Me St

threat to investigateJacobmirandabar
Jacob and Miranda's first meetingJacob arrives at the�Citadel
�and is greeted by his former CO, Major�Derek Izunami
, who wants him for a mission in the�Nemean Abyss
, as he is no longer restricted by Alliance military boundaries. He asks Jacob to meetMiranda Lawson
, an informant who may have information on the batarians' recent crime wave, in a bar called the Fringe on�Cartagena Station
.
When Jacob�arrives at the station
, the Fringe has been taken over by a band ofpirates
�led by�Clint "Black Eye" Darragh
. Jacob either convinces him to retire or takes him on in combat. Once Black Eye is taken away, Jacob is greeted by Miranda, who was watching the confrontation from the bar.
Miranda explains the batarian extremists' plan to attack the Citadel on the day of Jath'Amon's arrival and sabotage the peace talks by killing him. She gives him three sources on where to start the investigation: A�turian
�arms dealer named�Illo Nazario
�on the planetTortuga
�who has worked with the batarians for years, the planet�Bekke
where a batarian army is reportedly gathering, and a rumor that the batarians have kidnapped several scientists and are holding them on theAhn'Kedar Orbital Platform
.TortugaTortuga background
Another wretched hive of scum and villainyOn Tortuga, Jacob is met by a�salarian
friend of Miranda's,�Ish
, who has the access codes for Nazario's compound. Apparently, Nazario hasn't made any deals for weeks, which has drawn suspicion. As Jacob�makes his way through the compound
�full of turian guards, a unit of batarians attack. Their leader claims they came to talk to Nazario. Jacob either convinces them to turn back or fights them as well.
Jacob reaches Nazario after much gunfighting, finding the turian deathly ill. Nazario reveals that the batarians have tested a weaponized virus on him and bargains with Jacob for a vaccine: Jacob will have his information about the virus, as soon as Jacob gets him the cure.Ahn'Kedar
When Jacob�arrives
�at the Ahn'Kedar Orbital Platform, he immediately suspects the research carried out there is just a front. A batarian businessman challenges him, but before he can act, akrogan
�named�Nax
�appears and begins gunning down the batarians. Nax gives Jacob till the count of five to "justify his life." When he either reaches two or is convinced by Jacob, they realize they have a similar goal; Jacob is there to rescue the scientists, among whom isBatha
, an�asari
�and old friend of Nax and his reason for infiltrating the facility.320095701screen
Jacob ready for battleAfter defeating several waves of batarians, including their leader, Jacob discovers the scientist�Doctor Hendricks
, who seems more upset about Jacob interrupting their work than having been taken hostage. Hendricks claims the batarians have fallen prey to a terrible disease, which has wiped out entire populations. The disease, dubbed theBlood Plague
, is communicable only in high concentrations, incubates very quickly, and has a 100% fatality rate. He claims the batarians brought the scientists there to develop a cure.
Once Jacob convinces Hendricks to leave, he reveals that the prototype formula for the cure is held by Batha, who is in another facility. At that moment Nax bursts through the door with Batha in his arms, under heavy fire from the batarians. Jacob saves him and brings him onboard his ship.
Once onboard, Batha reveals the batarian claim of a virus was fake. The batarians only wanted to convince the scientists to make a cure for their blood plague weapon. The crew realizes they need to get the cure to the Citadel in anticipation of the attack. Though the cure is only a prototype, Batha nearly finishes it using supplies from the ship's med labs, but she requires a final ingredient: a large quantity of unrefined�element zero
.Bekke
When Jacob's crew arrives on the rainy mining colony of Bekke, the ship immediately comes under gunfire as Miranda picks up strange readings from the planet. Jacob�fights his way into the facility
, but begins feeling sick and dizzy due to the batarians' stash, a huge cache of improperly stored element zero. The closer Jacob gets to the eezo, the more strain it puts him under due to his biotic abilities, though it has the beneficial effect of strengthening his powers.
Once Jacob defeats the resident batarians, Miranda urges him to leave the facility at once so she can pick up the shipment of eezo. Batha then uses the haul to complete the cure.The Mastermind RevealedThe mastermind revealed MEG
Nazario reveals terrorist's planReturning to Nazario, Jacob finally interrogates him. Jacob discovers from him that the batarians' true target is the Citadel Council, not ambassador Jath'Amon as previously thought. Knowing Jacob holds his only hope of survival, Nazario also reveals that the leader of the batarian extremists is in fact Jath'Amon himself, who intends to infect the Council with the bioweapon during his peace talk. Jacob and Mirandahurry back to the Citadel
�to stop the meeting.Defending the Citadel
Jacob heads to the�Citadel Tower
, but all seems quiet. Jacob is stopped by a�C-Sec
officer, who is exposed as a batarian, revealing they have infiltrated C-Sec itself. Battling his way up to the tower, Jacob enters the Council Chamber in the middle of the ambassador's speech and the asari Councilor questions Jacob's intrusion. Jacob brings the evidence against Jath'Amon to light, and Jath'Amon's peaceful demeanor fades as Jacob lays out his plan. The asari Councilor apologizes, but says she won't risk the Council until she is sure of Jacob's claims.Jacob exposes his evidences
Jacob reveals the batarian plotThe furious ambassador reveals that the virus was concealed within his hover chair, and releases it into the Citadel Tower before flying away. Jacob warns everyone to escape, then takes on the ambassador's batarian troops and combat�drones
�before facing off with Jath'Amon himself.
Jacob finally defeats Jath'Amon after a protracted battle. The ambassador tells Jacob that they are not so different: both of them are willing to go to great ends to protect their people. Jath'Amon swears revenge on Jacob and the Council as he is led away by C-Sec.
After resuming his vacation on the Arcturian Jade, Jacob is surprised by a noise from behind while watching a news report on Jath'Amon's arrest. After grabbing his assault rifle, he realizes the intruder is Miranda, with a bottle of champagne and a smile.Mass Effect: IncursionCollectors meet the Blue Suns
Blue Suns mercenaries sell human slaves to the Collectors on Aria's territory
Mass Effect: Incursion
�occurs one week before the prologue events of Mass Effect 2.�Aria T'Loak
, de facto ruler of the asteroid space station and criminal haven�Omega
, investigates a disturbance on the station. She discovers a meeting underway between�Blue Suns
mercenaries and the�Collectors
; the Blue Suns are attempting to exchange a group of humans with the Collectors for payment. Aria interrupts the meeting and attacks with two of her bodyguards. All Collectors, humans, and Blue Suns are killed; Aria loses only one of her guards. Later, Aria's agents give her a datapad containing information about the Blue Suns' deal with the Collectors. The information consists of human population totals on various planets and space stations, including Omega, the�Citadel
, and�Earth
. Aria realizes that the Collectors were after more than just a few slaves, and humanity has made itself a dangerous enemy.Mass Effect 2 - PrologueNormandy SR1 Destroyed
The Normandy being disintegratedThe�Illusive Man
�and�Miranda Lawson
discuss�Commander Shepard
's actions in deciding the outcome of the�Battle of the Citadel
. Both of them agree that the Commander's efforts are being wasted on hunting�geth
�holdouts from the battle, and they are of one mind that Shepard is essential to�Cerberus
�if there is to be any hope in stopping the true enemy: the�Reapers
.
One month after the battle, the�SSV Normandy
�is on patrol to locate and destroy any remaining geth. At theTerminus Systems
, it comes under attack from�an unknown assailant
, its stealth systems ineffective against the massive vessel. The ship suffers extensive damage and numerous casualties, forcing the remaining crew to evacuate via escape pods.
Joker
, the helmsman, continues to pilot the ship despite the received damage to it. He is rescued by Shepard, who drags Joker out of his seat and into an escape pod. Before the Commander may board the escape pod, however, the Normandy is attacked once again and Shepard is sent flying amidst a series of explosions. Debris slices through Shepard's suit and air vents out. Shepard asphyxiates and dies; the Commander's body is seen entering the atmosphere of a�nearby planet
.Mass Effect: Foundation #5
The�Illusive Man
�holds a holo-meeting with agent�Rasa
�regarding the recent shakeups of galactic proportions. Nearly one month after the�geth attack on the Citadel
, the�Cerberus
�leader reveals to his underling that the event wasn't just the machinations of�a rogue Spectre
�as espoused by the�Citadel Council
, and that�Commander Shepard
�recently died. Rasa volunteers her assistance in investigating the latter matter, but the Illusive Man doesn't permit her to as he already had other agents on the case, assigning her instead to another task.Foundation 5 - jacob party hard
Miranda's recruitment spielMoments after the meeting�Kai Leng
catches up to her for idle conversation, mentioning that he has a mission of his own. Rasa inquires if he's the one assigned to look into Shepard's death, though the assassin denies it. While the two exchange barbs Rasa begins to wonder who those people assigned to Shepard were.
In one of the bars on the�Citadel
unaffected by the attack,�Jacob Taylor
is approached by�Miranda Lawson
, who is attempting to recruit the former for a job. Jacob is disillusioned with the Council and the�Alliance
�because of the organizations' coverups regarding the Citadel attack and the�Normandy
's disappearance, and on the other hand he's leery of Cerberus' shady reputation. Miranda convinces him to see for himself what the pro-human group is doing: the mission involves bringing back Commander Shepard.Foundation 5 - miranda buyout
Credits can buy anything only if the merch is still in stockSometime later in the�Terminus Systems
, Miranda debriefs Jacob on what she knows about Shepard's situation before going off-ship: the Normandy was destroyed by unknown perpetrators and Shepard wasn't among the escape pod survivors. The Alliance declared the Commander MIA and are giving up the search as teams scoured the debris but found no trace of the body. Cerberus found a lead on a colony populated by numerous�batarians
�and the duo are there to investigate.
The batarian slaver they're supposed to meet decides to tell them that Shepard's corpse isn't around anymore. Miranda counters with double the price of whoever's paying the slaver to keep the information secret, and the batarian points them to another location elsewhere. Jacob doesn't believe in the Commander's demise, and Miranda reveals that the Cerberus intel she knew mentioned a stasis pod keeping the body alive.Foundation 5 - gunfight pose
Cerberus newbie and Cerberus agent striking a battle poseJacob asks a street urchin for directions to their next destination, and the child reveals that the place is a slaving operation. The three humans are soon ambushed by a gang of batarians, and the adults manage to fend off some of the attackers before escaping. In the momentary calm the urchin, a girl with a scarred right eye, gives cloth disguises to Jacob and Miranda to mask their appearances, and Miranda declares she's not leaving the planet without Shepard's body.
Miranda and Jacob return to their ship to resupply and rethink their plans, but find it surrounded by the batarian slavers they approached for information earlier. Miranda sneaks up on a batarian with a scarred upper right eye, one of their early contacts on the planet, and orders the others to remove the explosives from the ship. The scarred batarian doesn't flinch under gunpoint, calling her bluff, and the ship explodes, sending everyone flying or incinerated. Jacob recovers from the blast and calls for Miranda, though the Cerberus agent is nowhere to be seen.Mass Effect: Foundation #6Foundation 6 - derperus destruction
A series of unfortunate eventsThe street urchin�Jacob
�helped earlier wanders the streets, eyeing leg meat being served on a stand. Its�batarian
proprietor refuses to give her a free one and confiscates her�credits
�when she tries to pay, accusing her of stealing the money. She tries to argue, but her attention is grabbed by something incoming. She jumps out of the way as a particularly large debris from�Miranda
'sCerberus
�ship smashes into the stall, killing the batarian. She picks up the leg meat and starts munching it when a batarian carrying an unconscious Miranda orders her to get her uncle, shoving her in the process and stomping on the meat.
The batarians dump Miranda in front ofTorthak
, a warlord currently in talks with Miranda's ruddy batarian contact. He takes the opportunity to stab his fellow batarian in the back, and the dead batarian's former underlings express indifference, just hoping Torthak won't be so eager to sell�"them"�out. Miranda assaults Torthak with a headbutt when the batarian crouches close enough to her, but is easily subdued afterward. One of Torthak's new minions, Taleed, arrives at the scene, and the batarian puts him to work.Foundation 6 - plucky sidekick of a sidekick
Streetsmart and street markMeanwhile, an injured Jacob wanders around loudly asking passersby for his partner's whereabouts. A gang of would-be hoodlums led by a�salarian
