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"The lesson will be taught in due time, Aloy. Until then, we wait."
This article contains heavy spoilers. Read ahead with caution.

The FAS-BOR7 Horus, generally dubbed the Metal Devil by modern tribes, is a machine in the Horizon franchise. It is not a contemporary machine; rather it is one of three machines of the ancient Chariot Line, manufactured by the robotics and technology giant Faro Automated Solutions during the mid 21st century. However, one swarm of Chariot robots, including Horuses, went out of control, becoming the Faro Plague, which ultimately eradicated all life on Earth.

History[]

Pre-Extinction[]

Horus Hologram

A holographic schematic of an FAS-BOR7 Horus in the ruins of Faro Automated Solutions

The FAS-BOR7 Horus was designed by FAS' owner and CEO Ted Faro, and developed as part of FAS' Chariot Line of combat robots. Faro designed the Chariot line to operate in swarms similar to those of certain insects. Horuses were the colossal "queens" of a swarm, replicating other swarm robots as well as themselves, in numbers that invariably overwhelmed any enemy force. Additionally, they themselves were formidable combat machines, adept at tearing into and destroying huge enemy fortifications. They could consume biomass as fuel in the event of fuel line interdiction, and their network was virtually unbreakable.[1][2]

The Faro Plague[]

In 2064, a swarm owned by the Hartz-Timor Energy Combine suffered a bug that caused it to become an independent entity, answering only to itself. The swarm began attacking company personnel, ignored shutdown codes and began replicating at an extreme rate, defaulting to biomass conversion as its fuel supply. The swarm came to be called the Faro Plague, and began to relentlessly consume the biosphere, ultimately eradicating all life. With no chance of containing or retaking control of the swarm, Project Zero Dawn was implemented to eventually brute-force the swarm's deactivation codes, shut the robots down, terraform the ravaged Earth and re-establish life after its extinction. The Faro Plague's Horuses numbered in the thousands when it was finally shut down. Unlike the other swarm robots, which were buried by the Zero Dawn system, the chassis of the swarm's Horuses were left where they fell when they were deactivated, with many of them now overgrown with vegetation.

In the New World[]

Centuries passed. Zero Dawn, managed by its governing artificial intelligence GAIA, successfully terraformed the planet and reestablished life, including humanity. Through no fault of their own, the new humans lived primitive, tribal existences. The titanic derelicts of the deactivated Horuses became part of tribal legend and religious belief.

Current Status[]

HADES in Horus

HADES in the derelict Metal Devil it used as a refuge

Currently, there are twelve known Horus carcasses in the world, including one that was temporarily reactivated. One is in the southern part of the Nora's Sacred Land, one lies in the Valleymeet, one lies in the southernmost edge of Banuk territory, and two are in the Carja Sundom, deep in the jungles of the Jewel, and atop the ruins of Devil's Anger. Meanwhile, in the Forbidden West, one is in Cinnabar Sands, one near a facility near the southeast of Jagged Deep (where Sylens interrogated HADES), one is perched atop the mountains near Desert's Tear and Scalding Spear, one is over the mountains to the west of the Stillsands, one is in the Valley of the Fallen, and one is on the Golden Gate Bridge in the Isle of Spires. The final one is in the Burning Shores, originally atop Mount Lee before being reactivated and moved to one of its beaches.

As derelicts exposed to the elements in their locations for centuries, the serviceability of most of these Metal Devils is unknown. The one in which HADES took refuge still had a functional computing core, but it was not able to reactivate it. Walter Londra, however, was able to reactivate his Horus through a bypass that allowed him to control it directly rather than as a subordinate. Thankfully, his goal was only to kill Aloy and not the whole world like HADES would have, and eventually Aloy managed to defeat this Horus. However, it should be noted that this Horus was not at its full power, due to centuries of damage and Londra's presumed inexperience.

The Faro Plague's Metal Devils were able to replicate other swarm robots, including other Metal Devils, at rates high enough to overwhelm the technologically advanced military forces of the mid 21st century. It can therefore be logically surmised that, had HADES managed to reactivate a Metal Devil, the technologically primitive peoples of the new world would have stood no hope at all of stopping it from creating a second Faro Plague.

Appearance[]

Metal Devils are colossal, large enough to easily crawl over a mountain. Resembling a giant lobster, sea scorpion, or similar aquatic arthropod, a Metal Devil stands on ten legs with four long, triple-jointed legs supporting the segmented "tail" while six shorter legs support the front of the main chassis. Covered in thick, black armor plating, it has four massive tentacles at its front. Each one is as least as long as the Metal Devil's body and is tipped with an enormous drill that can also act like a scout, designed to penetrate into heavily armored fortifications and bunkers as well as grab on to things.

