The Lost Temple (actual RP thread)

[Quistis]

occ- warning- my character can be a pain in the ass sometimes. She's somewhat a spoiled and a classy bitch lol. And this RP has all the characters it needs so it is not open anymore.

"The chopper is ready Madam" Robert Cassidy said wearing his very expensive suit. His blonde hair smelled of the most expensive hair products for men in the market today. His face, neatly shaved. He stood before a huge wooden door that led to the private office of Avalon Corporation's only heir, or should we say, heiress.

"You look ravishing today Robert." a voice of a woman said, as she sat at the huge desk across the room. Expensive paintings and statues graced the room while bookshelves seemed to take whatever spaces were left on the wall. The ceiling seemed to have become a canvass for the beautiful renaissance painting that was on it- almost mimicking Michaelangelo's church painting. A huge window overlooking the marvelous garden outside the mansion made way for the warm rays of sunlight that seemed to smile on them today.

But all these grandeur and beauty seemed to be reduced to nothing whenever Amanda Kiefervon was around...or at least that's how it was for Robert.

"Never as beautiful as you, Madam." he said softly, head slightly bowed to show respect to his mistress.

Amanda, gave him a smile as she stood up from her desk and picked up the paperwork that she had been reading before Robert called her. Her ebony hair was neatly tucked in a french twist. She walked towards him wearing what seemed to be a semi-unzipped black leather jumpsuit. Amanda wore a white tubed shirt inside, showing a bit of a cleavage but still leaving much to the imagination. The sound of her heeled boots echoed throughout the room as she walked. Robert couldn't help but swallow and loosen his necktie a little bit.

"You seem very nervous today Robert." she said handing him over the paperwork. Amanda deliberately let her body brush against his chest as she got close to him and proceeded to walk outside.

Evil woman...heh Robert thought as he followed her closely behind. Because of the pair of custom magnum that hung on Amanda's belt, men could not help but just enjoy the view whenever she's around. Amanda enjoyed teasing men, but it always had to end there.

After what seemed to be an eternity, they finally got to the helipad. A couple more bodyguards waited for her as they helped her board the private chopper. Robert followed and handed the paperwork over to Amanda when she finally got comfortable in her seat. She wasted no time and continued on browsing through the documents. A Russian middle-aged man wearing a suit and a pair of eyeglasses sat across her. He was one of the expert researchers for Avalon - Piotr Radomir

"So they all agreed for the mission. Good. But who can ever refuse our offer.A reward of their choice if they make it out alive is tempting enough." she said striking up a conversation with the man.

"Indeed madam. But may I ask you this, why are you bringing your guns today? And you're not wearing your usual business attire.." the man asked her suspiciously in his strong Russian accent.

"We're going to a forest Piotr. You wont expect me to wear miniskirts or high heeled shoes here, would you?" she replied.

"Perhaps, but it is not like you really need to go to the site. It is very dangerous." Piotr replied with a concerned look on his face.

"I'd like to see what I am working on. And besides, I need to be introduced to the 'team' and lead them to that God forsaken temple." Amanda said as the chopper gently landed on the makeshift helipad they built near the site. A few structures that looked like soldier barracks occupied the rest of the clearing. Soldiers scattered around the area made this look like some military mission.

As Amanda alighted from the chopper she saw 4 figures standing at a distance. She could see the tip of the mysterious temple from afar sticking through the tall trees of the densed forest. The structure could be only a mile away from their base. After putting on her sunglasses she proceeded to meet the new recruits.

Amanda, prepare for the time of your life... she thought trying to hide a silly grin but failing miserably.

[psychosyd]

OOC: You know Mina, usually when people role play they pretend to be a person they aren't. Sorry, I kid I kid, it was just to open to try, ok, on with the show

"Care for another drink Mr. Trayne?" The waiter asked as he leaned over offering a bottle of Pinot Noir.

"No thanks Steve, I'm about done for today, I have a plane to catch." Mr. Trayne said, draining the last contents of his glass. He looked one more time at t he formal invitation letter in his hands. It had been delivered to him a few weeks ago. Ryan had no real information beyond that.

To Mr. Ryan Trayne,

We of the Avalon Co. would like to extend an invitation to you to join us in an exploration of a recent discovery. We recognize your special skills will be of use to us in this expidition. Your reward will be of your choosing, if you happen to come out alive.
Please respond within one weeks time upon receving this letter. If you so choose to accept, we will send you an airplane ticket.

