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Night Ops - New Guy (TransHuman Edition)
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2015-10-28 at 11:21 PM UTCHello everyone, first off just wanted to say I fully support this entire forum. The fringe forum is dying on the internet and it's good to see another one come up. I will always support these endeavors.
Who the fuck am I? I wasn't a big name on any of the older fringe forums, I mostly frequented the night ops threads back in the day but have branched out considerably. What are night ops? A lot of risk for a little reward but a whole new world of freedom. Explore areas while going unnoticed much as in urbex but sometimes this can be just for the sake of pushing one's abilities and not just to explore something. Dark clothing or camouflage is taken advantage of along with any identity concealing measures deemed necessary.
Here's an example from last night, linked to the following topic:
http://niggasin.space/forum/reinvent-yourself/40281-project-euryphaessa-stage-one
"Well, what a stupid idea. Was I really doing this???"
Hours prior, I had decided to push myself and my new limits to the extreme with a real operation and not some playful night time romp. I wanted to do something where I knew the night vision would come into play and allow me to do something I would have never been comfortable doing before. As it would happen, after all of my moving around in my lifetime I find myself living relatively close to where I once lived - the house I began operating from in the very beginning of my "career". I decided I was going to walk directly to that house from mine, cutting straight through the countryside, ravines, tree lines and stands, and whatever else might appear. No navigational aids except my ability to see - no GPS, maps, or anything else I might normally want to pull me through the darkness so I knew where I was going. No roads. No artificial lighting. Nothing.
The house was about an 8 mile drive by roadway from here so I estimated it would be roughly a 5 mile walk. Temperatures were low as well so I needed to dress appropriately. My loadout ended up like this:
Underarmor beneath,
light polypro undergarments beneath,
HECS stealth screen beneath,
full multicam uniform
Danner Terra Force low top boots
Nomex flight gloves inside Mechanix M-Pact 3s
Camelbak Woodland Bladder Pack w/2L Bladder, 1/2 full
Kershaw Camp 18 machete
Leatherman Wave multitool
Water Purification Tablets
2 Vivarin caffeine tabs
Bic Lighter
Sightmark Ghost Hunter Monocular (Night Vision)
The night vision was mostly unnecessary but I wanted to see how it would perform while under the influence of Ce6 and the result was basically wall hax but we'll get to that later. Everything else was just being geared for a long lonely night walk in the cold.
After dropping up and waiting about an hour and a half for the drops to kick in, I left in full gear, crossed the nearby highway, climbed over the fence, and ascended the brushy hillside. I could tell when even the most silent of cars were on approach because there would be a haze of light on the horizon or around corners well before they appeared. Cool effect, but it would be an issue as I pushed further into the hills and away from civilization. As I approached the top and hit steppe terrain, I looked around and marveled once again at how clear everything was. It was just like a demented day hike only I could enjoy. For laughs, I pulled out the NV monocular to have a look around.
Wow. Imagine daytime with a green tinge through a small monocular and that's pretty much what you see. Everything is visible through the tube without lack of detail which was nice. Normally this is something of a "1 and a half" gen monocular that gets the job done but isn't really high end. Now, the only gripe I had was FOV which was obviously pitiful. Anyway, playtime being over I pocketed the device and moved on.
My next obstacle was a small draw with a field in the center and a ranch house nearby. There were plenty of trees so I moved toward them to keep in the shadows. Vision in the trees was excellent and I was able to see everything just fine, maybe too fine. Paranoia was a constant factor as I kept to the darkest places possible while crossing. I felt extremely exposed and made it a point to move quickly and leave the draw. Climbing the next hill with haste, I finally got beyond the first ranch house.
The next hour was almost disappointingly uneventful. Up. Down. Up. Down. You see, the area is a big mountain valley and I was up above the valley on the steppes, which run down form the proper mountains forming foothills that creep down like huge, wide fingers. And since I was traveling down the direction of the valley, I had to cross every single one of these fucking things.
Looking back, I noticed a plane in the sky and the contrail. That was a trip. Normally you just see a flashing light up there, but because the sky was still a hazy azure between my eyes and the moon, the plane was clearly visible as was the contrail. I also scouted around to make sure I wasn't being stalked by any predators. Nothing. Moving on, the next draw brought me through yet another ranch home nested apart from everyone else. I moved past without any incident and continued climbing and descending again, over and over.
