The Console Wars

by BlackNoire

The CPUs are at each other's throats, but not in Celestia but in Gameinudstri. This is not done from Neptune's perspective or any CPU for that matter. A male arrives in Gamindsutri who appears to be from somewhere else. All is not as it seems as this is not from the Neptunia universe but a general gaming universe. This is a fanfic unlike any other. Rated M for violence.

154. Our rescue attempt

Before Chapter 154 I would like to announce that songoku2006 has released a new fanfic called Returning Goddesses, and I would also like to wish my fans a Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Chapter 154: Our rescue attempt

Note: Readers please listen to Command and Conquer Tiberian Sun Valves OST while reading this:

We have commenced our attack on the Evelyn Residence, which is currently occupied by Neptune and her goons, whose aim to rule this land and to inflict who knows what horrors on the good aristocracy of this great nation. We attack now despite not knowing where exactly Noire and her allies are, despite the chances of failure being significant, even if we've done the best we can to reduce that chance of failure.

Despite reassuring myself that there's no other way and our method will bring us success, I keep having this fear that it will not work. I suppose it is because this part of the plan requires every enemy soldier on the fence to die at a similar enough time, so that no one notices. Yet it's tragic that the only way to do so quietly is by firing crossbow bolts, and yet due to the way crossbows work and how deadly bolts are compared to bullets, the aiming has to be precise, as just the location of impact on the target, can result in the difference between death and wounded, which can make the difference between success and failure.

The thing is, this could arguably be the easiest part since we are able to see their patrols from here, and are more difficult to spot by the enemy from where we are, whereas when we cross the fence, it'll be hard to find adequate cover, and we can only hope that we can navigate our way to the residence and commence our rescue, without being discovered in which dead royal hostages are the outcome.

I have thought of acquiring disguises from the killed enemy troops, but my concern is that would we be able to fool them, and there's also the risk of accidentally being shot by our own troops, as now we cannot communicate via radio because of the jammers.

While my group has managed to take out all the enemy soldiers in the patrol nearest to us, which relieves me immensely that we've managed to pull it off despite not having as much training as we would have liked with the crossbows, it's best to wait to see if there's any sign of alarm from there, even if timing is critical.

We wait for around a minute only to see that there hasn't been any sign of alarm whatsoever, if anything I can see in the distance bodies of fallen soldiers in groups.

This is even more of a relief, so far so good. Now the more challenging part: to access the grounds between here outside, and the grand elegant building itself. I've no doubt as we get closer and closer, it'll get more and more difficult to maintain our element of surprise. I can only hope that the time it'll inevitably be lost, will not necessarily result in our failure and death. If we can at least meet up with Noire, Uni and the aristocracy, then there is a chance of us fighting our way out so that they can ultimately be rescued, and then in groups clear the place room by room, until all that's left is Neptune herself, and whatever experiments she has managed to do.

We will need to get over the fence to access the grounds itself, but the issue is, is making sure none of us get spotted from doing so, and also being able to take out enemy patrols from where we are, as well as to do so without alerting the other enemies there nearby. We can only hope that if we actually end up alerting the enemy, that we merely make them curious as to what the noise is, and that they won't suspect enemy troops just yet.

This will definitely be a challenge since unlike just now, due to the enemy patrols on the grounds being different from place and place, and it not being as easy to take them out due to the fence being in the way, along with communication by radio being off, it will not be possible for us all to cross the fence at the same time, and as a result we can only rely on our allies in our own groups and, just hope that we can make it. This is quite tragic and frustrating that not only is there the possibility of there not being direct help, but there is also the alarming possibility that through no fault of our own group, another group could alert the enemy by accident, and it's game over for all of us.

Nevertheless, we can only rely on our abilities, and I know the troops with us are well trained and have high morale, and should hopefully be able to adapt to whatever situation is thrown at them. Furthermore despite the concerns there is, there is no ideal choice but to fight our way through, and to do so with as much stealth as we can, and being as careful as we can.

The fence has wrought iron bars which look elegant and ornate, and consist of nice patterns in which between the iron posts are what appear to be arrows attached to iron shafts, and those columns of iron bars connect to two gold bars, in which between them are Xs with a distinctive gold symbol. On top of them are what appear to be gold fleur de lis shapes, in which there's several of them before there's a large gold sceptre head, in fact this fence reminds me of a fence outside a palace of this nation, which I know to be famous but forget what it is.

Finally and fortunately for us, the fence sits on top of a stone wall which is the height of one large brick, and we can use this brick to take cover, while we gather all the information we can with regards the enemy patrol movements on the grounds nearest the fence.

From there, we can navigate our way to the cemetery where hopefully we can surround it, take out the enemy troops there, and enter the secret passage to the building itself. It'll take time for us to do all of this, but hopefully not too much time that it'll be light and our covers will be blown as a result.

With all this in mind, I give the order for a couple of our soldiers to crawl towards the fence, hoping that the enemy is unable to spot our guys due to the distance, the darkness and the fence being in the way of their ability to see us, along with their fatigue and boredom, preventing them from doing a proper search, for I can't be sure if our troops being prone and the short stone wall part of the fence will be able to conceal them completely.

It does take some time for them to reach the fence, but then again doing anything in a stealthy manner takes time, as there's a need to be quiet and a need to be thorough which forces us to be slow. It'll also take time for them to learn how many troops there are on the other side of the fence opposite us, along with their movement patterns (due to the time it takes for them to do their routine before repeating themselves), so that we can take them out while ensuring we don't get spotted by the enemy.

Still, I'm confident that it'll pay off when we get closer and closer to the estate, and thus it will be at least a little bit easier to rescue our allies if we get discovered. It's just a case of patience which I know that nasty Neptune doesn't have.

As a result of sign language, our allies tell us that there's only a small group of them a significant distance away from the fence but facing it, and they've been standing there for a while, not patrolling the grounds like I would expect them to do.

This is quite odd to just see them there, but then again it matters not, they're just enemy soldiers who are part of the obstacles that stand between us, and the hostages we need to rescue. The thing we need to do first though, is to check if there are any enemies near their position, and fortunately, there doesn't appear to be any other groups nearby, who could potentially notice the group being taken out.

The thing is while they do their best to look, due to their position as a result of having to take cover, it isn't easy seeing if it's the case, they can't be absolutely certain, but then again is it even possible in these circumstances, as they've even tried moving away to look, but there's still no one there apart from that group.

I quickly give the order for us to crawl towards the fence so that we can take out the group, and set up our means of crossing the fence, knowing that none of our enemies will be in a position to see us do this.

This does take a while for us to do, due to us having to crawl all the way there, find a position where we can see them but they can't see us, aim our weapons at the right spot, and fire at the same time so the entire group is killed simultaneously. The thing is even with us outnumbering them, it's still concerning that we could be too noisy and alert them to our presence, but we eventually manage to eliminate them without being spotted, causing us to breathe a huge sigh of relief, knowing that we can enter the grounds now without the risk of being detected, provided we can maintain noise discipline.

We get out our makeshift steps, and position them such that there's a makeshift staircase while looking to see if there any enemies approaching our position, due to either deciding to or out of suspicion, only for there to be none, relieving us as it would be quite precarious to have to deal with them, when we're quite exposed and there is the matter of the steps being here.

