Post by abedsbrother on Oct 14, 2019 18:30:28 GMT
I wrote this years ago, and just figured I'd put it out there. There's no lore alteration. Presume everything in the game up to picking your squad in London happens as it does now.
(From the game, in London) Anderson: "I'll give you a moment with your squad. Pick your team well..."
An option window appears. The assault to the beam will involve five teams: Shepard (up the middle), and two on either side. Characters must be chosen to command the other four teams.
Default options for command of the four support teams include:
Optional commanders and squads include:
Push forward
There could be some contextual acts requiring the efforts of the support teams. Maybe Shepard gets pinned down by Ravagers, requiring one of the flank teams to clear them before (s)he can proceed (Shep fights a few waves of enemies in a confined space). How quickly the flank team succeeds in clearing the resistance depends on the command rating of the team leader. Maybe use some of those un-used multiplayer maps for this (two of them looked to me like they were planned to be Earth levels). Shepard, in turn, could clear out a few nests of resistance so the flanking teams can advance (maybe use some heavy weapons again?).
Defend the missile battery
Missile battery defense will happen in five waves.
(ride in the truck, conversation with Anderson; truck crashes to a halt, they get out and see the beam – all as it happens in the game) (the commanders assigned are also along for the ride, though perhaps in a different vehicle)
Harbinger arrives
EMS check – if too low, Shepard executes the run to the beam, as we have it now.
EMS check – if high enough, Shepard fights Harbinger (why the EMS check? Because defeating Harbinger will require pulling resources away from the Reaper battle; if too few ships remain in the fleet after doing so – i.e. too low of an EMS score – the Crucible would never make it to the Citadel, meaning Shepard & Co. might defeat Harbinger, but the Crucible would be destroyed, resulting in a Critical Mission Fail.)
Harbinger boss battle, Stage 1
Shepard calls down two artillery strikes from the fleet on Harbinger (similar to the Rannoch Reaper fight). Obviously, (s)he must survive while doing so. The strength of these hits is much greater than on Rannoch.
Harbinger boss battle, Stage 2
To keep Shepard from calling down more strikes, Harbinger attempts to control Shepard's squad or assigned commanders, forcing him / her to fight them.
On Easy: 1 squad-mate or commander becomes indoctrinated
On Normal: 2 squad-mates or commanders
On Hardcore: 3 squad-mates or commanders
On Insanity: 4 squad-mates or commanders become indoctrinated.
Hierarchy of indoctrination (who will get indoctrinated first, in order of most likely to least likely): Shiala, Balak, Wreav, Jondum Bau, Kasumi, Prime Ajax, Grunt, Major Coates, Major Kirrahe, Zaal Koris, Zaeed, Jacob, James Vega, Ashley / Kaidan, Tali, EDI, Miranda, Wrex, Jack, Aria T’loak, Samara, Liara, Javik, Anderson, Garrus.
The most-taken squad-mate defaults to second-last on the list.
An LI defaults to last on the list.
(I put this together with no scientific method. I ranked the characters based upon who in my opinion was the most mentally tough, with extensive combat experience or experience fighting Reapers and their thralls being contributing factors.)
At the start of this section, you must choose a new squad for Shepard from those who are not indoctrinated. The in-game explanation is that those not indoctrinated rally to Shepard to help him / her; those who are indoctrinated turn on him / her. Only those present in Shepard’s squad or those chosen to to lead a part of the assault are at risk; anyone left behind at Hammer is not at risk of indoctrination.
So, for example, Shepard could have Ashley / Kaidan (romanced) and James Vega (most taken squad-mate) in his / her squad; (s)he could wind up fighting Garrus, Wrex, Anderson, and Miranda. Thus choosing the strongest allies to command the assault or be in the squad at the initial stage of the final battle might seem like a safe choice at the time, but could result in an incredibly difficult fight here.
Shepard's indoctrinated allies are encased in a strange shield that Shepard must break through in order to crack the indoctrination (visually, just another layer over their health bar). Once this additional layer is depleted, the target falls to the ground and lays motionless.
Harbinger boss battle, Stage 3
“we’re coming, commander” (Normandy’s badass moment)
Momentary pause as Shepard & squad are numb from (they believe) having to kill their comrades.
The effort to directly, rapidly indoctrinate (up to) four unwilling subjects quickly has tired even Harbinger.
