Hey Uber, if the below is true, the rewording may help future readers. I thought by hitting the Abort, it would avoid the quest, but duh! Got stuck.
Once you get to the Side Quest "Your Choice: Truth or Dare?" [Pay 20,000 Coins & Gather 40,000 supplies],
STOP!
This is the PME tech blocker at the end of the PME story. So from this point, leave it alone. It'll stay in your Story quests, but don't complete or abort it. You can still get units higher than PME while still in InA (or higher).
Next, scout and take the white CE sectors below in the spoiler map as shown. The specific RED provinces must be skipped, or you will get tech blocked on the CE story.
Your Story Quests are still locked behind the PME Blocker,
{not sure if the CE story kicks in after a few provinces?} but you'll get several new side quests during your CE tour that may give you units. It's okay to complete these as long as you keep Avoiding the PME tech blocker.