In the desert of Los Alamos in New Mexico, a snake slithers away into the cover of some rocks. No sooner has it done this does the enormous explosion of a U.S. nuclear bomb test rock the landscape. In result, a strange large disc-shaped object is flung into the air. It lands in the snake's former position.
Near the source of the explosion an area of the ground has been cracked open. At the bottom of the hole in the ground is a container of some kind. Due to the disc's absence the opening mechanism of the container is triggered. The layers of the container slide open to reveal a transparent cylinder. Inside, a humanoid figure can be seen within.
Years later in 1996 at the Imperial Hotel in Calcutta, famous archaeologist-adventurer Lara Croft sits alone in the lobby. A man approaches her.
LARSON: "What's a man gotta do to get that kinda attention from ya?"
Lara looks up at the familiar face of Larson, his face reflecting clearly in her red tinted round sunglasses.
LARA: "It's hard to say exactly, but you seem to be doing fine."
LARSON: "Well, great! But truth is it ain't me that wants ya."
LARA: "No?"
LARSON: "No, Miss Jacqueline Natla does; of Natla Technologies. Y'know, creator of all things bright and beautiful."
Larson sets a small mobile computer down on the coffee table in front of Lara. The screen activates and the C.E.O. of Natla Technologies appears.
NATLA: Seal it, Larson!
Natla turns her attention to Lara.
"Feast your eyes on this, Lara."
Dollars begin to rain down from above Natla.
"How does that make your wallet rumble?"
Lara is uninterested. She gets up to leave.
LARA: "I'm sorry. I only play for sport."
NATLA: "Then you'll like a big park. Peru."
Lara's interest is piqued. The computer screen changes to display images of the Andes.
Vast mountain ranges to cover, sheer walls of ice, rocky crags, savage winds and there's this little trinket.
The screen changes again and this time displays a three dimensional model of an ancient artefact.
"An age-old artefact of mystical power buried in the unfound tomb of Qualopec. That's my interest. You can leave tomorrow. Are you busy tomorrow?"
As the screen concludes with rows of data, Lara smiles to herself.
FMV - Snow
Having accepted Jacqueline Natla's proposal to locate and recover an artefact from the unfound tomb of Qualopec, Lara has travelled to Peru.
In the mountain ranges that are the Andes, Lara is currently being led by her guide, Carlos, through the snowy mountains. The pair halt at a cliff face. Looking up at the cliff, Lara's trained eyes spy Peruvian symbols. Wishing to investigate, Lara produces a grappling hook and throws the hook up just below the symbols. Ensuring the hook is stable, Lara then begins to scale the cliff face. She swings over to the centre symbol and presses it. Below her, a pair of stone double doors begin to open in front of the guide. Carlos stares into the darkness of the cave that lies inside the mountain. His eyes suddenly widen in fear as he spots several pairs of eyes glinting in the darkness. They are coming closer. Carlos begins fleeing as four wolves rush out after him. The guide screams as the wolves easily catch up with him.
Quickly, Lara produces a knife from her boot and cuts the rope. Whilst falling, Lara whips out her pistols and begins opening fire on the wolves. Lara easily dispatches them. Thereafter, she kneels down to examine the body of Carlos. He is dead. Pressing on alone, Lara enters the mysterious mountain caves. After crossing the threshold the two huge doors slam shut behind her.
Cutscene 01
Lara has repelled the attack of her old rival, Larson; wounding one of his arms in the process. She strolls up to him; pistol clutched in hand.
LARA: "Well, you have my total attention now. I'm not quite sure if I've got yours though. Hello?"
LARSON: "I'll heel and hide ya to a barn door yet!"
LARA: "Of course!"
LARSON: "You and that driveling piece of the Scion. You want to keep it so bad? I'll harness it right up yer..."
LARA: "Wait! We're talking about the artefact here?"
LARSON: "Damn straight we are! Right up..."
LARA: "Hold on! I'm sorry. This piece you say. Where's the rest?"
LARSON: "Miss Natla put Pierre DuPont on that trail."
LARA: "And where is that?"
LARSON: "Ha! You ain't fast enough for him."
LARA: "So you think all this talking is just holding me up."
LARSON: "I don't know where his little jack-rabbit-frog-legs are runnin' him to. You'll have to ask Miss Natla."
Lara turns away in thought. Seeing a chance and taking it, Larson lunges out at Lara. But Lara is prepared for such an assault. She round-house kicks Larson's head and he immediately falls to the ground unconscious.
LARA: "Thank you. I will."
