After spending some time with the Freestar Rangers in Starfield, your main mission will have you trying to locate a ship that was stolen from HopeTech by the First mercenaries. During the mission “Shadows in Neon”, you will end up exploring the Neon Pleasure City in an attempt to get closer to the stolen ship.
In the process, you’ll end up paying off more debt and practicing your persuasion techniques while trying to get more information. After all, that’s the life of a deputy sheriff! Here’s how to complete the Freestar Rangers “Neon Shadows” mission in Starfield.
Shadows in Neon mission guide in Starfield
Start the Neon Shadows quest by heading to Neon City. When he arrives, he enters the Freestar Rangers outpost and talks to his partner, Jaylen Pryce, who is a pretty nice guy.
I like this guy. I hope we see more of him. | Image credit: Bethesda
He will then take you to meet his friend, a ship mechanic, in Ebbside. Follow Jaylen to his friend, who is quite far away, so be careful not to get too far ahead.
When you approach Billy Clayton, let Jaylen talk and then tell him about the stolen ship. He will reveal to her that he has problems with a Syndicate after his brother owed them money. Now his brother is missing, which means they’re trying to get Billy to pay the debt.
Tell Billy you’ll take care of his debt. | Image credit: Bethesda
Billy makes a deal and tells us that if we take care of the debt, he will give us the information we need. So we agreed to talk to the Syndicate for him and come back later, once we’ve taken care of everything.
Head to the Neon Underworld and the Syndicate hideout, and save your game with quicksave. A guard will be at the door to the hideout, but you can persuade him to let you in.
Persuade the guard to let you in. | Image credit: Bethesda
If you have completed the Ryujin Industries questline and have been equipped with a Neuroamp, you will be able to use Manipulation when persuading NPCs to convince them easily. Unfortunately, if you don’t have it yet, you have your quick save to return to if you fail the persuasion check.
Persuade Emmet to let the debt go, or pay it off for Billy. Also, why does this guy look so much like Jack Nicholson? | Image credit: Bethesda
Very soon, he will let you in. She goes upstairs and talks to Emmet Goodman about Billy’s debt. He’ll be hesitant to let it go, but again, you can persuade him to do so (and use manipulation in the process). Alternatively, he can simply pay off Billy’s debt, which is only 4000 credits.
With the debt paid off, return to Billy and Jaylen. Billy will tell you to look for someone known as Grace Early, who frequents Madame Sauvage’s Place. She knows everything when it comes to stealing ships and selling them in Neon City.
Persuade Grace to tell us what she knows about the stolen HopeTech ship. | Image credit: Bethesda
So, head to Madame Sauvage’s Place, quicksave and talk to Grace. Again, she will be reluctant to tell you anything, but you can persuade her to do so. She really wants to help, but she doesn’t want to get in trouble, so persuasion tips that play on that will be successful.
Return to Akila City and give the encrypted slate to Alex. | Image credit: Bethesda
Grace will then give us an encrypted board with evidence that we can use. Return to Akila City and talk to Alex Shadid at The Rock; Give him the board to decrypt it.
Report your progress to Daniel Blake, where he will begin detailing your next mission. | Image credit: Bethesda
After speaking with Alex, return to Marshal Daniel Blake and update him on your progress. He will help you point you in the right direction of our ship thief, which is La ClÃnica. Now it’s time to complete the “Surgical Strike” mission.