Not Another Borealis Thread!

[Jintor]

But it is! It's another Borealis thread!

But this time it's made by ME! Therefore it's extremely important and you should all read it.

The Borealis. Aperture Science's "Ghost Ship". In the words of Dr. Isaac Kleiner:

Oh yes, quite real, despite its almost legendary stature. Our peers at Aperture Science were at work on a project of some promise, but in their rush to beat Black Mesa for funding, they must have compromised ordinary standards of risk. We heard their research vessel had simply disappeared. Vanished-with all hands... even part of the dry dock! Few believed the Borealis would ever be seen again.

I think I'm the first to spot the reference, but maybe not. Either way, the whole situation with the Borealis is a reference to the infamous Philadelphia Experiment, which some of you may know from playing Red Alert or Red Alert 2. (Before you ask, it's an urban legend)

A brief summary: The United States Navy was mucking around with Invisibility during 1943 because of the obvious military applications, making use of the Unified Field Theory. They were testing with the USS Elridge in Philadelphia. One test on July the 22nd actually succeeded; the ship disappeared for a few minutes. Another test, on October the 28th, supposedly accidentally teleported the ship to another navel base 600km away, before after about 20 minutes it teleported back. All this teleportation also supposedly had a really bad effect on the crew. Red Alert also used it as further elaboration for the Chronosphere.

In any case, what is the Borealis? Why is it so important? Why does Eli fear another Resonance Cascade? My theory is as follows. Given that Aperture Science and its crazy unstable work ethics are involved, it's fair enough to say that they were experimenting with teleportation aboard. Now, some people have asked, if Aperture Science already had a working Portal Gun (Aperture Science Hand-held Portal Device), then why would they need to develop further portal technology?

I think the answer is: to compete with Black Mesa for grant money. The timeline would probably be that the accident with the Borealis happened probably a few months or more before the initial Resonance Cascade; the Aperture Science team was most likely rushing to be the first to achieve long-range teleportation. Somehow they didn't manage Xenian relay transmission but instead ended up on Earth again - localised teleportation. Isn't that what the Combine are after? But given Aperture Science's record, I'd say that it's probably highly unstable localised teleportation technology. It's not what Black Mesa has, though, so it might be based on a different sort of teleportation physics - most likely the Tier3 stuff that is related to the Portal Gun. No Xen crystals involved? I guess the G-man doesn't like Aperture Science very much.

I don't know what's going to be on the Borealis besides the teleport technology, but I can't wait to find out.

 

[Planeforger]

Random Borealis Fact #452:
The name Borealis is derived from the name of the Greek god Boreas, the god of the North Wind. The word is most commonly seen in the (presumably genitive) form 'Borealis' in the term Aurora Borealis, meaning 'Northern Lights', referring to the strange lights seen in the skies in the regions around the North Pole.

The ship's name is almost certainly a reference to the Russian warship Aurora, which fired its guns during the October Revolution (where Lenin and the Bolsheviks seized control of Russia in 1917), signaling the Bolshevik's victory (or something similar).

Of course, this reference made a whole lot more sense when the Borealis was originally associated with the area HL2 was set in (a presumably-former-Soviet-state, whose inhabitants decided to revolt against their alien dictators). Now that the Borealis is tied to Aperture, this fact is largely irrelevant (but still totally awesome if you were studying the Russian Revolution last year, like I was ).

*Edit* Oh, yeah, sorry for hijacking your thread. This seemed like the best place for it - carry on.

 

[Nitre]

At least its a good Borealis thread. Some nice points there.

 

[Laivasse]

My problem with this is that I can't see how the Combine would still be going so nuts over localised teleportation technology. They can already do it, now that they have the data and theory behind the Nova Prospekt teleport. Presumably the only thing preventing them from teleporting in reinforcements from other citadels atm is that it takes a lot of time and effort to build portals like the one at NP. Even if the C17 Overwatch forces managed to seize whatever was on the Borealis, if it was localised teleport tech they would still have to liaise with the forces from other citadels before it could be of any use (since those other citadels would still not be in possession of the technology).

It seems to me that what would be most important to the Combine at the moment would be some other means of interdimensional teleportation (ie. the kind they originally worked with), so that they can hook up with their extraterrestrial forces and bring in large scale reinforcements.

