The next day, they block Trinity's budding progress in the tunnels below the mountain. The old Soviet machines and their combined efforts collapse the main pathways and only the less noticeable ones remain intact closer to the sides of the mountain and hidden by glacial water. It will slow down Trinity's advancement, but it will also leave the Valley more isolated and hinder their chances to collect more ammunition and weapons from the Soviet Base.

He feels the guilt of leaving some of his men and women behind, but he'll have to trust that they'll find their way. Right now, they need to rush their war preparations because Trinity will be on them within days. They might have thinned out their rows in the attack to the Gulag, but already in the following morning, there had been a steady stream of helicopters bringing new men and cargo.

He glances at Lara when they trek through the still standing side of the pathway towards the Valley. Her posture is more subdued now but she has done an admirable job on piecing herself together when the pillars of her life have crumbled. The thought that they need her has grown only stronger in him while he kept watch in the night, the sleep eluding him. They are running out of time, and on days like this, he feels that he is, too.

He wonders how many people like her have lost their lives or have had everything taken from them because of the Source.

"Has anyone taught you how to fight?" He asks her by a whim and makes a conscious effort to keep his voice soft so that the stonewalls don't distort it to something sharper.

Lara looks up at his passing question, "I've pretty much taught myself. Books, videos, took some lessons, but…"

He isn't surprised by her answer, despite based on her skills, he most likely should be, "Have you fought open warfare?"

"Not in this scale," she admits and when he replies only with a nod, her defenses kick in, but she isn't offended, just taking in his words, "You see me lacking."

He cannot help the disbelieving chuckle that leaves his mouth at her words, "No. But you endanger yourself unnecessarily when you wouldn't need to, pick routes that take excessive time and energy," he explains and checks that she isn't discouraged by his words. Fortunately, Lara appears only to contemplate his opinion. Moreover, that gives him time to decide whether to say what his heart and gut tell him. "I could help you someday if we find the chance."

She turns to look at him and there is no missing for the question in her eyes that also escapes her lips softly, "Why are you offering this?"

He averts his gaze when he can't bear the honesty and the meekness in her eyes, "People like you should be able to fight to their best. – The world needs it." he confesses solemnly.

She doesn't react to how he classifies her as a tool for their side, how easily he catalogs all her skills and being as subordinate to the world's interests. The words leave a bad taste in his mouth but it's all he has learned to know – in the end, it's all who he is, what he has been made to become. He doesn't know if she sees the connection or is just too worn down to stand up for herself but at least on the outside, she doesn't question his words.


Sofia greets them with great relief when they reach the Valley.

They, however, have no time to waste. And once again, he orders warriors to be deployed and an evacuation to begin, but what they need now is a plan. It's the only thing that can save his people who all meet the news with the face of a person preparing for one's upcoming death.

It's too soon after the Soviets. At least after the Mongols, they had centuries to live in relative peace.

"Where is the Atlas?" Lara questions when they reach the lookout site that oversees the Valley, Sofia trailing close behind them.

After a second of silence, Sofia answers curtly to the other woman, "It's in the Archives under the Cathedral."

"Do we need to retrieve it before them or can we use it as a bait?"

"We don't need it. Nevertheless, Trinity cannot get their hold of it," Jacob clarifies with a sigh. "But they won't be prepared for what's coming. The Deathless are guarding it."

Lara however doesn't share his conviction. "I'm not sure Trinity cares," she eventually says slowly. "They have men and gears at their disposal. You saw it with the Gulag."

"Father…"

"It's a suicide mission either way," he states at the two women, "We don't need any more spilled blood on our side."

Has he ever done anything but lied and given half-truths, staying awake at the death of the night thinking when people will lose their faith in him, his mind plagued by the wrong decisions? And now when he tries to refrain from repeating his past mistakes, neither one of the women abides by his opinion. Sofia won't openly challenge him but he recognizes the look on her face and how she will take her own path in this battle independent of his choice. Lara, on the other hand, looks more sympathetic to his pain but is ready to oppose him regardless. "They won't take my father's work."

'Doesn't she see how he has already lost everything of his?' he thinks with a tired sigh.