�takes note of his condition, but the street urchin interferes and threatens them with her uncle's reputation. She tells Jacob she knows where Miranda is but she's concerned about Jacob dying at her captor's hands. The urchin's mother calls her by name,�Lakshmi
, and demands to know who she's talking to. Seeing Jacob's injuries, Lakshmi's mother orders her to get a bed ready. Jacob expresses gratitude but the woman replies she wants something more than money in return.
Jacob hears out the woman's problem as he recuperates in their hovel. Lakshmi's uncle traded his own wife (the woman's sister) and kids to slavery in exchange for gang membership, and Lakshmi's mother wants them back. Jacob promises to do so, but needs supplies for the operation. In response, Lakshmi shows him the place where her uncle keeps his weapons.Foundation 6 - surprise attack
Jacob to the rescueNow dressed and armed, Jacob heads to the place where slaves are kept, with Lakshmi leading the way. Lakshmi peeks inside through the upper windows, but spots her uncle, Taleed, receiving orders to kill Miranda. Jacob advises the girl to head back while Miranda is being challenged by Taleed to draw the knife from the dead batarian backstabbed earlier.
Miranda instead covers her ears as a flashbang detonates in close proximity. Jacob storms the place and scores at least three headshots with his�Shuriken
. Taleed swings an arm at Jacob, misses, and gets kneecapped in the counterattack. Miranda pulls the knife and moves to kill Taleed, but Jacob prevents her from doing so. Instead, Jacob threatens Taleed with death by Miranda's hand if he doesn't divulge where the slaves are kept. Taleed complies and is pistol-whipped into unconsciousness as the partners move on to rescue the slaves.Foundation 6 - rescue op
From finding Shepard's corpse to rescuing a bunch of slavesAt the warehouse's exit they're stopped by the sight of Torthak holding Lakshmi hostage. Miranda insults his capacity to kill kids, and while Torthak's attention is on her Jacob puts a bullet through his chest. With Lakshmi's aunt, Kali, and her cousins safe, Lakshmi hugs Jacob afterward and gives Miranda a yellow rose in gratitude before running off.
Jacob and Miranda discuss their own mission's aftermath, with Miranda disapproving of Jacob's unnecessary risks but approving of his rescue nonetheless. As for finding�Commander Shepard
, Miranda simply confirms that the body is already long gone from the planet, having been sold to another bidder. Jacob softens his ambivalence on joining Cerberus, but with their transport gone Miranda gives him until their extraction to make up his mind.Mass Effect: RedemptionSearching OmegaLiara and Feron meet Cerberus
A unusual team is created to find ShepardMass Effect: Redemption
�begins one month after the attack on the�SSV Normandy
.�Liara T'Soni
�arrives at theOmega
�space station in search ofCommander Shepard
. At the�Afterlife Club
, Liara encounters a�drell
�namedFeron
, her contact with a lead on Shepard's whereabouts. Feron explains that Shepard is very likely dead, as Shepard's body, or what's left of it, is being stored in a stasis container. Liara insists on seeing Shepard's body for herself despite Feron's warnings.
On their way there, Liara and Feron are ambushed by�Blue Suns
�mercenaries, who overpower them. The leader of the Blue Suns squad, a�krogan
, tells Liara that the�Shadow Broker
�wants to know why she traveled all the way to Omega to find Shepard. As the krogan threatens Liara, a sniper blows his head off. More sniper shots take out the rest of the Blue Suns, allowing Liara and Feron to escape, but not for long: they are cornered by two�Cerberus
�operatives, led by�Miranda Lawson
. Miranda offers to help Liara find Shepard if she'll listen to a proposition from her boss, the�Illusive Man
.
Brought to another part of Omega, Liara is ushered into a room where the Illusive Man appears via hologram. The Illusive Man explains that Cerberus is also looking for Shepard, but an enigmatic race of slavers called the�Collectors
�are on the trail as well, and have hired the Shadow Broker to retrieve Shepard's corpse for their own unfathomable purposes. Initially suspicious of Cerberus' motives, Liara agrees to go along with the Illusive Man's plan, at least for Shepard's sake.
Meanwhile,�a Collector
�angrily confronts the Shadow Broker about the delay in delivering Shepard. The Shadow Broker counters that no one else has Shepard's body, so the Collector has no choice but to tolerate the delay. He reassures the Collector that he will succeed, because he always does.Recruited By CerberusLiara meets Aria
Liara meets the queen of OmegaLiara flashes back to the moment when the�SSV Normandy
�was destroyed by unknown attackers, musing that the few who survived the attack could only wonder why it happened. Her reverie is interrupted by Miranda, who tells her that the Blue Suns have possession of Shepard's body somewhere on Omega and plan to hand it over to agents of the Shadow Broker. Miranda gives Liara the location of a Cerberus rendezvous point where she can bring Shepard's body once she has it, and tells Liara to follow Feron before departing.
Liara then confronts Feron, having concluded that he works for the Shadow Broker and was responsible for leading her into the Blue Suns ambush earlier. Feron calms her down, saying that he had no idea about the ambush and had been hired by the Shadow Broker only to lead her away from Shepard. Feron tries to leave, but Liara angrily reminds him that she paid him. Finding Shepard is her chance for redemption, and could be Feron's chance too.
Feron brings Liara back to the Afterlife Club to ask�Aria T'Loak
�for a lead. Aria confirms that she knows where Shepard's body is, but is outraged when Liara tells her that the Collectors are involved. Before ending the meeting, Aria tells them to look in the mining processing plant in Omega's lower levels. There, Liara and Feron watch from a distance as the Blue Suns receive the Shadow Broker's representative. Feron's confidence dissolves when the representative turns out to be�Tazzik
, asalarian
�of imposing stature and the Broker's personal enforcer. As Tazzik pays off the Blue Suns, Feron attempts to use a nearby turret to disable Tazzik's ship. He misses and destroys a stack of crates, alerting Tazzik as Liara attacks the Blue Suns with biotics. Tazzik flees Omega, Shepard's body having been moved aboard his ship.Infiltrating AlingonFeron try to escape shadow broker
The Shadow Broker's sentriesLiara once again accuses Feron of purposely holding her back, but gives him one last chance when he says that they can still follow and catch Tazzik using Feron's own ship. Miranda tracks Tazzik from a Cerberus ship as he approaches the Omega 2 Relay. The Illusive Man tells her to stand down; Cerberus already knows where Tazzik is going, and they still need to learn why the Collectors want Shepard. On Feron's ship, Feron informs Liara that the Shadow Broker only has one base on the other side of the mass relay, in the�Faryar
�system on the planet�Alingon
. Upon arriving in-system, Feron's ship is attacked by the Shadow Broker's sentries. As Feron's ship isn't armed, he flies through a nearby mined-out asteroid to evade the sentries, which crash one by one.
On Alingon's surface, Feron and Liara make their way to the Shadow Broker's base. Because of Alingon's strong electromagnetic field, only the most sophisticated communications technology is functional; the Shadow Broker is the only one with such technology, which forces his agents to come personally to Alingon to confer with him and make any calls on his behalf only while offworld. Feron charms his way past the base'sturian
�guards, convincing them Liara is a prisoner. Upon spotting a Collector on its way to meet Tazzik's ship, Liara wants to find Shepard immediately. Feron persuades her to wait so they can find out why the Collectors want Shepard in the first place.
Feron takes Liara to the Shadow Broker's inner sanctum, where all of his agents receive their orders. There, the obscured figure of the Shadow Broker reacts with surprise to Feron's arrival, and surmises he was right in sending the Blue Suns to ambush him and Liara. While Feron searches the Broker's databases, Liara argues with the Broker, asking how he could trust the Collectors. The obscured figure is revealed to be a decoy that the Shadow Broker communicates through to his staff on Alingon. The Broker smugly explains that the exchange with the Collectors is underway. Feron then tells Liara he has the information they need. Liara smashes the decoy and destroys the room's equipment. As they head out to stop the exchange, Feron tells Liara who he is really working for.Recovering A HeroTazzik trades with Collectors
An important body sold by Tazzik to the CollectorsLiara single-handedly defeats a squad of the Shadow Broker's guards. Feron catches up with her, but Liara shrugs him off, angry that he lied and has been a triple agent all along: his employer is Cerberus. He explains that he started out working for the Shadow Broker running small errands. Cerberus had been trying to recruit him repeatedly to gain a foothold in the Broker's operation. Feron only gave in to Cerberus when he learned that the Broker was working with the�Collectors
, and that the Collectors were interested in Commander Shepard's corpse. The Broker had become suspicious however, and was cutting Feron out of work. To get back in, Feron volunteered to steer Liara away from finding Shepard so he could retrieve Shepard himself. Feron also let Tazzik escape Omega so he had an excuse to return to Alingon and grab as much information about the Shadow Broker's dealings as he could.
At the Alingon base's hangar, Liara and Feron watch as the Collector they saw earlier examines Shepard's body. Tazzik is ready to hand it over as soon as the Broker receives the promised payment. Feron boldly interrupts the scene, telling Tazzik that the Broker is unsatisfied with the current deal and wants all of the Collectors' payment now, before the body is exchanged. Tazzik believes him, and orders the body moved back into his ship's hold. Elsewhere, the Collector fumes to the Shadow Broker about this "betrayal". The Broker explains that Feron does not speak for him and is a traitor, but he can't communicate with Tazzik. Back in the hangar, the Collector alerts Tazzik, who pulls a gun on Feron. Liara hears Feron's signal and attacks the other guards and the Collector while Feron holds off Tazzik. Liara escapes on Tazzik's ship, but is forced to leave Feron behind.
Sometime later at a�Cerberus facility
, Miranda and Liara watch as Cerberus doctors work on Commander Shepard's body. Liara suggests that bringing Shepard back may not be the right thing to do. Miranda expresses doubts that Shepard can be revived because the body was in worse condition than expected and the stasis container was of little help, but says the Illusive Man is more optimistic and willing to devote a considerable amount of resources toward the project. Liara leaves, realizing she has another friend to help now, and another enemy.Mass Effect: Foundation #7Foundation 7 - trail of destruction
Corpses and ruins in Jack's wakeDr. Angersol frantically comms for backup when the doors to his office are demolished by sheer�biotic
�power.�Jack
steps inside and executes the doctor, a figure from her Subject Zero past. TheIllusive Man
�appears before her via hologram, attempting to reason with her, but Jack would hear none of it.
At a remote�Cerberus
�outpost elsewhere,Kai Leng
�hooks in�Rasa
�for a mission. A Cerberus training facility is under attack, and the Illusive Man dispatches them both to retrieve the perpetrator, Jack: dead or alive, through whatever means necessary.
Leng and Rasa arrive at the training facility a short time later, finding huge swathes of destruction in Subject Zero's wake. The presence of multiple people out to get the target makes Rasa think about Jack's possible origins and the threat she poses. Leng simply suggests they should find her before the others - the�Blue Suns
�mercenaries - do.Foundation 7 - bald guys
There's exactly three things these guys have in common.With the facility in lockdown, Jack makes her way to its main reactor. She comes across a bald man claiming to be a biotic trainee of the facility. The man doesn't know where the reactor is, but he takes her to his fellow students when she orders him to. The man claims to have had a better life under Cerberus tutelage, but Jack's own experiences with the organization tells her otherwise. On finding the other students she gives them a chance to learn the truth behind Cerberus by escaping with her, or stay and keep hoping that Cerberus is as benevolent as it seems to be.
A good number of the students follow Jack as they try to make it out of the facility. A trio of Blue Suns mercs block their way, so Jack orders the students to sneak across while she presents herself as a diversion.Foundation 7 - biotic swirl
Psychotic biotic rampageRasa and Leng arrive behind Jack when she's done bringing down the ceiling on the mercs. Brandishing his sword, Leng gives her one chance to surrender. Jack responds by unleashing a powerful biotic blast on the Cerberus operatives. She warns Rasa to stay down, but Leng is actually coming down on her from above. She senses it and biotically blasts the assassin again, this time hurling him higher up.
More Blue Suns arrive at the scene and open fire on Jack, forcing her to throw up a biotic shield. She sees the students she's with securely behind Blue Suns lines. Enraged at the turn of events she starts making everything in the vicinity fly. Unfortunately, a�krogan
�merc sneaks up from behind and docks her at the head, knocking her unconscious.
