Forging BLADE

Forging BLADE (ゼノブレイドクロス　ショートストーリー　BLADE誕生 (たんじょう), Xenoblade X Short Story - Creation of BLADE) is a short story for Xenoblade Chronicles X written by Yuichiro Takeda, one of the game's scenario writers. The original Japanese text can be found in the Special section of the official website.

The first part of the story describes Tatsu's ordinary life until his capture by the Ganglion. The following parts, 2 to 5, follow Nagi and the crew of the White Whale as they eke out an existence after crash-landing on the new planet, Mira. Finally, the story describes the creation of BLADE.

Synopsis

Part 1: Upon that Nameless Planet

The majority of sapient races were unaware of the full extent of the world: the Nopon simply understood the planet as a land that went on and on. Tatsu, a young Nopon, is traveling on an adventure with his melon-shaped companion Ron on a mission to scout for food and goods for their Dodonga Caravan.

While they initially act carefree, collecting Fullbelly Geckos and other plants throughout the land, they are suddenly caught off-guard by a Tectinsula that had just risen from the ground to eat them. Ron and Tatsu split up, and the Tectinsula chases after Tatsu. Tatsu runs from the beast, but it nearly manages to eat him after a long chase. However, Tatsu unintentionally triggers a trap that roasts the indigen alive. (Meanwhile, Ron would try to go home after leaving Tatsu to die, but he ended up getting lost and becoming a guard Nopon for an unknown group of kind xenoforms.)

Mysteriously, Tatsu manages to eat everything except the Tectinsula's shell, despite the monster being several times larger than him. However, he'd forgotten about the trap—and those who had set it. The two Prone pointed rifles at him, angry that he'd stolen their prey.

They attempt to take Tatsu, but he manages to flee back to the forest, towards the Dodonga Caravan encampment. When he arrives, he finds the caravan burnt to the ground and trampled, with no sign of his family or any other Nopon around. As he worries for his family, the two Prone manage to capture him, tie him up, and carry him in a basket back to their base.

Tatsu, now a prisoner, has little else to do but stare at the night sky from his basket. As he does so, he finds a shooting star shoot across the sky, and wishes upon the star that a beautiful girl would cook him, rather than the Prone. However, the shooting star was in fact an interstellar ark, the White Whale, crashing onto his planet.

Part 2: A Sphere of Water Suspended in Space, Our Beautiful Blue Birthplace... Earth

Kentaro Nagi wakes up in darkness, remembering the course of events that brought him to the new planet.

The Earthlife Colonization Project was a project designed to help Earth's life flourish on other celestial bodies to prevent the complete annihilation of their homeworld. It was formed when the Earthlings became aware of an endless struggle between two factions that was projected to destroy their planet.

The two factions were of countless other sentient alien races, which had divided themselves into two distinct factions based on the physical structures that compose their bodies. They were locked in an endless struggle, one that would likely reach the Earth.

The Coalition government was formed in order to both repel the alien forces and ensure the escape and survival of Earth's life. For the former task, Skells were created: giant mobile bipedal mechs with the ability to carry powerful weaponry. Over ten years, a considerable amount were manufactured in order to protect Earth. For the latter task, a group of interstellar arks were created to allow the people of the world to escape from the conflict.

Unfortunately, the two alien forces had a strength that vastly outmatched the power of the Earthlings, since the people of Earth had vastly underestimated the scale of the two forces. The White Whale, captained by Nagi, began its journey to escape and find a new place to survive.

Two years after the destruction of Earth, one of the factions, the Ghosts, manages to attack the habitat unit of the White Whale. A young man had saved the ship from being destroyed by the force and their bioweapons, but he and his Skell vanished afterwards.

While the immediate threat was gone, a strange planet suddenly appears in front of the ship. The planet wasn't on any star charts, and nobody had noticed the planet until after the enemy had attacked them. The planet's gravitational pull pulls the White Whale into the planet, while Nagi issues orders to minimize damage to the ship during planetfall until the ship crashes.

