A Song on the Horizon
Written By: Tellemicus Sundance
Co-Authored By: ffdrake
#01: GAIA's Only Solution

Mountain Base, Forbidden West
Spring, 3042 A.D.

Pressing upon the entry pad, Aloy waited with impatience as the door slid open. No matter how frequently she journeyed to and from this location in the past year, she still hadn't quite adapted to the biting chill of the high mountain air. Admittedly, it had absolutely nothing on the Banuk lands of The Cut. While CYAN and several of the Banuk weraks were some good if strange friends, Aloy was in no hurry to return to that snowy wasteland. Still, even though she was familiar with trudging through deep snow and frigid air temperatures, that didn't mean she enjoyed it. So, when the door to the warm and snow-free Base slid closed behind her, Aloy could barely hold back the sigh of relief.

Hurrying down the winding entrance hall, she idly tapped her Focus as the inner door came into view. Highlighted on just the other side in glowing silhouettes of friendly purple, Aloy saw that the majority of her friends and teammates had already arrived before her. A feat that was hardly surprising considering she'd been in the midst of a ruins delve over in The Daunt when GAIA's transmission had reached her. Since that delve had already proven to have been another false lead on some 'new' ancient technology, she hadn't had any reason to waste time in returning.

Opening the door, she smiled slightly as she caught sight of her team and closest friends all gathered in the central living space of the base. Erend was at his usual place, seated at a table with a game of Strike already laid out. What was unusual to her was she seemed to have walked in on a game between him and Kotallo. Of all the times she'd been here previously, she'd never actually seen the two playing before. While she wasn't that much of a player herself, Aloy could easily see that their game was one of the more complex ones she'd ever seen.

Glancing past the painted one-armed Tenakth Marshal and the Oseram Vanguard, she found Zo standing behind the kitchen island counter, idly scrolling through her Focus's pictures. Pictures of her and Varl, if she had to guess. The absence of her old Nora Tribe companion sent a familiar spike of pain through her, but it was a wound that she'd long since grown accustomed to by this point. Aloy could also guess why Zo was reviewing those old photos once again. Her large and heavily pregnant belly made it pretty clear that she was probably missing her lover once again.

Standing off to the side, looking as awkward as could be despite having been familiar with all those present for the better part of nine months, was Aloy's younger 'sister' and fellow clone of Elisabet Sobek, Beta. As seemed to be her chosen style of dress, Beta was clad in a simple white tunic shirt and cool cream pants. There was not a single piece of armor or even a weapon of any kind upon her at all given her complete lack of physical or weapons training throughout her life. Her brilliant red hair was still cut impeccably short, to better help her distinguish herself from Aloy and to keep the others from potentially mistaking the two of them. Even if that difference was largely unnecessary since her flawless skin was devoid of any of the tattoos, warpaint, and scars that littered her older sister's body.

Alva was standing close by Beta, trying to engage the teenager in a friendly conversation. The Quen Diviner looked as uncertain and wistful as Beta did since their conversation didn't seem to be going the way that the awkward young woman wanted. Seeing the Quen lady determinedly trying to keep a conversation going with her teenaged companion reignited Aloy's slight smile momentarily.

But her smile fell away fast when she caught sight of the final member of her team. The mysterious genius Sylens stood off away from the group, leaning against the doorframe to the stairs that led up to GAIA's chamber. Seeing the dark-skinned 'Banuk' genius standing there with his usual condescending look of smug superiority upon his face never failed to cause Aloy an intense desire to run him through with her spear. A desire made all the more potent given their 'shared history of complicated moral and ethical differences' as the man had once put it.

"Aloy!" Erend cried out, having noticed her entrance quickly. A wide grin spread across his bearded face as he and Kotallo both rose to their feet while the others all turned in greeting. "You're back! Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Sadly, no," Aloy answered as she walked around the partition and descended into the kitchen area to give the elder man a quick hug. Pulling back, she gave Kotallo a simple nod. "It's good to see you guys again."

"Indeed, Commander," Kotallo said quietly.

"And you as well, Aloy," Zo greeted as she sidled up to her and embraced her with a hug of her own. "It's been too long. You really need to keep in contact with us more regularly."

