Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Arrivial_Harbinger_Escaping_Project_Base

Mass Effect 2

Finally Shepard manages to activate the final Cooling Controller and abort the reactor meltdown.

She finally comes face-to-face with Dr. Amanda Kenson... or whatever is left of her. She also has a detonator in her hand... and despite Shepard's efforts, Kenson sets it off.

Shepard is flung to the floor by the blast. When she comes round, the collision of the Project Base with the Mass Relay is imminent... with the warning going off in her ears as she gets herself together again. She tries to contact Joker, but to no avail - the systems are down and that means no communications.

The Countdown Clock shows less than 30 minutes left, so after querying the VI for evacuation details, Shepard heads off up to see 

if she can find herself a way off this suicide asteroid.

When she gets out to the top level, there are still more guards between her and the comms tower... including a damn YMIR mech.  She manages to get rid of it, and as she makes her way over to the tower, she sees just how close the Mass Rely is and panics just enough to lose the tower's location.

Finally finding it, she radios in Joker. But before she gets an answer... she sees something she thought she would not see again... a hologram communication with an actual Reaper.

It turns out the Reaper wants to argue with her, so she gives him one. The Reapers clearly had very little concept of how humans think... believing they would do nothing but cower before them. With that thought still intact in whatever kind of mind it has, the Reaper then vanishes again... leaving Normandy to signal her for incoming pickup.

She comes in the main door and straight into the cockpit to Joker, relieved to see him at the helm. Immediately, the Normandy hits the relay moments before it is destroyed... taking along the entire star system and 300,000 lives along with it. Shepard watches on the star map as it disappears... knowing there was nothing more that could possibly have been done given the situation she was put into.

Finally, she has to face up to Admiral Hackett himself, standing on her ship - a Cerberus ship - wondering what in the entire galaxy happened out there.

Shepard doesn't shy away... she respects the Admiral too much - enough to have taken the job in the first place. She tells him the truth about his friend. He questions her, questions her motives, questions what happened... but then when it comes down to it, it turns out he had her back the entire time.

To attempt to soothe the entire galaxy regarding what happened, especially the Batarians and the Alliance, Hackett makes Shepard take an oath for him... to hand over the Normandy, her crew, and herself to the Alliance. the underlying message was she was still Alliance, still one of them, and still therefore expected in her dress blues at a court martial for her actions.

Despite the 300,000 losses, Shepard knew she had no other choice. This also meant she was still part of the Alliance and they had not turned their backs on her, even if it did mean she had to stand trial. They could have just as easily washed their hands of her, since she had technically been declared dead.

So back she would go... and the consequences could be what they may.

[Leads into ME3]

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Arrivial_Activate_Project-Stopping_Amanda_Kenson

Mass Effect 2

Commander Shepard chooses to activate the Project, but with just over one hour to go. When she does so, she has to learn the chilling truth... that doing so will undoubtedly cost the lives of nearly 305,000 Batarians. Horrified, Shepard can barely make herself do it... but knowing this would save billions, she was down to playing maths.

She manages to send a warning to the Batarians to evacuate just before Dr Amanda Kenson appears over the comms and vid links to block her transmission. Shepard gets the VI to locate her, then she takes off after her.

When she finds her, Shepard realises she's completely lost it. Kenson escapes, leaving Shepard to fight off her cronies. However, Shep relentlessly follows her, working to stabilise the reactor core that Kenson has disabled. She must use Cooling Controls to do so.

Shep doggedly keeps pressing ahead, pushing through the seemingly endless parade of indoctrinated guards at the facility. No matter what the cost to her, Kenson was going to be stopped and the Project was going to be successful.


~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Arrivial_Lab_Escape

Mass Effect 2

Stuck in the lab, Shepard has to think on her feet as to what she can do to get out of here. She doesn't know where she is or how long she's been out. Showing great innovation, she breaks her way out with the help of a mech device, which then allows her access to the locker where they had put all her armour and weapons.

She also gets a terrible reality-check - she sees the countdown clock and realises she has been unconscious for two days (although still marginally better than being dead for two years...) and now there's only just over an hour left until the Project fails and the Reapers arrive.

Back to herself again, she starts fighting her way through the indoctrinated Guards at Project Base... culminating in what will be one of the most horrible decisions that she has to make in her life.


