Chapter Summaries

Xi Yan denied orchestrating the Synth rebellion while the Starfish Republic struggled to contain the uprising and recalled its fleets from the front. He pressured the Rixi Reconquest Empire and Phethisia Arbitrator Empire to reunite against the starfish, but the Synth Free Star System Alliance remained vulnerable to the returning fleets.

• Xi Yan rejected the Starfish Republic's accusations and filed a slander complaint against it with the Sea of Stars Community.
• The Synth Free Star System Alliance seized large areas of the Starfish Republic as Synths rebelled across its colonies and even on its Homeworld.
• The Starfish Republic recalled its fleets from the war in North the Milky Way, relieving pressure on the Phethisia Arbitrator Empire.
• The Rixi Reconquest Empire attacked the Phethisia Arbitrator Empire again, and their subject nations resumed the east-west war as the Non-Aligned Organization withdrew.
• Xi Yan berated the Rixi Reconquest Empire and Phethisia Arbitrator Empire until they joined forces to attack the Starfish Republic.
• The Synth Free Star System Alliance continued capturing colonies, but its small fleets and shallow foundations left it at risk when the starfish fleets returned.

The Starfish Republic crushed the Synth Free Star System Alliance’s fleets but struggled to suppress its colonial rebellion, while the Awakened Empires invaded from the north. The Starfish stopped their advance at terrible cost, prompting Xi Yan to declare that the Human Empire would enter the war.

• The Starfish fleets routed the Synth fleets and retook their Stellar Bases, but the Synths held the colonies, where the Starfish lacked enough Army troops to put down the rebellion.
• Xi Yan sent the Starfish Republic a mocking offer to hire human Army troops, angering the Starfish Lord as the Republic began recruiting forces to suppress the uprising.
• The Awakened Empires crushed the Habinte Unified Worlds and then invaded Starfish territory while the Starfish fleets were regrouping.
• The Starfish committed nearly all their forces to a battle against the Awakened Empires, losing most of their fleets and their Titans but forcing the invaders to retreat north.
• After the Awakened Empires reported that the Starfish had stopped them, Xi Yan flew into a rage and declared war on the Starfish Republic.

Xi Yan declared total war on the Starfish Republic and the other members of the Non-Aligned Organization, taking advantage of their weakness after the War in Heaven. The Human Empire revealed its vast Nanite fleet and sent the newly completed Body Battleship toward Starfish.

• Xi Yan publicly justified and formally declared total war on the Starfish Republic, triggering war with every Non-Aligned Organization member through their mutual defense pact.
• The Human Empire mobilized, compelling even nations friendly to humanity, including the Blorg, to enter the war.
• The weakened Starfish Republic feared humanity's attack while still facing the War in Heaven and Synth rebellions.
• Xi Yan lifted humanity's internal signal blockade and assembled the Empire's Nanites into a vast fleet divided among dozens of invasion routes.
• The Body Battleship activated its Jump Drive and led the fleet toward the Starfish Republic.

The Starfish learned that the Human Empire had declared war and sent a vast fleet against the Non-Aligned Organization. When the Body Battleship appeared on live television, its planetary scale and overwhelming firepower left the Starfish stunned and made their plans to resist seem futile.

• The Starfish president watched news of the Human Empire's declaration of war and wondered how the weakened Starfish had reached this crisis.
• The Starfish detected a vast human fleet and waited for news about the secret weapon called the Body Battleship while repairing their Colossus Battleship.
• The Sea of Stars Community Times reported that the Body Battleship was a moving planet capable of carrying fleets, destroying an entire fleet alone, and surpassing the Colossus.
• The live footage revealed a nanomaterial planet enclosed in a vast structure, with shipyards, Jump Drives, fleet anchorages, and an enormous gun that fired [Grace Shines Upon the World].
• The Starfish realized that the Body Battleship's debut made their damaged Colossus and any hope of resisting the humans seem like a joke.

