What did you do today in ME?

Jeph Shepard:

- I know the Reapers are out there decimating the galaxy, and Earth, but the space tire rotation wasn't quite done and my clone did some damage. That meant more "free time" and so I was going to use that to spend some time with my crew. Well, actually, they were calling on me, but I was okay with that. If I were any more tense I might burst and that won't kill Reapers.
- First up, lunch with Traynor. Or not. She didn't show. I found her playing "space chess". She thought she'd be eliminated quickly but advanced. Then some uppity asari promised to defeat her. I ordered Traynor to win. The asari talked about how comfortable a life she had teaching tactics to the maidens while I pointed out that the Reapers rolled into Thessia even though they had lots of warning (unlike Earth, which was taken by surprise). She trashed-talked, I trash-talked back, and she went down hard. Samantha Traynor has proven herself an amazing asset from the time I first met her. No way I was going to let some asari talk down to her. [Meant to get a pic in here but forgot.]
- Headed over to the casino and found a suspicious device. Sure enough, Kasumi and a team strolled in. She was playing Robin Hood and I was okay with it. The money she was taking would save lives and, as she pointed out, if the Reapers won the rich couldn't spend their money anyway. I told her to have fun.

- Also met Garrus at the bar. He was doing a shitty job of trying to sweet talk a pretty turian who was eying him. Then I put a beer in his hand and it was smooth sailing from there on out. What kind of friend am I if I can't get one of my best friends laid before sending him off to certain death? Mission accomplished.

- Went with Javik to what he was told was a vid to help the war effort. It was Blasto 7 and if these movies were ever good their time had passed. The Council races were ridiculous (for the most part) and Blasto was nothing more than an egotistical jerk. He and I didn't get along well and Javik finally got fed up with it all, using his biotics on the vorcha "councilor" before storming off.

Jeph Shepard:

- Jack and I got to do something we both love: Killing Cerberus.


- Helped Zaeed win a plushy. It was either that or he was going to hunt down the inventor of the game and torture him. Also got one for my-- for Kaidan. Yeah, definitely for Kaidan.


- Met Joker for Story Time at the casino bar. He told the most ridiculous story of fighting Cerberus during their attempted coup, supposedly using a commandeered Atlas mech. The asari bartender wasn't buying it but she was clearly discounting his bravery as my pilot. So I backed up his story. I got all kinds of things thrown my way but he was largely ignored. Free drinks for the best pilot I've ever flown with. Still remember that amazing Mako drop on Ilos that everyone said was impossible.


- Held a memorial for Thane. Those who knew and cared about him showed up, including the salarian councilor whose life he had saved. EDI talked about his apparent lack of human actually masking Thane changing his life in a way that very few ever do, shedding a lifetime dating back to his childhood in order to be the father he had never been in his last days. Some interesting things came of this, including the salarian councilor helping with research on Kepral's Syndrome. Kolyat also sent me some messages from Thane that had never reached me while I was in Vancouver. Thane had alluded to them when I'd seen him before he died. It was interesting that he cared to try to keep in touch with me after we parted ways when I returned to Earth.


- Liara stopped by. She told me a story about her early days in archaeology and taught me the one song she knew how to play on the piano.


- Then it was movie night with Tali. Some sappy romance called "Fleet & Flotilla" about a star-crossed romance between a turian and a quarian. Sounded a bit far-fetched to me. [Forgot to grab a screenshot of the movie so I got you this movie poster instead.]

Nick Shepard (Adept, Earthborn, Sole Survivor) saved the Citadel, let Ashley kill Udina then brought her aboard (finally!), stopped Samara from topping herself, was reunited with Tali'Zorah (finally!), went on a Geth ship and met Legion then... Oh my God! What the hell?!! Stop trying to kill me! Quarians are insane!

Meant to post this morning, but ran out of time...


Ahmed Shepard went to go speak with the Salarian councillor about Udina's suspicious activities. Unfortunately, Cerberus decided it would be a great time to stage a coup.

So Ahmed grabbed a team and took the shuttle to C-Sec headquarters, arriving just in time to thwart an attack by Cerberus. Commander Bailey survived getting shot and helped pinpoint the Salarian Councilor's location.

When Ahmed made it to the location, he found an assassin ready to kill the Salarian councillor, but Major Kirrahe took the bullet instead, saving the councillor's life. The assassin took off in a sky car and Ahmed gave chase, but the assassin managed to shoot Ahmed's car down.

