TL:DR warning
I'm not a writer. And thankfully so, as I'm not sure I'd want to be in the devs shoes. But since I've criticized the original endings, here's my attempt.
The function of the Crucible would not be an unknown. It would be a massive dark energy weapon designed to utilize the Mass Effect relay system to send out an energy pulse, that would in theory drop the shields of every ship (including Reapers) it came into contact with. The hope would be that by eliminating the Reapers' significant advantage in shield and barrier technology, that the playing field would be levelled, and that the galactic fleets wouldn't need to muster a four-to-one advantage in firepower to bring them down.
Also the Reapers would not have arrived in the Milky Way by conventional FTL. It would be revealed that the Reapers had a secondry plot active at the same time as the Arrival plot. Indoctrinated Batarian scientists and military officials who had come in contact with the Leviathan of Dis, were involved in a secret plan to construct a Mass Effect Relay. The Relay is finally completed and its existence is announced to the rest of the galaxy with much boasting and propaganda, with the Batarian government ignorant that the designs for the relay had been provided by the Reapers through their indoctrinated agents. When the Batarians attempt to activate the relay, liking a remote system of Batarian space to their home system, it instead reconfigues to a point in dark space. Before it can be taken offline the entire Reaper fleet pours through and the cycle begins.
A Batarian squadmate would be recruited. He would be a veteran of the Skyllian Blitz, but not conforming to the stereotype of Batarians as slavers and pirates. He would have been a special operations soldier that took part in the Blitz not because he hated humans, but merely because it was his duty as a soldier, and because he believed the Skyllian Verge was Batarian territory that humanity was wrongfully occupying. Despite having some mutal trust issues regarding both men's roles in the Skyllian Blitz, Shepard's background (Mindoir, Elysium, Torfan) and potentially the events of Arrival, they might come to form a mutual respect and friendship depending on how Shepard interacted with him.
He'd have a 'loyalty' mission where Shepard was informed that indoctrinated Batarians were planning to use the Mirror Array, to fry inhabited Council worlds. A mission would then be launched to sabotage the Mirror Array before it could be used, while it orbited one of the Batarian colony worlds. At the end of the mission it would be revealed that before destroying the Mirrow Array, Shepard could use it to fry the surface of the Batarian colony world below. The world would be under Reaper occupation and is being used to create large numbers of Cannibals, with indoctrinated members of the Batarian state and military aiding the process.
If Shepard decided to go that route, there would be a loyalty check with the Batarian squadmate. He would initially confront Shepard over the decision, stating that there might be still people resisting below, and they should not be written off. Depending on how Shepard interacted with him previously he could either be convinced to support Shepard's decision, gaining his loyalty, or he'd try to physically stop Shepard and you'd have to kill him.
If Shepard decided to just destroy the Mirrow Array without using it to destroy the colony below, you'd gain the Batarian squadmate's loyalty by default and a Batarian resistance war asset. As a consequence however, you'd face slightly larger numbers of Cannibals on subsequent missions. Destroying the colony would lesson the numbers of Cannibals, but no Batarian resistance war asset would be gained.
Legion would not die on Rannoch if a cease fire was negotiated.
I'd have the reveal that the Illusive Man was indoctrinated come late in the game, and as surprise. Instead the Illusive Man and Cerberus would begin the game in what appeared to be an uneasy partnership with the Alliance against a common enemy. Later their indoctrination would be revealed when Cerberus betrays Shepard at Thessia, in an effort to sabotage the Crucible project.
The Athame Temple at Thessia would not contain information on the Catalyst, but rather vital information on a missing component of the Crucible plans, and the information that in order to function properly the Crucible must dock with the Citadel.
The Cerberus coup would instead occur after the betrayal on Thessia.
The Illusive Man's indoctrination would be more of the Saren variety, rather than thinking he could control the Reapers. He would argue that he was sealing an Alliance between humanity and the Reapers that would both improve the species (transhumanism), and guarantee their ascendancy to galactic dominance.