"Jacob… I know that it's not the same, but if I could change anything about Yamatai… Firstly, I wouldn't go, but– I'd want to be more prepared, turn every stone, take out every threat before it's too late. We cannot – I cannot – take the risk that Trinity will get closer to the Source. I just can't. And I'm going to try and stop them, regardless of anything else."

He doesn't know if her words are intentional but the stab of Syria, the Mongols, Kitezh, the Soviets is noticeable in his heart. He had been a fool, arrogant, and worst of all, uncaring to the destruction he had been about to wield, justifying it; and every single time he had failed, forcing others to pay the price of his mistakes. When he turns back to Lara, he has a fleeting suspicion that she is trying to make him see, to support him in the impossible decision because she, too, knows the pain of regret.

Maybe an ally is not something to fight against.

"We would need to trap them there. We don't have enough men to fight both down at the Valley and at the Cathedral," he muses but still far from liking the plan.

"Is that possible?"

"If we crash what's left of the Cathedral, then it might work," Sofia answers to Lara who is quickly forming a plan.

"If we get a word to them where the Atlas should be… They would direct their forces there, and it might save the Valley from the worst."

"And we'd form an ambush around the Cathedral," Sofia continues, following Lara's line of thinking, "-How do we collapse the structure?"

"We took explosives from Trinity, if we use them on the supporting structures then it might be enough. But we need a chance to install them without Trinity's interference," Lara replies making everything sound much more straightforward than it will be. Jacob doesn't have the energy to retort back with her notion of past mistakes and overconfidence, and instead, pushes a hand through his hair, eyes closed but the frantic cacophony of 'if's' filling his vision.

"Nike and Atreus are fast and stealthy, either one of them could go," Sofia suggests.

"We are not sending anyone to be slaughtered."

But he isn't listened to in this madness as the two women have already set their headstrong minds on beating Trinity.

"Then I'll go."

"Lara…"

Lara repeats her decision while paying no heed to his objection.

And eventually, the plan is decided. The only upside is that he manages to collect his authority to keep Sofia from the Cathedral and from going to Trinity. One of their warriors will go to the Gulag, pretend to switch sides, and plant the ruse. He will go with Lara to install the explosives when Trinity gets here, and Sofia will lead the Remnant warriors to form an ambush around the Cathedral. The elderly and the young will hide in the catacombs, and if the attack comes too soon, in the caves surrounding the Valley.

It will have to do.

"Sofia, take Lara with you when you go to visit the catacombs tomorrow. Get her an armor, the dark one."

There is a brief surprise on Sofia's features before she accepts his order with a satisfied nod. Giving Lara the right to use the insignia, to fight in their ranks, is not a small offer of trust.

Not for the first time since Lara got here, he hopes that he made the right decision. He swallows the sigh that threatens to leave his lips once the women have left and he is alone with the uncertainty.


"You have made an impression on my father."

It's a rare praise Sofia gives to the dark-haired woman once they reach the Acropolis that is swarming with people who are either collecting for the last-minute provisions or finding shelter. Sofia isn't yet taking the woman in open-armed, but she is beginning to think that her father's trust in Lara might be warranted.

Lara's expression at her words reveals mild surprise at maximum and Sofia has trouble placing the reaction. Most people who have met his father would consider the pronouncement as the highest of honors but Lara isn't here for that. Still, the woman takes the words with the appropriate seriousness, and by that, shows respect towards him.

"He's a good man," Lara replies and Sofia can hear the small smile in her voice.

"He is."

Sofia nods at the two guards before entering the armory. There isn't much anything left as every available adult in the Valley has been called to arms. Most of their armors had already been lost at Kitezh and they have never had the manpower to keep themselves alive and open the old mines; the hides and pelts have become their accustomed protective gear that lets them fight with trees and bushes at their side.

It takes some searching but she manages to find a women's armor in Lara's size and watches from the side as Lara begins to lace herself into the metal without preamble.

Sofia doesn't want to note to her how massive honor it is to wear her father's insignia but Lara only seems to be interested in the functionality of the armor, flexing her arms and inspecting the toughness of the metal.

"It was designed to protect our warriors better against Greek Fire," Sofia elucidates.

"You have Greek Fire here?"

"Not us, the Deathless ones."

Lara nods slowly at the new information and her eyes focus on something Sofia cannot see.

"You'll help us get acquainted with the guns you stole?" Sofia eventually asks with only one right answer.

"Sure," Lara agrees to her, "We might even have the time to improve them a little."


The next two days pass in a blur. They are going to be outnumbered, overpowered, but at least they have had an extra chance to prepare themselves. Helicopters have patrolled over the area from the high since last night, and the Remnant runners have transmitted them the message that the attack will happen tonight.

Jacob takes a coveted look at Lara walking next to him in the elite guard's armor. She looks one of their own. But still, there is something on her face and hair that speaks of a new time. He feels an odd sort of gratitude that she is wearing the Remnant armor, even if everyone else here probably sees it the other way around. He is honored that they have a fighter like her in their ranks. And Lara is furthest away from the type to wear anyone else's mark on her chest. He can easily picture that someday people will wear hers.

"The Archives?" she asks him as they stride through the village.

"We'll trap them to the lower levels with the Deathless. I wished we had more men for the explosives but we need them on the escape routes and around the Valley, just in case."

"I can go alone."

He glances at her from the side, and she meets his gaze head-on. He cannot express how much he doesn't want to take her offer, "No. I'd rather for you not to come at all if we had that chance," but they have no men and her skills cannot be wasted. "I know the structure, we'll be faster with the two of us," he replies before giving a passing pat on the back on the Remnant warrior who meets them on his journey in the opposite direction. He prays that as many as possible will be alive at the end of this.

"Do you have experience with them?" he realizes to ask from Lara who is carrying most of the explosives on her back.

She looks at him questioningly before understanding what he is referring to, "No. Well except from Syria, but I didn't install them," and when the apprehension must have become visible on his face, "But I looked at them yesterday. We'll figure it out."

They manage to get out of the village when Lara breaks the silence with a memory that was sparked by their conversation, "That was yours. – The tomb."

"–which you blew up, yes. I've been waiting for you to figure it out."

No matter of the danger of the task ahead of them, or possibly just because of that, he can see Lara's mind going a million miles an hour, going through their past conversations, "And the talk about… Oh shit."

Likewise, he welcomes the last moment of levity they might ever share and chuckles softly. He doubts that anyone rarely gets to see Lara flustered.

Maybe it's another omen of the nearing end.

"You let me say all that!"

"What could I have said?" he smiles back to keep the momentum going and watches how Lara looks intently at their surroundings. "I have to say, not many come to look for the Source after exploding my tomb and saying things you've said."

Lara swears silently before they start to scale the mountain path.

Pebbles and earth slide from underneath their steps as they move upwards to find a place to hide until Trinity arrives in greater numbers. Jacob glances down to the evacuated Valley, relieved that at least for now, the view is still mostly peaceful apart from the steady chopping sound from the helicopters that is magnified by the mountains around them.

He asks Lara to tell the story of Syria to pass the time and he answers some of her questions in return. It's close enough to the subject of Trinity and a more carefree past, shedding more light on what they are fighting against – and fighting for. Their quiet talk is only interrupted by Trinity transmissions from the walky-talkies from time to time.

"How did you know that the Source was Divine?" Lara eventually ends up asking, "Can you just feel it?"

However, he doesn't answer anything, averting his gaze to the ground and letting out a silent sigh. Of course, she is smart enough to come up with that question.

Lara reads his expression for a moment before becoming certain enough to throw the assumption out, "It's not."

He shakes his head sadly, "No."

"But–"

"I thought for it to be, genuinely; I hoped that to be the case. At the time, our world was full of prophets and miracles. And the Source, it's deeply powerful, it heals, it speaks – not in words, but as something more, enforces you and your instincts," he divulges trying to get Lara to understand his point of view. "It was only after the Deathless' atrocity that was I forced to admit that no divine force could cause something like that: corrupt the minds of men to make them kill their own."

"But your people still–"

He doesn't blame the shock that grows on Lara's face, "To them it's Divine."

