*UPDATE!* I added a LOT more this. It's mainly retelling the events of the final battle but I also added a few minor tweaks to it involving a few of the characters. (Petra speaking where someone else was supposed to/changing the weather of the battle with Helis) little stuff like that and added a few of my own twists that I kind of would have liked to see in game. Petra is coming next chapter. (She's one of my favs, if you couldn't tell lol).
*All Horizon Zero Dawn characters, trademarks and copyright materials are the sole property of Guerilla Games* - prolly should mention that.
One tidbit before we get started: I just now realized I've been spelling Elisabet's name wrong. (should be Sobeck, not Sobek). Sorry about that!
With that said, I actually DO have a plot in the works. This fic won't just be mother/daughter fluff (there will be a lot of those) but I do have a plot and synopsis and I'm currently making a guide to follow so I can cover as many plot holes as I can and make it really sound and sturdy before digging into it in later chapters so for now, it's gonna be filler material (think side quest plots from the game).
As far as said mother/daughter fluff goes, I'm trying to keep this realistic. I want very, very, very badly to just pile on the fluff early on but that wouldn't really make much sense story wise. So the fluff will come, but it will be slow and gradual and it'll build up and be more realistic and then by the end with my plot's climax: boom. feels trip.
I think I have some pretty cool stuff for this fic laid out (well... I think so but I'm a little biased lol), I plan to involve some more of the familiar characters you've seen in game, they will eventually tie into the plot. Surprise characters *may* appear, I haven't decided yet until I can work them smoothly back into the canon story so I won't say who, specifically. I have some "feels trips" planned out too, currently in development. It'll be fun.
I don't know how long this fic will be, I don't really have a plan specifically for that yet. I just plan to write until I get my story told or run out of ideas lol There may be times where I won't be able to continuously update as often, but I intend to stick with it as long as I can. I hope you guys will join me on the ride, as always thank you for taking the time to read my work and leave reviews. Your lovely comments make me smile, every one of them.
Okay, I'm gonna shut up now. :)
Elisabet smiled fondly from her place on the grass. Blameless Marad had eventually managed to pull Avad away from her after what seemed like hours of conversation. He reminded the king that he was still a king and was responsible for upholding certain laws and meetings for and with the public and his discussions with Dr. Sobeck would just have to wait.
So Elisabet followed Aloy through the town, skipping the archives because she was not prepared to look through them at this point. Having spent the last twelve hours residing in the palace, being surrounded by formality with servants answering to her every whim; none of which she asked for, she was tired of being treated like Avad. Telling Aloy that Elisabet would be adequately taken care of was an understatement. She may well have been his queen and that in itelf made her extremely uncomfortable.
Not wanting to be rude, she politely informed Avad that she would very much like to accompany Aloy through the cityspace and take a breath of fresh air. The look on his face cried disappointment but he hid it with a smile as always and merely responded with "Of course, I hope I didn't overwhelm you too terribly much."
So when Aloy took her for a ride in Meridian's elevator, she not only marveled at its ingenuinity, she much more enjoyed being at the bottom, surrounded by farmland. Upon seeing grass for the first time in 900 years she immediately ran to the first clean patch she could find and stretched out on it. The sun's warmth on her face, the chattering of farmers and livestock brought a smile to her face as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment.
Aloy spread out beside her, raising her knees as she put her hands behind her head and stared up at the clouds. Only a few days ago that same sky looked as if it would crumble on top of them, now it was as if nothing had happend. The clean up crew however would beg to differ, they were still shifting through parts even with the help of the Oseram.
Aloy was startled out of her stupor at the feeling of something fall into her lap. Looking down she noticed she was now the proud owner of a very ragged, very dirty and torn up ball. Three children stood sheepishly at a distance. The only girl and the oldest of the pack, looking no older than seven or eight, carefully approached; the other two refusing to be left behind, afraid they'd be separated from their sister quickly followed, hanging on to her.
All three children were dressed in Carja clothing, but it was obvious they were of a lower class. Their dirty faces and tattered garb were evidence of living below the palace precinct.
"I'm sorry, miss" she had said quietly, her innocent little eyes looking to the ground with her hands behind her back like she was preparing to be scolded.
"That's okay" Aloy smiled gently and knelt beside her, handing her back the ball. The other two children stood cautiously behind her, the youngest of the three holding onto her shirt sleeve.
Noticing their apprehension, Aloy ruffled through her knapsack and pulled out an apple. "Wanna see something?" she winked.
The children hesitated but seeming a little more relaxed that she wasn't currently yelling at them like every other adult they had come across, slowly nodded their heads.
She pulled an arrow out of her quiver and held it in front of them.
"Ever seen one of these before?" she asked, wagging it back and forth between her fingers.
They shook their head, the smallest of the three now coming around from the back to stand beside his siblings, intrigued.
"Watch."
She grabbed her bow and having nocked an arrow, held it limply at her side as she tossed the apple into the air, aimed and within half a second, fired. The children's and Elisabet's eyes followed the arch. The apple fell to the ground with a thump, the arrow impaled perfectly through its center.
If the children had any remaining trepidation, it was gone now. Frowns burst into excited smiles and laughs as they clapped their hands. Aloy took a playful bow.
"You're gonna take someone's eye out with that thing!" a nearby man grumbled, adjusting his produce stall as he hovered over it protectively.
"I can handle a bow" Aloy assured him.