Undeterred, Ahmed gave chase on foot, finally arriving at an elevator. Bailey slowed the assassin's elevator down so Ahmed could catch up.

Ahmed managed to reach the councillor first, only to get into a standoff with Kaidan. Ahmed managed to talk him down (more like Kaidan did not want to find out what happens when you continue to point a gun at Shepard). Udina then got desperate and pulled out a gun on the Asari councillor, and then Ahmed shot and killed him. The assassin never bothered to show up, having decided to not press his luck trying to take down Shepard.

Ahmed then ran around the Citadel doing some odd jobs for people, handing out items to other people, and eavesdropping on conversations. On the way back to the Normandy, he ran into Kaidan. Kaidan said Hackett had offered him a job, but that he would join the Normandy if Shepard would have him. Ahmed was still too pissed off at Kaidan for treating him like a traitor and for pulling a gun on him, so he told Kaidan to take the job with Hackett.

"Alec, I'm back.
We made it. We actually made it. But not all of us did... We lost Jack, Garrus and Mordin.
I still can't quite believe they're truly gone. I'm sad about this, but on the other hand I'm incredibly relieved that most of us made it back in one piece, and that the Collectors are no longer a threat.
Shortly after we went through the Omega 4 relay, all hell broke loose. There were so many broken ships in there, ships that never returned, ships whose crews had been dead for who knows how long. Then we were attacked by some drones of sorts. Their beam ripped through the Normandy's hull and killed Jack. She was dead right away. I wish I could've had the chance to tell her how sorry I am about that night where I was completely messed up. She always pushed me away, and now she's gone.
One of these drones got into the cargo hold, so we had to get rid of it fast before it could do any damage. Joker did some crazy maneuvering to get rid of the ones following the ship and in order to get us to the Collector base, but he managed. We crashlanded, but everyone was alright. The Normandy bruised, but not broken.
From there on out, things happened fast. Our team split up while working our way through the station and towards our first stop... the chamber where the colonists and our crew had been taken to. One team was led by Miranda, and I took Garrus and Kasumi with me to clear the path for Legion, who I had sent into the ventilation shaft that led to a door we needed to hack. Our plan was to reunite with the others at that door, and everything went smooth up to this point. We found the pods with the colonists and our crew, still alive. But one of the colonists started to dissolve right in front of our eyes and we got out the crew as fast as we could. It was hard to watch this process. Poor woman. Dr. Chakwas told us they were all liquefied and pumped through some tubes, it was cruel. Who the fucking hell does something like that?
I sent Tali back with the crew so they could be picked up by the Normandy, but there was more trouble ahead for us. Seeker swarms... Too many of them for Mordin's countermeasure to work. Samara came up with the idea to create a biotic field for a small squad, and I asked Miranda to take Kasumi, Garrus and me through this part, while Mordin led the other team to create a diversion.
Shit got crazy and we lost Garrus to the seeker swarms just shortly before we were safe, and then when we regrouped with the others, Mordin was shot by one of these Collector assholes. Fuck, man. To lose them like that, I hated it. And I was so pissed off at the Collectors. I know they were only pawns, but I wanted them gone.
Miranda, Kasumi and I followed the tubes to the main control center to overload the base from there and destroy it, while the others stayed back to hold off more Collectors.
What we found there was terrifying. The Collectors had abducted all these colonists to build a Reaper, a human Reaper. All those poor colonists who had already been liquefied had been pumped into this bloody thing. We destroyed the tubes that were used to pump the colonists into it and the supports that held it in mid-air collapsed. It fell down into the abyss. I set the device to overload this place, but of course the bloody Illusive Man called and tried to convince me to only kill the Collectors and keep the base intact. Right. Trust this guy with the tech that was sitting around there? No fucking way. He ordered Miranda to stop me, but she really surprised me. She quit Cerberus on the spot and cut the connection. I'm glad I can call her my friend.
We had 10 minutes until the blast, enough time to get to the Normandy, but this damn Reaper construct had survived and attacked us. We fought hard to get it down a second time, and we succeeded. It was a close call, but Joker picked us up and we got the hell out of there.
I hadn't expected we would actually return, I really didn't. But we got out, back into the Omega Nebula, fueling up, then heading to the Citadel for now, sort out my next step. I pretty much told the Illusive Man to go fuck himself. I'm done with him. I'm not sure what that means for me and the Alliance. I want to be back with them.
I spoke with everyone, with the crew, my teammates. Everyone's shaken, but alright otherwise. I sat a long time inside the Main Battery. Where Garrus used to be. Had 2 drinks there, one for me, one for him. He was one of my closest friends, with me from the start of all this. It's tough right now and it hurts, but I know I'll get through this eventually. I always do. I had a chat with Tali as well. She puts on a brave act, but I know she misses Garrus just as much as I do.
I don't know if we should all go out and celebrate a little. I don't really feel like it, even though this is a victory. But the Reapers are still out there, and they're coming. But I guess it's best to figure all this shit out after some sleep. I'll talk to you soon.

