The Citadel was an enormous, extremely tall structure located in the epicenter of City 17 after their conquest of the Golmar Earth, which served as the main base of operations and the headquarters Combine govern the planet during their invasion across the Golmar Universe. It housed the office of Administrator Dr. Wallace Breen until the Citadel as destroyed during the Golmar Uprising.
Overview[]
The Citadel tower resembled a massive, metallic skyscraper, rising several kilometers into the sky from ground level, and extending some distance underground as well. It was a triangular structure when viewed from above, and was crowned by a Dark Energy Reactor. Its associated portal was the primary means of communication with off-world Combine forces. This super portal is also guessed to be the means by which the Citadel came to Golmar Earth. The surrounding areas are blasted away, as if the whole structure fell out of the sky. The Citadel is heavily mechanized, and entire sections of it can move to allow for mass deployment of airborne Combine units such as City Scanners or Hunter-Choppers. Its one of many of the Combines Citadel Towers. The Citadel's massive interior level is capable of housing a massive army of Overwatch Soldiers, with the building itself being heavily mechanized, and entire sections of it can move to allow for mass deployment of airborne Combine units such as City Scanners, Hunter-Choppers and Combine Gunships. In the upper floors of the citadel, a large factory where Combine Gunships are repaired and augmented can be found in the Citadel, and a large flap on the citadel's exterior lifts up to allow the synths to exit the Citadel to continue the war against the Resistance.
The Citadel had two known "states," or configurations that the tower takes depending on specific situations. The first of these was what was most likely the dormant configuration, which was probably maintained during the whole life in the city, when no serious threats were posed to the Combine. This configuration was signified by a single set of rib-like structures exposed within the right half of the Citadel, with an outer metal plating retracted slightly above the inner plating. However, shortly after Gordon Freeman was transported inside Breen's office in the Citadel during the malfunctioning of Dr. Kleiner's teleporter, Breen put the Citadel on alert, causing the structure to change to its alerted state. The Citadel was capable of changing its configuration while Barney Calhoun gave Gordon a crowbar. Barney commented that this was a rare occasion, stating "I've never seen it lit up like that." The inner plating retracted upwards, exposing a total of four sets of "ribs", at the start of Route Kanal, where the reconfiguration were fully completed. During this transformation a loud alarm resonates, echoing for several seconds each time it sounded, possibly emanating from the Citadel itself. A small piece of plating barely visible on the left (southern) side of the Citadel also descended partly down the tower, scanners rapidly deployed from around that area on the tower, and the Citadel remains in this configuration for the remainder of the game. The Citadel could also be seen from the rear near the first gate and Water Hazard, showing a dull pair of metal strips separated by one vertical white beam. When Freeman sabotaged the reactor, the plating descended to the "all clear" state and covers the ribs. The lower set of ribs descends along the tower and locked in place behind the lowest panel on the right-hand side of the structure. It was be theorized that there are other configurations the Citadel may take in different situations, but these two were the only configurations known to anyone.
It was mentioned that entire blocks from City 17 vanished into thin air as the Combine delivered the Citadel to Golmar Earth. However, this was likely to have been built by the Combine after the Seven Hour War. It should be noted, however, that the Core was teleported to Golmar Earth as a pinnacle structure about the size of the citadel into the ground, likely contained within the structure.
The Citadel was completely surrounded by enormous Smart Barriers which crush buildings around the Citadel and prevent access from the streets, protecting the structure and preventing rebels from advancing.
Attached to the exterior walls of the Citadel, in a huge chasm with broken sewer pipes and destroyed vehicles, are other machines that dig the ground, possibly expanding the underground area to allow further construction or creating exterior access to the lower levels. The chasm did not surround the Citadel, but instead surrounds only the machines, this implies the whole chasm was dug by them. These machines are theorized to be functioned as giant Restrictors to repel Antlions, though such theory is unlikely as the vibrations could not cover the entire city. There were also mention of machines referred to as "Diggers" instead of thumpers, implying its digging nature.