Or of course it might be that what is on the ship might have nothing to do with teleportation at all. Perhaps it's some kind of 'superweapon' type dealio - cliched I know, but maybe Valve could work it out. I just really hope they know where they're going with this story arc and haven't merely written themselves into some awkward dead end.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

The teleporter at NP was destroyed, the citadel blew up, Breen died and Mossman went back the rebels. How could the combine get their asses hold of Local tech now Laviasse.?
Also, nice Jintor. When does portal happen? (according to this theory)

 

[Laivasse]

The NP portal wasn't built in a day and I think it's safe to assume the citadels would have been in contact with eachother before the C17 one blew. It's like the biggest discovery they could make - some might theorise that it's the very reason they came to earth - so it doesn't make sense that the C17 forces would just keep the data about teleportation to themselves. Regardless of the teleporter blowing up there must have been plans for it somewhere, and they must have been shared or else they were being really retarded.

The Combine didn't know how to teleport teleport locally at first, but now they do. The whole Combine-trying-to-get-local-teleport-tech storyline should have now reached an end. Time for something else.

 

[Crash Happy]

I think I know what you mean Laivasse, although I think there's a big difference between the tech displayed in Portal and the NP portal. Even so if they got their hands on an ASHPD that would seem to be of no use at all. So rather than a super weapon I can only think of one sensible suggestion and that it that the tech enclosed within the frigid storage of the Borealis would be able to cut through any interference that the satelite may make and re-establish a connection to a Combine held world.

 

[Laivasse]

I think I know what you mean Laivasse, although I think there's a big difference between the tech displayed in Portal and the NP portal. Even so if they got their hands on an ASHPD that would seem to be of no use at all. So rather than a super weapon I can only think of one sensible suggestion and that it that the tech enclosed within the frigid storage of the Borealis would be able to cut through any interference that the satelite may make and re-establish a connection to a Combine held world.

That's what I mean. Even if they got their hands on something like the portal gun, I don't see how it would help them aside from providing a quirkier edge in battle.

It can't just be garden-variety local teleport tech either, since they surely must already have that well disseminated amongst themselves, after having built a fully functioning one based on that data.

If it's some variation of the local teleport tech - more efficient teleporting, whatever - I still don't really see how it helps them until they can share that new data with the other citadels and use it to ship reinforcements around.

The superweapon idea is pretty cliched... I mean there's potentially worse plot developments hanging in the balance (*cough*info-sucking*cough*) and you never know, but instinct tells me that the Borealis isn't just going to contain some kind of UB3RLASER GT-5000X.

So yeah, it's like you say - what seems to me most likely, and most workable story-wise, is that the Borealis contains something that would help reestablish a link to their offworld forces.

OT: What I think would be ace in Ep3 was if the Borealis did indeed hold the key to the Combine reopening the link to their larger force, and that they succeed in opening that link at some point during the game. What could happen then would be a real return to HL1 story dynamics:
you bring in lots of new enemies pouring in from another dimension, have a backdrop of the human forces getting massacred in a big epic 7-hour-war style battle, and the whole game idea switches back to you as a lone survivor, searching for your one chance to reverse everything before it's too late as you dodge in and out of the chaos. The game could end with a characteristically HL-style 'victory' - ie. it's double-edged, it's 'at what cost?', and it has the spectre of the Gman hanging over it hinting at another malevolent force as yet undealt-with.

That's the type of Ep3 I would make, if I had any kind of developing knowledge at all and didn't just spend my days sitting around drinking beer.

 

[LordShadow]

I think that the Combine think the Borealis is what they need to open a new super portal. Because the last one they had to blow up a Citadel, but there is also the problem of the new rocket you lurched.

Which also brings to mind, how is poor Lamar(I don't think thats right) going to get back?

 

[Adabiviak]

Lamar, like Gordon and Shephard before him, is one of the Gman's minions. Gordon and Shephard get tougher assignments, as they can take care of more sophisticated things. Lamar gets to gnaw on a cable or otherwise wreck things. "The right <headcrab> in the wrong place can make all the difference..." How did the Gman get Gordon back on track when he first hooked up with Eli? He sent Lamar to choke up the teleport. What's he doing in the rocket? We'll see in Episode 3.

Perhaps the portal technology on the Borealis wasn't just a local teleport. Perhaps the Aperture Science chaps took a ride to Xen? Some Combine outpost? Only to return to Earth in a state of disarray, but then in calling for help (Hey! You won't believe where we've been, but we're rather hungry."), Mossman wound up locating them in the arctic? I find it hard to believe that Mossman and her cronies were 'checking' the arctic for any reason during this time if they had no idea that it might be there. The Aperture Science installation would not have been able to answer the call either, having fallen prey prior to this by GLaDOS (and maybe even destroyed by Chell and her test) or at least because the world was in disarray after the Combine infestation and everyone left. (I'm not 100% sure about timelines, but for whatever reason, the call got to Mossman).

