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	Message: : Yum yum, what a delicious sounding recipe! Well, it's been a while since my : last post, so I'll briefly recap where things stand: Living on the fringes : of society and as an act of desperation, we attempted to land on a distant : human outpost, reaching the New Phoenix colony on the New Arizona moon in : the Roman system of stars. Upon our arrival, however, we found that all : the colonists were dead and that the colony was overrun with unknown : aliens, known to us as the Pfhor, but unnamed in this scenario which : appears to take place outside the Marathon Universe. Although the : colonists had all been murdered, we did find that the colony's 4 AIs were : only slightly damaged by the alien attack and were soon all online. Two of : these AIs are class 5 AIs and capable of the full range of human emotions. : They are both certifiably rampant. The first of these, Shaki, seems to : have frightening plans and it seems to us may have been involved in : bringing the aliens here in the first place. The other, Mece, aka The : Doctor, is very unstable and has just completed having us get a : communications array online so that he can send a message to Earth in the : hopes of getting more humans to come to New Phoenix so he can perform : experiments on them. And we helped him? What were we thinking? The other 2 : AIs are only class 4s and barely capable of independent thought. Osinder : is hell-bent on saving the colony at all costs, clearly in line with his : programming as the primary security AI, but illogically so since there are : no colonists left to inhabit the colony. The communications AI, who has no : name, is certifiably insane and follows no logic, but we're done with him : in any case. And there seems to be a 5th entity that is trying to : communicate with us. : : ***INCOMING MESSAGE FROM SHAKI*** : That was very foolish of you to reactivate the communications relay. The only : human that should be involved in this little incident is you, and that is : only out of necessity. I have lost reason to use you...for now. To make : sure you remain out of trouble while I work, I am imprisoning you in these : dark sublevels of the Colony. I am very upset with you, now you receive : the full consequences of your actions. : : Uh Oh. : As John will point out, there is a very high likelihood of dying early in : this level and the only PB in the second part of the last level is : non-functioning, at least for now. Still, I find that even on TC, it : should be possible to reach Pesticides with nearly 2X health. There : actually is a pattern buffer very near the starting point of the level, so : this isn't all that big a deal, but going for the PB right away can have : consequences. Also, did I mention that this is a vacuum level? : There are basically 2 strategies for reaching that PB alive and having a : playable saved game. The one thing you don't want to do is to exit the : entry room and then retreat back in side. You'll be pursued by troopers : and compilers and overwhelmed in no time. You can either deal with the : monsters yourself right away, or try to get them to deal with each other. : John, true to form, prefers the latter, but then he seems to be immune to : grenades. I on the other hand tend to be a pragmatist and would rather : waste plentiful ammo than play and replay a level over and over until I : get it right. My strategy is to exit with both magnums drawn and turn : immediately left, taking out the troopers and compilers running toward you : before they can get close enough to do much damage. Because they will be : on a ledge, they will stick to single file, so that you need only handle : them one at a time. Once you're done with them, you can recharge your : shields using a 2x recharger just ahead, on a pillar on your left. Don't : jump into the pit just yet, no matter how tempting the PB may be, as you : need oxygen. Instead turn around, head the other way, activate the : monsters in the other pit below and take them out with your magnums, : backing up if necessary to avoid taking damage. Be sure to watch out for : compilers from the first pit, however - they can be lethal, but will : generally attack you only once you jump down there. Once the second pit is : cleared, jump down and use the O2 recharger, located on the southernmost : pillar, to fill your tanks. : Now that you have both shield and O2 rechargers secured, you're really home : free - unless you f**k up on the next step. Head out of the second pit : using the provided stairs and jump down into the first pit. You will : immediately be accosted by compilers, which is why it's best not to go for : the PB right away. If you do try to save your game at this point, you will : turn around to find about a dozen guided compiler bolts heading straight : for you. Your chances of survival would be slim (except perhaps for John : and me) and you might find yourself with an unplayable saved game. : Instead, round up those compilers now by circling until you have them all : inside the circle. Taking them out is then standard procedure and you can : then save your game. A cycling platform will take you back out of the : pit. : From here there are a variety of things that must be done. First of all, : there is a switch at the far northern edge of the map, located down in a : pit and deeply recessed. It is distinguished by being next to a 3X shield : recharger that you can't reach, but you can activate the switch with : your magnum and then exit via a teleporter. This switch activates the next : switch you must flip, which is located in a circular room off the pit with : the O2 recharger, in the southwestern portion of the map. It is reached by : a circular staircase, lined with troopers and compilers. This switch : activates entrance to the next area that must be visited - a large, dark, : circular room located in the map's southeast quadrant. Go back to the : large pit with the PB and off of this is a small circular room A passage : from this room leads to another area that we will discuss last - don't go : there unless you want to see a lot of action. Located high up on the walls : of the circular room are 3 switches that must be hit with the magnum in a : sequence that is fairly obvious. The door to the large circular room : should now be open. : The large circular room contains a couple of switches that need to be : activated to grant access to the final area of the map. There is also a PB : here, which is fairly obvious, and an O2 recharger that will be visited : shortly. One of the switches to activate is located high up on an : overlooking ledge, and it can easily be shot from below. I have not found : a way to reach that ledge thus far. At the distant end of the room located : behind a circular alcove with an invisible compiler, is a switch that will : lower a platform located back near the entrance to the room. : Unfortunately, the platform can only be raised by hitting this same switch : from a distance, using your magnum. It's a very distant shot, but doable : with practice. The platform takes the player to the second switch, and an : O2 recharger. By quickly side-stepping around a pillar, the player can : reach another ledge with a nice grouping of ammo. : The final area of the level is reached by heading back to area overlooking : the pit with the switch next to the 3X recharger. Continuing along the : ledge and through some doors, the player will eventually come to a : T-intersection and, by heading left, will come to a control room : overlooking the large, dark circular room. A pattern buffer here will be : seen as most welcome after the next sequence. An exit from the control : room leads to a small air lock with a 2X and O2 rechargers, but these only : work the first time they are encountered, so charge up now - they'll be : useless later. The player next continues down a long corridor that skirts : around the perimeter of the final room, located at the eastern edge of the : map. Finally, the player ascends an elevator and drops down into a large, : bisected, brightly lit circular room with lots of troopers, some fighters : and a few compilers. Coaxing them to take each other out is simple, but O2 : consuming, and a compiler will invariably be blocking the elevator, making : return to the initial O2 recharger somewhat difficult. Once the room has : been cleared and the player has gone back to recharge their shields and : O2, they should return here to an alcove with a PB and the exit terminal. : Osinder has finally "found" you and has a new mission for you - : you are going to go exterminate the alien's "overseers", more : commonly known as enforcers to Marathon fans, creating chaos among the : alien rank and file. : You may be curious as to why we haven't discussed the large area in the very : southwest corner of the map. The reason is that this area is a trap, : filled with monsters, that is very difficult to clear and that has no real : rewards other than some interesting terminals to read. There is absolutely : no reason to go there other than to read these terminals, and gameplay : will not be affected in any way by skipping this area entirely. If you do : go there, however, you will be rewarded with a couple of terminals of : interest - one from Mece that discusses the difference in the way you and : he were created, and the other with a rather amusing short story about : Maria. : Ok, let's go kill some overseers! On to chapter III, Assault - on to The Gray : and the Red.
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