Red Tape Runaround is the second Starfield side mission you can accept from Trevor Petyarre, the Mining Director for the Deimos mining project in Cydonia, which is located on Mars in the Sol system.
Trevor needs help getting the miners new equipment, and while completing his first mission, Red Tape Blues, you become Peter Brennan’s assistant.
Peter is the only one who can approve the equipment request, but you need to access his terminal and get it done yourself.
However, the mission is pretty tricky, and you have multiple choices to get it done.
As such, in the following walkthrough, I’ll go through each choice and explain how to complete the Starfield Red Tape Runaround miscellaneous mission.
How To Start the Starfield Red Tape Runaround Side Mission
As you’ve probably figured out, to start Red Tape Runaround, you must first complete Trevor’s first mission, Red Tape Blues, which ends when you get the job of Peter Brennan’s assistant.
Your first objective now is to report to Peter, who is located in an office on the main level of Cydonia.
To easily find the NPC, track the mission in your menu and follow the blue marker.
Talk to Peter, and you’ll see he is a confused man, which works out for you.
However, before getting access to Peter’s computer, he will ask you to see Governor Hurst and talk about a package your new boss is expecting.
Where To Find Governor Hurst in Starfield
Luckily, Hurst’s place of business is actually quite close; just get out of Peter’s office, go forward until you reach the wall, then head right until you get to the railing and turn left to see a door that says UC OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR – GENERAL.
Go through the door to find the Governor behind the second desk to the right.
Then start a conversation with Hurst and pick the following lines:
- Actually, there’s something important I need from you.
- Governor Hurst, I’m here on behalf of Peter Brennan.
- I’m looking for Mr. Brennan’s personal shipment. He said you might know what happened to it.
The Governor will explain how he is holding the shipment because of Peter’s immense backlog of unpaid taxes, but he can release it if you help him discreetly.
Hurt’s personal spacecraft was stolen by Crimson Fleet pirates, and he needs you to find and destroy it.
If you agree to help, the Governor will send you the ship’s last known location.
Stolen Ship Location in the Red Tape Runaround Misc Mission
After finishing your discussion with Hurst, open the map of the Sol system, and you should see the ship near Umbriel, one of Uranus’ moons.
Look for the blue marker if you have problems locating the ship.
Now set course to Umbriel, then approach the Governor’s spacecraft, and you’ll receive an incoming hail from it.
You now have two choices:
- The shorter one is to destroy the ship and head back to Hurst to report.
- Or lie and get on board.
Note that if you get on board, you can obtain incriminating evidence that you can use to blackmail the Governor and get the most credits out of this mission.
Assuming you’ve chosen to board the ship, approach it after getting permission from the pirates, press A (Xbox) while aiming at it, and hold X to dock.
How To Deal With the Pirates
Almost immediately after getting on Hurst’s spacecraft, a pirate will approach you and start speaking with you.
The Pirate Leader, who figured out that you were not with the Crimson Fleet, threatens you and says that they will kill you if you don’t give them your ship.
You are now presented with two choices: either try to persuade your way out of the bad situation or attack the pirates and kill them all, but be warned that there are a lot more of them on the lower decks.
Keep in mind that to convince the pirates to let you go, you need six persuasion points (obtainable from the persuasion lines you pick), which can be tricky to get, especially if you haven’t invested any points in the social skill tree.
If your persuasion is successful, the pirates will also propose a deal.
In exchange for you letting them keep the ship, they will give you an incriminating letter from Hurst.
You’ll also be free to explore the ship and find even more clues, like the dead body of Sylvija Schloss.
Upon reading the THIS IS IT note you get from the dead body, you find out that she was the one who stole the ship, remained out of fuel, and, filled with regret for all the people she wronged, decided to take her own life.
Also, from Hurst’s incriminating letter, you learn that the woman was actually his mistress, and he paid the pirates to destroy the ship with her on board to avoid a big scandal.
It’s good to know that if you attack the pirates and survive, you’ll get your hands on a lot of loot from them.
Of course, you can then pick up the incriminating evidence from the Pirate Leader’s corpse.
Whatever choice you’ve made, it’s now time to return to Hurst.
Should You Snitch on Hurst or Not in Starfield?
Once you’ve returned to the Governor, you’ll also be presented with multiple choices.
To get the most money out of this mission, you have to pick the following lines:
- I’m back. Now, let’s talk about your end of the deal.
- How about you pay me a little extra to keep this all quiet?
- I found your note to the pirates. Seems like it’d be real bad for you if people knew.
- Deal. Take the note, and I’ll stay quiet.
It’s important to follow the order listed above when you pick the lines to get the most credits and Peter Brennan’s package.
However, the moral thing to do is to report what happened to CDR Woodard and make sure the Governor gets what he deserves.
To find Woodard, open your missions’ menu and track the following Activity: (OPTIONAL) Show Hurst’s note to CDR Woodard.
Then follow the blue marker to get to the Security office, where you’ll find CDR Vincent Woodward.
After explaining Woodward the situation, make sure you pick the following line: Hurst was supposed to get me a package for Peter Brennan, can you help me out with that?
If you do so, Woodward will give you some time to finish your deal with Hurst; then he will take care of him.
Now you can go to Hurst, tell him you’ve destroyed the ship, and he will give you Peter’s package.
It’s worth mentioning that you should stay away from the next line while talking to Hurst: I found your ship, but the pirates got away.
If you do pick it, you’ll then have to pay him a lot of credits to obtain the package for Peter.
Finally, it’s time to head to Peter and approve the equipment request.
How To Approve the Equipment Request in Red Tape Runaround
Once you’ve found your way back to Peter, talk to him, and after giving him the package, he will tell you to take care of some important messages.
To continue, follow the blue marker to Peter Brennan’s Computer and interact with it. The terminal should be really close to Peter.
Now access the Requests tab, select Replacement Mining Equipment, and then approve, of course.
You’re done for now, friend! You’ve finally completed the Starfield Red Tape Runaround side mission. However, Trevor needs to speak with you again, and so you start the Red Tape Reclamation mission.