The letter was unsigned, and the owner untraceable. Of course, curiosity had always been a failing of Ryans, and he loved a good challenge. In fact, it was about time he had moved on anyways, he had already gleaned New York City dry of any sort of challenge months ago, and he was getting quite bored. He responded immediatly to the challenge, and recieved his boarding information not a day later. Whoever the Avalon corperation was, they were efficient, and they meant business.

The date for his plane had arrived, today was the day Ryan would learn about what exactly the mission was. If it was not to his liking, he could always walk out, it was simple as that. It was not like anybody could stop him.

"Well, thats that." Ryan said, tossing some cash on the table to cover the bill and of course extra for the tip. Standing up, he pulled on his black beaver fur coat, slid on a pair of sunglasses and walked outside to a waiting taxi which promptly took him to the airport.

The flight was pitifully uneventful. He did notice however his employer took care of those they chose to hire. He flew first class on his own private airline. The men practically catered to his every beck and call.

"How interesting" Ryan said as he lay back, a smile forming over his face. It would be a few days now before the Plaza Hotel he had just left would realize their safe box had been opened and the contents empty. Not a single scrap of evidence, no leads and no trace. Such was the way Trayne would work, with perfection. With the knowledge of a few million in his personal possession, Ryan fell asleep.

He awoke shortly before the plane landed, and getting off he found a man in a black suit waiting for him.

"Come this way sir, there is still a distance to travel yet, the car is outside."
The man said formally with a slight bow. By his accent and the slight tint of his skin, Ryan knew him to be of Hispanic origion. The "car" outside was nothing more than a Black Sedan. How fitting.

It seemed there was not a single other soul in sight. As the car pulled out of the airport, all Ryan could see was the mountains in the distance, and the nearing forest. That would explain the private airport. Usually companies who wanted to keep a low profile would use these more secluded locations, effective way of keeping the publics nose out of things. The way this was shaping up, it would be one of those momments. Suddenly the car stopped.

"Well sir, we are here." The driver said, then getting out to open the door.

Stepping outside Ryan immedatly felt a gust of dry wind against his face. He was surrounded by forest, and in the distance, the tip of a temple peeking above the forest. It appeared to be of Aztec design, but the vegitation of the forest wasnt correct, this was not Mexico, no, he was to far north for that. Not that it mattered, what Avalon would want to do with him in a job that was meant for archologists was beyond him. Turning, he saw 3 more cars pull up. More recruits perhaps? This would be interesting.

She was flying. It was beautiful, too. A snowy mountain. She dipped down over the cliff and entered normal weather again. But it was........raining? She felt drops on her face.

"Get off, Tricky," Iola said to her cat, who was tenderly licking her cheek. She realized she had fallen asleep at her computer. Avalon's home page was still on the screen, and her pen still in her hand. She straightened her hair a bit and went to the kitchen.

"One-thirty AM. I work way too hard sometimes."

Still, the coffee was in the pot. She poured some water up and started a new batch.

Avalon's letter was still sitting on her desk. Iola Dawn, researcher for the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, had accepted the suspicious offer very reluctantly. She hadn't taken a vacation in years. She wanted to leave the apartment, job, and various other obligations behind. She wanted to escape. She wanted to travel the world, never looking back....

Iola saw this as her chance. Her chance to get away from it all and be a freelance archaeologist once again. She thought about everything she was leaving behind and wasn't afraid. She was excited.

But the coffee was done. She poured a cup and went back to the computer.

"Avalon, Avalon, Avalon......what do they do?" Like any other company website, Avalon's never gave anyone any useful information. She found it useless to waste more time searching. She looked at the ticket she had just gotten in the mail the day before yesterday. She left today, at 2 PM. But to where? The plane ticket gave no information, except a place and time. Iola flicked off the light switch and collapsed on the bed.

-------------------------------------------------------

It was 10 AM when she awoke. Just enough time to shower and head off to the airport. But first, a visit to her friend's house.

