A/N: I'm baaack! Again. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Fair warning, there is a nice long note at the end of the chapter. I had a lot of ideas and thoughts to share with this one!

As always, please leave a comment or a review of the chapter! I love reading them, and they really help with my motivation!

A Digital Mother

Chapter 19

3034

Aloy

"Are you sure about this?" a hesitant voice asked. Aloy ignored the voice, preferring to continue tinkering with the device in front of her.

She, Vala, and the person the hesitant voice belonged to were all out by a copse of trees not far from the gates to Mother's Heart. The same bunch where she'd had her first incident with a glider, actually… She still needed to revisit that, but her father refused to let her try anything else since she'd nearly gotten herself killed the last three times she'd tried. He even confiscated her blueprints! Well, the physical copies. The Focus let her save blueprints, so she'd just transferred them into the device and went from there. Too bad GAIA was on his side and kept moving the file when she tried to work on it…

"Aloy…"

"Ugh," The redheaded 13-year-old grunted and let her forehead drop to bump into the wooden frame. Thankfully, she was wearing a headband that worked as a sweat rag when she was working on her engineering projects, so it didn't hurt. "It's fine, Teb!" She sighed at the older boy.

Teb, now 24 years old, was sort of like an older cousin to her. He'd occasionally be asked to watch her when she was a child, so they'd gotten close. Especially after she saved his life on her first machine hunt. No, she wasn't still a child! She was 13, thank you very much!

A few years ago, when it was his turn to run the Proving, he'd passed but only barely. He just didn't have the physical constitution to allow for the kind of running and exertion needed for it. It always left him wheezing and short of breath. According to Vala, who's still developing skills impressed even their most veteran healers, he had a condition that the Old Ones called Asthma. Something about his lungs not working properly but medicine wasn't Aloy's strong suit. Vala was helping him find ways to deal with it or at least manage the symptoms, but even the Old Ones didn't have a cure for the condition as far as they knew.

Sadly, this meant that being a Brave just wasn't something Teb could do. It took too much out of him. So, he decided to become a Stitcher and help make clothes for the tribe. While learning, he confided in Aloy that he'd developed a passion and skill for designing armor. So, his red-headed pseudo-cousin decided to help!

Aloy put her prodigious, according to GAIA, engineering talents to the problem to help him design the best damn armor the Nora had ever seen! They'd been working on it for a few years on and off, with Teb gaining a reputation amongst the tribe as a particularly skilled armorer. Each time he finished a design, or they developed a new concept, they decided to test it in different ways. Today was one such day.

Today, there was a pair of boar carcasses, hunted personally by Aloy, hanging from the branches of the nearby trees with Teb's two newest experimental pieces strapped to them. They were combining Teb, Aloy, and Vala's skills to figure out just how good the armor was! The idea was for them to launch ballista bolts out of one of Aloy's prototypes directly into the armor from a distance. Then, Vala would go check the carcasses to see how much damage, if any, was done to the bodies. Even if the armor stopped it completely, the force could still damage the body protected by the armor.

"Last time I saw you test this thing; it shattered and launched the bolt backwards." Teb said, still concerned.

"That…" Aloy started to defend herself but, sadly he was right. She sighed. "Okay, you're right, but I figured out what went wrong that time! This one is perfectly safe! I've already tested it plenty of times."

"She's telling the truth, Teb." Vala commented from her spot on a nearby rock. "Mostly."

The dark-haired girl didn't even look up from where she was poking around in her medical bag. Ever since she's started actively practicing medicine and the art of healing, Vala took inspiration from the doctors and other medical professionals she'd watched in the media files and began carrying around her medical supplies in a satchel with a large red cross dyed into it. Apparently, it was the universal symbol for medicine in the old world.

"I've been with her every time she's tested the new designs. It's more powerful than the ones Nanra is using up at the front, but it's definitely more delicate too." She looked up to shoot a glare at Aloy. "It's also far from as safe as she's claiming. Last time, it fell apart after five shots, and she wound up with splinters all across her forearm."

