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Shepard's bed

You've regained consciousness in some kind of medical facility. You must find your way to safety.

Acquisition[]

Prerequisite: Prologue: Save Joker

The mission is acquired automatically upon your reawakening.

Walkthrough[]

Reanimation of dead matter: a portion of the Lazarus Project

This is the second mission of the prologue. It begins right after completing Prologue: Save Joker, and it serves a dual purpose, providing a basic combat tutorial and introducing field mission concepts. This mission situates Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect 2 universe as a Cerberus operative with a new team.

After the destruction of the Normandy SR-1 and death of Commander Shepard two years previous, Shepard's body was recovered by Cerberus, who spent the time rebuilding Shepard into a cybernetically-enhanced symbol of humanity. After the opening credits, which show Shepard literally being rebuilt by the Lazarus Project, Shepard awakens on an operating table at the Lazarus Research Station to alarm bells ringing, as the station's personnel come under attack from their own security mechs. Although alone and under-equipped, Shepard is guided by the station's commanding officer Miranda Lawson via the loudspeaker to safety.

Escaping the Lazarus station[]

Hey, you. You're finally awake.

You must walk to the locker to obtain a pistol and armor, and then must take cover to avoid damage from an explosion which blows the room's door. This allows you to exit the room and find a spare thermal clip on the floor, just past the door. Walk to the clip to pick it up, and reload your weapon to unlock the door to the next room. If you dither about Miranda grows strident in trying to get you moving, but for the most part there are no consequences for late reactions.

Before proceeding, you can pull up your squad screen and start investing points on your powers. What powers you have depends on your class and whether it's your first playthrough or not (because you can take a bonus power on succeeding playthroughs). This early in the game with starter weapons and armor, you may want to consider boosting your survivability attributes especially on higher difficulties, but as with everything in the game it is up to you since you can reset them later anyway.

If you started from the first Mass Effect and continued to here, you may notice that there is no map for the facility. This is by design for most mission and assignment levels; in fact the only places with maps are the hubs you'll get to visit later. If you do try to bring up the map via the assigned key/button, it will only show you a directional compass to where you need to go next.

When you move on, Miranda's voice will tell you to vault over a low obstacle. A lone Hacked Mech, which arrives from the stairway, will have to be destroyed. Collect more thermal clips from the room if you wish, and then head upstairs.

The mechs may be bent on killing you, but at least they do so orderly

You arrive at a large well-lit observation room, where Shepard receives a radio warning that several more mechs are coming, and that the safest way to dispose of them is to take cover until they are destroyed. This room has a lot of waist-high cover to lean out of, and the mechs will arrive from the doors right in front of you and to the left.

Combat Notes:

  • If you're playing on a lower level of difficulty the unarmored Hacked Mechs are among the easiest enemies that can be found in the game. It might be a good idea to knock them down with melee attacks and kill them in order to obtain the Brawler achievement early. Legendary Edition: The Bruiser achievement can be similarly worked toward.
  • On higher levels of difficulty the mechs advance armored and numerous, so Overload and AI Hacking will help if you have them available.
  • Moving up to the far right corner of the room before taking cover allows you to achieve a better line of fire when the mechs emerge, and any surviving mechs will tend to divert away from you rather than flanking and compromising your position.
Rise of the machines

Moving forward after disposing of the mechs, you may witness people being gunned down by a heavy YMIR Mech when you look through a window to the left. Keep moving until you find a new weapon, the M-100 Grenade Launcher, lying next to a dead security officer. Miranda advises Shepard to use this new heavy weapon to dispose of a group of incoming hacked mechs, and indeed you must take the weapon to progress the mission.

Note: The mechs will not appear until you equip the Grenade Launcher. You do not need to actually use the Grenade Launcher, in which case you can keep the 3 Ammo that came with picking it up. However, if at any time you reload the game the Heavy Weapon Ammo drops to 2.

Miranda will then direct you to the elevator, which operates automatically as soon as you step on. You'll then be taught how to storm through a fire obstacle created from the grenade launcher's explosion. The radio communication with Miranda now starts to break up, so you're a bit more on your own.

