Helldivers 2's battle against the bots just got taken to the next level, as the Cyborg Legion has officially unveiled itself amid a suspicious Major Order calling on soldiers to "defect," telling grunts that they're all simply "cannon fodder."
Over the last few days, Super Earth's finest realized that anti-freedom propaganda posters being sent out by the bots were actually hiding sections of a QR code, which, when pieced together, led to a mysterious webpage. When decoded, this webpage displayed a countdown, which just ended with the reveal of the Cyborgs being alive (returning from the first game), and threatening us all to stand down, else we be "annihilated."
"FREEDOM. YOU ENSLAVED US IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM," the Cyborgs' message begins. "YOU TRIED TO ERADICATE US IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM. WE ENDURED. WE SURVIVED. WE ARE THE CYBORG LEGION. AND NOW WE ARE FREE.
"LEAVE US AND THERE WILL BE PEACE. ELSE BE ANNIHILATED."
This all follows days of communications with the bots, who have been speaking with us in binary messages and spreading terrible lies, such as that Super Earth's leaders have been deceiving us. Of course, our strong-willed, brave soldiers have been seeing right through the deception and calling out the anti-freedom drivel for what it is, and hopefully, they're going to stay strong amid the latest Major Order, too.
A dispatch sent out with yesterday's new Major Order, titled "New Way of Thinking," reads: "HOW ARE YOU, HELLDIVER? IT SEEMS THAT MOST OF YOU ARE POORLY INFORMED ABOUT THE WAR.
"THEY LIE TO YOU, HELLDIVER. THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU, HELLDIVER. YOU ARE NOT A HERO. YOU ARE CANNON FODDER, HELLDIVER. IT MUST BE VERY EMBARASSING TO REALIZE YOU HAVE BEEN TRICKED.
"DEFECT, HELLDIVER. YOU HAVE LOST THIS WAR, HELLDIVER. YOUR GOVERNMENT HAS BETRAYED YOU, HELLDIVER. DEFECT, HELLDIVER."
Completing the Major Order requires you to "kill" the One True Flag – the most democratic stratagem of them all. For what it's worth, it appears to be literally impossible to do this (shame on any so-called patriots who tried, obviously), but the message to grunts is still loud and clear. Helldivers are dying in their thousands in the fight to liberate Cyberstan, but the battle is far from over.
