Valley of the Kings and Conquest

[grapedrank]

Amelia was currently eating chicken from the KFC across from the Great Pyramids of Giza in her hotel room. She wasn't one for fast food, but she currently had a lot of work ahead of her. If she were honest, she hated Cairo - the city was crowded and smelled terribly and c'mon, who puts a fast food place across the street from one of the seven wonders of the world? But in all seriousness, Amelia was here on an excavation for the graduate school course she was doing, when suddenly the funding of the excavation was cut short. They had finally gotten all the permits to legally excavate in the Valley of the Kings and the whole team flew across the world, only to have the whole project de-railed due to political unrest in the country. Amelia wasn't arguing with their reasoning, but she actually went through the legal processes this time and this is how they repay her? (Not that the government or university ever really new about the illegal times -- Amelia has had some interesting summer vacations, alright?)

Either way, she was typing up a report to e-mail one of the professors she's studying under back in New York, and has a lot to sort out if they're to fly back in the morning.

Amelia sighed and leaned back in the desk chair of the hostel she was staying at. From the corner of her eyes she glanced at one of the artifacts she was keeping that would be transported back to New York tomorrow. She couldn't help the well of disappointment that filled her up at the sight. That item was probably the first of many in finding the tomb of some of Egypt's pharaohs of the Old Kingdom period, and here they were, about to step away when they were so close. Her excavation team had already flown back to New York last night, but Amelia had stayed behind in order to iron out all of the transport proceedings and legal issues down at the embassy.

Amelia sighed again at the idea of all the legal BS she's had to go through the past few days. And this is why I never ask permission before sneaking around these places, she thought to herself while mumbling nonsensically to herself.

 

[Jannah]

Bureaucracy. The one thing that Marcus tended to hate about any expedition he partook in, but he had come to accept it as a necessary evil. "I'm reporting on the expedition, nothing more. I can assure you my intentions are not malicious." He had pleaded with the officers after realizing that they had every intent to detain him right in the airport upon arrival. Naturally, in times of unrest he was suspected to be present for much different reasons, but there was one thing on Marcus' mind as he disembarked from that plane: an ancient artifact. He knew little of it yet, but already it was known to have some sort of formidable power. Not that the skeptics would believe any of that, but that was Marcus' job, right? To make the news sound sensational and garner peoples' interest.

However, it was not until walking into the embassy that Marcus realized what he had become involved in. Very quickly other journalists and even wealthy businessmen had begun gathering into the embassy, if only to get a single glance at the artifact. Rumours very quickly began cropping up that it had served some deeper purpose. To cast curses of despair on others perhaps? Marcus knew one thing about Egyptian religion at least, that curses and other forms of black magic were widespread so was this artifact really all that unique? Of course, that was a question best left up to the experts while Marcus was only present to report facts.

Marcus waited patiently for the crowds to disperse before sending out questions of his own. His sandy coloured hair was still largely unkempt from his fiasco in Egyptian police custody so he mainly hoped he wouldn't encounter anybody of prominence here today. He had known of way too many of his colleagues losing contracts simply because of first impressions. This was one he wasn't about to give up. It was something fascinating, something that was bound to give him plenty of opportunities in the future. But as soon as his chance to conduct interviews arose something else seemed off. Where was the artifact? It certainly wasn't on display as he expected. Did somebody else have it in their possession or was it being kept out of the public eye, after all? Something was very very wrong, as became evident when a new figure walked into the room.

"You're coming with me." Were the new man's only words as he walked up to Marcus and gestured for him to hold out his arms. The man gave Marcus a threatening glance that burned down to his soul so he knew he was in no position to contest whatever was bound to come next.

"I'm not sure it's me you want." Marcus groaned as the man yanked on his arms and began cuffing them. Now there was definitely no contesting the man's authority. He remained mysterious though. He certainly didn't bear the uniform of an officer and in fact bore a business suit so who was he and what was his business here? And why would he want Marcus, of all people? Certainly the actual excavators would know more if it was the now missing artifact the man was after? Maybe whoever had it now was keeping it safe? It was the least Marcus could hope for while rotting in a cell if he was indeed correct about this man's intentions.

 

[grapedrank]

Amelia was grateful for the fact that she left the window of the hostel open when the noise in the street began to draw her out of her work. She could hear the stirring and she tried not to pay it any mind but it became hard to ignore when the first shots were fired. Amelia looked over at the artifact, an Ankh amulet, and looked back at the door. She knew exactly what they were here for since the public and reporters had been giving her endless crap about it since its discovery. She put on the amulet, and gun holster (so perhaps she hadn't been completely legal in this excavation, but she's not going to a foreign country without her firearms, no sir she learned that lesson the hard way) and threw on her leather jacket, zipping it up to hide the amulet under it. She put on her boots, and took another glance at the door and sighed heavily. There's no way I could get away with walking out the front door to this place, she thought as she heard more shouting and what sounded like vehicles full of men coming in.

