“	Abundant with life, this wet planet is covered in deep oceans, thick forests, and tall grasses.	„
	~ Official Description

Gaellivare is one of the four planets that reside within the Talus Sector. After being liberated on September 27th, 2184, it was chosen as the main construction site for the Democracy Space Station.

It would see the construction of the Democracy Space Station through and, from November 13th to November 17th, was the site of a great battle between the Helldiver Corps and the Automaton Jet Brigade. Despite the defeat, the Helldivers managed to safely evacuate the DSS away from the Automatons, guaranteeing its safety and safeguarding its power well within Super Earth's control.

Unfortunately in November of 2185, the Centre for Civilian Surveillance and Safety would release a disturbing report which named Gaellivare as one of the three most dissentious planets in the federation. Low enlistment rates, high sick day usage, unconventional haircuts, and even reports of antisocial behavior. A State of Patriotic Emergency was immediately declared in response, with the Ministry of Unity deploying LIES (Loyalty Intervention & Enforcement Squads) to find and apprehend the traitors hiding in plain sight.

Topography and Astrography

Similar to Mantes and Meissa, Gaellivare is a warm, tropical jungle planet with several volcanos and sparse rainforests covering its supercontinental mass . The climate on Gaellivare is both very humid and very wet, with lots of geysers dotting the wilderness. Frequent tectonic plate movements make Gaellivare experience regular periods of high volcanic activity. During these periods, Gaellivare's volcanos expel dangerous amounts of flaming rocks that will kill anything their impact, while also leaving a burning crater around the immediate vicinity. However, these rocks burn so brightly that the glow of their fire can be spotted several seconds prior to the rocks landing, making them easy to avoid. Additionally, Gaellivare is routinely bathed by rainstorms that limit visibility.

A particular form of xenoflora found on Gaellivare, although not exclusive to this system, are plants that will be conjecturally referred to as "Shrapnel Bushes". These bushes consist of one central stem from which multiple spiky fruits sprout. Should these plants be disturbed by any kind of munitions, they will violently release the thorns contained within the fruits, such release being as violent as the explosion of a Frag Grenade and being capable of immediately disabling vehicles.

Due to the construction of the Democracy Space Station, Gaellivare's population centupled and its economy boomed to previously unmatched levels. Because of this, it saw the construction of 2 Mega Cities, which will be listed up next by tier. Mega City Tiers have no effect on level generation and only determine the city's health pool in the galactic map. These Mega Cities are the Settlement of Váhjter and the planetary capital Mega City of Malmberget. Besides these two Mega Cities, Gaellivare also possesses a significant number of urbanized settlements scattered throughout its surface, which provide housing for Gaellivare's rural population.

The Gaellivare System is a binary star system consisting of a brown dwarf and a blue subgiant star. Planet Gaellivare itself orbits the brown dwarf of this system, however the blue subgiant star can still be seen from Gaellivare's orbit and surface. Besides planet Gaellivare itself and its orbiting white, volcanic moon, the Gaellivare System contains at least 3 other astronomical objects, one of which is a gas giant and two others which are either moons of said gas giant or planets independent of both Gaellivare and the aforementioned gas giant.

Gaellivare is one of the only 2 planets connected to Mastia, as well as being one of the only 2 planets through which any Automaton invasion could ever hope to attack the Talus Sector and, by extension, the Centre for Civilian Surveillance and Safety. Additionally, having been the original construction site of the Democracy Space Station, Gaellivare is the dry dock where the crucial battle station will warp in order to conduct any required repairs and maintenance. The protection of Gaellivare is paramount.

History

Second Galactic War

Operation Titanium Belt

Gaellivare had been a peaceful colony of Super Earth for many decades at this point, having been settled at some point after the end of the First Galactic War. Its colonists thrived throughout the many jungles and prospered thanks to the fertility of the soil around the volcanoes. However, the Automatons, in their unquenchable thirst for resources and their innate hatred for Super Earth, would thrust Gaellivare into the war by force.

When the Automaton Legions invaded the Valdis Sector and began their territorial expansion in April and May 2184. Gaellivare's Colonial Overseer would order that all of its supply lines leading into neighboring sectors were closed, which helped safeguard the Talus Sector against the horrors that the Automatons had brought upon other planet colonies farther away.

