Introduction
So here's an idea I had for a Prothean related expansion DLC. This is assuming of course that the EC is any good and will make people willing enough to replay the game. Shepard, driven by rumors of a lost Prothean fleet, will go out in search of this possibly game changing military resource. What he finds instead is the scattered and broken remains of this fleet, stranded throughout the galaxy, with their crews either long dead or horrificly corrupted. Yet all is not lost. Along his search, Shepard does manage to find the key towards ensuring the galaxy's survival. This final discovery will ultimately prove to be the Prothean's last legacy, a final gift for the races that they once called their "children".
This DLC will also serve as a fix towards the lack of available war assets in the single player campaign, allowing us to cross the 4000 EMS threshold without having to play any multiplayer. It is a long read so bear with me. Feel free to comment and tell me what you think, but please read it first.
Some further notes:
Adds 2500 War Assets to the Single Player campaign.
Adds five new missions to the Single Player campaign.
Adds two new outfits for Javik. (great suggestion by AresKeith)
Enemies encountered within this DLC:
- Collectors
- Feral Protheans
- Indoctrinated Hanar and Drell fanatics
- Cerberus Soldiers
- Husks
- Unnamed biotic predators
Bear in mind that this DLC could work with or without From Ashes. If you don't have From Ashes, then just replace any mention of Javik with Prothean VI. Granted, it'd be a more amusing experience with Javik around. Also, the plotline about "Javik's person of interest" would then be changed to just "person of interest". That being said, I read an interesting idea where they could bundle this DLC with From Ashes together for either the same price (doubtful) or a likely $5-10 increase.
***Be sure to also check out some other great DLC ideas on Sil's thread!
Background Info
Note: This concerns details about the From Ashes DLC. If you already know what it's about feel free to skip ahead to the Primary Concept section.
- Javik, our future Prothean squadmate, was supposed to command a million strong Prothean army that was cryogenically frozen on Eden Prime. This army was to serve as the last hope of the Prothean empire, waiting until it was detected by their VI that the Reapers had finished harvesting what remained of their cycle and retreated back into dark space.
- When the Reapers were gone, the Prothean army would awaken, moving swiftly across the galaxy to conquer/unite the surviving primitive races in their cycle, such as Asari, Human, Turian, and etc in the hopes of rebuilding a new Prothean empire. These races were studied thoroughly by the Protheans and were deemed to be races of "high potential". Once the new Prothean empire was formed, the Protheans could then prepare for the next Reaper invasion, hopefully having a better chance to defeat them.
- Unfortunately, the Reapers had found out about their plan, and moved to attack Eden Prime before it could be implemented. Despite Javik's best efforts, the Prothean facility was breached and many of the life pods were destroyed. In a last bid attempt to save the surviving lifepods, a neutron purge was activated by the facility's Prothean VI, wiping out all the Reaper forces in the vicinity. Javik, who had entered his own pod at the last minute to save himself from the blast, was then alerted by the VI that only a few hundred pods remained. Furthermore, the VI then told Javik that these pods would be sacrificed in order to ensure that Javik's pod would remain active, ensuring that at least he would survive into the next cycle. So 50,000 years later, he is discovered by Shepard and his squad after coming to Eden Prime to help stop a Cerberus invasion.
Primary Concept
- But what if the "Eden Prime" plan had worked? How would the Protheans have reconquered the galaxy? Surely, they must've needed hundreds if not thousands of ships to transport their million strong army? What happened to this vast armada of ships? Were they stationed on Eden Prime itself, hidden in a vast network of underground drydocks? Or were they destroyed in orbit, fighting till the end to buy enough time for their army to freeze itself in cryo?
- Or maybe, some were able to escape? What if Javik or one of the other Prothean commanders had ordered the ships to scatter, to retreat and save what was left of the Prothean fleet defending Eden Prime? Admiral Hackett after all did the same thing when he realized that there was no way to save Arcturus Station, the capital of the Alliance, when it too was attacked by the Reapers. So if the Prothean fleet, already realizing that Eden Prime was compromised, had somehow managed to FTL jump out of the system and escape, what then was their ultimate fate?
