UNITY FORCE MISSIONS: HORIZON ZERO DAWN
CHAPTER 12: The Grave-Hoard
ARC III: Sobeck
DISCLAIMER: All characters in the story are not owned by me, save for my OCs.
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[Path to the Grave-Hoard, Earth-1355]
A day after stopping the Eclipse on the ruins of Faro Automated Solutions, as well as finding the truth behind the fall of the ancient civilisation in Earth-1355, the Unity Force group including Aloy, Zoro Roronoa, Trafalgar D. Water Law, Nanoha Takamachi, and Fate Testarossa Harlaown were very shocked of what they have witnessed in there.
Throughout their venture inside the ruins of FAS, they discovered that the Metal Devils, Corruptors, and Deathbringers were mass-produced within the facility and designed by Ted Faro, named respectively as B.O.R.-7 Horus, ACA3 Scarab, and FSP5 Khopesh, and they were the leading cause of global human extinction that happened on Aloy's ancient world, thanks to one line of war machines, the Hartz-Timor swarm, malfunctioning.
However, in a last-ditch effort, they soon found out that Elisabet Sobeck spearheaded Project: Zero Dawn to stop the out-of-control war machines, and it led the Unity Force group into another location: the Grave-Hoard, once known as U.S. Robot Command, to find more answers regarding Zero Dawn, as well as Sobeck's connection to Aloy.
All so it seems, where they also met Sylens, a mysterious person, who seems to have known the Unity Force, as well as his motivation of spying Aloy and the rest through the former's Focus, as well as his unusual understanding of the Old Ones, and his dogged determination to find out what happened to them.
Meanwhile, at early morning, the Unity Force group consisting of Aloy, Zoro, Fate, Trafalgar, and Nanoha continued their way into the Old World ruin, while battling the small amount of Eclipse guards and their Corrupted Machine army, as well as the frigid winter, but they later found out that the Eclipse have already gotten inside the ancient ruin, presumably continuing their machine excavation operations after the U.F. foiled one of their operations in Maker's End.
They later arrived at the Grave-Hoard ruins, where they see the unmistakable sighting of the frozen Metal Devil machine sitting atop the mountain for an unknown amount of time. But more importantly, however, they later notice that the entrance to the said ruins was now open, as what Erend initially stated that it was locked, with Aloy theorising that the Eclipse came first before the rest of them even arrived.
Beside the ruin was also a giant tank, partially frozen, with the rest pondering about the scene of war that happened in the ancient past.
"It looks like the Eclipse came right here before us." Aloy stated, as she looks at both Zoro and Nanoha.
"No kidding, when you look at it." Zoro stated, as he proceeds to look for a way down.
[The Grave-Hoard, Earth-1355]
Descending through the only path to the ruin, the Unity Force group later unmistakably soon find out that the Eclipse have already arrived, as the entrance was guarded with two Eclipse Cultist Dredgers, as well as their usual patrol of Corrupted Machines, particularly a Corrupted Watcher. In the midst of it, however, they later see two holographs that says "Operation: Enduring Victory".
"Eclipse! They're inside, too!" Aloy whispered.
The group later hide at a sheet metal wall, as they eyed at the Dredgers and the patrolling machine.
"So they're here, as well." Zoro also whispered, as well. "That's damn great." He added, as he remarked at the current situation.
"They're not going to stop, until they found what they wanted." Nanoha seriously said.
"They're just getting more and more desperate, after we blow their operation." Trafalgar quipped.
With the Cultist Dredgers...
"I can't believe that those blasted Unity Force assholes stopped our plans at Maker's End!" One of the Cultist Dredgers exclaimed in annoyance.
"They'll be getting their just desserts, when we finally get a hold of them." The other cultist replied. "Now, get working and stop loafing around." He ordered.
Back with the Unity Force group...
In an attempt to cause a chain reaction inside, Aloy later proceeds to fire two Fire Arrows into one of the Dredger's Blaze canisters that is visible from its back, with the lone Corrupted Watcher proceeding to roam beside the two.
Accurately firing the two Fire Arrows into one of the Dredgers without causing attention, Aloy's shot would later cause the Blaze canister to be set on fire, which later exploded, as a ring of fire was later seen, causing the Corrupted Machine to be set on fire, as well as the cultists.
"Damn it! The Unity Force are here again!" One of the cultists said.
Immediately, Trafalgar would later charge into the scene, as he quickly slashes off one of the Dredgers with Radio Knife, before Zoro landed a fatal blow on the other cultist with his Enma. Afterwards, Aloy later destroyed the Corrupted Watcher with her spear.
"Time to take a look around the room." Aloy uttered.
After the minor run-in with the Eclipse, the rest of the Unity Force investigate the following room to find some answers regarding the purpose of this ancient ruin. Around them were signs of an unknown battle, as they saw one Corruptor chassis frozen in snow, as well as a frozen tank that managed to enter inside of the ruin.
"Operation: Enduring Victory?" Nanoha questioned, as she pondered.
"Whatever that meant really didn't sound right." Fate added.
However, their discovery inside of this room soon turned utterly grim, when they found what seemed to be calcified and desiccated bodies buried in fresh snow, who were wearing what looked like futuristic armour.
To make things worse, Aloy would soon skim through some of them, as names of these soldiers revealed to be Lt. Fiona Murrell, Sgt. Ames Guliyev, Cpl. Lana Acosta, Cpl. Yana Mills, and Sgt. Usizo Wandari, as well as them having associated recordings of their own. Suspecting furthermore, Aloy would soon deduce that all of these people fought such a hopeless, relentless war against the Faro robots, but it was done for a major cause.
