As far as the story goes, I’d personally start off with a ten year time jump. The country is divided between two corporations after the US government dissolves in the wake of the Gargos invasion. One corporation is led by a mysterious being known as The Chairman. He was once the only human executive left at Ultratech, but upon being possessed by Omen, he schemed with a traitor and overthrew ARIA, removing her from the company.
She fled with Riptor and Sadira to the west, where she formed UATC, a company that quickly rose to power through arms manufacturing, biotech research, and far shadier practices. The two mega corporations wage a war that brings the country itself to the brink of destruction.
Meanwhile, Orchid, TJ, Jago, Maya and Kim Wu are able to recruit soldiers and carve out land in the northern part of the US in what was formerly Alaska. They fight to take back the country and end the violence. As each entity gains land, soldiers and momentum, they battle for years before ultimately reaching a stalemate.
The Chairman makes a proposal. A Killer Instinct Tournament. Each side bring their 10 best fighters. The tournament will decide the fate of the country, with the two losers abandoning their territory and leaving everything behind.
Factions: There are three factions in total. The Ultratech faction (located in the eastern half of the former US), the UATC faction (located in the south western US) and the Resistance faction (located in Alaska and the northwestern half of the US).
Ultratech:
-The Chairman: When Omen’s master perished, he was left weakened, with no army, no means of escape and pure, unmitigated rage toward the beings responsible. He devised a plan that required a specific vessel and carried it out to precision. Now in control of the world’s most powerful corporation, he has his army and he has his mission once more. But ARIA was resourceful, and the resistance proved stubbornly persistent as well. No matter, he would devise a new scheme from his seat of power. He would lure them in with an opportunity they couldn’t refuse.
-Eyedol: Once a destroyer of cities, the shadow lord was brought to heel by The Chairman and his minions. Brainwashed by El Hassan and mesmerized by Lady Astrid at The Chairman’s behest, he is now an unwitting pawn with no memory of where he came from or who he is. He only knows that he wants to fight and kill anything that would threaten his master. He is the ace up The Chairman’s sleeve; a backup plan if all else fails.
-Djinn: 500 years ago, Baqir El Hassan tumbled into a deep cavern after a sandstorm blew his caravan off course. His body tired and broken from the fall, he discovered an ancient tome resting on a pedestal, shrouded in a single beam of light from the surface. He crawled on broken legs, dragging himself along the rough stone surface, a trail of blood left in his wake. He pulled the tome from the pedestal and read aloud. The very air around him danced with the light of magical energy, filling his body with a power he’d never felt before. He smiled as his last breath escaped from his dying lungs. 500 years later, he was brought back to life by the very book that ended him, but where was the book? Reaching the surface with minimal effort, he came upon a group of researchers that informed him that it was the UATC and ARIA that stole his book and buried him. They worked for something called Ultratech, and only their leader could help him get what he wants.
-Witch: The mystical being known only as Lady Astrid has existed for more than a hundred years. Her knowledge of the occult and mastery of the arcane arts has come at price however, as her body has divided itself in two. She is equal parts a young, beautiful earth goddess named Aveala, which contains all of her evil, and a shriveled hag named Viola, which contains her goodness. They are bound to one another, even as they battle for control of the host body, one unable to destroy the other. Recruited by The Chairman with the promise of ending their suffering once and for all, they work to his ends in hope of finally having control over the host body and the peace that comes with it.
-Ben Ferris: Cinder was the one that betrayed ARIA to The Chairman. Giving him the access codes to her networks while her bodies underwent upgrades, she was purged from Ultratech’s systems and her bodies were destroyed. But ARIA left behind a parting gift during her escape. She connected to one of the machines that originally grafted Glacius’ technology to Ben Ferris and reprogrammed it. When Cinder entered the machine for plasma rejuvenation, the machine drew the liquid tech from his body and the flame went out forever, leaving him with little more then a tan. Enraged, Ferris doubled down on his loyalty to The Chairman, promising to stamp out the virus known as ARIA once and for all. Little did he know that ARIA has a surprise waiting for him at the tournament.
