The Vanguard of your Destruction: Let's Play Mass Effect!

[DFM]

LET'S PLAY MASS EFFECT

[BROUGHT TO YOU BY MIRAI GEN]

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/2885/wallpaperq.jpg

Who purchased this game for me on the PC so I could do this Let's Play which is kind of like being paid to write a Let's Play which is kind of like being a published author sort of in a way if you squint and hold your breath WHICH MAKES ME A PUBLISHED AUTHOR NOW FFFFFFFFFFFF YES


Mass Effect is a 2007 action RPG from Bioware where you are Commander Shepard, space badass, who is leading a team of other space badasses to stop a giant asshole from skipping around the galaxy and wrecking up the place.

http://whatspikelikes.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/mass-effect-skyline-big.jpg

You get your own ship, your own crew, and this space tank monster truck called the Mako which is named after the fact that if you threw a shark into a sand pit it would look a lot like you trying to drive anywhere in this fucking thing. It comes in handy later but I have no idea why they don't just drop you at the front door for most of these missions, it's not like most of the people you fight are set up to fight off a military frigate but whatever we get to climb up walls at two feet per minute in something that was meant for water so that's cool. That's cool Bioware.

http://www.x360zone.com/wp-content/uploads/games/Mass-Effect-Xbox-360-03.jpg

As an ARPG/Shooter hybrid, you get stats and skills you level up throughout the game, and like any good RPG some are worthless and you'll die if you put any points in them. This scrub has Marksmen what a worthless power that never did anyone any good I can't believe it's even in the gavvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvshp that was the sound of a pistol unloading a million rounds in one point five seconds with pinpoint accuracy.

http://na.llnet.bioware.cdn.ea.com/u/f/eagames/bioware/masseffect2/resources/assets/media/wallpapers/wallpaper-14-1280x1024.jpg

There's also a Paragon/Renegade morality scale which is basically "By the Book Simon" and his partner "Loose Cannon Garfunkle". If you get a high enough Renegade score your cybernetics start to break through your skin because they smell the blood of the innocent at your feet. But that's only in Mass Effect 2 so we don't have to worry about that. We can totally give ourselves bitchin' ass scars from the start though, ME2 ain't got nothing on that.

I guess that's sort of the gist of the game, I dunno, if you don't know what Mass Effect is you'll pick it up as we go along. Now it's time for everyone's favorite part of these things and that is CHARACTER CREATION where we forge our fearless colonial soldier MAX HARDON.

http://img816.imageshack.us/img816/373/me006.jpg

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/9990/me008.jpg

There's our default Male and Female Shepards. Now's where we customize. Vote for one sex, one origin, one psych profile, and one class. If you want to throw in suggestions for appearance, that's cool too.

ORIGINS

http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/1217/me013.jpg

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/359/me014d.jpg

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/6104/me019c.jpg

PSYCHE PROFILES

http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/5626/me020.jpg

http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/9053/me021o.jpg

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/79/me015.jpg

CLASSES

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/3158/me022.jpg

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/7656/me016.jpg

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/5795/me023.jpg

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/5276/me017.jpg

http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/672/me001z.jpg

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/2893/me018.jpg

I told Krylo I'd include "Emo-Goth Biotic Super Chick" or something as an option so THERE, THERE IT IS KRYLO.

Basically I'm going to try and make this work like my VtM:B LP, where I do first person narration and monologues and observations while throwing in the occasional audience vote on a moral/tactical choice. The character/personality Shepard has is going to come from whatever combination of options you choose above, and I'll probably do a short little written introduction before the screenshots start.

ANYWAY THERE YOU GO. THERE IT IS. THE MASS EFFECT LET'S PLAY, LET'S HOPE MY COMPUTER DOESN'T FALL OVER AND DIE AGAIN FOR THE THIRD AND POSSIBLY FOURTH TIME.

As an aside are the actual screenshots too small? I wanted to make them more manageable than the last one. (Past this, there won't be any text on them for you to strain to read as far as I can remember).

[Odjn]

Earthborn Ruthless Soldier or Vanguard, male. Fuck Krylo what did he ever do that was worth anything.

DON'T forget this one fucker.

[Viridis]

Man, that's a lot of options. Screenshots are fine in size.

Don't have an option of most of this. Vanguard, Adept or Sentinel, I guess?


You just reminded me that I still have to watch most of the Freelance Astronaut's Mass Effect stuff.

[Krylo]

I told Krylo I'd include "Emo-Goth Biotic Super Chick" or something as an option so THERE, THERE IT IS KRYLO.

Love you too, baby bear.

Also--this is my vote.

Fuck Krylo what did he ever do that was worth anything.

Your mom.

...So basically nothing.

[synkr0nized]

While these pictures are fine on my resolution, I'd prefer not to have them be any bigger.


So, here's what I recommend!

I don't have a strong preference for gender, but having played the game multiple times myself I must admit making a male Shep and having a boys' club party the whole time (Garrus, Wrex, and Shep 4LIFE) is fun as Hell. It is even greater when you're more renegade and convince Garrus to do whatever the fuck to complete his objectives. Wrex does that already anyway, and Paragon Shep can arguably get the same chat without any penalty though I feel like it's out of character, but it's great bein' all, "haha Let's shoot some bitches in their faces." and Garrus going all, "Oh man you have taught me how to be so awesome." It flows so great into the second game. But that can be done regardless of gender!

So I'm not really picking either one for that.


Pick colonist. Spacer always feels too much like an ass-kisser to me, but it may also be that I don't like the idea of the whole soldier-family tradition crap. You get enough of that from Ashley, the racist marine! Colonist always let me feel justified on top of the hilarity of always being cruel to slavers (read: Batarians) regardless of what was happening. Earthbound isn't bad, I guess, with the orphan story and gangs; it worked for Tasha Yar [despite not being on Earth], but I like colonist more.

I would then go with sole survivor. Ruthless would work with what I am building up here/thinking of, but I'm feeling a little personal tragedy is better than just being an ice-cold jerk.

This leads up to aiming for a Renegade style playthrough, of course.

Paragon is quite fun to play, and often I find myself not wanting to select the obvious "renegade" choices in conversations regardless of what I am doing, so it's not like I will be disappointed either way. However, I've always liked the idea of playing the game with the mindset of developing your Shep as a person as you play rather than reducing it to what it all actually is -- did you press up or down on your conversation wheel and spend your points in angry or happy. I've had fun in Renegade playthroughs using these simple character foundations/background bits as the starting point and letting the conversations I end up having chisel out the rest. Because I am such a huge nerd like this I think this will really help a narrative-driven LP of this game, and I know DFM can make that happen.



Lastly, I vote for either Adept or Infiltrator. Of the classes, being able to kill everything without even using guns or destroy even the biggest enemies from afar with a sniper rifle [and get really close to playing a SC Ghost] were the most fun for me.

You just reminded me that I still have to watch most of the Freelance Astronaut's Mass Effect stuff.

The first couple of videos were hilarious, but then Maxwell started having to actually fight things. He is pretty terrible at the game, and it's been making it difficult to enjoy it, spawning tanks and all.

[Marc v4.0]

Male Soldier Full on Renegade, and immediately punch the female Shepard in the face.

Also, Sole Survivor, no origin preference.

Punch. Everything.

[DFM]

This is pretty unrelated to the thread, but my canon Shep is Sole Survivor and it made ME2 awkward as hell since there weren't any dialog options that involved panicked shooting at everyone and everything in the facility.