That would garner the Combine's immediate interest I think.

 

[Jintor]

Well, localised teleportation technology or not, there is a very high chance of teleportation technology of some kind being aboard the Borealis. Are we agreed on that?

I can incorperate Laivasse's ideas into my theory, no problem. The Combine have a tendency to freak out over every kind of teleport tech, but in this case, yes, another way to reach off-world reinforcements would be the most logical goal for the Combine. Or they could be desperately searching for any kind of teleport technology to use in order to contact off-world.

We have to consider who or what is behind the Combine at the moment in their goals... it definantly appears to be the Advisors, but they have no real knowlege of Earth and the way humans think... do they?

And a final thought; perhaps Aperture Science also achieved a slow teleport...

 

[Crash Happy]

It's a mistake to assume it's the artic for one thing.
It could be a superweapon of some kind, I wouldn't put it past the Combine to fire off a doomsday device if they lost grip on a world. In a way it doesn't even matter what is on the ship, there's tech from some company that was developing teleportation. The idea that maybe it could help is just dandy but you don't know for sure until you get there. The Combine have lost ground, had their supply lines cut, fell into disarray. I'm pretty sure they'd leap on anything they thought held promise.
The slow teleport seemed to be an accident, it wasn't developed by anybody. Unless you're trying to suggest there are vast numbers of reinforcements mid-transit I can't see what good it would do anyone at this stage. If you think that might be the case, why wouldn't they just send the replacement forces straight away?

 

[Jintor]

Yes, perhaps they also accidentally slow teleported themselves to now. The fact that there might be people alive on the Borealis would be pretty big, don't you think?

 

[LordShadow]

Hopefully there is something on that ship to tell us what the hell happened.

 

[gusIII]

Now if they teleported away a few months before BMRF to another dimension/universe planet etc. mayby thats how G-man noticed earth, and then he found BMRF better then Aperture.
And i never thought that lamarr is such an important character!
I wonder what she caused by going to space.

 

[Druckles]

Btw... before I start, no spoilers. Still not played EP2.

As to the portal technologies, they're quite different, from what I've observed. Black Mesa's technology actually teleporting someone from one place to another, Aperture Science's Portal Gun creating Doorways. BM portals aren't really appropriate for local transportation, whereas if the Combine got their hands on AS technology, they'd basically be able to link all of the Citadels together. Pretty powerful stuff.

Just some thoughts... no-one seems to have covered it.

 

[Laivasse]

I covered it. As I said, if the Borealis contained something along those lines then the Combine would have to convey that data out to all the remaining citadels before it could be useful - something which is not possible atm, since according to Kliener's speech in Ep1 they are all offline.

And anyway, that really doesn't give them much that the BM teleport data doesn't. You might think that BM portals aren't good for local transportation, but the Combine seem to disagree since they went to such lengths to obtain the technology and build the hardware in the first place.

So it amounts to more or less the same thing. If it was Portal-style teleport tech that's on the Borealis, they'll need to go all out to make the technology workable for the remaining citadels, after having broken their backs to obtain it. All this for an end result which is more or less what they can do at the moment, if they just build a bunch of new BM-style teleporters.

And besides, if it's local teleport tech that's on the Borealis, you know the Combine are never ever going to get their hands on it, since the frame of the battle would then have to change once more from 'Rebels vs C17 citadel' to 'Rebels vs reinforcements from every single one of the citadels that are left'. That is far too large scale a development to be wrapped up in Ep3 (or even HL3), especially since the Combine story arc is, I believe, supposed to end with the next episode.

 

[Druckles]

There's got to be a reason for there being two different portal technologies, so uniquely different. I will find it out...

 

[Chug a Bug]

The Borealis can't contain local teleport technology. What would be the use? The Combine forces are trapped on Earth what they desperately require more than anything else is reinforcements from the rest of the, er, empire, or whatever you want to call it. Local teleport technology is pretty pointless from this point of view, it may give them a slight edge in battle but it's not especially important. Whats really important to them is opening a super portal to bring more of their forces through.

Secondly it's been stated by Kliener that the Black Mesa Incident created a rift that the Combine have been able to force ever wider - and unless I've missed something thats whats been closed by the rocket, or at least thats whats been implied. So if Episode 3 is the finish to this story arc the rift has to have been closed, and closed permanently.

