“	The Illuminate invasion fleet, constructed in secret behind the veil of the Meridian Wormhole. It is headed for Super Earth itself.	„
	~ The Great Host description

On the 13th of May 2185 at 1422 hours (SEST), multiple Super Earth defense satellites monitoring the Meridian Wormhole ceased reporting. This was followed by multiple simultaneous attack reports from outlying S.E.A.F. stations in the Widow's Harbor system. Intel then confirmed the presence of a massive Illuminate fleet dubbed the "Great Host", in clear violation of the enemy's previous eradication.

History

“	The Illuminate likely spent the past 100 years constructing this fleet. Its gargantuan size is a reflection of our enemy's hatred for all things Free.	„
	~ Democracy Officer

Though the exact size of the Great Host is unknown due to the destruction of aforementioned defense satellites, it likely consists of tens if not hundreds of thousands of spacecraft, ranging in size from the standard Warp Ship to Stingray fighters and larger Leviathans as well as the massive mothership-like vessels known as Overships. It is also likely the Illuminate Cult's main fleet, which they have likely spent the last 100 years constructing with its gargantuan size.

As theorized by the Democracy Officer, it is possible that the Illuminate never intended to destroy Super Earth itself with the Meridia wormhole, but rather get the ingress point for their fleet as close as possible to the Federation's capital world before finally bringing in the Great Host. Whatever the truth may be, cross-Ministry defense projections indicated that preventing this force from reaching Super Earth was not possible, with the invasion of humanity's homeworld all but inevitable. Prudence demanded that the Helldivers instead inflict damage to the enemy fleet and slow their advance long enough for the S.E.A.F. to bolster Mega City defenses.

During the siege of Widow's Harbor, the Ministries' projections would prove themselves correct as the fleet had an invasion level of over 800; the highest on record. Furthermore, the Democracy Space Station sustained heavy fire from the Illuminate fleet, which possessed what appeared to be countermeasures specifically prepared for the battle station. Although the DSS remained combat operational, Super Earth High Command warned the Helldivers that continued engagements between the DSS and the Great Host would risk further damage to the station.

Sure enough, the DSS would be disabled after attempting to engage the Great Host over Pilen V on the 15th of May, taking direct and severe damage in the process. While the crew were able to make a successful emergency warp jump to Claorell for repairs, many valiant crew members were sacrificed and the Super Earth Navy would lose its best during its hour of greatest need.

Soon after the fall of Pilen V, the Great Host struck at New Haven where it suffered its greatest casualties and its longest battle. But like the other planets, New Haven would fall and the Great Host would enter the Sol System and raze Mars before finally completing its ultimate objective: landing on Super Earth and immediately laying siege to the Mega Cities. The Squids believed that their fleet would overrun the S.E.A.F. forces that had amassed on the planet, but, blinded by their hubris, did not imagine that the Helldivers would amass their strength into a force of over 200,000, numbers not seen since the defense of Calypso and the liberation of Durgen against the Automatons a year prior. With 200k Divers and billions of S.E.A.F. soldiers fighting against it, the Great Host would be made to suffer for its transgressions. With its Overships and Leviathan warships being targeted, the Great Host would suffer its greatest casualties yet.

After a full week of fighting, the Great Host was whittled down to 10% of its strength and, after a malware deployment, it was down to 3%. After ten days of constant fighting - which involved the fall of multiple Mega Cities and the death of the President of Super Earth - the Great Host's strength was fully depleted by the arriving Democracy Space Station and the S.E.A.F.'s defense. Once massive and intimidating, the decimated Illuminate fleet retreated, warping away from Super Earth to their Locus Nodes on Mog, Bellatrix, Hydrobius, and Haldus. Though multiple planets now lie in ruin and tens of billions of citizens have died, the Federation will recover and then will seek revenge.

As seen in later campaigns, though the Great Host was defeated, the number of remaining Overships and Leviathans is high enough to to be considered threatening and the supplies collected from the Locus nodes allowed the Squ'ith to rebuild and repair the remains of their fleet, launching attacks on several worlds in the galactic south.

Timeline

• May 13th, 2185: Great Host emerges from the Meridian Black Hole and attacks Widow's Harbor.
• May 15th, 2185: Great Host invades Pilen V.
• May 17th, 2185: Great Host invades New Haven.
• May 20th, 2185: Great Host scorches Mars.
• May 20th, 2185: Great Host invades Super Earth.
• May 30th, 2185: Great Host is defeated at Super Earth, scorches Widow's Harbor, Pilen V, and New Haven before disappearing from the Galactic Map.
• June 6th, 2185: Great Host remnants are discovered on Mog, Bellatrix, Hydrobius and Haldus.
• June 17th, 2185: Great Host remnants expand to more planets, mainly Alamak VII and Alairt III.
• June 22nd, 2185: As the last Major Order fails, Great Host remnants fully integrate into the Illuminate Forces in the Galactic South.

Trivia

• First footage of the emerging fleet.
• Democracy Officer comments on the Great Host.