Once you join the Freestar Rangers faction in Starfield as a Deputy, you will go on a journey trying to figure out why a mercenary group known as the First is attacking the farms in Freestar territory. Surgical Strike is one of the missions during this investigation that will lead you to a suspect named Maya Cruz. You learn that she is in critical condition so she could be in the only place possible, a star station called The Clinic.
In this guide below, we will explain how you can go about tracking down Maya Cruz and ultimately confront her at her hiding location.
How to find Maya Cruz for Surgical Strike in Starfield
The Surgical Strike mission will start by asking you to head over to The Clinic which is orbiting around Deepala in Narion. However, The Clinic is known to have privacy for its patients which is where Maya Cruz is. You need to Grav jump to this location, dock with The Clinic, and then board it to start the next part.
Talk with Ben Armistead
The only Freestar Ranger posted at The Clinic is Ben Armistead. When you reach there, he will let you know he has already been briefed about the situation and he thinks he knows just the right person to help us: Ari Miller. He will take you to Ari’s desk and leave you to it.
Speak to Ari Miller
When you speak with Ari Miller about a criminal being admitted as one of the patients, he will tell you about how the patient database is acting up causing some kind of issue in the system. Now, Ari will let you know that there is no Maya Cruz in the database but she is likely using an alias.
He will name the only two females admitted currently; Jane Nakamori and Candance Doolin. From here you can go interrogate these patients.
However, if you have the Security Skill from the Tech tree, you will have an extra dialogue option about finding the source of the computer issue using your skill. Ari will tell you to use the Ranger terminal for that while giving you admin access to it.
Search for the Source of the Disruption (Security skill exclusive)
If you selected the Security Skill dialogue option in the Surgical Strike mission, you are now going to want to head over to the Rangers terminal in the room where Ben was. Here is what you need to do on that terminal:
- Open the computer and select Admin Access
- Here, select Active Processes
- Now, choose the one that says ‘Query: Disrupter Mk4’
This will make you discover that this Disrupter Mk4 is the very program causing the issues and its source is coming from the VIP Wing by a patient named Catalina P. Rivera. When going back with this info to Ari, he will let you know that the only two ways to get in the VIP wing are by convincing Dr. Titus Cassidy to let you in or stealing a VIP wing keycard.
Doing all this skips the part where you have to interrogate the patients, so if you had this outcome, skip the step below.
Interrogate the Patients
If you didn’t do the Security Skill outcome for the Starfield Surgical Strike mission, you will have no other option but to go interrogate Jane Nakamori and Candace Doolin. However, this part of the quest doesn’t have much relevance as neither of those patients is Maya Cruz. There can be interesting conversation moments where you can persuade Jane to reveal her crimes and then you can take her bribe and keep it a secret or report her to Ben but it has nothing to do with Maya Cruz.
On the other hand, the conversation with Candace is nothing special at all and has no varied outcomes or anything to do with Maya Cruz as well. When you interrogate both and come back to Ari, he will tell you he has found another female patient named Catalina P. Rivera in the VIP wing. But of course, the only way to get to the VIP wing is by convincing Dr. Titus Cassidy or by stealing a keycard.
Gain Entry to the VIP Wing
To get into the VIP wing, you are going to need a keycard. There are three ways to get the keycard, here are all three and how to do them:
- Convincing Dr. Cassidy: Talk to Dr. Cassidy and you can persuade him to give you the keycard. You can also convince him immediately if you have the Medical Skill as you will have a special dialogue option that convinces him immediately without persuasion.
- Stealing keycard from the Safe: Dr. Cassidy has an office with a safe in it. This will be marked as an objective along with the doctor himself. Wait for the doctor to leave his office then you will have to in there and unlock the safe using a Digipick. Doing this will give you the keycard.
- Pickpocketing Dr. Cassidy: The third and probably the most risky way is to steal the keycard right from his pocket. If your character has a high rank in the Thief skill, then this option might be way easier for you.
Search for Clues
After getting the VIP wing keycard during the Surgical Strike, head over there to find Maya Cruz. Be careful as there is a hacked turret that will attack you just steps away from the entrance so be ready for it. After that, head to the room to the right of the VIP docking port. This place will have mines so be careful of that as well.
In this room, you need to find two clues. The first one is slate kept on a bedside table, read this for it to count. The next one is on the computer on the desk. Here is what you need to do on the computer to get the clue:
- Select Command Override Mode.
- Now, select Disable Program.
- Go to Patient Terminal.
- Select the Terminal Access Logs.
- Then select the first log labeled C. Rivera, Guest.
You will now learn that Maya Cruz knows you are onto her and she has fled to an abandoned mining station on an asteroid in the Sakharov system. Jump to this system and you will find a station named Eklund Site CL25. Dock with this station and board it to continue your hunt for Maya Cruz.
Investigate the Abandoned Asteroid Mine
Maya Cruz is hiding at the end of this treacherous mine. When you start progressing through this, remember that there are mines everywhere. Make sure to use your scanner as it can detect mines and highlight them. You will reach an Emergency Cuttable Wall as you progress. Use any weapon or a laser cutter to break the 4 pins on each of the corners of it in order for it to fall.
Here is a step-by-step guide on how you can progress through this area ahead and reach Maya Cruz:
- Progress until you come across a room surrounded by big blue shards everywhere. This room will have a Remote Security Door Computer.
(Image via Bethesda) - Using this computer, open the door which will be right across the incline of the room you are in. Go through this doorway.
- Eliminate the turrets and Shardhopper creatures as you make your way through it.
- Continue down the steps that you will find on the right side and walk across the slanted crystal shard to reach another walkway overhead.
(Image via Bethesda) - Enter the doorway at the end of it and then activate the switch there to open the next door. Be careful of mines laid on the ground as you progress further from here.
- Now you will find an elevator and a staircase on the left, both go to the same area but the stairs are more of a stealthy option.
- In the next area, there will be a lot of enemies. This will be the main fight for this Surgical strike mission. The important thing you are going to need to avoid is the mining laser beam turrets positioned on towers around the whole area.
- Either fight off the enemies or rush through to Maya. Do this by climbing the structure in the center and reaching the room at the top which will require you to cut down the 4 pins of an Emergency Cuttable Wall.
(Image via Bethesda Softworks) - Behind this is Maya Cruz but also there is a computer that lets you change the powerful mining turrets in the area to be friendly to you.
Confront Maya Cruz
When you get to Maya Cruz during the Surgical Strike, you will need to fight her. Once that is done, she won’t actually die instead she will be downed. You can now talk with her about the whole thing and here you will have two options:
- I’m not leaving until I get some information about the First: Choosing this option will result in Maya Cruz being spared and she will give you an encrypted slate with info on it as she just hangs around waiting for her inevitable death due to her complications.
- [Attack] You leave me no choice: Choosing this option will let you kill Maya Cruz yourself and then you can loot her body to get the encrypted slate with the info you need with some additional loot.
After this, head out of the area using the elevator that has now opened in the area below and head back to Akila.
Give the Encrypted Slate to Alex Shadid
Finally, to successfully complete this mission, head to The Rock in Akila City and give the encrypted slate you got from Maya Cruz to Alex Shadid. This marks the end of the Surgical Strike mission in Starfield
Since you have been doing the Freestar Rangers missions, you might be wondering if you can join all factions in Starfield.
