[HEADING=2]CHAPTER 4, PART 6 (Citadel) - Adventures in media relations and amateur psychiatry[/HEADING]
And with that, our second visit to the Citadel is over. Grunka heads back to the Normandy to fly off towards the next update, which I'm thinking will be one of the two DLC packs for the game.
Just FYI, updates will continue to be sporadic for a while as my wife is due to give birth to our first child any day now. If you guys are happy with a bit of a gap between each update though, we'll get there eventually. As always, thanks for reading
Previously, on Lets Play Mass Effect: We did the inevitable post-Feros wall of words debrief, then got told by the Council that they had an urgent lead on the possible whereabouts of Saren. So naturally we rushed off to a completely different part of the galaxy to help Garrus track down a minor bad guy from his C-Sec days.
When we left off, we were deciding whether we were going to kill the evil doctor or arrest him, and in the process deciding what kind of example we are going to set for Garrus. The overwhelming majority voted to kill him:
"That was... satisfying. Anyone got a smoke?"
"Sorry, nope. Stupid Alliance regs say only legit bad guys are allowed to smoke, and we're just Renegades. But anywho. Remember that feeling. That's how it should be."
"I will, Commander."
We do a quick bit of looting from the various lockers on the ship, then head back to the Normandy. I went down to the hold to try having another word with the crew, but nobody had anything new to say at this stage. So instead, we're going to head back to the Citadel to do a little shopping and knock off a few more side quests.
As soon as we exit the docking tube, this guy is waiting for us:
"Rear Admiral Mikhailovich, Fifth Fleet."
*snorts with laughter* "Rear Admiral?!? You humans sure give your soldiers stupid titles!"
"Yeah, I know. Between some of the rank names and the mere existence of the poop deck it's hard for me to keep a straight face around here sometimes. But let's humour the poor guy..."
*mutters under breath* "I wouldn't get your hopes up on that count Admiral,"
*glares at Kaidan but says nothing* "I command the 63rd Scout Flotilla. You and the Normandy were slated for my unit after shakedown. Then the Council got their paws, claws, tentacles... whatever. They got them on our ship. And you."
*cracks knuckles menacingly*
"Easy there Wrex - hundred credits says the Commander will do that for you before this conversation is over."
"It's a bet!" *turns back to the Rear Admiral*
"I don't begrudge the politicians' decision to throw you to the Council. It's an opportunity. I do begrudge this overdesigned piece of tin though. This experiment diverted billions from our appropriations bills. For the same price, we could've had a heavy cruiser! But no, we had to make nice with the turians. Throw money at a co-developed boondoggle."
This, of course, suggests that a billion credits is still a huge sum of money in this universe and that a million is nothing to be sneezed at either. Remember that when we run ourselves up to the 9,999,999 credit cap for the second or third time later in the game
Anywho, turns out the Rear Admiral is here to make an inspection of the Normandy. We can refuse him, but we get to make more snide remarks afterwards if we humour him so we let him aboard. He returns soon enough:
*slides hand towards pistol grip but says nothing*
The Rear Admiral has a few complaints, which we can address if we have a high enough Charm/Intimidate ranking (we do). He complains that the CIC (where we access the universe map) is too far away from the bow operators (like Joker). We tell him duh, that's what comms are for and besides, Grunka can yell pretty loud. He also belabours the point about the 120 billion it cost to build the Normandy's drive core.
"The bet still counts if the Admiral swings first, by the way..."
*kicks Kaidan in the shin*
The Rear Admiral's final complaint is about the crew makeup:
With that, he says he's off to make a report that won't be as negative as he initially planned, Kaidan pays us another hundred credits and we're finally on our way. We get into the elevator, but as soon as we get to the bottom we get this message:
"There's a woman here. She was rescued from batarian slavers a few weeks ago. She's from Mindoir. I guess she was taken in the raid on your town."
"Not really. She's a little messed up. She got free somehow. Grabbed a gun from one of my guys. Now she's holed up here in the docking bay. She says she wants to die. I hoped you'd talk to her. It's a long shot, but you went through the same thing. The raid. I figured maybe you could talk her out of her tree."
