The SES Liberty Probe Mutiny

 

2184.11.13 – Severin Sector

Following the Erata Prime Incident—a dark day for Super Earth—the Ministry of Truth stood at a crossroads: publicly denounce the incident as an act of terrorism, thus confirming the existence of the controversial files, or suppress those exposed to the broadcast until it fades from living memory.

It chose the second option for the masses. As for the armed forces, they officially condemned the incident as high treason and broadcast in every Super Destroyer across the Galaxy, the proper protocols for dealing with traitors and saboteurs.

In literally every world, individuals who expressed criticism and ideological doubts were questioned and put into re-education.

Fellow Helldivers who knew Voel personally were also questioned. Master Segeant Kael was one of them.

After extensive interviewing about his affiliation with dissidents he was deemed loyal and returned to active duty—although all this time he had been harbouring doubts and mourning the loss of his friend.

For the next three months he had no major deployments or heavy combat engagements, only routine scout missions, that did not involve dropping on hot zones—probably to relieve him of excessive stress.

On 2184.09.03 a low-frequency signal was detected by Super Earth Communications Technicians in the Severin sector, an obscure and at the time quiet sector, far from the two active battle fronts. The signal kept transmitting steadily on the most sensitive comms channels—low-key and calm—for two months straight.

A surveyor Helldiver expedition is sent to investigate the signal and perform a routine check to the Vanguard Outpost-07, an abandoned rusting former Automaton space station.

The expedition consists of two active squads ie not in cryo-sleep, including a Comms specialist to locate the transmission and examine its source. The mission should be a non-combatant mission, the Helldivers are deployed purely as a security escort.

SES Liberty Probe is a long range destroyer, equipped with many radars and listening arrays, as well as stealth materials plating to reduce radard signature, and fast engines and FTL jumps for swift evasions.

In total there are 120 Helldivers in cryo-stasis as reinforcements (including four reserve squads, each with a substitute Communications officer) and 20 SEAF crew, ie the Destroyer is operating on light capacity compared to the normal 200+ reserves and 40 crewmen.

The two squads' members are:

• Master Sergeant Kael (background as stated above)
• Sergeant Thorne, a Vera Libertas sympathizer and also and acquaintance of Voel
• Chief Communications Warrant Officer Lirael, a Comms specialist who heard the original unfiltered 50-second Erata Prime broadcast live
• Master Helldiver Malek, a grizzled veteran who has questioned the endless war in private. Highest dive count on the entire ship
• Space Cadet Carlson, a newly promoted Diver, previously served in the SEAF
• Space Cadet Rico, currently suffering from weak mental resilience and mild PTSD; sent on the mission to recover before being returned to the front
• Private Dax, a twitchy, rebellious type with a short temper; assigned to the mission as a disciplinary measure to “build character” in the solitude of space
• Private Rhea, just a conventional type who likes to keep to herself

Before boarding, the squads met for a briefing at Fort Eagle and had a couple of days to consult with one another and socialize.

Master Sergeant Kael and Sergeant Thorne, after spending time together off-duty, quickly discovered that they had both known Voel personally. Private conversations followed, which rapidly forged a strong sense of camaraderie and deeper bonding between them. Interaction with the rest of the squad was routine; most members were listless and treated the mission like a mini-holiday that would spare them from low morale and burnout.

Communications Officer Lirael began the antenna-relay operation one day before departure to boost reception of the low-frequency transmission aboard the Super Destroyer. The security party and some crew members watched as the relay came online: the antenna produced a slow, rhythmic blink and a low, persistent beep that visualized the transmission’s frequency. For a brief moment everyone fell silent, noticing the calm of the low-key beeping sound.

That night Kael had a vivid dream: Voel was walking across a desert, carrying a black flag bearing a red skull with five stars beneath it. He turned, raised his fist high in the air—an ancient gesture of defiance, not copied from antiquity’s past ideologues but reinvented. Could this have been triggered by Kael’s recent conversation with Thorne?

The journey itself would only take minutes once they left Super Earth’s orbit, but after arriving in the Severin sector it could take days—or weeks—of surveying to pinpoint the signal. Even the two security stand-by squads had to enter cryo-stasis for the FTL jump.

