What did you do today in ME?

- Everything was a bit of a mess. Noah had indeed died and was now alive again... at a Cerberus facility, as he learned. He didn't know a lot about them besides what Kahoku had been hinting at. No reason to trust them yet, but he decided to hear the boss of this organisation out. See what he wanted.
That guy, the Illusive Man, spoke of entire human colonies vanishing. That piqued Noah's interest. He and two of the Illusive Man's henchmen, Miranda and Jacob, were sent to Freedom's Progress to investigate.
- Not long in, Noah bumped into his former squad mate Tali. It was actually good to see a familiar face. Noah hadn't been too kind to Tali when they worked together, but he ended up respecting her, staying to help fight Saren when she could've left anytime she wanted. Turns out Tali and her team were looking for another quarian at the colony, apparently having been on his pilgrimage there. They soon found him. Veetor was the only one left, and the only one who could tell Noah that Collectors are behind the abductions. He never heard of them, but he would stop them. At any cost.
The Cerberus members wanted Veetor so Cerberus could question him, but Tali offered up Veetor's omni-tool data and wanted to take him back to the flotilla. Noah agreed to her deal. Veetor was just a scared little kid. Like Noah had been a long time ago. And even being as scared as Veetor was, he managed to help a great deal. That was more than Noah accomplished back on Mindoir. But the past is the past, the dead are still dead, and now Noah had a new threat to focus on. The Collectors will feel what Noah is capable of now.
- The Illusive Man told Noah he suspected the Collectors worked for the Reapers. All the more reason to stop them. Noah agreed to work with Cerberus. He didn't trust any of them yet, but at least they seem to be caring about the fate of the colonists. Noah still wanted to see Anderson, see if the Alliance could help in any way.
- After getting a brand-new ship in the image of the original Normandy and meeting the pilot, no other than Joker, they set out for the Citadel while Noah got to know the crew in large parts. And there was a fucking AI installed, a huge downside.
- The meeting with Anderson was a complete letdown. The only thing Anderson could offer was keeping the Council and the Alliance off Noah's back while he tried to protect humanity. He couldn't believe the Alliance did nothing. He couldn't believe they weren't interested in helping even a little bit to investigate the vanishing of all those people. Well, fuck them. He didn't need them. He had Cerberus now, who actually do try to help humanity.
And on top of that, he still didn't know where Ashley was. But thankfully, at least she's alive...

Freedom's Progress

Welcome aboard

Citadel

Bumped into Khalisah


One death on Freedom's Progress already But it was a strange one. Survived the explosion of one of the FENRIS mechs, just to die anyway shortly after. Not sure if one of the LOKI got me, but had to be. Anyway, can't wait for this run! First pro-Cerberus Shep, new dialogue hunting hopefully

Artemis was quite busy the last couple of days. She she cured the genophage, stopped Cerberus from taking over the Citadel, helped the Quarians defeat the Geth and take back Rannoch. Artemis and Kaidan managed to kiss and make up. She is currently dealing with an identity thief, after getting a new apartment.

The sushi restaurant always reminds me of one of my favorite movies.


La Femme Shepard:


Two SPECTREs attend a party:

From the past few days.