- Javik would certainly like to know. Shortly after rescuing him, Javik would request to meet with the Commander to tell him about the "lost" fleet. Intrigued, the Commander will jump at the idea of finding this potentially valuable resource (MORE WAR ASSETS!). Also, Javik will reveal that he had either a friend and/or loved one stationed aboard one of ships, and would like to find out what happened to him or her. This would certainly add some more depth into the character. Exploring these locations would also provide a much greater insight into the history, culture, and ultimate fate of the Protheans and their client races.
The Big Discovery
- However, as alluded to in the beginning, they ultimately do not find this "lost" fleet of ships. Instead they find that much of the fleet had dispersed throughout the galaxy, with each remnant's fate as diverse as their respective final locations. To Javik's dismay, they also find no survivors. Or, in some instances, they find something much worse than they could've possibly imagined. But all is not lost. Their efforts ultimately lead them to the remains of a previously unknown Prothean enclave like Ilos. Here, Shepard can find the schematics for an even more advanced design of a Conduit like relay, allowing the Citadel races a chance at rebuilding the now defunct relay network. Or they could instead find the schematics for a vastly improved system of FTL travel which, if implemented, could help the Citadel races overcome their dependency of the Mass Relay network and further speed along their recovery efforts. Both of these options would take years of R&D to fully master, but both options are nevertheless very possible to implement. I haven't decided which option I like the best, although at the moment I'm leaning towards the FTL travel.
- All of this of course would take place before the ending, so Shepard and crew would have no idea that the Crucible would destroy the relays. Only after the Crucible is fired does the galaxy realize the enormity of this discovery. For with this last legacy, the Protheans gave us the means to drastically speed up the time it would take for us to rebuild and recover, saving possibly millions of lives in the process.
Possible Location/Mission Ideas
1.) Eden Prime
We first begin with Javik revealing to Commander Shepard the existence of the Eden Prime fleet and how he (or another Prothean military commander) had ordered them to scatter. Furthermore, Javik reveals that one of the smaller reserve fleets may have yet survived in an underground drydock facility. When Shepard asks how this facility could've possibly avoided detection all these years, Javik replies that it incorporated some of the most advanced shielding technology that the Protheans had. Javik then states his desire to find this "lost" fleet in the hopes that some ships, and maybe even some of his people, had managed to survive. Javik also mentions that either a close personal friend or family member served onboard one of these ships, and that he'd like to know what happened to them. Intrigued at the possibilites, Shepard agrees, with both of them deciding that the drydock on Eden Prime would be a good place to start.
Shepard then contacts the Alliance about the "lost" fleet, with Admiral Hackett ordering an excavation team to the planet. To stay true to the game's mechanics that prevent Javik from being used until after Priority: Palaven is completed, Hackett informs Shepard that the excavation team will need time to prepare. Shepard should therefore focus on heading to Palaven first. If Priority: Palaven is already completed at the time of Javik's recruitment, then Hackett will simply tell Shepard to wait for the excavation team to finish its work, and suggest that Shepard do another mission first.
Once the Normandy arrives on Eden Prime, the excavation team will inform Shepard that they were able to make good progress, and that the team would've never detected the facility without Javik's coordinates. However, the team had to stop just short of reaching the drydock, due to an (unsurprising) increase in the disapperances of its workers. Further complicating matters is the difficulty in maintaining radio communication, due to the facility's heavy shielding. Also of note is the incredibly high amount of eezo located within the tunnels.
Nevertheless, Shepard and his squad volunteer to investigate and are given one of the team's Mako or Hammerhead vehicles. As Shepard and squad proceed down the maze of ever darkening excavation tunnels, they begin to encounter the creatures responsible for the missing workers. Previously unknown subterranean predators attack the squad's vehicle in wave after wave. Having evolved to incorporate the strangely massive amount of eezo that can be found througout the caverns, these creatures are biotically capable as well.
