Overwatch
The Combine Overwatch is a military force of the Combine tasked with overseeing and ensuring that planets belonging to the Empire remain a part of it and nothing interferes with it's interest there. Essentially it is a policing force which while being powerful is nowhere near the regular Combine armed forces in terms of power and numbers.
The Overwatch was established at the conclusion of the Seven Hour War. after the Combine forces had decimated the military powers on Earth and Dr. Wallace Breen had negotiated a surrender, the Combine took full power over the planet. Dr.Breen was placed ruler of the Earth and Administrator of the Overwatch forces, while prying the citizens of Earth with his transmitting casts that the Combine, or 'Our Benefactors' as he called them, had taken control for the good of humanity. Whilst Breen lived safe at the summit of the Citadel, the Overwatch forces continued to subjugate mankind through experimentation and the draining of the Earth's resources.
The Overwatch force present on Earth was composed of both transhumans (Combine soldiers and Combine Elites) and synths and tasked with overseeing the process of Earth's integration into the Universal Union. The planet was divided into several numbered sectors with each central city housing an Overwatch Nexus where the operations of the Overwatch were coordinated and central magazines were present.
The transhuman arm of the Overwatch used Combine technology and materials to adapt civilian buildings and locations for military purposes. Numerous prefabricated elements of the technology (such as locks, weapon racks or forcefield barriers) made this an easy and rapid tasks.
In Half-Life 2, the Overwatch came under a great threat from Dr. Gordon Freeman, dubbed by the civilians as the One Free Man. After Freeman's temporary teleportation in the Citadel in City 17, the Overwatch forces were placed on high alert to capture or kill Dr. Freeman. Whilst they routed several Resistance bases, including Black Mesa East, they were unable to apprehend Dr. Freeman and faced the destruction of Nova Prospekt when he entered to rescue Resistance leader Eli Vance.
The destruction of Nova Prospekt became the signal for a full uprising of the citizens in City 17 which overthrew the Civil Protection Unit almost immediately. The protection of the Citadel and the Combine occupation was handed over to the Combine military forces, including Combine gunships and Striders. However despite their best efforts to counter-attack the uprising, the re-appearance of Dr. Freeman a week after the uprising began led to the destruction of the Overwatch Nexus, allowing Freeman to enter the Citadel and destroy the Dark Fusion Reactor at the summit.
The subsequent destruction of the Citadel in Episode One led to the decimation of the Overwatch forces who struggled to keep control of the mass exodus from City 17. The overall fate of the Combine forces has yet to be revealed in Episode Two.
See also
External Links
[1] Overwatch radio chatter
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Overwatch
