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Walkthrough - "Xidia Gold"

Underground Railroad

Map Author: Will "Mister Prophet" Drekker
Weapons: Dispersion Pistol, Automag, Mining Tool, Sniper Rifle, Eightball Gun.
Creatures: Pupae, Skaarj Berserker, Skaarj Lords, Skaarj Snipers.
Bosses: Skaarj Praetorian
Difficulty:

You thought that there were no chances for an escape way. But thanks to the help of a mysterious stranger, you have finally found one. You're now on the tail of a train, inside a tunnel. Unfortunately, it's populated by strong Skaarj and they don't even know about the bomb. Your objective is kill every alien nuisance and turn the train's speed to max. This level can be hard for casual players, but luckily it's pretty short. Lastly, if you played AS-HiSpeed a lot, the layout will be completely familiar.

You'll begin inside the crate in which you used to access the train. After Spencer opens it, you can finally proceed. Remember you have the Dispersion Pistol (DP) now if you haven't got it in the previous level.
Proceed outside and check out the environment. This is one of the rarest Single Player maps (if not the only one) which uses the AS-HiSpeed's train concept. It's pretty weird at the start, but in reality it's just a strong illusion caused by the tunnel's walls. The speed is always the same, and falling from the train means death.

Go to the left, through the crates, and your friend will contact you:

"Incoming Call: Spencer, you made it on the train, get out of that crate! The bomb is going to blow in minutes and you need to get to the control room and increase the speed or you'll never escape the firestorm that will follow. Some bad news, this train is controlled by the creatures. Your going to have to fight and you may have to kill, but if you want to survive you must do it and you must do it fast! Hurry!"

After you pass the second turn, you can see over the crates in front of you a mad Skaarj trying to scare you by throwing a box on the floor below.

Strong Enemy Fight: Skaarj Berserker
Health: 235
Difficulty:

At the start this fight seems to be impossible thanks to your scarce weaponry and the cramped environment. Fortunately, this Skaarj Berserker with the Assassin skin has less health than usual. After he throws the crate, he'll move to the right and jumps down, near you. This is the best moment to shoot him with a fully charged DP bolt.
Now retreat back at the start of the map by shooting him with the DP. Here comes the hard thing: fooling the Skaarj in order to change to retreat in the parts where you have encountered him. The best thing to do is luring him to the large area found at the train's tail, going near to him to trigger a melee attack (if it's the Claw version, you're even safer). Now the Skaarj will waste his time and you can dodge to the path which leads forward (in the meantime, you can still shoot him). Now you can easily retreat through this way until you have finished him (always with the DP). You'll probably get damaged here, plus don't try to retreat too far from the start or you'll get annoyed (and even killed) by a Skaarj Sniper hidden over one of those towers in the distance in the distance.

Go behind the pile of crates that had the Skaarj Berserker on its top. Here you'll find some steel boxes that you can use to climb over this pile. Here you'll find a dead body with a Sniper Rifle.
Get the weapon and see the scenery of the train. You should spot a Skaarj Sniper over the first tower in the distance.
To kill him easily, just shoot him on the head two times. The first time you hit him (he doesn't know about you yet) he'll move firstly to your right and then starting his mad strafe. Just don't change your aim from the last shoot and use a last bullet to kill the Skaarj when he passes through your crosshair. It's possible that during this phase he may hit you, causing lots of damage. It's pretty rare, but reload the game if that happens.

Once he's dead, it's possible that his Sniper Rifle may be dropped somewhere on the train so you could pick it up. There are three solutions:

1) Don't get it.
2) Search and explore until you find it.
3) Console commands: mutate spyd00d, viewclass sniperrifle.

Remember that near the towers area a Pupae may attack you.
Anyway, let's return back... Return to the floor below and proceed onward. On the right side, you find an opened crate with a Health Pack, two Tarydium Ammo and a message:

"Crate Number 0019176: "Drill and ration supply, Mine shipment U-129""

Advance now and pass the tank, and after it go around it where you'll find steel boxes in order to let you climb the big boxes. Pass over the plank to arrive to the second crate, which has two Nali Fruit Seeds.
Return back and advance to the next parts of the train. After the tank there should be another opened box on the right side. It has a pair of Thigh Pads, two Clips and a box of Rifle Rounds. There's a message too:

"Crate Number 007153: "Military Supply, shipment A-41""

Now pass through the three towers. You must watch out for two things though when you run in the pathway after you surpass the first pillar, as it has a Pupae and a hole in the floor. Falling through this hole results in instant death.