Thorne asked Kael how he had slept: “Not well,” Kael replied. Thorne: “Huh. Same here.” Private Dax: “Guess we’re all in the same boat.” Cadet Rico reluctantly gets in his cryo-chamber first; the others followed. Democracy Officer Jan Heilstedt: “Cheer up, people! This will be easy. You all look like the walking dead.” Communications Office Lirael: "The relay box with its constant beep and slow blinking light makes it hard to sleep for whoever is in near proximity to it. Thank Liberty that we are going into cryosis now." Bridge: "All Helldivers and non-essential personnel enter the cryo-pods, FTL jump imminent." FTL jump complete.

The pods of the two active squads and non-essential crew opened automatically. The awakened staggered out—disoriented, shivering, teeth chattering in some cases.

Democracy Officer Gregani to Private Rhea and Cadet Rico, who were trembling hardest: “On your feet, soldiers! You’re not recruits anymore who need coddling. You’re Helldivers!”

Cryo technician: "There's something wrong with the pod heating elements. Defrost should be smoother than this. We’ll look into it.” Communications Officer Lirael, already rushing to her station: “Alright, people, time to work.” Thorne detecting that Kael is shaken just like him: "Did you see what I saw?" Master Helldiver Malek interrupts: "You dreamed something unreal too?" Kael, lowering his voice: "Shhhh, not here. Meet in my cabin after breakfast.” At the dining quarters, some crew members openly discussed the bizarre dreams they’d had in cryo while others stared into their trays in silence. Thorne, Malek, and Kael had all experienced revolutionary visions, and were all reluctant to talk about them at first. But Thorne and Kael who have been introduced before and aware of each others radical views were suspecting what their dreams would be about, Voel. Malek’s dream had been of overthrowing Super Earth itself. The conversation drifted dangerously toward the Erata Prime Incident. Officer Lirael, passing nearby, overheard fragments; the words dragged the full, unfiltered 50-second broadcast back into her mind in perfect detail. During cryo she had relived it entirely. Shaken and newly skeptical, she returned to her post without a word.

In truth, everyone aboard had experienced provocative, revolutionary dreams during the jump.

Are multi-dimensional entities warping through the void and touching the minds of those who travel wormholes? Is the alien signal from the rusted Automaton outpost responsible—or was Voel truly a prophet?

One thing is certain: his ghost now walks the corridors of this destroyer.

Vanguard Outpost-07

Days passed as the SES Liberty Probe crept toward the derelict Automaton outpost with maximum caution.

Post-cryo, the crew’s dreams grew darker and more radical. Some began displaying open insubordination; others withdrew completely. Democracy Officer Harlan Gregani took notice. He began making unannounced visits to quarters, conducting snap inspections and loyalty tests.

Chief Communications Warrant Officer Lirael quietly requested a private meeting with Master Sergeant Kael—the highest-ranking Helldiver she had overheard days earlier.

She locked the door behind him.

“Master Sergeant, I’m speaking to you now as a person, not as a soldier. I overheard your discussion with Malek and Thorne. No, I’m not reporting you. In fact, I agree—about the Hellstein files, about everything in that broadcast.” Kael stared, stunned. Lirael continued, “We have a bigger problem. Something is attacking our minds in cryo. The weakest are breaking. I confirmed it with the cryo technician.”

Kael: "Officer Lirael, I don't know what to say, it is a relief to know that there are Divers who dare to think for themselves and care for the people and want them to know the truth." Lirael: "Don't mention it, and as I said I won't say anything to Democracy Officer Gregani, in fact I will have your back as the highest rank of the standby SES party in case of any questioning. We're in this together"

A sudden commotion outside. Shouts echoed from the bridge. Space Cadet Rico was on the floor, hyperventilating, clutching his helmet.

Democracy Officer Heilstedt stormed in with Shipmaster Gregani. “What the hell is going on here?”

Lirael: "Half of crew members are suffering from insomnia and extreme nightmares, we' re trying to find the cause" Officer Heilstedt: "Confine Helldiver Rico to quarters." Rico, wild-eyed: "I cannot sleep sir, the moment I close my eyes I have visions, of my fallen squaddies back in Malevelon Creek, it is so real, I was the only one to extract in one piece"

PTSD Flashback

Lirael: "He needs some quality sleep"

Officer Heilstedt: "Fine. Put him back in cryo."
Rico: "Noooo, that's where it's worst, it's when the nightmares started and it was relentless" Reckless crew member from the back: "Also, free thoughts!" Cryo Technician: "Then that means that whoever is in cryosleep right now is experiencing vivid or dissident dreams, that's why the insubordinate behavior only for those who have woken up from cryo." Officer Heilstedt: "Unfreeze everyone now."

