WALKTHROUGH UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
This walkthrough is mostly spoilered, so that if people get caught on the common sticking-points they can read it without spoiling the story for themselves.
However, it is not expected that the replies will be spoilered, so don't read beyond the first post if you are stuck but don't want to know the plot!
This walkthrough is for the Shady Business plotline available on the Albion Prelude version of X3.
If you have mods, it is possible that they may introduce problems with the plot. As this is a Vanilla forum and a repository for information and issues regarding the unmodded game, if you have a problem with a modded game you are requested to post in the Scripts and Modding forum.
The plotline begins at the end of the Albion Prelude HUB plot, on the conditions that you are at least Split rank Honoured Strong Arm of Rhonkar and you have the Unfocussed Jumpdrive from the HQ plot.
Chapter 1; Legwork
You begin by getting a message from Fui t'Ktt, a Strong Arms prcurement Specialist. Apparently, a Split bride has gone missing and he's an arms dealer, not a private investigator. Head to Strong Arms HQ and have a chat.
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After explaining the ins and outs of Split marriage, Fui t'Ktt sends you off to contact a Family Rhy retainer who was the last person to see the bride. Who goes by the name of Ho t'Sht. Yeah. Really.
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However, when you jump into Family Rhy, you get a rude message in your face. Check around your immediate environs, there will be an Aamon prototype nosing around. On board is the JSDD employee who sent you the message, which basically reads "Whatever Strong Arms pay you, we'll pay you more". Chatting to the guy reveals how much more. Clearly, this Ho t'Sht is pretty hot... stuff amongst the galactic power players right now.
Also, the JSDD guy is a Yaki. Read into that what you will...
Also, the JSDD guy is a Yaki. Read into that what you will...
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When the convo is over, head over to the Stock Exchange. The Split retainer is on board, bemoaning his orderbook for engine components for the military. It seems that Ho t'Sht has a thing for quantum tubes, and nicked off with his last load. I don't want to think about the reasons why.
Moving swiftly along, he refuses to tell you anything until you've pulled him out of the mire regarding his shipment. You've got to go dig up 250 Quantum Tubes and deliver them back.
Moving swiftly along, he refuses to tell you anything until you've pulled him out of the mire regarding his shipment. You've got to go dig up 250 Quantum Tubes and deliver them back.
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When you return with the shipment, the retainer tells you that Ho t'Sht was working at a 'cursed shipyard'. Many ships lost there, but he doesn't know which one. This tests your knowledge of the game's lore really; the Split Dragon is considered a cursed ship because the prototype exploded in the docking bay, killing many shipyard workers and nearly ending the project to replace the Mule with the newer, better Caiman. It's called the Dragon Incident, and it took place at the Family Pride shipyard.
If you can't work that out, you're invited to swing by JSDD headquarters where they'll give you a data analysis team to help out.
If you can't work that out, you're invited to swing by JSDD headquarters where they'll give you a data analysis team to help out.
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When you dock at the shipyard, you find the contact, a salvager, is scarcely any more talkative than the retainer. He's bothered about meeting his quota, and brushes you off. You're now working for him, by the way.
Undock, wait a couple of minutes, and he'll tell you that there's a ship with a damaged reactor is a Split sector somewhere.
Undock, wait a couple of minutes, and he'll tell you that there's a ship with a damaged reactor is a Split sector somewhere.
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It's a Dragon... bad vibes?
The only thing it it's invisible to radar. Heck knows why. But you've been fitted with a detector to help you search, so don't change ships. It will tick, faster when you're close, less fast when you're not. To find the Dragon, you have to run a search pattern. Here's how;
First, you should run along the X-axis, noting the X co-ordinate where the beeping it quickest, indicating that you're closest. Once it starts to slow down, indicating you've passed the target, return to the spot where it was fastest.
Then, run parallel to the Z-axis. If you start out going the wrong way, then turn around and go the other way. You should bump into it, but if not, and you pass it without seeing it, go back to where the beeps were fastest and try running parallel to the X-axis. Now you should find it easily.
If you have Video Enhancement Goggles, then the ship is actually visible; you might be able to see it before your sensors do.
