Auroa Atchipelago is a dangerous environment: tsunamis, typhoons, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are all probable events. To ensure the population's safety in case of emergency, Skell has built shelters in the safest location in the archipelago: the Highlands. These massive shelters are capable of comfortably housing and feeding the 30 000 people that live on Auroa for up to two weeks.
The shelters have been built to be indestructible. They are autonomous and self-sufficient, generating energy, producing fresh air, as well as providing medical facilities and enough food and water reserves to last two weeks. These buildings look brand new, since they've never been used outside of some training exercises.
After the takeover, Sentinel Corp. used these isolated and closed-off buildings to jail the civilian rebels, and then as a site to extract intel from prisoners through torture. Because of this, Sentinel has seen it fit to revamp parts of one of the shelters. Dormitories have been converted into cells for prisoners or barracks for Sentinel troops.