Mass Effect Serialisation - Chapter 7

Seek The Enemy of Your Enemy, And You Will Find a Friend

Shepard, Garrus and Kaidan entered the C-Sec Academy and immediately found Wrex with a group of C-Sec officers. His huge frame immediately identifiable amongst the other races walking around and working. He was a huge, hulking beast with no fear to speak of - much like any other krogan, but with the aura of a lifetime of battle and struggle surrounding him.

The C-Sec Academy was a grand huge place, with elevators linking it to the Presidium Embassies and also the Alliance dock where the Normandy was berthed. C-Sec officers and recruits filled the place, it seemed as safe a place as you could be in the Citadel - all but for the giant krogan causing a scene.

Shepard and the others approached Wrex while he was in a...heated discussion with a noticeably smaller human C-Sec officer.

"Witnesses saw you making threats in Fist's bar, Wrex." the officer said, "Stay away from him."

"I don't take orders from you." Wrex said indignantly.

"This is your only warning, Wrex." the officer said, leaning forward in an attempt to assert some kind of authority - which failed.

"You should warn Fist. I will kill him." Wrex said,

"Do you want me to arrest you?!" the officer said, obviously non-the-braver for the other officers flanking Wrex.

"I want you to try." Wrex chuckled as he looked away and saw Shepard waiting nearby for him. He walked away from the officers, to the sound of the one officer who had been talking to him shakily saying "Go on Wrex, get outta here!".

Wrex approached Shepard, recognising him from Chora's Den and went face-to-face with him. He started the ball rolling with him,

"Do I know you, human?"

"I'm Shepard. I'm going after Fist." Shepard replied, showing none of the fear that the C-Sec officer had shown previously. Wrex let out a very guttural sigh,

"Shepard. Commander Shepard. I've heard of you, you're a warrior like me. Out of respect I'll give you fair warning: I'm going to kill Fist." Wrex said,

"Fist knows you're coming," Garrus interjected, "We'll all stand a better chance of getting to Fist if we work together."

Wrex looked at Garrus, not feeling much aside from hatred because he was a turian, but took note of the intelligence of what he was saying, and looked back at Shepard,

"My people have a saying: "Seek the enemy of your enemy, and you shall find a friend."" Wrex said, extending his hand as humans do. Shepard smiled, and took Wrex's hand.

"I think we're going to get along just fine Wrex." he said,

"Well let's go. I'd hate to keep Fist waiting." Wrex replied.

"Kaidan, we'll handle this." Shepard said to Lt Alenko, "I want you to head back to the embassy, make sure Ash isn't losing her temper with the Ambassador."

"Aye, aye Commander." Kaidan said, as he saluted and walked away.

------------------

Shepard, Wrex and Garrus arrived at Chora's Den, and the usual beat of music was no longer present. The club had obviously shut up shop, but that wasn't going to stop them from entering to find Fist.

They approached the front door to find it still unlocked, Shepard drew his rifle and opened the door. Behind the door were about a dozen thugs and hired goons in defensive positions behind tables and the bar, with their guns trained on the front door. Shepard jammed the door open by ramming it with the butt of his rifle, and quickly turned to take cover just outside the bar. Garrus took cover on the other side of the door but Wrex with his strong biotic barrier and heavy armour marched in killing the 2 thugs directly behind the bar with his shotgun, and throwing another across the bar with his biotics. The trio quickly realised that their opponents were by no means trained killers, as their shots frequently missed them by some margin. The only real threat was the krogan bouncer who had been hassling Wrex previously. He slowly advanced towards them, firing his shotgun in precise 2 second intervals, and throwing biotic warps at them.

Garrus realised he was the biggest threat to them and he trained his rifle on the brute's legs, slowing him down and causing him to stumble. This was all the signal Shepard needed to aim for his chest, splitting his armour open with one volley of his chemically enhanced rounds, the second volley tearing through the krogan's thick armour-like skin, dissolving everything inside him, sending him crashing to the floor with a massive thud.

The other thugs dropped like flies to the groups highly honed combat skills. Shepard a Commander in the Alliance Navy, his years of fighting and being in battle making him a perfect killer; Garrus, who spent 5 years in the Turian Military through their version of National Service and years as a crack C-Sec officer and marksman hitting the target with every shot and Wrex - at well over 800 years old, he'd seen more combat that Shepard and Garrus combined, multiplied by 10, battle and fighting was like breathing for him.

After dispensing with the hired muscle, they made their way through to the bar's back rooms, where Fist would no doubt be hiding. They were right.

As they entered Fist's office, he was waiting for them, fully armoured with 2 automatic turrets by the walls. He didn't wait to ask questions, he opened fire on them immediately, as did his turrets. The turrets were slow however, and couldn't keep up with the 3 moving around the office, they concentrated their fire on the turrets, as Fist wasn't much of a better shot than his welcoming committee.

After they'd destroyed his turrets, they all fired on Fist, incapacitating him without killing him - he fell in seconds. They approached him as he held his hands up, wiping the blood from his mouth as he did so. He was injured for sure, but not fatally so.

"Wait! Don't kill me! I surrender!" Fist said with a wimper. Shepard drew his pistol and aimed it at Fists face.

"Then you'd better tell me where the quarian is." Shepard demanded.

"I don't know where she is, that's the truth!" Fist replied,

"He's no use to you now," Wrex said, cocking his shotgun, "Let me kill him."

"Wait! Wait!" Fist shouted, "Okay, I may not know where she is now exactly, but I know where you can find her."

"You'd better be straight with us." Shepard said,

"The quarian came to me with information, looking for protection. Said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself." Fist explained,

"Impossible." Wrex interjected, "Even I was hired through an agent."

"She didn't know that, I told her I'd set a meeting up. But it'll be Saren's men waiting for her. She should be there now." Fist said,

Shepard stormed towards Fist, shoving his gun in his face.

"Tell me where the meeting is before I blow your lying head off!" Shepard said, Fist stepped back and started to stumble over his words, before saying,

"The meeting is here in the wards, down a back alley near the club. She should be there now, if you hurry you should be able to get to her."

That was all the information they needed, and Wrex knew it. He pulled up his shotgun and shot Fist from only feet away, killing him instantly.

"What are you doing!?" Garrus shouted, his C-Sec training kicking in to not kill unarmed felons.

"The Shadow Broker paid me to kill him. I don't leave jobs half done." Wrex said coolly.

"A lot of people died because of him." Shepard said, "He had it coming."

The trio knew time was of the essence now and quickly made their way out of the office back into the main bar. Unfortunately for them, reinforcements had arrived at the bar, these gunmen much better shots than the previous bunch of thugs - these were most likely Saren's men as opposed to Fists.

Shepard knew that they had to cut through them quickly, as he made his way to cover he could feel his adrenaline implants kicking in. Making him more focussed, as though time had slowed down. A rage inside him kicked in as he heard some of them laughing at him, clearly underestimating his skills as a trained killer.

