Mazyr, Belarus: Belaya Vezha

Mazyr, Belarus: Belaya Vezha
Game	Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain
Location	Mazyr, Belarus: Belaya Vezha
Preceding mission	Mazyr, Belarus: Krivorozhstal Mill
Forthcoming mission	Tash, Kumyr, Kyrgysztan: Saydahmat's Village
Character(s)	Cobra
Weaponry	RPK SKS AK-47 M67 delayed fragmentation grenades Anti-armour grenades SMAW Dragunov
Objectives	Retrieve equipment from crash site Destroy power substation Destroy communications truck Disable AA tower Shut down gas main Destroy Scud missile Eliminate Pulikovsky Rescue Stone Destroy tank Obtain sewage sample Retrieve Ivankov's papers Destroy bridge to stop tank (Team)
Opposition force(s)	Mikhail Pulikovsky CDP soldiers Soviet T-72 main battle tank
Depicts	Research in Belarus

Mazyr, Belarus: Belaya Vezha is the sixth mission of Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain. The player works with Stone to figure out where the cattle shipments went to and sabotages the CDP operations in the process.

Characters

• "Cobra" (playable)
• Gary Stoneman (M.I.A., rescued)
• Alima Haddad (P.O.W., M.I.A., assumed K.I.A.)
• Mikhail Pulikovsky (K.I.A.)
• Tank commander (K.I.A.)
• Mikhas Ivankov (seen in cutscene)
• Mara Aramov (seen in cutscene)
• Imani Grey (seen in cutscene)
• William Crusher (heard)
• Teresa Lipan (heard)

Plot synopsis

A truck is stopped by patrols at a security checkpoint close to a chateau in Mazyr, Belarus, but is allowed to pass. Inside, Pulikovsky tells his men to stay alert: something has gone wrong at Krivorozhstal. Though his goons understand, the terrorist insists he wants a patrol not only on the roads, but also in the back country. Ivankov tells his subordinate that he (the former) is going to the base, and Pulikovsky must meet him there when the operations are closed. He is told that Pulikovsky does not trust Aramov: she is working for Niculescu. This surprises Pulikovsky: Mara heard the conversation. She heads towards a car, while Ivankov tells Pulikovsky that he will settle scores with the banker. Left alone, Pulikovsky watches the wilderness while somebody behind him struggles to carry a crate; the latter smashes its contents all over the floor. Furious, the terrorist tells his man to clean the mess up, and the scene cuts away.

We see the helicopter carrying Stone and Alima flying towards the chateau; a missile is fired towards them. The stabilisers are hit; the screen then cuts to black.

This mission requires you to move fast and kill enemies quickly. You will need to hustle to beat the par time, but have nothing except your pistol and melee weapon. Head towards the power substation, watching out for snipers. You can kill them with the taser if you have it, but this wastes time, and chances are you won't have it yet. Ignore the sharpshooters, then kill the soldiers and pick up C4 explosives. Sprint to the power station and plant your bomb - run back out to get more.

From the substation, hang a right and follow the path along the snow. More snipers attempt to ambush you - kill them, or evade their fire. Follow the map to the crashed helicopter - avoid the fire and grab your gear. Note that there are two crates, one with your weapons and the other with general mission equipment.

With your guns loaded, kill the enemies and return to the power station. Before going there, you will notice a ledge that you can interact with. Drop down, look for an alcove and go through it. At the very end is your sewage sample, so climb into the pipes and grab it. Kill all who lurk around, return to the ledge and go back to the power station.

Return to the starting point, but follow your map to the comms truck. Drop the guards who patrol the road, but ignore the fellow atop the vehicle. Set your C4 on the truck and sprint for the AA tower. If you have a grenade, toss it up there to simultaneously kill the rocket-launcher enemy and destroy the computer. If you don't have one, you must go up the ladder and shoot the computer.

Slide down the ladder and return to the now burning comms truck. Follow the route to a tunnel, killing all the enemies. Go through this tunnel and you will see a sniper atop the bridge. Punch his head with a bullet and shut down the gas mains. Follow this bridge and evade the tank.

Ignore the tank for now - there is nothing you can do about it without a teammate. Kill the enemies instead and toss a grenade at the SCUD missile - if you have none, C4 will be an excellent substitute. Go through this path and kill the enemies, then enter the gate. Follow your map to the chateau.

Go to the left, and two guards will confront you. Neutralise them. Enter this entrance, mowing down all who attempt to stop you. Return to the doorway and climb up the scaffolding. You will now have the objective of rescuing Stone.