"A battle… frozen in ice, and time." Aloy grimly stated.
"These people..." Nanoha said in utter horror. "They tried their hardest..." She added.
"But for what?" Fate abruptly questioned. "By fighting a battle that they couldn't win against machines?"
"Seems to be." Zoro simply uttered. "Just by the looks of it, they were pretty much in a bust." He continued, completely unconvinced.
Trafalgar would then elaborate on about this situation. "It's a war they tried fighting, but they were a lost cause, when it comes to an army of machines." He stated in a blunt manner.
Aloy then suddenly calls Sylens through her Focus to report on the discovery.
"Sylens? Sylens? Sylens, you getting this?" Aloy called out.
"What is it?" Sylens suddenly responded.
"All these soldiers, they died here." Aloy said rather empathically.
"People die all the time. Now keep going, and find something interesting." Sylens rebutted in mockery.
"Tch!" Aloy exclaimed.
"Same usual jerkass." Trafalgar sneered. "Is there even a time where he knows how to shut up?" He nonchalantly questioned.
"Sadly, no. But maybe, he will." Zoro added. "Seriously, he's just like the Prince of Dumbass Kingdom." He derided further, indirectly mentioning Sanji Vinsmoke.
"Regardless... These people fought in this so-called 'Operation: Enduring Victory'." Nanoha commented. "Yet, we still don't know what it is, as of late."
"Whatever it was, doesn't seem to have turned out very well." Aloy added.
Leaving the corpses of the soldiers alone, as well as the snowy room, the Unity Force later left the area, with Aloy riding through a makeshift zipline via the cable of a Metal Devil's tentacle, before the rest of the group followed her, where she ended up in the other side of the room.
The room later turned out to be the former sleeping quarters of these soldiers, now mostly covered in calcified, hardened rocks after centuries passed.
"Must've been where the soldiers slept? Like the lodge in Mother's Heart, I guess." Aloy added, as she looks around.
"Probably their sleeping quarters, just like the Unity Force dormitories." Fate added.
Aloy would then find more audio logs of the soldiers who formerly stayed in this Old World facility, as well as another log of Cpl. Acosta lying in one of the beds, before focusing their attention on finding their way inside the ruined sleeping quarters.
However, Aloy could not help but to proceed describing at the completely metallic nature of this ruin, as it was a direct far cry to the Nora houses and the former sleeping quarters that she settled, a day before the Proving, as well as her surrogate father's hovel.
"Guess this was once called the 'Metal World', and they were used to it." Aloy described.
"I'd say your world is complicated, Aloy." Nanoha responded. "These Old Ones, these ancient buildings, and ruins..." She commented on.
"None of this makes any sense for us." Trafalgar added.
"Though the Oseram liked to delve ancient ruins for ancient items, as well." Aloy added.
Leaving the sleeping quarters, the Unity Force group later proceed to look for another way into the abandoned ruin, where they passed by a lone sleeping quarter, before finding another hole with one of the Metal Devil tentacles buried deeper into the ruin.
Just like the previous one, Aloy would later use it as a zipline, before it reached to the lower part of the room, where the door in front of her is locked. Zoro, Trafalgar, Nanoha, and Fate would later jump down through the ruin before catching up to Aloy.
"So another locked door?" Zoro asked.
"I'll find a way to unlock it." Aloy added, before she decides to head west.
"We'll wait here." Nanoha replied.
With Aloy parting away temporarily to unlock the door, the rest of the Unity Force group stayed in, where they are suddenly greeted by Asta, currently in their base camp, through the tablet, much to Zoro's annoyance.
"Well, hello there, guys!" Asta greeted in a usual form of boisterousness that he exhibits.
"Asta?" Fate questioned.
"So unusual of you to call us." Nanoha remarked.
"Oi! What is with your problem? Can't you see that we're still inside?" Zoro asked indecorously.
"Thought you guys are trapped already." Asta pondered.
"In a sense, but we're still lost as to what goes on." Zoro replied, still baffled at the discoveries that they have found inside the ancient ruin, especially from the above surface.
"Like what?" Noelle Silva suddenly asked from out of nowhere.
"We don't know where to start." Zoro simply uttered in confusion. "All these corpses and the scene of the battle we found, as well as these people fighting a hopeless battle." He said in a grim manner.
"It almost felt more of a massacre than a last stand against an army of machines with inadequate firepower." Trafalgar pointed out.
"I felt bad for them, but I guessed that they sacrificed themselves." Noelle said empathically.
"It's usual in this world, at least in the ancient past in this world." Zoro replied.
Afterwards, Zoro ends the call, before they see the door's lock in front of them turning blue, an indication that Aloy has managed to unlock the door's lock through a series of holo-locks.
"It's open now." Aloy stated.
"We don't know what happens next, so we should keep our guards up." Nanoha declared.
The group then proceed to leave the current area, as they later come across what looked like some sort of barracks that the soldiers used to inhabit inside the Grave-Hoard.
However, Nanoha and the rest later notice Eclipse presence bent on guarding the place, as well as their patrol of Corrupted Watchers and now Corrupted Scrappers, as well, looking for any signs of intruders.
From there, they spotted a few Cultist Dredgers, Cultist Thugs, as well as Cultist Archers and a Cultist Heavy.
"They're not looking for answers. Just weapons." Aloy uttered.
"We'll give them the answers that they need." Zoro remarked, before taking out his Enma.