-Dee"

Suicide Mission pics:


Aw man, the Suicide Mission music still gets me pumped up each single time. It's so great!
Died once during the husk rush. I was irritated because I had a real mean sound bug and I fucked up with the Arc Projector, and then that stupid Scion got me I even had to completely quit the game because the sound was still distorted when I reloaded.
Other than that everything went fine and next up will be Arrival. I will leave Overlord for last this time and probably will take Kasumi again, and Legion too!
And then it's ME3 time, so excited!

Nick Shepard (Adept, Earthborn, Sole Survivor) killed a reaper, convinced the geth and quarians to get along, got back together with Ashley , found out Conrad Verner's dissertation is worth one war asset point and helped Aria take back Omega (incidentally, I thought that DLC was excellent).

HYR : This is the thread for the ME trilogy, so no worries, you won't find anyone posting MEA stuff or spoilers MEA has its own thread here if interested.

From last night:
"Hey Alec.
We didn't even make it to the Citadel, because I received a call from Hackett on our way. He asked me to help out an old friend of his, Dr. Amanda Kenson, who had been captured by batarians and was held in one of their prisons. She was a deep-cover operative who claimed to have found proof of the Reaper invasion. I wanted to help her for Hackett's sake, and I also saw it as a chance to finally make the galaxy believe in the Reaper threat.
Hackett had sent me into the Bahak system alone, which I didn't particularly like, but I understood his reasons, and I'm usually good at being invisible. I bypassed all batarian guards on Aratoht, a batarian colony, and everything went smooth up until I found Kenson. We broke out with some firefights, but made it to a shuttle. Kenson worked at a base on an asteroid and she told me about their little project to stop the Reaper invasion. Her team and she wanted to smash the asteroid into the nearby Alpha relay, through which the Reapers would arrive and be able to jump to other relays. They had a Reaper artifact at their base, and Kenson had received a vision of the Reaper invasion, so I needed to see this myself. When we arrived, she showed me the artifact. I received a vision too, Kenson's proof. It was similar to the beacon on Eden Prime, and the Reapers would be here soon according to it.
But Alec, this bloody artifact was just sitting there! Kenson had told me they knew how to protect themselves from indoctrination, but she was actually already indoctrinated and sent her men after me. I didn't stand a chance. I was lucky they wanted me alive.
I woke up 2 days later in the med lab. It felt like that damn Cerberus station all over again. From inside I could use a console and take control of a security mech. I used it to free myself and picked up the pace to reach the room where I could activate the project. Only a couple hours were left until the Reapers would arrive. Being a Reaper servant now, Kenson had of course put a halt to their plan, so it was up to me to do this.
But oh man, Alec, it certainly was no easy decision. Smashing the asteroid into the relay would cause the entire Bahak system to be destroyed. Aratoht had around 300,000 batarians...
Batarians destroyed everything I loved, took everyone dear to me and made me struggle with having lived through this nightmare for years, and still... I was about to destroy a whole colony myself! But I gave in, knowing I never really had a choice. If I wouldn't have smashed this asteroid into the relay, the Reapers would be here by now, and everyone in the galaxy would be affected. I feel terrible for this... I didn't even have time to warn the colonists, but... it had to be done. That's what I tell myself over and over.
Kenson tried her best to destroy the asteroid by overheating the reactor core, but I managed to stabilise it. Kenson still didn't give up and tried to stop the asteroid's engines, but I caught up to her. Alec, I had to shoot her. I get so angry whenever I think about it. The Reapers take control of someone and use them how they see fit. The people underneath are pretty much gone, they have no choice in all this. Just like they did with the Collectors. This isn't right! The Reapers must be stopped, and what I did was a small step, but I hope the Alliance will finally truly prepare now. And the bloody Council too. It's crucial they do. If not, we're all screwed.
Hackett now more or less knows what happened on this rock. The Normandy picked me up and he came to see me in person. He didn't want my report, so I guess that means he still trusts me enough, despite my past ties to Cerberus. But I need to go to Earth at some point soon to turn myself in for what I did to the batarians. I'm sad it came to this, but I did what I had to, and I'll gladly do my time if it avoids war with the batarians. And I really hope this will be my way back into the Alliance. I miss being one of them.
Other than causing this incident, I recently started to work on some new omni-tool function I think might be useful, just tinkering around a bit, you know? Still far from finished, but it's a start. I also had some really interesting chats with Legion lately. It showed me a recording from a time before the Morning War, and if what it says is true, they let the rest of the quarians during the war go. I always thought that the quarians managed to just flee from Rannoch, but... if it's true, the geth decided to not wipe them out! They could be potential allies to them. Or to all of us. It's funny, but I think I can trust this geth. With my past experiences concerning geth it's certainly interesting where this all leads.
Before I return to Earth I want to do one last thing. The Illusive Man had asked me to check out a science station on Aite that has gone dark. Probably their own fault, as always, but I'm curious what I'll find, and if I can use it against the Illusive Man. I'll keep you posted.

