A Horus in Strange Lands (Horizon Zero Dawn SI) Chapter 29

Outside the Kharaki star system, the thirty-six drones had been working on detecting any incoming alien ship for the past month while maintaining contact with their creator.

During that time, it had picked up several patrol fleets of the Taiidan Empire that would regularly probe the Kharaki system through small-scale Hyperspace-capable probes that would try to find out if the Inhibition field was still up around the star system.

From what the drones were able to find out with their undetectable scans of the probes using Polyphasic Entangled Waveforms, the probes had built-in self-destruct methods that would destroy the probes on the fundamental level when they are inevitably pulled out of Hyperspace by the Ancient Core, making their probing runs practically invisible to their victims.

And the Taiidan were not the only ones to make such probing runs either.

The Turanic Raiders maintained a Carrier ship on the edge of the system, regularly searching for any weakness in the star system that they could use to fulfill their orders given by the Taiidan Empire to annihilate the remnants of the Hiigaran people.

Unfortunately for them, they ended up stumbling upon one of the thirty-six drones, making them a priority target for the advanced VI, borderline AI, systems within the drones.

Within seconds, the hundreds of Ausar drones equipped with the printing systems that combined the biometal fabrication systems that Amun-Ra developed during their long journey and the Phased Disassembly Array acquired from the Kushan people dropped out of their housing within the drones and started printing Uraeus Crown defense platforms.

In essence, the new printers use the PDA systems of the Kushan to directly reduce resources into their constituent atoms, which are then absorbed by the Metal-Organic Framework of the biometal nanite systems to literally grow any unit required from the ground up at obscene speeds.

Within a matter of a minute, four Uraeus Crown platforms were created, followed by a large contingent of Kharaki fighter ships that were modified to be unmanned by Seth.

The Ausar drones got to work and moved the defense platforms around the ship at critical areas while the interceptor ships drew enemy fire while also disabling the sublight drives of the Raider Carrier ship.

Meanwhile, the remaining Ausar drones were not idle and started printing a new Capital-class vessel designed specifically for capturing enemy vessels.

A ship whose name is inspired by the goddess that devours the hearts of the wicked.

The Ammit.

Within a matter of two minutes, the entire ship was constructed from the ground up and immediately activated the powerful gravity manipulation devices based on Project: HERMES that is built into it, disabling the Hyperspace function of the Carrier and cutting off the last avenue of its escape.

The colossal ship that rivaled the Kushan Mothership and the Meseket ships in size slowly lumbered over towards the Carrier that was motionless thanks to the Interceptors destroying all of its drive systems.

As the Ammit approached its prey, the VI within it which was once housed within a Horus titan back on Earth commanded the Uraeus Crown platforms to fire their payload, dooming the raiders within.

On the command, the dual Synchrotron accelerators within each platform spun electrons to relativistic speed before ejecting them down their barrels, directly penetrating the hull of the Carrier and taking out key structures, such as the Fusion reactors, the Hyperspace cores, the life-support systems while leaving out the ventilation systems, and the communication systems. During this initial attack, ionizing radiation is released from the interaction of the high-speed electrons and the materials that it interacts with, resulting in the death of everything within the nearby vicinity.

However, the real reason why Amun-Ra decided against using Ion cannons and instead opted for this highly dangerous weapon system was not because of its penetrating power or the immediate kill count caused by the ionizing radiation. Instead, it was the side effects caused by the usage of this weapon, both to the user and the victim.

Electrons, when they are forced to change their path during high acceleration, spew deadly radiation. This process is known as Breaking Radiation. This is why Electron beam weapons are not really favored either back on Earth or in this galaxy.

Using Linear accelerators for accelerating Electrons results in low-powered beams that can barely scratch the armor of a Frigate-class ship, while using Circular accelerators, or Synchrotrons, causes the ship carrying the weapon to be irradiated as well if not properly shielded, which leads to heavily shielded ships which increase the power required to operate the weapon alongside the already power-hungry Hyperspace cores. This leads to larger reactors, which once again leads to the increase of the ship’s size. From here problem goes in circles like this exponentially.

However, in the case of Amun-Ra and his companions, they don’t need to worry about the breaking radiation since there is no biological component in their ship aside from the biometal that makes up the ship in the first place. However, for this biometal, any kind of radiation can only serve to further empower it since it was created by DEMETER to clean up Radioactive fallout and clean up a heavily irradiated Earth’s atmosphere in the first place.

This meant that the only ones truly damaged by these devastating weapons were the victims.

