[Quistis]

All was shaken by what just occured. The mission had been on site for two months and events of such nature never happened. This was obviously more serious than they expected and Amanda's curiosity was perked up a couple of levels more. She saw a little bit of how her new team worked - from Iola's analysis of the mysterious artifact to Annabelle's empathic interpretation of the hideous creature that appeared before them moments ago. Trayne was obviously a man who never took any chances- like any good thief should be. Leon was a soldier and it was expected of him to not be shaken by the face of death though Amanda wondered if he had seen anything like this before. The soldier's death seemed unworldly in nature.

"Get the medics team and examine the corpse and the cause of his death." Amanda said trying to take control of the situation - which was expected of her since she led this mission. As the body was taken for analysis, one of the soldiers carefully picked up the strange artifact and quickly placed it inside a small hard-shelled container.

"What are we going to do with this Ma'am?" he asked.

"I am going to keep it." Amanda said as she took the container and placed it inside her backpack. Radomir, the researcher, protested but Amanda insisted that she kept the artifact.

"We might need it inside." she continued.

"But Ms. Kiefervon, you are not allowed to--"

"I am in full command of this mission as my father decided. And I do as I wish. You understand?"

"But your mother was just killed a year ago. If something happens to you, your father would be crushed." the tone of concern in Radomir's voice was pretty obvious.

"And who told you I cared?" Amanda snapped.

"Don't worry Mr. Russian guy. I am her father's friend and I will make sure that nothing happens to her or the whole team in this case." Leon said interrupting the heated conversation.

"I am not a kid anymore Caballero. So stop acting like some superhero in the making."

"You surely just saw what just happened. This is nothing like what you see in movies anymore. We're no Indiana Jones..well, maybe except for Ms. Dawn over there. But you understand what I mean?" Leon explained.

"I know what I saw and what's at risk. I have been studying this mystery for two months and I am going to find out what all of these means even if I have to go in there myself." she said as she walked over to where the rest of the team were standing to properly introduce herself and attempt to change the eerie atmosphere that resulted from what just happened.

"I am glad to see you all came." Amanda said to them, not that she had an intention of giving them any choice to back out from the mission. She never met every single one of them except for Leon who was a very good friend of her father and quite frankly, she never liked his cockiness.

"Iola Dawn I presume? I have heard so much about you. You are a very smart one. Your skills will be most useful for this operation." Amanda said as she gave Iola a handshake. Iola smiled and Amanda could tell that she was a beautiful lady even under those sunglasses.

"I hope there's someone to take care of your cat and that you make it to your friend's wedding." Amanda commented as she moved on to greet Ryan Trayne. Iola was surprised by this remark. She did not expect that Avalon would dig that deep into gathering information about people.

"Ryan Trayne, greatest thief in the world. Pleased to meet you."

"Pleasure's mine as well Madam." Ryan said as he gave her a kiss on the hand instead of a handshake.

"Just call me Amanda." she smiled.

"Oh by the way Amanda. Could you please hand this over to one of your men." Ryan said as he took out a wallet from his pocket which turned out to belong to one of Avalon's men.

"Pardon me for doing that, I just needed to know who I go with." he said.

"No problem Ryan. Frankly, I am impressed. I never thought that anyone could do that to someone trained by SPECTRO." she said grinning, subtly making a sarcastic remark that was obviously directed at Leon who now stood next to Ryan.

"And Leon, I dont think introduction's necessary between us." Amanda moved on to the next person before Leon could even reply.

"Hello Annabelle. you do look pretty especially in person. If you happen to read my mind, dont tell anyone okay?" Amanda said winking at the young woman 6 years her junior, trying to make her feel better after what just happened. The young lady still looked shaken but she gave Amanda a faint smile.

"Allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Amanda Kiefervon and I have asked my father to lead this operation. You know the deal-we'll uncover the mystery that surrounds that temple - get some priceless artifacts perhaps? If you make it out alive, just name your price. There are 4 backpacks that we prepared for you. It has some ammo, food, water, survival kit and communication devices. Once you're ready, we'll go right into the temple." she paused for awhile as a group of men handed them the special backpacks they prepared just for this mission.

One of the soldiers approached Amanda and whispered to her ear. She then gave Leon an angry look but did not say a thing. Once she noticed that the group was ready, they all proceeded to tread the deep forest.

"If you have any more questions, we'll take care of it while we walk to the site."

occ- sorry if my post is long, boring and crappy. anyone please take the liberty of explaining the temple once we get inside.lol I am not that creative...my english is so limited.lol