Factions
There are a total of four playable factions in Earth 2160. Each faction has a unique method of constructing bases, as will be explained below.
The United Civilized States (UCS) are the evolution of a former expansion of the United States across the Americas. The UCS was previously a huge makeup of hedonistic, advanced humans who used robots and machines to accomplish any unpleasant tasks and jobs; however, whilst the ED and LC evacuation ships arrive safely at Mars and begin colonization, the UCS evacuation ship, the Phoenix, inexplicably goes missing during the journey. Theories concerning its disappearance range from destruction by a meteor swarm, to the human overlords making the mistake of allocating too much power to the machines and, during the journey to Mars, in a move much akin to HAL 9000's the few humans remaining were exterminated by the machines they created. Major Michael Falkner of the ED personally believes that the ship was sucked into a black hole "or something like that, anyway". It is revealed during the UCS campaign that the Captain of the Phoenix, an AI, has kept the ship in orbit and the humans in stasis, waiting for the wars in the Solar System between the ED and LC to end. The UCS's backbone forces are its robot mechs and colossal airborne ships. During the campaign, human forces under the rogue LC commander Heldin Ariah stumble across the derelict UCS evacuation ship and are able to command the robots in their fight against the Morphidian Aliens. The UCS structures initially serve almost no function at first but may be upgraded with a series of add-on structures that enhance unit production, armament, and resource collection. UCS mechs are effective against most things except for ED tanks.
The Eurasian Dynasty (ED) represent the largest human faction in Earth 2160. Upon successfully completing the evacuation vessels, the leaders and officers of the faction were among the precious few human beings chosen to board the ships. As the most primitive of all the factions, the ED have previously relied on sheer strength and numbers to triumph over their enemies, using tanks and helicopters in battle. Nevertheless, with only a few thousand humans remaining, and strictly limited materials, their future remains tentative. The ED seem modeled on the Soviet Union, and before Earth's demise were based primarily in Eurasia. Typical ED bases are huge complexes of production, resource, research, and defense structures connected together through tubes. Base defense can be enhanced with a series of turrets built atop mag-lev walls; these turrets can be moved along the wall sections to respond to threats in multiple directions.
The Lunar Corporation (LC) are by far the smallest of the factions. Unlike the other factions, they are relatively peaceful, and prior to the destruction of Earth, lived unhindered on the Moon. However the fighting between the UCS and ED prompted them to utilize Earth's resources to construct an escape craft alongside the other two factions, and they too escape to Mars. The LC are the most advanced of all the factions, with anti-gravity vehicles and orbital construction technology. LC bases consist of a series of large towers with modules built on top of one another in order to save space while defense is supplied by a series of laser walls and defense towers.
The Morphidian Aliens are the most obscure of all the factions. Having been imprisoned beneath the Martian surface aeons ago they were awakened by landing UCS ships. Now, they are determined to escape their incarceration and establish themselves across the solar system. Unlike the other factions, the Morphidian Aliens' buildings and units are not manufactured, but are rather organic in nature. All ground-based buildings and units originate from the Mantian family of units, who have the capability of cloning themselves or morphing into another building or unit after sating themselves with a nearby water source. The Aliens also rely on large starships called Replicatori, which can then replicate themselves much like the Mantians (after absorbing enough crystal) or morph into Morphoratori. These Morphoratori must then absorb enough metal before transforming into warships. In-game cutscenes and several unit descriptions refer to them as a purpose-built biological army, created by a race nicknamed "The Builders", which are also responsible for the creation of a space gate network, as well as several advanced artifacts found in the game. The Morphidians appear to be von Neumann machines created exclusively for war, with their ground forms being made using extremely advanced synthetic biology and genetic engineering, while their space fleet was made using nano-assembler technology (only because they couldn't evolve a proper, air-capable organism).
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