What did you do today in ME?

Well I only installed Origin in a clean Windows 10 install yesterday, so it should have been the latest version.
But browsing the net, there was a 7 hour period where Origin was unavailable to many people around the globe last night.
If they had just put that Origin online is unavailable message at the start, I wouldn't have spent so long trying to fix it at my end.
One of EA supports suggestions for solving the problem is a link to a Microsoft page that says XP and win 2003 is no longer supported.
Anyway, they are back up now and I have a new problem.
I installed MEHEM and the one that removes the kid from the dream sequence, and then run ME3Explorer to construct my tree.
Something Mr Fob says took him 2 hours on his SSD.
Either my SSD is much faster than his, or something was skipped, is this what it looks like when the process is finished? (It took 4 minutes)
Or do I have to go back to the vanilla and start again?

Filed under: Personal
Well those were some interesting times... The quarian trial was certainly entertaining to witness, albeit quite annoying. Vas Neema, or now vas Normandy, had been accused of sending live geth to the fleet. I hadn't thought she was that stupid after everything she has seen while serving under me, and indeed it was her father's work entirely. He had been conducting tests with live geth on another ship in order to be able to retake the quarian homeworld. That backfired on him and we retook the ship from the geth to prove vas Normandy's innocence. She begged me not to present the data we found at the trial. I could care less about what she wanted and how bad her father would look, but in order to keep her focused on the mission that lies ahead of us I did as she asked. Can't have her moping around too, Massani was enough already. As her captain I was the one to play advocate, and all it took to clear her of the charges was a little yelling at those suit rats and tell them they only used this trial to fuel their political infighting on how to deal with the geth situation.
The next stop was dealing with Jacob's father. Long story short, he and some of the crew were still alive, but he had been playing king for a good few years, creating a harem with the females and casting out the males that now wanted to get to him. He had mechs for his defense, but got cold feet and finally activated the distress beacon recently to save himself. Pitiful, disgusting and cowardly move. He can rot in prison now since I called in the Alliance to extract him. Hard to believe this is the man that raised Jacob, who is actually a rather pleasant person.
Speaking of which... We've been very busy lately, but Jacob should be softened up enough now and I will make my move on him soon.


Died once in each mission, and both of them annoyed me so much The first was in the last room with the Geth Prime, and I was ready to charge, pressed the button like an idiot, but Shepard wouldn't move despite being right in front of the Prime, and yup... dead I was.
The second was during the YMIR fight... I wanted to head back behind some cover, but instead Shepard got stuck on some stones and kinda walked those up, and then I was trapped and couldn't get off
I used Tali's drone again and it worked quite well while I charged around like crazy. Drone's cooldown is so long, but I actually like using it depending on the situation.
I was also happy I could've used both the Paragon and the Renegade option during the trial, as I always thought that a Shepard that develops both alignments would not be able to pull off everything. But so far, so good.
I'm looking forward to 2 relaxing missions now with Samara's and Thane's LM, then it's time to pick up Legion and do his LM. I look so forward to ME3 already! Woo!

Finished Overlord, left David with his brother, had to try it once #feelsbadman

Also helped Liara track down the SB and finished Arrival, didn't warn the Batarians cos meh, it's only Batarians.

I can finally start my renegade ME3 Shep run now.

Mark Shepard:

Tuchanka: It was risky bringing a salarian to the krogan home world but it had to be done. Wrex was somehow in charge and was pushing for changes that might make the krogan into something better than they are. Glad I didn't kill him on Virmire. He also said Grunt needed to undergo a rite of passage but that his odd behavior of late was normal krogan behavior.

As much as I wanted to help Grunt I thought it might be better to get Mordin off of Tuchanka as soon as possible. Headed out to a Clan Weyrloc base to find a salarian named Maelon who had worked with Mordin on the genophage. Ran into some of those bug dragons again. Not sure how they made it to Tuchanka from Tarith. Though, since the Blood Pack was on Tartith and Tuchanka I suppose they were imported from one place to the other.

The Weyrloc clanspeaker warned us off of finding Maelon. I could understand the desire to have the genophage cure. He spoke about getting revenge for it. Given that Weyrloc is the clan that started the Blood Pack I couldn't see how that clan being in control could be a good thing. Instead, I triggered an explosion that lit him up.

After fighting our way through Blood Pack, and killing the Weyrloc clan leader, we found Maelon. Only he wasn't a prisoner. He was there because he thought the genophage was wrong and wanted to end it. Mordin was ready to kill him, partly because he didn't like what he was hearing, but I convinced him not to. As well, I also believe the genophage was a mistake and so Mordin kept the data from Maelon's research. It would be easier to use that for a cure than start from scratch.

