War Relics is the seventh mission of Starfield‘s UC Vanguard questline and the follow-up to The Devils You Know. In the previous mission, we learned that Franois Sanon (aka Vae Victis) is still alive inside a cell at the bottom of the MAST building.
Vae Victis sent us to apprehend a fugitive war criminal, Reginald Orlaise, hiding inside his ship, The Warlock, in Etherea’s orbit, using the debris as camouflage. In return, he promised to find all the former Red Devils members and add them to our team, which requires more members to study the Terrormorphs.
After completing the mission, we discover that one former member is still missing. That’s Kaizer, a robot specifically built to deal with Xenoweapons. Since the Terrormorphs are Xenoweapons++, we need Kaiser on our side.
While we know Kaiser is in Niira’s battlefields in Freestar Territory, we need Hadrian’s help to track him down and recover him.
- UC Vanguard Mission 07
- Planets: Niira (Narion System)
- Rewards: 250-275 EXP and 6,000-9,300 Credits, depending on difficulty
Report to Hadrian
Note: From this point on, you can tell Hadrian about her father (massive spoiler alert).
Find Hadrian at the Red Devils HQ on Mars. She will be really excited about the news that her former team is joining us and will want to know how we made it happen.
There aren’t any gameplay implications from revealing the truth now, but there is also no need to do it. Hadrian will be shocked and after some disbelief, she will decide that she won’t let the past and her father define her. Instead, she wants to forge a new legacy (*cough cough*).
Back to Kaiser, Hadrian tells us we need help bypassing the robot’s security protocols.
Follow Hadrian
Follow Hadrian upstairs, and she will pass us on Kaiser’s schematics. Actuators, weapons, batteries. She also warns us that since Kaiser has been MIA for years, he will need some repairs.
Additionally, his voice controls are locked. To authorize yourself, you can use the Latin phrase “Nos Belli Machinis””We are war machines.”
We then inform Hadrian that Kaiser is on Niira (if you took the Orientation Hall, you know some really bad things took place there, as it was ground zero for the Xenoweapon warfare. Yes, Vae Victis had a lot to do with it).
Hadrian recommends we start our search at “1-Of-A-Kind Salvage,” a place that sounds like a junkyard/scrapyard and is licensed to Angelo Alonso, who goes by the nickname “Gel.”
Search for Kaiser on Niira
Time to open that mission log once again and “Set Course” for Niira in the Narion System, 16.680 lightyears away from Mars. Note that this is a great location to extract Copper, Argon, and Nickel, but the environmental conditions are extreme. Anyway…
Once you land at the launching pad, follow the objective marker until you reach the entrance/airlock. Don’t worry about the turrets, they are not hostile.
Once you enter, you will find Gel salvaging some landing gear.
Talk to him about Kaiser, and we will learn that a robot around the location goes by the name of Captain Ahab (from Moby Dick). The robot has a security protocol installed that prevents inquiries and chit-chat (ok, that’s Kaiser).
However, Kaiser is not at 1-of-a-kind Salvage (of course, he isn’t). He has gone out hunting a “Siren,” his own white whale. Sirens are aliens left behind after the Colony War (aka Xenoweapons). This one is, though not an original, but an untrained descendent (basically, there is no way Kaiser lost to it, but I get the feeling we are the ones that will kill it).
(Optional) Gather Information on Kaiser’s Location from Gel
Now, Gel wants to sell you the information on Kaiser, and there are many options to proceed here:
- Pay 1,000 Credits.
- Use the Freestar Collective Settler trait to reduce the fee to 675 Credits.
- Persuade him to reduce the fee to 675 Credits (this one stacks with the first option, reducing the fee to 350 Credits).
- “That robot might be the key to stopping Terrormorph attacks across the galaxy.” This one won’t work.
- I’ll take my chances out in the fields.
It’s impossible to avoid paying Gel, and 350 Credits is the lowest price you can get on Normal difficulty. We’ll learn that Kaiser’s last known location was near the Syracuse shipwreck. We’ll also be warned about Sirens and Ecliptics around the area.
Proceed to Syracuse
Syracuse is only a few meters away from the scrapyard. You may encounter one or two Sirens along the way, but they are not hard to deal with, even on Very Hard.
