Plot summary of Xenoblade Chronicles X

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This page describes a plot summary of Xenoblade Chronicles X. It is not a full description nor a complete novelization, but simply an overview of major events. If the reader is looking for a full script, see the Script of Xenoblade Chronicles X.

Certain pieces of information are taken from sources external to the game, like Forging BLADE.

Introduction

July, 2054 A.D. Two unknown alien forces, the Ghosts and the Samaar Federation, are engaged in a massive battle. The collateral damage of this battle leads to the planet being completely devastated. Fortunately, the United Federation launches interstellar arks into space as part of Project Exodus to preserve the human race. Unfortunately, most of the Arks are obliterated attempting to escape the earth due to being hit by alien weaponry.

One such ship, the White Whale, is one of the fortunate few to escape Earth and the two alien superpowers. It spends two years in space in its search for a habitable planet. The ship ends up pursued by a faction of the Ghosts. Through the concerted efforts of the soldiers and Skells on the ship, the Ghosts' ships are repelled. The ship however takes heavy damage and is pulled into the gravitational field of a nearby planet in an area unmapped by any starcharts.

The White Whale is destroyed upon entry to the nearby planet, and its shrapnel is scattered across the planet. The habitation unit containing the city of New Los Angeles, however, survives intact due to its barrier, its retro-rockets fired to prevent heavy impact, and an impact gel which crystallized upon collision.

The people stationed on the habitation unit establish a new civilian government and a military force known as BLADE headed by defence secretary Kentaro Nagi and Commander Jack Vandham. The planet is named "Mira" by Chausson, after a crucial member of Project Exodus.

Prologue: Awakening

Two months after the crash, Elma finds a single survivor in a lifepod surrounded by other destroyed lifepods in the Starfall Basin. The survivor gives her their name (Cross), although they don't remember anything else. Suddenly, an indigen, the Origin Blatta, decides to strike, and the two take the bug down. After defeating the Blatta, Elma notes Cross's combat skill and notes that there's plenty of work for someone with their skill at the main habitat.

As the two leave the area, night turns to day and Elma introduces Cross to the wonders of their new planet, letting them pick where to go as they explore. When they make it to the habitat, they are ambushed by an Elder Grex and two Callow Grexes. They take the group out and head into the Habitat unit. Elma introduces Cross to the habitat, which has become the sprawling metropolis known as New Los Angeles, or NLA.

Chapter 1: New Los Angeles

Elma shows Cross throughout the city and meet up with on-duty soldiers Irina Akulov and Gwin Evans, two of Elma's former subordinates when she was a colonel for the Coalition. Gwin notes that the new director general Maurice Chausson had announced the return of ten crew members instead of just one, while Irina remarks that Chausson's always stretched the truth for a good speech. The two introduce themselves to Cross and head on their way.

As Elma and Cross continue towards the Administrative District, they notice a Skell flying in the air until it crashes into the ground. A man named Doug Barrett emerges out of the smoking Skell and a young girl, Lin Lee Koo, arrives on the scene to check on him. Once Lin makes sure everything is all right, she offers to take the two on a grand tour of the city via the transport. She gives an introduction to all of the districts of the city as the group makes its way to the BLADE Barracks.

When they arrive, a uniformed man, known as Secretary Kentaro Nagi, approaches them and proposes that Cross join BLADE. Elma notes that they should wait since their newest recruit may have some memory loss. In order to bring them up to speed, Nagi explains the purpose of BLADE, stating that it is an organization that focuses on the search and recovery of the Lifehold. This unit was part of the White Whale and contains the vast majority of people. Elma states that with any luck, they are still in stasis waiting to be rescued, but she doesn't know where its pieces landed.

After the briefing, Elma and Lin take Cross out to see the various features of the Administrative District, with Lin gushing over a Skell, promising that they'll have an opportunity to ride one if they join BLADE. Their trip stops at the BLADE Tower, where the leadership is located and where key assignments can be reported. A display is attached to the tower with a percentage attached.

Chapter 2: The New Frontier

When the three return, Nagi explains that he's been in a talk with Commander Vandham. They agree that Cross should be fast-tracked onto BLADE duty with a training assignment. Cross, after some persuasion (depending on the player), agrees to join.