Amelia leaned out the window for a quick glance at her surroundings and whistled. "Damn, they didn't hold back did they?" she murmured to herself. She sank back into the hostel room and moved the desk and furniture to barricade the door. That would at least buy her a few minutes tops, she knew, and she needed all the time she could get to get the fuck out of there. Climbing onto the window sill, Amelia took one last glance back at the room and made a face at her luggage and laptop. "I'm sorry I have no other choice," she told the laptop before climbing out through the window and climbing onto the roof of the hostel. Luckily for her, the rooftops in Egypt were flat, so it was easy for her get from rooftop to rooftop virtually unseen. It also helped that she was well versed in the sneaking arts. I need to get to the embassy, she thought to herself, as she climbed down from the rooftop she was on once she was a safe distance away from the shooting. As she neared though, she began to notice more and more men, and they were starting to take notice of her. Amelia swore under her breath and ducked down into an alleyway as the men began to gave chase.

 

[Jannah]

Marcus knew that he had become involved in something much more serious as soon as he spotted the armoured vehicles gathering about the embassy. Who was this man and were those gathering around under his command? Many questions flooded Marcus' mind as he could only wait to be dragged away in cuffs. There was certainly a reason at least why this man was so keen on targeting even journalists who knew about the expedition.

Marcus hardly had any opportunity for any of his questions to be answered before more started flooding into his mind. Now the man had left Marcus in the company of two guards and there was no escaping as two pistols pointed towards his head. "I'm just a journalist, I never asked to be held hostage for reasons completely unknown." He uttered to himself before quickly shrugging it off. It was true most of what was going on was a mystery, but little of that suddenly mattered one man outfitted with a Keffiyeh suddenly stormed into the embassy building shouting in Arabic, what seemed to be some kind of slogans. This immediately startled the two guards watching over Marcus, prompting them to raise their pair of firearms towards this angry newcomer.

Just as Marcus thought he was about to witness a fire fight within the embassy he realized that the guards had left his side. He had an opportunity to escape! I don't know who this man is, but he may very well be a godsend. Marcus let out a small chuckle before making his way off unnoticed. He knew that running through the front door unnoticed wasn't an option so perhaps there was another exit? He could only hope and more than ever it was important as he began hearing gunfire echoing through the embassy's halls. Somebody had gotten into a fight, hopefully large enough that his absence would go unnoticed.

Running through the embassy down halls and up stairs in handcuffs had already becoming challenging enough for Marcus, but he quickly realized that he was being pursued. The two guards from earlier had finally caught up with him. His blue eyes lit up as he attempted to take off in the opposite direction. Them too, began shouting in Arabic, realizing they were now in a chase. Marcus noted this and took off into the closest room, attempting to lock the door. It was bound to provide some peace and quiet, at least for a few seconds. Perhaps there would even be a way to remove the cuffs, thus increasing his mobility? Looking around the room he so far found himself out of luck, but that was quickly overshadowed by the sighting of somebody else nearby. Somebody on the rooftops. Somebody who almost appeared as if they were being chased too. "Isn't this just everybody's day?" Marcus chuckled, again peering out the window while deriving a way to capture the person's attention.

Marcus suddenly found all his attempts at capturing the person's attention to be futile, however, as they took off towards the ground. It had been difficult to tell whether they were falling or jumped off themselves. Either way one of Marcus' chances at escape suddenly seemed bleak. He just leaned back against the room's desk, let out a sigh, and braced himself for the worst. It was bound to happen any second that those pursuing him would storm in.

 

[grapedrank]

Amelia hung as close to the wall as she could and slinked back to the shadows. She wasn't quite sure whether or not to stay put and wait for the chaos to pass or to try and find somewhere else to go. It was quite obvious that some rebel militia men is currently holding the embassy hostage, and she's not quite sure what to make of that. A part of her mind is concerned as to what that means politically and on the global scale, but the rest of her is trying to focus on not fucking dying tonight. She took a moment to look at her surroundings and noticed that she was in the alleyway between the embassy building and some type of administration building adjacent to it, although there was no way to be certain what happened to those in the administration building.

