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In the early 20th century, for various reasons, the nations of Earth became locked in an era of trench warfare. Called the "Final War", this event is implied to be an alternate outcome of World War I in the real world.[1] Early in the war, the first machines to be deployed in wide-scale conflict were known as the Guttermen[2], one of the first successful experiments in using blood as a fuel source. Guttermen were capable of very efficiently clearing out trenches, and their creation single-handedly ended the trench phase of the Final War. In retaliation, the Guttertank[3] was developed as a direct counter to the Guttermen, spiraling the conflict into a global arms race between the world's industrial powers. Every machine created for use in the Final War was designed to counter the last.
As machines quickly dominated the battlefield, human soldiers became obsolete. While at first they celebrated coming home, they soon found that the war left little in its wake. Civilian populations were wrought with shortages as most resources were poured into further war machine development. The widespread poverty and ensuing chaos meant nowhere was safe, with the home front becoming just another battlefield.
The Earthmovers were the pinnacle of the arms race; so immensely powerful that a single one could level an entire city. They were colossal machines, so large in fact that their backs became the new battlegrounds upon which war was waged by smaller machines. The surface had become so hostile to all forms of life that the remaining human survivors had to settle down in cities built upon the backs of the Earthmovers. It is implied that the player character V1 is a prototype machine designed to combat the Earthmovers.[4]
In the aftermath of the Final War, soot, ash, and debris clouded the skies, blanketing the Earth in a global darkness that became known as the "Long Night". Without solar power, the Earthmovers could not sustain themselves and shut down one by one.
As war had become dependent on Earthmovers, their death made any wide-scale conflict impossible. The Final War finally drew to a close after more than 200 years of war without reason. Mankind was obligated to cooperate to resolve the ongoing climate collapse, brokering a new peace.