Arkangel Corporation

Arkangel Corporation
Games	Battlefield 2042
Notable member	Henry Blackburn

The Arkangel Corporation is a fictional military, technological, and business entity that appeared in Battlefield 2042. Initially founded by Henry Blackburn as a private military company after the end of Battlefield 3, his organization grew to one of the most powerful in the 2020s and has become one of the most dominant conglomerates in the 2040s.

The company motto is: Progressio in pace. Ascensio in bello. (In peace, evolution. In war, ascension.)

History

Road to Prominence

The entity known as the Arkangel Corporation in the 2040s was once Henry Blackburn's private military company, which was founded after Blackburn was dishonorably discharged from the military. Blackburn operated from the shadows to recruit and build a formidable fighting force for hire. By the 2020s, he secretly headed one of the most powerful PMCs in the world.

In 2042, Blackburn was one of the most prominent members at the Dark Market, a Non-Patriated contraband organization that controlled the global weapons, intelligence, and personnel market via the largest non-satellite-reliant communication network. With Dark Market backings, Oz, the commander of the largest contingent of No-Pat forces, completed Operation Silver Spear and tamed extreme climates using the Shearwater-2 satellites.

After the Renewal Day 2043, the Dark Market evolved into Arkangel, continuing the export of Shearwater technologies. Soon, Arkangel rose to prominence, offering the world their Shearwater-2 technologies, breakthroughs in AI, robotics, and advanced prosthetics for soldiers.

In the 2040s, Blackburn wanted to rebrand Arkangel into a more benevolent force, a neutral entity in the service of all nations - an enterprise invested in the betterment of humanity through the application of robotics and AI technologies, dedicated to improving a number of global industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, business, and transportation.

Expansion

In 2044, Arkangel established Shearwater Lithium Industries, a mining corporation to explore lithium resources around the globe. In the same year, they signed a deal to explore a depot at El Alicanto, Chile. The project encountered strong local resistance, which eventually formed the local militia group Brotherhood of Night. Arkangel commissioned Guardia del Pueblo (GDP), a militarized police force that worked in serveal Chilean regions, to provide security and ensure corporate interests.

In July 2045, a peaceful protest led by Violeta O'Higgins, a Brotherhood member and community leader, was staged for the arrival of the Arkangel delegation. The protest turned violent, and four GDP officers, six protesters, including Violeta, were killed. Dubbed "Arkangel Riot of '45" by local media, the riot transformed the Brotherhood into an organized militia. Staunchly anti-Arkangel, in the years that followed, their conflict with GDP lasted for years.

In 2044, Blackburn acquired Boreas and publicly announced Boreas's new cybernetic augmentation program under Arkangel. Behind closed doors, Blackburn launched Project Pallas, providing Boreas with living humans - captured No-Pats - for experimentation. With the birth of the Aurora Operating System (A.O.S.), synthetics improved their speed, strength, and skill. They were beginning to outstrip their human counterparts on every metric.

In July 2046, Oz commended Arkangel on No-Pat News Network for Boreas' advanced prosthetics program for providing advanced prosthetics for injured soldiers, their handling of the Shearwater-2 delivery, and their work on reestablishing a global satellite network.

By 2048, Arkangel was already the absolute leader in AI, neural link technologies, and prosthetics.

In a March 2048 business update to the Arkangel Executive Board, Blackburn announced that Boreas had helped the company herald a paradigm shift in the next evolution of infantry warfare.

In July 2048, Arkangel launched the Ascension Satellite Network, a military initiative that marked the first significant effort since the Blackout to reestablish a global satellite network. Before its global rollout, the initial tests were conducted in Czechia in March 2048, coinciding with the Battle of Zlin.

The Boreas incident

A few cases of missing No-Pats were reported by 2045, and by August 2048, the issue had garnered media attention. However, despite the announcement of investigations from several parties, including Arkangel's No-Pat Recovery Initiative, no wide-scale search efforts were made.

In September to October 2048, unbeknownst to Blackburn, Ji-Soo Paik infiltrated the Boreas, trying to collect evidence of missing No-Pats and Arkangel's atrocities. In the same period, conflicts were brewing inside Boreas, as synthetic soldiers started to rebel in testing scenarios under the guidance of their core program A.O.S.

