The road to becoming Chieftain was no easy task, but Aloy had managed to prevail with firstly taking on two of the hunting trials and clearing a bandit camp. Now she rode a newly overridden Charger, much to her old mounts dismay.
"I can't feel my... I can't feel anything," she muttered to herself as she tried to keep a firm grip on the blue tendrils coming from the Chargers neck.
The metal beast now snorted in defiance as Aloy rode it down a small hill.
"Easy. Easy now," she cooed softly, petting the machine.
The Charger shook it's head giving a small grunt as it tried it's best not to slip.
"There now," she soothed as they now made it to the deeper snowy plains.
It wasn't long however before the pair found themselves in the company of Scrappers.
"Scavengers," Aloy frowned.
They didn't look to be searching, much rather heading for something. The dreaded sound was not soon to follow either. Aloy looked up to see a Glinthawk perch itself on what looked to be a large disk.
"Is that a Tallneck?" she pondered to herself. "What could have brought one of these down so easily? They're built to last."
A flash of light quickly swept over her and she realised at once the Scrapper had picked up upon her whereabouts. They would have been easy overrides if her Focus wasn't telling her they were corrupted.
"Great," she huffed as she drew her bow. "I've been found out."
She climbed off the Charger, loaded three arrows to her bow and fired them off. The power cell on the Scrappers hind fell away, damaging the machine slightly.
"Time to put you down for good!" she glared as she quickly dodged it's oncoming attack to quickly strike it with her spear.
The Scrapper stumbled, losing balance and so Aloy finished it with a critical strike. The Glinthawk that had been picking at the disc was now high in the air firing icy projectiles her way. She now stumbled back after receiving a cold shock. It wasn't like she was already cold to start with. The Glinthawk fired again, this time catching her Charger that reared and bucked to rid itself of the frost.
"Fire should do the trick," Aloy quickly thought on as she lit up her arrows before firing a few at the metal hindrance.
As predicted the Glinthawk dropped to the floor. Aloy quickly sped over to finish it off when her Charger stomped it instead.
"Thanks for the assistance," she smiled at the metal ram.
Yet more Scrappers were brought to the scene, all of which were quickly dispatched. She then quickly searched them, picking out parts that would come in useful later on.
"That's the scavengers dealt with, now to scan the Tallneck." She told herself as she slipped her bow onto her back. "I hope it's not too damaged."
She ran her Focus over the Tallneck.
"Looks like the scavengers ripped out three major parts," she now sighed. "But then again if I could find them, maybe I can reactivate it."
She turned around to search the area.
"It's worth a try, but where to start?"
Her Focus picked up on a group of Scrappers just down the hill on a small ridge.
"Something tells me that's a good start," she smiled as she trudged down the snowy slope.
They were all together when she approached, giving her the opportunity to launch a couple blast bombs at them. A few hits and rolls later the Scrappers finally fell.
"Now to find that part."
She searched each and every one of them until finally finding what she needed.
"Part seems intact," she thought quite pleased. "Tallnecks are built tough."
With one of the parts in hand, she now headed off to find another. It wasn't long before the cold biting wind cut through her once again as she ran to a nearby cave.
"Just think of summer sun...breeze through the trees." She tried to tell herself as she blew into her hands.
A Scrapper walked out to meet her, luckily it was just the one.
"This should get me warm. Well, at least for a few seconds anyway."
She drew her bow, quickly jumping to miss the oncoming attack the Scrapper had intended to land and downed the machine in one go.
"Another Tallneck part. This one's heavy," she thought as she stuffed the part in her bag. "Now I guess the last part could be inside some Glinthawk. That means a climb again, yay."
She headed back out, now having to hold up her arm as the wind blew the snow fiercely into her face.
"I hope the Chieftain role comes with a thicker outfit," she complained as she whistled for her Charger.
Quickly climbing it, she rode it as far up the slope as she could.
"Guess I go on foot from here," she sighed as she climbed down to deal with the Glinthawks.
She landed a few fire arrows on the machines, quickly finishing them off with the stronger arrow heads. Now that they were slain, she looted them.
"Still in one piece," she thought with a smile as she looked the last part over.
Now all she needed to do was go down again, luckily there was a rappel point.
"Thanks to my tinkering with machines, I should have you up and running in no time. Well, not exactly running," she shrugged. "Ah, you get the picture. Okay, Aloy, I think you've talked to yourself long enough."
She slid down the slope, stopping at the Tallnecks back.
"First part," she said as she rummaged through the three parts. "Ah, the Actuator."
She slipped the part right into place with a satisfied smile.
"Well, that fits. Sure hope it works."
She now dropped down to the part at the back to add the Array.
"Well...it's in better shape than it was." She could only ponder.
Dropping down to the underbelly, she added the last part, the Stabiliser.
"I sure hope this works," she thought hopeful. "I just need to get the power flowing through it again."
Quickly climbing back up she pulled out her spear and started with the override.
"If I'm wrong about this...at least no one's watching."
She pulled the spear away.
"A little jolt should wake you up," she smiled as she heard the machine stir.
It was awe inspiring, however it was shorted lived as the Tallneck started to break away from the ice.
"Easy now. Easy!" she called out to it.
