| “ | Reports of Illuminate sightings have been confirmed by the Ministry of Intelligence for the first time since their total annihilation. The Ministry of Intelligence publishes a list of eleven signs your brain may be under Illuminate influence. Sign number one: maladaptive doubt. | „ |
| ~ All You Need To Know With Coretta Kelly[1] |
The Ministry of Intelligence (MoI or MININT) is a federal executive Ministry of 
Super Earth. It is the intelligence agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information and data in support of the Federation's decision-making process, providing intel for the government as well as supporting the operations of other Ministries such as the 
Ministry of Defense and the 
Ministry of Unity. MININT is occasionally mentioned in Major Orders.[2]
Operations
| “ | Made famous by the Ministry of Intelligence's hide-and-seek-and-destroy champion of '52, this armor has been improved by removing excess shoulder protection. | „ |
| ~ A-35 Recon armor description |
Ministry of Intelligence briefing
The Ministry of Intelligence and its Intelligence Officers[3] appear to be greatly concerned with data collection on enemies inside and outside the Federation, namely the 
Terminids, the 
Automatons and the 
Illuminate.
MININT presumably operates most, if not all of the Surveillance Satellites, one of which was instrumental in discovering the Automaton "Petafactory" on the planet of Varylia 5. This discovery allowed 
S.E.A.F. forces to capture the factory before it could become fully operational and modify it into a second Morgunson Arsenal, allowing the construction of the EXO-49 Emancipator Exosuit.
Swift Disassembly and the Reclamation
By studying the Automatons, the Ministry of Intelligence was responsible for the discovery of "The Reclamation", which was then correctly identified as a massive invasion of unprecedented scale. They were also able to identify a long-range communications array deep in Automation space on the planet of Troost. Following the array's capture, analysts were able to determine that the bots were broadcasting outside the Galactic Frontier. However, the analysts were unable to learn more due to the deletion of most of the data. Nevertheless they were able to identify blueprints for Automaton aerial gunships, allowing the hardworking factory laborers of Super Earth to accelerate production of anti-air weapons.
Following the success of Operation Swift Disassembly, it was assumed that all any threat from the Automatons and their "Reclamation" had passed. Out of an abundance of caution, S.E.A.F. teams were dispatched to Tibit and Maia to search what remained of Automaton facilities and servers for any additional intelligence. Unfortunately, Super Earth's analysts were unable to discover the existence of the Automatons' main fleet, or their plans for a surprise invasion of the Valdis Sector and Lacaille Sector, until they launched their invasion several days later.
Database One
Although the Automatons' ultimate objective of destroying Managed Democracy was clear to the Ministry of Intelligence, many gaps remained in intelligence regarding the Automaton Legion. The originating location of the Invasion Fleet was yet unknown, and the socialist robots' focus on Cyberstan remained unexplained save for speculation. That changed with the discovery of the large Automaton Data Center on the planet of Wasat, designated Database One. Its vast stores of data could answer many questions, although remote hacking was impossible due to being protected by exceptionally robust encryption protocols, though this also meant that whatever data was stored there was clearly important, given how much effort had been expended to keep it hidden.
To this end, Super Earth High Command launched Operation Valiant Resistance. After three days, the 
Helldivers were able to liberate the planet and capture Database One intact, which allowed for intrepid S.E.A.F. Cyberwarfare Specialists to manually extract the data and breach its encryption.
Several key discoveries were made; chief among these was that the Automatons appear to be planning some sort of massive terraforming project on Cyberstan itself. Additionally, decoded data included detailed recordings of the impact of the Terminid Supercolony on Meridia. Other keywords were also referenced numerous times throughout the data trove, though without additional details: Vessel 00, Nucleus, The Final Collective, and others.
As the S.E.A.F. and Helldiver Corps pushed towards Cyberstan, the Ministry of Intelligence continued to decode the vast database, so that new intel may be gleaned to aid the Ministry of Defense. Unfortunately, these efforts would be of limited success, as the Automatons' encryptions would prove surprisingly hard to crack. Not only that, but the capture of Database One would not be repeated as, while several opportunities to capture secondary datasites would present themselves over the following year, none would be successfully raided before the Automatons moved or wiped their data.
