One Step Ahead is classified as a Faction quest in Starfield and is your first assignment as a Junior Operative at Ryujin Industries. In this mission, you are tasked with uploading a program at Celtcorp, and you must do this covertly.
One Step Ahead will be available after completing the Back to the Grind Faction Mission in Starfield. In this guide, we’ll be going over how you can complete this mission in Starfield, including how to not get caught so you can finish this mission stealthily and with the maximum benefits.
Starfield one step ahead walkthrough
To complete One Step Ahead Faction Mission in Starfield, you must first take up the assignment from Imogene Salzo, your employer and Operations Head at Ryujin Industries.
Talk to Imogene
Travel to Neon at Alpha Volii planet in the Volii Star System. Take a left from the Spaceport Terminal until you find Ryujin Tower. Head up to the Operations Floor and follow the marker to the glass-windowed room, where you will find Imogene.
She will task you with uploading a program into CeltCorp servers as punishment for them trying to hack into Ryujin’s R&D Servers.
You can remove them from the competition as discreetly as possible without drawing any attention. You will now receive a confidential Data Slate. It consists of 2x Digipicks and a program to help you in the mission.
How to Find CeltCorp
You will find CeltCorp in Neon Core on Volii Alpha. A faction mission marker will show its exact location on the planet on the star map, which you can use to fast travel.
Take the elevator back down to the entrance of Ryujin Tower and run straight to the Spaceport Terminal. Hug the right side, past Reliant Medical; it will lead you directly to the CeltCorp Official building. Take the elevator, right of Astral Lounge stairs, up to CeltCorp Floor near the employees.
Upload the program at CeltCorp
Once you’ve reached CeltCorp, make your way through the scanners. Take the last right and reach the computer. This is where you must upload the files. However, you will need to use Digipick to unlock it. Once you’ve hacked it, select the ‘Upload Program’ option to complete this objective. However, make sure that you are not caught when uploading the program.
How you handle this will not impact the mission’s outcome, but there will be some cost to handling it poorly. You can save your game here to return if things don’t go as planned.
How to avoid getting caught by CeltCorp Security
Wait for the employees near the office door to finish their conversation and leave on their coffee break. After they leave, a guard patrolling the area will enter the room. He will stand around the computer you are trying to hack.
After a few seconds, he will leave his position, so take the opportunity to upload the program now while crouching. Be as quick as possible to avoid any further problems. Make sure you’re in sneak mode during this time to avoid further detection. To do this, press the left stick when playing on the controller/Xbox and the Ctrl key when playing on PC.
Report back to Imogene at Ryujin Tower
Lastly, head back to Imogene in Ryujin Tower to report your mission status. Depending on your route, she will praise or warn you for your methods. She will take the slate from you to dispose of it, completing the One Step Ahead faction mission in Starfield.
Starfield One Step Ahead mission rewards
Completing Ryujin Industries faction mission One Step Ahead will reward you with:
- 1000 Credits
- 100 XP
- 1x Reconstim
- ‘A New Narrative’ faction mission
What happens if you get caught?
Apart from having a 350 Credit bounty on you, the CeltCorp security stops you. However, you can choose to pay the fine. Regardless of your choice, you will lose 2850 Credits from your account.
