History Recap / MassEffect3

* Finally, there's the fact that Mordin is MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers with Wrex. If both he and "Eve" are dead, and Shepard withheld the sabotage from ''Wreav'', Mordin can be dissuaded from curing a krogan people who are under the rulership of an EvilReactionary. He consents to the placebo sabotage and walks away. This is also the only time when there is any meaningful difference between the characters of Mordin and Padok Wiiks: the latter will later email Shepard that he is heading off to a colony world, to take the secret to his grave, while the former will join the Crucible project as a War Asset.

The landing goes poorly, with Shepard's shuttle having to divert to destroy some AntiAir cannons (because the team that was supposed to do it got shot down by the anti-air cannons). During this fight, there is a veritable onslaught of Reaper forces, including two Banshees, one of which, if you recruited her last game, may be named Morinth -- the only way that character can appear during this game. Cortez is flying CAP; his shuttle is shot down, and it's possible for him to die in the crash if you haven't bothered to befriend him and help him get over his husband's death. After taking out the AA emplacements, Shepard's team assembles at the Forward Operating Base designated by Anderson; no matter how well you do, at least 40% of your troops fail to report in, meaning the Reapers got them. It's going to be tough.

As the ''Normandy'' docks for some much-needed maintenance and shore leave for her crew, Shepard gets a voicemail from Anderson, inviting them to take possession of Anderson's apartment on the Citadel: He's on Earth and he's not leaving, so he doesn't need the place. It's two floors, 4 BR / 2.5 BA,and in some cases still has a few of the admiral's personal effects. (There's also a bag of bathroom products belonging to Kahlee Sanders.) From here, Shepard gets to start exploring the contents of the DLC. That said, '''don't visit the apartment unless you're ready to do the single-player-campaign portion of the DLC''': once you visit the Apartment, you're locked into the mission chain and can't return to the ''Normandy''. (She ''is'' in drydock.)

One of them is the Armax Arsenal Arena, in which Shepard and any two squadmates from the trilogy face down waves of simulated enemies. And we do mean ''[[ExactWords any]]'' two squadmates: seven of your squadmates from ''Mass Effect 2''', the ones who can reach Earth, can be chosen to fight alongside you. This is another reason we've left it for last: Mordin, Thane and Legion cannot be chosen as squadmates, even if you play this DLC at a time in the plot while they are still alive, and even if you managed the outcomes where Mordin survives the events on Tuchanka and is working for Project Crucible.

Shepard meets Joker for dinner at Ryuusei, a famed sushi restaurant. While there, they are approached by Alliance Staff Analyst Maya Brooks, a communications tech who has discovered evidence that someone is trying to kill Shepard. (Someone new, that is; as Joker points out, the idea of Shepard being in mortal danger isn't precisely big news.) As though on cue, a bunch of mercenaries bust into the restaurant with their sights set firmly on humanity's first Spectre. When Shepard tries to save Brooks, the mercenaries shoot out the famous restaurant's famous floor, which is just an aquarium, sending Shepard plunging into the Wards below.

For their next trick, Shepard has to fight their way out single-handedly, with only one bar of health and no medigel. RegeneratingShieldsStaticHealth are the order of the day, as Shepard has become almost literally a OneHitPointWonder. Shepard also doesn't have their armor and normal weapons loadout. Their one advantage is the holdout pistol they "borrowed" from a merc: the M-11 Suppressor not only has a HollywoodSilencer but an unprecedented ''400% bonus headshot damage'', meaning that a Shepard with a good aim can put down a lot of foes quite efficiently.

Shepard is eventually joined by either their love interest or, if Shepard doesn't have one on the squad, Liara; this helps draw the heat off the Commander, who still doesn't have medigel. They are then joined by someone who is on the Citadel for diplomatic business but got bored and saw a fight: everyone's favorite crazy shotgun-toting uncle: The only person we haven't recruited from ''Mass Effect 1'': Urdnot Wrex, if he's alive. (And if you didn't sabotage the genophage cure: if you did, he won't show up, even if he hasn't tried to kill Shepard yet. In Wrex's absence, James will arrive instead.) He saves the day when a C-Sec shuttle turns out to be full of enemy mercenaries: Wrex ''shoulder-drops the shuttle'' and makes quick work of the mercs inside. (James, a bit less dramatically, uses a rocket launcher.) The three of them fight their way clear of the remaining mercenaries and then bring Sgt. Brooks back to Shepard's new apartment, where they regroup and the other squadmates give Shepard no end of flak for having destroyed the restaurant's famed floor aquarium during the fight.

Brooks helps the team trace the source of the mercenaries: They are a group called [=CAT6=], named after the Alliance codename for a dishonorable discharge. She explains that assassination is not the entire story: someone has stolen Shepard's identity, for purposes unknown but undoubtedly nefarious. The problem is nobody has any idea who's behind the plan. The only clue comes from the M-11: Liara traces it to an arms dealer named Elijah Khan, who will be hosting a gala at the Silver Coast Casino. Shepard and Brooks get all dressed up to infiltrate the gala, with Shepard getting to choose one squadmate -- including Wrex, who joins the PlayerParty for the duration of the DLC -- to serve as a decoy.

The actual casino infiltration isn't that dissimilar to the one Kasumi walked us through during her loyalty mission, so we're not going to talk much about it. Instead, Shepard can spend their time kibitzing with a number of other characters, including consort Sha'ira, whom we haven't seen since the beginning of the first game. Meanwhile, Brooks succeeds at hacking the security, and the three confront Khan in his office. They aren't able to get much out of him, as it turns out he's already dead. Shepard quickly makes a copy of his hard drives for evaluation back home.

This doesn't go nearly as well for the mercenaries as they were expecting -- especially since there's as many as ''eleven'' people from the ''Normandy'' here, and nine of them are amongst the toughest, most skilled infantry fighters in the galaxy. ([[AndZoidberg Also, Brooks is here.]] Cortez, a full-on DoAnythingSoldier, holds his own.) And, of course, since our three squads can take a bunch of {{Mook}}s without breaking a sweat, they start in on the CasualDangerDialogue.

Liara has brought Glyph, who helps Shepard track the clone and also finds a lot of interesting things lying around in the vault, including elcor mating totems. As Shepard continues the chase, though, they lose contact with first Team Hammerhead and then Team Mako. Brooks, who has been hit and has stayed behind, confirms that the Clone is jamming the radios. As Shepard's team crosses one of the iridium vaults that contain all of the Archives' material, a force field suddenly pops up, trapping them in place. The Clone saunters up and then introduces their [[TheDragon Dragon]]: Brooks, who drops her fake accent. She ("Brooks" -- she won't admit her real name) admits she's ex-Cerberus and is the person who compiled the dossiers for TIM during ''Mass Effect 2''. However, she got fed up when TIM ordered her to include aliens like Garrus and Tali on the list. She activated the Clone six months ago and has been helping the Clone with their plans ever since. Here in the Archives, the Clone can enact the final part of their plan: replacing (the real) Shepard's handprints with their own. The Clone then seals Shepard into the vault, trapping them for all eternity.

At the gangway, Traynor paces outside, distraught: "Cmdr. Shepard" dismissed her for "conduct unbecoming"/"fraternization" (if in a relationship with female Shep) and tossed her off the ship with barely enough time to grab her toothbrush. She is, understandably, confused to see Cmdr. Shepard come up behind her. The team try to figure out how to sneak onboard the ''Normandy'' before it flies away. Traynor says there's an emergency hatch but is only designed to be opened from within the ship. Opening it from ''outside'' would require very precise, very finely controlled mass effect fields. As Shepard and a squadmate try to figure out if they have the dexterity to do it, Traynor holds up, and activates, the device that will save the day: [[MundaneMadeAwesome a Cision Pro Mk 4]].

It's a pretty difficult DualBoss fight -- in fact, it's probably the hardest boss fight in the trilogy. (It's not like there ''is'' a boss fight at the end of the final level.) "Brooks" will be hanging back and sniping with high-damage shotgun, and meanwhile the Clone... Well, the Clone is ''you'' -- exact same class, exact same skills, and the exact same supplies of medi-gel to restore them back up to full armor and shields. It's a HealingBoss, the first in the trilogy. Plus, the Clone summons more [=CAT6=] {{mook}}s to act as HumanShield for them. Fortunately, there's a crate with infinite medi-gel here in the shuttle bay that the Clone doesn't know about.

Shepard and the squad pour on the pressure, and eventually the fight tumbles out onto the lip of the cargo ramp. The mook piloting the ''Normandy'', still trying to lose Cortez, tosses the ship through a maneuver that sends both Shepards flying, leaving them both dangling on the shuttle bay ramp. The Clone demands to know what makes Shepard better than them; as though summoned, Shepard's squadmates rush up, heedless to the danger to themselves, and pull the commander back to safety. The Clone, looking to Brooks for similar help, watches her turn away in disdain. The Clone has no such friend... Except Shepard, who can extend a hand if you choose. Either way, though, the Clone chooses a DisneyVillainDeath instead.

Shepard's squadmates remark that this shore leave, though fun, wasn't precisely relaxing, and Shepard promises they'll get some downtime before they go. Almost before Shepard can open their mouths, this has become an idea to invite everyone -- ''every'' character who is or ever has been in Shepard's PlayerParty, and is currently at liberty to do so -- up to the apartment for a bash. This does require a certain amount of plot progression; for instance, if Shepard hasn't yet gone to Horizon, Miranda won't come, because she's got too much on her mind. (And, if Miranda didn't ''survive'' Horizon, she doesn't come to the party on account of being dead.) Fortunately, you can delay the party until you're ready and/or have completed all the other contents in the game.

Shepard can set the tone of the party, be it polite or raucous, but the best part is simply watching characters from across the trilogy interact: Liara, Samara, Tali, Garrus and Traynor can hang out in the kitchen, with Tali doing her best to demonstrate the differences between the warp core noises of the SR-1 and the SR-2. Kasumi spends most of the night under cloak, but will appear randomly and sporadically to contribute a one-liner (or rifle through Shepard's drawers and comment on their underwear). Joker, at the bar, can be confronted by Garrus, Wrex, Cortez, Zaeed and Javik, who criticize Joker's refusal to keep a pistol in the cockpit for emergencies and try to goad him into going down to the shooting range later. Both Grunt and Tali can end up in various bathrooms, drunk off their respective asses. James will brag that his finely-toned physique is more powerful than biotics, with Liara {{facepalm}}ing in disbelief and eventually yoinking him into midair to prove the point. Jack and Miranda can continue their rivalry or, if Shepard suggests, make peace with each other; Kasumi will uncloak, ''suggest they kiss'', and mention that, if they let her record it, she can get them about a million [=YouTube=] hits in five seconds. Zaeed tries to hit on Samara. If alive and not romanced, Ashley might start flirting with James. Wrex, Zaeed, Garrus and Javik can end up near the bar (particularly if you agreed with the idea of Joker learning to shoot) setting up booby traps in a semi-inebriated state; a romanced Garrus will set the booby traps' password as "I HEART GARRUS". If the music gets loud, Jack gets up and starts dancing on the table. (Garrus, Tali, Cortez, Traynor and Samara relegate themselves to the floor.) Shepard calls for a group photo of the entire cast to cap off the evening, the characters in relationships gazing at each other fondly while the others smile for the camera. And in the morning, you find people in various states of recovery: James and either Ashley or Kaidan cooking breakfast downstairs (with Kaidan apparently having had too much coffee), Samara meditating in a quiet corner, Traynor hiding from EDI after drunken confessions the night before, Javik fuzzy after a night of drinking and a nightmare about being the only prothean left in a galaxy full of primitives, Jacob and Jack working out in a downstairs bedroom.

Of course, there's still a war going on. The Suicide Squad get back to their duties, the ''Normandy'' crew reports to the ship, and Wrex gets back to the [[FateWorseThanDeath diplomacy and endless sex]] that are keeping him away from the fight. Cronos Station has yet to fall, the Crucible hasn't been completed, we ''still'' don't know what the Catalyst is, and the Reapers are out there wreaking havoc. But Shepard takes a moment to stop and just breathe -- to look at the ship, to look at their crew, to look at all the good that's happened despite the end of the world.
-->'''Love Interest''': It's been a damned good ride.\\

* The Catalyst shows Shepard a vision of Anderson shooting at a large mechanism. This is the '''Destroy''' ending: Shepard can use the power of the Catalyst to wipe out all synthetic life, including the Reapers. However, this will also include the geth and EDI. Additionally, the Catalyst warns Shepard that this merely procrastinates on a final solution: the races of the galaxy, thriving, will still need to be stopped from creating the "real villains" of Robot {{Omnicidal Maniac}}s.

And, no matter what Shepard chooses, propagating that choice to the galaxy will damage or even destroy the mass relays, returning the Milky Way to a PointsOfLightSetting where interstellar travel is difficult and complicated.

* The Catalyst takes the "{{Killer Robot}}s Are Inevitable" premise for granted; Shepard never contradicts this premise, which is weird for a character who might have ''already disproved it''.

* Why was Shepard on trial at the opening of the game? Because destroying a mass relay destroys the entire star system in a Class-X2 Apocalypse How. Internal {{Consistency}} means this will happen to ''every mass relay in existence'', many of which have populations nearby; for instance, the Sol system -- where Shepard, Hackett and Anderson have just gathered ''every'' military in the galaxy, not to mention every living member of the PlayerParty -- will be the site of an InferredHolocaust. The game gets around this only by [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse forgetting to infer it]].

* Lastly but most importantly, the endings themselves are inappropriate for the game they end: they embrace the writers' intended CentralTheme of "[[TheChainsOfCommanding You can't save everyone]], there is no GoldenEnding," but comes at the end of a game -- indeed, a trilogy -- where, with the exception of the Virmire Casualty and some others, you ''can'' save everyone, there ''is'' a GoldenPath. This is, in short, the ending of a different story than the one we just played.