When you find it, hop out and claim the derelict. You need to return it to the shipyard in Family Pride. This will take a while, as the Dragon is too damaged to move fast. If you have more money than sense, then you might be able to stop off at a closer Shipyard and repair the ship. The other alternative is to fit it with a Jumpdrive and some Energy Cells.
The only thing it it's invisible to radar. Heck knows why. But you've been fitted with a detector to help you search, so don't change ships. It will tick, faster when you're close, less fast when you're not. To find the Dragon, you have to run a search pattern. Here's how;
First, you should run along the X-axis, noting the X co-ordinate where the beeping it quickest, indicating that you're closest. Once it starts to slow down, indicating you've passed the target, return to the spot where it was fastest.
Then, run parallel to the Z-axis. If you start out going the wrong way, then turn around and go the other way. You should bump into it, but if not, and you pass it without seeing it, go back to where the beeps were fastest and try running parallel to the X-axis. Now you should find it easily.
If you have Video Enhancement Goggles, then the ship is actually visible; you might be able to see it before your sensors do.
When you find it, hop out and claim the derelict. You need to return it to the shipyard in Family Pride. This will take a while, as the Dragon is too damaged to move fast. If you have more money than sense, then you might be able to stop off at a closer Shipyard and repair the ship. The other alternative is to fit it with a Jumpdrive and some Energy Cells.
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When it docks, you get a big thankyou message... and you get told that the scrapper has no idea where Ho t'Sht is. At this point in my game, the shipyard in question became extremely cursed, due to the sudden and inexplicable detonation of nearly 100 Hammer torpedoes against the hull from a source that couldn't be identified before it jumped out.
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You now have to find a Teladi Equipment Dock that specialises in R&D. That'd quite non-Teladi, but all the research they do do is in The Vault, their main military sector. Head on over.
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When you get there, you have two choices; you can pay the Teladi in credits to give you the information, or you can pay him in superheated plasma. Be nice, and pay him.
He tells you that Ho t'Sht was last seen buying racing ships. That means...
He tells you that Ho t'Sht was last seen buying racing ships. That means...
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... Freedom's Reach, the galaxy's raceway. Turns out, Ho t'Sht was on the Trading Station all along.
Land and comm her.
Land and comm her.
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Well that was rude.
You'll shortly get a communication from a Teladi whose ship is without a pilot. Well, actually, the pilot's still inside the ship. Everywhere inside the ship. It wasn't *painted* red apparently. Yummy.
If you race and win, you get some hot gossip about Ho t'Sht. Enough, maybe to force her ear over your way. From the way this plotline has been going though, I wouldn't bet on it.
You're about to get a message from the JSDD agent, the Yaki one. Apparently, he's made sure that your racer hasn't been tagged with a bomb by his colleagues. Well, this fills me with confidence.
You now get given an Arrow. This is basically a fast Octopus. I mean fast. VERY fast. It does 1.3km/s.
You'll shortly get a communication from a Teladi whose ship is without a pilot. Well, actually, the pilot's still inside the ship. Everywhere inside the ship. It wasn't *painted* red apparently. Yummy.
If you race and win, you get some hot gossip about Ho t'Sht. Enough, maybe to force her ear over your way. From the way this plotline has been going though, I wouldn't bet on it.
You're about to get a message from the JSDD agent, the Yaki one. Apparently, he's made sure that your racer hasn't been tagged with a bomb by his colleagues. Well, this fills me with confidence.
You now get given an Arrow. This is basically a fast Octopus. I mean fast. VERY fast. It does 1.3km/s.
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O.K. Racing. This takes some decent piloting skill. Fortunately, I have some, so I qualified first time. There's no actual race, just the qualification.
Basically, you have to fly from beacon to beacon, getting within 250m of each one in order to move on. There's a time limit so you've got not more than one mistake. You'll have to take each beacon at full speed., and unless you've built on the asteroids and towed them away somewhere, each beacon will have a 'roid nearby for you to smack into should you so please.
Some hints? Strafe drive is your friend, it can give you the edge in cornering by taking a bite out of the inertia, and it can give you a finer line as you shriek past the beacons.
