Shorepoint Rescue

On Rookery Earth, some 4 years prior to the arrival of the Dragons..

Jacob - Jacob had been attending a local university, an undeclared major but with a strong interest in reporting, writing, composition, and photography. He was putting himself through college with a side job doing camera work for the campus television station - usually outdoors and on the go, rather than sitting around inside their small studio. He enjoyed covering local events and crime, along with his partner Janine, with whom he had his son Jeffrey. Unfortunately they were still quite young and had been in one of the main locations attacked by the Combine on their arrival, and were lost almost instantly. While he's essentially functional, there are days when that event haunts him. He helped other refugees and citizens of this new awful world get settled, quietly plotting until he heard tell of a plan to basically steal a train. He was on that train, he helped plant the explosives and set off events that led to a group of shaken but free people finding the Shorepoint Industrial facility where they holed up for a good long while. He was responsible there for setting up the security measures, and with Leon would communicate with other nearby outlets of rebellion.
When the Combine absolutely overran the place, it seemed doomed, but then ... dragons overran them. As he was injured, he and several others were taken to a more secure spot for aid, before being moved to the Rookery. Now resides at Lane Mansion doing security and monitoring, and would like to get back into reporting some day. Since the rescue of Cody and Herc Cubbage, however, he is growing bolder with the idea that once they rid this world of the Combine, he'll have a family again. He has not met Odessa, their father, personally, but from what he's heard the guy's far too full of himself to be of any use. He does realize that they're not even from this universe, but he could swear that he's seen these kids on his travels before they 'arrived'. (He would be correct ... and some day he might even try rescuing them...)

Daniel - Daniel's stint in the military was quite short, as he was fresh out of high school and barely past boot camp when the Resonance Cascade hit, and shortly after that the Combine's arrival interrupted the tour he was doing in Europe. He remained in European Cities, the military having collapsed. He had not participated in the 7 hour war, his unit had broken up shortly before then, and he had been busy aiding refugees at the time. Daniel has basically never stopped doing that for a living, and feels it's quite rewarding. So when the Rookery recruited him and several others from their now-ruined Shorepoint base, he eagerly took it up again. He coordinates the defense of Lane Mansion and the assignments of any skilled refugees that arrive from other locations, though he would rather be in the field he knows his expertise is suitable to this work.

Roman and Julie - Notably they are part of the Shorepoint rescue group, having helped orchestrate a number of the refugees movements over the years, they are still considered part of 'the team' and will rise to aid them if possible.

Al - As suave as he is, Al hasn't really got much to say about his own life either before or after the Combine. But he likes to be relied upon, and likes to be 'in charge'. However, he also knows painfully well that he is not the top of the heap here in Rapture - that honor belongs to Rhea Mercer and her extraordinary daughter Raven. But for the people-on-the-streets, Al is surely the guy that will be known on the radio, on the loudspeaker, and perhaps even on the silver screen some day, if Joe and Mary have anything to say about it. He was barely a teenager when the Combine struck, and his existing childhood skills apparently served him well enough to get him to this point, hiding, radios, observing and responding when needed.

Arlene - *Note that canon HL2 Arlene died to a headcrab attack shortly after delivering the airboat to Gordon Freeman. This is not that Arlene, as there is no Gordon Freeman on the Rookery until he's brought from the Repurposed world.
When she was still a pre-teen, the Combine arrived to Earth, and that sort of put a dent in her life. Arlene does not like to talk about her teenage years, rather skipping them to talk only about her pre-war life learning about cars and races from her folks, and then later on when she was relocated from City to City as a later teen. She spent time in several Cities in North America before being shipped off to the European ones, and was among the last citizens of City 14 before it was... shut down. In City 17 however, she met up with the rebels there once learning of their existence, and continued her diligent help until the Rookery was established. She and several others were recruited by the Rookery, and look where it's got them now? Up in the frozen north, but with dragons! And portal technology! Arlene is super enthused about both of those things, she feels it's a turning point in the gruesome history of her world. She is among the "Shorepoint rescues", a group of rebels holed up in an industrial complex on the coast.

