Starfield Deep Cover Quest: Join the Crimson Fleet as a Normal Captain

The Starfield Deep Cover Quest in Starfield offers players the chance to join a band of space pirates and experience the shady underbelly of the Settled Systems. Many players assume the only way to join the Crimson Fleet is by agreeing to infiltrate them as a double agent for the United Colonies. However, there is another way to join the Fleet and progress through the questline organically as a true pirate captain as discovered by a Redditor.

Alternate Path to Joining the Crimson Fleet

If you initially refuse Sergeant Ikande’s offer to infiltrate the Crimson Fleet after being arrested, all is not lost in terms of joining them. After serving your time or paying the fine, the Crimson Fleet will hear of your refusal to cooperate with the authorities and will recruit you directly.

To trigger this alternate recruitment path, simply decline Ikande’s offer when prompted after getting arrested. You’ll have to face the standard consequences of your crimes, whether that’s jail time or a fine. Don’t worry, this is only temporary.

Once your sentence is served, you’ll be approached by a representative of the Crimson Fleet who sees your defiant stance against the UC as a valuable asset to their operations. They’ll offer you a spot in the Fleet where you can fly as a true pirate captain rather than a double agent.

Accepting this offer allows you to experience the full Crimson Fleet questline organically. You won’t have to hide your activities from Ikande or face any repercussions for your pirate actions. The Crimson Fleet will fully embrace you as one of their own.

Progressing Through the Questline Naturally and not With Starfield Deep Cover Quest

By joining the Fleet as a normal captain instead of a UC insider, you get to take part in all the major quests without restriction. This includes the recruitment mission, heists, climactic battles, and more.

When initiating raids or stealing valuables, you won’t have to hold back out of fear of blowing your cover like a double agent would. Feel free to indulge your inner pirate. The Fleet will congratulate you for bold moves rather than punishing you.

During pivotal story moments, you’ll face the intended challenges and twists that drive the narrative forward rather than circumventing them. The Crimson Fleet questline will play out as the developers designed it, just with you as a willing participant rather than a fraudulent infiltrator.

Roleplaying as an authentic pirate also allows you to build camaraderie with other Fleet captains through shared goals and values. You’re a team of rogues looking to profit off the Settled Systems, not divided by hidden loyalties and deceit.

Satisfying Story Culmination

By experiencing the Crimson Fleet questline properly from start to finish as a true member, you get the intended payoff and closure. Instead of abruptly terminating your mission for UC interests, you’ll see the Fleet storyline through to its narratively fulfilling conclusion.

The choices you make will hold their intended weight and impact, rather than being pre-determined by you secretly working against the Fleet. You may even gain extra insight into certain characters and their motivations by bonding with them as allies rather than spying on them.

When the dust finally settles after the major battles and events that close out the questline, you can feel a true sense of narrative satisfaction. You got to live out an complete arc as part of the Crimson Fleet, not just an abbreviated version of events.

Final Thoughts

While joining the Crimson Fleet as a double agent for the UC provides an interesting quest experience, becoming a normal pirate captain opens up the full breadth of the Fleet storyline. You get to organically progress through the quests, build camaraderie with fellow pirates, and see the narrative through to a fulfilling climax. So if you want the complete Crimson Fleet experience Starfield offers, decline Sergeant Ikande’s offer and join the Fleet in earnest as a freebooting space scoundrel seeking adventure and riches.