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Gellix base exterior

A group of top-level scientists have cut ties with Cerberus and are fleeing their former employer. Rescue the scientists before Cerberus can find them.

Acquisition[]

This mission is acquired from Specialist Traynor after the Cerberus assault on the Citadel. Talk to her to find out about a lead on something she deems interesting.

Preparation[]

Reach the Arrae system via the Minos Wasteland cluster and make way to the planet Gellix to begin this mission.

Your enemies are mostly Cerberus infantry, occasionally bolstered by numerous pre-planted Shield Generators and accompanying Shield Pylons. Sabotage is able to hijack these generators and pylons and turn them against enemy infantry, draining any shields they have for the duration. Overload, Energy Drain, and the other usual ingredients for tech bursts will also shine here.

The combat zone is mostly open-air with a lot of waist-high cover, conducive to long-distance engagements. Keep this in mind when choosing your weapons and squadmates.

Walkthrough[]

Landing[]

They'll stand no chance against indoctrinated commandos

The mission begins with a landing on an area that is already under assault by Cerberus forces. If he survived Mass Effect 2, Jacob Taylor will be present and be injured in the firefight; if not, a stand-in character named Dr. Webber will be hit instead. After Shepard clears the initial pad area a conversation ensues. Jacob will vouch for Shepard to the refugee leader, Dr. Brynn Cole, but, in Jacob's absence, Dr. Cole will be mistrustful due to Shepard's past ties with Cerberus, forcing you to engage three more Assault Troopers before she'll let you in.

Inside, you talk to Dr. Cole and Jacob Taylor if he's present and learn more about the situation. If Jacob is there and Tali or Garrus are in the squad Jacob will greet them as well. After the conversation ends, you can talk to a grieving doctor nearby for some reputation points. You can then meet Dr. Gavin Archer at the top of the first flight of stairs. If Overlord was completed in Mass Effect 2, talking with Dr. Archer can lead to gaining him as a War Asset but only in the following scenarios: he is not informed of the fate of the geth (if this is after Priority: Rannoch and his brother David Archer was left with Cerberus), or he is informed about the fate of his brother (if David was rescued from Cerberus both in Mass Effect 2 and at Grissom Academy). Some morality points can be earned in this conversation as well. Reminiscently you may notice the Overlord music playing when you fight your way to the satellite tower soon. Meanwhile you will also find a datapad with 2,500 credits, and another datapad with some insight into some of the research being done. Through the door is an Assault Rifle Magazine Upgrade and a Weapon Bench. Up the stairs and through another door is a medical station.

Upon talking to Dr. Cole, Shepard will also be alarmed by the discovery that some of the scientists brought their families with them. Jacob/Dr. Webber will inform Dr. Cole that the installation's roof-mounted anti-aircraft guns are offline. But first things first, take the time to explore Dr. Cole's base.

On the top floor is a datapad, another datapad with 2,500 credits, a microscope that triggers a comment from Shepard about a poison designed for turians, another datapad about the work they were conducting, and a Shotgun High Caliber Barrel mod behind a crate near the door to the next area. You can also talk to Brynn and listen to other conversations happening in the area for some interesting tidbits of information.

In the medbay you can find the Kassa Fabrications Greaves on some crates by the door, a datapad with 1,250 credits, another datapad from Jacob about the AA guns, a medical station on the wall, and you can talk to Jacob if he's present.

Satellite Control Area[]

Even Cerberus "secret" bases are impressive in size

Shepard is tasked with restarting the AA emplacements. To do this, you'll first need to restore satellite telemetry, so head out through the door and up the ladder. Be sure to grab the M-6 Carnifex on the pipe to the left. When you come around the corner, there are guards facing the wrong way including a Combat Engineer, but they're standing near a Shield Pylon, so if you want to ambush effectively you'll need to snipe the Pylon (or turn it against the enemy soldiers with Sabotage, which will not alert them), hit both guards with shield draining powers or combos, or just start shooting. Continue up the raised platform to find another Combat Engineer guarding the satellite control area.

