will never come to pass. In this case, I think the latter is probably the case but I'll put it out there all the same for your consideration (and Bioware's).One of the biggest flaws, to my mind, of ME3 is the Crucible, in particular, how ludicrously little we know about it. I've already written another thread (link's in my sig) describing the areas where I thought it failed and how it could've been better integrated into the narrative of ME3. This story, for lack of a better word, I'm about to describe focuses on finding out more about the history of this superweapon. It's not going to change the endings except for, maybe, a couple of extra dialogue lines but little else. If you're fine with that, read on. If not, well, you're missing on one heck of a story, if I do say so myself.
Galaxy map (for reference purposes):
- Helyme is in the Crescent Nebula
- Garvug is in the Valhallan Threshold
- Eingana is in the Omega Nebula
- Ilos is in the Pangaea Expanse
- Ploba is in the Hades Gamma
The question
We already know that the Protheans tried to build the Crucible from plans they obtained from another civilization but, how exactly did they find these plans? This is the question this DLC would try to answer and in doing so will take us on a journey of (perhaps) several millions of years. Be warned though, don't expect to meet or learn about the first civilization that developed the idea behind the Crucible. It's unlikely any trace of said civilization could be found eons after their existence, however, we can still get pretty close.
Ilos: The point of convergence
From ME1 we know that Ilos was part of the Prothean Empire. During early Prothean history it was probably an important, or at least widely known, world, that is, before it turned into "a myth" in Javik's time. We also know that Ilos was home to a secret research facility where Prothean scientists were studying mass effect fields in order to understand the technology of the mass relays. But the most important part for this particular story, is that Ilos had also been home to the Inusannon, a race that existed some 127,000 years ago.
Much like the races in this cycle looked up to the Protheans as the creators of the Citadel and the mass relays, perhaps the Protheans themselves considered the Inusannon as the source of this technology. Therefore, they sought outposts of this civilization and eventually found Ilos. From records left behind by the Inusannon on Ilos the Protheans made an even stranger discovery: Ilos had been home to another race before the Inusannon, a race that the Inusannon themselves considered to be the source of mass effect technology. This was the first clue the Protheans had that the mass relays were potentially older than anyone had been willing to admit. But what had the Inusannon discovered exactly?
The search of the Inusannon
The Inusannon lived approximately 127,000 years ago. It is unclear the extent of their empire or if they even had one, but we do know they settled Ilos at one point and that they fought against the Thoi'han over rights to colonize the planet Eingana. But what if there had been more to it than mere colonization rights?
On Ilos, the Inusannon discovered traces of an earlier civilization, one that had apparently lived on the planet very briefly around 298,000 BCE (for the Inusannon, some 171,000 years earlier). What little records they managed to uncover told a very interesting tale of a civilization that had been forced to seek refuge on Ilos after their homeworld had been ravaged by a plague (loose translation). The Inusannon thought they had tracked down this homeworld to Helyme, a planet that had been affected by some sort of global extinction event around 300,000 BCE. Much like scientists in our day, they gathered it must have been some sort of biological weapon and, intrigued, they sent science teams to find out exactly what had happened on Helyme.
It wasn't particularly difficult. After all, Helyme had been frozen in time and most records had been preserved or, rather, had not been destroyed. A picture soon formed of some sort of terrorist attack perpetrated by a religious group using some sort of biological weapon. The group denounced that this weapon had been designed by the military to target specific DNA in order to exterminate groups of people. What exactly this religious organisation had thought triggering this device would accomplish is anybody's guess, but the result could not have been further from its alleged design. The device had extinguished almost every living form on the planet. The Inusannon were unable to recover any trace of the device (it was presumed to have had a self-destruct mechanism). However, the nature of the event posed a puzzling question, if the device had obliterated the entire population of Helyme, who exactly had attempted to colonize Ilos?
The battle for Eingana
On the planet Garvug, in the Valhallan Threshold, the Thoi'han had made a similar discovery and were asking themselves a similar question. And while their search did not lead them to Helyme, it led them to an ancient ship buried deep into the heart of a mountain. Once they managed to gain access to the ship's starcharts, they found it had traveled to two other locations: Ilos, a known Inusannon world at the time and, therefore, off-limits; and Eingana, a planet located in the Amada System of the Omega Nebula. An expedition was soon mounted to uncover the secrets of Eingana but, unbeknownst to them, a Thoi'han spy had made the Inusannon aware of this discovery. When the Thoi'han fleet arrived on the Amada System they found themselves in the middle of a battle with their Inusannon enemies for dominion of the planet.