"Thanks for taking care of Tricky for me, Amanda. I really owe you."
"You owe no one nothing. It's about time you took a vacation, working as hard as you do."
"I just hope it's all it seems to be. And I hope I get back in time for your wedding."
"Oh, you will. If not, we can.......always postpone it?"
"As if! Well, it's 3 months from now, I'm sure I won't be gone that long. And speaking of being gone, I'd have better go!"
"You be safe, now." Amanda gave her a hug. "You're my maid of honor, so be back in one piece!"
"You're SO funny," said Iola with a bit of sarcasm. "I'll be fine. Digging in dirt isn't so dangerous."
"Let's just hope not. Have a good trip! Take care of yourself, you hear?"
"I hear ya. I'd have better be going, though," Iola said, and gave her a hug back. She walked to her car, a little sad and a little excited at the same time.

Soon the plane was taking off. It was a small learjet, and she was somehow the only passenger. She wanted to fly it, but the attendants insisted on her staying seated. She'd always been one for flying, having her pilot's license before her driver's license. Iola leaned back in the leather chair and looked out over the terrain. She didn't even know where she was going, and it was exciting.

2 hours later, the plane landed in a small airport. A black Lincoln was waiting for her just outside the plane, and handsome men in suits waited to escort her down the stairs. She felt out of place in her jeans, hiking boots, and baggy button-up shirt. The half-brushed ponytail completed the look.

The car pulled away from the plane, its windows so tinted that one could barely see light. Iola was inspecting her knife when the car suddenly came to a stop near several other black cars. She put on her sunglasses and stepped out of the car, with the help of the driver.

It's beautiful......

A forest. A beautiful forest. She could only wonder where she was.

[OceanEyes28]

OOC: My writing style will seem a little disjointed and choppy at times, but I'm doing this to go along with the character. I'm introducing this slowly, but I'm going to try to start writing thoughts as she thinks them, random or not. Blame Faulkner. I'm reading his stuff for English, and it's rubbing off, but I'm not as good.

"Annabelle."

"Yes?"

"Go check on the birdbath."

A white Angora cat danced around her feet while she walked softly to the sliding glass door. It sighed as she opened it, and a spring wind burst into the house and curtains erupted from their solemnity. The air sang with wind chimes. She slipped on a pair of sandals, and went tto find that the birdbath was as full as it had been the last time her grandfather had sent her to check on it. Ever since her grandfather had found out that she would be leaving, he had been giving her countless chores and tasks to do. He had also been having her do more exercises than usual. It was slightly disquieting—perhaps he thought this would be his last chance to do these things—but she smiled whenever he wanted to give her guidance.

“Grandpa, the birdbath is still full, and before you send me on another errand, I’ve already watered the flowers.”

Grandpa closed his mouth and turned to his book again. Worry filled the wrinkles in his wise forehead, and his lips were drawn tight across his youthful teeth like a bow ready to release an arrow. She went to curl up on the faded sofa beneath the far window, but Grandpa stopped her.

“Annabelle.”

“Yes?”

“What do you see in this new job? What will happen to you?”

Annabelle shrugged. “I can’t tell.”

“I’m worried about you.”

“I know.”

“Tomorrow will be… difficult.”

Annabelle hummed her agreement, and then went into the kitchen. The tea kettle on the stove began to whistle.

Annabelle’s powers were subtle. Her foresight only allowed her to see a few seconds into the future in most cases, so many of her psychic episodes appeared to be coincidence. She could not actually “see” into the future. She had not developed enough for that. For the time being, it was a reflex that came early, and she did things that she, for some reason, felt she should do. She had the ability to move small objects and manipulate fire and water, but she was still sloppy. Her forte was communicating with the dead. This was why she was going on this adventure in the first place. Though he would never admit it, Grandpa needed more money to fall back on than he had. This job would pay very well, and all Annabelle had to do was be herself. She suspected that Grandpa’s opinion of the job was sour because he knew she was doing it for him.

“Annabelle.”

“Yes?”

“Go practice your new sparring techniques.”

***

The next morning, Grandpa woke her up at six. She finished packing, and Grandpa took her to the airport. They were escorted to a private gate where Grandpa and Annabelle would have to say their goodbyes. Annabelle had wondered if Grandpa would cry. His hands were firm on her shoulders, and his eyes prodded at her own. And of all the things to say, he said, “You forgot to feed that damned cat.”

“Take care of him for me.”

He nodded. Through years of time spent together, they had developed their own language spoken between blinks. He looked at her a moment longer, and in that instant, she knew his heart. Then Grandpa turned and walked away.

Annabelle arrived at the Avalon site at roughly eleven o’clock in the morning.

[lolosky]

(ooc- Sorry to be sooooooo late, i was too busy these last weeks and forgot completely about this)

It was early, disgustingly early in Leon's point of view, in his ten years of service he could never adjust his inner clock, and he wasn't thinking of starting to work on it now; he looked to the marble clock that made the annoying ringing, he took a moment to express in his inner thoughts how much he despised that damn item, yet he knew that he needed it every morning to wake up, specially after a night like the one he just had.

“Lights” - He almost whispered as he got up mumbling a few curses to his damn luck, he tattled his way across his room towards his bathroom, but the damn lights didn't went on - “, lights......... GODDAMN IT LIGHTS” - he shouted after hitting what must be one of the wooden victorian chairs that laid under the marble table that was inside his bedroom; this time the lights went on. He felt blinded for a few seconds and waited still to his eyes to adjust to the shift - “A bath, all i need is a warm bath and everything will be fine.......” - he knew he was lying to himself, but for the moment he felt soothed, after all how else could he aspire to feel at 3:30 a.m.

One hour and a half later, he was in his office, ready to take actions on the everyday matters, but not so quite it'll be an everyday, he had to discuss several stocks movements with his associates, he had to review the deploy of the S.P.E.C.T.R.O. (Special Position Enforcement Command and Tactical Resources of Operations) in the hostage situation in the embassy of Germany, he had to meet with several possible clients and even more with possible business partners; but afore everything, Leon had video conference with Alexander Keifervon, the head of the snake as referred in several business magazines, the sole head of the powerful Avalon Corporation.

He knew what they would talk about, the strange letter Leonardo had received two weeks ago, it was addressed to be from Avalon, but Leonardo knew the actual source of it - “What the hell are you thinking of Amanda?” - he had immediately discarded the idea of joining the little adventure of that spoiled child, yet Avalon were his best clients, and he had prepared a formal apology for the rejection of such request, but still, it would be too obvious to send it directly to Amanda as the letter had no forwarding address, she would have just insisted on and on.

Leon lighted a cigarette and leaned back on his leather chair, he was sure that he would receive a complain or something of the sort from “Avalon”, or better said directly from Amanda; but it was something indeed shocking for Alexander to have requested a direct meeting, this was not his style, Alexander only showed himself to his most direct counselors, and Leon knew that despite being the CEO of one of the most respected security services in the world, his name was not included on that list. And so it happened, Leon heard the comlink in his PDA activating, he appointed the cryptographic key and set the wireless device to channel through his monitor. There he was, it was a half past 6 in the morning in Viena, as he checked on his wristband clock, but it was still night wherever the hell Alexander was transmitting from, he sat quietly and with a calm toned voice Leon greeted the man to whom he owed his life.........


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Already 10 hours of flight time had passed, Leon looked at Shadow 7 and Shadow 8, all of them dressed in their military jumpsuits, no insignia on them, their faces were painted in dark camouflage colors, little did they knew that they were not taking part on the action this day; each of them, including Leon, carried a special dark bag, which obviously kept inside some sort of machine gun; their jumpsuits were covered with a spec-ops vest, needles to say this thin vest was made of the strongest bulletproof materials conceived in the labs of S.P.E.C.T.R.O.; but it also was made to kept compartments for every refill and survival supply that were standard in his tactical commands, all of them carried a holster in which they ported a custom made GLOCK 31C, a .357 automatic pistol with a magazine capacity of 17 bullets, excepting Leon whom carried two of them, one on each side of his vest, and in the back side of their belt 6 clips for them. In his hands Leon held a black Hi-Point 9mm SKS Carbine by the cannon, he tossed it from side to side while he recounted the technical details of that weapon, a 10 bullets magazine with a grip mounted clip, it's barrel was 16 inches and a half long, it was the best marksman rifle he had experienced during his combat years.

“What the hell am i going to do?” - he wondered as he looked to the Avalon security staff, beaten down to the pulp after trying to deny access to plane to Shadow 7 and 8, apparently they had orders that only Leon was authorized to catch this flight, and well, Leon just hated to travel alone, after all S.P.E.C.T.R.O had trained the troops of Avalon, and the Shadows were the elite of S.P.E.C.T.R.O. - “Ryan Trayne,” - Leon thought while reading the content of a folder of data briefings his intelligence staff had gathered for him - “I remember him; he was the one who was suspected to have stole the Virgin of the Cliff from the Louvre, well those frenchies didn't want to pay the right price to track the thieve, so that's not my problem” - He flipped through the several pages of the “works” suspected to be performed by this “artist”, none confirmed to be condemned, but none either leading to other professional of those skills - “... Iola Dawn, she seems like a pretty regular Indiana-Jones-wannabe... Skilled pilot... Straight A graduated... Four Ph.D.s... Recognized researcher... Several published works... The Smithsonian.... Wow, this girl is no rookie” - A page slippered from the folder, falling towards the floor of the plane; but in a fast reflex movement, Leon stretched his hand and grabbed it, he looked to his side and realized that both Shadows had followed the movement with their eyes without losing any contact with the pages

“The only real difference between a civil and a professional is the training” - Leon reminded himself as he made a small grin, and the Shadows were trained like anyone else he had known, Leon fixed his eyes on the page, from the briefing it was the shortest - “Psychic......” - He still wondered what would be doing Amanda involving a psychic on this assignment - “What do you think about this Roy?” - Leon handed the page to Shadow 7, whom took a small look to the briefing

“I'm not sure boss, perhaps Avalon is interested in what the cards might tell in the course of the mission” - the three of them made a short laugh, Shadow 7 had reviewed the briefings just as good as Shadow 8 and Leon, but he always liked to hear by first hand the thoughts of his men before confronting a situation

“I don't think Avalon would hire your standard phony hand reader Roy, not even for something as crazy as this” - Shadow 8 added, he looked at Leon and said - “What do you think of this boss? What could this Amanda golden-baby want with S.P.E.C.T.R.O. in a research like this?... After all, Avalon has their own elite team and security team”

“Actually Axel, they have seven elite squadrons for different purposes” - He glanced the page, Annabelle, he thought - “Interesting name, mixture of latin and french... If i recall correctly it means something like the beautiful prophetess... Interesting choice” - Leon smiled to his own thoughts

“Boss, we're landing” - Shadow 7 said

“OK guys, grab the packages,” - Leon pulled the Hi-Point over, and secured it on his back, also grabbing his dark bag, Shadow 8 and 7 took each one two bags, of the same type each, the plane had landed - “ remember guys we're not here to break havoc, but we're operating in our way, by any means you will do something you'll consider either stupid or out of possibilities”

Both men responded at the same time - “Roger Shadow 9”

As they descended from the plane, a man greeted him - ”Come this way sir, there is still a distance to travel yet, the car is outside." - Leon watched as a black Lincoln approached the plane. Leon glanced the man and replied - “Sorry big boy, but we're driving.” - The man looked at Leonardo with an slight disgust by those words

“Sorry sir, but the exploration site is far from normal reach and”

“Yeah, and you're driving a sedan through a bad road.” - Shadow 7 said with a smirk as he walked towards the car - “ Besides, how hard can the address be, we're in the middle of nowhere, and there's only one address, that huge thing over there” - Shadow 7 pointed to the pyramid that stood across the forest

“Excuse me gentleman, but we have already sighted the location of the camp from the air; we can carry on from here” - Shadow 8 added with a more educated tone

“I'm sorry sir, but only Mr. Caballero is allowed access to the site”

Shadow 7 glanced at Leon with a devious grin, who only shrugged a little in irony. Half an hour later, the Lincoln was parking in the middle of the camp, at the same time that another car stopped near them, he saw Trayne already standing in front of his car, he said to Shadow 8 - “Stay in the car until i call for you, have the bags ready and the equipment at hand,” - he smiled at Shadow 7, who was behind the wheel - “The same goes for you wonder boy”

“Roger, Shadow 9” - Shadow 7 replied with a little chuckle - “What about them?” - He pointed at the two men next to Shadow 8 who were bleeding from several spots, and whom Shadow 8 kept pointing his gun

“Well, It shall be alright for you two to have company, I'll tell Amanda of them after a couple of hours, just tied them up” - the men gazed at Leon with shock - “... But not too hard, or you wont be able to stand a civilized conversation with them” - He chuckled and stepped out of thew car.

He glanced at the rest of the crew from a small moment, before hearing a chopper approaching - “Always making an entrance... That's just so Amanda Keifervon... I wonder if she's still mad at me; after all it has already passed a year, and she wouldn't ask me to come directly if she still kept some hard feelings... Unless she wanted to kill me personally” - Leon smiled as the chopper landed in front of the cars

[ToroMor]

(((OOC: Q asked me to do the next post. For obvious reasons my char (if there is something like that) will not yet show up. I will just do a more "atmospheric" post. For that, I have to use your chars a bit. Hope it's ok. I am perfectly open for suggestions so if you don't feel comfortable => OOC)))

The mountains shone resplendent in the bleak midday sun above the Avalon’s camp. The heli of Amanda had just landed at the site and the specialist team was about to gather together.

“FREEZE!” - The sharp voice of a man wearing a mask over his mouth was heard, followed by the short, knocking bark of a gun. Leon immediately recognized the sound as coming from a HK MP5/10 A3, the standard weapon of the armed Avalon expedition forces. Within the same instant, Leon drops into combat position, bringing his 9mm down to the present. More shouts were heard: “Keep still. FREEZE!” Another bark from the MP5. Several soldiers of Avalon, dressed in black protective armor, pointed their automatic guns to a point at the fringe of the nearby forest. There, a peculiar appearance came into sight. It was seemingly a male human figure, but in animal posture, naked and covered with dirt. His face was hidden in a huge beard and his hair was wild and black. The man kneeled, one arm to the ground while leaning on his knuckles. The other arm was stretched out and holding a small item. The whole figure was bathed in sweat and heavily shivering. His teeth chattered and he showed every sign of fear. “Drop it! ****ing drop it! Now!” All of a sudden, the man dropped the item and with a beastly shriek, wildly jumped into the forest. The Heckler & Kochs spit their Tac-tac-tac-tac but whoever this beastman was, he must have been blessed by all the deities of luck ever populating the pantheons of mankind.

While a team was sent into the forest to follow and capture the beastman, interest was focussed on the item he had dropped. It was a small tube, made of pure gold, showing the artwork of an unsavory, evil looking grimace. After a first examination, it was considered harmless and - since it seemed to be some sort of ancient item - shown to Iola Dawn. „At a first glance, I would say, it’s rather similar to what the aztec culture called a ‘Toczklithloa”, some kind of important token which expresses a warning”.

“Or a threat.” The unexpectedly near voice of Ryan Trayne startled Iola. She didn’t notice him looking over her shoulder. The tone of her reply became more angry than it was meant to be: “I don’t want to question your expertise Sir, but evidently, this astonishing piece of craftsmanship is not aztec. There are similarities but the differences are obvious. It is at least difficult to interpret the exact semantics of such a token.”

Amanda looked at the forest. “This man was in terrible fear. I doubt he ever saw humans like us. With our copters, cars and guns he and perhaps some of his people must think we are gods. Maybe this thing was something like a gift for us to calm our anger.” Then, Amanda noticed the strange expression on the face of Annabelle. Anna’s eyes were widely open and seemed to look into nowhere. Amanda frowned as she wondered what this psychic gifted girl may be thinking.

“He did not fear us.” Annabelle thought, slightly quivering as she anticipated the emotions of the beastly creature. “We would never be able to cause this deep, overwhelming terror that only those are able to feel whose perceptions are not yet blunted by civilisation. This poor being was not in fear for his life. He feared for his soul. I never saw anything like this.”

“Aaaaaahhh!”

A shrill cry exploded amidst the small group. The soldier who hold the token in his glove tumbled and fell into the mud. His eyes seemed to pop out of his face, he spat white foam and was shaken by spasms. He instantly got an injection of a standard adrenalin-antidote mixture, the normal emergency equipment of the troops, but it didn’t help. Within seconds, the soldier died. Leon had a quick look at the golden item. It now showed two thorns. “Nasty little token” he commented laconically.

Suddenly, the assumed dead soldier raised his head. His eyes were blind and his tongue was pitch black. In an eerie, incoherent voice he spat some words: “… so dark … master … they … flesh … doom… obey… aaaargggl”. His words turned into horrible gurgling sounds and he finally died in blatant utmost agony.

The eyes of Annabelle cleared again and her gaze slowly wandered towards the top of the ancient structure. An icy gust of wind waved through her hair…
and crept up her spine.

(((OOC: sorry for the sig, I was in a real hurry. Removed it.)))

