Recap pages are Spoilers Off by default, so in all these pages all spoilers are unmarked. Proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned
After heavily crippling the Strogg's air support, Bitterman arrives at the Strogg capitol, and he's closer than ever to his final objective.
The levels in this unit are "Outer Courts", "Lower Palace" and "Upper Palace", and the main objective of the area is to shut down the Strogg Leader's communication system. Expect lots of back-and-forth between the areas.
Followed by the Boss Levels.
These levels show examples of:
- Ability Required to Proceed: All over the place:
- First of all, the Data Spinner in the Outer Courts is one of the two items required in the Lower Palace computer. The other is the Data CD located in the Upper Palace below the communications laser.
- Afterwards, the Data Spinner is available in the computer of Lower Palace for further usage in the Upper Palace.
- The Security Pass located in the Upper Palace is required to disable the yellow forcefields that prevent the intertwining of both paths in the level. It also allows access to the Easter Egg area and its bonuses.
- Finally, the secret Red Key in "Outer Courts" allows you to pick up the Ancient Head in the Easter Egg area of "Upper Palace".
- Convection, Schmonvection:
- "Outer Courts" has several small areas with lava or a similar liquid with similar properties.
- "Upper Palace" has the pod to the next unit surrounded by lava.
- Death Trap:
- The beginning of "Outer Courts" has a bridge over a lava pit that splits in two.
- There are two instances of a hallway with laser shooters at the end, one in "Lower Palace" and another in "Upper Palace". In both cases, they have a switch above them that raises a wall, blocking them. And in the case of the former, there's a secret that outright disables them.
- Easter Egg: In the "Upper Palace" level, there's John Carmack's head in a room with a jar. The head itself is called "Ancient's Head". A further secret also has a Doom poster and a Ferrari.
- Force-Field Door: Whenever there's a colored force field, there's a console somewhere that disables them. Red lasers are disabled in "Lower Palace", and Yellow and Blue lasers are disabled in "Upper Palace". Disabling them is also a must for 100% Completion.
- Hollywood Acid: There's at least one acid pool in "Upper Palace", but it isn't relevant for the main missions. If you're going for 100% Completion, though...
- Monster Closet:
- "Outer Courts":
- There's a door above the entrance in the hills that triggers once you entered the castle, releasing a bunch of Icarus and Medics.
- At the entrance to the palace, approaching it will trigger a nearby wall explosion that outputs a bunch of Machinegun Guards.
- The alternate entrance to the "Lower Palace" has a wall nearby that explodes in order to reveal a Gladiator.
- "Lower Palace": The path from the secret Quad Damage to the red forcefield control room has two Technicians hidden in the floor at one point, nearby the door to the computer room.
- "Upper Palace": Deactivating the yellow forcefield lasers and returning to the lower cave near the lower level entrance will spawn a Technician in a nearby ceiling (marked with a button, since it also holds a secret).
- "Outer Courts":
- Mook-Themed Level: Tank Commanders can only be found in these levels.
- Rewarding Vandalism: In the "Upper Palace" level, the secret of the Doom poster area requires the activation of a computer and the destruction of its glass. Picking up the so-called "Ancient Head" gives you several points of Adrenaline.
- Suspiciously Cracked Wall: The first secret of "Outer Courts" is located in one of the caves after the starting building. It contains a cracked wall that must be shot in order to get a Power Shield.
- Teleporting Keycard Squad:
- "Outer Courts":
- Checking the secret area near the beginning spawns a Gladiator in the hills.
- In addition to the Machinegun Guards, approaching the entrance to the palace alerts a pair of nearby Icarus.
- "Lower Palace": Coming back with the Data CD from the Upper Palace adds seven more enemies to the total count: a Tank Commander in the upper balcony near the upper-level entrance, three Technicians in the central area, two Berserkers in the hallway between the upper-level entrance to the UP and the central area, and another Tank Commander guarding the computer.
- "Upper Palace":
- Picking up the Security Pass triggers a wall explosion near the lower level entrance which releases a Technician. In addition, returning to "Lower Palace" from this entrance has two Berserkers awaiting you.
- After all the objectives are completed and the blue forcefields are cleared, two Iron Maidens spawn nearby the final Tank Commanders.
- "Outer Courts":
