The Nature of Managed Democracy (1) - A Helldivers 2 Crossover

***INCOMING MESSAGE FROM SUPER EARTH***

Operation Manifest Democracy

Helldivers, a joyous day for freedom is upon us, for we have discovered an endless bounty for our great Federation. The Ministry of Expansion has confirmed the presence of several hundred star systems capable of housing the glorious citizens of Super Earth, located across the Orion Arm of the Milky Way. Light years upon light years worth of boons await reclamation by our Federation to be used to shepherd humanity into a new golden age. But freedom doesn't come free. In addition to this surplus bounty, extensive scanning of several of these planets have confirmed the presence of not one, but multiple confirmed hostile alien and undeniably undemocratic alien species. These renegade beings appear to be united beneath a collective government who shamelessly refer to themselves as 'The Galactic Federation', a perverse imitation of our magnificent empire. Much like the fascist Terminids, the socialist Automatons, and the Illuminate terrorists, these freedom-averse beings will inevitably rise to strike at the Heart of Liberty should they be given the opportunity, much like the enemies of freedom we fight today. The Ministry of Defense has given full authorisation of the immediate commencement of Operation Manifest Democracy. Helldivers are to liberate the designated planets and pave the way for freedom to reign. All who resist freedom shall suffer our wrath. May liberty guide your steps.

Major Order Objectives:

• Liberate Venlil Prime*(Success)*
• Liberate The Cradle*(In progress)*

Memory transcription subject: Semek, Gojid Defense Fleet

Date [Super Earth Standard Time]: September 23, 2136

My paws hammered across the cold station floor as I hurried to my post.

All around me, warning lights blared with frightening intensity, crying out in alarm in response to the sudden invasion.

My mind was still reeling from the briefing that they had just given us. The humans, a race of predators long thought to have been extinct, had all of a sudden returned and were now laying waste to the Federation and its people.

When Venlil Prime had suddenly gone dark two months ago, we had suspected that something might have happened. Perhaps an extended communications blackout. Maybe the Arxur had finally succeeded in taking the Venlil's homeworld. But the return of the galaxy's only other predator race was something none of us could have prepared for.

Passing by a window, I glanced out at the blue skies of our cradle.

The once picture-perfect scene was now marred with the angular monstrosities of predator make, parked in low-orbit above our home and razing its surface. Anger boiled in my veins as I watched orbital lasers carve swathes out of towns and cities, erasing an untold number of innocent lives from existence. I recalled my childhood lessons on predator history; our teacher had always described in visceral detail, the brutality of humanity. About how they chained and enslaved those not like them, how they murdered and consumed flesh like the Arxur, how they rivalled the Greys' cruelty in every way.

If those beasts took the Cradle like they took Venlil Prime...

No.

They will not destroy our home like they did our galactic neighbours. The Federation have fended off the Arxur for centuries, they will do the same against humanity. Believe in the Great Protector, believe that she will defend us from predatory depravity now, like she always has.

Steeling myself, I tore my eyes away from the window and headed towards the armory.

'The Great Protector will guide me, as she always has for those who leap into the jaws of predators to defend their home'

The next few hours were a blur. All I could remember was the captain yelling orders at me, then I was standing at the perimeter of a small outpost manned by no less than around 50 other Gojids.

The plasma rifle felt heavy in my hands, my previous wrath for the predators fading as the hours dragged on, leaving me with nothing but the cold numbing dread in the pit of my stomach that told me something was seriously wrong.

It was quiet...far too quiet.

Sure, the distant sounds of artillery and orbital bombardments echoed across the mountains but even as I gazed across the horizon with my eyes, I could see nothing but grass and trees. Were the predators even coming?

Now that I thought about it, other than the black angular ships visible in the lower atmosphere and the occasional jet flying by, I hadn't actually seen a predator in person yet.

The Arxur would have jumped at the chance to attack such an isolated outpost, gnashing their bloody teeth at the prospect of devouring a delicious offering such as us. But for hours, there was nothing but the gentle songs of nearby birds.

