The Elders

The Elders, also known as The Employers, are a secret group in the City 17 Street universe and initially the enemies of the Clandestine Company. Although their motivations are unclear, they wish to establish order to the world, which is now their most prominent task due to all the horror occurring after the Combine's downfall. They are the overarching antagonists of the City franchise.

Half-Life

 * Note: This has no bearing to the main "canon" of the Half-Life series

The G-Man is the employer of the Elders (whom he simply refers to as his "employers") and is tasked to infiltrate Black Mesa. G-Man delivers a sample from Xen, which triggers the Black Mesa Incident and opens up a gateway to an alien world. During the Black Mesa Incident G-Man observes Gordon Freeman, and following his defeat of the Nihlanth takes Freeman and places him into stasis. (Half-Life)

G-Man also observes Adrian Shephard during the incident, and places him also into stasis. His employers weren't interested in Shephard, however G-Man managed to bargain for his life and he placed Shephard into stasis in order to avoid him telling anyone about what went down at Black Mesa. (Half-Life: Opposing Force)

The employers weren't interested in the life of a young Alyx Vance, however G-Man spared her life also which allowed him to use her in the future to relay a message to her father. (Half-Life 2: Episode Two)

City 17 Street
Nathan Johnson first came into contact with the Elders when he was infected by a disease by the Clandestine Company and ended up on death's door. The Elders cured Nathan of his disease and forced him to face his nightmares, which included the murder of his daughter Samantha which had been preying on his mind. But the Elders weren't all selfless, and they got Nathan to undertake the identity of their assassin the Elder Knight and sent him to kill off some Clandestine associates.

After Nathan's presumed death, he was somehow saved by the Elders and taken to their secret base out on the coast to receive treatment and brainwashing, in which they made his partake the Elder Knight identity as a second personality. During the day Nathan would live a mundane boring life, whilst at night he operated as the Elder Knight and killed off any threats.

The Elders sent Nathan on a special mission to investigate the Borealis out in the arctic and finish off any remains of the Combine. During his journey Nathan came into contact with his two old friends Dan Mason and Simon Simms, as the pair of them were looking to get rid of the Borealis. The three worked together and set the Borealis to destruction, and Nathan later rode off on his own on an airboat.

Nathan was forced into a dream like sequence by the Elders to demonstrate to him a greater threat, and showcased a civil war between the Combine and Race X occurring in another dimension. They let Nathan return to his reality, but informed him that he would one day be called upon. This forced Nathan to go on the run and attempt to avoid detection from the Elders. When visiting Frank, Nathan was informed by him that the Combine would one day return.

Around this time, The Elders saved Toby Purnell who was trapped in another dimension and "hired" him, although they returned him to earth without much memory of his employment under them.

The Elder Supreme was killed by Nathan and Frank Blackstone during a confrontation at the citadel, in which he was disintegrated by the dark fusion reactor.

Members

 * Spokesman
 * Elder Supreme (deceased)
 * John Robertson (formerly)
 * Nathan Johnson (formerly)
 * The G-Man (formerly)

Employees

 * Gordon Freeman (formerly)
 * Kevin (deceased)
 * Adrian Shephard (formerly)
 * Nathan Johnson (formerly)
 * Alyx Vance (currently; awaiting assignment)

Appearances

 * Half-Life (identified as "employers")
 * Half-Life: Opposing Force (identified as "employers")
 * City 17 Street
 * Half-Life: Alyx (mentioned)