This quest starts immediately after Port in a Storm finishes.
After the player defeats the AI Mech in that facility, and finishes a conversation with Torin, they will receive an objective to return to Stardock.
Upon boarding Stardock, the player will find themselves in the middle of a conversation between Torin and Harper, where she is scolding him for leaving the station unattended while she was on a supply run.
After some banter and introductions, Harper tells the player to come speak to her when they have a chance. They are then given an objective to do so, and she walks away from the conversation to her place at the Bar.
Torin then finishes the conversation and tells the player they will need to talk to Gren about the Fleet Control Node, but the decision is the player’s which to do first; they now have a second objective to talk to Gren.
Speaking to Harper will teach the player of Watchtower’s Listening Posts and send them on a quest to take out the first one.
Speaking to Gren will have him install the Fleet Control Node, allowing the player access to a terminal where they can assign a pilot and crew to one of their other ships to act as a Fleet. If the player doesn’t have another ship at this time, they will be offered one they can borrow until they are able to procure another themselves.
Gren will then follow up offering to install a Skydrop system. The player will be reminded to install this to their Fleet ship, and not their home ship. Doing so will enable the Skydrop Flares Gren hands the player to be able to call down orbital strike missiles while on a planet’s surface.
Having spoken to both characters, the player is now left with the objective to take on Harper’s task of eliminating the Listening Post in the Altair system.
The objective will lead to one of many POI planetary encounters known as "Watchtower Listening Posts". The ultimate objective of each is to get to a terminal; activating the entry on it will update the objective to point to the Watchtower Array orbiting the planet.
The player will then head to that Array and destroy it. Attacking an Array will trigger a series of Watchtower ships to come and defend it. After the Array and opposing ships are destroyed, the objective will point to looting the Array. The player will find a new item type: “Computer Cores”. Torin will comment on these and an objective will have the player return to Stardock to speak to Harper and Gren.
Each can be spoken to in either order again. Gren will unlock a new Skydrop option for the player, and tell the player there are likely more Skydrop designs and other upgrades available if they continue to acquire more Computer Cores. Harper will give the player another lead in the Kumasi system for another Listening Post.
Harper will also take the other Computer Core and promises to look into it. The player is then invited to make use of Stardock. From this point forward, when docking at Stardock, the player will find their home ship and fleet crews will board as well and sandbox at various locations.
The next quest is effectively unmarked and is an open-ended hunt to take out Watchtower Arrays.
Click here to learn about completing this and advancing the narrative.