Use the yellow target finders. They help a lot. Targeting the beacons also helps, but it can be quite hard to do in a short space of time, so you will need a hotkey on your joystick and even then you won't be able to target all of the beacons. Target them if you have time and you think it'll help you. Don't if either of those conditions isn't true.
Also, if you find yourself on a long cruise between two beacons, do a quick save.
Good luck, Fernando.
Basically, you have to fly from beacon to beacon, getting within 250m of each one in order to move on. There's a time limit so you've got not more than one mistake. You'll have to take each beacon at full speed., and unless you've built on the asteroids and towed them away somewhere, each beacon will have a 'roid nearby for you to smack into should you so please.
Some hints? Strafe drive is your friend, it can give you the edge in cornering by taking a bite out of the inertia, and it can give you a finer line as you shriek past the beacons.
Use the yellow target finders. They help a lot. Targeting the beacons also helps, but it can be quite hard to do in a short space of time, so you will need a hotkey on your joystick and even then you won't be able to target all of the beacons. Target them if you have time and you think it'll help you. Don't if either of those conditions isn't true.
Also, if you find yourself on a long cruise between two beacons, do a quick save.
Good luck, Fernando.
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At the successful conclusion of the qualifying, you dock back at the Teladi Trading Station - be careful, one slip of the throttle will give the station a new green metallic paint job... autopilot does surprisingly well at docking here - and you get the info on Ho t'Sht and a shiny new Starburst racing fighter. This one's even faster than the Arrow.
So, at long last, we know where Ho t'Sht's hideout is - an Elephant in Lost Order. Head over.
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Apparently, she's doing some totally cutting-edge engine research. Except that she's no longer doing research, because she's out of money. She's had offers from three potential backers - the same guys who have been chatting to you, the Strong Arms corp, Jonferco, and the Yaki.
You get to choose which one you side with. In each case, one of the others will end up hating you and will come after your stations. As such, it helps to have a decent combat capability prior to picking a side.
But also in each case, you get rewarded; Strong Arms give you ship blueprints (including the Pteranodon) and 5M credits, Jonferco give you Lotan blueprints, and the Yaki give you access to PBG and IBL forges at the Senator's Badlands shipyard.
Go to Strong Arms HQ, Jonferco HQ or the Beryll Research Station to continue. But remember that combat gear - you don't need it yet but you will.
You get to choose which one you side with. In each case, one of the others will end up hating you and will come after your stations. As such, it helps to have a decent combat capability prior to picking a side.
But also in each case, you get rewarded; Strong Arms give you ship blueprints (including the Pteranodon) and 5M credits, Jonferco give you Lotan blueprints, and the Yaki give you access to PBG and IBL forges at the Senator's Badlands shipyard.
Go to Strong Arms HQ, Jonferco HQ or the Beryll Research Station to continue. But remember that combat gear - you don't need it yet but you will.
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After a medium length wait, you get told to return to the Elephant in Lost Order. Ho t'Sht has an itinerary, and top of the list is co-researchers. They are; a Paranid who resides in Spring of Belief working on the sector's little radiation problem, a Boron in Depths of Silence who is a spacefly propulsion expert, and a Teladi who sounds oddly familiar and resides in the Vault...
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If you picked the Yaki, the Teladi is easy to please. Apparently she's narked off the Yaki and a strike force, including an Akurei, jumps into the Sector targeting the Equipment Dock. If you're Yaki-aligned, you get a message asking if you want them to back off, upon which they'll jump out.
If you're not Yaki aligned, then it's time for that armour I told you about. Go. Kill.
You then pick up the Teladi and take her back to the Elephant.
If you're not Yaki aligned, then it's time for that armour I told you about. Go. Kill.
You then pick up the Teladi and take her back to the Elephant.
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The Paranid guy is easy to please - he just wants an entire factory's worth of Computer Components. So - build him a Computer Plant factory and he'll be happy forever.
Once done, drop off in Lost Order.
Once done, drop off in Lost Order.