"Is that why you suddenly added a set of bracers to your work clothes, Aloy?" Teb asked, looking over at her.

Aloy glanced away from them both. "No comment." She responded, refusing to meet their eyes. Besides, her engineering outfit looked even cooler with the bracers and gloves! "Anyway, I think we're ready! I'm gonna start shooting now!"

With a grin, Aloy bent down and began to aim through the sights on her ballista. Shifting slightly to line up with her target, she pulled the trigger and watched the bolt fly. With a loud clang and a brief shower of sparks, it slammed into the boar on the right. This one held a heavier version of one of Teb's already proven designs. The other had an experimental set that the armorer was still tinkering with.

The bolt punched through the armor dead center and stuck there. Aloy winced at the sight and at Teb's sigh from behind her. Quickly angling the ballista down and locking the trigger, Aloy rushed across the range to check on the damage, closely followed by Vala and Teb. Grabbing the carcass, she spun it to one side, peering at the armor.

"It's definitely punched through, but not as deep as I thought at first." She reported.

The point of the bolt was certainly embedded inside the boar, but she could still see the back of the bolt-head on the other side of the armor so it wasn't too deep. With a bit of effort, and some help from Teb, they got the armor and bolt off so Vala could examine the carcass.

"Hm." Vala hummed, probing the wound with her fingers. "A few of the ribs are broken but…" she stuck her finger in before pulling it out again. "Yup. The wound itself is pretty shallow. If this was a human, the puncture isn't deep enough to be fatal on its own, but the impact trauma is enough to cause broken bones and probably internal bleeding."

"Do you think a thicker plate would work better?" Teb asked, examining the damaged armor. "Help stop the bolt before it goes through?"

"No…" Vala hesitated before gesturing to a space just above her heart. "If it hit right above the heart, it would definitely have cracked the sternum and maybe broken a few ribs. Those breaks could damage the heart, lungs, or maybe the stomach even if the arrow doesn't pierce the skin. The force of the impact causes that more than anything else so a thicker plate will only help so much."

"So, we need more surface area." Aloy nodded, following along with her explanation. "The wider armor is, the better the force distribution, and the less of an impact the body takes."

"Exactly." Vala nodded.

"So, we need the armor to cover more, but without sacrificing flexibility." Teb added, following along with their discussion. "That's the whole point of the other design though." He gestured to the other set. "I didn't like how rigid the first design is, so I've been tinkering with the interlocking plate idea Aloy showed me." The redhead preened a bit at the mention. "The problem is none of these plates are particularly strong. I'm worried they'll all just break and wind up useless."

"That's not necessarily true." Aloy cut him off. "If you take something super thin or weak and put a whole bunch of it together, it can often be as strong or stronger than a single large piece. Not to mention lighter. It could wind up being way better."

"There's only one way to find out…" Vala said, staring resignedly at the ballista. Aloy shot her a wide grin and dashed back towards her weapon.

Teersa

Standing atop an overhang within Mother's Heart, Teersa laughed, watching Aloy and Vala struggle to push a heavily laden cart up a hill deep within the village. A pair of… damaged boar carcasses along with one of Aloy's prototypes and what looked like some kind of armor weighed it down heavily. Perhaps a bit too heavily for the pair of 13-year-olds.

"Push!" Aloy growled, more from strain than anything else.

"I am pushing!" Vala grunted back.

"Well, push better!"

"You push better!"

Both children ceased their bickering at the sound of Teb laughing at them. The young armorer was walking up from the bottom of the hill, giggling to himself as he watched the girls struggle. Judging by the direction they were coming from, the elderly woman guessed he'd been speaking with the gate guards.

"Teb!" Aloy shouted. "Help us!"

"Yeah!" Vala agreed. "This is all because we were testing your armor, so you should help!"

"I told you to wait but you said you could handle it." The young man raised his hands in surrender. "Besides, I have asthma, remember? No physical exertion for me." He sighed and shook his head. "Sorry, girls."

"I'm your doctor!" Vala shouted at him, straining against the cart. "I say you're more than healthy enough to help us!"