Straight ahead is a room with two crippled mechs on the ground. These mechs explode on contact with something, be it you or a wall, but otherwise are nonthreatening. Deal with them however you see fit. They are in a room containing laptops where you can access recordings by Miranda and Dr. Wilson about their experience reviving Shepard. There is a wall safe here, which you can bypass to gain 975 credits. This is your first chance to experience the Bypass mini-game, and the Commander has infinite tries to get it right. Legendary Edition: The wall safe no longer needs to be bypassed and just yields 1,725 credits.

Hapless Cerberus employees blow up left and right throughout the mission

After climbing up some stairs, you'll witness another member of the station's staff being gunned down by a heavy mech. Good thing the glass is shatterproof and the heavy mech just walks away afterward. The public computer next to the window has an audio note from Wilson complaining about Miranda's icy demeanor in less than professional terms.

Entering the next room, you will meet Jacob Taylor on a bridge area, fighting a group of mechs standing on another small bridge at the other side of the room. Dispose of the mechs: help Jacob out, or if you remain idle he'll do it himself (he's invulnerable at this point). Take cover since the mechs will be gunning at you instead of Jacob. Whatever the case, you and Jacob enter conversation afterward.

After the first few mechs are down Jacob observes that things must be dire if Miranda awoke Shepard, and confirms that he is on your side. Depending on your conversation choices, some Morality points may be awarded. Finally, Jacob asks Shepard to help destroy more incoming mechs, promising to answer more questions when that's done. He also indicates that he is a biotic and may use his powers to aid them, should Shepard order it.

Your new guy begins pulling his weight

When you regain control, you gain Jacob as the very first squad member of the game. You must use Pull on a mech here, be it yours or Jacob's, otherwise the enemies will continue to respawn and you will be unable to move on. If you want, you can now pull up your squad screen and invest some points in Jacob's abilities. Tip: During this section Jacob's Pull cooldown is instantaneous, so the mechs can be pulled back-to-back completing the fight very quickly.

When that's done, you and Jacob enter dialogue again and you may obtain more background information on the situation and what happened after the attack on the SSV Normandy two years earlier. When the conversation ends, Jacob receives an incoming call from Dr. Wilson, who is surprised to learn that Shepard is awake and alive. He gives directions to reach him safely.

Before leaving the room, there's a datapad on a bench containing an audio log from Wilson: elation in the project's success, and a seeming obsession with Miranda when considering his previous logs.

Gravity's one mean mother, huh

On the path towards Dr. Wilson, Shepard and Jacob encounter additional mechs at what appears to be a boiler room with red lighting, as the path is less secured than planned. A short while after dealing with the mechs there, Wilson comms that the mechs found him in Server Room B and that he's shot. Jacob urges haste, but in reality there's no time pressure.

In a side room along the path, after some stairs up, you'll find another laptop, giving access to another video recording by Miranda explaining Shepard had to be brought back as is without any mental tampering. Proceeding through the next door you'll then meet up with Wilson, who appears to have a wounded leg. You're asked to retrieve medi-gel from a medical station on a nearby wall, then use the Unity power to heal Dr. Wilson, who will then join your squad.

Your next few objectives in one place

Note: After meeting Wilson, the Squad screen becomes greyed out in the menu and inaccessible for the remainder of the mission. Make sure you spent all the points you need on Shepard and Jacob.

After agreeing where to go next, a group of mechs enter the room and you will be instructed to use Dr. Wilson's Overload ability to clear the explosive crates ahead to be able to proceed. However, if Shepard is an Engineer or a Sentinel, the Commander's own Overload ability can be used if points were invested in it beforehand. Note: Unlike similar explosive tanks that will be encountered on numerous future missions, these particular tanks cannot be exploded by shooting them. You must use the Overload ability to progress further. Before going on, Jacob feels compelled to reveal to you that the Lazarus Project is a Cerberus operation, with morality points again being awarded depending on your conversation choices.