As the months passed, Gaellivare's colonists would fortify their settlements and stockpile weapons, with the hopes of the Helldivers rescuing them as the robotic threat built up in Lesath, right at the doorstep of their new home planet.

They hoped that they would not need to use their defences against the robots. But little did they know that these defences would pave the way for their salvation.

On September 6th, 2184, the Automaton forces in Lesath, mere days after their vanguard in Tarsh and Mastia was cut off, would launch an assault onto Gaellivare, timed almost perfectly with a secondary assault that the Automaton vanguard in Mastia launched onto Shelt, as the Automatons seeked to utilize Imber's vast deposits of titanium in order to construct a new, unknown fighting force.

Since the colonists in Shelt had been unable to properly prepare, the Helldivers would see themselves in the need to deploy to Shelt immediately in order to rescue its under-prepared defenders and prevent the Automatons from getting to Imber. However, this would leave Gaellivare to their own devices until Shelt could be secured.

However, despite the victory at Shelt, the Helldivers were unable to successfully defend Gaellivare, with the assailants having already made too much progress in their invasion to really be driven back. Gaellivare would fall on the 8th of September, immediately starting an assault on Imber, as the Automaton forces punched through the planet. Through Gaellivare, the Automatons would go on to resupply their vanguard at Mastia before attempting 3 assaults at Imber, with the last one happening shortly before the end of Operation Liberty Tide and causing the loss of both the planet and the major order.

Operation Leap Forward

After months of intense research, on the 25th of September, 2184, construction of the Democracy Space Station was finally ready to begin. The DSS promised to be a powerful strategic tool for reshaping the Galactic Map — democratically directed by the Helldivers themselves. However to actually construct the DSS, an orbital construction site must first be secured. Of the planets within Super Earth's reach, only two two have large enough magnetospheres for safe construction: Gaellivare and Clasa. Both of which were under Automaton control.

Though the final choice of which to liberate was ultimately left to the Helldivers, Gaellivare was the more strategically viable choice. Although the planet would no doubt receive counter attacks from Lesath and Imber, Gaellivare was also much closer to the active galactic front-line when compared to Clasa, which would have required the liberation of both Vog-Sojoth and Claorell to properly defend, not to mention the marked distaste of swamp planets amongst the corps. Thus the majority of helldivers deployed onto Gaellivare.

Despite the losses of Imber, Acamar IV on the Terminid Front and Shelt throughout the 4 days during which the Helldivers fought over an unusually fortified Automaton force at Gaellivare, it would be finally captured on September 27th. Once the DSS Logistics Hub would be built on Tarsh in order to streamline the allocation of construction materials and resources towards the Democracy Space Station.

Operation Spark of Liberty

Gaellivare would see the Automatons for the last time on September 27th, as the Helldivers secured it for the construction of the Democracy Space Station. For 2 months, Gaellivare enjoyed peace and prosperity like no other, as its population centupled and its economy flourished, with millions of construction workers pouring in from all over the galaxy as the construction went on smoothly. Because of this populational and economic explosion, Gaellivare's settlements would urbanize at an extremely rapid pace, with the cities of Váhjter and Malmberget being built in order to house all of the new residents and construction personnel.

However, it would be at the last second when Gaellivare would see its 2 months of well-earned peace come to an end. On November 11th; just as the Democracy Space Station was about to come online, the Jet Brigade, a special strike force of the Automatons that had been crafted through the use of metal gathered from throughout their fief and the desecration fallen Helldivers off their Jump Packs, would return. Having been defeated at Marfark on September 22nd, this repugnant force had been rebuilt and given 58 Automaton Battalions with one express purpose: Conquering Gaellivare and destroying the Democracy Space Station.

On November 12th, the Jet Brigade would brutally conquer Tarsh and destroy the DSS Logistics Hub, then on November 13th followed Mastia, despite a heroic sacrifice from an SEAF platoon from Lesath.