Even though it's been clear for a short while, we still look around for them, as there is the issue of them coming here as part of their patrol, while one by one we climb up slowly and carefully. We do so because of the issue of landing on the other side without risk of noise or injury, and so we hold each other and guide each other, such that there's a soft landing by holding onto them, and gently lowering them down until they can land safely.

This maneuverer of ours takes a long time considering the number of soldiers in our group that need to cross, and the time it takes to guide them over the fence, but at least overtime due to there eventually being more people who can help, due to the amount of room there is on the other side compared to the makeshift stairs, it gets quicker. Despite the tension of being spotted at any moment and not being able to do much about it, we are all on the grounds now without any incident, and I'm pleased that this is thanks to us all surrounding the grounds and being able to clear the enemies that are near our positions, and have spent some time to ensure that this is the case and remains so.

We look around our location to see and make sure that are no enemies close enough to see us, before heading for the cemetery in which no doubt there'll be enemy forces there, that needs to be taken care of.

As we move out, I find myself in full appreciation of the equipment that we have, along with the equipment the enemy has, considering it's dark and we have night vision goggles whereas they only have basic torches and as a result we can see further than them, and therefore we can see the patrols that stand in the way between us and the cemetery, whereas they won't be able to see us coming, provided we can continue to defeat them carefully without alerting anyone nearby.

Between us and the cemetery, are a small group of soldiers facing our direction, behind them at a distance too far for their torches to reveal, are a larger group of soldiers with some facing our direction and others facing away from us, and behind them again at a similar distance, are trees next to each other, in which past them is the cemetery, and these trees are guarded by soldiers in which some are at the front of the trees, with some of them behind leaning out. Hmmm. As I look at the obstacles I find myself thinking that this will be a challenge, due to the need of finding an ideal place to shoot each one at the same time, but we can only do our best, and I'm sure a way can be found to solve this problem with the necessary constraints attached.

At least the first group shouldn't be too tricky because they are in a line somewhat, and it's just a case of lining up our shots and firing at the right area with as little chance of missing as possible, especially with them being in the same place for so long, and the arrows travelling at a reasonably quick speed.

Despite the apparent ease that this should be, I still wish for us to take our time, as we cannot afford to slip up considering there's no second chances when it comes to using crossbows as a weapon when it comes to stealth, and all too well I know that we will not be in any fit state to take everyone else here on at once.

As a result, we all lie on the floor after being as close as we can to them without the risk of being spotted, so that our targets are as big as they can be to us, after which, we take aim and then fire.

Soon afterwards, they're all dead and we wait a short while to check if any of the other enemies have heard and wish to investigate only there's no one at all.

We then get up such that we're in a crouched position, and we then move forward until we can get a proper look at the next group of troops that are in our way, not exactly enjoying the noise we make even though we're as quiet as possible and no one else is noticing.

It's not too long before we notice them properly. There's the same number of them as they are of us, but while some are looking in our direction and the others away from us, they are such that they stand in the way of each other, and we will need to see if we can move around such that every one of them can be shot without anyone else being in the way. While we could just take out some of them and then the rest of them, I worry that they could alert our presence before we can take them out, and their proximity to their fallen comrades will mean that it couldn't be anything else but an attack.

At least while they are close together, they're not standing shoulder to shoulder with their backs to each other, so as a result, we should be able to achieve killing each one of them, without having to surround them completely, as I worry about having to navigate our way around without potentially being seen by the enemies, due to where they are and where others are, and even if I could be overestimating their torch ranges, I do not wish to risk it.

To see if this is possible, with 5 of us agreeing to take out the ones directly in front of us, the rest of us agree to take out the rest of the enemy group with each of them having their own target, and they move around until they have direct line of sight of their target. We all give signals once this is done, and it's a relief that we don't have to surround the enemy completely to be able to do this.

We wait for some time while aiming, to ensure that they have no intention of moving from their spot only to find that they don't, along with keeping an eye out for enemies that could potentially spot us only for there to be none, and with my quiet signal, we open fire against them, wiping every one of them out, and no enemy is close enough to notice a single thing suspicious.

Excellent, now for the final obstacle between us and the cemetery and yet this one is the hardest yet. Not only is there a group of soldiers matching our numbers, with half standing in front of a line of trees and the other half behind peeking out at random times, I know from studying the map that there's 4 lines of trees surrounding the cemetery, forming a box shape and each tree line will have guards there, no doubt in the same pose, and that's not to mention the troops that will no doubt be in the cemetery itself. This I find concerning as this indicates that they know that the cemetery is the location of a secret passage to the estate, but then again does it matter if they know as long as we can infiltrate without them knowing?

Another concern I have is being able to take out some of them without alerting the others, since I cannot be sure that no one on the other side will not notice, if this group near the tree line we're looking at is to die. That's assuming that these guys can be taken out successfully in one go, but it won't be easy since they're poking their heads out randomly. It's almost as if they're daring us to take them out.

One thing I do know is that there is a path to the cemetery from the estate, and I know that it cuts through the two tree lines, hopefully creating enough space to ensure that they won't be heard. While it may not be the case it's worth a look.

We first look around us to see where the enemy patrols are in the distance, and whether they would notice us or even hear us, as I am concerned that the path could be made of stones which make noises when walked on, and can only hope that there is a way around that issue.

After which, we set off to the road though remaining crouched so as not to make as much noise, still looking around to see if there are enemy groups heading towards us, in which we can only hope for the best that we can take them out and not alert anyone else.

Thankfully it doesn't happen and we reach the road in reasonable time, before stopping while still looking around. As I dreaded, the road is made up of stones, but I am optimistic that the road isn't too wide for an average person to jump without landing on the road itself, especially considering that we are fit healthy people who are trained and do plenty of exercises. While there is the issue of noise being made even if we land on the other side of the road, it'll be quieter than the stones, and even quieter than running or walking over the road.

This is still quite tense as while I'm optimistic that we can do it, there's still the concern that a mistake can be made since we all need to jump this road successfully, whereas only one of us needs to fail for it to be a failure. Yet there's no other way, we need to scout around this location to see if we can in fact sneak our way through to the cemetery, since we cannot risk attacking from where we were.

One by one, we jump across and land without hitting any of the stones, and I'm pleased that the noise of the landing and the distance the enemies are at, means that they do not hear us cross the road. Through my night vision goggles I see exchanges of smiles of relief that we have made it across to the other side, where hopefully we can be rewarded for our actions.

The thing is while there is plenty of space for us to move around, we will need to do more looking to see if we can indeed sneak through to the cemetery undetected, especially as right now I get the suspicion that even with the road splitting the two tree lines perpendicular to one another, I can't be certain that the distance is enough for the noise of a fallen soldier to be unheard by the enemies on the other side.

Suddenly, I see a group of people in the distance who seem to be walking towards us and they're as numerous as us. I quickly but quietly order my troops to go prone, desperately hoping that they didn't see us.

I then look ahead at their direction only for them to no longer be there anymore. Were they ghosts? I don't see how they can be, since even in this nightmare, the enemies would surely be human and monsters not ghosts. Maybe they were there but they have gone? I wait a short while only to find no yells of concern, I see no one rushing towards us.