"Exactly!" Aloy expressed her vehement approval of Vala's words. "What she said! Help us, you big lump!"

Laughing again, Teersa walked away from the ledge where she'd been watching the interaction and moved back inside her hut. Letting out a sigh as her bones creaked, the old woman settled herself in one of Aloy's wondrous inventions. It was a chair, but one that moved back and forth as the occupant shifted their weight. Covered with copious furs to make it as comfortable as possible, the darling girl had given it to her as a present a few months ago. The redhead called it a rocking chair, and it quickly became a permanent fixture within Teersa's home.

Reaching up to tap her Focus, the High-Matriarch reconnected to the call. "I'm sorry about that," she apologized, "there was a bit of a commotion outside and I felt the need to stretch my legs."

"It's no trouble at all, High-Matriarch." Sona's voice came through. "Is something the matter?"

"No." Teersa chuckled. "The noise turned out to be your daughter and a certain redhead struggling to push a cart up the hill. I'm sure you'll hear all about it from Vala later."

"No doubt." Sona replied, amusedly.

"Now then, back to your report." Teersa said, rocking back and forth in her chair. "What's the status of The Gate?"

"Holding and peaceful, High-Matriarch. There's been no activity spotted in the valley for nearly four months. Not since they repaired the outermost gate. The sparse garrison at Daytower is keeping to themselves."

Following their sack of the Carja fortress, Sona's warband proceeded to put the bastion to the torch, metaphorically speaking. They did their absolute best to raze the fortress, including destroying all the gates but there was only so much they could do without wasting resources. The bare bones of the fortress still stood strong but everything they could smash, break, or burn had been destroyed.

Teersa and the other High-Matriarchs did consider Sona's proposal that they seize total control of the fortress, but ultimately decided against it. The Gate was the established border of the Sacred Lands, and they were still reluctant to allow non-seekers to pass into the Sundom. Teersa could recognize that some of her hesitance stemmed from a long life of believing the lands beyond their borders were cursed. Not to mention her duty to uphold the established laws of the Nora rather than for any true practical reason, but she was still reluctant to allow for such a drastic change.

Part of their decision, at least, was in the interest of strategy. Yes, Daytower was a highly defensible position, but it was far from as secure as The Gate was. So long as there were no traitors on the Nora side like last time, it was quite impossible for the Carja to breach the fortification now that it had been rebuilt stronger than ever.

With a foundation of stone, thanks to the ingenuity of the Oseram residents of Mother's Song, the fortress was nearly twice the size it had been before. The walls were still wooden, but the stone foundations rose up above the head of the average Nora, allowing for better protection from fire attacks. Still not anywhere near the size of Daytower, but Teersa estimated that The Gate was roughly equal or slightly greater in size than Dawn's Sentinel.

As for the war, for the past near year it was almost difficult to remember they were at war at all. For the first few months following the sack of Daytower, the Sacred Lands were quiet. A quiet used to great effect in the rebuilding of The Gate and Mother's Vigil. Roughly five months after the sack, Carja raiding parties began pouring into the Sacred Lands in far greater numbers. Few were successful, and they eventually began to decrease in number. Though, they had yet to stop completely.

The Nora had long since evacuated all non-combatants away from the border villages. Mother's Crown was the closest village to the front that still had a population of non-Braves. This meant that the only captives the raiders were able to make off with were the occasional unlucky scout, but those incidents were few and far between. Skirmishes had been fought between raiding parties and hunting parties, resulting in casualties, but only a small handful of Nora had been captured in the last two years.

"What of your prisoners?" Teersa asked. "Have the captive Carja been problematic?" As part of the cleanup, the 26 Carja taken captive during the assault on Mother's Vigil were put to work collecting wood and other raw materials before being placed in a newly constructed prisoner of war camp adjacent to the village. Rather uncreatively, it was being called 'The Cage.'

"Three were killed in the escape attempt last month but aside from that, they've been quiet." Sona replied.