~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Arrivial_Project_Base

Mass Effect 2

Shepard lands at Project Base, at  Arcturus Station, with Dr Kenson... and is shown the cold reality of something she had never wanted to see - proof the Reapers were coming. In just two days.

The Project was supposed to destroy the Mass Relay they were planning on entering through... and the proof was within the Project Base.

Shepard takes a moment to collect herself after thart chilling news, then spends some time hunting around the shuttle area. She needed to see what this place was really about - all of it.

Unfortunately, it isn't too long until she finds out the horrifying the truth... when Dr Kenson introduces the Reaper artefact that is her "source" for the Reaper invasion as "Object Rho"... and Shep sees that it's sitting out in the open. She finds out that Kenson received visions from it, and it indoctrinated her. Then as Shepard stands there, it attacks her.

A moment later, Dr Kenson is standing over her, telling her the Project cannot commence - which doesn't help her much as it fuels Shepard to leap into action to survive an onslaught of Project Guards also indoctrinated and intent on stopping her.

A Super-soldier to the end, Shepard survives the human attacks... but then is taken out again by the Reaper artefact.

Waking up again, she comes to in another lab... Deja vous all over again from her resurrection - something that doesn't fill her with much hope, given what she had to do to survive that ordeal.


~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Arrivial_Prison_Break

Mass Effect 2

Shepard and Dr Amanda finally make their escape by eventually finding their way out by getting themselves to a shuttle and flying it away, after one long hard battle against the guards trying to stop them.

Once on the shuttle, Dr Kenson tells Shepard the real reason she was in Batarian space... it was a chilling story. She could also see why the Batarians would be rather cross about it...


~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Arrivial_Amanda_Kenson

Mass Effect 2

After taking out a few more guards, Shepard finally finds Dr. Amanda Kenson. She frees her, then the two of them make their escape, taking on the prison guards.

Dr. Benson manages to override the security controls for them to get out of there, whilst Shep keeps the waves of guards off her whilst she's doing it. Once completed, they can make their way out to the shuttle bay.


~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Arrivial_Hackett_Rescue_Mission

Mass Effect 2

Admiral Hackett contacts Commander Shepard to undertake a secret [effectively black-ops] mission into Batarian territories to retrieve a personal friend and Alliance operative,  Dr. Amanda Kenson.

He contacts her via her system, which she takes in private up in her cabin, using the Ship cabinet in there as her monitor. She reluctantly agrees to help him - because she has to go in alone. No squad, no backup, no one.

Shepard prepares and sets her course for the Viper Nebula. In the Bahak system, they locate their planet: Aratoht.

Now they're in Batarian space, and the Batarian Hegemony does not take kindly to Alliance vessels intruding... Despite the SR-2 being a Cerberus vessel, it is based on the Normandy SR-1, obviously the most famous Alliance frigate, and so would be assumed hostile. Luckily, they also have the best stealth systems, so Shep is deposited alone onto the planet, left to go and find the missing agent.


~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Normandy_Joker_Saves_Normandy

Mass Effect 2

EDI sends Shepard out on her next mission whilst waiting for the Reaper IFF to be ready. She wants a more thorough analysis of it, concerned about it, but Shep is a little concerned about the time it's taking.

On Miranda's suggestion, Shep takes all her teammates on the shuttle to the next mission... which unfortunately turns out to be the worst decision ever...


~Stop The Collectors~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Heretic_Station_Destroying_Heretics

Mass Effect 2

Shepard approaches the Geth Terminal... the time is now, and she must make her choice. The Geth are still divided... and so she chooses destruction. Once Legion found out that they had been spying on the Geth, it sealed their fates. If they could do that, they were capable of so much more under Reaper command. They had to go.

As the runtime downloads, Shepard and her team defend their position from the un-abating influx of Heretics. 

Once they're done with them, Legion asks her one final time what to do. It tells her, in other words, that the Geth [essentially] trust her. She had fought the Heretics... she knew them better than anyone.

So she only had one answer for him... to blow them up.

Unfortunately, that also meant they had just three minutes to get the hell out of there before it blew up. They make it out with a minute to spare, and it explodes as they leave the system.