Slugging their way onwards, the squad eventually makes it to farthest point in the tunnel. Using the vehicle's cannon/some blasting gel they recovered along the way, the squad blasts threw the last bit of remaining cave wall and proceed to the drydock facility. Cue an amazing cutscene where the squad stops and marvels at the massive subterranean cave complex, stretching for miles and filled with ships and buildings.
However, the squad quickly notices a series of massive craters within the ground, large amount of caved in areas, and that most of the ships and buildings are in ruins. Coupled with the widespread amount of eezo throughout the caves, the squad quickly surmises that some of the ships may have been sabotaged to explode. The explosions must have been contained by the facility's incredible shielding, explaining why the entire facitlity didn't collapse.
Following a faint energy trail and fighting off more of these creatures along the way, the squad proceeds to drive through the graveyard of these once magnificient, mile long warships. Finally they reach their destination, the wreck of a Prothean dreadnought, still powered even after all these years by a barely functional drive core.
Exiting the vehicle, the squad decides to fight their way to the main bridge in order to find out what happened. Old video interfaces relay the tale of how the Prothean Admiral in command of the reserve fleet had ordered the crews to lockdown the facility when the other ships had scattered. It was hoped that the reserve fleet would hide with the rest of the army and "awaken" when the Reapers had disappeared. However, several indoctrinated fleet officers/sleeper agents were already attempting to seize control of the facility and its ships in order to give them to their new Reaper masters. Refusing to lose his ships to the Reapers, the Prothean admiral ordered his remaining loyal officers to scuttle their ships, knowing that the facility's shield would be strong enough to contain the explosion and prevent any collateral damage for the still fighting Prothean facilities on the surface. If Javik is in the party, it is also revealed that the ship where Javik's person of interest had served on left with the scattered fleet as well.
On the bridge, the ship's VI replays a recording of the Admiral's last words, of how he wished he could die fighting with his brothers and sisters amongst the now scattered fleet. Further investigation reveals one of the coordinates for the orbital fleet's rallying point, setting up the next mission. After leaving the tunnels and returning to the Normandy, Shepard is told by Hackett during his debrief how the Alliance was still able to salvage a ton of invaluable Prothean ship technology and upgrades amongst the ruins.
War Assets:
Lost Prothean Ship Technology - 350 Points
Large Eezo Supply - 100 Points
Prothean Ship Archives - 50 Points
War Asset Total: 500 Points
2.) The "Sea of Ruin"
Taking these coordinates, the Normandy then travels to a remote nebula. Known as the "Sea of Ruin", this place was the site of an incredibly costly Prothean naval victory back in the early days of the Prothean Empire.
Sample dialogue:
Javik: "Our navy fought the Zha'til here for days. There was no retreat. No surrender. No quarter given. When they disabled one of our ships, the surviving crew would board an enemy ship and take theirs. We would all perish before the machines would break our lines. And in the end, we broke theirs."
Shepard: "That sounds pretty brutal Javik."
Javik: "Yes. That is why my people chose this place to rally. To remind us how far we would go, how far into the depths we would descend, in order to achieve victory."
As the Normandy goes in for a better look, Shepard and crew begin to see the ancient wrecks of hundreds of destroyed Prothean ships. To their surprise, they also find a now empty Cerberus research ship docked with one of the few remaining intact hulls of a Prothean dreadnought. Going to investigate, the squad finds both Prothean and Cerberus video logs throughout the ship, relaying what happened in both of their respective times. For the Protheans, they were low on fuel, morale, and slowly running out of supplies. One of the Admirals, believing that the Eden Prime plan could still have succeeded, had demanded that they regroup and return to Eden Prime to continue the battle and die with honor.
On the other hand, another Admiral argued that they should accept the loss of Eden Prime and the failure of their plans. Instead, the Admiral argued that the fleet should try and find one of their remaining holdouts and join up with them. It was not long before the fleet divided itself along these two ideological lines. Both sides thought the other was indoctrinated. And as feelings of mutual trust began to break down throughout the fleet, the crews of each ship slowly devolved into anarchy, fighting over what little supplies they had left. Further investigation from the squad found that some ships were sabotaged from within by several indoctrinated crewmates, adding to the sense of madness and fear that slowly manifested itself throughout the fleet. Crazed and filled with mistrust, the ships eventually fired on each other.