Shepard broke cover and ran for the nearest gunman, cutting him down with a couple of bullets to the skull, the next 2 gunmen rose from cover to find Shepard already on top of them, hitting them both with his rifle before shooting them as they lay on the floor, knocked down by the brute force of the marine. While Shepard was making his way through the thugs on one side of the bar, Garrus and Wrex made their way through the other side, running and gunning, taking down Saren's men with a mixture of gunfire, biotics and Garrus's tech abilities - overloading their shields with a ranged electronic pulse, and sabotaging their weapons with a quick flick from his Omni-Tool. Omni-Tools were widely used by everyone in society, usually as a means to communicate and interact with computers, however in the armed forces, merc groups and the law, they could also be used to devastating effect as weapons in their own right.

After cutting through the small platoon that was waiting for them, they ran from the bar, towards the ward back alley, where the "meeting" between the quarian and Saren's men was taking place. They ran into the alley to see the quarian being leered at by the turian who conducting their discussion.

"Did you bring it?" the turian said, as he walked up to the quarian, looking her shapely body.

"Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?" the quarian said with obvious anxiety. And naivety. She was young, even through her environmental suit, you could tell she was quite young - probably in her late teens. As she spoke, Shepards sub-dermal translator, translated her voice into a softly spoken Russian accent. The turian she was speaking to stroked her head covering and down her arm.

"They'll be here. Where's the evidence." the turian said, as the quarian brushed him off.

"No way. The deal's off." the young quarian said. The turian stepped back, and nodded to the 2 salarians who were hanging back from the two of them. They acknowledged this and drew their pistols, as they did, the quarian turned to see them, and threw a concealed grenade at them, sending them hurtling to the floor.

Shepard, Wrex and Garrus ran on towards them opening fire on the turian and his salarian comrades. Garrus used his sabotage skill on the 2 salarians, causing their pistols to backfire, exploding in their hands - Wrex then finished them off with a shotgun blast each.

The turian was tougher however, and had already put his shields up before the trio arrived. He actually caused Shepard to pause for breath, but not for long. He crouched behind a large bin, swapping his automatic rifle for a sniper. He knew where the assassin was at the other end of the alley, and took a deep breath. He waited for a pause in fire to break cover and look down his sights, within a couple of seconds he had the turian assassin perfectly lined up. One sharp pull of his trigger, and the turian's skull split wide open.

The air settled, as Shepard, Garrus and Wrex holstered their weapons. They approached the quarian, who was clearly grateful for their timely appearance.

"Fist set me up!" the quarian stated, "I knew I couldn't trust him!"

"I'm Commander Shepard with the Alliance. I'm looking for evidence to prove Saren's a traitor." Shepard said, dispensing with pleasantries.

"I have something that might help you, but what about Fist?" the quarian asked,

"We've taken care of Fist." Shepard said, putting inflection on the right words to imply that he was dead.

"Then I guess I have a chance to repay you for 2 things then. But not here. We need to go somewhere safe." the quarian said,

"Shepard, we should take her to your human embassy. She'll be safe there and your Ambassador will want to see this anyway." Garrus suggested.

"Come on, let's go." Shepard said, as they left the Ward and went back to the Human Embassy in the Presidium.

---------

Shepard, Garrus, Wrex and the Quarian entered the Human Embassy. Ambassador Udina was waiting for them, and was clearly angry at Shepard for what he had been doing.

"You're not making my life easy Shepard. Firefights in the wards? An all-out assault on Chora's Den? Do you know how many-", Udina stopped mid sentence as he turned to see Shepards new associates, he was particularly startled by the presence of the quarian. Udina, like many others, held quarians in very low regard. "Who's this?" he asked, gesturing towards the quarian, "A quarian? What are you up to Shepard?"

"You wanted evidence that Saren is a traitor. She can help." Shepard said,

"I apologise. Could you please start at the beginning, Miss...?" Udina asked the quarian.

"My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya." Tali said,

"We don't see many quarians here. Why did you leave the Flotilla?" Udina asked, his ambassadorial ways kicking in with polite conversation.

"I'm on my Pilgrimage. My rite of passage into adulthood." Tali replied, happy to explain. "It's a tradition among my people. When we reach maturity, we leave the ships of our parents and our people behind. Alone, we search the stars, only returning to the Flotilla once we have discovered something of value. In this way, we prove ourselves worthy of adulthood."

"What kind of things do you look for?" Shepard asked, clearly intrigued. He had never really thought about the traditions and customs of the other races. Always keeping them at arms length usually.

"It could be resources like food or fuel. Or some type of useful technology. Or even knowledge that will make life easier on the flotilla. Through our Pilgrimage, we prove that we will contribute to the community, rather than being a burden on our limited resources." Tali explained.

"What kind of evidence did you find?" Shepard asked.

"During my travels I began hearing reports of geth. Since they drove my people into exile, the geth have never ventured beyond the Veil. I was curious." Tali explained, "I tracked a patrol of geth to an uncharted world. I waited for one to become separated from its unit. Then I disabled it and removed its memory core."

"I thought the geth fried their memory core when they died. Some kind of defence mechanism." Captain Anderson queried,

"What did you find?" Shepard asked,

"Most of the memory core was wiped, but I managed to salvage something from its audio banks." Tali said, as she activated her omni-tool, a familiar voice started to speak.

Eden Prime was a major victory.The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit.

"That's Saren's voice! This proves he's a traitor!" Anderson said, almost giddy at the thought he had been found out. "The Conduit must be some kind of prothean technology...like a weapon!"

"Wait, there's more on here." Tali said and she played the recording again.

Saren: Eden Prime was a major victory.The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit.

Second Voice: And one step closer to the return of the Reapers.

"I don't recognise that second voice. The one talking about Reapers." Udina said. Shepard looked slightly uneasy,

"Reapers, I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before..." he said.

"From what I salvaged from the geth memory core, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race who appeared 50,000 years ago. They hunted the protheans to total extinction and then vanished...at least that's what the geth believe." Tali explained,

"Sound's a little far-fetched to me." Udina said, immediately dismissing the idea.

"It's not far-fetched." Shepard said, "The vision on Eden Prime. I think I understand it now. I saw the protheans being wiped out by Reapers."

"The geth revere the Reapers as gods - the pinnacle of non-organic life. And they believe Saren knows how to bring the Reapers back." Tali elaborated further.

"The Council's just going to love this." Udina said sarcastically.

"The Reapers are a threat to every species in Citadel space. We have to tell them!" Shepard said,

"No matter what the Council thinks of the rest of this, they have to see that this proves that Saren is a traitor." Anderson stepped in,

"The captain's right. We need to present this to the Council right away." Udina said,

"What about her? The quarian." Wrex asked,

"My name is Tali." she said, "Shepard, you saw me in that alley. You've seen what I can do. Let me come with you."

"I thought you were on your Pilgramage?" Shepard asked,

"The Pilgrimage proves that we are willing to give of ourselves for the greater good. What would it say about me if I turned my back on this." Tali said, showing wisdom beyond her years, "Saren is a threat to the entire galaxy - my Pilgrimage can wait."

"Anderson and I will get things set up with the Council. Take a few minutes to collect yourself and meet us in the Tower." Udina said, as he left the Embassy with Captain Anderson.