Follow the vents to Pulikovsky and Stone. The former is busy stabbing your teammate, so snipe him through the head. Take this opportunity to sift the lone guard's skull as well. Drop down slowly and untie Stone - he will arm himself. Grab the anti - armour grenades from the crate here and head outside.

Enemies will confront you, so run-and-gun. When you reach the exterior, try to kneel and aim your grenades towards the tank. It will eventually blow up, and the mission is complete after a couple of minutes.

In the ending cutscene, we learn that Imani thinks it's nothing that Alima went missing. Stone says that he never lost a pilot in his ten years in the army. However, Imani points out the trick of Teresa Lipan in Syphon Filter 3: nobody is dead unless you touch their body. Stone tells her that should Alima be alive, she would rather she be dead.

Meanwhile, Lian disagrees with Gabe's diagnosis of trusting Zohar, but Logan argues that they must find out what Yushchenko is selling. The Mossad has set up a surveillane operation in Sana's, which makes things much easier. Lian counters that there's no limit, but Gabe will let her know when he crosses it. When he asks who they can send, Teresa replies that she knows a good field agent.

Recovering Ivankov's papers

Were this mission not about locating an item with 3 random locations, it would be hard enough, but now the difficulty is compounded.

Tutorial video of locating the papers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrWzZDt6utU

Text walkthrough for those who prefer reading. Note: the walkthrough before this assumes that you completed the part of the mission that does not involve the chateau.

f) Once you're in the chateau courtyard, make a right and take out the lone guard.  Climb through the window into the kitchen.

g) Follow the hallways, and you'll reach a room with supports and a vent on top. The next room also has the same setup, but with 2 guards. Follow the vent (first room, not the second).

h) You can make a turn while in the vents, which will lead to the room with Stone.  For now, keep going straight. You'll end up in one of the attics.  If there are two guards here, one of them will have Ivankov's papers.  If there's only one, the paper isn't here.  Double back and head to the room with Stone.

[You can also reach this attic by climbing up the ladder in the fireplace of the kitchen.  I prefer the vents...  Mainly because if you use the ladder, you'll end up on the roof, and the possibility of falling from the high place and dying makes me a tad nervous.  That, and sometimes, the fire will be on.]

i) You should be able to snipe Pulikovsky and the guard while in the vent. Free Stone afterwards.  If the paper wasn't in the first attic, climb up and take the other vent in the room where you found Stone.  This vent leads to the second attic.  If there's a guard here, he has the papers. Else, the attic will be empty.  Double back to the room with Stone and grab the anti-armor grenades.

j) If you do not have the paper yet, that means it's in the last possible location, which is in the room adjacent to the room with the piano. That's located on the other side of the chateau.  Follow Stone outside, but instead of throwing the grenades at the tank, go to the left side of the chateau, and enter the building.  You'll face a lot of guards on the way.  But you should have enough to time kill the guard with the paper.  The guard with the papers will have a flak jacket on, and you'll get the objective of retrieving the papers added after you kill him.

You can also reach the third area (which is a room with some crates and painting on the wall) via the 2nd attic.  One of the exits from the 2nd attic is by climbing down.  You'll end up in an area with a lot of scaffolding.  If you make your way to the lower level, you can go through the house to reach the room with the paper.  You can also reach the scaffolding room via Stone's room.]

In short:

If the guard with the paper is in the first attic, you'll see him appear on your radar before you enter the attic (just before exiting the vent). If the guard with the paper is in the second attic, you'll only see him appear after you enter the second attic. If the guard with the paper is in the third possible location, then you'll see two guards in that room.

Walkthrough

Solo

This mission will require you to move fast, kill fast and map knowledge. There is also an element of luck, due to an item that has 3 random locations.

Weapon	Likely	Moderate	Best
Back	AU300 Mod-SMG	FAL	SR-15
Sidearm	Jerico-41*	Jerico-41*	Desert Express .50*
Auxiliary	Biz-9	Biz-9	G 53
Grenade	Smoke grenade	M61 frag grenade	M61 frag grenade
Melee	Stun Jack	E.D.T.	E.P.D.D.

Primary weapon marked by a star

Frag grenades are helpful to destroy the AA tower and the missile. Beyond that, you shouldn't need anything except your pistol.

1) Run ahead and up the hill, then shoot the guy across the way. Go to his spot and take his clothes (just like picking up a weapon or a body).