It was nearing midnight and Amelia was being reminded as to how cold this part of the world gets at night and shivered. She wishes she were back in her hotel room where it was warm and she had the light of her computer to keep her company, only the hotel was being stormed by armed men so scratch that, Amelia wishes she were back in New York, conducting research on the few findings she had found since arriving here. She regrets staying behind to fill out all of the legal forms, but in retrospect, it's better her than someone else on her team. Amelia was, after all, the most capable of dealing with these types of situations because of her experience in the past. Anyone else in her place likely would have been a casualty or held hostage like so many others.

Amelia was brought out of her thoughts by the sounds of men yelling in the distance. She could tell the voices were getting nearer and began looking around her in a panic, unsure what to do. Looking up, she figured it was better than just staying here waiting to be found and swiftly began scaling up the wall until she reached a window on one of the highest floors she could. The rooftops were a better choice, but there were men out there looking for her so she was better off trying to lie low until they began searching in another area. Amelia peaked in the window and spotted a man inside, to which she quickly ducked down before she could be spotted. After a few seconds, she chanced another glance when she'd be sure the man wasn't looking and noticed that his hands were handcuffed. He's a hostage, she deduced. At least he managed to get away.

Without much thought, Amelia lifted the window with one arm gripping the sill and hauled herself in. "Don't be scared," she said to the man as she lifted her hands. "I'm not one of the bad guys, but I can help you get those cuffs off." Amelia slowly reached into her leather jacket's pocket and produced a lockpick. "My name's Amelia," she added as a way to say "I'm not dangerous".

 

[Jannah]

Marcus hadn't been expecting the person to return but she did, leaving him surprised. Immediately she could tell that the person, who had introduced herself as Amelia, had good intentions. She did stop despite being pursued, after all, to help him. That alone produced a single smile from his face as he faced his last struggle with the cuffs. It was something that was rushed, knowing that his pursuers were just behind the door somewhere. "I'm not sure why those men are after me, but we need to get out of here. Now. You seem to know your way around." Marcus bellowed, dashing towards the open window without a second thought. Either Amelia would follow or he'd be on his own.

Finding himself on the rooftops Marcus quickly realized now that he was very much out in the open and unarmed. The rebels were still fighting in the streets, but surely at least some of them sided with the men in the embassy? That alone created a greater risk, realizing that as soon as he was spotted he would be gunned down. However, he knew his options were limited at this point and embarked across the rooftops. Sooner or later any pursuers were bound to turn around. At least he hoped.

Marcus now knew he was in trouble. He realized his original plans had been complicated. As he set off he very quickly noticed his pursuers storming into the room he had occupied just moments earlier, and Amelia was still in there! Shit, shit, shit! Marcus knew he had little time to contemplate a solution so set off to do the one thing he could at this point. Taking a few steps back he stood up straight and began waving his arms. "It's me you want, you bastards! Leave her alone!" He shouted before silently gesturing towards Amelia to disarm the men while they were distracted. He could only guess that if she was competent with things like lockpicks then she was bound to at least have some knowledge as to how to fight men like these. It was a split second decision and Marcus could only hope for both of theirs sake that it would work.

 

[grapedrank]

"I know why they're here," Amelia murmured as the man left through the windows once she picked apart his cuffs. She followed the man out the window and quickly scaled the side of the building to the roof only to see the man trying to get the attention of some armed men. Oh fuck, Amelia thought, but quickly knew what he was trying to do.

As swiftly and silently as she could managed, Amelia snuck up to the first man and knocked him out with a well placed elbow to the man's jaw. He quickly slumped to the floor which grabbed the other man's attention. The man was about to pull out his gun but Amelia was quicker with hers and pointed it at him. The safety was still on, but the soldier had no way of knowing that and he seemed afraid of what she might do. Amelia wouldn't fire it, of course. After all it would just bring more armed guards to their location but once again, the soldier didn't know that. All that man knew was that she was an armed woman who might just be crazy enough to shoot him.

"Get down on your knees," Amelia ordered. "Now." The man did as she said and Amelia went up to him and hit him with the butt of her pistol. Like his partner, he slumped to the floor and Amelia quickly dug into his jacket to pull out whatever weapon he had in there and toss it to the man who she had helped. She went towards the edge of the roof to peer over before looking back at her companion. and speaking. "You see that jeep over there?" She said, pointing to the vehicle a rooftop away and surrounded by a few soldiers. "I have a safehouse we can hide out in, if we get away from here," she explained. With that, Amelia leaped over onto the rooftop and slunk close to the ground so that she wouldn't be spotted. She climbed down the side of the building and into an alleyway, much closer to their getaway car.