Lirael: "Are you out of your mind? No one knows in what state they will wake up in—they could come out half-mad and go berserk!”
Officer Heilstedt: "Watch your your tone, Officer"..."All Helldivers weapons ready". "Open the cryo pods, that's an order" Cryo technician: "I formally object." Murmurs from the crowd: "Me too." Officer Heilstedt: "Who said that? STEP FORWARD NOW!" His hand went to his P-92 Warrant. Shipmaster Gregani moved behind him as the conflict escalated. Private Dax stepped out: "I did." Sergeant Thorne beside him: "And I." Officer Heilstedt, loading his P-92 and raising the barrel at his direction: "Oh really?! Then you will find out that Democracy auto-corrects itself—just like my aim."

Dax and Thorne charged. The first round took Dax in the forehead, killing him instantly. The second clipped a crewman’s shoulder. The third and fourth shots fired into the ceiling as the Diver and crew mob tackled Heilstedt and pinned the Shipmaster, overpowering both.

Ship alarms blared due to the rounds piercing the bridge walls. The first reserve squad auto-ejected from cryo—running amok, screaming gibberish and attacking anyone in sight with bare hands. Technicians killed the alarm and emergency release. The rampaging Divers were eventually subdued, then sedated by medical crew.

Brief moment of silence; Master Sergeant Kael and Sergeant Thorne step forward and deliver a speech to the crew. Kael: "What just happened here is a historic event that has never happened in Super-Earth's history. Make no mistake, you cannot go back. I do not know where is your alliegance standing right now but mine is no longer with Super-Earth—and I know many of yours isn’t either. I do not approve of Super Earth's ways as of late, especially because of their lies to the people and their unprovoked attacks to alien civilizations that put us in eternal war, their 'managed democracy' non-sense—I reject it all..." Heilstedt interrupts while pinned on the deck: "Mutiny! All of you treacherous dogs WILL be executed!" Malek kicked him in the groin: "Silence, tyrant." Kael: "You are one of us now, we are a brotherhood, and we will make sure you are never subjugated by Super-Earth ever again, join us and be free! For true democracy, not this farce!" The crew roared passionately and raised fists in the air taunting and cheered, and some are shouted "Vera Libertas!". Lirael: "What do we do with him?" Pointing at Officer Heilstedt Malek: "Court-martial and execute, as he would do the same to us—or freeze him and let the dreams change his mind." Heilstedt: “I’d rather die than join you scum.” Malek drew his sidearm and aimed. Kael: "No, no more blood spilled on this ship." Thorne grinned darkly: "You are right, let space take him and die like a true Helldiver!" while him and Malek dragged him and loaded him into a Hellpod by force, as the mob cheered. The most radicalized extremists among them punched in the launch codes. As the pod shot into the void, the wildest among them mocked: “FOR SUPER EAAAARTH!”

Kael leaned close to the struggling Shipmaster Gregani: “I’m sorry captain. You can’t be trusted with comms or navigation any more. Cryo for you until we find a way to ship you back to Super-Earth...unless of course the dreams convert you first.” Gregani was forced into a pod and frozen.

Kael: “Everyone back to stations. Malek will issue you new ranks. If anyone still wants to return to Super Earth, speak now—no harm will come to you, I guarantee safe passage. Just like Super-Earthians, we don't want dissidents here.”

A passing crewman, half-laughing, half-mad: “Cryo-Anarchy dreams at your own risk, ha-ha-ha…” Lirael exhaled: “Now, the insomnia problem.”

Lirael gathered the bridge staff, the cryo technician, and the senior Divers. “Whatever is hitting us started the moment I activated the signal amplifier—before we even left orbit. "Kael: “Then shut it down. See if the visions and voices stop. If they do, we leave in search of a safe haven—the beacon’s no longer our problem. If the Bots are behind this psy-op, Super Earth can deal with them. We focus on survival. Supplies won’t last forever; we’ll need a base in an undisclosed location.” Thorne: “Why not retrieve and study the beacon? Use it to our advantage—aim it at colonies to convert populations to our cause?”

