[gb] Revelation[/gb]
Revelation is het eerste boek en de prequel op Mass Effect 1 en gaat onder meer over de missie van Anderson en Saren die even ter sprake kwam in Mass Effect 1.
Klik de spoiler open voor het volledige verhaal in het Engels.
Shanxi and Sidon
The story opens in 2157 with Admiral Jon Grissom, who is on his way to Arcturus aboard the SSV New Delhi to congratulate the graduates of the Alliance's N7 elite training program. Nine years ago, in 2148, scientists discovered a cache of alien technology buried on Mars. These aliens were known as the Protheans, who disappeared for unknown reasons 50,000 years ago. In 2156, an exploration team near the edge of the solar system discovered that Charon, Pluto's moon, was actually a mass relay, a dormant piece of ancient Prothean technology covered by sheets of ice. The Charon Relay granted instant travel across thousands of light-years to another mass relay in a different area of the galaxy. Jon Grissom led a team of brave men and women through the mass relay and became a hero of the Systems Alliance, a global coalition formed after the discovery of the Prothean cache on Mars.
Grissom meets with David Edward Anderson, a promising young graduate of the N7 program, and reports that an unknown alien force has attacked an Alliance post at Shanxi. This begins the conflict later called the First Contact War between the Turian Hierarchy and the Alliance. Several battles ensued until the Citadel Council, a multi-species government devoted to preserving galactic peace and stability, intervened and stopped the conflict. Eight years later, humanity was recognized by the Council and granted an embassy.
In 2165, then-Lieutenant Anderson answers an S.O.S. while patrolling the Skyllian Verge, an isolated region on the farthest fringes of Alliance space. Inside the facility, Anderson and his crew discover an elevator leading to the lower sections of the facility. They are attacked by several mercenaries and discover the dead bodies of the scientists who were stationed there. The evidence suggests they may have been betrayed by one of their own. One remaining mercenary manages to set off a bomb that destroys the entire lower level. Anderson and his crew barely escape with their lives.
On the colony of Elysium, a scientist named Kahlee Sanders, recently stationed at Sidon, has gone AWOL with several classified files. Hearing about the attack while at a bar, she leaves to figure out her next move and is attacked outside by a mercenary posing as an Alliance MP. Kahlee fights him off and, realising her escape from Sidon has put her in danger, runs to find help.
Elsewhere, on Camala, a rich batarian named Edan Had'dah meets with the Blue Suns, an infamous mercenary group in the Skyllian Verge. He hired them to attack the human research facility on Sidon, but they screwed up their attempt to catch Kahlee. He hires a krogan bounty hunter named Skarr to assassinate her.
The Spectre
Anderson arrives at the Citadel, to meet with Ambassador Anita Goyle, the Alliance representative on the Citadel. Ambassador Goyle informs Anderson that the Sidon facility was researching AI. This is illegal under the Citadel Conventions after an incident 300 years ago, when the quarians created an artificial race - the geth - that eventually turned on them. She sends Anderson to locate Kahlee Sanders, who may know who was behind the attack and the whereabouts of Dr. Shu Qian, the brilliant scientist in charge of the Sidon facility.
Meanwhile, the turian Spectre Saren Arterius has tracked an illegal weapons exchange to a warehouse on Juxhi. As a Spectre, Saren is above the law and, unfortunately, bears a grudge towards humanity after losing his brother in the First Contact War. After wiping out most of both parties, Saren interrogates a survivor, and learns that the weapons were meant for the Blue Suns, who were planning a major operation, but pulled out at the last minute to avoid Spectre attention. Saren's interest is piqued. After hunting a Blue Sun mercenary named Groto Ib-ba, Saren learns about Skarr and his new target.
Tracking Kahlee to Elysium, Anderson is reunited with Jon Grissom, now retired, who turns out to be Kahlee's father. He tells him that he sent her away from Elysium to safety. Anderson leaves but a few hours later, Skarr shows up and attacks Grissom and Kahlee, who was in fact hiding in Grissom's house. Anderson returns and fights Skarr - in the middle of the battle Saren appears and drives Skarr off. However, the krogan manages to escape. Saren questions Kahlee about Sidon. She lies and says they were researching human biotics, knowing that if she revealed the truth about the research being done on Sidon, Saren would alert the Council and the Alliance would be in trouble.
Rescue on Camala
After Saren leaves, Kahlee tells Anderson that all the equipment for the project was supplied by the Dah'tan Manufacturing Company on Camala. They plan to sneak off Elysium and go to the Dah'tan facility. Meanwhile, Skarr returns to Edan who sends him and the Blue Sun mercenaries to destroy the Dah'tan facility and erase any information connecting him to the Sidon facility. Skarr destroys the facility, but Had'dah's contact, Jella, survives and gives Saren Had'dah's name. Meanwhile, news of the AI research at the Sidon facility has reached the Council. When they rebuke Ambassador Goyle, she gets angry, pointing out the prominent role humans have in the galactic arena after such a short time, and negotiates a deal to get the Alliance off lightly with trade sanctions.
Finally able to trust him, Kahlee makes a confession to Anderson. She knows who the traitor was at Sidon - Dr. Qian himself. Anderson is skeptical, but Kahlee explains Dr. Qian was studying something new, an alien artifact that might even pre-date the Protheans. After he started studying it in earnest, Dr. Qian's interest turned into a dangerous obsession. She thinks Dr. Qian is working with Had'dah. Ambassador Goyle tells this to the Council as a show of good faith, and they decide to send Saren after Had'dah - Goyle asks for Anderson to be involved, as a possible Spectre candidate. Meanwhile, Kahlee is to be smuggled off Camala by Alliance marines. But Saren, knowing Had'dah is hunting Kahlee, sees this as a perfect opportunity to lure out the batarian, and leaks word to Had'dah's contacts. Skarr and the Blue Suns ambush the marines, destroy the SSV Iwo Jima, and capture Kahlee to help Dr. Qian's research.
Anderson is furious at Saren, but he needs the Spectre's help to rescue Kahlee, who has been taken to an element zero refinery. Unknown to Anderson, Saren is now more interested in obtaining Dr. Qian's research for himself than saving Kahlee. Saren reluctantly agrees to give Anderson some time to find Kahlee before they blow the building. Anderson sneaks in and kills Skarr, rescuing Kahlee just as Saren destroys the refinery and kills Dr. Qian and Had'dah, stealing Dr. Qian's files.
Returning to the Citadel, Anderson discovers Saren gave a damning report on his conduct during the mission. True or not, it means the Citadel Council is not willing to induct a human Spectre just yet. Without evidence, the Council is not prepared to go chasing after Dr. Qian's 'artifact' either. Despite the attraction between them, Anderson and Kahlee have to part ways. Anderson has his military career to follow, while Kahlee has been promoted and reassigned to a new classified posting.
Meanwhile, Saren has been studying the research he stole, and is fascinated by the description of Sovereign, an enormous starship of devastating power. He believes his whole life, even his career as a Spectre, has just been a prelude to this discovery. Saren plans to use the data to find this warship, and use it to exact his revenge upon humanity.
Iets kortere samenvatting, maar wel in het Nederlands:
In het jaar 2148 worden op Mars ruïnes gevonden van een verloren beschaving. De gevonden technologie blijkt echter alles behalve gedateerd te zijn. Na een periode van onderzoek wist de mensheid de technologie uit die ruïnes te begrijpen en te gebruiken. In 2156 werd ontdekt dat een van Pluto’s manen feitelijk een mass relay was, een hoogtepunt van Protheaanse technologie, waarmee men in zeer korte tijd lange afstanden kan afleggen. Met de kennis die in de afgelopen acht jaar vergaard was, wist de vers gevormde Menselijke Alliantie een team te vormen om de mass relay te gebruiken. Een zekere Jon Grissom leidde dat team. De Alliance stuurde met elke nieuw gevonden mass relay-teams om de ruimte mee te verkennen. Toen een Turiaanse patrouille zag dat een menselijke vloot er een probeerde te activeren, vielen ze deze vloot aan. Eén schip wist te ontsnappen naar de kolonie Shanxi. Dit was het begin van de Eerste Contactoorlog.
De Turianen dachten dat ze het grootste deel van de menselijke vloot hadden vernietigd. Ze vielen Shanxi aan en veroverden het vrij snel. De mensen kwam echter met een nieuwe vloot en verraste, veraste en verjoeg de Turianen, waarop deze tot een grootschalige oorlog overgingen. De galactische Raad kwam snel tussenbeide en dwong een vrede af, waarop de Eerste Contactoorlog tot een einde kwam. Deze oorlog bracht een zekere schok voor de andere volkeren in dat deel van het heelal. De Turianen waren namelijk militair gezien onverslaanbaar, maar nu was er ineens een of ander mensvolk dat als beschaving en als militaire macht gelijk is aan de Turianen. De snelheid waarmee de mensheid in het heelal naam maakte, zorgde voor angst en wantrouwen in de galactische samenleving. In een periode van acht jaar vanaf 2157 kreeg de mensheid een ambassade op de Citadel (het centrale ruimtestation van het beschaafde heelal en een magnifiek werk van de Protheanen), een ongekend korte tijd voor een dergelijke prestatie.
