Manoeuvring with Difficulty / Stoats not Goats

Description

Context

The Paranid Civil War plot in conjunction with the Hatikvah Trade Revolution plot (walkthrough) and Free Families Conflict plot (walkthrough) is one of the 3 main story missions introduced in the 3.0 “Lever to Move a World” update. Like the Free Families plot this mission chain has an opening linear plot chain before a player-made decision picks a path towards two different outcomes. In this guide the full range of outcomes will be outlined at the conclusion of each of the two branches.

Difficulty

With regards to difficulty, the first half of the plot is similar to that of the Hatikvah Trade revolution and Player Headquarters plots. The second half is far more involved and is more suited to intermediate players who have significant sums of money available (over a billion is a good target).

Themes

Thematically the plot centres on the Paranid Civil War which has dragged on for 10 years and arose from a schism on who the true Pontifex is. Internal and external factions are at play in this plot to conclude or escalate the war further.

Starting Requirements

• Player Headquarters with Boso Ta
• Finished Hatikvah Trade Revolution plot (For help see this guide)
• -9 Reputation or better with the Godrealm and Holy Order

A Matter of Utmost Gravity

Introduction

“What I'm getting at is this: there's more to this whole civil war thing than meets the eye.” – Dal Busta

With the prerequisites met Dal Busta will ask to be met aboard the player headquarters to discuss the Paranid Civil War. While there he reveals how both factions could easily be manipulated by neutral external parties. He also happens to have an old acquaintance who knows an incredible amount about the schism. She can be found underneath the Highway in Nopileos’ Fortune II which is only a short hop from the HQ.

The Informant

“What they so desperately want to resolve is what to them is an almost tangible geometric impossibility, namely there being two Pontifices.” – Gride Orian

Something is a bit off with Dal’s informant, for one thing the ship below the highway doesn’t show up on the radar and for another its completely abandoned (and can’t be claimed), it has to be a decoy. No sooner than the decoy has been discovered than a Behemoth class destroyer called the ‘Helianthus’ appears. Dal opens comms with the ship and as it turns out it’s the informant Gride Orian’s ship who is being extra cautious with who she offers information to, the decoy ship then self-destructs.

Gride prescribes a test of character by attacking in two waves with drones launched from the Helianthus, the amount of drones in each wave is based on the player's ship class (fewer if the player is in a fighter than a destroyer). After defeating the first wave Gride releases a second wave of drones, only this wave is different because the drones explode upon being destroyed (its good to keep a few kms separation from the drones).

At the end of the second wave Gride offers the answers to two questions, the options to choose from are:

• What's your story?
• Why the ambush?
• What will this war achieve?
• What drives the Paranid?
• Just tell me what to do

Choosing from the questions doesn't have any affect on the plot later so just choose what seems most interesting. Once the two questions have been chosen the only option is "Just tell me what to do" which then triggers the next section of the plot.

Monument and Cipher

"You are in the presence of Rikmanckassor, Honor Guard of the True Pontifex and anointed Priest Guardian of His righteous claim. You are hereby commanded to remove yourself from these premises, or be struck down by the wrath of the Prophets. In the name of His Holiness, may He be forever bathed in the light of the Sacred Three-Dimensionality..." - Rickmanckassor

"At least he won't attack you while he's talking, right?" - Dal Busta

Gride is offering a job in return for more information about the Paranid schism. Her offer is to collect the contents of a lockbox from Pontifex's Claim and a Holy Order cipher deliver both back to her. Once in Pontifex's claim mission guidance will provide a general area where the lockbox is located and the long-range scanner will be needed to get a fix on it. Upon approaching the lockbox in typical Gride fashion the lockbox will explode after a timer runs out along with its contents, it is possible to unlock the lockbox during this period but in the event that it detonates before getting it open Dal will provide guidance to another lockbox only this one isn't rigged to explode. Once a lockbox has been opened its revealed that Gride wasn't storing regular explosives, she was storing EMP bombs.