And if only the headache only ended there. Once back on the ship, Joker lets her know Tali had gone for "a chat" with Legion... which apparently is pilot code for holding him at gunpoint. Shepard hears them both out and manages to calm the situation, brokering a compromise between them.


~Legion: A House Divided [P.3]~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Heretic_Station_Heretic_Spyware

Mass Effect 2

Shepard and her team continue their battle through the Heretic Station, facing more and more resistance as the keep going.

The server room is found - reams and reams of processors, for thousands upon thousands of Heretics... the central database of all Heretics. Legion scans through them and finds something unnerving, even to it...

The Heretics had runtimes within the Geth networks... In organic terms, they had been spying on them. Betrayed them. This gives Legion pause... and he does not understand why they had been spying. Somehow the networks had become enemies... the Heretics had, in a way, individualised and separated from the Geth.

Regardless, even this startling revelation wasn't enough to shift consensus to a majority vote. So Shepard moves on... ready to make the decision herself.


~Legion: A House Divided [P.3]~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Heretic_Station_Re-Writing_Dilema

Mass Effect 2

The team move onward inside the seemingly-dormant Heretic Station... Until they set them off. Fighting the Heretics wasn't too difficult. Once all were down, Shepard finds the Geth Hub and wonders why the Heretics were all connected to them... and finds out they're basically a unified network. One "mind" with multiple Input/Output units.

She now understands a little better why Legion and its Geth are divided over what to do about them - they are also part of that platform... despite having differing opinions on the Reapers. They are not too enthusiastic about attacking what is essentially a part of themselves in any way, let alone able to agree on precisely how. 


~Legion: A House Divided [P.2]~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Heretic_Station_Boarding-Network_Divided

Mass Effect 2

Shepard heads for the Geth/Heretics Station in The Sea of Storms system. Legion advises Joker on the approach, and when its back is turned, Shep finds Joker poking fun and gives him The Look. Her surrogate baby brother rolls his eyes and stops... then takes them in.

The team enter without issue. Then Legion poses a consideration for her - she now has the choice to either destroy the Heretics... or re-write their code. In organic terms, to indoctrinate or brainwash them into believing something different. 

Shepard and Garrus are uncomfortable with the idea of brainwashing an entire set of anything, even if they were AI units of Geth Heretics. It was unethical and wrong... even more wrong than destroying them. At least that was honest. It was a dilemma of conscience, and a tough one.

She carries on, not quite knowing what to do... to destroy an entire set of... Heretics, or to re-write their programming to prevent them worshipping the Reapers...


~Legion: A House Divided [P.1]~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Shepard heads for the Geth/Heretics Station in The Sea of Storms system. Legion advises Joker on the approach, and when its back is turned, Shep finds Joker poking fun and gives him The Look. Her surrogate baby brother rolls his eyes and stops... then takes them in.

The team enter without issue. Then Legion poses a consideration for her - she now has the choice to either destroy the Heretics... or re-write their code. In organic terms, to indoctrinate or brainwash them into believing something different.

Shepard and Garrus are uncomfortable with the idea of brainwashing an entire set of anything, even if they were AI units of Geth Heretics. It was unethical and wrong... even more wrong than destroying them. At least that was honest. It was a dilemma of conscience, and a tough one.

She carries on, not quite knowing what to do... to destroy an entire set of... Heretics, or to re-write their programming to prevent them worshipping the Reapers...


~Legion: A House Divided [P.1]~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Derelict_Reaper[alt]_Escape_with_Legion

Mass Effect 2

Commander Shepard and her team prepare to face whatever is inside the Mass Effect Core chamber of the Derelict Reaper. The IFF sits next to a console... probably being investigated by the Cerberus Team before they were indoctrinated.

Inside the chamber, Shepard enters to see the speaking Geth being attacked by husks as it attempts to extract data from the Reaper. Their data. However, the Geth is overwhelmed by the husks and is "knocked out" - deactivated - by a brutal attack by one of them.

Knowing they were coming for them next, Shep, Tali and Jack dive right into attacking the insurmountable waves of Husks coming right at them as if out of nowhere. They keep the waves at bay, taking downtime between them to attack the opened Reaper Core with the missile launcher. And the submachine gun. And her trusty Viper Sniper.

They stay alive long enough to destroy the core - then they scoop up the Geth and make a run for it before the Reaper falls. 