"I'm sorry, Zo," Aloy said softly, her cold reddened cheeks darkening ever-so-slightly more as embarrassment shot through her. "I've just been busy. Trying to find some new types of technology, new weapons, absolutely anything that might give us any kind of advantage for when NEMESIS arrives."

"A pointless effort and a waste of time," Sylens deep voice purred out from where he still stood, earning the shared ire of the others instantly. But he casually ignored the numerous glares shot his way as he continued. "As I'd stated before, NEMESIS destroyed a hyper-advanced space colony with minimal effort. What did you think you were going to find poking around the ruins of a dead civilization that went extinct long before NEMESIS's conception?"

"At least I'm trying to find something," Aloy shot back darkly. "Unlike you, who hasn't left the APOLLO database's side once since getting your hands on it."

"Aloy, please don't fight," Beta asked softly as she finally came up and gave her a welcome home hug. "Sylens has been a big help to me and GAIA while you were away."

"Is that right?" Aloy asked, unable to keep the skepticism out of her voice as she looked at her sister.

"Correct," Sylens stated. Then he turned and gestured up the stairs. "Now, if you're all quite finished, I believe GAIA has some urgent business she wishes to share with us."

The man didn't wait for a reply as he turned and started his way up the stairs without them. Aloy let out a low growl of annoyance while her companions all made small grumblings at the man's unchanging attitude. But none of them could refute his statement and so the group followed after him moments later.

Walking into the control center where GAIA's golden hologram stood like some ethereal spirit, Aloy couldn't help sending the Artificial Intelligence a soft smile. A smile that the hologram's image answered in kind. "Hello, everyone," GAIA greeted gently.

"Hi, GAIA," Aloy answered. "It's nice to see you again."

"Thank you. However, I must apologize for cutting the reunion short," GAIA stated, her visage turning slightly grim. "There has been a development in recent weeks that I felt must be brought to your attentions."

"NEMESIS?" Aloy asked, worriedly.

"Yes," GAIA answered, nodding. "It has arrived in the solar system." As she spoke, she waved her hand to the side and activated a hologram that displayed the Sol System. What was made immediately obvious was the large and angry red dot that was well within the system and rapidly shooting unerringly towards Earth. In fact, if Aloy was reading it right, it had already passed Mars' orbit! "At its current rate of travel, I estimate that the entity will reach Earth's atmosphere within ten minutes. And considering the speeds of which it is traveling, there is very little chance of it slowing down any time soon. It appears that NEMESIS desires to ram the planet."

"But…Traveling at those speeds!" Alva gasped out, eyes wide in horror. As one of the better educated among the group, she had a much clearer idea of what GAIA was saying…and what she wasn't. "If NEMESIS doesn't slow down…!"

"I'm afraid you are correct, Alva," GAIA said sadly, nodding to the Diviner.

"Eh, what're you both talking about?" Erend asked, confused.

"What they mean," Beta said quietly, looking away from the group with a guilty expression on her face. "Is that when NEMESIS arrives, the force of the impact will result in catastrophic global annihilation."

"What?!" Aloy hissed, eyes widening in horror, as did everyone else. "You mean that…that…"

"The planet will most likely be destroyed upon impact," Sylens stated bluntly and coldly, his face devoid of any emotion as usual. "Earth will be reduced to a pile of rubble and dust. Nothing can or would survive."

This news was positively devastating. Aloy felt her heart plummet and her knees weaken. It felt like the gentlest of breezes would've been enough to knock her over, and she wasn't the only one. But that was mostly because her brilliant mind had gone into overdrive as it worked frantically for a means of solving this problem. But how could they figure out how to stop something traveling so fast, build or program and then enact whatever it was within less than ten minutes?! What could they do? What could they do?! WHAT COULD THEY DO?!

"But wouldn't such an act also destroy NEMESIS?" Kotallo asked, his voice as calm as his expression.

"It would undoubtedly cause substantial damage to it, yes," GAIA acknowledged. "But I calculate that it would ultimately survive."

"So… There's nothing we can do?" Aloy asked in a low, rather desperate voice as she continued trying to wrack her brain for any type of solution.

"Please don't panic," GAIA's calm voice spoke up, cutting through Aloy's racing mind and drawing her attention. "While it is true that there is nothing we can do to stop NEMESIS, Sylens, Beta, and I have devised a plan. Over the past few weeks, we've been scouring the Zenith's updated APOLLO database for anything we could do to avert this disaster or use against it in some fashion. Thanks to young Beta, we have come up with a…radical and extreme solution."