Advance to the next train kart. It's completely empty, apart from an opened crate with an useless model of the Skaarj symbol and another Translator Message:

"Crate Number 004997: "Restricted cargo from the Live Mines, shipment restricted to authorized sector commanders Judd and Deckard. Code Alpha -1337""

The next kart is empty. Go on the right side to bypass the slime tank and enter Car 0003. After entering it, you'll finally have another fight. Check out the room and you should see some openings on the left. From the first one, a Skaarj Sniper jumps out from some kind of Skaarj vehicle. This one is armed with a Dispersion Pistol and he likes chasing people. Firstly give to him a fully charged DP bolt, then retreat quickly to the slime tank kart. You probably won't see him for a moment, but in reality he just hides for a second behind the slime tank (near the entrance to Car 0003).
The Skaarj will chase you while shooting. Do the same thing with the DP but with the exception of running backward. He can be pretty tough as he shoots quickly, but alternate strafing (which is just the type of movement by going by left and a nanosecond after to the right. And viceversa, this will confuse the Skaarj in a way, but it's hard on narrow passages) would be a good idea, unless you fall from the train. He's intelligent also, as he doesn't dodge into the oblivion (if he falls here, don't worry, he still gives you points). Be sure not to fall in the holes between the karts.

When the Skaarj is dead, return to Car 0003. At the start you find two wooden boxes. They contain two Bandages. The door to the next kart is closed with a code, which is found in the floor above. Go there by using one of the two staircases. I assume that you used the staircase at the start of the Car, not the one at the end near the locked door.

The second floor is the crew berth corridor, like the one you seen in AS-HiSpeed. Only one door contains the code... and the danger: the third one. The other rooms don't have enemies and have some interesting stuff.
The first one has a body on the floor and on both beds there's a message. The one on the right side has a Nali Fruit Seed too. Check its message:

"Muller, plant report: The plants I've been studying seem to have doubled in healing potential during the course of the last few months. The seeds I've gathered grow at alarming rate. They don't need soil to anchor their roots, they can grow on any surface. I have been genetically manipulating these seeds and have created a batch of instant growing seeds capable of aiding the body's regeneration systems. I'm going to take a single seed with me to the Northern Peak to show the chief medical officer. ( Dated in March)"

The other one...

"Ricardiego " Richie" journal: I used to hate the train, would get me sick all the time cus of my motion problem. Now it's become a safe haven for me. Those things are killing machines and I don't think I can take one of them on. The others didn't believe me about the winged freaks I saw and when we were attacked, I played dead while the others ran. I managed to find a way on the train, I think I'm safe for now. ( 5/19)"

The second room has another dead human, but with two boxes of 50 Bullets and an Automag (now you should have two of them, Akimbo Automags).
Stay away from room n°3 and go the fourth one... or just go directly to the third one as the room n°4 is empty. Once you arrive at the third door (I strongly recommend staying on the left side, to make the fight easier), the wall near it get destroyed by a thrown washbasin. It creates a hole in which you can pass, but you must firstly dispose of the Skaarj Sniper with the Mining Tool equipped. It can be hard at the start, but here's a simple strategy: equip DP and walk carefully, through the corridor, to see what's inside the chamber. When you see a black inch of the Skaarj's armor, shoot it with the DP's secondary fire.
The Skaarj will get damaged by the DP's splash damage and will not do nothing unless you make yourself visible (don't try to use a position in which you would see his left leg/arm). The latter causes the Skaarj to use the Mining Tool's spread fire, which is capable of killing you in one or two perfect hits. Just stay in the same position and shoot. The momentum of the DP bolts kick slowly the Skaarj away, so you have to move a bit to the right in order to damage him again. Just hear his death cry in order to make sure he died.

