What did you do today in ME?

Karen Shepard, Soldier, ME3 cont'd:

Athena Nebula: Thessia - Temple of Athame

The Normandy arrived at Thessia to look for the artifact Councillor Tevos had requested. Unfortunately, the Reapers had were already there, and the entire planet was a warzone.

Shepard, Liara, and Tali met up with Lt Kurin at the landing site. The lieutenant was getting ready to pull her forces out, seeing no benefit to losing soldiers holding “a field of rubble”. Shepard and Liara explained what they were after, and why finding the “Catalyst” could help save Thessia, and Kurin eventually agreed to have her forces try to clear a path to the temple. More worrying was her report that they'd been unable to raise the science team stationed there.

Shepard and her team left the landing zone and headed for an outpost near the temple, where they would link up with the rest of Kurin's forces. They encountered resistance from Reaper ground forces along the way.

They reached the outpost near the temple and met up with the surviving members of Lt Kurin's forces – one soldier and two gunships. The asari forces helped them fight through an ungodly number of Marauders, Ravagers, and Harvestors, and they were finally able to reach the Temple of Athame. Both gunships were shot down in the process, unfortunately.

A forcefield protected the entrance, but Liara was able to get them in. The place seemed empty, eerily peaceful after the hellish battle that had just taken place outside. They found the bodies of two scientists. Their throats had been slit, meaning the Reapers weren't responsible. Whoever killed them had put up the forcefield afterwards. It was starting to feel like a trap.

They searched for the “artifact” Councillor Tevos had mentioned, but without any details they weren't sure what to look for. One curious thing they did find, however, was the goddess Athame's striking resemblance to Javik. Liara seemed shaken by the possibility that the protheans might have influenced ancient asari development.

Soon Shepard sensed what it was they were supposed to find. A giant statue of Athame concealed a prothean beacon, similar to the one on Eden Prime. They figured out how to activate it, and were introduced to a prothean VI similar to Vigil on Ilos. This one called itself Vendetta, and claimed to be “an advanced virtual construct of Pashek Vran, overseer of the project you refer to as Crucible.”

Vendetta revealed some interesting information: that the Prothean empire had been sabotaged from within by indoctrinated traitors – Prothean Cerberus, basically. (No doubt they evolved into the Collectors, just like TIM was doing with his huskified human army.) Vendetta also claimed that the Reapers were not believed to be the cause of the cycles that seemed to be repeating throughout galactic history, but were “only servants of the pattern, not its master.” It was unable to provide any additional information on what that meant, however.

The Crucible was not of Prothean design, apparently, but had been worked on and added to over an unknown number of cycles. Vendetta agreed to help, but quickly shut itself down when it detected an “indoctrinated presence.” It was Kai Leng, the Cerberus agent who'd earlier attempted to assassinate the Council, killing Thane in the process. It seemed Cerberus had been waiting for Shepard to come and use her Prothean cipher to unlock the beacon.

Leng deployed a hologram of TIM, who attempted to convince Shepard that it was wrong of her to try and destroy the Reapers and that Cerberus could take control of them instead. Saren and Dr Kenson had also told her that destroying the Reapers was the wrong thing to do, and they'd both been indoctrinated. It couldn't have been a coincidence, and it was pretty clear whose side TIM was on, even if he himself probably didn't realize it.

TIM ordered Leng to take the data from the beacon. It was one versus three, so it should have been no contest, but Leng had the support of a gunship. Unlike the asari, the Cerberus gunship was not harassed by the Reapers, more or less confirming had no problem with what Cerberus were up to.

The gunship targeted the temple's supports, and Shepard and her team had to struggle to avoid falling into the pit below. Leng was able to take the Prothean VI data and get away.

Back on the Normandy, Shepard called Councillor Tevos to let her know what had happened, and advise her on the state of Thessia. She then gathered the team in the war room to go over their options. It seemed hopeless, until Samantha had revealed that Leng's shuttle had been tracked to Horizon. The trail didn't just end there, however; it seemed that all signals and communications from that sector were being actively blocked. It was suspicious, and suggested Cerberus might be hiding something in that part of space.

They made plans to check out Sanctuary on Horizon, a supposed safe haven from the war. Shepard had a bad feeling that what they would find would be the opposite of “sanctuary”.