\

* The Catalyst offers [[TakeAThirdOption A Third Option]]: Shepard can jump into the Crucible and allow it to imprint on them. This is the '''Synthesis''' ending: the Crucible will transform ''all'' life, both organic and synthetic, into cybernetic organisms (you know, "cyborgs") which will no longer be divided by their nature. This is the final evolution of life, according to the Catalyst, and Shepard can jump-start that evolution right now.\\

Shepard can set the tone of the party, be it polite or raucous, but the best part is simply watching characters from across the trilogy interact: Liara, Samara, Tali, Garrus and Traynor can hang out in the kitchen. Joker, at the bar, can be confronted by Garrus, Wrex, Cortez, Zaeed and Javik, who criticize Joker's refusal to keep a pistol in the cockpit for emergencies and try to goad him into going down to the shooting range later. Both Grunt and Tali can end up in various bathrooms, drunk off their respective asses. Jack and Miranda can continue their rivalry or, if Shepard suggests, make peace with each other; Kasumi will uncloak, ''suggest they kiss'', and mention that, if they let her record it, she can get them about a million [=YouTube=] hits in five seconds. If alive and not romanced, Ashley might start flirting with James. Wrex, Zaeed, Garrus and Javik can end up near the bar (particularly if you agreed with the idea of Joker learning to shoot) setting up booby traps in a semi-inebriated state; a romanced Garrus will set the booby traps' password as "I HEART GARRUS". Shepard calls for a group photo of the entire cast to cap off the evening, the characters in relationships gazing at each other fondly while the others smile for the camera. And in the morning, you find people in various states of recovery: James and either Ashley or Kaidan cooking breakfast downstairs (with Kaidan apparently having had too much coffee), Samara meditating in a quiet corner, Traynor hiding from EDI after drunken confessions the night before, Jacob and Jack working out in a downstairs bedroom.

And that's the main reason we left this DLC for last: it's our chance to spend one last night with the characters we've spent the better part of a decade talking to, living with, playing alongside and falling in love with. It's our chance to say goodbye.

Shepard smiles and breaks into a run. There's a RobotWar to win, people to save, decisions to make, fates to change, and millions more gamers to win the hearts of... and the Commander can't wait to get back to it.

Another question is how Cerberus got into the facility in the first place. The answer comes in surveillance footage of a human researcher named Dr. Eva Core, who is revealed to be a Cerberus agent. When Shepard gets to the centre of the archives, Dr. Core is happily uploading data to The Illusive Man, Cerberus' leader. While the two have worked together before, TIM is now taking a very different stance on the Reapers: he wants to cooperate with them and learn from them, much as Saren did in the first game. This includes having Dr. Core delete the data locally once she has obtained it; the only copy is now in her possession. A ChaseScene ensues.

Dr. Core gets to her shuttle, but is prevented from escaping by James Vega, who arrives in Shepard's shuttle and employs a case of the good old "RammingAlwaysWorks". Unfortunately, Dr. Core emerges unscathed: She's not a human at all, but rather a RidiculouslyHumanRobot designed for infiltration. She seizes the Virmire Survivor and bashes their head against the crashed Cerberus shuttle's wall, forcing Shepard to shoot quickly and take her down. Shepard, Liara, James and the Virmire Survivor, now in a coma, take the shuttle back up to the ''Normandy''. However, the ship is understaffed, and Liara, stepping into the role of NumberTwo, insists that they head to the Citadel to get the Virmire Survivor some medical treatment.

In the game's original release, there was also a "Readiness Rating," which multiplied your War Asset score by its value. RR could be increased by engaging in "Galaxy At War" CoOpMultiplayer activities. You played not Shepard but a nameless N7 soldier -- though classes, and more importantly races, were added in as the game matured, allowing players to finally step into the shoes/boots/whatever of asari, turians, salarians, quarians, drell, vorcha, krogan, volus, batarians, Cerberus operatives, geth, and even a freed Collector. Such characters operated in 4-person fireteams to survive 10-wave Horde Mode matches, plus a HoldTheLine segment at the end as you waited for a GunshipRescue. The more matches you won, the higher your RR got, though it would decay over time. Multiplayer characters who maxed out their levels could be "promoted" into the single-player campaign as War Assets. This gave players another angle with which to defeat the Reapers; while ForcedLevelGrinding and {{Lootbox}} extravaganza were strongly in effect, most players found the moment-to-moment gameplay actually fun. That said, multiplayer was removed from all remasters and rereleases; they are hard-coded to assume your RR is at maximum, as opposed to their original starting value of 50%. The maps themselves do appear in the single-player campaign as the location of N7-flavored {{Side Quest}}s, and a small but thriving ''[=ME3=]'' multiplayer community does exist via the original 2012 release.

The Primarch who was in charge when the Reapers invaded is named Fedorion; Shepard confirms that he is dead (along with quite a lot of the turian military). After some investigation of the chain of command, Shepard (and possibly Garrus) determine that they are looking for a fellow named Adrien Victus; he's a MilitaryMaverick, and Garrus opines that Shepard will be well served with him in charge of the Turian Hierarchy. However, Victus is pinned down defending a strategically important position. Shepard fights their way across Menae, encountering more new Husk variants along the way: Marauders, turian husks with shields, guns and the ability to armour up surrounding Reaper troops; and Brutes, krogan husks with turian heads that act as SmashMooks. Shepard's squad eventually reinforces Victus' position; Victus agrees to help, but first states his price: he wants the krogan to come to Palaven and reinforce the situation. That said, he does ship out with the ''Normandy'', and can be found in the War Room using the extensive telecommunications suites there to direct his people's war efforts by proxy. Garrus, meanwhile, takes up his customary spot in the Gun Battery, certain that the Alliance messed with his calibrations over the last six months.

Before sitting down to try and make this happen, Shepard first needs to find out what's happening to the ship, especially when the power starts flickering in and out. Joker reports a fire in the ship's AI core, and Shepard heads down to investigate. The source of the fire turns out to be the robot body of Dr. Core... Which EDI has commandeered. She is now able to serve as a squadmate on Shepard's team. She is a fairly straightforward Engineer, without too much durability despite being a robot. EDI takes her new body out to meet the crew (everyone expects Joker to get DistractedByTheSexy), and ends up "living" in one of the co-pilots' seats next to Joker. (EDI is still, first and foremost, the ''Normandy''; even if her bipedal platform goes with you, she'll still VoiceWithAnInternetConnection things to you during missions.) That said, Shepard can always chat with her and learn more about EDI in general, not to mention her new adventures as an unshackled AI.

From Ashes takes Shepard back to Eden Prime, where it all began. Cerberus has seized the colony on account of an archaeological find: prothean stasis pods, one of which is still functioning. As Shepard and their squad fight their way to this pod, Shepard is treated to {{Pensieve Flashback}}s starring a prothean who was leading a last-ditch defence of an installation. The installation contained a bunch of stasis pods for preserving [[HumanPopsicle Prothean Popsicles]] into the next cycle -- one million soldiers, the best of those still left standing. Alas, the installation is compromised, and by the time the viewpoint prothean manages to get to his stasis pod, he's also the only one left alive. This makes it a lot easier for the installation to keep him alive for 50,000 years, and Shepard awakens a living, breathing prothean.

The fellow takes up residence in the Port Cargo Hold on Deck 4, using the opportunity to show off his species' TouchTelepathy: it's Grunt's old room, and he can tell. Liara, of course, is beyond excited at a chance to meet a real live prothean (Joker predicts bouncing and squeeing), but he isn't the archaeological treasure trove she'd hoped for; prothean society had lots of "Avatars," who embodied a trait or value, and he is the Avatar of Vengeance -- a warlike pursuit which left little time for the kind of things Liara wanted to ask about. Besides, he depicts the protheans as having been aggressively imperialistic, bringing other species under cultural hegemony via threats and force -- a far cry from the benevolent precursors Liara had imagined. On top of that, by the time he was born, the protheans had been at war with the Reapers for ''hundreds'' of years, and whatever CrystalSpiresAndTogas they ''had'' possessed were long gone. The prothean displays a HandshakeRefusal to Shepard, but does agree to resume the fight against the Reapers; he gives his name as Javik.

Cerberus -- of course -- catches wind of the exchange and attacks the STG base. While Urdnot Rex runs interference, Shepard escorts a giant elevator, containing "Eve" and Mordin as caretaker, up to the surface. "Eve," upon emerging, makes an impact on everyone by, as needed, grabbing a shotgun and blowing away two surviving Cerberus troops; if the Rex is Wrex, he'll be impressed, despite himself. (Wreav isn't, because he's [[StayInTheKitchen an old-fashioned chauvinist]].) The three -- "Eve," Mordin and Urdnot Rex -- join Shepard in the ''Normandy'' for the voyage to Tuchanka, with Rex in the War Room and the other two in the Med Bay.

Shepard finds the problem hanar, who goes by Zymandis and goes to apprehend him with Jondum Bau and maybe Kasumi in tow. Zymandis claims a YouAreTooLate situation: Kahje's defences, mostly automated, can be disabled by a virus, and he has already started to upload it. Bau makes a move towards the console, hoping to pull out its [=cat5=] cable, but is detained by Zymandis' human bodyguard.

In the War Room, Urdnot Rex mentions that a group of krogan scouts have gone radio silent and asks Shepard to investigate. The team in question is Aralahk Company, named after Tuchanka's sun, and comprises the best and brightest of the krogan. The leader might be a previously unknown krogan named Urdnot Dagg... but (standard disclaimer about the second game) it might also be good old Urdnot Grunt. They've been sent, and Shepard immediately volunteers assistance, to confirm if the rachni have made a home here.

Shepard fights their way to the Rachni Queen -- even if you decided to wipe her out back in ''Mass Effect 1'', there's just a new one here, which the Reapers cobbled together [[{{Handwave}} somehow]]. Shepard must re-enact the decision from before: to spare the rachni or to wipe out the species, with the added corollary that if Shepard chooses the rachni, Aralahk Company will die in the defence.
* If you choose to condemn the queen to death, Aralahk Company enlist as a War Asset.
* If you choose to spare the Rachni Queen, she joins the war effort to help on the Crucible, and instead of Aralahk Company, you are given a War Asset of Rachni Workers, which are more powerful than Aralakh Company. However, her fate in the first game becomes relevant: If you killed the original queen from ''[=ME1=]'', this one doesn't trust you, and eventually departs the project to go rogue -- not only removing her War Assets, but decreasing the strength of the Alliance Engineering Corps working on the Crucible as she shoots her way out.

The DLC introduces a couple new enemy types. One are the "Rampart" mechs, which eschew the typical slow-and-methodical attack speed of the LOKI humanoids Shepard shot so many of during the second game for a much more fluid, aggressive attack style. The others are the reason Cerberus are here: they've been experimenting with helping the Reapers create a new zombie cyborg, called an "Adjutant." They hunt in packs and are able to convert slain foes into copies of themselves quickly.

The DLC "Leviathan" starts with Shepard getting an email from Hackett: there's a researcher, Dr. Garret Bryson, who has information on the Reapers that could completely re-contextualize them. Shepard indeed meets with Dr. Bryson, but it turns out that his assistant has become indoctrinated, and shoots him to death. Afterwards, the assistant -- unusually -- becomes un-indoctrinated, and is confused at his actions, claiming he was taken somewhere "cold and dark". Throughout the conversation, he is ''re''-indoctrinated more than once, proclaiming, "[[CatchPhrase The darkness cannot be breached]]."

Leviathan -- as is appropriate for something named after a sea creature -- lives on an ocean planet. The shuttle is disabled by a weird energy pulse as it lands, and Shepard fends off Reaper attacks while Cortez makes repairs. The energy pulse turns out to be caused by Leviathan -- it'll happen again and again until Shepard makes FirstContact. So Shepard jumps in a diving mech and descends over three kilometers to the ocean bottom.

Shepard wants them to join the war effort -- they are the Reapers' equals, after all, and Shepard has empirically seen them kill Reapers. After some convincing and pointing out that Shepard is special, and seems to be leading this cycle in a direction it's never gone in before, they agree. They join the war effort, providing a War Asset larger than the Alliance's 1st, 3rd, 5th and 6th Fleets ''combined'', and Shepard reports to Hackett that, because they've proved the Reapers have a beginning, it may be possible to write them an end. If Dr. Ann Bryson is still a person, she will join as well.

This mission only becomes unlocked if Shepard ''either'' rescues Lt. Victus' platoon (just the rescue, not the bomb defusal) or investigates what's going on with Aralahk Company. (There is nothing stopping Shepard from doing all three missions.) It's also advised that you do the Kasumi SideQuest and talk to the Virmire Survivor at the hospital -- and for that matter, a whole bunch of other side quests that are available on the Citadel but aren't being included in this Recap because they don't advance the plot. If you don't do these quests before you cure the genophage, they are [[PermanentlyMissableContent forfeited]].

The delay is just as well: Mordin has been working on refining the genophage cure. The stability of the cure depends partially on whether you encouraged him to save Maelon's data last game. Mordin, Urdnot Rex, Primarch Victus and Shepard congregate to formulate ThePlan: how to disperse the cure across Tuchanka? Mordin settles on The Shroud, a giant atmospheric purification plant installed before the Krogan Rebellions, which was used to distribute the original genophage in the first place. However, Reapers have officially landed, and one of them is hanging around The Shroud. Shepard is going to have to do something about it before the cure can be distributed.

Shepard finally gets inside the Shroud. Urdnot Rex stays behind to hold a rear-guard action; if it's Wrex, he'll make some very kind noises about how much he respects Shepard now. Within, Mordin is trying to make sure the cure gets out. He will also report on "Eve": if you didn't save Maelon's data, she will have died of the experimental treatments. Now all that's left is to talk to Mordin and decide the fate of the krogan.
* If Shepard already warned Wrex and Mordin about the Dalatrass's attempt at sabotage, Mordin, indignant, will head up to the top of the Shroud, which is already unstable, to un-sabotage the cure formula and make sure it goes out correctly: "Had to be me. Someone else would have gotten it wrong." Wrex, touched by the HeroicSacrifice, promises that he'll name one of his children after the salarian. "Maybe one of the daughters."

Whatever the case, Kai Leng runs off and jumps in an aircar, with Shepard pursuing. Kai Leng solves this by ''stabbing Shepard's car'', [[ViolationOfCommonSense which works for some reason]], and Shepard continues the pursuit on foot, eventually catching up with the asari, turian and human councilors. Of course, they're not alone: the Virmire Survivor, humanity's second Spectre, is guarding them.

In the aftermath, Bailey will mention that Thane, if present, has been taken to Huerta Memorial to pass away in what comfort can be provided; Kolyat will come to attend him whether or not you got Thane's Loyalty, and Shepard may choose to be present for Thane's last moments. Anderson, who is still alive down on Earth, will forward what he knows of Kai Leng; Shepard can forward this information to Miranda, since she's being hunted by Cerberus. Shepard will find the Virmire Survivor's name on the Memorial Wall, or the living article waiting for them at the ''Normandy''[='s=] docking bay: Shepard can bring them back onboard as a squadmate, or let them work with the Crucible project as a War Asset. Thane's name joins the Memorial Wall, even if you haven't spoken to him since the last game -- implying he simply had a BusCrash offscreen in this case. And, if you saved the salarian councilor, you start getting some salarian War Assets as people from that race begin willing to help Shepard in defiance of their leaders' opinions.

