"Well... This is unexpected... Ideas?"
I was still too astounded to answer... How could this be? I knew we were close to my area when we entered the hole; we had descended in a Westerly direction, and then dug our way out to the South... It seems the hole was much deeper and longer than we had anticipated... It had extended all the way beneath my house!
"We could always attempt to retrieve the book...?"
This suggestion snapped me from my stupor! The book! UOPETA had come here only days ago to scout out the guard situation. After OROTHO cracked the whole Creeper experiment, it was deemed unnecessary for us to come here... Now we were here, it seemed a waste to not get it! I knew where it was, and we could always run back to our tunnel entrance to escape. If we were fast, we could get in and out without being spotted. The rain and the dark would mask us quite effectively, especially if the guards were totally unaware!
"Syeonyx? What do you think? We're here now... Now's as good a time as any!"
I couldn't agree more! I nodded. This was going to work, we just needed a plan to get in and then another to get out...
Huddled in the entryway of the new tunnel, UOPETA went over the plan again:
"Right. I scout out the area, keeping ahead of you two. When the coast is clear, I signal you forwards. We perform this all the way to the upper floor. Your bedroom is next to the stairs so that will be the easiest bit. Then once the book has been retrieved, we go down, into the basement and attempt to access the small tunnel on the exterior side of the wall you dug out some time ago! Any guards we come across, we deal with! No killing, but put them down quietly. Syeonyx? As you are unlikely to know how to do this, me and THEROS will go first, giving us a better chance of catching any of the guards unaware! Once we're out on the other side of the wall, we block up the tunnel and head off East back towards the coastline. We then follow it back to the crossing and head off to the base. Simple!"
I had a few issues with the plan, but as long as THEROS and UOPETA were comfortable with it, I was fine to go along with it. This was likely to be our only chance to get in to retrieve the book, and I didn't want to jeopardise it by throwing spanners in the works! UOPETA moved out of the tunnel, and scaled the dirt wall to the left and began to follow the wooden steps I had placed so long ago...
UOPETA took point, closely followed by THEROS, and I stayed in the back, waiting for UOPETA to call us forward. Despite the sound of the rain masking our footsteps, I could still hear my heart pounding away in my chest, like a drumbeat! We had made it to the porch and I hadn't seen any guards yet. I had seen a few on the walls moving back and forth... I felt sorry for them... Only in that they were protecting my house in this downpour! UOPETA instructed us to stay in the shadows of the porch whilst he opened the front door and ventured inside. We waited, for what seemed like eternity! Then, he poked his head around and beckoned us forwards. We passed the kitchen on my left, and I peered into the room on my right and froze! A guard! It took a moment for me to realise he was sleeping! I had initially thought UOPETA had "despatched" him and then called us forward, but the steady rise and fall of his chest told otherwise. We stopped in the hall whilst UOPETA edged up the stairs, sticking to the wall. After another long wait, he called for us to join him. Sneaking up the stairs so as to not make any noise, we made it to my room where I quickly but quietly moved over to the chest. Opening it, I found the book, still there, with a layer of dust atop the cover. I passed it to THEROS, who opened it and scanned a few of the pages. Then, we heard footsteps... We froze. Were we going to have to hide on the roof again. I got ready to move to the balcony door when UOPETA signaled for me to keep quiet. We stayed still, listening to what was going on... The footsteps were coming from down stairs... From the direction they had come from, it sounded like a guard had emerged from the basement and was heading to the kitchen. The footsteps stopped and we heard a voice. One of the guards was talking... He sounded angry! Had we been discovered? I strained my ears trying to catch any words; it sounded like he was trying to wake the other guard up... They were changing shifts! He was telling the other guard to go down to the barricade and guard it for the next shift pattern. The other guard sounded groggy and was uncooperative... What were we to do?
The guard that had come from the basement was trying to get the other guard to move down to the mineshaft for his shift... Then I froze! The next words I heard put me on edge; the hairs on the back of my neck became erect and I couldn't move: "Did you leave the door open?"! That was it! we had been found out... The other guard grumbled something in response, but I couldn't make it out... At this time, UOPETA motioned down... What? He wanted us to go down there? He began whispering:
"They're arguing! That means there's no-one guarding the barricade in the mineshaft. This is our one chance to get out without alerting anyone. I say we take it! THEROS?"
THEROS nodded. I didn't know what to do... This was logically the best time to get out, but the timing was crucial! If we made one slip up, or took too long on one bit, we were in trouble! They were too far away for us to respond quick enough before the guard let out some form of exclamation to bring attention to himself! Eventually, I nodded... What was the worst that could happen...? Well, they could find us, capture us and either put us back in the tower, or kill us... On the other hand, we could get out, with a vital asset, completely undetected... UOPETA and THEROS crept towards the stairs, and I followed close behind. The guards were still talking, one in a raised voice. There was a lot more going for us than against us; the rain and the guard shouting was covering any slight noise we made, and there were no other guards on the bottom floor. We got to the bottom of the stairs... UOPETA and THEROS moved into the doorway of the basement and I lined myself up to join them... Then I froze... The guards leg was in the doorway... Was he coming out...? UOPETA beckoned me to follow him, but I couldn't move. The sight of that leg had paralysed me! I sat there, trying to move but for all my life I couldn't! Eventually UOPETA dragged me into the doorway and we descended into the basement. The talking stopped and we all froze! Then it resumed and UOPETA let out a sigh... We were clear! Provided there weren't any other guards down here we were home and dry... Sort of...
Once we went down through the basement, down the stairwell to the mineshaft, we were almost free! We all knew there was no-one down here because they were changing guards. At the bottom of the stairs, I took the lead, showing the other two where to go. Creeping down the stairs, I saw that the barricade was still in place, and I moved forward to the bottom. UOPETA took point again, and one by one we moved through the small hole that still remained from the distraction with the minecart. A few feet more and we faced the wall I had blocked back up. I took the pickaxe in hand and began digging the tunnel out again, hoping most of it still remained. Eventually, I saw small amounts of light penetrating through the soil. It was still lit as well!
UOPETA broke through the surface, and we were greeted by darkness and rain! We were through! We just had to make sure no-one in one of the turrets saw us, and it was a done! We all crept from the hole, one by and one, and then UOPETA covered the hole up again, plunging us into darkness once more. Light emanated from the wall, but hopefully the glare of that will mask our presence for any on the wall. We crept to the East, where I had headed when I was returning to Jonas' house, and we continued in the driving rain, up towards the coastline!
For the first time all day, we've stopped to have a rest, and recharge our energy! We've eaten some of the supplies we took with us, and are preparing to move out again. The book: Codex Solis is safely tucked away in the bag, and we'll be giving that to OROTHO when we get back. THEROS tells me that AMPHIS can read Latin, so we'll be able to understand it fully! At the least, we now know how Creepers explode, and thanks to the book, we also know how this occurred... From this we hope OROTHO can determine how this was possible, and how it can be combated against. For now, we just have to concentrate on getting back to base. It's a long journey back, and I'm already exhausted beyond all comprehension! At least the rain has stopped...
Syeonyx signing off
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