Then, hours after the fall of Mastia's defense, the Jet Brigade attacked, with 47 Automaton Battalions behind it. Gaellivare's SEAF garrison, having enjoyed lots of time and resources to reinforce and prepare for the eventual return of the Automatons, would send the call for Helldiver aid, as they estimated that they would last about 48 hours before the Automatons took over the planet. However, events would soon take a wild turn from a side they did not expect.

Amidst the heroic defense of Gaellivare, at 21:37 SEST, the Helldivers would manage to acquire enough E-710 to activate the DSS, having acquired it after the collapse of the Terminid Research Preserve at Acamar IV. With the Democracy Space Station active, Gaellivare would be able to defend itself against the Automatons.

For the rest of the night and into November 14th, the Helldivers and the SEAF fought valiantly to repel the Automaton Jet Brigade, but the situation continued to look more and more grim. However, High Command would spy an opportunity in Mastia, as its capture would possibly end the assault on Gaellivare, as the Jet Brigade would be cut off from its supply line.

As such, the Helldivers voted to move the Democracy Space Station to Mastia, where they would then enable the Planetary Bombardment. For the rest of November 14th, the defense at Gaellivare would continue to fight the Jet Brigade as best as it could, as the main fleet of the Helldivers moved back to Mastia to attempt its capturing before it was too late. Some dissidents have suggested this manoeuvre was more motivated more motivated by strategic miscommunication to the nature of the DSS's voting system & that splitting Helldiver forces between 2 hard fought warzones was a catastrophic blunder, fortunately Ministry of Truth officials were able to quickly crack down on such thoughtcrime, even during the conflict.

However, this effort still would not be enough, as Mastia was still too reinforced to break in time. As such, the Helldivers had to get creative and voted to move the DSS back to Gaellivare, where they would then activate the Eagle Storm. With the assistance of the Democracy Space Station, the advance of the Jet Brigade would be slowed to a halt, which allowed the Helldivers to relocate back to Gaellivare to continue fighting, now being able to properly counterattack and, hopefully, come out victorious.

While Gaellivare would be held within the operation's timeframe, the battle was still not over. The fate of Gaellivare, and the Democracy Space Station, still depended on the outcome of this defense.

However, dissidence had grown among the Helldiver Corps, and with dissidence came indecision to violently replace the Helldivers' usual focus and efficiency. For many hours, they fought against the paralyzed Jet Brigade, racing to try and take enough ground to gain the upper hand before the Democracy Space Station's blockade had to be lifted. Yet, the enemy numbers where just too great.

Despite all of the many millions of lives lost after 3 days on continuous battle, the Helldivers had been unable to overtake the Jet Brigade. The enemy was incredibly numerous and the Helldivers hadn't been able to properly maneuver around them despite all their best efforts.

Once the Democracy Space Station left for Acamar IV, the main Helldiver fleet went away with it. Gaellivare was doomed.

Even with all of their might, the Helldivers had managed to fight the Jet Brigade for long enough to move the Democracy Space Station beyond their reach but not long enough to defeat them. Gaellivare would ultimately fall at 6:22 SEST - EST, leaving the Helldivers greatly defeated and all of the heroic martyrs that gave their lives for Super Earth waiting to be justfully avenged.

While Operation Spark of Liberty would be successful, as Gaellivare was still within Super Earth Control for long enough to allow the DSS to escape from the Automatons, this small victory had come at a cost too great: The complete collapse of the Terminid Front, product of the disastrous breach at Acamar IV, and the campaign against the Jet Brigade itself had resulted in the loss of 8 planets across 5 sectors, with the civilian casualties in the hundreds of millions and the damages very well into the tens of billions of Super Credits.

Operation Spark of Liberty, despite its pyrrhic victory, was a complete military disaster.

Operation Balance of Liberty

In order to recoup the brutal yet absolutely necessary losses sustained while Super Earth focussed on the DSS's construction, the Ministry of Defense put the vital superweapon to immediate use retaking lost ground, putting out a Major Order to all Helldivers to Liberate more planets than they lost over the orders duration.

Still stinging from the desperate battle for Gaellivare, the Helldivers immediately cast their gaze back to the lost world as their first target of attack, voting the DSS back into the planets orbit a day after it left to stubbornly ensure the planet's liberation.

