Sorry about the delay. Given all the crap I have to deal with in the coming week, the delays could get even worse, so anyone playing along, feel free to step in if I miss a day.
For some reason, Click is the level I remember when I think of DiaBD. I'm not sure why, but I definitely spent a l-o-n-g time playing it until I finally finished it the first time through. It can be exaspirating and almost impossible in spots, but it's still fun. As with the scenario in general, ammo is inadequate for all but the best of players, but there are large rooms that are excellent for practicing vidmaster skills. There is a shield recharger and a pattern buffer to make things survivable, but they are separated by a drop-off that essentially limits access to only one or the other at a time.
The objectives are to clear the level of the aliens, now identified by Merlin as pirates that arrived on the ship Diablo, and to reach an interlevel transport that the pirates have blocked. To unblock the transporter, you need to flip every switch you can find - and there are quite a few. The entrance to the transporter is right off the starting room, but there are many closed doors (platforms) in the way, each one controlled by a switch. One cool effect is that as you open these doors, more and more of the connecting corridor will be revealed. The corridor is brightly lit (not sure where the light source is, though) and the starting room seems to become progressively brighter as the doors are opened, or perhaps it's just me.
To reach all the switches, you need to proceed down a long spiral staircase. As soon as you start, however, a large swarm of pirates will come after you. The safest strategy is to retreat to the starting room and either take them on one at a time, or circle around them to get them to do the job for you. The problem is that they will continue to stream in for a while, making it hard to circle without running into the new arrivals. After these have been taken care of, you can head all the way to the bottom, where you will find a pattern buffer in a large diamond-shaped room. Unfortunately, a large party of troopers will drop in on you, and they're not so easy to take out. If you're good at fisting troopers, be my guest. If not, you may prefer to be a spazeroid and just hide behind a door. As tough as this level is, few would blame you.
Once you've cleared the area and saved your pattern, there is a stairway leading to a long corridor, which is a trap. As you approach the end of the corridor, troopers will teleport in in front of you and behind you. Yikes! If you're fast enough, you may be able to pass through the teleporting trooper and through a door and then take them on from one side. Another interesting trick here is that to proceed, you need to smash an overhead light fixture - otherwise you'll be stuck. The next room beyond also has some troopers in it, but I find that it doesn't take much to get them to take each other out. The ticks are a bit more troublesome. At the top of a set of stairs is a drop into a trench in which you'll find the last 2 switches and a teleporter back to the start of the level. Unfortunately you'll also face a bunch of troopers and fighters with no way to get around them and no room to fight other than by blasting away with whatever ammo you have left.
If you succeeded in flipping every switch, the way to the exit terminal will be clear (sort of). If not, you'll have to go back and search for the swithc(es) you missed. The exit room, however, is filled with compilers - which we'll soon be calling Galaxons - many of them invisible. Retreat and and take them out the easy way, and you're done!