The three children, immediately wanting her to perform for them again rushed to the stall and each held out a coin. He handed them three apples, all they could afford, and the oldest of the batch before shaking his head in annoyance knowing exactly what they were about to do.
"Do mine first!" the middle child said, racing ahead of his siblings, apple outstretched.
Aloy pretended to sound offended. "What, only one at a time?"
The three of them all looked at each other, their eyes goggled and their mouths gaped open in smiles. Elisabet smiled warmly at their reaction. She was beginning to see Aloy, the real Aloy for how she was; not just a fearsome huntress but a tender hearted young woman. It made her own heart swell with pride.
Aloy drew another arrow and signaled for them to "fire". They threw them as high and as hard as they could, giggling all the while as Aloy judged her timing. When they had formed into a perfect arch, three arrows were let loose and pierced their targets in unison, falling neatly to the ground at their feet.
"Do it again!" the children cried, rushing back to the stall as they tried to grab another handful. This time the man's back was turned. One of the rounder Carja men Aloy had seen, his weight didn't seem at all to impair his hearing. The slightest shuffle caused him to immediately turn around, quicker than Aloy would have thought given his size, and seeing one of the children, the youngest boy, attempting to grab one of his precious oranges with his filthy hands, instantly set him in a rage.
He roughly snatched the boy's hand across the stall, yanking the orange away and holding it high out of his reach.
"No, don't do it again!" the stall owner barked, batting the children's hands away as he scowled at the young huntress. "And you! Trying to steal from me, are you!" he snapped, turning his attention back to the youngest boy; his meaty hands still holding him like a vice. His large belly pushed up against the stall making it teeter a bit on edge.
"But she's really good" the other boy pleaded, hoping that would be enough to convince him to let his poor brother go.
"I don't care if she's the queen of Meridian, I'm not running a charity here! You brats are lucky I don't skin your hides!" The oldest girl looked to Aloy despondently for help then out of habit cast her eyes to the ground as if she had given up. No adults were going to help, adults never helped. Not here.
Aloy only now realized they had given up what was probably their week's supply of money just for a few seconds of laughter. And evidence of their first reaction to her pointed to the fact that that was a rare thing for them. And it broke her heart.
Even Elisabet began to stand at this point, but before she or his siblings could intervene or at least try and come to his rescue, the orange went sailing out of the grocer's hand with an arrow through it, piercing the tree trunk behind him. He instantly let the boy go, ducking behind his stall and covering his head. He was so large however, and his stall so much smaller, that he wasn't really doing himself any favors.
"Why don't you calm down a bit?" Aloy chided, preparing to nock another arrow as the young boy ran behind her legs and grabbed hold of one for protection.
To get her point across, she sent a second arrow a little closer to home and heard a yelp as the man tried to duck even deeper; an arrow sticking out of the tree just inches below the first one.
"I get it!" he shrieked, raising his hands in surrender. "By the Sun, stop shooting at me!"
Satisfied, Aloy set her bow down and casually strolled over to him. She reached in her pocket. He flinched before she withdrew her hand, not knowing if she was planning to torture him further but relaxed a bit when she opened a pouch of metal shards. His eyes filled with greed at the sight of them all. She flipped him one of the larger pieces, "I'll take the stall" she said confidently.
The grizzled gentlemen caught it in midair without hesitation, bit the shard to confirm its value then eyed her suspiciously, "no refunds" he warned, scratching what little of his beard was left.
She flipped him a second shard, "And that's to buy a better personality."
The man rolled his eyes and mumbled something about "Typical Nora savages...thinking they're so down to earth with their All Mother..." as he walked away.
The children gleamed with pure delight, all rushing to grab as much as they could get their little hands on, the smallest boy attempted to hoist up a watermelon, his arms immediately falling to the ground, fruit in tow, after lifting it off the stall.
"Okay, okay, one at a time. Really, this time" Aloy chuckled.
She ruffled the hair of the boy still trying in vain to lift the watermelon, his feet digging into the ground, refusing to let it be. She motioned for him to stand back and twirled her spear, sliding it nimbly between her fingers before sliding one end underneath it.
In one motion she had the fruit flying effortlessly through the air and in the next she had it sliced into three sections that landed with a soft thud on the ground. Picking up the pieces, she dusted some of the dirt off before handing a slice to each of them.
They looked at her in disbelief but beamed, their faces quickly becoming covered in juice and seeds. It wasn't often they were shown this much kindness and never had they eaten this much food in a single sitting.
Aloy knelt in front of the oldest girl and put her hands on her shoulders. "Does someone take care of you?" she asked calmly.
"Just our mom" she said quietly.
"Take these to her" said Aloy, and removed a handful of the larger shard pieces from her pouch and put them in the girl's hand.
"I-I can't" she stammered.
"Why not?" Aloy asked gently.
"She'll think I stole them, I'll get her in trouble again."
"I think I can help with that."
After reassuring the two younger boys that yes, all of that food actually was theirs now, the three children lead Aloy to their hovel of a home. Not far away, Aloy held up a finger to Elisabet, signaling she would only be a few minutes. Elisabet smiled with a nod and proceeded to lay back on the grass and stare up at the sky again.
The three of them shifted uneasily as Aloy knocked on their door. A woman, whom she could only assume was their mother, peered out from behind it trying to hide as much of her face as she could.
"What have they done now?" she asked with dread, but Aloy could sense the sadness in her voice; the fatigue.
"Uh, nothing" she assured her.