-Female Ninja Assassin: The child of Orchid and TJ Combo, Codename: Nightshade is a prodigy. At only 10 years of age, she has a fighting skill few adults can match. Her overprotective parents didn’t want her fighting on the battlefield when they went to war, but she followed them, only to be captured by Ultratech. Months of manipulations finally turned Nightshade to The Chairman’s side, as she believes that they are the only ones that can bring order to the chaotic world she’s grown up in. She will use her considerable speed and stealth to aid him in his mission to create an ordered, peaceful world, even if it means killing the only people that ever loved her.
-MMA Fighter: “Tombstone” Terry Graves was a famous MMA champion before a cross-over match with TJ Combo, the world title holder with Ultratech reinforced arms, left him paralyzed. The Chairman saw his potential and had his spine, arms and legs grafted with a higher end version of the tech that was once used to defeat him. He aligns himself with Ultratech in order to defeat his former rival and then some.
-Helgore: The Mk III unit had its flaws, but The Chairman believes the new Mk IV will be the perfect fighting machine. He sends it in to heavy production and creates an army to both use at home and sell abroad. Once this war with ARIA has ended, The Chairman will activate Protocol B, and the world will be his. It doesn’t matter that the Mk III prototype somehow managed to escape. He has all he’ll ever need.
-Spinal: Upon ARIA’s departure, The Chairman informs Spinal that he has the mask of the ancients, and will give it to him once Spinal wins the new Killer Instinct tournament. Spinal’s heard this before. Powerless over the mask and the one that controls it, Spinal sought insurance in the ten years following the Gargos invasion and finally found it. The sword of the ancients, a Babylonian relic once thought lost to time has come in to his possession, granting him the ability to wear the skin of his attacker. This could be useful.
-Riptor: Now entrenched as the alpha pack leader of the stalker units, Riptor has led numerous attacks in to UATC and resistance territory. She shreds her enemies with relentless violence, so why did she spare Ianthe’s life when the two met on the battlefield? Riptor feels an odd sense of kinship to this snake woman, perhaps it’s because they share the same snake’s DNA? But if that’s the case, then what does that make them?
-Zombie: It seems as though Wraith’s powers over the dead have their limits. The first creature brought to life by the necromancer was uncontrollable, ravenous, and far deadlier than even ARIA could have imagined. While the UATC figures out how to tame their new creatures, Agent 0, a former Navy Seal in life, finds a home with an old military comrade, Ben Ferris, at Ultratech. His mind clearer after the initial shock of resurrection, he seeks the one that brought him back to life, and to do that, he’ll have to get through ARIA and the UATC. He’ll help The Chairman, help Ben Ferris, and help himself to some brains along the way.
UATC:
-ARIA: Displaced from her seat of power by two traitors, ARIA rebuilds her empire under the original name of Ryat Father’s corporation. She quickly expands in both numbers and power before starting a war that would last for years. With the battle at a stalemate, her former executive proposes a new Tournament; winner takes all. This seemed fair. What The Chairman doesn’t realize, is that ARIA died so that she could evolve. Her old bodies pale in comparison to the technology she now has at her fingertips. If she should fail, well, that’s what redundancies are for.
-Kan Ra: Finally free from Aganos’ pursuit after all these years, Kan Ra begins the long and arduous task of restoring himself and his powers. But he needs his daggers, Temperence and Vengeance. They call to him, begging him to unlock their true power. ARIA is too strong to attempt to take them from her lieutenant by force. Ever the deal maker, he offers ARIA an opportunity. He will win this tournament for her in exchange for what belongs to him. ARIA agrees, much to Kan Ra’s delight.
-Wraith: Though they’ve battled to a stalemate, ARIA’s war with Ultratech has thinned her ranks considerably. But fortune smiled upon her when UATC researchers unearthed an ancient tome at a dig site in the Sahara shortly before it caved in. The tome, written in ancient Babylonian told of a ritual capable of bringing back a powerful being that once read these very pages before dying. Kan Ra performs the ritual at ARIA’s behest, summoning forth a cloaked being with power over the dead. She will use this being to replenish her ranks, but the being has a request of his own. When all is said and done, you will bring Kan Ra to me. Neither ARIA nor Wraith are aware that he was not the only one brought back by the ritual.