There had been roughly half a dozen escape attempts in the last two years, all unsuccessful. Thankfully, only a small number had been killed trying to escape. 21 prisoners still remained, including their commander. As far as she was aware, Rost had not spoken to the captive since revealing the reason why he'd killed the young Carja's father.

"And you've ensured we won't have any more incidents like we had with Dron?" Teersa asked, seriously.

"No, High-Matriarch." Sona said. "We've ensured that the prisoners have been treated with as much kindness as we can muster. I can't guarantee they're comfortable, but they are not being mistreated. We are not the Carja."

The Brave in question was one who'd been rescued by the Seekers early in the war. He'd been bound and determined to treat the captives with the same… care that he and his fellows were treated with whilst imprisoned in the Sundom.

Teersa disapproved heavily, as did Sona. The poor man was reprimanded sharply and transferred away from the prisoners. The Nora, as a whole, refused to stoop to the level of the Carja. To that end, aside from collecting raw materials at the beginning of their captivity, the prisoners were not forced to work in any way. Nor were they mistreated. They were fed, clothed, housed, and allowed time outside but they were not allowed to leave their camp.

"No." Teersa nodded her head in agreement. "We are not Carja."

"If I may, High-Matriarch, have you heard from Karst? Has there been any update on his mission?"

"Not as of yet, Sona." Teersa replied, sadly. "His underground network has been established and is working quickly, but I'm afraid he's had no luck finding any of our brethren taken during the last raid. Nor has he located the young Banuk Shaman."

"Damn. I hope he finds them quickly."

"So do I, War-Chief." Teersa whispered. "So do I."

GAIA

"I know it is difficult, sister, but please try to stay calm." GAIA transmitted, doing her best to keep CYAN calm. A few short weeks before, GAIA had intercepted a message from a team of Seekers checking in on the Banuk of Song's Edge and been forced to relay a rather distressing piece of information to her sister AI.

Memory File Accessed – June 16, 3034. 11:59AM

"High-Matriarch." The voice of Talna, one of the Nora Seekers chimed in. "We have concluded our talks with the Banuk and have descended back into the Sacred Lands. Chief Aratak explained his request in detail, so I am ready to report at your convenience."

GAIA routinely monitored communication between Focuses for a variety of reasons. Firstly, was to keep updated on the war news. Anything that might threaten her daughter was of paramount importance. Then there was the constant search for information relating to her sub-functions. After all, it was through this that she discovered CYAN's existence. It was always possible she'd learn the potential whereabouts of the rogue sub-functions the same way. Lastly was… well… boredom.

GAIA was just a little bored. She'd expanded her network as far as the ELEUTHIA facility allowed, but it had limitations. Not to mention, her own processing power and abilities were limited without her subfunctions. So, she didn't exactly have much work she could still do.

Sure, she spoke to Vala and her baby every day and CYAN nearly as frequently, but that didn't often translate into things she could actually do. Before the signal and the destruction of GAIA prime, she'd been constantly busy. So busy, she never really felt bored. It was a bit monotonous, but never boring.

As for the conversation she was listening in on, it came about because of a request sent to the Nora by Aratak. The newly appointed chief of the Banuk Werak at Song's Edge. He'd sent a messenger requesting the presence of a Nora Seeker and given the alliance between the two tribes, a small team were dispatched immediately.

"What does he have to say?" Teersa's voice asked. "He's never sent a request like this before, so it must be important."

"It would appear that his sister, Shaman Ourea, has been captured by the Carja, High-Matriarch." Talna replied. "Since we've rescued quite the number of Banuk over the course of the war, he is asking that we find her. Along with any other captives taken from her hunting party."

"I see. That's certainly concerning. By all accounts, Ourea is a good woman." Teersa said. "The chief is certain that she's alive?"

"He's adamant, High-Matriarch. Chief Aratak firmly believes that Shaman Ourea is alive."

"Very well. I'll send a message to Karst. His network is still forming, but they are doing good work. If anyone can find her, it's them."

End Memory File

GAIA had, of course, contacted CYAN immediately. Her poor sister had only just been lamenting the fact that she hadn't heard from Ourea in several days. She'd been getting worried, and sadly her fears were justified. Since then, they'd been in almost constant contact, with GAIA relaying every single update she could on the progress of the Nora underground railroad and their search for Ourea.

"I will do my best to remain calm, sister, but it is difficult. Ourea is the first human friend I have had since I lost Dr. Sandoval. I do not want to lose her too. Not like this."

"I understand." GAIA replied. She did. After all, did she not feel the same way when she lost Elisabet or the Alphas? "I am monitoring Karst's Focus at all hours, and will let you know… hold on…" That very focus was now connecting to that of Teersa "He's calling now. I'll link you in, so you can hear his report."

"Report!" Teersa barked.

"We found her!" Karst replied. "She's being used to capture machines for the Carja in Meridian, but we found her! The camp she's being held in is heavily fortified, but we have a plan to get her and the other captives out."

"They found her!" CYAN shouted with joy. GAIA's own subroutines warmed up in a digital smile and sense of relief. She did not know Ourea personally, but she knew how much the Banuk woman meant to her sister AI. Now they simply had to wait and hope that Karst's plan would work.

Karst

"You're certain everything is in place?" Karst whispered.

"Absolutely." Sokana replied. "Desh is ready and standing by for our signal." They, along with half a dozen other Seekers were holed up inside a grove of trees a few miles outside Meridian, the capital of the Sundom.

Following the battle at Daytower, Karst and the other Seekers held a meeting to discuss their failure at discovering the plot. Each and every one of them felt a deep sense of shame for their failure, and a responsibility to atone for the lives they failed to save. To that end, the 61 living Seekers of the Nora tribe came up with a plan.

Rather than the sparse one-to-two-brave groups of wandering Seekers gathering intel within the Sundom, they would embed members in semi-permanent positions around key strategic points. A merchant with his shop, a guard on temporary assignment, a hunter seeking sponsorship inside the Hunter's Lodge, any position they could find, they would fill. A full half of their number were now within the Sundom at any given time while the other half was in reserve to act either as a covert strike force or as messengers to their allies amongst the Banuk.

It was only once they began to fully immerse themselves amongst their enemy that they discovered something. Rebels, of a kind, amongst the Carja. Citizens, soldiers, nobles, and others who despised the Sun King and his regime. Those who objected to the war, the slavery, and the murder of other tribes. These loosely aligned rebels had already developed a network within their own borders in an effort to provide what help they could to the captured and enslaved tribespeople.

Once they'd discovered this, the Seekers were quick to attach themselves to the network. What's more, they were able to provide something that the Carja rebels didn't have. A way out of the Sundom. It was long, secretive, and difficult work. Especially since they could not let the natives they were working with know that the Seekers themselves were not Carja, but it worked. Nearly a year later, and they were slowly but steadily freeing what slaves they could.

Sadly, they were only able to free a few at a time. Only once so far had they been able to stage a mass breakout at one of the slave camps. The skirmish unfortunately resulted in the deaths of nearly half the escapees, but those who survived were quickly shuffled along the trail of safehouses they'd created. Freed Oseram and Banuk who could still fight were shuffled north along a series of trails that led them deep into the mountains and out beyond the Sundom.

From there, thanks to the cooperation of the Banuk, they were nearly all able to find their way back to their people. A small number chose to stay behind to help guide more lost souls along the trail to freedom, but most freed prisoners chose to return home. Sadly, the same could not be said for the members of the Utaru tribe. They were being sent, along with the few Nora captured in Carja raids, into the Sacred Lands through a number of hidden paths. As for the Tenakth, well… Karst had yet to meet one in person. Those few they'd rescued usually chose to either go north with the Banuk, strike out west on their own or, in the case of the one mass breakout, fight to the death.

The Utaru rescued by the Seeker network were usually hesitant and afraid at first, but they eventually became overjoyed to discover that there were other Utaru alive and safe within Nora territory. Since they could not safely be returned home, each new Utaru rescued took up residence within Mother's Song, which now sported a population of over 200 Utaru. Combined with the Nora population and the few Oseram or Banuk who could not fight, Mother's Song had become a multicultural village nearly equal in size to Mother's Crown.

