Illusive Man Briefing:TIM: An Alliance science team recently determined that the "Great Rift" on the planet Klendagon is actually an impact crater from a mass accelerator weapon. (TIM takes a drink) TIM: A very old mass accelerator. I sent a team to find either the weapon or its target. They found both. The weapon was defunct, but it helped us plot the flight path of the intended target -- a 37 million year old derelict Reaper. We found it damaged and trapped in the gravity of a brown dwarf. Shepard (BROWN DWARF): Aren't brown dwarf's basically stars that didn't quite make it? TIM: Simply put, but accurate. They're gas giants that don't quite have the masses of stars. Expect gale-force winds and extremely high temperatures. The Reaper has a mass effect field that keeps it in orbit. Likely an automated response to the external threats. It's stable, but I won't call it safe. Shepard: (DISABLING A REAPER): I saw what Sovereign did to the Citadel fleet. Hard to imagine anything could stop something that powerful. TIM: This vessel is a relic from a battle waged while mammals took their first steps on Earth. There's no trace of the species that took the shot. Perhaps it was their one moment of defiance before being wiped out. Splits here: - -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - Shepard (WHAT'S THE CATCH?): I get the feeling this isn't going to be a simple “swing by and pick up our package.” TIM: We lost contact with Dr. Chandana's team shortly after they boarded. Initial reconnaissance revealed no clues, and it was too risky to commit more resources -- but now we need that IFF. TIM: I'll forward the coordinates to Joker. - -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - Shepard (Another “Derelict” Ship?): I only believe you because I doubt you'd repeat yourself so soon. TIM: It's no less a risk, Shepard. We lost contact with Dr. Chandana's team shortly after they boarded. Initial reconnaissance revealed no clues, and it was too risky to commit more resources -- but now we need that IFF. TIM: I'll forward the coordinates to Joker. In the meantime... I suggest you tell your crew I didn't risk their lives unnecessarily. |
LEVEL START BRIEFINGOrbiting Mnemosyne is a two-kilometer-long ship with the unmistakable profile of a Reaper. It is giving off power signatures in localized areas, but they are far weaker than a ship this size would indicate. The Reaper seems to maintain a mass effect field that has kept it from falling into the failed star, but massive holes have been blasted and melted into parts of the hull and remain unrepaired. The only logical conclusion is that the Reaper “died” or was at least reduced to minimal functioning a long time ago. |
(Shepard is in the cockpit with Joker and the Normandy is shaking wildly)
Shepard: What's with all the chop, Joker?
Joker: Doing my best. The wind's gusting to 500 kph.
(more flying through turbulent chop)
Joker: There's a second ship alongside the Reaper. It's not transmitting any IFF, but the ladar paints its silhouette as geth.
Shepard: I guess we know why the science team stopped reporting in.
(The Normandy suddenly shakes and then everything becomes smooth)
Shepard: What just happened?
Joker: The Reaper's mass effect fields are still active. We just passed inside their envelope.
(pause as the Normandy swoops in closer to the dead reaper)
Joker: Eye of the hurricane, huh?
(Cut to Shepard and Squadmates entering the Cerberus Science Ship docked to the Reaper. )
(A bloody body is encountered on the floor.)
Grunt: Smells bad. There's blood, but something's wrong with it.
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Dr. Chandana: The airlock has been installed at the far end of the holed section. We have begun pressurization for shirtsleeves work. The crew is edgy. I reassure them it is mere nerves. A superstitious reaction to what this hulk represents -- the corpse of a vast, ancient life form. Privately, I can't deny the atmosphere. The angles of the walls seem to press down on you. I find myself clenching my teeth. |
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Cerberus Scientist: We finished cataloguing specimens A203 to B016. No evidence of active nanotechnology noted. Dr. Chandana believes they would have decayed over the last 37 million years. There's not enough data to support his claim. He asserts that the truth is “patently obvious.” I am... concerned. Chandana has been staring at the samples for hours. He says he's “listening” to them. |
(Shepard and Company move towards the airlock between the Science Ship and the Reaper, when suddenly everything shakes)
Shepard: What just happened?
Joker: The Reaper put up kinetic barriers. I don't think we can get through from our side.