Back aboard the Normandy, Shep has to listen to Miranda and Jacob fight over what do to with their new toy. The two of them together were more like bickering children than her second-in-command and Armour Specialist. Given she had to play Mother in the middle of it all, Shepard made the choice to reactivate it and find out what it wanted and why he was familiar with her - and especially because it had N7 armour.


~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840 x 2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p/60fps playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Derelict_Reaper[alt]_Speaking_Geth

Mass Effect 2

Shepard continues into the next chamber of the Derelict Reaper... but is met with the sight of a Geth... with a sniper rifle... saving her life. He addresses her: "Shepard, Commander"... then vanishes.

Stunned, the three of them can't work out what is going on, why it is talking to them, or why it actually went to save her - they're usually always trying to kill her...

But there isn't much time to contemplate it - a new hoard of husks appear, along with some other Reaper creepy-freaky things that must be dealt with... without shuddering. 



~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Deralict_Reaper[alt]_Dragon's_Teeth

Mass Effect 2

The team face off with a few more creepy-freaky husks, and contend with one of their hulking and vile Scions as well.

Once they're dealt with, Shep comes across something she really didn't want to see... Dragon's Teeth. The Geth's husk-making spikes on Eden Prime. There was no longer any question as to just where the Cerberus Science team had "vanished" to now... In fact, some were even still on them. An alter of some kind. Perhaps worshipping the Reaper... they were clearly being indoctrinated.

Sickened at the sight, and at the fact the Illusive Man must have known such a thing might inevitably occur, and he did it anyway. Played with their lives as if they were dispensable coffee-cups... just as how he was playing with her.

But she was there to save humans from the Collector threat, and that was what she must focus on... and to do that she needed this damned IFF.


~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Deralict_Reaper[alt]_

Mass Effect 2

Commander Shepard takes a team to board the Derelict Reaper to find the Reaper IFF on board and to find out what happened to the Cerberus Science Team.

She takes Jack and Tali, in keeping with retaining a strong biotic/tech front, complimenting her own abilities, which should keep most possible Reaper threats at bay.

Cerberus had a science team on there, and they stopped reporting in - now Shep and her team are going in to face what forced them to stop. Vid logs shows disturbing issues being experienced by them. There was now little question about why the stopped calling in.

Shep feels a chill of familiarity... Cerberus should have known better...



~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Aura'anna-Aequitas_Abandoned_Mine

Mass Effect 2

After seeing Project Overlord, feeling that disgust and nauseating trauma, Shepard heads straight to the bar at the first opportunity and pours herself a very big cocktail of whatever the hell that coloured stuff was.

Once sobered, she heads to Samara for some insightful wisdom... and instead finds deep and unwavering friendship from her. Buoyed, she heads for Grunt... her very own baby Krogan... being his own unique very weird self... apparently thinking of very bad dismemberment of Turians was a Happy Place for him...

A little brittle from seeing Overlord, she over-reacts slightly, warning him off Garrus... her Garrus. Of course, Garrus was part of the Normandy Clan, so of course he wasn't harbouring thoughts of harming him... She really needs to get some sleep.

Instead, she checks on the others. Naturally, Jack is the little ray of sunshine she always is, so all was well there. Then she found out Tali was sick... or allergic... or something. But she also reached out with a token of absolute friendship - and after everything they had already been through, it was more than welcome. Tali was becoming one of her closest friends, which was especially welcome since Liara was missing.

Mordin heard from his favourite nephew, which made him happy... or as close to happy as Salarians can get. Jacob was pretty encouraged when she spoke to him too, and was confident the crew was as good as it could get - which she was very relieved to hear. Without Kaidan she had worried she wouldn't have a second opinion on such matters, but luckily Jacob was just as calm and sensible, able to make good judgements and see the bigger picture. Joker concurred when she spoke to him about Normandy.

It seemed now that both ship and crew were pretty ready to go and hit the Collectors where it hurt. They were as strong as they could possibly get, and she thought they stood as good chance. Normandy was ready and the people were strong and focused...

Very soon it would be time to go.


~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Overlord_Saving_David

Mass Effect 2

Shepard faces down Dr. Gavin Archer and tells him David was going to Grissom Academy to be saved. She contacts Joker to ask him to notify Grissom that someone was on their way to them.

