Calypso is one of the four planets in the Saleria Sector. On December 12th, 2184, it was the first planet to be attacked by The Illuminate in the Second Galactic War as well as the first planet upon which they tasted defeat for the first time in a century.

Calypso was the planet that held the record for the highest amount of Helldiver casualties in any single battle with 38,746,807 Helldivers dead in just the 4 days that the engagement lasted, surpassing the 25 million casualties accrued in Malevelon Creek over the span of 2 months. That was until the Battle of Super Earth claimed the lives of 120 million Helldivers in just under 2 weeks.

Topography

Similar to Fori Prime and Vernen Wells, being a primarily arid and rocky world with an environment that has driven the flora and fauna to become extremely water efficient.

A long time colony of the Federation of Super Earth, Calypso is a highly developed colony by the standards of the Ministry of Expansion, with urban centers both large and small being found across much the planets surface. Unfortunately this large population has just meant more citizens for the cursed Illuminate to take freedoms away from, transfiguring them into little more than cannon fodder in the Squ'ith war machine.

Calypso's pre-invasion cities were a mixed sprawl of suburban housing developments and mixed-use buildings. Helldivers deployed to Calypso quickly learned that urban warfare is very different from conventional combat in the open which they are used to out on the sparsely developed Eastern and Western Fronts. A battle which was not only up close, but also much more personal.

Tight streets, visibility-obstructing buildings, Illuminate lightning traps, and variations in height advantage are just some of the perils Helldivers faced against the Illuminate invasion. Many a Helldiver have run down an alleyway to escape a harvester only to run headlong into a horde of voteless. In addition, whilst the steel and concrete constructions that made up Calypsos' buildings could be knocked down with sufficient ordinance (or direct impact from a hellpod) even a bomb-shattered ruin could pose a major obstacle for either side. Fortunately Calypso's cities also possessed many S.E.A.F. facilities, including Artillery emplacements and SAM Sites which proved devastating for the Illuminate Warp ships. Each city also possessed significant stockpiles of ammunition, medical supplies and weapon caches, which proved to be a major boon for the S.E.A.F. defenders.

In stark contrast to the urban sprawl, the terrain beyond Calypso's walled Cities is a mostly arid frontier, consisting of massive dust dunes and rocky canyons that shelter thorny shrubs -- breaking up the otherwise bleak and lifeless wasteland. Shrouded in endless dawn and dust, red sands cake every inch of this untamed land, with dust constantly whirling in the air causing constant visibility issues. Compounding this is the planets rotation, which makes a proper day-night cycle is near impossible. Combined with the dust, skies are often either shrouded in hues of red and orange, while what little daylight does reach the surface reveals the copper oxidization taking hold in the sky as it turns a tealish-green -- creating an aurora borealis effect.

Notably in depressions in the ground there can be found pools of steaming and filthy ground water creating expansive mud marshes that slow movement considerably. It should be noted however that neither the Ministry of Science of the Ministry of Expansion have clarified yet whether these pools are created by naturally occurring springs being fed by natural underground springs or industrial runoff from nearby cities. In addition to the above mentioned points, the planet also suffers from considerable geological instability.

Frequent continental shifts results in frequent tremors that can cause entire regions to shake anywhere from several seconds to almost a minute, causing dust to be hurled into the air after the brief periods it is allowed to settle. As a result, most buildings have been reinforced to handle these frequent earthquakes and locals are generally used to such quavers from their home planet. However it has been noted by many Helldivers that being robbed of higher thought by the Squ'ith has done a number on the ability of the Voteless to balance themselves, locking them in place when these tremors hit... usually.

History

Second Galactic War

Return of the Illuminate

Calypso was a peaceful planet colony in the Saleria Sector much like its neighbors, having been settled at some point after the First Galactic War, becoming a highly developed urban world. Additionally thanks to the planet's distance from both the eastern and western fringes, Calypso would avoid the worst of the second galactic war, at least for most of the first year of active fighting at least.

During November of 2184, rumors from the frontier filtered back to Super Earth that colonists were going missing. Although the loss of some brave frontiersmen to untamed local fauna, poisonous flora and rugged wilderness is to be expected on furthest frontiers, the sheer number of missing people was enough to grab the attention of the wider federation, with Strohmann News running a story on the disappearances. However, these disappearances were quickly assumed to be because of adventurous comic books encouraging more reckless behavior -- an assumption that would cost the federation, humanity and most of all managed democracy dearly.

Calypso's peace would come to a bloody end when a foe long thought defeated revealed themselves to the galactic stage. On December 12th, an event long thought completely impossible occurred.

The Illuminate, a race of sapient cephalopod humanoids that had once defied Super Earth during the First Galactic War and been banished from the Milky Way after their defeat, revealed themselves to have returned to the galaxy. Though how and why they have returned is not currently known, what is clear is that they intend to wage war on humanity once more.