I lost track of how many of these stupid things I crossed, but I could see a treeline growing closer and closer in the distance. This treeline I knew well because I had been to it from the other side when I began operating years ago. It was sort of the beginning of the home stretch once I reached it. The fact I could see it from afar at all was pretty amazing.
Unfortunately this brings me to a weird thing about the night vision. Lights and shadows become deceptive in relation to distance. I guess because I'm not so used to everything being so bright or visible, things look closer. I thought I was getting close to the treeline but unbeknownst to me I still had a couple more hills to cross over first. I also thought there was a house I didn't know about sitting in the treeline itself because I could see outdoor lights passing through the trees from a distance with intensity. This makes it difficult to judge how far away lights are if you're unable to see the object it's attached to.
As I drew closer, I started to have my opening thoughts on this whole matter. This was just fucking crazy. For one, this was a pretty intense walk in general and my legs could feel the strain of the ascents and descents. Second, I had just made it to this point like it was nothing. I wouldn't have even been able to see where I was going hardly before and progress would have been much slower and more cautious being half blind. The moon was out, yes, but I've been in cloud dispersed moonlight before and it's never this generous on vision. If this sounds like a boring story so far, it's because the night vision basically took the danger completely out of the operation.
Anyway, I reached the treeline. Now I was lost. The lights were confusing and something didn't feel right. I knew that standing on the other side, I would often see a white house on a nearby hillside to the left of me but standing here, there was nothing on the right. Did I overshoot my goal? Was I too far downhill? I could see city lights but the intensity was again deceptive. I felt roughly a mile away from them but I also felt too close to the mountains above me. I decided to just push through the heavy trees and see where I was.
This was just as easy. I could see in the trees much better than expected and could even see so well that I could cross over the shallow waters in the shadows by stepping over the stones which I could see just fine. Yet again no animals nearby to my knowledge. On the other side I could finally see the outdoor lights and the building they were attached too. Fuck. I had overshot my goal area by almost exactly a mile. I knew the building I was looking at and also knew I had to walking toward town to do now.
This was a boring exercise of walking and walking some more, crossing the occasional stream and barbed wire fence while trying not to spook any cattle, alerting anyone of my presence. Finally, I reached a familiar dirt road I knew would lead to my old base of operations. It was a road I haven't walked down in many years and I was unsure how to feel. Triumphant for sure, having done something so incredible and yet it felt so mundane. This wasn't the most action packed read, right? That's kind of how I felt for me too, even walking down that road. It almost felt too easy. It was physically demanding as fuck but otherwise relatively effortless. After getting past the "Am I really doing this???" phase it was smooth sailing.
I approached my old home from the road and just looked at it from a distance in the cover of a wooden fence. Man, the memories. This is why I chose this destination. It had been almost a decade since my last break-fall landing after sliding off the metal roof - my deployment of choice back then. In some ways I cursed the night vision. The glory felt spoiled in a way. I couldn't even look up and see the milky way that I used to gaze at out here because the sky was too bright and felt more like twilight to me. In fact, everything felt alien and unfamiliar because I never had so much detail back then. None the less, I knew I had accomplished something that I never would have dreamed of back then, that no matter how this felt, I have greatly surpassed who I used to be. Granted, having less muscle mass on me like I used to back then would have been fantastic for those fucking hills. But I made it. I had walked 6 miles through barren nothingness non-chalante and brought things full circle. Boring, maybe, but I felt like a fucking badass.
I called up my apprentice to pick me up above on the main road and waited behind cover staring into the city lights below, a sight that used to greet me before every operation as I'd walk the dark fields between this house and there. I decided then and there that the next time I used the night vision drops, it would have to be for something incredible.
Mission accomplished.
Love it, hate it, got your own stories feel free to share.The following users say it would be alright if the author of this post didn't die in a fire! -
2015-10-28 at 11:49 PM UTCIs night ops coming back? I hope night ops is coming back.
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2015-10-29 at 1:16 AM UTCanyone that has a night-ops fetish only has to join the military and theyll happily satisfy your craving to the point you will be scared of the dark
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2015-10-29 at 2:13 AM UTC
anyone that has a night-ops fetish only has to join the military and theyll happily satisfy your craving to the point you will be scared of the dark
>implying the people posting here with night ops fetishes aren't the ones who were PDQ's for being crazy. -
2015-10-31 at 12:07 PM UTCSup infrared.
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2015-10-31 at 4:03 PM UTCThat would be patently false of me to pretend I was infrared. My topic title is sort of a play on his original topic from back in 2003 though.
As for the military thing, I was in the Army nearly 10 years ago and there's really no similarities to be drawn here. Also, grunts aren't given Chlorin E6 or freedom to explore where ever they want. In fact I'd say it's the anti-thesis of what makes night ops great. The freedom, exploration, and lack of valid backing if anything goes wrong. -
2015-10-31 at 10:31 PM UTC
As for the military thing, I was in the Army nearly 10 years ago and there's really no similarities to be drawn here. Also, grunts aren't given Chlorin E6 or freedom to explore where ever they want. In fact I'd say it's the anti-thesis of what makes night ops great. The freedom, exploration, and lack of valid backing if anything goes wrong.
i dont know what your military thing involved but when i was in i had more than a fair share of night ops. some of the best ones im pretty sure i cant even post
chlorin e6? wtf-ever. thats what night vision is for.
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2015-11-01 at 2:08 AM UTC
chlorin e6? wtf-ever. thats what night vision is for.
Isn't that a bit like saying why carry a knife when that's what a blade is for? Ce6 is a form of night vision with significant advantages over electronic. If you've used night vision as I presume you claim, then you know damn well it sucks a load of dick because even the best devices out there will hamper your FOV. Why not just have a similar level of amplification without dealing with the bulky, troublesome device? It's not perfect, but for exploration it's a lot more fun and less of a hassle.
EDIT Happy Halloween everyone. No ops tonight, unless drinking counts. -
2015-11-01 at 6 PM UTCBefore I get your hopes up this isn't really a story of an op.
Like most people(or at least I imagine so) after reading my first Nightops thread way I decided to try it myself, dead of night I set up and left my house, wandered around the village that I live in for a good hour or so making sure each step was as silent as I could make it and that I was always keeping to the darker areas(thinking back I realise that a lot of my backdrops were brighter urban stuff so dressed in dark clothes I probably silhouetted myself badly) and like you here I was marvelling at my own night vision though I didn't have any sort of chemical enhancement just naturally good vision, it was cold but because it was a new exciting experience I was warmer than usual and it was just an incredibly fun experience, one that I think anyone should do however in the end after getting home and slipping exhausted in to bed I realised it probably wasn't for me because I'd eventually get caught and subsequently fucked by the law.
Good experience overall though. -
2015-11-01 at 8:44 PM UTCfirst thing:
seriously...whomever runs this shit site needs to fix the bullshit auto-logoff timer that lasts for about 30 seconds. im about over typing up more than two sentences then having to re-log in and losing everything i typed. fortunately this time i cut-and-pasted what i wanted to post knowing full damned well what was going to happenIsn't that a bit like saying why carry a knife when that's what a blade is for? Ce6 is a form of night vision with significant advantages over electronic. If you've used night vision as I presume you claim, then you know damn well it sucks a load of dick because even the best devices out there will hamper your FOV. Why not just have a similar level of amplification without dealing with the bulky, troublesome device? It's not perfect, but for exploration it's a lot more fun and less of a hassle.
EDIT Happy Halloween everyone. No ops tonight, unless drinking counts.
regardless of the effectiveness of ce6 there is no way a biological pharmaceutical can cause the human eye to be as effective as an electronic device. there are physical biological limits regardless of any chemical additive. i.e., you cant give someone and overdose dosage of amphetamine and expect them to have the same physical performance as a bulldozer.
that...and from the five minutes of research on the substance that ive done it sounds like some sort of snake oil. human night vision is a factor of the way photoreceptor cells within the eyeball interact with photons. jamming some sort of glop onto the cornea isnt going to interact with the photoreceptor cells that are sealed inside the eyeball goo.
based on the 'experiences' described by users i read about, it sounds more like they have some version of a pupil dilator -
2015-11-01 at 9:30 PM UTC
seriously…whomever runs this shit site needs to fix the bullshit auto-logoff timer that lasts for about 30 seconds. im about over typing up more than two sentences then having to re-log in and losing everything i typed. fortunately this time i cut-and-pasted what i wanted to post knowing full damned well what was going to happen
regardless of the effectiveness of ce6 there is no way a biological pharmaceutical can cause the human eye to be as effective as an electronic device. there are physical biological limits regardless of any chemical additive. i.e., you cant give someone and overdose dosage of amphetamine and expect them to have the same physical performance as a bulldozer.
that…and from the five minutes of research on the substance that ive done it sounds like some sort of snake oil. human night vision is a factor of the way photoreceptor cells within the eyeball interact with photons. jamming some sort of glop onto the cornea isnt going to interact with the photoreceptor cells that are sealed inside the eyeball goo.
based on the 'experiences' described by users i read about, it sounds more like they have some version of a pupil dilator
Completely incorrect. First, there is indeed a limit but you're underestimating the eye. Without having tried it, it's hard to understand and I'll grant you your doubts.