As she leaves, David is crying with tragedy, and hopefully with some relief... His ordeal is finally over.

~ "The Square Root of 906.01 = 30.1.... " ~  

~Project Overlord P.16~


~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Overlord_Atlas_Station_Augmented_Reality

Mass Effect 2

As Shepard grounds herself and gives herself a moment's pause, she realises that the VI has infiltrated her cybernetic implants via her omni-tool and left her in a world of a form of Augmented Reality... With the VI's programmed holograms layered over of the "real" world.

She has to fight the odd Geth lying around, but it's nothing too difficult to handle. But what does catch her attention is the images of AR vids acted out within the labs she passes through. The VI shows her images of people - of Dr Gavin Archer, of David Archer, of David talking to a Geth unit. Of Dr Archer considering with others the possibility of David speaking and "interfacing" with the Geth. She is shows other AR "vids" of the Archer brothers as time went on. How David was becoming more and more upset. Was in pain. She saw the progression of this nightmare, and it was a little chilling to see it in progress as it happened...

As time went on, as she saw more she realised the VI seemed to be trying to communicate with her. It shows her "its" - or rather, David's,  own memories of what happened to him. How David had been used to first translate, then infiltrate, the Geth. Whatever went wrong after that, it was beyond destructive, given David's response to it.

Quite clearly could not take it anymore and went rogue - constantly begging through interfaces, "please make it stop!". In an act of defiance, it was now attempting to upload his program into the extranet, something which Shepard has to stop... But now she's also wondering what else she has to stop as well.

Finally making it to the end - to the final fight with David - with the VI - to prevent the upload of the data packets, Shepard battles with the VI as well as Geth it was activating and summoning to stop her. The face of the Green VI - tha avatar of what David now was - appeared as it fought stubbornly with her, desoerately trying to push those packets out. Shepard destroys each connection he makes, severs all that he attempts to upload with. She battles to take down his VI Core until all its aromour is destroyed... and explodes.

What she sees in its place is... horrifying. Defies belief. Breaks her heart for the poor man that was suspended and tortured before her. Struggling with her anger, her disgust, she confronts Dr Archer. With what has happened with David, with the corpses of all that had been killed during his backlash. All for ambition.

Dr Archer wants to take care of David, but Shep insists on taking him away with her. When Dr Archer then tries to shoot Shep, she avoids the shots and pistol-whips him in a fit of anger. (...to be continued...)

~ "The Square Root of 906.01 = 30.1.... " ~  

~Project Overlord P.15~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Overlord_Atlas_Station

Mass Effect 2

Shepard finds that the elevator at the lab has been redesigned by the VI - and she now has to find a way around it. Resetting it in just the right way, at just the right place, she manages to manipulate it to work.

But there's another scream from the VI and Geth walk in from the elevator. A fierce but short-lived battle commences, freeing the elevator for use. However, the VI screams again and takes its chance to sabotage it... and dumps her at a deserted lab of Geth units.

Another of Dr Archer's voice logs is playing in the background as she enters the lab, filled with inactive Geth units. A hacked console gives her access to credits she could dearly do with... Call it compensation for what Archer and Illusive Man are putting her through here.

Finally, she makes her way out and tries to get into the next lab. However, the VI takes control and moves the damn door lock over the walls and onto a different lab instead... which is rather an unsettling thing to see.

More bodies litter the ground. It's clear that she can now be certain everyone in here is dead and there are no survivors. Amazingly, the VI seems to have lead her directly to the VI Server Console... A move she did not actually expect. But she is suspicious... This creature is now part human, has a savant's mind inside it. Nothing is left to chance... and if it has lead her here it is because it has some other goal in mind than the one she has in hers.

When the entire world around her suddenly vanishes, and she realises she is being taken over by the VI itself, her suspicions are founded. The VI manages to hack her - has found a way of infiltrating her cybernetic implants - and takes control of her.

The VI leads her out of the server room... bringing her into a world of Virtual Reality, watching some people walking away, following them until they disappear behind a door... Leaving her alone in what she first assumes to be a strange VR world she cannot truly comprehend.

She guesses... she is now seeing through the eyes of the VI.


~Project Overlord P.14~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Overlord_Atlas_Station

Mass Effect 2

Shepard keeps on flying about until she finds Atlas Station. Eventually.