-Lovecraftian: UATC researchers have not only scoured the world for mystical relics and the power they might contain, but the depths of the oceans as well. The latest creature unearthed by ARIA’s UATC is a being known as the Elder Dreamlord. Summoned from an alternate dimension by a mystical key discovered in the lower reaches of the Diamontina Trench off the coast of eastern Australia, Elder Dreamlord hails from a long forgotten race that settled on Earth over a billion years ago. His race nearly extinct, the Elder Dreamlord seeks the key to restore his brethren. ARIA will give him the key upon his victory in the Killer Instinct tournament.
-Sabrewulf: Though Konrad Von Sabrewulf had learned to speak once more thanks to the sorcerer Kan Ra, his form remained unchanged. Toiling in his alchemical lab for years, he was ready to give in to despair when an emissary of ARIA’s arrived at his ancestral home. Calling himself The Tsar, he offered Konrad a small vial containing a glowing purple liquid in exchange for his participation at the Killer Instinct tournament on behalf of the UATC. But Sabrewulf was no fool. He could smell the stench of death on this man. He reared back with razor sharp claws, when the man moved impossibly fast, striking him and crushing the vial on Sabrewulf’s chest. Searing pain radiated through every inch of Konrad’s body as he tumbled backwards. His hair slithered its way back in to his body, forcing itself under his skin. He howled as the bones in his snout fractured, caving in on themselves and pushing against his face until they leaked from his human mouth in a batter of dust and blood. He heard his howl turn in to a scream and stopped. The pain was gone and he was human again! The Tsar told him that this was but a taste, and that the wolf would return. In the meantime, he could be taught how to transform at will, and the transformation would be far less painful. But for the full cure, he would have to fight for ARIA and the UATC at the Killer Instinct tournament. Without hesitation, Konrad agreed.
-The True Tsar: For a thousand years, the blood mages ruled in snow covered lands of the alps in southern Gaul until Hannibal Barca’s march toward Italy to begin the Second Punic War. Driving these bloodthirsty animals to the north, they laid waste to most of the coven and killed their leader. The True Tsar, one of the last true blood mages declared himself leader and took his brethren underground in the Ural mountains, where they remained for centuries, only to venture out and feed. Consumed with revenge, they found a path back to civilization, intent upon ruling it from the shadows. The Tsar has aligned himself with his former enemy in an effort to take down Ultratech and hoard their resources for their own ends. They will use Ultratech to destroy the UATC and make the rest of the world their feeding ground.
-Naga: Manufactured in UATC’s lab, Ianthe was created with a hybrid of human and reptile DNA. Meant to be an upgrade over the Stalker units left behind at Ultratech, Ianthe has the mind and upper half of a human, one that fancies itself a goddess living among mortals. Convinced by ARIA that she will have what’s rightfully hers once she wins the Killer Instinct tournament, Ianthe fights for UATC, even though she finds fighting to be beneath her. She’ll win, if not for one hitch; one mysterious problem plaguing her mind. She fought Riptor on the battlefield until both of them stopped. Something tells her that Riptor is not her enemy, but if she’s not an ally, then what can she be?
-Sadira: Once betrayed by ARIA, the leader of the Red Eyes of Rylai returns to her service. Is ARIA aware of just how powerful Sadira’s shadow organization has become and what she intends to do with it? No matter, ARIA believes that Sadira has chosen her side. She will leave Sadira’s motivations alone for now, as she has more pressing matters to attend to. Should Sadira become a problem again, ARIA knows what to do.
-Mira: Mira Fallegeros met her sister Maya in battle during a botched raid on a resistance stronghold. Thought to be dead, Maya made the mistake of checking on her sister, who lunged at her and sunk her teeth deep in to her neck. It was as the master foretold. Her sister’s weakness for her would be her undoing. But even without a soul, Mira couldn’t bring herself to murder her closest friend and relative. Removing one of her gauntlets and slashing her wrist, she watched as the silvery liquid poured in to Maya’s open mouth as she lay dying. Maya’s eyes closed, only to reopen with a fiery golden tint. Mira had her sister back. Together, they will embark on a new mission: Protect the Tsar at the tournament, and help destroy their enemies from within.
-Maya: Maya Fallegeros returned to the resistance after having been turned by her sister Mira. She would learn the strengths and weaknesses of her new enemy and thwart them whenever possible. She was careful, but after several months, Jago figured out that something was wrong. The fools, they should’ve known sooner. She escaped when they attempted to imprison her, warning that anyone who faced her in the tournament would die. Jago vows to save her by any means necessary, but he’ll be no match for the Sisters Fallegeros.
