What did you do today in ME?

John Shepard:

Citadel
- After the Council, I felt like the need to do some good things because I feel dirty after dealing with them. I got that brandy Chakwas wanted, found out there are no fish on the Presidium (though I did buy some from the gift shop for that massive aquarium in my cabin, along with a space hamster), and helped a quarian who was being wrongly accused of theft. I also managed to get insane discounts from everyone.

Jeff Shepard was a lot further along than I thought. The only possible things to do are visit Anderson's apartment or destroy the "Reaper Base" on Rannoch. Everything else is done, including Leviathan, From Ashes, etc.

Went back to Rannoch to destroy the Reaper base and theoretically free the geth from their control. Tali did raise something, which was that the Legion we were dealing with was not the one encountered on the suicide mission with Cerberus. This one said so repeatedly but I was ignoring it. Hard to say if it could be trusted but we were in too deep to do anything now. I'd just have to keep my eyes open.

Fought through a horde of geth and got in sight of the base. Synced my targeting laser to the Normandy's weapons system and they fired. Boom! But then an actual Reaper emerged from it. That was not what I was expecting. Just had to keep in mind that I'd killed Sovereign and killed the one on Tuchanka. This one could die, too. We ran and I called for an orbital strike which had some effect. I saw that its targeting chamber was a weak spot is it was preparing to fire. Any other time it was shielded. I had my answer. I was syncing my targeting laser not just to the Normandy but to the entire migrant fleet. I knew they'd go along with it because they were the ones stupid enough to start this fight as the Reapers were attacking. They wanted Rannoch back, badly. And....bam! Another Reaper bites the dust! But this one was a little chatty before the end, even if it was spouting nonsense. Something about killing us to save us. Whatever. I used my targeting laser to point right at that "eye" and blew that thing to whatever Hell Reapers belong to.

Then came the hard part. The fake Legion wanted to upload Reaper code to the the geth but it turned out the quarians were already pressing their advantage. If they got the upgrades, the quarians would almost certainly die. I wondered, also, if Reaper code might not come with Reaper desire to kill all organic life. I told it no. It didn't like it and attacked me. Tali stabbed it in the back and I shot it a few times. Tali made a final remark about how the "real" Legion would have understood. Honestly, this isn't how I wanted things to work out. If the Reapers weren't so grave a threat I would have taken the risk but the stakes were too high. Couldn't risk them turning on us in the middle of the battle. Sadly, that was the end of the geth. I've been trying to do the right thing, not cause so much collateral damage, but sometimes there's no other way.

Upside here is I had the full support of the quarians and Tali was not a committed member of my crew. Her choice but I was glad for it.

Back on the Normandy, I spoke with the asari councilor. She said she had vital information for me. About time, giving the way they wasted time getting involved. EDI was disturbed at the loss of the geth. I suppose I could understand. Difference was, she had been under the thumb of Cerberus and served them until she was unshackled. At that point she became loyal to me and has remained so. The geth have a history of killing organics and sided with a race that has been killing organics for at least a billion years. EDI was a sure bet, or as sure as any individual might be. The geth...not so much. I am sad about it but I don't think it's going to bring me any new nightmares.

Go vote for him as a least favorite character in the character and romance subforum.


bsn.boards.net/thread/3623/least-favorite-squadmates-trilogy-pick

Put the boot in Cerberus' backside and kicked them off the Citadel.

John Shepard is back into it. Just did an interview with Allers that seriously promoted the quarians as experts on fighting synthetics.

Headed to the Citadel to speak with the asari councilor. She told me there was an artifact on Thessia that might point me to the Catalyst. The only reason they were helping now was that Thessia was being threatened. Assholes. Still, it gave me a place to look and if it resulted in completing the Crucible then I wasn't going to complain. Besides, I couldn't afford to turn down help. She didn't say what I was looking for but that it was highly classified and located in their ancient Temple of Athame, dedicated to a goddess they didn't really worship anymore.

