Spoilers Wanted: How to give the machine to the monks?

[Symandria]

Hi,

I don't want to side with any of the 3 factions. I've heard there is some monk route, once upon a time I even saw a thread on here that mentioned how you side with them. I remember it maybe requiring helping the spy escape, which I've done.

Please tell me what steps I can take to ensure I give it to the monks. I don't want unnecessary spoilers though, just the steps of action I need to make sure to take and avoid to eventually be able to get the desired ending :)

Thank you!

[Losmada]

You just need to follow the story normally. Eventually, once you get the parts for the machine the monks will send Zeta to collect it. At this point you can give it to her to side with the monks. Afterwards you either need to defeat the faction protecting it or convince them to back down.

[skaudus]

Even if you don't side with Zeta right then and there, you'll have another chance to redeem yourself.

[stadtpark-hartmut]

After arriving from the Factory you do the Shuttle Bay. After that it is time to do the Habitat / Factions content:

- You talk to the Church Archivist to find out about the machine.

- Then you talk to a Habitat Faction Leader of your choice and PROMISE the Machine to him.
- They send you to the Maintenance Deck to talk with the Monks of ECLSS (who maintain the Life Support System of the Ship) in the presence of their own Enforcer (Cobra / Mathias / Garret).
- The Monks in ECLSS / Ava sends you to the Heart to retrieve a fuel rod.

- You return to the Armory (and thus also the Pit) with the Fuel Rod. Things escalate and come to a head: The Enforcer is confronted by the Monks / Cyborg Envoy Zeta Four in the Amory L2. Instead of promising to stick with your original plan of delivering the machine to your chosen Habitat faction, you switch over to promising delivery to the Monks. Either talk the Enforcer into leaving or kill him and his troops. Zeta Four and her detachment helps you out.

- Turns out: the Machine requires another item: talk to Carlos in Hydroponics (Green), he sends you to Hydroponics Zone Yellow and Red.
- You return to the Armory with the missing item, and find it besieged by a Rival Habitat Faction. Their Enforcer plus some troops want to get the now working machine and move it to their home base. This time there is no way of talking your way out: Sneak kill as many as you can, then fight your way through (Romeo may help you, if you had sent him to the Armory).
- After the rival faction is dealt with (or you betrayed your original allied faction and went with the besieging rival faction = pure talking solution would require you to cross your Allies / give in to the Rivals), the Machine will be moved / delivered.

If you stuck with the Monks as you wanted, its destination is the Maintenance Deck / ECLSS and requires you to guard it on its way. (The other two possible destinations are the Allied Faction you originally chose, or the rivaling one, if you "broke the siege of the Armory" by switching sides / crossing your original Allies.)

You do a bit of talking beforehand (Carlos / Stanton / Granger Guy in Hydroponics Yellow / Jonas (if Jonas rules the Pit); and if you are a talker you can get away with some more talking during the transfer itself. (If you had chosen a Habitat faction to actually RECEIVE the machine in that last step, you wouldn't be able to talk yourself out of a confrontation with the Monks. They sent Azrael (and two other named Elite Cyborgs) to intercept you.

Now that the Monks have the machine, you effectively work for Ava / the Monks. There's some more back and forth (concerning the fate of The Pit, which I will not spoil here), until you get to the bridge.

After you get to the bridge, you decide on one of four endings .
1. Personally sneak away and directly land with the Lander you found in Mission Control LvL7 / The Landing Deck and leave the Colony Ship and its warring factions to its fate
2. land with the whole (quarreling) Colony Ship right away (only possible if you have killed the Great Mother in the Heart and helped the First Daughter on the throne)
3. Activate the Auto-Pilot to sent the Colony Ship back to Earth (You doom everybody on the ship including yourself, but thus unspokenly save the Aliens on the Planet from having to deal with aggressive warring Humans) - this involves the hardest fight (with Ava and the Monks, as they are programmed to ensure the original mission of the Ship
4."The GOOD Ending": the Colony Ship stays in Orbit for a few more years until Humanity is united and the Planet is scouted and everything is properly prepared for Landfall.

The other three possible endings are the same as "The GOOD ending" (Ship stays in Orbit until everything is prepared and humanity is united under one banner), but with your chosen Faction at the Helm, instead of the Monks / Ava.


Edit: Skaudus is right as well of course: if you don't promise Monks / Zeta Four delivery, you will encounter Azrael when the machine is on the move, and then you can still cross your choosen faction (- in case you betrayed your original faction to solve the besieging of Armory L2, you might even call it "doublecrossing" I guess?), and decide to divert the delivery to the Monks by going with Azrael instead of fighting him. - There has to be a totally Diplomat solution after all, even if it includes crossing / double crossing Habitat factions and only works with the Monks solution.

[Symandria]

Thank you for the detailed rundown! I really appreciate all the helpful replies :)