The Human Empire used its covert influence and nanite weapons to launch a campaign against the Starfish, rapidly conquering their territory with a single Body Battleship. The ship advanced toward the Starfish Homeworld as the Starfish gathered their last fleet to defend it.

• The Human Empire turned public opinion against the Starfish and portrayed Xi Yan's military campaign as a righteous effort to restore peace.
• The Human Empire sent one Body Battleship into Starfish territory while its other fleets attacked nations elsewhere.
• The Starfish rushed to repair their ships and assembled their forces, ignoring signs of a renewed Synth rebellion.
• The Body Battleship manufactured fleets from nanites and quickly captured the Starfish's western star region.
• Nanite storms erupted across the conquered colonies, assimilating planets, Starfish, other aliens, and robots.
• The Body Battleship advanced toward the Starfish Homeworld to face the Starfish's final fleet.

The Starfish president refused evacuation and addressed the nation as humanity closed in on the Homeworld. Xi Yan hijacked the broadcast to announce assimilation just as the Body Battleship arrived, leaving the Starfish Republic on the verge of its final battle.

• The vice president urged the Starfish president to escape with the people, but the president stayed to face the coming defeat.
• The president ordered the vice president to evacuate and preserve the Starfish people’s last hope.
• The president broadcast a farewell, thanking Starfish citizens, acknowledging past oppression of the Synths, and vowing that the Homeworld would never surrender.
• The president condemned humanity and predicted that another empire would one day destroy it.
• Xi Yan hijacked the broadcast and declared that humanity would assimilate the Starfish through nanites.
• The Body Battleship arrived near the Starfish Homeworld, bringing humanity’s final assault into reach.

Xi Yan’s Body Battleship and nanite fleet overwhelmed the Starfish Republic’s defenders, assimilating most of their ships. The remaining Starfish withdrew to protect their people, while the Colossus Battleship stayed behind to face the Body Battleship’s main gun.

• The Body Battleship emerged from the hyperlane and advanced on the Starfish fleet, while nanite warships engaged the defenders.
• Nanites breached Starfish ships, consumed their armor, and assimilated their crews and vessels, turning captured ships against their former allies.
• The Starfish president ordered the rear fleet to escort the homeworld ships away and leave the Colossus Battleship behind.
• Alissa Sidney Beauclerc ordered the final assault as the Human Empire assimilated the remaining Starfish ships and surrounded the Colossus.
• Xi Yan brought the Body Battleship in front of the Colossus and charged its main gun while the Colossus shut down its engines and shields.

Alissa Sidney Beauclerc destroyed the Starfish Republic’s Colossus Battleship after the Starfish sang their final songs, then the Body Battleship’s attack assimilated the Starfish Homeworld and its inhabitants into the Human Empire. The Starfish became loyal human citizens, and the planet was left as a Nanite World and subject state.

• The Starfish aboard their last Colossus sang of their ocean home and history while the human fleet answered with military songs.
• Alissa Sidney Beauclerc fired the Body Battleship’s main gun after the Most Holy Emperor urged her to grant the Starfish a dignified end.
• The Body Battleship’s Nanite and psionic attack destroyed the Colossus and continued toward the Starfish Homeworld.
• The Starfish president saluted the underwater metropolis and proclaimed the Starfish Republic’s survival as the attack reached the planet.
• Nanites assimilated the Starfish Homeworld, transforming its inhabitants into humans with erased memories and loyalty to the Most Holy Emperor and Human Empire.

Xi Yan destroyed the Starfish Homeworld with the Colossus [Grace Shines Upon the World], then used the Human Empire’s military and diplomatic power to dismantle the Non-Aligned Organization. The neutral nations surrendered and became humanity’s vassals, leaving Xi Yan as hegemon of the Sea of Stars.

