Close encounter of the REALLY undead kind!

     From where we were, it was a short distance to the next portal. Less than a half hour walk West. The entire time we were going, we remained silent. We mainly kept quiet anyway to allow UOPETA to scope out ahead more accurately without distractions, but this time I was glad of the silence. It allowed me to think about that Creeper we saw a few minutes back... It was really odd, and it spooked me for some reason that I couldn't explain. It knew we were there; it was looking right at us the entire time. But it didn't approach us, nor did it seem aggressive. It just stood there staring... I'm beginning to think that these Creepers are very territorial, but are otherwise passive. I'll need to inform OROTHO about it when we get back, unless one of the others does it before me... Maybe he can shed some light on it... Anyway, within half an hour, we reached the site of the second portal we were to destroy. It was very easy to find, but that and the fact that it led down deep underground made me think of it as a possible trap... I voiced my concerns, but UOPETA assured me that we could take on anything... I hope he's right... In terms of weapons, we have the blowpipes, my bow, and the diamond pickaxe. I suppose we were as prepared as we could ever need to be. We made our way down into the hole, careful not to draw too much attention to ourselves just in case. The first odd thing that made me hesitate slightly was the presence of torches... Lit torches! The hole continued down for a small time and then veered off to the left, bypassing a small spring. Was this the right place? Well, the torches were a big clue, but I couldn't shake that niggling feeling...

     Continuing around the corner, the rest of the tunnel was pitch black. THEROS lit a torch and gave it to UOPETA to illuminate our path ahead. The tunnel went on for some time; despite the obvious excavated way in which the stairs had been that led down to the tunnel, and the way the spring had been avoided, the tunnel itself was surprisingly random. Maybe a tunnel had been dug randomly to find the portal, and the tunnel had merely been something that had already been here... There were no signs of tool markings on any of the stone, so it was likely that was the case. After some time, we could see a light up ahead, and UOPETA extinguished the torch. The light was too bright to be emanating from a portal, nor was it giving off a purplish hue. It was flickering though which suggested more torches, and possibly a guard! We all took out our blowpipes, ready for anything! We edged closer and closer. When we were within a few metres of the entrance, we could hear sounds... Not the sounds of a guard... Or even a human! A Creeper maybe? We would have to be careful. We reached the opening where the light poured from, to be met with a horrid sight! Embedded into the wall on the far side was an active secondary portal, with an Affinitas cage close by. But what was the most horrifying of all were the two figures standing with their backs to us in the corner... SKELETONS!!! The animated bones of two dead humans were standing within metres of us, holding primitive bows!

We all backed off, not wanting to draw their attention. I was terrified! I didn't know what to do, but UOPETA seemed to have a plan, regardless of the alarming situation we had found ourselves in:

"Right... Skeletons... They had no flesh so the blowpipes are useless! We need brute force and speed! They are likely to be slow. I can't back that up, it's just a hunch. Syeonyx, give me your pickaxe. I have an idea. Get your bow ready. When I give the signal, fire an arrow into the head of the skeleton I don't hit! Got it?"

I don't know why, but I nodded immediately. Had I got it? Was he attempting to attack them head on? I unslung my bow, and readied an arrow, and then passed the pickaxe to him... What was he going to do? Use it as a club? We moved back up to the entrance, my heart in my mouth and my pulse racing way above normal! THEROS remained behind us, whilst I stood a few feet behind UOPETA. He knelt down, and then signalled a countdown on his hand. When he got to one, he threw the pickaxe at the skeleton to the left. Without hesitation, I fired my arrow. The skeleton which UOPETA had attacked, fell to the floor, the pick embedded into it's skull. I had aimed for the socket of the upper arm that carried the bow, and surprisingly I hit home. Just as intended, the arm fell to the ground, totally defenceless. It turned around to attack regardless of the missing arm, it's empty sockets staring me down, it's jaw twisted into that horrid grimace. UOPETA acted quickly, removed the pickaxe from the other's head, and tore the ribs from the remaining one. The skeleton buckled slightly, but remained standing, and attempted to attack UOPETA, swinging it's one good arm. It missed, and UOPETA span and took out one of it;s legs. It tumbled to the floor in pieces, creating the sound of an out-of-tune xylophone! For good measure, UOPETA smashed his foot into the skull, and it shattered, spraying bone fragments across the chamber... UOPETA stood there panting slightly.

"That was eventful..."

     After killing the skeletons, we quickly destroyed the Affinitas cage. We assumed that the skeletons were indigenous to the Nether as well as the Creepers, and destroying that will stop them from being lured into Minecraftia through the portal. We then destroyed the portal using the Solus stone, and sat in silence for some time, collecting our thoughts... I had never seen a skeleton before. I had only heard of them from my father, who said my mother had been killed by one... The other two had never seen them either, and we were beginning to wonder if HoN Co. had had a part in their arrival too!

"Maybe they're not letting on that we're as big a threat to them as we initially thought... Maybe they see as a big threat, and they're willing to throw anything at us to stop us! If they're willing to genetically alter Creepers..."

"OROTHO never said that had been proved! He still maintains the possibility that someone else could have done that!"