As ''Normandy'' heads back out into the void, Adm. Hackett tells Shepard that the quarians have stepped forward to volunteer their technical expertise for the Crucible. Adm. Shala'Raan vas ''Tonbay'' comes aboard and explains that, as usual, their cooperation comes with dependencies that need to be fulfilled first: the quarians have decided to reconquer their homeworld, Rannoch, from the geth, and the geth have responded by borrowing some processing upgrades from the Reapers, strengthening their position significantly. The quarians need Shepard's help. Fortunately, they have an expert on the geth: Tali'Zorah vas ''Normandy'', who will be here even if she was exiled (expertise is expertise), and will be promoted to Admiral, replacing her father, if she wasn't. (If she's dead or you just never saved her from Haestrom, well, there's just no expert on the geth.) Tali and Adm. Raan set up in the War Room, and Tali joins the PlayerParty -- the final character you recruit over the course of the trilogy. (This means that, if you wanted to take her for a spin in some of the side quests before continuing with the plot, you'd have that option.)

Liara is a mandatory squadmate for the Thessia mission, and is taken aback by the carnage: Even though she's seen it at a distance from Mars, and up close at Palaven, apparently it doesn't really stick with her until the corpses are blue. That said, this is the hardest, thickest fighting we've seen in the war so far, with the asari begrudging every inch they give. You are free to pick your third squadmate at your discretion, but it can be wise to bring Javik because he adds additional content to the end of the mission.

This other Shepard explains that they are a clone, grown by TIM during The Lazarus Project in case the real Shepard needed a spare heart or lungs or something. When The Lazarus Project succeeded, TIM abandoned the Clone; it woke up six months ago and since then has been planning how to take revenge on Shepard. Its current plan: steal the ''Normandy''. To that end, Shepard immediately orders the ''Normandy'' locked down... but the Clone already has communications jammed, and is now able to send unlock orders, telling Traynor to get the ship prepped for departure, using the authorization codes and other metadata they just intercepted. The Clone then tosses Brooks back to the Alliance and orders their mercenaries to kill the spare.

* '''Tali'Zorah vas ''Neema''''', a quarian (RoguishRomani InSpace). Quarians are famous for inadvertently starting a RobotWar when they took their "geth," robot laborers of limited intelligence, and accidentally upgraded them to true ArtificialIntelligence. The quarians have been at odds with the geth -- and, for that matter, the rest of the galaxy, since the ruling Council imposed a BanOnAI -- since the 1800s, when they conducted a HomeworldEvacuation, leaving Rannoch to their robotic creations, and started living full-time on the biggest fleet in the galaxy. A WrenchWench, Tali was her people's equivalent of a teenager, going on her RiteOfPassage, and was somewhat speciesist against the geth.

* '''Liara T'Soni''', a ShrinkingViolet and AdventureArchaeologist who was an expert on the Protheans. She was instrumental in helping Shepard understand their visions. Liara is an asari, a [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Blue-Skinned Space Babe]] OneGenderRace that reproduce by TouchTelepathy[[note]]No genetic information is exchanged; instead, asari sex involves a MindMeld, and the spontaneously-generated child has their genes randomized according to whatever the asari perceives[[/note]]; like Tali, she was considered a youngster by her people, being a mere 106 years old.

Shepard and their former CO, Adm. David Anderson, fight their way through Vancouver. In addition to swarms of the basic human Husks from the prior games, the two also encounter Cannibals; batarian husks with a human-arm cannon that serve as basic frontline troops, who can consume the bodies of their fallen brethren to gain some armour plating. Navigating a destroyed building, Shepard encounters a young boy, separated from his parents and hiding from the HellIsThatNoise, explosions and mutated cyborg zombies that accompany a Reaper invasion. Shepard can encourage the boy to leave his refuge and join the two of them[[note]]Shepard is the only human Spectre, and Anderson was actually a candidate to be one about 20 years ago; they are arguably the two most skilled soldiers on the planet; if this kid has ''any'' chance at all, it's with them[[/note]], but to no avail. That said, as Shepard gets out on the ''Normandy'', they see the boy boarding an evacuation shuttle, having got out on his own. ...And then see the shuttle blown out of the sky by a Reaper. As ''Normandy'' leaves Earth, Shepard turns away from the people they can't save and towards those they can, having confronted first-hand the game's CentralTheme: [[TheChainsOfCommanding You Can't Save Everyone]].

Inside, Shepard meets the head researcher who has a lead on the important Prothean data: Dr. Liara T'Soni, who ''also'' hasn't been a permanent member of the PlayerParty since the first game[[note]]Liara becomes a GuestStarPartyMember temporarily during the "Lair of the Shadow Broker" DownloadableContent mission, but leaves afterwards[[/note]]. James is sent back to the shuttle to safeguard the team's exit strategy, while the three old friends venture deeper into the Archives to secure this important data.

Shepard gets the Virmire Survivor rushed to a local hospital, Huerta Memorial and then sets about reporting their findings to the Citadel Council, which consists of an asari, a turian, a salarian and the human ambassador Donnel Udina[[note]]Back in 2183, Shepard is allowed to decide whether the Fifth Fleet should go out of its way to save the Council from Sovereign or not; if not, then the Council that appears in the second and third game is a completely different set of individuals. That said, they are identical in terms of their ''plot'' function, so we're not going to waste time discussing it outside of this quick note[[/note]]. Shepard wants the other three races to come to Earth and help fight off the Reapers, which Udina is obviously in favor of, but the asari and salarian councilors prefer to preserve the strength of their militaries, and the turian councilor admits that his race is already under attack, with Reapers landing on the turian home planet of Palaven. The Council's ''official'' word is that they will be hosting an intergalactic summit to decide on a military response. The turian councilor, [[CouldSayItBut unofficially]], suggests Shepard visit Palaven's moon, Menae, and help Primarch Fedorion make it off-world; he'll be hosting the summit in the first place, and his gratitude may be very valuable.[[note]]Since the original turian councilor displays the largest quantity, out of all six possible Councilors, of HeadInTheSandManagement re: pretending the Reapers don't exist, some players found much to appreciate in the fellow's change of tune.[[/note]]

Shepard, two squadmates and the krogan leader, whom we'll call Urdnot Rex[[note]]"Rex" is Latin for "king". [[DontExplainTheJoke Geddit?????]][[/note]], land on Sur'Kesh to retrieve "Eve." The ranking salarian officer, Padok Wiks, arranges for security clearance. As you wait for him to do this, Shepard has a chance to catch up with Wrex (particularly if Garrus and/or Liara are your squadmates) or be antagonized by Wreav, as well as other folks like Captain, now Major, Kirrahe, should he have survived the events on Virmire. (By default -- IE, if you didn't import a ''Mass Effect 1'' save file -- he died there. A Lt. Tolan takes his spot on the map in this case.) Finally, Shepard is taken below to meet "Eve" and her caretaker -- none other than Mordin Solus.

Of course, Mordin might be dead; it's possible to get him killed during the SuicideMission at the end of ''Mass Effect 2'', and indeed the game's programming makes it rather easy to do this[[note]]In situations where the game chooses a random victim, every character has a hidden "defense" value which determines their likeliness of getting offed, and Mordin is in the squishiest category[[/note]]. That said, he's also got CharacterShields: he's one of ''three'' Suicide Squad members who shows up even if you didn't play the second game. If Mordin did not survive, Padok Wiks takes over as "Eve"'s caretaker. While Padok has his own voice actor, dialogue and personality, his role '''in the plot''' is completely identical to Mordin's, and for simplicity, this recap will just refer to the "Salarian Scientist" role as "Mordin".

You can also meet Dr. Gavin Archer, who is now part of Dr. Cole's group. If you let Gavin keep David at the end of ''Overlord'', he will tell you what transpired – the geth data proved useful, but David became unresponsive and Gavin had to pull the plug (if you never completed Overlord, Gavin will introduce himself to you and tell you that David went berserk, resulting in the facility having to be nuked). If you took David away, Gavin will talk about his HeelRealization and ask after David. If you didn't get to Grissom Academy in time, or if you lie to Gavin claiming to not know David's fate, Gavin will be DrivenToSuicide.[[note]]He will also be driven to suicide if David died and if you meet him after the culmination of the Geth-Quarian war, distraught that David's suffering was AllForNothing.[[/note]]

* Ashley can be dated by a male Shepard. If he dated Ashley in the first game but left her for Miranda or Jack, she will express a certain amount of irritation when he visits her at Huerta Memorial. Curiously, she won't feel that way as much if he left her for Tali, claiming she sees her as more of a little sister. She's also more forgiving of Shepard during the early-game if he remained faithful to her. Shepard can also ''start'' dating her during this game. However, he can't formalize their relationship unless she joins the ''Normandy'' crew after the coup. She then asks for Shepard's emotional support while her younger sister Sarah, a newlywed, mourns her husband who died fighting the Reapers. (This meeting happens regardless of whether Shepard is dating her.) Finally, she invites him to the Citadel and asks if their relationship is going somewhere.
* A female Shepard can ''continue'' to date Garrus if she started in the second game, but cannot start a new relationship with him in the third. (Please note that you also can't date Garrus in the second unless you recruited him in the first, so this is a relationship literally three games in the making.) The moment he arrives at the Main Battery, he will reach out to Shepard and ask if they're still a thing; she can politely rebuff him or confirm she's missed him. Eventually, Garrus invites Shepard to visit him on the Presidium (this event happens even if they are not dating), and breaks C-Sec rules to take the two of them to the top of Citadel Tower and practice skeet-shooting at thrown beer bottles. Shepard can choose whether to let Garrus win or not; if they do; Garrus will proclaim, "[[MemeticMutation I'm Garrus Vakarian and this is my favorite spot on the Citadel!]]" Back in dating-exclusive content, he will then ask Shepard if she's ready to be "a one-turian woman."

* Miranda, like Jack, can only continue a romance with (male) Shepard she kindled during the second game. Since she doesn't appear often, there isn't much to it. Her happens-to-everyone scene involves her confessing to Shepard that The Illusive Man was advocating for Miranda to install a control chip in Shepard's head so that they could be turned into an EmptyShell, biddable and controllable, as needed. She did not, and is grateful today to have avoided it.

* Samantha Traynor can be romanced by a female Shepard. She starts out ambivalent: she's used to working in a lab and to the comforts of home, and had to place a special requisition order for her toothbrush, a Cision Pro Mk 4 that "uses tiny mass effect fields to break up plaque and massage the gums. It costs ''six thousand credits.''" (Note that some low-level GunAccessories empirically cost less than this.) Shepard invites her up to her quarters for a round of SmartPeoplePlayChess, and Traynor finds one thing Shepard ''isn't'' good at. She also finds that Shepard has the ''only'' private shower on the ship.[[note]]The ''Normandy''[='s=] communal bathrooms are on Deck 3, to either side of the elevator, and consist of one very large stall that three people use at once.[[/note]] This leads to the odd sight of Traynor and Shepard taking a shower ''in their underwear'', probably because [=BioWare=] didn't want to go through the trouble of re-texturing the models; that said, if you can engage the WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief, it's very romantic.

* Kelly Chambers is another "continue only" romance for a Shepard of either gender. As the war begins, parts of the Citadel get converted to refugee camps, and Kelly can be found at one of them. She has left Cerberus employ, and is a ShellShockedVeteran after her uncomfortable experience being Collected by the Collectors. She may confess to Shepard that she sent reports to TIM behind their back; if Shepard berates her for this, she takes a CyanidePill from her days in Cerberus. However, Shepard may also forgive her, and encourage her to change her identity for additional safety. This pays off: if you don't do this, Cerberus find her during the coup attempt and summarily murder her. Assuming she survives this, Shepard can continue to romance her.

* Kenneth Donnelly and Gabriella Daniels, ThoseTwoGuys, are the original engineering crew of the SR-2. They left the Alliance and joined Cerberus to help fight the Collectors, and can be killed if Shepard takes too long going through the Omega-4 Relay. In this game, Shepard can learn from the Spectre terminal that they were taken into custody when the ''Normandy'' was impounded, and can authorize their release. Thereafter they join Adams on Deck 4. Donnelly constantly admires the assets of the female crew, with Daniels attempting to keep his mind on engineering. If you visit them often enough, Gabby will demand to know why he never compliments ''her'', and Shepard can side with her, pointing out that EveryoneCanSeeIt. If not, they remain professional.
* Conrad Verner can be found at the refugee camp on the Citadel. Our favorite LoonyFan is singing the praises of Cerberus, being (as usual) a game late and a dollar short. He's also been a distraction while a Cerberus agent sabotaged the medigel dispensers, hampering non-human healing efforts. Conrad apologizes and asks what he can do to help; Shepard replies that they're trying to get the Crucible, the most confusing dark-energy project in history, off the ground; Dr. Conrad Verner, expert in xenoscience, offers to help. (Shepard: "[[FlatWhat Really?]]") After an avalanche of ContinuityPorn -- a minor NPC, a PlotCoupon and pieces of a GottaCatchEmAll sidequest from the first game -- Project Crucible gets a leg up. (Or doesn't, if you didn't finish some of these things back in 2183.) Shepard can then linger with Conrad to get some additional updates: he used to run an orphanage, but managed to save them all when the Reapers attacked; they talk about the removal of the {{overheating}} system from the first game; he admits he has a shrine to Shepard: "It's just a poster and a few candles. It's very tasteful." And he asks if Shepard thinks they can defeat the Reapers, and then asks if Shepard thinks they can defeat the Reapers, a LampshadeHanging on how players can inadvertently ask [=NPCs=] the same question several times. After Shepard fixes the medigel dispensers, Conrad recognizes his Cerberus contact and points the fellow out. The Cerberus agent responds by pulling a pistol and pointing it at Shepard. Conrad makes a SlowMotion DivingSave to [[TakingTheBullet Take The Bullet]], and Shepard punches out the Cerberus {{mook}} before turning to regard Conrad.
** Way back in the first game, when Shepard was first rescuing Tali from Saren's agents, they can meet a girl named Jenna who worked at Chora's Den. Her sister Rita was concerned for her, as Chora's Den was not in a nice part of town; however, Jenna turned out to be an undercover C-Sec agent. If you worked with Officer Chellick to complete his investigation, she makes it out of the place just before Shepard charges in with guns to rescue Tali. Well, three years later, she's here now; she sabotages the Cerberus agent's gun. Conrad stands up, none the worse for wear, thanks Jenna, and walks off with her, the two of them [[PairTheSpares starting to flirt]] as Shepard shakes their head in the background.