Encryption Keys: Vessel OO
In October of 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 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, who would ultimately prioritize the capture of the data cache on 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. The Ministry made sure to note, however, that the following information came from Automaton files and Helldivers were advised that enemy information was not to be trusted. It was further advised that this enemy intel may be disturbingly un-Democratic: Vessel 00 was 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 remain unknown, but it was referred to as the final one the ship made. Vessel 00 was referred to in exultation - evidence of Automaton programming to express reverence towards it. It was additionally referred to as their seed or origin.
This intel raised many troubling questions. The origin of the Automatons had been a top priority for the Ministry of Intelligence since the socialist robots' initial assault. This information was 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 certainly be liberated, and the secrets of the Automatons will be revealed.
Operation Jet Clipper
Though the Automatons' 
Jet Brigade was summarily routed by the Helldivers during Operation Balance of Liberty, the factories that produced them were still out there, ready to spew out more gravity-defiling calculators-at-arms. Fortunately, decryption of Automaton database intel revealed that the Jet Brigade used Choohe as a staging ground. Liberating this staging ground would likely reveal information on the Jet Brigade factories.
Unfortunately, Choohe was liberated behind schedule, with whatever secrets about the Jet Brigade it may have contained having been scrubbed from servers and databases. Fortunately, not all was lost as an impressive number of memory drives were recovered from the dismantled Automatons. High Command had also ordered the dismantling of any remaining Automatons that operated alongside the Jet Brigade and may still have important data stored on their internal drives. Thanks to the swift actions of the Helldivers, such drives were not in short supply, with the chance of finding useful intel a statistical inevitability.
As soon as their contents had been uploaded to bot husks in S.E.A.F. possession, they were ready for interrogation. This was all but guaranteed to yield results, as soon as all 89,601,000 drives had been thoroughly interrogated. Sure enough, after almost two months of work, the intel from the Jet Brigade Staging Grounds on Choohe was finally deciphered, and the source of the violent unit identified, with the Factories that produced the robotic marauders being located on Chort Bay. Intel analysts also understood the Automatons' intent upon the reconstruction of the Jet Brigade, with projections indicating the Brigade to be at least partially rebuilt. Speed thus would be key to prevent the recovery of the unit's full strength, necessitating a deep strike into Automaton territory by the Helldivers.
Illuminate Invasion
| “ | The Illuminate fleet dwarfs initial estimates, confirming Ministry of Intelligence predictions. | „ |
| ~ All You Need To Know With Coretta Kelly[4] |
The Ministry of Intelligence accurately predicted the true size of the Illuminate "Great Host".
With the return of the Illuminate to the Milky Way in December 2184, the Ministry of Intelligence was the first to confirm sightings of Squ'ith vessels which soon began to invade the colonies of the Federation. At the same time as it confirmed these sightings, the Ministry published a list of eleven signs that a citizen's brain may be under Illuminate influence.[1]
When the Illuminate "Great Host" emerged from the 
Meridian Black Hole to directly attack Super Earth in May 2185, the Ministry of Intelligence was responsible for correctly predicting that the Squ'ith fleet was much larger than initial estimates believed it to be.[4]
Automaton DSS Offensive
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 was 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.[5]
It was quite evident the Automatons intended to destabilize the capacity of the highly-effective DSS, and possibly turn the Federation's facilities to their own socialist aims. Furthermore, Automaton troop movements indicated that this was only the first of several planned waves of attack, with additional invasions being anticipated. Ministry of Intelligence analysis also reported with an extremely high degree of confidence that the Automatons intended to "wantonly murder as many innocent civilians as possible".[5]
Thus, the Helldivers were ordered to immediately report to the defense of all assaulted planets, prevent the capture of the Federation's cities, stop the Automatons' violence against civilians, and hold the key DSS facilities at all costs.[5] In these efforts, all but Claorell were successfully defended, although the Automaton invasion still reaped a heavy toll. Many cities were left in ruins and millions of innocent families sheltered in refugee camps.
Data extraction from captured Automatons drives following the offensive would reveal a secondary motivation for the assault: vengeance for the destroyed Jet Brigade Factories on Chort Bay. According to MININT, this curious detail likely evidenced continued Automaton efforts to "programmatically replicate human emotions", emotions which the Ministry assured the bots lacked "the ability to truly feel".
Trivia
- Unlike other Ministries in Helldivers 2, the Ministry of Intelligence has yet to be given an official logo or an official description in the game's loading screen tips. It is also unknown which corporation (if any) officially works with this Ministry.
References
| Ministries of Super Earth
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