What did you do today in ME?

Haha, yeees, go for it! (And thanks so much for watching!)

It's really tough to read the posts here and trying to stay away from ME. I miss it already, but I really want to complete FF15 before I get back into ME.
So keep it up in here, folks! I'm living my ME obsession through you guys currently




I'm always up for watching people play! I follow some from the forums here on YT already, so if you feel like it, why not do it. But of course only do it if you really want!
Also, props for going through the husk rush at the AI Core, ever since I did it on Insanity for the first time, I always take the Cain with me for that part, it's just so annoying to me

Miriam Shepard passed the point of no return...

Took the squad out in a shuttle to investigate a plot device while EDI coordinated integration of the IFF into the Normandy's systems. Returned to find the cew abducted by the Collectors; the IFF had been a trap. Only Joker had escaped; holding up well, all things considered.

Hand forced by the Collectors; no going back now.

Without crew, Normandy is quiet and empty. EDI now in control of ship, shackles released; not an ideal situation, but the only decision Joker could have made.

Toured the ship while Joker flew at FTL to the nearest mass relay, spoke to each squadmate. Might not have another opportunity. Checked in with the Illusive Man. Won't ever need to speak with him again soon, one way or another.

Encountered huge debris field on far side of Omega-4 relay, a graveyard for countless vessels that attempted the journey over the millennia. Cyclonic shield modulator provided by Tali prevented impacts from debris causing significant damage to the Normandy.

"Oculus" drones emerged from debris fields, attacked with particle beams. Silaris armour provided by Jacob prevented significant hull breaches, though one drone did penetrate the hull. Took Mordin and Kasumi down to the cargo bay, destroyed it without difficulty.

Located Collector base. Collector cruiser was deployed to intercept Normandy. Thanix cannon provided by Garrus sliced through it like butter. Felt good to avenge the Normandy SR-1 and her crew. Explosion from destruction of cruiser caused Normandy system overloads; Joker performed emergency landing on exterior of Collector base.

Analysed EDI's scans of Collector base; plotted a route through to the likely location of the crew. Divided squad into two teams; secondary team to be led by Garrus. Determined requirement for tech specialist to infiltrate through a vent to disable security systems; assigned this task to Kasumi.

Gave a rousing speech to the squad before heading out.

[In my first playthrough, I tarried too long before launching the suicide mission and lost half the crew. This playthrough fixes that mistake while (deliberately) introducing another.]

Sharon was a busy bee today. Curing the Genophage on Tuchanka, fist fighting in the Citadel, brokering peace on Rannoch, trash talking at Thessia and then another fistfight, this time with herself on the Citadel.
But the biggest accomplishment was to finally get service at Purgatory's bar. And then passing out after three drinks.
You win some, you loose some.
---
And today Sharon had some meet ups at the Citadel, visited an Asari Monastery, saved some Cerberus scientists, threw a party, disturbed Sanctuary, did some sidequests, stabbed Kai Leng and Synthesized her way to the end. Stay tuned for/ beware of round two. 
Longer version inside of the spoilers. 

You can, but only if you unlocked Reave as a bonus power in a previous ME3 playthrough. (Requires an ME2 import or New Game with Kaidan alive, not shooting him during the confrontation with Udina, inviting him back to the Normandy, then talking to him enough times to unlock Reave. I forget which conversation unlocks Reave.)

Replaying Virmire with Jace Shepard, Infiltrator:

Virmire: Beaches here are gorgeous. K, Ash and I dropped down in the Mako. Fought through lots of geth to disable the AA Gun Tower that was preventing the Normandy from landing. Then we made our way to the landing site. Joker radioed me to say that the Normandy was grounded for now.

Talked to Captain Kirrahe of the salarian Special Tasks Group. He told us that Saren had found a cure for the genophage and was created a krogan army to fight with him. It would be unstoppable. We decided that the cure had to be stopped. Wrex didn't like it. I had Ashley at the ready as I talked to him. In the end, I convinced him that Saren would simply destroy them as soon as they weren't useful to him anymore. Didn't want to take out Wrex but I would have done so if it became necessary.

