MetalMercs takes place in the Core, an expansive region of space governed by five dominant houses. While these houses are ostensibly united under the Star Regent's leadership, their alliances are tenuous at best. Behind a facade of unity, the houses and their leaders engage in a relentless struggle for dominance. Power plays, betrayals, raids, and outright warfare are rampant, growing ever more frequent and intense the farther one ventures from the central worlds, beyond the Star Regent's vigilant gaze.