Tijdens de Eerste Contactoorlog was het Jon Grissom die luitenant David Edward Anderson ontmoette voor ze strijdden bij Shanxi. In die oorlog maakte Anderson snel carrière en Grissom werd nog legendarischer. In 2165 krijgt Andersons schip een S.O.S.-bericht van een faciliteit op de dichtstbijzijnde planeet terwijl ze bij de Skylliaanse Grens patrouilleren. Dit is in een van de meest geïsoleerde delen van de ruimte die onder de Alliantie valt. Anderson gaat erheen met zijn team en vindt er een bloedbad. De daders vinden ze op de laagste verdieping. Deze huurlingen worden verslagen, maar één van hen weet nog een bom tot ontploffing te brengen. Ternauwernood weet Anderson met zijn team te ontsnappen. Hij ontdekt dat er een verrader onder de wetenschappers van die faciliteit zit. Terwijl Anderson zijn wonden likt, komt Kahlee Sanders erachter dat tijdens haar afwezigheid haar onderzoeksteam uitgemoord is. Precies, dat bloedbad waar Anderson bijna van deel uit maakte.
Ze denkt dat zij verdacht wordt en ze vlucht naar haar vader, de bekende Jon Grissom. Niet lang nadat ze van hem onderdak heeft gekregen, komt Anderson bij hem aan de deur. De slimme militair had ontdekt dat hij haar vader was en kwam met hem over haar praten. Grissom liegt en Anderson vertrekt, maar niet lang na zijn vertrek is daar ineens een gigantische Krogaan genaamd Skarr. Deze monsterlijke alien komt Grissom en Kahlee uit de weg ruimen, een opdracht die hij van de rijke Batariaan Edan Had’dah heeft gekregen om zijn aandeel aan het reeds genoemde bloedbad te laten verdwijnen. Anderson komt echter terug en gaat het gevecht aan. Ongeveer midden in het gevecht verschijnt er plots een Turiaan genaamd Saren. Deze geduchte Spectre jaagt Skarr weg en ondervraagt Kahlee over wat er gebeurd is. Ze liegt tegen hem. Ze vertelt hem niet dat de mensen die er werkten kunstmatige intelligentie onderzochten, iets dat door de galactische Raad verboden is na het debacle met de Geth. Dat machineras was door de Quarianen ontwikkeld en had zich tegen hen gekeerd. Ze vertelde Saren dus dat ze onderzoek deden naar Biotics voor mensen.
Saren vertrekt en gaat achter Had’dah Manufacturing aan, het bedrijf dat het onderzoekscentrum van technologie voorzag. Skarr is hem echter voor en maakt de fabriek met de grond gelijk. Allemaal in opdracht van Had’dah zelf natuurlijk. Saren heeft daarentegen geluk. Eén iemand overleeft het en geeft hem Had’dahs naam. Kahlee vertrouwt Anderson ondertussen goed genoeg dat ze besluit hem te vertellen wie zij denkt dat de verrader was: Dokter Qian, de leider van het onderzoeksteam. Het bleek dat hun onderzoek draaide om gevonden technologie, die dateerde van vóór de Protheanen. Ze denkt dat Qian met Had’dah samenwerkt. Uiteindelijk besluit de galactische Raad, samen met de ambassadeur van de mensen, dat Anderson en Saren beide op zoek gaan naar Rad’dah, en dat Anderson wellicht de eerste menselijke Spectre kan worden.
Saren weet dat Skarr en een groep andere huurlingen op zoek zijn naar Kahlee, en dus lekt hij informatie naar hun over Kahlee’s verblijfplaats. Kahlee wordt gevangen genomen. Anderson en Saren moeten nu Rad’dah verslaan en Qian vinden. Kahlee is geen prioriteit voor de missie, maar wel voor Anderson. Terwijl Anderson de fabriek waar Rad’dah, zijn kliek en Kahlee zitten, binnensluipt, wacht Saren op zijn kans. Anderson weet Skarr te doden en Kahlee te redden, terwijl Saren de Rad’dah en Qian doodt en de fabriek opblaast. In zijn rapport schrijft Saren zijn besluit om de fabriek op te blazen Anderson in de schoenen, volgens hem had hij zijn dekmantel verraden. Anderson wordt dus geen Spectre. Het boek sluit af met Kahlee en Anderson die beide hun eigen weg gaan, en Saren die zich buigt over bestanden die hij van Qian gestolen heeft. Het betreft informatie over een gigantisch sterrenschip genaamd Sovereign, en Saren besluit het te zoeken opdat hij het tegen de mensheid kan gebruiken.
[gb] Mass Effect 1[/gb]
De eerste game waar het allemaal mee begon... .
Klik de spoiler open voor het volledige verhaal in het Engels.
The Mass Effect storyline follows Commander Shepard, a human military officer in the Alliance Navy. Born in 2154, Shepard had a difficult early life, but in having to overcome great challenges in the line of duty, the commander has since shown exemplary talent and leadership ability. Currently, Shepard is the executive officer (XO) aboard the SSV Normandy.
Prologue
A prototype Alliance warship, the SSV Normandy, travels from Earth's orbit to the Mass Relay at Charon. On board Captain Anderson is in discussion with Admiral Hackett and Ambassador Donnel Udina concerning Commander Shepard's worthiness to become the first human Spectre, an elite agent for the Citadel Council. Meanwhile, the ship and crew are heading to Eden Prime in the Utopia system for their shakedown mission.
Shepard heads to the bridge where Joker, the pilot, guides the ship into the Mass Relay. Because of the presence of Nihlus Kryik, a turian Spectre sent by the Council to observe, and the famed Captain Anderson, several members of the crew think their true purpose at Eden Prime is far more important than a simple shakedown run. After making the jump, Captain Anderson asks Shepard to come to the comm room for a briefing. Nihlus has time to speak to Shepard before Anderson joins them. Together they inform the commander that a Prothean Beacon has been discovered on Eden Prime. Prothean technology has immense scientific value, but since Eden Prime is close to the Terminus Systems, the beacon is at risk from pirates and mercenary bands. This is the Normandy's true objective: recover the beacon. This mission will also be Nihlus' chance to observe Shepard in action, the first of several they will undertake together to assess Shepard's candidacy for the Spectres.
The briefing is interrupted by a transmission from Eden Prime that Joker patches through. The footage shows Alliance soldiers fighting on the surface, under heavy fire and requesting reinforcements. As Shepard, Anderson and Nihlus watch, they see a huge dreadnought hanging over the surface. Anderson orders Shepard to get ready - this is going to be worse than they thought.
Eden Prime
As the Normandy touches down on Eden Prime, Cpl. Richard L. Jenkins, Lt. Kaidan Alenko and Commander Shepard prepare to head down to the planet. Nihlus is going groundside too, but goes on ahead. In the first few minutes on the surface, geth assault drones appear without warning and cut down Jenkins. Shepard and Alenko continue towards the dig site, discovering the only surviving marine, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, who is being chased by geth troopers. Shepard and Alenko help her fight them off. Williams can't explain why the geth are here, but they've wiped out her whole unit.
Williams leads them to the dig site but the beacon has been moved to the spaceport. While they examine the nearby camp, the squad run into a group of Husks, human corpses reanimated by the geth, which they manage to kill. Shaken, they continue towards the spaceport where Nihlus agreed to meet with them. Meanwhile, Nihlus is surprised to see Saren Arterius, a fellow Spectre, at the train platform. Saren tells Nihlus he's got everything under control, but when Nihlus turns his back, Saren kills him and leaves, ordering the geth to destroy the colony with explosives. He approaches the Prothean Beacon, which reacts by lifting him off the ground.
After finding Nihlus's body, Shepard's team continues to the tram area where they defeat the last of the geth and disarm their demolition charges. Shepard sees the beacon and calls the Normandy while Alenko and Williams take a look at it. One of them gets too close and is caught in some sort of field - Shepard intervenes but is caught in the field instead, pulled off the ground as Saren was. The commander suffers a horrific vision - synthetics waging a terrible war - before the beacon explodes and Shepard is thrown to the ground, unconscious.
The Citadel
Aboard a huge dreadnought, Saren is given a report by an asari matriarch. The news isn't good - Eden Prime has been saved by Captain Anderson's crew, and one of them may have used the beacon. Saren flies into a rage but restrains himself from attacking her, ordering that this human must be eliminated.
Fifteen hours after the Eden Prime attack, Shepard wakes up in the Normandy's medical unit, much to the relief of Alenko and Williams. Doctor Chakwas says the commander is physically okay, but has increased REM and unusual beta waves. Shepard mentions the vision but can't explain it. Captain Anderson briefs Shepard about Saren. He is a powerful and legendary Spectre but also outspoken against humans. If Saren is in charge of the geth, that means he has gone rogue, and they must tell the Council. Upon arriving at the Citadel, Ambassador Udina tries to convince the Council to remove Saren's rights as a Spectre, but only succeeds in getting an audience. Shepard, along with Alenko and Williams, continues to the Citadel Tower and meets Garrus Vakarian, a turian C-Sec (Citadel Security) officer investigating the charges against Saren. He hasn't found anything useful: Saren's Spectre status makes him untouchable.
