Starfield: Should You Kill Or Spare Austin Rake? (Crimson Fleet)

If you are confused about whether you should kill Austin Rake or not in Starfield, it’s valid as it involves one of the Crimson Fleet missions, the Rook Meets King. You will be asked by Naeva Mora from Astraea to kill Rake for being a traitor to the Crimson Fleet and teach him a lesson. While previously a member of the Crimson Fleet, Austin Rake works for a ship named Ragana. As you get close to this ship in the Enceladus system, Dmitri, the ship’s captain, will send you an outbound transmission. With two crucial choices to make, you can either decide to kill or spare Austin Rake.

Should You Kill Austin Rake in Starfield?

There are no lasting consequences if you choose to kill Austin Rake in Starfield or spare him during the Rook Meets King mission. It doesn’t matter what option you decide, the quest rewards at the end remain the same. If you decide to spare Austin Rake’s life, you must lie to Naeva Mora about his death. But if you decide to kill Rake, there are two ways you can make this choice. You can either persuade the captain of Ragana to kill Austin Rake or destroy the entire ship with innocent lives.

Killing Austin Rake (& Destroying Ragana)

There are multiple ways to kill Austin Rake in Starfield. But using your morality or preferences, you can either decide to kill only Rake or alongside his entire fleet filled with innocent crew.

If you want to kill Rake with Ragana’s crew members, you will need to destroy his whole ship.

• For that, as soon as Ragana’s captain makes the contact, choose the following dialogue option:
  • The only place you’re headed for is an early grave.
• This will engage you in an ongoing battle with Ragana by entering the Targeting mode.
• Alternatively, you can kill Austin Rake and his crew by getting on board his ship. For that, choose the following options in order:
  1. Looks like trouble found you. You’ve drawn the attention of the Crimson Fleet.
  2. Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to open your hatch and I’m going to board.
• Once you board the Ragana, talk to Dmitri and choose the following option:
  • Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to die, and I’m going to enjoy it [Attack].
• As you choose this option, you can loot all the dead crew members and get an additional XP. But as a result, you will gain Self-Doubt and Sam Coe will hate your decision if he’s on board with you.

But if you don’t want to kill the innocent crew members, you can persuade Dmitri to kill Austin Rake. For that choose the following options:

1. Just tell me which one of you is Austin Rake.
2. Austin Rake is a Crimson Fleet pirate. Kill him and I let you go. [Persuade]
3. I’m going to count to ten. After which, I’ll kill everyone on board. (+6)

If you want some loot, wait for some time till Rake attacks Dmitri. Once they have both killed each other, loot them for several rewards.

Sparing Austin Rake

However, you can also find a way to spare Austin Rake in Starfield by getting on board to Ragana ship. As you talk to Dmitri, choose the following dialogues in order:

1. 1. I wanted to make sure there wasn’t any loot on board.
   2. The Fleet wants Rake dead, but I want to resolve this without any violence.
   3. The Fleet won’t buy that. Someone may need to die after all.
   4. Look, I’m trying to find a way to spare most of you.
   5. Deliver him to SysDef. If the Fleet finds out about this deal, we’re both exposed.

• After making this choice, Dmitri promises to strike Austin Rake’s name out of the manifest. Whenever they dock, the crew will leave Dmitri on the ship and deliver him to another port.
• Once you return to the ship, lie to Navea Mora that Austin Rake is dead but the Ragana survived.

Ultimately, it all comes down to whether you want to kill or spare Austin Rake. For us, killing him on board alongside the Ragana crew members is the better choice as it rewards the loot. But you can also try out different options based on your desired playthrough. So, we leave the rest of the decision to you.

That’s all about whether you should kill Austin Rake or not in Starfield. If you found this guide helpful, check out our guides to find out if should you rush for NG+ or wait, what happens if you die, and explore more Starfield Guides right here on Gamer Tweak.