| “ | Tall, gnarled trees flourish across the surface of this forested world. Sunlight filters past dangling vines, to the saturated undergrowth below. | „ |
| ~ Official Description |
Gacrux is one of the six planets that reside within the Jin Xi Sector.
Topography[]
A veritable green maze, Gacrux flora is dense and ever present. Planet features frequent but small elevation changes from rocky hills into waterlogged channels and reservoirs. Helldivers should exercise caution, as the waters are treacherous. What from distance may look like ankle deep water, is in reality a very deep lake that one can very easy drown in mere seconds after stepping off from the shoreline.
The planet is also dotted with ancient fossilized trees, some reaching far above the current tree line. The Massive amounts of evergreen block line of sight, but they can be use as reliable cover thanks to their sheer thickness. Additionally, the planet features a network of gas vents, located randomly throughout the surface. Yellowish in color and emiting a green smoke, any kind of fire or bullet ignites it, causing a fiery explosion in their proximity.
History[]
Second Galactic War[]
Located in remote part of Jin Xi Sector, this planet avoided the wave of Terminid infestation during the Meridian Supercolony Crisis that spilled from Umlaut Sector in early June of 2184. Once the crisis receded, its FTL Supply Lines would be restored on June 13th.
Operation Hive Breaker[]
On June 20th, 2184, local colony officials confirmed landing of Terminid Spores, later calculated to have arrived from Fori Prime through what appears to be a newly created FTL Line. The defenses collapsed on the midnight of June 21st, prompting the immediate calls for a liberation campaign of the swampy planet. The planet has sadly been stuck in a stalemate ever since, as other operations with higher priority have required Helldivers be diverted away from it.
Operation Glorious Xenocide[]
From June 21st onwards, Gacrux had been stuck in a deadlock thatonly helped sabotage the valiant peacekeeping efforts of the Helldivers, mostly by helping reignite any outbreaks in the Jin Xi Sector. However, its fate would be sealed once its assault onto Acamar IV was flipped on its head. After its spores hopped from Acamar IV onto Turing, they would be quickly repelled and, as Operation Righteous Expunge was completed, the Helldivers would launch an assault onto Acamar IV, which would result in its liberation on the late hours of July 22nd. Then, on July 23rd, a surge of Helldivers turned up to Gacrux to finally put an end to its wretched Terminid problem once and for all.
Gacrux would see lots of bloody combat, as the Terminids put on display their unfettered savagery. Nevertheless, the Helldivers would come out victorious, liberating Gacrux on the evening of July 24th.
Operation Lighthouse[]
From July 24th to August 13th, Gacrux would remain under the warm embrace of Super Earth, its colonists doing what they could to rebuild their settlements and refortify their colonies, left in ruins after the Terminid outbreak. However, these works would be cut short as, due to the diversion of the Helldivers towards the final liberation of the Matar Bay Encirclement, Gacrux would be left underdefended. With The Gloom looming over the galactic horizon, the Terminids would use their new nebulous cover to prepare their fiendish plans.
On the early hours of August 12th, the Terminids in Crimsica and Fori Prime launched a dual assault onto Acamar IV and Gacrux. The Helldivers that remained in the Eastern Front would flood into Acamar IV, hoping for a quick liberation so that they could also liberate Gacrux before resuming the campaigns in the Western Front. However, the Terminids at Acamar IV would present heavy resistance to the application of peace and, consequently, delayed the success of Acamar's defense enough to make Gacrux fall into their devious appendages by the early hours of August 13th, mere hours after Acamar IV's defense successfully repelled its own Terminid assault.
Operation Ring Of Freedom[]
Gacrux would remain caught in a bloody stalemate for months on end, never being either fully lost nor liberated for any significant period of time, with the only time gap where it didn't see Helldiver presence being from August 22nd to August 24th. Throughout the course of the Galactic War, many operations would surge that would keep Gacrux at the very bottom of the list of objectives, even as The Gloom appeared and encroached upon Fori Prime and threatened to expand upon it.
However, fate soon would change for the swampy planet as, soon, the Helldivers would begin to work towards the construction of the Democracy Space Station, and with it came the construction of the Xenoentomology Center at Turing that was required for the research and development of better Alcubierre drives to allow the new DSS to perform FTL Warp Travels. And this new Xenoentomology Center required a Terminid Research Preserve in order to study the Terminids and how to make them produce the most E-710 possible.
But this preserve couldn't be allowed to be connected to the main Terminid brood and much less to the Gloom. As such, a safety perimeter was to be established around Acamar IV.