* And finally, we should talk about one burgeoning romance: You can find Joker at Purgatory, making fun of the dancers who are now trying to forget the reality of the war: "If a guy waves his arms like that, he's worrying about more than looking stupid on the dance floor." He's also eyeing EDI with some combination of hope and fear. While EDI's robot body, as an infiltration unit, includes SexBot functionality[[note]]Clarified rather garishly when a DLC skin included [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_toe indiscreet outlines]][[/note]], so it's not like he's going to have to give up that part of the human romantic experience, Joker is scared of the same thing every guy is: "Getting a shattered pelvis. And a broken heart." Shepard can encourage Joker to play it safe, or to go for it: "Sounds like you've got bigger things to worry about than looking stupid." (Obligingly, Joker can then be found flailing away on the dance floor next to EDI, who is [[TheComicallySerious standing still.]])

* Liara shares a quick moment of solace with Shepard in some sort of psychic void[[note]]Given that asari randomize the genetics of their children using a MindMeld, it's possible she has just provided Shepard with a blue biotic offspring[[/note]], and thanks the commander for everything.

* Kasumi actually doesn't send an email; instead, Shepard finds one of her devices in the Casino, and knows she's planning TheHeist. Kasumi walks in, takes one look at Shepard, and declares [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere she's at the wrong casino]]. And that's where it ends, unless Shepard steps up and says hello. She explains she plans to donate the proceeds to war refugees, where the money will do much better than it does lining some shareholder's pockets. Shepard can encourage her to go for it or suggest she keep walking.[[note]]This entire interaction has been cited by critics who claim that the Paragon / Renegade system is [=BioWare=] imposing their BlueAndOrangeMorality on gameplay. Encouraging Kasumi's ChaoticGood Myth/RobinHood behavior is portrayed as TheFettered Paragon option but interpreting it as TheUnfettered Renegade option is just as valid. This can result in players having to betray their principles for the sake of {{Min Max}}ed KarmaMeter scores.[[/note]]

Shepard, two squadmates and Urdnot Rex, whoever he is[[note]]"Rex" is Latin for "king". [[DontExplainTheJoke Geddit?????]][[/note]], land on Sur'Kesh to retrieve "Eve." The ranking salarian officer, Padok Wiks, arranges for security clearance. As you wait for him to do this, Shepard has a chance to catch up with Wrex (particularly if Garrus and/or Liara are your squadmates) or be antagonized by Wreav, as well as other folks like Captain, now Major, Kirrahe, should he have survived the events on Virmire. (By default -- IE, if you didn't import a ''Mass Effect 1'' save file -- he died there. A Lt. Tolan takes his spot on the map in this case.) Finally, Shepard is taken below to meet "Eve" and her caretaker -- none other than Mordin Solus.

Cerberus -- of course -- catches wind of the exchange and attacks the STG base. While Urdnot Wrex runs interference, Shepard escorts a giant elevator, containing "Eve" and Mordin as caretaker, up to the surface. "Eve," upon emerging, makes an impact on everyone by, as needed, grabbing a shotgun and blowing away two surviving Cerberus troops; Wrex is impressed, despite himself. (Wreav isn't, because he's [[StayInTheKitchen an old-fashioned chauvinist]].) The three -- "Eve," Mordin and Urdnot Rex -- join Shepard in the ''Normandy'' for the voyage to Tuchanka, with Rex in the War Room and the other two in the Med Bay.

The delay is just as well: Mordin has been working on refining the genophage cure. The stability of the cure depends partially on whether you encouraged him to save Maelon's data last game. Mordin, Urdnot Wrex, Primarch Victus and Shepard congregate to formulate ThePlan: how to disperse the cure across Tuchanka? Mordin settles on The Shroud, a giant atmospheric purification plant installed before the Krogan Rebellions, which was used to distribute the original genophage in the first place. However, Reapers have officially landed, and one of them is hanging around The Shroud. Shepard is going to have to do something about it before the cure can be distributed.

Shepard finally gets inside the Shroud. Urdnot Wrex stays behind to hold a rear-guard action; if it's Wrex, he'll make some very kind noises about how much he respects Shepard now. Within, Mordin is trying to make sure the cure gets out. He will also report on "Eve": if you didn't save Maelon's data, she will have died of the experimental treatments. Now all that's left is to talk to Mordin and decide the fate of the krogan.

Leading the defense is Jacob Taylor, one of the few ''[=ME2=]'' characters who will appear in this game even if you didn't play the preceding games. Shepard patches him up and brings him inside the base, where he introduces Shepard to Dr. Brynn Cole, the leader of the scientists. Jacob met her while in Cerberus employ and helped them when their compatriots, having completed their assignments, started disappearing. He and Ms. Cole have also fallen in love and are having a child together. This happens ''even if Jacob romanced Shepard in the second game'', adding to the fandom's antipathy towards the character.

* Jack can be dated if a male Shepard started to date her in the second game, but cannot start a relationship with her now. Whether or not Shepard is dating her, Shepard can find her at Purgatory after the coup attempt, sorting through duty rosters; Shepard invites her to blow off steam and come dance, proudly performing the "[[FanNickname Shepard Shuffle]]" despite Jack's (accurate) protestations: "Shepard! You can't dance!"

* Liara might have been Shepard's love interest, regardless of Shepard's gender, in the first game. Like the Virmire Survivor, she's re-introduced quickly, and Shepard can rapidly affirm that she's still first in his or her heart, or start a relationship with her later. After the mission on Palaven, Shepard can find Matriarch Aethyta on the Presidium -- still tending bar -- where she (Aethyta) reveals that she is Liara's "father"; Shepard can engineer a re-union between the two despite Liara's resentment at her DisappearedDad, at which point Aethyta will gift Liara (IE, Shepard) a War Asset of asari commandos.

As always, the Citadel is one of the main hubs for the game, and Shepard can walk around meeting various people. For instance, Thane Krios is here, if he survived the second game; he's at Huerta Memorial as well, seeking palliative care for his Kepral's Syndrome. Additionally, both Dr. Chakwas (if she survived the Suicide Mission) and Dr. Chloe Michel can be found in the hospital, and Shepard may recruit one of them to serve as the ''Normandy''[='s=] chief medical officer. (If you pick Dr. Michel, Dr. Chakwas can convert into a War Asset.) You can also pick up Diana Allers, a reporter, who offers to "embed" (read: ship out on) the ''Normandy''. Shepard also has their Spectre status confirmed (if they didn't get it back over the course of the 2nd game), allowing them access to a special office where intel and special guns can be purchased. It also serves as a backup for certain side-quests: if you visit a one-time area and miss something that allows you to complete a FetchQuest, it'll show up here.

The turian homeworld is under heavy attack. Shepard needs to land on its moon, Menae, and make contact with the turian Primarch, who serves as both President and Commander in Chief. (There are not really any distinctions in turian society between military rank and political office.) To reach him, Shepard turns to a high-ranking expert within the turian military: Garrus Vakarian, special advisor on Reaper operations. Garrus of course might be dead, though it's actually rather difficult to make that happen; if he is, Shepard simply strikes out on their own. Likewise, while Shepard is groundside, Joker radios in that something is going rather drastically wrong with the ''Normandy''. Liara will head back up if Garrus is alive, allowing the turian rebel to join the fire team; if not, she stays so that Shepard's PlayerParty isn't short-handed.

Before sitting down to try and make this happen, Shepard first needs to find out what's happening to their ship, especially when the power starts flickering in and out. Joker reports a fire in the ship's AI core, and Shepard heads down to investigate. The source of the fire turns out to be the robot body of Dr. Core... Which EDI has commandeered. She is now able to serve as a squadmate on Shepard's team. She is a fairly straightforward Engineer, without too much durability despite being a robot. EDI takes her new body out to meet the crew (everyone expects Joker to get DistractedByTheSexy), and ends up "living" in one of the co-pilots' seats next to Joker. (EDI is still, first and foremost, the ''Normandy''; even if her bipedal platform goes with you, she'll still VoiceWithAnInternetConnection things to you during missions.) That said, Shepard can always chat with her and learn more about EDI in general, not to mention her new adventures as an unshackled AI.

Pursuant to Primarch Victus' desire to have the krogan reinforcing his people, the salarian Dalatrass (president) and the closest thing the krogan have to a species-wide ruler -- the head of Clan Urdnot -- have agreed to come to speak to both Victus and Shepard. Of course, by the time Shepard gets there, the two are at each other's throats. Just as Victus has named his price -- krogan cooperation -- Urdnot Wrex or Urdnot Wreav (whichever one is present) has named his: a cure for the genophage. Fortunately, a salarian from the STG has been working on a cure, and they have possession of "Eve," the only (surviving) krogan female who is cured.

Of course, Mordin might be dead; it's possible to get him killed during the SuicideMission at the end of ''Mass Effect 2'', and indeed the game's programming makes it rather easy to do this[[note]]In situations where the game chooses a random victim, every character has a hidden "defense" value which determines their likeliness of getting offed, and Mordin is in the squishiest category[[/note]]. If Mordin did not survive, Padok Wiks takes over as "Eve"'s caretaker. While Padok has his own voice actor, dialogue and personality, his role '''in the plot''' is completely identical to Mordin's, and for simplicity, this recap will just refer to the "Salarian Scientist" role as "Mordin".

Cerberus -- of course -- catches wind of the exchange and attacks the STG base. While Urdnot Wrex runs interference, Shepard escorts a giant elevator, containing "Eve" and Mordin as caretaker, up to the surface. "Eve," upon emerging, makes an impact on everyone by, as needed, grabbing a shotgun and blowing away two surviving Cerberus troops; Wrex is impressed, despite himself. (Wreav isn't, because he's [[StayInTheKitchen an old-fashioned chauvinist]].) The three -- "Eve," Mordin and Urdnot Wrex -- join Shepard in the ''Normandy'' for the voyage to Tuchanka, with Wrex in the War Room and the other two in the Med Bay.

This isn't a typical Side Quest either, but it's still pretty important to do. Miranda Lawson, if she lived through the end of ''Mass Effect 2'', pings Shepard and asks to chat on the Citadel. She reveals that, since the Collector Base, she has resigned from Cerberus; since Cerberus is a "ResignationsNotAccepted" sort of place, The Illusive Man now has a price on her head. She claims that her father has orchestrated Oriana's disappearance and that she (Miranda) is trying to find her sister. [[{{Foreshadowing}} This will be important later.]] Beginning a RunningGag, Shepard tells her to "Be careful." "No promises," Miranda replies.

Shepard receives an email from a salarian Spectre, Jondum Bau, who believes he has evidence of some high-level politicians having become indoctrinated. When asked, he might mention that he got the intel from Donovan Hock... Or, if you recruited her and she lived through the end of the previous game, he might mention it's from a PhantomThief named Kasumi Goto. She'll then drop her InvisibilityCloak nearby and say hello.

In the War Room, Urdnot Wrex mentions that a group of krogan scouts have gone radio silent and asks Shepard to investigate. The team in question is Aralahk Company, named after Tuchanka's sun, and comprises the best and brightest of the krogan. The leader might be a previously unknown krogan named Urdnot Dagg... but (standard disclaimer about the second game) it might also be good old Urdnot Grunt. They've been sent, and Shepard immediately volunteers assistance, to confirm if the rachni have made a home here.

Normandy travels to the Tikkun system, where the Migrant Fleet is heavily engaged with geth starships. Tali is assigned as a mandatory squadmate for this mission; if she's dead, Adm. Shala'Raan fills in her role as MissionControl, but not as fireteam member. Shepard is tasked with infiltrating a geth dreadnought which appears to be a major CPU for the fleet. It's not just a CPU, it's a WetwareCPU: It's Legion. ...unless you left them as a paperweight in the AI Core or sold them to Cerberus, at which point it is a character called "Geth VI," who looks the same and has the same voice but does ''not'' have Legion's experience working alongside organics. Our Geth Friend, whoever they are, will shut down the dreadnought's main reactor as a good-faith gesture, allowing the quarians to blow it out of the sky... with Shepard still on it. The four infiltrators scramble to a geth fighter and escape.

Leading the defense is Jacob Taylor (standard disclaimer). Shepard patches him up and brings him inside the base, where he introduces Shepard to Dr. Brynn Cole, the leader of the scientists. Jacob met her while in Cerberus employ and helped them when their compatriots, having completed their assignments, started disappearing. He and Ms. Cole have also fallen in love and are having a child together. This happens ''even if Jacob romanced Shepard in the second game'', adding to the fandom's antipathy towards the character.

Shepard escorts the students out to the escape shuttles, leading a diversionary expedition to distract the Cerberus soldiers while the students shadow in parallel, attacking with biotics from a high balcony and generally lending assistance where possible. (Note that this isn't just SFX: their attacks will empirically do damage to Cerberus soldiers, which you should take advantage of.) Jack, meanwhile, earns her CoolTeacher license by turning a life-or-death combat situation into a teachable moment, continuing to impart lessons and observations while under fire. While evacuating the students, Shepard may also run into former Project Overlord guinea pig David Archer if the player took him away from his brother's clutches. Eventually, the two teams make a break for the shuttles: If Prangley is in charge, he's killed leading the escape; if Jack is, she survives. (Note that her Loyalty status has no effect on this outcome.) Shepard may then decide whether to distribute the kids to frontline units, where they can use their training to the fullest but also run a substantial risk of death, or to keep them in the back line where it's safer. Either way, the students become a War Asset, and Jack does as well.

* Conrad Verner can be found at the refugee camp on the Citadel. Our favorite LoonyFan is singing the praises of Cerberus, being (as usual) a game late and a dollar short. He's also been a distraction while a Cerberus agent sabotaged the medigel dispensers, hampering non-human healing efforts. Conrad apologizes and asks what he can do to help; Shepard replies that they're trying to get the Crucible, the most confusing dark-energy project in history, off the ground; Dr. Conrad Verner, expert in xenoscience, offers to help. (Shepard: "[[FlatWhat Really?]]") After an avalanche of ContinuityPorn -- a minor NPC, a PlotCoupon and pieces of a GottaCatchEmAll sidequest from the first game -- Project Crucible gets a leg up. (Or doesn't, if you didn't finish some of these things back in 2183.) Shepard can then linger with Conrad to get some additional updates: he used to run an orphanage, but managed to save them all when the Reapers attacked; they talk about the removal of the {{overheating}} system from the first game; he admits he has a shrine to Shepard: "It's just a poster and a few candles. It's very tasteful." And he asks if Shepard thinks they can defeat the Reapers, and then asks if Shepard thinks they can defeat the Reapers, a LampshadeHanging on how players can inadvertently ask [=NPCs=] the same question several times. After Shepard fixes the medigel dispensers, Conrad recognizes his Cerberus contact and points the fellow out. The Cerberus agent responds by pulling a pistol and pointing it at Shepard. Conrad makes a SlowMotion diving save to [[TakingTheBullet Take The Bullet]], and Shepard punches out the Cerberus {{mook}} before turning to regard Conrad.