The existence of more Citadels located around the world is mentioned in-game by Dr. Kleiner and is also mentioned by Eli, the number of Citadels on Golmar Earth still remained unknown, it is also unknown whether they all bear the same altitude and appearance.
Lower Decks[]
Whilst mostly looking very much the same as the rest of the Citadel, no war factories or synth manufacturing plants were located in this area of the structure. The Citadel could be seen extremely unstable, with an orange glow throughout the structure in contrast to the blue it used to be when functional. Fires have spread across the structure and much debris from what's left of the upper levels was constantly falling down to the lower levels.
Advisors' room pods
An emergency evacuation and transport chamber for Advisors was located in the lower levels of the Citadel. The room was significantly different from that of the rest of the Citadel, giving off an eerie red glow from hundreds of bright lights mounted on the walls in contrast to the blue and orange that characterized the Citadel at the time. The room appeared to have been used as a transport chamber, but may have also been used for evacuations, allowing Advisors to quickly escape in times where the Citadel was in peril. The Advisor Pods were located under the glass floor of the room and when preparing to dock they rise up and move through a tube before positioning themselves in a chute and moving upwards. It was very likely that many more chambers were present throughout the Citadel.
The Citadel's Core, exceedingly close to collapse.
Toward the very bottom of the Citadel wais its core which was only accessible via a lift that descends several dozen floors. The core chamber was protected by large blast doors carrying an insignia with the appearance of a stylized version of the international symbol for radioactivity. A large control room is situated overlooking the core with a central access lift leading down to its chamber, similar in design to the control room overlooking the Dark Fusion reactor at the opposite end of the structure. Three rooms located across the chamber which were specifically designed to helped stabilize the core in the event that its energy output becoming unstable. The machines in these rooms form a threefold containment system that ensures that the intensity of the dark energy reaction within the core stays within safe limits. Connected onto the core itself is a train station where it is likely that Razor Train cargo was emptied. This point in the Citadel lies approximately one kilometre below the surface and the connected tunnel extends throughout City 17 and beyond.
Central Level[]
Contrasted its featureless exterior. An abundance of Combine technology was found within the Citadel, ranging from countless generators and force fields, to matter disintegration fields, to elevators and platforms that defy gravity, to giant tubes that transported unknown fluids. The entire building was constructed from the same blackish blue metal material that all Combine structures are made from. During the Uprising, no attempt was made at all to provide personnel with any form of warmth or pleasant aesthetic. Everything was sharp, cold, and soulless, mirroring that of the Combine's rule. No regard of being placed at all to the covering of the piping and electronics. The metal is unfinished and oxidizing. The human features that are present however, such as walkways, stairs and ladders, seem to just be an afterthought, as if the usability for humans was not a firsthand priority.
All invading "visitors" have weapons stripped using a confiscation field, presumably to avoid precisely the situation, in which, ironically, because of the presence of a confiscation field.
There were railway systems running throughout the Citadel that had been used by Razor Trains to ship and deliver cargo. Much of this cargo consists of new Stalkers from Nova Prospekt. Stalkers were delivered in pods, and the Citadel was included a large transportation system for these pods. Tasks such as the operation of basic panels, or the repairing of damaged Combine equipment and units were done by Stalkers, under the constant supervision of Overwatch personnel or scanners.
The Citadel was presumed to include large war factories, where Combine equipment, technology and weapons, as well as Synths were manufactured. Two types of Synth that were never encountered during the conflict on Golmar Earth, the Crab Synth and the Mortar Synth, had be seen being transported around on conveyor belts, indicating that they were possibly manufactured in the Citadel and delivered away. The Citadel also provided a central hub for Overwatch soldiers (including Elites), who were present in overwhelming numbers, and is the launching point for Gunships.