However, as the Jet Brigade left to assault nearby Imber. The valiant liberation of Gaellivare would become an even more valiant endeavour, retaking Gaellivare while the Jet Brigade where still using it as a staging grounds would cut their assault force off from their supply lines. Not only resulting in the ensured freedom of both worlds, but wiping clean the stains of both the loss of Gaellivare & the failed Mastia Gambit.

The fighting on Gaellivare would be as bitter as it was a few days prior, with vengeful Helldivers refusing to back down a second time, High Command would deploy free Airburst Missile Launcher to all Helldivers during this time in order to observe if the rate at which they caused tragic yet unavoidable friendly fire incidents was still at acceptable levels, most would be put to use here, blasting devastator & diver alike to smithereens in a brutal battle to save 2 planets at once.

Tragically Gaellivare would only be liberated to 95% by the time it's neighbour fell. Returning to Liberty's arms but a few hours too late to save Imber from tyranny.

Despite this, the victory at Gaellivare would effectively sever the Jet Brigade off their supply line, leaving them encircled at Imber, their numbers severely demolished from their string of odious conquests. As such, with the DSS now operational, the Helldivers would begin to reroute their forces towards Imber, as the contingent left at the Terminid front began to re-route towards Crimsica.

Operation Liberty Shield

The failed defense of Gaellivare and the subsequent re-liberation effort of the planet would leave the jungle world in tatters. Colonists' farms were ruined. Wildlife across the jungle left uprooted. Innocent civilians' homes damaged beyond repair. And all of the human loss at the hands of the atrocious, inhumane Automaton Jet Brigade never to be resolved. The planet would spend the rest of the year 2184 attempting to rebuild what was lost, trying to recover from the atrocities and massacres it played no fault in breeding.

Sadly, even the mere semblance of a planet beginning to rebuild and prosper is a foreign concept to the dastardly robots. On January 5, 2185, the recently re-captured Automaton-controlled Lesath would send 13 invasion fleets toward the bruised Gaellivare in an attempt to threaten efforts to build the new Centre for Civilian Surveillance and Safety at Mastia. All Helldivers were ordered to immediately deploy to the defense, now having to split between liberating the swampy world of Tarsh and Gaellivare.

Despite High Command ordering all Helldivers to thwart the bot incursion from Lesath, only around 22% of the Corps would deploy to Gaellivare's defense. With the plurality of the Corps still trying to wrestle Tarsh away from its robot captors, Gaellivare's defense would be ultimately underwhelming and undermanned. The Automatons would overpower the defense by the next day, leaving the Major Order in peril with Gaellivare yet to be held, and Mastia now under threat.

However, this would only prove to be a temporary setback in the road to freedom. While Gaellivare's planetary defenses failed, its liberation index would surprisingly stay right at 50%. Tired of the robotic invaders destroying their homes and families, the people of Gaellivare had undertaken a task that few other planets had taken before: They resisted. With the help of the helldivers that had diverted to aid the defense, the people of Gaellivare would use the thick jungle as their righteous shield against the iron boot of the Automatons, engaged in a vicious war without quarters with one goal: ridding their home from their oppressors.

As the main fleet of the Helldivers arrived, the reports of civilian casualties began to pile up, as well as the tales of molten Automaton Hulk carcasses being found on the backyards of individual dwellings and dead civilians surrounded in the remains of Devastators with shovels driven through their faceplates. The Colonial Defenders that remained, and all the colonists that had stayed behind were all joined together by a common struggle against the mechanized aggressor, which quickly bolstered the Helldiver Corps and expedited the planet's liberation. After some 12 hours of combat, Gaellivare would be decisively liberated, the Automatons being handed a costly defeat as their vanguard at the Marspira Sector had been once again decimated.

Operation Omens Undone

Gaellivare, along with the rest of the Marspira and Talus Sectors, went on quietly for a significant period following the liberation efforts of the Helldivers. On the whole, the Automaton front would be relatively neglected through January and February 2185, with most SEAF efforts geared toward containing the threats of the Illuminate and the Terminids. With the shocking development that the Illuminate were moving the Meridian Singularity toward Super Earth--demolishing multiple planets along the way-- the Helldivers were forced to stop the squids in their tracks while scientific research efforts explored ways to halt the Singularity's advance. These efforts culminated in the first expedition into The Gloom on Fori Prime, a major military and scientific achievement in the fight against tyranny.

