Mass Effect 2 Jacob Loyalty Mission Walkthrough | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources

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Jacob Taylor may be the most emotionally stable member of Commander Shepard's crew during Mass Effect 2. Friendly, upfront and mostly non-judgmental, Jacob is a far cry from most of the xenophobic, supremacist and condescending members of Cerberus. However, as well-adjusted Jacob is on the surface, it takes a while for him to open up to people, and this facade crumbles into solemnity at the thought of his missing father's possible survival.

After completing the mission on Horizon, Shepard will be informed that Jacob wants to speak with them. Jacob is uncharacteristically despondent and serious, telling Shepard that he has picked up a distress signal on the planet Aeia. It was activated on the MSV Hugo Gernsback, the Alliance flagship under the command of Jacob's father, Ronald Taylor. Having gone missing for ten years, Jacob has doubts that his father is still alive but requests Shepard that they leave for Aeia at some point.

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Investigating the Hugo Gernsback

The beginning of "the Gift of Greatness" will focus mostly on some investigative work, where Shepard and Jacob have to go into the wrecked Gernsback to search for clues on what happened to the crew. Searching around the ship will nab the player 3000 credits in a datapad, and crossing the bridge right outside the ship lies some spare parts for salvaging into resources.

The party will find a VI keeping a troubling log of the crew's last known movements, revealing that the planet's local flora and fauna are toxic and affect human cognitive functions. The remaining sane officers exploited this fact, keeping the ship's remaining rations for themselves while manipulating the crew members driven to barbarism. Ronald Taylor was promoted to acting captain, and even though he set up the distress beacon a year after the crash, it had not been activated until nine years later in the present day.

The player will come across a crew member, near babblingly incoherent and suffering memory loss from the brain-damaging food of the planet. The woman will remark about how there will be a savior from the sky and that the other crew members have formed a violent coup against their tribal leader. Just as she is explaining, an armed man will be aiming towards her, where Shepard can use a Paragon Interrupt to push her out of the way.

Fighting the Hunters

Shepard and Jacob are immediately fired upon by dozens of frenzied survivors in one of the more difficult fights in the game. Cover is sparse and small, where the large number of enemies are very likely to get an angle on Shepard and the rest of the party regardless of where the player chooses to hide behind. Enemies also possess disruptor ammo that can whittle down on shields really quickly.

Spreading the team out and waiting for the enemy to come to you is the best strategy, made a lot easier because these human hunters lack shields. Hopefully, squadmate AI won't ruin this strategy, but the sheer volume of hostiles flanking the party's position probably will. Should the player survive, they can get 1,500 credits near the path ahead and come across a destroyed mech right after the fight.

The Slave Encampment

Moving further along, the player enters into a dwelling of crew survivors, perplexingly all being women. Finding some spare parts, a PDA with credits and some medi-gel by the food crates, Jacob notes that all the food is completely spoiled, which forced the women to consume the brain-destroying wildlife. While exploring this settlement, the player will find a large deific statue and may be ambushed by some hacked LOKI mechs, programmed with a continuous tirade of leader-worshipping.

Defeating these mechs with similar tactics as before with disruptor ammo and Overload, Shepard and Jacob can find a datapad revealing more of what happened to the crew. The surviving officers hoarded all the food and separated themselves from the rest of the crew, with the women assigned to officers like property. Eventually, all the officers except for Ronald Taylor were killed, and all the male crewmen were killed or exiled, turning them into crazed savages from isolation.

Confronting Ronald Taylor

There is a nearby barricade blocking the main pathway, forcing Shepard to hack into a mech right next to it and blow it up to progress. The player will see a large pile of dead bodies, some shaped as if in warning. Over the PA, a voice announcing himself as Ronald Taylor is begging for his life and requesting assistance, even though the entire mess was his fault to begin with.

The LOKI mechs, according to Ronald, have gone "haywire" and cannot listen to his orders. Jacob will have none of it, and neither should the player as they take cover behind the closest crate and slaughter every approaching mech. There will be many more mechs on the path ahead of the player, so rely on pure defense and let the enemies fall into the line of fire as you fall within the furthest piece of cover from them. Once they are all defeated, search the crates in the area for some credits and a heavy pistol upgrade.

After a few more small skirmishes with LOKI mechs, the party will reach Ronald's lair, where the most difficult battle is waiting for Jacob and Shepard. There are some more brainwashed humans working for Taylor, accompanied by a powerful YMIR mech. On top of this, there is minimal cover, forcing the player to pull back closer to the entrance to survive.

Focus on defeating the humans first so that their gunfire and sheer numbers don't overwhelm the party, then bring in heavy firepower and focus all efforts on the bruiser. There will be some element zero and a datapad holding some credits upon the mech's defeat, leading to a final confrontation against Ronald Taylor.

Conclusion

Ronald's shallow justifications and self-importance make Jacob sick, and Jacob struggles to keep the gun in his holster to shoot his horrible father dead. Jacob, however, understands that Ronald's fate is not his call, leaving it up to Shepard to decide what to do with Ronald. The Paragon choice would be to bring Ronald to an Alliance prison, while the Renegade choice would be to give Ronald a gun and leave him marooned on the planet to fend for himself.

Returning to the Normandy, Shepard will find Jacob arguing with the Illusive Man, Jacob's faith in Cerberus' mission faltering greatly. It turns out that the distress beacon was actually sent by Miranda, who was fulfilling an old promise apparently. Earning Jacob's loyalty will earn Shepard a heavy pistol upgrade and Jacob a new skill.

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Vladimir Olivares is a writer, illustrator, and short film-maker based in the United States. Fond of comic books, manga, movies, video games, and TV shows of various different genres, he is knowledgable in classic comic book history and is well-versed in other forms of graphic novel media of varying genres, ranging from fantasy, noir, and science fiction, both from Western authors to that of Japanese manga. Vladimir is currently working as a freelance writer for Valnet, Inc., covering Comic Book Resources.