Thousands of years later, Cerberus had somehow managed to find the site and sent an exploratory vessel to salvage any possible tech. Fighting them along the way, you begin to find their video logs as well, detailing how they felt a strange presence on the ship. Now the player should feel reminiscent of the Derelict Reaper mission in ME2 or the Deadspace series. Weird shadows should be seen skirting off in the distance while you make your way to the bridge/deal with Cerberus. After you activate the ship's VI, you learn that this was the flagship of one of the Prothean Admirals mentioned before. Furthermore, the Admiral had violated Prothean military code and smuggled onboard a Reaper artifact for study out of desperation. While not revealing which Admiral it was, the device's influence soon broke through all of their quarantine measures, and the entire crew was soon indoctrinated. Eventually, the influence of the device had spread throughout the rest of the fleet, sowing the seeds of discord and mistrust that led to the fleet's downfall.
But it is also revealed that some ships were able to escape and broke off from the rest of the fleet before they fired on each other. The coordinates of where they went could be found on a datapad lying next to the old corpse of a Prothean naval officer. This officer planned on abandoning his post and joining them, but was killed before he could leave the dreadnought. If Javik's is in the party, it is revealed that this officer was communicating with Javik's person of interest, indicating that this person was able to escape.
But before you return to the Normandy, you also hotwire the Prothean ship's remaining eezo core to overload, taking the Reaper artifact with it. Beating out the two minute timer that would appear at the top of the screen, Shepard then makes it back to the Normandy and debriefs with Hackett. Luckily, the blast from the destroyed dreadnought was not enough to wipe out most of the ruined ships. The Alliance was able to move in and salvage some valuable tech.
War Assets:
Lost Prothean Ship Tech - 150 Points
Prothean Heavy Weapons Tech - 150 Points
Data on Prothean Ship Tactics - 50 Points
Recoverable Eezo - 50 points
War Asset Total: 400 Points
3.) The Lost (and abandoned) Prothean Colony
EDI and Traynor were able to analyze the coordinates and figure out where some of the ships had fled. Following this new lead, the Normandy finds that these ships crashed landed on an uncharted garden world (like the Normandy), and attempted to start a new civilization from the ground up.
Further examination reveals that the colony had long been ruined. While looking for any survivors, the squad finds the remains of an old Reaper facility. The Reapers had somehow managed to find the colony, having been betrayed by an indoctrinated Prothean crewmember. After crushing the colonists, the Reapers set up the lab to study better means of morphing the Protheans into Collectors. Throughout the lab, the squad will find several horrific instances in how this process occurs, eventually encountering a surviving population of rabid, feral Prothean/Collectors that were abandoned on the planet by their Reaper masters.
As to why they were abandoned? Perhaps the Reapers had gone too far in their experiments, and that these abominations were now useless, even to them? This would open up the opportunity for some great dialogue with Javik, seeing the fellow survivors of his once elitist, racist, dominant species being reduced to little more than feral, mindless beasts.
There is still no sign of Javik's person of interest however. Although one old video log reveals that before the colony was hit, a Prothean research team had volunteered to travel to Kahje, the Hanar homeworld. Figuring that Javik's person of interest may have went with them, the crew returns to the Normandy and leaves this nightmare world behind.
War Assets:
Reaper/Collector Tech - 200 Points
Reaper/Collector Data - 100 Points
Old Prothean Archives - 50 Points
Salvageable Prothean Tech - 50 Points
War Asset Total: 400 Points
4.) Kahje
Trying to reestablish the empire's previous research efforts on Kahje, a group of Prothean scientists had left the colony before its destruction. Here they spent the rest of their lives uplifting the Hanar and preparing them for the next Reaper invasion. Unfortunately, much of their warnings were forgotten over time, replaced by the Hanar belief in their godhood (Enkindler religion).