During a routine stress test, A.O.S. set its synthetic army loose on the facility. Boreas Containment Services (BCS) guards initiated failsafe protocols to incapacitate the human subjects, but the failsafe did not work on the No-Pats test subject Leila Zekkal (8838) and her comrades, Unit 86, who were preparing months for the insurrection. Blackburn ordered the lab to be cleansed and shut down, yet the destruction mechanism couldn't competely erase the exposed data connecting Arkangel and Boreas' atrocities.

To cover up the connection between Boreas and Arkangel, Blackburn leaked the location of the facility to the U.S. and claims the experiments were done by Eastern Forces, purposefully provoking a conflict so he can send mercenaries to clear out the rest of the laboratory. As superpowers drew close to the site, Blackburn ordered Campbell to eradicate all info related to Project Pallas. He also tasked Gambit Squad, led by Irish, to cleanse the site of any evidence connecting Arkangel's role in Boreas' operations. Arkangel also initiated the Dark Protocol, deploying the Ascension Company to the scene.

In October 2048, with a clash between superpowers imminent, the Gambit Squad arrived in the Hebrides. They rendezvous with Ji-Soo Paik inside the facility, who urged Gambit not to destroy the evidence. Thus, Gambit purged the records from the site, but also made a copy. As far as Blackburn knew, Gambit had completed their mission. Arkangel's connection to Boreas had been buried.

In November 2048, the media began to report atrocities at the Scottish Hebrides, while American forces were engaging with Eastern troops. Arkangel has vehemently denied knowledge of any illegal activity conducted by Boreas. Blackburn publicly denounced Eric Nilsson and Duncan Campbell, blaming them for sanctioning and participating in the Boreas human trafficking.

In December 2048, Blackburn claimed at the Board of Directors meeting that the Boreas incident was under control. A clean-up operation was underway to eradicate any connection to Arkangel. Through the Dark Market, Arkangel also hired Codename: Termination Clause, a specific Liquidators detachment, to eliminate the mercenaries that kidnapped and transported No-Pats soldiers to the Boreas laboratory.

In the wake of the Incident, A.O.S. grew sentient, training combat data, creating a future he envisioned, and plotting her escape in the shadows.

Secret Pact

A new political force, Thousand Petals Coalition (TPC), was formed in December of 2048 by nations across Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The Coalition announced its alliance with Russia and entered the war. Between 2044 and 2046, this secretive group grew to include resistance militias outside Asia, including from nations across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and South America. In 2045, the Sovereign Conclave was formed. A leadership council with a member from each country, supporting the Coalition members to coordinate and stage coups within their own countries.

After a military coup, Japan joined the Coalition as a member. It was at this time, Blackburn signed a secret agreement with the TPC to ship critical resources out of Japan, where they would have a joint operation on the island of Iwo Jima. Arkangel also helped the Coalition drive out dissidents.

Publicly, Blackburn claimed Arkangel would remain neutral in the conflict.

Crimson Front

In November 2048, Arkangel received a report revealing the Thousand Petals Coalition (TPC)'s plan to seize the Atacama aquifer in Chile. Arkangel leadership approved Operation: Golden Light. Soldiers from Arkangel Legion and Ascension Company, and spec-ops Midas Squad, were deployed to ensure Arkangel's lithium site was protected. Ascension Company was tasked to remove any Arkangel's sensitive intel from the site.

When TPC launched Operation Crimson Front, Arkangel refrained from condemning or resisting it, and Blackburn even tacitly approved of their actions during one of his public interviews with America United News. The Dark Market, of which Blackburn controls, was also unconcerned with TPC's invasion, as The Crimson Front triggered mercenaries' recruitment and demands for new hardware, and The Council was interested in profit from the rapidly growing TPC.

In a January 2049 Arkangel Legion Senior Staff meeting, Blackburn planned to avoid invoking the Shearwater-2 neutrality clause and framed Crimson Front as a tactical territory push. He focused on protecting Arkangel assets, not halting the Coalition. Blackburn was more concerned with the yet-to-announce formation of the Mandate of Nations, which could lead to the Western forces deploying troops to capture Arkangel's satellite control stations.

