The Elite

     Heading into the portal data room, I found UOPETA and THEROS flicking through reports that they had presumably already retrieved from the records. I don't know what search strings they had used, but they had obviously found something of use. THEROS was the one to talk to about that as he was the one that translated the coordinates into points on the map. Without him, we wouldn't be able to progress very quickly. However, THEROS didn't have the map out to compare to, so maybe they had found something else.

"Hey Syeonyx. Find anything?"

Yes and no. There had been no reports detailing portal locations, then again I hadn't really expected to find any. But I then told them about the primary portal status as it was a few minutes ago when I checked.

"Three!?! Are you sure?"

"Well we had managed to deactivate all of the portals on the far left wall."

And now three more were active on the same wall. Maybe not necessarily the same ones, but that didn't matter. We had begun to fall behind during the tunnel digging process. Since the obsidian farm, we hadn't found or destroyed any more portals, which may have given HoN Co. a chance to activate even more. But how? We had destroyed the obsidian farm! That would prevent them from making their own obsidian, and at least stall their portal replication for a good while. How could they be getting ahead so quickly? Was it possible that HoN Co. had more than one obsidian farm...? I didn't want to consider it, as I remembered what we had gone through to remove the other one.

"I don't think so. That report we managed to find only made reference to one site for Project Ext... Maybe we can find out a little more if we search the report again. Unfortunately we'll need to wait until we get back; AMPHIS filed it away back at the base... I think."

"Yes it is. Before we go, we need to find something that we can use to help us find more portals, otherwise we're back to using trial and error... Not a system I want to go back to."

We began entering search terms into the machine; each time the automated arm would trundle off into the stack of shelves and return with cart laden with reports and files. After going through several of them, and finding nothing that we could use, we entered more and more search terms. After some time, our search terms became more and more obscure, to the point where we were searching for "HoN Co.", "obsidian", "guards", and a whole host of others. Turning up nothing, and after expending a large amount of time getting nowhere, UOPETA decided that we had done all that we could for the time being, and headed out. We were pushing our luck with the sedative as it was, without wasting more time. It seemed a little pointless leaving empty handed, but we had no other choice...

     Back at the base, we relayed what we had found to COLUS and the others. We managed to pry AMPHIS away from the translating long enough to retrieve the files and notes he had filed away concerning the Project Ext report. We were hoping that he had retained the exact copy, and thankfully he had; returning with a large stack of files, AMPHIS placed them onto the desk and went back to translating the books from Latin. THEROS volunteered himself to go through the report, whilst me and UOPETA told COLUS about what we had seen.

"Despite the destruction of their obsidian farm, I couldn't really say their security had increased that much. They were four guards patrolling the outside, which we've encountered before. There was one on the stairs on the way down, and a further three in the chamber itself. I was expecting something in the region of fifteen to twenty guards... Not eight."

"Maybe they don't have the man power to secure it as well as they hoped. Either that, or they have other assets which may require more protection..."

"Well what requires more protection than the master portal itself?"

"Another obsidian farm...? You said yourself that there were more primary portals active, and yet that the obsidian farm you destroyed was the only one. We already know that with at least one primary portal remaining active, the master portal cannot be destroyed by force, and it's not active so the stones will have no effect. Maybe they do have another obsidian farm. I wouldn't be surprised if they had a contingency plan."

"But obsidian farms would require vast amounts of lava, man power and resources. How could HoN Co. find another lava pool big enough to supply the portals?"

"You forget what HoN Co. are good at... Every time a miner finds a portal and calls it in, HoN Co. take over. It's not entirely impossible that in all of this time, HoN Co. have stumbled across more than one lava pool unearthed by another miner..."

That was a point. HoN Co. had potential access to as much lava as they needed, provided their "employed" miners found enough of the stuff. It wouldn't be unlikely to assume that HoN Co. is in control of another lava pit, which has also been converted into an obsidian farm... It also wouldn't surprise me if they had created a backup in just such an incident as this. Something that few knew about. Something kept off the record.

"HoN Co. would have to try pretty hard to keep that quiet... How would they manage that if they employ guards...?"

"Maybe they don's use guards. Maybe they use... the Elite."

Th Elite...? I was confused at this point, and so was AMPHIS, as this was the first time he had looked up from his work.

"The Elite are a team trained by HoN Co. to deal with any situation that is thrown their way. Think of them like a special team created to safeguard HoN Co.'s secrets and well being..."

"How come we've never heard of them before...?"

We all turned to AMPHIS, who had voiced the question, and I listened intently, wanting to know more about this Elite.

"It's not surprising that you haven't heard of them. Barely anyone has. As far as HoN Co. thinks, they don't exist. They play by the rules even less than HoN Co. do, and when you see one, you know instantly who they are. If SERVERE was as much of a thorn in HoN Co.'s side as we think, it wouldn't be foolish enough to assume they were sent in to take him out. He was the one that held the Solus stone at the time, so he posed the greatest threat... And easiest target."

"So you're saying that HoN Co. employs special service men to do their ultra dirty work?"

"No no, not employ. HoN Co. train them. No-one knows where these men and women come from, but they're enrolled based presumably on their level of skill, and then they're never heard of again by anyone. The idea of the Elite is anonymity. No-one within the Elite knows anyone else from the Elite, and no-one outside know any of them. They're dangerous and often work alone, but in certain circumstances, they have been known to work together."

"What do they look like...?"

"No-one really knows. Some say they wear a type of special black armour, with piercing red eye pieces..."

The sound of a pencil clattering to the floor stopped COLUS in mid sentence, and we all looked towards AMPHIS, who was now sitting behind his desk, pale as a ghost...

"AMPHIS...?"

Syeonyx signing off