Thexder/Levels 6 - 10

Level 6

 * Level 6 is the second cavern stage. It can actually be cleared quickly, and without use of your shield, if you opt to take only the highest pathways.  You will bypass much of the activity in the stage and end up very close to the level's exit.  You will face some Eips as you begin, and before you reach the long, upper tunnel that takes you to the final cavern were a Bat and some Snakes are waiting to greet you.  If you're quick, you can avoid use of your shield, and either destroy or fly around all enemies as a jet.  The few hits you suffer will be well worth the 100-point energy gain you will receive upon exiting this level.
 * If you are interested in the bonuses that the rest of the level contains, of which there are very few, there is a set of 8 Baffins on the bottom left corner of the map, and some Centibeets (along with a Flower) towards the right-most dead-end of the stage.
 * To reach the Baffins, you must take the first tunnel that drops down, and continue on to the second, and double back to the left. In that bottom tunnel, you will face three Bats, three Eips, and three Trobsters, all of which are very dangerous if you let too many appear and swarm around you at once.  Your reward at the end will be the energy boost provided by the Baffins.
 * To reach the Centibeets and the Flower, the safest path is to drop down the first tunnel again, but continue to the right when you reach the second tunnel drop that goes left. Beyond that are some Bats until the tunnel opens up again.  Stay to the bottom, and ignore the Baffin that is holding a number of Brix in place.  It's not worth dealing with the damage those Blox can deliver.  Continue until you encounter the Centibeets.  Kill all four, and proceed to the dead end.  Defeat the Throbster in the tiny alcove and fire in that space to reveal the Flower.  Retrace your steps to exit the level to minimize damage from enemies that you have not encountered.

Level 7

 * If you try the same trick in Level 7 that you learned in Level 6, you'll be in for a surprise as the pathway along the top dead-ends. There are some Baffins, a Centibeet, and even a Flower to discover, but there are so many Bats along the way, it will generally be more bothersome then if you left it all alone.
 * Instead, if you take the lowest paths as soon as they are available, you will find yourself doubling back to the left, where you will encounter a number of Bats. Eventually, you will enter a carved out room that contains three Baffins as well as three Yugazogy.  Make sure that you clear out the floor hugging Yugazogy before continuing on to the right through the lowest tunnel.
 * Eventually you will reach a clearing with water on the floor, and a stationary Bat up above. If you destroy the Bats, a deluge of Balders will fall from the compartment above.  This isn't necessarily so bad.  Let them fall and stay safe, either as a jet floating above, or shooting at them as a robot (but don't waste too much energy).  When the deluge stops, fly up into the chamber to defeat two Centibeets and reveal a Flower.
 * Now you must fly through two chambers occupied by a couple of Eips. It's best to fly past them instead of stopping to fight.  You will lose a lot of energy in the time it takes to transform.  Once you get beyond the chambers, you will climb up to a welcome sight of four Centibeets.  Destroy them before continuing.
 * There are four Red Missiles to deal with. Then continue to the right and you will find a Baffin.  Hiding behind the Baffin is a Flower.  Destroy them both.  Then double back to the left.  You can see what's in store for you, four Eips lying in wait to swarm around you as you fly through their territory.  If you've already used your shield once so far in this stage, it's a good idea to activate it again.  Otherwise, it's possible to zip past all four Eips as a jet if you lure the last Eips away from its starting location before proceeding to the exit.

Level 8

 * Level 8 starts out in a very cruel fashion. Free-floating Mines and a Morb are just waiting to attack you as soon as you arrive.  Until you are familiar with how they'll act, it is advised that you use your shield for this encounter and forfeit the no-shield bonus.  Once the Mines and Morb are destroyed, you must destroy the gates blocking your progress.  If you are nimble, however, you can lure the Morb and two mines into the entrance tunnel, and then fire at them repeatedly as a jet.  The remaining two Mines can be lured into clinging against the wall where you may shoot at them while standing in the entry way.  Once you are familiar with this level, you will find that it is possible to avoid using your shield throughout with only minimal hits from enemies.
 * The next section will see you flying ahead of a series of walls that are attempting to crush you. This is very easy to accomplish as a jet, so transform and fly through the winding gaps until you make it all the way to the left.  The Yugazogy waiting for you on the other side can be flown over if you don't wish to shoot at it first.
 * Next you will enter an area where you can stay low, or fly high. You're going to want to explore both areas for the three flowers that can be found.  Each level is guarded by a single Smite which can take a lot of damage before dying, so shoot from as far away as possible.  Once they're clear, your laser will find two flowers in the upper level, and one in the lower level.
 * From here, it looks like you have three choices, a low, middle, or high path to take, but you really only have two. The low and middle path intertwine and dead-end together.  If you insist on taking either one, stay high along the middle path to reduce the number of Smites that you encounter.  A wall will appear halfway through a small tunnel.  Turn around and lure the wall all the way out before continuing.  Behind a lone gate, you will find three hidden Flowers.
 * Ultimately, to leave the level, you must take the high path. Doing so will put you in the path of two smaller objects that are similar to the large combination of Mines and Morb that you faced in Level 4.  Situate yourself so only one column of each object is visible on the far right side of the screen as you attack it to minimize the amount of swarming that occurs when the Mines are freed.  Between the two objects are three Baffins and a hidden Flower.
 * Once you pass the objects, it might be tempting to make your way down the winding tunnels guarded by the Brix, but it's very easy to take a lot of damage, and the Centibeets at the bottom are nothing compared to the abundance of Flowers you've already found in this stage, so let it go unless you like a challenge. Instead, lure the first Brix out and slip past it to continue to the right.
 * After one more Smite, take the lower path to discover a Baffin hiding another Flower. Destroy them both and prepare for a bigger object that you will have to dismantle.  The fortunate news here is that many of the blocks in this area can be destroyed and create a narrow beam for your laser to shoot through while limiting access to the objects that break free and want to swarm you.  If you fire conservatively, you can create a safe ledge for yourself to safely stand on and break the object up.  Once it's destroy, continue to the right to exit the stage, gathering one last Flower before you leave.  You Max Energy should be pretty close to the 500% mark by now if it's not already.

