Airsoft Skirmish at The Office

Some few days ago, my fellow photography enthusiast Josh invited me to an Airsoft skirmish within a private compound in Tomas Morato. To get to ‘The Office‘, you have to give a passcode first at the entrance before the guard lets you in since they only patronize the members and their referrals. It was my first time so without knowing what to expect, I was thrilled.

Dave and I met Josh at Super8/SM Masinag area, went to get our rented gear near Ateneo and then geared up after arriving at The Office. I was surprised how the others were fully garbed – complete with scopes and flashlights on their guns and rifles, sporting 2-way radios and pseudo hand grenades on their thick armors. ‘This’ll be fun!” I thought to myself.

After the main guy Horace gave us the general briefing about the place and about what to do and not to do, we were separated into two teams: the Military vs Contractors (civilians). Our so-called map ‘The Office‘, by the way, is an abandoned eight-floor building with semi-demolished rooms and hallways. Also, there’s no electricity – come the time the sun comes down, all you’re gonna be left with will be pitch-black darkness. Still, the shooting games go on until 9pm so better luck next time if you’ve no lights or night-vision with you. And you have to stay on your guard because since this is a private property, you’re pretty much on your own when something happens.

Our first game consisted of this scenario: Both teams of 10-15 started at adjacent rooms on the seventh floor with both having 2 VIPs whom they must escort outside the building. So this is where careful planning comes in – should our team split in half where one division will focus on offense and the other defense, or should each VIP have its own team of both offense and defense? We went with the latter, but we lost the round. The opposing team went all out by having their group move as one as fast as they can, so we were pretty much screwed.

The first battle lasted for about an hour – it’s a terribly daunting patience game! We ran around from floor-to-floor and wall-to-wall as discreet as we can while wearing our multi-layered clothing. We also have to be ready for anything so our hands and shoulders are perpetually locked in shoot mode while carrying that long-ass M-16, and that’s really something that’ll tire out your limbs. Not to mention that there’s the problem with the masks where our goggles tend to fog due to the heat our bodies emit while in the rainy weather. In the end, everyone was forced to adapt to the situation.

The second game: Our team was allowed to be stationed on the 3rd-5th floors, then there were two boss-like enemies on the 6th-7th floor. Our mission was to eliminate the two guys upstairs before the rest of the enemies on the 1st floor catch up to us. When the skirmish started, it was getting dark already so the night caught up to us in the middle of battle. Josh was right, it was pitch black as hell! I should have brought my LED video light lol. The two enemy VIPs reached the lower floors and both teams were stuck at a stalemate thanks to the darkness. Even with lights, we couldn’t see who’s who, and the pouring rain gave a depressing ambiance.

But you guessed it! Our team lost the second game. After all, the opposing team that time was the site’s starting line-up of Airsoft veterans who joins and wins in countrywide tournaments lol. Josh, Dave and I ended the game drenched in both sweat and rain, but the others would get back after dinner for more. We just had to leave early since I still got a Seventh Messiah gig to play to that day – and Josh wasn’t fond of playing Airsoft in the dark haha.

Hopefully, we’d play again in the future! But as for me considering it as a recurring hobby? I guess I’ll pass for now. There’s still my bike to exploit :3

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