The merc picks her up and hauls her away, to the Cerberus agents' consternation. The Illusive Man can still have Subject Zero, but the krogan wants triple the usual pay for all the losses he has incurred. As Leng and the students recover from the turn of events he chalks up the post-mortem as a "colossal waste of time", but Rasa begs to differ: at the very least, the Illusive Man will now know what Jack is capable of.Mass Effect: Foundation #8Foundation 8 - resurrection
The Lazarus Project at workThe�Illusive Man
�receives word of�Kai Leng
�and�Rasa
's failure to retrieveSubject Zero
, refusing their apologies and admonishing them not to let it happen again. Leng throws a fit as soon as the transmission ends, freaking out on his perception of an ugly fate that awaits them when they land. She tries to point out the mission's technical success and the futility of whitewashing their deeds, but Leng then accuses her of gloating at the humiliation he received during the battle against the biotic. Message beeps interrupt their argument, and Leng complains on�Cerberus
's impatience.
Minutes later at the�Minuteman Station
,Miranda Lawson
�greets the newcomers with a new set of orders for each of them. Rasa is to retrieve her stuff from the shuttle and report to the labs, while Leng is instructed to get back up and allow agent Dawkins to take him to the Illusive Man. Both orders are to be done immediately, so as Rasa tries apologizing to Leng he threatens her instead of dire consequences should they ever pair up on a mission again.
Rasa learns about the�Lazarus Project
when she meets with Miranda at the labs. Much of the intel she gathered about�Shepard
�were invaluable to the project, and Miranda allows her to see the ongoing developments: Shepard's backup�clone
, Shepard's reconstruction, and screens of everything Cerberus has on Shepard. Despite progress on the clone, the Illusive Man still wants the real thing. Miranda wants to make sure Shepard is Shepard by knowing absolutely everything there is to know about the person. To those ends, Miranda reveals to Rasa her part in the project: she is to steal the Commander's classified files from the�Spectre
�offices at the�Citadel
.Foundation 8 - vasir interrogation
All in a day's workMiranda hands Rasa a disc containing highly-classified but outdated Cerberus secrets. The ploy is to give the disc to the Spectre�Tela Vasir
, who should grant her sanctuary at the Spectre offices where she could manually download Shepard's files. Rasa poses as a Cerberus defector at the Citadel a few days later, wearing lightened skin and a blonde wig, and approaches Vasir with a demand for her safety in exchange for the data. Vasir acquiesces and leaves her at a Spectre office, taking the disc for verification. Rasa sets to work upon the�asari
's departure, but it turns out the Spectre suspected treachery and returns with armed guards.
Vasir sees through Rasa's deceptions and forcibly undoes her disguise. Because the Spectre obtained the Cerberus agent's prints and DNA, one word from her will cripple Rasa's use as an infiltrator. She blackmails Rasa into doing her bidding, which is to return to the Illusive Man to deliver the Shepard files. Vasir tainted the data with a virus that should force the Cerberus leader to give in to her demands, and Rasa is given a choice between prison and betraying Cerberus.Foundation 8 - poison
Out of the left fieldHours later at a bar, Miranda resumes contact with Rasa, who dropped out for a while, and receives confirmation of a mission accomplished. Rasa reflects on her day's troubles when she's offered an anonymous drink. She drains it before realizing it has been spiked. Severing comms with Miranda, she stumbles out of the bar and into the�Presidium
, where aturian
�C-Sec
�cop mistakes her for a drunk. An anonymous person gets her out of the guard's clutches, claiming responsibility for her before setting her down in a deserted alley. This person is none other than the assassin�Thane Krios
, who crouches at her with bared knife.
Rasa groggily blurts out that she didn't want to die because she has never lived her life. Thane studies her for a moment and decides to believe her, explaining that it appears he was misinformed of her purpose. He apologizes for her condition and carries her off, praying to Kalahira to give her guidance. Rasa remembers some words people said in her immediate past, and their figures present themselves in her awareness: Leng,�Fist
, Vasir,�Ashley Williams
, the original�Brooks
,�Urdnot Wrex
,�Kaidan Alenko
, and Miranda.Foundation 8 - the drell
Thane in atonementA few days later, Rasa arrives at Minuteman Station on a gurney still weakened by the ordeal. She tries to warn Miranda about the virus, who retrieves the disc and urges her to focus on recovery. It takes a few more days for Miranda to extract the data and counteract Vasir's virus, but in the end Rasa completed her mission.
The Illusive Man is pleased with the developments. He supposes that Vasir and her cohorts will have been alerted to Cerberus's interest in Shepard, and reminds Miranda to ensure the Lazarus Project's success. The clone project is allowed to continue in a testing capacity as priority still lies in restoring the real Shepard. In passing he writes off Rasa's near-death experience as troubling, and he agrees with the assessment that the agent's field days are over. He assures Miranda he still has a purpose for Rasa, drawing up the dossiers for Shepard's prospective team.Mass Effect: Foundation #11Foundation 11 - the verrikan job
Zaeed presents a lucrative demolition jobWhile busying herself on the�Lazarus Project
,�Miranda Lawson
�is approached by�Rasa
, who is demanding to know why she's under indefinite medical observation. The poison Rasa received on her�last mission
�is yet unknown toCerberus
, so Miranda justifies the order for the agent's own protection. Rasa insists on a better explanation, but Miranda reveals she knows about the agent's attempts at accessing restricted Lazarus Project files. Miranda cautions her to focus on her job of screening the�Shepard
�team's files.
The Cerberus dossier on�Zaeed Massani
comes from operative surveillance recordings in�Afterlife Club
,�Omega
, during a drinking session between Zaeed and said operative. Zaeed begins with depicting his time as a�co-leader
�of theBlue Suns
�and how disagreements on handling the�batarians
�led to the loss of his eye and his expulsion from the group. Zaeed recovered to the point of being able to go a full day without thinking about revenge, but he grew prickly over claims of being washed up.Foundation 11 - owned ship crew
Four-man team against a shipload of turians: the turians loseZaeed pulls himself together and gets a job from the�Shadow Broker
: he is to crash the�turian
�frigate
�Verrikan
. The Broker doesn't care for specifics except that the vessel is to be conspicuously destroyed, and Zaeed accepts the offer in anticipation of a very large payoff.
The former Blue Sun leader puts together a crew from some of the worst scum in the galaxy:�Kendo Holin
, asalarian
�tech specialist;�Tristana
, an ex-Justicar
�and ex-girlfriend; and�Jace Reyn
, an ex-Blue Sun loyal to Zaeed.
The rest of Zaeed's four-man crew are very skeptical of destroying a frigate all by themselves, but Zaeed lays out the plan. The team infiltrates the frigate via the refueling depot at�Trebia
. Zaeed's inside man Polonis opens an airlock for them. They make a beeline for the bridge before security mobilizes, lock themselves in, then crash the frigate into the nearest rock.Foundation 11 - turian footbulletry
The turian garrison at Impera opts to shoot the Verrikan down instead of sending in troops up thereUnfortunately, the Verrikan's head of security,�Garkko
, catches Polonis in the act and has the treacherous turian subdued. Zaeed's team make it to the frigate, but instead of getting in they are sucked back out. Everyone's tether cables hold except for Kendo Holin's, upping the payout into a three-way split.
The team finds another way aboard. Zaeed entrusts Jace and Tristana to cause havoc while he heads to the bridge, later running into Garkko himself. He takes Garkko hostage when a massive blast annihilates the turian's accompanying soldiers. Jace and Tristana are holding out on their own, but Tristana abandons Jace after "getting bored" of the defensive action.
Meanwhile, the turian defense garrison on�Impera
�detects a distress call from the Verrikan. Its personnel make the judgment call to shoot the frigate down if it begins to threaten their airspace.Foundation 11 - lover
They had irreconcilable differencesZaeed makes it to the bridge door with a gun pointed at Garkko's head, using him to override the door's security protocols. The bridge is full of turians, all with guns pointed at Zaeed. Before any standoff can ensue, Garkko's head explodes in a shower of blue: Tristana shot the security chief's head off. She and Zaeed make short work of the bridge crew shortly afterward.
With the job all but complete, Zaeed begins the procedure to crash the ship. Tristana turns on him after doing so, revealing her to be under Vido's employ. Impera's gravity kicks in, throwing them off-balance and giving an opportunity for Zaeed to retaliate. The Impera defense garrison, receiving no contact from the bridge, begins firing on the Verrikan after intoning a plea of forgiveness from the�Valluvian Priests
. A brief scuffle between the ex-lovers ends with Zaeed victorious as he manages to kick Tristana off a hole that opened up on the hull. As the ship disintegrates around him, Zaeed locates an escape pod and ejects himself to safety.
Rasa deems Zaeed's account interesting as she looks over Shepard's tank. Miranda watches Rasa on a live cam feed and contacts somebody to report a problem with the agent.Mass Effect: Foundation #12Foundation 12 - alien birds
Thane's salarian targetThe�Illusive Man
�receives an urgent message from�Miranda Lawson
�about agent�Rasa
's descent into untrustworthiness. Miranda knows that Rasa is aware of being watched, but for the moment she is compiling the dossier for�Thane Krios
. The Illusive Man recommends cutting their losses if Rasa has become a liability, not minding the resources Cerberus spent on developing her.
The dossier on Thane is obtained through a mere interview. Thane readily recounts his life story in answer to questions regarding his mission integrity.
On a high-rise building with a sniping point to a park below, Thane readies his rifle against the target he was paid to kill: an old�salarian
�war criminal who went into hiding. Unaware of the incoming hit, the salarian goes about his business of feeding the park's birds. The headshot is ready but a stranger suddenly appears in front of Thane's scope: the�drell
�who would become his future wife�Irikah
. Irikah warns the salarian of the danger and gives him enough time to run while Thane recoils away from his gun.Foundation 12 - love can bloom
Thane and Irikah's first meetingThane is bewildered at his own emotions and the woman's actions. He resorts to tracking Irikah's activities as per his training, determined to know more about her. He gets his chance when two thugs break into Irikah's lab with the intent of torching it. Irikah's unarmed�LOKI Mech
assistant is useless against the intrusion, but Thane takes a moment to sneak in and dispatch the drell attacker before Irikah takes care of the turian one.
Irikah demands to know who Thane is, having determined he isn't one of the intruders. He confesses to be the sniper Irikah foiled earlier. She is about to call the lab's security when Thane pleads for redemption by her hand.
Over time, the two grow close together. Irikah eventually forgives Thane. Thane feels alive for the first time because of her, while Irikah receives his protection against further incursions. The relationship soon progresses to include dates, and Thane begins to consider a future with her.Foundation 12 - drell affection
For richer, for poorerFollowing Irikah's advice, Thane seeks out his hanar handler and requests to be released from his�Compact
. The hanar is reluctant, warning him that not all are destined for happiness, but Thane convinces his handler he is willing to risk it. He returns to Irikah with the news, and weds her soon afterward.
Thane grows listless and uncertain as the freedom he sought isn't what he thought it would be. Irikah gives him a coin that once belonged to her father, for him to rub to help bring about peace of mind.Kolyat
�is eventually born to the family, and Thane struggles to make ends meet by taking on menial jobs as he doesn't have any civilian qualifications. He knows little of being a father, immersing himself in work instead of acknowledging his son.Foundation 12 - pesky memories
Revenge is stronger than memoriesThane eventually returns to the life of killing, with Irikah's support. His jobs take him farther and farther away from his family despite his efforts to remain close. When Thane takes on a gang ofbatarian
�slavers, the retaliatory attack destroys his family.
The surviving slavers pay the�Shadow Broker
�for Thane's identity. Too scared to take on Thane directly, the slavers wait until he was away to make a move on Kolyat and Irikah. Kolyat manages to hide, but of Irikah only the massive bloodstains on her home tell her fate.
Thane suffers a breakdown upon returning to his home. He hunts the culprits down one by one, letting them suffer slow tortuous deaths in contrast to his clean and efficient methods. After extracting the name of the final perp, Stiv Kay, Thane readies to snipe at him from afar. Memories of Irikah blocking Thane's scope come unbidden, but Thane shakes it off and fires the gun anyway. Stiv initially survives, but Thane takes his time with him afterward.
On his return to his seaside home, Thane waxes introspective about his life. He tosses the coin Irikah gave him into the sea, vowing to walk the path he was given.Mass Effect: AscensionThe Ascension ProjectME Ascension

