Extraterrestrials

SPIN-OFF: The following information stems from a spin-off expansion or third party Creator DLC and is considered to be non-canon in the main Armaverse timeline.

The Extraterrestrials, also referred to as Alien Entities or "The Visitors", are artificial lifeforms featured in ArmA 3's non-canon First Contact campaign.

Background

SPC Aiden Rudwell attempts to communicate with one of the smaller drones.

The Extraterrestrials are the scientific and defence forces of an unknown species, which have been deployed on Earth to extract strange, rootlike structures that have begun to break through the terrain in certain locations throughout Earth. The Extraterrestrials are believed to have originated from somewhere in the Sagittarius constellation.

Their presence on Earth consists solely of airborne drones that serve a variety of purposes, including scientific measurements and self-defence. Their weaponry is gravity-based, utilising matter taken from the surrounding environment which is then condensed and superheated into projectile form.

Although their drones communicate on the broad electromagnetic spectrum, the Extraterrestrials exhibit the ability to broadcast images and sensations directly into the minds of organic beings.

Appearance

In a discussion with Dr. Ian Kesson, Czech astrobiologist Šimon Čapek speculates that the robotic entities are constructed in the image of their creators.

Čapek states his belief that the Extraterrestrials evolved in a dark, watery world with strong currents in orbit around a red dying star. This environment is reflected in the fin-shaped drones they use and the gill-like indentations on parts of the drones. Accordingly, the Extraterrestrials' speculated natural means of communication is via the electromagnetic spectrum, rather than sound or light, which would have limited utility in their natural environment.

Equipment

A superheated "matter ball".

Although the Extraterrestrials are not an "army" in the conventional sense, their drones utilise various modules and tools as a form of weaponry.

The smaller Alien Entities demonstrate the ability to manipulate local gravity and use this to hold tools and resources in various orbits around their hull. These tools include the Scan Module and the Gravity Tool Module; a research tool and weapon/manipulator (respectively).

The Alien Entities also collect and superheat matter from their environment to use as ammunition - up to six of these "matter balls" are held in orbits around the central hull and are fed into the Gravity Module when attacking.

In addition, all drones are largely impervious (though not completely invulnerable) to human weapons. In combat situations, the drones have demonstrated several means of defence, ranging from less-than-lethal (LTL) gravity bursts to ranged, semi-homing missile-like objects with area of effect blast and lastly, a "gravity cannon" that is effective against single targets.

The drones have two means of active defence. The first is a "light burst" countermeasure that overwhelms and disorients targets with noise and light, akin to a prolonged stun effect found in human-made flashbang grenades. The second is a pulsing "force field" that can catch and redirect projectiles as well as temporarily prevent movement.

Methods of travel

In one of the visions projected to SPC Rudwell's mind, a "network" is briefly visible.

Scientific consensus on how exactly the Extraterrestrials were able to arrive on Earth is divided. However, it is widely agreed upon that a mass cluster of neutrinos - released from the root network at the SIŁA Factory into space, was one of the primary causes (if not the main factor).

One theory posits that the Extraterrestrials began their journey hundreds of thousands of years ago in pursuit of the roots, and timed their arrival in the system for just after the network began broadcasting.

Alternately, a second theory states that because neutrinos may travel faster than the speed of light, the neutrino messages arrived at the alien homeworld before they were sent - travelling backward in time from the moment of their release. Accordingly, the aliens were acting on acausal information carried by neutrinos, while their actual drones and ships were still constrained by the speed of light and thus would take decades to return to their point of origin.

History

Events of First Contact (2039)

SPOILER ALERT

NOTE: This section contains significant spoilers from ArmA 3: Contact's non-canon 'First Contact' campaign. The Extraterrestrials are discovered when their equipment interferes with the GPS guidance system of a NATO UCAV, resulting in a friendly fire incident during a joint U.S./Livonian training exercise in the isolated countryside of Livonia. In the days before the arrival of their large drone ship, scientists observe an unusual amount of neutrino activity. When the Extraterrestrials do arrive, their ship creates a local, transient EMP-like event that knocks out all unshielded electronics, creating confusion among LDF and NATO forces. Responding to human aggression, the drone retaliates with devastating force. Efforts at communicating with the entities - although initially somewhat successful - quickly degenerate into armed conflict after one of the smaller drones temporarily knocks out Specialist Aiden Rudwell while trying to communicate with him. After taking sporadic fire from LDF and NATO squads, the drone destroys the attackers with unknown ranged weaponry while demonstrating incredible agility and speed. Extraterrestrials later engage in a full battle with LDF and NATO. Fighting is only halted when Corporal Jack Stype is forced to shoot his commanding officer and LDF soldiers to prevent further retaliatory strikes against the aliens. The Extraterrestrials continued to patrol around the region for other roots. Simultaneously, SPC Aiden Rudwell continued his search for roots but after he returned to the Rodzanica radio tower, one of the drones suddenly appears right above the installation and seemingly "looks" directly at the human. The drone appears to recognise the NATO soldier from prior attempts to communicate and begins relaying visions directly into the human's mind once more, though it momentarily renders him unconscious. The unstable core on the brink of failure. The Extraterrestrials make one final appearance as their "mothership" above the factory comes under heavy attack from the Livonians once more. With its core now dangerously close to breaking apart, its self-destruction and ensuing detonation would effectively wipe out the entire country and parts of Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, and Russia. A team of Russo-American operatives succeed in protecting the core and drive back the Livonians before its destruction. The ship, along with the rest of the Extraterrestrials eventually depart from Earth, presumably to return to their homeworld.

Post-First Contact

SPOILER ALERT

NOTE: This section contains significant spoilers from ArmA 3: Contact's non-canon 'First Contact' campaign. In the wake of humanity's first contact with the Extraterrestrials, it soon turns out that eleven alien crafts had visited the Earth and arrived over the root core locations in the past. Roughly half were located at sea and only three craft were actually located near major population centres. The roots the Extraterrestrials were extracting are speculated to have been a type of self-replicating Von Neumann probe that arrived on the Earth millions of years prior when there was only one large supercontinent, possibly as part of an interstellar communications array. Roughly forty days after the Extraterrestrials departed from Earth, Astra announced they would begin the Acaronar Project, sending small, wafer-like probes at a quarter of the speed of light using a 70-gigawatt laser array, with parts set to launch one year after its announcement. Another project, Eter, was also announced, with the intention of tracing the Extraterrestrials' trajectory into the Sagittarius constellation and then beaming a message using neutrinos.

Trivia

• While not strictly a "faction" in the conventional gameplay sense, the Extraterrestrials are the first faction in the series to only use robotic drones as units.
• A half-buried alien drone can be found during the events of First Contact. This dig-site was documented by a civilian who fled the area after the LDF issued toxic vapour warnings.
  • The depth of the burial would imply that the drone had been buried there for some time and suggest that the Extraterrestrials have scouted Livonia long before the events of the campaign.

Gallery

One of the "roots" that form the mysterious alien subterranean network.

An Alien Entity charging its less-than-lethal gravity and light burst countermeasures.

Ditto, but preparing semi-homing projectiles against an attacker.

External links

• Help page for using Alien Entities in the editor
• Wikipedia: Anticausal system
• Wikipedia: Faster-than-light neutrino anomaly

See also

Sub-factions
ArmA: Armed Assault	Black Element • Resistance • USMC
ArmA 2	Bystrican Militia • Takistani Militia
ArmA 3	CTRG • IDAP • Task Force Aegis • The Visitors* • Viper
ArmA: Mobile Ops	Attidan Guerrillas • Task Force
* this sub-faction does not canonically exist within the main Armaverse timeline.