Criminal arc

The Criminal arc (story_criminal.xml, 1,155,299 bytes ~1.2MB) is the main Pirate DLC narrative. The player builds a criminal crew — Maestro (mentor), Ace (heist crew), Axiom (hacker), Chipmunk (induction) — and runs black market smuggling, station hacks, cargo robberies, and security slicer operations.

• Script: story_criminal.xml
• DLC: Pirate
• Factions touched: argon, antigone, paranid, teladi, hatikvah, civilian, scaleplate, scavenger, loanshark (antagonist), ministry (antagonist), ownerless

Setup sectors

Variable	Sector macro	Vanilla name
$EighteenBillionSector	cluster_02_sector001	Eighteen Billion (criminal hub)
	cluster_08_sector001	(referenced separately)
$FallbackSector	cluster_44_sector001	Scale Plate Green (fallback location)

Eighteen Billion is the central criminal hub of the arc.

Persistent characters + player nickname

The player joins the Empyrean Curs crew. Members:

Character	Role	First Chapter
Maestro	Mentor (gives missions, hints, gives player a nickname)	Ch1
Ace	Heist crew (Ch2 black market operations)	Ch2
Axiom	Hacking specialist (Ch2 security slicer)	Ch2
Boso Ta	Cross-arc commentary	Ch1 (Ch1_BosoCarefulComment)
Dal Busta	Cross-arc oversight	Ch1 (Ch1_DalMissionComment_Ref)

Player nickname: Maestro names the player “the Chipmunk” during Ch2 induction conversation (text line 30252205): “You competent smuggler; Shall call you ‘the Chipmunk’!”. So Ch2_ChipmunkInduction_Ref is the player-induction cue, not a separate NPC. The crew operates under “no names” policy — Chipmunk is the player’s pirate alias.

The Empyrean Curs setup is also referenced in dialog: “Return to Arcadian Endeavour to get to know other members of crew” — base of operations is Arcadian Endeavour.

---

Chapter 1 — Introduction + First Heist

Player meets Maestro, conducts first smuggling mission. Police detection mechanics introduced.

Mission entry: “Maestro Introduction”

• Cue: Ch1_Intro → Ch1_MaestroIntroductionComplete
• In-game name: Meet Maestro (introductory)
• Path/Chapter: Criminal Ch1
• Find in game: Active after Pirate arc state initialized
• Prerequisites: Pirate Prelude complete OR custom story state set
• What player encounters:
  • Player travels to Eighteen Billion (cluster_02_sector001)
  • Meets Maestro at a station
  • Ch1_PreMission_Conversation — initial conversation
  • Ch1_Maestro_UninterestedConversation — Maestro tests player (uninterested response path)
  • Ch1_MaestroTradeHint_Ref — trade hint dialog
  • Ch1_MaestroWarning_Ref — Maestro warns player about risks
  • Ch1_MaestroDroppedWareComment_Ref — comment when player drops ware
  • Ch1_BosoCarefulComment — Boso Ta cross-arc commentary
  • Ch1_MissionBosoComment / Ch1_DeclineBosoComment — outcome variations
• Where: Eighteen Billion sector
• NPCs involved: Maestro, Boso Ta (remote)
• Reward: Introduction complete; first mission offered
• Chains to: Ch1_Create_MissionOffer → Ch1_OfferCreated
• Code reference: story_criminal.xml Ch1_Intro block

Mission entry: “First Smuggling Mission”

• Cue: Ch1_Create_MissionOffer → Ch1_MissionAccepted_Ref
• In-game name: First illegal-ware delivery
• Path/Chapter: Criminal Ch1 (main)
• Find in game: Active after Maestro intro accepted
• Prerequisites: Maestro intro accepted
• What player encounters:
  • Pre-mission setup includes illegal wares added to player ship (Ch1_PreMission_AddIllegalWares_DEBUG for testing; real path through Ch1_PreMission_Conversation)
  • Player must deliver illegal wares without police detection
  • Hint system: Ch1_MissionOffer_Hint, Ch1_MissionOfferHint_Ref
  • Cross-character comments: Ch1_DalMissionComment_Ref, Ch1_BosoMissionComment_Ref
  • Police encounter mechanics:
    • Ch1_Police_Halt — police order to halt
    • Ch1_Police_IllegalWareFound — police find illegal wares
    • Ch1_Police_PlayerFlee — player flees pursuit
  • Mission tracking: Ch1_Entering_S* cues track player progress
  • Trade hint when docked: Ch1_Docked_Trade_HintClosed
• Objectives:
  • Travel to delivery destination
  • Avoid police scans en route
  • Deliver wares without detection
• Where: Eighteen Billion → delivery target (varies)
• NPCs involved: Maestro (handler), police patrols (hostile)
• Reward: Credits + Maestro relation + arc progression
• Chains to: Ch1_Reward → Ch1_Complete → Chapter 2
• Code reference: story_criminal.xml Ch1_Create_MissionOffer block

Mod conflict risks — Chapter 1

• ❌ Mods that disable police-scan mechanics trivialize the smuggling missions
• ❌ Mods that change illegal-ware definitions break ware-detection logic
• ❌ Mods that change Maestro NPC break the entire arc
• ❌ Mods that change cluster_02_sector001 ownership make Maestro unreachable
• ⚠ Mods adding bulk illegal-ware sources trivialize ware-acquisition step
• ⚠ Police-rebalance mods affect difficulty calibration

---

Chapter 2 — Criminal Crew + Heists

Player builds the criminal crew (Ace, Axiom, Chipmunk) and conducts multiple specialized operations.