Enter his room, get his Mining Tool (your ammo should be 60) and check the message:

"Train security manuel: Make sure all passcodes are checked with highest ranking train security chief. Today's passcode is, %c"

Codes are random, they change in every game you play, so it's impossible writing them here. Memorize it (remember that the Translator has a function for viewing past messages) and use it to exit from Car 0003. Enter Car 0002.
As you may remember from the Assault map, the inner part of the second-to-last kart is blocked by a bunch of crates. Use the staircase to go to the second floor, clearly in the large corridor. Near the start you may see a Tarydium Ammo and a Box of 50 Bullets on the left side. If you have lots of Automag ammo (around 180), save the Bullets for later.
Advance into the tunnel and make sure you're facing one of those brown walls that separate the various rooms. Going to the last part of this floor will trigger an explosion caused by a Skaarj below. The blast will destroy a big portion of the floor. If you followed my advice by going against one of those brown walls, you'll have less issues in falling down the hole, plus no chances of getting spotted early by the two Skaarj Snipers below.

About these latter, one has an Eightball and 200 health. The second one has an Automag and 165 health. They are hard to beat. Try to kill the one with the Automag first, as he has a greater chance of hitting you. Before he becomes aware of your presence, shoot him with a fully charged DP bolt. You should do it without having the Skaarj Gunner in your sight, in order to not be spotted by him. The Automag Skaarj can do two things: he will stay below if you continue to make yourself visible, or will come to the second floor (by using the staircase on the other side) to take you down if you try to escape. It mostly depends, though, as they act in a random way here. It's recommended to fight him above, as it's easier. If he does this, fill him with Automag bullets (luckily he has low health). The Skaarj just tries to stay on the other side of the hole, but if you retreat too far, he'll fall into it again or will manage to follow you by using the undamaged parts of the floor. When he dies, be sure to get his dropped Automag and a Clip. By going on the other side, you'll probably be attacked by the Eightball Skaarj. Be sure to look the floor below to see where he looks. If he discovers you, try anything to avoid his rocket (dodge) and get the Automag/Clip quickly. The Eightball Skaarj also likes going to the second floor. Try to force him to do this. Rockets are easy to avoid plus he doesn't dodge your DP bolts too readily. He doesn't like running near you, either.
The entire battle can be pretty hard. If you get discovered by both Skaarj and they both go to the second floor, make sure you let them drop into the hole. Once you killed the last Skaarj, get his Eightball.

Descend to the floor below and, if you want, save the game. There's an opening leading to another Skaarj vehicle like the one you seen in the previous Car. This one has a Super Health. Be sure to get it and escape inside the Car again. The Super Health is actually some kind of trap, because after you get it, a Skaarj Lord will drop from above, trying to chase you. He's easy though: equip the DP and try to use the staircase strategy like before when you fooled the two Skaarj Snipers. The Skaarj Lord seems more intelligent, as he doesn't easily drop into the hole. If he crosses it, be sure to dodge into the opening to return to the floor below. Wait the Skaarj to do the same thing, then repeat the process. Fool him by going around this area, in other words. If he starts to be annoying, use Automag.

After you killed him, the Skaarj Vehicle which had the Super Health will explode into pieces. Be sure to get the box of 50 Bullets (if you left it) from the second floor. Proceed now into Car 0001. It's empty, and the train's control room can be opened in the same way as AS-HiSpeed: using the lever on the second floor. It has a message too:

"DOOR CONTROL: Locked due to security override, please release pressure lock."

But ascending to it will be a waste of time: there's thunder barrier which kills you if you pass through it. You need to find another way. Go to the floor below and to the left side. You should see a opening which leads to a lift to the top of the kart. I should note about the presence of an invisible wall bug after this opening (going to the control cabin side); remember this.
Equip the Mining Tool (which should have now 80 ammo) and ascend above. Chaos ensues, as the bomb in the Military Facility finally explodes. The main collateral effect of this explosion, is the constant presence of an earthquake. It gets very annoying and make things harder, but remember that's just only the screen trembling. Bad news: you have to deal with the guy on the top of this Car... a Skaarj Lord with 255 health.