[Melfice]

Male (I like Synk's idea of the dysfunctional Men's Club)
Colonist
Sole Survivor
Vanguard

Renegade. SHOTGUN TO THE FACE FOR EVERYBODY!

[Revising Ocelot]

Whichever you pick out of FemShep/MaleShep, go for the default looks. I've always found custom Sheps, especially the male ones, to look hilariously out of place.

As for class... go Infiltrator since it's awesome in ME2, although I've only played Soldier in ME1 so it might be terrible, but whatever. Morality? Eh, I'll buck the trend so far and say Paragon. Although ParaShep in ME2 is much better in ME1. (Punch Zaeed! Quarian tummy-aches!) Background can be whatever.

[greed]

Female (not gonna make you listen to Mark Meer), I always liked Spacer and War Hero just cause it made you a badass. Also as for name, call her Helen or Helena or something. Completely fucked up continuity right there. Also Paragon most of the time, Shepard paunch still must happen regardless however.

Class and appearance, eh let's go with Krylo's pick.

Edit: Also if Male Shepard ends up winning, don't use the default, he looks like a tool.

[Grimpond]

FeMale
Ruthless
Colonist
Vaguard
Renegade

[Loyal]

No Gender Preference, Colonist, War Hero, Infiltrator, Paragon.

[Marc v4.0]

Edit: Also if Male Shepard ends up winning, don't use the default, he looks like a tool.


Shepard is pretty much just a human space tool to begin with, No matter what side of the morality line you tow (Especially in ME2, no matter what you do you do it in the most asshole way possible)

[Gregness]

No gender preferance
Sole Survivor
Earthborn
Sentinal
Paragon

[Arhra]

I should really get onto playing this, seeing I bought it recently.

Damn you Minecraft!

Anyway, feeling a bit too ignorant about what most of the character choices do, so I'll just say Paragon.

Oh, and the screenshot size is perfect as it is.

[DFM]

Alright, I'll probably close the polls and do the first update tomorrow night. We're looking at a Male Colonist Sole Survivor.

Votes are still open for class, since we need a tie-breaker between Infiltrator and Vanguard.

Edit: By Tomorrow Night I meant Sometime Wednesday

[Azisien]

Infiltrator. Fuck vanguard. Everybody plays god damn vanguard. Oooh look at me I have a shotgun. Whoop-dee.

[Krylo]

I feel sorry for DFM with all the male votes.

Mark Meer's voice acting in ME1 is fucking terrible.

[Fusionman]

I say play Vanguard. Vanguard is even in the title.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

Earthborn, Ruthless, Vanguard

Either gender will do.

[greed]

I feel sorry for DFM with all the male votes.

Mark Meer's voice acting in ME1 is fucking terrible.

I told him bro. I told him about the VA.

[Krylo]

I also feel sorry for us, because MShep's ass was not crafted with nearly as much tender loving care as FemShep's ass was.

[synkr0nized]

But the less-quality voice acting fit my retarded Boy's Club playthrough. I must have just tuned it out.


Also. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5Fjc1hBwuE)

[Revising Ocelot]

I must have been the only one who didn't mind MaleShep's VA. *shrug*
FemShep is Jennifer Hale, correct? In some parts in ME2 she sounded like she was bored. In my lousy opinion, of course. *shrug again*

[synkr0nized]

Nah she totally has her own moments of :/ acting.

[greed]

Nah she totally has her own moments of :/ acting.

Yeah. The main issue is less she did a perfect job and more Meer sounded kinda off for the entire of 1. In 2 it's much closer and more a matter of preference.

[Krylo]

Yeah. The main issue is less she did a perfect job and more Meer sounded kinda off for the entire of 1. In 2 it's much closer and more a matter of preference.

This is basically spot on.

The problem is I don't like default ME 2 Shepard, but playing through ME 1 as MShep is a test of endurance for my delicate ears.

...I really wanted to get some Talimance on, too.

[DFM]

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1009.jpg

“Alright, assholes, listen up.”

The commander stands in front of our assembled chairs, uniform starched and rigid. We are onboard the SSV Kolkata, and our cruiser is leaving its patrol route for the first time in nearly two months. We are eager for the change.

“This frozen ball of spit is Akuze.” He points to the hologram behind him, a white ball floating in slow rotation, covered in landing vectors and grid overlays. “It’s a red flag world, one of the dozens we snatched up along the traverse to keep the Batarians out of our goddamn business. There’s a pioneer colony of a few thousand sitting on its surface, mostly researchers and mining survey teams. PS-784-00BR9 on the Alliance database, Rolina Seven Three to the locals. Six hours ago, the entire colony went dark. No distress calls, no unusual transmissions, no signs of raider activity in the area. Likely we’re looking at a downed power grid, but command doesn’t want to take any chances in the ass end of nowhere.”

The hologram behind him flickers, an invisible camera zooming down to the planet’s surface. The image changes, warping from a monochrome hologram to a projected satellite image of Rolina Seven Three. Toombs nudges me, whispering as he leans closer.

“This has ‘training mission’ all over it.”

“It’s like they’re not even trying anymore.” I whisper back.

“The SSV Antietam deployed a recon group shortly before our jump to the sector, but the hemisphere wide snowstorms are flaring up again. Makes contact and retrieval a bit tricky, especially for a frigate that size.” The commander turns to his map, fingers pressing against a clearing in the snow and causing a targeting reticule to appear.

“I wonder if they got real guys to play the dead recon squad or if it’s just going to be a bunch of CPR dummies again.” I whisper to Toombs.

Commander Kyle repeats the motion for two more sites, all around the perimeter of Rolina Seven Three. He draws arrows, lines and circles as he speaks.

“Three fire teams are going to be deployed by drop shuttle... Whiskey here, Tango here and Oscar here. They’re going to follow these designated routes as they move on the colony and perform a clean sweep for any members of the recon squad. If they’re really in trouble, you should be able to see their flares through the storm. Once you meet up with them, signal the other fire teams and move on the colony. And for God’s sake, hold your fire. I don’t want someone getting jumpy and mowing down a crowd of researchers because in the snowstorm they looked a hell of a lot like Batarian raiders.”

“Think they’re going to make this live fire or give us the replicas again?” Toombs asks.

“It’s in the middle of snowstorm, of course it’s the replicas.” A nearby private responds.

“Once you’ve secured the facility, you are to contact the Kolkata with your sitrep and wait for further instructions.” Kyle ignores any sign he doesn’t have our full attention. “Any questions? And Toombs if you ask how you can get out of this chicken shit outfit one more time I’m locking your ass in the brig.”

There are no other questions.

The shuttle to the surface of Akuze is claustrophobic. Armored bodies are pressed inside like sardines in a tin. It is one of three shuttles that will be landing on the planet. Fifteen soldiers in a space meant for twelve. Our helmets are on and sealed, suits prepped for level one hazard conditions. The shotgun in my hand is real. The surface of Akuze is an arctic nightmare, nothing but frozen crags and icy winds as far as the satellite maps can see. Rolina Seven Three is situated at the base of a planet spanning mountain range, by the shore of one of its many frozen seas. As our shuttle drops to within a thousand feet of the colony, I can see it burning through the storm. Tango and Oscar’s shuttles break formation and head towards their own landing zones while we continue downward towards the pouring mass of black. I can hear the fires of the colony roaring from inside our shuttle. Not from Rolina, I realize. I wonder, briefly, if all slaughters sound the same.