After the briefing, Admiral Anderson called, gave an update on the situation on Earth, and tried to lift Shepard's spirits.

More Barbara "Barbie" Shepard...

Admiral Hackett: Someone is killing former Alliance scientist. I want you to find out why.

Barbie: Yes sir, Admiral Habit!

Admiral Hackett: (sighing) Close enough.

Later...

Barbie: Don't kill him! We should bring him to trial and expose him!

Toombs: You're right.

Dr. Wayne: What are doing!?

Barbie: (trying to pull down Dr. Wayne's pants) Exposing you!

Yes. This. Council should be funding her interior decorating plans.

fylimar When you do get around to ME3 and find yourself hankering for the vest.
Here is the original
elemods.blogspot.is/2013/08/mass-effect-3-mod-puffy-vest.html

and a handy dandy dlc packaging with more clothes as well.
www.nexusmods.com/masseffect3/mods/427?tab=description
(If the link was already posted, then oops. But eyes got glazy reading so many reports).
---
And what was done did, nothing but pondering if the lash skill is anything like a whip and if I should invest in Omega just to be able to play Devo in combat. 
Also reading, so much reading in this thread. 

Faith & Owen:

Faith: Dropped by the Citadel to give a report in person to Udina and Anderson. Udina questioned my decision regarding the rachni queen. Did someone make him a Spectre when I wasn't looking? Hate that guy! God help me if we ever get a Council seat and someone decides he belongs on it!

Also, saw Conrad Verner again. He wants to be a Spectre and thinks somehow I can just make it happen. If I were to pick anyone, it would be my brother. He's...probably as good as me. Besides, based on all the missions the Alliance is sending him on I'm starting to wonder if they aren't grooming him to be the second human Spectre. What I said, though, was that in order for me to fight the good fight I needed to know people like him were supporting me on the home front. He seemed to buy into it. I had no idea being a Spectre came with stalkers.

A woman named Helena Blake also wanted me to kill her business partners. She said they were red sand dealers. I accepted the job, mostly because it would help me eliminate a crime syndicate, but I'd have to decide later whether or not she would also survive. Depends on what I heard from her.

One last thing of interest. Hackett said I didn't come off sounding good "back home" after my interview with that one reporter. Yet, in the elevator ride back to the Normandy, it said I knew how to do an interview and displayed a "keen diplomatic mind". Guess I can't even trust Hackett to be honest with me. I knew Udina was a underhanded but really thought Hackett was halfway decent.



Owen: While visiting the Citadel, I decided to take care of a few chores. Planted that bug for Emily Wong and really hoped it didn't come back to bite me in the ass. Anyway, she did say she got some good information about how badly overworked these air traffic controllers were and I guess if it causes there to be more workers - and less danger - it's worth it.

Also finally talked to that bartender Jenna who was do undercover work for C-Sec. Kind of dangerous for someone untrained but she didn't want to talk to me about it. However, some fake drunk turian near the doorway did and so I stopped by C-Sec offices near C-Sec Academy. Apparently this Jenna had gotten some good intel but he needed someone to go retrieve some mods that, in the hands of criminals, gave them an advantage. I was game for that, especially if it kept a civilian safe. Against my own judgment, I simply acquired the mod and didn't take the guy down. I got paid for it and acquired a weapons mod Chellick didn't need. I did check in at Flux to talk to Jenna's sister to make sure Chellick kept his word in having her leave Chora's Den. Turned out she had returned.

Then I ran into some Volus claiming that Chorban - the guy I was helping scan keepers - was trying to kill him. He story seemed weak but it was worth talking to Chorban. Couldn't find him, though, which was strange. But I did find the brother of the trader who had been murdered so he could at least get some peace from knowing the truth.

I've been messing around with two Shepards in ME2 lately. My mean adept femshep, and my favorite broshep as a Sentinel. Its odd because a little while ago, I was convinced that Sentinels and so awesome and Adepts are boring. Now that I have been playing both on Insanity, for some reason its the other way around. It might something to do with ME3 multiplayer because I love Adepts in that mode.

