"Recommendation, direct confrontation." Desta says, her exoskeleton humming softly as it adjusts to combat readiness. "Offers superior tactical advantage compared to prolonged observation."

  "In normal human speak, let's call them out before they jump us," Sera translates.

  I nod, stepping forward toward the corridor indicated. "We know you're there," I announce, voice carrying through the eerie quiet. "Show yourselves."

  For a moment, nothing happens. Then, with careful precision, four figures emerge from the shadows of the adjoining corridor. Aliens, each from a different species, but all clad in specialized tech suits that glisten with integrated technology. Their equipment is nothing like the cobbled-together gear we've salvaged. Each piece looks purpose-built, perfectly maintained, without the scars of battle or hasty repair.

  The first to step forward stands slightly taller than me, body encased in a sleek exosuit with a mirrored helm that conceals any facial features. The armor moves with liquid precision, suggesting neural integration far beyond standard equipment.

  "Humans," the leader says, voice filtered through translation systems. "Unexpected. Few of your kind have clearance for middle ring access."

  "We could say the same about finding another team this deep in the vault," I reply, maintaining a neutral stance while staying alert. The other aliens spread out slightly, their movements synchronized with practiced efficiency.

  Each wears similar sleek armor, though adapted for their varying physiologies. One has magnetized gauntlets that pulse with contained energy, another sports neural-tap visors that flicker with data streams. The third has mechanized leg supports that whir softly with each step, while small hovering drones orbit the fourth's shoulders like attentive guardians.

  "How long have you been in here?" I ask, noting the pristine condition of their equipment despite claiming to be trapped.

  "Three days," the leader replies, mirrored helm reflecting our images back at us. "The vault keeps shifting. Paths close. We loop back to where we started."

  "Three days," Sera repeats skeptically. "And yet your equipment looks fresh off the assembly line."

  One of the aliens, shorter with a more compact build, steps forward. "Self-maintaining systems," it explains, voice metallic through the translator. "Standard for extended expeditions."

  Something about them feels off, but if they've truly been trapped here for days, they might have information we need.

  "We're here for the treasure," I state bluntly. "Same as you, I'm guessing."

  The leader's helm tilts slightly. "Perhaps cooperation would benefit both our teams. This vault has proven... resistant to individual efforts."

  "A temporary alliance," the one with neural visors adds. "Better to risk a shared reward than stuck in here forever."

  I glance back at my team, seeing the same wariness I feel reflected in their expressions. Desta's eyes flicker with code as she analyzes the newcomers, while Sera's flames dance higher between her fingers. Lyra has partially transformed her arms, the bio-reactive metal gleaming beneath her skin in readiness.

  "Give us a moment," I tell the alien team, gesturing for my teammates to gather close.

  Once we're huddled together, I keep my voice low. "Thoughts?"

  "Don't trust them," Sera says immediately. "Too convenient, too perfect."

  "Their technological integration exceeds standard parameters," Desta observes. "Indicates elite level team, B-rank minimum. Potential A-rank leader."

  So fighting them would be risky.

  Lyra's eyes shift back to the aliens. "But if they've been here three days, they might know things we don't. The patterns, the traps."

  I nod, considering our options. "We work with them, cautiously. Learn what they know, but watch each other's backs. The moment anything feels wrong, we're out."

  We break from our huddle, and I face the alien leader again. "Alright. We'll work together for now. But we move as equals, full transparency, shared risks and rewards."

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  The mirrored helm reflects my determined expression back at me. "Acceptable terms. I am Nalthir." A gauntleted hand gestures to the others in turn. "Mira, Krev, and Taz."

  "Gary," I reply, introducing my team in kind. "Sera, Desta, and Lyra."

  With introductions complete, we form an uneasy alliance, two teams merging into a wary whole as we prepare to delve deeper into the vault's mysteries.

  "We've mapped several sections," Nalthir explains, producing a holographic schematic that hovers between us. "The vault architecture appears to reconfigure at irregular intervals. What was a corridor becomes a wall. Dead ends turn into passages."

  "Hence our inability to progress," Mira adds, neural visor flickering as she interfaces with the hologram, expanding certain sections. "We've identified what appears to be a central chamber, but approaches shift before we can reach it."

  The schematic shows a labyrinthine structure far more complex than what we've navigated so far, with multiple levels and interconnected chambers. At its heart glows a concentrated point of energy that must represent the vault's treasure.

