The Condor Mission (completed)

Chapter 02 - The Inca Empire

Two soldiers were elected to deliver the message to the Inca. With the important papyrus in their hands, the chosen messengers would begin an adventure, life or death, a journey that could last more than one solar cycle. The Aztec envoys would need to travel very efficiently to the eternal south, to reach the Tahuantinsuyo border, the beginning of the dominions of the vast Inca Empire. The Emperor himself gave them, in hands, the message destined to Tupac. He knew the name of the chosen warriors, and spoke to them on the eve of the departure:

- Yaretzy, Moxte. You have been carefully chosen for this great mission. The most important ever! Yaretzy, I can't forget when you saved the Aztec army in our last battle on the northern borders. Moxte, you are the strongest of all the warriors in the kingdom, I saw when you defeated ten enemies in battle, with nothing but your own arms. The Empire depends on the success of the journey. I look forward to a brief return and for the gods to allow us to triumph, as we have always done to this day. On their return, I promise you they will be rewarded for the achievement of the goal and will reside in the royal palace.

Before the Council, Auitzolt personally had recommended the envoys to go and return as agile as jaguars. As it turned out, he even offered them a gold reward in return, which would make them rich while they lived. They sacrificed the last slaves of Tenochtiltlan in order to ensure the success of the mission. But before they reach their destination, the Aztec soldiers will face several obstacles. First the Mexican and Guatemalan jungles, then the hot and humid lands of Panamanian territory. Only then, they can reach the other side of the isthmus of Panama, where the worlds separate, and finally deepen in the dense rainforests and the Andean mountain ranges.

If you manage to arrive alive, you will find the highlands of this far and far southern continent, the beginning of this vast territory of the southern kingdom. Where also lies the mysterious land of Pindorama, the other half of that world, opposite the Incan territory, a place of jungle and water, never explored and inhabited by countless tribes of wild men in every corner, all along the coast and inland mainland.

However, the diligent Mexicans, in less than four moons of journey, after encountering some problems with the Arauak tribes of the isthmus, in the Panamanian jungles, identified traces of a grand civilization. It was the Tahuantinsuyo. The stone pavement of the roads and the exquisite supply and control posts along the Inca path revealed a highly developed organization. It was perceived that an intelligent and civilized people inhabited those mountains of temperate climate.

The two travelers entered, anonymous, a city of colossal size, through a huge monolithic portal of stone. They continued walking, penetrating by the accesses of the prosperous Inca metropolis, impressed with the sophisticated architectural level of the constructions and with the complex transit of people, animals and products through the streets. The previous day they had spent the night in the historic city of Otavalo, of pre-Incan origin, known for its famous and millenary market. When they were identified by the city guard as messengers from the north, they were taken to the royal palace.

Quito, the second capital of the Inca Empire, was built above sea level, in the mild heights of the Andean mountains, encrusted on an enormous fertile valley, isolated and protected by the natural elements and the military fortifications of the Inca Empire. In fact, the most striking feature of this civilization was its constructions in such challenging geographies, and the way in which they irrigated and multiplied the productivity of its scarce agricultural potential. It is a human species adapted to the cold and the effects of altitude, but that dominated other lands. They also inhabited the jungles, deserts and coasts of what would be the west of South America.

The list of Andean engineering works includes luxurious palatial facilities, aqueducts, dams, bridges, temples, which at that time, did not yet exist in most places on the planet. The Inca builders dominated its landscape, from the low pressures of the jungles to the cold temperatures of the snowy Mesetas. Some cities were built on the summit of mountains so far away that they were hidden for eternity.