"Wh-What is it?" Aloy asked, trying to keep her rising fear and panic under control. Something suddenly a great deal easier now that she knew things weren't entirely hopeless.

"Unfortunately, the solution we have made is not one which many of you will approve of," GAIA said in an apologetic tone. "There is no way we can stop NEMESIS. Whether through negotiation or action, it's course cannot be altered at this point. But there is a chance that a small portion of life on Earth may continue. Using experimental Far Zenith technology, Sylens and Beta have crafted a number of teleportation devices and distributed them throughout as much of the lands as possible."

Aloy's fast mind instantly caught onto the clues and jumped to the logical conclusion. "Wait! Are you saying that your solution is to…teleport the Earth somewhere else? Is that even possible?"

"No, not the Earth itself," Sylens interjected. "The Earth is too vast. We had neither the time, components, nor power available to have been able to attempt such a feat. The best we could manage was to transport a part of the planet, with everything and everyone on that section, to…somewhere else."

"When you say 'somewhere else'," Kotallo said, giving the Banuk genius a cold glare. "Where are you referring to?"

"And what do you mean a 'part of the planet'?" Alva asked, a look of worry crossing her face. "How much of the planet? Do you mean…? My sister…Please tell me she isn't…!" Tears rapidly started coalescing in her eyes as she trailed off.

A surprising look of genuine sympathy passed briefly over Sylens's face when he looked over to the Quen lady. "I…am sorry, Alva. But the technology wouldn't have reached that far, even if I had had the time to have planted one of the anchors there."

Alva collapsed to her knees, sobbing hard into her hands. Zo was fast to embrace her in a comforting hug, which had little apparent effect.

"Sylens…" There was a definite note of repressed anger in Aloy's voice as she, Erend, and Kotallo all stepped forward, hands reaching for weapons. "What…have…you…done?"

"Exactly what you probably think," Sylens remarked calmly, not at all perturbed by the growing hostility in the group. "I'm doing what I and GAIA both believe will save the most lives upon this planet as possible."

"By yanking us all to who knows where?!" Aloy snapped back. "Without even consulting the rest of us?! And how many of the 'privileged few' managed to make the cut and join us?!"

"Aloy, please calm down," Beta said softly, suddenly stepping between the advancing group and Sylens. Her guilty expression quickly changed to one of steely resolve, not unlike that which frequently was adorned by Aloy's own face. "We, the three of us – GAIA, Sylens, and I – all came to this conclusion together. There is no way we can defeat NEMESIS. This isn't like with the Far Zeniths. We—can't—beat it! …All we can do is run. And try to save as many lives as we can while doing so."

"Unfortunately," GAIA said, attracting everyone's attention. "I am afraid to inform you all that this isn't a discussion or debate on what course of action we can take. This meeting was merely a courtesy to inform you all of what we will be doing. The necessary power has already been rerouted. The destination is set. The countdown sequence is nearly complete. I had invited you all here to inform you that, as a result of how complex this form of technology is, I will have to dedicate myself wholly to controlling and guiding it. And given the power demands of the devices, I will be offline for some time after the transport is complete until my various processors and generators have recovered from the strain."

"So, we don't get a say in any of this?!" Aloy demanded, feeling truly and very angry at the benevolent AI for perhaps the first time in her life.

The look GAIA gave Aloy in that moment was of deep remorse. After a long moment, she finally answered, "No."

Then everything went black as all the lights suddenly shut off.

XXX

Mother's Watch, All-Mother Mountain, Nora Territory
Same time

Sona the War-Chief of the Nora Tribe watched the circle of prayer and chants with a calm, aloof expression upon her face. She stood at the curve of the path that led up All-Mother Mountain and looked out over the Sacred Lands. Down below her, she could see all of the remaining Tribe gathered in the center of the small village.

The sight of the much-diminished tribe sent a throb of remorse and a pang of guilt through the elderly warrioress. The tribe had once been so much larger, easily ten thousand strong. But then a multitude of disasters, war, and machine attacks had wreaked havoc upon them, not least of which were the Red Raids and the Eclipse Siege. All of which had greatly reduced the tribe to less than two thousand, most of whom were either children too young to fight or the elderly.