In March 2185, the Automaton front finally burst back into action. The bots first quietly reentered the Ymir and Gellert Sectors, capturing Meissa, Chort Bay, and Blistica. Then, later in the month, SEAF West would watch in horror as the Automatons managed to build a new strike force of even more mechanized brutality than the Jet Brigade-- if that could even be believed. The bots, strangely quiet for months, finally revealed what they were truly up to. On March 18, Helldivers viewing their Galactic Maps saw massive amounts of Automaton warships appear in the atmospheres of Martale and Bekvam III, along with a baker's dozen warships on Vega Bay. The bots unleashed this new onslaught led by the Incineration Corps- a new detachment of robots equipped with incendiary weaponry and artillery. Immediately, High Command issued an Order imploring the Helldivers to either exterminate Terminids to activate the Penrose Energy Siphon, or defend against the major Automaton offensive.

Overall, the Helldivers were unable to stop the advance of the Automatons as they swept through planet after planet. The bots stomped through the Ymir and Andromeda Sectors, plowed through Ustotu in the Trigon Sector, and took territory in the previously untouched Nanos Sector. The bots even made it back to the Xzar Sector, taking both Ingmar and Mort. All told, SEAF West was in crisis, and it took massive victories at Vandalon IV and Pöpli IX for the line to stabilize, allowing for a Helldiver counterattack across the Nanos, Xzar, and Trigon Sectors. On the whole, the bots still held ground in the Trigon, Ymir, and Andromeda sectors, with the bots having 100% control of the latter and 80% control of the Ymir sector.

Following the brilliant Helldiver victories on Vandalon IV and Pöpli IX, the Automatons sought to redress their defeat, heading back into retreat to analyze their pathetic shortcomings. In the process, the bots turned back to the east, reverting to their previous tactic of small, precise invasions rather than large-scale attacks. Wanting to shore up their heavily fortified holdings on Chort Bay and Penta, the bots launched a small attack on Lesath with just 6 battalions leading the campaign. Though the attack was small, nearly the entire Helldiver Corps was focused on battling the second expedition in The Gloom on Nivel 43. With all attention on the Terminid Front, only around 10-15% of the Corps joined the defense of Lesath, and although the race for the planet was valiant, the bots gained too deep an advantage on the ground to overcome, and the planet fell by the next day.

Lesath's fall put the bots right back on the doorstep of the fully liberated Talus Sector once again. Unfortunately for Gaellivare, it was now right in the firing line once again. Sure enough, on April 25, the Automatons made it back to Gaellivare with a relatively small invasion fleet of 8 battalions.

The attack on Gaellivare was interestingly timed, as it came 7 hours after the previous Major Order fighting the Illuminate was completed. Furthermore, it came in the midst of Predator Strain outbreaks by the Terminids on Turing and Veld, where most of the Corps was stationed. Despite this, a force of roughly 20% of Helldivers joined the battle for Gaellivare in the early stages of the attack, making decent progress toward defending the planet as the race seemed too close to call.

However, the decent Helldiver presence on the world wouldn't last long. About 3 hours after the attack on Gaellivare began, High Command issued a new Order: with one last defense against incoming Illuminate attacks on Pilen V, the Helldivers would finally claim victory against the alien race and put a halt to the Meridian Singularity's deadly advance, once and for all. Simultaneously, the catastrophic breach of the Xenoentomology Centre on Turing required immediate redress. With this in mind, High Command called for the thinning of Illuminate ranks to defend Pilen V while also liberating Turing from the Predator Strain.

This new development spelled trouble for Gaellivare, with Helldivers now leaving the planet to battle the Illuminate and Terminids on their designated worlds. As support began to drain for the planet's colonial defenders, SEAF progress slowed on the ground, allowing the Automatons to make gains on their offensive.

Gaellivare's defense progress slowed considerably in the wake of the new Order, and on the whole, the planet seemed doomed to fall. By April 26, the Automatons broke the planet's defenses and retook control of Gaellivare, officially marking their unjust return to the Talus Sector.