Boxcar Joe - Part of the Shorepoint rescue group, along with 'Boxy' the Vortigaunt set in the Canals guiding refugees to the camp; Currently in Rapture, loving the old clothing and gear he's been finding... Since he effectively grew up being shuffled from City to City, and under the Combine rule on the Rookery world, Joe knows how to appraise a situation, look for an out, and scramble around in the ruins like nobody's business. He's exceptionally good at finding hiding places, though they tend to be short-term solutions. He's rarely stayed in one place more than a few weeks at a time, so being down in Rapture has been a new experience he really enjoys - and he has put his exploration skills to the test here. When he spots a place that is either good for renovation, or needing to be shored up, he will contact the others and get the right folks on it. Between him and Boxy the Vort, they are effectively the 'greeting party' for the incoming people to the place - few though that might be - and route folks to where they're most likely to be put to work. He did have a girlfriend who came from New York with him and his family, but over time, they were all separated, and he knows better than to think that any of them are still alive. He thinks that his extended family may have wound up near Seattle but he heard ... bad things... about that City. He is among the few Humans who knew (Rookery) Keenan Lane, though he's never stated - even to Boxy - what their 'deal' was that he made. 'In exchange for your... services...' could be anything.

Boxy the Vort - Part of the Shorepoint rescue group, along with 'Boxcar Joe' the human, helped shuttle people toward their safe destination Though he's loyal to all Vortigaunts, he's also made a deal with the Rookery's Keenan, more than likely to be picked up on at some point in the nebulous future. However with the advent of the Rookery itself, and this other Lane coming along, even he doesn't know whether their world's version will come calling. Apparently their job in this realm was to alert Lane to the presence of his other 'chosen one' if he passed by, but what they got in return for doing so, no one knows. He and Joe have been together as a team for quite a long time, having met in City 14, been shuffled around to C17, and finally going to the outlands and meeting the Shorepoint group to help there. They trade one-liners and recite old television dialog, though few others have ever heard them doing it until they get to Rapture.

Chester - Chester escaped from City 14 before it fell to ruin, and managed to make it through Ravenholm. It had been inhabited and vacated before they got there (by Grigori) and he memorized a number of the interesting traps and barriers, applying that later near the Borealis. He spent only as long as it took to traverse the whole township and mine area, before he got the hell out of that place, and joined up with the nearby rebels. There, he made sure that any newcomers were safely 'patted down', scanned for any untoward goods, and moved to where they would do the most good. Eventually they had to abandon that lair, and headed out to Shorepoint.

Leon - Is the de-facto leader of the Shorepoint refugees, and as such has also retained a lot of his charismatic role while in the Borealis. Well-respected, and for good reason. As a child he always was curious about the radio, not just the music coming out of it. He had a 'ham radio' setup thanks to his grandfather, and was intrigued by the way radio waves worked. Enough so that by the time he was 9 he had several hand-made units that he used to communicate with other radio fans. He also had assembled a satelite detector, antennas that vibrated with the overhead passing of each differently tuned unit. Along with this interest, his clear ability to assign and command his young friends as they played, was good enough to get him elected class president and valedictorian at his school. He graduated early, and headed into college, moving from his home country into the USA, where he attended MIT for communications and applied electronics. Unfortunately, he was still not quite graduated when the Resonance Cascade threw everything sideways. But his skills allowed him to help route people into the Cities as they were formed - something which he still isn't sure whether to be proud of, or ashamed - because so many of those people perished when the Combine arrived, due to being in them. But he's been making up for it ever since, as he and the other survivors were shuffled from place to place, relocated to keep them disoriented and confused. His multi-lingualism helped keep plenty of his companions safe and comforted, and eventually along with a few others, a train they were on derailed and they discovered the abandoned Shorepoint Industrial facilities. They would have perished there eventually, but for the Rookery's intervention.
When the dragons were ready to pick through these survivors, and head around the world again, Leon's has meant the world to him - literally the world, because this dragon can fly so far and wide...

Noriko - Because she was still young when the Combine came, her experiences in education were limited to middle school and a little tinkering on her own. That tinkering became her passion as well as her lifeline, assisting rebels where she could after being moved from City to City. She is able to tear apart and put back together almost any larger device or heavy duty vehicle, and shows more than a little interest in how Combine vehicles (not their 'animal' ones) work. Given a little time at the Borealis, she will certainly learn more about portals and shipyard devices than she ever dreamed! She tinkers and creates little toys, origami pieces, and office-supply ballistas. She doesn't much care for weilding weapons herself, but she can use gun emplacements and harpoons from shipside if needed. One of the Shorepoint rescues, Noriko shares quite a bit of similar history with most of the Americans that wound up in the City 17 area. Born in LA in the early 00s, to a Japanese mother and a Caucasian scientist father, it's possible that his work could have even been important to Black Mesa, she faintly remembers him talking about the place when she was a kid. Her older sister went into the medical field, while her younger one was still in elementary school when the shit hit the fan and the Cities were established. When the Portal Storms subsided and the Combine arrived, Noriko kept her head down and her spirits up, biding her time when her family was torn apart - she knew their fate, it was painfully obvious, but still she helped others with their own losses before crying over her own. Moved from America into Europe, she'd hoped to spend some time in Asia but that hasn't happened. Perhaps some day she will fly there, when it's safer, and visit her mother's ancestral home, or whatever is left of it. She wound up in the Shorepoint facility after escaping City 17 with half a dozen others, when a transport train crashed and left them stranded in the Outlands. When the Combine fixed that rail, they began actively sniping those trains and causing more prisoners to be let out.

