| “ | A perenially chilly climate has allowed short, colorful shrubs to flourish across this planet's surface. | „ |
| ~ Official Description |
Martale is one of the five planets that reside within the Andromeda Sector.
Topography[]
A Helldiver looking at the sea from one of Martale's many beaches. Picture taken on February 28th, 2185
Martale is a rocky planet with beautiful meadows and forests. Much of the land is composed of stony hills, with some tall coastal cliffs. Green auroras and large moons cover the night sky. Much of the surface is covered in short foliage, and there are many large bodies of water. Human settlement has brought many structures and small farms to be established. The biosphere makes Martale an ideal location for life.
History[]
Special Military Operations[]
Fall of Martale[]
The soulless mechanical socialist plague, self-denominated as the Automatons, attacked the Northwestern Area of the galaxy on April 9th, 2184. Martale quickly became a frontline planet, having previously being out of harm's way. With the failure of Operation Courageous Defense, The planet was stolen from the warm, loving hold of Liberty, showing that the red pest of marxist space robots will go to any length to ruin humanity.
The fate of the human settlers on Martale remains unknown. With the successful establishment of the Menkent-Lesath defensive line by SEAF engineers, Helldiver forces regained the initiative in the front. The effort to liberate Martale was slow at first, but with the rapid liberation of Marfark during Operation Cassiopeia, the planet began to see significant efforts towards liberation. On the 17th of April, 2184, The planet became the focal point of Helldiver attention with Marfark having been secured already.
SEAF forces made swift progress to reclaim this world, despite the strong automaton presence. However on April 18th, A new major order was announced, shifting Helldiver attention to the Eastern Front at a time when the world was almost (85%) liberated. The planet fell out of strategic prominence and little progress was made in the early hours of April 18th. Some Helldiver forces began to shift their focus back towards the planet later in the day after the massive success on the Eastern Front against the Terminids.
The Martale Gambit (April 19th-20th, 2184)[]
In act of sinister synchronicity, both the Terminids and Automatons would launch large-scale offensives on April 19th, forcing the Helldivers to defend citizens on two fronts at once. The bots assaults on the Western Front would target Charon Prime and Marfark, with the FTL line of Martale enabling the latter offensive. However High Command realized that the Automaton Legions had made a critical error. In a stroke of strategic brilliance second to only the work of General Brasch himself, the idea to seize Martale to cut off supply lines to Charon Prime was proposed.
Charon Prime were reliant on FTL supply lines which went through the Martale system and that if the planet were liberated, then those supply lines would be cut, forcing the bots to abandon Charon Prime, effectively a reversal of the disaster that took place on Ubanea. This was also something of a gamble as although the planet was close to full liberation, the simultaneous attack across all fronts had stretched S.E.A.F. forces thin, the Helldivers included. By April 20th, Martale had reached 94.4% liberation before an Automaton assault overwhelmed S.E.A.F forces defending both Marfark and Charon Prime. From that point onward, The Martale Blunder was remembered as one of most shameful defeats.
With supplies running low and the Helldivers unable to break the deadlock, S.E.A.F. forces on Martale were ordered to be evacuated. The Automatons would gain full control over the once free and beautiful world.
Second Galactic War[]
Operation Andromeda[]
However, Martale's fate was not sealed. From April to July, Martale would be under Automaton Occupation as, in their unquenchable thirst for control, the Automatons over-extended their usurpation, spanning an odious fief that went from Vandalon IV to Merga IV, with Cyberstan as the tin man's maleficent heart.
This over-extension would prove to be the backdoor of the Automatons as the Helldivers successfully secured access to the Petafactory in Varylia 5, Database One in Wasat and the plans for the Intergalactic Battle Station in X-45. With the momentum behind them, and with the Terminids now contained once more after Operation Enduring Peace, Super Earth issued a major order that requested the liberation of Aesir Pass, Marfark, Matar Bay and Martale, all in hopes of splitting the overstretched robotic forces in half, turning the tide of war in Super Earth's favor.
The battle to retake Martale began on July 14th 2184. Fighting was very slow until the early morning of July 17th 2184, when Helldiver forces had finally liberated Marfark. Despite the initially lackluster force of ~11,000 Helldivers, the liberation force nearly doubled after the liberation of Marfark. This, along with the bolstering effects of the isolation of this part of the automaton frontline, caused a swift liberation. The planet's beauty has seemed to diminish sadly, with a much higher amount of broken machine parts strewn about the landscape.
With this planet liberated, those who perished in the Martale Gambit of April that achieved 94% liberation had been avenged, finally freeing this planet, and successfully completing Operation Andromeda.
