The Precursor Race was a highly advanced, ancient, space-faring alien race that arrived on Planet 4546B approximately one thousand years ago, searching for a cure for Carar.
Carar is a very infectious disease spreading all over the planet. After you enter the Quarantine Enforcement Platform (QEF), you will be recommended to self-scan. After that the infection will be revealed. More about Carar can be found on the web.
Most information surrounding the Precursors is currently unknown, other than the fact that they lived for an extremely long time, shown in data bank entries by the mention of a ninety-six year old Precursor being extremely young. It is likely that they were a lot larger than humans, based on the size of their bases and the objects within them, a prime example being the height of the surgical tables found in the Disease Research Facility.


Two tables with assorted Warper parts on them.

Their ulterior motive is to stop the spread of the Carar, a bacterium that they discovered which currently ravages Planet 4546B and seems to have caused the extinction of the Precursor Race. To accomplish this, four facilities were set up on the Planet, each serving its own purpose.

The Quarantine Enforcement Platform (QEP) is present on the Mountain Island embedded into the rock face. The purpose of this base was to shoot down "all vessels without proper clearance", preventing other races from coming to the planet, getting infected and spreading the bacterium when they leave.

The Disease Research Facility (DRF) is located in the Lost River. Its purpose was to conduct research on live specimens infected with the Carar Bacterium. It was destroyed by a Sea Dragon Leviathan, and thus is suspended at a crooked angle in a giant cavern, surrounded by skeletal remains.

The Alien Thermal Plant (ATP) is found within the Lava Castle, where it produces the power for most of the Precursor technology.

The Primary Containment Facility (PCF) can be found in the Lava Lakes, and is where the Sea Emperor Leviathan is encountered. This Alien Base also features arch rooms, linked to four Alien Arch Caches across Planet 4546B.

Alien Caches are abandoned structures built by the Precursors primarily used as a sanctuary that the Precursors could transfer their minds into. They can contain various Precursor Technology, such as Ion Cubes and Data Terminals

Found within the sanctuaries and laboratory are data hubs, these data hubs are designed to contain the minds and history of Precursors whose physical forms have died, each hub having an Ion Cube on top of it for ceremonial purposes.

Sanctuaries
Three Alien Caches serving as sanctuaries can be found located in a cave in the Deep Sparse Reef, right next to the Sea Treader's Path Wreck (Wreck 7), deep within a cave in the Northern Blood Kelp Zone, and inside an impact crater left behind by a meteor in the Dunes. These three Alien Caches require a Purple Tablet to gain access.

Laboratory
An Alien Cache is found in the Ghost Canyon in the Lost River. It was set up to study a skeleton belonging to an unidentified species within the cave. This Alien Cache is a laboratory rather than a sanctuary. This Alien Cache requires the Orange Tablet found in the Deep Grand Reef Degasi Base to unlock.

Arch Caches
Alien Caches containing Alien Arches are scattered throughout the world, located in the Northwestern Mushroom Forest, the Crag Field, the Ghost Forest, the Floating Island, the Mountain Island and the Bulb Zone. Each of these Alien Caches link back to the Primary Containment Facility except for the Floating Island Alien Cache and the Mountain Island Alien Cache which link to each other.

Inside of the Deep Sparse Reef Alien Cache

The Quarantine Enforcement Platform (QEP):
Biome: Mountain Island
Coördinate: 430 -90 1190

The Disease Research Facility (DRF):
Biome: Lost River
Coördinate: -380 -750 410

The Alien Thermal Plant (ATP):
Biome: Lava Castle
Coördinate: 30 -1225 110

The Primary Containment Facility (PCF):
Biome: Lava Lakes
Coördinate: 200 -1440 -222