The Ascendancy explicitly values the survival of humanity as its primary goal. However, those aliens who submit to Terran rule and are loyal to Ascendancy principles deserve a place in society roughly equivalent to the mass of proletarian humanity. Ascendancy Vassals are recruited into various organisations and bodies based on their strengths and merit. Those who distinguish themselves can gain Reputation and accumulate power, wealth and operate independent businesses and groups - although they cannot become adopted by the Noble Houses, as they are unable to trace a lineage back to the ancient Sol survivors.

The Ascendancy has mistrusted and feared the Commonality ever since their agents were discovered operating on Terran-controlled worlds. Powerful aliens with bizarre powers are an affront to the superiority of humankind, but at the same time, those powers could be very useful to the Houses in their machinations against each other. On an individual level, Ascendancy subjects and agent often find the Commonality to be arrogant, dismissive and haughty in public, and cunning and duplicitous in private. Subjects are counselled to always be on their guard when dealing with the Elysians.

The Tulaki's first contact with the Ascendancy was with the evangelical scouts of a crusading armada. The First Tulaki War cost them many inhabited colonies as well as the secession of the Free Union worlds. Although there have been longer periods of peace than war since then, Ascendancy citizens are taught that the Tulaki are terrifying, warlike monsters. Things are more practical near the borders, where there is enough understanding of the Dominion's faith to make sense of their motivations - even then, they are regarded as mostly simple-minded barbarians to the atheistic Ascendancy. The Ascendancy Council bears grudges for a long time, and the memories of their many wars with the Dominion are still fairly fresh.

The spectrum of Ascendancy opinion towards the Free Union runs between traitorous xenophiles that would let themselves be controlled by others to misguided lost children of Terra whose egalitarian experiment will no doubt collapse in time. Ascendancy citizens usually regards non-Terrans as having strange instincts that form the basis of their deviant behaviour, but the motivations of the Free Union Terrans are truly baffling to them despite being the same species. On the fringes, trade with the Free Union does exist, but the ruling Council regard the Free Union as wayward subjects, despite their inability to enforce their claim on them.