Further Adventures in No Man's Sky

FURTHER ADVENTURES IN NO MAN'S SKY

My spaceship streaked toward the next planet on my long journey. Dust particles that were the remnants of some ancient asteroid collision streaked past as the rocky planet filled up more and more of my view, its landscape cast in red and the horizon burning as if on fire.

I descended down toward the surface. Mountains rose up to meet me, swallowed up by the shimmering heat of daytime on this stark, rocky world.

I touched down on the surface and stepped out onto this unexplored world. The air was full of burning ash, and there was smoke everywhere. Clearly a volcanic eruption had occurred somewhere on this planet and the winds had blown the results of that eruption so as to cover wide swathes of this land. At first I felt little hope of finding anything alive here, but as the ever present smoke cleared somewhat I could make out one or two plants. Incredibly, life was managing to persist here.

I started off across the landscape. The winds picked up some more and blew the smoke away, leaving me to walk under the turquoise sky. As I was making my way to a canyon a few miles off, I was surprised by the sight of an animal running toward me. I had not expected to find anything so complex as the creature that I now beheld. It looked rather like a gazelle, only instead of being a quadruped it balanced on two legs. It was extremely nimble, sprinting across the uneven surface of this parched land. I could not fathom how such a large and active creature managed to support itself in such a barren land.

After a great deal more walking I made it to the edge of the canyon. More smoke had been blown in, mixed with the glowing embers of some fire. I wondered at what hell must greet whoever happened to be in the area of whatever was causing all this smoke and ash. Gazing down into the canyon, I could see caves burrowing into the cliffs and mist drifting along the shadowy canyon floor.

I made my way down into the canyon. There were stalagmites growing here, unmistakable signs that water had once existed here. Or did it still exist? That would go partway to explain how that animal I had seen was able to survive here. Once more the smoke was blown away and I had a not-too unpleasant trek along the canyon floor, protected from the unforgiving glare of the sun by the shadows cast by the canyon's high cliffs.

By the time I had made my way out of the canyon, the turquoise sky had transformed into the fiery orange of sunset. Eerie animal calls greeted the setting sun, echoing around the rocky landscape. And then I saw something. I crouched behind a rock face, sensing somehow that it was not a good idea to be seen. There, on the horizon, silhouetted against the backdrop of the orange sky was something that looked like a dinosaur. It had the spines of a stegosaurus. And then, something else, a strange looking creature with a head that looked like an anvil, and a body striped like a tiger. I could see it was moving with the careful deliberation of a predator, obviously intent on hunting the stegosaurus. Just as it disappeared from my view, the predator put on a tremendous burst of speed. I could not see the outcome of this fight, only infer the viciousness of it from the sounds of shrieking and tearing echoing around in the dimming light.

My adventure continued...

Thanks to Hello Games for the images.