Note: This Combat Engineer sabotaging telemetry controls cannot be damaged by gunfire until he turns around to acknowledge you, but you can use abilities such as Overload to get his attention and even damage him, which allows you to engage him before jumping down from the ramp if you wish.

Reinforcements will jump down to join him, and if you can place a Singularity or other unpleasant surprise like a Sentry Turret under them, you'll win without breaking a sweat. Pick up the SMG High Caliber Barrel behind the crates on the left after the drop down.

Occasionally, Cerberus troops will stay on the roof of the building to the right and fire down from there. Take them out fast if they do this, as it's difficult to take cover from enemies in that vantage point.

Tip: Note that after eliminating the Cerberus forces but prior to actually activating the button to repair the dish, you can first turn around climb back up onto the next section and destroy all the shield generators and collect any items facing no resistance all the way to the turret, as enemies will not spawn until you actually repair the dish. You can then return to the dish, repair it and the shields you took down will remain down, making the next section considerably easier.

Once you restore the controls, Jacob or Brynn will tell you that the AA guns still need to be activated. Next to the controls, a Med-kit and a Datapad worth 2,500 credits can be found.

Turret and AA Towers[]

Perfect weather for shooting Cerberus

Now you need to return to the main facility to reactivate the AA Towers, but Cerberus forces drop onto the raised platform you just vacated. Clear them out and ascend. In the distance, by the right AA gun, will be a turret manned by an unshielded gunner as well as typical assault forces. The turret gunner can be knocked off his gun by "bending" a variety of physics powers (e.g. Throw) around the turret shielding, sniped carefully between the gaps in the shield, or blown away with an explosive projectile from a weapon such as the Venom Shotgun or a squadmate's grenade power (which doesn't need to be thrown). Before climbing the tower, there is a med-kit in the center past the corrugated surface you climb up to in three steps under a curved metal pipe, as well as a Sniper Rifle Piercing Mod that can be found behind the large containers near the ladder to the right tower. This ladder is broken, so make your way up the left tower. Activate the AA gun and move across the crosswalk to the adjoining platform.

On the second AA tower is a Datapad containing 3,750 credits, a Med-kit below the datapad and a turret, down the ladder is a Shotgun Spare Thermal Clip. Climb back up and activate the second AA gun to discover it requires repairs. Assign the squad member of your choice and head quickly to man the turret or you may encounter a bug. On the other AA tower and on the platform below Cerberus shuttles will deploy troops including three of the highly evasive Phantoms; use the turret to obliterate the opposition, or simply get in cover if you'd prefer to use Shepard's powers against the Phantoms. Shuttles will land a trio of troops at the first AA gun station and down on the roof where you just fought, which is on the gun's left side; said troops descend very slowly, so that's the best time to snipe (or "turret") them. Once all enemies are dead, return to the AA gun console and activate it.

Tip: The turret gun has sufficient penetration that it can shoot through the Cerberus shuttles. On lower difficulties, you can open fire as the door opens, and kill troops before they have a chance to exit and spread out.

Evacuation[]

Scientists cheering the first shuttle's launch

Back inside the facility, Dr. Cole discusses the situation with you and asks if the scientists should go now or wait. This is not a tactical decision; she is giving you a chance to prep before the final battle. There's really no reason not to just go immediately, especially as all the doors leading in and out of the room are locked, making it difficult to go back for any loot you forgot. If you choose to delay, this is the last chance to pick up anything you may have missed.

As the evacuation is underway, a Cerberus fighter will suicide into one of the AA guns, breaching the defenses. Cerberus troops then crash through the skylights, and you will have to fight them upon regaining control. Dispatch the three troops in the upper area and head down to dispatch three more on the stairs leading back to the hangar doors where you first entered the facility.

When the hangar doors open there are several troops to battle (Note: squadmate AI will often cause your team to back quickly away from the hangar doors looking for cover instead of moving forward into the area with you, so give them specific orders to prevent this). Once the initial enemies are eliminated, Cerberus shuttles will arrive and drop more troops on the raised platforms on either side. Be sure to disable or Sabotage the generators and their accompanying pylons supplying the enemy with shields. Another Phantom will appear, so stay sharp. Eventually Cerberus will drop an Atlas Mech, and there is sometimes a final engineer that can deploy a Turret after the mech is defeated, so watch out. Jacob/Brynn pilots a shuttle tasked with picking up Shepard. Destroy the Atlas and the ending cutscene ensues.

