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	Message: : : Part 2 : Last time on Tour of Duty, we tried (pointlessly) to keep a door open, : struggled to locate a hidden door that was in fact necessary for progress : (all while slowly running out of oxygen, because of course this had to be : a vacuum level), encountered some S'pht'Kr (which have no clear canonical : equivalent in this scenario's universe), revealed a horde of Drones, and : then found a Pattern Buffer. The last time we glanced at the map, it : looked something like this: : The white line is the most important path to remember - at either end are the : two places you'll be visiting over and over, with the 2x Shield Charger : and Oxygen Charger in the north and the Pattern Buffer in the west : (because yes, the designer had to put them right near each-other and then : force you to go the long way around to get between them). : And now, once again, we've run out of places to go. Time to start searching : for more hidden exits, methinks. : A long time wandering around might eventually lead you to notice some odd : things about the lava-filled hallway in the east - the one that had : dropped into lava shortly after first passing through it. First you might : notice that the far eastern end of that hallway appears to fork off in : other directions on the automap - perhaps that leads somewhere? : Unfortunately, that is something of an illusion, as there is only a thin : decorative ledge that leads nowhere. : Then you might notice that the automap shows another path leading off the : center of the northern wall of the lava corridor - perhaps there's a way : out under the lava? Indeed, you can dive down into the lava, head through : the passage leading north, and swim back up into a room with two purple : Fighters. I'd advise having Shotguns at the ready before making the dive, : as those Fighters will be likely to attack you as soon as you emerge from : the lava, and your Shields will already be a bit depleted from the swim. : The only other way out of this room is to jump down through an opening in : the west that takes you way underground. : Welcome to the Basement. : You walk a little ways south through a dark corridor, and some Fighters : teleport in on either side of you - Dual Pistols will take care of them. : And then you come to another small chamber. This is where you would end up : if you took the secret lift in the closet that I mentioned last time. A : gap in the wall on the west side reveals there is a large area with lava : and a distant ledge. On that ledge is a Switch and four Blue Fighters. : Some Drones fly around above the Lava - they, like the Horde in the End : Chamber, will respawn, but fortunately, there aren't as many of them down : here. Shooting the distant switch with a charged Fusion shot will lower : the wall between you and the lava chamber, and eventually raise up a : narrow path for you to walk across through the lava. You can either take : out the Fighters before shooting the Switch, using the wall as cover, or : you can shoot the Switch and then take out the Fighters, ducking into the : previous corridor for cover. Either way works. : From this position, the area looks something like this: : Keep in mind that I brightened the image a little bit in editing - the : "Basement" is actually even darker in-game. : At this point your oxygen might be getting a little low, making you a bit : anxious to keep moving. Just be careful here - the Drones can catch you : off-guard, especially because at the end of the narrow path, which curves : left, there may be some Fighters on the other side barring your way. Once : you reach the end of the path, you come to some stairs, which lead up to - : hallelujah! - an oxygen charger! Just be careful using it, as the Drones : are likely to follow you and there may be some Fighters crawling around in : this area. : The stairs fork, and heading right (west) leads you back around to open a new : door and find yourself at the very first major switch we found, : overlooking the original starting area! Heading left (east) leads you to : another new door and back to the room with the closet and the 1x Shield : Charger - very handy. But it also reveals a new corridor, heading further : east. Follow this far enough and you'll come to the bottom of another : room, structured as a small boxy spiral. At the top are two Fighters, and : what sound like Drones, except you can't see them. But wait! After a few : moments, a Cyborg and two Drones rise up in the center of the room: : The enemies generally like to stay up on their ledge, except for the Drones, : and so it's advisable to just duck back under cover and take potshots with : the Fusion Pistol until everything's dead. Then, you can walk up around : the spiral, which leads you through a previously locked door to -- I'll : be, it's the room with all the cylinders and the lonely S'pht'Kr again! : : Well, we've done a full circle and found nothing. That wasn't much help. : Indeed, there's really not much point in going through the Basement - you : don't ever even have to find it in normal play. I guess that makes it : sort of a secret area? Anyways, let's have a look at the map and see what : we just did: : NOTE: The pink arrow indicates the part of the trip that is underground, : inside the Basement. : I think it's safe to say we just made the automap look a lot worse without : really finding anything. This map truly is designed to put bats in your : belfry! : If you'll recall, in the last part I said that completing this level requires : finding not one, but two different secret doors - well, this is where the : second one comes into play. You might spend ages wandering the halls of : this lonely map trying to find it, but it's very strangely hidden. See, : beside the lava hallway in the corridor that connects it up to the 2x : Charger room, there's a part of the wall that's lit up brightly by the : lava. This is just an ordinary bit of wall, unfortunately, but just next : to it is another bit of wall that's also ever so slightly lighter than the : walls around it - this is the secret door: : : I remember it took me quite a long time to find this, and even then, I : actually found it by consulting the spoiler guide . So yeah, not a very : fair move on the part of the level designer. Going through this secret : door drops you down a short distance into a tiny hallway. Continue through : another door and you'll find yourself -- gasp! -- on a ledge inside the : End Chamber. But, if you'll recall, there was a certain horde that needed : to be dealt with in here: : NOTE: Yes, there is what appears to be a shot from a Compiler in that : picture. One does start off up above the End Chamber, but I can't recall : ever having to fight him in the End Chamber - just be aware that he does : exist and he is Invisible, so don't be too surprised if you encounter him : at the same time as you fight the Horde. : These Drones will likely take notice of you here, in which case a pitched : battle will ensue on this ledge. Fortunately, some barrels and a wall on : the right offer limited cover, and it's pretty easy to just retreat back : up the elevator to the 2x Shield Charger. It may take a while to whittle : down the horde, though; even the Fusion Pistol has its limitations. The : goal here is not to eliminate every single Drone - they will continue to : respawn for quite some time - but rather to thin the horde to a reasonable : number so that you can proceed through the End Chamber. The next step is : to proceed through a door into another elevator… going up. : This elevator is quite slow, and the ledge above is open to the central : chamber, so Drones are very likely to wait for you at the top - I'd advise : backing up in the elevator and aiming up so you can start shooting them : before they shoot you. Heading through this next tall ledge, you open : another door, and then to your left, a group of Fighters and a Trooper : teleport in. Be ready with Shotguns for this group; the Trooper is a : Major, and very keen to kill you. Once that little group is dispatched... : wait, there's some warbling coming from behind where they teleported in. I : wonder if... : : : Yup, sure enough! A blue Fighter waits on the other side of a secret door. : Down a short corridor and around a corner is a drop-off, which takes you : right back near the Pattern Buffer - very helpful, considering how tough : it can be to head back through the elevators and ledges. You continue on, : heading north now, and down a spiral staircase, to another ledge. More : Drones will likely harass you here, but their numbers should be more : manageable by this stage. There is a switch here. But there is also : something else, something you probably won't notice at first: : : Uh-huh, yet another secret door! I believe that makes four of them so far. : However, this one is a "proper" secret door - you don't have : to find it, it just offers a reward to those adventurous enough to seek it : out. What reward, you ask? Well, dive in and you'll soon see. Two Fighters : teleport in to the left upon entering the room - they are set to be deaf, : but not blind, and therefore activate as soon as they can 'see' you. Step : a little further into the room and... oh good lord! Two Major Hunters and : another Fighter teleport in around you, triggered by a Dual Monster : Trigger polygon. I'd advise trying to retreat here, as in these close : quarters, the explosions triggered by killing the Hunters with the Fusion : Pistol can shred through your shields - if retreat is impossible however, : you could use the Shotguns to at least avoid hurting yourself. Regardless, : don't expect to come away unscathed. : Just past this room is a platform, which will eventually raise you up to a : door if you stand on it long enough. This brings you to another ledge - : the ledge, in fact, where that window opened up from the switch near the : Pattern Buffer. Looking down on the End Chamber, you can see the lonely : Red S'pht'Kr through a window, as well as the Charger room and two of the : main ledges. It's not obvious where to go from here. You can jump down : into the End Chamber, and even try to land on one of the near ledges, but : this is a bit tricky. If you fall too far down, you might think yourself : trapped. However, if you head further down, you'll find a lava moat at the : very bottom. On the north side of the central tower, you'll also find two : switches. The right one raises a platform below you out of the lava a : short ways, protecting you from burning yourself. The left switch : inexplicably teleports you back to the room with the 2x Charger! Well, I : say inexplicably, but I can in fact explicate how that works: hidden : behind the switch is a terminal, and all this terminal does is teleport : you to polygon 171, inside the Charger room - you might even see what : looks like a terminal flash on your screen for a brief moment when you hit : the switch. : So that's convenient, but there's another way to go from that last secret : ledge. You see, there is another secret door: : : Yeah… whoever made this level really has a fetish for secret doors. So, this : one leads to an automatic door, which puts you right back in the room with : the red S'pht'Kr, near the Charger room. So, what was the reward for : finding that secret area? As it turns out, absolutely nothing! We didn't : even find a way to get into that teaser room with the Fusion Batteries : near the 2x Charger (I don't believe there is a way to get in there). : Here's the path we just took: : So, there's only two things left to do: hit that one switch you found; and : try to jump into the tower in the middle of the End Chamber. You make one : last trip to the Chargers to fill up on Oxygen and Shields, and then in : passing you say your last goodbye to the red S'pht'Kr ("I'm sorry to : leave you so alone - I never even knew what you were!") met by icy : silence as [?he?she?it?they] pace back and forth in : [?his?her?its?their] tiny room, accompanied only by the switch that : unleashed the Horde into the outer part of the End Chamber. : You stuff a fresh battery into your Fusion Pistol, open the most infuriating : of the secret doors, drop down, go up the next elevator, blast the : Drone(s) inevitably waiting at the top, head around the corner and down : the spiral staircase, and voila, you're at the ledge with the switch, : across from what appears to be an opening into the End Tower. What the : switch does is not immediately apparent, but after a long wait, you might : notice a platform rise in the center of the End Tower. In truth, the : switch activates a tiny platform, set to a long delay (~33 seconds, : according to Weland), which, when fully opened, reveals a switch and : triggers the central platform next to it to rise. The switch is also : connected to the central platform - a fail-safe in case you miss the lift : going up the first time. : So, the trick is to hit the switch on the ledge (in the north-west corner of : the End Chamber, to be specific), and jump across the gap into the End : Tower, landing on the central platform in wait for when it eventually goes : up. In the mean-time, any Drones in the area will try to attack you - be : ready with the Fusion Pistol. As you kill them, one will constantly : respawn, likely in front of you and to the left (at least in my : experience), so just keep killing it over and over to avoid getting : killed. Eventually, the lift will start to rise. Keep killing the Drone as : he comes back - as the lift rises, it will take longer for his corpse to : hit the ground, meaning it'll respawn slower and slower, giving you more : breathing space. : At the top, the lift seals off the gap, preventing the Drone from getting to : you (at least until the lift goes back down again), and bringing you up to : three switches. These are the objectives that Mithrandir told us about way : back at the start of the level: " The prisoner who gave me the : information needed to contact you here told me that there are three : access panels at the top of the central tower ... They need to be : activated in a specific order, but unfortunately, he was unaware of that : order. ... Once they have been activated, I will be able to transport you : from the communications terminal near this location. " : Fortunately, it would seem that the designer of this level was unable to make : it so that you needed to hit the switches in the right order (or chose not : to, though I doubt they were that merciful, considering the rest of this : level) - any order will do. Just be careful not to stay standing on the : lift that brought you up - it will go back down eventually, and the last : thing you want is to have to make that ascent again . After hitting all : three switches, just turn around and head south through a corridor to a : small room with some windows looking outside and a Terminal. If you hadn't : hit all three, you'd get this message from reading it: : What a shame we're not taking orders from Durandal - he'd have something far : more entertaining to say about such foolishness; he might even dare to : use that exact word! : But alas, we instead follow a far less interesting Artificial Intelligence, : strangely named for a fictitious wizard (apparently 'Mithrandir' is the : Elvish name for Gandalf; go figure), and assuming you've followed : instructions like a good little errand boy and hit all three switches in : accordance with the Book of Armaments ("…and the number of the : counting shall be Three"), then he has this to say unto you: : : : : : : Right, so I had forgotten about this, but apparently the UESC also exists in : this universe - what a sign of a lack of creativity an odd coincidence! : Well, next time it looks like we, or rather Martin, will guide us through the : final level of this scenario, in which we will go to the pirates' home : base to put an end to their imitations of the Pfhor... once and for all! : Vale, : Perseus
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