After playing through and reading up on all the new lore regarding the Crimson order, I noticed that they are often referred to as "the Nine".
The Nazgul are also called "the Nine"
Crimson order = The Nazgul
Both groups serve an entity who is rarely seen.
Tinkinzar = Sauron
Tinkinzar is Sauron and in the center of the core is the One Ring O_o
... in all seriousness though I love the amount of references OOO puts in the game - intentional or not :D
The square root of 9 is 3.........HL3 CONFIRMED
Well we all know that OOO are secretly elves because the elves in LOTR got 3 rings, and therefore OOO is secretly a deranged shoe industry about to take over the world with sheer amounts of leather and lace.
Shh, don't let them know we know, or they'll sic Aphrodite on us. /shudder