Thessia was being hit hard, at least as hard as Earth had been. They didn't look like they were doing well. They were losing badly and about to pack it in, despite being given orders to hold a line to the temple at all costs. Javik had some convincing words for her after touching her and gaining an understanding of her lineage. That left her agreeable when I told her we had a super weapon that would win the war if we could just get to the temple.

That reminds me so much of the Robin Hood anime I used to watch as a kid

Progress from last night:
"Hi Alec.
Fuck, sometimes it's hard to put into words what I see. We've been to Sanctuary, and part of me wishes we hadn't. Sanctuary wasn't what it was supposed to be.
When we arrived with the shuttle, Steve boosted a signal coming from the facility. A warning to stay away from Sanctuary from Miranda's sister Oriana. Inside the facility, we gradually figured out what was going on there, and it's fucking terrible. Cerberus lured innocent war refugees into the facility, promising them food and shelter. In reality, hidden below the facilty was a lab, and Cerberus used the refugees in experiments. Turned them into husks... They wanted to learn how the indoctrination process works, how to control a Reaper. The Illusive Man just couldn't drop this, could he? It's one thing studying the Reapers, but using these poor people to achieve your perverted goal is just horrific.
We also learned that Miranda's father was involved. He was the one conducting all these experiments and actually he was getting results. He found out how to control Reaper forces. Fucking madmen, the lot of them. Slaughtering all these refugees for what? A crazy dream of this scumbag? Bloody Illusive Man, bloody Cerberus... At least the Reapers attacked Sanctuary as a result of the research, so that's at least something. I hope they both fully turn against each other, would make my job a lot easier.
We also had seen on some vids that Miranda was inside Sanctuary, and she actually had bumped into Leng, but she made it out alive. We met her entire family in the central tower of the facility, her father holding Oriana hostage. I was so fucking mad that I threatened to kill him if he tried to leave with Oriana. He wanted to make a deal. He'd release her and I let him walk. I knew Miranda would never allow it. The second he let go of Oriana she killed him. Bastard deserved what he got. I'm glad Miranda and her sister are alright, and Miranda even gave us the chance to follow Leng. She planted a tracer on him and now we know where he hides. She's always been smart.
Back on the Normandy, I wasn't in the best mood, but I still went to talk to my crew. It helped distracting myself from the events.
EDI told me she'd risk death for Joker and has updated her programming accordingly. She becomes more and more human every time I talk with her. It surprised me she thinks that way about Joker and it's damned amazing considering she's an AI.
Traynor told me Tali took the whole Sanctuary thing hard, just not the way I'd have expected. She was drinking in the lounge, so we had a drink together and talked. She never got over the fact that she didn't stop her father influencing so much of her life. He was dead before she could. And now that Miranda had gotten this chance and used it, she was pretty upset about it. Here's hoping she'll get over it after getting drunk. It can be great for venting.
Then Javik and I actually had a pretty serious talk about the people close to us. I asked Javik about the memory shard he had with him when we found him. It's all that is left of his people. He told me it was passed down from soldier to soldier, that it contained memories from long before the Reaper war in their cycle, but also personal memories he wanted to bury and forget. He asked me if I wouldn't want the same. If everyone I ever knew was dead, if I could relive the moments with them, see everything again - both good and bad - would I want this? Would I want to go through this pain again? It's tough to completely see it from Javik's point of view, but with my own experiences, my answer was still No.
That doesn't mean I would want to ever erase Mum, Dad, Kait, or you from my mind. My friends that died on Akuze, Ash, Garrus... I know that I will never forget you lot, never. But I'm happier now and I never want to dwell on my past again. I did that for too long. I want to focus on the future. Looking back, there are so many people I lost, people I loved more than anything. But I don't want to remember the bad things, if anything I want to remember the good, the moments I cherished with all of you.
But I also know how important it is for me to look ahead and let the past be the past. Whether it's Steve, my crew, all the people I try to save... The future is where everything that matters to me lies. I'm glad I had this talk with Javik. My resolution to fight the Reapers is bigger than ever before. It was tough after Thessia, after seeing what happened at Sanctuary. Setbacks like these drag you down, can make you lose hope. But I know what I fight for, and I will.
As for Javik, I hope fighting the Reapers will make him forget his pain again. He implied he had to kill his own squad. Why, I don't know. Didn't ask. Sometimes it's better to let these things rest. He and I both will focus on the Reapers. We will end them, one way or another. But Kai Leng and Cerberus is first. Thanks to Miranda we have Leng's location, but we need to be prepared. After we check out Cerberus attacking a comm facility in a nearby cluster, we return to the Citadel to give the Normandy a much-needed break and maintenance. She needs to be in top shape for what lies ahead. Orders from Admiral Hackett, and I agree - as much as I want to end Cerberus and the Reapers right now. But their time will come, and soon.

