Should you pay Crimson Fleet the ransom for Barrett?

Early in the main story missions in Starfield, you will be sent to track down and find Barrett. When you finally do, he’s in a bit of a sticky situation. A gang of Crimson Fleet pirates have captured him, and their leader Matsura claims he can’t just free Barrett without anything to show for it. Being a pirate, Matsura demands a ransom in exchange for letting Barrett go. Of course, this is a Bethesda game, so you have some choices. But should you pay the Crimson Fleet the ransom for Barrett?

What happens if you pay Mastura the ransom for Barrett?

Choosing to pay the ransom pretty much just avoids having to fight the Crimson Fleet pirates to free Barrett. If you are going to go this route, I definitely recommend trying to persuade Matsura for a discount first. A successful persuasion means you only have to pay half the ransom. If you fail the persuade attempt, that’s fine; you can still proceed either way.

What if you refuse or attack the Crimson Fleet instead?

Thankfully Matsura and his pirate gang aren’t that difficult, especially with Vasco and Barrett by your side. Besides, you killed most of the gang on the way in, which Matsura doesn’t seem to care much about. However, it’s important to note, that you won’t receive anything extra for going this route. Matsura doesn’t have any particularly interesting loot, nor do you get any sort of bonus reward for taking him out.

Does this choice matter later?

The decision you make really doesn’t matter and does not affect anything else. Matsura—whether you kill him or not—never appears again throughout all of Starfield. Therefore, you can actually kill Matsura even if you want to join the Crimson Fleet. When you start the quest chain and meet Delgado, he seems to have no knowledge of your interaction with Matsura. It’s a bit of a bummer that your choices here don’t have any sort of weight, but it is nice to know you can’t mess up future plans this early.