The woman opened the door a bit wider, her eyebrows raised in shock in confusion. People only knocked on her door for two reasons: her children had caused some type of trouble or she was being charged for rent. One didn't usually accompany the other, so when a warrior woman appeared on her doorstep with her three children in tow and actually didn't have a complaint about them, she was less than mildly confused and more than pleasantly surprised.
"How-how can I help you then?" she asked, her voice hoarse from lack of sleep. Her auburn hair was streaked with bits of gray and the stress lines on her forehead made her look older than she really was. But she was altogether a rather pretty woman; her delicate face and dazzling blue eyes drew the attention away from her seemingly older age.
"I just wanted to tell you that you have three good kids and I also wanted to give you this" she said, holding a smaller pouch of shards in her hand, "They didn't want to get you in trouble."
Upon hearing this, the woman closed her eyes and smiled. Her kids weren't bad, she knew that. But they could be a handful and they knew that. When she opened them, she saw Aloy still holding the pouch out to her. She looked at the younger woman as if asking for permission and when Aloy nodded that it was okay, she carefully took it from her and opened it.
"I can't take this" she gasped, "It's too much, I'll never be able to afford enough to pay you back."
Confused, Aloy responded: "I don't want you to."
"I don't understand" she said.
"I want you to have it, no strings attached. It's a gift."
She wasn't used to gifts, especially not of this degree.
"Why? You don't even know me" she said quietly.
"No, I don't. But I've met your kids and that tells me all I need to know. So please, take it. Buy some food, pay off debts if you have any, buy some warmer clothes for the winter, whatever it helps you with."
Without a word, the woman pulled Aloy into an embrace choking back tears as she thanked her over and over again. Her husband had been killed in the onslaught against HADES and his horde of machines. He wasn't a warrior, but he enlisted himself for the battle after Erend went scouting for recruits. He had no choice. Since his death, his wife struggled to pay off the incurring debts on their home, barely making enough on her own to feed their three children and between making sure they ate, had a roof over their head and stayed out of trouble, she was nearly at her wits end.
Aloy held her tight, rubbing her back to calm her down as she continued to sob about how grateful she was. She didn't see Aloy as the "Savior" or "The Anointed" or any of the other titles people had come to refer to her as. She just saw her as a kind stranger and that's what Aloy loved most.
After wheeling the produce cart over, to which the older woman stammered over in even more disbelief, Aloy hugged them all a final time before waving goodbye and heading back to Elisabet. From the corner of her eye she could see more people look over at them, neighbors it seemed who shared in their poverty and lack of shown kindness; the elderly, the crippled, the ones most affected by the devastation. They all eyed the produce hungrily but no one dared to ask for any. The youngest boy invited them over, each handing them enough food to last for a few days. Aloy smiled at his affection.
She plopped down on the grass next to Elisabet, hands once more behind her head as she laid on her back.
"That was incredibly sweet" Elisabet said, rolling onto her side.
"I wish more people looked at me the way they just did; not a hero, not a holy figure, just...me."
"People appreciate what you've done for them. But I know exactly what you mean" she replied, sympathetic. She paused and then turned to the young huntress. "You never actually told me how you did it" she started.
"Avad didn't tell you?" the younger woman mused.
Elisabet sighed, "Avad was more interested in learning about me, about my history. I'm tired of talking about me...I want to learn more about you"
she said quietly.
"I'm not that special" Aloy answered, her gaze still focused on the clouds.
"I don't believe that. From what I've actually been able to overhear, the odds were against you in every way possible and yet somehow you managed to overcome them. You did what we couldn't and you did it with just a bow and a spear." She sounded awestruck and pointing at the younger woman's weapons, continued. "That's more than special...that's...extraordinary."
Aloy seemed unimpressed, glancing momentarily at her before returning her attention upwards.
"Don't discredit yourself, Aloy."
"It wasn't just me. I had help."
"Would you tell me the story?" she asked quietly, almost pleadingly. "Please?"
Aloy turned to look at her. She could see the concern on Elisabet's face and for a brief moment she had that same despondent expression as the little girl with the ball. Elisabet was grasping at straws, battling between wanting to learn more about her daughter but not knowing if she'd like the details. She could see the scars on the young huntress's face, the battle marks that would take months to heal. She was so like Elisabet in so many ways but she was also very different; she was a warrior and part of that made her anxious. There was no telling how many times she had looked death in the eyes, but Elisabet wanted to know about all of them.
Aloy relented, "Alright" she sighed.
Aloy awoke with a start. A Carja guardsman stood over her.
"Ma'am, there are signs from the west. Sun king Avad awaits you at the temple of the Sun."
Aloy slowly nodded still overcoming the sleep. She sat on the edge of her bed as the guardsman hurried out.
'Focus. Breathe. We can beat this' she thought, beginning to strap her armor into place. She picked up her bow and slung it over her shoulder and grabbed her spear, twirling it between her fingers before sliding it behind her back. She took one final breath and headed for the temple.
'Watch over me, Elisabet. Watch over me, Rost.'
Avad was standing with his remaining guardsmen when she approached, overlooking the extant mountains of Meridian from his balcony. Smoke billowed up in the distance, rising higher and darker as the blaze of fire quickly began to spread.
"Camp fires, perhaps?" he asked hopefully, "Massing forces for the long march to the city gates?"
"That's not wood smoke."
"Then what is it?"
Aloy furrowed her brows in fear, "The end...or how it begins anyway."