However, 5 minutes clearly isn't enough time to research this because you don't understand that this stuff breaks the "seal" of "eyeball goo". A quick run down: DMSO has high permeation that absorbs down into the photoreceptors and Ce6 being DMSO soluable allows it to be carried by the DMSO along with the insulin. The insulin slows ABCG2 allowing the receptors to collect the Ce6. Ce6, being a photosensitizer used by plants, is then able to more effectively amplify light at the photoreceptor level itself. There is no dilation and this wouldn't improve night vision anyhow since they'll do that anyway in the dark. The same amount of light enters the eye but it is more efficiently processed thus making everything brighter than normal.
The result brings amplification close to the Gen I devices out there - not super - except that amplification is only the half of it. This comes with maximum human resolution and unobstructed FOV. Even if you absolutely champion electronic devices, this if nothing else makes them more efficient. Which is to say that lesser Gen devices are vastly improved in quality.
More info is in my linked topic in the first post here, however even though it's already effective and the amplification indeed not snake oil (to be snake oil doesn't it need to be sold?), the linked topic is "Phase One" for a reason. There are already improvements to the formula worked out that, sorry to say, are about to take a complete shit on electronic devices sans FLIR which will never happen at the photoreceptor level because you wouldn't be able to see past your eye's own thermal profile. For a quick reference, Google Ce6-AuNR bonding and the amplification level this produces in increasing available light within cells. I am actively funding and performing my own private research on ocular pathways, biochemistry, gold nanorod oscillation, rhodopsin, polyrhodopsin, etc. to further this field of improving - even if temporarily - human eyesight. If you're interested in hard numbers for amplification, those will probably be years down the road as other groups pick up the work. I am mostly doing this for my own benefit but have no trouble sharing the results of my progress.
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2015-11-02 at 1:15 AM UTC
Completely incorrect. First, there is indeed a limit but you're underestimating the eye. Without having tried it, it's hard to understand and I'll grant you your doubts.
However, 5 minutes clearly isn't enough time to research this because you don't understand that this stuff breaks the "seal" of "eyeball goo". A quick run down: DMSO has high permeation that absorbs down into the photoreceptors and Ce6 being DMSO soluable allows it to be carried by the DMSO along with the insulin. The insulin slows ABCG2 allowing the receptors to collect the Ce6. Ce6, being a photosensitizer used by plants, is then able to more effectively amplify light at the photoreceptor level itself. There is no dilation and this wouldn't improve night vision anyhow since they'll do that anyway in the dark. The same amount of light enters the eye but it is more efficiently processed thus making everything brighter than normal.
The result brings amplification close to the Gen I devices out there - not super - except that amplification is only the half of it. This comes with maximum human resolution and unobstructed FOV. Even if you absolutely champion electronic devices, this if nothing else makes them more efficient. Which is to say that lesser Gen devices are vastly improved in quality.
More info is in my linked topic in the first post here, however even though it's already effective and the amplification indeed not snake oil (to be snake oil doesn't it need to be sold?), the linked topic is "Phase One" for a reason. There are already improvements to the formula worked out that, sorry to say, are about to take a complete shit on electronic devices sans FLIR which will never happen at the photoreceptor level because you wouldn't be able to see past your eye's own thermal profile. For a quick reference, Google Ce6-AuNR bonding and the amplification level this produces in increasing available light within cells. I am actively funding and performing my own private research on ocular pathways, biochemistry, gold nanorod oscillation, rhodopsin, polyrhodopsin, etc. to further this field of improving - even if temporarily - human eyesight. If you're interested in hard numbers for amplification, those will probably be years down the road as other groups pick up the work. I am mostly doing this for my own benefit but have no trouble sharing the results of my progress.
my original analogy of OD-ing on meth isnt going to give someone the performance capability of a D9 bulldozer still stands. It is biologically / anatomically / physically impossible. it is the same as it applies to any 'booster' to human photoreceptors. if youre considering an uber-low quality, 1st-gen (or worse) electronic night-vision device as the baseline, then yes, it may be possible to artificially boost the human eye photoreceptors enough to be comparable. Ive never really had an issue with FOV on any electronic NVDs ive used...including monoculars.
