Working alongside what little remains of the Empire, the Returners seek to broker peace with the Espers whose rage threatens to destroy the entire world.

Terra learns of her origins in the Esper world, and the Returners resolve to recruit the remaining Espers into their war against the Empire.

The Returners are tasked with rescuing Espers from the Imperial Continent, but to get there, they must form an alliance with Setzer Gabbiani, a gambling vagabond who finds freedom from society's narrow views of morality aboard his airship, the Blackjack. The Returners concoct a plan to meet Setzer by tricking him into kidnapping Celes from tonight’s Opera House performance.

The Returners send a search party to scour the west for any signs of Terra, who may be the key to turning the tides against the Empire.

The anti-imperial resistance group "The Returners" must regroup in the neutral town of Narshe, but get separated on the way back. Each group has their own adventure, recruiting new allies along the way.

1000 years after the War of the Magi nearly destroyed the world, the ascendant Gestahlian Empire sends three soldiers to Narshe to claim a living relic of the war.