Vorts Dum and Dee, Vortigaunt Commentary - this pair of Vorts assisted in the training of and shuffling around of the refugees trying to make their way to the Shorepoint facility, were nearer the Nova Prospekt prison, thus quite a few people were subject to their ... commentary. Dee has had a much longer history, and was born on the Vort homeworld, before the Combine were alerted to its existence. (This applies only to the Rookery's version, as the Repurposed Vort homeworld was abandoned considerably earlier in the story timeline.) In his youth he explored, and was taken by Nihilanth along with some of the locals to Xen. This happened numerous times and abductions were common, until they settled in and were invaded, themselves. He was trained to fight, and rarely did much else for centuries. He didn't dare use his learned abilities on the Controllers, choosing to bide his time and simply be an obedient soldier, knowing that eventually all this would end. He didn't realize that it would end in an invasion of Earth, but that's where he wound up - before the invasion began. Truth be told, Dee is now glad that he wasn't part of the original invasion force that Nihilanth sent to Earth, he'd been subdued and captured by Humans as they explored Xen. Thus he was in a stasis capsule, having been briefly contained and not quite experimented upon when the Resonance Cascade occurred and broke him free. Because he'd been away from the Nihilanth's influence (the Humans actually removed the electronic shackles that kept him a slave, not knowing what they really did) he was among the first to learn to communicate with Humans. While he didn't fight against his kin, he did help lead some number of scientists to safety in the facility, before leaving it (as it was bombed) and moving off to the Cities a few years later. About that time, Dum and several other Vorts and humans hooked up, and began the search for a good safe location to hole up in Europe. Together, they and a number of others secured the outpost near Nova Prospekt.
Dum's life has been shorter but punctuated by danger. He's relished every moment of this, first fighting the soldiers as he was sent from Xen to Earth, but then after being freed of the Nihilanth's mind control learning that like all intelligent creatures, Humans have their factions and duties. He wants to make sure that the world is safe from Combine rule, having been captured and nearly experimented upon at that same prison location they patrol.
At this point, however, both are quite relieved to be outside of the fighting, and in a position to help in ways they didn't think possible. With dragons, they can be a formidable team to invade, or defend. They both keep the wildlife at bay, and the Humans supplied or shuffled to their correct safe houses.

Vort Shepherd - Shep is literally the shepherd of the Shorepoint refugees, so most Humans and other Vorts that went through that coastal area know him directly. For many centuries, he was nameless and enjoyed hunting on Xen - he was born there, and expected to die there, but his skills in hunting and stalking distinguished him. Unfortunately, this also brought him to the attention of Nihilanth there, and he was subject to being commanded to fetch things, hunt and attack for the Nihilianth's whim, rather than his own people's. He has continued this trend of hunting, finding prey, but also helping to locate stray Humans and Vorts alike, in order to escort them to safety in the ruins of Shorepoint and its nearby environs. When that facility fell, he knew he could pick up this duty at the Rookery, with ease. He has good communication skills in both English and Vortigese, and doesn't hesitate to use 'big words' when describing things. He rarely uses his power to heal or charge batteries, preferring to reserve his Vortal energy to attack prey or keep an Antlion at bay. The range on his attack is around 10 meters, though he can push it to 20 for a pinpoint attack when needed. His Vortal sight extends nearly 10 miles in a broad sense, and he can focus on individual people, creatures, or events within half a mile or so. As with many of the Rookery-universe Vorts, his stint on Xen was angry and sullen, and he was one of the later Vorts teleported to Earth when Nihilanth invaded the world. He managed to maintain some amount of autonomy until the invasion was over with the death of Nihilanth, and weirdly was subsequently teleported by anothr Portal Storm to the European continent. He remained there for years, hiding and hunting as was his typical activity, until others began congregating nearby. He basically put himself in charge of the routing from dangerous sandbars and coast, to the facilities near Nova Prospekt. When that area became too dangerous, he and others moved to Shorepoint, and when that fell, he was eager to see this new Rookery place. It felt quite weird to him returning to Black Mesa, and particularly with Kallah-Vahh in charge? But he too sensed that this man was not the same as the one they'd entered their own contract with, and has never had much against him. In fact, when offered, he took up the mantle of protector and scout for Lane Mansion's grounds, interested to learn more about the history and art of this world, and he spends a bit of time in the library when he isn't needed outside.