"So what now? Are HoN Co. animating the dead against us? Or is this the illusive person again?"

"I don't know... I don't want to know... Skeletons give me the creeps, they always have... It's their skull. The fact that under all of that flesh and muscle, is a constantly grinning face, with empty eye sockets! We all look the same, deep down under our fleshy outer parts..."

"That doesn't matter now. We need to get to the next one, and staying here could mean more trouble for us! his could still be a trap! Those skeletons were likely to be part of it. Why else would there be an Affinitas cage next to an active portal?"

UOPETA was right. We had to keep moving. We had a job to do, and sitting around in a dark hole was tempting fate. If what dad had said about mom was true, I didn't want to go the same way. In fact, helping to kill two skeletons was an incredibly uplifting feeling, and despite the constant fatigue, that one moment had rejuvenated me! I stood up and started to head out of the hole, with the other two following close behind.

     The next one was even less of a journey, just off to the West for a short walk. It had begun to rain since entering the first portal location, but we had been rained on enough times for it not to be a problem any more. We got there in good time, but the location was very deceptive. We had arrived at a small sandy beach area, way inland, surrounded by tall cliffs... What now? Was the portal in one of the caves that were dotted around the cliff edges, or did we have to dig? Again... I stayed high up to look around in some of the caves, whilst UOPETA and THEROS made their way down to the bottom of the cliff floor. We decided to do a thorough search of the area before attempting any excavation.

Despite the initial enormity of the task, we eventually found the portal after a few minutes of searching. It was indeed in one of the caves, and quite close to the entrance too! It was good as well, because THEROS was ready to begin digging up the sandy area hoping to find it there. This one was also active, but it was not protected by Creepers, guards or skeletons. In fact there wasn't even an Affinitas cage, despite thorough searching of the entire cave. What was odd was the lack of the moss that had appeared at almost every other active portal site so far... Maybe the moss and lichen were coincidental... We had never proved that the moss came from the Nether anyway.

We quickly destroyed the portal, staying for awhile to have something to eat, allow the Solus stone to recharge, and to cross off the three portals we had destroyed so far. It wasn't easy going; it was mentally and physically tiring, and I had had enough encounters with creatures from the Nether to last me a lifetime! Creepers, skeletons, giant spiders, and the undead! Hoping that there were no more was a lot to ask. Hoping that they'd all go away was impossible!

"We need to inform OROTHO about the skeletons. We've never encountered them before, and if that was HoN Co.'s doing, we may need to be a LOT more careful in the future! We got lucky today; they didn't see us, and they looked like they were ready to attack us if they had seen us first. Let's just hope if we do run into them again, we either catch them off-guard, or they're atrocious shots! Come on, let's get to the next one. It's a lot farther than the other two..."

Syeonyx signing off

Day 100: Operation [insert applicable name here!]

     COLUS congratulated us on our quick and efficient operation so far. We've managed to take out a further five secondary portals, most of which were active, and from the report UOPETA took from the conducting tower, Amie and OROTHO have managed to deduce the next stage of the operation. There are more secondary portals this time, so we'll need to do it in two parts. Plus we need to be careful about the HoN Co. guard activity; THEXIS confirmed that the search teams had passed us on their way back to the tower. If we wait a little longer, we can head out in safety, whilst THEXIS keeps an eye on the radio communications. With THEROS' help, Amie has added eight additional secondary portal sights onto the map, and we've recorded the destruction of the other five. Now all we need to do is wait for the green light from THEXIS and head out. Meanwhile, we're working on the plan; this time I think we're heading out to the nearest and working our way to the furthest. That way we can head to the tower before coming back, and we stand less of a chance of accidentally overtaking the search teams on their way back.

     We've finally decided that that is what we're going to do. It's easier that way, but COLUS is a little worried about us going straight to the tower.

"If you head directly from the last portal to the tower, you won't be aware of the guard locations. They could be setting up a trap, or you could be overwhelmed in an area you're not familiar with. I'd prefer it if you came back, but what you do is up to you. If you see an advantage, take it."

COLUS had a point, but I had a feeling that UOPETA was going to totally ignore that and head straight to the tower. I suppose if we could guarantee our safety then it was OK, but I wanted to make sure that UOPETA knew what he was doing. What was I saying, of course he knew what he was doing! We headed out after we were ready with the plan, and went straight to the nearest portal. We stuck to the shadows, and remained within the tree line to ensure we didn't get spotted by any patrols on their way back. Our first target was off to the North East, on a small little spit out from the main land. It was easily accessible from the main land but it was a worrying place; HoN Co. may set up a trap by creating a bottleneck, forcing us into an assault. We wouldn't stand a chance! We had to hope that HoN Co. didn't have a clue where we were or what we were doing. Amie said that the chances of them setting up a trap for us were slim as they didn't class us a serious threat. Maybe we weren't being as aggressive as we thought! Well I suppose that worked in our favour as they didn't know what we could do. Although after taking out these next eight secondary portals would surely create a large dent in their plan!

