What did you do today in ME?

Mark Shepard:

Franklin: An Alliance facility had been overtaken by batarians. They launched missiles at two locations. Somehow, I had to stop it. After taking care of the batarians, I found there was only one kill switch code. Now I had to decide who lived and who died. I chose to save the capital city. I meant the colony would have to be restarted from scratch but I could let these people die.

Normandy SR-2: Got a message from the Illusive Man. Says a turian patrol disabled a Collector vessel but was itself destroyed. All sounds sketchy. Anything that could take out the SR-1 would make short work of anything the turians could throw at it. In any case, it's necessary to get there and get some intel on the Collectors before the turians show up.

Collector Ship: Went in with Miranda and Grunt. It's creepy and there are no signs of life. Ship itself seems organic. Found empty Collector pods and piles of dead human bodies. Then we found a dead Collector. EDI analyzed the data and I got a hell of a shock. The Collectors are Protheans. The Reapers repurposed them for their own ends. Shitty end for the Protheans.

EDI confirmed it's the same ship that attacked the SR-1. An unlikely coincidence, just like the Collectors chasing after Kaidan. It was looking more and more like this was a trap. When I created a bridge between a console and the Normandy something strange happened. The Normandy briefly lost power. Then things started powering up on my sides. Platforms with Collectors on them began hovering in my direction. It was a trap.

We fought them off but that thing on Horizon that kept taking control of the Collectors there was doing the same thing on this ship. Finally, when it was done, I re-established a link to EDI. She was able to take control of the platforms, which kept the Collectors from getting to us that way. Now we just had to fight our way back to the shuttle. Then EDI dropped a bomb that the turian distress signal would never have been thought to be real by the Illusive Man. The Collectors had send the signal and he knew it. This is the second time that sneaky bastard had intentionally put us in harm's way without giving us all the details. Even Miranda was startled by the information.

To make matters better, the Collector ship started powering up. If I was still on board the Normandy would have no choice but to leave. Even with armor upgrades it would likely destroy my ship. Then I'd be stuck here. We hightailed it out of there, killing every Collector, Harbinger, husk and scion that was in our way. Only had to revive Grunt and Miranda once, which is once too many times in my opinion, but at least we all got out alive.

Normandy SR-2: I let the Illusive Man know that I could not trust his intel based on what he was saying. Nevertheless, there was an eons dead Reaper that might have the necessary IFF (Identify Friend/Foe) that would allow us to pass through the Omega-4 relay to take the fight directly to the Collectors. Jacob wanted to go immediately but Miranda cautioned building the team. I agreed with her. We weren't ready. Not with most of the crew distracted by personal issues. Plus, there were still a few more allies to recruit, including Tali - though I wasn't sure I really wanted to endanger her this way.

Had dinner with Kelly. We just talked. Not sure I want to take anything further with her but it's nice to have a friendly around. Easy on the eyes. And she didn't flinch at seeing Kaidan's picture on my desk. But she did offer to feed my fish. Replacing them once was enough.

Heh, bring Tali along for balance....

Domi's Mark the Renegade finished Mars, and recruited that Other Doctor to prove just how Renegade he is. Yep, lots of auto-dialogue so far, but M!Shepard sounds very much in character. But, providing, I am planing Domination Ending, I find that the options to say something like Hmm.. etc vs the Illusive Man are missing, but then again, he is now an opponent and Mark is a man of actions, not a philosopher. Anyway, we'll see if Mark has to resist the idea till the very end.

From the Personal Logs of the SSV Normandy



Quick question for everyone: Should my Shepard, or another member of the crew since I am also thinking about doing...other members of the crew eventually...mention the Andromeda Initiative in these logs, give their thoughts on it? Now keep in mind it will likely get mentioned in a log entry for ME 2 or ME 3 so I have a while, just curious.

And man, I hate to say this...because I still consider ME 1 a great game. But, playing this game after playing Dragon Age Inquisition is like transitioning from an Austin Martin V 12, to a 67 Mustang. Both great cars, but a littttlllee clunky. Though on the flip side I am appreciating playing a character which has a little personality again. Don't think I realized just how bland the Inquisitor was until I stepped back into Abigail's shoes.

Oh I've done that before, brought her again anyway.

Just finished Legion's loyalty mission, blew up the heretics. All I have left to do is wait for the Collector raid and begin the SM. Looooooooove the SM.  Debating whether or not to put Jacob in the vents, for shits and giggles.

