"I hope there's good news? Have you managed to find a boat or a dock? Some method of getting across?"
"Yes and no..."
COLUS and the others looked a little confused. I wasn't surprised; we had all crossed the bridge assuming we'd be met with a form of water transport to use to get across to the far side where the HQ was. Instead we had a method that involved going underneath the water instead. I passed the images of the guard outpost that UOPETA had taken earlier to COLUS, who studied them for a moment before passing them round to the others.
"So... There are no boats, or a dock? We have this as the only option to get across? Are you 100% sure? Have you checked other alternatives?"
"Before you made it across, we did a sweep of the North edge of the island in the hopes that we could find something alternative, but we were only able to find that outpost. It seems to be guarding a tunnel that leads under the water to the island directly. But judging from the amount of guard traffic that has passed through it recently, it may prove incredibly difficult to get through undetected."
"Well we've been thinking about that, and apart from brute force, there's very little left for us to do. If we break our way through the tunnel and begin heading towards the island, then there's nothing stopping the guards blocking up the far end and sealing us in. Even if they don't, we can't guarantee they don't have CCTV set up somewhere along the tunnel. They may already have it set up around here, but we haven't seen as much yet."
"If we set up a camp a bit further along, I think we can discuss the ideas available to us. I'm really not fond of the 'storm the castle gates' idea..."
We set off again to the West so that we could establish a temporary camp to determine what the next best step would be. I had a feeling though that we wouldn't be moving until at least tomorrow. It would be better if we moved under the cover of darkness, but HoN Co. may already have suspected that and be more prepared. I remained, waiting for Amie to catch up, before hugging her tightly. We eventually stopped, and followed the others; I felt a lot better now that Amie was on the same side of the water as me, but considering what we still had to face up against, I was wondering whether it was truly a better place to be...
---
No matter how long we discussed the possibilities of getting through to the island, we kept coming back to the idea that storming the tunnel was a very bad idea. It seems like a no-brainer, but considering our other options it seemed sensible to a point. It couldn't guarantee us getting there in one piece, but maybe it would if we manage to catch HoN Co. off guard. They may not suspect our entire team to head directly to the HQ through the main method, but that was unlikely. They knew we were looking for the other two Eyes of Ender, and they knew it was only a matter of time we would attempt to take them. The thing we were worried about was whether they were aware of how the Eyes of Ender could be used, and whether they were actively seeking us out for our three...
"There is one option we haven't considered, but it factors into account so many unknown variables, and has many points of weakness."
"Well, opposed to running straight into the fray, I can't see how it can be more flawed..."
"What if we were to set up a scenario where we pretend that we've captured the Lone 7...?"
"I'm not with you..."
"Well, think about it: HoN Co. are after us, and we're in a precarious position if they find us. What if we find us before they do?"
"Somehow that didn't help much... Are you saying we should turn ourselves over to HoN Co.?"
"Yes and no. If we head towards the outpost from the North, we can take out the overlooking hanger first. Then we storm the guard shack and remove all guard threats. Then, and here's the bit that makes more sense explained, we take their uniform and pose as guards from HoN Co.?"
"Ah I see! Clever!"
"Once we have at least two guard uniforms, the two best-fitting ones amongst us change into them, take possession of the rifles and lead the others through the tunnel to the end. Along the way we can pretend that we've caught a few members from the Lone 7 and that we're taking them through to the HQ."
"So instead of storming the tunnel all the way to the HQ, we bluff our way there? It could work, but like you say there are loads of factors that could throw things into disarray... Guards not recognising us, unusual guard activity etc. etc. ..."
I had to admit that it was a good idea. Provided the ones posing as guards emanated a sense of power and authority, it could work quite well. It would also give us a good idea as to how the guard structure works, so mimicking it would be easier. It would take a great deal of planning to ensure we could get through the tunnel unscathed and still hidden within our disguise.
"The thing is, if two or more of us pretend to be HoN Co. guards, how do we say we've caught all of the Lone 7?"
"Simple: we managed to capture a few of them, but we've got a few guards looking for the others."
"Fair enough, but what if they ask about the Eyes of Ender?"
"One of us takes charge of them and we say that we specifically are going to take them up to the HQ. There's likely to be some advantage or bonus to any guards that can manage to capture at least one of us, so there's likely to be some hostility between escorting the 'captured' ones..."
We continued discussing the idea until it was practically pitch black; a small fire keeping us going, illuminating only a small area around us, and hopefully not giving away our position.
"Okay, that's what we'll do! We'll fake our way through!"
Syeonyx signing off
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