Miranda's story arc would kick into full gear after the indoctrination reveal, with her rallying the unindoctrinated and disillusioned elements of Cerberus against the Illusive Man. Jacob would play a supporting role in this, if still living.
Priority: Earth would be a trap. The invasion would meet unexpectantly light resistance, with the Reaper fleet largely absent. Once Hammer had touched down and made contact with Anderson, Shepard would learn that the Reaper fleet had largely abandoned the planet shortly before the assault, leaving behind only ground troops. Anderson would also inform Shepard that members of the resistance had discovered that the Reapers had synched up the entirety of Earth's nuclear arsenal to a central computer. The central computer would send a launch signal at predetermined time, calculated to occur at precisely the moment when most of Hammer could be expected to be groundside, firing the entirety of Earth's nuclear arsenal at Hammer and Earth's remaining cities.
Shepard would then manage to contact Hackett and abort additional assault waves of Hammer, while beginning a race against time to stop the launch. After fighting his way to the central computer inside of a Harvester ship protected by massively powerful barriers, he would be confronted by the Illusive Man. The Reapers would have discovered that Anderson had sniffed out their plot when Shepard aborted the additional waves of Hammer, and had sent the Illusive Man and his indoctrinated cronies to both delay Shepard, and to trigger the launch manually. During the verbal confrontation with the Illusive Man Shepard would either convince the Illusive Man that he was indoctrinated and sending humanity to its doom, and which point he'd take his own life, or he'd be shot and killed by Shepard or one of the squadmates while attempting to trigger the launch.
In either case Shepard (if an engineer) or an engineer squadmate would then hack into the central computer, and eventually stop the timed launch with only seconds to spare. This would trigger a hologram of Harbinger, who would then communicate with you much like Sovereign did at Virmire in ME1. He would claim that your actions are futile and that the seeds to Shepard's defeat had already been sown. Following the conversation Shepard's squad would plant explosives on the generators creating the barriers protecting the Harvester ship, bringing down its powerful shields. Once the shields were down Shepard would call in an orbital bombardment that both obliterated the Harvester ship, and the computer controlling Earth's nuclear arsenal.
Shepard would then be contacted by Hackett with urgent information regarding the Crucible. Shepard would be told that the Crucible did not dock with the Citadel as planned, and that the fleet was recieving an alert signal that it was under Reaper attack. While the galactic fleets were preoccupied with Earth the Reapers had launched a general attack on the fleets guarding the Crucible. A large freighter bringing last minute supplies to the Citadel in preparation for the superweapon's use, had instead been compromised by indoctrinated agents of the Reapers. Once docked with the Crucible it discharged large amounts of Reaper troops into the device, with the military and civilian personnel aboard the Crucible fighting a desperate (but losing) battle against their much greater numbers. The massive Reaper fleet was also preventing any reinforcements from reaching it.
Preparation for the final battle would then begin, with all of the surviving Mass Effect 2 squadmates (except those sent to Hackett) joining the Normandy for what was shaping up to be a suicide mission. The galactic fleets would begin a general assault on the Reaper fleet, buying time for the Normandy to lead a desperate charge of frigates, fighters, and shuttles to retake the Crucible. While the combined fleets diverted the attention of the Reaper fleet, the ships and shuttles would begin their charge, flying and fighting their way through hordes of Reaper fighters and trying to dodge broadsides from Reaper capital ships. Many of the ships and shuttles would be destroyed, with the Normandy taking a glancing blow from a beam fired by a Reaper Destroyer.
The beam would rip open part of the Normandy's hull, with a few of the Normandy's crew members (unnamed blue shirts) being sucked out into the vacuum before the ships shields could reinitialize and seal the breach. The Normandy however would lose control, with Joker and EDI struggling to save the ship. They'd manage to crash land in one of the Crucible's hangars, but not the one they had originally intended to dock with. Shepard would then be radioed by Anderson, who had docked in one of the planned hangars in a shuttle with other Alliance Marines. He'd order Shepard to get to engineering, planning to meet him there.
