Yaki arc

The Yaki arc (story_yaki.xml, 1,103,751 bytes ~1.1MB) is THE LARGEST single arc in vanilla X4 — 23 chapters (Ch1-Ch23). The arc spans the Yaki pirate faction’s relationship with the player, including taking a Yaki cover identity, recruiting a Yaki Wingmate, establishing operations at the Yaki Headquarters, and ultimately the Yaki “freedom mission” with an invasion fleet confrontation.

Script: story_yaki.xml
DLC: Cradle of Humanity
Size: 1,103,751 bytes (18,732 lines)
Chapters: 23 (Ch1-Ch23)
Factions touched: argon, antigone, civilian, khaak, ministry, ownerless, pioneers, player, teladi, terran, yaki, xenon

Sectors anchored

Yaki arc anchors at least 12 sectors:

Variable	Macro	Role
`$TerranOutpostSector`	`cluster_48_sector001`	Terran outpost (key recurring location)
`$TerranBorderSector`	`cluster_100_sector001`	Asteroid Belt — Terran border
`$YakiExitSector`	`cluster_112_sector002`	Yaki exit point
`$SecretServiceSector`	`cluster_101_sector001`	Mars — Secret Service contact
`$TrackYakiSector1` / `$TrackYakiSector2`	`cluster_100_001` / `cluster_107_001`	Yaki tracking sectors
`$AmbushWreckSector`	`cluster_108_sector001`	Ambush wreck location
`$DamagedTraderSector`	`cluster_109_sector001`	Damaged trader rescue location
`$MiningFleetSector`	`cluster_110_sector001`	Mining fleet location (Neptune adjacent)
`$ConversationPuzzleSector`	`cluster_115_sector001`	Brennan’s Triumph (puzzle conversation)
`$YakiHomeSector`	`cluster_112_sector001`	Yaki Headquarters location
`$XenonSectorNextToYaki`	`cluster_33_sector001`	Xenon-Yaki border

The arc covers a wide swath of the Solar System + Yaki space, threading through 12+ sectors over its 23 chapters.

Persistent infrastructure

Yaki cover identity (Cover_Handler)

A standout feature: the player takes a Yaki cover identity on a specific ship — only ONE ship at a time can have the Yaki cover.

Cover_Handler (v2)
├── Cover_Activation_Proximity_Check (3s polling)
│   └── Cover_Deactivation_Proximity_Check (3s polling)

This is X4’s earliest cover-faction system, predecessor to Tides of Avarice’s Sobert.

Terran Outpost

Setup_Terran_Outpost (v4) + Terran_Outpost_Friendly_Fire_Protection — A persistent Terran outpost with friendly-fire protection (so player can’t accidentally provoke).

Yaki Headquarters

Setup_Yaki_Headquarters (v5) — the Yaki HQ, central plot location.

Secret Service Station

Setup_Secret_Service_Station (v2) + Secret_Service_Contact_Conversation_Greeting — covert contact infrastructure.

Yaki Leader

Setup_Yaki_Leader — comment: “Listen to this cue being cancelled to catch the moment the Yaki are considered to be gone FOR NOW, and the plot should end.”

The Yaki Leader is the arc’s persistent character. When the leader cue cancels, the arc concludes (Yaki considered gone).

Yaki Pirate Jobs deactivation

Deactivate_Yaki_Pirate_Jobs (v2) — at certain story points, Yaki pirate jobs are deactivated. This affects faction.yaki AI behavior universe-wide.

Yaki Wingmate

Setup_Yaki_Wingmate — comment: “Switch faction, background, loadout, etc. for the Wingmate character.”

A wingmate character that gets re-assigned during the arc (faction/background/loadout swap).

Dal Busta (optional)

DEBUG_Setup_Dal — comment: “The story works with or without him. If he exists, he’ll offer extra advice, and an optional mission at the end.”

Dal Busta is OPTIONAL for Yaki arc — your mod that disables Dal won’t break Yaki, but loses additional content.

Chapter-level structure

23 chapters is too many to list per-mission here. Key milestone chapters identified from cue structure:

Ch1 — Escort + Silverback

Ch1_Setup_Escort_Ship (v2) — initial escort mission setup
Ch1_Silverback_Friendly_Fire_Protection — protects the Silverback from accidental friendly fire

Silverback is a Military Supply Transport escort ship (named at page 30225, line 202). Captain: Nowak Lee (“This is captain Nowak Lee of the Military Supply Transport Silverback.”). The Silverback requires friendly-fire protection during the early arc to survive player accidents during escort missions.

Ch2 — Defence Deployment

Ch2_Deploy_Defences_Ref (refs md.RML_DeployInPlace.DeployInPlace) — deploy defensive structures

Ch20 — Yaki Headquarters Invulnerability + Wingmate placement

Ch20_Make_Yaki_Headquarters_Invulnerable (v2) — story-state makes Yaki HQ invulnerable
Ch20_Setup_Wingmate_In_Office_Patch_Helper — wingmate placement save migration
Ch20_Setup_Appropriate_Welcome (v2) — adjust welcome for chapter context

Ch22 — Invasion Fleet + Freedom Mission

Ch22_Dal_Wingmate_Speak_Ref (refs md.LIB_Dialog.Speak_Actors) — Dal + Wingmate joint speak
Ch22_Boso_Wingmate_Speak_Ref — Boso + Wingmate joint speak
Ch22_Dialog_Inform_Mission_Invasion_Fleet_Approaching — Invasion fleet approaching!
Ch22_Dialog_Freedom_Mission_Discussion_Prepared_Variant_* — Freedom Mission variants
Ch22_A_Inform_Terran_Fleet (v2) — inform Terran fleet
Ch22_C_Clean_Up_Mission (v4) — Ch22 cleanup
Ch22_D_Setup_Reward_Ship (1s polling) — setup reward ship
Ch22_F_FindObject_Ref / Ch22_G_FindObject_Ref (refs RML_FindObject.FindObject) — find objects for reward

The Ch22 sequence is the arc climax: invasion fleet announcement → Freedom Mission discussion → Terran fleet response → cleanup → reward ship.

Ch23 — Mission abort handling

Ch23_Dialog_Mission_Aborted_Cutscene (instanced) — abort cutscene
Ch23_Dialog_Mission_Aborted_In_Person (instanced) — in-person abort dialog

Ch23 handles arc-failure / mission-abort paths gracefully.

Save migration patches

Yaki arc has multiple Patch_* cues for save compatibility:

Patch_Return_Cover_Ability — fix cover ability state on save load
Patch_Transition_To_New_Cover_Handler (v2) — migrate cover handler from older save version
PATCH_AddStoryMentors — add story mentors
Setup_Terran_Outpost_Patch_Helper — outpost setup migration
Ch20_Setup_Wingmate_In_Office_Patch_Helper — wingmate placement migration
Ch22_Dialog_Freedom_Mission_Discussion_Prepared_Variant_Patch_While_Running — Ch22 dialog mid-flight migration
Ch22_Dialog_Freedom_Mission_Discussion_Prepared_Variant_Patch_After_Cancel — Ch22 dialog post-cancel migration

The 6+ patch cues signal this is the most save-migration-aware arc in vanilla. Your mod’s modifications must respect every patch.

Debug_Skipper system

Like other large vanilla arcs, Yaki includes a Debug_Skipper testing system:

Debug_Skipper_Spawn (instanced)
Debug_Skipper_Disconnect (instanced)
Debug_Skipper_Conversation_Start/Main/Chapter_Options/Chapter_Selected/HQ/Reputation/Reputation_Selected (all instanced)

This lets vanilla developers test individual chapters via Skipper conversation. Modders should NOT depend on these.

Path completion summary

A completed Yaki arc yields:

Yaki Headquarters unlocked / invulnerable per story state
Yaki Wingmate as ally
Yaki cover identity capabilities
Reward ship from Ch22
Story-state advance: Yaki considered “gone” (Yaki Leader cue cancellation)
23 chapters worth of accumulated faction state changes

Mod conflict risks (Yaki-specific)

❌ Mods that disable Yaki faction break the entire 1.1MB arc
❌ Mods that change Yaki Headquarters macro break Ch20 invulnerability + Ch22 climax
❌ Mods that disable Cover_Handler / cover-faction mechanics break entire mid-arc
❌ Mods that disable Friendly_Fire_Protection affect Silverback (Ch1) + Terran Outpost
❌ Mods that bulk-spawn Yaki ships can conflict with story Yaki ship setup
❌ Mods that change Yaki Pirate Jobs affect Deactivate_Yaki_Pirate_Jobs
⚠ Mods that disable Dal Busta lose optional Dal content but don’t break arc
⚠ Custom faction cover systems can collide with Cover_Handler
⚠ Mods that change cluster_112_sector001 affect Yaki Home

Code references

Concern	Cue
Yaki Leader cue (cancellation = arc end)	`Setup_Yaki_Leader`
Yaki Headquarters	`Setup_Yaki_Headquarters` (v5)
Cover identity system	`Cover_Handler` (v2) + proximity checks
Wingmate	`Setup_Yaki_Wingmate`
Terran Outpost	`Setup_Terran_Outpost` (v4) + friendly fire protection
Secret Service Station	`Setup_Secret_Service_Station` (v2)
Ch1 Silverback	`Ch1_Setup_Escort_Ship` + Silverback FF protection
Ch2 Defence Deploy	`Ch2_Deploy_Defences_Ref` (refs RML_DeployInPlace)
Ch20 HQ invulnerability	`Ch20_Make_Yaki_Headquarters_Invulnerable` (v2)
Ch22 Invasion fleet climax	`Ch22_Dialog_Inform_Mission_Invasion_Fleet_Approaching`
Ch22 reward	`Ch22_D_Setup_Reward_Ship` (1s polling)
Ch23 mission abort	`Ch23_Dialog_Mission_Aborted_*`
Pirate Jobs deactivation	`Deactivate_Yaki_Pirate_Jobs` (v2)

Terran arcs overview
Terran Core — Solar System restricted-territory enforcement (interacts with Yaki Ch1 Terran Outpost)
HQ Discovery — concurrent Terran arc
Terran Terraforming — references Yaki Scientist (cross-arc character)
Wiki: Save compatibility — Yaki’s 6+ patches require strict save discipline

Yaki is the largest single arc in vanilla X4 — 1.1MB of MD, 23 chapters, 12+ sectors, optional Dal Busta integration, Yaki cover identity. Your mod compatibility audit MUST play through at least Ch1 through Ch22 climax to validate non-interference.