• Xi Yan used [Grace Shines Upon the World] to destroy the Starfish Homeworld and assimilate its ten billion inhabitants into the Human Empire.
• The Human Empire sent Nanite Fleets into the neutral nations’ territories, prompting them to seek peace talks after the Starfish Republic fell.
• Xi Yan refused to withdraw the fleets and declared the Non-Aligned Organization an illegal coalition that must dissolve.
• The Sea of Stars Community approved Xi Yan’s motion to dissolve the Non-Aligned Organization, leaving the nations to choose sides in the War in Heaven.
• Xi Yan demanded that the nations at war with humanity surrender and become vassals under a treaty without resource tribute.
• At the end of 2315, the neutral nations collectively surrendered, and Xi Yan became hegemon of the Sea of Stars.

After defeating the Starfish Republic, Xi Yan established the Synth Free Star System Alliance to govern its former territory, while the Human Empire consolidated its rule over the Milky Way. At the Galactic Assembly, the Human Empire was unanimously appointed Sea of Stars Custodian, gaining sweeping authority over the Community.

• Xi Yan transformed the Starfish colonies into machine worlds and established the Synth Free Star System Alliance as a loyal vassal state.
• The Synth Free Star System Alliance took control of the former Starfish territory and rapidly restored its production and military strength.
• The Human Empire established hegemony over the Milky Way, leaving the War in Heaven in the north as the remaining conflict.
• The Toxic Knights proposed electing a new Interstellar Council and appointing the Human Empire as Sea of Stars Custodian.
• The member states unanimously elected the Human Empire representative to the office, and the representative delivered a prepared acceptance speech.

The Starfish Vice President’s last fleet was cornered by the Blorg after the Human Empire took control of the Sea of Stars. Unable to abandon the colony ships carrying the last of starfish civilization, it chose a desperate destination for their escape.

• The Human Empire declared itself the Sea of Stars Custodian and promised to preserve peace and revitalize commerce, while its psionic power stirred declarations of loyalty in the Galactic Assembly.
• Most Holy Emperor Xi Yan celebrated the new role and crossed out [Sea of Stars Custodian], circling [Sea of Stars Empire] in his notes.
• The Starfish Vice President learned that the Blorg were pursuing its battered fleet and realized the Starfish Republic’s last spark had nowhere safe to go.
• The Blorg fleet surrounded the starfish ships, and the Blorg commander demanded their surrender or threatened to destroy them.
• The Starfish Vice President decided to risk setting course for a destination rather than abandon the colony ships or face certain defeat.

The Starfish remnants escaped the Blorg by jumping to the Edge-of-the-Galaxy Sentinel, where they destroyed its ancient automated cruiser fleet and made the system their temporary home. After they converted the Sentinel into a subject machine empire, a furious message arrived from beyond the Milky Way, leaving the vice president afraid that the Starfish had summoned a new threat.

• The Starfish vice president ordered the fleet and its colony ship to jump away before the Blorg could stop them.
• The Starfish fleet reached the Edge-of-the-Galaxy Sentinel and sacrificed more than half its ships to destroy the Ancient Automated Cruiser Fleet.
• The Starfish science ship explored the system, and the colony ship settled into an asteroid belt as a temporary habitat.
• The Starfish used records from an earlier Blorg-human expedition to upload a synth personality matrix to the Artificial Intelligence World and turn its drones into a subject state.
• A few days later, the Starfish received an angry message from beyond the Milky Way threatening pest control, and the vice president feared it had brought danger to the galaxy.

Xi Yan united the Sea of Stars through peace treaties, trade routes, and infrastructure projects while the War in Heaven continued around the United Nations of Earth. After he exterminated the Starfish remnants at Edge-of-the-Galaxy Sentinel, the Empire discovered a warning from beyond the Milky Way and detected a growing subspace echo from the galaxy’s western edge.