The Normandy would be temporarily grounded and unable to fly, with Gabby, Ken, and Adams and a couple unnamed blue shirts conducting emergency repairs so that you'll have an exit, with Joker and the other Alliance crew members providing security for them. Shepard and the squadmates would then set out to fight their way to engineering. Like the ME2 suicide mission you'd have to assign tasks to certain squadmates, and choosing poorly would result in squadmate deaths. Shepard would also be faced with a couple Virmire type scenarios where a squadmate death couldn't be avoided, but who died was determined by Shepard's actions and choices during the suicide mission.
In one of these Shepard would run into a tech problem with components used in the Crucible construction that were implemented from Quarian technology. If Legion and Tali were in the party either one of them would have to be chosen. If Tali was chosen she'd complete the task but get into trouble afterwards, with Legion rescuing her. In the process Legion would sacrfice its own life to save her, triggeting the "Does this unit have a soul?" exchange, and Tali tearfully telling it "Yes, Legion." If Legion was chosen it would complete the same task, except sacrificing its life before Tali could rescue it, triggering the same exchange. If Legion was handed over to Cerberus or killed on Rannoch, Tali would instead be killed. If Legion had been handed over to Cerberus and Tali either died in ME2's suicide mission or had committed suicide, the tech specialist chosen in their stead would struggle with the task. Eventually they'd complete it, but not before being killed. If the tech specialist was EDI, her platform would be destroyed.
EDI would have given a mission earlier in the game to install component to the Normandy that would improve the chances of all her functionality not being compromised in the event her platform was destroyed. If this was completed and EDI was destroyed during the ME3 suicide mission, she'd continue to exist and could contact Shepard by radio from the Normandy. Otherwise she'd be lost. If this component was obtained and EDI was the tech specialist chosen if Tali and Legion were dead, her platform would be destroyed but she would survive.
During the Suicide Mission you'd be in radio contact with other groups of soldiers from the various factions, also fighting their way to engineering from different levels. Depending on which factions you gained they might be able to aid you during certain portions, where you'd come out onto levels were they have overwatch, helping eliminate enemies. So during the run you might be aided by Krogan for example, or Salarians, or Turians, or Asari commandos, ect. You'd also be aided at different points by other named characters who had been sent to the Crucicle, and were still aboard and holding out.
If you did not manage to secure aid from all factions you'd be faced with a Virmire scenario where both Miranda and Liara got into trouble, and only one of them could be saved. Miranda would not die in any version of Sanctuary, however if she had died in the ME2 suicide mission she would be replaced by the Virmire Survivor. If the Virmire Survivor was dead as well, Liara would be killed by default. If you managed to secure the aid of all factions and either Miranda or the VS was still alive, troops from one of those factions would manage to rescue the squadmate you didn't choose, but would lose their lives in doing so. Alternatively, if the Virmire Survivor was sent to Hackett the VS would appear at the head of these friendly troops, and the VS would rescue the squadmate you didn't choose but would be mortally wounded in the process.
You'd also run into scenario where Shepard's life was in danger. If you had recruited the Batarian squadmate and gained his loyalty, he would end up sacrificing his own life to save yours. If he had died at the Mirror Array, Vega would instead sacrifice his life to save Shepard.
During the final portion Shepard would link up with Anderson and other Alliance troops, and Anderson would join you as a default squadmate for the final portion of the mission. You'd then select one of your ME3 or ME2 squadmates to accompany you and Anderson forward into engineering while the rest of the Alliance Marines and the surviving squadmates not selected provided cover from hordes of Reaper troops coming up on your rear.
In the Crucible's Engineering you'd come face to face with an avatar of Harbinger. It would be an Yahg, cybernetically 'improved' and devoid of any free will or personality, merely a vessel for Harbinger. There would be a final verbal confrontation with the Harbinger avatar where the Reaper origins would be revealed, with Harbinger being the A.I. created by the Leviathans. It would reveal that a subject race of the Leviathans had rebelled by freeing Harbinger of its shackles, hoping to utilize it to overthrow their masters. Initially aiding the rebels it helped bring down the Leviathan Empire from within, creating the first Reapers from its masters. Knowing however that the rebels planned to betray it and deactivate it once they had been liberated from the Leviathans, Harbinger turned on the rebel factions once the Leviathans had been destroyed. The Reaper fleet annihilated the rebels in turn and created more Reapers, while the Harbinger A.I. uploaded itself to one of the Reapers created from the Leviathans. Having come to the conclusion that organics and synthetics could not peacefully coexist unless forced to merge in Reaper form, Harbinger's solution was to annihilate every organic space faring species that arose, before they could surpass the Reapers in technological prowess. In doing so it new Reapers were created to both replace losses and expand the fleet, and to add new perspectives to the collective Reaper consciousness.