At this stage Dal suggests checking out the nearby Paranid monument (the Apotheosis) and recommends approaching from above or below to avoid detection from patrols. Mission guidance highlights a section of the monument, to continue observations Dal recommends disabling some of their security systems, this is achieved by placing and detonating an EMP bomb before scanning the produced data leaks. After the scanning is complete it becomes apparent that the Apotheosis has changed and revealed a window to a chamber filled with Paranid cocoons. Immediately after these revelations the patrols pick up on the disturbances and postpone any further investigations for the time being.

Its now time to fulfill the second part of Grides instructions and obtain a Holy Order cipher, fortunately there's one located on the docking bay of a Holy Order Oddysseus Sentinel located in Faulty Logic I. Obtaining the cipher requires a small or medium ship and docking relations with the Holy Order. With the EMP bombs and cipher obtained its time to deliver them to Gride who is now located on the Holy Order Trading station (if the trading station has been destroyed mission guidance will direct to another station). Chatting to Gride also gives the ability to ask the other questions that she didn't answer before as well as ask about the job. In concluding Gride adds more information to the map.

Duke

"There is someone I'm yearning to see for one last time." - Gride Orian

Gride's clue leads through Holy Order space to Lasting Vengeance a dead-end system with a few scattered Holy Order factories and a small resource region "North" of the Jumpgate. Dal recommends flying towards the gaseous component of the resource region, on approach it is revealed that there is a derelict station located in the haze and it is none other than Duke's Haven (the Duke's Buccaneers headquarters in X3).

Boso remarks that there are Nav beacons scattered around the debris that are well worth scanning. It is worth noting that surrounding the station is a hazardous region similar to XR The Teladi Outpost where damage is less frequent but more severe and comes in the form of lighting strikes. The process of "scanning" the nav beacons is actually just to fly near to a beacon and wait for the bar in the mission display to reach 100%, this is complicated by each nav beacon also having a mine and a lasertower so a good strategy is to keep moving to outpace the rotation of the lasertower. Once all the beacons have been scanned a communications channel will open with a lone Paranid called Kromancketslat who seems to know a lot about the Gate Realignment and the Paranid Civil war. After conversing with Kromanckestslat, Dal has a quick conversation with him in private. At the conclusion of their discussion Dal and Kromancketslat reveal that they have a way to get involved with the peace talks between the Holy Order and Godrealm of the Paranid.

Campaign

"A Paranid is not simply chosen, he is created; destined to serve the Realm to the best of his abilities. The high priests, created in the most intricate rituals of holy procreation, are indeed a marvel to behold. But as many priest-scholars have done before, so did I dare to pose this question, half a century ago:

What if there has been a mistake?

What is the fate of those, whose potential surmounts their assigned purpose?

I have found my answer.

And I pray that none of my brethren will have to walk this path." - Kromancketslat

The first mission in Kromancketslat's peace campaign is escorting him to peace talks in Cardinal's Redress aboard a Holy Order defense station. Once Kromancketslat has docked another ship takes off from the dock using a masked signature. If the player opts to chase the ship it will self-destruct and opting not to follow it will just end with it leaving the system. It appears that this ship was some kind of scout as soon after it has self-destructed/left a fleet of Holy Order Fanatic (HOF) ships appear. The Holy Order Fanatics as their name implies are the most committed to the Holy Order's cause against the Godrealm and will attack the player on sight. As such its good to fend them off as once Kromancketslat undocks they will attempt to destroy his ship (its invincible but they'll still give it a good crack). Interestingly the Apotheosis guards get involved and will actually help fend of the Holy Order Fanatics.

Standoff

"The zenith of our efforts is nearly upon us. Rikmanckassor's cooperation certainly arrived at an opportune moment. But now we shall meet the legate of Priest Emperor Xaar in person." - Kromancketslat

After the fight with the fanatics keep escorting Kromancketslat until he arrives at the Apotheosis and stops next to none other than Gride herself. Also present is the Holy Order representative and guard of the Apotheosis Rickmanckassor and Godrealm representative Xatenmanckett, legate of Priest Emperor Xaar.

Its time to chat to Gride again who as it turns out is Kromancketslat's lieutenant and Kromancketslat is actually the Pirate Duke who in his old age now dreams of peace. Gride wishes for her Duke to give up notions of peace and regain his ambition. She also mentions a toolbox on the dock of her ship may prove useful so grab the toolbox and undock.

