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r/LaraCroftTombRaider

▲ 74 r/LaraCroftTombRaider+1 crossposts

TR6 Path to the Vault of Trophies Photo Showcase: Timeless Current, Devouring Terrors.

Passing the automated turrets guarding her cell, Lara slipped into the Aquatic Research Area. The previous supervisor clearly didn’t believe in a tidy workspace: power was dead, the observation window was smashed in, and a human-eating Leviathan was currently playing landlord.

Your average corporate disaster, really.

A creature wasn't about to rewrite her schedule. She dove into the right-hand pool, throwing the first emergency power lever without breaking a sweat. Literally.

The opposite side, however, told a completely different story.

Taking an elevator down, Lara could hear unsettling, crackling sounds of what felt like one of Muller’s laboratory rejects. The moment she reached the lever, a slimy boulder rolled its way towards her, revealing itself to be the same oversized bug she fought earlier. Hurriedly slamming the second lever home, Lara bolted back to the lift. She wasn’t about to let that thing ruin her hair.

With power restored, it was time to deal with the elephant in the room. The giant creature in the deep was completely blocking her exit, and since bullets just bounced off its hide, Lara had to get creative. Credit to the Cabal, they actually thought this one through. She loaded up a massive bucket with a fresh mix of chum, leaving it suspended over the pool and fully prepared to be served. But, when Lara reached the release mechanism to drop the feast, the lever stubbornly refused to budge. She threw her full momentum into it, but it was jammed tight. Pure sabotage!

"Right," Lara muttered. "Plan B."

She slipped into the adjacent room, where a jump-scaring guard immediately paid for his terrible timing in blood. Nearby, a second Leviathan was on display behind the thick glass of a containment cage. Lara couldn’t resist.

"Feeling a little stuck, are we?" she mocked, tapping the glass. "Probably best you stay in there with a mouth like that. Can't have you snacking on the help."

The beast slammed its head against the tank in frustration.

"Right, I guess that’s my cue. Wish I could stay and chat, but I'm a busy girl."

Discovering a gear station, Lara suited up to rock a sleek blue wetsuit. Before taking the plunge, she pulled a canister from her pack and applied a generous layer of predator-repellent spray. An absolute essential for the most daring Archaeological-Adventurers! If she couldn’t feed the beast its actual bait, she certainly wasn’t going to become the substitute.

No rebreather? No problem. She was a veteran.

She hit the trapdoor switch and dove straight into the abyss. Her heart hammered against her ribs as she swam toward the seabed, directly into the path of the Leviathan.

This was it. Was luck on her side?

The creature surged forward, opening a cavernous, dark mouth ready to swallow her whole.

SNAP!

The beast suddenly clamped its jaws shut, thrashing in pure disgust. Letting out a muffled cry of fury, it veered away, sulking like a toddler denied a treat. Lara took the win and swam hard, smoothly dodging a classic underwater trap along the way. Standard exercise for the likes of Lara.

The currents finally washed her into the Vault of Trophies. A stone engraving read:

'The brothers reunited see the gates thrown open.'

Simple enough. Lara hauled on the heavy chains of Vasiley and Limoux. The mechanism triggered a blinding, electric orb that blasted straight through the ceiling. She resurfaced just long enough to catch her breath and swap her gear for a sharp, camo-hybrid land look, a take on her Louvre outfit.

Next up was a cave swarmed with bats. Luckily, they didn't bat an eye at her. Hopping across a series of collapsing stone platforms, Lara slipped into an ancient library. Naturally, a welcoming committee of skeletons swooped in, swords and shields swinging.

They really don't like her, do they?

After booting the bony guards off the chasm ledge, Lara read the room like a book. A strange platform hung suspended in the dead centre of the area - way too suspicious. Scaling the walls and scrambling across the ceiling, she dropped perfectly onto the pressure plate. A hidden bookshelf ground open, revealing the final Obscura painting.

"At last," Lara sighed with relief. "Now for the process of destroying it."

Slipping through the fireplace and back into the water, she followed a school of deep-sea fish into a wide, open area. But as she broke the surface to catch her breath, she was met with a slow, mocking round of applause....

Eckhardt. And he brought company: Gunderson, Muller, and a captive Kurtis.

"Well done, Miss Croft," Eckhardt sneered from the high ledge. "You should consider yourself lucky. Had you been a disappointment, your little friend here would have been terminated like the others. Now... hand over the painting!"

Lara looked at her surroundings, entirely out of options. She played it cool. "Here's your well-earned reward. You fought so hard to get it... how can I refuse?"

"You've proven adaptable, Miss Croft," Eckhardt replied, catching the canvas. "Though like all good things, this must come to an end."

With a brutal shove, he sent Kurtis tumbling over the edge into the deep pit beside Lara. "Time for you to meet my former colleague. Unleash Boaz!"

Muller eagerly sprang forward to assist.

"Not you," Eckhardt hissed, stopping him cold. "You've been nothing but bad luck, Muller. You don't deserve a spot by my side."

Before Muller could plead, Gunderson delivered a heavy boot to his chest, sending the scientist plummeting into the fray. He didn't even have time to scream before Boaz emerged from the shadows below to gobble him up.

Lara didn't flinch. She unholstered her dual pistols in one fluid motion, the metal clicking sharply in the intense moment.

"Lara, stop Eckhardt!" Kurtis urged, forcing himself back to consciousness. "I’ll handle ugly here."

Bracing his weight, Kurtis gave Lara a powerful lift, sending her high enough to grab the edge. She scrambled up onto the safe walkway and immediately turned back around.

"Lara, take these!" Kurtis yelled.

Extending his hand, he used his mind to guide the two Periapt shards through the air. They flew upward in a perfect flight, landing right into Lara's hands. Below, Kurtis drew his weapon and faced the beast.

"I'll put an end to this monstrosity, once and for all."

u/AimlessThunder — 3 days ago