The docking bay he's talking about is the one we just left - how exactly this situation developed there between us leaving the empty hangar bay in the only elevator that connects to it and us getting out of said elevator right here is beyond me. We'll go deal with it in a second though. First, there's this iconic little scene...
"People back home have heard a lot about you, Commander. I can give you the chance to set the record straight. What do you say?"
"So long as you understand that I may not be able to answer all questions..."
"Humans have been trying to get the respect of the galactic community for 26 years. With that in mind, what are your feelings on becoming the first human Spectre?"
"Unofficially, I've only met one other one so far and he had some seriously questionable personal hygiene issues. But that aside, to be asked to join them is an honour."
"Some have said your appointment is the Citadel 'throwing humans a bone'. Have you encountered any situations where the Citadel asked you to place its needs before the needs of Earth?"
"Well, despite Ambassador Udina's most strident requests they did refuse to start a war with the Terminus systems. But I think they know not to ask me to work against my own people."
"You've been given command of an advanced human warship for your missions. Is there anything you'd like to say about it?"
"Yeah, I'd like to know how it suddenly became public knowledge that I'm commanding the Normandy, given my mission is supposed to be secret? And following on from that, if everyone does know it's my ship and I'm a Spectre, why don't I get more respect when I land?!? Aside from that, the Normandy was actually co-developed by human and turian engineers. Its design incorporates many innovations. All of which are classified, I'm afraid."
"At risk of getting punched in the face... do you think it was appropriate to hand Earth's most advanced warship over to the Citadel?"
"Heh - I doubt it. This headcase pulls guns on generals. Punching a reporter on camera is nothing."
No, I don't know why we got 2900 credits for that either - maybe we stole Khalisah's lunch money after we punched her? Anywho, that was the infamous punching-a-reporter scene that lead rise to the myth that Shepard punches all reporters. How quickly people forget Emily Wong even exists. FWIW it's completely possible to end this discussion civilly... but where would the fun be in that?
Now, back up the elevator to deal with that hostage drama:
He's got a sedative that he'd like the girl to take but she hasn't let anyone even talk to her, let alone give her drugs. We decide to give it a crack.
Huh. Of course, once again the subtitles have given the game away here and we know her name is Talitha. There's a few ways to approach this situation, but we're going to follow the Paragon one where we get her to tell her story, slowly talking her down in the process. The batarian slavers have obviously made a mess of her head...
Quick refresher on the Colonist background we chose at the start of the game: Shepard was 16 and living on Mindoir when batarian slavers raided the place. Shepard's friends and relatives were all killed, but Shepard survived and was rescued by an Alliance patrol and went on to become the super-badass we know and love today.
Talitha, on the other hand, watched her parents get killed - pretty brutally, by the sounds of it:
This is the basic progression - we talk for a bit, then take a step forwards until we're close enough to resolve the situation. Grunka's degree in amateur psychiatry tells her that the best thing to do now would be to make the discussion about herself:
We take another step and go back to talking about Talitha. She tried to play dead but the batarians didn't buy it. It's also hinted that the batarians fitted the colonists they took as slaves with cranial implants to control them. Why all the xenophobes in the game are still hung up about the First Contact War and not batarians/this I have no idea.
Anywho, many years later Alliance marines rescued the slaves:
Wow. Just... wow. With that we're close enough to end this. We offer her the sedatives so she can be taken away to get better. Talitha takes them voluntarily.
That was the side quest specific to our Colonist background. For anyone who's interested in how the other ones play out:
When we left off, we were deciding whether we were going to kill the evil doctor or arrest him, and in the process deciding what kind of example we are going to set for Garrus. The overwhelming majority voted to kill him:
We do a quick bit of looting from the various lockers on the ship, then head back to the Normandy. I went down to the hold to try having another word with the crew, but nobody had anything new to say at this stage. So instead, we're going to head back to the Citadel to do a little shopping and knock off a few more side quests.
As soon as we exit the docking tube, this guy is waiting for us:
This, of course, suggests that a billion credits is still a huge sum of money in this universe and that a million is nothing to be sneezed at either. Remember that when we run ourselves up to the 9,999,999 credit cap for the second or third time later in the game
Anywho, turns out the Rear Admiral is here to make an inspection of the Normandy. We can refuse him, but we get to make more snide remarks afterwards if we humour him so we let him aboard. He returns soon enough:
The Rear Admiral has a few complaints, which we can address if we have a high enough Charm/Intimidate ranking (we do). He complains that the CIC (where we access the universe map) is too far away from the bow operators (like Joker). We tell him duh, that's what comms are for and besides, Grunka can yell pretty loud. He also belabours the point about the 120 billion it cost to build the Normandy's drive core.
