T'leth

Note to all X-Com/S.O.R.E.S.O. officers::

latest report:

Author:[classified name],Pilot of Leviathan-Class Submersible "Alparslan"

..."We have reached such a depth that the sole link between the upper world and this ship is the Hyperwave Transmission link,and any loss of contact will probably make me mad.I have steered this craft for hours,yet sinking deeper,deeper into the inkiest of depths,the deepest bowels of Earth,and I am beginning to lose the sense of time and space.The 3D Underwater Radar shows the surroundings of this pit.Strange,amorphic shapes can be detected floating about.I am not sure if they are alive,for they have almost the same temperature of the water around them...

...1 hour later,i saw it.It slowly came into sight,a beacon of light at first,then a gleaming orb amongst the pitch depth.A massive chunk of unidentified metal was waiting in a crater deeper than the conical rift among...wait...if the physical analysis of the pit is real...yes,i must admit now,it must be THE "meteor" who slammed the Earth point-blank and kickstarted the age of mammals.Harbinger of our birth,yet our harbinger of destruction.Oh,the irony...

...I must hurry...This is a scouting mission,and I must leave before the hive like ship awakens.I have scanned the outskirts of its base,its defenses,possible creatures,and the psychic readings.The device's beams penetrated the base,and i noticed three "hardpoints",places with massive garrison and bio-readings.The report is as following:

• The Outskirts:I have noticed Tentaculat vermin ( curse on their souls,i lost 2 best friends,and forced to kill them myself,only to watch more of the Devilish Octopus spring forth from their bodies ),and humanoid shapes armed with the sonic cannons and blaster launchers.

• Catacombs(?):Scan readings are vague.It can be catacombs,or a loading bay,or even a lair.But I see still large,tentacled forms and powerful psychic beings.

• ???:A Spiral shaped room.Tentaculats nested on nooks and crannies above the floor of this Temple of Deep.Horrible sound records echo from the tunnels,yet one of them lingers on in my mind:

"...ph'nglui mglw'nafh s'htuhkh t'leth wagh'nagl fhtagn...ph'nglui mglw'nafh ss'htuhkh t'leth wagh'nagl fhtagn...ph'nglui mglw'nafh sss'htuhkh t'leth wagh'nagl fhtagn..."

I am slowly getting mad.I had to stun my co-pilot Louis Tiers,a Frenchman,though he was a reliable psi-officer,he began laughing and shouting unintelligible things,though a modified voice-recorder yielded some sense:

"of a Sleeping One,yet not Dead yet not Alive,fed by the Mongrels of Blasphemies and Slaves,then,"...ph'nglui mglw'nafh s'stuhkh t'leth wagh'nagl fhtagn..." crap again,Atlantis was younger,younger than the starseed,the Elder Ones,they lended us our Flesh and their statues,which they brought from the stars...Azathoth...The Heart of Universe..."

I shut the record off and now I am sitting silently as the craft escapes the cold pandemonium below.Louis became mad.I can't believe a psychic assault could fry his mind.Now he is awake,but little aware of what happens,is now babbling in French.I have my Gauss Rifle as ready,in case he attacks me.

Maybe I will have to go to hypnotherapy when,or if i return and erase the three most insane hours of my life.It is maddening to say the least...I pray HQ has the guts and men to assault this earthly Abyss...

---

{stub}

This is a 3 part mission.

Part 1

Looks much like the second part of an Artefact Site mission, but the map layout is different and there are only two levels. You must kill all aliens or move your units to the lift (bright yellow floor) and press the "abort mission" button. Note that this lift is on the upper level (l1).

Aliens encountered: Aquatoid Navigators and Commanders (all M.C. capable) armed with Disruptor Pulse Launchers, Hallucinoids.

Part 2

Looks like the the second part of a Colony Assault mission, but again there's only 2 levels. Once again, you need to kill all aliens or find the access lift to the third level. This can be difficult, because to do it you must first climb to the upper level, cross to the corner of the map opposite your starting location, and then descend to the ground level. Another problem is that some of the corridors will be too narrow for your SWSs - use Sonic Cannons or Disruptor Pulse Launchers to widen the door and corridors.

Note that the lift has only room for 25 aquanauts, so if you took a fully-crewed Leviathan to the mission you must either kill all the aliens or be prepared to leave someone behind. If it comes to that, the best choice is a SWS, because their mobility is greatly restricted in the third level.

Aliens encountered: Aquatoid Soldiers, Lobster Men Soldiers & Squad Leaders, Deep Ones, Tentaculats, Hallucinoids, Xarquid, Deep Ones. The Lobster Men and Aquatoids are armed with a mix of Disruptor Pulse Launchers and Thermal Shock Launchers.

Make sure to save RIGHT at the end of Part 2, because...

Part 3

You can't save during part 3! No more save reload abuse! As against that, all you need to do is have ONE agent complete the mission, you should be able to manage this, right?

The map is roughly a spiral leading to the Ultimate Alien's coffin. Aside from not being able to save, your overhead map will not function properly! You won't be able to see the terrain, only your agents, aliens and dropped items. Also, your SWSs can't move through the doors unless you knock them down with Disruptor Pulse Launchers. You'd need a LOT of ammo to knock down all the doors you need to pass to reach the end, so it's probably not worth taking the SWSs beyond the first two rooms.

Fortunately, the map is mostly straightforward, with only a couple of dead-ends. It's also quite large, so your agents will run out of energy if you advance too quickly. All that said, the aliens on this map aren't particularly tough, and most of them will be in the first two rooms; take them out and the rest should be easy.

When you reach the central chamber, be careful of Tentaculat ambushes. Remember that, unlike in Enemy Unknown, you can't kill the alien mastermind. Instead, destroy the power cylinders around him to win.

Aliens encountered: same as in part 2.