     We got to the site, thinking we had arrived at the wrong place. We couldn't find the portal anywhere at all, except for a sand dune that took the place we had arrived at... After a few minutes of dusting away some of the sand, we found the portal, but it was odd... It had been buried, and it wasn't active AND it was lying down! What was going on?

     We all pitched in to uncover the portal. After a good half an hour of shifting sand, we managed to remove enough to see what the situation was. It was how I had said; a secondary portal, inactive and lying down in the sand. Looks like we would need the pickaxe. THEROS got to work hacking at the portal frame, whilst myself and UOPETA kept watch. We didn't see anything at all, but I had this horrid feeling that we could be falling into a trap... After some time, THEROS handed the pick to me and I picked up from where he left off.

     As I was nearing the end of destroying the portal when UOPETA called me over. Had he seen something? He didn't say anything, but merely pointed. Looking in his direction, I couldn't see a thing!

"Remember: don't move your eyes or head. Look for movement."

I stopped trying to look, and just stared in the direction he pointed. Eventually I saw what I initially thought was a tree branch moving, but then I realised is was something else. Looking closer, I could make out the horrid gaping mouth of a Creeper! It had seen us! I quickly went for my blowpipe, but UOPETA stopped me...

"No... Just look... It knows we're here... Why isn't attacking us?"

THEROS had joined in now, and he could see it too.

"Maybe it's because it doesn't class us a threat... We're not close enough, and we're not in it's territory... Maybe..."

THEROS didn't finish that sentence... I don't think it needed finishing. We stood there for a long time, watching it, and it did the same... It didn't approach us, and we didn't approach it. After some time, UOPETA decided to move on. We headed off to the West, to destroy the next portal. Before leaving the small spit, I turned to look once more in the direction of the Creeper, but it had gone. I don't know why, but that brief event had intrigued me... Why hadn't it attacked? Were they actually docile unless provoked or approached? Who knows... Maybe OROTHO...

Syeonyx signing off

Progress

     COLUS was right; it WAS dark! I think the moon had entered an "empty" phase or something, so there was no light to see by at all! Luckily UOPETA and THEROS are the ones with the good sense of direction. Well, UOPETA is... THEROS just holds the map... After emerging from the base, we checked to see if there were any guards were nearby. I say "checked" but I actually meant UOPETA listened. We didn't want to bring attention to the hatch control if someone was watching. I couldn't see anything except THEROS and UOPETA, but that was enough. Eventually, UOPETA moved over to the controls, and the sand walkway sank back to the bottom of the pool. I hadn't really thought about it, but that was a pretty impressive piece of engineering; I bet OROTHO had his work cut out for him trying to get wiring established with all of this water! I didn't even want to know how the walkway for the lava trench worked... We made our way to the North, ever vigilant for guards or Creepers, or other creatures of the night. I was still frightened that I would stumble across a skeleton archer... That got me thinking back to the day mum died. She was killed by a skeleton... I'll never forget that day, and I ever get the chance to avenge her on any skeleton I see, I will! I think I just need to get over my fear of them first...

     It was still pitch black, and there was no sign of the sun coming up any time soon. However, due to the lighting on the tower, we were able to pinpoint our position early on. A while later, we had arrived at the ring of trees around the tower. With the shadows as dark as they get, and the rest of the open area, just as bad, we couldn't be seen by anyone! As we were approaching from the South, we were able to scope out the current guard situation from three sides before coming around to the entrance. Although we didn't see much in the way of a security detail. When we got around to the Northern side, we hadn't seen a single guard at all! When THEXIS had said the guards had been merged into the search teams, we didn't know it almost literally meant all of them! There were no guards on any of the sides we had searched, and we had waited long enough to wait and see if a solitary one was coming around from the far side... But nothing... No-one...

"This doesn't look good... Where are they? Is it bad that a lack of guards seems worse to me than a few?"

I had to share THEROS' feelings in this...

"THEXIS must have literally meant all of them then... Amie must be really important to the future of HoN Co. ... Let's just hope she doesn't stab us in the back then... Either that, or this is a trap..."

I really wish UOPETA hadn't pointed that idea out... I was comfortable with them just being absent. But as we watched, the wall slid backwards, to reveal a single guard leaving the base of the tower... Well, one was better than none... I highly doubt it would be a trap with one guard! Or maybe he was bait... Oh that was such a bad thought to have right now!

     What did we do now? If that guard went around the corner, we could go down, enter the base and then he could come back and seal us in. Then other guards could come up through the staircase and trap us! Even if we tranquilised the guard, we could still be trapped in there! It seemed though that UOPETA made a quick decision; I heard a sharp whistle from my left, and the guard fell... UOPETA had managed to hit the guard from this distance! At least forty metres!

"How did you do that?"

UOPETA shrugged, and moved forward. We followed quickly behind him, not wanting to fall into a trap that could be set up behind us! Once we got to the base of the tower, UOPETA took the dart from the guard's forehead - most epic shot ever! - and turned to us.

