Starfield Shattered Space - Exhuming The Past Full Quest Walkthrough

One of the quests you need to complete in Starfield Shattered Space is called "Exhuming the Past." This quest is a part of the "Aligning the Houses" questline, which requires you to visit all three of the Noble Houses of House Va'ruun for their help in constructing the Mourning Device. Exhuming the Past is centered around House Dul'kehf and can be started at the Hall of Healing in the city of Dazra.

Below, you can find a full walkthrough of the quest in Starfield Shattered Space.

The quest begins by talking to Hasmak Dul'kehf, who is located on the top floor of the Hall of Healing. Hasmak isn't as problematic as the other house leaders that you find in the Zealous Overreach and Conflict in Conviction quests. All Hasmak wants you to do is visit a dam that Anasko apparently entered before he disappeared. Inside the dam is supposedly an object that will help activate the Mourning Device.

Your next stop is the Ma'Leen Dam, which is located southeast of Dazra.

Head southeast to Ma'Leen Dam and follow your quest marker to the entrance door. You have to activate an ID Reader, but you don't have the proper credentials to do so. Follow your quest marker again to reach a young boy who tells you that you can an ID card at the nearby village. Go a little ways further and reach an NPC named Kaviil Fahrzanas in the village. By speaking to him, you'll be able to manipulate or persuade him into giving you the ID card required to enter the dam.

With the ID card, go back to the dam's entrance, use the ID Reader, and step inside.

Once inside the dam, follow your quest marker until you reach a small computer room that's slightly above an area flooded with water. This requires some maneuvering up pipes and other objects, but it's not difficult to reach. You'll also encounter a Phantom along the way, who tells you that you shouldn't progress any further.

Inside the computer room, try to activate the pump to get rid of the flooded water. However, you'll get a message saying you need to destroy the Vortex Power Modulator. This makes a new quest marker appear on a glowing object near the ceiling on the other side of the room.

Shoot at the Modulator until it's destroyed, head back to the computer, and activate the pump to drain the water from the room. Now, head toward your quest marker, using a computer to open a security door, and continue on through the dam. However, shortly after you enter the door, you'll be stopped by the Phantom once more. This time, the Phantom, named Karija Ma'Leen, attacks, and you're forced to subdue them. Defeat the Phantom and proceed on towards your next quest marker.

After defeating the Phantom again, follow your quest marker to a double door. The door won't open, and you'll have to find a key to get past it. Your new quest marker leads you to a computer, where you need to click through all of the slides and attachments available. Once you're done, your quest log will update and state that you need to compete the teleportation experiment. The teleport experiment is located directly adjacent to the computer on the other side of the room.

Here, you can activate a switch and flip through the numbers 1-5 on a three-button keypad. The code to fix the teleportation experiment is: 335, which we know from reading the computer. Once 335 is input on the keypad, activate the switch, retrieve the Experiment Keycard from the platform before you, and use it to open the door that lets you continue.

In the next room after opening the door, you'll once again run into the Karija the Phantom. However, this time, they bring another Phantom for you to defeat. The Phantoms move around the room quite often and shoot powerful lightning attacks at you, so they're no walk in the park.

Once the Phantoms are dealt with, use the computer in the center of room to learn more about why the Phantoms exist. Click through the slides, and you'll receive a new objective: retrieving a Vortex Interlock. You can head over to activate a console to retrieve the device, but you'll be unable to get it started. You need to divert power to the console to get it working.

After learning you need to divert power to the Interlock console, follow your quest marker until you reach a room with a glass window that shows a ton of the blue glowing substance that's so prevalent in Shattered Space. In this room, turn directly around, find the red "Emergency Wall" and hop up to it. Use your scanner to bring out your welder and cut through the four pins in each corner of the wall. This allows you to progress through and open up a vent to continue on further to the quest marker.

When you reach the next room, you'll be encountered by the Phantoms once more. Tell them you need the Vortex Interlock and move on to the fight scene. This time, there are three Phantoms you need to defeat in a close-quarters space. This can take some time and plenty of healing items. It's best to used high fire rate weapons or lethal close-range weapons, like a shotgun, to deal damage to the Phantoms.

Once the Phantoms are defeated again, destroy the Modulator in the back of the room and head back to the room with the Interlock console.

Using your quest markers, activate the Vortex Interlock console to receive your first Vortex Interlock. Then, the Phantoms will appear one final time to implore you not to take both Interlocks. If you decide to take both Vortex Interlocks, the Phantoms will fully die and you can leave the Ma'Leen Dam. Or, you can simply choose to leave the dam and not bother the Phantoms further. If you choose to take both Vortex Interlocks, you need to destroy another Modulator at the bottom of the room and then go back up to activate another Interlock Console. This causes the Phantoms to drop to the floor in their human form.

From here, escape the Ma'Leen Dam and head back to Dazra (you can also check in on the nearby village if you want.) In Dazra, give the Vortex Interlock to Ekris Kaisir and you'll start the final quest of Starfield Shattered Space. For lots more on the DLC and the base game, use our Starfield guides hub.