Elma explains that a system called FrontierNav is used to deploy a sensor grid across Mira so they can collect all kinds of information about their new home. Nagi tasks Cross with installing a data probe just east of the city in Primordia so the system can run properly.

When Elma, Lin, and Cross arrive at the probe site, they find three dead simius. Lin wonders what could have killed them, and they notice a Tyrant: Volkampf, the Pursuer. Elma explains that indigens like that tyrant are powerful enough to pose a threat to even BLADE's best teams. They still agree to fight and take down the tyrant in order to prevent it from causing damage to the city.

Once the tyrant is defeated, Cross successfully installs the data probe. They return to the barracks where Cross meets Commander Vandham for the first time. He states that he just got news of them taking out the tyrant, noting that it was "reckless. And goddamn magnificent."

Chapter 3: Builders of a Legacy

Vandham explains how BLADE is divided into divisions in order to explore more of the planet Mira. In order for Cross to join BLADE, he has them choose a division.

Afterwards, he assigns a mission to the new team: to find Nelson, a Pathfinder that went missing trying to install a data probe in eastern Primordia. He notes that the disappearance is strange, as the team was equipped with a Skell. Elma agrees to the mission and sets out there.

In southeast Primordia, the team finds a destroyed Skell. They manage to detect the Pathfinder signal in a building populated with unknown intelligent lifeforms. However, a pair of those lifeforms arrive, demanding that the "Earth aliens" surrender. Elma initially stands down to ask the conditions of the prisoners' release, but it is clear they want the Earth aliens to die. After Elma's team survives the initial encounter, they charge into the Seaswept Base.

Upon entering, they find that that Nelson and his team have been killed, with the Prone leader, Glennar, claiming that humans do not belong on this planet, and that all he can promise them is a swift death. Elma decides that it's likely that these enemies were responsible for the destruction of Earth in the first place, and defeats him and his team.

Upon defeating the group, Elma and co. prepare to report their hostile alien encounter. Before they leave, though, a container in the compound pleads for help. The container is revealed to contain Tatsu, a Nopon and a native of the planet Mira. Tatsu explains that the Prone and their buddies were a recent arrival to the planet, one that hunted the Nopon themselves to the edge of extinction. Although Lin wants to eat him thanks to his resemblance to a potato, Elma sees him as a good source of information on the planet and takes him with back with them.

Chapter 4: The Ganglion Menace

Vandham arrives to announce that Pathfinders have found a possible piece of the Lifehold in Noctilum. He asks that Elma's team check in with Lao, who's installed data probes nearby and could know more about the Lifehold's location.

When Elma's team meet him, Lao states he and his team haven't heard any news about the Lifehold signal, only hearing about it from Elma. Ultimately, he asks to come along, and the player can choose to recruit him for the chapter.

While Elma's team searches for the Lifehold, they meet a xenoform with blue skin who introduces himself as L'cirufe, or L for short. He explains that the Prone have ruined the once-peaceful life on Mira, causing wildlife to become more hostile, and that he learned the human language from the wreckage, which is revealed to be the Lifehold's archives, rather than the core. He also lets the team know that Prone enemies have discovered the wreckage and offers to help Elma's team secure it.

Upon arriving, the team find a squad of Prone Destroyers firing laser rounds at the Lifehold Archives, burning it in the process. Elma's team manage to defeat the Prone. Goetia, their leader, steps in to state her allegiance to the Ganglion, a group whose duty is the extinction of the human race. She calls humanity primitive in terms of language and technology, and states her righteous cause to purge humans before fighting them. Although the team manages to defeat Goetia, a Ganglion Skell known as a Qmoeva lands to extract her before she can be questioned further.

After the mission, L comes with Elma and co. to the BLADE Command Center in the BLADE Tower in order to gain more knowledge about humans. While Chausson is initially suspicious of him, Nagi and Elma decide to share responsibility after Elma vouches for him. They then discuss the results of the previous battle, indicating that the archive destroyed contained a whole third of the Library of Congress archives, and that the Ganglion were indeed involved in the destruction of Earth.

Chapter 5: Ma-non Maneuvers

Gwin and Irina brief the team about a job Vandham's given them. A probe in Oblivia, the continent to the east, has captured footage of a massive flying ship being attacked by turrets from below. Elma notices the mech design appears to be Ganglion make, and Irina notes that they may be able to make friends with the ship's owners.