"We've eliminated this guard from any trap. He could've closed the door behind us, but that threat is still possible. Here's what I suggest: you two enter into the tower, and pretend as though you're not expecting a trap. If the door shuts behind you, get ready to move out. Meanwhile, I'll stay behind outside to be able to open the door if it does close. Once it opens again, you run outside, and we scatter. It doesn't matter what direction, as long as it's not the same as any of the other two. Got it? Good!"

I shrugged, hoping UOPETA knew what he was doing, and entered into the doorway. I had my blowpipe ready just in case, and hoped that THEROS was as prepared as I was. Once I was clear of the doorway, I was adamant that I would hear it slide shut, and would see a whole load of guards run up the stairs... THEROS joined me by my side, and I stood there, teeth clenched, waiting for the inevitable moment... ... But it never came... After some time, UOPETA joined us:

"Looks like it's OK. They must all be merged into the search teams. Amie sure is valuable to them. OK, everyone start looking for more data. I'm going to check where Amie suggested, and then we'll head down to the portal room and check on progress..."

     After a while of searching, UOPETA found the record that Amie spoke about. Instead of the usual case of photographing, we decided to just take it; Amie admitted that she was the only one who had noticed the change in the order of files and records after we had photographed them, so the others wouldn't notice. Besides, they were too busy looking for her, rather then wondering where a certain file has gone. We then turned our attention to the portal room. Descending the staircase, we secured the room before investigating, but even from where I was standing, I could tell we had made progress. THEROS and UOPETA had also noticed this:

"Look! One of the primary portals has been knocked offline! Did we do that? We must have done that!"

THEROS was right; one of the portals close to the stairs was no inactive, leaving only five active primary portals. We just needed to keep on with the progress to ensure that we had a chance of removing the master portal threat, once and for all!

     Before leaving, UOPETA had a search around for any new developments in the replication project, and to see if there was any information about us, the Lone 7. We had thoughts that they might have documented something about us, maybe as a reference when talking about the deactivation of the portals. But nothing. We left it there for now, and headed back. We would have to be quick as THEXIS had said the search teams would be heading back now. They had fanned out in all directions, starting from the the tower, and would go as far as the other search teams who did the same, but from my old house. When they met, they would turn back and head towards their respective bases. It was hard to see my house as a base, but it was definitely controlled by HoN Co. ... It was still dark by the time we got to the base, and we ensured that we didn't slip up at the last moment. After locking down the hatch, we headed into the base to be debriefed, and to pass on the information to COLUS and the others. After that, it was time to get some well needed rest, before going back out and destroying a new load of portals. It was hard work, but it was necessary to stop HoN Co. from completing their diabolical plan!

Syeonyx signing off

Last leg of the journey...

     From where we were, it was a bit of a trek to the South, and it had begun to grow dark; the sun was dipping into the lower half of the sky, and we were worried we would be plunged into darkness soon! Before heading off, THEROS decided to remove the four portal locations from the map by following the legend at the bottom. Black circles showed existing secondary portals, purple circles showed existing standard portals. Crossed out versions of these meant destroyed portals of the respective types. It was a simple system, but it enabled us to see our progress first hand, and was an efficient catalogue of our successes! From what I could tell, OROTHO was right about the secondary portals being closer to the conducting tower; a ring had almost formed around it of the currently destroyed ones. Who knew how many were left, but I could guarantee there would be more further out away from the tower.

After the current experiences with Creepers - especially our most recent one - we were more vigilant than usual. UOPETA wasn't taking any chances, and he refused to move on until he knew that we weren't being followed, nor were we walking into a trap. Needless to say, the journey took longer than expected, and before we even got close to the area, UOPETA insisted on performing a preliminary sweep of the area. I had to agree; the last thing we needed was a group of guards of Creepers coming in from behind once we had already tasked ourselves with the destruction of the portal. Once UOPETA was happy, we moved closer to the location, still cautious about what could be close by. Unlike the other occasions, we had no trouble finding the portal this time; right in the middle of where we found on the map was a cave that led through to a small tunnel, which emerged out the other end, onto the other side of field. I could see now why UOPETA was being so cautious; if we went straight in to check on the portal, we could be closed in on both sides, with no direction to retreat back to! As for the location of the portal, we couldn't tell. There was no glowing from the Solus stone, which suggested one of two things; either we were in the wrong area, or, more likely, it wasn't active. Good job I still had the pickaxe then! As we ventured into the cave, THEROS took out a torch and lit it, casting a flickering light into the mouth of the hole. Shining the torch a bit, we eventually found the portal. It wasn't active, and it was partially buried in gravel... Obviously HoN Co. hadn't found this one yet... Either that or they just hadn't activated it... Or maybe we had managed to take it offline by destroying enough standard portals! It didn't matter. As long as we destroyed this now, we could stop it becoming a medium for the portals to transmit the iter waves.

     UOPETA went out towards the other entrance to the cave, whilst I stayed with THEROS until the portal was destroyed. Once again, we took it in turns to chip bits away. It was of sturdy construction, but a lot of effort and time, and it was no match for us! After some time, the last remains of the portal tumbled away into dust, and we called UOPETA back over. Meanwhile, THEROS crossed off the last portal from the map, and rolled it up before putting it back into his bag.

"Is that the last one?"

THEROS nodded.