The Kodiak shuttle swerves upwards to a sudden halt before settling on the ice in front of the colony. The doors open, and the men explode outward, disappearing instantly inside the snowstorm. We no longer believe this is a training mission. The shuttle lifts as I step off of it. We push forward through the snow, matching urgency with steady caution. I can barely see the marine in front of me. We are kept together only by Lieutenant Simms’ constant radio chatter. Our formation is loose, and we leapfrog from cover to cover through the storm. Seven men focused ahead, three covering each side and two guarding rear. I’m kept looking forward, near the formation’s interior. My rank is Gunnery Chief, but my vocational designation is N6. The N marks me as special operations, an asset given to Commander Kyle as a reward for his service at Elysium. The six represents my scored proficiency, ranked in ascending order from lowest to highest.

There are seven proficiency levels.

The flames of Rolina are visible as scattered flickers through the fog of white. There has been no sign of the recon team. I can hear the fires now, distant, muffled. No screams. The colony is built out of prefabricated buildings, faded white boxes stacked across the wide cement landing zone. Most of them are burning, or scattered in pieces across the snow. The sheer cliff that rises above Rolina Seven Three provides some shelter from the storm. Tiny black forms from across the colony radio that they have found no sign of the recon team. We move into the heart of the colony. There is no sign of survivors or lingering attackers. Johnson stops to check the frozen body of a researcher. He is not wearing any environmental protection.

“Must have been in one of the buildings when it exploded. Either ran out in a panic or was thrown by the force.”

Barrel mounted flashlights comb the devestation. Bodies and rubble glow underneath the pillars of flame.

“Whoever this was hit the place like a mass driver, there couldn’t have been many survivors to capture. Why would they do this? Were they trying to send a message?” Toombs voice sounds over the oddly quiet radio.

“Batarians don’t need a reason.” I respond, light trained on a severed torso. “They’re going to pay for this one.”

“There’s a whole cargo tank of E-Zero here.” Someone from Tango squad radios in. “Colony must be sitting on a vein, the Batarians didn’t even touch it.”

“Jesus Christ...” The voice is Lieutenant Simms. His rifle is lowered, and he is standing on the edge of a thirty foot wide hole torn through the concrete. I approach beside him, leaning over the lip. It appears to go down forever, jagged bits of stone and metal sticking out from the dirt walls.

“What the fuck is this?” I say, the radio suddenly filling with chatter.

“Look at his goddamn thing.”

“That a hole? There’s another one over here.”

“Got another beneath the garage.”

“They’re all over the damn place. What the fuck’s going on?”

Simms is stepping back from the edge, raising is rifle again.

“This is Lieutenant Simms, I’m ordering an immediate withdrawal from Rolina, rendevous at the shuttle extraction point coordinates six one seven nine-”

As he speaks, his voice is cut off by a low, steady rumble. It grows in volume, the ground around us begining to shake. It builds to a crescendo, an explosion of ice and steel as the monster roars up from the core of the world. A creature the size of a starship towers over the colony, head surrounded by clacking mandibles and whipping tendrils. The snow tears around its form in flurries, and an eternity of time is stretched out into a few silent moments before it roars.

The remnants of the colony erupt in weapons fire, forty five marines scattered into three squads pour magnetically accelerated slugs into the hide of the nightmare. It disappears in an instant, slamming into the ground as debris and men are sent flying. The ground begins to shake again beneath me, and I turn in time to watch the creature erupt from it behind us. It whips down again, head skimming along the surface of the colony. Snow and rock give way beneath it as the nightmare rushes towards me. I do not move fast enough. One of its mandibles pierces through my chest, and I am a fish on a hook. I don’t know how far I travel, speared through the monster’s teeth, but I can feel it rip free of my body.

I fall, crashing and rolling across the ground. Gunfire and screams grow muffled. There are two more heads moving across the sky, green fire pouring from their mouths onto the marines below. I am on my back. My combat suit is warning me of multiple lacerations, fractures and blood loss. I can taste copper. Every vein in my body is filled with glass. Purple dust is mixing with the snow around me. My helmet visor is cracked in three places, splattered with blood that is mostly mine. The radio is quietly screaming for evac. I cannot move my arms. The edges of the world begin to fill with white.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1010.jpg

When the Antietam dropped its mass effect fields and lowered its bulk onto the planet surface in a desperate last bid to regain contact with the colony or the strike team, I had been unconscious for four hours. My skeleton was fractured in seventeen places, shattered in nine. Most of my insides were out and frozen, and what was left of my suit did nothing to stop the onset of rapid hypothermia. The purple dust I'd fallen into was the cracked open remnants of the Eezo container the colony had collected, meaning I'd been lying like a Gorang steel slug in lethal levels of the stuff for three times the recommended exposure limit. When the Antietam rescue teams pulled me out of that massacre they had to check their scanners twice over. Said I looked worse than most of the corpses.

I was the only survivor they pulled out of that godforsaken pit.

It took three months before I could move under my own power, half the time most of the doctors expected. They told me the eezo exposure was having some side effects, that I was showing spikes of biotic potential. They said I must have been exposed to the dust in utero back on Mindoir. I met Commander Kyle again while I was in the hospital, said he felt horrible about what happened, and that he wanted to give me an honorable discharge. I declined. He told me they could fix the scars from the attack and the reconstructive surgeries. I declined those, too. Like a soldier ever mends a bullet hole in his coat, right?

When the biotic spikes turned out to be more than a fluke, I volunteered for the Alliance's Ascension program, a military academy meant to train and discipline human biotics. I was the oldest student two times over, somehow still got invited to parties. I spent five years training my biotic potential, something that puts Hell Month from the special forces training to shame. You have to consciously control your entire nervous system, produce a mass effect field with nothing but your mind. Well, your mind and the amplifier they surgically implant inside your head. Still got the scar from that, too, beneath the hair.

By the end of it, I've completed the Ascension graduation courses for biotics and officer training and earned the rank of first lieutenant. I run a handful of black ops missions against human and Batarian slavers stationed along the Traverse, although I miss Major Kyle's assault on Torfin. Wish I could have been there for that. I also undergo re-evaluation for my vocational designation.

I make N7

When I do, I'm contacted by a Captain Anderson and asked to join a pet project the Alliance has been developing alongside the Turian military. The Normandy, a military frigate effectively invisible to everything but the naked eye. Revolutionary engineering, unlimited wetwork potential, very hush hush. He offers me a promotion to Lieutenant Commander, and a spot as the ship's XO.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1004.jpg

I accept.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1011.jpg

Our mission is easy. Simple. Test the stealth systems. A dry run in Alliance territory over a major garden world.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1013.jpg

The Arturus Prime relay is in range. Initiating transmission sequence...

The personnel behind planetary sensors have been filled in on the basics of the mission. They're going to be scanning the stars for us, and we're going to slip in, land on the planet, and slip out with them being none the wiser.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1022.jpg

We are connected. Calculating transit mass and destination.

They'll hail us if we're detected, and if we are, well, mission failure.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1016.jpg

Simple.


Easy.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1030.jpg

Suspicious.

Relay is hot, all stations brace for transit.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1035.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1036.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1037.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1038.jpg

We leave the Sol system without a hitch.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1039.jpg

"Thrusters... check. Navigation... check. Internal emissions sync engaged. All systems online. Drift... just under fifteen hundred K."

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1041.jpg

"Fifteen hundred is good. Your Captain will be pleased."

The Turian beside me is Nihlus, the council's representative on our joint military venture. Calm. Collected. Disciplined.

And a Spectre.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1042.jpg

"I hate that guy." The pilot whispers.

