"As I watched their patrol, I noticed that both of the scouting guards on either side come as far as the entrance. That means we have two options: either we take them out now whilst their backs are turned, with the possibility of being found out, or we hide the unconscious guards in the tower and deal with them on the way out... It's up to you?"
We didn't have time to discuss it at length, but strangely, the second option seemed more appealing. If we were lucky, we might even be able to get in, and then get out without being spotted, or taking anyone else out. THEROS seemed to have the same idea, and we sided with the second plan.
"You two sure? Once we do this, there's no going back? Right then. I'll open the wall and secure the inside, whilst you bring the bodies in. Once we're all inside, I'll close the door... We'll arrange the guards on the chairs inside as though they fell asleep or something, so if the guards outside get suspicious they will find them in here."
UOPETA flicked the switch and disappeared into the base of the tower, whilst THEROS and I took the darts from the guards' necks and dragged them inside. It was all clear. We arranged the guards on the chairs within the tower to make it look as though they had simply fallen asleep. The holes in their necks where the darts had entered were barely visible at all, so hopefully any patrolling guards wouldn't jump to conclusions. After we were happy with the positions we had put them in, we moved off down the stairs.
We didn't meet anymore guards on the way down into the main chamber, nor did we find any within the master portal chamber itself. We approached the section of wall we knew hid the portal data room, and UOPETA activated the seal. The door slid backwards and then to the right, exposing the massive room within, containing mass amounts of data.
"Remember: look for any reports using the search string 'Project_Ext'... We need to be in and out within a short time frame. We can't risk anything the deeper we go."
One by one, we entered into the room, descending the stairs on either side, as the door slid noiselessly shut behind us.
Instead of using the search string, I decided to actually attempt to look for the report, whilst the other two went beneath the stars to the automated system. I heard the tapping noises as they entered the search string, then a few moments silence, and then they sent out the system to retrieve the related files. I began to look randomly, searching through the shelves at eye level, not finding anything or getting anywhere. Obviously it wasn't long before I was called back by the other two as they had found the file. I went over to them, and they already had the file open on a nearby desk. I asked them if it was what we were looking for, and UOPETA merely turned the report over to show to the front over: "Project Ext". Turning it back over, he began to flick through a few of the pages.
"Look a this... It's insane! Some of it I don't understand, but the stuff I do seems to suggest that they have a massive operation set up. They've been building this since before the portal replication project was established! Why would they need obsidian before starting an experiment they couldn't guarantee would work?"
"Maybe they didn't know the full extent of what they had... Maybe they didn't know creating portals wasn't as simple as constructing obsidian frames..."
"No... HoN Co. are always very well informed with their intel. They wouldn't establish this for on the basis of creating portals before researching them..."
"What are you saying? That HoN Co. is already using obsidian for something other than portals?"
"It's possible... We'll need to consult Amie about this. Let's go now while we have the time on our side."
UOPETA closed the file, and we made a move towards the exit. Once we got to the top of the stairs, we carefully checked the guards were still unconscious, before moving to the exit. UOPETA opened the door, and cautiously peered out, before turning back and giving the all clear signal. We all moved out and were about to run across to the tree line, when we heard a single word that made us all freeze on the spot!
"HALT!"
Syeonyx signing off
No comments:
Post a Comment