As Nagi remembers these events, Commander Jack Vandham manages to find Nagi and tell him that he, Nagi, Second Lieutenant Mei, and the rest of the crew were in the remains of the ship's bridge, which was breached during the landing. Luckily, the planet was completely habitable, and the people on the ship had likely survived thanks to the ship's many gravity generators that absorbed the impact of the crash.

As the ship's captain, Nagi gives orders to his crew and devises goals for his people: to find the Habitat Unit, the DM Engine that provided the ship's power, and the Lifehold that stored the people the White Whale brought to the new planet: if that system shut down, everybody would die.

While he made these plans, various human-sized indigenous Scirpos entered the bridge. Thanks to Nagi's directions, the crew managed to shoot them out. However, he was wholly unprepared when a gigantic Tyrant that appeared outside the bridge, forcing its way in...

Part 3: With One Strike, the Tyrant Carved an Even Greater Scar Across the Bulkhead

As the Tyrant makes its way into the bridge, Vandham and Nagi initially order it to be shot down. However, the Tyrant ignored their attacks and forced the rest of its body into the bridge. Nagi and Vandham initially agree to evacuate, but Nagi decides to return and shoot the Tyrant in its eyes. However, the Tyrant manages to destroy his weapon by throwing a large piece of metal at him. Although the Tyrant was about to kill Nagi, it was suddenly destroyed by machine gun fire from two AS0130 Formula ST Skells, piloted by First Lieutenant Irina Akulov and Second Lieutenant Gwin Evans.

The two explain that the Habitat Unit landed safely, mostly, but the DM Engine that supplied it was seriously damaged. The two of them had left the unit to search for the bridge and their leaders. Nagi agrees to accompany the two to save the Habitat Unit and leaves Chief Engineer Vandham to gather the crew. During his trip, his thoughts drift to Elma, a pilot who'd mobilized with the hero that fought off the Ghosts when they were attacked earlier. But she went missing as well, so he tries his best to focus on the current mission.

When they reach the Habitat Unit, they find it aflame. While Nagi initially planned to fight, he finds that there are no Skells remaining, so he instead issues commands to the people to evacuate the Residential District and for Lao and the others to force the indigens out of the Industrial District so the citizens can evacuate there. With his strategic command, their defense was maintained until dawn, when the nocturnal indigens finally fled.

Nagi continues to work: to establish a name registry to identify survivors, designate roles for them, and establish an organization for the unit. During his process, he decides that the White Whale's Habitat Unit, without its ship, is no longer a ship unit but the human's city on Mira. Modeled after one of the United States' largest cities, with its atmosphere and landmarks, Nagi declares the city's new name: New Los Angeles.

Part 4: Two Days after Repelling the Onslaught of Indigens

Two days later, Jack Vandham returns to NLA, with more personnel than were on the bridge: people had escaped in escape pods to land on the planet. Nagi realizes there are likely more pods around, so he decides on a search party to find more of them. He establishes three Skell-centric squads: the Reclaimers, the Interceptors, and the Pathfinders, to find the crew and wreckage, protect NLA, and scout the new planet.

Nagi sets out to find the crew with the Reclaimers and Second Lieutenant Douglas, while Vandham is ordered to lead the Interceptors. While traveling through Primordia, he notices something burning in the distance: a section of the White Whale that stored the ship's fuel containers. One of the survivors, Maurice Chausson, was escaping the blaze that had started.

Chausson was supposed to board the ship with the president, but the aliens attacked before they made it. Somehow, he had made his way into the White Whale, but the president and the other politicians were nowhere to be found. He became an arbitrator, resolving problems through the ship with his political experience.

He remembered his influence: a member of the ECP, Mira Torres, a Protestant clergywoman, educator, and scientist who drafted the plan to emigrate all the life on Earth, regardless of species, racial, national, or religious motives. She represented the civilians and gained the support of the military. However, when the White Whale was to depart, she headed back into the city destroyed by alien attacks, vanishing into the flames. Chausson didn't understand why she did that, but he became determined to carry on her legacy.