An explosion erupted and Aloy and the king gasped as the mountainside began to crumble and fall. Debris and rubble sprayed through the sky like fireworks as screams and echoes of pain and terror filled the air.
Avad swallowed, his eyes filled with sadness but he did not look away.
Down the hillside Deathbringers came, accompanied by Corrupters who eagerly skittered ahead of them as if they were looking forward to the coming battle. They trudged through the grass, their lights on full alert, their guns aimed and ready to fire at whatever organic life form they could find. And there seemed to be no end to them.
"The Deathbringers you spoke of?" Avad asked with dread.
"To the guns!" shouted Aloy, ignoring him "To the guns!" she shouted motioning for his guardsmen to obey. They seemed to hesitate.
"NOW!" she barked.
"By the Sun, do as she says!" Avad snapped.
They immediately snapped to and ran down the steps to take position. The Oseram vanguard on the lower levels held fast to their guns, their armor buckling from the weight.
"All of you, be ready to fire!" the regular warned, taking up his position beside them.
"Will the guns hold them back?" asked Avad fearfully from his perch on the balcony.
"We're about to find out" Aloy replied.
But their hope was squandered as a second explosion shook the temple. Before the guards could take position, the stairwell was swept out from under them. Aloy leaned over the edge. Helis appeared below the rubble surrounded by smoke and ash; his blood red plume billowed mockingly in the wind. He jumped smoothly down to the next level, landing with a grunt as he stood tall and cocked his head. Before he could react, Helis punched the first guardsmen he saw, knocking him unconscious as his halberd fell to the ground with a clang. The others began to advance on him but Helis cut through them like air, sending two to their deaths as he knocked them off the temple.
"Helis!" Avad growled, reaching for his sword.
"No" Aloy stopped him, "Rally the vanguard and send reinforcements!"
He grabbed her arm before she could run off, "Aloy-no!" he begged.
"We need those guns" she answered, pulling away from him.
"He will cut you down!" Avad cried.
"Not this time!" she hissed before leaping over the edge.
"What was going through your head?" Elisabet asked.
"Don't die" Aloy smirked. "But mostly...just...stay focused."
"I can't imagine how you must have felt" she lauded with a shake of her head.
"I had taken Helis on once before when he locked me in a cage in Sunfall...and even once before that when he killed Rost. He wasn't getting away from me again" she growled, "I was so angry and so pent on getting revenge, I didn't feel the fear set in until after he was dead."
"Tell me more" she said gently.
"HELIS!" Aloy yelled.
Hearing her voice, the Eclipse leader turned with a sneer. His men grouped up behind him all aiming their bows in her direction. He held up a hand for them to back down. The guardsmen impaled on his sword slumped to the ground in a mangled heap as he pulled it loose.
"No. This one is mine" he smiled cruelly, slinging the blood off, "Get to the forefront, support those machines." They nodded obediently and set off down the stairs.
He puffed out his chest as he looked at Aloy, the two of them now completely alone. "I tasted his blood, you know" he mocked, "It tasted like cowardice...like failure."
Before he could say another word, Aloy had already let an arrow loose. It grazed his cheek and he laughed softly as the blood slowly began to drip down his face.
"You can't beat me, Aloy!" he beamed, his eyes alight with madness,"The Sun has chosen me!"
"Shut up and fight me!" she snapped, throwing her bow roughly to the ground as she grabbed hold of her spear.
"Gladly" he growled, his lips curling into an evil smile.
Thunder boomed in the distance and brought forth a torrent of rain. Aloy and Helis clashed, sword against spear as lightning cracked above them. Helis elbowed her in the face, his sword tip cutting deeply across her cheek as he twirled it nimbly between his fingers before slamming his foot into her midsection. She stumbled back and grunted in pain, wiping the blood away, which only made him smile even wider.
Steadying her breath she lunged forward again, sidestepping around him as he attempted to land a second blow. She dodged, rolling to the ground as he whirled around and missed her face by mere inches. Before he could counter, Aloy swiped at him from behind, managing to cut him deep on the shoulder blade before he turned and kicked her.
Her chin met his knee as he aimed upward with enough force to send her flying on her back. Her ears began to ring from the sudden force of it and her eyes went in and out of focus. He slowly walked to her as she lay on the ground, still trying to find her bearings. But before he could bring his sword down, she rolled to the side, as the blade pierced the ground.
Ears still ringing, she tried to remain focused. Her body was screaming in pain but she ignored it. Helis pulled his sword free as the rain began to pour harder, the water mixing with their blood and sweat.
They battled, clashing over and over matching each other point for point. Aloy could tell he was beginning to tire, although it was slight and she kept up her pace with him refusing to back down or show any hint of weakness or fatigue. They raged on through the storm, she couldn't tell how much time had passed.
Her breathing became more rapid but she held firm. Helis charged at her and jumped through the air, his sword aimed downward ready to strike. She struck him across the face, causing him to lose his balance as he crumpled to the ground. Not giving him a chance to regain his composure, Aloy hit him again, striking him deep through his armor, a third time with enough force to knock his sword free and a final time that managed to knock his helmet off. She was done playing games. He staggered to his feet, his breath becoming slow and raspy. She kicked him hard in the abdomen as payback and he stumbled back doubled over before falling roughly to his knees. She looked down at him, eyes full of rage as she held the tip of her spear against his heart.