Suddenly, a loud noise erupted across the plains, startling every Gojid in the vicinity. Followed by another, then another and then another. Four loud 'booms' erupted in quick succession through the air, each with no discernible source.

For a few seconds, I looked around at my fellow herbivores only to be met with the same confused expressions on their faces as everyone else. No one could tell where the noises had come from.

Then all of a sudden, one of the Gojids; a young man barely out of boyhood screamed as he looked up. Before any of us could adjust our eyes upwards, the young man exploded into a mist of blue blood and earth as something very fast and very heavy slammed into him from the sky.

Nearby Gojids either scrambled away in a desperate bid for safety or passed out on the spot, the sudden stimulation proving too much for them to handle.

Panic exploded all around me as other soldiers made a mad dash for safety in every direction as three more explosions erupted around the base, some slamming into buildings, others landing among unlucky souls.

Amongst the dust generated by the stampede, I managed to make out distinct movement coming from the objects that had slammed into the earth; something was rising out of the craters.

It didn't take much more than a single glance for my blood to turn into ice.

Towering before the crowd of panicked Gojids, were four bipedal figures dressed in black and yellow armour, their faces obscured by a dark helmet. While I couldn't make out the details of their faces, the positions of the visors on their helmets had already confirmed the worst: forward facing vision, the hallmark of the predator's vision. Behind each of them, trailing with an intimidating visage of power and hunger, were midnight black capes, each bearing an insignia that my brain immediately recognised as a skull of some sort.

The humans were here.

They didn't waste any time, with uncanny reaction speeds they levelled their weapons and began firing into the crowd.

I flung myself behind a crate in a panic as kinetics whizzed by my head, narrowly missing me.

The smell of gunpowder hit my sensitive nose and made my eyes water. The predators still used ballistic technology? How befitting of their savage nature.

My ears rung from the noise as the predator soldiers unloaded round after round into fleeing Gojid soldiers. Even through all the deafening din, I could hear sadistic laughter emanating from their masked maws. A grating voice of pure evil that somehow sounded even harsher than the cracks of their weapons.

One of them pulled the pin on a grenade and tossed it at a group of survivors cowering behind an overturned supply crate. I watched helplessly as it soared through the air and landed perfectly between the legs of a petrified soldier before detonating in a fiery geyser of stone and blood.

"HOW'D YOU LIKE THE TASTE OF FREEDOM!" I heard one of them yell, my translater parsing its rough, brutish tongue. Their words bit into me like a dagger, freezing me in place behind my makeshift barricade. What would a predator know of freedom? What could their perversion of freedom possibly look like?

My thoughts were interrupted when one of them suddenly looked at me and my heart nearly froze. Even with its eyes obscured, I could still clearly feel its binocular eyes on me, tracking me with hunger as it finally found its prey.

With all of my might, I wrenched myself free from my petrified state and raised my plasma rifle, levelling it at the predator's chest.

I would not die helpless.

I squeezed the trigger, screaming with a mixture of fury and blind terror as blue bolts of plasma arced straight towards the armoured beast.

However, its reaction speed was faster and it managed to dive behind a pile of overturned furniture just in time. I cursed as I slid back behind my barricade, having missed my chance to kill one of those monsters.

Suddenly, something round soared through the air and landed at my feet.

I flinched, thinking it was a grenade before I laid my eyes on it. Its metal carapace opened up like a blooming flower before sending a beam of bright red light into the atmosphere. I stared at it, perplexed at what it might have been. A signal beacon? But for what, a sign to bring the rest of the predators to the feast?

Then I saw a flash of light erupt from one of the predator's ships. One of their cannons had just fired.

Time slowed to a crawl as I saw something streak towards my position, aiming squarely for the red marker with uncanny precision. My heart hammered through my chest as visions of my life flashed through my eyes. The look of pride upon my mother and father's faces when I baked my first loaf of strayu, the moment I had joined the Defense Fleet with dreams of one day becoming a hero.

How naive and distant those dreams now seemed as I stared death in the face, hurtling towards me from orbit at terminal velocity.

***Error - Memory transcription interrupted: Subject Expiration Detected***