Your Name:
	Your E-Mail Address:
	Subject:
	Message: : : Last time on Tour of Duty , well, not much happened. Actually that wasn’t : really last time, as in order for us to be here now, we had to not be : there then. But with dead BoB scenery before the BoBs were in the area, : forgotten skulls, crazy coop carnage areas in isolated arenas, and all : that Shakespeare, it’s no wonder we’re a little confused. Okay, let’s go : with: last time(line) on Tour of Duty we explored some S’pht ruins, but : they were somewhat different to how we remembered … or did we? We became : more familiar with Tycho’s new methodology, tricking the Pfhor systems to : his own ends – so many encrypted stamps – culminating in his arranging for : the Pfhor captain to be teleported into space … which reminds me of what : they managed in the Blake’s 7 episode Hostage. Always a satisfying end to : things anyway :). Then Durandal arrived, and Tycho finished with that : great line: There’s nothing on Lh’owon but ghosts. Spine-chilling! : Now we start … just through the window and over the wall from where we : (probably) finished off! The hunters seem to be gone from the ledges, and : the secret end terminal seems to be gone from the map, but we can see the : normal end terminal on the map if we move around a bit. A platform drops : down behind us, allowing access to the next area. Then another one drops : down and some F’lickta emerge from some shallow water. They die in 2–3 : shots, what the hell? Oh, I had it on kindergarten for these vid runs for : convenience in writing up and remembering stuff … shhh don’t tell anyone : ;). Hunters arrive on the scene behind us, and they are still on our side : – we give them metallic high fives. There's also a Potato Anus here, just : bumming around. : The map suggests there is another platform here that we will presumably be : lowering, and there’s a hole we can drop down into that actually gets us : to the other side of it in advance – funny, I’d never really gone that way : before. It’s a bit anticlimactic, just another F’lickta, but again, the : map shows spoilers as these platforms don’t go all the way to the roof … : and when I say roof, we’re actually out in the open so, whatever. Might as : well continue from here, as it makes that silly lift down the stairs : slightly more useful…. Down the stairs we find a lift, and a pattern : buffer, and a water hole, but we’ll ignore that for the moment. The lift : has some weird stuff going on, it has three separate sections and some : untextured walls show if we turn it on and then off again. It takes us up : to the last platform that dropped down in front of us, onto a ledge with a : moat in front of us. There's a little ammo at the end of this moat, by the : way. : From here we can jump across and climb up to a small area in the middle, : where we find a terminal, a 1x charger, and 2 switches, in a triangle : arrangement that makes for some head scratching, as it seems hard to fit : three separate areas into the space they do right here. There is also a : door just to the right of the terminal, but we never get it open :(. The : terminal says: : : : Okay, so this rings a bell, the humans are trying to activate an ancient : S’pht AI, but this time it is in a flooded area – well, we did do a lot : with water levels in and around the personality cells we found in M2, and : it really was down to us that they got activated. When we are instead : enslaved to the Pfhor, things go pear-shaped for the humans :(. Next, : Tycho’s ship has been disabled by Durandal’s, and Tycho has sent him a : message only the three of us would understand – curious wording, except : that we remember from an old dream: : We were only early on in our large scale exploration of the S’pht ruins in : those days; as has been said before, there are certain things that seem to : happen in every timeline, regardless of our role in things, just in a : slightly different order and/or at a slightly different time – and of : course, with Infinity looking to fit so many timelines into one games, : also a lot more quickly. : Finally, a mission briefing, with a map pic showing the old M2 textures, : taken just before the final changes. Also the automap pic shows a pattern : buffer … oh no, wait, that’s only in PS’s maps that a red circle means a : PB :D. So we are indeed off to see Thoth again, but Tycho’s motive is only : really to beat Durandal; I’m not really sure if he knew of Thoth’s true : significance at this point … or ours. : Let’s take a look at the map and figure out where to go next: : It is another case of The Hard Stuff Rules, with significant overlap between : levels, so even when you know the level well it is hard to work out where : some parts are. This is also not helped by the fact that we have : underwater water, above ground shallow water, and above ground deep pools : on the level *headscratch* but hey, we can still see that Thoth room … : even if we can’t actually get into it. : Okay so first of all let’s go for a swim, in that water hole we ignored : earlier – a slightly different path from the nice purple one PS marked, : but to the same end. There are some more F’lickta down there if we happen : to have any SMG ammo left, but if not, they tend to obligingly fall into : the deeper parts of this odd stepped