| “ | A desert planet prone to unpredictable and dangerous sand twisters. | „ |
| ~ Official Description |
Erata Prime is one of the four planets that reside within the Umlaut Sector. Its general landscape consists of barren deserts and exhausting heat.
On February 16, 2185, it became the second planet in which the Predator Strain of bugs would surface just moments after their defeat at neighboring Fenrir III.
Topography[]
Erata Prime is the hottest survivable planet in the Umlaut Sector. The terrain alternates between vast stretches of sand and rocks. Most local flora comes in the form of dry grasses and prickly, unpleasant bushes. Frequent sandstorms decrease visibility to unacceptable levels. Citizens are advised to stay wary of occasional seismic activity, which may slow movement or cause injuries.
History[]
Special Military Operations[]
Erata Prime was overrun by the Terminids at the start of the engagements that preceded the Second Galactic War. Thankfully for democracy, the liberation of Veld in March 2184 gave the Helldivers access to the FTL lines past Heeth, allowing them to begin liberating Erata from the tyrannical bugs.
Deployment of the Terminid Control System[]
Erata Prime, alongside the rest of the planets in the Umlaut Sector, was selected for deployment a new type of containment measure against the bugs: the Terminid Control System. The TCS was a complex of chemical dispersion towers that were designed to spread the newly-made Termicide, an anti-fascist neurotoxin that could kill off the invading insects without damaging the rest of the planet's biomass.
After the planet was liberated and the deployment of the TCS System was completed, Erata Prime would remain firmly under Super Earth's stewardship with little incident, allowing the Helldivers to refocus their efforts on the Automaton Front.
Failure of the Terminid Control System[]
Unfortunately, the Terminids didn't allow that peace to last. Shortly after the start of the Automaton Reclamation of Cyberstan, the TCS failed. Not only had the Termicide become ineffective against the bugs, it was also causing them to mutate, allowing the Terminids on the Barrier Planets to reproduce up to 20 times faster than usual. Before the SEAF could react, the neighboring planet Meridia was overrun and turned into a Terminid Supercolony. Luckily, the Helldivers' swift deactivation of the TCS prevented Erata Prime, and the other planets in the Umlaut System, from a similar fate.
Second Galactic War[]
From the moment the TCS failed, all planets close to Meridia began to face ceaseless assaults by the alien menace throughout the months of April and May 2184. For several weeks, Erata Prime endured the horrors of the tragedy brought on by the insectoid scourge, while Super Earth High Command valiantly scrambled for a solution to its quarrels.
Finally, after the declaration of the Galactic War on Tyranny, Super Earth's leaders began to commission the Ministry of Science to manufacture a new type of super-weapon in order to destroy Meridia. After some weeks of research, scientists at Moradesh managed to produce vast quantities of Dark Fluid, a weapon of planetary destruction seized from the Illuminate at the end of the First Galactic War.
Operation Enduring Peace[]
On May 28, 2184, Super Earth High Command gave the order to destroy Meridia, first by liberating all planets that could connect Moradesh to Meridia and then, from May 29 to May 30, deploying the Dark Fluid directly onto Meridia's surface. By the afternoon of May 30, enough Dark Fluid had accumulated in Meridia to reach critical mass and, subsequently, collapse the Supercolony into a black hole. This heroic act siphoned away all of the mutated spores that the Supercolony was emitting, effectively crippling the Terminid advance to a halt.
Operation Destiny Manifested[]
Immediately after Operation Enduring Peace, orders were given out for the SEAF to retake all of the planets that had been initially assaulted by the Terminids due to the Supercolony's augmentative effect. These planets included Acamar IV, Turing, Phact Bay and Erata Prime. Judicious deployment of the Helldivers was instrumental in the operation's success, which allowed Super Earth citizens to finally reclaim the homes they had been forced to abandon.
Interim prior to Operation Prometheus[]
However, the citizens of Erata Prime would not be able to fully resettle their sufficient sized homes in peace. Even with all the victories of Super Earth at both the Terminid and Automaton fronts, Erata Prime would still be attacked by Terminids and fall to their control for a short period of time, but would be liberated shortly after, as the Terminids still were battered from the loss of the Supercolony.
Operation Prometheus[]
However, Erata Prime wouldn't remain free for long. With the apparition of the Gloom in early August 2184, Terminid offensives surged as the fascist nebula expanded without control. Erata Prime would be attacked in two occasions after the apparition of the Gloom, once on August 14th and once on August 27th, with both attacks being successfully repelled and serving to stop the growth of the Gloom beyond the barrier planets.
Operation Courageous Exodus[]
Following its final defense on August 27th, Erata Prime wouldn't see much more combat, as the Terminids would turn their focus farther south towards the Jin Xi Sector. From August to November, Erata Prime spent its time rebuilding and fortifying, as it was still laying right at the edge of the Gloom. However, once the Terminid Research Preserve was completed and defended, the Terminids began to shift their focus once more. On November 5th, amidst a spore surge originated in the Gloom a week prior, Erata Prime would be attacked in tandem with Estanu and Fenrir III. However, with the intensity of the attacks, the Helldivers weren't able to safeguard all 3 fronts. After the defense of Fenrir III, Estanu was given priority in its defense over Erata, as its proximity to Crimsica and the Terminid Research Preserve made it too risky to lose.