Now Kliener wants the technology aboard the Borealis for some unspecified reason - he thinks he can use it against the Combine - is it local teleport technology? Unlikely I feel. I mean, Kliener already built one of those, if he built one he can build another. It must mean more than just that. Besides the entire ship and part of the dry dock disappeared - Kliener's teleport isn't capable of that. So it must be something extraordinary. Besides what would be the point? To bring the resistance closer to the Combine in battle? Of limited use I'd say. The local teleport was useful during the Combine occupation, or was intended to be, because it meant that those using the resistance underground route to BM East would be able to avoid detection by the Combine. Since the Combine have lost control the Resistance can move openly now.

It's implied that Aperture Science were working on the same goal as Black Mesa - which would imply something larger than a simple local teleport. I think - and it's a guess - that it's some kind of super portal technology - and Kliener thinks that he can use this against the Combine although it's hard to see how exactly. Eli can see the danger in this especially if the Combine get their hands on it and wants it destroyed... or the G-man does. As to why he does, well thats a different matter entirely. What was in Alyx's data she collected from the Citadel? The co-ordinates of the Combine homeworld or dimension? Is Kliener thinking of taking the fight directly to the Combine on their own turf? And where do the Vorts fit in with all this?

It's got to be more than a simple local teleport as both sides have this already, or at least the knowledge to build one. Episode 3 must surely have a bigger climax than yet another pointless local transport device. The final battle must surely involve a real threat that the Combine will find some way to return in force, and somehow we have to prevent that happening at all costs, and prevent them from ever returning again and a super portal, or super teleport (are we certain the two are the same thing anyway?) would be such a threat.

 

[Druckles]

Maybe... I just had an idea... it could be something to do with time.

Was reading what you just said, and remembered the "slow teleport" from HL2. Could be similar to that. Just more refined.

 

[Chug a Bug]

The slow teleport wasn't intentional. It happened probably as the result of the destruction of the teleport terminal in Nova Prospekt. They were probably very lucky to arrive in Kliener's lab in one piece at all.

 

[McCoy]

Not another Borealis thread.

Is it a nautical vessel? And if Ep. 3 is based on Borealis, do you explore the whole ship?

Or is it underwater *cough* Bioshock.

 

[Crash Happy]

It is a ship, you see it in Mossman's transmision. Dunno. It was on top of some snow/ice at the time of the filming.

 

[Planeforger]

Not another Borealis thread.

Is it a nautical vessel? And if Ep. 3 is based on Borealis, do you explore the whole ship?

Or is it underwater *cough* Bioshock.

- It looks like a container ship or icebreaker of some kind.

- We'll probabably end up exploring most of the ship, yeah.

- It doesn't appear to be underwater, and it's definitely not ripping off Bioshock (the Borealis was intended to be in HL2 before Bioshock was even announced).

 

[Druckles]

The slow teleport wasn't intentional. It happened probably as the result of the destruction of the teleport terminal in Nova Prospekt. They were probably very lucky to arrive in Kliener's lab in one piece at all.

I never said it was. But Kleiner's comment "We appear to have created a very slow teleport" might have evolved into a time machine, or something bizzare like that.

 

[Doombringer]

Regarding the use of Borealis to open a 'super portal' to the Combine homeworld...

Why would they need it? Why couldn't they simply sacrifice another Citadel (there are others on Earth, yes?) and achieve the same effect as what we saw in City 17's final hours?

Right, the rocket. It is preventing them from re-opening any portal. Or any of THEIR portals? So the Borealis is back on the map; its technology may hold a way to open another super portal uninhibited by the xenium resonator currently in orbit.

Or are they seeing the Borealis as a potential Resistance super weapon? If so, how would it function? Link to the Combine homeworld to send Gordon against their leader? Or, thinking locally, how could it expunge the Combine from earth, and furthermore keep them out for good? Mossman was after it for a reason. Eli knows the ship can be used for good, but with such comes dire consequences.

More questions than answers. Gotta love this game.

 

[ríomhaire]

But given Aperture Science's record, I'd say that it's probably highly unstable localised teleportation technology.

Ha! Apeture's teleportation technology has shown to be far more stable than Black Mesa's! Gordon has been sent on random teleportation refluxes twice and Barney once, plus there was the incident with the slow teleport. They also seem to use huge amounts of power while Aperture's portals are far more efficent.

