Upon completion of N7: Archeological Dig Site, Cerberus will send this e-mail message:
From: Cerberus Command
We did a little due diligence on this Lieutenant Locke and his rendezvous with a Captain Vorhess. The coordinates we obtained as the last known location of the MSV Strontium Mule have been added to your galaxy map.
It turns out the Mule is carrying valuable cargo, including intel of a sensitive nature. We'd like you to track down the Strontium Mule and recover that cargo. Please pass the information to us, and you can keep any other items of value you may find.
Do what you will with the Blue Suns.
A scan of the ship (Arinlarkan System, Omega Nebula) brings up the following message:
“Derelict ship, registered MSV Strontium Mule, visibly damaged from weapons fire. Ship is not responding to hails despite life signs aboard. Transmissions using known Blue Suns encryption detected. Airlocks are sealed, but the ship can be boarded through an emergency hatch in the cargo hold.”
The entire ship has been taken over by Blue Suns mercenaries led by Captain Vorhess and Sergeant Boortis. As the Normandy approaches, it is seen out of the bridge window by the mercs who scramble to positions. Shepard and the squad enter through an emergency hatch on the underbelly of the ship and into the cargo hold.
Once you have control, get into cover and be prepared because you'll be fighting a wave of Blue Suns, including Troopers, several Heavies, and a Legionnaire. Keep the enemies at a distance and use powers and gunfire to take them out. There are a few explosive containers that are near to where the Blue Suns come out, so stay away from them, and use them against the Suns. Once they are down for the count, head up to the door, take a look at the datapad to the left of it, and proceed.
Climb a flight of stairs to find a console indicating the airlocks have been sealed, so you can’t go anywhere but up. Head up to the next landing and turn around, on either side of the upper level are some crates, put your squadmates there as there are some Blue Suns waiting for you. Once you have dealt with them, there is another console behind you that will unlock the doors leading away from this central room. There is also another datapad in here.
The central door will lead to the drive core with the Senior Engineer and a couple of Troopers. When you enter the engine room, be careful as there is precious little cover and the Suns have the height advantage. Avoid the railings and the ramps as the Suns can get a clear shot, and move to the far side of the engine room. Here, there is a little cover on either side of the ramp, use it to take down the enemies. Once you are done, there is heavy weapon ammo up on the platform to the right, and another datapad where the Lead engineer started. There is also a console here that states that the FTL drive is inoperable.
Of the other two doors, the door on the right of the hub room leads to the bridge if you turn right and the sickbay with some medigel on the left. The door on the left of the hub room also leads to the bridge if you turn left again. On the right is a maintenance rooms with no loot, just a console noting that the FTL drive is was damaged and parts were salvaged to repair it, but run a risk.
Head up the stairs from the left or right and when you reach the top, be prepared for yet another fight. There are two Troopers up here and they will be ready to meet you. Take them down then head to the back of the ship and while the door on your left will be locked, the other won’t be. Inside is the mess hall, two Troopers, and the remains of the crew. Take down the Troopers, you will regret it later if you don’t, and head back to the bridge.
When you get to the door to the bridge, it is locked, so head to the right to access a console to unlock it. To the left is the communications transmitter relay, which is currently inoperative. Once you bypass your way into the bridge, be prepared.
Note: This area can be a little glitchy with your squadmates refusing to enter the bridge and will just stay in the hall out of cover. Usually you will have to enter the room, and then get your squadmates to follow you, not order them into position, to get them into the bridge.
Once you are inside the bridge, you will have to deal with multiple troopers, Vorhess, and his Command Bodyguard. Vorhess only has health and shields on higher difficulties, but his bodyguard has all three defenses, so focus on the Bodyguard first. Once they are all down, you will be ambushed from the rear by FENRIS Mechs. But they will sometimes not enter the bridge like your squadmates did earlier, making them easy to pick off. There will be two waves of two mechs, then Boortis will come out with his crew.
