Campaign:The Shattered Warpgate

The Shattered Warpgate was the title of the first campaign released in PlanetSide 2. It launched on October 1st, 2020 for PC players, October 24th, 2020 for PlayStation, and ended on July 1st, 2021 for PC players, November 17th, 2021 for PlayStation. Due to technical issues, chapter 3 of this campaign was not made available on PlayStation 4, with the rewards being distributed for free to any players who had completed at least one of the previous two chapters.

The campaign focused on the eponymous Shattered Warpgate, located in the north-east of Esamir, expanding on the events that lead to the calamity and on the actions taken by each of Auraxis' major factions in response. The campaign culminated in the construction of the Containment Sites found on the tundra today, and changed the landscape of the continent forever.

The Shattered Warpgate was played over three chapters—Calamity, Adapt and Overcome, and Containment Protocol. These chapters were all unlocked with a one-time purchase of the campaign, whose cost ranged between and  dependent on the battle rank of the character.



Events
Listed below are the events of the Shattered Warpgate campaign, missions that tell the story of the campaign and task the player with relevant objectives through which they progress the chapter and unlock items, earn currency, and open new events and missions for play.

Chapter 1: Calamity
''In a singular burst of energy, a Warpgate has detonated, creating a shockwave powerful enough to sunder all of northeastern Esamir. This event has ushered forth unstable geysers; melted previously frozen rivers; infused the land with a mysterious, ancient energy; and has given birth to new, alien plantlife.''

In this midst of this calamity, Nanite Systems has unveiled new "Haven" outpost technology and coordinates with the warring factions to establish a new base of operations south of the blast site, benefiting all parties involved.

With the blessing of your superior officers, Nanite Systems extends an invitation to assist them in uncovering this environment's mysteries.

Chapter 1, Calamity, was played between October 1st and October 28th, 2020.

Synopsis
In a singular burst of energy, Esamir's original Eastern Warpgate has detonated, creating a powerful shockwave to sunder the northeastern part of the continent. The event has ushered forth unstable geysers; melted previously frozen rivers; infused the land with a mysterious ancient energy, and has given birth to new alien plant life. In the midst of this calamity, Nanite Systems has unveiled new "Haven" technology and coordinates with the warring factions of Auraxis to establish a new base of operations south of the blast site. The detonation of the warpgate has exposed an ancient infrastructure beneath it, taking nearby bases offline and unleashing torrents of chaotic energy. Representative Foster, a high-ranking executive from Nanite Systems, leads the investigation into the event to see if the damage can be reversed or at least contained. The empires send their own soldiers to assist Foster, bearing a covert agenda of recovering information and technology that could provide an advantage in the Auraxian war.

Despite a common goal and shared purpose, Esamir remains a warzone. Soldiers from each empire race to survey the damage at the behest of Nanite Systems, but to glean any additional information to share with their own command structure, picking at the bones of the ancient Vanu technology. In the wake of the warpgate's devastation, each empire attempts to recover any data that's left from the remnants of Northpoint Station and Stillwater Watch for Representative Foster. Fighting ensues.

A correlation is soon drawn between the warpgate instability prior to its collapse, and that of the historic first expedition to Hossin where the first real death during the Auraxian war took place. In order to investigate this theory, Foster reluctantly enlists the help of a data-broker known as FL-34 to steal relevant information regarding the Hossin expedition from Nanite Systems' business partners. This data was used to create new prototype technology, capable of sapping the energy from derelict vehicles scattered across Esamir when the warpgate explodes. Foster orders these vehicles to be reclaimed for research purposes, but so do the three opposing factions.

Additionally, the factions order their soldiers to collect samples of the strange flora surrounding the Shattered Warpgate. With a new rhythm of inflow and outflow of plantlife and research materials, the factions become increasingly paranoid of each other, sending Infiltrators to corrupt the information held within enemy Bio Labs on the other continents.

Meanwhile, Nanite Systems shifts their focus to more relevant data readings such as the looming electrical storm. Foster asks for operatives to release a weather drone to monitor the storm that patrols the battlescape. New NS technology also provides protection against this electrical storm. Representative Foster charges his operatives to test this new Insulated Suit. The testing proves promising and mass distribution of this armor begins, easing the hardships of Esamir's frigid waste, but not long before the land itself begins to shudder with more instability.

It has become increasingly clear that there is something broken beneath the surface of Auraxis, and the energies held therein will only bubble to the surface in more destructive ways. Nanite Systems continues working to diffuse burgeoning disaster. Representative Foster receives news that other warpgates have been having operational issues and sends his operatives back to the Shattered Warpgate. But Foster's signal between him and his operatives is cut by a mysterious entity known as Archivist Dolan. Dolan delivers a message to the operatives near the Shattered Warpgate, explaining that the warpgate's World Anchor may have been defective. Dolan leaves the operatives, warning them on how these World Anchors can shape entire planets and that they should consider letting them reshape the frozen landscape of Esamir.