"Impossible" he stuttered in disbelief "I am chosen. This was not meant to be"
Before he could say another word, she thrust it deep within his chest. He sputtered, his cold eyes staring at her in contempt, his mouth gaped open in shock and pain.
"Chosen? HADES only chose you because you're a fool. A sadistic butcher too stupid to see you were being used" she growled, twisting the spear even deeper. "Your whole life was a failure and soon, no one will even remember you. Turn your face to the Sun and think about that!" she spat, yanking it free. He sputtered a final time before falling to the ground in defeat.
Elisabet looked at the younger woman's face, the gash she had received from Helis was deep. It spread out from the bridge of her nose and although no longer bleeding, it would take many weeks to heal. It made her heart ache knowing Aloy had felt pain, that this sadistic monster had harmed her daughter even if she hadn't seen her in nineteen years. Aloy noticed her brows furrow in anger as she looked at her scar.
"It doesn't hurt anymore" she assured her. She pointed to it, "This is nothing."
But she was proud of her, proud of this young woman who battled the leader of an entire army single handed and came out victorious.
"You could have been killed."
"If I had a shard for every time that's almost happened..."
Elisabet eyed her knowingly, not giving away how concerned that made her feel.
"What happened next?"
With Helis finally dead, Aloy leaped from the temple and rode the zip line down to the forefront of the battle at the city gates.
The Oseram vanguard had managed to so far hold the machines back but where one became destroyed, two more popped up in their place.
The sound of rockets whizzed through the air from the Deathbringer's guns before ending in an explosion at the city's sealed gates.
"Where do you need me?" Aloy shouted above the noise.
"Take up a cannon, on the platforms!" Petra cried, firing off another round.
At least ten Deathbringers loomed in the distance surrounded by other, smaller machines. They were slow but they were powerful and they weren't holding back.
Aloy's body shook as she fired the cannon, sending an arch of explosives to the nearest Deathbringer she saw. It wasn't phased, continuing to march forward. Corrupters spiraled out from behind them as they rushed ahead to cause even more damage.
From her platform Petra fired again, managing to bring one down before she stopped to reload.
Petra was accompanied by four of her fellow Oseram all in possession of a cannon but it wasn't enough to stave off the attacks. The machines just kept edging closer the harder they fought back.
"Keep firing, Aloy!" a female's voice called, "We'll distract them!"
Aloy turned to see Vanasha and Uthid charging forward, spears at the ready as they rushed into the fray.
"Vanasha, wait!" Aloy cried.
Vanasha never stopped running but merely turned her head back with a smile and saluted before disappearing into a cloud of smoke; Uthid right behind her.
The Oseram kept up their charge, firing round after round at Petra's command. Three Deathbringer's fell, two corrupters followed suit. The smaller machines were beginning to near closer and Aloy could see a Bellowback among them.
She was trying her best to damage the machines near Vanasha to at least weaken them enough for her to pick them off. Vanasha slid under the Bellowback, cutting it down the middle of its gullet with her spear. The Oseram archers finished it off. A second one turned on its hind legs, sending forth a wave of fire. Vanasha pushed Uthid out of the way, catching it full force before the machine charged into her.
She crumpled to the ground. She attempted to get up but her arms gave way as she tried to lift herself. Enraged, Uthid charged forward, stabbing the Bellowback in its cargo sac. It exploded, the blaze it carried leaking out onto Uthid's hands. He gritted his teeth through the pain but only dug his spear even deeper sending the machine to its mechanical grave.
Aloy fired at the third one causing it to stumble back while Uthid gathered Vanasha in his arms and carried her off the field.
Talanah and her hunters met them midway sending a storm of arrows at the machines that followed them. A Stormbird and three Glinthawks flew ahead, eyes only for Aloy. Petra turned and fired at them, sending two of the hawks to the ground in a burning heap before the Stormbird fired its lightning at her.
Petra dove out of the way, more nimble than she looked and held fast to her gun. Aloy fired in unison, the Stormbird angered at her interference. It swooped down and dove at her, claws outstretched. Aloy ducked beneath it and fired again, hitting it square in its jet engines. It fell to the ground no longer able to fly and charged at her with its beak.
Before Aloy could fire a third round, Petra beat her to it hitting the machine full force in the face before it sputtered in a cloud of smoke. Aloy nodded her thanks.
Time passed slowly but the Deathbringers kept coming. Most of the vanguard managed to beat back the other machines but the Deathbringers were difficult to bring down and more kept appearing over the horizon pent on breaking through the city gates.
Those holding the front line began to retreat as the machines slowly pushed them back. Aloy ran to Vanasha and Uthid. He was ducked behind one of the platforms holding her in his arms. Her body was blistered but she just smiled up at him. "Look what you made me do" she chided weakly, holding up her arm. "This skin is gonna look like leather when it heals."
He dropped his head and sighed in annoyance, "Save your strength, woman. Quit talking so much."
Her laugh turned into a cough as she replied, "That's the thanks I get for saving your sorry hide?"
"You shouldn't have moved" he said, guilty.
She held a hand to his face, "I wasn't about to let that pretty face of yours get all burnt up."
Aloy knelt beside them.
"There she is" Vanasha coughed, "The woman of the hour."
"Is she okay?" Aloy asked him worriedly.
"She's fine" Vanasha answered before he could reply. He looked at her disapprovingly.
"What did I just say?"
She waved him off.
"Find Teb" Aloy told him, "He'll know what to do." She got up to leave but Vanasha stopped her.