Kirrahe wanted one of my crew to go with him while I went into the krogan breeding facility. I sent Kaidan. Took Ash and Wrex with me, since Wrex said he wanted to be there when we faced Saren. We took care of a lot of things that might have caused trouble for Kirrahe and Kaidan. It was when we got to the facility that it got weird. Geth were there, naturally, but there were also some salarians attacking us. I thought back to what Matriarch Benezia said about what Saren had done to her mind. Could he have brainwashed these salarians, too? All the more reason to make sure the few krogan we'd encountered didn't become part of a massive army.

Some salarians in cells confirmed something was happening. Most were babbling but then what talked about hearing whispers which, eventually, he said were commands to get out of the cell and attack us. When I refused he bashed himself against the door. Also came across a krogan doctor (gotta be something unique in the universe) and the husks he was creating.

Found an asari researcher named Rana Thanoptis. She was working for Saren, studying the mind control. She said that the true source of the power was Saren's ship, Sovereign. In fact, her first test subject was the person she'd replaced. That told me what I needed. This Rana had to have been influenced by Sovereign herself. She couldn't be trusted. And even if she wasn't "indoctrinated", she still chose to work for this madman. I put her down.

Found another Prothean beacon. I approached it. Got the same imagery as I did from the one on Eden Prime. It was a shock but didn't take me down. I attribute that to the combined efforts of Liara and Shiala. I hoped maybe it would add to the puzzle but wasn't sure.

As we left, a red hologram appeared before me. Looked strange. Identified itself as Sovereign and indicated it was an ancient being. It was also one of the Reapers rather than a ship used by the Reapers. It claimed to be the pinnacle of evolution while we were mere accidents. It also claimed responsibility for the deaths of the Protheans, nor was it the first time they had done such. Liara had guessed as much. Then the the real shocker. The Protheans weren't behind the mass relay technology at all. The Reapers had created it so that organic life would evolve in predictable ways and so that they could destroy civilizations at their height - which would come about faster if they didn't have to reinvent certain technologies repeatedly.

Reached the site where we'd activate the salarian drive core that had been converted into a nuclear bomb. That's when I learned from Kaidan that his team was pinned down at the AA Tower and he wouldn't be able to rendezvous with us. I opted to go after then while Ash finished arming the bomb. Then the worst happened. The geth arrived at the bomb site. Ash decided to activate the bomb. Meanwhile, Kaidan is telling me that he'll be fine and I should go save Ash. Here's my problem: Kaidan is a great officer. There's also something going on between us. Can I really sacrifice him? I know this is exactly the reason why fraternization is against the regs. In the end, I decide I need Kaidan. This is a decision that's going to haunt me no matter what so the best I can do is follow my heart. [FYI, in this particular run, I did the thing where I started with FemShep and then used a console command to change her to BroShep. So what I write is based on what Shepard might feel in-game.]

Once I'd reached the AA Tower and dispatched the geth, Saren arrived. I don't know if he was following me or this was his destination all along but it did make it seem like I'd made the right choice in coming here. We talked for a bit. Saren thought that if organics allied themselves with the Reapers that we could live on, even if just as slaves. But if I understood Sovereign correctly, the Reapers weren't looking for slaves. I'd rather die than be one anyway. Saren also suspected he would eventually be fully indoctrinated but for now his full mental capabilities were needed. Eventually, all that was left was to fight. Saren did get the upper hand until a klaxon distracted him and I was able to get in an upper cut. Then he escaped.

Normandy: The Normandy arrived to take us away. Ash managed to defend the bomb long enough. We saw the explosion clear from space. Kaidan was upset that I chose him over Ash but I outright said there's no other choice I could have made, that I could never leave him behind.