The Rear Admiral's final complaint is about the crew makeup:
With that, he says he's off to make a report that won't be as negative as he initially planned, Kaidan pays us another hundred credits and we're finally on our way. We get into the elevator, but as soon as we get to the bottom we get this message:
The docking bay he's talking about is the one we just left - how exactly this situation developed there between us leaving the empty hangar bay in the only elevator that connects to it and us getting out of said elevator right here is beyond me. We'll go deal with it in a second though. First, there's this iconic little scene...
No, I don't know why we got 2900 credits for that either - maybe we stole Khalisah's lunch money after we punched her? Anywho, that was the infamous punching-a-reporter scene that lead rise to the myth that Shepard punches all reporters. How quickly people forget Emily Wong even exists. FWIW it's completely possible to end this discussion civilly... but where would the fun be in that?
Now, back up the elevator to deal with that hostage drama:
He's got a sedative that he'd like the girl to take but she hasn't let anyone even talk to her, let alone give her drugs. We decide to give it a crack.
Huh. Of course, once again the subtitles have given the game away here and we know her name is Talitha. There's a few ways to approach this situation, but we're going to follow the Paragon one where we get her to tell her story, slowly talking her down in the process. The batarian slavers have obviously made a mess of her head...
Quick refresher on the Colonist background we chose at the start of the game: Shepard was 16 and living on Mindoir when batarian slavers raided the place. Shepard's friends and relatives were all killed, but Shepard survived and was rescued by an Alliance patrol and went on to become the super-badass we know and love today.
Talitha, on the other hand, watched her parents get killed - pretty brutally, by the sounds of it:
This is the basic progression - we talk for a bit, then take a step forwards until we're close enough to resolve the situation. Grunka's degree in amateur psychiatry tells her that the best thing to do now would be to make the discussion about herself:
We take another step and go back to talking about Talitha. She tried to play dead but the batarians didn't buy it. It's also hinted that the batarians fitted the colonists they took as slaves with cranial implants to control them. Why all the xenophobes in the game are still hung up about the First Contact War and not batarians/this I have no idea.
Anywho, many years later Alliance marines rescued the slaves:
Wow. Just... wow. With that we're close enough to end this. We offer her the sedatives so she can be taken away to get better. Talitha takes them voluntarily.
That was the side quest specific to our Colonist background. For anyone who's interested in how the other ones play out:
Spacer: you run into a bum who claims to know Shepard's mother (who is still alive, and serving on a starship - something unique to this background) and shakes Shepard down for some loose change. You can give him the money, or not. Later you can go back to the Normandy and call your mother, who will confirm that the bum is actually a war hero suffering from PTSD because he was at Mindoir during the batarian raid. Shepard can then go back and give the bum more help... or not.
On a side note, you meet the guy in the Wards access corridoor of the Citadel and since there's almost no reason to go there, it's entirely possible you can miss out on this quest altogether.
Earthborn: outside Chora's Den you run into someone from a gang that Shepard used to be a member of back on Earth. He wants Shepard to use his/her influence to get another member of the gang released from a turian prison - otherwise they'll go public with details of Shepard's less-than-noble past. You can negotiate the prisoner's release, or not. If you don't, the guy from the gang will get uppity and say he's going to make good on his threat to reveal Shepard's past. You can either kill him, or Charm/Intimidate him into keeping his mouth shut.
On a side note, you meet the guy in the Wards access corridoor of the Citadel and since there's almost no reason to go there, it's entirely possible you can miss out on this quest altogether.
Earthborn: outside Chora's Den you run into someone from a gang that Shepard used to be a member of back on Earth. He wants Shepard to use his/her influence to get another member of the gang released from a turian prison - otherwise they'll go public with details of Shepard's less-than-noble past. You can negotiate the prisoner's release, or not. If you don't, the guy from the gang will get uppity and say he's going to make good on his threat to reveal Shepard's past. You can either kill him, or Charm/Intimidate him into keeping his mouth shut.