Immediately, the group hide through one of the covered rails, as the rest of them planned to attack the cultists who are heavily guarding the area. Aloy later proceeds to fire a warning shot through her Blast Sling, with the bomb landing into the intended destination around a group of cultists, immediately alerting the cultists and the machines around them, with one cultist being blasted into the wall due to the bomb's explosion.
"We're under attack! I repeat, we're under attack!" One of the Cultist Punishers warned, as he alerted the rest of the Eclipse around them.
However, it didn't take time for the Unity Force to charge through, as they later proceed to fight off against the cultists roaming in and around the facility.
"I guess dismantling one of your blasted operations isn't enough." Zoro announced, as he jumps down.
"It's them!" One of the Cultist Dredgers alerted. "The Unity Force!" He added, before few more Eclipse cultists have arrived to intervene and surround the Unity Force.
"Kill them on sight for destroying our operation at Maker's End!" A Cultist Archer warned.
"Sun and Shadow! You will die here!" The Cultist Heavy proceeded, as he arms the Deathbringer gun.
[PLAY MUSIC: Horizon Zero Dawn OST - Force Multiplication]
A battle commenced, as the rest jumped down from the railing, before proceeding to deal with the Eclipse guarding the path, and with the cultists setting their sights on the group.
The Corrupted Scrapper lunged towards Trafalgar, before he proceeds to counter it. "Shock Wille!" He shouted, as he proceeds to stab the machine with his Kikoku, before electricity streams through the said sword, completely frying the machine from the inside out.
Aloy then proceeds to fire a Hardpoint Arrow shot towards the Corrupted Watcher's eye with her Striker Bow, dispatching the said machine completely, before she quickly dodges another incoming attack from a Cultist Archer. She then proceeds to fire another Hardpoint Arrow shot towards the Archer, hitting the head and instantly killing him.
Zoro then proceeds to hold his Enma with both of his arms, as he sets his sights towards a group of Eclipse cultists charging towards him. "Sanjuroku Pound Ho!" He shouted, as he performs a circular swing that launches the air compressed projectile spiralling towards the charging cultists, sending them flying up into the other side of the ruin, instantly killing them.
"Cross Fire Shoot!" Nanoha then fires a group of magical spheres from her arm, which is then fired towards the rest of the cultists, dispatching them in an instant.
With the rest of the cultists dispatched, the only cultist remained left inside is the Cultist Heavy, and he is thoroughly displeased of what he is seeing.
"You incompetent FOOLS!" The Cultist Heavy exclaimed, as he looks at the rest of his men, before setting his sights to the Unity Force. "Doesn't matter, but I'm going to perforate all of you with this!" He bellowed, as he proceeds to take out his Deathbringer gun, with the Unity Force being separated, before firing it towards Nanoha, Aloy, and Fate.
Quickly, Fate orders Bardiche. "Bardiche! Activate Barrier!" She shouted.
"Yes, sir!" Bardiche replied.
"Defenser!" Fate then chanted, as her weapon summons a yellow-coloured magical barrier, protecting her, Aloy, and Nanoha from the Deathbringer gun's bullets. "Now's your chance!" She ordered.
Trafalgar later takes this opportunity, as he dashes through the Cultist Heavy. "Radio Knife!" He shouted, before using his Kikoku to amputate the cultist permanently, killing him.
After the battle, Fate later disables the barrier, as the rest of the group leave the area, where they encounter a gap, before proceeding to jump to the other side, thus arriving into another door, west of them, that leads to another room, which is revealed to be the meeting room.
"I guess this is over for now." Nanoha uttered.
"No." Zoro simply shakes his head in doubt. "We still haven't finished looking around here, yet."
"But what is this place?" Fate questioned.
"Looks like some kind of a meeting room." Trafalgar added. "Judging by this round table."
Aloy then comes across another terminal and places her hand, which is then activated, similar to the ones she found in Faro Automated Solutions. After doing so, it suddenly shows up what looked like a hologram of the planet Earth, except it was more so close to the present time in the U.F. Earth than what it was in Aloy's world in the present time.
The holographic globe shows what looked like the progression of the Faro robots' onslaught, as some parts of it glow completely red.
"What… is this?" Aloy questioned, as she looks at the hologram of Earth.
"That? It's a map." Sylens suddenly blurted from Aloy's Focus.
"A map of - what?" Aloy pondered.
"It's Earth." Nanoha simply answered.
"Our world. The planet Earth, Aloy. It's not flat, like you thought." Sylens added, before satirically mocking about it not being flat.
"Of course, it isn't, Sylens." Zoro grumbled. "I thought you're the smartest person in this world." He added, clearly more annoyed.
"Why would I think that? During eclipses, the shadow cast on the moon is curved. So our world is a globe? And it looks like this from a distance?" Aloy corrected, causing Sylens to be speechless, before the latter digresses.
"We'll discuss this another time. Back to the matter at hand." Sylens said, before cutting off.
"Damn. I guess Sylens dug up some stuff about flat-earthers." Zoro mocked.
"Yet, he messes it up." Aloy added, before looking into the globe. "Regardless, the Faro robots were spreading across the world, eating everything up. Somehow, Elisabet stopped them before it was too late. But how?"
"That seems to be impossible." Nanoha stated in scepticism. "Unless we are missing something." She added.
Afterwards, the Unity Force later leave the meeting room, before they reach into another door that leads to the other area of the Grave-Hoard: the Hangar room.
Upon opening the said door, they are later greeted with the same sighting of the Metal Devil machine, but this time with its head visible to the rest of them.
But not far from them, however, are the Eclipse roaming around, with two of them within its skeleton, presumably tampering with the said machine.
"Looks like the Eclipse, once again." Nanoha observed.
"But what are they doing here?" Fate asked.
