to be truly unique.

That's just my take on the server side of stuff. Lore take is already above.

 

[ramen]

Narrative viability/believability aside, I'll just say this

In terms of an all-powerful, highly oppressive, human exterminating, Alien Empire The Combine is just a cooler variant of the Nihilanth. The original version of this event was pretty copy/paste of the Combine as well (I think), so I think the best thing to do would be spicing it up. If the only thing that changes is Xen fungus being everywhere, I dont feel the setting differentiates enough to be truly unique.

That's just my take on the server side of stuff. Lore take is already above.

Fair enough. I do want to still try this 'alternate timeline' but I think you're right that the way the world works needs to change.
After having thought it over, I do believe in some ways, it can remain similar, but also different.

I liked the idea of humans somewhat 'worshipping' the Combine, almost wanting to invite them in, not knowing their true faces.
I do not want it to be a 'copy-paste' of the Combine but with a Nihilanth wrap anymore.
I do believe that the Nihilanth would have some humans under control in decimated cities, doing the work of Vortigaunts (as seen in HL1); however, I also believe there would be bands attempting to escape these cities too, with dissident Vortigaunts who escaped the tyranny.

I can work with this narrative.
A rewrite will occur. I do not want this to be a copy-paste event.