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Listening Post Alpha in the Erebus system is reportedly being attacked by unidentified life forms and is requesting assistance.

Acquisition

You first have to complete Noveria to gain the Styx Theta cluster on your map. One way to acquire this assignment is to land on Altahe, as part of UNC: Listening Post Theta and fight your way to the back of the base. There are two terminals in the back, and one of these will get you this assignment. Alternatively, if you enter the Erebus system first you will receive a distress signal and this assignment will appear in your journal.

Preparation

Combat in this assignment is a mix of outdoor and claustrophobic scenarios against swarms of organic, unshielded enemies. Consider equipping everyone's armor with regeneration and/or anti-toxin upgrades. As the enemies are also deadly in close range, having biotic backup plus whichever combination of hard-hitting/anti-organic ammo mods will be of particular use here.

Walkthrough

Surface

Listening Post Alpha 012

Land on Nepmos and make your way to the listening post. Fight off the first wave, then talk to Lieutenant Durand. She will tell you that this has been happening for the last few days and that the three marines remaining are all that is left of a platoon of 90. You will need to assist the remaining soldiers in fighting off two more waves of rachni. You can either run over and activate the generator by connecting the Mako, or drive the Mako around during the next two waves of rachni assault. If you connect the Mako to the generator, it will not be available for you to use during the fight, but the rocket turrets of the base will be activated. You will have to disconnect it in order to drive away.

If you choose to conduct the battle on foot with the Mako powering the turrets, you'll have your choice of a mobile offense out in front of the alliance soldiers, or remaining in cover on the platform near Durand. The latter course does offer the substantial benefit that the rachni spittle will basically never hit you; your squad can be afforded similar protection if you manually order them into the open slot of one of the other platforms. In addition to the tactics you might normally use against rachni, immobilizing them through any means will also tend to improve the accuracy of the rocket turrets. Note: Unlike other battles, you will gain no experience points from the rachni killed during these assaults.

After you fend off two large waves, one of the marines will say that one of the UAVs has found a hollow space about 500 meters below the surface. Lt. Durand will ask Shepard to check it out. She will also mention that another listening post in the cluster went silent a few days ago. Choose your response, then decide on your next course of action.

Note that at this point the assignment proper is already considered complete; clearing the Rachni Infested Mine now on your map is optional. If you have already done UNC: Listening Post Theta, this assignment's journal entry will remain open unless you clear the mine. However, the Gorgon system is already accessible and you can simply get off Nepmos and complete the third assignment leg UNC: Depot Sigma-23.

If you have other places to be, or not really seeking extra loot and/or experience, then you can return to the Normandy. Otherwise, head over to the mine on the southwest. Before you leave, grab the med kit from one of the shacks, and an upgrade kit and another med kit from the other.

Rachni Infested Mine

Head down the entrance tunnel to reach the first room. When you reach the first room you will see some holes on the far wall, but nothing will come out of them. Before entering the tunnel to the main room there is a locked crate off to the right of the entrance that requires Easy Decryption. This is a good point to save the game because of the many rachni you will encounter in the main room.

In the main room there are eight rachni holes, each of which will only release its rachni when a squadmate gets close. When you enter the room, watch your right because there will be a hole there, though it will only release one Rachni Soldier; the remaining holes will release one to three apiece - it's twenty rachni if you choose to clear the whole room, and unlike the ones near Durand these rachni do provide experience points. Keep cover in mind as you do this. Clear out all the holes before heading to the tunnels in the back of the room. There is an open crate to the north of the main chamber, and another in the south-eastern corner.

The two branch tunnels are the next rooms. This is another good save point because you will face Rachni Soldiers and Rachni Brood Warriors. Note that the Brood Warriors have some biotic potential and use stasis and a form of barrier to defend themselves, so be prepared for quite a fight, but the Brood Warriors will come out last. You have to enter the room, i.e. step out of the tunnel, in order to get the rachni to come up from their holes.

  • The left-hand tunnel has four Rachni Soldiers and one Brood Warrior, though they appear sequentially so you'll only be fighting two rachni at any given time. Once you kill three of the Rachni Soldiers, the Brood Warrior comes up. There is a Secure Crate in the room that requires Average Decryption.
  • The right-hand tunnel has two Rachni Soldiers and a Brood Warrior. Once you have killed one of the Rachni Soldiers, the Brood Warrior will emerge. The locked crate in the room requires Easy Decryption.

Note that the the left room has an angled tunnel and jump, stopping the rachni from leaving the room, allowing you to fight from the main room and use the walls as cover. The right room is flat; rachni and the Brood Warrior will charge towards you. Run in, pull the rachni out, and find some sort of cover/obstruction to stop them from going into melee.

Upon the deaths of the two Brood Warriors a lore message pops up to report that you've eliminated the rachni on the planet. There is no need to return to Lt. Durand as she will have nothing new to say.

Enemies

Trivia

  • This assignment may be a homage to the book/movie Starship Troopers.
  • No experience is given for the actual killing of the rachni during the waves. This may or may not be a bug.
  • There also seems to be a bug where Shepard or the teammates 'float' quite far above the ground when near the Lt. Durand or the other Alliance soldiers. This is easily fixed by moving far away from them ‒ Shepard will harmlessly 'fall down', and the team-mates will teleport to Shepard's side.
Cerberus rachni Experiment Navigation
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Assignments UNC: Listening Post Theta
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