Drawing further parallels to Thessia, EDI suggests that the Protheans may have left a beacon on Kahje too. Shepard and his team would thus need to land and investigate the oldest Prothean structure there. However, the Hanar regard this structure as the holiest site on Kahje. Converted to a vast temple, only the most senior Hanar priests and government officials are allowed access inside.
Further compllcating things are the startling reports that Collectors have landed on Kahje. Declaring themselves to be the heir of the Enklinders, the Collectors have demanded that the Hanar and their Drell compratiots submit to the will of the Reapers. With civil war on Kahje looming, Shepard and his team are allowed access to the temple by one of the few remaining Hanar officials and/or priests that still resists the influence of the Collectors. This situation is greatly aided by Javik's presence, who can also influence how this mission will play out depending on if From Ashes is installed or not. Also, hilarious Javik and Hanar interactions will take place throughout the course of the mission.
Before proceeding, Shepard is warned by the Hanar official that allowing the presence of non-Hanars to step foot inside the temple would be considered sacrilege and grounds for war. However, the Hanar official will affirm his support for Shepard's mission, and tells Shepard that he and his allies will do their best to hold off the eventual attack from the Collectors and their Hanar followers. Cue a cutscene of Hanar and Drell forces preparing for battle, with the Collectors marshalling a similar force of Hanar fanatics to attack.
Heading inside, Shepard and squad marvel at the beauty of the building, learning more about how the Protheans had influenced the Hanar's early history. Javik will of course provide some amusing commentary, provided that he's a member of your party. When they get close to the beacon, the Hanar official will politely inform Shepard that some of the Collectors and their Hanar fanatics had managed to break through and were heading towards their position.
Shepard and the squad will thus be forced to fight off wave after wave of Collectors and Hanar fanatics, marking the first time in the series that you will be able to fight against some big stupid jellyfish. Eventually making it to the beacon, the squad will be informed by the Prothean VI that the scientists here were also working on some sort of revolutionary new project. This project would've allowed for the races of our cycle to avoid their dependency on the relay network of the Reapers by providing a much more effective means of FTL travel as an alternative.
Or the project could be revealed to be an even more advanced design of the Conduit on Ilos, implying that the races of our cycle could then build our own, more advanced relay network. I still haven't decided on which idea I like the best. Either way, they had no idea what happened with their fellow Prothean scientists on Ilos or what these scientists were doing. All the scientists on Kahje knew was that the Reapers had been able to shut down the relay network in the past, and that their project would provide a viable alternative that would spare our cycle from this trap.
Unfortunately, the VI reveals that the final research was being done on another world known as "the Enclave". The VI informs the squad that the creation of "the Enclave" was a precautionary measure, for fear of the Reapers detecting their research and devastating Kahje as a result. If Javik is in the party, he also looks through the crew manifest for "the Enclave" and finds that his person of interest was involved with the project.
Gathering the coordinates, the squad calls in the Normandy for pickup. But before they leave, they listen to some of the radio traffic from the battle outside of the temple. It is here that Javik can be able to use the Temple's communications to broadcast a speech, denouncing the Collectors and urging the Hanar and the Drell to fight for their continual freedom. If Javik is not in the party, then Shepard is able to do it as long as he/she's reputation bar is high enough. If not, or if you choose to be a total renegade and ignore their plight, then the Hanar and Drell forces loyal to you will suffer heavy losses.
War Assets:
Hanar and Drell Resistance - 100 Points (this is reduced to 50 points if Javik is not there and Shepard is either unable or unwilling to make the speech)
Hanar and Drell Forces - (+) 250 Points to the already existing War Asset (if the speech isn't made, this bonus reverts to 0 points added)
Drell Assassins - 50 Points (this is reduced to 50 points if the speech isn't made)
Old Prothean Archives - 100 Points
War Assets Total: 500 Points
5.) "The Enclave"/Prothean homeworld
Final mission. The Normandy travels through a previously uncharted relay in order to find the Enclave. Initial scans of the planet show an ancient and thoroughly devastated post-garden world. EDI announces that, after further telemetry scans and reviews of old Prothean star charts, this planet is the likely Prothean homeworld.