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the Boron is the hardest to please. She wants Spacefly Hunters dead, as she's a spacefly hippie. There's three of them and they fly different classes of ship; I went up against a Bomber, Corvette, and Frigate. The ships are Split-aligned to there's a rep penalty which can only be eliminated through the Missile Trick (use an M7M, bombard the guy with ordinance from long range, then move to a second ship and jump the M7M out before the missiles hit).
Once done, pick up your squid and make sushi.... I mean take her to the Split Elephant.
Once done, pick up your squid and make sushi.... I mean take her to the Split Elephant.
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Next up is the items on the itineraries of the scientists you've just picked up. First, you need to get 100 1MJ Shields, 250 Crystals and 500 Computer Components for the Paranid. This isn't too hard, you've probably got that many Crystals knocking around in your production facilities, the shields can be picked up at pretty much any Light Shield production complex (expect each complex to have 60 shields on average, they are a mass produced product) and Computer Components will be available at any Computer Plant. You'll probably have to whip round every plant there is to meet this volume, but if you've got the HQ then you might well also have your own production facilities, as shipbuilding requires Computer Components.
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The Teladi wants 100 Hull Plating, 250 Teladianium and 500 Ore. Teladianium and ore is unproblematic, but it's quite possible that you have low Terran rep, making the Hull Plating difficult. If so, jump to Segaris. You will hopefully be able to pick up missions between Segaris and Aldrin, and it won't take that many missions before you're back on the Terran's good books. Unless you're so far gone that you can't even dock at their stations, in which case, you're in trouble. You'll have to fly to the War Sectors and start shooting up Argon and Boron ships. This will penalise you on those race ranks but put you on good terms with the Terrans. You can worry about repairing race relations later.
There's usually a tech base somewhere in Aldrin which is stacked to the brim with Hull Plating. Thousands of units. 100 won't make a dent. The ore is huge, you'll need either several TS or a TS+ ship to carry 500 Ore.
There's usually a tech base somewhere in Aldrin which is stacked to the brim with Hull Plating. Thousands of units. 100 won't make a dent. The ore is huge, you'll need either several TS or a TS+ ship to carry 500 Ore.
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Last up is 10 Spaceflies, 250 M/AM Warheads, and 500 Quantum Tubes. Again, Quantum Tubes won't be too hard to lay hands on, and now you can trade with Terrans, the M/AM warheads won't be too hard either. But the Spaceflies will be. You'll either have to go spacefly hunting, which will require a Spacefly Collector and Ion Disruptor, or if you sided with the Yaki they'll offer you sufficient Spaceflies, and for that matter the other goods, at the Beryll Research Station.
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Next up, you have to deliver a Heavy Dragon. These cost 15M Cr, and are available relatively nearby at Zyarth's Stand, but you'll need a Jumpdrive to get through the Xenon sector. It has to be delivered to Family Pride, so really you want a Jumpdrive to save the time. If you sided with Strong Arms, they'll give you a Dragon for free, complete with marines, which might be worth keeping.
However, make sure that you are well prepared for war before you deliver the ship, as when you do deliver it, the action really heats up.
However, make sure that you are well prepared for war before you deliver the ship, as when you do deliver it, the action really heats up.
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About a game hour after you deliver the ship, the two corporate factions you didn't side with begin attacking you. They will attack you, your HQ, and high-value installations around the X-Universe. Annoyingly, they are able to jump in directly on top of their target - no need to fly there after exiting a Gate or Jumpbeacon, and the Strong Arms ones are frequently armed with mass Drivers which will deal hull damage to your stations through their shields.
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The waves initially consist of four Corvettes. After a couple of waves, you start to see a Frigate join the Corvette party. A couple more waves, and there's now two frigates, and the final couple of waves will consist of a Destroyer in addition to those two frigates and four Corvettes.
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The best way to deal with this is to concentrate. Make sure that you have three autosaves to keep, and then get into your best ship (an M7M is ludicrously good for this bit) and dock at your HQ. Undock, then just sit there in SETA, docking again every few minutes. You'll be notified when an attack begins - if it isn't in your location, you can reload and try again until it jumps in around your HQ.
When it does, let loose. A single Hammer missile barrage from an M7M is enough to knock out an M7. Three Hammers take down a corvette. Two barrages bring down a Destroyer with room to spare. If you have 160 Hammers stocked, with an additional 400 in your HQ, and a couple of production facilities churning out more continuously, then you should just barely have enough to get you through. Don't waste them, you will need to economise on missiles.
When it does, let loose. A single Hammer missile barrage from an M7M is enough to knock out an M7. Three Hammers take down a corvette. Two barrages bring down a Destroyer with room to spare. If you have 160 Hammers stocked, with an additional 400 in your HQ, and a couple of production facilities churning out more continuously, then you should just barely have enough to get you through. Don't waste them, you will need to economise on missiles.
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After around 12 game hours, you will get a message from Ho t'Sht asking if you're ready to go fly the testbed. That's it, the attacks are over.
Fly to Kingdom End and chat with the Elephant, then dock at the Shipyard.
Save before you do. Discounting frustration, the next bit is the hardest part of the X-games to date.
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When you dock, you are given the Acinonix Prototype, the experimental ship that Ho t'Sht has put together to test her engines. You are told to follow her to Lost Order. Your ship computer maybe isn't totally on board with events, which is a sign of things to come.
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When you jump into Lost Order, anomalous readings are detected in the cargobay, and the ship jumps again to a completely uncharted point in space; reminiscent of the original game, all systems are offline.
A Xenon N shortly appears. Uh-oh.
It interfaces with your computer, exchanges some information, then disappears. Odd. But bad nevertheless. You can probably guess that it's only a matter of time before they return.
A Xenon N shortly appears. Uh-oh.
It interfaces with your computer, exchanges some information, then disappears. Odd. But bad nevertheless. You can probably guess that it's only a matter of time before they return.
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Jump out of your ship and get repairing. You need to repair the hull to 30% (it's on about 28%) in order to get critical systems back online. Then get in and start investigating the shipwreck that is a couple of km to the North.
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You have to investigate the shipwreck in two places; the forward section is closest to you, the aft section is further on, the big bit with gas streaming out. When you've finished scanning, you have to interface with the Xenon CPU core. The password is easy; it issues an anagram of a sector name, an obvious anagram at that, and you have to type in the correct unscrambled sector name to access the core.
It's time to start finding equipment which can repair the ship. We're against the clock here, because the Xenon will be back soon.
There's several types of crates lying around. Some are normal, you can see them as soon as they're in range. Others are hidden, your beep sensor will pick them up (a la the earlier missions to find the Dragon) but you can't target them until you're less than 2km away. You will want to prioritise Hull Plating and Engine Tunings. Grab some PACs and the odd shield whilst you're about it. You've only got time to pick up a few crates before the first wave of Xenon arrive.
It's time to start finding equipment which can repair the ship. We're against the clock here, because the Xenon will be back soon.
There's several types of crates lying around. Some are normal, you can see them as soon as they're in range. Others are hidden, your beep sensor will pick them up (a la the earlier missions to find the Dragon) but you can't target them until you're less than 2km away. You will want to prioritise Hull Plating and Engine Tunings. Grab some PACs and the odd shield whilst you're about it. You've only got time to pick up a few crates before the first wave of Xenon arrive.
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The first wave of Xenon is primarily fighters, but they'll be accompanied by one Corvette. They'll be armed with PBEs, which do monsterous damage to shields, and you won't have enough time to get sufficent repairs done to outrun their fighters. You WILL be modded and your shields WILL be taken down. But... it's not all gloom. PBEs do hardly any hull damage, so it turns out, although they can keep your shields down, they are actually pretty harmless. Just don't get too close to that P, which is armed with more hull-damaging weapons. If that catches you with your shields down you're screwed.
Remember to equip your PACs in turrets, try to get an even spread, and set your turrets to Missile Defence. If a missile hits you with your shields down... Your PACs will help deter enemy fighters when they're not dealing with missiles.
Remember to equip your PACs in turrets, try to get an even spread, and set your turrets to Missile Defence. If a missile hits you with your shields down... Your PACs will help deter enemy fighters when they're not dealing with missiles.