"I don't think it'll matter much longer" said Uthid sadly, looking at the onslaught of Deathbringers. "But at least we tried."
"This isn't over" said Aloy, "Not yet."
"Where are you going?" Vanasha winced.
"To finish this."
Uthid nodded, "Go, I'll take care of her."
"Aloy" she called again. Aloy turned. "If you die...I'll kill you."
Aloy sighed with a smile and nodded before grabbing her bow and rejoining the vanguard at the gate. From the corner of her eye she could see one of the Deathbringers aim. Seconds later it fired, sending a hail of rockets directly at the gateway doors.
"Incoming!" Aloy yelled.
Before she could move, the rockets landed on the arch above her. She shielded her head as the rubble fell on top of her and everything went black.
...
...
A Deathbringer marched through the opening. Dragging behind its rear was the core of HADES, emanating with tendrils of red corruption.
Aloy stirred. Smoke burned her eyes and she looked to the sky seeing nothing but red. This was it. The end was here. She had to get up, had to keep going but her body wouldn't let her and she crumpled back to the ground.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and a voice called her name.
"Aloy!" he cried.
She tried to move, cringing as she felt her ribs. The same voice began to gently shake her, and she could hear the panic in his tone.
"Aloy!" he tried again, "Aloy!"
She opened her eyes blinking until the figure crouched in front of her became focused. He looked down at her with worried eyes but he also looked relieved that she was alive.
"Teb...?" she asked weakly as he took her hand and helped her to her feet.
"By All Mother, you survived" he breathed a sigh of relief, "I thought you were killed."
"The others...are they...?" she asked fearfully.
"No" he quickly reassured her, "No. Wounded, but alive, mostly. The machines blasted through and kept going. They marched on the Spire dragging that...thing with them."
Aloy nodded and looked in the direction he was pointing then put a hand on his shoulder, "Take care of the others, Teb. I've got to go."
Behind her there was nothing but rubble, ahead of her there was nothing but destruction. Everything was in flames. People ran about trying in vain to put some of them out, others lay moaning on the ground in pain. Some didn't move at all.
She wanted to stay and help, at least see if her friends were okay but she couldn't. She ignored the wreckage and chaos around her and just ran. Her body was screaming, her muscles were on fire and in all her nineteen years she had never pushed herself this hard or this fast. But she blocked it out and kept going.
Miles down the road to the temple itself, ledge after ledge that she pulled herself up and higher to the top with her ribs feeling like they had snapped into a dozen pieces, and even higher still as she darted up the stairs that hadn't totally been destroyed.
But HADES had beat her to the top and was uploading his signal to the Spire's base. A red aura emanated from it's tip, surrounding the entire city of Meridian in its evil glow. And it would bring every machine, no matter how old or long buried and forgotten, back to life.
The fact that she was seeing this signal meant that Erend's vanguard had failed. She only hoped he was still alive. Sona, Varl, they were up there too.
She grit her teeth and kept running, jumping over the gaps HADES had caused as she worked her way to the top.
"Gotta keep going" she grunted, pulling herself up and over another ledge, "Gotta keep pushing...knew this wouldn't be easy."
She rounded the last corner of the stairs. Erend, Varl and Sona turned at the sound of her footsteps.
"Aloy!" Erend smiled with relief, "It's Aloy!" he repeated, turning to the others, "Well-you can see that" he coughed as Varl looked at him quizzically.
"We thought you'd fallen at the ridge!" said Varl.
"No, the ridge fell on me" Aloy replied, "Look-there isn't a lot of time left, I have to face HADES."
Varl shook his head, "Not alone."
"My fight. I can't ask you to come with me" she said sternly.
"We were about to go over the top anyway. Right?" Erend turned to Varl.
"Right" he confirmed.
"The metal devil must fall" Sona growled.
"Metal devil?" Elisabet asked. She was sitting with her knees pulled to her chest and had been listening intently to every word of Aloy's story so far.
"It's a massive machine" Aloy answered, holding her arms out wide to demonstrate its size, "I've only seen three and they were all destroyed. I think...I think HADES had a plan to bring them back somehow but they weren't just buried like the Deathbringers, they were completely shut down. Like giant ruins."
"These machines..." she pondered, "Did they have long arms?"
"Yeah, a lot of them."
She covered her face in her hands and sighed in annoyance, "Dammit."
Aloy looked concerned, "What are they, exactly?"
"They were Ted Faro's ingenious solution to peace keeping" she spat, "He called them HORUS. They were built for war. When they turned on us they did more than just destroy the landscape...they obliterated it."
"Why would he create something like that?" Aloy astounded.
"He thought he could control them, or at the very least his engineers could. Ted was a businessman, he had to have the greatest, the richest, the most inventive corporation in the world. It didn't matter if his decisions had consequences, he never thought about his actions before he carried them out" she said indignant, "When the glitch entered into the machines, he realized his mistakes but by then it was too late."
"How did you destroy them?"
"It took nearly 120 people and more than 24 hours just to take down one."
Aloy gasped.
"Whatever HADES was planning to do, Aloy, if he had brought back those machines..."
"He didn't. And now he never will" she promised.
Elisabet nodded and sighed with relief before looking back at her, "At least I know you survived everything" she said gently, "albeit with a few more broken bones but...alive. Tell me the rest."
Aloy could see the Spire only a few feet away. HADES was at its base, plugging itself into the core and transmitting his virus as fast as he could upload it. Ribbons of corruption began to spiral up the Spire's body. The Deathbringer that dragged him there stood protectively behind him.
