It was down to the wire, but Helldivers 2 players are celebrating after giving the Illuminate the galactic boot on Calypso—though I've got a feeling they'll be back soon

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 introduced the Illuminate, recently—aaand they're gone. No, really. While the Illuminate definitely are in Helldivers 2, you actually can't fight them right now, because Super Earth's finest gave them the boot so hard in Calypso that they've been stomped off the galactic map.

The Major Order, which came alongside the surprise update Omens of Tyranny, saw players defending the galaxy from an Illuminate attack on Calypso. Over 100,000 players leapt into action to do so—a 24-hour peak that the game hasn't seen since April—and thoroughly trounced the invading force.

An image with text that reads: "The resurgent Illuminate have been repelled by the Helldivers. Order has been restored on CALYPSO.It is assessed that a small cell of the Illuminate forces survived their eradication at the end of the First Galactic War, staying hidden until now. Recent Democratic activity may have made their discovery imminent, precipitating the recent attack.The shocking invasion of CALYPSO left colonies in ruins. Thousands remain unnaccounted for. Multiple units have reported human-like combatants on the battlefield. Investigations into these reports are ongoing.Despite the audacity of this shocking and unprovoked assault, the Helldivers once again proved their umatched martial prowess. The enemy has retreated in defeat. SEAF recon units will soon hunt down any remnants.As soon as they are located, they will be eradicated." — (Image credit: Arrowhead Games)

That's not to say it wasn't a close battle, though. If you're unfamiliar with how defense campaigns work in Helldivers 2, it's essentially a race. Players need to fill out their defense bar before the enemy's offense bar completes. It came down to the last percentage point—as this graph, courtesy of helldiverscompanion shows, Super Earth achieved its 100% defense score while the Illuminate was sat on 99%. The margin of error was razor-thin.

A graph showing just how close Calypso came to falling to the Illuminate in Helldivers 2. — (Image credit: Helldivers Companion)

"Order has been restored to Calypso," reads an in-game announcement celebrating the completion of the Major Order. "SEAF recon units will hunt down any remnants. As soon as they are located, they will be eradicated."

The community, meanwhile, is currently in full hoo-rah mode. "A HUNDRED YEARS WASTED," roars a particularly liberty-drunk player on the game's subreddit, "GET THE F*CK OUT OF OUR GALAXY AND STAY OUT." The memes, as one might imagine, are also coming out in full force. Helldivers do really have hands.

Better luck next time, squid.... from r/Helldivers

I doubt the squids were expecting this much resistance. from r/Helldivers

I feel like we might all be chest-bumping a bit too soon, though. Naturally, Arrowhead isn't just going to eradicate the enemy faction that's the flagship feature of its new big patch for long. I'm also reminded of a similar moment earlier this year, when a concerted effort by the Helldivers 2 community to push the Automatons off the map resulted in a massive retaliatory invasion fleet. For the time being, though? Patriotism is at an all-time high.

Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.