There's a few more things to do on the Citadel before we continue on:
Stone. Cold. Badass. I did mention we'd come here to go shopping, so we stop in at the C-Sec armory.
These Spectre Master Gear weapons are easily the best in the game, and they're about the only ones that you won't get as part of random item drops. The quartermaster on the Normandy sells them as well but we're here, so we'll pick up a few. How much better than the regular garbage, you ask? Let's have a look.
We also pick up a new suit of armour for Grunka before getting on our way. Remember that asari slaver we killed a while back, the one with the sister on the Citadel? Let's go talk to the sister. She's at the Worst Bar In The Citadel, near the embassies.
"Hmm. And I was all set to try to manipulate you into hunting her down for me. But I guess that won't be necessary now, will it?"
"Wait... you wanted your sister dead?"
"If people found out my sister was a criminal, I'd be considered a security risk. They'd revoke my clearance, or place me on administrative leave until she was apprehended."
"Oh, well when you put it THAT way..."
Nassana offers to give us some money for our trouble. We lean on her a little bit and she then gives us access to buy prototype asari weapon mods as well.
On the other side of the Presidium lake we find another headcase with a job for us:
"Word travels. Your name comes up in certain circles. Plus you look exactly like the person in that 'Spectre punches reporter' video that just went viral on the extranet."
"Oh. I should have punched the camera out first, right? Well, let's get this over with - what menial task would you like me to perform?"
"They're hiding on remote worlds, and I have the coordinates. You could do the galaxy a favour..."
Obviously there's more to this. Helena explains that she and the criminals used to "share interests in certain cooperative ventures", but her former partners have gone off the reservation and started doing stuff like selling red sand (a drug that gives the user a high AND temporary biotic powers) and slaves. We say we'll look into it, so she gives us coordinates for both of them, plus a third set to meet her at for a reward once her former partners are dead.
Next up we're going to settle a few arguments. The premise of the first one is so stupid that the developers actually poked fun at it in following games, and it begins when we walk past this couple and overhear them saying the following...
They're arguing over whether or not she should give her baby gene therapy, which has pros and cons. The stupid part is that if you talk to them, they'll basically let Shepard, a random passer-by, make the choice for them. FWIW I told them to just do whatever the mother wants to do, and that somehow netted me +9 Renegade points. Go figure.
Just across the bridge is a similar situation. But this one's a lot more fun:
"Why won't the hanar just do what it's told?"
Long story short, nobody is allowed to preach on behalf of a religion on the Citadel unless they buy a permit and do their preaching in certain designated zones. The Big Stupid Jellyfish / hanar basically revere the Protheans as gods, and refer to them as the Enkindlers. Naturally the BSJ doesn't think it needs a permit because it's not preaching, it's just "spreading the truth". Grunka decides to help the C-Sec officer out:
"The C-Sec officer requests that this one purchase an evangelical permit to spread the truth of then Enkindlers. The truth of the Enkindlers is universal. This one humbly believes that the truth should not be suppressed. Exacting payment as a means of imposing limits upon the truth is an abrogation of this one's religious freedom."
There's a whole background as to why the hanar talk funny and refer to themselves as 'this one' which you can read about <a href=http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Hanar>here if you're so inclined. Anywho, there's a bunch of ways we can handle this, with getting the C-Sec officer to back down at one end of the Spectrum and threatening the hanar to shut it up at the other end. Grunka shoots for somewhere in the middle:
"If I want people's respect, I just point my sidearm at them. But I guess that's not really an option for you, with your tentacles and stuff. So if you want people's respect, you have to follow the rules. Buy the permit, and stay out of here."
That clocked us up another +9 Renegade points. The C-Sec officer also gives us a small amount of omni-gel for some reason.
"Since you helped me get information on the crime syndicate, I've gotten a lot more backing from my publishers. I'm investigating traffic controller conditions now, and I wondered if you could help."
It turns out she's actually talking about Citadel air traffic controllers, who are required to work dangerously long hours or something. She wants us to plant a bug inside the control room, which is inside C-Sec headquarters. This is apparently something a civilian can't do.