Battle of Super Earth - Aftermath

Gaellivare would remain under Automaton control for the rest of May. As the war progressed, its situation would change little due to a crisis that the Federation had to manage: The Illuminate. Throughout the month of May, the Helldivers had to devote their attention exclusively to repelling the squids, which allowed both the Terminids and Automatons to advance without any halting and pretty much doomed Gaellivare to what looked to be permanent occupation by the Socialist Toasters, a prospect that only gained a greater appearance of likelihood once The Great Host of the Illuminate came out of the Meridian Wormhole and launched an invasion of Super Earth.

While the majority of the Helldiver Corps and S.E.A.F. were concentrated at the defense of Super Earth, their numbers on the Automaton front would briefly surged during Operation Station Reforged in order to collect scrap metal necessary to repair the Democracy Space Station, after which most attention would once more return to Super Earth. It wouldn't be until May 30th, with the victory over the Illuminate at Super Earth, that Gaellivare would see its chance to break free once more.

Following the battle for the capital, the Helldivers would split their forces evenly from Super Earth to the planets of Terrek and Gaellivare, with the newly repaired Democracy Space Station being briefly deployed on both fronts. By June 1st, the Helldivers had liberated Terrek once more, then proceeding towards Gaellivare in hopes of expunging the Automaton advance in the Talus Sector, liberating the planet just before midnight on the 3rd of June.

Operation Drydock Lockout

On July 15th, 2185, the Automatons would launch multiple simultaneous assaults on planets with highly-populated Super Earth cities. Ministry of Intelligence analysis reported with a high degree of confidence that the strategic objective of this invasion is to take control of key Democracy Space Station facilities. These being the Deep Mantle Forge Complex on Claorell, the old DSS Logistics Hub on Tarsh and the original DSS Construction Site on Gaellivare.

It was quite evident the enemy intended to destabilize the capacity of the highly-effective DSS, and possibly turn our facilities to their own socialist aims. Furthermore, enemy troop movements indicated that this was only the first of several planned waves of attack, with additional invasions are anticipated. Ministry of Intelligence analysis also reported with an extremely high degree of confidence that the Automatons also intend to wantonly murder as many innocent civilians as possible.

Thus the Helldivers were ordered to immediately report to the defense of all assaulted planets. Prevent the capture of our cities and bloodthirsty violence against our civilians. And hold the key DSS facilities at all costs.

Gaellivare system would come under Automaton siege on morning of July 17th. Spearheaded from Lesath's direction, this attack caused a grave concern amongst the Helldivers, as the arleady much contested defense of Tarsh was still ongoing.

Despite the heroic resistance, Gaellivare was considered lost on late morning of June 19th. Half of the Helldivers have redeployed to desperate defense of Claorell, with only with only remaining 30% staying to liberate Gaellivare. Despite lack of apparent progress, the fight continued in the Mega City, and its theoretical liberation soon proved a turning point.

With this system fall, the Democracy Space Station Construction Site was captured -- Which after its completion, was the logistical hub for its supplies and coordination. This loss caused a longer cooldown on all DSS actions (24 hours) however the worst was yet to come as Claorell and it's Deep Mantle Forge Complex would fall the following day on the 20th of July and with it, any hope of winning the Major Order.

The Helldivers would not be deterred, and instead immediately set upon retaking the strategically valuable planet. They would focus on retaking Gaellivare. Little progress would be made until the S.E.A.F. (with the support of the Helldivers) retook the megacity of Malmberget at 3:30 AM SEST, immediately skyrocketing the liberation campaign's progress. Over six and a half hours later at 10:00 AM SEST, the settlement of Váhtjer would also be captured, paving the way for the rest of the campaign and having wiped out a very important chunk of the Automaton garrison on the planet.

On the 22nd of July at 1:15 AM SEST, Gaellivare would be liberated from the Automatons, with the retaking of it's vital orbital dry dock seeing normal tactical action activation time restored for the Democracy Space Station. However the Helldivers had little time to celebrate, as they immediately moved to liberate Claorell.

