Terminid Control System

With the Terminid outbreak at the start of the Second Galactic War threatening to spread out of control, Super Earth scientists developed the Terminid control system: a planet-wide bug extermination network. The TCS would be constructed on an unbroken line of barrier planets in the Umlaut Sector, with the plan being to quarantine the bugs behind them.

Activation of the Terminid Control System[]

The Terminids were pushed back to the Barrier Planets where, after weeks of work, S.E.A.F. engineers had finished building a network of massive, Termicide-dispensing towers upon each Barrier Planet: the key to the Terminid Control System. Once activated, the TCS would exterminate every Terminid on that planet, and inoculate it against all future infestations. However, surges in Terminid activity also forced the S.E.A.F. engineers to evacuate, with the Helldivers being sent in to activate the Terminid Control System at any cost.

The Terminid Control System would be successfully and fully activated several days later thanks to the efforts of the Helldivers. The Termicide would work as intended, killing millions of Terminids on the Barrier Planets. Super Earth's citizens could finally rest easy, knowing their children were forever safe from being eaten alive by "fascist" insects. However, unconfirmed reports stated that the Termicide, an Anti-Terminid Neurotoxin dispersed by the TCS Towers, was causing the Terminids to mutate and evolve faster.

Failure of the Terminid Control System[]

“	New updates on the backfiring on the TCS in the Meridia system. Here's the latest: A preliminary investigation by the Ministry of Science reveals that the Termicide initially worked, quote: "as intended," eliminating 99.6% of the Terminid population on all Barrier Planets. However, on Meridia, some of the remaining Terminids not only survived, but actually began reproducing up to 20 times faster than before. Scientists are now calling the planet a Terminid, quote: "Supercolony." The mutations caused by the Termicide appear to be random, but according to the report, it is only a matter of time before the same reaction appears on the rest of the Barrier Planets. The Helldivers may be in a race against time to deactivate the TCS before this occurs.	„
	~ Coretta Kelly - TCS Failure - News Broadcast

TCS Scientists — The scientists who developed the TCS are arrested by the **Ministry of Unity**.

For around two months, the Terminid Control System worked as intended, even proving key during Operation Enduring Bulwark by providing a solid barrier against further Terminid advances into Federation space.

However, after two months, the TCS started to no longer function as intended as Terminid outbreaks erupted on all Barrier Planets. Most shockingly of all, however, was that the bugs were displaying resistance to Termicide, something top Super Earth scientists previously believed impossible. On Meridia, Terminid reproduction exploded overnight and continued to increase exponentially, with the planet almost fully infested within hours.

While the exact mechanism for this hyper-reproductive adaptation was unknown, it appeared to be linked to continued Termicide Exposure. While this effect was still limited to Meridia, it could not be allowed to spread. With the situation on Meridia unsalvagable, High Command placed Operation Legitimate Undertaking on indefinite hiatus, while the Helldivers were ordered to immediately deactivate the Terminid Control System on the remaining Barrier Planets.

Decommissioning and Aftermath[]

“	I've actually read about what happened with Termicide. It's called hormesis—basically, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Like how small doses of poison can make you immune. Or how workers in uranium mines can't get cancer.	„
	~ Service Technician

Further calamity was averted thanks to the swift response of the Helldivers to deactivate the remaining Terminid Control System nodes. With further Termicide disbursement arrested, the remaining Barrier Planets were safe from suffering Meridia's fate.

Additionally, the cause of the TCS failure was identified. The Termicide had functioned as expected, killing nearly 100% of all Terminids. However, for the small fraction of Terminids that survived, exposure to non-lethal doses of Termicide eventually caused beneficial changes to gene expression, in a completely unprecedented process known as hormesis.

On most Barrier Planets, this adaptation was limited to increased Termicide resistance, but on Meridia, non-lethal Termicide exposure caused higher reproduction rates and reduced generation time, with continued exposure to Termicide perpetuating this effect. The planet was now infested to a degree nearly comparable with the Terminid home planet, and scientists classified Meridia as a "Supercolony".

The infestation was so severe that conventional Helldiver operations on the planet were out of the question. The Ministry of Science began working on a solution while the Meridian Supercolony accelerated the spread of the Terminids in unforeseeable ways.

The reckless scientists responsible for creating the Termicide were arrested and thoroughly investigated by the Ministry of Unity. With the TCS inoperable and the Supercolony active, the Terminids were now a greater threat than ever before. However, there may yet be hope as, following the destruction of Meridia, the Ministry of Science has announced that it is working on a new variant of Termicide (Termicide 2.0) which promises to be even more deadly.