Despite Gacrux's immediate proximity to Acamar and to The Gloom through its FTL line with Fori Prime, it wouldn't see any significant Helldiver action until October 14th, shortly after the victory at Darius II and the defense of Achernar Secundus. Being the last objective planet and infamous for its swamps, the Helldivers rushed to capture Gacrux as quickly as possible so that they wouldn't need to stay on it longer than needed. As such, Gacrux would see up to 35,000 Super Destroyers, around 67% of the Helldiver Corps at the time, exclusively devoted to deploying ordnance onto the planet.
By the morning of October 15th, Gacrux had been thoroughly liberated, with its security seemingly assured given how The Gloom had stopped expanding weeks prior.
Operation Crossroads[]
However, it wasn't fated for Gacrux's liberty to last. A mere 9 days after its liberation, the Terminids, aided by a spore surge coming out of the Gloom, would mount an offensive headed directly for the Terminid Research Preserve. However, this offensive took place around the same time that the Jet Brigade had shown signs to be planning an offensive, with Lesath appearing to be from where it would launch. Having been given the decision of whether to capture Lesath or defend the Terminid Research Preserve, the Helldivers made the difficult choice of abandoning the Terminid Front in order to capture Lesath and secure it from a potential Jet Brigade attack.
Gacrux would be attacked on October 23rd from Partion, with Pandion-XXIV being attacked from Phact Bay merely hours later. Despite a detachment of Helldivers being left behind, the Terminid attack managed to punch through by October 24th, leaving the Terminid Research Preserve Vulnerable.
Operation Adamant Resolve[]
Gacrux would remain under Terminid occupation for 6 days, as the Helldivers were forced to fight through Phact Bay and Pandion-XXIV before getting to the swamp planet, as the FTL Line from Acamar IV had been pre-emptively shut down in order to prevent an outbreak in the Terminid Research Preserve. However, Gacrux's liberation would be delayed because of ongoing offensives in the Automaton front constantly diverting huge chunks of Helldivers away in order to keep them from expanding.
Gacrux's liberation would come too late, as the constant delays in its liberation; product of the difficult fight against the Automatons at Matar Bay, Demiurg and Curia, would ultimately slow down Gacrux's liberation enough for the order's time limit to pass, making Operation Adamant Resolve a technical failure. However, the Helldivers would still wind up liberating the planet on November 3rd, securing the Terminid Research Preserve against any attacks for the time being.
Operation Spark of Liberty[]
Gacrux would remain free of any Terminid presence after its liberation. It would seem that, after all, things hadn't come to boil despite the tactical miscalculation during Operation Crossroads. But the seeds of fascism had already been sown on the Terminid Research Preserve, and it was only a matter of time before their bore their nefarious fruits.
On November 12th, in the middle of a busy day for the Tyranny Park, a massive underground Terminid hive erupted spontaneously, leading to a bloody massacre of visitors and park staff alike. Acamar IV was overrun in mere minutes, which prevented the nuclear security measures from being activated and allowed the Terminids to take over the planet without any impediment. Once Acamar IV fell, it launched 5 simultaneous attacks onto all of the planets connected to it. This catastrophe could not have been any more poorly timed, as the Jet Brigade had also just returned in massive numbers and destroyed the DSS Logistics Hub on Tarsh.
The painting was clear on the wall that the Helldivers had to act quick before more damage had to be done. Despite Acamar's positioning, High Command gave the indication to protect the Xenoentomology Center at Turing by all means, as it still contained critical research material on the Terminids, pretty much dooming Acamar IV and all of its attached planets to perdition.
Expectedly, with the Helldivers focused on saving the critical research material at Turing, Gacrux would be lost to the Terminids by the afternoon of the following day, in a massive disaster that took millions of lives and undid all the progress achieved in the past 3 months.
Trivia[]
-Gacrux is named after the third brightest star in the southern crux constellation. Whether these 2 Gacrux are related is unknown.
FTL Lines[]
- Acamar IV (Re-established on June 13, 2184)
- Fori Prime - Draco Sector (Established on June 20, 2184)
- Pandion XXIV (Re-established on June 13, 2184)
- Partion - Sten Sector (Established on September 2, 2184)
FTL Timeline[]
- February 8th, 2184: Gacrux is connected by FTL to Acamar IV and Pandion-XXIV.
- May 5th, 2184: FTL lines to Acamar IV and Pandion-XXIV.
- June 13th, 2184: FTL lines to Acamar IV and Pandion-XXIV are re-established.
- June 20th, 2184: New FTL line to Fori Prime was established.
- September 2nd, 2184: New FTL line to Partion was established.
Environmental Change History[]
| Patch | Changes |
|---|---|
| 1.000.000 | Gacrux is a Tundra Biome. |
| 1.000.400 | Gacrux is change to a Swamp Biome. |