Garrus left as well, in order to report back to C-Sec, and Shepard told Ash and Kaidan to report to the Normandy. Shepard decided to take Wrex and Tali to the Citadel Tower, for the showing of the new evidence against Saren. Wrex was keen to stay with Shepard, he knew things were just beginning and Tali was determined to see her evidence put to good use.

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Bit of a long one this. But I'm absolutely loving writing this. I just hope some people are enjoying reading it.

Toolbox24

Mass Effect Serialisation - Chapter 3

Look at That Ship

Shepard, Kaidan and Ashley advanced up the slope toward the prefab units, but before they reached them they found more spikes like the ones they saw the civilian impaled on, only there were what looked like altered humans already impaled on them.

As they approached with caution, the spikes lowered, and the altered humans stood up from them. They were grotesquely changed, with a more robotic look and had tubes hooked up into their mouths that connected round their backs. And they screeched and groaned with a guttural moan that sounded like their last gasp of humanity screaming in a living hell.

The beasts ran at Shepard and co, who duly took them down after a heavy volley of gunfire as well as Kaidan utilising his biotics to throw one of them across the ground.

Afterwards, they slowly approached the now lifeless bodies, with Shepard commenting on them,

"They were human, but now...now they're more like husks than people."

"What the hell happened to them?" Kaidan asked, "Did those spikes change them?"

Ashley replied "It looks that way yeah, but how? Are the geth even capable of this?"

"It doesn't matter at the moment, we need to find out where that damn beacon is." Shepard said very matter-of-factly. The others nodded in silence, and they continued on toward the prefab sheds ahead. They were all open bar one that was locked tight, Kaidan went to the door and hacked into it to unlock it. Inside were 2 scientists.

"Thank the maker!" one of them said "I knew it would only be a matter of time until someone came. I'm Dr Warren, the lead scientist at the dig site." she looked relieved to see the Alliance soldiers in front of them.

"What happened here?" Shepard asked,

"It all happened so fast, one minute we were packing up our stuff, the next the geth were swarming over the site, killing anyone that moved." Dr Warren replied, rubbing her hands nervously. Her assistant walked forward towards Shepard, looking around skittishly,

"Agents of the destroyers. Bringers of darkness. Heralds of our extinction." he said prophetically,

"We could hear the battle outside. Gunfire, screams. We hid in here until it went quiet, but then we were too afraid to move, then eventually you showed up." Dr Warren added.

"Have you seen a turian around here?" Shepard asked, before Dr Warren could reply, her assistant immediately spoke up.

"I have seen him. The prophet. Leader of the enemy. He was here - before the attack!"

"That's impossible, Nihlus was on the Normandy the whole time before the attack."

"I'm sorry, Manuel is...unsettled. We haven't seen your turian, we've been in here since the attack." Dr Warren said.

"What's wrong with your assistant?" Shepard asked, obviously annoyed at his presence.

"Manuel has a brilliant mind, but has always been unstable. Genius and madness are 2 sides of the same coin." Dr Warren said.

"Is it madness to see the future? To see the destruction rushing towards us? To understand that there is no chance, no hope. No, I am not mad - I'm the only sane one left!" Manuel said with conviction.

"I gave him an extra dose of his meds to calm him down." Dr Warren added.

"Well, I can help. Say goodnight Manuel." Shepard said as he slowly approached him, before swinging his fist back to punch him in the face, knocking him out and off his feet.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Dr Warren said,

"That may have been a little extreme, Commander." Kaidan added.

"He was clearly off the rails, it was only a matter of time before he flipped and did something to hurt himself or someone else." Shepard said,

"I...suppose you're right. He was getting worse by the minute." Dr Warren conceded.

"Williams, take us to the spaceport." Shepard said, as they then left, leaving Dr Warren in the prefab shed, and took off towards the spaceport.

---

Nihlus was approaching the spaceport, sneaking behind crates as he saw a figure on the platform. He broke cover wielding his assault rifle, when he looked shocked, and lowered his weapon.

"Saren." He said, confused.

"Nihlus..." Saren replied, turning to see his turian compatriot. Saren was taller than Nihlus, and had a pure grey colouring, his head was larger, and his armour looked a mix between a futuristic battlesuit with tubes and wires, and a medieval suit of armour.

"Saren, what are you doing here?" Nihlus asked, obviously perplexed as to why his fellow Spectre was on Eden Prime.

"The...Council thought you could use some help on this one." Saren said, walking past Nihlus giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"The situation is bad, I never would have thought the geth would go beyond the Veil." Nihlus said, now having completely lowered his weapon and looking up at the red sky.

"Don't worry." Saren said, turning to face Nihlus's back, whilst drawing his pistol. "Everything is under control." As soon as the last letter had been uttered, he pulled the trigger and killed Nihlus with a close range bullet to the back off his head.

NOTE: I described Nihlus as having red colouring on his face, when it was in fact his armour that has red trim. His face (as above) is black and white.

---

Shepard, Ashley and Alenko were closing in on the spaceport when they heard a single gunshot echo around them. They turned a corner and heard a loud rumbling and they all experienced a strange screaming sound in their heads.

"Commander, look at that ship!" Kaidan exclaimed, the 3 of them all stopped in their tracks and looked to the sky. A massive ship, with red lightening sparking from it filled a large portion of the sky. It looked almost alive as it rose from the ground, it was enormous - easily 2km in height - and was shaped almost like a cuttlefish with gargantuan legs.

Before they could take in the view too much, they found themselves under fire, and heard the now unmistakable shriek of the husks. They split up to draw fire around the battlefield, and attempt to confuse the husks, and took down the geth firing at them and only just managing to kill the husks before they reached Kaidan.

They traversed the small battlefield down towards the spaceport loading platform, where they came across the corpse of Nihlus. 

"It's Nihlus, looks as though he was shot in the back." Kaidan said,

"Wait! There's something moving behind those crates!" Ashley cut in,

Shepard, Ashley and Kaidan drew their weapons and focussed on the back of the platform. A shaking man came out from behind them,

"Don't shoot! Please! I'm human!" he said,

"You coward, thanks for helping out when those geth attacked us. Really helped us there." Shepard said, holstering his pistol.

"But...I'm just a dock worker, I don't even have a weapon!" the man said, "I was hiding here during the attack, and then I saw your friend get shot by that other turian."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Shepard snapped,

"Your friend, he saw the other turian, Saren he called him, and then he seemed to relax, he let his guard down - lowered his weapon and then he shot him...right in the back." the man said.

"Where did Saren go after killing Nihlus?" Shepard asked,

"He jumped on the cargo train to the other platform, probably going for the beacon. That damn beacon has been nothing but trouble since they dug it up, everything's gone right to hell. First that mothership showed up, then the geth. They killed everybody, damn sure would have killed me too if I weren't behind these crates." the man said.

"Do you know what happened to the beacon?" Shepard asked,

"They loaded it on the cargo train this morning, took it to the other platform. Everything seemed so normal. It's hard to believe that that was only a few hours ago." the man replied.

