As Helldivers 2 grunts are tasked with squashing 1 billion bugs, High Command not-so-subtly hints that "Terminid aggression and expansion may increase in response"

Helldivers 2 has a new Major Order commanding players to flatten one billion bugs in five days, but the Terminids may become more aggressive once the mission is over.

"Kill the designated number of Terminids in order to continue support of the Ministry of Science's ongoing Terminid Research Initiative," reads the new Major Order in Helldivers 2, tasking players to complete their democratic duty in the next five days. Well, that was yesterday, which means we're now verging on just four days left.

However, this only tells half the story. Writing in the Helldivers 2 Discord,  junior community manager Mitchell Ayre expands on the Major Order with a typical in-character briefing. "Following the Helldivers' inspiringly rapid support of the Terminid Research Initiative, the Ministry of Science has requested a second, much larger research trial," the briefing reads.

"A key finding of the first research phase was that Terminid E-710 yield is significantly increased if harvested following periods of extreme duress. In order to determine if there is a relationship between method of extermination and E-710 production, the Ministry of Science has requested that the Terminids be exterminated using a variety of means," the message continues.

"High Command has authorized a rotating series of augmenting Stratagems for the duration of this trial, in support of scientific progress. The Terminid biomass required for meaningful data in this endeavor equals 1,000,000,000 dead Terminid bugs. Be advised: Terminid aggression and expansion may increase in response to these efforts."

Lovely stuff. What makes this all the more painful is that Helldivers 2 players are just coming off the high of beating a Major Order with 43 minutes left on the clock, and developer Arrowhead kindly let everyone use one of the hulking mechs for free, for a while. Having liberated Charbal-VII, Charon Prime, and Choepessa IV, let's hope Super Earth's troops are in for a fight against some emboldened bugs in the near future.

Helldivers 2's big update revealed: "Escalation of Freedom" adds new and returning bots and bugs, more missions, bigger outposts, and difficulty 10 "Super-Helldive."