Happy Holidays - 2020!

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Happy Holidays everybody! Please enjoy this offering and have a safe and happy holiday season as we watch 2020 begin to slowly sink into the murky depths of history!

Artifact Hunter - Treasure of the Forbidden Temple

Susan is a new recruit in the semi-secretive and somewhat controversial organization, A.H.G. - the Artifact Hunter's Guild. The group has been around for over a hundred years with the goal of locating and retrieving priceless artifacts and treasures the world over, and bringing them to the world's greatest museums for all posterity.
Many experts and novices alike consider the A.H.G.'s work essential in preserving these one-of-a-kind objects, while others think of them as mere tomb raiders and grave robbers. Still others - those who would take these treasures for themselves, to stroke their own egos - consider the A.H.G. as rivals to their own personal greed.
The A.H.G. selects its new recruits carefully, looking for intelligence, bravery, strength, stamina, cleverness, and tenacity. They are well schooled in archaeology and history as well as physical and combat training before they are ever sent into the field.
This is Susan's first field assignment. She has been tasked with finding and recovering an ancient idol which belonged to a long-vanished tribe known as the Iniriti. The idol is said to be a solid gold skull, cast from the bones of an Iniriti king. It is thought to be located within newly discovered ruins deep in the Peruvian jungle. Susan is to locate the skull, retrieve it and call for helicopter extraction before other, less ethical forces are able to acquire it. Once they have the artifact, they plan to return it to the Peruvian government for study and safe keeping.
Susan is dispatched into the damp, overgrown wilderness via a local guide and sets off to locate, first a landing zone for her chopper pick-up, and then the ruins and artifact itself. Unfortunately, the chopper won't be able to land close to the ruins themselves because the terrain is both too dense and too unstable; littered with hidden mud pits and other dangers.
Picking her way through the underbrush, Susan comes upon a suitable clearing large enough for a chopper to land and sets up a GPS signal. She then radios an update to her base contact, Bryce, over her mobile headset and then begins her search in earnest. She is nervous but determined on her first mission and Bryce's voice in her earpiece is a comforting presence.
After what seems an eternity of picking her way through the thick jungle foliage, Susan comes upon the vine-covered ruins of the Iniriti temple. She ventures inside, her eyes casting about for any clue as to the artifact's location. As she searches, her ears pick up distinct voices nearby...
Susan hides behind a fallen column and watches as two camo-clad figures enter the temple. She recognizes them immediately; Jackson and Hendricks - two high-end mercenaries well known to the A.H.G. They are ruthless and totally up for grabs to any greedy types with enough cash to afford them. And they seem to know exactly where they're going.
As they pass by, Susan watches them enter a hidden tunnel she had not yet noticed in her search. She quickly radios her intentions to Bryce then follows at a distance, keeping to the shadows and staying quiet. Soon the tunnel opens up into a large cavern with offshoot tunnels to either side. At the far back of the cavern sits a pedistal surrounded by stacks of old headless human skeletons. On top of the pedistal sits the skull, gleaming, even in the dim light.
Susan's eyes grow big as she gazes at it. Jackson and Hendricks are approaching the object slowly, checking for booby traps as they go. Surprisingly, there don't appear to be any. At least not in here.
She tries to radio Bryce again but the signal is gone. The walls of the cavern must be too thick to allow outside communication. Susan is on her own for the moment. She formulates a simple plan: distract the mercenaries, get them out of the immediate vicinity, grab the skull and get out before they return. Oldest trick in the book.
She feels around on the ground for a pebble. Finding one, she tosses it toward one of the side tunnels. Its soft thud in the dust instantly sets the mercs on edge. Their weapons come up and their eyes begin scanning the room.
"Over there," Jackson whispers, indicating the left tunnel. "I'll check it out. You check the other one." Hendricks nods once and the two separate.
Susan waits until their footsteps fade and then darts quietly toward the alter. She checks quickly over the stone pedistal. Seeing no obvious traps either, She picks up the golden skull gently. Its heft is thrilling in her hands! She's got it! Easy, peasy! Now to get out of here and back to the L.Z.! She stashes it quickly in her pack and begins running back up the main tunnel. She can hardly believe her luck!
Halfway up the tunnel, Susan hears a muffled curse: "Shit! It's gone!" - unintelligible mumbling - then, "Footprints! It must be the goddam A.H.G.! They followed us in here!"
Another voice, female this time: "We've gotta get that thing back or it's gonna be our asses!"
Susan increases her speed as footsteps begin following her up the stone passageway. 'Maybe not so easy after all...'

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