"Hang on, how come you're the only survivor? Why didn't anyone else hide behind these crates?" Shepard asked,

"They never had a chance. I...I was already behind the crates before it all happened." the man said sheepishly.

"Wait a minute, you were hiding before the attack started?" Kaidan asked,

"Sometimes, I need a nap to get through my shift. So I sneak off behind the crates where my supervisor can't find me and catch 40 winks." he said

"You lazy son of a bitch!" Ashley said, pointing at the man,

"You make me sick, firstly you ditch work, then you sit back while everyone else got butchered by the geth?" Shepard accused,

"What was I supposed to do?" the man said defending himself, "Walk out there to die? I don't have a weapon, there was nothing I could do. I'd just be dead too."

Looking disgusted, Shepard decided to call it a day with the dock worker. "We have to get to that beacon before it's too late!"

"Take the cargo train to the next platform, it's where the beacon is being held." the dock worker said "I have to get away from this place, too many bad feelings."

Shepard and the others proceeded to the cargo train, taking out the remaining geth in their way. They boarded the train and started it, taking them to the next platform.

Meanwhile, already at the other platform, Saren approached one of the geth.

"Set the charges, destroy the entire colony. Leave no evidence that we were here." he ordered.

He then approached the prothean beacon, looked up at it - and it activated raising him from the ground.

Shepard reached the platform that the prothean beacon was being held. And as soon as they left the train, they found a large bomb. They quickly defused it, and their omni-tools detected 3 other bombs on the platform of similar size - they were rudimentary nuclear warheads, destructive enough to destroy a third of the planet, and certainly enough to destroy the colony.

They were surrounded by geth on all sides, and knew they had a limited amount of time before the bombs would go off, they ran through the barrage of bullets, shooting and using Kaidans biotics to destroy the geth.

They managed to reach the 3 bombs and defused them with their omni-tools before they could detonate.

Shepard led his team down onto a sub-platform, where the beacon was being held. There were a number of husks and geth troopers dotted around it, but none of them were a match for Shepard, Ashley and Kaidan.

After destroying the last geth, Shepard radioed the Normandy to confirm that they had found the beacon. While he did, Ashley and Kaidan spoke about the beacon, which was glowing and had a beam of green light shooting out to the sky above it.

"I can't believe it. Actual working prothan technology. This has to be at least 50,000 years old." Kaidan said,

"It wasn't doing anything like this when they dug it up!" Ashley remarked, as Kaidan walked back towards Shepard.

"...in to secure the beacon for transport to the Citadel." Shepard finished his transmission to the Normandy. As he did, Ashley approached it, compelled by it's glowing and humming. Suddenly, a force pulled her closer and Shepard saw her struggling - he ran over to her and pulled her away, putting himself in her place. The beacon pulled him in closer and closer, Ashley then attempted to run to his aid - but Kaidan jumped in to hold her back.

"Don't touch him! It's too dangerous!" he shouted.

The beacon pulled Shepard to it, and raised him up in the same manner it had to Saren before him. Suddenly, Shepard's mind was filled with scattered visions of machine parts, and blurred images of organics being slaughtered. He couldn't make sense of anything he was seeing, and the surge of activity in his mind and in the beacon caused it to overload, exploding and sending Shepard crashing to the floor, losing consciousness in the process.

"Normandy, this is Alenko - we need an emergency medevac now! Lock in on my signal!" Kaidan shouted through his radio, "Come on Commander, come on!" he said to Shepard checking him over.

---

The enormous ship that attacked Eden Prime was surging through space with Saren onboard. He was sat in what appeared to be a throne, deep in thought. An asari approached him, she was wearing bizarre headwear, and was a strong shade of blue, she looked beautiful - as all asari do and looked very human. She coughed slightly to let him know she was there. 

"The humans prevented the bombs from detonating, the colony still stands." she said.

"And the beacon?" Saren asked.

"One of the human's may have activated it." She replied. Saren started breathing heavier, and was clearly irate, he jumped from this throne, and started throwing anything in his way around the room, getting into the asari's face, grabbing it in his talon like hand.

"This human...must be eliminated." he said.

---

Shepard was back on the Normandy following the situation on Eden Prime, and started to come to. Ashley's voice was the first thing he heard.

"Doc, Doc! He's waking up!" 

Shepard sat up on the bed, grabbing his head. Dr Chakwas walked around to face him,

"You had us worried there Shepard. How are you feeling?" she asked,

"Urgh, like the morning after shore leave." he groaned back at her "How long was I out?" 

"About 15 hours, something happened down there with the beacon." Chakwas replied,

"It's my fault," Ashley said, "I must have triggered some kind of security field when I approached it. You pulled me out of the way."

"I expect better from my people Williams," Shepard scolded Ashley, "Your recklessness jeopardised the mission and could have cost me my life."

Ashley looked disheartened, as Chakwas spoke up,

"Actually, we don't even know what set it off. Unfortunately, we'll never get the chance to find out."

"The beacon overloaded, the blast knocked you out. The Lieutenant and I got you back to the ship." Ashley added,

"What's the damage doc?" Shepard asked,

"Physically you're fine. But I detected some unusual brain activity - abnormal beta waves." Chakwas said, "I also noticed an increase in your rapid eye movement, signs typically associated with intense dreaming."

"Not a dream. More of a nightmare. I saw death, destruction - nothing's really clear." Shepard responded. As he did, Captain Anderson entered the room.

"Glad to see my XO is back on his feet" he said, "I need a moment with the Commander - in private."

Ashley and Chakwas left the medbay to give them that privacy.

"Sounds like that beacon hit you pretty hard Commander. You sure you're OK?" Anderson asked,

"Intel dropped the ball sir. We had no idea what we were walking into down there." Shepard said,

"The geth haven't been seen outside the Veil in 2 centuries - there's no way to know they would be there." Anderson replied.

"Williams isn't a part of the crew, what's she doing here?" Shepard asked,

"We could use a good soldier like her, I had her transferred to the Normandy." Anderson said.

"You said you needed to see me in private Captain?" Shepard asked.

"I wont lie to you Shepard. Things look back. Nihlus is dead. The beacon was destroyed and the geth are invading. The Council is going to want answers."

"The Council can kiss my ass, I didn't do anything wrong." Shepard said,

"I'll stand by you and your report Shepard. You're a damned hero in my books. That's not why I'm here. It's Saren, that other turian." Anderson said "Saren's a Spectre - one of the best. A living legend. But if he's working with the geth, it means he's gone rogue. A rogue Spectre's trouble. Saren's danerous, and he hates humans."

"Saren wasn't on Eden Prime because he hates humans." Shepard said,

"You're right. Saren has allied himself with the geth. I don't know how or why, but it had to be to do with that beacon. You were there just before the beacon self destructed - did you see anything? Any clue that might tell us what Saren was after?" Anderson asked.


"Just before I lost conciousness, I had some sort of vision." Shepard said, leaning against his bed.

"A vision?"

"I saw synthetics. Geth maybe, slaughtering people. Butchering them." Shepard said,

"We need to report this to the Council!" Anderson said.

"What are we going to tell them? I had a bad dream?" Shepard retorted.