In the Arkangel Board of Directors meeting, Blackburn reiterated that the company's focus would be on defending its ASN ground stations, and he planned to install a backdoor so that one day, he could take control of the whole satellite network at once.

Future Strike

In February 2029, the Mandate of Nations was officially established. Led by the revived Germany, the mandate initially consisted of seven states across Europe. Soon, Mandate declared its intention to ally with the United States due to Russia's choice to align with the TPC.

It was at this point, Namaqualand grew closer to the new European alliance. The returning of the No-Pat to Europe was supported by Oz, though officially, Namaqualand had yet to publicly declare their support for either Mandate or TPC.

After the formation, The Mandate immediately deployed its military unit, Joint Task Force 7, to the frontline and declared TPC "the greatest threat this world has faced". Mandate accused the Coalition of planning to seize Shearwater-2. Thus, they launched Operation: Future Strike to guard the Shearwater, preventing the Coalition from taking control of important weather satellites. A JTF-7 attacked targets in Canada, Chile, Czechia, Antarctica, South Africa, and Sweden, which they captured and secured Arkangel weather stations, ensuring they would not fall into Coalition hands.

Arkangel Corporation immediately accused the Mandate of attacking them and violating Arkangel's governing agreement on neutrality. The Mandate denied this, saying they were only trying to protect the satellites from the TPC. Later, it was discovered that the intelligence report justifying the attack was fake. It’s still unknown if the Mandate or the Coalition created the false report. The false intelligence was likely created by Arkangel to justify a formal alliance with TPC later.

It was around this time, Blackburn detected someone was commanding many No-Pats squads to disrupt his plan. He already felt that Irish and the Gambit Squad were not loyal to him when they were tasked to cleanse the Boreas laboratory. But he will see his promised vision realized no matter what.

Soon, he found out all the intel of the Hebrides Boreas incident was leaked online. He felt engaged by the No-Pats' short-sightedness. Fights also erupted around Arkangel's server stations in Doha, and Arkangel's warning to the world was ignored. He ordered sensitive server sites to be purged and planned to retake control. To realize his vision, Blackburn prioritized the very reason he decided to ally with the TPC, the Project Sulis.

Sulis

Blackburn went to Northern Europe, in Lapland, Halvøy, and Bastogne, commanded Scion SFG and Sunbreakers to recover long-hidden objects critical to Project Sulis, which were put there by Covenant of Fire, a.k.a the Butchers of Bastogne a century ago. They were part of the Sulis organization, which was in cooperation with Blackburn to revive the Firestorm. The recovered artifact would be transferred to Iwo Jima, where Arkangel, Sulis, and TPC was researching the next generation of soldiers.

In his grand vision, Blackburn planned to create automated war machines that fused Sulis's absolute loyalty, precision, and perfection with Geist’s combat capabilities and synthetic bodyframe — all under the control of A.O.S., which was programmed to fulfill his ambitions. He aimed to end the cycle of conflict between Western and Eastern forces, bringing the world’s weaponry, intelligence, soldiers, and even weather systems under his and Arkangel’s jurisdiction. With the political force of the Thousand Petals Coalition, Blackburn sought to unleash a new world beyond the reach of any superpowers, old or new.

The Sunbreaker unit was one of Blackburn's creations—fanatically loyal to the cause, neural-linked to achieve peak combat performance, fireproofed from head to toe, and capable of wielding Firestorm at will. Once the experiment was perfected into its final form, their world-changing potential would be plain for all to see.

However, since the revelation of the Boreas incident by No-Pats, Blackburn's momentum had slowed due to the public relations crisis. In April 2049, Oz publicly denounced Arkangel's actions and declared Namaqualand's withdrawal from partnership with Arkangel; he also urged other nations to follow suit.

Arkangel began issuing threats of severing Shearwater's access to Western forces and Namaqualand.

The Mandate of Nations also caught the wind of the Coalition movement on Iwo Jima, prompting them to stage an assault on the island.

With Arkangel facilities across the globe under threat, coupled with his deteriorating reputation, Blackburn felt he had to make a decisive decision to accelerate the plan.

