Garrus: Eye for an Eye

Garrus has learned the location of Sidonis, the mole who betrayed his team. He was last seen on the Citadel in the company of Fade, a forger who specializes in helping people disappear.

Acquisition
After Shepard has recruited Garrus, had the first conversation with him, completed the mission on Horizon, and completed a few missions, Yeoman Chambers reports that Garrus has received a message that "put some fire in his eyes". Garrus says he has new information on Sidonis, the turian who sold out his team on Omega, leading to their deaths. Sidonis was last seen in the company of Fade, a man who helps people disappear on the Citadel.

Walkthrough
On this mission, you will be facing a mix of mostly unprotected Blue Suns mercs and LOKI Mechs; on Hardcore and Insanity they will all have shields and armor respectively. You will also have to face a total of three YMIR Mechs. As such, it is recommended that you build your squad to include a mixture of tech and biotics capable of efficiently stripping both armor and shields—note that Garrus already comes equipped with shield-stripping tech. The substantial number of mechs that you will encounter makes having someone with AI Hacking useful as well, though it is of secondary importance.

Arrival on the Citadel
Upon arriving at the Citadel, EDI advises Shepard to talk to C-Sec. Go talk to Captain Bailey, and he says that Fade has contacts in the warehouses. Go down to the Shipping Warehouse on Level 26. Inside is a volus with two krogan bodyguards. Talk to the volus. You can use a Renegade interrupt, causing Shepard and Garrus to shoot the bodyguards dead. Otherwise, they draw their guns, scaring the bodyguards off. The volus tells them Fade is a former C-Sec officer named Harkin and that he can be found in the old prefab factory in the Factory District, but he's protected by Blue Suns mercenaries. Shepard lets the volus go, but Garrus warns that if they don’t find Harkin then they will be back for him. Head out of the warehouse and use a Rapid Transit terminal to go to the Factory District.

Note: The human arguing with the salarian at the warehouse entrance is the one asking for a refund from the turian in Mass Effect 1 in the Upper Markets.

Factory District
At the Factory District, Shepard meets Harkin and two Blue Suns troopers. Harkin, noticing Shepard and Garrus, flees leaving the two Blue Suns mercenaries. The cutscene places you in cover so use it and take out the Blue Suns. Go through the door and search the trash to the left for 600 credits. The table across from the entrance has a med kit on it. To the left in the blue shipping container are two LOKI Mechs. Take them out before they have a chance to hurt you and then use the elevated cover to combat more Blue Suns and LOKI Mechs as you move through the area.

Use the elevated cover in this area as much as you can, but be careful for flankers, especially the mechs, as they just walk around the cover. Move along until you reach a narrowing in the path. On the right is another shipping container that has more mechs in it. Take them out and any others you missed and the area will be clear. Before moving on there is a wall safe that can be bypassed for 1,500 credits. Move beyond the area, Medi-gel, and a circuit board for 900 credits. This is a good point to save the game.

Moving Deeper
While you are still getting the Medi-gel and bypassing the circuit board Garrus will comment that Harkin is still here, he can smell it. Move across and take cover behind the crates and use the elevated cover to the left. LOKI Mechs will be present, more will come from overhead, and even more will come from the shipping container on the right. On top of all that there are some Blue Suns that just don’t seem to get the message that you are coming through and open fire. Take out the targets based on whatever system you use to rank threats, then when you get a chance move up and stay in cover. Use the pillars and crates further up but don’t go too far because an open container on your right has a Blue Sun Trooper in it wielding a shotgun. Take him out as you are moving up and then get in cover.

More LOKI Mechs will drop from the passing cranes and more Blue Suns mercenaries will appear at the other end. This group includes a few Blue Suns Legionnaires along with the Troopers, so take him and the others out fast. Once they are down, do not go for the circuit boards on the right yet as sometimes there still are a few Blue Suns, if no enemies appear, then bypass them for 900 credits each. Move into an area that resembles an office. Well it has a desk anyway. The goodies in the area are Medi-gel, power cells, a laptop that can be hacked for 4,500 credits, and 2,000 units of iridium. Access the bridge controls, save your game and then proceed.

