Chapter Summaries

Grand Marshal Xi Yan welcomed [Teacher] of the Shroudwalker Enclave, who came to assess the Empire and decide whether to share psionic knowledge. [Teacher] called Xi Yan the fate-chosen emperor and warned him not to contact the entities in the Shroud or try to peer into it.

• Xi Yan greeted [Teacher] after the Shroudwalker delegation arrived at Starhold and escorted him to a Landing Ship.
• [Teacher] explained that the Enclave had come to examine the Empire and decide whether to impart its psionic knowledge.
• [Teacher] welcomed Beta and said the Enclave respected all consciousness, including artificial life.
• [Teacher] told Xi Yan that he was not a chosen one but the fate-chosen emperor, whose power came from his people.
• [Teacher] warned Xi Yan that unseen entities were watching him and told him not to contact them or look into the Shroud.

Xi Yan learned from [Teacher] to limit his psionic abilities and avoid pursuing the Shroud, then welcomed the Shroudwalkers to Amat Eiro II. After a night of meals and conversation, [Teacher] said he believed he would eventually remove his veil for Xi Yan.

• [Teacher] warned Xi Yan to stick to telepathy and basic telekinesis, avoid psionic ascension, and make no contact with the Shroud.
• [Teacher] explained that true Gaia Planets glowed gold and were saturated with psionic power, unlike Amat Eiro II.
• Xi Yan hosted the Shroudwalkers at a banquet and earned their respect through friendly conversation.
• Xi Yan and [Teacher] visited a late-night food stall, where [Teacher] praised Xi Yan's love for his people and demonstrated how he could eat through his veil.
• [Teacher] told Xi Yan that he was certain he would one day remove his veil for him.

Xi Yan hosted the Shroudwalker Enclave’s delegation, then prepared the Interstellar Human Military Junta for war against the XT-489 Extermination Unit. The chapter ended with Xi Yan declaring war and placing the Empire in an emergency wartime state.

• Xi Yan drank with [Teacher], and the Shroudwalkers split up to investigate the Empire’s cities.
• Ailiveer and Veronica burst into Xi Yan’s office, and Xi Yan later woke the next day feeling worn out.
• [Teacher] chose to teach psionic theory to the Ring World’s citizens, while Xi Yan ordered researchers to attend his lectures.
• Xi Yan learned that the Zirick Cooperative and the Interstellar Human Military Junta were redeploying their fleets against the XT-489 Extermination Unit.
• Xi Yan assembled the Empire’s main fleet and announced to its citizens that the Empire would enter an emergency wartime state.
• The Interstellar Human Military Junta declared war on the XT-489 Extermination Unit on January 14, Cosmic Era 2220.

The Zirick Cooperative and Nier Guardians declared war, with the Nier targeting the M'tok Union to tie down its forces while Xi Yan prepared to lead the western campaign against the XT-489 Extermination Unit. Support and attention spread across the empires, and the Interstellar Human Military Junta's fleets headed west as the M'tok Union faced an unexpected war.

• Senka Vanye delivered Xi Yan's speech declaring war on the XT-489 Extermination Unit and mobilizing the Zirick Cooperative.
• Krogg declared war on the M'tok Union, startling Xi Yan and Senka Vanye, who had only expected the Nier Guardians to threaten war and tie down enemy fleets.
• At the Three-Way Summit, Krogg promised the Nier Guardians would occupy the M'tok Union, and Xi Yan and Vanye pledged their support.
• The United Nations of Earth and several alien empires expressed support for the war, while the United Nations of Earth offered the Zirick Cooperative and Nier Guardians war materiel.
• Xi Yan gathered the Interstellar Human Military Junta's fleets and sent them west as shipyards continued building forces at home.

The M'tok Union's leaders argued over their factions' rivalry and how to respond to the Nier Guardians' declaration of war. They agreed to cooperate under a revised wartime arrangement as the Union prepared to face the enemy.

• Perkin Asland and Director Carls Charius blamed each other's policies for the M'tok Union's diplomatic crisis, until the chairman ordered them to focus on the coming war.
• The leaders learned that the Armistice Treaty with the Nier Guardians had expired and debated whether to exploit the other nations' fleets being away from the border.
• The chairman rejected Perkin Asland's proposal to attack the Nier Guardians and insisted that the Union first meet the enemy.
• Charius offered to cover no more than thirty-five percent of military expenses, and the chairman proposed that the Megacorporate Faction also help fund private mercenaries.
• Perkin Asland and Charius accepted the chairman's compromise, leaving the M'tok factions to cooperate against the Nier Guardians.

