Starfield: Should you accept the bribe from Ron Hope?

The tail end of the Freestar Rangers quest line in Starfield sees you confront Ron Hope, the CEO of HopeTech. Paxton Hull, the leader of the First, revealed that Hope hired them to steal farmers’ land and even take one of HopeTech’s ships to try and cover his own tracks. With this evidence, you need to get Hope’s side of the story.

As you might have expected, the CEO of a mega-corporation doesn’t want to go silently. Ron Hope even offers you a bribe to keep quiet about his crimes and not reveal what you know to the Freestar Rangers. This bribe is quite significant, and you might be wondering what happens if you take it versus if you don’t. I have both sides of the choice covered in the guide below.

Taking the bribe from Ron Hope

The bribe Ron Hope offers you is a mere 20,000 credits, which is not much at all in the grand scheme of things. Although, you can negotiate with Hope and receive 50,000 credits if you pass some persuasion checks. If you decide to take this bribe when it’s offered to you, then Ron Hope will get to continue working as the CEO of HopeTech. The company’s employees will keep their jobs, and you can still complete the Freestar Rangers questline.

When you go to complete this mission with the Marshal, you will have to lie and say that you couldn’t learn anything about who was behind the stolen HopeTech ship and farmland. This will result in the completion of the Freestar Ranges questline. However, if you take the bribe, your companions will be furious with you, which could play a role in your decision.

Related: Starfield: How to transfer your ship cargo inventory to your Outpost

Turning down the bribe from Ron Hope

In the alternate scenario, you can honor your Freestar Rangers badge and make sure Ron Hope sees justice for his crimes. Of course, the CEO will not go quietly, and you are forced to attack and kill him if you don’t take the bribe. You also have to kill a few HopeTech guards.

With Hope dead, you can return to the Marshal and tell him exactly what happened. The Marshal is weary of what this means for the future of the Freestar Collective, but you still complete the mission and the questline.

Which side should you choose?

In my opinion, it’s best to deny the bribe from Ron Hope. While the potential 20,000-50,000 credits is a nice bonus, you are jeopardizing the relationships with all of your companions. This is the moral choice to make as well. It’s also worth noting that you receive a decent chunk of change for completing the Freestar Rangers questline, along with a new ship. This happens in both scenarios, so your choice doesn’t matter in this regard.

I chose to turn down Hope’s bribe since I really didn’t like what he did to innocent farmers. However, this is a true role-playing decision for your character, so choose whatever you think is best.