The various�Council
�races are left stunned at the attack on the�Citadel
?which is officially described as an attack by a rogue�Spectre
�leading an army ofgeth
, with no mention of�Sovereign
�or the�Reapers
. As the�Council
�is restructured, and the final pockets of geth resistance found and destroyed, the�Alliance Navy
�has now become a dominant military force in the galaxy and humanity's place in�Citadel space
�is undeniable.
Spurred on by these events, the�Illusive Man
, leader of a rogue group calledCerberus
, decides to push ahead with his plans for�Gillian Grayson
, a�biotic
prodigy undergoing training at theAscension Project
. Her father,�Paul Grayson
, is given a vial of medicine to administer to his daughter, supposedly to improve her biotic abilities and speed the development of 'humanity's saviour'.Kahlee Sanders
, now a supervisor on the Ascension Project, is becoming concerned about Gillian's development and her place with the other students. Though gifted, Gillian is also autistic which makes her training difficult.
Meanwhile, Paul Grayson's one-time partner and fellow Cerberus operative,Pel
, goes to�Omega
�in the�Terminus Systems
�to meet a contact, a�quarian
named�Golo
. Exiled from the�Migrant Fleet
�for trying to sell his fellow quarians to the�Collectors
, Golo is quite prepared to grant the Illusive Man's request for transmission and access codes to the Flotilla. Though he cannot provide the codes himself, he suggests a strategy: lure a scout ship from the Migrant Fleet and ambush the crew.
While Paul Grayson travels to the Grissom Academy he becomes anxious, stewing about the fate of his daughter if he allows the Illusive Man and Cerberus to continue testing experimental biotic-enhancing serums. He finds relief the way he has become accustomed to over the last few years:red sand
. He manages to convince himself after coming down from a hit of red sand that he has the composure of a mere addict rather than a complete junkie, though he never actually convinces anyone else of this.
Paul is met by Kahlee Sanders, her loverDr. Jiro Toshiwa
, and the Project's security chief, a former�BAaT
�attendee named�Hendel Mitra
. Hendel makes no secret of his dislike of both Toshiwa and Grayson to Kahlee; he is well aware of Grayson's drug addiction, and warns Kahlee that there is something about Toshiwa that he doesn't trust. During his visit to Gillian, Paul Grayson secretly passes on the vial of medicine to Toshiwa?another Cerberus colleague?but still has misgivings about giving it to Gillian.Two Traitors
The quarian�Feda'Gazu vas Idenna
arrives on Shelba, a cold, uninhabited planet near the Venoss system, in her ship�Cyniad
�(a scout vessel of theIdenna
) after being offered a trade for essential technology by the traitor Golo. Though prepared for treachery, she and her crew are not prepared for an ambush by Pel and his men, and once dead are stripped of their suits for disguises. Pel and his team then approach the Cyniad in the quarian rover, and capture the pilot,�Hilo'Jaa vas Idenna
. However, when Hilo screams abuse at Golo, the traitor hits Hilo in the face, cracking his faceplate and allowing contaminated air inside.
Back at the Ascension Project, Gillian Grayson is eating lunch when she is confronted by another student and fellow biotic,�Nick
. When Nick teases her and biotically knocks her milk over, Gillian retaliates with a full biotic storm, culminating in a high-level�singularity
until she is finally stunned by�Hendel Mitra
�and hospitalised. After spending the night with Jiro, Kahlee goes to see Hendel, who is despondent over his ?failure' in the cafeteria. During their talk, Kahlee suddenly realises that Jiro mentioned her relationship to�Jon Grissom
?something known only in classified Alliance documents?and discovers both Jiro and Gillian have disappeared from the hospital. Hendel catches up with them in the atrium, where Gillian?having just received a cerebrospinal dose of the Cerberus medicine from Jiro?is suffering a seizure. Jiro stuns Hendel, but is caught by Kahlee, while Hendel saves Gillian's life with CPR. With Jiro in custody and undergoing interrogation, the Illusive Man orders Paul Grayson to play the distraught parent and remove Gillian for more focused observation and testing in a Cerberus facility.
Meanwhile, Pel is approached by Golo, much to the human's disgust. Pel tells him that the interrogation of Hilo is not going well: thanks to Golo, the pilot has caught some sort of disease and is incoherent with fever. Golo apologizes, and explains that he has come to Pel with a tempting offer that doesn't involve Cerberus... an offer direct from the Collectors.
Paul Grayson arrives at the Ascension Project and, hearing that Jiro has confessed to working for Cerberus, demands Gillian be released to him for her own safety. Hendel gets angry, but Kahlee suggests a compromise: Grayson can remove Gillian and take her to safety from Cerberus in the Terminus Systems?if Kahlee and Hendel go along. Grayson reluctantly agrees.
Elsewhere, on Omega, a young quarian on his�Pilgrimage
�named�Lemm'Shal nar Tesleya
�finds Golo, and confronts him about the Cyniad attack. Golo claims he was only the middleman, and tells him about Hilo, still being held captive by Pel. Lemm decides to mount a rescue mission. Grayson, along with Kahlee, Hendel and his daughter, arrives at Omega to meet Pel, pretending Pel is just his contact there. But when they meet Pel, Grayson is double-crossed. Pel is no longer working for Cerberus: he is going to sell Hendel, Kahlee and Gillian to the Collectors. All four are imprisoned, only to be freed when Lemm storms the warehouse, believing he has found four quarian captives. To Kahlee's surprise, Lemm appears to recognise her, and orchestrates an escape. Grayson is left behind; he takes his revenge on Pel by shooting him. After a search Grayson finds Hilo in a cell, horrifically tortured and sick, but still alive and muttering both a frequency and a code phrase.
Travelling with Lemm and the others, Kahlee wonders where they could possibly escape an organisation as powerful as Cerberus. Lemm offers a suggestion?the Migrant Fleet.Quarantine
Lemm recognises Kahlee because the quarians have an interest in�Saren Arterius
�and his ability to control the geth. He believes that Kahlee could offer some useful insight into how Saren controlled them?and introducing Kahlee to the captain of the�Idenna
�will hopefully be a sufficient Pilgrimage gift. However, once they reach the Migrant Fleet, their shuttle is locked down for quarantine and Hendel, Kahlee and Gillian are asked to stay aboard, not knowing that Paul Grayson has reported to the Illusive Man and asked for help to retrieve his daughter from the Migrant Fleet, using the codes Hilo was muttering. The Illusive Man is eventually convinced to let him go as part of the extraction team, along with Golo.
Hendel passes the time in quarantine by giving Gillian specialised biotic tuition, until Kahlee is summoned to a meeting with members of the Conclave and Admiralty Board. They ask her about Saren, the�Reapers
�and the geth, but Kahlee cannot tell them anything useful. After the meeting, Kahlee, Hendel and Gillian are invited to a private meeting with�Ysin'Mal vas Idenna
, the Idenna's captain. He explains that the three have inadvertently stepped into a debate raging about the future of the Migrant Fleet. Within ninety years, the quarians will outgrow their ability to sustain themselves, and a solution is desperately needed. Some quarians, including Captain Mal, believe the future of the Fleet relies on ships leaving the Flotilla to search for new homeworlds, whereas the Conclave and the Admiralty Board want to focus on keeping the Migrant Fleet insular and strong.
Their conversation is interrupted when Golo and several Cerberus commandos storm the Idenna aboard the Cyniad. Kahlee and Hendel join the quarians in their battle, sending Gillian to safety, but the girl decides to return to the shuttle where she felt safe, killing several Cerberus commandos on the way with her biotic abilities. Paul Grayson sees his daughter aboard the shuttle as he prepares to steal it, and stuns her, in the hope he can get her to safety. With the battle going badly, Kahlee goes looking for Gillian, only to be ambushed by Golo. As the quarian kicks her, she appeals to Grayson to see the truth: his loyalties to Cerberus are misplaced, they are not turning Gillian into a saviour, but into a weapon. Grayson wavers, then finally turns on Golo and shoots him in the head. Grayson reveals that the Cyniad is wired with explosives, intended to rip a hole in the Idenna and cripple her. Hendel and Captain Mal race to the Cyniad and manage to disable them in time.Parting Ways
The quarians are then left to deal with the aftermath, and the stunning fact of an attack on the Migrant Fleet itself. Realising the time for conservatism is over, the quarians decide to follow the proposals of people like Mal, and send ships off to search for new homeworlds?or a way to drive out the geth using a Reaper. The Idenna is selected as one of the first to leave, with a hand-picked crew. Hendel and Gillian are selected to go along: Gillian has responded well to the quarian life aboard the Idenna, and after five years to grow up, she might be better equipped to deal with Cerberus.
Meanwhile, Kahlee has been given custody of Paul Grayson. She and Lemm?also selected to go on the Idenna's mission?will take Grayson to the Alliance colony of�Cuervo
�and hand him over to the authorities. However, knowing that Cerberus will get to him eventually, Grayson manages to overpower both Kahlee and Lemm, leaving them to wake up unharmed on the�volus
�world ofDaleon
. Kahlee asks Lemm to return her to the Ascension Project. There are still children who need her help.
Waiting for a report on the Idenna attack, the Illusive Man is surprised to get a call from Paul Grayson. He has a simple message: he is leaving Cerberus, Gillian is beyond their reach, and if anything happens to Kahlee Sanders, he will go to the Alliance with all he knows. The Illusive Man reluctantly agrees not to pursue either Kahlee or Gillian. He knows that losing Gillian will set their biotic research back a decade, but he cannot risk exposure:
Cerberus has many other projects to protect...Mass Effect: Paragon LostRaid on Fehl Prime
In 2183, the�human
�colony of�Fehl Prime
, a major producer of pharmaceuticals for the�Systems Alliance
, comes under attack by a group of�Blood Pack
mercenaries
�led by the�krogan
�Archuk
. In response, the Alliance dispatches several teams of Marines to aid the beleaguered colonists. During the landing attempt, each of the Alliance shuttles are shot down by the Blood Pack. Only one Marine unit,�Delta Squad
, survives the crash landing of their shuttle, but the Blood Pack execute several members before the rest can retreat to cover. Lieutenant�James Vega
stays behind to help Delta Squad's commanding officer, Captain�Toni
, whose leg was badly broken in the crash. Vega sets Toni's leg, causing him to scream and alert the Blood Pack to their presence. Under heavy fire, Vega and Toni scramble to meet up with the rest of the squad, consisting of�Kamille
,Nicky
,�Milque
,�Essex
, and�Mason
.
When Archuk challenges Delta Squad to show themselves and fight, Vega decides to duel Archuk, distracting the Blood Pack while Kamille and Essex flank them and ambush from behind. Nicky aids Vega by sending out a�Combat Drone
, while Milque provides covering fire with his sniper rifle. At first, Vega is outmatched by Archuk, unable to penetrate the krogan's heavy shields, but with the help of Nicky's Combat Drone, Archuk's shields are overloaded and Vega is able to chip away at his armor. Archuk charges and grabs Vega, but Milque kills the krogan before Archuk can strike the final blow. Meanwhile, Kamille and Essex take out the remaining Blood Pack. The sole survivor, Archuk's second-in-commandBrood
, is spared by Vega and taken prisoner. In the aftermath, AdmiralSteven Hackett
�orders Delta Squad to remain on Fehl Prime and protect it from future attacks.Collector Invasion
Two years later, Fehl Prime has recovered and the Alliance has bolstered the colony's defenses with a heavy anti-ship cannon and military-grade kinetic barriers. Delta Squad, now a familiar presence to the colonists, is working to finish installing the defenses when Captain Toni orders them to investigate a strange jamming signal originating from the colony's outskirts. The squad is accompanied by�asari
�anthropologistTreeya
�and the colonist�Messner
, who lends them his�M35 Mako
.
At the signal's location the squad discovers an unknown alien device is its cause; Essex destroys it with his�biotics
, much to Treeya's chagrin. Taking a fragment of the device, Treeya leads the group to the site of an ancientProthean
�communication system, which she uses to contact her mentor,�Liara T'Soni
. When asked what she thinks the device is, Liara reasons that it may be related to�Reaper
�tech before the communication system is suddenly jammed. Treeya voices her doubts to the squad, explaining that Liara once worked with�Commander Shepard
�and has since become obsessed with the myths about the Reapers. As the group begins to head back to the colony, the source of the new jamming is revealed: a�Collector
�ship flies overhead toward the colony.
The Collector ship deploys�Seeker Swarms
�to incapacitate Fehl Prime's colonists, including Captain Toni,Christine
, and her daughter�April
, who looks up to Vega as a hero. Only Delta Squad, Treeya, and Messner remain free, having arrived at the colony after the initial attack. Unable to prevent the colonists' capture, Vega decides Delta Squad has to disable the Collector ship so the colonists can be saved. They make their way to the colony's anti-ship cannon and begin charging it, but Treeya suggests that a low-power shot might be preferable in order to ensure that the colonists are not harmed. Vega agrees and the cannon is fired.
Unfortunately, the shot is too weak and is deflected by the Collector ship's shields. Alerted to Delta Squad's presence, the Collector ship retaliates with a powerful laser blast that destroys the anti-ship cannon, and releases dozens of Collector drones and more Seeker Swarms. As Delta Squad retreats to the secure underground labs beneath the colony, Kamille is snatched away by drones and Essex is paralyzed by Seekers while defending the labs' door.Uncovering Secrets
While the Collector ship demolishes much of the colony above ground, Delta Squad searches the labs' Alliance computer banks and learns that Messner is aCerberus
�agent who had been trying to get into the labs. Messner confirms this, revealing that he had been tasked with investigating the recent disappearances of human colonies, but points out that he and the members of Delta Squad now have the common goal of surviving the Collector attack.
Further investigation of the labs leads the group to a possible antidote for the Seeker Swarms' paralyzing agent, as well as the krogan�Brood
, who had been kept in a tank as a test subject in the labs because it was deemed too dangerous to transport him to theCitadel
�for trial. The antidote is tested on Essex, but has seemingly no effect.
Without warning, the door to the labs is then torn open by a�Praetorian
�with Kamille's body incorporated into it. Mason runs at the Praetorian to save Kamille, but is vaporized. Unable to shoot through the Praetorian's heavy shields and armor, Vega, Milque, Nicky, Treeya, and Messner flee deeper into the labs, buying some time by sealing security doors behind them. Brood offers to lead them to his ship, which has remained hidden on the colony after all this time, explaining that helping them would repay his debt to Vega for sparing his life.
As the group lifts off aboard Brood's ship, the Praetorian emerges and gives chase. A revived Essex appears at the last minute and Vega is able to kill the Praetorian with his help, but not before Nicky is fatally impaled by the Praetorian's claw. Vega decides to take the fight to the Collectors and offers the remaining members of the group a drink from his flask before the battle.
Brood then pilots the ship toward the Collector ship, blasts a hole in its side, and heads for the drive core. Armed with heavy weapons from Brood's personal armory, Vega, Essex, Milque, and Treeya defend Brood's ship from Collector drones. Before Brood can take out the drive core, however, Messner shoots him in the head. Without its pilot, Brood's ship crashes and the group is taken prisoner by the Collectors.
Now in orbit, the Collector ship fires its main proton cannon, incinerating the remains of the Fehl Prime colony and removing any evidence of the Collector attack. Deep within the ship, Messner explains to Treeya that he was the one who planted the alien device, which was a signal to attract the Collectors. Messner sought to give up the Fehl Prime colonists so that he could learn more about the Collectors and their technology for Cerberus's benefit, an end he believed justified the means. He takes Treeya with him to another part of the ship, leaving Vega, Essex, and Milque locked in pods.
Unbeknownst to Messner or the Collectors, the drink Vega had given everyone earlier had been spiked with the Seeker Swarm antidote, and the three are able to escape and take down their guards. Vega finds the dying Brood, who thanks Vega for allowing him to die a warrior's death and gives the Marine his last power cell. Vega gives the cell to Essex to charge his biotics, then plants canisters of the antidote in the Collector ship's pod transport tubes so that the colonists on board the ship will be exposed to it and be able to free themselves. Vega and Essex then go after Messner and Treeya, while Milque is left behind to pilot a freighter that the Collectors had taken aboard and which Delta Squad can use to escape the ship with the colonists.The Choice
Elsewhere, Messner shows Treeya a Prothean archive built into the Collector ship. He had been using colonists to try to interact with it, but the process killed them; since he knows Treeya could use the Prothean communication system they visited earlier, he forces her to access the archive. Treeya succeeds and is able to witness the Protheans' last stand against the Reapers at the Fehl Prime communication system, their subsequent transformation by the Reapers into Collectors, and the Collector's plan to harvest humans for their genetic material in order to build aHuman-Reaper
�at their�homeworld
.
Messner records this information on his bracelet, realizing it will be invaluable for Cerberus. The Collectors have other plans, however: informing Messner that he is no longer of any use to them and has potentially contaminated their harvest by bringing an asari with him, the Collectors prepare a pod for his "ascension". Messner tries to bargain with the Collectors, threatening to transmit the data he's gathered on them to the Alliance, but Treeya suddenly makes a break for it, grabbing Messner's bracelet before stumbling into the pod. Just as Vega and Essex arrive, the pod is ejected out into space to remove the "contaminant".
Vega and Essex fight the Collectors, killing them and damaging the Collector ship's controls. Essex is impaled by the claw of the ship's pilot and uses his biotics to fling them both into a chasm, where they fall to their deaths. Messner fires on Vega, but Vega disarms and stabs him. Vega demands Messner's intel on the Collectors, but he cries and begs for his life. Treeya contacts Vega and tells him that she has the intel and her pod is beginning to enter Fehl Prime's atmosphere; simultaneously, the unpiloted Collector ship has begun to fall from orbit as well.
As another group of Collectors moves in on Vega's position, Vega abandons Messner to his death while Milque arrives on the freighter to rescue Vega. Vega now faces a difficult choice: evacuate the colonists, who have been revived by the antidote and are also under attack by the Collectors, or go after Treeya and the vital intel she carries. Vega chooses the latter. As Treeya's pod is retrieved, the Collector ship crashes into Fehl Prime's surface and explodes, killing all of the colonists aboard, who had hoped until the last second that Vega would come back for them.A Hollow Victory
On the Citadel, Vega is commended byDavid Anderson
�and Admiral Hackett, who inform him that the intel he saved could help the Alliance counter the Collectors in the short term, provide new weapons and technologies in the long term, and provide an antidote for use against Collector swarms. They also inform him that he may one day get to meet his hero,�Commander Shepard
, who is seemingly alive after all, and give him new orders to report for�N7
�training.
Vega, Milque, and Treeya return to Fehl Prime as the Alliance sifts through the wreckage. After finding a ruined stuffed animal that belonged to the girl April, Vega becomes distraught and runs aimlessly through the remains of the colony, while Milque and Treeya follow, coming to rest at a monument erected in the memory of the lost colonists. Vega resolves to do what he can to honor their sacrifice and ensure that it was not made in vain.

