Admiral Hackett has asked you to negotiate a treaty with a man named Darius in the Plutus System system _[sic]. The treaty concerns mining rights on an asteroid rich in Element Zero. You are authorized to make any financial or diplomatic concessions necessary to secure mining rights to the asteroid.

Acquisition Edit

This assignment only becomes available when you have hit 80% Renegade, or 90% Renegade if you had attained 80% Paragon first. The rendezvous point is set on Nonuel, in the Plutus system of the Hades Gamma cluster.

Walkthrough Edit

When you land on Nonuel, travel to the Warlord's Outpost on the planet. Watch out for the lava on the planet because if you even touch it the Mako will be destroyed. When you enter the base head to a metal square in the center to begin talking to 'Lord' Darius. Darius will begin the negotiations on the offensive, clearly angered by the Alliance's decision to send Shepard rather than a trained negotiator; if Shepard is female, Darius is somewhat more insulting. If you choose to pursue a peaceful option, then only select the uppermost dialogue options; any other options will always result in a fight. If you choose the paragon path, you can learn that the Alliance set up Darius and now he has gone rogue, and they sent Shepard to bring him in. Eventually you negotiate a peace with Darius and he allows you to leave. Alternatively, at any point you can decide that you've had enough of 'Lord' Darius and simply kill everyone.

If you wish to fight, or if you have finally had enough of Darius' attitude, select a lower dialogue option; then when you regain control of Shepard, backpedal to the door because the eight Retainers, and Darius himself, will cut you and the squad down fast if you choose to stay in the center of the very large room. Use the limited cover around until you get into a position you can defend then take out the nine enemies that are spread around the room. Another good position is the corner opposite the entry door if you don't like the entry room. There is a bit more cover here, but like other outposts with this crate arrangement, there are some very exposed flanking positions, so do make sure to watch them.

Either when they all have fallen, or you negotiated a contract, check around the room for crates. There will be two upgrade kits on the shelves on either side of where you conversed with Darius. In the lower room off the main hall will only be one crate and in the upper room will be a Secure Storage Locker and two Weapons Lockers. If you did choose to kill everyone, remember to access the terminal in this room to open the entrance again. Once you have everything return to the Normandy

You receive 8 Paragon points for ending the conversation peacefully upon the conclusion with Hackett, or 9 Renegade points for killing them all and a further 25 Renegade points for ending the mission violently.

If Shepard successfully negotiates a contract with Darius, during the debrief Hackett will reveal that he expected Shepard to kill Darius instead, but will follow through with the treaty anyway.

If you chose to kill Darius, you can choose your responses to Hackett. It is obvious that this was a setup but Hackett and the Alliance cannot officially condone such actions. Given that an 80% Renegade score is needed to unlock this assignment, it is logical for Hackett to make this assumption.

Enemies Edit

• Lord Darius
• Darius Retainer

Trivia Edit

• The quote "Millions for Defense, but not one cent in tribute" cited in the Renegade completion text of this assignment is attributed to Robert Goodloe Harper, a South Carolina Federalist and Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, during the XYZ Affair in 1797 - when the French government demanded a bribe in exchange for negotiating a treaty.
• In Mass Effect 2, when asking Bailey about the Shepard VI, he will comment that when data is deleted the VI will say "I delete data like you on the way to real errors." One of the responses to Darius' threats is "I have killed worse than you on the way to real problems". Garrus and Tali will jokingly note how extreme Shepard is.
• Even if Shepard lands on Nonuel and approaches the base, it will be impossible for Shepard to enter if the assignment has not been received from Hackett.