It is believed both parties sent teams to the planet to try and locate the secret Arthenn outpost. Since none of those teams returned it's impossible to determine whether they were or not succesful. Eventually, the wreckage of the battles between the Inusannon and Thoi'han poisoned the planet's environment and triggered a wave of extinctions. Perhaps this event prompted the two sides to reach an accord, or maybe it was due to external influences, but the fact remains that both parties agreed to leave Eingana unclaimed. If they sent secret missions to the planet afterwards, there is nothing to indicate that any returned.
At some point in their history, the Protheans sent their own secret missions, following the Inusannon's trail to Helyme first and to Eingana second, theorizing that there must have been an ulterior motive behind the battle between Inusannon and Thoi'han. The Prothean team did, in fact, return from their mission and used Ilos as a temporary base of operations until they could ship their discoveries offworld.
Shepard's journey
Shepard decides to track down the origins of the Crucible and either Liara or Javik suggest to use Ilos and Vigil as a starting point. They argue that if the AI could be powered up again, it might reveal more about the planet's original inhabitants, the Inusannon.
The Normandy travels to Ilos and the crew manages to get Vigil operational. Shepard asks about the Crucible but, naturally, Vigil knows nothing of said weapon. When asked about the Inusannon, the AI reveals a Prothean science team researching the Inusannon set up base on Ilos for a while and disappeared shortly afterwards. Vigil gives Shepard the location of their base of operations on Ilos and Shepard goes off to explore. Shepard and team find no record of what the Protheans might have been up to, but Liara manages to find the remains of an ancient dig site. Her experience with ancient civilizations leads her to believe they're indicative of Arthenn presence on Ilos. She suggests traveling to the planet Helyme might shed some light on this startling discovery.
The Normandy arrives on Helyme only to find a Cerberus cruiser in orbit. Shepard initially suspects that the Illusive Man might have tracked them here but the cruiser is oblivious to the Normandy. Shepard decides to send in a team to the planet anyway to find out more about the Arthenn presence on Ilos and why the Protheans would want to cover it up. Eventually, he finds out about the Arthenn biological weapon but not before he runs into a Cerberus team led by none other than Kai Leng himself. A firefight ensues and Shepard has to find a way to get offworld safely. The Cerberus cruiser, informed of Shepard's presence, dispatches fighters to search for the Normandy. As the fighters zero in on the SR2, Joker informs Shepard he has to bug out since he cannot possible fend off the fighters and the cruiser while providing cover for Shepard. This prompts Shepard to find an alternative means of transportation: an ancient Arthenn shuttle. Surprisingly, they manage to get it airborne and manage to shoot an ion pulse at the Cerberus cruiser before escaping.
Skeptical of the ancient vessel, Shepard and team rendezvous with the Normandy. Once aboard, Shepard contacts Miranda to see if she can shed some light on Cerberus' operation on Helyme. Miranda informs Shepard that the Helyme "event" had been part of the Illusive Man's agenda, something he had been keen on investigating for a while. It is possible that TIM was simply seeking ancient weapons to fight the Reapers, but with Shepard showing up there as well, TIM will probably consider other venues of thought. If the Helyme "event" is somehow related to Shepard's search for the origins of the Crucible, TIM will figure it out.
Shepard and team discuss their next move. Tali points out that this biological weapon seems far too advanced for the Arthenn to have developed on their own. Liara concurs. The general consensus is that the Arthenn must have found the technology for the weapon somewhere else, what could mean they're on the right track. Garrus suggest the possibility that this religious group that triggered the device might have been influenced by the Reapers. While they discuss this disturbing possibility, the team left on Ilos reports that Vigil has also been working on the problem. Based on fuel consumption logs, the AI has been able to determine that the Prothean science team traveled to the Zelene and Amada Systems. Miranda is the first to bring up Eingana as another mystery TIM had considered worth looking into. Liara proceeds to explain the battle between the Inusannon and the Thoi'han. The military men (Garrus, Vega, Javik) speculate there might have been more to the battle than colonization rights. Shepard agrees and the SR2 sets a course for the Amada System.
