Victory Through Unity! (Planetary Annihiliation Self Insert Multicross)

[Flameal15k]

Vivian groaned as she put on the dress - not because it was garish (it was magnificent), nor because she disliked the ceremony she was to were it for (that was something she was rather looking forward to). No, the reason she was groaning was because it was too damn small! How come her parents couldn't arrange a tailor to make a new one? Her father was royalty, for heaven's sake - surely he could have arranged for a new dress to accommodate her growth spurt. They certainly had the money.

Knowing groaning would get her nowhere, the princess merely resigned herself to having to deal with the less-than-comfortable garment and finished her preparations for the festival. Nothing too special, this one - just a tradition between nobles and royalty. She half expected an incident of some sort to occur - scandals involving nobility were depressingly common, and he would not be surprised if she found two of her equals getting to know each other….a bit too thoroughly. If one of those were one of her elder siblings, though...best not to think about that. Beyond staining the family name for, at worst, a year, embarrassing actions here would only serve to damage the pride of those involved.

And Clarice could certainly live with having her ego deflated a bit.

A knock at the door drew the princess out of her introspection. Hastily finishing her efforts to dress herself - thank the heavens she didn't have to sue a girdle yet - sheput on her shoes and opened the door. There, Leal stood with an outstretched hand, dressed in the finest of silks.

"Are you ready, my mistress."

Vivian smiled. "Of course. Let us be off."

XXXXXXXX

The trip had been short, but when you lived close to the location of the festival, and more importantly, had a multi-legged worm that could travel through alternate universes, travelling anything short of multiversal distances became a triviality. Arriving with an hour to spare before the festivities began in earnest, Vivian took a moment to examine the location for this year's party - a reunion, of sorts.

The chosen site was an old castle, owned both de-jure and de-facto by the builders, her mother's kind. As the builder's overseeing it shared no ties with her maternal kin, there was less fear that someone would try to exploit the party to eliminate rivals - and besides, there were still new lands to conquer, all rich in resources, yet vacant of intelligent life. Squabbling here ran the risk of drawing the ire of everyone else. As for the castle, it was, at first glance, primitive, but closer examination revealed it to be far more advanced than meets the eye - radio and satellite dishes had been added to accommodate modern communication, automated defenses had been moved in, and hyper efficient vertical turbines had been acquired to provide power for a variety of projectors and speakers, all in preparation for tonight's gathering. The best security available had been brought in - military personnel and the best mercenaries money could buy stood side by side, watching all guests as they arrived - no chances were being taken.

This year, it was Vivian's duty to escort her younger siblings to their part of the festivities, where they would enjoy more childish interests - games, movies, books, the like. The elder ones would join her in the main festivities, while their parents gossiped and enacted diplomatic plans with each other. Of course, age did not equal maturity - she knew one of tonight's guests would be bringing in her newly acquired pet hydra to flaunt.

Passing through one of the doorways, Vivian was careful to avoid knocking over a vase carrying servant, who was just as elated as she was about this festival - those of lower classes were given freedom from their feudal oaths tonight, so they were also intent to enjoy this time as best they could. Furthermore, both lords and commons were expected to partake in each other's pleasures, for tonight, they were equals.

On the off chance that a commoner and high ranking noble wished to marry, they could do so tonight with social stigma - there were certainly perks to spending a night as equals.

Vivian, of course, would not have to worry about that - at one hundred and sixty eight, she was still too young to be interested in such matters, if only due to her mother's influence.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"So, enjoying the party?"

"Of course I am, Clarence. Though I admit, having a dress just a half-size too small is taking away from my happiness."

"I see. Well, you can't plan for everything."

"Would you two stop gawking? We have an owlbear to catch!"

Grinning, Viv merely nodded, before moving to join Julia and her other friends. Soon, the hunt would begin.

Saddling up on horseback, Viv and her friends began the ride out to the nearby forest - originally arranged for an out-door ball, the plans had been put on hold due to the unexpected arrival of an albino owlbear - one that some of the young lords and ladies had decided to hunt.

Said owlbear was now fleeing across the plains, surrounded by young lords and ladies, all carrying lassoes and tranquilizer darts. Taking care to not get too close, Julia threw the first dart, followed by Clarence, then Mike. After the three darts had been thrown, the team switched to their ropes - the beast would soon tire, and then they could take it down. Yet it refused to lose without a fight. It jinked and swerved as ropes were thrown its way, doing its best to avoid being caught. Even being caught by three lassos was not enough to hold it, for it simply tugged hard, catching Julia, Mike, and Clarence by surprise and knocking them off their horses. Though it was growing tired, it had managed to throw off most of its pursuers, and would soon be free.

Then Vivian rode up to the beast and leapt forward, landing a few meters in front of it. Coming to a halt, the beast reared up, trying to scare her off. When that failed, it lunged.

That was a mistake.

Sidestepping the beast, Viv grabbed it beneath the arms, lifted it skywards, and fell backwards, slamming it into the ground. A moment later, the beast went limp - knocked unconscious by the girl's prodigious strength.

"....Showoff."

"Would expect anything less from me?"

The boy thought for a moment, before nodding in the negative. "Not at all."

"Good, now help me load this thing up so we can move it somewhere else - we have a dance to get to!"

XXXXXX

Said outdoor dance was enjoyable, though perhaps a little too slow for Vivian's tastes. Her friends seemed to share her sentiments, as the quartet was soon sitting a table, watching the others enjoy the music.

"So, any of you have interesting stories to tell?" questioned Viv. She, unfortunately, had nothing to share since their last meeting, a month prior.

"None here, unfortunately," intoned Clarence, "though my parents are pushing for me to focus on my architectural studies.."

"You mean the ones you get from the teacher that hates your guts and only hasn't kicked you out because both his parents and yours will skin him alive if he does?" questioned Julia.

"The same."

"Ouch. Well, someone tried to break into my house and steal our giant leeches - apparently the chemicals we get from them fro medicine sell for a small fortune on less than legal markets."

"Julie, didn't your mom sell some of them on a grey market?" inquired Mike, making a small jab at the irony of the situation.

"You can't prove that....but yes."

"Ha ha ha."

"What about you, Michael? Anything interesting happen around your family's lands?"

"One thing, I guess."

Viv seized on the opportunity. "And what might that be?"

"There's been some reports by some farmers and masons that something's been attacking their homes - something big, by the sounds of it. Animals killed, buildings damaged, the like Police were sent in to investigate, but when they came back, half of the force sent needed to go to the emergency room. No fatalities, but one guy's still stuck in a wheelchair."

"Are your parent's going to send their personal guard in? Or perhaps the army?" asked Julia.

"No. They're not gonna do anything about it. Not a damn thing."

"What?!" shouted Viv, grateful that everyone else was too focused on the music to listen in. "Why?!"

"Assuming it moved where we think it did, it is no longer in our jurisdiction to act. It's been moving toward a different lord's lands."

"And who might that be?" prodded Viv. "I'm certain I can convince them to-"

"It's headed to the lands owned by the House of Konig...That's another name for your family, isn't it?"

Upon hearing those words, Viv deflated. "...Yes, it is."

"Ouch. So, you think you could get your parent's to act? This thing's torn a path of destruction of couple of miles wide, and each attack is more vicious than the last. We might be in real trouble if it isn't put under control soon enough."

"I'll speak with my parents after the party is over. I'm certain I could convince them to intervene."

"Good luck."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

I blinked in confusion, still mulling over what I had just seen. This was one of Viv's memories, no doubt, but why was it so important. Why did she want me to see this?

...I guess I'd have to see the rest to understand.

But first, I had more monsters to hunt.

XXXXXXXXX

AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!​

 

[Flameal15k]

Ginning, Celm took aim at his target, taking pains to ensure his aim was true. His foe, trying to find an opening to defeat the progenitor, had tried to flank him, only to find himself dangerously exposed, and lacked the speed to seek shelter before the bullets could fly. Desperately, he tried to defy fate and took aim at his opponent.

Celm pulled the trigger.

The man let out a pained yelp as a bullet few through his heart AND lungs, perforating all three as it exited his body.

Without missing a beat, Celm cambered another bullet.

A second shot hit his target in the throat, followed by a third to the femoral artery, a fourth to his groin, and finally, a fifth bullet to his head.

The corpse hit the ground with a thud.

"YES! YES YES YES! SUCK IT, YOU FOOL! KISS MY BOOTS!"

"Really, honey?" questioned Milsamrina, "you are whooping for joy over a video game match victory? That you went out of your way to be petty over?"

"..Killjoy," replied the progenitor in question, annoyed at having his victory spoiled. Annoyance soon turned to amusement, though. "Isn't that rather hypocritical, coming from you?"

The xziphid could only give a smirk at this. "Oh, please, don't try to play that card - I am leagues less petty than you are."

"Isn't the girl you just lassoed and put in front of a moving train the same one that killed you five times in a row and fed you to an alligator after that?"

Instantly, the she-ROB lost her composure, breaking out into an embarrassed cold sweat as she tried and failed to stutter out a response. The smirk that had been on her face now occupied her husband's, and had grown more pronounced. "Don't try to call me out on being petty when you are worse than me in that regard," he chided, before letting out a laugh.

Said laugh was cut short when he was forced to duck under a curled-club-esque object that flew toward his head. Dodging it, Celm focused his attention on said club, only to realie it wasn't a club, but a reptile tail...specifically, his wife's.

"Please, do stop being petty."

"Only when you do, my wife."

Incensed, Milsanrima lashed out again, only for her husband to grab ahold of the base of her tail.

She let out an angry growl at this.

Then he started rubbing the tail between his thumb and the rust of his hand.

Instantly, the anger was replaced with embarrassed blushing, and then a soft moaning. "...Um, p-please stoop."

After a few moments, he acquiesced. "Well, okAAAYY!"

*WHUMP*

Celm did even have time to finish his thoughts before his wife pounced, sending both of them flying through a nearby wall. A moment later, a pair of Coelohim entered the room and logged them out of the game, ignoring the sounds of destruction and devastation coming from the other room. Whatever had happened, though, they knew Celm probably had it coming.

XXXXXXXX

"Dammit, why the hell did that girl put me on a train track?" questioned Operative Zeta. "I mean, just...just...why?!"

"You did kill her five times, then tie her up and throw her into the Saint Denis swamp to get eaten by an alligator," answered Tau. "Just let it go."

"You mean like how you let the guy who shot your character in the nuts go free?"