The ongoing Operation Bughammer would be immediately aborted by High Command, as LIBCON 1 was issued to all available members of S.E.A.F. and the Helldiver Corps^[2] -- all of whom were immediately directed to Calypso. Although the Helldivers lacked the support of the DSS thanks to suspected sabotage, over 100,000 Helldiver Super Destroyers transferred immediately to Calypso and began deployment onto its urbanized areas, with the number rising as high as 170,000 throughout the day, peaking at just over a fifth of a million in the coming days. With valiant courage, they put down the hordes of Voteless citizens that the odious aliens had abducted out of their undemocratic misery and stared down the waves of Overseers and Walking Harvesters, even in the face of their Obliteration beams.

However despite having the largest force assembled by the Super Earth Armed Forces since the final liberation of Malevelon Creek behind them, the enemy numbers and strength were far greater than any seen thus far, with S.E.A.F. Analysts putting the strength and Defense Condition for the invading Squ'ith fleet at around level 96 -- the highest for any single invasion seen to date, 38 levels stronger than the previous largest invasion fleet, the Automatons Jet Brigade at Tarsh which was noted as a level 58 defense condition. Additionally, the majority of Helldivers in active service had been called up for and only participated in the Second Galactic War, meaning that most of them lacked experience against this old enemy.

However as with many things: The Light of Liberty graced our Federation once more. Despite the lack of knowledge combating the Illuminate (as well as the servers of the GWW struggling to coordinate so many Helldivers on one planet) the over 150,000 active Helldivers present on Calypso (peaking at just over 200,000 Super Destroyers on the third day of the battle) were able to hold the planet against all odds, with exactly 8 minutes and 59 seconds to spare before S.E.A.F. defenses collapsed entirely. This would be marked as one of the closest any planet has been saved before defense collapse in the war so far, with only the defense of Achird III against the Terminids being a closer race with under 5 minutes left on the deadline.

With the resurgent Illuminate repelled by the Helldivers, order was quickly restored on Calypso and victory finally declared on the 16th of December, 2184. Super Earth High Command immediately launched an investigation and assessed that a small cell of the Illuminate forces survived their eradication at the end of the First Galactic War, staying hidden until now. Recent Democratic activity may have made their discovery imminent, precipitating the recent attack.

The shocking invasion of Calypso left colonies in ruins. Thousands remain unaccounted for, with multiple units reporting human-like combatants on the battlefield, with investigations into these reports of 'voteless' ongoing. Yet despite the audacity of this shocking and unprovoked assault, the Helldivers once again proved their unmatched martial prowess.

With the enemy retreating in defeat, S.E.A.F. recon units were dispatched to hunt down any remnants left behind in their retreat, with orders to eradicate them as soon as they are located. Whilst Helldiver Corps may have suffered over 38 million casualties during the 3 day long defense of Calypso -- for comparison, 25 million Helldivers were killed in 9 weeks on Malevelon Creek -- the Illuminate would suffer much more with over three billion kills confirmed by S.E.A.F.. However it should be noted that the vast majority of these casualties are the mind controlled voteless, with actual Squ'ith casualties being around five million. Even so, it should also be remembered that this is still a high price to pay for a species on the verge of extinction.

FTL Lines

• Alderidge Cove- Guang Sector (Established on October 27th, 2185)
• Andar- Akira Sector (Established on October 27th, 2185)
• Elysian Meadows- Guang Sector (Established on October 27th, 2185)
• Outpost 32- (Re-established on October 27th, 2185)

FTL Timeline

• February 8th, 2184: Calypso is connected by FTL to Outpost 32.
• June 13th, 2184: FTL line to Outpost 32 is destroyed.
• October 27th, 2185: FTL line to Outpost 32 is re-established, plus the creation of new FTL lines to Alderidge Cove, Andar, and Elysian Meadows.

Trivia

• The name Calypso derives from the Ancient Greek καλύπτω (kalyptō), meaning 'to cover', 'to conceal', or 'to hide'. Calypso is likely named after the goddess of the same name from Greek myth. Calypso lived on the island of Ogygia as punishment for siding with the Titans during the war between the Olympians and the Titans. She is most well known for being part of the famous greek epic, Odyssey.
  • In Homer's epic poem, Calypso detained the hero Odysseus on her island, enchanting him with her singing so she may keep him prisoner forever. In the same vein, the Voteless are humans who have been captured by the Illuminate and "enchanted" into doing their bidding.

• Strohmann news illuminate return: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5-QjpH1rTo
• According to statistics provided by Ministry of Defense, Calypso has the lowest Mission Success rate (83%) of any planet.

Gallery

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  A Helldiver contemplates the desolate ruins of one of Calypso's many urban colonies.
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  A Helldiver prepares to mercifully terminate a horde of straggling Voteless.
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  A Helldiver, shook from combat, prepares to extract with their unit after mission completion.
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  A Helldiver contemplates a wartorn colony during their last deployment in Calypso. December 15th, 2184 - 20:36 SEST - EST
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  Victory on Calypso captured on the Companion App.
• Video of the exact moment the Illuminate were defeated at Calypso. Originally uploaded by a user to the official Helldivers discord on December 15th, 2024 at 23:23 EST