I get up to a crouched position looking around to see if those people are still there, only to see 1 of them and what's more he appears to be closer to me. I quickly go prone hoping that we don't get found and that they'll go away as we have no other choice but to hide, since killing them will alert the others.

While my heart is racing at the prospect of being found by the enemy, and my mind is racing with thoughts of concern, other thoughts begin to appear in my mind. Why did I not see any of them use torches? I'm sure they didn't have torches despite the usefulness of them in this time of night. Why have they not announced that they have intruders and try and find us? Why did we first see 10 soldiers, but then saw only 1? There hasn't been any shots fired from us, and the only silent shots could be fired from…. are us. Wait… are they actually part of our forces? They have to be, they must have spotted us and hid in fear we'd raise alarm concerning their presence, and one of them crouched up to see what's what.

I then order a few of us to be crouched and look for enemies, while I get up to a crouched position to look at those people, this time with the intention of looking at them properly, look at their weapon and their uniform and work out what it is as best as I can, considering the distance and the fact that I'm wearing night vision goggles.

I see a few of them looking around with 1 of them looking at me, and I take a proper look at him, noticing that he seems to have a crossbow and his uniform is the same as mine. I wave to him and he waves back. The thing is while I should breathe a huge sigh of relief and it is definitely a relief to see another group of ours on the grounds close by, I find myself breathing heavily and stressed.

We could have killed each other by accident, and one of the most tragic things ever, is when friendly fire happens. Although it didn't happen I feel awful in that it could have happened, and it's only because of circumstances where we are to flight more than fight, that I was able to think and work out the logical explanation as to what just happened. I really hope that it doesn't happen again, and I can only provide comfort in knowing that it didn't happen, and know that it's all Neptune's fault for bringing us into this nightmare, and putting me into a situation where I could have accidentally killed my own soldiers.

As much of an experience that was, I cannot allow it to bother me, and I can only be thankful that we didn't fight each other. I need to think more positively that we have found each other, and there's more of us here, increasing our chances significantly of taking the cemetery from the enemy.

Now it's just a simple matter of meeting up with them, and arranging for us all to work together to capture the cemetery. The thing is, because of wanting to reduce the risk of getting spotted by the enemy as much as possible, along with saving the need for them to come to us, when we'll need them over there, I leave my troops where they are and while prone crawl my way to them, while keeping my eyes out for enemy movements near our position.

Despite the fact that I need more information regarding the exact troop layout, thoughts race through my head as to exactly how this can be done, considering the troops they'll have and where they'll probably be. I think about this, as although we have more troops with us now, we're no doubt outnumbered still, and there is the concern that it will take too long and reload and aim accurately so that we could kill our next target, before the enemy is alerted properly.

Our only solution to this therefore, is to hope that we are able to take them out batch by batch, but what concerns me is whether this can be done. We can only get more information and look around the treelines on the other side of the cemetery, to see if this is the case. All this runs through my head as I'm always looking around me, while heading to meet up with the allies via crawling, since despite the probability of not getting spotted being small, there's still a risk of enemies approaching me or worse, I am unable to avoid them and end up being compromised as a result.

Thankfully once again, nothing happens, and after what felt like a long while although it's probably not the case due to the stress and tension which I hope doesn't affect my ability to fight or think too much especially at this time, I meet with my allies and we exchange knowledge with regards what we've seen of the enemy position.

All of a sudden, we see an enemy group of soldiers appear to head towards our location. We can only go prone and look ahead to see if there's any enemies near them who will be alerted to them dying, as I decide on whether to take them out or not, as each of us take aim against them, and hope that either they will leave us alone, or that killing them will not alert any of the others.

The trouble is they keep coming closer, with no signs of taking a different direction, as it seems as if we have no other choice but to just take them out, and hope that no one will take notice, even if the enemies appear to be too far away from this group.

We open fire at them, and manage to take them out before waiting to see if any of the enemies have noticed our kill. We wait for a short while only to find that no one has come. This causes us to breathe an immense sigh of relief, as had it not been for us keeping an eye out even when discussing what we've found, we could have been spotted and killed.

From talking with the other group, I have learned that just like the tree line on our side, the other tree lines seem to have the same numbers and same sort of troop deployment, though they haven't been able to get a proper look to see the enemy numbers and deployment at the cemetery there, and this is due to the concern that they don't feel able to sneak past the enemies by the trees without being spotted. In fact they only managed to see two soldiers in the cemetery area quite close to the tree line, and are looking at it. This worries me as there could be more enemies at the cemetery who could notice our attack.

As a result, it seems that there's only solution: we need to wipe out the enemies adjacent to the sides we came from and is furthest away from the fence, and hope that the enemy doesn't actually notice, or at least will only be curious to see what it was, and will take a look, giving us another chance of taking out the enemy without being noticed.

But how to do so considering the enemy at the cemetery could notice? Hmmmm. This is the issue here, and we find ourselves deep in thought as to the best approach to get through this, as it appears to be that there are effectively 3 lines of defence: the enemies standing by the tree line, the enemies standing behind the tree line and those at the cemetery, all of them looking in our direction. While I like to think that we have enough soldiers to deal with the enemies on this tree line, and perhaps all the enemies in the cemetery area, we need to see the cemetery area for ourselves and yet the trouble is it's too well guarded for us to be able to take a proper look.

Wait a minute. I realise something. What if instead of us trying to think of a way of taking out that line and hope for the best, we try and make some noise and pretend to be soldiers messing about due to the low morale and fatigue, hopefully we can distract one or perhaps even a group of them, and get them to investigate and lure them and take them out, and with luck they could be the guards that prevents us from having a proper look at the cemetery.

I was about to think about the best way of distracting the enemy, only to remember the road full of stones, and the fact that we could use that as a distraction to lure them out, pretend to be soldiers of Neptune's messing about due to fatigue and boredom. Plus which I can imagine Neptune's soldiers aren't going to be the most disciplined considering this is Neptune we're talking about. Hopefully they'll be suspicious enough to notice something's not right and will investigate but not enough for them to raise the alarm.

With luck, along with being able to get a proper look at the cemetery, we may even be able to find a better way of taking out the enemy soldiers on the tree line we wish to deal with, without alerting any enemies nearby.

If we can just get a proper look at the cemetery then we should be able to come up with a strategy of defeating the enemies there.

The thing is, if we are to use the noise of the stones as a distraction, we will need to look around and judge the distances between us and the enemies patrolling the grounds, along with how much sound we are to make, as we only wish to attract the attention of the enemies by the tree lines and no one else.

Upon noticing the other enemies that are around appear to be too far away from us, and in any case we can just position ourselves away from the road such that they won't spot us, we put our plan into action in which all but one of us will be a significant distance from the road, but have our eyes on the road and our surroundings, the remaining one is to be disguised as an enemy soldier, and will make some noise on the road before running away from the road, such that he's still nearby and will result in the enemy having to come to him to discipline him.

While there is concern that it may not work and they could ignore him, I like to think they won't since there is the issue of them needing to be quiet, so that they are better able to spot intruders at night. While there is also the issue of demanding him to come to the cemetery by yelling, I can't see them doing that for the same reasons, and even if they were to, he could just ignore them until they come, and there's also the fact that while there is a risk of him being shot, I can't see that happening due to needing to keep quiet, as well as potentially alarming others into thinking that there's intruders, which will cause the hostages to die, and while that would be failure for us, it'll also result in failure for them, since as far as they're concerned the shot came from punishing a naughty soldier as opposed to actual intruders, meaning Neptune has lost her bargaining chip for nothing.

