Prologue: Find the Beacon

You are in charge of the ground team dropped into Eden Prime, an Alliance colony under attack. Your primary goal is to find and secure the Prothean beacon.

Acquisition
This mission is acquired after the opening sequence and reporting to the comm room aboard the SSV Normandy

Normandy Pre-Mission
The scene opens with the SSV Normandy flying through the Sol system as Joker calls out to the rest of the ship to prepare for an FTL jump through the Arcturus Relay. Commander Shepard proceeds through the CIC, occasionally maneuvering around crew members on the way to the bridge. As Shepard reaches the bridge and looks out the window, the Normandy hits the relay and jumps. Joker proceeds to run a system check and the turian overlooking them comments then turns and walks away. Joker comments that he hates the turian and Kaidan Alenko asks why because Nihlus just gave him a complement, and Joker argues back. You can choose to either reply positively or shut the two of them up about the Spectre. Captain Anderson comes over the comm asking for an update, Joker replies that they cleared the relay and that Nihlus is coming his way. Anderson replies that he has already arrived and asks Joker to pass along to Shepard to meet him in the comm room. You can reply to that. On your way to the comm room, you can talk to Navigator Pressly at his station in the CIC, as well as Jenkins and Doctor Chakwas outside the comm room.

When you enter the comm room, Nihlus Kryik, the resident turian Spectre, says that he was hoping Shepard would arrive first, as it would give them a chance to talk. Respond to that, then Nihlus will comment about Eden Prime and “how safe is it really?” Respond to that, then Captain Anderson will walk in and tell Nihlus that they “should tell the Commander what is really going on.” “This mission is far more than a simple shakedown run.” Respond to that and Anderson will explain that a science team on Eden Prime discovered a Prothean Beacon.

You can respond anyway you want but no matter your choices, it is better for the galaxy and relations that the Systems Alliance turns over the beacon so that everyone can study it. Ask the investigate questions at the left of the dialogue wheel, otherwise you will miss a critical Codex entry.

At the end of the conversation with Nihlus and Captain Anderson, Joker interrupts by saying that there is a problem. A view screen opens up and shows a transmission from some Marines on Eden Prime. They are fighting and apparently taking heavy casualties. A large ship shows then the transmission is cut. Anderson tells the computer to rewind and the ship shows up. “This mission just got a lot more complicated.” If that didn’t go without saying. Now grab the gear and head to the cargo hold and grab Kaidan Alenko and Jenkins on your way.

When you arrive at Eden Prime, Joker flies the Normandy over the landscape, which resembles a war zone, and then Anderson gives a final briefing. Shepard and squad’s objective is to head straight for the dig site and secure it. Then Nihlus gets out first, and then you are dropped off at another drop point.

Eden Prime Surface
“Ship perimeter secure Commander”. Kaidan opens as you turn around and head towards the dig site. Head right here because there is an easy to miss crate here in the corner. Do not give any of the upgrades to Jenkins, otherwise you will lose them in the next few minutes. Nihlus will come over the comm telling you to keep your guard up as the colony got hit hard. Once you have it, head back to the left and you will eventually trigger a cutscene where Shepard and the squad are approaching a field. Shepard raises a fist to tell them to halt then signals Jenkins to move up. However, as Jenkins reaches a point, several Geth Recon Drones fly up and kill him. You regain control, so take cover and eliminate the hostiles. You can destroy them easily with your pistol. Once they are down, investigate Jenkins’ body and you can earn a few morality points based on your response.

Once you have finished, head up the field and after a few seconds, more Recon Drones will come flying out. Take cover again and destroy them. Once they are down, move up. Nihlus comes over the comm with some not-so-inviting news, as if you needed to hear more. Apparently, he has come across a lot of dead bodies. When you reach the top of the hill, head to the left first to grab a crate and then use the large flat trees upcoming because there will be three more Geth Recon Drones that will come up. Use cover, gunfire, and powers to take out the drones. Once they are down, head up and when you reach a clearing. You will enter another cutscene.

Prothean Dig Site
The cutscene shows a soldier, the one seen earlier from the transmission running and being pursued by two drones. She takes a hit but her shields hold. Then she falls, pulls out her pistol and destroys her two pursuers. Then she takes notice of two Geth Troopers and a colonist. The colonist is impaled upon a spike. The geth take notice of her and she runs for cover and pulls out her assault rifle. You regain control at this stage and now take out the geth attackers. Once they are down, approach the soldier and talk to her.

She introduces herself as Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212. The conversation can go any way you want but take it easy if Shepard is male and you want to pursue a relationship with Ashley later. Ask her the investigate questions for a few codex entries then she will tell you that the dig site is a little further up the road so move out.