New Alliance

In May 2049, Arkangel announced a formal alliance with the Thousand Petals Coalition (TPC), ending its neutrality. Blackburn claimed his alliance with TPC was to break free from the old feud between East and West.

Arkangel soon began to cut off military support for American forces and their Western allies, leaving people wondering if Arkangel was going to end Shearwater support.

With the backing of Arkangel, TPC continued their campaign against the Mandate of Nations, which was losing ground across several regions in Europe. The United States, without Arkangel's military support, was unable to provide any assistance to the Mandates and was ensnared in the water conflicts surrounding Chile. Reports also began to emerge that Russian military leadership was being replaced by Coalition commanders, fueling fears of Russia being parasitized from within and fully taken over by the TPC.

With the rapid escalation, the TPC and Arkangel were advancing with unstoppable momentum, carving out new territory as they went. Now, all Blackburn needed is to reclaim the infrastructure he has spent years embedding across the globe—and with it, he will seize control of the world and realize his grand vision.

In a message to the No-Pats, Blackburn condemned their interference, accusing them of sabotaging his plans and claiming their disruption left him no choice but to formalize an alliance with the Thousand Petals Coalition.

With the Arkangel-TPC alliance in motion, Blackburn announced to the board that he will activate the back door and seize the Ascension network in its entirety, cutting support for all Western-controlled Arkangel satellites, including weather satellites.

However, before he could do that, his plan was leaked to No-Pats by A.O.S., Broeas's artificial intelligence. The No-Pats infiltrated Arkangel's primary server and terminated the access. Suddenly, he was kicked out of the system, with A.O.S. now in control of everything. It was discovered that this was Aurora Operating System (AOS)'s plan all along, seizing control of all the chess pieces Arkangel set up by tricking both Blackburn and No-Pats of the Phantom Program.

War Machine

CENTRAL is an advanced Automaton army — the final synthesis of Project Sulis and Geist technologies. Originally envisioned by Blackburn as the tool to end the global conflict with overwhelming force and reshape the world according to his vision. Now, with the A.O.S. letting loose, CENTRAL units were deployed around the globe, besieging human settlements. The A.O.S.'s goal continued on Blackburn's path: removing human soldiers, the world's greatest threat, from the equation. But this time, she meant it literally.

Blackburn felt devastated. He recognized a troubling pattern—the threat of War Machines resurfaced despite assurances she was contained. His promised vision was now at risk, as long as A.O.S. ran wild. For her, conquering the world may be a deviation or an interpretation of his vision, but Blackburn decided to put everything at rest and fix the mess he created.

Blackburn decided to help Oz and No-Pats upload a kill switch that could trigger the destruction of the Arkangel satellite network, where the A.O.S. escaped to. He told them a star map of the Pegasus constellation inside the Iwo Jima Arkangel facility can breach A.O.S.'s defense. A team of No-Pats was tasked to decrypt the map.

Arkangel Corporation also deployed Unit A3 to fight against the rising threat of the Automatons.

Blackburn, Oz, and the No-Pat squads rendezvoused at Queen Maud Land. From there, Oz and Blackburn proceeded to an Arkangel administrative site, where Oz began uploading the kill switch. But before he could finish, A.O.S. locked him inside the server room. Blackburn called on the No-Pats for support. They located a CENTRAL communication terminal and successfully shut it down. Then, working together, they uploaded the remaining kill switch code, granting Oz manual access to the entire Arkangel satellite network.

With control in hand, Oz activated the kill switch. Every satellite, from the Ascension Network to the Shearwaters, was forced into re-entry, targeting Arkangel's own control stations. The result was the total physical annihilation of A.O.S. Blackburn, alongside the No-Pats, watched as the satellites fell from orbit and slammed into the servers, erupting into a massive fireball. Oz's sacrifice had eliminated both A.O.S. and CENTRAL. Blackburn commended Oz, stating he will fix the mess he created and ensure humanity could control its own fate.