2) Run straight ahead and follow the road to reach the power plant. Keep running to the left corner of this area (follow the power lines past the power substation).

3) Follow this mostly linear path - you will very shortly pass an area that says "climb down". Ignore this for now - keep going straight, following all of the power lines.

4) You'll pass a sniper on the right, and past him you'll eventually see a tunnel on your right.

(*) I take the tunnel to avoid any stray shots or being visible to anyone. You really can just run straight ahead though. 

5) Head through the tunnel, and once you exit you should be at the crash site. It's on your right.

6) The second you get too close to someone your disguise is blown, so run to the guy in the water below and smack him at point black.

7) Another guy comes from behind the wreckage, a third guy to the right of the wreckage (just use your auto-aim). Get them both.

8) There's a 4th guy across the way from the wreckage. After popping him, roll past the wreckage (under the helicopter tail) to the equipment.

9) Get the equipment in the first crate, and your weapons from the other crates.

> Objective Complete: Retrieve equipment from crash site

10) Backtrack in the direction of the power station, taking out the sniper near the crash site on your way.

11) You'll also want to take out the sniper you passed before near the "climb down" area. Hide behind the rocks, auto-aim then sneak out and pop him.

12) After the coast is clear, THEN you can "climb down" (you can also roll or drop, don't worry about damage). Follow this path to the left, all the way to the very end to find the sewer sample.

13) Grabbing the sample spawns some more guys, take them out on your way back. Once you climb back up, head left and continue back to the power plant.

> Objective Complete: Obtain sewage sample

14) Pop off the 2 guys at the power plant - one near a stack of crates/C4 on your left, and one inside the gate.

15) Grab some C4, plant it inside the gate on the back wall, and then book it back to grab another C4. The power plant will blow up soon.

> Objective Complete: Destroy power substation

16) Follow the road here, off to the right, and avoid killing people as necessary (for the sake of par time).

17) Eventually you'll come to a truck - if you auto-aim there's a sniper up top. Take out the sniper and run to the right side of the truck (near all the boxes).

18) Plant some C4 on this side of the truck. 

(*) You may also want to grab the delayed frag grenades near the other 

side of the truck (if you don't have regular grenades). 

> Objective Complete: Destroy communications truck

19) Doing a 180 after planting the C4, you should see a tunnel at the bottom of the slope. This tunnel leads to the tower.

20) Before you get near the exit of the tunnel, sneak carefully until you can JUST see the tower ahead.

21) Equip a grenade and lob it at the tower with your manual aim. You should blow up the radio in the tower, if your aim was good. If not, keep trying.

(a) If you went too far in the tunnel, the guys in the tower spot you and will sound the alarm. One of them has a rocket launcher - so watch out!

(b) Sometimes, the guy with the rocket launcher will accidentally blow up himself AND the tower in his attempts to get you. LOL 

(c) If you couldn't frag the tower, RUSH ahead to it, go up the ladder and shoot the computer. If you don't have grenades, you can get the SMAW from the guy outside the tower 

> Objective Complete: Disable AA tower

22) Head for the truck again, and follow the road to your right (NOT the way you came!)

23) Ignore all the pansies by the gate when you get to it - just roll your way into the tunnel on the right and head out to the other side.

24) Immediately outside the tunnel, head right and up the hill for shutting off the gas main.

> Objective Complete: Shut down gas main

25) Facing the gas main, turn left and run forward. Quickly run/roll to the tank. It will start to turn it's turret but won't get to you in time.

26) Run past the tank and kill the 2 guards ahead. Keep going, and on your left is a  SCUD missile. Grenade/SMAW the damn thing, then keep heading forward for the gates.

(*) Ignore the guards outside, just roll in the gates and immediately go to your right Hop up and follow this dark area to the palace courtyard. 

> Objective Complete: Destroy Scud missile

27) Immediately go right and follow this path left. Take out the guy on the way and at the end you'll see an open window on a building at the end. Hop up and climb down.

28) You're in the kitchen now. Roll/drop off the boxes/machines and follow the path left out of the kitchen, then right and right again.

29) Going to the left, you'll come to some scaffolding. Jump up all 3 levels (start from the left side) and to your right at the top is a crawlspace you can jump up into.

30) Follow this duct all the way straight - we're coming back to the left-hand fork later. As you go further in the ducts and up an incline, check your radar.