Once in Amada, Shepard explains his plan to Joker to use the Arthenn shuttle to explore Eingana. If Cerberus shows up, Joker can bring in the Normandy for support and catch them off guard. If Javik has been recruited, he'll insist on joining Shepard arguing that if a Prothean squad was there, he'll be able to tell due to his psychometric ability. If Javik wasn't recruited, Liara will argue for a spot on the team.
The shuttle is unable to land on the facility so they must trek there, braving the dangerous flora and fauna of the jungle planet (some of the creatures have biotic powers and are not very fond of visitors). Eventually they reach the underground facility only to discover something is decidedly wrong. Either Javik picks up that previous expeditions were ambushed by some strange creatures or the team finds Prothean audio logs to prove the point (or both). There are also messages written in blood on the walls in several arcane languages, some of which Liara can decipher. All of them say the same thing, "It's a trap."
Undeterred, Shepard continues to explore the ancient facility. As they progress further, they start finding Arthenn records. The records mention an Arthenn team that was sent to recover a deep space expedition that had not returned home. Before Liara or Javik can explain further they're interrupted by Kai Leng and another Cerberus team. As the two teams fire on each other, an ear-splitting scream echoes in the tunnels. Both Shepard and Kai Leng point their guns in the direction of the scream and are soon overran by all manner of strange creatures. However, both Shepard and Kai Leng recognize some Protheans who have been turned into an earlier form of Collector. Both men come to an uneasy truce as they try to make their way out of the facility shooting at the creatures. Most of Kai Leng's team is ripped to shreds as they exit the facility.
Once clear, Shepard tries to arrest Kai Leng but the latter reveals several more Cerberus teams surrounding Shepard. Shepard and team are captured and brought aboard the Cerberus cruiser along with the Arthenn shuttle (spoils of war, no doubt). TIM is very curious as to why Shepard was also on Eingana and orders Kai Leng to torture the information out of him. Before Kai Leng can do much damage, the Cerberus cruiser is attacked by the Normandy. Shepard tackles Kai Leng, finds his team, and together they escape aboard the Arthenn shuttle.
Shepard finds himself in the war room of the SR2. Kai Leng is in possession of what little Shepard and his team had managed to recover from the facility but Liara managed to upload a copy to Glyph (alternatively, Javik has perfect recall) and continues with the story. For some reason that the salvage team could not explain, the earlier Arthenn expedition had been instructed to travel to the Hades Gamma, more specifically, to the gas giant Ploba. When the salvage team reached the location, they found no trace of the crew. Studying the records from the starship, they found an immense superstructure deep within the atmosphere of the gas giant and also that the crew had apparently made a few trips there and back, storing plans for a device on the ship's mainframe. The salvage team ignored this, their instructions were to retrieve whatever it was the earlier expedition had discovered and then crash the ship into the atmosphere of Ploba, forever burying its secrets.
The team speculates that this is probably the source of the biological weapon used on Helyme and that the Eingana outpost was probably the secret facility where the device was built. Liara also manages to find a data dump on how the initial expedition managed to get inside the superstructure. Tali points out that they must use the Arthenn shuttle since the strange alloy of its hull will allow the craft to withstand the immense pressures of the gas giant. Garrus, ever the soldier (and Javik too), brings up the disturbing events on Eingana and again poses the question of whether the Reapers were involved at some point. The memory of the Collector prototypes and the strange circumstances of the first Arthenn mission to Ploba prompts Shepard to agree. Nonetheless, Shepard is determined to get to the bottom of this mess. Off we go to Ploba.
The team manages to get inside the superstructure without difficulty. After all, the Arthenn starship may be arcane but it's still sturdy. The team must include either Tali or EDI as tech experts. As EDI maps the inside of the superstructure she begins to realise they're inside a part of the Crucible itself! EDI shows Shepard the schematics, there's no mistaking the shape of the superstructure. The magnitude of the discovery astounds Shepard, he's inside a Crucible that was constructed by an ancient civilization perhaps millions (if you're feeling optimistic) of years ago! But how does this relate to the biological weapon developed by the Arthenn? EDI ventures that this Crucible must probably manipulate DNA at some level. EDI hacks some terminals but is unable to make sense of the information stored, the language is simply too ancient to decipher. She does, however, find several similarities to the Crucible plans Liara found on Mars.