"So it's another of their excavation operations..." Zoro stated, as he looks at the two cultists. "I guess one isn't bad enough, and now the other comes." He stated.
"The Eclipse, tampering with the Metal Devil… They don't think they can wake it, do they?" Aloy questioned.
"I highly doubt they can." Trafalgar sceptically answered.
With the Eclipse...
Both the Eclipse cultists are seen tampering with the Metal Devil's skeleton, where they attempt to unleash a Deathbringer and drop it down below.
"Watch out!" One of the Eclipse cultists ordered, before he proceeds to deploy the Deathbringer down by opening the Metal Devil's underbelly, causing the said machine to fall down into the ground.
Two other cultists then arrive to tinker with the Deathbringer.
"Sun and shadow!" One of the cultists below exclaimed, as he and the other cultist beside him proceed to fix the Deathbringer's legs, allowing the machine to move.
Back with the Unity Force group...
The rest of them spotted two Cultist Dredgers, Cultist Punishers, as well as an Elite Cultist Dredger and the Deathbringer beside them.
"Another 'Khopesh!' And this one can move!" Aloy exclaimed.
"You're kidding me." Zoro uttered quietly, as he looks at the Deathbringer. "We're going to fight that thing, one way or the other." He ordered, causing the rest to nod.
[PLAY MUSIC: P.O.D. - Booyaka 619 (Rey Mysterio theme)]
Preparing themselves for another run-in with the Eclipse, Aloy later rappels down through the lower levels of the Hangar, before Zoro and Trafalgar did the same thing, and with Fate and Nanoha flying down.
"What the?!" One of the Cultist Dredgers exclaimed, as he sees the Unity Force. "It's those blasted fools from Maker's End! They're going to foil our operation here! Stop them!" He added, as he looks at his fellow cultists.
Similar to their previous run-in with the Eclipse and a Deathbringer in Maker's End, the Unity Force later proceed to split the battle, with Aloy, Nanoha, and Fate fighting off against the Deathbringer, and with Zoro and Trafalgar fighting off against the cultists.
One of the Cultist Dredgers proceed to charge towards Trafalgar, as he arms his axes towards him, only for the Surgeon of Death to imbue his right fist with electricity via his Devil Fruit, before punching the Dredger into his stomach, causing him to be violently electrocuted, before being punched away to oblivion, as his now lifeless body hits another cultist, electrocuting him, as well.
"Bring it on, you bastards." Zoro mocked at the cultists going after him, as he takes out both his Enma and Wado Ichimonji. "Nanajuni Pound Ho!" He shouted, as he holds his two swords horizontally above the shoulder, where he then performs a circular swing that launches two air compressed projectiles spiraling towards the target instead of one, causing several more cultists to be thrown into the air and decapitating them in the process.
"Radio Knife!" Trafalgar then proceeds to dash towards two of the last cultists, before unleashing the said attack. "Got both of you." He quipped, killing both of the cultists in an instant, as they are silently amputated permanently.
The Deathbringer, meanwhile, proceeds to fire a salvo of three rockets from its own swarm launcher, as well as firing a flurry of bullets from its gun turret, before Nanoha proceeds to take out Raising Heart. Aloy, on the other hand, attempts to fire more Fire Arrows towards the machine to overheat it.
"Raising Heart! Activate Barrier!" Nanoha shouted.
"Yes, Master!" Raising Heart replied.
"Protection!" Nanoha chanted, as a spherical-cap-shaped barrier appears in front of the group, blocking off the Deathbringer's attacks. "Aloy, can you make the machine overheat more?" She asked the Nora Huntress.
"Almost there!" Aloy exclaimed, as she fires another Fire Arrow into the war machine. "But I only have five more Fire Arrows left, so I'll make it count!" She added, before dodging another of its rockets from the Deathbringer's swarm launcher. "Hey! Face me!" She taunted, causing the machine to look towards Aloy instead.
With the war machine distracted, Fate then orders Bardiche.
"Bardiche! Activate a Bombardment Spell!" Fate ordered.
"Yes, Sir!" Bardiche replied.
Zoro then calls out from afar. "Let's defeat this bastard!" He ordered, with Nanoha and Fate nodding, as well as Aloy and Trafalgar, before the Nora Huntress manages to overheat the machine.
"Thunder Smasher!" Fate chanted, as a powerful beam of electricity towards it, thus electrocuting the machine.
"Yakkodori!" Zoro then proceeds to unleash a projectile of compressed air towards the Deathbringer, causing it to stagger furthermore.
Trafalgar then dashes towards the machine, before stabbing his Kikoku into one of its exposed cooling rods. "Shock Wille!" He shouted, as a surge of electricity streams to his sword, electrocuting the machine, before it was completely shut down.
With the Deathbringer and the cultists defeated, the Unity Force later leave the site, as they proceed to enter a door that leads to another room.
"That did it. So the soldiers long ago… they had to fight hundreds of those, all at once?" Aloy pondered.
"It's kind of frightening to think about it." Fate reminded.
"Another one of the Eclipse's operations foiled..." Zoro uttered quietly. "But of course, another one will appear."
"There's no signs of stopping from whatever genocide they are about to unleash next." Fate said in a grave manner.
"But the more we stop them, the less they are likely to initiate their plan." Nanoha stated in a slightly confident tone, completely different from Fate's.
"It's like we're almost frustrating their plans, and they're already putting us on their radar for doing so." Aloy uttered, as she proceeds to craft Fire Arrows.
Heading inside the War Room, the Unity Force later comes across another round table, frozen in time, as well as a holographic terminal, to where Aloy proceeds to press it, revealing another hologram.
The hologram shows Elisabet Sobeck, as well as another man, known as Gen. Aaron Herres, the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and several other men, who appeared to be Military Commanders of USJCS and probably members of the USRC, judging by their appearance, including their uniform.
"Another hologram... And it's Elisabet Sobeck, but who is that guy?" Aloy asked.
"Probably their General." Zoro said.
The group proceed to watch the hologram.
General Herres: Thank you, Dr. Sobeck. You can take a seat.
Military Commander: Hah! You're going to thank her?! After what she just said?!
General Herres: Dr. Sobeck has made the situation very clear, General - and given us an option. We should all be thanking her.
Military Commander: It's just… I mean… my god. Maybe take this discussion offline?
General Herres: There's not going to be any discussion. You saw the numbers. Now Faro, he'll foot the bill, but his money can't buy the time necessary to complete Zero Dawn. That… can only be paid for in blood.
Military Commander: Oh, come on!
Military Commander 2: If we upgrade our fleet, crack the codes somehow-!
Elisabet Sobeck: Were you not listening?! Robots can't do the fighting for you this time! When it comes to hacking this rogue swarm is an apex predator! Anything automated you throw at it, they will hijack and take over!
Military Commander: But this? We'd be throwing civilians into a meat grinder!
General Herres: Commanders! The enemy we're facing self-replicates faster than we can kill it, and it eats biomass as fuel! Zero Dawn is all we've got.
Military Commander 2: So we put a rail gun in the hand of every civilian strong enough to carry one, show them where the trigger is, and point them to the front? How the hell do we sell that?
General Herres: By giving them something to fight for. Zero Dawn. The top-secret super-weapons program that will save us - so long as humanity holds off the swarm long enough for Dr. Sobeck and her team to finish it. The file I'm sending contains the war plan for Operation: Enduring Victory.
Military Commander: War plan? This is a war crime.
General Herres: It may be ugly - but it's something. Consider the alternative. Dr. Sobeck. I've secured use of a decommissioned Orbital Launch Base outside Bryce, Utah as the Zero Dawn staging area. Plenty of space there. When can you get started?
Elisabet Sobeck: I've already mailed you a list of Alpha and Beta candidates. Most are foreign nationals or subjects of corporate holdings, so extracting them…
General Herres: Leave that to me. You'll get your dream team. Count on it.
Elisabet Sobeck: Then I'll be off.
The hologram then ends, leaving the rest of the Unity Force group speechless of what they have just discovered inside the Grave-Hoard, as well as the disturbing truth behind Operation: Enduring Victory and Project: Zero Dawn.
If discovering Ted Faro's folly wasn't bad enough, this was enough to drive the rest of the group asking more and more questions about the two unearthed topics in front of them.
"Orbital Launch Base? What is that? What did these people do? What did Elisabet do?" Aloy pondered.
"Let me get this straight... This so-called 'Operation: Enduring Victory' was just a military counteroffensive to buy time to finish this 'Project: Zero Dawn' initiative?" Nanoha pondered at what Herres said in the hologram.
"By sacrificing humanity and turn them into cannon fodders?" Fate questioned in disgust. "How is this even considered a counteroffensive, in the first place, when they had to deal with a swarm of machines, let alone so many of them?" She added further.
"In a way that they gave them time to finish this Zero Dawn initiative." Zoro stated simply.
"But we now know where Zero Dawn is." Aloy added. "Only thing we need to know now is where it is located." She added.
After seeing the hologram in front of them, the group later leave the War Room through an emergency ladder via another abandoned elevator shaft, which leads them to the highest area of the ruin.
Exiting through the door in front of them, the group are suddenly interrupted, when they hear Sylens from Aloy's Focus, as well as his hologram appearing, when she ponders about the location of the said Orbital Launch Base.
"We're out of that wretched place." Zoro uttered simply, not wanting to think of the Grave-Hoard and the unyielding amount of secrets that they have just uncovered.
"Now I just need to find the Orbital Launch Base they talked about." Aloy pondered.
"I've checked my data and located the base. That's the good news." Sylens suddenly responded.
"That's good news, for one." Zoro sarcastically uttered.
"But what about the bad?" Aloy asked.
"It's directly underneath the Citadel. The palace at Sunfall." Sylens answered.
"The capital of the Shadow Carja? Not exactly convenient." Aloy sarcastically uttered.
"The palace is crawling with Eclipse agents, many in positions of authority, all of them wearing Focuses. The moment they see you and the Unity Force, HADES will, too. He'll issue another kill order - and this time the entire Shadow Carja military will be after all of you." Sylens revealed.
"What the?" Zoro questioned at Sylens' answer. "So lunatic cultists in one spot, and now this Shadow Carja through various positions of power on the other... This is so ridiculous." He pondered.
"Yes." Sylens simply answered. "Fortunately, there is a way."
"So disable their Focuses. You've done it before." Aloy suggested, but Sylens quickly refutes her suggestion.
"It's not that simple. Too many Focuses in one place… each of them communicating with each other and back to HADES - a whole network of them." Sylens said, countering Aloy's idea.
"So it's going to be hard." Trafalgar pondered. "Unless we know how to break that network and possibly stop HADES in the first place." He continued.
"'Network'? What's that?" Aloy asked.
"Imagine a vast, invisible web, stretched across the land from end to end, connecting Focuses together, allowing them to communicate over vast distances instantaneously." Sylens explained.
"So it's like a phone call." Nanoha answered.
"But we don't know where this signal is, yet." Fate added.
"All right. So… is there some way to cut the web down?" Aloy questioned.
"Hmm. Crash the network. Audacious. Yes - there is a way. A weak point in the network." Sylens revealed, as he proceeds to give the Unity Force and Aloy an idea to break the said network.
"Point the way." Aloy coolly ordered.
"Heh. I'll send the location data to your Focus. Head there, and I'll be in touch when you're close with more directions." Sylens answered, before cutting off.
After a lengthy conversation, the rest of the Unity Force group now have to plan on how to find this Eclipse Focus Network and destroy it, which allows them access to Sunfall without arousing any suspicion, as well as finding more answers regarding Zero Dawn.
"What was Zero Dawn? What sort of super-weapon did Elisabet make? She stopped the machines, but not before the world she knew – the civilisation – ended." Aloy commented.
"We know Enduring Victory being somehow related to Zero Dawn." Nanoha commented. "Yet what it is is the only thing that stands in our way." She added.
"So breaking this so-called 'Eclipse Focus Network'..." Fate pondered at the possibility of such an idea.
"We're going to plan that one out, when we come back at the base." Zoro reminded.
~~~0-0-0~~~
The characters that appear in this chapter (in order):
Gen. Aaron Herres from Horizon Zero Dawn
Thush is an Original Character
~~~0-0-0~~~
[Unknown Area, Earth-1355]
Somewhere in the jungles known as the Jewel, we see Resh, Helis, and another Nora traitor with their equally traitorous Nora Braves, as Eclipse members, meeting with one another on their own plans.
The man, like Resh, is middle-aged who has a long brown hair tied in a braided ponytail. He has brown eyes and a blue Nora tattoo on his left eye. He wears a Focus on his right ear. He wears a Nora tribal outfit that has machine parts on it, as well as a Seeker badge to his right chest. He has a Striker Bow, just like Aloy, as well as a dagger to his right. He wears brown leather pants with fur, as well as brown boots. This is Thush.
"So those mongrels have managed to foil our operations on Maker's End and now the Grave-Hoard." Helis said in annoyance.
"I knew for the fact that the Nora bastard would side with those supposed 'heroes' and doggedly later destroy our operations without a hitch." Resh scoffed. "Teersa should be ashamed of herself for letting an outcast run away." He added in a deriding manner.
HADES, in front of them, suddenly speaks from out of nowhere, inside what seems to be a processing module.
"Entity... has escaped?" HADES asked gratingly.
"Again." Resh answered simply, out of annoyance. "Our Focus detected another activity that the Unity Force and her have waylaid another one of our operations." He added, as he looks at the module.
"Locate the entity and her allies." HADES warned.
"I'll keep tracking on her." Thush responded, as he looks at HADES.
"We'll be going now." Resh replied.
Resh and Thush later leave.
"You will pay for your interference and for destroying our operations, Nora savage and the Unity Force... Once the Sun will rain vengeance on all of you!" Helis gloated.
~~~0-0-0~~~
PRELUDE: What Needs to be Done
The next day...
Before the Unity Force plans to shut down the Eclipse Focus Network at midnight within the next day, in order to reach Sunfall, the rest of the group decided to proceed helping out some of the locals.
Trafalgar left the base camp earlier morning, when he overheard rumours of a Carja captain, Zaid, in Daytower during his patrolling job, owning a slave camp, where some of the Nora tribesmen were imprisoned for slavery, forcing him to hunt down the said camp and proceeded to investigate it at daylight and stop the people responsible for its operation.
During that, Trafalgar would later rescue a Nora known as Nakoa, who was held captive after uncovering a slave ring, and revealed that her father was brutally mutilated by Zaid during the Red Raids. Later on, in retaliation, Zaid and his forces would later arrive at the namesake's compound to capture Nakoa and later Trafalgar, only for both of them to retaliate, as he mercilessly slaughtered Zaid's men with Radio Knife and with her freeing the slaves. Nakoa was shocked with Trafalgar's brutality, as well as his unusual ability. Trafalgar would later punch Zaid with his electrified fist, before dealing a sickening blow to his plexus, electrocuting and knocking him out.
Rather than with Nakoa killing Zaid, Trafalgar would later tell Nakoa that the UIPF would arrest him for his crimes instead, a decision that baffled Nakoa. In exchange, Trafalgar would introduce the Unity Force to Nakoa, and how the organisation is dedicated to save worlds from all form of evil. A disagreement ensued first over handling Zaid, but she later comes into an agreement, as imprisoning him for life would be worse than death. The UIPF and the Plumbers later arrived on Aloy's world to arrest Zaid and send him for imprisonment, while Toshio Ozaki would proceed to heal the former slaves, before joining in with Nakoa to Meridian. This event also resulted with Balahn to investigate the Carja guards in Daytower, after word regarding Zaid's crimes was spread. Nakoa would thank Trafalgar and the Unity Force for helping her out, as well as avenging the Nora who were killed by Zaid's cruelty.
Asta, on the other hand, was sent to a place known as Sunstone Rock, after an attempted prison break was discovered, which was orchestrated by three prisoners known as Ullia (a member of the Tenakth tribe), Rasgrund (an Oseram criminal), and Gavan (a Carja fugitive), when two Behemoths suddenly attacked the prison. With the help of the Sunstone Rock guards, the machines were neutralised, as Asta unleashed Black Meteorite towards both of them, destroying them with force, surprising the rest of the guards. Later on, Asta would introduce the Unity Force to the rest of the guards, before talking to a warden known as Janeva, who revealed that the prisoners in question have escaped.
