In Quake II, the Palace is the Makron's residence on Stroggos and allows it to communicate with the rest of the Strogg via a communication tower near the top of the palace. Due to its importance, the Palace is filled with some of the most powerful Strogg; Tank Commanders and Gunners, among others, patrol its halls. Guards are used to make sure the computers are running smoothly. Three types of force fields, red, yellow and blue, restrict access to certain parts of the Palace. Red and yellow force fields can be shut down at security stations, while the blue field can only be shut down by disabling the communication tower.
The Palace may also may be one of the most historic or cultural part of Stroggos as it shows several symbols and signs of traditional Strogg culture, beliefs and architecture that may have been more prevalent at an earlier time in Stroggos until it became more industrious and monotoned, which is shown mostly by the rest of Stroggos and in the areas of Quake 4. Several of the symbols mentioned before include the red carpet, the Quake 2 symbols, the strange wall carvings and the face of an unknown character that may possibly be someone of great importance for Strogg history.
It is divided into four sections; Outer Courts, Lower Palace, Upper Palace and the Inner Chamber.
Locations
Outer Courts
The only way to get to the Palace via land is through the Outlands behind the Hangars and Black Hole Generator. The Outlands are lightly guarded and thus it is not difficult to reach the Palace grounds, the Outer Courts. To compensate for this, the area outside the Palace is heavily guarded, arguably more so than inside.
Tank Commanders are found in quantity here, which are backed up by a fleet of Icarus and a platoon of Gladiators and Machinegun Guards. A few medics are also hiding in a secret compartment ready to revive any fallen Strogg to come up behind the player after he/she goes to the next area. With this much fire power against the player, he/she must be alert and have the BFG and Rail Gun ready.
The final inanimate defence is a gate which is locked via a switch on the balcony above it. Players are to be careful, whilst the switch opens the gate to the next area, the bridge will still collapse if he/she walks across it, falling into the lava. Even when the player has secured the area outside the Palace, defeating no less than 5 Tank Commanders in the process, he/she must find the sewage control area to collect a Data Spinner before actually entering the Palace.
Lower Palace
The Lower Palace contains the Palace's primary computer. While it can not be destroyed, it serves deeply in Bitterman's objectives to destroy the Strogg Leader's Communication. The player must reach the inner area of the Lower Palace where the computer is located and insert the Data Spinner which he/she collected outside. The player must then climb through the Palace to the Upper area where the Data CD lies. The climb upwards is again a tough one but there are only a hand full of Tank Commanders spread over the rest of the Unit.
Other areas of the Lower Palace includes a passage way that runs under the main area which goes to another, back door, exit to the Outer Courts. Along this path is the red force field control room and a couple of Tank Commanders.
Otherwise, the Inner Palace seems to deal with processing the waste that comes from the Upper Palace. Pipes and populated control rooms make up the lower half of the area, while the nearly-abandoned proper palace and primary computer make up the upper half.
Upper Palace
The Upper Palace is the most important part of the Palace; its communication tower. With it, the Makron can communicate with rest of the Strogg. Its destruction makes it impossible for it to communicate with the rest of the Strogg, thereby putting the Strogg forces in disarray. It is invulnerable to conventional weapons; it can only be destroyed by inserting the reprogrammed Data Spinner into the Communication Computer. To reprogram the data spinner, climb to the Upper Palace after inserting it into the Central Computer. Locate the data disk by the communication laser and return it to the central computer and insert it. Beware that the Makron has caught on to your little plan and has brought in reinforcements into the lower palace, awaiting you.
Insert the data disk and access the central keyboard. Moments later, the data spinner will resurface, reprogrammed to infect the communication computer and destroy the laser. Return to the upper palace and access the computer. Destruction of the laser not only completes the main objective for the palace, but gives access to the Makron, time for the final showdown. Waste from here is processed in the Inner Palace and deposited into the areas around the Lower Palace.
It also has a mine used to develop more of the land nearby. At the time of Quake 2, it appears that the Strogg have found their creators: iD Software! What appears to be a ruined brick building contains various iD-related posters (Carmack's Ferrari and a Doom poster) and John Carmack's severed head contained in a statis pod. See Adrenaline for more information.
Inner Chamber
The Inner Chamber is located at the pinnacle of the Palace. It is access via a pod lift found near the comm. laser, past the blue force fields which deactivate with the destruction of the laser. The inner chamber serves as a link between the Palace and the Makron's asteroid base. Security is minimal, probably because no one imagined any intruder would get past the defence in the lower parts of the Palace. The player must navigate the corridors to reach the Palace rooftop where the teleporter to the asteroid (Final Showdown) is located. The player finds him/her self just behind the Makron who retreats to the Asteroid. Activate the teleporter to pursue the Strogg tyrant, Makron. See Final Showdown for further details.
Trivia
In the PSX port, the Palace and Asteroid HQ are merged into one area. Most of the Palace is deleted, with only the Inner Chamber surviving. In addition, its destruction can cause a chain reaction that can destroy most of the facilities on Stroggos. Due to Quake 4's existence, this is obviously not canon.
