What did you do today in ME?

  I've had Shepard allow Toombs to shoot Dr. Wayne before.  Also done the arrest thing.  But I want Toombs to survive and I've never played a PT with very many renegade choices before.

I don't think it makes it pointless, but it does make it difficult. I have my way out of it, but it's not for everyone.

Hey.
Mh. I just don't know what to say. I don't feel sad, I think. Just... empty. Strange. The quarians are...
They're gone. Just gone.
We were on Rannoch, and I wanted to help Le the geth take down the Reaper base where the signal that controlled the rest of the geth came from. Just, it wasn't only some simple base. There was a Reaper hidden below. It was one of the smaller ones, and we could actually take it down with the help of some quarian precision strikes. But what happened then, it's hard to put into words.
The geth were helpless without the Reaper's interference, so our geth suggested to upload the Reaper code into all of them. They'd become more like a true intelligence. I allowed it. I wanted it for them.
I thought I could convince the quarians to stop their attack, to back down. I believed in it. I was stupid, naive I guess. I've been called that before, so maybe it's true after all.
I mean, why would I have even thought that I could stop them? Gerrel made clear where he stood from the very beginning. Ever since I met him. It was some kind of fantasy that there could be peace between the geth and the quarians. It didn't even help that we rescued Admiral Koris and he was back with his fleet.
Admiral Raan could not stop Gerrel and I allowed the upload. I allowed it. The quarians are dead because of me, or maybe their own foolish stubbornness.
After what I had seen at the geth server, I... this felt right. To allow the geth to live. Give them a chance. One they deserve, I think.
I'm not sure what Garrus thinks of all this. I looked at him after it was done, but I had a hard time reading his face. The shuttle ride back was depressing. None of us dared to say a word, not Garrus or James, not I. When we boarded the Normandy I squeezed Garrus's arm and whispered we'd talk later. He just nodded and I'm scared a little to go to him. Maybe he hates what I did... maybe he
God, I need a break. I'm gonna lie down for a bit. Just staring at the stars.

Pics!


First time I picked the geth over the quarians. I guess I will not do that often, but it was great with this character!
Of course I also died again at the 3 Geth Primes... Of course it's stupid to stand next to your squadmates cloaked, thinking the turrets and drones won't see you, but you get in the way because they target the squaddies

Jace Shepard (ME1):



1. Planet Virmire - Beautiful world. Full of these crab like creatures. Salaries Captain Kirrahe was present. Jackpot. Siren present and trying to create a krogan army under his control. Wrex didn't care for the idea of destroying the cure for the genophage. I was able to talk him down. Then we set out to nuke the facility. I put Kaidan on the bomb and Ash with the STG team. Definite evidence of indoctrination after being attacked by salarians. Killed the krogan doctor working on the genophage cure. Came across asari scientist Rama Thanoptis. I had to assume, like everyone else, that she was indoctrinated. She gave me good Intel on how Sovereign causes indoctrination. I had to put her down. Kaidan doesn't even flinch anymore. Discovered another beacon. More incomprehensible visions. Then a hologram of Sovereign came to talk. Sovereign revealed how the Reapers had created the mass relays and the Citadel. That they left it for organics to find and, at the proper time, returned and killed any advanced life that was using it. They had done this countless times at 50,000 year intervals. It came down to protecting Kaidan and the bomb or Ashley and the salarians. I had to make sure that bomb went off. And, if I'm being honest, I'm not sure I could have left Kaidan to die anyway. Defeated Saren but he escaped. And there's a big absence on the Normandy without Ash.

2. Planet Metgos - Every notice how weird it is when you have to "decrypt" a corpse?  What does that even mean?  So, yeah, decrypted another turian corpse for some insignia.  Answered a distress beacon and ran into a geth trap.

3. Planet Tuntau - Found Wrex's family armor.  He was happy.  Wonder if it wouldn't have been useful to get this before Virmire.

4. Planet Mavigon - Killed off another Syndicate leader.

5. MSV Worthington - Found a brain dead guy on life support.  Logs talked about how they were going to shut it down but a biotic named Julia opposed it.  That's when Julia attacked us.  After putting her down we turned off the life support.

6. Planet Xawin - Killed a thresher maw.  Getting to be a hobby.  Found another beacon that was a geth trap.  Found a merc camp.  Inside was the body of a dead Alliance member, Willem.