That being said, he was currently under attack from a Tyrant. While he felt he was about to die, the Tyrant was suddenly distracted by a young mechanic: Lin Lee Koo. She manages to distract the giant monster, but it ends up coming for her instead. Chausson, stuck on the ground, radios for help. Nagi and his team respond immediately, and his team of AS0150 Formula STs arrives in the nick of time to execute the Tyrant.

After Lin thanks the team for saving them, Nagi explains the current situation, including the Habitat Unit's current lack of power thanks to its damaged DM Engine. Lin says that she knows where the engine went: it fell past the mountain to the south.

Part 5: The Reclaimers Recovered Numerous Members of the White Whale's Crew, As Was Their Duty

Over time, the people of NLA continued to grow, with two new divisions: the Harriers and the Outfitters, being established. However, their energy reserves were still strained. Chausson and Nagi tried to work together on a solution, but their conversations were often awkward so progress was slow. Nagi intended for Vandham to lead the military, but he instead went to work with the Outfitters as their chief engineer.

Despite their issues, the two ultimately manage to agree on a plan one week before their energy reserves would deplete. The plan involved using the Outfitters' Skells to retrieve the ship's heavy DM Engine, along with a Nagi-led squad of elite Skell pilots: Irina, Doug, Lao, and Gwin, to defeat any creatures that would prevent them from retrieving the engine.

After around three days, the team manages to find the engine, which while still intact was guarded by a large amount of Skell-sized Xiphias. Doug and Lao bombard them, while Nagi and Irina focus on melee. Gwin, equipped only with a gravity control unit invented to allow for Skell flight, silently makes it to the engine to attach the unit to allow the engine to be transported.

However, a colossal Tyrant made its way onto the scene: Ridill, the Arrogant. Doug fires rockets at the Lophid, but it blocks the attack by spitting a Xiphias from its mouth at him, and the point blank explosion slows Doug and Lao's movements. The team was currently fighting one of their largest enemies, and Ridill began to notice Gwin as he carries the engine with him. When the Tyrant nearly strikes Gwin, though, a sixth Skell, a Verus Cain, appears from the cliff above and cleaves the enemy in two with a shoulder-mounted G-Buster.

Elma emerges from the new Skell, explaining what happened to her. During the fight with the Ghosts, she was fighting in a tandem Skell with a certain young man. When the Skell was blown outside of the ship, the young man opened the hatch and used the Skell's arm to throw her back to the ship.

She managed to land in the R&D sector of the ship, and activated its gravity control unit to survive the crash. After repairing one of the Skells, she made her way to find the rest of the crew, discovering the heated battle.

A day after the team returned to NLA with the engine and R&D sector, Nagi makes an announcement: the Coalition forces are to be disbanded. His reasoning is that the home of the Coalition, Earth, was destroyed and that they should govern themselves instead. Nagi instead declares that NLA should be led by its own autonomous government, and that the military shall be run by a new organization: BLADE: "Builders of a Legacy after the Destruction of Earth". These words were said by an old friend of Nagi and Vandham who'd developed the technology necessary for the Earthlife Colonization Project. Vandham is chosen as their commander, and Nagi becomes the city's new military chief.

Maurice Chausson was caught by surprise by these declarations, mainly worrying about who'd actually lead the new government. Ultimately, he makes his own proposal, albeit more timidly than usually expected of him: the name of the planet should be Mira. Nagi, remembering the name and holding a great respect for the woman that bore the name, decides that her ideals should take root and that the planet shall be called Mira.

With this declaration, the story concludes with the founding of BLADE and the naming of Mira. In the meantime, Tatsu waits in a food crate for someone to save him from the Prone.

In other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	BLADE誕生 (たんじょう)	Creation of BLADE