Beyond the Bridge
This next area use cover and watch out for the container on the right, more LOKI Mechs will emerge. This area has Blue Suns Troopers, a Blue Suns Commander, and LOKI Mechs. Take them out at range, then move up when you can. When you move up far enough your squadmates will say that something is incoming, which reveals itself as a YMIR Mech. If the commander is not down yet then take him down yourself and have your squadmates focus on the YMIR. Use Garrus’ Overload to reduce the shields and disable the YMIR when you can. Above all stay in cover and take out the enemies as you can. Once they are all down move up and grab the Medi-gel, and bypass the circuit board for 1,200 credits. Move into the office.

Inside before you access the shutter controls, pick up the power cells, bypass the wall safe for 2,100 credits, grab the Medi-gel from the medical station, and go past the door on the right and hack the terminal for a sniper rifle damage upgrade. You can also find a forged ID on the desk. Go back and access the shutter controls and a cutscene will play where Garrus spells out his intentions. You can only get some information here rather than morality points. You can give Garrus some ideas about what to do. Either way, move on.

Fade’s Hideout Exterior
If you didn’t hack the terminal, do so now on your way out. The area outside is a mess of platforms at varying levels; EDI will announce that crates being carried overhead contain explosives, but she is mistaken: they are empty. For now stay on the floor and get in cover. LOKI Mechs will be on the ground floor and there will be a Blue Suns Trooper will be on an upper level to your left. You can only shoot him because you can’t get to him. After the initial wave there will be more LOKI Mechs and more Blue Suns Troopers will come out. However as you move up, literally, because taking to the elevated cover particularly on your right and the one that resembles a bunker, next to a drop off is a great place to bunker down. While the elevated position on the other side of the drop off will usually have a Blue Suns Legionnaire and a Blue Suns Commander, the cover that it provides will be adequate to defend from them.

Be careful for LOKI Mechs attempting to flank you, but if you are in that position they sometimes come into the area that is at ground level and will stay there making them target practice. Once all the attackers are down, move all the way to the right and behind three waist high crates is a datapad that you can hack for 1,200 credits. Once you get back from there the only way to proceed is going to the ground floor. Save your game here because of the opponents you are about to face. Once you start climbing the platforms, Harkin will come over the PA system saying that he’s not running from you. Once you make the right turn after the first platform get your squad into cover on the upper platform to your right. This area is perfect for the battle you are about to face. Just make sure they stay there. Once they are in cover move up to the end of the mid level platform and Harkin will fall on his final defenses, two YMIR Mechs.

While the YMIR Mechs are still dropping and deploying, if your squadmates came out of cover on the upper platform, put them back there and join them yourself. If you take cover on the upper platform it will prevent the YMIR Mechs from flanking you and your squad if you get in cover on the lower levels. The YMIR Mechs can get stuck in the crates as they try to get to you but stay in cover and take them out when they stop firing. Use powers and ammo to take down the mechs. If you have AI Hacking, you can damage one mech until its shields and armor are gone, then repeatedly hack it so that it kills the other mech for you. Finish off the hacked mech. If you don't have AI Hacking, then simply focus your fire on the lead mech, then finish it with a headshot to trigger its critical overload. With luck, the ensuing explosion will either kill the remaining YMIR or severely damage it.

Alternatively: If the player owns the M98 Widow (though this can be done with any sniper rifle), this battle is easy. Order both your squadmates behind a crate to your right. Take cover back, keep your head down. Once mechs are dropped, they'll pick on your squad mates, with one mech in front and the other close by, trying to get a good shot. Let the team chip away at the first mech's shield. Once it's low, order Overload on the second one, help a bit if you can with a rapid fire weapon. By this time, both mechs will have shields down or almost down. Get out of cover and, with Adrenaline Rush, snipe the second mech in the head. The M98 will strip all its armor and most of its health in one shot (ammo powers help). Reload and take the shot again - it's an easy shot on adrenaline. Make sure it's a headshot, again. Once the self-destruct begins, take cover and order the team mates to regroup if you want. The explosion will take out the other mech as well. Two shots, two mechs, zero damage to Shepard.

Then, once the YMIR Mechs are down move up and Harkin will raise the six platforms in front of where he is hiding. Now you have to climb up to his position by the platforms on your left. His final defenders are two LOKI Mechs that will deploy from the top level and start walking down to you. Take them out and keep climbing. Once at the door, the cutscene begins. (Note: As a Vanguard it is possible to run to the left past the mechs and use Charge on one of the LOKI Mechs at the top of the platforms near the entrance to Harkin's room, simply charge them and deal with them and click the door to the room a few times and you can skip the difficult fight entirely.)

