Map Legend: [B - Background Info]   [C - Credits]   [M - Medi-Gel] [P - Power Cells]   [R - Resource]   [U - Upgrade]   [W - Weapon]

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Background

You'll receive this mission immediately after completing the mission on Horizon.


Walkthrough

From the mission briefing, you'll learn that that Tali (who you should remember from the mission at Freedom's Progress, if not from Mass Effect) is currently on a "classified assignment" on the planet Haestrom (Dholen / Far Rim), and that you might be able to recruit her there.

When you land on Haestrom, you'll learn from EDI that "solar output has overwhelmed Haestrom's protective magnetosphere," which means that standing in sunlight will damage your shields (but not your health). So you'll need to be careful where you stand. Fortunately, you'll find lots of shady areas on the planet.

As you make your way through the ruins of Haestrom, you'll encounter lots of geth troopers, and eventually you'll come to a quarian radio (at the Overlook). When you activate it, you'll be contacted by a quarian marine named Kal'Reegar. He'll tell you that Tali came to this planet to investigate the sun -- "it's going bad faster than it should" -- and that he and the other marines are there to protect her.

At the end of the conversation, a geth dropship will come in, and during its attack, it will knock over a pillar (in Ruins 2), cutting you off from the quarians. You'll then have to find two demolition charges (in the Garage and in Lower Storage) so you can blow it out of the way. Each time you pick up a demo charge, you'll get ambushed by a group of geth (including geth destroyers and a geth prime).

Past the pillar, you'll come to the quarian Base Camp. Inside, all of the quarians will be dead (along with the geth who attacked them), but you'll find an upgrade and some credits, and also a communications console. When you activate the console, you'll hear from Tali, and she'll open up the exit door from the base, allowing you to continue.

Past the camp, you'll encounter a pair of geth primes and an army of geth drones (in Ruins 3). You'll be able to kill the drones in one or two hits, so try to take them down quickly and then concentrate on the primes. Past the geth you'll reach another bunker (Bunker 2), and activating its security console will open up the exit and the shutters, giving you a good view of a geth colossus, which will then shift its attention away from Tali and onto you.

When you exit the bunker, you'll finally run into Kal'Reegar. He'll tell you about the colossus and about the layout of the battlefield, but then despite being wounded he'll insist upon helping you out. The only way to stop him is with a paragon interrupt (worth +15 paragon points). Otherwise, Kal'Reegar will stay at his perch and try to hit the colossus with his rocket launcher (if you encourage this route then you'll gain +15 renegade points). If Kal'Reegar survives, then you'll meet him again during Tali's loyalty mission.

The colossus will start out with several geth helping it out. You should try to take out most of those geth helpers first, and then advance on the colossus (the western path seems the safest). Then when you get reasonably close to the colossus, you should find cover and start damaging it as much as possible. Every so often the colossus will "huddle up" and replenish its shields, but it won't regenerate its armor, so as long as you can do some damage in between the repair cycles, you should eventually be able to wear it down.

After the battle, when you reach Tali (in the Observatory), she'll agree to join your crew, and she'll take over an engineering station on the bottom deck of the Normandy.

Note: If you're playing on hardcore or insanity, then you'll find a Geth Pulse Rifle in the Observatory with Tali.


Rewards

• Experience: 1000
  
  
• Credits: 69,000 (3000 from damaged geth in Bunker 1, 6000 from damaged geth hunter at Overlook, 3000 from damaged geth in Base Camp, 6000 from damaged geth in Base Camp, 6000 from ancient wall safe in Base Camp, 6000 from ancient wall safe in Bunker 2, 9000 from damaged geth in Observatory, and 30,000 from Cerberus)
  
  
• Resources: 2000 Iridium (400 from container in Ruins 1, 400 from container in Ruins 2, 400 from container in Lower Storage, 200 from container in Ruins 4, 200 from container in Ruins 4, 200 from container in Ruins 4, and 200 from container in Ruins 4)
  
  
• Upgrades: Heavy Pistol Damage (from customized heavy pistol in Ruins 1) and Assault Rifle Damage (from disassembled geth rifle in Base Camp)
  
  
• Weapons: M-9 Tempest Submachine Gun (from Tempest SMG at Overlook) and Geth Pulse Rifle (from intact pulse rifle in Observatory if playing on hardcore or insanity)