Battle of Typhon
The Battle of Typhon was an event, a conflict spread out over several days across the surface of Typhon, the planet the battle was named for. It was part of the Frontier Militia's Operation: Broadsword - a large Frontier-wide push to remove the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation from the Frontier.
The central objective and focus of the battle was the Fold Weapon, an ancient interstellar superweapon of alien origin with the power to annihilate a planet; the IMC intended to use the Fold Weapon to obliterate Militia planets, beginning with the home world of Harmony, while the Militia - upon discovering the weapon's existence - sought to prevent its use at all costs. While many Militia vessels were lost, the battle ended with the Militia successfully destroying the Fold Weapon, inadvertently devastating Typhon itself in the process.
The Battle of Typhon is the subject of the single-player campaign of Titanfall 2, as told from the perspective of Militia Rifleman Jack Cooper.
Prelude
During Operation: Broadsword, the Militia would scout and attack twenty-nine ARES Division scientific facilities, ultimately recovering the Time gauntlet in Operation: Grizzly.[1] Eventually, this search would bring them to Typhon - initial reports suggested the planet was merely a lightly staffed research facility with not much in the way of defenses.
The Battle
Opening Stages
Upon arriving in Typhon's orbit, the 9th Militia Fleet would be greeted with the sight of Orthros, Typhon's moon, reduced to rubble in a loose orbit around the planet. During the initial assault, heavy IMC Orbital Defenses would prove too much for many MacAllan-Class Carriers in the fleet, shooting them down. This would include the leading vessel, the MCS James MacAllan. As the fleet took heavy fire, Militia Riflemen would evacuate by Drop Pod, Medical Lifeboat or Crow while Pilots deployed in their Titans. The result was that all militia forces were stranded across a large portion of Typhon's facing hemisphere, and completely uncoordinated. Soon after landing, the invasion force would be set upon by wave after wave of BRD-01 Spectre combat drones, IMC Marines and Titans.[2]
Among the first wave of troops was Rifleman Class-3 Jack Cooper. After clearing his initial crash site, he would soon be set upon by an IMC Tone Titan, before being saved by Captain Tai Lastimosa and his Vanguard-Class Titan BT-7274. However, this would not last long, as the pair would be quickly set upon by Apex Predator mercenaries led by Kuben Blisk. After crippling BT and mistaking Jack for one of the many dead soldiers, the mercenaries would then leave the area to secure their stations for delivery of the Ark.[2]
Regrouping
Over the next night, Militia forces would eventually begin to regroup whilst being hunted down by IMC security and the planet's native fauna. By the morning, one group, part of the 2nd Militia Fusiliers, would set up a camp in an IMC water reclamation facility, operated by Kane. Here, they would be mercilessly hunted down by packs of Stalkers and other infantry.[3] IMC troops would also swarm the wreckage of the MacAllan, hunting down and capturing any survivors. However, one such survivor, Jack Cooper, would use his newfound Pilot equipment (given to him by Lastimosa) to scavenge two Batteries from the wreckage to power-up BT.[2] Once this was achieved, he would make his way out of the jungle and into the Reclamation Facility, meeting up with Lieutenants Freeborn and Shaver.[3] However, upon trying to access gate controls to allow BT to continue through, the two would be separated and forced down different paths. This would lead to Jack meeting up with a small band of Militia survivors, and learning of their goal; to meet up with Major Anderson, as per Special Operation 217. Eventually, Jack would come to encounter mercenary Pilot Kane, defeating his Scorch Titan swiftly. Jack would then take Kane's helmet radio, allowing him to listen in on enemy communications, just in time to listen to Slone's execution of several Militia prisoners of war.[3]
The 3rd Militia Grenadiers would additionally find safe harbor in the substation of an IMC Interstellar Beacon, where they would attempt to regain communications. At least four regiments of the IMC Marine Corps would additionally be commissioned to protect the primary IMC airbase on the planet, in anticipation of the arrival of the IMS Draconis.