"Nihlus gave you a compliment... so you hate him." The navigator is Lieutenant Alenko, one of our senior officers. Another biotic, like me. I'd like to talk to him about it when I get the chance. Fifteen year old students and civilian sector Asari are surprisingly poor conversationalists when it comes to this shit.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1045.jpg

"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on your way out of the bathroom? That's good. I just flung us halfway across the galaxy and hit the target the size of a pinhead, so that's incredible. Besides, he's a a Spectre. I don't like having them onboard. Call me paranoid."

"You're paranoid." Alenko responds. "The Turians helped fund this project, they have a right to send someone to see it through."

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1050.jpg

"They didn't send someone." I say. "They sent a Spectre. You don't do that for shakedown runs."

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1051.jpg

"See? Even the XO agrees with me. There's something else going on here."

The ship's intercom flashes above the holographic display, the Captain's voice rising over the chatter.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1052.jpg

"Joker. Status report."

"Just cleared the mass relay, Captain. Stealth systems engaged. Everything looks solid."

"Good. Find a comm buoy and link us into the network. I want mission updates relayed to the Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime. Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the comm room for a debriefing."

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1053.jpg

"You get that, Commander?"

"I'm on my way."

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1061.jpg

The CIC is mostly quiet, murmurs between the crew about the mission, suspicions that something is definitely wrong. The staff doctor is talking to one of the corporals. Chakwas, I think was her name. The corporal is Jenkins, someone I'm surprised survived basic, let alone a marine endurance course.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1063.jpg

"Commander! We're not going to stay on Eden Prime too long, are we? I'm itching for some real action."

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1065.jpg

"I sincerely hope you're kidding, corporal." The doctor's voice is a strange mixture of saccharine gravel and upper British. Probably wasn't born on the colonies. "Your 'action' usually ends with you spending two weeks in my office."

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1068.jpg

"The doctor's right, Jenkins. Only an idiot goes looking for a fight."

"Sorry, Commander. This waiting's killing me. I've never been on an assignment like this before, not with a Spectre onboard."

"Just treat it like any other mission and you'll be fine."

"Don't worry, sir. I won't screw this up."

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME1073.jpg

The comm room is located near the back of the upper decks, away from the bridge and the CIC. The guard on station salutes me as I pass.

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I thought the captain was supposed to be here.

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"Shepard." The Turian says. "I'm glad you're here. It will give us a chance to talk."

"What about?"

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"This world we're going to, Eden Prime, I understand it's quite beautiful."

"I've never been." My voice is low, feigning disinterest. What's he getting at?

"But you know of it. It's become something of a symbol for your people, hasn't it? Proof that humanity can not only establish colonies, but also protect them. But I wonder... how safe is it, really?"

"If you've got something to say, just say it."

The door to the comm room slides open, and Captain Anderson approaches us from behind.

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"Nihlus, I think it's time we tell the Commander what's really going on."

"Very well." The Turian turns to me. "This is far more than a simple shake down run, Shepard."

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"Thanks. I hadn't noticed."

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"We're making a covert pick up on Eden Prime, that's why we needed the Normandy's stealth systems. This is big, Shepard. The colony on Eden Prime unearthed something during a mining operation. An artifact. It was Prothean."

"Prothean? Are we expecting trouble?"

"I'm always expecting trouble." The Turian says.

"There's more, Shepard. Nihlus isn't just here for the beacon. He's also here to evaluate you."

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"What's going on here, Captain?"

"The Alliance has been pushing for this for a long time. Humanity wants a larger role in shaping interstellar policy. We want more say with the Citadel council. The Spectres represent the council's power and authority. If they accept a human into their ranks, it will show how far the Alliance has come."

Nihlus moves forward, flanking me, beady eyes focused like a bird of prey.

"Not many could have survived what you went through on Akuze. You showed a remarkable will to live. A particularly useful talent. That's why I put your name forward as a candidate for the Spectres."

"Why would a Turian want a human in the Spectres?"

"Not all Turians resent humanity. Some of us see the potential of your species. We see what you have to offer to the rest of the galaxy, and to the Spectres. We are an elite group, and it's rare to find an individual with the skills we seek. I don't care that you're human, Shepard. I only care that you can get the job done."

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"I need to see your skills for myself, Commander. Eden Prime will be the first of several missions together." He continues.

"You'll be in charge of the ground team, Shepard." Anderson says. "Secure the artifact and get it onto the Normandy ASAP. Nihlus will follow you to observe the mission and your performance."

"Just give the word, Captain."

"We should be getting close to-"

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The intercom cuts him off, Joker's worried voice echoing across the comm room.

"We've got a problem, Captain. Transmission from Eden Prime. You'd better see this."

"Bring it up on screen."

The far wall is filled with an orange glow, the center quickly turning to static, then displaying a helmet mounted video feed.

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GET DOWN!

The video is bloody and chaotic, Marines cut down by weapons fire and heavy artillery launched from unseen enemies.

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The helmet feed snaps upwards, the sound of Marine gunfire grows quiet, as if in awe. A single hand reaches down across the blood red sky.

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"Everything cuts out after that." Joker says over the loudspeaker. "No comm traffic at all. Just goes dead."

"Reverse and hold ant thirty eight point five."

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"Seventeen minutes out, Captain. No other Alliance ships in the area."

"Take us in, Joker. Fast and quiet. This mission just got a lot more complicated."

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"A small strike team can move quickly without drawing attention. It's our best chance at securing the beacon."

"Nihlus, grab your gear and meet us in the cargo hold." As the Turian leaves, the Captain grabs my arm.

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"Tell Alenko and Jenkins to suit up, Commander."

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"You're going in."

[Grimpond]

woooooooooooooo

[Revising Ocelot]

That's actually a decent looking custom MShep. Rare sight!

Nice Akuze exposition as well. It'd have been nice to have the background explored a little more in the game, but oh well.

[Melfice]

If writing LP's were a profession, you'd probably be a top-paid writer. (assuming you finished your LP's. VAMPIRE MASQUERADE, DFM. )

But no, seriously.
Top notch!

[DFM]

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Eden Prime is a garden world. It was the first human colony established beyond the Charon relay and it became our flagship project, a model of sustainable, organized development. Kilometer high archologies tower over green pastures and sprawling orchards, a man made paradise on the fringe of space and a monument to our reach as a space faring power. Where the Council cowered at the thought of colonies so close to the chaotic and hostile Terminous systems, humanity planted its foot on a rocky world and turned it into a paradise. Then, alone, against an empire of raiders, slavers, murderers and rapists, we protected it.

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Now an unknown enemy is striking it from the shadows and for once, I'm in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.

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"We're approaching the first LZ, you're going to be splitting up into two teams. Nihlus will be your eyes and ears. He'll scout out ahead and tag anything at the dig site. You're the muscle in this operation, Commander. Move in, secure the beacon and radio for extraction."

Anderson is nervous, though you'd have to know him to see it. There's an edge to his orders, to each command her barks over the roar of the opening cargo hatch. I met the Captain two years ago, when he started overseeing the majority of my post-ascension wetwork trials. From that alone, I know it'd take a lot to make him nervous. Humanity's future in galactic politics for decades, maybe centuries to come, that might be enough.

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"Good luck, Nihlus!" Jenkins is excited, too thrilled to be nervous.

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"To you the same. I'll be in radio contact, Shepard. I don't think you could have asked for a better chance to prove your candidacy for the Spectres."

The Normandy slows to a halt thirty feet from the ground, and Nihlus disappears down the cargo ramp. His radio acknowledgment comes even before the frigate has begun to move again.

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With Nihlus gone, I can actually ask the only question I've had from the start.

"All due respect, Commander, but why tell the Council about the beacon?"

