Collector Base: Infiltration

Acquisition
This mission is triggered as part of Stop the Collectors: Defeat the Collectors, once you have managed, after passing through the Omega 4 Relay, to get foot on the Collector's base.

Illusive Man Briefing Pre-Relay
This mission begins with the trip through the Omega-4 relay. The Illusive man will brief Shepard in full armor and tell you that he doesn’t know what to expect on the other side. You will then be treated to a long cutscene where your decisions on ship upgrades will play out.

Debris Field
Immediately after entering the field it is apparent how many ships tried to do what you are doing now. Joker manages to fly the Normandy around the wrecks and making some comments along the way. Eventually EDI will come over and say that there are some things approaching. Joker takes evasive maneuvers and they open fire on the Normandy’s upper hull. If you failed to upgrade the armor, then you will lose a squadmate here.

While in the field an oculus will punch through into the Normandy’s cargo hold. You will take two of your squadmates down to deal with it. There is not much strategy here just keep shooting from cover, keep your squadmates in cover, as the oculus will go after you first, and keep moving. Be careful of the explosives around as they will not affect the oculus but they can be deadly to you and your squadmates.

About halfway through the battle a cutscene will play where Joker has to lost the remaining oculus chasing the Normandy. If you didn’t upgrade the Normandy’s barriers you will lose a squadmate here. Eventually joker will get to a safer area and the remaining ocului are destroyed save for one which reenters the cargo hold. EDI comments and Joker responds, “It’s Shepard’s problem now.” you will return to the cargo hold where the oculus returns and it continues the battle, with whatever armor it had before the cutscene. Once the oculus is destroyed Joker will call you back up to the cockpit where the Normandy is exiting the Debris Field.

The Collector Base will come into view and it launches an old friend, which turns to face the Normandy. If you didn’t research the upgraded guns then you will lose a squadmate here. Once the Collector Cruiser, the explosion overloads the Normandy’s systems and Joker will have a controlled crash against the Collector Base. Shepard will ask if the Collectors can detect them, EDI replays that it is unlikely that the Collectors will detect them because of the lack of an internal security grid. EDI comments that the Collectors probably did not expect anyone to get this far. Now you have to infiltrate the base to stop the Collectors, once and for all.

Mission Briefing
Once the cutscene ends a load screen will come up, once the load is complete you will be in the Normandy's briefing room. EDI projects a scan of the Collector Base and comments that the station’s weak spot is likely in the main control center in the center of the station. EDI also says that this is the likely location of the Normandy crew and any remaining colonists. There are two wasy to get to the center of the station, but a thermal vent must be accessed in order to get the two squads through to the next area of the station.
 * Ideal: Legion or Tali.
 * Non ideal: Thane, Jacob, Mordin or Garrus as they will die.

Once the choice is made, Miranda will say that someone must lead the second squad, she volunteers but you can still make your choice. Ideal: Garrus, Miranda, or Jacob Non Ideal: anyone else

Once that choice is made, Miranda will comment and now you have a choice to give a speech or not. Make your choice and now select your own squad, you will be fighting against Collector Drones, Harbingers, and several Collector Assassins, so it is wise to bring along members that wield biotics. After that, a cutscene will display were the whole team sets out.

Thermal Vent Gates
Once you regain control you Tech specialist will comment about the heat in the vent, but it is clear and they are moving up. The initial area is clear of Collectors but once you reach a fork in the road the Collectors swoop in, so take cover and prepare for a fight. The key of the mission is speed because while you are fighting, unless you are fast enough your tech person will come over the comm saying that there is an obstruction and you need to remove it. Take out the Collectors out fast and get to the console, activate it and move on. Watch out because Harbinger will make an appearance before long. A bar in the lower right of your screen will show how much time the specialist has, if the bar runs out then the mission ends in a critical mission failure.

The next three gates will not have opposition so move at your leisure. Once you activate the fourth gate move fast and you will emerge onto more platforms. More Collectors will swoop in and attack. On harder difficulties, you cannot take these Collectors out fast enough to prevent a heat buildup. Take out the Collectors and move to activate the fifth gate. The sixth gate is down the hall and requires no fighting. Activate it and move on.

This next area is the hardest of this mission. There are two gates, a time limit, and a whole bunch of Collectors are between you and finishing this mission. The seventh gate is easier to get to so if you here having problems taking out the Collectors then you will be best to leave your specialist there until the last minute. You do not need to take out all the Collectors to get past the mission but you will have a harder time. Once you open all eight gates the mission will end. Once you open the last gate, the screen will fade to black and a cutscene will play where you will be fighting to get into the safe zone. The tech specialist will open the door and then the second fire team will report they are under fire, the specialist will move to the other door and open it, if you have a non-ideal squadmate they will be shot because they got in the way. If you have a non ideal second fire team leader, they will also be shot and you will lose them too. The room you enter holds a secret.

Mission Continues: Collector Base: The Long Walk

Enemies

 * Collector Drone
 * Collector Assassin
 * Collector Guardian
 * Harbinger