Something a bit different. A 'what I did previously'; some of my favourite images from the ME2 playthrough of this (my 'canon') character:
One thing that surprised me was how often Miranda was in the squad; with Shep and special guest star Samara they did pure biotic goodness.
One thing that surprised me was how often Miranda was in the squad; with Shep and special guest star Samara they did pure biotic goodness.
I'm playing an adeptshep this time through ME2, and I'm finding Miranda to be an amazing teammate. I hardly ever took her anywhere in previous playthroughs. Haven't recruited Samara yet. Awesome pics, by the way.
Today, I gained Kasumi's loyalty. Exploded Hock's gunship with a warp blast. I think cloneshep should have survived the citadel DLC and assumed the identity of Alison/Solomon Gunn afterwards. They'd have a ready-made reputation thanks to Kasumi.
Investigated a crash site, an abandoned space station and a 'mech factory. Lost count of how many 'mechs exploded along the way. I love it when the heavy 'mechs go nuclear.
Just about to finish Grunt's recruitment mission. Brought Zaeed and Garrus with me this time. Had them break out their sniper rifles, and been using singularity to set up target practice for them. They're having a good time.
When that's over, I'm debating whether to do Overlord before picking up Jack, or wait 'til sometime after Horizon to free David.
I'm playing an adeptshep this time through ME2, and I'm finding Miranda to be an amazing teammate. I hardly ever took her anywhere in previous playthroughs. Haven't recruited Samara yet.
Yeah forgot to mention that Shep was an adept too 
3 Biotics just absolutely murder everybody. It's hilarious.
One thing that surprised me was how often Miranda was in the squad; with Shep and special guest star Samara they did pure biotic goodness.
I am generally surprised when I don't have Miranda in the squad. Ever since I became focused on power usage over guns Miranda became my go-to team mate.
Also, something about the look on femshep's face in this pic struck me.
Also, something about the look on femshep's face in this pic struck me.
I had done the Renegade conversation option with Morinth; Shep was not amused. I think (in my mind at least) it demonstrates Shep's cybernetic strength upgrades the way she is able to easily grab Morinth away.
Incidentally ME2 is also altered in a similar way to what I did to ME3 to try to improve the graphics; sadly the models are a lot lower polygon count so they don't look quite as smooth as ME3. Also I hadn't enabled a freecam, sadly.
Ever since I became focused on power usage over guns Miranda became my go-to team mate.
Same. Before ME3 came out, I hardly ever used powers in the first two games. I usually either played a soldier or a sniper and shot everything in sight. This time through I'm way more power-focused... and having a blast.
Miranda's loyalty mission with Enyala being thrown across the screen
Jack kills Aresh
Mordin just before he kills Maleon
Zaeed gets his revenge
Just spent a large number of bullets shooting out windows in the Dantius Towers. Fortunately, I still had enough to kill all the mercs we ran into. They were getting in the way of my fun. Silly mercs, don't get in Shepard's way when she is focused on vandalism!
(And no, I did not push that merc out the window. Shepard would be a rather incompetant soldier if she executed a possible intelligence source before she got the info she needed. Now if we were given an interrupt to throw him out the window after the interrogation was over, that would be another story.)
Also, this is the first time I did Mordin's LM before the Collector Ship, so I got to hear an entirely new dialogue discussing how Collectors were really just husks. Mordin mentioned something about a complex protein weapon, but I didn't catch all of it. I suppose he was referring to Harbinger's warp-thingy.
(I saved the cure data since intel of any kind is valuable. Unfortunately, this will mean Shepard will need to kill either Mordin or Wiks in a few months.)
Just spent a large number of bullets shooting out windows in the Dantius Towers. Fortunately, I still had enough to kill all the mercs we ran into. They were getting in the way of my fun. Silly mercs, don't get in Shepard's way when she is focused on vandalism!
(And no, I did not push that merc out the window. Shepard would be a rather incompetant soldier if she executed a possible intelligence source before she got the info she needed. Now if we were given an interrupt to throw him out the window after the interrogation was over, that would be another story.)