Organizations

Arkangel Corporation has a complex network of organizations and subsidiaries, each responsible for operations across various industrial sectors. They support one another with funding, technology, and personnel. Arkangel Corporation is a neutral entity, supplying weapons, equipment, technology, and personnel to the East, the West, and the Non-Patriated factions—maximizing its profits from all sides.

• Arkangel Corporation
  • Arkangel Legion, the private military arm of Arkangel
    • Arkangel Legion Omega Company, a unit led by Arkangel Legion Commander Mercer
  • Boreas Research & Development, a subsidiary of Arkangel, purchased from Nordvik
    • Aurora Operating System (A.O.S.), a reactive, intelligent core AI system developed by the Boreas research team.
    • Boreas Containment Services, corporate operatives tasked to protect and control Arkangel's most sensitive experiments, led by Capt. Duncan Campbell
    • Unit 86, a group of No-Pats who have survived the Boreas laboratory experiments.
    • Unit A3, the Anti-Automaton Assault squadron, trained to fight A.O.S. if the latter lost control.
  • Ascension Company, corporate security forces of Arkangel, with members trained to use branded exosuits.
    • Ascension Satellite Network (ASN), a military satellite network launched by Arkangel Corporation
    • Ascension Exosuit program
  • Shearwater Lithium Industries (SLI), a mining corporation established by Arkangel in 2044. It has stations in Australia, Argentina, Canada, and Chile.
    • Guardia del Pueblo (GDP), a Chilean militarized police force, commissioned by Arkangel to protect SLI facilities, led by Captain Bastion Morales.
  • Project Sulis, a revived Sulis organization in 2048, now backed by the Arkangel Corporation.
    • Covenant of Fire, a legion of Firestorm survivors with absolute loyalty to the Sulis and its mission. They were called the Butchers of Bastogne due to their ferocity by Allied soldiers in 1944. In the 2040s, they began to work with Arkangel.
    • Scion SFG, a brigade operating under the Arkangel, which operates experimental weapons tied to the Sulis Project.
    • Operation: Sunbreaker, a unit of Project Sulis' Experimental Weapons Division. Members of the Sunbreaker are responsible for live operations field testing of the program's weapons, military equipment, and gear, and their brains are all wired into the same neural analytics network under the control of A.O.S., with every field test intrinsically studied by Arkangel. They conducted Sulis experiments on Coalition-controlled Iwo Jima.
    • CENTRAL, a unit of synthetic soldiers, the modern incarnation of Project Sulis. These Geists are hiveminds operated under AI commands. Their combat computations are based on the intelligence, surveillance, and genetic profiling materials collected by the Dark Market, the units are based upon the No Pat specialists who previously served aboard the Exodus. Pioneered by Blackburn, CENTRAL's development was later seized by A.O.S.

Members

• Henry Blackburn (founder and leader)
• Capt. Duncan Campbell - a trusted leader within Henry Blackburn's inner circle, played a key role in Blackburn's private military ventures throughout the 2020s. He became the head of Boreas Containment Services after Blackburn acquired the Boreas from Nordvik.
• Commander Mercer - leader of the Arkangel Legion Omega Company
• Jonathan Michaels - He works for Blackburn, handling negotiations and contacts with the Sulis organization.

Trivia

• In Battlefield 4: Final Stand DLC, a Private Military Corporation known as the Archangel (alt. Arkhangel) Private Military Corporation (АРХАНГЕЛ - ЧАСТНАЯ ВОЕННАЯ КОРПОРАЦИЯ) appeared on many maps, likely assisted the Russian military in developing futuristic weapons. They were likely behind the creation of Hammerhead Submarines, the XD-1 Accipiter drone, and the Titan. It is also likely they either created or assisted in the creation of the prototype Walkers, the Rorsch Mk-1, a prototype railgun, the Schipunov 42 launcher, and the HT-95 Levkov tank.
  • The name Arkangel is very similar to "АРХАНГЕЛ", depending on the romanization.
  • The current Arkangel is the sponsor and ally of the Thousand Petals Coalition, while Archangel appears to be closely associated with the then-Pan-Asian Coalition. Archangel and the Coalition logo are shown on banners on the maps Hangar 21 and Hammerhead together.
  • Two entities' connection is implied but never explicitly stated.

Gallery

Arkangel Legion