Achird III

Achird III
Biome	Copper Desert
Faction	Terminids
Sector	Borgus Sector
Solar System	Achird System
Environmental Conditions
	Tremors Frequent earthquakes stun players and enemies alike.
Achird III Cities	Timely Approval City Old Branch
Technical
Planet Index	112

“	The arid, rocky biome covering this world has driven the evolution of exceptionally efficient water usage in its various organisms.	„
	~ Official description

Achird III is one of the four planets that reside within the Borgus Sector.

Topography

Achird III is an arid, rocky planet featuring great shallow basins, sunken deserts, picturesque buttes and mesas, and rare verdant sections of valley. By and large though the planet is dominated by a series of continent mesas and plateaus, some of which are the size of skyscrapers. This has created an unexpected challenge for Helldivers operating on the planet, as this geography has been reported to obstruct some stratagems.

Iron minerals, and particularly hematite, are responsible for coloring the planet's sedimentary rock layers, which when combined with the planet's seismic instability has created large quantities of dust due to soil surface disturbance. This combined with strong winds has resulting in a fine layer of red dust that covers most of the planet which has also been known to clog up both unprotected machinery as well as lungs.

The majority of plant life on the planet consists of dry grasslands and shrub lands, with the arid nature of Achird III also driving the evolution of exceptionally efficient water usage in its various organisms.

The planet shares very similar characteristics to that of Fori Prime, Calypso, and Vernen Wells.

History

Second Galactic War

Operation Alcubierre-II

Achird III had been, up until September 2184, just another colony of Super Earth in which not many events worthy of remark had occured. During the early Terminid outbreak in February, the colonists at Achird III narrowly avoided devastation thanks to the Colonial Overseer's careful move of cutting their planet's FTL Line with Turing, which was under heavy attack from the Terminids. But, this move was not going to keep the colonists at Achird III safe forever.

From February to September, the colonists at Achird III watched attentively how the war came at went from their doorstep at nearby Turing. But then, an unexpected surprise struck at them. On September 29th, neighboring Darius II would fall to a sudden Terminid attack from Phact Bay. Then, during the early morning of September 30th, the Terminids hopped from Darius to Achird III, sending a massive attack in order to flank the SEAF defensive line at Acamar IV to try and attack the Xenoentomology Center at Turing.

However, this attack would ultimately turn out unsuccessful, as the Helldivers managed to gather enough manpower to repel the Terminid assault under 12 hours.

Operation Ring of Freedom

Achird once again came under attack shortly after announcement of Operation Ring of Freedom. Despite not being the target of the Major Order, its position as a stepping stone towards Turing made it obvious bugs would use it as staging ground for their next infestations. Helldivers mobilized enmasse to save this planet from fascist incursions.

Despite the strategic importance of the planet, the defense was suffering from a severe lack of reinforcements, as the majority of divers continued their work on Pandion-XXIV. It was only during the early hours of October 12th, that divers begun to move towards Achird III, as more and more began to realize the defense was possible.

With heroic fervor, Helldivers fought with guns and nails to save the world, eventually turning the tide of battle less than 2 hours before bugs amassed critical mass on the surface. With less than 8 minutes to spare, the last Terminid nests would be expunged and their larvae sufficiently purged, granting victory to the Helldivers in one of the closest defense saves of the Second Galactic War up to that point as celebration erupted across the planet's surface. Many platoons of Helldivers would refer to this event as the "Miracle of Achird III" from hereon.

The shocking and unexpected defense of the planet wouldn't go unrecognized. Immediately following the brilliant defense, Super Earth High Command dispatched a victory message stating that the Helldivers' victory on a razor's edge was their highest level of bravery and valor shown since the Battle of Mort against the Automatons in the early days of the war. Achird III stood tall, the planet perhaps one of the brightest beacons of freedom anywhere in the galaxy.

To all the soldiers who participated and gave their lives in the defense of Achird III, particularly into the nighttime and morning hours of the battle, this here stands as their recognition and commemoration of their service in the most high stakes of situations.

Operation Wild Hunt & Operation Black Hole Sun

The heroic defense of Achird III rightly remained its last stand for the next 5 months. Colonists all across the planet rejoiced as the Helldivers' stunning victory on the planet marked a real turning point in the battle against the Terminids, keeping them from expanding further South to Turing and beyond.

Into March 2185, the planet and the Borgus Sector overall remained free of the Terminid scourge, watching on as the bugs spread their influence elsewhere both West and East of the Sector. In the meantime, most efforts Terminid-related were to collect enough data from The Gloom and somehow find ways to use E-710 to stop the Illuminate from moving the Meridian Singularity. Meanwhile, the bug front would briefly go quiet for roughly a week amidst a massive Automaton assault across numerous sectors as the robots took significant swaths of territory from the Helldivers, bringing much attention back to the Western Front.

However, the Sector and Achird came to be tested once again. On March 7th, the Terminids launched a powerful assault on Achird's neighbor, Darius II. The 18 million broods were too numerous to overcome for a Helldiver Corps mostly concerned with the liberation of Bore Rock. Now, Achird III was under threat once more with the bugs closing in on the planet which would provide them the chance to spread their plague to Turing.

In the morning of March 13th, the bugs of Darius II spread 15 million broods toward Achird III at the same moment the Automatons dispatched a vicious 17 invasion fleets toward Wasat. Immediately, the Helldivers deployed to the defenses, with many more choosing to dispatch to Achird III with Wasat heavily undermanned.

The 24 hours of defense spelled ultimate disaster for the Helldivers. Achird III's defense was valiant, yet ultimately lacking full reinforcements with much of the Corps concentrating on the liberation of Vog-Sojoth. Then, with 2 hours left in the bleak defense campaign, tragedy struck as Moradesh was violently torn apart by the Meridian Singularity, the Illuminate once again proving that they were looking for one thing only: carnage. A now despondent SEAF carried Moradesh in their hearts, solemn as a 2nd planet was destroyed by the ever-despicable Illuminate Cult.

Unfortunately, Moradesh's demolition wouldn't be the only bother for the SEAF, as Achird III's defenses began to crack. By late morning hours on March 14, Achird had officially fallen into the Terminids' hands, the Helldivers unable to produce another miracle like that of October's. Simultaneously, Wasat's heavily undermanned campaign against the Automaton invaders failed, the robots now expanding their domain as well.

Luckily, with Vog-Sojoth liberated just moments after Achird's failed defense, and with the arrival of the DSS to Achird III, the majority of the Corps instantly deployed to the surface of Achird III to attempt a counter-attack and swiftly re-liberate the planet after it had just fallen. With the Corps immediately deploying to Achird III and beginning to reclaim territory, all seemed well... until around 5 hours later, as the Terminids, ever relentlessly fascistic, sent two massive assaults: one toward Achird's neighbor Achernar, and an even larger outbreak driven by the Predator Strain of bugs on Fenrir III. High Command noted that a massive construction operation was underway across these two planets along with Heeth and Ursica XI to siphon a large amount of Dark Energy powering the singularity's movement, thus decreasing Meridia's speed significantly. Thus, a new Order was issued for the Helldivers to hold all 4 planets at all costs, even at the cost of Achird III. Immediately, all Helldivers deployed to both defense campaigns, leaving Achird undermanned while the Terminid scourge began to take full control of the planet.

FTL Lines

• Darius II (Re-established on September 28, 2184)
• Turing - Umlaut Sector (Established on September 28, 2184)
• Ursica XI (Re-established on September 28, 2184)

FTL Timeline

• February 8th, 2184: Achird III is connected by FTL to Achernar Secundus, Darius II and Ursica XI.
• June 13th, 2184: FTL lines to Achernar Secundus, Darius II and Ursica XI are destroyed.
• September 28th, 2184: FTL lines to Darius II and Ursica XI are re-established, plus a new line to Turing.

Trivia

• Achird III is one of the few planets in Helldivers 2 to be connected to 2 planets with the exact same biome, Turing and Ursica XI. Both planets are Ethereal Jungles.
• Achird is named after one of two stars in Eta Cassiopaiae system, that is located only 19 Light years away from Earth. It is yet unknown if said binary system is present in game.
• Assuming that the names of Achird III's three cities -- Timely, Approval City and Old Branch -- is not coincidental, then the planet was an administrative center.