The Council audience doesn't go well. The Alliance has little evidence and Saren - viewing the proceedings from a hologram - openly laughs at Shepard's vision. They need more to go on. Garrus, the C-Sec officer, might be able to help. Udina tells Shepard to find Harkin, a retired C-sec officer who could help them find Garrus. Anderson also suggests speaking to Barla Von, a financial expert on the Citadel who works for the Shadow Broker. When Shepard hears Garrus was last seen in the Med Clinic, the commander intercepts a couple of thugs threatening Dr. Chloe Michel, and saves her with Garrus' help. From the two of them, Shepard learns that a quarian has recently arrived on the Citadel, claiming to have evidence of Saren's connection to the geth. However this quarian is being held captive by Fist, a local crime lord who used to work for the Shadow Broker, but who's now betrayed the Broker to work for Saren.
Along with Garrus, the group gains the aid of Urdnot Wrex, a Krogan Battlemaster, mercenary and bounty hunter who has been paid by the Shadow Broker to kill Fist. They raid Chora's Den and discover the quarian was supposed to hand the information over to the Shadow Broker, but this meeting is a trap. Saren's men will be the ones waiting. Shepard races to the meeting and manages to save the quarian, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. They bring Tali back to the Ambassador's offices.
"Eden Prime was a major victory..."
The evidence she found was an audio file she managed to save from a geth, which has clear evidence Saren was behind the attack on Eden Prime. However, the file also hints that Saren is looking for something called the Conduit with the aid of a powerful asari called Matriarch Benezia, to bring about the 'return of the Reapers'. The Council aren't interested in the Reapers, but they can't ignore this evidence and strip Saren of his Spectre status.
As people in the Chambers watch in amazement, Commander Shepard becomes the first human Spectre and is tasked with hunting Saren down. Captain Anderson steps down as commander of the Normandy and hands the ship over to Shepard, along with some useful leads. There have been reports of geth activity on the planets Noveria and Feros. Also, Matriarch Benezia, Saren's ally, has a daughter named Dr. Liara T'Soni, a Prothean expert who may have useful information. After giving the crew a speech, Shepard is now in command of the Normandy.
[Note that the next three missions can be done at any time, and therefore some dialog or events may change according to the order you perform the missions in.]
Liara
The Normandy tracks Liara T'Soni to Therum, a mining colony in the Knossos system of the Artemis Tau cluster, but the geth are already on the surface, taking over several refinery facilities and dropping Geth Armatures from overhead.
Shepard leads the squad to a mineshaft and down into a Prothean ruin, where they find Liara trapped behind a Prothean barrier curtain. Freeing her, they discover she is not in league with Saren and has no idea what the Conduit might be. As the squad leaves the ruined tower with Liara, they are confronted by a krogan battlemaster who is leading the geth and manage to defeat him as the unstable ruins begin to collapse. They escape just in time.
During the debrief, Liara explains her expertise is on the Prothean extinction. She has a theory they were not the first civilization to mysteriously vanish, and is amazed by Shepard's story of the Reapers.
Noveria
Shepard arrives at Noveria and discovers that Matriarch Benezia recently arrived. She and Saren are investors in Binary Helix, which has a lab up on Peak 15. Benezia has gone there on business. However the lab has since issued a Code Omega signal, meaning there are critical problems, and a blizzard has cut off shuttle access. After wrangling with Administrator Anoleis, Shepard manages to get a garage pass and drives up to Peak 15.
The facility is deserted save for geth and bizarre creatures - the rachni - which have escaped from the labs. Shepard reactivates the station's VI, Mira, and goes up to Rift Station looking for Benezia. Rift Station is full of science staff sheltering from the rachni attack; Shepard can help them out but gets attacked by those loyal to Benezia. The squad discovers Binary Helix discovered a rachni egg that turned out to be a queen, and were trying to breed an army from her brood until the rachni turned on them.
Down in the labs through the maintenance area, Shepard finds Benezia with the Rachni Queen. The matriarch attacks the squad, but after a fierce battle Benezia manages to overcome the indoctrination that Saren has used to control her, and tells Shepard the truth. Saren wants the location of the lost Mu Relay, and sent her to retrieve it from the queen's genetic memory. Benezia doesn't know what else he is planning. She hands the coordinates over to Shepard, but becomes lost to the indoctrination again and the commander has to kill her. After deciding what to do with the Rachni Queen, Shepard leaves Noveria with Benezia's data and another piece of the puzzle.
Feros
Drawn to Feros by rogue geth activity, Shepard and the squad arrive at the Zhu's Hope colony, owned by ExoGeni Corporation. The colony has been suffering repeated geth attacks and the settlers there are acting strangely. Shepard clears the geth for the colonists and takes a Mako along the Prothean Skyway to the main geth base. The squad finds a small group of colonists who have become separated from the others, led by Juliana Baynham and a nervous ExoGeni rep, Ethan Jeong. Despite their situation these survivors seem to be coping better than Zhu's Hope. Before they leave, Juliana asks Shepard to look for her daughter Lizbeth, whom she believes to be still inside ExoGeni Headquarters.
After making their way inside the ExoGeni Headquarters, Shepard's squad finds Lizbeth, scared but alive. From the company VI, Shepard discovers that the corporation has been experimenting with a mind-controlling plant, the Thorian, and that Zhu's Hope is actually a testing ground for ExoGeni to study its abilities. Shepard disables the force fields that the geth have set up by knocking the geth dropship off the headquarters and returns to the Skyway group. Jeong has received word that ExoGeni wants Zhu's Hope destroyed. Shepard deals with Jeong and heads back to Zhu's Hope to find the Thorian.
Controlled by the Thorian, the colonists attack Shepard on sight. Some have been turned into Thorian Creepers. Shepard can use special gas grenades that instantly kill the creepers and harmlessly paralyse the colonists, then descends beneath Zhu's Hope to find the Thorian. It is an enormous creature that looks nothing like a plant. It creates an asari clone to speak for it, but only to tell Shepard it's not interested in bargaining with 'meat'. After battling waves of Thorian Creepers and clones, Shepard manages to destroy the Thorian's neural nodes and kill it.
An asari emerges from a Thorian pod, and manages to explain what happened. Shepard learns that Saren sacrificed this asari ally, Shiala, to the Thorian to gain the Cipher. This is the cultural and ancestral experience of the Protheans, which is necessary to understand the vision that the Eden Prime beacon put into Shepard's mind. Freed from the Thorian, Shiala transfers the Cipher to Shepard. With it, once Shepard has had time to adjust, the vision will make more sense and hopefully lead them to the Conduit before Saren.
Virmire
The Council contacts Shepard with a possible lead. A salarian espionage team on Virmire, investigating reports of Saren's activities, has sent a mission-critical transmission that was almost lost in static. Shepard heads to Virmire and meets the leader of the salarians, Captain Kirrahe. They have found a breeding facility for krogan that Saren is using to create an army.
The Normandy at the salarian camp
Kirrahe, realising he's not getting the reinforcements he needs, asks for Shepard's help destroying it and they develop a plan. While the salarians distract Saren's geth, Shepard will take a team around the back and plant a nuclear device that will wipe out the facility. Kirrahe asks Shepard for a squad member to help him coordinate the attack - Shepard can send Ashley or Kaidan to help the salarians, but must also deal with Wrex, who is furious that Shepard is willing to destroy a cure for his people's genophage.
Leading the strike team, Shepard reaches the facility, but discovers its main purpose is not to breed krogan, but to study Sovereign's horrific indoctrination effect. In Saren's private lab the team finds another Prothean Beacon that gives Shepard another vision, and they are confronted by a hologram of Sovereign itself, which is not a Reaper ship but an actual Reaper.
Shepard manages to get the nuke set up across the facility only to get a call that the salarians are being attacked with heavy losses. The commander takes a group to help them but as they leave, the geth start attacking the nuke site and Shepard has to choose: both Kaidan and Ashley are in trouble and there's no time to save both. Once the choice has been made Shepard brings reinforcements in, only to be confronted by Saren. He tries to make the commander join his cause but Shepard refuses, fighting Saren off. Saren gets away and the team board the Normandy, escaping Virmire as the nuke destroys the facility.
Mutiny on the Normandy
Thanks to the undamaged beacon on Virmire, Shepard's Prothean vision is now complete. During the debrief, Liara touches Shepard's mind to interpret it fully. The vision was a distress call intended to warn the Protheans about the Reapers. Liara realises that the landmarks in the vision are on Ilos, a planet she has studied as part of her Prothean research. Ilos had been impossible to reach because it was only accessible through the Mu Relay, which is why Saren needed the Relay's location from Noveria. After the debrief, Joker has a message for Shepard from the Council: they're putting together a massive multi-species effort to face Saren.