FMV - Lift
Enlightened by Larson, Lara heads straight to Seattle in the U.S. to the headquarters of Natla Technologies.
Standing on top of a lift at the Natla Technologies headquarters, Lara produces a blowtorch and begins cutting though the cable which suspends the lift. Soon the cable snaps. The counter weight on the other end of the lift starts to fall. With one hand clutching the cable, Lara is hoisted up to the roof of Natla Technologies. Just before reaching the top, Lara lets go of the cable and allows her momentum to finish carrying her up. She lands softly onto the roof's surface. A huge neon-lit logo of Natla Technologies is before her.
Having found her way into Jacqueline Natla's office, Lara rummages through it in search of information regarding the whereabouts of the other pieces of the Scion. After upturning bins, cracking safes and skimming shelves, Lara finds what she has been looking for. A prayer diary that once belonged to Brother Herbert; documenting the year 1573. Lara sits by the office window to examine the book more closely. Mentally, Lara reads the pages of the old book.
LARA: "Relocated now to Saint Francis' Folly, new temptations torment me."
Instead of her own voice, Lara now imagines the voice of Brother Herbert reading his diary.
HERBERT: "Rumour amongst my fellow brothers is that entombed beneath our monastery is the body of Tihocan, one of the three legendary rulers of the lost continent Atlantis; and that with him lies his piece of the Atlantean Scion, a pendant divided and shared between the three rulers; which curbs tremendous powers. Powers beyond the creator himself. My toes sweat at such possibilities lying so close to my mortal self. Each night, I beat myself rid of these fantasies. But it is indeed a test."
Lara travels to St. Francis' Folly, the monastery that will lead her to Tihocan's piece of the Atlantean Scion. When she reaches the monastery, Lara's attention is immediately drawn to an abandoned campsite and a discarded can of baked beans. She picks up the empty can.
LARA: "Pierre, you litterbug."
Dropping the can, Lara gazes up at the old doors of the monastery. She steps forward and prepares to enter.
Level - Tomb of Tihocan
Inside the tomb of Tihocan, Lara discovers that the Scion is missing from its pedestal. She soon finds out why.
PIERRE: "A little late for the prize giving, no? Still, it is the taking part which counts."
Cutscene 02
Lara enters the burial chamber of Tihocan's tomb; in the centre an inscribed coffin and on one wall a set of Egyptian hieroglyphics and paintings. Intrigued by finding Egyptian hieroglyphs in Europe, Lara begins translating them aloud.
LARA: "Here lies Tihocan, one of the two just rulers of Atlantis, who even after the curse of the continent, had tried to keep rule here in these barren other lands. He died without child and his knowledge has no heritage. Look over us kindly, Tihocan."
Lara turns to the coffin.
FMV - Vision
Having obtained the second piece of the Atlantean Scion, Lara decides to reunite the two pieces she has collected. Upon doing this she is immediately thrown into a vividly clear vision. Symbols rush up before her through a dizzying blue warp tunnel.
Then, a golden city comes into view when the warp explodes magnificently. In the centre of this wondrous city is a huge four-sided pyramid. This was the once the centre of the great city of Atlantis. Above the city, three shadow figures appear. They are Atlantis's rulers and each of them wears a piece of the Scion around their necks. The rulers unite their pieces of the Scion together and an intense blast of energy is emitted from the pyramid.
Amidst a chaotic backdrop; one of the rulers, now appearing as a red shadow, is utilising all three pieces of the Scion for some purpose of their own.
Somewhere dark, a strange tall humanoid creature is hunched over on the ground. As one of its eyes blink open its body is now much more apparent and appears to have no skin at all. Quickly, the creature rises up.
Now, the ruler who had given life to this creature throws up their arms in triumph.
Soon, this ruler is discovered by the other two. Their piece of the Scion is ripped from their neck for the treachery they had comitted.
Lacking their piece of the Scion, this ruler is now bound by some kind of machinery.
Meanwhile, the scattered piece of the Scion has been sent to a valley in Egypt.
Images of the destruction of Atlantis appear before Lara's eyes. A meteor strikes the pyramid and the city sinks to a watery grave where countless lives are lost.
After the vision reaches its conclusion, Lara is prepared to seek out the final piece of the Scion.
In Egypt, Lara has reached the valley she had seen in her vision. With her Norton Streetfighter motorbike, Lara speeds down the valley to an entrance flanked by two seated statues.
Level - Sanctuary of the Scion
Lara has reached the chamber which houses the Scion. But she is greeted violently by a familiar face.
LARSON: "I still gotta pain in my brain from ya and it's tellin' me funny ideas now like to shoot you to hell!"
FMV - Canyon
With all three pieces of the Atlantean Scion now in her possession, Lara departs from the Scion's sanctuary in Egypt and emerges from a cave opening. Her eyes adjust to the bright light outside. Her vision is blurred but Lara can make out two figures standing in front of her, arms raised. Before she can see them clearly, Lara is snatched from behind by a very tall bald man. One of the men in front of Lara, a cowboy, approaches her.
COWBOY: "Howdy."
LARA: "Afternoon."
The cowboy takes Lara's pistols, grinning widely at her.
Getting out of a white Mercedes, Jacqueline Natla makes an appearance.
NATLA: "Left Larson sucking wind then, eh?"
LARA: "If that is the phrase."
NATLA: "Well, your little vacation riot's over now. Time to give back what you hijacked off me."
BALD MAN: "Let's try the lunchbox!"
The bald man rummages through Lara's backpack and produces the complete Scion. He shoves Lara aside carelessly. She scowls at him. The bald man then gives the Scion to Natla. She turns away to look upon the familiar object. Suddenly she turns around.
NATLA: "Well? Kill her!"
Before action can be taken, Lara shoves the cowboy aside.
COWBOY: "Hey!"
Lara continues to flee and dives off of the cliff into the river below.
NATLA: "You morons!"
The third man, an uzi-wielding kid runs to the edge of the cliff and opens fire. When he ceases fire, Natla joins him at the cliff's edge. Satisfied, she turns to him.
NATLA: "Let's go."
In the river, Lara soon emerges, catching her breath. Glancing up, Lara spies Natla and her goons departing in the white Mercedes.
Back on the surface, Lara returns to her motorbike and begins pursuit through the rocky Egyptian cliffs. Eventually, Lara discovers the Mercedes parked up at a cove. As Lara parks her motorbike alongside the Mercedes, Lara sights a yacht going out to sea. Examaning the yacht's movement, Lara revs the motorbike's engine and begins speeding up to the land's end. As she draws closer to the end, Lara stands up onto the bike's seat and launches herself off as the bike plummets into the water. Lara dives into the sea and swims underneath the yacht. On board, the bald man and the kid emerge.
BALD MAN: "What the heck was that?"
KID: "What?"
BALD MAN: "Thataway."
They look at the ripple of water near the yacht.
KID: "Probably just a fish."
BALD MAN: "That's some fish, kid."
As they are speaking, Lara climbs onto the yacht behind them and quietly descends into the cargo hold.
KID: "Man, you have got to learn to chill! I'm goin' back inside. You comin'?"
Tired, Lara quickly falls asleep in the cargo hold. Much later, Lara is roused by the sound of a small motorboat outside.
BALD MAN: "Steady."
KID: "Here she goes!"
NATLA: "You ready yet?"
Lara climbs out of the cargo hold. There is a now large island before her. She dives into the water and quickly begins trailing the motorboat toward the island. On the yacht, the bald man emerges. He is suspicious.
Level - Natla's Mines
In the mines, Lara arrives at the top of a cavern where the cowboy appears, wielding Lara's magnums.
COWBOY: "Ain't nothin' personal."
Later, Lara is confronted by the kid.
KID: "You firin' at me? You firin' at me? There ain't nobody else so you must be firin' at me!"
At the entrance to the golden pyramid of Atlantis, the bald man appears.
BALD MAN: "Say cheese!"
After Lara delivers her final shots of bullets to the bald man, he collapses.
BALD MAN: "Scum sucker!"
Cutscene 03
At the top of the shaft inside the Great Pyramid of Atlantis, Jacqueline Natla has reached a dark chamber. She places the Scion in the middle of an altar. But the Scion does not fall, it becomes suspended in midair and begins to continuously circulate. The altar starts to do the same and the chamber lights up. Natla turns her gaze to the next room where a huge incubator is being held in place on the far wall.
FMV - Pyramid
Outside, a section of the island breaks apart, revealing the top of the golden pyramid of Atlantis, energy radiating from it.
FMV - Prison
After reaching out to touch the Scion suspended in the centre of the altar, Lara receives yet another vision of the past. This time, the identity of the third ruler is all too clear. Natla. Her arms are bound by two pillars and she lacks her piece of the Atlantean Scion. Nearby, two Atlantean mutants flank her prison.
NATLA: "You can't do this!"
Fellow rulers Qualopec and Tihocan are stood before her.
QUALOPEC: "We condemn you, Natla of Atlantis, for your crimes. For your flagrant misuse of your powers and for robbing us of our..."
NATLA: "You can't! I..."
QUALOPEC: "Breaking the free bond of consent that our people are ruled and secured under, and invading Tihocan and myself with our army; our warriors emptied from our pyramid. So that you could use the pyramid; its powers of creation for your own mindless destruction!"
NATLA: "Mindless!? Look at you! Neither of you have one squirt of inventive juice in your heads. Wasters!"
Qualopec turns to Tihocan.
QUALOPEC: "Let's just do it."
NATLA: "Tihocan!"
Tihocan begins to approach Natla, face to face.
TIHOCAN: "You used the sacramental place as a source for your own individual pleasure; as some freak factory."
NATLA: "They're survivalists! A new generation!"
TIHOCAN: "A slaughter heap now. And you. We're going to lock you in limbo. Make your veins, heart, feet, and that diseased brain stick solid with frozen blood. Greet your eternal unrest, Natla!"
Tihocan raises his arm in gesture to one of the Atlanteans. The Atlantean obediently pulls a switch.
NATLA: "You won't rest either, or your damned continent Atlantis!"
A transparent cylinder rises up to encase Natla. The prison's mechanism proceeds and soon Natla is sealed beneath the earth.
Cutscene 04
After the vision, Natla appears from behind a pillar and begins making her way to the edge of the room.
NATLA: "Back again?"
LARA: "And you? For a grand re-opening I assume?"
NATLA: "Evolution's in a rut. Natural selection at an all time low. Shipping out fresh meat will incite territorial rages again; will strengthen and advance us. Even create new breeds."
Natla gestures to the huge incubator in the next room. Lara joins Natla at the edge.
LARA: "A kind of evolution on steroids then?"
NATLA: "A kick in the pants. Those runts Qualopec and Tihocan had no idea. The cataclsym of Atlantis struck a race of langering wimps; plummeted them to the very basics of survival again. It shouldn't happen like that."
LARA: "Or like this."
Their attention is diverted by a computer voice.
COMPUTER: "Hatching commences in fifteen seconds."
NATLA: "Too late for abortions now!"
LARA: "Not without the heart of the operation!"
Lara draws a pistol and aims it directly at the Scion.
NATLA: "No!"
Natla lunges at Lara, sending both of them falling off the edge of the room. Natla falls into the abyss whilst Lara manages to grab hold of the large platform below the incubator. She heaves herself up. The countdown continues.
COMPUTER: "Ten... Five, four, three, two, one.
Lara stares up at the incubator as it is about to burst.
Level - The Great Pyramid
Natla is not dead. With a winged Atlantean grafted onto her back and an explosive launcher at her disposal, she swoops down to confront Lara.
After round upon round of bullets, Natla drops. But she isn't dead yet. Her wings injured, Natla rises up once more.
NATLA: "You can't bump off me and my brood so easy, Lara!"
FMV - End
Something is amiss at the Great Pyramid of Atlantis. Its consistent hum has become irregular and the blue shaft of energy atop the pyramid is flickering. Suddenly, the top section of the pyramid explodes, sending debris flying in all directions.
On the island's surface, Lara is making her escape from the impending final destruction. Another section of the pyramid shatters and explodes as Lara dives into the sea. She swims her way toward Natla's abandoned yacht. On board, Lara quickly begins directing the yacht a safer distance away from the island. Within moments, the entire island is destroyed, leaving nothing left but the sea beneath it.
Lara continues speeding the yacht away, her latest adventure having reached its conclusion.
Credits
Lead Programmer
Paul Douglas
Lead Graphic Artist
Toby Gard
Programmers
Jason Gosling
Gavin Rummery
Graphic Artist
Heather Gibson
Neal Boyd
Additional Programming
Derek Leigh-Gilchrist
Andrew Howe
Mansoor Nusrat
Additional Artwork
Lee Pullen
Peter Barnard
Stuart Atkinson
Dave Pate
In a black void, the pieces of the Scion of Mu are swirling around. The three pieces join together, resulting in a shaft of light being shot from the centre. The words "TOMB RAIDER" are projected.
At an unknown location, Lara Cruz is seated on a bed, examaning the Scion pieces. When she successfully fits them together, the head of an Easter Island statue is projected in front of her. After a few moments, it disappears. Satisfied, Lara glances at the Scion before getting off of the bed.
Elsewhere, a boat is departing from the docks, heading out to sea. On board the vessel, inside a room, is a desk where lies the diary of Colonel Arther Hamilton Graves. The diary opens, revealing a page with a drawing of the Scion of Mu.