What actually is/are the Gray Army?

[TaylorAC]

I'm not actually anywhere near interacting with them yet, but what is the Gray Army's role/purpose? Are they hostile? Can they be joined? They sure have a banging music theme.

If the answer(s) are potentially too spoiler-y, just let me know. I just can't help but to be intrigued by them.

[TheAverageGortsby]

Spoiler-free version: they're just a curiosity piece.  You get some idea about that part of the game world if you join the Free Drones and talk to Kokoshka (sp?), but prior to Expedition there was no actual interaction with anything from that part of the world.  The Grey Army is just a glance into that part of the game world.

[TaylorAC]

Oh, OK. So they are aligned to the Free Drones? Or just an incidental acquaintance?

[Maliel]

The better question would be are they good or bad?, not that it really matter tho since i killed them all, even the lunch lady

[ciox]

Some kind of reference to Serbian or Balkan peoples and armies, along with the Koko guy.

They're obviously involved in some kind of conflict with some other force, given how intently their troopers are guarding the entrance to their base.

There's some humorous details on their items, like officer uniforms having knife resistance while the standard uniform does not, almost like it's to stop them from being stabbed in the back, probably a reference to how hated some WW2 officers were and how troops sometimes killed them? Or at least that was a popular myth in some books. It seems the gray army officers are involved in a similar situation/myth.

Tbh, would be interesting if it turned out that they and their base was very close to the surface, or something, as it is they seem to just be stuck in yet another pocket of the massive underground subway and cave system where everything is.

[brobotics]

I thought they were from the Fatherland ("far to the West") that Kokoschka talks about

[Lyca0n]

The better question would be are they good or bad?, not that it really matter tho since i killed them all, even the lunch lady

Is the Protectorate bad for wanting order and unity in the rail ? Are the Free drones Evil for wanting their sovereignty and hating the evolution of a old oppressor/War criminal ?

Political entities are rarely that morally binary and we know too little of the Army's military history, societal structure or corruption from one chap and a military base to know whether they deserve to be shot or not.....What I can say is feel free to shoot the trigger happy grey fecker's in self defense as to quote the wise and crazy smiling jack "Self preservation is a vital part of humanity after all. My favorite part, in fact".

[Lyca0n]

Oh, OK. So they are aligned to the Free Drones? Or just an incidental acquaintance?

The latter.

Some kind of reference to Serbian or Balkan peoples and armies, along with the Koko guy.

I wouldn't say the Motherland's Fatherland's Red Army Gray Army refers to Balkans, komvarisch.

As a thought experiment if they were to be some Eastern European/Russian subterranean migrants how long do you think it would take to dig a tunnel long enough to reach the current rail Which I assume is somewhere in the US as that part of europes at least 8000 km to the east (I know he says its to the west but FTS)

[sapient fungus]

I wouldn't say the Motherland's Fatherland's Red Army Gray Army refers to Balkans, komvarisch.
[/quote]

Their language doesn't  sound even a little bit Russian to a native Russian speaker, it sounds like something in between Slovenian and Czech.

[joejoefine]

You can learn a lot about that part of the world from Kokoshka in the free drones base. I was under the impression that they were actually located at the surface though. I think, in that part of the world, they were actually starting to rebuild on the surface. It was very interesting because it offered the tantalizing possibility of seeing what actually happened on the surface, as it was never really explained why they had to to underground.

[Lyca0n]

You can learn a lot about that part of the world from Kokoshka in the free drones base. I was under the impression that they were actually located at the surface though. I think, in that part of the world, they were actually starting to rebuild on the surface. It was very interesting because it offered the tantalizing possibility of seeing what actually happened on the surface, as it was never really explained why they had to to underground.

Yeah I got the dialogue from Kokoschka but most of his dialogue isn't focused on discussing the Fatherland itself (he talks about a leader/dictator though)

Also that surface settlement idea would be interesting and makes his migration from Europe more plausible but where did you hear it from as there aren't really windows in the base and despite being able to interact with a terminal in the gray base it's mostly slavik word salad according to Google translate.

Would love to know if anyone can figure it out as this group is basically the closest I'm gonna get to Eireann as a subterranean dweller of the underrail

[Ravager]

I am not sure that base and particular faction are on the surface. After all, their imagery is all about being underground and subways. They seem to be building morale based on the concept that they are mastering the underground.

[Arclight]

I finished the Free Drones path, and re-talked to Koko, but got no where. I guess this path is gone for me now.