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[itisnotlogical]

Last we left off, Commander Dean Shepard had located the beacon on Eden Prime. The beacon exploded, but not before giving Shepard an apocalyptic vision. Is it a vision of the past, or things yet to come...?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

We come back to Commander Shepard waking up on the Normandy.





Ashley was by our bed, presumably the whole time we were out. If we were playing femshep, Kaidan Alenko would be here instead.

I think this game was meant to be more of a standalone story in case there wasn't a sequel, so they REALLY encourage you to have a romantic interest in order to round out the plot and Shepard's character a bit more.

Considering that there's a good chance you won't meet the other romance character until near the endgame, along with the fact that it's very easy to "lock in" a romance very early on, there's a lot less player choice and freedom to "choose your own Shepard" in this respect.

The romance options in 2 and 3 are better anyway. Even characters from this game that return in 3 become better.



Ashley: It's my fault. I must have triggered some kind of security field when I approached it. You had to push me out of the way.

Shepard: Where's the beacon now? What happened to it?

Ashley: The beacon exploded. A system overload, maybe. The blast knocked you cold. The Lieutenant and I carried you back here to the ship.



ME1 isn't a master class in animation, but what it does have counts. Ashley's shyly looking away in this shot, and it works very well to convey the intended emotion, quickly and without any words.

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

Shepard: I saw--I'm not sure what I saw. Death. Destruction. Nothing's really clear.

Chakwas: Hmmm. I better add this to my report. It may--Oh, Captain Anderson.



Chakwas: All the readings look normal. I'd say the Commander's going to be fine.

Anderson: Glad to hear it. Shepard, I need to speak with you--in private.

Ashley: Aye, aye, Captain. I'll be in the mess if you need me.

Chakwas and Ashley leave to give Shepard and the Captain some privacy.

Anderson: Sounds like that beacon hit you pretty hard, Commander. You sure you're okay?



Here we get some side choices for flavor.

Shepard: I don't like soldiers dying under my command.

Anderson: Jenkins wasn't your fault. You did a good job, Shepard.

Shepard: Chief Williams isn't part of the Normandy crew.

Anderson: I figured we could use a soldier like her. She's been reassigned to the Normandy.

Here we can choose to approve or disapprove.

Shepard: Williams is a good soldier. She deserves it.

Anderson: Lieutenant Alenko agrees with you. That's why I added her to our crew.



Considering you got there right as the attack was happening, I'm not sure what "intel" Shepard expected there to be.

Anderson: The geth haven't been outside the Veil in two centuries, Commander. Nobody could have predicted this.

Now that we've exhausted all the side dialogue, it's time to awkwardly steer the conversation along the main path.

Shepard: You said you needed to see me in private, Captain?



Here's more of Mass Effect using its limited animation to the fullest. Anderson seems to do this hands-behind-back pose whenever he's nervous or saying something he doesn't like.

(Choices: We've got nothing to hide, I did my job, To hell with them!)
Shepard: The geth would have wiped out the whole colony if I hadn't stopped them.

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



More SPACE RACISM in action. We'll start seeing more and more of that as the game progresses.

Shepard: Why?

Anderson: He thinks we're growing too fast, taking over the galaxy. A lot of aliens think that way. Most of them don't do anything about it. But Saren has allied himself with the geth. I don't know how, I don't know why. I only know it had something to do with that beacon. You were there just before the beacon self-destructed--did you see anything? Any clue that might tell us what Saren was after?

Shepard: Just before I lost consciousness, I had some kind of vision.

Anderson: A vision? A vision of what?

(Choices: A warning, War, Our death)
Shepard: I saw synthetics. Geth, maybe. Slaughtering people. Butchering them.

The version of the vision that we see at the end of Eden Prime includes shots of the Citadel and random alien buildings. We'll some more detailed looks at it as the game goes on.

Anderson: We need to report this to the Council, Shepard.

(Choices: What will we say?, There's nothing to report, Forget it)
Shepard: What are we going to tell them? I had a bad dream?

Even knowing what happens, I agree with Shepard here. "I had a dream after I got blown up" isn't the best thing to tell the heads of Space Government. Especially not if you're trying to convince them that one of their top agents has turned evil.



Anderson: But I know Saren. His reputation, his politics. He believes humans are a blight on the galaxy. This attack was an act of war! He has the secrets from the beacon. He has an army of geth at his command. And he won't stop until he's wiped humanity from the face of the galaxy!

Given how little we know about the situation, Anderson is getting very apocalyptic. This will make sense later, when we get a chance to ask him some questions about Saren.

(Choices: You're right, I'll stop him, Not if I can help it!)
Shepard: I'll find some way to take him down.

Anderson: It's not that easy. He's a Spectre. He can go anywhere, do almost anything. That's why we need the Council on our side.

By telling them you got blown up and had a vision.

(Choices: Understood sir!, We expose him, They can't help us!)
Shepard: We prove Saren's gone rogue and the Council will revoke his Spectre status.

Anderson: I'll contact the ambassador and see if he can get us an audience with the Council. He'll want to see us as soon as we reach the Citadel. We should be getting close. Head up to the bridge and tell Joker to bring us in to dock.

And with that, we're back in control and have the run of the Normandy, though most of the crew won't have anything to say to us yet.

Outside the medbay we find Ashley.



Ashley wasn't even there when Jenkins died. Maybe it's a coincidence, but Ashley's lines in particular seem to have a lot of little continuity errors. It probably has something to do with the fact that, once again, Kaidan would be here instead if we were femshep. It'd make sense for Kaidan to be talking about Jenkins, but not Ashley.

Also, this point was the beginning of a new recording session, so I fixed the recording solution. Screenshots and videos will be larger and (hopefully) better looking, woo!

(Choices: He'll be missed, Soldiers die)
Shepard: Jenkins was a valuable part of the crew.

Ashley: Part of me feels guilty over what happened. If Jenkins was still alive, I might not be here.

You literally couldn't be here if Jenkins hadn't died, because the squad limit is two followers plus Shepard. Game mechanics!

(Choices: You earned it, Soldiers die)
Shepard: You're a good soldier, Williams. You belong on the Normandy.

Ashley: Thanks, Commander. I appreciate that.

Shepard: Things were pretty rough down there. Are you okay?



Ashley: And you NEVER get used to seeing dead civilians. But things would have been a lot worse if you hadn't shown up.

(Choices: You helped, The mission failed)
Shepard: We couldn't have done it without you, Williams.

Ashley: Thanks, Commander. I have to admit, I was a little worried about being assigned to the Normandy. It's nice when someone makes you feel welcome.

See, this is what made me really invested in Mass Effect at the beginning. This is what convinced me to finish the game.

Often, your crew will be upset, or disturbed, or worried, and you get to go around comforting them, talking to them, learning about their worries and cares, and in general knowing them as people rather than video game characters. Hell, Mass Effect 2 even made it part of the mechanics in a major way with the loyalty missions.

In KOTOR 1 and 2, I always loved "making the rounds" on the Ebon Hawk after every plot event, sidequest and level-up just to see what your party had to say about it. Mass Effect scratches that itch for me, especially once we're finally done with the introductions and prologues and truly get into "the real game".

Shepard: I need to go speak with Joker.

Chakwas is also around and up for chatting.



Shepard: How did you end up serving on an Alliance ship?

Chakwas: I enlisted right out of med school. Earth always seemed boring to me... too safe, too secure. I figured the colonies were teeming with exotic adventure.



Chakwas: But humanity needs the Alliance if we want to keep expanding through the Traverse, and the Alliance always needs good doctors. So I stayed on to do my part.

Chakwas is like a cool grandmother. If Shepard is a father to his men, Chakwas is a mother to Shepard.

Shepard: Ever think you made the wrong choice?

Chakwas: Sometimes I think about opening a private practice back on Earth, or maybe taking a position at one of the new med centers out in the colonies. But there's something special about working on soldiers. If I left the Alliance now, I'd feel like I was abandoning them.

Next up is to ask about the Captain.

Shepard: What do you know about Captain Anderson?

Chakwas: I've served with him for a few tours now. He knows when to let things slide and when to crack the whip. The crew knows he's seen pretty much everything they'll ever run into. And he cares about the people under his command.

That was short. Next is Kaidan:



Chakwas: I'd never worked with him before this mission, but he has an impressive service record. Over a dozen special commendations. Tends to keep to himself, though. Maybe because of the headaches. It's not easy being an L2.

Shepard: What does that have to do with it?

Chakwas: Well, most biotics now use the L3 implants. Lt. Alenko was wired with the old L2 configuration. Sometimes there are complications.

Kaidan, as mentioned a while back, is a biotic. Humans with biotic abilities need implants to make them work.

Shepard: What kind of complications?

Chakwas: Severe mental disabilities, insanity, crippling physical pain. There's a long list of horrific side effects. Kaidan's lucky. He just gets migraines.

Kaidan's backstory mostly has to do with his history as a human biotic. However, he doesn't have an actual conversation tree at this point:



No points for guessing why.

That's about all there is to see on the Normandy at this point in time, so it's time to have Joker bring us into the Citadel:



Flying into the Citadel

We fade in to Udina angrily confronting the Council.





The guy on the left is a turian. In the middle is an asari, and the guy on the right is the salarian.

Asari: Humanity was well aware of the risks when you went into the Traverse.



Turian: You don't get to make demands of the Council, Ambassador.

Asari: Citadel Security is investigating your charges against Saren. We will discuss the C-Sec findings at the hearing. Not before.

Citadel Security is, as the name implies, the security force for Citadel Station. They have no jurisdiction anywhere else. The Council doesn't really care about investigating Saren and they're making that abundantly clear.

The Council disconnects, leaving Udina to take it out on Captain Anderson.



Anderson: Just the ground team from Eden Prime. In case you had any questions.

Udina: I have the mission reports. I assume they're accurate?

Anderson: They are. Sounds like you convinced the Council to give us an audience.

Udina: They were not happy about it. Saren's their top agent. They don't like him being accused of treason.

(Choices: He's dangerous, It's the truth, They're blind)
Shepard: Saren's a threat to every human colony out there. If they won't stop him, I will!



Udina: The mission on Eden Prime was a chance to prove you could get the job done. Instead, Nihlus ended up dead and the beacon was destroyed!

Anderson: That's Saren's fault, not his!

Udina: Then we better hope the C-Sec investigation turns up evidence to support our accusations. Otherwise the Council might use this as an excuse to keep you out of the Spectres.

Remember that plot thread? It's being used to yank us around now. As far as soldier-fucked-by-politics stories go, this is really well executed.

Udina: Come with me, Captain. I want to go over a few things before the hearing. Shepard--you and the others can meet us at the Citadel Tower. Top level. I'll make sure you have clearance to get in.



For the sake of finishing this update in a timely manner and keeping things easy to follow, I won't be covering any optional NPCs or sidequests on the Citadel; this is pure main-story stuff. A broader look at the Citadel will happen in the future, once we're done with the main quests.

At the Citadel Tower, we find a turian C-Sec officer arguing with his superior:





Pallin exits stage left and Garrus notices us standing there.

Garrus: Commander Shepard? Garrus Vakarian. I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren.

(Choices: You don't like Saren, What did you find?, You blew it)
Shepard: Come across anything I should know about?

Garrus: Saren's a Spectre. Most of his activities are classified. I couldn't find anything solid. But I know he's up to something. Like you humans say, I feel it in my gut.

Kaidan: I think the Council's ready for us, Commander.

This might just be a clumsy ending to the conversation, but I think Kaidan's cutting in because he doesn't like the idea of Garrus bending the rules to talk to us. After all, this is one of the last moments that Bioware would know for absolute sure that Kaidan would be in the party; we don't have anybody to take with us other than him and Ashley, after all.

Garrus: Good luck, Shepard. Maybe they'll listen to you.

Up ahead, we meet Anderson below the platform where the meeting happens.





I was wrong when I said we wouldn't be seeing Saren again for a while; he's attending the meeting via giant orange hologram. Everybody keeps glancing up and to the left at it thoughout this sequence, which is a really cool touch to the animation.

Turian: The investigation by Citadel Security turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason.

We were out for fifteen hours, starting at the end of the Eden Prime mission. Assuming that it only took us a few minutes to dock at the Citadel and get to this point, Garrus had less than a day to do an investigation into Saren's top-secret activities. The Council just screwed us, and this will not be the last time.

Salarian: We've read the Eden Prime reports, Ambassador. The testimony of one traumatized dockworker is hardly compelling proof.



Anderson: That just let you catch him off-guard!

Saren: Captain Anderson. You always seem to be involved when humanity makes false charges at me.

Oooh, Saren and Anderson have some previous history? Interesting. Might explain why Anderson was so quick to jump on Saren going rogue when we woke up.





Saren: With Nihlus gone, his files passed on to me. I read the Eden Prime report. I was unimpressed. But what can you expect from a human?

(Choices: Insults? Typical., See? He hates us!, You'll pay!)
Shepard: Saren despises humanity. That's why he attacked Eden Prime!

The race (species?) card is getting played pretty heavily by both sides throughout this entire section. I wasn't lying when I said it's a major theme of this game, and by the time the trilogy's over we'll have had a party member from most of the major races in the galaxy.

Saren: Your species needs to learn its place, Shepard. You're not ready to join the Council. You're not even ready to join the Spectres!









Salarian: What we need is evidence. So far we have seen nothing.

If you don't convince us in the next five seconds, we're done.

Anderson: There is still one outstanding issue: Commander Shepard's vision. It may have been triggered by the beacon.

Ya blew it.

Saren: Are we allowing dreams into evidence now? How can I defend my innocence against this kind of testimony?

Turian: I agree. Our judgment must be based on facts and evidence, not wild imaginings and reckless speculation.

(Salarian: Do you have anything else to add, Commander Shepard?

Shepard: You've made your decision. I won't waste my breath.



Saren: I'm glad to see justice was served.

Asari: This meeting is adjourned.

The scene fades out and our heroes regroup away from the meeting platform.



Anderson: I know Saren. He's working with the geth for one reason: to exterminate the entire human race. Every colony we have is at risk. Every world we control is in danger. Even Earth isn't safe.

Shepard: Tell me about this history between you and Saren.

Shepard does have a right to know, seeing as how Saren was able to easily sway the Council to his side.

Anderson: I worked with him on a mission a long time ago. Things went bad. Real bad. We shouldn't talk about this here, but I know what he's like. And he has to be stopped.

Shepard: What's our next step?

Udina: As a Spectre, he's virtually untouchable. We need to find some way to expose him.

Kaidan: What about Garrus, that C-Sec investigator? We saw him arguing with the executor.

Ashley: That's right! He was asking for more time to finish his report. Seems like he was close to finding something on Saren.

Shepard: Any idea where we could find him?

Udina: I have a contact in C-Sec who can help us track Garrus down. His name is Harkin.

Anderson: Forget it. They suspended Harkin last month. Drinking on the job. I won't waste my time with that loser.



I have to admit guys, at this point I dropped the ball. This is alluding to a quest that I closed off due to the way I did the next sequence of events, so we won't be seeing it. It annoys me because it's technically part of the main quest, but we end up getting Garrus either way so it's not so bad.

Shepard: You can't just cut the Captain out of this investigation.

Anderson: The ambassador's right. I need to step aside.

Udina: I need to take care of some business. Captain, meet me in my office later.

( ?° ?? ?°)

Anderson: Harkin's probably getting drunk at Chora's Den. It's a dingy little club in the lower section of the wards.

But the future refused to change. Seriously it bums me out that I missed that quest.

Shepard: Maybe there's another way to find evidence against Saren.

Anderson: You should talk to Barla Von. Over in the financial district. Rumor has it he's an agent for the Shadow Broker.

