Lara landed in a crouch, springing to her feet just after the first outburst of fire died down. She knew she didn't have much time before they stormed the room, leaving her with nowhere to go.
The man Lara had used as a human shield let out a low moan, holding his hands to his stomach as he crumpled to the ground, a pool of crimson growing around him. She ignored him, rapidly stepping alongside him towards the open doors, hugging the wall and trying to stay out of sight. A second later she was slightly hidden from view behind the open doors, ready to spring out at anyone who came through the door, fingers tight on the triggers.
Lara's muscles ached with the effort of standing, coiled to strike, as six combat-equipped men stepped into the office, weapons scanning the room in front of them, ready to fire at the first sign of movement. She stood stock-still, barely breathing, waiting as the group of men made their way deeper into the office, unaware that she was behind them.
She waited until they took another step and then….
Now.
She ran forward, taking down two of the men with her Berettas. She drove her knee into the thigh of the first man she reached, smashing him in the face with the butt of one of her pistols just before she hooked her foot around his ankle, bringing him to the ground, unconscious, all in less than ten seconds.
Three to one. Better odds, but the last few seconds of surprise were slipping away from her. They brought their weapons around: at this close of a range, there was no way that they could miss.
She fired off another group of shots in their general direction as she dove to the floor, tightly rolling closer and to the side. The commandos didn't expect her to move towards them, and their bullets missed her by a good four feet. Two of them spared a glance at their comrade, who was gurgling and kicking as he toppled to the floor, a spurting hole in his throat.
One of them turned his gaze back in front of him, his eyes widening as the woman popped up right in front of him, grabbing the collar of his uniform with one hand and jerking him closer to her. His instincts kicked in and he tried to bring the muzzle of his tactical shotgun down, but the range was too close. He let out a soft grunt as he felt the hard metal of a muzzle poke into his stomach, just between the gap in his body armor, the soft sound drowned out by the sound of the muzzle report.
Lara's eyes widened as she saw the cold barrel of the last commando's Colt M4 zero in between her eyes. She brought one of her Berettas to bear, but felt her heart freeze when she saw that the slide was locked back. Empty.
Quick reflexes were the only thing that saved her as she tightened her fist on the dying commando's uniform, ducking down a little and driving him forward into his companion. The other man's aim was thrown off, and the bullets stitched a line into the carpet barely six inches from her foot.
She ran forward before he could think about getting another shot off, throwing a high kick that sent the M4 clattering out of his hands to the ground. Instead of freezing in surprise like his fellows, he took a step towards her with a snarl, grabbing onto the wrist of her gun hand and squeezing with a vise-like grip. Lara could feel the bones of her wrist grind together, so close to breaking that it took every last bit of willpower to keep her grip on the gun.
She struck back quickly, shooting her hand out for a hard heel-palm right to his face while her knee came up and towards the side of his. He managed to throw up a forearm, blocking her hand, but her knee connected with his, making it collapse briefly and putting most of his weight on one leg. Yet his grip didn't loosen on her wrist, trying to wrest away control of the weapon.
Lara took advantage of the opportunity presented by his shift in body weight, placing her left leg behind his right and driving forward into him, forcing him to the ground, hoping to open up some distance between them for a fatal blow.
Instead of completely losing his balance, the man grabbed Lara's gunbelt with his free hand, twisting her wrist even more, the bones making a popping sound as he brought her down to the ground with him. Pain exploded in her wrist and hand, forcing her to drop the Beretta, where it bounced across the floor out of reach.
She managed to drive her knee into his inner thigh as she fell, driving her weight into a pressure point, but he barely seemed to notice, throwing up an elbow that almost caught her in the throat—a professional move. She was running on pure adrenaline now, relying on years of training to keep her alive. Ignoring the pain in her hand, she leaned forward, hands outstretched, to gouge out the man's eyes, but he saw the blow coming, shifting his head out of the way so that her hands landed to the side, barely scratching his cheek. And then he hit back.
Black briefly flooded Lara's vision as his fist connected with the side of her head. The sheer power of it was enough to knock her off of him, sending her sprawling to the floor, her vision briefly swimming. Something angular and hard poked into her side.
She'd landed on the Beretta.
The man quickly hauled himself to his feet as Lara got on her hands and knees, head pounding. He wasted no time on trying to recover his weapon and charged her, yelling ferociously.
Lara was just regaining her feet when he reached her, his hands closing around her throat and squeezing with an iron grip as he hauled her to her feet.
"Thought you'd get me?" he hissed, eyes blazing. She could only gag, trying to fight for breath as he ran forward, forcing her backwards.
Lara pulled the trigger, the report deafening. And pulled it again. And again.
The man, staggered, his eyes going wide as the slugs ripped into his chest and stomach.
A second later, forced by the dying man's momentum, Lara felt the back of her legs hit the low wall, making her fall backwards against the huge pane glass window. She screamed instinctually as the glass shattered, plummeting through the air, the commando's loosening grip bringing him with her.
Lara was still screaming as she fell, the stories quickly passing by alongside her in a blur. Then they slammed into a protruding balcony and everything was silent.