What does it mean when a mission is illegal?

When taking missions some of them have a special listing as "this action is considered illegal". What exactly does that mean for me? Will I get a bounty on my head for taking it?


Solution 1:

Basically, they're asking you to be a smuggler.

Ultimately it will mean two things while you're carrying that cargo:

  1. You will need to do a sneaky station entry, unless it's an outpost.
  2. You will need to avoid being scanned by any system authority ships, such as if one interdicts you.

If a system authority ship (including those orbiting a station entrance) does the kind of scan that shows up as a "scan alert" while you're carrying the illegal cargo, you'll get a fine. If you don't pay the fine within 24 hours it will turn into a bounty (and you'll be wanted in that system). Being caught with illegal cargo will give you a bad reputation with the local system authority faction.

If you're unlucky enough to get caught with the illegal cargo in multiple systems, you could end up with multiple fines. I believe if you're caught again by the same authority (interdicted and scanned then enter a station they control), you won't actually get fined a second time for the same illegal cargo containers.

Note that some missions that don't have that warning, are actually for commodities that might be illegal in other systems.

Solution 2:

It involves performing actions that are illegal and will get you bounties if caught, like attacking Clean ships in non-Anarchy systems or transporting cargo that's illegal in certain systems (such as Performance Enhancers and Slaves).

The mission itself won't get you a bounty, but completing it just might cause you end up with a fine or a bounty on your head if you're not careful.