Lirael, as everyone stared Thorne in awe: "Master plan, but it appears that the beacon's mind interference doesn't have consistent ideological results. Each individual reacts differently to the frequency and has different dream visualizations, based on their beliefs and life experiences. Plus it might might be a trap, ie Automatons waiting for us to shut it down before their fleet FTLs in to destroy us...or who knows meet their newly converted socialist organic disciples." Kael: "Noted." Navigation Bridge Officer: "I know where we can go, the nearest virtually hidden destination is only 0.8 AU away, an even more forgotten structure that Super Earth has completely deleted from active charts. The Moray Deep-Space Listening Post (officially “decommissioned 2179”). It is a pre-war black-site cylinder station drifting in the dark between Ingmar Prime and its moon Moray-3. Still has intact life support, hydroponics, and a 360° sensor mast. Zero Automaton or Terminid presence for over a century. Shielded by Moray-3’s radiation belt → invisible to long-range patrols. Docking arms big enough for our Destroyer." Kael: "Outstanding, we're heading there once we retrieve the beacon device" Bridge Communications Officer: "Sir, bear in mind before FTL jump we must cut location sharing and all network links to Super-Earth which could trigger a rescue fleet to our position, so we have to disappear relatively fast."
Kael: "Alright, how long time do we have until Super-Earth decides to do something for their MIA Destroyer?" Bridge Communications Officer: "Circa 48 hours"

Kael gave the orders: “Scavenger teams—strip Vanguard Outpost-07 for fuel, armor plate, anything useful. Search party retrieves the beacon, shuts it down if possible, brings it aboard for study. Then we sever all links to Super Earth, go dark, and burn for Moray. Move!”

Mission party: "Acknowledged."

Moray Deep-Space Listening Post

That day, the mutiny succeeded without a single further loss among the rebels.

The beacon's location had never been random. Vanguard Outpost-07 had been chosen deliberately. Automaton strategic algorithms, running billions of simulated timelines after intercepting the Erata Prime broadcast, had identified Kael, Thorne, Lirael, Malek—plus every other latent dissident aboard—and quietly manipulated personnel rotations to ensure they were the ones assigned to investigate. The Bots had watched humanity’s growing hunger for “true democracy” for years and decided to weaponize it.

The device itself, catalogued by its creators as Red Echo-9, emitted a sub-audible infrasonic pulse tuned to the human brain’s delta-theta border state—most active during cryo-sleep or to a lesser extent during deep natural sleep. The frequency did not implant new ideology; it only amplified what already simmered beneath the surface, exaggerating existing doubts, grievances, and ideals into full-blown radical conviction.

The Automatons had hoped to seed a controllable socialist uprising that would fracture Super Earth from within. Instead they accidentally midwifed something far more dangerous: anarchists who hated both Managed Democracy and the cold authoritarian collectivism of the Bots. The beacon had not created rebellion—it had merely poured jet fuel on embers that were already glowing.

Red Echo-9’s intended hallucination…What are the odds that some some saw THIS while in cryo?

The Automatons were brilliant engineers of steel and code, but they were not masters of the organic mind when it comes to mind control. Their psy-op experiment remained crude, unpredictable, impossible to steer—for those without psionic capabilities at least.

In the end, the search party found and neutralized the beacon, ripped it from its housing, and brought it aboard for study. The moment it went offline, Super Earth’s listening arrays registered the sudden silence. SES Liberty Probe was reclassified from “delayed” to “missing—presumed lost.”

Once clear of the asteroid belt’s tangled edge, the rogue destroyer executed a silent FTL jump to the forgotten Moray Deep-Space Listening Post. Docking clamps locked. Work began immediately: new transponders, stripped markings, reforged armor plating, weapon hardpoints rewired for independent operation, hydroponics expanded, the black-and-red skull with seven stars painted across the bow.

The ship is converted from SES "Liberty Probe" to CES "Crimson Eclipse". Media sources: 1. Self made, 2. Unknown, 3. Helldivers community, 4. Craiyon AI generated, 5. Helldivers community