Winston - Though he's lived in the Outlands almost the entire time the Combine has been on Rookery Earth, Winston hadn't encountered the Resistance until shortly before the Shorepoint facility was raided. He had made his way around Europe - having been there with his parents as a child, and having met his future wife on a trip to Paris. They were on their honeymoon in Brussels when the Combine came, and had their only child ripped away from them before they were moved to a City. Broken and devistated by the attacks that left his small family in ruins, Winston basically vanished off the radar from City 14 one day, and several years later showed up at Shorepoint a bit battered and a touch worse for wear. But he bounces back pretty well - they helped him learn how to operate machinery and weaponry, though fat lot of good it did him when their bullets ripped through the thin walls of the place... The dragons arrived very shortly after that attack, and he spent a month or so at the Rookery before deciding to go up north to the Borealis, where he believes the night sky will calm his nerves, and where his wife would have loved to see the aurora. Currently resides in the Borealis

Matt - part of the Shorepoint rescue group, definitely interested in settling down and enjoying his life, hopefully someone down here in Rapture will think a guy like him is worth being with? had spent time in City 97 before it fell, was transported over to one of the Chinese Cities after the Combine arrived. He was between locations long enough that he knew there were pockets of resistance, but they were often only seen from the windows of a train. Until they started sealing up the train cars... Had been a lookout for the Shorepoint refugees for a while, obviously that ended with the onslaught by the Combine, but now he's got a much better gig down under the ocean.

Sanders - As with many of those who had been in their young or pre-teen years when the Resonance Cascade happened on the Rookery world, Ira didn't have much practical experience when everything went sideways. While he's smart, he's not that smart, and knew he couldn't really compete with some of the higher-end college expectations. But he was always interested in science and technology, and there had been a big exposition (a lot like the original) in Paris, France that he and his family were exploring when the Combine arrived. Though separated from his family at that point, he met Laszlo - the Laszlo - and they have been friends and lovers ever since. His role as Laszlo's assistant and protector is still largely uncontested, particularly by Laszlo himself, and Ira likes giving his brainy friend the time and comfort to think in peace.

Laszlo - He would have been awarded some of the highest marks in numerous classes - already an undergraduate in three subjects - when the Resnonance Cascade occurred and he was 11 years old. While that did put a dent in his progress he pushed for even more: something told him he was going to need this education, even in a 'ruined' world. As the Cities went up, and his family was forced to relocate to one of them - city 7, near what used to be Paris - he became frustrated since most of the access to information was now severely curtailed. Within a few years, of course, the Combine's occupation of Earth began, and his family fled to the Outlands almost immediately. It was there as a teenager that he met Sanders, and they struck up a solid friendship. As teenagers they watched the world crumble to pieces, and made their way northward to City 14 - Vienna - where he'd wanted to do more research. Sifting through the ruins of the university there was heartbreaking but edifying, and as time went on they had to evade more and more Combine troops, as well as the wildlife. They did make it to the Shorepoint facility shortly before its demise, unlike on Repurposed or Canon Earth (where they both perished crossing the antlion-infested beaches on their way to the Vort camp nearby). Notably, the Combine want him alive. Of all the Shorepoint rescues, he is certainly the most valuable, and had been hunted by Advisors ever since the invasion started. Whether they knew of him because they 'read up' on him, or because the Rookery world's Breen told them about him, no one knows. Maybe if he cracks their Conversion code he'll learn this.
Also of note: If Laszlo can crack the Combine's conversion process, Caroline develops ways to reverse the direction of the code flow back into a human or other brain, Rhea and Melissa get the Plasmid-Icarus system working, and the others controlling the Vortal energies nearby, it's going to be possible to re-download people's minds from the Overworld, where they've most certainly been stored as the Conversion is done. The Advisors aren't known to waste information, anyone that's been converted - from soldiers to scientists - has something they want or need to know. Gaining access to that database might be problematic, but there are many steps left in this process left to work on first. If nothing else, having 'blank' bodies that no longer have Combine overrides in their brain to work with might even allow Paxton, Tina, their kids or others with the ability to command them Vortally. These are the pipe dreams of the generation's finest mind.

