"Red Tape Runaround" is the second part of the Red Tape missions of Starfield. They start when players speak to Trevor Petyarre down on the dirt level of Cydonia and ask him for work. He doesn't have a regular mining job available, but he does have a way for players to get paid while helping the Deimos miners.
In the first "Red Tape" mission, players get themselves hired as the mining director's assistant through a combination of honest job applications and underhanded computer hacking. Starfield players should get used to this dubious work because there's more of it to come in the second mission.
How to Start Work at Deimos
The mission starts as Trevor lets players know that they now have a job as Peter Brennan's personal assistant. The next step is to head back up to the Deimos office (the same office where players just hacked the HR computer) and speak to Peter.
Peter begins by berating the player for being late, but eventually, he realizes that they're a new assistant and not the old one who quit. The goal is to get Peter's password and use his computer, but before players can get access he demands that they pick up a package held by Cydonia's governor. There's no way around this, so it's time to head over to the UC Office of the Governor-General. Fortunately, it's next door to the Deimos office.
Governor Glen Hurst explains that he's holding the package until Peter pays all the back taxes he owes, but he's willing to let it go if players perform a personal favor. The Crimson Fleet stole his personal spacecraft, so Hurst wants players to destroy it and keep the Fleet from getting any confidential information. The ship is currently orbiting Umbriel, one of the moons of Uranus.
Should You Board or Destroy Governor Hurst's Ship?
When players arrive at Umbriel, they'll find Governor Hurst's ship floating derelict with no engine or grav drive. However, an occupant will hail players as they arrive and ask for help. There are several ways this mission can end depending on whether players destroy the ship as asked or answer the hail and board the ship.
If players open fire immediately, the ship will try to fight back, but it can't do much without its engines. With the job done, return to Governor Hurst. Players can ask for extra money to keep quiet, and he'll provide 5,000 credits for silence.
If players answer the hail, they can either lie and say they're Crimson Fleet or be honest about having orders to destroy the ship. In the second case, the person on comms will tell players they have important information and to come aboard. Players can agree and dock, or they can attack.
Once aboard, the pirate captain will either reveal that he knew players weren't Crimson Fleet or demand that players hand over their ship or die. Either way, players can either try to Persuade the captain to share what he knows or attack the pirates immediately.
If the six-step Persuasion succeeds, the captain will offer to give players an incriminating letter from Hurst in exchange for the ship they already have. If a fight breaks out, players can get this letter from his body. Players can also find the body of Hurst's lover along with her suicide note by searching the ship.
After leaving the Hurst's ship, players can leave it be or destroy it, even if they had agreed to spare the pirates. If they do destroy the ship, a copy of Hurst's letter and the suicide note will appear in the wreckage just in case players failed to find them.
With both notes in hand, players have three choices for what they do next.
- Go back to Governor Hurst and tell him they took care of the ship, even if it's a lie.
- Blackmail Hurst for 12,000 credits. Players must have the Message from Hurst in their inventory to manage this. Players can also ask for hush money first to get a total of 17,000 credits.
- Speak to UC Commander Vincent Woodard about Governor Hurst's actions. Woodard's office is through a door on the left just past the plastic curtains by the entrance to Cydonia. For some reason, this option appears in a mission update but won't appear in the mission log. Even so, players can speak to him and turn the governor in. After that, players must continue by speaking to Hurst to get the shipment released. They can demand the extra 5,000 for silence, but they can't blackmail Hurst since they gave Woodard the letter.
Players may discover a new governor-general in Cydonia when they return later on if they turned Hurst in, but that's beyond the scope of this mission. For now, return to Peter to give him the package and finally get his computer password.
Peter's computer is in his private room in the Deimos office. Choose "Requests," then "Replacement Mining Equipment," then hit "Approve." Players can also improve the Deimos working conditions by approving "PTO Policy" and "Drink Selection."
Hitting Approve gives players 100 XP and a medium credit reward. The last part of the mission chain then begins: "Red Tape Reclamation."
Starfield is available now on PC and Xbox Series X/S.