Tali: As curious as I am about Reapers, I'd rather not be trapped inside one.
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Shepard (JUST BLAST US OUT.): [not known] EDI: The Normandy lacks the necessary firepower. Reaper shields are impervious to dreadnought fire. |
Shepard (MAYBE WE CAN SHUT THEM OFF): We'll have to take down the barrier generators from in here. Any idea where they are? EDI: At the moment of activation, I detected a heat spike in what is likely the wreck's mass effect core. Sending the coordinates now. (beat) EDI: Be advised: this core is also maintaining the Reaper's altitude. Shepard: So when we take the barriers down to escape, the wreck falls into the planet core. Joker: And that means everyone dies. Yeah, I got it. |
(While walking on science platforms set up inside the Reaper, you come across a log)
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Cerberus Scientist: You're married? You never mentioned that. Cerberus Researcher: Katy had anger management issues. When my brother got married, the best man tried to hit on her. She kicked him down the church steps. Cerberus Scientist: Wh--? Katy's my wife! I must have told you the story. Cerberus Researcher: No. I know my wife. I remember -- that day was the only time I saw her wear stockings. Cerberus Scientist: Yeah. The kind with seams up the back. That's what I remember, too. Cerberus Researcher: What the hell is this? How can we remember the same thing? |
(Shepard and crew continue walking and encounter husks inside the Reaper)
Grunt: I thought Geth made these husk things?
Mordin: Origin of husk technology unclear. Seemed to be Geth. May have been Sovereign.
(shooting continues)
Garrus: I'd say this confirms it as Reaper tech.
Tali: Geth origin never made sense to me. This confirms it's from the Reapers.
Unknown Squadmate, but might be Miranda: Keep sharp. The science team was nearly 100 strong. There may be a lot more husks in here.
(more fighting through the Reaper)
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Cerberus Researcher: Third day with this headache. You'd think Chandana would let me have a few hours off. Cerberus Researcher: Goddamn! Cerberus Scientist: What? Cerberus Researcher: That thing that just... gray thing! It disappeared when I looked straight at it. Came out of the damn wall! Where we took off that panel. Cerberus Scientist: I didn't see anything. You should lie down. Cerberus Researcher: I'm telling you, this ship isn't dead. It knows we're inside it. Cerberus Scientist: Calm down. Now I'm getting a headache. |
(Legion is briefly glimpsed on a catwalk at extreme range)
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Cerberus Researcher (with face covered in blood): Chandana said the ship was dead. We trusted him. He was right. But even a dead god can dream. A god -- a real god -- is a verb. Not some old man with magic powers. It's a force. It warps reality just by being there. It doesn't have to want to. It doesn't have to think about it. It just does. That's what Chandana didn't get. Not until it was too late. The god's mind is gone, but it still dreams. He knows now. He's tuned in on our dream. If I close my eyes I can feel him. I can feel every one of us. |
(Continuing exploration, Shepard and crew find Dragon's Teeth)
Tali/Garrus: We've seen these before, Shepard. Dragon's teeth, your people call them. The Geth used them on Eden Prime.
Squadmate: And in other places. The distribution suggests that they're Reaper technology shared with the geth.
Squadmate: I have heard of them being dug up on worlds that are far older than the geth. I believe they are Reaper artifacts.
Squadmate: There are tales of such things among my people. Devices buried on distant worlds that turn the finders into abominations.
(Off in the distance, Cerberus researchers are impaled on Dragons' Teeth)
Shepard [EXAMINE]: See how the room is arranged? They treated this thing like some kind of altar.
Tali: That doesn't seem right. No one in their right mind would want this.
Garrus: It does look like that, but why would they want this to happen?
Shepard: You heard the logs. They were seeing things. Hearing things. They were being indoctrinated.
Shepard (THEY DON'T DESERVE THIS): We can't help these people now. But we won't let the machines use their corpses like this.
(Shepard & Company approach an airlocked door to the Mass Effect Core of the Reaper)
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Cerberus Announcement: Please stand by. Equalizing pressure with exterior conditions. Remember, safety is everyone's concern. We have gone five days without a workplace death. (This implies that the last Cerberus worker still alive was husked or killed five days ago) |