Note - the follow section lists the answers to several "mysteries" I posed in the game that were never revealed during the life of the campaign. Had we continued the game, these would have been revealed in due course. They do not correspond to anything in the original XCom series of games (except for one or two "borrowed" ideas) and are not, I repeat NOT theories about "real-world" aliens (although again, these are based on some conspiracy theories I've come across).
Q:- What happened to the United Republic (Britain)?
A:- The players were a bit put out at how the "defection" of the UR seemed to come out of nowhere, and that they had no way of averting it. I did this deliberately to hammer home the fact that while XCom was the focus of the game, there would be things going on in the world that they could not control. I also wanted one nation to be squarely behind the aliens, and since all the players were Brits, I thought our own nation would have the most impact.
The Grays had a presence in the UR long before the start of the game. They'd subverted the President when he was the Prime-minister, and assisted in the dissolution of the monarchy. This was done using a powerful mind-control generator disguised as a top-secret government installation. This broadcast a low-level signal that after long-term exposure would be able to implant subliminal suggestions into peoples' subconscious minds. (As I write this, in November 2000, I'm struck by the thought that if I was doing this now, the mind-control signals would be re-broadcast by mobile phone masts, with the dreaded handsets acting as psi-amplifiers to rot people's minds)
Q:- What's the deal between the Grays and the Golden Androids?
A:- The Grays created the Golden Androids originally as their servants. Yes I know it's a cliche, but the Frankenstein syndrome (artificially created servant turning on its creator) is an old favourite. Following the failure of their experiment with electro-mechanical life forms, the Grays shifted focus and developed their current bio-technology (Slugs, HIEs, Biotanks etc). Seeing new lifeforms appearing in the service of their old masters and enemies, the Golden Androids modified their programming: instead of fighting one specific biological lifeform, they would seek destroy all biological life based on DNA. Hence they became the "Enemies of the Helix"
Q:- What alien groups are active on Earth?
A:- Three main ones, actually. XCom ran directly into two, the Grays (including their servant races) and the Golden Androids (although the GAs don't have a permanent base on Earth, they mount numerous terror missions). The third race - let's call them the Atlanteans, lived under the sea. XCom never encountered them directly. That's because the Atlantean technology was far in advance of even the Grays and GAs, including super stealth for their UFOs. Atlanteans were hovering around a lot of the time, observing the activities of the surface dwellers and the new invaders, only acting when they felt directly threatened (or in one instance, purely on a whim - see below).
The Atlanteans intervened in the war twice directly. Once was in the Angola terror mission in Series One, Episode 4. The Slugs/Grays had taken control of an offshore oil drilling facility. The Atlanteans decided that this was encroaching on their turf and killed the interlopers. The second time was in Episode 10. The Grays had taken over the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru. This again was too close to the Atlanteans sphere of operations, and so they faked the thermographic silhouette of the missing space shuttle in the lake by the alien base, effectively tipping XCom off about the island.
Q:- How did Ace survive re-entry from orbit in just his flight suit?
A:- Again, this was the Atlanteans. In terms of motivation, the Atlanteans are largely humanlike, albeit somewhat coldhearted. However after watching several major air battles where Ace had shown spirit and courage, they observed him punch out when his fighter was destroyed in the space battle. Call it pity, admiration for a brave warrior or merely a whim, but they decided to rescue him. They found his nearly lifeless body floating in space, took him aboard and healed his wounds. Then they simply kept him on ice until they could decide what to do with him. When they discovered that the Grays were attempting to duplicate their operation on Nauru on the British held Falkland Islands, they decided to plant Ace there to draw XCom's attention to what was going on there.
Q:- What's the deal with Astrodyne?
A:- They're pretty much what they appear to be. A bunch of Bill Gates-style technology zillionaires with an Illuminati complex. They managed to get their hands on some alien tech back in the seventies, which helped kick start the Information Revolution. However they weren't in league with any alien power, just after as much advanced tech they can get their hands on. They were there to show that no matter how desperate the fate of humanity was, there'll always be someone who's out to line their own pockets. Cynical, moi?
Q:- If the Golden Android fleet is still in deep space, where are the current attacks coming from?
A:- The GAs have themselves a condo on Mars. Yep, the Cydonia complex, (the pyramids, the face etc) is their home away from home in the Solar system. At the time of the campaign they're in skirmishing mode; an automated factory builds a detachment of androids and a Wedge, then fires them off towards Earth. The raiding party lands, scouts around, causes some mayhem and transmits its findings back to Mars until destroyed. They actually send a lot more raiding parties to Earth, maybe two or three a week, however saucers from the Gray base on the moon intercepted most of them. When the players wiped out the moonbase, they just opened the floodgates for a whole load more Golden Android attacks.
Q:- Are the Russians good guys or bad guys in this?
A:- erm a bit of both actually. They're not aligned with any alien powers, they're out for what's best for the New Soviet Union (I postulated a "democratically elected communist regime" after the apparent failure of the western style market economy) The old rivalry with the US was going to re-surface, kind of like two men in a burning house squabbling over who gets the electric blanket.
Q:- Any more alien agents within X-Com?
A:- No, but there was one guy of alien origin. Colonel John "Joe" Moore was one of the first examples of a third generation alien/human hybrid clone(Slugs are first generation). He was "mislaid" by an alien facility as a very young child, hence his rather eclectic upbringing by his foster family. He has no knowledge of his origins, and is totally loyal to Earth. His alien blood gives him a greater resistance to psionic attacks, and a much improved physique. I was going to introduce this by having an alien commander's mask ripped off to reveal someone looking like Moore's identical twin. Knowing Admiral Greer he'd probably have had Moore shot immediately "just to be safe"!
Q:- Was the Slug "fifth column" genuine, or just a Gray ploy?
A:- Absolutely genuine. Think of Slug psychology - artificial half Gray-half human hybrids. They're going to have some elements of human thought patterns and emotions (which after all is why the Grays created them), including a desire to know their identity or heritage, kind of like adopted children, or slaves born far from the land of their birth. Some are bound to identify with Earth as their bio-cultural home, and instead of invading and conquering, would wish to "return to their roots". To draw a real-world parallel, I'm half English, half Irish. I've lived in England all my life and speak with a northern English accent. Heck, I've never even been to Ireland. But in terms of my own cultural identity, I think of myself as Irish, or at least Celtic, rather than English. Over the Atlantic in the US, think of all the people whose families have lived in America for generations, yet still think of themselves as Irish, Italian etc.
So a goodly portion, maybe 20% of the Slugs, would actually defect to humanities side if offered the opportunity. Sadly with Greer's flat refusal, that's unlikely to happen. After all, he effectively told them "We don't want your sort living in our neighbourhood. Go back where you came from." Sound familiar?