Mass Effect 1 : Eden Prime
Remember when lens flares were all the rage?
Ashley definitely owns a Confederate flag
Eden Prime is the furthest human colony. Humanity has recently found space travel and they are eager to spread their wings and fly to the furthest corners of the galaxy. Eden Prime carries with it the promise of spreading out to new world and leaving Earth behind. As Normandy approaches the young colony, the ship receives an emergency transmission. The colony is under attack and taking heavy casualties. This mission just got more complicated. Alliance team is deployed while Nihlus go ahead to scout the land. Jane will be responsible for securing the beacon and her second priority will be to save the colonists. Sheppard finds the Geth are responsible for killing the humans here. Ashley is the lone surviving member of the security team on the ground. She joins the Normandy team to guide us to the beacon.
Nihlus has gone ahead and found dead colonists. He is also surprised to see another Spectre here. Saren has been in the force for a long time and Nihlus counts him among his most trusted associates. This makes Saren’s betrayal all the more shocking. The moment Nihlus turns his back, Saren puts hot laser through his head. With Nihlus dead, Saren orders the Geth to blow up the place and leave no signs of them being here behind.
Sheppard finally catches up to Nihlus only to find him dead. There is one human still alive over here, and he only survived by the virtue of being lazy. When the Geth attack came he had been sleeping behind some boxes, so they never saw him. It was fortunate he survived since it meant he was there to witness Saren killing Nihlus. If it was not for him, this death would have been the last nail on the coffin of any hopes of Sheppard becoming a Spectre. As it stands now, we know there was another Turian Spectre here and he has gone rogue. While trying to save Kaiden, Sheppard accidentally activates the beacon. It blows up but not before giving her some disturbing visions of death and destruction. Back on Normandy, Captain Anderson is not happy with these new developments. The mission has been a spectacular failure. The beacon has been destroyed, the colony itself is in shambles, one Spectre is dead while we are about to accuse another one of treason. This is not a good start to joining the ranks of galaxy police. Council will not be happy with this, but moreover Alliance brass is going to have a conniption when they hear this turn of events. There is not much left to do here but to head back to the Citadel with our tails between our legs.
Normandy heads back to the Citadel to report on our findings. If we thought Mass Relay was big, Citadel is humongous by comparison. It is bustling with activity even before we dock on the station. There are hundreds of ships in all colors and sizes going in and out of the station. This is the seat of the Council, the government of the galaxy, and the hub of intergalactic commerce. Ashley has not seen anything like it before. Pretty much everyone is in awe of the sheer size of this place. No one really knows how this place was built. Presumably, the Protheans built it as a seat of their government. Not enough records have survived from their time to tell us much about the place. It is maintained by the mysterious class of robots only known as Keepers. Any attempts at discovering their secrets have been met with failure. Making home in a mysterious construct built by an unknown race which disappeared mysteriously. Surely, this will not have any bad consequences. There is no way the owners of the place will ever show up and forcefully vacate the races living here.
Ashley has not gone full MAGA yet, but the clues have been there. While visiting the Volar embassy, she exclaims she can not tell the difference between aliens and animals. Maybe one of them has more intelligence than you do should be a clue, Ashley. Her rampant racism is something I remember from my first run through the game.
The meeting with the Council goes as well as can be expected. The human ambassador is a cantankerous old man who goes by the name Udina. He berated Anderson and Sheppard in private before even going up to the council. To his credit, Udina does stick by the story Sheppard has brought back with her. The Council is not willing to budge. They are dismissive of the whole mission and not even willing to consider Saren is a rogue agent. Sheppard is told to find some proof on her own before she comes back in front of the Council accusing one of their Spectres of treason.
Citdel will never look as beautiful as it does in ME 1
Udina is angered further when the Council decides against sending the fleet against the Geth to avenge the destruction of the human colony. He is told Humanity was well aware of the risk they were taking when they went to colonize the worlds at the end furthest ends of the traverse. Geth attacks are a part and parcel of being at the frontier. Udina points of the Council has been the entity that encouraged the humans to colonize the furthest corners of the galaxy, but the elder statesmen are in no mood to listen.
It is up to Sheppard to find enough evidence to convince the Council of Saren’s misdemeanors. While here wanderings through the Citadel, Sheppard becomes aware that C-Sec has also been investigating Saren. Citadel Security, or C-Sec is the agency tasked with policing the Citadel. They have noticed Saren has been in contact with the underworld of the Citadel. Garrus, a turian officer, was investigating Saren but has been told to shut down his case. He has taken too long and the investigation has been shut down.
Sheppard decides to seek him out and see if he has any info that may help bring Saren down. Garrus will become an important part of the Normandy team. I remember relying heavily on him during my last play. He does seem a little hotheaded on his introduction. Not at all I remember him being. As much as I remember this game, I think there are going to be a few surprises in here for me still.