The Shortcut
Upon making their way to Anderson, BT and Jack would take a supposed shortcut through the World Foundry, a massive factory designed to mass-manufacture war materials and testing facilities for experimental technology. With BT's capture by Simulacrum Pilot Ash, Cooper would be forced to make his way through the deadly facility to save the Titan. Eventually, he would be trapped inside a testing dome in the IMC Dynamic Testing Facility, with a number of Militia soldiers, and forced to fight against several Reapers and Spectres before escaping. Eventually, Ash would be forced to scuttle the facility and join the battle in the hopes of killing the Pilot, though would ultimately fall before Cooper and BT.[4]
Special Operation 217
Upon arriving at the ARES Division Complex specified as Anderson's last location, Cooper and BT would find the facility in ruins, overgrown with plant life and artificially-aged corpses. Finding Anderson's dead body, Jack would recover a curious device, granting him the ability to travel between two timelines; one shortly before the destruction of Orthros and one at the present day. Using this newfound ability, Jack would proceed to fight against IMC security in the past and Prowlers in the present, using his newfound abilities to confuse combatants.[1]
While exploring the complex, Cooper would uncover the IMC's plot on Typhon: General Marder and his ARES Division discovered and restored an awesome weapon of mass destruction on Typhon called the "Fold Weapon," powered by an energy source known as the "Ark" and able to destroy an entire planet in a single shot. The IMC complex successfully tested a small-scale recreation of the Fold Weapon on Orthros, which explained the shattered moon, and they intended to bring the Ark to the full-scale weapon elsewhere on the planet and begin destroying planets one after another until the Militia surrendered, starting with the Militia home world of Harmony.[1]
Eventually, Cooper would activate an emergency stop on a test of the small-scale Fold Weapon, destroying the device and giving him an energy reading of the weapon's power source, the Ark. With Anderson dead and this new damning intelligence on hand, Operation 217 protocol now dictated that Militia command must be alerted to the situation immediately.[1]
Reinforcements
Over the following day, Jack and BT would travel across Typhon's deserts and forests, eventually coming to meet up with another group of Militia survivors led by Captain Cole, holding out in a substation near an IMC Interstellar Beacon. The group had held out against IMC forces for hours, expending thousands of rounds of ammunition in the process. Eventually, they would manage to restart the facility's reactor core and thus the beacon, allowing for Militia reinforcements to be alerted to the situation. After defeating Apex Predator Richter, the besieged troops would meet up with Commander Sarah Briggs and a fresh fleet.[5]
Pursuit
Resupplied and refreshed and with only minutes of their original 18 hours remaining, Jack, BT, Sarah and many other Militia Pilots would deploy from the MCS Carter Braxton to an IMC airbase housing the transport vessel IMS Draconis. The assault force would battle against dozens of Titans, but ultimately fail in their goal and arrive just in time to watch the Draconis take off.[6] Taking to the air in their Widow and Crow dropships, Militia forces would engage in a fierce battle in the skies of Typhon. With the Braxton's destruction by the guns of IMS Malta and Blackbird Squadron's harassment by Viper, Jack and The 6-4 would board the IMC battleship to disable its defenses. BT would be deployed to the fore of the vessel to assist Jack in boarding the Draconis, but would be engaged by Viper's Northstar Titan. Viper would be initially defeated, but able to regain control just in time to pull BT and Jack off the edge of the Malta, crashing on the Draconis and engaging in a melee fight. Viper would be eventually killed, but at the cost of BT's left arm and extensive damage to Draconis. The Ark would be secured inside BT's chassis, but the two would be captured by Blisk and his men.[7][8]
The Battle
With Cooper down, the Militia fleet would begin an assault on the Fold Weapon, using their fleet to bombard the Medium Turrets and Orbital Defense Cannons defending the site. Jack would eventually escape captivity with BT's datacore, but the Ark was captured by Slone. With the help of the fleet, Jack and BT (now in the chassis of FS-1041) would be able to reach the injector room where the Ark was being fitted. Slone would be defeated, but at the cost of heavy damage to the Ark and unable to stop the Ark from loading into the Fold Weapon. With Slone's death, Blisk - the last surviving Apex Predator - declared his contract with General Marder complete and retreated after offering an invitation to the mercenary group to Cooper. In a final gambit to stop the Fold Weapon from firing, Jack and BT used the weapon's injector to launch themselves at the Ark at the core of the weapon. To ensure the Fold Weapon's destruction, BT would sacrifice himself to let Cooper live by throwing him away before making impact with the Ark. The weapon would then misfire, resulting in its own destruction and of Typhon.[8]
With the Fold Weapon destroyed and his plans in ruins, General Marder was forced to retreat, and after a narrow escape from the exploding planet, the Militia declared victory in the Battle of Typhon. Jack Cooper was hailed as the hero of the battle and received full commendations as a combat Pilot.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Titanfall 2 mission - "Effect and Cause"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Titanfall 2 mission - "BT-7274"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Titanfall 2 mission - "Blood and Rust"
- ↑ Titanfall 2 mission - "Into The Abyss"
- ↑ Titanfall 2 mission - "The Beacon"
- ↑ Titanfall 2 mission - "Trial By Fire"
- ↑ Titanfall 2 mission - "The Ark"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Titanfall 2 mission - "The Fold Weapon"