White Forest City
White Forest City, formerly known as City 17 is a grand city in Eastern Europe that has existed since before the Seven Hour War, although its' original name has been lost. Later taken over by the Combine, it became their main headquarters on Golmar Earth. Once dominated by the imposing Citadel and surrounded by the desolate Wasteland. After the Uprising, City 17 would populated by the remaining population of Humans and alongside Vortigaunts, become a temporary capital of the Human-Vortigaunt Federation after the Golmar Earth Civil War before being moved to the village of Geltendorf which was then moved to Lambda City after it was constructed. Yet it still remain populated by a growing number of humans and vortigaunts which would include other species and non-Golmar human refugees and immigrants during much of the First Multiverse War.
Overview[]
Architecture[]
During the occupation, the city was referred to as City 17 when it resembled a post-Soviet harbor city featuring mostly Eastern European architecture. It features architecture styles dating from pre-World War II neoclassicism, post-war classical designs, Soviet modernism, and post-Soviet contemporary designs. Upon the Combine's arrival on Golmar Earth, many buildings were augmented using their own style of architecture with the intent of restricting citizen movement throughout the city.
In addition, large television screens were installed in several public areas to address citizens regarding the Combine. At the heart of the city is the Citadel, a giant skyscraper which serves as the hub of the Combine.
White Forest City after the Golmar Civil War
After the Uprising and the successful retake of Golmar Earth, human and Vortigaunts slowly rebuild the city, with growing populations, many merged their surviving cultures together. Even allowed sectors for non-human visitors with artificial environments suited for them.
By the events of the near end of the Great War, White Forest City became far advance.
History[]
Combine Occupation[]
Gordon was pulled from stasis by the G-Man and left standing in a train pulling into a trainstation. Leaving the train after hearing the other passenger's comment, "I didn't see you get on", Gordon faced a large screen monitor with the administrator, Doctor Breen, smiling calmly down at the depressed citizens and welcoming them to City 17.
After failing a security check, Gordon was taken away by a Civil Protection officer for interrogation. Fortunately, he was delivered to an undercover Barney Calhoun who helped him escape from the train station. Exiting the station, Gordon finds himself in a plaza, with the ever imposing Combine Citadel far ahead, and further evidence of the Combine's power in the city. Gordon's brief journey through the city revealed the level of repression by the Combine and the level of fear and dread among citizens.
After stumbling his way into a building being raided by Civil Protection, Gordon is identified as a "miscount" and is pursued by Civil Protection units over the rooftops and ledges of buildings before being rescued by Alyx Vance. Alyx brought Gordon to Dr. Kleiner's lab in a nearby building. There, Gordon was fitted with an HEV suit and set to be teleported with Alyx to Dr. Eli Vance's lab in Black Mesa East. While Alyx successfully arrived at the destination, the teleport malfunctioned as Gordon was about to be teleported, sending him to several locations (including Doctor Breen's office in the Citadel), and eventually back to City 17, just outside Kleiner's lab.
After being given a Crowbar from Barney, Gordon was advised to venture along railway lines, canals, sewage systems, and the wider canal routes to leave City 17 and reach Black Mesa East. Along the way, it is learned that parts of the route are also under attack by Combine units. An alert was put out from the Citadel to capture or kill Gordon after the teleportation incident at Breen's office. As Gordon reached the wider canals, an Airboat was prepared by rebels to transport Gordon out of the city. As he rode the Airboat, Hunter-Choppers and additional Combine units pursue him once more but are eventually evaded and defeated as he reaches Black Mesa East and escapes the city.
City Riots[]
After Gordon and Alyx's failed attempt to rescue Eli and associate Judith Mossman at Nova Prospekt (in which Judith ends up teleporting Eli to the Citadel), they attempt to teleport back to Kleiner's lab, but find that they have reached their destination a week later in time, although it seems to Alyx and Gordon as though their teleportation was instantaneous. They found out that Gordon and Alyx's attack on Nova Prospekt sparked an uprising among City 17's citizens that sent the city into chaos: Combine units and citizens are fighting against each other, and powerful, more lethal weapons and equipment are being deployed in full force, damaging much of the city. While Gordon and Alyx race to the Citadel to rescue Eli, Alyx is knocked out, captured, and brought to the Citadel. Gordon eventually reaches the foot of the Citadel, with the aid of Barney and Alyx's robotic pet, Dog, and enters the structure to rescue Eli and Alyx and to confront Doctor Breen.
Gordon, upon releasing Eli and Alyx and damaging the dark energy reactor that would power Breen's teleportation off of Golmar Earth, was about to trigger a massive explosion of the reactor that would "bring down the whole Citadel" and destroy the entire city. At the moment of the reactor's explosion, however, the G-Man reappears, stopping time, and transported Gordon back into stasis to await further assignment.
Near Destruction[]
Alyx and Gordon watching the Citadel's reactor meltdown resuming.
Taken place against a backdrop of a mass exodus from the doomed city, at the heart of which the Citadel has become a ticking time bomb. Hoping to open a portal to send valuable information back to the Combine leaders, the surviving Combine soldiers inside the Citadel deactivated the containment system for the Citadel's core. Though Gordon and Alyx manage to reactivate the system, it only buys a short amount of time. As they move further away from the Citadel, they witness its condition deteriorate.
The city itself, especially the regions closest to the Citadel, had been damaged beyond recognition by Striders following the events of Half-Life 2, though regions further out, such as a hospital and the train station, were still intact. Most of the railroad infrastructure was undamaged, though any train leaving the Citadel was subject to falling debris. Antlions roamed the city unchecked, and the remaining Combine forces struggled to keep order in the ruins.
The citizens of City 17, heeding the warnings of the Lambda Resistance, were all but gone during Gordon and Alyx's flight from the city. Only a few remained, pinned down by any surviving Combine troops and Civil Protection units. Thanks to the efforts of Gordon and Barney Calhoun, the last of the city's citizens were evacuated via train, despite the best efforts of the surviving Combine forces.
City 17's destruction
When the Citadel detonated, the explosion was powerful enough to send debris flying for miles and landing outside city limits. The remains of City 17 could be seen from the countryside. A tornado-like vortex rose from what was the Citadel, and the center of the city scattered with pieces of the Citadel. The outskirts of the city appeared no less damaged and it was doubtful that there is anyone left alive in the ruins.
Within the Quarantine Zone, a Xen-infested area closed off from the rest of the city. The Citadel is shown in its early construction development. Alyx lived in an apartment with a view to the Citadel.
Rebuilding of a city[]
Civil War[]
First Multiverse War[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- While it is built out of the ruins of City 17, it ironically doesn't include the core part of the city, instead it largely found in the outlaying districts and the White Forest itself, leaving the core of the City a ruin appropriately dubbed The Citadel Ruins, as that's where the former City 17 Citadel fell into in its' destruction and the HVF simply left it as a monument to their freedom from the Combine Empire.