While the two of them were walking, they found out that the way to the palace wasn't blocked..it didn't even exist. They looked around for a bit, until Lara found a way in on the other side of the path, there was infact a cave, leading inside the mountain.

"We can get in through there." She said pointing at the cave.

"There's clearly no way we can go there." Section said back, and as soon as he finished, Lara grabbed her bow, pulling the bow' rope and letting the arrow penetrate into a wooden wall that was midway over the cave entrance.

As Section realized what she was about to do, he said: "You gotta be kidding me.." with a low voice.

"It's just a jump, come on." She said back, grabbing the rope and, after taking a little bit of a run-up, she let herself swing, jumping on a nearby platform that was just in front of the cave' entrance.

Lara waited for Section to go where she was.

"Alright.." he grabbed the rope, taking a run-up himself, then jumping with all his strength.

While he was swinging mid-air, he could feel the wind in his hair, and, letting out a "Ooh..!", he landed.

They both jumped onto the dirt, then they headed directly into the cave.

As they were walking in, Lara grabbed her radio, wanting to talk to Roth.

"Roth, we're heading in."

(Roth- Via Radio) "Lara, are you sure?"

""I'll get them, I'll come back.. I promise."

As they heard voices from inside, they took cover behind one of the walls of the cave, and they stood silent to listen to the voice speaking to what looked like a crowd of people.

"My brothers! Listen to me now! Out in the world we were nothing, but here..here we are the Solariis! The Sun Queen's children. She brought us here for a reason! I know you want your freedom..."

While Mathias was talking to the Solariis, Lara glanced at Section, confused.

"...I know you want to escape this place! but to do so, we must release our Queen! Like us she is a prisoner..."

Lara got closer, while Section whispered from behind: "Hey!"

As she noticed her friend on a rock, she sighed. "Sam!". Meanwhile, Mathias turned around, opening his arms, facing Sam.

"If we free her, we free ourselves! This girl..! She carries the blood of this land. She could be the key..the ritual will show us the truth! ...Himiko! Speak to us now!" Mathias said as Lara got out of cover with her bow raised, pulling the rope and letting the arrow fly, missing Mathias, but killing one of the Solariis that was standing next to him.

He turned around, visibly angry, grunting savagely.

As Sam realized what was actually going on, she let out a muffled yell.

"Mhh!!"

"Shit!" Section said as he raised his ACR and shot a few Solariis', hitting Mathias in the shoulder, causing him to scream in pain, but he eventually managed to get out of Section's sight.

Lara screamed when she got tackled by a man that was yelling too.

"You killed a brother! Now I'll kill you!"

Section was standing behind the few Solariis' that were hitting Lara, opening fire.

The ACR' bullets stopped when he realized the thing was empty anyway.

He glanced at the rifle, then looked at the man that was punching Lara, now in front of him.

Section reached for his pistol, but got tackled too, while the other Solariis' were either running away or hurting Lara.

Section let out a grunt as he got slammed on the ground, but eventually he started to fight too.

"G-Get..off...me!" He said as his rage caused his fists to be even harder, but in the end, Nikolai managed to grab Section's pistol and slammed it on his forehead, knocking him unconscious.

"Enough!" Mathias yelled.

"Dmitri, Nikolai! Bring her to me." He said too.

The two men grabbed Lara's weapons and led her to Mathias.

"Every creature in nature will turn and fight when its very survival is at stake, don't think I don't understand you, girl. I've just been doing this a lot longer." As he walked back to Sam, he yelled: "Prepare yourselves, brothers! Our Queen is about to speak!"

*muffled sounds of panic*

"Speak to us, Himiko!"

Lara went panicking too. "Sam! No, no, no, Sam!!"

"Speak to us through the fire!"

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...Just look at me, look at me, okay?"

Section was still there on the ground, when he regained consciousness. He barely stood up, his face was bleeding, but as a Ghost Recon, he could easily take that damage, so he just walked towards the other people, but he got easily kicked off by a Solarii, because he was unarmed and his arm weren't ready to punch yet, so he just stood there, in front of Sam and Mathias, almost next to Lara, watching the scene without the chance to do anything.

As Mathias set fire to the wood that was underneath Sam, the falls right out of the cave started to get intense, and soon enough, the wind and the water took out the fire, not letting the 'queen' die.

"She... she's the one...Soon, my brothers! We will be reborn!..take her to the throne room. Your fight is over, creature." Mathias said, leaving the cave.

Nikolai and Dmitri led Lara to a natural bridge made out of rock, when Lara decided to bet life, letting her weight cause Dmitri to kneel, and she got her bow back with this, then she hit Nikolai, getting her firearms back too, but when the two men got back up, she had no choice but to jump off the bridge.

She fell into a pool of blood and human organs here and there, but she had to hold her breath.

"I can't see the body." Dmitri said.

"I don't think she survived the fall." Nikolai said back. "Come on let's get down there."

And right when they took another way to get down, she got her head out of the blood, walking further, getting into a small cave that was right above some sort of room, full of gas and skulls and bones. Suddenly, a gate opened in that 'room', revealing a man falling on the ground, and another man on the other side, saying: "Don't struggle too much..and hope they kill you fast."

