David7204 wrote...
So, anyone have any bright ideas of how the base could have been integrated better?
Yup.
(Warning: it's titled TL;DR for a reason.)
It's easy to lose track of in the overall Cerberus re-cast, but the idea ultimately amounts to the idea that Cerberus, if not shunted into needless hostility, could be justified in sharing bits and pieces of the Collector base tech for other concessions, and these shared tech could have both immediate and long-term impact.
In the short-term, the idea that Collector Base could justify stiffer (if still doomed) resistance can help give a theme of relative improvement. Say that the Cruiser on Earth, instead of going 'ping ping' against the Reaper dreadnaught, is able to use a Collector Particle beam to do Heavy Damage before going down. Earth still falls, the Reapers are still overwhelming, but it helps create an impression that the Collector Base has obvious, visible impacts on the Reaper War. Especially if this sort of background changes (more particle weapons, more successful resistance) caries on elsewhere: Palaven is seen to be hurting because it hasn't taken the Cerberus deals yet, but later on Thessia the Asari could be doing visibly better with particle weapons, ie that doomed gunship and infantry squad isn't so doomed. And, obviously, carry this over to the liberation of Earth?
The use of the Collector Base could also be the crux to re-frame/influence some of the Big Decisions/plot points. An obvious one is the role of Sanctuary: the Collector Base tech would be an obvious cause for determining whether the Sanctuary Project succedes/fails at its goals in gaining control over Reaper Legions, and that in and of itself could become a moral choice/war asset. After what you see, would you take a huge War Asset (say, 700 points) that allows you to take control of Reaper forces... a factor that could be expressed in the Liberation of Earth during the finale?
On the other hand, a more plot-related reflection could be TIM's indoctrination. I cast it differently in the link, but even in the canon Cerberus = enemy scenario the effect could be something like 'TIM is/is not indoctrinated' based on the Collector Base choice. You could justify it either way (Collector tech masters indoctrination: the Collector Base is the source of the indoctrination), but ultimately it could allow you to reflect it the final confrontation with TIM's sanity and possible outcomes.
In the long-term, the Collector Base would be an obvious basis for having post-Crucible effects on the galaxy, especially in destroy. Since anything the Reapers know could be justified as being in the banks, the possibilities are endless. Imagine if, say, we found that the Collector Base had the know-how for actually making Mass Relays?
Obviously the plot would/should be re-worked to incorporate it, but it could easily have long-term rammifications, good and bad, for the galaxy.
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