Plot summary of Xenoblade Chronicles X

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

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