She takes Tali and Miranda into the station. It's deserted, except for the scattered corpses of the Cerberus crew that worked there, lying bloodied and strewn... even broken.

Dr Gavin Archer comes back over the comms to tell them he's found the "VI" is attempting to upload his program from Atlas. He wants her to get to the core to stop it.

As Shepard continues into the station, past more bodies littering the place, she finds the place a complete mess. Destroyed. What had gone one here... the massacre... it had been brutal. Geth "corpses" were also in the hallways - people had been attempting to save themselves. They must have been terrified out of their minds as each of them was so brutally taken down.

In a window that she passed, the green VI screamed at her. More destruction lay in the rooms she entered. Then she headed for the elevator in the only lab it would grant her access to... It didn't take a genius to gather what lay on the other side of those doors was going to be a trap.


~Project Overlord P.13~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Overlord_Prometheus_Station_Escape-2

Mass Effect 2

Shepard and her team continue in their battle to escape Prometheus Station, fighting through the Geth the green "VI" activated to stop them.

It culminates in facing down the Geth Prime that bad been in some sort of stasis when they entered. They battle the Prime and the other Geth until they are victorious, then finally they are free.

The door opens and they are all so relieved to get outside. Then they see the hovercraft...

Perhaps death would have been preferable, after all. Shepard was about to get driving the thing again...


~Project Overlord P.11~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p/60fps playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Overlord_Prometheus_Station_Escape

Mass Effect 2

Shepard successfully manipulates the floor panels to access the Override switch at Prometheus Station. The green "VI" screams in her face again, and clearly activates every single one of the Geth units on board the dropship.

Shep, Miranda and Tali battle their way through the Geth troops, fighting to escape before the VI manages to stop them.


~Project Overlord P.10~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Aura'anna-Reaper_IFF-Deralict_Reaper_Saving_Legion

Mass Effect 2

Commander Shepard and her team prepare to make their way to the Mass Effect Core of the Deralict Reaper to obtain as much data as possible and destroy it.

On their way they discover the IFF required.

Opening the door into the Mass Effect chamber, they are surprised to see the sniper Geth already there, extracting data they require. Just as its finishing up though, it's taken down by the husks in there. Shepard and her team immediately attacks the Reaper forces, finally breaking the Mass Effect Core and leaving the Derelict Reaper with the deactivated Geth unit.

Back aboard the Normandy, Shepard listens to Miranda and Jacob argue what to do with their new... "toy". In the end, though, the choice is up to Shepard.

And she wants to meet it.


~ Reaper IFF / Derelict Reaper [P.5]~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Aura'anna-Reaper_IFF-Deralict_Reaper_Enemy_Fire

Mass Effect 2

Continuing the push into taking this ship, Shepard, Tali and Garrus keep on fighting through the waves upon waves of Husks, making their way forward inch by inch as they cleared the place of Reaper forces.

They keep holding up under enemy fire, dealing with more Husks than ever before, and two more Reaper Scions.

When it's finally over, they take a breath before heading for the Mass Effect core and saving themselves whilst destroying the ship.


~ Reaper IFF / Derelict Reaper [P.4]~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Aura'anna-Reaper_IFF-Deralict_Reaper_Legion

Mass Effect 2

Through the next door... Shepard sees something she never thought would see.

A Geth stands over them. A sniper rifle in its hand. Its already shot one Reaper Husk behind her. Then he shoots two more. She looks at it and it speaks her name. It has N7 armour... Then it disappears.

Waves of Reaper Husks start flowing over onto their platform and the team battles hard to regain some control and take them all out. Still reeling a little from seeing the Geth, Shepard is a little on the back-foot, but they are soon dealt with. Until the next lot turns up.

The team continues to fight their way through the Reaper forces, through the ship. One way or another they were getting through this.



~ Reaper IFF / Derelict Reaper [P.3]~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Aura'anna-Reaper_IFF-Derelict_Reaper_Truth

Mass Effect 2

The Ground Team is cut off from the Normandy... EDI offers them the way to the Mass Effect Core of the Deralict Reaper and the scientist team's research data. From there they carry on into

From what they can see - the bodies, the CCTV feeds - it doesn't take much to guess what happened to the research team... They were indoctrinated by the Reaper, then left to kill each other, themselves, or clearly be turned into husks... judging  by the amount that suddenly start attacking them from below - and what they see next.

