I am posting this in all 3 Skyrim forums to get maximum chance for answers.
Spoiler Removed

That entire questline is buggy as hell. I hate it. I had to reload it four times at various stages due to the mission NPCs not talking to me.

No one has any ideas? Any help at all? I was trying to avoid doing this, but how do you use console commands on PC? I'm getting frustrated enough to just skip the friggin thing but I don't know how. Will console commanding past it screw anything else up? I've never done it before.

I had no problems... Try entering the fort.

I did. There was no one in there.

Bump. Front page moves fast this time of day.

Did you run around the outside perimeter of the fort, checking for stuck guards? Maybe someone got behind something they shouldn't have, either inside the walls or out? Or the tops of towers? Or taking a dump in the loo?

And, maximum chance to get the posts closed for Cross Posting which is against the rules.