Video Game Spin-Offs: Mass Effect "Foundation" #11

(Spoilers!) Unlike the last issue, this issue tries to remind readers about the whole Cerberus/Rasa storyline that is going on.  It opens on a Cerberus facility where Rasa is confronting Miranda about the fact that she has been placed on permanent medical observation.  This status is preventing her from returning to field work and Rasa is upset that her skills as an agent are being wasted.  Miranda shocks her into reality by revealing the fact that she has caught Rasa peeking into classified files that are part of the Lazarus project.  Miranda kindly reminds her that "Cerberus doesn't take prisoners."

The rest of the story returns to dossiers and the focus on an individual member. #11 focuses on the veteran human mercenary, Zaeed Massani.  Like Kasumi, Zaeed was a character who was a sort of "extra" in Mass Effect 2.  His content is only available through DLC.  As a character, I liked Zaeed.  He has a gritty, tough old-guy thing going that makes him interesting.  I thought it was fun to stroll through his bunk area and listen to him tell his stories about all his souvenirs.

Zaeed's story starts off with him being in a very precarious situation.  He's on a mission and things aren't going very well.  The story is told in his own voice, which is a great idea since his voice is so distinctive.  He starts his story off with his departure from being the leader of the mercenary group the Blue Suns (it wasn't pretty) and his new career as a mercenary.  His reputation helps him find a mission with the Shadow Broker (who is depicted as a Yahgg in this comic--I didn't really like that--the lore felt off).  This mission isn't some easy job and requires Zaeed to crash a Turian warship in the most fantastic way possible.  Zaeed's instructions are to "be creative."

To prepare for the job Zaeed begins building a group of talented mercenaries.  He recruits a sadistic Salarian tech expert, an Asari sniper, and a Human who totally hero worships Zaeed.  His group of misfits plans to board the ship and meet their Turian contact aboard the vessel.  Little does he realize that there is more trouble on-board than he originally thought.

Zaeed assembles his squad.

The plan starts off with Zaeed's crew jumping from their own moving ship to the Turian ship.  It's dangerous, but they all manage to make it.  It becomes apparent that the Turians have caught wind of Zaeed's plan.  As the group readies to open the interior door on the ship another door opens and sucks them out of the airlock they just entered.  Fortunately they cabled themselves to the interior of the ship--not so fortunate for the member whose cable didn't hold.  Now they know that their cover is blown, but Zaeed has no intention of ditching a job that pays as well as this one.  They manage to crawl aboard through another open bay door and Zaeed sends his two underlings to distract the guards while he fights his way toward the bridge.

Zaeed's two compatriots continue to fight their way forward and seem to be having a good time.  They banter about their success and then suddenly the Asari, Tristana, decides to lock the door behind her leaving her human squadmate on his own.  It's very obvious that these mercenaries are all in it for themselves and the idea of splitting the payday isn't particularly engaging to any of them.  The next panel shows a Turian defense base that has just been alerted to the attack on the ship.  The commander decides that their only option is to shoot down the ship if it enters their airspace.

As Zaeed makes it to the bridge he forces his Turian hostage to open the door.  He firmly believes he has made it and that all the distractions have worked.  When he opens the door he discovers a large group of Turians who are more than ready to kill him.  Suddenly a shot rips through the air and the Turian's brains splatter all over Zaeed.  Tristana has made it to the bridge and helps Zaeed fight off the group of Turians.  They both seem pretty happy that now the loot is a 50-50 split.  Then Tristana uses her biotics to zap Zaeed into submission and informs him that she works for his Blue Suns adversary Vido Santiago.  It's right at that moment that the ship enters the atmosphere of a planet and Tristana momentarily loses her biotic grip on Zaeed.  And it's exactly when the Turian defense battery gets a lock on the ship.

Zaeed and Tristana are locked in a death struggle as the ship starts to break apart.  As a gaping hole is blown into the side of the ship they both manage to grasp a small part of the ship and hang on.  Zaeed isn't one to forgive and kicks Tristana in the face, dislodging her into space.  Zaeed holds on and makes it to an escape pod.  As he lands, he peeks out the door and is greeted by the sight of the Turian ship brilliantly crashing into the planet's surface.  Zaeed grins.

The very end of the comic returns to Rasa back on the Cerberus facility.  She's still reading Zaeed's dossier, but she's also checking out a human form that is currently suspended in a tank. The issue ends with Miranda watching Rasa on a monitor and informing the Illusive Man that they need to talk about Rasa.

This issue is one of my favorites in the series.  I liked that the story broke away from the Cerberus focus and that it was very action-packed.  The character dialogue in the story was well-written and I could hear Zaeed's voice telling the tale as I was reading.  This is a good one and I would recommend it above many others in the series.