To enter the L-Cluster, which had no Hyperlane connections, one had to go through an L-Gate. Like ordinary gateways, L-Gates could instantly transport matter across countless star systems.
However, L-Gates could not form a network like ordinary gateways, allowing free travel between every gateway location. The L-Gates scattered throughout the galaxy only had two-way connections with the L-Gate in the L-Cluster's Terminal Egress system. In other words, the Terminal Egress L-Gate could lead to any L-Gate, but the gates within the galaxy were not interconnected. Travel between them required a transfer through Terminal Egress.
Normally, L-Gates were closed. In a standard playthrough, players needed to collect seven L-Cluster insights to unlock the research option for activating them. If there happened to be an L-Gate within their borders, they could dispatch a Science Ship to open it and enter the L-Cluster.
Based on the previously mentioned background of the L-Cluster, players would encounter one of four scenarios after entering it.
One less common outcome was encountering an "L-Dragon" composed of Nanites.
Of course, most of the time they would encounter the hostile "Gray Tempest fleets." These powerful nanobot fleets would pour out in full force through every L-Gate and attack everything. Unless the nanobot factory within the L-Cluster was destroyed, they could never be completely wiped out.
Another fairly common outcome was finding a nation called the "Dessanu Compact," which was actually Nanites in disguise. They would grant passage through their territory, but forbid entry into one system in the deepest reaches of the L-Cluster.
The final possibility was that the L-Cluster would be silent and completely empty.
In this scenario, each Nanite World surveyed by a Science Ship added a cumulative 6% chance of discovering a strange signal on the planet, triggering Little Gray's event chain and granting the immortal