"I fed him to mountain lions and bears, threw him off a cliff, shot up his face, and tea-bagged him. I'd honestly be surprised if he went for less than three shots when he killed me."

"...Fair enough. Back to killing zombies in Black Ops?"

"Yep."

XXXXXXXXX

The probe looked over the set of cryopods before it. Here, a group of children were resting, calmly dreaming of something - the probe had not the technology needed to discern their dreams.

It had been a few years since the Faro Plague had conquered the world - the probe had arrived at best a week before Zero Day, leaving it with no time to stop the swarm. It had instead done what it could - gather up the survivors, place them in stasis, then prepare to start over. It had been fortunate to be in possession of an entire backlog of Earth's myriad wildlife - the Great Dreamer had preserved samples of all life forms from its arrival to its second awakening, and had made sure to store them away from T'leth, sparing them from destruction when the ship had exploded. Even dinosaurs were amongst the beasts it had within its vaults. Now free of most threats to their existence, the creatures were able to return from extinction...or at least, they would when the Great Dreamer bothered to tell the Commander about that.

….Well, technically it had told him about that, but he hadn't really been paying attention.

Its rounds examining the cryopods done, the probe began its next task - examine the underground gardens it had built. Contained within were various plants and livestock, meant to sustain the people within until Project Zero Dawn could complete its objective. The machine had briefly tried to overcome the Faro Plague on its own, but the crash had damaged its cyberwarfare routines - it could defend itself well enough, but attacking was out of the option. Thus, it had been forced to hole up here and wait for things to get better.

Hopefully, the Commander would find it soon enough - it was getting lonely down here.

A proximity alert drew the machine out of its ponderings - something was walking over the base.

…...Scratch that, someone had collapsed on top of the base. Why was that even happening? Whatever had collapsed was human in appearance, but none of the Faro robots had humanoid forms, and the only human who would be on the Earth's surface on this time would be....oh.

Hastily, the robot sent out a trio of rescue drones to greet the new arrival. Hopefully, they would be able to save her.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Look's like we got him, partner!"

The Sapphire Star merely nodded as he stared at the slumbering form of the Tempered Deviljho. How nature could make the World Eater even tougher was utterly beyond him. Still, they had managed to bring it down, and now, the Commission would have the opportunity to examine the tempered brute wyvern in peace.

Of course, with the number of wyverns that were crawling out of the woodwork getting higher, there was only so long before there'd be another specimen they wanted - the death of Zorah Magdaros and Xeno'Jiiva had released enough Life Force to attract monsters from all over the world. Hopefully, they wouldn't cause too many problems...at least, not until the Commission could call in more help.

"Don't worry," assured Zoe. "We'll get help soon enough."

"..How'd you know what I was thinking about?"

"Lucky guess."

"Oh....Thanks."

"You're welcome....you think the two who fell out of the sky are, well, just the start?"

"...Could you explain?"

Zoe sighed, adjusting her goggles. "We've already had Behemoth fall out of the sky, now we have those two. What if you creatures and people start coming?"

"The Commander* will have a plan, and if he doesn't, we'll figure something out. I mean, we've figured them out before."

"..Yeah, I guess we have," acknowledged Zoe, smiling. Then, surprisingly, her smile turned from one of hope to one of amusement.

"..What?"

"You've been talking a lot more recently. I'm just curious, why?"

"..Just feeling a bit more comfortable now. Things were stressful when we got here."

'Also, you never really give me the chance to talk with how energetic you are.'

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Sure," the Handler replied, not entirely believing him. "...Hey, shouldn't we tell our new friends about Behemoth? Maybe they can explain it?"

"They might."

"Then let's tell them!"

Filled with energy, Zoe made to leave, only to stop barely ten paces from where she started.

"What?" asked the Sapphire Star, confused by his companion's sudden halt.

"Can you answer me one question?"

"What is it."

Slowly, Zoe turned to face her partner. ".....Why did you come to the New World in the first place?!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!​

 

[Flameal15k]

With a heave, I lifted the fish out of the water, leaving it flopping on the land. A moment later, I had it safely secured in a small tank, ready to be returned home.

That made five goldenfry. Let's see if I couldn't get a King Marlin whilst I was at it!

….I wonder if my probe's had found anything? Sure, an odd thought, but one that deserved some examination, nonetheless.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Probe examined the data it had acquired - the collective knowledge of mankind. Millennia of learning compressed into immeasurable bytes of code. Only a drop in the sea compared to what the commander had acquired, but a drop mankind had fought hard to defend.

And, now, so close to being lost forever.

This was all that remained of the one known as Apollo. When the Probe had found the weakened form of Elisabet Sobeck, it had placed her in a modified cryo-pod, desperate to ensure she, at least, survived. At least one of those who had saved the world deserved to see what they had salvaged from annihilation. Yet as it had hidden Sobeck away, it had come to realize that there was so much more that could be done - it could save the Alphas, as well as Apollo. All it needed to do was act.

The probe had found itself too late to save the Alphas, though - Faro had acted too soon for them to be spared. Yet it had managed to spare Apollo from the sword - the subroutine had been assimilated into the Probe when it had, by chance, found an access port to Project Zero Dawn, exposed by a falling satellite. It had not been able to save the other version of Apollo, though - the port had burnt out after the data had been downloaded, and then a signal sent from another facility had caused the nearby wall to self destruct, sealing the facility once more from outside interference. Even though the knowledge of the world had been saved, there was no way to spread it to others - the Gaia facilities had been rigged not only to ignore outside communication, but self destruct if successfully hacked. There was no way to disseminate the knowledge back to the other facilities.

….Well, then it would need to find a different way to spread this knowledge to others. Perhaps it could use humans of its own?

Acting with speed even GAIA could not match, the probe began to modify its facility, making the outer design a replica of the Zero Dawn Cradles. Within, meanwhile, schools were added, as were ectogenesis pods and farming areas.

If it could not disseminate knowledge to the new humans using Apollo, it would find its own way to do so.

As the human habitation facilities were assembled, the Probe also began readying a Cauldron of its own - the Commander had provided it with terraformer machines. It was time those were put to good use.

Within hours, soil purification machines whirred to life, set to begin healing the world around them. Joining them were stitches and military craft, meant to protect them whilst they did their work. Yet however much they outmatched the Faro machines, the Progenitor devices could only do so much - the Probe had lost much of its control networking capacity during the arrival to this universe, and had yet to fix it all. Analysis indicated this, and the other glitches it had experienced, had all come from the attack launched by the creature within the Empyrean Sea.

Said attack no longer looked like an act of predation. It looked like a deliberate effort.

Something had been trying to destroy the probe. But why?

...That didn't matter at the moment. The Commander would figure it out. Right now, the Probe needed to fix the world.

XXXXXXX

Three months had passed. Sobeck had recovered, and was now in a room all her own, though as she was still in cryosleep, she couldn't really enjoy its creature comforts.

Stronger machines had now been created, ready to repair the world anew. It had taken the Probe one week to realize it had a hard counter for the Faro Plague - Sentient war machines, which could adapt to whatever was thrown their way. Furthermore, it didn't need to control them - they were alive and intelligent enough to act on their own.

Thus, a small horde had been deployed, and was now circling around the world, doing what they could to fix it. The Faro plague was still out in force, so this was still going to be a long slog, but eventually, it would end in the favor of mankind.

Perhaps sooner, given that Faro Plague would soon shut down due to GAIA's actions.

Yet as the machine thought over its victory, it soon found a problem: if it wanted to teach the new humans it was creating how to live, they would need to be taught directly. And being taught directly meant they would inevitably want to no more about the probe.

And the probe didn't have a name.

The probe thought on this for a moment, then began devoting its reserves to building a multiversal communication network. It was time to ask the Commander for help. He would know what to do.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Got that Marlin! Now to get ready to go back to Astera..wait, what's this incoming notification?

….One of my probes is calling me? What does it want.

...It ended up on a post apocalyptic world, and now its a teacher for a bunch of kids, and needs a name for them to call it by.

Now let's see, what good knowledge gods can I use? Apollo, Athena, Artemis, Minerva...Coeus?

…..Coeus it is!

XXXXXXXXX

The Probe sputtered back to life. A reply had finally been sent.... about seven hundred years after it had sent out the request. Just about when GAIA had finished fixing the world....how come it hadn't happened faster?

...Seriously? A metal devil had woken up on its own and started fighting the sentient drones, which the GAIA programs had SOMEHOW noticed and decided not to finish rebuilding the world until the devil was scrap.

NOTE: Send commander more information on attack prior to entering this universe. Odds were, something was now watching them.

Ignoring the oddness of the events around it, the newly christened Coeus began activating its ectogenesis pods - it was time for life it to start giving rise to humans. Hopefully, they could impart its wisdom onto others.

Hopefully...

XXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: Sorry about the butterfly nets, but I really want to explore the Horizon Zero Dawn universe as it is, plus important stuff for the upcoming arcs.

Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!

 

[Flameal15k]

I examined the slobber covered ball, only mildly annoyed to have my hand covered in drool. The red fanged wyvern watched me intently, unsure how to react.

Smiling, I threw the ball, allowing the Odogaron to chase it once more. Who would've thought he act so much like a dog?

"Clifford sure is happy, isn't he," noted Viv. I merely nodded in agreement.

Yes, I named one of the most fearsome looking monsters in this world after a certain big red dog. Don't judge me!

Nearby, the Commission's various Palicoes were busy trying to catch all of my monsties, though the rolls of chaser and chased had been reversed several times already, and likely would be reversed several more times before the little monsters were caught...not that the felynes cared, of course. Above them, my rathalos and Legiana were flitted about, managing to avoid all attempts to catch them.

Grinning, I let out a sigh and reclined backwards, taking a moment to enjoy myself. Only a moment, but that was good enough for me.

The sound of footsteps was the first warning I would have of Zoe's arrival. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?"

"The Commander wanted us to pass you a message," was the spirited girl's response. "There's something he'd like you two to do."

"And that is?"

"Well, you've been a lot of help so far, but we can't really send you out against big threats unless we're sure that you can handle them. So, he wants you to hunt an elder dragon."

I almost fell out of my chair as I turned toward them, provoking a stifled laugh from Viv. "What kind, and where?"

"Elder's Recesses. As for the target, it's the first elder I hunted," replied the Sapphire Star, "Nergigante."

"...The Extinction Dragon?"

"Yep," confirmed Zoe. "You think you can take it?"

"..Bring it on."