Tasking on eliminating the trio, Asta would later deal with Ullia at another bandit camp known as Blackwing Snag, where he easily dealt with the bandits, before fighting with Ullia. However, despite Ullia's violent efforts, the Tenakth warrior was no match against the Black Bull member, as he single-handedly defeated her in a combat, thus killing her.
Tracking down Gavan next, Asta was already too late, when he found out that another Carja known as Hashiv and his men murdered the Carja traitor. Hashiv would taunt Asta for him being a child meddling in adult affairs, but the Black Bull member had zero patience for their criminality, before deciding to kill them in a combat. Hashiv arrogantly mocked Asta for doing someone's dirty work, presumably Gavan's, before Asta stabbed him with his Demon-Slayer Sword, telling him that he does not side with criminals like Gavan.
Later, Asta encounters Rasgrund in a place known as Dusk Mesa, which was revealed to be riddled with motion-sensitive explosives, in a twisted way of revenge to kill Asta for his interference with the prison break. However, Asta would quickly avoid the motion-sensitive bombs with his speed, before facing off against Rasgrund. Unknown to him, Rasgrund would secretly hide an explosive behind his back, but not before Asta quickly disarms him and knocks him out, averting his certain death. As a result, Asta would call in the Demoman and the Soldier from the U.F. Academy to arrest Rasgrund for attempted murder and terrorism, as Janeva knew that imprisoning them again in Sunstone Rock would be a bad idea in the first place. The prison warden would later thank Asta for his efforts.
Noelle Silva visited Meridian to help out a Carja Sun-Priest known as Namman, by helping him spread the word of his support with Avad's push of reconciliation to the other tribes who were victims of Jiran's Red Raids. She joins in helping out the three pilgrims from Banuk, Oseram, and a distant, agrarian tribe known as the Utaru.
Firstly, Noelle was aided by Namman to visit the Shrine of Kings and encounter an Oseram pilgrim known as Brageld, whose lover was enslaved and killed during the Red Raids, and wanted to visit the Shrine of Kings to remember the slave builders who were held, as well as him remembering her handiwork and craftsmanship. Abiding Jahamin, a Carja Sun-Priest, would later block her way, claiming that he has no tolerance with outsiders, as he is revealed to be the follower of the Mad Sun-King Jiran.
Annoyed, Noelle would later get into a violent argument with Jahamin, as she warns him, before she finally convinces Jiran's loyalist to leave, with Jahamin giving her an angry look. Brageld, on the other hand, was partially thankful, as he later sees the shrine being defaced, and with Noelle leaving silently for him to mourn.
Then, Noelle would later proceed to locate an Utaru pilgrim named Rea, who was grieving for her companion when they were escaping slavery. However, that meeting was cut short, when a new machine known as a Snapmaw, with two of them, suddenly appeared on the scene, forcing Noelle to fight the threat. Forcing herself to reveal her powers, Noelle destroys the Snapmaws in a fight to the finish, as she destroys them. After destroying the machine, with Rea stunned at what she just witnessed, she revealed that she was helping Namman out, as well as her being a part of the Unity Force, whom she introduces it to the Utaru.
Noelle later encounters the Banuk pilgrim, Kimik, who was seen painting a mark of remembrance to the fallen Banuk shamans during Jiran's reign of terror. However, due to a signal spike within the Spire, it attracted the attention of the Glinthawks perching into the mesa. Similar to the Snapmaws, Noelle would then fight off against the machines, before dispatching them in a moment. After defeating the machines, Kimik would then paint his own mark, before briefly telling Noelle about the importance behind the ritual, and with Noelle telling him that she is a part of the Unity Force, before proceeding to introduce it to him.
Going back to Meridian, due to the efforts of Noelle, he later thanks her, as her actions have spurred the rest of the Sun-Priests to join with Namman for reconciliation efforts with the other tribes. He also adds that her actions have caused the Unity Force to be known, not by name, but by their heroic actions, all across Meridian, especially with their battle against Dervahl and his men.
Meliodas visited the Banuk lands under the Oseram Vilgund's request, to investigate a Banuk encampment where all of its machines were unusually docile, forcing him to find out the cause behind it. Meeting with the locals of this said encampment, including a Banuk known as Tikuk, the Sin of Wrath soon discovered that all machines, normally hostile, are revealed to be docile, due to the influence of the so-called "blue light".
Prior to investigating, Meliodas introduces himself to them being a part of the Unity Force, and with him telling the rest of the group about the heroic group. Soon later, two Oseram known as Menuf and Gelund, told Meliodas about two of their delvers to stop from investigating a suspicious device that triggers the machine's docility. However, this period of docility later comes to a destructive end, when Meliodas found two Oseram delvers, Garnund and Dorgeld, investigating what seems to be a processor with the signal intact, but it had an unusual signal pattern.
Angry of the Oseram delvers, Meliodas later warns them about messing such forces beyond their understanding, before ordering them to leave immediately, or they would face his unending wrath. Unfortunately, the signal responsible for the machines' docility later faded, causing the machines below to become deranged as it attacked the encampment. Joining in with another Banuk known as Aluki, Meliodas later swept into action as he takes out his Lostvayne and mercilessly dispatched the machines in a matter of minutes. While the Banuk were stunned at Meliodas's combat capabilities, Aluki and the rest would later thank his efforts of stopping the machine threat. Displeased of Vilgund, Meliodas would later threaten him for causing his men to be greedy and nearly destroying a Banuk camp, causing him to flee.
Fate and Nanoha later visited Brightmarket and were tasked by Lahavis to locate his daughter Elida, who was revealed to be a Carja noble, and find out more about her disappearance. Their initial search later turned unusual, when they examine Elida's garden and find a bottle, a spyglass, and a shovel. Nanoha later instructs Fate to track her down, as they see flower petals, before leading to a dock with the boat that disappeared for no reason.