  "We've encountered many dangerous security measures," Krev continues, magnetized gauntlets humming softly. "Not just drones, but environmental hazards, puzzle locks, timed sequences."

  Desta studies the hologram with intense focus, her eyes flickering rapidly with code. "Architectural reconfiguration suggests probabilistic response algorithms designed to counter predictive navigation attempts."

  "We've noticed the same," Taz agrees, the drones circling his shoulders adjusting their orbit slightly. "The vault learns from each attempt, changing to counter our strategies."

  With the combined knowledge of both teams, we develop a new approach, plotting a course that weaves through the shifting pathways toward the central chamber. The aliens have identified several consistent patterns amid the chaos, nodes that remain stable even as the surrounding architecture transforms.

  As we move deeper into the vault together, the uneasy alliance holds, though it's strange. The aliens move with perfect coordination, never tiring, never showing frustration despite their claimed days of imprisonment. They don't engage in idle chatter, don't show the small signs of fatigue or stress that even the most disciplined beings display under pressure.

  We navigate through hazards that would have been nearly impossible to overcome alone: corridors that collapse without warning, requiring telekinetic intervention to hold stable; energy mines that pulse with destructive potential until Desta and Mira work together to deactivate their triggers; puzzle locks that demand simultaneous input from multiple positions.

  Many times we would have fallen for deadly traps if not for warnings from our more experienced allies.

  Throughout it all, I watch them closely, noting how they operate with machine-like efficiency, their movements so perfectly synchronized it borders on unnatural. When I mention this to Sera during a quiet moment, she nods grimly.

  "Not a single disagreement between them," she murmurs. "No team works together that perfectly."

  "Keep alert," I tell her. "But we need them for now. This place is too strange to navigate alone."

  After hours of careful progress, we reach what Nalthir identifies as the approach to the central chamber. The corridor opens into a vast space unlike anything we've encountered so far. A chasm of immeasurable depth spans before us, pitch black and seemingly bottomless. Suspended above this void is a massive structure, a perfect sphere that pulses with contained energy.

  "The vault core," Nalthir explains, mirrored helm reflecting the pulsing light. "All treasures are stored within."

  Upon closer inspection, a transparent barrier surrounds the entire perimeter, sealing the chasm and sphere from the rest of the vault.

  "How do we reach it?" Lyra asks, peering cautiously at the retracted bridge segments.

  Krev points to three equidistant pillars positioned around the chasm's edge. "Control pedestals. All must be activated simultaneously to extend a bridge and open the core access."

  The pedestals are simple in design, each with a control interface that illuminates as we approach.

  I study the setup with growing suspicion. "We'll need at least one person at each pedestal then."

  "Yes," Nalthir confirms. "A security measure to ensure only coordinated groups can access the vault. One operator at each pedestal to maintain the bridge extension, and one to cross and retrieve the treasure."

  "Only four total," Sera notes, eyeing the aliens warily. "Convenient that we have exactly eight people between our two teams."

  Nalthir's mirrored helm gives nothing away. "The vault's design is not coincidental. It tests coordination and trust as much as it tests strength."

  Neither team is willing to leave the other team alone at the pedestals while one handles the retrieval. After a tense discussion, we reach a compromise that satisfies no one completely but addresses the core concerns.

  "We pair up," I propose. "One from each team at each pedestal, and one pair to cross the bridge. That way, neither side can act without the other's cooperation."

  After further negotiation, the groups are assigned. Desta will operate one pedestal alongside Mira, Lyra another with Krev, and Sera the third with Taz. That leaves Nalthir and me to cross the bridge together once it's extended, ensuring neither team can claim the treasure without the other's cooperation.

  "Remember," I tell my team as we move to our positions, "stay alert. Anything feels wrong, we abort immediately."

  "On my mark," Nalthir announces once everyone is in position. "Three, two, one... activate."

  All three pedestals engage simultaneously, their surfaces glowing with increasing intensity. The chamber fills with a low hum that gradually rises in pitch as the bridge segments begin to extend, interlocking with precision to form a narrow pathway to the suspended vault core.

  "Bridge stability confirmed," Nalthir states.

  "Then let's get this over with," I nod, stepping through the barrier and onto the bridge alongside the alien leader.