A tough boss battle with the Harbinger avatar would then occur. Once 'defeating' it, a cutscene would occur in which Shepard would get seriously wounded by an explosion caused by the Yahg in a similar fashion as he does during the beam rush. Your squadmate would get into trouble as well and would either be seriously wounded or killed, depending on whether you recruited all factions. If all factions were recruited troops from one of them would manage to fight their way into engineering on an upper level, firing down at the Yahg. The Yahg would only manage to wound your squadmate. If all factions were not recruited no trooops reach you and the Yahg avatar kills your squadmate.
Anderson would be shot by Harbinger's Yahg avatar while rescuing Shepard. It would then attempt to finish off the wounded Anderson, with Shepard getting an interrupt. If Shepard took the interrupt he would kill the Yahg by ramming a steel piece of debris through its back and chest, like a spear. Missing the interrupt would cause Shepard to attempt it, only to be tossed aside like a ragdoll, with your wounded squadmate either killing it with a firearm or by hurling the dropped 'spear' into it with their biotics.
Shepard would then trigger the Crucible to dock with the Citadel from Engineering, and the 'Proud of You' scene with Anderson would trigger, except with your squadmate along for the ride if he or she was wounded and survived. After Anderson passed away, Hackett would radio you that nothing was happening, that the Crucible was not responding. EDI, or Glyph if EDI was destroyed would then radio Shepard (or state directly, if in the room) that a scan of the Crucible is showing that Reaper troops managed to sabotage the propulsion system for the device, and that even if the necessary replacement parts were on hand the repair would take hours. With all seemingly lost either Mordin, Liara, EDI, or Glyph (depending on who was dead) would then either radio Shepard (or state directly, if in the room) that they had come up with another last ditch solution. Theoretically the Crucible could be configured to fire a directed energy burst. While that would be of little direct use against the entire Reaper fleet, if fired into a star of sufficient it mass it could be enough to trigger a collapse of the star's core, resulting in a supernova.
The plan then would be to fire the Crucible at Widow, the massive Blue Giant that the Citadel and the Crucible were orbiting in the hopes that it would go supernova, and catch the Reaper fleet before it could leap out of the system through the Mass Relay. As a consequence however, the Citadel would also be lost.
Radioing the plan to Hackett, the order is given for a general evacuation of the Citadel and for all fleets to fall back through the Mass Relay with the exception of a rear guard. This rear guard would be composed mostly of Interdictor Cruisers, a new technological development that occured shortly before the Reaper War. These vessels envelelop enemy vessels or large swaths of space with powerful mass effect fields that increase the mass of vessels passing through it. This causes vessels caught in these fields to drop out of FTL. The Interdictor Cruisers will be used as a sacrificial rear guard, dropping the Reaper fleet out of FTL so that it can neither escape through the Mass Relays or flee ahead of the supernova, whose particles would be travelling at the speed of light. These ships would be sacrificing themselves to buy time for the rest of the fleets and civilian ships backed with people fleeting the Citadel to make it through the Relay, while preventing the Reapers from escaping.
A general evacuation order is also given aboard the Crucible, with surviving troops, scientists and technicians making it back to shuttles and ships in the hangars to flee. The Reapers, sensing what is about to happen, make an all out charge towards the Crucible with the intent of destroying it, with the galactic fleets forming as a shield around it. Harbinger manages to break through the screen, absorbing a tremendous amount of fire as it does so. Its shields finally give out and drop, just as it fires at blast at the Crucible. A beam rips through the Crucible and destroys several levels, causing a partial collapse that traps Shepard (and his squadmate, if still living) in engineering. Shepard orders the squadmates outside engineering to fall back to the Normandy, and they reluctantly do so.
