Continuing where we left off, the hunters whom we rescued have gathered in a great cathedral and wish to honor us with a gift. First, however, read the terminal in the back of the cathedral - Mece did not go gracefully and in his final moments, he unleashed a virus that is attacking Ossinder even as we read. Ossinder is dieing and there is nothing that can be done. Anyway, march on up to the pulpit to receive a small gift - a token of their appreciation - from the golden leader of the hunters. God knows what in the world that gift is supposed to be. Return to the back of the cathedral and head left into a red teleporter that will take you to the real meat of the level. An advance warning - there are no shield rechargers or power-ups of any kind on this level and there is no additional ammo to be had. The only PB is at the end, and the fighting can be quite brutal, and not all that much fun. Chances are you will be watching the final battle between the golden hunter and the aliens over and over again, and receiving his gift, regardless of whether or not he survives, many, many times.
You start out in a large oval room with paired circular stairs on opposite ends. The exit terminal is directly across from you and therein lies a strategy for skipping the rest of the level if you want to - jump down to the floor below, retreat to the right-hand corner of the opposite stairway and launch yourself up there with a double rocket volley. You'll be left with minimal shields, but you won't need any where you're going.
Assuming you actually want to play this level - and there is a cool room that is worth visiting - there are a variety of strategies that can be used. Personally, I've found that there is little to be gained from a slow, deliberate approach, which is no safer than hit and run. The big advantage of hit and run is that you'll waste little ammo and if you die, you won't have wasted much time. The floor of the oval room provides a generous area for fighting monsters in groups as long as you don't allow yourself to get trapped in one of the corners. You'll need to eliminate the projectile fighters in this room, but they can wait. First head to the left, all the way around, and then run down the long passageway until a couple of walls drop away, revealing a ton of projectile fighters. Run as fast as you can and jump down into the oval room where you can take the fighters on en mass without taking damage. A few troopers may later join the party, so remember to circle in a clockwise direction, just in case.
Now there are likely still a ton of troopers back in the upper area, so head back there, laying mines as you go. Those mines could really save your ass. Sooner rather than later, one of the troopers will see you and all hell will break loose. Return quickly to the oval room and hope hour mines will take out a majority of the troopers. Mop up the remaining ones in the usual fashion and return to the upper level. At the end of the central corridor is a rather strange structure with a door above a raised platform. Even at this distance you can tab the door and it will raise to reveal a switch (the switch raises with the door - pretty cool). Fire on the switch, wait several seconds, and fire again. Fire too rapidly or too slowly and the way will be blocked. Fire only once and you'll lose access to the oval room. Head back all the way around the outer stairway and head to the right. Activate the monsters inside the next room and jump back to the floor of the oval room to take them out. Return to the new area and make your way up the steps to peer into a very large, dark room. Exercise caution as you enter this room - invisible compilers will appear and if you're too fast, you may find yourself between them. Remember, there is no way to recharge your shields.
As you proceed into the dark room, you'll note that you're on a narrow catwalk above a floor that contains 3 hulks. Should you fall down there, there is a teleporter around the corner. Walk out all the way to the end of the catwalk and turn around - you will see a switch on the wall behind you and below you. Fire on it - twice once again in order to raise a platform in this room and to lock it in place. Return to about the middle of the catwalk and jump to a platform that can just be reached. It will raise up - when it's all the way up, jump to the other platform and then jump across to a teleporter. Finally, a pattern buffer! There is a strange, shimmering device in the center of this room - the terminal on the wall explains its purpose. This is an experimental quantum distortion device capable of transporting objects in space and ultimately in time (I wonder if that has anything to do with the rumored sequel). Accessing the device is tricky - the switch on the wall opens it for only a second, and it cannot be locked open. Stand behind the device, fire at the switch and then quickly jump inside. Within a few seconds you'll be able to walk out onto the stairs on the opposite side of the circular room.
The exit terminal contains a wealth of information from Shaki. He has been in contact with the leader of the hunters, who has confirmed Ossinder's suspicions that the aliens were brought here, but by whom? In any case, the aliens have been searching for something on the surface of the planet, some 400 km away, where they are exploring ancient ruins. We must go there to learn more.