Tatsu guides the team to Sandy Bum Canyon, a.k.a. Oblivia, and they notice three members of the xenoform species in the distance, but no ship. Their high pitched voices indicate they need help to destroy the turrets that hurt their ship. Tatsu states those xenoforms are Ma-non, a group that arrived in Mira a year before the humans did.

Elma notices that they've managed to understand the languages of each of the alien species they've met. Tatsu states that he understands everyone as speaking Nopon, confirming that there's a phenomenon within the planet that's translating either their words or intent.

When Elma's team reaches the Ma-non, they explain that they're not with the Ganglion. Lin gets details about the Ma-non ship's location and then details about the three anti-aircraft turrets that need to be destroyed. She and her team then go to the turret locations to destroy them. However, when they return, the Ma-non are nowhere to be found. However, they hear a series of explosions in the distance, and realize the Ma-non may have been taken there.

At the Ruins on the Butte, the three Ma-non are surrounded by Ganglion Qmoevas. A Prone captain demands the Ma-non help the Ganglion under threat of death. He states that this threat worked on the Prone, so it will work on the Ma-non as well. Before these "negotiations" go any further, Elma's team shoot and destroy one of the enemy Skells. The Ma-non appreciate the help and run for cover as the team faces the remaining Skells.

The three remaining Skells are destroyed, and Tatsu dances victoriously. however, one Skell makes a last-ditch effort to fire at Tatsu, and Cross jumps in the way to save him. However, their left arm is lost in the process. Instead of human organs, however, what remains are metal joints and wires with blue blood spewing out. Lin manages to stop the pain, but their biocirculatory plasma is still leaking out. She asks Elma to contact the Mimeosome Maintenance Center and get them a new arm.

At the maintenance center, Cross has their left arm replaced and they wake up inside a healing pod. Their body is fixed, but it's clear there's a lot to explain. Elma states that every crew member that escaped on the White Whale has been a mimeosome, a machine meant to mimic human physiology, ever since. These mimeosomes were created so humanity could last on the ship for decades or even centuries. The actual bodies, however, are stored within the Lifehold Core and are controlled remotely from there, and the BLADE Tower above them has been showing how much power the Lifehold Core has. If the Lifehold is destroyed or loses its power, humanity will perish. With that in mind, Elma takes her team back to the BLADE Tower to report on the Ma-non.

When they arrive, Vandham congratulates the team on a job well done, and Chausson announces that he's established a friendship treaty with the Ma-non people allowing them to live in the city. One of them explains the Ma-non landed on the planet when their navigation system screwed up and forced them to land on the planet. Another explains that the Ganglion are a crime syndicate within the larger federation known as Samaar, and that they're willing to share their intelligence now that they've become friends. Finally, the Ma-non Ship arrives and docks itself in the southwestern corner of the city.

Chapter 6: Dark Matters

The Ganglion leaders are watching as their soldiers get devoured by red-eyed indigens in a wasteland. Luxaar, their "grandmaster", states that within lies a clue that leads to someone he calls the Great One, and that retrieving it will allow them to escape the space surrounding Mira, which they have been unable to leave. A messenger brings them news of someone who's willing to work with them.

Meanwhile, Lao brings news of an alien mech deep in Noctilum. He states that the Ganglion are after it, and L responds that the area within is considered tainted land. The tainted devour all living things, so the Ganglion can't get through. However, mimeosome bodies are mostly mechanical, meaning they might not be perceived as "living". Lao offers to go with Elma's team to retrieve the mech.

The team enters Dead Man's Gulch, and the tainted ignore them. They reach the alien mech, note that it's not of Ganglion make or any that the humans know about. But Elma seems to know that its core is made of dark matter. Lin contacts Vandham and helicopters come to extract the mech.

For some reason, Tatsu came with the helicopters. Lin complains about Tatsu's idiocy, and the team are forced to fight off a group of Tainted Caro and a Tainted Sphinx. However, three more Sphinxes arrive, to Lao's frustration. Suddenly, from above, a large creature known as Telethia, the Endbringer arrives, using its power to kill the three Sphinxes. It then regards the group before leaving to the north, leaving them puzzled about its goals.

