Chapter 5: FOCAL POINT

Chapter 5 - "FOCAL POINT" - Sluggo OK, this was definitely NOT in the job description. Teleportation technology? Alien border worlds? And I have to experience both up close in order to escape...from my job? Hrrrmph. I'll go, but I better be getting some sort of hazard pay for this. A Xen Moment You arrive in Xen and immediately find yourself under attack from a few Houndeyes. Dispatch of the pups and use the rocks on the far left to reach the upper level encircling the area. Work your way around to the opening on the far side of the ring. When you reach the end of the tunnel, notice the small crawlway blocked by some alien growth. Shoot or smash the crawlway open, and crawl through. You'll now need to navigate a set of tunnels and caverns. At the first opening, take the crawlway to the left. At the first junction, you should go right, but you can take a short detour left if you want to grab some extra supplies at a dead end. At the next opening, you'll have a variety of pathways to choose from. Most are dead ends. One of the openings sits on a small ramp to your right -- that's the one you want. You emerge at a small cavern with barnacles growing on the ceiling. You need to take the pathway to the left, but you can go around to the healing pool on the far right if you need to. Jumping Puzzle #1 You'll emerge at a large open area with lots of floating rocks. Simply jump from rock to rock to make your way to the other side. Note that a little past halfway through, Vortigaunts will teleport in and attack. Once you're safely on the other side, head through the tunnel, kill the Houndeyes, and make your way to... Jumping Puzzle #2 This puzzle is similar to Jumping Puzzle #1, except that (a) the jumps are a little harder to make, and (b) alien ships appear and begin blowing up the ground under your feet as you progress. While it will help, your ultimate goal here is actually not to make it to the opening to the far left -- your immediate challenge is simply to survive everything being blown up. You can achieve this in two ways: (a) making all the jumps to the far left opening as quickly as possible, or (b) simply camping out in the healing pool, which should survive the attacks intact. When the alien ships are finished, they will have knocked over a tree, creating a path from the center ring to a ledge on the far side of the area. Climb across the tree, find and smash the small opening in the ground, and jump in. (NOTE: If you made all the jumps to the opening at the far left, you'll find a teleport ball in the back of the cave sending you back to the center rock.) Next: Part 2: You Find Your Target