So if everyone's favourite stress monkey, Mssr. Jek Porkins is equipped with PtL, R5-D8, and Experimental Interface could I:

Focus
Activate PtL

Target Lock

Take Stress

Remove Stress & Roll 1 Attack Die

Then Activate Experimental Interface if necessary to use R5-D8 to remove the damage that may have been caused by his pilot ability?

Or does EI need to nest after the Target Lock and before the Stress from PtL, thus rendering R5-D8 not functionally useable the first turn?

The only thing I could think of that would make this impossible was if using Jek's pilot ability caused some kind of interrupt between the last action of PTL and activating EI for the repairbot action.

But considering this doesn't cause Jek any problems if he uses his pilot ability prior to his normal perform action step (FAQ page 12) I can't see that being any issue here.

EI triggers on performing an action. By the time PtL is done and Porkins has used his ability to dump the Stress your actions should also be done so no EI.

Going back to the OP: YES, EI will need to be nested after the TL which is going to be before you pick up the Stress that you'll then try dumping with Porkins.

Now if you have a damage card on you when the turn starts you could chain all three of Porkins' action together but you'll be looking at two new stress for doing so. I guess a debate has already been had about what the 'best' setup for Porkins is and I'm thinking this is far from it. R5D8 is fine as insurance but is PtL really that good when you've only got two (three if you trigger off of R5D8) actions to choose with it? With Porkins I think the Hull Upgrade needs to be the modification of choice.

Going back to the OP: YES, EI will need to be nested after the TL which is going to be before you pick up the Stress that you'll then try dumping with Porkins..

I disagree. It's up to the player if he wants to nest the effects off each other, or have them resolve one at a time off the one trigger point. The reason why nesting is most often done is that the stress from one card will usually stop the other one, but in Porkin's case that isn't a concern.

So, going with Slugrage's situation:

Focus (triggering both PtL and Interface)

Resolve PtL first, use it to Target Lock.

Receive stress.

Activate Porkin's ability. Let's assume we get a damage card.

Now that PtL and everything involved with it is done, we go back to resolve Interface, and would you look at that? We have a damage card we would like to attempt to remove with R5-D8. Let's do so.

It's similar to Advanced Sensors & decloaking. You pick which one you want to go first and resolve it, while the other sits patiently and waits. You don't pass on one because you chose to do the other.

The only problem I see with DR4CO's setup is the following:

Can you trigger EI for R5-D8 before you have a damage card to discard?

I suppose you could, but would have to perform the action (and get the stress from EI) even if Porkins ability doesn't give you a stress.

So you could perform the steps in the order he explained, but might end up not taking damage when discarding PtL's stress, and then take damage when removing the stress from (the now useless) EI.

If my opponent was trying to pull off this combo, he'd better be very clear that he is triggering both PtL and EI off the initial action.

I suppose you could, but would have to perform the action (and get the stress from EI) even if Porkins ability doesn't give you a stress.

I don't think so. You don't make any commitment to the card beyond triggering it at the initial action, and since both say "You may do [things]", you're not locked into a final call until the card's turn comes along.

I mean, technically Push the Limit triggers every single time you perform an action, and you choose whether to use it or not. The same thing would apply to the Interface here, but the choice is delayed until you're done with PtL. If you had to decide on the "may" part immediately, then you've already begun resolving the card.

I suppose you could, but would have to perform the action (and get the stress from EI) even if Porkins ability doesn't give you a stress.

I don't think so. You don't make any commitment to the card beyond triggering it at the initial action, and since both say "You may do [things]", you're not locked into a final call until the card's turn comes along.

I mean, technically Push the Limit triggers every single time you perform an action, and you choose whether to use it or not. The same thing would apply to the Interface here, but the choice is delayed until you're done with PtL. If you had to decide on the "may" part immediately, then you've already begun resolving the card.