What did you do today in ME?

I did Mordin's LM on Monday and Grunt's this morning, so here's the blabbing:

"Hi Alec,
just back from Tuchanka! We ran into quite a few surprises. I thought we wouldn't really be welcome there, and since I also had to bring my salarian crew member I expected some trouble. But the one in charge was actually my old buddy Urdnot Wrex. I was really happy to see him. He looked good and I was even more happy to hear that he tried to turn around the krogan situation. He didn't want the clans apart from each other anymore, so that instead of fighting amongst themselves, they'd unite under clan Urdnot (even the females who live isolated from the males) and make the krogan race stronger as a whole. An ambitious idea, but more or less it seems to be working.
Wrex took a look at Grunt, and he was just in a phase where he needed to grow up, become an adult. He had to undergo a rite that would make him a clan member if he passed. It's a tradition for krogan called the Rite of Passage.
We also asked Wrex about something Mordin had heard about recently. He had received intel that a salarian he worked with in the past, his former student Maelon, had been captured by the Blood Pack and was last seen on Tuchanka. We were told to speak with the scout commander for more information.
Since this was the more pressing matter we immediately took a truck to where he pointed us, an old krogan hospital the clan that had Maelon used as their base. We had to walk a little to get there, but once we did, we saw gruesome experiments, on a human, on some female krogan. It was sad to see. Even Mordin was shaken up despite him being part of the genophage modification, which... ultimately led to this. Because when we found Maelon, it turned out that he hadn't actually been captured, he was there voluntarily. He never got over it that the salarians updated the genophage, and he was trying to help the krogan by finding a cure. It was an admirable goal, but his methods were just barbaric, and he clearly had chosen the wrong clan to do this for. Mordin was ready to shoot Maelon for what he had done, but I could keep him from doing it. No need for more bloodshed, and Maelon's intentions were good. He ran and we decided on what to do with his data on a cure. I said to Mordin that it would be better to hang on to it. Surprisingly, he agreed.
We returned to Wrex's base and went to see the krogan shaman there. One of the clans disapproved sending in a tank-bred krogan, but we had permission from Wrex. The shaman approved and we were taken to an arena-like area. Grunt didn't have to fight alone, but it was kind of a weird ritual and I'm glad we escaped with our lives. We had to fight some varren and klixen, bug things I've seen before on another planet. They explode when they die, it's pretty messy. Fighting these was already troubling enough, but the final round consisted of a fucking thresher maw. I was under so much adrenaline from my bad memories that I just kept shooting at it in rage. I wanted this thing to go down at any cost. Eventually, it did. Man, it felt surreal. We had killed a bloody thresher maw on foot! But just when I had started to calm down a little we were surprised by some members of this damn krogan clan that had a problem with Grunt. Their leader asked Grunt to join him, but he only wanted him for his strength, as a trophy. He would have had no rights to breed. It was an easy decision for Grunt. We took them all down. And Grunt became Urdnot Grunt.
I wish Wrex could've come with me, but I understand the importance of him staying and doing his thing. I didn't see a lot of Tuchanka, but it looked bad. It's so desolate, such a wasteland. Ruined. But I guess that's what happens when krogan fight each other on their homeworld. If they have a chance for peace amongst themselves, maybe the krogan race can thrive once again at some point. And maybe Mordin can even help with that. I can understand why he thought it necessary to keep the krogan population in check, but he also told me that they made sure the krogan were never eradicated. He wants the krogan to live. I still don't think the genophage was the right thing to do, but I can see where he's coming from.
I'm quite content with how this turned out. Mordin and Grunt both are alright. Mordin even has dealt already with what happened on Tuchanka. I could see his distress during the time, but he was totally calm about it now when it's only been a few hours since everything happened. He said it's a salarian thing. Man, wish I could deal this quickly with things.
Time for some sleep now, but we're already heading to our next destination to get an IFF that allows us to travel through the Omega 4 relay. A derelict Reaper. Sounds fun, eh? Wish me luck.

-Dee"

Pics:


First time taking Grunt to Mordin's LM. I was kinda disappointed he didn't comment on anything at all I died once during this mission. Then twice during the Uvenk section... Got cocky and tried to melee, then ran out like an idiot and got flanked by a krogan I had overlooked
Since I didn't have a lot of time to play this week, I compensated by watching some of Red's vids during my breaks at work and now I want to play a Shockwave Adept so badly
And last night I got back into MP with 2 of my colleagues. I'm usually no MP person and rarely play ME3MP, but I do like it, so we'll probably keep doing this for some time Started on Bronze since we all come from different platforms, but play this on PC now and first have to get a few decent things. Heh.

Korynn sat down and had a nice chat with Kasumi over a few drinks. She thinks she is very insightful and her sweet, supportive nature makes Korynn want to visit with her more. She appreciated words of encouragement regarding her relationship with Liara and suspected that she coordinated with her on the mission against Hock. Neither Kasumi nor Liara mentioned anything, but it smacked of something Liara would have helped with. She also recognized little touches in the op that would have come from Liara.

She hates wearing dresses, but understood the reason for it in this case. Kasumi's appreciation of her in the dress was embarrassing. During the return trip, Kasumi owned up to looking at Shepard while she was changing back into her armor and mentioned that she thought Liara was a "lucky girl." Joker also had some snide comments about Korynn in a dress. (fic)





Afterward, the Normandy visited the Migrant fleet to exonerate Tali. She did not appreciate their attempts to smear her best friend's name all for the sake of politics. Korynn enjoyed shouting at the Admiralty as much as Tali enjoyed hearing it. Discovering the truth about Rael, and his fate was heartbreaking. Korynn has made a point to keep her door open for Tali, which she has taken advantage of. Later onboard, Tali confessed to having a crush on Korynn. Korynn felt flattered.

After a long talk, Tali decided that she is confusing appreciation with infatuation. Tali apologized to Korynn and to Liara. Liara was taken aback, but understood why Tali might feel something for Korynn and thanked Tali for being honest. Privately, Liara asked Korynn if she was interested in Tali. Korynn confessed to Liara that she loves Tali as a close friend and would like her to remain in her life, but is madly in love with Liara. She added that meant what she said on Normandy when she said she wanted to build a life exclusively with Liara. (fic)



While in the engineering spaces, Korynn had a nice chat with Jack and got to know her better. Korynn enjoyed her war stories and would love to hear more of them. She thinks that Jack's attempts to intimidate her are cute. She also thinks that Jack attempting to hijack the Normandy would be a decent training exercise and has half a mind to ask Jack to really attempt it. Aside from that, Korynn understands Jack more than she thinks.



Then, it was on to the Citadel. Korynn let Garrus shoot Harkin (he deserved it), and convinced Garrus to spare Sidonis, but understood why he wanted to kill Sidonis. She is worried that convincing him to spare Sidonis has damaged her friendship with him. It hasn't seemed to, but time will tell.



Once back on board Normandy, she had a nice chat with Samara. She asked her about Justicars, and finds them fascinating. Korynn was amused when Samara stated that she liked humans. Korynn doesn't care for humans much. Samara is a good friend.

PM sent!

Thanks! I think it often looks a little too light, but it's the closest I could get. I think this will look even better in ME3 because ME3 has a darker tone generally. I can't wait to see how it works out.

I played a lot of ME:A multiplayer this weekend, but I did set aside some time to continue Ahmed Shepard's journey through the trilogy. I'll post about later this week when I am not as tired.

Thanks! I'm a fanfic author, so it's hard not to bring fanfiction into it for me. She was rocking the Aegis armor for most of her run during Kasumi and Tali's missions. I switched her back to N7 for Tuchanka. I'll post up some updates later today probably. I got a good chunk of ME2 finished this weekend.

Well between the power outages the other night and visiting family yesterday I didn't have a chance to do much in ME 1. Got to the citadel and got Garrus on board and about to go get Wrex. Did play some ME 3 multiplayer earlier today. People are still playing it. Think I prefer it to MEA's multiplayer.

Today, Korynn visited Aeia with Jacob and Samara to investigate reports that Jacob had found his father. He did, and what else they found was enough to unnerve everyone in the landing party. It was very Lord of the Flies. Jacob seemed to process it well, but Korynn is concerned that the shock may hit him much later down the line. She has asked Dr. Chakwas to keep an eye on him.

In the briefing room, Jacob seemed to admit to having a something that sounded like more than a professional relationship with Miranda. This surprised Korynn considering Miranda has been paying a lot of attention to Jack as of late, and Jacob doesn't really seem like her type. Kasumi also admitted to having an attraction to Jacob. Korynn thinks that Tali would be a better match for Kasumi (if either would be open to such a thing).