Thrilled the Council are finally taking this seriously, Shepard returns to the Citadel, wanting to personally lead the assault. But once back at the station, Shepard discovers the Council are only putting up a blockade around the Mass Relays to stop Saren reaching the Citadel. Neither they nor Ambassador Udina believe Shepard's story about the Reapers and they refuse to send a fleet to Ilos. The Mu Relay is in the Terminus Systems and a Citadel fleet there could start a war. Shepard knows the Normandy's stealth systems can get them there discreetly, but the Council are getting tired of Shepard's insistence that the Reapers are the real threat. Udina, wanting to make nice with the Council, locks out the Normandy's systems and grounds the ship.
Frustrated, knowing Saren is close to finding the Conduit and they're losing time, Shepard is grateful when one of the squad offers support, but a real breakthrough comes when Captain Anderson gets in touch, asking Shepard for a discreet meeting at Flux. Anderson believes the commander's story and knows the Normandy is the only ship that can get Shepard to Ilos. He is going to unlock the Normandy's systems, allowing Shepard to steal the ship and take her to Ilos. Shepard is concerned that Anderson will be arrested and charged with treason - or worse - but Anderson sees his future as a small price to pay for stopping a galactic menace. Shepard goes to the Normandy and waits with Joker on the bridge. With Anderson's help the Normandy's systems are unlocked and they escape the Citadel, heading to Ilos.
Ilos
After Shepard's love interest spends a night in the commander's quarters, Joker announces that they're about to pass through the Mu Relay, and they soon arrive at Ilos. Shepard sees that Saren has already arrived with a fleet of geth dropships, though the Normandy's stealth system is keeping them safe for now. Navigator Pressly picks up some readings on the planet that must be Saren, but there's no landing zone nearby. Shepard suggests dropping the Mako, but they need about 100m of open terrain for a safe drop and Pressly can only find 20m. Joker insists that he can do it. The Mako is successfully dropped outside an ancient bunker, but Saren and his geth have already made it inside, shutting a heavy security door behind them.
Shepard looks for some way to override it. After fighting through the geth left on guard, Shepard and the squad find a security station and open the bunker doors. While in the control room, Shepard discovers an ancient Prothean recording which is heavily damaged. The Cipher allows Shepard to make out some of the words - it's another warning about the Reapers but it's just too broken up. They return to the Mako and enter the bunker. After driving past cryogenic stasis pods, all apparently shut down, Shepard sees a mysterious energy barrier. As the Mako reaches the barrier, another barrier appears behind them, trapping the squad inside. The only way out is through a door at the side of the wall. After heading down an elevator, Shepard finds an ancient Prothean VI named Vigil, who has information Shepard needs to stop the Reapers.
The Citadel is a trap, actually a huge mass relay linking to dark space, outside of the galaxy, where the Reapers are waiting. The keepers are presumed to be one of the earliest races to be indoctrinated by the Reapers, who set them the task of maintaining the Citadel, and activating the Citadel Relay when Sovereign signals them. Sovereign is the vanguard of the Reapers. After every Reaper attack, they leave behind one of their kind to survey and gather information on what the civilizations are up to. Once the galaxy's races have advanced enough, Sovereign will activate the Citadel Relay and usher in the next genocide. The reason the Reapers harvest the galaxy of all organic life every 50,000 years is currently unknown. According to Vigil, not even the Prothean scientists could comprehend why they do it. They may be driven by goals that organics find impossible to understand. Once the galaxy is wiped clean, the Reapers return to dark space to hibernate and save energy. In this state, they are apparently vulnerable, so they always seal the Citadel Relay behind them.
When the Reapers attacked 50,000 years ago, their genocide of the Protheans lasted for centuries. Ilos' personnel hid in cryogenic stasis, watched over by Vigil. However, as his energy reserves ran low, he followed 'contingency planning', and shut off the pods of non-essential personnel to conserve energy, hoping that when the time was right, he could at least open some of the pods. Vigil managed to save a dozen scientists.
The Conduit was a small prototype mass relay, built by the Protheans, designed to transport personnel from the research center on Ilos to the Citadel, but only in one direction. (The 'Mass Relay Statue' in the Presidium is actually a working mass relay connected to the one at Ilos). After the Prothean extinction, the few remaining Protheans on Ilos traveled to the Citadel through the Conduit, and reprogrammed it so that the keepers would not respond to the signal to activate the relay to dark space. Sovereign needed to find another way of activating the Citadel Relay, and it used Saren to find it. Saren will go through the Conduit, and gain control of the Citadel from the inside. Meanwhile, Sovereign will head to the Citadel. Once Saren transfers control of the station, Sovereign can open the Citadel Relay manually. Vigil explains that Reapers are patient. If Sovereign assaulted the Citadel alone, the combined power of the Citadel Fleet could be enough to defeat the Reaper. But with someone going in the back door to give it control, Sovereign will be able to usher in the next Reaper invasion, and complete its mission. Sovereign has been planning this for centuries, after discovering the Protheans used the keepers to try to break the cycle.
Vigil gives Shepard a data file that will give the commander temporary control of the Citadel to stop Sovereign. After leaving Vigil, Shepard heads through the archives, down into an old aqueduct guarded by geth, and reaches the Conduit. It is a small mass relay pointing straight up, connected to the Citadel. Saren has already gone through and left more geth on guard.
Meanwhile, Sovereign begins its assault on the Citadel, escorted by a large geth fleet. The commander of the Destiny Ascension attempts to close the Citadel but the station doesn't respond - the operators at Citadel Control are all dead. Saren has begun his attack from within.
Back on Ilos, Shepard sees the Conduit is closing and drives the Mako directly at it. Just before the relay closes, the Conduit jumps the Mako through to the Citadel.
On the Presidium, now burning and heavily damaged, two geth troopers become curious about the strange blue glow around the Relay Monument. When they go to take a look, the Mako suddenly bursts through and crushes them, before rolling over and crashing against a wall. The race to stop Saren is on.
Siege of the Citadel
The Citadel Fleet fights the geth armada
Shepard and the team manage to get out of the overturned Mako and use the nearby malfunctioning Avina terminal to get a sit rep. Saren is heading toward the Council Chambers and the whole station is infested with geth. The squad tries taking the elevator to the Citadel Tower, but it stops halfway when Saren locks down the station's systems. Shepard tells the team to suit up and blows out the elevator's glass with a shot. They have to walk the rest of the way in zero gravity with their boots magnetized.
Meanwhile up in the Chambers, Saren - angrily shooting keepers as he goes - reaches the central console and uses it to take control of the Citadel. As Sovereign gets closer, crushing the Citadel Fleet ships in its path, Saren closes the Wards, creating an impenetrable shell around the Reaper and the geth dropships already inside. Sovereign settles on top of the Citadel Tower, preparing to open the Citadel Relay once Saren transfers full control.
Elsewhere Shepard and the team are fighting for their lives against the geth and Saren's krogan warriors out on the Citadel's exhaust plains, trying to get to the Chambers. A geth dropship appears and starts unleashing shock troopers on them; Shepard activates the Citadel's defense turrets, and with their cover fire, takes the dropship out. Further along they run into several powerful geth turrets and have to use cover to get close enough to destroy them, or manage to sneak down a side route where krogan battlemasters are waiting. Eventually they reach a maintenance hatch that leads down into the Council Chambers, now burning and full of Saren's geth. The stairways provide some cover as the team fights towards the central console.
At that moment Saren appears and throws a grenade. Shepard's team are blown aside while the commander takes cover close to Saren. He urges Shepard not to be a fool - everything is lost if Shepard continues resisting Sovereign. Saren boasts that his faith faltered but Sovereign has implanted him, made him partly synthetic, perfect. This is the future of organic life. Shepard can't believe Saren allowed Sovereign to implant him. Shepard can attack Saren straight away, or try talking him down - the more Shepard talks, the more Saren is convinced, but his Reaper implants cause the turian intense pain when he begins to agree with Shepard. With enough convincing, Saren thanks the commander for freeing him before shooting himself in the head. In either case, he falls to the bottom of the Chambers, falling through the glass floor and being impaled by a large shard.
Using the central console, Shepard uploads Vigil's program and gains control of the Citadel. With advice from the team, Shepard opens a communication channel and gets Joker... who has the Fifth Fleet just waiting for the commander's word once the mass relays are unlocked. Shepard has to decide between sending the Fleet to defend the Destiny Ascension and save the Council, letting the Council die, or focusing on Sovereign. Once the orders are given, Joker brings the Fleet through the nearby mass relay as Shepard opens the Citadel's ward arms.
As the Fleet engages the ships outside - geth dropships and Sovereign itself - Shepard tells the squad to check Saren and make sure he's dead. They drop down to the bottom of the Chambers - one coldly shoots Saren in the head, while the other confirms the kill to Shepard. Suddenly Saren's body begins to twitch as his implants fire up, burning his flesh away until he is a cybernetic construct like a Husk, completely possessed by Sovereign. The shockwaves from his transformation cause the platform to collapse and Shepard falls into the bottom of the Chambers. The squad fights back against the creature, but it is fast and deadly.
Outside, the Normandy is leading the attack against Sovereign. The Reaper unleashes a terrible weapon that burns through several Alliance ships, but the Fleet is slowly getting the upper hand. As the squad finally destroy the cybernetic creature and it burns away to ashes, Sovereign begins to weaken under the Alliance attack and releases its grip on the station. A blast from the Normandy is the coup de grace and the Reaper is destroyed.