Mass Effect: Homeworlds #3
Many years ago on�Palaven
, a youngGarrus Vakarian
�is learning how to shoot a sniper rifle with his father. When Garrus wishes to take a break, his father refuses until he hits the targets. Garrus misses again with his next volley and asks his father why he has to shoot if his aim will not improve. His father explains that if Garrus gives up now, when things are getting hard, then he won't make it anywhere in life. He is trying to teach Garrus how to shoot because as his father, it's his job to teach Garrus how to be an adult. Garrus takes aim once more and fires another volley.Archangel is holding a siege
A siege against ArchangelOn�Omega
�in 2185, a�batarian
�mercenary asks a�human
�ally how many casualties they've lost. The human merc asks if he wants to know the total or those lost in the last hour, and remarks that the mercs aren't holding a siege, they're being massacred. When the batarian wonders aloud why they can't kill one man, the human replies that it's because the man is Archangel, just as the batarian is killed with a headshot. As he overlooks the approach to his base, Garrus begins recording what he believes may be his final words so that the people of Omega will know the truth about him and not the lies the gangs will use in their propaganda.
Garrus explains that the battle he is now fighting was set in motion years earlier. On Palaven, years after the target practice with his father, Garrus arrives at a hospital to see his mother, who was injured in a hit-and-run. Garrus reveals that he missed the shuttle for his study abroad trip so that he could take care of his mother while his father was away on the�Citadel
. Since the scholarship was for that summer only, he lost it and won't be able to qualify again. His mother becomes worried, but Garrus insists that if he left on that trip, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. He realizes that he's an officer's son, and that's all he will ever be.
Several years later, Garrus is at a shooting range at�C-Sec
�Academy. Aturian
�officer informs him that Garrus' father cut a suspect named Kishpaugh loose. Garrus confronts his father, who admonishes him for making a weak case against the suspect. Garrus accuses his father of being out of touch with the level of criminal activity on the Citadel and is incredulous that he would have Garrus doing paperwork instead of shutting down supply channels for drug and gun smugglers. His father retorts that Garrus can't break the rules just because he doesn't like them; if Garrus can't fill out paperwork, then maybe he isn't cut out for the job. He tells Garrus to do things right, or not at all.
After the�Battle of the Citadel
, Garrus is disappointed when the public accepts the official line that the threat posed bySovereign
�and the geth has ended and goes back to living as if the tragedy never happened. Frustrated with C-Sec's red tape, Garrus quits and goes after the drug smuggler Kishpaugh on his own. The smuggler reveals that his source is Omega. Garrus heads there, where he thinks he can actually make a difference.
Upon arrival at the station, Garrus stops a�vorcha
�from mugging an elderly human couple, who thank him and call him a "real-life angel". At�Afterlife
, Garrus meets�Sidonis
�and the two agree to form a squad to combat Omega's criminals. Garrus assumes the moniker of "Archangel" and spreads the word of what he's doing by going after thugs personally.Archangel and his team
Archangel's teamBefore long, Garrus' squad expands to twelve members, including himself, Sidonis, a�salarian
�explosives expert, a batarian tech expert, and various former mercs, security consultants, and C-Sec agents. Together, they declare war on Omega's criminals but are careful to avoid civilian casualties. Even when the gangs unite against Garrus' squad, they are unable to stop them.
Eventually, the squad's success earns them a surplus of credits. Some members want to settle down and live comfortably, but Garrus pushes them to use their funds to hit parts of the station that were previously out of reach. Instead of listening to his squad, Garrus pushes them to their limits, hoping to completely purge Omega of crime.
At some point, Sidonis is captured by theBlue Suns
�and forced to trick Garrus into leaving the squad's hideout to strike an alleged�Blood Pack
�gun running operation in the Kenzo District. Garrus finds no trace of the operation, and returns to the hideout just as the gangs bomb it and gun down the rest of his squad. Garrus remembers his arguments with his father and decides that he was mistaken to ignore what his father tried so hard to teach him.
Resigned to his fate as the gangs move in to kill him, Garrus contacts his father and apologizes. His father, realizing Garrus' situation, tells him to forget about that and to finish up his "target practice" then head back to Palaven so they can sort everything out. Through his rifle's scope, Garrus spots a�familiar emblem
�on�one individual's
�armor, and tells his father that he'll return home when he can because "the odds just got a lot better."Mass Effect 2AwakeningProject lazarus - shep heart (alive)
Thanks to the Lazarus Project, Shepard regains vital signsCommander Shepard�awakens
�in the year 2185 aboard a�Cerberus
�space station, a research facility of theLazarus Project
, which is under attack by hacked security mechs. Shepard aids Cerberus agents�Miranda Lawson
�andJacob Taylor
�in escaping, and then is taken to�another space station
�and granted an audience with the�Illusive Man
. The Cerberus leader explains that Shepard was revived and "upgraded" in return for the Commander's aid in combating a new threat: human colonies have been attacked, their colonists deemed missing.
Shepard and the team are dispatched to investigate the recently attacked colony of�Freedom's Progress
, located in theTerminus Systems
. There, the group encounters�Tali'Zorah vas Neema
, one of Shepard's former squad members, and discovers that the mysterious insect-likeCollectors
�were behind the attack and are responsible for the further abductions of other human colonies.
Shepard reports this to the Illusive Man, who then places Shepard in command of the�Normandy SR-2
, a larger ship modeled after the original Normandy SR-1. Two faces from the previous ship,Joker
�and�Dr. Chakwas
, are revealed to have staffed the new one when Cerberus sought them out. An artificial intelligence,�EDI
, is also introduced as the Normandy's cyberwarfare suite and overt surveillance mechanism.
With the guidance of the Illusive Man, Shepard begins traveling across the galaxy to recruit a new team for what is assumed to be a suicide mission.Recruiting a Team
The Illusive Man initially provides Shepard with four dossiers regarding potential recruits: a salarian scientist, a mysterious vigilante called Archangel, a krogan warlord, and a powerful but psychotic biotic.
The salarian,�Mordin Solus
, is found onOmega
�and is�working to stop a plague
engineered by the Collectors but distributed throughout Omega by thevorcha
. The vigilante Archangel is also on Omega,�holding out on his own
�in a battle against three mercenary gangs.
After reaching Archangel's hideout, Shepard learns that Archangel is actually�Garrus Vakarian
, a former�C-Sec
�agent. Garrus is seriously injured while battling the mercenaries, and, although he is permanently disfigured, he survives and joins the team.
The krogan warlord,�Okeer
, is found onKorlus
�attempting to create�the perfect krogan
�through unethical genetic research. When the warlord is killed, he leaves his creation,�Grunt
, under the care of Shepard.
The biotic, known as "Subject Zero", is revealed to be a human woman namedJack
. Cerberus arranges for her to be purchased from the prison holding her; Shepard travels to the�Purgatory
�prison ship. Once there, however, Shepard is betrayed by�the warden
�as he attempts to capture Shepard for a bounty. Shepard manages to escape the trap and rescue Jack, who joins the team despite an initial distrust of Cerberus operatives.
After the recruitment of the four characters, the Illusive Man reveals that a human colony called�Horizon
�has come under Collector attack, and he dispatches the team in an attempt to save the colony. He also notes that one of Shepard's surviving crew members, either�Kaidan Alenko
�or�Ashley Williams
depending who survived the�incident on Virmire
, is stationed at the colony to oversee the construction of massive defense towers.
Shepard�arrives
�with a team and battles the Collectors face-to-face; the group appears to have arrived too late as half of the colonists have already been taken away. Shepard's team is able to activate the colony's defense cannons and turn them on the�Collector ship
, which then flees the planet under heavy fire. Shepard later reunites with the Virmire survivor, who leaves feeling betrayed by Shepard working for Cerberus.
After returning to the Normandy, it is revealed that the Illusive Man allowed the Collectors to attack Horizon by leaking a tip to the Alliance that Shepard is alive and working with Cerberus. The Collectors intercepted this message and attacked the colony. The Illusive Man suspected the Collectors were looking for Shepard or people connected to Shepard. It soon becomes clear that the Collectors are targeting Shepard.
Shepard is provided with dossiers on three more potential recruits: an asariJusticar
, a�drell
�assassin, and Tali. Shepard finds the Justicar,�Samara
, onIllium
. She joins the team after Shepardinvestigates
�the�Eclipse
�mercenary group and its involvement in a murder.
The drell assassin,�Thane Krios
, is also found on Illium and is in the midst of completing�an assassination contract
�onNassana Dantius
. After learning of Thane's next target, Shepard fights resistances along the way to the top floor of the tower complex where the target is located. Shepard encounters Thane, who successfully dispatches his target and joins the team, as Shepard can provide him with a purpose.
Tali is found on a�geth
-occupied�quarian
colony world,�Haestrom
, where she is researching the system's�rapidly dying sun
. After she is�rescued
�from an immense geth force, she agrees to join Shepard.Collector Ship
The Illusive Man informs Shepard that aturian
�patrol engaged a Collector ship and managed to disable it before being destroyed, creating an opportunity toinvestigate the ship
�before either the turians or the Collectors respond. The Illusive Man requests the team to find any data or technology that can help them on their mission.
Upon boarding the ship, Shepard discovers many empty Collector pods, as well as the bodies of dead human colonists, apparently subjected to various experiments by the Collectors. Shepard then learns that the Collectors had also been experimenting on their own, with EDI saying that they appeared to be researching their own genetic similarity to humans. EDI's genetic analysis of the deceased Collectors reveals that they are in fact the long extinct�Protheans
, having been subjected to extensive genetic modification to alter them for the Reapers' purposes.
As Shepard proceeds deeper into the ship, Joker discovers that it is in fact exactly the same Collector vessel responsible for the attack on Horizon and the destruction of the original Normandy, which Shepard remarks is far too uncanny to be coincidence. When Shepard's team reaches the center of the ship, they discover that it contains millions of empty pods, more than enough to hold every human in the Terminus Systems, thus indicating that their ultimate target must be�Earth
.
Shepard is able to link EDI with the Collector ship's systems in order to search for any useful information, but she is quickly interrupted as she discovers that the ship is not disabled; the Collectors have drawn the Normandy into a trap. EDI also reveals that the Illusive Man knew of the trap all along but still sent Shepard and the Normandy to the ship in order to gain information. Shepard and the squad fight their way out and escape from the ship on the Normandy before the Collector vessel can bring its weapons to bear.
After escaping, Shepard demands answers from the Illusive Man, who freely admits to the deception. He claims it was necessary in order for the Collectors to believe they have the upper hand: telling Shepard about it would have tipped the Collectors off.
After talking his way out of the argument, the Illusive Man reveals the data gathered by EDI has led to the discovery of the Collectors' means of traversing the�Omega-4 Relay
: an advanced Reaper�IFF
�system. EDI is able to calculate the location of the Collector homeworld from their ship's navigational data, and reveals it to be within the galactic core, an extremely dangerous area, which likely accounts for the fact that no ships ever return from the other side of the Omega-4 Relay.The KeyDerelict Reaper altar
The innards of a ReaperThe Illusive Man then reveals that Cerberus has located a�derelict Reaper
orbiting�a remote planet
, evidently destroyed millions of years beforehand, and sent a science team there to recover an IFF transponder. Contact has been lost with the expedition there, and the Cerberus head would like Shepard's team to�go there and find out what happened
.
During the course of the investigation, Shepard discovers that the Cerberus science team members had all been killed before their arrival. Video logs left by the science team make it evident that even though the Reaper is no longer sentient or functional, the�indoctrination
