In Ninja Gaiden

Okay, here's the deal:
I cleared the big, winged, skeleton of a dragon thing easily. But here's the thing. On my way to fight Doku, I believe, I got greedy and jumped after a scarab that was apparantely out of reach. Unfortunately for me, I could not reach where I had fallen from. I tried to go back to the drawbridge, but the door leading to it was blocked by a freakin' military vehicle. The only way I think I can get back to where I need to be is by traversing through the game again from the point which you tangle with the two tanks and circling back around all the way through the aquaducts. Please, someone let me know there is another way!

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I believe I am in chapter 12 in which you fight Doku. You see, I was killed once while fighting him, and, in the process of returning to his "colloseum," I fell.

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Okay, but its not like I dont want to take on the tank or anything...it's just that it is on the other side of the doorway blocking me in. I cannot squeeze beside it or anything like that. It is a stationary obstacle that is proving to be quite a hastle. In other words, there is no "taking on" the tank. I dont even think it is a tank. It is actually one of those annoying deployment vehicles that all of the rocket-launcher carrying dudes spill out of.

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Alright, I have a problem...

I'm currently at "Chapter 7" in this game and at the part where you battle Alma (who I can defeat but I'm trying to do it on less than 5 elixers).
However, I noticed that I still don't have the map to Tairon and was wondering why it was so hard to find. I eventually checked a guide and only read up to the parts where I have finished in the game so far, where I discovered that the map to Tairon was on the freaking airship that I can't return to. I went back to an earlier save (from Chapter 3) and found the map but while I was looking around, I also stumbled upon a "golden scarab" that I missed. This is terrible, I will not be able to get all of the 50 scarabs now.

So my question for anyone who's finished the game is this...

Will I be able to play through a new game with the save data from a previosly finished game?
Or more specifically - Will I be able to start a new game with all the "scarabs" from the last completed game intact?

I don't want to read any further into the guide for fear of "spoilers" so I just want to know the answer to this "scarab" thing so I can decide whether or not I should start over from Chapter 3 right now, rather than waste my time trying to finish the current game since I'm only going to get "49" golden scarabs total.

Any help, suggestions, comments, or criticisms are appreciated.
(Well... maybe not "criticisms".)

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Okay, I found the answer to this, and it turns out that the scarab count does indeed carry over to the next game. Horaay! I'm saved.
It would be even nicer though, if everything else carried over too.

I am on Chapter 12 now (just defeated Doku) but I still can't figure out what the original poster is referring to by falling down and not being able to get back up. The drawbridge has two routes. The military vehicle blocks one of them, but the other way through is still available (that is, if we're thinking of the same area).