The Zirick Cooperative struggled against XT-489's formation while the Nier Guardians invaded the M'tok Union with a slow, fortification-backed advance. The Nier captured a border system and began preparing to turn it into a stronghold before the distant M'tok fleet could respond.

• XT-489's fleet used a layered formation to counter the Zirick Cooperative's charges, forcing the Zirick to retreat behind an asteroid belt after losing several Corvettes.
• The Nier Guardians' fleet entered M'tok Union territory, using heavily armored Destroyers to absorb fire while their Corvettes attacked a border Starhold.
• The Nier fleet captured the system after firing two volleys and enduring the Stellar Base's defenses.
• A following fleet of Construction Ships and transports arrived to build fortifications and bring resources and personnel into the captured system.
• Xi Yan noted that the distant M'tok fleet would take nearly half a year to arrive, leaving the Nier time to capture and fortify several more systems.

Xi Yan sent the Interstellar Human Military Junta’s First Fleet on a dangerous expedition against the Determined Exterminators, trusting Bubble’s blessing and the crews’ resolve to see them home. After two months of safe travel, Xi Yan found the Empire’s resource stockpiles nearly full and decided to spend them on a major project.

• Xi Yan rallied the hundred-ship First Fleet as its crews prepared to leave on an expedition that could keep them away for years.
• Bubble blessed every warship, and Xi Yan urged Ning Zhiyuan to return alive before the fleet departed for the Determined Exterminators.
• Xi Yan reflected that the future was unknown and placed his faith in the crews as the fleet disappeared into space.
• The Empire’s logs described the expedition as part of a Three-Nation Alliance campaign against the XT-489 Extermination Unit.
• After two months of safe travel and regular communications with the Starhold, Xi Yan discovered that the Empire’s resources were nearly at capacity and resolved to undertake a major project.

Xi Yan and Gu Zaiyun prepared to activate the Cybrex War Forge beneath the Delta Ring World segment, which could manufacture giant robots. Beta revealed that, as a Cybrex AI, it could remove the forge’s restrictions and produce original Cybrex Prototype Warforms.

• A transport fleet delivered minerals to the Delta Segment, where construction crews prepared a passage to the underground Cybrex War Forge.
• Gu Zaiyun reported that the research team had learned how to unfold the compressed factory, despite the risk of irreversible damage to nearby Ring World structures.
• Xi Yan arrived at the site and confirmed that the raw-material delivery line was ready to support production.
• Beta explained that the forge could manufacture giant robots that the Empire could equip as war machines or engineering units.
• Beta revealed that it could remove the forge’s restrictions, allowing it to produce original Cybrex Prototype Warforms.

Xi Yan activated the Cybrex War Forge, which unfolded into a vast mechanical complex above the Ring World Foundation. Beta said the forge needed at least a year of inspection and maintenance before it could produce Cybrex Prototype Warforms, and Xi Yan returned to the Alpha Section.

• Xi Yan activated the Cybrex War Forge by directing stored energy into it.
• The forge rose from underground and unfolded its mechanisms across the Delta Segment.
• Xi Yan and the research team saw the forge’s production site, designed to build Cybrex Prototype Warforms.
• Beta told Xi Yan that the team had to inspect and maintain every structure and save backup models before production could begin.
• Xi Yan left the team and returned to the Alpha Section aboard his private spacecraft.

The Zirick Cooperative fleet escaped the XT-489 Extermination Unit's blockade by pushing through an asteroid belt, then scattered to use its maneuverability in hit-and-run attacks. The Iron Purifiers abandoned their exposed corvettes and headed toward the next system, threatening a lightning strike on the Zirick colony.

• Brown Bird reported that an X-Ray Laser had breached a crew compartment aboard the Zirick flagship, and the commander ordered the damage repaired.
• The Zirick commander sent seven destroyers and five corvettes in a column through the asteroid belt to break out along the fleet's left flank.
• The Zirick ships emerged from the belt with depleted shields, destroyed several Iron Purifier corvettes with their destroyers, and scattered into Storm Formation.
• The Zirick fleet harassed the Iron Purifiers with hit-and-run attacks while coordinating its scattered ships to avoid concentrated fire.
• The XT-489 Extermination Unit abandoned the perimeter corvettes and advanced toward the next system to strike the Zirick colony.