Mark Shepard:

Haestrom: Didn't want to put off getting Tali any longer. I need another trustworthy person on the Normandy. The sun's a killer on this planet. Literally. It destroys shields. First place I came to had a dead geth and a dead quarian. There was also an emergency log saying the geth were present and to get to Tali'Zorah. Then there was a geth dropship. It wasn't going to be easy getting past them with shields going down whenever leaving shade. Fought through a lot of them to find a bunch of dead quarians. Answered the radio call of Kal'Reegar. He was the squad leader for these quarians.

Needed some demolition charges to get past a blockade the geth used to keep me from my destination. Found a journal entry from Tali. She was on Haestrom investigating why the planet's star was giving up such high levels of radiation. It wasn't always the case. Jack threatened to haunt me if she dies. Amusing.

Got in direct contact with Tali. She's safe but also trapped. Made my way to Kal'Reegar. Tali told me to save him so I made sure he didn't needlessly sacrifice himself against the self-healing colossus armature we were facing. He wanted to be a target but I convinced him I needed him alive - especially since he was the only quarian left alive aside from Tali. And she was on the other side of that colossus. It was a bitch of a fight but we came through. Tali was dissatisfied with the high mortality rate of her mission and so decided to join me on my suicide mission. Big win for me!

Tali did mention Haestrom's sun had aged much too quickly and she thought dark energy was to blame. Dark energy created mass effect fields and was also harnessed by biotics. I guess that meant that people like me, Kaidan, Jack and Miranda were part of the problem. Something to let the scientists deal with. That's what Tali's data was for anyway.

Normandy SR-2: Jacob gave Tali a welcome but she was clear that she distrusted Cerberus completely. As Tali was leaving to settle in, Jacob told her to introduce herself to EDI "the ship's artificial intelligence". Can't tell if he's being a jerk or is just insensitive. Than again, he did give his father a gun to kill himself so anything is possible. However, Tali immediately came in handy, getting us an upgrade in our shielding that might just save us from total destruction by the Collectors.

Tarith: Discovered a Blood Pack communications relay. Naturally I have to shut it down. The planet is full of sensor-disrupting fog. It's also got these weird things that look a heck of a lot like dragons - except bugs instead of reptiles. They even breathe fire. After killing them, some vorcha and a krogan, I shut down the relay. This, of course, pointed me to another base elsewhere.

Helyme: There's an Eldfell-Ashland Energy facility here. There are also lots of Eclipse mercs. Sounds like trouble to me. A log I found said the facility came under attack by mercs which means the Eclipse were raiding them. Found some encrypted data. Set about decrypting it while more mercs attacked. The decryption was a bust since the data was incomplete. Well, not a complete loss but it would require a lot more work to figure out what it was about. More disappointing was that Zaeed and Kasumi went down for the count until my last enemy was dead.

Illium: Lots to do here. People to recruit, an old friend to catch up with and to help Miranda's sister. Still, I figured I'd catch up with Liara first. That's why I brought Garrus and Tali with me. I learned that my fees had been waived by Liara who was now an information broker. Quite a leap from Prothean archaeologist.

Some random asari passed along a message from the rachni queen I'd saved on Noveria. The queen knew I was after the Reapers and promised to help me when the time came. I was leery of it all since the asari spoke in the rachni queen's "voice". She swore she wasn't being mind controlled but I didn't really know their capabilities.

Ran into Gianna Parasini, another one I'd met on Noveria. She owed me a beer but took off, leaving a note for me to help her out. Helped her with some white collar crime. No guns drawn but I did persuade the merchant to give me a discount before she realized she'd been entrapped. When I talked to Gianna again, she mentioned something about dark energy. I'm guessing this is going to be a thing. And she gave me a kiss on the cheek behind. Liara, Ash, Kaidan, Kelly, Tali and now Gianna - all seem to want me. Weird.

Illium (continued): Ran into Conrad Verner on Illium. He's been trying to replace me since I went missing a couple of years ago. Even wearing replica N7 armor. Only he's just causing trouble. He was swindled into believing the owner of a bar was a red sand distributor - it's not and it's legal on Illium anyway. It was another merchant trying to unlawfully get the deed. I convinced that other merchant that all she had to do was show and be tough. Then the deed would be turned over to her. Heh heh. I got there in time to see her arrested. I told Conrad she was a deep cover terrorist and he helped me find her. Then I sent him home. Oh, and I got a discount from that weapons merchant before her arrest.

Finally went to see Liara. She was happy to see me. She needed help from me. Just hacking a few terminals, nothing major.