XXXXX

Donning an alpha set of Barroth Armor and a Tobi-Kadachi greatsword, I made my through the Elder's Recesses, briefly pausing to observe a battle between a lavasioth and an uragaan. Within minutes, the trail led me a clearing, where several gajalaka were milling about, examining some bones.

The relative peace was shattered by a ferocious roar, followed by a huge, black form surging toward me. Barely managing to roll to the side, I found myself staring down what could best be described as the lovechild of a classical dragon and a porcupine. The spiked predator tried to hit me thrice more befoere I returned the favor, managing to knock some of the spines off its arm. Growling, the dragon retreated, and began to circle around, sizing me up.

So this was what Zodd would look like when he grew up. Interesting.

With a hiss, the dragon swiped at me. Blocking the blow, I followed up with an overhead swing, slamming into one of the beast's wings, cracking a few spikes. With a screech, the dragon retreated, only tocounter by slamming its other forearm down, shooting a swarm of spikes my way. Hastily blocking the attack, I loaded a bomb pod into my stinger and fire it, hitting the Extinction Dragon right between the horns. A small burst of spines flew away as the dragon's course was diverted by the force of the blast. Said diversion sent it flying into a large trio of crystals, shattering them on impact. The dragon growled in indignation, then forced itself back up and roared at me.

Soon, a pattern emerged - the dragon would try to strike at me, I would dodge the blows, then follow up with a slash from my blade, always aimed at an area covered in white spikes - always aim for the weak spots! This lasted for quite a while, with Nergigante steadily growing angrier and angrier. Oh, it tried to get in a few hits at me, but it just couldn't keep up the pressure.

Of course, even I made slip ups.

After losing a large number of spines, the Extinction Dragon howled at me, before charging once more. Rolling out of the way, I watched it ram into a large pile of crystals, laughing slightly as it collided with the beautiful minerals.

I soon found myself silenced when one of those crystals flew my way. Letting loose another bellow, the Nergigante threw another large crystal slab my way, trying to hit me with all its force. It repeated this for a while, then charged me. Rolling out of the way, I swung at it..only for my blade to bounce off its hide. A second attempted strike was met with similar results, as was a third.

Crap, its spines had hardened.

Annoyed, I rolled around, trying to find an opening to attack. Unfortunately, the dragon's weakspots had mostly been covered, and the other obvious targets were not exactly things I wanted to strike. Dammit, this was going to be a problem.

Indeed it was, as soon, the dragon batted me aside, then leaped in for the kill...only to get unceremoniously blasted with a bomb. A second followed, as did a third. THe combined force of the explosive objects knocked it into a wall of rock, shattering many of its spikes in the process. As it began to recover, a herd of gastodon charged over a small cliff, with a gajalaka atop each one of them. That must have been the source of the bombs. It seemed that they had decided to intervene, for whatever reason. Not that I was complaining - help was always appreciated.

Forcing myself upright, I charged back into battle against the dragon, taking advantage of my newfound allies to get in plenty of openings against the spiny beast. Slowly but surely, we began to wear it down, and I even managed to break the large spines on its forelimbs. That, however, pissed off the dragon enough to force its way out of the corner we'd boxed it into. From there, we spent some time running away from it, until we found ourselves boxed into a corner. How ironic.

Sensing an opportunity, the dragon leapt at us...only to be tackled by another winged beast. Another dragon, in fact - a Kushala Daora. I didn't even know it was there! Still, its intervention was much appreciated - though the Nergigante was more thank capable of fighting it off, the Steel Dragon refused to just lay down and die, and managed to inflict quite a few injuries upon the Extinction Dragon before it was forced to run. In fact, as soon as the Daora had flown off, the Nergigante decided to makes it retreat.

Yeah right.

I shot my slinger at the dragon and managed to catch one of its legs, allowing me to follow the beast without tiring myself. Not that it was easy, of course - the dragon tried its hardest to fight me off, to no success. In fact, all this resulted in was the Spiky Boy slamming into a wall, then getting blasted by a Nitrotoad. Of course, seeing how it had a full set of black spikes, I wasn't really inclined to gloat. Especially since the dragon was staring right at me. I tried to seek cover, only to trip over a...… an egg?

….Yep, it was an egg. But where was the parents?

I got my answer when the Nergigante leap at me, only to be tackled mid charge by a Teostra. The Flame King Dragon grappled with the Extinction Dragon for a moment, before being thrown aside, but before the Spiky Boy could go for the deathblow, a Lunastra leap at him, saving her mate from harm. She briefly wailed upon the Eater of Elders, before being wrestled off her target, extinguishing her flames. Not to be outdone, the Empress of Flame fired forth a supermova, shattering Nergigante's spines.Realizing he was now at a disadvantage, the Eater of Elders once again attempted to retreat.

Once again, I used my slinger to attach myself to him. This time, though, he didn't try to shake me off. Instead, he just flew low enough to rake me against the ground. Good god, that HURT!

Fortunately for me, we'd flown all the way back to Nergigante's nest, so now, I knew we were in the end game.

Problem was, unlike most other monsters, Nergigante fought even harder when it had one foot in the grave. With a roar, it slammed into one of its nest's walls, sending a trio of stalactites falling toward me. I rolled out of the way, but Nergigante simply followed that up by rake itself around the walls of its nest, which did manage to hit me.

Good god that HURT!

As I slowly began to recover, Nergigante moved to attack again, only to take a flash-pod to the face. Having acquired a moment to recover, I forced myself to stand back up and turned my attention back toward the spiny dragon. Howling (yes, people do that, don't judge!), I swung my balde at the dragon, managing to catch its unarmored belly, causing it to flinch in shock. From there on, we traded blows, each attempting to overwhelm the other. I managed to cut off part of the dragon's tail before it finally knocked me away. Then, before I had a chance to react, it leapt into the air and flew right toward me.

I moved my sowrd to block it.

A moment later, the divebomb impacted, sending me flying away.

A moment after that, I felt several spines go through my chest...ooowwwww.

Forcing myself to ignore the pain, as well as the critical damage my insides had suffered, I forced myself to advance toward the exhausted dragon. Just as the beast recovered, I leapt into the air and began to make an overhead slash.

Before the Extinction Dragon could react, I slammed my blade on its head, shattering its horns.

Shortly after that, the Eater of Elders collapsed, its breath growing short, then ceasing all together.

..I did it. I'd slain an elder dragon.

...Huzzah!

XXXXXX

After allowing the felynes to collect the carcass (and getting a few carves in), I slowly ambled my way back to camp, all the while listening to Viv critiquing my fight.

"Really, I'm sure you could've blocked the spines. Or dodge that divebomb."

"Yeah, that was a stupid move."

"Eh, we all make mistakes. Still-"

Any further criticism of the battle was halted when what appeared to be a cactus suddenly sprinted in front of me...followed by several more cacti...wait, were those...cactuars?

"..I think they were but, how did they get here-"

Suddenly, the cacti scattered as something huge flew above them, landing on the ground some distance away. As the object regained its footing, I realized it was another Nergigante, which swiftly charged out of sight. A moment later, it and a purple creature flew back into my field of vision, with the purple creature managing to overpower the Elder Dragon. As the purple one roared in triumph, finally letting me get a good look at it and....no way. It can't be.

...But it is.

The creature in front of me...

"That thing," began Vivian.

was/"is..."

We finished our thoughts simultaneously.

"Behemoth."

…..HOW THE HELL DID THAT SHOW UP HERE?!?!?!

XXXXXXXX

AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!​

 

[Jormuungaand]

appreciated - though the Nergigante was more thank

Click to shrink...

than

flown off, the Nergigante decided to makes it retreat.

Click to shrink...

make it's

I got my answer when the Nergigante leap at me,

Click to shrink...

leaped

Lunastra leap at him, saving her mate from harm. She

Click to shrink...

Leaped

that, don't judge!), I swung my balde at the dragon,

Click to shrink...

blade

 

[Flameal15k]

I'll fi those later - I have class now.

 

[Flameal15k]

...What the hell was Behemoth doing here?! I mean, just, WHAT THE HELL?!?! Behemoth was from Final Fantasy, not Monster Hunter! Why was it here?!

"THE HELL IF I KNOW! RUN!"

"What do you think I'm doing? See you back at camp in a moment-AHH!"

That last part was me streaming. Of course, who wouldn't when you had a dragon covered in spines thrown at you.

AND I WASN'T EVEN BEING TARGETED!

Rolling out of the way, I watched as the Extinction Dragon recovered, then charged right at the Primal, this time sending it flying back a few feet. Enraged, Behemoth responded by dropping a comet on the dragon. (Which it dodged, unsurprisingly, before going back into battle against the Primal).

Groaning, I tried to run away, only to trip and fall into a pile of rocks. Oh, and a trio of cactuars were hiding behind one of the rocks. One capture net later and I had them caught, and just in time - Behemoth slammed into the ground seconds later, obliterating the rocks the cactuars had been hiding behind. Atop the strange beast, Nergigante was whaling away, attempting to slay the Final Fantasy monster.

Huffing, I made a break for it, charging toward a nearby cave. For reasons beyond me, the two giants followed, still locked in mortal combat. Seriously, why were they following me? I hadn't done anything to make either of them mad, and for those wondering, I was able to determine the Extinction Dragon I had killed wasn't the mate of the one fighting the Magic Beast. Honestly, they just seemed to be interested in killing each other, while I got sucked along for the ride.

...Fuck me.

Mere minutes after I entered the cave, the two monsters barreled through, spooking me, a flock of scale bats, a trio of prism hercudromes, and a herd of gastodon residing in the cave, who had just started to harass me when the two clashing titans charged in. Cursing my luck, I promptly charged toward the Gastodon, and ended up mounted on one as they charged out of the cave. I, meanwhile, worked tirelessly to catch every little critter I could whilst the dinosaur beneath me ran to safety. Behind us, the two giants were tearing the cave apart in an effort to kill each other.

As we charged out of the cave, the gastodon swerved left, just as Behemoth was sent flying. The giant, presumably elder-dragon level monster flew to where we had been, rolled for a moment, then disappeared - apparently it'd gone over a cliff edge.

Thank you, wannabe dinosaurs, for saving my life.

Unfortunately, my troubles weren't over yet - as it vanished, Behemoth hit a large crystal with its tail, which broke free and started rolling toward us. As the gastodon herd was now running down an incline, the crystal only picked up speed as it approached us. Desperately, the boneheads ran, while Nergigante dove over the cliff-face, intent on making sure its opponent was dead.