Also, this is the first time I did Mordin's LM before the Collector Ship, so I got to hear an entirely new dialogue discussing how Collectors were really just husks. Mordin mentioned something about a complex protein weapon, but I didn't catch all of it. I suppose he was referring to Harbinger's warp-thingy.
(I saved the cure data since intel of any kind is valuable. Unfortunately, this will mean Shepard will need to kill either Mordin or Wiks in a few months.)
I do somewhat enjoy punching that poor Salarian on Thane's recruitment mission though. I also refrain from pushing the merc out the window and usually opt to use Shepard's silver tongue.
Ah, someone else who thinks Renegade FemShep's scars are sexy.
Rescued David Archer from his mad scientist brother. I made it stop.
Found the wreck of the MSV Estevanico. Why couldn't the shuttle drop me off me off closer to the data? That's where it picked me up. Cortez could have done it.
Stopped three heavy 'mechs from destroying most of the crates on Dartar (?). In hindsight, should have taken two teammates with overload. Could have saved more crates. Has anyone ever successfully attacked all three 'mechs at the same time to get them to pay attention to you, and stop destroying crates? I couldn't get it to work, the furthest two just ignored me.
Now I am just about to free Jack from prison. Need two teammates with overload for this one for sure. Then it's on to Horizon.
Got some new dossiers to look into. Most of them are on Illium, so looks like that's where I'm headed next.
The Terminus Systems really are the hind end of space. Sure, Illium looks all nice and shiny on the surface, but you don't even need to look that deep to find all the rot. It's a bad, bad place, filled with bad, bad people. Some pleasant surprises, though. Liara's set up shop, working as an information broker. She seems different now, though. Colder. Still, nice to see another familiar face. She had a few things she needed help with. I took care of some, still working on a few others. Sounds like we'll have to take a run at the Shadow Broker soon. Not looking forward to that. Obviously, he'll know we're coming.
Bumped into Gianna Parasini. She roped me into another sting operation. Happy to help, even though the very concept of Noveria and what goes on there creeps me out. Still, glad there's people like Gianna keeping tabs on it. Also seems like she's got a little bit of a crush on me. Or maybe she just wanted to say she kissed the first human Spectre who saved the Council from a geth invasion and took down a rogue Spectre.
Not quite a familiar face, but an asari I met had a message from the rachni queen. Seems like the Reapers, or maybe the Collectors under Reaper orders, influenced the rachni into going to war the first time around. Sounds like, if this Reaper mess gets really ugly, I'll have the rachni backing me up. I could do worse.
Another familiar face I may or may not have wanted to see again, Conrad Vermer. He seemed harmless enough back on the Citadel, but now he's. . . well I hesitate to say "gone off the deep end," but he's definitely not quite all there. I think he's on something. That, or Cerberus' reconstruction didn't quite take in the memory department. He said I shoved a gun in his face, and I don't remember doing that. When he told me about his wife being "supportive" and "paying for his shuttle ticket," I had to struggle not to laugh when the bartender behind him literally facepalmed. Poor clueless geek. Worse, he got conned by some arms dealer looking to muscle in on the local club. I got it straightened out. Told Conrad how he'd been had, and convinced him to let me handle things. He may not be the brightest key in the haptic interface, but his heart's in the right place. If more humans were like him. . . well, we'd either be the most respected race in Citadel space, or the laughingstock of the galaxy. Tough to say which.
Shiala was on Illium, too. Felt like ghosts of Christmas past. Apparently, some of the colonists on Feros were having some medical issues as a result of Thorian pollen exposure. There was some contract situation with medical aid and a really xenophobic asari. I managed to fix things by reminding her of the people she'd lost, and how they wouldn't want her taking her anger out on aliens. I swear, sometimes my questions pierce more armor than my bullets. Shiala looks good in green though. I just hope she gets the help she needs. And she also hinted that she'd like to get together and. . . "reminisce" sometime. I'll have to talk to Mordin, see if Cerberus installed some kind of pheremone gland or sexual attractant implant. Or maybe Garrus is right, and his half-a-face just makes me look so much better.