effect that emanates from all Reapers is still present.Derelict reaper - exposed core entrance
The entrance to a Reaper core, only meters away from Mnemosyne's atmosphereThe derelict ship automatically activates its shields, isolating Shepard's team from the Normandy and thus making their only means of escape to destroy the ship's power core, which is also powering the ship's latent mass effect fields and preventing it from plunging into the planet below. Battling their way through the Husks on board, Shepard and the team are assisted by a single geth platform, somehow able to talk and also apparently friendly.
Shepard and the team recover the IFF and fight to the core of the ship, where the mysterious geth assists them once again before being disabled. As the Reaper's core is destroyed, its shields disappear and Shepard's team are able to escape to the Normandy before crashing into the planet, along with the disabled geth. Following the mission, Shepard may choose to either turn the geth over to Cerberus for research or activate it. If activated, the geth will be named�Legion
�by EDI and joins the team against the Collectors.Normandy praetorian
Surprise Praetorian aboard the NormandyShortly after, Shepard departs with the recruited members on a shuttle towards their next mission as the Normandy prepares the IFF for testing in their absence. However, EDI discovers a hidden signal after activating the IFF, and realizes that the IFF is broadcasting the Normandy's position. This turns out to be another trap set by the Collectors, as their ship is able to surprise the Normandy with Shepard's entire team absent.
Collectors board and seize control of the ship, and Joker is forced to remove EDI's behavioral locks to enact countermeasures?a potentially dangerous move. After successfully regaining control of the ship, EDI manages to pilot the Normandy away from the Collectors and rid the ship of all enemies, but the entire crew barring Joker is taken by the Collectors. Upon returning to the ship, Shepard's hand is forced?the Commander can either continue completing secondary missions and sacrifice the captured crew, or to go through the Omega-4 relay immediately to rescue the Normandy crew members.Beyond the RelayOmega-4 relay cinematic lensflares
The Omega-4 relay moments before activationEventually, Shepard decides to travel through the Omega 4 Relay. Multiple factors come into play that decide the survival of Shepard, the kidnapped crew, and the gathered squad of specialists.
Upon exiting the far side of the relay, the Normandy appears in the midst of avast debris field
�containing the wreckage of thousands of ships, presumably all destroyed attempting to traverse the relay. The Collectors have stationed automated defenses in the debris field, each known as an�Oculus
, which the Normandy fights off.
Hull breaches enable one Oculus to maraud inside the Normandy's cargo bay, necessitating defensive action from Shepard and a squad. After defeating the Oculus and reaching the far side of the debris field, the Normandy discovers the�Collector Base
, a giant space station orbiting a black hole. The Collector Cruiser is dispatched from the station, and the Normandy engages and destroys it, but as it explodes the blast cripples the Normandy causing it to crash-land on the outer surface of the base. Depending on the upgrades applied to the ship, up to 3 crew members may be killed while fighting the Oculus and Collector Cruiser.
Shepard and the team enter the station and battle their way through the Collectors to the station's core, rescuing any surviving Normandy crew as they go. Depending on the selection of the proper person for the challenge at hand, the focus of the squad, and the time elapsed from crew abduction to raiding the base, none to many Normandy crew casualties may be had.Dead reaperbaby
The Reapers' parody of the human formUpon reaching the heart of the station, they discover that the Collectors have been constructing a new�human-like Reaper
, made from the genetic material of the abducted humans and fused with the advanced technology of the Reapers. EDI hypothesizes that the Reapers attempted and failed to create a Prothean-Reaper, and instead enslaved them and turned them into the Collectors, and that they are now facilitating the Reaper equivalent of reproduction. EDI also guesses that due to its human appearance, Reapers are crafted to resemble the race from whose genetic material they are created. Shepard targets the weak supports of the contraption, which is in the very early stages of its construction, and it is seen collapsing into the lower confines of the area. Shepard then sets about with the plan to destroy the station.
At this point, the Illusive Man contacts Shepard and suggests that instead, use a radiation pulse be employed to kill all of the Collectors on board, but keep the station intact to allow Cerberus to research its technology. The Illusive Man notes that any information obtained from the Collector Base would be very valuable in the coming war against the Reapers, in addition to strengthening humanity's position in the galaxy against other races.
Shepard may choose to either refuse the Illusive Man's advice and destroy the station or use a radiation pulse to kill all surviving Collectors thus allowing Cerberus to take control of the station. If Shepard chooses to destroy the station, and if Miranda is with the Commander, then the Illusive Man orders Miranda to stop Shepard from destroying the base. However, Miranda, seeing the Illusive Man as a power-hungry madman, chooses to follow Shepard over the Illusive Man by resigning from Cerberus, depending on her loyalty to Shepard.Dark space - harby awakening
A fraction of the newly-awakened Reaper fleetWhen Shepard makes the decision regarding the station's fate and begins the countdown, the Human-Reaper resurfaces from the depths of the station and attacks Shepard's team. After Shepard and the team destroy the Reaper, the surviving squad members escape to the Normandy and flee the station. Seconds before the station's destruction, Harbinger abandons the Collectors to their fate, berating them for their failure and declaring that the Reapers "will find another way."
Aboard the Normandy, Shepard converses with the Illusive Man a final time, who is either thankful or extremely angry with Shepard depending on the choice regarding the station. Shepard can either cut the Illusive Man off or promise him that they'll find another way to stop the Reapers with or without the Illusive Man's help or involvement.
Somewhere in�dark space
, the Reapers are shown awakening from their aeons-long slumber and setting a course toward the galaxy.Mass Effect 2 - Lair of the Shadow Broker
Note:�These events can occur before or after the raid on the�Collector Base
. If Shepard has no involvement here, Liara still defeats and takes over the Shadow Broker organization but with mercenary help rather than Shepard's.An Investigation
Following her�past adventure
�in recovering Commander Shepard's corpse and delivering it to Cerberus, Liara T'Soni has been actively gathering intelligence on the�Shadow Broker
�in an attempt to track him down and avenge her�former partner
's supposed death. Commander Shepard receives a message from Cerberus Information Processing. The message mentions that Cerberus has uncovered secret information that could give Liara a lead on the Shadow Broker's whereabouts, and suggests that the Commander should pass it along.
Shepard travels back to�Illium
�to deliver the intel to Liara. At first, Liara is seemingly delirious about the information for it appears to hint on the Shadow Broker's true location. In addition, the message contains information that Liara's former drell partner, Feron, is actually still alive and is probably being held hostage by the Shadow Broker. After a short conversation on the subject with the Commander, Liara leaves her office and tells Shepard to meet her at her apartment.Liara Apartment Forensics
Police search for clues, earning a gold starThe Commander arrives at the apartment finding it full of Illium police investigating the place. The�asari
Spectre
�with them,�Tela Vasir
, dismisses the cops as Shepard enters the apartment. In response to Shepard's question regarding the unexpected investigation, Vasir explains there has been an attempt on Liara's life. Vasir is unsure of Liara's current location and she is unsuccessful in finding any clues; she invites Shepard to further search the apartment for clues.
Eventually, Shepard finds what appears to be a backup disk, which is then played by Vasir and the Commander. The disk is found to contain a recorded conversation between Liara and asalarian
�contact by the name of�Sekat
, who explains that he has managed to pinpoint the Shadow Broker's location, and asks Liara to come to his office atBaria Frontiers
�in the�Dracon Trade Center
. Now that they have what they are looking for, Vasir and Commander Shepard travel to their next destination at Baria Frontiers.The Truth
Just as the team arrives at the Dracon Trade Center, the three floors of the building are taken out by a sudden explosion, presumably an attempt to prevent Liara from receiving the information sought from Sekat. Vasir suggests that the Commander and the squad proceed inside while she takes off to the roof in order to seal off the building from the top.
As Shepard and the squad enter the building, they find it to be a chaotic mess with dead bodies and wounded civilians all over the place. Tela maintains contact with Shepard to guide the Commander through. As Shepard proceeds to the upper floors into the Baria Frontiers Office, the Commander finds a clue that Liara has just signed in a few minutes ago, confirming that Liara is indeed in the building. Proceeding inside the office room for further exploration, Shepard and the team are blinded by a flash grenade, followed by a wave of enemies who immediately scatter around the area and open fire. Shepard quickly radios Vasir regarding the ambush, who informs the Commander that they are the Shadow Broker's private army. With no choice to fall back, Shepard and the team return fire, slowly but surely making their way through the small hallways of the destroyed office.Illium Tela Shoot Merc
Tela shooting the Shadow Broker agentEventually, Shepard and the squad reach their destination, where they see Sekat's dead body after he was shot by a Shadow Broker agent, who is then shot by Vasir herself. Vasir asks the Commander about Liara's body, and if Shepard located it. However, Liara emerges from the shadows, wielding her pistol at Vasir.
Liara explains to Shepard that Vasir tried to assassinate her, broke into her apartment, and is the one that signaled the Shadow Broker's agents. She also remarks that Vasir is the one who killed Sekat and took his data, which is currently in her possession, revealing that Vasir is, after all, an undercover Shadow Broker operative. Exposed, Vasir shatters the glass with her biotics and makes a run for it.
Shepard tries to tackle Vasir before she jumps out the now-broken window but fails to do so, causing the Commander to fall to the floor while Liara proceeds to chase Vasir, not bothering to look back at Shepard and the squad. Shepard is then attacked by more enemies emerging from the nearby�Eldfell-Ashland Energy
�office who attempt to slow down the Commander so that Vasir can get away. Shepard and the team continue to fight their way through the resistance while pursuing Vasir out of the building.
When they exit the building, the team finds Liara exchanging fire with Vasir at the parking lot. It doesn't take long before Vasir calls her�X3M
�and quickly jumps into it to fly away. Nonetheless, Liara finds a nearby vehicle, which she and Shepard use to chase Vasir through the skies of Illium.ME2 LOTSB - azure
Hotel AzureVasir's skycar crashes on the roof of the Azure Hotel. Bleeding badly and limping, she still gains a considerable distance as numerous reinforcements arrive in waves to engage the pursuing Shepard and Liara.
After the battle on the roof, Shepard and Liara continue running inside and emerge to the other side of the roof. They spot Vasir's footsteps and follow them until they reach Vasir and aim their pistols at her, hoping she surrenders. Even though she is badly injured, Vasir grabs a random hostage to use as leverage against Shepard and Liara. The situation is quickly dealt with and the hostage escapes, but Vasir, not about to give up just yet, starts attacking the squad with everything she has.
At the end of the battle, Vasir drops to the floor, allowing Liara to pick up the data disk. Vasir protests to Shepard's remarks she sold out the Council, insisting she is nothing like�Saren
. She firmly believes in sacrificing a few for the greater good, as she claims her work with the Shadow Broker helped her save lives and kept the�Citadel
�safe. She also brings up the Commander's involvement with Cerberus and tries to judge Shepard for it, before she takes her last breath.
Shepard then heads back to Liara, who is examining the disk, to have a conversation with her, which, among other things, involves the Shadow Broker's intention of wanting to kill Liara all along and at any cost. In any case, with the data in their possession, Shepard and Liara travel to the Shadow Broker's location for their primary objective.Assault on the Shadow Broker's BaseHagalaz Broker Lightning Rod
