Prologue: Find the Beacon

Prologue: Find the Beacon is the opening mission in Mass Effect. You are in control of Commander Shepard from this point on.

The mission starts when you head to the Comm Room to speak with Captain Anderson. Once you get there, Nihlus takes this opportunity to speak with you. It is eventually revealed that you are being headhunted as a candidate for the Spectres; Nihlus is here to observe your mission performance, in addition to many other missions in the future.

The goal of the mission is to recover a Prothean beacon from the dig site located on the planet. You leave the SSV Normandy with Jenkins and Kaiden Alenko, and drop down to the surface of Eden Prime. It doesn't take long until you encounter a small swarm of Geth aerial drones. Jenkins is shot and killed instantly due to the shots going through his shields. You pick up a distress signal from a stationed Alliance marine, Ashley Williams.

Moving toward the dig site, you find that the beacon has been moved. Upon investigation of the nearby camp, you learn that the beacon has been moved to the Spaceport. As you move towards the port, a cutscene shows Nihlus encounter another turian, Saren Arterius; they appear to know each other. Without warning, Saren pulls out his gun while Nihlus has his back to him. As the cutscene ends, a gunshot echoes in the distance.

As you move towards the Spaceport, you find Nihlus' body. A witness comes forward and confirms that Saren shot Nihlus in the back of the head, and confirms that the beacon was moved further down via train. You board the train towards the beacon's final placement, fighting off geth on the way.

Another cutscenes plays; Saren has planted explosive charges to destroy all evidence that he was there. Saren approaches the beacon, and it appears to interact with him, levitating him off the ground. As the train pulls up, you now have to fight geth while disarming a number of devices within a time limit.

Investigate the beacon, and one of your squadmates will approach it, and become ensnared by it. You immediately step in to remove them from the beacon's influence, but it ensnares you instead. After this interaction, the beacon self-destructs, and you fall unconscious. A cutscene plays; an unnamed Asari comments to Saren that the Beacon was the first step to finding the Conduit. She also tells Saren of the beacon being used by one of the humans on the Eden Prime landing party. Saren is enraged, and becomes violent, stopping short of continuing his aggression on the Asari.

You wake up in the Normandy's med bay, apparently having been unconscious for fifteen hours. Captain Anderson stops by, and here you learn that Saren is a high-ranking Spectre, a living legend in fact, and that he has long been an opponent of humanity's presence in the galaxy. Anderson then asks you to visit the Cockpit to tell Joker to initiate docking procedures.

Once on the bridge, talk to Joker and you will get treated to a cutscene showing the Citadel, several turian ships, and the flagship of the Citadel Fleet, the Destiny Ascension. Eventually, the SSV Normandy is cleared to dock at Dock 422.