-Dee"

Some pics:


Ran through this again on Casual to get it done asap For Overlord I'll switch back to Insanity, but I just really don't like playing this slog DLC on Insanity, hahaha.
On a side note I would love if we would've just received an e-mail from Hackett saying he wanted to talk to us and we could call him anytime we want. I don't really like getting this call so early, but it's just a minor issue.
I love the ongoing conversations with Legion, it's so interesting. In my first few runs I never saw them because I did all missions before the Suicide Mission (except Arrival). It was only on my 5th run that I saw them all, because this was also my run where I rushed through the game to get Legion asap to do missions with it

Jeph Shepard:

- A C-Sec officer wanted to speak to me about Grunt. On the inside, I was already rolling my eyes. He acted like a teenager, but krogan, which meant shit went down. I smoothed things over but it looked like he had a good time.


- Met Jacob at the arcade. He was watching after a couple of kids whose parents were MIA and challenged me to a game of Shattered Eezo. He was trash talking me and I wasn't going to let that go. But he won anyway. Made those kids happy and I was a man enough to admit that skill at video games was maybe not my forte.


- Been playing some Armax Arsenal Arena. After a few rounds, this happened. Like I told Garrus when he challenged me in the bottle shooting contest: people have seen me in action. This win makes up for my loss to Jacob at Shattered Eezo.


- Called Mom because she asked. We're not as close as we could be. After Dad...well, it was just easier for us both to work on our careers. Still, I get that in the midst of a war she wants to know I'm okay.

- Jack stopped by with her pet varren, Eezo. He was a handful, just like her.


- Samara came over. We sat, we people watched, invented stories for them and just sat together quietly. She brings out that contemplative person buried deep under the solider.

Pro-tip: Weapon upgrades on the Shadow Broker Ship can appear after a Mission Complete screen, or on the next calendar day.

My recommendation: Save before using the terminal, then use the terminal to see if you get a weapon upgrade. If you do not get a weapon upgrade, then reload your save and try again. Keep reloading until you get an upgrade.

Hopefully you saved some N7 missions. Any leftover Firewalker missions are also good.

Since I usually play at night, I typically stop playing for the night after finishing Lair of the Shadow Broker, so I get a weapon upgrade, save and shut the game off. Next night, get a second upgrade, then go play two N7 missions and get the other two weapon upgrades. (The 20 crates mission is in the same system so it's close. Cheese it with the missile launcher)

Well it took all weekend but I got Tracy through Feros. She saved the colony and spared Shiala.

dmc1001 : Have you gotten James's e-mail for the N7 cabin talk? I assume you did and talked to him, but usually you only won't get a meet-up with him if you don't have the cabin talk. Maybe it's a glitch.