Because I soon realise that getting a uniform that fits, that has no blood on it whatsoever will be difficult, especially as we will have to sneak around and acquire one which will take a significant amount of time to do, I've decided to improvise my plan by having one of our soldiers instead be in only their boots, their socks and their pants, their underwear. That way he can be disguised as someone messing about, and it won't be obvious then that he isn't one of them.

While it is night, it shouldn't be too cold, as I haven't felt cold at all out here, nor has any of my fellow troops showed any signs of freezing here either. Plus which this shouldn't be too long, and I know that the wind can make it significantly colder and yet there is no wind, no wind at all even though I find that odd considering the location and it being night-time here. Maybe Neptune has forgotten about that, or perhaps things like that matters little to her. Then again would it have made much difference since both us and the enemy would experience the wind, and more likely we'd be better suited for it due to having better equipment and training?

I can only hope that this technique of mine works, as I am unable to think of any other ideas, as I quietly inform my allies of my plan, only for us to then get on with it, being as quiet but quick as we possibly can. Despite reassuring myself earlier, and also considering the fact that the person to take most of his clothes off volunteered to do this, and he like the other soldiers are used to exercising in all weathers, I can't help but hope he isn't too cold, and while his body language suggest he's ok, I'll feel better once he can wear his clothes again. At least he isn't embarrassed and we have no intention of making fun of this, for this is vital, and he is very brave to volunteer considering the risks.

Fortunately it's not too long before he's ready, and yet again thoughts race through my mind as to along with the concern as to whether it will work, there's also the worse prospect that rather than luring the enemy out, am I giving the enemy an opportunity to kill one of my troops with ease? Again I don't get the sense from his body language that he's concerned about that either, and again I attempt to reassure myself about how unlikely that is to happen, and the issue of what other choice do I have, as sometimes to achieve things one has to take risks, and as tragic as it would be his death were it to happen would not be in vain, and this is a nightmare.

I give the order for him to do his work, and now will be the moment of truth as to will we succeed in my plan to distract the enemy and bleed some of their numbers, or will it result in failure. He gathers some pebbles from the road and throws them on it, before stepping on the road, stamping on it as loudly as he can before running off, only to notice a torch shining on his back, in which he turns to face them.

Now I can only hope that either some of them come to him so that they can have a quiet word with him, or perhaps discipline him, or at least that he'll be brought to the cemetery where hopefully they'll be distracted by him, allowing us to take out some of them.

Thankfully it is the former that is to happen and there's not 1 not 2 not even 3 or even 4, but 8 of them approaching the guy with little clothes on, their body language clearly frustrated with this, and appear to be itching for a scrap at the guy's expense. This I find baffling that there would be 8 of them coming out, though perhaps it's because what the guy did must be serious to them, either that or they're bored, tired and frustrated and wish to take it out on him.

Regardless of the reason, we appreciate this turn of events and we all take aim, and wait until they're far away enough from the others so that the others won't notice, even if they may know of their friends walking off to do this, and could perhaps wonder where they are, when they find that their friends haven't returned despite the fact that they shouldn't be too long.

It's not too long before they are far away enough from their friends, that we then open fire and take them out, well away from their range of torches, and their range of hearing considering how loud the kills were, in which it's not loud at all but it's not without noise.

We quickly give him his equipment and clothes back, and he quickly puts his clothes back on, equips his equipment and he is soon ready for battle once more, we then give him a smile and thumbs up for his bravery. We would of course cheer and applaud but the circumstances prevent us from doing so. I'm so pleased for it to have worked after all that time, thinking of a way of being able to infiltrate the cemetery, and being stressed that it may not work. Finally, we should be able to see the cemetery itself, and be able to take out all the enemies part by part, now that the enemies on the tree line next to the road are reduced by a significant amount.

Knowing that the enemies on the treeline are guarded by enemies behind the treeline, and knowing that they would switch between hiding and peeking out from the tree as cover, I give the order for there to be groups of 6 looking at each tree line at a distance from them, for they are to aim at an enemy soldier such that there's 2 to 1, and to observe any patterns with regards the movements of the enemies guarding the tree line at the back, and once all the enemies at the back of a given side one of the groups of mine are looking at are hiding, the troops in the group are to open fire. Hopefully this will ensure the enemies at the back don't notice any of their comrades have just been killed.

Next, they are to carefully head to the trees, and without being spotted, they are to split themselves up such that there's 2 of them from each group by each tree, in which an enemy is behind it, and when the enemy pops out, one is to kill at close range, the other is to hold the enemy such that they're standing despite being dead, and when there are no lights shining on them, the dead bodies are to be moved away such that the flashlights cannot see them.

I explain this plan to them, making sure that they understand exactly what needs to be done, and allow them to ask questions if they're unsure, only for it to be that they know exactly what needs to be done and they set off doing it. Because they are skilled in hand to hand combat along with in their use of ranged weapons, I am confident that they will be able to do this without any problems. As a result I feel at ease, in being able to do my bit without being compromised accidentally by my team mates, as that can be a frustrating thing to experience.

My part in this plan of mine is to involve having a good look at the cemetery, to see how many troops are deployed and where they are exactly, and hopefully as a result we can take out some of them without alerting the others to make this easier. Meanwhile the rest of us is to provide support for those engaging the tree line if need be as soon as they can, and if they're able to, as well as to provide support for us, but ideally the treelines can be taken without assistance, in which it would make things so much easier, as then there's less chance of the enemy spotting their fallen comrades.

I and a few allies of mine attempt to have a proper look at the cemetery, in which despite having groups of soldiers of ours dealing with those treelines, it's still concerning that they could spot us on the off chance that they look in our direction. Then there's the issue of finding a good spot to get a proper look, in which I won't get spotted.

We will have to approach slowly and keep our eyes out for where their torch lights are shone, and only when we can be certain that it won't cover our route, can we advance further to where we need to be. Hopefully it won't take too long for our other groups to deal with those treelines, and thus weaken the enemy's abilities to prevent us from sneaking in. In fact just as I say that, it seems that with regards the treelines, the enemies that stand with their backs to the treeline have just been taken out on one side, and yet the enemy hasn't noticed that it seems.

Excellent, most excellent this will make it easier, and hopefully the enemies at the back of the trees won't see our approach. Still, we move cautiously and quietly, as we cannot afford any mistakes even if it's going to plan. Eventually after constant looking and slow movements when appropriate, we find a spot from which to look at the cemetery.

Even with my NVGs on I can get a sense of how elegant and beautiful this cemetery is with the grave stones being large, elegant and well decorated full of writing on it, and there are plenty of statues of a distinct type and period, presumably of a culture associated with this nation. There's even several mausoleums of a significant size, in which one of them is actually the entrance to a secret passage to the grand estate itself, in which they are nicely decorated of a similar distinct style, and the material is of a top quality, they also have large doors in which they're open for some reason, probably for ease of access by enemy troops if they wish to ambush, or in the case of the secret passage to reinforce.

