Let's remind ourselves of the context here: We're talking about intentionally taking an action with the sole purpose of harming the HVT.
Who spent the Order causing the harm? You cause the harm, you auto-lose, including Objective Points, as quoted upthread.
Did you spend the Order? Did your action cause the Civilian to enter a Null state? If so, you’ve auto-lost.
It is, because, regardless of intention or purpose, you’ve caused a Civilian to enter a Null state, and auto-lost. The rule text says nothing of intent or thought behind how the Civilian entered a Null state, merely that one of the players has caused it. Barring (as noted in the rule text) a scenario special rule allowing harm to a Civilian, causing one to enter a Null state is an auto-loss.
I don't think there is a single action in the game which is mandatory AND would cause harm to the hvt. As the player you could always choose to not do an action
Exactly. If a Civilian (outside of scenario specific special rules) has entered a Null state, you’ve worked hard to make it happen.
The answers have already been given, don't play dangerous with your HVT, or if you want to take massive gambles, prepare to win or loose big.
No it isn't, because @ijw said the action was taken with the "sole purpose of harming the HVT." That's not necessarily the case.
Well, the rules care not a whit about the intention behind it, only that it occurred. So, harm/cause to enter a Null state the HVT, auto-lose, including all of your OPs, and two bonus OPs your opponent. Simple as that.
The game doesn't define "cause" in this context. If your datatracker synchs the enemy DT and then makes him jump, did your Datatracker "cause" him to die? I think not.
How not? Did you expend the Order? Was it your action that caused the harm? The answer to that question is a resounding "yes". Your trooper synced the DT, you expended the Order on the synced DT, and it entered a Null state. EDIT: Again, simple consequences when it's the HVT: auto-lose, including all of your OPs, and bonus of two OPs to your opponent.