Not from the game of course, but a little derpy and nonsensical something-something Edit: Whelp, that was some longer rambling than I intended
"March 26th, 2186
Hey Alec!
So, here I am in the brig. I'm fine, but it's bloody boring. Who'd have guessed. 24 hours day after day of doing nothing really. Only been here 5 days and I don't want to be in this room anymore. Then I remind myself why I'm here.
Well, obviously I know why I'm here, but of course I'd rather help with efforts against the Reapers. I had sent some reports about everything I know about the Reapers and the Collectors to Anderson and Hackett, and I had a long chat about these two factions with Anderson when I went to see him on the Citadel. I don't really know what the Alliance is doing, as no one tells me anything, but I try to do at least a little bit on my end to prepare, even if it's not much. I still play around with my omni-tool. I'm trying to deploy a decoy with it to distract my enemies during combat. So far it's kind of working, but I need some more time to really make it work efficiently and perfect it.
I also met another Alliance soldier, his name is James Vega. He's a little brash, but nice I think. I haven't had a lot of opportunities to talk to him so far, but he's the one guarding me, so we exchanged a few words here and there already.
I think I might pick up a book soon. There's plenty in here, so I guess that's one way to pass the time. Sometimes I just look out of the window. I'm in Vancouver, Canada. It's a nice city from the little I can see. I look over a bay I think? Hard to tell from in here. But I'm sure you'd like it here too. It's a shame you never got off Mindoir, see the things I saw and still see...
I have to admit it's a nice contrast to have this calm around me, but it makes me uneasy to think about what will happen soon. The Reapers... it's inevitable that they come. Not even a year from now they'll be here and it scares me. I constantly wonder whether there really is a way to prepare. I know I've been nagging the Alliance and the Council about preparing, but I don't think we can ever be ready for a force like this. Damn it, I guess we'll see when they're finally here.

April 10th, 2186
Hiya Alec. I'm making some progress with my decoy function. It stays up longer now, but so far I can only display it 1 meter ahead of me. That's just not enough. But I have all the time in the world to finish. Time really gets funny in here. I talked more to James, he is a likeable guy. Other than that I'm just waiting for my trial, which is supposed to be in two weeks.
I've read 8 books so far. I look out the window. Sometimes I see a child outside, playing. It makes me happy. He's so young, innocent, and having fun. Just like us back then. I wonder if he belongs to someone here at the Alliance HQ.
Oh, I also got a new haircut, it was really time for that. My hair was almost as long as when I was 11. And no one wants that. Now it's neatly shaved. Didn't have it that short in a long time.
It's my birthday tomorrow. I haven't cared about it in years, couldn't even care less now. Everyone I'd actually like to have around on this day is either dead or currently somewhere around the galaxy. I haven't heard anything from Tali or Kasumi, who I consider my closest friends right now. Still no word on Kaidan either. I'm cut off from everything. Did I mention I hate it in here?

April 22nd, 2186
Man. The trial has been postponed. I don't know what happened, or what they're up to. It's strange, and I hate how much I'm out of the loop these days. It drives me crazy.

May 16th, 2186
Hey Alec. It's raining today. For the first time since I've been here, I can't really see the bay because the rain is so thick. The sound of those drops on my window is really soothing though. I like to just lie in bed and listen to it. I'm tired, and it's only 2 p.m.
I'm tired from doing nothing. The trial still didn't happen and it's awful to be locked up in here. I need to get out, need to do something, anything.
The decoy function is pretty much finished, I just need to polish it a little further. Once that is done... oh man, I don't know. This boredom's going to kill me. I just want to sleep until I get out of here.

July 23rd, 2186
I'm slowly going mad. Nothing I do helps. I can't concentrate on reading for a while now. I talk a little with James from time to time. And I cherish these little chats, it's just...
Most of the time I catch myself just looking out the window. The sky, the fresh air, the sun - when it's not raining. Thinking about the past, about the future. None look all too nice.
I'm sorry I haven't written anything in so long, but I just don't see the point. Nothing ever happens.
I'm gonna stop writing for the time being. I'll ask James to do me a favour and post this letter. If there's anything new you'll hear from me.

Trapped in boredom forever,
Dee"

I imported Devlon into ME3, yay!
I also played some more ME3MP last night. It was the first time trying to play on Gold, which of course with 3 relatively noob-ish players went very well Though we actually managed to extract once! Still, it was terrible and I definitely prefer to play on Silver for the time being I'm having a blast with the Salarian Engineer (Energy Drain ) and Human Infiltrator with Cryo Blast and Tactical Cloak. Mantis is so slow to reload, but those yummy headshots (if I hit...)!

Red, you definitely need to do more stories, I love them! But no pressure here