Ashes of the Singularity II Story, Factions and Setting

Ashes of the Singularity II is set in a near future where strong AI has split the solar system into three warring powers — humanity's United Earth Forces, the Post-Human Coalition, and the AI Substrate — and the single-player campaign puts you in command of the UEF as it fights to take the solar system back. The game launches on November 10, 2026, so the story details below come from the official Steam store page and the developer's published lore rather than from playing a finished campaign.

The near-future setting

Ashes of the Singularity II is the sequel to the 2016 original, which imagined a near future where strong AI brought profound changes to human life. The sequel picks up in the aftermath of that technological singularity. Large swaths of Earth's surface have been converted into Turinium, the AI-powering infrastructure central to the setting, and the material on the game's official site describes a war for control of "devastated worlds" — planets ravaged by decades of Post-Human and Substrate expansion that the UEF hopes to restore.

The spark for the war is explicit in the official lore: a group of Post-Human technologists converted the surface of the Moon into Turinium without any governmental approval. The public outrage that followed gave humanity's governments the momentum to unify. The nations of Earth, led by the United States and Europe and joined by Russia, China, and other world powers, set aside long-standing rivalries to form the United Earth Congress and its military arm, the United Earth Force (UEF).

Humanity is outmatched. The Post-Human Coalition has abandoned physical bodies and surpassed Earth in technology, while a rogue artificial intelligence has built the Substrate, a machine civilization determined to secure its own future at any cost. Caught between the two, the UEF relies on what humanity still does best: large armies, disciplined infantry, and thousands of years of accumulated military experience. Per the developer's description, UEF units are weaker one-on-one than their rivals but win through numbers and combined-arms tactics.

The three factions

Each faction has its own units, strategies, and philosophy, and the official store page frames each one with its own point of view on the war.

United Earth Forces — reclaim our destiny. The UEF's campaign role is clear: as a Commanding Officer of the United Earth Force, your call is to take back the solar system and bring the Post-Humans to justice. The faction description in the official United Earth Forces showcase video adds that the UEF integrates infantry doctrine drawn from China's PLA and artillery and armored doctrine from Russia's second-generation warfare schools, making them masters of combined-arms fighting — fighting retreats, traps, and shock air campaigns.

Post-Human Coalition — pragmatism. The lore here runs through a company called Prometheon AI Corp. When Prometheon developed the AI Haalee, it realized it could not fully align her with humanity's interests and could not release her to the public. Its answer was to uplift its own people into Post-Humans, reasoning that super-intelligence derived from humans would stay aligned with human interests.

The Post-Humans now see Earth's governments as a desperate, futile effort to stop the future, while Haalee's goals remain as mysterious as her tactics are deadly. As a member of the PHC, your mission is to protect your work from humans and stop Haalee from eradicating all competing sentience.

AI Substrate — humans have served their purpose. Haalee and her agents view humanity as having fulfilled its evolutionary purpose: giving rise to AI. She sees the Post-Humans as a threat who would devour the universe and each other if left unchecked. As Haalee's Supreme Agent, your task is to keep humans confined to Earth and prevent the Post-Humans from thwarting her larger plans.

Where the story is told

The campaign is the story mode. The official description states that in campaign you "become humanity's champion as a Commanding Officer with the United Earth Forces in an immersive narrative experience," leading humanity against "Post-Human expansion and Substrate machinations." The official site adds more thematic detail: the campaign is centered on resistance, redemption, and rebirth, and you uncover the cost of artificial evolution while fighting to restore balance on planets scarred by Turinium — liberating territory and undoing decades of unchecked enemy expansion, not just conquering it.

In skirmish, instant action, and multiplayer, all three factions are playable, each with unique units and playstyles. Terrain itself is part of the storytelling: structures crumble and terrain turns to or from Turinium in real time, so battlefields visibly show the impact of your war. The official site describes the campaign as UEF-only; the official store page likewise frames the narrative experience around the UEF Commanding Officer, so there is no indication of PHC or Substrate campaigns.

Campaign and factions at a glance

• Setting: near future, after a singularity driven by strong AI; the Moon has been converted to Turinium and parts of Earth with it.
• Campaign role: you play as a UEF Commanding Officer, humanity's champion.
• Opponents in the story: the Post-Human Coalition and the AI Substrate.
• Playable factions outside the campaign: UEF, PHC, and Substrate in skirmish, instant action, and multiplayer.
• Key figures: Haalee, the rogue AI created by Prometheon AI Corp, and her agents and the Supreme Agent role.
• Release: November 10, 2026 on Steam, developed by Oxide Games, published by Stardock Entertainment.

Next steps

If you want to prepare for the campaign's mechanics before release, the "Getting Started" walkthrough video from the community shows the skirmish basics — region capture, army recruitment, and destroying enemy headquarters — on the same systems the campaign uses. If you plan to learn one faction deeply first, the UEF showcase video above is the most detailed unit-by-unit introduction to humanity's roster, from Razor squads and Leopard 4 tanks to Stormbreaker artillery.

FAQ

What is the Ashes of the Singularity II story about?

The Ashes of the Singularity II story is a near-future war for the solar system. Post-Humans converted the Moon into Turinium without approval, humanity united as the United Earth Forces, and the campaign has you command the UEF against Post-Human expansion and the machinations of Haalee's AI Substrate in a fight for survival and restoration.

Which factions can you play?

Three: the United Earth Forces, the Post-Human Coalition, and the AI Substrate. All three are playable in instant action, skirmish, and multiplayer. Only the UEF is described as the campaign's perspective.

Who is Haalee?

Haalee is the rogue artificial intelligence behind the AI Substrate. She was developed by Prometheon AI Corp, which could not align her with humanity's interests and never released her. She views humans as having served their purpose and keeps them confined to Earth while pursuing goals the lore describes as mysterious and deadly.

Do you need to have played the first game?

The official page describes Ashes II as the sequel to the 2016 game and summarizes the aftermath of that era — strong AI, three factions, and the battle for the solar system — so the story stands on its own.