"Right then. Next we go back to the base. We talk to THEXIS and get an idea as to the location of these search teams. We've been lucky so far; they might've returned by now, but they don't seem to be. Maybe our luck will hold out and we'll be able to get there and back before they do. For now though, let's concentrate on getting back to base without being spotted."

UOPETA took the lead again, ensuring we were safe the entire way back. We weren't safe yet. The most dangerous bit was going to be ensuring we got into the base without being spotted.

----

     We made it back without any further mishaps; at one point I did think UOPETA had the impression we were being followed again, but he was just being extra cautious around the base entrance. We've been debriefed, and AMPHIS has a copy of the map. Our next task is to head over to the conducting tower for two reasons: 1) To check on our progress in terms of active primary portals, and 2)To find more data about other secondary portal sites. Amie has informed us of a location within the tower where we can get that data, so we'll be more organised this time.

"THEXIS has been monitoring the radio almost non stop since you left. He has a good idea where the search teams have been, and with some help from AMPHIS, he's been able to plot some points. Luckily, it still seems like they're fanning out to cover a wider area. THEXIS has managed to find a rough estimate of how far they are willing to search. All of the guards in the area have been alerted, including the ones at Syeonyx's old house. This means they're willing to extend as far as possible until they meet. Then they'll go back on themselves towards the tower. As far as THEXIS can tell, they're close to that point now. If you move out more or less straight away, you should get there by the time the two bands merge. They should be heading back towards the tower as you finish, but you'll be within the search perimeter by the time you get back to base. They should then pass by the base and return to the tower. Everybody clear? Good. You three get going. It's dark now so you have the advantage, especially where UOPETA's concerned. He's a pro in good lighting conditions. He's a master in the dark! Good luck. See you in a few hours!"

Syeonyx signing off

Creeper security

     After crossing back over to the other side - obviously allowing UOPETA to scan the surroundings first - we headed due West to the third portal location. This one was supposed to be hard to find, but Amie had provided enough information to help us locate it. It was hidden in the far end of a cave that had become flooded from a spring source that erupted after the cave's initial excavation. So all we needed to do was look for another pool of water nearby, with a partially collapsed cave. Why did they all involve water! Luckily after climbing back onto the other side of the bank, it wasn't far to the portal. It was only a few hundred metres in land, but it still took awhile to find. It was located on the rear side of a hill, facing away from us. I heard the gushing of water, and called the other two over. As we approached the sound, I saw the edge of the pool come into view. This was it. Then I stopped. I could hear splashing... What was making that noise? That could be anything... It could be a bird, or another animal... Or it could be a guard setting something up... Or a Creeper. As quietly as we could, we rounded the small outcropping, to see the cause of the splashing. It was! It was a Creeper! We all took out our blowpipes, but it had already seen us! It began to hiss at a painful pitch, and then exploded! We covered our faces, expecting to be showered with water and debris, but there was nothing... Waiting a few moments longer, we eventually looked back in the direction of the Creeper... There was nothing there... The Creeper had totally disappeared, taking a large portion of the pool with it. Even the water was gone!

"What the? What happened to the water? When something explodes, isn't there usually shrapnel too?"

Maybe... Unless it was vapourised in the explosion. That would also explain the increase in temperature nearby, and the lack of water where it had been standing... Was the explosion so powerful it could vapourise things? Such as flesh and bone...?

The other two stood in shock for a moment. I was almost expecting this... I had experienced this before... I had dug out a water trap to catch a creature that I had seen stalking my area. Then one day, I found the same creature, a Creeper, stuck inside the trap. It took one look at me and exploded! As with this, the water disappeared completely... There wasn't any steam, or a spray of water, so the water wasn't heated up or blown out. It must be literally vapourised into thin air! Needless to say, this put us all on edge, but on the up side, we didn't need to get wet to get to the cave now!

     We headed down into the now waterless pool, and towards the small tumbled down rocky area near to where it had been standing. We were all carrying our blowpipes now, not willing to risk anything. One by one, we entered into the cave, taking care not to disrupt the rubble left from the cave-in. It looked a little unstable, and we didn't want to trap ourselves in. We had all had our fair share of being trapped in rubble to last us a lifetime! As we continued along, we could see the purple light emanating from up ahead, indicating the portal was active... After moving a safe piece of debris, we were able to see into the chamber. It was similar to the ones we had found before; the walls were covered in moss and lichen, and the portal was embedded into the wall. Not only that, but there was an Affinitas cage nearby! Did that mean there were more Creepers?

     As I have volunteered to go first, I stepped into the chamber, blowpipe at the ready. But there was nothing here; only the cage and the portal. There was no sign of any Creepers of guards. I beckoned the other two to follow, and they climbed through.

"Right, THEROS. You destroy the portal, whilst Syeonyx destroys the cage. I'll keep a look out."