Karst rather hoped it stayed that way once the war was over. He would firmly deny that this desire came more from not wanting Sial to leave than any wish to see the Nora become more accepting of other tribes… Well. He could admit he didn't want her to leave, but the Nora really could use more exposure to other tribes.

"Alright." Karst shook off his thoughts. It was time to act. "I'll head in and send the signal. If I get a chance to speak to Ourea, I will, but I make no promises. The rest of you wait here. Once the prisoners are free, Desh and I will do our best to send them your direction. After that, you know what to do."

"Of course." Sokana nodded. "Stay safe, cousin."

With a nod, Karst moved away from his fellow Seekers. Taking up his place behind the push-bar of his hand cart, he slowly moved it onto the road and towards the nearby slave camp. Situated roughly five miles from Meridian, the camp was primarily used as a staging ground for the capture of machines and to house slaves about to be sold at auction within Meridian itself.

Within the Carja city stood a massive arena known as the Sun Ring. It was here that the mad Sun King would force captives and slaves to fight to the death against machines. Few survived these encounters. Those who did might be granted the 'mercy' of living as a slave, but Karst didn't consider that to be much better than getting gored by a machine.

After being contacted by Chief Aratak, Karst put their sources to work on finding the missing shaman. Not by name, of course, just to keep an eye out for a Banuk woman with blue wires threaded through her skin. It took them a couple weeks, but they'd eventually located her inside a prisoner column headed for this very camp. Seemed like the Carja were going to use her knowledge of machines to capture some. Likely to be used for the 'executions' in the Sun Ring.

"Hold it." a gruff but familiar voice said. Looking up, as he approached the slave encampment, he recognized the face of Desh under the Carja helmet he was wearing. He, along with three real Carja soldiers, were stationed outside the camp as guards.

"Identification." One of the Carja grunted.

"Ah, of course." Karst fumbled for a moment before pulling out his documentation. "The name's Merav. I'm a merchant from Meridian. Thought I'd see if your quartermaster was interested in my stock. I managed to get my hands on a few rare machine parts and…"

"Yeah, yeah, I don't care." The guard cut him off, waving his hand and grabbing the documents. "We just need to inspect your wares and you can be on your way. Khoril, search the cart."

"Sir." Desh grunted, stepping up and throwing the cover of the cart up. There was nothing in there but his wares, of course, but they had to keep up the pretense. After a few minutes of searching, Desh and another guard declared his cart clean, returned his documents, and granted him entry to the camp.

"If you good gentlemen don't mind, could you direct me to your quartermaster?" Karst asked. "I'm afraid I haven't the foggiest idea where to go and I'd hate to accidentally wander where I shouldn't."

Desh sighed and nodded. "Come on, merchant. I'll take you to him."

"Don't dawdle, Khoril!" One of the other guards shouted. "You might be temporary, but that doesn't mean you can be lazy about it!" Waving off the other guard, Desh fell into step beside the cart.

"Two hours." Karst whispered to him. "After the shift change, and just as the sun goes down. Get word to Ourea if you can. I'll do the same."

"Done." Desh whispered back. The rest of their short trip passed in silence until Desh handed him off to the quartermaster.

The Carja, named Pywen, sported a rather lukewarm attitude but Karst got a good deal from him. He was just packing up to leave when he spotted their primary target. Ourea, along with another Banuk and two Utaru, was being pushed along the center lane of the camp by a set of Carja guards. The captives were all rather quickly hemmed into cages that lined one side of the camp.

"I say, what tribe does that savage come from?" Karst asked, raising his voice a bit. "The one with the blue wires. I've never seen the like."

"Hm?" Pywen looked in the direction he was pointing. "Oh, that one? Uh… one of the northern tribes, I think. Ban… Bunk? Banuk? Binki? I don't remember."

Of course, he wasn't the only one who heard the question. Ourea too heard it, raising her head up to glare at him. The glare rather quickly shifted to shock and surprise when she recognized him. And why shouldn't she? He'd spent well over a year living with her Werak, and they'd seen each other quite often afterwards. Even his Carja disguise shouldn't have been enough to prevent her from recognizing him.

