Outside the box...

     We sat there, in silence, for about 10 minutes or so, but with nothing to do but stare West through a scope, it seemed much longer. We lost sight of COLUS some time ago after he disappeared into the fog, and we had seen nothing but falling snowflakes and distant wooden panels since. We had noticed the cold air grow colder still, as snow began to float down from the sky, an almost eerie marker for what could be going on. I couldn't tell what was happening with COLUS at the moment, none of us could. It was incredibly frustrating not knowing what's going on, and to just sit there waiting on someone else to return and fill you in. But what if COLUS didn't return? What if he had been captured or worse! He could have found himself set upon by numerous HoN Co. guards, and is battling for his life, or being dragged away... I tried to push these thoughts from my mind, knowing full well that COLUS was a lot smarter than to get himself captured. But we were in unfamiliar territory here, with no way of predicting what could happen. For all we knew, HoN Co. could be using the bridge as a method to ferry large quantities of supplies to and from set points, and could come across at any time with a load of vehicles loaded to bursting! A figure slowly emerging from the mist brought me back from my thoughts, and I allowed my finger to reflexively curve towards the trigger, ready to attack if it was necessary. But as the figure grew closer, more and more discernible features appeared, until we knew it to be COLUS. He was moving in much the same way as he had when he went over the bridge, suggesting he hadn't been seen, but his face suggested something else. As he neared us, we climbed down from the towers, remembering to take out the darts from the unconscious forms of the sleeping guards. Meeting COLUS at the bottom of the ladder, we could now see that he wasn't happy at all.

"We've got a problem... A big problem..."

---

     That was a problem, a big problem... Somehow this was going to take a little more than brute force to push our way forward. COLUS returned from the far side of the bridge with news of what he had seen, and it wasn't good news. Far from it. He explained what the large structure was at the far end that we were just able to make out, causing us all to continue listening, almost in shock.

"A drawbridge? As in a bridge that splits in half and lets boats and ships through...?"

"The very same. the building that you could see from the towers seems to be the main engine for operating them. There were a few guards there but I dispatched them easily enough. The problem is... Well there are a few more. Firstly the drawbridge is raised, on both sides, so the only way to get across is to lower both of them."

"So why don't we? We could easily push through to the other side and off the far end of the bridge, surely?"

"Well no, I thought about that. Two issues. Firstly there's bound to be a system in place for correctly lowering the bridge sections, and also a timetable for when it needs to be up or down. Secondly - and more importantly - each side of the drawbridge can only lower that side, and not the other. If I lowered our side, it would raise suspicion as the other side would remain raised. Presumably a failsafe to prevent people like us infiltrating across."

"So what do we do then? We can't gain access to the other side to activate both ends of the drawbridge, otherwise we wouldn't be using the bridge to cross at all! Could we cause a diversion to get them to lower both ends?"

"That wouldn't work. We would need to lower our side at the same rate and time as the far side so as not to draw suspicion, and it would be a little weird if they found unconscious guards after they went across..."

"So what do you suggest? Wait until they lower both sides and try to sneak across?"

"No, that could take too long, and it poses an unnecessary risk. I'm just wondering if there's a way to go underneath the bridge and avoid the entire section altogether. The only problem would be..."

"The drawbridge again. There wouldn't be a gangway across that otherwise it would defeat the point of having a drawbridge!"

"Wait, some bridges have angle plumbs on the base of the moving section, so no matter what angle the bridge is in, the plumb stays perpendicular to the floor. If the bridge was lower, we could use those to get across. Like a set of monkey bars!"

"Right, but this brings back the need to have the bridge lowered again, which costs more time. And this is also under the assumption the bridge has these angle plumb lines. We still haven't determined whether it has a walkway yet."

I volunteered to head beneath the bridge to check this out. Taking the rifle with me, I circled the edge of the tower and cautiously made my way down the slippery slop to the water's edge. The fog and the dark night air wasn't helping me see very well, but with the scope from the rifle, I was able to make out some form of wooden walkway that stretch between each main support of the bridge. COLUS was right.

Heading back up to the top, I informed the others what I had seen, and showed them the image I had taken as proof.

"There we go then! A feasible method of getting across, at least to an extent."

"I think we should wait until tomorrow to decide whether it's still worthy of considering. At least then we can see a little further ahead of ourselves, and they may have lowered the bridge by then."

We headed back away from the towers to set up a small camp so that we wouldn't be seen. Hopefully the guards would wake up, a little dazed, but continue their routine, none the wiser as to what had happened within the last half hour or so.

Syeonyx signing off