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Jumpdrive Components can be found near sections of the wreck. There are bits of debris lying around a moderate distance from the main wreck - JD components and occasionally other equipment will be found near these sites. As you start to collect, more Xenon ships will jump in, and the game gets harder dodging Xenon. Although you will find that if you continue in a straight line, you'll just about outrun the majority of what's chasing you, you will often find yourself flying through a cloud of fighters when you change direction, stripping your shields. Just worry about avoiding the Corvettes. After another Engine Tuning or so, you'll be fast enough that you can pull out good leads. This is where the mission gets easier, as the Xenon can't catch you, and you therefore control the pace of things.
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Eventually, after about four batches of Jumpdrive Components, and a little wait, you'll be told that your Jumpdrive is back online. Don't wait around. Get the hell out of there.
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When you jump into Lost Order, Ho t'Sht asks what the hell you did. Turns out your UFJD interacted with the engine. You've currently got no UFJD. Time to go to the Goner to get a replacement. Oh, and the Acinonyx is too badly damaged for Ho t'Sht to be interested. It's yours forever now. regrettably, it cannot be reverse-engineered, so you've only ever got one.
Chat to a Goner on the Goner Ozias in Elysium of Light to get a new UFJD.
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Whilst you're at it, you tell him about the exchange with the N in the uncharted sector. He has a poke around the data and finds that the Xenon, alerted to the scale of the Terran and Argon presence in the X-universe, are preparing a massive assault. It will hit Black Hole Sun and Segaris. From this point on, both Sectors will be filled with enemies.
You must contact two ambassadors, one from each race, to negotiate a truce so that they can co-ordinate against the Xenon. To do this, you need to be rank 8 with both sides (Guardian of Earth and Federation Overwatch).
You must contact two ambassadors, one from each race, to negotiate a truce so that they can co-ordinate against the Xenon. To do this, you need to be rank 8 with both sides (Guardian of Earth and Federation Overwatch).
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This may require more boosting of Terran rep, if so, you can either destroy ships in Segaris, or you can do missions. Missions are probably faster. And easier. The Xenon in Segaris tend to cluster around the East gate and they're very difficult to pick off.
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Once you have the required ranks, you need to haul the Ambassadors from the Mars Stock Exchange and Black Hole Sun military outpost to the Goner Ozias, which has moved to the Unknown Sector east of Legend's Home. Move within transporter range. The Ambassadors will transport over and the talks will begin.
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... And quickly break down. If you sided with the Yaki, then they send you a message thanking you for sending the Xenon data to them. When the talks break down, they ask you to either destroy or board the Ozias, so that the world can get on with the defeat of the Terrans and the subsequent plunder of their technology.
You have a choice here, the final one of the plot. You can do his bidding, netting you an Advanced Chokaro at which point the plot ends, or you can tell him where to stick it.
Telling him where to go saves the peace talks, but at a cost of lots of fighting.
You have a choice here, the final one of the plot. You can do his bidding, netting you an Advanced Chokaro at which point the plot ends, or you can tell him where to stick it.
Telling him where to go saves the peace talks, but at a cost of lots of fighting.
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A Yaki war fleet, a big one, will jump in around the Gate and start heading for the Ozias. The OTAS escorts can take care of the fighters, but help will be needed with the Frigates, Destroyer and Carrier. If you still have that M7M from earlier, it's a great choice for the task. Flails will make sure that the fighters are demolished, whilst Hammers will silence the Yaki capital ships.
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After those shenanigans, the Ambassadors still can't agree on whose fault the war between them was and insist on throwing the furniture at each other. At which point, you step in and volunteer to fight the Xenon on your own. This will require the destruction of 50 Xenon capital ships - yes, you did read that right - 25 in each of Segaris and Black Hole Sun.
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Black Hole Sun is possible to do with an M2+. You should preferentially prey on Qs and damaged Ks, Js and Is, but watch out if you're near gates, as when one wave dies, another jumps in to replace it. If you're near the gate when that happens, just jump away. Don't wait, just get the hell out of there.
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Because the Xenon tend to cluster up in Segaris, bombarding them with missiles from long range is the best strategy.
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Spike