Turns out Miranda actually has a soul. And a sister. Or clone. Or genetic duplicate. Or something. She asked for help keeping her safe, so I helped. Some snags along the way, but nothing we couldn't handle. Had to crack a smile when that merc commander called out Miranda's outfit, though. It certainly doesn't leave much to the imagination. Kept Miranda from shooting her childhood friend, who I strongly suspect was much more than just a "friend." The merc blasted him anyway. We took care of her. I encouraged Miranda to say a few words to her sister. They seemed to get a along. Good genes, I guess.
Another familiar face reared her blue head. Nassana Dantius is apparently Thane's target. I killed her sister during the search for Saren, and she paid me off. Not one of my proudest moment, but I was taking out pirates anyway. Turns out the blue apple doesn't fall far form the tree. Nassana was killing construction workers in her self-titled towers, apparently just to hear them die. Didn't bother me at all when Thane took her down. He's certainly talented. Too bad about his illness. I wish there was more we could do. But he'll be here for the mission, at least.
I like Thane. "Warrior Poet" is about the only thing I can find to describe him. He doesn't hesitate to kill, but he acknowledges the weight of it, but he doesn't let it get to him. Maybe that's just part of drell culture, or maybe he's special. I'm attracting a lot of exceptional individuals. I'm proud to count Thane among them.
Jack had some disturbing news. Seems she was raised by Cerberus, tortured in some kind of super-biotic super-soldier program. That pisses me off. I'm a biotic myself, I know what kinds of crap we have to deal with. I'm pretty certain now that Cerberus and I are through as soon as I've handled the Collectors. Unless The Illusive Man starts making some changes in how Cerberus operates, I'll take everything and everyone I can straight to the Alliance. Got some data awhile back that would be embarrassing for Cerberus if it got out, held on to it in case I needed an escape route. I'm pretty sure I'm going to need that out, maybe sooner rather than later.
Stuff's piling up. Jacob wants to check on a distress signal from his dad's old ship, and Mordin needs help rescuing one of his genophage team. Still haven't tied up that loose end with Zaeed, but honestly I'm putting it off. That guy scares me, and its not just the scar. I get the sense he doesn't really care about the money. He fights and kills because he likes it, and the money is just a way to keep score. Still need to find this Justicar on Illium, help Liara with a few more things, and find Tali again. Head down, plow through. Sooner I get all this wrapped up, the sooner I can kick the Collectors in their "daddy bags." Donnelly can sure turn a phrase.
Got a letter from Ash. She's sorry for the way we left things on Horizon. I am, too. Her prayers are with me, and I'll take that over an N7 Valkyrie assault rifle (though I certainly wouldn't say no to both.) Soon as this is over, I'm going to track her down. See if we can't fix this. But it's going to be long time. It's cold out here, and Miranda looks really nice in her new black-and-navy-blue leather outfit.
I'm gonna go to the special hell.
Today I made more ginger biscuits (this time tried cooking at 180c and only for 9 minutes to get them gooey in the middle). I also did:
I bloody love the Citadel DLC.
So some funny things I learned.
Trying to take a screenshot with freecam as you leave the taxi and walk into the sushi restaurant makes you fall through the floor:
This was going to be quite a good shot until I noticed the shading errors (forced by some coaslesced tweeks to max shadows)
A few wide shots of the car showroom battle weren't as good as I hoped:
And just a gratuitous Liara shot as I know how much this place likes her; but bloody hell that armour makes her funbags seem huge (calling fanservice, fanservice to reception please).
Today I made more ginger biscuits (this time tried cooking at 180c and only for 9 minutes to get them gooey in the middle). I also did:
I bloody love the Citadel DLC.
Damn it, that reminds me that I forgot to make bread today. I ate the last two slices earlier.... but I'll take some of those ginger biscuits off your hands though. 
Quick question; upon meeting brooks, did your Shep try to calm her down, or did she indulge her inner ******?
Damn it, that reminds me that I forgot to make bread today. I ate the last two slices earlier.... but I'll take some of those ginger biscuits off your hands though.
Quick question; upon meeting brooks, did your Shep try to calm her down, or did she indulge her inner ******?
We've got a bread maker too...
I told her to get a bloody grip. I never trusted Brooks from the off, she was too ditzy.
