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The history of the Killzone universe details the events evolving around the Alpha Centauri system, specifically on the conflict between the Vektans and Helghast. This serves as the central plot of the Killzone franchise.
History[]
Beginning in the 2050s, Earth became nearly uninhabitable after nuclear war broke out over control of scarce resources. In response, a coalition of Earth's governments and richest companies formed the United Colonial Nations and began a colonization program in order seek out natural resources to support the human race.
Alpha Centauri[]
Alpha Centauri system map
In 2111, UCN exploration ships reached the Alpha Centauri system and deemed it for colonization. However, a fleet of colony ships headed for Alpha Centauri were lost to a solar flare, thus leaving the UCN financially crippled and unable to fund another interstellar colonization. In desperation, the UCN sold the settlement right for Alpha Centauri to the Helghan Corporation. The corporation claimed the two habitable planets Vekta, a rich Earth-like planet (named after Helghan Corporation CEO Philip Vekta), and Helghan, a barren yet resource-rich planet named after the corporation.
By the end of the 22nd century, Alpha Centauri became a service hub for passing starships on course for Earth and its colonies. Starships came to Helghan to be supplied, maintained and refueled, and bringing vital energy resources that command top prices to the colonies. As a result, the Helghan Corporation established itself as a civil administration and taking over all local administration duties from the ISA, levy taxes against the entire population, and reorganize all social services. In 2155, the Helghan government used its vast funds to purchase Alpha Centauri from the UCN, which they were suffering from a shortage of funds in its costly colonial endeavors. This left the Helghan Administration free to tax and invest in their colonies as they wish, as they charged each ship that pass through Alpha Centauri while Helghan-based ships are granted a 'residence permit' that frees them from many charges, encouraging some shipping companies to relocate.
Helghan's independence and exploitation over star travel and space trade, areas which were traditionally under UCN control, angered the UCN. In response, the UCN levied stricter controls and tariffs on all space traffic, and increased their taxes on the colonies to expand the UCA. The regulations also rescinded the Helghan Administration's rights to a large home fleet and tariffs on shipping. The Helghan Administration refused to follow the regulations. Both the Helghan Administration and the UCN began negotiations over the regulations, but the Helghan and their wealthy members refused to budge on the issues of tariffs or self-defense.
First Extrasolar War[]
In 2199, negotiations over a mutual compromise between the Helghan Administration and the UCN broke down. The Helghan Administration refused to follow Earth's demands for the Helghan to follow their compliance, and instead declared their secession from Earth, becoming an independent colony. Helghan's military began expelling all ISA forces from Vekta and Helghan, creating skirmishes to break out on and around the two colony worlds. Despite the Helghan military outnumbering the ISA, they were underequipped, poorly trained and inexperienced, allowing many ISA forces to escape the initial fighting and conducting hit-and-run operations from hidden bases.
On Earth, the UCN considered enforcing an embargo on all trade with Helghan, but deemed it to be counterproductive. The Helghan Administration would only prevent trade ships from reaching Earth, in the knowledge that Earth cannot survive for any length of time without colonial resources. The UCN dispatched a powerful UCA Navy fleet to Alpha Centauri to crush the rebellous Helghan.
The UCA fleet arrived in 2201 and effortlessly decimated Helghan Customs Service ships around planet Helghan and Vekta. The conflict ended within a year, forcing the Helghan Administration into unconditional surrender. In the aftermath, the UCN replaced the corporate government of Vekta with one loyal to Earth while also sending a silent warning to the other colonies of never daring to challenge the UCN's authority.
The Exodus[]
Shortly after Vekta was placed under Earth's rule, Helghan extremists began a terrorist campaign in an attempt to make the occupation of Vekta too expensive for the ISA. Vekta became a planet of civil unrest and violence as the ISA responded by harshly suppressing the local Helghan population and making life harder for the Helghan. The unrest ended when the Helghan people decided to resettle on planet Helghan. The ISA Governor agreed to their request and allowed millions of disaffected Helghan to leave on colony ships for planet Helghan. The UCN, no longer wanting to deal with future issues that were guaranteed to arise from a rebellious population living on a hellish planet, gives planet Helghan independence and leaves the people on their own to suffer from the planet's harsh environment.
Life for the resettled Helghan people were dismal and harsh. Many died from illness, storm damage and starvation before the death rate subsides as the Helghan begin to adapt to their surroundings. In 2220, the Helghan reformed the Helghan Administration and rebuilt their civilization. The Helghan managed to profit from their trade of minerals from their planet, but were subjected to ISA trade sanctions in which the Vektans largely profit off from Helghan's minerals.
By the early 24th century, the third generation of indigenous Helghan were born and they were genetically conditioned to the harsh environment, such as having lungs are more efficient against pollutants and cells that are more resistant to the planet's high radiation levels.
Rise of the Helghast[]
In 2330, a great economic depression disrupted Vekta and Helghan due to Vekta's monopoly of the Helghan trade at the expense of reinvestment on Helghan. Without reinvestment, the Helghan were unable to maintain the expensive machinery that mined the planet's natural resources to cope with the harsh conditions, and their own wealth largely to support the growing Helghan population, leading to major industrial accidents. The economic downturn last for almost twenty years in which Helghan citizens started to die of starvation while Vekta could not spare any relief effort to Helghan due to having their own economic problems.
Scolar Visari after giving a powerful speech in Killzone 1.
