City Eight

Tokyo - what is now known as City Eight is a place which is unique compared to the other cities. The Seven Hour War had left this City untouched, Japan had barely any defence nor any form of military to effectively fight back against the Combine or the 'Universal Union' as we now know them as. It was one of the only places to be left alone by the war and fell to the Combine rule very quickly, taking little to no structural damage. The population, however, did make an attempt to go into hiding, all scattering across Japan, hoping the Combine will never find them. Those who fled are still alive, some captured and off sent to City Eight and others have been executed.

City Eight is now a rather peaceful place, one which has quickly become a land full of combine technology. Those who live here refer to this City as “New Haven” - a City of peace and prosperity under the Union rule. Citizens have flocked to this place as soon as the war ended, helped the Union quickly repair any damage done to the buildings, installed new technologies, founded the political blocs that live within it today and joined the new Civil Protection while others lived normal lives or joined Conscripted functionaries to gain future benefits later in life.

The economy slowly grows every day, same with the population. The administration does all they can to keep the economy growing, to keep it thriving and to ensure all businesses and production runs very smoothly. Thousands of items and equipment are made each day from the experienced Japanese workforce that runs it. There are quite a lot of outsiders too who also contribute to the making of advanced items like ammunition, furniture, gathering of resources to make said items and so on. Everyone plays their part, and, in return, the City continues to grow and prosper.

There are only so few issues within the City. Pollution being one of them. The pollution and atmosphere is expected to worsen as time passes, which may lead to people needing gas masks to survive. Then there are also those who do not share the same thoughts and opinions as those living within the City. They see the Combine as an evil powerful figure, one which must be sent back to where they once came and driven off the face of the Earth, they are known as the Resistance. Pockets of rebellious citizens who do not approve of the alien presence and those supporting them. Their anger at losing their families, children and friends to this great threat, thinking that the rest of the world is either in the same isolation or has been mostly killed off. They fight for freedom, fight for peace, fight for that they once lost and wish for it all back; the ones who wish to return their old lives before the war.

Some within these "Resistance" groups hide in the sewers, some on the Outlands surrounding the city, others live within the City pretending to be regular people. They use stealth to attack any combine forces they can find; some even turn to the mugging of normal citizens just to keep on surviving. Others prefer to scavenge the Outlands and the underground for any resources and supplies they can find, constantly building up their forces and building new outposts and bases. But, no matter where they are, who they are or what they believe, they know they can't take the Union on in a full attack, still remembering the horrors of losing within Seven Hours, possibly even less for them when no military or defence was around to protect them. Morale is low, their forces are low, having little supplies, weapons and resources available to them.

Those in the Outlands and Sewers are not alone however, a few Vortigaunts also roam these places, seeking their own shelter, some join the humans in their fight against the Combine, but the Combine is not the only threat they face. Zombies infest the Outlands and the underground, constantly showing up day by day, though small in number. The antlions have been building colonies within the Outlands making it a dangerous place to be. They roam freely, killing people for food, harvesting resources of their own and building up huge swarms to perform attacks against the zombies and resistance.

Nowhere is exactly safe as a threat lurks around every corner. Infestation issues is now crowded with all kinds of lifeforms just waiting to tear up their prey. Meanwhile, the City itself remains safe. Automatic defenses block zombies from getting close to the walls on the surface, protecting the City entrance. Conscripts stand on watch and send out patrols every day around the perimeter, Civil Protection keeps the law in check within. Thumpers stop antlions from flying over and surveillance keeps watch on all entrances and exits stopping the resistance from taking any risks or big moves.