"We don't know what information was stored on that beacon. Lost prothean tech? Blueprints for some ancient weapon of mass destruction? Whatever the case, Saren has it now. Anderson replied "I know Saren, his rep, his politics. He believes human's are a blight on the galaxy. This was an act of war! He has the secrets of the beacon and an army of geth at his command. He wont stop until he's wiped humanity from the galaxy."

"I'll find some way to take him down." Shepard said, brimming with confidence and anger.

"It's not that easy. He's a Spectre - he can go anywhere, do almost anything. That's why we need the Council onboard with this." Anderson said, "If we prove Saren has gone rogue, they'll revoke his Spectre status. I'll contact the ambassador and see if he can get us an audience with the Council. He'll want to meet you when we get to the Citadel. Speaking of which - we're close to it now. Go to the bridge and tell Joker to bring us in."


-------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading!

Toolbox24

Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut, MP DLC and Leviathan?

Hello there.


I just thought I'd throw you a couple of Mass Effect type things. Firstly, a couple of weeks ago, Bioware announced and subsequently released the much anticipated Extended Cut to the conclusion of their sci-fi epic.


I'm currently playing through ME3 with my gay Commander Shepard, and should be about to commence my long awaited relationship with Kaiden Alenko. I'm already planning that my next playthrough with my new biotic FemShep - Millicent Shepard, she'll be an out and out twat to be honest, in my attempt to sabotage everything that I can, kill as many squadmates as I can and be a general bitch to the Galaxy at large.


Anyway I'm eagerly awaiting to see how the EC looks after all my decisions have been made, I've already YouTube'd the endings since, hell I know what happens, and I didn't want to wait. Personally the extended endings are brilliant, with narration from Shepard (Control), EDI (Synthesis) or Hackett (Destroy) showing the state of the Galaxy and the fate of the races after the final showdown above Earth. There is also a new "Reject" ending, basically telling the StarBrat to piss off and that we'll try our luck conventionally - this also automatically happens if you shoot him. You'll then find that our plucky sidekick Liara had a plan in place, and that eons after we're all Reaper dust, her fail-safe has worked ensuring that the next cycle are prepared for war - and to win.


The endings are fuller, have more explanation, and adds a lot more closure to the series. In all, I fully approve the Extended Cut - and the fact that it's free makes it all the better.


Secondly, ME3 has had a lot of MP DLC thrown at it, from including more types of trooper (such as geth, vorcha and batarian) to new maps like Firebase Condor and Hydra to new weapons like the Kishock Harpoon Gun or Geth Plasma SMG. And I've wanted to play it more - I really have! - since whenever I have played it, it's been the most addictive fun! I've seen a lot of hate on a lot of websites for the multiplayer, because of it's links to the Effective Military Strength, but the fact that it can alter the way things are said in game makes it that much more involved. You see that Modern Warfare mutliplayer is one of the most popular online games out there, almost constantly played by my son and his friends and by so many people it's unreal. I've played it online, and honestly - meh. But playing Mass Effect online, fighting wave after wave of geth, Reaper forces or Cerberous troops is amazing. It doesn't feel like you're just going through the motions of online play, it feels like what you're doing is making a difference in the story. You can even add your Level 20 characters to the SP game as War Assets - 25 each. Anyway I digress as I often do.

The new gang of human classes - ready to kick some serious arse!!!

This week Bioware are releasing their next batch of MP DLC in the Earth Pack. Including 6 new classes of humans with 3 new maps on our wee little planet. Based in Rio de Janeiro, Vancouver and London. I cannot wait to get stuck in to some more MP and add my guys as War Assets.


The last thing is something I read just after the EC came out on the Bioware forums, then read on a multitude of websites, then found out the voice actor had confirmed on Twitter his role and finally a single image released at the San Diego Comic Con.


Leviathan.


Firstly a super data-miner on the BW forums found in the massive Extended Cut DLC a load of unrelated dialogue referring to a Rogue Reaper called Leviathan. Probably related to the Leviathan of Dis, which was referred to in earlier games as a giant mechanical, bio-engineered corpse found about 20 years before the events of the first game by the batarians. They found this "Leviathan" and took it back to their home-world. You find out in ME3 (if you let Balak go in Bring Down the Sky DLC from ME1) that their scientists accidentally re-activated the giant corpse, and managed to indoctrinate a massive portion of the population and basically let the Reapers role into batarian space unimpeded. Which explains a bit of the in-game codex, especially the secondary entries under The Reaper War, specifically The Fall of Kar'Shan (the batarian homeworld). It is theorised that Leviathan though could be up to a billion years old, which could mean it was the first Reaper, there are also suggestions that it could end up as an ally, a massive War Asset for the end game. Personally this would be amazing, and made even better if Leviathan ended up being added to the end game cinematic showing the allied forces flowing through the Charon Relay.

The Newest Reaper on the block - Anthony Skordi

There is no planned date for the Leviathan DLC, but it's pretty much a dead cert, with even the voice actor for Leviathan telling the world via Twitter that he'd done the acting for it and his IMDB page being updated as such (Anthony Skordi). 

Well that was that. A very quick run down on the latest Mass Effect news. Yes I'm biased, but I bloody love them, and I'm just giving you all a little insight into the latest goings on from Palaven to Tuchanka. And when the news surfaces that Aria T'Loak will be launching the most obvious DLC of the game in retaking Omega, I'll let you know!


Toolbox 24

Mass Effect Storyline

ATTENTION - THERE ARE SPOILERS APLENTY FOR EACH MASS EFFECT GAME

Hello.


As I recently mentioned on a previous blog a long, long time ago - yesterday - I've got quite the level of love and affection for Bioware's Mass Effect series.


Now by the look of this blog and taking a bit of a scan through the previous posts, you would be forgiven for thinking that I tend to appreciate the computer game medium. That would be because you'd be right.


Some people love films, or books, or certain TV shows, or music, or comics etc etc. They are all amazing as well of course, and heavily established parts of day-to-day life for almost every person on the planet. Be it just loving a certain TV show (my daughter has quite the obsession with Dora the Explorer), loving certain films (my lad has quite the obsession with Harry Potter and Star Wars) or being obsessed with a certain singer or band (a very good friend of mine has an almost unhealthy obsession with Jared Leto and 30 Seconds to Mars...poor mentally ill thing that she is) but my obsession is undoubtedly Mass Effect.


Everything about the game is outstanding. If the company gets their Extended Cut DLC right in the summer then I could easily go as far to say that the games are in fact - perfect.


Anyone who has played a Bioware game knows that they stand out from the rest, in no small part because of one incredibly vital component - Story. Be it Baulder's Gate, Dragon Age, Neverwinter Nights or even their own take on Star Wars in the 2003 classic Knights of the Old Republic or The Old Republic; Bioware are heavily focused on the story-telling aspect of video games.


Mass Effect is no different. It is probably the most intensive story that I have seen unfold before my eyes. And the extra sprinkle of greatness comes from the way you can shape your story, the way you can make it unfold the way you want it to - to a degree. If you read a book or watch a film, you are told a story. When you play a computer game - especially Mass Effect you are part of that story, telling it as you go. This is probably why you can't help but be so absorbed while playing.