THEROS took out a torch to illuminate the area; the portal cast enough into the room to see by, but we would all be plunged into darkness when it was destroyed. I took the pickaxe from my back and THEROS rummaged in his bag for the stone. I began destroying the cage, taking little effort with the sharp blade of the pick head. Before the destruction process had even begun, I had destroyed the cage entirely; the miniature zombie inside had disappeared with a howl, and the flames and been extinguished. We waited for the portal to be destroyed; the rift began pulling in the sides of the portal, growing weaker and weaker as it did. Eventually the last remnants of the obsidian frame disappeared into the rift, and it finally collapsed. It was a good job THEROS had put up that torch! A minute later, the Solus stone became visible, glowing slightly. UOPETA and myself made our way out of the cave whilst THEROS picked up the stone. On to the next one!

     From where we were, it was a short distance West South West. The sun had begun to retreat into the lower half of the sky, with the light maintaining for now, and we wondering how easy it would be to find the portals in the dark. I suppose if they were exposed on the surface and active, pretty easy. But the last two were supposedly buried beneath the earth... However, almost all of the secondary portals we had found so far had some form of staircase leading either up or down to them. That or they were in or close to water. I had to admit, there was a lot of the water element to each of these portals.

"After this one, we're off to the South, more or less. It'll be a distance, but it shouldn't take too long. My guess is we should have this one destroyed before it gets dark, and we should hopefully get to the last before nightfall."

That was if we didn't run into any trouble... We had encountered one Creeper, but it had dealt with itself. Making our way towards the fourth portal, I began to think about the cobblestone walls... Often when we found a secondary portal, it was embedded into a cobblestone wall covered in lichen... Was this normal? I suppose there was a trend if you took into account the amount of water nearby; lichen grows in moist areas... But was there a connection between the moss and the portals? Could the moss originate from the portals? Nah! That was a stupid idea. There were probably hundreds of varieties of moss, all native to this land. Although it was odd we had never seen it anywhere we had found water before. After an hour or so, we came to the location of the next secondary portal. UOPETA confirmed that he had followed the directions carefully, and THEROS said the landmarks matched up... So where was it? It was a flat plane with a large collection of trees... It found it hard to find much, what with the tree cover creating dense shadows, and the retreating light. However, I was struck by one point of interest, and went over to find out. I had my blowpipe ready, just in case. It was a group of trees, three, in very close proximity, with an odd dirt hill practically encasing the trunks... Circling them, I eventually found out why... I called the others over. I think we found it!

     Like the one on the sandy island, this portal seemed to be buried deep beneath the earth. Oddly enough, the layout was very much the same; a short staircase going down and then a branch off to the left, twice! Both times we ended up going back on ourselves, but down. We had to light the way as we went, but when we cam to another turn, this time to the right, we heard scuffling... We all stopped, and UOPETA motioned to stay put while he went on ahead. Once he was level with the turn, he looked at us and motioned us forward. There in the chamber was the next secondary portal, along with an Affinitas cage and two Creepers! Without even thinking, I held my blowpipe to my mouth and exhaled. Luckily, UOPETA was quick with the follow up, and both Creepers fell more or less at the same time.

"We have to be quick!"

THEROS put the stone on the portal whilst I began to smash the Affinitas cage to pieces. UOPETA kept watch over the two sedated Creepers, and the exit. I pummelled the remains of the cage into the floor, and stood watching the portal, as did THEROS. Then, without warning, a strange green object began to emerge from the portal! It was a Creeper! It was trying to come through! I readied a dart, but UOPETA put a hand on my shoulder and pulled me back.

"No, don't do it. There's no point. Look!"

He was right... The portal can already begun to collapse, and the rift had warped to the putrid green colour. The Creeper seemed to be stuck in the centre, unable to move. It's face poked from the rift, hissing and spitting as chunks of obsidian flew past it into the rift! We stood in horror for a minute, watching as the portal got smaller and smaller until the last remnants of the portal disappeared. With a last prolonged hiss, the Creeper fell forward, motionless as the rift closed! THEROS quickly took out a torch and lit it so we could see the Creeper, but when the light reached it, we knew there was no danger. The Creeper had been torn in half; when the rift closed, the other half of its body had remained in the Nether. It's head was left lying on the ground... What now? Then, unexpectedly, the head burst into flames, and we leapt back in case it might explode... It didn't... The fire eventually died away, leaving the blackened remains of the Creeper's head...

"Maybe... Maybe the remnants of the chemical in the bloodstream reacted with a trace amount of adrenaline... OROTHO did so it reacted differently under pressure; if it was contained, it would explode violently, but if exposed, it would just burn..."

THEROS was right. I remember OROTHO saying that. We had just had a lucky break. A VERY lucky break! We all turned to leave the chamber, a little shaken from what had just happened... I don't know about the other two, but I felt rather sorry for that Creeper...

"Come on... One left to go..."

Syeonyx signing off

Day 99: Show on the road...