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"We're trying to build bridges here, Shepard. This technology could benefit every species in Council space and with the concessions they've made for us already, we owe them that much." The Normandy begins to slow, Joker announcing the approach of the second LZ. "Go in hard, Commander. Secure the beacon and radio extraction."

"What about survivors, Captain?" Alenko asks from behind me.

"Aiding survivors is a secondary objective. The beacon is your top priority."

"Understood, Sir." I reply.

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"The misson's yours now, Shepard!"

The Normandy rears for a moment as we leap from the open cargo bay, the frigate already lifting off again as my feet leave the platform.

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Feet on the ground. Always feels good to have your feet on the ground.

"Wedge formation, five meter spread. No one shoots until I give the order."

"Understood, sir." Alenko scans the horizon, the distant roar of heavy weapons fire drifting across the grassy fields. Civilians, even some marines, hate that sound. I love it. It's when the weapons stop that you've gotta worry.

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"Oh, man... never thought I'd see the AA batteries lit up like that." Jenkins says, weapon lowered.

"You've been here before?" I ask as I start down the grassy slope.

"Born here. Paradise gets pretty dull after awhile, though. Thought the Alliance would be more exciting."

"I'll see what I can do about that."

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"Hey, Commander..." Alenko raises his pistol to cover a gap in the rocks as we pass by. "...if it's not exceeding clearance, can I ask what you saw in that transmission? The Captain seemed a little... spooked and I haven't heard anything about who the attacker is."

"You ever read Lovecraft?"

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I signal a halt as we near a twist in the path. The radio frequency begins to crackle and I can hear Nihlus' voice in my helmet.

"Lot of burned out buildings here, Shepard. Lot of bodies. I'm moving on to the dig site, no sign of enemy combatants yet."

"Keep me posted."

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Wide path ahead, but there's a lot of cover. I signal Jenkins to take up a firing position near the south end, one that can cover the lieutenant and I as we leapfrog towards the top of the path.

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He moves forwards without a word, and I can almost hear something humming underneath the distant sounds of war.

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I signal Alenko into firing position.

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Combat drones, a pair of them. Never seen the design before. I lean against a natural rock wall and line up my pistol shots, destroying one with a double tap as the lieutenant dispatches the other. Never seen drones take down personal shields that quickly.

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"Area clear, let's grab Jenkins."

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Jenkins isn't moving. Alenko checks for a pulse through the blood before closing the corporal's eyes.

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"Ripped right through his shields, Commander. He never had a chance."

"Hope it was exciting." I press a finger against my helmet's communicator, glancing at the wide length of path we've yet to clear. "This is Shepard, Corporal Jenkins is down. We're moving on the dig site."

"I didn't turn up anything at the dig site during initial recon, but I'd like your team to clear it out and do a more thorough sweep. I think it may have been moved to one of the landing pads nearby. I'll radio you when I have more."

"Understood, Nihlus."

I remove my hand and motion Alenko forward.

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Another pair of recon drones emerge from behind the corner of the path, both quickly dispatched.

"There must be a million of these if they're making a sustained attack on the colony. You ever seen them before?"

"No." Alenko responds. "Whatever they are, they're not from any council-certified manufacturer."

"Hold up..." I raise my hand, taking cover behind a low segment of rock. Kaiden follows my lead, ducking down under the same bolder. "You hear that?"

I lift my head just over the rock.

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There's a horrendous scream as the spike rockets upwards.

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"What... what are they doing?" Alenko whispers.

"Something I'm going to stop."

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We open fire from behind our cover, the humanoids scrambling to find their own. Before they can bunker down, weapons fire opens up from the western precipice, cutting down one of the aliens and distracting its associate long enough for an easy double tap to its glowing skull.

I emerge from behind the jutting rock as a human shape in white Alliance standard armor slides down the side of the short cliff, standing on the grass near the bodies.


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"This is Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy. Name, rank and regiment soldier."

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"Looks that way." I glance at the bodies by our feet. Mechanical. Never seen the design before.

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She shakes her head, light reflecting off numerous cracks and splinters in her helmet.

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"Your orders would have been to hold the beacon. Since you're still alive, I assume it's intact."

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"Wonderful." Might as well see if she knows what these things are.

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"I... think they're Geth." The Gunnery Chief says, clearly unsure.

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"I don't know, Lieutenant, why would they show up now?" I turn back to the Gunnery Chief. "You're under my authority for the duration of this Op and lucky for you, we've had a squad opening. Take us to the dig site, Williams."

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We press forward between the hills, remnants of lights and digging equipment littering the path around us. Hopefully whatever we saw in the video transmission hasn't had a chance to snatch the beacon just yet.

"Williams, you didn't happen to see a flagship leading the invasion, did you?"

The Gunnery Chief maintains formation, not once glancing away from her environment sweeps, even while she answers.

"There were dropships bringing reinforcements, I never saw where they were coming from. Any kind of flagship would have to be in high orbit if it was anything larger than a small frigate."

"Or it'd split open from the gravitational exertion." I finish her thought for her, more concerned than ever about the juggernaut we'd witnessed on tape. I'd been so caught up in the mission I never stopped to think that what I'd seen was physically impossible. To sustain a ship that size in atmosphere, it'd need mass effect generators the size of a world. Or at least a moon.

"Commander? Did you... see something? During the brief?" Alenko asks from behind me.

"No."

The dig site Williams points us to is in enemy hands, but only lightly defended. After clearing out a handful of the bipedal drones, we move forward to the site.

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"I'm not seeing anything, Williams."

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"No way to know." Williams responds. "If it was us, they probably took it to the archeological camp."

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"Alright, let's get moving."

We march up an earthen ramp, smoke and eventually flames becoming visible on the lip of the looming embankment.

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More of the mechanical spikes, these with corpses that look... wrong. Shriveled, gray husks of men lined in glowing blue circuitry. That doesn't make any sense, do the spikes turn the bodies into that?

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There's a sudden whir of alien machinery as the spikes begin to retract, lowering the skewered bodies to the ground.

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Alenko shouts above the noise, raising his pistol and firing as the husks begin to animate, lurching forward like an ancient zombie vid.

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Williams exclaims alarm as she steps backwards, joining the Lieutenant in laying down suppressive fire. The first of the mechanized husks rapidly closes the distance between us, barely slowed by the heavy pistol and assault rifle rounds slamming into it.

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I raise my hand, the familiar prick of a million different pins begins at the base of my spine, traveling up my arm.

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The sensation is followed by the iconic blue tendrils of energy that accompany any mass effect field. With the flick of a finger, I turn the charge into shockwave the blows the husk twenty meters back, head over withered heel.

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I finish it off with a blast from the shotgun, another cadaver emerging from behind a crate behind it. I twist the element zero inside me, releasing an unstable mass effect field like a fireball. It slams into the charging husk, tearing it apart from the inside like a fireball. The pins in my arm have turned to razors. Can't overuse biotic powers. Not if you're human, any way.

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A shotgun blast finishes it, Alenko and Williams putting down an unseen third.

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With the camp cleared of immediate threats, Williams notices the solid red panel on one of the undamaged trailer doors. If it's locked from the inside, there might still be people alive in there. I bash the lock open with the butt of my rifle. The door sparks and slides open, two terrified scientists cowering inside.

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"Jesus Christ I didn't ask for your life stories. We're here to recover the beacon, there should have been a Turian scouting ahead for us, have you seen him?"

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Manuel paces, shaking his head.

"The Turian... has been consumed by hatred, devoured entirely... only circuits and steel remain to keep his shell together."