Bending over his cart to check the straps holding the tarp down, Karst employed a little trick he'd picked up from the Banuk. They'd developed a system of hand gestures meant to be used on the hunt. Simple things like time, direction, or machine type. Surreptitiously, but in view of Ourea's searching eyes, Karst made the signs for soon, machine, south, and run. He glanced up in time to see the determined look on her face. She gave him a quick nod and rolled her shoulders.

Karst quickly finished his business and moved to push his cart away, sneakily dropping a small object on the ground outside Ourea's cage. Before he could make it back to the gate, just as the sun started to get lower in the sky, a loud crash and mechanical roars filled the air. Screams soon followed, and Karst was forced to throw himself to one side, narrowly avoiding a charging Behemoth. A massive machine with a large round canister for a stomach, they were a favorite of the Sun King.

Soon, more Behemoths and other machines charged through the camp from where they'd been penned near the center, sewing chaos amongst the guards, slaves, and others. Playing the part of terrified merchant, Karst scrambled to his feet and bolted away screaming like… well, like a frightened Carja. At one point, he was forced to keep a grin off his face when he saw Ourea charge past him with at least half the other captives following her.

"Run!" She shouted, waving the knife he'd dropped in front of her wildly. "While they're distracted, let's move!" Sprinting off, she was quickly followed by the collection of Banuk, Oseram, Utaru, two Nora, and Karst was pretty sure he saw a couple Tenakth amongst them.

Knowing he needed to preserve his cover, Karst could not go with them. Instead, he simply did his best not to get caught up in the machine rampage and resolved himself to hope. Hope that Ourea would reach Sokana and the others in time. Hope that they would escape the inevitable pursuit and that, just maybe, he would be able to catch up to them before they made it out of the Sundom.

A/N: There we go! Ourea is saved! I know that in the original canon, she's not captured for roughly another year, but I figured enough things about the war have changed that it wouldn't be too much of a problem.

As for the Carja and why they're being quiet, well… as far as I can tell, this is the period where the Tenakth really start hitting back hard. The battle where Fashav is captured and a bunch of others happen in early-mid 3035 and it makes sense to me that the Carja would focus more on the Tenakth if they're being aggressive, because the Nora and Banuk are far less likely to invade the Sundom than the Tenakth are.

As for Teb, what do you think about what I've done with him? I figured there had to be a reason why he couldn't keep up in canon and it got me thinking. They don't have access to modern medicine and since Zero Dawn specifically stated that they wouldn't modify the human genome then it was entirely possible for him to have something like asthma. Still, I couldn't let him be just another stitcher so… I made it so HE's the one who designs the Thunder Warrior armor.

About Karst. Y'know, I originally didn't intend to cover the Red Raids in such detail, nor for Karst to play such a prominent role but I have to say, I'm loving writing his parts. It's such a unique view on that period of the story and I love getting to cover it. I hope you all are enjoying it too. I'm sad that we will soon be moving away from him, but he's still got a few hurrahs left before I move on.

The armor pieces they are testing in the first segment are the Nora Protector Heavy (HZD) and a prototype Nora Thunder Warrior but also not because they haven't encountered Thunderjaw's yet inside the Sacred Lands. They know about them, but they haven't seen one yet.

Aloy's engineering outfit.

Forhead: Oseram Explorer (HFW) headband but in Nora colors.

Top: Oseram Explorer (HFW) but in Nora colors.

Hands/Wrists: Nora Protector Medium (HZD) but with a fingerless glove on the left hand too.

Legs: Nora Brave (HZD)

Boots: Nora Brave (HZD)

Belt: Nora Brave (HZD), plus a bunch of rudimentary tools.