Aloy crouched behind a broken piece of rubble. HADES could sense her presence.
"Arrival of Entity...has been anticipated. Entity...will not halt transmission. To contrary, calculations are precise. Presence of Entity has been accounted for" ordered his cold, metallic voice. It was so void of emotion and humanity, it held only evil and corruption and it made Aloy's skin crawl every time she heard him speak.
She stepped forward, spear in hand and halted as he sent forth a blast of corruption into the nearby Deathbringer. It immediately turned its attention to her, aiming its guns directly at her. Sona, Varl and Erend rushed forward, weapons raised.
The Deathbringer fired. Aloy's eyes widened as she dodged out of the way. Varl sent an arrow at its chassis, instantly causing the component to crumble. It wheeled around and fired a second cannon at him, but Sona pushed him out of the way before destroying it midway with an arrow.
Erend came up behind it, halberd raised, as he pried it into the machine's main body. He fell back with a grunt as it swiveled its guns around, knocking him through the air and roughly to the ground.
Aloy fired three more arrows, one after the other, all piercing its cannon until Sona caused it to finally fall off.
After what seemed like hours, the four of them managed to bring it down. Aloy huffed, gathering her breath as she picked her spear up off the ground. She ran to HADES, still lodged in the Spire's base.
He was considerably weaker, no longer covered in corruption and seemed...smaller without his army behind him. Looking down at him, she could never figure out how he had managed to convince so many people to follow him. Without thinking, she plunged her spear directly into his eye with enough force to crack through his outer casing and penetrate all the way down to his main core. Before she could pull it out, her arm became enveloped in electricity, completely paralyzing her.
She screamed out in pain and her entire body convulsed. A few seconds later she found herself standing inside a focus map, looking out over a nebula of stars with the Spire still teeming with red in the background. Beside her, a large depiction of Elisabet Sobeck began to appear out of thin air. A holographic image not so different from Gaia.
"Master Override, armed. To activate, state name and rank." a synthetic voice called out.
Aloy looked up at her with awe and reached her hand out as if to touch her, "Elisabet Sobeck" she breathed, "...Alpha Prime."
"Master Override, activated. Purging Extinction Protocol."
The image of Elisabet began to disintegrate, starting from her feet and leading all the way to her face until she was nothing more than a stream of code. Aloy watched as she entered the Spire, blue melding with red as it killed the corruption.
Aloy's body once more convulsed as the image faded and she finally managed to pull her arm free. The Spire lit up in a bright blue, purging the transmission signal for good. Around the world, awakened machines returned back to their slumber as every Deathbringer immediately went offline.
Aloy turned to the others, overlooking the city of Meridian. From his temple, Avad beamed in disbelief, pulling one his guards into a hug.
The people cheered at their savior and the city erupted into applause. From the hilltop, the four of them held their weapons high in victory, clapping each other on the back as they cheered back at the crowd.
"That...that was an amazing story, Aloy".
"Like I said, I had a lot of help."
"And like I said, you're more than just special."
"That program of you...the one that purged the corruption. Who put it there?"
Elisabet shook her head and curtly smiled, "Tate. He said he'd 'leave a little piece of me in there'. I didn't realize he meant literally."
Aloy smiled fondly at the thought. Elisabet turned to her.
"How's your arm?" she asked gently.
"I can actually move it now so that's progress" she laughed softly.
Elisabet held out her hand, "May I?" she asked, pointing to the huntress's arm.
Aloy nodded and lifted her sleeve up. The skin was still blistered in some places and she had some bruising from the force of impact but her bones looked normal, at least from the outside. Elisabet examined it as carefully as she could, feeling the rough patches that had begun to heal. She applied a little pressure to each side of her arm and gently bent each one of her fingers.
"I thought you were a bio-engineer" said Aloy.
"I was...am. But I learned a lot of medical training in Elysium. There was only such much you could do down there and I was always interested in biology so..."
"And what's the verdict?" she asked, nodding at her arm.
"Well your bones aren't broken and you don't seem to have any nerve damage" she hovered her fingers over the worst of the burns, "It doesn't hurt?" she asked quietly.
Aloy shook her head.
"Are you saying that to be a hard-ass or because you don't want me to worry?" she smirked.
"Both" she smirked back.
"I guess being a hard-ass is mandatory for huntresses."
"Being the hardest of the asses is more like it."
Elisabet laughed which caused Aloy to smile. To see the older woman happy made her happy.
After some time Aloy turned to her, "Alright, my turn. What was it like?" she asked, "The world back then?"
"I suppose that's fair."
Elisabet smiled fondly and laid back on the grass, "It was...it had its ups and downs. We were exceptionally advanced in technology, we could cure nearly ever cancer and disease...and we almost destroyed the world" she finished somberly.
"What did you like most?"
Elisabet leaned back on her elbows and cocked her head in thought, "I liked the countryside, believe it or not. I grew up down the road from a small farm so I was constantly surrounded by animals. It was just my mother and I in a simple little home by society's standards at that time. But when you have a knack for bio-engineering, there really isn't much you can do with that on a farm. When I moved to the capital to further my career after college, I barely saw grass that wasn't grown in a hydroponics lab. It was all city, all the time."
"Did you ever visit home?"
"When I had the time, which was rarely. I was always working round the clock on the next formula, the next design, the next code that needed to be broken or solved that someone else couldn't figure out and some of those alone would take days. Other than my mother, I think I missed the animals more than anything, my dog especially. Things didn't seem so...fake, out there."