In the distance, charging its main gun, torpedoes loaded, Normandy flying low, fast and straight for Harbinger – alone, the only ship spared from the fight to support Shepard, the symbol of the resistance against the Reapers.
(cue music:
1:19 – 2:03 Reversal: the Collectors were the most feared in ME2. Now, the Normandy is the most feared (if machines can feel fear) by the Reapers)
Harbinger’s shields have dropped (similar to what happened with Sovereign and Saren), though his offensive abilities remain active. Shepard & squad must leave his fallen comrades behind and climb into a Mako. Harbinger, shields down, must defend itself from the Normandy while trying to destroy Shepard. Shepard, avoiding Harbinger's laser beams, reaches another Thannix missile battery. If successful, missiles are fired, Harbinger is killed (with something like this (from 1:11 to 1:42) playing over the top of it as the alpha Reaper crumples to the ground in super dramatic slo-mo, with a thundering sound as it slams into the ground).
At this point, between defending the missile battery and fighting Harbinger, the attack force is almost completely wiped out. But, they have reached the beam.
Addendum: If indoctrinated by Harbinger, who survives?
- Garrus, romanced or not
- Liara, romanced or not
- Ashley / Kaidan, if they joined the Normandy
(LI is not an issue, since they always default to the least likely to be indoctrinated, as stated above. Because the power of love, you know.)
Who doesn’t survive Harbinger's indoctrination (Shepard has to kill them outright):
- Anyone whose ME2 loyalty mission was not completed (This is a placeholder to cover anyone I may have forgotten, since several characters will have died without a previous ME2 mission-check - like Miranda or Zaeed.)
- EDI’s mobile platform
- Balak
- Shiala
- Major Kirrahe / Jondum Bau
- Primarch Victus
- Prime Ajax
- Admiral Zaal Koris
- Major Coates
- James Vega
- Ashley / Kaidan, if they joined Hackett instead of the Normandy
- Grunt
- Wreav
- Kasumi
All others will survive Harbinger’s indoctrination (the list is: Zaeed, Jacob, Tali, Miranda, Wrex, Jack, Aria T’loak, Samara, Javik, Anderson).
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thoughts, comments, you like it, you hate it, you'd do it differently, go nuts. Tear it apart, leave the pieces on the floor, or pick them up and put them back together. Have fun with it!
(From the game, in London) Anderson: "I'll give you a moment with your squad. Pick your team well..."
An option window appears. The assault to the beam will involve five teams: Shepard (up the middle), and two on either side. Characters must be chosen to command the other four teams.
Default options for command of the four support teams include:
- Admiral Anderson (Alliance)
- Major Coates (Alliance)
- James Vega (lost his own command in Paragon Lost, gets his redemption) (Alliance)
- Garrus Vakarian (will take command of the Turian Armiger Legion) (Turian)
- Primarch Victus (alternate to Garrus if the latter dies in Mass Effect 2) (Victus is present in
London and is characterized as a “soldier's general”, so it makes sense for him to assume a
command in the final battle) - Wrex (krogan shock troopers) (Krogan)
- Grunt (alternate if Wrex was killed on Virmire)
- Wreav (alternate to Wrex and Grunt if Wrex is dead and Grunt's tank was never opened) - Liara T'Soni (shadow broker wet squad / asari commandos) (Asari)
Optional commanders and squads include:
- Kaidan / Ashley (Alliance) (must survive Citadel coup)
- Tali Zorah vas Normandy (engineering squad) (Quarian)
- Admiral Zaal Koris vas Qwib-Quib (alternate to Tali) (If Tali is dead from ME2 and the
Quarians are eliminated on Rannoch, the squad does not appear.) (Zaal Koris instead of Daro’Xen
because Zaal Koris was more accepting of the Geth, indicating he would be a more appropriate
leader for a Quarian squad in a fight comprised of many species.) - Prime Ajax (commands a squad of flamers, hunters and soldiers) (Geth) (If the Geth are eliminated on Rannoch, the squad does not appear.) (I took the name Ajax from Ajax the Great of Trojan myth; he supposedly had “great stature & a colossal frame and was the strongest of his people”)
- Major Kirrahe (commands an STG squad) (Must survive Virmire and the Citadel coup attempt) (STG would support Shepard regardless of the position of the Salarian government, so getting Salarian support is not a condition for their presence)
- Jondum Bau (Kirrahe alternate) (If Kirrahe does not survive and Bau's mission is never
completed, the STG squad does not become available for assignment.) - Aria T'Loak (commands mercenaries) (must complete the Omega DLC for Aria and squad to appear)
- Miranda Lawson (commands a group of Cerberus defectors comprised of Shadows, whip biotics, and Nemeses.) (Must survive Sanctuary to appear - obviously)
- Jacob Taylor (Miranda alternate) (Jacob doesn't want to be on the front lines if possible, which
is why he declines to join Shepard in the game; with everything at stake, though, I think he would
step up.) (If Miranda dies and Jacob's ME3 mission is not completed, the Cerberus defectors
squad will not be available for assignment.) - Balak (commands Batarian commandos) (this might seem odd, given Balak's history with Shepard, but he is the highest-ranking surviving member of the Hegemony; primary motivations would be wounded pride and a thirst for revenge. He and Javik would get along rather well, I suspect.) (For Balak to appear, he must survive the events of Bring Down the Sky and pledge the support of the remaining Batarian fleets to the Reaper fight.)
