"The deed has been done." Chrysalis said, though as she spoke she returned to the area that Isaac, Carver, Ellie, and Santos were standing in, where she noticed that they were now standing near what appeared to be some grappling hooks or something, while also informing them that Norton was gone.
"I wish Norton hadn't turned his back on the mission." Ellie said, to which she sighed as she shook her head, because Norton had been a friend of hers for some time before the events that had led to this mission had happened, but now that bond had been shattered by his betrayal, "With the Nexus and Norton dead, and Danik's men have scattered for the moment, maybe we can make some progress climbing the cliffs, before we're forced into a corner again."
"Ellie, I'm sorry it came to this." Isaac commented, knowing that Ellie had put her trust in Norton, just like the majority of them had done when they first arrived in the atmosphere above the planet, but right now they had to keep moving, as it was only a matter of time until more Necromorphs showed up.
"Me too." Ellie replied, to which she shook her head and looked over at the grappling hooks that she and Santos had activated, as they had set them up while the others had been busy being harassed by Danik and the Unitologists that happened to come down here with their commander, "Hey, we should get moving. We won't find the Machine or whatever the Codex is just standing around here."
"Oh, there is something else we should look into." Chrysalis said, to which she pulled out the text log that she had secured before the Nexus had shown itself, where she handed it over to Ellie and Santos, "I don't know if Danik was telling the truth, or if he was lying to get us to lower our guard, but according to what he said there's apparently another army or something fighting the Unitologists and decimating their forces. I think he might have some recordings of what his fellow cultists might have discovered on the other planets, and maybe some information on what they might have seen, because something about this doesn't make sense."
"There shouldn't be another army fighting the Unitologists," Santos replied, to which she eagerly took the text log from Chrysalis and started tapping the controls, as the look on her face revealed that she was interested in figuring out what was going on at the moment, "If there was another army out there, fighting our enemies like Danik apparently thinks there was, I'm surprised that Norton and the others didn't hear about it before the Eudora arrived above the planet... it would have given him some real information that could have stopped us from coming down here."
"Well, since we're already down here, knowing that there's someone else fighting back isn't going to change anything for us." Isaac said, because while it was good news that someone was taking charge and lashing out at the Unitologists, like he and the others had done so far, he was still curious as to where this supposed army had come from, what sort of weapons and vessels they had, who commanded them, and how they managed to destroy a planet, "Chrysalis, Carver, we had best get moving before more Necromorphs or Unitologists show up... and that means that we need to get to the top of this mountain as fast as we possibly can."
"Well, that gives us a new problem to get around," Carver commented, to which he looked at the grappling hooks, and the stations that they happened to be attached to at that very moment, and noticed something that would hinder their progress a little, "there's only two grappling hooks and three of us..."
"I can levitate with my magic." Chrysalis stated, reminding Carver that she wasn't bound to the same limitations that he, Isaac, and the others were bound to, rather she preferred to limit herself and be more like them, instead of flaunting her magic all over the place... though, since they were running short on time, she decided that now wasn't the time for that opinion and started using her magic again.
Isaac chuckled, as he knew that at some point in time Chrysalis would have to start using her magic more than her Pulse Rifle, to which he climbed into the station that was the closest to him and locked himself into position, where Carver sighed and did the same time. Chrysalis watched as the two of them prepared themselves for a few moments, which was really just them attaching something to their suits before they pulled a lever, one that loosed the hook into the air and propelled them onto the rock wall in front of them. As such that allowed them to walk up the side of the wall, somewhat slowly when Chrysalis thought about it, which was why she was fortunate enough to have thought about using her magic to levitate herself up alongside her friends, even though both Ellie and Santos refused to be carried up to the top, but also stated that they would change their mind if it was the only way for them to get up there. Of course as both Isaac and Carver started climbing Chrysalis noticed a loose piece of rock, knocked out of place by one of the hooks, starting to fall towards her friends, to which she engaged her magic and latched onto it, stopping it's descent in it's tracks... before she moved down to where Ellie and Santos were standing, where she put the rock down in the mouth of the opening they had walked through, to provide some protection for them in case enemies came at them.
Of course as she did that she noticed that more fragments were falling through the air, where she wove her magic around them all and stopped them in their tracks, before she pulled them to her and started forming a barricade to protect Ellie and Santos from Necromorphs or Unitologists.
"Guys, we're going to cause an avalanche if all of us try to climb it." Isaac stated, referring to him, Carver, Ellie, and Santos, because since Chrysalis could simply fly around the area he wasn't counting her, but he was happy to see that she was removing the rocks and bounders before they crushed someone.
"Then what do we do?" Ellie asked, because while she knew that Chrysalis' way was the fastest way, even if it would burn through her magical reserves to get all of them up to the top of the mountain, she wanted to be sure they had cleared out every other possibility before doing that.
"Carver and I will climb to the top of this segment and let Chrysalis join us," Isaac replied, where a rather large piece of rock started to fall towards them and he stared at it, because his friend engaged her magic once more and moved it into the blockade she was forming, "then we'll search around the area a little bit. There has to be a safer route than this... and if not, well we'll just have to magic our way to the top."
Even as he talked parts of the rock wall came undone and started to break apart, starting their descent towards where Ellie and Santos were standing, but Chrysalis saw them coming and used her magic to keep her friends safe, while at the same time moving the rocks into position at the opening, which no ordinary person would be able to get through now. One thing she could have done, to make Isaac and Carver's climb up the mountainside all that much easier, would have been to blow up every rock before they came undone, but at the same time her magic would have probably loosened the rocks more than they already were, making her wonder if the explosions she had caused had done this to the wall of rock her friends were climbing up. As Isaac and Carver climbed, however, they discovered that there was another pair of grappling hooks that were at the top of the cliff the first pair had brought them to, though while they climbed over the edge and strapped themselves into the new ones Chrysalis looked around the area as she followed them. What she found was that there was some sort of elevator or cargo lift off to the right of where Isaac and Carver were climbing, which meant that there might be a way for Ellie and Santos to catch up with them safely.
Of course as Isaac and Carver used the second pair of grappling hooks, and jumped onto the next part of the rock wall, Chrysalis returned her focus to catching any loose rocks and sending them down to where Ellie and Santos were, to add them to the barricade she had created... though fortunately the second climb they had to do was much shorter than the first one, allowing Chrysalis to land near her friends as they started walking along the path that was in front of them.
"Santos, have you discovered anything confirming or denying the existence of this second army?" Chrysalis asked, though at the same time she, Isaac, and Carver walked out into the open for a moment and slowly made their way up the ramp like path they had discovered.
"No, not yet." Santos replied, which made sense considering that she had only been given a few minutes to look over the text log that Chrysalis had secured, though her tone indicated that she was still interested in what she had discovered so far, "But, from what little I've read so far, several of the Unitologists reported seeing people carrying some rather unique weapons into battle; a whip that seemed to be made out of plasma, some sort of cannon that sucked trash up and fired it out as powerful projectiles, and some sort of mine weapon that creates some sort of green humanoid creature that throws itself at whatever the weapon's owner is attacking. There are also reports of a humanoid robot appearing at several different locations, who appears to be laughing as he engages the cultists that happened to be attacking the planet or station a Marker was stored on."
"Wait a second," Carver said, as there was something about that statement that was a little odd, because while many people customized their ships with either a male for a female voice, like they had heard several times so far, he had never heard of a robot being made, much less one being labeled as male, "you mean to tell me that whoever is attacking the Unitologists, and I think we can all agree that it's happening, has a dangerous robot aiding them... one that identifies as male for some reason?"
"From the recording it sounds like he's also able to talk in full sentences, like a human can," Ellie commented, which meant that she must have found a way to hear whatever Danik's men had recorded, making that text log, which was more like a combination between all three types instead of just a single one, even more valuable to them, "and, based on what Danik's men had been able to hear, he has a dislike for 'incompetent morons' and often says 'squishies' when dealing with the Unitologists... who he either cuts to pieces with his built in arm blades or blasts them with a blaster of some kind."
Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver paused for a moment, as they all agreed that this was something unusual, before they continued walking and rounded the corner, where they found that the researchers had built some ladders into place between the area they were walking and what was above them. At the same time Chrysalis found something to be amusing, as she didn't use her magic or anything and easily climbed up onto the level that was in front of them, finding that they could simply climb up to the next area if they wanted to. Of course Isaac and Carver activated the ladder and climbed up it, instead of doing what Chrysalis had done, though once they were all inside the new cave they kept their eyes open for enemies, since there had to be some Necromorphs standing in their way. As they moved through the cave the three of them heard someone hitting something with an axe, though experience told them that it was either a Necromorph or a Unitologist trying to distract them.
When they rounded the corner, however, they found that the sound was coming from a fodder that had been partly crushed under a boulder, as it was now hacking at it's legs in order to free itself so it would crawl after whoever it wanted, though the trio simply dismembered it entirely before moving forward. Of course that was when a few more fodders and some slashers decided to join the party, though what surprised the group was that they were coming from both sides, so while Isaac and Carver moved forward Chrysalis made sure that their enemies didn't hurt them from behind. There were a few enemies that were blackened, empowered to take more damage and deal more damage, and some of them were even hiding in the snow, waiting to surprise them at any moment, but all three of them were prepared for such a thing and fought back with their guns, blasting the Necromorphs to pieces as they made their way outside the small cave they had found themselves in.
As the three of them walked out of the cave they had been in, and Chrysalis blasted the top of it to collapse the entrance in case more Necromorphs tried to follow them from behind, Isaac smiled as he found something that would help Ellie and Santos out; a cargo cage.
"Ellie, Santos, we've located a cargo cage up here." Isaac said, opening an audio link to the others, knowing that this news was going to make them somewhat happy, especially after they had been betrayed by Norton, "But it looks like it's currently wedged into the cliff. Gives us a few seconds and we'll see if we can free it, and send it down to you."
"That sounds like a plan." Ellie replied, though as she spoke there was the sound of blades hitting the stones that were protecting her and Santos at the moment, indicating that the Necromorphs were already trying to get at them, "But please hurry, because sooner or later those Necromorphs are going to figure out how to get through the barricade."
Isaac didn't say anything as he latched onto the gear that was attached to the cargo cage with his Kinesis Module, where he turned it around a few times until the cage was no longer resting against the cliff, though as it started it's descent the three of them heard the sounds of the Necromorphs getting louder. As such Chrysalis ran over to the edge and threw herself into the air, where she engaged her magic and flew down to where the barricade was resting, though as she got closer to the ground she noticed that there were a number of fodders, slashers, lurkers, and even another Regenerator trying to get through the mass of rock she had placed in the entrance of where the first grappling devices were located. The moment she saw what was going on she engaged her magic once more and formed a temporary shield between the area that Ellie and Santos were in and the area that the Necromorphs were in, before she landed on the ground behind the Necromorphs and ran some flames down the side of her axe.
"Trust me, you don't want to pick on someone that can't fight back." Chrysalis stated, hoping that Isaac and Carver got to the controls so they could pull Ellie and Santos out of the area they were in, as she could see the cargo cage coming down to them, though at the same time the Necromorphs stopped what they were doing and started to turn their attention towards her, exactly as she had planned.
The Necromorphs charged at her and left the area that Ellie and Santos were in, to which Chrysalis focused on the enemies that were around her and moved out of the way as the first slasher came at her, letting it's blades strike the ground she had been standing on moments ago. The instant following that was when she spun around and used her flaming axe to cut through the slasher's arms, taking it's weapons away from it in an instant, before she cleaved it in half and continued with the next foe that wanted a piece of her. The fodders tried the same thing, swinging their weapons at her in the process, but that only made things much easier for her as she severed their arms and let their weapons call to the ground, where her magic wove through the air and brought some life to the axes, pipes, and bone blades that were scattered around her. Back when she was learning from her mother, in a time she hated to remember, she had learned a number of spells and techniques to use against her opponents, though there was one she did like to use when she was surrounded and there were a number of weapons scattered around the battlefield, as it was a spell that usually turned the tide in her favor... a spell that she referred to as Weapon Dance.
The name meant exactly what anyone would assume it meant, as her magic empowered the weapons on the ground and they floated into the air, each one attacking some of the Necromorphs and doing exactly what she did to her targets, cutting the limbs off and harming her foes in the process... though if a new weapon was dropped it was added to the spell almost instantly, increasing her odds of survival more than they had been moments ago.
With the Weapon Dance spell in effect, and she noticed that her magical energy hadn't suffered like usually when she used it, another sign of what happened three years ago, some of the Necromorphs actually wised up and backed away, trying to look for openings they could use to get at her. At the same time, however, only one of them actually charged at her and tried to crush her, which happened to be the Regenerator, but instead of blowing it to ash immediately, like she had done back on the Terra Nova, Chrysalis parried it's attacks and did nothing that would turn the one on one in her favor. She created this situation on purpose, because it gave Isaac and Carver the time they needed to climb the sides of the cliff and reach the area that the crane, the one that was attached to the cargo cage, was located, because the moment Ellie and Santos were out of danger she was going to turn the odds in her favor and end this fight, though even as she thought about that the Regenerator lunged at her and tried to pin her to the ground, where she rolled out of the way and cut into her opponent's side a little, before backing away.
Fortunately the two of them did that for a few minutes, exchanging jabs at each other as the Regenerator tried to hurt her over the course of the battle, though after some time Chrysalis spotted the cargo cage moving towards the top of the cliff with both Ellie and Santos standing inside it... to which she withdrew the magic powering the barrier and the Weapon Dance, which she transformed into a powerful sphere that she destroyed the Regenerator with, before she turned towards the cargo lift and flew into the air, leaving the other Necromorphs behind. A few moments later she found the winch that Isaac and Carver were standing near, carefully turning it as it reached the final stretch for bringing up the cargo cage, to which she landed in front of the area the cargo cage was supposed to stop and waited. When the cargo cage came to a complete stop, and the bar that was in front of her moved out of the way, she helped Ellie and Santos off of it, so that way the five of them could continue their mission and find out more about the Codex.
"See? That wasn't so bad." Ellie stated, indicating that something had happened on the way up here, for her and Santos, though even as that information came to mind Chrysalis made sure that Santos had her pack before she got off the cargo cage.
"Not bad? I was crying the whole way up here!" Santos replied, meaning that even the thought of the Necromorphs coming for her had triggered some terrible thoughts or memories for her, or maybe it was the ride itself, "Just get me some solid ground under my feet."
It was in that moment, when Chrysalis was near the opening of the cargo cage and Santos was still inside it, that the Snow Beast mare it's third appearance, as from the looks of it the creature had been climbing up the side of the cliff after the cargo cage had gone by it. Santos immediately froze in fear as the Snow Beast came to a stop on the top of the structure she was standing in and started to try and kill her by using it's legs, but as that happened Chrysalis wove her magic through the air and did something that Isaac, Ellie, and Carver never expected her to do. She teleported herself inside the container and took Santos' place, allowing Santos and her pack to appear near Ellie, though as they understood what had happened Chrysalis disengaged her helmet and smiled as her magic flared again. This time around the wire that the cargo cage was connected to snapped and the container started to fall towards the lowest part of the cliffs, but at the same time Chrysalis flew outside the container and followed the creature down to the area that the cage happened to be heading towards.
When the container came to a stop, and was buried under a decent amount of snow in the process, Chrysalis landed in an open area that happened to have two harpoons ready for someone to use them... and, standing in the middle of the area, was the Snow Beast, who seemed ready for a showdown.
"You think that, just because I'm down here with you, that I'll fight you?" Chrysalis asked, though at the same time her anger flared for a moment, because despite Norton's betrayal she had come to think of both Santos and Carver as being her friends as well, despite the fact that they barely knew each other, which was why her anger returned, "You tried to kill one of my friends and could have crushed the others with a potential avalanche... so I'm not going to fight you. I'm going to DESTROY YOU!"
Her flaming aura returned in full force as the area around her shook for a few seconds, though at the same time she rushed forward and bypassed the Snow Beast's attack, where she swung her fist and struck the side of the creature's body, knocking it into the cliff wall for a moment. The Snow Beast roared for a moment before it charged at her, though as it did that Chrysalis jumped over it and struck the top of it's body with a blast of energy that knocked it into the ground, before she landed behind it, latched onto the creature with her magic, and hurled it into the cliff wall again. As that happened she glanced up at the part of the cliff that was hanging above the area they were in, where she spotted a few stalactites hanging from the ceiling, though she grinned as she turned her attention back to her foe. The Snow Beast roared as it tried to charge her again, to flatten her like it had tried when she, Isaac, and Carver had fought it twice in the past, but she avoided the attack again and blasted the creature again, knocking it into the rock formation that was near them. She found it amusing that the creature didn't seem to care that it was taking damage, which made sense considering the fact that it had survived two encounters with her in the past, when she had friends assisting her, but this time she intended to make sure it didn't leave this place at all.
The next time the Snow Beast charged at her, and Chrysalis avoided it, she grabbed onto the creature and threw it back into the wall, but this time around she latched her magic onto the ceiling area and pulled on the stalactites, though as they tore themselves from the ceiling she made sure that they were sharpened by magic. A few seconds later the Snow Beast roared in pain as it's body was pinned to the ground, because even with it thrashing around it only cracked the spiked rocks that had punctured it's body, but at the same time this was only so Chrysalis could keep it in one place and finish it off before it ran away. With the Snow Beast held in place Chrysalis raised her arm and started pulling in some of her power, forming an energy sphere above her head, one that would obliterate the Necromorph and make it impossible for it to come back and chase them again, unless she encountered something that could come back from being completely blown apart, which would suck for all of them. The instant the attack was ready she backed away and hurled it at the Snow Beast, where it was consumed in a bright explosion that tore it apart, preventing it from coming back, though at the same time the explosion left a decent sized crater behind... and, as luck would have it, the entire area she was in was starting to shake from what she had done, to which she wrapped her magic around her and floated into the air.
Sure enough the ground where the Snow Beast had been pinned cracked and collapsed on itself, creating a chasm of sorts, while the grappling stations and large sections of rock filled the void and the area around it, though instead of staying here she started to ascend towards the top of the mountain. Fortunately the flight up to the mountain wasn't that bad, as she found Isaac, Carver, Ellie, and Santos standing near the edge that one would have climbed up if they were using the grappling stations, but since she wasn't doing that she landed behind them and smiled.
"We all knew that you'd get back to us, safe and sound." Isaac said, to which he smiled as he placed a hand on Chrysalis' shoulder, though at the same time Carver nodded his head while both Ellie and Santos smiled as well, indicating that they were all proud of her, "And the Snow Beast?"
"Blown to pieces." Chrysalis replied, where she flexed her hand for a moment and the magic came back, letting them know exactly what she had done to the creature that had surprised them, before dispelling the magic once more, "Is anyone hurt or in need of attention?"
"No, we're just fine." Ellie said, though she was happy that Chrysalis had dealt with the Snow Beast, as that eliminated a potential threat that would have bothered them time and time again in the future, but now they didn't have to worry about it showing up again, "Now everyone is ready for the next part of the operation, find out everything we can about the Codex and forge a new one, using Rosetta's research."
"And where the hell are we going to find her research?" Carver asked, because while they had been lucky in finding everything they needed so far, from everything in the atmosphere above the planet to everything down here, he knew that their luck would eventually run out.
"We head up to the facility and look for anything with her name on it," Santos stated, though the look on her face told them that she was determined to see this through to the end, especially after Chrysalis risked herself to save her from what could have been her death, "maybe a lab or some files... honestly, at this point I don't know what to expect."
"And we can take that to the entrance." Chrysalis said, seeing what appeared to be a shuttle, connecting the area they were in to one of the entrances of the facility that was in front of them, resting near their location, "Cone on, let's find out what Rosetta knew about the Codex, see if we can't forge a new one, and then shut down that Machine, once and for all... and then we can focus on heading home."
The group nodded and together they stepped forward, knowing that now was the time for them to gain the key that would finally put an end to the nightmare that came with all of the Markers, putting an end to the Necromorphs at the same time, and save whoever was left from an untimely death at the hands of the Unitologists... and then the five of them could celebrate a job well done, once Danik and his followers were dead as well.