I forgot how invigorating it felt to awake to only the elements surrounding you, and to set eyes on the first rays of light piercing the Eastern horizon. The fire had all but died out by this point, leaving only burning embers and ash. The rain hadn't started up again, and looking up into the sky, it seemed like it wouldn't return at all; a perfectly clear sky which began a dark blue, slowly beginning to brighten. Instead of starting a new fire up to have breakfast, we instead decided to have something that didn't require cooking. Afterwards we packed up our sleeping gear, kicked the remaining embers away to prevent them from catching again, and headed out to the boat. THEROS would be first to row today, so he settled into the rowing seat whilst me and UOPETA pushed the boat out into deeper water. Climbing onto either side to balance it, we settled in for a long journey. I took over THEROS's position of keeping us on track by comparing our position against the map. From the island we had to just stay on course and continue heading due South towards the tower. It wouldn't be too long now until we reached the edge of the coast where we would have to disembark and continue on foot. We still hadn't decided whether we were going to head in through the entrance set off to the North, or head right up to the tower.
"If we head up to the tower immediately then we make the journey shorter, but we risk being seen from the tower platform above us. If we go through the entrance to the North then it takes a little longer to get there, but we've less chance of being seen."
"True, but if SERVERE is right, we've got a better chance of being surrounded by guards if they catch us. Although it would allow for us to check if HoN Co. are holding any other miners."
"The Northern entrance it is then..."
In the distance the outpost began to rise out from behind the hill. As we got closer, so too did the Northern entrance. Instead of heading straight to it, we edged off to the East so as to not draw attention to ourselves. We had to assume that security had been bumped up massively to the point where there could potentially be guards on the outside of the entrance to the tower. After securing the boat, we let UOPETA take the lead allowing him to safely scout out the area ahead. We headed South from our position taking us onto a slight rise that allowed UOPETA to look out across the tower. There were definitely no guards on the outside, but that didn't mean there wasn't anyone inside. Once satisfied UOPETA headed down to the other side of the hill towards the entrance. Once there, UOPETA peered through the opening in the door, before opening it slowly with the switch above. There was no sign of human life so far, so we continued down the stairs towards the second set of doors. Still no-one... We managed to reach the doors that flanked either side of the thin corridor; the one to the left led to the sewage outlet that I escaped via, and to the right was the room I was questioned in... Still no-one...
"Where is everyone...? It's like they just upped and left."
"Maybe they've concentrated their security forces higher up, or spread out across the area. Or maybe they no longer deem this place to be a viable place to throw resources at any more..."
We headed down the corridor with all of the cells lining the walls, but each and every door was open. There was definitely no-one being kept in any of them, so why were they open, and where were the guards? We managed to make it all the way along to the end of the corridor and up into the main section, and still not a single guard!
"Right then. It's entirely possible that all of the guards are up on the next level or higher so we're going to have to be extra careful from here on..."
UOPETA began to climb one side of the ladder whilst I climbed the other. THEROS remained at the bottom until one of us reached the top, just in case we had to make a hasty retreat. But we both made it to the next level without drawing any attention to ourselves. Waiting for THEROS to meet us, I sent a quizzical look in UOPETA's direction, and he just shrugged. Taking a moment to look out across the area around us, I got the feeling UOPETA was expecting to see a few guards, but there was no-one around at all in any direction. Was it possible that HoN Co. no longer made use of this tower?
"Up to the final level. I don't think we've got anything to worry about. If they're not this far, they're not likely to be any higher..."
We individually made our way up to the top of the tower within the upper most room. It had contained mass amounts of files and information, and we had learned of the obsidian plant here. Then it struck me! Mid way through the climb, I got an idea as to why this place seemed totally abandoned, but I obviously waited until we all reached the room at the top. Not surprisingly, the room was practically bare; only a few chairs and a chest remained, and even that was empty. Turning to UOPETA and THEROS, I told them my suspicions; when we destroyed the obsidian plant, had we also cut off the need for this outpost to remain?
"That's a good point... Those letters we found that seemed to be a communication between two of the HoN Co. officials indicated that this outpost had some connection to the plant. If that went then it's possible this place was no longer needed..."
"But why would this place become useless to them...? It still has enough use to them to maintain, surely...?"
"True, but this place was likely to hold captured miners before being sent off to the plant to be put to work. If there's no plant, there's no need to hold miners, so there's no need for this place..."
"So where did they go...?"
"They've likely to have gone back to the main headquarters with all of the information. They've been very meticulous; I can't find even a scrap of paper left..."
"What now then? Do we return to the base empty handed...?"
"Looks like we have no choice..."
One by one, we headed back down to the sub-basement of the area before heading North towards the entrance, back through the cells. It seemed slightly odd that the entire building had been entirely abandoned over a small thing as the destruction of their obsidian plant... I didn't mind though because it meant we were heading back. Hopefully SERVERE would be back with us soon and would have access to more information that could prove useful to us... That and I was heading back to Amie.
Syeonyx signing off
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