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| Tectonic Stabilizer | |
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| Previous Map | |
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| Enemies |
Easy: 46 |
| Secrets |
4 |
| New Weapons | |
| New Powerups | |
| New Enemies | |
| New Misc | |
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| [Source] | |
| “ | Reporting 95% failing vital sign track. | ” |
—TCM radio transmission | ||
Tectonic Stabilizer is the third level of Unit 1 of Ground Zero and contains its namesake, a piece of technology the Strogg are using to stabilize the environment against earthquakes, lava eruptions and so on. Your objective is to destroy it, disrupting the local environment and presumably damaging the facilities of the Strogg.
It is not known whether there are other stabilizers elsewhere (if there is, say, a network of them), but the destruction of just this one will evidently pack enough of a punch in the Strogg gut to warrant being made a primary objective, possibly due to its proximity to Cerberon - the Strogg capital city.
There is a sequence of events Stepchild must perform to destroy the Stabilizer. First, he must find the control center allowing him to switch off the forcefields protecting the wall nodes. Then, he must find and destroy all sixteen of these wall nodes. Finally, he must switch off three coolant pumps. Once the final coolant pump has been switched off, Stepchild must quickly escape the level before the Tectonic Stabilizer is destroyed and causes a catastrophic chain reaction. The player has less than a minute to return to the Thaelite Mines... but you can instead find another exit leading to a secret level, Mine Engineering. (The path to Mine Engineering only becomes accessible once the final coolant pump has been switched off)
With the Tectonic Stabilizer is destroyed, Stepchild's main objective in Unit 1 is complete, and he can make his way back to the Lower Mines to reach the elevator leading to Unit 2, near where his drop pod crashed.
This level marks the first appearance of a new enemy, the Stalker. It is also the player's first opportunity to acquire the ETF Rifle and a Defender Sphere.
Enemies
| Enemy | Easy | Medium | Hard/Nightmare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light Guard | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Shotgun Guard | 13 | 13 | 16 |
| Gunner | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Berserker | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Stalker | 7 | 7 | 9 |
| Icarus | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Gladiator | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Secrets:
- #1) There is a computer console room with a H-shaped structure (two vertical columns and one horizontal coolant tube). Assuming you are entering the area from the cavernous area, a hidden shootable button is located behind the column on the left. Shoot it to open a nearby secret area containing a Defender Sphere and Prox.
- #2) After destroying the wall nodes, find the computer panel in the same room as Secret #1 to open the water tank. There is a suit of Body Armor in one of the water pools.
- #3) In the pump room, there is a door at the top of a short ladder, guarded by up to two Stalkers. Jump from the door towards the left to reach nearby pipes, where a Double Damage can be found.
- #4) After all 3 coolant pumps are turned off, you have less than a minute to escape the level. It's best to turn off pump #1 last, as it is the closest one to where you need to go. Once the last pump is turned off, head back outside towards the caverns and take the right path to the main Tectonic Stabilizer structure (the large blue crystal surrounded by spinning rings) and follow the path upwards. As you reach the high doorway, a rockfall will smash open a hole in a nearby pipe. Jump from the ledge onto the pipe and enter to find the secret level, Mine Engineering.