What did you do today in ME?

Lilith Shepard WILL DESTROY the Reapers until 23rd March, I swear, despite real life being against this plan... Anyway, today:

Before returning to Citadel for refuel and re-stocking, as per Hackett’s request, we stormed a Cerberus lab on Sanctum looking for Reaper tech. I took the Prothean with me, Javik by his name, curious what he can do. Well, for a 50000 years old guy, not bad. A bit fragile and disoriented (in this cycle we use cover, Javik, when under heavy fire), but overall I think is a good addition to the team.

More messages waiting for me – Kaidan is feeling better, Thane is apparently in the same hospital as Kaidan, and Aria, the queen of Omega, wants to talk with me. Well, this should be interesting.

Thane looks unchanged, despite of his advanced Kepral’s syndrome. We chatted for a while, then I went to see Kaidan. Bought a bottle of whisky from the hospital kiosk. Udina was with him – he offered Kaidan to become a Spectre. Well, I don’t know what to think about. Kaidan is good and became a better soldier, but Spectre? I am probably biased. And Udina? That’s his interest? Galaxy is crowling with Reapers and he cares about second human Spectre?
Nevertheless, Kaidan is feeling well, but remains in hospital for the moment.

My next stop is Purgatory, a night club, where Aria is waiting for me. I’m trying to hide a grin while I watch her dealing with „immigration processing“. It turns out Cerberus took her precious Omega and now she’s exiled on Citadel. More work for me – I need to unite the 3 merc bands under her command, and she’ll commit her forces and resources to fighting the Reapers. I‘ll think about it.

Full speed to the summit. Does not go very well, Wrex wants a cure for genophage. There are some fertile females who survived Maelon’s experiments and we are going to Sur’kesh to take them back despite of Dalatrass‘ resistance. Heading to Sur’Kesh with Garrus and Javik. Very happy to find Mordin there, the inside source for Wrex. More Cerberus. Again Cerberus. This is getting annoying. We kill them all and finally manage to retrieve the one surviving female. Mordin calls her „Eve“. How inappropriate. He'll work to synthesize the cure; if everybody can get it done, that's him.

Off to find some sleep. Victus said something about a ship gone missing. Wrex lost some of his men as well. They won’t talk unless in private. I‘ll find tomorrow what‘s this about. Hope these 2 will not rip my ship into pieces while I am not watching. Seriously considering to increase security and put them under guard.

Karen Shepard, Soldier, ME2:

Normandy

Shepard asked Kelly about their new recruit, Jack. Kelly recommended caution when speaking to Jack about personal matters, as she didn't seem to “understand her own motivations”. Being careful around Jack seemed like sound advice, as a general rule.

Shepard received a new batch of emails: Talitha, the colonist who had been captured by slavers, thanked Shepard for helping her on the Citadel after she was rescued; another gift of words from Sha'ira the Consort; Dr Michel was glad to hear of Shepard's survival, although she seemed far, far more interested in talking about Garrus. It was kind of sweet (if a little stalker-ish), but unfortunately for the doctor Shepard hadn't seen the Turian.

Grunt talked about the education he received while in the tank, but claimed it was “no help with finding a reason to care.” He's obviously looking for a purpose in life, and Shepard wished there was something she could do for him.

Shepard went see how Jack was settling in, and what she thought of the crew they were putting together. Jacob “doesn't know who he is” - Shepard had reached a somewhat similar conclusion. Her opinion of Miranda was less complimentary. She was grateful for the access to the Cerberus databases; she had a history with them, but wasn't giving out too many specifics. Shepard figured the details about her past would come out soon enough. She has the attitude that everyone is out to get her and that its her or them. Building any kind of trust was going to be difficult.

Kasumi passed on the latest gossip. She also seems to have the hots for Jacob. For his part, Jacob and Shepard spoke some more about the differences between the Alliance and Cerberus. He saw little difference between the two in some respects, and seemed to be resent being labelled a “trouble maker” by the Alliance despite feeling he always gave his best. It reminded Shepard a little bit of her talks with Garrus on the SR1. Jacob seemed happy that they now had the opportunity to do things their own way, and not even the Illusive Man could really do anything about it. Shepard felt a little better about the whole situation after talking to him, and felt he may have been sharper and more observant that she had originally given him credit for.

Omega Nebula, Alchera - Normandy SR1 Crash Site

Shepard took a shuttle down to Alchera, to the crash site of the Normandy SR1. The Alliance had located the wreckage, and Admiral Hackett had emailed Shepard asking her to try and find information about the 20 missing crew members, and to place a monument at the site.

It was heartbreaking to see the ship as a wreck. She walked around, reminiscing about their time chasing Saren, the friendships she formed with the crew, and Kaidan's sacrifice. She found a data pad that had belonged to Navigator Pressly, with entries that demonstrated how his attitude toward the non-human crew-members had changed as they came together to save the galaxy from Saren's plot.

