The "Arrival" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Steven Hackett

Steven Hackett was an admiral in the Alliance Navy. He contacted Shepard frequently in the first game, "Mass Effect", to give Shepard side missions. He was absent in "Mass Effect 2" until the "Arrival" DLC. "Arrival" was also the first time players saw Hackett's face.

Dr. Kenson was an Alliance scientist, and personal friend of Hackett's. When she was captured, Hackett could not use his Alliance resources to help her. He contacted Shepard, who was then not employed by the Alliance, and asked the Commander to resolve this delicate situation.

Answer: The Batarian Hegemony

The batarians were a race of four-eyed aliens that had some rather brutal ideas about how society ought to be structured. They still used slavery extensively, and they shared borders with humans. The two species started to expand into the same planets, but the Council sided with humanity's claims. Outraged, the batarians left the Citadel, and became an insular society. They did not like most other species, but felt special resentment towards humans.

When they found a secret human project in one of their star systems, they were not happy. They captured the leader of the project, Dr. Kenson, and were interrogating her to figure out what the humans were up to.

Answer: Dr. Amanda Kenson

When Shepard freed Dr. Kenson from her restraints, she became Shepard's only squad member. As a scientist, she used tech attacks (Overload and Incinerate) to support Shepard. She was also responsible for hacking the prison's systems.

Joker was briefly playable in "Mass Effect 2" when the Normandy was attacked, but he was never a squad member. Liara was a squad member from "Mass Effect", and was a temporary squad member in "The Lair of the Shadow Broker" DLC for "Mass Effect 2". David Anderson was Shepard's commanding officer, and would become a temporary squad member in "Mass Effect 3".

Answer: In a stolen Kodiak shuttle

Shepard and Dr. Kenson needed to escape the prison, and the planet. Neither the Hammerhead nor the Skycar were space-worthy vehicles. Shepard piloted the Hammerhead in the "Firewalker" and "Overlord" DLCs, and a Skycar in "The Lair of the Shadow Broker" DLC.

The Normandy SR2 was big, and most planets did not have the facilities that would allow her to land. Kodiak shuttles were used to ferry personnel to and from the Normandy. Shepard and Dr. Kenson stole a Kodiak shuttle from the prison hangar, and flew to the asteroid belt.

Answer: A few days

Dr. Kenson was able to determine when the Reapers would arrive, and had a countdown displayed across the base. When Shepard and Dr. Kenson arrived after escaping the prison, there was just over two days left until the Reapers would arrive. It was actually possible for player to wait out the clock, which would result in a mission failure.

However, to see that ending, there were faster was to make time pass.

Answer: Object Rho

Object Rho was a large, glowing Reaper artifact sitting at the heart of the project base. Dr. Kenson took Shepard to see Object Rho as soon as they landed at the base. Shepard was shocked that the project had not erected any kind of containment system to keep the Reaper object from affecting the crew. Dr. Kenson told Shepard to give it a moment, and the object did indeed show Shepard a vision of the Reapers' arrival.

Shepard was panicked, and told the project to start working again, realizing too late that the entire base, including Dr. Kenson, had already been indoctrinated.

Shepard put up a fight, but was overwhelmed by the project's security forces.

Answer: A mass relay

The Reapers used the Citadel, secretly a giant mass relay into dark space, to return to the Milky Way every 50 000 years, and exterminate all space-faring life. When the imminent cycle was prevented by Shepard in "Mass Effect", the Reapers started approaching the galaxy using slower means.

They were due to arrive in the Viper nebula, which was at the edge of the galaxy, and use its mass relay to access the relay network. The project's goal was to crash an asteroid into the mass relay to destroy it, and give the rest of the galaxy a little more time to prepare. No one knew if a relay could even be destroyed, but no one had tried, either.

Answer: By hacking LOKI mechs

The indoctrinated project soldiers managed to subdue Shepard, and the staff kept Shepard sedated. Possibly due to Shepard's mechanical parts, the sedatives did not have the expected effects. Shepard managed to quickly take care of the two guards by the table, while the scientist secured the room. Luckily, there was an active terminal where Shepard was trapped.

Shepard was able to use the terminal to hack into, and control, nearby LOKI mechs, to take out the remaining guards and release the security locks.

Answer: Harbinger

After defeating the last of the base security, a large hologram appeared, to talk to Shepard. If Shepard had yet to complete the suicide mission from the main part of the game, then the hologram would use the Collector General's form. If "Arrival" was completed after the suicide mission, then the hologram would be of a regular Reaper. Either way, it was Harbinger who contacted Shepard. Harbinger repeated the Reaper's sentiments, explaining that the destruction of all advanced life in the galaxy could only be delayed, but not stopped.

Shepard could have responded, but it made little difference.

Answer: On the Normandy

The final segment of the "Arrival" DLC took place at the base's communication's dish, in vacuum. After Shepard defeated the last of the base personnel and contacted the Normandy, the Commander still had to wait for a shuttle. It was during this wait that Shepard talked to Harbinger.

The communications systems in Shepard's armour were too weak to reach the Normandy. The Commander had to fight towards the base's transmission tower to use its superior strength. The Normandy was able to pinpoint Shepard's location, and sent a shuttle. The shuttle, with Shepard on it, was picked up by the Normandy just as it was using the Mass Relay to jump away. Seconds later, the asteroid crashed into the Relay, and destroyed it. The energy released by the destruction of a Mass Relay was enough to destroy every planet in the Viper Nebula. 300 000 batarians died in the explosion, and Shepard was called back to Earth to stand trial. Shepard started "Mass Effect 3" under house arrest for what happened during the "Arrival" DLC.