The team report back to Vandham, and Lin works on analyzing its purpose. Meanwhile, Luxaar orders a Wrothian man named Ga Jiarg, who seems to know about Luxaar's past, to take the mech from the humans, under threat of extinction.

Chapter 7: Treachery

Vandham sends Elma on a mission to rendezvous with Irina's team. They've found a piece of the Lifehold, but the Ganglion have a base there. She and Gwin both try to break through their defenses, but Elma arrives in time to stop them before they make any rash decisions. Her team handles the overwhelming number of Ganglion troops while Irina's team reaches the Lifehold.

Once the troops are defeated, Elma's suspicions are raised. The Ganglion troops were much weaker than she expected, so she figures it was a diversion. The team hurries to Irina's side, worried they might have fallen into a trap. Irina and her teammate Marcus are investigating the Lifehold unit, while Gwin is monitoring for hostiles. Although Gwin didn't notice anyone, Elma realizes that itself is suspicious, and yells for Irina and Marcus to run. A series of lasers from afar destroy the Lifehold unit as the two jump away from the explosion.

The Almandal, the mech that just fired the lasers, descends. Goetia, its pilot, states she's about to do what she did to the rest of humanity once she finds the Lifehold Core, describing in great detail how she plans to destroy both their mimeosomes and their real bodies. Elma interrupts her speech by shooting her, and vows to destroy her and her Almandal there and then.

After the fight, Irina demands to know why the Ganglion even want to destroy humanity. As far as she's concerned, humanity did nothing to deserve their hate. Elma states her guess: the Ganglion response is not out of hate, but out of fear. The teams both return to New LA and Vandham offers to treat them to a meal.

Chapter 8: The Gathering Storm

Lin makes a meal for Tatsu, when suddenly alarms blare throughout the city. Secretary Nagi announces that the Ganglion are advancing on the city. Elma's team has been assigned to the administrative district gate, while Lao guards the hangar and Irina and Gwin guards the industrial district gate.

The Ganglion advance, and Vandham declares war on them. They come in waves, but Elma's team manages to handle the whole of the eastern wave after a long and sustained period of combat. However, the enemy then launches a massive Xern dropship from the north, forcing them to enter the city and fight the enemy from inside.

Meanwhile, Irina and Gwin fend off the attack from the northwest, but lose Marcus in the process. Lao receives a call from Vandham to mobilize all units on standby, and orders his team to leave the hangar. The fighting within the city is brutal, and the wreckage of Skells, both human and Ganglion, is strewn everywhere. A new pair of enemies, Ryyz and Dagahn, join in and make things worse for mankind.

Elma's team meets Ryyz as Dagahn crushes a human Skell, and they fight. Once the two are defeated during the boss fight, Ryyz demands that Elma kill her. However, Elma decides that she's more useful alive: if she goes back and states that the humans are willing to negotiate, they can live together in peace. This is interrupted once Elma receives a call: a team of aliens, revealed to be Ga Jiarg and his group of Wrothians, has broken into the hangar and stolen the alien Skell, which they called the Vita. With Lao missing, the hangar's defenses were left with little protection, and Ga Jiarg and his team slash their way through. He leaves with the Skell, ashamed of his work, believing humans to be innocent.

Ryyz laughs at Elma, believing that despite everything, the humans lost. However, Elma counters: humanity's goal has been to survive, and they've succeeded. She orders Ryyz to return and tell her leaders she was defeated, and Ryyz's rage boils over. She leaves, stating it's either "us or you" before leaving.

Irina's team meets up with Elma's. With Marcus gone, Irina and Gwin vow to bring him back once they find the Lifehold Core. Outside the city, Ryyz vows to kill every last human as Dagahn attempts to calm her down.

After meeting with Irina, Elma meets up with Lao at the Restricted Hangar. Lao admits he made an error in his judgement, and Vandham states there must've been some reason for them to go for it. Elma wonders how they even knew where it was held, suspecting Lao.

Finally, Luxaar is shown with the alien Skell, claiming it is the Great One's divine vessel and beseeching the Great One to guide him.