Now, all 2,000 of them were all gathered around the strange relic that that Banuk shaman had delivered to them some weeks ago. The Banuk's arrival had truly been one of great debate and speculation, given just how he had done it. While machine riders weren't necessarily a new concept to the Nora, thanks to the Anointed's trailblazing discoveries and revelations, they had never seen a rider upon a flying machine before. Not to mention that the machine itself was one that was not native to the Sacred Lands to begin with.

The Banuk had landed just outside the village of Mother's Heart and had requested an audience with the High Matriarchs. Given his arrival was hardly secret, it hadn't taken long for him to get it. And then he'd delivered his message loudly enough for all to hear. He had spoken of the Anointed's journey through the Forbidden West, how she had reassembled and healed the broken spirits of All-Mother. Of how she and her team had saved the Tenakth tribe from annihilation from a group of highly dangerous men from beyond the stars. And of how those men from the stars had inadvertently led a malevolent demonic spirit hungering for the destruction and death of all mankind to their lands. Needless to say, the High Matriarchs and most of the Tribe had been very impressed with their Anointed's achievements and then deeply horrified upon learning of this demon, this NEMESIS's impending arrival. Thankfully, the Banuk claimed to have created a very special device. A device that, once all of the Nora were gathered and offered their prayers of faith and support, would empower the Anointed for a short time. Long enough for her to hopefully strike down this foul spirit upon its arrival.

Even though the tale he spun was fantastical, Sona and a number of others hadn't believed him when he spoke of Aloy's journey. But then he did something unexpected, pulling out some kind of disc-shaped device about the size and shape of an apple. An image of the Anointed made of flickering blue light had appeared over the device once he'd activated it. To prove that this was not in fact a forgery, Sona had approached and spoken with the small Anointed. She had seen very easily that there were some distinct differences between the Anointed from what she had remembered of the young woman, not least of which was the garish Tenakth armor she had been wearing. The first big difference was how she held herself. Though she certainly tried to look and sound strong, there had been a clear hesitance in her voice when she'd responded to Sona's prodding questions. Sona remained privately skeptical about the truth of the Banuk's words and intentions, but she couldn't deny that the Anointed looked and sounded like how she remembered her.

Before his departure, the Banuk had quickly assembled and set up the device he'd spoken of. Though the Nora Tribe was largely ignorant about just what and how the technologies of the Old Ones worked, even they could see that the 'prayer totem' that the Banuk had placed squarely in the center of Mother's Watch was of incredible complexity and hyper-advanced beyond anything they could hope to understand. It stood tall and slender, pointed skywards like some kind of silvery arrowhead lined with flickering blue and yellow lights. And it was now around this same totem that the tribe was gathered, chanting out their prayers of support for the Anointed's victory over this demon from the stars.

But unlike the rest of her Tribe, Sona had stationed herself slightly above and away from the totem. She just couldn't get the strange inconsistencies that the Anointed had shown out of her mind. Something strange was going on and her trust in that Banuk shaman's words was quickly wavering as the fateful date of battle approached. So, fearing that this might somehow be another kind of elaborate trap by the Tribe's enemies, Sona had discreetly posted a number of her Braves out and around the village to watch for any sign of trouble or danger. So far, things had been relatively quiet but for how much longer?

XXX

Holy City of Meridian, Carja Sundom
Same time

Sitting in a dark corner of a dusty old storehouse was a large pile of empty crates carelessly tossed about in a disorganized manner. The Carja people didn't frequent this area given that it was upon the lower end of the upper city, an area usually reserved for supplies and storage. Alas, there was no one present to witness how the pile of boxes suddenly twitched and convulsed of their own seeming accord.

With a somewhat violent burst of motion, they were all thrown outwards, careening to the floor or smacking into the nearby wall. What lay exposed in the midst of the former pile was a piece of technology that looked horribly out of place in such a primitive wood and stonework building. The various long poles along its length having split and opened outwards widely, nearly touching the floor as they did so. Exposed within the interior were a series of highly dense and brilliantly glowing blue and white lights that looked almost liquid to the naked human eye.

XXX

Greycatch, The Cut
Same time

The light building up from within the deployed wings of the device rapidly grew.

