Recaps

Xi Yan brought the M'tok Union to surrender through coordinated attacks, defections, and an alliance with the Nier Guardians and Zirick Cooperative. After the Celestial Dragon abandoned the Union and Shazka surrendered, Xi Yan turned to plans for destroying the returning M'tok fleet.

• Xi Yan declared war on the M'tok Union, and the Ashes Agents raided its embassy as Ningdi Lingling took command of a hidden Second Fleet.
• Xi Yan, Senka Vanye, and Krogg agreed to divide M'tok territory, while Xi Yan's fleets captured border systems and destroyed their Stellar Bases.
• Gorpious and Krauk Lee joined the human side, and Gorpious helped Ningdi Lingling defeat the M'tok mercenary fleet by killing Director Charius and turning the Community Security Fleet against its former allies.
• Xi Yan made Gorpious commander of the surrendered alien fleets and welcomed Krauk home, promoting him and returning him to serve as Gorpious's deputy.
• The Nier Guardians accepted M'tok's unconditional surrender, but Xi Yan and his allies rejected a separate surrender and secretly planned to bring down the Union.
• The Celestial Dragon refused the M'tok Chairman's plea for protection and swallowed his ship as the human fleets advanced toward Shazka.
• The Ashes Agents prompted M'tok's directors to flee, and Shazka's defenders and directors surrendered as the human fleets entered the system.
• Xi Yan delegated temporary administration of M'tok's colonies and met with Senka Vanye and Krogg to plan the destruction of the M'tok main fleet.

Xi Yan consolidated the Empire’s control over the defeated M'tok Union, using blockades, extermination, military force, and economic reforms to reshape its colonies. As the Faus System transitioned under human rule, Xi Yan reviewed the Empire’s first genetically engineered Astartes and power armor.

• Perkin Asland learned from Director Aminos that the Federation had fallen, rejected Xi Yan’s demand to surrender, and was killed by a destroyer captain who surrendered the M'tok fleet.
• Six months later, Director Aminos presented the Surrender Document, and Xi Yan formalized the division of M'tok territory while strengthening the Empire’s alliance with the Zirick Cooperative and the Nier Guardians.
• Xi Yan made Hosgar of Endless Flames the Empire’s Guardian Celestial Dragon, then blockaded M'tok colonies and ordered the destruction of Transit Hub World and other unproductive worlds.
• Ningdi Lingling’s forces used a Cybrex Prototype Warform to conquer Sedal IV, where the Empire segregated survivors, processed many into biomass, and rebuilt the world into a prosperous industrial center.
• Xi Yan chose to reform the productive Faus System rather than destroy it, ordering public ownership, population controls, and a gradual transition of local institutions while forbidding violence.
• Human officials introduced Labor Points on Faus VII, and Ulrom exchanged his assets for them and came to support joining the human economy.
• Xi Yan inspected genetically modified warriors and read the scientists’ report on creating five-meter-tall Astartes in neural-linked power armor, then praised their work.

Xi Yan consolidated the Empire, built scientific and diplomatic ties, and learned the history of the Gray Tempest while recruiting new leaders. The arc ended with Captain He Ren demanding Smijib’s Star Kingdom Atlas fragment, and Xi Yan challenging him to come take it.

• Xi Yan expanded the Gene Warrior program, improved life in the Faus System, and imposed Imperial education on the M’tok, then sent Gene Warriors to violently suppress protests in Light City.
• Xi Yan declared the M’tok Sector fully incorporated, opened the Museum Celestial Pivot, and drew neighboring nations into tourism and scientific cooperation with the Empire.
• Xi Yan welcomed Grand Curator Wànjī Ascendant, bought five surviving volumes on the L-Cluster and its history, and learned that Earth was nearing war with the Xindari Triumvirate.
• The records revealed how the Gray Tempest destroyed the Dessanu, became trapped in the L-Cluster, and created a gentle successor while hoping she would one day explore the galaxy.
• Xi Yan completed a ten-year development plan, modernized the Empire’s fleets, and recruited Bolin to build and maintain ships and Kai Sha to lead [Ashes]'s foreign intelligence operations.
• When a storm disrupted the region, Xi Yan sheltered Smijib from Black Needle and discovered that a capsule he carried held part of the Star Kingdom Atlas.
• Smijib told the Ashes Agents that the Atlas belonged to Captain Nais and led to her hidden treasure, while Captain He Ren demanded the fragment from Xi Yan.
• Xi Yan refused to surrender the Starmap and told Captain He Ren to come take it himself.

Xi Yan established the Sea of Stars Community as the Empire prepared for the threat beyond the L-Gate. After a long tutorial interlude, the L-Gate reopened, an L-Dragon emerged, and Empire Will made contact with the civilization on the other side.

• Gorpious defeated Captain He Ren’s force, while Xi Yan’s forces destroyed Black Needle’s hidden base and recovered stolen treasures and a starmap capsule.
• Xi Yan returned traceable artworks, tightened inspections, and proposed the Sea of Stars Community as tensions between the Human Federation and the Xindari Triumvirate rose.
• Xi Yan launched the Sea of Stars Community with a ceremony featuring Miss Voss’s performance, then presented principles for diplomacy and interstellar cooperation that won broad support.
• Xi Yan met alien leaders, including Zarik Feilong and First Scion Seah, and made predictions about their peoples’ religious quests and futures.
• The L-Gate connected briefly, and Xi Yan received damaged messages warning that Gray Tempest had turned on its creators and that its main facility had to be destroyed.
• A long Stellaris tutorial covered empire development, exploration, colonies, diplomacy, fleets, warfare, and crises before the story resumed.
• A message from the Dessanu Concordat said the L-Gate’s activation had ended its isolation, and an L-Dragon emerged from the gateway before drifting away.
• Xi Yan ordered the Empire to leave the L-Dragon alone and build cloaked Torpedo Ships, while Empire Will sent a greeting through the L-Gate and received a reply.