Ashley: The Shadow Broker?

Anderson: An information dealer. Buys and sells secrets to the highest bidder. I've heard Barla Von's one of his top representatives.



Shepard: You and Saren have a history. What happened?

Anderson: About twenty years ago, I was part of a mission in the Skyllian Verge. I was working with Saren to find and remove a known terrorist threat. Saren eliminated his target. But a lot of people died along the way. Innocent people. And the official records just covered it all up.

With the Council's history of covering Saren's ass, it's kind of a mircle we even got a meeting at all.

Anderson: But I saw how he operates. No conscience. No hesitation. He'd kill a thousand innocent civilians to end a war without a second thought.

Here you can choose "He's a monster" or "So would I" in response. If I weren't trying to go full Paragon for this run, I would pick "So would I".

This is a series where the death tolls reach the billions. It's a needs-of-the-many situation. It might not be the most tactful to agree with Saren's policies though, given that we're talking to somebody that obviously hates Saren on a personal level.

We still haven't heard the full story on that matter, though.

Shepard: Killing innocents doesn't end wars. It causes them.

I hate that Shepard phrases it like such a self-righteous hippie, too.



Anderson: But only if there's no other way. Saren doesn't even look for another option. He's twisted, broken. He likes the violence, the killing. And he knows how to cover his tracks.

There's a massive Investigate dialogue at this point. Seriously, there's paragraphs upon paragraphs here. Some of it is stuff we've already heard, some of it's stuff we'll hear again later, very little of it will be relevant once we leave the Citadel. I actually have stuff to say about some of it, so rather than putting it in video I'll split the difference and put each section in spoilers, outside the main update because I don't think it's possible to have nested spoilers.

Spoiler: Harkin, Udina and the Council (click to show/hide)

Shepard: Our ambassador doesn't seem to get along with the Council.

Anderson: He's just frustrated. The Council's always preaching that we need to be part of the galactic community, but for them it's a one-way street. They want us to expand and settle unstable regions like the Skyllian Verge and the Attican Traverse. But when we run into trouble, they don't want to help us out.

You're supposed to not like the Council, and they did a great job portraying them as a bag of dicks in almost all respects. They're as much of a villain as Saren at this point. Shepard's character is relatively bare-bones due to the fact that you pick his backstory and behavior, but a recurring theme is Shepard being right and getting things done while the Council sits on their asses.

Anderson: Everyone knows it's a matter of time until we get a seat on the Council. The ambassador just thinks it should happen sooner rather than later, and I agree.

The "big three" in galactic politics are the turians, asari and salarians. Other races have embassies on the Citadel (which we'll visit in the next update), but they're obviously less favored in the big scheme of things.

Shepard: Who cares if we get a seat on the Council? What's the big deal?



Anderson: Once we get a seat on the Council, we'll be able to influence those rulings, protect our interests. No more jumping through hoops whenever we want something. Take this mess now. If humanity had a seat on the Council, we'd just send the Citadel fleet out to take care of Saren and his geth. Problem solved.

Anderson is massively oversimplifying here, in a lot of ways. Partly because he doesn't know the real situation with Saren and the geth, and partly because the Council likes to backstab eachother as much as they like to backstab humanity. But that's a matter for another game in the series.

Shepard: You don't think much of Harkin.

Anderson: The guy joined C-Sec about twenty years ago. He's been an embarassment to our species ever since. Roughing up suspects in custody, bribery accusations, alcohol and drug use. The embassy used to step in when he got in trouble, but I guess enough was enough.

Shepard: The guy's a scumbag. He should have been cut loose a long time ago.

Anderson: He was one of the first human C-Sec officers Guess it would have looked bad if he got fired.

There's a recurring theme here. Harkin was important because he was the first C-Sec officer; Shepard's only important because he will potentially be the first human Spectre. Human politicians have been taking every bit of intergalactic prestige they can get, and not always keeping it honestly, as we see by Harkin's story.

Anderson: A lot of backroom deals were worked out over the years to keep him on the force. Politics is a dirty business sometimes. But it looks like his time's run out. We've got enough humans in C-Sec now to stop protecting him.

Spoiler: Spectres (click to show/hide)

Shepard: I want to know more about the Spectres.

Anderson: They're not your typical government agency. They tend to work alone, behind the scenes. They take care of problems the Council can't. It's not easy preserving peace across an entire galaxy. The Council prefers to use diplomacy and negotiation, but sometimes more extreme measures are needed.

Shepard: How do they decide who becomes a Spectre?

Anderson: You can't just apply to join. There's no training program. Spectres aren't made--they're born. The Council's always looking for exceptional individuals. People who can get the job done, like you. They've been watching you for years. They see something in you. They want you on their side. Nihlus was supposed to give them a final recommendation, but with him gone, things are still up in the air.

Shepard: What's their command structure like?

Anderson: There is no command structure. Each Spectre answers directly to the Council. Sometimes they're sent on specific missions. Other times they act on their own. They tend to operate outside the law. Do whatever it takes to accomplish their goals. And the Council just turns a blind eye. Spectres have a lot of power, Shepard.

Shepard: They sound like shadow operatives.

Anderson: Everything we know about them is classified. We don't even know how many there are. The latest Alliance estimate puts their numbers under a hundred. But the Council couldn't do its job without them. They're the Citadel's top agents. The last line of defense. The final option before total war. The entire galaxy respects and fears them. If a Spectre shows up, you know something big is going to happen.

Shepard: What happens when a Spectre goes rogue. Like Saren?

Anderson: It doesn't happen often. The Council is careful when they select their candidates. But when something does go wrong, there's usually only one solution: send another Spectre to bring the rogue agent down.

Spoiler: Shadow Broker and Barla Von (click to show/hide)

Shepard: Tell me more about the Shadow Broker.

Anderson: He's a necessary evil of galactic politics. Buying and selling information is part of the game, and the Shadow Broker just happens to be the best player on the field. Always sells to the highest bidder. Doesn't get involved in politics. Don't pick sides. A simple system, but it works.

As a side note, this game has a tendency of starting sentences with "but". I hate to be a grammer nazi, but it really starts to get to you when you're transcribing the game word-for-word. I've just started adding commas where they should be in the script.

Anderson: He's not a threat to anyone. Not directly. He's just a resource we can use. Or she is. Or maybe they are. Nobody really knows.

Shepard: Tell me about Barla Von.

Anderson: He specializes in moving large sums of money without leaving a paper trail. A financial genius. Doesn't do anything illegal, but he knows all the loopholes. He's got an impressive client list: ambassadors, diplomats, Spectres. That's probably why the Shadow Broker uses him.

Shepard: I should go.

Anderson: Good luck, Shepard. I'll be over in the ambassador's office if you need anything else.

And with that, we're finally free to go around the Citadel... NEXT UPDATE!

Yeah, this ended up being longer than I thought, so I'll finish the rest of the Citadel main story in another post or two. This is a good break-off point anyway.

[Sirus]

Yeaaaaah, Garrus! Your best alien bro...when he isn't in the middle of calibrating something

Spoiler: Mildly spoilerific stuff here (click to show/hide)

One thing I especially liked was the various ways you could influence Garrus over the course of the series. He's already a bit of a hothead, but as time goes on you can bring him around to being more by-the-book or encourage his lackadaisical attitude towards rules, eventually making him almost as Renegade as the most Renegade of Shepards. None of the other party members that I can remember allow you to shape their personalities to such a degree.

[itisnotlogical]

Last we left off, the Council had defended Saren and rejected our accusations of treachery. However, all is not lost: Barla Von, an agent for the Shadow Broker, may have some information that can help our case...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

As a game level, the Citadel is one huge seamless area. It's big and detailed, but it has the Bethesda problem of being too huge to populate with a realistic number of NPCs. Very few of the NPCs can even be interacted with, making it feel less like the beating heart of the galaxy and more like a UDK example scene.

My computer hates the Citadel. It chugs and stutters all over the place, and there's a loading screen every twenty steps which makes the "seamless" aspect kinda silly. I'm almost certain it has to do with ME1 starting life as a console game and then being ported to PC.

It's time to meet Barla Von, the dealer for the Shadow Broker who might get us some information on Saren:



Barla Von: The tale of how you survived the tragedy on Akuze is truly remarkable. I am amazed each time I hear it.

Barla Von is a volus, which we'll learn more about in the "optional Citadel stuff" update. They're basically fat Ferengi in biosuits.

Shepard: You've got me at a disadvantage here.

Barla Von: Forgive me, Earth-clan. My name is Barla Von. My job makes it necessary for me to keep informed. I am a financial advisor to many important clients here on the Citadel. When someone as important as yourself arrives on the station, I take notice.

I'm not sure why Shepard is so special and important to so many people at this branch of the story. Was it public knowledge that he might be the first human Spectre? Can't be, because Shepard himself didn't know. It's all very confusing.

Shepard: I heard you work for the Shadow Broker. Do you have any information about Saren?

Barla Von: You're very blunt, Shepard, but you're right. I am an agent for the Shadow Broker. And I do know something about Saren.

The great thing about massive spy networks: the agents reveal themselves if you just ask.



Barla Von: Normally, this information would cost a small fortune. But these are exceptional circumstances, so I'm going to give it to you for free.



Barla Von: There is no catch. The Shadow Broker is quite upset with Saren right now. They used to do a lot of business. Until Saren turned on him.

(Choices: Serves him right, He's not the only one, What a shock)
Shepard: That's what happens when you deal with a traitor like Saren.

Barla Von: No matter what you think of Saren, he's not stupid. He knows the Shadow Broker is a valuable ally.

He obviously didn't see Saren's little conniption fit at the end of Eden Prime.

Barla Von: Turning on him doesn't make sense. Not unless something huge was at stake. I don't know the details, but the Shadow Broker hired a freelancer to deal with it. A krogan mercenary.

That sounds like another party member! We'll be meeting him shortly.

Shepard: That's not much to go on.

Barla Von: I just todl you the most famous Spectre in the galaxy betrayed the Shadow Broker. Quite a bargain, considering the price. Speak with the krogan if you want to learn more. I heard he was paying a visit to Citadel Security. If you hurry you might catch him before he leaves the Academy.

Shepard: Isn't it strange that a krogan would want to speak with C-Sec?

As we'll see when we get there, krogan are basically klingons. Right down to the part where the sequel retcons them to have a rich culture instead of being generic tough guys.

Barla Von: Very. However, I doubt the visit was entirely his choice. You'll need to speak with him if you want to know more.

There's an Investigate here. We won't see Barla Von again for the entire rest of the series, and we've already heard his backstory from Anderson so I'll summarize the "personal question" topic: He's a slimy banker guy that hides slimy rich guys' money.

Shepard: Tell me about the Shadow Broker.



Barla Von: But the Shadow Broker is the true master. Every day, he buys and sells secrets that could topple governments, always giving them to the highest bidder. Yet somehow he never seems to upset the natural balance of power. All those secrets being passed around seem to even out. Nobody ends up with an advantage in the end.

Shepard: Any guess what his identity might be?

Barla Von: I don't know. Nobody does. The Shadow Broker could be any race, any gender. I have a theory that it's actually an entire group working under one identity. How else could they juggle so many contacts at the same time? How else could they keep all that information from getting crossed? But they've got the perfect setup. Every government is forced to play their game so they don't get behind. But no matter how long you play, no matter how many secrets you buy, you can never win.

Unless there's a really silly retcon in the third game, or possibly even a DLC for the second game. Just throwing that out there.



Barla Von: From time to time, I come across information I sell to the Shadow Broker. That's my only involvement. I like it that way. The more you know, the more dangerous the game becomes. I don't like danger, Commander. I'll leave that to you.

Next it's time to ask Barla random questions about his living situation.

Shepard: What's it like living here on the Citadel?

Barla Von: The station is, without a doubt, the greatest wonder in the galaxy. It is a technological marvel, but its true splendor goes much deeper than the hull and engines. From the Presidium to the wards, the entire station is a testament to the success of the Council. All the species of Citadel space together in a single strong community.

Shepard: What makes the Presidium so special?

The Presidium is the section of the Citadel where we are now, with all the fountains and trees.

Barla Von: It's the political center of Citadel space. Eighty percent of all intelligent species in the known galaxy acknowledge the Council's authority on interstellar matters. But only the most powerful and influential species have embassies here on the Presidium. This level of the station is reserved for the elite, Shepard. People like us.

Shepard: What are the wards like?

Barla Von: The cultural heart of the galaxy. They pulse with the lifeblood of millions of citizens from dozens of different species. You never know what you'll find down in the wards, Commander. It's always full of surprises. Fortunately, most of them are pleasant.

And with that, we're done with Barla Von and off to C-Sec to talk to the krogan mercenary.





Wrex is the best-looking thing in this game beyond a shadow of a doubt. Every part of his face looks like you could reach out and touch it, even in this first game. Even in the sequels, krogan characters are extremely detailed and look amazing.

He's also very satisfying to watch in motion. It's hard to explain, but the combination of a realistic face material and big, expressive mouth reminds me of a Muppets character, or maybe the animatronic monsters from the Doom movie; it feels real and alive in a way that's very hard to pull off.

Officer: This is your only warning, Wrex.

Wrex: You should warn Fist. I will kill him.

Officer: You want me to arrest you?

Wrex: I want you to try.



Wrex started walking before the officer even said anything, so he's just trying to save face by making it look like he threw Wrex out.

And now, to have the chat with Wrex that we came here for:



Shepard: I'm trying to bring down Saren. Barla Von said to talk to you.

Wrex: Barla Von is a wise man. We may share a common goal, human.

(Choices: How so?, What goal?, Get to the point)
Shepard: Enlighten me.

Wrex: I've been hired to kill the owner of Chora's Den. A man named Fist. He did something very foolish.

Shepard: What did he do?

Wrex: He betrayed the Shadow Broker. A quarian showed up here on the Citadel. She was on the run. She wanted to trade information for a safe place to hide, so she went to Fist. He promised to arrange a meeting between her and the Shadow Broker. Instead, he contacted Saren.



I wasn't going to include this screenshot, but Shepard's cocked-eyebrow expression reminds me of Woody from Toy Story, which is another trilogy that made me cry my eyes out.

Wrex: Well, the quarian has something that connects Saren to the geth. He paid Fist a small fortune for her.



Shepard: Saren might already have her.

Wrex: Last I heard, Fist still had her. Probably somewhere inside his club. You help me kill Fist, she's all yours.

Gangland violence is something a lieutenant commander in the Space Military should be doing, right?

Shepard: I wanna know more about your employer.

Wrex: Can't tell you much. All I got was a coded message with the details of the job. Standard procedure.



I suppose the parallel Garrus/Wrex questlines were supposed to be a sort of paragon/renegade choice, but you can do both of them and can have both Garrus and Wrex in your party no matter what.

Shepard: He might come in handy.

Wrex: He was here just before you showed up. Said he was going to follow up a lead on his investigation. Wanted to speak to the doctor at the med clinic.

If I wasn't an idiot and forgot to do Garrus' quest, we'd also have a discount at that clinic. Stupid me!



At this point we can put Wrex in our party. We also get a sneak peek at the remaining three party members we'll pick up.

We can head straight to Chora's Den and immediately shoot the place up, like good military men:



This fight's not too bad. The awkward angles inside are the biggest problem, but you can always rush out the door for a safer place to heal or shoot from.



There's a guy up where the dancers are during business hours.

With the main group dispatched, we're on to the back area where we meet these two losers:



Ashley: Warehouse workers. All the real guards must be dead.



No you won't, because I have enough paragon points to convince you to leave.

Shepard: This would be a good time to find somewhere else to work.

Worker 1: Yeah, yeah right. That's a good idea.