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"Is there at least something you can tell me about the beacon? Any clue what's inside it?"

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"Aren't you Doctor Doom and Gloom." I turn to the only scientist who's actually lucid. "What about the attack? Gunnery Chief says they're Geth."

"It makes sense, from what little I saw of them." She replies.

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"Yeah, that's not PTSD. What's going on with your friend?"

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"We've stuck around for too long here, we need to hit that spaceport. Bunker down and keep a low profile, don't open that door unless you're sure it's human. If the enemy's already cleared this area they're not coming back unless something peaks their interest and between me and the beacon, they'll have a lot on their minds."

"Thank you." She replies, turning to attend to her stricken colleague. "Good luck, finding the beacon. And please... help as many people as you can."

The sliding door locks behind us as we step onto the charred grass.

"Commander..." Williams starts. "What was that about a Turian with you?"

"We have a specialist running recon, anything else you want to know is above your pay grade."

"Yes, sir." The acknowledgment is resentful, only slightly bitter.

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We near a ridge, the sounds of battle becoming more sporadic. The only defenses left in the region must be hardened targets the invaders don't want to commit against. Luckily for us, the spaceport would definitely qualify as-

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There's a noise that escapes my lips, it sounds almost like 'Oh' before it rasps to nothing.

"Jesus Christ, look at the size of that thing!" Williams exclaims, assault rifle lowering.

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"It's leaving atmosphere! It must have the beacon." Alenko moves ahead of me, studying the massive ship. "What IS that?"

The fading roar of the launching ship is eventually drowned out by the mechanical whine of lowering Geth spires from the spaceport below, the marines stationed there the victims of a grizzly massacre.

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The husks lower from their platform, Geth troopers moving for defensive positions. The mechanized undead charge in waves up the rocky hill, unfazed by the suppressing fire from Alenko and Williams.

"Nihlus! Nihlus, this is Shepard, we've just made contact with the enemy flagship near the western spaceport. Port is overrun, enemy entrenched. Clearing it out now, will radio if we need assistance."

There's no acknowledgment.

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I lean forward, pulling my arm back as the familiar tingle begins to grow.

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If Akuze didn't kill me, it sure as hell made me stronger.

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Williams pours fire on the charging, stumbling horde, the Alliance issue M8 Assault Rifle doing little more than plinking away at their lifeless shells. I provide additional fire support whenever they move into range.

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As the last of the charging husks is lain flat, Alenko turns his attention to the Gath troopers holed up near the top of the spaceport platform, glowing blue-violet and thrusting his right hand forward. A fuel crate is torn from its stand and flies into the cowering enemy, lighting up the air around most the station from the explosion and extended slow burn.

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"Come on!" I order as start up the ramp, smoke rising into the red sky above our heads. "We might be able to find out where they were headed, or at least where the jammer is that's causing our communicator black-"

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"Oh fuck me."

We approach the body, Alenko kneeling down and checking for... whatever it is you're supposed to check for to see if a Turian's dead.

"He's... gone, Commander."

"Fuck. Fuck, this went tits up, didn't it? We lost the beacon and Nihlus all in one go, sparkling fucking resume this'll make."

Williams raises her rifle towards a pile of shipping crates.

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"Other one? What the hell are you talking about?"

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"You mean it's still on the planet?"

"Probably, yeah. It's been hooked into the station's TSA grid. Most of that thing's still online and it's not reporting any thefts. Only thing it's not reporting."

"Alright, you find somewhere safe, we're going after that beacon."

"There's a few survivors at the survey camp." Alenko adds. "It's not far and the way should be clear. You might want to head that way for some shelter."

"Yeah... yeah thanks. I... I need to get out of here."

He ducks past us as the clanking of metallic feet can be heard laboring up the tram's exit ramp.

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I love it when they try to engage at close range.

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The clank of super accelerated carbon filings against re-enforced durasteel alloys is almost unmistakable and wholly underwhelming given the forces at work.

"For an almost mystical interstellar boogieman, Geth aren't very bright."

"With what they've done here, it doesn't look like they need to be." Alenko responds, fighting his way down onto the open air tram. An accelerated sniper's round from near the front of the train cuts through my shields like paper, slamming through my armored chest and stopping in my armored back. I stumble, taking rough cover behind the nearest seating guard.

"Commander!"

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"I'm alright, Williams." It's a half lie. I'll be alright. Even though it doesn't feel like much after Akuze, I know enough enough about physiology that I'm not looking at a recovery nap. "The Geth are dug in all through the train, we're going to have to push forward deliberately. Nobody's losing Saren and nobody's turning into tram paste, alright?"

"Except the Geth, right Sir?"

"Right, Alenko."

"Commander, you're... you need some medigel, you're bleeding everywhere-"

"I've gone through worse." I reply, glancing down at the massive red hole in my chest and the singed edges of my reinforced armored suit.

"He really has." Alenko manages to add despite the fire raining down on him.

"Alright, Alenko's suppressed, we need to help him out. You ever work with a biotic before, Williams?"

"No, sir."

"Then you're in for a treat. I'll clear a path, you advance as far as you can." I say, leaning from behind the guard.

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Needles in your arm are surprisingly good at distracting you from a hole in your chest. Geth are much thicker on the train than they were in the spaceport. Good sign we're on the right track.

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Williams moves forward, downing trooper after trooper with three round bursts to their flashlight skulls. Calm, precise... deadly accurate. She should be doing combat drops, not stationed as garrison on a garden world. Eden Prime's warfare days were supposed to be long over, there's no reason for a marine of her level to be here.


Unless someone knew the Geth were coming.

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We clear our way to the tram controls at the front of the train, my biotics disabling or distracting the Geth and Williams marksmanship putting them down. Alenko activates the tram, sending us towards the other end of the platform. Williams holds her rifle in one hand, supporting herself against the railing with the other. The skies are still red, but the scattered weapons fire has almost completely stopped. The Geth were pulling out.

"I knew that beacon was trouble." She says.

"I don't care how much trouble it's been, long as we get our hands on it." I reply, leaning against the edge of the tram as we rush forward. I wave my omni tool over my sizable bullet wound, application of medigel working almost instantly. The armor will still need repairs, and I still have a chunk of Geth metal lodged into my insides, but it'll keep everything from gushing out long enough to get back to the ship.

"Are you sure you're alright, sir?" Williams asks.

"You... do know who he is, don't you Williams?" Alenko hesitates, turning from the controls. "That's the Commander Shepard. Of Akuze."

"Of... Oh. Oh, Geez. I'm sorry, Commander, I-"

"Sorry for what? I'd worry if I saw someone take a sniper slug to the chest, too. Just... maybe not as much. I'm used to being around people who can take a pretty good beating."

"Hope I don't change that." Williams says, genuine and playful. There are a million jokes that run through my head, none of them, I decide, appropriate for the situation and context.

"Coming up on the second platform." Alenko says as the train slows. The first thing we see as we exit the vehicle is a large, cylindrical explosive.

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"I'm picking up signatures from four other demolition charges on the platform. If these all go off, they'll wipe out half the colony." I glance upwards, a line of Geth troopers passing by towards sheltered firing positions. "They're trying to slow us down! Alenko, you disarm the bombs. Williams and I will clear the way!"

"Understood, Commander."

"Yes, Sir."

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We clear the first bomb site and take up positions at the second as Alenko does his work.

"Second bomb is disarmed!"

"Good! Williams, get ready."

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I lean outwards, tingling growing in my arm as I send the nearby trooper sprawling into a support column.