Pushing forward they find more husks, more vids of indoctrination, and also a Reaper Scion. Somewhere on the ship, there is also a rogue sniper, which is even more confusing... What is worse, after they clear the space on this level, they see them... The Spikes. The Dragon's Teeth. The Husk Makers. Shepard feels a knot in her stomach tightening. This proves the Reapers and thus Sovereign - was always behind everything they fought two years ago.

Garrus, however,  remains cheerful about being back in the thick of it with Shepard fighting husks again.


~ Reaper IFF / Derelict Reaper [P.2]~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Aura'anna-Reaper_IFF-Boarding_Deralict_Reaper

Mass Effect 2

Commander Shepard takes a team to board the Derelict Reaper to find the Reaper IFF it is holding that they require. Cerberus had a science team on there, and they stopped reporting in - now Shep and her team are going in to face what forced them to stop.

Garrus, quite naturally, is elated to be reliving their glory-days of facing down Reapers, "just like old times..."


~ Reaper IFF / Derelict Reaper [P.1]~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K resolution ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Aura'anna-Normandy_Legion

Mass Effect 2

Two things came from the Reaper they boarded... the first was the IFF they were after. The second was a broken Geth unit overcome by Husks.

Commander Shepard takes her chance and activates the Geth they brought aboard the ship from the Reaper. What the Geth unit has to say... it breaks everything they ever assumed or believed about these... things.

Now she knows for certain - nothing ever is what it seems.


~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K specs ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Normandy_Serrice_Ice_Brandy

Mass Effect 2

Commander Shepard visits Dr Chakwas with her Serrice Ice Brandy.


~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K specs ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Normandy_Serrice_Ice_Brandy

Mass Effect 2

Commander Shepard visits Dr Chakwas with her Serrice Ice Brandy.


~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K specs ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Aura'anna-Normandy_Crew_Mordin_Advice

Mass Effect 2

The Commander visits the crew to catch up:

Jack, Grunt, Thane, and Kasumi... then she also attempts to drink some of the bar dry.

She also visits Garrus, who definitely looks like he is both very relieved and happy to know Shepard really wants something to happen between them as much as he does. Afterwards, a visit to Mordin proves interesting when he offers advice on how to deal with her... situation... with Garrus.


~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K specs ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Ari'iaana-Normandy_Tali_After_Alarei

Mass Effect 2

Shepard speaks to Tali about what had happened on board the Rayya and Aldarei.


~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K specs ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Aura'anna-Tali: Treason_The_Verdict

Mass Effect 2

Back on board the Rayya, Tali must now face the Admiralty Board again and find out her verdict. They walk into the Quarians already having lost hope about their safety, so they hurry quickly to the Conclave to show they are still alive and well.

Shepard lets them know that the Alarei is safe to return... then gives them an earful about some home truths for them. Addressing the entire conclave, she vehemently comes to Tali's defence, accusing them and pointing out how this was really about the upcoming planned Geth war, how Tali was the best amongst them, a Geth expert who had showed her allegiance and loyalty to fighting the Geth, not creating them.

After the verdict, Tali thanks Shepard for being on her side, for being there for her... and for yelling at the Quarians, which she enjoyed. Suddenly, being called Tali'Zorah vas Normandy wasn't so bad after all... and she follows her "Captain" back "home".

Just before they leave, they catch up with a few people to say goodbye - Tali clearly will not be returning to the Fleet now she has been deemed the responsibility of their precious Normandy.


~ Tali: Treason P.6 ~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K specs ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Aura'anna-Tali: Treason_Finding_The_Truth

Mass Effect 2

Shepard, Tali and Miranda continue to push through the Geth on the Alarei. The death toll around them, where bodies have already fallen and perished, is growing. None on board seem to have survived. Not even Tali's father.

He is found lying on the bottom of a stairwell. He has a recorded message for his daughter... the truth that she did not want to hear. All done for her. In her name...

Shep gives her a hug and somehow Tali manages to move on and continue. In the next and final room, a towering Geth Prime and his minions control the space already. The team ready themselves and face up to them, hitting them with all they've got.