Mission entries (selected)

Cue	Player action
Ch2_Force	Force-start Chapter 2
Ch2_InitialAceConversation	Meet Ace
Ch2_InitialAxiomConversation	Meet Axiom
Ch2_ChipmunkInduction_Ref	Player induction (Maestro names player “the Chipmunk”)
Ch2_Missions_SetUp + Ch2_Missions	Mission orchestrator
Ch2_MaestroConversation_Tasks	Maestro task dispenser

Sub-mission: Black Market hub

Cue	Action
Ch2_BlackMarket	Black market entry
Ch2_BlackMarketStation	Black market station setup
Ch2_AtBlackMarketStation_Ref	Verify player at black market
Ch2_AtBlackMarketStation_ScanModeHint	Hint scan-mode usage
Ch2_BlackMarketFinished_Ref	Conclude black market
Ch2_ExcludedStations	Track stations excluded from BM

Sub-mission: Ace operation

Cue	Action
Ch2_AcePlaced	Ace placed in mission
Ch2_AceOrders_v	Ace order setup
Ch2_AceFactoryHint_Ref	Hint about factory
Ch2_AceHeadsUp_Ref_v	Heads-up dialog
Ch2_AceUndocked	Ace undocked
Ch2_AceRetrieved + _Check	Ace retrieved

Sub-mission: Axiom hacking

Cue	Action
Ch2_AxiomHacking	Hacking sequence
Ch2_Axiom_InSecurityRoom_Ref	Axiom in security room
Ch2_Axiom_WrongPanel_Ref	Wrong panel — error path
Ch2_HackStation	Hack station target
Ch2_DEBUG_SecuritySlicer	DEBUG: security slicer test

Sub-mission: Cargo Robbery

Cue	Action
Ch2_CargoRobbery	Cargo robbery main
Ch2_CargoRobberyFinished_Ref_v	Robbery finished
Ch2_AttackLines	Attack lines (dialog during attack)
Ch2_DeliveryHint_Ref	Hint for delivery

DEBUG sub-missions (testing)

Vanilla provides DEBUG cues for testing mission components:

• Ch2_DEBUG_Acquire_ApparatusMaterials
• Ch2_DEBUG_Acquire_HackingMaterials
• Ch2_DEBUG_Acquire_Unstable_Crystals
• Ch2_DEBUG_SecuritySlicer

These let testers bypass acquisition steps. Mods should NOT depend on these — they’re debug only.

Mod conflict risks — Chapter 2

• ❌ Mods that disable Ace / Axiom / Chipmunk NPCs break Chapter 2
• ❌ Mods that disable hacking mechanics break Axiom path
• ❌ Mods that change scan-mode mechanics affect Black Market verification
• ❌ Mods that change black-market station definitions break BM hub
• ⚠ Cargo-robbery overhaul mods affect Ace + Axiom path

---

Sub-arc patterns

The Criminal arc uses several reusable patterns:

• DEBUG cues for testing — every major mission has a DEBUG bypass
• Hint refs (*_Hint_Ref) — extensive hint dialog system
• Cross-character comments — Boso Ta + Dal Busta react to player actions
• Police evasion — multi-cue police-control system

Setup considerations

The arc requires Eighteen Billion sector accessible. If player’s mod has changed ownership of cluster_02_sector001, the arc uses $FallbackSector = cluster_44_sector001 (Scale Plate Green) — but fallback is incomplete coverage.

Code references

Concern	Cue
Setup sector	Start.Setup — $EighteenBillionSector
Fallback sector	$FallbackSector (cluster_44_sector001)
Maestro character	Setup_Characters references
Ace operation	Ch2_Ace* block
Axiom hacking	Ch2_Axiom* + Ch2_AxiomHacking
Black Market hub	Ch2_BlackMarket* block
Cargo robbery	Ch2_CargoRobbery*
Police mechanics	Ch1_Police_* block

Related

• Pirate arcs overview
• Pirate Prelude — preceding arc
• The Fan arc — parallel Pirate arc
• Wiki: DLC handling — Pirate DLC required

---

The Criminal arc is X4’s most elaborate “criminal underworld” narrative. Black market hub, security slicing, cargo robberies, Police evasion mechanics — your mod’s interference with any of these breaks a 1.2MB story chain.