Starfield: Surgical Strike Mission [Full Walkthrough]

Surgical Strike is one of the most important missions you can complete to increase your XP in Starfield. The mission is done with the Freestyle Rangers, and you must track down Maya Cruz to complete the quest. Before starting the mission, I recommend having powerful weapons and a companion if you want to navigate around easily.

How To Complete Surgical Strike Mission

As someone who has spent hours in the game, Surgical Strike is one of the most important missions, where your main objective is to find Maya Cruz and obtain the encrypted slate from her.

Based on my experience, you will gain access to the main mission upon completing the Freestar Collective side mission known as Shadows In Neon.

Before starting the mission, you must talk to a thief who stole a Hope Tech Starship. After that, you will learn about the mission’s objectives and the First Cavalry Mercenaries in Starfield.

Visiting The Clinic

1. The first objective in the Starfield surgical strike mission walkthrough is to find the clinic and talk to Ben Armistead.
2. You will have to complete Shadows In Neon first, and after that, you will be required to go to the clinic and look for Maya Cruz.
3. The clinic is located in the Narion Star System.
4. The clinic will be in a star station, and your quest marker will point toward it.
5. After successfully reaching the clinic, locate the office (on the right side of the reception)
6. Once there interact with a Ranger called Ben Armistead.
7. After speaking to him, he will ask you to see the operations manager of the clinic, Ari Miller.

Speaking To Ari Miller

After speaking to Ari, you will have to follow him to a terminal located in the area. Now, Ari will search the database on the computer to look for patient records.

Next, you will learn no patient named Maya Cruz is in the clinic.

1. Moreover, the search will also suggest that Maya Cruz might be using an alias.
2. Now, Ari will tell you that there are two patients called Candace Doolin and Jane Nakamori who match the description of Maya Cruz.
3. Here, you will be given the option to use your Security Skills or question patients.
4. If you have already unlocked the security skill, you will unlock an exclusive dialogue option where you must go to the Ranger Station Terminal.

Security Skill

First, I suggest going to the Freestar Rangers terminal in Starfield. To do this, you’ll need to initially locate Ranger Armistead’s office.

1. You have to keep to the wall on your left side, and soon, you will reach a terminal with which you need to interact.
2. Now, you have to select Admin Access and then Active Processes.
3. Lastly, you have to click the Query: Disruptor MK4 button.
4. As soon as you do so, you will learn that the disruptor M4 is an application installed by a person in the VIP wing called Catalina P. Rivera.
5. You will also be required to go to the VIP wing, and for that, you will have to gain access.
6. Now you need to speak to Ari again, and he will tell you that access to the VIP wing is limited, and to enter it, you need to get a key card or convince a doctor called Titus Cassidy to give you entry to the VIP section.

Questioning The Patients

If you don’t have the Security Skill unlocked, I suggest you choose the second option to interrogate the patients, Jane Nakamori and Candace Doolin.

Jane Nakamori

The first patient you have to interrogate is called Jane Nakamori, and you will first receive the dialogue option, where you will have to persuade her.

1. After persuading her, you will be able to learn about her criminal record, and there will be 3 outcomes of the interrogation.
2. If you successfully persuade Jane, you will get the option to learn about the stolen data.
3. However, it is clear that she is not Maya Cruz, so you must move on to interrogating Candace Doolin.

Candace Doolin

While Jane Nakamori had many interrogation options and outcomes, Candace Doolin did not. To find her, I recommend exiting Nakamori’s room and heading left.

1. You will come across her room after passing two doors and a vending machine.
2. She is not Maya Cruz and has no potential information for you to learn about.
3. Hence, go back and talk to Ari again; he will tell you that there is another suspect in the clinic called Catalina Rivera.
4. To go to her, you must gain access to the VIP wing.

Accessing The VIP Section

You can gain access to the VIP wing in two ways. I recommend you first try persuading Dr. Titus Cassidy.

The next method involves stealing a key card to get inside. To find Dr. Cassidy, you must return to the clinic’s entrance and go to the left side down the hall.

1. Soon, you will come across the staff area, where you can interact with Doctor Cassidy.
2. If he’s not there, you can look for him in a storage room or the kitchen area.
3. Additionally, you must persuade Doctor Cassidy to get access to the VIP wing.

Persuading Dr. Cassidy

Now, you have to persuade Dr. Cassidy to gain access to the VIP wing. You will also get an additional dialogue option if you already have the Medicine Skill unlocked.

If you convince Doctor Cassidy, you will get access to the VIP wing. Otherwise, you will have to steal the key card. There are two key cards that you can steal, and the first one is obtained from Doctor Cassidy himself.

Stealing The Key Card

I would recommend stealing the other key card, which can be found in the safe of Doctor Cassidy’s office. You will have to use your Digipick on the novice-level safe.

1. If you don’t have it in your inventory yet, search for a sofa in Doctor Cassidy’s office.
2. Make sure to avoid detection while stealing the key card.
3. If you want to steal the key card that Doctor Cassidy has, you need to unlock the theft skill first, after which you can pickpocket him.

Searching For Clues

Now that you finally have the key card, you must return to the clinic and access the VIP section. Make sure to destroy the turret before going toward the docking port.

1. After searching, you find a slate informing you that Maya Cruz has gone to her hideout.
2. The hideout is located in Sakharov in an old asteroid mine, and for the second clue, you will have to go towards the computer in that area.
3. Now, you must perform several steps to unlock the second clue.
4. First, you have to click on Command Override Mode and then select the Disable Program.
5. Next, click on the Patient Terminal and then select the Terminal Access Logs.
6. Check out the first log called C. Rivera guest to complete the Search for Clues objective in the Starfield Surgical Strike mission walkthrough.

Going To Sakharov

Now, utilize your Starship and Star map to navigate towards the Sakharov Star System in the Narion System’s southwestern corner. Next, direct your course toward an asteroid mine named Eklund Sight CL 25, positioned on the northern side of Sakharov.

Investigating The Mine

As soon as you enter the mine, I recommend looking for a door to get access.

After looting the rooms, including the security room, you must go towards the staircase on the right side.

1. On the first floor, avoid the land mines and kill the Shard Hoppers on your way.
2. Next, you must destroy a wall and kill a few more enemies before you come across another door where you must use a Digipick.
3. Soon, you will come across another area where you have to destroy a turret and kill some more Shard Hoppers.
4. After that, you can access a research lab before looting the area.
5. Keep working forward until you reach a crystal and come across a doorway.
6. On the way ahead, there will be many enemies for you to defeat, so make sure you have your weapons loaded and healthy.

Finding Maya Cruz

Based on my gameplay experience, you must destroy another wall after defeating all the enemies to reach Maya Cruz. After you have defeated her, Maya will refuse to give you any information, and you will have to decide at this point.

You can either spare her life or kill her. Either way, you will get an encrypted slate and some loot. Next, you must go to the elevator ahead and find Alex Shadid.

Finding Alex Shadid

Now, I suggest you return to Akila City and make your way to the rock. After that, you need to give the encrypted slate to Alex Shadid, and you will complete the mission. After completing the mission, you will get 350 Exp and 5000 credits as a reward.

With this, I conclude my detailed guide on the Starfield Surgical Strike mission walkthrough. While you are at it, don’t forget to read the guide on Alternating Currents and Religions in Starfield. You can also check out the guide on money glitches in Starfield and how to use the script extender.

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