(a) If you see 2 guys CLOSE to each other on the radar, keep heading forward. Do a 180 when you exit, and kill both guys at the top - one of the guys should have had Ivankov's papers - grab them. 

(i) If only one guy was here, you misread your radar (sometimes you'll get 2 guys on the radar, but farther apart - the other one is elsewhere) 

31) Head back to that fork in the duct, turn right and follow close to the edge (not TOO close though - you'll be spotted!).

32) Switch to a good sniping weapon and zoom in on the guy threatening Stone. Take your headshot! Take out any other guys that may appear in here from this sweet spot. 

(*) You can also just equip a taser and make him a fry guy. This might actually be easier to do without getting spotted. I just enjoy zooming in for the headshot.

> Objective Complete: Eliminate Pulikovsky

33) Exit the duct and climb down. Untie Stone and head for the other set of scaffolding on the far wall. Look familiar?

(a) If you didn't get Ivankov's papers earlier, they should be in the vent up here. Make your way through (ignore the turn) and it's another attic. If you see 2 guys, one should have the papers. Get them! 

(b) Head back to where Stone was. 

(i) If you still don't have the papers, read on. 

(1) Time to book it!!! Take the door closest to the scaffolding after climbing back down. 

(2) Try to find your way to another HUGE ROOM with tons of scaffolding all over the place. 

(3) You'll have to jump over a lot of tables with paint buckets and scaffolds to get there. 

(4) When you're there, head to the opposite corner of the room and look for a doorway. 

(5) Run through here, past the piano room and to the right.

(6) Turn to the room on your right in this hallway. The guy in here will have the papers. 

(7) Lay him out and grab them off his rotting corpse. Double book it back to where Stone was. 

(*) Technically, you can exit near here, and there is a reasonable spot for popping the tank w/o being seen.

> Objective Complete: Rescue Stone

> Hidden objective complete: Retrieve Ivankov's papers

34) Time to take out the tank. From the room you rescued Stone, get the anti-tank grenades in the chest near the scaffolding behind the chair. (NOT the set of scaffolding where you came into this room from)

35) Head out the door close to where you first entered this room from. Ahead of you are 2 guards - pop the one in front of you.

36) Head out the door immediately in front of you. You should meet up with Stone, vainly trying to SMAW the tank.

37) Follow this platform past Stone, go left and straight to the other corner. DO NOT go down the stairs to the open area on your right.

38) Once you're in the opposite corner from Stone, you should be able to see the tank turret. It can't see you though!

39) Lob your anti-tank grenades, auto-aiming for what you can see of the tank (I like to "peek" right to view part of it's body).

40) Eventually the tank will blow up - it just might take all 9 grenades!

(*) If you miss, there are more grenades in the crate you got them from.

> Objective Complete: Destroy tank

Team

Normal

Cobra:  Comm Truck, gas pipes, Scud missile, Paper

Python: Sewage Sample

Viper:  Bridge, Power Substation, Pulikovsky/Stone

Dragon: Bridge, AA Tower, Pulikovsky/Stone

Cobra:  Head for the power substation; grab a C4.  Follow the road back from where you came from.  Once you reach the comm truck, set the C4 and grab a delay frag from the crate by the road. Continue following the road, go through the tunnel, and turn the gas valve on the other side.  Cross the bridge, and use the delay frag to blow up the scud.  Start searching for the papers once you enter the chateau.

Python: Head for the power substation, then for the crash site.  Grab the sample kit from the crash site, and then collect the sewage sample.

Viper:  Head for the power substation; grab a C4.  Use the C4 to blow up the power substation, then grab another C4, and head for the bridge.  Climb the bridge with Dragon and blow it up. Head for the chateau afterwards.

Dragon: Head for the power substation; grab a C4.  Go ahead to the AA tower and destroy the computer up there.  Afterwards, go for the bridge and blow it up with Viper.  Head for the chateau afterwards. 

Speed

       Cobra: Power Substation, Bridge, Comm Truck

Python: Weapons, Bridge, AA Tower

Viper: Gas, Scud, Pulikovsky, Stone, Papers (A2 only)

Dragon: Sewage Sample

Cobra: Remember Carthage 1 when Cobra had to commit suicide after getting the Bio-Data Gear?  Well, it's suicide time again  You shouldn't have to kill anybody, and it's a waste of time.  Start by heading directly for the C4.  Use it to blow up the Power Substation; afterwards, grab another C4.  Why do you have to blow it up?  Because you need the checkpoint. Silly... Nah, that was a JOKE! Anyway... Once you have another C4, hustle to the brige and blow THAT sucker up.  Then it's time to take a leap of faith. Walk off of the C4 platform and kill yourself.  You will respawn near the Power Substation.  Grab yourself another C4 and run over to the Comm Truck and blow it up. How fast you can blow up all this stuff determines how fast you can complete the stage.

