Once you have joined the Vanguard in Starfield, you will be given a probationary assignment from Commander Tuala. It turns out a new settlement on Tau Ceti II is having some communication trouble. Your mission is simple – bring a Comms Array to the settlement and make sure everything is okay.
Whilst you are assured the mission is going to be a cakewalk, it’s safe to assume things are not quite what they seem. In this guide, we are going to walk you through the ‘Grunt Work’ quest. It’s going to get messy, so pack a big gun.
Note: To access this quest you need to join the Vanguard by completing the ‘Supra et Ultra’ quest. Check out our complete guide.
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Arriving At Tau Ceti II
Before you leave for Tau Ceti II you will need to head to the Starport to receive your Comms Array. Not only that, as you are now part of the Vanguard you are cleared to receive an entry package. This includes a high-powered pistol, repair parts, medical supplies, and ammo – the works. You can find this in your ship’s inventory. Be sure to transfer it to your inventory for ease of access.
With all of that out of the way, it’s time to head to Tau Ceti II. Use the ‘Set Course’ function in the main menu to fast-travel there and land on the planet. Make your way to the settlement and things will immediately appear off. The settlers don’t just have a communication problem, they have a “we are now dead” problem – yikes.
Be sure to loot the place as there are plenty of medkits, credits, and ammo to fill your reserves. Once you are done looting, continue deeper into the settlement. You will eventually come face-to-face with the main building and receive an urgent message from someone called Hadrian. She will tell you to stay quiet and get to the doors – will let you in.
Hadrian confirms that all the settlers are dead. The culprit is a Terrormorph – a creature with unparalleled intelligence and strength. These things are the bane of human civilization, however, this Terrormorph seems different. They don’t tend to target small colonies and Tau Ceti II is pretty darn tiny. Hadrian wants to examine the Terrormorph to try and figure out what’s going on.
To Kill A Terrormorph
The catch is that she can’t examine a live Terrormorph so she needs you to kill it. This is easier said than done as Terrormorphs are some of the most powerful enemies in Starfield – especially at this point in the game. You can run up to it and kill it with standard weapons, but this is incredibly dangerous, not very effective, and costly.
Hadrian has a solution, however, and that is to use the settlement’s defences. These are all offline at the moment, as is their tracking network. If you want an easier time killing the Terrormorph, then turning these things on should be a priority.
As far as we are aware, the Terrormorph won’t spawn until you progress the quest further.
Getting The Security Systems Online
To get the Terrormorph to spawn you need to get the security systems back online. To do this, head to the Security Outpost – the large building in the centre of the facility. Once inside you will need to access the security terminal and reset the security systems. You will then get a code to tune the tracking system. The code is 183.5.
With this code in hand, head into the next room and set the frequency to 183.5, and boom, the tracking system is live. The downside is that this activity has caught the attention of the Terrormorph and it’s now active in the area. You can track it using the tracking information on the top right portion of your HUD.
Activating The Turrets
With everything turning on, all you have to do is make sure the turrets have power. The best way to kill the Terrormorph is to get a set of turrets online and lure the beast into their firing line. Terrormorphs are tough, but they can’t take a pounding from 10 high-powered machine gun turrets.
To activate turrets you will need to find the turret control console (typically on a roof) and then locate the power generator (typically nearer the ground). There are a total of three turret systems to activate, however, you only need one to kill the Terrormorph. The easiest system to activate is immediately to your left when leaving the security room.
Once the turrets are online, hop into “kill lane” and fire a few shots. This will draw the attention of the Terrormorph. Once it has appeared, it will get pummeled by the turrets and it should go down very quickly. Alternatively, you can just wait. The Terrormorph slowly patrols the area and we found that it will eventually enter turret-heavy areas. Once this happens, it will die almost immediately.
With the Terrormorph dead, all you have to do is loot its body and take the sample back to Hadrian.
Returning To Hadrian
Hadrian will be glad to hear the Terrormorph is dead and will request that you hand over the sample. You don’t have to do this of course. The eagle-eyed among you will likely notice how much this sample is worth in terms of credits. You could keep it and sell it for a quick buck. You could also try and extort Hadrian for some extra cash.
We decided to uphold the virtues of the Vanguard, however, and hand it over without fuss. She will take the sample and examine it. Things aren’t looking good. She goes into more detail as to why this Terrormorph is a bad sign. Terrormorphs tend to appear once a settlement has been established for around 100 years. Tau Ceti II is only 20 years old.
This is dire news as it could imply that the incubation time for these creatures is getting shorter. Full-blown infestations of these things have destroyed entire cities. In short, billions of lives are at stake.
Hadrian asks that you take the sample to an old colleague for further examination and hands you her Genetag so Commander Tuala can verify who she is.
Returning To Commander Tuala & Reward
With information in hand, head back to New Atlantis and make your way to the MAST building. Talk to Commander Tuala and inform him of what went down on Tau Ceti II. Despite his shock at the news, he congratulates you on a job well done. He also checks who Hadrian is and discovers she was part of a now-disbanded branch of the UC military – “Xenowarfare”.
She was developing bio-weapons for the military, so she is well aware of the dangers of Terrormorphs. Heck, she might be one of the only people who truly knows the dangers these things pose to humanity and the horrors of other humans deploying them as weapons.
All of that aside, Tuala will induct you into the Vanguard proper. This requires you to take an oath. Once done, you will get a new set of armour and access to unique ship modifications, as well as the following rewards:
- 6000 Credits
- 255 EXP
You are cleared to help Hadrian in addition to receiving a quest to go undercover to help UC SysDef in dealing with the Crimson Fleet Pirates. Grunt Work was a pretty simple quest that opened up a whole bunch upon completion.
That’s all we have on Starfield for now. Be sure to check out our other guides, lists, and walkthroughs for more Starfield content.