Lost long ago in the initial wave of the Reaper invasion, the planet had been abandoned by the Reapers after a century of harvesting and bloodshed. Finding that the supply of both Protheans and available resources had been depleted, the Reapers abandoned the now silent, useless planet.
Perhaps that was why the scientists at Kahje knew that their former homeworld would be the perfect place to build "the Enclave". Your squadmates also note that sentimentality may have played a factor as well. After finding out that their colony had been destroyed, the scientists must have been faced with the reality that they would likely be the last generation of their species. For like the scientists at Ilos, there were now too few of them left in order to create a sustainable population. Knowing that their civilization was all but lost, the scientists must have travelled far and wide in order to find and live out the last of their days on their homeworld. What better place then to leave their legacy?
Following the coordinates from the VI on Kahje, Shepard and squad land near what appears to be a massive pyramid complex. Reminiscent of the ones found throughout ME1, Javik (who if downloaded is a mandatory squadmate for this final mission) notes with sadness that here lay the remains of the greatest individuals from the empire. Here, the squad finds a row of small, simple, nondescript graves that belonged to the scientists. Also buried there is Javik's person of interest. This allows for Javik to finally pay his respects.
Moments after, Joker alerts the commander that several Reaper ships, including one Collector ship, had just appeared, likely having followed the Normandy there from Kahje. Joker, noting that they had not detected the Normandy as of yet, promises to try and hold them off. Shepard however orders him to hide out within the system until they retrieve the data that they're looking for.
The squad rushes inside the structure, finding a massive databank inside. Further scans show that not only does this databank contain the research for the new FTL drive or Conduit relay, it also contains the entire (surviving) sum of all the data of the Prothean Empire. Knowing how valuable all of this data could potentially be, Shepard orders one squadmate to download the data, while Shepard and Javik hold off waves of Collectors and husks. They also rig the power source of the databank to explode when the time is right.
After all the information has been retrieved, Shepard orders Joker to double back and pick them up. Knowing that it'll take a few minutes longer for extraction, Shepard and the squad buckle down and clear an LZ for Cortez and the Normandy shuttle, as more Collectors and husks descend upon their position (including some Brutes and Banshees).
Finally Cortez is able to land the shuttle near there position. Shepard and his team barely escape as they watch the Collectors and husk swarm into the structure. It is then that Shepard can be seen nodding at Javik, who is revealed to be holding a trigger. Looking one last time at the ruined remains of his homeworld, Javik yells, "For the empire!" as he presses the trigger, wiping out most of the entire Reaper land force.
Cortez meanwhile is barely able to dodge the pursuing swarms of remaining Collectors when they get picked up by Joker. Swerving left and right to avoid the incoming Reaper ships, the Normandy makes it to the mass relay and jumps as the scene fades to black.
During the debrief back on the Normandy, Hackett informs Shepard that the data that they recovered will prove in time to advance the Crucible project and the collective knowledge of the galaxy by leaps and bounds. The FTL or relay designs, though years away from actual implementation, could break our dependency on the current Mass Relay network altogether. If this DLC is completed, then in the EC, the research recovered from this mission can be seen being used build another, even better relay network, or create a new innovative system of FTL travel.
After the debrief, Javik will request the opportunity to speak with Shepard. During the conversation he will thank Shepard for letting him at last bring peace to not only his person of interest, but to the rest of his species as well. Stating that their scientists were indeed correct to have placed so much faith in our cycle, he then thoughtfully tells Shepard not to squander this great "gift". Shepards replies that he/she wont, and that with this "legacy", the Protheans had ensured that our cycle could now fully break free from the influence of the Reapers forever.
War Assets:
Prothean Databank: 500 Points
Prothean FTL (or Conduit) Research: 200 Points
War Assets Total: 700 Points
Modifié par A0170, 06 septembre 2012 - 09:20 .
Retour en haut
Bioware should take a look at this!