Then, it was on to Tuchanka. It was nice to see Wrex again. He was impressed that Korynn also brought Samara to Grunt's Rite of Acceptance, and got emotional when Korynn explained that bringing the Asari Justicar along was Liara's idea stating that Liara had "grown up fast." (fic)

She was grateful to Clan Urdnot. Korynn believes that all life seeks a connection, regardless of how they were hatched. Giving Grunt a home was something important for him as a person, and it seems to have focused his rage. Which is also good for the glass on the Normandy.

Additionally, it was nice giving the missile launcher some exercise, and while Liara might not headbutt people, Korynn does. Chakwas said the concussion was minor.



While on Tuchanka, Korynn and Mordin both investigated Maelon's involvement with vicious experiments aimed at curing the genophage, or so he claims. Mordin seemed to be shocked by the atrocities as much as Korynn and Samara were, but at the same time, she could understand either wanting to atone for their crimes.

She also understands the Salarians' trepidation regarding a return of the Krogan. Especially judging by what they had done to their own planet. However, she disagreed with the idea of playing God with them for the purpose of dominance, and the subsequent anthropocentric culture that has come from it. Though, she did find it fascinating that the Krogan were developing a natural immunity to it, but there was no way to tell for certain whether they would before it was too late for them. She convinced Mordin to spare Maelon with the idea that he disappear, and had Mordin take the data to be analyzed later.

Regardless of the long term picture, more Krogan in the coming fight against the Reapers, the better the odds.



After that, it was on to Aite to investigate Project Overlord for The Illusive Man. Quietly, Korynn agreed with Jack's colorful metaphors for the assignment. At first, Korynn decided to take Tali and Miranda along for the mission, deciding that Tali's ability to hack into Geth systems and the information uncovered would be fascinating to her. She thought it was, but was still recovering from an illness earlier, and returned to the ship.

For the second half of the investigation, Korynn brought down Jack to accompany both her and Miranda. There was bickering between Jack and Miranda over who got to "operate the gun" on the Hammerhead. (fic)


Miranda was oddly quiet about everything, but the distress in her face was telling. Surprisingly, Jack let it go and instead focused her energy on defending the landing party when they were attacked by Geth. Jack even saved Korynn's life.





Everything about this facility was wrong, and the darkest thing she has witnessed in her career. She turned David over to the Grissom Academy, and hopes that they will help him recover. Being mentally abducted by David was a bit disconcerting, but enough experience with being mentally hijacked by various living organisms has Korynn developing more of an annoyance to it than anything else. It gave her a mild headache which Chakwas treated. (fic)







Finally, it was on to Hagalaz to pick up some new supplies that Liara said was waiting for her. Korynn had planned on being greeted by Liara's AI as usual, but instead found her home for once, giving her the opportunity to deliver her usual bouquet of flowers in person and a bolt of yellow Thessian silk that Liara said she had wanted for her window treatments. Feron was off running a job for Liara, leaving the two with the chance to be alone. They had dinner, and Liara also provided an update on some of her dealings since becoming Shadow Broker while Korynn caught her up on everything going onboard Normandy. There may also have been some shenanigans. (fic)

Karen Shepard, Soldier, ME2 cont'd:

Project Overlord – It All Seemed Harmless

Shocking news – a Cerberus experiment designed to enslave another race (the geth, in this case), went horribly wrong and got a bunch of people killed. Shepard felt compelled to investigate this unprecedented turn of events.

The Normandy travelled to Aite in The Phoenix Massing. Shepard, Tali, and Samara took the Hammerhead vehicle down to Hermes Station, the administration offices for Project Overlord. The place was filled with the bodies of Cerberus personnel, and the team soon found out why - they were attacked by a number of geth platforms. The project lead for Overlord, Dr Gavin Archer, contacted them from his hiding spot and told them that an VI was controlling the geth, and was trying to use the satellite uplink to gain access to the extranet, an warned of potentially catastrophic results if it succeeded.

They were able to defeat the geth forces, destroying the satellite dish in the process. Archer came out of hiding and gave them the details of what had happened. As part of a harebrained scheme to control the geth and thereby prevent another war with humanity, Archer's autistic brother David had interfaced with a VI. The process had broken David's mind (“he's like a virus now”), and the David / VI hybrid was out of control. He / it had infected the network and taken control of all nearby technology, including security mechs and geth platforms from a crashed ship, that he used to attack the Cerberus personnel.

Archer informed Shep and her team that they would need to manually shut down the security system from two facilities – Vulcan Station, the project's power plant, and Prometheus Station, the crashed geth ship. Then they would be able to access Atlas Station, the main laboratory where David and the VI were located.