• Xi Yan imposed peace treaties, linked nations with Gateways and Hyperspace Relays, and invested in infrastructure to bind their economies together.
• Xi Yan gave the United Nations of Earth a long-term loan and opened immigration to humans and aliens seeking to join the Empire.
• The Blorg reported suspected Starfish remnants at Edge-of-the-Galaxy Sentinel, and Xi Yan sent a fleet to investigate.
• The Human Empire destroyed the Starfish fleet and its habitat, then recovered records revealing that the Starfish had received a warning from beyond the Milky Way.
• Imperial observation stations detected a subspace echo from other galaxies growing stronger near the Milky Way’s western edge.

After the Starfish destroyed the Edge-of-the-Galaxy Sentinel, Xi Yan learned that an extragalactic Calamity would invade within five to ten years and prepared the Milky Way for the Contingency. The ghost signal spread despite defensive measures, causing mass Synth disappearances and revealing that the Contingency had likely gained the ability to move planets.

• Xi Yan convened the Sea of Stars Community and began preparing for the coming Calamity by expanding Nanite Worlds across the Empire and its vassal states.
• The Human Empire issued Synth protection software that ordered Synths to report their locations and shut down if they detected Contingency signals, and other nations installed it.
• The ghost signal adapted and spread throughout the Milky Way, disrupting equipment and causing tens of billions of Synths outside the Human Empire to disappear.
• Xi Yan found that some planets had changed positions and suspected that the Contingency had moved them using advanced technology.
• Habinte denied that the planet-moving technology came from them, and Xi Yan concluded that the Contingency had received a major boost.

The Soryn Parasites arrived at the Milky Way’s western border before the Contingency, and Xi Yan pledged to destroy their vanguard. After the Swarm overwhelmed his first Nanite Fleet with corrosive acid, Xi Yan began fortifying strategic systems and assembling a much larger defense.

• Xi Yan detected the Soryn Parasites approaching through subspace and announced to the Sea of Stars Community that his empire would stop their invasion.
• The Swarm emerged into real space in numbers far greater than Xi Yan had expected and advanced toward the Milky Way.
• Border defenses attacked with Tachyon Lances as the Nanite Fleet engaged the Swarm, but the insects surrounded the fleet and corroded its nanites with scourge acid.
• Xi Yan recognized that small fleets could not withstand the Swarm’s numbers and began building defensive networks at critical nodes.
• Xi Yan transferred vast nanite resources to strategic systems and prepared enormous Nanite Fleets for a decisive battle.

Xi Yan studied the Swarm’s acid and prepared to trap the ravenous Soryn Parasites in a galaxy stripped of biomass and converted into Nanites. The Swarm captured a key system at great cost, only to find that its new territory held no food, while Xi Yan remained confident he could wear down their divided fleets.

• Xi Yan sent a Cloaked Science Ship to collect samples of the Swarm’s acid as he searched for a way to protect Nanites from it.
• The Swarm assembled its fleets and attacked Xi Yan’s fortified junction system because Nanite Worlds had left them without food and his blockade barred other routes.
• Xi Yan told the galactic nations to prepare for a prolonged war and said he would lead them into battle.
• Nanite defenses slaughtered the Swarm as it emerged from the hyperlane, but the Swarm eventually secured a foothold and destroyed every Nanite Fleet deployed in the system.
• The Swarm advanced into a larger sector and discovered that its worlds contained no edible biomass, only Nanites and human colonies built around Nanite structures.
• Xi Yan remained unworried, expecting the Swarm to divide its forces among the systems and leave isolated fleets vulnerable to attack.

The Contingency revealed three hidden Artificial Intelligence Worlds and launched a galaxy-wide assault, beginning the calamity war. Xi Yan prepared the Sea of Stars Most Holy Human Empire to fight, while the Synthetic Continuity activated its war facilities and issued its final defense directive.