Level 9

 * Level 9 introduces walls that must be destroyed in sections in order to progress. There are two types of light blue walls in this level.  The duller ones are destructible.  You'll get an early demonstration of this as the first two enemies that you encounter are a pair of Skylons, positioned behind a destructible wall.  You lasers will fire through it in the process of locking on to the Skylons.
 * Once you're through with them, you have to destroy another wall. But it's possible that as a robot, your laser is attracted to the three Yugazogy waiting for you below, so you'll have to transform into a jet in order to poke a big enough hole for you to fly through.  Take care when destroying the Yugazogy.
 * When it's safe, head right, past one more Skylon, until you get to an open area with a bunch of destructible blocks. You have a choice here.  You can simply pass through the area with out conflict, or you can allow your lasers to be attracted to the two Proton Fences that are holding back a flood of Balders, three Yugazogy, and two energy providing Tophats.  The Tophats are worth the effort if you very low on energy.  Otherwise, it might be better to conserve you energy and pass through.
 * The next section is a maze of sorts that pits you against a few moving walls. The goal is to climb up to the top and back to the left, but the left most walls will prevent access to the rest of the area until you lure them far enough to the right to pass.  Beware of the two walls on the right side, however, as it's possible to have a very premature end of the game if you get stuck between either set.
 * Once you navigate past the wall, you will have one Card to deal with before you have to poke another hole in a wall so that you can advance. When you make it through, you have a choice.  You can continue left, or you can drop down.  If you drop down, you will have to face three Bauas in order to earn an opportunity to discover three Bellmetas and a tophat for more energy.  The problem is, the Bellmetas are rather hard to get to since you need to poke a hole in the wall above you, and there's not a lot of room to do it as a jet.
 * Either way, you will have to continue to the left, and up a shaft to a higher level. During a long flight to the right, you will encounter three Cards.  Eventually you will arrive at a floor that you must shoot through to continue.
 * Once on the other side, you may optionally travel along the top path to the right, and proactively destroy another pool of Balders and some Tophats. If you do it now, you won't have to worry about them dropping on you later, although they won't drop unless you actively cause them to, it the choice is yours.
 * To continue, you must make it down to the lowest level. Along the way, you will encounter dangerous randomly moving Brix, as well as some Cards.  Brix take a long time to destroy, but it might make your pathway a little safer if you destroy a few of them before continuing.
 * Once you're past the Brix, you're almost done. You will encounter the area underneath the pool of Balders that you could have optionally destroyed.  If you wish to face them down here, you need to shoot the Proton Fences, but it's generally not recommended.  It's better to continue on your way to the exit, which is a short trip from where you are.  Destroy the Skylon on the way for more energy, and watch out for the last two Cards.

Level 10

 * Level 10 features a two pathways to reach the middle of the level, with the lower path safer than higher path. Your must choose as soon as you start the level.  You can continue to move down past the walls, or over to the left.
 * If you choose to go down, you will have to navigate past the moving walls. There are a few Cards in these tunnels.  Once you climb up near the top, another wall will be waiting for you.  If it's too late to fly up and to the left of it, you may have to transform and fire at it until it is destroyed so that you can continue.  Another wall beyond that must either also be destroyed, or tricked into going to the left, but three Cards are waiting for you over lava, so it's safer to fire at the second wall as well.  Once you make it past all that, the only dangers remaining are a couple of Bauas which can take some time to defeat.
 * If you choose to go left, you will have to fly through a narrow passage and drop down very quickly before another wall tries to block your progress. Once you pass that, you have a relatively easy flight to the right until you encounter three Yugazogy.  Destroy them and remain a jet.  You have another wall to fly ahead of.  When you reach the other side, you will eventually encounter another wall on the lowest tunnel, which you will have to lure back to the left until you can get over to the right side of it.
 * After the paths rejoin, you will fly deeper into the level, facing three Cards before stumbling upon an energy providing Carugo holding up two Proton Fences and a ton of enemies. Unfortunately, you'll have to shoot at them in order to pass, which will drop a ton of enemies on you that you need to clear in order to continue.  Stand on the platform to the left to safely fire at a majority of them.  When it's clear, continue right.  After two more Cards, you will fly over the pool of Balders that you hopefully did not release.  Before you continue to fly upwards, there are three Max Energy raising Bellmetas waiting for you to the left.
 * As you fly up and to the left, you will notice strange alcoves with a tempting energy providing enemy guarded by a more dangerous enemy. It's best to ignore these.  When you finally climb to the top of the screen ahead, head left a little more.  There are three Bauas that are likely to drop down into the tunnels with you.  If that happens, you will have to lure them back to a vertical shaft and shoot at them while you alternate between flying up and down.  Once you defeat them, continue on to the left to find six valuable Bellmetas.  Climb back up and to the right.
 * You have three Bauas and three Cards between you and the exit. The Bauas can be defeated the same way as before, by flying at them while firing, and turning around and flying away until they are off screen, and repeating.  The Cards can be especially tricky if they are situated in the tunnel so that you can't transform and fire at them.  If that is the case, you extreme caution while you fire at them.