Spaceborne aliens

Version

This article has been verified for the current PC version (3.4) of the game.

Spaceborne aliens

Spaceborne aliens

Guardians (Leviathans)

Marauders

Caravaneers

Spaceborne aliens are spacefaring forms of life which will likely be the first aliens that new spacefarers will encounter. Every difficulty level above Ensign increases the power of Leviathans and Marauder Empires, with the exact raised stats varying for each. Other Spaceborne Aliens are not affected by the difficulty level.

Space creatures

Humanoid science ships encountering a pacified Space Amoeba Mother

Space creatures are entities which may not even classify as ships or life in the common meaning of the words. They generally inhabit a certain area of space and are seldom seen away from it. Upon First Contact completion a special project will be added to the situation log, which when completed will allow an empire to deal with them in three ways:

• Researching unlocks a special project for detailed research that will grant a choice between an empire modifier and possibly a creature technology.
• Hunting will grant a +33% damage bonus empire modifier towards that type of Space Creature, and resources rewards upon killing them. If the creatures cannot be pacified the option is available to all empires, otherwise it is only available to Militarist, Xenophobe and Genocidal empires.
• Pacify will unlock a special project that costs 5000  Physics research and allows an empire to turn the space creatures non-hostile and unlock the ability to research all special components the creatures use. Only 2 of the 5 Space Creatures can be pacified. This option is available to Pacifist or Xenophile Empires. If the Galactic Community is formed the Space Amoeba pacification modifier can be offered to all members by passing the Space Amoeba Protection Act Resolution.

If killed, space creatures will slowly respawn in their home system.

Space Creatures	Research option bonuses	Hunting	Pacifying	Type	Home System	Tactics
Ancient Mining Drones	Cost: 2000 Engineering research +10% Mining Station Minerals			Can expand	Contains 2 normal mining stations and the Home Base Ore Grinder. Each station is guarded by two fleets, one purely destroyers and one made of drones. Destroying Home Base Ore Grinder grants 4000  Minerals and 500  Alloys. If the  Ancient Relics DLC is installed it also grants the Surveyor Relic.	Ancient Mining Drones use regular components. The Cutting Lasers can be salvaged. Mining Drone Combat Drone Destroyer Base 2 Cutting Laser 1 Armor T1 1 Armor T1 Reactor T2 Thrusters T2 Sensor T1 1 Cutting Laser 2 Cutting Laser 1 Armor T1 2 Armor T1 Reactor T2 Thrusters T2 Sensor T1 2 Cutting Laser 2 Cutting Laser 1 Armor T1 3 Armor T1 Reactor T2 Thrusters T2 Sensor T1 2 Laser T5 3 Strike Craft 5 Armor T1 Reactor T2 Sensor T1
Crystalline Entities	Cost: 2000 Physics research +5% Energy from Jobs OR  Crystal-Infused Plating tech			Can expand	Contains Crystal Nidus, a large crystalline structure guarded by 4 elite fleets. The system can be safely explored and claimed if the crystalline entities have been pacified. As their home system has a pulsar, shields will be useless when attacking it.	Defensively: Armor or shields - their shard weapons deal +50% damage against hull but have no other bonus Offensively: Any weapon, but especially plasma launchers or mining lasers - Crystalline Entities have resilient and regenerating hulls, but no shields or armor Unique salvage: Crystal-Infused Plating from ships, Crystal-Forged Plating from Crystal Nidus, both are the only hull increasing components in the game.
Space Amoeba	Cost: 2000 Society research +5% Evasion OR  Regenerative Hull Tissue tech			Migratory	Always called Amor Alveo, its various celestial body deposits produce in total 8  Energy, 12  Minerals, 6  Society, 3  Exotic Gases, 3  Volatile Motes and 2  Rare Crystals.	Defensively: Shields and point defense - their weapons deal +25% damage against armor and large amoeba launch strike craft Offensively: Energy weapons - Space Amoeba have natural armor and regenerate Unique salvage: Amoeba Flagella, strike craft almost as strong as Tier 2 Improved Strike Craft
Void Clouds	Cost: 2000 Physics research +10% Physics from Jobs			Stationary	Always called Great Wound, it is a black hole cluster guarded by 3 Void Cloud fleets. Most black holes have deposits of 4  Physics and the central one contains the largest  Dark Matter deposit in the galaxy. The system should be attacked with a highly superior force due to the effects of black holes on space battles.	Defensively: Crystal plated hulls if available - their weapons ignore both shields and armor. Their erratic damage can sometimes destroy Corvettes in one hit. Offensively: Missiles and Autocannons - Void Clouds have equal amounts of natural shields and hull Unique salvage: Cloud Lightning, L weapons that ignore both shields and armor
Tiyanki Space Whales	Frequency Tuning tech		Passive unless attacked	Migratory	Always called Tiyana Vek, it contains 4 Gas Giants. Each one has a deposit of 6  Society. The star itself always has a deposit of 6  Physics	Tiyanki fleets can consist of Cows, Bulls, Calves and Hatchlings. Regenerative Hull Tissue can be salvaged. Bull and Cow Calf and Hatchling Loadout 5 Energy Siphon 1 Regenerative Hull Tissue 3 Energy Siphon 1 Regenerative Hull Tissue Kill rewards 500 Energy 50 Exotic Gases 250 Energy 25 Exotic Gases

VLUUR

VLUUR is a powerful migrating Void Cloud that has around 32K Fleet Power and is armed with 8 Cloud Lighting weapons. For as long as VLUUR is in a system it will cause a storm that causes −50%  Sublight Speed and −15%  Fire Rate on ships. VLUUR moves to a new system every 4-7 years.

VLUUR is not hostile but can be attacked. It has powerful shields and high Evasion, but low hull, and can be defeated deceptively easily with missile weapons. Defeating VLUUR grants 100  Dark Matter, and will create various deposits of 1-3  Dark Matter on up to 4 planets in the system it's defeated in.

Bemat Thalassocracy

The Bemat Thalassocracy is a hostile fleet that can appear after the end-game year is reached. It will appear in a system owned by an empire that produces at least 180  Trade Value. The fleet is made up of the following ships:

40 corvettes	35 destroyers	34 cruisers
1 Kinetic T3 1 Plasma T1 1 Disruptor T1 2 Shield T2 1 Afterburners T2 1 Shield Capacitor Jump Drive Thrusters T4 Sensors T2 Reactor T5 Combat Computer T1	1 Plasma T3 1 Plasma T3 3 Laser T5 4 Shield T4 2 Armor T3 1 Shield Capacitor Jump Drive Thrusters T3 Sensors T2 Reactor T5 Combat Computer T2 (Line)	1 Missiles T5 2 Swarmer Missiles T1 2 Disruptor T2 2 Plasma T3 2 Kinetic T3 5 Shield T4 3 Armor T3 1 Auxiliary Fire Control 1 Nanite Repair System Jump Drive Thrusters T3 Sensors T2 Reactor T5 Combat Computer T2 (Artillery)

Nomads

The nomad fleet

Nomads are replaced by Caravaneers if the  MegaCorp DLC is enabled.

The Nomads, or Namarians as they call themselves, are a passive millennia old intergalactic race with no homeworld, forever traveling the void in their starships. Once they establish communications the nomads will help establish communications between any encountered empires that haven't discovered each other yet. They travel from system to system during their temporary stay in the galaxy, and will eventually set sail for another one. Events related to them can take place during their stay.

The date when and if the Nomads arrive is rolled at game start, with the following chances per human player:

• 20% chance to appear after 7,300 to 7,800 days (roughly 20.28 to 21.67 years)
• 25% chance to appear after 14,600 to 15,100 days (roughly 40.56 to 41.94 years)
• 25% chance to appear after 20,075 to 20,575 days (roughly 55.76 to 57.15 years)
• 30% chance to not trigger (they may still appear if another human player rolls them)

If more than one player triggers the Nomads, they will spawn a single time on the earliest rolled date.

When they arrive, the Nomads spawn in a random non-hostile rim System that no default empire has more than low intel on. Upon appearing, they will decide the midpoint and endpoint systems of their journey.

• Midpoint: A random non-hostile system with a distance of 250 to 500 from their starting system. If they can't find one they'll settle for any system with a distance of 150 to 500, whether or not it's hostile.
• Endpoint: A random rim system with a distance of 400 to 1450 from their starting system. If they can't find one they'll settle for any system with a distance of 250 to 1450. They don't check for hostile in their endpoint system.

On their journey Nomads will perform an action when entering a system. Those actions depends on if the system has an owner and what their relationship with the owner is. If the system is owned by an empire they haven't contacted and isn't hostile to them, they will start orbiting a random planet in the system until contact is established. The system owner is unable to decipher their communications but contact will always be established by them after 100 days. After contact is established they will send the owner a request. If they enter another system owned by the same empire they will roll for a request again. Each interaction has the following chances:

• 30% - Ask to leave some pops on an owned planet within your borders. If you agree, three  Egalitarian Namarian pops spawn on a random  Arid,  Desert, or  Savannah colony you own. A colony is 6 times as likely to be chosen if it has more than 0 free housing and 11 times as likely to be chosen if it has more than 1 free housing. Namarians are Immortal and have the  Desert Preference,  Nomadic,  Venerable and  Natural Engineers traits.
  • ×0 If the system owner does not have a colony on a Dry planet
  • ×0 If the system owner is a  Hive Mind
  • ×0.75 If they've already left pops with the system owner
  • ×1.5 If they haven't left pops with the system owner yet and the system owner is some degree of Xenophile, Egalitarian, or Spiritualist
  • ×0.3 If the system owner's slavery  policy is set to Allowed
• 30% - Ask for an uncolonized planet to colonize, forming a new empire. If you agree, you gain 150 to 300  influence and a random uncolonized  Arid,  Desert,  Tropical,  Ocean, or  Gaia world within your borders becomes the capital of a new single-system Namarian empire. The new empire has  Democratic authority, the  Egalitarian,  Spiritualist, and  Xenophile ethics, random civics, and a decaying  +100 Opinion modifier towards you. The empire starts with 14  Egalitarian Namarian pops that have their climate preference trait changed to match their new planet, 1000 energy and minerals, and 500 influence. Because they start with no other resources, no buildings, and no districts, this new empire immediately starts suffering from food and consumer goods deficits, housing shortages, and unemployment.
  • ×0 If the system owner doesn't control an uncolonized  Tundra,  Arid,  Desert,  Tropical,  Continental, or  Gaia world in an uninhabited system.
    • Because of differences between the planet classes the Nomads look for when triggering the event and the planet classes they actually can actually choose to colonize, this event may fail if you have an available  Tundra or  Continental world but not one of the classes the Nomads can use.
    • It's possible for the Nomads to colonize a Spiritualist fallen empire's holy world this way, resulting in a very short-lived empire.
  • ×0 If the system owner is a  Hive Mind
  • ×0.5 If they've already colonized a planet from any empire
  • ×1.75 If they haven't colonized a planet yet and the system owner is some degree of Xenophile, Egalitarian, or Spiritualist
• 30% - Sell 5 or 15 Cruisers.
  • ×0 If the system owner already was offered ships
  • ×0.25 If the system owner is  Fanatic Militarist or  Fanatic Xenophobe
  • ×0.5 If already sold ships to an empire
  • ×1.75 If they haven't sold ships to anyone yet and the system owner is some degree of Xenophile, Egalitarian, or Spiritualist
• 10% - Move on with no request.

If the system has no owner, isn't hostile, and isn't the mid- or endpoint of their journey, they will perform a peaceful action with the following chances:

• 10% - Repair fleet and build new ships.
  • ×10 If under 3k Fleet Power
  • ×5 If under 5k Fleet Power
  • ×0 If over 10k Fleet Power or have built new ships within the last 120 days
• 80% - Pick a random planet and wait in orbit for 40–50 days. Afterwards, they have a 25% chance to move on and 75% chance to pick another planet in the system to orbit. They will orbit a maximum of three planets this way before moving on.
  • ×0 If less than 1.5k Fleet Power
• 10% - Move on without doing anything.

While the Nomads are inherently peaceful, a fight can be picked in order to get access to their technology. Nomads are easy prey but their technology is just average by midgame, making this rarely useful. The nomad fleet consists of the following:

20 Protectors	3 Ark Ships
1 Laser T4 2 Point-Defense T2 2 Armor T3 1 Shields T3 Hyperdrive T3 Thrusters T3 Sensors T3 Reactor T4 Combat Computer T3 (Picket)	Hyperdrive T3 Thrusters T3 Sensors T3 Reactor T4

Enclaves

Shroud-Touched Coven station

Enclaves are neutral NPC spawned factions. They do not own any planets, but consist of large enclave stations. They primarily exist to be interacted with via Diplomacy Menu using the "Others" filter. Each of them has two or three basic interactions, and a number of restricted interactions that can only be used after sufficient Opinion is reached.

Their maximum Opinion is 100, and an empire builds opinion with them by using their services or having starbases in their systems. +1 opinion is gained each year. This is not cumulative when owning multiple systems with the same enclave.

The primary resource for interacting with enclaves is  Energy. Most actions are repeatable, but some of the actions also have an increasing cost. The price increases as an empire's population goes past certain thresholds:

Pops	Energy cost
0-60	1000
61-120	2000
121-180	3000
181-240	4000
241+	5000

During the renewal request after a modifier runs out, the player will be able to renew the deal for a sum of  energy credits which scales with the number of the empire's population. With Trader enclaves you will be asked how many monthly units (of the respective rare resource sold by the enclave) you want to buy.

Enclave	Option	Effect	Opinion	Requirements	DLC
Curator Order	Research aid	+10%  Research Speed for 10 years	+20	scales with population
	Mysteries of the Universe - not known	Adds a Leviathan point of interest to the situation log	+10	300
	Mysteries of the Universe - how to defeat	Adds a permanent +25%  Damage modifier against the chosen Guardian	+20	Encountered a Guardian 2000 for Hives 600 for Infinity Machine 1000 for other Guardians
	Mysteries of the Universe - how would fare	Compares the total fleet power against the Guardians Below 5k: Poorly. Very poorly. Wait a second, you're not actually thinking of...? My goodness, with the ships you have? It... it would be a slaughter! Between 5k and 15k: I would strongly advise against it. Your attacks would likely be more of an annoyance than a threat. Between 15k and 30k: Hmmm... yes... yes, I suppose you might actually stand a chance. If you combined your entire fleet... it would not be an easy victory, mind you, but one that is at least within the realm of possibility. Over 30k: Yours is a mighty fleet, comparable to some of the greatest armadas recorded in the annals of the Curator Order. Victory is certainly within your reach.	+20	Encountered a Guardian 2000 for Hives 600 for Infinity Machine 1000 for other Guardians
	Establish Think Tank	Allow the construction of Curator Think Tank starbase buildings in enclave system  starbases	0	50
	Recruit scientist	Gain a level 5  Scientist with the  Curator trait	0	50 1000 No  Curator scientist owned
	Buy Intelligence	Gain +20  Intel on target empire	+10	50 1000
	Infinity mystery	Gain 1000-10000  Engineering research	0	Mirror of Knowledge modifier Can only be done once
	L-Gates	Gain an L-Gate Insight	+20	5000 Once per 10 years Encountered an L-Gate
Artisan Troupe	Become patron	Gain the Patron of the Arts modifier for 10 years (+10% Monthly Unity). Becoming a patron also allows Patron Events to trigger: Newsletter events give the option to convert 500  Energy into 50  Influence. It can only happen up to 4 times. Equipment malfunction events give the option to get 500  Minerals or 50  Influence. The more important one grants access to the Planet Unique  Ministry of Culture building for 500  Energy.	+20	scales with population
	Commission art piece	Gain the Exhibit Art Monument decision	+10	600 Does not own 5
	Found Art College	Allow the construction of Art College starbase buildings in enclave system  starbases	0	50
	Organize festival	Gain the Festival of Worlds modifier for 10 years (+15%  Happiness and +10% Pop Growth Speed). There is also a chance for one of the following to happen within the next year: 10% chance: A stampede kills a pop. You can either divert the media's attention for 100  Influence or suffer a negative modifier for two years (−20%  Happiness, −10%  Energy from Jobs). Increased chance for  Materialist or  Fanatic Materialist empires. 10% chance: Some artisans wish to settle. Accepting will add 2 artisan pops to one of your worlds. The climate preference will always match. Increased chance for  Xenophile,  Fanatic Xenophile,  Pacifist, or  Fanatic Pacifist empires. 5% chance: The artisans steal 1000 , end the festival modifier, and refuse to communicate for 10 years. Increased chance for  Xenophobe,  Fanatic Xenophobe,  Materialist, or  Fanatic Materialist empires.	+15	50 1000
Traders	Strategic Resource deal	Provides a unit of a rare resource for 10 years. The resource amount can be scaled up to 5 times. Resources vary based on which specific trader Enclave is encountered: XuraCorp sells  Exotic Gases Muutagan Merchant Guild sells  Rare Crystals Riggan Commerce Exchange sells  Volatile Motes	+5 to +25	500 per unit 10 monthly per unit
	Seek expertise	Gain an immortal level 5  Governor with the  Enclave Trader trait	0	50 500 Once per enclave
Salvagers	Scrap a fleet	Disbands a fleet and gain  Alloys equal to a quarter of the total construction cost Fleets created by the Prethoryn Brood-Queen relic or the Lost Amoeba event can be scrapped for 600  Food but will incur an extra cost of 200  energy and grant only 5  Opinion If scrapping the fleet from the Lost Amoeba event there's a 25% chance that the space amoeba will permanently protect the enclave	+10	Fleet in the enclave system 300 Once per 5 years
	Reclaimed vessels	Purchases 1 or 10 ships based on other empire' designs	+1 to +5	150 per corvette 300 per destroyer 600 per cruiser 1200 per battleship Once per 2 years
	Salvage some debris	Automatically investigate up to 3 debris fields in 90 days	+5	Debris within borders 20 400
	Engineering research	+15% Engineering Research Speed for 5 years	+5	20 150 scales with population
	Salvage Works buildings	Allow the construction of Salvage Works starbase buildings in enclave system  starbases	+10	40 1000
	Aid with construction efforts	+10%  Ship Build Speed and +40% Starbase Module and Building Build Speed for 2 years	+5	Salvage Works 50 800 20
Shroud-Touched Coven	What is to be our fate	Starts a Sign of the Visitor situation which can trigger various events or create anomalies	+10	50 scales with population
	Send us a teacher	Enables the Shroudwalker Teacher decision	+10	50 10 per Empire Size Can only be done once
	Insight on another empire	Starts a Shroudwalker Insight situation which will give the following reward when completed: 40% chance random asset 25% chance +15  Infiltration 25% chance +20  Intel 10% chance nothing	+10	20 50 scales with population Spy network Once per year
	Travel via the Shroud	Allow the construction of a Shroud Beacon starbase building	+10	40 800 Can only be done once

Mercenary enclaves

Mercenary enclaves can be created by any empire via a special fleet order as long as the empire has sufficient Mercenary Enclave Capacity. Mercenary Enclave Capacity defaults to 0 and can be obtained through the following:

• +1 from Warrior Culture civic
• +1 from Barbaric Despoilers civic
• +1 from Private Military Companies civic
• +1 from Lord of War ascension perk
• +1 from Defense Privatization resolutions 1-3
• +2 from Defense Privatization resolutions 4-5
• +2 from Naval Contractors civic

Creating a mercenary enclave requires a fleet of size 50 led by an admiral in an owned system with a moon or asteroid, 1500  Energy, 2000  Alloys and 100  Influence. Once the order is given the enclave will construct its station in the fleet's current system. Mercenary enclaves provide the following services:

1. Empires can rent a mercenary fleet for 10 years and 15  Opinion for an  Energy cost that scales with the enclave's opinion. The contract can be renewed at any point. Mercenary fleets are led by admirals with the  Mercenary Warrior trait. If the mercenary enclave station is attacked all mercenary fleets will be recalled but their client will be refunded 3000-44000  Energy.
2. Empires that have at least 20  Opinion with the enclave can pay 600, 1100 or 2000  Energy to hire 5, 10 or 15 mercenary armies and gain  Opinion equal to the number of armies hired.
3. Empires that have at least 20  Opinion with the enclave can buy +15%  Naval Capacity for 10 years. Costs between 1000 and 5000  Energy based on current capacity and gives 15  Opinion.
4. Empires that have at least 40  Opinion with the enclave can pay 1000  Energy to unlock the Mercenary Garrison starbase building and gain 15  Opinion.

The empire controlling a mercenary enclave's system, initially its founder, will be the enclave's patron. Patrons receive slightly reduced prices and every 20 years have a chance to receive a payment of basic resources, research, or a fleet if there is  Naval Capacity to spare. The time can be reduced by the following:

• −2.5 months with  Lord of War ascension perk
• −2 months for every month the enclave is hired by an empire that isn't patron
• −1 months for every month the enclave is hired by an empire that is patron
• −0.5 months for every Defense Privatization resolution
• −0.4 months for every enclave upgrade

Patrons that have at least 80  Opinion with the enclave they can ask it to recall a fleet hired by another empire in 6 months. They can also offer to upgrade the enclave up to 5 times, which will improve the tier of its weapons and grant 20  Opinion each time but also increase the fleet recall costs.

Enclave tier	Upgrade cost		Fleet recall cost		Enclave loadout
	Energy	Alloys	Energy	Influence
0	-	-	1500	50	0	3	3	1	2	1	2
1	1000	500	3000	75	0	3	3	1	2	1	2
2	2500	1250	6000	100	0	6	6	2	4	2	4
3	5500	2750	10000	125	0	6	6	2	4	2	4
4	10000	5000	15000	150	1	6	6	2	4	2	4
5	13000	6500	22000	200	1	6	6	2	4	2	4

Mercenary enclaves build and upgrade ships the same way playable empires do, using all technologies researched by the empire that founded the enclave at the time of the founding. The enclave's patron can grant the enclave all its technologies for 1000  Energy and 15  Opinion.

Attacking enclaves

While enclaves will never become hostile to any empire except in retaliation, they can be attacked like any neutral entity. With around 10k fleet power and highest level weapons they are no easy prey. Various rewards can be salvaged from their remnants, depending on the type of enclave destroyed.

	Curator station	Artisan station	Trader enclave	Salvager enclave	Shroud-Touched station	Mercenary enclave
Loadout	1 Lance T2 4 Torpedo T3 6 Energy Torpedo T2 6 Disruptor T3 6 Disruptor T3 4 Point-Defense T3 10 Armor T5 10 Shield T5 2 Shield Capacitor Tachyon Sensors	1 Arc Emitter T2 4 Missile T5 6 Laser T5 6 Plasma Cannon T3 6 Autocannon T3 4 Point-Defense T3 10 Armor T5 10 Shield T5 2 Shield Capacitor Tachyon Sensors	1 Cannon T2 4 Multi-Missiles T2 6 Artillery T2 6 Kinetic T5 6 Autocannon T3 4 Flak T2 10 Armor T5 10 Shield T5 2 Shield Capacitor Tachyon Sensors	1 Cannon T2 6 Laser T5 6 Plasma Cannon T3 4 Flak T3 5 Small Cutting Laser 7 Armor T5 8 Shield T5 3 Hull T2 2 Shield Capacitor 1 Nanite Repair System 1 Orbital Trash Dispenser	3 Arc Emitter T2 6 Laser T3 3 Null Void Beam 6 Point-Defense T3 18 Shield T6 3 Shield Capacitor	Depends on patron upgrades
Reward	1000 Engineering Research 1000 Physics Research 1000 Society Research	2000 Energy Credits 2000 Minerals	2000 Energy Credits 2000 Minerals	1500 Energy Credits 7000 Alloys	1500 Energy Credits 7000 Alloys	2000 Energy Credits 2000 Alloys
AI Opinion change	−15	0	−15	0	0	0

Enclave stations do not drop debris for salvage. Attacking a Curator, Artisan or Shroud-Touched enclave will make every enclave station of the same type unavailable for trade.

