Set in the United States in late 1962, at the height of the Cold War, the story follows William Carter, a CIA special agent tasked with delivering a mysterious briefcase to a secretive government organization. When the delivery goes catastrophically wrong and a hostile extraterrestrial force known as the Outsiders launches a coordinated assault, the bureau at the heart of the crisis is secretly activated as XCOM, humanity's last line of defense. With communications worldwide jammed and military bases falling one after another, its director assumes control of the nation's remaining forces while agents planted in major cities keep the public calm. Carter leads squads across the country to rescue key personnel, defend strategic sites, and recover what alien technology they can, slowly piecing together the Outsiders' true purpose: to conquer the Earth, remake it into a new homeworld, and enslave the human race.