Preparation

We continued to walk down the beach for what felt like it could just be forever before finally coming to a stop where the sand turned to piles of small rocks which formed a gradient into jagged rocks and soon steep cliffs. I turned and noticed an opening along the beach cliff which I looked toward and then slowly walked up to before taking a short look inside. It was a seeming empty and small cave not leading to anywhere. At least that was how it looked. There may have been a chance that that cave was an entrance to a secret facility, with a hidden switch to open the door along the wall, but we were becoming too tired to check. I felt along the wall a bit on our way back to the stairs leading to the RV, but to no avail. We soon made it to the stairs and Lua led the way as we traveled on up. Once we got to the top, I turned back. It was a truly amazing sight, because we were able to watch the sunset from where we were on the western coastline of the area. I smiled and took a moment with Lua by my side to take it in. It was like a clash of light and dark, peace and war, the colors of the sunset beaming onto the grey clouds of the incoming storm. Soon, we turned back around and began to head back and into the RV.

Finally inside the warm and comfy RV, I flopped down onto the bed and Lua bunkered down on a nearby beanbag chair. I smiled. "Hey, Lua."

"Yeah Sami?" She calls back.

"We should do some exploring tomorrow, right? Survey the area, try to find any secret entrances for the base were hunting for?" I explained to her my idea. She nodded her head softly, and I knew she was slowly falling sleep. "Goodnight, Lua." I whispered.

"Goodnight." She muttered softly back.

I yawned with a stretch as the light of day finally began to shine into the windows the RV. I smiled and hopped up, making sure to be careful not to wake the snoozing dog plopped down on the beanbag chair nearby. I got a box of cereal and a bowl, along with the milk from the small fridge, and made myself breakfast. I also poured out some dog food and water into a bowl for Lua.

I then pulled out my laptop and set my bowl of cereal down in front of me, beginning to eat while looking up a map of the surrounding area, beginning to make a list of any potential points of interest that we could go out and take a look out at. I was midway through my search when Lua popped up beside me, planting her front paws onto the table to prop herself up and get a nice look at the laptop.

"Found anywhere we can head out to on our trip exploring?" The black-and-gold Shiba Inu beside me asked as I scratched their head softly.

I gave a slight reassuring nod to Lua. "I have found a couple, but I'm more than sure we'll end up finding a bunch more during our exploring. She smiled and then dropped back down and then walked on over to her food and began eating. Soon I finished my own food and stood up from my seat at the back of the RV, strolling up to the bags of stuff I was unpacking. I looked around. "Aha!" I exclaimed, spotting my hiking bag, snatching it swiftly before setting it beside me. "Now... What might I need?"

I began to sift through items I packed to find the exact items I'd need to be able to go on a good exploration trip through these mountains. I first grabbed my steel-toed hiking boots, an essential piece of equipment as I'd be walking a whole lot.

Next I picked up a bottle of water, great for staying hydrated, and also my Swiss Army Knife and tactical shovel. These items would be perfected for breaking barriers and clearing rubble.

I picked up a small medkit and added that as well into the collection as well as a rope coil. The reason for this was pretty short and simple, the medicine would be good if the two of us got hurt at all, and the rope would be helpful for binding things up, or scaling cliffs and the like.

I grabbed a pair of binoculars and then also grabbed a map of the region. Once again some simple reasons behind it, mostly for long distance surveying and to also, like, not get lost. It was a rather large area that we'd have to survey, so I wanted to make sure we know both where we're at, and also to mark down points of interest.

Finally, I then also tossed in some food for myself and treats for Lua, incase either of us were to get a bit hungry on our journey. Looking at the weapons I'd purchased, I snatched my hunting rifle, feeling I wouldn't need something more powerful than it.

The bag itself was quite large, and despite having fit many things inside of it already, there had been a bit of space left for Lua to curl up and take a seat in, if she were to chose to.

Now, at long last... they were ready. Unfolding my map, Lua watched intently over my shoulder as I scanned the area of which we'd be exploring.

We decided together that first we'd be visiting a nice sort of waterfall, found just in a bit of a crevice next to the ocean, the mountainous walls next to it. Starting the car, we began to drive, until we got to about where the closest we could get to the entrance path to the falls we're. Then, we both hopped out. I hoisted the big hiking bag upon my shoulders, looked down Lua and smiled. We finally were ready to get moving, exploring, and hopefully finding this place, once and for all.

We began our walk down the pathway. It was a little steep, as it was going down closer to the ocean. The dirt path brought up some dust and small little pebbles of condensed dirt as we walked upon it. It wasn't too long until we made it to a small patch of trees, with a bit of a rickety bridge containing a small stream, maybe brook, babbling underneath it. Carefully we both made our way across.

Once across the bridge, the path became a little bit forked. Whilst right followed the pathway of the stream, and directed us closer to the ocean itself, I couldn't help but wonder what going left could possibly result in. So, we decided to head left and if needed we'd go back around to the right side.

Going left, the brush and trees became a lot more dense. It seemed like it hadn't been touched in awhile, but who knows? Perhaps it was a trick, doing its best to throw me off. But I wasn't going to be put off that easily. As Lua trotted beside me, I cut through the vegetation. Doing so was rather easy as my knife was in good condition.

Soon, we got to what seemed to be a dead end. Emphasis on the "seemed" part of that, as in reality there was a bit more... the rocks seemed to have become a bit ruined overtime, likely but rain or something. But there looked to be something inside, and I was curious as to what it was. I sheared my shovel from my bag and took a slight, careful jab at the pile of rocks before backing up slightly. A few of the rocks fell to the ground, landing beside me. They hadn't been very big, so I wasn't too scared of being hurt. I looked up, and smiled at what I saw. Behind the few rocks was revealed to be an exposed hunk of metal. Not a raw ore, however. This was a piece of plating. Like the stuff that you'd likely use around your super-secret-hidden-mountain-base. This discovery lead to a single conclusion.

I was in the right place.

Now I'd just have to find a way in.