Helldivers 2's Illuminate are coming for your new wheels, and players are convinced it's a push towards Meridia's definitely not suspiciously revamped black hole

It's ok, Arrowhead says the purple circle's new appearance is nothing to worry about right now. People aren't buying that though.

It's been easy to forget that Helldivers 2 has still had an Illuminate invasion going on over the past couple of days, as everyone's been distracted by the pricing backlash against the game's Killzone crossover gear. But, the aliens are still doing their thing in-game, and the next step in their warpath could delay yopu getting your hands on a new ride.

Remember the Omens of Tyranny update's announcement mentioning Helldivers 2's first driveable car, the Fast Reconnaissance Vehicle or FRV? Well, the baddies have it in their crosshairs, and players reckon they're aiming at something else too.

"The AM Defense Factory Hub on Achernar Secundus has come under attack by the Illuminate, threatening production of the Fast Reconnaissance Vehicle (FRV)," this latest Major Order from Arrowhead reads, "If the Illuminate are not repelled, distribution of the FRV will be severely delayed. Importantly, many colonists will also be killed or abducted."

So, naturally, the folks on the Helldivers 2 subreddit and in the game itself were like 'oop, better get my bum over to Achernar Secundus', only to look at their maps and realise something. This new order's main battleground planet isn't far from Meridia, which long-time Helldivers will remember as the planet that got spaghettified into a purple black hole all the way back in June.

Now, in a fun coincidence, players have noticed that the black hole's apparance has recently been revamped alongside the deployment of that Killzone crossover, taking on a darker hue and gaining some extra floaty bits around it. Naturally the conclusion being reached is that the Illuminate will make a move for Meridia soon, maybe to do something like pull some fresh reinforcements through this hole.

Given a lot of folks have spent the majority of this year since the hole became a thing believing that it could well be where the Illuminate would enter the game from, it doesn't seem like too big a leap in logic, but Arrowhead itself's not convinced yet.

A recently released in-game alert from the studio issues folks with the following edict: "Some helldivers may have noticed novel electromagnetic phenomena in the vicinity of the Meridian Black Hole. High Command is aware of the situation, which is being closely monitored by experts in the field.

"Helldivers are advised to avoid distractions and focus their full attention on replling the Illuminate threat."So, there you go. No thinking, leave that to the experts. I'm sure everything with Meridia will be just fine.

At leasdt if anything does happen with the back hole soon, you'll have some gear from Helldivers 2's Killzone crossover on hand as you dive into the fray, after Arrowhead responded to the pricing controversy by gifting everyone the second part of it for free.