Operation Big Brother

On November 13th, 2185, the Centre for Civilian Surveillance and Safety would release a disturbing report which named Gaellivare as one of the three most dissentious planets in the federation. Low enlistment rates, high sick day usage, unconventional haircuts, and even reports of antisocial behavior. A State of Patriotic Emergency was immediately declared in response, with the Ministry of Unity deploying L.I.E.S (Loyalty Intervention & Enforcement Squads) to find and apprehend the traitors hiding in plain sight.

At the same time S.E.A.F. outworld garrisons were pulled back from outer defenses to Gaellivare along with Alta V and Diluvia to maintain order until the crisis could be resolved. At the same time the immediate expansion of the Centre for Civilian Surveillance and Safety would become vital in order to ensure that the government could protect loyal citizens by faithfully maintaining the Unity of the Federation. In order to facilitate this, the Helldivers were ordered to collect samples from the Automatons and Illuminate to study their insidious ways and aid in the development of improved surveillance technology.

War on Dissidence

However, unlike regular instances of Dissidence, the problem at Gaellivare would soon be revealed to be worse than expected. With the successful expansion of the Centre for Civilian Surveillance and Safety, it was soon uncovered that the dissident crisis was worse than initially discovered. Nearly every planet on the Federation, save Super Earth itself, was showing signs of dissident activity such as prolonged breaks, avoidance and/or excessive eye contact with authority figures, use of slang and other preposterous acts of disloyalty that, as proven by the attacks that shortly followed during Operation Tide of Tyranny, endanger all the citizenry.

As such, the Government of Super Earth immediately declared the War on Dissidence on November 26th, thus declaring all domestic planets as warzones and turning the S.E.A.F.'s resources inward to enforce curfews and hunt down every dissident in the Milky Way. A most correct approach to the problem, that inadvertedly would bring chaos as the dissidents tried to flee from their deserved punishment.

Expectedly, this sudden shift of focus would create opportunities for the enemies of the Federation to continue advancing. One of these many vulnerabilities was on Gaellivare itself. With the recent resurgence of the Incineration Corps and the loss of Lesath on November 24th, the dissidents on Gaellivare would betray the Federation in the most despicable way: They allowed the Automaton Legion to attack the planet, allowing 19 Battalions of the Incineration Corps to make planetfall.

With the loss of Iro in the Rictus Sector hours prior, the Helldivers were already on a deficit for their Major Order at the time, which was to both liberate more planets than were lost AND to liberate Afoyay Bay. The loss of Gaellivare would not only make the situation unsalvageable, it would also deprive the Democracy Space Station from the dry dock it needs in case of any emergency repairs. As such, the Helldivers would have to immediately split between shifting their offensive towards New Stockholm and defending Gaellivare from the odious pyromaniac machines.

The battle for Gaellivare was fierce like no other. In a display of cruelty similar to that seen on the other fronts, the Automatons destroyed the planetary power grid and razed the Mega Cities of Malmberget and Váhjter before sending in their troops. Civilian casualties were massive, with buildings having been reduced to mere charred concrete carcasses. Only the local S.E.A.F. garrison remained to fight the mechanized invaders through the scorned streets of the planet, the native Gaellivari avian wildlife being the only surviving witness to the wanton atrocities of the Automaton Legion.

Despite their cruelty, the Incineration Corps had been wilted down during their campaigns at Marfark and Lesath in the days prior, meaning that their offensives on Malmberget and Váhjter, while cruel, were also extremely costly. Malmberget alone was projected to wipe out 112.5% of the invading force should its defense have been successful. However, the Helldivers instead focused on bringing down the enemy in the old fashioned way: A long campaign of attrition in the countryside settlements of Gaellivare, so as to inflict upon the robots such agony, the likes of which they had not seen since the Battle of Pöpli IX.

And lo and behold, the approach would prove sufficient. 34 hours after the initial attack, the Automatons at Gaellivare would find themselves overwhelmed by their fear emulation subroutines prior to their complete and total eradication. Justice would have been served for this cruel invasion upon the innocent citizens of Gaellivare. However, work still remained to be completed, as the dissidence crisis continued. In due time, the traitors that sold out Gaellivare and brought upon it this inhumane calvary would soon be found, tried and made to pay for their heinous betrayal in the only way treason is ever paid: in blood.