Don't you love how criminals are so accomidating and easy to convince to change their ways?

Worker 2: I never liked Fist anyway.

Wrex: It would have been quicker to just kill them.

Ashley: Shooting people isn't always the answer.

With that out of the way, it's time to take on Fist.



He has these turrets that are kinda tanky, but the fight's still really easy. Just peek out and fire when it's safe, standard cover shooter stuff.

We blow up the turrets and have Fist at our mercy:



Shepard: Where's the quarian?

Fist: She's not here. I don't know where she is. That's the truth!

Wrex: He's no use to you now. Let me kill him.

Fist: Wait, wait! I don't know where the quarian is, but I know where you can find her. The quarian isn't here. Said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself.

Wrex: Face to face? Impossible! Even I was hired through an agent.

Fist gets up.



Fist: But when she shows up, it'll be Saren's men waiting for her.

Shepard: Give me the location. Now.

Fist: Here on the wards. The back alley by the markets. She's supposed to meet them right now. You can make it if you hurry.

Wrex shoots Fist at this point.



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

(Choices: He'd surrendered!, Never do that again!, He deserved it)
Shepard: I'm in charge here! You ever pull another stunt like that again...

Wrex: He was the only contract I had left. And don't we have something more pressing to worry about?

Ashley: That quarian's dead if we don't go now!



This part may seem stressful, it's not that difficult. There's a handful of thugs that harass you on your way out, but from there it's a straight walk to the goal.



Tali: Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?



Tali: No way. The deal's off.

I apologize for my brightness slider being in the next couple of shots. Egad, I didnt' realize I'd been playing with it so much, that's awful.






We have a short, easy fight with the assassins. Nothing really interesting.



As you've no doubt inferred, Tali is a quarian and our next party member. IIRC she's the only one we see in this game. They wear exosuits like the volus, except quarians have sexy accents.

Shepard: Don't worry about Fist. He got what was coming to him.

Tali: Then I guess there are two things I need to thank you for. Who are you?

(Choices: A friend, I'm with the Alliance, Someone who just saved your life)
Shepard: My name's Shepard. I'm looking for evidence to prove Saren's a traitor.

Tali: Then I have a chance to repay you for saving my life. But not here. We need to go somewhere safe.

Ashley: The ambassador's office. It's safe there. He'll want to see this anyway.

We leave to present the evidence...



Udina: Who's this? A quarian? What are you up to, Shepard?

(choices: She can help us, Just doing my job, Shut up and I'll tell you)
Shepard: You wanted proof Saren's a traitor. This is it.

Udina: Really? Maybe you better start at the beginning, Miss...?



Udina: We don't see many quarians here. Why did you leave the flotilla?

Quarians live in space, in a tight-knight cluster of ships called the Migrant Fleet. Part of a quarian's name is derived from whichever ship they live on, so "nar Rayya" means that Tali was from a ship called the Rayya.

Tali: I was on my Pilgrimage, my rite of passage into adulthood.

Shepard: I've never heard of this before.

Tali: It is a tradition among my people. When we reach maturity, we leave the ships of our parents and our people behind. Alone, we search the stars, only returning to the flotilla once we have discovered something of value. In this way, we prove ourselves worthy of adulthood.

Shepard: What kinds of things do you look for?

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

And now back to Saren.



Tali: During my travels I began hearing reports of geth. Since they drove my people into exile, the geth have never ventured beyond the Veil. I was curious.

Quarians created the geth, by the way. Then the geth decided they didn't like quarians anymore and did a Skynet.

Tali: I tracked a patrol of geth to an uncharted world. I waited for one to become seperated from its unit, then I disabled it and removed its memory core.



Shepard: How did you manage to preserve the memory core?

Tali: My people created the geth. If you're quick, careful and lucky, small caches of data can sometimes be saved.

I've seen this moment used as an example of why the writing was better in ME1 than the sequels, and I'd like to dispute that.

The geth destroy their memory cores when they die. Does it cast suspicion on Tali, heightening the drama and suspense? Nope, she explains herself and everybody takes it as fact. Do we need to extract a geth memory core ourself later, making this a Chekov's gun? Not that either.

It's like midichlorians in Star Wars. What is the purpose of midichlorians in the story? How does the existence of midichlorians heighten the drama or inform us about the characters? It doesn't. Details without a story purpose are useless. History textbooks are full of lots of little details, but there's a reason that a cinematic documentary can provide the same content  in a more entertaining package: details don't mean anything if they don't add to the story.

These lines about the memory core exist solely to kill the pacing in the middle of an important scene. As a matter of fact, so were the lines about the flotilla and the pilgrimage; we could ask Tali about that on the Normandy, when it would have made sense to be asking personal questions. Instead, these side options bring the scene to a screeching halt.

Tali: Most of the core was wiped clean, but I salvaged something from its audio banks.



Anderson: That's Saren's voice. This proves he was involved in the attack!

Shepard: He said Eden Prime brought him one step closer to finding the Conduit. Any idea what that means?

Andserson: The Conduit must have something to do with the beacon. Maybe it's some kind of Prothean technology... like a weapon.

Tali: Wait... there's more. Saren wasn't working alone.

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

Female voice: And one step closer to the return of the Reapers.

Udina: I didn't recognize that other voice. The one talking about Reapers.



Tali: According to the memory core, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago. The Reapers hunted the Protheans to total extinction, and then they vanished. At least, that's what the geth believe.

Udina: Sounds a little far-fetched.

All your options here relate to defending Tali. This implies that Shepard is a naive, innocent soul who believes that nobody has any reason to lie to him, especially not a pretty young woman that he just met.

Shepard: The vision on Eden Prime--I understand it now. I saw the Protheans being wiped out by the Reapers.

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

This is all an awful lot of speculation and taking things on faith. It's not like anybody has talked to a geth or even seen one for 200 years, Tali just allegedly pried a USB stick out of one.



Shepard: This is a lot to handle. They might just ignore everything we tell them.

Anderson: No matter what they think about the rest of this, those audio files prove Saren's a traitor.

Udina: The captain's right. We need to present this to the Council right away.

Wrex: What about her? The quarian?

Tali: My name is Tali! You saw me in the alley, Commander. You know what I can do. Let me come with you.

Shepard: I thought you were on your Pilgrimage.

Tali: The Pilgrimage proves we are willing to give of ourselves for the greater good. What does it say about me if I turn my back on this? Saren is a danger to the entire galaxy. My pilgrimage can wait.

Shepard: I'll take all the help I can get.

Tali's actually quite useless in this game, IIRC. She gets knocked out at the drop of a hat in exchange for some abilities that Shepard can have for themselves due to their class, or live without.

Tali: Thanks. You won't regret this.



We now have Tali in our party. This is also the last chance that we could have done Garrus' and Harkin's quests if I wasn't a dummy.

Now, it's back to the Tower to meet with the Council one last time:

Anderson: Come on. Udina's presenting the quarian's evidence to the Council.



Udina: You wanted proof. There it is.

Turian: This evidence is irrefutable, Ambassador. Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes.



Shepard: Who's she?

Asari: Matriarchs are powerful asari who have entered the final stage of their lives. Revered for their wisdom and experience, they serve as guides and mentors to my people.

They also have to wear dresses with ridiculous cleavage. It's kinda weird but hey tradition.

Asari: Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic, and she had many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren.

Salarian: I'm more interested in the Reapers. What do you know about them?



Shepard: The geth believe the Reapers are gods, and Saren is the prophet for their return.

Anderson: We think the Conduit is the key to bringing them back. Saren's searching for it. That's why he attacked Eden Prime.

Salarian: Do we even know what the Conduit is?

Shepard: Saren thinks it can bring back the Reapers. That's bad enough.

Turian: Listen to what you're saying! Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? It's impossible. It has to be. Where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we've found no trace of their existence? If they were real, we'd have found something?

At least, reason re-enters into proceedings.

Shepard: I tried to warn you about Saren, and you refused to face the truth. Don't make the same mistake again.

Asari: This is different You proved Saren betrayed the Council. We all agree he's using the geth to search for the Conduit, but we don't really know why.



Shepard: Fifty thousand years ago, the Reapers wiped out all galactic civilization. If Saren finds the Conduit, it will happen again!

Turian: Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life. He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre. The Council has stripped him of his position.

Udina: That is not good enough! You know he's hiding somewhere in the Traverse. Send your fleet in!

Salarian: A fleet cannot track down one man.

Udina: A Citadel fleet could secure the entire region. Keep the geth from attacking any more of our colonies.

Turian: Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus Systems! We won't be dragged into a galactic confrontation over a few dozen human colonies!



Udina: Shepard's right. I'm sick of this Council and it's anti-human bull--

Asari: Ambassador! There is another solution. A way to stop Saren that does not require fleets or armies.

We don't need cities or armies. We have the cells of human bodies. An invisible weapon... for an invisible war.

Wait, wrong game.

Turian: No! It's too soon. Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres.

Shepard: You don't have to send a fleet into the Traverse, and the Ambassador gets his human Spectre. Everybody's happy.

The Council also gets a human to do the work for them. If Shepard fucks up then humanity won't be getting into the Council, if Shepard wins then the Council just got some free labor and poached a talented officer. Win-win for them.



Asari: It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel.



Asari: Spectres are an ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will.

Turian: Spectres bear a great burden. They are protecters of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold.

Asari: You are the first human Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your species.

It would have been awkward if they all hadn't memorized that whole thing. Just in case they ever need to induct a Spectre on the fly, ya know?

Shepard: What's my first mission?



Shepard: Any idea where to find him?

Turian: We will forward any relevant files to Ambassador Udina.

Asari: This meeting of the Council is adjourned.



Udina: We've got a lot of work to do, Shepard. You're going to need a ship, a crew, supplies...

Anderson: You'll all get access to special equipment and training now. You should go down to the C-Sec Academy and speak to the Spectre requisitions officer.

Udina: Anderson, come with me. I'll need your help to get this all set up.



Shepard: He's got a lot on his mind. Come on.

Kaidan: Right behind you, Commander.

Whew, that was a long one! Now we're a Spectre and have all sorts of new abilities. Next update: optional Citadel stuff, for real this time!

[itisnotlogical]

With the Normandy under his command and ready to begin his mission, Commander Shepard instead decides to hang out on the Citadel for a day or two and do some sidequests.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

School's started, so the pace of updates will probably slow to one a week. The Citadel has a lot of side stuff on it and it's built like a maze, so I apologize if I miss something. I intentionally omitted the Keeper and C-sec spy quests, though.

It's time to visit the embassies we learned about. This is where races that aren't actually represented on the Council do government stuff.

The humans have one embassy, while the volus and elcor share another. I think there's supposed to be a hanar one too, but we haven't met a hanar yet and I couldn't find their embassy in-game anyway.




The big grey guy on the right is an elcor. I love these guys.

Din: (sigh) I am Din Korlak, volus ambassador. Is there something I can do for you, Earth-clan?

Shepard: You seem to have a bit of a chip on your shoulder, Din.

Din: You humans are new to the Citadel, and yet the Council has granted you great favor.



Since elcor use pheremones to communicate alongside spoken language, they speak in monotone and have to explicitly state their emotion. It's used for a great gag in the third game, if we ever get that far.

Din: Hmph. Details. We still have no real say in the decisions that affect Citadel space.

We're in the same boat as you, asshole.

I hate this guy. The paragon/renegade interrupt mechanic didn't come until Mass Effect 2, but I wish there were some option to punch this guy. Volus just suck in general, but this guy's a dick.

Shepard: What is it you do here?

Din: I look out for the best interests of the volus people. No easy task considering how often we are overlooked by the Council.

Calyn: Chastising rebuke, Din. The Council favors your species greatly.

Din: You are naive. The Earth-clan will be invited to the Council long before our species will.

Shepard: Why aren't the elcor or volus part of the Council?

Din: All species must prove themselves before they join the Council. All but the Earth-clans, it would seem.

Because colonizing and settling a whole bunch of dangerous space that none of the other Citadel races would touch isn't "proving yourself."

Calyn: Dismissive: Ignore the volus ambassador, human. He is incorrect in his assessment.

Din: Really? How long have we been waiting? How long do you think we'll continue to wait? Bah. This talk is wasted on humans.

The volus never join the Council. If this guy is in charge of representing them, then it's obvious why.

Shepard: I'd like to know more about the volus.

Din: I'm sure our history and culture would bore you, Earth-clan.

That's why I asked about your people on my free time. Because I thought it would be boring. It's like trying to talk to a social justice warrior that somehow loops all the evils of the world around to being your fault.

Shepard: Actually, I would like to know more about your history.

Din: My people came to the Citadel shortly after the asari and salarians had discovered it. We were instrumental in establishing a standardized galactic economy. However, despite our long association with the Citadel and our many contributions to galactic society, we still do not hold a seat on the Citadel.

Shepard: Tell me about volus culture.

Din: We are tribal by nature, but our ways are not violent. We barter and trade our lands and tribe members in order to increase status. Larger tribes often engulf smaller ones and eventually split again. Our society is very malleable, and our government is always shifting and changing. Since we're not physically adept, we trade our services for protection.

Later games in the series get better about this, but in the first game every race has a specific role much like in Star Trek or Star Wars. The volus, as told by Din here and Barla Von in previous updates, are a race of slimy bankers and traders. At least they're not a Jewish stereotype like Watto in The Phantom Menace.

I think Din's statement about "trading tribe members" is referencing slavery, but he wouldn't use that when trying to make his culture seem awesome and egalitarian and way better than stupid *human* society.

Shepard: What is this place?

Din: You are in the embassy for the volus and the elcor.

Calyn: Your ambassador is next door, in his own office.

Din: In this shared space, I aid my fellow volus. When I'm not being interrupted.

And that's about all we have to learn from this douchebag. Next up, we talk to the elcor Calyn.

Calyn: Pleased greeting. Human, it is always good to see your kind. I am Ambassador Calyn. Genuine query: Is there something I can do for you this day?

Fans of Knights of the Old Republic might remember that the HK droids also announced their emotional state before speaking. However, the HK droids actually were capable of expressing emotion through their tone of voice, so it wasn't quite as necessary. In certain situations it actually got to be pretty annoying. However, the elcor appear much less frequently than HK droids in KOTOR.

Shepard: What do you do here?

Calyn: Honestly: I work to bring the problems and requests of the elcor groups to the attention of the Council.

Din: Ha. They only give us these positions to keep us quiet. The Council doesn't care about our races.

Says mister-tenfold-territory over there.

Calyn: Chastising rebuke: Your tone is inappropriate, Din. This human is not to blame for your malcontent or your misconceived suspicions.

Shepard: Tell me more about your species.

Calyn: Genuine enthusiasm, I delight in telling the history of my people. It is agreeable to share our culture with others.

Shepard: Tell me about the history and origins of the elcor.



Calyn: With their help, we discovered the relay closest to our system and from there, the Citadel. Proudly: Within one lifetime we established a regular route to the Citadel and quickly became one of the more active species living on this great station.

I actually really like the elcor. They're like a friend who's not very good at expressing themselves, but they have hidden depths and a confidence you wouldn't imagine at first glance. They're also conceptually interesting, being a non-bipedal race of elephant people that can only speak in a monotone. If there were a tabletop RPG set in the Mass Effect universe, I would play an elcor.

Shepard: I'd like to know more about the culture of the elcor.

Calyn: Frankly, we elcor prefer the safety and familiarity of our own colonies to the confines of space travel. Our society is built on small tight-knight groups, though we are always welcoming to outsiders. Our government tends to be very stable. Our people are not very comfortable with sudden changes.

There's actually a third topic about elcor speech, but I forgot to select it in the game. Oops. At least I covered it in the commentary.

Shepard: Goodbye, Ambassador.

