Aliens

The Aliens, or Hydra as they're sometimes referred after the first autopsy, are a non-playable faction. They have their own set of missions separate from human factions.

Aliens start on either Haumea or Makemake with a tier 3 Base and a tier 3 Habitat. They have 1 councilor on Earth and 5 more on Gunships that will crash and bring them on Earth regularly. They also start with a Destroyer that will arrive in early 2024. Aliens will expand from the edge towards the core of the solar system but will not attack human fleets or habs until the Alien Threat Level increases sufficiently.

Alien ships bringing councilors to Earth will create an UFO Crashdown Site visible to everyone. Other alien phenomena are created by alien councilor missions and have the be surveyed. Investigating an alien phenomena site will increase Xenology research by 1%.

Aliens come from the Delta Pavonis system. In the past the Hydra were attacked and their homeworld destroyed by another alien race, the Salamanders. The surviving colonies managed to mind-control the Salamanders using their pherocytes. The Hydra decided that every other species has to be enslaved before it could become another threat. They have managed to conquer two other star systems: Zeta Tucanae and Alpha Mensae. One was the home of the Salamanders, the other was the home of the Griffins.

Their plan is taking covert control of the human nations and using them to construct a network of orbital weapon platforms to keep them pacified. Then humanity can be used as a subservient race like the Salamanders.

Alien Threat Level
Alien Threat Level represents the degree to which the aliens regard a faction as a threat. Hostile actions against the aliens or their proxies on Earth, and/or a large visible space presence, increases their concern about a faction, which may expect the aliens to retaliate against their interests on Earth and in space should the alert monitor reach the maximum level. They may also lose interest if factions avoid opposing them or their proxies on Earth directly for a time.

Alien Threat Level becomes visible in the Intel panel once the Alien Operations council engineering project has been completed. The Servants are never considered a threat.

Alien threat is scored from 0 upwards, with every 10 points increasing the threat level by 1. Alien Threat Level caps at 5, at which point the aliens will start attacking a faction's habs and fleets. The points can go above 50, making it harder to lower it. Gaining threat will worsen relations with The Servants and The Protectorate as well. Threat is increased by the following:
 * +1 for every point of Mission Control used
 * +1 if a tier 1 module is destroyed
 * +2 if a tier 2 module is destroyed
 * +3 if a tier 3 module is destroyed
 * +3 if a tier 1 hab is destroyed
 * +6 if a tier 2 hab is destroyed
 * +9 if a tier 3 hab is destroyed
 * +10 if a facility is destroyed
 * +40 if a landed UFO is destroyed
 * +80 if the Alien Administration is destroyed

Each point of Mission Control used will also increase threat with a value depending on the game difficulty:
 * +0.05 on Cinematic
 * +0.4 on Normal
 * +0.6 on Veteran
 * +1 on Brutal

Alien Administration
The Alien Administration is a nation that is created either when an Invader Army occupies a region or when The Servants, The Protectorate or The Academy transfer territory to the aliens. Through human politicians there, the new alien nation is presenting itself to the world as a unifying force capable of solving Earth's problems.

With the aliens as the power behind the throne, the nation appears invulnerable to usual attempts to assume political control - Crackdowns, Purges and Coups simply will not succeed. Only an internal rebellion or an outright invasion has a chance to remove the aliens from power.

The Alien Administration will immediately annex any region conquered by an Invader Army.