7. Planet Amaranthine - Informed Helena Blake that I killed her partners.  "Persuaded" her to shut down the gang.

8. Citadel - Informed Nassana of her sister's death and the blackmailng.  After some persuasion, she gave me access to high-end asari mods.  Told Kahoku about the deaths of his squad by thresher maw.  He investigated and found out Cerberus was behind it.  Helped Emily Wong investigate overworked traffic controllers.  Let Garoth know the fate of Willem.

There is a smallish benefit to obtaining Wrex's armor before Virmire: during the confrontation you can calm him without using charm or intimidate, so it comes in very handy when I want to save him but don't want to spend the points in those skills.

Realized I better start planning Shawna Shepard's suicide mission before I forget. Maybe I will do that tomorrow. Suicide Mission theme is 'Anti-biotic'.

I have not decided yet if I will let crew members die on the suicide mission. I have not done that in a while.

Also, I would like to use the Intimidate option to solve the Tali-Legion dispute if I can, so that likely means killing Samara for Morinth, unless I have crew members die so I can complete her loyalty mission after the crew abduction. (Samara/Morinth are going to die on the suicide mission anyway so saving Morinth is a sideways move).

Decisions, decisions.

Jace Shepard (ME1):

1. Planet Binthu - Science station, Cerberus owned, with giant bugs and crazy biotics inside. Another pyramid. This one Prothean, containing toys, clothes and a data disc. Can't help wondering if Protheans were behind the pyramids on Earth. The vision from the Prothean sphere showed them on Earth and we found their tech on Mars. Very possible. Another Cerberus lab. More biotics, but this time with Thorian creepers. Almost like confirmation of a link between Cerberus and ExoGeni. A third lab contained some commandos and snipers. I also found Admiral Kahoku's body sealed in with some rachni workers. Strange things is that the only marks on him were from needles. That means Cerberus was trying to make it look like he was attacked rather than murdered by them.

2. Planet Nepheron - Cerberus science station. Some merc types present, nothing major. Hacked their terminal. Got what I could before it erased all data. Info should come in handy. An agent of the Shadow Broker wanted to buy the info from me but I wasn't about to trust him. Can't imagine SB is ever going to be an ally.

3. Planet Noveria - Greeted with guns. They actually thought they could scare me into giving up their weapons. Cute. I can tell that Stirling woman is going to be trouble. I could with Spectre authority and she tells me to behave myself? Yeah, this'll be fun. Needed a garage pass to get to Peak 15, which is where Matriarch Benezia (Liara's mom!) went. Director Anoleis stonewalled me. Gianna Parasini directed me to Lorik Qui'in. He, in turn, asked me to break into his offices and download data Anoleis is seeking. I encountered some mercs. When I told them I had the authority to kill them a couple ran. The rest I killed. I was right about Stirling, too. She caused trouble. Now she's dead. Parasini asked me to convince Qui'in to testify against Anoleis. I did it, nicely, not a threat in sight. Miracles do happen. Anoleis got dragged away in cuffs and I got my garage pass.

4. Noveria, Peak 15 - When heading to the Mako, Kaidan, Liara and I were attacked by geth. Benezia had crates that "passed inspection" but it's now obvious what was inside of them. No idea how they got through regardless. At the facility, already ran into geth and krogan. That the station has lost power is not a good sign. And then there were the giant lobsters. Or insects of some kind. Either way they were dangerous and looked very much like things I saw in a Cerberus lab on Binthu. Had to restart the station VI and then repair the damn place. I'm a soldier not an engineer.

5. Noveria, Peak 15, Rift Station - A chat with the volus Han Olar told me those bugs were rachni, a race that allegedly went extinct after the krogan went to war with them. Yet, they were alive and kicking on Noveria. Does this mean Saren and Cerberus are also linked? Is Cerberus working for the Reapers? Given the way they casually murder humans for their experiments - which include making husks - it's not impossible. Anyway, convinced Dr. Cohen to give me his pass to the maintenance area. It was either that or blast my way in. It led me straight to Benezia. She was under Saren's control and told me how she couldn't break free. She sent asari commandos after us. Benezia was able to regain her mind for a few moments, long enough to tell Liara she loved her, to tell me how to get to the Mu Relay and to ask to be killed. I obliged. Then I saw the rachni queen. It was caged with vats of acid ready to destroy it. I might have done so but the angel on my shoulder - that's Kaidan - reminded me that genocide is generally a bad thing. After talking to you via the voice of a dead asari commando, I set her free. The Council wasn't happy about it but then they don't have the balls to made the tough decisions. That's what Spectres are for. But I did kill all the other rachni. According to the queen, they could not be saved.