Python: Like Cobra, you do not get to kill anyone. At the start, grab a C4, then run directly for the Crash Site.  Why the Crash Site?  Because you need a frag grenade (M79 or MGL will also do) to take out the AA Tower quickly later on. Silly... But I digress. After you grab your explosive weapon, get to the bridge (quickly); remember, how fast Cobra sets the C4 on the bridge determines how fast the team can finish the stage.  Make sure YOU're the one that lifts Cobra up to the bridge.  Once you set the C4, it's time for you too, to take a leap of faith...  Well, death. Once you respawn, go to the AA Tower and blow up the computer with your explosive.

Viper: The good news is that Viper gets to kill soldiers.  The bad news is that Viper will also have to face the most enemies.  At the start, go right for the crate by the Comm Truck so you can get the delay frags.  Once you have those head for the Gas Main.  Shut it off, cross the bridge, blow up the scud and enter the chateau.  Once at the chateau, go DIRECTLY for Pulikovsky and Stone. Untie Stone and let the men settle their score: take the time to grab a flak jacket. Now, it gets tricky and dangerous.  Remember, after you untie Stone, the mission ends in 43 seconds.  You have to give Cobra enough time to do blow up the Comm Truck.  So, what's a good time to untie Stone? Well, a good time to start with is when Cobra is near the sniper's ledge (You know, the place where the 2nd soldier in the stage is situated), on the way to the Comm Truck.  So, depend on Cobra to give you the signal.  Now, after you untie Stone is when you find out whether or not everything the team has done will result in anything.  Really, the only location of the paper that you can reach in time after you untie Stone is when it is located in Attic 2, the attic that is above middle of the chateau.  Unfortunately, you can't take the vents there - It takes too long.  The ONLY way you'll get there in time is to actually make your way to the area with all the scaffolding, and climb up to the attic.  The really bad news is that you'll face about 9 soldiers that'll try to stop you...  And, you DO NOT have time to stop and fire - It's strictly a run & gun thing.  If you make it there without dying, and if the soldier with the papers is actually there, you should be able to grab the papers a second or two before the stage ends.  Good-luck, agent.

Dragon: Cobra and Python cannot kill men because it wastes time.  This means that it's up to you to cover them. It's up to you to make sure that the first four soldiers are dead, and that Python makes it to the Crash Site alive. Once you complete your covering duty, go get the Sewage Sample.

General strategies and tactics

• The team time limit is 7 minutes but like the previous mission, Stone does drone on for quite a while so the absolute latest time to free him is at 6:17.
  • On that note, instead of sniping Pulikovsky, you can simply enter the room where he is and untie Stone. This will cause them to engage in a firefight mano-y-mano style, allowing you to BOTH let Stone kill him WITHOUT needing to directly fight the man AND also add more time to let you get Ivankov's documents!
• For online runs, Cobra, Dragon and Viper do NOT have the luxury of acquiring their selected weapons. Thus, they should have a Desert pistol, dual wield or, if possible, both.
• At the main entrance of the chateau there are two guards.  Try not to kill these guards.  If you do, a whole lotta backup will come after you. Even if you're going solo and have all your gear, you WILL have problems handling all of them.
• When doing this solo, first free Stone first for a checkpoint. Kill yourself to respawn in this messy room until or unless you find the papers. From here you can get to the other locations much faster. The 2nd attic is also really close to the piano room. Check those 2 places first, then head for that attic behind Stone.

Trivia

• This mission is very similar to Tokyo, Japan: Murukawa Tower. Both require the player to move fast to achieve par time, and have an object hidden in 3 random locations. Their solo par time is exactly the same, 15 minutes.
• This mission by far provides the most number of objectives related to achieving the Military Tactics Expert award.
• It remains unknown if the bridge can be destroyed offline.
• This is one of a few missions in which the player does not have all his starting gear. Similar missions are Yemen 1, Yemen 2 and Minsk.
• Strangely, the SMAW is ineffective against the tank, and the player will require anti-armour grenades. Stone's version, however, damages it.
  • You can complete 1 objective (related to destroying the enemy equipment) when wearing an enemy disguise before your stealth is compromised.