* '''Ashley Williams''', whose family has been branded {{Dirty Coward}}s At Large because, during FirstContact, her grandfather surrendered to a superior turian fleet. As such, her attitude was somewhere between BlackAndGreyMorality -- "Aliens will care for their own people first, and we'd better be prepared to go it alone -- and straight-up FantasticRacism -- "I can't tell the animals from the aliens." That said, she was a ConsummateProfessional in the field, even when working with aliens. She was also a ReligiousBruiser and a WarriorPoet with a particular love of [[Creator/AlfredLordTennyson Tennyson]].

The main {{Antagonist}} was a turian named Saren. Saren was one of the Spectres, EliteAgentsAboveTheLaw who directly serve the Citadel Council that governs the galaxy. To defeat him, Shepard was promoted to the Spectres as well, the first human to receive the honor. Saren also had the help of the geth, their first appearance on the interstellar stage in 300 years. The campaign against Saren was long and costly; while assaulting his main base on the planet Virmire, Shepard was caught out of position and was forced to sacrifice either Ashley or Kaidan. Both MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers will be referred to as "The Virmire Survivor," as from that point on they become basically interchangeable.

With the help of Anderson, Shepard rejoins the Virmire Survivor and Vega on the ''Normandy'', the experimental stealth frigate they've been flying around in all trilogy. Anderson re-commissions Shepard as an Alliance officer and gives the marching orders: Shepard is to rally the races of the galaxy into a cohesive, unified fighting force with which to oppose the Reapers. Anderson himself decides to remain on the ground to organize LaResistance.

As Joker flies the ''Normandy'' away from Earth, the ship receives a Priority One distress call from Adm. Steven Hackett, ''de facto'' Chief of Naval Operations. The Prothean Archives on Mars, which first taught humanity how to get into space, is under attack by Cerberus, and Shepard needs to stop them -- especially since researchers there have made the claim that they have discovered data that could help stop the Reapers. Shepard, James and the Virmire Survivor land and begin to fight their way in. The Virmire Survivor -- who hasn't been in the PlayerParty since the first game, remember, some three years ago in-universe -- takes the time to express some doubt over Shepard's true allegiances, and Shepard can respond as the player sees fit.

Dr. Core gets to her shuttle, but is prevented from escaping by James Vega, who arrives in Shepard's shuttle and employs a case of the good old "RammingAlwaysWorks". Unfortunately, Dr. Core emerges unscathed: She's not a human at all, but rather a RidiculouslyHumanRobot designed for infiltration. She seizes the Virmire Survivor and dashes their head against a wall, forcing Shepard to shoot quickly and take her down. Shepard, Liara, James and the Virmire Survivor, now in a coma, take the shuttle back up to the ''Normandy''. However, the ship is understaffed, and Liara, stepping into the role of NumberTwo, insists that they head to the Citadel to get the Virmire Survivor some medical treatment.

Shepard gets the Virmire Survivor rushed to a local hospital, Huerta Memorial and then sets about reporting their findings to the Citadel Council, which consists of an asari, a turian, a salarian and the human ambassador Donnel Udina[[note]]Back in 2183, Shepard is allowed to decide whether the Fifth Fleet should go out of its way to save the Council from Sovereign or not; if not, then the Council that appears in the second and third game is a completely different set of individuals. That said, they are identical in terms of their ''plot'' function, so we're not going to waste time discussing it outside of this quick note[[/note]]. Shepard wants the other three races to come to Earth and help fight off the Reapers, which Udina is obviously in favor of, but the asari and salarian councillors prefer to preserve the strength of their militaries, and the turian councillor admits that his race is already under attack, with Reapers landing on the turian home planet of Palaven. The Council's ''official'' word is that they will be hosting an intergalactic summit to decide on a military response. The turian councillor, [[CouldSayItBut unofficially]], suggests Shepard visit Palaven's moon, Menae, and help Primarch Fedorion make it off-world; he'll be hosting the summit in the first place, and his gratitude may be very valuable.[[note]]Since the original turian councillor displays the largest quantity, out of all six possible Councilors, of HeadInTheSandManagement re: pretending the Reapers don't exist, some players found much to appreciate in the fellow's change of tune.[[/note]]

Cerberus -- of course -- catches wind of the exchange, and attacks the STG base. While Urdnot Rex runs interference, Shepard escorts a giant elevator, containing "Eve" and Mordin as caretaker, up to the surface. "Eve," upon emerging, makes an impact on everyone by, as needed, grabbing a shotgun and blowing away two surviving Cerberus troops; Wrex is impressed, despite himself. (Wreav isn't, because he's [[StayInTheKitchen an old-fashioned chauvinist]].) The three -- "Eve," Mordin and Urdnot Rex -- join Shepard in the ''Normandy'' for the voyage to Tuchanka, with Rex in the War Room and the other two in the Med Bay.

While Urdnot Rex is probably eager to head down to Tuchanka and just get things handled, Shepard still has the freedom of the WideOpenSandbox (Reaper threat notwithstanding -- and, to be clear, you can actually succeed at bringing the Reapers down on your heads, at which point you hit a NonStandardGameOver). So let's take a moment to investigate the Milky Way -- especially since a number of these missions are PermanentlyMissableContent that can be forfeited. (To avoid spoilers, we'll list those expiration dates when you hit them.)

In the War Room, Urdnot Rex mentions that a group of krogan scouts have gone radio silent and asks Shepard to investigate. The team in question is Aralahk Company, named after Tuchanka's sun, and comprises the best and brightest of the krogan. The leader might be a previously unknown krogan named Urdnot Dagg... but (standard disclaimer about the second game) it might also be good old Urdnot Grunt. They've been sent, and Shepard immediately volunteers assistance, to confirm if the rachni have made a home here.

* If you choose to spare the Rachni Queen, she joins the war effort to help on the Crucible, and instead of Aralahk Company you a War Asset of Rachni Workers, which are more powerful than Aralakh Company. However, her fate in the first game becomes relevant: If you killed the original queen from ''[=ME1=]'', this one doesn't trust you, and eventually departs the project to go rogue -- not only removing her War Assets, but decreasing the strength of the Alliance Engineering Corps working on the Crucible as she shoots her way out.

The delay is just as well: Mordin has been working on refining the genophage cure. The stability of the cure depends partially on whether you encouraged him to save Maelon's data last game. Mordin, Urdnot Rex, Primarch Victus and Shepard congregate to formulate ThePlan: how to disperse the cure across Tuchanka? Mordin settles on The Shroud, a giant atmospheric purification plant installed before the Krogan Rebellions, which was used to distribute the original genophage in the first place. However, Reapers have officially landed, and one of them is hanging around The Shroud. Shepard is going to have to do something about it before the cure can be distributed.

Urdnot Rex leads a convoy of krogan vehicles, with Victus providing a squadron of turian fighters for air support. Of course, the road is out, requiring the team to reroute; but, overhead, the turians have committed. Shepard's vehicle is destroyed, and their party proceeds on foot while the krogans keep driving. This takes Shepard through the ruins of old krogan architecture, giving a look into what Tuchanka was like ''before'' they bombed themselves back into the Stone Age.

Shepard finally gets inside the Shroud. Urdnot Rex stays behind to hold a rear-guard action; if it's Wrex, he'll make some very kind noises about how much he respects Shepard now. Within, Mordin is trying to make sure the cure gets out. He will also report on "Eve": if you didn't save Maelon's data, she will have died of the experimental treatments. Now all that's left is to talk to Mordin and decide the fate of the krogan.

* If Shepard withheld the sabotage from Wrex and Mordin, they will either confess it now or Mordin will surmise it. Mordin insists on going through, as above... Unless Shepard takes a Renegade interrupt and shoots him InTheBack. If so, Mordin's last moments are spent crawling towards the control panel in the vain hope of fixing things before the Shroud explodes. Shepard, walking away, throws away their pistol in [[IAmAMonster self-loathing]].

Shepard, exhausted from the day's events, is encouraged to get some sleep by Garrus. It's not a restful one: its the [[RecurringDreams Recurring Dream]] of the little kid from Earth fleeing in terror from the [[HellIsThatNoise angry boat noises]] of the Reapers. This time, though, the dream has a new addition: ashy shadows, whispering lines from dead characters. No matter what, you'll hear Mordin thanking Shepard for coming, and the Virmire Not-Survivor promising Shepard they'll see them again, but quite a lot of other voices could be present: Wrex might've died on Virmire, and you can survive ''Mass Effect 2'' with as few as two PlayerParty members alive. Shepard is dreaming of those they could not save. And, as before, they can't save the little boy, who burns up before the commander's eyes.

As ''Normandy'' approaches the Citadel, Joker starts picking up a DistressCall. It's from either Thane or Armando-Owen Bailey of C-Sec. He (whoever he is) reports that Cerberus is invading the Citadel. Shepard's squad deploys to prevent this. Hopefully, no one is surprised anymore by the fact that certain Citadel-oriented activities are [[PermanentlyMissableContent inaccessible]] at this point. The next time you get to walk around the Citadel in a non-combat setting, you'll see a lot of missing [=NPCs=]... and, in many cases, a lot of bullet holes where they once stood.

* If Thane ''isn't'' present -- you didn't talk to him before curing the genophage, or he died at the Collector Base -- but Major Kirrahe survived Virmire, ''he'' tanks the hit instead. He dies on the spot, but is proud to have [[HoldTheLine held the line]].
* If neither Thane nor Kirrahe is present, Kai Leng skewers the salarian councilor. It should be pointed out that OldSaveBonus starts being important here: If you didn't import a ''Mass Effect 2'' save, then neither of them show up and FailureIsTheOnlyOption.

After he's dispatched, Shepard sits down in The Illusive Man's chair and starts raiding the man's files. Kai Leng, bleeding, stands up and attempts to sneak up on Shepard. Of course, it takes more than that to catch the commander with their pants down. Shepard dodges, or parries and ''shatters'', Kai Leng's sword, before counter-attacking with a HardLight omni-blade that puts an end to TheDragon with a PreMortemOneLiner:

[[spoiler:As Shepard leads their squad towards the beam, a destroyed Mako gets flung back in their direction. Shepard dodges, but the PlayerParty members don't. This is where War Assets first start to become a part of the story: If Shepard has enough of them, the squadmates are injured. Shepard vectors in the ''Normandy'', which gets down into atmo in a few seconds [[TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot somehow]], and loads the squad members onto it. This also gives Shepard the opportunity for an emotional goodbye with their LoveInterest, if they were one of the two party members. But if War Assets ''weren't'' high enough, the two are just straight-up killed. Hope you didn't bring your LoveInterest!]]

* Kasumi actually doesn't send an email; instead, Shepard finds one of her devices in the Casino, and knows she's planning TheHeist. Kasumi walks in, takes one look at Shepard, and declares [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere she's at the wrong casino]]. And that's where it ends, unless Shepard steps up and says hello. She explains she plans to donate the proceeds to war refugees, where the money will do much more good than it does lining some shareholder's pockets. Shepard can encourage her to go for it or suggest she keep walking.[[note]]This entire interaction has been cited by critics who claim that the Paragon / Renegade system is [=BioWare=] imposing their BlueAndOrangeMorality on gameplay. Encouraging Kasumi's ChaoticGood Myth/RobinHood behavior is portrayed as TheFettered Paragon option, but interpreting it as TheUnfettered Renegade option is just as valid. This can result in players having to betray their principles for the sake of {{Min Max}}ed KarmaMeter scores.[[/note]]

* Tali comes over for a SlumberParty, bringing her favorite vid: ''Fleet And Flotilla'', a RomanticComedy about a turian falling in love with a quarian. If Shepard is dating Tali, it's pretty obvious where this goes; if not, Tali reminisces happily about the past, as this is the movie she used to watch with her friends when they had sleepovers.
* Thane is dead by now, but Kolyat will email Shepard: the Council requested he hold a memorial service for his father. Shepard hosts it in the apartment, and various characters step forward to eulogize their friend. Afterwards, Kolyat gives Shepard some video messages Thane recorded for them while they (Shepard) were incarcerated between games. If Thane was romanced, there will be a fourth one in which Thane promises to wait for her on the other side.
* Samantha Traynor arranges to meet Shepard at the Strip for lunch, but when Shepard gets there, she's nowhere to be found: she discovered, and on a whim entered, a tournament of "Kepesh-Yakshi," asari chess. Expecting to wash out early, she's actually made it pretty far. She goes up against a personal rival, complete with satirical ExtremeCloseUp and Shepard gets to give her marching orders: either some polite encouragement or, especially if a female Shepard is dating her, some take-no-prisoners zeal: "I'm only going to say this once, Traynor: my shower is for winners." Traynor then drops by Shepard's apartment, marveling at the space -- and immediately finding the hot tub. If she's dating Shepard, the commander joins her, with predictable results; if not, she makes herself comfortable while the male Shepard chats with her from a couple rooms away.

Liara has brought Glyph, who helps Shepard track the clone and also finds a lot of interesting things lying around in the vault, including elcor mating totems. As Shepard continues the chase, though, they lose contact with first Team Hammerhead and then Team Mako. Brooks, who has been hit and has stayed behind, confirms that the Clone is jamming the radios. As Shepard's team crosses one of the iridium vaults that contain all of the Archives' material, a force field suddenly pops up, trapping them in place. The Clone saunters up and then introduces their [[TheDragon Dragon]]: Brooks, who drops her fake accent. She ("Brooks" -- she won't admit her real name) admits she's ex-Cerberus, and is the person who compiled the dossiers for TIM during ''Mass Effect 2''. However, she got fed up when TIM ordered her to include aliens like Garrus and Tali on the list. She activated the Clone six months ago and has been helping the Clone with their plans ever since. Here in the Archives, the Clone can enact the final part of their plan: replacing (the real) Shepard's handprints with their own. The Clone then seals Shepard into the vault, trapping them for all eternity.

Shepard and their squad pour on the pressure, and eventually the fight tumbles out onto the lip of the boarding ramp. The mook piloting the ''Normandy'', still trying to lose Cortez, tosses the ship through a maneuver that sends both Shepards flying, leaving them both dangling on the shuttle bay ramp. The Clone demands to know what makes Shepard better than them; as though summoned, Shepard's squadmates rush up, heedless to the danger to themselves, and pull the commander back to safety. The Clone, looking to Brooks for similar help, watches her turn away in disdain. The Clone has no such friend... Except Shepard, who can extend a hand if you choose. Either way, though, the Clone chooses a DisneyVillainDeath instead.