Soon we reached level ground. Here, the gastodon found themselves joined by another herd, who swiftly stampeded toward safety....as did some slagtoth. The frog-like herbivores barreled forward, pushing and shoving in an effort to escape the giant wall of death. Above, Barnos tried to attack, only to get batted away, with a few unlucky ones crushed either by the stampede or the crystal. The herbivores paid this no mind, focused only on their escape. They even ignored an Uragaan fighting a Lavasioth, not that those were close enough to cause us any trouble.

Eventually, though, the herbivores reached an area too narrow for the crystal to follow. With crash, the giant vitreous silicate came to a halt. Relieved, I let out a sigh.

Without warning, Nergigante suddenly flew over us, followed by Behemoth. It seemed they were interested in round two.

...FUCK!

I groaned as the herbivores continued onwards, occasionally popping off a slinger shot to knock out a following wingdrake. The two dragon continued to duel, ignorant of our presence, though I did see a few herbivores get pancaked in the duel. This went on for some time, until finally we entered a canyon too narrow for them....just as a group of gajalaka charged toward us. DAMMIT!

Groaning, I readied up to fight them, only for the two dragons to shatter the canyon behind us. Seriously?! What the hell?! Why can't they just give up?!

Ignorant of my beliefs, the two beasts fought on, panicking the gastodon into running away. Even the gajalaka's gastodon were not spared. In fact, both herds mixed, leading to an even bigger stampede away form the wrath of the dragons. The barnos just made things worse, trying to injure anything they could find so that it would fall behind the herd and get pancaked by the fighting dragons. One even attacked a gajalaka, and although the wingdrake was soon forced off, the gastodon the lynian had been riding was injured, and starting to lag behind.

Sighing, I shot out my slinger and grabbed the trailing herbivore. One tug later and I was holding both mount and rider, whilst my mount complained about the added weight.

Okay, time to leave.

I brought my finger to my mouth and whistled. A moment later, the Mernos arrived, and one slinger shot later, was crying out in shock as it suddenly found itself hoisting the weight of several another creatures into the air.

Despite all this, it didn't fall as it made its way back home.

XXXXXXXXX

I arrived back at Astera with a loud crash, landing in a heap with my gastodon, whilst the gajalaka skidded to a halt nearby, its own mount groaning in pain. The mernos let out a relieved cry as it promptly flew back toward the Commission's Rookery to rest. When I finally managed to lift my face out of the dirt, I found the Commander's son offering me a hand, as was Viv.

"Sorry about the rough flight."

"Don't mention it," I said, taking their hands. "..SI that thing why nobody was surprised I came from another world?"

"Yeah. As far as we know, that thing came from a meteor from another universe."

"I see. Just one, or more?"

"A couple, along with those cactus creatures you've caught."

"They the only things that came over?"

"From that portal. Another one opened up a few days ago, but we never go the chance to contact you about it."

"It takes a while to travel between parts of the new world on just wingdrake power. I'm guessing the other one opened up whilst we were in the Elder's Recesses?" asked Viv.

"Yeah, actually."

"Well, what came through?"

"Not what, who - a person came through. Someone who wields two swords, has glowing yellow eyes, and has a body covered in scars he got fighting giant monsters."

I gave Viv a look. "And who might he be?" I asked, somewhat confused.

"Says his name is Geralt...Geralt of Rivia."

...Ẇ̮̝͘Ḫ̻̺̰͖͟Ạ͇͓ͪ̄̎̉ͦͮ̀͞T̶̼̥͉͕͈̍ͪ͆ͧ͐̽̏?͓̰̄̐́!͉̫̳͎͓̟̬ͤ̑̒̋̌?̯̞̻̞̮̰̲̔̔͑̒̋!͕̪͚͔̻͍ͧͦ̒̔͆̂̚

XXXXXX

AN: For those who are about to cry foul, Monster Hunter World just released its sixth main update, which added in a quest that let's you play as Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher. It also added in the Leshen as a new huntable monster, and Nekkers as a new type of endemic wildlife to catch.

So, Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!​

 

[Flameal15k]

Cassidy watched as her mother and Commander Flame froze up. It looked like they hadn't been keeping up with Monster Hunter World. A shame.

Still, she wasn't one to fret right now. Maybe they would come home with a Nekker? Or a Leshen? Having either of those as a pet would be nice.

.....Actually, Nekkers would probably be better minions than pets. Oh well.

Pulling her head out of the stars, Cassidy decided to....imitate her parents. They were going hunting, so why couldn't she?

Summoning an elevator to one of her mother's portal rooms, Cassidy hastily summoned up some guns and an x-shaped crossbow. Time to go big game hunting!

As the elevator descended, she briefly passed by Six and Elling's floors. In Six's room, she could already see the female xenomorph dragging in a few corpses to her layer, one of which was now almost unrecognizable, having been turned into an oval-shaped mass. In a few more days, the remains of the apceros would complete its transformation into an ovomorph, one that would wait for the inevitable arrival of a host. Hw long it took for a host to arrive, though, was up for debate.

Arriving at the portal room, Cassidy carefully began setting up the coordinates for the universe she wanted to travel toward, before pressing enter and walking toward the portal.

As soon as she stepped outside, something charged her.

A moment later, a sickening crunch was heard.

Sighing, Cassidy began to peel away the allosaur's skin. Never a dull day on FMM UV-32!

XXXXXXXX

Coeus watched on as the humans milled about, slowly attempting to rebuild their civilization. The Carja were the most civilized, but they still had a long way to go.

Indeed, all of the human civilizations that had arisen from Project Zero Dawn were quite backwards by the standards of modern man, and not without reason - they had only been educated to the level of kindergarteners. The humans Coeus had raised were more civilized, but really, that wasn't being fair to the natives here - Coeus had cheated and given these people a leg up.

Some things hadn't changed, though - Hephaestus had caused the derangement, again, and his machines were getting more combat oriented every day. Helis and his forces had formed Eclipse, and despite his best efforts, Coeus hadn't been able to beat him - Hades had deployed several Farro Plague drones that had managed to battle off the forces the Probe had built. The fact they were able to achieve a victory against Progneitor machinery was...suspect. Perhaps they had external assistance. Unlikely, but the only reasonable possibility at the moment.

Right now, Coeus had a vulture sized spy robot watching the Shadow Carja discussing a plan with HADES, though what they were talking about eluded him - HADES was using a projected screen to communicate, likely having caught on to the Probe's expert sound sensors, and the spy bot could not get a good angle from which to observe the screen. Unfortuante, but still manageable.

For this reason, Coeus was also observing the Nora, with a particular interest in a young outcast. In another time and place, she would be the hero of this world, and if fate managed to halt his hands, perhaps her destiny would go unmolested...though the Probe would do whatever it could to spare ROst from death.

A suddenly shift in the hologram HADES was using caught the Probe off guard. It seemed that the conversation was wrapping up. Indeed, within a few minutes, the hologram faded. Yet before it did, one last clear image appeared, and it made the Probe freeze up.

The screen only displayed a block of text, but it emphasized several words from that text...and one of them was 'proving'.

Hastily, the Probe began to increase production of new machines, confusing the few children who were hanging out by the assembly lines. Additionally, it also sent out a request for the Commander's assistance - nothing could be left to chance, now!

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Fide examined the request from Coeus with an open mind. Every detail must be observed before she could decide if it was necessary to send in her superior to save the Probe and its world.

…..One second after she received the request, she hit the 'approved' button.

Because really, how could she refuse - it would defy all her commander stood for.

A sudden thud from the glass in front of her turned Fide's attention to the form of Synais, who was slwly sliding down the clear barrier, having been launched their by Kathikon. Apparently, she had gotten fed up with his antics...or maybe he had just tried flirting with her. She really got defensive over that.

Moments later, a jellyfish flew through the air, before landing on Synais, causing him to convulse in pain. From atop her raft, Kathikon smirked, before proceeding to....well, that was uncalled for.

Sporting a vicious grin, Fide sent a request for usage of the internal portal network aboard the Extinction. A moment later, and Kathikon found herself falling through a portal....which led straight for an pool of coolant from the Orb Vallis. The poor girl shrieked as her swimsuit clad body felling into the fluid, whose temperature was well below zero.

A moment after that, she was promptly assault by Krillers, which sought to eliminate the unexpected organic presence. The girl whimpered as most of her body was wracked with laser fire. Moments later, a heron-pelican thing promptly scooped her out of the water and threw her back onto land..though not before two krillers got in their last shots at her, managing to break her hand and set her hair on fire.

Well, serves her right for making that gesture.

Medical teams soon arrived to begin helping the battered AIs recover. Fide would be lying if she hadn't grinned when both Kathikon and Snyais cried like babies as giant needles were used to treat their wounds, providing anti-venom for Synais and burn medication for Kathi. The needles were far larger than necessary, but that was the point - Fide wanted them to suffer.

No one interrupts her gaming sessions.

"Orbital Dump Ready."

Good. Now to drop that guy's King Oni back on his stupid Shogun Battleships!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: For those wondering, Kathi gave Synais the figs. Its a gesture with similar meaning to the bird.

Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!

 

[Jormuungaand]

having been launched their by Kathikon.

Click to shrink...

there

clad body felling into the fluid, whose

Click to shrink...

fell

A moment after that, she was promptly assault

Click to shrink...

assaulted

 

[Flameal15k]

The Shard watched as the Nora outcast fought the bandits. With ease he overpowered his assailants, despite their numbers and skill - he was simply their better in all respects. One eventually tried to take him down with a bow whilst he was distracted fighting another, only for the bowmen to be impaled upon a thrown spear, launched by the outcast as he subdued the other raider. Eventually, the remaining raiders fled, unlikely to return. Only then did the outcast allow his exhaustion to show, collapsing to the ground as he tried to catch his breath.

Sudden movement turned the shard's attention toward a set of trees behind the outcast. There, a machine was slowly advancing toward the man - hunting him, it realized. As the outcast regained his breath, the machine made a mistake - perhaps it knocked over a pebble or stepped on a branch. Whatever happened, the outcast sensed the hunter's presence and turned to face it.

Realizing its cover had been blown, the monster charged, ready to go in for the kill. Despite having had time to rest, the outcast was still winded from the previous battle, and though he raised his spear to face the machine, he knew he would not win. That didn't mean he would die without a fight.

Roaring, the sawtooth pounced.

