[Rise of Multiversal Empire] 7 – Location Revealed

[A/N: Reread the last chapter; I wasn't satisfied with it, and it might change in the future]

It took hours, multiple trips, and days of exploration, but I did manage to grab whatever computer, data points, focus, and other valuables I could from the ruins of the 'Romanheart Studios,' a seemingly ordinary media company from before the Faro Plague that proved to be still somewhat recoverable despite the tentacle of a Horus being lodged through the entire building.

The Computers were nearly wholly degraded due to exposure to the elements. Most Data points, essentially iPads that stored audio logs and other data, were corrupted or straight-up broken; however, a few were functioning but still moderately damaged from time and corrosion. 

What I scavenged netted us more Foci, the Focuses, to research and disassemble. We did get some information and data from the devices. Outside of a few company videos, we did find some logs and internal messages between company employees about what city the ruins once used to be. 

Much to my dismay, we were right next to what once was Dallas, Texas.

I was hundreds of miles away from the states where the series was set: Utah, Nevada, and California. Sure, this would be beneficial for the long term, but for the short term? I'd have no influence over what happened with Aloy and may even arrive too late, depending on where I was timeline-wise. However, as bad as it was, it could always be worse. The Faro bots were not running rampant across the New World, nor was Nemesis currently in sight, but with knowledge of our location in the world, I could plan for the future.

For example, knowing where exactly we were, I knew that I could reasonably guess where to find more ruins of other cities and towns. If possible, I might even find what remained of the Highway systems and use that to set up Caravans for trade and more.

...

Yet another month flew by within the blink of an eye, and with the completion of more Projects and the arrival of even more Faunus, Sanctuary has become a truly small town.

/=======+=======\

Colony Name: Sanctuary

Colony Level: New Colony

Population: 155 Faunus and 3 Mr Handy.

=[Structures]=

Housing - 8->10 Bunkhouses, 1 Personal Log Cabin, 1->4 Longhouses

Storage - 1->2 Storage Warehouse

Security/Military - 1 Security Fence, 2 Watchtowers

Agriculture/Husbandry -  3->5 Farms, 1->4 Chicken Coops, 1->2 Water Wells

Research - Basic Research Center

Industrial - 1->2 Basic Workshop

Medical - 1 Infarmary

=[Quests]=

[Research: Focuses 14%]

[Hunt Down Machines II: (22/25)]

[Construct a Wall: 47%]

[Construct an Eatery: 87%]

[Husbandry: Capture Six Cows]

[Scout and Map II: 14%]

-=[Recently Completed Quests]=-

[Scout and Map I], [Construct a Watchtower], [Construct an Infarmary], [Hunt Down Machines I]

\=======+=======/

As I have learned, depending on the type of Quest we get determines the reward. Something civil, like building an Infirmary, would net more pops, while something like Constructing a Watchtower would get us more armaments. 

For the recently completed quests, I had gotten a few crates of supplies, a crate of armaments to defend the Colony with, two more Mr. Handy units, and 30 more Faunus pops to add to the town. At this moment, the Mr. Handy units were helping with cooking, farming, and other small menial tasks.

The Mr. Handy units were intelligent, but their AI programming was currently limited. They were 'Dumb,' they did not possess true sentience, at least, not yet such as some Mr. Handy units would after the Great War in Fallout, the games the robots originate from, but when they do, they'd be granted full citizenship alongside the Faunus. Even now, Mr. Handys faced no discrimination and was allowed to work whatever position they felt they'd do best, though all three primarily assisted in the already built kitchen and mostly built eatery.

Speaking of Construction, we were building a log wall around camp and extending the fence further out, giving us a bit more protection against the bots and elements. We had also built two watch towers and had them manned at all times. Already, they helped us keep track of herds wandering Striders and Lancehorns, aquistian-class Zero Dawn robots that were escorted by a variation of Clawstriders and Ravagers.

I did inform my people of all of the bots I  remembered from the games and their noticeable weaknesses. Because of that, what few times we actively hunted the machines down for metal, we also managed to get more complicated parts and even a few containers of Blaze, a plant-based fuel source that is surprisingly effective and efficient. 

Striders resembled horses in design, with a singular 'eye' on their head, acting as one of their most significant weaknesses and their only way of seeing the world around them. They'd be great mounts once we could 'tame' them. However, that would be the case when we disassemble an intact Chariot-line Corrupter for the component designed for Electronic Warfare. We'd need to invade a Cauldron to find the proper codes to take control of any of Gaia's machines.

There were no doubt a few Cauldrons around Texas based on the sheer number of Cauldrons showcased in the games, meaning if we had the proper tools and plenty of time, I was willing to bet we'd be able to take over one of the Cauldrons and use its plentiful fabricators to construct our own robots and so much more, even Plasma weaponry, if some of the more dangerous Gaia robots were any indicator.

Both the Lancehorns and Striders were skittish. With even a single sighting of my hunters nearing, they'd flee at tremendous speeds, far faster than most of my hunters were capable of. However, if my Hunters were cautious and patient enough to get real close, they could disable either of the machines without the other machines becoming aware, that is, if none of the machines saw the fallen machine.

While the Lancehorns hardly ever fought back, the Striders, if pushed into a corner, would fight back, and their charges and kicks were strong enough to shatter aura in a single blow, making even the weakest of Gaia's machines quite deadly to any hunter unprepared.

Funnily enough, one of the Strider carcasses we managed to haul back to Sanctuary was being disassembled and made into bits of armor for our Hunters and Guards. Armor such as greaves, gauntlets, and leg protection, and for those that requested, even some head or chest protection in the form of metal plates integrated into some leather.

The Armor provided moderate protection but still was not as good as Aura for most of the Hunters, mainly depending on how much Aura the specific Faunus had and used while they hunted. My hunters were both explorers and machine hunters. I specifically chose each Hunter and awoke their Aura personally, finding that personally awakening someone's Aura with my own strengthened theirs. Still, I knew that I would not be able to keep that up forever, as the exponential growth we would be dealing with would quickly grow out of hand, and I simply would not have enough time to awaken the Aura of every new Faunus.

When I have time, I plan on thoroughly experimenting with this. Could I make their awakening even stronger? Making my hunters even stronger? Was there a limit? What if I were to use all of my Aura to awaken another? Would that have any effect on their awakening, or would it simply be a waste of Aura? Whatever the answer may be, I will find out, but there was one question in my mind I desperately wished to know, could I awaken the Aura of a Human from this world?