- Samara (squad of justicars) (doesn't really command them, as justicars answer to no one but the code; Samara functions more as a liaison) (If Morinth was chosen, Samara's mission is never completed or Samara does not survive her ME3 mission, the squad does not appear.)
- Jack (commands the Grissom Academy Students) (If the “support role” dialogue was chosen, Jack does not survive Mass Effect 2, or Shepard does not liberate Grissom Academy, the squad does not appear.)
- Shiala (commands what remains of the Feros settlers) (another more renegade choice; their contact with the Thorian makes their biotics unstable and very deadly, but it also leaves them more open to indoctrination) (only appear if Shiala survived Feros, no Feros colonists were killed by Shepard, and Shiala's side-mission in ME2 was completed)
Push forward
There could be some contextual acts requiring the efforts of the support teams. Maybe Shepard gets pinned down by Ravagers, requiring one of the flank teams to clear them before (s)he can proceed (Shep fights a few waves of enemies in a confined space). How quickly the flank team succeeds in clearing the resistance depends on the command rating of the team leader. Maybe use some of those un-used multiplayer maps for this (two of them looked to me like they were planned to be Earth levels). Shepard, in turn, could clear out a few nests of resistance so the flanking teams can advance (maybe use some heavy weapons again?).
Defend the missile battery
Missile battery defense will happen in five waves.
- The first Shepard & squad must handle by themselves
- The second wave (s)he has the support of one of the flanking forces (arrival is determined by command rating; the better commanders arrive first, the weaker commanders arrive last)
- The third wave sees the arrival of the other flanking force; the wave ends with the first attempt to launch the Thannix missiles. One of the sides collapses (in the game, it was the left; here it would be randomized, left or right – based upon which commander had the worse command rating).
- Wave four the wing force (the one that didn't collapse) arrives.
- Wave five is the battle royale (cue the music (ME3 Extraction theme), ending with the successful firing of the last two Thannix missiles (as in the game). All surviving support teams fight alongside Shepard for wave five. For instance, a defense force could consist of Shepard & squad, the Quarian engineer squad led by Tali, the Geth soldier squad led by Prime Ajax, and the Krogan shock squad led by Wrex - all fighting alongside Shepard to defend the missile battery. After the missiles fire, stragglers from the destroyed wing arrive at the missile battery in the ensuing cut-scene.
(ride in the truck, conversation with Anderson; truck crashes to a halt, they get out and see the beam – all as it happens in the game) (the commanders assigned are also along for the ride, though perhaps in a different vehicle)
Harbinger arrives
EMS check – if too low, Shepard executes the run to the beam, as we have it now.
EMS check – if high enough, Shepard fights Harbinger (why the EMS check? Because defeating Harbinger will require pulling resources away from the Reaper battle; if too few ships remain in the fleet after doing so – i.e. too low of an EMS score – the Crucible would never make it to the Citadel, meaning Shepard & Co. might defeat Harbinger, but the Crucible would be destroyed, resulting in a Critical Mission Fail.)
Harbinger boss battle, Stage 1
Shepard calls down two artillery strikes from the fleet on Harbinger (similar to the Rannoch Reaper fight). Obviously, (s)he must survive while doing so. The strength of these hits is much greater than on Rannoch.
Harbinger boss battle, Stage 2
To keep Shepard from calling down more strikes, Harbinger attempts to control Shepard's squad or assigned commanders, forcing him / her to fight them.