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Williams follows me closely, the two of us alternating suppressing and targeted fire to great effect against the semi-intelligent drones. We reach the third bombsite and set up shop to provide covering fire for Lieutenant Alenko.

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"Three down, one to go!"

"Again, Williams. Let's move."

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"Moving, Sir. Nothing here. Area clear."

"Area clear, Lieutenant. Get on that last bomb."

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"Charge disarmed."

I move towards a walkway overlooking the second half of the platform.

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"It's there! The beacon's still there! Alenko, Williams, let's clear out these bastard's and get back our relic!"

The spires begin to lower, husks writhing on their metal teeth.

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My biotics rip one of them off the spire and over the edge of the platform guardrail. Pins in your arm is worth it every time. Williams and Alenko are exchanging fire with at least two Geth troopers. Small force. Coupled with the explosion they'd planned on creating, they obviously either couldn't figure out how to access the beacon...

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/MELP2/ME2258.jpg

Or they'd already gotten what they came for.

The last of the rushing husks fall to our combined weapons fire, and Williams picks off the remaining troopers as they peek out from behind cover. It isn't long before I give the all clear.

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"Williams!"

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I run towards Gunnery Chief Williams, towards the beacon. Got to get her out of there. Some kind of mass effect field is pulling her in. Whatever's happening, whatever it's doing, she might damage the beacon if she interferes with it. Good chance she'll get killed, too.

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And we certainly don't want th-

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/3172/mlpwhite.jpg

Screams.

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I see... a monster betrayed...

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The blood machine. It's crushing them... it's squeezing their bodies together... pulp... running through its fingers... it screams with them...

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Can smell their skin burning. The noise... it's everywhere... gets in your head... won't stop screaming.

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WONT

STOP

SCREAMING

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[Loyal]

Just like old times. It is good to have your LP-writing back in action.

[Krylo]

Goddamn but that is an ugly Shepard.

So so ugly.

Like one of those blob fish that live on the bottom of the ocean with their tiny black little beady eyes and slimy flesh.

That is what he looks like. Except uglier.

[Kerensky287]

I love how Kaiden spends so much time dead in this chapter. I mean, uh, pinned down or disarming explosives.

That's one of the more creative explanations I've seen for why he can't take a hit.

[Marc v4.0]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4549162/obamashep2.jpg

[Krylo]

Oh god.

Is that. Obamashep?

Is he... is he Renegade?

I DEMAND THE KNOWLEDGE NECESSARY TO RECREATE THAT!

[Marc v4.0]

Using ME2 Face gen codes

221.1GW.RWW.W31.FDS.1DW.DW1.6JW.NFA.DS1.157.6

[synkr0nized]

You missed the shed where you can shakedown some scared farmers for a gun and some items before heading to Powell.

It's your first in-game opportunity to make use of super-goody/angry points.

I have been replaying this over break to show my brother, who went and bought the second game without ever having played ME.
It's too bad Vanguards don't get the charge power until ME2. So far it feels like I am playing an Adept that has a shotgun (hadn't done Vanguard yet and refuse to do soldier).

[DFM]

Really short update to show I'm not dead. Thinking of doing smaller updates (Bigger than this, but still pretty small) a couple times a week just so to avoid the humongous lulls

Well, holy shit.

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I've had nightmares before. I've had bad ones. Most of the staff doctors say they'd be worried if I didn't. I watched fifty friends being ripped apart by monsters on a godforsaken ball of ice. Had a few nightmares about it. Been impaled by a Thresher Maw and then shaken off twenty feet into an ice sheet. Got some nightmares. Was crushed underneath a crumbling AA battery when I was sixteen. Nightmares. Two minutes before the concrete hit me, I'd been beating a surprised Batarian to death with an overheated Mattock still covered in pieces of my older sister.


Got a lot more nightmares from that.


This one, though... I don't even know what this was about.

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I pull myself up from the medical bed, sliding my legs over the side. Head's pounding.

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How much of that was even a nightmare?

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"What's... what's going on? How long was I out?"

I hope it was goddamn all of it.

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"Like total shit. How long was I out?"

Someone's in the medbay with us. Don't recognize her. Might be able to if I didn't have the world's worst hangover.

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I start to force thoughts through the pounding walls of my brain. Shit. Shit the beacon was real. Eden Prime, Nihlus... Son of a bitch that was all real.

Alright.


It's alright.

As long as the beacon's onboard... the Alliance should overlook me destroying our shot at joining the galactic boys club and the Council should overlook their dead Spectre.

I completed the mission without the turian's support and despite overwhelming opposition. I should get a goddamn medal.

"Is the beacon alright?"

The doctor pauses, hesitating.

Oh god, no.

"The beacon... was destroyed, Commander."

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Williams. From the 212. Are we on the Normandy?

She jumps in, doesn't hesitate to take the blame, even for something this big. This terrible.

"You..." I can't even find the words. A working Prothean artifact, destroyed. Humanity's chances of galactic acceptance, gone. A Spectre, dead. Our shining example of human power and ingenuity, in flames. "...you have no idea how badly you fucked our shit."

This can't be real. It can't be, it's a goddamn joke.

"Do you have any idea what this means? Any idea what you've done? We'll be lucky if we're all court-martialed!" She swallows, eyes locking straight ahead. A marine recruit facing a drill instructor. "We are fucked, Williams. We are fucked up the ass because you decided you couldn't reign in your goddamn curiosity."

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I don't believe this.

"It doesn't matter why we lost it, we lost it." I turn away from Williams. "Jesus, do you really think the Alliance brass are going to overlook us when they need to explain to their Turian BFFs why a Prothean Artifact blew the fuck up under our watch? We're done. I'm done. Williams is sure as fuck done. We get to go down as the worst examples of humanity since the Shanxi garrison."

"I'm authorized to give you a sedative, Commander." The doctor says, folding her arms. "Whoever attacked Eden Prime more than likely rigged the beacon to explode, regardless of your presence. I'm sure both the Alliance and the Council will find the Normandy crew innocent of blame, my god, Commander, you touched down in the middle of a full scale invasion that existed solely to reach that artifact, that you retrieved it at all is worthy of a commendation, regardless of what happened after. Especially after the damage you sustained in the blast."

I rub my throbbing forehead. She might be right. Maybe the pain's just got me on edge.

"What damage?"

"Nothing you haven't suffered before, from your medical records. Physically, anyway. Sensors are picking off some unusual brain activity. Very... abnormal beta waves."

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I slide off the table, resting against it.

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I didn't even hear the door open. Easy to see how the Captain made N7, back in the day.

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The two leave, and Captain Anderson waits until the door slides shut before he turns his attention to me.

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"I've had worse. What's happened with the mission? Are we still on Eden Prime?"

"No, I've commandeered the Gunnery Chief."

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The Captain pauses, folding his hands behind his back.

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And I'm sure they won't like what they find.

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"A hypothetical turian is a bigger problem than losing a Prothean Artifact?"

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"Then he picked a hell of a masterstroke." The throbbing in my head is almost gone, replaced by sinking dread. "Are you sure he was even there? If he really attacked Eden Prime because he hated humans he'd have made off with the beacon and delivered it to the Council himself."

I rub away the last of my fading headache.

"I don't know what the beacon was, but during the flash..."

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"Not the most encouraging news I could have heard, Shepard."

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I don't believe this, the Council? When have they done anything for humanity?

Anderson senses my objection.

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With his parting words, the Captain turns to leave.

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The doors of the medical bay slide shut behind him, and for a moment, in the endless black death of space, I'm alone. Alone with my failure and looming consequences.

