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Starfield

Rook Meets King: Save or Kill Austin Rake?

By
Seren Morgan-Roberts

This page details how to complete the Crimson Fleet faction quest "Rook Meets King" iconRook Meets King in Starfield. This is the first quest that you’re given after you begin your mission of infiltrating the Crimson Fleet on behalf of the UC SysDef and you’ll be required to do some of Naeva Mora’s dirty work before you earn her trust.

How to Start Rook Meets King

Before you can start Rook Meets King, you’ll first need to start the process of infiltrating the Crimson Fleet. It is a reasonably lengthy process and there are a few ways of starting it, but we’ve covered it all on our How to Join the Crimson Fleet page.

Once you’ve spoken to Adler Kemp and concluded the "Deep Cover" iconDeep Cover quest, you’ll be required to head over and rendezvous with Naeva Mora at the Astraea station that’s orbiting Jupiter’s Moon Europa.

Approach the Astraea and Naeva will make contact. She is willing to let you join the Crimson Fleet but you have to do something for her first (of course!). She wants you to kill the traitor Austin Rake who can be found aboard the Ragana ship.

(1 of 2) You’re looking to join the Crimson Fleet?

You’re looking to join the Crimson Fleet? (left), You gotta do something for Naeva first! (right)

The Ragana Choice: Kill or Save Austin Rake?

Firstly, head over to Enceladus, which is one of Saturn’s moons and wait for the Ragana to appear. Then hail it and speak with the captain. So you can actually complete this mission in a few different ways. You have a choice of four options:

  • Destroy the Ragana Ship in space combat.
  • Persuade the crew of The Ragana to kill Austin Rake for you.
  • Board the Ragana and kill Austin Rake.
  • Plan with the crew to save Austin Rake and lie to Naeva.

So the first option will require just outright attacking the spaceship and killing everybody on board the Ragana. But if you’d prefer, you can actually just persuade the crew to kill him for you. It’s quite a high persuasion check and you’ll need 6 bars to succeed. This shouldn’t be too much of an issue if you have some points in the "Persuasion" iconPersuasion skill tree. We did manage to succeed on the Persuasion check without any skill points but it was a narrow success!

(1 of 2) Approach The Ragana and decide whether you want to kill or save Austin Rake

Approach The Ragana and decide whether you want to kill or save Austin Rake (left), you can even board their ship and speak with them directly. (right)

The third and fourth option require docking and boarding the ship using the [UC SysDef] dialogue option (you can also do the second option on board too). Here you can either betray them all and kill Austin Rake (and the rest of them), or you can concoct a plan with them to save Austin and fake his death by having him dropped off at UC SysDef headquarters. If you choose this latter option, your companion will most likely like that and don’t worry about Naeva as you can just lie to her and join the Crimson Fleet all the same.

However you choose to deal with Austin Rake, you’ll need to report back to Naeva by travelling back to the Astraea. And when you arrive, you’ll be met by several Level 12 Ecliptic spaceship enemies. These guys are pretty tough and pack a punch so if you’re a bit lower leveled or you don’t have a great crew, we’d highly recommend coming back to this mission at a later date as you may get one-shot. Upgrading your ship and/or putting a few points into the spaceship skills, as well as a decent pilot crew mate ("Sam Coe" iconSam Coe is a good start!) can really help with taking these guys out. The Astraea will also help with taking them down, but you also need to have a decent ship to be able to survive.

(1 of 2) Help fend off the Ecliptic attack and make sure your ship is in decent shape before trying out this combat

Help fend off the Ecliptic attack and make sure your ship is in decent shape before trying out this combat (left), when that’s done speak with Astraea and tell her Austin has been taken care of. (right)

Once that’s done, speak with Naeva Mora again and she’ll definitely think you’re on side now. As mentioned, even if you let Austin live, you can lie here and she’ll believe you. She’ll tell you to meet her at "The Key" iconThe Key station that’s orbiting Suvorov in the Kryx system.

Before you can head over there though, you’ll need to report back to Commander Ikande back at the UC SysDef headquarters near Mars. You’ll discover that Commander Ikande was responsible for the Ecliptic attack on The Astraea, and did it as way for you to earn Naeva’s trust (thanks, we nearly died!). As of right now, you’re still technically an undercover informer, but later in the Crimson Fleet questline you’ll get to choose whether you side with the Fleet or continue working with the UC SysDef!

(1 of 2) You’ll need to report back to Ikande before you can proceed to The Key

You’ll need to report back to Ikande before you can proceed to The Key (left), when you arrive at The Key, Naeva will give you a tour. (right)

After speaking with Ikande, make your way over to the Kryx system. It’s pretty far away from the "Sol System" iconSol System so you may need to make a few stops in your journey if you don’t have the fuel to Grav jump all the way.

When you arrive at The Key, you’ll have to witness an intimidating encounter between a Crimson Fleet member and someone who’s crossed him. When the altercation is done, speak with Naeva and she’ll give you a tour of The Key. Follow her around until you’re told to speak with Shinya Voss. After speaking with Shinya Voss, you’ll be told to take the elevator up to the Center of the Key to speak with Delgado, the big boss of the Crimson Fleet.

Speaking with Delgado concludes the quest Rook Meets King and you’ll immediately start the faction quest "Echoes of the Past" iconEchoes of the Past. As a reward for completing Rook Meets King, you’ll earn 5,800 Credits, the Pirate Swashbuckler Gear and 250 XP. You’ll also unlock the Achievement/Trophy “Rook Meets King”.

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Bethesda Softworks
  • Platforms,
    PC, XB X|S
  • Genre
    Action Adventure, Action RPG, Shooter
  • Guide Release
    30 August 2023
  • Last Updated
    18 October 2023
    Version History
  • Guide Author

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Starfield is an action role-playing game from Bethesda Game Studios set in a futuristic interpretation of space exploration and colonization. Earth has long been abandoned, but there are plenty of other planets in different star systems where humans have ventured and settled. You have the freedom to create your own character with a unique background, but the main story will take you through a series of adventures as you uncover more information about mysterious artifacts which create gravitational anomalies. Along the way, you can build and customize your own space ship, establish your own outpost, befriend and romance new companions, and more. As a Bethesda game, you can also expect to see a lot of creative mods which have the potential to change your experience of the base game, or take it in an entirely new direction.

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