"What's a dog? Sometimes I wonder whether you have a book of these things or if you're making them up as you go along."
Elisabet looked at her in horror, "You don't have dogs?"
"Could you eat them or hunt them?"
Elisabet paused, "...I suppose you could but it was highly frowned upon where I was from."
"Then what did you do with them?" she asked, confused.
"Nothing" she answered simply, "They were just...friends, loyal companions, little balls of fur that kept you company and licked your nose and were always happy to see you."
"I don't think I've ever come across an animal that's been happy to see me. Rabid and angry, maybe and that's if you don't count the machines."
"Okay so no horses, dogs, or cats...no cats?" she asked squinting her eyes. Noting the continued look of confusion on Aloy's face she continued with a confirmed, "no cats" before continuing, "what animals do you have?"
"Boar, geese, foxes, turkeys, fish, raccoons" she answered, counting them off on her fingers, "ah, and rats."
Elisabet rolled her eyes, "Rats. Of all the animals I tried to preserve, it figures rats would make the cut. I would say I'm pretty sure they could survive an apocalypse but technically now they've survived two so I guess that goes without saying."
Aloy took out a piece of parchment and a scrub of charcoal from her knapsack, courtesy of Petra. The Oseram woman had sent her a message recently claiming she had a new "toy" for her to test out, one Aloy would be able to carry with her this time and she promised it wouldn't break anything, again. How she got the message tied to the goose that clumsily fell through her window one night while she was sleeping, Aloy will never be able to figure out. The goose flew away before she could respond so she decided to just travel to Free Heap when she got the chance...or got tired of the Nora.
Now however, the parchment lay in Elisabet's lap, turned over on the side that was blank.
"Show me what they looked like, these animals you keep talking about" Aloy smiled, handing her the charcoal.
Elisabet eyed her doubtfully and cringed at the parchment. Her drawing skills weren't exactly...the best. Nevertheless, she motioned for Aloy to turn around and held the parchment against her back, tracing the charcoal lines into different shapes until she was as satisfied as she could possibly be before handing it back to her.
Aloy turned it over to examine and drew a breath. "Yeah, those are...those-those are terrifying-" she grimaced, trying her hardest not to laugh. Elisabet smacked her playfully on the arm. "ly good!" Aloy defended, "terrifying...ly. Good."
"This is the first time you're seeing them, how do you know they didn't actually look like that?" Elisabet smirked defensively, "Besides, I was busy drawing formulas, not pictures" she coincided.
"I've never seen an animal...smile like that" she countered, pointing out the crude smiley face the older woman had drawn on each of them. "And what are those supposed to be?" she asked, pointing to the image that was meant to be a cat.
"They're his ears!"
"They look like horns. Which one is the dog?"
She pointed to the one in the top corner.
"Its...cute? I guess, as far as animals go. Kind of looks like fox."
"A fox is probably the best thing I could compare them to. Nevertheless, they were the best animals on the planet by far, trust me. I'm just gonna have to figure out a way to bring them back so I can prove it to you."
"Since you had one and it was your friend, did it have a name?"
"Of course" but she didn't divulge any further than that.
"What was it?"
Elisabet looked to the ground and bit her lip, "No way, it's embarrassing" she grimaced.
"Oh, come on" she playfully chided "I could tell you loads of embarrassing stories."
Elisabet sighed and scrunched her nose, "Robo."
"Robo?"
"I was really into robotics and bio-engineering. You've never had any pets, er, anything like a dog?" she corrected, realizing the term "pet" may not have been familiar.
"Unless you count the machines I've tamed, no, not really. And those aren't exactly covered in fur anyway. I tried to tame a turkey once when I was younger but Rost just ended up eating him once I actually did manage to catch him so that didn't exactly work out."
"You mentioned Rost before, in your story. Was he the man that raised you?"
Elisabet noted the sadness that crept in the huntress's eyes, the sea of melancholy that washed over her face. She remembered asking Varl how Aloy had managed to become so nimble and good at hunting and he merely told her that she learned everything she knew at a pretty young age by the man who raised her.
"He..." even still, it was difficult to talk about him. She could sometimes see his face when she closed her eyes at night, how he looked before he pushed her off the mountain and everything turned black.
Elisabet sat up and instinctively placed a reassuring hand on her arm, "I'm sorry" she said gently. From the moment she saw Aloy, there was so much she wanted to ask her and tell her and explain to her, but she knew that would come with time. It was a lot for anyone to take in and the last thing she wanted to do was overwhelm Aloy even more. She never settled down or started a family, she never had the desire to or more importantly, the time. But she always wanted a daughter she could raise on her own. Her own mother was a single parent and she wanted to emulate that and possess that same strength, show her own daughter that same love and compassion that was so often shown to her.
And now here she was, sitting right beside her and she didn't know how to act, how to actually be a mother. But, seeing those looks on Aloy's face, the ones painted in sadness...they forced those motherly instincts to sometimes break through. Like all things, she supposed, they just needed time. And for as long as it took, Elisabet was willing to wait. She missed nineteen years of Aloy's life, she didn't intend to miss anymore.
Aloy looked down at Elisabet's hand. The older woman hesitated at this, debating whether or not to remove it. But Aloy just looked at her with those gentle eyes and smiled and Elisabet knew, that although small, they had just shared a moment.