WN Occupation Eras

[TheDeNuke]

WN Lore - Occupation Eras

"Therefore I say, yes, I am a collaborator. We must all collaborate, willingly, eagerly, if we expect to reap the benefits of unification."

"And reap we shall."​

Introduction

The purpose of this thread is to establish the primary limitations that each era has when it comes to content creation in all areas. These are not hardline and may be variable depending on particular regions of Earth, but if you are in the early era you should generally not have developed content that is determinate on being in the late era.

The Three Eras

Early Occupation - 2004 to 2009 - CURRENT

The theme here is a world that’s yet transformed entirely. A transitional era where specific old world institutions remain in charge and citizens seemingly are not under an entirely oppressive boot yet its obvious that something is amiss.

The feeling of this era is ‘old world in decay’ where the boot exists but the boot is invisible beyond the increasingly oppressive violations structure as the Civil Protection has yet transformed into the object of intimidation that it would eventually be.

Examples are akin to the 2016 to 2018 Colony Series for instance.

Middle Occupation - 2009 to 2019

The theme here is a world that’s being actively oppressed by the hand of Dispatch, but so long as people are in line then they live relatively decent lives. Civil Protection has started to become slightly more intimidating but has not yet transformed into the horror that they would eventually become. This is the era when “It's safer here” is literal and there are even active popular political movements (which are of course kept inside specific guidelines). This is the feeling of Half-Life Alyx and represents a very different tone to what the Combine would eventually take five years later.

The feeling of this era is “it's safer here” as I stated. Where the boot is very much visible but it's not standing on the throat of humanity yet.

Examples are akin to most real life totalitarian states where there is active oppression and terror but its not overt.

Late Occupation - 2019 to 2024

The theme here is a desolate world that’s being actively destroyed by the Combine. There is no hope to speak of absolute oppression in all areas at a scale not seen at any point in human history. This is the nightmare that George Orwell spoke of in 1984 made real by a alien occupation of parasites reaching its full potential. At the exact same time this is the era where universalist resistance forces such as Lambda are now at their peak because there is absolutely nothing left but to either resist the regime or die. This is the feeling of Half-Life 2.

The feeling of this era is “resist or die”. Where the boot is standing on the neck of humanity.

Examples are akin to 1984 (literally)

Disclaimer

Just to note that the three occupation eras stated above represent completely stable cities in stable regions. Some cities may behave akin to later eras then they are due to inherent instability on a city or regional level. If you are simulating a city or region outside of its era then it's highly advised to justify the reasons why its like that.

Also as usual I need to state that this document is not final and adjustments can be made in the process of lore development.


The Nature of the Occupation

With each era there are specific factors that make that era unique. This is broken down into governance, combine forces, resistance, xenian flora/vortigaunts and described in great detail below.

Remember that these are important guidelines and should generally be kept in mind when developing content for WNHL2RP depending upon what era your content is taking place in.


Governance

Early

First Citadels Underway - The first citadel sites have been established and construction is underway on them. Before the end of this era three citadels would be completed.
United Nations Authority - For the most part, the United Nations holds administrative authority on the planet still, now with a new band of leaders and some of the old working together under the Combine Advisory. Though the IGA fully took over nearing the end of the Early Era.
Dr Breen, UN Speaker - Wallace Breen is currently recognized as the primary speaker within the UN. Though he lacks administrative power, the Combine has acknowledged him as the current cornerstone of the body and though de jure he has little authority - de facto he has enormous sway
Traditional political parties still in operation - For many Cities, the City Administration under UN still operates with political parties under branches or departments like the “Security Council” or other such similar bodies.
Feudal system politics - Cities are independent of the Combine though operate under their purview. Cities and their respective Administrators are akin to old school Nobles running territory. They have full authority in their respective zones until the higher power wants to intervene.
Biotic Mandates - Despite the vicious propaganda against Vortigaunts in this era, the Administration granted some level of protections to those enslaved as long as they served their primary directives. This was via the simply named “Division 314-04” which handled laws on all alien lifeforms, Xenian or otherwise. Of course, there was some Combine involvement to ensure that all biological assets are being utilized even in regions that despise the Vortigaunts and nobody would tell the benefactors that they should just purge all the Vortigaunts.
Initial Establishment of Global Currencies - Credits are gradually introduced on a region by region basis in this era.

Middle

Citadel Construction Ongoing - With the final location of City Seventeen being decided on for the last Citadel, making a total of Eight citadels, all sites are now established and construction underway. The first three citadels have been completed and the other five would progress over this era with City 17 being the last.
IGA (Interim Global Authority) fully established - The United Nations ceased to exist by the end of the early era with the Combine's Own IGA taking fully power. The leaders of the old world have been expunged and the old world has finally ended for good.
Dr. Breen, First Among Equals - Breen has stepped into a position of global power holding a series of important appointments in the IGA which allow him to exert global authority. Though he is not yet the "Earth Administrator" his influence can be found everywhere on the planet.
New World political parties - The IGA has influenced and transformed politilcal groupings into what it perseves as acceptable factions expunging organizations which are anti-collaborationist.
Consolidation of Governance - In this stage, the governance under the Combine has slowly become more centralized with departments and bodies consolidated into mostly singular and unified organizations.
Grown Influence on Earth - As time has passed, the Combine has expanded its presence and monitoring of Earth via the actions of its many Urban Centres. Though not all of Earth is under Combine authority.
One Currency System - The final establishment of credits as a global currency has been achieved in full under the IGA’s UBC. All old world currency is now worthless with Credits replacing currency globally.

