The Resistance storyline details the events evolving around the universe of Resistance.
Divergence
The world of Resistance diverged from the real world that began in 1898 in which the United States was on the brink of war with Spain following reports of Spanish atrocities in Cuba and the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor. American President William McKinley, a pacifist who was reluctant to get involved and eager to save face, sent an ultimatum to Spain to grant Cuba's independence or face U.S. military action in all Spanish territories. Spain accepted the terms in order to retain what is left of its world empire, and to avoid war with the U.S. This set the course for the United States' favoritism towards isolationism for the next half-century.
The Tunguska Event
On June 30, 1908, an unknown celestial object penetrated Earth's atmosphere and landed in the Tunguska region in Siberia. This became known as the Tunguska Event. The alien parasitic race known as the Chimera originated from this impact, in which the viral strain that creates the Chimera was somehow transported by the object. Despite the event seen across the world, the Russian government did not take any interest into the site of the impact until the 1920s.
The Great War
In 1914, the Great War erupted when British and French military forces invaded the German colony of Togoland. The United States did not participate in the conflict despite President Woodrow Wilson's request for a declaration of war against Germany in response to Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare. Isolationist sentiment in the U.S. Congress prevailed due to the lack of an overt German threat posed to the United States.
In October 1917, the Russian Revolution was brutally crushed by imperial forces led by Tsar Mikhail, the brother of his predecessor Nicholas II following his abdication, resulting in Russia maintaining its autocratic state and continuing its involvement in the Great War. However, Russia was summarily defeated by Germany and was forced to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and relinquished all claims to several territories to Eastern Europe. As a result of Russia losing its territories and breaking up its empire, civil unrest in Russia ensued for the next several years.
Despite of America's neutrality and Russia's withdrawal from the war, Germany capitulated to a cease-fire agreement in October 1918 in which the German government abandoned military rule and became a parliamentary democracy. Under the Treaty of Versailles, the European nations formed the European Trade Organization with the goal to usher an era of European cooperation to establish peace and economic stability in response to the Great War.
By 1921, several civil wars erupted across Russia as a result of political repression enforced by Tsar Mikhail. Relations between the Russian government and Western Europe severely deteriorated after Russian authorities discovered and executed twelve French intelligence agents without trial for allegedly supporting the insurrections. Believing foreign nations were influencing the insurrections, the Russian government established a hardline xenophobic and isolationist policy in which they cut off all communications with the outside world and construct a fortified military barrier along the entire length of the Russian-European border known as the Red Curtain.
First Contact
In August 1920, Russian mineralogist Leonid Kulik led a scientific expedition into the Tunguska region to investigate the Tunguska Event. Kulik's expedition interviewed the local Evenki people, who witnessed the event, and learned that something ominous entered Earth's atmosphere and created the massive explosive impact crater left behind. A month later, Kulik and his expedition mysteriously disappeared and were never seen again after an intensive search. In the years that follow under Russia's isolation, mysterious incidents occurred ranging from bizarre weather changes and a deadly slick enriched with radon contaminated the Volga River.
In 1926, Russian government learned the existence of the Chimera in which government agents witnessed the alien beings preying on small villages in Siberia. In awe of the advanced technology of the Chimera, the Russian government saw the potential to obtain the alien technology to dominate scientific progress over the West and the Russian population. The Russian military was mobilized against the Chimera, leaving a majority of the country undefended. Despite the small forces the Chimera have in possession, the Russians underestimated their alien foes. Thousands of Russian soldiers were infected by the Chimeran virus and converted into Chimera.
Desperate to turn the tide of the war against the invaders, the Russian government sought a cure to the Chimeran virus. A talented Russian scientist, Dr. Fyodor Malikov, obtained a sample of Pure Chimeran DNA from the Tunguska crater and used it to create an experimental vaccine that initial tests indicated could resist the Chimeran virus. The Russian government ordered the remaining surviving soldiers to be vaccinated with Malikov's vaccine, despite the unknown long-term effects. In a very short time, the vaccinated soldiers proved themselves to be immune to the virus, and also becoming militarily capable and on par with the Chimera. However, in the months that follow the soldiers displayed signs of insanity and very violent behaviors.