The devastated Chambers
In the Chambers, Shepard looks up to see a huge piece of debris from the Reaper heading straight for the Tower. The commander yells for the squad to take cover, just as it hits.
Much later, rescuers enter the Tower looking for survivors. Under a pile of rubble they discover Shepard's team... two of them, badly wounded but alive. Leading the rescuers, Captain Anderson helps them out, assures them that it's all right, and asks where Commander Shepard is. One of the squad looks sadly across the Chambers, where the Reaper debris has crashed into the floor. It would have crushed anyone standing under it. The rescue team help the squad out of the Chambers, and Anderson looks back - to see someone moving. Commander Shepard, with an injured arm, manages to climb out from behind the debris, limps toward them, and smiles.
Epilogue
As a result of Shepard's decisions, there are three outcomes to the story:
* The Council is destroyed and the Alliance forms a new Council, with no other races involved (Renegade ending). Shepard can nominate either Ambassador Udina or Captain Anderson to chair the new Council, and they prepare to combat the Reapers with the Alliance Fleet at the forefront. If Shepard is a Renegade and claims humans should work with other races, Udina will remark that this is uncharacteristic of Shepard's previous actions, and goes on to form the human-only council anyway.
* The Council is destroyed and the Alliance forms a new Council, with a human chairman but the other races remaining on the Council. Shepard can nominate either Udina or Anderson to chair the new Council, and they prepare to combat the Reapers with the Alliance Fleet at the forefront. This occurs if Shepard does not save the Council, but is not a Renegade.
* The Alliance Fleet saves the Council (Paragon ending). In gratitude for the sacrifices of the Alliance Fleet and Shepard's help, they offer humanity the chance to become a Council race. Again, Shepard can nominate either Udina or Anderson to be the human representative, and they decide to unite all the Citadel races against the coming threat of the Reapers.
In all three endings Shepard leaves the Citadel aboard the Normandy, intending to find a way to stop the Reaper invasion.
Kortere samenvatting, maar wel in het Nederlands:
Kapitein Anderson wordt met zijn schip de SSV Normandy gestuurd naar Eden Prime, een idyllische kolonie van de Alliantie. Er is een archeologische vondst gedaan van Protheaanse technologie, en deze moet onderzocht worden. Op Andersons schip is een zekere Kharjo Shepard, een kolonist die op Elysium zijn naam onsterfelijk maakte. Er is geopperd dat hij de eerste menselijke Spectre wordt en daarom is er een Turiaanse Spectre genaamd Nihlus om Shepard te evalueren tijdens een aantal missies. Plots komt er een erg dringend bericht van Eden Prime: de kolonie ligt zwaar onder vuur van de Geth en een verder onbekende vijand. Het is de bedoeling dat Shepard met een klein team gaat onderzoeken wat er aan de hand is, Nihlus gaat op zijn eigen houtje de gebeurtenis onderzoeken. Kort nadat Shepard geland is op Eden Prime, wordt één van zijn teamgenoten doodgeschoten, en Shepard blijft over met Kaidan Alenko. Niet lang daarna zien ze de vrouw onder vuur genomen worden. Ze helpen haar en zij, genaamd Ashley Williams, sluit zich aan bij het team.
Het team van drie vervolgt zijn weg en vindt het lijk van Nihlus. Volgens een bange kolonist was er een andere Turiaan geweest, die door Nihlus Saren genoemd werd, die Nihlus gedood had. Weer gaat het team verder; er zijn Geth om te vernietigen. Ze slagen erin de overgebleven Geth te verslaan en de Protheaanse vondst te vinden. Het blijkt een zender te zijn. Per ongeluk wordt het geactiveerd en Shepard krijgt een of ander visioen - van biologische wezens die door machines worden afgeslacht - en valt flauw. Op de Normandy wordt hij weer wakker en hoort dat ze op weg zijn naar de Citadel. Ambassadeur Udina heeft hen opgeroepen om voor de galactische Raad te getuigen tegen Saren. De raad is echter niet te overtuigen doordat het beste bewijs bestaat uit de getuigenis van een bange kolonist. Na wat gespit door de Citadel, aanvaringen met wat schurken en huurlingen en het ontmoeten van Turiaan Garrus Vakarian en Krogaan Urdnot Wrex, heeft Shepard wat hij wil: sterk bewijs tegen Saren. De Quariaan Tali’Zorah nar Rayya heeft een opname gevonden van een gesprek tussen Saren en Benezia, een machtige Asari, over Eden Prime, “Reapers” en de “Conduit”.
De Raad neemt dit bewijs aan en maakt Sarens Spectre-status ongedaan en geeft deze aan Shepard. Hij krijgt van kapitein Anderson de SSV Normandy om Saren te vinden en gevangen te nemen. Eerst gaat hij echter op zoek naar Liara T’soni, de dochter van Benezia en een geleerde op het gebied van Protheanen. Op de planeet Therum wordt ze gevonden en gered van huurlingen. Ze sluit zich aan bij Shepards team en staat hem bij in zijn missie op Noveria. Op die planeet vecht Shepard tegen Geth en de insectensoort Rachni, om daar uiteindelijk Benezia te confronteren en te verslaan. Vóór Benezia sterft, vertelt ze dat Saren en zij onder invloed staan van Sovereign, Sarens schip. Op de planeet Feros komt Shepard in aanraking met de Thorian, een oeroude plantachtige die elk wezen onder controle kan houden als deze diens stuifmeel inademt. Het wezen wordt vernietigd en Shepard wordt opnieuw verteld over Sovereign, ditmaal door een van Benezia’s onderdanen die aan de Thorian geofferd was. Ondertussen komt het bericht binnen dat een Salariaanse infiltratiegroep Sarens basis heeft gevonden op de planeet Virmire.
Daar aangekomen blijkt dat die basis gebruikt wordt om Kroganen te kweken. Deze soort kan zich door een Salarianen gemaakt virus niet meer voortplanten, en dat heeft Saren blijkbaar weten om te draaien. Shepard wil de basis vernietigen, maar daar is Wrex het natuurlijk niet over eens. Gelukkig kan hij overtuigd worden en helpt hij Shepard de basis te infiltreren, samen met de Salarianen. Ze splitsen de groep op en beginnen aan de missie. Helemaal in ’t centrum van die faciliteit bevindt zich een tweede zender. Nadat Shepard het activeert, begrijpt hij zijn visioen: het is een bericht van de Protheanen over de Reapers. Overal in het heelal vielen ze aan en het bericht was als waarschuwing bedoeld. Ze lopen weg en plotseling verschijnt er een rode hologram van Sovereign. “Organisch leven is niet meer dan een genetisch ongeluk”, zegt hij onder andere, “wij zijn eeuwig, het hoogtepunt van evolutie en bestaan. […] Wij zijn oneindig”. Sovereign legt uit dat de Reapers al oneindig veel jaren organisch leven laten groeien zoals zij dat willen, en dat ze het dan weer vernietigen. Dan beëindigt Sovereign het gesprek en maken Shepard en z’n team dat ze er wegkomen. Wanneer ze de Salarianen weer treffen, plaatsen ze een bom. Om vervolgens op deze plek aangevallen te worden.
Op dit moment moet er een keuze gemaakt worden: gaat Shepard dat team helpen, bestaande uit Kaiden en een aantal Salarianen, of gaat hij Ashlee en haar groepje Salarianen helpen. Hij besluit naar Ashlee te gaan. Zodra hij daar is, komt Saren eraan. Shepard weet hem van zich af te slaan en ze vluchten van de planeet. Op de Normandy weet Liara de locatie van de Conduit te vinden: op Ilos, een planeet die alleen te bereiken is via een mass relay in de gevaarlijke Turminus Systems. Terug op de Citadel besluit de Raad dat de Reapers niet genoeg prioriteit hebben om aan te vallen; ze geloven Shepard niet over hun dreiging. Shepard wordt zelfs verboden de Citadel te verlaten. Kapitein Anderson helpt hem echter te ontsnappen en de Normandy zet koers naar Ilos. Tijdens deze korte reis bezoekt Liara Shepard in zijn hut en beleven zij een intens romantisch moment. Eenmaal op Ilos en op weg naar de Conduit, wordt het team opgehouden door een Protheaans computersysteem genaamd Vigil.
Deze vertelt Shepard dat de Citadel feitelijk één grote mass relay is die de Reapers uit de Donkere Ruimte moet oproepen en transporteren. Normaliter zouden de Keepers dit proces in gang zetten na een signaal van Sovereign, maar de Protheanen hebben de Citadel zo weten te programmeren dat dit niet werkte. De Conduit is niets meer of minder dan een kleine mass relay die de gebruiker naar zijn net zo kleine broer teleporteert: het ‘standbeeld’ in de Citadel dat naar de gelijkenis van een mass relay gebouwd is. Shepard racet zo snel hij kan naar de Conduit en wordt met voertuig en al de Citadel ingeknald. Daar aangekomen vecht Shepard zich met zijn team een weg naar de kamer waar de Raad normaal samenkomt. Daar is het reeds geactiveerde controlepaneel om de Reapers op te roepen. Terwijl Sovereign en een aantal Geth-schepen de Citadel aanvallen en met de galactische vloot strijden, bereikt Shepard de kamer. Saren is er. Deze vertelt Shepard dat Sovereign hem ‘geüpgrade’ heeft met een aantal implantaten.
