The Past Never Dies is the longest and most varied chapter in IO Interactive's 007 First Light, dropping Bond into the desert black market of Aleph in Mauritania with one goal: infiltrate the auction, find 009, and survive the fallout.
The mission, listed as chapter 10 in the campaign, mixes money-making side activities, stealth infiltration, a fight pit, and a heavy gun battle at the end. It carries 23 challenges, and clearing all of them unlocks the Mauritania outfit for TacSim.
Drive to Aleph and follow Greenway
The chapter opens with Bond and Greenway driving a Defender across the desert. Stick to the narrow road, take the right turn at the roadblock, and keep going to trigger a cutscene.
Follow Greenway inside the shipwreck. You will lose him briefly, so head right, turn left, and beat three attackers in hand-to-hand combat before exiting the door.
Continue up to Bawma's men. Speaking with them reveals you need an invitation and $100,000 to enter the auction. Return to Greenway to begin raising the money.
How to earn the $100,000 auction fee in Aleph
There are several ways to make money in the market, and you only need to combine a few to clear the fee. Note that some activities require an entry payment first, so start with the Fight Pit. To clear the Show Me the Money challenge, you need to bank $140,000 total.
| Activity | Reward and notes |
|---|---|
| Fight Pit | $60,000. Beat the trial against Omar, then win three rounds. |
| Scorpius Deal | $52,000. Get the burner phone, then sell the art at container 76. |
| Crypto Wallet | $50,000. Hack a phone, pickpocket the wallet, plug it into the antenna. |
| Jewel of Jahari (Cup Game) | $30,000. Pay $3,500, track the jewel with the Q-Lens, return it to Nirmala. |
| Shooting range | $30,000. Pay $3,000 to Basim, hit all 10 targets. |
| Pickpocket wallets | $3,200–$4,000 each from guards. |
Win the auction and reach 009's boat
Pay Bawma's men, follow Greenway to the auction, and take a seat. Your opening bid choice does not change the outcome, so pick any. When Leung bids, use your watch to hack the polygraph machine, then choose Improvise to win.
Afterward, you split from Greenway and take a separate route to 009's boat. Use the zipline, climb across the ships, and rely on the Q-Watch on electric cabinets and ladders to slip past pirates. A stereo near the top can lure a lone guard for a quiet takedown before you drop down to the boat.
All 23 challenges and the Mauritania outfit
Challenges split across the market, the Scorpius hideout, the antenna section, and the crane escape. They are grouped into Pacifist, Ghost, and Assault routes, and you can replay checkpoints through Chapter Select to mop up anything you miss. Challenges are not tied to difficulty, so you can complete them on Novice.
| Challenge | How to complete |
|---|---|
| Silent Line | Grab the burner phone in the Scorpius hideout without any takedowns. |
| Sightseeing | Reach the antenna without alerting or hitting guards. |
| Easy Does It / No Trouble At All | Reach the crane after the auction with no confrontations. |
| Fall Guy | Hold R2/RT to charge Omar over the railing. |
| Bottled It! | Hit all four Fight Pit enemies with throwable bottles. |
| Silence is Violence | Perform 10 silent takedowns in the crane section. |
| The Big Bang | Kill 3 enemies with one explosion using red barrels. |
| Laser Show | Reveal the boat lasers with sprinklers, Smoke Pod, and Phone Dart or Laser Strap. |
| Make Them Count | Get 6 headshots with one pistol magazine during the last stand using Focus. |
Clearing every challenge here adds the Mauritania outfit to your TacSim wardrobe and pushes you closer to full mission mastery, which is reason enough to revisit Aleph once the credits on this chapter roll.