Further Adventures In No Man's Sky

FURTHER ADVENTURES IN NO MAN'S SKY

My journey through space took me to the next planet. It was a rocky world an atmosphere, wisps of cloud hung suspended in the skies turned purple by the light of the neighbouring star. Here and there drifted asteroids, made to follow a perpetual ellipse around the planet by the laws of gravity. I took care to avoid them.

Piloting my craft down toward the surface, I beheld a world scarred with ravines and crevasses, suggestive of some long-distant volcanic activity that had sent forth lava to carve the land. Natural monoliths rose from the ground, which was sparsely covered by tree-like plants.

I settled my craft down and climbed out of the cockpit. Walking over to one of those tree-like plants, I ran my gloved hand over its thick stem. It had a roughness to its texture that reminded me of sandstone. Growing all over its surface were black nodules and I wondered if they were a fungal growth of some kind. I looked beyond the trees to see hills rolling away into the hazy distance.

I set off on my journey, taking a route that would lead to toward one of the many ravines that had been carved into this land. I had walked for about an hour when I heard the unmistakable sound of several animals approaching. Sure enough, a herd of quadrupeds walked calmly past, their hoofs click-click-clicking on the stony ground as they went on their way, not at all concerned at my presence.

After further journeying across the land I made it to the ravine I had been aiming for. Walking along its floor felt a lot cooler, what with the cliffs around me casting shadows. This place was home to several kinds of cactus-like plants.

I looked upwards to the sky visible above the top of the ravine. Dominating my view were two neighbouring planets. Then, while I was gazing up at those other worlds, a creature much like a bat soared into view. It had the same large ears, obviously evolved to pick up reflected sound waves. But it did not seem to have wings evolved from an adapted hand. Instead its wings looked as if they had never had any purpose other than to provide a means of gliding for this animal. It looked to me almost as if someone had crossed a bat with a butterfly.

I continued on my way along the floor of the ravine, brushing past little woody heather-like plants that carpeted the bottom of this shaded area.

As I approached the exit to the ravine, I heard the deep call of some large animal. Cautiously, I positioned myself so that I could observe whatever was making that sound and yet not be seen by it. What a sight I beheld! A creature, about the size of an elephant, but with a face unlike anything I had seen. It had no mouth to speak of, but rather a pulsating green orb that reminded me of a sea anemone closed up at high tide. This orb lay at the centre of two large, pincer-like horns. I kept out of sight until this huge beast had wandered off, carried away by its muscular hoofed feet.

I journeyed on as the sun slowly sank toward the horizon, casting long shadows and bathing the sky in beautiful orange-red glow.

As day turned to dusk I had a most curious encounter. Two creatures, both coloured green and walking upright on two legs, approached me. At first I thought they were of the same species but I changed my mind when they came close enough and I could see one looked like a two-legged dog with horns while the other resembled a pig. The two were engaged in vocalisation that had just the right combination of random and repetitive sounds to qualify as a language. Upon catching sight of me they stopped, and pointed at me with their paws. The addressed me in that tongue of theirs and of course I did not understand them. But, somehow, I got the impression they wanted me to follow.

The three of us journeyed together until we came to an impressive stone and metal structure. I got a definite religious vibe off of this place. There were steps leading up to a raised circular platform that stood before a monolith that glowed with a soft blue light. I made to walk up the steps but my two companions held out their paws to stop me. I watched as the two of them ascended the stairs and knelt down on the platform, waving their hands around and making vocalisations in a manner that was unmistakably ritualistic. This went on until the sun had completely sunk below the horizon. Then, all of a sudden, a bright shaft of green light shot out from the base of the plinth and when it faded away, I realised that my companions had disappeared.

What had happened to them? Why had they brought me here to witness this event? Had I witnessed a voluntary sacrifice, or had I just seen a successful teleportation? At this point in time, I had more questions than answers.

My journey continued...

Thanks to Hello Games for the images.