Note: This example uses some Alien Species. Their special abilities are presented in more detail in the sections linked below.

It is Alastair's Action again. He Explores an Outer (III) Zone and flips a Sector with one Discovery Tile Symbol and two Ancients Symbols. After placing the Sector he places a random Discovery Tile facedown on the Sector with two Ancients on top . He is not allowed to take Control of the Sector before the Ancients are destroyed.

Eraka Explores again. This time she goes for a Zone in the Outer (III) Ring and, after deciding to place it, Explores in the Outer (III) Ring again. She chooses to place the second Sector on the board as well . She flips her remaining two Colony Ships facedown and places a Population Cube from her Money Population Track and a Population Cube from her Materials Population Track on the first Sector. She is allowed to place a Population Cube on the Advanced Materials Population Square since she has Researched the advanced Mining Tech . The remaining Population Squares on the Sectors remain empty since she has no more faceup Colony Ships available. Eraka now also has a Wormhole Connection from one of her Sectors to one of Alastair's Sectors . She is thus able to propose Diplomatic Relations to Alastair. Alastair agrees, so they give each other one Ambassador Tile, along with one Population Cube from the Population Track of their choosing. The Ambassador Tiles are placed on their Reputation Tracks, however, Alastair's track is already full of Reputation Tiles, so he returns one of them to the Reputation Tile Bag .

Johanna Passes, turning her Summary Tile so that the Reactions Overview is faceup . Since she is the first player to Pass this Round, she gets the Start Player Tile, 2 Money , and will be the first to act in the Action Phase next Round.

Vernor chooses Move and sets out to Attack his neighbor Johanna. He Moves two Interceptors to one of Johanna's Sectors that contains three Interceptors (the Wormhole Generator Tech allows Vernor's Ships to Move to the Sector without a Wormhole Connection). Vernor and Johanna had earlier established Diplomatic Relations, now broken by Vernor's Act Of Aggression. They return the other player’s Ambassador Tile and place their Ambassador Tile Population Cube on a Population Track of their choice. Vernor also takes the Traitor Tile, preventing other players from forming Diplomatic Relations with him as long as he holds it. If he retains the Traitor Tile until the end of the game, he will receive a –2 VP penalty.

It is Alastair's Action. He Passes and flips his Summary Tile so the Reactions Overview is faceup.

Eraka chooses Influence. She has 2 Influence Activations and decides to move the Influence Discs from the two Sectors she Controls without Population Squares. One Influence Disc is moved to the Uncontrolled Sector with two Population Squares and the other she returns to her Influence Track. After this, she flips two Colony Ships faceup and immediately uses the Ships again, flipping them facedown and placing two Population Cubes in her Sectors .

Johanna, having Passed earlier, may only take a Reaction or Pass. She decides that the three Interceptors present in her Sector are not sufficient to defend against Vernor's Attack, so she chooses a Move Reaction (placing an Influence Disc on the Reaction Track on her Summary Tile ). She uses the 1 Move Activation the Reaction gives her to Move one Cruiser to the contested Sector .

Vernor chooses Move and Moves one additional Interceptor and Cruiser to the contested Sector (the Cruiser's Fusion Drive allows it to Move two Sectors to join the battle in a single Move Activation).

Alastair doesn’t feel the need to take a Reaction and Passes. Eraka also Passes, as do Johanna and Vernor. Since all players' Summary Tiles show the Reactions Overview faceup, the Action Phase ends immediately and the Combat Phase begins. There is one battle to be resolved, between Johanna and Vernor. (See the Combat Phase Examples).