Should you spare or kill Maya Cruz in Starfield

There are many minor and major decisions you can make in Starfield that can lead to differing consequences. Whether you’re in a main mission or taking care of a smaller activity, making decisions can be nerve-wracking. In the Surgical Strike quest for the Freestar Collective Rangers faction, you have to decide someone’s fate. If you’re wondering whether you should spare or kill Maya Cruz in Starfield, continue reading.

Starfield: Surgical Strike quest – Spare or kill Maya Cruz

As a Freestar Ranger Deputy, you have a lot of responsibility in your hands. Once you finally track down Maya Cruz after some brutal combat against robots and machines, she asks you to end her life instead of spending the rest of her final days in prison, due to a fatal illness. In my opinion, I believe you should kill Maya Cruz instead of sparing her, and I’ll explain why in further detail below.

Screenshot: PC Invasion

Kill Maya Cruz in Surgical Strike quest

Due to a fatal illness, Maya knows she only has a few weeks left to live. She tells you that she’d rather you put her out of her misery now. You can try to pry information out of her, but she’s too persistent. If you decide to kill her, you get some XP, and you can steal her loot.

Related: Should you join the United Colonies Vanguard or the Freestar Collective Rangers in Starfield?

It seems like the correct decision because you get a little more rewarded for your efforts, but what about the information you need? Well, it’s all on an Encrypted Slate, which you can just steal from her after killing her. She’s also holding an Arc Welder, some ammo, and a Trauma Pack, if that interests you.

Screenshot: PC Invasion

Spare Maya Cruz in Surgical Strike quest

If you decide to still press her for information, she’ll hand over the Encrypted Slate. You may want to take this route if you don’t want to give her the satisfaction of dying, as that was her wish. And she willingly gives you the slate, so it’s a win-win, right?

Well, I would say either choice is okay, but you get a little more rewards by killing her. This is simply because defeating enemies earns you XP, and you can take the Encrypted Slate alongside her other belongings.

Starfield is available on Steam and the Microsoft Store.