| “ | Scorching temperatures, high winds, and low precipitation cause a near-constant cycle of fires to sweep this planet, punctuated by short bursts of lush rebirth between infernos. | „ |
| ~ Official Description |
Menkent is one of the three planets that reside within the Hydra Sector and is a major FTL hub. Menkent was a lightly defended system thought to be safe from the insidious plague of socialism, until a massive offensive by the Automatons struck deep into Federation space during the Reclamation.
Topography and Astrography[]
A Super Destroyer fireteam in orbit over Menkent.
Similar to Pöpli IX, Menkent has earned a reputation as the "Hellmire of the West", both for its geography and for its similarly volatile ecology. Dust storms make visibility beyond a few hundred meters near impossible, whilst the intense heat and fire tornadoes of the planet have taken their toll on SEAF forces. Fortunately whilst the Automatons metal frames might have trouble burning, their internal CPU's, wires and heat sinks of the machines are just as vulnerable... at least when it comes to the less armored machines.
A frame of the flight of the Pelican shuttle, which captures the endless mountainous arid landscape of Menkent.
Menkent does not possess any important urban centers. During the Reclamation campaign, Menkent would host several SEAF Orbital Defenses and other facilities intended to hold the advancing Automaton Fleet at bay. However, these facilities would be destroyed once the Automatons captured the planet. Besides said facilities, the surface of Menkent is dotted with scattered urban colonies long occupied by the Automatons, as well as several detached settlements, individual farms, dwellings and abandoned SEAF appliances that may still be operational.
The blazing sands of Menkent.
The Menkent System consists of the planet Menkent itself, its volcanic moon and at least 3 other astronomical bodies, which are a red gas giant, a yellow rocky planet and another volcanic planet that regularly eclipses Menkent's sun. Additionally, the Menkent system lies close to an unnamed emission nebula that can be seen at night.
Prior to the Reclamation, Menkent had little to no strategic value, as the Automaton Expeditions over on the Xzar and Severin Sectors were ocurring far away enough that the Lacaille Sector as a whole didn't even see then war until April 2184. Following the Reclamation campaign by the 
Automatons, Menkent's positioning right before Choohe saw it become one of the two planets within the Menkent Line, a defensive line haphazardly created during the initial Automaton advance in hopes of stopping the Reclamation Fleet from reaching too close to the Galactic Core. However, this short-lived fortification would soon be breached through nearby Lesath and Menkent would fall to the Automaton Legion.
Ever since its fall to the Automatons, Menkent has been used as a critical logistical hub from which the Automatons have since conducted several pushes towards the Marspira Sector, all of which eventually culminated in the battle of New Aspiration City on September 2185 after the fall of the Marspira Sector during the Triple Offensive. While Menkent on its own does not provide much strategic value, its liberation would deliver a great blow to Automaton operations in the sectors closer to the Galactic Core.
History[]
Second Galactic War[]
Automaton Invasion of Cyberstan[]
The planned Menkent line Fan Made
Following a massive offensive by the Automatons into Federation space on April 9th, Menkent became a contested front line world. Menkent and Lesath would be where SEAF Engineers would build orbital defences as part of the Menkent Line, key to defending Super Earth itself and the core worlds of the Federation from direct assault.
Although the campaign to take the planet would be brutal with over 45 million casualties, it would nonetheless be successfully liberated from the Automatons mechanical hands... for about 24 hours as during the liberation of Lesath, the Automatons would counterattack the planet, necessitating a second deployment to the planet. Many Helldivers cursed toasters everywhere. Menkent was secured for the second time later that day in mere hours, letting the SEAF engineers resume their work.
With the Automaton advance arrested, rudimentary orbital defenses were established on Menkent and Lesath, which were then augmented by hardworking SEAF and civilian laborers. Meanwhile, a SEAF Forward Command Base was established on Vernen Wells, providing fresh recruits and supplies to the front.
Operation Legitimate Undertaking[]
Following the Lesath breach however the automaton fleet would bypass Menkent and attack the SEAF Forward Command Base on Vernen Wells, knocking out communications and cutting Menkent off from the rest of federation space, with Menkent being attacked the following day, alongside Choepessa IV and Charbal-VII. Despite a valiant defense effort, the Super Earth Armed Forces were still reeling and unable to effectively launch a counterattack, with Menkent becoming yet another planet that fell to the Automatons during that infamous week.
Menkent would return to the forefront of the galactic war following the liberation of Vernen Wells, as on April 26th High Command announced the start of Operation Legitimate Undertaking, the first phase of which was to liberate the planets of Choohe and Penta. Both planets were vital to the galactic war effort, however high command acknowledged that only one planet (and its citizens) could be liberated in a timely order.