A moment later, it flew into a nearby tree.

Stunned, the outcast stared at the machine, then at his savior - the observing shard. Briefly, the sentient fragment stared at him, examining his features in depth, before turning its attention back to the sawtooth. Focusing on the machine, it began to reach into the automaton's CPU, working to subvert it to its own will.

It took only a matter of moments to subdue and subordinate the machine to the shard's will. Once the process was complete, the sawtooth ran off, no longer seeking the man's death. As it disappeared, the shard turned its attention back toward the outcast, who instantly brandished his spear, daring it to attack him.

The shard stared at him a while longer, then turned away. It had a mission to complete.

Although the exact origin of the Nora's name was a mystery, the most likely source were the crumbling NORAD stations around the Sacred Lands. Some of these likely carried details on where more Faro Plague machines were buried, which would certainly be useful when they woke up in the future. Already, a much larger shard was ambling toward the nearest outpost, ready to harvest the data they would find.

Perhaps this outcast would help them in the future. Then again, perhaps not. True, one individual could alter the destiny of all, but that was still a long shot, by any means...

…..So why did the outcast look so familiar?

XXXXXXXX

"Did you ever see that machine again?" asked Aloy, ever curious.

"Occasionally," replied Rost, who had just finished retelling his tale to Aloy. "Now, though, sightings have become more common. I've seen that machine and its kin on the outskirts of the Sacred Lands, never causing harm, just observing."

"Why?"

"That I do not know. Please, do not concern yourself with this mystery. Focus on the Proving."

"..Of course."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: For the record, I apologize for any OOC tidbits with Rost and Aloy - I'm relying on online walkthrough videos to get their characterization, since I don't have a PS4.

For those wondering, the shard is derived from sentient tissue that flame grew from the cores within himself, and the shard is functionally equivalent to the sentient conculysts and battlysts. The bigger one mentioned to be headed toward a NORAD outpost is the equivalent of a Teralyst.

So, read and review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!​

 

[Flameal15k]

...Okay, so, let's review: I'm a human boy who was shoved into a giant Brutally Efficient Self Replicating Mechanism of War by a Random Omnipotent Being, mostly for her amusement, but also to fulfill the wishes of the creator of said machine. I ended up losing it briefly to biotechnology drones and had to gain control of space magic and take a couple levels in badass to get it back. The ROB I mentioned earlier now serves under me, and has...questionable feelings toward me. I'm currently in a low fantasy universe, where there might be dragons and such, but all of their powers can be explained in scientific ways. Oh, and I'm now faced with a monster and a hunter of monsters from two different universes.

Does that sound about right?

'Questionable feelings?'

I'm not sure how you think of me and I don't know how I feel toward you right now.

'....Fair enough. And it does sound about right.'

Glad to hear. So, what now?

'See if we can help, if nothing else. I've some experience with the beasts of the Witcher world.'

You've been there?

'No - some of those beasts came to mine...well, my old one. I've hunted a chort and met a godling.'

...You have got to tell me about that some day.

Maybe. Now, though, focus on the task at hand.

Alright.

"Alright," I began, attention focused on the Field Team Leader, "to address the Gammoth in the room...well, base, how did this man show up?"

"...A magic portal that opened in the Research Base. He's hunting....something in the Ancient Forest."

"...Any ideas what, exactly?"

"No," conceded the man, "but from what I've heard, it involves...magic. Real magic - not the abilities that monsters use. It did something with some of the tree roots in the forest that's left our Chief Botanist at a loss for words."

"...Oh."

'Any idea what it could be?' was my unspoken question to my ROB.

'Most likely a Leshen or Spriggan,' was Viv's answer. 'Certainly matches what I know about the beasts.'

"Yeah. Listen, we're gonna leave this problem up to the Witcher. We're just trying to make sure he doesn't face any additional trouble. If you want to help, well, be my guest."

Good. "Alright, got any leads?"

"There's been an unusually aggressive Tobi-Kadachi sighted in the forest, my what to start there."

"Thanks for the advice."

I turned to Vivian. "You want to come?"

She gave me an amused smile. "Like you need to ask."

Brandishing a grin of my own, I signaled for wing drake...only to halt when I felt a pair of tiny hands tugging on my leg. Looking down, I found the gajalaka I had saved earlier looking at me.

"..Can I come along? I...want to repay you for saving me."

Their voice, though somewhat garbled and sounding like what I'd remembered from playing Tri with Cha-cha and Kuryamba, was distinctly feminine.

"..Eh, sure. Why not? Though before we go, can I ask your name?"

"...Zora."

XXXXXXXXXXX

I watched as the fanged wyvern fell asleep, only occasionally letting out a huff of breath. Really, this fight hadn't been that hard - I'd faced meaner things by this point, and seeing how this was not a tempered monster, it went down without too much trouble.

Our lynian companion had proven herself quite capable, and managed to briefly stun the cat-snake-squirrel with a well placed bomb. Also, fun fact, she really liked eating steak. Then again, so did pretty much every hunter and felyne I'd met, so that was hardly a surprise. Already, I was planning a victory feast for us back at camp.

Suddenly, a purple light shot up from Astera. Upon seeing it, I couldn't help but smile. It seemed Geralt had bested whatever had shown up in this universe.

..Wonder if I could still meet him. probably not, but still.

As we began to march back to camp, though, I received a message from Fide - it seemed one of my probes was asking for my assistance. When I inquired to why, though, she admitted it had only just asked because it wanted me to save some people. As much as I wanted to help, I declined - my forces needed to learn how to stand on their own, and I needed to be able to trust them to be able to save others when I could not. I told the probe as much, and continued on my way to camp.

I only made it four paces before slipping. As I stood up, though, I found myself staring at a what I had slipped in.

It was a footprint, of all things...but it didn't match up with anything I'd encountered up to this point in the Ancient Forest. I could see a few more prints ahead of it, along with a stain of blood and a broken piece of antler, which our scoutflies were already looking over...oh, and there was a trio of nekkers feasting on a lump of torn flesh.

Hastily catching the ogroids, the three of us began to walk further, eager to see what this creature was. Slowly, our trail lead up deeper into the forest, where more footprints and bloodshed awaited us - it seemed whatever had been here had been a messy eater.

A sudden twig snap alerted us to the presence of...the sapphire star and his felyne companion. What were they doing here?

"....I'm guessing you're following a strange trail of some unknown monster, just like me?"

I could only nod. Looks like he was after the same thing we were.

Deciding that five heads were better than two or three, we united and pursued the trail deeper into the forest. As we did, though, we came to the realization that we were following two separate trails - one belonging to at trio of man-sized monsters, the other to a single, larger beast. Both trails converged toward the same location, though, so it was likely the smaller beasts were either hunting the larger one, or trying to mooch off a kill the bigger one had made.

Once more, we heard a snapped twig behind us. This time, though, we had a good idea of who it was. Sure enough, when we turned around, we found Zoe staring at us, holding two sacks.

"Found something interesting, partner?" She Questioned.

The Sapphire Star nooses, before asking her what she was carrying.

"Oh, this? It's Geralt's reward for killing the Leshen. He didn't think he'd be able to find anyone who'd accept it back where he's from, so he wanted you to have it. As for the other one, it's a runestone. A gift, from him to you. I think you can use it to make magic!"

I smiled at her antics, as did Viv and the Sapphire Star. After she cooled down, we gestured for her to follow us as we continued along the trail.

We didn't have much further to go - we soon arrived in a clearing, where we were greeted by the carcass of an Aptonoth being examined by....Geralt?!

And that wasn't even the strangest thing! No, that honor went to the two portals right next to the carcass.

Finally noticing us, the Witcher merely nodded in our direction.

"Nice to see you again, Sapphire Star...and I assume you two are the two travelers I've heard about? The ones from another world?"

"Yep," was Vivian's response. "You find anything interesting in that carcass?"

"Something familiar, but I'm not exactly sure what-"

Suddenly, a low growl interrupted our conversation. Turning, we found ourselves staring at a group ghouls - likely the creatures that had made the smaller footprints. Immediately, we brandished our blades, ready to fight back.

"Looks like we found our target," quipped Viv.

"Weren't there two different trails?" was Zoe's response.

Thank you for having a good point, girl. Of course, I had no idea what could have made the other trail-*RARGH*

Confused and shocked by the interruption, we all briefly turned toward the roar, and found ourselves staring at a fiend. If I had to make a guess, that was what had killed the Aptonoth, and it did not want its kill stolen.

Unfortunately for all of us, that roar was followed by two more, and a moment later, two large shapes shot out of the portals - a forktail and a cockatrice, to be exact. My guess, they had been nearby the portals, and the roar had just provoked them into investigating.

So, in conclusion, we now had four different types of monsters from the witcher universe staring us down. What else could happen to make this crazier?

I got my answer in the form of a ghoul charging, only to get batted aside by a Pukei-Pukei, which then further surprised me by joining up with us. Seriously, what the hell?

Also, could someone please offer me a way out of this?

...What, another request for help? From the same probe? Why?!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The probe stared on at the invasion force, worry slowly overtaking its systems. Well, invasion force wasn't really a good word, since this was mroe of a raiding party, but that did little to console the machine.

Especially since the invasion force had one of the Coelohim among its number.

How had they found that? And how was he going to stop it? Only the commander had managed...to....oh...

..Yeah, maybe now the Commander would accept his request.

XXXXXXXXX

...Yeah, I was going to take that request now.

A moment later, a bright light appeared, and the next thing I knew, I was falling, as were all of my companions.

When we finally hit the ground, I found myself momentarily dazed. As I struggled to my feet, though, I found myself looking at a confused group of youths, who were all standing in front of a women and....was that Aloy?

"...Could you have told me you could open portals?" inquired a somewhat annoyed Geralt, shaking himself as he stood up.

I smiled sheepishly, then turned my attention toward the Nora Braves-to-be. Before I could get a word out, though, the sound of screaming filled the air. Turning toward it, we all watched as a group of warriors were attacked by the ghouls from earlier....oh.

Well, that was unexpected.

Suddenly, I heard a low growl. Turning toward it, I find the fiend from earlier staring at me. And it looked pissed. Nearby, the other two monsters from the Witcher world were also getting back up, and had their eyes set on us. The bird wyvern, meanwhile, was moving itself so that its body shielded the Witcher.

Sighing, I got into a fighting stance.

I had arrived in the Horizon Zero Dawn universe quite literally just prior to the Proving Massacre. Let's see if I couldn't stop it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: I'm probably never going to mention Viv's encounter with a godling, but her hunting a chort might get brought up later.

Anyway, Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!

 

[Flameal15k]

AN: Some music to get your blood pumping:



Aloy had no idea what was going on. One minute, she had been the first to complete the proving. Then, a strange light had appeared from the sky, and out had fallen three men, two women, a cat, and a small creature whose identity she wasn't quite sure of.

Of course, all of those paled in comparison to the...other things that had fallen out of the light. Some looked just like monstrous people, but others...Well, she had no idea what, exactly, that antlered thing was, though given its fangs and claws, it probably wasn't very friendly.

Taking shelter behind a large rock, Aloy watched as the newcomers went to battle against the beasts. As she observed them, she couldn't help but stare on in awe. She had never seen the kind of weapons they used - one preferred a long blade with a small hilt, another used what she assumed was a larger hammer, the third used what looked like a....was that an instrument of some sort? As for the last one, he used what appeared to be a staff like hers, as well as a strange, bug-like shield.

Alo turned her attention to her fellow Braves-To-Be. All of them were huddled behind nearby rocks, unsure what to do - flee? Fight? Try to find a peaceful solution? Right now, she wasn't sure which option to take, though talking her way out of this struggle seemed unlikely.

A loud screech suddenly caught her attention. Turning toward its source, she found herself staring at what appeared to be a large bird, though further examination proved her assumption false - the creature had a variety of reptilian traits in addition to avian ones. The beast paid her no mind, instead focusing its attention on one of the people who had fallen from the sky - a white-haired one with cat-like eyes. Already, it was preparing to pounce...and with him surrounded by the strange humanoids, he was in no position to dodge the attack.

Acting quickly, Aloy took aim and fired upon the beast's wings. Surprised, the beast turned its attention toward her, let loose a terrifying cry, and charged. Rolling away just in time, Aloy knocked another arrow and took aim - she was not dying here. She would not die when she was this close to being able to learn more about her past!

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Groaning as I dodged a swipe from the Fiend, I swiftly took aim and stabbed at its central eye, hoping to blind it forever and, in doing so, give me more openings to attack. The beast jinked at the last moment, though, and all I succeeded in was cutting the side of its face. Refusing to mope, I used my glaive to parry aside another of its blows, groaning as I did so, before throwing a piercing pod at it.

Note to self: don't try blocking with the insect glaive, it won't end well.

The pod struck its mark and managed to pierce a major artery, rewarding me with a good shower of blood. Of course, with the pod lodged in the wound, the beast wound't die too easily - the pod would stop the bleeding until it was removed. I may have ensured the beast would die even if it escaped or won this battle, but I'd have to work if I wanted it to fall here.

Taking aim, I fired off the kinsect fluid within the glaive, once more targeting the beast's eye. This time, though, my aim was true, and the fluid found its way into the eye-socket, blinding the middle eye. A moment later, and my carapace-clad ally was upon the fiend, biting with unprecedented ferocity. I admit that the sight of the fiend's eye being destroyed was ghastly....but not the worst thing I had seen.

After the kinsect returned to me with attack boosting fluid (whose former nature as eye-fluid only mildly disgusted me), I charged the beast once more, ready to bring it down.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Theseus ducked as the forktail made another swing at him. With a shout, he countered by slamming his Glass Royale into it's head, managing to crack a beast's nasal horn, causing it to shriek and back off a ways, giving him some breathing room. A shout from Zoe turned his attention toward the girl just in time to catch a bomb pod, which he quickly unleashed upon the draconid, sending it reeling. Before he could further exploit the opening, though, the Sapphire Star was struck by the beast's tail, sending him tumbling to the ground, and leaving him feeling somewhat sickly.

Groaning, the Fiver shot off a torch pod at the beast, igniting it and casuing it to flail about as it tried to douse itself, allowing the New World Hunter to hastily down an antidote potion, before once again charging to meet the beast in battle, though not before catching a piercing pod from his handler.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Geralt brought down Aerondight with expert precision, severing the Alghoul's head from its neck. Another of the beasts charged at him, only to be set alight by Igni. Dispatching hte burning creature with a stab of his sword, Geralt looked for the next, only to flinch as an arrow pierced his leg. Pulling it free, he quickly dressed the wound, before firing a crossbow bolt at his assailant. The Eclipse Warrior fell to the ground a moment later, the life fading from his eyes. Bisecting another ghoul, Geralt turned his attention to the rest of the Eclipse, mentally grousing at his situation - even when faced with greater threats, mankind would not unite.

Parrying two more arrows and slaying another alghoul, Geralt charged toward the Shadow Carja, who were already busy fighting the necrophages. He had seen these warriors taking aim at those whose ceremony he had unwittingly intruded upon, and he was not about to let those children come to harm.

XXXXXXXXX

I rolled to the side as the fiend charged, taking an opportunity to cut it as the relict barreled by. Turning to face me, it found itself staring at Viv, to which it responded by roaring. She cut it off with a head-butt of all things, before punching it hard enough to leave cracks on the rocks behind it. Not to be outdone, the fiend pawed her back, knocking her into a different rock, which shattered from the impact. It then threw a small boulder at my former ROB, which left her dazed.

....Oh no you didn't!

Letting out what could best be described as a roar, I charged at the relict, using my glaive to hoist myself into the air as it swiped at me. Falling onto its back, I started tearing away at it, causing the monster to thrash about in rage and anger. Pulling a page from Kratos and Talion's books, I guided the creature toward the Eclipse, using it as a bulldozer to obliterate the remnants of the Mad Sun King's forces. One of them was taking aim at Aloy when I ran him down. Another took aim at me, only to be brought low by an arrow...one which had come from the very Nora brave I had just saved. Nodding at the girl, who was still battling off a cockatrice, I returned my focus to the enemy forces, and used the Fiend to annihilate the rest of them. Having finally worn down the relict with the last charge, I slammed my glaive into its face, sending ti to the ground, then finished by driving the staff deep into its empty central eye socket, all the way into its brain. The creature howled in agony, then went still.

Exhausted form the ordeal, I made my way to Viv, who had regained her footing, but was wobbling quite a bit. I wouldn't have been surprised if the blow had concussed her - she needed to rest now, as did I.

Realzing I had forgotten something, I turned my attention toward my companions and the Nora braves to be. Geralt had slain the last of the Eclipse, but as he began to sheath his blade, an Alghoul jumped him, only to be batted aside and beaten to death by the Pukei-Pukei. Then, the beast began to examine Geralt, trying to look him over for wounds.

As for the Sapphire Star, he had done much to weaken the forktail, including blasting its tail off with a bomb pod and breaking its horn. Enraged, it charged him, only to receive a hunting horn to the face. The blow was hard enough to slam its skull into a nearby rock, sending the beast tumbling down. Based on the crunch I had heard when the hammer made contact, I was completely certain the beast was not getting back up.

Finally, Aloy was still locked in combat with the Cockatrice, but it seemed even her struggle was almost over. Bruised yet not beaten, Aloy let loose a trio of arrows, piercing the draconid's wings with ease. Enraged, it charged her, only to trip after taking a few well placed arrows to the legs. Crashing to a halt beside Aloy, the creature was helpless as she drove her staff through its heart.

At last seeing an opportunity to talk, I made my way toward the girl.

I had only walked ten paces when something leaped at me, pinning me to the ground. Looking up, I realized it was the Coelohim I had seen earlier. Others soon emerged from the shadows and proceeded to pin down Theseus, Viv, Zoe, and Geralt. Confused, Aloy knocked an arrow, only to be hoisted into the air by an Eclipse Warrior - Helis, to be precsie. The Leader of the Shadow Carja stared dismissively at the girl, readying to stab her with a knife, whilst his minions began setting up explosive charges. Enraged, I tried to find some way to escape, but the Coelohim holding me promptly grabbed my head and forced my sight back onto Helis.

Somehow, I knew what this meant - it wanted me to watch this.

Why? Why was this machine assisting Helis instead of focusing on me? Why was it pinning me to the ground rather than killing me outright, which would make sense from a programming standpoint. Why did it want me to watch Aloy die?

Just as Helis moved to finish Aloy, an arrow flew into him. Releasing the girl, he pulled out the arrow and parried another as Rost charged him. The Coelohim above me moved to fire at him, only to be caught by surprise when a bomb hit it. As it staggered, Zora leaped onto it, allowing me to grab my Glaive and swiftly dismantle it. Viv took the opportunity to punch the one above her hard enough to obliterate it, whilst Theseus' palico managed to distract the Coelohim pinning down the Sapphire Star and his handler long enough for the fiver to destroy both using his hunting horn. As for Geralt, his Pukei-Pukei companion managed to tear the drone apart, whilst the Witcher slew a smaller one trying to kill the bird wyvern.

Turning my attention back to the dueling warriors, I watched Helis shatter Rost's spear. Before he could deliver the killing blow, though, I threw a knife at him, managing to hit him in the ribs. Before either myself or Rost could kill him, though, the Coelohim I'd seen in Coeus second request crashed down behind the Shadow Carja Leader, before grabbing him and leaping away, hastily treating his companion's wounds.

With the combat dying down, I turned my attention toward the charges....which were very close to exploding now.

After making a gesture toward the White Wolf and the Sapphire Star about the explosives, I grabbed Viv and Zorah and ran toward the nearby cliffs. As I neared them, I received a notification from my nearby drones - the rest of the Nora had escaped. Good - those children, and the proctors of this trial, did not deserve to die.

Somehow, all of us just barely made it off the cliff as the bombs went off.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!

 

[Flameal15k]

Last chapter has been updated - wanted to do something to get everyone's blood pumping.

 

[Flameal15k]

Amongst the Infernum Federation's Armies are not only a variety of personnel, vehicles, weapons, and assorted equipment, there are also many animals, used in roles ranging from beasts of burden to beasts of battle. Amongst the mainstays of these creatures is the jagras.

Native to universe MH-1, the Jagras is an iguana-like carnivore belonging to the group known as fanged wyverns. Functionally, they are equivalent to wolves in nature, though particularly alrge adults are capable of fighting creatures like manticores for food. Due to their wolf-like social structure, they are relatively easy to tame, though they lack the advantages that are possessed by their relatives, the Shamos and Girros. Despite this, they are well equipped hunters and make excellent attack and guard animals, as well as pets.