In the next room heading to the shuttle bay, you will find a datapad on a corpse. The datapad can be hacked for 900 credits. This introduces the Hacking mini-game and again offers unlimited tries to get it right. Legendary Edition: As with the wall safe before, the datapad no longer has a minigame and can be directly looted for 1,650 credits.

Orange room leads to extra credits, opposite that is the mission exit

Going downstairs and through a corridor, Shepard's squad enters a large docking area, cluttered with crates and more hacked mechs. There are two staircases here, and if you initially head up the left one you will end up fighting ten more mechs, whereas if you head up the right one you will instead fight six more mechs. There are plenty of boxes and walls to take cover on, remember not to die under massed M-4 Shuriken fire.

Either way, once you've cleared the room you should proceed to the upper left part of the area to find a small room with a laptop, which gives access to another log recording: at the beginning of the project Miranda received Shepard's body in a highly damaged state, though Wilson assured her the Commander is still recoverable. Also in the room is another datapad to hack (975 credits) and a wall safe to bypass (900 credits). Legendary Edition: The wall safe is now the first bypass minigame and yields 2,400 credits while the datapad no longer requires hacking and yields a straight 1,725 credits.

Shuttle departing from Lazarus Research Station

In a small room opposite the upper platform lies the door to the shuttle bay. As Wilson opens the door, Miranda is standing on the other side, and shoots him without ceremony. She explains that Wilson was a traitor, who hacked the security mechs, endangered the project, and cost the lives of most of the staff. You can press Miranda for more information and again receive Paragon or Renegade points during this conversation, at the end of which everyone leaves the station.

Meeting the Illusive Man[]

Chat with Miranda and Jacob a bit before proceeding to the next mission

During the shuttle ride from Lazarus Station to another Cerberus facility, Miranda will ask you to answer questions about the past, to assess Shepard's memory. This is basic background stuff covering your pre-service history, psychological profile, and your reaction to the squadmate who died on Virmire. Jacob finds the exercise unnecessary, and you may stop the conversation at any time by choosing some variant of "We're done here!", though again there are morality points here.

If you imported a Mass Effect save file they will ask you about who joined the Council. Whatever you answer will turn out to be true regardless of what choice you actually made. For example, if you chose Captain Anderson to join the Council but to this question you answer Ambassador Udina, Udina will be the Councilor. Legendary Edition: The Council decision has now been properly recorded in the imported file and Miranda skips this line.

You now arrive at a waiting room in the facility, where you can change armor or casual appearance using a console on the wall, but you will be unable to take any further actions until speaking with the Illusive Man. Don't mind the save files in this level, which says you're still at Lazarus Research Station when in fact you already left.

To this end, enter the communications room, where you don't actually meet face to face with the Cerberus leader himself. The Illusive Man explains over hologram that entire human colonies and thousands of colonists have gone missing. He will ask Shepard to investigate Freedom's Progress, the latest colony to go missing, with the assistance of Miranda and Jacob. You may inquire after further information, and up to 8 Paragon/Renegade points may be awarded, depending on your dialogue choices.

You then return to the waiting area, where it is now possible to talk with Jacob and Miranda for further Paragon/Renegade points. Taking the door out of the entrance will end this mission and start the next one.

Enemies[]

Mission Summary[]

Shepard escaped attack on the facility, along with operatives Taylor and Lawson.

Facility destroyed by remote detonation. Salvage teams will ensure no incriminating data survived. Per Miranda's recommendation, I'm running security sweeps on other cells to ensure that Wilson was our only mole. Regardless of the cost, Project Lazarus was a success. Shepard is back.

Bugs[]

If you save after Jacob joins the squad, then reload the save, he gets his shotgun for the duration of the mission. This could be beneficial on higher difficulties.

Cut Content[]

There is an alternate version of Wilson's death in which his voicelines are slightly different. He notices his access code has been disabled, and is in disbelief at seeing Miranda, claiming he saw the mechs kill her.[1]

References[]

Prologue Navigation
← Previous Mission Mission Index Next Mission →
Prologue: Save Joker Missions Freedom's Progress (mission)
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