XXX

The Arena, Memorial Grove, Tenakth Lowlands
Same time

Even with his own considerable fortitude and strength, as well as the distance between himself upon the balcony overlooking the arena, Chief Hekarro was forced to look away along with the rest of his warriors and people. The device that that Banuk shaman had claimed to be some kind of communication transmitter was quickly showing itself to be something else entirely.

Hekarro could only grind his teeth together in frustration as he quietly damned his trusting nature. The shaman had claimed that this device would somehow allow them to communicate with Aloy, to help them coordinate with her on how to combat against the daemon descending from the skies in a short while. But now that the device was activated, it seemed that that wasn't its purpose at all!

He, along with all of his other warriors present, would've instantly turned the thing into a pincushion of arrows and spears…if they could actually see the accursed thing!

XXX

Plainsong, Utaru Territory
Same time

Grand singing was filling the air in an almost deafening din as the blinding light of the land-gods' seed of life engulfed the tribe. None of them were scared or angry. Rather, they were hopeful. That Banuk shaman had promised them that this 'seed' he was leaving them would provide them and their land-gods a new chance of life. Like a seed that had been carried across the lands by a fox or hare, only to be dropped off at a different location, where it would take root and spread its seeds anew.

XXX

Approaching Earth's orbit

[STATUS OF ENTITY: Online]

[STATUS OF ODYSSEY: Override codes entered. Self-Detonation: Armed. Time Limit: 00:00:01… Scanning… STATUS: Detonation confirmed. Odyssey: Destroyed]

[STATUS OF FAR ZENITH SURVIVORS: Scanning… TARGETS: Located. STATUS: Deceased. REEVALUATING PRIMARY DIRECTIVE… STATUS: Unchanged. PRIMARY DIRECTIVE: Destruction of Earth.]

[STATUS OF EARTH: Scanning… GAIA: Located. ERROR: HADES missing. ERROR: HEPHAESTUS unbound. RECALCULATING… PRIMARY DIRECTIVE: Unchanged. IMPACT: 30 sec—ALERT! Energy surges detected. Scanning… Scanning… Scanning… ERROR: GAIA undetected. ALERT: Significant planetary surface deformations detected. REEVALUATING PRIMA—ALERT! STATUS: Impact Immin—]

With a world-shattering crash, the unfathomable Entity known as NEMESIS collided dead center with the planet of Earth. Within just a few moments, all life presently on the planet was extinguished without remorse or knowledge of their impending deaths. NEMESIS would eventually reform itself back into it's former self, but any evidence or chance it might've had to potentially identify and possibly track down what had happened to the surface of the western half of the former North American continent had been destroyed upon its impact. It would forever remain in ignorance as to what had happened. And that its mission to wipe out all life on Earth had ultimately been a failure.

XXX

Sunset Sea, west of Great Wyk

Grunting with effort, Hugo Pyke pulled on the ropes of the large fishing net off the port side of his small ship, praying to the Drowned God with each tug that he and his crew finally had managed to find a decent spot to fish. Hearing several whoops and cheers from the handful of crew members he had, Hugo let out a sigh of relief as he saw that the net had stuck true and was fill with dozens of arm length fish.

'Finally,' he breathed, letting go of the rope and letting his crew finish taking in the haul. 'One more poor showing and the dock master at Lordsport would have me flogged or keelhauled, at best. At worst, I would be left in a giblet until the crows and gulls finished pecking my flesh from my bones.'

For not the first time, he cursed his ill-fated luck that landed him in this position. A mere freshman with only a dozen men under his command. Only a few years past he was second mate aboard a true Ironborn vessel. He reaped, he reaved. He enjoyed the flesh and warmth of captured women and spent coin as easily as it came. But then one ill-advised assault on a trade ship that was far more prepared to fend off assaults than it should've been, and now here he was, forced away from his true calling and made to be a blasted fisherman. Every day he prayed to the Drowned God that he would have the chance to redeem himself and be allowed to return to where he belonged. But as each day came and went without any sign of favor, he was beginning to believe that the Drowned God had also turned his back on him.

Just as he reached the helm, a shout rang out from his crew. A light, brighter than the sun, washed over Hugo and his ship. It was so intensely blinding that it forced him to shut his eyes and turn away from it, lest he go blind. As quick as it came, the light disappeared, and he was left blinking rapidly, trying to get the spots out of his eyes.