Abilities[]

  • Siege Drills/Combat Drills/Assault Drills: Mounted on the end of immense tentacles, these powerful drills can easily tunnel into the toughest of fortifications, allowing smaller units to breach enemy defenses or allowing the Horus to reduce a structure to rubble. The drills are impervious to standard weapons damage.
    • Ocular Receptors: The tentacles are also equipped with their own ocular receptors, allowing them to effectively see using them limbs, granting them access to detect opponents from any angle. Just like normal machines, the ocular lights change depending on whether they're idle, actively searching, or hostile.
  • Replication/Repair Bay: The Horus features a mammoth repair and manufacturing bay where it can churn out new machines at an overwhelming pace to replenish a swarm's losses faster than they could be incurred. Not only this but we have learned that its repair bay is capable of building any machine.
  • Size: Horuses could simply use its impressive size and heavily armored chassis to trample anything in the titan's way.
  • Biomatter Conversion System: Originally meant as an emergency measure in case fuel supplies were cut, this system allows Horuses to turn any organic matter into biofuel.
  • Polyphasic Entangled Waveform Encryption: In order to prevent the Horus possibly being remotely accessed or hacked, this beyond-military-grade security encryption was integrated into the Horus' operating system.
  • EMP Charges: Light enough for a Sunwing to carry, these could be fired or flung from the Horus to take out communications or other electronic devices. They would be manufactured in the Horus' fabrication bays and then dispensed on the multi-purpose appendage "tentacles". EMPs were designed to be detachable and triggerable on impact.[3]
  • Anti-Aircraft/Close Ground Support: Similar to the Anti-Aircraft weapon known as the C-RAM today these large caliber fast fire rate guns cover the head and sides of the Horus for ultimate coverage (note you can find limited cover behind a Horus' legs from these machine guns).
  • Guided Airstrike Missiles: Horuses are capable of deployment in seconds these large guided missiles are fired from the top of the Horus before slamming into the ground over a large damage area.
  • Close Anti-Personal Missiles/Firebombs: Horuses can fire projectiles from the front just under their eye or from behind next to its rear cooling system these were designed to take out any targets that got by their main weaponry.
  • Laser Cannon: Horus units were capable of firing a massive laser from their central ocular system.
  • Aerial Drone Deployment: Horuses could deploy, possibly fabricate, swarms of small, fast moving aerial drones, for anti-air purposes.
  • Hanger Bays: Horus units were capable of transporting other Faro machines including Scarabs and Kopeshs. The Scarab hangers are located in a Horus' tail while the Khopesh hanger is located behind an armored plate near the Horus' main eye.

Trivia[]

  • Just like Corruptors and Deathbringers, the Metal Devil's original designation, Horus, is a reference to Ancient Egypt. Horus was one of the first established Egyptian gods and one of the most important in their religion. Horus was a god over many domains, but is primarily recognized as the god of the sky and war.
  • The Metal Devil's 3D model is 292 meters long, 143 meters wide, and 91 meters high, including its tentacles. It uses 6.6 million triangles, and is comprised of 596 unique components.
  • As referenced in the FAS-BOR7 Horus datapoint, Horus units were categorized as a "Titan-class" machine.
  • According to the "The Bad News" cutscene there were at least a thousand Horus units manufactured by the Faro Plague.
  • Metal Devils closely resemble Reapers from Mass Effect.

Gallery[]

References[]

Machines
Horizon Zero Dawn
Acquisition Class Broadhead - Charger - Fireclaw - Frostclaw - Glinthawk - Grazer - Lancehorn - Rockbreaker - Scrapper - Snapmaw - Strider - Trampler
Chariot Class Corruptor - Deathbringer - Metal Devil
Combat Class Ravager - Sawtooth - Scorcher - Stalker - Stormbird - Thunderjaw
Communication Class Tallneck
Recon Class Longleg - Watcher (Redeye Watcher)
Transport Class Behemoth - Bellowback - Shell-Walker
Unknown Class Control Tower
Horizon Forbidden West
Acquisition Class Bilegut - Bristleback - Clamberjaw - Fanghorn - Plowhorn - Scrounger - Spikesnout - Stingspawn - Sunwing - Tideripper - Waterwing - Widemaw
Combat Class Clawstrider - Dreadwing - Grimhorn - Shellsnapper - Slaughterspine - Slitherfang - Specter - Specter Prime - Tremortusk
Recon Class Burrower - Skydrifter
Transport Class Leaplasher - Rollerback
Unknown Class Defense Drone
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