Operation Jet Brigade[]
With the terrors from the early months of the war behind them, the colonists of Martale began the slow, difficult process of resettling and repairing their homes, lost during the initial phase of the Reclamation. Between July and August, the colonists worked hard in order to not only re-establish their settlements but also to continue contributing to the Federation's growth and economy. However, the months kept going by and the Automatons would eventually begin recovering from the severe strike they had been dealt. And so....they set out to retake what had been righteously recovered from their vicious clutches.
On October 20th, after the Automatons successfully recaptured Matar Bay, their new special strike force known as "The Jet Brigade" continued its attacks, as they brutishly searched for the location of the Democracy Space Station. As such, the Helldivers heeded Martale's call for aid when the Jet Brigade made it its new target.
Even after enduring heavy losses at the battle of Matar Bay, the Jet Brigade overwhelmed the colonial defenses and the Helldivers, capturing Martale on the early hours of October 20th, yet incurring even more casualties and failing to discover the DSS once more.
As liberation efforts were being made, the Automatons continued to search and capture planets within their reach. In the end however, Martale's sacrifice would be worth it as the Jet Brigade was finally defeated by the narrowest of margins on the planet of Marfark on October 22nd.
Operation Hydra's Head[]
Martale remained under Automaton Occupation ever since, as the Helldivers could not find suitable opportunities to concentrate on its liberation. However, during Operation Adamant Resolve and Operation Jetclipper, the Automatons would be forced back to Choohe and, in return, left Martale's garrison completely cut off from Cyberstan, which practically decimated the enemy resistance on the planet. As such, Martale's liberation began to be slowly progressed towards by small contingents of Helldivers over the course of several weeks from October 2184 onwards, going into the new year with 50% liberation already achieved.
The Second Martale Blunder (January 14th, 2185)[]
The siege of Martale continued well into January of new year. While the war on three fronts raged, the skeleton force of Helldivers managed to slowly but steadily push out the socialist menace. The planet would come to 81% liberation progress, with the light of liberty beginning to shine bright. However, the siege would come under threat when the Automatons of Choohe sent 10 battalions toward neighboring Matar Bay to reconnect Martale with the Automaton network and regain the bots' former ground in the Andromeda Sector. Despite no Major Orders pulling the Helldivers elsewhere, the Corps would fail to mobilize en masse to Matar Bay, with the planet falling by the next day as the Corps would focus on re-liberating Acamar IV. The Martale siege was broken on January 9th, when the Automaton forces took over neighboring Matar Bay, reconnecting Martale to the rest of the Automaton network and thus increasing the enemy resistance on the planet.
As of now, the tactical blunder by the Helldivers is causing the Automatons to undo all the progress Helldivers made over the past 2 months, with the name of Second Martale Blunder already spread amongst the forces. The planet fell below 70% liberation progress as the Corps now forced to the galactic east to contain a massive onslaught by the 
Terminids in the previously untouched Farsight Sector, along with a mammoth offensive into the Umlaut Sector and Orion Sector, leaving Martale to meager devices.
As of the evening of January 14, with the Corps still waging their Major Order against the massive attacks by the Terminids, Martale officially fell to 0% liberation progress with the Automatons now in full control of the planet. The Second Martale Blunder had officially come true, marking another poor SEAF defeat on the planet. Martale now remains under the cold grip of the bots, awaiting its righteous justice someday soon.
Operation Good Samaritan[]
However, the Helldivers would not writhe and lament. Instead, they would rest, recharge and recuperate in order to redeem the stain of their blunder in January with the peroxide of victory. And their opportunity soon appeared. On February 28th, the Automatons would initiate an offensive onto the Nanos Sector in hopes of expanding their domain in light of the Helldivers' prolonged absence from the Western Front. Super Earth High Command would issue an order to defend either Julheim, a planet hosting a population of vulnerable, moderately feeble young adults who were all part of Good Citizen Andrews' School for Moderately Feeble Young Adults, or Duma Tyr, a planet housing critical production facilities and personnel that were crucial to the production of MD-8 Gas Mines.
High Command's projection would be that, were the Automatons to get within reach of those planets, the Helldivers would only be able to save one, as splitting their forces would lead to them losing both planets. However, the Helldivers refused, determined to protect both planets by all means. As such, while the main fleet of the Helldiver Corps focused all their efforts on holding the lines at Bekvam III and Charon Prime, a small platoon of Helldivers would attempt a counterattack against the Automatons by attempting to liberate Martale and cut off their supply lines. However, this plan would fail once the Automatons managed to capture Charon Prime on February 26th.
It would seem as if the Helldivers now had to put all their efforts onto Bekvam's defense, which was starting to turn into a projected defeat. But it would be then when Liberty's will would manifest itself. The Automatons would suffer a massive loss of all fighting capabilities due to a routine update to their Operating System. This complete collapse of enemy capabilities allowed the Helldivers to immediately turn the situation around, repelling the ongoing assault at Bekvam III and cutting off the Automatons attacking Charbal-VII once Charon Prime was quickly re-liberated.
