Does UC sysdef set you up?

[CaptainBeatDown]

I've just started playing and usually what I do is kill a bunch of pirates and spacers take all their goods and goe to Jamison to sell their goods to all the space traders, suddenly the UC decided I have contraband, no warning or anything, I complied and they decided I was a threat and opened fire, I did not shoot and complied with search, suddenly sysdef pops up and says to do this crazy mission to fight the Crimson fleet on the inside, like they must of set me up I even checked after doing all the talking and had no contraband and went to Jamison just fine.

[DANEDANGER]

Unlawfull ships almost always have contraband in them, you may have not picked it up but if you had captured that ship it could have some laying around on the inside and that would trigger that event. Or maybe one of your companions had 1 piece on them you forgot you handed them over? There's plenty of reasons for you to be caught with contraband, it does not be just by picking it up and carying it on you.

[DANEDANGER]

And ye that is one of the ways how that sysdef mission can trigger to start :D

[dyonisth]

You can accept, in this case you have missions inside the crimson fleet. You can refuse, go to jail and, later, be invited to join the crimson fleet.

[Humble]

Not if you join vanguard first, once you pass pilot exam and one mission, commander do gave you 2 choice, take care of alien attack or go to UC sysdef, I mostly take care of alien attack line first, before US sysdef, some people wonder why there is no spaceship combat in vanguard, but there is, that UC Sysdef, I guess people got confused.

[kdodds]

So, when you capture a Spacer or Ecliptic or Crimson Fleet ship, there is almost always some contraband on board. Sometimes multiples. If you don't find it and go to The Den first to sell, you'll need shielded cargo and possibly a jammer. I actually haven't found the latter necessary so far as long as you're carrrying tons of cargo and only a few pieces of contraband. No doubt this is what happened in terms of getting caught with contraband.

As for getting attacked, it's probable you had a dogfight with one of the aforementioned factions in which UC Sysdef was also involved and you may have accidentally hit/destroyed a UC vessel. This can lead to a small bounty that won't amount to anything at all unless you get caught for something else. It's kind of like getting pulled over and being "you got warrants boy'd" by an overzealous police department.

[X]

If you don't do the Vanguard quest and the first time you jump with contraband they nail you.
Contraband is the key and you must have overlooked one on that ship.

So yes they set you up.
But hey you get one of the best guns in the game at the end of the quest, that is if you don't miss it.

[CaptainBeatDown]

Originally posted by DANEDANGER:

Unlawfull ships almost always have contraband in them, you may have not picked it up but if you had captured that ship it could have some laying around on the inside and that would trigger that event. Or maybe one of your companions had 1 piece on them you forgot you handed them over? There's plenty of reasons for you to be caught with contraband, it does not be just by picking it up and carying it on you.

That would make sense but I didn't steal any ship, I actually took a bunch of random tat like pencils and foam cups and a bunch of pirate guns, only other explanation I have is that the game bugged out or Bethesda actually pulled of a real good set up

[CaptainBeatDown]

Originally posted by DANEDANGER:

And ye that is one of the ways how that sysdef mission can trigger to start :D

Should of kept reading lol

[chipartist]

Originally posted by CaptainBeatDown:

That would make sense but I didn't steal any ship, I actually took a bunch of random tat like pencils and foam cups and a bunch of pirate guns, only other explanation I have is that the game bugged out or Bethesda actually pulled of a real good set up

Where did you take the random stuff from? If from an Ecliptic, Spacer, or Crimson Fleet ship,* either on the ground or boarded in orbit, you could have easily picked up a nondescript suitcase while rapidly scrounging all the junk, and just blown past the description in haste. With one or two exceptions the contraband cases don't announce themselves with any special markings, are often left just laying about on counters in plain sight, and can be easily overlooked as to what they actually are. The game does not randomly set a trap for the player, but it does take advantage of various kinds of situations where the player has broken the law to pressure them into the CF mission. For me it was because I stole an artifact as part of a Constellation mission, for the main quest. You choose to do the crime, or do it unknowingly, and then the game takes advantage, but it does not put the pinch on an innocent.

*Contraband also shows up occasionally in outlaw-occupied ground installations.

[Ihateeverybody]

Update: Found it. Turret knocked it behind a panel to the Right of the Pilots Chair. So Channeling Gilda Radner for a moment "Nevermind". RIP Gilda.
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Ok I just boarded an Ecliptic Bayonette on the Ground. It took off (and I couldn't exit, like at all. So I killed the crew while in space and checked for contraband. I have boarded THOUSANDS of ships. I know where they put stuff.

I checked all along the length of the ship and in what few containers there are on a bayoneet which are Cap Lock, Cargo and maybe a box or two. I checked up around the Pilots chair (they stometimes put them around there.)

I am not saying I am positive there was no contraband, but I am saying if there was, I didn't see it. Since it triggered the Sysdef stuff while I was at Titan trying to get back to my ship I have to reload all the way back. So I will double check again (by killing that last ground guy and sending the ship up into orbit where I don't have to deal with this crap.

But in answer to the OP. Maybe. Maybe.

[CaptainBeatDown]

Originally posted by chipartist:

Originally posted by CaptainBeatDown:

That would make sense but I didn't steal any ship, I actually took a bunch of random tat like pencils and foam cups and a bunch of pirate guns, only other explanation I have is that the game bugged out or Bethesda actually pulled of a real good set up

Where did you take the random stuff from? If from an Ecliptic, Spacer, or Crimson Fleet ship,* either on the ground or boarded in orbit, you could have easily picked up a nondescript suitcase while rapidly scrounging all the junk, and just blown past the description in haste. With one or two exceptions the contraband cases don't announce themselves with any special markings, are often left just laying about on counters in plain sight, and can be easily overlooked as to what they actually are. The game does not randomly set a trap for the player, but it does take advantage of various kinds of situations where the player has broken the law to pressure them into the CF mission. For me it was because I stole an artifact as part of a Constellation mission, for the main quest. You choose to do the crime, or do it unknowingly, and then the game takes advantage, but it does not put the pinch on an innocent.

*Contraband also shows up occasionally in outlaw-occupied ground installations.

nah i didn't pick up any brief case, usually if i do get contraband i usually go to Demos star-yards cuz UC dont scan there. personally i just excepted that the game set me up, it be funny tho if it was actually a bug. knowing how it is staying to long in Demos staryards its a probability.

oh yea it was Starstation RE-939 with those level 40 monsters and vy'keen dudes

[Ihateeverybody]

Another thought is attacking Neutrals (even though they show red) before you are attacked.

There is a POI with Robots who prevent Humans from working. I have several times gotten a bounty because I attacked the HOSTILES moments before they "attacked me"

So now I operate under playground rules. Always let them hit you first. THEN <expletive> KILL THEM ALL!

Sorry, Sorry, still holding onto some stuff from the 70s. I plan to let it go someday....

[nightwing2000]

I added the Tracker Alliance Creation near my first run through end. Then started a NF+ game.

Although, technically, I hadn't started the new Tracker missions, using my scanner, I would get criminals marked in red. I was able to kill 1 or 2, then suddenly on the third, UC arrested me (I hadn't connected to the UC military joining missions yet).

So this lead in to the UC missions was different than the first run through. It wasn't intentional to lead there, but as an alternative NG+ universe, I sort of like it.Some of the conversations of course don't link up well. But still, an interesting alternative universe.