Notable Attributes:

• Jagras tend to follow alpha males known as Great Jagras, which are large enough to swallow a large hadrosaur whole. The alphas are generally indifferent to humans, though the lesser jagras are more aggressive.
• Jagras hunt large game by coaxing them toward their alphas, who will then kill the animal, swallow it whole, and retreat back to their nests where they will regurgitate the carcass for their subordinates to feed on.
• Jagras are relatively weak to fire, like most 'starter' creatures in the monster hunter world. Flaming weapons or incendiary ammunition is recommended when hunting them, and they are excellent quarries for new adventurers to hunt. Side not: science team members are not permitted to use White Phosphorus on anything short of super-adult Jagras - beyond the fact that doing so is a massive health risk for all involved, it makes the kill worthless to merchants or butchers. Super adults ignore this problem....somehow.
• Jagras will occasionally challenge large theropods and brute wyverns for control of territory. They frequently lose these fights, but super adults can force off even Deviljho, regardless of gender.
• Jagras primarily attack by biting and pawing at opponents, though they may also occasionally spit at them. An adult that has just swallowed a large animal will add in rolls and regurgitation of monster parts to this attack pattern. Older specimens' spit will also inflict water damage.
• Jagras are excellent climbers. Avoid trying to escape them by scaling trees and rocks - they WILL catch up with you. Hiding in bushes is usually a better strategy.

Hunting Tips:

• Jagras are easier to hunt when they are on their own - bait them with meat to gain the edge.
• Attacks that hit wide areas will help cut down on their numbers, and can make getting out of a tight spot easier.
• Great Jagras take extra damage when full if their belly is attacked. If it is bloated, aim for the belly!
• If all else fails, lure them into fighting Anjanath - the brute wyvern will be able to overpower the overgrown iguana with ease, and can be quickly repelled with a dung bomb.

Crafting:

• Jagras equipment may not be flashy, but it is still good for many situations. Higher level jagras weapons, in particular, inflict water damage, making them excellent for hunting Anjanath.

Taming:

• Jagras are best tamed in groups, so as to allow when to become alpha. Once the alpha has been tamed, the rest will follow.
• Jagras can follow complex commands with minimal taming - exploit this to kill overwhelm opponents who lack AOE attacks.

For handling Super Adult Female Jagras, consult section the appropriate section of this guide.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: Studying for finals, so here's something to tide you guys over until my finals are done.

As for why I mentioned adventurers, assume I end up in some world with those kinds of heroes at some point. I like them a lot, especially the four series that make up Isekai Quartet.

Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!

 

[Flameal15k]

"Hurry-"

"Should we-"

"Allowing an outcast, much less outsiders, to-"

So many other voices came into focus, then faded as I drifted in an out of consciousness. I'm pretty sure that, at this point, a fall wouldn't have knocked me out under normal circumstances, but then again, you don't normally fall to the ground with an explosion on your heels. Also, I was pretty sure that I hit the ground head first, so there was that.

Eventually, though, I felt my consciousness slip away for real, and descended into dream land.

XXXXXXXXX

Slowly, my eyes fluttered open. As the world came into focus, I tried to determine where I was. All I found was darkness, aside from some glowing shapes that flitted about like insects. Having just come from the Monster Hunter world, I couldn't help but compare them to Great Thunderbugs. Cautiously, they danced through the sky, occasionally stopping to look at me, before returning to their flight patterns. After a while, they just seemed to forget I was there.

Soon, though, something else joined us in this endless void - a great golden creature that I was very familiar with.

Despite clearly looking right at me, though, Celempheros paid me no mind, instead focusing on something else. Curious, I decided to follow.

As I pursued the progenitor, the world around me changed. The darkness slowly gave way to the empty void of space, where I witnessed many celestial phenomenon occurring - stars shifted around me, electromagnetic waves that a normal human could never hope to comprehend fluttered in freedom, and meteors, comets, and asteroids shot around. Gradually, though, this all faded into the background as we arrived at a planet....or should I say Planet?

On this world, worm-like creatures with vicious beaked maws battled human settlers, refugees from a dying world, trying hard to start over after their forbearers had ruined their home. Beneath the surface of their promised land, a mighty mind dwelled, waiting for the day it would awaken....which would spell doom for the remerging human civilization.

Yet all of this barely mattered to me, even if Planet had given me the sum total of mankind's technological achievements in this universe. What mattered was that, as all of this happened, Celm was holding out his arms, and slowly, light began to travel toward his hands. Bit by bit, tiny glints of light would gather into the elder progenitor's palms, until two orbs of light occupied the once empty spaces. These lights, in turn, were then fused together into a single orb, after which point the golden Progenitor opened a portal and disappeared within it. Before the rift in space and time closed, I managed to make my way within, where I found myself joining my ROB's superior in floating over....was that Earth?

Apparently it was.

High above the surface of what was at least an iteration of the world I had once called home, I watched as Celm held the orb outstretched, as if waiting for something to happen. Moments later, something did - the orb exploded into a set of smaller lights, which hastily bolted down to the Earth's surface. There, they travelled until they came upon several sleeping humans, whose heads they launched themselves into. The slumbering humans were mostly unaffected by the lights colliding and then merging with their heads, though some briefly shoed signs of discomfort.

After that, though, the vision faded, and I felt myself slipping away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Slowly, I awakened again....to find something curling its arms around me. A quick examination revealed that it was Rory...what, how'd he get here?

"Yay! You're awake."

"...I teleported outside of the Nora lands, approached the nearest sentries, and asked them if I could be taken to the matriarchs to see you."

"And they let you?"

"People appeared from nowhere during the proving, alongside a bunch of monsters. Then machines unlike any ever seen decided to join the fun. Everyone needs some time to come to terms with the madness....oh, and I promised to help explain things to them after you woke up."

"...Okay. Is there anything that happened while I was out that I should know?"

"...Ms. Fide says there is one thing."

"And that is?"

"Apparently, more of the portals that Geralt used to get to the Monster Hunter world and this one are showing up in the monster hunter world, though they're weaker than the one you used to travel here and are decreasing in frequency. On the bad side, another portal to the witcher world opened up here."

….What?

"And before you ask, all that has come through so far is a Kikimore pack that got flattened by a thunderjaw."

Okay, at least I could rest knowing that the monsters of the witcher world were not going to make this harder for me than I wanted....now how do I deal with all the problems that this causes.

Also, there was something else I needed to have answered.

"Where's everyone else?"

"Well, according to Fide, Cassidy is waking up her mom right now, Aloy just tried to access the Zero Dawn cradle within All Mother Mountain, and Geralt and our friends from the monster hunter world are just starting to wake up. I think the matriarchs wanted to see us after this is over - I did promise to tell them to explain what happened."

"And you are far to young to get chased out of a place by people with torches and pitch forks."

"Wouldn't they use bows and spears?"

I actually let out a laugh when I realized what my son had just said. "I don't think it matters what they chase you out of the sacred lands with, only that you leave running with your tail between your legs."

"But you don't run with your tail between your legs, and you're someone who actually has a tail...at least some times. Actually, I don't think anything runs with its tail between its legs."

Despite myself, I smiled. For all the craziness that had happened so far, this little conversation with my son felt really relaxing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: I HAVE RETURNED!

Anyway, expect updates to be more often - I HAVE A LOT OF GROUND TO COVER!

Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!​

 

[Flameal15k]

Eventually, a Nora Brave came to us and told that the matriarchs had requested our presence. The girl guided us to the meeting place, where we found that we were not the only ones to be summoned - Aloy was there, as expected, but so was Viv, Cassidy, our friends from the Guild, and Geralt.

When all of us had settled in, the meeting commenced. First to speak was Lansra, the most conservative of the matriarchs. She was, needless to say, unhappy with our interrupting of the Proving.

"You Outsiders come into our lands without our permission and make a mockery of our sacred Proving? Have you no honor? No decency?"

"My apologies, but I do believe that our actions prevented the Proving from turning into a massacre," replied Geralt, trying to avoid drawing the matriarchs' wrath without being submissive.

"And for that....you have my thanks."

Really? That was actually kind of nice.

"Do not calm yet, outsiders. There is still much left to discuss. You have yet to offer proof that you were the ones to organize the very attack you stopped."

"Um, we literally didn't know that they were going to attack until we showed up?" offered Cassidy, trying to earn Lansra's trust.

"Do you truly expect me to belive that?"

"Well, it wasn't in any of the books my mom keeps her thoughts in and hides in a safe with a special lock that-"

Cassidy was shut up when her mom slammed her foot on her daughter's, which barely inconvenienced the girl but gave her the hint to shut up. Lansra, however, seemed to realize Viv's reaction was an indication that Cassidy had been correct and decided to drop the matter.

"Perhaps you were innocent. of causing the attack However, that does not explain one thing."

"And that is?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"The beasts you slew today are not the first of their kind to come here - others have been spotted, fighting machines and other tribes. IF you have an explanation for this, offer it now, or we will find a way to force it from your throats."

"Sister-"

"I might have an explanation for that," was Geralt's reply, interrupting Teersa as he did so. "My apologies, your highness, for the interruption."

"Such formality is unnecessary, but appreciated. Now, please,..."

"Geralt."

"Geralt, please continue."

"These creatures aren't from around here - they're from my lands...From my world."

"Are you saying," questioned Jezza, "that these creatures are from another world?"

"Exactly. Wouldn't be the first time they arrived in another world - first showed up in mine about fifteen hundred years ago, during the Conjunction of the Spheres. Men, beasts, elves, all of them were moved, sometimes forcibly, to lands they'd never been in before.

"And how did this happen?"

"...Magic."

"Magic?" questioned Lansra, tone dripping with disbelief.

"Yes, and I can prove, if not that magic caused the Conjuction, then at least that magic exists. Just give me a good stick."

After a moment of deliberation, the matriarchs did just that. A moment after that, and the stick was ablaze...without any logical explanation other than Geralt holding out his hand.

I think he might have boke the Nora. Teersa, however, managed to recover her faculties and press on with the conversation. "...Well, you have provided us proof at east that your claims of magic are not without merit. Now, tell us why you believe these creatures are coming to our world."

"Just recently, another Conjunction happened. It was stopped before it got too dangerous, but it seems like not everything went back to normal. I've been sent through two worlds so far, and that's not including this one."

"What were the other two?" inquired Jezza.

"Ours was one," offered Zoe. "As for the other one, well.."

"That was a rather odd one," noted Geralt. "Saw strange warriors there, with strange weapons and magics. Even met a pair of machines, one of whom was trying hard to do a good human impression."