I strongly encourage anybody who wants to learn more about any and all facets of the Mass Effect Universe to visit the Mass Effect Wiki.


Anyway, let me give you a bit of background in the game's own words...


In the year 2148, explorers on Mars discovered the remains of an ancient spacefaring civilization. In the decades that followed, these mysterious artifacts revealed startling new technologies, enabling travel to the furthest stars. The basis for this incredible technology was a force that controlled the very fabric of space and time.


They called it the greatest discovery in human history.


The civilizations of the galaxy call it...


MASS EFFECT.


Already a nifty little slice of story pie. Basically, the first game is a tale of treachery, a bit of "cat n mouse" chasing, decisions, elevators, old secrets, twists, turns, elevators, massive revelations, elevators, new secrets and more elevators. In essence, you find out through a rogue Spectre (top level agents of the Citadel Council "the left hand of the Council, both our first and last line of defense"), Saren, that there is a secret, impossibly ancient race of sentient machine/organic hybrids called Reapers, that hide in dark space (the space between galaxies) for sentient life to rise from the primordial muck, develop the ability to fly spaceships really fast, colonise most if not all of the galaxy and to reach a certain point in their own development before coming out of dark space and harvesting all advanced sentient life in the galaxy through brutal force, efficiency and through the insidious means of indoctrination. Saren believes that by cooperating with the Reapers, that they will find a place for useful beings in during the inevitable harvest of all life. Oh I mustn't forget, along the way you stumble across this little terrorist group in a couple of side-missions called Cerberus who apparently are just out for the advancement of the human race. They do this through some brutal experiments and highly unethical methods - the ends justifies the means style. One of the main thing's they're trying to accomplish in this game is create a (cliche induced) Super Soldier from various aspects of other species. Below is a picture of Sovereign taking off from Eden Prime.

The way in which the Reapers know when to come out, is that they leave a single Reaper behind in the galaxy, a vanguard called Sovereign, who periodically observes the sentient races of the galaxy to establish when they are ready to be reaped. Sovereign then sends a signal to the Citadel - a massive space station of their own construction left to be discovered in order to be a natural hub of galactic politics and centre for all the races of the galaxy. The signal it sends to the Citadel converts it into a massive Mass Relay (a high-tech slingshot, many of these were again left by the Reapers, which flings spaceships from system to system across the galaxy) which links to the thousands of Reapers in dark space, they then flood through, and decapitate every race's government while also having immediate access to all records and census information in order to then systematically harvest all advanced life in the galaxy.


This pattern has been repeated over and over again, over millions of years. However during the last cycle, the Protheans (the previous dominant race in the galaxy) discovered exactly how this happened, and through a secret world untouched by the Reapers (due to no records being kept on it) they created their own mass relay called the Conduit that linked to the Citadel. After the Reapers thought they had finished their harvest, the last handful of Protheans travelled to the Citadel through it's newly created back door, and altered the signal to give some hope for the next cycle - us.


This time around, when Sovereign signaled the Citadel, nothing happened. This caused Sovereign to enlist help within the galaxy - how? How does a giant spaceship thingy ask for help? Not exactly the sort of ad you'd expect to see at your local Post Office..."HELP WANTED: SENTIENT MACHINE/ORGANIC HYBRID BY NAME OF SOVEREIGN REQUIRES HELP TO LET HIS FRIENDS INTO THE GALAXY IN ORDER TO HARVEST ALL ADVANCED SENTIENT LIFE. NO CRANK CALLS, SERIOUS OFFERS ONLY."


Sovereign does this through that little thing I mentioned before, indoctrination. It allowed itself to be discovered by the Spectre, Saren, who then boarded Sovereign, and eventually became it's slave. Sovereign also enlisted the help of a race of AI machines - the geth. It acknowledged them as useful tools to find out what happened to the Citadel's signal. They knew it had to be something to do with the Protheans from the last cycle, so hunted for knowledge on them - anything that was left. Below is a picture of Saren and some of his geth followers.

Then started the cat and mouse chase through the galaxy, Shepherd and his crew hunting for clues just a step behind Saren and his geth, travelling to the worlds of Noveria and Feros and also searching for a Prothean expert in the Artemis Tau Cluster. All the while, the Citadel Council - the effective rulers of the galaxy - maintain that all you're doing is hunting Saren, attempting to bring Saren in, and believe all of your talk of Reapers is elaborate bullshit spouted by Saren to trick you and try to help him.


Eventually however, you find the secret world of Ilos - the secret world I mentioned - home of the last few Protheans before they all died out. They find the Conduit - the prothean built mass relay to the Citadel - and the means of altering the signal back so Sovereign can call his chums in. After fighting through Ilos, Shepherd travels through the Conduit in pursuit of Saren, almost instantly moving the fight from Ilos to the Citadel. 


While Shepherd n Co and Saren with his geth are battling through the citadel to the top of the presidium where it'll all go down - Sovereign and it's geth slaves attack the Citadel's fleet of ships, in preparation for the rest of the Reapers to flood through.


A battle ensues in space around the Citadel and on the Citadel itself. Ultimately Shepherd beats Saren, and the Citadel fleet - spearheaded by the humans - defeats Sovereign and the geth. Yay! We're safe! For now. The Reapers will still come. One Day. Oh and after the final battle, you stand before either the Council or the human ambassador - surely now after a Reaper sat on top of the Citadel they're going to start believing you and preparing for the inevitable Reaper invasion. Yes. Brilliant, they know what they need to do! Prepare, ready themselves while they can! And they do! Below is a picture of Sovereign being destroyed inside the Citadel arms beside  the presidium.

Well not quite. They originally say all that I'm sure just to placate you, it's soon apparent in ME2 that they no longer think this, and therefore are not really preparing at all. 


Anyways cue Mass Effect 2. We start with the hero Commander Shepherd doing some sweep n clear ops on geth when suddenly a massive weird looking spaceship/hive/asteroid looking ship appears, destroys the Normandy and kills Shepherd. The spaceship belonged to an enigmatic race, thought by many to be a myth called the Collectors. Below is the SSV Normandy being ripped asunder by the Collectors main gun. 

So, Shepherd dies. If only it was the future and there were super duper futuristic methods of resurrecting corpses. Wait a minute...


You know that little terrorist group I mentioned before? Cerberus? Well it turns out they're not so little, and not strictly speaking a terrorist group, more a splinter group of the human race. Well they manage to recover Shepherds body, and they kick start Project Lazerus to turn the pile of "meat and tubes" that is currently the good Commander, and restore him into the man he once was. It's a slightly laborious project, taking a good 2 years to complete. But they do it, they bring him back from beyond the brink and return him to active duty, with a new spaceship - a bigger, better version of the original Normandy, some old friends and a mission. Below is a screenshot from the game showing the inside of one of Shepherds veins, being injected with some miracle formula to regenerate his blood.