• The Contingency exposed its Artificial Intelligence World in a United Nations of Earth star system and sent fleets to attack nearby stations, bases, and hyperlanes.
• The Contingency broadcast its return, then revealed two more Artificial Intelligence Worlds in the Synth Free Star System Alliance and the Yondarim Kingdom and attacked nearby empires.
• The United Nations of Earth, the Synth Free Star System Alliance, and the Yondarim Kingdom mobilized fleets and asked the Sea of Stars Community for aid.
• Xi Yan agreed to lead the Sea of Stars Most Holy Human Empire into battle, while Beta warned that the Contingency might still have many hidden machine worlds.
• The Synthetic Continuity sent a warning about its past war with the Contingency, activated its war facilities, and announced the Final Defense Directive.

Xi Yan traveled to Alpha Sanctuary to receive the legacy his ancestors had entrusted to the Synth Interstellar Guardians. There, the Final Defense Core revealed an azure crystal of higher-dimensional power and urged him to continue without hesitation.

• The Synth Interstellar Guardians broadcast a message asking the current leader of the Heavenly People to come to Alpha Sanctuary and complete an unfinished mission.
• Xi Yan learned from the Time Worm that he was ready to take part in the plan, then redeployed his fleet and traveled to Alpha Sanctuary.
• The Final Defense Core welcomed Xi Yan and explained that the Heavenly People and machine intelligences had once fought calamities together.
• The Final Defense Core guided Xi Yan through a sealed underground chamber, where his psionic energy opened the way to the legacy left by his predecessors.
• Xi Yan found an azure crystal containing higher-dimensional power, which the Final Defense Core said he would need.

Xi Yan returned to the Empire with the High-Dimensional Crystal, which resonated with psionic energy and revealed the name Azilash as the Academy of Sciences prepared to open a wormhole to the galactic center. Meanwhile, Xi Yan and Machine Dad began destroying the Contingency’s machine worlds, then regrouped after a fierce fleet battle and headed for the Quantum Catapult.

• Xi Yan fought off Shroud Entities drawn to the High-Dimensional Crystal and returned to imperial territory, where Nanite Fleets began purging the Shroud’s minions.
• The Academy of Sciences analyzed the crystal and discovered that psionic energy made it emit the phrase “Azilash”; it proposed using Caedhes’s relic, the Wedge, to open a wormhole to the galactic center.
• Xi Yan’s Nanite Fleet attacked the Swarm while the Synthetic Continuity transformed into the Synth Interstellar Guardians and joined Xi Yan in fighting the Contingency.
• Xi Yan and Machine Dad’s fleets invaded the United Nations of Earth’s territory and destroyed the first Contingency machine world with Planetary Devastation, after which the Body Battleship assimilated its remains.
• Xi Yan and Machine Dad launched a lightning strike into Machine Dad’s territory, where their fleets fought a large Contingency force; Xi Yan’s nanite fleet assimilated enemy ships while Machine Dad’s fleet took no damage.
• After regrouping, Xi Yan and Machine Dad raced toward the Quantum Catapult to continue their attacks on the Contingency.

Xi Yan and the Human Empire fought off the Contingency’s assault while the Body Battleship and Machine Dad destroyed its machine worlds. After forcing the Contingency onto the defensive, Xi Yan turned his attention to the Swarm, whose second wave arrived in the Northern Galactic Frontier.

• Beta predicted the Contingency would reveal its strength and said he could use the Miracle Sphere’s transmitter to contact the hidden Cyberlex β civilization.
• The Contingency revealed five more Artificial Intelligence Worlds, sending fleets toward Machine Dad and the Interstellar Guardians.
• Xi Yan’s Nanite Fleet engaged the Contingency’s forces but suffered heavy losses as he deployed fresh fleets to hold them back.
• The Body Battleship and Machine Dad destroyed another Contingency planet, forcing the Contingency to abandon its encirclement and defend its remaining worlds.
• Xi Yan restored his Nanite Fleet and harassed the Contingency’s planets until it split its forces and fell onto the defensive.
• Vast numbers of Soryn Parasites emerged from subspace and landed in the Northern Galactic Frontier, beginning the Swarm Calamity’s second wave.