Follow the Beacon
Once you reach Syracuse’s shipwreck, follow the beacon to find Kaiser in bad shape. He has turned into a Heatleech infestation.
Remove the Creatures from Kaiser
You can use a melee weapon to kill the three Heatleeches on Kaiser. After we give him the passphrase, “Nos Belli Machinis,” we find out that Kaiser has run out of power. We should head back to the scrapyard to find a Microcell.
Find a Microcell
Talk to Gel, and he will be willing to sell you his Microcell for many Credits, 12,874 on Normal difficulty.
Purchase a Microcell from Gel
You can either buy the Microcell now or…
(Optional) Talk to Gel about Making Microcells
The other option is to ask Gel how to make a Microcell with a fabricator. Three more optional objectives will appear, as he will give you several sites to recover Microcell Shielding, a Microcell Power Source, and a Microcell Conductor Array.
- (Optional) Recover Microcell Shielding
- (Optional) Recover a Microcell Power Source
- (Optional) Recover a Microcell Conductor Array
What happens here is that a bunch of mech locations will be marked with objective markers, and we must head there to recover materials to fabricate the three components. The whole process takes around 5 minutes, so there is no need to buy the Microcell from Gel. Once we have all the materials, we will craft the Microcell using an Industrial Workbench.
(Optional) Fabricate a Microcell
Use the Industrial Workbench inside the scrapyard to make the Microcell. Time to get back to Kaiser.
Return the Microcell to Kaiser
Once you insert the Microcell to Kaiser he will start operating again.
Speak With Kaiser
Whoops! Things are a bit more serious, after all. The Siren Kaiser is chasing is the final active Xenoweapon on the planet, and there’s no convincing Kaiser that he should abandon his missions. This is Unit 99, and handling it was one of Kaiser’s personal duties, one of which was to prevent Unit 99 from hurting any non-combatants.
After the Armistice, Unit 99 and its brood remained on Niira, causing many non-combatant deaths, and… long story short, Kaiser took it personally.
Of course we have to help him.
Follow Kaiser to the Mission Site
Once you reach the mission site, Kaiser will inform you that he has detected Unit 99, but Ecliptic Mercenaries are using it. You must clear the Ecliptic Base by attacking head-on or leaving Kaiser behind and, kill Unit 99.
If stealth is your kind of thing, pick the second dialogue option, as there’s no sneaking with Kaiser following you. In that case, you can take out the mercenaries without being detected and use the computer on the second floor to subdue Unit 99 by enabling its restraints.
However, if the Ecliptics catch wind of you at any point, they will release Unit 99 from its cage.
Clear the Ecliptic Base
The head-on approach works just fine, even on Very Hard, but Ecliptics will release Unit 99 when they spot you. I recommend going up the hill to your left to get a vantage point and shoot the Ecliptics from there, as their ranged fire is the most dangerous here. Start with the lower level ones and take out the Level 34 Ecliptic Operator last, as it will take quite a few shots.
Once you get rid of them, you can focus on Unit 99.
Kill Unit 99
This is not a hard fight, as evading the Siren’s attacks is very easy. However, it will take a lot of shots to take Unit 99 down. A recommendation for those playing the game on harder difficulties is to use weapons with Lacerate, which causes bleed. You will be impressed by how fast the thing’s HP goes down.
Follow Kaiser
Follow Kaiser after you kill Unit 99.
Speak to Kaiser
You can head back to the Red Devils HQ with the mission complete. Before you go, loot all the Ecliptic Mercenaries. There is also a Military Crate, a Weapon Case (Advanced Security Level lock), which was empty for me, an Ammo Crate (Expert Security Level lock) with some ammo, and a Credstik next to the cooler.
Return to the Red Devils HQ
Return to the Red Devils for the reunion of the old dogs. This will complete War Relics, and you will receive 250 EXP (275 EXP on Very Hard) and Credits ranging from 6,000 on Very Easy to 9,300 on Very Hard (Maybe sneaking grants you even more credits, but I’m not sure).
By now, you must have heard the bad news… The next mission is Hostile Intelligence, and our next stop is… Londinion. Good Luck!
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