- Noah started recruiting some people for his mission. The list provided by the Illusive Man was not that long yet, but definitely full of unique people. Even aliens. Noah hadn't thought Cerberus would work with them. He picked up a mercenary on Omega, tough guy, saw his share of fights and will surely be useful. Then a salarian scientist, super smart, very fast-talking, and actually... decent. Worked on a genophage modification to make sure the krogan wouldn't rise up again, which was a good thing in Noah's book.
Then there was actually someone he knew from when they tried to prove Saren had betrayed the Council. Garrus Vakarian, whose help Noah had turned down back then. Couldn't afford to do so now as he needed all the help he could get, so Garrus joined and after talking a bit with the turian, Noah thinks he might be alright after all.
Same goes for that powerful biotic woman they picked up in a prison ship. Jack. Violent, dark, doesn't take shit from anyone. Noah was curious about her. And she claimed she was raised in a Cerberus facility, which seemed interesting. Maybe worth digging deeper to see what happened there.
The latest addition wasn't exactly planned, but now they had a krogan in a tank on-board. Noah asked EDI's advice, but deemed it too dangerous to have a krogan on the ship. They couldn't even tell what his behaviour would be... probably violent. He's a krogan.
- Noah then was sent to Horizon by the Illusive Man, and he hoped he could see Ashley there. He did, but it was nothing like he had thought it would be.
It was not the Ash he knew and had cared for. Maybe even loved. He didn't know. Love is complicated and he had never met someone before who came as close as Ashley. He only knew Ash was important to him and he didn't want to lose her. But it simply happened. There was nothing Noah could do to convince her to trust Cerberus to be on the right side. Frustrated after Ashley's harsh words, Noah left Horizon. He lost her. He lost the colonists. But he was always good at suppressing his feelings, ready for anything life threw at him. And with a new resolve he swore to take down the Collectors no matter the cost. There would be none left when he was done with them...

Recruiting

Horizon

I died sooooo many times! Early Vanguard is sometimes a real challenge, plus I'm a scrub. And occasionally, the damn lock-on is so bugged! Hate it so much. It happened so often when fighting Jedore, it wasn't funny. Gal was right in front of me, but noooo, can't get a lock. §&%&/ you, game
The first half on Horizon though went smooth and fast! 2 deaths in the area before meeting the mechanic, but after that it was smooth sailing! Even the final fight in the spaceport!
I can't wait to have my build final For now I went with Area Charge, but I want to change it for the next mission.
Also, I'm such an idiot. I apparently had disabled Autosave in my previous run (probably for when loading saves to see which ones I can delete to make space for new ones ). Only discovered I had it left off after recruiting Garrus

- Noah went to Illium to pick up two more recruits for his mission. He had to go see his old acquaintance Liara - now a broker on Illium - for more information, but before he could actually do that, he bumped into Parasini again. And helped her out once more. He hoped this was the last time. Same goes for Conrad Verner. What an idiot, but Noah helped him out to make sure he'd give up his current path of imitating Noah. Otherwise he'd probably get himself killed rather soon.
After seeing Liara he proceeded with his mission. It was good to take his mind off Horizon and Ash, and ended up with another alien on board. Samara, a very experienced and capable warrior asari. Noah had to admit she was very graceful, and she punished the wicked, killed them without mercy. He could respect that.
- Next, since they were close by, Noah helped Miranda find her sister. It was a bit complicated with these two, but Noah followed Miranda's wish of handling it. She had to shoot an old friend when he betrayed her, but afterwards, her sister was safe. Miranda had the chance to talk to her right there, but she was hesitant. Said it was too complicated.
- They left to pick up the next addition to the team. An assassin who's next target was Nassana Dantius. Noah remembered her. Not a pleasant person, and as it turned out, very nasty to her workers. Noah himself was never too keen on aliens, but she treated the salarian workers there like dirt. In the end, she got what was coming to her. The assassin, a drell called Thane, took her down nicely, and agreed to work with Noah afterwards to end the Collector threat. Even though he seemed to really want to help, one could never be too careful, so Noah told Jacob to keep an eye on the assassin.
- Noah made his rounds on the Normandy to learn more about the latest additions, and everyone seemed to want something from him... Mordin, Garrus, Jack earlier. Jacob. Then there was Cerberus promising Zaeed and Kasumi Noah would help them with something personal. It was a lot and Noah was sure he didn't have the time to do everything. Jack seemed to really go crazy about her problem though, so he'd take care of that first.

