During the HL2 Story, the Rebel Forces had many contacts from Inside the Citadel. Using all the suits they had peeled off from the dead corpses, the Rebels would disguise certain brave members and send them to gather some intel from inside the Citadel. It was a dangerous yet, successful plan. The Rebels managed to get plenty of information that taught them about some of the Combines weaknesses and their future plans to attempt to control every single human being around the world.

Out of this, formed the Rebel Federation, a group of Rebels lead by Barney who are here to try and take control of the Combine once and for all. The group was formed after the destruction of City 17 by the Combine Citadel. Their main Headquarters is located deep in the Jade Forest and is still yet to be spotted by the Combine Forces, but it is only a matter of time before the Combine uncover the location, and attack it with full force.

The group is growing every week, With survivors of the C17 explosion joining up to avenge themselves, it is only a matter of time before the Rebel Federation over-powers the Combine Forces.

With the destruction of the Citadel, and Nova Prospekt, the Combine now have limited forces for battle. In order to start strengthening their forces, the combine have located a section in the Jade Forest called the Crystal River, a dried out river which is infested with Ant Lions, and Jade Crystals. The Jade Crystals are what the Combine are after. The Crystals contain enormous amounts of radiation which is really dangerous to humans, but basically harmless to the Combine which is why it is an easy task for the Combine to remove them from the ground.

The Jade Crystals contain massive amounts of heat, so in order to keep them cool enough to manage, the Combine would pour thousands of liters of water over them until they cooled down enough to handle. The Combine managed to get the Crystals out of the ground, but they backed off before they could take the Crystals away due to threats of Rebel Attacks. The Crystals are now on the dry riverbed, patrolled by Combine Squads who will do anything to protect them.

As Gordon Freeman, you will have to fight your way through the Jade Forest and make your way to the Rebel Federation hideout. Now that you have uncovered the position of the Crystals, you must use your Hazard suit to get close to them, and destroy them before the Combine get a chance to move them again.

It’s going to be a very dangerous path through the forest, there are Combine Squads everywhere, and once false move could be your last.

Good Luck!