Chapter 2: Adapt and Overcome
Jagged fissures billowing plumes of Elysium sunder the icy permafrost of Esamir, foreshadowing renewed devastation if the potent energies that shattered the ancient Warpgate cannot be contained.

Rising to the challenge, Nanite Systems has launched a bold initiative to thwart the impending catastrophe; the construction of three monolithic new facilities.

These state of the art Containment Sites will require an abundance of resources, the coordination of the warring empires, and the answers to a few mysteries.

Chapter 2, Adapt and Overcome, was played between November 20th, 2020, and January 15th, 2021.

Synopsis
The foremost mining and logistics organization known as Nascent Expeditions enters into an agreement with Nanite Systems. Operatives across Auraxis are supplied with hand-held mining lasers, and gear up for the work ahead. Armed with the NE-11 Portable Mining Laser, these operatives descend planetside to assist in harvesting minerals unearthed by Nanite Systems mining drills. The increased flow of resources will expedite the construction of Containment Sites on Esamir. But the development of these Containment Facilities is a costly endeavor. Nascent Expeditions issues a contract for any soldier willing to harvest Auraxium. Representative Foster also sends the operatives to Esamir to help secure and survey where the new Containment Sites will eventually be constructed.

Meanwhile, Nanite Systems researchers believe the Tempest energy stored in the derelict vehicles scattered across Esamir may be useful to the construction of these Containment Facilities. Reclaiming this derelict vehicles for further testing leads to significant advancements in energy resistant alloys. The Tempest Shield is invented to assist in Nascent Expeditions' mining operations. Nanite Systems technicians also develop deployable refineries that can process radioactive Elysium crystals that have recently begun forming near the geysers on Esamir. Foster believes this crystalized Elysium will accelerate the creation of powerful new supercell capacitors which will be integrated into the new Containment Facilities. And while the crystalized Elysium forming on the surface of Esamir may imply trouble in the ground beneath, it proves to be a powerful boon for the creation of high-powered batteries.

FL-34, known as "Flea" by his clientele, requests Foster's operatives' help with his latest "entrepreneurship endeavor," requiring data to be gathered from within the heart of Esamir's deadly electrical storm. After testing prototype equipment like the Lightning Arrester, Flea rewards the operatives with more experimental weaponry.

The recent development of shielding technology has enabled further investigation of the ancient superstructure revealed during the Shattering. Foster has requested his operatives venture into the heart of the Shattered Warpgate to determine the source of an energy signature that seems to be hastening the deterioration of the lattice network beneath Esamir. While at the warpgate, Foster's signal with his operatives is again cut by the mysterious Archivist Dolan. Dolan asks the operatives if they have ever heard of Project Arquebus, a small research team stripped of faction allegiance, sent for the first time through a dimensional anchor to explore what was on the other side.

Researchers theorize that Esamir's recently exposed World Anchor may connect to a location off-world, either for the purposes of communication or translocation. In order to determine the location, Nanite Systems requires a specialized cryptographic key; a subspace cipher. Representative Foster reluctantly enlists the aid of FL-34 to procure the coded data.

The cataclysm that resulted in the Shattered Warpgate also birthed a genesis of new flora in the surrounding region. One of the new species of plant life, notable for its warm effervescent radiance, warranted further study. Samples of these glowing tuberous roots were taken to Bio Labs across Auraxis for analysis. While research efforts have been slow, thanks to efforts of saboteurs on all sides, eventually breakthroughs were made, and new abilities were developed for infantry dependent on the operative's faction—a Combat Stimulant for Heavy Assaults, the MASC Prototype for  Infiltrators, the Noxious Field for  Combat Medics, or Shield Matrix Pylons for  Engineers.

With nearly all of the pieces for the construction of the Containment Sites having been collected, Foster asks his operatives a final favor. He requests readings from the conflux of energy pouring into the skies above the Shattered Warpgate itself. As the operatives approach the area just above the warpgate, Dolan makes contact, urging the operatives to eject from their specialized air vehicles. Upon ejection, Dolan explains that Foster had sent the operatives on a one-way trip, attempting to use the energy of the warpgate to send the operatives to Desolation, a barren asteroid; a trip which would have resulted in the deaths of all of the operatives. Dolan explains to the operatives that he was the lead researcher of Project Arquebus, also a one-way trip. His team has long been dead, and he is a mystery unto himself. With possession of this knowledge, the operatives return to Sanctuary to confront Foster, only to find he has disappeared. A Nanite Systems Operative robot named Facilitator Campner presents the operatives with their reward, but has no further knowledge of Foster's whereabouts.

