How to Complete Shadows in Neon in Starfield

The faction missions of Starfield are where the true side content shines, with each faction receiving a ton of development. Out of the faction mission lines I’ve played so far, the Crimson Fleet mission line has been my favorite due to its espionage-focused missions. However, I’m still working through the Freestar Collective missions. Speaking of which, it’s time for the next step. Here’s how to complete Shadows in Neon in Starfield.

Starfield Shadows in Neon Walkthrough

To get access to this mission, you first have to complete both the Deputized and Where Hope is Built missions, having you track down a ship thief to see what they want with a farm on Montara Luna. Now, with intel on the ship’s sightings in Neon, it’s time to make your way over and get in contact with the Neon Freestar Ranger Jaylen.

Related: How to Complete Where Hope is Built in Starfield

All Shadows in Neon Mission Steps

• Go to Neon
• Talk to Jaylen Pryce
• Talk to Billy Clayton
  • Optionally go deal with the loan shark Emmet Goodman
• Confront Grace Early
• Go to Akila City
• Talk to Alex Shadid
• Talk to Daniel Blake

Go to Neon

Make your way over to Neon (Volii Alpha, Volli System) and head into the main city. From there, you want to head into the Freestar Rangers outpost, located on the way to the Ryujin Industries tower.

Talk to Jaylen Pryce

Inside the outpost, you’ll find Jaylen Pryce, who you’ll want to talk to. He’ll introduce himself, before talking about the fact that finding something stolen in Neon is like trying to find a needle in a planet-sized haystack. Though with that being said, he does have a lead on a man named Billy Clayton, who keeps an eye on ship traffic. He would’ve seen the stolen ship fly into Neon, so he’s your next stop. Jaylen promises to introduce you even.

Follow Jaylen and Meet Billy Clayton

Follow Jaylen outside of the outpost and down into Ebbside. You’ll go for quite the stroll including past the sleepcrates, before finally meeting Billy outside of Frankie’s Grab and Go. After telling him about your situation with the HopeTech ship, he’ll want something to jog his memory. About a thousand Credits can do the job, though you don’t need to pay him if you have a few points in Persuasion (more on that in a minute).

Instead, you can tell him people are in danger and he’ll mention his own situation. His brother was in debt to a Syndicate loan shark named Emmet Goodman. He’ll want help, through which you can either persuade him to tell you without helping or help him. You could go the path of going and speaking with Emmet, but I don’t advise this. While the Persuasion check or the lost Credits can be annoying, the alternative is passing multiple Persuasion checks, spending a few thousand, or killing Emmet. You may as well save yourself the time and get it out of him now, especially since your companion won’t get more affinity from helping him.

Talk to Grace Early

No matter how you handle Billy, he’ll point you to the pilot of the stolen ship, Grace Early, in Madame Sauvage’s. Make your way over there with Jaylen, and you’ll find her at the other end of the bar. She’ll make fun of the fact that you have backup, though will mention she wasn’t aware of what the Ruffians were going to do with the ship. It was just a job and she did what she was paid to do.

After putting her in her place by mentioning how she would’ve been an accessory to murder without you intervening, she’s finally willing to open up. It’s important to note that you don’t need to use the Persuasion check here since the other options will suffice. She’ll tell you of a woman named Maya Cruz who offered the job as a senior member of the First Cavalry. Apparently, partway through the planning, she had a medical emergency and hasn’t been heard from since.

Not long after that went down, someone named Marco claimed to be the money man for the first and paid half up front for the job to be done, though was very secretive about it all. Either way, Grace will give you an encrypted slate which Jaylen suggests you give to Ranger Alex Shadid to decrypt.

Go to Akila City and Speak With Alex

With the answers you needed in Neon found, make your way back to Akila City and head into The Rock. On the third floor, you’ll find Alex, who says he’ll decrypt the slate for you after a bit of small talk. However, the decryption will take him some time.

Since you’re waiting anyway, head up to see Daniel Blake and tell him about what you’ve found so far. He’ll give you a bit of background on Maya and Marco, before providing leads on both of them that you can tackle. From there, you’ll be able to branch out into two missions which both must be completed to progress the Freestar Collective faction story.

If you’re looking for help with some other faction missions, check out our guide on how to complete Absolute Power in Starfield.