Author: APEX HQ Team

Good morning, APEX. Kandros again.

A lot has happened since our last briefing. APEX welcomed a krogan biotic into its motley ranks—and with her help, we took down a behemoth. I thought exaltation was scary before I learned it could happen to a krogan.

Now we turn our attention to the Remnant: the Heleus Cluster’s automated security system. These bots aren’t always hostile, but when they are, watch out. Observer lasers leave a mark.

Few on the Nexus know this better than our newest APEX operative: a salarian, trained by the STG, who’s been taking apart Remnant since some of you were still in cryo. The guy really seems to know his stuff. He actually reprogrammed an Observer to fight alongside us. He calls it GLK—or “Glick” out loud.

Don’t ask me what the name means.

We’re still working hard to answer some key questions about the Remnant. We know the kett are asking a lot of these same questions. They might even have some answers we haven’t found yet. It doesn’t help that exiles are harvesting parts to sell and build tech.

We need you to infiltrate Remnant sites with our new friends. See what you can find. Remnant hate so much as a glare in their direction, so walking right into their house isn’t going to be easy.

Arm yourself, shoot what you have to, but try to take some notes. Nexus brass would rather not fight everything in Andromeda if they can help it.

Kandros out.

Official Transcript: Nexus-Aya Defense Communication 027

Present: Tiran Kandros (Nexus Militia / APEX Leadership), Evfra de Tershaav (Angaran Resistance Leader, Operations Director)

 

Evfra de Tershaav: The information your APEX teams retrieved from the kett is… disturbing. If it’s accurate.

Tiran Kandros: My people are the best. We can trust their intel.

Evfra: From what we’ve translated, these… krogan? Is that how it’s said? The krogan scouts were taken by the kett—

Kandros: Like we suspected. Damn it.

Evfra: But these records show that after the usual tests, the krogan were picked as potential “khesorai.” A kett word that crops up in their comms. It usually signals that some senior kett thinks a prisoner is… worthy.

Kandros: Worthy for what? More of their experiments?

Evfra: For a process that—hmm. Better not discuss it over these channels. For now, just know the kett call it “Exaltation.” Those who endure this process are never the same.

Kandros: Well, if we don’t know exactly what the kett are doing, we might know where. I have reports that a massive kett ship has suddenly changed course. She’s skirting systems close to our Nexus—might even be heading for the station itself.

Evfra: Likely testing your defenses. It could be a coincidence.

Kandros: A coincidence too far. My scouts picked up evidence that krogan were taken onto that ship. That’s enough for me: I’m sending APEX teams to board it and deal with the kett before they get within a parsec of the Nexus.

Evfra: Pledge to share your findings, and I’ll commit Resistance assets to their mission. What do you expect them to find?

Kandros: Trouble. But trouble is where APEX are at their best.

APEX. Nakmor Drack here. Your boss Kandros said I could address you pyjaks directly. Big mistake.

Here’s the deal. After the swarm of trouble that went down on the Nexus when we got to Andromeda, the krogan decided we’d… stretch our legs a little. Morda had me scout out whatever this Heleus clusterfuck had to offer. I handpicked a bunch of degenerates to help. All krogan, of course. They formed up, paired off, and headed for what waited.

My orders were simple: “Find some plants? Pick ’em. Find some bad guys? Pick ’em off. And maybe find us some salvage.”

Then a bunch of my scouts went missing. Gone without a word. Pretty sure that means kett. They’re good soldiers, so it must’ve been some ambush.

I’m sure they’re still out there somewhere. Krogan don’t die easy.

Kandros and I compared notes, and we think we got a lead. You APEX are the lucky bastards who get to check it out. Just not without a krogan. We’re assigning one of our best to keep you honest. A biotic. They call her a “gladiator” and for good reason: she’ll smash a beast in the face and make you clap for it. Even fought with Aralakh Company back home.

With a gladiator on your team, you’re bound to find something. If what you find is my scouts, tell ‘em I’m proud. And remind them what I said when they left New Tuchanka: “A wound’s as a good as a medal and a loss is as good as a win—if you learn from it.”

Drack

Good morning. I’ll keep this brief—I know you’d rather be in the field. If we haven’t met, I’m Tiran Kandros. I guess I run the militia here on the Nexus. But I need teams out in the Heleus Cluster: defending our outposts, hunting down key targets, and pushing back enemy forces before they threaten the station. I need elite soldiers and operatives who think on their feet, protecting the Initiative and our allies at any cost.

That’s where you come in. Welcome to APEX.

I’ve seen the dangers of the Heleus Cluster up close. My scouting team was taken by the kett. We got a front-row view of their “experiments.” Counter-terrorism doesn’t prepare you for that kind of butchery.

How did we escape? First, let’s clear one thing up: I wasn’t a “hero.” My restraints were loose, that’s all. The kett were too… busy to notice they’d left a gun lying around. Once I’d freed the rest of the team, we taught the kett a lesson. I still don’t know why everyone acted like I was in charge, even after we got back to the Nexus. But that’s how the militia got started: with good people who knew what we were up against.

Besides the kett, we’ve got bands of outlaws and exiles, out for revenge against the Initiative, or credits, or both. And now Pathfinder Ryder’s team has reported these strange “Remnant” machines who can threaten an entire outpost if they’re provoked. You, and the rest of your APEX colleagues, are our first line of defense.

Today’s mission will show us what you’re capable of. The krogan have lost contact with several of their patrols. We’ve tracked the scouts’ last known position to a kett-controlled world—which means trouble. I need you to get down there, hack the kett systems, and bring back any intel on what they’re up to.

This could be the first move of a larger plan by the kett. I don’t like it. But I trust you to get the job done.

Good luck, APEX.