Late

The Global Capital - With the completion of the City 17 ‘Apex’ Citadel there is a centralization of power around the City 17 Citadel with many previously delegated authorities being routed through City 17.
Dr Breen, Earth Administrator - The Earth Administrator has finally appeared with Breen finally winning the position after years of political rivalry with other contenders for the job. An expected outcome for many in his support given Breen was the sole one to end the war. Without his intervention, they would be long dead.
Final Stage of Combine Authority - With the changes to the administrative structure with a focus on heavy centralization and the establishment of Earth’s Administrator. The Combine have taken increased levels of control over the planet and are dwindling the powers of the remaining Human officials. Even the new world political parties are barely even a concept with most regions effectively becoming single party states.


The Citadels have been completed and humanity is now dying with no chance of salvation. For now...


Combine Forces

Early

Overwatch Established - The organization known as the Combine Overwatch is born in this era though at this stage it mostly relies on a mix between Human Commanders and Advisors passing down orders rather then anything akin to Dispatch/Overwatch Voice.
Civil Protection Established - The organization known as Civil Protection is also born in this era, though it is nothing close to what it would eventually be. At this point it does actual protection and the absolute worst thing it could do is to people committing heavy violations.
Limited Military Forces - The limited military that the Combine has at this stage are UN remnants under Combine command via the United Nations. The other half is the Synthetic Arm consisting of a mix of occupational synthetic forces and 7HW invasion force remnants which are under the command of the Advisory. At a later stage in this era the Overwatch Provisional Arm enters the scene sometime after the UN remnants are disbanded.
Fractured Trust - The lack of trust in the military is rampant causing some tedious issues for the Combine to deal with and gave more numbers to the resistance forces early on. It would not last forever.
Limited Control and Influence - In this stage, the Combine forces only covered sections of the planet. All zones were categorized into Regions and Sectors, but some Sectors had little to entirely no Combine presence.

Middle

Dispatch/Overwatch Voice Established - Initially presented as a useful tool for human commanders to gain the capability to control all overwatch forces including the ones that were previously exclusively commanded by the advisory. This Artifical Intelligence gradually subsumes more and more authority over the era until it almost entirely replaces human commanders.
Civil Protection Decay - The Civil Protection is gradually evolving into the force of intimidation that it would eventually be. Memory replacement is introduced to the Civil Protection without warning, leaving some units without their past memories intact or at least suppressed and blocked and the establishment of Dispatch makes it much harder for them to act human.
Overwatch Transhuman Arm - The earliest prototypes of the OTA are deployed into the field and let loose, initially they are tested as stealth units utilizing guerilla tactics to hit Resistance territory hard and fast. These early units lack key components of later OTA, but are still feared and still considered extremely deadly. Their introduction means the last Invasion-class Synthetics were no longer required and were stripped down for parts to be reused on citadel construction. In the later part of this era the first implementation of the Pulse Rifle was made to limited units (AR-1).
Eliminated Trust Factor - With the UN military gone and the human OPA replaced via brainwashed super soldiers, the entire factor of Trust from the force was completely wiped.
Expansion of Power - The Combine now controls roughly 50-65% of the planet leaving large pockets of unmonitored space. Increased levels of checkpoints and FOBs can be found in the Outlands. However there is a concerning trend related to Xenian containment efforts which has resulted in loss of control in areas which should be under control.

Late

Human Authority Expunged - The Combine Forces virtually acts as a single organism with almost all control practically delegated to the Dispatch AI and human authority over the Overwatch almost entirely expunged. The worst part is that if the Advisory sees fit it can take command of this AI whenever it wishes to do so proving once and for all who was really in control the whole time.
Civil Protection Nightmare - The Civil Protection has reached their final stage where they actively intimidate the population with brutal authority. Even going so far as to engage in Public Executions if anyone stands too far out of line.
End Stage Overwatch Transhuman Arm - The final standardization of the Overwatch Transhuman Arm is implemented with the phasing out of earlier light Infantry models (Grunts) to be replaced with full infantry models (Soldiers) with the near universal use of heavier armor and the final phase of the Pulse Rifle program (AR-2). The infamous white armor one-eye Overwatch Elite also finally makes a full appearance. This is when the Transhuman Arm reaches its terrifying apex.
Apex of Power - The Combine has perfected its control in areas that it is still capable of controlling. Remaining unmonitored areas consist of territories which are too dangerous for the Combine to enter without taking high casualties (Wastelands, Outlands) due to most Xenian lifeforms being removed from the cities. This has resulted in a world consisting of islands of absolute control by the Combine with areas around them with little control.


