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Comm hub exterior

Cerberus has attacked a comm facility on Ontarom. Land on Ontarom and prevent Cerberus from gaining control of crucial access points.

Acquisition[]

Prerequisite: Priority: Thessia

Specialist Traynor mentions the hub after the mission on Thessia.

Preparation[]

You'll be facing most types of Cerberus infantry in this mission with the exception of Guardians, including several Nemesis snipers. Much of the combat zone is open-air, though with a large amount of cover and walls that enemies will often tenaciously cling to. Grenades are useful for flushing hostiles out of some of their harder to hit foxholes, and having at least one long-range, accurate weapon is recommended. As always, the Defense Matrix bonus power is invaluable for emergency shield restoration when fighting Nemeses. A weapon that can see through walls and smoke can be quite useful here too especially due to the large number of Centurions you'll encounter in each wave. Squadmates that can snipe such as Garrus are quite effective here, particularly if given weapons that can penetrate cover.

Walkthrough[]

Note the two moons

The location is not mentioned in either the Codex entry for the planet or in the mission briefing; it is located in the Kepler Verge, which is just up and to the right of Shadow Sea or almost straight right of the Ninmah Cluster.

You are dropped off in a combat zone that is the multiplayer map Firebase Dagger. The drop zone is hot so set up your squad's ammo/defensive powers quickly and take cover. Your initial opposition will be basic Assault Troopers and Centurions, plus a single Combat Engineer. Take him out first if possible before he can set up any Turrets. Caution: Sometimes the Engineer will have sneakily left a Turret on the raised area near the first terminal so be very cautious when approaching, and avoid using the ladder. A good way to check to make sure you've eliminated every hostile is to see if you can make a manual save; if not, there's likely still an active enemy somewhere and it might be a Turret. After you've wiped Cerberus out, you can spend as much time as you want looking around before activating the first console at the NavPoint to proceed, so find the following:

From your starting location, drop down into the courtyard. Head left, then take an immediate left up the ramp where you'll see a medkit right in front of you. To the left of this medkit against the wall there will be a console with the Cerberus Codes needed for Citadel: Cerberus Ciphers, and to the right of the medkit will be two red barrels with another "Cerberus Technology" worth 3,000 credits. There is another medkit on the ground further along.

A faceful of surprise

Continuing around the edge of the map, you'll head up another ramp near the outside wall where there's an ammo and grenade resupply. Nearby there's what looks like a jet engine on top of a crate with another "Cerberus Technology" worth 3,000 credits. Head forward, but just before the next ramp, turn right and drop down the ladder leading to the underside of the satellite dish. Right in front of you will be a set of Ariake Technology Greaves. Go around the other side of the central pillar where you'll see two red barrels on top of a crate with a final "Cerberus Technology" worth 4,000 credits.

Continue forward toward the left-side ramp. When you get to the ramp, turn right to pick up another medkit. Go up the ramp, turn left and go up the second ramp. Turn left again to get into the circular room under the satellite dish itself. There's a medical station on the wall next to the right-side door.

Once you've got all the loot, go ahead and deactivate the console. After this, a second NavPoint appears, along with more Cerberus troops. This next wave includes a few Nemeses. Tip: Place your squadmates in cover positions anticipating enemies approaching from the direction you came from before hitting the console, as enemies will appear and begin attacking almost immediately.

Steve takes his job seriously especially if there are damsels in distress

After the second wave is dead, make your way to the second terminal back on the far side of the map near where you started and disable it. A cutscene and dialogue with Ms. Grace Sato occurs with a dialogue choice (which has no morality reward); receive the info on the third NavPoint's location, and prepare for the final wave. Note: When you activate the second NavPoint, triggering the cutscene, any downed squad members will be revived for free. Also, if you manage to draw enemies away from the NavPoints (or if you are an Infiltrator), there is no requirement to kill any of the enemies in the NavPoint portion of the mission.

The final wave includes several more Nemeses accompanied by multiple Centurions and also a Phantom, so be prepared. The Nemeses start in the central tower which is a natural sniper perch with high ground and clear lines of sight to you and your squad if you remain on the low ground by the second terminal which can result in you getting pinned there while the Phantom closes to lethal range. A good strategy can be to immediately rush to the left towards the entrance ramp of the main building before the snipers really home in on you, which will put you out of the line of fire of the snipers in the tower once you get inside, however you will likely run into 1-2 Centurions blocking your path. Be cautious about advancing too far inside, and keep your eyes and ears open for the Phantom, as the direction it comes from can vary and sometimes it will be waiting inside the tower for you. Once the final wave is down, be sure to grab any loot you've missed—once you deactivate the third station, the mission will end shortly after.

Completing the mission gives you +5 Reputation, 10,000 credits, and a Communications Array War Asset.

Enemies[]

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