Within seconds of the beams penetrating the ship, deadly X-rays and Gamma rays flooded the nearby area within the ship. During this time, the Ammit ship would alight with the enemy ship and release all the accumulated radiation within its hull with the biometal into the enemy ship through the breaches created by the Electron Beams.

Within minutes, all organic creatures within the ship were dead, leaving the Carrier relatively intact for the Ammit to assimilate.

The gigantic machine/ship spread its tentacles and latched onto the now dead ship and finally disabled the communications blackout that the drones had been maintaining ever since they were first spotted by the Raiders. Then, it established communications with its master and started streaming live data as nanite clouds burst out of its tentacles, devouring the ship rapidly and leaving behind no trace of the short scuffle that took place.

The unfortunate Turanic Raiders would not even have an atom of their originally grand Carrier ship and fighters to remember them by.

Once they were done, the Ammit ship retreated back towards the Drone, allowing its internal nanite clouds to start devouring its body as well while it streamed its consciousness back to its master’s core, ready for another deployment, just like the rest of its brethren.

The nanites, on the other hand, carried the dissolved materials toward the drone, which were then turned back into raw materials by the PDA systems, while the defense platforms were moved to be hidden behind the local cluster of asteroids and set to hibernation mode to hide them from enemy detection systems.

With its task done, the drones got back to their primary objective of keeping an eye on the surrounding space.

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“..So, we can turn Kharak into a garden world?”

{With a century or more, yes. The system was already near perfect when a people on the brink of extinction created it. All we did was tweak it during our journey across the stars and streamline most of its functions. With a few modifications to the ARTEMIS and DEMETER subordinate function to remove foreign lifeforms and include yours, we can turn Kharak into a world you can call home indefinitely.}

“You know what? Let's wait until we get to Hiigara to do that. The life forms on Kharak are mostly extinct with what little remains nearly dead as well. The desserts are expanding by the day and there are fewer and fewer resources for our people with each passing month. It was one of the primary reasons why we sent Expedition Carrier Kapisi and its predecessors in search of Khar-Toba in the first place nearly a century ago.”

{I know, I went through the data. That is why I presented this option to your council today. And, I agree that we should wait until the Mothership leaves for Hiigara to begin this project.}

And it really is the truth.

One of the many things that the game did not mention, maybe because it was a game and not reality, was the hundreds upon hundreds of issues faced by the average Kushan daily thanks to living in an arid world that is nearly the polar opposite of the Garden world that Hiigara is.

The problems of growing food, finding water, and creating shelter that is not swept away by the calamitous sand storms that ravage this planet regularly are the biggest issues. It was these problems, along with religious and racial discriminations across the two major Kiithid of the time that led to the Heresy Wars in the first place, after which the Nabaal emerged from their valley with the most advanced technology of the time, steam power, and its industrial applications, that led to the political body of the Daiamid being established.

Back when the Hiigarans were exiled to this world, they were expected to all die within a generation, which was the primary purpose of their ‘exile’. However, the tenacity of the Kushan people allowed them to establish a civilization in the poles of the planet where the climate was temperate and closer to their homeworld.

A trait that I have come to admire greatly in the relatively short time I have spent among them. Especially since these people are not their ancestors, who actually deserved to be punished, albeit not as harshly as they were.

These people have learned from their suffering and the wars of the past, learning to embrace their diversity and shedding most of their bias. They have learned to keep an open mind and to be adaptable to any situation.

Again, a very admirable trait.

That is why I decided to help these people beyond what we initially agreed upon. By modifying the Zero Dawn project to match the needs of the Kushan people and help them turn this prison into a paradise.

Because people as friendly and open-minded as these deserve to be helped.

“Then, it is decided. Once The Mothership is gone, we will start on this Project: Zero Dawn, and start working on reversing the climate crisis of Kharak. Although, there are several parts of the project that I have questions about.”

I nodded towards Varek as he pointed towards the POSEIDON subordinate function.

“From what I can see from the briefing, this function is meant to detoxify the oceans of a planet, correct?”

{Correct.}

“My question is, how do you plan to detoxify an ocean that doesen’t exist in the first place?”

I manipulated the screens to display the data of the plans that Vast Silver and I came up with precisely to counter this problem.

{One plan is to conduct several orbital drops with Asteroids and Comets rich in Ice into the Dessert. Another plan is to use a large cloud of nanites to disperse the water from the same asteroids and comets to create artificial rains that would last for years on end, creating the oceans in question. Granted, the oceans formed will not be anything much compared to a true garden world, but still, it is better than nothing.}

“Hmm, sounds like viable plans. Although, I am more favorable to the nanite option than the orbit drop. Something about dropping asteroids sounds extremely scary for the average citizen compared to something like artificial rain. Moving on, my next question.”

