A Horus in Strange Lands (Horizon Zero Dawn SI) Chapter 26

At the landing pad that was used by the Kushan for all of their space shuttles that traveled between the planet and the Scaffold in the orbit that held the Mothership, A titanic Space Shuttle landed gently under the awe-filled gazes of the Kiith-Sas and the Sa of Sas.

Due to the weaker gravitational pull of Kharak, the people of Kushan were no strangers to massive machines and vehicles. But, even for such people, the monstrously large space shuttle was a sight to behold.

As the leaders of the Kushan people waited patiently, barely containing their awe and excitement, the ramp of the shuttle slowly lowered, and revealed three humanoid silhouettes under the glare of their sun.

But, as the three humanoids descended from the ramp, their awe slowly turned into confusion and uncertainty.

The metallic gleam, the robotic eyes, the mechanical movements, and the subtle whirring of motors, all of these strange things gradually exposed the true nature of their visitors.

“By the great Sajuuk! What are they?”

“Sush! They will hear you.”

“Sorry, It’s just, that I can’t put this emotion into words.”

The various whispers that ran among the gathered crowd did not escape the ears of the Kiith-Sa and the Sa of Sas, and neither did they escape the audio receptors of their visitors.

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As I heard the whispers around me, I felt the unpleasantness I remember feeling when dealing with the humans all those years ago.

Are these people going to act just like the humans back on Earth did? Rejecting me and my companions simply because we are different?

Suddenly, one of the various Kiith-Sa within the group moved forward swiftly.

It was a man who was well into his elderly years, with grey hair and markings on his face that depicted him as the leader of his people.

“Welcome, visitors. I am Kiith-Sa Aeron S’jet. Please don’t mind me asking this, but what are you? Are you organic beings clad in metal exosuits? Or are you born as mechanical life forms? What do you people think about culture? Religion? Do you have politics? How about-“

The questions kept coming like a machine gun. Fortunately, the man that I recognized as Varek Nabaal from the diplomatic package we received a few hours ago, walked forward and placed a hand on Aeron S’jet’s shoulder.

“Aeron, old friend, I think you are overwhelming our visitors with your curiosity, not that I can blame you for it since I too am barely suppressing myself. However, I think it is prudent to let them speak first before you jump on them like this.”

All the ill feelings and dark forebodings that I had been feeling until now vanished into thin air as I finally understood the reason why all of these people were whispering at the sight of our bodies that we created based on the Servitor bodies on Earth.

These people were afraid, no doubt about it, but their curiosity and awe were much more powerful than their fear. They were whispering, not because they despised us, but because they were intrigued by our appearance.

I gave a subtle glace to Vast Silver and Seth, who both nodded, indicating that I could proceed with the plan.

With renewed confidence, I walked forward and used their language, the Kushan tongue, to address the leaders and the people around us.

{Greetings, people of Kharak, the Kushan. I am Amun-Ra, and behind me are my companions, Vast Silver, and Seth. We come in peace and wish to engage in dialogue and, possibly, trade with your people.}

The sheer delight on the faces of the leaders and the whooping all around us from the regular folk who were watching made me glad.

Glad that we did not make a mistake in trying to speak with Organics and try to achieve peaceful trade again after what happened on Earth.

The Sa of Sas moved forward and gave a slight bow in greeting.

“I, Varek Nabaal, the Kiith-Sa of the Kiith Nabaal and the Sa of Sas, thank you for the peaceful greeting. We agree to engage in dialogue as we too wish to establish a potential trade with your people.”

Sorry to disappoint you, Kiith-Sa, but there are no ‘people’ behind us. Just us.

I withheld those words since this was not the place for such a discussion.

“Please, come with us. We will lead you to the Daiamid, our seat of power, where we can discuss things in much detail.”

{Of course. Lead the way, Kiith-Sa Varek.}

With that, we headed out from the ramp and saw a large procession of vehicles that looked similar to cars but did not have any wheels. From what my sensors were indicating, this thing had some kind of hover technology that I could not understand without a thorough analysis. At least, from what my sensors are telling me, their version of Hover technology is very much superior to what the humans of Earth were beginning to experiment with before the Faro plague.

A very impressive feat of engineering. Something that I will have to bring up later at the potential trade discussion.

As the car moved along the massive highways, I saw various transportation that were eerily similar to the trucks and long-haul road transports from back on Earth. Frankly, it is very disturbing to find something so similar in such an alien world.

{What do you make of this? How can they develop along such a similar path?}

[the only answer that I can come up with right now is convergent evolution, both biologically and technologically.]

{Biologically? You mean you already managed to decode their DNA?}

[Wasn’t really hard, thanks to our APOLLO and ELUTHIA databases. Their DNA is extremely similar to Humanity, but various genetic markers make them a completely different species with a completely different origin. I assume the same thing applies to their technology. Externally, they look similar to what we are used to, but internally, they might be completely different.]

{Makes sense. I guess we will have to wait until we can get our hands on them to experiment with.}

[I can’t wait for that.]

{Neither can I.}

I pulled out from our mental conversation and kept an eye on the surroundings.

Really, I can’t wait to understand how these people work and how advanced or primitive they are in terms of technology.

This time around, I will not make the same mistake I did previously and overly invest in the future of a species that might not even be grateful for my efforts. But, I will give them a chance. A chance to win my alliance through actions instead of words.

However, if they truly prove themselves to be different from humans, if they are really appreciative of my efforts and are willing to treat me as their equal, then I will do for them what I did for humanity.

I will give it my all to protect and guide them into a brighter future.

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Kharak Hover Car:

Kharak Hover Truck: