Revision 3

A defining feature of the ZeroSpace Campaign is the party of characters you assemble. As a Protectorate commander you recruit seasoned shock troopers and specialist crew members to your fleet, then build relationships with them as the story unfolds. In the Early Access build that shipped on July 20, 2026, that commander is Prefect Aster, and Act 1 is where the party first comes together.

Recruiting Your Army

Recruitment is more than adding numbers to a roster. The crew you bring aboard the Mothership includes specialists whose skills and personalities matter both in dialog and in battle. Ten specialist heroes are available to recruit and bond with across the Campaign, each able to lead your forces in the field. Ten is also the hero count the store's Early Access notes give for the shipped build, so it describes what is actually selectable rather than a target.

Who You Command

Two Protectorate leaders are named on the official faction roster. Prefect Aster is the commander you play as through Act 1, and he is also one of the three commanders available in Galactic War co-op. Mera Arcadia carries the rank of Legate. Both were introduced in their own character videos published in the launch window on July 20, 2026.

How Many Leaders There Are

Different official surfaces count leaders differently, so it is worth separating the figures. The official faction pages name fourteen commanders in total across the four main factions and the six mercenary groups. The store's Early Access notes give ten heroes as selectable in the shipped build. The community knowledge base enumerates eighteen hero entries under sixteen distinct names, because Marv and Mera each exist as a separate Protectorate version and Grell version.

Building Relationships

Crew members are not static. Spending time with them, making choices they approve or disapprove of, and completing their personal stories all affect how they feel about you. Many heroes have their own loyalty missions, optional chapters that deepen those bonds and reveal more about each character.

The written layer of those relationships grew on July 30, 2026, when an update added new crew emails and codex entries to the ship. Both are read between missions rather than during them, and they are the main way the campaign fills in characters you are not currently talking to.

This party-based approach ties the role-playing layer to the strategy layer: the relationships you build influence the branching path of the Campaign, while the heroes you recruit become the leaders you deploy. For how those leaders function in combat, see Heroes and Commanders. The same pool of leaders reaches beyond the story into Galactic War and Skirmish.