Chapter 9: Warriors of Wroth

Vandham informs Elma's team that some Pathfinders have detected another piece of the Lifehold in Sylvalum, the continent to the north. He asks for BLADE's top teams: Lao's and Elma's, to go retrieve it. He asks for them to rendezvous at Seabird's Beak south of the reported location.

However, when Elma's team reaches Lao's, they find him wounded and alone. He blames himself for his team's deaths at the hands of the Ganglion, but urges Elma's team to advance to save humanity while the Reclaimers pick up his body. Before the team goes, Lao asks Lin to sit the upcoming fight out, but Lin is determined to see it through.

When Elma's team reaches the Lifehold coordinates, they find nothing there. It was a trap—a battalion of Wrothian troops arrive to surround them. Two of them—Ga Jiarg and his adjunct Ga Buidhe—are seen as the leaders. Ga Buidhe demand that they drop their weapons, and Ga Jiarg informs them that they are to be delivered to the Ganglion stronghold. However, Elma, noting this group was the first to not attack on sight, decides to ask them why they even fight for the Ganglion. Ga Buidhe informs them that the Ganglion stole their home, and that their prince has been forced to work with the Ganglion. However, Ga Jiarg chooses his pride over his allegiance, and asks Elma and her team to defeat him in battle for their freedom.

Once the two-part battle is completed, Ga Jiarg informs them of the Ganglion stronghold's location in Cauldros before leaving with his team. He contacts Luxaar and states that the Wrothians will no longer work to annihilate the human race, and that they have defected from the Ganglion.

Elma gets a call from the maintenance center stating that Lao's survived his injuries and is being treated. At the center, they meet Doug, who's come to talk to Lao and to tell him to rest. While Lin and Tatsu go to visit Lao's healing pod, Elma asks to talk with Doug separately. She informs Doug of her suspicions: Lao planned the mission to retrieve the Vita, and then the Ganglion somehow know exactly where it is. From this, she concludes that Lao's a spy. Even so, Doug still believes in Lao, stating that he's saved them plenty of times and that there must be some other explanation.

Chapter 10: The Zu Pharg Menace

Vandham informs the team that they've confirmed that someone in the Pathfinders has planted phony Lifehold data. He's also got an assignment for Lin—repair a key data probe that's been having issues in northern Sylvalum. Meanwhile, in the Ganglion stronghold, Ryyz and Dagahn approach a colossal vehicle with the express purpose of using it against the humans. Luxaar hears Ryyz's managed to take the recently completed mech, and is angry that she's done so without his permission.

When Lin arrives to fix the data probe, said massive mech, known as the Zu Pharg, flies in, and Ryyz announces that she's planning to burn the human scum alive, starting with Elma's team. Elma declares that the Zu Pharg must be stopped immediately, and the team fights the massive mech. As Elma's team continues to survive, Ryyz gets frustrated and transforms the Zu Pharg into a massive ground-walking behemoth. Lin is shocked that it could transform mid-flight, believing them to be outclassed. Elma however assures Lin again that humanity has advanced in these times, and that the Zu Pharg won't stop them.

When the team destroys the massive robot, it explodes, and Dagahn attempts to shield Ryyz from the explosions before the interior is completely obliterated. Elma congratulates Lin and Cross for fighting well, but Lin worries that if the Ganglion have more of these mechs the city would be in danger. Elma declares that this is exactly why they need to find the Lifehold Core as soon as possible.

Chapter 11: Consequences

During a meal, Elma gets an urgent call from Vandham, who's trying to stop Lao. Lao's entered the Restricted Hangar and stolen a Skell known as the Prog Ares. He admonishes Elma for saving him, saying she should have let him die since she knew he became a Ganglion spy. While BLADE has the firepower to stop him, they can't: he's got the terminal that points towards the Lifehold Core on him, and deleted all the data backups from the network. Lao fires a shot into the hangar door and flies off with the data.

After the scene, Vandham explains that the data probes planted by FrontierNav have finally found enough data to scan for Lifehold Core locations. This means that even if the Ganglion have the data, they still would need time to find and destroy the core. This means that Elma and her team have time to stop Lao at the Ganglion stronghold.

Once they reach Lao, he states that Luxaar and the Ganglion truly are afraid of humans, and that Lao's role is to stop them from reaching Luxaar. He states that he's doing this so that humans can "finally stop living this goddamned lie," and that humanity and its flesh and blood had actually died on Earth. Elma stops him from talking any further, and Lao accuses her of hiding the truth, and they fight.