** Actually ''saved'' Admiral Koris during that mission, at which point he too lends the weight of his authority to Shepard's efforts. (Only Zaal'Koris and Daro'Xen ''really'' want this war; while Shala'Raan is AFK at the moment on account of her flagship having gotten shot out from under her, the two warmongers are still, at best, stalemated with the peacemongers, at worst being outvoted.)

It's a pretty difficult DualBoss fight -- in fact, it's probably the hardest boss fight in the trilogy. (It's not like there ''is'' a boss fight at the end of the final level.) "Brooks" will be hanging back and sniping with high-damage shotgun, and meanwhile the Clone... Well, the Clone is ''you'' -- exact same class, exact same skills, and the exact same supplies of medi-gel to restore them back up to full health and shields. It's a HealingBoss, the first in the trilogy. Plus, the Clone summons more [=CAT6=] {{mook}}s to HumanShield for them. Fortunately, there's a crate with infinite medi-gel here in the shuttle bay that the Clone doesn't know about.

Meanwhile, Cortez, with Joker in the passenger seat, has grabbed a skycar and is running interference, dancing in front of the ''Normandy''[='s=] nose and preventing her from making the jump to lightspeed. The Clone orders one of the ''Normandy''[='s=] shuttles out to deal with them... meaning the shuttle bay door is now open -- while the firefight continues within.

Shepard and squad pour on the pressure, and eventually the fight tumbles out onto the lip of the shuttlebus. The mook piloting the ''Normandy'', still trying to lose Cortez, tosses the ship through a maneuver that sends both Shepards flying, leaving them both dangling from the shuttle bay door. The Clone demands what makes Shepard better than them; as though summoned, Shepard's squadmates rush up, heedless to the danger to themselves, and pull the commander back to safety. The Clone, looking to Brooks for similar help, watches her turn away in disdain. The Clone has no such friend... Except Shepard, who can extend a hand if you choose. Either way, though, the Clone chooses a DisneyVillainDeath instead.

EDI takes control of the ''Normandy''; Cortez and Joker land in the shuttle bay; the rest of the squad gets back on board; and Shepard can also decide what to do with "Brooks," who is now in custody but is clearly hacking the HardLight handcuffs on her. Shepard can convince her that doing her time is a better idea, or simply kill her when she tries to escape.

Brooks helps the team trace the source of the mercenaries: They are a group called [=Cat6=], named after the Alliance code for a dishonorable discharge. She explains that assassination is not the entire story: someone has stolen Shepard's identity, for purposes unknown but undoubtedly nefarious. The problem is, nobody has any idea who's behind the plan. The only clue comes from the M-11: Liara traces it to an arms dealer named Elijah Khan, who will be hosting a gala at the Silver Coast Casino. Shepard and Brooks get all dressed up to infiltrate the gala, with Shepard getting to choose one squadmate -- including Wrex, who joins the PlayerParty for the duration of the DLC -- to serve as a decoy.

EDI and Liara find financial records in the hard drive indicating that Khan sold a whole bunch of heavy weapons and equipment to [=Cat6=] recently. Apparently, the group's plan is to invade the Citadel Archives, a cold storage location so deeply classified that even Garrus, a member of C-Sec, couldn't get in. Of course, Garrus wasn't a Spectre, and Shepard's access does the trick. In between fights, Shepard will have opportunities to observe both digital recordings and physical evidence which the Council has determined should be kept from the galaxy.

The first fight goes smoothly, but it's brought to a halt when a mysterious figure -- presumably the person commanding the [=Cat6=] mercenaries -- reveals they've taken Brooks hostage. Their voice and silhouette will be instantly familiar to the player. Who might it be? Is it The Illusive Man? Is it The Virmire Not-Survivor? Is it ''Fist'', the small-time crook from the first game? No: it's Shepard.

'''CAT 6 Lieutenant''': That's a ''prothean'' over there!\\

Aboveground, Joker arrives in an aircar, looking pissed: someone's stealing his ship, goddammit! Shepard picks their squad and takes off. If you picked EDI, she has a momentary FreakOut as the Clone locks her out of the ''Normandy'', forcing her entirely into her humanoid platform. Shepard then has to fight some more [=Cat6=] guards who have been left behind to slow their path.

At the gangway, Traynor paces outside, distraught: "Cmdr. Shepard" dismissed her for conduct unbecoming and tossed her off the ship with barely enough time to grab her toothbrush. She is, understandably, confused to see Cmdr. Shepard come up behind her. The team try to figure out how to sneak onboard the ''Normandy'' before it flies away. Traynor says there's an emergency hatch, but is only designed to be opened from within the ship. Opening it from ''outside'' would require very precise, very finely-controlled mass effect fields. As Shepard and a squadmate try to figure out if they have the dexterity to do it, Traynor holds up, and activates, the device that will save the day: [[MundaneMadeAwesome a Cision Pro Mk 4]].

It's a pretty difficult DualBoss fight -- in fact, it's probably the hardest boss fight in the trilogy. (It's not like there ''is'' a boss fight at the end of the final level.) "Brooks" will be hanging back and sniping with high-damage weapons, and meanwhile the Clone... Well, the Clone is ''you'' -- exact same class, exact same skills, and the exact same supplies of medigel to restore them back up to full health and shields. It's a HealingBoss, the first in the trilogy. Plus, the Clone summons more [=Cat6=] {{mook}}s to HumanShield for them. Fortunately, there's a crate with infinite medigel here in the shuttlebay that the Clone doesn't know about.

Shepard and squad pour on the pressure, and eventually the fight tumbles out onto the lip of the shuttle bay. The mook piloting the ''Normandy'', still trying to lose Cortez, tosses the ship through a maneuver that sends both Shepards flying, leaving them both dangling from the shuttle bay door. The Clone demands what makes Shepard better than them; as though summoned, Shepard's squadmates rush up, heedless to the danger to themselves, and pull the commander back to safety. The Clone, looking to Brooks for similar help, watches her turn away in disdain. The Clone has no such friend... Except Shepard, who can extend a hand if you choose. Either way, though, the Clone chooses a DisneyVillainDeath instead.

EDI takes control of the ''Normandy''; Cortez and Joker land in the shuttlebay; the rest of the squad gets back on board; and Shepard can also decide what to do with "Brooks," who is now in custody but is clearly hacking the HardLight handcuffs on her. Shepard can convince her that doing her time is a better idea, or simply kill her when she tries to escape.

Shepard can set the tone of the party, be it polite or raucous, but the best part is simply watching characters from across the trilogy interact: Liara, Samara, Tali, Garrus and Traynor can hang out in the kitchen. Joker, at the bar, can be confronted by Garrus, Wrex, Cortez, Zaeed and Javik, who criticize Joker's refusal to keep a pistol in the cockpit for emergencies and try to goad him into going down to the shooting range later. Both Grunt and Tali can end up in various bathrooms, drunk off their respective asses. Jack and Miranda can continue their rivalry or, if Shepard suggests, make peace with each other; Kasumi will uncloak, ''suggest they kiss'', and mention that, if they let her record it, she can get them about a million [=YouTube=] hits in five seconds. If alive and not romanced, Ashley might start flirting with James. Wrex, Zaeed, Garrus and Javik can end up near the bar (particularly if you agreed with the idea of Joker learning to shoot) setting up booby traps in a semi-inebriated state; a romanced Garrus will set the booby traps' password as "I HEART GARRUS". Shepard calls for a group photo of the entire cast to cap off the evening, the characters in relationships gazing at each other fondly while the others smile for the camera. And in the morning you find people in various states of recovery: James and either Ashley or Kaidan cooking breakfast downstairs (with Kaidan apparently having had too much coffee), Samara meditating in a quiet corner, Traynor hiding from EDI after drunken confessions the night before, Jacob and Jack working out in a downstairs bedroom.

* If neither Thane nor Kirrahe is present, Kai Leng skewers the salarian councilor. It should be pointed out that OldSaveBonus starts being important here: If you didn't import a ''Mass Effect 2'' save, then neither of them show up and FailureIsTheOnlyOption.\\

Conrad Verner can be found at the refugee camp. Our favorite LoonyFan is singing the praises of Cerberus, being (as usual) a game late and a dollar short. He's also been a distraction while a Cerberus agent sabotaged the medigel dispensers, hampering non-human healing efforts. Conrad apologizes and asks what he can do to help; Shepard replies that they're trying to get the Crucible, the most confusing dark-energy project in history, off the ground; Dr. Conrad Verner, expert in xenoscience, offers to help. (Shepard: "[[FlatWhat Really?]]") After an avalanche of ContinuityPorn -- a minor NPC, a PlotCoupon and pieces of a GottaCatchEmAll sidequest from the first game -- Project Crucible gets a leg up. (Or doesn't, if you didn't finish some of these things back in 2183.) Shepard can then linger with Conrad to get some additional updates: he used to run an orphanage, but managed to save them all when the Reapers attacked; they talk about the removal of the {{overheating}} system from the first game; he admits he has a shrine to Shepard: "It's just a poster and a few candles. It's very tasteful." And he asks if Shepard thinks they can defeat the Reapers, and then asks if Shepard thinks they can defeat the Reapers, a LampshadeHanging on how players can inadvertently ask [=NPCs=] the same question several times.

Shepard fixes the medigel dispensers, and Conrad apologizes a second time. He then recognizes his Cerberus contact and points the fellow out. The Cerberus agent responds by pulling a pistol and pointing it at Shepard. Conrad makes a SlowMotion diving save to [[TakingTheBullet Take The Bullet]], and Shepard punches out the Cerberus {{mook}} before turning to regard Conrad.
* Way back in the first game, when Shepard was first rescuing Tali from Saren's agents, they can meet a girl named Jenna who worked at Chora's Den. Her sister Rita was concerned for her, as Chora's Den was not in a nice part of town; however, Jenna turned out to be an undercover C-Sec agent. If you worked with Officer Chellick to complete his investigation, she makes it out of the place just before Shepard charges in with guns to rescue Tali. Well, three years later, she's here now; she sabotages the Cerberus agent's gun. Conrad stands up, none the worse for wear, thanks Jenna, and walks off with her, the two of them [[PairTheSpares starting to flirt]] as Shepard shakes their head in the background.
* If you ''didn't'' rescue her, Conrad dies in Shepard's arms, secure in the knowledge that he has managed to do something good.

And finally, we should talk about one burgeoning romance: You can find Joker at Purgatory, making fun of the dancers who are now trying to forget the reality of the war: "If a guy waves his arms like that, he's worrying about more than looking stupid on the dance floor." He's also eyeing EDI with some combination of hope and fear. While EDI's robot body, as an infiltration unit, includes SexBot functionality[[note]]Clarified rather garishly when a DLC skin included [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_toe indiscreet outlines]][[/note]], so it's not like he's going to have to give up that part of the human romantic experience, Joker is scared of the same thing every guy is: "Getting a shattered pelvis. And a broken heart." Shepard can encourage Joker to play it safe, or to go for it: "Sounds like you've got bigger things to worry about than looking stupid." (Obligingly, Joker can then be found flailing away on the dance floor next to EDI, who is [[TheComicallySerious standing still.]])

Shepard and Liara also bring forward the data they got from Mars: They are plans for a device called the Crucible, which the Protheans believed would be the secret to defeating the Reapers. However, they never got to try it out themselves because they could never get their hands on one last, absolutely critical, component -- something called "The Catalyst." With the councillors sceptical about such a plan, Shepard begins individually recruiting any resources they can find, both materiel and personnel, to build the Crucible under Alliance supervision. This is the first introduction of the game's War Asset mechanic, in which Shepard can win the service of ships, soldiers and scientists, each of which has a numerical PowerLevel. The game's guidance on the subject is fairly cryptic: the terminal on the ''Normandy'' is just a bar, with a "Sufficient To Try To Win The Game" threshold about 40% of the way through it. Even if you only do the contents listed in this Recap, you'll have passed that threshold within the next five Folders of story. However, the fact that the meter keeps going past that threshold suggests that there's more to the story, and the game doesn't tell you much about that. The game is also pretty clear that the Power Levels should not be taken literally: for instance, the ''Normandy'' alone is worth more points than the Alliance's entire Fifth Fleet -- despite being ''part of'' the Fifth Fleet.

In the game's original release, there was also a "Readiness Rating," which multiplied your War Asset score by its value. RR could be increased by engaging in "Galaxy At War" CoOpMultiplayer activities. You played not Shepard but a nameless N7 soldier -- though classes, and more importantly races, were added in as the game matured, allowing players to finally step into the shoes/boots/whatever of asari, turians, salarians, quarians, drell, vorcha, krogan, volus, batarians, Cerberus operatives, geth, and even a freed Collector. Such characters operated in 4-person fireteams to survive 10-wave Horde Mode matches, plus a HoldTheLine segment at the end as you waited for a GunshipRescue. The more matches you won, the higher your RR got, though it would decay over time. Multiplayer characters who maxed out their levels could be "promoted" into the single-player campaign as War Assets. This gave players another angle with which to defeat the Reapers; while ForcedLevelGrinding and {{Lootbox}} extravaganza were strongly in effect, most players found the moment-to-moment gameplay actually fun. That said, multiplayer was removed from all remasters and rereleases, as the servers had been shut down in favor of hosting ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' multiplayer; those later versions are hard-coded to assume your RR is at maximum, as opposed to their original starting value of 50%. The maps themselves do appear in the single-player campaign as the location of N7-flavored {{Side Quest}}s.

''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' takes place in 2183. The PlayerCharacter is Lt. Cmdr. Shepard of the Human Systems Alliance, a SemperFi type and war hero. Shepard was sent to Eden Prime, where an artifact was left behind by the setting's {{Precursor}}s, the Protheans. Shepard received a vision from that Prothean Beacon and spent the entire game trying to decipher it. It turned out to be an apocalyptic warning: the Protheans sent a warning about how they were being wiped out by a horde of alien demon robot {{Eldritch Abomination}}s called "Reapers". This would explain why the Protheans went extinct. The ''bad'' news is, the Reapers come by every 50,000 years... and the Protheans disappeared 50,000 years ago. OhCrap.