Finally, Shepard manages to shoot enough frozen bullets into the thing to freeze it inside an out. One more bullet turns the Prime into shattered shards of ice... and finally the Alarei is theirs.

Tali finds the console in the room her father mentioned in one of the recordings. It's not what she wants to hear... not only the truth, but implicating her as his inspiration for undertaking this terrible experiment. She is shaken and upset at it... but she's not willing to sully his name, to have it struck from the records, to have him die all over again. She makes the decision that she does not want to let this go public, that she would rather be exiled. She has no control over what Shep decides to do in the end, but she makes it clear what her own choice would be.

Returned to the Rayya, Tali now must await her fate, sitting in Shepard's hands.


~ Tali: Treason P.5 ~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K specs ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Aura'anna-Tali: Treason_Boarding_Alarai

Mass Effect 2

Shepard, Tali and Miranda leave the Rayya and board the Alarei. It is as Shepard had expected it: Bodies strewn about, the dead Quarians left where they had fallen. The Geth themselves attack immediately, and are just as Shep remembered them - and were tough to kill off.

The team finds some spare parts in the Med Bay that Tali goes to inspect. The salvage lying there seems harmless - disabled and apparently unable to get online.Tali explains how she got them to her father... and how she went to quite extreme lengths to ensure that her father was given nothing that could get back online and reactivate itself.

This unfortunately leads to one rather chilling conclusion, and one that Tali does not wish to face... Only one other reason for the Geth to be activated and effectively engaged a coup of the ship. She did not want to believe the man she had looked up to and loved could have done something so reckless. That the great Admiral Rael'Zorah could have actually had a hand in reactivating those Geth.


~ Tali: Treason P.4 ~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K specs ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Aura'anna-Tali: Treason_Facing_The_Board[P.2]

Mass Effect 2

Tali and Shepard speak with Admiran Raan about Tali and her father, the (once) illustrius Admiral Rael'Zorah. Tali also speaks with  Admiral Gerrel and Admiral Koris about her father and their ideas regarding the rumoured Geth war that is brewing within their ranks.

From these conversations, it is clear to them that this situation has less to do with Tali and more to do with what Admiral Rael'Zorah and his fellow Admiralty were deciding regarding an imminent war with the Geth to take back their home world...


~ Tali: Treason P.3 ~

~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K specs ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Aura'anna-Tali: Treason_Facing_The_Board[P.1]

Mass Effect 2

Tali finds out she has already been ostracised from her Quarian ship, being addressed as Tali'Zora vas Normandy (as opposed to Tali'Zorah vas Neema) by her father's old friend and her "auntie", Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay. In turn, she is then informed that as now deemed the responsibility of the Normandy, Tali must be represented by her own Captain... Shepard. The Commander makes no hesitation in agreeing to help her friend, thus she faces the Quarians to speak on Tali's behalf.

Facing the Admiralty Board, Tali learns the real reason for her accusation for treason - they inform her that her father  - Admiral Rael'Zorah - died on a ship - The Alarei - after re-activating Geth aboard... created from Geth parts he requested that Tali send him. She is found treasonous for assisting her father in bringing active Geth aboard the Alarai... and as a consequence, the entire crew perished to them.

Tali and Shepard get the Quarian Admiralty Board to allow them to board and take back the Alarei... and possibly even save her father. So they prepare to go. Before they do, they speak to Kal'Reegar, finding out how he is faring after his injury and survival on Haelstrom. They also speak to Veetor, who is gently and tentatively on the road to recovery after his traumatic ordeal with the Collectors.


~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K specs ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback ~

Mass Effect 2_Aura'anna-Tali: Treason

Mass Effect 2

Tali returns to her Floatilla to face her charges of treason. By her side, of course, is Commander Shepard, who boards alongside her. Shepard also recruits Miranda to join them, as her own second-in-command.

They're met on board The Rayya by  Captain Kar'Dann, who clearly has confidence in Tali, but he is forced not to publicly back her. He also has great respect for Shep, whom he refers to as Captain... a rank she does not feel she deserves - but one the Quarians feels she deserves.



~ PC ~ i7-4790K ~ 16GB RAM ~ GTX 970 ~ Ultra High specs ~ 4K specs ~ Recorded at 3840x2160 graphics resolution ~ 1080p playback