First Murderer

Mission Type: Heleus Assignment: Nexus

Prerequisite: Mission 1, after the Tempest is revealed

Start Location: Nexus Operations: Militia Office

Unlocking: Speak to Mariette, the sobbing turian standing in the militia office section of Nexus operations.

Speak with Mariette

Nexus Operations: Militia office

Talk to the sobbing female turian in the militia office of Nexus operations (1). She explains that her husband is being called the first murderer in Andromeda. He’s incarcerated and slated for exile for a murder he didn’t commit. To proceed with this mission, agree to talk to him. Nilken Rensus is in the nearby cell.

Speak with the Prison Guard

Walk across the hallway to the room on the opposite side of operations (2) and talk to Sergeant Aker, the turian guard watching over the prisoner. The conversation is quickly turned over to the prisoner, Nilken Rensus, behind the glass wall. Talk with him to take his case.

Speak with Kandros

Head back across to the room where you spoke to Nilken’s wife and talk to Kandros (3), who stands near the Strike Team Missions interface. When prompted, ask him about the murder case. Kandros believes that the murder sparked the mutiny on the Nexus, so he’s not very sympathetic. No matter how you choose to talk to Kandros, the investigation continues. Kandros points you in the direction of the key witness, Cassidy Shaw. He also informs you of the recording of the perpetrator threatening the victim and cues it up on the nearby console.

Optional: Playback Recording

This objective is not mandatory, but to hear the damning evidence, walk to the tall console at the entrance to militia office. Interact with the computer (4) located not far from the weeping wife, Mariette, and listen to the recording of a confrontation between the accused and the murder victim.

Speak with Witness Shaw

Head to the top level of the Nexus bridge and talk to Cassidy Shaw (5). She says she was there during the confrontation you just listened to. She helped pull Nilken off Chief Reynolds (the victim). She’s convinced Nilken would have killed Reynolds then. After the conversation, you learn that the body was never recovered or properly examined. Shaw claims Director Tann declared it was too dangerous to go back for Reynolds’ body.

Speak with Tann

Enter the Pathfinder HQ on the Nexus to talk to Director Tann (6) about “the Nilken murder charge.” You make a request to open the investigation by retrieving Chief Reynolds’ body from Eos. Tann reluctantly agrees and sends you the coordinates of the murder scene.

Investigate Murder Evidence

Eos: The Golden Wastes

Leg Armor

Once on Eos, you must search and scan a trail of evidence in the murder of Chief Reynolds. The radiation isn’t too bad in the relevant areas, even if you just started on Eos and restored power to Site 1. Go south of Site 2: Resilience and east of the lake in the Golden Wastes to find the first piece of evidence (7). Buried in sand is some leg armor with tissue and bone fragments still clinging to it. Scanning it proves the DNA belongs to Reynolds. Be prepared to fend off some Kaerkyn in this area. If you haven’t done so already, scan them to further the mission “Comparatively Alien.”

Helmet

Head southeast from the first site to find another piece of Reynolds’ body that got torn apart and strewn not too far away. Look between some short rock spires for the helmet (8) in the sand. Watch out for the nearby Kaerkyn that were probably responsible for scattering the body parts. Scan the Kaerkyn while you’re at it to contribute to “Comparatively Alien.”

Chest Armor

Pivot to the east and head toward the next navpoint to find the chest armor (9) between some boulders near a large group of rock spires. SAM determines there was a single shot fired to the victim’s back. Nilken was in front of the chief when he fired, so it wasn’t his shot that killed Reynolds. Continue looking for evidence.

Armor Scraps

Head southeast until you find the navpoint marking the location of armor pieces (10) near more boulders. Scan the area to find multiple armor fragments. SAM comments that the trail leads to a nearby cave.

Kaerkyn Cave

Drive east to the mountainside and then in and quickly out of the cave entrance (11) to entice the Kaerkyn to march out. Drive forward over the Kaerkyn to squish them. Eliminate them all before exploring further.

Examine Omni-Tool

Inside the cave, scan more equipment, including the omni-tool, and search the body. Approach and interact with the “Search Body” prompt. From the data, SAM determines that Chief Reynolds was scanning at the time of his death. The scan picked up two shots. An Initiative rifle shot missed; a kett pulse weapon killed the chief. It looks like Nilken tried to kill the victim but missed. You find an audio recording that backs up this conclusion, clearing Nilken but doing little for his reputation.

Confront Nilken

Nexus Operations

Next time you’re at Nexus operations, head to the cells (2) and speak to Nilken again. He asks if you found anything on Eos. You can respond with “You lied to me” or “Yes and no.” Either way leads to SAM playing back the recording of Nilken standing over the chief’s body, admitting to killing him. But you explain that he’s innocent, as his shot missed and the kett’s shot killed the chief. Nilken speaks of the conviction being overturned, and the final conversation option lets you respond with either “I might have something to say” or “That’s for Tann to decide.” Either way, you need to speak to Tann next.

Speak with Tann

Tann’s Office

Head upstairs to Tann’s office and speak with the director (4). Depending on your progress elsewhere, he likely takes some time discussing your work with the angara. When it comes, select the conversation option “The Nilken murder charge.” You explain the case to him, and ultimately you must decide whether to exile Nilken or release him.

There’s no wrong choice. Either choice completes the mission, and you receive a large amount of XP. However, if you choose to exile Nilken, you can talk with Kandros to get his reaction. You can also find and talk to Nilken on Kadara later.

If you choose to free Nilken, you can talk to his wife, Mariette. She reacts to news of his freedom; you can then choose to give her the dirty details and expose his intentions. Later, you can find Nilken in the cryobay. He’s so upset that he wants to be placed back in stasis.