Dr. Malikov's vaccine was revealed to be flawed as 90% of the vaccinated soldiers went AWOL and degenerated into roving savage bands that terrorized the countryside, calling themselves as the "Cloven". Possessed by their own motives, the Cloven were hostile to both humans and Chimera. Caught between the Cloven and Chimera, Russia's military was devastated and the nation fell to the Chimera.
The Rest of the World
From the 1930s to 1940s, the world remained ignorant of the events transpiring in Russia due to Russian isolationism. In Europe, the European nations recovered from the Great War and avoided economic downturns and political extremisms. Germany became a member of the ETO and the Nationalist Socialist Party became marginalized.
The Chimera's existence soon became known to some of the world's governments. Beginning in 1934, the U.S. government discovered buried Chimeran artifacts in America and in response constructed a large number of military bases and research facility to study the phenomenon. The U.S. Department of War created the Special Research Projects Administration (SRPA) to investigate and counter the Chimera. In Europe, the United European Defence discovered abandoned towns and cities along the Russian border in which they erroneously feared were the results of biological and chemical weapons testing committed by the Russians. The UED formed the Military Defense Commission to develop advanced weapons and recruited many European scientists, including Albert Einstein, to their endeavor, and indirectly preventing them from immigrating to America.
Scientific breakthroughs were made during this time, including the world's first digital computer and improvement to Nikola Tesla's VTOL designs. In 1944, the United States developed the first nuclear weapon that was detonated in Alaska.
The United States under the reign of President Franklin D. Roosevelt loosened its isolationist policies and established a closer trade relationship with Europe. Roosevelt's policies was strongly opposed by isolationists who viewed him as a warmonger and imperialist. Conservative presidential candidate Noah Grace politically attacked Roosevelt's rule and military buildup in which he garnered massive popularity from the American people. Roosevelt was unwilling to reveal the reasons for the military buildup was in response to the Chimera, in which he and the government feared mass panic would ensued if the Chimera's existence were revealed. Consequently, Grace won the presidency and returned America to its isolationist policies. However, Grace allowed the military buildup to continue after he learned the Chimera's existence, but only to protect America and its interests.
Meanwhile, Malikov fled from the Chimera's advance in Russia until he was "liberated" by SRPA agents and was transferred to England and later America where he was eventually recruited by SRPA.
The Chimeran Invasion
- Main article: Chimeran War
With Russia falling under the control of the Chimera, the Chimera accumulated decades of converting millions of Russians into Chimera, and thousands of their mysterious towers had been unearthed throughout the country. In December 1949, the Chimera broke through the Red Curtain and swept across Europe. Despite defenses contingencies deployed by the UED, the technologically and tactically superior Chimeran army laid waste to European forces. Cities quickly fell to Spire missiles carrying swarms of Crawlers which infected millions of people with the Chimeran virus. By February 1950 the European continent was dominated by the Chimera.
Britain remained the last European nation to fell to the Chimera. Since the outbreak of the war, the British government began evacuating their citizens, via a lottery system, to Avalon One, a continuation-of-government colony established in Australia. The British military fiercely defended the isles from the air and seas until in October 1950 the Chimera finally invaded by digging undernmeath the English Channel and attacked Britain from under the ground. Chimeran Burrower machines breached British Central Command in London and flooded the underground facility with water from the Thames River, drowning 14,000 British soldiers, including high-ranking personnel. Within three months, Britain fell and remnants of the British military abandoned their cities and retreated to scattered military bases and outposts.
After Europe fell under the control of the Chimera, the United States under the administration of Noah Grace chose to stay out of the conflict and kept the American public ignorant of the Chimera by enacting a permanent media blackout, replacing all news outlet with government propaganda, and sealing its borders from refugees fleeing from the Chimera. Grace's authoritarian policies, however, provoked a backlash from anti-Grace American citizens in which the Alliance for American Autonomy turned from an anti-war movement into an anti-government insurrectionist movement seeking for the end of Grace's rule.