Crystalline empire

If playing with the  Void Dwellers origin (AI empires can't trigger it) then there is a 1% chance that during the mid-game a unique enclave known as the Crystalline Empire will spawn near the galactic core. Its system does not have hyperlane connections but will have a wormhole to a random system in the galaxy. Empires that are not Genocidal and did not attack them can offer to help them every 20 years to receive one of the following:

• 1 use of the Settle Crystalline Refugees decision on a  Habitat for 10 years (10  Influence for 5  Pops)
• 1 use of the Crystalline Construction decision on a  Habitat for 10 years (10  Influence for +8  Housing and −10%  Building Cost)
• A level 7  Scientist

Destroying the Crystalline Empire enclave grants no rewards.

Enigmatic Cache

Enigmatic Cache

The Enigmatic Cache, or BALDOR as it calls itself, is a tubular entity that will emerge from any Gateway or L-Gate once the mid-game year is reached if any player empire is at peace and set course for the nearest empire that is not at war. Upon taking damage to its hull it will instantly teleport away to the closest system with a Gateway or L-Gate.

Once the Enigmatic Cache enters an empire's borders it will start orbiting each one of the empire's colonies for a decade. As long as it orbits a colony it gives it a +30%  Research Output modifier but also −10%  Happiness to any pops with the  Xenophobe ethic. The first time it happens the empire will get the option of issuing a special project to study it or leave it alone for 50  Influence. The special project costs 2500  Engineering research and finishing it refunds 90-250  Engineering research and grants an L-Gate insight. Once all colonies have been scanned the Enigmatic Cache will set course for the nearest empire and repeat the process.

Enigmatic Uplifting
After all colonies in the galaxy have been scanned, the Enigmatic Cache will go to the capital of a biological empire that did not attack it and request to uplift the main species via a special project that takes 2 years. In multiplayer the human player with the lowest  Relative Power is chosen, random if tied. In singleplayer the player empire is always chosen.

Enigmatic Dreams
If main species doesn't have intelligent or quick learners, 60 to 80 days into the project there's a 50% chance to be given the choice between aborted the uplift or inflicting the Fatigued modifier (−30% resources from jobs) on 60 random non-robotic main species pops that have one of the following jobs:

Job	Gestalt Consciousness Job0
Unemployed
Researcher	Brain Drone /  Calculator
Metallurgist	Foundry Drone /  Fabricator
Artisan	Artisan Drone
Culture Worker
Chemist	Chemist Drone
Translucer	Translucer Drone
Gas Refiner	Gas Refiner Drone
Technician	Technician Drone
Miner	Mining Drone
	Agri-Drone
Crystal Miner	Crystal Mining Drone
Gas Extractor	Gas Extraction Drone
Mote Harvester	Mote Harvesting Drone

The modifier lasts until the uplift process is completed or aborted.

Alert
130 to 170 days into the project the empire will be notified that the Enigmatic Cache is deteriorating. 4 random non-robotic main species pops (with the same job restrictions as Enigmatic Dreams) gain the Vegetable modifier (−80% resources from jobs) until the uplift is completed or aborted, and the player is offered the following options:

• Abort the uplift, causing the Enigmatic Cache to teleport away and never return.
• Ignore it. Once the project is complete, the 4 pops with the Vegetable modifier gain the  Unlifted trait (−60%  Research), all other non-robotic main species pops gain the  Somewhat Uplifted trait (+10%  Research), and all of them will gain the PTSD modifier (−20%  Happiness) for 10 years. The Enigmatic Cache will remain in orbit above the capital and permanently give its  Research Output modifier.
• Issue a special project to repair the Enigmatic Cache with a construction ship. Once the uplift is complete, if the repair project was finished the main species will gain the  Uplifted trait (+10%  Researcher output and +25%  Leader Experience Gain) and lose the  Slow Learners trait. The Enigmatic Cache will also remain in orbit above the capital and permanently give its  Research Output modifier. If any pops from the main species didn't have the  Intelligent or  Quick Learners trait, there's a 75% chance they gain the Ignorance is Bliss modifier (−10%  Happiness) for 10 years.

Note: The traits do not give unique bonuses to leaders despite the tooltips saying they do.

References

Game concepts