With Mordin's problem out of the way it was finally time to deal with Grunt. The arena for his rite of passage was interesting. Increased levels of enemy. Varren, bug dragons, and then a damn thresher maw. Killed plenty of maws in the Mako but never had to fight one on foot. I remember Toombs being the only survivor of a thresher maw attack on Akuze so this was serious business. After we beat it, another clan stepped in. They would let Grunt remain but not breed or serve on an alien ship. I knew Grunt enough to know he'd reject that idea. We fought and killed those bastards. In the end, Grunt was brought unto Clan Urdnot and given full rights. EDI mentioned that Grunt received several breeding requests from the krogan females - and one request for me!

Canalus: The geth were using a climate control machine. God only knows why since climate is largely irrelevant to them. Can only mean they planned to use it as as weapon against organics.

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

Maroon Sea Cluster - Nodacrux

The next stop on the Normandy's patrol of the Maroon Sea Cluster was Nodacrux. On Feros, Shepard had found information suggesting an ExoGeni facility on the planet had received some samples of some sort, but the details were vague. Given recent history with ExoGeni and their "samples", Shepard thought it would be a good idea to investigate. And, as luck would have it, when they arrived in the Vostok system, Joker detected an active distress beacon.

Soon after landing in the Mako, Shepard, Liara and Tali discovered a crashed freighter and a nearby campsite that were overrun with Thorian creepers. Apparently, ExoGeni had been conducting some less than ethical experiments on the planet and it blew up in their faces. What a surprise.

They eliminated the creepers, then made their way to the ExoGeni facility, the source of the distress beacon. They fought their way past more creepers, and eventually found a back room where Dr Ross, ExoGeni's lead scientist for the project, was in hiding along with what was left of the science team and some security guards. They had been trapped for days, and were happy to be rescued.

Ross explained that the enslaved creepers they were experimenting on had been docile until a few days ago, when they suddenly went berserk and started killing everyone. After Shepard revealed what had gone down with the Thorian, Ross speculated that it's death might have caused the creepers to react that way. She then tried to argue that Shepard shouldn't report any of this to the authorities, going so far as to attempt to bribe the Spectre. Shepard insisted that Dr Ross take responsibility for the lives that her actions cost. Ross refused, and ordered her mercs to attack. It was a short fight.

Despite Ross' claim that no one else could have survived the creeper attack, Shepard searched the area around the ExoGeni facility. No more survivors or creepers, but they did find a crashed Turian probe with data files from the time of the Unification Wars, as well as some mineral deposits, salvage, and another "space cow" herd.

Maroon Sea Cluster - MSV Cornucopia

The Normandy's sensors detected a freighter adrift in the Capsian System. It seemed unlikely that there would be anyone still alive on board, given the ship's condition, but Shepard decided to investigate just in case - perhaps they could discover what happened, if nothing else.

Shepard, Tali and Liara found the ship overrun by husks, and found Dragon's Teeth in the crew quarters. Logs showed that the ship had been traveling in an area of space bordering the Perseus Veil when they discovered an strange alien artifact. Evidently, it brainwashed them, causing them to set course for geth space, apparently wanting the geth to find them. The geth sent the ship back with it huskified crew, with Tali and Liara speculating that it may have been either as a warning or a trap for future explorers, but couldn't say for sure.

Mark Shepard:

MSV Broken Arrow: This derelict ship was on a crash course for the planet Jonus. Myself, Tali and Jacob went to check it out. We had very little time and found geth standing over the corpses of dead humans. I was glad I brought Tali but baffled that Jacob wore a breather mask but no helmet. Doesn't that idiot know that you breathe through your skin and can still lose oxygen that way? Not to mention the pressure problems. Fortunately, we only have about 6 minutes to prevent the crash. Jacob might be able to survive that. Killed the geth, restarted the engines, and got the hell out.

Lattesh: Took the Hammerhead for a ride on an icy planet. The damn thing kept freezing up. It is NOT a Mako. The Mako could go anywhere, including over the steepest mountains, and take almost any kind of damage (except thresher maws). Man, I miss my Mako but it went down with the SR-1. Anyway, collected a bunch of data and left.

Aite: This is a Cerberus op, investigating problems with something called Project: Overlord. The name alone doesn't suggest anything good. When I landed, a Dr. Gavin Archer contacted me to say there was a "catastrophic VI outbreak". Sounds a lot like the rogue VI on Luna, something which I knew to be connected to an Alliance black ops organization [Cerberus]. Figures they wouldn't learn from their mistakes. Given that they already created EDI I'm not sure what the point is to Overlord.

Found dead bodies right off but at least they're Cerberus people. Archer mentioned that geth were present. Maybe there's a connection between the VI and the geth but it wouldn't surprise me if Cerberus were experimenting with geth as they had done with husks and Thorian creepers. Logs have confirmed that Archer was indeed experimenting with geth. Asshole.