''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' took place two years later. Shepard found themself {{railroaded}} into working for Cerberus, an extremist human group best thought of as RightWingMilitiaFanatic types InSpace. That being said, Cerberus saw themselves as ProperlyParanoid about incoming threats, and they were the only people prepared to accept the CassandraTruth about the Reapers. (The Council had gone on to dismiss Reapers as rumors and fearmongering.) Under the guidance of Cerberus's leader, The Illusive Man, Shepard assembled a new crew, and then earned their UndyingLoyalty by helping them resolve their UnfinishedBusiness:

* '''Jack''', AKA Subject Zero, was the most powerful human biotic.... Who got that way because Cerberus put her through a TrainingFromHell to create a trigger-happy {{Tykebomb}}. Shepard helped her blow up the facility where all this was done to her during her childhood. Bare from the waist up except for tattoos and a few strategically-placed leather straps, Jack had seized the JerkassBall with both hands to NeverBeHurtAgain.
* '''Grunt''' was a genetically-engineered krogan meant to be the best of the species; however, he emerged from his UterineReplicator fully grown and with no understanding of his people's culture. Shepard helped him get inducted into krogan society. He was basically a five-year-old, though with poetic eloquence, RegeneratingHealth and a very large shotgun.

* '''Samara''' was an asari Justicar, essentially ThePaladin who follows a strict CodeOfHonor (sometimes to the point of HonorBeforeReason). Asari can breed with other races... and if they don't, the "pureblood" asari has a higher chance of becoming an "Ardat-Yakshi", a BlackWidow who kills during sex. All three of Samara's daughters were such, and Shepard helped her hunt down one of them. She adopted the Justicar Code not just because it formalized her hunt for Ardat-Yakshi, but as TheAtoner for bringing more of them into the world.

* '''Legion''' was a geth, specifically designed by the geth as an envoy to the organics. They revealed that the geth which assisted Sovereign were actually a VocalMinority of the population, and asked Shepard's help in eliminating a large number of them. They -- [[IAmLegion 1183 geth runtimes cooperatively operating a single hardware platform]] -- provide fascinating insight into the geth.

While Shepard also attempted to recruit Liara, Wrex and the Virmire Survivor, they were unable to join. Liara was working as an InformationBroker and waging war against the king of that industry, "The Shadow Broker" (in a DLC mission, Shepard can help her do it, which resulted in Liara becoming the new Shadow Broker). Wrex might've suffer a PlotlineDeath during the mission on Virmire, but if not, he was back on the krogan homeworld of Tuchanka attempting to weld the fractious clans into something better. And the Virmire Survivor was still with the Alliance and resents Shepard for their allegiance to Cerberus. (Yes, even if it was Ashley. Even racists have standards.)

Shepard needed to get all these people squared away, and their {{Character Arc}}s resolved, because they are needed to go on a one-way mission. This is the pinnacle of the game: A FinalExamFinale that references every choice you've made, from whether to upgrade your ship, the ''Normandy,'' to whether (or if) you've secured any given squadmate's loyalty, to how you assign and dispose of your squadmates while StormingTheCastle, the mission serves as the culmination of the entire game. Any wrong choice can result in {{Character Death}}s. Depending on the player's choices, Shepard could suffer a few casualties, achieve the GoldenEnding where EverybodyLives, or even achieve a NonStandardGameOver with an EverybodyDiesEnding -- including Shepard themselves, as they tried to escape. (If so, that saved game cannot be used as a starting point for a ''Mass Effect 3'' campaign.)

In a DLC mission, Shepard learned that a human researcher has found evidence indicating that the Reaper invasion is due to happen very, very soon. This researcher intended to destroy a "mass relay," one of the {{Cool Gate}}s left behind by the Protheans that form the PortalNetwork of interstellar travel; while this would cause a ApocalypseHow/ClassX2 ApocalypseHow and result in the destruction of a nearby colony of 300,000, it would also stop the Reapers from jumping in. Shepard was forced to complete the plan in the researcher's stead, delaying the Reapers' arrival but at the cost of becoming a war criminal.

With the help of their former CO, Adm. David Anderson, Shepard rejoins the Virmire Survivor and Vega on the ''Normandy'', the experimental stealth frigate they've been flying around in all trilogy. Anderson re-commissions Shepard as an Alliance officer and gives the marching orders: Shepard is to rally the races of the galaxy into a cohesive, unified fighting force with which to oppose the Reapers. Anderson himself decides to remain on the ground to organize LaResistance.

As Shepard and Anderson fight their way through Vancouver, they encounter a young boy, separated from his parents and hiding himself from the HellIsThatNoise and explosions and mutated cyborg zombies that accompany a Reaper invasion. Shepard can encourage the boy to leave his refuge and join the two of them[[note]]Shepard is the only human Spectre, and Anderson was actually a candidate to be one about 20 years ago; they are arguably the two most-skilled soldiers on the planet; if this kid has ''any'' chance at all, it's with them[[/note]], but to no avail. That said, as Shepard gets out on the ''Normandy'', they see the boy boarding an evacuation shuttle, having got out on his own. ...And then see the shuttle blown out of the sky by a Reaper. As ''Normandy'' leaves Earth, Shepard turns away from the people they can't save and towards those they can, having confronted first-hand the game's CentralTheme: [[TheChainsOfCommanding You Can't Save Everyone]].

As Joker flies the ''Normandy'' away from Earth, the ship receives a Priority One distress call from Adm. Steven Hackett, ''de facto'' Chief of Naval Operations. The Prothean Archives on Mars, which first taught humanity how to get into space, is under attack by Cerberus, and Shepard needs to stop them -- especially since researchers there have made the claim that they have discovered data which could help stop the Reapers. Shepard, James and the Virmire Survivor land and begin to fight their way in. The Virmire Survivor -- who hasn't been in the PlayerParty since the first game, remember, some three years ago in-universe -- takes the time to express some doubt over Shepard's true allegiances, and Shepard can respond as the player sees fit.

It's a tutorial level allowing players to get reaccustomed to the ''Mass Effect 2'' gameplay system and the changes which have been made to it. In addition to refining the ContextSensitiveButton that allows players to TakeCover, jump out of cover and sprint, the game also revises its weapon system. Instead of restricting most classes to a ChoiceOfTwoWeapons, Shepard may now equip any number of weapon types they desire. That being said, all classes also now suffer CriticalEncumbranceFailure: if the weapons you're carrying are too heavy for your class, Shepard suffers a global cooldown penalty which decreases their spellcasting frequency. (Computer-controlled squadmates remain restricted to their two weapons.) GunAccessories and straight upgrades have also replaced both the convoluted ClassAndLevelSystem that applied to guns in the first game ''and'' the [[ActionizedSequel oversimplified]] "You just have the gun, there may be as few as ''two'' per weapon type unless you buy DLC" system ("[[ItsEasySoItSucks system]]") of the second game. Finally, the KarmaMeter has been simplified, but in a good way: where previous games had ''separate'' Paragon and Renegade meters, Shepard in the third game just has one which fills up with not only both flavors of points but unflavored general "Reputation" points. In addition to allowing the game to check against both specific subtypes ''and'' Shepard's total, this also eases roleplaying, since players can now choose the dialogue option which fits their interpretation of Shepard without having to sacrifice MinMaxing out a particular flavor.

Another question is how Cerberus got into the facility in the first place. The answer comes in surveillance footage of a human researcher named Dr. Eva Core, who is revealed to be a Cerberus agent. When Shepard gets to the center of the archives, Dr. Core is happily uploading data to The Illusive Man, Cerberus's leader. While the two have worked together before, TIM is now taking a very different stance on the Reapers: he wants to cooperate with them and learn from them, much as Saren did in the first game. This includes having Dr. Core delete the data locally once she has obtained it; the only copy is now in her possession. A ChaseScene ensues.

Shepard gets the Virmire Survivor rushed to a local hospital, Huerta Memorial, and then sets about reporting their findings to the Citadel Council, which consists of an asari, a turian, a salarian and the human ambassador Donnel Udina[[note]]Back in 2183, Shepard is allowed to decide whether the Fifth Fleet should go out of its way to save the Council from Sovereign or not; if not, then the Council that appears in the second and third game is a completely different set of individuals. That said, they are identical in terms of their ''plot'' function, so we're not going to waste time discussing it outside of this quick note[[/note]]. Shepard wants the other three races to come to Earth and help fight off the Reapers, which Udina is obviously in favor of, but the asari and salarian councilors prefer to preserve the strength of their militaries, and the turian councilor admits that his race is already under attack, with Reapers landing on the turian home planet of Palaven. The Council's ''official'' word is that they will be hosting an intergalactic summit to decide on a military response. The turian councilor, [[CouldSayItBut unofficially]], suggests Shepard visit Palaven's moon, Menae, and help Primarch Fedorion make it offworld; he'll be hosting the summit in the first place, and his gratitude may be very valuable.[[note]]Since the original turian councilor displays the largest quantity, out of all six possible Councilors, of HeadInTheSandManagement re: pretending the Reapers don't exist, some players found much to appreciate in the fellow's change of tune.[[/note]]

Shepard and Liara also bring forward the data they got from Mars: They are plans for a device called the Crucible, which the Protheans believed would be the secret to defeating the Reapers. However, they never got to try it out themselves because they could never get their hands on one last, absolutely critical, component -- something called "The Catalyst." With the councilors skeptical about such a plan, Shepard begins individually recruiting any resources they can find, both materiel and personnel, to build the Crucible under Alliance supervision. This is the first introduction of the game's War Asset mechanic, in which Shepard can win the service of ships, soldiers and scientists, each of which have a numerical PowerLevel. The game's guidance on the subject is fairly cryptic: the terminal on the ''Normandy'' is just a bar, with a "Sufficient To Try To Win The Game" threshold about 40% of the way through it. Even if you only do the contents listed in this Recap, you'll have passed that threshold within the next five Folders of story. However, the fact that the meter keeps going past that threshold suggests that there's more to the story, and the game doesn't tell you much about that. The game is also pretty clear that the Power Levels should not be taken literally: for instance, the ''Normandy'' alone is worth more points than the Alliance's entire Fifth Fleet -- despite being ''part of'' the Fifth Fleet.

In the game's original release, there was also a "Readiness Rating," which multiplied your War Asset score by its value. RR could be increased by engaging in "Galaxy At War" CoOpMultiplayer activities. You played not Shepard but a nameless N7 soldier -- though classes, and more importantly races, were added in as the game matured, allowing players to finally step into the shoes / boots / whatever of asari, turians, salarians, quarians, drell, vorcha, krogan, volus, batarians, Cerberus operatives, geth, and even a freed Collector. Such characters operated in 4-person fireteams to survive 10-wave Horde Mode matches, plus a HoldTheLine segment at the end as you waited for a GunshipRescue. The more matches you won, the higher your RR got, though it would decay over time. Multiplayer characters who maxed out their levels could be "promoted" into the single-player campaign as War Assets. This gave players another angle with which to defeat the Reapers; while ForcedLevelGrinding and {{Lootbox}} extravaganza were strongly in effect, most players found the moment-to-moment gameplay actually fun. That said, multiplayer was removed from all remasters and rereleases, as the servers had been shut down in favor of hosting ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' multiplayer; those later versions are hard-coded to assume your RR is at maximum, as opposed to their original starting value of 50%. The maps themselves do appear in the single-player campaign as the location of N7-flavored {{Side Quest}}s.

As always, the Citadel is one of the main hubs for the game, and Shepard can walk around meeting various people. For instance, Thane Krios is here, if he survived the second game; he's at Huerta Memorial as well, seeking palliative care for his Kepral's Syndrome. Additionally, both Dr. Chakwas (if she survived the Suicide Mission) and Dr. Chloe Michel can be found in the hospital, and Shepard may recruit one of them to serve as the ''Normandy''[='s=] chief medical officer. (If you pick Dr. Michel, Dr. Chakwas can convert into a War Asset.) You can also pick up Diana Allers, a reporter, who offers to "embed" (read: ship out on) the ''Normandy''. Shepard also has their Spectre status confirmed (if they didn't get it back over the course of the 2nd game), allowing them access to a special office where intel and special guns can be purchased. It also serves as a back-up for certain side-quests: if you visit a one-time area and miss something that allows you to complete a FetchQuest, it'll show up here.

Shepard also catches up with the ship's crew. A frontend developer and comm specialist, Samantha Traynor, has replaced Yeoman Kelly Chambers at the station to Shepard's right, and briefs Shepard on the changes to the ''Normandy'' in the half-year she's spent being brought up to Alliance spec. Deck 2, the CIC, has received the most changes: Jacob's Armory has been moved down to Deck 5, which can manually be accessed now, and the entire stern quarter -- Mordin's lab, the Armory, and the conference room -- have all been revamped into the "War Room," where Shepard can check out their War Asset status and "Effective Military Readiness." (Traynor explains that Anderson had planned to use the ''Normandy'' as his mobile command center.) Finally, just outside the elevator on Deck 3 has been added a "Memorial Wall" -- a plaque bearing the names of the 20 crew who died on the SR-1, including the Virmire Non-Survivor, and any squadmates lost in the SuicideMission at the end of ''Mass Effect 2''.

As before, each squadmate picks a place to "live": Liara sets up in Miranda's old office on Deck 3, and Lt. Vega on Deck 5 doing the small-arms maintenance Jacob used to do. Down here is also Lt. Steve Cortez, ''Normandy''[='s=] designated shuttle pilot. That said, squadmates are a lot more mobile in this game, and after certain missions you'll find some of them in different places having different conversations with each other, especially as the game progresses and Shepard makes more progress PuttingTheBandBackTogether.

The turian homeworld is under heavy attack. Shepard needs to land on its moon, Menae, and make contact with the turian Primarch, who serves as both President and Commander in Chief. (There are not really any distinctions in turian society between military rank and political office.) To reach him, Shepard turns to a high ranking expert within the turian military: Garrus Vakarian, special advisor on Reaper operations. Garrus of course might be dead, though it's actually rather difficult to make that happen; if he is, Shepard simply strikes out on their own. Likewise, while Shepard is groundside, Joker radios in that something is going rather drastically wrong with the ''Normandy''. Liara will head back up if Garrus is alive, allowing the turian rebel to join the fire team; if not, she stays so that Shepard's PlayerParty isn't short-handed.

The Primarch who was in charge when the Reapers invaded is named Fedorion; Shepard confirms that he is dead (along with quite a lot of the turian military). After some investigation of the chain of command, Shepard (and possibly Garrus) determine that they are looking for a fellow named Adrien Victus; he's a MilitaryMaverick, and Garrus opines that Shepard will be well served with him in charge of the Turian Hierarchy. However, Victus is pinned down defending a strategically important position. Shepard fights their way across Menae and eventually reinforces Victus's position; Victus agrees to help, but first states his price: he wants the krogan to come to Palaven and reinforce the situation. That said, he does ship out with the ''Normandy'', and can be found in the War Room using the extensive telecommunications suites there to direct his people's war efforts by proxy. Garrus, meanwhile, takes up his customary spot in the Gun Battery, certain that the Alliance messed with his calibrations over the last six months.

A Shepard who has purchased the "From Ashes" DownloadableContent can also choose to do it now, which is valuable because it adds another squadmate to the roster. "From Ashes" was marked as "Day One" DLC and was, in fact, ''included'' on the DVD of the game, leading to a certain amount of player vitriol about [=BioWare's=] [=and/or=] Creator/ElectronicArts's perceived "OnlyInItForTheMoney" "OneGameForThePriceOfTwo" practices.

From Ashes takes Shepard back to Eden Prime, where it all began. Cerberus has seized the colony on account of an archaeological find: prothean stasis pods, one of which is still functioning. As Shepard and their squad fight their way to this pod, Shepard is treated to {{Pensieve Flashback}}s starring a prothean who was leading a last-ditch defense of an installation. The installation contained a bunch of stasis pods for preserving [[HumanPopsicle Prothean Popsicles]] into the next cycle -- one million soldiers, the best of those still left standing. Alas, the installation is compromised, and by the time the viewpoint prothean manages to get to his stasis pod, he's also the only one left alive. This makes it a lot easier for the installation to keep him alive for 50,000 years, and Shepard awakens a living, breathing prothean.

The fellow takes up residence in the Port Cargo Hold on Deck 4, using the opportunity to show off his species' TouchTelepathy: it's Grunt's old room, and he can tell. Liara, of course, is beyond excited at a chance to meet a real live prothean (Joker predicts bouncing and squeeing), but he isn't the archaeological treasure trove she'd hoped for: prothean society had lots of "Avatars," who embodied a trait or value, and he is the Avatar of Vengeance -- a warlike pursuit which left little time for the kind of things Liara wanted to ask about. Besides, he depicts the protheans as having been aggressively imperialistic, bringing other species under cultural hegemony via threats and force -- a far cry from the benevolent precursors Liara had imagined. On top of that, by the time he was born, the protheans had been at war with the Reapers for ''hundreds'' of years, and whatever CrystalSpiresAndTogas they ''had'' possessed were long gone. The prothean displays a HandshakeRefusal to Shepard, but does agree to resume the fight against the Reapers; he gives his name as Javik.

Pursuant to Primarch Victus's desire to have the krogan reinforcing his people, the salarian Dalatrass (president) and the closest thing the krogan have to a species-wide ruler -- the head of Clan Urdnot -- have agreed to come speak to both Victus and Shepard. Of course, by the time Shepard gets there, the two are at each other's throats. Just as Victus has named his price -- krogan cooperation -- Urdnot Wrex or Urdnot Wreav (whichever one is present) has named his: a cure for the genophage. Fortunately, a salarian from the STG has been working on a cure, and they have possession of "Eve," the only (surviving) krogan female who is cured.

Of course, Mordin might be dead; it's possible to get him killed during the SuicideMission at the end of ''Mass Effect 2'', and indeed the game's programming makes it rather easy to do this[[note]]In situations where the game chooses a random victim, every character has a hidden "defense" value which determines their likeliness of getting offed, and Mordin is in the squishiest category[[/note]]. If Mordin did not survive, Padok Wiks takes over as "Eve"'s caretaker. While Padok has his own voice actor, dialogue and personality, his role '''in the plot''' is completely identical to Mordin's, and for simplicity this recap will just refer to the "Salarian Scientist" role as "Mordin".

!! Citadel: Talking to the Virmire Survivo

This isn't a typical Side Quest either, but it's still pretty important to do. Miranda Lawson, if she lived through the end of ''Mass Effect 2'', pings Shepard and asks to chat on the Citadel. She reveals that, since the Collector Base, she has resigned from Cerberus; since Cerberus is a "ResignationsNotAccepted" sort of place, The Illusive Man now has a price on her head. She claims that her father has orchestrated Oriana's disappearance, and that she (Miranda) is trying to find her sister. [[{{Foreshadowing}} This will be important later.]] As the beginning of a RunningGag, Shepard tells her to "Be careful." "No promises," Miranda replies.

Bau becomes the VoiceWithAnInternetConnection as Shepard runs around the Citadel, Kasumi tagging along under cloak, trying to find the evidence Bau needs. Neither knows the other is there, but both will profess admiration for the other: Kasumi sees Bau as a FairCop, and Bau for his part respects her ChaoticGood intentions and well-honed techniques, even if he ''is'' legally compelled to arrest her. Shepard, ever the MagneticHero, attempts to recruit Kasumi, but she's only so interested in getting involved in a shooting war -- especially once she learns [[EveryoneCanSeeIt Jacob isn't aboardship]].

Shepard finds the problem hanar, who goes by Zymandis, and goes to apprehend him with Jondum Bau and maybe Kasumi in tow. Zymandis claims a YouAreTooLate situation: Kahje's defenses, mostly automated, can be disabled by a virus, and he has already started to upload it. Bau makes a move towards the console, hoping to pull out its [=cat5=] cable, but is detained by Zymandis's human bodyguard.

The ''Normandy'' makes contact with Kahlee Sanders, Alliance Navy (ret'd), the school's principal. She explains that Grissom Academy is a school for gifted young biotics, which is who Cerberus are after. She vectors Shepard to the main hall, where the students are holed up. The ranking student, Ensign Prangley, may be in charge... or (standard disclaimer re: the previous game) they might still have their BadassTeacher: Jack, wearing slightly less {{Stripperiffic}} clothing (slightly -- her nipples are still showing through her bra) and with longer hair, but still just as foul-mouthed as always. Jack, admitting some of Shepard's behavior has rubbed off on her, has become a MamaBear to her students, who she rides hard but clearly loves dearly. (If romanced, she may also hint to Shepard that her plans to ride hard and love dearly may also apply to him.)

Shepard escorts the students out to the escape shuttles, leading a diversionary expedition to distract the Cerberus soldiers while the students shadow in parallel, attacking with biotics from a high balcony and generally lending assistance where possible. (Note that this isn't just SFX: their attacks will empirically do damage to Cerberus soldiers, which you should take advantage of.) Jack, meanwhile, earns her CoolTeacher license by turning a life-or-death combat situation into a teachable moment, continuing to impart lessons and observations while under fire. While evacuating the students, Shepard may also run into former Project Overlord guinea pig David Archer if the player took him away from his brother's clutches. Eventually, the two teams make a break for the shuttles: If Prangley is in charge, he's killed leading the escape; if Jack is, she survives. (Note that her Loyalty status has no effect on this outcome.) Shepard may then decide whether to distribute the kids to frontline units, where they can use their training to the fullest but also run a substantial risk of death, or to keep them in the backine where it's safer. Either way, the students become a War Asset, and Jack does as well.

Upon planetfall, Shepard is contacted by the leader of the turian contingent, Lt. Tarquin Victus. No, it's not a violation of the OneSteveLimit: it's the Primarch's son. His ship went down hard and (what remains of) his platoon is heavily engaged by the Reapers. After Shepard fights their way over, Lt. Victus explains the classified operation: over a millennium ago, the turians, seeking insurance against the krogan, secretly planted a giant bomb, capable of producing an EarthShatteringKaboom, here on Tuchanka. Somehow, Cerberus have caught wind of it and want to use it. Victus is here to stop them and then get out before the krogan even notice.

Shepard and the turian platoon separately fight their way to the big-ass bomb, and Shepard agrees to set up a defensive perimeter while Victus disarms the thing. Unfortunately, the controls jam, and Victus needs to climb up onto the bomb to manually disengage its firing trigger. He succeeds, and drops it into the canyon beneath... with himself taking the one-way trip with it. Afterwards, Shepard consoles the primarch over the loss of his son; Victus consoles himself that Tarquin's HeroicSacrifice is the fondest wish of every turian.

In the War Room, Urdnot Rex mentions that a group of krogan scouts have gone radio silent and asks Shepard to investigate. The team in question is Aralahk Company, named after Tuchanka's sun, and comprises the best and brightest of the krogan. The leader might be a previously-unknown krogan named Urdnot Dagg... but (standard disclaimer about the second game) it might also be good old Urdnot Grunt. They've been sent, and Shepard immediately volunteers assistance, to confirm if the rachni have made a home here.

Bad news: they have. Even worse: they've been seized by the Reapers, indoctrinated, and converted into cyborg zombie {{mook}}s. This new enemy type, "Ravagers," can attack from long range with devastating power but have to pause to reload. They appear on Tuchanka during the mission there and will start to show up regularly as the game progresses.

Shepard fights their way in to the Rachni Queen -- even if you decided to wipe her out back in ''Mass Effect 1'', there's just a new one here, which the Reapers cobbled together [[{{Handwave}} somehow]]. Shepard must re-enact the decision from before: to spare the rachni or to wipe out the species, with the added corollary that if Shepard chooses the rachni, Aralahk Company will die in the defense.

* If you choose to spare the Rachni Queen, she joins the war effort, particularly to help on the Crucible, and instead of Aralahk Company you a War Asset of Rachni Workers, which are more powerful than Aralakh Company. However, her fate in the first game becomes relevant: If you killed the original queen from ''[=ME1=]'', this one doesn't trust you, and eventually departs the project to go rogue -- not only removing her War Assets, but decreasing the strength of the Alliance Engineering Corps working on the Crucible as she shoots her way out.

Shepard joins Aria's fleet and jumps back to Omega. Aria decides to take a personal hand in the situation, becoming Shepard's GuestStarPartyMember and (to Shepard's surprise) accepting the commander's leadership during combat situations. (Aria is a Vanguard in the sense that she has a shotgun and the shotgun-only "Carnage" big explosion spell; her other abilities are straightforward biotic nukes.) As the two fight their way through Cerberus's defenses, Shepard gets a second: Nyreen Kandros, the first female turian in the franchise. (Nyreen is a Sentinel -- the only PlayerParty Sentinel besides Kaidan -- sporting not only offensive tech powers but the AntiGravity "Lift Grenades" and a Biotic Protector bubble that stops all incoming damage but also forces Nyreen to stand in place doing nothing.) Aria claims, "We go way back," but as the mission progresses, it becomes clear that the relationship between the two is [[LesYay more than professional]]. When questioned why she left Omega -- something about disliking the place's "moral bankruptcy" -- Nyreen admits she never did; she simply hid out on the station to help keep an eye on things. Aria grouses, "You always complained I'd be the death of you."

Cerberus's takeover of Omega hasn't been 100% smooth; there's still a group of NeighborhoodFriendlyGangsters, the "Talons," around, and Aria decides that she needs them on her side. This turns out to be comparatively easy because Nyreen is their leader. Of course, Nyreen is still a turian; while OppositesAttract between a [[TheParagon Paragon]] turian and a [[TheQueenpin Queenpin]] asari, a DifferingPrioritiesBreakup was inevitable. That said, neither has ''too'' much trouble WorkingWithTheEx, and seem AmicableExes (insofar as Aria is ever nice to or respectful of anyone).

Aria, the station more firmly under her control, now begins the assault on Afterlife, where General Oleg Petrovsky has set up his command post. Nyreen leads the frontal assault, eventually arriving outside the front door of Afterlife, where Adjutants have been unleashed on the Omega populace. To handle them, Nyreen draws them to herself, puts up a biotic bubble around herself and the Adjutants, and then blows a bunch of grenades -- incinerating everyone inside the bubble, which of course [[HeroicSacrifice includes herself]]. Aria explodes into a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. Of course, Petrovsky's prepared for that, having set a stasis trap for her. Shepard, alone, has to destroy the generators that power them, while dodging Adjutants and straightforward Cerberus {{mooks}}. But, with Aria back in play, they apprehend Petrovsky. Shepard gets to decide whether to execute the Cerberus general on the spot, or let him live under Aria's tender mercies. Aria resumes her throne on Omega, having helped hamper Cerberus's mobility throughout the galaxy, and devoting several War Assets to Shepard's cause. [[StatusQuoIsGod Aria can still be found at Purgatory on the Citadel afterwards]], with the {{handwave}} that it's easier to coordinate her part of the war effort from there.

Shepard wants them to join the war effort -- they are the Reapers' equals, after all, and Shepard has empirically seen them kill Reapers. After some convincing and pointing out that Shepard is special, and seems to be leading this cycle in a direction it's never gone in before, they agree. They join the war effort, providing a War Asset larger than the Alliance's 1st, 3rd, 5th and 6th Fleets ''combined'', and Shepard reports to Hackett that, because they've proved the Reapers have a beginning, it may be possible to write them an end. If Dr. Ann Bryson is still a person, she joins as well.

This mission only becomes unlocked if Shepard ''either'' rescues Lt. Victus's platoon (just the rescue, not the bomb defusal) or investigates what's going on with Aralahk Company. (There is nothing stopping Shepard from doing all three missions.) It's also advised that you do the Kasumi SideQuest, and talk to the Virmire Survivor at the hospital -- and for that matter, a whole bunch of other side quests that are available on the Citadel but aren't being included in this Recap because they don't advance the plot. If you don't do these quests before you cure the genophage, they are [[PermanentlyMissableContent forfeited]].

The delay is just as well: Mordin has been working on refining the genophage cure. The stability of the cure depends partially on whether you encouraged him to save Maelon's data last game. Mordin, Urdnot Rex, Primarch Victus and Shepard congregate to formulate ThePlan: how to disperse the cure across Tuchanka? Mordin settles on The Shroud, a giant atmospheric-purification plant installed before the Krogan Rebellions, which was used to distribute the original genophage in the first place. However, Reapers have officially landed, and one of them is hanging around The Shroud. Shepard is going to have to do something about it before the cure can be distributed.

Just before they depart, Shepard is contacted by the salarian Dalatrass. She offers salarian alliance against the Reapers, but her price is subterfuge: she demands Shepard sabotage the cure, distributing a placebo instead. Shepard has the opportunity to confess this to Wrex, but not to Wreav.

'''Tali''': Ordinarily, I'd be concerned about a synthetic wanting to kill that many people, but just this once? Go for it.\\\

It's a pretty difficult DualBoss fight -- in fact, it's probably the hardest boss fight in the trilogy. (It's not like there ''is'' a boss fight at the end of the final level.) "Brooks" will be hanging back and sniping with high-damage weapons, and meanwhile the Clone... Well, the Clone is ''you'' -- exact same class, exact same skills, and the exact same supplies of medigel to restore them back up to full health and shields. It's a HealingBoss, the first in the trilogy. Plus, the Clone summons more [=Cat6=] {{mook}}s to MeatShield for them. Fortunately, there's a crate with infinite medigel here in the shuttlebay that the Clone doesn't know about.

'''Shepard''': Are you kidding me? ''[[AbhorrentAdmirer Conrad Verner]]'' is [[TakeThat better at being me than you are]]!\\\