Shepard weet Saren te overtuigen dat dit fout is, dat Sovereign hem in zijn macht heeft. Dit beweegt Saren naar zelfmoord. Dan krijgt Shepard bericht van Joker, de piloot van de Normandy. Het vlaggenschip van de vloot, waar de Raad op zit, is blijkbaar in gevaar en Joker vraagt of hij hen te hulp kan schieten. Shepard laat hem dat doen. Plotsklaps komt Sarens lijk ineens tot leven door de implantaten van Sovereign. Saren is nu niets minder dan een vleselijke avatar van Sovereign. Shepard weet hem te verslaan, en de galactische vloot verslaat Sovereign. Na afloop van deze titanenstrijd besluit de Raad dat het tijd is om een mens in hun midden te accepteren. De vraag is natuurlijk wie. Shepard zegt zijn vertrouwen te leggen in de handen van kapitein Anderson. Vervolgens belooft Shepard dat hij achter de Reapers aangaat en ze zal verslaan en de Raad stemt toe.
[gb] Ascenscion[/gb]
Ascension is het tweede boek en de gebeurtenissen spelen zich af vlak na Mass Effect 1. In dit komt komt er wel geen enkele personages van uit de game voor maar worden er nieuwe personages geïntroduceerd die we waarschijnlijk enkel in de boeken gaan tegen komen. In dit boek ontmoeten we de Illusive Man voor het eerst, kunnen we voor het eerst naar Omega en komen we wat te weten over de mysterieuze Collector's.
Klik de spoiler open voor het volledige verhaal in het Engels.
The Ascension Project
The various Council races are left stunned at the attack on the Citadel -- which is officially described as an attack by a rogue Spectre leading an army of geth, with no mention of Sovereign or the Reapers. As the Council is restructured, and the final pockets of geth resistance found and destroyed, the Alliance Navy has now become a dominant military force in the galaxy and humanity's place in Citadel space is undeniable.
Spurred on by these events, the Illusive Man, leader of a rogue group called Cerberus, decides to push ahead with his plans for Gillian Grayson, a biotic prodigy undergoing training at the Ascension Project. Her father, Paul Grayson, is given a vial of medicine to administer to his daughter, supposedly to improve her biotic abilities and speed the development of 'humanity's saviour'. Kahlee Sanders, now a supervisor on the Ascension Project, is becoming concerned about Gillian's development and her place with the other students. Though gifted, Gillian also suffers from autism that makes her training difficult.
Meanwhile, Paul Grayson's one-time partner and fellow Cerberus operative, Pel, goes to Omega in the Terminus Systems to meet a contact, a quarian named Golo. Exiled from the Migrant Fleet for trying to sell his fellow quarians to the Collectors, Golo is quite prepared to grant the Illusive Man's request for transmission and access codes to the Flotilla. Though he cannot provide the codes himself, he suggests a strategy: lure a scout ship from the Migrant Fleet and ambush the crew.
Troubled by Cerberus' plans for his beloved daughter, and his growing addiction to red sand, Paul Grayson travels to the Grissom Academy and is met by Kahlee Sanders, her lover Dr. Jiro Toshiwa, and the Project's security chief, a former BAaT attendee named Hendel Mitra. Hendel makes no secret of his dislike of both Toshiwa and Grayson to Kahlee; he is well aware of Grayson's drug addiction, and warns Kahlee that there is something about Toshiwa that he doesn't trust. During his visit to Gillian, Paul Grayson secretly passes on the vial of medicine to Toshiwa - another Cerberus colleague - but still has misgivings about giving it to Gillian.
Two Traitors
The quarian Feda'Gazu vas Idenna arrives on the planet Shelba with her ship Cyniad (a scout vessel of the Idenna) after being offered a trade for essential technology by the traitor Golo. Though prepared for treachery, she and her crew are not prepared for an ambush by Pel and his men, and once dead are stripped of their suits for disguises. Pel and his team then approach the Cyniad in the quarian rover, and capture the pilot, Hilo'Jaa vas Idenna. However, when Hilo screams abuse at Golo, the traitor hits Hilo in the face, cracking his faceplate and allowing contaminated air inside.
Back at the Ascension Project, Gillian Grayson is eating lunch when she is confronted by another student and fellow biotic, Nick. When Nick teases her and biotically knocks her milk over, Gillian retaliates with a full biotic storm, culminating in a high-level singularity until she is finally stunned by Hendel Mitra and hospitalised. After spending the night with Jiro, Kahlee goes to see Hendel, who is despondent over his ’failure' in the cafeteria. During their talk, Kahlee suddenly realises that Jiro mentioned her relationship to Jon Grissom - something known only in classified Alliance documents - and discovers both Jiro and Gillian have disappeared from the hospital. Hendel catches up with them in the atrium, where Gillian - having just received a cerebrospinal dose of the Cerberus medicine from Jiro - is suffering a seizure. Jiro stuns Hendel, but is caught by Kahlee, while Hendel saves Gillian's life with CPR. With Jiro in custody and undergoing interrogation, the Illusive Man orders Paul Grayson to play the distraught parent and remove Gillian for more focused observation and testing in a Cerberus facility.
Meanwhile, Pel is approached by Golo, much to the human's disgust. Pel tells him that the interrogation of Hilo is not going well: thanks to Golo, the pilot has caught some sort of disease and is incoherent with fever. Golo apologies, and explains that he has come to Pel with a tempting offer that doesn't involve Cerberus... an offer direct from the Collectors.
Paul Grayson arrives at the Ascension Project and, hearing that Jiro has confessed to working for Cerberus, demands Gillian be released to him for her own safety. Hendel gets angry, but Kahlee suggests a compromise: Grayson can remove Gillian and take her to safety from Cerberus in the Terminus Systems - if Kahlee and Hendel go along. Grayson reluctantly agrees.
Elsewhere, on Omega, a young quarian on his Pilgrimage named Lemm'Shal nar Tesleya finds Golo, and confronts him about the Cyniad attack. Golo claims he was only the middleman, and tells him about Hilo, still being held captive by Pel. Lemm decides to mount a rescue mission. Grayson, along with Kahlee, Hendel and his daughter, arrives at Omega to meet Pel, pretending Pel is just his contact there. But when they meet Pel, Grayson is double-crossed. Pel is no longer working for Cerberus: he is going to sell Hendel, Kahlee and Gillian to the Collectors. All four are imprisoned, only to be freed when Lemm storms the warehouse, believing he has found four quarian captives. To Kahlee's surprise, Lemm appears to recognise her, and orchestrates an escape. Grayson is left behind; he takes his revenge on Pel by shooting him. After a search Grayson finds Hilo in a cell, horrifically tortured and sick, but still alive and muttering both a frequency and a code phrase.
Travelling with Lemm and the others, Kahlee wonders where they could possibly escape an organisation as powerful as Cerberus. Lemm offers a suggestion - the Migrant Fleet.
Quarantine
Lemm recognises Kahlee because the quarians have an interest in Saren Arterius and his ability to control the geth. He believes that Kahlee could offer some useful insight into how Saren controlled them - and introducing Kahlee to the captain of the Idenna will hopefully be a sufficient Pilgrimage gift. However, once they reach the Migrant Fleet, their shuttle is locked down for quarantine and Hendel, Kahlee and Gillian are asked to stay aboard, not knowing that Paul Grayson has reported to the Illusive Man and asked for help to retrieve his daughter from the Migrant Fleet, using the codes Hilo was muttering. The Illusive Man is eventually convinced to let him go as part of the extraction team, along with Golo.
Hendel passes the time in quarantine by giving Gillian specialised biotic tuition, until Kahlee is summoned to a meeting with members of the Conclave and Admiralty Board. They ask her about Saren, the Reapers and the geth, but Kahlee cannot tell them anything useful. After the meeting, Kahlee, Hendel and Gillian are invited to a private meeting with Ysin'Mal vas Idenna, the Idenna's captain. He explains that the three have inadvertently stepped into a debate raging about the future of the Migrant Fleet. Within ninety years, the quarians will outgrow their ability to sustain themselves, and a solution is desperately needed. Some quarians, including Captain Mal, believe the future of the Fleet relies on ships leaving the Flotilla to search for new homeworlds, whereas the Conclave and the Admiralty Board want to focus on keeping the Migrant Fleet insular and strong.
Their conversation is interrupted when Golo and several Cerberus commandos storm the Idenna aboard the Cyniad. Kahlee and Hendel join the quarians in their battle, sending Gillian to safety, but the girl decides to return to the shuttle where she felt safe, killing several Cerberus commandos on the way with her biotic abilities. Paul Grayson sees his daughter aboard the shuttle as he prepares to steal it, and stuns her, in the hope he can get her to safety. With the battle going badly, Kahlee goes looking for Gillian, only to be ambushed by Golo. As the quarian kicks her, she appeals to Grayson to see the truth: his loyalties to Cerberus are misplaced, they are not turning Gillian into a saviour, but into a weapon. Grayson wavers, then finally turns on Golo and shoots him in the head. Grayson reveals that the Cyniad is wired with explosives, intended to rip a hole in the Idenna and cripple her. Hendel and Captain Mal race to the Cyniad and manage to disable them in time.
