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 (), 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 '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 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 to the habitat, which has become the sprawling metropolis known as New Los Angeles, or NLA.
== Chapter 1: New Los Angeles ==
Elma shows 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 and head on their way.
As Elma and 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 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 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 . They agree that should be fast-tracked onto BLADE duty with a training assignment. , 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 with installing a data probe just east of the city in Primordia so the system can run properly.
When Elma, Lin, and 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, successfully installs the data probe. They return to the barracks where meets Commander 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 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==
 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 '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 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, 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 and a Tainted Sphinx. However, three more Sphinxes arrive, to Lao's frustration. Suddenly, from above, a large creature known as 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 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 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 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. With Lao missing, the hangar's defenses were left with little protection, and Ga Jiarg and his team slash their way through. He leaves wit 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 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==
==Chapter 12: Into the Core==
Category:Xenoblade Chronicles XCategory:Plot summaries