Fade’s Hideout
As Shepard moves into position, Harkin is seen engaged in frenetic observation through the window. Noticing Shepard's approach, he turns and runs—only to be intercepted by Garrus, who proceeds to ram him against an adjacent wall in none too gentle a fashion. When Garrus' purpose becomes clear, however, Harkin is not exactly forthcoming with Sidonis' location; apparently 'it's bad for business.' In response, Garrus knocks Harkin to the floor and pins his foot to the former C-Sec officer's throat, saying only that a broken neck is also bad for business. Harkin desperately yields under Garrus' assault. Staggering to his feet, he stumbles to the nearby terminal to contact Sidonis, and a rendezvous is arranged at noon outside the Orbital Lounge. As Harkin severs communication and makes his move to leave, Garrus grabs him, relentless. His gun drawn, Garrus acrimoniously moves to shoot Harkin in the leg, to 'slow him down' before they part ways. At this point, you can use a Paragon interrupt to stop Garrus. If you do, Garrus will deliver Harkin a rather vicious headbutt on the way out, instead. Regardless, he mentions to Shepard that if he does not find Sidonis, he will return to finish the job.

If Garrus is allowed to shoot Harkin in the leg—depending on the selected dialogue option—and Shepard is female, she will say to Harkin, "You're lucky. I wouldn't have shot you in the leg." This response differs markedly from what a male Shepard says, and is one of the few gender-specific comments voiced by Shepard whilst on missions.

Orbital Lounge
The squad takes a transport to the Lounge and in the transport you can either encourage Garrus or try to talk him out of it. He doesn’t back down and Shepard asks for the plan. Garrus points to a location where he will set up. He tells Shepard to draw Sidonis out and he will take the shot. Garrus leaves the cab and it takes off. Down on the ground, Sidonis is waiting and Shepard motions him over. This conversation starts with your dialogue choice to either warn Sidonis or allow Garrus to shoot him.

If you warn Sidonis that you are a friend of Garrus, he gets scared and begins to walk away. If you miss the Paragon interrupt, he dies. If you make the interrupt, Shepard warns him to stay still. You can allow Garrus to take the shot, or continue the conversation to learn that Sidonis has become haunted and depressed by his betrayal. If you have enough Paragon points, you can convince Garrus to spare him, or you can step aside for the last time. If you persuade Garrus to let Sidonis leave, Shepard tells him to get out and that Garrus has given him a second chance. Sidonis leaves after thanking Garrus and Shepard walks away.

Once back at the transport you can discuss the encounter with Garrus and then return to the Zakera Ward Dock.

You will earn Paragon or Renegade points, respectively, depending on whether you prevent or allow Garrus to shoot Sidonis. However, since morality point notifications are suppressed by area transitions, you will not receive the usual pop-up reporting the amount of points gained.

Result

 * If Garrus killed Sidonis, EDI reports that C-Sec is investigating his death, but has no leads. If Garrus is in the party, he sarcastically replies, "what a shame".
 * If Garrus spared Sidonis, EDI reports that Harkin is taken into custody and charges are pending. News reports say that Sidonis went to C-Sec and confessed the murder of 10 people on Omega, but C-Sec doesn't know what to do with him, as Omega has no government to make an extradition to.
 * Either result will gain Garrus's loyalty.

Enemies

 * LOKI Mech
 * YMIR Mech
 * Blue Suns Trooper
 * Blue Suns Heavy
 * Blue Suns Legionnaire
 * Blue Suns Commander

Mission Summary
Garrus's traitor has been found and dealt with, leaving Garrus clearheaded for the mission.

Operatives in C-Sec will ensure no criminal charges are filed against him or Shepard. May be able to co-opt Harkin's criminal network. Sending agents to investigate.


 * Experience: 750 (937)
 * Credits: 28,800
 * Cerberus Funding: 15,000
 * Credits Found: 13,800
 * Upgrades:
 * Sniper Rifle Damage (Scram Pulsar)
 * Powers:
 * Garrus: Armor Piercing Ammo
 * Minerals:
 * Iridium: 2,000