Plot
Amid overpopulation, dwindling resources, and civil unrest, six major corporations launch a coordinated global uprising known as the National Dismantlement War, which overthrows all countries on Earth and ushers in a new world order of corporate-enforced peace: the Pax Economica. To efficiently redistribute resources, people are relocated into oppressively managed settlements called colonies and forced into hard labor. However, a technological gap opens between the corporations with the advent of Kojima technology, which utilizes potent and hazardous Kojima Particles as energy. Kojima technology is instrumental in the creation of NEXTs, next-generation Armored Core mechs, and the corporations begin waging a shadow war among themselves for control of it.
Five years into the Pax Economica, the colony of Anatolia enters a financial crisis. Anatolia is one of a handful of colonies that enjoys autonomy from the corporations, but this was solely due to the wealth of the late Professor Jarnefeldt, a leading NEXT engineer. Upon Jarnefeldt's death, most of his staff defected to the corporate research colony Aspina, severing Anatolia's income stream, and leadership of the colony fell to Emil Gustav, one of Jarnefeldt's researchers. To keep Anatolia funded, Emil modifies a veteran Armored Core pilot into a LYNX, gives him a NEXT, and sells his services as a mercenary to corporations that lack their own NEXTs. Fiona Jarnefeldt, the professor's daughter, agrees to act as the pilot's operator. This pilot is the player character, who is also referred to as "Anatolia's Mercenary".
At first, Anatolia's Mercenary is only hired to counter rebel attacks, but he steps into the spotlight by defeating the rebel LYNX Amazigh. He then receives more lucrative and dangerous jobs fighting in skirmishes between rival companies until he is tasked by Global Armaments (GA), one of the six major corporations, with assaulting a GA subsidiary that plans to secede. The mission is successful, but provokes another company named Akva Vit into declaring war on GA. This gives the six major corporations an excuse to openly break the Pax Economica, instigating the LYNX War. Akva Vit gains the backing of the Bernard and Felix Foundation (BFF), Leonemeccanica, and Rayleonard, while GA forges an alliance with Eqbal and Rosenthal.
Throughout the enormously destructive conflict that ensues, the reputation of Anatolia's Mercenary grows as he takes on missions for the GA coalition. Notably, he assassinates BFF's entire leadership by sinking their seaborne headquarters, protects Anatolia from a retaliatory strike by an Akva Vit-developed superweapon, and leads critical operations against the increasingly desperate Rayleonard. The conflict culminates in the dissolution of both Rayleonard and Akva Vit; at the same time that Rayleonard's headquarters is destroyed by Anatolia's Mercenary, Akva Vit's headquarters is coincidentally destroyed by a LYNX from Aspina named Joshua O'Brien. With the LYNX War over, Anatolia finds itself with a comfortable amount of funds. Unfortunately, Joshua carries out a surprise attack on the colony in a prototype NEXT and razes most of it to the ground before he is vanquished. Fiona and Anatolia's Mercenary then decide to leave Anatolia, with Emil unable and unwilling to persuade them to stay.