During the fight, Lao explains his motivations. When the Coalition government heard that war was coming, people around the world signed up to save humanity. But in reality, only the rich, connected, and first world elite were chosen to survive. The Lifehold Core only contained the elite that decided they were worth saving over people like his wife and daughter. Elma argues that even so, she was acting to save the human race, while Lao argues that she wouldn't understand what they've done to him, and that she knew what they did and lied about who was chosen to survive. Elma states that she was left with a decision between saving humanity or total extinction, and that she stands by her decision as the fight continues.

Ultimately, the Prog Ares is defeated. Lao attempts a final shot at Elma, but the Skell collapses and he is forcibly ejected. Elma demands Lao give up the data, and Lao dares her to shoot him and risk losing the data. However, Lin and Cross run between them, and Lin demands Elma stop, saying that she understands Lao's anger. Seeing what she's done, Lao decides to give Lin the data terminal, stating that his actions became about revenge rather than avenging his family at some point, and that he's done fighting. Lin asks Lao to come home with them, but he refuses, saying that he'd be in jail for what he did. Ultimately, he promises to come back, even though he can't be extracted due to his injuries. Lin promises to send medics for him as she, Elma, and Cross leave.

Finally, the group return to New LA to start analysis on the terminal and get Vandham to agree to help bring Lao back, even though he's planning to punish him greatly for what he's done.

Chapter 12: Into the Core

Maurice Chausson announces that the Lifehold Core has finally been found. Nagi gives a briefing stating that every BLADE is expected to participate in the mission to secure it. Elma is chosen as the commander on the field for the mission, and everyone moves out to its location off the west coast of Cauldros.

When the battalion of Skells fly into the area, it's revealed that the Ganglion have already arrived and they are firing on the core. The Core is however heavily shielded by a trion barrier, so Elma commands the BLADEs to force a way through this offense so she can enter.

Finally, Elma's team reaches the Lifehold Core. Its power has reached critical levels: it can't maintain the shields for longer than a thousand more seconds. They have to enter and activate the backup power system before it's too late.

Meanwhile, Luxaar is furious. The Lifehold Core has not been destroyed, and the shielding should not have been possible without Qlurian technology. Additionally, Skell technology should not have been possible given human levels of development. It's also clear that the Ganglion are losing their offensive. Luxaar ultimately decides to use the Vita, the alien mech he had the Wrothians steal, and uses its massive sword to pierce through the barrier and break into the Core.

As Elma's team explore the Core, it's revealed that there aren't any stasis capsules for humanity inside. In fact, there aren't even any bodies; the whole area appears to be used for storing a yellow protoplasmic fluid. Before Doug or Irina can get a full explanation for Elma, Luxaar breaks in to destroy the Lifehold Core and humanity once and for all. Luxaar states he will purge the universe of the humans, and Elma demands to know his reasons for not only destroying Earth but chasing down the survivors in the only partially-complete Vita. Luxaar deduces from Elma's knowledge that she was responsible for the trion barrier and the Skells, and states that he will purify Mira and prepare it for a being called the Great One.

During the fight, Luxaar states that his fear of humanity was because they are the descendants of the original Samaarians. These were beings that arrived from another plane, and the Ganglion were to obey them and never turn against them. However, Luxaar saw humanity's primitiveness and was disgusted, and decided that they must be destroyed.

Despite the Vita's immense power, humanity manages to best Luxaar. Luxaar claims that this is just as their old tales foretold, and makes a final wish to see the Great One one last time before the Vita explodes and collapses into the liquid. The group celebrate their victory, but there's still the topic of the truth of the Lifehold Core.

After activating the internal terminal, Elma explains that the Lifehold Core system is a quantum mainframe, the most advanced computer humanity has created. All of human consciousness has been recorded inside the computer, included all 20 million humans and all the people of New LA. The original human bodies were destroyed when the Earth was destroyed. This comes as a shock, especially to Doug and Gwin, who understand it to mean that humanity had indeed perished on Earth. But Elma explains that humanity has continued to live on as data until it could be moved back to a real body, and she demonstrates it by using the Lifehold Core to generate a cat.

