As players explore the world of Horizon Forbidden West, they’ll come across incredible wonders and dangers that hold many mysteries. New tribes to interact with and machines to fight await the further west Aloy goes, but among the many dangers of this land, the greatest by far is one that’s not even currently of this world: Far Zenith.
During the events of Horizon Zero Dawn, Aloy learned that, the millennia prior, efforts were made to ensure the continuity of human life in the face of the unstoppable Faro Plague. The most famous and successful of these efforts was Project Zero Dawn headed by Dr. Elisabet Sobeck. However, in-game data entries scattered across the world also made mention of both a colony starship named the Odyssey as well as a mysterious think tank/cabal called Far Zenith. It was originally believed that both had perished with the rest of the Old Ones. As it turns out, this was not the case.
In the years leading up to the Faro Plague, Far Zenith was described as a “futurist consortium” that claimed to comprise 77 of the world’s wealthiest individuals. The organization was highly secretive and only their spokesperson, Osvald Dalgaard, was publicly acknowledged as a member. In the face of impending doom to the planet, Far Zenith purchased the abandoned Odyssey project to continue its original goal of reaching a habitable world in the Sirius System. Public perception painted the Odyssey’s revival as a way of spreading humanity out across the stars beyond the confines of Earth. In reality, the project was implemented so that its own members could survive Earth’s destruction.
The Odyssey was equipped with cryo-stasis pods and enough storage for over 200,000 human and animal zygotes and millions of plant seeds. After much negotiation, Far Zenith was given an alpha-build of the APOLLO AI sub function by Zero Dawn in exchange for ectogenic chambers needed for their Cradle Facilities. Far Zenith also sought a copy of GAIA and all of its other sub functions to bring aboard the Odyssey and attempted espionage tactics to do so. As they left the Sol System, Far Zenith made it seem to the rest of Earth that the Odyssey was destroyed so they could remain in hiding from any humans that came after.
When the Odyssey finally reached its destination in Sirius, Far Zenith’s members managed to establish a highly advanced and thriving colony on the found planet. However, rather than utilize the human zygotes to start a new generation of humanity, they spent their time and resources making themselves physically immortal through a combination of highly advanced medicine, nanomachines and augmentations. For centuries, they lived in sublime luxury and heavily engaged in VR to experience every want and desire for which they could ever ask.
However, a catastrophic event caused the Sirius colony to collapse, resulting in most of Far Zenith being wiped out. Only a few dozen managed to escape in time. To make a new, comfortable home for themselves, the Zeniths decided to return to Earth and obtain a complete copy of GAIA. Since the Zero Dawn facilities require Alpha Level clearance to access, the Zeniths created their own clone of Elisabet Sobeck during the trip. It was also revealed that the signal that first activated HADES and caused GAIA to self-destruct originated from the Sirius system, implying that the events of the Derangement, Aloy’s creation and the collapse of the terraforming system were Far Zenith’s doing.
Nearly every Zenith member can be described as an egotistical megalomaniac that believe themself to have ascended to godhood. Their current leader is a man named Gerard Bieri, and while the other Zeniths resent him, they still follow his orders. From an outsider’s perspective, Far Zenith is a faction was complete disregard towards the fate of the rejuvenated Earth and its new inhabitants. This is exemplified by their indiscriminate attacks on tribes across the Forbidden West, calling them vermin and taking pleasure in killing them. Even the Sobeck clone they created is seen as nothing more than a tool to serve their goals, and it’s assumed they’ll simply kill her once she’s served her purpose.
Far Zenith’s mastery over nanotech enables them to forge whole structures and machines within seconds. Each member is seemingly ageless, has personal energy shields that protect them from harm, can summon nanobot energy weapons out of thin air and are even capable of flying. While small in number, Far Zenith’s forces are supplemented by large numbers of Specter combat machines which almost resemble advanced forms of Corruptors.
While these advantages would make it seem like Far Zenith could easily conquer Earth, their overall behavior suggests that they’re not telling the full story about what happened to their colony. It might be possible that they’re even running away from an even greater threat that’ll make an already bad situation on Earth even worse. However, Aloy and her allies have proven that their determination and resourcefulness are enough to face any threat, no matter the odds.
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