As it turns out Gride wants the player to sneak into the monument and plant some bombs, so fly to the entrance of the monument and get into the spacesuit. Before proceeding with the maze mission it is probably best to have at least basic teleportation researched so that in the event that the spacesuit runs out of oxygen its still possible to teleport out and try again.

There are two ways to approach the mission and each leads down a different branch, either Unification of the Paranid into a superpower or introducing a third faction into the war.

Unification

To achieve unification the cocoon room observed in through the window of the apotheosis must be reached and clamps destroyed to get cocoons to Boso Ta to select a third pontifex.

Escalation

To escalate the war further the shielding around the two cores must be removed and bombs planted (but not detonated) on the cores.

For both options start by flying through the maze and repairing all switches in sight (there should be 5 in total) these will open more doors until eventually it opens the access to the cocoon room. Unification players now only need destroy the clamps and then they can leave. Escalation players at this stage need to repair the two switches in the cocoon room which opens two further doors in the maze which have a switch each behind them to remove the shielding from the core, escalation players should then plant bombs (without detonating them) and leave.

After advancing the plot down either plot the achievement will unlock:

Unification

Important Note: Each of the following stages creates new events on the diplomatic landscape and the player can choose to stop at any stage of the plot and enjoy the results of their work. For instance, a player could complete the elements in the Mediation stage and end the conflict between the Holy Order and the Godrealm and simply stop there and not create the Realm of the Trinity.

Apotheosis Battle

"It appears that we need to put aside our quarrel for the time being, Rikmanckassor.

"These unholy creatures require our attention." - Xatenmanckett

After successfully preventing the destruction of the Apotheosis the Holy Order and Godrealm of the Paranid scuffle for a bit, at this stage the Godrealm ships will also try and attack the player's ship so its good to keep out of range. Thankfully, the Buccaneers and their flagship arrive and the Holy Order and Paranid cease hostilities and the player's rep is set back to normal with the Godrealm. Both the Holy Order and Godrealm will temporarily unite to defeat the Buccaneers and the Buccaneers become enemies.

Mediation

"Our friend Kromancketslat is now using Gride's final intervention as a precedent to unite the Paranid against supposedly mounting foreign aggression." - Dal Busta

At the headquarters Dal provides a major lore and info dump about getting unification off the ground and ending the war, in a more condensed form Kromancketslat wants a fleet assembled to defend against those who oppose unification. The specifications for the fleet are as follows:

The cost for this fleet is roughly 75 million credits

After the fleet has been delivered to a spot just nearby the HQ Dal will announce how a Godrealm legate is not co-operating with the mediation process and must be assassinated. The target is Xatenmanckett who was at the Apotheosis, he has a decent fleet escorting him which includes 6 Odysseus Vanguard destroyers (this plot doesn't use the new paranid ships) and 10 Gorgon Vanguard frigates. Xantenmancket himself is initially on a carrier but he will depart it in a taxi ship (which the mission will provide guidance to). The goal is to kill Xantenmancket without his fleet knowing because if the fleet is alerted to the player they will chase the player across the whole universe, to not alert the fleet maintain a distance of 50km from the fleet.

Author's Note: When I played this plot for the first time I accidentally alerted the fleet causing them to become hostile and I was only flying a little fighter, I had to bait them into flying through a defence station I'd built in one of my sectors, I do not recommend this approach.

Once Xatenmanckett has been assassinated his fleet should just go back to regular patrolling and Dal will open a comm channel advising to await further instructions.

Sacrosanct Conclave

"We've come to the conclusion that the Paranid will need a...

...tangible reminder of their shared identity." - Dal Busta

After a little while Kromancketslat will open a comms channel to request the player's presence aboard the player headquarters. Chatting with Dal and Kromancketslat reveals that the Paranid factions want a palace to serve as a symbol of their unity as well as a new seat of government. The details for this station is as follows:

Location: Pious Mists II (exact spot is marked on the map)

Size: Minimum 10km x 10km x10km

Required elements:

The cost of this station is only 25M at average price, however, the blueprint cost is roughly 500M. Its worth noting that the faction capital module blueprint is only available from either of the Paranid faction representatives and that it looks identical to the Paranid administration module, the two should not be confused as using the admin module in the station will not advance the mission.

While the station is being built its a good idea to deploy a fleet to defend the station as once its complete there will be two waves of Holy Order Faithful attackers with the first arriving 15 minutes after construction has concluded. For the more opportunistic player it is worth noting that none of the ships in either wave can be captured. Once both waves have been defeated a message will come through and the player will get a reputation boost with the Realm of the Trinity.

Third Pontifex

"Do not worry, my ethically immaculate assistant! Indoctrination is a very natural thing to these Paranid fellows." - Boso Ta

A few minutes after the Sacrosanct Conclave has been successfully protected Boso Ta will invite the player to come to the player headquarters where he and Dal provide a bit of background about how the Paranid leaders are created. The task is to deliver a wide selection of goods to the Sacrosanct Conclave:

The cost of these items should be roughly 260 million credits.

Additionally, several inventory items must be delivered to Boso Ta so that he may remove the prospective third pontifex from his cocoon, these items are

Finally, Boso Ta requires funding for his research which costs 1000,000,000 credits. After the three tasks have been completed in any order Kromancketslat will open communications and request a text be delivered to him on the Sacrosanct Conclave from the Alliance of the Word. Mission guidance will select a random Alliance station and once docked provide directions to a librarian who provides the text.

"You are hereby issued a standard copy of the Sacred Axioms of Paranid Bashra, First Disciple of the Holy Three-Dimensionality, minus the appendices." - Alliance Librarian

Its then just a matter of flying to Kromancketslat and giving him the text which for whatever reason he doesn't need anymore and lets the player hang onto. A call will then come in from Dal Busta recalling the player to the headquarters yet again. At the headquarters Dal voices his frustration with Kromancketslat and an achievement will unlock:

After half an hour its possible to return to Dal and get a bit more info, from there there's an hour delay before its possible to chat to Dal about setting the Realm of the Trinity to go to war with one of their neighbours. If the player chooses any or all of the options another achievement will unlock:

This concludes the Paranid Civil War plot (unification branch)

Costs

• Construction of mediation fleet (Mediation)
• Construction of the Sacrosanct Conclave (Sacrosanct Conclave)
• Supply of the Sacrosanct Conclave (Third Pontifex)
• Supply of Boso Ta's items (Third Pontifex)
• Funding Boso Ta' research (Third Pontifex)

Estimated total financial cost: 1,600,000,000 credits

Rewards

• "A Matter of Utmost Gravity" achievement
• "Holy Three-Dimensionality" achievement
• "What's Best in Life" achievement (provided the Realm of the Trinity is made to go to war with at least one other faction)
• Trophy in the Player Headquarters personal office of the apotheosis
• 10 Realm of the Trinity faction paint jobs

Outcomes

• The Holy Order of the Pontifex and Godrealm of the Paranid are re-unified into the Realm of the Trinity
• The Realm of the Trinity can be instructed to go to war with any neighbouring major faction
• Duke's Buccaneers will remain a reputation-locked pirate faction (much like the scale plate pact)

Escalation

Important Note: Each of the following three stages creates new events on the diplomatic landscape and the player can choose to stop at any stage of the plot and enjoy the results of their work. For instance, a player could complete the elements in the Assertion of Strength stage and keep the Duke's Buccaneer's around and provide them with a fleet and shipyard without turning them into Duke's Tempest.

Apotheosis Battle

"I can't believe we got dragged into this whole conspiracy. Still, at least everyone involved in this convoluted mess is now either dead or on our side...

...hopefully" - Dal Busta

With the Apotheosis destroyed neither the Holy Order nor the Godrealm of the Paranid are particularly happy and they temporarily unite to try and kill Kromancketslat. The goal in this stage of the plot is simply to protect Kromancketslat (fortunately his ship is actually invulnerable so if he's taking a lot of fire its not an issue). Despite his invulnerability, Kromancketslat needs to be rescued from his ship, this is just a case of flying close to his ship, once the playership is within 15km of his ship the Godrealm and Holy Order factions will also turn on the player, fortunately at this point a Buccaneers fleet arrives and engages with the Paranid fleets.

The objective now is no longer to protect Kromancketslat but to destroy both the Godrealm and Holy Order fleets, to make this a bit quicker its handy to have a fleet nearby already but even without one, the assistance of the Duke's Buccaneers makes it pretty quick.

After the battle return to the headquarters to chat with Dal and Boso, after the chat is a good point to build up a strong economy as the remaining chapters require a lot of resources and cash.

Assertion of Strength

After returning to Dal he will outline the first steps in escalating the civil war, first on the agenda is providing Duke Kromancketslat with a fleet to challenge the other faction's military dominance. The requirements for the fleet are as follows:

The cost for this fleet is roughly 75 million credits

This fleet is to be delivered to a point just south of the player headquarters.

Once the fleet has been delivered the Duke is in search of some space to get set up with a base of operations but to do so a few groups of pirates must be either destroyed or incentivised to join the Buccaneers. Two of the groups are in Nopileos' Fortune II and a third is in Nopileos' Fortune IV. Each time a ship's hull drops too low there's a chance for it to defect to the Duke's Buccaneers. Once all of the pirates are either destroyed or converted the player's reputation with the Duke's is increased and the Duke's Buccaneers receive a larger pool of ship jobs.

Duke's Haven

"We once had a grand, impervious haven to call our own, and with your help, so it shall be again." - Lieutenant Gride Orian

10 minutes after the destruction of the pirates Boso Ta requests the player's presence on the player headquarters. At the player headquarters is none other than Lieutenant Gride Orian herself, talking with her reveals her aims of constructing a new base of operations for the Buccaneers. The parameters of this base are as follows:

Location: Nopileos' Fortune IV

Size: 10km x 10km x 10km

Required elements:

After the station has been built Gride requests a 5 star manager for the station (note: the manager doesn't need to be 5 stars overall, just 5 stars in the management trait). Once the station is all in order it will be handed over the Duke's Buccaneers and a further reputation boost is given.

Lasting Vengeance

"May my enemies find enlightenment as they burn!" - Duke Kromancketslat

Next, there are couple concurrent mission objectives that are to be completed before the completion of the plot these include delivering ship building materials to the Duke's Haven and delivering research supplies to Boso Ta. The ware lists for each are as follows

Boso will also request funding for his research which comes at a cost of 1 billion credits

Once all of the items have been completed Gride (who is an admiral now) announces that she has fielded a fleet which will be used to strike Xatenmanckett's fleet and requests the player's presence at the staging point and participation in the attack. Destroying Xatenmanckett's fleet before talking to Dal at the headquarters completes the Duke's Buccaneer's branch of the Paranid Civil war plot. A further reputation boost is earned with the Buccaneers who have changed their name to the Duke's Tempest. Additional rewards include the achievement

as well as 10 of the Duke's Tempest paintjobs.

Its well worth noting that the Duke's Tempest are neutral with the Teladi and they will trade with them, however, this is insufficient for them to operate their shipyard at anywhere near the rate required to fend of the Holy Order and Godrealm of the Paranid so player support is required to keep them going.

Costs

• Construction of Duke's insurgence fleet (Assertion of Strength)
• Construction of the "Duke's Haven" super-shipyard (Duke's Haven)
• Supply of Duke's Haven with shipbuilding resources (Lasting Vengeance)

Estimated total financial cost: 1,695,000,000 credits

Rewards

• "A Matter of Utmost Gravity" achievement
• "Balance and Buccaneers" achievement
• Trophy in the Player Headquarters personal office of the apotheosis in its destroyed state
• 10 Duke's buccaneers paint jobs

Outcomes

• Duke's Buccaneers becomes Duke's Tempest and controls Nopileos' Fortune II
• Duke's Tempest joins the Paranid Civil war, siding against both the Godrealm and Holy Order
• Duke's Tempest reputation is unlocked with the player

References

• md/story_paranid.xml
• My own anecdotal experience of playing through the plot

Notes

The chapter naming in this guide for the most part reflects the naming used in the MD and in game, however, from the Apotheosis Battle chapter onwards I've added names to divide the sections, the following table relates each section to a major cue in the MD