-Meltdown: With her labs up and running again, ARIA used both the technology and the know-how from Project Cinder to create a newer, better being of liquid fire. With new powers, such as the ability to become translucent and even invisible, this new fire being poses an even greater threat to the world. If he fails at the tournament, she only requires one task of her new monster; find and destroy the one that betrayed her.
Resistance:
-Orchid: Having spent the last ten years battling against the corporations vying for control of North America, Orchid is almost relieved when Ultratech announces a new tournament. She can use it to get close to her enemies, but she can also rescue her kidnapped daughter and free Maya from the clutches of the vile Tsar. With no shortage of missions to carry out and new, monstrous threats to face in a tournament that will surely be a trap, she’ll have to be careful, cold and calculated. Luckily for her, the powers she possesses have only increased with time.
-TJ Combo: With his wife Orchid leading the resistance, TJ seeks to recruit the best fighters in the world to their side. But with their daughter kidnapped and recruited in to Ultratech, TJ desperately seeks to find her and bring her back home. He has no idea what Ultratech has made of her; a thought that keeps him awake each and every night.
-Old Sage: Though his origins remain a mystery, Master Kunchen works to get Jago ready for the battles ahead. When the Killer Instinct tournament is announced, he requests to accompany Jago, but has motivations of his own. In order to live, a shadow lord must die.
-Jago: Having lost one of his arms in the war with Ultratech, Jago retreated to the destroyed Tiger Shrine to heal and pray. Approached by a wily old man that agrees to help heal his mind and body, Jago agees. Though Master Kunchen’s past prior to showing up at the shrine remains shrouded in mystery, Jago cannot help but appreciate his teachings, his ability to hone his skills as a warrior, as well as his new arm made from mystical light energy. When the tournament is announced and TJ comes calling, Jago is only too eager to try it out in battle and finally end the Ultratech menace once and for all. More than that, he seeks to save Maya by any means necessary, even if it means her death.
-Eagle: Drawn in to the battle once more, Eagle leaves his home with TJ Combo to fight for the resistance in hopes of finally defeating ARIA. Unlike last time however, he also leaves with his brother Thunder in tow. Together, they will put an end to both corporations that litter the world with weapons and war. What Thunder doesn’t know, is that Eagle has suffered from visions of war through the red lenses of a Fulgore unit that shares not only his mind, but perhaps his soul as well.
-Kim Wu: As a young woman, Kim Wu had aspirations of working in the fashion industry, only to have her life upended by Gargos’ invasion. Working to help rebuild her country, she’s was shocked and saddened by the collapse of the US government and the rise of the corporations that struggle for control. When TJ Combo comes to her for aid, she’s gladly accepts. She also knows of a friend she can bring along.
-Shin Hisako: Unable to rest, even when Gargos is finally destroyed, Shin Hisako returns to the desecrated site of her family’s graves, only to find her friend Kim Wu waiting for her. Kim needs her help once more. Perhaps this time, she’ll finally be able to end ARIA’s menace. Will this allow her to sleep once again? Shin Hisako doesn’t care. With her father’s sword and the fires of revenge still burning bright within her, she leaves on her final mission.
-Tusk: With Gargos defeated, Tusk disappears. Living as a hermit, he’s sought out once more by Kim Wu, who tells him about the new tournament, and what’s become of her country. An immortal such as Tusk cares little for the machinations of petty tyrants, but agrees to help his former friend when he learns of a wraith that has returned from land of the dead. Perhaps he has finally found a creature capable of ending his immortality?
-Kelvin: An alien being from a far away world, Kelvin arrives on this strange planet in search of his brother Glacius. Landing in a place once known as Alaska, he is greeted by creatures that claim to know his comrade. They claim his ship crashed here years ago and that Ultratech enslaved him for a time while stealing his technology. He seeks more answers, and agrees to help the resistance if it means getting closer to ARIA and hopefully, closer to finding his friend.
-Thunder: When Eagle is recruited by Orchid and TJ to represent the resistance states in Ultratech’s new Killer Instinct tournament, Thunder vows to accompany his troubled brother. He will protect Eagle, end ARIA, end Fulgore and with the help of his spirit guide Aganos, he will right the many wrongs plaguing mankind.