Before you leave, grab the two crates to the right and the med kit across the clearing. One of the crates will contain the Scorpion light armor. This is the only time in the game that this armor can be acquired and it gives you a codex entry. The other crate contains some random loot. Once you have everything, head out and be prepared. Once you get to a series of rocks, take cover because there will be more geth that attack from the dig site itself. Use the cover and your squadmates to eliminate them. Several will attack from the dig site itself and one will be on the exterior patrolling so watch out for that one as it will come from an angle that is not easy to see or hit. Once they are all down, investigate the dig site.

A dialogue scene will show and Ashley is astonished that the beacon is no longer in the site; it has apparently been moved. Before you leave, and after the auto-save, grab the crate next to one of the exterior pillars of the site. Also at this point, Nihlus will come over the comm saying that there is a change of plans. He will be investigating a small spaceport and he will try to catch up with you there. Head up the ramps to the science camp. When you get close, Kaidan will say that “it is the perfect place for an ambush, so keep your guard up.” A cutscene will then show the spikes from earlier and some cybernetic creatures on them. Suddenly, one lowers and Ashley exclaims “what did the geth do to them.” Kill the husk and its two friends. Be careful to not let them get too close because they have a devastating electrical weapon and then they will proceed to melee you and the squad to death. Once the husks are down, don’t leave because there is an upgrade kit behind the spikes, which are called dragon’s teeth. There are also some crates in one of the shacks, the one with the window open. Grab the two crates inside the shack and head for the other.

There is a lock on this shack so you must bypass the lock. If you fail then you must break down components into omni-gel to get enough omni-gel to bypass the lock. No need to worry, though, as you will get the same amount of experience either way. Once inside, there are two scientists, Dr. Warren, who is the one in charge, and Dr. Manuel who seems to be a little off his rocker. You can ask them both questions about the attack and where the beacon went; it was apparently moved to the starport that morning. You can continue asking questions, if you are annoyed with Manuel or you want nine renegade points, you can knock Manuel out. Once you are finished, head over to the path and you are treated with a cutscene.

Eden Prime Starport
The cutscene shows Nihlus approaching the spaceport. He takes cover and then leans out and sees another turian, Saren. Nihlus questions Saren then turns his back. Nihlus was not expecting the geth, but Saren has it under control. However, the pistol that Saren pulls hints at some other motives. When the cutscene ends you hear a gunshot that reverberates in the air. Round the corner and head down the path. Off in the distance you see a ship taking off and it is massive. The exterior of the spaceport has a few husks and some Geth Troopers are defending this position, so make sure they don’t leave.

The husks will rush you while the Troopers will stay at a distance. At the top of the stairs is another containment cell, if you hit it at the right time you can eliminate the Troopers before they are a threat. Once they are down grab some cover and destroy the husks that are preparing to swarm you. Use Kaidan’s throw power to help with the overwhelming part. Once the husks are down head to the left and access a malfunctioning object for some loot. There is also a crate outside another shack. Bypass the lock to meet some farmers.

A farmer named Cole and two of his friends exit saying they are not armed. You can ask Cole some questions about the attack and the ship you just saw. Once you have all the information you need leave but one of the farmers asks Cole to give you some loot. Apparently there was a smuggling ring and the farmers were making some money by hiding the goods in their sheds. Respond to that any way you wish. Ask him about it and you can use a persuasion option to get it. There is another persuasion option to get some more tech. Then Ashley asks for the name of the contact, Cole refuses, a third persuasion option opens where you can get the name, Powell. Once you are done head into the shack for a storage locker. This locker requires electronics to unlock. Only one point in Kaidan’s or Shepard’s electronics score is enough to unlock the locker. If you don’t have the score now you will probably level up once more before moving on to the next area so you can come back.

Head up to the platform where you can see a body; unfortunately, it is Nihlus. Before you investigate his body, head to a fire in the corner because it isolates an upgrade in it. It is possible to grab it without going into the fire. If you do then you can die, very quickly. Once you have the kit, there is a med kit on the ground near the steps, so grab it if you need it. Then investigate Nihlus’ body.

Immediately Ashley will notice someone moving behind the crates. Everyone pulls pistols, however it is just a dockworker. Respond to him as you wish, then he introduces himself as Powell, which sounds familiar. You can ask him the same questions as you did the farmers, however he will give slightly different answers. If you managed to persuade Cole to mention Powell's name, you will have the option to ask Powell about the smuggling ring, at which point he will say that it doesn’t matter anymore. Press him and he will say that no one misses a few pieces from the military orders. That gets Ashley pissed and you can choose a dialogue option in response. Ashley presses him for the grenades and he hands them over. You can use a paragon or renegade options to get a high explosive upgrade out of him. Once you are done, head out.