After that we talk to Avina, the VI of Citadel station.



She's like low-budget Cortana.

She's modelled after an asari, probably because they were the first race to find the Citadel.

I won't be covering Avina all that much, I just wanted to show her since she won't be relevant ever again. Trust me, you're not missing anything: all she does is give directions and exposition that we've already heard two or three times before. This goes for every encounter with Avina; there's three or four terminals, iirc, and none of them have anything interesting to say.

Up next is to visit Executor Pallin, Garrus's boss:



Shepard: I came on my own. I need information.

Pallin: You humans are always so curious. Always sticking your fingers into someone else's pie. Is that the right expression?

Ooooooooo he used a human phrase incorrectly in order to demean us and then satirically asked if that was the correct expression that's a sick buuuuurn

Pallin: Uh, never mind. Forget I asked. Was there something you needed, Commander?

Shepard: I get the feeling you're not too fond of humans.

Pallin: No, I just don't trust your kind. Not yet. You humans are eager to take all the power you can get. And you're being given quite a lot. If the Council wants to make humanity their new favorite pet, that's their business. But I don't have to like it.

We only just got our first Spectre due to extraordinary circumstances, and the Council initially didn't want to hear anything about protecting human colonies in dangerous areas of space--colonies that the Council itself encouraged, according to Anderson. In my headcanon, there's a Fox News-like agency spreading panic and fearmongering, inciting distaste towards humans for increased viewership. Every alien race seems to think that humans are getting preferential treatment when in reality we're just as screwed as every non-Council race.

If this game had any bite to it, it might have tried to say something about Mexican immigration to America, or even refugees. However, that remains unexplored. Mass Effect is a strictly PG-13 take on the future, which will only become more apparent as the update progresses.



Pallin: Good. Then fight for it. But don't expect the rest of us to just sit back and let you take it. I'm a busy man, Commander. Are we done here?

Shepard: What do you know about Spectres?

Oh, Shepard. You poor sweet child. Never change.

Pallin: They're the right hand of the Council, or so they like to be called. More like the underhanded side of the Council.

Shepard: What do you have against the Spectres?

Pallin: I can't abide any organization that considers itself above the law. Especially when it's left up to each individual Spectre to decide when and how to "bend the rules".

Shepard: Sometimes you have to bend the law to keep people safe.

Pallin: I've been with C-Sec for thirty years. I've never had to break the law to do my job. Not once.

You've also never had to defend the entire galaxy against a race of giant sentient machines that wiped out all intelligent life in the galaxy and are coming back for round two.

Just sayin'.



Pallin: There are over two hundred thousand C-Sec agents. Some of them are going to be bad. But we don't turn a blind eye to corruption like the Spectres do. We do our best to find and punish any officer who breaks the law. Spectres--they'll never come under that kind of scrutiny.

Shepard: The galaxy needs people like that, people who do the dirty jobs.

Pallin: I agree, but they need to be held to a higher standard. They need to be held accountable. Saren's out of control. We both know that. But because he's a Spectre, the Council doesn't want to do anything about it. Is that the kind of person this galaxy needs?

Here we can choose to say yes or no. I picked "no", but Shepard doesn't seem to realize that this was a yes-or-no question.

Shepard: But not all Spectres are like Saren.

Pallin: True, but the potential is always there.

Now we ask him about C-sec.

Shepard: Tell me about C-Sec.



Pallin: We're a civilian government agency, though many of our members have had military training. Of course, as the C-Sec representative to the council, I spend most of my time liaising between the two.

We can also ask about the Saren investigation under the Investigate menu, but it doesn't give us much:

Shepard: Tell me about your investiation into Saren.

Pallin: Sorry, Commander. I don't make a habit of giving out details about ongoing investigations.

Near the embassies and Pallin's office is a little bar, where we can meet these Marines who are presumably on shore leave.



I'm going to transcribe their ambient dialogue--what they're saying in the background while you're not actually talking to them.

Fredricks: The Consort would never reveal her secrets.

Marine 1: Of course she wouldn't. She'd be tossed out the nearest airlock if she did!

Marine 2: I suppose.

Fredricks: Besides, Nick, the Consort's nothing like the girls back on the colonies. She's... she's...

Marine 1: You don't *have* to do it with her. You can just talk to her if you want.

Fredricks: Is that all you did, Jaz? Just talk?

Marine 1: I didn't say that!

Fredricks: Ha! I bet you did, to.

They sound more like shy middle-schoolers in the locker room than drunk, rowdy Marines talking about a famous local prostitute. I'll talk more about the Consort soon; we'll be meeting her next. But for now, let's talk to Fredricks:




Fredricks: Is there something I can do for you?

Kaidan: Relax, Private, this isn't an inspection.

Fredricks: Right, sorry. What can I do for you, Commander?

Shepard: What can you tell me about the asari Consort?

Fredricks: I, ah, well, she's an asari who works here as... that is, she helps people with... things.

Uh huh. Sure. I think Fredricks is the one who was too shy to bang her.



Kaidan looks stoned out of his mind in this picture and that's hilarious.

Fredricks: I, uh, no. I never did. Ech, I couldn't afford it. It costs half a year's credits just to go in and talk to her.

Shepard: Can you at least tell me where I can find her?

Fredricks: Sure, she's across the bridge from the embassies.

Ashley: Thanks kid. Have fun. Try not to get into too much trouble.

And with that, we're seeing the Consort. But first we have to go through her receptionist.



Nelyna: Would you like me to see when the Consort will be able to meet with you?



Nelyna: Mm, I'm afraid not. Yeah, you must understand, there are many who seek the Consort's services. But if you wish to leave your name, she'll make every effort to meet with you.

Seems legit.

Shepard: Commander Shepard. I'm with the Spectres.

Nelyna: Excellent. You should hear something in... hmmm, three or four months.

BWAAAAAAAHH

Shepard: Nobody's worth that much of a wait!

Nelyna: Well, that's not for me to judge. I have your name and you'll be contacted. Is there anything else?

We might as well ask about the consort, since we're here and made an appointment.



Nelyna: It is difficult to explain. She is many things to many people, and something different for each. Some seek her for advice, some for entertainment, others still for pleasure. Most of the time, our clients won't realize what they were seeking until after she has provided it for them.

Shepard: You make her sound like some kind of oracle.

Nelyna: No, not in the usual sense. She is merely a woman. A woman with remarkable compassion and a generous spirit. I suggest you make an appointment and see for yourself!

This part really, really bothers me.

The Consort is kind of like a geisha: a person hired to serve tea, play games, tell jokes and stories, make conversation, look pretty and entertain guests. It's a very traditional Japanese profession that explicitly did not include sex. This is blended with prostitution, where you pay her for sex. It doesn't mesh, ya know?

Take Star Wars for example. Jabba the Hutt keeps half-naked, all-female slaves that could very well be hookers. It'd make sense because Jabba is a crime boss who keeps a crew of bounty hunters, drug addicts and brutish aliens. It would make less sense if he *wasn't* also a pimp. Prostitution would be a believable element of Star Wars because it would, in that case, reflect a part of the real world we live in.

On the other hand we have the Consort. She owns her own business, charges exorbitant rates, picks her own clients, apparently never suffers any of the numerous health risks of public sex, and her chief customers are shy, nervous Marines that don't even want to have sex with her. It doesn't add up on many fronts and breaks the illusion.

I promise I'll give a warning next time I'm about to go on a boring tangent.



Nelyna: I am one of the Consort's acolytes. Many of the people here today will not see the Consort, but they expect to be attended to just the same. It is our job to ensure that they leave contented.

Shepard: What exactly do you attend to?

Nelyna: Well, each acolyte has her unique abilities. Some soothe with song, others with conversation. As much as possible we seek to match the needs of our clients to the skills of our acolytes. My specialty is touch. My fingertips can find every tension point in your body... and relieve it.

Aaaah. So they're Sensate rejects from Planescape: Torment. Gotcha.

I'd love to hear Kimaxsi Adder-Tongue voice acted.

Shepard: I'd like to try out your services.

Nelyna: Excellent! I will add you to our client list. We should be able to see you in... hmm, three or four months.

YOU'RE JUST STANDING AT THE DESK

Whatever, let's blow this joint.

Shepard: I think I'm done here.

Nelyna: Aw. Well, I hope that you will return again in the future. We always enjoy seeing new clients.



Nelyna: Yes, Sha'ira?

Sha'ira: Send the Commander up to see me. I wish to speak to him.



Neylna: Huh. It appears the Consort has taken notice of you. She'd like to meet with you now.

Shepard: What does she want to see me for?

Nelyna: I don't know. You'll have to ask her yourself. Just head upstairs. She'll be waiting for you.

And so we go upstairs.



Sha'ira: I've heard a great many things about you since your arrival here on our Citadel.

Shepard: What exactly do you do?

Bioware must put redundant options in different dialogue trees to make sure that players don't miss stuff. It's good design for most players, but if you're already the type to pick every dialogue option then it makes Commander Shepard seem kinda slow on the upkeep.

Sha'ira. That depends on your needs. I offer advice to some, comfort to others. I have a certain problem that could use your expertise.

Shepard: Tell me about this problem you're having.

Sha'ira: I have a friend. Septimus, a retired turian general. I won't discuss the details, but he wanted me to be more than I could be.



Sha'ira: If you would speak to him as a fellow soldier, I believe he will listen to you and let the matter be.

Shepard: What happened between you?

Sha'ira: I respect his privacy too much to go into details. If he wishes to tell you what happened, that is his prerogative.

Shepard: What exactly do you want me to tell him?

Sha'ira: Appeal to his sense of honor. Remind him of his position as a general.

Sha'ira steps in close:



She doesn't embrace Shepard, she isn't whispering and I know this isn't an innuendo, so it's just awkward.

Tali: She knows we can still hear her, right?

Ashley: Shh, let her do her thing.

Sha'ira: Now I must ask you to take your leave. I have many clients waiting to see me.

So we head back to Chora's Den to have a chat with General Friendzone.



They sure did reopen quick, considering the gun battle, multiple homicide, explosives, etc.

We catch Septimus moping in a corner, exactly as Sha'ira said:



Shepard: What's bothering you, General?

Septimus: I've seen a lot of horrible things in my days and there's only one woman in this damn galaxy that helps me forget it.



Septimus: 'Cause she rejected me. Me! Septimus Oraka, general of the turian fleet!

I don't understand! I'm such a nice guy!

Shepard: Is she really worth it? There must be other women.

Septimus: It's not just any woman I want. It's her, and her alone. Look kid, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but don't waste your time.

Shepard: General, did you ever win a battle by moping in a bar?

Septimus: Ha, war! That's what this feels like all right. How did I let it come to this? So you think it's that easy? Just straighten up and act like a general?

Well, I mean, that's what's gonna happen in your next line regardless.

Tali: It would be more productive than sitting here.





Shepard: This is no place for someone of your stature, General.

Septimus: All right. I'll go to her... after I've had a cold shower, or two. Say, you're a bright kid. Would you be interested in earning a few credits?

Shepard's not the kind of guy to turn down some cash on the sly. Or at least he isn't in this specific instance.

Shepard: What do you want me to do?

Septimus: There's an elcor diplomat out there who believes Sha'ira gave up his secrets.

Tali: Why would he believe such a thing?

Septimus: Because I told him. Look, I just need you to convince him of the truth.



Septimus: You'll bring him proof. Take this datapad. It shows where I got my info. It will exonerate Sha'ira and convince the elcor.

Shepard: Who am I taking it to and where is he?

Septimus: His name is Xeltan. He's an elcor diplomat. He's over in the embassies complaining about Sha'ira.

He's in the same place that the volus and other elcor were, but there was no point in mentioning him until now.

Septimus: Well, here's to soldiers acting like soldiers. Thanks, Commander. You know... you might make a good general yourself one day.

Or maybe you'll be doing my job a few years later, still as a Commander, while I sit on my ass in the Presidium. Just sayin'.

We're done here, so it's time to visit the Consort again before we go talk to Xeltan.



Shepard: It was my honor to aid you.

Sha'ira: You are too kind, Commander, but I would not expect you to help me out of the kindness of your heart. I also have one more thing to give you, if you are interested.

Shepard: I'd be honored.

Sha'ira: I offer a gift of words. An affirmation of who you are, and who you will become...




Sha'ira: This may be who you are, but it is not who you will become. It only forms the basis for your future greatness. Remember these words when doubt descends, Commander.

You can pick "That's it?" here, and the Consort will sex you up as an additional reward. I never picked it because it sounded extremely douchey based on what appears in the choice wheel. Here's the scene, with somebody else's Femshep for variety's sake. Don't be worried, it's extremely tame.

Shepard: You have quite a gift, Sha'ira.

Sha'ira: Thank you. Not everyone appreciates it as you do. Never underestimate the power of words.

It's much more emphasized in the sequels, but a recurring theme in Mass Effect is Shepard's power--and resposibility--as a leader. Although Shepard is an action hero-flavored blank slate, it goes a long way towards giving him/her an identifiable character arc despite being the player's avatar.

Sha'ira: And now, I must ask you to leave. I have done everything I can for you.

I kinda goofed by not meeting Xeltan before seeing Sha'ira for the reward, but all we would have gotten is another sidequest that I wouldn't record anyway.

Speaking of, here's Xeltan.



Shepard: I know who revealed your secret. It was a turian named Septimus.

Xeltan: Unbelieving, I know this Septimus and he could not learn my secrets. The only way he could learn them is from the asari Consort.



Xeltan: Confused, this is difficult to fathom. If the turian could learn this on his own... dismayed, anyone can discover my secret.

Shepard: Septimus is a powerful man and it wasn't easy for him to find.

Xeltan: Relieved, I suppose you are correct, human. Thank you for this information. Startled realization, I must speak with the Consort. She will be most displeased with my actions. Anxious request, please, human, if you will excuse me, I must go now.

Shepard: I'm sure she'll forgive you. It was an honest mistake.



This is the angle we get while Xeltan walks away, because they didn't make a walk cycle for elcor characters. I don't blame them; there's probably less than 10 elcor in the entire series that you can interact with, and quadrupeds are a pain in the ass to animate.



Din: I'm sure the Earth-clan stands to profit from this way.

Calyn: Apologetic, do not listen to my volus compatriot. It was a good thing you did, regardless of your intentions.

The Xeltan sub-plot was supposed to affect Mass Effect 2 in imported saves. If you didn't speak to Xeltan, Sha'ira has to leave the Citadel because of his accusations; if you did talk to him, she could stay.However, a bug makes it so that Sha'ira always has to leave, regardless of what happens.

And that's it for the optional Citadel stuff that I wanted to cover. Next time: We finally get off the bloody Citadel and start being a Spectre!

[Sirus]

Happily: always glad to see another fan of the Elcor. They're such a cool species, both interesting and chill.

Oh, and speaking of tabletop games.

[BFEL]

Question: You have any of the achievements that give you bonuses in new games? Always loved those. Particularly the ones for playing with companion X for Y % of the game. I mean Wrex's gives you FLIPPIN REGENERATION, and the others are pretty awesome too.

Also, enjoy having a coherent story with decent worldbuilding while it lasts, since 2 and 3 forget what the plot was supposed to be and take a space bus to the dark side of Uranus.

[itisnotlogical]

But I already played the second and third game and really enjoyed them

[BFEL]

But I already played the second and third game and really enjoyed them

HERESY!!!!

http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=27792
^ QUICKLY, READ THIS FIFTY PART ESSAY ABOUT HOW WRONG YOU ARE AND CHANGE YOUR OPINIONS TO REFLECT MY OWWWWWWWWWN!

Also, good pick on the Soldier. It might sound boring, but it's a solid all-round class. Once you get to ME2, you'll love having assault rifles again.