"You've lied to them, for generations. Jacob…"

"I'm not proud of it," he hurries to refute somberly. "Their ancestors, grandparents, friends, and family died because of an old goof's mistake. Because I thought that I could have a task from God." He can hear the obvious bitterness in his own tone. "How could have I told them that it was all just a big misunderstanding? – – I thought about it when I returned to them – but I… couldn't take that too away from them. Thinking that the Source is divine protects them from seeking its power, and it gives them hope, not just in here but in terms of death."

Lara looks at him and glances towards the Cathedral on top of the hill. He makes no mistake that if she hasn't been too trusting towards religions so far, this won't uplift her viewpoint. His hands wrangle on their own accord before he forces them to still.

"I'm just too much of a coward to destroy it," he states with self-loathing before trying to meagerly explain, maybe more to his own benefit, "After the Mongols we needed the hope, the reason to push forward, and the safety if Trinity was to come after us again. And I… I hoped to be able to recompensate my mistakes, ensure the brighter future that hundreds risked their lives for to follow me here to the unforgiving edge of the known world. But in the end, I'm just as scared to let go as anyone else."

"But death is just another fact of life."

"Not all of us have your strength of character, Lara."

Lara leans back on her heels and his heart twinges at the sight.

"They deserve the truth, to know what they are sacrificing themselves for."

True. "Haven't you ever told white lies? For the sake of the people around you?"

He can see that she has but she is too wise to equate it with the enormity of his lies, "If the Source was destroyed, then you'd just die?"

"Eventually. The Deathless would perish. That's it."

"So, this is all just at the expense of…" Lara starts but refrains from putting her thought fully into words. But it's still enough to remind them both of her outlook on Himiko.

He hasn't felt this godless in centuries.

"Maybe inhumanity always seeps into it," he admits softly, his soul aching.

"Don't," Lara argues back, "I didn't mean it like that."

He tilts his head to question her words because he understands, and it doesn't differ from what he has thought of himself. And he can see how everything just became much more complicated to her. She is still against Trinity and won't let them have the Source because of her father, but where they stand in relation to each other, he doesn't dare to ask.

Lara opens her mouth a few times to continue, but eventually, it appears that everything is too much at the advent of war. She stays with him though as they watch the helicopters drop more men into the area.

Maybe that's already more than he should even dare to hope for.


When the deployment finally ceases and smoke starts to rise from the Valley, they fight their way into the Cathedral, killing guards on their way in.

Ana's voice echoes amidst the stone and rubble, and inside, it's clear that a few groups of men have already burst their way into the lower floors. Lara hands Jacob a few more explosives before they nod at each other to circle the transept and the opening in the middle from different directions.

There is a smaller team upstairs, and Ana grudgingly promises reinforcements to the down below. It's exactly what Jacob and Lara will need to make the cave-in as effective as possible.

They have about half of the packages attached before Jacob and Lara both spot the incoming soldiers closing in on Lara's location at the same time. There's nothing they can do with the soldiers already in the room and Jacob can see Lara curse her luck. He feels a moment of panic, trying to think of anything to help her from his spot further away before Lara jumps out from her cover and takes Ana hostage.

With all eyes on the situation, he crawls closer while reaching for the rifle on his back. However, his instincts tell him to wait as Lara is searching for a way out. He can see the plan forming in her head while Ana tries to affect her.

There is a split-second warning that he uses to bring the gun out as the order to shoot Lara rings in the air but he is instantly pushed back by the explosion that rocks the place and collapses part of the floor taking most of the soldiers, plus Lara and Ana with them.

What he had hoped to be Lara's plan was definitely not this.

He instantly moves to shoot the remaining soldiers in the room and steps carefully closer to the hole, mindful of the stones that his weight threatens to collapse into it. There are further explosions from underneath with Ana appealing to Lara.

Lara's reply comes as much more subdued and he cannot make out the words.

"I shaped Konstantin, gave him a path, I can give you one too."

After Lara shouts something, Ana's reply comes from his radio, "Croft is coming. Ki–"

A gunshot echoes both from the device and from the hole and Ana never gets the chance to finish her sentence.