Well this time around, the Collectors, the lot that killed you at the start, have been abducting entire human colonies. Leaving them in a kind of massive version of the Marie Celeste. Your mission, is to find out why, and stop them. You are guided by Cerberus's mysterious leader, known only as The Illusive Man or commonly known as TIM in forums online. He wanted you resurrected and unaltered in order to help lead humanity against the Collector and eventual Reaper threat, which is being largely ignored by the races of the galaxy. This is because they all now think - or want to think - that Sovereign was just a massive ship of geth design. And nothing more. Below is The Illusive Man, it may be the 22nd Century, but smoking still looks cool apparently.

Along the way, you'll need a crew - unfortunately most of your crew from the first game went their own ways after the Normandy was destroyed and you died. However the old ship's Doctor (Doctor Chakwas) and Pilot (Flt Lt Jeff "Joker" Moreau) joined up with Cerberus in order to work with you on the new Normandy SR-2. Along the way, you just so happen to reunite with some of your old crew and make some new friends along the way (characters will be touched upon in another blog) while investigating the Collector threat, you find out that once upon a time the Collectors used to be Protheans, re-purposed into the Collectors by the Reapers. They are controlled by a single Reaper - Harbinger - who has the ability to "assume direct control" of them from Dark Space across the galaxy.


The Collectors live beyond the unmapped Omega-4 mass relay, a relay which has seen thousands of ships through the years pass through but none return - apart from the Collectors. Through various investigations, you find out the means upon which the Collectors come and go through the relay, and manage to pass through yourself. You do, which brings you to the Collector base, where all of the harvested humans are being taken. You crash land on the base and enter, it is here you find out that all the humans are being turned into sludge, and pumped through tubes and vats to create a new Reaper. In game it is hypothesised that this is the Reaper version of reproduction - and the ultimate fate of all harvested races throughout all of the cycles. Below is a picture of Shepherd looking at the Human-Reaper, according to EDI - the Normandy's AI - this Reaper appears to still only be in an embryonic stage.

You end up destroying the human-Reaper and escaping the base as it is either destroyed or radioactively purged of all life - your choice. No matter what happens, Cerberus ends up being able to send lots of scientists and researchers in to find out what they can about the Reapers and how to defeat them...


Afterwards, as per the Arrival DLC, you are called into action by the Human Alliance in order to rescue a secret agent from prison. You do so, and find out that the Reapers are about to enter the galaxy through the system that you are in. The secret agent found this out and planned to destroy the system's mass relay by flinging a massive asteroid into it - even if the resulting explosion would be comparable to a supernova that would destroy the entire system and hundreds of thousands of civilian aliens. Well, as I said, you rescued this secret agent, and returned her to the asteroid which they want to propel into the mass relay...except they only know the Reapers are coming there because they found a Reaper artifact...which has indoctrinated all the people on the asteroid into not wanting to stop them coming. They proceed to capture Shepherd, and wait for the glorious arrival of their Reaper saviors. Except you're Commander Shepherd - qualified badass. 


You escape your captors and proceed to turn on the engines to throw the asteroid into the mass relay, taking out swarms and swarms of enemies along the way. You manage to escape, but not before having a little conversation with Harbinger who tells you the usual chuff about it all being inevitable, and a line I enjoy, "like dust struggling against the cosmic winds". Anyway, as I said, you are picked up at the last minute by the Normandy and escape by the skin of your teeth through  the mass relay just as the asteroid collides and eradicates the entire system. Below is the aforementioned asteroid colliding with the Mass Relay. 

You are informed by Admiral Hackett - another certified badass - that although he agrees that there was no other alternative, that you must return to Earth to face trial for this, as the batarians (the race of people who you have wronged slightly by destroying a mass relay and killing about 300,000 of them, again the Races of Mass Effect will be touched on in another blog) will want blood for this. Hence we begin Mass Effect 3. If you have yet to play ME3 but plan to, and are avoiding any spoilers, then do not read any more. Nice to see you here visiting, come back soon!!


Mass Effect 3 starts about 6 months after the events of Arrival. You're holed up on Earth, awaiting trial when you are summoned to face an Alliance defense board. Apparently a lot of very large things have appeared on long-range scans, and they're a bit worried it could be the Reapers. Maybe. Well they kind of dismissed the threat in the last game, and now they're thinking that maybe they were wrong to do so. And how right they were to be wrong! Not long after the meeting starts, you find out that the Moon has gone silent, and the UK is in the middle of a bit of a shitstorm of some descript. That's when all hell starts to break loose in the city of Vancouver. Below is a picture from one of the many cinematic pre-release trailers. It shows a few of the Reapers landing on Earth.

In short, Shepherd manages to flee Earth in the Normandy, and is tasked with going to the Citadel to rally the races of the galaxy to retake Earth. However just before leaving, you see a small boy that you tried to help die in an explosion which seems to definitely have an emotional affect on Shepherd. 


First however, you must stop off on Mars, the location of the massive Prothean archives mentioned in the very first opening scrawl because there could be something there that could point to a way of defeating the Reapers, since conventional warfare might take a couple out but wouldn't be sustainable or possible to defeat them all.


So you head to Mars and go to the archives, where you meet an old friend and find out that Cerberus is there in force in an attempt to get the data as well. After a lot of fighting with Cerberus troops and a trudging battle through the archives, you find out that the Cerberus troops have been heavily implanted with Reaper tech to improve their effectiveness, loyalty and strength. Eventually you find yourself at the central archive, but unfortunately Cerberus is there first. They not only have taken all of the data, but have started to destroy it as well. You manage to salvage some of the info, luckily the info required and you find out that the Reapers are not the only bastards to be messed with in this final war, but Cerberus will be a thorn in your side as well.

You find out that the Protheans had plans for a super-weapon, one capable of destroying the Reapers completely, called the Crucible. The Human Alliance starts to tentatively pick through the plans for the Crucible in an attempt to understand it, and to eventually build it. Meanwhile, you head to the Citadel.


At the Citadel you're told by the other races that they just cannot help the humans or assist in retaking Earth, a bit of a bummer since it's currently being bummed by the Reapers. However mission after mission, favour after favour, you manage to get a lot of the other races onboard as they see more and more how desperate the situation is getting. Every now and then, you find yourself having disturbing dreams where you are chasing after the small boy who died on Earth, only for him to burst into flames when you catch up to him.


(Side note: I could delve into a lot more detail on the story, like the way the turians enter the war or the krogan with their genophage, but if I do I'll end up writing more of a novel than a blog, and it's already looking pretty large! More details on the Races will come later.)


After getting some of the other races onboard, you find out that the human Councillor is assisting in a Cerberus coup led by the Cerberus Assassin, Kai Leng, to kill the Council and take control of the Citadel themselves. However after some heartbreak and some intense fighting at a location that was always a safe haven, you stop the coup and gleefully kill the human Councillor. Trust me. He's a douche. This is a bit of a wake up notice for the races of the galaxy, one of which promises support in the Crucible and the retaking of Earth as a direct result of this.


