Armada is a science fiction book by Ernest Cline that follows the story of Zack Lightman, a video game fan. Zack is a high school senior, and one day he sees a strange spacecraft from his classroom window. The spacecraft bear a resemblance to one of those he regularly sees in a video game, Armada. Zack is obsessed with video games, and he continually goes through his father’s books to study about conspiracy theories. Therefore, when he spots the UFO, he went home to look for books about an alien invasion.
The following day another spacecraft from Earth Defense Alliance (EDA) lands in the school compound. Before long, he learns that the spacecraft has come for him. Zack is taken to Nebraska, a military base where humans are trained on how to fight off aliens. In Nebraska, Zack falls in love with Lex, a tattoo-loving woman. The trainees in this base discover that Armada is a simulation of an imminent alien attack on planet Earth. The government has been preparing for this attack for about forty years, hence creating Armada. Zack and his colleagues are informed that the attack will occur in less than twelve hours. Therefore, they should do everything to defend the base.
When the attack is carried out, Zack defies orders and causes mass destruction of several drones. Zack is not punished for his actions. Along with other Armada players, they are taken to Moon Base Alpha. Here, Zack learns that his father is alive. EDA staged his death. At the moon base, the group realizes that there was no alien attack. All this was done to test whether humans can combat an alien invasion. Meanwhile, Zack gets married to Lex and becomes a peace ambassador on humanity’s behalf.