The perilous exterior of the Shadow Broker's baseThe data obtained reveals that the Shadow Broker settles on the planetHagalaz
, in the�Sowilo System
�of theHourglass Nebula
. Specifically, the Shadow Broker lives aboard a�massive ship
�that travels through the thick, erratic atmosphere of Hagalaz. Shepard, Liara, and a third squad member take the shuttle from orbit down to the planet.
Liara provides Shepard with valuable input on the planet's atmosphere, the ship, and the general plan of the mission. First, they have to find a hatch that leads to the inside of the ship, where Feron is held. The shuttle lands, and Shepard and the team begin finding their way for a hatch to get inside. The weather is dreadful, and the layout of the ship's exterior isn't exactly easy to navigate through, but they proceed anyway.
Shortly following their touchdown, the team is engaged by maintenance drones, which Liara presumes is because the drones think the team is debris from the storm. After that, troops from the Broker's army start coming and attacking the squad as they advance through. Shepard and the team continue advancing until they reach a door that allows them in. However, the door is locked, but Liara tries to hack it with a certain hacking device, which she says will take a while before the door is completely hacked open. Waiting for the door to open, the team has to defend the position from numerous waves of Shadow Broker forces. Eventually, the door is successfully hacked and they run inside.ME2 LOTSB - ship interior
The dim interior of the Shadow Broker's vesselAs the team makes their way inside, more troops are encountered. Liara remarks she has downloaded the ship's layout, saying that they're heading towards the prison block, where Feron is supposedly located. Continuing to the prison block and fighting their way through, the team reaches a locked door that leads directly to where Feron is. They bypass the door and enter to find Feron.
Liara attempts to release the drell, but instead, he is shocked. Feron explains that his current status makes him unable to be pulled out, otherwise his brain will fry. Shepard states that this "looked too easy" and asks Feron regarding the Shadow Broker, but unfortunately, Feron can't say much, either, since even that gets him shocked. At this point, Liara and Shepard decide that their only option is to confront the Shadow Broker himself and put an end to all this. They walk out the prison block, facing more enemies along the way. At last, they make it to the Shadow Broker's office.
Storming the Shadow Broker's office, where he calmly awaits them behind his desk, Shepard and the team find that the Shadow Broker is a species never encountered before. Not bothering to get up, the Broker coldly asks if Shepard and Liara are here for Feron, noting Shepard's actions are reckless even considering the Commander's history.Yahgbroker shieldup
The Shadow BrokerAfter a brief word exchange between Shepard and the Broker, Liara demands Feron, to which the Broker responds by reminding Liara that her own actions are what caused this to Feron. If theCollectors
�have not yet been defeated, the Broker states that their offer for Shepard still stands. On the other hand, if the Collectors have been defeated, the Broker announces his intention to use the�Normandy SR-2
's IFF to salvage remaining Collector technology.
The Broker notes the team's third squad member (commenting on the financial/political benefits their capture/death will bring him) while arrogantly disregarding Liara, telling her that he knows all her secrets. In response, Liara identifies the Broker as a�yahg
, likely taken from his homeworld as a trophy or pet, when he ended up killing the original Shadow Broker and taking his place some sixty years ago. This enrages the Broker, causing him to smash his desk and throws it at the three people standing in front of him. The third squad member is knocked out, leaving Liara and Shepard against the Broker.
The two rely on each other to fight the giant yahg, in what seems like an unwinnable battle at first. At some point during the fight, Liara suggests that Shepard distracts the Shadow Broker while she prepares for an attack. As soon as Shepard provides the distraction, Liara uses her biotics to pull down the liquid in the above tank straight onto the Broker, which causes the Broker's barrier to malfunction and explode, ultimately destroying him for good.A New Shadow BrokerShadow broker takeover
Liara as the Shadow BrokerA momentary comm glitch from the battle causes the Broker's agents to radio his office asking for immediate updates on the situation. At first, Liara seems overwhelmed and unsure what to do. Then, she moves toward the panel and responds to the agents using the Shadow Broker's voice modification to avoid exposing herself: the situation is under control, and it was merely a hardware problem that disrupted communications. Liara ends the message by ordering all agents to resume standard procedures and to report an update on all operations within one solar day.
Feron comes to the room and quickly pulls his pistol before he realizes everything has been dealt with. Liara explains that she is now the new Shadow Broker, believing that it is something she has to do. Feron leaves with the just-revived other squadmate to check on the power system, leaving Liara and Shepard by themselves.
Shepard can comfort a crying Liara with a hug, who is happy that her revenge is finally over after two years' worth of struggling. Liara thanks Shepard for what the Commander has helped her accomplish and assures that Shepard is welcome any time.
The Shadow Broker's resources become available to Shepard. Feron stays with Liara to help around while he recovers. Along with everything else the former Broker owned, Liara assumes ownership of the yahg's�Info Drone
, which refers to any organic within its range as "Shadow Broker".
In a subsequent conversation, Liara remarks that her role as the Shadow Broker will likely play key role in the upcoming war against the�Reapers
. She also provides Shepard with additional insight on the Shadow Broker's plans and what he knew. Shepard can ask her about Feron, who is now residing with Liara.
Later, Shepard may choose to invite Liara to the Normandy for a catch up. On the other hand, if Shepard refuses to have Liara onboard the Normandy, she sadly accepts the refusal.Mass Effect 2 - Arrival
Note:�These events can occur before or after the raid on the�Collector Base
. If Shepard has no involvement here, the mission is completed at great cost by theAlliance 103rd Marine Division
.A Favor
Admiral Hackett
�contacts�Commander Shepard
�to ask for help rescuing�Dr. Amanda Kenson
, an�Alliance
�deep-cover operative in�batarian
�space who has come across evidence that a�Reaper
�invasion is imminent. Hackett explains that Kenson was recently captured by batarians and charged with terrorism. Wanting to avoid a diplomatic incident with the Batarian Hegemony, Hackett requests Shepard go in solo and rescue the scientist as a favor. Shepard agrees to help and uses coordinates given by Hackett to travel to the batarian prison on the planetAratoht
�where Kenson is being held.Arrival Kenson Torture
Amanda Kenson in custodyLanding outside the prison, Shepard makes it past several security measures and prison guards. Shepard locates Kenson in the middle of an interrogation and frees her. Shepard and Kenson fight past more guards and escape the planet on a batarian�shuttle
.
On the way to Kenson's team's base, she reveals that she and her team had entered batarian space to investigate rumors of Reaper technology orbiting on the fringes of the�Bahak
�system. The team discovered a Reaper artifact they dubbed "Object Rho" hidden in the asteroids near the system's�mass relay
, and learned from it that the Reapers were rapidly approaching. The Reapers could use the system's mass relay, the "Alpha Relay
", to strike anywhere in the galaxy.
Kenson and her team started what they called "the Project" to prevent this from happening. Their plan was to hurl a large asteroid at the Alpha Relay and destroy it, delaying the Reapers' plans by months or even years as they are forced to find another relay. A consequence of this plan would be that the relay's supernova-like explosion would obliterate the Bahak system and kill the 300,000 inhabitants of Aratoht. Since the stakes are so high, Shepard insists on seeing Kenson's evidence first. Kenson agrees and informs her team at the Project Base that she and Shepard are en route.Object Rho
At the�Project Base
, Shepard notices a numeric readout above the hangar gateway. Kenson says that the readout is a countdown to the Reapers' arrival; in two days, the Reapers will be at the Alpha Relay. The countdown itself is based on pulses emitted by Object Rho. The pulses are reactions to the Reapers' proximity and the intervals between them have been decreasing steadily. In little over 48 hours, the pulses will become constant and the Reapers will have arrived.
As Kenson leads Shepard to Object Rho, she explains that "the Project" is ready to go. The team hasn't been debating if it could be carried out, but rather if it"should be". The Reapers will arrive regardless, but without the shortcut that the Alpha Relay provides, they would be forced to spend months or even years more traveling to another relay.
At the lab, Kenson presents Object Rho to Shepard. The Commander becomes wary after seeing that the Reaper artifact is sitting in the open. Kenson tells Shepard to wait for the artifact to show Shepard a vision which will prove that the invasion is real. Shepard is overcome with the vision, which shows dozens of Reapers speeding towards a mass relay. Suddenly, Kenson pulls a gun on Shepard and says she can't let the Commander stop the Reapers; Kenson and her team had been�indoctrinated
�by Object Rho. Shepard disarms Kenson, who escapes and locks Shepard in the chamber as it is swarmed with guards. Shepard fights as long as possible, but is eventually incapacitated.Countdown
Shepard awakens two days later in a medical lab in Project Base, to the surprise of the monitoring medic. Shepard disables two�guards
, but is locked in the room by the medic. At a nearby terminal, the Commander gains control of a�LOKI Mech
�outside, which Shepard uses to kill the scientist and break the mechanism that seals off the room. Shepard suits up and advances through the Project Base, intending to complete "the Project" before the Reapers arrive in less than two hours.Arrival Kenson Detonator
Kenson indoctrinatedThe Commander fights through Kenson's indoctrinated security guards to reach the control center and prepares to activate the Base's engines. After being warned by the Base's�VI
�that initiating the Project will kill all of the Bahak system's 304,942 colonists, Shepard confirms the order. The engines fire, and the asteroid accelerates toward the Alpha Relay. Dr. Kenson interrupts Shepard's attempt to access communications, threatening to overload the Base's fusion core to stop the Project.
Getting to the core, Shepard has to manually initiate cooling systems to stop Kenson's crazed plan. In the core chamber, Kenson laments not being able to hear the Reapers' whispers any more and witness their coming to the galaxy. When she raises a bomb detonator, Shepard�either
�shoots Kenson in the chest to stop her or tries to talk her down, but regardless of the outcome, Kenson still presses the button and dies in the explosion, which also incapacitates Shepard.Alpha Relay being destroyed
The Alpha Relay's destructionWhen Shepard recovers, the asteroid is now minutes away from colliding with the Alpha Relay. Commander Shepard races to the Project Base's shuttle landing pads to escape, but is too late; the last of the shuttles lifts off and speeds away, leaving behind other Project personnel. Shepard eliminates them and finds a communications uplink nearby.
While calling the Normandy,�Harbinger
appears via a hologram projector and tells Shepard that the fall of the galaxy's civilization is inevitable. Before disconnecting, Harbinger warns Shepard to "Prepare for the Arrival." The Normandy makes its approach and Shepard lands a running jump into the airlock. Seconds before the asteroid hits, the Normandy escapes the Bahak system through the relay. As anticipated, the relay is destroyed and the explosion obliterates the system.Consequences
Sometime later, Admiral Hackett boards the Normandy to debrief Commander Shepard in person. Hackett wants Shepard to explain why a simple rescue mission ended with the destruction of a batarian system. Shepard confirms that Dr. Kenson's proof of the Reaper invasion was real, and the invasion had been only days away. The Commander had no choice but to destroy the Alpha Relay, despite how this would doom the batarian colonists.
Hackett is satisfied by Shepard's story, saying he would give a medal to Shepard for this, but reveals that tensions between the Systems Alliance and the Batarian Hegemony were running high; the batarians might start a war over Shepard's actions. Before leaving, Hackett warns that at some point, Shepard will have to face trial over this incident on�Earth
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Storyline III