You manage to rally more races, through more missions, possibly most importantly you manage to gain geth support. (Side Note: I should have mentioned, it turned out that the geth antagonists in ME1 were geth heretics, who joined with the Reapers or Old Machines to be given their future. True geth decide their own future.) In gaining geth support you also resolve a centuries old balls up, after the creators of the geth - the quarians - are able to return to their home planet after being forcefully evicted by the geth centuries before. Below is a picture of a quarian and a geth prime after resolving their conflict.

(Side Note: Listen, I understand that there is an awful lot of information to take in and that I might seem like I'm rambling. However know this, I'm taking all this information from my own cortex and not referring to any source online whatsoever. This is how much the story just invades your mind and takes center-stage.)


Nearing the end, you find out that the Crucible is almost finished, the fleets of the universe are gearing up for a final battle over Earth and more and more people are signing up for the cause. You find yourself at another Prothean Archive, hidden for thousands of years by the advanced asari race. They are under heavy assault by the Reapers, and know that time is of the essence if they are to salvage anything from their own homeworld - Thessia. Below is an image of the Statue of Athame, which you can see starting to crack. Hidden within is another Prothean Archive.

Now the reason you need to go to Thessia, is because while building the Crucible, they find out that they need a second component - the Catalyst. Without it, the Crucible is a giant white elephant, so they need the data from this second archive to establish what the Catalyst is.


You arrive on Thessia and fight your way to the archive, only to be royally fucked in the eye-hole by Cerberus yet again. You find the archive, and even start to speak to it's Virtual Intelligence when Cerberus assassin, Kai Leng, arrives, takes you and your squad down and takes it away before you can get the info you need.


Balls.


You return to the Normandy and tell the asari Councillor that Cerberus beat you to the punch, and depressed you address your crew. Luckily, one of your crew is able to pinpoint where Kai Leng went. To the world of Horizon, the home of Sanctuary - a location that is constantly mentioned in the background as a supposed safe haven from the Reaper War.


You arrive at Horizon and find that indeed the assassin is there - you also find that Sanctuary is a Cerberus front. It's actually a massive lab, where the thousands, if not millions of refugees are tricked into coming and then brutally killed in horrific experiments to figure out methods of controlling the Reaper ground forces - and eventually the Reapers themselves.


If ever there was a single example of how evil and brutal Cerberus is, this is it. Preying on the fear and desperation of scared refugees, they manage to find out that it is possible, in theory to control the Reapers. A former crew mate is already at Horizon, and will let you know that she placed a tracker on the Cerberus assassin who has been a pain in the arse this game - which leads you directly to the secret HQ of Cerberus. You still need to find out what the Catalyst is, so to Cerberus HQ we go.


You arrive at Cerberus HQ, and have to obliterate all resistance in your path. You eventually find yourself at The Illusive Man's cool spacey room, where the prothean VI is. You have to kill Kai Leng before you can finish up here, and unfortunately you find out that The Illusive Man has fled to the Citadel so he's still in the picture.


Speaking of the Citadel, you find out that that is the Catalyst. In a bit of a twist, TIM has informed the Reapers that everyone now knows what the Citadel is and what it can do. So logically, the Reapers come to the Citadel, and take it away, in orbit over the Earth. Where they can defend it heavily.


Hence the final battle. Below is an image of the combined fleets rallied near Earth.

So the final push arrives. The combined fleets of the galaxy descend to our little planet in an attempt to retake Earth and to set up the Crucible with the Citadel/Catalyst. You also find out that the Reapers have set up a direct link, again called the Conduit, to the Citadel from London. Therefore in order to get inside the Citadel to activate it with the Crucible, you need to go to Old Futuristic London Town and enter the Conduit.


So that's what you do. Using the Normandy's stealth drive you manage to get your boots on the ground in London where you fight your way through wave after wave of Reaper forces until you reach the Conduit - see the picture below. The Normandy meanwhile joins the massive fight in the space around the Earth. Below is the Conduit in London.

Well this is where things get a little hairy in the story department and has caused massive controversy, and resulted in Bioware declaring that an Extended Cut DLC will be available in a few months to expand the ending. It is all very much up for debate but this is my take on it - as well as many other people.


You and the ground forces start to charge at the Conduit, unfortunately the Reaper, Harbinger (from ME2) is standing guard over it, and destroying everything that comes close. Eventually destroying a thick path in front of you, which results in you being knocked out.


You wake up to hear over the radio that all ground forces were obliterated, and that nobody made it to the Conduit. Shit bags. Looks like it's up to Shepherd to limp there. After limping there and taking out a few enemies along the way with your pistol that has a seemingly never-ending supply of ammo, you hit the Conduit and are transported to a weird central chamber in the Citadel.


Again you're knocked out for a short while, but when you come to, you find that Anderson - your mentor through the trilogy and leader of the resistance on Earth - is there as well, as he is communicating with you through the radio.


You limp your way through the long corridor, which resembles various locations throughout the trilogy, and find yourself in a central chamber where Anderson is already at a console - but seemingly partly under the influence of the Reapers.


As you start talking to him, The Illusive Man appears, and whenever he talks near you, black shadows crawl in from the sides of the screen - seemingly showing the signs of indoctrination on you. Eventually both TIM and Anderson die in the resulting conversation, and you are contacted by Admiral Hackett that the Crucible is in place with the Citadel but nothing is happening. You need to do something on the Citadel.


You crawl towards the console that Anderson was at, when you collapse and the floor underneath you raises up to another area. Upon entering this area, you are greated by the ghostly apparition of the small child who you saw die on Earth, who has haunted your dreams. This StarChild informs you that he is the Catalyst, and that it lives on the Citadel. It informs you that he created the Reapers (synthetic beings created from harvested advanced organic races) in order to protect advanced organic races from their apparent eventual demise at the hands of their own synthetic servants (like the geth...who are helping you and now living in peace with their creators. Or EDI - the Normandy's own AI that inhabit's a saucy robot body...who wants nothing but to help and support the crew of the Normandy, who has said that she would die for them)...cue funny picture. Below is actually an accurate representation of what the purpose of the Reapers is.

However, then you're given the option to either Control the Reapers, which doesn't kill them, but gives you total control of them. Destroy them, which...will destroy them. Or depending on your playthrough - Synergy. This will bind your DNA with the Catalyst and result in all beings - synthetic and organic being merged the same DNA. The result, no matter what you do is this video:

Essentially whatever you do results in the same thing - except the colour of the explosion. There are many questions and many flaws in this ending, which is why Bioware are going to address it in the Extended Cut coming in the Summer.


IN SUMMARY


The story of Mass Effect is amazing. It's action packed, filled with hundreds of decisions which directs the way you look at the whole game. I've just played through the trilogy as a nice lovely guy, and as a complete bitch and it does make the game feel quite different. Except that at the end all the Mass Relays get destroyed which - as is confirmed in the Arrival DLC - destroys the entire system that the relay is in. So it kind of makes you feel like all of the decisions that you might have mentally fought yourself to make, had absolutely ass all effect. In spite of this, I will play through the games again and again in the hope for now that things are clarified in the summer. Even if it doesn't make a lot of difference - I'll still love them. This trilogy of games for me cannot be ruined by the last moments of Mass Effect 3.


Thank you for reading through this blog which has been a labour of love today!


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