Just as I expected it to be, the cemetery is guarded by a significant number of soldiers, and yet they stand while aiming their guns pointing it at different areas, combing the perimeter with their torches to see if there are any intruders there. There's only 10 of them and they're all outside with no one inside the mausoleums it seems, with 2 facing the road, and there are 2 guards facing each tree line, though apart from the 2 facing the road, they are of significant distance from each other, thus making me think if they can be taken out without alerting the others, even if the cemetery is next to the tree lines, apart from one of them due to the road.

Having all the information I can get, I make my way back to the rest of the group, along with the soldiers who went with me, and it's at this point that my allies have managed to kill the enemies behind those tree lines concerned without the enemy noticing, which is amazing considering the risk of the enemy making a noise, and the enemies in the cemetery potentially noticing that their comrades have just died right in front of them.

The thing is though, while we have managed to reduce their numbers, we are still outnumbered, and therefore there is still a significant risk of being compromised by the enemy even now, in which we're so close to accessing the secret passage to the estate, and yet unlike last time, there is no means to distract them adequately, and there's also the possibility that that tactic would not work again.

All we can do therefore, is to take them out a few at a time, and hope that as we engage them, the allied soldiers to have fired first will have enough time to reload and be ready for the others, or even better, some of the enemies are just too far away to be noticed by the other soldiers, along with there being no one in any of the mausoleums themselves, and therefore we can take them out first to make things easier for us.

The trouble is, is trying to think which enemies to take out first, which enemies are the furthest away from others, and are less likely to be noticed if they were to be taken out? Not to mention taking into account any possible enemies hiding in the museum that could be alerted to the deaths of their comrades, in which I have sent orders to take a good long look at the mausoleums as best as they can and see if there are any enemies inside only for there to be none, but there's no certainty.

Hmmm. One thing I am confident about, is that it would be ideal if rather than sending half of us to each treeline surrounding the cemetery where there are still guards there, on the side away from the cemetery and is such that they are hidden, I wonder if I should only send a quarter to one treeline, and then once the treeline has been dealt with, they can help deal with the remaining one. I think this because then there's more of us to deal with the enemies in the cemetery itself, especially since most of the enemies in the cemetery are actually away from the tree lines, and there's only a couple close to one another. As for the mausoleums we'll just have to keep an eye on it and hope that at least they don't hear any one die and that the enemies are too far away from the mausoleums to be heard, and even if they were to hear I just hope we can take them out quietly before they raise the alarm.

While there is the concern of the enemies in the cemetery being fairly close to each other, there is something they have that could be used against them: their torches. There's only 2 looking at each side, and they're pointing from one end of the side they're facing to the other, like a censor scanning, and since they'll most likely be in a pattern, we could strike certain enemies at certain times, knowing what each enemy will see in their line of sight when they flash their torch from one end to the other, and also knowing how long it takes for them to scan one end to another with their torches which is about a quarter of a minute.

There's also the fact that while the enemy will be able to see their comrades in their line of sight when they flash the torch at them, because of the grave stones, mausoleums and statues, will they be able to see their feet if they can see them at all, and therefore see them if they're dead? After all, they will have noticed people heading off due to a potential issue which is serious enough to sort out, but don't involve intruders, and therefore just because they're not there, doesn't mean that they're dead.

With all this in mind I have a plan in mind, this is to be for 5 of us to go around and at the appropriate moment, they are to take out the enemies on the side of one tree line that's outside the cemetery. Meanwhile, the rest of us are to have a target each be it in the cemetery itself, or by the same tree line that 5 of our soldiers will be facing on the other side, and in a specific order we are to eliminate each enemy soldier one by one, and when it's time to take out the enemies at the tree line, everyone with a target there is to do it simultaneously.

Once the targets by the treeline have been taken out, the 5 soldiers that faced the tree line on the other side are to advance carefully, towards the remaining tree line with guards, and at the appropriate moment are to take out the enemies on that treeline on the side they are at, while the rest of us deals with the rest of the remaining enemies there in the cemetery, and behind the tree line that still has guards, as well as for 5 of us to advance to the same area as the other group of 5, and assist the 5 in taking out all the remaining enemies there, on the other side of the area. While this is all happening, a handful of us are to keep watch on the mausoleums as soon as possible, to see if there are any enemies alerted to us, and hopefully they can be taken out without hindering our ability to carry out our main plan, or better still there's no one in them.

Even with all these thoughts I have, while I'm still concerned about others noticing due to noise, and perhaps seeing people dying or dead bodies, especially those by the tree line who we've left for last, not to mention the enemies in the mausoleum, it's the only plan I have considering the circumstances. If we can just deal with the first lot of enemies, and be ready for the second before they notice, then all should hopefully be fine. It's just a matter of ensuring that no one misses, in which no one has here yet thanks to the good quality training that they have. That is great and a significant relief to say the least, considering just one miss can lead to the downfall of our operation to rescue the aristocracy.

Like before, I explain my precise plan to the troops, ensuring that they understand it exactly after explaining it which they do, only for us to then carry it out. Despite the apparent complexity, it's just a simple case of being extremely accurate to the point where we never miss and timing, and deciding the exact moment when we will begin the attack, which will be when the enemy that has eyes on the tree line to the right of the road, has his torch facing the road. The first enemies to deal with will be at the centre, then those nearest to the tree line we are going to focus on, along with the enemies next to the treeline itself. After which the next target will be the two guarding the entrance to the cemetery via the road, and then we can deal with the remaining enemies and hopefully by then, we will all be at the appropriate place and will have managed to reload our weapons and therefore be able to attack, before the guards concerned will be able to raise the alarm.

Despite doing my best focusing on my target, I have a constant feeling of doubt as to whether it would work, even though it's the best possible plan for these circumstances. I guess it's because of how close we are, and how easy it is for it to be messed up, considering the fact that there is essentially the need for all 20 of us to take out a target, without missing the first shot we fire, and then quickly reload, move into position, and take out another target again, not to mention not being able to accommodate for the potential mausoleum garrisons apart from keeping an eye out for them. I then realise that I cannot have doubt otherwise that could hinder my ability, I have to go for it just like the rest of us, and have faith that we can do it, considering our success so far. I also realise that if we are to succeed, we need to believe that we can and we can since we have better equipment, better soldiers, better morale and better tactics . We can do this, the enemy won't know what hit them.

I believe we can, in fact after I've fired at my target at the appropriate moment and then move to the appropriate position and reload my weapon, I find that it's all going well with us all firing at the appropriate moment, and then moving into position, with no sign of the enemy being alerted what so ever. This is such a morale boost and relief since if this can be done, this will hopefully be the last time that we'll be outnumbered and we can only use crossbows, and the subsequent engagements could perhaps be easier for us to deal with hopefully.

Eventually we're all in position and we all have a target to shoot, and we open fire on them again, in which they're all wiped out practically at the same time. This is an even bigger relief to say the very least, as the guard almost had his torch pointing at the road, and it wouldn't have taken long for him to notice the dead bodies and raise the alarm, resulting in our defeat.

