The managed democracy of Super Earth wants players to perceive that the Terminds are evil and disgusting arthropods in however, the government has obscured the actual truth behind the war. The game drops hints that humans have sown the seeds for the current conflict for nearly a century. While the reasons for war are varied, the driving force for the ongoing Terminid War is the fuel extracted from decomposing genetically modified bugs.
The Federation obfuscates the underlying reality on the ground with a well-oiled propaganda machine. In-game media encourages devotion to the state, and holidays like All Heroes Eve demonize the arthropods as enemies. The constant patriotic barrage spurs countless Helldivers to rush to the frontline, collecting samples and decimating Terminid hives, all the while not knowing the true causes of the war.
Humanity's march of conquest requires oil to fuel its victory. Scientists discovered that Terminids produce Element 710 (oil flipped upside down), a key resource in Super Earth's faster-than-light travel. To fuel the Federation's expensive war machine, the government continues to extract resources from the bugs, a sentiment echoed by Democracy Officer Johansson, who calls for the Terminids to be harnessed.
The messages from dissidents reinforce the resource-driven narrative of the conflict with Terminids. Forced from Federation worlds due to their outspoken beliefs against managed democracy, the outcasts set up stations that Helldivers are then tasked to destroy. Before calling down the best strategems on these illegal broadcasts, players can read a message on the towers telling them that the bug menace is a Super Earth construct.
After the defeat of the Terminids in, continued human interference set the grounds for war in the sequel. Humans «pacified» the bugs and kept them in farms while utilizing their oil. This later catalyzed the current crisis, as evidenced by Service Technician Eriksson, who mentions that the bugs fought now
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