This would result in Erata Prime having to be abandoned and lost to the Terminids on November 6th, its colonists having to relocate to Cirrus for immediate transfer to the Democracy Space Station.
However, hope was not lost for Erata Prime. Once the Terminids were repelled in Crimsica, the intensity of Terminid assaults decreased, freeing up certain helldivers to help with the planet's liberation. However, the Terminids displayed horrendous ferocity and resistance, which meant that little progress would be achieved until, on November 9th, the last Terminid assault was repelled on Bore Rock, which left the Terminid hatcheries depleted and left Erata Prime in a more manageable state.
Given Erata Prime's past history in the Barrier Planets, Erata Prime was pretty much unanimously picked as a primary liberation target and, from November 8th to November 10th, the Helldivers would tirelessly fight to liberate it, successfully dislodging the Terminids of its surface by the late evening of November 10th.
Operation Wormhole Spaghetti[]
Erata Prime would remain untouched after its liberation in November. However, it would barely spend a month free before being captured by the Terminids on December 21st, amidst both a Terminid offensive and the return of the Illuminate to the galaxy, which triggered a crisis on the southern sectors. Yet despite this, it would seem that Erata Prime would be on a streak of good luck as, during its defense, Super Earth High Command issued a major order calling for both Erata Prime and Fenrir III to be controlled for the following 3 days, guaranteeing the availability of the Helldivers for its liberation.
Operation Farsight Breach[]
Erata Prime would spend the rest of 2184 in freedom, as the Terminids were temporarily turned away. But, as 2185 began to roll in, the SEAF began to crack as it struggled to coordinate its forces between the now three fronts. It wouldn't be until January 2185 that the Terminids took advantage in full of this situation. Aided by a burst of Gloom spores, the Terminids initiated an offensive onto the Farsight Sector. Amidst this offensive, the Terminids also initiated a secondary assault onto Erata Prime in tandem with one at Polaris Prime. Given Polaris Prime's status as a Major Order objective, most helldivers would neglect Erata Prime's defense, which led to its fall on January 12th.
Operation Impending Gloom[]
Erata Prime remained under Terminid control since its fall, as the Helldivers would be pushed all the way to Cirrus during the battle. However, not all was lost for Erata Prime since, soon after the reactivation of the Democracy Space Station, the Helldivers would receive new orders to gather samples from Gloom-adjacent planets Gacrux and Erata Prime. Given Erata's climate and its history during the first year of the conflict, the main fleet of the Helldiver Corps and the Democracy Space Station immediately moved to aid the liberation campaign at Erata Prime. However, the Terminids would dramatically increase their reproduction rate on the target planets, which considerably increased enemy resistance.
Operation Emperor's New Brood[]
Following the campaign to collect samples from Erata Prime, the planet would unfortunately remain under Terminid Control with enemy resistance proving too tall for the Helldivers to break through in time. The Corps would constantly be pulled away to other priorities, primarily containing the 
Illuminate's movement of the Meridian Singularity which had now destroyed one planet already, Angel's Venture.
With the SEAF mired in a crisis of sorts, the Terminids at the Gloom-infected Hellmire wouldn't waste the opportunity to cause further strife. On February 15, a new Predator Strain of Terminids emerged from the Gloom and landed on Erata's neighbor, Fenrir III. The massive attack on the planet's Centre of Science spelled direct trouble for Super Earth's ability to properly research methods of combating the destructive Singularity. High Command immediately issued an Order for all Helldivers to defend Fenrir III and halt the advance of Super Earth's new, extremely dangerous foe.
After 35 hours of grueling defense which tested the Helldivers' in-battle awareness against the mutated, agile, and vile Predator Strain, the Helldivers rebuffed the massive offensive on Fenrir. The Helldivers would rejoice briefly... only for the same Strain to then somehow resurface on Erata Prime in massive numbers, drastically increasing the resistance rate while most Helldivers from Fenrir's defense deployed to Erata's surface.
Yet, the fight for Erata Prime was ruthless and brutal. The Terminids of the 
Predator Strain put up a despicable resistance, making the campaign to liberate Erata Prime slow and grueling. However, now that they had earned valuable experience against these new enemies, the Predator Hunters and Stalkers would be no match. After an additional 48 hours, Erata Prime would be liberated and the Predator Strain driven back into the Gloom, securing the Umlaut Sector once more and safeguarding the 
Centre of Science and its critical research once more.
FTL Lines[]
- Bore Rock - Falstaff Sector (Established on November 4, 2184)
- Fenrir III
- Heeth - Orion Sector
- Hellmire - Mirin Sector
FTL Timeline[]
- February 8th, 2184: Erata Prime is connected by FTL to Fenrir III, Heeth and Hellmire.
- November 4th, 2184: FTL line to Bore Rock is established.