But there is something... boring about Sentinel. I actually prefer my broshep Sentinel as a character, but the Adept is more fun to play. Which is odd because Sentinels are so well rounded, look cool, and they are tanky. But I think its the combination of having to maintain the tech armor (the cooldown for tech armor is really long even at level 4), and not having the focus of an adept or an engineer. I found both Engineer and Adept fun as hell to go through. I even did a Vanguard run with Obbie Shepard and it was also very fun (thanks to dear Kasumi). But Sentinel just does nothing for me. I've tried several different squadmates, and even thought getting the shotgun would make it more exciting. Nope. And in ME3 is it stupid how over powered of a class it is.

I also don't think it helps that this run has some of my favorite characters dead (Wrex, Kaidan, Kasumi). The romance with Ash is the only benefit. Ashley killed Wrex on Virmire to protect the man she was interested in and cared about. I thought that would be a fun and interesting head canon. As much as I love Wrex, ME3 is a lot more interesting with Wreav because the genophage part is an actual tough decision and not a no brainer. I also gave Legion away to Cerberus so I have to choose Quarians or Geth in ME3. Basically, I am at the Suicide Mission for my Sentinel, and I have to get the IFF with my adept.

I'm thinking since I'm having so much fun as an Adept, I might even go back and make a new femshep as an Adept (I think Adept suits femshep way better) and make her actually likable. I don't mind playing mean Shepard, but I obviously don't like them as much.

Faith: Checked out my new apartment on Intai'sei. The apartment itself is nice. Not so sure about the view. Looks like a barren landscape. I guess if I survive this whole thing then maybe I can invest in some landscaping. Then I had a long talk with Kaidan. Got some information on his background. Found out how he'd accidentally killed someone with his biotics when he was a kid, something that makes him more reserved. I'd flirted with him earlier and thought I might like to do some more of that. He might just be the kind of person I'd like to spend more time with, though I want to be careful here. As a Spectre, I might get more latitude for how I behave but he could find himself facing fraternization charges.

Decided to get rid of the crimelords that Helena Blake told me about. First stop was Mavigon. This guy was well-protected but he did go down. Also had some nice EQ that I commandeered. I feel in my rights to do so since I'm not supplied with anything decent and have to pay when I was upgrades. Then it was off to Klensal for the other guy. This one was nominally more interesting being holed up in a mine rather than a fortress. Now it just left Blake herself. We had a chat. She intended to engage in illegal gambling and smuggling of illegal technologies. I convinced her that it would be in her best interests to disband the gang and she agreed to it in exchange for me letting her go free. I allowed it primarily because I probably wouldn't even have known about this crime syndicate had she not tipped me off about it. Besides, I could keep on eye on her to make sure she didn't break her word.

Owen: Got a message from Hackett. He said Faith's commanding officer on Torfan, Major Kyle, had formed a biotic cult on Presrop, which is odd considering he isn't biotic. In any case, he was now called "Father Kyle" and had killed two Alliance representatives sent to investigate. Why send me instead of Faith? Well, he said he wanted to avoid bloodshed if possible and Faith does have a reputation for shoot first, which isn't entirely deserved, but I understood. No guarantees I could avoid killing him, or any of the biotics. What I could tell straight off is that they're all brainwashed. They say "Father Kyle" told them the Alliance was going to wipe them out, that everyone is scared of them, that they're superior. This was a recipe for a massacre. Fortunately, I was able to talk him down but explaining that if he didn't come peacefully they would all be killed and what kind of "father" would allow that? Hackett was impressed though honestly I think Faith wouldn't have wanted Major Kyle to end up dead so would have done what she could to have avoided a fight.

Absolutely. Even Vanguard gets boring after a while. I however enjoyed my Obbie Vanguard/Kasumi is bae after ME3 run very much. One of the most fun broshep runs I've had even without an actual romance in the games themselves. The gameplay helped but also really enjoyed having my own head canon. Its just worth noting how your views on classes (and even characters) can change after a hiatus. 


So I finally finished the Sentinel run. The Suicide Mission was really fun. Probably because Sentinels are practically unkillable if played right. This was also the fewest deaths I had on the final mission. Kasumi, Samara, and Grunt didn't make it and I saved the entire crew. Legion was also forfeited to Cerberus. Makes sense because Sentinels are technically guardians. Though I might experiment with some things in ME3 I've never done. Like letting Kelly die. Not sure what I want to do with Tali yet honestly. 

