Starfield: Should You Side With The UC SysDef or the Crimson Fleet

There are several choices you’ll have the chance to make while playing Starfield. These choices stack up and carry weight, with several consequences that you can see in the world around you well after you’ve made the decision. One of the small decisions you’ll have to make is whether you should side with the UC SysDef or the Crimson Fleet.

This decision occurs shortly after you’ve done a criminal act and the UC Vigilance picks you up. They want to place you in the Crimson Fleet as an undercover agent and bring them down for all the crime and danger they put out in the universe. However, you can choose to do this from the perspective of a loyal officer, or you can flip and work with the pirates. Should you side with the UC SysDef or go with the Crimson Fleet in Starfield?

What Happens When You Join the UC SysDef in Starfield?

There are a few steps you want to take during these many story missions if you’re planning to side with the UC SysDef. One of these steps is taking the time to speak with one of the officers onboard the UC Vigilance, Jillian Toft. You can find this character next to the commander of the ship, Kibwe Ikande. When your Starfield character speaks with Jillian, make sure to hand over any information and evidence you find over the course of your mission.

You’ll see the mission, Burden of Proof, update every so often as you play through these quests in Starfield. For example, after you complete Echoes of the Past and you’ve explored the Lock, you can bring evidence to Jillian about details you find on Suvorov. These details are acquired as you complete additional story quests for the Crimson Fleet, and you can slowly turn against them despite gaining their trust as you hunt after Kyrx’s Legacy.

The evidence you bring to Jillian is completely optional, but it’s a way to help the UC SysDef prepare a case against Crimson Fleet in your Starfield campaign. I found more pieces of evidence throughout my time exploring each mission for the Crimson Fleet as they prepared to acquire the GalBank ship, the Legacy. However, for my campaign, I decided to side with the Crimson Fleet but still had the choice to offer any evidence I acquired to Jillian before I made my ultimate decision.

What Happens When You Join the Crimson Fleet in Starfield?

The alternative to siding with the UC SysDef is to go with the Crimson Fleet, whom you’ve been working alongside throughout the entire time during this Starfield questline. Although they’re rough around the edges, the Crimson Fleet does treat and pay their members well. They are a group of pirates, but they’re pretty straight with your character the entire time, preferring you don’t make most encounters a bloodbath, but they’re not afraid to get their hands dirty if it’s a requirement.

If you plan to side with the Crimson Fleet, I recommend you avoid speaking with Jillian whenever possible. Unfortunately, you do have to return to and speak with the UC SysDef team following the conclusion of every mission, but you can leave out key details. For example, during The Best There Is mission, I had the option to tell the UC SysDef about the smuggler, Huan, and give her involvement in the operation. However, my character chose to avoid saying she helped, which was a huge asset for the Crimson Fleet and Huan.

At the end of the mission, it does come down to siding with the Crimson Fleet or the UC SysDef. For my playthrough, I have been siding with the Crimson Fleet, giving them as many advantages as possible while also avoiding the UC SysDef as often as I could and never offering up any evidence to assist their investigation during this Starfield storyline.

Should You Join the UC SysDef or Join the Crimson Fleet in Starfield?

Ultimately, it all comes down to you and what you want to receive at the end of this storyline. If you side with the Crimson Fleet, they become more powerful and gain a huge foothold by acquiring Kyrx’s Legacy at the end of these missions. However, you can stop them from reaching this strength, pushing them down hard with the assistance of the UC SysDef, making the galaxy a safer place.