"Lara," he calls her through the radio.

"Just her deltoid, but at least she is without a radio now," she answers bluntly while breathing heavily.

"Are you okay?" he manages to ask before another voice cuts through the radio.

"This is from commander to the fireteam Delta, we lost contact with Ana. It's possible that Croft shot her, asking for orders from the Blue Team."

"Some bruisers tomorrow. I'm… a one or two floors from the bottom."

"That's over five floors from here."

"We've got orders for all men to engage. Saving Ana is now the first priority, Atlas can wait. All the remaining teams will be deployed for the search. Croft is to be killed upon contact."

"We just asked for reinforcements. There's something down here!"

"We are on our way."

"That might be just what we've been waiting for," Lara's voice comes from the small electronic device making Jacob eye the massive structure in anguish.

"Lara..."

"Plant the rest. Wait until they get inside. I dropped the detonator close to the fallen, waist-high pillar near the window, you can find it there."

"You'll be trapped as well."

He can hear the acceptance in her tone even before her answer echoes into his ears, "I'll find a way out."

He is moving already to pick up the detonator and trying to see suitable spots for the rest of the packages, "That place is a collapsed maze. The Deathless are too unpredictable."

"I'll manage. We can't let Trinity get closer to the Source."

He knows that he is taking too long to answer, wasting time while standing still, "The layout follows the cross, but the stairs are on the sides, a different place on each floor. You can try to climb through openings if you find them."

"And the Atlas?"

He wants to tell her to forget it, but he knows in his heart that she will want to secure it, "You should be quite close to it, it's on the bottom floor. – Lara, stay safe."

This time it's Lara that takes a second longer than normal to respond, "Just blow up the damn thing."

He can hear the sacrifice in her words. She is scared to be trapped, hardening herself on what's to come but still accepting her fate.

There's nothing more he can say to change the situation, but his mind is already battling at the dawn of the new plan. His people need him in the Valley but if they'll be able to fight off Trinity when most of the manpower is redirected here, he might just have the chance to help Lara.

He runs to plant the rest of the explosives and squeezes the handle of the detonator while moving back to his cover and readying his gun.

It doesn't take long at all before men, a much bigger group this time to enter the Cathedral with Konstantin at their center. If only he could take them all out now, but they are spread too wide and determined to cover their leader, and Jacob cannot afford to die now if he wants to be of any help to Lara.

He has witnessed Konstantin lose his patience with Lara in the interrogation room but now the man is on a warpath. He even sets down to the shaft first, shooting the soldier who is taking too long with the winch, in his desperation to get to Ana.

Jacob doesn't know how even with the megalomaniacs it usually comes down to saving your loved ones.

Jacob waits for the first two groups to go down with Konstantin and the third group to start strapping themselves in the harnesses before he sets off the explosives. In the end, his fingers are sure on the buttons even if he is single-handedly destroying centuries of the forefathers' work. He leaps from behind the cover when the first explosions are a milli-second from happening and uses the soldiers' shock and the power from Source to his advantage to run past them, escape the poorly aimed bullets, and jump into the pit just as the roof and the piers come crashing down.

He almost thinks that he spots how Trinity stopped a few stories down whereas gravity takes him all the way to the bottom floor despite his efforts to grab onto anything to soften his landing.

Feet first is the right strategy because he can regrow his bones and reissue nerves if his brain just remains in one piece to keep him alive.

But it's pure pain when he all too soon crashes onto the bottom level, his legs and most of his back instantly paralyzed at the contact. Large pieces of rock fall after him with the cobblestone floor, and he takes heavy hits onto his upper body. But the pummeling is only momentary and he guesses that something large enough from the Cathedral's ceiling fell to cover the hole.

It's eerily silent so far down and he arduously rolls onto his back to keep his airways out of the runoff glacial water when his lower body doesn't respond to his commands. It would be pitch black without the reddish glow of Greek Fire from the tunnel ahead of him.

It's Kitezh all over again: trapped to battle against the Deathless with those innocent to his sins.

He had wished for never having to repeat the horror.