Starfield Supra et Ultra – UC Vanguard Exam and Rewards

Supra et Ultra Mission Overview

Mission type: Faction mission, the first in the UC Vanguard questline
Quest giver: Commander John Tuala, MAST Lobby
Location: MAST Building, MAST District, New Atlantis on Jemison in the Alpha Centauri system
Objectives: Register at a Vanguard terminal, explore the Orientation Hall (optional), enter the piloting simulator, clear at least Tier 3, return to Commander Tuala, follow him outside and swear the oath
Rewards: XP, a sign-up bonus in credits that scales with the highest simulator tier you clear, UC Vanguard membership, and the follow-up mission Grunt Work
Prerequisites: None beyond reaching New Atlantis. Any outstanding bounty has to be paid off before the Enlistment Agreement goes through
Quest chain: First mission of the UC Vanguard line, followed by Grunt Work

Joining the Vanguard does not lock you out of the Freestar Rangers, the Crimson Fleet or Constellation, so you can sign up here without closing off any other faction. You can also walk away from the simulator at any point once Tier 3 is done, since only your best tier counts toward the payout.

How to Start Supra et Ultra in Starfield

Head to the MAST District landing site in New Atlantis and go into the MAST Building. Commander John Tuala stands behind the reception desk in the lobby. Talk to him and accept his offer to join the UC Vanguard.

You can also pick this up early during the main mission The Old Neighborhood, when Tuala comes up as Sarah’s contact. If you skipped him then, he is still there whenever you come back.

1 – Register for the Vanguard

Mission Text:
“Step one of joining the Vanguard – register at one of the terminals in the Orientation Hall inside MAST.

Get into the elevator and ride it down to the Vanguard Orientation Hall. Before you can go any further you have to register at a Vanguard Registration Computer.

Interact with the terminal, select Enlistment Agreement and agree to the terms. If you are carrying a bounty anywhere in the settled systems, it shows up on your record here and the application stalls until you clear it, so pay it off at a self service kiosk first.

2 – Proceed to the Vanguard Exam

Mission Text:
“I’ve registered for the Vanguard. I can now either explore the United Colonies “Orientation” displays or head straight to the exam.”

The Orientation Hall is optional. Press the red buttons in front of the displays along the corridor and you get the United Colonies version of humanity leaving Earth and the founding of the Vanguard. There is no reward for listening to all of it, but Tuala does notice whether you bothered.

When you are done, go through the door marked MAST Vanguard Pilot Simulator at the end of the hall.

3 – Enter the Piloting Simulator

Mission Text:
“All right. Exam time. Sounds like I need to enter one of the piloting simulation chambers to kick things off.”

You do not need to talk to the instructor. Head up the stairs, enter the simulation chamber and sit in the pilot’s seat. The Exam Proctor briefs you over comms and the first wave spawns straight away.

The exam runs to six tiers. You only have to clear Tier 3 to pass and continue the mission, and the game will offer you the exit from that point on. Everything above Tier 3 is optional and purely there to raise your payout.

Starfield Piloting Simulator Tiers

Each tier throws more ships at you than the last:

Tier 1: one ship
Tier 2: two ships
Tier 3: two tougher ships, and the pass mark for the exam
Tier 4: one heavily armoured ship
Tier 5: four ships
Tier 6: five ships of mixed classes.

You can leave after any tier and your highest completed tier is recorded. If you die, you restart from the tier you were on rather than the beginning. If you leave the simulator entirely and come back later, you start again from Tier 1, but your logged score stays.

How to Beat Tier 5 and Tier 6 in Starfield

Tier 6 is brutal at low level and most players stop at Tier 3 or 4. Three things make the difference:

Simulation Controls. There is a small panel behind the pilot’s seat, near the door. Interact with it and open Debug Tools. It gives you a shield upgrade, a damage upgrade and an allied ship. Each one only lasts for a single tier, so save them for the tier you are actually stuck on rather than burning them on Tier 4.

Authorized Users Only. The same panel has a locked option behind an advanced security level. Crack it with digipicks and the upgrades carry across tiers instead of expiring, and the allied ship you get is stronger. Tuala comments on it afterwards, but it does not cost you the exam.

Piloting skill. If the ship simply will not turn fast enough, points in Piloting are the real fix. Rank 1 unlocks thrusters and Rank 2 improves turn rate. This matters more than any debug tool.

4 – Speak to Commander Tuala

Mission Text:
“Success! I passed the Vanguard piloting exam! Time to speak to Commander Tuala to figure out what comes next.”

Exit the simulator to log your score, then take the elevator back up to the MAST Lobby. Tuala reviews your result, mentions whether you sat through the Orientation Hall displays, and makes his offer.

He also raises United Colonies citizenship, which comes with ten years of service. Accept or turn it down, then follow him outside and down the steps overlooking the NAT Station ramp to swear the oath.

That ends the mission. The follow-up mission Grunt Work is added, and it sends you to Crew Chief Hearth at the spaceport.

Supra et Ultra Rewards

-> XP on completion
-> A sign-up bonus in credits, scaled to the highest simulator tier you cleared
-> UC Vanguard membership and access to the Vanguard mission board
-> The option to start United Colonies citizenship
-> The follow-up mission Grunt Work
-> The Supra et Ultra achievement / trophy

The credit bonus is the part worth pushing for. Clearing only Tier 3 pays the base rate, and clearing all six tiers pays several times that. Your character level and background also feed into the final number, so two players clearing Tier 6 will not necessarily see the same total.

What Does Supra et Ultra Mean in Starfield

Supra et Ultra is Latin for Above and Beyond, and it is the UC Vanguard motto. You learn it from Tuala during the oath at the end of the mission, which is where the mission name comes from.

Should You Join the UC Vanguard

Joining is not exclusive. You can sign up here and still run the Freestar Rangers, the Crimson Fleet and Constellation questlines on the same character, so there is no faction lock to worry about.

The Vanguard line is one of the strongest in the game and it starts easy, which makes Supra et Ultra a sensible first faction mission to take on early. The only real cost is the citizenship commitment, and that is a roleplay choice rather than a mechanical penalty.