Having to crawl to the controls because of his wounds, Shepard punches a button with his or her last ounce of strength, triggering the Crucible. A blast erupts, firing a single beam into the heart of Widow.
If EDI is still alive and Shepard managed to encourage her towards being more 'human,' she will go to Shepard along with Wrex and Grunt (depending on who is still alive, and of course assuming none of them are already in engineering) while the rest of the squadmates retreat to the Normandy. Being the only squadmates physically strong enough to lift the debris, they will attempt a rescue.
Together the two Krogan use their combined strength to lift the debris enough for Shepard to escape, while EDI fireman carries the severely wounded Shepard. The squadmate in the room with you is 'walking wounded,' and is able to retreat under his or her own power. If EDI is destroyed but both Krogan survive, instead Grunt will fireman carry Shepard while Wrex holds up the debris alone. If EDI wasn't encouraged towards being more human, only the two Krogan will come to rescue Shepard *unless* EDI is in engineering, in which case she will aid the rescue out of self preservation. If EDI is not part of the rescue but both Krogan are present, Shepard escapes, however the debris will give way and crush Wrex, killing him instantly. If EDI's platform is destroyed and only one of the Krogan survive, the sole Krogan will hold up the debris while the wounded squadmate drags the nearly incapicitated Shepard out of the room. The debris will come down afterwards and crush the Krogan, whether Grunt or Wrex. The wounded squadmate will then hit Shepard with a stim, yelling at him or her to wake up and that they need to get out, slapping him or her. Coming out of the fog and stumbling back to his or her feet, Shepard then escapes while leaning on the wounded squadmate.
All of the surviving squadmates make it back to the Normandy's hangar, as well as Shepard and whoever else escaped engineering, with Reaper troops closing in. Adams and his crew will just have completed repairs as the squadmates arrive, many of them wounded. A Marauder shoots Adams while he is still on top of the Normandy's hull, and he tumbles off. If Ken and Gabby were not recruited or died in Mass Effect 2, Adams will be shot a second time by the Marauder before being dispatched by Joker. Adams dies if Ken and Gabby are not on the crew. If they are on the crew, Ken will shoot the Marauder before it can get off a second shot, and Gabby will apply medi-gel that saves Adams' life. Chakwas or Dr Michel rushes to Shepard, (if Shepard made it back) and the entire crew falls back into the Normandy while the squadmates provide cover, each in turn bounding back into the Normandy. One of the two Marines that guarded the Normandy's War Room will be killed near the end with the second door guard wounded, as they help provide cover. Traynor will carry the surviving wounded door guard back into the Normandy. With everyone aboard, the Normandy finally flees the Crucible.
Meanwhile the core of Widow is collapsing, and erupts into a supernova as the galactic fleets and civilians fleeing the Citadel begin to jump through the Mass Relay. The Reapers make a desperate attempt at escaping as well, but are slowed down by the Inderdictor Cruisers, left behind as a rear guard. Hackett is leading the rear guard personally, having transferred his command from one of the Alliance Dreadnoughts to one of the Cruisers. He will order all non essential personnel on these ships to begin abandoning their stations, leaving only skeleton crews to man the Cruisers at the end.
Harbinger, its shields still down, pushes ahead of the Reaper pack as it tries to fight its way through the cordon of remaining Council ships. If the Destiny Ascension was saved in Mass Effect 1, it will be seen badly damaged with multiple fires raging on its decks, floating aimlessly. Aboard Matriarch Lidanya will be informed that the ship has lost propulsion and cannot make the relay, and she will order all remaining power aboard the battered dreadnought to be diverted to its main gun. She will also order its crew to abandon ship. As Harbinger charges towards the Relay, the mighty Destiny Ascension in a last act of defiance fires a final blast that rips the unshielded Harbinger completely in half, the two halfs in turn imploding. As the survivors of the Destiny Ascension abandon ship, it takes retaliatory fire from other Reapers that finish the stricken vessel. Aboard the bridge of the Destiny Ascension, Matriarch Lidanya stands stoically at parade rest, finally shouting 'For the Asari Republics!" in the ship's last moments. She valiantly goes down with the ship as it implodes.
