Starfield:Grunt Work

Quick Walkthrough

 * 1) Talk to John Tuala.
 * 2) Talk to Chief Herath.
 * 3) Explore the Tau Gourmet Production Center.
 * 4) Talk to Hadrian.
 * 5) Kill the Terrormorph.
 * 6) Return to Hadrian.
 * 7) Return to Tuala.

Mission Briefing
Having completed your simulation test, Commander Tuala assigns you your first, probationary mission as a member of the UC Vanguard - travel to a colony that has fallen out of contact and repair their comms system. You are first sent to Crew Chief Kane Herath, who will have the replacement comms array delivered to your ship, along with an Urban Eagle, ammunition, and some UC BattleMeals. Once you've loaded up, take off, jump to Tau Ceti II, and land at the Tau Gourmet Production Center.

Terror on Tau Ceti II
It quickly becomes apparent that the production center has bigger problems than a broken comms array. Descending from your landing site, you will pass another, inaccessible ship, and arrive at the living quarters, where you will find a dead colonist. Beyond that, a broken elevator and winding stairway will take you down to another landing pad. As you descend, you will hear a scream coming from the main complex.

As you approach the main complex, you are contacted by a woman who asks you to meet her in an office on the second floor of the main building. This woman, Hadrian, is not one of the original colonists, but a researcher investigating the creature that killed them. She will explain that the creature is an incredibly deadly alien predator called a Terrormorph, that it is still in the facility, and that she needs a tissue sample from its corpse.

Hadrian sends you to the security center, located roughly in the middle of the facility, to try to reactivate the security system. Once you use the main computer to reset the system, she then directs you to the next room to activate a livestock tracking system in order to track the Terrormorph. Once you do, it will turn out that the Terrormorph is very close indeed, as it appears just on the far side of the security glass window and slaughters an unfortunate alien. It will now begin searching the facility for you.

Fighting the Terrormorph
The Terrormorph is a very dangerous enemy, especially for a low level character. It is fast, does considerable melee damage, and is highly resilient. Its only real weakness is its lack of a ranged attack. The tracking system will periodically tell you how close the Terrormorph is, beeping faster as it gets closer. Use stealth when the Terrormorph is close by if you're not yet prepared for a confrontation.

Hadrian recommends reactivating the facility's turrets, and these can be a powerful asset. There are three sets of turrets, each of which overlooks a path between two buildings, and requires you to activate two power generators. Once a set of turrets is activated, you can attempt to lure the Terrormorph into the "kill lane" beneath them using yourself as bait. The Terrormorph may also stumble into the turrets on its own, in which case you may be able to assist them from a distance by firing on it from the roof of a different building.

Once the Terrormorph is dead, loot its corpse to collect the tissue sample and return to Hadrian.

Analyzing the Threat
Hadrian will take the tissue sample to a research station on the ground floor, where she makes some initial observations, but is unable to find any sign of how or where the Terrormorph came from. She explains that Terrormorphs usually only appear on planets some fifty to seventy years after human settlement, but Tau Ceti II has only been settled for twenty years, meaning that either someone deliberately transported this one, or that it's a new, rapidly-growing subspecies. Either way, it's a serious issue. She tells you to deliver the tissue same to Dr Percival Walker on Mars, and also gives you her genetag to confirm her identity to your commanding officer.

Return to Tuala. He will confirm that Hadrian is a former Xenowarfare expert who was dishonorably discharged after the Colony War, and that he takes her concerns about the Terrormorphs very seriously, giving you permission to go look for Walker. He will also say that he has another, unrelated mission lined up for you, helping UC SysDef deal with the Crimson Fleet. You can either search for Walker to continue the UC Vanguard questline, or report to the UC Vigilance in orbit over Jemisom to begin the SysDef/Crimson Fleet questline.