Further Adventures In No Man's Sky

FURTHER ADVENTURES IN NO MAN'S SKY

My spacecraft flew high above the blazing surface of a volcanic world. Through the orange haze I could make out rivers and lakes of lava that crept along the surface of the land, glimpsed through great clouds of steam that hung suspended in the air.

I descended down through the atmosphere and the nature of this virgin landscape became clearer. Ancient lava flows had carved the landscape into valleys and canyons, and here and there were deposits of some kind of green mineral.

I succeeded in touching down on the floor of one of this world's many valleys, and disembarked from my cockpit. Red and orange dominated this landscape. Everywhere was rock, their shapes shrouded in the ever-present fog caused by steam escaping from vents in this volcanic landscape.

An eerie cry caught my attention, and I turned toward its source. Despite its inhospitable-looking appearance, this land was not some barren rock. No, it was home to life, and one such creature was making its way toward me now. It looked somewhat like a goat, save for the fact that it had no fur. I noticed that its feet appeared to be made out of stone, and I wondered if this was some sort of adaptation that enabled this animal to walk safely on hot surfaces. It walked right past me, quite unconcerned with my presence.

I decided to follow the goat-like creature as it made its way along the twisting path of the valley. Eventually, it lead me out onto a plain. Here the landscape was dominated by the presence of a nearby planet, its bulk filling up half the sky. Compared to its enormous size the cliffs and rock formations of this world seemed minuscule, although some of them towered above me.

As I craned my neck to take in the awe-inspiring sight of that planet, a flying creature came into view. It skilfully used thermal currents to its advantage, seeming to barely exercise its wings in order to keep airborne. Just a slight adjustment here and there were all that it required to stay aloft. It banked to the right and was soon just a dark speck against the backdrop of the planet.

I trudged on, making my way across the burning landscape. In time the sun began to set and the predominant orange took on deeper and deeper hues until, finally, the rocky landscape was a silhouette casting long shadows that seemed to reach out for me.

One such shadow twitched and I realised it was another of this land's inhabitants. And what a nightmarish-looking creature it was! It resembled a gigantic mantis, striding along on four thick, armoured legs. Its powerful mandibles click-clacked together as it scuttled toward me.

I fled from the frightful creature. At first there was no direction to my flight, anywhere other than where it was seemed a good a place as any to be. But then I caught sight of an unmistakably artificial structure and headed toward that. I found myself standing at the entrance of what looked like an ancient temple. There were arches, some complete, some having fallen into disrepair long before I set foot here. Most interesting of all, there was the remnants of a gigantic statue.

I approached the statue to get a closer look. It the head of some alien being. To me it looked unmistakably reptilian, although somehow the curve of its jawline and the stony eye imbued it with a wisdom and benevolence I had never associated with reptiles back home on Earth. I wondered who this alien was, and what relationship it had with the builders of this temple. Was this a leader of theirs, some kind of King? Or was this head the broken effigy of some god they worshipped?

So many worlds, and so many mysteries. My adventure continued...

Thanks to Hello Games for the images.