Anyone who’s played the PlayStation exclusive series Killzone knows that the main focus of each title is on the conflict between the Vektan ISA and the iconic Helghast Empire. While always portrayed as the main antagonists of the games, the Helghast have a rather complicated history with the Vektans.
Long before the events of Killzone, when humanity first began efforts to colonize the galaxy in 2116, the Helghan Corporation purchased colonization rights from the Earth-based United Colonial Nations in the Alpha Centauri System. The system was discovered to have two worlds that could support life. The first, named Helghan after their corporation, was mostly uninhabitable but had abundant resources, including a powerful new energy source called Petrusite. The second world, named Vekta in honor of the corporation’s CEO, was much more earth-like and could easily be colonized by humans. The company and its colonies saw an age of economic prosperity, with mining operations on Helghan bringing raw materials and taxing any ships that passed through the system.
This domination of galactic trade brought the attention of the UCN, who became concerned about maintaining their authority over Alpha Centauri and other colony systems. They began vastly increasing their military capabilities and creating new taxes and regulations intended to weaken Helghan’s economic power. Since their own military couldn’t respond to attacks or uprisings in time due to the vast distances of space, the UCN created the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance, an indigenous military organization that allowed colonies to create their own security forces and enjoy a unified defensive alliance of multiple colonies.
Tensions finally reached a breaking point in 2199, when the Helghan Administration declared independence and campaigned against the local ISA forces, sparking the First Extrasolar War. Despite early victories against the ISA, the arrival of the UCN fleet in 2201 effectively turned the tide. The Helghan fleet and shipyard were easily destroyed and, after a short orbital bombardment, Helghan forces surrendered in 2202. To prevent future unrest in Alpha Centauri, the UCN passed authority of Vekta to the ISA. With Vekta secure, the Helghan Administration was dissolved, its leaders were arrested, and nearly all Helghan loyalists were exiled to the planet Helghan. While the UCN recognized Helghan as a sovereign nation and its planet as their territory, their world would remain subject to a blockade until diplomatic relations could simmer.
For those forced to live on Helghan, life was ruthless. The hostile environment led many to die from disease, starvation and devastating storms. After a century, due to genetic conditioning and the planet's harsh environment, the third generation of indigenous Helghan became biologically adapted to the harsh conditions, now identifying as the Helghast. Around this time, the Helghast became even more resentful of the Vektans, the ISA and the UCN, believing that they were superior to normal humans and thus deserved to rule over the other colonies.
Taking advantage of this hatred, a man name Scolar Visari rose to power, restructuring Helghan society into a totalitarian dictatorship called the Helghast Empire. Through black-market suppliers, the Helghast bypassed the blockade and embargos, allowing them to recover from their economic depression and improve the general quality of life. Using their new wealth, the Helghast Empire built a massive army and fleet armed with petrusite weapons in preparation for war with the ISA and UCN.
In 2357, the Helghast started the Second Extrasolar War with an invasion of Vekta. However, the attack was repelled thanks to an ISA war hero named Jan Templar, as well as the timely arrival of the UCN Fleet. With the Helghast retreating back to their world, the UCN deemed the situation stabilized and withdrew, ordering the Vektan ISA to resume blockading the planet, but nothing more. The Vektans refused to allow the Helghast to go unpunished for attacking their world and instead prepared to launch a counter-invasion of Helghan in 2359 to capture Visari and use him as a bargaining chip to force the Helghast to surrender.
The ISA gravely underestimated the Helghast’s defenses and suffered heavy casualties throughout the campaign. Despite the odds, a small group of soldiers led by Captain Jason Narville managed to fight their way into Visari’s palace to arrest him. In an unexpected turn of events, Visari was gunned down and killed by Sargent Rico Velasquez in a fit of rage. Shortly after, the Helghast launched a surprise attack on the last of the ISA invasion force, wiping out all but a handful that went into hiding, now stranded on the planet. Six months later, the Vektan government agreed to a ceasefire that would end the war.
The death of Visari created a power vacuum within the Helghast leadership, with Admiral Orlock of the Helghast military and Chairman Stahl of the Stahl Arms corporation both vying for the throne. Despite plans to launch an attack on Earth with new petrusite weapons, this rivalry escalated into a civil war. Taking advantage of the chaos, the ISA remnant managed to halt the attack on Earth and detonate the petrusite weapons on Stahl’s flagship within Helghan’s atmosphere. The resulting explosion destroyed nearly the entire surface of the planet, killing well over a billion people. Referred to as the Terracide, Helghan was rendered completely uninhabitable.
In an act of pity, the Vektan government allowed the Helghast refugees to settle on Vekta, who renamed their half of the planet New Helghan. Despite the war ending, the Vektans and Helghast hate each other now more than ever, the latter especially for the destruction of their world. This has led to a tense cold war between the two powers. It’s unknown whether or not the Vektans and the Helghast can one day make a lasting peace, but many suspect it’s only a matter of time before another war is started, and they go back to killing each other again.