6. Citadel - The Council took the threat of Saren seriously but not the Reapers or the Conduit. They kept the Normandy locked down to prevent me from going through the Mu Relay. Or, rather, Udina did so, since it's an Alliance vessel. Politicians are the bane of civilization. Kaidan came to see me at my locker on the Normandy. He was trying to cheer me up. We got close. Almost kissed until Joker interrupted us with a message from Anderson, asking us to meet him at Flux. I don't know how he did it, but Anderson got us cleared to leave. We took off.

7. Planet Nepmos - Got a mayday signal from this world. Decided to check it out. Marines were under attack from a rachni swarm. According to the queen, rachni aren't naturally aggressive. But maybe these come from the same batch that was isolated from the queen's song. Meaning they're crazy. Went into a rachni infected mine. No queen, only some brood warriors. Removed infestation.

8. Planet Altahe - Admiral Hackett tells me biotic fanatics are here because why not? It's no wonder people distrust them. This is the third group pf fanatics I've fought lately. So what do I find when I get to the compound? Rachni. For an extinct race they sure do get around. Inside there were human corpses and rachni. There were also rachni eggs, all of which I destroyed. Found logs leading me to the Argos Rho Cluster as a source for these rachni.

9. Unidentified Space Facility - It's got rachni on board. Also, logs indicating it's a Cerberus ship. The rachni escaped and sent themselves out to multiple planets. Blew up the ship to prevent it from continuing to happen.

10. Normandy - Kaidan came to visit me in my quarters. We knew we were doing the right thing even if we were doing so illegally. So we took it one step further and consummated our relationship - or whatever it turns out to be. Then Joker let us know we had reached Ilos. It was rough. Only 20 meters for a landing with Pressly insisting we need 100 meters for a safe Mako drop. Joker said he could get us down and I believe him. Had to take our Protean expert Liara along and, well, I haven't been able to leave Kaidan behind in a long time and I'm not starting now.

Jace Shepard (ME1):

1. Landed on Ilos. Fought a lot of geth. Lots of creepy statues around. Protheans? Used a broken VI to open that door I couldn't get through. Hopped in the Mako for a trip to, hopefully, the Conduit. Hit a barrier, went into an elevator, and spoke with the a Prothean VI, Vigil. It told us that the Citadel was a mass relay itself that would bring the Reapers in from dark space. The Keepers were supposed to activate the relay but the Protheans altered them to prevent them from doing so again. The Protheans cracked mass relay technology and created the Conduit to act as a relay from Ilos to the Citadel. Saren needs the Conduit to open the Citadel relay. Vigil gave me a data file to temporarily take control of the Citadel. The control console is on the other side of the Conduit. Made a run for it and got through the Conduit. The Mako was trashed but we were on the Presidium.

2. Citadel - Greeted by some husks. Avina told me the Council was evacuated to the Destiny Ascension and that Saren was headed toward the Council Chambers. Had to go outside of the Citadel to do this. Encountered a lot of geth and some krogan. Took out a geth dropship. Once in the Citadel Tower, I came face to face with Saren. I couldn't reason with him. He'd gotten implants from the Reapers that were controlling him. We fought, he died. I watched the lights from the implants flicker out. I dropped Vigil's program in and gained control of the Citadel. Then I had a choice to send the Arcturus fleet to save the Council on board the Destiny Ascension or to direct them against Sovereign. It was angel and devil on my shoulder with Kaidan and Liara. Kaidan always knows what's the right thing to do so I followed his advice and saved the Council. A lot human soldiers died as a result but there would be continuity of government. Sovereign somehow took control of Saren's body and I had to do this fight all over again. When it was done, Saren was completely destroyed, as was Sovereign itself.