Once again, the Sa of Sas manipulated the screen to show the modified MINERVA towers.

“Why do we even need these MINERVA towers? Granted, the advantage of having your personal band of unbreakable communications is a great boon, but what purpose would a planetary shield even serve to us?”

{It is to protect Kharak from the radiation of your star and to keep the fragile atmosphere from leaking out during the terraforming process. In the worst case, it can even protect your people from any stray asteroids heading toward the planet and from any potential enemies.}

Varek raised an eyebrow in confusion before looking at his fellow Kiith-Sa.

“…What enemies? Amun-Ra? Why would we even have enemies in the starts when we are only just beginning to reach the galactic stage?”

I did not have the heart to tell this optimistic man that his people were already doomed from the beginning thanks to the actions of his ancestors.

Fortunately, we still have five more years before the launch of the Mothership where I can slowly break the news to them by pretending to stumble upon the information through my drones.

Truly, it was the best decision of my life when I forced the Daiamid to delay the launch of the Mothership by three years in the pretense of trading and integrating more of my technology into their very first colony ship.

For now, I obfuscated the truth with lies.

{You can gain enemies just as easily as you can gain allies in the stars. You might not have done anything yet, but there will always be those who seek to exploit those who are weaker than them. And as discouraging as it is to hear this, The Kushan are weak. I am still better off since what I lack in terms of Hyperspace and other such things, I more than make up for it with my weapon systems and industrial capability. But you are a fledgling civilization making your first foray into space who has none of the advantages that I do. At least, not yet. So, it is prudent to keep your people safe during your most vulnerable phase}

The understanding and gratitude on the faces of all the Kiith-Sa made me feel guilty for lying to them. But, it is a necessary lie that I will reveal soon enough so I did not dwell too much on it.

“Thank you, Amun-Ra, for thinking so far about the safety of my people, truly.”

I once again nodded towards Varek who pointed towards the HADES function.

“Then, I will ask you the final question I have. What if this HADES function goes out of control? Won’t we be dooming our people even earlier than they would have been without this project?”

{Normally, you would be right. However, you don’t have to worry about it too much. Seth will be overseeing the project personally, as the Subordinate functions will be directed by him. During this operation, he will make sure to keep an eye on the HADES function to mitigate any adverse effects to Kharak even if the project goes wrong and HADES is invoked to reset everything.}

The worry on his face lessened considerably at my words.

“In that case, I don’t have any more questions and agree to your plan. Although, I must ask, are you and your companions alright with separating for such long periods for the sake of my people like this?”

A chuckle escaped the voice synthesizer on the Servator body I was using.

{We are fine with it. In fact, Vast Silver is so excited about his trip with the Mothership that he is literally counting the seconds until its launch. Seth is also excited about the challenge that he is to undertake should you approve of Zero Dawn. As for me, I have always been an explorer and there is nothing I find more exciting than to go out there and study everything that interests me.}

I paused to think for a bit about my upcoming plan before continuing.

{Then again, my plan is to launch alongside the Mothership and head to my own targets before regrouping with it near Hiigara, so I won’t really be long for too long. The only one who is truly going to be separated from us for long will be Seth since he will have to remain on Kharak for at least a Century for Zero Dawn. However, I have already judged the nature of your people in the past year, and I am confident that he will not be truly alone during his stay. Especially if the people of Kiith S’jet have anything to say about it.}

“Of course, we won’t leave him alone! Can you imagine the potential breakthrough to be had in the field of artificial intelligence and computing in general by talking with an uploaded mind??”

Varek gave a tired sigh as Tovan S’jet, the Kiith-Sa of the S’jet shouted out his opinion on my words as I chuckled once again at the antics of these people.

Despite the relatively little interaction I’ve had with this ruling body, I have already realized that Tovan S’jet and Ryn Somtaaw are two peas in a pot with brash, curious, and reckless personalities tempered by their age and their single-minded pursuit for the betterment of their people.

Indeed, these people truly deserve to be helped and protected from what fate has in store for them.

As I watched the council devolve into bickering about the various problems and challenges with Zero Dawn and which place should function as the test bed for it, I continued working on the list of things I needed to do.

After all, this galaxy is a treasure trove of technology and I would be damned if I didn’t exploit it to the fullest.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ammit Ship: