Boy are my arms tired after playing this level! This is one of the most exasperating levels in Trojan for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is an exasperating puzzle that rivals the complexities of Colony Ship in the original M1. I wouldn't say that this is a difficult level - it's just frustrating.
This is the start of a new chapter called "Mines". We were supposed to be sent to help drain some mines flooded by the aliens, but the havoc Cain has wreaked on communications has interferred with our teleport and we ended up here instead. Well as long as we're here, we might as well kill everything in our way ;^) This is an extermination level and we do have to kill everything. There are a lot of ambushes and death traps before reachign the first PB, so the opening area will require a few attempts to get it right. At least there's a 2X recharger, but reaching it triggers an ambush. And after this is a platform with to columns to enter - choose the right one and you'll be crushed - choose the left one and you'll be rewarded with your first PB. This puts us squarely in the mines, which are dark and foreboding.
After wandering around the mines a bit and finding the correct path, we come to what the Spoiler Guide describes as the toughest puzzle in Trojan. What the Spoiler Guide doesn't explain is why it's so difficult. For one thing, dropping down into the northeast part of the map cuts you off from an escape route - you have to proceed and solve the puzzle before you reach another PB. In many respects makes this puzzle worse than Colony Ship. For another, there are a lot of monsters to confront in succession, and a lot of exploding boomers sneaking up on you when you least expect it. And then there is the puzzle itself. The objective is to raise/lower three platforms to the proper height to serve as a bridge across a lava chasm. The problem is that each switch operates 2 platforms, and one switch is a duplicate on top of this. The Spoiler Guide makes the sequence sound easy, but figuring it out de novo is a bear. And once you slove the puzzle, you still have to deal with a lot of baddies on the way to the next PB - and an ambush when you reach the PB. My arms are tired just from typing all of this! Finally you can get back to the beginning of the level and leave, but if you missed any aliens along the way, you'll have to go through it again to seek them out and kill them. Have fun!