I also don't get why people say Infiltrator is the easiest to clear Insanity on. Sentinel was actually super easy. Infiltrator just feels lazy. I might go back to my Adept run. I even went back to ME1 to create a new femshep Adept and I wanted to try a blond or a red head. I was fairly happy with the results. I will likely post her next time.

I think this is why I might dislike infiltrators a lot in the story mode. Not only is the slowed down hand holdey sniping annoying, but the lack of open spaces makes it less fun to be an infiltrator. And close range infiltrator is not fun in the story to me. Infiltrators are super fun in MP though.

Really? What shotgun do you use Claymore? Wraith? Piranha? I actually tried this build recently. It was way too easy even on Insanity. Insanity in ME3 is already easy enough as it is, but this just took it to a new level. Playing with the infiltrator with Claymore or Wraith just melted everything and it wasn't really fun to me because nothing presented a slight challenge. I think it was partly my fault because I was playing story like I play MP. 

I think if Crusader was available in story mode, I would play Infiltrator more since that is one of my favorite guns.  

Barbara "Barbie" Shepard got invited to Pinnacle Station. It went about as well as you would expect.


Ahern: Ochren! What's going on in there? Everyone's pissed that they can't use the simulator.

Ochren: It's Shepard. She's still in the simulator.

Ahern: Well, tell her to get out of there once she's finished her current match.

Ochren: That's the problem sir. She won't go down.

Ahern: What do you mean she won't go down?

Ochren: She's still in a Survival Mode match. It's been going on for almost three days now.

Ahern: Three days!?

Ochren: The human female quit after 12 hours. The Krogan lasted almost a day and half before he finally had enough.

Ahern: She can't last much longer.

Ochren: That's what I thought, but... well, listen to the audio yourself.

Barbie: (laughing) Wooooooooooooo! Come get some more! Woooooo! (more laughter)

Ahern: She's not human!

Ochren: I think the holograms are threatening to go on strike.

Ahern: Is that one... crying??

Ochren: Nothing would surprise me at this point.

Ahern: Surely she has to run out of ammo at some point, right? Her ammo blocks can't last forever.

Ochren: She already did. I think she somehow managed to steal one of the hologram's guns.

Ahern: But that shouldn't work. I mean, that's not possible, right?

Vidinos: Tell her if she leaves, I'll give her one of my guns as a gift. I never want to see her again.

Ahern: I'll give her my retirement home if I never see her again.

Ochren: I just never want to see her again. My poor simulator!

Ahern: What if we turn off the safeties?

Ochren: But that would kill her! Turning off the safeties now.

Faith & Owen Shepard:

Owen: Found an abandoned freighter in Argos Rho. It mostly contained those exploding baby rachni but there was also a soldier. After fighting them and getting through the maze of cargo boxes, I discovered a log from a Major Elena Flores. First entry mentioned having room for two reinforced platoons of Cerberus commandos. That meant my suspicion that Cerberus was involved in this was correct. They got the rachni and deployed them against pirates. Last entry said they escaped and, too late, realized the rachni were too smart to be used as weapons. What caught my attention was that these entries were directed toward an unnamed Alliance general. That meant higher ups in the Alliance were involved with Cerberus. It also meant I had to be very careful about who I relayed this information to. I did the only thing I could do and armed a nuke to blow the place up. More rachni showed up to prevent out escape and we got out with literally seconds to spare.

I decided to hold off on telling anyone about what I saw. Wrex and Tali were hardly likely to go talking to anyone in the Alliance about it. Instead, I focused on another mission. It was something to do with a squad on Akuze being killed by a thresher maw years ago and a suspicion that scientists being murdered were involved. Admiral Hackett was vague about why he thought there was a connection. Still, I was up for it. I headed to Ontarom to find assess the situation.

Found a science station guarded by mercs, as well as several dead mercenaries inside. Then I found a Corporal Toombs with his gun to a scientist. Name sounded familiar but couldn't place it. He said that scientists had led his unit into a trap and allowed them to be attacked by thresher maws. He was the only survivor. He awoke in a holding cell while the scientists ran tests on him by injecting him with thresher maw acid. Then, he said, he escaped only because someone destroyed the organization the scientists worked for, an organization called Cerberus. Without a doubt I knew he was not only saying what he believed but that it was undeniably the truth. Still, I didn't want him to have to suffer or take the rap for killing these scientists. I decided that I could get away with killing people from Cerberus. The scientist then all but admitted his guilt, saying I didn't realize how powerful the people were he worked for. I did know, though, if a general was among them. I made sure I saw him to the safety of an Alliance ship. Couldn't allow him to be left alone again.

