Once you complete “Hostile Intelligence” and start “A Legacy Forged,” the final mission of the UC Vanguard faction questline, you will have a quite lengthy conversation with Vae Victis. This will lead you to decide on Vae Victis’ fate by talking to Hadrian and Percival and eventually addressing the UC Cabinet at new Atlantis’ MAST building.
However, apart from revealing Vae Victis’ secret (or not) during this quest, you will have to make another significant decision: whether Aceles or Microbes are the ideal method to exterminate the Terrormorph threat. Although you are not qualified for such a decision, you must make it.
Note: As you can see in the article’s Feature Image I specifically asked for the desctruction of the Lazarus Plant during my conversation with Alexandra Obello, which will help stop the production of new Terrormorphs. However, we must also handle the already existing ones.
It’s essential to clarify at this point that whether you pick the Aceles or Microbes, you will not encounter a significant lasting consequences in Starfield’s universe. However, you will encounter some NPCs mentioning one or the other. If you pick the Aceles route, you will encounter Aceles fighting Terrormorphs occasionally, which is a nice little extra but also makes no sense at all, as the Aceles breeding method is expected to be slower than the Microbes one.
However, the decision will affect your relationship with your companions, albeit non substantially. Even though Constellation is pro-science, half of your companions (Sarah and Barrett) prefer the trust-the-science route of microbes. In contrast, the other half (Sam and Andreja) prefer the more natural route of Aceles.
The Non-Pivotal Decision: Aceles or Microbe?
As explained, this is more of a moral decision that questions your beliefs. It affects your relationship with your companions, and that’s about it. I believe this decision is tightly connected to the COVID-19 pandemic and hints at trust or lack thereof in big pharma and vaccines.
Breeding Aceles is definitely a slower process, although it may be possible to speed it up by studying the Aceles’ genetic code. It sounds like a more natural route, but if you think about it, toying around with a species’ DNA is no small feat and has its risks. The benefits are that spreading the Aceles around planets will also help humans study how they track down and hunt Terrormorphs to help get rid of the Terrormorph problem.
As for Microbes, this solution is very simple in theory. The intention is to produce a substance that only affects Terrormorph and Heatleech DNA and spread it… everywhere?! I’ve marked the keywords ‘only’ and ‘everywhere’ here because the first one is crucial to evaluating the danger of such a method. In contrast, the second seems almost impossible unless Heatleeches only exist on planets where human settlements are present (still, there are many outposts around the Settled Systems). I found this statement on science.org about bacteria:
Moreover, all bacteria in a given strain seem to have about the same mutation rateabout one mutation per 600 hours in normal bacteria, and about 200 mutations per 600 hours in bacteria engineered to mutate at a faster ratethey note.
Science.org
I think viruses mutate faster than bacteria, so don’t be confused with all the COVID-19 mutations we experienced. However, to get back to the point, there is still a risk with such a solution; while the way Starfield paints the two options, it feels like Aceles creatures are 100% safe but slow, while Microbes are 99.999% safe but faster (there also may be the a possibility to develop a kind of virus bio-weapon against alien creatures or something of sors, which may turn something minor to a far bigger problem).
The decision is up to you nonetheless, and at the end of the day, it won’t matter much and doesn’t even deserve a guide. But if you want to watch Aceles fighting Terrormorphs, go with that option, like I did.
Impact on Your Companions (Minor)
Choose the microbial route, and certain companions like Sarah and Barrett will endorse your judgment. Why? One can only surmise a deep-rooted aversion to Terrormorphs drives them to prefer a swift solution, while they also prefer the microbe choice for being the more scientific approach. Conversely, if you side with the Aceles, you’ll earn their disapproval, possibly because letting nature run its course is a longer, more drawn-out process.
However, other companions, like Sam and Andreja, favor the Aceles route, as they consider it the least risky option. So, you might consider tweaking your crew to win their favor (choose a companion that will like your decision to follow you). I want to note here that a dislike can be very easily turned around, so I don’t want to put too much emphasis on this decision.
Impact on Starfield’s Universe (Minor)
As for actual consequences, opting for microbes leads to cursory remarks from Vanguard members but nothing more substantial. On the other hand, choosing Aceles adds a visual layer to your explorationyou’ll sometimes encounter them in combat with Terrormorphs on various planets, adding a dash of immersive storytelling to your Starfield experience.
So there you have it. While the decision in “A Legacy Forged” may seem monumental, its true weight lies more in its ethical implications than any mechanical changes to the Starfield universe. Choose wisely, but know that the galaxy will keep turning regardless of your choice.
As already explained, there is no best solution here, while there won’t be an effect on mission rewards, including your Class One Citizenship and the Mercury Tower Penthouse apartment.
Starfield is available on PC and Xbox Series X|S.
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