Project Abraham
Although America remained neutral, it was prepared for the coming war. After Malikov's recruitment to SRPA, the United States Department of War began a secret project called Project Abraham. Its goal was to create a class of super-soldiers called "Sentinels" to oppose the Chimera. Eager to not repeat the same mistakes that created the Cloven, Malikov worked tirelessly to perfect his formula.
Volunteers from the military applied to Project Abraham under the belief that the project's goal was the eradication of the "European influenza." On November 2, 1950, Private Joseph Capelli became the first test subject to be injected with Malikov's improved formula in which he immediately falls into a coma. Several other subjects were given the vaccine over the next few weeks with more unfortunate results; massive organ failure, mental breakdown, and rapid cellular multiplication were common, all resulted in death. Only two more test subjects survived the experiments: Nathan Hale and Jordan Shepard. Shepard underwent an extreme form of transformation and was immediately locked away at an undisclosed location for further study. Hale slipped into a coma, much like Capelli before him, but recovered shortly thereafter.
Meanwhile, in England, the British Army fought and captured a "secret weapon" from the Chimera that would hopefully turn the tide of the war.
Resistance: Fall of Man
- Main article: Resistance: Fall of Man
Rangers rappelling down in York during the ill-fated Operation Deliverance.
The British under Captain Rachel Parker offered the Chimera's "secret weapon" to the U.S. government in exchange for military support. On July 11, 1951, the United States engaged against the Chimera for the first time in Operation Deliverance. Launched off from the coast of York, England, the Americans planned to meet British Special Forces and retrieve the "secret weapon". However, the operation turned into a disaster. The Chimera converged on York after ambushing the British convoy that was heading to the exchange at Manchester. The first wave of U.S. soldiers was ambushed by Chimeran anti-aircraft fire and was eliminated. Desperate to salvage the attack, U.S. forces sent a second wave, which includes Sergeant Nathan Hale and the 1st Ranger Regiment. Ultimately, the Chimera wiped out the Americans with Spire missiles, infecting every human soldier with the Chimeran virus.
Hale was the only soldier who was immune to the Chimeran virus due to Malikov's vaccine. However, the vaccine had an unintended side effect: Hale took on some characteristics of the Chimera, in which he gained increased strength, metabolism and limited cellular regeneration. Hale was left unconscious from the Spire attack and was captured by the Chimera and transported to a conversion center in Grimsby.
Hale was able to escape the facility with Captain Parker and rejoined with British forces to retrieve the "secret weapon". After Hale helped the British in successfully retrieving the "secret weapon," which was revealed to be a Chimeran Angel, a high ranking Chimera in the Chimeran hierarchy that leads and controls the lesser Chimera through telepathic abilities. Despite recapturing the Angel, the Chimera made another attempt to free the creature. The Angel attempted to dominate Hale's mind due to the presence of the Chimeran virus still present in his body, but Hale was able to resist its mind control, and he killed the Angel.
During the Angel's telepathic assault, Hale was able to learn the inner workings of the Chimera, their command structure, and their ties to the Chimeran towers. While working alongside Lieutenant Stephen Cartwright, Hale learns that the towers were interconnected per regions by a network of tunnels and power conduits. Hale then realized that destroying the central tower in London would cause a cascade effect that would destroy all the towers in Britain. Under Parker's leadership, a massive assault was organized by the remaining U.S. and British forces.
Human forces stormed London and attacked the central tower. Despite facing heavy resistance from the Chimera, Hale managed to infiltrate the tower and destroy its power core, creating a massive explosion that brought down the tower. The destruction of the central tower triggered a chain reaction that destroys the entire tower network in Britain and also killing the Angels that reside inside the towers. Without the Angels, all the Chimera on British soil died out. Humanity had won their first major victory against the Chimera and had learned the aliens' weakness.
Hale is captured by the SRPA.
Hale managed to escape the London tower's destruction and was later discovered by a SRPA Black Ops team that was sent to capture him. Hale contemplates committing suicide with his last grenade, but ultimately surrenders himself to SRPA custody. The U.S. Army listed Hale as killed in action.