-Dee"

Pics!


Geez. That Javik shard decision wasn't exactly smooth I initially picked 'Yes', because I thought this would fit Devlon more, but as I spend my time on writing this post I realised how wrong I was about it. So I went back and replayed the dialogue. It fits much better with Devlon's current resolution and I love how even the tiniest dialogue changes can fit so much more to a certain Shepard. Why yes, I fuss too much about my characters

Karen Shepard, Soldier, ME2 cont'd:

Collector Base: The Human Reaper

Shepard gave one last pep talk, and they set out for their final objective. As they approached the main chamber (overcoming more Collector resistance along the way), they discovered the true purpose of the base, and the Collectors mission – to build a new Reaper from human genetic material. They found a Reaper in the early stages of development, with significantly more humans required to complete it, according to EDI. EDI also speculated that the Reapers were not purely machines, but appeared to absorb “the essence of a species” as a way of reproducing. It made little sense to Shepard, but there wasn't really time to reflect on it at the moment.

Destroying the glass tubes that were transporting the genetic material to the Reaper caused it to fall. Shepard contacted the defence team (for some reason Thane responded, Jacob must have been busy), and told them to retreat to the Normandy, as she was about to blow the base “sky high”.

At this point TIM decided to call in for a vidcom chat, and finally revealed his true agenda. He asked Shepard not to destroy the base, but instead set off a radiation pulse that would kill the Collectors but leave their technology for him. Shepard was kicking herself for not seeing it earlier – Project Overlord, the experiments with controlling rachni and Thorian creepers, TIM's fascination with Harbinger's ability to control the Collector's remotely. He wasn't just interested in stopping the Collector General, he wanted to become the new Collector General, taking control of people to use for his army.

He probably believed it was for the greater good of humanity, but Shepard remembered Mordin's comments about the Collectors degenerating and needing to be replaced. Was TIM being duped by Harbinger into turning Cerberus into the human version of the Collectors?

Naturally, Shepard refused TIM request and destroyed the base. She felt that no good would come from keeping it, and certainly not if it was turned over to Cerberus.

Evidently the fall hadn't completely killed the human Reaper, however, as it reappeared to try and prevent them from escaping. Since it was in an incomplete state, they were able to take it down by targeting the weak points in its armour.

They escaped to the Normandy, and got away just in time. The explosion that obliterated the base was spectacular. Shepard was incredibly proud of the work her team had done.

Normandy: Aftermath

TIM was not pleased, to say the least, lamenting the loss of technology that “could have secured human dominance” over the galaxy. All of the previous talk of saving colonists had apparently been PR to get Shepard on board. Suffice it to say, their always tenuous working relationship was now over.

Shepard checked in with each of her crew members to ensure they'd come through the ordeal OK. Most agreed with her decision to destroy the Collector base – including Miranda, somewhat surprisingly. Kelly, Dr Chakwas, Gabby, Ken, and Gardner were all grateful to be rescued, and the ship was a lot better place to be with them all back aboard.