However the Tallneck was having none of it, it wanted to stand not be condemned to an icy prison.
"Right, it's never easy!" she sighed as she knew she had to move quickly as the whole cliff started to crumble beneath her.
She jumped, landing right in a thick patch of snow below. It was all worth it as she now stood to see the majestic machine up and walking again. Finally she had the chance to catch her breath.
"Can't even put a dent in that thing," she grinned. "Alright, now maybe I should override it."
She climbed a rocky slope and jumped, grabbing hold of one of the metal holds coming from its neck, she now climbed. It was a beautiful sight and she also felt a little jealous of their view.
"I'll try and make this as quick as possible, I wouldn't want anyone poking anything in my head either."
Once the Tallneck was overridden, everything the machine had seen was sent straight to her Focus.
"Time to make my decent," she now shrugged as she jumped off the side to rappel down.
She stood, watching as the giant metal beast walked past. It was a real treat to climb these things and Aloy enjoyed every minute, though she didn't really enjoy jabbing them in the head with her spear, knowing it wasn't fair on them even though they were just machines.
"Now that's out of the way, I bet I've made quite a word for myself. Better head back."
She raised her fingers to her lips to whistle her Charger to her. It came running through the snow, but unexpectedly was pinned to the ground. Aloy fell back against the snow in alarm as not one, but two Scorchers came out of the woodwork.
"Great, just what I needed." She now sighed as she stood to shake the snow from her clothing.
The Charger groaned loudly as the Scorcher's large paw pinned it down. Aloy steadily reached for her bow as the other Scorcher came up beside it's friend, both now snapping at each other to end the Charger. However, it was the one holding her mount that finished it off. It tore through the Charger like a hot knife through butter, tearing the blue tendrils and other vital parts from the poor thing. Aloy could only watch as the light at the end of its nose dimmed to nothing.
"Quick death, that's always for the best." She sighed as she readied her bow.
The two Scorchers now turned their attention to her.
"Would have been better if there was just one of you!" she groaned while quickly dodging. "Though I would have preferred to have none of you."
The other Scorcher now pounced, however, she felt the ground beneath her quake. She was caught off guard and would find herself much like the downed Charger.
"This isn't how I actually planed I'd go!"
Aloy now pondered on the what could have been to the how it was all going to end in that one second. She missed Rost dearly, but didn't really expect to see him again so soon. It was as if luck was defiantly on her side, a large shadow loomed above her and she knew to quickly jump aside as the Scorcher landed in the thick snow with a soft thud. It then gave a threatening growl until something large came pounding down right on top of it. Aloy was knocked clean off her feet once again.
"Cold! Cold!" she shook as she stood once again to see the large metal hoof of the Tallneck.
The other Scorchers attention was now turned to the giant machine that had just taken out it's friend. It growled threateningly before trying to jump the monstrous metal beast. However, the Tallneck being built for strength, didn't feel much of anything. Much like a fly buzzing around a human.
Aloy shook her head in disbelief. "I wouldn't do that..." she winced as the Tallneck raised yet another hoof to bring down on the annoying Scorcher. "...if I were you."
The Tallneck carried on its way once again.
"Hey, wait!" she called out to it.
The machine actually stopped.
"Well, that's a first." She shook her head before looking up at it. "Um, thanks!"
The Tallneck started up once again, continuing its rounds.
"Okay, now back to Song's Edge."
She trudged through the thick snow, rubbing her arms as the cold wind gave that horrid bite to the bone.
"Damn, winds picking up." She sighed as she was now finding it harder to find her bearings. "Of all the times I have to lose my mount."
The ground beneath her shook again as the Talllneck drew closer to her. Thinking it was merely doing it's rounds she carried on until one of its hooves dropped down in front of her.
"Hey!" she shouted.
The rest of the Tallneck slowly followed before the giant of a creature stopped.
"Whoa, what are you doing?" she asked as her eyes widened in shock.
The forelegs of the metal giant now began to fold, closely followed by the hind legs. It was as if it was lying down.
"Okay," she now thought as the beast was now half its size.
It turned its large disk of a head to her as if inviting her to take shelter beneath its body.
"It'll shield me from this storm for a while," she thought with a smile while crouching down to slip under the machines belly. "Is there anything you're not going to help me with today?" she asked it, knowing she wouldn't get an actual answer. Though she found comfort in knowing she had a good relationship with these metal beasts. "Then again I may wake up and this'll have all been a dream," she pondered.
She stayed under the Tallneck, feeling the wind still thrashing at the metal trying to get to her. However, she was lucky to have the Tallneck radiating heat from its underbelly to keep her warm.
She couldn't help the yawn that escaped her and seen as she was warm and away from the cold biting wind and wet snow, she may as well take some time to recover. "A little nap should do me good."
xXx
Upon waking a few hours later, she soon found the storm had died down a lot to what it had. She now climbed from her shelter, realising it was the Tallneck she'd saved from its icy prison.
"I appreciated that, thanks again." She told it as she gave it a pet.
The machine rumbled slightly as its large legs unfolded once more. Aloy watched in awe as it raised itself to its full height to do its rounds.
"I guess I'll see you later," she waved as she headed for Song's Edge.
Would she have a story to tell Rost as soon as she got home again.