I can only hope that our future victories are never that close again. Still, it's better for us to have succeeded despite almost failing, than to fail despite almost succeeding. The thing is though, my gut now tells me is that all of that will be easy compared to what we will have to face in the estate, if we are to maintain our element of surprise and not risk the enemy killing the hostages due to our presence alerting them, as its probable that the location of the hostages will be difficult to get to, due to all the enemy patrols in there even at this time. In fact, I can imagine the secret passage will be a significant challenge with there being only one way through, and it being guarded by soldiers, and I am concerned about finding a way through without alerting them.

Regardless, once again I see no alternative as going in by the front door will lead to capture, trying to find a way of sneaking in through the window will be impossible due to the guards that are likely to notice, and going loud is out of the question. We can only take the secret passage and carefully and quietly make our way through, and see what enemies there are. I'm sure there'll be a way to deal with them, without the risk of the alarm being raised.

At least along with knowing exactly where the entrance is via the cemetery and how to access it, we also know the layout of the secret passage, and in this path of significant distance, there's only a couple of turns after a ramp before a long ramp up to the first floor, and considering the distance from the cemetery to the estate, we like to think that there won't be too many guards especially considering the time of day, and the possibility of them thinking that we wouldn't use this as an avenue to attack them. Even so, we cannot afford to underestimate them, and we can only deal with them once we come face to face with the enemies in the secret passageway.

We waste no time and carefully check all the elegant mausoleums for enemy soldiers, only for there to be none at all in any of them, which I find odd but then again is it due to there not being enough troops, and the stupidity and arrogance on their part, or a combination of those reasons. I have to say it is alarming, because if there were to be even a handful of them in those buildings I wonder if they could have been dealt with in an ideal manner. Once again I cannot dwell on those issues, and can only be thankful that we've reached this point.

We soon reach the exact location where the entrance is, which is one of the grand beautiful mausoleums. We then look behind us to see if there are any dead bodies in view, and even go out of the mausoleum a fair amount to see if there any dead bodies, and move any that can be seen. Once this is done we go back in, and trigger the means for the entrance to open which is a torch on one of the sides, which is held by something attached to a wall, I think it's called a sconce and even with my NVGs, I get the impression that it's very ornate and expensive and well made.

Knowing that there's likely some enemy soldiers that's going to investigate, we take cover and wait for them to come out so we can wipe them out, and carefully enter the secret passage in which it's covered by a large marble sarcophagus, which resembles a building and is full of sculpted artwork consisting of people doing various stuff, and all this reminds me of a distinct era, and I can imagine this being a popular style in this land. I have no doubt it's very beautiful, it's too bad this is not the time to appreciate the architecture and artefacts that they have. The thing is despite the tragedy of not being able to view it properly, at least it's yet another reminder of what we're fighting for in which we fight for a lot of things, including our heritage which is beautiful and the best it can be, and must be protected at all costs for future generations to appreciate.

As we find cover, thoughts begin to run through my mind as despite having the element of surprise and no doubt higher numbers, what concerns me is being able to take them out without others seeing or hearing them, as this can depend on whether the enemy will be watching their allies come out to investigate. I do suspect that there'll be people coming from the passage to investigate, but will they, or will they just stand guard in hopes of surprising us?

We can only wait and see if enemies come out, and if they do try and determine whether they're being watched from behind, and if they are try and find a way of taking out the enemies in front before finding a way to take out those behind. It's all down to how they are intending to react to the access point being opened, and are they going to investigate, or are they going to wait and suspect it's a trap? What we're relying on here, is the lack of discipline and fatigue and boredom, that will drive them to make stupid decisions.

We wait for what appears to be a while, and I wonder whether to take a peek to see if anyone would come out, only for it to be that before I was about to, I see torches being shone outside, and it's coming from the mausoleum. Perfect, now it's just a case of seeing if they'll in fact leave the mausoleum, and from there we can determine whether to attack them or not.

Slowly but surely judging from the lights in which I have no doubt is quite unnerving for some of us, due to the concern of one of the flash lights randomly pointing in our direction, they are going to come out and investigate. I hope they do, and not just stand in the mausoleum, come on you've heard a noise and seen the entrance open, you want to know who's done it, you want to get some fresh air, you want to see how your allies in the cemetery are doing, come on.

Eventually as if they've heard our desires, they then step out of the mausoleum, and now is the moment of truth as to whether someone is watching them from behind. We all take aim at the enemies standing outside in which there's about half a dozen of them, while one of us is to sneak around and get a peek to see if there are any enemies watching from the passage itself.

This will be a tense situation, as all the guards will have to do is look behind them and then we are at huge risk of failing our rescue attempt, but the thing is we cannot risk taking the chance of just taking them out and hoping that none of them will notice. Yet again we'll have to rely on luck, and I can just imagine that as we proceed into the passage, we'll have to rely on luck again. I don't like this, as I worry that our luck could run out soon. Still, there's nothing that can be done to avoid this, and we can only do all that we can to help ensure that we are successful.

As we aim at the soldiers and wait for either one of them to turn around or for our guy to give the signal that it's all clear, it is a mental battle trying not to worry about it going wrong and just focusing on the task at hand. I need to stop especially considering how this can affect my energy, and my ability to think and to fight, which is worse in these circumstances due to not resting for the night, and the fact that fatigue can affect one's abilities to do stuff and to do it well.

Unfortunately just as I feared, one of the soldiers is actually about to turn round and so we all open fire against the enemies, as it's either that or that they raise the alarm and hope that there isn't any enemies in the secret passage that can see the group that came out.

It's tragic for this to have happened, but I guess it's inevitable for our luck to finally run out. While the entire group has been killed before noticing our guy, it's hard to know if anyone from the passage has spotted them, and it's also hard to know what to do or if we can do anything about it, now that it's possible we've been discovered and as I think, they'll be heading to the estate to report on their findings of intruders.

It's tragic that it's the fact that they have hostages and we have been potentially spotted means that it's game over for us, when were it not for that, we could just fight our way through, in fact I would have had us attack in the morning after some rest, and have had vehicle support and fight our way through section by section. The thing is, I soon realise that if we have been spotted wouldn't we know by now, because even with their radio's being jammed they can still yell to each other, and it won't be long for the enemy to know of our presence, and kill the hostages.

Maybe no one was watching the enemies that we just killed after all. What a relief that was, as once again the outcome was not the worst for us, and if anything it's the best outcome we could have wanted given the circumstances. I suppose in this case it's more of a relief that our quick thinking is what saved us there, for if we didn't shoot them when we did, then the alarm would have most certainly be raised. Maybe it's a combination of luck and skill, since to have engaged the group that turned out to be our allies would have been foolish even if they were our enemies, due to needing to have accuracy and the element of surprise, and my tactics in the cemetery tried to cover all the possible angles that can affect the outcome depending on our approach.

Whatever it is, the main thing that matters is now we should be able to enter the passage itself, and face whatever challenges await us from there, and we waste no time in heading for the mausoleum while carefully checking for any enemies in there, in case any of them wished to have tried to ambush us, suspecting that we won't think they're there since they would have raised the alarm.

Note: Readers please listen to FNAF 4 Track 1 while reading this:

The mausoleum is now secure, and we have then hidden the bodies as best as we can in the off chance that an enemy will come here, and are ready to advance in the passage, ready to face whatever is down there be it soldiers or experimentation, considering how cliché it would be that there would be monsters down there, in which they would be a challenge to defeat due to a lack of knowledge of their weaknesses or their strengths. We can only hope that due to Neptune needing the hostages alive, and only just setting up shop here, she will not have been able to make monsters of significant strength yet.

