According to the in-game fiction, the Cybran Nation consists of a race of cybernetically enhanced humans known as "symbionts" that seek their freedom from the oppressive human regime of future Earth, which is controlled by the aggressive United Earth Federation, a faction that has enslaved the symbionts for fear of rebellion. Meanwhile, the UEF and Cybran Nation will need to contend with the game's third faction, the Aeon Illuminate, a mysterious group heavily influenced by alien philosophy and technology that claims pacifism, but backs its claims with military might.