Requires: The completion of N7: Fuel Reactors mission Military Strength: 75
Helium-3 is used to power the vast majority of commercial starships. Chemical engineers on Cyone added experimental mixtures of compounds to the gas to make a more efficient fuel for ships traveling long distances. One of their new formulas is used in ships transporting major loads of material to the Crucible, speeding up the building process.
Developed by the Alliance, Javelin missiles release dark energy upon impact. This creates devastating space-time disruptions, magnified warp fields that strip away a target's molecular bonds. Even the strongest kinetic barriers will eventually collapse after multiple impacts from these rockets. Alliance R&D commandeered several colony factories, and now produces enough Javelin missile launchers for all dreadnoughts in the allied fleet.
Volus companies are skilled at mass-producing whatever manufactured goods are currently in demand. Factories use modular equipment to switch their production lines from arms, to housing, to the next big galactic-buying trend. Recovered from a manufacturing compound, these fabrication units can stamp out custom plastics for the Crucible on an industrial scale.
Elkoss Combine is a manufacturer known for producing reliable, but less expensive, versions of higher-grade weapons and armor. Their scientists are adept at reverse-engineering new technology. The volus engineers rescued from Satu Arrd are applying these same methods to break down instructions on how to create several dozen new plastics that must be integrated into the Crucible's superstructure. In a show of unprecedented generosity, Elkoss Combine has waived all proprietary claims to any new compounds created by its scientists.
Normally interferometric arrays are used to analyze planetary landmasses, or to determine the astrophysical properties of stellar systems. The powerful array salvaged from the Hercules system can be used for something much more ambitious: the Crucible tunes into the mass relays' command switches. Installing the interferometric array into the Crucible's systems results in a real-time map of the entire galaxy, including the position of each and every Reaper in the Milky Way.
The ExoGeni Corporation helped fund colonies all over the galaxy, in exchange for a share of any natural resources found by settlers. Zhu's Hope was one of their richest claims--the colonists were obligated to turn over any Prothean discoveries in the ancient ruins on Feros. A team of ExoGeni scientists studying the few scraps of Prothean materials found around Zhu's Hope have become experts in their own right, contributing their knowledge to the Crucible project.
These Prothean discs were found years ago on Eden Prime, recovered a few months before the discovery of the Prothean Beacon in 2183. For years the data on the discs was incomprehensible, until the Crucible's blueprints provided the key to understanding the equations. Locked inside the discs were theories on dark matter meant to be used with the Crucible's main power source.
Published years ago by Dr. Conrad Verner, this doctorial dissertation on xenotechnology is a lengthy but intriguing argument that dark energy causes a minute but empirically observable difference in the passage of time. Hotly debated when first published, the paper's theory is supported by recent data. The dissertation illuminates several instructions left by the Protheans on how to build the Crucible.
Dr. Verner found additional schematics useful in the creation of the device. After passing the data on to the Alliance, he added Commander Shepard to the dissertation's list of acknowledgements.
The Shadow Broker's unnamed vessel served as both a data repository and stealth ship for the enigmatic information trader. The ship ingeniously drew its power from the thunderstorms raging constantly on the planet it orbited, relying on an interlocking system of kinetic barriers, grounding rods and capacitors to avoid being ripped apart. These systems have been repurposed for sections of the Crucible that require the safe discharge of tremendous amounts of energy.
The Terminus Systems teem with planets rich in rare elements, minerals, and other raw materials important for the Crucible. Fortunately, the Terminus Systems also have a great quantity of freighter vessels. Athabasca-class ships, while only lightly armored, can carry millions of tons of freight, with fuel tanks optimized for long, hazardous journeys.
Element zero refineries are large industrial facilities that remove impurities from the element, also called eezo, before it is used to fuel starships or gravity generators. It's an important process, as sending an electrical charge through impure eezo can cause the element to explode. By setting up a conversion facility beside the Crucible, eezo can be mined, refined and supplied to the project in record time.
The fuel pods scavenged from a field of debris in the Valhallan Threshold were once attached to a fleet of merchant vessels making long, risky journeys into uncharted space. The pods have been repurposed for the Crucible project. When activated, the Crucible's fusion reactors consume entire oceans of helium-3. The fuel pods serve as emergency reservoirs, should the weapon use more power than expected.
The Advanced Power Relays are fifteen kilometers of insulated wiring, connected to switch boxes that regulate the energy flow. Installing the relays in the Crucible will prevent catastrophic power surges from overloading its systems.
Requires: The scanning of the planet Canrum, Hydra, Argos Rho Military Strength: 50
The Haptic Optics Array is an experimental computer user interface. Cortical implants allow users to "see" screens projected in front of them. A user's eye movements are tracked, syncing to hand gestures as they sift through data. While disorienting at first, people using the Optics Array report increased efficiency, and the technology has been adapted by several dozen engineers for use on the Crucible.
A team of engineers working on the Normandy SR-2 developed the theory behind this piece of equipment. Dreadnought-class drive capacitors use specialized eezo-based compounds to channel and store thermal energy with greater efficiency than previous designs. These capacitors were quickly incorporated into the design of the device found in the Prothean Archives on Mars.
Requires: Support Admiral Xen over Tali (does not get added until after Priority: Rannoch) Military Strength: 45
Admiral Xen's research teams salvaged advanced AI relays from the wreckage of the geth's dreadnought flagship. Xen used the valuable technology to write a custom VI that oversees the energy output of the Crucible's fusion reactors and adjusts itself automatically.
Requires: This War Asset is received after the assault on The Illusive Man's base, but only if the player chose to save the Collector Base in Mass Effect 2. Along with its base value, it also lowers the EMS requirements for the best "control Reapers" ending. Military Strength: 110
The Illusive Man salvaged the most valuable part of the human proto-Reaper under construction by the Collectors: its central processor. This "brain" has been reactivated for use as a computational device, crunching unheard amounts of data in nanoseconds. The Crucible's engineers are dissecting the processor, working in strictly supervised, drone-assisted shifts. While direct contact with Reapers is dangerous, the engineers feel the risk is worth the potential discovery of vulnerabilities in Reaper construction.
Requires: This War Asset is received after the assault on The Illusive Man's base, but only if the player chose to destroy the Collector Base in Mass Effect 2. Along with its base value, it also lowers the EMS requirements for the best "destroy Reapers" endings. Military Strength: 100
After Commander Shepard destroyed the Collector base, Cerberus spent months picking through irradiated rubble for anything useful. The human proto-Reaper the Collectors were building lay in pieces. But its incomplete core survived. The power cell would have been capable of fueling a full-fledged Reaper. After studying the device, Cerberus modified it to fuel the Illusive Man's base. Alliance engineers believe they can use the core similarly to power the Crucible.
This scientific data draws conclusions about the gas giant Isale's exceptionally powerful magnetic field, which has complex interactions with those of its moons. The mathematics used to model this complexity can provide new insight into the math of the Prothean device. A brief glance at the data hints at some kind of energetic pulse that might pass through the magnetosphere of a planet unimpeded, but any details are best derived by high-energy physicists.
The Prothean device is being built in space, where its inner workings may be vulnerable to cosmic radiation from nearby stars. While the construction plan has taken standard risks into account, a sudden turn in space-weather could pierce the basic shielding and irradiate the device and crew. Superior radiation shielding used by the orbital stations near the gas giant Sineus would provide a low-cost way to keep the device safe against all but the most unusual energetic emissions.
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