The man naturally started to panic.

"Oh..God." Lara stood there, unable to do anything to save the poor man.

"Please...who are you? What...what are you doing?!" The man eventually got killed by several 'things', probably humans that lost every sense of control.

As Lara killed the humans in the other 'room' with her explosive arrows, she got down there, where she found Section, laying down against a wall, unconscious.

She ran towards him.

"Hey!..Section?.. please tell me he's alive!.." she said as she shaked one of his arms to wake him up.

*grunt* "Ah..mh...huh?" He opened his blue eyes, just to meet Lara's.

"Oh.. you're alive." She sighed in relief.

"Where are we..?" He asked, slowly getting up.

"I don't know. It's the cave from before but I don't know where the ex-" She got interrupted by Reyes' voice just above them. The two of them looked up, but there was just rock.

Eventually they found a ladder in one of the corners, which they climbed, knowing where it led to. When they got up, they saw a part of the plane swinging mid-air, and 3 Solariis' underneath. They took cover.

"Keep it up, you son of a bitch! When I get out of here, I'm gonna shove that arrow up your ass!" Reyes said, clearly frustrated.

"Haha! This one's got a temper!" One of the Solariis' said.

Section noticed that the Solariis' were not together, so he pointed at the lone Solarii, letting Lara know what to do.

Meanwhile he approached the two Solariis' close to each other. They were next to a.. nothing, there were the void next to them, so he..

He punched one of the Solariis' in the family jewels, grabbing him and pushing him towards the other one, causing both of them to fall off the edge. The remaining Solarii had an arrow in his brain.

*cheering and clapping* "That..was..bad ass, Lara!" Alex said, happy. "How the hell did you get in here?" He asked.

Lara glanced at Section while saying: "I had some help."

Section showed himself to the 3 people in the 'cell'.

As they saw his military equipment, they sighed in relief, knowing that maybe there was a hope after all.

"Wassup." Section said, lifting his head once.

"...ah..and..Grim?" Reyes asked.

"Yes...he didn't make it." Lara answered.

"Shit!" Reyes got sad again.

"I didn't think anything could take that guy down." Jonah spoke.

"He went out swinging… gave me a chance to get to you. Look, there's a rescue helicopter on its way. I know they're keeping Sam separately. Have you seen Whitman?" Lara asked.

"Guess he didn't make it to the guest rooms."

"Mr. Showbiz probably weaseled an upgrade." Alex said.

"We'll find him, and Sam too, but we're not gonna do anything from up here."

"I'll find a way to get you out."

"Alright, let's try loosen this thing up. Come on guys, again." Reyes regained the hope and tried to make her useful.

"Okay, ready… jump!"

"It's no use, Reyes…"

"Ready… jump!"

"Goddamn it!" Reyes yelled.

"Lara, there is some weird shit going on here!"

"We heard them talking about a Sun spirit." Jonah said, knowing himself that there was something strange.

"Sun Queen. The ancient ruler of Yamatai." Lara explained.

"You've got to be kidding me. You mean… this is Yamatai?"

"Yes… it would appear so."

"You're telling me you didn't even know where you were heading?" Section asked ironically.

"If you put it like that.." Jonah said a little embarrassed.

"Well, ain't that something. We found the damned place after all."

"Hold on to something!" Lara suggested to her friends.

Lara and Section begin to explode gas to loosen up the cage.

"Wahoo! Yeah! Yes! Wooo!" Alex cheered.

"That did it!"

"Alright! Great job, guys!" Jonah said.

"This place is becoming unstable… the floor is starting to buckle…" Lara noticed.

"Mh!" Section confirmed her suspicions by touching the floor with his hand, feeling the rock.

"But you're doing great." Jonah kept raising the humor a bit.

"Ok, now what?" Alex asked.

"The other counterweight. It's locked down over there. Close, almost got it. Keep it up, you're on the right track."

Lara eventually lost her balance and fell from the cage, but got helped by Jonah.

"Whoa! Hey. I gotcha, girl!"

"Thanks. Jonah! That was close!"

"Oh shit, we have a problem! Grab hold of something!" Reyes warned.

As the floor got completely blown up, Section jumped the highest he could, landing on the cage along with Lara.

"Ahh, we lost the cage floor!" Jonah noticed.

"Look down, man. We've lost all the fucking floors!"

"We gotta get out of this thing."

"Oh crap, this is bad." Panic was now king.

"Lara, you be careful out there!" Jonah tried to say something other than 'shit!'.

"Watch where you stand, this thing's falling apart!" Reyes warned.

"Holy shit! Sounds like the whole mountain is going up. Oh crap, we're starting to fall… Hurry, Lara!" Alex yelled, while Section jumped back onto the rock, helping Lara, without really knowing what he was doing.

"Whatever you're going to do, do it fast."

"Lara, get your ass in gear… get us out of here! Look! There's daylight on the other side! Could be a way outta here!" Reyes started to panic again too.

"That's not enough, Lara!"