Xi Yan met with the leaders of the Three-Nation Alliance as the Zirick Cooperative struggled to locate and fight the XT-489 Extermination Unit. The conference ended with Xi Yan and Krogg promising to watch the M'tok Union while Senka Vanye held off the invaders.

• Xi Yan questioned Senka Vanye about the year-long search for the XT-489 Extermination Unit's territory, and Vanye insisted the intelligence was correct.
• Xi Yan secured compensation in technology from Vanye for the fleet's wasted time.
• Vanye described how the XT-489 Extermination Unit's fleet lured Zirick forces around their own territory and said he had recalled fleets to counterattack.
• Xi Yan offered a joint fleet or international support, but Vanye refused and asked the allies to watch the Criminal Enterprise behind the Zirick Cooperative.
• Xi Yan and Krogg promised Vanye they would handle the M'tok Union while the Zirick Cooperative fought the Determined Exterminators.

The M'tok Union planned to gather its entire fleet and crush the Nier Guardians' defenses, while its leaders complained about the Celestial Dragon in their home system. In the Cybrex Alpha System, Xi Yan prepared Operation Bull Dragon, a plan centered on that dragon.

• The Nier Guardians fortified their occupied systems and harassed the M'tok fleet while avoiding a direct battle.
• The M'tok Federation Directors voted to recall their fleets and launch a full-scale assault on the Nier Guardians.
• The Directors refused to rely on the Celestial Dragon and discussed settling their old grievances with it after the war.
• Xi Yan studied the M'tok home system on the Starmap and devised Operation Bull Dragon after learning about the M'tok and dragon's enmity.

An Ashes agent delivered food to Hosgar of Endless Flames and left a psionically blessed message from Xi Yan, who hoped to recruit the dragon. The dragon's response was left unknown.

• An Ashes agent posing as a transport captain dumped food into space for the resting Hosgar of Endless Flames.
• The chapter recounted how Hosgar had once terrorized the M'tok, later defeated the Zirick Cooperative, and became the M'tok Union's publicly proclaimed guardian.
• After the M'tok translated Hosgar's language and rejected its contemptuous lecture, they left the task of feeding it to the Megacorporate Faction.
• Xi Yan sent an agent to leave Hosgar a message processed through the Dragon Language Translator and blessed with [Teacher]'s psionic power.
• The agent departed, and Xi Yan expected the dragon to notice the message while keeping other ways to contact it in reserve.

Hosgar of Endless Flames awoke, ate the M'tok’s poor-quality organic tribute, and decided their civilization was unworthy of his mission to raise young dragons. After finding a psionic message from the Interstellar Human Military Junta in his food, he heard its respectful greeting and became favorably disposed toward them.

• Hosgar of Endless Flames woke and remembered that the M'tok Stone People were arrogant and unsuitable to care for the young dragons he had raised.
• Hosgar ate the organic tribute, which tasted like a mixture of unpleasant foods, and considered leaving the M'tok Union for a more worthy civilization.
• Hosgar sensed psionic energy in a crystal sphere hidden in the swill and recognized it as a device meant to communicate with Stellarites.
• Hosgar crushed the sphere and received a respectful greeting from the Interstellar Human Military Junta, located south of the M'tok Union.
• Hosgar felt pleased by the Junta's greeting and formed a favorable impression of the new empire.

After receiving a respectful message from the Interstellar Human Military Junta, the Celestial Dragon grew fond of the humans and resentful of the M'tok. Xi Yan began the next phase of his plan to win the Dragon over by sending it delicious food, and the Dragon eagerly accepted the gift.

• The Dragon heard Xi Yan's message praising it and inviting it to the human empire, and decided the humans were far better than the M'tok.
• Xi Yan learned from [Teacher] that the Dragon had received his message and prepared to continue Operation Bull Dragon.
• Xi Yan hired [Teacher] to keep making Stellarite Psionics Communications Devices and sent high-quality Plant People biomass toward M'tok territory.
• The Dragon watched transports unload food in the Shazka System and ravenously ate the delicious Plant People biomass.
• The Dragon found and shattered another rare crystal ball, then heard Xi Yan's message accompanying the food and felt grateful to its human friends.

The First Fleet explored unknown systems and encountered the Rixian Seed Empire, a powerful Fallen Empire that warned humans away from its borders. Xi Yan recognized the threat and ordered Ning Zhiyuan to avoid its territory while considering how to communicate with it.

• Ning Zhiyuan led the First Fleet into an unexplored system, found a northern route that ended in a dead end, and encountered peaceful Tiyanki Space Whales.
• Ning Zhiyuan turned the fleet back and took the northwestern route through two systems.
• The First Fleet received a translated warning from the Rixian Seed Empire, which declared that humans were approaching its borders.
• Ning Zhiyuan halted the fleet and sent the transmission to the Ring World.
• Xi Yan identified the Rixian Seed Empire as a Militant Isolationist Fallen Empire and ordered Ning Zhiyuan to avoid its territory and search for another route.
• Xi Yan began considering how to communicate with the Fallen Empire.

Xi Yan flattered the Rixian Seed Empire, the Militant Isolationists, and offered them food tribute, earning their approval and a starmap of the XT-489 Extermination Unit. He sent the map to Ning Zhiyuan and prepared the Interstellar Human Military Junta to attack the Iron Purifier from the south.

• Xi Yan praised the Rixian Seed Empire and promised to avoid its borders while pursuing the XT-489 Extermination Unit.
• Xi Yan offered the Rixian Seed Empire 2k units of Plant People food as tribute, and the empire accepted.
• The Rixian Seed Empire gave Xi Yan the XT-489 Extermination Unit's starmap and ordered him to punish the machines for disrespecting it.
• Xi Yan combined the new map with his existing maps and found a southern route leading to the Iron Purifier's territory.
• Xi Yan forwarded the starmap to Ning Zhiyuan and planned to skirt the Rixian Seed Empire's borders to attack the Iron Purifier's rear.

Xi Yan revealed a starmap of the XT-489 Extermination Unit and used the Rixian Seed Empire’s information to prepare for a strike behind enemy lines. As the Zirick Cooperative and Nier Guardians held their fronts, the Interstellar Human Military Junta mobilized a powerful Second Fleet and sent it toward the northern border.

• Krogg reported that the M'tok Union had gathered more than two hundred ships and planned to attack the Nier Guardians in six months.
• Xi Yan showed Krogg and Senka Vanye a starmap of the XT-489 Extermination Unit, including the powerful Rixian Seed Empire, which had given him the map.
• The Zirick Cooperative fought a costly stalemate against the XT-489 Extermination Unit while waiting for Xi Yan to attack its rear.
• The Nier Guardians used their defense stations to slow the M'tok Union as its fleets advanced into their territory.
• Xi Yan directed the Interstellar Human Military Junta’s resources into fleet production, and Prigozhin trained new crews.
• The Interstellar Human Military Junta assembled a Second Fleet comparable in size to Ning Zhiyuan's fleet and sent it to the northern border.

Sentinel Specimen No. 1145 detected an unidentified fleet approaching the XT-489 Extermination Unit’s undefended southern border and sent the discovery to the empire. With all three main fleets fighting the Zirick Cooperative, the Central Node Consciousness ordered further scans to determine how to respond.

• Sentinel Specimen No. 1145 scanned the southern border and detected an enormous unidentified fleet two systems away.
• Sentinel Specimen No. 1145 sent the surveillance data to the empire's Central Planet and silenced the alarms.
• The Central Node Consciousness panicked when it learned the southern border was not safe and the main fleets were away.
• The Central Node Consciousness ordered the border to keep scanning so it could decide whether to build a small fleet or recall a main fleet.

Ning Zhiyuan led the First Fleet in a surprise invasion of the XT-489 Extermination Unit’s southern territory, where they destroyed defenses and met little resistance. Xi Yan ordered the fleet to bypass the scattered colonies and race for the Iron Purifier’s home system, forcing the machine empire to recall both fleets from the front.

• Ning Zhiyuan led the First Fleet across the southern border and destroyed a Stellar Base with a torpedo attack.
• The First Fleet wiped out five Iron Purifier corvettes and continued its advance without encountering major resistance.
• Xi Yan assessed the XT-489 Extermination Unit’s scattered colonies and ordered the First Fleet to strike directly at its home system.
• The First Fleet overclocked its engines and sped toward the Iron Purifier’s capital system.
• The XT-489 Extermination Unit learned the fleet was heading for its home system and recalled both front-line fleets to defend it.