Chapter 3: Containment Protocol
The empires of Auraxis celebrate as three new Containment Sites come online on Esamir, neutralizing the storm that has battered the continent for months.

Nanite Systems continues to search for Foster, their former representative on Sanctuary, who disappeared after attempting to use the Esamir recovery effort to hide mistakes of the past.

Meanwhile, Archivist Dolan, an earlier victim of Foster's ambition, exerts her influence from afar to earn favor with the Black Market vendors and Nanite Systems Operatives.

Chapter 3, Containment Protocol, was played between May 5th and July 1st, 2021.

Synopsis
The construction of the Containment Sites on Esamir brings relief and a sense of stability to the battered landscape, but the saga is not over yet. Nanite Systems believes the other continents may now be at risk of their own respective storms, and the empires ready themselves to investigate and secure these monolithic new facilities they helped erect.

Nanite Systems deploys their operatives to continents across Auraxis, tasking them with deploying Storm Buoys within the atmosphere to collect data on the potential emergence of new storms across the planet. One of the finals task the operative completes for Nanite Systems themselves, this mission is executed without a hitch and the company prepares to study the data they have received.

Shortly afterwards, the operative is once again contacted by the shady data broker FL-34, requesting they aid him in acquiring a inconspicuous crate from a storage facility on Esamir. To do so, the operative needs three encryption keys—one already in the possession of the broker, one stored in a console at Saerro Listening Post, and a third held by a mysterious benefactor who demands the operative get their hands dirty and battle their enemy for their enjoyment.

On the acquisition of all three keys, the operative sneaks into Eisa Tech Plant and breaches a security console, allowing them to load the package into a Harasser for transport. Upon taking the package to Stillwater Watch, FL-34 assumes ownership of the package and sends the operative on their way.

Upon the completion of FL-34's task, Nanite Systems' Facilitator Campner contacts the operative with one last mission—the location of the allegedly 'abducted' Representative Foster, who suspicious disappearance ended the last chapter of the campaign. Using an integrated scanning suite, the operative tracks the representative's bio signal across Auraxis, tracking him to a small building hidden on the outskirts of a random continent.

Unsurprisingly, Nanite Systems' hunt for Respresentative Foster was not born of benevolence, and the former Nanite Systems employee is summarily terminated via the usage of an Orbital Strike, ending his tale for good and marking the end of Nanite Systems' involvement in the Shattered Warpgate campaign.

Meanwhile, the empires have been hard at work clearing up loose ends on Esamir following the launch of the Containment Sites. They have been made aware of a security breach in the sites and, while this issue has already been fixed externally, they send their soldiers into the sites to physically ensure the safety of the facilities and repair any damage caused by the saboteurs.

Following the repairs on the Containment Sites, the empires move onto the next matter—a faint pulsing signal has been detected near the Shattered Warpgate, and soldiers are enlisted to employ a Signal Scanner to locate the source of the transmission, and decipher its purpose. In a shock to all, the signal indicates a link between the warpgate and an off-world location—a large asteroid named Desolation.

With the signal seemingly tied to the enigmatic and ancient Vanu, and the asteroid itself rich in untold resources, the empires scramble to secure a pathway from the Shattered Warpgate to Desolation, rerouting the boundless tempest energy siphoned by the Containment Sites to power the link between the warpgate and asteroid, while also preventing their enemies from achieving the same goal.

With the war over Auraxis—and now beyond—returning to normality after months of uncertainty and strife, FL-34 enlists the operative on one last mission. The inconspicuous crate he had tasked the operative with acquiring can be powered at a small facility located on the far side of the Shattered Warpgate, and thus the operative heads out to complete this final objective.

As the 'crate' comes online, FL-34 begins to hesitate about his plan, before being summarily disconnected from his communication link with the player in a somewhat familiar way. Simultaneously, a mysterious robotic entity emerges from the crate and speaks to the operative, revealing that they are the very same Archivist Dolan who was once trapped on Desolation, now uploaded by FL-34 into the husk of a Nanite Systems Operative unit.

With this revelation, the operative returns to Sanctuary for debrief, where Representative Ayla expresses gratitude to the operative for their aid to Nanite Systems, the soldiers' commander praises them for their hard work across the campaign, and FL-34 asks that the operative keep their final mission under wraps, hiding Archivist Dolan's new existence from others.

Equipment and Rewards
Aside from a sizable amount of Campaign Standing awarded from the completion of the campaign's events, players made use of and earned a variety of equipment throughout the Shattered Warpgate campaign.