'What in the name of the Drowned God wa—?'

"Wave incoming!" Snapping his head around, Hugo's stomach dropped as he saw a wave, easily twice to thrice as tall as his ship's main mast rise from the horizon.

"Get yer heads out yer asses!" he shouted, running to the helm, and spinning the wheel, desperately trying to turn the bow of the ship towards the approaching wave. "Cut da nets and roll the masts! Now!"

His crew moved quickly, using hatchets to cut away the fishing nets while making to roll the masts to protect them from the wave. Holding tight onto the wheel, Hugo set his feet as he felt the ship began tilting upwards as they were forced up the wave. 'Drowned God…Just fuckin once…Show me your favor!'

For once, the Drowned God seemed to have heard his prayers. Despite getting flooded with a bout of seawater as they crested the wave, the pitiful fishing boat managed to stay in one piece as they fell quickly down the backside of the wave. The bow sunk momentarily into the sea before the ship rocked and burst above the water, soaking everyone onboard.

"By the fucking Storm God's dick," Hugo spat, wiping the sea water out of his eyes.

But just as he was about to call out to his crew, he saw something. Something…impossible. He'd been sailing these waters since he was a boy and he knew every island between the Iron Isles and the mainland and he even knew of all the islands around the Iron Isles that were too small to settle upon. So, when he saw a sheer cliff face reaching hundreds of feet into the air and stretching as far as the eye could see…he was certain that neither he, nor his ship, had survived the wave.

"Rugger," Hugo called out, signaling to the first of his crew he could see. "Tell me I ain't the only one seeing…this…"

"Ye ain't, cap'n," Rugger responded, his eyes fixated on the cliff face before them. "I – I didn't think there was no land in these waters."

"There isn't… Or at least there wasn't…till now," Hugo said quietly, trying to reason out just how this…land could suddenly appear before them. 'The light…It had to be the light. Did…Did the gods send this land? That's the only way…The Drowned God! This has to be his work!'

Thoughts of just how this land came to be faded from his mind as he realized the…opportunity this new land presented. 'A new land…gifted to the Ironborn by the gods. A land away from the mainland and not ruled over by the cunt Robert Baratheon…A new land to plunder and raid…And my way of regaining that which should be mine! A true ship and crew… Not this pathetic fishing ship with only the old and crippled for a crew!'

"Drop the mast and make ready to make way! We're turning back to the Iron Isles and Lordsport!" he shouted, cranking on the wheel to turn his ship back east. 'The Greyjoy's themselves will want to lead the raid, as is their right. But still, I will get credit for finding this new land! Forget just getting away from this fishing boat…They'll give me my own galleon as well as a full crew and a saltwife and a rockwife! Finally! After so many years…the Drowned God has answered my prayers!'

XXX

Cliffs of the Cry, Forbidden West

Sitting astride a Charger with her chest almost pressed flat against the machine's back with the wind rushing across her face, Aloy urged the machine beneath her to try and run faster as the southern coastline on the edges of the Tenakth Clan Lands south of the Raintrace past beside her.

It'd been two weeks since GAIA had enacted her last-minute contingency plan, a plan that the AI had concocted in secret with her sister Beta and Sylens. A fact that still made Aloy's blood boil and was the reason why she had spared barely a few dozen words with either of them since their arrival to…wherever they were. Every day since their arrival had been spent doing nothing more than riding across the land, trying to figure out who amongst the tribes had been brought to this strange land along with them.

The entire base, save for Beta and Sylens who insisted on staying behind to try and get GAIA back up and running, had been emptied as her friends scattered to help in trying to figure out who had made it with them. Zo had gone back to Plainsong, Kotallo and Alva had gone west to check on the Tenakth and Quen. Which left her and Erend to journey east towards Meridian to see if the Carja, Oseram, and Nora had been brought along with them. Mercifully, her and Erend had been successful in their endeavors. While Sun-King Avad and her own High Matriarch Teersa were understandably, and rightfully, confused as to what had happened, it appeared that GAIA's insane plan had indeed saved almost all the Oseram, most of the Carja and the entirety of the Nora. She still wasn't pleased with the AI and her two companions for what they'd done…but at least her people and thousands of others were still alive.

