Chapter 32
The Ark: Part 1-Descent
Earth 63, 2049, 1:00 PM
3rd person POV
The cracking sound of the cap caused the harsh red light of the flare to illuminate the cave. A squad of Soldiers in the same armored spec-ops uniforms as Kathleen and Kyle were following Calrok, Ethan and Olivia as they pressed on through the darkness.
"How much till the shaft?" Calrok asked
"In 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1" Olivia held out her hand as she looked at her map on her tablet.
Surely enough, a mere 5 feet in front of them was a massive hole, one lined with jagged obsidian crystal, leftover from the magma that had carved these caves. There was little light to begin with, the hole appeared to have no bottom in the darkness.
"How deep do you think?" Ethan asked.
"Well, we're already about 400 meters down, it can't be too much deeper. Still, better to be safe than sorry" Calrok admitted as he took a flare from one of the soldiers and tossed it into the abyss.
The flare plummeted into the darkness, it dimmed until it was as small as a star in the sky. Then a clunk echoed through the cave. The flare had finally hit the bottom.
"That's at least another 50 meters" Ethan estimated.
"We've got all the ropes we need" Olivia assured him as the soldiers retrieved the ropes from their backpack. They then produced electric ascenders and hooked them to the ropes. Then they planted titanium spikes from their packs and tied the cables as tightly as possible. At last they were ready to descend.
Ethan went first, clutching his ascender with one hand and jumping into the abyss. He dissolved into the darkness for almost a full minute before a second flare appeared next to the other.
"The tension is good, come on down" he yelled from below.
Oliva repelled down as the soldiers hooked their rifle's to their belts and followed suit, Calrok was up last. He simply flew down as a Latios and reapplied his human guise.
Once they regrouped they came to a dead end. Ethan groaned and said "what was that about 100% accurate maps, we took a wrong turn didn't we?" Ethan demanded.
Oliva smirked and said "ye of little faith" before walking up to the stone wall and running her hand along it for a moment. She came to a certain spot and muttered "there you are"
The skin on her hand turned pitch black and emitted purple smoke, causing a symbol that resembled a red triangle with 3 gouges in the center to appear on the wall. The stone wall glowed red and became transparent before dissolving entirely.
The landscape before them was incredible, as if an alien world had been transported into the cavern. The cave ceiling was at least 300 feet up, allowing plenty of room for the Gargoyle betas flying overhead. Throughout the cavern were giant red mushrooms that were the size of a sadan, like nearly everything in the cavern they gave off bioluminescence. Plants that resembled shards of red glass littered the cavern as well.
"Tread carefully, the betas won't attack us but some of the plants might be poisonous" Oliva warned as she returned her hand to normal.
As they entered the cavern several beta's took notice of them, a pack of hunters began to stalk them low to the ground only for a rhino to walk out in front of them and roar, causing them to scatter. It was clear that the shadow energy Calrock, Ethan and Oliva possessed warded off the betas.
Oliva had a devious grin on her face, never had she imagined that there were living betas down here. She had assumed the only thing alive would be the ancestor's in their cryogenic chambers, she was ecstatic to be wrong. There were massive clumps of beta hives, the exposed bulbs pulsed like beating hearts, they had fed themselves on thermal vents for centuries and had in turn fed the betas. However the most stunning feature was unquestionably the ark.
A way off in the distance the jaggad cave floor gave way to what looked like a carved stone bridge. The bridge led to a central stone platform that had two bridges on each side leading to another tunnel. If one traveled straight on the platform thought they would come to a final bridge over a chasm that surrounded the ark. The ark itself was a giant square stone structure, resembling a square tower that went almost halfway to the cave ceiling.
"How do we get in?" Calrok asked, noticing the stone gate of the ark was shut.
"I will need to get there and analyze the door, once I get an idea of the mechanism i can open it" Oliva explained.
"Very well, let's press on. Time is not on our side' Calrok reminded her.
Earth 63, 2049, 1:59 PM
3rd Person POV
"I'll be damned" Castle admitted as they looked over the map of the island they had gotten from the sonar ping.
"Its massive, no wonder this island seems so small, all of its underwater" Alex deduced.
"The ship only got here about an hour ago, they can't be too far into the caves yet" Castle mentioned. Their cloaking had allowed the Crucible to pass right over the island undetected, they were holding about a mile from the shore.
"What's the plan?" Kelly asked, speaking for the whole group.
"They entered here on the southern end, but if you guys take the tunnel here, you can cut them off, I'll stay here and watch for reinforcements. If that anyone on that ship opens a communication channel, i'll inform you" Castle said as he pointed to a tunnel on the north side of the map.
"We're on it" Alex affirmed as he motioned for the team to follow him to the hanger.
For once, they were right on the enemy's tail, but with all the action on the bridge and repairs elsewhere no one noticed agent Amanda Laswell quietly slipping into General Castle's office….