Resistance: Retribution
- Main article: Resistance: Retribution
On May 15, 1951, Lieutenant James Grayson participated in an assault on the Manchester conversion center, where he discovered his brother, Johnny, had been captured and half-way through the conversion process. Grayson reluctantly ended his brother's life and was filled with a desire for revenge. He deserted his unit and began a personal war by destroying conversion centers.
In August 1951, Grayson was captured by British authorities and sentenced to death for desertion in wartime. However, Grayson was given a pardon after he agreed to provide support and tactical knowledge to a joint military effort between the British and the Maquis, a resistance group based in mainland Europe. The goal of this joint mission was to collect intel on a new Chimeran conversion process and destroy the central Chimeran tower in Paris, France.
The Maquis and British forces plan Operation Overstrike, where they will enter Europe through Rotterdam, then Luxembourg to secure the Maquis stronghold, and finally to Paris. The Allied forces were temporarily grounded in Rotterdam by Chimeran anti-aircraft towers they ultimately succeed in taking Rotterdam. From there, the allies forced to split their forces into three groups. A task force led by Major Stephen Cartwright is sent to intercept Chimeran Earth Movers that was heading for Luxembourg. The British reinforcements led by Colonel Rachel Parker head for Luxembourg to plan the assault on Paris. Grayson joins Lt. Raine Bouchard and Colonel Roland Mallery in an assault on a conversion center in Bonn, Germany.
During the attack on the Bonn conversion center, Bouchard was captured by the Chimera and taken for conversion. Grayson manages to rescue Bouchard, but she is infected with the Chimeran virus. While escaping the facility, Bouchard obtained a sample of Chimeran amniotic fluid, and Grayson detonated several explosive charges that destroyed the center. The group soon learns that the Chimera had discovered the Maquis' base and Cartwright's forces were unable to stop the Earth Movers.
Grayson separates from the group and assists Cartwright in destroying the Earth Movers before heading to Luxembourg, where it is under siege. There, Bouchard's father, Dr. Claude Bouchard, was able to create a serum designed to eradicate the Carrier strain and thereby destroying a core component of the conversion process. Bouchard reveals to Grayson that she purposely infected herself with the virus to allow her father to gain a sample of the virus to develop the serum. Dr. Bouchard is killed by Chimeran forces, but his daughter is able to finish their work and gains a sample.
The human survivors evacuated to Reims and began to organize their assault. Allied forces under Cartwright launch their attack on the Paris Tower to ensure its destruction that would trigger a chain reactions that destroys the other towers in Europe. A strike force led by Bouchard and Mallery is tasked to infiltrate the main conversion center, the Chrysalis Lair, to administer the serum to its core. Grayson attempted to warn his allies about Bouchard's infection, but he was detained by the Maquis.
Grayson was soon freed by Cartwright and Parker, and was given a second sample of the serum to take to the conversion center in case Bouchard fails. After slaying an infected Mallery, Grayson made it to the central core and administered the serum. After using the serum, Grayson was confronted by Bouchard, who had fully mutated into a Chimeran creature called the Chrysalis. Grayson was forced to kill her, but before she died, Bouchard reveals the eradication of the Carriers would do little to stop the Chimeran conversion process. The Chimera were currently in the process of developing a new strain, Spinners, to compensate the loss of their Carriers.
James Grayson, the "Cloven Killer", in Moscow.
With the Chrysalis destroyed, human forces managed to destroy the Paris Tower and free Western Europe from the Chimera. Grayson was offered a full pardon and the rank of Major, but he declined and instead took the rank of Colonel with the Maquis. Two years later, Grayson had led a mission into the heart of Russia to discover the source of the Chimera's invasion. During the battle of Warsaw on June 12, 1953, Grayson was declared missing in action. However, according to Russian refugees, there were rumors spread of a British soldier in Russia that has become known as the "Cloven Killer".
