Juno’s Gambit is a side quest in Starfield that forces you to deal with a supercomputer that suddenly gains consciousness. Depending on your choices, you could either set loose a killer AI or create a new force for good in the universe.
Juno’s Gambit is among the more bizarre side quests in Starfield and contains a variety of different and interesting endings, with some being excluded to members of a specific faction. If you are trying to start Juno’s Gambit or figure out which is the best outcome for your playthrough, this is what you need to do.
How to start Juno’s Gambit in Starfield
The Juno’s Gambit Starfield mission takes place onboard an active spaceship, and like many other ships in Starfield, this mysterious vessel can move from place to place.
I found the mysterious ship carrying the side quest in the orbit of Tau Ceti III, a planet in the Tau Ceti System. You can also find the ship on Shoza III in the Shoza System and near Khayyam II in the Khayyam System.
Whenever you eventually encounter the mysterious ship, you can see it is being attacked by an Ecliptic ship. Start the mission by destroying the Ecliptic, which will earn you a request to dock to the mysterious ship.
Once onboard, you will be told by Operative Khambatta and Collins that the ship’s AI, Juno, is a NASA AI that has gained consciousness. The AI is not only forming independent thought but is also seemingly quite dangerous; Juno allegedly murdered the last person who tried to install a control board to subdue it.
Now, you need to decide whether Juno can be considered a conscious being or a simple robot. There are three total outcomes for this quest, but one is locked behind the introductory Ryujin faction mission.
Juno’s Gambit all Choices and Outcomes
There are three total outcomes in the Juno’s Gambit side mission, with the best depending on your particular view of humanity and consciousness. You can choose to either install the control board to rein in Juno, kill Khambatta and Collins to free Juno, or free Juno and bring the Ryujin operatives back to Neon.
Below are all three choices, their outcomes, and how to achieve each choice:
- Install the Control Board: After speaking with Khambatta and Collins, approach Juno and select the dialog option that reads ‘Sorry, Juno, but I’m doing this’ in order to attach the control board. Juno initially shuts down but later kills both Ryujin operatives before warping away. You still get 3,500 Credits for this.
- Kill Khambatta and Collins: Kill both Khambatta and Collins after speaking with Juno. The AI will thank you before asking you what she should do now that she is free from possible control. Here, you can either encourage Juno to become a better person or to continue her ways and become a potential danger to the settled systems.
- Ryujin Operative Option: This is only available if you have taken the Ryujin job on Neon and completed the first quest. Whenever speaking with Khambatta, you will have a faction-specific dialog option that encourages the two operatives to leave. You can then take over the situation and save Juno. All you need to do after this is deliver the operatives back to Neon and you will receive 4,300 Credits.
Which option should you choose in Juno’s Gambit?
The best option is to save Juno and bring the Ryujin Operators back to Neon. Note, this will require you to join the Ryujin Industries faction on Neon, although you won’t have to get too far in the faction storyline to unlock this dialog option.
In the practical sense, this is the best outcome because it rewards you with the most Credits. In a purely philosophical sense, it is clear that Juno is no longer your typical AI and perhaps deserves a chance to live in the stars. Of course, you might disagree and thus might favor the option of subduing the computer.
