Xen, Humans, and Teleportations

[Irksome]

I'm trying to get the story right in my head so bear with me if this is utter rubbish...correct me where I go wrong.

Half-Life era Human teleportation works by using a relay - you essentially bounce the subject off the border-world, Xen, and to the targeted destination.

Towards the end of Half-Life, the G-Man announce that the border world is under "our control" while at the same time the area is littered with refuse US military hardware and dead Marines. So it's assumed that the humans controlled the border-world.

Because of the incident at Black Mesa, portal storms begin to break out across the globe, sending various Xenian wildlife to earth.

The Combine discover the storms (?) and use it to their advantage sending citadels through the open portals.

The rest is Half-Life 2 history...

Unresolved questions:

1) Do the combine use the same method of teleportation as humans?
2) If they do that means they know about Xen, which means that they most likely control it?
3) If they don't know about Xen, use a different method of teleportation, or just don't care about Xen - does that mean humans still have a small presence on the border-world?

 

[Barnz]

No, they use universe-to-universe teleportation method. They do know about Xen. Unlike humans, Combine's teleportation technology is very limited. They can't go to the border-worlds.

 

[Asknoone]

Towards the end of Half-Life, the G-Man announce that the border world is under "our control" while at the same time the area is littered with refuse US military hardware and dead Marines. So it's assumed that the humans controlled the border-world.

No, I don't think so. That bit of land was desert, as far as I remember, and was a congeries of Military parts and equipment. I took it as a sign that the worlds were being merged in some sense; that due to the Cascade Earth and the Border World were being conflicted. The Military didn't have a portal through which they could go to Xen, and it just seems fairly...far-fetched.

Combine use a very different mode of teleportation, and it isn't something they always use to go from world to world. For Earth, they deployed the Citadels via the Portal storms--forced them wider in order to gain passage. Now that the Citadels are on Earth, I don't suspect there's any way of getting them back either.

Their teleportation is so dire they create a kind of Singularity Collapse every time the Dark Fusion Reactor is used. I'm no scientist, but I'm pretty sure that's not a very practical way of operating a teleporter.

I'd also argue that the Combine do not have access to Xen because should they, their teleportation would not suck so horribly.

 

[Druckles]

I'd also argue that the Combine do not have access to Xen because should they, their teleportation would not suck so horribly.

I believe it was the last refuge of the vortigaunts.

 

[Sufferin-rebel]

I hope we discover what the true homeworld of the Xenians are.

The Military however, were trying to salvage the technology and kill any scientists related to Black mesa, my theory itself is that the Government wanted to reap the technology.

 

[Saruke]

The other members have done a good job of answering your questions but I'll sum up anyway. (Cause I'm lame like that)

1) Do the combine use the same method of teleportation as humans?

No the Combine use huge amounts of power from their citadel's antimatter core to burrow tunnels through space, but they are limited because it can only transport them large distances such as galaxy to galaxy or universe to universe (I've heard both).
Humans on the other hand have developed the technology to do short local teleportations such as from one place on a planet to another. They do this by slingshotting themselves around the xen relay and back to earth.

2) If they do that means they know about Xen, which means that they most likely control it?

They do know about Xen but they have no need for a presence there because the species that inhabit Xen are too fierce and wild to bother trying to conquer directly. They did try to take some level of control in the form of ninalith but since gordon killed him they now have effectively no presence on Xen.

3) If they don't know about Xen, use a different method of teleportation, or just don't care about Xen - does that mean humans still have a small presence on the border-world?

Humans don't need to physically go to Xen the only thing they need is the Xen relay to keep on existing so they can use it for local teleporting. So basically the Combine arn't on xen because they don't think its important anymore and the humans arn't there because all they need is the Xen relay to keep doin what it's doin.

I hope that helped.

 

[PortalStormzzzz]

Um, I thought the Combine invaded Xen. That's kind of implied in Raising the Bar. It says something along the lines that as the floating piece of shit that was Xen got sucked in and fused with Earth, the Combine found the vortex and used it to get portal storms to Earth. They used our satellites as a super gun to fire the portals over cities. Basically a smashed together version of Independence day and Riddick.

They did try to take some level of control in the form of ninalith

But he was a fierce enemy of the combine, not a friend.