I reported the situation to Admiral Hackett and he determined that my actions were understandable. No trial over this, he was just dropping it. I decided that maybe Hackett had his own suspicions about Cerberus and confided in him. I told him everything I knew about Admiral Kahoku, his marines, the rachni and now Toombs, as well as the logs saying a general and a major were both involved with the organization. He confirmed he'd had his own suspicions and that I could confide in him alone in the Alliance. However, he made one further suggestion that I hadn't expected, which was that I also bring this information to the Council. I agreed that I would do it, but didn't want the investigation to in any way impede Faith's mission, so I would wait until that was over.

Since I had little else to do at the moment, Hackett sent me to the Skyllian Verge to investigate geth activity in multiple systems. I had experience fighting them so was a good choice. Plus, I had Tali.

First stop was a little world called Magi. Not exactly safe to breathe the air but damn if the view wasn't fine.


Also found this strange skeleton. My hardsuit couldn't identify it, meaning it wasn't native to the region. Wrex said "kakliosaur" but it was more like a question. No idea what he's talking about unless it's an ancient dinosaur. Looks like one giant skull, that's for sure.


Then we found a bunch of turrets lining a path up into the mountains. Around the time of destroying the last one we came to a geth encampment. Lots of heavy weapons and a damned geth colossus! It still went down and we were off to the next destination.

Next stop was Casbin. It wasn't quite as desolate as Magi but it did have flaming meteors falling from the sky to make up for it. This geth outpost was a lot tougher than the last. A dropship kept sending in more forces. I even had to briefly retreat to repair the Mako because without that it's game over. The thing was on fire when it fled.

Third spot was the frozen world of Antibaar. Not my ideal vacation spot. And damn if I didn't run into a thresher maw. Took it out but also saw a bunch of dead geth on the ground. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of killer robots. Also recovered a Prothean data disc from some ruins. Maybe I'd earn some points with the Council.


This batch of geth went down easier than the last but was more difficult than the first. Can't figure out the pattern. Whatever, they're dead either way.

Went off to the last location given me, Rayingri. Found a science station there. What I found inside were husks. Oh, and geth. Not sure exactly how the husks got here. There were no dragon's teeth in evidence so it suggested they were brought here. Nothing indicated a primary base but Wrex noticed a signal coming from inside the cluster that would take us right to them.

The moon of Solcrum was what I hoped would be the end of this mission. Here I found a mercenary base that was guarded by two geth colossuses. Inside only contained geth. When the last one went down, a monitor came to life. It showed a quarian singing before a crowd. It was so mournful and then the recording shot out beyond the Perseus Veil before the transmitter shut down. This put an end to any kind of geth incursion but also left me with more questions than answers. I was wondering what the geth truly were and if life were more than just chemical combinations.

I had retrieved a data packet and Tali asked if she could have a copy. She was sure that not only would it fulfill the requirements of her pilgrimage but that it would also provide data on the geth more recent than 300 years ago. I didn't mind. If anyone knew how to deal with geth it was the quarians and maybe this data could help them end the threat - either through destruction or reconciliation.

As I was planning to return to the Citadel to figure out my next move, Garrus told me about an old case from his C-Sec days, akin to the "one that got away". It involved organ harvesting and a salarian formerly called Dr. Saleon but now using the alias of Dr. Heart. We tracked him down in his ship, the MSV Fedele. First we found some creatures that exploded like plants. Don't know what they were but I'd encounter them before, or at least something like them. When we found the salarian, Garrus confirmed his identity, though the other denied it. Unlike with Toombs, I let Garrus do the honors here. Once he was dead we moved out.