Vulcan Station was guarded by mechs and drones. Shep and her team defeated them and activated the security override with little trouble. Prometheus Station was a geth ship full of “dormant machines”, who naturally became much less dormant as soon as Shepard hit the security override. They survived the geth counter attack and escaped. At both locations, there appeared on view-screens unintelligible transmissions from the VI – later, it became clear that it was saying “Quiet, please make it stop!”

Atlas Station is where things really got weird. When Shep attempted to shut down the VI, it somehow accessed her omni-tool and cybernetic implants, and she saw a “virtual reality” overlay on top of the real world – she was linked with the David/VI hybrid. She witnessed David's memories of what had happened – his knack for communicating with the geth, how Gavin had pushed David into interfacing directly with the geth neural network (under pressure from The Illusive Man for results), and how the process left David traumatized and out of control.

Shepard reached the VI core and found David hooked up to some apparatus that looked like some sort of torture device. She defeated the VI before it could upload itself to the Normandy, and freed David. Gavin showed up, and despite his obvious remorse at what he had done to his brother, attempted to rationalize his actions, and beg to be allowed to care for David. Shepard wasn't the slightest bit interested in any of that, and pistol-whipped him into submission when he foolishly tried to attack her.

Shepard made arrangements to have David transferred to Grissom Academy, where he'd be properly looked after without being exploited by Cerberus.

With Project Overlord destroyed, The Illusive Man sent Shep his usual passive-aggressive email, where he called her decision “understandable” but then went on to complain about how wrong she was and that Cerberus had suffered a terrible setback as a result of her actions. Shep would have pistol-whipped him, as well, if he'd been there in person.

From the weekend:


Mordin had created a cure for the genophage, so it was time to head out to Tuchanka. Ahmed Shepard called everyone to the war room to discuss strategy.

Complication 1: A Reaper Destroyer had parked itself beside The Shroud, the facility they were going to use to distribute the genophage cure. The Reaper Destroyer was using it poison Tuchanka's atmosphere. Nuclear radiation fallout and poison air? (And flesh eating flora and fauna? And aggressively violent natives?) Tuchanka is so awesome...

Tentative plan: Turian fighters in the air and Krogan trucks on the ground distract the Destroyer while Mordin synthesizes the cure and distributes it in The Shroud.

Complication 2: The Salarian Dalatrass called Shepard and offered him a deal: if he sabotages the cure, she will give the Alliance the full support of the Salarian fleet. The STG had already sabotaged The Shroud years ago; Ahmed only needed to make sure Mordin did not counteract the Sabotage.

When travelling to meet the Krogan clans, Eve noticed Ahmed's distant look and asked what he was thinking. "Just thinking about Earth." he replied. It was partly true.

After meeting the Krogan clans -- which nearly ended up with Krogan-on-Krogan violence over Mordin's presence, Wrex managed to convince the clans about the plan. Eve again noticed Ahmed's troubled expression, but Ahmed brushed it off. Wrex's ideas about a new Krogan Empire were disturbing. It also did not help that the other clans did not share Wrex's views. Even Wrex himself once said he did not want to change his people, and his people were violent. EDI's and Mordin's past explanations of Krogan birthrates and the STG simulations about increased Krogan population resulting in war did not help matters.

Things only seemed to get worse from there. The planned two-pronged attack was broken when the Krogan force was delayed because of a bad road. Ahmed Shepard went on foot through some ruins while the Krogan trucks went around. While in the ruins, they felt tremors which turned out to be caused by a Thresher Maw burrowing under the earth. The Krogan called it Kalros, nicknaming it "The Mother of all Thresher Maws". Nightmares of Akuze and several encounters while chasing Saren convinced Ahmed to not stick around the ruins for long. They also ran into a strange corpse, which scans showed to be Reaper-modified Rachni, proving the Rachni rumors true.

And once out of the ruins, they ran headlong into Reaper ground troops, and then caught sight of Kalros as it chased after the Krogan trucks. Time was now of the essence. If they did not make it to The Shroud soon, there would be no cure and no Krogan-Turian alliance. No Krogan-Turian alliance meant war was as good as lost. Ahmed was not even sure they could win the war, Prothean super-weapon or not.