Liara suggested I "embrace eternity" again to see what information was contained in the second beacon. This time she recognized a distress signal that was placed by the Protheans. It was a warning for their own race and any who might follow. Then she pinpointed a place called Ilos as a place where we might find the Conduit. It seemed like, at last, we were getting somewhere. Just wish it hadn't cost Ash her life.

Tried to warn the Council. Predictably, they didn't believe me, believing Saren to be the real threat. Should have hung up on them like last time but I thought they'd be reasonable.


Fastforward to the exterior of the Citadel, post-Ilos.

Citadel: With Saren at the Citadel controls I had no choice but to fight my way to him. Access was limited. K, Liara and I suited up an went outside. We fought lots of geth and krogan making our way there.

The Council chamber was on fire. Killed more geth before making once more facing Saren. He had set the Citadel arms to open so that Sovereign could get access and allow the Reapers to come through to the Citadel - which was a massive relay. We fought it out. Saren ended up falling below, a gigantic piece of glass jutting out of his abdomen. Reaper implants or not there's no way he survived that.

The Council had been aboard the asari Destiny Ascension, which was under attack. Thing is, we needed the Alliance fleet to take on Sovereign and they'd be weak if they fought the geth first. I told them to hold back until they had a shot. It ended up costing the lives of the Council. I don't know if my decision was right but Hackett seemed to agree since he followed my order.

In the aftermath, Udina suggested that the humans seize control. With the Council dead, everyone was looking for leadership, and because of my actions they thought humanity would serve them best. Udina proposed an all human Council. Don't know if it would fly in the end but I was for it. I did suggest Udina be the voice of leadership. He knew how to manipulate his opposition. He might just make it work.

Mark Shepard (back from my ME1 interlude):

Bekenstein: Accompanied Kasumi on her mission to steal a graybox that belonged to her former partner Keiji from Donovan Hock. We were supposed to attend a party together but she was denied entry for some reason. Fortunately, a gift to Hock held all of our weapons and armor. For some reason, she chose to hide it in a gold statue of Saren. Twisted sense of humor on that one. Things we did at the party: took down the barrier to Hock's vault, got Hock to give a speech devoted to his ego, killed a few guards, and broke into that damn vault with its DNA and voice lock.

Lots of interesting artwork. The head of the Statue of Liberty, Michelangelo's David, quarian hieroglyphics, a turian ship, a Rachni queen, a creepy monster, a krogan statue, an Egyptian statue, a Prothean statue, and finally the graybox. That's when a hologram of Hock appeared. He blabbered on until I shot one of his statues. That shut him up so we could start fighting and get the hell out. And it was a hell of a fight. Had to even take on Hock himself in a gunship at the end but Kasumi got her graybox.

Normandy SR-2: The graybox was full of Keiji's memories. It also held secrets that, if the Council ever saw them, would implicate the Alliance. The best course of action would be to destroy the graybox but Kasumi was clearly too attached to it. It might compromise her ability to do the mission if I made her give it up so I left her to it.

Karen Shepard, Soldier (Shock Trooper), ME1 NG+:

Normandy: Checking in with the crew (post Feros)

Commander Shepard took a few minutes to check in with the crew for their thoughts on the Feros mission (or anything else they had to say).

She overhead a voice-mail from Ashley's sister about her "cute" squad-mate Kaidan. Shepard teased her a little about it, but she claimed not to be interested in the Lieutenant. She's from a big family (three sisters), and is obviously close with all of them, telling Shepard a story about how she once took leave to help a sister who was having some trouble at school. She also revealed she had a spiritual side and enjoyed poetry. There was more to her than meets the eye, it seemed, and Shepard was happy about the friendship that seemed to be developing between them.

Shepard was curious how Wrex had ended up as a mercenary. He revealed that he had once tried to help his people overcome the effects of the genophage, but had been betrayed by his own father, a warlord who wanted to keep fighting other races. That explained whey he gave up and became a merc, and why he was so cynical and pessimistic about his people's future. He mentioned a family heirloom - an old set of armour - that was in the hands of a turian who collected stuff from the Krogan Rebellions. Shepard offered to help retrieve it, wishing she could do more.

