Rift Station Lower Level
The Peak 15 tram car brings you straight to Binary Helix’s main research lab, a remote facility called the rift station. You arrive at the station’s lower level. Disembark and head north to locate a pair of doors.
The north door reads exit-only, so head through the adjacent door to the west. This brings you to a pair of elevators, only one of which is currently operational.
Take the elevator on your right to ride up to the station’s next floor.
Rift Station Upper Level
Upon reaching the station’s second floor, the squad finds themselves staring down the barrel of an assault rifle.
A group of soldiers stand watch just outside the elevator, but the leader quickly holsters his firearm when he sees Shepard’s team isn’t threat.
Approach and speak with the man, whose name is Captain Ventralis. The captain apologizes for the scare and says they couldn’t be sure who was on the tram.
Introduce yourself to Ventralis, who’s pleased to learn Shepard’s a fellow military officer. He explains that the rachni have taken over of an important portion of the complex called the hot labs.
Apparently, the board sent an asari to clean up the mess, but she hasn’t been heard from in quite some time.
He must be referring to Matriarch Benezia. Tell the captain you’re here to help, and he hands you a pass to activate the other elevator you saw just moments ago, which leads down to the hot labs.
Continue questioning the captain to learn more about the rift station.
If your skill is high enough, you can persuade the captain to tell you about the complex’s interior defenses and gain a few morality points in the process.
When the dialogue concludes, two rachni soldiers storm into the room through a floor vent. Lend a hand and help Ventralis eliminate them.
Exploring the Upper Level
Save the hot labs for later and search the rest of this floor instead. Captain Ventralis’s office isn’t far, but there’s nothing much to see there.
Continue past it to reach a mess hall, where many of the surviving guards and scientists have holed up.
Speak with the nearby asari named Alestia Iallis for a brief chat if you like—Alestia doesn’t have much to tell you though, and seems annoyed that you’ve interrupted her peaceful meditation.
Merchant Petozi
A massive elcor named Petozi stands in the center of the mess hall. He offers to sell you a few supplies if you’re interested. Petozi apologizes in advance, saying most of his stock has been appropriated by Captain Ventralis’s guards.
Still, the elcor has some worthy items and gear, and you’ll need everything you can get for the coming battles.
Dr. Palon
A salarian named Dr. Palon is trying to get a bit of rest at the mess hall’s northeast corner. Speak to the doctor to learn more about life at Peak 15 prior to the attack.
Palon can also tell you a bit about what’s happened here at the station, but he won’t offer many details for the sake of keeping his job.
Instead, the troubled salarian advises you to speak with a Dr. Cohen and someone named Han Olar for more information.
Dr. Cohen
Travel down the winding flight of stairs to the west to visit the offices of Dr. Zev Cohen, head of the rift station science team.
The doctor is hard at work treating victims who’ve suffered exposure to some form of toxin, but he’s reluctant to get into details.
Persuade Cohen if your skill is high enough and you’ll discover that his team has been working on a bioweapon called Thoros-B that would poison a specific kind of life form they’ve recently discovered.
When things went haywire at the station and the rachni escaped, many of his fellow workers were exposed to the toxin they’d been developing.
Dr. Cohen says all the team’s notes and data on the toxin have been locked away in the station’s quarantine lab. Apparently, Captain Ventralis doesn’t want to risk Dr. Cohen’s making the situation any worse.
The doctor insists that those files will allow him to generate a cure for his team, however. You’ve already proven yourself to Ventralis; perhaps you can convince him to grant you access to the lab.
Convincing Ventralis
Return upstairs and pay a call on Captain Ventralis, who still stands watch over the south elevator.
Ask the captain to grant you access to the quarantine lab so you may extract the data Dr. Cohen needs to formulate his cure for the rachni toxin.
After a bit of coaxing, Ventralis reluctantly agrees and radios to the lab’s guard that you’ve been granted clearance.
Now, return to the mess hall and head down the western hallway and take the far elevator to access the scientist barracks on the station’s lower level.
Scientist Barracks
A squat volus named Han Olar stands in the center of the scientist barracks. This is the volus Dr. Palon told you to speak with. Chat with Han to learn he was the only survivor when the hot labs went critical.
The volus reveals that Binary Helix was able to revive the once-extinct rachni race using an ancient egg they’d found. Han advises you to speak with Dr. Cohen to obtain a pass to access the nearby maintenance tunnels.
After speaking with the volus, make a quick equipment check and then approach the ERCS guard standing outside the quarantine lab.
The guard has received Captain Ventralis’s order and steps aside. Save your game and then enter the lab.
Quarantine Lab
The small lab features a number of item-holding containers. Loot each one, then approach the computer console on the far desk.
Press [E] to begin a short, simple minigame in which you must develop a cure for the toxin that’s poisoning the scientists.
Click the Switch Vial button after the meter passes the first indicator but before it reaches the second.
Deadly Double Cross
Just moments after creating the cure, Shepard and company are surprised to see the asari they met out in the mess hall, Alestia Iallis, enter the quarantine lab alongside two geth troopers and an asari commando .
It seems Alestia is working with Matriarch Benezia; she has orders to kill Shepard if the opportunity permits. Seeing the Spectre trapped inside the lab was too good to pass up.
When the battle begins, immediately seek cover behind one of the two large crates at either side of the room—these objects are too heavy for the asari biotics to lift or throw.
Once entrenched, simply unload on the hostiles with everything you’ve got, employing all of Shepard’s most potent combat abilities. Shred these villains as fast as you can or their attacks will quickly start to add up.
Exit the lab when the battle resolves and speak with Han Olar in the scientist barracks outside.
He tells you that the geth came from the nearby maintenance tunnel, and that they were brought to the station by Matriarch Benezia. The treacherous asari can’t be far.
Question Han about the maintenance tunnel if you haven’t already to learn that Dr. Cohen would most likely have a pass to get you through.
You’re already on your way to hand Cohen the cure you’ve created, so waste no more time here. Return to the station’s upper level and pay another call on Dr. Cohen.
Obtaining the Maintenance Pass
When told of Alestia’s recent maneuver, Dr. Cohen finds it hard to believe the young asari could have been capable of such a horrible act.
He then recalls that Alestia was a somewhat recent addition to the project; one of BH’s major shareholders pulled strings to get her on board.
Turns out that shareholder’s name is none other than Saren, the villainous ex-Spectre. He and Benezia must have been expecting you.
Cohen is thrilled that you’ve managed to secure the cure and gladly offers you his access pass to the maintenance tunnel.
You’ve just earned yourself a pile of Paragon points, and you’re now free to continue your pursuit of the Matriarch.
Persuade the doctor one final time to obtain some spare medi-gel if you can. Then return to the elevator and ride back down to the scientist barracks.
Maintenance Access
Cohen’s pass is all you need to enter the cavernous north maintenance passage. You encounter a few rachni soldiers at the tunnel’s far end, but they’re nothing your team can’t easily handle.
Proceed through the far door they were guarding to return to the complex proper.
Crack open the storage locker and upgrade kit in the hostile-free corridors that follow the maintenance passage. Your next stop is the chamber to the south, where the Matriarch awaits.
Ready your squad for intense combat and save your progress near the door, then pass through to finally reach the final showdown with Benezia.