Mary - She was young when the Resonance Cascade occurred, and a pre-teen when the Combine arrived, so she has largely grown up among ruins, rebellion, and danger. Her family made it into City 14 but both her parents were taken to a work camp and never returned. Her sister Luzi, several years younger, wasn't able to keep up with the group that Mary left with, and she hasn't been seen since - Mary hopes that she's still alive and might some day go looking for her. When Mary met up with some of the others scattering around City 14 and 17, she knew that she needed to help them. Whether this was because she felt they were doing the right thing, or more likely that she had an overwhelming sense that they needed organization, only she knows. Like some she opted to largely remain in the fringes around Shorepoint, helping to guide others on their dangerous journey there. When the Combine started really cracking down on people, she left her station shortly before it was invaded (well, she was told to leave) and met up with Matt and a few others.

Vort - Sweepy - Sweepy was doubly enslaved: first by Nihilanth with the shackles to control his Vortal presence, and then with implanted Combine technology that cut him off completely from the Vortessence - there are scars from it. Trained only briefly as a throwaway soldier in Nihilanth's many armies, and hardly given any other outlet for knowledge or ability. He had succombed to a kind of blood lust that was an extension of his floating keeper's, and when that keeper was shot down, this Vort lost all sense of self. He stopped attacking, and thankfully wasn't outright killed when he was found. Like many people in the aftermath of the Portal Storms on this world, he was shuffled with humans and other Vorts into the Cities, where he was assigned a menial task, cleaning floors and drudgery. He did not complain, he was already in shock and couldn't feel his kinfolk even when they were standing right next to him. He was among a group captured near City 17 and experimented upon by the Combine - he does not consider himself a lucky survivor, he almost envies those who perished to the cruel treatment in the Citadel. They implanted circuitry and 'Combine Conversion' would have begun in earnest, though all other attempts at this had failed he seemed to be able to take the commands that the chips sent out. But he was in no condition to be of much use as a soldier, so once more he was set to perform menial tasks such as cleaning and moving trash. At some point, a group of rebels decided to liberate him - it's entirely possible that it was his implanted technology that allowed the Combine to home in on the Shorepoint facility. But in the attack, the newcomers, dragons and Vortally strong Humans seemed to knock out the connection between his command chip and the Combine. Since there were already others - dragons and humans alike - who had been half-way to Combine and rescued, the Pantheon decided to help disable that technology inside his skull, and set him on a path toward health again down in Rapture. While he does sit for Rhea and Laszlo's odd experiments, and they're not harming him, he has yet to see a big difference in his own health or Vortal welfare. At some point, he hopes to regain those senses, but... he doesn't really think he ever will. So he continues to sweep.
Outside the glass walls in the depths of Rapture's seabed home, he has found some amount of comfort in the form of a ghostly dragoness he calls Illumination. She seems to be the only creature that can easily commune with his broken mind, and tends to lurk just outside any habitat that he's working in. For this reason, some of the shapers in the place have put together a little 'outside home' for him, a glass enclosure that's quite safe, where he can rest and she can be near him.

Vort - Cookie - Born on the Rookery's dimension Xen, he seemed too small to be of much use as a soldier, so as a youth he was set up with the gatherers. He did very well with this, and when one of their cooks fell to an animal attack, he stepped right up into those hoofsteps. He was always glad that it wasn't him on the fighting lines - the tales that his elders would spin about Nihilanth's 'training exercises' which pitted groups of Vorts against one another turn his stomach and make him ashamed. When the fighting went to Earth, he wasn't among those sent, obviously, but afterwards in the various portal storms reverberating between Earth and Xen, he took a chance and jumped into one of those green colored balls of light. It dropped him in eastern Europe, where he resided among the groups of human refugees - again he learned how to find prey and distinguish local foods from local trash. Helping set up one of the many stations toward Shorepoint, he was saddened to see the place get destroyed, but then on being rescued by these humans and their new dragon friends, he has hope renewed. Now that he's also got his own dragon, his instincts for herding and collecting have sharpened once more - as an ancestral skill, commanding a 'hive-like' animal like a Xenomorph is actually remarkably easy for him, and Candycorn enjoys his company, only drooling acid on things that need to be broken down...

Vort - Lone Vort

Vorts - healers 1 and 2