I think cloneshep should have survived the citadel DLC and assumed the identity of Alison/Solomon Gunn afterwards. They'd have a ready-made reputation thanks to Kasumi.
Hello fanfic idea!
Yeah, Liara did quite an. . . erm. . . upgrade in Mass Effect 3.
Forgot to add this alternative Tali shot of her emergency induction port.
Crime on Illium. Fancy that. Some mercs gunned down a volus in an alley, and now this justicar I've been tracking down is mixed up in it. And there's an added complication. The detective in charge has orders to arrest the justicar, to keep her from killing any non-asari, but apparently justicars react violently to being arrested. Funny little code they've got. Sounds like I could get behind it, minus the whole "killing cops just doing their jobs" thing.
The Eclipse mercs opened up on me soon as I showed my face. You'd think sooner or later they'd figure out that going up against me is not profitable. Then again, it's not I like leave many alive to tell the tale.
Who knew asari could fly? Even if you just downgrade it to "falling with style," it was pretty damn impressive. I suppose there's not much you can't do with enough biotic juice and willpower. Samara's definitely going to be an asset, if I can get all this straightened out. Turns out their code requires them to submit to local law enforcement, but only for 24 hours. This just gets weirder and weirder. She can't kill the cop for arresting her now, but in one day, she'll kill anyone who tries to stop her from leaving? I see why everyone's been crapping neutronium since she got here. I've got one day to crack this case and get Samara out with a minimum of bloodshed.
Eclipse's data security isn't what it could be, and their hires aren't exactly a brain trust. One tried playing the "poor scared little me card" before going for her gun. She didn't live to regret it. Pro tip: if you want to live long, don't try and win a quickdraw contest with an N7 who already has a gun pointed at you. You'll lose. Every time. Hacked a terminal a bit further in and found out she's the one who'd killed the volus in the first place. It was a clean shoot any way you slice it, but nice to have it on paper. Also found evidence that the dead volus' partner was smuggling illegal drugs (okay, not illegal on Illium, but still) to the mercs. That'll make the detective's day. Took out the head of this merry band of incompetents and got the data Samara needed. She's free and on the Normandy, and the volus smuggler is going to jail. Not a bad day's work, if you ask me.
Samara and her code are certainly interesting. I wonder if her wardrobe choice is deliberate. Maximum cleavage to make people underestimate her, before she biotic-drop-kicks them into the next star system. This code of hers, her utter loyalty to it -- and now, I guess, to me -- is fascinating. I've never heard of anything like this. The breadth of discretion these justicars get is frightening. I wonder if any of them have ever gone rogue, and what the result was. Not sure yet if Samara's utter dedication to her code makes her more or less dangerous. I think I'll make sure no one mentions to her that my crew also contains a mercenary/bounty hunter, an assassin, and a professional thief. Or the unsavory reputation Cerberus has picked up, and how Jacob and Miranda, to say nothing of the entire rest of the crew, are tacitly complicit in it. Or how Garrus and I could both qualify as multiple murderers. Or how someone was paying the Blue Suns to keep Jack in their space prison. Actually, I think I'll tell everyone on the ship to keep completely silent around her.
More planet scanning. Need some more resources for Mordin's research projects. It's relaxing, in its own way, but still. I keep getting that old Tom Lehrer song stuck in my head. "There's antimony, arsenic, aluminium, selenium, and hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium. . ." EDI's found a few interesting things on some of the planets we've visited. Mostly hidden merc bases. We've cleaned them out. I'm getting sick of these guys.
Illusive Man has a mission for us. Turians apparently disabled a Collector ship, he wants us to take a look and see if there's any intel we can use. Sounds like a solid plan, but I can't help but have a bad feeling about this.
When we got to the ship, the complete lack of apparent battle damage didn't do anything to set my mind at ease. The whole way in, I got more and more certain I was being set up. I just wasn't sure by who. Especially when EDI ran the EM signature, and found out that not only was this the same ship that attacked Horizon, but the same ship that blew up the first Normandy. The Collectors have to have more than one ship, so why is this the only one we're bumping into? Another question with no satisfactory answer.