Note: Jacob survives this mission and the rest of the events of Mass Effect 3 regardless of his previous loyalty or what choices Shepard makes.

Aftermath[]

Upon completion of this mission, you will gain 12,500 credits, Ex-Cerberus Scientists, and Dr. Brynn Cole to your War Assets. If Jacob is present, he will be recruited as a War Asset as well, and can later be interacted with at Huerta Memorial Hospital. Finally, you can also gain Dr. Gavin Archer as a War Asset provided you satisfied the following conditions:

  • The Overlord DLC missions in Mass Effect 2 were completed.
  • If David Archer was rescued from Cerberus at the conclusion of Overlord:
  • If David Archer was left with Cerberus at the conclusion of Overlord:
    • Complete this mission prior to completing Priority: Rannoch.
    • If Priority: Rannoch has already been completed, do not inform Dr. Archer about the fate of the geth.

Note: Dr. Archer must be talked with to have a chance of gaining him as a War Asset, simply ignoring him won't work.

After the mission, Garrus and James will be found in the kitchen area of the Normandy having a war stories competition. If Kaidan is a member of your crew, he will be in the Crew Quarters with some thoughts about the Cerberus Scientists. Alternatively, if Ashley is a member of your crew, she will be found in the Starboard Observation Deck giving her thoughts about the scientists.

Datapads[]


Private Message
From: Horace
To: Brynn

Brynn, I don't like this. I've managed to get eyes on some of the research the others were doing, and I'm getting a sense of a big picture here beyond anything we could have imagined. In our worse [sic] nightmares kind of imagined.

I'm going to start sabotaging my work. That's how bad it is.

We need to meet up and talk. ASAP.

H.


Personal Log: Damini Sengupta


Attempts are ongoing at figuring out what the end product of our research was meant for. While it is obvious that the delivery system was to be implant-reliant, with evident neurological applications, many questions remain as of yet unanswered. The loss of Dr. Horace Armstrong in particular is hindering our efforts to speedily reconstruct the nature of the Illusive Man's goals. We have several parts of the whole, which lead us to chilling conclusions. But we are nowhere near figuring out what said whole might be--and that is what scares me the most.


Outpost Report: Jacob Taylor


Outpost now 48% operational. We've reorganized some of the storage rooms around the central core, turning them into living units in order to save power. The outer areas are all condemned now, which should provide us with a buffer should Cerberus agents find us.

The guns are functional, but I don't like how exposed they are. I'm going to look into finding us some shielding on the black market.


Personal Log: Brynn Cole


With Jacob's help, we have managed to ascertain that several of our colleagues were, in fact, killed. "Contracts terminated" is what Cerberus called it. Makeda, Scott, Daniel, Chun Hei, Anikka... and so many others I didn't even know about. All of them gone, disappeared without a trace. Just like that.

We should have left sooner. I don't know why we waited so long. I can't remember what seemed so important that we had to stay just one more day... What was I thinking?

Enemies[]

Bugs[]

  • Several users have reported getting stuck during the AA gun repair sequence, where scripted events fail to trigger properly. The only known recourse is to load the nearest save.
  • There is a graphical glitch in this mission that occurs if you bring along a squadmate that Jacob may recognize (i.e. Tali, Garrus or Liara). During the cutscene and conversation right after Dr. Cole lets you into the facility, Jacob will acknowledge the presence of said squadmate(s), though not by name. When a squadmate responds, the camera focuses on empty space with nobody appearing in the frame. This glitch is fixed in Legendary Edition.

Trivia[]

  • The evacuation cutscene bears a strong resemblance to the evacuation scenes that take place on the planet Hoth in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. In both scenes, surface-to-air defenses are used to clear a path for escaping ships, and the evacuation is also interrupted by the arrival of enemy troops. Both scenes also take place in wintry environments. Some of the overheard dialogue lines in-game are almost direct quotes from the scenes in the film.[1]

References[]

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