Soldier is best early game, and decent later on. Adept/Sentinel are shitty late game but turn stupidly OP once you get the Bastion specialization. Infiltrator is nice, never got very far with Vanguard. Engineer is shit on a shit sandwich and will stay that way for all the games.

As for ME2 Soldier is boring and shit, always switch my soldiers to vanguard/infiltrator/sentinel.

[itisnotlogical]

I swear I didn't die, no more than seven days will have passed by the time the next update is posted, I just got stuck on a part and then I had to render a video multiple times and then I ate some pies and felt kind of tuckered out from eating so much pies

[itisnotlogical]

Last time, Shepard learned about volus culture and helped the Consort friendzone a guy.

Now, Shepard heads to the Artemis Tau cluster to find Doctor Liara T'Soni, a Prothean researcher being saught by the traitor Saren...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

We picked up Garrus and are about to leave, but we still have one more exposition session with Udina and Anderson.




Shepard: I'll take good care of her, sir.

Anderson: I know you will, Commander.

Shepard: I want the truth. Why are you stepping down, sir?

Anderson: You needed your own ship. A Spectre can't answer to anyone but the Council. And it's time for me to step down.



Anderson: I was in your shoes twenty years ago, Shepard. They were considering me for the Spectres.

Shepard: What happened?

Anderson: I failed. I couldn't make the cut. It's something I'm not proud of. Ask me later and I'll tell you the whole story. For now, all you need to know is I was sent on a mission with Saren, and he made sure the Council rejected me. I had my shot. It came and went. Now you have a chance to make up for my mistakes.

We're getting closer to the heart of Anderson's beef with Saren, but we have to wait till further in the dialogue.

Anderson has been a mentor to Shepard, and now Anderson's hoping to re-do his life through Shepard. He's also wanting to tag Saren back for fucking his career.

Shepard: I won't let you down, sir.

Anderson: Saren's gone. Don'te ven try to find him. But we know what he's after: the Conduit. He's got his geth scouring the Traverse looking for clues.

But our mission is to arrest Saren, as given by the Council.

Also, we're about to enter the midgame, which comprises a whopping three missions. Mass Effect is a short, short game if you don't count the sidequests--and IMHO the sidequests in ME1 are some of the most tedious side content in any game ever.



Anderson: Find out what Saren was after on Feros and Noveria. Maybe you can figure out where the Conduit is before he does.

Shepard: The Reapers are the real threat.

Shepard can be awfully single-minded about the Reapers in the first game, considering he hasn't even seen one at this point and nobody knows for sure if they exist. Chalk it up to choose-your-own-Shepard, I guess.

Udina: I'm with the Council on this one, Shepard. I'm not even sure they exist.

Anderson: But if they do exist, the Conduit's the key to bringing them back. Stop Saren from getting the Conduit and we stop the Reapers from returning.

Shepard: I'll stop him.



Udina: We don't know if she's involved but it might be a good idea to try and find her. See what she knows. Her name's Liara. Dr. Liara T'Soni.

If you've been under a Mass Effect-proof rock for about nine years, Liara is the last party member for our roster. If you're like me, you can end up doing Liara's planet last and have her for all of two hours during the endgame and that's your lot. Needless to say, we'll be doing Liara's planet first off the bat in this run.

Udina: We have reports she was exploring an archeological dig on one of the uncharted worlds in the Artemis Tau cluster.

Shepard: Sounds like we should head for the Artemis Tau cluster.

Anderson: It's your decision, Commander. You're a Spectre now. You don't answer to us.

Udina: But your actions still reflect on humanity as a whole. You make a mess and I get stuck cleaning it up.

I want Solo alive. No disintegrations!



Udina: Not exactly the answer I was looking for, Shepard. Remember: You were a human long before you were a Spectre. I have a meeting to get to. Captain Anderson can answer any questions you might have.

In my first playthrough I thought Udina was just a generic foil to Shepard's action-movie bravado, but his characterization is a lot deeper than I gave credit for originally.

Udina's trying his best to support Shepard and Anderson, but he can't work miracles; he must obey the laws of (political) physics, and the fallout will reach all of humanity if Shepard does something stupid and screws up. He has to cover Shepard's back when he shoots up Chora's Den for no adequate reason. He's the one has to write "Reason for request: Possible extinction by ancient race of sentient machines" on all the forms and paperwork. It can't be easy to protect Shepard from politics, but he does an admirable job for the most part. We never heard a word of complaint about the Chora's Den incident, after all.

Udina exits stage left and now it's time to get the full story from Anderson.



Shepard: I want to know the truth about you and Saren. I want to know about the mission you were together on all those years ago.

Anderson: We had intel on a rogue scientist being funded by batarian interests. He was trying to set up a facility to develop illegal AI technology out in the Verge. Alliance intel had done all the work, but the Council wanted a Spectre involved. We compromised: I was assigned to help Saren with his investigation.



Anderson: The plan was simple: sneak into the plant, capture the scientist, sneak back out. Quick, quiet, and a minimum of bloodshed.

Shepard: I'm guessing things didn't go as planned.

Anderson: Saren and I split up to cover more ground. Then, about halfway through the mission, there was a massive explosion in the refinery core. Officially, it was ruled an accident. But I think Saren detonated it on purpose to draw off the enemy guards.

Shepard: Sounds like overkill to me.

Anderson: The explosion tore the refinery to shreds. The whole place was on fire. Black chemical clouds poured out into the atmosphere. Nobody inside survived.

Credit where it's due, this scene is really effective. There's no flashbacks, sound effects or anything. It's just Anderson telling the story to Shepard, but it's still very engaging.

Anderson: There was a camp for workers and their families nearby. Between the fires and the toxic fumes, the final death count was over five hundred. Mostly civilians.

Sometimes I wonder about parallels with Nazism in the Mass Effect universe. I have no idea if it's intentional, or just me reading too deeply into things. I'll talk about it more later, but keep an eye out.

Anderson: Saren didn't care. The target was eliminated. Mission accomplished. And I ended up taking the blame. That ended all talk of me joining the Spectres.



Anderson: In his report, Saren accused me of blowing his cover. He said it was my fault the guards were ready for us. He claimed that's why it turned into a massacre. Saren's report was all the proof the Council needed to kill my chances of becoming a Spectre.

Sounds awfully familiar, no?

Shepard: Why'd you let him get away with it?

Anderson: Who do you think the Council was going to listen to? Me? Or their best agent? I had a bad feeling about him right from the start. I should've been more careful. Maybe I could have stopped things before they got out of hand.

Shepard: Don't blame yourself, Captain.



Anderson: Maybe he just likes the violence. Maybe he was just trying to make me look bad to keep humans out of the Spectres. If so, he pulled it off.

Shepard: The only thing I care about is stopping Saren.

Anderson: Maybe you're right, Commander. It's no good living in the past.

Now we can find out more about our three destinations.

Shepard: Any extra intel you can give me on our colony at Feros?

Anderson: The entire planet used to be one giant Prothean city. Mostly ruins now, but some of the infrastructure is still intact. The colony tried to build on what the Protheans left behind. We lost all contect with them when the geth attacked.

Shepard: What do you know about the Artemis Tau cluster?

Anderson: Not much. I've never been there myself. A handful of systems with a few small uncharted worlds, but no real colonies. Might not be easy finding Dr. T'Soni out there. My advice is to look for the world with the Prothean ruins.

Shepard: What can you tell me about Noveria?

Anderson: Noveria's trouble. Always has been. The whole planet's basically a center for corporations to conduct illegal research.

It also has a really frustrating bug for PC players using AMD GPUs. I'll show you that when we get there.

Anderson: Watch your back there, Shepard. Spectres are about the only form of Citadel authority Noveria respects, but they aren't popular.

With that out of the way, we can ask Anderson how he feels about being kicked out of the Captain's chair.



Anderson: Honestly? This isn't how I pictured my career coming to an end. Pushing papers really isn't my thing. But you're the one who can stop Saren. I believe in you, Shepard. If that means I have to step aside, so be it.

He's taking it pretty well, all things considered. And that's it for Anderson's dialogue.

Shepard: I should go.

Anderson: I'll be here if you need anything.



Entering the Normandy from the Citadel is part of the "seamless" aspect, so you have this really obvious transition room where you get decontaminated and stuff. It takes forever and might as well have just been a regular loading screen.

Once we're aboard Joker has some color commentary:



Joker: Just watch your back, Commaner. Things go bad on this mission, you're next on their chopping block.

Joker may be Joker, but he never gives you any BS.

Shepard: Captain Anderson should be the one in charge. It's like I'm stealing the ship from him.

Joker: Yeah, the captain got screwed. But it's not like you could've stopped it. Nobody's blaming you.

But Anderson stepped down on his own, according to him. It'd be weird to have a Spectre obeying a human Captain's orders anyway. It'd be like calling your mum for permission to get something out of your own fridge.

Joker: Everyone on this ship's behind you, one hundred percent. Intercom's open. If you've got anything you want to say to the crew, now's the time.

AWKWARD SHEPARD SPEECH TIME

Now that that's done, it's time for us to finally get going into the real game.

Over here is the Galaxy Map, which is used to control the Normandy in all three games.




Here are our three destinations, and things should be feeling very familiar to fans of KOTOR right about now. Fun side note: KOTOR 2 also had a multi-part intro sequence, and the second part also took place on a space station called the Citadel.

KOTOR 2's intro sequence is also several hours long, and not all of it is very good. As much as I complained about the pacing in the first post, ME1 has nothing on KOTOR 2's absolutely glacial prologue.

The Galaxy Map is basically a big fancy menu, although we get a cool cutscene that hides the loading a bit better than the decontamination room:





Once we're in the system, we have to pick a planet to land on. In this case, I happen to know that Therum is where Liara we're supposed to go, so we get dropped off there:



And now we're on Therum, the first half of which is a big driving section. Your vehicle is an APC called the Mako. If you're wondering what it's like to drive the Mako, imagine the Warthog from Halo. Have it in your head? Now imagine if the Warthog were a million times faster and made of styrofoam.

There's not much to show for most of it, it's just some rock textures and shooting geth. I've made a video so you can watch the unabridged drive.



Oh boy, some geth! I can't wait to take em down-



ohhhhhhh

This is where we're really introduced to geth snipers. There were some on Eden Prime, but there's a lot more of them here and they're damn near a one-hit kill. There's also geth infiltrators, which are like snipers but they crawl on the walls and ceilings and never stand still.

My armor looks different from here on because I had to replay the entire driving section and ended up getting some different armor from the RNG. The auto-saves in ME1 aren't terribly forgiving.

After this battle, we're allowed entrance into the main ruins:



It takes much inspiration from Quake 2's innovative "brown cuboids" aesthetic.

After we shoot some more geth and take an elevator, we find Liara in a bit of a pickle:



Shepard: Are you okay? What happened to you?



Shepard: How did you end up in there?

Liara: I was exploring the ruins when the geth showed up, so I hid in here. Can you believe that? Geth! Beyond the Veil! I activated the tower's devenses. I knew the barrier curtains would keep them out. When I turned it on, I must have hit something I wasn't supposed to. I was trapped in here. You must get me out! Please!

Shepard has no time for petty things like "rescuing the person we came here for."

Shepard: Your mother is working with Saren. Whose side are you on?

Liara: What? I am not on anybody's side! I may be Benezia's daughter, but I'm nothing like her! I have not spoken to her in years. Please, just get me out of here!

I'm not sure why Shepard thought Liara would know anything about Saren, considering she didn't even know that the geth were around.



Liara: It's a Prothean barrier curtain. I knew it would keep me safe from the geth. When I turned it on, I must have hit something I wasn't supposed to. I was trapped in here. You must get me out! Please!

Shepard: We'll find some way to help you.

Liara: There is a control in here that should deactivate this thing. You'll have to find some way past the barrier curtain. That's the tricky part; the defenses cannot be shut off from the outside. I don't know how you'll get in here.



Krogan and geth, working together? How interesting.

With that, there's nothing to do but go downstairs and look for a way around the barrier.



There's a handful of geth, but nothing too difficult. Once we take care of them, we have to activate a mining laser with a hacking minigame.



Somehow it's even worse than the other one. It's just trial and error. Press the buttons until you get it right.



yaaaaaay

That gets us through some corridors and into the chamber where Liara's held.



Shepard: We have to get you out of here before more geth arrive.

Liara: Yes, you're right. I've seen enough of them to last a lifetime. That button should shut down my containment field.




Kaidan: Any idea how to get out of this place?

Liara: There is an elevator back in the center of the tower. At least, I think it's an elevator. Come on!

Once we get into the elevator, Liara has some time to process what we've told her.



Liara doesn't seem too broken up about her mother's betrayal. Might just be adrenaline, but maybe they have a history of conflict?

Kaidan: Saren's looking for the Conduit. You're a Prothean expert. He probably wants you to help him find it.

Liara: The Conduit? But I don't know--

There's a loud rumbling and the room shakes.

Liara: These ruins aren't stable. That mining laser must have triggered a seismic event.

Maybe the geth were planning to get Liara and whatever info from the ruins, then blow the whole thing up so Shepard and co. couldn't find anything. That's why the mining laser was pointed at that specific spot.

Or maybe it's just a convenient excuse for heightened tension. Who knows?




Joker: Aye, aye, Commander. Secure and aweigh. ETA eight minutes.

I thought aweigh was just a bizarre misspelling of "away", but it's actually a word. It's an adjective that means you've raised an anchor just clear of a sea or riverbed.

Kaidan: Not much margin for error.

Wrex: If I die in here, I'll kill him.

badumtss.wav

So we ride the elevator up to the top level, and who should be waiting for us but a huge bag of dicks?



Shepard: In case you didn't notice, this place is falling apart.

Krogan: Exhilirating, isn't it? Thanks for getting rid of those energy fields for us. Hand the doctor over.

Liara: Whatever it is you want, you're not getting it from me.






And now we have a boss fight with these guys. Although there's some pain in the ass geth units--namely the rocket trooper and the sniper--the real problem is the krogan. When a krogan gets low on health, they gain a melee charge attack that eats through shields and barriers and usually spells doom unless you deal with the krogan quickly.



Also, the first time a krogan runs out of health, they ragdoll and start regenerating. It's not a problem in an open space like this, but the later fights can get pretty hairy if a krogan ragdolls and you can't deal with it right away.

After they're dealt with, it's a straight shot to the exit as Shepard and co. exit post-haste.









And that's the first real mission down! Next time: Debriefing! Socializing! SPACE RACISM! And possibly romance!? Tune in next week to find out more!

[itisnotlogical]

Sorry the update's kinda late, it's been a tough weekend. I meant to do the entire thing on the Normandy as one post, but it's already a day late and this post ran about to the regular length of one of these.

Last time on Mass Effect, we rescued Dr. Liara T'Soni from Saren's mercenary band on Therum. Now, Commander Shepard must debrief his crew, and address their concerns about the deadly mission they're on...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Joker was kinda tame before, but now that the mission's begun all bets are off as far as snark goes. For reference, this room is the same area of the ship where Shepard met Nihlus and Anderson at the beginning of the game.



One of Liara's traits is that she has no sense of humor. I can't recall hearing her laugh at anything in all three games, but that's a lot of dialogue to remember so maybe I'm forgetting something.

Shepard: Joker pulled our asses out of there. I think he's earned the right to a few bad jokes.

Liara: I see. It must be a human thing. I don't have a lot of experience dealing with your species, Commander.

I don't buy that an entire sentient species lacks a sense of humor, or that comedy is a purely human invention. Sci-fi tropes though, whaddya gonna do?