Helped an asari and krogan to get together. Also ran into Shiala, the asari who formerly served Matriarch Benezia before being given to the Thorian on Feros. She was looking green, just like the clones of her the Thorian had created. Control by the Thorian had given the colonists from Zhu's Hope all kinds of medical conditions. Someone was paying for their medical care but exploiting them as well. They needed help. After talking to the Baria Frontiers representative it was all sorted out for the better. Then Shiala hit on me. I know hot green alien babes is a thing but I like the asari better in blue.

Met with Seryna. She told me Thane Krios, an assassin I was looking to recruit, could be found at Dantius Towers. I met Nassana Dantius on the Citadel. Her sister was a slaver and she wanted her dead. I had no problem with that job. However, it seems Nassana is cut from the same cloth. Abusive toward her workers and generally not a good person. That meant someone wanted her dead and Krios was the one planning to kill her. Apparently, he's not doing this for money so that makes it interesting.

Dantius Towers, Illium:Seryna dropped myself, Jack and Mordin off at the Towers. The first sight I saw were mechs gunning down fleeing salarian workers. That's it. Nassana is dead. I destroyed the mechs but only saved one of the workers.

Fought my way up against mechs and Eclipse mercs. One merc refused to give me information and I gave him the fast way down to the pavement below. When I finally reached Nassana she was convinced I was there to kill her. I was, but that hadn't been my initial motivation. That's when the drell assassin dropped in, taking out her guards, and killed Nassana. I was impressed. Thane agreed to join my mission.

Michael did a quick run over Menae to get himself a Primarch. First time I've done it without Garrus and it was surprisingly pleasant. Not enough to get Garrus on the perma death list, but he might end up getting another rocket to the face in future playthroughs. It also created an interesting mental image, Liara pondered how Garrus would have fit into this if he was still breathing and decided that he would be in the middle of the action, pissed. So now I got the image of him drunkenly stumbling through the battlefield, shouting obscenities at the Reapers.

Speaking of drinking, Michael then beat up James for drinking on the job, since James didn't remember that he'd just been to the Turian home world. Michael only took the renegade interrupts, so his nose got a bit bloody, but he got a new nickname for his trouble.
Michael also started Leviathan, since he's probably going to end up killing a few friends so he needs them extra ems points. Also tossed a Peruvian Whiskey bottle at Kaidan, told Chakwas to stay at the lab while he recruited Dr. Michel and met an unloyal Thane at the hospital. (Also a first time for me, since Thane is usually loyal or dead, he's a lot more prickly this way.)
He ended the session on Aria's couch, sober, discussing how to get those pesky gangs to be useful for other things than target practice.

I missed posting a few days this week, but basically I loaded up some old ME3 Sentinel saves so I could record some dialogue for a video compilation.

I also fooled around a bit with a Barrier detonation playstyle, but much like the last time I tried something similar... it just sucks. Detonating your barrier does not detonate biotic combos, only primes. And because Barrier cooldown begins after detonation, you cannot detonate lifted enemies since they fall down before the cooldown ends. So you end up relying on Liara's Warp (and/or Javik's Slam or Kaidan's Reave if you have them). This would be expected and fun in Mass Effect 2 because it makes sense within the game mechanics, but in Mass Effect 3 it just ends up being second-rate (or even third-rate) because you just have so many other better options.

Mark Shepard:

Illium (continued): Miranda has what she called a twin sister. She took her from her father when she ran away. Now it seems like he's on to her and the family she lives with. Now that we're here it turns out that, while they are genetically identical, Oriana was actually born when Miranda was a teenager. Thus, she stole an infant. It complicates things more but no surprises there when it comes to Cerberus. Miranda also brought in her old friend Niket, the only other person she trusted with this.

As we killed our way through Eclipse mercs we started to hear snippets of conversation. It sounds like Niket might not be so trustworthy after all. I told her so but she didn't want to believe me, at least not until we got to him and one of the Eclipse mercs - a merc who shot a transport worker who was simply trying to flee the scene. In any case, Niket was paid off by Miranda's father because he also didn't realize Oriana had been an infant when taken. Miranda was going to kill her but, unlike with Jacob, I didn't see this guy as evil. He really thought Oriana would be better off with an insanely wealthy father over the average family who raised her. I stopped her from taking the shot. Unfortunately, the Eclipse merc killed him. But then we killed her and all of her mercs.

Oriana was reunited with her family. I prodded Miranda to introduce herself to her sister. I could see that put Miranda at ease. Besides, if it ever came down to Cerberus vs me, I wanted her choosing me. Decisions like this, where she makes good choices, help.