tunnel, allowing us to swim over the : top of them. The tunnel branches – right is the way to Thoth, left leads : us to two ways back to the surface. Adding yet more layers to the map, : they both lead to more stairs back to the top level as well. The first is : between the two floodgates we just opened; the second is an isolated area : with just a little ammo, and what appears to be a very high ledge, which : might offer something more interesting if we had a SPNKR *cough* Robot : World Arena *cough* but I doubt it. : The branch to Thoth opens into a huge area with yet more different floor : heights – how annoying. We really have to use the map to see where we’re : going, and as we know, that has its drawbacks, but better at this point in : our exploration than later on. As I said, we can’t enter the Thoth room; : all we have to do is look inside it – presumably judged by must-explore : polygons? : Back on the surface, we explore through the newly opened floodgates, and find : first a little back alley, wherein an assault rifle and some ammo, mmm, : and then a bit of a surprise. Which shouldn’t really be that surprising : given our current master, and that he’s kind of anti-Durandal, and by : extension, anti-Human. But still, we are not quite prepared for *ouch* the : accuracy of the magnum-toting angry BoBs around the corner! At least we : know it’s not our fault they’re shooting at us … although for some of us, : it might just be considered atonement ;). : Further on, more friendly Hunters and hostile BoBs, and some more high : ledges. Then some stairs down to yet another room with a water hole, : although this one doesn’t go anywhere, and then a path on to a 1x : recharger and then a lift in the middle of a pool, which takes us up onto : the ledges. There where we find one deep pool on the far side, and on the : near side, an interesting fight, between F’lickta on the one hand, and : Hunters and … a baby Juggernaut on the other – well, he has been described : as baby, but he’s still pretty big! Still, he’s the first friendly one : we’ve seen *pat*, can we keep him? If things go according to plan, he will : teleport out :(. : The deep pool is pretty interesting as well – it hides a Fusion Pistol and : associated ammo! Rather a big deal with Acme Station not too far away, and : so easy to miss. Further along the ledge we find a passage to the other : side of that damned door by the first terminal! The next room has another : Juggernaut taking on angry BoBs down below, and we could jump down to : their area now, but around the next corner is something more interesting. : An area that once looked like this: : A gone-but-not-forgotten terminal! The Story page details what it says in : the final release, and what it once said. It was once the only S’pht : terminal in Infinity. It is easy to forget that they just aren’t around. : When we’re with Durandal, the shortened timeframe has us doing more : important things that need doing, and we never get a chance to look for : S’pht stories. Just like Durandal said on Ne Cede Malis! : One of the most intriguing things about this unreleased terminal is the fact : that it relates how S’pht Y’sa M’nr had forgotten who Yrro was. Suggesting : that the warring clans had forgotten their roots. : Had they in fact forgotten why they were at war? It’s interesting stuff : either way! : Then on we go into the fray. Following one ledge leads to some shotgun ammo; : another floodgate opens, revealing lots more angry BoBs, and we compete : with the Juggernaut for glory … which is dangerous as his grenades can : still hurt us if we get in their way! From here we take a passage to the : first oxygen recharger since the very start, and then on to the other side : of that door from Poor Yorick, which opens from this side, and then to : that level’s end sequence, although access down into the water is blocked : by an apparent cave-in. Aww. : Now, if we hadn’t found the Thoth room, Tycho gets a bit annoyed and insulty : with us, while carrying on his rather egocentric monologue: : : As we did find it, he instead gives us the latest news: : : Durandal’s ship is offline … man he needs to be more careful! And this before : Battle Group Seven even shows up. Well, fast-forward mode, a large : structure has entered orbit – K’lia (thanks Volunteers I would have missed : that) – and Tycho’s big reveal, his ship has the trih xeem, oh great. And : yet his last words sound like they would put us on the other side of the : IIHARL fight, only like halfway through Marathon 2. Messed up! : Oh well, Tycho’s pretty much threatening to release chaos again, at least a : far as our belief system goes – we’re kind of still taking this whole : W’rkncacnter thing on trust. But it is specifically what we’re trying to : stop – we really won’t be able to while working -for- Tycho, and we don’t : yet have sufficient control, or even awareness, of whatever it is that is : letting us travel around like this, and so we apparently take our leave of : this timeline … it is only a shame the next level is not called “Try : again”.
	If you'd like to include a link to another page with your message, please provide both the URL address and the title of the page:
	Optional Link URL:
	Optional Link Title:
	If necessary, enter your password below:
	Password: