Written by Reporter and CWU Polar.

It was yesterday (8/27/2023): a simple, ordinary day in the clinic. Teeth Sex and I had only one patient come in, so we were about to close down shop for the day. Then I heard it. The most gut-wrenching sounds a human would ever hear in their lifetime.

Gunfire erupted just across the hill from my clinic, so I did what any good reporter would do: I donned my cap, grabbed my camera, and bolted towards the chaos. There, I was met with a horrifying scene. Combine bodies strewn about the dirt, some without skulls, some without limbs. The corpses surrounded some sort of ancient laboratory, which the rebels were steadfast at defending. Nevertheless, I continued with my endeavors. Documenting everything I could on my camera. That was until I saw a glint on top of a hill. I ducked behind cover, and BANG! My camera fell apart and the footage was lost. Turns out cameras aren’t that durable once shot.

"An Orb"

I was unable to get close to the lab thanks to the firefight, but Teeth was. The following is his recounting of events:

“I managed to sneak inside through only the entrance, somehow not catching any of the bullets flying in and out of it. The Rebels didn’t seem to mind me; they were far too distracted. The lab was old for sure, and long since forgotten. There was rust on just about every piece of metal, mold plastering the concrete, and cobwebs dressing everything else. There, nestled in the back of the building, hidden from the world, was this Orb. It glowed like a sun. I didn't know what it was, but it was clearly very important and very powerful, and both sides knew it. It was secured behind by heavy duty glass doors. Rebels were hard at work cracking the lab’s systems to open them while warding off Combine. In a cruel turn of fate, the moment the Rebels got the Orb, Combine came rushing in like a tidal wave and slaughtered all of them. With the UU in control of the site, I was ordered to grab the Orb with my Grav gun and carry it back to Combine base.”

Before I knew it, the Combine had successfully extracted some sort of Orb from the facility. I saw units retreat back to base protecting Teeth as he carried this glowing-white Orb. That must’ve been what they were looking for.

Upon arrival at the front gate, I was locked out, not surprisingly. The Combine have previously shown negativity towards media within sensitive areas and FOB’s.

What possibly could this Orb be? And why did the Combine want to take it so badly from the Rebels? With the secrecy of the Combine and Rebels, we’ll likely never know.