Samara's RM

Miri's LM

Thane's RM & crew stuff


Ugh, I so hate Thane's recruitment mission in the Legendary Edition. It's buggy as hell with no ammo drops, I have to constantly reload in order to fix that, but then this mission also has some of the largest combat portions with no autosave in-between, so I have to press on with almost no ammo (made it to 0 with all weapons today, what a feat!). Pair that with the Vanguard's problem of CAN'T GET A LOCK (fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! The target's right in front of you, you dumb s**t) and it was hell. It takes so much enjoyment out of Vanguard in ME2, it's really sad. I'm getting quite fed up with stuff like that, because there's also nothing that can really fix this. Thane's RM always seems to be buggy for me in MELE. And Samara's recruitment mission was also bugged again at the end. No health bar bug struck again. It just sucks.
But anyway, rant over. WHEN it works (and I'm not making stupid mistakes dying left and right), it's so much fun and really satisfying

- Noah helped Jack blow up the Cerberus facility she grew up in. There was a guy who tried to restart the whole thing, a victim from back then, too. Noah took a gamble and told Jack to shoot him, anticipating she wouldn't go through with it. And he was right. Jack let him go, problem solved.
- Samara had news about the fugitive she was chasing, her own daughter. Who kills by sleeping with people. Noah knew he had to stop her right away. He had to lure Morinth out, which was no issue for him. But when they sat down to talk a bit, Morinth made an excuse to get some drinks in order to get away. Noah noticed too late and now she would run around and keep on killing people. Humans. And it was all his fault...
He went to have a drink in a nearby bar and was poisoned by some human-hating batarian scum. Noah went to have some payback, and this asshole wouldn't hurt humans ever again. Good riddance.
- Noah was frustrated that Morinth got away, his ego hurt. He was usually good at making problems go away. Not this time though and he poured himself even more drinks. He went to see Jack and they had sex. It made him feel better about this whole thing, and it was good to blow off some steam.
- He was then sent to investigate a drifting Collector ship by the Illusive Man. About time they made another breakthrough. They found more than this. They learned that the Collectors were once the vanished Protheans, and that the whole investigation was a trap, one that the Illusive Man sent Noah and his team into willingly. Noah hated being used for this, but had to admit it got results at least. He might have done the same. And they now knew they needed a Reaper IFF to pass through the Omega-4-relay.
- Noah hadn't checked his e-mails for a while, and now there was one Ash had written some time ago. What did she want from him? First she tells him they're done on Horizon, now she seems unsure about that again.
Fuck it. He made his decision that it's better to cut ties. It would only distract him. And he didn't even know if he would live through this to see Ash again...
(- Noah also had to do some side quests for his player as she reeeeally wanted the Cain finally and some other upgrades!)

Jack's LM

Samara's LM

Collector ship

Crew talk


Collector ship, my old friend. The platforms were so annoying. I didn't remember that Vanguard sucks so much there. Charging the covers instead of charging enemies? Fun... and it didn't get better from there I was convinced there was a way to cut the Praetorian fight short with Vanguard class, but nothing worked, which is why I was killed some more times there as well Best mission death-wise so far, hahaha! Also very annoying
But now it's done, so happy! Worst mission always. Will do a couple more Loyalty Missions next and pick up Tali. Then possibly already going for the Reaper IFF.

Before acquiring the Reaper IFF, Shep knew that her squad needed to be strong and loyal for the sake of the mission. She didn't want to enter the unknown without proper resolve. They all had personal matters to attend to, and Shep didn't waste any time in helping them...

Shades Of Grey...


Party Crash And Heist...


Family Matters...


Demon Hunting Season...


A Chip Off The Old Drell...


Mercenary Madness...


Daddy Issues...


Bombing The Past Behind...


The Quarian People's Court...


Krogan Turf...


In The Name Of Science...


Mother And Son Outing...


To Be Continued...

Finished my current Vanguard run in ME2. Everyone except Grunt survived the Suicide Mission (killed him off on purpose); everyone loyal except Samara.

Did some stuff I don't usually do: Am romancing both Ashley and Jack, killed off Grunt, Got Zaeed's loyalty, had Kasumi keep the Graybox so I can get her at the Citadel party (have never gotten her there before,) and kept the Collector base, among other things.

- Noah was thrown into the brig for 6 months after he blew up a relay in batarian space, so the favour to break out Hackett's friend Kenson didn't quite turn out as planned. But at least Noah could stop the Reapers from pouring right through that relay and bought everyone more time. Not that it mattered. He was still in the brig when the Reapers came. All hell broke loose and now everyone whined about what to do and relied on him. Figures.
- Noah got reinstated and was sent to Mars by Hackett after reuniting with Ashley. On Mars, they met Liara and together they chased after a Cerberus infiltration unit that stole plans for a weapon of sorts against the Reapers. They stopped it, but Ash was hurt badly in the process. They went to the Citadel to get help for her, and Noah talked to the Council. They wouldn't help Earth. He was frustrated, even more so when he visited Ash and saw her lying there unconscious. On Mars, it wasn't the right time to talk, but now he hoped they would get the chance to rekindle what they once had. He still cared for her.
- The turian Councilor told Noah about a war summit for which they needed the turian Primarch. So Noah went to Menae to fetch him. Took some work since the Primarch had died, but James, Liara and Noah were able to retrieve his successor.
- Noah went back to the Citadel to prepare a few things before the summit and couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk with Ash, since she was awake now. And even though Ash somehow knew he had sex with Jack and Ash blamed Noah and he blamed Ash for leaving him, he felt that - in time - they might have a chance to be together again. One step at a time.
- Noah also helped a salarian Spectre stop an indoctrinated hanar and met Kasumi again, who he recruited for helping out with the device.

A flood of pics (you've been warned! )
Arrival

It begins...

Checking in on the crew

Menae

Trying to win Ash back


Man, I really hope I didn't botch the standoff during the Citadel coup, so Ashley won't be shot I have so many minus points already, hahaha. But it fit really well so far, so I have to rely on the reputation check I guess
Had a couple of deaths because I'm not invincible YET (who'd have thought ), but it's fun so far. I can see it becoming a bit boring though, but I'm sure my scrubbery will keep me on my toes

Ah, ok. Didn't even know that. Seems like she really got shafted as a character.

- At the summit, Noah's old acquaintance Wrex demanded a cure for the genophage if the krogan were to help the turians. Noah wasn't too keen on this, but he had no choice. They were all in this mess together. So Noah and his team extracted a female krogan vital to the cure from the salarian homeworld. Padok Wiks, a salarian who wanted to help the krogan race, came aboard as well.
- The cure took some time, so Noah helped evacuate Grissom Academy in the meantime. He met Jack again. It was good to see her, good to see her doing better. He'd never have thought she would teach kids. And now Noah had support for the war from those students.
- Then he followed up on Wrex's rachni rumours. Noah had killed the last queen, but better to check it out and do something about it now. The Reapers had created a fake queen to provide rachni troops for the war. They left her in this mess. Urdnot Dagg sacrificed himself so Noah and his team could get out in one piece.
- On the way to the Citadel, Noah took a small detour and saved some civilians on Benning. Then he went to see Ashley, who was made a Spectre. Noah was sure it was some scheme hatched by Udina, but he was still happy for Ash. Then he gained another ally in Khalisah, united the 3 major merc bands under Aria's rule so they'd join the war, and delivered some things, and met up with Miranda and Steve.
- On Tuchanka, Noah took back a krogan cannon from Cerberus, then it was time to spread the cure, as Wiks had finished. Before they left for the Shroud, the salarian Dalatrass offered Noah a deal he couldn't pass up. If he sabotaged the cure, he would gain salarian support, and the krogan wouldn't need to know what happened. Noah took it. He was wary of the krogan possibly getting out of control again, so this was the best choice. Padok didn't go along with it though, so Noah had to shoot him.
- Afterwards he stopped a Cerberus coup on the Citadel, staged by Udina. That bastard got what was coming to him. Major Kirrahe died protecting the salarian Councilor, while Noah was able to protect the rest of the Council by killing Udina. For a moment it looked dicey, since he had to face off Ash, but he asked her to trust him. She finally did. Noah welcomed her back to the Normandy, hoping they could finally leave everything that had happened between them lately behind.

Sur'Kesh

Grissom

Rachni

Tuchanka

Coup


Much fun was had with only some tiny deaths! Prio Tuchanka was weird and somehow bugged out. At times the double amount of enemies would spawn. Oh well. They all died Vanguard was also super fun on the Citadel, charging Phantoms, and turrets and an Atlas. And even coming out alive