Regardless, all we can do is to advance slowly and with much caution, in hopes that we can see them before they can see us and see what ways there are of taking them out, for they can't be flanked in a corridor, and we're in no doubt that they'll have reinforcements nearby who are ready to assist in an instant.

The thing is just before we're about to go down the stairs, there are several flash lights pointing at the stairs, and they're on constantly. Hmmmm this could be tricky.

How to get rid of them, especially since there'll be other guards watching them? The trouble is counting the flash lights used is not a valid indicator of their numbers, as it could either be that they're using more than one, or that there's more of them there. The key is luring them away or being able to disguise ourselves, but the trouble is that disguising ourselves will require us being able to convince them and bluff our way through, even though doing so will be extremely difficult due to having a reason for us to access the estate without them confirming our story, or even being able to convince them that we're one of them.

Luring them has the same issues since my gut instinct tells me that those guards will stay put, due to not being able to afford to send troops out, and what noises could we make to attract their attention without them suspecting it's us?

So luring is out, bluffing our way is out, what other way is there? One of the things I try and do is think exactly what the issue is itself and see what is the way around it. The issue is that there's flash lights pointing at the stairs, the moment we go down them, we'll be seen, and they'll attack and alert the estate and kill the hostages. Another issue even if we can't confirm it is that there's flash lights pointing at the enemy group who have their flashlights pointing at the stairs, meaning if we kill them before they can be alerted, the enemy will still notice and will therefore report on their findings.

Yeah, the issue is what they see but how can we sabotage their ability to see without them knowing it's us? Hmmmm. Gosh this is so annoying, to be able to sneak our way through to the secret passage only to be stopped there. A secret passage to an estate, an estate in which I'm surprised Neptune hasn't altered the weather so it's cold and windy and foggy…. What a minute, fog is natural weather and yet that impairs the ability to see. What if we could find a way of making the passage foggy, that way the enemy won't be able to see and can use the fog for cover and take them all out, part by part? Unfortunately we don't have a fog machine, and they'll be heavy and make too much noise, and informing our HQ to provide us one will be tricky, especially as they'll have to be carried over a fence as high as what they have here.

Suddenly I realise something, while we may not have a fog machine, we do have an alternative that could be used instead: smoke grenades. While there are differences between fog and smoke, I do wonder as a result of the darkness, and fatigue and boredom on their part would they notice the difference?

If we can have two soldiers with smoke grenades and carry them, the rest of us can use them for cover, and at the appropriate moment we can wipe them out group by group. The thing is while there is a concern that with them noticing a fog they'll wish to report to confirm the fog is elsewhere around the estate and act accordingly, we can at least use the fog to help us take out the enemies by using agility if need be as opposed to caution, and while they may notice something's up, it could be interpreted that there are enemy troops messing about with smoke grenades and to be certain they could investigate to confirm what the exact cause is.

Yet again I'm finding myself having to pick the best tactic despite all of them having their cons, and there not being a completely fool proof method of advancing through the secret passage. Still, I cannot afford to let that bother me for this can make me more tired and exhausted, which can affect my ability to think and fight. We can only carry out the best tactic possible, as best as we can, and so like always I suggest to my troops the plan, and ensuring they get it, while thoughts in the back of my head keep running concerning the issue, and I just hope that we can kill the enemy soldiers without their deaths alerting the other enemies, as we'll be hindered by our ability to see just as they will.

2 of our guys activate 2 smoke grenades each, and wait until there's smoke all over the place, before slowly heading down the stairs along with holding them in a specific way, so as not to spook the enemies into shooting us, and to convince them as best as possible that this is natural fog, while we follow them close behind with our crossbows aimed in front at different directions, ensuring the best possible chance of killing the lot of them.

To say that this is tense would be an understatement, as while we're going down the stairs and the smoke is doing an excellent job, what happens if one of them was to shoot the fog for some reason out of desperation and we get shot, or any of them approach the fog to confirm if it's really foggy, considering they're not outside above ground, only for the others to get concerned that their friend isn't responding to them because we've killed them?

Ideally we can just approach the enemy group under the cover of smoke and take them out, but even then what happens if other people get concerned about a lack of response? What if all the groups instead retreat to the room, and guard the entrance to the secret passage with the door closed in hopes the fog doesn't enter? We can only rely on them thinking that that their friends are not responding due to them being too panicked, due to it being foggy down there, or have wandered off to investigate the fog, or that the fog has reduced their ability to hear well. That said though, even if they were to suspect foul play, I like to think that they wish to confirm their suspicions first, rather than report especially considering the need for Neptune to keep those hostages alive.

All we can do is to just keep going and do our best to react to whatever happens first, an enemy that tries to investigate the fog, or us reaching the group and making sure that we can kill the enemy with little visibility of them, despite the probable difficulty of pulling this off, along with being ready to react to whatever they end up doing in response to the fog.

Oddly enough, just as I figured may happen, I hear one of them approach towards us, no doubt wondering whether it's gotten foggy all of a sudden outside, and has reached the passage. While at least we know from which side of the passageway he is approaching us, there is still the matter of being able to wait until he's in the fog, and quickly but quietly killing him before he spots us, and is able to raise an alarm or even kill us.

At least we have the advantage of numbers and surprise, so with luck we'll be able to kill him without any incident, though I've already suspected that the others in the group will be harder as we'll have to come to them, and ensure we can cover them all with smoke before killing them, and being able to do so without too much noise, for while we'll outnumber them by a significant number, the smoke will make it hard for us to see, and we can only make a best guess at where they'll be.

Before we know it, he is inside our fog, but before he can do anything we quickly kill him and hold him gently before carrying him, and quietly dropping him so that they don't hear anything or suspect anything. We then carry on slowly but surely reaching where the rest of the group are at, but soon afterwards I then hear them call out for their friend, only for them to be concerned that there is no response.

I knew this would happen and we can only carry on and react to what they do, but what concerns me is that while this will merely make them concerned that something's wrong but not enough that there's intruders, they're going to respond to this, but what will it be? Will they choose to retreat in their hope that the fog will only reach part of the passage not all of it, and therefore they'll still be able to see any intruders try and enter through this passage eventually, or are they going to go after their friend?

Note: Readers please listen to FNAF Ennard Boss Fight Music while reading this:

It appears that the enemy is going to do both, as they split themselves up with more than 1 of them heading towards us, and at least some of them are heading back to the estate or at least retreat to where their allies are.

This I find interesting that this smoke would compel them to retreat back to where there's more of them. Perhaps they're worried that the fog will make it hard for them to spot us, or even fight us if they were to find us, and would still like the ability of being able to see us coming. The thing is this could potentially make this easier for us, as they could all be in one group still in the secret passage, and perhaps be all taken out silently with one shot, with no worries of the enemy noticing. The thing is even if some of them have retreated, we need to find out how many have done so, and where they have retreated to, as this will determine whether their tactic has made things easier, or not exactly.