One thing she noticed was that, amidst all of the wreckage, the Mako seemed completely intact. Could she have somehow made it into the vehicle after getting spaced, is that how she made it to the surface? Had Cerberus exaggerated the extent of her injuries? Questions she didn't have answers for, but the sight of the Mako put a slight smile on Shepard's face, for reasons she couldn't explain.

She collected the dog tags of the 20 crew members killed in the attack - at least their families could have some closure. She recovered her old N7 helmet, and placed the monument in front of a piece of the hull with “Normandy” in large letter. It seemed to her to be the most fitting place.

The one good thing about playing ME1 on a PC is that a console command could get you unstuck.  (These commands are absent in ME2 and ME3.)

Completed another ME3 playthrough

Nothing really exciting happened. Just destroyed the reapers. No big deal.

Yes, Harvesters. It says on the wiki that they are made from the creature of the same name, so no.

masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Harvester_(enemy)

So I did priority Citadel last night. But my Shepard has not been on the Normandy yet. About to go visit Thane. I am surprised I got it all done in one go, but I suppose me not dying helped. The elevator ride was frustrating, I talked Ashley down with the Renegade option for the first time which was...actually I think a lot better. How Shepard bitch slapped her with Anderson. Not sure if it really matches the prompt, but it was kind of a very nice moment of 'ok you don't trust me, but Anderson trusted us to get this done, me and you, so Anderson trusts me and you trust Anderson, so trust me'. Very nice moment. And when you kill Udina for the 10th time it losses most of its emotional weight.

Oh my god, Grunt survived the rachni tunnels! I sobbed when I thought he died, but he made it out! Oh thank goodness.

I've decided that I'm going to wait until April 21st before picking up ME:A. I want a patch or two to land before I play. I've got some other games that I'm working on, but I will be replaying the MET before I play ME:A. It's mainly to get back into the spirit of Mass Effect when I'm ready to purchase the game.

I always thought they were the klixen, the bug-like dragons encountered in ME2.  They behave exactly the same, right down to dropping enemies into the battlefield.

Checking the klixen wiki explains it.  It says the klixen are always found with larger flying creatures called harvesters.  I don't think it's much of a leap to assume they're the same race but some (maybe older ones or queens) can fly.  That harvester entry suggests that the harvesters either pick up klixen and drop them or birth them.

Mark Shepard:

Citadel, Silversun Strip: Finally took that shore leave. Not thrilled about the idea since there's a war happening but I know the Normandy needs its retrofits before engaging Cerberus forces. I went to the apartment where Hackett sent me. It was enormous, well furnished, with various kinds of art. Donovan Hock might have appreciated it had Kasumi and I not killed him.

Got a call from Anderson. This was his place, where he'd one day planned to settle down with Kahlee Sanders. He decided that the best place for him was Earth and that he wanted me to have it. Part of me knew it meant he didn't expect to survive but I avoided saying that. Instead I accepted gratefully. Two Council Spectres were going to need a place to live after the war. I'm sure Kaidan would love it, too.

A message came from Joker saying he wanted to meet at a sushi place called Ryuusei. Supposed to be the best sushi on the Citadel. Hard to imagine how they're still importing when nothing is leaving Earth. Then again, that steak sandwich I had with Kaidan at Apollo's probably wasn't beef the way he knew it.

The maître d' recognized me and waved me over, telling me my table was ready. Joker was already there. The entire floor of this place was a fish tank. Reminded me of my cabin. Then I found out Joker hadn't sent me an email. That was about when the bumbling Staff Analyst May Brooks showed up to tell me I had a new enemy that was hacking me.

Then some mercs showed up and attacked. I sent Joker to find the crew while I took out a merc and got one of his guns. Handy thing. It's small but packs a hell of a punch. Unfortunately, a merc shot the fish tank floor out from under me, sending me far below to another level. Though my fall was broken I attribute my survival to all of that Cerberus tech inside of me.

Brooks contacted me and said my comms weren't safe to use, except with her. Not sure how that works. Anyway, Kaidan called and said he was on his way, nearby on foot. Then Garrus said everyone was coming. One good things about these mercs: I've been disappointed that I can't kill my regular mercs like the Blues Suns, Eclipse and Blood Pack. Then is borderline therapeutic.

Brooks was sending a C-Sec skycar to pick me up at Cision Motors. When I got there, the mercs were shooting at someone. It was Kaidan but he dispatched them without any help from me. He also helped me open the gate without further property damage.

When the skycar showed up it was full of mercs who fired on us. That's when Wrex dropped down onto the shuttle and took them all out. Not that it was the end of the mercs because a lot more arrived. Wrex picked up a Geth Spitfire off of one of them and handed it to me. This one would be more limited than the Suppressor I had been using but it did a lot of damage.

Joker arrived with a shuttle of his own, bringing Brooks with him. We went back to the apartment to try to figure things out. The gang was all there. Wrex suggested investigating the gun and Liara went to look into it.