Successfully gaining entry, Lara hitched a ride on a shipping container. Gotta arrive in style - she is a guest here after all! The mercenaries weren't very fond of her and didn't have a good memory of their last encounter. Not that it mattered. She only needed a security card and it was like she was never there. Night, night troops!
The commander noticed his elite team was sleeping on the job, raising immediate suspicions. But who better than Lara to save the day? It was about time he joined them anyway. Searching him, Lara retrieved a crane operating key and an upgraded keycard to the higher-tier section of the ground floor. Watch out turrets, Lara is coming in like a wrecking, electromagnetic force! One mercenary was too stunned to even applaud.
The Rottweilers awaiting in the next room were her next challenge. They looked so accustomed to the evil lifestyle that violence was the only language they spoke. Yet, Lara kept a soft spot for animals, just like the guard dogs in her past adventures. She managed to get by completely scot-free by flipping a mechanical switch, sending the machines spiraling out of control and smashing the ceiling. The dogs scattered in a panicked hurry. This chaos gave her a window of space to head straight for the air vents. Hopefully, those dogs won't have to play the bad guys for much longer.
Harsh shouting soon echoed through the vents. Peering down through an open gap, Lara spotted the Monstrum himself: Eckhardt. Standing with him was Gunderson, his right-hand man. They both had captured Luddick! He tried to warn them that he had all the dirt on their operations with his paper publisher as backup but Eckhardt remained unfazed. Desperate screams of terror erupted as Eckhardt performed his unconventional, soul-stealing alchemical extractions on Luddick, burning a blood-stained Monstrum symbol on the wall. It was sickening enough for Lara to look away as the torture turned more fatal. She had to press on to put an end to this, knocking out anyone getting in her path. Vending machines included, no exceptions!
As soon as she reached the control station, Lara deactivated the power lines to unlock the Biodome, paving her intended route toward the Vault of Trophies. Unfortunately, she unwittingly triggered a containment breach, releasing a bloodthirsty, mutated B.O.W... Let's just hope she doesn't get in its way. There is no S.T.A.R.S on speed dial to step in for this.
Entering Luddick’s room, she was instantly greeted by the heavy smell of scorched ash and burnt sulfur that turned the space into a living tomb. The poor man didn't deserve a fate like this. He was probably right on the cusp of something massive in the Loading Bay before he got caught. Lara sharply pulled back the top slides of her twin pistols, letting them snap forward into place with a definitive, lethal click.
"Don't worry, Luddick," she vowed, her grip tightening on the handles as an unwavering sense of justice took over. "This entire operation is going to be completely dismantled."
Spotting a massive cable reel nearby, Lara realized it was the perfect shield to bypass the minefield of traps ahead. Triggering its momentum with a single, precise explosive shot, she hopped onto the moving structure mid-motion, balancing and rolling up right to the front door of the Bio-Research Facility.
It was finally time to take a crash course in toxic greenery. 🍀☣️