I'm itching to get back in ME. I'm giving Technomancer a go first, then will hit up the trilogy for a full PT before Andromeda drops!

Mark Shepard:

Illium, Commercial Spaceport: It was time to find that asari justicar, Samara. I was already warned that asari have different rules in their own sector of space that doesn't always go over well outside of asari space. We'll see how this works out.

Samara is investigating the murder of a volus merchant. Eclipse mercs are the likely suspects but the area is sealed off. Detective Anaya was my way in. She wasn't going to help until I said I wanted to recruit Samara and take her out. Everyone is anxious to see this justicar away from anyplace that could cause trouble. Most asari know that following the law and going up against a justicar is a death sentence so they don't want them around. Understandable. Sounds like someone I could use.

When I got to the crime scene I didn't waste any time attempting to talk to the Eclipse mercs I saw. Me, Tali and Garrus just went straight for the jugular. In the next room I found Samara fighting against another Eclipse sister. (Apparently all the Eclipse around here are asari.) Samara was looking for someone and wanted the name of a ship. When the sister refused to provide that information, even knowing she'd likely die, Samara killed her. It's my policy to kill mercs on sight so I have no problem with her methods so far.

That's when Anaya showed up to detain Samara. Samara said her code allowed her to be detained for a day but after that she would leave custody - something which would lead to a lot of innocent deaths. Samara suggested that if I could find the name of that ship then she would willingly leave Illium with me. I agreed. I wanted her and did want to see innocent people die. She pointed me to the partner of the dead volus merchant, Pitne For. He had an illegal copy of a pass key to a backdoor into the Eclipse base.

Pitne For was the cause of all of this, something he only admitted to at gunpoint. He sold the Eclipse a drug that boosted biotic powers but failed to mention that it was toxic. That's why they were gunning for he and his partner. I'd just shoot the guy but that might compel Samara to come after me.

Ran into an asari who claimed she never shot anyone. However, she was in Eclipse armor. Pitne For said that Eclipse sisters have to kill someone to get the uniform and I suspect he's telling the truth. That's why I killed this one. I don't know who she killed but letting her go would just lead to more. A little later I heard a recording from that asari mentioning how she earned her uniform by killing a volus. Don't know if it's Pitne For's partner or not but it's good to know my instincts are sharp.

Found information implicating Pitne For in selling the toxic biotic booster, as well as red sand. Again, red sand isn't illegal on Illium but I look down on anyone who sells it. I know what it can do to people, especially biotics who get addicted to the power boost.

Ran across Niftu Cal, a volus biotic who is clearly high. He thinks he's some kind of biotic god. The Eclipse mercs injected him with all kinds of drugs, maybe even the one Pitne For sold them. He believed he could take on the Eclipse captain alone. I knocked a little sense into him. I don't know if he's a good guy or not but he's clearly not fit for action.

Captain Wasea was pissed about smuggling that "filthy creature" (presumably Samara's prey) off-planet. It was bringing a lot of heat down on her. She attacked first, which was fine with me. We took care of her and found what was needed to allow Samara to leave with me.

Reported back to Samara. Anaya was relieved. Then I got a shock when Samara pledged her loyalty to me so that she wouldn't violate her code. However, she warned that if I made her do anything extremely dishonorable that it would come back on me once the mission was done. I think she and I are on the same page so it shouldn't be a problem.

Hacked a few terminals for Liara. She's hunting the Shadow Broker and this information helped her. Also helped people with a few minor things, like giving a salarian his family genetic data, which is apparently important for breeding purposes. Gave an asari a locket with a picture of her deceased human husband, the only thing of his she had to pass on to her daughter. Those things aren't galaxy-saving important but they do make me feel good, keeping me in touch with the people I'm trying to save.

Zada Ban: Found a Blood Pack base. Just like the Eclipse and Blue Suns, I love killing these guys on sight. Mostly vorcha with one krogan leader. Saw a reference to Garm on a data pad. Guess they don't know he's dead. Anyway, completed the mission by blowing the base to hell.

Aequitas: Alien signatures in a mining facility here. Stopping in to check it out. Aaaand...we've got husks. Again, this is either leftovers from Sovereign, the Collectors or even Cerberus. Time to figure out which. Surprise! It's Elanus Risk Control. Don't think they have Cerberus connections so this is just a tragic accident. This was leftover Reaper tech that they stumbled on. I blew it up.

Citadel: Garrus was looking for vengeance against Sidonis, the turian who had betrayed his mercenary band and got them all killed. I wasn't sure this was the right way to go for Garrus. He was my buddy and I didn't want to see him go down a dark path. Captain Bailey directed us to a warehouse. Inside were one volus and two krogan. None of them were Fade, the guy who hid Sidonis, but they did work for him. At gunpoint, the volus was more than happy to give up Fade. He was Harkin, a corrupt former C-Sec agent who had been kicked off the force around the time I became a Spectre. He used Blue Suns mercs for protection. Good. I was itching for a fight.

Citadel, Factory District: I brought Tali along with us. I'm hoping that it'll make Garrus uncomfortable enough that he'll be less willing to kill in cold blood. As soon as Harkin saw us he sicced his goons on us. He couldn't know why we were there other than that it was for him.

Miriam Shepard recruited a vengeful ancient...

Visited Ashley in hospital; now back on her feet, all visible bruising healed. Intends to accept nomination as second human Spectre; she'll be awesome. Received news from her family; mother and sisters made it safely to the Citadel, but brother-in-law killed in action. Has hit her pretty hard.

Met up with Miranda Lawson in the Citadel's lower decks; now on the run from Cerberus, having seen them for what they are. Still wearing absurd catsuit, but at least no Cerberus logos. Concerned about her sister, who has gone off the grid; suspects father's involvement.

Encountered Matriatch Aethyta tending a bar in the Presidium. Turns out that she's Liara's father and has been taking jobs in locations where she can keep an eye on her daughter. Liara's talent for obtaining information is apparently hereditary. Encouraged Liara to get to know her father; might not have another opportunity.

Returned batarian religious relics to a preacher in the Citadel refugee camp, having found then while exploring Reaper-controlled space.

Secured top-grade weaponry for C-Sec from a black-market dealer in exchange for recovered artefacts. This reduces C-Sec's reliance on ordinary logistics, allowing them to tolerate some losses of shipments to Blue Suns pirates; this was the price for Blue Suns joining war effort. Don't like it, but war is a dirty business; can't be choosy about allies. The enemy of my enemy...

Rescued a team of Shadow Broker operatives from the krogan DMZ following a tip-off from Barla Von. Operatives will join war effort.

Ordered the Normandy to Eden Prime, where all this began, to investigate a Cerberus attack on the colony. Intelligence indicated Cerberus having uncovered a Prothean artefact, so went planetside with Liara. Took EDI as well to see how she fares in the field. Found heavy Cerberus presence, colonists slaughtered, evidence that some had been kidnapped, presumably for indoctrination and forced enlistment.

Artefact turned out to be a functioning stasis pod containing a live Prothean. Cerberus attempting to open pod, unsuccessfully; searched colony for research that might help. Research was coded for Protheans only; Cipher activated; received visions of Protheans' last stand on Eden Prime. Intention was for a million to survive; plan failed following relentless Collector and Reaper attacks.

Defeated Cerberus occupying force and opened pod. Prothean physically resembles Collector drone, unsurprisingly; but more reptilian than insectoid. Individual was disoriented; attacked landing party using powerful biotics. Willingly returned to Normandy after coming to senses.

Questioned individual; gave name as Javik. Prothean civilization was a centralized, galactic "join-or-die" hegemony; conquered client races also considered Protheans after integration into empire, explaining apparent lack of evidence of other races during previous cycle. Centralized, homogeneous society proved to be downfall; too inflexible to adapt to Reaper war conditions. Organic-synthetic conflict similar to geth war occurred during Prothean cycle; Javik generally suspicious of synthetics.

Javik agreed to join Normandy crew. Will evaluate performance on next mission.

Visited Mordin in the medical bay, spoke to Wrex and "Eve". Wrex proving to be enlightened leader; will not pursue revenge against turians and salarians after genophage is cured. Eve's personality quite different from male krogan; quiet, philosophical; considers patriarchal rule responsible for krogan social problems. Hopefully, Wrex's new order will involve women at all levels of government.

Mordin explains his one-eighty regarding the genophage as different tactics for different circumstances. Probably as close as he'll get to admitting an error.

[Died twice on Eden Prime, blasted turrets were responsible both times! Whether single-player or multiplayer, Cerberus are colossal trolls Due to having to watch out for turrets all the time, I was a bit less vanguardy than I wanted to be.

Turrets aside, "insanity" difficulty doesn't seem too insane thus far. I'm aware that the Adas is an easy-mode gun though, I don't think I'm doing anything especially skillful.]