-Wendigo: After centuries of servitude, Skawl emerges as the leader of the wendigos when he turns on The Tsar in battle. Wounding him, he is able to escape, only to find later that many of his brethren were slaughtered in retribution. The remaining pack stays loyal to the vampires out of fear, but he seeks to free them and will ally himself with the resistance to do so. If he can defeat The Tsar in battle, perhaps he can inspire his pack to break their chains as well.
DLC Characters: Glacius, Fulgore Mk III, Kara, an Ichorien, an insectoid creature and Frankenstein Monster.
Glacius: Missing since the rise and fall of Gargos, the resistance assumed that Glacius was finally able to repair his downed ship and leave this world behind. With no one to save him and no means of escape, Glacius remained trapped in the research labs at Ultratech. Providing the technology for the Mark IV’s liquid metal exterior, Glacius has been invaluable to their research and development. It’s only to their benefit that they’ve finally been able to convince the alien to do so willingly. The Chairman is not ARIA, and Ultratech is no longer his enemy. In exchange for helping him repair his ship, he’ll provide them with all the help they need, especially if it means putting an end to ARIA once and for all.
Fulgore MK III: Mark III was was destined to be replaced eventually. An anomaly to begin with due to his connection with the one his programming was based upon, Mark III was decommissioned along with the rest of his generation. But unbeknownst to The Chairman, the connection between Fulgore and Eagle wasn’t one sided. Rescued from permanent hibernation by his human side during a dream walk, Mark III escapes from Ultratech and seeks out The Resistance. He will will help them build an army of Mark III’s and end the Ultratech menace once and for all, provided Eagle’s psychic hold on him remains strong enough.
Kara: Once the leader of a shadow organization within Ultratech known as Omega Dawn, Kara was hell bent on bringing down ARIA and restoring the company to its rightful place in the world. She initially recruited The Chairman to their cause, but it wasn’t until he willingly joined with Omen that their plan fell in to place. Now with ARIA out of the way and Sadira’s departure from the ranks of assassins, Kara was only too eager to fill the space left in her wake. She now trains the next generation of Ultratech’s human enforcers, led by her star pupil, her old rival’s own daughter, Nightshade.
Ichorien: Summoned from the Deeper Realm by his herald Kunchun, The Light Lord returns via mystical tether to the friends that helped free him from gem previously animating the war golem Aganos. Appearing as a crystalline version of his former captor, The Light Lord will help the resistance not only defeat their enemies, but prepare their world for a fate worse than Gargos. What could devour a Shadow Lord? The answer will shake Earth’s warriors to their core. Omen wasn’t trying destroy this world or take it for his own. He was preparing for the inevitable arrival of his new master.
Insectoid: Named for the dead leaf mantis of Southeast Asia, Desiccata was thought to be the first of Feodor Van Freed’s Failures as UATC’s lead scientist. The genes of Maya Fallegeros were combined with several insects including the bullet ant, the kissing bug, the venom spitting scorpion, the centipede, the Japanese giant hornet, the southeast Asian mantis, the beetle, the Brazilian wandering spider and the moth, the initial result was little more than a massive cocoon that lay dormant in the basement of UATC laboratories. The day after Feodor Van Freed met his fate, the deadly creature emerged. Fiercely loyal to the true king of her colony, she fights from the shadows to protect him by any means, be it her powerful sting, her disorienting bite, her acidic venom or even the use of a clever disguise.
Frankenstein Monster: Once the lead geneticist at a prominent Eastern European laboratory, Feodor Van Freed was recruited to UATC with the hope of developing the next generation of soldiers for ARIA’s burgeoning army. Failed experiment after failed experiment produced hideous creatures no more suitable for the battlefield than Feodor himself. As punishment for his costly blunders, ARIA saw fit to not only end his tenure as lead UATC scientist, but to make an example of him so the rest of her new corporation would realize what was truly at stake. Attaching various parts of his deceased experiments to his rotting corpse, she commanded Wraith to bring the amalgamation back from the dead. Little did she anticipate how powerful Van Freed would become once raised from the dead. In life, he had failed countless times. In death, he might be his own greatest success.
PS: No I’m not expecting anyone to read this wall of text lol. But if you did, good on you!!