"Mass Effect" - Universe [3] - The Milky Way Quiz

Answer: Noveria

Benezia was a powerful asari and Saren's second-in-command. Soon after arriving on Noveria, Shepard was told that Benezia was there. Shepard's mission then became tracking her down to stop whatever it was she was doing.

Benezia was on Noveria to grow a new rachni queen. The rachni had been considered extinct, but a queen egg had recently been found on a ship. The rachni were able to pass memories down generations. Benezia was growing the new queen to extract the coordinates to the Mu Relay, a mass relay that had drifted from its initial position.

Benezia used geth to bolster her own forces, which consisted of asari commandos. While the geth were weak individually, they could be quite dangerous in numbers. The asari commandos were dangerous just on their own. They had high health and shields, with solid firepower, and employed biotic abilities such as barrier, warp, and throw. Benezia herself made liberal use of her powerful biotics.

Answer: Feros

The Thorian was a large organism living in the Prothean ruins on Feros. It was described as plant-like, but it had consciousness and nerve bundles (that, and the kingdom Plantae is only found on Earth).

The Thorian released spores which would be inhaled by other unwitting species. The Thorian would then gradually gain control over these people, punishing them with migraines if they resisted the Thorian's will. As organisms spent more time near the Thorian, the more spores they would inhale, the stronger the pain would become, and it would become harder to resist the Thorian's influence. The Thorian's treatment of its victims was likened to a craftsperson taking care of his/her tools, treating them well and maintaining them in working order.

The Thorian, being very old, was alive during the Prothean presence on Feros. It had the knowledge and essence of being a Prothean. This nebulous concept was called the Cipher, and was required to understand the thoughts transmitted by the Prothean beacons.

Saren contacted the Thorian and struck a deal with it. He sacrificed an asari, Shiala, to get the Cipher from the Thorian. After acquiring the Cipher, Saren sent geth to kill the Thorian to prevent anyone else from getting it. When Shepard met the Thorian, it didn't trust Shepard because of the deceit it experienced from Saren.

Answer: Virmire

Saren fought Shepard twice in "Mass Effect". The first time was on Virmire after the nuclear device had been set to destroy his base.

Saren had strong shields and health, did impressive damage, and rode a hovering platform. He did not take cover himself, and could usually be seen.

When he had taken enough damage, the final cutscene played. Saren stepped off of his platform to engage in a fist fight with Shepard. The warning siren on the bomb made him abandon his attack, and he flew away to escape the blast. Shepard then scrambled back to the Normandy, leaving a squad member behind.

Answer: Eden Prime

The geth were the first enemies encountered in "Mass Effect". They were first seen when geth drones gunned down Jenkins.

Saren used the geth under his command to attack Eden Prime so he could use the Prothean beacon. Saren ordered that the spaceport, where the beacon was located, be destroyed to prevent anyone else from using it.

Instead Shepard showed up, disabled the bombs, and accidentally used the beacon, which promptly destroyed itself anyway, afterwards.

The geth were a synthetic race, whose individual units were entirely software. They were generally reclusive and did not interact with organic species. When geth were encountered by other species, they were often hostile. The Reapers were considered by the geth to be the pinnacle of synthetic life, and were revered as gods.

Not much was learned in "Mass Effect" about the geth's history or how their society was arranged. "Mass Effect 2" offered many more insights into geth culture.

Answer: Therum

Liara was found on a Prothean dig site on the volcanic planet Therum. Liara was a doctor who specialized in Protheans. She was the daughter of Benezia, Saren's right-hand woman, and would have been extremely useful in helping him.

Liara didn't get along with her mother, and was not even speaking to Benezia when the events in "Mass Effect" started. While working at the dig site, the geth attacked in an attempt to kidnap her. She fled into the Prothean ruins and accidentally activated its defenses. The geth were unable to get to her, but she was caught in a stasis field.

Shepard arrived, dealt with the geth and a krogan, and got Liara off of Therum. Liara then opted to join Shepard's cause to stop the Reapers, and her knowledge of the Protheans turned out to be crucial in identifying Ilos as the location of the conduit.

Answer: Noveria

Noveria was used by many corporations that wished to conduct research that may have skirted morality or the stricter laws of other settled planets. There were many corporate offices in Port Hanshan, while the research labs were housed in separate facilities.

The companies were able to conduct research at the labs without worrying about ethics laws that other plants imposed. If a project became loose, such as a biological or chemical weapon, the individual research labs had a number of methods to make sure nothing escaped.

The rachni at the Peak 15 facility could be mostly wiped out by initiating a neutron purge. The labs could also be dropped into glaciers where the cold would kill anything left alive.

Answer: Virmire

Virmire had a tropical environment, at least where Saren's base was located. It had sandy beaches, clear blue water, green foliage, and some very interesting rock formations.

Shepard's trip to Virmire started off in the Mako, driving along the beaches and shallow water, destroying geth, and assaulting gate houses.

The warm and pleasant environment was perfect for breeding an army, and the rock formations and plant life provided good cover from prying eyes.

Answer: The Citadel

The Citadel was comprised of a ring at one end, known as the Presidium, and five arms attached to it, known as the Wards.

The Wards were where the majority of the Citadel population resided. They were generally not as well kept as the Presidium, but were also more vibrant. Because the Citadel was not the home planet of any species (maybe the mute keepers), many species lived together in the wards, each bringing and sharing their own culture.

Answer: Feros

Zhu's Hope was a small colony on Feros funded by ExoGeni. ExoGeni actually used the colonists in Zhu's Hope as unwitting test subjects while studying the Thorian. Zhu's hope only had a handful people, but they were proud of their home, and remained adamant on staying, even while under siege by the geth. We would later learn that they probably couldn't leave because the Thorian was forcing them to stay and protect it from the geth. After Shepard returned from the ExoGeni headquarters, the Thorian had all the colonists attack Shepard in defense.

Depending on how the ExoGeni representative, Ethan Jeong, was treated, and how many colonists survived the events on Feros, the colonists either stayed and rebuilt, or were moved back to Earth.

Answer: Noveria

Lots of planets that were explorable had a hazard level associated with them. This could have been in the form of heat, cold, pressure, or other. There were three levels of hazard, too, with 1 being weak, and 3 being strong.

When outside any structures or the Mako, the hazard level meter would begin to fill. When the meter was full, Shepard and the squad would start taking damage. Certain armors would negate or reduce the effects of hazardous environments.

Noveria was extremely cold and seemed to be stuck in a constant blizzard, and thus has a level 1 cold hazard.