Had to retract a satellite dish because the VI was attempting to transmit code (itself?) outward to infect as many systems as it could find. Catastrophic sounds about right. Can it be a coincidence that the mech virus was doing something similar?

The rogue VI created a digitized head that squawked something. Almost sounded like "please help". The VI on Luna had displayed some binary code after I destroyed it. It translated into "help". This sounds more like AI than VI.

I notice that all of these geth have a greenish glow around them. I'm guessing they aren't sentient geth, regardless of what they were when brought to Aite. The VI seems to be controlling them. That's something powerful if it could do that. I'm starting to see why Cerberus would want this since it could stop the geth in their tracks for good. Still, the number of associated deaths suggests it was a bad idea.

Since turning off the satellite wasn't working I had to actually go to the dish and destroy its struts. The whole damn thing came tumbling down but none of my squad were injured and the VI couldn't use the dish to transmit its code. That's when Archer appeared to explain what was going on. Archer said his brother David volunteered for the project but his connection to the VI made him go nuts. David is the one behind trying to transmit the code. I might be right that it was asking for help. I didn't bring that up though because I still had suspicions that things were not what they seemed.

Miriam Shepard rescued some students...

At Engineer Adams' request, obtained a thermal pipe to be used to improve Normandy engine safety.

Ordered the Normandy to Grissom Academy in the Petra Nebula to investigate a distress call that Traynor identified as a Cerberus forgery. Found the station surrounded by Cerberus vessels; took a shuttle with James and EDI while Joker distracted Cerberus.

Docked at the station and met the Alliance officer in charge, Kahlee Sanders, apparently an old flame of Admiral Anderson. Learned that Grissom's curriculum includes a programme for gifted biotics, training them as soldiers; Cerberus attempting to kidnap them.

Proceeded to the main hall, where the majority of the students were holed up. Encountered light Cerberus resistance. Cerberus propaganda being broadcast through station PA. Found evidence that Cerberus had identified particular students to be prioritized for capture and indoctrination into "Phantom" programme (whatever that is; doesn't sound good though). Encountered some students protecting themselves using biotic barriers; neutralized nearby Cerberus forces and sent students back to Sanders.

Broke into main hall, neutralized Cerberus squad including Atlas heavy mech. Met students and instructor, who turned out to be Jack. Pleasant surprise. Teaching and protecting the students seems to have given direction and purpose to a lost soul. Students respond well to her attitude.

Cerberus blockade of station made extraction by Normandy impractical. Proceeded to shuttle bay to steal Cerberus shuttle. Route to shuttle bay via atrium, encountered extreme Cerberus resistance including two Atlas mechs and multiple gun turrets. Biotic assistance from students proved invaluable.

Encountered David Archer (former Project Overlord test subject) en route to shuttle bay. He's doing well.

Found empty Atlas mech near shuttle bay entrance being "guarded" by lone combat engineer. (Cerberus indoctrination results in absolute loyalty but cannot teach competence). "Borrowed" mech for neutralization of troops guarding shuttle bay. Escaped station with Sanders, Jack and all students.

Recommended that students be deployed away from the front lines, in biotic support roles. Although their offensive abilities are impressive, better to keep kids off the front lines if at all possible. Defensive roles equally vital. Sanders and David Archer to be assigned to Crucible work.

[Took James and EDI purely because I took Garrus and Liara in my original playthrough.

This mission started very smoothly, then became crazy-difficult in the atrium. Like, Collector ship difficult. It was mostly down to the turrets; several times, I found myself taking fire from something I couldn't see, and got dropped before I had time to react. After many deaths, I resorted to playing ultra-cautiously, holding the entrance room and letting the Centurions and Guardians come to me in order to thin the herd, then moving in to deal with the turrets and engineers. Full-on vanguarding was basically not an option, though I did get some Charges in now and again to detonate a fire explosion after shooting a baddie, or a biotic explosion on a target that one of the students had lifted.

Looking at my notes from a couple of years ago, it did take more than one attempt on Normal difficulty, but I didn't find it anything like this hard. Glad I made it through on Insanity though.

Oh, I did get away with Charging one turret Just to set off a fire explosion to destroy it.

In my first playthrough, I didn't use the empty Atlas; don't think I even realized it was an option. So that made things a bit different this time.]

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

Kepler Verge - Ontarom (Corporal Toombs)

A transmission had been intercepted on Noveria that indicated that a doctor in the Newton system in the Kepler Verge was in danger. It didn't look like the message had gotten through, so Shepard wanted to investigate and, if necessary warn this doctor (whoever he/she was). As the Normandy arrived in the system, however, Admiral Hackett contacted Shepard and was able to provide more information about what was really going on.

