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

Acquisition

Prerequisite: Priority: The Citadel II

This mission is acquired from Specialist Traynor after the Cerberus assault on the Citadel. It is acquired through dialogue aboard the Normandy.

Walkthrough

Landing

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

The mission begins with a landing on an area that is already under assault by Cerberus forces. If he survived Mass Effect 2, Lt. Jacob Taylor will 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, but in his absence, the refugee leader, Dr. Brynn 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.

At the start, you can talk to a grieving doctor on the right for some reputation points. You may also talk to Jacob Taylor on entry as well, and investigate into what's happening. Dr. Gavin Archer may be present at the top of the first flight of stairs along with 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. 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 Dr. Brynn and listen to the others for more information. In the medbay you can find a datapad with 1,250 credits, another datapad from Jacob about the AA guns, Kassa Fabrications Greaves, a medical station on the wall, and you can talk to Jacob if he's present.

AA Guns

Shepard is tasked with restarting the AA emplacements. To do this, head out through the door and up the ladder. Be sure to grab the M-6 Carnifex on the pipe to the left if you don't have it already. When you come around the corner, there are guards facing the wrong way, but they're standing near a Shield Pylon, so if you want an ambush you'll need to snipe the Pylon, hit both guards with a Chain Overload/Energy Drain, and then finally start shooting. It might be easier to just do a stand-up fight. Either way, continue up the raised platform to find another Combat Engineer guarding the satellite control area. Back-up will jump down to join him, and if you can place a Singularity under them, you'll win without breaking a sweat. Pick up the SMG High Caliber Barrel behind the crates on the left right after the drop down. 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.

Note that prior to actually activating the button to repair the dish, you can first climb up onto the next section and destroy all the shield generators and collect all the loot against no resistance all the way to the turret, as the 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 and allowing you to complete it without stopping to collect loot along the way during active combat.

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. Before climbing the tower, there is a medi-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 Ammo mod. Climb back up and activate the second AA gun to discover it requires repairs. Assign the squad member of your choice and head to the turret. On the other AA tower and on the platform below Cerberus shuttles will deploy troops including the highly evasive Phantoms; use the turret to obliterate the opposition. 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 them. Once all enemies are dead, return to the AA gun and activate it.

Evacuation

Once you return, Dr. Cole discuss the situation with you and ask 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. There are Datapads, a Shotgun High Caliber Barrel, the Poison designed for turians, and Medical stations.

Once evacuation begins, Cerberus troops crash through the sky lights, and you have to fight them. Dispatch the three troops in the upper area and head down to dispatch the three troops on the stairs.

When the hangar doors open there are several troops to battle, as you move forward Cerberus shuttles drop more troops on the raised platforms. Be sure to disable the generators supplying the enemy with barriers. Eventually Cerberus will drop an Atlas Mech. Jacob/Brynn pilot a shuttle tasked with picking up Shepard. Destroy the Atlas and the ending cut-scene ensues.

It is notable that Jacob survives this mission regardless of his previous loyalty; there is actually no way to kill him off over the course of this game.

Results

Upon completion of this mission, you will gain 12,500 credits and adds 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:

Completed the Overlord DLC mission in Mass Effect 2.
Successfully rescued the Grissom Academy students before this mission.

Datapads

Private Message
From: Horace
To: Brynn

Bryn, 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 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

Trivia

The evacuation cinematic bears a strong resemblance to the evacuation scene in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - In both scenes, ground-to-air defenses are used to clear a way for the escape craft, and the evacuation is also cut short by the arrival of enemy troops. Some of the dialogue options are almost direct quotes from that sequence.