I know what DMSO is, its permeability to membranes & limited ability to drag other substances along with it, and how insulin works...although how both of these substances interact to allow a phytochemical of dubious animal-effectiveness, to be topically (to the eye) applied, then pass so far through the eye to affect the photoreceptors, isnt something ive researched extensively enough to properly debate...but from what i know of the three substances and the human eyeball biology...along with 'user reports'...everything combined doesnt make sense. -
2015-11-02 at 2:10 AM UTCWe'll agree to disagree then, not really having equal footing to debate the subject on.
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2015-11-02 at 6:37 PM UTCI've gotten back into Night Ops. I'll post some new threads soon.
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2015-11-03 at 3:05 AM UTCOP, I want to know more about Ce6 and DMSO.
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2015-11-03 at 3:24 PM UTCWhat sort of information are you interested in? Primary background information, creation, and general usage can be found in this topic:
http://niggasin.space/forum/reinvent-yourself/40281-project-euryphaessa-stage-one
The basis of this project along with a list of worthwhile references at the bottom can be found here:
http://scienceforthemasses[dot]org/2015/03/25/a-review-on-night-enhancement-eyedrops-using-chlorin-e6/
The comments section also covers most of the discussion that took place above this in regards to dangers, actual effectiveness, experiences, accusations on it being fake and a well written and cited rebuttal. -
2015-11-03 at 3:54 PM UTCAt least Psychlonic/Infrared provides some quality content to the forum. Good on ya'.
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2015-11-03 at 6:56 PM UTC
What sort of information are you interested in? Primary background information, creation, and general usage can be found in this topic:
http://niggasin.space/forum/reinvent-yourself/40281-project-euryphaessa-stage-one
The basis of this project along with a list of worthwhile references at the bottom can be found here:
http://scienceforthemasses[dot]org/2015/03/25/a-review-on-night-enhancement-eyedrops-using-chlorin-e6/
The comments section also covers most of the discussion that took place above this in regards to dangers, actual effectiveness, experiences, accusations on it being fake and a well written and cited rebuttal.
I was curious what other possible ill-effects it'd have on my body. And what visible differences there'd be to other people looking at me. Things like that. -
2015-11-04 at 12:01 AM UTC
We'll agree to disagree then, not really having equal footing to debate the subject on.
regardless...im not seeing the benefit of eye-drops vs electronic night vision enhancement. the positive points of NVDs far outweigh those of eye-drops -
2017-11-09 at 5:20 AM UTCExpanding upon some of the routes I had caught Xanatos up on prior during the 'Stroll', we decided on checking out some targets south from where we were at before. This time we'd be doing a full operation just to set the mood and keep ourselves busy.
I drove us near the edge of the area of operations where we'd fully gear up and move out toward the target. Our objective? A duo of rural building clusters in the middle of some open fields. For the operation I'd be wearing my old school subdued digital MARPAT since my multicam had failed on the last outing. No special gear to make note of really, just a good mega folder knife and a small flashlight.
At about 0200 we began to move toward the AO. As there was a house somewhat near the parking area, we moved north with haste along a road until I felt we could comfortably cross the barbed wire fence alongside of us without rousing suspicion. Afterward, we cut inward toward the field to create a buffer of space between us and anyone else who might drive by along the road. This would enable us to lay down and face them, making us practically invisible. Terrain was mostly dead grasses, rocks, and potholes. The moon was out bright so visibility was excellent in lieu of any artificial lighting.
Almost exactly a mile later we found ourselves near the first cluster of buildings so Xanatos and I began to move toward the road again as we were in fields on the opposite side. Once we neared the fence, we both found our own crossing points, leaped over, jogged across the road, then crossed the fence on the other side. This put us at the top of a small slope that went down into the field proper where there seemed to be some wetlands we'd have to navigate. As for the buildings themselves, we couldn't tell for sure but one seemed like it may have been occupied so we carefully encompassed the cluster, circling from the left. This brought us behind some of the buildings and gave us an opportunity to look around and assess the situation.