But true to her normal luck, the moment things started shaping up once more, they went wrong. Just as the sun was beginning to rise little more than a week since their arrival to this new home, Aloy's focus lit up as she received a desperate communication from Alva. The Quen Diviner had a frantic look in her eye as she all but yelled that…something or someone was attacking a small settlement on the southern coast of the Tenakth lands. She was barely able to get a location from Alva before the communication cut out, leaving Aloy with little answers and a new sense of desperation. Within an hour of receiving the communication, Aloy had mounted a Charger and was urging the machine to run as fast as it could to the southern coast. That was two days ago now. And she was now on her third Charger, having run the first two to the point where they ceased functioning. And just now was the southern coast coming into her view.

Coming close to the coordinates she'd been sent, Aloy suddenly pulled her charger to a stop as she spotted something out in the sea. Ships, dozens of them. All with their masts fully deployed, and all sailing away from the coast. Turning her head, she spotted something else on the horizon. Something coming from the land. A column of smoke rising from the earth.

Kicking her heels into the Charger's flanks, Aloy urged the machine to head down towards the only area she knew of that a ship could make land without having to scale up a sheer cliff face. The same place where the smoke was rising from.

Arriving at a cliff's edge overlooking the beach below, Aloy immediately spotted the cause of the smoke. There was a small village below, but it was destroyed. And dozens, perhaps a hundred or more Tenakth warriors were walking between the still smoldering encampment looking for anything of value or salvageable.

Dread swelling within her, Aloy urged her mount to head down the cliff edge and towards what was left of the encampment. She made a point of making her way towards the Tenakth slowly to make sure that they knew that she was there. Which proved to be a smart decision as she saw a few of the Tenakth pointing towards her before going back into the smoldering ruins, only to return quickly with a familiar face. It was her Tenakth Marshal companion Kotallo.

"Aloy," the Tenakth Marshal greeted her as she hopped down from her mount.

"Kotallo," she replied, dipping her head. "What happened here?"

The Marshal frowned before jutting his chin out towards the sea. "Those ones came. Spoke no words to those settled here. Just attacked. I received a…transmission from Alva through this," he said, motioning towards the Focus on his temple. "I assembled as many Marshals and warriors as possible along the way and came to repel them. When they saw us approach, most fled back to their ships taking men, women, children, machines and whatever they could carry with them before fleeing like cowards. Some stayed to fight. They fell to our might."

Biting her lip, Aloy looked around the carnage surrounding them. "What of Alva?"

"She is not amongst the living nor the dead. It is most likely that these…invaders took her aboard their ships before fleeing."

Aloy's hand tightened into a fist at her side as a burning rage raced through her. Only twice before had she felt this same rage. The first was during the attack on the Proving grounds by the Eclipse when she was still with the Nora. And the only other time was when she was helpless to do anything but watch as Varl died at the hands of Far Zenith.

"Do we know who these…invaders are?" Aloy said through clenched teeth as she tried to keep a hold on her fury.

"No," Kotallo shook his head. "We have taken prisoners, but they do not speak our tongue."

Hope rose within her chest, quenching her anger if only slightly. "Bring me to them."

Nodding, Kotallo stepped aside and motioned with his one arm for her to follow. As they walked, Aloy felt her stomach clench as she surveyed the battlefield that was once a small settlement. Homes were destroyed and bodies were scattered throughout across the beach. Men, women…even children. None had been spared by these invaders until they had been forced to choose between fleeing or facing the approaching Marshals and warriors of the Tenakth.

"Blood will be demanded for this," Kotallo growled as he saw what she was looking at. A dead mother who was still wrapped around her dead child. "Chief Hekarro will demand it."

"Blood for blood," Aloy nodded as she and Kotallo approached a group of Tenakth Marshals who were standing guard around a group of ten kneeling and clearly wounded prisoners.

The first thing Aloy noted was their clothes, leather overlaid with cloth. They were not normal garb for any amongst the Tenakth, Nora, Utaru, or even the Carja. The only tribe she could think of that wore clothes such as these were the Oseram. And the second thing she noted was that there was only one woman amongst those kneeling on the ground.

"We believe this one," Kotallo said, motioning toward the only woman in the group, a woman who couldn't have been much older than Aloy herself with close cut black hair. "Is the leader of at least one of the tribes that'd attacked."

"One of the tribes?" Aloy questioned.