That's Wrex's disembodied eyeball sitting on our shoulder, BTW. It was there for the entire second half of this conversation, and it was kind of disconcerting His NPC model is bigger than everyone else's and it causes him to get in the way of the camera from time to time.
Anywho, we agree to help her because it's either help her or get nothing. So it's off to C-Sec!
"Huh, here we are. Guys, do you remember walking through any metal detectors or guard checkpoints or anything on the way here?"
"No ma'am."
"Nope."
"And there's civilians wandering around all through C-Sec, right?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Uh huh."
*shakes head in dismay*
Easy as that, bug planted. On our way out we come across this rotund little fellow complaining to a C-Sec officer about something.
"My colleague is trying to kill me. And I thought we were friends."
"How do you know he wants you dead?"
"He's changed. He won't talk to me at work any more, and... he started following me. Yesterday, he followed me all the way home. Just waiting for a chance."
"Well that doesn't prove anything! Maybe he's planning a surprise party for you. Or maybe he's interested in you for other... *shudders* reasons that I can't believe I just contemplated. Whatever the case, I can see where this is headed so is there something I can do? Talk to your friend, maybe?"
Fun fact - by 2183, nine out of ten murders can apparently be prevented by simply asking the perpetrator nicely to please not do it. Grunka is smart and knows this, so she agrees to give it a try.
So it is. There's probably more to this story, and we'll find out what it is in a bit. First let's go get our reward from Emily Wong.
Decent loot for all of five seconds' work. Now remember way back several updates ago where we investigated that missing squad of marines who'd been lured into a thresher maw nest by a distress beacon? Let's pick that story back up:
This pose got Shepard nominated for Derpiest Spectre of the Year, BTW.
While we're resurrecting old plot threads with the Rear Admiral...
Surprise surprise, it was the same team that wound up dead in the thresher nest. That's where the conversation thread ends though.
Meeting with Chorban in the markets is next cab off the rank.
Long story short, Chorban and Jahleed work for a company that developed technology for medical scanners, and they stole it to develop the keeper scanner. The data was going to Jahleed to analyse, but he kept it for himself for reasons that aren't really explained. We say we'll talk to Jahleed about it.
Of course, it wouldn't be a visit to the Citadel if we didn't stop past this fruit loop:
*facepalm* "I straight out admit it on camera, then punch a reporter for it, and it's still just a rumour? Geez, Conrad, what's a girl gotta do..."
"Hey, could I get your picture?"
*mutters to Wrex and Kaidan* "Well this just took an express train to Creepyville... *turns back* Sure. No problem."
"What the hell is wrong with that guy?!?"
"I honestly don't know - they're probably just trying to set up a joke for later in the series that won't quite work and will break continuity for lots of players as a result of a coding bug."
Alright, let's wrap this up. Jahleed is our last loose end before we can take off again.
I like how Wrex takes on the menacing badass role so naturally in these conversations
Jahleed maintains he was afraid Chorban was going to kill him to get the data, for reasons that aren't really explained. But when he finds out Grunka is doing the scanning he decides everything is OK again... again, for reasns that aren't really explained. This whole side quest is a bit of a pile of dumb, really. It plays out a bit differently if you talk to Jahleed before Chorban, and you can choose to end it a few different ways (killing Chorban and extorting Jahleed, for example) but the whole Chorban/Jahleed disagreement still doesn't make any sense.
Stone. Cold. Badass. I did mention we'd come here to go shopping, so we stop in at the C-Sec armory.
These Spectre Master Gear weapons are easily the best in the game, and they're about the only ones that you won't get as part of random item drops. The quartermaster on the Normandy sells them as well but we're here, so we'll pick up a few. How much better than the regular garbage, you ask? Let's have a look.
We also pick up a new suit of armour for Grunka before getting on our way. Remember that asari slaver we killed a while back, the one with the sister on the Citadel? Let's go talk to the sister. She's at the Worst Bar In The Citadel, near the embassies.
Nassana offers to give us some money for our trouble. We lean on her a little bit and she then gives us access to buy prototype asari weapon mods as well.
On the other side of the Presidium lake we find another headcase with a job for us:
Obviously there's more to this. Helena explains that she and the criminals used to "share interests in certain cooperative ventures", but her former partners have gone off the reservation and started doing stuff like selling red sand (a drug that gives the user a high AND temporary biotic powers) and slaves. We say we'll look into it, so she gives us coordinates for both of them, plus a third set to meet her at for a reward once her former partners are dead.