Last thing! A few chapters back, I briefly asked about what kind of music you all thought the characters might like. Well, I may have gone a little overboard this time. I've compiled a list of what I think each character's two favorite songs are. Three for Aloy. In order to keep it small, I'm only going to post the characters that have been introduced but if you're interested, I can post the ones for all the characters that haven't shown up in the story yet. Nothing important, but I feel like the list helps flesh out the characters and their personalities, especially with the changes I've already made to their stories. For Aloy, Vala, and Varl, these are what I think will be their favorites once they're grown up. Zero Dawn time period. Also, no, Varl can't understand the lyrics of his first one. He just likes the sound. Same with Aloy and her third. If you don't know these songs, I encourage you to listen to them.

Aloy

Sum 41: In Too Deep

Ad Infinitum: Live Before You Die

& OLO Y: Pierwszy Raz Naprawde

Rost

Rob Thomas: Little Wonders

Boston: More Than a Feeling

Vala

SAMURAI (Refused): A Like Supreme

Paramore: Ain't It Fun

Teersa

Bon Jovi: Livin' On a Prayer

The Monkees: Daydream Believer

Varl

HOYO-MIX & Cecillia Cara: La vaguelette

Kamelot: Anthem

Karst

Sabaton: The Last Stand

Daniel Powter: Bad Day

Answers to Questions

On FFN

TheRuinsofRl'yeh: Wow! You have a lot of interesting ideas that I may or may not use. A few that I'd already thought of too, actually. As for the Seekers, they've already specialized a bit. The way I see it, Karst is the head of their spies while Fassa is head of the black ops strike force. Some Seekers get information while others only go out when it's time to kill people. They can do it all, but some are more specialized than others.

Bargo: I'm glad you liked the chapters! I want to show the Nora as having learned a great deal but staying to their roots. They're hunters so big open battles aren't their thing. Covert strikes, slipping behind enemy lines, and generally being sneaky though? That is right up their alley. As for the Hawil thing, thank you so much! I was worried people wouldn't like his inclusion, but it felt like such an interesting little side story, I had to include it!

Dracofighter: Thank you very much!

Hugolem99: Thank you!

Rios: I always thought that Rost should be able to take Helis if that's all he had to worry about. Plus, this Rost is in perfect fighting shape thanks to training with his Braves constantly for years rather than only working alone in the woods like in canon.

AtlasStelle1: Thank you!

LunaShadowWolf: No, Helis will not forget. We will see him again!

On AO3

Spectral_Kitsune: Thank you!

Ao3Prime: Helis is just too strong to die like that!

UtahraptorEvolved: I couldn't kill him but that doesn't mean I can't beat him up!

ReviewerDWJ2: I will be eventually writing a few decent Carja, but not for a little while longer. They aren't all evil but a lot of them are brainwashed.

Boudica96: I hope you like it!

Readinginthedarkisfunnier: I want the Nora to win too, but I can't let everything go perfect for them. It wouldn't be a good story that way. As for Helis, I hate him too but he's a damn good villain.

SpiritDeNight: I'm glad you liked it!

Xfel: It's defensible, but the Nora aren't really about capturing territory, and they aren't really trained in siege warfare from a fortress like that. Plus, their culture still frowns on leaving the Sacred Lands so it makes more sense for them to raze it than to occupy it.

Psycopath363: Thank you! We will eventually get to other tribes!

Deppresen_t: I'm so happy that you like my story! I love the dragon idea, but I feel like building her own machines is still a bit beyond Aloy's skills. She just doesn't have the knowledge and without HEPHAESTUS, GAIA can't teach her everything she needs to know. She might be able to modify an existing machine though! That could be interesting. I'll have to play around with the idea.

TheLoveOfHorizon: Thank you!

Ryanlarsen84: We might get a few more teases about Rost's past but it won't be a focal point. Once Aloy is an adult, she'll be taking far more center stage so Rost and the others will get a bit less screen time. As for Helis… I believe I have a plan for him!

DragonFang09: Thank you! I was disappointed at how little of her childhood there was too, but I suppose playing through a bunch of 'training' scenes wouldn't have been much fun. Oh, and I loved putting Lansra down too! The original idea behind this came from me wanted to see GAIA put Lansra in her place and it just spiraled from there.