3. Aftermath - The Council was grateful for me choosing to save them. The recognized that humans had been willing to make sacrifices for the greater good and didn't think only of themselves. Humanity, despite only being in galactic space for 26 years, was being offered a seat on the Council. And they looked to me to choose who that might be. Udina was out. He had proven himself a backstabber and I'd never be able to trust him. Had to be Anderson. Someone who knew the score when it came to battle was exactly what was needed. Surprisingly, they took my advice since they knew war was coming and someone with military experience would be useful. David Anderson became the first human member of the Council. More than makes up for him not becoming the first human Spectre years ago.

To be continued in ME2!

Jonathan Shepard (ME3 with EGM mod), soldier, spacer, war hero:

1. Came to Rannoch with Tali and Kaidan to destroy a Reaper base. Tali claimed her new property and I gave her a piece of it to carry around, since quarians were used to that these days. Turned out that we weren't looking for a base but for a Reaper. I had a targeting laser that was synced with the Normandy and the entire quarian fleet. We learned that the Reapers are vulnerable when their firing chambers were uncovered. That meant standing in front of a Reaper with nothing more than a targeting laser and hoping it all worked. After it was defeated, the dying Reaper told me how its actions were the only hope for organic life. It didn't make much sense. Then it was dead. The next part is difficult. Legion wanted to upload the Reaper code to the surviving geth. At first I agreed but then it became apparent that the quarian fleet would be destroyed. I liked Legion, even trusted him, but I couldn't say the same for the geth in general. And if Tali lost her people she'd be inconsolable. I couldn't stand it. So I made Legion stop. He attacked me and Tali stabbed him in the back, killing him. His final words were asking if he had a soul - the same question that had kicked off the Morning War centuries ago. Tali said "yes". She regretted having to kill Legion and felt like she didn't have a place on Rannoch for the moment. She officially joined my crew.

2. 2181 Despoina - Found Leviathan's location. Had to use an ancient Triton ADS, which is similar in to an Atlas mech, to go deep into the ocean where the probe had landed. Kaidan wasn't happy about it but what else was I going to do? I found Leviathan. It looks like a Reaper, more or less, but organic. Huge and breathes in water. It explained that it was an ancient species that had made thralls out of all other races. When they made machine intelligences, those machines eventually turned on them. No tribute so they didn't like it. They created a synthetic being of their own, which they called the Intelligence, to find a way to protect organic life from synthetics. After studying the problem they turned on their Leviathan race, harvesting them into the first Reaper, called Harbinger. They experimented to find a way to solve this problem, constantly harvesting races and creating new Reapers. Mass relays were developed to make the cycle or organics and harvesting faster. Leviathan noted that the Reapers feared me. Heck, the one on Rannoch knew my name. I convinced the Leviathan it couldn't hide anymore, that the Reapers now knew where it was. It's not on our side but I can imagine it becoming a future threat without the Reapers to hold it in check. But one problem at a time.

3. Rescued some elcor from Dekunna.

Yesterday Kirstin got ready for Priority Tuchanka. She will be glad when this is over and Padock is off the ship and far, far away from her.
The preparation included looking at some Krogan graffiti (and saving some turians), killing people with fire and electric shocks (while some civilians crawled around talking about dying together) and visit to the local Cerberus lab for some hearts-in-a-jar. Also, Kaidan has escaped the Huerta hospital, hopefully his crazy doctor friend can find him again.

Today Carter took his friend Wrex to a tour of a Salarian facility. There was much shooting and exploding, but no crashes. Also Charge, glorious Charge. He then talked to the people on the ship (James was a bit miffed, but the rest of the squad was fine) and recruited a news reporter to his ship. Very fancy. He also made a note to recruit a doctor on the ship, since Mordin wanted to spend the Reaper invasion on the beach with some bikini clad Krogan and seashells.
He also took his adopted son to burn some bugs. There was Charge, but it was not but it was gunned down in record time. Will probably have to use tactics, so shut the game down for now.
Yay, no tactics, just brute force. 
No creepy smiles, but have some Krogan Graffiti.

Via extensive meta-gaming I was able to get to 80% renegade and 75% paragon in a level 1 PT without any points spent in charm or intimidate, but this meant that every decision was made based on reputation (e.g. no way to save Parasini in that game). And try as I might, I wasn't able to get to 80% paragon before Ilos (to get both morality quests) without spanking that paragon monkey 6 times on Eletania. Spending points in charm and/or intimidate does make reputation building much easier.