     Slight change of plans. Initially, we were going to head off to destroy the furthest secondary portal from the base, and work along the arc backwards. Instead, we're going to take out the one closest to us, and then continue, more or less, in a straight line to the farthest one. Then we head back to base via the arc. It works out a little easier as the furthest portal will prove difficult to get to unless we can find a crossing point. Additionally, if we left the plan as it was, we would have to back track a little to take out the last one. Well, either way I'm not bothered, as long as we get the job done, and UOPETA keeps us out of harms way! THEROS's new map looks perfect for our operation; it's crisp and clean, and also shows us the location of the most recently destroyed secondary and standard portals. THEROS will be in charge of the map, as well as the Solus stone, whilst I take charge of the pickaxe, and UOPETA carries the least to ensure his scouting skills aren't put out of kilter! For now, it's pretty much due North to the first secondary portal, and then off to the North East. We'll have to be careful; a straight line run puts us on a path with the conducting tower, so it'll more than likely be North East until the conducting tower, then follow the coast. COLUS gave us a brief before we left:

"Take out those portals in any sequence you see fit. Keep a watch out for guards, Creepers or search teams. It is likely they're still out looking for our good friend Amie, but as long as you remain quiet, and UOPETA keeps to the skills he's good at, you'll be fine. Don't take any unnecessary risks, and try not to draw too much attention. Good luck!"

     WE had set early; it was only just starting to grow lighter as we left the base behind. This was to cover ourselves to ensure no wandering guard saw us. UOPETA didn't see anyone patrolling nearby, so we continued North to the first portal. As well as the locations, Amie had also provided data as to how far underground certain portals were. The one we were heading to was close to the surface, in a small chamber that led from a flooded tunnel. When you take water into account in the middle of a landmass, it becomes easier to find! After a little under an hour, we had found the location of the first secondary portal. As Amie had said, it was located at the end of a chamber which had become flooded. Some rock around a pool of water with a spring source had begun to erode, causing a small channel of water to flood the chamber. It was only a trickle thankfully, and we made it into the chamber without getting wet.

"Be on the lookout for strange noises or shapes. Anyone see anything, signal us silently and we'll check it out."

It was dark, but the distinctive purple glow from the portal up ahead bathed the chamber in enough light to see by. There was no sign of an Affinitas cage, or any Creepers. Nor were there any guards nearby... Hmmm, no security for something very important... Odd.

     THEROS picked up the dimly glowing stone from the floor, and we made our way back to the entrance. One down. But I was still confused as to the lack of security...

"Maybe the security detail has been reassigned to search squads or something..."

"Or the installation of a load of replicated portals is taking up more man power than we initially thought..."

I hadn't thought of that... Both equally plausible explanations. It would also suggest then that, until the search teams came back at least, the security at the conducting tower would be lax. There would likely be very little in the way of civilian activity too, so a few guards at most. Let's just hope that this remains the case after the last portal is down and we make our way towards the tower! It didn't matter, we'd cross that hurdle when we got there. For now, we had to concentrate on heading past the tower to the furthest secondary portal. Once there, we would scope for any forms of security in place, and then destroy the portal. From there, we followed the curve that the remaining portals made back to the base to determine the next course of action. Hopefully THEXIS would have an idea as to the state of the search teams by then, and allow us to make the second phase of the plan. We began to make our way to the North East towards the next portal.

     We were within less than one hundred metres of the conducting tower. UOPETA had the excellent idea of checking on the guard situation prior to going there. That way we at least knew what we were getting into... Provided the search teams didn't all converge on the tower before then. There were only two guards there, and going along with every other time we infiltrated the tower, we assumed there weren't any guards in the tower itself. After the quick recon, we continued to the North East towards the next secondary portal. We still hadn't decided how to get to it yet, but I supposed it would depend upon the situation. We were hoping that a simple hop across to the island would be available, but I had ideas that we were getting wet! We didn't wait long to find out; I was right! We had scoped out the surrounding area, and even went out of range of the map perimeter, but we were unable to locate any landmass that connected the two. We would have to swim across... Well, actually it looked like more of a wade rather than a swim, but it still involved getting wet.

From where we stood, we couldn't see anything to suggest a portal, but we had encountered something similar before. Amie had verified that the portal was buried beneath a small outcropping from the main island, the bit we were looking at now. I had a feeling it was behind the conveniently placed sand dune. After ensuring the coast was clear, UOPETA, THEROS and myself jumped into the water. It wasn't as deep as I thought it had been, so swimming was definitely not needed. We waded across to the other side, UOPETA constantly watching out for guards and Creepers. We got to the other side, and rested awhile. UOPETA however scanned the coastline back the way we came to ensure we weren't being watched. For a moment, I thought he had seen someone; he was acting how he had when he noticed Amie following us. I asked him what was wrong; he stood in silence for a moment, and finally dismissed it. He began to walk around the suspected sand dune. A moment later, an exclamation of "bingo" was heard, and we joined him at the top of a long, dark staircase.

"Looks like it's down from here..."

     It was dark... Pitch black almost! We had descended to the bottom of the initial staircase, having to illuminate the base. We then saw a left bend that wound round immediately to the left again. We were going deeper again. After putting up another two torches, we eventually came to the bottom of the staircase, and the purple hue of a portal became visible. Once again, we checked on the security of our surroundings, but once again we found nothing. No Affinitas cage, no guards or Creepers... Maybe THEROS or UOPETA were right... Maybe they were both right! Maybe HoN Co. had been left with the only option of reducing the security forces in other areas to look for Amie. After all, she was a vital cog in their plan, and they couldn't just have her going missing! We made our way into the centre of the chamber. This portal was active as well. I was beginning to think that OROTHO was right. He had said that with the large number of replicated portals that were bound to have been brought online, more secondary portals were likely to be active. He wasn't wrong there...

