The Afterlife, Pt. II[edit]
10
After welcoming Mordin aboard you'll have access to the Normandy's Tech Lab. You'll be doing plenty of work here preparing your ship and teammates for the final fight against the Collectors. If you've got the resources available, go ahead and research something before heading back to Omega. Not only will you strengthen your squad, you'll get a nice new achievement to boot!
Now it's time to head back to the Afterlife club in search of the one they call Archangel. Talk to Aria to find that she doesn't know much about Archangel, but she does know that merc groups are hunting him. With this information, head back downstairs and find the merc recruiter. Signing up for the hunt is your ticket to finding Archangel. After signing up, a young kid will come in planning to do the same. You can let him sign up, or you can dissuade him from becoming rifle fodder with a Paragon interrupt. When you're done, leave the club and head for your shuttle (on the west end of the hub). Note that taking the shuttle leaves you stuck at Archangel's base until the mission is completed. If you have anything you want to take care of first, now's the time.
Angel of Death[edit]
Upon arrival you'll be given orders to find Sgt. Cathka, the Blue Suns merc in charge of freelancers like yourself. The path to him is rather straightforward, but there are a few things to look for along the way. In the Eclipse planning room, you'll find a datapad lying around. Pick it up to get a simple little sidequest that can be finished after mission completion. Just beyond this room, through a door on your left, is a datapad that can be hacked for some quick credits and some element zero. Also in here are controls to the Eclipse mech's IFF systems. You can bypass the to act hostile to friend and foe alike, something that will assuredly come in handy later on. Farther down, near the forward merc post, is another datapad to hack for credits. Nearby is a door that can be bypassed; a medical station, power cells, Submachine Gun Damage (research), and more credits lie on the other side. You can also find out more information in the Blue Suns planning room, but Tarak will just shoo you away, unless you've brought Zaeed, who Tarak seems to know and (sort of) like.
Once you find Cathka, he'll tell you what he can about the mission. Basically, you're an expendable distraction. Once the freelancers are dead, Eclipse moves in, then Blood Pack, then Blue Suns. Once you get the orders to move out, you have the option to use a Renegade interrupt to give Cathka a good, long rest from his work. This may well come in handy at higher difficulty levels since he won't be able to finish repairs to the gunship he was working on. Now head across the bridge an on to Archangel. At some point here you'll have to fire on the other freelancers to protect Archangel — he dies and the mission ends in failure. While on the ground floor of his base, look for a Tech Damage upgrade and a med kit. There's a second med kit on the second floor at the top of the stairs. Finish up any remaining freelancers and head through the door. Archangel is quite happy to see you, as you're happy to see him; it's an old friend, Garrus.
You can talk to him to find out a little about how he's been; it seems he's become something of a local hero, hence the new name. With mercs still out on the hunt though, he won't talk much. As you plan you're next step he'll hand over his rifle to give you a better view of the bridge. Here you have another Renegade interrupt that lets you snipe one of the LOKI mechs on approach. Now it's time to hold your ground and get Garrus out of here.
On the Wings of an Angel[edit]
Eclipse[edit]
Before you start fighting (or during one of the breaks) you may want to grab the M-15 Vindicator Battle Rifle off the couch behind Garrus. There's also a footlocker by the bunks with some credits inside and a med kit near the door. Eclipse mercs are the first across to fight you. They'll start off with LOKI mechs then throw soldiers, engineers, vanguards, and heavies at you. If any get past you, just check the ground floor for them and pick them off. When they're all done for, Jaroth will send in more troops and a YMIR mech. If you did the bypass earlier, the YMIR will fire on the Eclipse mercs, otherwise, it's headed straight for you.
If you do have to face the heavy mech, heavy weapons may not be a bad idea; in such tight quarters, you're sure to do a fair amount of damage. Kill the mech and take care of Jaroth (who's is sporting shields and armor) and his mercs to get a small break. If you didn't get any of the items in this building yet, now's a good time. You find more about Jaroth from Garrus if you like but then you'll need to head down into the basement to fend off the next wave. You can opt to leave one of your teammates behind to help Garrus or take them both to the basement with you. If you leave someone behind with Garrus he'll take less damage over time but you'll have less backup going into the basement.
Blood Pack[edit]
In the basement you'll find a medical station and a weapons locker to change your team's loadout. Head straight down the hall and hit the switch to begin closing the shutter. Each of the shutters you find down here will take ten full seconds to close, so just hold the door with suppressive fire until it closes. Make your way to the garage, past the door to the right for the next shutter. Move from cover to cover fighting your way to the far side of the room. There's a med kit on the far-right side of the room. Being Blood Pack (krogan and vorcha), all your enemies here will have health regeneration. Just take your time and watch for charging krogan or varren. Once you've got the shutter closed, backtrack and head to the utilities room.
In this corridor you'll be forced into a lot of point-blank range fights. While most of your enemies are the weaker vorcha, some are pyros (watch for one behind the first corner). Their flamethrowers are devastating at close range, severely wounding even soldiers. Vault from cover to cover as you clear the way to the shutter. Once again, slam the shutter button and hold the door for ten seconds. Once the basement is clear, clear out Garm and the rest of the Blood Pack upstairs then go talk to Garrus again, learn about Garm and get ready for the final wave.
Blue Suns[edit]
10
Remember that gunship Cathka was working on? It's finally showed up with Tarak at the helm. It will incapacitate Garrus, leaving your three-man squad to finish the fight without him. The gunship has no "health" per se, just armor. Use fire and powers like Warp or Reave to do the bulk of your damage to it. It will fire both bullets and rockets into the room at you. It will also drop off waves off troops at the far end of the room then flee. You have to eliminate all troops before the gunship will reappear. Just stay behind cover and take your time picking off targets until you can coax the gunship to show itself again. Once the gunship's down you can head home. Though Garrus is badly wounded, he is, at least, still very much alive.