With pretty much everything out of the way, I returned to the Citadel to consider what was going to happen next. To my surprise, Admiral Hackett suggested I talk to Captain Anderson. This meant one of two things: either they were both Cerberus, and I was screwed, or Hackett trusted Anderson. I was hoping for the trust and so I went to him. After he'd heard everything, Anderson said we ought to take this information to the Council. With everything I'd seen and done it was clear that they needed more help. However, in order to do this is meant confiding in Udina, at least enough for him to arrange the meeting. Here's how it went:

Tevos: We have reviewed your recent activities. It seems you have put a stop to many threats facing us.

Sparatus: One of which was of human origin.

Owen remained quiet. He wanted to hear them out before speaking. It was all the truth.

Valern: But you also wiped out what looked to be a major incursion of geth, defeated thresher maws and put down what might be seen as a rachni invasion, which would not look good given that the anniversary of the end of the Rachni Wars is about to occur.

Udina: I believe Commander Owen Shepard has more than proven himself. He has engaged in duties ordinarily reserved for Spectres and has made use of a multi-species squad, including a turian named Garrus Vakarian.

Sparatus: As well as a krogan and a quarian, neither of which can be trusted. Tell me, Commander, how is it you justify allying yourself with members of races who might be considered dangerous.

Owen paused, collecting his thoughts, before speaking.

Owen: Councilor Sparatus, I did not handpick them to be my squadmates, but neither did I shy away from making use of them. Urdnot Wrex was actively seeking Saren. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya provided the recordings that proved Saren was a traitor. Garrus Vakarian was also investigating Saren but was told stop doing so by Executor Pallin. I believed that, given their interest in challenging a dangerous threat to the galaxy, that it was worth the risk. Tali'Zorah has more than proven herself useful against the geth, knowing more than most how to engage them in combat. Wrex fights as though he were getting paid, even though he gets nothing more than room and board while traveling with me. Garrus has a greater understanding of galactic policy given how long the turians have been a Council race. I have found them all to be valuable assets. It has given me a chance to better understand the races of the galaxy in ways I might not have otherwise gotten.

Sparatus nodded, choosing not to antagonize Owen the way he often did Faith. Then again, he was remembered as a Hero whereas Faith had a reputation as a Butcher.

Valern: What most concerns us is this Cerberus. We were unaware of their existence, yet they were a pro-human organization that was experimenting on geth, rachni, humans, thresher maws and other creatures you were unable to identify. They murdered Alliance marines, an Alliance admiral and had at least one general and major working for them covertly. Given these facts, it seems more likely that rather than having destroyed Cerberus as a whole you have merely put an end to one faction.

Owen: That does sound possible, Councilor Valern. Given that I continued to uncover Cerberus activities after destroying their facilities, any who survived might well join with any other existing factions, or simply regroup with those in power who we have yet to identify.

Sparatus: How can we trust the Alliance if even humans don't know who to trust.

Owen: I can't give you a specific answer to that other than that you can trust those of us in this room who brought you this information despite how it could damage humanity's reputation, as well as Admiral Hackett, who urged me to confide in Captain Anderson.

Tevos: What is it you seek from us?

Udina: We want you to send Shepard - Owen Shepard - after Cerberus.

The three Councilors looked at each other. Sparatus and Valern both gave a nod toward Tevos.

Tevos: We find that acceptable, but there will be conditions.

Valern: We are going to make you the second human Spectre. You will have access to the best weapons and armor available. However, we want you to engage in covert activities. No one outside of this room is to know you are now a Spectre. You will be tasked with hunting down this Cerberus, which may require you to go undercover and join their organization. It is clear that they have advanced technology and have infiltrated key political members of the Alliance.

Owen was quiet. He was grateful to become the second Spectre after his sister but knew this would be a difficult mission.

Owen: Thank you, Councilors, for placing your trust in me.

Sparatus: We will be watching you, Shepard. Now, leave us so that we can confer with Ambassador Udina as to how you will go about your mission.

[This marks the end of Owen's story until Mass Effect 2. The rest will detail Faith's activities on Feros, Virmire, Ilos and any other side missions that might pop up.]

I've done nothing. The next time I play Mass Effect, Quorra's story will be recorded for YouTube, and for the world to see. The posters I created and shared in the "Share Your Shepard" topic page can be seen as advertisement. It's just going to have to wait awhile (possible months). Recording takes a lot of space. I would need an external HD with an adequate amount of space (I'm using Nvidia). Stay tuned...