Even so, the decision made sounds and feels too good to be true. Doug says so himself, believing that all of this goes against the idea of humanity. Elma responds by saying that even so, living beings wake up slightly differently on a cellular level each day, and that the ships that tried to preserve actual bodies could only hold around fifty thousand bodies. She also mentions how Lao must have discovered this truth, and how that made his pain worse.

Project Exodus was designed to escort humanity to a safe new home and allow it to continue where it left off. Elma realizes the decision she's made has caused troubles for humanity, but ultimately she and everyone will live with the decision. Doug ultimately agrees to stand with Elma, since he's made it this far in a mimeosome.

Suddenly, Luxaar fires a ball of energy into the supercomputer. He's still alive, and he's still planning to kill all of humanity. His attack ultimately causes the internal Lifehold Core Control to start its internal defensive measures. It generates chimeras to defend itself, which are quadrupedal monsters with multiple tails and terrifying heads that attack the humans. Elma states that these measures have malfunctioned, and that they have to stop it.

Luxaar laughs as the monsters attack, seeing humanity be betrayed by its creations. From above, Lao, who's snuck into the core on his own, arrives to stab Luxaar in the back. He's decided that it's ultimately Luxaar's fault that his wife and daughter died. Ultimately, the Vita falls into the hole it's made, with Lao and Luxaar falling in as well. The human DNA within causes Luxaar to disintegrate. Lao attempts to swim up, but a chimera forming within the fluid underneath grabs him, integrating and mutating him. This chimera—Lao—then emerges from the protoplasmic fluid itself. Out of control, it fires a laser into the DNA pods of the core to absorb it. Lin attempts to stop the team from fighting Lao, but Elma states that doing so would let the Lifehold be destroyed. From within the chimera, Lao states that he must be stopped before he destroys everything. Lin decides to fight, stating that she's doing it for Lao.

During the fight, it's clear that Luxaar's memories—and his lust for destruction—have also made their way into this new body, as his hatred starts showing in the chimera's attacks. Lao tries to restrain himself, and reveals that the Ganglion were synthesized lifeforms created by the original Samaarians.

Once Lao is finally defeated, he reveals the another detail about the Ganglion: they were implanted with a failsafe designed to destroy them in case the Samaarians lost control of them. This failsafe is human DNA: the Lifehold is capable of creating the beings that have the power to instantly kill the Ganglion. Lao states that all is as it should be and that humanity has a future as his body disintegrates into yellow motes.

After a moment of silence, Lin returns to the core terminal. Thankfully the system has held together, although Lin regrets that they couldn't save Lao. Elma reassures her by reminding her that the core has the power to restore Lao's body as well, and Irina states he'd better come back to right his wrongs.

Before they fully restore the Lifehold Core, Elma says there's one last thing she needs to tell them about. The Lifehold Core contains one real body in stasis. She activates the pod before her mimeosome falls to the ground, and a pod rises containingh her real body. Elma was the only xenoform onboard the White Whale. Thirty years ago, Elma came to Earth, alone, with news that two massive alien civilizations were at war and that they would attack Earth eventually. She used her knowledge of alien technology to bring Skells, light-speed travel, and the ability to create mimeosomes.

Elma's first act with her true body is to finish setting up the backup power system, which required her biometric authorization. Once power is restored, Nagi calls her and congratulates everyone, stating that the Prospectors will bring the main power system online afterwards. The control system and the database do need to be repaired first, so human restoration will take a while longer. The team returns to New Los Angeles, promising to have a celebratory feast.

Epilogue

Elma and a group of BLADEs explore the Lifehold Database Chamber underneath the main room. This lower area, however, is in a heavy state of disrepair: none of the lights work. The database chamber itself is sealed by a heavy door that has to be opened via Skell laser. When they enter, however, they find that the database is entirely flooded. Water has leaked in, and the database itself has completely shut down. In fact, the database has been destroyed ever since they've arrived on Mira. Nagi, Chausson, and Vandham are in shock: if it's truly shut down, then why are the humans still alive? Elma suspects that it's something about the planet that's keeping them alive.

Meanwhile, on a beach, a hooded man in a cape walks towards a man lying in the sand. This person is revealed to be Lao, who somehow survived the events of the Lifehold Core.

Chapter 13

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