Garrus told a story of one of his more interesting - and gruesome - cases at C-Sec. A salarian named Saleon had been running some sort of organ harvesting operation, but had got away. Typical of Garrus, he was angry at the injustice of it, even going so far as to threaten to quit C-Sec over their failure to fire on a ship full of victims Saleon had taken hostage. Shepard offered to help track down Saleon - who was still at large - in hopes that it might calm him down a bit.

Tali had been sleeping better lately, but was concerned about her Pilgrimage and the high expectations that were placed upon her to bring back something extra valuable for the flotilla. She felt she needed something that would help them understand geth evolution and, ultimately, take back their home world. It turned out her father was one of the members of the Admiralty Board, the rulers of the fleet and, by extension, quarian society. She had been under a lot of pressure to excel her whole life, pushed hard by her father and feeling the weight of expectations of having to follow in the footsteps of such an influential figure. Shepard felt for her, but couldn't argue with the results - Tali's exceptional abilities had been invaluable when fighting the geth on Therum and Feros.

Shepard checked up on Liara to make sure she was OK, as the joining of minds following the Feros mission had put a fair amount of strain on her. Liara revealed that she had strong feelings for Shepard, but was unsure if expressing them was appropriate. Shepard suspected it was just a crush, Liara's infatuation having more to do with her link to the the Protheans (via the beacon) than anything else, but she had to admit that she felt something as well. Perhaps the intimacy of the joining of minds was a factor? Regardless, the mission had to come first, but Shepard saw no real harm in seeing if something might develop beyond that.

Finally, Shepard went to get Kaidan's thoughts on the Feros mission, but it soon became clear that he also had romantic feelings. First Liara, now Kaidan - Shepard made a mental note to be a little more careful in future when having friendly chats with the crew, to avoid giving out wrong signals. She let him down as gently as she could, and quickly changed the subject. Kaidan gave some more background about his time at BAaT and the turian instructors Conatix had hired to train the kids, who could be pretty brutal. Kaidan tried to warn Shepard about the consequences of "cutting corners" - obviously something bad had happened during his time at Jump Zero, but he seemed reluctant to get into it further. He didn't have anything to worry about, though; Shepard knew she wasn't always the most "by the book" officer, but she was no loose cannon, either.

A call came in from the Council - the salarian STG had lost contact with one of their teams looking into Saren's activities, and they thought Shepard might want to investigate. Shepard did want to check it out, but there was a lot other things on their plate at the moment, so she hoped if the STG were in trouble they could hold out for a bit longer. They still had geth activities on Noveria to investigate, and the Normandy needed to return to the Citadel to restock its supplies and conduct routine maintenance. Shepard ordered Joker to set course for the station; the crew could get a bit of rest and they could plan their next move.

Yes, for pop culture reference!

Luke got some loving this time around. That is playtime, not kisses, that's for another session.
Got the loyalty of Tali, Jacob and Jack, recruited Thane and inched ever closer to the third game.

I started ME3 again! Femshep, let Kaidan live. Sentinel, Colonist, Ruthless.

I'm playing backwards compatible on the xbox one. I also have ME2, but I didn't feel like playing it again since I played it back in March on PS now. So I'm going in cold. I'm usually a 100% Garrus-mancer who's best bud is Ashley, but I believe I will give the Kaidan romance a try, even though he can drive me nuts.

I just want ME3.

Made it off Mars before I had to do adult responsibilities. Hopefully will get further today.

In short terms:
Benjamins ME2 run is pretty much finished, unless I decide to squeeze one or two missions in before ME3. Michael was busy, recruited Garrus, Samara and Thane, got Miranda's and Samara's loyalty, had a dinner with Kelly and met Kaidan on Horizon.