Note: Your squadmates will also sometimes refuse to leave the bridge as well, so you may have to experiment on how to get them out.
Before you go to engage Boortis and his men, head to the command console and decrypt the command codes for the cargo container by reading the ship's main log. There is also another datapad here. Then head out into the corridor to battle Boortis. He and two Troopers will usually stay at the other end of the long hallway leading to the bridge and shoot from there. Take them out first, and then you only have two Heavies to deal with on the far side of the upper level. The heavies will stay in cover and only pop out to shoot, so when they do pop up, shoot them.
Once they are down, and unless you have missed any Suns, EDI will come over the comm saying that all the Blue Suns have been eliminated and that the cargo is most likely on the ship’s upper deck, behind the door you were previously unable to access. In the cargo hold, you'll find a datapad, case with 2000 units of iridium, a hackable container with a researchable Heavy Skin Weave damage reduction upgrade, and the cargo you came for. Once you have everything, end the assignment, and you are treated to a cutscene showing the Normandy disengaging from the Strontium Mule and moving off.
The Research Docket that contains the Heavy Skin Weave upgrade in the final area of the ship with the Payload may be unusable; an interact icon displays but does not start the hacking minigame. Accessing the Payload will give you the option to hold F (PC) or press B (Xbox 360) to end the mission, and the game Auto Saves at that point. Reloading the Auto Save puts you right back at the same spot, but makes the Research Docket usable.
For some reason, if you perform a Slam on the last FENRIS Mech during the ambush in the bridge, the Mech will freeze in midair. The game will not count that as a kill and the last batch of enemies will not come out of the locked door across the room. Thus, you will not be able to finish the mission no matter what you do.
If you finish all enemies on the bridge from outside the room (standing in the hallway), the following ambush may not come into effect, causing the quest to become unfinishable. If this happens, saving and then reloading may cause the bridge enemies to respawn, and the ambush will be triggered when you've killed them for the second time.
FTL drive damaged and replaced with substandard parts. Risk of complete failure is elevated.
Transmission Relay Console
Communications relay inoperative.
Ship's Main Log
This is the final entry for Captain Jarrett Barnes, skipper of the MSV Strontium Mule.
If you're reading this, I and my crew are dead. Two weeks ago, we answered a distress signal. It turned out to be a Blues Suns trap. We managed to escape, but sustained heavy damage. Do not approach the coordinates in this log!
If you find the canister in our cargo hold, you are welcome to its contents. The authorization codes are encrypted in this log.
From: Capt. Vorhess
To: Dax
That incoming ship isn't leaving. Looks like the fools are moving to board. The airlocks are sealed, so don't waste your time. Get a team together and be ready to "welcome" them to our cargo hold. Blow them out the cargo bay doors when you're done.
From: Hawkins
To: Jakir
You seen the stash they pulled from cargo? We get that open and we're living the high for months! Sgt. Boortis took the canister topside while Vorhess went to pry the codes from the ship's captain. Man, I wouldn't want to be that guy.
From: Bethor
To: Kurtz
Headsup, man. These intruders are still alive and fighting their way through the ship. They have Commander Shepard with them! You better get your men ready to fight! Boortis has something up his sleeve. He's got that canister full of loot, and I think he's planning to do something to Vorhess and take it for himself. Wouldn't be surprised!
From: Capt. Vorhess
To: Boortis
Your men better be ready. I hear the intruders making their way here and you better be ready with backup. The captain was not forthcoming with information, but I found his codes in the ship's black box. We'll get that canister open, but first we have to kill these intruders!
From: Sgt. Bootis
To: Jakir
This is it! Get your men under control and ready to move. The intruders are the key. Once they hit the bridge, Vorhess will call for us. DO NOT ANSWER. The intruders will take him out for us and we'll get the codes to this canister ourselves. At that point, take out anyone on your list. The fewer men left, the bigger the prize for each of us.
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