The next area is relatively simple, mainly because it is very linear. Head past where you talked to Powell and send your squadmates first because there are two Geth Troopers around the corner. Once they fall head down the catwalk and look onto the train below. There are some geth there and an explosive crate; shoot the crate to take them out without having to go down the ramps. Even with a shotgun, it is easy to do so. Once they are treated to their daily helping of explosives, head down the ramps and onto the train. Take cover here because further down are some Geth Troopers, Geth Shock Troopers, and a Geth Destroyer. The Destroyer will, once you or the squad open fire, start walking towards you. Eventually, it will charge at your and the squad and either melee or use its shotgun to kill you. Take this one out first then move from cover to cover to take out the geth further along. Alternatively, you can take them out easily with your sniper rifle without having to move from one position to another, though your character has to be trained with sniper rifles in order to do so. When the geth finally fall, move up, and grab some medi-gel from a med kit about half of the way down the train. If you couldn’t unlock the storage locker before, now is the last time you can go back for it. If you already have it, then activate the train controls.

Spaceport Platform Two
Once you activate the train controls, you are treated to a cutscene where the train moves along the tracks. Then it jumps to the other platform where Saren is with some geth, and he is giving orders. “Set the charges; destroy the entire colony; leave no evidence that we were here.” Then it shows Saren standing in front of the beacon and being lifted into the air. Then the scene cuts to a Geth Shock Trooper standing up after setting a charge to see Shepard’s train arriving.

Once you regain control of Shepard hold for a second while there is an auto-save. Now you have five minutes to disarm four explosives. The first is right near the train and can be done without shooting. Be warned that while you are disarming them, you can’t return fire or do anything so make sure you are in cover and the enemies are pinned down. Once the first charge is disarmed head up the ramps and you will come under fire. Head across the bridge and use the last panel on the right to position your squad to cover you while you move to the left and disarm another charge. Then take out the Geth Troopers, Sniper, and Shock Troopers that are attacking you. Be careful of the Sniper because he can take you down in one hit, even with full shields. The geth sometimes hide behind the crates at the other end of the platform and on the bridge, they rarely go to the other side so no need to worry about flanking fire.

Once all the geth are down, the first alcove on the left has another charge, disarm it and then head all the way down the platform and disarm the last charge. Now head over to the ramps to the last area of the level. There is a crate just before the catwalk, grab it then move your squadmates about halfway down the catwalk and prepare to face the final four enemies of the level. Two husks on dragon’s teeth and two Geth Troopers are the last opponents before finishing the level. The husks will storm up the ramp so use throw to get them back down the ramps. There is a possibility that one or both can go over the railings to the left, however once at the bottom of ramps it is easy to take out because they won’t move. Once the husks are out of the way, move to eliminate the Troopers. Once the troopers are down, DO NOT investigate the beacon yet. There is a crate and a storage locker on the main platform, a wall safe to the far left, and a technician kit on the far right, when looking at the beacon. Note that there is a brief but easy-to-miss cutscene that triggers if you walk up to the middle of the fence posts behind the beacon and next to the crate (i.e. in between the beacon and the crate). Once you are done, investigate the beacon and a final cutscene will start.

Shepard radios the Normandy for pickup while Kaidan and Ashley will investigate the beacon while Shepard finishes the radio call. The person who is the same gender as Shepard will then go to talk to them, while the other investigates the beacon. Suddenly they are pulled towards the beacon, Shepard notices and as they are lifted into the air, Shepard grabs them and throws them aside. Then Shepard is lifted up and a scene showing disjointed images plays while the non-thrown squad member says “No, don’t touch [Shepard], it’s too dangerous.” Then the beacon will explode and Shepard falls to the deck.

Normandy
You find yourself in the med bay of the Normandy with the squad member you threw out of the way and Doctor Chakwas. Chakwas asks how you feel, respond, then you get the story about the beacon, and what happened to it. You can choose your response to the squad member. Then Anderson walks in and asks for the room to be cleared. You can ask and answer Anderson’s questions as you wish. Once you are done, Anderson will tell you to see Joker and tell him to bring the Normandy into dock at the Citadel.

Now you have two options, head straight for the bridge, or walk around a little. If you choose to walk around, talk to Ashley and Kaidan. If you were rough on Ashley on Eden Prime, you can apologize now. Take advantage of this especially if Shepard is male and you wish to pursue a relationship with Ashley later. You can head to the cargo hold where you can sell and buy equipment, although not much at this point, from the Normandy Requisitions Officer. However, you can buy the Medical and Grenade upgrades. These allow you to carry one more medi-gel and grenade respectively.

When you head up to the bridge, forward of the CIC, talk to Joker and you get treated to a great cutscene showing the Citadel, several turian ships, and the flagship of the Citadel Fleet, the Destiny Ascension. Eventually the Normandy is cleared to dock at Dock 422.

Enemies

 * Geth Destroyer
 * Geth Recon Drone
 * Geth Shock Trooper
 * Geth Sniper
 * Geth Trooper
 * Husk