The Helldivers would soon move onto Martale with the momentum behind their backs and, on March 1st, 2185, would finally redeem their blunder in January and liberate the planet once again, relieving the flank of the Nanos Sector and definitively safeguarding it for the remainder of the operation.
Operation Tormenta de Fuego[]
However, Martale's fate appeared to be that of tribulation. Following the Automatons' Operating System updating, they would soon become an even greater threat than before. Amidst their increased expansionism with their recent captures of Chort Bay, Meissa, and Wasat, the Automatons were simply putting themselves in a pole position for future operations. Biding their time for the first weeks of March, lurking deep in the robotic shadows were even stronger, even more powerful enemies than before.
On March 18th, 2185, the Automatons began a massive offensive towards the Western Sectors that had been retaken in Operation Andromeda, along with a second invasion of the Nanos Sector. For this end, they would employ an abominable new foe: The Incineration Corps. An Automaton unit outfitted with incendiary weapons and ammunition with the sole programming directive of burning Liberty to cinders.
The Helldivers had to make a choice between fighting back against the mechanized aggressors or gathering the E-710 necessary for the Penrose Energy Siphon to be activated. Despite many Helldivers staying behind to gather the E-710, many others chose to face the Automaton invaders. Martale, Bekvam III and Vega Bay were all invaded simultaneously by several dozens of Automaton Battalions, with the Incinerator Corps divided between Bekvam and Martale. The Helldivers, after a miscalculated diversion of the DSS and its active Orbital Blockade towards Matar Bay, would immediately deploy towards Martale in hopes of at least stopping the Incineration Corps there.
For many hours, the Helldivers battled valiantly against the metallic pyromaniacs but the situation looked increasingly unwinnable. However, the Helldivers would quickly manage to turn the situation around once the DSS Blockade came to an end. They activated the DSS Eagle Storm, which immediately halted the Automaton advance and allowed the Helldivers to narrowly turn the situation around and save Martale. Though the planet was valiantly defended, it came at the cost of leaving Bekvam and Vega Bay to their own devices, both of which easily fell into the Automatons' grip. From there on, the Automaton assaults continued, leaving Martale standing as one of the sole beacons of liberty amidst an overall torrid SEAF Operation.
Martale still stands nearly 48 hours after it was saved, yet it is not out of the woods yet. The planet is currently encircled, as the Automatons were able to capture Charon Prime roughly 30 hours after Martale's defense. As a result, the planet remains cut off from any SEAF support, and if the Automatons were to launch another successful attack on the beautiful world, it would be locked away from the light of liberty.
Operation Martyr's Calling[]
Martale stood as the lone beacon of liberty in the Andromeda Sector and perhaps the entirety of SEAF West. Following its successful defense, the Automatons had once again sent the Western Front into disarray. The bots easily stomped through Julheim, took full control of the Ymir Sector, and made it all the way to Troost in the Trigon Sector. The Automatons even re-entered the Xzar Sector as they took over Mort and Ingmar, both of which were part of the first planets to be attacked before the declaration of the War. All told, the evidence was fairly clear to see: SEAF West was in crisis once more.
On the morning of March 31, with the Helldivers attempting to stop the Automatons from making it back to the Severin Sector, trouble began to occur in the Lacaille Sector. A rebuilt Incineration Corps was spotted moving between Penta and Chort Bay, and then arrived at Choohe shortly after. Then, the Corps moved to Matar Bay, and lastly, Marfark. Amidst Helldiver attention in the Trigon and Xzar Sectors, it appeared the Automatons were ready to capitalize on that by causing further strife in the Andromeda and Nanos Sectors. The writing was now on the wall for Martale, as it seemed the Automatons were ready to make landfall on its beautiful hills once more.
Shortly after the Corps stationed themselves on Marfark, they divided themselves in two separate battle forces: one for Martale, and one for Bekvam III. Then, in the late afternoon on Super Earth, the Automatons officially invaded both Martale and Bekvam III, each of which were forced to fend off 12 Automaton strike forces.
Sadly, the fights for both planets were largely uneventful. With the Helldivers attempting to fend off a separate Incineration Corps attack on Vandalon IV amidst an already ongoing attack on Julheim, both planets were severely undermanned against the socialist invaders. By the next day, both Martale and Bekvam fell, with Martale's fall harder to take as it was now completely surrounded by Automaton-controlled territory. With Martale locked away from the FTL network, the Helldivers were ordered to retreat from the world immediately, with the Automatons having momentum and now taking full control of the Andromeda Sector.
FTL Lines[]
- Charon Prime
- Marfark
- Matar Bay (Established on April 9, 2184)
FTL Timeline[]
- February 8th, 2184: Martale is connected by FTL to Charon Prime and Marfark.
- April 9th, 2184: New FTL line to Matar Bay is established.