When the blue crystal known as 'Manite' was first discovered in the western mountains of the once-unified Elian continent, no one knew it would become the seed of a catastrophe that would stain the land in blood.

While the capitalists of the East enjoyed prosperity by controlling the vast energy provided by Manite, the residents of the West, where the mines were located, were forced to live as second-class citizens, their resources plundered while they toiled in cold tunnels. Behind the facade of East Elian capitalism, which worshipped individual liberty and market logic, the people of the West began to harbor resentment toward their exploitation and embraced extremist collectivist ideologies that demanded total state control.

The cracks finally burst open when a global economic depression hit. As the East-led markets collapsed and chaos blanketed the continent, the West seized the opportunity to blockade the western half of the continent and declare independence. After a bloody first civil war, the East, unable to endure the long conflict, eventually ceded the center of the continent. The land was split into the liberal Federal Republic of East Elia and the early national-socialist People's State of West Elia.

However, the peace of division did not last long. Thirty years later, under the shadow of East Elia's overwhelming capital and production capacity, the West Elian economy began to wither. When the West Elian regime collapsed due to internal riots, East Elia invested massive capital to absorb the West, achieving reunification under the name 'United Republic of Elia.'

But the false unity brought by the arrogance of the victors led to an even greater tragedy. East Elian conglomerates bought up West Elian core assets and Manite mining rights for a pittance, fattening themselves through corrupt ties between government and business, while soldiers and residents of West Elian origin were thoroughly marginalized. Deep in the hearts of the Westerners lay a profound sense of inferiority and the sting of exploitation forced upon them under the guise of unification.

Out of those ashes of despair, Wilhelm von Alecto emerged. He captivated the masses with powerful demagoguery that stoked the desire for revenge against Eastern capitalists and promoted bloodline purity. Going underground, Alecto joined forces with Helena, the 'Iron-Blooded General' who held the real power in the West Elian military, to secretly rebuild an elite army armed with fascism. When the time was right, Alecto simultaneously occupied major Western cities and Manite mining zones, declaring the independence of the 'West Elian Chancellery' alongside a second division. The panicked East Elian suppression forces invaded, but they were forced to retreat again by the fierce counterattack of the West Elian military, which had been perfectly rearmed under a militaristic system.

After the second division, the precarious balance of the Cold War maintained at the border finally collapsed. Führer Alecto forcibly nationalized the Manite mines owned by Eastern capital and completely cut off energy flowing to the East, plunging all of East Elia into an unprecedented blackout crisis. Subsequently, a transport train was bombed at the Karches Grand Iron Bridge on the border, completely voiding the rules of engagement. Führer Alecto declared a general mobilization across the continent.

In response, the President of East Elia and Vice Chief of Staff May Gavin, the head of national defense strategy, approved a preemptive strike against West Elian energy bases. On the front lines, the 1st Battalion led by Major Jessie Gavin, May's daughter, was deployed into a life-or-death situation. Meanwhile, on the West Elian front, the Special Operations Flotilla led by Colonel Kara—Helena's biological daughter and Alecto's foster daughter—emerged from the shadows to strike.

With past exploitation, present madness, ideological hatred, and family tragedies all intertwined, the once-unified continent of Elia was now fully engulfed in the flames of a horrific Great War for survival and ideology.