The Saurus warrior watched as the Skink negotiated with the Sun King. Such actions were beyond his frame of reference, but ultimately necessary for the continued functioning of the temple cities. OF course, now they had no temple cities - they had left those behind to serve another part of the Old Ones' will.

How well they were doing so was a different matter entirely - the Old Ones had left only vague instructions, though they had clearly stated that, should one of these commanders awaken them, they were to serve them until directed otherwise. How the Old Ones could direct them otherwise was problematic, though - the old ones were long gone, and possibly extinct, though the Slann denied this, of course, as did the skinks. Even he, Ra'ur, did not believe (or at least did not want to believe) that the Old Ones were dead. But unless they found evidence indicating otherwise, then that would be the only likely option.

Still, for now, he had more immediate concerns to attend to.

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It did not take long for the skink to finish negotiations with the Sun King and his adviser Marad. Trading between those associated with the Commander and the Sundom would be permitted, as long as the rules of the Carja were respected and there would be no attempts to antagonize the other tribes. The negotiations also designated where with the city's merchants' district that foreigners would be permitted to sell their wares.

By the time they reached the building offered to them, there was already a line - the curious few who wanted to see what the new arrivals had to sell, especially the ones who weren't human. Most sentient beings were inherently curious and desired to push back the unknown, and sapient ones only more so - for them, even the mystery of death was something to be unraveled. They would eagerly examine the new trinkets and goods the foreigners provided until they knew both their purpose and their value.

The first items to be sold off were the ones that looked the oddest - fish parts acquired from the Plains of of Eidolon and Orb Vallis, along with some rugs Nakak had offered and a few floofs for children. Gems were next, also from the plains and orb. Those were of greater interest to the nobles, who were also the ones most likely to be able to afford the gems. Carvings form the Temple Cities were also offered - these ones entirely for display, as the Skinks would not let arcane objects fall into the hands of mortal who could not wield them properly, to say nothing of how the slann would react to such brazen idiocy. Still, the Carja purchased them with great interest.

Last to be sold were the rarest of gems, cut and polished to perfection - Sentirium, Nyth, Zodian and Thyst. An ayatan was considered for sale, but the only one they had had already been given to the Sun King as a token of appreciation.

The sun was beginning to descend when the crowd gathered had dispersed. As a skink and ostron counted their profits, the Saurus decided to speed up the cleaning process. Carefully setting a crate on the ground, he opened up one side and let the machine do its job.

Within seconds, the Domestik Drone emerged and began to eat up the dirt that covered the stall. It would take time for ti to fully clean the floors, but far less than manually sweeping would.

As the drone continued its work, though, the Saurus couldn't help but notice that another crowd had begun to gather. This one was not interested in the remaining wares the merchants had to sell, though - their attention instead rested upon the cleaning drone. Evidently, they had never seen a machine that would actively serve humans (or other sentients, for that matter).

Maybe taking one of Alad's drones along wasn't such a good idea...

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3

2

1

GO!

With a flash, the racers were off, all trying to take the lead as they made their way through the various gates that marked the race track. In the main booth, Synais was watching intently, already wondering who would take first place. Kathikon, surprisingly, was just as interested, though this was likely because she was the one action as announcer and commentator for this spectacle. It seemed she had a soft spot for races.

Of course, none of this concerned the strange giant arthropod that was resting on a beach towel. Aside from the fact she had a nice view of the race from where she lay, she had no stake is this test of speed and handling - money was hardly a concern to her. Indeed, she was more interested in the shrimp she had been provided as a snack than the outcome of the race.

That being said, she was interested in the racers' vehicles. For this race was not one that used cars, plans, or motorcycles - these races rode hover boards, or K-Drives as they were called. The first set of these had been offered by Roky and Boon free of charge, but after that, well, the kids who had the spare time to engineer had gone wild. This was hardly a major k-drive race - indeed, it wasn't even a practice run for the main season - but it was still an engineering spectacle. One the giant Hibbertopterus lookalike watched with great interest - perhaps she could waste a few months trying to build an optimized k-drive of her own.

Amusing, wasn't it? A ten billion year old alien god, mesmerized by a child's toy. Truly, the times were getting weird.

Weirder still when she owas offered a popsicle by a young forerunner. The arthropod only hesitated for a moment before accepting the frozen treat - the child's ancestors may have brought her people to the edge of annihilation, but they had been planning to do so to the Forerunners, so there was no moral high ground there. And bygones should remain bygones.

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With a huff, Geralt brought down his blade, cleaving the garkain's head from its shoulders. The beast's remains fell to the dirt, joining others of its kind that had already been slain by the witcher. As he cleaned away the blood from his sword, Geralt couldn't help but be unnerved - it seemed even vampires had come into this world.

The lesser ones could be handled by the guards, as prior reports could attest to, but if a higher breed arrived, and lacked Regis' restraint...

Geralt pushed the thought from his mind - best not to consider problems that weren't his.

After dealing with Dervahl, the motley crew had disbanded, each focusing on their own goals - Zoe and Theseus had taken their companions with them to search for other monsters from their lands, whilst Aloy had journeyed on in search of her own origins, though not before helping a noble deal with problems of her own - it seemed her brother had tried to cheat her out of her inheritance. When he had been discovered, the boy had tried to summon machines to kill both his sister on the Seeker.

The machines decided he was the more appetizing target.

Sighing, Geralt took one of the heads and returned to Roche, though not before burning the bodies - he would need proof that the deed was done.

As he made his way back to Meridian, though, Geralt could not help but wonder what the one known as Flame and Vivian were up to. Somehow, though, he knew it was important.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"How could this have happened? The Raid was planned perfectly - none of the Nora savages should've survived!"

"Patience, Helis. The portals were something that could not have easily been foreseen. Even I missed their arrival."

"But how? You are the Buried Shadow!"

"And I am not all knowing."

Then, however, HADES attention turned toward a new figure. This one was also a machine, but unlike any FARO unit ever produced.

"You, however, seem to be familiar with the new ones."

"My kind have been at war with these travelers for some time. These ones, however, are all new faces. A new generation of warriors, bred to destroy my people."

HADES doubted the machine's sincerity. Helis shared these doubts, but neither intended to raise them just yet - patience was a virtue for a reason.

"Can you be trusted to deal with them?" inquired the leader of the Kestrels.

"Yes, but I need time. My people have archives detailing the strengths of various peoples, including most of the new arrivals, but the ones with the staff and the hammer are unknowns. We need to test them, see this pair fight in battle, find chinks in the armor. I will not worry you with this matter - I have my own thralls to test him with."

"Very well," acquiesced Helis, "but should you need further assistance, there are some Eclipse of questionable loyalty that I believe you could use. They are hardly the type that Avad would be willing to offer his forgiveness toward."

"Your offer is appreciated. Now I must be off - our foes will not wait for us to act."

Only when the new machine was out of earshot did Helis finally speak.

"I do not trust him - a machine with flesh. Such a being is...unnatural."

"It is likely he is withholding knowledge from us. His agenda is not one I can discern. Perhaps it merely wishes to see the pair it speaks of destroyed. Maybe it desires dominion of the Sundom for itself. Or maybe it is so deluded to believe it could usurp me as the Buried Shadow."

"IF it does, that it is truly a fool. Still, I shall keep him under watch."

"OF course. Now then, let us return to discussing the Nora Seeker, Aloy…."

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AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!