As they explore further, eventually they reach a room (EDI makes the distinction that they're now in part of the facility that was building the Crucible) where they find a strange artifact. If Shepard met Amanda Kenson, he's bound to recognize the object, otherwise he'll find out soon enough, for it's a Reaper artifact. It doesn't take long before the device starts emitting a familiar pulse and they're surrounded by the remains of the Arthenn crew. Shepard also spots the familiar glow he associated with the Collector Generals on one of the creatures, a sign that it's being manipulated by a Reaper. Sure enough, the being starts speaking in words that all can understand. Shepard immediately identifies the Reaper controlling the creature as Harbinger.
The Reaper does not bother to deny this and taunts Shepard he should not have come here. Confident that Shepard and his team are about to die, Harbinger explains the facility was constructed millions of years ago to work on a weapon that could defeat the Reapers. It was purposefully built inside the gas giant's atmosphere so that the Reapers could not reach it, if they ever discovered it. But the Reapers obliterated their civilization long before they had completed the weapon.
The Reapers soon forgot about the weapon and retreated to dark space, but Harbinger remembered. It discreetly searched for the weapon for ages and when it had finally determined its location in the Hades Gamma, it manipulated events to send a deep space mission to that particular sector. The plan called for Reaper agents to place an artifact inside the facility so that the crew could be indoctrinated and used to study the weapon. While the agents did manage to place the artifact, the plan was discovered by the rest of the crew and both sides managed to kill each other off before falling prey to indoctrination. In their diminished capacity, Harbinger was unable to recover the data stored in the starship.
It would have been easy enough to send a recovery mission but the military got there first and retrieved the plans for the Crucible. They brought it back to the planet Eingana, where they had established a secret facility for weapon research. Confused by the Crucible's purpose and daunted by its size, they reverse-engineered part of it to create their biological weapon. Harbinger then acted, using a religious group it had set up to steal the weapon from the Eingana complex (leaving another artifact behind) and used it to destroy the Arthenn. The Eingana artifact had successfully staved off the Inusannon and the Thoi'han, but the Protheans had somehow managed to endure and retrieved the plans for the Crucible there (the Arthenn must have had at least another copy in the Eingana facility since the Protheans had never even approached Ploba).
Back to the present, Harbinger reveals his annoyance at Shepard having managed to find its way here and announces this will be his tomb. Shepard and team fight it out with the indoctrinated Arthenn and the Arthenn General controlled by Harbinger. Shepard manages to escape the Ploba facility but not before the dying Arthenn General taunts Shepard that he has been deceived and that the Crucible is not the answer he seeks.
The Normandy hastens out of the system. Shepard remarks on the strange fact that there is no Reaper presence. Surely, Harbinger would have sent some Reapers to prevent his escape? EDI suggests that Harbinger might have been keeping its study of the weapon a secret from the other Reapers. Garrus also remarks on the fact that Cerberus didn't follow them to Ploba. The implications are too unpleasant to consider. In a private moment with his LI, Shepard concludes that this journey has provided some disturbing answers and raised some questions he's not entirely sure he wants to answer.
Epilogue
Shepard returns to Ilos to have a final chat with Vigil. He explains what they discovered and his misgivings. As Shepard draws his conversation with Vigil to a close, the AI asks him one final question, "Will it destroy the Reapers?" Shepard remains silent as he returns to the shuttle.
Final words
Well, hope you enjoyed my little story. It's probably a bit too long for a DLC but perhaps it could be trimmed and polished a bit. If there's something of a Dead Space vibe to it, it probably has something to do with my playing DS3 recently. It has a lot of the things I'd want in a DLC, such as exploring the history behind the Crucible, getting to talk to Vigil again, and at least one that some people have been asking for, namely, a battle with Harbinger. And the best thing? It doesn't have to change the endings at all.
Cheers!
And please leave comments.
Modifié par OdanUrr, 17 février 2013 - 02:45 .
Retour en haut