Table of Contents
  * Mass Effect Galaxy

  * Peace Talks

  * A terrorist threat to investigate

  * Tortuga

  * Ahn'Kedar

  * Bekke

  * The Mastermind Revealed

  * Defending the Citadel

  * Mass Effect: Incursion

  * Mass Effect 2 - Prologue

  * Mass Effect: Foundation #5

  * Mass Effect: Foundation #6

  * Mass Effect: Redemption

  * Searching Omega

  * Recruited By Cerberus

  * Infiltrating Alingon

  * Recovering A Hero

  * Mass Effect: Foundation #7

  * Mass Effect: Foundation #8

  * Mass Effect: Foundation #11

  * Mass Effect: Foundation #12

  * Mass Effect: Ascension

  * The Ascension Project

  * Two Traitors

  * Quarantine

  * Parting Ways

  * Mass Effect: Paragon Lost

  * Raid on Fehl Prime

  * Collector Invasion

  * Uncovering Secrets

  * The Choice

  * A Hollow Victory

  * Mass Effect: Homeworlds #3

  * Mass Effect 2

  * Awakening

  * Recruiting a Team

  * Collector Ship

  * The Key

  * Beyond the Relay

  * Mass Effect 2 - Lair of the Shadow Broker

  * An Investigation

  * The Truth

  * Assault on the Shadow Broker's Base

  * A New Shadow Broker

  * Mass Effect 2 - Arrival

  * A Favor

  * Object Rho

  * Countdown

  * Consequences

  * Categories
CategoriesCategories
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  * Background

  * Gameplay

  * Incursion

  * Mass Effect 2

  * Redemption

  * Ascension

  * Mass Effect Galaxy

  * Paragon Lost

  * Homeworlds (comic)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS