"Ellie," Isaac said over the comm. "Babs just destroyed that thing from earlier. She got eaten and set off a grenade inside its stomach."

"Really? I guess she really is Applebloom's cousin. Well, hurry back up, we're waiting."

"Alright, Scootaloo is going to take Applebloom up first, I got Babs. Listen, Applebloom got hurt while fighting this thing, do any of you have any medpacks she can use? I took a look at her and the most I think she has are some bruised ribs, but I don't want them getting irritated."

"Yeah, I've got a medium sized one." Norton said. "She can take it. I don't need it."

"Thanks... Norton." Isaac said slowly. "You're really trying to change, aren't you?"

"I just want to not die, and in the process, keep you five alive. Like you said, they're our only hope at stopping this shit."

"Right, Isaac out." He said cutting the link. "Scootaloo, go on, they're waiting for us and Norton has a medium medpack for Applebloom. Babs, you're with me."

Scootaloo nodded before taking the apple farmer in her tentacles, gently holding her with two, she used the free one's to scale the side of the mountain. Watching them, Babs felt a small thing prodding in the back of her head, shaking it off she went over to Isaac as he was hooking himself up to the gear.

"Alright, it doesn't look like that much of a climb." He said picking her up. "Hold on, the tug on these things is as bad as getting slapped by a Brute."

He pulled the lever and they were jerked up. Beginning the climb, she held onto his middle, listening to his boots scratch into the ice. Climbing up the left side, Isaac took only a few steps before the ice began to give out. He jumped further left and stood on a solid patch of the rock. Continuing his climb, he got to the ledge and let Babs climb up before he went up himself. Up top, Ellie was the first one to help him up, helmet off as his own folded up.

"Hey," she said grabbing him in the middle. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just a bit sore. So, where are we? And what is that?" He asked gesturing towards the large buildings ahead.

"This is where we'll find Rosetta." Santos said still holding one of the guard's arms. "The research we need is inside. And with it, we can find the source and destroy it. There's a ladder there, I'll go up first."

As Santos, the guards, Ellie, and Carver all followed her, Norton stayed behind. He looked around before he caught Isaac staring.

"You're not going?" Isaac asked letting his helmet unfold.

"No," he said. "We are to split up as it is. Besides, I'm not really interested in the office, I'm more interested in the armory here. Enough ammo to go around and get us some better protection if Danik decides to come after us."

"Fine, but we can do that later. Come on, lets go up."

As he ascended up the ladder, it gave out and he fell onto the roof of a small shack below it. Looking up, he saw Ellie looking down. Getting up, he stumbled a bit before looking up at her.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." He replied rolling his shoulders. "You go on ahead."

"I see a ground route." She said. "I'll shoot a directions to Scootaloo's RIG. We'll meet at the facility."

She disappeared and left Isaac below. Looking to his side, he saw Norton climb up along with Babs being carried by Scootaloo. She set Babs down before reaching down and lifting Applebloom up. Nexus managed to jump up top, even as Scootaloo tried to reach down to pull him up.

"Alright," Norton said glancing up. "Only one way to go. Lead the way Scootaloo."

At the base of the mountain

'Finally,' Sweetiebelle thought. 'All my pieces are back where they should be. Now to-'

A low whir distracted her, looking to the side, she saw one of the harpoons drag its harpoon back before focusing on her. It fired and she tried to get out of the way, but it went through her midsection and into one of the stone walls around her. Looking at the cord, she cut it with a swipe of her claw and pulled the rest out. When she was finished, she was sinking her caws into the rock when she heard a loud crack.

'Please tell me it's not what I think it is.' She thought looking to the side and already seeing a large amount of boulders and rubble beginning to fall, blanketing the patch of sky above with a layer of dust, ice, and rock. 'It is. I feel like this is karma's way of getting me back for Isaac.'

Up above

Nexus, ahead of the group and waiting eagerly by a gate, suddenly stiffened up and raised his ears. His mouth twisted until his original teeth were bared and his eyes were a blazing crimson. The others stopped and just stared at him, their weapons raised as he began to growl, along with a few pieces of bone appearing along his back.

"Nexus," Isaac said aiming his Negotiator at the Unimorph "What are you doing?"

"Danger." He coughed out, his mouth spitting out small flecks of blood now that his entire body began to change. "Mistress... Hurt..." He growled before clinging to a wall and running past them.

The others merely stood there, unsure of what to do. Isaac going on, made up their minds for them. Once they entered, a drowned line of noise came from a Twitcher that disappeared when they spotted it.

"Great," Isaac groaned. "Fucking Twitchers. At least they're not babies."

"Hold on," Norton said. "What are Twitchers?"

"They're Necromorphs," Scootaloo said. "That have a RIG attached to them and the infection has melded with their stasis unit, making the world to them slower while to us they're faster."

"Bet you wish you went with the others now, don't you?" Isaac said. "Come on, I don't want to get cut up out here. I'd rather have that happen inside, hopefully where there's some heating."

As they continued along the path, Applebloom rolled off of Scootaloo and shakily got up. Looking around, she did a double-take when she saw what was in the rock.

"There's a Marker." She said staring at it. "Guys, there's-"

"Markers." Isaac said coldly. "We know. There's more ahead of us here. Grey, black symbols, a few as tall as me. Yeah, they're everywhere. How are you doing?"

"Fine, ah can walk and shoot, so ah say that's good enough." She said catching up to Isaac. "Come on, ah'm not waiting for them to go off."

He nodded and hurried to the door with the others, Scootaloo and Norton covering the back while Babs and Applebloom guarded the sides. Opening the door, they were all hit with the smell of decay, rust, oil, and other substances that had yet to be made scarce.

"This smells almost as bad as the sewage." Isaac said going in and nearly tripping on a frozen body. "Sorry buddy."

Going in, the door closed behind the others as they tried their best not to vomit. The least affected were Applebloom and Scootaloo, the two of them glancing at the others.

"So," Norton said. "Where's the heating?"

"In the main building." Scootaloo said. "By the size of the room, I'd say this was once a military checkpoint. And judging by the rate of decomposition of the two bodies here, I'd say they lasted for quite a while before they eventually starved to death, evident by the wrappers of rations laying around."

They all looked at the ground and saw multiple wrappers, many of them consisting of nutrient and protein substitutes. Going around the small corner, they went back into the colder weather. Upon exiting, a gunship flew overhead, making them all pause to watch it fly over the laboratory.

"Heads up!" Isaac said over the comm. "Looks like Danik has had time to regroup."

"Dammit!" Carver swore. "How do we find Rosetta if she's been dead for over two-hundred years?"

As they turned a bend in the path, they were greeted by a large building rising out of the snow with a few lights on it. Looking towards the door, they all quickly began to run as they heard the sound of another gunship approaching.

"Wait a minute." Ellie said. "There- "Rosetta Lab"! It's there!" She said giddily.

"Perfect!" he said. "Send Scootaloo the coordinates. And lets hope Danik doesn't find us before we can build this codex."

Scootaloo, seeing the panel by the door, tore it away and began fiddling with the wires. She got the first, second, and then the third, rushing inside, they all saw a second gunship making its way in their direction. As the door shut, they were all clustered in the same, small spot.

"So," Norton said. "What do you think we're going to find? You know, hopefully besides what we need to make the codex."

"Necromorphs." Isaac said. "Most likely. Maybe a few more Markers."

"Great." Norton sighed.

"I know, right?" He smirked under his helmet. "See all the fun you could have missed if you went with the others?" He asked sarcastically.

"Would ya two stop it?" Applebloom said. "Isaac, scoot ya boot over, its pressing me against the wall."

"Sorry," he replied. "Didn't see you down there."

The doors opened and they all nearly fell out as they hurried to get into a larger space than the lift. Looking around, the hallway was dimly lit with dirt covered lights that flickered, a black stained floor with tile uplifted, rusted walls, an iced ceiling that had more grime than ice on it, and a few bodies further down either side of the hall.

"Look," Scootaloo said pointing at a functioning bench. "I think it's on."

"Good, I need to make a few things I had in mind." Isaac said. "Preferably some medkits and weapons. Lets hope I still have enough materials to make what I'm thinking of."

"What are ya makin' that ya hope ya have enough materials left?" Applebloom asked tilting her head.

"Some heavy artillery," he said jogging to the bench. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."