Surgical Strike continues your adventure in Freestar Collective’s storyline in Starfield. Since this is part of the ongoing investigation into the ship heist, you must first complete the Shadows in Neon mission of the Freestar Collective Faction storyline. Doing so will lead you towards the Surgical Strike mission.
Every lead you have gathered will point towards the fact that Maya Cruz is sick and is admitted to a hospital in The Clinic. It is a medical facility near Deepla Planet in the Narion Star System. Here is how the story will unfold.
Visit the Clinic
To start the surgical strike mission in Starfield, you must head to the Clinic. You will find the Clinic in the Narion Star System. You can reach it pretty easily as it is found northeast of the Alpha Centauri. Once you are at the system, head over to the rings of Deepala to find the clinic on a Star Station.
Look for Maya Cruz
The first order of business is to gather information about the whereabouts of Maya in the Clinic. Your first point of contact will be Ben Armstrong, Freestar Ranger stationed at the facility. He will welcome you and introduce you to Ari Miller, who handles the records for the hospital.
Ari will be happy to help and tell you that there has been some issue with the computers at the hospital. If you have Computer Skills unlocked, you can help with it. Ari will try to find Maya in the system. However, he reveals no such patient in the Maya Cruz clinic.
He will tell you that since she is a criminal, it is unlikely that she will use her real then. He then tells you about all the female patients admitted to the hospital. Furthermore, you will find that certain patients in the clinic do resemble Maya Cruz. You have two options now: to question all the patients or gain access to the Ranger’s Office.
Access the ranger’s office (choice)
If you possess Security Skills, you can easily unlock an additional option. This option allows you to talk to Ari and gain access to the Ranger’s Office. You can search for any related information regarding Maya Cruz.
Head to Ben’s Desk and select Admin Access >Active Processes>Query: Disruptor Mk4. This will show you a few problems regarding a Catalina Rivera patient in the V.I.P. Room. This suspect can be identified as Maya Cruz.
Question all patients (choice)
Alternatively, you can question all patients to receive information about Maya Cruz. Head to the wardroom and investigate the two suspects, Jane and Candace. However, both aren’t the person you are looking for. Therefore, head back to Ari and find out he has another suspect for you named Catalina Rivera.
Gain access to the VIP section
The VIP section is restricted; you can only enter with a Key Card. To obtain that, you will have to talk to Doctor Cassidy.
There are two ways to get it. Either your Persuasion Skill is high enough that you can talk him into giving you the card. But, for that, you must score six in each of the three turns you make during your Persuasion.
You can also unlock Medical Skills and use them to pose as a medical professional. Dr. Cassidy will believe you and give you access to the VIP Section of the hospital. This is arguably the easiest option, granting you access without wasting time.
However, if you have none of the options above, you can steal the card to access the clinic’s VIP section. You can steal the keys by heading to Dr.Cassidy’s room and lockpicking the safe of his wall behind the desk.
Investigate the VIP Section
You will see utter chaos as soon as you enter the VIP section. The turrets have been activated, and the room you enter has a bobby trap, so better watch out. You must look for clues regarding Catalina Rivera during the Starfield surgical strike mission. It turns out it is Maya Cruz, and she knew you were coming and made a run for it.
Search for clues
From the note on the side of her bed, it can be seen that she is headed for a hideout in the old abandoned mine in Sakharov. It is time to head there and put an end to this all.
Clue Location (1)
You will find the first clue by finding the terminal near the door. After getting access to it, select Command Override Mode to disable the program. Furthermore, enter Terminal Access Logs and select the C.Rivera, Guest option at the top.
Clue Location (2)
Another clue is on the desk near the bed. It is the simplest clue, giving the exact location where Maya is headed.
Locate Maya Cruz in The Abandoned Asteroid Mine
You can fast travel to Sakharov and dock your ship. Head inside the abandoned mine. You need to go deeper and deeper into the mine until you come upon a door. You’ll enter the mine through this door. Note that this door has a broken switch, which you will find during the Starfield surgical strike mission.
Attempting to use the switch will result in you losing your health. To bypass the broken switch, grab the cutter, which is present towards your right, and cut the four pins on its side to proceed further.
Head inside until you reach the floor, where you will find a computer terminal to use and unlock a new section of the mine. Go out again and keep following the path. You will again find a locked door that can be opened using the lever on the right side.
Keep going until you see a large tower made out of crystal. On top of the tower, inside the lab, you will find Maya Cruz. You can take her down pretty easily. She will talk with you and ask you to kill her, but you need information.
She will then give you an encrypted tablet and will ask you to leave you alone.
How to Leave Abandoned Asteroid Mine
Once you have the tablet and have killed Maya Cruz, you’ll need to make your way out of the mine. To do so, head to the back of the room, where you will find Maya; here, you’ll find an elevator. Enter it, and once you arrive at your intended destination, the doors directly in front of you will open and you can exit the abandoned asteroid mine.
Visit Alex Shadid in Akila City
Once you’ve exited the mine, head back to The Rock and find Alex Shadid. He will ask you about your mission and tell you he can probably crack this encryption if you give him more slates like this. With that, the quest will end, and you will be rewarded.
Surgical Strike mission rewards
These are going to be your compensations for completing the Starfield Surgical Strike mission:
- 5000x Credits
- 350 XP
Starfield surgical strike bug
You may face a bug during the Starfield Surgical Strike mission. During this bug, Ben does not get up from his position. You will face this issue during the part when you must follow him. This can result in some of the most frustrating moments during this mission. This bug can be tackled in several ways
- Instead of waiting for Ben, you can go to Dr. Cassidy’s office to steal the keys, allowing you to access the VIP wing.
- Sometimes, this bug is brought about by skipping through his dialogue options. Listen to everything he says to mitigate the risk of this bug occurring.
- Try hitting Ben Armistead to get him going. In our testing, this seemed to yield promising results
- If you don’t want to go the first route and the other two options aren’t working, try reloading an earlier save file to avoid the bug.