The first step was to liberate Menkent and Lesath in order to open up FTL lanes to Choohe and Penta respectfully. The majority of the Helldivers attention would be focused on Lesath and then Penta, with Menkent becoming a second front on the way to Choohe. Even so SEAF forces would make good progress towards liberating the planet, especially after more Helldivers were deployed on the planet following Penta's liberation, however the majority of forces would be focused towards Chort Bay, due to the harsh topography of Menkent.
Operation Keough Push[]
The Jet Brigade regrouped over Menkent after the Keough Push
On January 30th, 2185, Super Earth High Command would finally issue the call for the Helldivers to destroy the factories producing the malevolent Jet Brigade. Intel had finally indicated the factories to be located on Chort Bay in the Lacaille Sector. All Helldivers were immediately ordered to liberate Chort Bay, and in order to do so had to liberate Menkent's neighbor, Lesath. After a swift 26 hours of fighting, Lesath would be liberated, opening the door to Chort Bay and Menkent.
However, during Operation Impending Gloom to collect samples against the 
Terminids, the Automatons would begin quietly amassing forces on Menkent beginning on January 27th, using the distraction of the Eastern Front coupled with the fact that Menkent had been locked away from the FTL network ever since the beginning of January. By the time Menkent was finally attackable thanks to the victory at Lesath, the planet had a staggering 4% decay rate, and by nightfall of February 1st, 2185, the planet would be noted with a nearly insurmountable 5% decay rate, showing that the Automatons were amassing on the planet for devious activities.
Despite a dispatch put out by High Command stating that it was possible the Automatons hadn't rebuilt their nefarious Jet Brigade, the evidence seems to be mounting to say otherwise. Many in the Helldiver Corps who have paid attention to Menkent's mammoth decay rate are fearing the worst, that another Jet Brigade is imminent. Indeed, these fears would initially be considered unfounded but ultimately correct.
Long-range imagery of Chort Bay was able to confirm the presence of Jet Brigade factories on its surface. However, no jetpack-augmented units were spotted on the planet. For this reason, high command entertained the possibility that the Automatons had not yet managed to rebuild their force in any significant capacity. Unbeknownst to high command, the reason that no elements of the jet brigade were spotted on the surface of Chort Bay, was because the partially reconstructed Jet Brigade moved to Menkent on before the first SEAF boots made landfall on Chort Bay.
In all likelihood, the sudden jump in resistance on the nightfall of February 1st, was the last elements of the reconstructed Jet Brigade arriving on Menkent. Whether this was some sort of planned evacuation or part of preparations for a future offensive is unknown, although what is clear is that the threat that the Jet Brigade poses has not yet passed. Still, with their factories on Chort Bay destroyed, the Brigade is left without its means of replenishment, at least for the time being.
Recognizing the threat that even a partially rebuilt Jet Brigade posed, the Helldiver Corps voted to move the DSS to Menkent in the early hours of February 3rd, where the battle station was able to confirm the presence of a rebuilt Automaton Jet Brigade on the planet. The Automatons clearly intended an underhanded surprise attack to cut off our extended forces. But their treachery has been stymied by the natural-born tactical intuition of the Helldivers.
They also activated the station's Zero G Anti-Ship Missile System, targeting all enemy spacecraft attempting to exit the planet's atmosphere, forming an orbital blockade above the planet. The DSS Blockade would only hold the Jet Brigade for a limited time, but it would be long enough for High Command to augment SEAF forces on Lesath and thin the ranks of the Jet Brigade itself.
Operation Split Synapse[]
In June of 2185 -- during the opening stages of the Second Galactic War -- a raid on Wasat by the 
Helldivers would liberate a top-secret Automaton Data Center, codenamed Database One. From this data center, intrepid 
S.E.A.F. Cyberwarfare Specialists would uncover key intel, including massive terraforming project on Cyberstan itself. Other keywords are referenced numerous times throughout the data trove, without additional details: Vessel 00, Nucleus, The Final Collective, and others. Unfortunately efforts to decrypt this data over the following months would prove to be of limited success.
However on October 1st, 2185, intel discovered within the recently-freed 
Ultramafic Mine on Mintoria would identify an opportunity for a breakthrough in the code-breaking efforts for the captured data of Database One. Files from the former Automaton facility indicated that data caches on Menkent and Aesir Pass may contain encryption keys that would unlock data concerning two enigmatic keywords from Database One. The key on Menkent would unlock intel regarding Vessel 00, while the cache on Aesir Pass would unlock intel regarding the Nucleus. Either one of these pieces of intelligence could be war-winning information. However, there was a catch: the Automatons weren't going to sit back and let the 
Federation plunder all of their closely guarded secrets -- which they were more than willing to purge from their own databanks to protect.