On Easy: 1 squad-mate or commander becomes indoctrinated
On Normal: 2 squad-mates or commanders
On Hardcore: 3 squad-mates or commanders
On Insanity: 4 squad-mates or commanders become indoctrinated.
Hierarchy of indoctrination (who will get indoctrinated first, in order of most likely to least likely): Shiala, Balak, Wreav, Jondum Bau, Kasumi, Prime Ajax, Grunt, Major Coates, Major Kirrahe, Zaal Koris, Zaeed, Jacob, James Vega, Ashley / Kaidan, Tali, EDI, Miranda, Wrex, Jack, Aria T’loak, Samara, Liara, Javik, Anderson, Garrus.
The most-taken squad-mate defaults to second-last on the list.
An LI defaults to last on the list.
(I put this together with no scientific method. I ranked the characters based upon who in my opinion was the most mentally tough, with extensive combat experience or experience fighting Reapers and their thralls being contributing factors.)
At the start of this section, you must choose a new squad for Shepard from those who are not indoctrinated. The in-game explanation is that those not indoctrinated rally to Shepard to help him / her; those who are indoctrinated turn on him / her. Only those present in Shepard’s squad or those chosen to to lead a part of the assault are at risk; anyone left behind at Hammer is not at risk of indoctrination.
So, for example, Shepard could have Ashley / Kaidan (romanced) and James Vega (most taken squad-mate) in his / her squad; (s)he could wind up fighting Garrus, Wrex, Anderson, and Miranda. Thus choosing the strongest allies to command the assault or be in the squad at the initial stage of the final battle might seem like a safe choice at the time, but could result in an incredibly difficult fight here.
Shepard's indoctrinated allies are encased in a strange shield that Shepard must break through in order to crack the indoctrination (visually, just another layer over their health bar). Once this additional layer is depleted, the target falls to the ground and lays motionless.
Harbinger boss battle, Stage 3
“we’re coming, commander” (Normandy’s badass moment)
Momentary pause as Shepard & squad are numb from (they believe) having to kill their comrades.
The effort to directly, rapidly indoctrinate (up to) four unwilling subjects quickly has tired even Harbinger.
In the distance, charging its main gun, torpedoes loaded, Normandy flying low, fast and straight for Harbinger – alone, the only ship spared from the fight to support Shepard, the symbol of the resistance against the Reapers.
(cue music:
1:19 – 2:03 Reversal: the Collectors were the most feared in ME2. Now, the Normandy is the most feared (if machines can feel fear) by the Reapers)
Harbinger’s shields have dropped (similar to what happened with Sovereign and Saren), though his offensive abilities remain active. Shepard & squad must leave his fallen comrades behind and climb into a Mako. Harbinger, shields down, must defend itself from the Normandy while trying to destroy Shepard. Shepard, avoiding Harbinger's laser beams, reaches another Thannix missile battery. If successful, missiles are fired, Harbinger is killed (with something like this (from 1:11 to 1:42) playing over the top of it as the alpha Reaper crumples to the ground in super dramatic slo-mo, with a thundering sound as it slams into the ground).
At this point, between defending the missile battery and fighting Harbinger, the attack force is almost completely wiped out. But, they have reached the beam.
Addendum: If indoctrinated by Harbinger, who survives?
- Garrus, romanced or not
- Liara, romanced or not
- Ashley / Kaidan, if they joined the Normandy
(LI is not an issue, since they always default to the least likely to be indoctrinated, as stated above. Because the power of love, you know.)
Who doesn’t survive Harbinger's indoctrination (Shepard has to kill them outright):
- Anyone whose ME2 loyalty mission was not completed (This is a placeholder to cover anyone I may have forgotten, since several characters will have died without a previous ME2 mission-check - like Miranda or Zaeed.)
- EDI’s mobile platform
- Balak
- Shiala
- Major Kirrahe / Jondum Bau
- Primarch Victus
- Prime Ajax
- Admiral Zaal Koris
- Major Coates
- James Vega
- Ashley / Kaidan, if they joined Hackett instead of the Normandy
- Grunt
- Wreav
- Kasumi
All others will survive Harbinger’s indoctrination (the list is: Zaeed, Jacob, Tali, Miranda, Wrex, Jack, Aria T’loak, Samara, Javik, Anderson).
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thoughts, comments, you like it, you hate it, you'd do it differently, go nuts. Tear it apart, leave the pieces on the floor, or pick them up and put them back together. Have fun with it!