And then the most audacious plan: summon Kalros to the Reaper Destroyer by using Maw Hammers set up near the Shroud. Simple plan, but difficult execution. Getting to the Shroud proved nearly fatal when the Reaper Destroyer noticed them and fired at their position several times. The Turians managed to distract the Reaper just in time, but then the Reaper starting dropping Brutes. After surviving the assault as well as Destoryed foot stomps, Ahmed managed to activate the Maw Hammers.

The good news: Kalros attacked the Destroyer and dragged it underground. The bad news: during the struggle, Kalros knocked The Shroud, destabilizing it.

And then the moment of fate: Mordin detected a heat malfunction and needed to go up the Shroud tower to fix it. Ahmed came clean and told Mordin about the sabotage and the Dalatrass's offer. Mordin was disappointed that Ahmed had not told him about it earlier, but understood that it was a difficult decision to make. However, Mordin was determined to cure the genophage. Ahmed tried to talk him down, asking why he defended the genophage earlier. "I made a mistake!" Mordin shouted. "Big picture made up of little pictures." he explained. He wanted to set things right.

Ahmed pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Mordin. "Walk away," he ordered. Mordin bowed his head, then looked back up at Ahmed with grim determination. "No," he said. "Shoot me if you must." He turned and walked towards the elevator.

Ahmed's finger tightened around the trigger. A bead of sweat rolled down his brow, a result of the Tuchanka heat and growing fatigue. Ahmed squinted and his aim faltered. A thousand images and sounds flew through his mind, a collage of memories bombarded his thoughts.

Mordin working in the Normandy lab, Earth under attack. Screams and burning flesh, Eve handing Ahmed the crystal she used to dig her way out of the cave. Mordin explaining his work on the genophage modification, Wrex telling Ahmed his plans for uniting the Krogan clans. The Dalatrass offering the deal, Mordin's standing up to Wrex in the medical bay. EDI explaining to Shepard the logistics needed to move the Krogan to help the Turians, Mordin telling Ahmed about STG simulations, Urdnot clan members unsure about Wrex's leadership.

Ahmed fired. Mordin let out a soft cry and stumbled into the elevator, landing in a heap. The elevator doors closed and carried Mordin's body up the tower. Sad, angry, and disappointed, Ahmed flung the gun aside and walked away.

Ahmed tried to sleep that night, but only had nightmares.

* * *

More to come later (it's getting late.)

I am mostly playing ME:A multiplayer during the week; it takes time to complete the daily challenges and some of the APEX strike team missions. Hopefully I can finish recounting what I did with Ahmed last weekend, and then maybe I can play some more this week.

Try the almighty Venom for Shep (Adas works too, think done with all-Adas setup at some point), slap Incendiary ammo, pick 2 Krogans (alternatively Krogan + Vega) but don't give them charge weapons - AI's dumb, hope they don't get stuck, and keep on moving yourself. the key is constant crowd control, stagger the crap out of them and keep funnelling spawns via kiting. Being adept (mighty boom-booms) helps but even if not still consider Reave as a bonus for DR. Sorry for the slight offtopic

Still devastated about the events on Tuchanka, Ahmed Shepard needed an outlet and Admiral Hacket gave him one. The Alliance had identified a Cerberus fighter base on Noveria and asked Ahmed to go take it over for the Alliance. So Ahmed grabbed his gun, EDI, and Liara, and took over the base. All things considered, Cerberus resistance was minimal compared to other encounters with that terrorist organization.

Feeling a little better and remembering the modified Rachni on Tuchanka, Ahmed took a team to go investigate the Rachni rumors Wrex mentioned. At the base camp on Utukku, Ahmed met the leader of Aralakh Company, Urdnot Dagg. Dagg told him more about the Krogan scouts Wrex mentioned. Their camp was in shambles and there was no sign of the scouts.

Aralakh company and Ahmed split up, taking different routes into the caves below. They soon found out that the Rachni rumors were true, encountering several Rachni breeding pods with Reaper technology, Reaper ground troops, and even some modified Rachni. The Krogan scouts were all dead, but they had taken flamethrowers deep into the caves so the next teams would have help dealing with the Rachni.

Deep into the caves, they found the main nest with a Reaper-created Rachni breeder. The monster tried to convince Ahmed to let it live, but Ahmed refused. Ahmed made a difficult choice to kill the Rachni Queen several years ago, choosing to let this surrogate queen die was an easy choice to make. Urndot Dagg sacrificed himself so that Ahmed could escape. The remainder of Aralakh Company joined with Admiral Hackett's team.

* * *

Just one more mission to recount from last weekend's playthrough