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Drábek was a main character in ArmA 3's Old Man mini-campaign.

Background[]

A retired bacteriologist, Drábek once lived in a small farming village on the outskirts of Luganville, Tanoa Province, where he operated a medical clinic.

Following the outbreak of an unknown super-strain of malaria throughout the province, Drábek would be contracted by a Non-Government Organisation, the International Development & Aid Project (IDAP), to aid in the study of the mysterious strain.

He was an acquaintance of an old man known only by his nickname of "Santiago", a retired soldier from the French Foreign Legion whom he simply referred to as "Légio".

Old Man (2038)[]

On the night of June 2nd, 2038, Drábek would be awoken by a barrage of calls from his neighbours. To his horror, he had discovered that all of them had been infected by the malaria super-strain.

Drábek administered help wherever he could, supplying the sick villagers with what little amounts of Primaquine antimalarial pills that he had on hand. However, he also knew full well that it would only be a matter of time before CSAT "doctors" would be arriving to "help" the villagers.

Rather than risk his patients' wellbeing, Drábek brought them to an abandoned settlement west of Luganville. Once the villagers were settled in, he quickly made his way towards a house on the outskirts of Ouméré to find one man who could help him; an old French Legionnaire whom the locals referred to as "Santiago".

The sun was beginning to rise as he arrived at the Legionnaire's home. He knocked on the front door and pleaded for the old soldier to answer. A half-asleep Santiago answered the door and Drábek began to explain his situation.

« It's Luganville. People have started getting sick... The first calls came in last night. Since then, half the village has been infected. There are mosquitoes, but the salient symptom; it's not malarial. In every case, I've seen significant ulceration of the skin. Almost like an allergic reaction...
Drábek informs Santiago about Luganville's outbreak
»

He told the old soldier about the outbreak. Drábek needed more Primaquine for his patients and knew where they could be obtained in bulk. However, since the doctor understood the "cost" involved in getting them, he asked that Santiago obtain them in his place instead. Fortunately, Santiago acquiesced to Drábek's request, and he told him about the banana plantation with a warehouse where the seller would be waiting for him. With no time to spare, Drábek hastily returned to the camp.

A short time later, Santiago came through and managed to obtain several boxes of Primaquine. A relieved Drábek thanked the old soldier but told him that they couldn't stay at the camp any more; CSAT drones had flown past the jungle several times, and Drábek was worried that soldiers would be coming to take his patients away. He had another hidden place in mind but none of the patients were in any condition to travel on foot. Drábek asked if Santiago could bring a truck or minivan to help carry them.

« I think we ought to relocate. A military drone keeps flying over. Could be nothing but, people asking awkward questions tend to disappear out here, in the jungle. I don't want us to be amongst them.
Drábek asks for Santiago to find him a transport
»

Once more, the old soldier silently departed from the camp and a short time while later would return as promised with a transport. Drábek didn't question where the Legionnaire had obtained the vehicle, but nonetheless thanked him for his help. Drábek began dismantling the camp and loaded his patients onto the vehicle. Once everyone was safely inside, he immediately drove towards their new camp further away in Central Tanoa.

Nonetheless, Santiago's initial stock of medicine was beginning to run dry and his patients' conditions were deteriorating rapidly again. Unable to leave the camp, Drábek called Santiago and asked if the old soldier could gather as much antimalarial medicine as he could.

Over the course of several days, Santiago would continue to return and depart from the camp with a steady flow of Primaquine. It wouldn't be enough to sustain them forever, but it was at the very least sufficient to keep them stabilised. All the while, Drábek closely monitored his patients and observed how the malaria super-strain wreaked havoc on their bodies.

As he continued to study and compile data on the strain, he eventually came to the conclusion that CSAT had some special kind of counteragent used within their vaccines. This counteragent - if it indeed existed, would be crucial to the development of a proper cure. All he required was a sample of it, though he had no clue on where CSAT's doctors could be storing it.

Fate[]

However, the camp would soon find itself under attack by a group of insurgent fighters from the so-called L'Ensemble movement. The fighters began tearing apart the camp and indiscriminately fired at the buildings.

« Légio? Drábek. There's some guys with guns here... They're pulling apart the camp, and I don't - STOP SHOOTING! These people, they're sick! PERSONNES MALADES - do you understand?!
Drábek pleads for Santiago's help as L'Ensemble's thugs raid the camp
»

Drábek angrily pleaded for them to cease firing and told them that he and his patients had nothing of value. But despite his pleas, the L'Ensemble fighters took them hostage and dragged them all inside the largest hut, locking them in and confiscating their medical supplies.

Luckily, they had not yet seized Drábek's phone, and he was able to make an emergency call to Santiago and request for his help. All the while, the insurgents refused to tell him why they were being held captive. All he could do now was silently hope that Santiago would return to save them in time...

Santiago responded to his pleas for help and returned to save Drábek from the insurgents. The former legionnaire single-handedly killed all of the insurgents and unlocked the door to the hut.