With no other choice, Fate and Nanoha fly off to the island, while ignoring the looks of anyone who witnessed their unusual ability, before they see Elida, as well as a Snapmaw, forcing Fate to dispatch the machine immediately. After that brief battle, both the TSAB agents later reach Elida, who thanks the two for saving her, before Nanoha reassures that she is okay. In exchange, Nanoha and Fate reveal to her that they are members of the Unity Force, and with Fate introducing to her.
However, when Fate inquired what Elida was doing here in a lone island in the first place, both her and Nanoha quickly grew suspicious of her, due to her behaviour, and her refusal to return to her own father, whom later revealed to be none other than Lahavis. Investigating the scene furthermore, Nanoha than proceeds to question Elida's recklessness, as well as anything she attempted to hide, including the double beds, with Elida later coming clean that she and her childhood friend Atral are in love, but due to the latter joining in with the Shadow Carja, she knew it would be already certain death, due to the Carja Civil War. Suddenly, she begged the two to find him, where they found a suspicious signal fire, as well as a trail of drag marks pointing to a Shadow Carja gate known as Kestrel's Perch.
Corroborating later with Elida's claim, they later find signs of interrogation with the Shadow Carja guards, as well as a young boy, which was revealed to be Atral, who is in critical condition, almost to the point of death. Intervening immediately to stop the torture, the Shadow Carja guards attacked Fate and Nanoha on sight, but they were quickly outmatched by the TSAB agents, with Nanoha firing off Cross Fire Shoot, and with Fate dispatching the rest of them with a Scythe Slash, incapacitating all of them. Not wanting to see another person dying, Fate later calls Shamal from the Unity Force Academy to treat Atral, as soon as possible.
Because of Nanoha and Fate's immediate intervention, as well as Shamal, Atral's doomed fate was averted, and Elida was all too happy to see her childhood friend being alive, thanking the Unity Force. But of course, Nanoha did not hesitate to scold Elida for recklessness, before Elida would apologise to her. After the Shadow Carja guards were arrested by the UIPF, both Nanoha and Fate brought Elida back to Brightmarket, who would finally talk out of her suicidal thoughts, as well as talking to her worried father.
Zoro would later join in with Aloy, after finding out that the Nora Huntress spent most of her midnight, silently, to hunt down machine trophies for the machine hunting organisation, Hunters Lodge, in Meridian, as she joined the Hunter's Lodge, with a Carja noble known as Talanah Khane Padish being her sponsor. Now a Thrush, Aloy would later finish her final hunt, only to find out that Ahsis, a bigoted Sunhawk who resorted to underhanded measures to prevent Talanah's Sunhawk promotion, is nowhere to be seen. She would later call in Zoro for help to join with her and Talanah to track down Ahsis, who was revealed to be hunting a legendary Thunderjaw known as the Redmaw.
Suspicious of Ahsis and his motives, Zoro and Aloy later found out from Talanah that Ahsis have been covering up the deaths of Talanah's father Talavad and her brother Brativin in the Sun-Ring during Jiran's reign of terror, due to them being vocally opposed of Jiran's ruling, with their names being denied in the Hunter's Lodge's history books.
The group were later told by Ligan, another member of the Hunting Lodge, that Ahsis is on Spearshafts looking for Redmaw. Locating the said last known location, the trio later arrived in there, only for them to find out that Ahsis sent mercenaries to stop Talanah and Aloy from finding Redmaw. Non-hesitatingly, the trio dispatched the mercenaries without a hitch, before arriving at the other end of the canyon, where they see Ahsis fighting off against the said machine: Redmaw. While the same as a Thunderjaw, the Redmaw is unique in its own, as it had several arrows embedded into its chassis, as well as it only having one Disc Launcher.
Aloy and Talanah, both Thrush and Hawk, fight off against the hulking machine, before they see Ahsis being tossed helplessly, due to him being swept away by the Thunderjaw's tail. Zoro would later assist the duo in stopping the dangerous machine, before the Nora Huntress dealt the final blow by shooting a Hardpoint Arrow shot to the machine's heart. The machine was promptly defeated, before they found a grievously injured Ahsis, who was officially relieved of his Sunhawk duties for his crimes. He maintained his arrogance, before dying. With the threat of Redmaw now over, Talanah, now a Sunhawk, thanked Zoro and Aloy for help, as they went back to Meridian, and with Aloy meeting her on the Hunting Lodge's balcony. A new memorial was then placed in memoriam for the Hawks killed during the Red Raids, as well as the people who died during Redmaw's terror.
Afterwards, Zoro and Aloy would reveal to Talanah that they are part of the Unity Force, as the former introduces the heroic organisation to her, who was surprised at the prospect of heroes including both of them, and suddenly remembered them being the same people responsible for stopping Dervahl's genocidal attack.
~~~0-0-0~~~
A/N: This story is inspired by the ideas of someoneStupED and XP4Universe. For those who don't know, the last part of the story is a prelude, which is an abridgement of several side story missions (in order), including A Daughter's Vengeance, Sunstone Rock, A Moment's Peace, Sun and Shadow, Honour the Fallen, and Redmaw.
On the next Chapter of UF Missions: Horizon Zero Dawn: After receiving Sylens' intel regarding ways to crash the Eclipse Focus Network, as well as dealing with various threats earlier, the Unity Force group decide to find the location that Sylens gave to them, but at the same time they start to feel more and more suspicious of his motives.