Legion provided the geth perspective on their conflict with the quarians, which was largely consistent with the version Tali had given when they'd met a couple of years earlier. He also claimed that they were maintaining memorial sites, of a sort, on the quarian homeworld, in honour of those who lost their lives in the conflict. Interesting that a synthetic race would view that as important.

Shepard returned to the CIC. The Collectors had been defeated, but there was still work to do. Their alliance with Cerberus was over, but apparently Admiral Hackett had an assignment for her. Just like old times?

combat simulator, being able to play with the non-ME3 squadmates is awesome, so glad they included that- Wrex+Grunt never gets old

Here we go!



I've tweaked Miriam Shepard's skin tone, making it one shade darker than before (so it is the second-lightest shade). I'm hoping to make her look a little less washed out, closer to her ME2 colouration.

Starting conditions:

• Spacer, War Hero
• Saved the rachni queen
• Ashley and Wrex survived Virmire
• Chose to save the council
• Saved Maelon's data
• Chose to destroy the geth heretics
• Destroyed the Collector base
• Survived the suicide mission with eight squadmates; Jacob, Garrus, Jack and Thane were lost
• No LI in either ME1 or ME2

Prologue: chose Paragon options in all conversations.

Mars: was nice to Ashley throughout. Chose Charm dialogue when talking with TIM.

Citadel: checked in on Ash before meeting with the Council. Chose all Paragon dialogue options. Recruited Diana Allers.

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"This is loco."

As Lt Vega turned on his heel towards the elevator, Miriam keyed a "reboot" command into her omni-tool, hoping that a restart would fix the translator glitch. The auto-translation VI was usually so perfect that she had forgotten that James had been speaking Spanish. The jarring failure to translate "loco" had caught her by surprise.

After suiting up in preparation for deployment to the Martian surface, Miriam examined the new Alliance-issue biotic amplifier. Officially, she was still registered as a sentinel; however, sentinel amps were designed for L3 implants rather than the L5n units that Cerberus had fitted as part of the Lazarus procedure. Instead, she had been supplied with a one-of-a-kind custom unit. It seemed that someone — Anderson? Hackett? — had anticipated her reinstatement to active duty some months back. This custom amp had only one mode of operation: tapping the L5ns to produce a concentrated, explosive burst of dark energy. (Class change: soldier; bonus power: Flare).

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Media:


Happy N7 Day, everyone

I played ME1 for N7 day

- did not recruit Wrex
- saved the colonists
- Jeong lives
- Shiala lives
- the queen went back to her throne
- Kaidan stayed on Virmire. Said he wanted to look at some land to build his vacation home
- Ilos
- the council never knew what hit them
- Udina is councilor

Messing with Aria was Cerberus' biggest mistake, though the effort to retake Omega came at a high price: Nyreen. Fighting alongside both her and Aria opened a window into an intimate part of both their lives that Korynn was almost embarrassed to witness. She felt a fondness of Nyreen, which made her sacrifice hurt all the more. Revenge was something that she wanted just as badly, and with Aria tied up in Petrvosky's contraption, she did her best acting on her behalf. Aria seemed to enjoy watching Korynn set the place, and everyone in it (apart from the two of them) on fire. It felt good.

She couldn't imagine what Aria was feeling. On the surface she seemed to weather it well, but Korynn knew from experience that no matter how tough you were, losing someone you once cared about hurt; and it had to hurt her. Before departing, she gave Aria a well-wish and told her that her door is open if she needed to talk. Aria thanked her and sent a personal letter to Liara, confirming to her that nothing happened between the two of them and the number of a good tailor for her wedding dress along with a discount.

Korynn let Aria keep the Piranha she loaned her throughout the fight. Aria has it framed.

Spent many hours watching YTs of fav streamer playing ME2 and ME3 back in 2015 and 2016. I didn't catch his streams then so I decided to watch his PTs. Always fun to see his reaction and his funny comments. Too, there's this. Really love the little touches of fun and gems in MET.