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1 - Arrival

Welcome to the SSV Normandy, the most advanced prototype vessel ever designed. This technologically superior ship is headed for a shakedown run on Eden Prime, where a quiet agricultural colony currently thrives. The nature of your visit is a mystery, but many of the ship's crew believe that there is more going on here than what's being let on about. Why else would the Council send out the Alliance's finest ship with a Spectre on-board?

The Normandy is piloted by Jeff "Joker" Moreau, who just so happens to be your first encounter as the game begins and you're given control of Lieutenant Commander Shepard. Joker begins sharing his discomfort about Spectre Nihlus being on-board with Kaidan Alenko, after which you're given the option to either agree with his stance that more is going on here (Paragon), stay neutral, or silence his paranoid comments (Renegade). Following that exchange, Captain Anderson will radio Joker and ask that him to send you to the Comm Room. This provides you with another set of conversation choices, where you can either inquire about the Captain's demeanor (Paragon), stay neutral, or accuse Joker of making the Captain angry (Renegade). Remember, as a rule of thumb, Paragon choices during dialogue will almost always be in white text in the upper right corner or in blue "Charm" text in the upper left corner of the radial menu. Likewise, Renegade choices will almost always be in white text in the lower right corner or in red "Intimidate" text in the lower left corner of the radial menu. Regardless of which responses you give Joker, you will receive a small amount of experience points and your first few Codex entries (Turians, Systems Alliance, and Timeline) before being cut loose.

During this initial visit to the Normandy, you're only allowed to explore the upper Command Deck. Start heading east so you can familiarize yourself with the ship, as you're going to be spending a lot of time here during the course of the game.


2 - Navigator Pressly

Strike up a conversation with Navigator Pressly on your way to your debriefing to unlock the First Contact War and Starships: Sensors codex entries.


3 - Corporal Jenkins and Doctor Chakwas

These two are currently locked in dialogue about Nihlus' presence and your purpose for going to Eden Prime. Chat with them and be sure to investigate the available topics to unlock the Spectres codex entry. You can also score a couple of Paragon or Renegade points.


4 - Comm Room / Mission Debriefing

When you reach the Normandy's Comm Room, you'll discover that only Nihlus is present at the moment. He begins quizzing you about Eden Prime and just how safe you think the human colony residing there might be, though you won't be able to explore the topics much because Commander Anderson shows up. At that point, you're told that this isn't just a shakedown run and that, instead, you're performing a covert pick-up on Eden Prime. Apparently a research team there stumbled upon some sort of ancient Prothean beacon, and it's in the best interests of every galactic race to bring it back to the Citadel station for research purposes.

But that's not all. Nihlus is also here to evaluate you for the Citadel Council. Should you prove worthy, you just might end up being the first human to become a Spectre. Your orders are simple - lead a small ground team to secure the Prothean beacon and bring it back to the Normandy. Before accepting, make sure you explore all possible Investigation dialogue options to unlock the Protheans codex entry and subsequent experience.

Once the dialogue session has finished, Joker will come across the radio to alert the Commander about a transmission from Eden Prime. In it, you'll witness a female soldier and other humans fighting unseen attackers. Before it cuts out, a large hand-like ship can be seen in the distance. Obviously this complicates things, so Anderson gives the order to have Alenko and Jenkins suited up immediately so you can start making your way to the dig site. As Nihlus moves out first to scout ahead and feed you status reports throughout the mission, your team is left at drop point two on Eden Prime: Surface.