Operation Free Space

Gaellivare would close 2185 in freedom, celebrating the Festival of Reckoning free from the mechanical clutches of socialism. However, the moment it turned to January 1st, 2186, the malevolent Automatons had already orchestrated plans for Gaellivare's doom once again. The Incineration Corps would resurface at midnight of January 1st, 2186 and, at 23:55 SEST, launched a dual assault from Lesath onto both Gaellivare and Vog-Sojoth in an attempt by Cyberstan to both reconnect with its besieged eastern holdings and expand their repugnant fief once again.

However, Gaellivare and Vog-Sojoth had managed to fortify enough after their liberation that they expected to be able to fight back against the pouring red tide for 48 hours at most. Unbeknownst to them, however, was the fact that the development of galactic security had turned, not necessarily in their favor.

On January 2nd, the Helldivers were ordered towards Omicron, a newly discovered Hive World that possessed the quantities of E-711 needed to power the Star of Peace, an augmentation for the Democracy Space Station that would serve as the new bedrock for galactic order.

Because of this, Gaellivare and Vog-Sojoth would be expectedly doomed, as all Helldivers had to relocate towards Omicron immediately. Through out whole defense, around 10% of Helldivers remained on Gaellivare, even as the fall was inevitable.

Despite the fall of the planet's defences and its occupation by the Incineration Corps, a small portion of the Super Destroyers continued to participate in the fighting, supporting the few units of the Helldiver Corps and regular S.E.A.F. forces. High-intensity fighting broke out in the planet's second-largest settlement – Váhtjer – during a local offensive by Super Earth forces in the region. Bloody battles, albeit on a smaller scale, also took place in a number of colonial suburbs and jungles, whose beauty was desecrated by the mechanical footsteps of socialist robots. Significant fires, caused not only by the fighting itself, but also by the maniacal pyromania of the Automaton Incineration Corps, greatly slowed the pace of the offensive, but by 01:00 SEST on the 6st of January, the last Automaton forces in Váhtjer were destroyed and the settlement was liberated.

Despite a significant increase in territorial control (by that time, it had reached 9% of the planet's surface), outside this Settlement, the Automatons managed to launch a counteroffensive, which, however, was not particularly successful, as its pace was extremely slow. The situation changed at approximately 22:45 SEST on the same day, when SEAF was able to repel these attacks and resume its offensive against the Automatons' positions.

For unknown reasons, at 13:25 SEST on the 8th of January, the Automaton command decided to completely withdraw the Incineration Corps units from the Gaellivare, replacing them with regular troops (however, on Vog-Sojoth, which was conquered during the same offensive as Gaellivare, the Corps forces remained). The weakening of the occupation forces allowed Super Earth to accelerate its offensive, resulting in approximately 13% of the planet being returned to S.E.A.F. control by the above-mentioned time.

Following the recapture of Lesath on the 17th of January, the Automaton garrison would find itself cut off from the rest of the legion. Taking advantage of this, S.E.A.F. ground forces would push out from their fortified position in Váhtjer to begin a planet wide offensive -- completely shattering Automaton defenses and slowly destroying all remaining pockets of resistance.

FTL Lines

• Imber
• Lesath - Lacaille Sector
• Mastia - Marspira Sector

FTL Timeline

• February 8th, 2184: Gaellivare is connected by FTL to Imber and Shelt.
• June 13th, 2184: FTL lines to Imber and Shelt are destroyed.
• September 6th, 2184: FTL line to Imber is re-established, plus two new lines to Lesath and Mastia.

Trivia

• Gaellivare is named after Gällivare, the hometown of Johan Pilestedt in Sweden. Ironically given its high latitude, Gällivare has a rather cold climate compared to Gaellivare which has a Sparse Jungle climate.
  • This would be confirmed through a Twitter post by Pilestedt himself on September 28th, 2024^[2]
• Malmberget is a mining town in Sweden, situated in Gällivare Municipality.
• Váhtjer is one of the Lule Sami pronunciations for Gällivare.

References