« You need to go. Syndikat - L'Ensemble, every thug on the Horizon Islands will be gunning for you now. But look, I think I may know a way. The guards, they were talking about CSAT using a 'petit submersible'... A small submarine, at the harbor in Tavu. It's on the map. It won't be easy, but you could use it to escape. Get all the way to La Roche, maybe?
Drábek
»

However, in the process of doing so, Drábek knew that the former legionnaire was now a fugitive in the eyes of the insurgents. He urged the former legionnaire to make a run for it before they got to him first. Fortunately, while he was being held captive, Drábek had overheard that CSAT had a submersible stationed at the port in Tavu.

Arma3-wmd-atrox-03

Drábek suggested that he steal the submersible and use to it get to the capital. He wished the legionnaire luck before preparing to get his patients out of the jungle.

Sometime later, Santiago would submit his research data to the Global Health Initiative. His efforts would significantly contribute to accelerating the GHI's attempts at procuring a stable vaccine.

Santiago never returned to save Drábek from the insurgents. In retribution for Santiago's refusal to hand over the counteragent sample, Drábek was eventually executed by the insurgents. His research efforts on Atrox would be left in vain, as the Global Health Initiative would never obtain the vital data needed to create a stable vaccine.

Personality and Appearance[]

An aged Czech male with a balding and grey head of hair, Drábek can usually be seen wearing a multi-colour striped poloshirt with brown pants and a silver wristwatch. On other occasions, he prefers to wear a khaki-coloured bandanna as well as a plain white shirt with rolled-up sleeves and long pants.

A dedicated medical professional even in retirement, much of Drábek's energy was constantly spent taking care of patients and bartering with "merchants" on the grey market for artesunate, chloroquine and other cheap antimalarial drugs. Whatever spare time he had left that wasn't spent on rare bouts of sleep would be devoted to research on the malaria super-strain.

« They talk about malaria - but this? This is inexplicable. No evidence for a logical mutation! There's parasitic protozoans but no plasmodia! And you know what's really strange? CSAT are treating it like any other outbreak. I mean, make of that what you will. But me? I'm getting pretty nervous!
Drábek
»

Perhaps due to his past work as a bacteriologist, Drábek is a circumspect individual and can pick out important details from minor or otherwise mundane elements. He immediately suspected that something was out of the ordinary with the super-strain, and correctly realised its artificial origins where others had disregarded or failed to notice.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • If Santiago is not at his home on the first morning, Drábek will call him over the phone to tell him about Luganville's outbreak instead.
  • After Santiago delivers a means of transportation for Drábek to relocate his patients, it is possible to destroy the same vehicle before leaving the camp (and despawning it). Doing so will result in a unique outburst of anger from Drábek who then reprimands Santiago for being a "psycho" and stating that he'll find their own means of transport.
  • Upon the death of his final patient, Drábek will tell Santiago that he intends on boarding a ferry at Georgetown and returning to the capital La Roche while urging the Legionnaire to do the same.
  • In the default ending of Old Man, it is still possible to save Drábek if Santiago returns to free the doctor from his captors. He will then appear in the campaign's epilogue where he is shown overseeing the development of MEDEX's experimental vaccine (as on his route).
  • Like all outcomes of the campaign, delivering the counteragent to Drábek is also considered to be a bad ending as there are no "good" endings.
    • Although Santiago's neighbours and friends are saved thanks to a cure and a vaccine for Atrox being synthesised under his supervision, CSAT's conspiracy goes undetected and will never be revealed due to Captain Miller's death.
    • Without a means to halt its continued development, CSAT's bioweapon programme will continue and inevitably result in a vaccine-resistant variant of Atrox (or potentially something worse).

See also[]

Characters of ArmA 3
NATO TF Aegis Andrew MacKinnon† • Ben KerryConway† • Lacey† • Martinez† • Mitchell† • Thomas Adams
7th MBCT, 111th ID David Armstrong
21st BCT, 111th ID Adam GrantCarl OwenJared SpenderJeremy CollinsJohn SturrockLouis BarklemStephen KulanskyTerry Simpson
Pacific Vince Broadale
CTRG A.J. DuttonDonald SnoweGrimmHardy† • JamesMcKayNorthgateO'ConnorRadcliffe† • RikerRoberts† • Robinson† • SalvoScott Miller* • Smith† • Truck
Exercise Electron Aiden RudwellDon Homewood† • Jack StypeJed DillonJohn KingslyKurt Spender† • Max BakerRichard LaneRichter
CSAT Abdul-Wahhab FahimVahid NamdarXu Haifeng
Russian Spetsnaz Boris KrupinIvan Severov
Loyalists Hektor Anastas* • Kael Mavros* • Loukas Thanos* • Rouvin Carras*
FIA Alexis Kouris† • Kostas Stavrou† • Nikos PanagopoulosOrestes
AAF Georgious AkhanterosKostas DimitriouKyros Kalogeros* • Thanos Gavras
LDF Aleksy NowakZbigniew Stolarski
Syndikat Solomon Maru
L'Ensemble Oringo MadakiSamjo

IDAP

Andy PatersonNathan MacDade

Civilians

Arthur* • Benjamin HopeDrábek* • Howard* • Ian KessonJohn* • Katherine BishopLucas* • Mark ColeMarkos Kouris† • Renly* • "Santiago"Šimon Čapek
indicates deceased characters | * indicates character status is unknown
DLCs that the character was first introduced in:
Marksmen DLC | Apex DLC | Laws of War DLC | Tac-Ops DLC | Tanks DLC | Contact DLC
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