lol

Same issue with Claudette in D9. Attacking enemy in the other corner of the map triggers two elite goons who immediately kill Claudette same turn without a chance to save her. Unbelievably bad quest design.

Hey, thanks for the answer, that's exactly what I did lol My initial post was more in the wake of "hardly playable on first run without save/loading" idea. Which is still valid

And here's some less emotional follow-up feedback: - after save-loading a dozen times I managed to have MD die before Smiley, leading to "battle lost" status; surprisingly, bandits do not attack Smiley if there are no mercs on the map - strategic map doesn't show any enemies in the sector now - trying to enter it starts the battle with "unknown enemy", with starting zone right in the center of the church with Smiley alive - this actually gives player a chance to recruit Smiley after all Overall, the quest frame is still pretty strange and unintuitive.

Triggered it with solo MD, while my main squad was away. Lost MD, Smiley, lost Fleatown sector. After a hundred hours playthrough without loading. JA 3 without save-loading + blind playthrough = bad, unfair, unpleasant experience. At least there could be some kind of a "this could trigger a fight" alarm, like in a C7 mine.