Surgical Strike in Starfield is one of the missions you can do with the Freestar Rangers. After finding out that there's more to a threat made to a farmer than first appears, your investigation requires you to track down Maya Cruz, but finding her is easier said than done.

There are multiple steps to this Starfield mission, so we recommend having a few weapons and quite a few aid items as well as ammunition in your pocket. Also, we strongly advise taking a companion along with you if you have one as it can make the later part of this mission so much easier.

When you're ready, we're here to show you how to complete Surgical Strike in Starfield.

How to find The ClinicHow to search for Maya Cruz in The ClinicHow to get into the VIP sectionHow to find the clues in The ClinicHow to navigate the Abandoned Asteroid MineTo see this content please enable targeting cookies.Manage cookie settings Our latest look at Starfield gameplay footage.Watch on YouTube

If you’d like more help in your galactic adventures, visit our Starfield guides, tips and tricks page.

How to find The Clinic in Starfield

The Clinic that you need to go to as part of the Surgical Strike mission in Starfield can be found in the Narion System, which is north east of Alpha Centauri. You may need to visit the Sol system to the north of Alpha Centauri before you can make the jump to Narion.

When you're in the Narion System, you can find The Clinic on a Star Station in the rings of Deepala. Make sure that you have the Surgical Strike mission tracked so that the quest marker reveals which one this is.

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How to search for Maya Cruz in The Clinic in Starfield

When you're at The Clinic, dock and head inside then go past reception into the main room. Head to the right and you should see the Ranger's Office. Head inside here and you can find Ranger Ben Armistead behind his desk. Speak with him.

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Follow the conversation, picking whatever options you want, and then follow Ben out to Ari. Then, again, follow the conversation, speak to Ari and then follow him to his terminal in the middle of the room. Once he's sat down, wait for him to reveal that there's no patient by the name Maya Cruz, which leads you both to suspect she's using an alias.

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Ari reveals that there are a few patients in The Clinic that may match Maya's description: Candace Doolin and Jane Nakamori.

Now, this is where you've got a couple of options for figuring out if Maya is there:

Use your Security SkillQuestion Patients

Use your Security Skill

If you have the Security Skill, then an extra conversational option will appear when speaking to Ari. Select this and then Ari will unlock the terminal in the Ranger's Office so that you can access it.

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Head to the terminal opposite Ranger Ben's desk in his office and then do the following:

Select 'Admin Access'.Select 'Active Processes'.Then, select the option 'Query: Disruptor Mk4'.

Doing this will then reveal that the source of the problems Ari has been having with his computer system has come from a patient called Catalina Rivera in the V.I.P portion of The Clinic. You guessed it, this could be Maya Cruz.

Question Patients

If you don't have the Security Skill, then you will need to question the patients. Head into the ward rooms and question both Jane and Candace - you'll eventually conclude that neither of them are the person you're looking for.

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Once you've done this, go back to Ari at his terminal and you'll learn that he's pulled up another possible suspect. A patient called Catarina Rivera in the V.I.P section.

How to get into the VIP section in The Clinic in Starfield

Now, Ari also tells you that getting into the VIP area is hard and that you need to get the key card to access it. The doctor in charge of the area is Doctor Titus Cassidy and according to Ari, he's quite tough to get around, but there are a few ways you can get the key card.

Persuade Dr CassidyUse Medicine SkillSteal The Card

We recommend doing a hard save at this point, that way if you fail at any of your attempts you can try again.

Persuade Dr Cassidy

If you want to try to talk your way into the VIP section, then you can always try to persuade Doctor Cassidy to give the card over. To do this, track him down (he's usually in the main office right after you finish speaking with Ari) and then engage in conversation with him until the 'Persuade' option appears.

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To successfully persuade him to give the key over, you will need to score six points in three turns. We failed the first time, but the second time we attempted it we got a bit tough with him and he relented.

Use Medicine Skill

If you've unlocked the Medicine skill, an option to pretend to be a medical professional will appear after speaking to Dr Cassidy. This is arguably the easiest way to get the key card because he buys it right away and hands it over without causing any problems.

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Steal The Card

You can also steal the key card if you're feeling brave, or are fed up of dealing with the stubborn Doctor. To do this, stand at Ari's terminal and then look around until you see a doorway with 'Staff Area' above it.

Walk through this doorway and look left, you should see another door with 'Dr. Cassidy' written on the wall next to it. This is his office. Head in here and you should see a safe on the wall behind his desk - this is a novice lock so it's relatively easy to pick.

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Once you're in, steal the card and get out of the room as soon as possible.

How to find the clues in The Clinic in Starfield

However you've chosen to get into the VIP section, be ready for a fight as the moment you open the doors there will be an active turret on the ceiling firing at you. Take the turret out and then carefully head into Catarina's room on the right.

Be careful here - the bed and the medical box in here are rigged with mines.

Once you've safely gotten rid of the mine traps, you'll realise that Maya Cruz has vanished. This is when you need to start looking for clues around the room.

Clue One

The first clue is on the modified terminal near the door. Access this and then do the following:

Select 'Command Override Mode'.Then disable the programme.After this, enter 'Terminal Access Logs'.Then select the top 'C.Rivera, Guest' option.

This will reveal that Maya has set course for Sakharov, but doesn't tell you exactly where.

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Clue Two

The second clue is a slate on the table beside the bed in the room. Pick this up and read it as it reveals exactly where Maya has gone. She's gone to the abandoned asteroid mine in Sakharov.

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After finding both clues, it's time to head off to Sakharov.

How to navigate the Abandoned Asteroid Mine in Sakharov in Starfield

Before heading to Sakharov we recommend stocking up on any healing items, food, aid, weapons and ammunition that you need. Trust us, you may need it.

The abandoned asteroid mine is in the Sakharov System just south of Alpha Centauri. This is a single planet system, with the planet being a Gas Giant called Bonner and its moon is Mir II. The abandoned mine is on the outskirts of Bonner, and is marked as 'Eklund Excavation Site CL25'.

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Use the quest marker on your star map to fast travel to its location, it makes it much easier to find. Once you're there, you'll need to carefully navigate through an asteroid field towards the marked location and you should find that the mining facility is on a massive asteroid in the middle of the field.

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Dock at the facility and head inside. Once inside, head to the left through the first secure access door by activating the button to the right of it. Head in through the doors, activate the next button on the right and continue through the next set of doors again.

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In the next area, you should see some stairs opposite you and slightly to the right - head down them but keep your wits about you. Maya has rigged the walkway with mines, once you trigger them run forward and keep running to get away from them.

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On the far side of this area, you should find an 'Emergency Cuttable Wall'. There are four pins on each corner of this door that you need to break to get through. We recommend using a mining Cutter to get through them, but you can use another weapon if you need to.

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Once you've gotten through the door, follow the path forwards and then down some stairs to your right. Here, there will be a hostile Robot Model A - take them out and then keep following the walkway path down to the next lower level.

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In the next area, use the elevator on your left (or stairs on your right depending on how you feel) to get to the lower level. Here, you will encounter a few hostile creatures - deal with them as they can cause a bit of damage and then look on the right side of the area (with your back facing the elevator/stairs) and you should see a ramp leading up to raised platform.

Go up the ramp and get ready to fight as there's a hostile Robot Model S waiting at the top. Deal with them and then head into the bunker-like room on the platform to find the computer terminal.

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We recommend doing another save here. This is in case you can't hack the lock on the computer the first time. If you fail, you can go back to the save and try again without losing all of your Digipicks.

Hack into the computer, it's a novice lock but it did catch us out at first. Once you're in the computer use the 'Open Door' command. Head back down the ramp and directly opposite you should now be an open door. Head through here into the next area.

Go down the stairs here, but watch your back as there is a turret here on top of a building structure. With your back facing the door you just came through, head to the right side of this area and keep heading forward until you come to a large hole.

At this point, look down and you should see a metal walkway slightly opposite you. Use your boost pack to carefully fly down here and then follow the path forward.

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Follow the path until you reach another Secure Access Door, flip the switch to the right of it and run through it, following the path to the right. You need to run as Maya has set up a few mines behind the door, so don't stick around, just run.

Once you're through the mines, follow the path to the right and eventually you'll come to an area with an elevator in it. There are several weapon cases and a medical kit in this area, so take time to stock up if you need to.

When you're ready, head down in the elevator and get ready for a fight. There are several robot enemies down here, but the things you need to watch out for are the Mining Turrets. They're right against the ceiling and will do serious damage. If you have a companion, this part will be easier.

Focus on taking out the mining turrets, then deal with any remaining enemies. Once you've done this, head up the structure in the middle of the room. This will take you to a platform at the very top with another bunker-like structure on it.

There's another small turret on top of this building - take it out and then deal with the Emergency Cuttable Door on the bunker. Once you've gotten inside, get ready to fight.

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Your search is over, Maya is in here. Take her out and when she collapses to the ground, head over and speak to her.

You'll have a few options here, you can attack her right away or you can get some answers first. We chose to ask questions first, we felt benevolent today.

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Once the encounter is over, you'll have an encrypted slate in your possession. Take this back to Alex in The Rock in Akila City and the mission will be complete!

If you're looking for more Starfield content, check out our Kid Stuff and Dream Home trait explainers. Alternatively check out our guides on stealing ships and increasing your carry capacity.

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