Quick refresher: the Conduit is what Saren is looking for, according to an audio recording pulled off a deactivated geth. Nobody knows exactly what the Conduit is but it's important to bringing back the Reapers, a race of machines that wiped out the last great spacefaring civilization.

Liara: Only that it was connected to the Prothean extinction. That is my real area of expertise. I have spent the past fifty years trying to find out what happened to them.

Shepard: How old are you, exactly?

Liara: I hate to admit it, but I am only a hundred and six.



Liara: A century may seem like a long time to a short-lived species like yours. But among the asari, I am barely considered more of a child. That is why my research has not received the attention it deserves. Because of my youth, other asari scholars tend to dismiss my theories on what happened to the Protheans.

A hundred years of life experience with a young human's clarity of mind would make you immeasurably wise and worldly by human standards, but Liara's still an unsure teenager. Do asari just process information slower?

Also, more old codgers getting in the way of RADICAL YUNGUNS DOIN THINGS THEIR OWN WAY. It's not just humans that get saddled with "we were here first so there" in Mass Effect-land.

Shepard: I've got my own theory about why the Protheans disappeared.

For some reason, this line makes Shepard sound really dumb. "I know you've been studying Protheans for twice the length of my entire existence, but I read this Buzzfeed article and I've got my own theory..."



Liara: It is almost as if someone did not want the mystery solved. It's like someone came along after the Protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy of clues. But here is the incredible part. According to my findings, the Protheans were not the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish. This cycle began long before them.

Fun fact, Liara's face and body are based on an actress named Jillian Murray. As far as I can tell, that is her only really noteworthy role. It's kind of sad, considering that she doesn't even do the voice.

Shepard: Where'd you come up with this theory? I thought there wasn't any evidence.

Liara: I have been working on this for fifty years. I have tracked down every scrap and shred of evidence. Eventually, subtle patterns start to emerge. Patterns that hint at the truth. It is difficult to explain to someone else. I cannot point to one specific thing to prove my case. It is more a feeling derived from a half-century of dedicated research.

Come on, even WE have more evidence than that.



Shepard: If the Protheans weren't the first, then who was?

Liara: I don't know. There is barely any evidence on the Protheans. Even less on those who came before them. I cannot prove my theory, but I know I am right! The galaxy is built on a cycle of extinction. Each time a great civilization rises up, it is suddenly and violently cast down. Only ruins survive. The Protheans rose up from a single world until their empire spanned the entire galaxy. Yet even they climbed to the top on the remains of those who came before.

The Citadel was already there when the asari came to it, as if it had been waiting for them the whole time. Maybe the Protheans themselves found it, a cast-off of the previous cycle?

Liara: Their greatest achievements--the mass relays and the Citadel--are based on the technology of those who came before them.



Shepard: They were wiped out by a race of sentient machines. The Reapers.

Liara: The--the Reapers? But I have never heard of--How do you know this? What evidence do you have?

Shepard: There was a damaged Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. It burned a vision into my brain. I'm still trying to sort out what it all means.

Liara: Visions? Yes... that makes sense. The beacons were designed to transmit information directly into the mind of the user. Finding one that still works is extremely rare. No wonder the geth attacked Eden Prime. The chance to acquire a working one--even a badly damaged one--is worth almost any risk. But the beacons were only programmed to interact with Prothean physiology. Whatever information you received would have been confused, unclear.

At long last, Shepard's vision on Eden Prime has some credibility.



This feels a little disengenuous. "Oh wow, you must be really strong willed! There's NO WAY somebody else could have used the beacon!" (wank-off gesture)



Liara: Of course. You are right. I am sorry. My scientific curiousity got the better of me. Unfortunately, I do not have any information that could help you find the Conduit. Or Saren.

Shepard: I don't know why Saren wanted you out of the picture, But I think we'll be a lot better off if we bring you along.

Almost every time we pick up a party member, we have the opportunity to say "Nah, they're useless and we shouldn't bring them." It makes me wonder if you can actually turn all of them down and just go through the game with just Kaidan and Shepard.



Wrex: And her biotics will come in handy when the fighting starts.

Shepard: Good to have you on the team, Liara.

Liara: Thank you, Commander. I am very gratef--whoa. I am afraid I am feeling a bit light-headed.

Kaidan: When was the last time you ate? Or slept? Dr. Chakwas should take a look at you.

Liara: It is probably just mental exhaustion, coupled with the shock of discovering the Prothean's true fate. I need some time to process all this.

Liara's kind of a wimp. If you pick more neutral options when rescuing her on Therum, she seems to think you're a hallucination and won't stop banging on that thread. She also kinda sucks in combat unless you specifically need biotics.

Liara: Still, it could not hurt to be examined by a medical professional. It will give me the chance to think this over. Are we finished here, Commander?



Everybody pisses off and Joker hits us up over the radio.

Joker: Mission reports are filed, Commander. You want me to patch you through to the Council?

You can choose to be more or less friendly to the Council, such as keeping them updated on your progress. Like a good little drone, I decide to call them this time.

Shepard: Patch them through, Joker.

Joker: Setting up the link now, Commander.



Turian: I assume you're taking the necessary security precautions?

Shepard: Liara's on our side. The geth were trying to kill her.

Because I haven't anything else to say to this scene, Mark Meer sometimes pronounces Liara's name "lee-air-uh" instead of the correct "lee-arr-ah".

Asari: Benezia would never allow Saren to kill her daughter.

Refresher: Benezia is a prominent asari, heard on the recording that incriminated Saren.

Salarian: Maybe she doesn't know.

Turian: Or maybe we don't know her. We never expected she could become a traitor.

Salarian: At least the mission was a success.

Turian: Apart from the utter destruction of a major Prothean ruin. Was that really necessary, Shepard?

Ah crap, the douche patrol is dressing us down for GETTING RESULTS, dammit! *slams fist on desk*



Salarian: Of course, Commander. The mission must always take priority.

Asari: Good luck, Commander. Remember, we're all counting on you.

With that, the Council peaces out and we finally have the run of the Normandy, conversation and all. Before this, most of the characters weren't really talkative. Now that we've done a real plot mission, we can start learning their backstories, asking about their personal lives, and generally being kind of overbearing and weird.

I know I've probably mentioned this in a previous post, but this is my favorite part of any RPG; the post-mission break where you can talk to all of your party members and learn their story. It was my favorite in KOTOR, in Planescape Torment and in this game. It certainly beats driving the Mako on some 3D perlin noise.

First off, let's talk to Kaidan. He didn't have anything to say before, but now he's a bit more talkative.




Kaidan: Is this an official evaluation, Commander? Or off the record?

Uh oh. Kaidan might have some not-so-nice things to say about us.



Kaidan: That's a generous attitude. Okay, I think there's something wrong with all this. This Saren is looking for records on some kind of galactic extinction. But we can't get backup from the Council? Sorry, Commander. There's writing on the wall here, but someone isn't reading it.

Everybody feels like we're getting screwed by the Council. Udina, Anderson, Joker, and now Kaidan. And we are, in a sense; we're doing the whole on-site procurement thing, having been sent into the fire with naught but the clothes on our back.

Shepard: The Council doesn't want to believe anything's wrong. I'd call it human nature, but...

Kaidan: I hear ya. I--it just seems like a group that's been around as long as the Council should see this coming.

As far as we're ever told, this is the first time in recent memory that a Spectre has ever gone rogue. Executor Pallin back on the Citadel seemed to think that this will only become more and more likely if Spectres continue operating the way they have.



BAaT, you say?

Shepard: Tell me about it.

Kaidan: "Biotic Acclimation and Temperance" didn't make it past the airlock. To the kids they hauled in, it was "Brain Camp".

Kaidan's a biotic, and biotic abilities are rare among humans. A human biotic is a Big Deal to the Alliance.

Kaidan: Sorry, "hauled in" is unkind. We were "encouraged to commit to an evaluation of our abilities, so an understanding of biotics could be compiled."

Remember what Chakwas had to say about Kaidan's biotic status?



Even if he dodged a bullet, Kaidan still has plenty of reason to be bitter about it.



Shepard: Is there some question about how you were exposed?

Kaidan: My mother was downwind of a transport crash. It was before there were human biotics. A little after the discovery of the Martian ruins. It only gets iffy around '63 when Conatix was running out of first-gen subjects. Until then, they'd relied on accidentals. Bunch of guys in suits show up at your door after school. Next thing you know, you're out on Jump Zero.

Sounds shady, and we're getting some more grey morality from our own supposed allies.

Shepard: You know of any intentional exposures for certain?

Kaidan: No one "knows." Doesn't mean they didn't happen. As big as the exposures were, it was hard to track down accidentals. It was different then. No one knew the potential, so there wasn't a lot of regulation. Anything Conatix did was gold.



Biotics aren't something humanity has in abundance, but the asari all have biotic abilities, and so do most of the other races to varying degrees. In a scary new world of intergalactic conflict, intentionally creating biotics would be a pretty rad plan.

This kind of state-sponsored human experimentation is also fodder for my pet theory that the Mass Effect universe has intentional parallels to Nazism.

Shepard: There were other kids in the same boat, right? At least you weren't alone out there.

Kaidan: That's true. We did have a little circle that'd get together every night before lights-out. We didn't have much to do, though. It was a research platform then, and Conatix kept Jump Zero off the extranet. To prevent leaks.

Shepard: Then you must've had plenty of time to get to know eachother.

Kaidan: Yeah. We'd sit around and bull every night after dinner. Play cards or network games. There was this girl named Rahna who had a little circle grow up around her. She was from Turkey. Her family was very rich. But she was smart, and charming as hell. Beautiful, but not stuck up about it.



Shepard: Sounds like she was special to you.

Kaidan: She was. Maybe she felt the same, but... things never fell together. Training, you know.

Kaidan's tone is pretty low throughout this, and we never meet Rahna. I think she died and Kaidan's broken up about it. It would certainly explain his bitterness over BAaT.

Time to change the subject.

Shepard: "Jump Zero" is Gagarin Station, right? What's it like?

Kaidan: Yeah, that's the official name. Biggest and farthest facility we had for decades. Right on the termination shock, the outer edge of the solar system. It's where they did all the "goose chase" FTL research. Before we caught on to using mass effect fields. It was a sterile research platform when I was there.

Shepard: Jump Zero's a long way from home. What's it like?

Kaidan: The grand gateway to humanity looks a lot better in the vids. But that's my own baggage, Commander. No bearing on this.

 Shepard: Alenko, there's no regulation that says you can't be friends with your commander.

Kaidan: I appreciate that, Commander. I just don't want you to think that I'm a--a whiner. Besides, I've got my past squared away.

He obviously doesn't, but I can relate. I hate the idea of being known as a complainer. Either way, Kaidan won't open up anymore, so it's time to talk to somebody else. Somebody better rendered.





I'm atually combining two conversations with Wrex here, so I apologize if the flow is a bit broken.

Wrex: There's no story. Go ask the quarian if you want stories.

Shepard: You krogan live for centuries. Don't tell me you haven't had a few interesting adventures.



Shepard: I heard about that. You know, they almost did the same to us.

Wrex: It's not the same.

Shepard: It seems pretty much the same to me.

Wrex: So your people were infected with a genetic mutation? An infection that makes only a few in a thousand children survive birth? And I suppose it's destroying your entire species?

Shepard: I suppose it isn't all the same.

Wrex: I don't expect you to understand, but don't compare humanity's fate with the krogan.

Shepard: I was just making conversation. I wasn't trying to upset you.

I just lightly brought up the slow, inevitable death of your entire species. You know, conversation!

In addition to senseless brutality (Saren) and human experimentation (Kaidan), we now have the systematic extinction of an entire ethnic group represented by Wrex. For those keeping score at home.

Wrex: Your ignorance doesn't offend me, Shepard.



Wrex: The genophage infected us, but it's not what's killing us.

Shepard: Are your people really dying?

Wrex: We're sure not getting any stronger. We're too spread out. None of us are staying in our own system.

Shepard: Lots of species have left their homes and prospered.

Wrex: But they go to colonize new worlds. We're not settlers. We're warriors. We want to fight. So we leave. Hire ourselves out. And most of us never go back.

Despite obviously being very upset by the state of the krogan, Wrex doesn't seem to have any idea what to do about it. He almost seems disdainful; if the krogan mercenaries out there would just put down the guns and hookers, come home and work for the species as a whole, the krogan situation might improve. But they don't, so it won't, as Wrex sees it.

Shepard: What can you tell me about the genophage?



While the turians deployed the genophage against the krogan, the salarians are more to blame for creating the thing in the first place.

Wrex: All I know: it makes breeding nearly impossible. Thousands die in stillbirth, and most never get that far. Every krogan is infected. Every one. And no one's rushing to find a cure.

Shepard: Why don't the krogan try to find a cure?

Wrex: When was the last time you saw a krogan scientist? You ask a krogan: would he rather find a cure for the genophage or fight for credits? He'll choose fighting every time. It's just who we are, Shepard. I can't change that. Nobody can.

Despite being from the brutish warrior race, Wrex has a pretty good grip on his species' culture and what needs to be done. Exactly the kind of person that needs to be leading the krogan.

That was all from the first conversation. Here's the next one, after we return from Artemis Tau.




Wrex: Good? He's rotten. To the core. I could tell as soon as I met him.

Tres intresant!

Shepard: Why didn't you tell me this sooner?

Wrex: I would've if I'd thought it was important.

Shepard: I think I'd like to hear about it just the same.

Wrex: This was a while ago. A bunch of mercs were bragging about a job out near the edges of the Terminus Systems. They said it paid well and the boss was never around to ride them. They said he was looking for more men, too. So, I checked it out.

Wrex is making this quite a prolonged story.

Shepard: I didn't know Saren was openly recruiting mercs.

Wrex: It wasn't that open. And he only showed his face once.



Wrex: I was on board checking bodies for valuables, looking for some extra credits. That's when I saw him.

Shepard: What did Saren want with the ship?

Wrex: I don't know what he wanted. He was just moving through the ship. Watching. Couple of the mercs called him by name, but he never spoke to them. Never spoke to anyone. I had a really bad feeling about him, so I got the hell out. Didn't even wait to get paid.

Shepard: What kind of cargo was the freighter carrying? What was Saren after?

Wrex: I don't know. All I saw on that ship was food and medical supplies. There were some basic weapons, but nothing big. If there was anything of value on that ship, I didn't see it. That's why I didn't mention it sooner.

Shepard: That's the only time you saw him?

Wrex: Yeah. Didn't even know who he was. Still wouldn't if I hadn't joined up with you. But my instincts were right.



Anderson had a theory that Saren is some kind of sadist who just likes killing for the sake of seeing the bodies. This certainly adds to the evidence.

If we hadn't already seen Saren, this would be a very effective introduction. It paints a picture: a peculiar, cold man, with mysterious motives and a sadist streak. It's a well executed scene, with just some spoken lines and a few shots of Wrex talking.

That's all Wrex has to say for now. Let's check on Ashley.



Already, I don't like where this is going.



Ashley: No, sir. Well, maybe. I know things are different aborad the Normandy, but--I'm concerned about the aliens. Vakarian and Wrex. With all due respect, Commander, should they have full access to the ship?

Oh no. Ashley's low-key SPACE RACIST.

Shepard: They may not serve the Alliance, Chief, but they're allies. At least as far as Saren goes.

Ashley: This is the most advanced ship in the Alliance Navy. I don't think we should give them free reign to poke around the vital systems. Engines, sensors, weapons.



Ashley: I'm not sure I'd call the Council races allies. We--humanity, I mean--have to learn to rely on ourselves.

Shepard: Standing up for ourselves doesn't mean standing alone.

Ashley: I don't think we should turn down allies. I just think we shouldn't bet everything on them staying allies. As noble as the Council members seem now, if their backs are against the wall, they'll abandon us.

