Objectives Aligned

I raised my flask to my lips. A brief stream of water entered my mouth, refreshing me greatly. "Alright. We can continue negotiating later. The longer we sit out here, the further ahead our enemies will be."

Lyle nodded. "I concur. I suggest that we secure whatever the objective may be and then work out the details once we have done so."

I put the flask away and then stood up. "It's decided then. Let's head inside."

Only 36 of us in total will go outside. A few operators from each group would remain outside to protect our rear. It would be bad if we had no path of retreat.

We managed to render a low-resolution 3D map of the entire structure using a seismic scan. These ruins ran deep underground and were seemingly endless.

I strapped a headlamp to my forehead and turned it on. With my rifle in hand, I nodded towards the entrance. "Tucker, Leighton, let's move."

Tucker nodded and followed me inside along with Leighton and the rest of the team. The others quickly followed them.

These ruins were clearly ancient. Based on our new friend's intelligence, they were of Incan origin. This meant that the ruins were the better part of a millennium old.

Everything was made of dark stone blocks. They were covered in intricate carvings. The carvings were eerily similar to what I had found on Scarif. However, the animals were Earthlier and there were no depictions of lightsabers. Instead, the people were depicted holding spears, bows, swords, and quarterstaffs. I wasn't the greatest history student, but I didn't recall any South American civilizations using swords...

As we walked, I thought back to the tribesmen we had met outside. The man with the quarterstaff was undoubtedly a light side force sensitive. Were they related to these ruins?

All the while, the yearning I had felt that morning grew ever stronger as we progressed. It was relentless.

I came to a stop at an intersection of halls. For a moment, I closed my eyes to get my bearings. "This way."

I turned to the left and continued guiding the group through the ruins. We descended three flights of stairs before coming to the first point of interest.

The hallway opened up into a massive chamber. There were huge square pillars spread around the room that had deep carvings on them. These carvings appeared to be decorative patterns as they didn't depict anything.

Bioluminescent moss covered a large portion of the walls. Due to this, the chamber was illuminated with a soft glow.

In the center of the room, there was a small stream of water. It flowed through a squared channel and disappeared into the stairway downstream on the opposite side of the room.

Clay vases were sitting in the near right corner of the room. Some of them were broken with what appeared to be grain scattered across the floor.

My eyes locked onto some movement as I swept the room with my lamp. A few lizards scurried across the wall hoping to escape my light.

Everyone shuffled into the room and fanned out. Several people had smartphones out and were taking pictures of the various carvings. These ruins had not been touched for a long time. It was important to record as much as possible. Especially because they were possibly related to the force.

I walked over to Lyle and Olivia who were next to each other. They were examining some of the carvings. This chamber was nothing special, but it was still inspirational to look at art made by humans long gone from this world.

I looked towards an opening opposite the one we came from. "We are getting closer, but so are they."

A brief chill suddenly invaded my body. It was the dark side. It gnawed at my sanity, attempting to pull me into the abyss. I couldn't give in.

I shook it off, but concern was painted across my face. "Our adversaries are not to be underestimated."

Olivia nodded and turned away from the wall. "Let's continue then. There's no time to waste."

I nodded back. "I agree, but we must tread carefully. I feel that the path ahead may not be as simple as we've seen thus far."

Suddenly, an SAS operator rushed over with a tablet in his hand. "Agent Hall, I've picked up some traffic on the heartbeat sensor."

Lyle grabbed the tablet and scrutinized it. "Those aren't ours. There must be another entrance. I can still feel those we left outside."

I shook my head at the unreliable technology. "I feel one other group."

Lyle furrowed is brow. "There's only one cluster of signatures being picked up. Here. Have a look."

I took the tablet from him and observed quietly. There were two clusters of dots. One was in the center of what looked like a radar circle. This cluster was all white. There was a second cluster of red dots that was approaching the white ones.

Looking up from the tablet, I took note of the four openings that this chamber could be accessed from. The one opposite where we came in had a descending flight of stairs.

The heartbeat sensor identified a group coming from the opening to the right and I was able to feel another group to the left. My eyes widened as I came to a startling conclusion. There were at least two other entrances to these ruins.

I handed the tablet back to Lyle and started walking. "We need to move further in, and quickly. It's possible that those two groups will deal with each other."

Olivia nodded. "I agree. Let's move."

Everyone started walking but I hesitated for but a moment. I glanced towards the opening that the heartbeat sensor didn't pick up anything from. Trepidation fluttered in my heart before my usual Zen returned.

I could only turn away. There was not much we could do. Alongside the stream, we disappeared further into the ruins.