In the meantime though, we need to deal with the enemies that are approaching us, which shouldn't be too difficult since they can't be that much more numerous than the previous guy. While there is the issue of dealing with those from that group who hasn't fled or was killed by us, we'll just have to approach slowly, and hope that we can find them, and kill them before they spot us.

While we'll have superior numbers and have succeeded last time, it's hard not to get quite concerned that we were lucky last time, and this time there's more than one, and it's not exactly obvious how many of them there are. The thing is, I find myself having to tell myself yet again not to let the doubts get in the way especially now, and reassure myself that this isn't luck, it's just that we have better numbers and tactics and quality of troops.

I suppose it doesn't help how long it appears to be taking, as we're slowly walking to them and they're seemingly slowly walking to us, but at least it's inevitable and we know it's just a case of using our ears to determine what side of the corridor they are at, and stick our weapons out if there's no one in front, and as soon as we can't move due to someone being in the way, we open fire and we're careful to stay in formation so as to avoid friendly fire, in which were it not for these tactics it could be so easy to do in this makeshift fog of ours.

Suddenly before I know it, we know where they are and soon after that, we bump into them and are once again successful in killing them without incident, relieving me no end, as hopefully apart from dealing with whoever's left in this group, we won't need to do this again considering how easy it is to bump into one another, and not being able to see at all, which could potentially lead to tragic accidents. In fact it's only thanks to tactics and training that it doesn't happen, though it's hard not to get concerned that exhaustion can lead to a mistake by one if not more of us.

I guess it's due to the tension as a result of the situation, and it has been pretty tense from the get go with regards getting caught, and being able to sneak in and despatch enemies undetected. I can only hope that there isn't much more of this, though I somehow doubt it, or it could even be a case that we'll be leaving the frying pan and be heading for the fire.

I soon realise that however difficult it is, I need to try and discipline my thoughts that we can only deal with what's in front of us, as we brace for a possible clash with whatever enemy soldiers there are, as we move in formation with as many crossbows pointing forward as possible, in which they won't kill any of us by accident.

The thing is, it feels like it's been a long time and yet we haven't encountered any enemy soldiers since earlier, in fact we reach the wall without there being any whatsoever. Hmmm, maybe the rest of them have retreated back then after all, and none of them have opted to stay put, perhaps they thought it would do them no good to stand guard with the fog around them, hindering their abilities completely to do their job.

Now all that stands between us and the estate, is a path, a corner, and after that a ramp, though we still don't know how many of them there are and where exactly they are, and this is the key if we are to access the estate, where my gut tells me that it'll be even harder there, due to there being more guards and being closer together, and yet unless we are lucky with regards the hostage location, it could be an immense struggle to search for them room by room, and the only way is perhaps to go loud, and hope that we can somehow even if it's probably by luck, find a way of rescuing the hostages.

With regards the remaining enemies in this passage, I have a feeling that the enemies are at the other side of this section, watching the smoke with their torches, perhaps hoping that the fog won't reach them, as for them it'll reduce the ground they have between them and any intruders that they can see without obstruction. The trouble is, there needs to be a way of knowing for sure without leaving the smoke which will lead to us being exposed, and yet what is the best way? We need a way, otherwise we'll have to just go in under the cover of our smoke grenades, and take the risk of being able to defeat the enemy without raising the alarm, even though that will be hard when we don't know the number or location of them, and the worry is there could be too many of them for us to silence in one go, while maintaining our smoke cover.

Suddenly, I have an idea to solve this issue, and this is to quickly wander out of the smoke to see if there are any enemies before retreating back, and if there are enemies then just call out that it's really foggy outside. Then with that information of the troop numbers and their exact deployment we can come up with at least some strategy to deal with them, even if it will be hard due to the circumstances of the proximity of the enemy and the smoke, hindering our abilities to communicate. While there is the concern that they'll be suspicious that they only see a bit of us, and we never attempt to rush to them, or they even see that we're not one of them, it's either this or walk blindly towards them, the previous times there was only one or two of them, but this time there could be too many of them for us to deal with in an ideal manner, considering all the circumstances.

Knowing that I'm the one that makes the plans, I decide to edge out of the smoke in hopes I can see them better, only to find that for me to be certain I need to walk out further and further. I do this because I can't see any enemies on the other side at all, and all I can see is torches being shone down lighting up the corner. In fact I find myself away from the smoke completely, and all there is, is lots of torch lights shone at the corner.

While it's good that all there is between us and the estate itself, is just one group of enemies, not only are they significant in number, they have the advantage of elevation, and along with this there is the concern of being able to kill them all without any of them noticing, which will be extremely difficult because there's no way of being able to see exactly where they are, without getting spotted by them, and while it may be possible to explain away like last time, once spotted I don't see how I can communicate with my men of the exact location and exact number of the enemies without them knowing, and there's also the issue of being able to see for long enough to get the information I need without being spotted by them, and them knowing who I am.

The only thing to do is to just slowly walk in the smoke until we reach the corner, and turn around and as best as we can to aim our crossbows in as many different areas in front of us as possible, and open fire and just hope that we can kill every last one of them, even if it's unlikely due to the number of them, and not being able to know of their exact position.

I quietly tell my troops to aim our weapons as best as we can when we reach the corner and to fire on my signal, but after getting the confirmation from them that they understand, I suddenly notice that there appears to be less lights shining down, suggesting that a few of them have retreated back to the estate. While this will make it easier for us, there is a catch to this. What if they've retreated because they've heard something happen behind them, and they wish to find out what? It has to be because if it's due to the fog then they would have already sent a few back to report on it.

I cannot be sure what this is about, but I can only assume the worst and that we've been compromised, which is absolutely tragic to say the least, to get all this way, only for us to fall at what could be the last hurdle between us and the hostages, and yet it's not even us that has done so. Despite the frustration of this, we have done our best, and it's bound to inevitably happen since training and experience can only get us so far, and it's easy to slip up due to probability and the fact that there's so many of us here.

We can only hope now however slim it's likely to be, that the hostages are in the next room, and even if not we will have to go in all guns blazing in hopes of finding the hostages or at least that the enemy doesn't follow the protocol of killing the hostages due to fear or incompetence. There's so little time to think about what we have to do to ensure our best chance of success. We can only move as quickly and as quietly as we can to the corner under cover of smoke, aim and fire a volley with our crossbows, then take a look and if there are still enemies left, finish them off with shotguns, then pick up any AK47s we can, and with flashbangs take out all the enemies in the room, before we make any attempts to liberate the rest of the area, despite being heavily outnumbered if the aristocracy isn't there.

This is extremely risky to go loud now, but with us not knowing why more of them would retreat, we can only assume the worst, and if it's the worst then we haven't got much time, and in any case the first step to do is the exact same, and there would have been a chance then for us to have been discovered and would have to do the other steps anyway. The only difference is, is having no time to be cautious and we'll have to be as quick as we can and hope that it's enough, even if there's no certainty now, just as there was never any certainty before.

Will all this in mind, I figure here goes nothing, as we head towards the corner, thinking of nothing but to aim, to fire, to peek, to switch weapon, and then rush upstairs and into the first room, using flashbangs and take out any enemies that are there. Whether we succeed or fail in this will be up to whatever the circumstances end up being, but it's better to try and to do the best we can, and if we go down, we will go down fighting.