Resistance 2
- Main article: Resistance 2
Following his apprehension by SRPA, Nathan Hale is introduced to Major Richard Blake, director of Advanced Tactical Ops. Blake explains to Hale that he and the other survivors of Project Abraham are being transported to SRPA Station Igloo, a American black site in Iceland, to undergo mandatory testing. Upon their arrival at the base, the Chimera have launched a massive assault on Station Igloo. Blake and Hale's VTOL is shot down but they managed to survive the crash. The two fought their way through the base to stop the Chimera from freeing Daedalus, who is a heavily mutated Jordan Shepard and the third survivor of Project Abraham. However, Daedalus broke free from his prison. Before making his escape, Daedalus tells Hale that "They're calling to us, Can you hear them? It's beautiful." Hale, Blake and surviving SRPA personnel, which includes Dr. Malikov, abandons Station Igloo and flee to America.
Two years after Daedalus' escape, the SRPA created the Sentinels, an elite task force of super-soldiers injected with a mutated strain of the Chimeran virus that granted them the benefits of Chimeran biology. However, the Sentinels had to receive regular inhibitor inoculations to prevent them from fully transforming into Chimera. Hale is soon promoted to Lieutenant and given command of Echo Team, which includes Joseph Capelli, Benjamin Warner, and Aaron Hawthorne.
Meanwhile, Daedalus took command of the Chimera and led an aggressive expansion across the planet in which they conquered Africa and South America while activating the dormant Chimeran towers. On August 14, 1951, the Chimera began their first attack on the United States. Soon after, the U.S. government proceeded with the construction of the Liberty Defense Perimeter, a fortified safe zone located in the American heartland. The SRPA and the Sentinels took on a number of high risk missions to prevent the Chimera's advance.
As America gradually loses its territories to the Chimera, President Noah Grace began to realize that his nation will not survive the Chimera's onslaught. Doing the unthinkable, Grace plotted to negotiate with the Chimera through Daedalus to spare the United States while allowing the Chimera to occupy the rest of the world. Grace's plot did not came into fruition and was killed for his treacherous actions by Hale. Grace's cause of death and his plot were covered-up, and his Vice President Harvey McCullen succeeded him. Under McCullen's presidency, the government reversed many of Grace's debilitating policies.
On May 15, 1953, the Chimera launched a full-scale assault on America through a massive fleet of airships. Echo Team prevent the Chimera from breaching the LDP at Twin Falls, Idaho. But Daedalus' flagship passes through the Perimeter and attacks Station Genesis in Bryce Canyon. Defying orders to return for needed treatment, Hale traveled to Station Genesis to rescue SRPA personnel which includes Dr. Malikov. Upon extracting Malikov, Hale once again meets Daedalus who activates the local tower and declares his intentions that "your skies will shine with our stars" before leaving.
Despite his worsening condition, Hale rejoined with Echo Team and were dispatched to Chicago to shut down the tower network in that part of the country. After a hard fought battle, Echo and Malikov failed to shut down the Chicago Tower in which it was activated remotely by Daedalus from Holar, Iceland. SRPA mobilized its forces to attack Holar and kill Daedalus. But the Chimera repulse the attack, forcing SRPA to retreat with heavy casualties. Acting against Blake's orders, Echo Team continued their mission to eliminate Daedalus. Echo Team soon underestimated Daedalus, who killed Hawthorne and Warner. Hale sustained a near-fatal wound to his chest and was rescued by Capelli before falling into a coma.
Six weeks later, the Chimera breached the LDP, killing 80 million survivors and forcing the remaining 3 million to evacuate to a poorly supplied Protection Camp in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. On June 26, Hale wakes up from his coma and finds himself nearly fully converted into a Chimera. Malikov informed Hale that his condition is irreversible. The Chimera had activated the tower networks across the planet and Daedalus had amassed his fleet over the Chicxulub crater. At the crater, a massive central Chimeran tower was excavated, and every tower is feeding power to the location. Despite their losses, SRPA is determined to stop the Chimera's unknown plan. Hale agreed to participate in his final mission before he succumbs to the virus.
Hale succumbs to the Chimeran virus.
Using a captured Chimeran shuttle, Capelli, Hale, and Blake infiltrated Daedalus' flagship with a fission bomb, planning to detonate it near the central reactor and trigger an explosion that wipes out the entire fleet. But Daedalus discovered their presence in which Blake and his team are intercepted and killed. Hale confronts Daedalus one last time and they engaged in battle in which Hale emerged victorious. After killing Daedalus, Hale inadvertently absorbed Daedalus' power. Using his newfound power, Hale fought his way out of the flagship with Capelli and detonate the bomb. The blast succeeded in destroying the fleet, but the resulting shockwave forced Hale and Capelli's escape shuttle to crash.