[edit] Parting Ways
The quarians are then left to deal with the aftermath, and the stunning fact of an attack on the Migrant Fleet itself. Realising the time for conservatism is over, the quarians decide to follow the proposals of people like Mal, and send ships off to search for new homeworlds - or a way to drive out the geth using a Reaper. The Idenna is selected as one of the first to leave, with a hand-picked crew. Hendel and Gillian are selected to go along: Gillian has responded well to the quarian life aboard the Idenna, and after five years to grow up, she might be better equipped to deal with Cerberus.
Meanwhile, Kahlee has been given custody of Paul Grayson. She and Lemm - also selected to go on the Idenna's mission - will take Grayson to the Alliance colony of Cuervo and hand him over to the authorities. However, knowing that Cerberus will get to him eventually, Grayson manages to overpower both Kahlee and Lemm, leaving them to wake up unharmed on the volus world of Daleon. Kahlee asks Lemm to return her to the Ascension Project. There are still children who need her help.
Waiting for a report on the Idenna attack, the Illusive Man is surprised to get a call from Paul Grayson. He has a simple message: he is leaving Cerberus, Gillian is beyond their reach, and if anything happens to Kahlee Sanders, he will go to the Alliance with all he knows. The Illusive Man reluctantly agrees not to pursue either Kahlee or Gillian. He knows that losing Gillian will set their biotic research back a decade, but he cannot risk exposure:
Cerberus has many other projects to protect... [/left]
Kortere samenvatting, maar wel in het Nederlands:
Het verhaal begint net na de aanval van Sovereign, Saren en de Geth op de Citadel. De Illusive Man, de illustere leider van de Cerberus-groepering, is bezig de volgende zet van zijn organisatie te plannen. Cerberus is een pro-mensheid-organisatie die complotten of moorden niet schuwt. Eén van hun ondergeschikten, Paul Grayson, heeft als opdracht het opvoeden van een autistisch meisje met een immense affiniteit voor biotics. Het meisje, Gillian, is onderdeel van het Ascension Project, een speciaal programma van de Alliantie om kinderen met biotische krachten op te voeden en te leren omgaan met hun krachten. Cerberus wil op Gillian een middel testen dat de biotische krachten moet versterken, en Grayson moet dit via hun contact op het programma, Dokter Jiro, aan haar toedienen. Jiro moet vervolgens haar vorderingen evalueren. Gelijktijdig is Pel, een andere afgevaardigde van Cerberus, bezig informatie in te winnen over de migratievloot van de Quarianen, de Flotilla. Hij moet via een verbannen Quariaan genaamd Golo de locatie van en toegangscodes tot deze vloot zien te verkrijgen. Golo heeft deze informatie niet, maar weet wel hoe hij eraan moet komen. Hij en Pel lokken een Quariaans verkenningsteam in de val en weten één Quariaan gevangen te nemen. Deze is echter geïnfecteerd geraakt met een virus, waarop hij begint te ijlen en dus niet meer te ondervragen is.
Op het Ascension Project wordt Gillian gepest, niet lang nadat Jiro haar een dosis van Cerberus’ middel had toegediend, en ze heeft een uitbarsting van biotische energie. Ze wordt overmeesterd door biotic Hendel Mitra, de beveiligingschef, en in de ziekenhuisvleugel onder observatie geplaatst. Mitra weet met Kahlee Sanders, die na de gebeurtenissen in Mass Effect: Revelation is gaan werken voor het Ascension Project, achter Jiro’s ware bedoelingen te komen. Jiro is op dat moment bezig Gillian een tweede dosis toe te dienen. Hendel vindt Jiro en Gillian, maar wordt overmeesterd door Jiro, die op zijn beurt weer overmeesterd wordt door Kahlee. Zij en Hendel informeren Grayson dat Cerberus zijn dochter wilde vermoorden. Cerberus stuurt Pel naar Grayson toe met de boodschap Gillian daar weg te nemen voordat Jiro opbiecht hoe de vork écht in de steel zit. Kahlee en Hendel besluiten met Grayson mee te gaan om Gillian te beschermen. Grayson stemt toe, omdat Pel belooft hen snel op te ruimen. Pel neemt daarentegen iedereen, inclusief Grayson, gevangen. Pel legt uit dat hij weg is bij Cerberus, hij ruikt elders geld. Er is namelijk een nieuw ras in het heelal, de Collectoren, die veel geld betalen voor menselijke biotics zoals Gillian en Hendel.
Ondertussen ontdekt de Quariaan Lemm'Shal nar Tesleya dat een verkenningsschip spoorloos verdwenen is. Hij besluit dit uit te zoeken, aangezien hij op zijn heilige bedevaartstocht is. Het duurt niet lang of hij vindt de beruchte Golo en ondervraagt hem over het schip. Golo wijst Lemm de weg naar Pels schuilplaats en waarschuwt Pel tegelijkertijd voor de aanval van Lemm. Deze Quariaan valt de schuilplaats één dag eerder binnen, waardoor Pel door de verrassingsaanval overmeesterd kan worden. Gillian, Hendel en Kahlee worden door Lemm bevrijd, en ze ontsnappen met Graysons shuttle. Blijkbaar herkent Lemm Kahlee. Zij wordt door zijn volk gezien als een expert op het gebied van kunstmatige intelligentie, vanwege haar werk met dokter Shu Qian, en Lemm wil haar als bedevaartscadeau aan zijn volk geven. Ze zetten koers naar de Flotilla. Grayson, die was achtergelaten, weet Pel te doden en te ontsnappen. Hij vindt daarnaast de door Pel gevangen Quariaan, die uit gekte alleen maar toegangscodes tot de Flotilla mompelt. Hij informeert de Illusive Man over al deze gebeurtenissen, die direct een missie plant om Gillian te redden. Grayson haalt de Illusive Man over om hem mee te laten gaan, omdat hij anders de codes niet wil doorgeven.
Op de Idenna, één van de schepen van de Flotilla, geeft Kahlee haar mening over de aanval op de Citadel en de invloed op de Geth van de Reaper Sovereign. De door de Quarianen gemaakte robots zien Sovereign als hun God. Voor Kahlee heeft het weinig betekenis, maar de Quarianen moeten het weten in verband met verkenningsmissies die ze willen plannen. De admiraliteit bedenkt dat ze de Reapers kunnen gebruiken om de Geth weer onder controle te krijgen, opdat ze weer terug kunnen naar hun thuisplaneet. Aangezien de Quarianen erg gevoelig zijn voor bacteriën en virussen, moeten Kahlee, Hendel en Gillian op Graysons schip blijven. Op dat schip begint Gillian zich erg prettig te voelen en ze wordt langzaam een opener meisje. Deze rust wordt echter snel verstoord door Grayson, Golo en twee teams van Cerberus. Dit bonte gezelschap valt het schip binnen waar Kahlee en co. op zitten en ze beginnen een gevecht. Hendel, Kahlee en Lemm strijden mee, en Gillian moet zich verstoppen op een van de hogere verdiepingen van het schip. Zij gaat echter terug naar de shuttle van Grayson, waar deze ook toevallig is. (Grayson moest van Golo namelijk daar blijven.) Gillian, die normaliter niet kan tegen elke vorm van aanraking, omhelst Grayson meteen wanneer ze hem ziet.
Grayson maakt aanstalten te gaan, maar Gillian wil niet weg zonder Hendel, Kahlee en Lemm. Hierop verlamt Grayson haar met een stunner en legt haar op bed. Kahlee arriveert niet lang daarna en confronteert Grayson, maar wordt op haar beurt weer verlamd door Golo. Terwijl Golo haar schopt, blijft Kahlee zeggen dat Gillian beter af is zonder Cerberus’ bemoeienissen in haar leven. Grayson bedenkt zich en doodt Golo. De aanval wordt afgeslagen en Grayson wordt gevangengezet, maar weet te ontsnappen terwijl hij naar Alliantiegebied wordt verplaatst. Kahlee en Lemm besluiten hem niet te achtervolgen. Uiteindelijk gaat Kahlee terug naar het Ascension Project en gaan Gillian, Hendel en Lemm mee met een Quariaans schip. De Quarianen hebben besloten een expeditie uit te zenden op zoek naar nieuwe werelden om zich op te nestelen, en het leek voor Gillians veiligheid het beste om met die expeditie mee te gaan. Het boek eindigt met Grayson die de Illusive Man zegt dat Gillian buiten zijn bereik ligt en dat hij maar beter niet achter Kahlee aan gaat. Als hij dat zou doen, zal Grayson naar de Alliantie gaan met alle informatie over Cerberus die hij heeft. De Illusive Man blijft verslagen achter.