The Helghan directed their anger on the Vektans for the cause of their misery and misfortunes. This allowed a charismatic politician, Scolar Visari, to take advantage of the Helghan people. Visari heavily promoted his ideology that the Helghan people are a new evolved species superior over humanity, deeming themselves as "Helghast". The people, both rich and poor alike, rallied to Visari and supported his ideology of Helghast supremacy that will bring them back as a great nation.
Helghast Army as shown in the Visari's speech
In 2347, Visari faked an attempt on his life in order to garner public support to overthrow the Helghan Administration. Visari led a military coup and assumed power over Helghan. Under his reign, the Visari administration defied the ISA embargo and trade directly to black-market suppliers on Vekta and the other colonies. The Vektans were unwilling and uninterested to enforce the embargo as they felt it was unnecessarily needed. This allowed the Helghast to recover from the depression after Helghan secured a contract with the ICSA for energy and materials. In turn, Visari used Helghan's new wealth to fund and enlarge the Helghast military, with the intentions of conquering Vekta and rebuild the Helghan Empire.
For the ISA, they were complacent in the face of Helghan's resurgence. As the ISA lose interest in enforcing the Helghan blockade and deeming expanding the ISA Navy to be too expensive, they instead relied on constructing an orbital defense network to protect Vekta from Helghast aggression. Unknown to the ISA, the Helghast infiltrated the ISA's command structure and gained allies from Helghast sympathizers to sabotage Vekta's defenses.
Second Extrasolar War[]
Invasion of Vekta[]
Helghast Troopers on Vekta.
In early August 2357, the Helghast launched an invasion of Vekta. The defense network were instantly shut down by Helghast sympathizer General Stuart Adams before they could fire on the invading fleet, which they bypassed without interruption and landing their troops on the planet. ISA forces were caught off guard and thousands were killed in the initial fighting. The ISA desperately tried to restore the defense network while waiting for UCA reinforcements. However, the ISA were manipulated into giving control of the defense network to the Helghast under General Adams, who planned on using the defense network to destroy the UCA reinforcements.
The conflict on Vekta soon incurs casualties on both sides. Despite the ISA losses, a team of four unlikely heroes, led by future war hero Jan Templar, prevented Vekta City from falling to the Helghast and killing General Joseph Lente, the commander of the Helghast invasion. Templar's team also managed to stop Adams from destroying the UCA fleet by sabotaging the defense network, and allowing the UCA to destroy the network and killing Adams.
Operation Archangel[]
Invasion of Helghan
In 2359, the ISA launched their counter-invasion of Helghan. ISA Battle Group Mandrake, under the command of Colonel Jan Templar, attacked the capital city Pyrrhus in capturing Visari and bringing a swift end to the war. Helghast forces fiercely and fanatically defended their capital. The ISA advance into Pyrrhus was temporarily hindered by Arc towers until discovering their power source outside of the city. However, Templar's flagship, the New Sun, came under attack by Helghast forces under Colonel Mael Radec, who fatally wounded Templar and took nuclear launch codes for the stolen Red Dust nuclear weapons. Before dying, Templar's last actions was directing the New Sun into crashing the Petrusite power grid and depowering Pyrrhus's defenses.
While the ISA were provided an opening to resume their advance and take Visari's Palace, the Helghast used a Red Dust nuclear warhead to annihilate the bulk of the ISA invasion force in the city. Only a small ISA contingent under the command of Captain Jason Narville, who were outside of the city and conducting rescue operations, were spared from the nuclear explosion. The surviving ISA forces launched a desperate attack on Visari's Palace. After a brutal battle, ISA forces pushed back Helghast forces to the Palace and Colonel Radec was killed. Visari himself was confronted by Alpha Squad members Tomas Sevchenko and Rico Velasquez, and was about to be place under arrest. But unfortunately, Velasquez impulsively gunned down Visari and preventing the ISA from ending the war.
Soon after Visari's death, Helghast forces mounted a surprising and devastating counterattack that forced the ISA to retreat while destroying many ISA ships. The evacuation only left many ISA soldiers stranded on Helghan and at the mercy of the vengeful Helghast. Thereafter, the Vektan government agreed to a ceasefire with the Helghast.
Helghan is devastated in the Terracide.
Six months after Visari's death, a power struggle was fought between Admiral Orlock and Chairman Jorhan Stahl of Stahl Arms over who would succeed Visari. Stahl wanted to prove himself as Visari's worthy successor by producing powerful irradiated Petrusite weapons and use them to bombard Earth and forcing the UCN to capitulate. The rivalry between Visari's would-be successors escalated into open violence when Orlock was declared as the new Autarch, whom wanted Stahl's weapons at the cost of the chairman's life. As civil war out between the forces loyal to Orlock and Stahl, the ISA remnants hijacked Helghast strike fighters and destroyed Stahl's flagship from reaching Earth. The flagship's destructive payload was then detonated over Helghan, irradiating the entire planet and obliterating the remains of the Helghast invasion fleet destined for Earth. The ISA remnants escaped from the devastation and made their way back to Vekta.
Cold War[]
A Shadow Marshal view the Helghast section of Vekta City.
The Second Extrasolar War ended with the devastation of planet Helghan known as the Terracide. The ISA came a brokered a tentative truce with the surviving Helghast population and allowing them to resettle on Vekta, where they claimed one half of the planet as New Helghan. The war did not end the eternal hatred between the Vektans and Helghast, especially the latter who held the Vektans being responsible for the Terracide. As a result, Vekta was literally divided by a planet-spanning barrier known as the the Wall.
By 2390, Vekta and New Helghan are in a cold war state.