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Tits.

[The Argent Lord]

Really, no comments? Although I guess with a DFM LP it's kinda hard to come up with much besides "Great as always."

In regards to the question, I'd fully support shorter updates if it's easier on you, and especially if it'd mean faster updates.

[DFM]

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I step out of the medical bay and into the ship's mess hall. It's barely a card table, but you don't qualify for deep ops unless you can say you've got full crew accommodations. Williams is waiting against a post. I guess Anderson was serious about bringing her onboard. Little unorthodox, but we do need the extra man to be at full compliment and a marine has a better shot at promotion on a first gen frigate than on a planetside garrison. Or they did, before the Geth decided to declare war.

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"You heard about that? I'm a little surprised anyone mentioned it, we have this habit of dying by the freighterload. And it's not like anyone didn't see Jenkins number coming up pretty fast, I'm surprised he made it out of basic."

"His number came up? Really?" Ashley's skeptical, but I can't tell what part of the phrase is throwing her off.

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"I survived because I refused to die."

"With respect, sir..." She hesitates, looking for words. "...I think you had someone watching over you."

"Someone who decided my friends and a few thousand colonists deserved to get ripped apart by a nest of Thresher Maws. Glad they were watching out for me, though. Makes me feel special."

"Sir, I didn't mean..."

I know what she means, but over the years I've gotten pretty sick of that kind of justification. I'm not even sure I like when they call me lucky. Lucky compared to the guy who was disemboweled with an acid fang? Sure. Compared to the guy who was feeling a little queasy and spent the drop inside the Kolkata's medical bay?

Not so much.

"It's alright, Williams. I appreciate the thought. I need to be in the cockpit before we hit the Citadel, I'll talk to you again after we dock."

"Yes, sir."

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I return the salute as i turn away. Chakwas is still waiting outside the medical bay.

"Doctor Chakwas, where's Lieutenant Alenko?" I haven't seen him since the nightmare. Hopefully he'll have a little more perspective on what happened.

"I sent him to rear medical for supplies, his migraines are acting up again."

"Migraines? Is that from the missions?"

"No. Not directly, at least."

"What do you mean?"

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"Lieutenant and I should have a talk about luck."

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3076.jpg

"Glad to have him onboard. You too, doctor. I usually get to know medical officers on a first name basis, so look forward to that."

"I can't wait, Commander." She replies in a droll accent I'm told is Europoid.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3086.jpg

There's three primary decks to the Normandy, the mess and medical being on the second. The main lift only goes to the cargo and engine rooms below, meaning if you want to get to the CIC you need to take a fancy set of double stairs. There's a long neck of combat and monitoring stations extending from the CIC to the cockpit.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3093.jpg

I don't really get Turian designs either.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3101.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3106.jpg

And there she is. The Citadel. The seat of the Council and the center of galactic power. Fifty kilometers long, home to tens of millions. The beating heart of galactic politics, trade and culture. I spent two years in Tayseri Ward with my uncle after the attack on Mindoir, but I've never been to the presidium. Friend of mine said it had blue skies and green grass, with lakes full of all the fish you could eat.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3107.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3110.jpg

That friend was usually wrong.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3111.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3114.jpg

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http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3119.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3122.jpg

Docking goes off without a hitch. Anderson orders Alenko, Williams and myself to suit up and follow him to the Alliance embassy in the presidium for a meeting with Ambassador Udina.

The embassy balcony overlooking the main conduit is the first real look I get at the presidium.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3125.jpg

Son of a bitch, it does. I guess I owe him a fish.

The ambassador is having a heated discussion with the council.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3126.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3127.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3128.jpg

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http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3132.jpg

The hologram flickers off, and the ambassador turns away to Anderson.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3133.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3135.jpg

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http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3138.jpg

'Accused' nothing. We've got to pin something on this guy.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3139.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3140.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3141.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3143.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3144.jpg

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http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3146.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3147.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3150.jpg

"I still can't believe Anderson thinks we've got enough evidence to bring down a Spectre. We don't have enough evidence to bring down a duct rat."

"Don't forget your spooky dream, Commander." Williams says, following behind.

"Yeah. With council deliberations being what they are, that might count as evidence. It's... really sad, when you think about it." Alenko adds.

We take a transit pod to the Citadel Tower, focal point of the entire presidium. It's a long elevator ride to the top, Alenko and Williams exchanging banter that I'm hardly listening to. I feel like a kid who has to tell their mother they've just broken her favorite lamp. I can't believe how badly I blew Eden Prime, but if by some miracle I can turn a Spectre into a fall guy...

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3173.jpg

No, don't pin your hopes on that. Just get your chin ready to take career suicide like a man.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3175.jpg

This is a lot nicer than I expected, although I'm not sure why I thought the galactic council would be modest. On the Wards, we all thought real meat from an animal was a pretty big deal.

There's a pair of Turians arguing up ahead. I think I remember the one on the right being head of C-Sec.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3176.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3178.jpg

The C-Sec executor turns and leaves, the investigator looking at me for a moment before a light of what I think is recognition hits his eyes

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3181.jpg

"Find anything useful?" It doesn't sound hopeful, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3183.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3184.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3185.jpg

Good news on top of good news.

They've already started the hearing by the time we arrive at the council chambers.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3199.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3201.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3202.jpg

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http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3207.jpg

"The charges aren't false, Turian.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3208.jpg

Would have been nice to have some fabricated reports putting Saren at the scene right now.

"You might have destroyed the beacon, Saren, but I stopped your cover up. How many were you willing to kill just to erase your footprints on Eden Prime?"

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3210.jpg

He's seeing right through me, this isn't good.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3211.jpg

"You can expect me to kill you if you try it again. Spectre or not."

That's probably bad. That was probably a bad thing to say.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3214.jpg

Is he getting goaded? That also sounded like a bad thing to say.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3215.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3216.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3217.jpg

Stop seeing through our ruses, you asshole.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3219.jpg

Oh god, Anderson, please don't...

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3220.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3221.jpg

There's a moments pause as the councilors glance at one another, readying the verdict we all know is coming.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3224.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3225.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae82/MFIDFMMF/Mass%20Effect/ME3228.jpg

Goddamn, lot of cinematics this update. Also, thanks to subtitles I finally know that Ashley doesn't say "That ship could rip through the berries on any ship in the Alliance fleet." I mean, I thought it was a ball punch joke she was making.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

I didn't actually know there was an LP of this running on NPF, but seeing as I just started ME2 on ps3 and haven't played the first game this should be quite handy for me.

Keep it up DFM.

[synkr0nized]

Really, no comments? Although I guess with a DFM LP it's kinda hard to come up with much besides "Great as always."

In regards to the question, I'd fully support shorter updates if it's easier on you, and especially if it'd mean faster updates.


Over a month later, I'll respond -- I have been waiting for the thread to get more posts to comment, as so few of us have posted in it. And the updates have been so few and far between that I'll admit I have not wanted to get my hopes up that this LP was going to continue.



I feel for the work involved in a sshot LP of this game, though. You can easily take hundreds of pictures for shit that took like ~10 minutes or less to do in-game. I bet a video LP of a mission would only be a fraction of the time requirement for you to get out an update, DFM, and I thank you for giving us the effort.

[Kerensky287]

Yes, agreed. DFM's a damn good LP author. I appreciate the extra work it takes to do a photo LP, especially when it means you can add that fucking awesome commentary.

[Krylo]

I don't post much here because I give DFM shit about how ugly his Shepard* is and how long it takes him to update and whatever other thing off the forums.


*So ugly.