[gb] Redemption[/gb]
Redemption is de stripreeks waarvan er 4 issues zullen verschijnen. Het verhaal speelt zich af net voor Mass Effect 2.
Issue 1 van deze reeks zit bij de Collector's Edition van Mass Effect 2.
Klik de spoiler open voor het volledige verhaal in het Engels.
Issue 1
Two turian brothers and a batarian, heading towards Omega, are discussing their asari passenger, and comment it's been a month since the destruction of the Normandy and the disappearance of Commander Shepard. When their passenger, revealed to be Liara, asks if they're close to the station, they refuse to let her leave and suggestively demand additional "...docking fees". Disgusted, she refuses and uses her biotics to incapacitate them. Liara then docks the ship herself, telling the landing staff that her visit is both business and personal, and that she has "someone to meet".
Later, in the Afterlife Club on Omega, Liara is speaking with an elcor patron about Shepard's whereabouts, only to be told they have not seen "...anyone like that here--nor have I been looking". The two are commenting on a news broadcast that reports the Citadel is still under reconstruction when they are interrupted by a mysterious hooded figure, who is revealed to be a drell. Liara recognizes him as her contact, and asks for information on Shepard. The drell agrees to inform her, but only once they are outside.
The drell, named Feron, tells Liara that Shepard's body had been recovered in a stasis pod, and is "neither dead nor alive". Liara refuses to believe Feron until she sees Shepard for herself. Before they leave, Blue Suns Mercenaries attack them, and the krogan leader of the group tells them that the Shadow Broker wants to know why Liara is looking for a dead person. An unknown sniper then kills many of the mercenaries while Liara and Feron escape.
While escaping, they run into Miranda and two Cerberus operatives, who tells them they have the same goal (looking for Shepard) and want to work with Liara. Feron tells Liara about Cerberus's human-centric agenda, but Liara insists that as long as they share the common goal of saving Shepard, it should be all right.
Miranda brings Liara to the Illusive Man, who tells Liara that the Collectors want the corpse, and have hired the Shadow Broker to give it to them. The Illusive Man wants Liara to find out why the Collectors want Shepard's body, and to get it before they do. Liara wonders why he chose her, and the Illusive Man tells her that "nothing beats someone with a personal motive driving them". Liara does not trust Cerberus or the Illusive Man, but tells him that Shepard can count on her.
The last page shows a high-ranking Collector conversing with the Shadow Broker, upset at the Shadow Broker's delay in shipment of Shepard's body. The Shadow Broker reminds the Collector that he is the only one who can get Shepard's body, and that he always gets results. The Collector's eyes then go gray.
Issue 2
...
Issue 3
...
Issue 4
...
[gb] Mass Effect 2[/gb]
Speel het spel zelf
[gb] Retribution[/gb]
Het derde boek dat op 27 juli 2010 zou moeten verschijnen. Kijk persoonlijk eigenlijk meer uit naar dit boek dan naar ME2 .
Het is nog niet bekend of de gebeurtenissen in dit boek zich voor, tijdens of na Mass Effect 2 afspelen.
[gb] Spin off: Mass Effect Galaxy[/gb]
Klik de spoiler open voor het volledige verhaal in het Engels.
Peace Talks
Jath'Amon petitions for peace
Galactic tensions are rising due to batarian Ambassador Jath'Amon's arranging of a meeting with the Citadel Council, with the intention of negotiating peace terms between the batarians and the Alliance.
Jacob Taylor is on vacation aboard the passenger liner Arcturian Jade when the ship is attacked by batarian terrorists. Jacob grabs his assault rifle, kept from his former job as an alliance marine, and battles the batarians while defending the crew and passengers. After taking out the batarian attackers, Jacob is thanked by the Captain, Reginald Tudge, who gives Jacob the choice of any quarters on the ship in gratitude.
Jacob arrives at the Citadel and is greeted by his former CO, Major Derek Izunami, who is seeking Jacob out for a mission in the Nemean Abyss, as Jacob is no longer restricted by Alliance military boundaries. He asks Jacob to meet Miranda Lawson, an informant who may have information on the batarian's recent crime wave, in a bar called the Fringe on Cartagena Station.
When Jacob arrives, the Fringe has been taken over by a band of pirates led by Clint "Black Eye" Darragh. Jacob can either convince him to retire or take him on in combat. Once he is taken away, Jacob is greeted by Miranda, who was watching the confrontation from the bar.
Miranda explains the batarian extremists' plan to attack the Citadel on the day of Jath'Amon's arrival and sabotage the peace talks by killing him. She gives him three sources on where to start the investigation: A turian arms dealer named Illo Nazario on the planet Tortuga who has worked with the batarians for years, the planet Bekke where a batarian army is reportedly gathering, and a rumor that the batarians have kidnapped several scientists and are holding them on the Ahn'Kedar Orbital Platform.
Tortuga
On Tortuga, Jacob is met by a salarian friend of Miranda's, Ish, who has the access codes for Nazario's compound. Apparently, Nazario hasn't made any deals for weeks, which has drawn suspicion. As Jacob makes his way through the compound full of turian guards, a unit of batarians will attack. Their leader claims they came to talk to Nazario. Jacob can convince them to turn back or fight them.
Jacob reaches Nazario, who is deathly ill. Nazario reveals that the batarians have tested a weaponized virus on him and bargains with Jacob for a vaccine: Jacob will have Nazario's information about the virus, as soon as Jacob gets him the cure.
Ahn'Kedar
When Jacob arrives at the Ahn'Kedar Orbital Platform he immediately suspects the research carried out there is just a front. A batarian businessman challenges him, but before he can act, a krogan named Nax appears and begins gunning down the batarians. Nax gives Jacob till the count of five to "justify his life". When he either reaches two or is convinced by Jacob, they realize they have a similar goal; Jacob is there to rescue the scientists, among whom is Batha, an asari and old friend of Nax who he infiltrated the facility in order to rescue.
After defeating several waves of batarians, including their leader, Jacob discovers the scientist Dr. Hendricks, who seems more upset about Jacob interrupting their work than having been taken hostage. Hendricks claims the batarians have fallen prey to a terrible disease, which has wiped out entire populations. The disease, a blood plague, is communicable only in high concentrations, incubates very quickly, and has a 100% fatality rate. He claims the batarians brought the scientists there to develop a cure.
Once Jacob convinces Hendricks to leave, he discovers the prototype formula for the cure is held by Batha, who is in another facility. At that moment Nax bursts through the door with Batha in his arms, under heavy fire from the batarians. Jacob saves him and brings him on board his ship.
Once on board, Batha reveals the batarian claim of a virus was fake. The batarians only wanted to convince the scientists to make a cure for their blood plague weapon. The crew realizes they need to get the cure to the Citadel in anticipation of the attack. Though the cure is only a prototype, Batha nearly finishes it using supplies from the ship's med labs, but she requires a final ingredient - a large quantity of unrefined element zero.
Bekke
When Jacob's crew arrives on the rainy mining colony of Bekke, the ship immediately comes under gunfire as Miranda picks up strange readings from the planet. Jacob fights his way into the facility, but begins feeling sick and dizzy due to the batarians' stash, a huge cache of improperly stored element zero. The closer Jacob gets to the eezo, the more strain it puts him under due to his biotic abilities, though it has the beneficial effect of strengthening his powers. Once Jacob defeats the resident batarians, Miranda urges him to leave the facility at once so she can pick up the shipment of element zero. Batha then uses the haul to complete the cure.
The Mastermind Revealed
Returning to Nazario, Jacob can finally interrogate him. Jacob discovers from him that the batarians' true target is the Citadel Council, and not Ambassador Jath'Amon as previously thought. Knowing Jacob holds his only hope of survival, Nazario also reveals that the leader of the batarian extremists is in fact Jath'Amon himself, who intends to infect the Council with the bioweapon during his peace talk. Jacob and Miranda hurry back to the Citadel to stop the meeting.
Defending the Citadel
Jacob heads to the Citadel Tower, but all seems quiet. Jacob is stopped by a C-Sec officer, who is exposed as a batarian, revealing they have infiltrated Citadel Security itself. Battling his way up to the tower, Jacob enters the council chambers in the middle of the ambassador's speech and the asari council representative questions Jacob's intrusion. Jacob brings the evidence against Jath'Amon to light, and Jath'Amon's peaceful demeanor fades as Jacob lays out his plan. The asari council representative apologizes, but says she won't risk the Council until she is sure of Jacob's claims.
The furious ambassador reveals that the virus was concealed within his hover chair, and releases it into the citadel tower before flying away. Jacob warns everyone to escape, then takes on the ambassador's batarian troops and combat drones. After Jacob finally defeats Jath'Amon, he tells Jacob that they are not so different; as both of them are willing to go to great ends to protect their people. Jath'Amon swears revenge on Jacob and the Council as he is led away by Citadel Security.
After resuming his vacation on the Arcturian Jade, Jacob is watching a news report about Jath'Amon's arrest when he is surprised by a noise behind him. After grabbing his assault rifle, he realizes the intruder is Miranda, with a bottle of champagne and a smile.
[gb] Bronnen[/gb]
Mass Effect Wiki
Mass Market
Insidegamer
|