The Red Tape Runaround quest starts with you reporting to Peter as his newly hired assistant. Peter then tasks you with speaking to Governor Hurst to figure out where his shipment is.
Make your way to Governor Hurst and start a conversation. He’s heard of you, so when you tell him you’re there on Peter’s behalf, he’ll figure out that you aren’t really Peter’s assistant. But he believes you aren’t up to anything nefarious and is willing to work with you. Ask him about Peter’s shipment, and you’ll learn that it’s being held back due to unpaid taxes. Governor Hurst will agree to release the shipment for you if you do him a favor first.
Apparently, his personal spacecraft has been stolen by Crimson Fleet pirates. He needs someone to discreetly find and destroy it. Agree, and he’ll send you the ship’s last known location. You’ll eventually find the stolen ship near Umbriel. There are a bunch of options for what to do next. Let’s discuss these Red Tape Runaround Choices and Rewards below.
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All Red Tape Runaround Choices
When you come across Governor Hurst’s ship, it will be in need of repairs. The Crimson Fleet pirates abroad will tell you that they’re glad to see someone out here and have been drifting in space for two days without help.
Now, this is where you make your first choice. You’ll get two dialogue options. The first one is to lie and say you’re a Crimson Fleet pirate like them and here to help. The second one is to be honest and say you have strict orders to destroy them.
Lie You’re a Crimson Fleet Pirate
If you choose the first one, the pirates will ask for extra ship parts and give you permission to dock. You’ll meet the Pirate Leader and he’ll reveal that he knows you’re not really with the fleet.
He will then point a gun at you and give you two choices. Hand over the ship parts he needs to repair his grav drive, along with your ship. Or refuse and die. He will give you until the count of 20 to make your choice.
In response, you get three dialogue options. You can try to persuade him that everyone can get what they want if they listen to you. Start a fight by saying you can kill them all and complete the rest of your mission. Or ask for more time.
Attack the Pirate Leader
Attack the Pirate Leader to start a bloodbath. Kill everyone on board and then undock to destroy the ship. You can choose this option if you’d rather not go through a lengthy negotiation process.
Persuade the Pirate Leader
If you try to persuade the Pirate Leader, you’ll again get three dialogue options. You can say that you could have just blown the ship up, ask for everyone to be reasonable, or lie and say that your ship is rigged to explode if you don’t get to it soon.
If you choose the last option, the Pirate leader will acknowledge that you could be bluffing, but since you came willingly, you may also have some tricks up your sleeve. He will then tell you that he’s got an incriminating letter from Hurst himself.
He doesn’t care what you do with it, whether you rip it up or use it for blackmail. But he’s sure it would be valuable to you. He’ll then offer you the letter in exchange for keeping Hurst’s ship. You can either accept the deal, say you’ve changed your mind and attack the pirate, or ask what you’d even do with a letter from Hurst.
Accept the Pirate Leader’s Deal
If you choose to accept the deal, the pirate leader will ask you to leave before reinforcements arrive. Read the letter you got from him to learn that Hurst was having an affair, and the woman ran off with his government-issued ship.
To cover this up, Hurst was willing to pay the Crimson Fleet Pirates to destroy his ship and take care of anyone aboard. This way, he could make it a case of simple theft and destruction. You’ll still have three options after this. Return to Hurst, destroy the ship, or search it for more clues.
Search the Ship for Clues
If you choose the last option, head down the ladder next to you. You’ll see the corpse of a woman. Check her pockets to find a note. Undock from the ship and head on your merry way.
Destroy Hurst’s Ship
You can still choose to destroy the ship, even after claiming you wouldn’t and getting some clues. Simply lock on to the shop you want destroyed and start attacking. They’ll run out of health pretty quickly, and you can leave.
Then return to Hurst and start a conversation. He will ask if you took care of his little problem. This again gives you a choice between three dialogue options. You can tell him that you destroyed his ship and his secret is safe. Let him know that you found his note to the pirates. Or ask to be paid a little extra to keep everything quiet.
Keep Hurst’s Secret
If you just tell Hurst that you destroyed his ship and will keep his secret, he will keep his end of the deal and release Peter’s shipment to you. He’ll even defer his taxes as a bonus. Then you just have to deliver the package to Peter.
Blackmail Governor Hurst
You can also choose to let Hurst know that you found his note to the pirates and ask to be paid a little extra to keep quiet. This will give you some extra cash.
Talk to Commander Woodard
You can report to Commander Woodard that Governor Hurst is involved in criminal activity. He will ask you for proof. Tell him about the note you got from the pirates. He will read it through and say it doesn’t look good for Hurst. The quest will continue, but Woodard will be the new governor later in the game.
Red Tape Runaround Rewards
You get 1300 Credits and 100 EXP for completing the Red Tape Runaround quest. Plus some extra cash if you choose to blackmail Governor Hurst.
Conclusion
The Red Tape Runaround quest gives you a bunch of different choices from blackmailing Hurst to lying that you’re a Crimson Fleet Pirate. We hope this guide on Red Tape Runaround All Choices and Rewards helps. As always, happy gaming!