This presented a dilemma, as the Automatons would no doubt purge all data from one site as soon as the other was compromised. As such, only one encryption key would be realistically recovered. The choice of which key to go after was ultimately left to the Helldivers. However the Helldiver Corps efforts to get there would be complicated by the single remaining active division of the 
Incineration Corps.
At first the majority of the Helldiver Corps would assault Tarsh in an attempt to open up the FTL lanes to Vernen Wells, which in turn connected to both Menkent and Aesir Pass -- opening up the possibility of capturing both data caches. Unfortunately the Incineration Corps made the liberation of Tarsh too costly. On the 2nd of October, the Helldivers would regroup and prioritize the capture of the data cache on Menkent, by going through Lesath (which would also isolate the Automaton garrison on Vog-Sojoth). However the Incineration Corps would again stymie these efforts by redeploying to Menkent itself, before the fall of Lesath on the 4th of October. One way or another, the Helldivers would have to fight through the wanton arsonists.
Immediately following the recapture of Lesath, S.E.A.F. liberation forces would arrive at midday on the 4th of October. With no major urban centers to capture or defend, the battle with the Incineration Corps would be largely focused around the open plains, mountains and scattered colonies of Menkent. Though it was a long and hard fought battle, the Incineration Corps would finally be defeated at midnight on the 5th of October -- paving the way for planetary liberation and giving S.E.A.F. cyberwarfare specialists access to the Automaton data cache.
The encryption key identified by the Ministry of Intelligence would be quickly secured, transmitted, and used to de-encrypt files from Database One concerning Vessel 00. Please note however the following information comes from Automaton files, and Helldivers are advised that enemy information cannot be trusted. It is further advised that this enemy intel may be disturbingly un-Democratic.
Vessel 00 is indicated to be a spaceship that departed from the planet Cyberstan in 2180, approximately 4 years prior to the initial Automaton attack. The cargo and destination of that voyage is unknown, but it is referred to as the final one the ship made. Vessel 00 is referred to in exultation -- evidence of Automaton programming to express reverence towards it. It is additionally referred to as their seed or origin.
This intel raises many troubling questions. The origin of the Automatons has been a top intel priority since their initial barbaric assault. This information is the first to definitively connect the Automatons to Cyberstan, the former homeworld of the 
Cyborgs turned into a rehabilitation planet and invaded by the Automatons in the early days of the Second Galactic War. In any case, Cyberstan is deep behind enemy lines, and highly defended, with its liberation remaining the top strategic objective on the Automaton front. However current operational demands prevent its liberation in the short term. But in time, it will be liberated, and the secrets of the Automatons will be revealed.
Operation Big Brother[]
Large fleet forces involved in the defense of Menkent. November 17th, 2185.
Menkent would have returned to Liberty's embrace and remained within its reach every since its liberation on October 4th. However, it appeared as if almost an entire year of occupation had not been enough for the socialist machines as, on November 17th, they attacked Menkent once more. Following their catastrophic failure to take Mastia and Lesath the day prior, the Automatons desperately sent out 18 Batallions to attack Menkent in hopes of getting a quick victory over the Helldivers, who had been forced to scatter and split between a Terminid Outbreak on Polaris Prime and an Illuminate attack on Alamak VII.
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A Helldiver is firing at the landed Automaton infantry. November 17th, 2185.
The Helldivers would do well to mobilize in masse to Menkent, hoping to halt the bots' advance. The Democracy Space Station would also arrive in the planet's atmosphere at 03:50 SEST, aiding the S.E.A.F. on the ground with the Orbital Blockade feature active. However, Menkent's defense was still imperiled. The Automatons were moving swiftly, and due to the other ongoing defenses at Alamak and Polaris, they gained a significant advantage early on. Further, with Mastia, the main target of the Operation, coming under an Automaton assault at 09:15 SEST some hours later, support for Menkent began to drain quickly. When the Democracy Space Station left Menkent's atmosphere at 15:50 SEST to Mastia later on, both manpower and the on-the-ground support drained out as the Corps would shift their focus to save the 
Centre for Civilian Surveillance and Safety. With this development, and the continued, rapid advances of the bots, Menkent was doomed.
Sure enough, by 23:48 SEST, Menkent had fallen to the Automatons after just 43 days of peace within the Federation of Super Earth's embrace. The Automatons would spare no resource in taking over Menkent, leaving enough forces on the planet to make its Enemy Resistance Index reach a staggering 3%, in par with some of the highest guarded planets in the Valdis Sector.
FTL Lines[]
FTL Timeline[]
- February 8th, 2184: Menkent is connected by FTL to Choohe, Lesath and Vernen Wells.
- April 9th, 2184: New FTL line to Chort Bay is established.
Trivia[]
- Menkent surpassed Pöpli IX on April 9th as the farthest point into Super Earth space that Automaton forces have ever reached in the Second Galactic War, but was surpassed by Vernen Wells on April 10th.