 

[Saruke]

Why does everyone think Earth and Xen were merged. Pieces of Xen i. e. whole chunks of the planet, were teleported to earth. Xen and earth stayed in speperate places in space but just exchanged some turf so to speak. Also, remember that the combine did invade Xen but found it too costly to hold in full force so they left leaving Ninalith in charge of protecting the Xen relay which he was forced to do.
He also served an unexpected purpose by holding the portals to Xen open long enough to allow for a large amount Xen to be teleported onto earth. And the combine really just came along at the end and just saw an oppertunity for a new world to take.

 

[PortalStormzzzz]

Actually, raiding the bar states that the Portal Storms were unrelated to the Nihl dude. Their is also no "planet" Xen, just chunks of flying crap with cities on them, like the end of the never ending story . Anywho, The Nihl got killed off, portals were cut off, then the Combine reopened them, used our satellites, and invaded after we were weakened from Xen infestations.

 

[Saruke]

"Gordon reaches the handful of surviving personnel, who are holed up in a small stronghold, and discovers that the satellite he launched failed to reverse the effects of the resonance cascade because an immensely powerful being on the other side of the rift is keeping it open. Gordon must kill this being to prevent the Xen aliens from taking over completely."

I suspect there is a planet Xen because it looks an awful lot like what scientists have theorized life would look like inside a gas giant. i. e. big chunks of land in constant freefall.

The portal storms were never cut off so says Marc Laidlaw "Those things came through during the portal storms, which continue erratically to this very day."

 

[PortalStormzzzz]

Both of which speak nothing of the transition from Xen to Combine. When the Combine took over after the nihl. They restarted the portals with their tech. Obviously, if Xen teleporters were still working, they wouldn't be so dumb with theirs and need the humans' teleporter tech. Thus, they opend the portals with out satellites and allowed Xen life to infest before they came so they could conquer easier.

Laidlaw said it's a bottleneck world stretched between universes, meaning it could probably be a stretches gas giant. In any case, it's a bunch of rocks floating around.

 

[Saruke]

...I've addressed everything you've said in my above posts so unless you have a new point just look up.

 

[Druckles]

Also, remember that the combine did invade Xen but found it too costly to hold in full force so they left leaving Ninalith in charge of protecting the Xen relay which he was forced to do.

Source.

 

[Saruke]

Well that was more conjecture because Xen is a bottleneck world for teleportation so the combine would need the Xen relay to be protected from the native inhabitants of Xen who like to destroy stuff.

 

[PortalStormzzzz]

The point we were arguing over, I think, was when they invaded or who the nihl stood for, or who opened the portal storms. But I have no Idea.

Point is, Combine reopened Portals after Freeman closed them by killing nihl. All Xen teleports were powered by Nihl. When he died, portals died. But Earth was already found, Portal storms made, and invasion begun.

 

[Saruke]

*sigh* Ok, Ninhilath wasn't powering the portal storms he was keeping them connected to Xen so when Gordon killed him it just stopped anymore Xen from coming in but the portal storms never stopped and have never stopped.

 

[Absinthe]

Well that was more conjecture because Xen is a bottleneck world for teleportation so the combine would need the Xen relay to be protected from the native inhabitants of Xen who like to destroy stuff.

Thing is, Laidlaw's come out and stated that the Combine never were on Xen.

Also, the Combine did not cause the portal storms themselves. Those were triggered by the death of Nihilanth. The Combine, taking notice of Earth through the openings, began the seven hour war.

 

[Saruke]

yeah I've been trying to say that but it probably wasn't clear enough.

 

[Druckles]

Well that was more conjecture because Xen is a bottleneck world for teleportation so the combine would need the Xen relay to be protected from the native inhabitants of Xen who like to destroy stuff.

Combine portal technology does not require Xen.

 

[Sgt.Tibbs]

just chunks of flying crap with cities on them, like the end of the never ending story .

Do not dis the neverending story... ok do it any way, that movie sucked...

 

[PortalStormzzzz]

Thing is, Laidlaw's come out and stated that the Combine never were on Xen.

Also, the Combine did not cause the portal storms themselves. Those were triggered by the death of Nihilanth. The Combine, taking notice of Earth through the openings, began the seven hour war.

yeah I've been trying to say that but it probably wasn't clear enough.

Yes I didn't get it either. I was wrong, I forgot that the Portals didn't stop when the nhil died, they went Bat Shit Crazy, Sorry. I haven't read up on it in forever.