Lara lowered the cell, but set everything on fire.

The 3 people managed to save themselves.

"Thank you both!" Jonah said.

"Holy shit, that was close!" Alex let out.

"Lara, it looks like there's a way out on this side!"

"Okay, then go! I'm going in to get Sam and Whitman!"

"Good luck! Be safe, Lara!"

"Come on, let's move!" Reyes suggested not wanting to spend anymore time in that dangerous cave.

(Jonah- Via Radio) "We're out, but this place is falling apart!"

(Roth - via radio) "I've set up a rendezvous point back across the bridge. The chopper's going to be here soon! I have a friend protecting me, don't worry, just get to safety."

(Jonah - via radio) "Lara's still looking for Sam and Whitman."

Mercenary 1: "Goddamn it… what happened down there?!"

Mercenary 2: " They've angered the Sun Queen…!"

Mercenary 1: "That's insane! Let's get out of here!"

Mercenary 3: "Fall back to the Palace! Come on! The ceiling's coming down! What are you doing? Go! Go! Ahhh, god!"

Mercenary 1: "Help! Anyone! I don't want to die! Ahhhh!"

"Keep moving… just keep moving." Section said to Lara.

Mercenary 1: "Ahhh!"

Mercenary 2: "Oh god… I can't hold on".

"Let's get out of here!" Reyes yelled.

Mercenary 1: "We're trapped! Look out!"

Mercenary 2: "Time to get out of here!"

Mercenary 1: "But the Queen… she's in the shrine."

Mercenary 3: "Ahhh."

Mercenary 2: "Let's get out of here!"

Mercenary 1: "…too much smoke. Can't breathe!"

Mercenary 3: "We're trapped!"

Lara and Section entered a room, with a table and several photos on a wall.

"That's Mathias. No one leaves… That's what I heard in Japanese before the plane crashed. The ritual from Himiko's tomb… Why is Mathias so interested in it?" Lara asked herself.

The two of them climbed on the roof.

Mercenary 1: "We go! people trapped in the west tower! Let's move!"

Mercenary 2: "Ahhhh! Run! Retreat to the shrine!"

Mercenary 3: "Come on, take my hand… you can do it."

Mercenary 1: "It's the outsider… take her out!"

Mercenary 3: "Keep her away from the Shrine!"

Section grabbed a Solarii, causing him not to breathe anymore, and 10 seconds later, he was dead. Meanwhile, Lara killed the other 2.

They walked into a hallway, when Whitman appeared.

"Lara, you're alive." He said.

"Aand..you got a friend!"

Section just stared at him.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Lara asked, even if what she wanted to do was punching him in the face.

"Once they stopped seeing me as a threat, they let me move about almost freely!"

"Did you know the others were captured?"

"Yes, yes… Sam's in there, but I couldn't free her without a weapon. These Solarii are an anthropological marvel, Lara!" Whitman said.

"They're insane murderers. Dr. Whitman! We need to get our people out of here."

"Of course, of course. I'll keep a look out here… you… You call me when it's safe."

As soon as the two of them entered a room, they could hear Mathias' voice.

"I don't think you understand. You have been chosen, Samantha. This is a great honor for you; for all of us. Some were beginning to doubt we'd ever find you… But here you are."

"Please. I know you think I'm something special. But I'm not. I don't want to be chosen!" Sam cried.

"This is not about what you want. It's about what you are. Himiko's blood runs in your veins. I think you know this. Samantha."

"You're insane, Mathias. Why are you doing this?"

"You're searching for logic and reason where there is none. I made the same mistake once. Back when I thought ships could reach us and planes wouldn't fall from the sky."

"I just want to go home." The girl cried one more time.

"So do I, girl! I've waited years for this moment… I've given my life! Don't you think I've tried to get away from here? From this place! We are all trapped here. But you, Samantha, you have the power to release us! Many have given up their souls willingly for this gift!"

Mercenary 1: "The fires are getting worse. The other girl vanished!"

"This must be ended. Dmitri, guard her with your life." Mathias said, then left the palace.

Section took this opportunity to get closer to Dmitri, and he noticed he had his ACR.

"You...fuck!" He said as his hands caused Dmitri to turn around, punching him in the liver.

"Aah!" Dmitri held his belly with his hands, letting Section punch him on the back of his neck, knocking him out.

"Lara! Oh my god, you're here. I was beginning to think I was going crazy."

"It's okay, it's okay… It's going to be okay." She reassured Sam.

Section grabbed his ACR and slammed its butt onto Dmitri's face.

"How are we ever going to get out of here?" Sam asked while Lara cut her ties off.

"We need to leave before he comes back. Whitman! Whitman! Where the hell is he?"

The 3 of them got into the hallway, and when Mathias and Whitman showed themselves, Section put a hand behind him, in a protective way.

"Run, Lara, run!" Whitman's voice echoed into the hallway.

"Get them!" Mathias shouted.

"Back! Back into the throne room!" Section commanded.

"Run!" Whitman repeated.

"Lara! Lara!" Sam yelled while running for her life.

"Keep going, Sam! I'll find another way out." She yelled back.