Upper Level[]
On one of the very top levels of the Citadel was Doctor Breen's office, believed to be the location from which he transmitted his Breencasts-though the walls di not match his "studio" backdrop, suggesting there was a separate room for that purpose. Unlike the rest of the Citadel, Breen's office was a more classical, human appearance, although Combine architecture were still very dominating, albeit aesthetic, feature in the room. His office included various luxury items such as a wooden desk, mantle clock, leather seat, globe, expensive carpeting, tiled floors, and busts of himself, much like the generator rooms in the Overwatch nexus. His office contained a large set of monitors, which served as his personal computer, and from which he could use to communicate with contacts such as the Advisors. Breen's office was connected to the prisoner transport system used by Gordon Freeman, and there were many other prisoner pods around his office. Otherwise, more welcome guests could access the office via an elevator connected to the dark fusion reactor or a separate door from the prisoner entrance. It can be assumed that Breen lives in the Citadel as well as works in it, presumably never leaving it, as the Advisors.
The very top of the Citadel contained the Combine's dark fusion reactor-that seemed to be directly connected to Breen's office, which once was used to power their tunneling entanglement device and allow them to tunnel into Golmar Earth from their universe. By the early events of the Uprising, Gordon managed to destabilize and destroy the dark fusion reactor using Energy Balls.
History[]
Construction[]
Citadel Walls during the Construction
The Citadel was under construction roughly fifteen years after the Seven Hour War. There were some theories that either the Citadel took several years to be built or that construction began relatively late into the Combine's invasion, or perhaps both. Another possible explanation is that the Combine had to wait the cessation of the Portal Storms before they could safely start to built the Citadel.
The initial form of the Citadel started when the Combine delivered the Core to Golmar Earth, contained withing a spire structure that was embedded into the floor through the means of teleportation; the Citadel was then built around it from underground to top. The Citadel construction consists of gathered resources from the planet, which were collected by the Combine and converted to their bluish material.
Attached to the construction areas all over the Citadel are several sets of slack grouped cables, with substation structures on the ground providing support to them. Those were most likely providing energy to the Citadel from an external source, as the Core was non-functional and suffering blackouts by the time. The location of the core on Alyx's whiteboard suggested that it was moved to the underground levels later on.
The group of cables seem to be connected to elevator like structures, called scaffolds by Alyx, which are probably tasked with automated construction or mass transport of materials.
Sets of small cables also expand connection to the city from the structures like conventional power lines, suggesting the structures function in a similar way to substations. These cables were connected to rooftops by construction striders.
Destruction[]
In the aftermath of Gordon's assault on the Citadel is clearly visible. The overloading of the Dark Fusion reactor has downed power and destabilized the structure of the whole building, and Gordon must make his way to the core to re-engage the containment field and delay the core's inevitable meltdown.
By this time all the Combine forces were being evacuated from City 17 and some were left to prevent the Citizens from escaping the blast. As a result, the Citadel was barely occupied compared to its earlier state.
There are however, several soldiers left tasked with a goal and others simply tryed to escape, and a few Stalkers for operating machinery. The Citadel's interior glowed orange, in stark contrast to the cold blue it used to be when functional, while bridges are falling apart and debris continuously falls from the top of the tower. From the outside, the Citadel's peak is surrounded by swirling black and red clouds with green lightning bolts emerged, debris are constantly being launched from the top. The power lines connecting the Citadel to City 17 are no longer present, and the explosion of the Dark Fusion reactor has blown off the top of the Citadel.
The event was witnessed by Gordon and Alyx, when the Citadel's core suffered the inevitable meltdown when it collected the colossal amount of energy needed to send a final data transmission off-world to the rest of the Combine, causing an immense Dark Energy Flare that destroyed the entire Citadel along with the surrounding City 17. Dr. Kleiner notes in one of his messages to the Resistance that the destruction of the City 17 Citadel has also caused the other Citadels across the planet to shut down. The Citadel still dominated the now destroyed City 17 even in its ruin. A Superportal looms over where the Citadel once stood, drawing power to open from the remnants of the dark fusion core through a swirling blue tendril of energy. The Citadel's collapsed remains were all that was left of the once tall and overpowering structure.
Gallery[]