The thing Ashley's missing is that humanity are the new kids on the block. We're still colonizing, while the Council races each control vast swathes of space. The turians, asari and salarians all work together, whereas Ashley's proposing that humans just do their own thing. I don't know, but I'd rather be part of the largest group than against it when the time comes.

Shepard: You've got a pessimistic view of the universe, Williams.

Ashley: A pessimist is what an optimist calls a realist.



It's okay to sacrifice alien lives because they're not like us! They're basically dogs, they don't have families or cultures or self-awareness like humans do! This kind of horrific SPACE RACISM would warrant a smackdown if I had the option to do so.

Ashley: It's not racism. Not really. Members of their species will always be more important to them than humans are.

See, I'm not prejudiced, I'm just pragmatic! The damn turians er terken er jerbs!



Ashley: My family's defended the Alliance since it was founded. My father, grandfather, great-grandmother--they all picked up a rifle and swore the Oath of Service. I guess we just tend to think of Earth's interests as our own.

We divert on an Investigate dialogue here for some of Ashley's service history.

Shepard: It doesn't sound like you've worked with aliens before.

Ashley: No sir. Mainly I've been groundside. Part of the surface garrison forces. I did get a rotation on a space station for training. "Every marine, a rifleman; every rifleman, zee-gee certified."




Check out that epic question dodge!

I think Ashley's afraid of change. If her family's been military for so many generations, she'd have felt immense pressure to carry the torch. Imagine the awkward family dinners when young Ashley showed an interest in ballet or piano rather than shooting and offroading. It's the same with serving in space: when given the opportunity for a more prestigious posting in the Navy, Ashley instead went with what she already knew and what was expected of her, remaining planetside.

It's the same with the aliens, too. Ashley's uncomfortable because it's different. She's only ever served with humans before and reacts defensively when suddenly there's four aliens on board and she's expected to work closely with them.

Speaking of her family, let's ask about them.



Ashley: Couldn't say, Commander. I read about Mindoir. The Alliance screwed the pooch on that one. Should have had a bigger garrison.



Shepard: No. The future of humanity is out here. There's so much we haven't seen yet.

That's why I became a soldier instead of a scientist or explorer or something.

Ashley: Yeah. I still remember my first field exercise on Titan. When we hit mud, the reality hit me: "I'm the first person who's ever stood here." Theny my drill instructor kicked me in the ass. I went face-first into the muck. He spent the next five minutes chewing me out for "goldbricking."

Shepard: Don't tell me you had Gunny Ellison. He's the only one who uses that word to describe shirking duty.



Ashley: Yeah, Gunny Ellison's still reaming out recruits down there. Kicking ass and using words like "inveigle" and "pusillanimous."

Ashley's like the anti-Liara. Liara's nervous, shy, unsure of herself, and gorgeous. Ashley's confrontational, aggressive, confident, and not unattractive but rather plain. It's fitting that the two romance options (for Manshep, at least) would be totally opposed to eachother. It allows the fanbase to pick waifus, and creates distinct character voices.

At least, that's how I choose to interpret this Gmod-esque smile. I don't want to seem like I'm making fun of the graphics. ME1 mostly looks fine, but sometimes it really, really doesn't. Sorry, not sorry.

Time to stamp out SPACE RACISM once and for all.




Turians actually don't have asscheeks. Their legs kinda seem to socket into a V-shaped piece, but it's difficult to tell with armor and clothing.

Also, we can initiate romance at this point. I chose not to because I still kinda want you viewers at home to decide between Liara, Ashley or no romance at all. The original idea for this thread was that it'd be something like a suggestion game, but it's the eighth post and we're just now seeing the first truly significant choice so that idea's kinda kibosh.

Shepard: I don't think kissing turians will be necessary.

Ashley: You never know, Commander.

Next time: More conversation! We learn more about Ashley, as well as talk to Garrus, Tali, Liara and Joker!

[RedKing]

I always enjoyed Infiltrator -- im in ur base, sniping your geth

Oh, and once you get Liara and Tali with some hefty skill points invested, they can wreck face like you wouldn't believe. Once the shit goes down, bodies are glowing and flying everywhere, Tali's making their shields evaporate and their weapons blow up....I just sit back and pop a cold one and watch the fireworks.

[itisnotlogical]

Last time we left off, Commander Shepard was quashing out SPACE RACISM aboard the Normandy. Now it's time to continue learning everything we can about our crew...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

All that remains is to ask Ashley what she thinks about the last mission. Every character will have at least one new thing to say after every main story mission, which is a pretty good reason to check up on your crew frequently.

I won't be including ALL the dialogue, but enough to paint a picture I hope.




I mean, Liara could just hate her mom. Consider that, Ashley? Maybe asari eat their parents after birth. What would you say to that?

I mean it's not true, but WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO THAT!?

Shepard: I think she's being straight with us. Or, at least, I don't think she lies very often.

Ashley: Yeah, she's probably really bad at it.

That's another weird assumption but whatever.



Sounds like a "You expect me to say something" observation from somebody that doesn't really care, but eh. I'll give it to her.

Anyway, that's all Ashley has to say right now.

Shepard: We'll talk later, Williams.

Ashley: Looking forward to it, sir.

Let's see how Tali is doing.



Tali: I'm starting to understand why you humans have been so successful. I had no idea Alliance vessels were so advanced!

Shepard: The Normandy's a prototype. Cutting edge technology.



Tali: I have to thank you again for bringing me along. Traveling on a vessel like this is a dream come true for me.

Quarians abhor the stereotype that they're thieves and scavengers. They instead prefer the stereotype that they're all filthy little grease monkeys.

Shepard: I had no idea you foudn ship technology so interesting.

Tali: It comes with being a quarian. The Migrant Fleet is the key to the survival of our people. Ships are our most valuable resource, but we don't have anything like this. We make do with cast-offs and second-hand equipment. We just try to keep them running for as long as we can. Some of the Fleet's larger vessels date all the way back to our original flight from the geth.

Shepard: I can't believe your fleet's still using ships that are three centuries old.

Tali: They're constantly being repaired, modified, and refitted. They aren't pretty, but they work. Mostly.



Tali: But some things we just can't make on our own. A patch to maintain the hull integrity requires raw materials we just don't have. That's why our Pilgrimages are so important.

You would think after 300 years the quarians would have found some new world to colonize, or at least a decent resting place. "300 years" may seem like a short time when you say it, but the entire world can be turned on its head in just 300 years of real-life history, let alone in the far future with faster-than-light travel. In all that time, not a single generation of quarians has gotten tired of living in crappy, broken-down ships when every other race has colonies of its own?

Either quarian culture is extremely static and rarely changes (not likely, considering the Pilgrimage and Internet analogues in the ME universe)... or else the quarian race, as a whole, has some sort of plan that means they won't have to be on ships for very much longer.



Tali: When my people reach maturity, we leave our birth ships and seek acceptance with a new crew. It's necessary to maintain genetic diversity among the fleet, but no ship wants to accept someone who will be a burden on them. So, to prove our worth, we embark on a Pilgrimage. We set out alone, leaving the flotilla and our families behind us. We only return once we have found something of value we can bring back to the fleet. This is presented as a gift to the captain of the respective ship we wish to join. If the gift is accepted, we are welcomed into the crew.




Tali: Even when a gift is not particularly valuable, the captain usually accepts it out of a sense of tradition. However there is a stigma to presenting a sub standard gift. It's not the best way to make a good impression on a new community. Most Pilgrims don't return until they find something worthwhile.

Everybody loves Tali for some reason, but now that I'm reading the dialogue I'm not sure why. It reads like a Codex entry. "Tell me about this part of quarian culture." "This part of quarian culture is so and so." This dialogue is pretty long, but I'm not gleaning a whole lot about Tali from it.

Shepard: I can't believe they just send you off alone.

Tali: It's not like they just cast us out. Before we leave, we are given lessons in how to survive outside the flotilla, and given gifts to help us on our journey. We also receive implants to fight off sickness and disease. Generations of living in an isolated and highly controlled environment have left our immune systems weaker than most.

All quarians wear exosuits like Tali's, but we won't be meeting any quarians besides her until the sequel.

Tali: By the time we leave the fleet, we are well-equipped for the Pilgrimage. This is a rite of passage for all quarians. If it were dangerous, our numbers would suffer. Virtually every Pilgrimage ends with a triumphant return and the ritual presentation of the gift to one of the fleet's captains.



Tali: Like what?

Shepard: I want to know more about the geth.

Tali: I doubt I can tell you anything you don't already know. It's been almost three centuries since they drove my people into exile. All I know is the story of their origins: what they were when we created them, and how they turned on us.

Shepard: Interesting.

pffffff



Tali: Over time, we made small modifications to their programming to allow them to perform more varied and complex tasks, bringing them closer and closer to true AI status.

In Mass Effect land, there's varying degrees of artificial intelligence. VIs are dumb and perfectly legal, whereas AIs are real-deal sentient life forms. AIs are illegal because they go psychotic pretty frequently. There's even a sidequest to deal with one.

Shepard: How come the Council didn't step in and stop you?

Tali: This wasn't true AI research. We may have been skirting the bounds of the law, but we never did anything that was actually illegal. The changes were so insignificant, so gradual, that we were able to control them. Or so we thought.

This sounds like quarians retroactively justifying their actions. One doesn't just "accidentally" create sentience. The quarians were messing with stuff they knew was illegal, thought they could get away with it, and ended up finding out why it was illegal.

Tali: But one thing we underestimated was the power of the neural network. A million geth thinking simultaneously created an inherently unstable matrix.

Shepard: So the geth share brain power?

Tali: Many of the geth's logic systems were designed to work in concert with other nearby geth. Basically, the more of them you have in a group, the smarter they are.

Shepard: So they're some sort of group consciousness?

Tali: No, nothing like that. They cannot share sensory data or information. Their programming cannot handle that much simultaneous input. Each geth maintains an individual awareness and identity. The neural network only operates on a process-based level. It's the synthetic equivalent of a subconscious. But when they're in close proximity, they can coordinate low-level functional processes, freeing up more capacity for original or independent thought.




Tali knows an awful lot about geth, was hanging around them on her Pilgrimage (she pulled the Saren tape off one), and almost sounds pround of them in this line. Hmmm.

Tali: As we built more and more geth, their effective intelligence became more sophisticated, more abstract. One day a geth began to ask its quarian overseer questions about the nature of its existence. Am I alive? Why am I here? What is my purpose? As you can imagine, this caused a near-panic among my people.

Shepard: I don't see what's so bad about these questions.

Tali: The geth were created to engage in mundane, repetitive, or dangerous manual labor. That's fine for machines, but it won't satisfy a sentient being for long.

And this is the big problem with artificial life. If you create a work machine that's capable of treachery, laziness, boredom, fear, etc. then you've gone nowhere from just having a person do it. Creating an AI to replicate human behavior is like inventing a high-tech sports car, then designing it to be drawn by horses like a carriage.



Tali: It was inevitable the newly-sentient geth would rebel against their situation. We knew they would rise up against us. So we acted first. A general order went out across all quarian-controlled systems to permanently deactivate all geth. The geth responded to this order violently.

Quarians are stupid. "Hey, instead of talking with the geth, let's just blow them the fuck up! They may be super-intelligent because millions of them are networked together on our home planet and all our colonies, but we should be able to take 'em!"

Shepard: You can't blame them for fighting for their survival.

Tali: We had no other choice! The geth were already on the verge of revolution. By acting quickly, we had a chance to end the war before it began.

She says it like she was there. Do the quarians even have history books, or is it an oral tradition by now?

Tali: The hope was that most of the geth would still be little more than machines, incapable of organized resistance. But they had progressed much further than anyone anticipated. The war was long and bloody. Millions upon millions of quarians died at their hands. In the end, we were forced to flee our own homeworld.



Time for an EPIC SEGUE.




Tali: There are seventeen million quarians in the flotilla, and each of us relies on the others for survival. The bonds among my people are strong. Unfortunately, we have had to surrender many of the freedoms and civil liberties other species take for granted.

Shepard: What kind of freedoms?

Tali: Well, it's illegal for parents to have more than one child. If our population grows too much, it would strain our resources to the breaking point. Of course, we also can't allow our numbers to become too few. If our population is in decline, the rule against single births is temporarily repealed. In extreme cases of population decline, incentives are even offered to encourage multiple births. Though the Conclave hasn't had to take such measures in nearly a century.

I'm really reaching for stuff to say about this. It is a LOT of just telling and telling and telling about stuff you never see in-game. Wrex's, Ashley's, Kaidan's and even Navigator Pressly's dialogue all included anecdotes, opinions and personal history. They explained about the universe while also telling you a little about the person doing the talking. Tali is just reading verbatim from a history book.

Shepard: That's your government?

Tali: The Conclave is our civilian branch of government. Each ship can elect a representative to serve on the Conclave and make decisions that affect the fleet as a whole. On matters that affect an individual ship, however, the captain has the final say. It's a tradition that dates back to the early days when the fleet was governed by martial law. Fortunately, most captains nowadays are smart enough to have an elected council from their crew to give them advice and guidance.

Is that one going to be on the test, Ms. Tali?

Shepard: So the ultimate power rests with elected officials?



Tali: The five top-ranking military officials in the fleet serve on the Admiralty Board. These five have the power to overrule any decision by the Conclave in case of emergency. To do so requires unanimous agreement among the Admiralty. And they can only do this once. After that, the entire Board must resign their posts. It's a safeguard that's served us well. In nearly three centuries, the Admiralty Board has only overruled the Conclave four times.

If this is the "excellent worldbuilding" that people praise ME1 for, I'm glad the sequels ditched it. I don't want any more "excellent worldbuilding" if it means 10+ paragraphs of deadpan exposition.

You know what worldbuilding is? When you go into Addamasartus in Morrowind and there's a whole bunch of slaves in a pen. The player realizes there's slavery in Morrowind. Bam, worldbuilding!

Sigh.



THANK FUCK



Garrus, buddy, restore my faith in this game!

Garrus: I knew working with a Spectre would be better than life at C-Sec.



Garrus: Well, no, but I know what they're like. Spectres make their own rules. You're free to handle things your way. At C-Sec, you're buried by rules. The damn bureaucrats are always on your back.

Sounds like Garrus heard all of Executor Pallin's talk about Spectres being dangerous loose cannons with no strings attached, and said "Awesome!"

Shepard: For the most part, the rules are there for a reason.

Garrus: Maybe. But sometimes it feels like the rules are only there to stop me from doing my work. If I'm trying to take down a suspect, it shouldn't matter how I do it, as long as I do it. But C-Sec wants it done their way. Protocol and procedure come first. That's why I left.

Shepard: So you just quit because you didn't like the way they do things?

Garrus: There's more to it than that. It didn't start out bad, but as I rose in ranks, I got saddled with more and more red tape. C-Sec's handling of Saren was typical. I just couldn't take it anymore. I hate leaving...

Garrus doesn't want to be a cop, he wants to be a badass. He wants to chase the suspect down and tackle him. What does it matter if you can't just tap any random phone line?




Garrus: Either way, I plan to make the most of this. And without C-Sec headquarters looking over my shoulder, well, maybe I can get the job done my way for a change.

And he's hoping that our mission is his chance to be the loose-cannon cop that gets results. He doesn't get that often times, you can't just waste the bad guys and go home.

Shepard: If getting the job done means endangering innocent people, then no. We get the job done right, not fast. Got it?

Garrus: I wasn't trying to--I understand, Commander.

If this were KOTOR 2 we'd have totally lost influence and wouldn't be able to make Garrus a Jedi now.

