Starfield: should you side with the Crimson Fleet or UC Sysdef?
The Crimson Fleet questline is a complex one. After you join the Crimson Fleet as a double agent, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to act as a pirate or stay true to the UC’s morals, as well as gather evidence against the fleet. You can’t play both sides forever though, and once you’ve retrieved the fabled Kryx’s Legacy, you have to make the choice of who to side with.
Your choice will determine who lives and who dies in this final mission, as well as what facilities you have access to once it’s all said and done. We’ll run you through how the final mission plays out with each faction so you can decide whether to side with the Crimson Fleet or the UC Sysdef.
Siding with UC Sysdef – Eye of the Storm
Bethesda
Siding with the UC will see you launch a full-scale assault on the Crimson Fleet. The amount of evidence you’ve handed over throughout the questline will determine how much support you get from the UC as a whole.
You’ll have to take out three massive batteries surrounding The Key. These giant space lasers do ridiculous amounts of damage, so be agile and aggressive to take them out. You’ll then need to fight off a big group of Crimson Fleet ships, although you only need to take out about half of them before the Vigilance shows up to help.
You can now board The Key and fight your way through to Delgado. On the way, you’ll encounter Shinya Voss, whose bomb has been activated. You can offer to disarm it if you want, which you can do via the computer in Delgado’s office. Speaking of, when you confront Delgado, you will have the chance to convince him to come quietly – fail and you’ll have to kill him.
Either way, you’re rewarded with 250k credits and can pick up bounty missions from the board on the Vigilance.
Siding with the Crimson Fleet – Eye of the Storm
Bethesda
If you take Kryx’s Legacy back to the fleet then you’ll be tasked with defending The Key instead of assaulting it, before boarding the Vigilance and ending it all. This time the amount of evidence you submitted to the UC will determine how strong the force attacking you will be as you defend the three batteries.
Eventually, you’ll have to board the Vigilance and kill everyone on board, including Commander Ikande. Ending it this way will still get you the 250k credits, and now The Key will remain open to you with all of the vendors and fences inside. Plus, any Crimson Fleet you encounter out in the stars will remain friendly to you for the rest of the game.
The big downside of this route is that your Constellation companions will heavily disapprove of your actions – it won’t affect the main quest line, but still something worth considering. Surprisingly though, you won’t get a bounty with the UC.
Should you side with the Crimson Fleet or UC Sysdef – Eye of the Storm
Bethesda
Ultimately, there aren’t that many major differences between the two routes. You get 250k credits either way, so feel free to let your moral compass guide you through this choice.
If you’re thinking purely in terms of benefits though, it’s better to have access to The Key than it is the Vigilance. The fences there make smuggling contraband very easy, as The Key won’t perform any scans when you approach it. So, if you’re willing to deal with your companion being unhappy with you, siding with the Crimson Fleet is the better choice.