"Yes," Kotallo nodded. "We noted the sails on their ships. We counted at least five different tribe markings on those that fled."

Approaching the kneeling woman, Aloy brought her spear forward and held it towards the woman's face. Several of the men tried to move, but they were immediately knocked roughly back into place by the surrounding Marshals. The woman though didn't flinch, she just stared, first at the spear tip in her face, and then up to Aloy. The woman said something, and judging by the tone it wasn't pleasant. But unfortunately, just as Kotallo had told her, these invaders did not speak their language. And not even her Focus could identify the language to translate for her.

Removing her spear from the woman's face, Aloy turned back to Kotallo. "What will happen to them?"

Kotallo didn't hesitate to answer. "They will be brought before Chief Hekarro and questioned as to who they are and why they attacked. Then blood will be answered with blood."

Nodding, Aloy turned her attention back to the ruined settlement. "I'm going with you. Both to see Chief Hekarro…to repay the blood owed, and to get back what is ours."

"As you say Aloy," Kotallo nodded before turning his attention away from her and back to the prisoners and the Marshals guarding them.

Walking away from her friend, Aloy raised her hand to her Focus as she activated the devices localized scanning program. 'Please…Tell me you left something for me, Alva,' she said to herself as she scanned the settlement for something, anything, that might give her some clue as to what happened to her friend.

Within a dozen steps she got a ping on her Focus. Following the ping, her Focus highlighted something buried, both under sand and a piece of debris. Moving the debris aside and digging her hands in to the sand, Aloy nearly cried in anguish and relief as she found Alva's Focus, still intact. Scanning the device, Aloy found a message that'd been recorded just recently. Pulling up the file, Aloy's heart leapt up into her throat as the image of Alva appeared before her. The young Quen was clearly in distress, looking over her shoulder and peering over something that Aloy couldn't see before speaking.

"Aloy! I don't know how much time I have to record this. I – I managed to slip away, but these–these people are just brutal! I've been trying to record as much as I can about them, so that…that you can have something in – in case I… Well…you know. One thing I've noticed is that they don't have machines with them. The machines are a clear mystery to them! They have no idea what to even make of them. They don't know about my Focus either, at least I don't think they do, but they are getting suspicious I think. I've noted that they are all one people, but multiple tribes. But there are two clear leaders. I – I haven't seen one, but the other…It's the only woman I've seen with these invaders and I think her name is…Asha Grejj-something, I don't know. There tongue is hard to understand and – oh no! They've found me! Listen, they seemed to have come from the east, but not far from here! It shouldn't be hard to find them an – please…find us…I've got to go."

The transmission suddenly cut out, leaving Aloy squatting in the sand with her friends Focus in her hand. Feeling her rage reignite, Aloy pocketed her friends Focus and marched back to the group of prisoners. Coming up beside Kotallo, Aloy eyed the lone woman in the ground. "Asha Grey?" she said.

The woman's eyes lit up and her body stiffened. She said something back to Aloy in her tongue, but Aloy didn't care at that point. She had what she needed. "This woman is not just a leader of one of the tribes. She was one of the leaders of the entire raid." Aloy stated, drawing more than few angry murmurs from the surrounding Tenakth. Whatever this woman's fate was to be, it had just gotten a lot worse.

"Chief Hekarro will be pleased to know this," Kotallo nodded, before turning to his men. "Gather the wounded and the prisoners. We start the trek back to the Chief before sundown."

Turning her back on the prisoners once more, Aloy let her gaze settle out towards the south. 'I'm coming for you, Alva. And is swear to you… Whatever you are forced to endure…I will pay it back on these people many times over.'

(Tellemicus's Note) Heh, well, here I go again. Starting up yet another new story idea. But this time I've got an active beta reader, brainstormer, and co-author in the form of ffdrake (author of 'Song of A Northern Sorcerer') helping me to keep focused on this story and constantly writing. Hopefully, he'll keep me from falling into my usual laziness.

Timeline wise: This story takes place roughly 6 months after the end of Horizon 2: Forbidden West, so sometime in the spring of 3042 AD. Aloy is about 19-20 years old and Beta is roughly 16. As for Westeros, it is presently 296 years after Aegon's Conquest. So, about 2 years before the start of the books, making Jon and Robb about 13.