We decided to enter the first large building in the far back and look around. This building, like the others, was entirely wooden and this one was very open with a large first floor and a second floor that wrapped around against the wall. Actually, I know what kind of building this was but I can't tell you for PERSEC reasons. Anyway, we looked around for anything of interest but there really wasn't a whole lot. After we both explored the first floor, Xanatos decided to climb up to the second floor which required literally climbing up the wooden walls and posts. I would have joined, but not being used to my new-at-the-time weight I didn't want to cause a ton of noise stressing the wooden floors up there. Keep in mind I was something like 85 pounds heavier than Xanatos. Instead, I opted to post as lookout below for anything suspicious. Nothing, other than cattle noticing our presence in the adjacent field and drawing closer.
Once Xanatos returned back down to my level after having a look around, we left the building and decided to next visit other huge building in the northern-most area of the cluster. This building was designed nearly identical to the first building with a huge open first floor and a wrap-around second floor. There were also more rooms below, which we both checked out. One room contained refrigerators, lamps, and boxes of various "medical" instruments. Interesting. I made note of the room then resumed looking around. Once again, Xanatos climbed to the second floor while I posted lookout below. More nothingness. He came back down, we left making sure the door was shut the way we found it on the way out.
The remaining few outbuildings were extremely uneventful. After establishing that the suspicious building we thought might have been occupied was in fact empty, we decided to return back to the other side of the road into the rocky fields. The route we took was similar although not quite the same one, and soon enough we were back out in the middle of moonlight and emptiness, headed south again toward the next cluster of buildings. Having some prior knowledge of the general layout of the area, I explained that we'd eventually come across an old dirt/gravel road somewhere that would lead east toward the second cluster of buildings. A half, maybe three quarters of a mile later we found it and followed it back to the fence near the road. On our side was still barbed wire, but this time on the other side it was a wooden pole fence. Easy mode. We both crossed the barbed wire, trotted up to the wooden fence and simply climbed over.
We moved down another slope into the fields, trying to stay far enough away from the cluster so they couldn't see or hear us in the darkness because this one for SURE had occupied buildings. Eventually, we reached a gravel road cutting across the property with more wooden pole fences on either side. There was also what appeared to be dead and dried thistle plants on the ground nearby which were painfully loud to step on. Avoiding these, we crossed the first fence and found ourselves on the gravel road. In front of us, the road led into the cluster, there were a pair of buildings to our left, one big and one small. To our immediate right, a tunnel with a tractor inside of it. Further right attached to the tunnel, the backside of another out building and a small covered parking space. We began to move into the tunnel but the noise was unbearably loud from the gravel echoing everywhere. It was definitely within earshot of the occupied building so I didn't want to press it. Instead, we slowly moved along the outside of the tunnel along the gravel road, looking for anything of interest or alternate routes. Unfortunately, the cluster was extremely lit up and not having a good sense of what was around us, we decided to pull back from that way and return to where we had crossed the last wooden pole fence.
We slide under the next wooden pole fence on the other side of the road and moved into the shadows here. The idea here was to see if we couldn't access the largest building in front of us, which looked similar to the larger buildings from the last cluster we were at. This was a shit show of trying to climb over metal panel fencing that make a ruckus if you moved wrong on them, then treading more dead, loud weeds of some kind. While they provided good cover visually, the sound was paranoia inducing. We tried to enter through a side door but it just wouldn't open without making a huge amount of noise, so instead Xanatos circled around to a large sliding back door and began to see if he couldn't open it. It was latched shut somehow so he began to try to free it using his knife to manipulate. Unfortunately, we were running out of time. The operation had taken so much time trying to move safely, cover ground, and explore it was going to be daylight soon. It was time to pull back for now, we'd be back later.
Retracing our infiltration route backwards, we swiftly but quietly as possible moved back into the rocky fields and began moving at a quick pace toward our extraction vehicle. The sky was getting brighter and brighter, while the damn terrain made it difficult to move quickly in without feet and ankles taking a pounding, but you didn't want to be caught out here so we moved fast anyway. Eventually we got back to where I had parked, downgraded our gear enough to be passably civilian when driving by people, then we returned to base. It was sunrise as we arrived, not a moment too soon!
Some Google Earth searching of the property we were on revealed something pretty interesting - there was a third cluster of buildings I hadn't noticed! We planned on taking some improved routes, checking the third cluster, and fully exploring the second cluster then called it a night... morning... whatever. We'd be heading back again soon to finish what we started, either way! Till then.