THEROS placed the Solus stone on the portal, and we waited for the process to begin. After a little while of waiting, the rift began to change in colour, to the sickly green hue that we all knew as a good sign. After another minute, no trace of the portal existed, aside from the mark in the wall where it had once stood, and the steps that had let up to it. Two down, three to go!

Day 98: Portal map

     Amie, OROTHO and COLUS spent the better part of yesterday afternoon and evening discussing the portal situation. They all agreed that the secondary portals were top priority, as we could essentially take out forty standard portals in a single shot, regardless of how many replicated portals they set up. As long as the "disappearance" of Professor Fenrii from the HoN Co. labs is enough to stall the progress into the primary portal replication research, we might just make it. THEROS has been working with AMPHIS collating the data that everyone else managed to run off, and me, UOPETA and THEXIS have had little to do but sit around waiting. I was happy to know, once I woke up, that they had created an updated map showing the location of portals we have destroyed - both secondary and standard - and the locations of any more know secondary portals. We're not bothering with primary portals as they are considered "a waste of time and effort"... At least that's OROTHO's viewpoint. COLUS has pointed out though that if we're primarily going for secondary portals, we'll need to be prepared for guards and more Affinitas cages setup nearby. So far, we've outlined the definite locations of five additional secondary portals. Amie cannot verify if they are active or not, but we are to assume they are and they are not. Going with one assumption means leaving either the Solus stone of the diamond pickaxe behind. And the last thing we need is to find an inactive secondary portal, and no way to destroy it! OROTHO has come to the conclusion though that most, if not all of them will be active, especially if HoN Co. have been activating more of these replicated portals. After we take out these next five, UOPETA, THEROS and myself will be checking at the conducting tower again to see if it has made any impact at all on the currently active primary portals... Amie has informed us though that at least half of the connected secondary portals must be destroyed or deactivated for the primary portal to become deactivated, however, this is often compensated by other secondary portals which may already be online. Well, five secondary portals is definitely a start!

     COLUS has refused to allow us to begin the operation today as he believes that HoN CO. guards may still be more abundant than usual. THEXIS verified this a while ago. He had been monitoring communications traffic from HoN Co. guards - without giving our position away - and he says that they know she's missing. They're performing a wide search area in all directions, paying close attention to portal locations. They haven't found her, obviously, but the patrols are likely to cross by our base by the end of today. COLUS has assured us that the base is secured; it is securely locked down, and no-one can find the lever to access the hatch. Even if they could, the hatch would remain locked. Besides, from an external point of view, the base looks like a pool of water in the midst of a few high climbing cliff walls. Nothing suspicious there. We do need to ensure that we aren't spotted at night though; I remember when I first found the base. There had been a light emanating from the centre of the pool when it was dark, which made it a little obvious. We've taken down the torches close to the hatch, so the closest light source to it now is the lava trench, and it's unlikely the light is going to get that far. Unless the guards decide to go swimming!

"Tomorrow, before you head out, THEXIS will monitor radio chatter to determine an approximate direction and distance the search is heading. If it's safe, you three will go out and remove the known secondary portals. Once this is done, report back for an update about the search teams, and we'll try to negotiate a safe path to the conducting tower. We don't know what the guards will do after they stop searching, nor do we know how far they are likely to go before they give up. As usual, we shall assume the worst, and act accordingly. Until then, try to determine the plan of action. What you do, and how you do it is up to you, but as long as those five portals are destroyed, we should be good!"

I followed THEROS and UOPETA to the library to plot a course, and decide on a plan. We essentially had two options: go for the furthest portal first and work our way back to the nearest, or do the opposite. It seemed more logical to do it the first way as we needed to come back to the base to get an idea as to what the search teams were doing. The last we needed was to run into a whole squad of HoN Co. guards! Provided the teams were still searching when we got back to the base, we would have an easy path to the conducting tower. Once there, it was likely to be heavily guarded though considering the recent events. It's not every day a top scientist goes missing from HoN Co. ... Who knows what they were thinking right now. Chances were that the research into secondary portal replication would be put on hold until she had either been found or replaced. Well, it definitely wasn't going to be the former.

"We'll start with the secondary portal off to the far North, and work towards the one closest to the base, by following the arc that they create. Then we double time it due South back to the base, hopefully evading any returning search teams. Once back, we determine the current operation the search teams are performing and either go to the conducting tower, or wait until they pass. Here's to hoping that they don't give up the search until after we return from the conducting tower. I have a feeling that once they give up the search, they'll all converge on the conducting tower. Not an ideal location to be pinned down in!"

Well, that was the plan then. Take out the portals, check on the search teams and determine the situation at the conducting tower. Then return with some data Amie has asked us to acquire which should hopefully allow us to locate the next set of secondary portals. We were going to be very busy over the next few days!

Syeonyx signing off