Horizon Zero Dawn #2

A thousand years after a global cataclysm, Earth has been remade into a lush, thriving ecosystem, but with a new dominant species: the machines. These massive, animal-like robots fills the land, oceans, and skies, serving as the guardians and enforcers of the revived natural order. New generations of humans live on in pre-industrial tribes, without knowledge of the doomed civilization that preceded them, that of the “Old Ones” – us. A hero known to all tribes, Alloy has defended them against deadly machines, infamous cults, vengeful insurgents and dangers from the ancient past. She achieved her greatest triumph defeating the rogue A.I. HADES, who sought to end all life on Earth. With Hades vanquished Aloy disappeared, her purpose and destination shrouded in mystery. Talanah was born to a family of noble hunters in Meridian, capital to the most powerful of Horizon’s tribes: the Carja. With Aloy’s help, Talanah was able to earn the title of Sunhawk, much to the chagrin of elitist Lodge members. In return she helped Aloy defeat HADES’ forces at Meridian. With her family’s legacy restored, Talanah reformed the Lodge, opening its ranks to all tribes. Despite achieving her life’s goal, however, restlessness began to gnaw at her heart. Dealing with Meridian’s bureaucrats and the troublesome remnants of the old Hunters Lodge elites failed to give her comfort, so she set out into the wilds, hoping to quell her restlessness with a contract to hunt a fearsome new machine – a Clawstrider. But the hunt proved more than she’d bargained for. Now, after recovering from an injury thanks to the aid of a mysterious hunter named Amadis, Talanah must end the threat of this hunter-killer machine. But that’s not her only problem. Kyran, a rogue Lodge member whom she denied the contract to, seeks its reward, unaware of the hunter-killer’s presence. Talanah is one of the few who understands the extent of the danger posed by this new strain of machine, thanks to a run-in with a good friend…