 

[NYTWP]

Oops! Wrong thread!

 

[Andrew LB]

Yes, perhaps they also accidentally slow teleported themselves to now. The fact that there might be people alive on the Borealis would be pretty big, don't you think?

Borealis isn't manned. It's ran by a Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System... or GLaDOS. It's specifically mentioned in the slide room in Portal.

 

[Max_Fall]

I think that there is portal technology on it,and it can be used by the combine,so ELI wanted it destroyed,and Kleiner wants to use it against the combine,but its too risky cause they can make another resonance cascede and open the door for the Combine.If it was my choice,i would destroy it!Now that the force field is down,humans can multiply,combine can not,so humanity yltimatly wins cause the combine cant live forever.So my guess is portal tech.

 

[ríomhaire]

Borealis isn't manned. It's ran by a Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System... or GLaDOS. It's specifically mentioned in the slide room in Portal.

It specifically mentions that GLaDOS has something to do with some form of ice inhibiting system. It doesn't even say it's on a ship.

 

[Garbel]

Why would they need it? Why couldn't they simply sacrifice another Citadel (there are others on Earth, yes?) and achieve the same effect as what we saw in City 17's final hours

no, because the citadel in City 17 was the main citadel of Earth, hence why Dr.Breen had his administration there, once the citadel in C17 was destroyed, the others in earth went offline, aka they're not working at all

 

[Jintor]

It specifically mentions that GLaDOS has something to do with some form of ice inhibiting system. It doesn't even say it's on a ship.

Actually GLaDOS is on the place where the architect's name goes. :/

Aperture Science portals are only more stable over short distances, they require surfaces, they can only be 'stuck' to certain surfaces, the range is limited... I think Portals have limited military applications. (Commercial is another matter... but portals would be good so that, say, helicoptors have infinte rollermines. Although Portals seems to cut out when the surface they're on is moving, so...)

 

[Andrew LB]

It specifically mentions that GLaDOS has something to do with some form of ice inhibiting system. It doesn't even say it's on a ship.

The ice form inhibitor system they're developing would have at least of a 90% chance being part of the Borealis. Whether or not it's the same goofy computer system seen in Portal.... we'll have to see. I doubt you'd find that exact model.... but a variant would be possible.

It specifically mentions that GLaDOS has something to do with some form of ice inhibiting system. It doesn't even say it's on a ship.

The blue prints of the Borealis were designed by GLaDOS herself. AND.... Borealis is an ice inhibiting ice breaker ship.

I think most of the members figured that one out a long time ago. :cheers:

 

[Druckles]

Lol, so many people without avatars and like no posts, it's like they're all the same person .

BM portals are, I reckon more stable. They just have more requirements to be met, like surfaces and stuff.

I think I've decided that the Portal technology is not what they're all talking about, but the Portal Gun might be on it.

 

[Doombringer]

I believe the 'ice inhibitor' angle was 'fuel system icing inhibitor' which is actually a product in real life. They use it to prevent fuel lines from freezing. It is a fuel additive for aircraft. MAYBE ships, but...

It sounds more like one of those weird Aperature Science inventions (ala the Portal Device that has Applications as a Shower Curtain, or what have you) that spun out of control, giving us GLaDOS. The work on the icing inhibitor compound may have had something to do with the Genetic Lifeform part of Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System.

 

[ríomhaire]

Actually GLaDOS is on the place where the architect's name goes. :/

He was talking about the slide show in Portal, you're refering to the video from EP2.

Aperture Science portals are only more stable over short distances, they require surfaces, they can only be 'stuck' to certain surfaces, the range is limited... I think Portals have limited military applications. (Commercial is another matter... but portals would be good so that, say, helicoptors have infinte rollermines. Although Portals seems to cut out when the surface they're on is moving, so...)

Who ever said their portals only work over short differences? Aperture's technology is better for transportation than Black Mesa's, but probably worse for combat.

 

[Asknoone]

Who ever said their portals only work over short differences? Aperture's technology is better for transportation than Black Mesa's, but probably worse for combat.

I'm not quite sure it is.

 

[Jintor]

He was talking about the slide show in Portal, you're refering to the video from EP2.


Who ever said their portals only work over short differences? Aperture's technology is better for transportation than Black Mesa's, but probably worse for combat.

Much worse for combat. They're two way. :/

 

[Druckles]

Much worse for combat. They're two way. :/

But you can use that to your advantage. You can appear behind enemies disappear and close the portal again