Capelli awakens to see an unfamiliar red sky with two celestial bodies. He also discovered Hale alive, but had fully succumbed to the virus. Hale turned to Capelli and saying "This is just the beginning." Wracked with guilt, Capelli reluctantly kills Hale with a gunshot to the head.
Resistance 3
- Main article: Resistance 3
The Wormhole.
Nathan Hale's body was recovered by the SRPA and his body was studied by Dr. Malikov. After examining Hale's modified blood, Malikov discovered an antigen capable of eradicating the Chimeran virus. Malikov soon succeeded in synthesizing a cure for the virus which is dubbed as the Hale Vaccine. The vaccine was inoculated to the remaining human population and even all surviving Sentinel soldiers including Capelli.
After being cured of the virus, Capelli was shunned for his role in Hale's demise and he accepted an dishonorable discharge from SRPA. He eventually come across Hale's sister, Susan, and they fell in love. The couple settled in an underground community in Haven, Oklahoma and raised a child they named Jack.
Humans vs. Military Chimera. vs. Feral Chimera.
Four years later, the Chimeran War has been won by the Chimera. Humanity has been driven to the brink of extinction as only 10% of the human population remains. Only small pockets of human resistance survived and scattered across the planet, forced to either hide from the Chimera or still waging their guerilla war against the aliens. Meanwhile, the Chimera had been using the tower network to cool down the planet and prepare an invasion force from a wormhole, which was created from the nuclear detonation over the Chicxulub crater, that appears over New York City.
On August 9, 1957, Malikov arrived in Haven to seek help from Capelli to close the wormhole. However, Malikov's arrival brought the attention of the Chimera to Haven. While helping the town to evacuate, Capelli initially refused to help Malikov but his wife convinced him to reconsider. Using a trawler, Capelli and Malikov began their journey up the Mississippi River until their vessel was destroyed by Goliaths. They turned up in the ruins of St. Louis and encountered the Remnants, a resistance group. Capelli made a bargain with the Remnants leader Charlie Tent to take them to New York in exchange for helping them to repair their VTOL. A Chimeran aerial patrol ambushed them near Mount Pleasant, forcing Capelli and Malikov to separate from the Remnants. The two reached a coal mining town occupied by survivors. Capelli helped the town priest, Jonathan Rose, to kill an oversized Feral Chimera known as Satan and in return the townspeople helped repair a coal train, providing another transport for Capelli and Malikov to resume their journey.
The two soon came under attack by a gang of former convicts, the Wardens. Their train was subsequently derailed by a stampede of feral Widowmakers, allowing the Wardens' leader Mick Cutler to murder Malikov. Capelli was captured and taken to Graterford Prison where he was forced to fight as a gladiator against feral Grims and Wardens. He is later freed by Mick's abused lackey, Herbert Sawicki who tasked him with disabling the prison's defenses in order to stage a breakout for the other prisoners. They succeeded in bringing the Chimera to attack the prison, and Mick dies at Capelli's hands.
Despite losing Malikov, Capelli continued his journey to New York. After reaching the city, Capelli fought his way through the Chimera to the tower that powers the wormhole. However, Capelli became overwhelmed by the Chimera's defenses until he was saved by the Remnants. Capelli refused to give up on his mission to destroy the tower and persuaded the Remnants to follow a different plan: boarding a Chimeran Terraformer and maneuvering it to crash into the tower. Capelli and Charlie sabotaged the Terraformer's controls and power core, sending it to collide into the tower. With the tower destroyed, the wormhole is sealed and the Chimera's terraforming process is reverted.
Capelli is reunited with his family in Baxter Springs while resistance groups from across Earth began reporting military successes against the Chimera, who are apparently left in a severe incohesive state after the closing of the wormhole. Over time, humanity would finally exterminate the Chimera and begin to rebuild their world.