"And what was its name?" I asked, curious.

"2B."

...Ok, didn't see that coming. "Odd name. Now, may we return to the conversation at hand."

"Guess we can. Back on topic, if this Conjunction affected your world, then there might be a whole horde of beasts on it that have never been here before - wyverns, godlings, succubae, to name a few. I was just helping the people I arrived with deal with a particularly nasty beast called a Leshen - maybe something like it came through one of these portals. Or many things like it came through. Either way, they could pose a problem."

"True. However, that does not explain the strange machines that assisted the raiders in attacking the proving-"

"I can explain that," was my answer. "They're creations of a...particularly persistent foe of mine. Probably joined the raiders out of opportunism."

"What do you mean?" questioned Teersa.

"I'm not someone who likes seeing innocents suffer and these machines' masters know that. I think they were hoping to draw me out by assisting the raiders in the slaughter, since I definitely wouldn't ignore a battle if my foe's machines were there - too much at stake."

"I see. SO, what do you intend to do now?"

Zoe, ironically, was the one to offer the answer first. "All of us would like to go home. But if you have any ideas who launched this raid, please, tell us - we'd like to repay you for the hospitality we received."

For once, I a greed with the girl.

"...Very well," spoke Jezza. "Then I believe there is one last matter to be discussed."

That, as it turned out, was making Aloy into a Seeker, which went exactly the same as it did in the game. I guess some things don't change.

Some did, however - and seeing how Aloy had decided to ask us to travel with her, I was definitely going to stir up a few changes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!​

 

[Logic]

Just found this story today. On the first post it has a universes visited spoiler page, with only the HUB universe being listed. Has this Jump chain only visited a single universe in 252 thread marks?

 

[Flameal15k]

Just found this quest today. On the first post it has a universes visited spoiler page, with only the HUB universe being listed. Has this Jump chain only visited a single universe in 252 thread marks?

Click to shrink...

1. This isn't a quest. There would be lots of voting if it were a quest.
2. I was just lazy and didn't update the list. Fixed now.

 

[Logic]

1. This isn't a quest. There would be lots of voting if it were a quest.
2. I was just lazy and didn't update the list. Fixed now.

Click to shrink...

Oops, forgot what subforum I was in. Didn't mean to be rude if that's how I came off

 

[Flameal15k]

Oops, forgot what subforum I was in. Didn't mean to be rude if that's how I came off

Click to shrink...

It's okay.

Now, just to ask, any critiques/feedback on this chapter? It's kinda hard to write a good story without feedback. There's a reason I ask for it after every single chapter. (yes, really).

 

[Logic]

It's okay.

Now, just to ask, any critiques/feedback on this chapter? It's kinda hard to write a good story without feedback. There's a reason I ask for it after every single chapter. (yes, really).

Click to shrink...

I'm not really sure what is going on and I don't recognize the names. I felt like I was getting into something a big daunting when I saw 252 thread marks and only the HUB universe. That's why I posted. Now that I know a bit more about what's going on I'm going to try and make my way through it. I'll let you know once I get caught up for sure though.

While reading through the chapter I didn't see any grammar or editing errors so I think you're good on that point.

 

[Flameal15k]

I'm not really sure what is going on and I don't recognize the names. I felt like I was getting into something a big daunting when I saw 252 thread marks and only the HUB universe. That's why I posted. Now that I know a bit more about what's going on I'm going to try and make my way through it. I'll let you know once I get caught up for sure though.

While reading through the chapter I didn't see any grammar or editing errors so I think you're good on that point.

Click to shrink...

Ok, fair enough.

Anyone else have anything to say? I cannot make this story an better without your help.

 

[Jormuungaand]

I just haven't played in a universe you've visited for a long time. I can only comment on writing style and point out typos. Your style is good, and I just haven't got anything useful to say so I stay quiet. I can be counted as a supporter, albeit not a verbose one.

 

[Flameal15k]

'So,' I thought to my three subordinate Artificial Intelligences, 'you three find anything that might be worth my time? And before you ask, Synais, it must be something related to the Progenitor Defense Network, the Artifacts, the Faro Plague, or whatever is causing the convergence between the all of these universes.'

'Well then, nothing of interest so far, boss,' replied Synais. 'Right now, though, we're having the XCOM scientists, Alad V, and Ballas run through the commander defense system coelohim and machinery we've acquired, as well as one of the Faro drones - a casualty from the previous battle.'

'I assume Ballas is under heavy guard?'

'Got a bunch of live grenades nearby him, plus SABRs trained on his lab, so yeah. Oh, and while we haven't got anything of note from examining the Horizon: Zero Dawn world just yet, the stuff the people in the lab examined yielded some interesting results.'

'Such as?'

'The Faro Plague machinery shows signs of, for lack of a better word, improvement - the one we're tearing into has what appear to be retractable, hyper efficient solar panels, though only about seventy five percent of what our panels give. The design, though, is pretty clearly progenitor in origin.'

'I see. Seeing how I doubt that the Progenitor Defense System is going to assist the Faro Plague, you think that whatever the artifacts warn of is the culprit?'

'Likely, though why eludes me.'

'Alright. Keep me posted.'

'Sir, with all due respect, I suggest you maintain your distance from the natives, including Aloy. And before Syanis makes a joke, I mean emotional and/or spiritual distance - you have knowledge of the Old World that could potentially cause mass upheaval amongst these people, should those secrets come to light.'

Ah, Kathikon, always the logical one.

'Can I not simply claim that some things must be learned for yourself, not told by others?'

'Do you really think that will sate their curiosity?'

'....Good point. Still, can't exactly hide my presence after what I did at the proving, right?'

'True enough. Do be advised, though, whilst we haven't detected anymore portals like the one you arrived through, we've located a few areas where new portals could form, based upon the conditions that were present in the Ancient Forest and the Proving. Additionally, energy trails we've been tracking would suggest that multiple portals opened prior to our arrival, and we have no idea what may have crawled out of them already. Witcher creatures, assorted wyverns, who knows. Still, keep your eyes peeled.'

'Understood. Any other developments that I should be made aware of?'

'One more,' replied Fide. 'Natah is working on a new sentient design, one for her own usage. Eidolon has been assisting her in that regard, and it appears to be based upon the flying form Eidolon used to escape the spirit world from. We've no idea when it will be online, but we will keep you posted.'

'Roger, Flame out.'

As the conversation finished up, my perception returned to normal. Whilst minutes had gone by whilst I discussed a plan of action with my AI trio, less than a second had passed in real-time. Now, we were arriving at the edge of the Sacred Lands, right about where Resh was guarding the gate. Time to face another corruptor.

XXXXXXXXXX

When Aloy went up to speak with Resh, he'd naturally thrown a few insults at her, and he'd only barely hidden his contempt when he learn that she had been made a Seeker. Soon after that, though, he noticed that she wasn't alone, and boy did that set him off.

"You...you dare to bring outsiders into the Sacred Lands?! Are you truly so vile?"

"Hey, ease up on her," responded Geralt, anger starting to breath through his expression. "Our intrusion was purely accidental, nothing more, nothing less. So please, open the gate and let us be on our way."

"Hmph. Only a fellow monster would show respect for a motherless outcast."

"..Well, never heard that one before."

Ooh, nice burn.

Before the tirade could get any further, though, the Corruptor finally made its presence known, felling trees as it advanced toward us. I readied up my kitgun, eager to fell it. Yet as the machine came closer, though, I noticed that this machine seemed...different from the others. The body design was the same, but its armor appeared to be...newer, I guess.

And as the ensuing battle proved, it was also tougher - the machine shrugged off a truly massive amount of damage, even taking a trike from Vivian's hammer to the face and still managing to counter by grabbing her with its tail and throwing her aside. That being said, the fight was still pretty lackluster, with the machine going down relatively easily....well, easily for us. So a fair amount of beating, but still less than expected.

As the corruptor let its final death cries, I turned to my current companions. "Discounting the Seeker amongst us, anyone think this machine was exactly a challenge?"

There were a lot of nods to that - even Aloy seemed to agree with us. Resh seemed somewhat incensed at the comment , though he only responded by glaring at us, since we'd saved his braves from death.

Then, without warning, the Corruptor stood back up, roared, and batted us aside with its tail.

So it wanted to go for round two? Fine.

I makred a weakpoint on the machine's armor with my glaive before sending out my kinsect, only to gawk as the Corruptor (which now seemed to be emitting a black smoke) grabbed my neopteran out of the air and threw it back at me. The force of the impact knocked us both to the ground, but before the machine could capitalize on the opening, Viv smashed its side with her hammer. Without even missing a beat, the machine grabbed a strider Resh had slain, used it to parry Viv's next attack, then grabbed another strider and used its wreckage to send my ROB reeling. Theseus briefly tried to mount the machine, but it swiftly threw him off. Hilariously, though, it couldn't really hit him after that, and was forced to try and blast him back with grenades. When that failed, it surprised me yet again by apparently switching ammunition types and firing a grenade which generated a vortex of sorts, causing Theseus, Zoe, and our lynian companions to be thrown into one another. Geralt followed this up by blasting Igni at the machine, which definitely hurt it, but once it focused on him, it soon became difficult for him to do much more than dodge its swings, parry what few strikes he could, and occasionally use Ard to deflect whatever got through. And slowly, exhausting began to take its toll. All the while, the Nora were pelting it with arrows, eventually succeeding in knocking free its grenade launcher.

Then, to the surprise of all, an orange and purple shape slammed into the Corruptor. A closer analysis revealed it to be a Great Jaggi. Within moments, the dog wyvern was tearing into its foes, managing to tear off a large piece of armor before being thrown away. The corruptor then launched its own offensive with its tail, only to be caught off guard when the Jaggi responded by using its tail to counter. A hipcheck followed, leaving the machine smashed against a nearby wall, where it was soon hit by igni again. This time, it was forced to expose its core, giving Aloy the opening she needed to inflict the killing blow.

Whilst Resh and his braves celebrated and the rest of the team helped each other up, as soon as I had checked upon Geralt and Viv, I began examining the machine alongside Aly. While she examined the machine's hacking module, I turned my attention to its processor, which I hastily ripped out and pocketed, alongside a fragment of its armor.

Somehow, I knew this was just the first of the trials to come.

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AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!​

 

[Jormuungaand]

I makred a weakpoint on the machine's armor with my

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marked

And slowly, exhausting began to take its toll. All the

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exhaustion