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Screenshot of Marsh - Sanctuary Lost

Swamp is the second mission on Elara V in Unreal II. Unlike the most other levels, this one is mainly an enemy avoiding practise. It is famous for the creatures living there, Seagoats, that are the main easter egg topic in the whole game. It doesn't have the usual Atlantis Interlude level.

Marsh - Sanctuary Lost

First cutscene

TCA Atlantis and PeaceKeeper

Your dropship flies back to TCA Atlantis from Elara V. When it is about to land in it, Aida calls John Dalton. A dialogue starts.

Aida: Atlantis calling PeaceKeeper. We're sending you back, John.
Aida: We've got more trouble down there.

PeaceKeeper turns back and lands on the surface of Sanctuary. Obviously Aida heard the news only when PeaceKeeper was about to land, as otherwise she would have contacted John earlier, and the ship wouldn't have flown anywhere, as Ne'Ban controls it. The cutscene ends here.

Marsh - Sanctuary Lost

A Rammer shown in the cutscene

An introduction now replaces the briefing. Aida explains why you're here:

Your Marine pals were shot down before they reached escape velocity. Their ship crashed in a forest on the far side of the planet. They've still got the artifact. They've set up a perimeter and will hold position until you arrive. The indigenous creatures shouldn't give you any trouble, but somebody shot that ship down - and whoever did is probably still around.
We can't fly you in there. You'll have to go in on foot. They've lit beacons to guide you to the crash site. Go get the Marines and lead them to a clearing big enough to set the Atlantis down. I'll see you soon.

You will be shown the crashed Marines' dropship, a process of placing Field Generators, then a Rammer and the beacons. You start the level near PeaceKeeper. A few points to remember before you go on: as Aida said, the creatures here are not aggressive. But watch your fire, or they will get mad and try to attack you. You shouldn't act as in a "shoot everything that moves" game here. Another point to remember is that there are absolutely no enemies here before you reach the Marines. So take your time and explore instead of just following the beacons. Don't worry, you won't get lost, those beacons are everywhere. The third point to remember is that unlike in other Unreal series games, you don't cause stomp damage - that is, you can jump on the animals as much as you want and you won't get them angry.

That's why this level is the most peaceful level of all the ones that you will find in this game. You can just relax by walking on the terrain, looking at the animals, their incredibly detailed shadows, the trees, the weather effects and so on.

After you're bored of exploring, go find the spot where you can see a Shield Charger. Remember that place and the closest path from there to the Marines. After you're used to that, go over and see Sgt. Kramer. He will disable the Force Wall and let you pass. Now a quite complex dialogue starts. It doesn't matter in what order you'll talk, but the dialogue here is given in the most fluent order:

The dialogue and the goody crate

Kramer: Glad you could drop by, Marshal.

Dalton: I was in the neighborhood.
Kramer: Such a nice night for a walk, too.
Dalton: Who was it? Izarians?
Kramer: Skaarj, more likely.
Dalton: Did you get the artifact?
Kramer: Dug it out of the wreckage. Not a scratch on it.
Dalton: Any enemy activity?
Kramer: Just some Izarian scouts. 'Course now they know we're here.
Dalton: Did everyone make it?
Kramer: All three of us. Ready for action.
Dalton: We need to scout out a clearing.
Kramer: Way ahead of you. There's a spot about 2 clicks away. Perfect for a dropship.
Dalton: There's not gonna be a dropship.
Kramer: What?!?
Dalton: Goin' deaf on me, soldier?
Kramer: No, sir. Sorry, sir.
Dalton: We're bringing the Atlantis down.
Kramer: Holy sh... Can you do that?
Dalton: Piece of cake.

Kramer: All right Marines, look sharp - we're moving out. Stay close Marshal. If we get separated, I'll come find you.

While talking, collect all the goodies in the area: Combat Assault Rifle, Assault Rifle clip, Shotgun, 8 shotgun shells, 2 Health Pickups and 3 Energy Pickups.

The dialogue reveals some interesting information: even though you're only in TCA, even Marines listen to you.

Izarian ambush

Anyway, the Marines now run out of the wreckage. Their target is that Energy Station you saw earlier. So move on as you did before - straight towards the Station. There's an interesting fact about these Marines: they are absolutely invincible. None of them will die in this scenario, regardless of how much damage he will take. Another interesting fact is that those Marines act a lot like bots in Unreal Tournament series - they can taunt, follow paths, get your back, inform about incoming enemies, complain for shooting them etc. So to survive, you should just hide behind the Marines and let them do all the work as they're invincible.

Once you get to the clearing the Marines will start building a perimeter: both entryways to the clearing will be blocked by their Force Walls, and additionally an Auto Turret will be set up to help you defend from the left (when looking from the Power Station). So that's why the main foes will come from the right side. Soon enough you will see more Izarians and even light Skaarj. Follow Kramer and make sure the fire is received only by Kramer, and not yourself. Dodge when needed, and don't worry, Kramer won't turn aggressive towards you no matter how much friendly fire he takes. If you can, let Kramer deal with enemies, and hold his back. You have to keep yourself alive for five minutes, and Aida will keep informing you about the time you have left.

The rock you need to climb in order to get to the safe point

However, there is a trick that lets you avoid all the enemies you could possibly encounter in this map. Once the perimeter is set, climb onto the rock where the Auto Turret is. Once you're there, climb another one so you would stand somewhat higher than the Auto Turret (pictured). Then, continue going forward and climbing up until you see a large mountain that you can't climb. Go counter clockwise around that mountain, and you will slowly get closer and closer to the top. Once you're on top of the mountain, you're safe, as your enemies don't know the path to this place.

Soon the level will end and the cutscene will start.

Second cutscene

TCA Atlantis landing

The hill near your beacon will be shown, as well as a Skaarj with an Izarian on top of it. The Skaarj groans, and all of a sudden TCA Atlantis appears from the sky. It flies down and crushes the opponents. Aida will exclaim:

Someone called for a taxi?
Move it! Let's go!

All the four of you stand still for a moment before entering Atlantis. The camera turns, revealing a Seagoat that successfully attempts to get into your ship. As Aida asked to hurry up, the entering creature was unseen until later, and you receive your first Artifact.

Trivia

The Dialog Editor reveals that in the second cutscene Aida was supposed to exclaim phrases randomly, but that was never implemented. The phrases that were unused are:

I'm comin' in.

Need a ride, fellas?
Still plenty of 'em out there. Let's go.
Climb aboard.
Let's go!

More on the way. Let's go!