A Horus in Strange Lands (Horizon Zero Dawn SI) Chapter 13

“….Amun-Ra. Your terms, while very tempting, are also very scary.”

{Why? I do not see any problems with it.}

“You are willing to prepare an entire colony ship, fabricated and ready to use, and pointed towards Sirius X. In exchange, all you are asking is for GAIA’s subroutines and a non-aggression pact. No matter how I look at it, it is simply illogical for you to gain so little in exchange for giving us so much”

At Sobeck’s words, Amun-Ra gave her a flat look before showing projections on the screen in front of them.

{While your thoughts are not wrong, you are making a fundamental mistake. I am not a human and you are not dealing with a Human company when building the Mesket. As you can see from the projections, compared to my entire resourcing operation, the material requirement and manufacturing for creating a single Mesket is practically nothing for me.}

“…In that case, you don’t mind giving us more benefits right?”

The humans in the conference room gave Elizabet a surprised look but instantly felt nervous when Amun-Ra gave them a raised eyebrow at the request.

{I am listening. Go on.}

“We need your help in contacting the Moon base and see if any of them survived until now. We did not have the resources to do anything about our workers and scientists stranded up there ever since the Plague began more than two years ago. But, with the leeway provided thanks to your efforts-“

{I am afraid that is a futile endeavor. Dr. Sobeck. Everyone on Moon Base-1 and Heaven Cent mining base is dead. Many of them committed suicide are they learned of what was happening on Earth to their families and loved ones. The rest fought among themselves for control over the limited resources left until all of them perished.}

Shock was the primary emotion that everyone felt at those words before Travis spoke up.

“And how do you know that?”

In response, Amun-Ra projected another screen that showed the desolate and ruined bases of humanity’s Helium-3 mining facilities and the scientific research center known as Moon Base-1.

{This is a live feed, by the way.}

General Herres shot to his feet at those words.

“Your forces are on the moon?”

{Indeed. My forces have been on the moon for some time now, scavenging anything of use, and are currently mining Helium 3 for my Fusion reactors.}

“Fusion reactor-Sobeck!! You gave him that data without consulting anyone??”

“Enough, Dr. Ronson.”

“General! She just gave him something that we could have used-“

“She did not give Amun-Ra the plans for a Fusion Reactor, Dr. Ronson. I did.”

This time, everyone in the room could not help but look at the General with a weird gaze.

“…Why?”

{I will provide an answer to that question. Please look at the screens.}

Amun-Ra once again manipulated the screens to show a different sight. This time, a massive battle was taking place between two groups of Faro bots.

On one side were the standard swarm of Faro bots with their Horus titans, Khopesh heavy weapons platforms, and Scarab infantry.

On the other side, was a smaller group with a distinct coloration of gold, silver, and metallic orange. This group was made up of Horus Titans, Scarabs, Khopesh, and a large contingent of Ikem units that worked on guerilla tactics and took out the enemy from multiple angles while the main force concentrated on containing the enemy at a distance.

Suddenly, the forces that clearly belonged to Amun-Ra pulled back to a large distance. The confusion that the humans felt at this action did not last for long before the entire area that the enemy forces occupied was annihilated with massive explosions.

Then, the screen shifted to move toward the orbit before revealing a behemoth of a station that was clearly responsible for the attack.

A massive cylindrical structure with a barrel pointed down at the planet with thrusters placed across it to control its movements.

Overall, it did not look like much, but in fact, it is a weapon of mass destruction. It is a massive coil gun that uses tungsten rods as ammo which are shaped aerodynamically and with foldable flaps to control its angle and direction mid-flight.

It is the Rods from God concept of orbital weapons devised by humans a long time ago, taken to the logical extreme by Amun-Ra.

{That, is the Uraeus Crown. My orbital weapons platform. This is also the reason General Herres gave me the designs for the Fusion Reactor.}

“So, what? You threatened him to kill all of us with that if he did not give you the blueprints?”

“No, Dr. Ronson. He gave me the blueprints for the Uraeus Crown in exchange for the Fusion Reactor blueprints.”

{Indeed. While that weapon is something of strategic importance and will play an important role in my fight, it will also be of great use to your people if you still want to continue the fight against the Faro bots. Besides, the power required to operate something that massive and power-hungry is something that I could have afforded on my own. So, consider this a collaborative effort on our part.}

Herres nodded at Amun-Ra’s words.

“Correct. Although, I did not expect you to design and fabricate something of that scale in a single night.”

{What can I say? I am efficient. I take it you are satisfied with this then?}

“Yes. Send me those designs, and I will send all the information that I have about our military hardware and will update our IFF to mark you as an ally.”

With his part done, General Herres sat back down in his seat despite the various levels of looks leveled at him.

“…..Do you still want that data on GAIA’s subordinate functions?”

“Elizabet??”

Dr. Sobeck ignored the outraged look from her fellow Alphas and stared at Amun-Ra, hoping for a positive answer.

{I do. And from your body language, I believe you have a proposition for me.}

“Yes. I will give you all the data on Project: Zero Dawn and exclude your IFF from MINERVA’s protocols. In exchange, I want your help.”

{With what?}

“I need you to guard what is left of humanity until their natural lifespans come to an end and continue to look after GAIA until the new human civilization is born.”

{….Putting aside the practically impossible task you are asking of me, what do you mean by looking after humanity until their natural lifespans come to an end? Do you mean I need to look after those survivors in the bunker until their descendants and Zero Dawn’s humans can safely cohabit the Earth?}

Elizabet gave a humorless smile to the machine’s hologram.

“No, I mean exactly what I mean. Look after the survivors until their lifespans come to an end. As for their children, you won’t have to think about them since there will be none.”

{Elaborate}

Herres stood up from his seat and took Amun-Ra’s attention on himself, allowing Elizabet to hide her emotional breakdown and start composing herself again.

“As you know, Operation: Enduring Victory housed the survivors all over the world across all of our bases until the discovery of your Duat bunkers.”

Herres manipulated the screens and showed data that both were highly intriguing and mildly disturbing for Amun-Ra.

“During those times, we had few resources left to properly diagnose the survivors for any illness and problems they might have had. As long as they were alive, it was good enough for us.”

“However, after the discovery of your Duat bunkers and the resources within, we were finally allowed to treat those survivors with proper medical care. It was during these treatments that we discovered the damage that this war has done to what’s left of humanity.”

Amun-Ra compiled the data on the screens and referenced the APOLLO archive’s medical database to arrive at a single, irrefutable, conclusion.

{They are all sterile, including all of you.}

Herres gave a dejected nod.

“You don’t have to worry about the next generation since there won’t be a next generation. This humanity is functionally extinct. That is why, we need you to guard GAIA from any unforeseen problems after we are gone.”

{Putting aside the problem that you and Dr. Sobeck seem to be the only ones willing to trust me with such a responsibility}

Amun-Ra glanced at the other Alphas who were either glaring at him or giving suspicious glances.

{I simply cannot do what you ask of me. General. My current plan is to leave this planet behind once I am done collecting what I need and fulfilling my end of the bargain in assisting you in dealing with the Faro plague.}

Dejection flashed through Herres’s face as Elizabet simply bowed her head in worry as Tilda hugged her from the side.

{….That being said. I cannot just deny your request without at least considering it. So, I believe another meeting is in order.}

With those words, Amun-Ra disappeared from the room, leaving behind a group of humans that were left more divided yet ever more united to discuss and sort things out between themselves.