In Rainbow Six Extraction, you and your squad take form of REACT Operators to study and contain an ongoing epidemic related to the Chimera Parasite. Beyond slaying Archæans, rescuing those who go missing in action, and utilising your new technology, there are questions that go unanswered.
In this guide, we explain how REACT came to be, and how to learn more lore and gameplay tips using the Codex in Rainbow Six Extraction.
Read More: Rainbow Six Extraction: How to Level Up Fast
The Backstory
The outbreak in Rainbow Six Extraction began when an unidentified Russian Soyuz capsule crashed in New Mexico, triggering the epidemic. Ground zero was the city of Truth of Consequences, one of the games four regions. Once this event had occurred, Rainbow HQ launched Operation Outbreak with the goal of collecting data on the outbreak and containing the deadly diseases.
This event raises queries about how future events were to be handled, which led to the formation of a specialised task force of Operators: REACT (Rainbow Exogenous Analysis and Containment Team). The role of the team was to be dedicated to containing any similar dangers, assess known exogenous threats to the world, and study them for the advancement of science and for the human race.
The event in Truth or Consequences, however, was not an isolated event. A few years after the initial Russian Soyuz capsule had crashed, catastrophic emergence events occurred across New York, San Francisco, and Alaska. REACT were then deployed to the sites immediately. This is where you, the player, land when opening Rainbow Six Extraction. You and your squads role is to take the form of REACT's Operators, study the Containment Zones in each area, and ultimately learn more about it while making attempts to contain it.
What Is the Codex?
As you make progress in Rainbow Six Extraction, and interact with your environment across each map, you will gain various intel on the alien threat at hand that is then fed into the Codex for you to look at.
According to Ubisoft, the Codex is "an AI-managed database that combs through entries with advanced pattern-recognition algorithms to extrapolate theories about the Parasite, how it functions and the environment it creates for itself."
As an Operator, you will gain valuable intel through taking on new mission objectives in new regions, and completing them successfully. However, you are also tasked with completing Region Studies - the Studies you are asked to complete alongside main mission objectives - that will further fill out the Codex with new information about the context of the outbreak in each region, and ultimately, the evolution of the parasite.
How to Use the Codex
The Codex is interesting for two reasons. The first reason being that as you gather more intel and thus, more entries, you learn more lore surrounding Rainbow Six Extraction's REACT operations, Operators, and the notorious Chimera Parasite. The second reason is that the Codex also provides helpful tips and diagrams that aid with many of the missions and studies that your squad is required to carry out: see the diagram of how a biopsy sample is taken from an Archæan above.
To gather more entries for the Codex, you can do the following things:
- Complete Mission Objectives across regions successfully.
- Complete Studies across regions.
- Reach new Milestones by earning XP.
- Level up your Operators.
- Interact with Points Of Interest on each map - more specifically, if you see a magnifying glass icon on your HUD while wandering a Containment Zone, interact with it.
The Codex and all of the entries associated images and videos can then be accessed from your main menu at any time. This intel helps you to learn more about the Operators you're playing as, the Archæans you're studying, and the wider evolution of the Parasite. For those who want to get into the nitty gritty of Rainbow Six Extraction's story, each entry will prove to be interesting. For those who simply want a better understanding of their missions or to learn about something specific, such as Operator ROOK's background for example, the Codex is the place to look.
That's all you need to know about the backstory of Rainbow Six Extraction, and how to go about using the Codex in-game to learn even more. If you haven't had your fill of Extraction info just yet, check out our guide to all weapons in the game, as well as how each difficulty varies.