That's it for Garrus for now, up next is Joker in the cockpit:




Joker: I can see where this is going. You did a background check on me, didn't you? Well, I'll tell you the same thing I told the captain. You WANT me as your pilot I'm not good. I'm not even great. I'm the best damn helmsman in the Alliance fleet!



Shepard: I'm sorry, Joker. I didn't even know you were sick.

Joker: You mean--you mean you didn't know? Ah, crap.

Joker's an asshole, but I love him.

Joker: Okay... I've got Vrolik's Syndrome. Brittle bone disease. The bones in my legs never developed properly. They're basically hollow. Too much force and they'll shatter. Even with cruthces and my leg braces it's hard to get around. One wrong step and CRACK! It's very dramatic! But I've learned to manage my condition, Commander.

Sensitive, much?



I've never read "He Who Laughs Best", so I have no idea how Joker managed to commandeer the Normandy for his joyride. Somehow I doubt crutches and leg braces are conducive to sneaking past guards.

Shepard: Why does everyone call you Joker?

Joker: It's a lot shorter than saying Alliance Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau. Plus, I love to make little children laugh.

Shepard: I was just thinking how much you remind me of Santa Claus.

Joker's just the right blend of cynical, sarcastic, flawed and competent to be endearing. If anything were a shade off, he'd just be a douchebag.



Shepard: Why didn't you ever smile?

Joker: Hey, I worked my ass off in flight school, Commander. The world's not going to hand you anything if you go around grinning like an idiot. By the end of the year, I was the best pilot in the Academy. Even better than the instructors, and everybody knew it.



This is the kind of realism that emerges from actual hardship, like having balsa wood for leg bones. Not "wah wah the world sucks" from somebody who THINKS they've gone through hardship. Joker got saddled with bullshit as a little kid, and shrugged that shit off and kept on trucking. It's a touchy subject, but he doesn't write essays about how awful life is.

Shepard: How's the Normandy performing? Is it everything they said she'd be?

Joker: She's the best ship in the fleet... if you've got a pilot who knows how to handle her. The balance isn't what you'd expect. Takes a while to get used to that oversized drive core we got stuffed in the back. Her power can sneak up on you if you're not careful. The Normandy's probably too much ship for your average Alliance pilot, Commander. Lucky for you, I'm anything but average.

That's all we have to say to Joker for now. I decided to skip Engineer Adams for now in favor of getting back to actual gameplay, but let's talk to Liara to wrap this up.






Liara: Dr. Chakwas assures me I am going to be fine. I was impressed with her knowledge of asari physiology.

I just noticed that Protheans are always capitalized, but every other species name isn't. It's really bothering me, but I don't want to correct it in the transcription because then it wouldn't match the subtitles in the screenshots and aaaaaaa

Shepard: You're in good hands. Dr. Chakwas knows what she's doing.

Liara: I never properly thanked you for saving me from the geth, Commander. If you hadn't shown up...

Shepard: I'm just glad we got there in time.

 Liara: So am I.

Liara: I know you took a chance bringing me aboard this ship. I have seen the way your crew looks at me. They do not trust me. But I am not like Benezia. I will do whatever I can to help you stop Saren. I promise.

Shepard: Don't worry, Liara. I trust you. I know you won't let me down.

Liara: It means a lot to hear you say that, Commander. Thank you.

I don't know if Mass Effect's writers knew about waifus, but Liara is waifu-bait. From the rescuing her on Artemis Tau to her nervousness and shyness to her concerns about SPACE RACISM, the message of Liara's dialogue is often "Protect and reassure me" and Paragon choices concerning her tend to reflect that.

Not that this is a bad thing. Liara's a deeper character than that, and grows beyond it in the sequels; it's just her place in the cast of this game.



Liara: I don't understand it. She was always outspoken about the need for the asari to become more involved in shaping galactic events. Maybe she thought allying herself with Saren would somehow be for the greater good in the long run. At least, I hope so.

Shepard: This hurts you, doesn't it?

Liara: None of this makes any sense to me. I have not spoken to Benezia in many years, but I know her! And this was not like her. Something changed.




Shepard: Sounds dangerous. And lonely.

Liara: Sometimes I would run afoul of indigenous life-forms, or stumble across a small band of mercenaries or privateers. But I was always careful. Until the geth followed me to Artemis Tau, I never found myself in any situation my biotics could not handle. As for the solitude, well, that is one aspect that most appealed to me. sometimes, I just need to get away from other people.

Shepard: You don't like other people?

Liara: I suppose it comes from being a Matriarch's daughter. People expected me to follow in Benezia's footsteps. They wanted me to become a leader of our people.



Liara: It sounds so foolish when I say it out loud. It sounds like I became an archaeologist simply to spite Benezia.

Shepard: All children rebel against their parents. It's a natural part of growing up.

Liara: Ha-ha. You share the wisdom of the Matriarch, Shepard. That is exactly what Benezia said when I told her of my decision. But there was more to it than that. I felt drawn to the past. The Protheans were these wondrous, mysterious figures. I wanted to know everything about them.








Liara: Now you know why I prefer to spend my time in the field with data disks and computers. I always seem to say something embarassing around other people. Please... Just pretend this conversation never happened.

You'd need to hear the voices, but that was a genuinely cute and funny exchange. Better than most "Aliens can't into humor" scenes, anyway.

Now class, repeat after me:



And with that, we've talked to most of the crew of the Normandy and learned at least a little bit about all of them! Next time: Noveria, A Song of Ice Planets and Graphical Glitches!

[itisnotlogical]

Last we left off, Commander Shepard learned more than he would ever have liked to know about the quarian political process.

Back to business at hand, the Normandy heads to Noveria, to investigate sightings of geth on the icy planet...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

In order to facilitate streaming on Twitch, I switched from OBS to OBS Studio. I apologize if the screenshots look worse, I migrated the settings as best I knew how but things will look a little over-compressed for most of this post.








The crew leaves the Normandy, only to be confronted by a security detail.




I took Liara along for this one, for reasons that will become apparent later.

Maeko: This is an unscheduled arrival, I will need your credentials.

Shepard: You first.



Kaira's on the right, Maeko's the one on the left.

Maeko: I'm Captain Maeko Matsuo, Elanus Risk Control Services.

Shepard: I'm a Spectre. My name is Shepard.

Kaira: Load of horsecrap, ma'am.

Maeko: We will need to confirm that.

I thought we were big news back on the Citadel. What happened?

Maeko: Also, I must advise you that firearms are not permitted on Noveria. Sergeant Stirling, secure their weapons.



I like that Liara's glowing, as if about to use her biotics rather than a weapon. It's a nice touch.

Shepard: Stand down. Their house, their rules.

Kaidan: Aye aye, Commander.

Yeah, there isn't a no-weapons level in Mass Effect. I'm pretty sure there was in KOTOR, where no matter what you said or did you had to give up your weapons to the authority. It's been years and years since I played KOTOR though, and I didn't pay much attention the first time through.



A voice on the intercom de-escalates the situation that Shepard had already de-escalated.

Gianna: We confirmed their identity. Spectres are authorized to carry weapons here, Captain.

Maeko: You may proceed, Spectre. I hope the rest of your visit will be less confrontational.

She just ordered her XO to secure our weapons with no explanation. She could have just kindly explained to us that we're not allowed to have weapons, instead of trying to grab them out of our hands.



Kaira Stirling: Behave yourself.

As if this trip couldn't get any worse, we appear to have landed on the weeaboo homeworld.

Just around the corner, Gianna is waiting to meet us.



Shepard: I appreciate your help.

Gianna: You're welcome. You understand our security chief was only doing her job.

By creating a potential security risk, advancing aggressively on armed strangers from a military ship. You know, security!

Gianna: One of my duties is orientation of new arrivals. Do you have any questions?

Shepard: Pretty heavy security for such a small port.

Gianna: The Executive Board does everything in its power to protect the privacy of our client corporations.

Noveria is basically the shady research hub of the galaxy. Anything that's illegal, morally questionable or just plain wrong happens on Noveria.




Not exactly the most threatening thing in the world. You'd think scary megacorps would, you know, kill you or something.

Shepard: Has anyone unusual passed through here recently?

Gianna: Unusual? An asari Matriarch passed through a few days ago. Lady Benezia.



Shepard: Can I speak with her?

Gianna: Benezia left for the Peak 15 research complex a few days ago. To the best of my knowledge, she is still there.

Liara's mom, working for Saren, at a top-secret research lab. Nothing good can be happening there.

Shepard: Could you tell me how to get there?

Gianna: You'll need to ask Administrator Anoleis for clearance to leave this port.

Shepard: Where can I find this administrator?

Gianna: His office is on the main level. Left at the top of the elevator.

Shepard: Understood. Can we go in now?

Gianna: Of course. If you need any help, you can ask me at the administrator's office.

So, that's our quest for this area set up: we can't leave without clearance, which the administrator probably isn't just going to give to us. Standard early-game stuff.

However, Liara's troubled by the thought of facing Benezia.



Liara: I imagine you want to talk to me, Shepard. About my mother.

Shepard: We talked about her before. But things change when you're up against something. If it's her or me, who would you shoot?

Liara: I meant what I said before. Her actions are wrong. If you would feel safer leaving me on the Normandy, I will stay. But I would like to see her. Maybe I can persuade her to come peacefully.

Shepard: I hope so. I accept your word, Liara. Let's get going.



This kind of instant-loyalty thing really bothers me in RPGs. We picked Liara up like, an hour ago? And she's already siding with us against her mother, no questions asked. I actually never took Liara to Noveria before, so maybe there's more conflict ahead.

Also, Shepard said "Lee-air-uh" instead of "Lee-arr-ah" and it still really bothers me.



Port Hanshan isn't the worst-looking place in Mass Effect 1, but it is pretty dull. Lots of brown boxes and 45-degree slopes. It also has random giant rocks around as decorations. Fortunately, we won't be staying here very long and there's no reason to come back, not even for sidequests AFAIK.



To get into Anoleis' office, we have to be paged in by Gianna.




Anoleis: Yes, what? What!

Gianna: Commander Shepard is asking to see you, sir.

Anoleis: Right, fine. Come in.

That was easy.




Anoleis is a salarian and, like all salarians, is kind of a douche.

Shepard: I see you looked up my service record.

Colonial rubes referring to our background, being from a colony that got raided by slavers.

Anoleis: Only a fool enters negotiation without knowledge of the other party's tendencies. This greeting is a courtesy. I will only cooperate as required by the Executive Board. Businesses come here to avoid the second-guessing of galactic law.

Also like all salarians, Anoleis believes that he knows what is best and any ethical questions can be done away with SCIENCE!

Shepard: Are you telling me you have no safety protocols?

Anoleis: Don't be ridiculous. Do you think a for-profit company would take no precautions against loss of life and material? Project leads have the final say here. Not meddlesome politicians.

Yeah, politicians are always saying stuff like "You can't kidnap people for experiments" and "You can't sterilize an entire race just because they're growing too rapidly." What a bother, am I right?




Shepard: What can you tell me about her cargo?

Anoleis: Large, heavy, and sealed. It passed weapons screening. Beyond that it is not our concern.

It's probably geth.

Shepard: What do you mean "personal escort?"

Anoleis: The phrase is self-explanatory. Bodyguards attending to the safety of her person. Mainly asari commandos.

If you want an image of a fight with asari commandos, imagine a biotic boot stepping on Commander Shepard's face--forever.

Kaidan: And you didn't think that odd?

Anoleis: They followed all our regulations. I had no reason to forbid Lady Benezia from taking them.




Anoleis: Regardless, there is a blizzard in the area. Shuttles are grounded, and surface access has been cut off.

Shepard: Surface access, you say?

Anoleis: Cut off, I said. The roads are not suitable for travel. Don't make an issue of this, Shepard.

Kaidan: Forget him, Commander. If he won't play ball, I'm sure someone else here will.



It's clear that Anoleis isn't actually going to help us, so we peace out. However, on the way out, Gianna hits us up with a proposition.

Gianna Parisini: You've never worked in corporate before, have you Shepard? You can't just bludgeon through beaurocracy.

Shepard: So it would seem. I need an alternative.

Gianna: Talk to Lorik Qui'in. You should be able to find him at the hotel bar. Can't say more. Not within earshot of Mr. Anoleis.

He's behind a sealed door a good 20 to 30 feet away, I'm sure if you whispered there's no way he could hear. Salarians don't even have visible ears!

This is actually just one of two ways to get out of Port Hanshan. You can help Anoleis rat out a smuggler, in which case he'll give you a pass. However, this is the longer and more interesting route.



So, once again, we find ourselves helping out a drunk turian. Great.



The hotel area is a bit spiffier than the rest of Hanshan, but it's still pretty lame. The hologram decorations just emphasize the bleak climate and lack of furniture.



Lorik's sitting at the only table, which makes him easy to spot at least.




Shepard: I'm trying to find a way into the garage. I have places to go.

Lorik: You need a pass. How fortuitous. I'm the manager of the local Synthetic Insights office. For the moment, at least. Mr. Anoleis closed my office. He claims to be investigating reports of my corruption. The administrator is an interesting man. He has become quite wealthy since he took direct control of rents.

Shepard: I sense a connection there.

Lorik: Indeed. I acquired evidence of Anoleis' actions. His hired goons are ransacking my office to find it. I suspect your goal lies outside this port. Mr. Anoleis would be disinclined to let you wander. If you recover the evidence from my office, I will give you my garage pass, as well as a sum of credits.



Lorik: I do. However, there is one other--what is that charming human expression? "Fly in the lotion?"

I've never heard any expression like that, and I'm fairly sure I'm a human.

Lorik: Violence against Mr Anoleis' thugs may be necessary. He has members of Hanshan's security team searching my offices. He is paying them under the table. Ms. Matsuo is unaware of their outside employment.

Shepard: I'll focus on trying to get your evidence. If I'm lucky, I won't have to fight anyone.

Lorik: Excellent. Here is my pass into our offices. It will activate the elevator.



Lorik: And do try to keep blood off the carpets.

The offices are just a short walk away. Inside, we're confronted by said goons:





I actually don't have enough Paragon or Renegade points to resolve the situation peacefully, so those options are greyed out. We have to kill these guys.

Shepard: I'm going in there, and I don't want to hurt you. Why don't you just go? We'll pretend this never happened.

Shepard's peace ploy doesn't work.



We have a fairly easy fight with these guys. There's only four of them, and there aren't any biotics or snipers.



There's also this barely-visible assault drone, but it's mostly just annoying. It flies in a really fast figure-eight pattern while constantly shooting.

After the fight, we head upstairs and get the evidence, thankfully without a hacking minigame.



yaaaaay



Shepard: you have me at a disadvantage, Miss...?

Kaira: Oh, now you're going to show some respect? I'm Sergeant Kaira Stirling, Elanus Risk Control Services.



And that's how you write a minor villain. Make them as unpleasant as possible in a short amount of time so you feel good about killing them.

Kaidan: Being a cop doesn't give you a right to break the law yourself. You accepted bribe money.

Shepard: I didn't want to fight them. They fired first.



This fight doesn't seem too hard, I'll just--



ohhhhhhhh

Whenever there's even a tiny risk of snipers, you want to get into cover. These ones actually are a one-hit kill, unlike the geth on Therum.



Once you get around that, this fight isn't too bad. Kaira's the real threat, but she's not much tougher than the regular dudes.

And next time, we give the disk to Lorik Qui'in and learn a secret about Gianna!

I'm sorry about the abrupt ending, but it's pretty late and there isn't a better stopping point until the end of Hanshan. I don't want to fall out of rhythm with posting every Sunday, because if I do then I'll just keep slipping and I don't want to stop doing this.

[Dorsidwarf]

I love it!
(We'll bang, OK?)