Starfield’s Best There Is: Complete Mission Guide

The Best There Is stands as one of the most thrilling and complex missions within Starfield’s Crimson Fleet questline. This high-stakes operation tasks players with infiltrating a heavily secured space station and escaping with a prototype vessel—a mission that demands careful planning, strategic thinking, and tactical execution. Whether you prefer subtle approaches or direct action, understanding the multiple pathways through this mission will ensure your success and maximize your rewards.

Understanding the Mission Foundation

This mission serves as the fifth major quest within the Crimson Fleet faction storyline, following the completion of “Breaking the Bank.” Delgado, the commanding officer of the Crimson Fleet, issues this assignment after recognizing the need for advanced technology to reach a vault crucial to the faction’s long-term goals. The objective is straightforward in concept but complex in execution: travel to SY-920, a staryard orbiting Luyten’s Rock, locate a prototype ship, and escape with it before authorities can stop you.

The mission presents players with significant rewards for success—250 experience points and 9,600 credits—but the true value lies in progressing the Crimson Fleet storyline and obtaining the prototype vessel necessary for future objectives. However, the path to success is fraught with security checkpoints, armed personnel, and sophisticated detection systems that reward careful planning over reckless action.

Pre-Mission Preparation and Setup

Before departing for SY-920, several preparation steps will determine your success. First, travel to the Alpha Centauri System and land at New Atlantis on the planet Jemison. Navigate to The Well, a bustling spaceport hub, where you’ll meet Huan Daiyu, a critical ally in this operation. Huan commands the Jade Swan, a vessel that will transport you to the target location.

During your initial conversation with Huan, you’ll encounter a dialogue choice regarding a coma spike—a security device central to the mission. While telling the truth may earn Huan’s assistance later, you can successfully complete the mission without her help. This flexibility demonstrates the mission’s design philosophy: multiple valid approaches exist, and player choice genuinely matters.

Before boarding the Jade Swan, assess your current equipment and skills. Depending on your chosen approach—stealth, disguise, or combat—ensure you have appropriate tools and perks developed. This preparation phase prevents mid-mission complications and ensures smooth progression.

Transportation and Arrival at SY-920

Board Huan’s ship, the Jade Swan, and prepare for the journey to SY-920. As you approach the staryard, Huan provides final operational briefing. She advises locating both a uniform and an intercom system to maintain communication throughout your infiltration. These details, while seemingly minor, represent crucial intelligence gathered from Crimson Fleet reconnaissance.

When docking with SY-920, Huan will advise you to disembark and begin your infiltration. The space station represents a significant military installation, with multiple security layers and personnel rotations. Understanding the layout becomes essential for navigating safely toward your objective.

Approach One: The Stealth Infiltration Path

For players specializing in stealth gameplay, this approach offers the cleanest completion with minimal casualties and maximum rewards. The stealth path requires significant investment in the Security skill, a supply of Digipicks for lock-picking, and confidence in your ability to navigate without detection.

Begin by exiting the Jade Swan and locating a maintenance storage closet near the entry point. This area provides access to ventilation systems that bypass security checkpoints entirely. The vents throughout SY-920, while seemingly impractically sized for human passage in reality, serve as crucial bypasses in the game’s design.

To access these vents, you’ll need to acquire a maintenance keycard. Locate a member of the station’s crew—identifiable by scanning surrounding areas—and identify one who has lost or misplaced a keycard. Through careful observation or conversation, discover the location of this keycard, typically guarded by intimidating personnel.

Approach the cardholder using persuasion or intimidation to convince them to retrieve the keycard from the dangerous individual guarding it. Once obtained, use the maintenance keycard to access the storage closet, then proceed through the ventilation system toward the barracks area. This route completely circumvents security checkpoints and hostile encounters.

Approach Two: The Disguise and Social Engineering Method

Players preferring a balanced approach combining stealth with limited social interaction often favor the disguise method. This pathway involves acquiring guard uniforms and using them to move through the station as if you belong there.

Navigate to the barracks area—an objective your mission marker will guide you toward. Within the barracks, locate lockers containing station uniforms. Acquire a standard uniform when no guards are observing, then equip it. The uniform grants you access to standard security areas and allows you to pass through checkpoints without immediate suspicion.

However, higher-security areas require additional clearance. Locate Ensign Akasaka’s uniform, which provides access to Engineering Bay 4—the location of the prototype ship’s final security layer. When acquiring this uniform, also locate Akasaka’s security credentials or password. These can be found in nearby logs or datapads and are essential for bypassing the advanced security clearance system protecting the engineering bay.

Armed with the appropriate uniform and security credentials, you can traverse most of the station openly. When encountering guards at checkpoints, use persuasion skills to convince them of your legitimate presence, or avoid suspicion entirely by walking with confidence and purpose through secure areas.

Advanced Security Areas and Problem-Solving

Regardless of your chosen approach, certain security barriers require specific solutions. The Engineering Bay 4 access point stands protected by security clearance upgrades that a basic uniform cannot bypass. You must acquire higher-level credentials through exploration and investigation.

Search for security terminals or personal datapads containing the necessary access codes. These information repositories contain both passwords and clearance levels that, when input at security terminals, unlock additional areas. Alternatively, if you possess sufficient Hacking skills, you can bypass electronic security entirely through terminal manipulation.

The ComSpike represents another crucial objective within the station. This device contains vital intelligence but is secured within a restricted area. Locating this device may require exploration beyond your primary objective or following optional quest markers. While not strictly necessary for mission completion, gathering this intelligence provides contextual satisfaction and demonstrates thorough preparation.

Locating and Acquiring the Prototype Ship

Once you’ve navigated past initial security barriers and reached Engineering Bay 4, you’ll discover the prototype vessel. This advanced starship represents cutting-edge Crimson Fleet technology and serves as your means of escape. Boarding the vessel requires access to the bay itself and confirmation from the craft’s security systems that you possess proper authorization.

If you’ve followed the disguise path successfully, simply approach the prototype and attempt to board. You’ll likely encounter a final security checkpoint where you must convince a guard that you’re the authorized test pilot. Use your best persuasion argument or, if your character development supports it, attempt intimidation to bypass this final social hurdle.

If you’ve followed the stealth path, you may reach the prototype without encountering this final guard. In such cases, board immediately and prepare for immediate departure, as your covert presence will soon be discovered.

Escape and Pursuit Evasion

Upon boarding the prototype, you’ll immediately trigger alerts throughout the station. Your escape is the mission’s climactic moment. The vessel’s weapons and defensive systems are fully functional, but your priority is distance rather than confrontation. Engage the gravjump drive—an advanced faster-than-light capability—and execute an emergency jump to escape SY-920’s defensive perimeter.

Your destination is The Key, the Crimson Fleet’s primary base of operations. Arriving at The Key completes the immediate flight portion of the mission. However, the mission’s conclusion requires personal reports to fleet leadership.

Mission Conclusion and Final Reports

Upon docking at The Key, locate Huan at the station’s bar area and deliver your initial report. Huan will acknowledge your successful acquisition of the prototype and provide you with information regarding the next phase of Crimson Fleet operations.

Following this conversation, you must report to Commander Ikande aboard the UC Vigilance—a United Colonies military vessel where you’re stationed as an operative. This final report concludes the mission officially and triggers your reward distribution.

Strategic Considerations for Success

Mission difficulty varies significantly based on your approach and character development. Players emphasizing combat skills may find direct confrontation viable, though this approach sacrifices the bonus rewards for clean completion. Players emphasizing stealth or social skills enjoy the most streamlined path with maximum bonuses.

Regardless of approach, never intentionally kill innocent station personnel. Doing so jeopardizes your entire relationship with UC SysDef and triggers failure conditions or reputation penalties. The mission is specifically designed to reward non-lethal completion.

Manage your resources carefully. Digipicks and medical supplies are consumable resources that may be limited depending on your current inventory. Plan your route to minimize resource consumption and avoid unnecessary encounters.

Common Challenges and Solutions

Many players encounter confusion regarding the maintenance keycard location or struggle with the ventilation system navigation. Remember that the keycard is held by a specific crew member who will direct you to its location if persuaded appropriately. The ventilation system, while large enough for human passage in-game, connects multiple areas of the station and serves as a comprehensive bypass route for security-conscious players.

Guard rotations can create timing challenges for stealth-focused players. Observe guard patrol patterns before committing to action. The Security skill allows you to gather intelligence about guard positions and rotations, making planning significantly easier.

Password and clearance issues often result from players failing to thoroughly explore for datapads and security terminals. Systematic exploration of each area reveals this critical information naturally.

Optimization Tips for Maximum Rewards

Complete the mission without killing innocent NPCs to receive full rewards and maintain positive faction relationships. This approach also earns achievement recognition in many cases. Search thoroughly for the ComSpike and other optional objectives to demonstrate thorough mission completion.

Utilize the most efficient route matching your character’s developed skills. A stealth specialist should never resort to combat; a charismatic character should lean heavily on persuasion; a hacking expert should maximize terminal manipulation. Playing to your character’s strengths creates the smoothest experience.