I'm Lara Croft?

The next day, Lara sat on the edge of a cliff, her eyes fixed on the massive glacier that housed the ancient city. She and Jacob were waiting for the moment when Trinity and Hydra would breach it, providing them the opportunity to infiltrate amidst the chaos.

"What's that in the distance?" Lara muttered, squinting. At first, they looked like distant planes, but as the objects drew closer, realization struck her. "Those aren't planes—they're ballistic missiles!"

"Ballistic wha—" Jacob began, but his words were drowned out as the first missile slammed into the glacier with an ear-splitting explosion. A massive crater formed instantly, sending plumes of ice and debris high into the air.

Before the shockwaves from the first impact subsided, another missile hit, and then another, and another. Each strike carved deeper into the glacier, the ancient city beneath trembling under the relentless assault. Even from their vantage point, the force of the blasts sent faint tremors through the ground beneath Lara and Jacob.

As the final missile struck, leaving a gaping hole in the glacier, Lara stood and wiped the snow from her face, smirking despite the destruction. "Looks like Leviathan and Hydra decided to join forces to break the glacier, because the Soviets sure shit will let foreign ballistic missiles hit Siberian soil." she said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

Jacob, still processing the sight. "We need to move."

Lara was already on her feet. "You don't have to tell me twice." Without hesitation, she leapt down from the cliff, landing gracefully on the snowy path below. "Let's go!" she shouted, already heading toward the ancient city.

As they sprinted toward the glacier, Lara and Jacob could see helicopters from two different directions converging on the massive hole blasted into the ice. The distinctive markings revealed them to belong to Hydra and Leviathan. At the same time, the mountains around them roared with motion as the energy from the ballistic missile strikes triggered avalanches on nearly every peak. Snow cascaded down the slopes in torrents, blanketing everything in its path.

"Good thing the Remnants evacuated yesterday and early this morning," Lara muttered under her breath, relieved they had acted in time.

Glancing at the incoming choppers, she added, "From what I see, only Hydra and Leviathan are diving into the glacier right now. Looks like they might be underestimating your Deathless warriors."

Jacob, running slightly ahead, shook his head grimly. "Then they are not wise. The Deathless are more than just immortal and powerful—they number in the thousands."

Lara came to an abrupt halt, her eyes wide with shock. "What? I thought there were only a few hundred!"

Jacob didn't stop, his voice steady as he replied, "You thought wrong."

As Lara resumed running to catch up, her mind raced. 'Thousands? That's way worse than the game made it seem.' Then again, the old documents did mention Jacob's army being in the thousands. 'Guess the game's technology couldn't handle rendering them all…'

Jacob glanced back at her, his expression unreadable. "You'd do well not to underestimate them either."

Lara grimaced, falling in step beside him. "Let's just hope Hydra, Leviathan, and Trinity keep those immortal murderers busy long enough before they get annihilated," she muttered, her tone dripping with a bit of concern.

As the helicopters descended into the gaping hole in the glacier, Hydra and Leviathan operatives rappelled down, weapons at the ready. The tension was palpable; each group expected their greatest challenge to come from each other. But their noisy arrival stirred something far worse within the ruins of the ancient city.

The leader of a Hydra team barked, "Everyone, stay alert for Leviathan operatives. The collaboration ends here. And keep an eye out for those so-called immortal soldiers. Remember—they may be immortal, but modern firearms can still put them down temporarily."

"Understood!" came the synchronized response from his team.

"Move out!" the leader ordered, his voice cutting through the icy air.

The operatives began advancing cautiously through the ancient city, weapons drawn, their boots crunching against the frost-covered stone. But as they rounded a massive, crumbling archway, their cautious steps faltered. Out of the shadows emerged dozens of Deathless warriors clad in ancient, heavy armor, their weapons glinting ominously in the dim light.

"Contact!" a soldier shouted.

"Shoot!" bellowed the team leader.

Gunfire erupted, bullets ripping through the air. Some of the Deathless fell, their bodies disintegrating into bursts of blue dust and flames when lucky shots struck their necks or heads. But the operatives quickly realized their error—only precise shots to vulnerable areas were effective. Most of their rounds either ricocheted harmlessly off the warriors' thick armor or struck their limbs and torsos, doing little to slow them down.

The Deathless charged, their movements unnervingly fast for warriors clad in such heavy gear. They descended upon the operatives like a tidal wave of rage and steel. Screams echoed through the ruins as Hydra soldiers were torn apart, their limbs severed by the brutal, ancient weapons of the Deathless. One operative managed to reload in time to fire a lucky shot at the head of a charging warrior, only to be impaled by another moments later.

Chaos reigned as the Hydra team was utterly overwhelmed. The operatives' modern firearms, so effective against human adversaries, proved nearly useless against the relentless, enraged onslaught of the Deathless. What was meant to be a calculated operation quickly devolved into a massacre, the ancient guardians showing no mercy as they butchered the intruders with terrifying brutality.