[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

[lolosky]

(OOC – And so does the conflict begins ^_^ )

”As Amanda as usual....” – Leon thought after her commentary of S.P.E.C.T.R.O. - “It's like if not even a day had passed since” – She spoke in short sentences and in cutting coldness, he felt like replying her with her same tone, but she moved too fast to Annabelle, for him to even start a word – ”Ladies and Gentlemen, Amanda Keifervon has took over the spotlight as usual”

She introduced the first brief over the mission, as fast as she could, not wanting to acknowledge that she was mumbling in the darkness as all of her researchers, smart move, he considered, after all she couldn't keep her crew united if she showed any weakness, and less in any public way. But Leon wasn't “her crew”, he was not here to accomplish her childish desires in a way he would consider that would endanger him, nor the rest of the crew. After he received the backpack from the hands of one of the Avalon's Foxs, as he could so easily recognize his weaponry despite the little attempt to hide them in the guise of third rank personnel, he watched Amanda's facial expression. Shadow 7 and 8 had already delivered their little “package”, so it was time to start making things right – ”If it wasn't you Alexander...”

“Amanda!” - Leon stated as the rest of the group started their walk - “ I have a question that just can't wait until our arrival to the temple” - His tone secure and arrogant as usual, he had that devil-may-care smile that had made him so popular around the business magazines' covers, but that by any mean would impress Amanda at all.

“There is no time Caballero” - She quickly pointed as she raised her left hand and waved as taking importance to the matter.

“Well, is just that i wonder, how long do you expect us to survive in the wilderness, by carrying ten GP-I rations, which will require us to use fourteen ounces of the precious water we hold in our Hydra Storm Vectors, which by the way only can carry seventy two ounces of water each, so basically means that we only could provide us with 5.14 meals of GPI, that given the chance that we shall consume no water at all, which is completely unreal, taking also the fact that we don't know how much time we'll spend there,” - he paused to take delight in his own words, he knew that by now she couldn't counter his explanations, he gazed to Trayne who was paying close attention to his words and to Iola who seemed mildly interested by the fact; Anabelle on the other hand showed no expression at all, and that puzzled Leon, she could be figuring out what he was about to say, but that fact mattered little to him - “also I'm really intrigued by how effective is the Emergency medic Roll Kit?, it won't have space to include all the supplies we might need, for it would have to adjust to our food and water systems, even if each of us carry one of these. Add to that, the need to carry these Smith & Wessons Smith 40m and the four clips of ammunitions and you'll give us too much to carry and too short the space.” - Leon shrugged in a notorious false modesty as he took pleasure on the boiling anger that had formed in Amanda's face.

“And i suppose that you could come up with something better Caballero” - She reacted with an even more obvious rage that she wanted to show, as she quickly cut her tone and realized that she had just given him a small advantage in this small dispute by reacting in the way he had wanted her to; she calmed herself - “The preparations had already been done by our experts, and unless you can come up with something better, i suggest we keep moving. So please just stop complaining” - She said in a imposing tone as she turned around to continue her pace, obviously she was leaving clear who was the leader of this expedition.

Leon slightly shrugged – ”Your child has good character Alexander... Just like her mother had; but I'm not here to recognize perseverance, but to keep us alive” – He sighed and with a small shout said to Amanda, who was already several feet away - “But what if i have something better already?” - Everyone turned to look at him, as he raised his left hand and started to speak to his wristband - “S-78 speak out”

As he commanded, Shadow 7 and 8 stepped out from behind the group, each of them carried the dark bags they had arrived with; Amanda gazed at the two men in almost shock, Ryan seemed somehow puzzled but not willing to show any initial reaction; Iola watched with care to the two soldiers and reacted with a small blush when Shadow 7 winked at her with sardonic grin. Annabelle saw the two men without any real particular commotion as if she had already knew that they were near. They placed the packs over in the ground right in front of Leonardo, and without saying a word they stood behind him, as if waiting for instructions.

