:Step through, and you emerge onto a balcony
: overlooking a dark chasm.
: There's an
: infinite supply of Beetles in this area; kill any golden ones and run past
: the rest to cross a bridge that has raised across the chasm, leading to
: the second half of the ship.
The entire first half of the level from the moment just after you teleport to the balcony overlooking the chasm, to returning to the bridge that Mark mentions can actually be avoided. The only purpose in navigating this first part of the level is to raise the bridge across the chasm. Although there are a couple of 3x canisters to collect, there is no ammo in this first part. As far as I am concerned, it is worth avoiding. Once you teleport onto the balcony, immediately head to the ledge. Do not waver left or right or you will activate a swarm of beetles. Use the secondary trigger of the Omega Cannon to launch yourself over the ledge and down into the chasm. If you stay on the polys that form the bridge, you will not be teleported back onto the balcony, nor does this activate any enemies. Run across to a point just below the raised ledge on the other side of the chasm. Two shots from the Omega Cannon is enough to launch yourself up onto this raised ledge. From there you can continue with the rest of the level.
: Now to take on the hardest puzzle in the game. In the next room is a pool of
: blood. You have to jump into the blood, swim under the connecting wall,
: turn left, hit the submerged switch, turn around, and swim onto the
: platform with the giant eye.
Actually, if you leap across the pool of blood (which you can do if you keep as far to the left as possible when you leap), there is a switch on the other side. Hitting this switch will lower the pool of blood, so you do not have to swim in it at all. You can jump down into the pit and continue without damage. Of course, this is only necessary if you decide to venture through the first part of the level.
