How to find and complete Defensive Measures questline in Starfield – Unique sniper rifle

When it comes to Bethesda games, poking your nose into other people’s business is often a great start to securing some nice loot. You certainly will by completing the ‘Defensive Measures’ questline, which results in one of the best unique sniper rifle awards in all of Starfield.

I’m sure the second sentence is what piqued your interest. Indeed, there is an amazing award at the end of the Defensive Measures questline. It just goes to show that even the most meager-looking activities can conclude with bountiful rewards. I call Defensive Measures a questline because the mission itself is the first of a three-part adventure that revolves around the defense of New Akila against the vicious Ashta outside its walls. Obviously, to begin the quests, head to New Akila located in the Cheyenne star system.

How to start the Defensive Measures quest

You can only start the Defensive Measures after you finish Job Gone Wrong, the first of the Freestar Collective missions. Head to the security barracks located behind Shepard’s General Store. If you didn’t unlock the quest already, you should run into Keoni Alpin and security lead Davis Wilson arguing about the Ashta — the aggressive native lifeforms of Akila. Listening to their conversation, you can glean that Keoni has an idea on how to better track the Ashta. Davis, however, is stubbornly against using the tech wiz’s newfangled contraptions when the old ways still work.

After speaking with the bullish Davis, it’s time to do the opposite of what he wants and help Keoni. You’ll find her on the main road next to the Freestar kiosk. Talk to her and she’ll ask you to set up some sensors against the defensive wall in The Stretch. Take care of that and return to her.

Now it’s time to break the law. Sorry, bend the law. Just a little bit. For the plan to work, Keoni needs you to clear a guard tower. The only problem is, a guard is in it. You need to convince him to leave, and you have a few ways to go about it:

• Persuade the guard to leave
  • You need points in the Persuasion skill for this option
• Steal something in front of the guard
  • This is optional, but there is a soccer ball in front of the guard you can steal. Get him to chase you and pay off the fine or spend a night in jail to remove the bounty
• Pay 1,000 credits
  • If the prior options aren’t working out
• Freestar Ranger authority
  • If you finished the ‘Deputized’ mission in the Freestar Collective questline, you can use your authority as a deputy to get him to leave the tower

Speak to Keoni once that’s over and you’ve completed the first part of the questline.

How to complete ‘False Positives’

With the sensors in place, we need time for them to gather data. You need to wait 24 UT hours before speaking to Keoni again. If you’ve just completed Defensive Measures, you should still be near the guard tower. There’s a nearby bar called Aggie’s that has chairs. Use one to wait the requested amount of time. Too bad you can’t play a round of billiards.

After creepily sitting in a bar and doing nothing for 24 hours, walk up the nearby staircase that leaves The Stretch and find Keoni standing in front of the Stoneroot Inn.

Something is wrong. And I’m not talking about Davis finding out about the sensors. Keoni believes someone may have sabotaged the sensors since the data they picked up looks mistaken. She asks you to speak to Davis about it. This will be a treat. You’ll find him to the east next to a gate leading to the outside.

Oh yeah, he’s pissed. And for good reason. You did go against his wishes to help the oddball inventor, after all. But there’s an even bigger issue at hand: Something is odd about the Ashta, and wants you to join him in going outside the walls for a little investigation. Bring a gun.

After following some tracks that seem a bit suspect, you and Davis come across a busted security robot that was mimicking Ashta behavior. Several Ashta burst from the ground, but they don’t hurt much at level 5. Davis knows someone must have tinkered with the robot since the machines aren’t programmed to behave like alien tigers and roam outside the gates. Go to the barracks and locate a terminal upstairs. The logs found on the computer clearly show that the saboteur is the security officer, Bailey Kirklin, who was there during the initial confrontation between Davis and Keoni.

Bailey is outside of the barracks nearby. I found her chilling on the stool to the right of the door. Speak to her and let her know the jig is up. She explains that it was to help, but is now worried she’ll get in trouble. You have three options in this conversation: Accept a bribe for your silence; tell her to start packing; say you’ll ask Davis to “go easy” on her.

No matter the option, you still head to Davis right after and give him your report. I asked Davis to be kind with his judgment of Bailey. She ended up keeping her job, but I wouldn’t be shocked to find her scrubbing toilets in the barracks for a while.

With that, the False Positives mission is complete. Next is the third and final mission in the questline, ‘Leader of the Pack’.

How to get Despondent Assassin legendary sniper rifle in Starfield

You’ve made it to the final mission of the three-part Defensive Measures questline: Leader of the Pack. To begin, you need to once more wait 24 UT hours and speak with Keoni. Her sensors show that “someone” has been patrolling outside the walls more often. Naturally, she believes it’s Davis, and she’s worried. Keoni wants you to ask Davis what’s going on.

You’ll find Davis in his usual spot by the east gate. He believes there’s something more to those suspicious tracks he spotted during the False Positives mission. Davis asks you to join him on patrol, fearing there’s a “bigger” and “meaner” Ashta outside the walls. During your short walk, Davis reminisces about a time when a man came to the city covered in blood and ranting about a monstrous Ashta. What began as an urban myth is now your target.

Find and defeat the Alpha Ashta

You get attacked by the Alpha Ashta outside the city walls. The massive Ashta makes a beeline toward the first person who shoots it, so make sure it isn’t Davis. Keeping him alive is an optional part of the quest, but it’s the right thing to do.

Speak to Davis once the Alpha Ashta is dead, and he’ll begrudgingly admit that maybe Keoni was onto something with her sensors. He asks you to report the attack to her and confirm her initial findings. Head up the staircase to the right after entering the east gate. Keoni is standing just to the right of the back entrance to The Rock.

Tell her about the incident and she’ll happily provide you with a surprisingly generous reward: The Despondent Assassin Legendary sniper rifle. It’s a unique, named weapon and easily one of the best in the game. And you can earn it early on.

The rewards you earn are the same if Davis dies. You’ll still get credits and the sniper rifle. The only thing that seems to change is Keoni’s response to the news. When Davis died, he dropped some credits, his weapon, ammunition, and his Akila Security Uniform.

With that mission finished, you have successfully completed the Defensive Measures questline in Starfield and earned the Despondent Assassin unique sniper rifle. It’s a relatively easy quest you can finish early in the game, and its reward is more than worth the short amount of time.