Submit or be Subsumed...


Resistance

Early

Large Remnants - In this stage the combine are still in active war with the wreckage of old world governments after the seven hour war
Large Bandits/Warlords - The Combine have very little control over regions and have to actively spend an enormous amount of resources protecting its logistics.
Scattered 'Ideological' Resistance Organizations - Non-Government affiliated resistance organizations with particular ideologies or values have started to pop up.
Very Rare 'Universal' Resistance Organizations - Organizations such as Lambda are practically non-existent outside of anyone that listens to Vortigaunts far too much.

Middle

Small Remnants - By this stage the combine has successfully terminated the remains of most old world governments leaving only scattered and very rare bunkers around the place.
Mid Bandits/Warlords - The Combine are getting better at actively destroying bandit organizations and though they are still relevant they have become less of a concern then they initially were.
Large 'Ideological' Resistance Organizations - This is the age of the self-centered resistance organization. Most seeking to defy the combine will establish an ideological alignment in their resistance organization and seek to topple the combine with the intent for their ideas to come true. Some would say this is foolish balkanization but that’s the nature of a world emerging from an era where the remnants of the old world were running the resistance show.
Developing 'Universal' Resistance Organizations - This is the era when Universal Resistance Organizations are formed from the inherent belief that the combine are such a threat to humanity (and vortkind) that there is literally no point caring about how you are allied with in the process of liberating humanity.

Late

No Remnants - By this stage the old world is virtually dead and anyone still clinging to its ideals have likely joined one of the Universal Resistance Organizations.
Barely any Bandits/Warlords - By this point most bandits have gotten the memo that the Combine have reached the apex of their power on earth and pointlessly attacking them is just a fast road to suicide.
Small 'Ideological' Resistance Organizations - It turns out with a boot on one’s neck then ‘my way or the highway’ does not tend to work very well. Some still believe in particular ideas of a world after the Combine but considering their strength it's better to be under a big tent.
Powerful 'Universal' Resistance Organizations - The Big Tent is here and it now consists of everyone under the sun. With the realization of the imminent doom of humanity everyone must cooperate for liberation.


...such dangerous poetic labels as the 'One Free Man', the 'Opener of the Way'.


Xenian Flora/Vortigaunts

Early

Universal Xenian Rampancy - Cities are littered with Xenian Wildlife and Jungles. Areas outside the cities are also extremely dangerous with an insanely high chance of getting killed by Xenian Lifeforms. The Combine might have a point that at least its somewhat safer in the cities.
Vilified Vortigaunts - The monsters that caused the end of the world. Combine propaganda against them actually works such as ‘Report the Vort’ as they are seen as a threat that must be captured and contained. Enslaved Vortigaunts are initially rarer in this era with their population getting dramatically larger in the later parts due to Combine insistence on use of useful biological assets. Resistance forces rarely side with Vortigaunts as they still point the blame at them for what happened to the world.
Minimal Race-X Presence - Race-X did not have a long stay on Earth, but despite this limited time they had, they have managed to convert numerous forests and woodland areas into suitable nesting grounds where remnants hunt and survive. They are considered far more dangerous than the Xenian Condemned Zones due to coordinated wildlife and attack patterns.

Middle

The Quarantine Zone Plan - At this point, Xenian life that had been pushed out of some cities have now established grounds within the Outland sectors globally, leading to isolated pockets and infected towns. This push adversely affected Resistance cells who were forced out by outbreaks of Headcrabs or other dangerous life.
Useful Vortigaunts - Enslaved Biotics are common serving as useful additional labor or in batteries charging Combine equipment or powering infrastructure not connected to main grids or Dark Energy reactors/generators. Resistance forces are starting to actively side with the Vortigaunts as the propaganda of them being monsters starts to collapse.
Medium Race-X Presence - Zones left alone by the Combine have now expanded outwards and created much larger zones of highly dangerous territory. Eventually these zones were enclosed within Mobile wall units built by the Combine for containment. Some areas converted into training grounds… or even punishment & deservicement grounds for blackmarked Civil Protection.

Late

Xenian Wastelands - The dangerous trend resulting from City containment efforts that had successfully almost entirely cleaned up the cities apart from small pockets has resulted in Xenian rampancy outside of the cities. Cities have become beacons of ‘purity’ under the absolute control of the Combine but due to the severity of what has happened outside of the cities if they were to suffer from a containment collapse then there would be little preventing the cities from being rapidly overwhelmed. The Resistance on the other hand has become better at surviving in these regions often with strategic alliances with Vortigaunts.
Vortigaunts, Allies of Humanity - Enclaved Biotics still actively appear. Though it's worth noting that any propaganda against the Vortigaunts has completely collapsed due to the severity of the situation as apart from some stragglers in either the Vortigaunt or Human side of things - They have fully sided with humanity in their efforts to liberate earth.
Contained Race-X Presence - The Combine have pushed back somewhat on Race-X to ensure that they cannot threaten the cities or take over the world that the Combine sees rightfully as their own.

This is the Freeman. The Combine's reckoning has come.