Out on a Limb is the second Starfield mission you receive from Kelton Frush in New Atlantis, and the first one featuring an important choice you must make if you wish to learn more about the NPCs you meet.
Truth be told, Starfield Out on a Limb is one of the missions where you get to see Bethesda‘s devs shine because even though it’s relatively short, this mission holds more than the eye meets.
Simply put, the Out on a Limb mission in Starfield allows you to judge two NPCs, but it comes with a twist, proving that sometimes humans tend to be superficial.
While there are no long-term effects on the game’s story, Out on a Limb is one of the Starfield missions you don’t want to miss, especially if you pay attention to the characters you meet in the game and their stories.
So, in the following Starfield Out on a Limb walkthrough, we’ll discuss the best dialogue choices and decisions you can make while playing this mission.
How To Start Out on a Limb Mission in Starfield
To start the Out on a Limb side mission, first, you must complete A Tree Grows In New Atlantis side mission for Kelton Frush, the scientist in Mast District.
Make sure you check the A Tree Grows In New Atlantis walkthrough if you need help finding Kelton Frush and his Bio-Sensors. After you finish the mission, you’ll have to wait until Out on a Limb becomes available. Eventually, you’ll be notified that Kelton Frush wants to talk to you again.
As you can guess, you’ll find him close to the large tree in Mast District.
When approaching Kelton, he’ll be surprised and pleased to see you, but remember that he is not what he seems to be.
Regardless, he will inform you that he reported his recent discoveries to MAST, but the vibrations from the trees continue to grow. To continue, ask him if he has a plan, and he’ll tell you that there is more data to be found.
But now, Kelton starts to act a bit strange because there is another scientist involved in this research—specifically Emilio Hadek.
The problem, however, is that Emilio Hadek doesn’t want to hand over the data for Kelton’s research, so the scientist needs your help retrieving it. When he asks you to help him, feel free to agree and get ready to pay Emilio Hadek a visit, but be advised that Kelton doesn’t want you to mention his name. Let’s see why.
Where To Find Emilio Hadek
Emilio Hadek is relatively easy to find as long as you track the current mission and follow the objective marker on your screen by pressing LB.
From your current location, head north towards the marker and follow the stairs to the upper section of the area. Continue following the alley in the park, and you’ll see him studying a tree.
When you talk to Emilio, feel free to ask him what he is doing or tell him that you are on MAST business, but keep in mind that even if you don’t mention Kelton’s name, Emilio knows that he sent you. Now, pay attention to what Emilio says because although he doesn’t look like a friendly fellow, he has good reasons to hate Kelton. Let’s see how to tackle this situation.
Emilio Hadek Dialogue Choices
As said, the Starfield Out on a Limb mission is trickier than it looks at first sight because it depends on how you deal with Emilio Hadek. Make sure that you first ask Emilio: Why are you so against helping him?
At this point, Emilio tells you that Kelton screwed him, and he won’t be able to advance in MAST. Next, choose: Kelton says this isn’t about him. Lives could be at stake.
Even though Emilio starts laughing, he will agree to help you. For a price, of course. And this price involves helping him secure a better position at MAST. Now, you’ll have to choose from three options:
- Fine, I’m in – Continues the current mission, and you must help Emilio.
- This sounds shady. I don’t want anything to do with it – Pauses the current mission.
- What do you want me to do – Allow Emilio to explain what he wants.
Start by asking Emilio what he wants, and he’ll tell you he wants you to erase the files containing his performance evaluations. Obviously, this is quite illegal, but the only way to get another choice is to agree to help him. So tell him you are in, and you’ll get more dialogue choices, including the option to Persuade Emilio. Pick the following options next:
- +3 This isn’t the way to get ahead
- +2 Handing over the data is the right thing to do
After agreeing to help Emilio Hadek, you may think that you did the wrong thing, but in fact, you are about to find the truth about Kelton. If you don’t want to get involved, you can easily persuade and even threaten Emilio to hand over the data, but in this case, you’ll miss the most important aspect of the mission.
So play along, and let’s see where to find the Terminal.