You have to defeat him quickly. The best way is just using the anti-Skaarj Beserker trick which you used in battle like the Red Nemesis one in Outpost Pheonix, when playing as Jones. If you started Xidia with Spencer (and never played Jones's quest), this trick is about going in front of the Skaarj, trigger his melee attack, retreating, waiting he finishes the attack, going again towards him and repeat. When going near him (which you should do when he concludes the attack, not directly after it), you can fire at the Skaarj with a powerful spread weapon. You don't have the Flak Cannon now, but the Mining Tool's secondary fire is just as useful and strong. Just advance towards him (this will cost health though, because of his projectiles) and do that. Three (I'm sure about that), perfect spread fires are enough to kill him. Don't like this way? Then let yourself get spotted by the Skaarj and go on the lift's ledge below. The Skaarj will jump perfectly here, though you may want to shoot a rocket after he landed to kick him away from the train for a quick kill; otherwise, do the Mining Tool trick here. If you don't like this either, you may want to do the battle around the inner part of Car 0001, going around one of the pillars (this fools him, but watch out as the Skaarj may change direction and get you from behind) and filling him with Mining Tool's Spread fires. At least in this way you are more safe from his projectiles.
The fourth way would be the invisible wall. You can pass it by running near the inner wall. The Skaarj don't get how to pass it and you can just shoot DP's secondary fire near him, or go in front of the Skaarj and using MT's spread fires. I recommend the first way though, as it's the quickest.

When you are on the top of the train, you'll spot in front of it another Skaarj Vehicle. This one has two Skaarj Snipers, one with the Eightball and the other with the Automag. You should try not to get seen by those two, because they'll not move from the vehicle. After a while, the Skaarj ship will go directly in that burning hole at the end of the tunnel (the bomb's explosion), behind the tail of the train. That lava wall kills the two Skaarj, that will be added to your points.
If they discover you, then the situation may be pretty frustrating. Fortunately the Automag Skaarj is pretty stupid as he like to drop from the ship, even if there's no train below (a.k.a. jump to death). The Eightball Skaarj seems to stay on the vehicle more, but it's possible that he'll jump from it. When no longer see the vehicle, you can check all the train if there are any Skaarj Snipers around (for the Eightball one, this would mean more rocket ammo for yours). I suggest letting them die in hazards rather than under your weapons. The Eightball Skaarj would be still easy though. It's just the Automag Skaarj that need to jump in oblivion. Choice is up to yours.

When everyone is dead, go to the middle of Car 0001's roof, where you'll the hole to go onto its second floor. Enter it and be sure to get the two Tarydium Ammo near the barrier. I would recommend to save before getting them, you know why...
Now trigger the lever to unlock the control cabin. Go below, save the game, and open it...

Boss Fight: Skaarj Praetorian
Health: 725
Difficulty:
Attacks:
1) Skaarj Projectile (16 health per proj): classic Skaarj projectile. Very fast, and become even more quicker during its flight.
2) Claw attack (?/20 per hit): slow Skaarj's double melee attack. Just dodge or run backward.
3) Spin attack (?/20 per hit): the fast Skaarj's double melee attack. Dodge or run backward. If the Skaarj does a moving spin, side-dodge would be a better choice.
4) Lunge (45 health per hit): Skaarj's lunge. It's very rare in this fight.
Description:
A red-skinned Skaarj Berserker, who is part of this strong warrior class named Praetorian. They are known for their ability and their violence. They are rare and mostly semi-leaders of Skaarj troops.

This is a Skaarj Berserker with the Skaarj Praetorian properties. Unlike the ones found in Jones's adventure, this one has more health and it's actually smaller (probably for making it fit the environment). There are two strategies to kill this guy, and they mostly revolve around experience and PATIENCE. Try to lure him away from the cabin first of all...

What you have to do, is keep shooting him with the DP (primary fire preferably) in the position where he can shoot you. This will not damage him, it will make him dodge, directly through the nearby opening and away (MAY not happen, though) from the train. In other words: DEAD SKAARJ plus points for you of course.
It's pretty much the usual Skaarj battle inside cramped environment, but against a faster and more healthy one. The glitch above doesn't always work, but if you try (and re-try) it, you can defeat this boss flawlessly, without any damage for you.

Be sure to have got anything and go into the cabin... the message has changed:

"DOOR CONTROL: Pressure lock disengaged, door unlocked."

Press the lever near the panel area. A small cutscene shows the train going at incredible speed, escaping through the explosions. It will arrive at some kind of station and suddenly the map ends.

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Quick Links | Introduction
The Xidia Incident 1. Orbit 2. Landing 3. Outpost Pheonix 4. Beneath Xidia 5. Derelict Underground 6. Derelict Surface 7. Darklord 8. Xidia - Exodus	Xidia: The Escape 0. Spencer's Awakening 1. Self-Destruct 2. Underground Railroad 3. Return to Outpost Pheonix 4. The Dead Mines 5. The Genome Warriors 6. Black Widow 7. Beacon 8. Spencer's Escape
Inventory | Opposition | Conclusion