Chapter 1

The noise from the shredded tire was threatening to drive Lara Croft insane. Had she the time, she would have changed it thirty minutes ago when her current chase began, but Elder already had a generous head start and the Tomb Raider had committed herself.

A gentle curve became a little less gentle as Lara fought to control the three-wheeled beast. She slammed the gloved meat of her palm into the bare metal of the steering wheel, as if it would fix her shredded tire. The wheel bowed slightly and then snapped back. Lara was just about to give the thing another good whack when something caught her eye...

A racing flicker of light, followed by a larger one. Lara shielded her eyes against the flash. Before the sound of the explosion reached her she had already figured out what the fireworks were - a rocket launcher. Some of her recent encounters had taught her all about those little toys.

She continued towards the site of the explosion, hoping that there was someone else that wanted Elder out of commission and that the "Enemy of my Enemy" cliché was applicable.

In less than a minute she was there. She braked back the HUMVEE and looked over the area. Indeed, it was a little ambush that Elder had stumbled into, but things did not appear to be going as planned. The truck, while burning, was empty of the platoon of Government (whichever one was in power this week) forces. They had taken up position behind the two HUMVEEs and were firing at an unknown number of combatants in the jungle. The tracers from the vehicle mounted M-60's providing light and giving away the position of Lara's maybe-allies.

Lara formed a quick plan then tightened her seat belt and mashed the throttle on the truck. She was almost upon the first HUMVEE before she was spotted and the machine gun was swiveled in her direction - too late.

The vehicles struck each other with enough force to lift the front of Lara's ride up into the air, only to come down with an even greater impact that made Lara acutely aware of each one of her vertebra.

There were a few moments of blessed quiet, then the shooting began all over again. A quick look out of the cracked windscreen told Lara that she had changed the tide of battle. One of the ambushers was now manning the other truck's machine gun, and using it on the remaining Government troops.

Lara allowed herself a small smile, and then set about unbuckling herself. Her body groaned, but complied and she was soon outside, trademark Browning automatics drawn.

Between the rain and smoke, visibility was at a minimum. With the uncertainties of the situation, Lara vowed to be weary of everyone.

Almost immediately, Lara came face-to-face with two of the ambushers. They were clad in tiger stripe camouflage - not the solid olive of the Government forces. There was a brief moment, her pistols facing their AK47's. Upon realizing that Lara was the one who smashed their adversaries' vehicle, they lowered their weapons with a respectful nod of thanks and proceeded in the direction of the remaining Government forces, who were taking cover near the burning truck...

Lara was happy to have some help on her side for a change, and let the two men lead the way into the fight. It was a good thing she did, a moment later a short burst of gunfire was heard, and Lara could see large caliber rounds tearing the two men apart.

So much for allies...

Lara dove for a ditch in the opposite side of the road as another burst was heard, slamming into the area she had occupied a moment before. As the shots were being fired, Lara racked her brain, trying to figure out what type of weapon was being used on her. The sound was not one of the more commonplace weapons that she had encountered throughout her adventures - it sounded...older. Whatever it was, the powerful rounds and good accuracy meant that this person was not to be trifled with. As Lara took cover in the mud, trying to locate the shooter, something started to emerge from the truck's smoke.

Upon first glance, it appeared to be some sort of super-soldier, covered in layers of armor and armed to the teeth. It was carrying some sort of large weapon in its right hand, a weapon that looked to be wired into cranial implants.

Such thoughts would have been dismissed by anyone else - but the Tomb Raider's experiences told her that such things were possible, she just hoped that this cyber-combatant had no grudge against her. But if it did, she would deal with it as she had dealt with so many others...

Then it saw her, and went down on one knee, leveling the large weapon at her. Lara was already pulling the trigger when a secondary explosion from the truck's remaining fuel bathed the area in light and she had the chance to view the person who had her dead in his sights.

It was a camera, more specifically a camcorder that was held in shoulder mounted frame that gave it a very weapon-like appearance. This man was shooting Lara, but not in the traditional manner.

Lara pulled her pistol back to ready, silently cursing this man and herself for the horrible situation that she was almost forced to face.

She turned away from the man, returning her thoughts to her high caliber assailant, when camera-man made a move that caught her eye. His empty left hand came up from his thigh bearing a pistol of his own.

Reacting on instinct, Lara was on her feet in an instant and vaulted into the air drawing a bead on the man in mid-flip, but she was too late. in the painfully slow moments it took Lara to bring her guns to bear, a flash and a single report came from the lone figure. Lara readied herself for the punch of the impact, but it never came.

Camera man had missed.

Not one to give second chances to kill her, Lara discharged both of her weapons in mid-air, striking him in the chest with both and sending him sprawling.

They both hit the ground at the same time, followed by the sound of another body collapsing. Lara turned to see one of the Government troops clutching his sternum and squealing in Spanish. Next to him was a WW2 vintage Browning Automatic Rifle complete with scope. This was the mystery weapon that had been shooting at Lara, and had killed the rebel troops.

It looked as though the BAR man had been well on his way to outflanking Lara before he had been put down, courtesy of the man with the camera.

The man whom Lara had just shot - twice.