How To Delete the Files From the Terminal in Out on a Limb
Once you agree to help Emilio, follow the alley nearby and the objective marker on your screen, and it will take you to a large building named Orion Tower.
Before entering, however, be advised that you need a Digipick to lockpick the door. If you don’t have one, consider visiting a vendor because most of them sell Digipicks.
Now, head inside and take the elevator. When you reach the upper level, head right and check the first door on the left side.
Lockpick the door, and feel free to loot everything when you get inside because nobody can spot you. The Terminal you are looking for is in the living room. Make sure you interact with it.
After you access the Terminal, you’ll first want to check the Personnel Files; however, before deleting Emilio’s files, check Kelton’s files to find out that the good scientist has some personality disorders, and he even attempted to ambush President Abello.
Furthermore, Kelton is not allowed to enter the MAST building, but at the start of the mission, he claimed that he informed MAST about the tree. So our friendly scientist is actually a person with severe problems and a liar. On top of this, he sabotaged Emilio’s career. In other words, even though you are breaking the law, you are doing the right thing.
Now, check Emilio’s personnel files and hit the Purge All Filles folder.
Once you delete all files about Emilio, head back to his location, and he’ll immediately reward you with 1000 Credits. Furthermore, he’ll give you the data for Kelton, meaning it’s time to bring it back to our shady scientist.
Since now you know that he is not what he seems to be, play it safe and tell him that he doesn’t want to know what you had to do to get the data. He’ll agree and pay you an additional 2000 Credits. Now, the Out On A Limb mission is complete, but you’ll get to see Kelton again very soon when the Late Bloomer mission becomes available.
“On top of this, he sabotaged Emilio’s career. ”
I disagree with this assessment. Sounds like Emilio is a lazy, insubordinate piece of shit. Sure Kelton might not be an angel but it really doesn’t seem like he “sabotaged” the career, he just got rid of dead weight from his team. Emilio even admits he does as little as possible hoping for a cushy management position open up.
True, except that Kelton’s team consists of two members. Kelton and Emilio. Obviously Emilio is lazy, mainly because he realized that Kelton’s experiments are based on a fantasy. They have no utility, so he decided to step away. Would you follow a leader who asks you to work in vain?
I caution those who follow the above advice to make some saves beforehand because the conclusion the writer has reached, seems wrong. When you read the computer files, you see that Kelton only has one item on his record. And it’s from a security officer who has banned Kelton from the MAST building after Kelton tried to ambush a member. Ambush in this case doesn’t mean violently, but Kelton was trying to get someone to take his tree findings seriously. This lines up with what Kelton tells us himself, that people dismissed his claims and wouldn’t believe him.
Emilio on the otherhand, has 3 strikes on his record. One of which is indeed from Kelton and it reads something like “Emilio refused to do many tasks, saying they were beneath him.” This definitely fits Emilio’s nasty personality and makes sense that someone who picks and chooses what work is worth it for him to do, wouldn’t be very good on a science team.
Also as an added bonus, if you agree to delete the files and Sarah is with you, she dislikes this saying it doesn’t feel right doing something illegal like this. If right after that, you persuade Emilio to hand over the data without deleting the files he wants, she likes that. So I don’t believe helping Emilio is the “right” thing to do here like the post states.
What Sarah likes/dislikes is debatable unless you want to romance her, and in this case, you want to play accordingly. However, this doesn’t mean she is always right, and a good example can be observed during the third mission when Kelton asks you to upload the files to the SSNN server, which is illegal, as both Kelton and Sarah agree. Furthermore, the ambush wasn’t on a member but on the United Colonies, President Abello. Kelton’s project is a wild goose chase, and Emilio refused to do it, so Kelton decided to give him a strike. The fact that Kelton tells you that he informed MAST about the imminent disaster is also a lie since he is not allowed to enter MAST for three months. Finally, during the third mission, Leah Casler outlines that Kelton has constantly harassed her for the tree branch.
OMG y’all ! The tree is either calling a Terrormorph or going to turn into one! Think about it! A tree that’s changing? A planet where a Terrormorph appears weirdly. No one knows where they’re coming from or sees them come? I’m guessing it turns into one, really.