Leonardo smiled and went over one knee, he opened each bag one at a time, showing the content of each one to the rest of the group - “The medical kit” - he pointed as he showed the content of the first bag - “The BlackHawk Spec-Ops Medical Backpack, made of NyTaneon, supports pressure and hits without stumbling the material inside; it posses padded shoulders carriers and a strapped waist belt, if for any reason you're unable to hold it onto your back, the top handle will allow you to drag it as long as you can secure a position. Has internal drain holes that allow the system to keep itself dry in case of submersion, each gear has an individual compartment with two large compartments in the bottom, they use silent pulls sliders so that should be no problem if we found any hostility”

“How many of these will we carry?”- Trayne asked - “Only this one, it posses enough material to support the five of us in seven different case of emergencies.” - Leon grabbed the package by the top handle and tossed it to Anabelle - “You will be carrying this my dear lady” - He quickly withdrew to the second bag, inside there was a large backpack – The Commo Patrol Pack, it's equipped with a SECURENET encryption device, a derivation of the standard MSF5000, it allows the communication through secure and transparent channels, adjustable through the monitor placed in the padded slings of the pack, each monitor is independent but posses the same features as the other. Inside there are four bluetooth sets of ear gears,” - he turned his head and pointed to his left ear, where a small transparent device lied - “and four blueetooth wristbands with an small mic, the mics and the receivers are covered by NyTaneon, so there's no worry about the possibility of damage” - Leon opened the pack and showed the content to the rest – “Inside there are 50 'Meals,Ready-to-Eat' or MRE, these need no hydration process and can be consumed hot or cold. Each of us will carry 5 per day, but only will consume 3, this is the best way to keep a supply should one get lost and makes a journey back, administer the rations for one to last one day in case of emergency.” - He tossed the Patrol Pack to Iola - “You seem like a strong gal, you'll carry this one. Don't give the ration nor the commlinks just yet”

He quickly opened the third pack, it contained three black packs and five six pouches - “Hydra Storm STRIKE Tsunami; the drinking system is protected by Mycroban antimicrobial treatment, the valve is bit proof, the pack is an standard patrol system, with no web pouching, yet it can hold two sets of extra load, one on each side, keep that in mind if one of us gets wounded and you need any extra space to carry” - He tossed one to Ryan and one to Amanda - “These pouches,“ - he separated the six of them - “five contain hydrations kits with 100 oz of storage, the extra pouch is for you Anabelle, here you will store your MRE.” - He handled each of the pouches, except for the one of Amanda, he tossed it to her as she refused to come near the gears, he rage was now even more than obvious, and Leon was incredible amused by this - “Take care of your water supplies and only used them when needed; if you lose all your water you lose it until we find some refill, in that each one is on its own, that is a rule and we wont break it” - he didn't question if they understood, he felt not the need of it, if he was going to take care of them, they would have to play by his rules in the matters of survival

He opened the fourth pack and it contained 12 clips of .357 hole-point bullets, each contained 17 bullets; besides of them 25 magazines of 20 5.56x45mm bullets - “These my dear endangered crew are bullets, and they are made to put this pointy thing “ - he grabbed one of the M16 magazines and pointed to the top bullet - “inside anything or anyone who mean harm to you” - He divided the bullet sets on the ground

“Nice to see you come prepared for if we run out of bullets but how are they supposed to be spent?” - Iola asked; Leon returned a mischievous grin, as that of a child who was a bragging a set of toys - “That part is also solved.“ - he turned around and said to Shadow 7 and 8 - “Guys removes the vests and hand them over, one to miss Dawn and one to Mr Trayne” - both of the Shadows perplexed in amazement, they had never been informed about letting their duty weapons off, and they surely didn't felt comfortable doing it - “And what about those?” - Trayne asked pointing the M16 magazines. Leonardo smiled and grabbed each bag by the bottom, he turned them over and opened what it seemed as another compartment, showing one M16 Viper inside of each bag - “The Viper M16, the greatest close quarters' combat model designed in the world, reduced recoil, total controllability, capable of single shots in full auto, bore life increased by 300 per cent, throat erosion virtually eliminated, mil spec 5.56mm/.223 caliber, Muzzle velocity exceeds 2,400 feet per second” - he said as he grabbed each one of them and handed over to each member of the group - “. But you're not supposed to shoot them. You will carry them and in the needed case you'll hand them over to me and I'll take care of the fun part, trust me, if you shoot this wrongly,all of us might end up dead. Each of you grab 5 magazines and store it in the packs, except for you two” - he pointed to Iola and Trayne - “, in the vests you're have a compartment that stores 3 magazines “ - he pointed at a pouch in the right side of his vest - “, use them and keep enough room in you packs. Specially you Iola”.

Leonardo, rose to his feet grabbing the HydraStorm kit and securing it on his back, he slippe