Hackett spoke of a "classified Alliance project" on Akuze some years ago. Akuze also suffered from an attack by a thresher maw, which killed dozens, and Hackett informed Shepard that the project date matched the time of the attack, suggesting a connection between the two. Now, someone has been murdering the scientists involved in the project, with four having been killed in the last month. Dr Wayne is the last surviving member of the team, and evidently he was hiding out in the Newton system and was the intended recipient of the message Shepard saw.

Shepard, Tali, and Liara landed on Ontarom and headed for the Doctor's hideout. When the found it, they were immediately attacked by mercenaries and forced to defend themselves - it seemed they were too late. The fought there way into the base, and found a man named Corporal Toombs holding Dr Wayne at gunpoint.
Toombs, an Alliance marine who had been stationed on Akuze, was the sole survivor of the Thresher Maw attacked that wiped out the rest of his unit. He was captured and used as a guinea pig for years by Dr Wayne and the other scientists, having Thresher Maw acid injected into his veins and other torturous tests. He claimed that Dr Wayne and the other scientists were members of Cerberus (them again, thought Shepard). Toombs only escaped because "someone destroyed their big organization", which Shepard assumed referred to her teams actions against Cerberus facilities in the Voyager Cluster.

Toombs wanted to execute Dr Wayne. Shepard didn't blame him, but she wanted to put an end to the whole operation, not just one scientist. If Wayne could be interrogated perhaps it would shed some light on Cerberus and lead to the capture of whoever was running it. It was a long shot, but Shepard wanted to try. She was able to persuade Toombs to have Dr Wayne arrested and put on trial, and turn himself in for treatment. Shepard called for an Alliance ship to pick them up.

Shepard surveyed the area surrounding the base for mineral deposits, and also found some salvage and some Turian wreckage, including a book from the time of the Unification Wars with an insignia of the Bostra Outpost on the cover. They also discovered another "space cow" herd. One of them somehow managed to steal 15 credits from Shepard. That's pretty shifty.

Back on the Normandy, Admiral Hackett contacted Shepard to confirm that Dr Wayne was in custody and Toombs was getting the treatment he needed and seemed to have found some closure. As the Normandy set course for her next destination, Shepard wondered to herself just how deep the links between the Alliance and Cerberus went, and what other stuff they might be mixed up in.

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

Kepler Verge - MSV Fedele (Garrus and Dr "Heart")

Shepard ordered Joker to set course for the Herschel system of the Kepler Verge. This was the location Garrus had provided for Dr Saleon, the salarian who had conducted horrific medical experiments on patients on the Citadel, and had managed to escape from C-Sec. Garrus was angry that Saleon had gotten away with his crimes, and wanted to see justice done. Shepard agreed to help - this man couldn't be allowed to roam free.

Normandy's sensors detected the MSV Fedele, registered to a "Dr Heart", which Garrus confirmed was Saleon's new alias. Shepard, Garrus, and Liara boarded the freighter, hoping to question the doctor. They were immediately attacked by strange zombie like creatures; evidently, Dr Saleon had moved well beyond illegal organ transplants and was now creating abominations.

They defeated the test subjects and found "Dr Heart" hiding in the ship's crew quarters. He claimed his innocence, but Garrus insisted that is was Saleon and he needed to answer for his crimes. Shepard agreed, but wanted to bring Saleon in rather that execute him on the spot. Garrus argued that if they didn't settle it here and now he might escape again, but Shepard convinced him that they Saleon should be interrogated to see what else he'd been up to since he escaped from C-Sec. Garrus eventually saw Shepard's point, and told Saleon he was a "very lucky salarian."

Dr Saleon, however, didn't agree, and stupidly threw his life away by attacking them. Garrus asked what the point was of sparing him if he ended up dead anyway, but Shepard countered that it was his own actions that got him killed, which he was responsible for, just as we are responsible for our own actions. Garrus seemed to get what Shepard was saying, and they returned to the Normandy. Back on the ship, Garrus thanked Shepard for helping with Saleon, stating she had given him a lot to think about. Saleon's escape had clearly been weighing heavily on him - to the point that it had become personal - and Shepard was glad she could help bring him to justice. Garrus stated his intention to return to C-Sec once Saren was dealt with, and to reapply for Spectre training, promising to "do it right this time."

Michael had a grand time at the Citadel today. Kaidan, Udina, Thane and Kelly did not. Once done with the Citadel he chatted a bit with his crew before heading out and destroying a Geth Dreadnought. Longer, more spoilery version in spoilers, plus a pretty engineer. 

Maybe Michael will do some more later or maybe he'll just take a nap on his sofa while he contemplates life and how to get back at Traynor for beating him at chess. Then jolt up in panic as he realizes he forgot to visit Thane at the hospital. Poor lizard truly was alone in the end.