And boy, was I being set up, twice. The Collectors laid the trap, and the Illusive Man dropped me right into it. I'm definitely getting tired of the way he does business. Lucky for him he refuses to meet face-to-face, I'd probably punch him. Or shoot him. Maybe both.
Miranda. Things are. . . progressing. Maybe faster than I'd like. I can't help but feel guilty. I still miss Ash, but. . . Miranda's here. And we both need. . . something. I don't know. She saved my life. More than saved it, even. There isn't a word to express what she's done for me. And I've returned the favor as best I can. We have a connection, and I get the sense she doesn't connect with people much. I don't want to hurt either of them, but. . . what if this is it? We all know this mission is a long shot, what if this is the one I don't come back from? I'd like to say I'm certain I'll come through this, and see Ash again, but if not? If I die out beyond the Omega 4 relay, or face-down in some alien muck with a merc bullet in my skull, will I regret not letting whatever's between me and Miranda happen? Absolutely. But if I do make it through, and I do see Ash again, how do I explain things to her?
Screw it. I'm sick and tired of being so careful with everything I say and do, weighing each decision based on the consequences for the whole frelling galaxy. Just once, just this time, I'm going to do what I feel and damn the consequences. If I'm still alive to deal with them later, then that's a victory in and of itself.
Ardat-yakshi. That's a mouthful, and the meaning is worse. Samara wants help tracking one down, stop her from killing more people. Just when I think I've seen everything, the galaxy throws death by snu-snu at me. Some days I love my job. Some days I hate it. And then there are days like these. And if all that wasn't weird enough, this literal sexual predator is our famed justicar's daughter. Glad I'm not in Samara's shoes. I'll do whatever it takes to help.
Garrus and Thane both have personal business to wrap up on the Citadel. Garrus is looking for the guy that turned in his squad, Thane's trying to stop his son from going down a dark path. I'm there for both of them. Thane's son takes priority, we have to find him before he kills someone.
We got there in time, thankfully. Though I do kinda wish we could have let Kolyat shoot the turian. The last thing the Citadel needs is an anti-human in political office. But keeping a kid from becoming a killer is more important. Hopefully, having a human save his scaly butt will change his mind. Doubt it. He'll probably convince himself it was all my fault to begin with. Some elaborate scheme by the evil humans to convince him we're not so bad, right before we melt him down into protein slurry to feed our army of zombie dinosaurs with laser beams attached to their heads. Note to self: find something to do before bed besides raid Joker's movie-of-the-week collection.
Rescued Tali on Haestrom. Rescued Kal'Reegar too. Hope they erect a statue for him on Rannoch someday. Maybe write a song about him.
On Ilium now. Reunited with Liara. How come the VS doesn't kiss Shep like that if they're the LI?
Reunited with Conrad. "Sometimes I poke around crates. You know, for extra credits."
On my way to recruit Samara now.
The other day I did the broker dlc right after Horizon.
After that I did 7 loyalty missions without triggering the collector ship mission. Come to find out you need at least 8 squadmates to do that mission.
cap and gown made a thread about that.
Anyways it worked out nicely since I was able to level up Shepard and the others before the Collector ship. After all loyalty missions were done, I recruited Tali giving me the collector ship mission.
I finished Tali's loyalty mission by turning over the evidence to the Admirals and not gaining her loyalty.
Recovered the IFF and did 3 sidequests to activate the collectors boarding the Normandy.
I will do the suicide mission, Thane's recruitment and arrival after I come back from seeing the movie '300 The Rise of an Empire' which starts in about 2 hours.
I actually did this before I went to bed, but since it was after midnight it was technically "today." 
Been working through a new playthrough of the whole trilogy, probably my last until I get a new PC that can run all three games comfortably (right now I'm stuck with the Xbox versions). Played through the Suicide Mission for the first time in at least two years. Since the Shepard I'm playing is pretty close to pure Paragon everybody survived. Later today I plan on starting up ME3 with this Shepard.
Also started a new play with one of the few male Shepards. Have picked up Liara fist in this run through and will soon be headed to see her mother.
Retour en haut