Next up we're going to settle a few arguments. The premise of the first one is so stupid that the developers actually poked fun at it in following games, and it begins when we walk past this couple and overhear them saying the following...
They're arguing over whether or not she should give her baby gene therapy, which has pros and cons. The stupid part is that if you talk to them, they'll basically let Shepard, a random passer-by, make the choice for them. FWIW I told them to just do whatever the mother wants to do, and that somehow netted me +9 Renegade points. Go figure.
Just across the bridge is a similar situation. But this one's a lot more fun:
Long story short, nobody is allowed to preach on behalf of a religion on the Citadel unless they buy a permit and do their preaching in certain designated zones. The Big Stupid Jellyfish / hanar basically revere the Protheans as gods, and refer to them as the Enkindlers. Naturally the BSJ doesn't think it needs a permit because it's not preaching, it's just "spreading the truth". Grunka decides to help the C-Sec officer out:
There's a whole background as to why the hanar talk funny and refer to themselves as 'this one' which you can read about <a href=http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Hanar>here if you're so inclined. Anywho, there's a bunch of ways we can handle this, with getting the C-Sec officer to back down at one end of the Spectrum and threatening the hanar to shut it up at the other end. Grunka shoots for somewhere in the middle:
That clocked us up another +9 Renegade points. The C-Sec officer also gives us a small amount of omni-gel for some reason.
It turns out she's actually talking about Citadel air traffic controllers, who are required to work dangerously long hours or something. She wants us to plant a bug inside the control room, which is inside C-Sec headquarters. This is apparently something a civilian can't do.
That's Wrex's disembodied eyeball sitting on our shoulder, BTW. It was there for the entire second half of this conversation, and it was kind of disconcerting
His NPC model is bigger than everyone else's and it causes him to get in the way of the camera from time to time.Anywho, we agree to help her because it's either help her or get nothing. So it's off to C-Sec!
Easy as that, bug planted. On our way out we come across this rotund little fellow complaining to a C-Sec officer about something.
Fun fact - by 2183, nine out of ten murders can apparently be prevented by simply asking the perpetrator nicely to please not do it. Grunka is smart and knows this, so she agrees to give it a try.
So it is. There's probably more to this story, and we'll find out what it is in a bit. First let's go get our reward from Emily Wong.
Decent loot for all of five seconds' work. Now remember way back several updates ago where we investigated that missing squad of marines who'd been lured into a thresher maw nest by a distress beacon? Let's pick that story back up:
This pose got Shepard nominated for Derpiest Spectre of the Year, BTW.
While we're resurrecting old plot threads with the Rear Admiral...
Surprise surprise, it was the same team that wound up dead in the thresher nest. That's where the conversation thread ends though.
Meeting with Chorban in the markets is next cab off the rank.
Long story short, Chorban and Jahleed work for a company that developed technology for medical scanners, and they stole it to develop the keeper scanner. The data was going to Jahleed to analyse, but he kept it for himself for reasons that aren't really explained. We say we'll talk to Jahleed about it.
Of course, it wouldn't be a visit to the Citadel if we didn't stop past this fruit loop:
Alright, let's wrap this up. Jahleed is our last loose end before we can take off again.
I like how Wrex takes on the menacing badass role so naturally in these conversations
Jahleed maintains he was afraid Chorban was going to kill him to get the data, for reasons that aren't really explained. But when he finds out Grunka is doing the scanning he decides everything is OK again... again, for reasns that aren't really explained. This whole side quest is a bit of a pile of dumb, really. It plays out a bit differently if you talk to Jahleed before Chorban, and you can choose to end it a few different ways (killing Chorban and extorting Jahleed, for example) but the whole Chorban/Jahleed disagreement still doesn't make any sense.
And with that, our second visit to the Citadel is over. Grunka heads back to the Normandy to fly off towards the next update, which I'm thinking will be one of the two DLC packs for the game.
Just FYI, updates will continue to be sporadic for a while as my wife is due to give birth to our first child any day now. If you guys are happy with a bit of a gap between each update though, we'll get there eventually. As always, thanks for reading