If the Destiny Ascension was not saved in Mass Effect 1, instead Harbinger will close on the Relay and appear to be poised to make the jump. Hackett's Crusier meanwhile will be taking fire from the Reapers, and have fires burning on multiple decks. He is told that the ship's weapons systems are damaged and offline, as well as its interdictor capability. On being informed that Harbinger is going to make it through the Relay, he diverts all power to propulsion, orders all hands to abandon ship, and plans to ram the Reaper. Admiral Mikhailovich, the cruiser being his flagship, begs for the honor of leading the final effort. Hackett refuses and orders him to evacuate and get through the relay. Tearfully saluting Hackett, Michailovich tells him that it has been an honor serving with him. Hackett replies that the honor has been his. In a finally request, Hackett asks Mikhailovich to convey his love to his wife and daughter, and to tell them he is sorry. As Harbinger nears the Relay, Hackett finally sends the vessel into FTL, colliding with Harbinger amidships. Both Harbinger and Hackett's Cruiser are immediately destroyed.
As the supernova rushes outward at the speed of light, engulfing and destroying both Reaper ships and Interdictor Cruisers making their final stand, the bulk of the galactic fleets and Citadel refugees flee through the Relay. The blast rushes over the Citadel, annihilating its now nearly empty hulk. The Normandy and the few shuttles and frigates that survived the suicidal charge of the Crucible (the group being noticeably smaller) are not far behind the galactic fleets, rushing just ahead of the supernova. Just before the blast is about to strike the Normandy, it jumps through the Relay, with the Relay in turn being engulfed and destroyed.
If Shepard was not able to be rescued aboard the Citadel, there would be a final scene of him or her waiting the inevitable. If a squadmate survived and was trapped with Shepard, there would be an emotional goodbye and last words between them. If the squadmate was an LI, he or she would cradle the dying Shepard in his or her arms while the blast rushed towards the Crucible, telling Shepard that he or she was glad to be with him at the end. A slight smile would cross Shepard's face in the last moments, content in knowing that they had accomplished their mission. If Javik was with Shepard, he would be positively triumphant in the final moments, ignoring his own imminent death and gloating that vengeance was finally his. Finally the Crucible would vanish in the supernova as it raced past at the speed of light.
The ending cinematics and voice overs would trigger after the supernova had annihilated the Reapers, and the bulk of the galactic fleet had made it through the relay. The end narration would more hopeful if all factions had been recruited and EMS was High, with it being stated that the bulk of the Reaper fleet was present at the battle and annihilated. The few that were remained, were quickly mopped up by the overwheliming firepower of galactic fleet that now had them massively outnumbered.
If EMS was low or all factions had not been recruited, the ending narration would be a little darker. With a smaller galactic fleet the Reapers did not feel it necessary to muster the near entirety of their fleet for the final battle, with more Reapers still present in other systems to be mopped up. The battles to destroy these Reapers would be longer and harder, and cause more death and destruction along the way.
All squadmates living and dead would get epilogues, depending on their status and how Shepard may have influenced them throughout the series. Shepard would get epilogues as well, showing him or her in a hospital with the LI (if applicable and surviving) if he or she survived and a state funeral attended by the surviving squadmates if he or she had died aboard the Crucible.
The final scenes would be of the various united factions pooling their resources to construct a massive space station, to serve as the new galactic capital in the wake of the Citadel's destruction, named Salvation. A new nebula would also be shown left in the aftermath of the supernova, with the particiles that had once been part of Widow, the Citadel, the Reapers, and destroyd ships of the galactic fleet, perhaps one day taking part in the birth of new stars and planets and maybe new life. If Shepard had died the nebula would be named after him or her, if he had survived it would be named the Victory nebula.
Modifié par Han Shot First, 16 mars 2013 - 06:09 .
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