Act Of War High Treason Walkthrough
Aila Gilb
Some time after recruiting Tali, Kelly will tell Shepard that Tali seems distraught after receiving a message. Shepard learns that Tali has been accused of treason, and that she must return to the Flotilla to defend herself. Tali provides the current location of the Migrant Fleet.
You'll be facing a ship full of geth that will shoot on sight. You'll have Tali with you by default, so be sure to allocate plenty of points to her AI Hacking power which will help keep the geth fighting themselves instead of you.
In terms of squadmate powers, Overload is very helpful here, as a lot of the geth are normally shielded even on lower difficulties, so it is recommended that you select a third squadmate who can use the power especially if you yourself don't possess it. Also, equipping yourself and your allies with Disruptor Ammo, if available, will greatly increase your squad's combat effectiveness. Energy Drain is an excellent bonus power choice for this mission, as is Stasis for dealing with larger, more threatening geth units.
Because of the cramped nature of the area where you'll be fighting, shotguns provide more of an advantage than most weapons, particularly the Geth Plasma Shotgun. In terms of heavy weapons, avoid the M-100 Grenade Launcher as it can cause friendly fire damage at point-blank range. As in most missions, the excellent disabling and area of effect properties of the M-622 Avalanche, Arc Projector, and M-490 Blackstorm are your best bet. The Arc Projector is especially effective versus synthetic enemies in close-quarters.
The Normandy arrives at the Migrant Fleet. There is suspicion because it is a registered Cerberus vessel, but Tali's passphrase allows the ship to proceed to dock with the ship Rayya. Captain Kar'Danna with a marine detail greets Commander Shepard. If Shepard arrived with Legion, they will have their weapons aimed at the squad. Shepard can use Charm or Intimidate to convince Captain Danna to allow Legion aboard. Otherwise, Legion must return to the Normandy and another squad member selected. Captain Danna reveals that the charges are that Tali smuggled active geth into the fleet. On the orders of her father, Admiral Rael'Zorah, Tali had been sending deactivated geth samples to the fleet. When questioned further, Tali insists she took every precaution to ensure the materials were not dangerous.
At the garden plaza where Tali is to be tried, Admiral Shala'Raan greets Tali as "Tali'Zorah vas Normandy". Tali hugs the Admiral, calling her "Auntie Raan," and then introduces the Admiral to Shepard as a friend of her father. Tali then reacts to Raan calling her "vas Normandy"; it turns out Tali has been stripped of her quarian ship's name, something that portends badly for her chances in her upcoming trial. Raan then reminds Tali that she is still entitled to be represented at the hearing by her current ship's captain: Shepard. The Commander's reaction to being Tali's defense lawyer can garner 2 Paragon or Renegade points.
After the conversation ends, Tali and her new advocate make their way into the crowded hearing chamber. Admiral Raan, forced to recuse herself from judging Tali's guilt or innocence due to their close relationship, opens the proceedings. Shepard may use Charm or Intimidate in two separate dialogue choices to gain morality points. The admirals sandbag Tali with the revelation that the lab ship Alarei has been overrun by geth, demanding an explanation. Tali's father, who was working on board, is presumed dead, but Tali, shocked by the news, refuses to accept this and wants to board the ship to look for him. Shepard and Tali propose to retake the Alarei, which the admirals approve. The hearing is recessed pending the recovery of the Alarei and any data that might reveal what truly happened on it.
For additional story details and occasional morality points, Shepard can talk with the admirals, Veetor, and Kal'Reegar, if he survived Haestrom. The latter two are strongly supportive of Tali and had come to speak publicly on her behalf, but only if two conditions are met: Veetor was not given over to Cerberus, and Kal'Reegar is alive. Shepard learns that the hearing is a facade for the members of the Admiralty Board to advance their own individual agendas; Tali's guilt or innocence is of only secondary importance. Admiral Xen wants to study AI to regain control of the geth; she will be particularly fascinated by Legion if it is present. Admiral Gerrel advocates a war to retake the quarian home world, believing that the quarians have become complacent as a people. Admiral Koris sympathizes with the geth and believes that Tali and her father need to be made examples of to send a larger message about the evils the quarians inflicted upon their "children". Admiral Raan alone appears to be acting out of concern for Tali, admitting that she deliberately prevented Tali from being informed about her father's likely death so that her genuine shock at the news during the trial would garner sympathy and make the other admirals more likely to allow her to board the Alarei to find evidence that could exonerate her. Shepard can also return to talk to Captain Danna, but Shepard will not be able to return to the Normandy or request new squad members.
Shepard and the team take a shuttle from the Rayya to the Alarei. Shepard enters a room that has two Geth Troopers. They are quickly reinforced by more Geth Troopers and two Geth Hunters. The key here is not to have the ever-advancing cloaked Hunters reach point-blank range where their shotguns are deadly and where low cover will not shield you from them due to their height.
Combat Strategy: Since you have Tali in your party, her AI Hacking ability can be most useful in keeping a Geth Hunter at bay. In addition to the obvious possibility of using it on a de-shielded Geth Hunter, it can be used on a Geth Troopers standing near a Geth Hunter and will tend to cause the Geth Hunter to become distracted and even move away from you. Since Geth Troopers are much easier to shoot the shields off of than Geth Hunters, this tactic will come in handy repeatedly throughout the entire mission. This battle will be at close quarters with a swarm of geth closing quickly (a preview of things to come): act decisively or you'll be overrun.
In the room is a med-kit with medi-gel, a laptop (+1500 credits), a second laptop (+1800 credits), power cells, and a Quarian Log. The Quarian Log when accessed shows a quarian scientist reporting that something is slowing down the systems, so they're taking down the firewalls as apparently Admiral Rael'Zorah ordered them to bypass standard safeties.
Down the hallway is a medbay. In the medbay is medical station with medi-gel, a hackable Terminal (+4200 credits), and a Repair Drone that Tali had sent to her father. Tali talks about what geth parts she sent to her father and how she did it when you access the Repair Drone.
Continuing down the hallway there is a small office with a hackable Monitor that awards a Geth Shield Strength upgrade. In the hallway between the medbay and the small office is another Quarian Log. The Quarian Log when accessed shows a quarian researcher realizing that geth have infiltrated their computers.
Warning: The door in the room downstairs slams shut and you are now stuck in this nasty battle until it is over. If you go downstairs, understand there is not a lot of cover and the Geth Hunters and Geth Troopers will come down the stairs after you. Do as much damage as you can while you retreat down the stairs or you'll be stuck in a small room with lots of geth. After the battle the door magically opens again.
The adjacent room will have a Wall Console, which starts a testy conversation with Tali. She is concerned that the risky research on the Alarei was motivated by her father's promise to build her a house on the quarian homeworld. Shepard can advocate taking back the homeworld or suggest giving up on that dream for up to 4 Renegade or Paragon points. There's also a Wall Safe (+3000 credits) that can be bypassed.
After going through the door, Shepard will be on the second-floor of a two-level room. Geth Troopers and Geth Hunters will be coming into the room through a door on the lower level. A few Geth Troopers will also come in through a door on the upper floor from the left.
Warning: The door into the chemistry lab slams shut when you activate the door and you are now stuck in this tough battle until it is over. There is a glitch listed below to help with the door shutting but understand that if the glitch doesn't work that the door isn't open, Shepard and the squad are now in a tiny little room and there are Geth Hunters and Geth Troopers on their way to your location. The geth will close the distance rapidly and won't go to cover until the Hunters are dead. Even after the Hunters are dead sometimes a Geth Trooper will enter the little room. There is almost no cover and the geth outside the little room will shred your squad unless you are very far to the right in the little room. After the battle the door back to the chemistry lab reopens.
Combat Strategy: The ramp up to the upper level makes a natural chokepoint, and a Combat Drone can be used to impede geth progress up the ramp. Sending a Combat Drone inside the downstairs door at the beginning of the battle will usually stop further enemies from spawning. Hacking unshielded geth also works well, and is particularly useful for distracting the deadly Geth Hunters. One thing to be careful about is hacking the Geth Hunters themselves if they are on the ramp, because while attacking the other geth they will often "back up" (toward you), leaving you in an extremely delicate position when the hack runs out. It is better in this case to hack one of the nearby lesser geth to distract the Hunter.
Glitch Strategy: There is also a notable glitch here that will make the room much easier on Hardcore or Insanity. Station one of your squad in the chemistry lab and proceed to open the door. If you feel you are overwhelmed, retreat through into the chemistry lab and take cover near a small counter near the door; some of the geth will not enter the lab, and will stand by the doorway; however, this is far from foolproof, since other geth will follow you relentlessly anyway, in which case you should prepare for close-quarters combat.
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